Sunset woke suddenly, cracking an eye and giving the sunlight streaming through the blinds of her apartment a suspicious glare.

Wait… it's Monday. Why hasn't my alarm gone off? She rolled over and pawed her bedside table for her phone. The screen softly pulsed with a silent alarm.

> 8:23
Spring Break YAY :) <

Sunset smiled and curled deeper into her bed.

…

"A-GO!" the phone blasted at maximum volume, inches from Sunset's face. "SO ONE-TWO-THREE TAKE MY HAND AND COME WITH ME-"

"Oh, Bless Me!" Sunset yelled, jerking upright and jabbing buttons to shut it off. She got the volume reduced to a tolerable level, then rubbed her eyes and got a better look at the caller ID. Sighing, she answered.

"Yeee'ello. What's up, Dash?"

"Heeey, Sunset!" Rainbow Dash greeted, sounding way too awake for Sunset. "Where you at? I'm about to run in the Canterlot Spring Fit marathon, though you might want to come down!"

"Aaaaaargle" Sunset responded fluently, flopping facedown into her pillow.

"M'kay, I getcha. You still on for the barbecue at Sweet Apple Acres, though?"

"Mmph-humph."

"Cool. Just fair warning, though, Pinkie is going to set pretty much everything, so show up late unless you really want to get involved." Rainbow Dash warned. "I'll let you get back to sleep."

"Pffffft. Mmph." Sunset dropped her phone over the side of her bed, considering her options. Eventually, her belly gave a growl and motivated her to get up. She ate a breakfast of chocolate puffs straight out of the box as she watched a rerun of an old cartoon before she finally felt guilty enough to start her day in earnest.

The party wasn't for several hours, so Sunset made her way outside and simply wandered. Her apartment was close to the center of town, and it wasn't long before she found herself passing by Quill's and Sofa's hobby shop. She pushed the door open.

"Good morning, ma'am!" The clerk greeted, then recognized her. "Ah! Miss Shimmer! What will it be today? You haven't already gone through another tank of gas, have you?"

Sunset shook her head, deliberately walking past the small glass case with all of the Airsoft guns and instead looking at a rack of incredibly dorky-looking comic books. "No, Berry, I'm just looking today. I don't think I'm getting anything."

Berry gave a small noise of disapproval. "You've stopped looking to replace that old AK, then?"

"No. I still want to repair it." Sunset pointed out. She couldn't help it, and she had gravitated back toward the Airsoft case.

"Like I said, I can't help you to much there. I've never seen a mechanism like that gun has before. Also..." The clerk gave a furtive glance around his shop. "There have been some less-than-nice rumors going on about you. In excess of the usual hate."

"Oh?" Sunset shrugged. "I can't say I'm worried. I don't talk to anyone at the school anymore. Where'd you hear these 'rumors'?"

Berry grimaced. "Snips and Snails. Not the most reliable sources."

"Then I couldn't care less. I changed my mind about buying anything." Sunset straightened up, pointing at the top shelf of the display case. "Your telling me these aren't real knives?"

The shelf in question held a number of replica blades, ranging from blunted bright-orange rubber objects vaguely shaped like a knife to expertly painted and rather realistic looking blades. The clerk nodded, opening his mouth to start a sales pitch.

"I want six."

Berry smiled thinly. "Gift wrap?"

" Frikin' sweet!" Rainbow Dash shouted, tearing the fancy tissue paper off of her new ColdSteel training knife. It was molded after the design of a K-BAR survival knife, with a large blade and the distinctive saw-tooth edge on the back. The entire thing was black rubber, but streaked and mottled throughout with electric blue.

Sunset leaned back against the barn, smiling. "Hey, it was your idea. Last game, you made it to hand-to-hand range, and both you and I got an education how much it hurts to get hit at close-quarters."

The rest of the girls opened their presents as well. Pinkie violently ripped hers open to find another survival-style knife, this one entirely neon-pink, resulting in a giggle. Rarity was next, looking surprised and confused to see a wicked-looking violet and white karambit knife, with a sharply-hooking crescent blade and holes for fingers in the grip.

"Hmm..." She gave it an twirl around one finger. "Interesting..."

