The Good, the Bad and the Unfriendly

A sun-kissed hand lifted up a near empty bottle of bourbon to the mouth of a young lady. She tilted her head back and drank the meager remains of the bottle down with a swish and tossed the now worthless glass over her head.

Now it may not have exactly been smart to ride a horse and drink something like that at the same time but Applejack had a lot of experience with it and Winona knew how to handle her rider pretty well whenever she got a little woozy. The shattering of the glass bottle on the dirt road was a sound familiar to the both of them and Winona no longer so much as even flinched. Applejack held up her newly free hand to her forehead and—yep—not nearly drunk enough for her tastes. There just hadn’t been enough bourbon left for her, not when she had such a stomach for the poison in the first place.

The cowgirl frowned as her other hand tightly gripped the reins of her trusty horse. Behind her right leg on Winona’s side there was a saddlebag that Applejack looked down at. It carried such things as her linens, some spare clothes, some tools, a few sticks of dried jerky in case of emergency, and her money pouch. Well that money pouch was in a pretty sorry state right now. Near empty with maybe not even enough coins to make it jingle if she shook it.

No booze and not enough money to buy some more and have enough left to pay for a room and some food wherever it was she wandered into next.

Applejack rolled her tongue inside her mouth as she flatly stared ahead. Drink came first, everything else was secondary.

As if somehow being privy to her inner thoughts, Winona whinnied at just that moment, causing Applejack to glare down at her companion. “You just keep it to yourself, ya hear?”

Another whinny told Applejack exactly what Winona thought about that and Applejack just rolled her eyes in consternation.

It was yet another typical day on the road for the two of them. Applejack the wandering gunslinger, regarded as a hero by many, and her trusty steed. It had actually been less than a year since Applejack took to the roads like this but she had already made a name for herself thanks to a series of encounters with bandits, corrupt lawmen, and other scum and outlaws that had to be dealt with. She was becoming a legend in the country of Equestria, a do-gooder who always looked out for the little man. And who was right mean with a gun. The tales of how many innocents she had saved and how many bad guys she had put in the ground were spreading and spreading.

And all the good and bad that came with it.

Mostly bad if you asked Applejack.

Applejack herself was just a young woman, twenty-five perhaps at the oldest? But she had a hard look to her. Eyes that said they’d seen a lot and a walk that said she’d been through a lot. She carried herself in a calm and confident way that told the right kind of folk that they could rely on her and the wrong kind of folk that they better not mess with her. The rider wore a pair of brown leather boots, tight blue jeans, a flannel red shirt, and a tan leather jacket with tassels over it all. On top of her pretty head she had her lucky hat that she preferred never to be without. A single tie kept her long blond hair from blowing all about and the piercing green eyes on her face were still sharp despite the alcohol she had already consumed.

The last thing of note on her body was the revolver. It was an old looking thing, worn and dirty, carried in a holster just as old that sat on her right hip. The wooden handle had an engraving of three apples done on it, making it fairly unique and recognizable out here in Equestria. That gun clearly meant a lot to Applejack, she and it had a history together. Maybe one not entirely pleasant but a history nonetheless.

She and her horse continued on down the road now, heading nowhere in particular and looking for nothing other than a place to rest. That’s just how things were for the two of them now. It was their life to travel with Applejack doing her best not to think too hard about or remember anything. She didn’t need any other life than the one on the road anymore.

Applejack looked down the road to see if she could see anything coming up ahead yet. They were more or less in the heartland of Equestria and never too far from a town so she doubted she and Winona would be out on this road for much longer. Right now some rolling hills and even some woods dotted the landscape around them, it was a nice part of the country compared to the usual harshness you saw the further out you went. Made things feel not so lonely already. The sun wasn’t so bad either, although she had her hat to thank for making dealing with that easier, and the fact she was used to being outside in the sun all her life. The steady clip-clop of Winona’s hooves was also a background noise so common to her that it was a comfort to hear it.

Now after all morning on the road and a few previous checks, this time when Applejack looked far in the distance she happened to see something down there.

“Well, Winona, I think we’re finally in luck.” Applejack reached down to scratch her horse’s head. “Town coming up.”

It was a decent sized town by the look of it, probably had already been around for a couple of generations rather than all the little ones that had started up recently out in the countryside. The closer she got the more it seemed to spread out with lots of roads going in and out of it and a few separate neighborhoods and areas. Not just some shanty town or pass-through, huh?

She narrowed her eyes when they got close enough to see the large wooden sign that was hanging over the main road that led into town.

“Ponyville? Now that’s a name,” Applejack shrugged when she saw it. She’d been to plenty of strange towns in her life, add one more unusual name to the list.

It was just the middle of the day when Applejack and Winona trotted their way into town, Applejack having a nice view of everything thanks to staying on her horse. Green grass and lots of flowers made this a much prettier town than the usual she traveled through. Call it a bright spot on Equestria. Even the buildings were well painted with a clean white being the preferred color for the homes she was passing by. Folks on the road also were polite, or at least not rude enough to stare or frown at a stranger’s appearance. It was enough to bring a pleased smile to Applejack’s own face after a young girl out walking with her family smiled up at Applejack in greeting.

Still though, she had someplace she really wanted to go first. While riding through this town at a slow pace was kind of nice the saloon is what called to Applejack right now. Finding it shouldn’t be too hard. In fact, a town like this probably had more than one place where she could get a nice drink. She kept her eyes peeled the whole time she was on Winona’s back, seeing things like a flower shop, a clothing store, a nice little outdoor restaurant, and even a library.

Seemed like a peaceful town that did a good job of avoiding any gangs of outlaws or other such nonsense that would disturb the quiet.

And a good way to keep the locals quiet and happy was to have an active and nice saloon that people could hang out and drink and gamble in all day. Like the one she had just found. A bit north of the marketplace of the town, it stood out because of the fancy carving of the sign and front of the building. “Cake’s Saloon” is what it was called, a fairly inviting name. And there was a post right by it for tying up your horse that had plenty of room on it for Winona.

Applejack grinned and had Winona saunter on over to it, the cowgirl then jumping off from her partner and grabbing the reins to tie Winona up while she went inside.

Now Winona knew well what kind of place this was and gave a disapproving whinny and snort, shaking her head and trying to pull the reins out of Applejack’s grip.

“Oh put a cork in it,” Applejack frowned at her partner and tied the reins up. She was going into this saloon to get some drink and that was final. A quick reach into her bag got her her currently quite light money pouch too.

So despite Winona’s protests, Applejack walked on up to the swinging doors and pushed them aside to enter Cake’s Saloon. It was a fairly large establishment with a lot of tables in the middle of the floor and a jolly old man playing a piano up against the back wall. Men and women alike sat at the tables either talking or flirting with each other, drinking and playing cards too. Really lively in here. The bar on the right side of the establishment was being tended by a middle-aged man and woman working together, him tall and gangly with orange hair and her a bit more plump with pink hair. Applejack decided she might as well walk on over to that bar and take a seat right now.

