Salty Caramel lay on the snow, looking through a pair of binoculars at a point where the road crested a distant hill, the furthest point she could see of the road from the vantage point she had selected, giving a strategic view of the road for about three miles. Beside her lay her sister-wife Mint Chip, who she could already tell was bored to tears at the reconnaissance mission they were set on before she even opened her muzzle.

“Caramel.”

“Yes, Mint?”

“Why are we up here.” Not phrased as a question.

“We are waiting for a caravan moving items of vital importance to Master Chunk. You were there when he explained this to us this morning.” Both of these mares, well, mare and filly, were sister-wives to a rather peculiar stallion by the name of Chocolate Chunk, who using a series of runes carved into the flesh, a process of which the less said the better, mind magic, and old fashioned cult indoctrination had acquired a harem of unquestionably loyal and horny mares. Stripped of their names, a hearty portion of their memories, and most of their free will these mares served both the purpose of companionship and brutal tools with which to achieve his various ends, such as now. Chunk’s conditioning meant that for the most part they were to address him with a deferential title, Caramel chose master but others could be used.

“Daddy Chunk said I just need to be here to kill the bad ponies once you spot them.” Mint was the most heavily modified and Caramel suspected she was Chunk’s favorite, a position which she eyed enviously. It was true, however, that Caramel was really only here because Mint could not be relied upon to concentrate on anything for more than five minutes.

“That’s true, you could sleep until we have visual, if you want” And with that, Mint was out like a light. Caramel wasn’t sure if that was just an inherent skill of Mint's or a modification Chunk had made, but regardless she wanted it; the nightmares plagued her terribly. Still, she believed it would inconvenience Chunk to request it, so she wouldn’t.

Caramel set down her binoculars for a minute to rest her eyes and looked over to Mint, who it seemed was already hock deep in one of her Chunk dreams, her hips bucking erratically under the blanket Caramel had brought for them. Again, Caramel felt envy. How she wished her dreams could be about care free times with the one pony in this world she loved unconditionally. Frankly, she dreamed of Mint more than Chunk and those dreams always had her waking up screaming, which was followed up with a bout of rune induced full body agony as she realized she probably had disturbed her master’s sleep again.

It was a relatively warm day in the frozen tundra they called home, early spring had taken the bite out of the cruel winter winds and the sun beat unobstructed onto the brilliant white snow. It was still well below freezing, of course, but the long furred natives of this land were well adapted to the climate; and Caramel reckoned they probably had not needed the blanket. But better safe than sorry. Or like her old sergeant always used to say, proper preparation prevents piss poor performance. She was pretty sure that was her old sergeant, anyway.

All of her memories before Chunk were hazy and difficult to recall with any certainty. She knew the broad strokes of her life, a poor peasant filly, her parents forcing her to join the territorials when they couldn't feed her, the stable career she had been carving out for herself. It was the details she lacked. No faces, no names, she couldn’t even recall specific memories: sometimes she could feel them in the periphery of her mind but they slipped like oil when she tried to bring them into focus. This was a consternating game of cat and mouse to play inside one’s own head, and lent itself to migraines.

Caramel lay on the hill for hours, near motionless save for some shifting to stretch herself out. Patience was a virtue, and Caramel thought herself a very virtuous pony. Several wagons passed under her observation in this time, but did’t fit the description Chunk had given them, a single covered wagon with an escort of ten outsider ponies. She didn’t know where Chunk got his information from, but then, it wasn’t her place to ask. Chunk had been operating in this area for almost five years now, in the role of the local government physician, though he had somewhat unorthodox ideas about what his duties as a healer behooved.

Finally, as the sun began to set Caramel saw their prize. A large wagon with two hefty looking earth ponies pulling it, four other ponies trotted beside it in the ridiculously oversized coats mainlanders needed to withstand these temperatures. Four more ponies in what looked like insulated barding kept something of a picket watch spread out at the corners of the small caravan. She could see even at this distance that none of the group were unicorns, count blessings, but she thought the two ponies pulling up the rear guard were pegasi. They would have to be priority targets.