"You don't like it?" Sunset asked. She could always get a refund, but...

Rarity flipped it into a reverse grip and spun it again. "No, I do! Vicious, terrifying design. But at the same time oddly elegant and hypnotic. I like it quite a bit more than I thought I would, for a weapon."

"I had no ide'r they made stuff like this." Applejack tossed her new flat-grey and wood-textured Bowie knife in the air and caught it by the handle.

Fluttershy gave a snort, like a laugh cut short, when she peeled back her own paper. She turned red when they all looked over toward her, and she held up a short-bladed dummy knife made of camouflage patterned rubber. A fuzzy rabbit toy dangled off of the hilt by a piece of cord. Sunset laughed.

"I needed a way to customize yours, since I got the same kind." She explained, holding up her own identical model by the blade before tucking it back into her belt under her jacket. "Anyway, thought it was something to address, not like we ever get into that kind of range unless we're screwing around. Anything I can help with for the barbecue?"

"Umm... nope!" Pinkie Pie bobbed her head. "I've taken care of everything but the grilling! Big Mac wanted to do that himself!"

Applejack nodded slowly. "It's gonna be a while, he was barely lightin' up the coals last I saw him. Won't be hot for a while. Anything y'all want to do in the meantime?"

"Pinthetailonthepony!" Pinkie Pie blurted. Sunset brightened.

"Oh! I love that game! Wait..." Sunset paused, then shut her eys and shook her head, trying to clear out the quantum conundrum.

Rainbow Dash dropped her new knife after trying to get it to dance across her fingers. "Whoops! We could always play a-"

"Really?" Rarity interrupted, rolling her eyes.

"What!? You don't even know what I was going to say!" Rainbow Dash complained.

"'Airsoft battle' is not the answer for everything that happens, ever. Besides, we don't have our guns, we left them-"

*CRASH!*

"CUTIE CRUSADERS AIR-GUN WARRIORS YAAAAY!!!"

Sunset ducked instinctively as Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo came charging around the barn, each laden with Airsoft equipment. Their equipment.

"Sweetie Bell! Put that down!" Rarity gasped, flinching away as the tiny girl turned around, swinging the barrel of AJ's massive M60 toward all of them.

"Apple Bloom! Where in tarnation did you get that!" Applejack marched straight up to them and grabbed the barrel of her little sister's borrowed M16, trying to lift it out of her grasp.

Sunset groaned. "Probably out of the back of my car, I left the bag open in there."

Apple Bloom dangled, toes brushing the ground as she clung to the weapon. "Aww, come on, sis! Y'all don't get to have all the fun!"

"Yeah!" Scootaloo cried defiantly, backpedaling and holding the Mosin Nagant out of reach as Sunset came forward to intervene. "Hey, hey Rainbow Dash! Which one is yours? Hup!" She spun on her scooter, making Sunset miss her lunge. A pair of gunbelts, each with a Sigma in their holsters, crossed her shoulders like bandoliers.

"Oh, please girls!" Fluttershy flitted around the ensuing chaos. "Those can be dangerous! You could hurt somebody! Umm... If you give them back, we'll teach you how to use them properly!"

They all fell silent, and Applejack facepalmed with her free hand, finally shaking a swinging Apple Bloom off of Rarity's M16 with the other. "Now y'all done it."

"Really!?" Sweetie Bell squeaked, nearly smashing her foot as she dropped the machine gun.

Sunset held her hands up in defeat. "You said it, you're teaching them."

"But I'd rather have Rainbow Dash teach me. How do I know you're any good?" Scootaloo asked belligerently. Pinkie gave an insulted "Hey!" and Rarity scoffed. They both reached down and pulled the handguns out of the young tomboy's holsters and racked the slides back. With a nod to each other, they turned in sync and opened fire on a bunch of balloons Pinkie had tied to a nearby plow handle for the party. The balloons made quite the cacophony as they were systematically torn to shreds.

*popopopopopopop pop! Pop!*

Rarity turned back, locking the slide back for effect and blowing across the barrel to clear away some condensation from the gas. "As you can see, we are quite competent ourselves."

"Oh my bejesus my sister is a badass." Sweetie Bell whispered.

