Of all the questions Fuyu could have had at that moment, only one got vocalized: “How did you get in here?”
It drew a chuckle from her captor's lips, and he left his position, straddling her back, and slid off the bed. “Your podunk little jail can't hold me. I guess I should have listened to Stormy when she said you were a total badass.”
Her eyes went blank at hearing that name, and she shifted a little to see what was and wasn't tied up. Her wrists were bound behind her back, which wasn't a problem, but her mind said it may be best to play along until she figured out what had happened to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. After a moment she managed to roll over, and found herself looking at him as he stood at the side of the bed, still pointing the gun at her. Ignoring this, she queried her stomach; it was not yet empty enough to cause her palms to cry. Despite having some time, she didn't feel particularly patient as she sat up and glared at him.
He didn't care about her glower, and continued talking with a wicked grin on his face. “Dad told me to stay away from the orchard because of you. I don't take kindly to havin' my routine upended. We've been stealing these apples for three or four years now. Hell, I'd say there's a fine balance we've struck here, you know? They can't harvest all this land by themselves. We're doin' them a favor.”
Fuyu watched him move around to the end of the bed, the muzzle of the gun never pointing away from her. He glanced out the window, then to her open door, waving the gun in that direction. “Get up. We're going downstairs.”
“Why?” she asked him flatly, her gaze as chilly as the driven snow.
“'Cause I'm the one with the gun, sister!” he cackled, raising the weapon so it pointed at her face.
She was unmoved again, staring a hole into his soul as she sat awkwardly on the bed. “You're not the first to say that, and you won't be the first for whom it will not matter.”
That threw him for a split second, but he regained his composure and smirked again. “Fine. You might have a death wish, but I doubt your friends downstairs do. Besides, if you manage to fuck me up and I don't come back, they're gonna get it, if you get my drift.”
The hate drained out of her blue eyes; her question answered, she now went to planning. She scooted to the side of the bed and stood up, foregoing her sandals as she moved to the doorway. Satisfied, he fell in behind her, gun jammed into the small of her back as they walked. As they descended the stairs into the lit living room, she found that there were four people guarding a bound and gagged Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who were together in the corner near the door under the stairs. All of his partners were large, burly men. He sat her down roughly on the couch, and that was when she heard the quiet crying off to her right. It wasn't Apple Bloom; the young Apple was off for a sleepover at Rarity's with a girl named Sweetie Belle. She could barely see a wisp of white hair over the tall dividing counter, which caused her to blink.
“Stormy! Get your ass in here!” he yelled, plopping down on the couch beside Fuyu. She arrived a few seconds later, red-faced and weeping quietly as she tucked her hair behind an ear. “Damn, woman, why are you still crying? We've got this all wrapped up.”
Her eyes were on the woman in black, however. Her face begged for forgiveness; the fact that Fuyu didn't even seem angry only terrified her further. “I'm sorry...I had to do it, please don't kill me...”
“You are such a fucking drama queen. So what if she works out,” he said, waving a dismissive hand – which afterward went up to rub at the bruise on his neck. “She can't do shit tied up, and if she cares about them,” he added, glancing back at his hostages with a hateful smile, “then she'll do exactly what I tell her.”
“Connie, you don't get it!” Stormy said, her hands clenched into fists and sounding bitterly desperate as she stalked back into the kitchen. “All we're doing is pissing her off!”
Connie rolled his eyes at her as she went, lounging on the sofa and glancing at his men. “I don't even know why you wanted to come, you crazy bitch. You better have cut the phone line like I told you!”
“I said I did!” she yelled back, taking her seat at the table again and weeping quietly. Fuyu barely heard the words she tacked on next. “Please, Celestia, I don't wanna die...”
After that, Fuyu decided to focus on the muffled noises being made by the women behind her, using them as justification to her stomach to bide its time and be patient while she worked out some course of action. It replied that she should kill the others and eat them, something she ignored. With a light sigh, she squirmed until her bound wrists were a little more comfortable against the back of the couch, and settled in to wait. A glance up at the clock revealed it was just after two in the morning; some careful listening uncovered a stifled yawn or two.
