It had probably been my first good sleep since I had arrived in Panchea, although the copious amounts of alcohol I drank with Applejack may have had something to do with that. So when I felt myself being gently shaken awake, I was sorely disappointed.
“Rarity,” the young voice said softly. “Breakfast is bein’ put out, do you want some brought up to you, or will you be gettin’ up soon?”
“Just five more minutes Sweetie Belle,” I grumbled, refusing to open my eyes and rolling over slightly, away from the pony trying to wake me.
“Sweetie Belle?” the voice repeated, sounding confused. “Who are you talking about? I’m Applebloom.”
My eyes cracked open and I rolled back over in order to look at who had been talking to me, indeed it was Applebloom standing by my bed, her eyebrows quirked out of curiosity.
“Oh, sorry Applebloom,” I said, sitting up and yawning. “I thought you were my sister for a second.”
“You have a sister?” Applebloom asked.
“I do, she would actually be about your age,” I informed her. “But she’s still in Equestria with my parents.”
“Will you be going back there soon?” Applebloom asked, sounding a little sad at the prospect.
“Oh no,” I replied. “I’m not from Equestria myself; we were just there during the war. I live down in Port Mule.”
“So you’ll be staying?” Applebloom asked hopefully.
“Yes, as in I’ll be staying in the country,” I confirmed as I got out of bed. “And hopefully my family will be travelling over soon too, you’ll get to meet Sweetie Belle yourself, I think you two might get along well.”
“That’s great!” Applebloom declared. “I’ll let Granny know you’re comin’ down now.”
Applebloom turned to leave and I made my way over to the sink in the corner of the guest room, intending on giving myself a quick wash. Applebloom didn’t leave however; instead she hesitated by the door, as if she wanted to say something else.
“Is something the matter?” I asked when I spotted her in the mirror.
“It’s just…” she began awkwardly. “I overheard you all talkin’ last night. I know I shouldn’t have been listening in; I was just going to the kitchen to get a glass of water when I heard you. That pony who grabbed me, the one you saved me from… he’s dead.”
There was a long pause while I tried to think of something that could possibly defuse the situation, in the end I settled with the truth.
“Yes, when I kicked him to the ground he broke his neck,” I told her. “Applejack… thinks he died instantly.”
“Yeah I heard you say,” Applebloom replied, still sounding awkward. “I heard how upset you were, you never… did that to anypony, and now you have because of me.”
“Applebloom, listen to me,” I said firmly, as I walked over and crouched down in front of her so our eyes were level. “What happened is not your fault, you were just an innocent victim in all this. You can’t blame yourself for what that stallion did, or even what I did.”
“But… you sounded so…” Applebloom argued, trying to find the right words. “Distraught”
“Well… yes, I was,” I admitted. “I never intended to… do what I did, it was an accident. But we talked a lot last night, and your Granny said something that made me feel better about that whole thing.”
“Was it to do with how she shot that other stallion to save you?” Applebloom asked.
“That’s right,” I answered. “She told me that she would never feel happy taking another life, but she would never hesitate to do so again if it meant protecting those she cared about. She said that doing the right thing isn’t always easy, sometimes it can seem like the hardest thing we ever have to do. Nopony can blame us if we can’t bring ourselves to do it, but when we can do it, the only blame we have to worry about, is the blame we place on ourselves. And I forget the rest of her quote…”
Applebloom snorted with laughter at that, which effectively raised the mood in the room again.
“But the point is, that seeing you now, alive and healthy,” I continued, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “Well I can’t bring myself to regret what I did, because I know that something good came out of it. I know that it was ultimately the right thing to do, even if that was difficult to see at first.”
“So you’re feeling better about it all then?” Applebloom asked, her voice cheerier now.
“Much better,” I assured her, returning her smile. “Now go on downstairs, I’ll catch up in a minute.”
As Applebloom hurried out of the room and down the stairs, I walked back to the sink and looked at myself in the mirror, frowning at my reflection. It hadn’t been a lie exactly, I was feeling much better than I had been the previous night, I just omitted to tell Applebloom that I still felt some degree of disgust at myself for what I did. I knew Granny Smith was right, and I believed that in time I would come to terms with what I had done, but it would not be for some time yet.