"Nah just hold on a minute!"

Applejack stomped forward, snatching Fluttershy's rifle back from Scootaloo. "What if I don't want mah kid sister to have a gun, even if it only shoots plastic B-Bs?"

"Oh, come now, Applejack!" Rarity soothed. "We can be responsible and let them have fun as well. Sunset, darling, do you still have that spring-powered pistol?"

"The Makarov? No." Sunset pointed to the youngest Apple sibling. "Apple Bloom has it in the back of her belt."

Pinkie cackled. "Wahoooo, how many of them did you get?"

"All of them." Chorused the Crusaders. Sunset buried her face in her palm and led them all back around to where she had parked her car. Fluttershy did her best to outline a plan as they walked, gathering the rest of the gear back from the three.

"Now, girls, I'm going to let you borrow Pinkie's springer pistol, and we're counting on you to be safe. Always wear safety glasses, and for now, just learn how it works by shooting at paper targets. Don't take it off of Sweet Apple Acres. I'm trusting you, girls." Fluttershy put on the firmest face she could, which was a little underwhelming. "If you can be responsible, I'll teach you everything I know. But if I find out you are shooting each other or at some poor little critter in the orchard, you'll have a lot more to worry about than earning a Crusader badge in marksmanship!"

Sunset winced at the amount of fire Fluttershy put into her words, but saw they had the desired effect on the Crusaders. Apple Bloom nodded solemnly, taking the springer pistol and a bag of pellets before darting off.

"Come on, y'all! I bet we have some per'tective glasses in the tool shed!"

"Are y'sure this is a good idea?" Applejack muttered, watching them leave.

"Not really." Rarity admitted. "But if I just said 'no' Sweetie Belle would have found a way to do something even more dangerous. It's in her nature."

"They'll be fine." Sunset said.

Applejack snorted. "Yeah, because keepin' them safe is yer number-one priority, obviously."

Sunset whirled with a growl at her tone, only to find Pinkie Pie's hand on her chest. She stood in between the two as they glared at each other. Slowly, Pinkie lowered her arms.

"I'm sure it was just a slip of the tongue, let it go, come on now." She laughed falsely, and Sunset turned away before history repeated itself.

Rainbow Dash jumped in, eager to diffuse the tension. "Hey! I thought of a new game type to play!"

Rarity and Fluttershy turned back around, oblivious to the confrontation.

"So we're doing an Airsoft battle anyways. Of course." Rarity flipped her hair. "I'm 'in'."

"Kay." Dash clapped her hands enthusiastically. "So, this mode is called 'Trouble in Terrorist Town.' All of us are 'terrorists'-"

"Oh my..."

"Relax, Fluttershy. We're all 'terrorists,' but one of us, at random, is a 'traitor.' We don't know who, but the traitor's job is to kill all of us, while the rest of us try to figure out who it is and take them out." Rainbow Dash finished. "To keep it even we'll stick with pistols. Also, instead of yelling 'hit' normally, if you're an innocent you fall down and play dead. Only the traitor yells 'hit'."

Rarity smiled thinly. "I like it. Just as much of a mental game as a physical one. Well done, Rainbow Dash. Did you come up with that on your own?"

Rainbow Dash squirmed. "Aah, not really. I... I play a lot of computer games, ok?!"

"Don't be embarrassed, Dashie!" Pinkie Pie hugged her roughly. "I mean, I still play with my stuffed animals, and Rarity likes to watch kid's cartoons with her sister, and Sunset turns into a psychopathic bat-monster! We all have our little weird things."

"Thanks, Pinkie, really needed that." Sunset said dryly, sorting her gunbelt out of the pile and clipping it around her waist.

Rainbow Dash wriggled free and caught her shoulder-holster as it was tossed to her. "That's not really fair! It's not like it's a hobby for her or something."

"Seriously?" Sunset sighed.

"Well, maybe at one point taking over the world was a hobby..." Rarity mused.

"Oh, come on! I'm standing right here!" Sunset slapped a magazine into her pistol grumpily and holstered it.

Rarity giggled. "Only teasing, darling! We know you've turned a new leaf."

Sunset felt her cheek twitch, and wasn't sure if it was a smile or a grimace. "I'm shooting you first. Let's get started."