“Man, I'm sleepy,” one of the brutes groaned, scratching his side as he walked around in front of the couch. “How long we gotta wait, Connie?”
Connie ran a hand through his hair and gave him an easygoing smile. “Relax. Once I get word from dad that they're ready to accept the body,” he explained, pulling out a phone similar to the one Fuyu had seen Rainbow carrying and waving it, “I'll kill this bitch and we'll be on our way. I'm just using the ladies back here as leverage so she don't do anything silly.”
Applejack unleashed a torrent of muffled curses through her gag, which caused Connie to snicker. Beside her, Rainbow tried to summon her magical wings, but her hands were bound in such a way as to prevent the snap that initiated the spell. They were limited to angry muttering, squirming, and shooting hateful glares whenever one of Connie's men got near them.
Fuyu was unmoved yet again at her assumed fate, having entered such a state of concentration that she barely detected anything around her. An hour passed in this foggy state, before three words from Stormy finally sparked an idea in her head.
“I gotta pee,” she said wearily, shuffling behind the couch and moving toward the stairs.
Fuyu emerged from the haze and looked back, then over at Connie. “I do too.”
He tore his eyes away from the TV show he was watching, glanced over at Stormy, then at the two hostages on the floor. “Fine. Stormy, make sure she comes back in a reasonable amount of time, eh?”
“Oh no,” she replied, whimpering and slumping as she climbed the steps. “Fine...come on...” Fuyu hopped off the couch and caught up with her as she reached the top. Now out of the sight of her cohorts, she gazed at Fuyu helplessly, expecting to meet her end. “I swear I didn't have any choice,” she said as they went, hands clasped and walking sideways as she begged for forgiveness. “I didn't think he was gonna tie them up! I thought he just wanted to shoot you!”
“I am not angry with you,” she replied quietly, moving past Stormy to open the bathroom door with the black appendage that she threaded through the rope. “I have a plan.”
Stormy's eyes lit up as she walked in after her, shutting the door behind them. “You're not gonna kill me?”
A colloquialism popped into Fuyu's head just then, and although she could not recall its source, it said everything she needed to at that moment to get the nervous thief to move on quickly. “I do not bite the hand that feeds me. Can you cut the power?” She watched as Stormy paced a tight circle on the tile, her legs tossing her long skirt as she traveled.
“Y-yeah,” she finally nodded, wringing her hands furiously. “The box was right beside the phone...I can flip the main. That'll kill the lights.” She moved over to the shower and looked at the small window. “I can fit through here okay, but how the fuck am I gonna get down?” she asked, opening it. When she turned around, a black rope wiggled in front of her face, causing her to gasp. “Shit! Don't do that!”
“I will drop you. When you're done, pull on it and I will bring you up,” Fuyu said, stepping into the shower with Stormy and gazing at the window. She wrapped the horrible thing around the thief's waist and lifted her, guiding her frame through the window. After she was outside, Fuyu used another ebony appendage to pull herself up enough to poke her head out the window. She set Stormy down on the grass and watched as she skittered to a metal box a few feet to the right, open it, and fiddle with something inside. The lights flickered, then went out entirely. She came back and tugged on the black tentacle, and it wrapped around her again. Fuyu grunted with the strain – this was about as far as she could make her awful assistants go – but in a moment she hauled Stormy back up and through the window again. There was a commotion erupting in the living room, and they could hear it as it bumbled and rambled up the stairs and to their door.
“The fuck happened?!” Connie yelled, knocking on it. “Stormy!”
“How should I know?” she shot back, cringing at the feeling as Fuyu unwrapped her waist and sent the sludge away.
“What about our little friend?”