Once I was cleaned up and dressed, I made my way downstairs to where Caramel and Applebloom sat at the table, already helping themselves to pancakes while Granny Smith prepared a fresh batch. I took the same seat I had yesterday, which found me opposite Caramel and beside Applebloom, my stomach growled loudly as I smelt the pancakes over the cooker. I smiled sheepishly before Applebloom passed one of hers over to me, to keep me going until the rest were prepared.
“So where is everyone else at today?” I asked to nopony in particular.
“AJ and Big Mac are already getting to work,” Caramel replied. “I’d be out there too, but one of those asses from yesterday busted my knee, now I have to take it easy. As for Braeburn, he’s taking the survivor off the farm.”
“Where too?” I asked curiously, remembering the injured bandits in the pass.
“Just some ways south,” Caramel replied with a small shrug. “He was pretty eager to get away from us, he just said to get him down the road a bit and he could make his own way from there.”
The small talk died when Granny Smith placed a stack of pancakes before me, one of which I gave to Applebloom to make us even. Caramel left shortly after to get started with some light work that he could manage, despite his injured knee. A little while after that, Applebloom left when Granny Smith instructed her to feed the sheep. I was left alone in the kitchen with Granny Smith who sat down in Caramel’s vacated seat, letting out an exhausted sigh.
“It’s a toasty day out,” she said, fanning herself with her hoof.
Indeed it was, the sun was shining brightly today and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. The weather had been pretty good overall since I had arrived in Panchea, that was my… seventh day since I had stepped of the boat. One whole week, and so much had happened already.
“How are you feelin’ today?” Granny Smith asked, in a suddenly very serious tone.
“Much better,” I said for the second time that day. “At least I’m not hungover.”
Granny Smith smirked at that.
“Enjoy it while it lasts,” she warned me. “You ain’t gonna be young forever, though try tellin’ Applejack that, some days she drinks that stuff like it’s water.”
“Thank you for the breakfast,” I said, standing up and levitating my dish over to the sink, where I washed it in a quick few seconds. “Thank you for everything really, you’ve all been so hospitable.”
“Think nothin’ of it,” she assured me, echoing her granddaughter. “You’re practically one of the family already.”
“Well then, as one of the family, I’d better go lend a hoof then,” I said, right before I walked out the back door.
I walked around the house, scanning my eyes around for somepony I could offer some help to. When I reached the front yard, I saw Applejack hauling a bucket of water from the well.
“Good morning Applejack,” I greeted warmly, making her jump slightly and for a load of water to slosh out over the bucket. “Oops, sorry.”
“That’s alright,” Applejack said, laughing as she shook herself dry. “Mornin’ to you too Rarity, sleep well?”
“Like a log,” I replied. “Seriously, it was the best night’s sleep I’ve had since I got back to Panchea.”
“Well ah’m glad to hear it,” she said, turning to face me. “Do you need help with somethin’?”
“I was actually about to ask you the same thing,” I pointed out with a small laugh. “Since you’re letting me stay here, I was wondering if you needed help with anything around the farm.”
Applejack raised her eyebrows in surprise, before looking me up and down.
“Are you sure about that?” she asked uncertainly. “Ah appreciate the thought, but you aren’t exactly dressed for doin’ outdoor work… even if you were, you’re a bit on the light side.”
“Well I guess I could change back out of these for a while,” I admitted, looking down at my very un-farmerish outfit. “And surely there must be something I can do that doesn’t require too much physical strength; I do have my magic after all to make up for it.”
“Ah suppose so,” Applejack agreed. “And you might spill less water than me anyway, I need about half a dozen buckets of water for the sheep.”
“I can manage that,” I stated, levitating the half empty bucket from her and hooking it back into the well. “Just remind where the sheep are again.”
“They’re in the first field from the…” Applejack began, but as she turned to gesture to the farm entrance with her hoof we both spotted something.
Braeburn was galloping up the laneway, as if he were being chased by all the demons from the Nether Vale. As he got close, I could make out the fearful expression on his face, as well as his fur shimmering with sweat and something red.
“AJ!” he yelled as he got close, his voice ragged from exhaustion.
“Braeburn, what’s goin’ on?” Applejack asked, before she too saw the red and her eyes widened. “What the hay happened to your ear?!”
