Raj's thirtieth circuit of the house was just as uneventful as the previous twenty-nine.
He stopped at the point two fenceposts met and scanned the yard. The churned ground from the now-abandoned tunnels was still noticeable and likely would be for many days. He hunted for shadows in between the trees or poking out of the barn or sheds. Once again he saw nothing. The dogs had fully retreated, they'd gotten what they were after.
One of the Apples was gone. Granny Smith was gone.
The collapsed tunnel was obvious against the packed dirt floor of the basement, as well as the recent smears of pony blood around the edges of it. It'd taken them many agonizing minutes to keep Applejack from ripping at the dirt to chase after her and get out of the cellar. By the time they did the mare was caked in dirt all the way to her haunches.
His patrol took him past the south side of the house, the side with the broken window. He could clearly hear the sounds of mourning from the Apples inside. Applebloom stood out the most with high, chirping sobs. He could also hear Applejack's low keening and every now and then the basso rumble of Big Macintosh trying to comfort his sisters through his own anguish. Every time Raj passed that window he quickened his steps.
Hearing them again brought a swell of bile in his gut. When Applejack had tearfully embraced her crying sister, his first instinct was to march off to the Flats and do something unwise. Thankfully he was able to fight that off and decided to do a circuit of the nearby property for any lingering dogs. He was an honorary Apple, but he knew that what was happening in the house was private and not for him.
Truthfully, a vile part of him hoped to find a straggler or a scout that he could vent his frustrations on. Maybe one of the big ones from the barn that went after Applebloom. He thought back to the one he let go and his face soured. He imagined what he would do if he could do it over and swiftly decided it was a good thing that he couldn't.
A nagging sense of fault tugged at him. Rationally, he knew that he was to blame for nothing. This was something the Apples were into before he'd come to Equestria and the situation seemed destined to go bad from the start. If it were not for his intervention, the Apples would be in the same situation, except with their youngest. He'd helped them at every opportunity, and yet...
Rationality did not make what happened to Granny Smith any easier to swallow.
He finished his thirtieth patrol and started his thirty-first.
The sun was still high, leaving many hours of daylight left. He wondered what would happen in the night. If the dogs would be emboldened and try again or if they would hang back and lick their wounds. He tightened his grip on his staff hard enough his knuckles popped. He hoped it was the former, but also looked forward to the latter.
Caramel, the lighter brown pony Macintosh had come home with, said that he was the first of many Apples that planned to respond to the call for aid. By the next day, hundreds of their kin would be on the property. Once they found out what happened to Granny Smith, the thought of what they would do 'gave him the willies' as he put it.
The possibility of vengeance did little the assuage the mourning siblings, but Raj noticed the stern look that came to Macintosh's face when he heard the news. It was a feeling Raj reciprocated.
Raj thought about what the dogs were up to at that exact moment. He hoped they were celebrating in their holes, screaming their victory to all who would listen. He hoped they danced without care and howled at the sky. For a moment he wanted nothing more than to be the one to tear it all down.
He was halfway through his latest circuit when he was shaken out of his wrathful reverie. He glanced around, the hair on his neck standing up. Something was off.
He spotted it almost immediately. A curl of dirty paper stuck against the post holding up the porch. He had circled the house close to three dozen times by then and he was sure he hadn't missed it, this was new.
Scanning the page, he saw crude runes drawn on it in what looked like coal. He tilted his head and squinted at them, trying to divine their meaning but came up with nothing.
The yard was clear of dogs and so was the nearby field. He intently searched the treeline for anything and scanned the ground for patches of freshly churned dirt. There was nothing aside from the note.
He slowly stepped into the house and deliberately closed the door. He leaned against the frame and let out a shuddering breath.
“Something wrong?”
Raj looked up to see Caramel standing at the stove, a pot of tea steaming in front of him. He grabbed it in his mouth and moved it to a little tray. He asked “You okay? You look kinda shaken.”
“I'm fine, thank you. How are things in here?”
He went silent and looked to the closed door leading to the living room. Even through the heavy wood they could both hear the sobbing ponies. Caramel shrugged “Same as before, I guess.”
“Yeah.”
They stood in awkward silence for a minute before Raj cleared his throat and asked “Hey, did you hear anything, like, outside?”
