The Hateful Six

Chapter 3:
Sugarcube Corner

Twilight immediately galloped for the house, not caring about the other crazy mares. Light promised warmth and other ponies, maybe even food. The winds tore at her, threatening to tear away her cloths, but she kept on running. Up the stairs, across the porch, and with a shoulder slam, the door gave way and Twilight tumbled onto the floor in a dazed and shivering heap. She was then immediately assaulted by noise.

"CLOSE THE DAMN DOOR! YA GOTTA HAMMER IT IN!"
"The door, darling. It is of utmost importance."
"THE DOOR, BITCH! ARE YA DEAF?"
"Oh, heavens, I'm going to get a cold."

There was a grumble and then a chair screech. Heavy flaps indicated a pegasus and then a heavy landing as the pegasus landed beside Twilight. The mysterious pony spat on the floor, said something about fucking useless hornheads before going to the door and then hammering it in. By now, Twilight had somewhat recovered and managed to heave herself upwards onto her hooves. By the doorway, a cyan pegasus with a shock of a rainbow mane, touched with some grey, was using a hammer and nails to nail the door shut. The previous lock had seemed to be broken, busted down even. That made Twilight frown, but before she could comment on it, a lovely voice called her.

"Over here, darling! They have such lovely cocoa." A pristine white unicorn was flagging her down with fluttering blue eyes. Her dress was beautifully tailored and the fabrics rare and comfortable. Her coiled violet mane alluring and intimidating at the same time, Twilight was hesitant to trot over, but the promise of hot cocoa was enough to overcome her trepidation.

Trotting over, Twilight made sure that her guns were still there and was disheartened to find that one of them was missing, probably lost when the earth pony flipped the stagecoach. Using her hooves, she undressed slightly, taking off some of the warmer cloths as well as her hat, and placed them on a coat stand. After making sure everything was in order, she finally made the final steps to the other unicorn.

"Oh my, if it isn't Twilight Sparkle." The unicorn giggled while fanning her face. She then bowed, leaving Twilight speechless. "I must say it really is a pleasure to find another unicorn here, even more delightful is one of your stature! Oh, you must forgive me, my name is Rarity of the Belle Enterprise."

"A pleasure." Twilight replied with a slight hesitancy. She knew of course, the legendary Belle Enterprise, everypony who was anypony in Canterlot knew of Belle Enterprise. They had holdings in nearly every company, and had nearly as much sway as the Princesses did. Twilight disdained unicorns like the ones at Belle Enterprise, too much power, too much wealth, only after their own personal gain.

"Here's your hot cocoa, hope you like it, my own recipe." Rarity hoofed out a cup which Twilight accepted with her magic, quietly taking note of her lack of magic.

"Thanks." She then tipped her head and took a little sip. It was hot, but not scalding. It did taste wonderful, which surprised her. Perhaps this prissy unicorn did know something.

"May I ask, if it isn't too presumptuous, are you heading towards Ponyville?" The way she asked it made Twilight think of a vulture, a hunter looking for scraps. Perhaps she should throw a bone.

"Yes, I'm the new sheriff there. Now, if I may?" She paused and looked at Rarity, she in turn nodded slightly. "Why are you, Rarity of the Belle Enterprise, going to a backwater, mud pony controlled, little town called Ponyville? That doesn't seem like you."

"My, I don't think I like that tone of yours. But yes, I am going to Ponyville, like you so brutishly put. I'm paying my respects to my sister, she died out here, looking for fame and fortune. Her grave lies next to her friends, right next to Ponyville, as I do every year. It is a quaint town, so would you please refrain from disrespecting my sister's final resting place." The earlier warmth, if Twilight could call it warmth, in Rarity's eyes were now replaced with a certain hardness, perfected over the years no doubt from dealing with stuffy nobles. Perhaps Twilight misjudged her.

"My condolences and my apologies." Twilight tipped her head again, but still didn't let her guard slip. She went back to her hot cocoa.

