Annie, Gilda, and Flash Sentry tread carefully through the forest, keeping their eyes peeled in all directions for the Vanhoover Slicer. Annie’s ears took in every noise of the ambiance, waiting for the slightest disturbance to prepare herself.

A kicking in the snow to her right shot Annie’s eyes open, forcing her to stop and take an offensive stance with her swords. Gilda and Flash Sentry stopped in their tracks as well, certain that they heard something as well. With the silence of the three, Annie could continue hearing small kicks in the snow coming from the right in fast beats.

Following the sound with her eyes, Annie watched as a rabbit bound through the snow as fast as its legs could carry it. While Gilda and Flash Sentry relaxed, Annie’s body still tensed up, angered by the uncertainty of when the ambush would come.

“Hey, easy there,” Gilda chuckled, “it was just a rabbit. Nothing to go all scaredy-cat about.”

“She’s out here,” Annie whispered. “I can feel it. In fact, I bet she’s watching us right now, waiting for the right time to strike.”

“I understand, Annie,” Flash Sentry said, “but it was still just a rabbit, nothing to get riled up about.”

Annie stood still, finding the right thing to say in response, also listening to the wind to hear anything amiss.

“Alright,” Annie quietly relented, “but keep quiet and listen out–”

The near-silent whistle of metal flying through the air could be heard by Annie from her left. Spinning around and leaping to Gilda’s left, she swung her sword up. As Gilda and Flash Sentry turned, they could see what Annie heard and now too saw: an eight-inch dagger flying straight towards Gilda’s chest.

Before Gilda could even wince in defense, Annie’s sword struck the airborne dagger at the base of the blade, batting it up where it flipped and twirled up and over Gilda. Annie turned to the source of the blade while Gilda turned to watch the first one land in the snow.

Another swish sounded off but it came from the right. Annie looked to see a second dagger flying towards her face. Annie formed a cross with her blades in front of her face, hearing the blade of the knife bounce off her steel and land blade first into the ground.

Annie heard another whiz come from the left, seeing another knife flying towards Gilda’s ribs. Annie leapt forwards and put her blade out, the hilt of the dagger catching itself on Annie’s blade, leading it to swing around the blade and fall to the ground.

Annie heard a wind rush from the source of the last dagger over the trees and land off to Gilda’s right, out of sight in the shade of the trees. Annie swiftly placed her right blade and operational device into her left sheath, squatted down to pick up the fallen knife by the blade and leapt up. Over Gilda’s back, Annie could see a glimmer in the faint darkness.

Annie rolled her back over Gilda’s and landed upon her right side. Using the momentum of her roll, Annie whipped the blade out towards the location of the glare. Annie did not care about the direction of the knife she threw, only the one her attacker would respond with. Sure enough, another knife came whizzing straight for her.

Keeping in line with her movements of her throw, Annie reached back for her operational device in her sheath and grabbed hold. With an upward swing, Annie brought the blade back out and deflected the attacker’s blade. At the same instant, a distinct slicing sound and a painful yelp could be heard.

Annie made a triumphant huff as she ran out to find the assassin. As Flash Sentry looked out for any others, Gilda was too stunned over what she had seen Annie do to move. Annie found a shadow lying in the shade, which only became more defined as Annie moved closer.

The shape appeared to be a pegasus pony, whose white coat was stained red with its blood coming from the left wing. Annie could see that the pony was a mare, and equipped to her sides were two large bags with slots on the bottom front. Each side had the handle of a knife poking out from it. On both of the pegasus’s arms were two metal and leather cuffs, each one with another circular slot out on the inside.

Annie carefully observed her wound, which appeared to be a deep gash in the wing which continued to spurt with blood. The pegasus looked up to Annie with a spiteful scowl and glare. Immediately, she hopped back and away from Annie.

Annie thrust forwards at her, her arms out to swing. The white pegasus reached towards her bags with both hooves, slipping a blade handle inside each sloth on her cuffs and awaiting Annie’s move. As Annie swung her blades out, the white pegasus slipped her knives from her bag.

With the dagger in her left hoof, she pushed Annie’s right blade out and away from her, following the swing. In her right hoof, she blocked Annie’s left sword entirely, forcing it back. Annie gasped as she found her torso completely exposed. With a smirk, the pegasus kicked her right-back hoof forwards, nailing Annie in the chest and hurling her away.

“Annie!” shouted Flash Sentry.

