The Hateful Six

Chapter 2:
Daughter of the Rocks

It was another earth pony, yet this one was unlike any of the ones both Twilight and Applejack had met. She was bubbly and her mane seemed to defy gravity, scratch that, the pony herself seemed to defy gravity. The pink pony was giggling loud enough for their ears to hurt and, she was bouncing. Every bounce seemed to last more seconds than it should, leaving them baffled. The mare was dressed in similar garb as Twilight and Applejack, but the colors were drastically different. Pastel yellow and blue along with her already incredibly bright pink coat.

Applejack finally regained her senses and whipped her rifle towards the pink pony and gritted her teeth. "Who are ya? Whaddya want?"

"Didn't you hear me, silly? My name is Pinkie Pie! As for what I want, I want to go to Ponyville, ah'm the hangpony there, ya know? Heard ya got some pony who needs hanging." The pink pony's smile turned a little sinister for a moment, it was so brief that Twilight almost thought it was her imagination.

"And how did ya hear that, if ya don't mind me askin'?" Applejack cocked the gun and Pinkie's grin turned into a frown.

"Does it matter? I need to get to Ponyville and you have a stagecoach. Since there's only two bridles, I'll sit in the stagecoach." Pinkie's mane seemed to have deflated slightly as she crossed her forelegs together. Something about this mare terrified Twilight and it seemed Applejack had the same idea.

"Gimme yer papers and from what ah'm seein', ah don't think ah'm inclined to take ya along." Applejack was getting impatient, Twilight could sympathize, she was too.

"And then what about your bounty, Hangpony Jack? If there's no hangpony, then how are you going to hang Fluttershy?" Her mane deflated even more and her smile looked terrifying. From the corner of her eye, Twilight even saw Applejack gulp. Something about this mare was definitely off.

"Can I have your papers?" Twilight decided to take the initiative. She was the sheriff after all. "I'm the new sheriff of Ponyville, I need to see your papers to see if you are telling the truth."

"Of course." Pinkie produced the papers out of her hair, of all places, and hoofed it over. Twilight glanced at Applejack who still had the gun trained, and then looked through the papers. To her surprise, everything was in order. She nodded and Applejack stored her rifle back into her holder, but still kept her eyes trained on her. Twilight gave back the papers and Pinkie beamed, her mane somehow inflating back to what it was before. Giggling, she hopped towards the stagecoach.

"Wait, hold on!" Applejack called out, galloping in front of the pink pony, halting her advancements. "If ya got any iron, ah need to confiscate em. And for mah peace and mind, not to mention the safety of mah bounty, ah need ya hoof cuffed until we arrive."

Pinkie seemed to ponder that, her hoof to the chin and a curious expression on her face, but then replied with a simple, "nope!"

"Whaddya mean nope. Ah ain't askin'." Applejack had her rifle out again, her stetson pulled low to make her even more menacing yet none of this had any effect on the pink pony.

"And why should I listen to you? You're holding a gun, but then again, so am I." Within a blink, Pinkie had two pistols drawn, one pointed at Applejack and the other at Twilight. "I even have a pistol drawn at your dear bounty." Sure enough, Pinkie's tail was also holding a gun and was pointing at the stagecoach. Applejack immediately went pale.

"Fine! Ya win, just lemme get mah keys. Don't want any more broken locks." The earth pony stalked off, mumbling under her breath. Every hooffall kicked up a lot of snow, her fetlocks good as drenched, despite the knee-high boots. After getting to her saddlebags, she turned around and gestured wildly for Twilight to follow, which she did.

When the unicorn got close, the earth pony shoved Twilight's pistols back at her. "Take em and go into the stagecoach with that pink pony. Ah don't trust her."

"Why are you trusting me? Shouldn't you hate all Sparkles?"

"My granny always said 'know em 'fore you judge em' but she also said 'trust yer gut.' Mah gut is tellin' me, this mare is off in more ways than one. Let's make a deal. Ah get ya to Ponyville and in exchange ya help protect mah bounty, how does that sound?" Applejack's voice was still hard but there was a hint of hope. Twilight clung to that and nodded, putting the guns in her holsters.

