Well, from my experience, I'd say this looks pretty bad. Sunset looked around Canterlot High's administration office, where Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack were all sitting uneasily. Sunset briefly entertained the thought that Principal Celestia had called them there to check up on Sunset's "good girl" progress, but the thought was quickly banished when the door to the Principal's office opened.

Celestia did not look happy.

The six of them filed into the room and stood shoulder-to-shoulder, looking various degrees of nervous or guilty. Celestia walked back around her desk and pushed her chair in, then picked up a styrofoam cup and tipped its contents out onto the table. Sunset winced when a handful of plastic BBs went bouncing across the wood.

"Oooooh..." Pinkie folded her hands behind her back, looking away. "Umm... We didn't think-"

"No, no you did not." The principal turned around with a sigh. "You are good kids, but no matter how good you are, I never like getting a call from the Canterlot PD about students running around school property with guns at midnight."

"Hey! They weren't real guns! And Applejack wasn't even there!" Rainbow Dash stepped forward aggressively. Fluttershy tried halfheartedly to rein her in by pulling on her arm.

"I know they aren't real guns, the chief and I found the pellets. But the fact remains that you cannot have anything even resembling a firearm on school property, even after hours. The police got two separate calls from concerned individuals about this." Celestia kept her back turned on them while she talked, tapping her fingers on her arm.

Pinkie gave a sniffle, the abruptly burst into tears. "They're mine! It was my idea! I didn't know, I didn't think-"

"Ma'am, you really must see, Applejack wasn't there, she had no involvement in this fiasco!" Rarity insisted, hugging Pinkie protectively. "She hasn't even seen the things!"

"Who cares?" Applejack cut in front of them. "You know they ain't real, everybody there was willing, no'un had a chance o' getting' hurt," she pulled her hat off in frustration, "'I don't see what the deal is!"

"You can't get us in trouble for rules we didn't know about!" Rainbow Dash shouted rebelliously. Pinkie's tears intensified as Rarity and Fluttershy tried to comfort her. Celestia was now holding her forehead in her hand, looking equal parts annoyed and sympathetic as everyone tried to be heard at once.

Sunset closed her eyes, arms folded and head down. "Everyone shut up."

Unsurprisingly, nobody heard her in the chaos, so Sunset took a deep breath and made herself heard.

"QUIET!"

She got quiet. Pinkie even forgot to cry for a moment. Sunset didn't move from her spot on the wall, and went back to her brooding position. "Everybody out."

"Hey! We aren't letting you take the heat for this!" Rainbow folded her arms stubbornly.

Sunset shook her head. "I'm not 'taking the heat,' you lot are still in trouble. Get out. I want to talk to the principal."

"But-" Rainbow Dash started, getting Sunset to look up and glare at them.

"I. Said. Out."

The five girls filed out the door, and Rarity closed it slowly behind her, giving Sunset a worried look. Principal Celestia watched her with an unreadable expression.

"Ma'am..." Sunset returned to her spot leaning on the wall. "Let's be simple about this, shall we?"

Celestia raised one regal eyebrow. "Certainly. Lets."

Sunset nodded. "The school firearms rule is strict, and it most certainly applies to Airsoft pistols. Despite the fact that we rather conveniently 'forgot' the school rules, you will have to admit we were very responsible about how we went about this. We chose a location with no bystanders, we all had eye protection, and the fact remains that as the rules are in place for real, lethal guns, the consequence should reflect that these are toys." Sunset gave the principal a sidelong look. "Don't you agree?"

Celestia sat down slowly at her desk, lacing her fingers together and keeping her expression unreadable. "Go on."

Sunset stood up straight and began to pace. "I just want to get all the pretense out of the way. We forgot the rule intended 'nothing resembling a firearm' and instead interpreted it as 'no firearms near other students,' which, while wrong, is understandable. So now that we're on the same page, this is the part where I assure you it will never happen again and you tell us how many days we are suspended for. Simple and painless." She stopped and spread her arms, resisting the urge to mock-bow. I await your judgement, your highness.