Now when she came in the conversation and everything certainly didn’t stop but there were a few who went quiet at the sight of the stranger. Whether cause they were worried about her or interested in her cause of her looks she didn’t know for sure. Although she was willing to bet that at least some of the guys watching her as she walked over to the bar were just checking out her ass. That was better than being recognized right off the bat though.

Applejack took a seat at the bar, not directly next to anyone, and tipped her hat up so the two bartenders could see her face and hopefully not think she was bad news or anything. She just wanted a drink and some information and keeping her head down like some outlaw wasn’t going to make her look too good.

It paid off and the male bartender came up to her, though he had a wary look on his face. “Can I get you something?”

“However much bourbon-” Applejack said as she opened her pouch and emptied it on the counter. “This can get me.”

The bartender looked down at the coins and spread them out with his fingers before a frown settled on his face. He pulled a glass from down below and set it before Applejack while going back along the wall until he picked out a bottle of cheap Dodge Bourbon. About half of a glass of that being poured and he was done.

Applejack picked it up and turned the glass around before glancing up at her server. “Thanks.” She sarcastically said.

She slammed that back in an instant and set the glass down. No point in savoring it.

Looks like she wasn’t getting drunk today at least. Shame. She dragged her finger around the rim of the glass and looked into the bottom of it. The male bartender meanwhile was giving her an uncomfortable sort of look, like he wasn’t sure if she was a vagrant or the sort that would cause a problem or not. Couldn’t exactly blame him. It wasn’t common for girls like her to travel alone. She probably seemed suspicious to any honest business owner.

Well he was going to have to deal with her for a bit longer at least since she had a few questions for him. “Hey, barkeep?” She whistled to him. “Mind if I ask you some things?”

He frowned and glanced over to the woman also behind the bar—his wife if Applejack were to presume—before walking back to in front of Applejack. “No I don’t mind I suppose, Miss-?”

“My name aint important,” Applejack shook her head, it wasn’t a lie to her at least. “But I wouldn’t mind learning yours.”

“Well I’m Mr. Cake and that over there is my wife, Mrs. Cake. We’re the owners of this here saloon,” he said as he hooked a thumb over at his wife.

Applejack smiled, and tried to make it as honest and friendly looking as she could. “That’s great to hear, you see, I was wondering if you knew about any work that needed to be done around here?”

“Work?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“You heard me. Anything I can do to make some money. I’m real handy but as you can also tell I’m flat broke. Need to do something around here to find a place to stay and some food to eat is all,” Applejack shrugged.

He scratched his head. “Well I’m sure you can ask around but nothing really jumps to mind at the moment...”

“Least it’s still early in the day then,” Applejack leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. She wasn’t looking forward to spending the rest of the day looking for work, with Winona whining at her, but she’d do it if she had to. Or just end up finding a tree to lie underneath for the rest of the day. Applejack looked back at the bartender and smiled. “Thanks for the help, sorry I don’t have any change to tip ya with.”

“S’alright,” Mr. Cake shrugged.

Applejack nodded to him and spun around on her barstool, hopping off it and heading back for the doors. Not much else to do here if she couldn’t drown herself in bourbon so she might as well get herself back out there and attend to her other needs.

“Now wait just one minute!” A loud male voice yelled from behind her.

She paused as the rest of the saloon went silent and she heard someone stand up from a table behind her. Applejack’s right hand looked slack but in an instant she could draw her gun with it if need be. All eyes were on her and whoever this guy was now. Whatever was about to happen, Applejack was ready for it.

“I recognize you!”

“Fuck me...” Applejack muttered under her breath and turned around with a wry smile and blush on her face.

The man’s face lit up with a smile, he had been right. “You’re Applejack! The famous young hero that people are talking about all over Equestria!”

And exactly what Applejack didn’t want to happen started happening. The floodgates had been opened up and all the excited patrons came rushing to her to see if she really was the Applejack. When it was plain that of course she was she started getting bombarded with questions and congratulations from everybody. Mr. and Mrs. Cake both looked wowed now too and even the piano player had stopped to come check her out.

“So it’s really you, the Hero of Manehattan, the one who took out the Golden Corral Gang, who made enemies with the Hooffield Family and survived, and I even hear that notorious criminal Sunset Shimmer was bested by you too.” The first guy went on and on for everyone else to hear.

Applejack awkwardly twirled a bit of her hair and looked away. “Uh, more or less yeah...”

“What are you doing out here?” Another older fellow with thick glasses asked her.

“I’m just traveling around trying to make my way in the world and all,” Applejack shrugged.

“She’s so modest!” A lady whispered to her friend and the two of them giggled with Applejack having to fight back a roll of her eyes.

That’s just about how it went on for a while. Every place was the same for her, soon as people learned who she was she got mobbed even though she really didn’t want the attention. And she had to listen to a retelling of her exploits, which may or may not have even happened, and just smile through it all. The modesty wasn’t a mistaken impression or anything though, she really didn’t like being clapped on the back and treated so special for nothing.

“You know I heard what you said to the bartender about needing a place to stay,” the first guy said to her.

And here it comes. Applejack inwardly sighed.

“And I would just be honored if you would like to stay with my family, what do you say?” He offered.

He really put her on the spot here in front of everyone. Applejack smiled awkwardly and held up her hands in supplication. She disliked the thanks and everything but she could take them, what she couldn’t take was being a charity case. “I’m flattered with the offer and all but I really wouldn’t be comfortable intruding on your family like that.”

“Ya can’t be serious, can ya?” He leaned back and stared her down. “I heard you were flat broke and looking for food and a place to spend the night.”

“Yeah but that’s just it, I don’t want to be handed something I didn’t earn, that’s why I was asking for work to do.” Applejack explained to him.

“Well you don’t have to worry about that none!” He clapped his hands to her shoulders. “If you wanna earn your keep there’s plenty for you to do around the house every darn day! And my wife and daughter would love it to meet you too!”

Applejack chuckled awkwardly but saw there was no way he was letting her out of this. “Well… if you insist and all.”

Maraschino was a confectioner who was longtime friends with the Cake couple that ran the saloon. His house was on the northeastern side of town so it was a bit of a walk back with him while Applejack led Winona by the reins. Nice man at least who made sure there was never a quiet moment, pointing out anything and everything about Ponyville and the people they passed by. Maraschino himself was a heavyset man with a great bushy beard and mustache and some powerful suspenders worn over his chest to keep his pants up. When they got to his home, Applejack saw it actually had a fairly large back yard with a fence wrapping around it and a lot of trees for firewood. There seemed to be a smaller building in the back with its own separate chimney too. Winona ended up getting tied to the fence post out front, with Maraschino’s assurances they could take her out to the yard later.

“You’ll love my family, I guarantee it,” Maraschino smiled at her as they walked up the steps of his porch to the front door.

Everything about the house was very inviting and warm, Applejack had to admit that.

Maraschino pulled the door open and beckoned Applejack inside, following right after her. “Honey! Sweetheart! I’m home!” He called out.

