Apples to Pistols

by MegaColt

Rating: teen
Tags: Braeburn, Caramel, Big Macintosh, Adventure, Main 6, Gore, Apple Bloom, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 17995

A story of bounty hunters and bandits in Equestria.

In a world where life is often worthless, death has a price. That is why the bounty hunters have appeared. An economic depression has hit Equestria forcing many to turn to a life of crime and others to seek a fortune from the lucrative bounties offered on the lives of notorious bandits. When Granny Smith gets sick, the Apples are forced to find new methods to maintain their way of life...

Published 2011-12-22 23:46:28 UTC
Last updated 2012-03-11 22:37:47 UTC

The Hunter, The Desperate, and The Betrayed

Apples to Pistols

Chapter 1: The Hunter, The Desperate, and The Betrayed

A MLP FiM fan-fiction by: MegaColt

“While life has no value, death sometimes has a price. That is why the bounty killers have appeared.”-For a Few Dollars More

Blackjack sat at the card table with a smug grin on his face. He had the other card players eating from his hooves. The card shark unicorn was in his element and he had nothing to lose. An ace and a king lay on the table before him. The game, and the pot, was surely his. The cocky unicorn even mocked the dealer. He had a smirk on his face as he peered into the eyes of the pony in charge. “Well, are you going to take another card, or what, dealer?”

Unnoticed by Blackjack, a well dressed earth pony with a flowing orange mane had walked into the saloon, a dusty parchment clutched in his hoof. The newcomer swaggered up to the barkeeper and unfurled the poster. He seemed to be looking for somepony in particular, but Blackjack didn’t pay any mind to the stallion at the bar. He was confident that the news of his heist wouldn’t reach Appleloosa for at least three more days. His assumption was right. The telegraph lines he had cut on his way to Appleloosa hadn’t been repaired yet and the dispatch center in Canterlot had only just sent a messenger towards the prairie. The overly-confident crook had forgotten one thing, however. Bounty killers were hot on his trail. Like hounds, they stalked their pray until they accomplished their objective; one dead criminal and a hooveful of bits.

The newcomer made his way over to the table where Blackjack was playing. With a gesture of his hooves the stranger summoned the dealer. Blackjack couldn’t help but wonder what this swanky looking earth pony was asking the dealer as he whispered into his ear. The stranger never took his eye off of Blackjack, which made the card-shark uneasy. Blackjack decided to ignore the stranger and looked back at the table. He was sure nothing would become of it. That’s when the stranger suddenly and forcefully slapped his hoof on the table. “I want in on this game.”

Blackjack looked up at the stranger in shock. He said to the strange new pony with his usual cocky attitude, “You’ll have to wait for the next game, buddy. I’m about to win this one.”

The stranger glared at Blackjack. A malicious look was in his eyes as he carefully unfurled the poster so that the card shark pony was looking at it and snidely asked, “Do you know this fella?” There was a rather nasty picture of a sneering Blackjack on the flyer. It was printed in a large, bold, and stylistic typeface which jumped out to all who viewed it. The poster read, WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE FOR THE CRIMES OF ROBBERY AND MURDER - BLACKJACK - REWARD 1,000 BITS. There was moment of silence in the bar. Blackjack smiled and cooed, “Who’s that sexy stallion?”

Without any warning, the bandit whirled around and made a move for his pistol, but the bounty hunter already had his gun trained on the crook’s muzzle. The earth pony menacingly clicked the hammer of his peacemaker back. “It’s your choice Blackjack. dead or alive, what’s it going to be? Either drop your belt, or make a move. Who knows? Maybe you’ll get lucky.”

Going for his pistol was out of the question, so Blackjack undid his belt and dropped it to the ground. There was a long pause. Blackjack smiled and stuck his hooves out for a pair of cuffs. The bounty killer looked down and searched his belt for his restraints. That’s when the bandit took the opportunity to pull the dirtiest trick a stallion can pull on another stallion. He kicked the bounty hunter right in the crotch, and made a dash for the door.

The bounty hunter breathed heavily as he slowly regained his composure and chased his prey outside. His target was galloping as fast as he could towards buffalo territory, but that made no difference to the brash, young bounty killer. The hunter dropped his satchel and selected a musty old Winchester from his wide array of killing tools. Slowly and deliberately he took aim at the escaping bandit. The Winchester sprung into action with a loud, air-splitting, crack. Almost three hundred yards away from where the bounty hunter stood lay the infamous Blackjack, dead. The barkeeper rushed outside the second he heard the report of a rifle. He laid his hoof around the bounty hunter’s neck and chuckled, “Nice shot Braeburn! You’re starting to get good at this bounty hunting stuff!”

===

Applejack sat solemnly by Granny Smith’s hospital bed awaiting a letter from Princess Celestia. Poor old Granny’s time was running out. She was going to die if she didn’t get help, but the Apple family was broke. The farm was about to go under and there was no money left to pay for bills. The hospital was going to “send Granny home to die” the next day if nopony could come up with the bits to pay the bill with. So far all the ponies Applejack had asked for a loan turned her down. Nopony could spare the extra bits; they didn’t have them. All of Equestria was in the midst of an economic depression.

Spike burst into the room with a letter clasped between his claws. It was the letter Applejack had been waiting for. She excitedly unfurled it, fully expecting that Celestia had approved her request.

“Dear Applejack,

I am extremely sorry about your grandmother, but I can not give loans out to everypony who needs them. I realize that this is a dire situation for you and your family, but I have never given out a loan before and I simply can not start now. I am sincerely sorry,

Princess Celestia.”

Granny strained to lift her head from her pillow and asked Applejack in a quivering voice about the bits, but Applejack didn’t hear her. She couldn’t. The blonde earth pony had burst into tears of anger and frustration. Nopony would help them out. They were all convinced that Granny Smith’s time had come and that it would be a waste of their hard earned bits. Even Applejack’s best friend, Rainbow Dash, didn’t "have any money to spare.” Nopony seemed to care. Applejack lightly kissed Granny Smith on the forehead and sulked out of the room.

Big Mac was waiting at the door. “So sis, did we get the loan? Is Granny gonna be alright?”

Applejack wiped the tears from her face. “No, we didn’t get the bits, but Granny is going to die if we don’t do anything.”

Caramel walked up to his cousins, and patted Applejack on the shoulder. “I heard about Granny and I came as soon as I could.”

Applejack held her cousin tight as she cried into his shoulder. “Nopony will help us, Caramel! Not even the princess! Granny is going to die!”

Caramel looked at Big Mac with concern. “Is this true, Mac?”

Big Mac simply nodded and sighed. “Eeyup.”

Caramel sat back on his haunches. He thought long and hard about his family’s plight. He pondered the subject until he was sure that he had the solution to their problems. It was a radical solution to a common problem, but the Apple family was beyond desperate. “Hey, Applejack! Do you have any problem with well, I don’t know, maybe breaking the law to save Granny’s life.”

Applejack looked at her cousin inquisitively. “Under normal circumstances, I suppose not, but now I’m not sure if I care about the law anymore. The authorities don’t seem to care about us, so why should we give a darn about them? What did you have in mind, Caramel?”

The brown maned colt checked to make sure that nopony else was listening. His eyes shifted back and forth. They had a crazed look about them. “Let’s rob the bank of Canterlot. We can do it tonight when there are only a few guards on duty. After we take them out we can put the safe in a wagon and have Mac pull it back to the farm. We can crack the safe once we get there. If we can get away with the heist then we’ll have enough bits to pay for Granny Smith’s hospital bills and Sweet Apple Acres!”

Applejack had nothing left to loose, but she had everything to gain. It also gave her an opportunity to exact a small amount of revenge upon Celestia, the one pony who could have been able to help her without question, but didn’t. Hesitantly she agreed to the dirty deed. “Alright let’s do it. We’ll rob the bank, but if we’re caught we aren’t going to give ourselves up. We’re going to fight to the death if we do this.”

The two stallions nodded their heads in agreement and the family made their way back to Sweet Apple Acres. They debated for hours, arguing about what was the best plan for what was, in their minds, going to be the greatest heist Equestria had ever seen. The plan they finally agreed upon was ingenious. Despite Applejack’s initial objections, they agreed to use Applebloom as a distraction. She would take care of the first two guards by using some cliche like “My parents are in trouble!” or “I’m lost, please help me!” The guards would surely help a helpless little filly in peril. After the two guards at the front of the bank were taken care of; Applejack would sneak into the bank and use her feminine charms to lure the remaining guard outside. Then, Big Mac and Caramel would go inside and snatch the safe. It seemed to be the perfect plan, at least in their minds.

Later that night, the Apple family put their scheme into action. The bank had two burly guards on duty outside of the building. They each wore surplus army uniforms and toted repeaters on their backs. Applebloom worked up her best alligator tears and galloped as hard as she could towards the two guards, balling her eyes out the whole way. The two guards seemed to be concerned about the little filly, but they didn’t dare budge from their posts. Applebloom begged and pleaded with the guards for help, but they simply blew her off. “Listen little filly. It’s not our job to help everypony who needs it. It’s our job to stand here and make sure the bank is secure. I’m sure you can find a royal guard who will be more than glad to help you.”

Applebloom still didn’t give up on her distraction. She hadn’t practiced her crying and begging for nothing. “But sirs! If I don’t get any help soon they might die! Please help them. They’ve been cornered by bandits!” She was choking on her tears by this point, but the two bank guards didn’t move.

One of them pointed down the street and told the sobbing Applebloom, “Look kid. There is a royal guard barracks about a block further down the street. Go bother them. We can’t help you.”

The defeated Applebloom slowly rounded the corner back to the dark alley where Applejack was patiently waiting. Solemnly she briefed her older sister on the uncompassionate and unbudging guards. “I’m sorry sis. They wouldn’t move no matter how hard I begged and cried. I did my best, honest Applejack. I guess I ain’t going to get a cutie mark for acting after all.”

Applejack was shocked that the plan hadn’t worked. Only the most insensitive, cold-hearted ponies would refuse to help a scared little filly out when she obviously had no place else to turn. She sighed and patted her little sister on the back. “It’s okay, Applebloom. I know you did your best. I’m going to go out there and do what I have to do. Now, you go back to the hospital and check on Granny Smith like a good little filly. If anypony asks where we’re at tell them you don’t have a clue.” Applebloom nodded and trotted away.