There was a slam and the angry pegasus immediately started yelling. Twilight and Rarity turned around to see a pink pony standing in the doorway, the cold blistering wind whooshed beside her, making her seem creepier than usual.

"CLOSE THE DOOR! THE LATCH IS BUSTED!"
"Pinkie, close the door."
"Yes, dear, you must treat ladies with respect, this foul weather is absolutely dreadful for the skin!"
"MUD PONY, ARE YA DEAF? CLOSE THE FUCKING DOOR! USE THE HAMMER!"

"She's certainly loud." Twilight commented as she watched the pink earth pony shut the door with relative ease, all the while sporting a grin.

"Yes, she certainly is." Rarity sipped her hot cocoa before continuing. "Her name is Rainbow Dash, she was here when I arrived. That was 40 minutes before you came in. And then that ruffian too, mmm, how many of you are there, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Four."

"So two are still out there in that dreadful snow. Pity." Rarity finished her cup with one swift chug before moving back to the pot to pour herself more.

"If you say. If you'll excuse me, I am rather tired after that long and harrowing trip." Twilight said, her gaze focused solely on a chair near the fireplace.

"Of course, of course. Don't let me hold you up."

Pinkie Pie eyes the room. The door behind her was firmly shut by her hammering skills, but the latch was gone. Most curious. Sugarcube Corner was exactly how she left it, however with some key differences. To her right was the kitchen, bar, and pantry, a well dressed unicorn was sipping hot cocoa over there. There was a large bed and two baby carriages as well. It was all incredibly homely and inspired by warm and tingly feelings. A large dining table was at the far end, a place of many a warm conversation. To Pinkie's front was the living space. A warm and snugly rug, two sofas with a table between them, and the roaring fireplace. The sight always warmed her heart, but not today. The roaring fire was obscured by a purple pony, none other than Twilight Sparkle. She frowned. To her left was another table, smaller this time. On busy nights, that was where customers would hang out and play card games. A blue pegasus with a rainbow mane was sitting there. On the far side was more storage with more supplies. It looked homely, but not. There was still that key difference that changed everything for Pinkie.

"Where are the Cakes?" She asked no one in particular.

"The Cakes took off for the holiday, visiting family in Appleloosa. They left me in charge." It was the loudmouth pegasus from earlier. She stood up from her seat and trotted over. Pinkie now got a good look at her since she came out of the shadows and the sight was something. The pegasus was wearing a pegasus enclave aviation uniform and the insignia on her sleeve suggested she was a general. On top of that, she had several scars on her face as well as a prosthetic left wing. Pinkie also took notice of the hefty wingpistol on her right side.

"Is that so? Mrs. Cake left you, a pegasus general, in charge?" Pinkie peered closely at the pegasus. To her credit, she didn't budge. After a few uncomfortable seconds, she grinned. "That checks out!"

"I'm Rainbow Dash." The pegasus stuck out a hoof, which Pinkie accepted gladly.

"The Wonder Bolt. Wow, I never would have thought I would meet you here!" Pinkie grinned a little too wide. Now, Rainbow looked caught off guard.

"How do you know that name, mud pony?" She growled, her wings twitching, the right one especially.

"We met, once upon a time, in the Battle of Earth." Pinkie started.

"You mean Pegasopolis." Rainbow Dash corrected.

"Unicornia!" Rarity called out from the bar. She quieted and went back to her drink when she realized everypony was looking at her.

"Nope. It doesn't matter what the battle is called anymore, because it's now called Equestria!" She giggled but then turned serious in a split second. "We have met, Dashie. You were dropping those nimbus bombs down into the earth pony trenches, many of my friends died that day. Even my twitchy tail couldn't save them. So remind me, why did the Cakes, the owners, who are both earth ponies, I might add, put you in charge?" Pinkie was nose to nose with Rainbow who was visibly trembling, but not from being scared.

"Fuck off, mud pony, you don't know anything." Rainbow shoved the pink earth pony who didn't tumble like she expected, instead she rubber banded back and smacked the pegasus in retaliation. She crashed to the ground with a surprised expression before getting tackled by Pinkie.