The two of them were in a nice sitting room right inside the front door with a dining room directly in front of them and a larger living room to the left. A couple of chairs and a fireplace took up the right side of the sitting room. All the mantles and walls were bedecked in little trinkets, dolls, and pictures that just told Applejack this was a happy family home. From a room deeper in the house (to the left of the dining room if Applejack’s ears served her right) she heard someone coming after hearing the unmistakable sound of silverware also being set down. At the same time a quick noise from above them told Applejack someone was on the second floor and was currently rushing for the stairs.

The one who was already downstairs made it to them first anyways though. A middle-aged woman wearing a purple blouse with frizzy red hair emerged into the dining room and came out to greet her husband and the unexpected guest with a smile on her face. She looked friendly and only gave a single “Oh!” when her eyes fell on the somewhat dusty looking Applejack.

Right after, Applejack could hear the tell-tale sound of an excited young girl running down the stairs and then from around the corner of the living room a little red-headed bullet came zooming and slammed right into Maraschino. “Dad!” The girl said, wrapping him in a hug.

Applejack did her best not to flinch. The girl was maybe 14 or 15, the same age as-

She shook her head to banish the thoughts. Maraschino’s daughter looked much like her mom except younger, with a blue and white blouse, her frizzy red hair pulled back in a short ponytail, and thick glasses resting on her face. She had some unfortunate buck teeth but maybe she’d grow out of them—or into them—in a few years.

“Hey there,” Maraschino affectionately rubbed his daughter’s head. “Now you look up for a second, got a guest to introduce to you and your mother.”

The girl stopped hugging her father while her mother also walked up and regarded Applejack.

“Who is she, dear?” Maraschino’s wife asked.

“Well now, Candy Cane, this here would be-”

“I know who she is!” The young girl suddenly exclaimed, surprising all the adults. She wheeled about from around her father and pointed her finger right up at Applejack’s face. “A young woman with blond hair, green eyes, and an old revolver that has three apples on the handle! You’re Applejack, the Hero of Manehattan!”

“T-That’s me...” Applejack grinned uncomfortably and rubbed the back of her neck.

“You’re that young traveler people have been talking about all over lately?” Candy Cane asked.

“She sure is!” Maraschino said. “She walked into the Cake’s saloon just earlier. Needed a place to stay too so I brought her here.” He then put an arm around Applejack’s shoulders. “You already got the name of my wife but my daughter here’s named Twist.”

“Pleased to meet the both of you,” Applejack smiled a little less awkwardly and waved at them.

“Now Miss Applejack here is a right modest girl and she wouldn’t let me just give her a room for nothing so for the next few days she’ll be helping around the house and with work,” Maraschino. “We’ll be treating her just as nicely as we would any guest, and she’ll sleep in the spare room upstairs.”

“This is amazing! We got a real life hero staying in our house!” Twist shouted.

“I’m really not that special or anything, you don’t need to treat me any different,” Applejack tried saying to the young girl.

She wasn’t listening one bit though. “I’ve heard all the stories about you, my friends aren’t gonna believe this!”

“Greeeat...” Applejack tried to hide a grimace behind a crooked grin.

“Okay, okay, I just wanted the two of you to know what was happening for now. Applejack has her horse out front that we’ve gotta take around back. We can all talk some more and I can tell you what your work will be like after that,” Maraschino said.

Applejack nodded. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Winona was happy to get out into the grass of the backyard, there wasn’t a stable or anything for her but there was a big awning hanging out from the back of the house she could at least use for shelter if need be. That other building out here was a small shack with a cooking oven inside and a big fireplace, not to mention a storage shed, all in one. Applejack would be doing stuff like chopping up firewood for it, among other things. After that brief explanation she was taken inside where she got to speak more with Candy Cane and Twist, and deal with all the gawking and wonder that came with it. Applejack hoped that girl would calm down a bit after a day or two.

The following morning Applejack was out back with her tanned leather jacket off and a heavy axe raised above her head. She brought it down onto the block of wood and split it cleanly in two with one swing. Easy. She had always been a strong girl ever since she was young and truthfully this was the kind of work she was made for. Traveler she may be now but she didn’t mind this one bit.

Of course she wasn’t used to having a spectator watch her the whole time.

“Doesn’t it get a little boring watching me chop up firewood?” Applejack asked to Twist as the young girl watched her from behind, sitting down on one of the family’s lawn chairs.

“Not oooone bit!” Twist replied with a fervent shaking of her head.

“Uh-huh...” Applejack rolled her eyes and lifted one hand up to wipe the sweat from her brow with the back of it, taking a short rest and leaning on the axe. Winona was wandering out back around some of the trees, looking totally carefree and happy to have some soft ground underneath her hooves for a change. “Yeah you just enjoy yourself.” Applejack muttered and reached down to her jeans’ pocket, pulling out a tiny little flask of bourbon lent to her by Maraschino as part of her payment. Or maybe it was more like a thank you.

Applejack drove the axe head into the block that was used to set wood onto it, keeping it in place and walking over to a lawn chair adjacent to Twist. She had put her jacket and gunbelt down on it while she worked since they did nothing but get in her way. Now she sat cross-legged with them in front of her, listening to bugs out in the yard and watching Winona wander, and getting watched by the girl next to her.

She was in mid-drink when a question came to her.

“Are you as good with that gun as everybody says?” Twist asked her.

Applejack finished her sip and swished the flask around, looking at it and answering simply without a glance in Twist’s direction. “Nope.” She said and took another sip.

It was clear Twist didn’t believe her denial. “But you took out the seven members of the Golden Corral Gang when they confronted you all at once, and you beat Sunset Shimmer in a shootout, and you made your way through Hooffield territory without getting a scratch on you, and you’re the Hero of Manehattan who-”

“Oh for-” Each little tale that Twist mentioned had been getting to her until Applejack just finally had to stop the girl. She had had to take and listen to this enough and she couldn’t really stand it anymore. Maybe the bourbon had her a little on edge. “Look, stop, just stop, okay? A lot of those stories you hear about me are exaggerated, and some of them are just outright lies! Tall tales that grow and grow just because people like stories and love to gossip, you hear? Hero of Manehatten? I aint ever even been to Manehatten!”

Twist was leaning back on her chair, eyes wide and a little afraid at Applejack’s sudden outburst. “Oh.”

“Ugh,” Applejack dragged her hand down her face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to explode at you and all but hearing people praise me for this stuff and having them think I’m some kind of magical, unstoppable, hero, it’s just not what I want. And there aint nothing good about all these tall tales following me around.”

“What do you mean?” Twist leaned in again, the girl’s natural curiosity doing wonders for her. “And how much of it aint true?”