"Two days suspension for everyone involved, I will inform your teachers and have your classwork brought to you. Is that simple enough?" Celestia stated, a small grin tugging at the corner of her mouth. "And it really had better not happen again. Do you want to tell your friends, or shall I?"

"So, let me get this straight." Rainbow Dash kicked her soccer ball slowly ahead of them, bouncing it off the curb. "We break the rules. You explain to her exactly how and why we broke the rules. And we get a four-day weekend?! You are comeing with me any time I get in trouble, Sunset."

"It's not a 'weekend,' Rainbow. We're suspended. And that's terrible." Rarity pointed out.

"Are you kidding me?" Rainbow Dash hiked the ball into the air with her toe. "I bet Applejack is jealous right now! She let us off as easy as it gets! I don't think she was even mad!"

Sunset shrugged. "It's the strangest punishment I ever head of. In Equestria its usually a stern lecture and a hour or two of community service. Sorry I dragged you into this."

"You dragged us into this?" Pinkie skipped along behind them. "The entire thing was my idea!"

"It was fun..." Fluttershy mumbled.

Sunset nodded, hands in her pockets, playing with a few of the BBs she had taken off of Celestia's desk. "Hey, girls, I have something I want to check out. I'll see you later."

"Ok, sure. Bye!" Rainbow Dash focused on keeping the ball in the air, juggling it as they walked down the street. Sunset made a sharp turn down a different sidewalk, waving as she went.

Half-an hour of walking later, Sunset came to the end of a cul-du-sac with a large empty lot on the edge of the Whitetail Woods. Without breaking stride, Sunset cut across the lot and into the trees. There might have been a road once, but nature had done its best reclaiming it and covered in in bramble, so Sunset took her time picking through the foliage. It wasn't much longer though before she broke through the trees and found what she was looking for.

A cinderblock wall loomed in front of her not five meters away, moss taking over the side facing her. She followed it around to the left. The wall turned sharply inward, and Sunset stepped back to get a better view of the building it was a part of.

The Rich Select Private School had been abandoned partway through construction after a scandal about its proximity to the official Whitetail Woods boundary, and Mr. Ritch had simply given up on the project. Sunset had heard the rumor that the school was being made specially for his own daughter, Diamond Tiara, five years ago. Sunset grinned. And now you leave it all for me. Us. Totally meant us.

What had become of the building was a large "F" of concrete foundation with cinderblock walls, fighting back against the local flora. The courtyard, formed by the tines of the "F" faced west into the field, had what would have become a fountain forming an indentation in the middle of it, while the main part of the building stretched up two stories higher behind it. The roof was nonexistent in most places, as were doors, windows, paint… there was very little that was not made of concrete and brick, only a conspicuous piece of scaffolding braced in the corner.

Sunset waded through the tall grass to the main entrance at the end of the courtyard, minding the large step-up intended for stairs that had never been made. Inside, a thick layer of dirt hand made it inside, but little plant life had managed the knee-high jump up the foundations. The light was filtered through the windows and took on a surreal golden-brown hue, and the faint scent of a dead rodent was present. Sunset made a careful examination of the dirt on the floor, finding no human shoe prints but what might have been fox tracks. The stairs up were visible through a frame where more double-doors would have gone, and Sunset followed them up to the top, hesitating before stepping out onto the roofless second floor.

Come on, Sunset. Just because humans don't have magic to reinforce structures doesn't mean their engineering isn't up to snuff. Even incomplete. After five years. It should hold. Really. Sunset grimaced to herself and stuck a leg out, dropping the heel of her boot down hard. The concrete felt reassuringly solid, so she stepped out all the way, seriously missing her unicorn-magic for the millionth time. The wall over the windows had collapsed in on themselves without the frames to support them, making odd battlements around the entire second floor. Sunset walked out to a section where the wall had completely gone, only a short piece of bent rebar sticking up, and looked out over the rest of the building and the field.