“I am here,” Fuyu replied, making sure the ropes were still tight enough to give the appearance that her wrists were bound. Stormy felt her way around and opened the door, almost bumping into Connie in the process. He roughly grabbed Fuyu and turned her around, poking her in the back with the gun and forcing her to move to the hallway. Beams of flashlights danced around below, casting a pall glow in the living room.
“Fuck it,” Connie muttered. “You five keep an eye on them,” he directed as they came down the stairs. “I'm gonna ice this whore. If I ain't back in ten minutes, kill them.”
“Got it,” one of the men said, shining his flashlight on his watch to mark the time.
Fuyu did the same as she was made to exit through the front door, counting off the seconds by timing her footfalls. She glanced up through the branches of the trees at the sky, saturated with glittering stars.
“Beautiful night to die, ain't it?” Connie said, also looking up. “I wish you could see them like this in Manehattan. Then again, I'll trade the stars for the cash,” he added, chuckling to himself. They crested one hill, then another, and he tugged on her shoulder to get her to stop walking. She continued to count the seconds, tapping her foot as he forced her against a tree. “Good night, sister,” he uttered with a chilly smirk, placing the gun to her forehead. Before he could pull the trigger, he glanced down, noticing the ropes piled at her ankles. “The fu--”
In a flash, the heel of her hand slammed into his face, knocking him back and loosening the gun from his grip. She darted around him and grabbed a handful of his hair, driving his head into the tree trunk several times. Bleeding profusely, he tried to swing at her, but his attacks either missed or were deflected by her powerful arms. She threw him back against the trunk and bound him to it with the black sludge. Each wrist was stuck fast, both ankles were rendered immobile; she even glued him down by the nape of his neck. Once she gagged him, she took a moment to savor the fear in his eyes and smile. Logic and calculation had departed now, replaced by a feeling that was totally new. Like fear, she already had a name for it.
It was anger, and it was glorious. She felt the black goo coursing through her veins in a way that she could barely comprehend, but it petted her like a cat and made her feel incredible. She patted Connie gently on the cheek and smiled again.
“I'll be right back,” she said, looking around at the grass for the gun. She was well aware that her friends would have to watch her kill, but she also knew that the black sludge would be too much for their fondness to overcome. She found the pistol after a few seconds and tore off for the farmhouse, assuming that time was short. She lost count of its passage at about six minutes, but it took her a little more than one to get back at this speed. She slid to a stop at the base of the front steps, noting that it was still dark in the house. The flashlights seemed to be focused on the corner where Applejack and Rainbow Dash were. Through one window, then another, she could see the silhouette of Stormy pacing around the room. The front door was slightly ajar, and she crept up the steps and over to it, brandishing the pistol in her left hand.
“One more minute,” one of the men said. They were all gathered around the hostages, backs to the door and waiting. Stormy watched as Fuyu entered, but didn't breathe a word, electing to crouch down and place her hands over her ears. Rainbow's cries were loud, even through her gag, and Fuyu could faintly detect that she was begging for Applejack's life.
“Time's up,” the man said, opening his flannel shirt. Fuyu raised the pistol and fired it, punching a hole in the base of his skull and dropping him where he stood. The other three began to turn around. The second man received a bullet in the temple as he whirled, tumbling in a spiral as he fell. The third caught his lead present above the left eye, snapping his head back and causing him to fall beside the blonde on the floor. The fourth managed to turn fully and throw up his hands, surrendering and dropping his flashlight. Fuyu put a bullet in his forehead before she finally lowered the gun, walked through the dark room, and picked up one of the flashlights.
“I'm sorry,” she said lowly, shining it on Applejack and Rainbow Dash. They were huddled together and whimpering with fear, but neither could take their wide eyes off the woman in black. “Stormy, untie them and take them upstairs. I will be back directly,” she said, borrowing a word from the blonde, tucking the pistol into the waist of her pants, and walking upstairs. She heard the thief moving around behind her as she got to work, but the sound faded as she reached the top and entered her room. Once inside, she whipped a black bow out of her palms as she had the morning before, pulled the reel of string from the nightstand drawer, and strung her ebony weapon. After a few test pulls, she smiled, taking the assembled device along as she went back into the hallway. She heard an angry Applejack berating Stormy in her bedroom as she walked past, but the door was shut. When she reached bottom of the stairs, she took a flashlight off the floor and carried it outside, taking her sweet time to cover the distance to her captive. Once she arrived, he started screaming through the gag. She smiled at him again.