If the guards didn’t take the bait this time, Applejack didn’t know what they’d have to do to rob the bank successfully. Carefully, she cantered towards the bank, excessively swinging her hips the whole way, making sure that her flank was exposed in the guards’ direction. When Applejack got to the steps in front of the bank she struck the sexiest pose she could think of. One that she’d seen Rarity use a million times with excellent results. “Hey you studs, why don’t y’all come to my farm? It’s just a little ways down the road, and there are a lot of private spots in the orchard.” Applejack winked to the younger guard, who at this point literally had fountains of drool rolling down his neck because his tongue was hanging out of his mouth. The other guard stood there like a statue. Apparently he didn’t see the mare swinging her hips in front of him who was obviously “in heat” and wanted him of all ponies.

The stubborn guard thought, "If it wasn’t for my wife, I’d like a piece of that flank", but he was devoted to his job and family.

The young colt practically hovered down the stairs, his heart filled with lust for the sweet southern belle, but before he could abandon his post the older guard hissed at him. “Forget her, Honeyglaze. Your job is to stand here and watch the bank. You can chase mares when our shift is over.”

Honeyglaze’s faced turned a deep crimson as he sulked back to his usual post by the door. “I’m sorry miss, I’d really like to see your farm and all, but booty...I mean duty calls.”

Applejack’s mouth dropped to the floor. If she would have had her pistol on her she would have offed those jackponies right then and there, but she recovered with an amount of grace that only a southern belle could muster. “That’s quite understandable, fella. You’ll just miss out on all the sights my farm has to offer a studly young stallion like yourself.”

The older guard suddenly cocked his repeater and pointed it directly at Applejack. “Listen missy, I know what you’re trying to do, and it ain’t going to work. I’ve been on this job for over a decade, and believe me, I’ve seen everything. Now you go back to whoever you’re working for and tell them that there is no way in Equestria they will be able to rob the Bank of Canterlot. Not while Blindshot is on the job.”

Applejack grudgingly gave up on her distraction and trudged back to the staging area where the rest of the Apple family was waiting. Caramel looked up from where he had been napping with his back hunkered against a wall and tentatively asked, “Did it work out? Are we good to go?”

Applejack sighed. “I’m afraid not. I don’t know what we’re going to do now and I don’t really want us to have to kill anypony to get the money.” A million thoughts were racing through her mind as she went through what she could have done wrong in executing the plan. In truth she had executed the plan exactly as they planned it. The guards simply didn’t take the bait.

Caramel got back up on his legs and paced around the alley way. He didn’t want to kill anypony either, but if they didn’t they’d lose everything that they’d ever worked for. There was only one choice to make. Solemnly he said, “I know it’s not what we want, but it’s either us or them. Let’s kill the guards and quickly grab the bits inside. Hopefully we’ll be in and out with the prize before the Royal Guards can get to the bank and surround us. Does that sound like a plan to you, Mac?”

Big Macintosh lazily nodded his head and sighed. “Eeyup.”

The trio loaded up their guns, and galloped to the bank at a steadfast pace. There the two guards stood in their usual spots. The youngest one was half asleep, but the veteran guard was as vigilant as ever. The gang stuck to the shadows and alleyways as they creeped into the range of their rifles. Then it dawned on them. They were about to kill innocent equines just so they could save the life of another. The group exchanged nervous looks as they lined up their shots. At this point it wasn’t too late to turn back, but it was in their minds. To them it was either their lives or the lives of the guards and it definitely wasn’t going to be theirs. The three took a collective breath. Applejack whispered to her kin, “Alright fellas. On the count of three we pick ‘em off.” The two nodded in agreement as the bank guards shuffled their hooves with boredom. The oldest one seemed to notice something off in the gangs vicinity, but it was too late. “One, two, three!” Applejack commanded.

The family pumped a dozen rounds into the unsuspecting rent-a-cops as the trio burst from the shadows. There was no turning back now. Big Mac steamrolled his way through the bank’s oak doors, his pistols blazing. The poor guardian of the safe, an elderly farm worker who had only taken the job for the extra income, was mercilessly gunned down as he scrambled for his rifle. Applejack coolly cantered into the bank and surveyed the damage her brother had caused. “By Celestia Mac, I didn’t want to wake up the entire city! It doesn’t matter now. We’re nothing more than a bunch of thieves and murderers. Hurry up and get that safe on your back Mac and let’s get out of here before the entire Royal Guard shows up.”

===

Rainbow Dash glided through the early morning breeze with the greatest of ease. She had always taken early-morning flights to help keep the most awesome body in Ponyville looking the best it could. To Rainbow Dash, there was nothing better than feeling the damp pre-dawn air hitting her face as she streaked through the air at the speed of sound. For her, this was just a warm-up routine. As she streaked through the dark blue sky Dash noticed something out of the ordinary. Inching their way around the edge of Sweet Apple Acres was the Apple family. It looked like they were carrying a safe similar the one reported stolen from The Bank of Canterlot the previous night. It was all over the news, being slated as the greatest and most ruthless heist in Equestria’s history.

Dash looked on from above as the group quietly slipped into the barn. Curiosity had gotten the best of Rainbow. She had to know if that really was the bank’s safe. Silently, Dash landed in the barns loft and watched as Big Mac and Caramel took a blow torch to the safe. It was exactly like the one described in the morning paper. That meant that Applejack and her family had not only stolen the safe, but they had also killed three guards. There was no way in Equestria that was the case. The Apple family was the most honest and hardworking family in all of Equestria. They wouldn’t harm a fly, let alone rob a bank. But there was the proof to the contrary right in front of Dash’s eyes.

Applejack impatiently paced back and forth in the dimly lit barn. “Are y’all done yet? That hospital bill isn’t going to pay itself.”

Caramel lifted the welding mask up and scowled at Applejack with an irritated look. “Listen cousin, this ain’t no piggy bank. This is a five-hundred pound iron safe. It’s going to take more than five minutes to crack it. Have some patience.” Caramel angrily slammed the mask back into the welding position as he went back to work.

Rainbow watched as Applejack lit herself a cigarette. That wasn’t in AJ’s character at all. She had never smoked before. As far as anypony knew Applejack hated tobacco. Rainbow took a moment to survey the barn. Aside from the low hum of the blow torches the barn was silent. At least it was until Applebloom burst through the door with tears flowing from her golden eyes. “Granny’s dead! Granny’s dead! O’ Applejack, Granny is dead!”

Everyone in the barn stopped in their tracks and dropped everything. For a moment not even the crickets chirped. Applejack spat out her cigarette, her eyes shut and over-running with tears. “You mean we did this for nothing? We killed ponies for the bits and we didn’t even get a chance to save Granny Smith?! What the buck does the world have against our family?” Applejack wiped the tears from her eyes and took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for the worst. “How did she die, Applebloom?”

Applebloom closed her eyes and gulped, preparing herself for her sister’s reaction to the awful truth. Rainbow noticed that the look of sadness on Applebloom’s face was replaced with a nervous look. Applejack’s poverty sunken cheeks seemed to twitch every couple of seconds and her eyes resembled a dark emotionless void. Applebloom nervously looked down and told her family the tale. “We heard a bunch of gunshots a couple of blocks down and Granny started clutching at her chest. She was yelling for a doctor, but it was the middle of the night and there was only one doctor. I went as fast as I could looking for him, but by the time I got him Granny was dead. I’m sorry Applejack.”

Applejack reached into a cabinet and pulled out a dusty Jack Pony bottle. It looked like it had never been opened before. She hastily twisted the cap off, and tipped it up to her muzzle. She chugged the entire bottle without even taking a breath. Something in Applejack’s head had snapped. What little sanity the orange earth pony had possessed was now gone. Her cheek started twitching violently and her eyes became bloodshot. “Why did we do it? We just murdered three others and we didn’t even rescue the one life we set out to save. Instead of saving her we killed her.” Applejack hesitantly pulled the revolver out of it’s holster and pointed it at her own head. “I’m going to save the hangpony the trouble.”

Big Mac and Caramel never even noticed the disillusioned Applejack. They had already went back to the safe. The only thing they had left to live for were the bits in that safe.

Rainbow Dash could no longer sit idly by and watch her friend throw her life down the drain. She dive bombed from the loft. Applejack whirled around and redirected the gun at the incoming intruder. “Don’t do it Applejack! You’ve got so much to live for," shouted Dash.

The expression on Applejacks’ face went from one of depression to one of absolute rage. “You! This is all your fault, Rainbow Dash! If you had only loaned us a few bits we could have paid that bill and we wouldn’t have had to rob the bank.”

Rainbow was taken aback by her friend’s sudden outburst. Nobody had ever snapped on Dash like that before. “Listen you. I have absolutely nothing to my name. In fact, I’ve been sleeping in a tree for the past two months. If anyone should be mad, it’s me.”

Applejack kept the pistol trained on Dash. Her cheek continued to twitch in a nervous manner. “I’m tired of hearing excuses! That’s all anypony has for me anymore, dag blamed excuses.” Applejack rolled her eyes and smiled. It wasn’t a friendly smile at all. It was cold and malevolent. “Rainbow you just made the last excuse you’ll ever make.” AJ pulled the hammer back on her revolver and pulled the trigger.

Dash never heard the shot, but she certainly felt it. The bullet had went straight through
her stomach and exited through her back. She couldn’t move anything from the waist down. Dash weakly muttered, crimson blood pouring from her mouth, “Why are you doing this? What is the matter with you? This isn’t like you at all.” The world around Dash seemed to grow darker and more distant as Rainbow struggled to maintain consciousness.

Applejack blew the smoke from the barrel of her gun, and holstered it. She taunted the wounded and dying Dash. “There’s nothing wrong with me. You should probably take a look at yourself though, partner. You don’t look so good.” She turned her attention away from the wounded pegasus with a laugh and focused on the two colts at the safe. “Are you done yet guys?”

Caramel threw down his tools and scooped the bits out of the newly opened safe. He held them up to the heavens as if they were sent by divine intervention. “Yeah cousin, we got the safe open. Now, do you want me to finish her off for ya?”

Applejack filled her saddlebags with as many bits as they could hold and trotted out of the barn. “No, don’t worry about her. I want her to suffer the way we’ve had to suffer. Leave her to die a slow, painful death. Maybe then she’d understand the pain we’ve had to go through these past few months.”

For Rainbow, death was inevitable. As the world spun in circles around her, the voices of her old friends grew fainter and the blood pooled around her motionless body. Dash vowed that if she were to somehow survive this ordeal, she would not rest until she had gained her vengeance on the friend who had betrayed her and left her to die. She would kill Applejack one way or another.

After an eternity of pain and struggle, the loss of blood had proven too much for the sky blue pegasus. Grudgingly, Rainbow Dash embraced the darkness of death.

To be continued...