This could work. In fact, with a little effort... Sunset pulled up a notepad on her smartphone and started jotting down what she would need. This could be perfect!

> RARITY

"Seriously now!" Rainbow Dash groaned, "has anyone seen Sunset the past two days? She's totally blowing the vacation that she got us!"

Rarity tried to keep her expression neutral as she repeated her explanation for the fifth time. "I told you, she told me and Pinkie she had a 'project' to work on and nothing else. Besides, have you finished all of your homework yet? Hold still."

Rainbow Dash gave a snort of annoyance and raised her arms so that Rarity could loop a pair of straps across her shoulders and back, fitting the cloth holster under her armpit. Rarity snapped the clasp shut and stepped back. The webbing of the holster consisted of a figure-eight that both arms slipped through and made an X across Rainbow's back, and a single securing strap across the front that buckled just under her chest.

"There! Now all we need is this," Rarity quickly threw a long brown coat over Dash's shoulders and plopped a fedora down on her head, "for the finishing touches! Detective Dash!" Rarity's expression cracked and she began to giggle. "Oh, goodness, you look ridiculous."

Rainbow Dash took a look in the mirror and snatched off the hat, throwing it at the fashionista. "You have an evil, evil streak deep inside, Rarity." She shrugged off the coat, tossing it over a unused rack. "Probably why I like you. Thanks for the holster, though, it looks awesome!"

"Thank you! If the pistol doesn't fit, just bring it back and I'll resize it. It took three tries to get Pinkie's right before I realized she was trying to fit that monster suppressed handgun in." Rarity smiled. Another success in a very new field. If anyone had told me a week ago I would be making holsters of all things, I would have laughed in their face!

"So, uh, Rarity." Rainbow Dash turned, examining herself in the mirror. Rarity made a mental note that the securing strap might ride a little high under Rainbow's breast. "Do you want to swing by Pinkie's and play with these? Maybe do a little 'Wild West' shootout?"

"Y'all ain't gonna beat me in any quick-draws!" Came a familiar drawl.

Rarity turned and beamed as Applejack stepped into the botique. "Wonderful! You came!" Did you bring that old belt of yours?"

"Sure did," Applejack held up a thick leather belt with a heavy iron buckle, emblazoned with a stylized apple, "You know this is on the understanin' that this is a heirloom, righ'? It's older than I am."

"Absolutely, dear, I just want to fit something over it." Rarity took it with an appropriate degree of reverence, noting the quality of the leather and craftsmanship of the rolling plains motif along its length. Hopefully, she could do it better justice, but not today. "Do bear in mind this is only temporary, Applejack. The real one will probably take months."

"The real one of what?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Rarity reached into one of the boutique's shopping bags and pulled out its contents with a flourish. The revolver from Pinkie Pie's new Airsoft collection had seen some polish on its wooden grip, and was nestled in a thick holster of treated canvas with a wide loop for a belt and a small strap to be secured around one's leg. "Tada! A gift from Pinkie Pie and myself for one Miss Applejack! A Colt Firearms 'Peacemaker', Airsoft Edition! For all of your Rainbow Dash shooting needs!"

Applejack took the package wide eyed. "I... Wow. That's real nice of you, Rares. Thanks."

Rarity beamed. "You're welcome! I'm afraid it might look a bit strange if you wear it with a skirt, since it hangs off of your belt instead of sitting up high like the rest of ours, but you do pull of jeans better than the rest of us. Oh, and your glasses, too." Rarity pulled out a pair of green plastic goggles for her, and tucked the earpiece into a small slot in the canvas for safekeeping.

Applejack nodded, pulling the revolver free and looking it over. She deftly spun it around her finger and brought it up, looking down the sights and cocking the hammer with her thumb. "Almost like the real thing, only it don't weigh nothin'." She put her thumb on the hammer and pulled the trigger, easing it back into a uncocked position.