"Then make me know." Pinkie all but whispered, a fierce look in her eyes.

"I said, FUCK OFF!" Rainbow bucked her hard and rolled to the side. She wasn't called the Wonder Bolt for no reason, after getting to a safe distance, she propelled herself to her hooves, drew her wingpistol and took aim, all within a minute. Since the Battle for Pegasopolis was more than several years ago, she was impressed she still had it. Then she scoffed, of course she still had it. She was awesome. Her self-congratulations went to an immediate standstill when she noticed a barrel in her face. The pink earth pony was right in front of her with a pistol drawn. The two stared each other down, barrels of death trained on both of them, daring one another to pull the trigger.

"Girls!" A magical hue shone over their pistols and before anypony could fire, they were ripped out of their grasps. The two glared at the one who dared and Rarity stared back with an equally grim expression. "Enough blood has been shed over the years, and definitely not over these lovely carpets!"

Their stare down was broken when the door slammed open again.

"CLOSE THE DOOR BEHIND YOU, THE LATCH IS BROKEN!"
"Darlings, it is far too cold to be out and about!"
"Hold it and hammer planks in. The hammer and nails are by the door."
"Some meanie meanie broke the door."

"Sh…shut the fuck up!" Rainbow spluttered before smacking the earth pony, well, tried to. Pinkie danced around the blow and somehow made it across the room in one second flat. Normally Rainbow would be impressed, but she couldn't allow herself to be impressed with mud ponies.

Applejack was annoyed, more than annoyed. She was mad. That fiasco with the caravan, she should've never let those ponies on, especially that hornhead, Sparkle, had her looking for her rifle and her prisoner in that fucking blizzard. Luckily, Fluttershy didn't go far and was crying underneath the wreckage. Applejack immediately chained her to her right hoof, so the featherhead would be forced to trot with the earth pony. Her rifle was another matter, took several shivering minutes until she found it near the well.

After gathering everything, she bucked the door down and was immediately assaulted with noise. "SHUT THE FUCK UP." The noise quieted and the orange earth pony went to work hammering in the planks. She was even more ticked off, who the fuck broke the door? All the while, Fluttershy was shivering and whimpering beside her, the chains tinkling.

"Good heavens! What have you done to the poor dear?" Rarity immediately abandoned the two, grabbed a blanket with her magic, and hurried over to Fluttershy. She attempted to cover the poor dear up with a blanket when she was shoved.

"Back up, bitch. She's mah prisoner, mah bounty." Applejack glared down at the fuming unicorn, before looking back up and staring at each and everypony. "This goes for all of y'all. This 'ere is Fluttershy. She's wanted dead or alive for murder. 10,000 bits. That money's mine, fillies. Don't wanna share it, and ah ain't gonna lose it. When Celestia raises that sun, ah'm takin' this filly into Ponyville to hang." She paused, dead silence as the four stared back. Nothing but whimpers, the crackle of the fireplace, and the roaring of the storm. "Now, is anypony here committed to stopping' me from doing that?" There was no answer from anypony. Twilight looked half asleep, the white unicorn was fretting about her 'ruined' tail, Pinkie and that cyan pegasus kept on glancing at each other, and all the while, Fluttershy was cowering behind Applejack. "Really? Nopony got a problem with this?"

Nothing.

"Well…ah guess that's very fortunate for me. However, ah hope y'all understand, ah can't just, take yer word." Applejack was moving around the room, slowly towards the unicorn while eyeing everypony. "Circumstances force me to…take…precautions." She was right above the fallen unicorn, still nursing her tail. She then looked up when Applejack's shadow fell on her.

"Precautions, you say. Darling, if you want something from me, you better spit it out." Applejack sighed from the response. She was one of those high falutin' pony types, gallivanting their wealth and power like it means nothing.

"What ah mean is that ah'm gonna take yer gun, sugarcube." The earth pony had her rifle out, but in more of a laissez-faire attitude kind of way.