His right ear had been ripped or cut clean off, leaving a dark hole in the place where it used to be, blood pouring out of the wound. When Braeburn reached us, he stopped running, but his legs immediately turned to jelly and he collapsed.
“Braeburn! Braeburn!” Applejack shouted, shaking her cousin. “Speak to me, what happened?!”
“It was a trap,” he gasped. “That guy I escorted south… there were more soldiers waiting for us. As soon as I saw them, he attacked me… I’ve never run so fast in my life. AJ, they’re coming here… now!”
Applejack swore loudly as she leapt to her hooves and ran to the end of the homestead, where she panned her eyes around, trying to spot the attackers. She ran back less than a minute after, panic in her eyes.
“I can see ‘em on the horizon,” she informed me. “About six of them this time, maybe more.”
“I can help fight them off…” Braeburn began, trying to stand up but failing miserably.
I caught him in my magic as he fell, but he was too heavy for me to keep up for long.
“Applejack,” I began in an urgent tone. “You need to round up the rest of your family; you know where they all are. I’ll get Braeburn inside and get him patched up.”
“Alright,” Applejack agreed before sprinting off, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake.
Taking a deep breath, I reached out a second time with my magic and raised Braeburn up into the air. With much difficulty, I managed to carry him to the front door, at which point Granny Smith rushed out and helped me get him the rest of the way into the den. I quickly explained what was going on while she began treating his wound, when I saw Applejack and the others rush into the front yard I hurried out to join them.
“Granny Smith is taking care of Braeburn,” I told them when they saw me coming. “How long do you think we have?”
“Long enough,” Applejack replied simply, running over to the building I had identified as being a blacksmiths.
“Mac, I don’t think I can fight,” Caramel said weakly, trying to put weight on his bad leg before wincing.
“I have an idea,” I cut in, drawing all eyes to me. “Caramel, can you use that crossbow Granny Smith used yesterday?”
“I can,” he replied, sounding hopeful.
“Get it, and go to the highest point of the house,” I ordered him before pulling out he spare bolts and arrows from my satchels with magic. “Here, take these as spares in case you run out.”
He nodded, accepting the ammunition from me before hobbling towards the house.
“Big Mac, Applejack had a sword yesterday,” I reminded him. “I assume that’s what she’s getting now, but are there any other weapons around the house.”
“Enope,” he replied flatly. “Just AJ’s claymore and the crossbow.”
“Well then what about…” I began as I scanned my eyes around the yard. “Those barrels, do you think you could roll them down the lane at them?”
“Ah sure can,” he agreed, walking over and picking one up with ease. “What if ah miss?”
“They’ll have to jump out of the way and that will give one of us an opening,” I told him. “And if you don’t miss… well I don’t think they’ll be getting back up after it.”
“What about me Rarity?” Applebloom asked eagerly.
It was against my better judgement to have Applebloom anywhere other than safely locked inside the house when the attackers arrived, but something else sprang to mind.
“Big Mac mentioned something about a harvester,” I began tentatively.
Applebloom’s face lit up immediately at that.
“It’s over in the big barn,” she explained. “If you can keep ‘em busy for a bit, I can drive it over here lickity split.”
“Alright, you go and do that,” I said, allowing Applebloom to run off to the big barn.
I didn’t know much when it came to farming, but I did remember when the harvester became a thing. There had been a whole uproar at the idea of machines taking the jobs of honest, hardworking ponies; the whole controversy had been rather silly since a pony was still required to operate it, so nopony was actually losing their job over their development. So while I was probably the last pony who knew whether a harvester was better or worse than a pony doing the work by hoof, I did know that having one of them driving after you would be utterly terrifying.
“So that just leaves…” I began, looking over to the blacksmiths, just as the door was thrown open and Applejack marched out.
She was now wearing a set off tough leather armour, very similar to the type worn by Hammerhead and his men. Her armour had the addition of iron pauldrons strapped to her shoulders, and an iron sallet helmet in place of her Stetson, its visor sitting open. Her claymore was slung across her back, bright and shimmering in stark contrast to the how dull the rest of her armour was.
“Ah am gettin’ pretty sick of these damn rebels,” Applejack growled as she walked over to me. “Dishonourably discharged or not, they’ve been nothing but a pain since the war ended. If they think they can attack mah family a second time, they have another thing coming.”