"Hey, yeah! You've shot real guns before! You should teach us some tricks!" Rainbow Dash mimed drawing and taking a shooting stance, then peered out the front window of the boutique. "Hey, isn't that Sunset's car?"

Rarity glanced out as well, then caught Rainbow's elbow as she made for the door. "Ah! One, don't go running around in public wearing a gun holster, and two, what if she doesn't want to-"

"So she's avoiding us?" Dash frowned and pulled free, unbuckling her holster. "Well, I'm going to find out what's going on!"

Rainbow Dash was out the door like a shot, and was across the street standing by Sunset's convertible in seconds, looking around for any sign of its owner. Rarity sighed. "Well, we may as well."

"If I have to." Applejack muttered, dropping her new Airsoft gun into a bag and following Rarity out the door. Rarity winced internally at her friends tone.

Sunset hesitated as she came out of the hardware store and saw a Rainbow Dash waiting impatiently next to her Jaguar. Dash hadn't seen her yet, but across the street, Rarity and Applejack had. Well, now is a good a time as ever. Sunset gave a sharp whistle and waved.

"Yo! Where have you been?" Rainbow Dash leapt up the sidewalk in front of her. "Have you been avoiding us?" She accused.

Sunset pretended to consider for a moment, stepping around Rainbow and setting her bag of supplies down and popping open the trunk. "Hmm. Yes, technically, I have been."

Rainbow Dash's mouth fell open, shocked and hurt. "B-but, I thought we were friends! How could you!"

Sunset snorted and gave Rainbow a pat on the shoulder. "I'm kidding! I just had a surprise for you. For all of you, really." She added for the benefit of Rarity and Applejack.

"A surprise? I thought you said it was a personal project?" Rarity asked, shooting a glare at a slightly embarrassed a Rainbow Dash. "You implied you wanted to work on it alone, but I admit I am a bit curious myself."

"That's fine," Sunset dropped her bags into the trunk with a heavy clanking of screws and bolts, "Let's go pick up Pinkie and Fluttershy, then I'll show you. Hop in."

Sunset called ahead to Pinkie's cell phone, confirming that both she and Fluttershy where at Sugarcube Corner just a few blocks away, and where ready and waiting when she pulled up.

"What's the surprise? Wait DON'T TELL ME!" Pinkie jumped in the back with Applejack and Rarity, practically pulling Fluttershy in on top of them. "It won't be a supriiiiiise, then~!"

"I think you'll like it. Try to remember where we are, too, so you can find the way yourself." Sunset caught herself, snickering. Oops, almost gave it away!

Rarity seemed to catch on. "Well, aren't you cryptic. You have my attention, dear."

"Come on!" Rainbow Dash turned around in the passenger seat to look at the other four girls squashed into the back. "All comfy back their?"

"Rainbow, don't you start." Applejack grunted, trying to make room for Fluttershy's legs. Sunset shook her head at the teasing and dove into traffic, heading for Whitetail Woods.

The drive wasn't long before they pulled into the cul-de-sac, where Sunset parked and got out, pulling her supplies out of the back of the trunk while Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack extracted themselves from the back seat. "All right, ladies. Help me carry all this. It's a bit of a hike, so divvy it up." Sunset commanded.

"What the hay are you buildin'?" Applejack asked, lifting the three sheets of plywood out of the bottom of the trunk with an ease that made Sunset's struggle to get it in look pathetic.

"And in the woods?" Fluttershy gasped. "Have you been working on a treehouse?"

"No, but close!" Sunset shook her head, carrying her final, secret box and leading the way into the trees. The route was slowly getting easer each pass as the foliage began to get pushed back and Sunset herself got better at stepping through it. Judging by the sounds of annoyance and snagged clothing behind her, it was more of the latter. It didn't last long before the broke out into the field just west of the abandoned construction site.

"What" Rarity dropped the bags she had been carrying in awe as she caught glimpse of the building.

"You... How did y'all..." Applejack stuttered.