The Path of Vengeance

Apples to Pistols
Chapter 2: The Path of Vengeance
An MLP FiM fan-fiction by MegaColt
Edited by Foolonthehillz and McSqueakers

“On wrongs, swift vengeance awaits.”-Alexander Pope

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes to a fluorescent light beaming directly onto her tired face. The sky blue pegasus’ head swam in circles as she struggled to take in her surroundings. She was sprawled out on a thin mattress in a plainly decorated room, surrounded by cards and flowers. Several fuzzy figures were moving about the room. As Dash tried to focus in on them, one of the figures began to shout, leaving a shrill ringing in Dash’s ears. Everything around her seemed distant and unreal, like a dream. The pegasus tried to regain focus, but every gasp of air brought her further into darkness.

A giant pink blob picked up the comatose pony and violently shook her back to life. The ringing stopped, and the world slowly returned back to its normal focus. All of Rainbow’s friends were there for her. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity were joyously hugging each other while Pinkie Pie jumped around the room like she was on an invisible pogo stick. Every part of Rainbow Dash’s body was sore and stiff, but she managed to sit herself upright. “How long have I been in here?” she asked with a grimace.

Twilight looked at Dash with concern. “You’ve only been in here for a night, but you weren’t supposed to wake up for a couple of days. The doctors finished operating on you about an hour ago. You’re lucky to be alive.”

The tomboyish flyer clambered off of the operating table and checked the bandages on her stomach. It had actually happened. Applejack had really shot her, and left her to die.

Rarity walked over to Dash and smiled. “It’s quite curious how we found you in AJ’s barn, yet we can’t get in touch with her right now. I wonder if she had anything to do with this?”

Twilight condemned Rarity as if she’d accused Celestia of commiting genocide. “Rarity! You know Applejack wouldn’t do anything like that. Dash is her best friend!”

Pinkie Pie somersaulted over the operating table, and wrapped her hooves around Dash’s neck. “Yeah! How dare you accuse Applejack. She’s probably doing something for Granny Smith’s funeral! Isn’t that right, Dashie?”

“Actually, guys,” Dash said as she looked at her friends solemnly, “She was the one who shot me.”

Everyone in the room was shocked, especially Rarity, who had a look of unexpected triumph on her face. “I was merely joking. Are you serious, Rainbow Dash?”

Fluttershy tried to help Dash back onto the operating table. “I think you’re still a little delusional, Rainbow. Why don’t you rest for awhile? I’m sure it will make you feel better.”

Dash shrugged her friends off of her. “Guys, I know it’s hard to believe, but you just have to. Applejack is the one who robbed the bank along with Caramel and Big Mac. They were trying to get some money to pay for Granny’s hospital bills because nopony had any bits to spare. I saw them carrying the safe into the barn during my morning warmup routine. I tried to stop her, and I almost convinced her to snap back to her old self, but she’d gone off the edge. She shot me from point blank and left me to die, but I pulled through with gusto.”

Twilight looked at Dash like she had lost her mind. “Rainbow, Applejack wouldn’t harm a fly, let alone rob a bank. She definitely wouldn’t have shot you. I mean, you’re her best friend. You’ve been friends since you first moved to Ponyville.”

Rainbow glared at her friends with a fiery determination in her eyes. “Tell me why nopony has seen Applejack since before the robbery. Tell me why there’s an empty safe in AJ’s barn. Tell me why I watched my best friend condemn me to death as she stood over my wounded body. I know what happened, and I won’t back down from the truth!”

Rarity helped Dash take her hospital robe off, and sighed. “She’s got a point ladies. No one has seen Applejack since yesterday, and we can’t explain that safe in the barn where we found Dash unconscious.”

Twilight gave the two accusers a tired look. “Well, what are you going to do about it? The Apple family is probably long gone by now.”

The revenge-obsessed pegasus came within inches of Twilight’s face as she gazed into the unicorn’s eyes. “I’m going to find Applejack, and I’m going to bring her in, or if have to, I’ll put her out of her misery.

Spike ran into the room with a wanted poster clasped between his claws. “Guys, you have to check this out! It’s a wanted poster with the entire Apple family on it! The Royal Guards think that the evidence points to them, and I hate to say it, but I can’t find anything that says otherwise. The poster says that they were last seen boarding a train for Appleloosa.”

Rainbow Dash icily peered at her doubters, and said triumphantly, “Do you believe me yet, or do I have to get a confession from that double-crossing mule?” Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but the riled up pegasus cut her off. “I don’t care what evidence you want. I’ll get it for you. I’ll bring Applejack back to your doorstep, dead or alive. I’m going after them, and I’m leaving the second the doctors clear me.”

===

It wasn’t the cramped boxcar or even the smell of rotting fish that had Applejack pulling her mane out. It was a growing sense of guilt that was taking its toll on the already stressed earth pony. The orange earth pony sat with her back against a crate and her face in her hoofs. “Do you guys think that Applebloom will be okay living with Rarity and Sweetie Belle? I know she’s better off with them than us, but don’t you think she’ll miss us?”

Caramel hopped off the box he was sitting on and gazed out of the boxcar’s door at the passing desert. The filly they’d left behind was the last thing on his mind. “I’m sure she’ll miss us, but you know as well as I do that leaving her in Ponyville was the best thing to do.” His mind was on everything he had left behind, and the reasons why he’d decided for the family to flee to Neighxico. It was a beautiful, but desolate place. The kind of land where only the bravest ponies dared to travel. Not even the Royal Guard dared to venture to that forsaken patch of desert.

The rusty steam engine screeched to a halt at the Appleloosa station for a routine supply delivery. Little did they know that they’d be delivering more than just apple seed on this route.

The robust earth pony who was in charge of unloading the cargo nearly collapsed under the stress of one particularly large crate. “Gee, what have they got in here? It weighs a ton.”

The engineer, a scrawny white unicorn, scoffed at the struggling farmhand. “Listen buddy, whatever is in those boxes has been ordered for delivery here. It’s none of my business to know what’s inside.”

The laborer sighed, carelessly dropping his load behind the depot. “Whatever, that was the last crate anyways.” The colt hurriedly grabbed a clipboard from the engineer and put his mark on it. “I’m heading home for the night. Catch you later.”

The unicorn sighed and lightly shoved the earth pony off the locomotive. “Yeah, whatever. I’ve got to get back to Canterlot before sunrise.” The engineer lazily put the brake down and shoveled a few loads of coal into the burner. It only took a few minutes for the train to round the ridge and disappear from sight.

The three outlaws hesitantly poked their heads out of the crate, peering with beady eyes at the unsuspecting town. The place was pitch black with the exception of several street lamps. Not even the crickets made a sound. It had the aura of a ghost town, but the bandits knew better.

Applejack scrambled out of the crate and signaled for her family members to follow her. “Alright fellas, here’s the plan. We’re gonna play it cool because I’m pretty sure that word about our heist won’t get this far out for a couple more days. For now, we need to get rid of some of these bits so nopony will get suspicious. Any suggestions?”

The two stallions shuffled their feet in the dirt, their heads fixed on the ground. Caramel trotted over to the depot and leaned against one of the ticket shacks. “Well, we ought to go buy some new firearms. Your old man gave these revolvers to us years ago, and I’m sure in the past decade they’ve made much better guns than what we’ve got now.”

Applejack pulled her revolver out and looked at it. It was aged with petina and difficult to unload. Her father had given it to her when she was just a filly. It was a family heirloom that had been used by an ancestor in the Equestrian Civil War, according to family legend. A tear slid down Applejack’s cheek as she holstered it. “It’ll be a shame, but I guess you’re right, Caramel. This thing had seen action before any of us were even born. I guess it wouldn’t hurt our chances to buy something a little more modern.”

Big Mac raised his eyebrows, and stared at the town. “Guys? It’s something like three in the morning. Who are you gonna buy guns from at this time of night?”

Applejack casually strode over to the town’s general store, dragging her partners into the street. The sign above the door read “APPLELOOSA GENERAL STORE: GUNS, FARM SUPPLIES, ETC.” The orange earth pony rolled her eyes and vigorously pounded her hoofs against the shop’s door, which summoned the shops proprietor, a short and plump earth pony. “What do you want? Can’t you see we’re closed?”

Applejack pulled a small bag of bits from her bag, and tossed them to the shopkeeper. “Well we say you’re open. We’d like to buy some guns, if you don’t mind.”

The gun peddler inspected the bag with his bright blue eyes, his mouth watering, and pocketed it. He enthusiastically opened the door, and gestured for the three strangers to step inside his store. “Welcome to my shop! I’m sure you’ll be satisfied with the selection. We have the finest guns in all of Equestria, imported from the world’s finest gunsmiths. Are you looking for anything in particular?”

Big Mac stepped up to the salesman, and pointed to the shop’s wall. The red stallion towered over the tiny earth pony. “I’m looking for a nice shotgun. The best you’ve got. Price isn’t an issue.”

The peddler looked nervous, but he continued his sales jargon with gusto. “For you, big guy, I recommend this baby. It’s a semi-auto twelve gauge. It’s from Manechester’s finest gunsmith; all custom-made. Heck, nopony can survive a flurry from this lead cannon.”

Macintosh grabbed the gun and threw it on his back. “Give the fella his bits, AJ.”

Applejack flung another bag to the shopkeeper. The stocky earth pony leaped into the air, snatching the bits out of the sky with lustful greed in his eyes. “Is there anything else I can help you kind folks with?”

Caramel chuckled sarcastically and lifted an exotic-looking rifle of of the shop’s wall. “What’s this thing? I ain’t never seen nothing like it.”

The salespony glided across the floor, and came to a perfect stop beside Caramel. “This, my friend, is the latest and greatest in long range weaponry. It’s a bolt action rifle, shipped here directly from the factory in Stalliongrad. I personally guarantee that you can drive nails with it at two-hundred yards. All you have to do to work it is pull up and back on that handle and slide it back into place. Nothing to it.”

Caramel’s eyes were aglow with childlike giddiness as he lovingly stroked his hoof across the rifle’s mahogany stock. “Go on AJ, pay him for it.”

Instead of reaching into her bag, Applejack whipped her pistol out of its holster and shoved it into the store owner’s mouth. “Nah, we’re good, we’ve paid him enough.” The proprietor’s eyes began to water as he started to whimper.

Caramel tried to pull his psychotic cousin off of the defenseless salespony, but she ripped her shoulders away from him. “C’mon AJ, let him be. He ain’t been nothing but cooperative.”