"Certainly not! How else is a lady supposed to defend herself? Complain and whine? Admittedly, that has worked for me in the past, I would not part myself with my gun for anything." She then flicked her muzzle into the air in the haughtiest manner. Applejack ground her teeth. This mare was getting on her nerves.

"Listen, miss…?"

"Rarity of the Belle Enterprise. And who may you be?"

"Miss Rarity. Ah wasn't asking."

"How rude, and what of the others? Those ruffians, Rainbow Dash and whoever that pink pony is, both have guns themselves. Go deal with them." She made a shooing gesture with her hoof. Applejack wasn't looking all too pleased.

"And ah will, but if ya please?" She held out a hoof and with obvious reluctance and unnecessary drama, Rarity relinquished her dainty pistol. Applejack scoffed at the size, even unicorn weapons were useless. "Mighty kind of ya."

Applejack then stalked off towards Pinkie and Rainbow Dash, ignoring the scoff Rarity so clearly hid, Fluttershy following with whimpers. By now, the two had separated and were now on opposite sides of a table. When Applejack trotted up, neither broke eye contact to look up.

"Ah need yer iron, and ah ain't asking."

"Fuck off, bitch."
"I'm busy! Come back later."

Applejack cocked her rifle and cleared her throat. "Perhaps y'all didn't understand. Ah ain't takin' any chances with mah prisoner, so that means ah will need yer iron. Hoof em over."

Rainbow looked up from her stare down and glared at the earth pony. That face sparked a memory in Applejack's head. She knew that face, sure, it was many years later and the pony was aged, wrinkled and had some gray hairs, but that was definitely her. On the pegasus' part however, "And perhaps you didn't understand me, mud pony. I'm a fucking general, I don't take orders from low lives like you, scum." She had her gun out too and had it pointed at the earth pony.

Before Applejack could open her mouth, a knife seemed to materialize in the air and it was pointed right to Rainbow's throat. "Put the gun down." Twilight emerged from the shadows, eliciting a dramatic gasp from Pinkie who immediately went silent when a gun was also pointed at her. The unicorn waited for the pegasus to do what she was asking of, but it was taking too long so Twilight put some pressure on the skin, causing blood to emerge, tainting the blade. Rainbow put the wingpistol down. "Good. Blink if your calm."

She sneered, but she blinked.

"Did she blink?"

"Yea." Applejack replied, slowly dragging the wingpistol towards her before the pegasus could grab it again.

"Alright. Blink if you're going to remain calm."

She was positively seething, but she blinked.

"Did she blink?"

"Yea." She now had the gun safely stored in her saddlebags.

"Good." Twilight then left the scene, returning to her seat by the fireplace, meticulously cleaning her blade with a white cloth. Applejack was both grateful and astounded, but she quickly regained her composure.

"Right, now that goes fer you too, Pinkie. Hoof em over." The pink earth pony frowned but shook her mane out. Out came out seven different types of guns, all pistols. After a few seconds of utter disbelief by everypony in the room, Applejack recovered quickly as possible and grabbed those too. She then brought all nine over to the kitchen where she then proceeded to demolish all of them with well precise blows. Each thump and each sound of snapping metal caused a frightened screech from Fluttershy. "Shuddup." She didn't. Applejack had enough after the seventh and dished out a blow, leaving the pegasus wailing as silently as she could, her nose a complete bloody mess.

Applejack snorted and took the pieces and bucked them into the snow. In order to do that, she ended up opening the door which caused some screeching and annoyed grumbles. While the orange earth pony was doing that, Pinkie slowly backed off and made her way to the kitchen without attracting anypony's attention.

There, she looked around. She had the greatestest, most splendidest, and the bestest idea in the history of ideas! She was going to make cupcakes, now, if only she could find the ingredients. If she knew the Cakes, and she's pretty sure she knows the Cakes, they always have their flour in the top left drawer, the butter and milk in the right fridge, and the sugar in the bottom middle cabinet. The rest of the ingredients are in her mane, for all those baking emergencies. Then she noticed something. A still warm oven with a pie inside. She opened her mouth to question Dashie but then the door slammed shut.