"Is... is everybody ready?" Fluttershy stood out in front of the barn, a yellow safety vest draped over her summer dress. "Ok... Round one, Trouble in Terrorist Town. Umm... Oh! Go!"

Sunset stayed where she was, partially concealed behind a stack of hay bales. Everyone had gone off in different directions and hidden, except Fluttershy, who had volunteered to be referee.

Spying a fugitive movement off to her right, closer to the barn, Sunset glimpsed Pinkie Pie's back moving around to the back door, gun held close to her body. She drew her own pistol and set off at a low crouch to follow.

Sunset's mouth went dry and her heart started racing as she moved, sweeping her her aim in a full three-sixty around herself to keep up a semblance of security. This is so different... I don't know who to trust! She unconsciously patted the playing card in her pocket, a seven of spades. Whoever had the Joker was the traitor. I know I'm innocent, but how do I prove it?

Slipping around the barn on the same course Pinkie Pie took, she came up to the broad back door and peeked up over the closed gate section.

"Easy, Pinkie." Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie stood facing each other between the end of the stalls and the back gate, pistols trained on each other. Rainbow Dash took the initiative and pointed the barrel of her gun up, showing her palms as the pistol dangled from her trigger finger. "See, I'm not gonna shoot."

Pinkie took a very slight sidestep, just enough to put one of the stall posts in between herself and Sunset. Sunset tightened her grip and swung up over the gate as she realized Pinkie had already seen her. Ok... if Pinkie was the traitor, she would have wanted the two of us lined up like that. She's clear for now. Sunset centered her aim on Rainbow Dash and announced herself.

"Hey. Gave up pretty quick there Dashie." Sunset said, watching Rainbow jump and turn to look. "Almost like you really want us to trust you."

"Oh, heh, hey Sunset." Rainbow Dash slid her gun into its armpit holster. She started to back out toward the main entrance of the barn, and deliberately skirted around the edge where both of them would have spotty lines-of-sight. "I'm just gonna... go my own way, see?"

Sunset vaulted the back gate and stepped to follow.

"Pinkie, I trust you for now, are you ok with that?" Sunset asked, keeping her pistol pointed toward Rainbow Dash.

Pinkie Pie gave her a suspicious look but lowered her gun. "Suuuuurre. I'll 'trust' you. For now."

Sunset hesitated. "That was ominous."

"Thank you!"

Pinkie Pie hung back, and Sunset pushed forward to the door that Rainbow Dash had left the barn from, exposing her back with a tinge of paranoia. She poked her head around the corner and yanked it back as a burst of pellets splattered against it.

"Rainbow Dash!" Sunset fell on her backside and made a mad sprint for one of the stalls. "It's definitely Rainbow Daaaaaaash!"

Rainbow Dash herself came around the corner at a full sprint, shooting as she went. Pinkie Pie braced her Mk.24 on a post and opened fire.

*Pop! Pop!*

"Ow! Hit, you got me." Dash skidded to a stop, rubbing the side of her neck.

Sunset poked her head around the corner of the stall, a piece of hay falling out of her hair. "Really? That was quick."

"I'll say!" Pinkie Pie stepped outside. "Game over, it was Dashie!"

They reconvened in front of Applejack's truck. Rarity looked slightly disappointed. "Well, round two, anyone? I didn't even see anyone up close."

Sunset nodded, gathering the playing cards and shuffling the tiny stack before handing them over to Fluttershy. She doled them out, and Sunset looked at her card, careful to conceal it. The Jack of Hearts. Innocent again.

"A-alright, girls, scatter. We'll start in thirty seconds, if that's all right." Fluttershy directed.

Rainbow Dash waved her hands above her head as she went. "It's not me this time!"

"It's definitely Rainbow Dash!" Rarity countered with a laugh.

Sunset took a knee beside a rusty old plow, closer to the barn this time. Fluttershy shouted go, and once again Sunset held her position, watching to see how events would unfold. She spun and slid down into a sitting position in the dirt as rapid footsteps approached her from behind.

Rainbow Dash slid into cover with her, and Sunset aimed her pistol away so she wouldn't shoot Rainbow point-blank.