There was a look of sick pleasure in AJ’s eyes as she pulled the hammer back on her revolver. “Now listen here, partner. You’re going to give us them bits back, and let us walk out of here with these guns. And I know that you’re not going to say a word about this to anypony. If you do, I’ll find you, and I’ll kill you. Shoot, I might find that splattering half of your head on the wall over there to be a good bit enjoyable.” Applejack pulled the pistol out of the shopkeeper’s mouth and holstered it. Her victim crumpled to the ground, shaking uncontrollably. He had gone into shock, but Applejack didn’t care. She swept the two bags off of the counter and trotted out of the store. “C’mon let’s go see Braeburn.”

===

Braeburn rolled out of bed as he awakened by the crowing of a rooster. Sluggishly, he began his morning routine, creeping into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Everything seemed perfectly ordinary. At least it did at first. Braeburn's face had a confused expression on it as he noticed a certain smell wafting up the stairs and into his nostrils. It was a familiar smell. One that Braeburn had smelled a hundred times before, but he couldn't place his hoof on it. And then it hit him; it was eggs and bacon! As the blonde earth pony became lost in the intoxicating aroma of his favorite meal, his tongue drooling in anticipation of a tasty breakfast, he came to the sudden realization that he wasn't the one cooking the meal.

Braeburn threw on his holster vest, and tiptoed down the stairs with his back hugged tight to the wall. He unholstered his revolver, slowly edging his way to the kitchen's door frame. The bounty hunter took a deep breath, and prepared himself for whatever lay on the other side of the doorway. With catlike reflexes, Braeburn jumped into the kitchen expecting to find a bandit scrambling for his weapon, but he was instead met by the barrel of a shotgun. The red stallion behind the barrel grinned and lowered his weapon. “Eeyup, it’s Brae.”

Applejack was working fervently at the stove while Caramel drank coffee and read the morning paper. “Well, the paper says they’ve got some suspects in the robbery.”

Big Mac galloped to his cousin, ripped the paper from his hands, and pointed to the home’s confused owner.

Caramel downed his coffee, and put on the cheesiest fake smile Braeburn had ever seen. “Oh hey there cuz! Wasn’t expecting you to be up this early. Come over here and have a seat. We’ll catch up on each other’s lives, or something like that.”

Braeburn made his way into the kitchen, but before he could grab a seat he was interrupted by someone knocking on his door. “If y’all will excuse me.” The three guests exchanged a nervous glance and went back to their tasks.

When Braeburn opened the door the sheriff forced his way into the house and headed straight for the kitchen. When the sheriff got to the pantry Braeburn grabbed him by the shoulder. “Sheriff! What is the meaning of barging into my house like this?”

The sheriff pointed his pistol at the two colts sitting at the table. “These two are wanted for the bank robbery in Canterlot the other night.” Braeburn scanned the room for Applejack, but she had disappeared. “Now you two had best tell me where the last of you is.”

Applejack jumped from the shadows with a Bowie knife and plunged it deep into the sheriff’s throat. “I’m right here, sheriff!” She grinned wickedly as she ripped a gaping whole into the sheriff’s neck, laughing maniacally as he fell twitching to the ground like a sack of dirt.

Braeburn tried to wrestle the pugnacious murderer to the ground, but Big Mac grabbed him, and hogtied him to a chair. “Why are you guys doing this? What’s happened to y’all?”

Applejack stalked over to the restrained Braeburn and rubbed the dull part of the knife across his throat. “You mean you don’t remember, cousin?” The orange pony’s cheek started twitching uncontrollably, and her eyes began to jump from side to side. “Have you forgotten all of the letters I sent you? The letters about our troubles with the farm, and making ends meet? You probably didn’t even read them.”

Braeburn tried to interject, but he was slapped in the face by the tirading bandit. “Don’t you dare interrupt me, boy. For over a year we lived off of nothing more than hard work and charity. Heck, we were barely scraping by as it was. When the harvest went bad last year we finally hit rock bottom, and then Granny Smith got sick. When she went to the hospital we didn’t even have enough bits for our bread, let alone enough to pay for a hospital bill. We were eating from the garbage, Braeburn! All the other ponies treated us like dirt! They wouldn’t even give us a single lousy bit to help pay for your aunt’s hospital bills. They always told us that they were as bad off as we were, but I knew that was a load of crap. Not even that wicked tyrant, Princess Celestia would help us. So Caramel put the idea in our heads that robbing the Bank of Canterlot would be a good idea to acquire the funds to save our beloved Granny Smith.”

Applejack licked the still oozing blood off of the knife and ran her tongue across her lips, much to the dismay of the horrified Braeburn. “We didn’t want to kill anypony, but it turns out that it’s hard to rob a bank and succeed without a bit of bloodshed. Sure, I felt bad about the killings, but we had gotten away with it. Heck, we’d even gotten the safe in the barn, but then I learned about Granny’s demise, and that we were the cause of her death at that. That’s when my old friend Rainbow Dash jumped me, and tried to get us to return the bits. Something in my head snapped when I pointed my revolver at her. I felt a sort of power that I’d never felt before. I felt like I was playing the role of judge, jury, and executioner all at once. I felt a weird sense of pleasure when I pulled the trigger and watched my best friend hit the floor, begging for help. I feel guilty about it now, but at that moment I thought of her only as my mortal enemy.”

The ringleader closed her eyes and grinned wickedly at her cousin as she muzzled his snout with a bandanna. Applejack whispered into Braeburn’s ear as she stroked his mane. “I know what you do for a living. If you were any other bounty hunter I’d have cut your head off, but you’re my cousin, and I think a lot of you. That’s why I’ve decided to leave your fate up to chance. If you’re lucky, somepony will find you and rescue you, but if you aren’t then you’ll starve in this chair.”

The orange earth pony motioned for Big Mac and Caramel to leave the room. As the trio left the kitchen, Applejack poked her head in the doorway. “Oh, I almost forgot. If you are rescued, don’t you dare follow us. If you do, then I won’t hesitate to end your pitiful existence.”

To be continued...

Tales of the Dead

Apples to Pistols
Chapter 3: Tales of the Dead
A MLP FiM fan-fiction by MegaColt
Edited by McSqueakers

“But in a story, which is a kind of dreaming, the dead sometimes smile and sit-up and return to the world.”-Tim O’Brien

It was nearing dusk when the locomotive carrying Rainbow Dash arrived in Appleloosa. As the train came screeching to a halt the sky blue pegasus jumped off and made a bead for the sheriff’s office. When Dash entered the one room stockade that served as the town’s jail she was shocked to find that the lawpony was nowhere to be found, however, there were a couple of clues as to the sheriff’s whereabouts in the room. A wanted poster was unfurled across his desk with the Apple family’s picture on it. She’d already seen the poster, but what caught her eyes was the set of dusty hoofprints leading out of the shack and onto the street. Dash had nothing else to go on. So she rolled her eyes and followed the tracks across the street until she came to the front door of a multi-story plantation house which dominated the town’s skyline.

There was a large knocker shaped like an apple on the door which the pegasus used twice. It collided against the wood producing a hollow sounding but loud thud. Dash waited for somepony to answer, but all she could hear was what sounded like a chair being dragged across the floor, and a faint mumbling noise. The flyer cantered to the other side of the street and launched herself into the sky, climbing to a ridiculous height. Focusing on the oaken door, she began a steep divebomb as she held her hooves out in front of her. The door splintered into a million pieces as Dash crashed through it, landing gracefully on the home’s inside.

The muddy hoofprints continued to wind through the house. The blue pegasus put on her best detective impression, stalking along the mansion’s interior as she followed the tracks into the kitchen. Dash’s jaw hit the floor as she stumbled upon the most horrific sight she had ever laid eyes on. The sheriff’s body lay on the floor in a pool of crimson blood, a giant gash torn into his neck. Braeburn was tied to a chair in the corner of the room trying to scoot his way towards his savior. The horrified pegasus rushed over to the restrained earth pony and cut him loose.

Braeburn hit the floor and rolled onto his back gasping for air. “Thank Celestia you came. I thought I was a goner for sure.”

Dash’s muscles strained as she lifted the hefty bounty hunter back to his feet. “Who did this to you?” She asked, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Braeburn’s legs wobbled unsteadily as he leaned against a table. “My own cousins did this to me. They killed the sheriff too.” The bounty hunter squinted at the pegasus who had saved his life. “Say, you’re Rainbow Dash aren’t you? Applejack was saying a bunch of crazy things about you. She told me that she’d done killed you too.”

Rainbow Dash was ecstatic at the fact that Applejack had no idea she was alive. It meant that she had the advantage of surprise. “Well she made one mistake. She didn’t finish the job. I’m more alive than I’ve ever been and I’m ready to bring AJ to justice! There is one thing that bothers me about all of this.” The flyer sighed. “Why would they come into your home and tie you up like they did?”

Braeburn limped into the hallway and started throwing random articles of clothing to Dash. “I personally have no clue outside of what she told me.”

Dash grabbed the threads appreciatively, a long pegasus duster complete with a matching hat, and slid them on. “So what did AJ tell you?”

The bounty hunter opened the door and stepped onto his front porch with Rainbow Dash in tow. “Probably the same crap she told you. Some story about the family being too poor to care for themselves and that nopony would lend a helping hoof. How they robbed a bank, killed three guards, they killed... well almost killed you, and she pretty much told me she was crazy.”

The blue pegasus nodded and headed for the town’s general store. “Yeah, that’s basically what she told me before she shot me. Sounds like a bunch of bologna if you ask me. I’m sure somepony at least tried to help her. I couldn’t imagine Rarity or Pinkie Pie turning her down for a loan.”

Braeburn scratched his chin. “Yeah y’all didn’t seem like that type to me.” He stopped in his tracks when he noticed the direction she was heading. “Hey, why are you heading for the general store?” The blond pony asked as he stumbled to catch back up with Rainbow Dash. As he looked her up and down, he noticed that she wasn’t wearing a gun. “Are you crazy coming out this way to bounty hunt without a gun? The second you step out of Appleloosa and into that sea of sand out there, thieves, rapists, and murderers are hiding behind every cactus just waiting for a hapless mare like yourself to come waltzing into their hooves.

Dash smirked as she cantered into the store. “I admit that coming on this type of mission without a weapon wasn’t the smartest choice, but I’m buying one now aren’t I?” The pegasus walked up to the counter and called for the clerk. “Hey buddy, show me the best pistol you got.”

The shopkeeper never let his eye wander from the customer as he slowly reached into the display case, pulling out a Colt Lightning double action revolver and laying it on the counter. His eyes were filled with fear as the pegasus inspected the weapon. “It’s a good gun,” he stuttered, “and it can fire as fast as you can pull the trigger. You don’t even have to cock the hammer back. Um, how are you going to pay for that miss?”