“Now, it's your turn,” she said, placing the flashlight on the grass so it lit up his feet and made it easier to see her target. She stepped off twenty yards as she went between trees, turned, and squirted a spike of black out of her right hand. She hardened it into something like an arrow and placed it against the string. “Let's see if I did this right.” She drew the bow and launched the spike, watching it fly in a lazy arc and impale itself into Connie's right thigh. She plucked at the string, briefly watching him thrash in pain as she produced another arrow. She fired this one too; it sailed through the night and sank into the right side of his chest. “It works.” Her stomach growled unhappily at how much of the black sludge she expended, and she walked back over to Connie, setting the bow on the grass as she reached him. Without any delay, she opened her mouth and sank her teeth into the left side of his face around his eye and bit down, pulling her head back and tearing out his eyeball along with the flesh and bone around it. While she chewed contemplatively and listened to the noise that filtered through the black gag, she could not help but smile. She swallowed, sucking the dangling optic nerve through her lips like a strand of spaghetti.
“There's something to be said for playing with your food,” she admitted, opening her mouth and moving in again.
An hour later, all that was left of the blonde criminal were his clothes and the phone in his pocket. Fuyu dumped the former in the river but kept the phone, and was walking back to the farmhouse after ensuring she wasn't a bloody mess. It had started ringing on the way, and she didn't know how to silence it. It fell quiet on its own soon enough, but as she entered the house it rang again. The living room was empty, so she wandered past the dead bodies and up the stairs to put away her bow before checking on her friends. It was oddly quiet behind Applejack's bedroom door, and at first she thought something was wrong. She pushed it open to find the couple seated on the bed. Stormy was holding them at gunpoint, with a flashlight in her other hand.
“Sorry,” she whimpered, lowering the pistol as Fuyu entered. “This was the only way to keep them up here.”
“It's fine,” she nodded, sitting beside Rainbow. She glanced up and saw unreadable looks of emotion on their faces. They couldn't even move to hug her, and were unable to shrink away. “Are you all right?” While waiting for an answer, she tossed the phone to Stormy, who fumbled with it before looking at the screen.
“Yeah, I guess, but I've got some questions that need answerin',” Applejack finally uttered, standing up off the bed and taking a few steps forward. “Do y'all two know each other or somethin'?” she asked, looking between Stormy and Fuyu.
The thief squeaked nervously, staring up at the towering blonde and trembling. “I was trying to take your crop when she ran me off. I ended up leaving the truck.”
Applejack folded her arms and glared down at the white-headed girl, scowling as though she wanted to punch the woman. She stayed her hand, however, and took a breath. “Why are y'all so afraid of Fuyu?”
“Pl-pl-please don't make me answer that,” she begged quickly, the color draining out of her cheeks.
That was all the answer the blonde needed, and she turned to face Fuyu with a gravely serious look on her face. “This ain't the first time, is it?”
“I defended myself from her partner,” she replied flatly, glancing at Rainbow. She was shaking, hunched over with her head in her hands.
“Th-this is so fucked up,” she finally whimpered, revealing her tear-soaked face and looking at the three of them. “Your living room's full of dead people that were about to kill us, Fuyu's like some sort of fucking ninja assassin out of my Daring Do novel, I don't...I don't know what the fuck to think!” she said anxiously. Applejack strode back to the bed to sit and embrace her with one arm, whispering something into her ear to calm her down. It didn't work, and Rainbow turned to look at her. “It's not okay, damn it! I feel so weak next to her...” There were some more quiet words from the blonde, and Rainbow again hid her face as she returned to her doubled over position.