“We’re all ready,” I told her, levitating my own knives out of their sheaths and holding them out before me.
“Hey Caramel!” Applejack called out to an open dormer window where I could just make out the crossbow poking out over the edge. “Shoot them as they’re coming up the lane, don’t try taking any pot-shots once we engage them.”
“Got it!” he called back.
“AJ! Rarity! They’re here!” Big Mac called from the edge of the homestead.
We both hurried over to his side in time to see the soldiers marching in under the wooden archway, one stopping to smash the sign down with the halberd he was carrying. Indeed they were all heavily armed, as opposed to the one soldier with a sword during their first attack. Big Mac was standing just behind the corner of the building, his first barrel at the ready.
“Now,” I ordered, stepping back once I saw that they had all congregated together in the centre of the lane.
Big Mac stepped out, and with a mighty swing, launched the barrel down at the enemy. It thundered down the lane, taking them completely by surprise. Most managed to leap out of the way, but one unlucky stallion hadn’t reacted in time, and the barrel caught him right in the gut and sent him spinning back down the lane to the entrance. He had looked a bit roughed up before the barrel hit him, so I figured he was one of the two soldiers who survived the last attack, thus he probably wasn’t at peak condition.
While the rest tried to regain themselves, I heard a loud twang from behind us and saw a bolt speed overhead, burying itself in one of the soldier’s hind legs. The remaining five got to their hooves and began sprinting up the laneway to us, Applejack and I readied ourselves, while Big Mac stood out of eyeshot, readying a second barrel. Another bolt was fired, but this one missed a soldier by a few inches, and while he hesitated briefly, he quickly returned to running at us.
“Go for it,” Applejack said, and the pair of us stepped back as Mac threw his second barrel.
They were ready for it this time, and they all spread out, only one was caught in the barrels path. At the last second, he stuck out his halberd, which managed to stop the barrel before it could send him tumbling after his friend. Luckily the axe head ended up deeply embedded in the wood and he couldn’t get it back out, being forced to leave it behind as he ran to catch up with the others, who had just reached the top of the lane and were moving to engage us.
Big Mac was forced to throw his third barrel directly at one of the oncoming soldiers, it knocked him straight to the ground, having been thrown with such force that it shattered on impact with him. As he was down, Big Mac charged in and crushed his sword hoof under his own, considerably bigger one. The stallion screamed out in pain, his weapon dropping from his grip, but Big Mac didn’t let up the assault. The other four tried to gang up on me and Applejack, two on each of us.
I managed to use my knives to block their attacks, but they refused to give me a single opening in which I could retaliate. I ended up being pushed back further and further, until I was past the well and nearing the house. It was taking all my energy and concentration just to keep matching their strikes, let alone delivering my own attacks. Applejack seemed to be faring considerably better, one of her opponents was the soldier who had lost his halberd, and while he was a pegasus and tried to fly around her, she simply swung her claymore in a wide arc, swatting him from the air like an overgrown fly.
I saw Big Mac rushing my way, his own target lying still. I began to swing my knives about in a flurry of steel, not with the intention of striking my opponents, just to keep their eyes focused on me as Big Mac charged head first into one them from behind. The other looked away from me as his comrade hit the ground, giving me the opening I needed to send all three of my daggers slashing through all the gaps and chinks in his armour. Blood sprayed out as he collapsed to his knees in front of me, where I swiftly kicked him in the nose.
Looking over to Applejack, I saw that the pegasus was no longer getting up after she had knocked him to the ground yet again, while the other didn’t look like he was going to last much longer. I was honestly quite surprised things had turned out as well as they had, I really should have seen it coming when Caramel shouted down to us.
“There’s more at the back door!” he yelled in a panicked voice. “They’re trying to break through!”
Applejack smashed the hilt of her sword into the jaw of her last opponent, and as he fell to the ground, all three of us ran around the house to the backyard. We should have prepared for the possibility that there might be more, that the attack on the front of the house was only meant as a distraction. There were another six in the back yard, two armed with halberds, and there was one unicorn who was using his magic to levitated a giant log and use it as a battering ram against the back door.