“A lot. A lot of it aint true,” Applejack sighed and took off her hat. “First off—how the hay am I supposed to take out seven people all at once? I carry one gun and all it’s got is six bullets in it at a time. You saying I shot six of them, reloaded, and shot the last guy before any of them got a shot off at me? That’s impossible!” She threw up her hands. “And that’s just one of the dumb things I’ve heard. Like that stuff with the Hooffields? It wasn’t that family I came across, it was the McColts, and not much even happened between me and them. And Sunset Shimmer too, yeah I fought with her but there were a bunch of others there on both sides and she wasn’t even gunning for me in particular.” Applejack shook her head. “Not saying it’s all lies and I haven’t done some stuff but you really can’t just believe all the stories you hear, alright?”

“Um, I get it. I guess,” Twist nodded. She scratched frizzy hair and tilted her head at Applejack. “So what just did happen between you and the Golden Corral Gang? I think that was the first story about you I heard.”

Applejack leaned back on her chair and held up three fingers. “It wasn’t seven of them, it was three, and what happened wasn’t so romantic or amazing or anything. You see I had wandered into town, totally oblivious to the whole gang in the first place, and one of their guys made a pass at me in the local tavern. Well I uh, rejected him in a not so ladylike fashion and that made him pretty mad. So when I up and left the tavern I walked into three of them waiting for me.”

“But you still had to shoot your way out, right? Three on one’s amazing!” Twist tried to exuberantly talk her up but Applejack just shook her head.

“You haven’t heard the whole story just yet, kid. It’s true I was outnumbered but none of them had their guns out yet, they were looking into the sun thanks to where we were standing, one of them was real old and looked shaky, and the other was real young and probably hadn’t ever shot at another person before by the looks of him.” Applejack took a breath and paused for a second before continuing. “The one in the middle was the guy I had rejected and he was angry and drunk but still the biggest threat between the three.”

“So what did you do?”

Applejack wryly grinned. “Well aside from the gun at my side I also had a bottle in my left hand. After seeing that there was no way things were gonna be ending peacefully between me and them I knew what to do. I was still faster than any of them on the draw, I pulled out my gun and shot the guy in front of me dead. At the same time I flung the bottle in my hand at the kid, got him right in the face and knocked him down. While the older fellow was still trying to draw and get a shot off on me I turned and got him first. The kid at that point had gotten his gun out but he was careless, no patience and no skill yet, he shot too fast and just hit the dirt. I didn’t miss.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “After that I gathered up Winona and high-tailed it out of town. Didn’t even hear until later that they were part of that Golden Corral Gang or whatever. And I don’t know what happened to the gang after that and why they fell apart.”

“Wow...” Twist said, her chin held in her hands. “That’s still pretty cool though.”

Applejack snorted. “Cool, huh? Shooting three people aint something you should think is cool. I just did what I had to do.”

“Mm,” Twist fidgeted and looked down.

“Something else?” Applejack raised an eyebrow.

“Well just, what did you mean about all these stories being told about you not being a good thing?” Twist asked her.

“Oh. That,” Applejack sighed and rubbed her chin for a bit. “Well it goes kind of like this—I never really wanted this kind of life. I like things quiet and simple if I’m being real honest. This whole hero business, I just kind of stumbled into it, it’s not like I go looking for trouble or problems to solve or anything, it all just finds me. And now that I’m famous I got all sorts of people coming after me, either for revenge or looking to make themselves famous too. The more those stories get told and the more outlandish they are the bigger a target gets painted on my poor back.” She looked over at Twist. “So they may just be fun tall tales to you but to me it’s a lot more serious than that.”

“I’m real sorry about all that...”

“Aw, you don’t gotta apologize none,” Applejack reached over and patted the girl on the head a few times. “I’m sorry about being such a downer and telling you about all this. Probably not exactly acting like much of the hero you thought I was.”

Twist shook her head though. “I still think you’re cool. Sounds to me like you’re still plenty amazing and all. But uh, you probably don’t want me and my friends sharing stories about you and telling others now do you?”

Applejack grinned. “I aint gonna get mad over some kids having their fun. You can tell your stories about me if you want, just make sure I’m out of earshot.”

“Okay! Cause I still really wanna tell all my friends about you!” Twist beamed.

“Yeah I can tell,” Applejack chuckled and stood up, taking a stretch before walking back to the axe and stack of wood she still needed to chop up and take away. “That’s enough of a break for me, kid. If you really aint bored you can keep watching but it’s not like anything else fun is gonna happen.”

Twist smiled wide with her big buck-teeth getting shown off. “I’ll watch!”

“Course you will,” Applejack didn’t quite get it herself but the girl wasn’t bad company or anything. She picked up a piece of wood and dislodged the axe before getting back to work.

Applejack spent a couple more days than she normally would’ve in the town of Ponyville because she wanted to repay Maraschino’s favor. Her own code and way of doing things wouldn’t settle for anything less. That’s why she was still technically flat broke. She refused to accept any money from Maraschino on account of already being give food, room, and drink by him for the work she was doing. Letting him give her money too just wouldn’t be right at all. No sir, no cotton-picking way.

So that’s why she became kind of a common figure around town. Going around and helping anyone with any work they had, she even worked the bar at Cake’s Saloon one evening and helped around there. She was practically starting to look like a regular fixture of Ponyville, even though she always said she’d be leaving soon. Truthfully Applejack didn’t mind the extra stay too much since this was such a nice place. She’d have denied it if she were asked but it was true.

It was nice being around Twist, the young girl reminded her of… better times.

Of course buying stuff like feed for Winona also set Applejack back a bit and slowed things down for her. Something she was damn sure willing to remind the horse at every opportunity. Applejack was beginning to debate on just up and leaving soon despite everything else and taking to the road again, sure she could eke out something. Fortune seemed to smile on her in its own mysterious way, she hadn’t starved just yet after all.

But now that might be kind of rude. She sure owed Maraschino’s family a real goodbye. Applejack decided she should ignore those damn cynical thoughts for now. Things were good and something would probably turn up eventually where she could make some cash and prepare to leave.

In the meantime she had met Twist’s friends too and been shown off to them. She made sure not to have another little outburst, let the kids have their heroes and all that. They had asked if they could see her gun but Applejack put a firm no to that. That gun was special to her and she didn’t like pulling it out for no reason. Not to mention even if she unloaded it she didn’t exactly like the idea of a bunch of kids pawing all over it. Now that was just inviting trouble from concerned parents and Applejack didn’t feel like getting on anyone’s bad side. Although she knew Twist really wanted to see her gun skills too, that kid was practically begging for Applejack to show off what she could do with her revolver sometime. Applejack just wasn’t so obsessed and passionate about it though. She didn’t consider herself a gunslinger and didn’t make a big deal out of it.

Well, something was coming to Ponyville today that would give her the opportunity to show off those gun skills anyways.

“Hey now everyone, come right here, come here now! I’ve got something special for you all to see!” The loud and exuberant voice boomed through the middle of the town.

People from across town started coming over to see just what the ruckus was and found themselves looking at a large double wagon that had pulled into town. On top of the carriage at the front a big man stood up with a classy top hat and spotless suit on, his white hair combed back over his head.