The sly pegasus grinned at Braeburn. “Go ahead and pay him for it Brae, I don’t have any bits on me.”

Braeburn grudgingly slapped a large bag of bits onto the counter. “Use whatever is extra in that bag to put the sheriff in the ground. His body is in my mansion, but don’t bother asking why.” The ticked off mustang stormed out of the store as the shopkeeper swiped the bits into the register as quickly as he could.

Rainbow Dash loaded the gun up and slid it into her coat pocket as she galloped to catch up to the fuming earth pony. “Alright I’m ready to go. Let’s bring our betrayers to justice.”

Braeburn snorted, grabbed Dash by the cheeks, and stared directly into her eyes. “If you ever pull a stunt like that again you can consider our newly found partnership dissolved.” The bounty hunter dropped the surprised pegasus on her plot and smiled. “Now let’s get this show on the road. First thing we need to do is head for the buffalo reservation. It’s the fastest route to Neighxico, and I’ll bet my bottom bit that they’ve at least stopped there. If they are there then we’ll ambush them and try to bring them in alive if we can, but at this point I might even want to put a bullet into Applejack’s skull.”

===

Applejack was standing in a dark, seemingly empty room. A dim spotlight suddenly appeared out of nowhere to reveal a dark slender figure sitting backwards in a chair.

“You’ve done well Applejack, but I’m still not sure if you’ve completely bought into the cause.” The figure said in a hypnotic tone as she whittled on a stick with a small pocket knife. “Right now, I want you to see something that happened in a past life, and I want you to see it with your own eyes.”

The room began to spin in circles and a million dots of color began to form a sepia picture as the black room transformed into a dingy apartment near the top of a building. Applejack’s hooves were carefully feeding bullets into the receiver of a bolt action rifle as she prepared to set up her shot; a shot that, if successful, would change the course of history. The assassin peered through the rifle’s scope as she carefully adjusted the lens so that it looked down upon the Canterlot parade grounds, almost a half a mile away. “The princess should come into view any second now.” the figure’s voice echoed.

Practically on cue, the royal chariot of Princess Celestia came into the shooting lane with Her Royal Highness herself on board. Applejack became filled with rancorous rage when she saw through the shooter’s eyes the royal who had denied her family help when they needed it the most. When the chariot stopped so that Celestia could greet her subjects, the earth pony slowly, carefully, and painstakingly lined up her shot. She took a deep breath and made up her mind. Gradually she squeezed the trigger until she felt the recoil and heard the report of the rifle. She looked back into the scope just in time to see the bullet slam into the back of an unlucky guard’s head as he stepped into the bullet’s path. The soldier slumped into the princess’s lap as a dozen royal guards surrounded her carriage and rolled it back into the safety of the palace.

The mare stood up and put the rifle back in its sling. “Of all the rotten things that could’ve happened, somepony just had to get in the way.” Applejack recomposed herself and leaned against the wall of the tenement apartment she had taken the shot from. She had started to pack her equipment up when she heard what sounded like a small army climbing the stairs.

A faint, but distinct voice with a commanding tone echoed through the building. “The few witnesses we have seem to think that the shot came from this building. I want you soldiers to individually check each room. Make sure you check every nook and cranny in the apartments. The shooter could be hiding anywhere.”

The assassin opened her room’s door and slid behind it waiting for an unfortunate guard to find his way inside. After an eternity of waiting the mare watched as a soldier found his way into the trap she had set up. The guard, a new recruit fresh out of training, cautiously walked into the apartment and headed directly for the closet. He never made it. The assassin silently shut the door and unsheathed her knife. Without making the slightest noise she crept up behind the unsuspecting stallion and viciously slammed the knife into his spine. The soldier tried to yell for help, but the mare had already pulled the knife out of his back and slit his throat before the guard could even move his mouth.

“Hush now quiet now, it’s time to lay your sleepy head, hush now quiet now, it’s time to go to bed.” Applejack quietly sang the lullaby as if she were singing it to her own little filly. As she stroked the dead soldier’s mane the vision began to spin in circles and the world returned to black.

The spotlight rested on the figure who was still whittling on the stick. “I was in the same position as you are once, but I never received an opportunity to fulfill my objective. Still, you can fulfill it for me. You can make the world a better place Applejack. You can end the reign of the tyrant and her selected elite. You can make the world a better place for everypony.”

The dream turned into a vision of a world where everypony was rich. A place where there were no worries, and no cares, but then Applejack recalled her current predicament. She couldn’t leave Big Mac and Caramel’s side after all they’d been through together.

The utopian world faded back into the dark room as the phantom calmly reassured the confounded Applejack. “It’s fine. Take your kin across the border to safety first. We are in no hurry for you to accomplish your final goal. Just remember that no matter what the disillusioned puppets say, you are the enlightened one. When the times get tough, just know that the victor will always be justice.”

===

Applejack crawled out of her tepee, admiring the cool morning breeze and the beauty of the surrounding desert. There were no restrictions whatsoever in that never ending expanse of sun and sand. There was nothing to hold a pony back at all, unlike the rest of the world where the rich and powerful held the average pony down in invisible chains of servitude. The visions had taught her that and she honestly believed that she could change the world into a better place.

Caramel eased out of his tepee and stretched his stiff body out. “Morning, cousin,” he yawned. “What do you think the buffalo have for breakfast?”

The orange pony continued to survey the land as she coldly replied to her cousin, “These savages are probably going to feed us some sort of cannibal soup.”

Caramel laughed uneasily at the sarcastic statement, but his face showed hints of disapproval at Applejack’s comment. “You shouldn’t insult them. They’ve been kind enough to take us in as guests. The least you could do is show them some respect.”

Applejack laid her hoof on Caramel’s shoulder. “These morons don’t deserve my respect. They were once a powerful, and independent tribe on the verge of eliminating the ponies from their homeland. Now they’ve been reduced to living on this reservation in exchange for nothing more than apple pie. They’re too trusting of equines now, and I think we can use that to our advantage.”

“What do you mean, ‘use that to our advantage?’” Caramel asked with suspicion.

The orange bandit smirked. “We’ll make them believe that their situation is far worse than it actually is, and convince them to restart their war against the Appleloosians. That will buy us even more time to get to Neighxico.”

Caramel’s face had a sly smile on it. “You’re a genius, AJ. We’ll be in Neighxico City before they even get close to sorting out their problems.”

Big Macintosh trotted over to his kin in a worried manner. “The buffalo braves stumbled across a recently extinguished campfire just outside of the reservation. They found this among the ashes.” The big red stallion handed Applejack a slightly burnt piece of paper with “NTED” scrolled across the top in bold letters.

“Bounty hunter,” Applejack snorted. “This makes things a little more complicated, but I’m not worried.”

Caramel scraped at the ground nonchalantly making different shapes in the dirt. “You know the hunter could be dialing his scope in on one of us as we speak.”

Applejack lead Caramel and Big Macintosh into the village circle where all of the buffalo were waiting patiently for their breakfasts. “If there was a bounty hunter trying to take a shot at us, we’d already be dead. He had a good twenty second field of time where he could have put a round down range. We’re in good shape.”

“The hunter is probably just starting out.” Big Mac said matter-of-factly as he uneasily scanned the ridge for snipers. “This is the perfect time to catch us with our pants down. I also remember Braeburn telling me something about not being able to claim a bounty if you don’t have the wanted poster on you when you turn the outlaws in. If there is one up there, they have no idea what they’re doing. We’ve got nothing to worry about.”

When the trio received their breakfast plates they were greeted from behind by a deep and robust voice. The three bandits whirled around to find themselves face to face with the great leader of the tribe himself, Chief Thunderhooves. “Good morning my friends. Are you finding everything to your liking?”

Applejack replied with a grimace, “The pie is stale, the tepees are cold at night, and I never really appreciated the fact that you guys always get the short end of the shaft.”

“What do you mean that we always get the short end of the shaft?” The chief asked with his head tilted to the side in a bewildered way. “We were told that we have everything that we could ever want on this piece of land.”

The chief had walked right into the trap. Applejack spoke to the chief in a serious tone. “Can’t you see that the Appleloosians have shoved you onto the worst piece of land they could find, and in exchange for leaving your stampeding grounds they gave you nothing more than apple pie.”

Thunderhooves sat his rump on a log and fiddled with his head dress. “I have been questioning my decision to leave the traditional stampeding grounds for some time now, but I had assured myself and those under my guidance that the Equestrians were our friends now.” The chief scratched his chin contemplatively. “How do you think we should go about getting our land back? We can’t just stampede into Appleloosa again.”

Applejack deviously smiled as the chief let himself be played farther and farther into the ruse. “You don’t have to attack Appleloosa to make a statement. Any more ponies come into the reservation, you just scalp them and send the top of their heads to Appleloosa.”

Chief Thunderhooves got back onto his hooves and motioned to his braves who promptly surrounded the trio. “I think I know what you’re wanting me to do. The problem is that we rarely get visitors these days, and you three are the only equines we have in our grasp at the moment so we’re going to use your scalps for our example.” The chieftain turned away from the bandits and headed for his tepee. When he reached the shelter’s opening he turned around, a malicious grin on his face, and shouted to the waiting buffalo, “Bring me their manes!”

===

Braeburn had his teeth clenched tightly around Rainbow Dash’s tail as they rapidly flew up the side of the cliff. “You had better be looking down,” Dash chuckled. “I wouldn’t want you getting any wrong ideas about our partnership. This is just a business relationship.” Dash softly came to a stop at the top of the bluff, blushing at the bounty hunter who was clasping to her tail.

The blond pony ecstatically spit out Dash’s tail and glared at the sky blue pegasus. “I have a little more self-control than that rookie.” The pair began to edge their way towards the part of the cliffs that overlooked the reservation. The duo seemed to glide across the plateau, darting from boulder to boulder, as they made their way to their target destination. Everything was running like clockwork until Dash was abruptly ambushed by an iron gray blur. The attacker sweeped the pegasus off of her legs, pinning her to the ground as he raised a large knife. The very second before the assailant plunged the blade into the terrified mare’s heart a blond streak made a diving tackle. Braeburn wrestled the knife away from the attacker, tossing the foe onto his back, effectively neutralizing the bushwhacker. Braeburn whipped his pistol out of it’s holster and held it to the attacker’s head. “If you move an inch, I’ll put a bullet in you.”