Annie still managed to land safely on her feet, as did her assailant. Annie panted, feeling the soreness in her torso as she stared the white pegasus down, who also panted to alleviate the sting at the base in her wing, which she folded and tucked behind her bag. Her two knives were still in her cuffs but the slots were turned backwards so the blades pointed behind and away from her, allowing her hooves to be upon the ground.

“You must be the Slicer from Vanhoover,” Annie remarked.

The White Slicer scoffed and smirked proudly at the title.

“A wise assumption,” she stated. “You know, the Manehattan Slicer had told me to take extra precaution with you. I suppose even that wasn’t enough of a warning.”

“It will be your last,” threatened Annie, “because I’m ensuring that you do not leave this forest alive.”

The White Slicer scoffed and smirked, amused by Annie’s words.

“Flash Sentry,” called Annie, still keeping her eyes on her enemy, “take Gilda and go. I’ll catch up. Just let me deal with her.”

Gilda gasped slightly, frightened over the prospect of losing their best protection. Flash Sentry walked around and in front of her.”

“Gilda,” whispered Flash Sentry. “You heard her. Let’s go.”

Annie heard Flash Sentry and Gilda both run off to Annie’s left. She took a quick glance to the left to see the two of them going directly east. With Annie seemingly distracted, the White Slicer galloped forwards, jumping high into the air. Annie’s body quickly became taut, turning her gaze back to the White Slicer.

Swinging her left blade in an upward arc, Annie watched as the White Slicer’s dagger flipped out from her right cuff and locked into place, the blade pointed down with her hoof. Both blades met in a flurry of sparks and sharp ringing that pressed both of them away.

Annie kept her ground while the White Slicer was hurled to Annie’s right. On the way down, the left knife flipped out as the White Slicer reeled her arm back. With a precise, underhanded chuck, the White Slicer’s dagger flew through the air towards Annie’s face. With her sword still completing its swing, and her right sword too far away, Annie jerked her torso and neck back, just managing to miss the blade by mere inches.

With her shift, however, Annie felt her body fall to the ground and onto the snow just as the White Slicer fell onto her back. Annie rolled onto her stomach to see the White Slicer twisting her body to the right, her right arm held behind her to throw. Annie began to roll right and away from the predicted path of the knife.

The White Slicer threw the knife right into the path of Annie’s roll. With a gasp, knowing that she couldn’t dodge it, Annie put her swords up. The blade of the dagger hit the sword, bouncing off behind her. Annie put her hands down on the ground and pushed off with her feet and hands, jumping up and landing again on her feet.

Likewise, the White Slicer twirled about onto all four hooves. Looking back to Annie, the White Slicer saw her charging with both swords held down at their sides. The White Slicer stood on her hind legs and inserted two new knife handles into the slots in her cuffs, whipping them out of her bag and flipping them forwards, pointing the blades out.

Annie arced her right sword over her head and moved it right alongside her left. With a swing to the upper right, Annie blades aimed for both the White Slicer’s chest and neck. The White Slicer jumped up and put her knives out to block the blades. The force was such as to send the White Slicer flying and flipping towards a tree.

The White Slicer was prepared, landing on the bark of the tree and pushing off. Annie crossed her swords defensively, awaiting the next attack. The White Slicer threw both daggers at Annie’s face, which she easily blocked with her swords. With Annie’s blades blocking her vision, the white slicer flipped back forwards and drilled Annie in the right hand with one of her back hooves, knocking her to her back.

In pain, Annie dropped the sword out of her injured hand, letting it fall to the snow. As the White Slicer landed ten feet from Annie, Annie gasped in realization. While the White Slicer stood up, equipping new blades onto herself, Annie grabbed hold of the base of the wire connecting her disarmed sword to her Maneuver Gear.

Swinging to the right, Annie pulled her sword on the wire and had it swing out towards the back of the White Slicer’s right leg. Annie hit her mark just as the White Slicer was about to turn and face her. The blade cut in halfway through the leg just above the hoof. A hefty spurt of blood from the wound and a shrill scream brought the pegasus down to her side.

Yanking her wire back, Annie’s sword flew back towards her and into her hand. The White Slicer rolled onto her stomach, trying to get herself back up despite her now useless back hoof. Annie leapt towards the White Slicer, her arms and blades held out to the left, ready to slash. Using the strength in her remaining three limbs, the White Slicer hopped up and swung her body right, ready to intercept her.

Annie swung hard against the White Slicer’s weak and faulty swing, and with the right accuracy and speed, her blades hit the White Slicer’s wrists, cutting both her cuffs and her hooves from her body. The White Slicer let out another shriek as Annie hit the ground and rolled to her feet. As the White Slicer writhed in agony, Annie ran to the hopeless pegasus as she rolled to her stomach. Before she could move any further, Annie held down the White Slicer on her back and swiped her sword down through the back of her neck, ceasing her screaming and movement.