“Like what?”
“I don't know, anything. Anything moving around, maybe out on the porch?”
Caramel shrugged again “Nope, haven't heard a thing.”
“Okay, that's fine.” He wiped a hand down his face. “Someone left this on the porch. Looks like a note.”
“What's it say?”
“Don't know. Can't read it.”
Caramel shot him an appraising look “You can't read?”
“I can read, I just can't read this thing.” he replied, a hitch of annoyance in his voice.
“Oh, okay.” He held out a hoof “Give it here.”
Raj handed it over. Caramel scanned the page up and down, then flipped it. He gave it another once over and sucked in a breath.
“What?”
Caramel didn't reply. Instead he scrambled around the table and burst through the door to the living room, speaking too fast to be sensible.
Raj followed after him and went stock still when he heard Caramel shouting “She's alive ya'll, Granny's alive!”
* * *
“Four barrels of aged cider, five grown pigs, ten dozen eggs, eight chickens, fifteen jars 'o apple jam, ten bushels of red delicious, thirty loaves of bread(wheat), nine jars preserves, seven bushels Anna apples, six jars o' cinnamon, twelve bags of salt, two barrels of fish, twenty sacks of flour, five pounds o' pepper, fifty butter sticks, eight cans o' milk, a cheese-wheel, and all the 'shine we got.” Macintosh cleared his throat and looked up from the note “That's what they want to give Granny back.”
Applejack snorted “Is that all?”
“Ee-nope. They want us all to bring it, everypony on the farm. And they want it today.”
“Course they do.” she shook her head and chuckled, “Dammit.” Her face curled up into a snarl and she slammed a hoof down on the table “Dammit!”
“I should have figured this out earlier. It's why they left after they took Granny. They weren't after us, they were after a hostage, just like...” Raj trailed off when he glanced at Applebloom “That other time.”
“Ah know, ah should have too dammit, and instead ah wasted mosta the day crying mah eyes out.” She hocked a plug of spit in the corner “Stupid, plain stupid.” Her spiteful look melted into a fluttery smile “But, still this is... this...” She let out a shuddering breath “Are ya sure it's her writing?”
Big Mac nodded “Same as the letters she had me run into town, exact same.”
Applebloom looked up at her big brother, streaks of stickiness still visible in the fur near her eyes. “Does this mean Granny's okay? Is she gonna come home?”
The red pony rubbed the filly's mane and said “Ee-yup.”
“Ah'll get out to the barn and get things going. Caramel, you and Bloom start gathering stuff up from the basement. If'n we hurry we can probably get going in a hour or so.” She smiled deliriously at her family. “Everything's gonna be fine ya'll, you wait 'n see.”
She grabbed the door handle with a hoof and jumped when it was yanked out of her grasp by Raj slamming it.
Applejack started “What in tarnation-”
Raj leaned closed and whispered “We need to talk.”
She looked up at him and set her face. She turned back to her family and cocked her head “Ya'll get going. Ah'm right behind ya.” They all nodded and darted from the room, eager to get their Grandmother back.
Once they were alone in the room Raj knelt down and asked “What are you doing?”
“Ah should ask you the same thing, getting' in mah way like that.”
“Tell me you don't believe this, please.”
“What? That mah Granny's still alive? Ah have to!” she declared with a stomp of her hoof “Ah have to.”
“Not that, that part is probably true. I mean the part where Ace is going to give her back.” he thought for a second “And the implied part where he lets us all leave.”
“What are you talking about? Course they're gonna let her go. They's after stuff Rajrishi, that's the thing ah forgot. Diamond Dogs are greedy sumbitches, they always want things before anything else. That's why they took Granny, to get more from us.”
Raj blinked “Applejack, Ace flipped a cart loaded with supplies earlier today. He doesn't care as much about stuff as you think. I mean, if everything goes well today, if everything on that note is totally true, what are the odds you and your family is going to keep doing business with the Diamond Dogs?”
“None.” She replied flatly. “No way.”
“Right, and what's the chance you and your family will seek some retribution?”
She gave him a tired look “You going somewhere with this? 'Cause ah got work to do.”