“Look alive, Chip, they’re here.” Mint Chip didn’t so much as stir, much to Caramel’s feeling of dread. Waking her sister-wife up when she didn’t want to be could be a harrowing prospect. Shuffling out from under the blanket, she braced herself and quickly ripped the blanket out from Chip’s small hooves. Instantly Mint was up and awake, launching herself after the blanket unfortunately in Caramel’s muzzle. Expecting this sort of reaction she hit the snow as Mint sailed over her with a vicious snarl.

“For the love of Chunk, Mint! They’re here!” Caramel shouted, glaring at the small violent filly.

“Oh, okay. Don’t shout Salty they might hear you.” Unlikely, their target was dots in the distance and the wind was blustering in her ears.

“Right, so, looks like four combatants, two earth ponies two pegasi, I’m gonna play the panicked mare in front of them and you’ll take them from the rear. Remember, pegasi are priority, can’t have them flying away to be witnesses” Chip silently nodded at this plan, she rather disliked Caramel, as she disliked any competition for Chunk’s attention, but couldn't deny she had a better mind for tactics then the young filly.

“Put this on, you’ll blend into the snow better.” Caramel said, hoofing over a small white jacket she had been working on for this kind of operation. Snow ponies generally had coats that blended well into the white landscape but Mint was an exception, her pale green coat and chocolate colored mane standing out in the wintery environment.

“Okay. What are you making for dinner tonight?” the little filly asked nonchalantly, wriggling into the long sleeved garment.

“It’s Cream’s night to cook, ice wheat noodles I believe.” Caramel replied, checking through her binoculars again before they set off.

“I want meat.” Mint intoned emotionlessly.

“You always want meat, hun, the rest of us don’t like it all that much.” setting down her binoculars, she was sure the rear two were pegasi now as they approached. She began to reach through her saddlebags for her blade and sheath. Mint, of course, would be unarmed.

“Don’t call me that, Caramel, and I won’t be big and strong for Daddy Chunk on ice wheat.” Glaring over at her sister as she worked her fur over the strap, and slid the blade into the sheath on the inside of her leg, away from obvious view.

“You’ll be just fine. Ready?” She said, looking over at Mint, who she knew needed no prep to be combat ready.

“Of course, sister Salty, good luck.” And with that Mint bounded off into the snow faster than any filly had a right to be, taking a wide arc to get behind the group. Caramel found herself thinking they were fortunate the wind was whipping up the fresh powder today, or else the cloud Mint kicked up would be quite visible.

Setting off at a trot she began to make her way to the traders, still about two miles out. She remarked to herself that this would be a very good day, full of purpose and accomplishment. Master Chunk was a gracious host and didn’t overwork his mares but Caramel couldn't help but
find this frustrating at times. Often her days were spent lounging around the few cabins that made homes for Chunk and the dozen or so other mares that made their home there, relaxing and attending to Chunk. It itched on her, she liked being given a solid purpose and the futzing about trying to think of what to do to make her master happy was anxiety inducing. She knew most of the mares were content to wait for opportunities to come to them but Caramel was a mare of action. So this would be a good day, and she felt her arousal as she imagined Chunk praising her for a job well done.

Mint Chip had also been kind to her today, by Mint’s standards. She was often sent on these missions where violence was necessary and was prone to filling the time in between with tormenting her fellow mares. The rest of the mares got on amicably, realizing that Chunk wanted a harmonious harem to sink into. Mint seemed able to dodge this particular mental hurdle. To her, there was Daddy Chunk, and there was obstacles to his attention. So long as Chunk never realized his youngest mare’s abusive tendencies, there would be peace. No one told him for a mixture of fear of Mint’s reprisal and a desire to not worry him.