Annie looked down at the corpse she created, seeing the blood pouring from her hooves, wing, and neck, as well as the sprays leftover on the snow and the pool forming around the body. Annie hissed, knowing that Princess Celestia would be angry with her killing. Looking back to the side of the forest where she, Gilda, and Flash Sentry had come from, Annie knew that the Manehattan branch of the Fates would be arriving soon.

Without a seconds thought afterwards, Annie turned back to the direction where Gilda and Flash Sentry had gone to. Pressing the triggers on her Maneuver Gear, she shot two hooks into the trees, reeling herself away from White Slicer’s slain body and far away from the Manehattan Fates. Within seconds, she disappeared from sight.
________________________________________________________________________________________

As the conductor for Annie and Flash Sentry’s train waited for a response to his distress signal, the sound of another train came up from behind. Looking from inside the engine and peering from the side, the conductor saw the single-car train come into sight.

The conductor galloped from the engine and swung around to the side of the passenger car, climbing the ladder and up onto the roof. He galloped back along the roofs of the cars and then the caboose standing along the edge of the back of the train. The conductor saw the train continue approaching, leading him to wave his arms.

“Stop!” he shouted. “The railway is down!”

The train began to appear around the bend, its brakes already screeching to a halt as the engine appeared closer and closer to the caboose. The conductor stood still and cautiously as the other train’s engine dangerously approached. With the cowcatcher just inches from the coupling of the caboose, the train came to a halt.

Poking out from the side of the engine was Black Glass, disguised in a conductor’s uniform. The boxcar behind the engine opened up, Slicer, Bruiser, and Doctor, each equipped with saddlebags, hopping out and sliding down the embankment in the snow.

“Pardon me,” Black Glass asked, “do you know what happened here?”

“I’m afraid the bridge’s been destroyed,” answered the conductor. “Where were you going?”

“Look!” called Bruiser. “Hoofprints! They look like those human’s feet too!”

“It doesn’t concern you,” Black Glass claimed to the conductor. “Feel free to take our train back. We’re done using it.”

Black Glass jumped out from the engine and slid down with his other three comrades. Together, they ran off towards the forest, leaving the nerve-racked conductor on the roof of the caboose. With his life now in safety as the ponies Annie referred to disappeared into the forest, he jumped across the roofs of the caboose onto the engine to Black Glass’s train and climbed in, preparing to reverse onto a safer line.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Annie made it to the end of the forest, landing back on her feet, putting her blades and operational devices back in her sheaths. Running fast along the hilly area towards the base of the mountain where Canterlot stood on, Annie looked about for any sign of Gilda and Flash Sentry.

As well, Annie looked up and about her surroundings, waiting for the Manehattan Slicer to appear before her. Annie’s lungs were burning with the frozen winter air, and her limbs started to show signs of aching. Despite this, Annie continued to run over each crest and dip of each hill, hoping that she would be reunited with Gilda and Flash Sentry soon.

The sounds of crashing waves and rushing water soon became audible to Annie. She realized that she was approaching a sizable ravine where a wide river ran through. The slope looked steep, but there looked to be shores on both sides large enough so that Gilda and Flash could sit and wait on her. Annie ran up to the edge, looking left and right for Gilda and Flash Sentry. She was unable to see them, even after checking once more.

“Annie!” shouted Flash Sentry.

Annie looked further down, only to see the griffon and orange pegasus below her on her right. With a sigh of relief, Annie faced away from the river and jumped feet first. Grabbing her operational devices and leaving the blades inside the sheaths, Annie pulled the triggers, shooting both hooks into the rock wall, catching her.

Clicking the bottom triggers, Annie rappelled down the cliff and onto the stony, sandy shore, which was hardened with the cold. Annie walked up to Gilda, who had a well-picked carcass of a salmon at her talons while Flash Sentry chewed on an apple. Both of them were elated to see her.

“So what happened?” asked Gilda. “Where’s that Slicer?”

“I killed her,” Annie responded as she put her operational devices away into her jacket.

Both Flash Sentry and Gilda’s relatively happy demeanors vanished, instead replaced by fear and slight sickness.

“You… killed her?” Gilda asked, gulping in fear.

“It was my life or hers, and unless you want to try and get to Ponyville without my help, I think you can guess which option was best for us.”

Gilda breathed through her nostrils and looked away, shamefully acknowledging that Annie was right.