Raj held up a hand “Humor me. Are you going to go after Ace and his dogs?”
“You know we are.”
“Yeah, I do. What makes you think Ace doesn't?”
Applejack was quiet for a moment and glanced around “Ah don't... what do you mean?”
“Ace isn't stupid, he has to know that his business with you is done. This exchange is his last attempt at getting something out of you and crossing you off at the same time.”
She raised an eyebrow at him “Cross us off?”
“Kill you, he's going to kill you.” Raj answered bluntly.
“Ponyfeathers. If'n that was his plan, him and alla' his dogs would've stormed the house.”
Raj shook his head “Terrain him and his boys don't know, elevation to deal with and plentiful tools and weapons to defend ourselves with. Even if he did go through with it, he'd lose too much for it to be worth it and there's a good chance at least some of us would get away. Out in the Flats, we're too far away to get help and he'll control the situation. Why else would he need everyone to go with? If he wasn't looking for a fight, he'd only want one of two, and definitely not me.” He pointed at himself “He's looking to set a trap with Granny and catch all of us. I'm sure of it.”
Applejack turned away and walked a few steps. Her legs quivered a bit and she said “Yer wrong, yer just... yer wrong.”
“Applejack, think. Imagine that this was happening to someone else, Fluttershy or something. Would you tell her to just walk in? Just like that?”
She raised her head and was silent for a few heartbeats before she sighed. “No, ah wouldn't.” She spun around “But this is-”
“No different.” Raj interrupted. “No different at all.”
They stood staring at each other for a bit, Applejack with a pleading look on her face and Raj returning nothing but stoic resolve. She sniffed and lowered herself to the floor, crying gently.
Raj stepped over and knelt down, putting a hand on her shoulder “Look, Applejack, I get it okay. I do. You get this crazy tunnel-vision when it comes to your family. When one of them is in danger or something you can't focus on anything except that and you refuse to let anyone else help. You think that asking for help, or even needing it at all, makes you wrong somehow, lesser. It's what made you stay with this shabby deal for so long, going along with it while things kept getting worse and worse. It's what's making you think going through with Ace's offer will work out.” He placed a hand on his chest “I'm the same way, and you've seen how that turned out.”
She looked up at him “Whaddya mean?”
Raj took a deep breath to steady himself “You remember that night I came home covered in mud, the night we fought?” She nodded and Raj continued “Well, I shouldn't have gone out that day, or the day before that. I shouldn't have been going out at all in fact. I had pneumonia, a broken arm, cracked ribs, a shredded back, and who knows what else. I had no business walking, much less stomping through the woods like I was. It's the dumbest thing I've ever done.” Raj hesitated “I should be dead from it. It's almost a crime that I'm not.”
Applejack snapped “Don't you talk like that Rajrishi, not now.”
“See these?” He lifted up his shirt and gestured to the faded welts on his side “Brander Ant stings, hurt like nothing else I've ever felt, but they probably saved my life.”
Applejack furrowed her brow and cocked her head. He answered her question without prompting “I was running on empty there Applejack, lying on the forest floor, just fading away. Those ant stings shocked my system, gave me the burst of adrenaline to get up and move. As I was coming back, whenever I felt myself fading I had to squeeze them. It was like sticking my hand in a pot of boiling acid, every time. That crawl back from the Everfree was, without a doubt, the worst thing that I have ever experienced.”
Applejack stared at him in shock “Wow, uh, ah'm sorry Rajrishi. Ah didn't know it was so rough. If'n ah knew, ah woulda been a little gentler with ya.”
Raj shrugged “I'm fine now, no harm done. Anyway, my point is that I did all that because I had the same deathly focus you have right now, I thought that pushing myself that hard was the only way I could possibly get home. The only difference here is that you're liable to get a lot more than just yourself killed if you're wrong.”
Applejack looked down at the ground and sniffed, considering his words. She thought about everything that had happened over the last few days, and then the months leading up to it. She thought about everything Ace had done and the lengths she had gone to to keep it quiet from everyone. She imagined another pony doing what she did, and realized what she would think of them for doing it. Her face soured and she re-set her hat. “Alright Rajrishi, what should we do?”
“Something you'd never think to do Applejack, we're going to lie.”