"That's a little bit to close, don't you think?" Sunset asked rhetorically. Rainbow Dash gave a nervous smile.

"Yeah, maybe. I'm totally innocent this time." Rainbow helped up her hands, glancing away to make sure nobody was watching them. Sunset made a big show of taking her new knife away from the top of Rainbow's leg where she had been pressing it, stowing it back in an empty magazine pouch.

"Sooo..." Rainbow said, a bit more cautiously, eyeing where the rubber blade had gone to. "What do you think?"

Sunset snorted, shifting back onto her kneepads and swatting dirt off of her skirt. "I think you are way too trusting. Come on, the more people we get gathered, the higher the stress will be, and the easer it will be to fight off the traitor when it happens. Come on."

"What, we just wait around until someone gets shot? That's a great idea."

"You got a better one?"

The two rose and made their way back up to the barn, on the lookout for any of the others. Sunset took the lead as they rounded the back of the building, again. Sunset stopped short when she saw Applejack, and Rainbow Dash gently bumped into her from behind. Applejack quickly leveled her revolver.

"Hey, AJ." Sunset greeted conversationally, outwardly calm as she walked forward. She held up her hands, letting her own pistol dangle around her finger by the trigger guard like Rainbow Dash had done. "I'm innocent, so is Dashie."

"Sure y'all are." Applejack sneered. Sunset was taken aback by the overt hostility, expectantly opened her mouth to quip angrily.

She did not expect a pellet to clip the bottom edge of her glasses and draw a burning line of pain across her cheek.

"What the FUCK!?"

Sunset staggered back, throwing down her Sigma to get the weapon out of her hands as the corners of her vision pulsed with red, only a little bit from pain. She stomped toward Applejack, barely noticing the flicker of fear across her face.

"What was that for? Huh!?" Sunset seethed.

Applejack stood her ground, slamming her Peacemaker back into its holster. "Ah don't trust you!"

"You don't trust me." Sunset hissed, spare inches from Applejack now. She was several inches shorter than the cowgirl, but with the rage burning behind her right now it was hard to notice. "Oh, I can tell. But that had nothing to do with trust, did it?"

Applejack narrowed her eyes. "You're out of the game."

Sunset exploded.

"Do you think I'm playing around right now!?" She whipped off her glasses and threw them aside. Almost of its own accord, her hand came up and slapped Applejack across the face, knocking off her hat.

The glare Applejack gave her next nearly froze her blood. Distantly, she heard someone shout something off to her left, but whoever was trying to intervene was far too slow.

Sunset doubled over as Applejack punched her in the gut, propelling her a good few meters backwards to crash into the dirt. She tried to gasp for breath, but could barely manage a pained hiccup as her chest and back spasmed. Panicked, Sunset clutched her ribs, fighting to get a full inhale and exhale.

As far as life choices go, Sunset, not one of your best, Sunset's internal commentary informed her as she started breathing again. She noticed her ears ringing, and people moving and clamoring around her. She groaned and coughed agonizingly.

"-unset! Sunset!" Rarity shook her shoulder, prompting another fit of coughing. "Oh my goodness, are you all right?"

"Peachy." Sunset choked out, still managing sarcasm. She rolled onto her back, blinking away the sparks dancing in her vision. "That was... ow..."

She lifted her head to see a small scuffle as Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie both pinned a growling Applejack to the ground. Sunset forced herself into a sitting position. "Let her up. I don't want to fight anymore."

"Are you sure?" Pinkie asked, bobbing up and down as Applejack struggled to push her off of her face. Sunset nodded, and the two girls stepped free. Rainbow Dash ran over to Sunset, kneeling down to check on her. Sunset took it as an opportunity to help herself stand up.

Applejack stood opposite them, shoulders heaving and braid coming undone. The entire group stayed silent for a long minute as everyone got their breath back. Pinkie Pie was the first to talk.

"What. The. Hell."

Applejack twitched, and Sunset hung her head, ashamed at her loss of control.

"What the hell has gotten into you? Both of you!" Pinkie sounded furious, but then Sunset heard her choke back tears. "Why? Why can't my friends be friends?"