“Gladmane’s the name! Employee of the Flim Flam Bros. Company!” The big man said to the newly assembled crowd. “I’m here traveling the roads of Equestria to show off the great Flim and Flam’s new idea for down home good ol’ fun and entertainment!”

“I thought the Flim Flam brothers were just gun manufacturers and inventors?” One of the locals in the crowd said.

“Ah-ah-ah,” Gladmane wagged his finger at the man. “Flim and Flam above everything else have always been entrepreneurs. They’re always looking to expand their business!”

Applejack was watching from the crowd too with Twist and the family. Like most, she knew the name of the Flim Flam brothers but hadn’t met them personally. They were responsible for making most of the guns that existed in Equestria nowadays. More than once Applejack had found herself looking down the barrel of something that came from one of their factories. They had streamlined the designs of revolvers and rifles alike, bettering them, making them easier for production and use, and marketed them everywhere. Right now the two brothers might have been the richest people in the country, and it seemed like they were still looking for more money.

“So what is all this then?” Some other Ponyville local asked.

Gladmane smiled with teeth so bright they actually sparkled. “Well I’m glad you asked.” Gladmane grabbed a lever on his carriage and pulled it, suddenly the ropes and canvas of the wagon behind him were yanked up and off and a big wooden contraption popped up out of the floor of the wagon. It was some kind of multi-tiered stage piece, like the backdrop of a theater play, showing a single street with a bunch of model buildings on it and tin people. Targets were drawn on the people, on birds flying in the background, on the clouds, and on a whole mess of other things.

“This here-” Gladmane yelled. “Is a shooting gallery!”

There were murmurs throughout the crowd and even Applejack had to admit she was intrigued by what she saw. It was certainly different.

“Come on up and test your skill! Six shots for five bits! Get a bullseye with all of them and you get double your money back!” Gladmane roared. “Flim and Flam will start having these set up at every fair and party in the country!”

Applejack narrowed her eyes at the shooting gallery. If they were allowed to stand at the edge of it then hitting a bullseye wouldn’t be hard at all even for someone who wasn’t too used to guns. There was probably something more to it than that. Could have just been her own sensibilities speaking to her but something about it told her this thing was designed to make money off of small town folk who didn’t exactly know what they were getting into.

“Now who’d like to try, I say who’d like to try?” Gladmane kept asking over the crowd and tried to rile them up.

Someone who Applejack recognized stepped up to accept Gladmane’s offer. He went by the name of Davenport, a well to do gentleman, she had spoken with him briefly once about work he might have for her to do around his shop. From what she knew she wasn’t even sure if he owned a gun of his own though.

“Well it seems we have a volunteer!” Gladmane grinned down at him. “What’s your name, sir?”

“Davenport, sir.” Davenport politely responded to him.

“Think you can get a bullseye on every shot? Willing to test your skill for a measly five bits?” Gladmane said, really piling it on.

“Well I’d certainly like to try yes, but I’d have to get my gun from my house first of all,” Davenport said. Least he confirmed that he did own a firearm.

“No need, no need for that my friend! You see this shooting gallery, to keep things safe and fair, you can only use our gun and bullets at it,” Gladmane explained.

Applejack grinned. And there it is.

Gladmane jumped down from his carriage and sauntered over to the edge of the wagon. He pulled up something from inside and showed it off to Davenport and everyone else. This here is a Flim Flam Bros. patented game pistol!” He held a revolver up in the air, it was very bare looking with nothing special or fancy about it, dull really. “Designed to shoot special round bullets at a lower speed than a normal gun. A new invention of theirs made to keep things safe, since this is for recreation after all.”

“Safe, huh?” Applejack knew very well the history of guns. A round bullet could still kill someone just as easy even if it didn’t have the same kind of penetrating power or speed behind it. Really the gun was probably designed to not damage the targets too much or make things ricochet. A round bullet also wasn’t as accurate, making the game much harder.

“You think Davenport can win the game, Applejack?” Twist asked her.

Only to receive no answer.

“Applejack?” Twist looked up to see Applejack gone.

“So you’ll try the shooting gallery, good sir?” Gladmane asked Davenport as he handed him the specially designed revolver and loaded in the bullets for it.

“Sure will,” Davenport said and reached into his pocket to pull out the necessary bits. Five in his hand he was about to give them over to Gladmane and take the revolver when someone cut in.

“Let’s hold on a second there,” Applejack said as she grabbed Davenport’s wrist and held onto the gun Gladmane was holding,

Both men looked at her in surprise while the others in the crowd backed up and gave them some room, Twist and her family looking on in confusion from a few rows back.

“What’s the problem, Missy?” Gladmane asked, trying to still sound jovial but the smile was off his face.

“Well sorry sir but I just couldn’t stay put after seeing this here shooting gallery and hearing you talk it up. I just had to come up and test my gun shooting skills on it. Oh I’m just a bit of an amateur when it comes to shooting but I like to think I have some skill when it comes to accuracy,” Applejack smiled at him and then glanced over at Davenport. “And sorry Mr. Davenport but I just didn’t have the patience to let you try first, it just had to be me.” She winked at him.

Davenport seemed to understand there was something else about her intrusion and he nodded. “Well uh, I don’t mind if you really want to shoot first, Miss Applejack. Go right ahead.”

“Thank you,” she let go of his hand and looked back over to Gladmane. “Problem?”

“Not at all,” Gladmane said and slowly regained his smile. “If you want to shoot so bad then be my guest, the gallery needs to be tested by all sorts of folk.” He handed the gun over to her.

Applejack accepted it with a nod, feeling it in her hand briefly and checking it over before glancing back at Gladmane. “Now I’ve got a little bit of a problem though. I happen to be a tick broke. But what do you say we make a different sort of deal?”

“And what sort of deal would that be?” Gladmane raised an eyebrow.

“How about instead of five bits I wager my gun? If I hit six bullseyes I still get the money but if I miss one you can keep my gun. It’s a pretty well made six-shooter, I can guarantee you that, and definitely worth more than just five bits,” Applejack offered.

Gladmane looked down at the pistol she was carrying in her holster, he could tell it was a well used gun but also of good craftsmanship. An appraising eye is what he had. Finally his smile twisted up just a little bit more. “You’ve got a deal there, Miss.”

Applejack grinned. “Deal.”

She motioned to everyone to back up a bit and give her some room in front of the shooting gallery and stood a few feet away from the wagon herself. Gladmane watched her out of the corner of her eye, grinning. Well she’d be wiping that little smile off his face pretty soon. Applejack held the pistol out in front of her and squared off, her legs parted perfectly and planted on the ground, and her eyes quickly picking up every little target there was in the shooting gallery. Over twenty total that you could go for. She flipped the gun over in her hand a few times using the trigger guard to spin it around her finger. Gladmane saw how she was handling it and for a second seemed to get a little worried.

Well there was no opportunity for him to back out.