Steeling herself, the unicorn nodded once to the earth pony and then trotted towards the pink pony. Applejack followed with the key in hoof. She unlocked the lock and then stepped aside. The pegasus inside whimpered and shrank back. Pinkie didn't seem to care and bounced inwards, giving a bright smile which made the pegasus even more frightened. Twilight followed closely after, her horn at the ready for if Pinkie did anything.

The doors closed soon after and a heavy thunk announced that the doors were locked once again. Gloom enveloped the stagecoach and soon after, they were moving again. Pinkie giggled, the pegasus whimpered, and Twilight kept her cool. Now that the bounty was up close, Twilight could see those red marks all over her body, especially around her neck and wings. The left one was at an awkward angle, getting sympathy from Twilight, but there was nothing she could do. The pegasus' eyes were bloodshot, no doubt from crying and many sleepless nights. There was slight illumination from Twilight's horn as she drew her pistol and placed it next to her at easy reach. The sight of the gun terrified the pegasus to no end, her whimpering increased.

"So, Twilight Sparkle traveling with Applejack, what a turn of events! Are you having a picnic?" Pinkie was suddenly really close to Twilight and she scrambled backwards in surprise, hitting her head on the ceiling. Her yelp seemed to bring the pink pony joy and it creeped Twilight to no end. "You must tell me how it happened."

"How about you shut up, mud pony. I don’t talk to lowlives like you.” The unicorn let her voice turn cold and raised her pistol slightly, letting the barrel face the earth pony. The two slowly eased back to their earlier positions. In the silence of the stagecoach, noises from the background could be heard, the thrum of Applejack and the howling wind of the blizzard that was slowly catching up.

"I could, I could." The pink pony grinned. "Or I could ask about your letter."

"How do you know about the letter!?" Now it was the unicorn's turn to shove herself to the earth pony, her pistol cocked against her head. She merely grinned. Twilight screamed in frustration and thumped the earth pony on the snout, causing some blood to start leaking. "TELL. ME. HOW. YOU. KNOW." Each word was punctuated with a heavy blow. By the end, Twilight had both pistols out and cocked underneath Pinkie's chin and as for the pink pony herself, her nose was bleeding heavily and an eye was starting to blacken, but the bitch was still grinning.

Then the blizzard caught up.

The stagecoach was rocked side to side, the ponies inside getting tossed about. The pegasus's whimpers turned into wails, Pinkie's giggles turned into manic laughter, and Twilight's anger turned into shock. The walls shuddered and the floor creaked. Over the wind, Twilight could hear the growl of determination from Applejack.

And then, Pinkie sat up, a straight face appeared and breathed in deep. Twilight was too tangled in her ligaments in order to do anything so when the pink pony released a bellow, she couldn't do anything but yell too. Then the bellowing turned into coherent words.

"TURN LEFT!"

Without hesitation, the stagecoach immediately went left and every pony was thrown to the wall once again. Tears were streaming down the pegasus' face as Twilight face planted into her injured wing. She automatically apologized before getting smacked by Pinkie. The blow threw her against the other wall and before Twilight knew it, she had her pistol thrown up and cracked out a shot. It hit the wall and went out into the snowy apocalypse.

Just as the unicorn thought she had regained her footing, the stagecoach screeched to a halt, throwing the ponies once again. With a yell, Twilight blasted with her unstable magic and at once the two bodies that had piled upon her shot forwards and through the roof. There was a yell and the stagecoach door exploded inwards, showering Twilight with wooden splinters. In the doorway, a really snowy Applejack heaved with anger.

"WHAT DID AH SAY ABOUT PROTECTING MAH FUCKING BOUNTY!" With another buck, the whole stagecoach flipped over once and then twice. Twilight landed far away, bruises all over but couldn't feel it because of the blistering cold. She heaved herself upwards with a growl, determined to shoot all of these bitches, but then a sight stopped her.

A huge cabin with lights on. How about that.