The attacker, a unicorn with a jet black mane and a look of sheer terror in his bright blue eyes, stared at the pistol pointed at his face like his life was flashing before him. “Please don’t kill me! I swear I thought you were one of the savages!” The young colt quickly recomposed himself as he realized that he wasn’t about to meet his maker. “I wouldn’t harm a fly let alone a beautiful mare like your companion. Just please, don’t shoot me.”

Braeburn picked himself off of the mustang and hoisted the stranger up by the neck onto unsteady legs. Braeburn undid the colt’s gun belt and slung it over his shoulder. “What the hay do you think you’re doing out here, boy? You’re going to get yourself killed going around attacking innocent strangers like you just did.”

The stranger’s expression went from terrified to woeful with the simple question Braeburn asked. He sighed with a tear sliding down his cheek. “I’m not sure if my heart can handle that story anymore.”

Braeburn helped Dash off of the ground and turned back to the ambusher. “Look, if you don’t want to tell us why you’re out here then at least tell us your name.” Dash sneered.

The unicorn sluggishly trotted to a boulder and leaned against it. “Well my name is Traveller, and if you don’t mind me making a long story short I’m out here to avenge my wife’s death. One of those bandits down there killed her, but don’t bother asking for details.”

The blond earth pony shrugged and turned to the turquoise pegasus. “What do you think about this young fella? You think we ought to let him tag along. I reckon he’s after the same targets as us.”

Dash stared at the iron gray unicorn as if she was peering into his soul. She didn’t really have a reason to like the pony who only minutes before was about to put a knife into her heart. “He needs to work on his introductions, but I guess he can come.” she grumbled.

Braeburn cheerfully extended his hoof to the forlorn stallion. “So what do you say Traveller. Do you want to become the third member of our partnership? It’ll be a lot easier taking those crooks down with the odds even.”

Traveller considered the proposition by pulling out an oddly shaped, discolored bit and flipping it. “It must be your lucky day,” he smirked. “Heads it is. I guess we’ve got ourselves a deal.” The gray unicorn spit on his hoof and heartily shook the bounty hunter’s hoof.

Braeburn handed Traveller his gun belt and examined his newest partner. The young stallion looked fresh out of school, his mane kept nice and tidy. He wore a brand new duster coat and a dark brown stetson. He seemed to have everything a young bounty hunter might need, and all of it was brand new. Braeburn was jealous to a degree of the rookie’s equipment, but he knew that the colt was a newcomer to the profession and probably didn’t know how to use half of the things he carried.

While the two stallions inspected each other, Rainbow Dash made her way to the edge of the cliff, watching the reservation. She easily spotted the three equines in the midst of the buffalo’s village, but what surprised her was the fact that the three bandits were surrounded by buffalo braves. “Hey guys, get over here,” she yelled softly. “Something is about to go down.”

===

The trio of bandits quickly narrowed down their choices. Either they fight their way out of the reservation, or they lose their manes. It was as simple as that. The buffalo began to advance on the ponies, closing their circle of death, making the gang’s escape even more improbable.

Caramel cycled a round into his rifle and glanced at his cousins. “Whenever y’all are ready to get us the hay out of here, please feel free to do so.”

Applejack venomously eyed the braves, waiting for one to make a move so she could start unleashing the flurry of firepower that would allow them to escape into the desert sun. There was one particularly cocky buffalo who took two steps forward for every one the others took. The orange earth pony shot a gaping hole in his head first. When the braves heard the first shot they began to stampede, making wild charges at the surrounded trio with knives and tomahawks, but every time a buffalo would get close to landing a blow they would catch a piece of lead, hitting the ground with a heavy thud, creating a barrier of blood-stained bodies that seperated the attacking braves and the surrounded bandits.

Little Strongheart burst out of the chief’s tepee, gallantly galloping through the sea of lead towards her foes. The little cow made a daring leap across the sea of bodies and onto Applejack’s back. She took her knife and cut a large gash into Applejack’s forehead with a smug grin on her face. The mare screamed in rageous agony, but before the buffalo could slice any deeper into the orange pony’s skull she was hit in the mid-section by a near point blank blast from Big Mac’s shotgun. The cow’s body exploded, showering the three equines in blood and guts. The buffalo stopped their stampede the instant they saw their comrade’s death and retreated into the village.

The Apples took the opportunity to bolt from the reservation and into the sea of sand towards Neighxico. Applejack licked the blood off of her face and ran her hoof across the wound on her head. “You know, my blood doesn’t taste that much different from a buffalo’s. Maybe our kinds aren’t so different.”

Caramel took a rag out of his knapsack and used it to bandage the incision. He nonchalantly tied it into a bandanna and sighed. “I reckon we got lucky this time. I figure we ought to get as far way from here as possible before dark. The sooner we’re in Neighxico the happier I’ll be.” The two siblings nodded in agreement as the trio galloped towards the Rio Grandneigh, towards the setting sun and towards escape.

To be continued...

By the Rio Grandneigh

Apples to Pistols
Chapter 4: By the Rio Grandneigh
A MLP FiM fan-fiction by MegaColt
Edited by McSqueakers

“And here you are to drag me off in a magical carriage. To hell I suppose.”-Larry Foulke

“Isn’t it beautiful, Dash?” Traveller asked as he scanned the night sky. “Doesn’t it remind you just how lucky we are to be alive?”

Rainbow Dash glared at the well meaning stallion as she played with a stick in the dying campfire. “Lucky?” she sneered. “I was betrayed and shot point-blank by my best friend. I came inches from death. I saw the light and it beckoned me to go into it, but I didn’t. I fought through it and survived against all odds. I don’t think you can relate to that.”

Traveller was taken aback by the pegasus’ harsh tone.“I think you’re wrong. I’ve stared death in the face too.”

Dash cantered over to the stallion and grabbed him by his jacket. “When have you been on death’s doorstep? Tell me when, Traveller. Name one time.”

The iron gray unicorn brushed the mare off of him and turned away from the light of the fire so that he faced the darkness of the desert. “I don’t really like to talk about it.”

The turquoise pegasus got into the colt’s face and started mocking him. “Aww, is the little bronco traumatized? Does he want to bottle up his anger and not tell anypony about his troubles?”

Braeburn sat up and yelled through half shut eyes. “Stop messing with him, Dash!” He laid back on the ground and pulled his blanket tighter around himself. “If he doesn’t want to talk about it he doesn’t have to.”

Dash poked the colt hard in the chest as she continued to try and get a rise out of the young stallion. “Are you going to cry over it?” She cracked an amused smile when he shoved her away from him. “Well are you going to hit a mare now, Traveller? C’mon and hit me already.”

The unicorn turned away from Rainbow Dash with tears streaming down his face. As soon as Dash tried to wrench him around by his shoulder, Traveller caught her square on the chin with a mule kick and whipped out his pistol. “I already told you that I don’t like to talk about it, so shut up about it or...or I’ll blow your head off. That’ll teach you to pick on me.” The stallion pulled the revolver’s hammer back, shaking as he tried to make up his mind. However, just before he could make a decision, he felt somepony else make it for him, the unforgiving steel barrel of a revolver was pressing firmly against the back of his head.

Braeburn pressed his pistol harder into Traveller’s skull. “Just throw your pistol on the ground and take a seat by the campfire before you do something you’ll regret. I figure it’s time for you to tell us your story. I promise that Dash will stop messing with you if you do.”

The young bronco hesitantly dropped his gun and shuffled towards the center of camp. “I’m sor...sorry...I...I don’t know what got into me. It’s just that...you wouldn’t understand. I’m a failure at life. I can’t even keep somepony from picking on me.” Tears were streaming from his pale blue eyes, rolling down his face as he collapsed beside the fire’s dying embers.

===

The atmosphere around the campfire seemed to radiate sorrow as Traveller rolled onto his back and shut his eyes. “I was once happily married to one of the most beautiful and intelligent mares in all of Equestria, but she’s just a memory now. All that matters in this ghost story is my dearest, what happened to her, and why I’m ashamed to be alive.”

The young bronco reached into his nap sack, pulling out a crinkled photograph and passing it to his listeners. The picture showed a tall and skinny unicorn with a long flowing mane and bright blue eyes. She was leaning seductively in the doorway of a small house. “She was the only mare I ever truly loved,” he sighed.

He opened his eyes and stared off into space. “It’s been almost a year since I lost her. It happened on a night much like this one; pitch black and cold as can be. Three bandits broke into our home, but I didn’t hear a thing until they were already in our bedroom. I only had enough time to see a Neighxican pegasus, a shrewd looking unicorn, and a gruff looking earth pony, all staring down at me. It was far too late to even think about reaching for my gun, so I just wrapped my covers as tightly as I could around myself and prayed that they would leave.I could see through the sheets that two of them were jerking my wife around arguing about who was going to be the first to ride her. I tried to muster up the courage to do something but I couldn’t. I was frozen with fear. When they finally came to a decision on what to do with my darling, the third stallion dragged me out of the bed and commenced to beating me relentlessly with the butt of his rifle.”

Traveller pulled his hat off and ran his free hoof across the countless scars marred deeply into his forehead. “I faded in and out of consciousness, but every time I opened my eyes, a different bandit was having his way with my wife who they had tied to the bed. All I could hear was her screaming and begging for my help, but I just laid there on the floor, too afraid to move.”

He sat up and pulled down his shirt collar, revealing a distinctive car which could have only come from a noose. “After they were done with her, the three of them dragged me outside and propped me up against a tree as they waited for me to regain consciousness. At that point I was barely clinging to my wretched life. I had given up. I only wanted for things to return to normal.”

Their leader, the earth pony who they called Care, threw a noose into the branches of the tree, gesturing for me to go to it. I’ll never forget what he said, cause it was probably the most merciful thing he could have said at that point.” Traveller cleared his throat as he began to recall the words that the earth pony spoke to him. “‘Go on and do yourself a favor. Put your head in that noose before I shove it in there for you.’ So that’s what I did. I stuck my head through that loop of rope and waited for it to hoist me up like a pinata. I closed my eyes and waited for the sudden jolt of the rope to yank against my neck, but unfortunately for me, nothing happened. Instead, they saw it fit to torture me some more, for when I re-opened my eyes, I found the most devastating thing I could have seen. My house had been set on fire and my darling was trapped inside. Out of sheer instinct I tried to run in and save her, but that’s when they hoisted me into the air and secured the rope before they galloped away.”

Traveller started to tear up as he rubbed the picture across his face. His choked voice struggled to continue the story. “It must have been a pitiful sight to my neighbor when he found me dangling from a tree, barely alive, but still struggling to get out of the noose. He cut me down and granted me another chance at life, but there are times where I wish he hadn’t. My love died in that fire. The regret and suffering is all that they left me in this world, but I only have myself to blame.