Once Caramel was within about a mile, she was spotted, seeing one of the guards point a hoof at her and turn back to say something to the traders. That was her cue, breaking into a gallop and adopting a look of panic on her face as she neared. The guards all pulled in closer as she approached. Finally, they stopped moving and one of the guards stepped forward to meet her as her gasping self reached her target. Being out of breath for what was to come was regrettable, but she wanted to sell her part and fully capture their attention.

“Ma’am, what’s wrong, are you okay?” Sweet Sun Wolf he looked like he was actually concerned for her! Outsider ponies were too soft for their own good. She took stock of his kit, a short spear strapped to his side and she thought she saw a knife hilt over his boots. His ‘barding’ was almost laughable, obviously tailored more to keep him warm than for protection. An overly thick wool gambeson was worn under plates strapped to his sides and front, with ridiculously large gaps in between them. Clearly, they didn’t expect any trouble, and dressed for comfort. More’s the pity for them.

“Pl-please sir, I don’t know where to go I dont have a home I've run from my husband he was, he was hitting me, hurting me I couldn’t stand it I had to leave but now I have nowhere! Please I can’t be alone I think he’s looking for me I don’t know what to do.” Caramel stammered, wild eyed, trying to bring herself to tears. She could only hope Mint was in position, she didn’t think herself much of an actor and didn’t like her odds of carrying this on for long.

“It’s okay, you’re alright, you can walk with us for awhile, we’re on our way to Snösynd right now.” The stallion was trying to be comforting, Caramel just felt sickened, she would have never trusted herself in his position and resented the weakness. The plan was working though, she had the attention of everyone present, all looking concerned for the fragile looking mare.

“Thank you, truly, you-” As it turned out, she was worried over nothing as Mint took this moment to begin their attack. The snow came up to her barrel already and when crouched she could get pretty much her whole body under the cover of the snow. This is how Mint was able to get close to one of the rear pegasi without being detected. Close enough that she could leap upon the stallion and sink her sharpened teeth into his throat.

Everypony whipped their head around as their comrade began screaming, half choked by the jaws clamped on his windpipe, even the pony standing right in front of her. Not wasting a moment of the stallion’s distraction, she reached down and pulled her blade from its sheath and leapt forward to plunge the blade into the back of his head. Her knife parted wool and flesh as it stuck home in his skull, dropping him instantly.

Her guard’s earth pony counterpart noticed her strike though, and got his spear out to face her. Out of her periphery she could see Mint had moved onto the other pegasus, who was desperately backpedaling and trying to keep her at bay with his spear. The traders just stood there slack jawed as their escort fell around them, eyes casting about wildly as they suddenly took in a lifetime’s worth of bloodshed. The ponies pulling the wagon rushing to free themselves. One mare was screaming.

Caramel suddenly found herself in a fight she really didn’t want to take. She had a small weapon with poor reach against a foe much larger than herself that she knew very little about, poor odds. She dashed forward towards the screaming mare, really little more than a filly now that she was looking at her, barely out of adolescence. Must have been somepony here’s daughter.

Caramel slammed into the poor girl, knocking her off balance and wrenching her knife up to the newly acquired hostage’s throat.

“Not one fucking step or she’s dead!” Caramel shouted, projecting murderous intent in her voice; she thought she could hear the filly’s heart thundering even through her coat. The stallion just stared at her, unmoving, clearly unsure of what to do as his precious seconds counted down. Even now Caramel could see the pegasus fall to the ground, a mortal wound taken out of his neck as Mint began to round on her next target.

Seeing the numbers advantage turn against him, the overgrown colt actually made a prudent decision.

“I surrender! We surrender! Take whatever you want just don’t hurt her.” The panicked guard said, dropping his spear. It was a practical move, but unfortunately for them Chip and Salty were not the average highway mares.