As quick as lightning, before they saw us, I readied one of my daggers and threw it across the yard striking the unicorn in the horn. His magic fizzled out, and the log he had been raising over his head, swinging back for a might blow, dropped like a… well, like the log it was. It dropped right onto the unicorn’s back flattening him under the weight of it. The other five spun around to face us, readying themselves for a fight. The two ponies wielding halberds charged forwards, their weapons directed forwards. However, we heard rumbling approaching from the rear, steadily growing louder, so as the soldiers drew close, we leapt clear to the sides.
It was at that moment, that Applebloom swung around the corner into the backyard, riding atop the mechanical harvester. The two soldiers who had charged us, took one look at it, at the cylinder of spinning blades moving swiftly towards them, before turning tail and fleeing back to the others, one dropping his halberd as he ran, which was scooped up in the blades of the harvester and reduced to shrapnel. While the soldiers were preoccupied with us and Applebloom aboard the harvester, they failed to notice one of the kitchen windows open, and Granny Smith chucking a pot of boiling water over one of the soldier’s heads.
He screamed in anguish, dropping his sword and running around like a headless chicken. That left only four soldiers, one of which had lost his weapon to the harvester. Applebloom had lost the element of surprise, she had no hope of catching any of them with the harvester while they knew she was there, but she still drove circles around the back yard keeping them moving and unable to focus on us as we darted in and poked before leaping out of range of their attacks.
The pony with the halberd, having regained his courage, took a swing at me. I didn’t try to dodge it however; instead I caught it with my magic and held it still, before wrenching it from his grip and swinging the pole of it into the side of his head. It hadn’t been easy to stop it, and it ended up taking a lot of energy out of me. As I stopped to catch my breath, I saw that Big Mac and Applejack were both taking out another opponent each, leaving just one…
“Applejack?!” a voice exclaimed.
The fighting stopped briefly as the last stallion, who had been scrambling to pick up the sword he had dropped while avoiding the harvester, now stood dead still, staring directly at Applejack. Applebloom put the brakes on the harvester, Big Mac pinned a wriggling soldier under his hoof, and Granny Smith poked her head out the window. All three were staring back and forth between Applejack and the last soldier who somehow knew her name.
“Applejack, that is you!” he exclaimed, lowering his sword. “It’s me, Hatchet.”
“Hatchet?” Applejack repeated, not lowering her own sword as she frowned, trying to place who he was supposed to be. “Wait, ah remember you… from the battle at Olympus?”
“That’s right,” he confirmed. “Oh lord, if I’d known this was your place…”
“So what if you knew or not?!” Applejack snapped, inching closer to Hatchet, her weapon still at the ready. “Does not knowing who owns a farm, somehow give you the right to attack it?!”
“Whoa, whoa,” Hatchet tried to say, raising his sword defensively. “Look, we’re on the same side here.”
“You attacked mah family and mah home!” Applejack bellowed taking a swing at hatchet who leapt back just in time. “How in the name of Celestia are we on the same side?!”
“We’re both dishonoured,” he replied simply. “You deserted the rebellion, well so did we. At least, those of us who didn’t get kicked out first.”
“There is nothing dishonourable about what ah did!” Applejack snapped back, causing Hatchet to take a pre-emptive step back. “Ah was never loyal to the damn rebellion, only to mah family.”
“Look Applejack,” Hatchet said hurriedly, still backing up from Applejack’s approach. “We don’t have to fight; all I’m trying to do is look out for my own. You killed a few of our guys; you have to understand we wanted payback. But if you’re one of us, then that changes things.”
“Listen to me you jackass!” Applejack interrupted. “Ah will never be one of you! Ah will never be the kind of pony who bullies and takes advantage of others just because I have a weapon and they don’t!”
“Fine,” Hatchet said with a little sigh. “Have it your way…”
And without warning, he dashed forward, taking everypony, including Applejack, completely by surprise. She tried to raise her sword to defend herself, but it was too late. His own much lighter sword swept under her body, slicing into the leather armour and drawing blood. Big Mac let out a furious bellow as he charged forward, the very earth shaking under his hoofsteps. I too rushed in, all three knives flying in as fast as I could throw them.