The melancholy storyteller crawled into the fetal position and started sobbing. “I’m so sorry, Raindrop,” he cried as he hugged the photo tightly to his cheek. Dash watched silently as Braeburn attempted to console the crying unicorn, but he shrugged the blond stallion off.

The unicorn wiped the tears from his eyes as he started to pack away his things. “Anyways, that’s why I’m out here in the desert…and that’s also why I can’t stay in this partnership with you guys anymore. You know now that I’m nothing more than a useless coward who can’t even muster the courage to save the one pony he ever loved.”

Braeburn started to unpack the things from Traveller’s bags. “We’re sorry, Traveller, but please don’t leave. There was no way Dash could have known before you told us this. I can’t even imagine the suffering you’re going through. We’re willing to do anything to help.”

Dash crawled into her sleeping bag and continued to survey the situation from afar. “What a coward,” she thought. “He didn’t even try to save his own wife. He’s earned my sympathy, but he hasn’t earned my respect.”

The blond pony sat down beside the teary eyed unicorn and continued his efforts to try and comfort him. “I can understand where you’re coming from, buddy and I’m here for you. Dash is here for you too. We’ll all bring your wife’s murderers to justice together. I promise if you’ll just stick with us.”

The gray colt stared at the ground as he considered Braeburn’s proposition. He dropped his bags and pulled out a knife. “I’d like to up the ante on that promise, Brae.” He winced as he cut into his foreleg. “Let’s become blood brothers. We’ll take a blood oath and everything, just like in the books.”

Braeburn was surprised by the young stallion’s impromptu proposal, but he admired Traveller’s willingness to make such a commitment. “I’d be more than honored,” said the bounty hunter as he pulled out his own knife and made the same cut he’d seen his counterpart make. The blond colt slit the skin above his hoof without so much as a whimper. The pair rubbed their forelegs together, mixing blood and pledging their loyalty to each other. “So the deal is done?” Brae asked earnestly. “We’re in this together until the end?”

Traveller trudged to his makeshift tent and crawled inside. “Of course Braeburn. We’re blood brothers after all. Just give me a night to think things over and recompose myself. If you wouldn’t mind, buddy.”

Braeburn followed suit by wrapping his blanket around himself again. “Of course I wouldn’t mind,” he cooed reassuringly. “Take all the time you need. As for myself, I’m going to bed. See y’all in the morning.” With that all three bounty hunters closed their eyes and went to sleep, at least, almost all of them.

===

Applejack had been having dreams about the dark and empty room for months now, each one starting the same way and conveying a different lesson from that mysterious mare in the chair, but tonight, this dream started out differently than the previous ones. The orange bandit found herself in a large stone room lit solely by candles that cast a dim light onto a chair. It was the same chair that the phantom always sat in as she taught Applejack the truth, however, the pony in the chair wasn’t the revolutionary she had come to regard as her mentor. This pony was a unicorn who reminded the dreamer too much of Twilight Sparkle. She seemed to be around the same age as Twilight, but she had bright green eyes and a dark green mane. She was hogtied to the chair with a makeshift muzzle tied snugly around her snout. The tears seemed to flow from her eyes like an endless well.

A familiar voice echoed through the darkness, one that Applejack instantly recognized. “So you told the princess about our little coup d’etat? I should have known it would be a mistake letting you in on our plans with you being the tyrant’s apprentice and all, but I had honestly believed you’d joined our cause. That’s okay though. It isn’t too late to fix our mistakes.” The interrogator emerged from the shadows and into the light. It was the first time Applejack had seen the mare outside of the shadows, but she couldn’t make out any details about the figure. She could only tell that the mare’s coat was the same color as Big Mac’s.

A stallion’s voice called out from behind the interrogator. “Red, remind our guest what she has to lose.” The regal voice had a commanding quality to it, yet at the same time it was cold and distant.

Red pulled a knife from her belt and ran it across her fur to check its sharpness. A small quantity of hair drifted to the floor. “Of course, Your Highness. It would be my pleasure. Do you want me to teach the traitor a lesson she’ll never forget, or one that she’ll forget right away?”

A white stallion with a towering stature and blond mane walked out of the shadows and paced back and forth in front of the terrified unicorn. “This piece of filth has put our plan in jeopardy. She must suffer for her act of betrayal.” He walked up to the interrogator and grabbed the knife from her hooves. With a smirk on his face, he grabbed the hostages ear and sliced a thick chunk off. He held it up to her face as she writhed in pain. “Are you listening?” The stallion asked mockingly. He handed the knife back to Red and retreated into the darkness.

He returned with a book clutched in his hooves. “This is the very book that inspired Princess Luna to start the Equestrian Civil War.” He smiled at the unicorn in the chair in much the same manner that a teacher would smile at his students. “It’s called “The Nightmare”. Ironic that a book with such a title would lead to a princesses’s fall from grace. It’s tells of a utopian kingdom ruled by a wise king. Everything was perfect in this world until the king’s daughter decided to stab her father in the back and seize the power of the throne for herself.”

Red finished the story for the stallion with a single sentence. “That’s when everything went down the drain,” she sighed. She walked over to the unicorn in the seat and put the knife to her throat. “Lord Fairblood, I think you should leave now. The guards will be here any minute.”

Fairblood was a name Applejack had seen during her school days. He was kin to the noble hero Baron Von Blood who had saved Equestria from an unspeakable evil centuries earlier. What had made Fairblood history worth wasn’t his ancestry or even his accomplishments. It was his ideas. He was the last revolutionary Equestria had seen. Less than a century ago he had led a bloody uprising to “finally put an end to the reign of the tyrant,” but he was executed soon after his coup had failed.

The stallion casually strolled out of the room’s door. He poked his head into the door frame and yelled. “Do what you want with her, Red. I’d prefer that you didn’t spare her because the Royal Guards are going to get every single scrap of information they can out of her if they find her alive, but whatever you do please hurry. I want you to accompany me to the safe house.”

The mare with the knife saluted dutifully and rubbed it across the hostages face like a razor. It was the first time Applejack had ever seen Red stop and think about the implications of what she was doing. Hesitantly, the mare started to slice into the unicorn’s jugular. The hostage struggled to get the knife away from her throat, but Red closed her eyes and quickly finished the cut. The unicorn whinnied in agony as the blood flowed in fountains from her sliced jugular. As she faded into unconsciousness, the killer cut the ropes away from the body and rolled into the floor. She turned the chair around and sat down the same way she had been sitting in Applejack’s dreams. There was a murderous twinkle in the mare’s eyes as she cleaned the knife with her tongue.

The candle light faded away and the same spotlight that was always in the dreams appeared from seemingly nowhere. The figure put the knife away and rested her hooves on the chair. “That was the first time I’d killed anypony. What I remember the most from that night is the mixture of guilt and pleasure that I felt afterwards, but as time went on and more and more of my enemies fell to my hoof, the guilt went away. These non-believers who tried to stop me had not died without a reason. They died for the advancement of our glorious cause.”

Applejack listened attentively. The phantom had sensed Applejack’s guilt from the beginning, but she knew she could help Applejack to justify her actions. “So I shouldn’t feel any regret so long as it’s for the cause?” The orange bandit asked.

Red laughed wickedly and cast a broad grin towards her apprentice. “The end justifies the means, so long as there is something that justifies the end. When the tyrant is eliminated the sleeping king will awake and all will be made right again by the power of his righteousness. Those that must be sacrificed for the king’s return will have died martyrs and you will be made a hero.”

Applejack imagined a parade being thrown in her honor with ribbons and streamers cascading to the ground. Every sidewalk and street corner was packed with ponies jostling to catch a glimpse of Equestria’s savior. “Savior of Equestria. That has a nice ring to it,” she cooed to herself as she waved to admirers.The parade continued through Canterlot until it reached the doors of the royal palace. Applejack shoved the entrance way open only to find herself staring down the barrel of a revolver. At the opposite end of the gun was her former best friend, Rainbow Dash. Her once rose-colored eyes burned crimson with the fires of vengeance. There was a bright flash and a loud bang, and then everything went dark.. Applejack awoke in a cold sweat. “It was just a dream. Rainbow Dash is dead.” she reassured herself. “I shot her and watched her die. It wasn’t real.”

===

Traveller had been tossing and turning for hours. He couldn’t fall asleep no matter how hard he tried. Recalling the tragedy had brought back memories which he had banished to the darkest corners of his mind with the aid of constant isolation and exotic liquors, but now that he was in this partnership, the torturous memories had returned. He forced himself to sit up, panting heavily for air before the sweat from his brow. There was a small part of the unicorn that wanted to stay with his new friends and help them hunt down the bandits, but what he truly wanted was to exact his revenge alone. For Traveller, the hunt had never been about the reward money. It was about self-redemption. He wanted to be the one to avenge his wife’s death because in his mind, if he was to truly redeem himself, nopony else could help him on his quest to make his wife’s murderers pay for their crimes.

It was no use for him to waste anymore time battling insomnia. The gray stallion gathered his things and silently left camp to go on a scouting mission alone. He was driven solely by passion and it showed in the way he galloped across the desert with tears in his eyes.

He ran non-stop across the desolate landscape for a solid hour. The only way he kept himself from running in circles was by watching the position of the moon. As he ventured farther, he began to notice that the scenery became more lively as the sand slowly shifted into fertile soil of the highest quality. He knew that he was getting close the mighty Rio Grandneigh now. As the young colt stumbled through the cattails, he noticed a steady trickle of smoke rising from the midst of a thicket; one of many that lined the river bank. Without a second thought, Traveller dove into the thick tangle of reeds and cattails that separated him from the small forest. He had to get to the source of the smoke before the fire was extinguished. The unicorn used his magic to bend the reeds out of his path as he barreled headfirst into the forest. Before he knew it, he could see the dim glow of a campfire through the brush.

There was a single silhouette basking in the glow of the campfire with their back turned to Traveller. He could tell by the figure of the silhouette that it was a colt, but he absolutely had to know without a doubt if this was one of the stallions that he had been searching for. The gray colt took his pistol out of his holster and began to sneak his way his way towards the pony by the fire. The chances of him being one of his wife’s killers looked better with every step. In fact the closer he came, the more the silhouette began to look like the ring leader of his wife’s killers. With his heart thumping against his chest, he leaned out to grab the colt’s shoulder, but right before he made contact, he stumbled across a log. All he could do to keep from uselessly blowing his cover was for him to lurch forward and tackle his target. The pair hit the ground with a hard thud, sliding across the mud before finally coming to a stop directly beside the fire.