Pinkie Pie just stared, blinking. "Is this real life?"

"I'm seeing this to, it must be." Rainbow Dash passed a hand in front of her face, shocked.

The old building had some new features, namely, a ramp up to all the doors and erected a flag from the roof made from a Canterlot Wondercolts jersey, as well as some belt-high wooden barricades, currently stacked over in one corner.

"Y-you did all of this?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah!" Sunset nodded, feeling the soreness of the work in her bones. "I found the building years ago, and thought I'd touch it up. The barricades were the hard part, I'm not sure I built them right. Think it will do for Airsoft games?"

Rarity stepped forward, taking it in. "For Airsoft? For us? Sunset, darling, you found us a wonderful clubhouse! This is incredible!"

Sunset sighed. Worth it, then. "Well, we had a problem and I went and solved it: no playing with air guns near schools or public place, dig up an old building in the middle of nowhere. Go on, check it out. Watch out for the old boiler room, though, something died in there a while ago, I boarded it up."

Pinkie and Rainbow Dash took off like a shot, whopping and hollering, with Fluttershy and Applejack following at a more leisurely pace. Rarity, however, stayed behind.

"Sunset... I... Please don't take this the wrong way." Rarity brought a hand up to her mouth, blushing and looking like she was going to cry.

"Take it the wrong- Rarity! What's wrong?" Sunset felt a cold grip of fear on her heart. What could I have done wrong? This was a good thing!

"I just want you to know that this is the most generous thing that has happened to any of us." Rarity sniffed, smiling. "I mean it. You went so far above and beyond... You did all of this in two days?"

Sunset looked away, embarrassed. "Well, two and a half. It's not done yet, I wanted to put shutters on the windows and the inside could use some kind of furni-ulp!" She cut off as Rarity threw her arms around her in a great hug, then held her at arms length.

"It's perfect, Sunset. Come on, give me the grand tour!"

"Of course I brought the stuff to play a game" Sunset lifted her duffle bag onto the simple plastic table set up on the roof of the newly christened Castle CinderPly. "I'm always prepared."

"Sweeeeeet!" Rainbow Dash bounced in place. "Even teams. This is gonna be epic!"

"Um, I'm not really sure it can be even... I'm kind of a handicap... Sorry." Fluttershy mumbled.

Pinkie giggled. "Says the girl who shot a quarter-inch pattern on her first try ever. You are on my team."

"Right!" Sunset opened the bag and pulled out one of the M16s. "One more surprise. I got both of these working properly, so each team can have one. The one with all the ridges and mounting rails is a M-16 A4, and can shoot semi-automatic or full-auto, and..." She pulled out the second black rifle as well, laying them both on the table. "...this one is an A2, it shoots a three-shot-burst as well as single-shot. I got all of the pistols working as well, Applejack's just needs gas."

"S'how does this all work? Airsoft battles, I mean?" Applejack asked, belting on her holster before handing over her Peacemaker for a gas refill.

"Simple enough. If you get nailed, yell 'hit' and raise your hand, then go to a safe zone. I marked two, one outside in the middle of the courtyard, and one inside in the middle of the entrance hall. I tried to put them somewhere you wouldn't trip over them." Sunset admitted. "Oh, new rule if you guys want to; its called 'winging.' If you get hit in the torso or head, you are out, but if you get hit in the arm or leg, you can take one more hit anywhere before being out of the game."

"Cool, I'll go with that. Go for them headshots!" Rainbow Dash punched the air, then paused. "On second thought, try not to hit me in the head, those things really hurt."

Rarity nodded sympathetically. "So what kind of game this time? What would even be a 'normal' game?"

"Deathmatch?" Rainbow Dash suggested. "Three-versus-three, last team standing?"

"I'M ON FLUTTERSHY'S TEAM!" Pinkie Pie shrieked, grabbing the girl in question..

"T-thank you, Pinkie, but I... need... air..."

Rarity slipped her Sigma into its new holster, high on her hip. "I suppose I'll join you as well, if there are no objections."