"I'm sorry, Pinkie..." Sunset muttered. She raised her head, looking Applejack squarely in the eye. "We need to talk. What is your problem with me?"

"I don't have no problem with you!" Applejack declared, tone indicating she had many problems with Sunset. Sunset called her on it as brutally as she could.

"Liar."

There was a blur of motion as Applejack dove for her, and Rarity stepped forward to intercept her. Sunset wasn't sure what happened; Rarity caught Applejack's wrist, pulling her expertly into a sudden and violent flip that landed her on her back, with Rarity twisting one arm to roll her facedown into the mud.

"STOP IT!!!" Fluttershy's scream brought them all to a halt. She looked around at all of them, tears welling in her eyes.

"Stop hurting each other..."

Sunset nodded, already defeated, and Rarity let Applejack up with a quiet apology. Applejack stayed sitting on the ground, head hung, not looking at anyone. Sunset gently pushed Rainbow Dash away to support her own weight and walked over, picking up Applejack's hat and sitting down across from her.

"Hey. Here."

"Thanks."

"I'm sorry." Sunset added. "I'm trying to be nice, I really want to be... I guess it's just not in me."

"Naw." Applejack pushed her cowgirl's hat down on her head. "I ain't exactly been fair t' ya. I keep... I keep wantin' to believe y'all's self-centered 'n bad."

Sunset chuckled, finding some dim humor. "Probably because I am. I'm mostly sorry because you hit a lot harder than I thought you would."

Sunset was conscious of the other girls hovering over them, and slowly stood up, holding out a hand to Applejack. "Come on. We really do need to talk."

"It's... aw, gosh darn it." Applejack kicked at the sand, frustrated. They had walked around to the far side of Sweet Apple Acres pond, leaving the rest of the girls behind. "I never had such a hard time wit' the truth in ma life!"

"Take your time." Sunset encouraged, feeling drained and exhausted. Applejack nodded slowly.

"Y'all remember the Fall Formal, right?"

Sunset blinked. "You mean that little incident a few months ago where I turned into a raging she-demon, took over the school, and tried to kill you? No, doesn't ring a bell." She hesitated. "Sorry. Sarcasm is my default setting. Can't help it."

"Naw, stupid question. Y'all left out the important part, though." Applejack looked out over the pond, and Pinkie, on the far side, waved. Both of them lifted a hand and waved back to assure them.

"I did? What part?"

Applejack swallowed hard, hands balling into fists as she looked out over the pond. "T'part where you brainwashed my brother and baby sister."

Sunset winced. "Oh..."

"I couldn't forgive myself if sumthin' happened to them. They're all me and old Granny Smith have left. The farm ain't nothin' without the family."

Sunset stayed silent, taking deep breaths.

"Y'all see why it's so hard for me t' trust you, now? You could kill me dead, but give me a handshake and a solid apology and y'all'd be fine. But that was my only family. I don't know if I can forgive you." Applejack finished, finally looking straight at Sunset.

Sunset just stood there, next to the cowgirl. The air was still, but the pond had ripples gliding their way across from an unseen source. Slowly, she spoke.

"I don't expect you to." Sunset closed her eyes, vivid memories flashing through her mind. The burning, acidic feeling of her own greed-corrupted magic coursing through her veins. The feeling of sinking arcane puppet strings into hundreds of minds. "I can't imagine the pain I've caused. The pain I tried to cause."

She crouched down and fished a pebble out of the sand, flicking it into the water. "Thank you."

Applejack grunted, kneeling next to her. "'Da hay for?"

"For not being so perfect." Sunset threw another pebble, sending a handful of sand after it and dusting off her hands. "The rest of the girls are so... so genuinely nice. So trusting, so willing to believe in me... it's... it's not right."

"Y'all don't deserve it."

"No, I don't." Sunset threw the largest rock she could find into the pond, tipping over backwards and sitting down. "I deserved to be left in that crater, but Sparkle had to reach down and help me up. It's been healthy for me, I want to be good, but I sure as hell don't deserve to be around people like you and your friends. So thank you. Thank you for reminding that there is always someone watching I need to prove myself to." Sunset laughed to herself. "Thanks for being the bigger fish I'm afraid of."

"Yer... afraid of me?" Applejack asked.