Applejack immediately stopped spinning the gun and cocked the hammer back firing a quick shot at one of the “human” targets on the street of the shooting gallery and hitting the bullseye dead on. Four more quick shots came out as she fanned the hammer with her other hand, shooting a cloud, a bird, another guy, and a barrel. All perfect rings from the metal targets and scuff marks in the centers to prove she was hitting them exactly where she needed to.

She then grinned and brought her left hand up over her eyes and turned around, holding her gun up backwards towards the shooting gallery upside-down.

Bang!

Ding!

Another bird target was hit dead center.

Six shots and six bullseyes.

Applejack turned around and tossed the spent gun into the wagon in front of the shooting gallery while the crowd cheered around her and Gladmane looked on in total shock. She cracked her fingers and walked over to him, shaking his hand while he still had a dumbfounded look on his face.

“Boy that sure was fun,” Applejack grinned, talking loudly with a malicious glint in her eyes that the others in the crowd couldn’t see. “Even though the sights were off on the gun, and the barrel was shortened slightly more than average, and the butt was weighted heavier than normal. But I’m sure all that was unintentional, right? This here gallery is just a—what do you call it? A prototype. I’m sure you’ll have these problems fixed soon so things are just as fair as you said for everyone paying to play.”

She had made sure everyone in the crowd had heard exactly what she had just said.

Gladmane sweated as he shook her hand. “Yes, of course, of course. Perhaps this gun was a uh, faulty unit that for some reason got shipped with me.”

“I’m sure,” Applejack smiled and squeezed his hand harder in an almost crushing grip. “Now about the prize, I think for helping point out some flaws with your shooting gallery I earned a little more than just ten bits. What do you think?”

Gladmane gulped. “I… I think you may be right.”

With forty bits in her money pouch, Applejack walked back through the crowd towards Twist and her parents while everyone congratulated her on her fantastic shooting and a great show. She got claps, smiles, and shook a few hands before she got back to a stunned and exuberant Maraschino and Candy Cane. They were nothing compared to how excited Twist was though.

“I thought you said you couldn’t shoot so good?” The young girl asked up in wonder.

“I said I couldn’t shoot as good as the stories said. And that’s true. But that doesn’t mean I’m not still a pretty good shot,” Applejack winked.

Applejack thwacked another piece of firewood in two, her pile was done and she could now get all these pieces into Maraschino’s wheelbarrow and take them over to his storage building. As always Twist was watching her, the young girl on the edge of her seat and fidgeting for some reason even though Applejack was doing the same menial work she always did at their place. Applejack was content to ignore her and finish up her work since she was planning on leaving tomorrow morning anyways.

“Can you teach me to shoot like you?”

The sudden question pierced the backyard and Applejack paused in her work. She took a few breaths as she was still kind of panting from her work, placing her hands on her hips and surveying all the blocks of wood around her.

“Why you asking me something like that?” She finally said to the girl.

“Because you’re amazing! Because I want to be cool like you!” Twist said as she jumped off her chair and ran over to Applejack.

The traveler just shook her head and looked to the forest, not facing Twist. “You don’t want that. You’ve got a good thing here, there’s no reason for you to learn how to use a gun. Not a sweet girl like you.”

“It’s boring here in Ponyville! I wanna go out and shoot bad guys and travel all over the country just like you,” Twist continued to protest. “Even my dad has a gun he keeps in the drawer by his bed and you’ve seen how friendly he is. If he can hold one then so can I!”

Applejack chuckled, although there was a sorrow to it. “Boring is good. I wish I still had… well, a lot of things. You’ve got a family, friends, a nice and happy life here and you’re saying you want to leave it all? You wouldn’t know what you’re missing until you lost it, Twist, I guarantee that. And saying you want to shoot bad guys too? But you don’t know what it means to kill a man and I sincerely hope you never do.” Applejack mimed pulling out her pistol and pointed it towards the forest. “It aint a good thing. Carrying a gun like this is a heavy thing, I don’t want you to ever lose your innocence, you’re just a kid. Let the people who are already darkened like me handle the killing, so the rest of you can sleep soundly at night.”

“But-”

“Anyone can talk tough,” Applejack cut her off. “But until you pull the trigger and all that’s left in front of you is a corpse, with the light gone from their eyes, you don’t really know anything. Don’t ask me about this again, Twist.” She looked over her shoulder at the girl and Twist flinched, her gaze was sterner than she had seen it before.

Twist nodded hesitantly. “O-Okay...”

Applejack sighed and lowered her arm. “I’m leaving soon anyways. Spent too much time here, it was nice, but still. Got the money I need now so I’ll be on my way real soon.”

“Uh-huh...” Twist said, looking down at the ground with a morose expression.

“I’ll see you and your family around dinner, okay? Going out for a second,” Applejack said and whistled for Winona. The horse quickly came over and Applejack led her by the reins to the gate that led out of Maraschino’s backyard. Her work was left unfinished for now.

Twist watched her walk off to somewhere else around town for a minute before she despondently walked inside.

Later that evening on the other side of town, from the same direction Applejack had rode in from, two more horseback riders were now entering Ponyville. They wore matching gray longcoats and black cowboy hats. And it wasn’t just their clothes that matched but their appearances that were pretty darn similar as well. Two girls with fair complexions and faces that said they were at least sisters, around their early to mid twenties at the oldest too, one of them had straight light blue hair tied back in a ponytail while the other had white and blue hair done in a spiky fashion. The one with spiky hair chewed on some tobacco as she rode in front while ponytail looked at the town they were entering and followed on her horse.

“So you think she’s here, Cloud Chaser?” Ponytail asked her sister.

“She at least came through here for sure, Flitter.” Cloud Chaser responded.

That made Flitter grin. “Maybe we’ll finally find her, then we can take her down and become famous like we’ve always wanted.”

“We’ll be legends soon,” Cloud Chaser grinned with her.

“And maybe we can even go join the Shadowbolt Gang? I bet they’d take us in after hearing we were the ones who killed Applejack, the Savior of San Palomino.” Flitter said.

Cloud Chaser nodded. “Yep I’m thinking that’s a good bet.”

The two of them rode along down the streets in Ponyville while lamps started to get lit up by people as the sky got darker and the sun went down. They were checking around for somewhere to… “ask” about Applejack that didn’t look too crowded at the moment either. They didn’t want to head into the hotel or a popular saloon, instead looking for a store situated on a corner or somewhere that saw a decent amount of traffic but wasn’t busy at the moment. And in smaller towns like this news and gossip tended to travel fast, any proprietor had likely heard if the famous Applejack had come through here.

Cloud Chaser saw a man in his work clothes lighting a lamp right outside his store and head back inside. A quick look through the windows told her no one else was in there right now.

“Perfect,” Cloud Chaser smiled and had her horse walk across the street towards it while her sister followed.

“Quills & Sofas?” Flitter scratched her head at the sign. “Kind of a weird combination.”

“Who cares, it’s empty and that’s what’s important,” Cloud Chaser said as she jumped off her horse and hitched him up outside while Flitter did the same.