Rainbow Dash grinned, picking up the M16A4. "So that leaves me with AJ and Sunset, team kick-ass!"

Sunset snatched the rifle out of Rainbow's hands. "I'll be taking that. Unless you took the time to research how to use an A&K M16 while I was gone?"

"Oh, and you have?" Rainbow snorted. Sunset raised an eyebrow, then deftly locked back the bolt, inserted a magazine, slapped the side to close the bolt and flipped the fire selector to "Semi."

*wrrtap!*

A pellet flew cleanly out the window. Sunset lowered the rifle, keeping her face expressionless. "Any questions? Here, Fluttershy, I'll show you how it works."

Sunset, Applejack and Rainbow Dash kneeled in their room, waiting and discussing strategy. They had taken shelter in one of the classrooms on the south wing, and little of the evening sun filtered in, making it dim inside.

"Ok, so if they are in the north part of the building, we have three ways to go." Rainbow Dash noted. "We can sprint straight across the courtyard, go through the lobby, or take the stairs up and walk across the roof."

"And they can do the same." Sunset pointed out. Rainbow rolled her eyes in a well, duh! fashion.

Applejack idly spun her Peacemaker around her finger. "We ought to stick together. More firepower, an' all that. Someone to watch our backs."

"I think I have a pretty clear shot into the lobby from here. How about you two stick together and I cover you up until you get to the lobby, then you wave me over." Sunset peered out the window, sighting her M16 in on the wide windows near the school entrance.

Applejack nodded. "Sounds good. Anythin' last minute I should know about?"

Sunset thought for a second. "Yeah. Rarity has a great grasp on strategy, Fluttershy is the new Annie Oakley, and Pinkie Pie likes to pop out at the least opportune moment. Good luck."

"Won't need it." Rainbow Dash chambered a pellet in her pistol, then leaned out the window and yelled. "WE'RE READY!"

"Three-two-one-go!" Came Pinkie's signal, echoing from across the courtyard. Applejack and Rainbow Dash padded their way out of the room.

Sunset took a knee and braced her rifle on the windowsill, watching out across the courtyard. She saw a brief flash of pink hair though one of the windows, then nothing. Taking a deep breath, she lined her eye up with the rear aperture of the sights, floating the front post vaguely over the main windows.

Moments later she scrambled backwards as burst of pellets whizzed overhead, bouncing off of the walls. What the hay? Where did that come from? She stood up, recovering from the sudden scare, and raised the rifle again. Standing well back from the window, Sunset began to step in a slow, careful circle around it, trying to pick out where she had been shot at from. Halfway around, another trio of pellets sailed in and ricocheted off the floor, one tagging her squarely in the boot. Damn! Good thing I called that winging rule... I can't stay here.

Sunset dashed out of the room, following the hall east after Rainbow and Applejack. She slowed as she approached the main lobby and heard a shout and a flurry of clicking pellet guns.

"Hit! I'm hit, I'm out!"

"Me too! Hit!"

That was Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Ok. Still even teams. Sunset thought. She carefully leaned around the doorframe and saw Applejack hurriedly reloading her revolver, kneeling by the far door as Rainbow Dash and Pinkie walked out the front door to the outside safe zone, hands raised. Sunset quickly crossed the room with her gun up and trained on the window.

"Sorry, had to leave my spot. Fluttershy had a bead on me." Sunset apologized, kneeling next to her remaining teammate.

Applejack nodded. "Pinkie was on her own, jumped us. Ain't much I could do to save Dash, this thing is hard to shoot fast. It's weird not havin' any kick. Any idea where the other two are?"

Sunset closed her eyes and replayed the times she had been shot at, doing her best to work out the angle the shot had come from. "Fluttershy was on the top floor of the north wing, all the way at the end."

"Rares would have stuck close to Fluttershy, otherwise Pinkie wouldn'ta come." Applejack peered out the window carefully. "I don't think we could get sniped if we stick to the north wall outside, then we could come in behind them. Problem is Fluttershy can probably see the front door from here..."