“All right,” Applejack said, standing up once more. “We gotta do somethin' about the dead folks in my livin' room before Bloom gets back in a few hours.” She looked at Stormy with hostile eyes. “Y'all best get outta here.”
She stood up and gazed at the door for a moment, but took no steps toward it. “I can't go back without Connie, I'll be a dead woman...”
“Ain't my problem,” the blonde spat, moving out of the room. Rainbow was crying quietly, and Fuyu had no idea what to do. She too rose and began walking, but paused to look at the thief.
“Go fix the power, then wait on the porch,” she whispered, glancing back at Rainbow before walking out into the hall. Applejack was at the bottom of the stairs, hand on her forehead and in awe of the carnage behind her sofa. “I'll move them,” she said as she walked down, eyes passing over the corpses.
Stormy darted past, and both women afforded her a brief look as she flew out the door. She watched as Fuyu walked over to the closest corpse, sizing him up to lift him. “Wait! We gotta call the cops!” Applejack moved to intercept, getting between Fuyu and her prospective cargo.
“The phone line was cut,” she reminded her, looking down and staring at the blood on the wooden floor. “We can't use your phone.”
“Nah, but I can use that fancy one the Princess got for my birthday. I'll be right back,” she said. Before she could get moving, the lights came back on. “Huh. I was wonderin' how y'all did that...”
“It was my idea for Stormy to cut the power,” Fuyu said, moving to the couch to sit down. The TV and receiver came back to life, and she found herself watching some sort of late night infomercial. Applejack ascended the steps without saying anything else. After she had gone, Stormy popped her head through the front door.
“I, uh, didn't actually cut the line,” she grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. “Your farmer buddy's gonna be unhappy if she catches me out here...”
“I will deal with her,” Fuyu replied, looking back and up the stairs. “You might wish to hide. She is calling the police.”
Stormy blinked, then looked down in her hand at Connie's phone as it began ringing again. This time, she answered it. “Hello? Oh, hi boss...uh, well...” Fuyu stared at her as the conversation began. “Where's Connie? Well, you see, he's kinda...” Stormy paused, took a comically deep breath, and then let rip. “Connie's dead. She killed him. She killed the other guys too. No, I saw her kill them. Why didn't I stop her?” She looked and Fuyu and shrugged. “Because she would have killed me too.” She put her free hand on her hip and glared off as the discussion kept going. “Look, you want revenge? You get it. I'm done with this. I don't know why I'm not dead right now, but I'm not gonna keep testing fate. What? Yeah, I am way more afraid of her than you. Yeah, fuck off.” She hung up and stuffed the phone in her shirt pocket, suddenly blanching as she realized what she'd just done. “I told him to fuck off! I am so dead!”
“I told ya to get outta here!” Applejack growled, stomping down the stairs with the orange phone in her hand. She had dressed hastily, her shirt untucked and lacking her hat. “Nah, stay and get arrested. Y'all deserve it, ya damn thief.” She took a series of steps toward Stormy, her gait threatening and fists clenched, but the dainty thief stood her ground.
“He's coming. My boss, I mean. To kill you guys,” she said, stopping the blonde in her tracks. “Yeah, I'm warning you. It's not like I want to steal your stuff, but I don't want to end up at the bottom of a lake wearing concrete shoes, either!” she railed on, entering the house fully and plopping down on the couch beside Fuyu. “Sure, I'll go to jail. Least I won't have to worry about getting killed there.” She folded her arms roughly and frowned.
“Suit yourself,” Applejack replied, making a disgusted face every time her eyes passed over the bodies. “I wish they'd hurry up so they can get these guys outta here.” She went outside onto the porch to wait for the police.
“Man, she must hate me,” Stormy sighed, covering her eyes with her right forearm and leaning back against the sofa. “Guess I can't blame her.”
“He's coming here?” Fuyu asked, her mind on more important matters. She was stuffed to the gills with flesh, and felt rather sleepy. Once or twice, her eyes slid shut, but she shook herself awake and tried to encourage the black goo to work faster. “When?”