"Fuck this door, ah'm having a real shitty day." Applejack cussed as she pounded the nails into the doorframe, keeping it tight. Fluttershy whimpered next to her, her eyes gleaming with something fierce. Pinkie blinked and Fluttershy was back to normal.

"Oh, you're having a shitty day?" Rainbow pushed herself up to her hooves, completely unaware that Pinkie was gone. So was Rarity. Wait, Pinkie glanced around wondering where the white unicorn disappeared to. It turns out, she went back to the bar to check out the alcohol. That unicorn is something else, Pinkie giggled, then she sobered.

Applejack pushed her way past Rainbow and made her way to Twilight. The two struck up a conversation but it was too low for Pinkie to hear. Rainbow huffed and went back to her corner and closed her eyes, but before she could relax, Pinkie was there. As in, right next to her.

"Hi, Dashie! I was just wondering…" Pinkie ignored the "Holy! Gah! Shitfuck…" and continued talking. "…on what we're going to have for dinner, considering you're the host and all."

"Holy shit, mud pony. You do NOT sneak up on a general like that!" The pegasus recovered from her earlier tumble and stood up, determined to beat the pink pony into a pulp.

"Should've been prepared." She replied with a sickly sweet smile. The problem was that she was right and Rainbow hated her for that. What she needed to do, was to calm down. So she calmed down.

"We're having daisy pie. It's in the oven right now." The pegasus muttered before ushering the strange earth pony away. She complied, thankfully. She wouldn't know what she would have done if the bitch hadn't followed her orders.

While Pinkie scampered away, Twilight was lounging. She had her eye on everypony, none of them seemed trustworthy in the slightest. She helped Applejack because of the deal they had earlier and maybe that would help her in the long run, but while she might have gained an ally, she definitely got an enemy in Rainbow Dash. Then the orange earth pony came over and sat across from her.

"Yes?"

"Ah wanted to thank ya. Promises are important to me, and mah granny sure as hell would've hugged ya right now, a hornhead keeping their promise to a mud pony like me. Who woulda thought ah would get to see the day." Applejack chuckled, but nothing about her posture said she lowered her guard. Fluttershy sat behind the chair like an obedient dog.

"I'm not an untrustworthy pony, it's society and the war depicting the races as separate beings. It's all horseshit." Twilight spat on the floor, her face clearly depicting her hatred for the racism in modern Equestria.

"Perhaps ah've misjudged ya, Twi. Yer not bad a pony, fer a unicorn."

A few hours later with little to no talking, Pinkie announced it was time for dinner. The six mares made their way to the large dining table and set on various sides of it. Rarity sat at the end with several napkins and inlaid cutlery. Applejack sat with Fluttershy on the other end, the orange pony helping feed the pegasus. Twilight sat near Applejack, but not too close. Pinkie sat on the other side of Rarity and Rainbow Dash got the middle, the opposite side of Twilight.

In front of all was a large piece of pie, delicious looking pie. Everypony dug in with various tempos and grace. Rarity and Twilight with the most grace whilst Pinkie and Rainbow ate theirs the fastest. It was during this time, things began to go downhill.

"So, Twilight, darling. Why are you, the personal student of Celestia, becoming Ponyville's sheriff, if you don't mind me asking." Rarity asked with a flutter of her eyelashes.

Twilight opened her mouth, an angry expression flushing her features, but before a word could come out, something was slammed down on the table. Everypony glanced at the sudden disturbance, which turned out to be Rainbow Dash. The pegasus was staring at Twilight with shock and horror, which was quickly replaced with fury.

"I KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING FISHY ABOUT YOU, YO…YOU BITCH!" While the five of them were looking, the pegasus somehow zipped to the other side of the table and had a whittling knife in her wing pointed at the unicorn. Before she could draw blood, Applejack kicked up her rifle into her hooves and cocked it.