"We'll run for it, I'll cover you." Sunset shouldered her rifle again. She realized she hadn't even shot yet, then leaned around the edge of the window and squinted against the sun, picking out the shape of the other M16's barrel peeking off the edge of the second floor where the wall had not been finished. She squeezed the trigger gently, lining up the sights, and barked "GO!"

*wrtap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!*

Applejack darted out the school entrance as an arc of pellets streamed out of Sunset's gun, peppering around her target. She put a few more bursts toward the edge of the roof before slipping back down and pulling out the magazine, winding the small crank at the top to transfer more pellets from the reservoir to the feed. Sunset patted her jacket pocket to assure herself her spare rifle magazine was really there, then peeked again. Applejack glanced back at her, pressed up against the wall directly below where Fluttershy had shot from and jerked her head impatiently: Come on!

Sunset nodded, backing up, and dashed out the door, jumping down the ramp she had made and sprinting to her teammate, thudding roughly into the wall. She looked up and saw the orange muzzle of Fluttershy's M16 peeking over the edge, still pointed toward the main entrance. Did she not see us?

Applejack wordlessly began picking her way along the side of the building, stepping noiselessly through the tall grass, and Sunset followed her lead. They got to the corner and AJ leaned around it, gun-first. Sunset carefully moved around her and took a position next to the ramp for the smaller door, clearing the inside as far as she could see. She put her arm out to stop Applejack before she went ahead.

"The stairs are the fourth gap down, on your left." Sunset whispered, "Fluttershy should be the first room in front of us at the top, south-east corner if she's still there."

"Gotcha. That's a lot of hidin' places in between here and there, tho." Applejack double-checked that her revolver was full, and Sunset was struck by an idea.

"Here. How's your left hand aim?" Sunset unholstered her S&W Sigma handgun, offering it to Applejack. "It's loaded and ready, just point and click. I have plenty of ammo for the M16, pistol won't do anything on my hip."

"Thank'ee." The two girls stepped up into the hallway, Applejack first, with the autoloading handgun pointed down the hall and the revolver flickering between each door as she came up to them. Sunset kept herself in a low stance, gun up as she did her best to step smoothly down the hall, covering whatever door Applejack was not looking at.

The farmer reached the stairs first, and started up. Sunset tightened her grip on the rifle, annoyed. Come on, slow down. She glanced down the ground floor halls, then followed. We still don't know where Rarity is, and it's way too quiet to talk!

Sunset sighed in relief as Applejack stopped, arms spread to point a gun down either hall at the top of the stairs, and twitched her Peacemaker to wave Sunset past her. Sunset fiddled with the stock of her M16, telescoping it down shorter so it would fit through the tight doorways better, then stepped carefully up onto the second floor, heart pounding in the silence and trying to keep her breathing silent. She focused on the door to the unfinished room where Fluttershy had fired from, gently setting her heel down and rolling her boot gently onto the toe, one after another. She glided through the door, swinging her rifle around to point at the edge of the roof.

Sunset realized that moment things had gone terribly wrong. Fluttershy was not in the room, just an abandoned M16A2 balanced on its magazine and stock to point out over the edge of the building. A sharp jingling came from around her feet, and she looked down to see a tiny decorative bell go bouncing across the floor. "Applejack! Look out, it's a-"

*pop! pop! pop!*

A stinging pellet hit Sunset on the lapel of her jacket as Rarity ducked back into one of the classrooms. "-trap. Hit!" She put her hand up, taking a knee to stay out of the way. She hesitated before leaving, wanting to see what happened next.

Applejack sprang into action, bringing both pistols to bear and beginning to advance down the hall. Rarity peeked around the corner again, then ducked back with a squeak of surprise as AJ fired both guns simultaneously. Applejack continued down the hall, keeping up a slow, steady stream of fire as she went. She made it to the door, then dove head first into the room.