“I don't know, I didn't ask,” the thief replied sarcastically, moving her arm and looking out the window. She could faintly detect the flashing lights through the trees as they approached, and sighed once again. “On second thought, screw jail,” she muttered, standing up and walking toward the kitchen. “I'll come back when the heat is off.” Fuyu watched her walk out the front door and sneak past Applejack, who had her back turned as she was on her phone, through each window in succession. Once she had gone, Fuyu walked out to stand with the blonde, just in time for three police cars and a large dark blue van to arrive. Officers piled out of the cruisers and moved quickly to the steps.
“They're in here,” Applejack said, waving them through with her hand as she continued her phone conversation. “No, Big Macintosh, we're all fine,” she said, looking down at the phone briefly. “She...she did what she had ta.”
The coroner walked past next, a mousy headed woman with glasses and sad gray eyes. As soon as she had surveyed the scene, two officers came back out to start the interview process. Applejack went first, having to cut her phone call short.
“Where do I even start,” she grumbled, sitting on one of the porch swings. “I was sleepin', next thing I know, this thin blonde guy is pokin' me in the face with a nine millimeter,” she began, running a hand through her unruly hair. “He has these two guys tie me and Rainbow Dash up – I tried ta punch 'em but I couldn't do anything – and then he brings us downstairs. Said he broke out of jail just ta settle a score with Fuyu,” she concluded, nodding to the woman when she sat on the swing beside her. “She can tell ya the rest.”
“I woke up already bound by the wrists,” she said, taking up the tale and crossing her arms. “He lead me at gunpoint down the stairs and held us while he waited for a phone call. The power went out, then he took me outside to execute me. I managed to free my hands and strike him, take his gun, and flee. When I returned to the house, his partners were about to murder my friends, so I shot them all with his weapon.”
Applejack's face twisted slightly at Fuyu's last words. She looked up at the cops with worried eyes. “Is she in trouble?” They all looked as another car with flashing lights arrived, this one an unmarked vehicle. Two men in suits got out and came up onto the porch, nodding politely as they entered the house.
“I doubt it,” one of them said. It was the same cop from the hunting store, and he flashed a reassuring smile at Fuyu. “Don't ya worry, lass. If this all checks out, why, we'll chalk it up to justifiable homicide,” he said, slapping closed his notepad and placing it in his pants pocket. “By the by, I'm serious about ya joinin' the force. You're a hell of a shot.”
“There's something else,” Fuyu said, brushing off his compliment. “There was one more woman with them. She said his father would be coming for revenge.”
“She got away, eh?” the cop asked, peeking back through the open front door. “I'm afraid we may not be able to do much there. Mayor's not terribly interested in the territory outside the city limits.”
“She will if I end up gettin' killed and the Princess hears about it,” Applejack spat, her words dripping with venom. “Ain't fair, Flannery! She gets to levy taxes on my land and I don't see a damn whit of the benefits!” Angry, the blonde got up and stalked to the other side of the porch. “I just want my house cleaned before my sister gets home. Can I at least get that?”
“I'll see to it,” he nodded, entering the house again with his partner. Fuyu walked over after they had gone.
“You know him?” she asked, noting the name by which she had called him. She glanced into the house again each time someone walked past the doorway.
“Everyone does. He's the chief of police,” she replied, her face full of weary anxiousness. “Do y'all see Rainbow in there anywhere?”
Fuyu peeked into the house again and shook her head. “No.”
“Shoot, she must still be freakin' out upstairs. I'd better go see to her,” the blonde sighed, entering the living room and trying to navigate the bustle. The coroner asked for stretchers just as she made the stairs, and Fuyu watched her go until she walked out of sight. She turned her eyes to the cars parked out front, their lights casting alternating red and blue glows on the countless trees that surrounded them.
“This won't be the last mess that needs cleaning,” she murmured, remembering Stormy's warning. She turned on her heel and walked into the house.