Sunset nodded. "I'm afraid of all of you. You can't even begin to comprehend the power you wield. Both in magic, and how you see me."

"Shucks, girl, you make it really hard to hate you." Applejack growled, standing up and holding out her hand Sunset took it and let herself be pulled to her feet. "My ma had a sayin'... naw, maybe later. Come on, the girls are 'prolly gettin' worried." They started back around the pond. "I still like ya about as much as gophers like flying, but... I'm willing t' give ya the benefit of the doubt, now. Truce?"

"Truce." Sunset agreed.

"Hey... I got an idea." Applejack looked at her sidelong under the brim of her hat. "Let's start another round of Airsoft, an team up. Play it 'scorched earth,' shoot'n everything that's not us. We'll get the traitor eventually."

Sunset chuckled. "Are you sure I was supposed to be the villain, because that is evil and brilliant. Let's do it."

"No!"

"What?" Sunset stepped back, shocked. "Come on, Rarity, we made up! Kinda. Just one last round?"

Rarity looked like she was wavering, but shook her head. "Not if you two are going to be angry at each other. This sport is dangerous enough as it is! Look, you even have a cut on your face!"

Sunset quickly brought her hand up to her cheek, investigating the hairline slice break in her skin the BB left. "That's why that still hurts... I mean, uh... It's only a little one!"

"Look, y'all..." Applejack stepped forward, sweeping off her hat solemnly. "I'm not angry with Sunset. I was angry, 'cause, well... it's complicated. But I can't hate her anymore."

"Aww, that's so sw-" Pinkie started, only to have Applejack's hat shoved in her face.

"I still don't have no reason t' like yeh, so don't push your luck."

Sunset smiled winningly. "See, Rarity, it's cool. Problem solved, we even have something to write to Principal Celestia about!"

Rarity pursed her lips, tapping one foot rapidly. "Fine. Same cards?"

"New ones, we already gave too many people away." Pinkie said reasonably. "Hopefully I'll get the traitor again! I didn't even get to shoot and it was exciting!"

"'Exciting' is an understatement..." Rarity said darkly, fishing out her card.

"Ok, umm... give them here, please." Fluttershy gathered and dealt the cards again, and Sunset stealthily glanced at hers. The Ace of Spades. She pocketed it carefully.

"Take your positions, if you would! We can start in thirty seconds!"

Sunset made sure to walk in a similar direction to Applejack, who glanced back, miming lighting a match and throwing it away. Scorched earth. Hoo boy. They are gonna be mad at us for this.

"Go!"

Sunset jogged over to where Applejack had knelt by her parked truck and found a spot next to her. "Hey. Game on, which way."

The cowgirl nodded her head uphill. "The barn seems plenty popular. Give them a visit?"

"You're in front."

They took off in a crouching run, checking around both sides of the stack of hay bales on the way. Applejack led them around the front, holstering her revolver and cupping her hands in front of her.

"Here. I'll give ya a boost."

Sunset looked up over the barn door to see the second-story loading door above. "AJ, that's four meters, we're not that tall."

Applejack snorted. "Aw, c'mon. Y'all was on the cheerleadin' team, wasn't ya? Less of a boost, more of a toss."

"That was freshman year."

"So? C'mon, hurry. Me and Big Macintosh used to do this all the time."

Sunset holstered her pistol and took a few paces back, bouncing nervously. Three quick steps and a hop, she planted her boot squarely in Applejack's cupped hands and leapt. Applejack heaved upward at the same time.

She expected to go high enough to catch onto the edge and pull herself up. Instead, she flew cleanly up and through the opening, thudding down in a hard three-point-landing. She took a steadying breath and snapped her head up to see Rarity clambering up the ladder on the right. Sunset waited a moment to let her get safely onto solid ground, then drew her pistol and dropped onto her belly, firing a pair of accurate shots at the fashionista.

"Yipe! Really?!" Rarity looked around to confirm where the shots had come from, then flopped down grumpily and made herself comfortable. Sunset rolled to her feet and carefully began to maneuver around the top of the barn. Applejack slipped inside on the main door and leaned against the wall, peering through a crack in the wooden slats.