Caramel waited until she saw Mint was in position before drawing her blade into the young mares throat. Blood gushed over her muzzle as the filly tried to scream on a severed windpipe. She saw unbelieving horror in her opponents eyes before it gave way to panicked horror as a filly with unbelievable jaw strength leapt onto his back and set to her grisly work.

Her mind cleared and a feeling of accomplishment swept over her in the wake of dispatching the guards. Lazily, she turned over to the remaining traders in time to see the worst case scenario.

A small stallion in the rear of the group had been fighting to get his coat off, now revealing a set of wings as he ran away from the carnage to begin his takeoff.

“Mint! Pegasus!” Was all Caramel had to say as she took off in vain of the escaping trader. This was disastrous, the most important part of any mission was the elimination of any witnesses. Chunk thrived in this inhospitable backwater by virtue of lack of oversight. It was a hard place, with dangerous geography and more dangerous creatures that prowled the tundra, ponies went missing all the time, even before the arrival of the good doctor.

Having somepony witness their mayhem and report back to authorities in Equestria would undoubtedly bring retribution back to them. Caramel knew from experience that the detection of a warlock would bring down at least one company of territorials to comb the countryside. If they were particularly unlucky they could be facing the Royal Inquisition, battle mages specially trained to combat dark magic practitioners. It was utterly paramount that they remain secret, Caramel had the vague thought that their rate of operations that exposed them like this was unnecessarily high and they were lucky to have gotten this far undetected. Realizing this was a critique of Chunk’s strategies she promptly forgot this notion.

The pegasus beat his wings frantically while she was still a good ways out, she threw her knife in desperation but it sailed clear over his head. He was swiftly gaining altitude and beginning to speed away when Mint leapt for him. Planting off the frozen ground with all her strength she took off in her own right, closing the distance she opened her sharpened maw as she looked to clamp down on his flank.

The terrified pegasus saw her coming and bucked one hoof out at the last second, crunching Mint’s snout and sending her back to Equus.

“FUCK!” was all Caramel could say as their nightmare scenario unfolded before her eyes. Her gut twisted as she realized what her failure meant for Chunk, for her family; she could hardly think through the pain.

She stood there, staring as the pegasus became a spot in the sky as her mind reeled with the implications until Mint came over to her.

“Salty, we still have a job to do.” Mint’s nose was bleeding and her muzzle was canted off to the side, clearly broken. She had a hard determined look on her small face, clearly trying to stay focused and not dwell on their colossal fuck-up.

“Right, of course, the mission.” Caramel said softly, turning back to the traders, who she could now see were doing their level best to run from the two of them. Encumbered with their thick clothes and obviously having difficulty with the deep snow, they had not covered much ground. Caramel broke into a gallop and quickly started to close the distance, Chip surpassed her, bounding effortlessly with her uncanny speed.

Making a final jump, Chip hit one of the traders and brought them to the ground, biting deeply through his coat she rended a sizable wound into his gut and promptly launched herself at the next target. Salty caught up to one of the traders and snagged her hindleg mid stride. The mare hit the snow face first and Caramel was on her, she had lost her knife in pursuit of the pegasus and so merely started stomping the life out of the mare. Blood soaked into the pure white snow as choked cries for mercy fell upon deaf ears and died on the winds of this remote ice born hell. Bones broke and organs crushed while Caramel barely registered any of it, her mind a maelstrom of hurt, pain, and rage.

“She’s dead.” Mint had finished the other four traders without her even noticing, now streaked in gore that covered most of the loaned coat she had been given. Caramel looked down at her victim, now a crushed pulp beaten into the snow, features unrecognizable after the brutal attack.

“Let’s go home, Salty, Chunk’s waiting for us.” Caramel could have sworn she heard fear in the filly’s voice.

Author's Note

So I wavered on just marking this as complete, I have some ideas about where to go with it but I think the premise is just a little bit, how you say, contrived garbage. I'll see, if some people like it I could continue with this.
Pretty please leave any feedback you have, I haven't written much and I really need the help.