Traveller didn’t waste a second. He flipped the stallion over and examined the bewildered colt’s face. “Care!” The unicorn shouted, “You don’t remember me, do you?”

Caramel stared at the gun pointed in his face with a blank expression. He didn’t seem to the least bit worried. He even smirked as he calmly addressed the unicorn who was about to execute him. “Yeah, I remember you, boy. It’s such a shame you didn’t have the courage to do anything like this when me and my boys were raping that whore you called your wife. Now, let’s see if you have the courage to pull the trigger on a defenseless pony and become the very thing you’ve sought to stop; a murderer.”

Traveller was livid. He hastily pulled the hammer of his revolver back and shoved it into the bandit’s mouth. The brown earth pony cringed as the gray unicorn’s eyes grew wider with every malicious thought that passed through his mind, each one more gruesome than the last. He was going to savor the moment he had worked tirelessly to reach. One thing was certain, he was going to find a way to make his tormentor feel the same pain he had felt.

Traveller never even felt the object crack against the back of his skull. As he flew through the air, he noticed a red stallion gripping a shotgun like a baseball bat, and then everything went black. The unicorn did a complete somersault, landing flat on his back. Without saying a word, Big Mac threw Traveller onto his back like a rag doll and started out towards the river.

Caramel scrambled off of the ground and jumped in front of his cousin. “He was really going to shoot me!” He hollered in shock. “I suppose I owe you my life since you came along and took care of him for me. I think it’s time we make sure that he learns his lesson. I want to make him pay for even laying a hoof on me. Now, go and find a decent sized tree while I go wake up Applejack.”

The behemoth of a pony complied, trudging through the mud on the edge of the river bank until he came across a giant weeping willow. He rolled Traveller off his back and leaned the body against the tree. Big Mac assumed they were going to lynch him so he threw a rope into the tree’s branches. “What a beautiful place to die.” It was such a picturesque setting after all. The water cascaded across the rocks that lined the riverbed as the leaves of the aptly named weeping willow drooped to the point where they were touching the river. “I guess even death can be beautiful sometimes, but it still doesn’t justify anything,” he thought.

Big Mac never enjoyed the rush of the kill the way Applejack and Caramel did. Deep down, he wished that he had never agreed to come along for the robbery, but at the time it seemed like the right thing to do for his family. They killed in an attempt to save a loved one, but now, they were murdering for murder’s sake. There was absolutely no purpose left to the killing. Not a single soul benefited from it. To Big Mac it was unjustified, but what was he going to tell his family? In his mind it was too late to back out.

The hefty stallion tied Traveller’s legs together so that he couldn’t try to escape when he came to. He had only just lain down to ponder backing out when Caramel arrived with Applejack in tow. “Well what do we have here?” Applejack asked scornfully as she playfully kicked the unconscious unicorn. “I see you’ve already put the noose in the tree. That’s good thinking, but let’s take it a step further. Throw two more ropes into the tree on either side of the noose.”

Big Mac stared at his sister incredulously. There wasn’t enough excitement in simply hanging the helpless colt. She had to have something even more gruesome to satisfy her lust for slaughter. He started to toss the ropes into the willow as directed, but something in his head snapped. “I’m done killing, AJ,” he sighed as he tossed the rope to Caramel and plopped his tail down on the riverbank. “Get Caramel to help you, but you can count me out on this one.”

Applejack was furious. She pulled out her pistol and whipped it across her brother’s face. Several teeth flew out of the red stallion’s mouth and blood splattered the riverbank. The orange bandit shoved her lasso into his hands and hissed in his face. “You do as I tell you to do, or else you’ll wind up in that tree too. Just one more day, just one more death on your hands and you’ll be in Neighxico where you can do whatever the hay you want, so stop being a wuss and throw the rope up there.”

Big Mac picked himself off of the ground and wiped the blood from his mouth. He wasn’t angry, just flabbergasted. It wasn’t the first time she had ever hit him, but this time she had really meant to hurt him. This wasn’t his sister. This was a monster and one he most certainly didn’t want to mess with. He hesitantly tossed the ropes over the branch and glared at his sister who was busy tying the other end of the rope to Traveller’s forelegs. “Now what?” he asked with an annoyed expression on his face.

Caramel yawned and casually hoisted his victim into the air. “Start stacking wood at the base of the tree, buddy. I’ll handle the rest.” When Traveller’s head was just below the noose, Caramel staked the ropes into the ground. “This is a little something that AJ and I have been working on. Trust me, you’re going to love this.”

After a few minutes of dangling Traveller began to regain consciousness. “Where am I?” he mumbled as he struggled to regain his vision. As the fuzziness went away, he slowly began to take in the situation. Instead of being afraid, the daring unicorn became cocky and arrogant. He had already survived one of Care’s “executions” and he was fearing for his life that time. What hope did the bandits have when Traveller was feeling courageous? “So you’re going to hang me again? That didn’t turn out so well last time, did it?”

Caramel laughed at the unicorn’s cockiness. “It’s hard to believe that less than a year ago you were begging me to spare your life and now you’re bragging about how you survived the first time I had you hanged. I’d have figured somepony like you would be happy to be alive, but I guess some ponies are just begging for death. I can’t blame you either. That whore of yours felt so good,” he taunted with an expression of pleasure on his face. “It must really get under your skin, knowing that you wont ever have that again.”

Applejack threw the last piece of wood onto the pile and shoved a bundle of dried reeds into the bottom of the heap. “We’re going to play a little game, boy. All you have to do is choose.”

Traveller spat at the two bandits conducting the twisted game and sneered. “Why do I have to choose? Why don’t you just shoot me and end it all at once?”

Applejack pulled a cigarette and a match out of her rucksack. She slid the match across her hoof and popped the cigarette in her mouth. She started to light the cancer stick, but just before the match made contact with it, she pretended to fumble it directly into the reeds. As soon as the fire touched the dry kindling, it burst into flames. “You get to choose between the inferno and the noose. Shooting you simply wouldn’t be an entertaining way to off you. It might be practical, but this is going to be one hay of a show.”

The blaze crawled higher and higher into the air, licking the unicorn’s body. Traveller helplessly watched in horror as his hooves started melting into glue and his fur began to catch ablaze. “Sweet Celestia make it stop!” The burning stallion tried his best to put his neck into the noose so that the agonizing pain would finally come to an end, but he couldn’t pull himself up high enough no matter how hard he tried.

Big Mac couldn’t watch. He turned away from the ghastly scene and slid down the river bank as he smelled the unicorn’s burning flesh. His sister and cousin watched the horrid spectacle with vicious glee as they howled with laughter and mocked the doomed colt, but Big Macintosh was done with the killing. He had to get away, so he started crossing the river. He couldn’t bear to be associated with his family anymore. They had become nothing more than sociopathic killers. Once the red Apple made it to the Neighxican bank he decided that he would never turn back even if that meant never seeing his family again.

Caramel and Applejack never noticed Big Mac slip across the border. They were too busy admiring their handiwork. “Isn’t it ironic that you’re going to die the same way your wife did?” Caramel smarted off. Applejack cackled in delight as the barely recognizable unicorn struggled to escape the flames. Despite being burned beyond recognition, Traveller made a final push for the noose. He managed to get his muzzle through it, but when he did the ropes that were supporting his weight snapped from the added stress. The charred body plummeted into the raging inferno and tumbled down the pyre onto the ground.

Traveller landed directly in front of Applejack who stared at him with an amused twinkle in her eyes. The badly burned unicorn breathed heavily as he dragged himself towards the orange mare. “K-k-ki-kill... me. P-please!” Applejack crossed her arms and continued to examine the nearly incinerated colt as if he were some sort of specimen in a sick science experiment.

With a disappointed sigh Caramel pulled his rifle from its sling and loaded a fresh round into the chamber. “It’s a shame that ponies like you can’t appreciate it when they’ve escaped death and been given a second chance at life. I guess that’s why there are ponies like me who are destined to act as the hands of death.” He placed the gun’s barrel on Traveller’s head and clicked the safety off. “I have to hand it to you. You had the chance to kill me, but you didn’t pull the trigger. That’s the difference between you and me; I won’t hesitate to kill cowards like you. See you in hell, buddy.” The brown bandit mercilessly pulled the trigger, blowing a hole into Traveller’s already barely recognizable face, instantly ending his life. “There are no second chances in life.” Caramel said matter-of-factly as he wiped the brain matter off of his neck and slid the rifle back into its sling.

The show might have been over, but for Applejack that little spectacle was only meant for a warm up. She had much bigger plans in mind. Taking down the tyrant and raising the king was her final goal. The anarchy that would follow the collapse of the current monarchy was merely an added bonus. With this in mind, the orange earth pony looked at Caramel and sighed. “I guess this is where we go our seperate ways.”

Caramel tilted his head to the side, bewildered at his cousins’ sudden goodbye. “Aren’t you coming with me and Big Mac to Neighxico? Speaking of which where’d the big fella go?” He turned circles looking for his cousin, but the red stallion was nowhere to be found. “Seriously where is he? I’m starting to panic.”

Applejack coolly pointed at the mud slick where Big Mac had slid into the river. “Seems like he’s already in Neighxico. Apparently he didn’t enjoy our game.” She rolled her eyes and started to head down the road to Dodge Junction. “You’d better go on into Neighxico and catch him. I, on the other hand, have much bigger fish to fry here in Equestria.”

Caramel felt slightly betrayed by Big Macintosh. He could have at least waited for him on the other side. “Well I hope that whatever it is you’ve got planned over here goes well for you. I’ve got to go catch your brother so I guess this is goodbye. I’m not staying in Equestria just to be hounded to death after all.” He tried not to look at Applejack as he jumped into the river. He didn’t want to know what was so important to her that she couldn’t join them in Neighxico, but when he got to the other side his curiosity got the better of him. “Hey AJ! What is it that you’re going to do over there?”

The crusading orange bandit smirked and hollered back, “I’m going to kill Celestia!” She was overjoyed with the look of astonishment that came over Caramel’s face. She was even more ecstatic that Caramel started backing nervously away from her. The assassination was going to be the biggest event to have ever happened in Equestria and she was going to be the one responsible. She was going to become a hero for saving Equestria from the Princess’ tyranny. She would be thanked by everypony for doing the world such a favor. “I hope you have a good life!” She shouted nonchalantly as she turned away. She didn’t plan on seeing him or her brother again for a long while because at long last the day of reckoning was beginning to take shape.

To be continued...