*poppop-pop poppoppop!*

"Ouch! Hit!" Rarity yelped.

"YAHOO!" Applejack came out first, repositioning her hat and covered with a long streak of dust down her side where she had slid across the floor, followed by a wincing fashionista.

Sunset waited for Rarity, then walked down the stairs with her. "That was clever, Rarity. Who's idea was that?"

"Hmm? Did you mean abandoning the rifle as bait or the tripwire?" Rarity rubbed her abdomen where Applejack had hit her.

"Tripwire? Is that what the bell was?" Sunset frowned. "Where was the wire?"

Rarity giggled. "That was a team effort! I had the idea of some kind of alarm, and we used a bell from a collar we found in Fluttershy's bag and a strand of her hair, taped across the door. You broke it when you stepped through."

"Ah. Clever." Sunset said again. Fluttershy's hair was so long and light it would have been totally invisible.

They made it out to the safe zone, where Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash waited, sitting on the edges of the shallow pit that was to house a fountain, now marked off with yellow safety tape. Pinkie had produced a pair of binoculars and was peering into the second story windows.

"Hey! So just AJ and Flutters left, huh?" Rainbow stood up, offering a hand to step down into the pit. "What happened to you?"

Sunset shrugged. "Rarity shot me, AJ shot Rarity. They propped up the rifle as bait, but now that means Fluttershy only has her pistol, and AJ has my pistol too."

Pinkie laughed, binoculars trained on the window. "Ha ha! I see her! She's got one in each hand!"

"Pity she ruined her shirt with that dive. Impressive as it was." Rarity commented.

A minute later, Fluttershy marched out the front door, hands up with Applejack behind her. "Lookie what I caught! That was all kinds of crazy, I'm sorry I haven't played before!"

"Wait, we won?" Rainbow Dash jumped out of the safe zone, punching up at the sky. "Yesss~!"

"Aww! Well, it's only fair!" Pinkie climbed out two and wrapped Fluttershy in a hug. "We won last time! And loosing can be fun! Was it an epic last stand?"

"N-not really..." Fluttershy cringed. "I... I kind of... gave up..."

The group fell silent for a second, the Pinkie gasped. "OhMyGod, girls! We should have a 'We All Play Awesome Games Party and We're Awesome Too' party!"

Sunset grinned, shaking her head in amusement. "I have no objections."

"And we simply can't forget who put this all together for us!" Rarity put a hand on Sunset Shimmer's shoulder. "You are the guest of honor."

Rainbow Dash grabbed her away, lifting her into the air in a giant hug. "Yeah! Cheers for Sunset Shimmer!"

"HURRAY!"

Pinkie led the way back through Whitetail Woods as they left Castle CinderPly behind. "Do you think Mister and Missus Cake would have a problem with six girls coming into Sugarcube Corner this late, armed to the teeth with pellet guns? I don't think they'd care, but I didn't think they'd have a problem with me bringing Gummy to work either, and they had a HUGE problem with a miniature alligator on the pastry counter. Or that time when I got that kid from the science class to bring liquid nitrogen in and we froze cookies and the big mixer! Or that time when-"

Author's Notes:

I must request that any edits or writing recommendation be sent to me as a PM, not in the comments. Please. Otherwise I LOVE COMMENTS.

Broke 100 views within the week. I think that's a good sign.

So, this is a continuing thing now. I guess Airsoft and My Little Pony was one of those "crazy enough to work" ideas.

Funnily enough, this was never intended to include Airsoft right off the bat, it was just going to a another character study of post-EqG Sunset Shimmer. A friend mentioned that she really has little canon hobbies or interests to bond over with the other girls, and I happened to have just re-watched the "Stella C3" pilot, thus: Airsoft. A game that anyone with fingers and legs can play, and potentially enjoy.

Sadly, I didn't have an editor this time, but I really wasted to get this out! Enjoy!

Thanks for all the love, this writing shtick really makes me happy! Verbose Mode out!