“Annie,” hissed Flash Sentry, stepping forwards, “what do you think the princesses will say if they find out you killed somepony?”

“She won’t just find out,” Annie declared. “I’ll tell her myself. If she wants, I’ll tell her how I cut her wing, her leg, her hooves, and her neck.”

Gilda and Flash Sentry gasped, shocked by Annie’s accepting nature of her actions.

“It won’t end here either,” Annie said. “The rest of them will come for us and they will ensure that we die before we get to Ponyville. Not only will we not allow them that chance, but we will not allow them to hurt anyone ever again.”

“Annie…” Flash Sentry whispered, wanting to get his point in.

“We can just avoid them!” exclaimed Gilda. “If you really did kill the Vanhoover Slicer, then we should be smooth sailing to Ponyville if we fly there!”

“Wrong,” Annie corrected. “With the time wasted fighting her, and you two waiting for me, the Manehattan Fates are probably close behind us. Flying would only make us more visible, especially with the other Slicer about.

“Make no mistake, they won’t stop. They won’t stop looking for us, and they certainly won’t stop killing. Even if we make it to Ponyville, we have no way of tracking them down after that. All we have are physical descriptions of them, incomplete ones at that. Once we escape, they’ll scatter right back into the shadows, never to be seen again. Gilda, as much as I want to ensure your safety, you must know that you will never be safe as long as a single one of them lurks around.”

“So what do we plan to do?” asked Flash Sentry. “Let them find us so we can kill them all?”

“That’s exactly what we’re going to do. We’ll continue our path to Ponyville and more than likely run into the rest of the Vanhoover Fates. Then, we’ll wait for the Manehattan ones to come and then we finish them off.”

“But what about Commander?” Gilda asked. “Won’t he still be hiding?”

“I doubt it. If both branches are out here, I’m almost certain their leader will be among them to better instruct them. Either way, you needn’t worry. We’re going to kill the rest of these bastards, and we’re going to get you home safely. Alright?”

Gilda, still surprised by Annie’s resolve, couldn’t help but find her courage motivating. Slowly approaching her, Gilda looked right into Annie’s eyes.

“For what it’s worth,” Gilda said, “I’m all on board with this. I’m not letting them take us down without a fight.”

“Flash?” questioned Annie.

Flash Sentry looked to Annie and Gilda, unsure of how to respond. Then looking at Annie, his speech at the plaza in Manehattan had come back.

“No,” he relented, “you’re right. If justice won’t bring them down, we will.”

“That’s good,” Annie said. “I can see that you’ve already eaten.”

“Well, we’re in for a long trip, and we needed to eat breakfast anyway. What about you? Do you need anything.”

“No time. We need to get moving now.”

“Annie, you need something.”

Flash Sentry began to dig through his bag, much to Annie’s annoyance and impatience. Finally, he pulled out a small, rectangular package in an orange, metallic wrapping. With a flick of his neck, Flash Sentry tossed the package to Annie, who caught it in one hand.

“Granola bar?” asked Annie.

“Yeah,” confirmed Flash Sentry. “It’s portable enough that you can eat it on the go.”

“Fair enough,” Annie said, placing the bar into her jacket pocket. “Then pack the bags, Flash, we need to go.”

“Yes, ma’am!” he responded.

Flash Sentry began fastening the belts on his saddlebags together while Annie turned back to Gilda.

“I won’t be able to get across this river on just my Maneuver Gear,” Annie said. “I’ll need you to carry me over.”

“You got it!” Gilda proudly exclaimed as she sat herself down.

Annie straddled over Gilda’s back and stood still, allowing Gilda to stand herself back up so Annie sat firmly on her back. Flash Sentry slid his saddlebags onto his back, fully prepared to leave.

“Are you ready, Flash?” Annie asked.

“Yes,” Flash Sentry responded. “We’re all ready.”

“Great. Gilda, to the other side, please.”

Gilda flapped her wings and lifted herself off the ground. With a slight dip, she gained speed across the freezing torrents. Flash Sentry leapt up and flew close behind them. Annie’s sights were kept on the top of the ravine, the place where their journey would resume.

Gilda swooped up to the edge of the cliff as Annie hopped off, both of them landing on their feet. Flash Sentry came up and landed beside Annie’s other side. Annie picked the granola bar from her pocket and unwrapped the top half of it. Taking a hefty bite from the thick and chewy mound of oats and sugar, Annie began to run along the west edge of the river with Gilda and Flash Sentry beside her, unsure which adversary they’d come across next.