Hatchet took us all by surprise a second time, deflecting all three daggers with a few quick movements of his sword before sidestepping out of Big Mac’s path. As Big Mac stumbled, not expecting to meet air, Hatchet tried to bring his sword down on his back. As quick as I could manage, and at this point I was running on backup power, I summoned one of my daggers back to me. As it flew through the air, it sliced across Hatchet’s sword hoof causing him to drop his blade. My dagger had only nicked him, and he had quickly retreated to a safe distance, scooping up one of the swords that had been dropped by a different soldier.
I had lost track of two knives, and with my magic practically depleted, I took the last knife in my hoof before running forward. If I hadn’t been so pumped full of adrenaline, I might have stopped and realised that I had never once tried to wield any sort of weapon by hoof. As it was however, I ended up clashing with Hatchet and suffering because of it. He very quickly disarmed me and swept my legs out from under me. As I lay on the ground with Hatchet standing over me, sword ready to plunge downwards, I couldn’t help but get an unfortunate sense of déjà vu.
And just like the last time, as he was bringing his weapon down, something rushed in from the side, or in this case somepony. As Hatchet was chased off of me in a flurry of blades, I sat up, looking to see who had rescued me. I had expected Big Mac, or perhaps Applejack having recovered from her injury enough to keep fighting. I was surprised however to see a pony I did not recognise had come to my rescue, it was a stallion, although a rather slender one at that, with a peach coloured coat and a short, spiky rose coloured mane and tail.
Hatchet had been surprisingly fast with a sword, but this newcomer was something else entirely. His movements were so fast, his body seemed to blur as I watched him, with every swing and swipe he made, he would break any attempt at a block Hatchet made and very often slice right through the weak points in his armour, sending droplets of blood flying. After sustaining several wounds, Hatchet finally dropped his weapon and fell to his knees, but the stranger wasn’t done. In one fluid motion he stepped around Hatchet so that he was standing directly behind him, but as he moved, he swept his sword up, running it smoothly across Hatchet's throat.
It had all happened so fast that the stranger was already standing still behind his victim, sheathing his sword before blood even began to pour from the gash in his neck. Hatchet fell face forward into the dirt, where his blood began to pool around him quite rapidly. We all stared in silent horror at what had just happened, I tried to open my mouth to speak to the stallion, but no words came out. Before anypony could muster some words, he turned and darted into the orchard and out of sight.
“What the heck just happened?” Applebloom asked, her eyes wide with shock.
The battle was ended; Applejack was helped into the house by Big Mac and Applebloom, while Caramel and I went around the bodies of the fallen soldiers to see how many had survived. What we discovered, made our blood run cold. Not a single one was alive, they had all been killed, but not by any of us or what we had done. As we examined them all, we found that very few of the injuries we inflicted had been the cause of death. No, what we discovered was that somepony had come around after us, and slit the throats of all the soldiers while they lay either weakened or unconscious.
“Do you think it was that guy?” Caramel asked as we stood over the soldier on the lane, the one he had shot with the crossbow. “The one who appeared at the end there?”
“All the cuts look identical to the one he inflicted on Hatchet,” I stated, although I was no expert in the area, and I could have been entirely wrong in my statement. “And you saw how fast he was, he moved like a ghost. He could easily have done all this right behind our backs, while we were busy fighting.”
We left that body and moved on to the last one, the one who had been hit by the first barrel and ended up back under the now broken sign.
“It’s scary,” Caramel muttered. “He could have done that to any of us and we wouldn’t have been able to stop him.”
“Let’s just be glad he was on our side,” I replied, shivering at the thought.
“Do you think he was?” Caramel asked curiously.
“Well, at the very least we had a common enemy,” I specified. “He definitely seemed to have it out for these soldiers, these deserters.”
As we reached the final body, we saw that he too had his throat cut open, it looked just like the rest of the bodies, except…
“Ugh, this is terrible,” Caramel groaned. “I mean, it’s just monstrous. I know they attacked us, but nopony deserves to be slaughtered like this… uh, is something wrong Rarity?”
I didn’t reply, I wasn’t even listening to him. I was too focused on the piece of blood soaked paper I had discovered under the stallion's head, too paralysed by my horror at seeing it again.
“What is that Rarity?” Caramel asked, looking over my shoulder at the piece of paper. “Some kind of drawing?”
Not just some kind of drawing, but a very specific drawing. A very detailed drawing of a wreath of thorns.