Together the two of them walked up and into Quills & Sofas, a little bell at the top of the door ringing and letting Davenport knew he had some customers. While he came out onto the floor, Flitter stood by the front door while Cloud Chaser strode to meet him.

“Well hello there,” Davenport greeted warmly. “And what can I help you two ladies with?”

Cloud Chaser smiled and stepped closer. “Yeah you see-” she pulled a gun out from her coat and pressed it right under his chin. “You can answer a couple of questions for me if you know what’s good for you.”

“Oh dear heavens...” Davenport started to sweat and tremble as the barrel of her revolver pressed into him while Flitter grinned in the background. “L-Look, I don’t even have much money here but you can take what you want, just please-”

Cloud Chaser cocked the hammer and Davenport shut up. “I didn’t ask for money. What I’m here for is to ask if you’ve had any news about Applejack—the Applejack—coming through town? We know she’s been through here, you see her?”

The clear recognition and flinch of Davenport at the mention of Applejack’s name told Cloud Chaser all she needed.

She pressed the gun harder up into his chin. “She’s still in town isn’t she?” Cloud Chaser asked and then spat her mouthful of chewing tobacco onto Davenport’s floor.

He nodded. He couldn’t help it, he had never had a gun shoved in his face before.

“Where?”

“M-Maraschino’s house. He took her in,” Davenport gulped.

“Well thank you kindly,” Cloud Chaser smiled and pulled the gun away from his chin. “Now where exactly does this Maraschino live?”

After giving them directions, Davenport was rewarded with the butt of a revolver being smashed against his temple. He fell to the floor of his store out cold while the two sisters left the establishment and headed in the direction of Maraschino’s house. The two of them could taste the anticipation. They had been exceptionally lucky it turned out, for whatever reason Applejack was still in town and they were going to be able to get the drop on her.

“If she’s there we go in guns blazing. If she’s not we tie up this Maraschino guy and whoever else is there and ambush her once she returns. Got it?” Cloud Chaser explained to Flitter.

“Got it,” Flitter answered.

They were on their horses and quietly made it through the streets of Ponyville to their next destination. They had received a few looks from other people living here but the sisters didn’t care if they were remembered or recognized by some yokels. After all the whole point of this was to be famous. If the locals were asked later about who it was that killed the famous traveler Applejack, they’d all be able to say who it was. Then wanted posters would start popping up all over with Flitter and Cloud Chaser on them and their tale would spread.

Maybe they’d keep bringing down more and more big names to quicken the pace of that. Maybe even a few of those others who already had wanted posters. Though it wouldn’t be for the money reward.

In a minute they had made it to the house that Davenport told them about and hopped off their horses, letting them mingle out by the road for now. The horses were well-trained and not the sort to be spooked by gunfire. Cloud Chaser walked up the porch with Flitter right behind her and looked around, things seemed normal. She listened in briefly before knocking too in case she could hear anyone inside but it seemed more or less quiet.

So with a steady hand, Cloud Chaser knocked three times on Maraschino’s front door.

The sisters patiently stood there with a pair of grins on their faces and their hands ready to draw their pistols in an instant if need be. Soon the heavy footsteps of what was unmistakably a man came from inside the house and the door was pulled open to reveal Maraschino. He had a friendly smile on his face as he saw them, even though he didn’t recognize them, and clearly wasn’t worried about the two strangers on his doorstep.

“Can I help you two young ladies?” He asked.

“I think you can, sir,” Cloud Chaser smiled back at him. “You see me and my sister are looking for a gal by the name of Applejack. We heard that she might be staying at this house? Is she in at the moment?”

“Sorry but she’s out somewhere right now. Do you know her? I can take a message,” Maraschino offered.

“You certainly can,” Cloud Chaser said and punched him stiffly in the face.

“Mrgh!” Maraschino grunted and stumbled back, doubling over and holding his face in pain.

Cloud Chaser wasn’t done though. She pulled out her pistol and whipped him across the face with it too. Maraschino went down hard, gasping in pain. Candy Cane heard the commotion and came out from the kitchen, screaming in horror at what she then saw. She likely would’ve tried either running to her husband or running away if Flitter hadn’t pulled out her own gun and trained it on her. A boot came down on Maraschino’s chest and kept him pinned to the floor while Cloud Chaser sadistically grinned down at him.

“You two the only ones here?” She asked.

Maraschino grunted but nodded, blood dripping from his nose.

“That’s good. You and your wife are gonna be just fine so long as you shut up and tell me where I can find some rope.”

And while Maraschino and Candy Cane were tied up in the kitchen, gagged with dish rags, Twist hid under her bed. The girl had heard the commotion but her own sounds from the top of the stairs were drowned out by what came from below. Thanks to her father, Cloud Chaser and Flitter were unaware that a young girl lived here too. Once she heard the invaders start to tie up her parents she carefully snuck back into her room and crawled under the bed with her hands firmly clasped around her mouth and tears pouring down her face.

Applejack came back on Winona to Maraschino’s house that evening after thinking if she should just up and leave now. She had also stopped by Cake’s Saloon and gotten herself a full bottle of brandy. Not her usual beverage of choice but she had enough spare bits to try something different. The little detour also gave her the time to decide that she was having a negative impact on Twist. So despite the fun time she had been having in Ponyville it was indeed time to leave. She’d give Maraschino some extra cash as a thank you and head off tonight with Winona. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d slept out on the road in the elements anyways, she could handle it.

When she made it to the front of Maraschino’s house after coming back down the street her nose wrinkled at something. There was a familiar yet unfamiliar smell in the air. Horses, but not ones Applejack recognized. Winona smelled their scent to and brayed, there had been horses standing around out on the road in front of Maraschino’s house just earlier. Applejack looked down at the ground and sure enough saw horseshoe indents in the dirt that led up and around the side of the house to the backyard.

Guests? Family from out of town? She hadn’t heard anything.

A cold pit was forming in her stomach as she jumped off Winona and tied her up to the fence post just like she had on the first day she arrived here. “Stay here and keep quiet, Winona.”

Applejack had survived a long time on the road alone thanks to her sharp instincts and gut feelings. Right now they were telling her that something was wrong at Maraschino’s house. There weren’t any candles lit that she could see through the windows despite the fact the whole family should still be up. It was quiet too and the whole house wasn’t giving off the friendly and inviting aura it usually did. She let out a breath and walked up the porch towards the front door.

Inhale. Exhale. She looked at that door and reached her right hand towards the knob.

She knew what was coming.

“Fuck me,” Applejack clicked her tongue.

Applejack kicked the door open and rolled inside along the floor while bullets shot right over her head into the wall. If she had walked in unaware she would’ve been perforated right from the start.

From the dining room. Applejack could tell the direction of the shots and pulled out her pistol mid-roll, firing a few nearly blind shots in the direction of the sounds.

“Shit!” She heard a voice yell and the sound of two pairs of legs running in the direction of the kitchen.