"Ah think ya should put that knife down, sugarcube, else ya might get hurt." There was a stare down between the pegasus and the earth pony, all the while, Twilight was in the middle. The other spectators distanced themselves slightly, but were not looking too frightened. Pinkie was grinning, Rarity looked smug, and Fluttershy had a sadistic gleam. Wait. Twilight blinked and Fluttershy was cowering behind Applejack. Then a sudden jab to her ribs brought her back to reality.

"Fuck you, mud pony! This isn't your fight. This, this… HORNHEAD." She spat with such venom, Fluttershy squeaked with downright terror. "She was there! At the battle! The fucking bitch tore throw pegasi soldiers like they were nothing! Like they were fucking pieces of paper! Shit, like melted butter! Like, like…"

"Ah think ya made yer point, but we've all got grievances in that war. Now put down yer gun an' ain't no pony needs to get hurt." Applejack cautioned.

Twilight mused over the situation, it's funny how someponies forget that a unicorn can use magic. Carefully and expertly, she gripped the knife's handle and before the enraged pegasus could react, the tool was ripped from her grasp and was then thrown into the fire. Rainbow screeched with pure loathing and tried to tackle her, but Twilight was expecting that, and with magic, used the pegasus' momentum and let herself be catapulted into the wall on the other side of the room. Luckily the others were watching her as Twilight’s magic fizzled out. The cyan mare then slumped to the floor, no doubt unconscious.

"Well, ah'd say ya handled that alright, if ah do say so mahself." Applejack stowed away her gun and went back to eating like nothing had happened. That left Twilight to deal with Rarity. As she turned to face the white unicorn, Rarity chuckled nervously and slowly got off the bench.

"Perhaps I touched a sensitive topic, let us…forget about this, yes? You go your way and I go mine, how does that sound?" She took another step back, her smile wavering, her eyes uncertain. Twilight advanced.

"You don't get to talk about my teacher, neither do any of you! You're all just lowlives! The lot of you." Twilight gestured frantically at the gathered ponies, a wild look in her eyes. Applejack snorted, finished her food with one big gulp, and also stood up.

"Now, Twi, that wasn't friendly like, considerin' ah saved yer life and all. Ah don't mind about the others, mind you, but ah certainly do care about me. Ah would really prefer not to be lumped with these bitches." She chuckled without mirth and pulled her stetson low.

"A bitch!? Why I never!" Rarity scoffed loudly and immediately forgot about the looming purple unicorn and faced the earth pony that dared beseech her honor. "I'll have you know that I am pure at heart and give to the poor!"

"The poor, meaning what exactly?" The orange mare now had her hoof on her rifle and was leaning close. "Meaning…us, mud ponies, perhaps?" The beginning of a growl manifested in her throat.

"Miss earth pony! I assure you no such thing!" Rarity helped a hoof to her chest, never in her life had she been so offended.

"The name's Applejack, ya be sure to remember that, hornhead." She spat on the floor before trotting to the other side of the room, dragging Fluttershy along with her. The poor pegasus barely had time to finish her pie before she was dragged off, the yellow mare didn't complain, just whined a bit.

Rarity watched all of this with distaste, she couldn't believe she was going to spend the next few days with these ruffians, even her fellow unicorn was terrible. The mare in question was even using her hooves to eat instead of her magic. She had made her way back to her food when Applejack stood up against Rarity, but she kept one eye on the white unicorn.

Then Pinkie spoke up. "Say, you do have the letter, don't you?" Rarity and Twilight's heads snapped up and stared at the pink pony, the mare who wore a grin most sadist.

Twilight took one last mouthful, slammed the bowl down, and slowly advanced on the pink mare. As she spoke, low and menacing, her magic was touching the handle of her gun. "Be careful of what you say next, mud pony. You might end up on the wrong side of a barrel."

Rarity moved away slightly, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire. While her eyes were focused on the two in the middle of the room, she didn't notice a pegasus stirring, but Applejack did. Rainbow recovered quicker than anypony would've thought, but she screeched as she hurtled through the air towards Twilight, her teeth bared and a large cooking knife in a wing. Before anypony could react, Applejack whipped out her rifle and fired.