Applejack was partially behind one of Maraschino’s chairs when she heard them start to run, she raised her head over it to barely see a girl following another girl past the dining room. Applejack lifted her gun and fired at them but she was a fraction of a second too late—the bullet just embedded itself in the wall behind them. She swore under her breath and got up, hugging the wall, and made her way over to the dining room while grabbing some more bullets from her belt and reloading the gun.

Two on one and they’re smart enough to not play fair. Great. Applejack thought.

She made it to the edge of the sitting room and suddenly swung around the corner with her pistol aimed into the kitchen—and saw the tied up Maraschino and Candy Cane. Both of them had a few bruises on their faces and were still gagged, they grunted for Applejack, clearly wanting her to untie and save them, but she had to leave them like that for now.

Okay so they didn’t care about shooting her suddenly without calling her out first but they weren’t willing to use hostages or human shields? So they likely still wanted to prove something and were doing this because of Applejack’s name and reputation, it had been obvious enough already that she was the target and not Maraschino’s family. Or perhaps they were just panicked amateurs too stupid to realize what they were doing. Applejack licked her lips. At least it made things easier for her to deal with if she didn’t have to worry about the tied up couple.

Applejack lifted a finger to her lips to get the not-so-happy couple to quiet down and slowly walked into the kitchen. She hadn’t heard any doors opened so they hadn’t run out into the back or hidden in either the pantry or closet. Not unless they were really quick about opening and closing it quietly and Applejack didn’t think that was the case.

And where was Twist?

She’d have to think about that later. There were two people in this house trying to kill her.

Applejack took a deep breath to steady herself and looked into the living room that the kitchen was connected to. She didn’t see anyone just from the kitchen’s doorway but that didn’t mean nobody was there. It could’ve also meant they already doubled around and were back in the sitting room. Applejack kept her eyes and her gun on the living room as she reached behind herself and grabbed one of the other chairs at the kitchen table. Getting a good grip on it she flung it out into the living room.

Soon as it landed and clattered over the floor two figures jumped up from behind one of the couches and strafed towards the sitting room while firing away with their pistols at Applejack. Bullet after bullet came out at her while Applejack returned fire, turning the house into a warzone. A teacup on the kitchen counter exploded, the back window was blown out, the cupboard door was split in two by a bullet, and Applejack poured six shots of her own into the living room furniture and walls while her would be assassins ran by.

Once the momentary exchange of fire was done, Applejack reacted much more quickly than she had before, running out into the living room while pushing more bullets into her six-shooter. She stayed low and was rewarded for her sense when one of the girls peeked half their body around the corner into the sitting room and fired at her. The bullet whizzed over her head and shattered a vase and Applejack returned fire with a single bullet that blew a hole in the front door after the girl hid behind the wall just in time.

As soon as Applejack’s fire stopped though the girl swung her arm around the corner again and opened fire some more. Applejack dove behind the table in the living room as bullets ripped into it and the carpet. She sat partially protected behind the thick leg of the table before springing halfway up and returning a few shots of her own with her arms on top of he table, steadying her gun at the wall the girl was hiding behind. One of her shots blew off part of the entrance’s border to the living room.

But there was momentary silence after that. Applejack paused in her shooting and the girl didn’t peak out from behind the wall again just yet. Slowly and carefully Applejack stood up while keeping her gun trained on the spot where he girl would appear if she stuck her head or gun out again. She silently walked along the carpet to the edge of the room, close to the front of the home and trying to get an angle on her opponent. She was too far behind the wall though. However that still left other opportunities.

She’s definitely still standing there, I haven’t heard her run out or move anywhere else. Applejack reasoned. She thinks just hiding behind the wall makes her safe.

Applejack knew better. The thickness of these walls along with the building materials used allowed them to be shot through. She raised her pistol to about where the girls head would be if she was still standing there and guessed about how far back she had to be standing pressed up to the wall if Applejack couldn’t see her yet either but where she could still reach far enough to fire her gun around the corner. It was an estimate but one she had gotten thanks to her wealth of experience when it came to fighting for her life in all manner of situations and places.

Applejack cocked the hammer back and fired.

Her bullet shot through the wall and she heard a strangled gasp and the sound of someone falling to the floor in the other room. Applejack quickly made her way over and went into the sitting room, still keeping her gun at the ready just in case. What she saw made her relax for a second. This one wasn’t a threat anymore.

A girl was lying on the floor, choking to death on her own blood with a bullet hole through her neck that blood flowed freely from. Tears were streaming down her face as she looked up at Applejack in fear, knowing she was dying and desperately gasping for air that wasn’t going to do anything. Young thing, the same age as Applejack about, with a cute face and a cute ponytail that was now red with blood at the end. She kept her eyes locked on Applejack as if silently begging and pleading for mercy that was far too late.

And Applejack watched until the light left her eyes and her chest stopped heaving. The girl was still, dead in a pool of her own blood.

The gun barrel pressed against the back of Applejack’s head snapped her out of her thoughts. She froze, her revolver held by her side, the other assailant had gotten the drop on her thanks to her carelessness.

“You killed my sister,” Cloud Chaser said to Applejack in little over a growl, she was clearly fighting to hold back tears.

“Well you were both trying to shoot me, what did you expect me to do?” Applejack said.

“You bitch. You feel this fucking gun pressed against your skull? It’s about to send you straight to Hell,” Cloud Chaser cocked the hammer.

Applejack squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation as the gunshot rang out through the house.

Only she wasn’t dead like she expected. Instead she heard the girl behind her collapsing into the wall. Applejack looked over her shoulder to see a bullet hole in the side of the other girl’s head and half her skull blown out on the other side, painting the floor in front of Maraschino’s front door red. Applejack blinked a few times before her sense finally returned and she walked into the living room and looked up the stairs.

Twist stood there on the landing leading up to the second floor, her father’s gun shakily grasped in her hands. The young girl’s face was pale and she looked on the verge of passing out while tears came running down her cheeks. Applejack blankly looked up at her and Twist looked back. The girl finally seemed to understand what Applejack had been saying earlier today.

The gun dropped from her hands onto one of the steps and lied there after a clatter while Twist’s legs gave out and she fell onto her knees. Her stomach came up a second later.

Twist cried and heaved long after she finished throwing up.

Applejack sighed and looked at the two dead bodies in the house, heard the tied up Maraschino and Candy Cane still screaming from behind their gags, this was just her life now. And it’s what she brought with her wherever she went. She knew she had stayed here too long and now she had brought a suffering and pain she never intended to onto a good family. That was the price of being Applejack today and having the stories and legends chasing her.

She walked out the front door and made her way back to the patient Winona, who looked at her knowingly, in the distance she could hear shouting and people coming on their way to the house. Not surprising but not an issue for her. She pulled her money pouch out of her bag and walked back inside Maraschino’s house, emptying it of all its bits on the mantle of the fireplace in the sitting room, and then she headed back out. Least she could do for them.

“Back to the road for us, girl.” Applejack said to Winona as she pulled herself up into the saddle.

The sun was down, it was dark out, and a lone horseback rider left Ponyville.