Moments later, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash peeked over the back gate. Pinkie poked her head up further. "Psst! Applejack! Are you the traitor?"

Applejack blinked and turned to face them. "Uh... nope! Totally... totally innocent. Sorry!"

Rainbow Dash cocked her head. "Sorry for what? Ohsh-!"

Pinkie Pie tackled her as Sunset popped off a quick few of shots from her elevated position. Growling obscenities at the manic party planner's superhuman reactions, Sunset made a stealthy dash to the closed back window of the barn, pushing herself up against it to look down through the crack. She was just in time to see Pinkie Pie slip away to the left, circling the barn. Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen.

Sunset sprinted back to the loading door, signaling Applejack to stay low. Switching her pistol to her left hand, she firmly hooked her right around the frame of the door, leaning out and aiming down. Pinkie rounded the corner without clearing it and directly into Sunset's sights. Another two shots and Pinkie fell to the ground, dramatically clutching at her chest, looking around to see who hit her as Sunset disappeared back inside.

"Two down, AJ! Rainbow Dash is probably the traitor!" Sunset shouted down.

"Am not!" Rainbow's objection echoed inside the barn. "You're the one shooting everyone!"

Sunset caught sight of a sneaker edging its way around one of the stalls, and waved for Applejack's attention before firing at Rainbow's cover. Applejack ran the length of the barn as Sunset dropped down to follow her, hitting the ground hard and rolling to soften the impact.

Applejack reached the end of her sprint and dropped down into a baseball slide, drawing her knife as she slid into the same cover as Rainbow Dash. A fast swipe later and Rainbow Dash gave an enthusiastic gurgle, flopping over out of the stall. Applejack stood up, back facing Sunset as she tucked her Bowie knife into the back of her belt and fishing out a few pellets to reload. Sunset let her shoulders slump and smiled tiredly, realizing what this signified.

"So... none of them were the traitor."

"Nnope." Applejack turned to face her.

"Aaand I'm not the traitor." Sunset stayed on one knee and took the opportunity to reload.

"Nnope." Applejack raised her revolver with a twirling flourish, cocking the hammer and beginning to aim.

"Well played!" Sunset dove sideways, rolling across her shoulders before throwing her legs out behind her and tucking her elbows to her body, log-rolling behind a wall set up to store various farm implements. Dust and straw kicked up next to her from two very near misses.

Scrambling to her feet, closed her eyes and built a mental picture of the scenario. The barn was thirty meters long between the main doors. Applejack was closer to the far entrance than she was to Sunset, with three-meter wide livestock stalls evenly spaced between them along both sides of the barn. The higher velocity of the Peacemaker revolver gave it superior range and accuracy over her Sigma, but the manual action and limited cylinders meant it was at a huge disadvantage compared to Sunset's magazine-fed, blowback-operated weapon. The best chance of success would come if she forced the fight into close range, where she could overwhelm Applejack with sheer rate-of-fire and magazine capacity.

First was the trick of closing the distance. Sunset bolted forward, crossing the barn to a slightly closer stall at a full sprint. She heard two shots, but didn't feel any sting as she thudded into the shoulder-high divider, immediately popping back around the corner and firing a long flurry of pellets. Applejack turned and scrambled for cover of her own, and Sunset took the opportunity to move up another stall. She took a quick peek to see Applejack fire an inaccurate shot that bounced off the wall behind Sunset and saw a chance. Got her! Rush her now!

She dug her boots in, blasting out of her cover with her Sigma raised and already firing, sprinting at an angle that would take her past her target for a lethal strafing run.

Applejack, apparently, had the same idea, swinging herself around her wall as she fired her single-action revolver from the hip, running the opposite direction.

*Poppoppoppoppoppopclickclick!*

*PowPowPowPowPowclick!*

Sunset skidded to a stop, pistol still raised and aimed at Applejack, who held a similar stance. They had pretty much swapped places from where their duel had begun.

"Did I get'cha? Y'all didn't get me."

Sunset glanced down at herself. "No. That was some 'Pulp Fiction' right there. You lose, by the way."

Applejack slowly inched her hand toward the pouch where she kept spare pellets. "How so?"

With a smug grin, Sunset pressed her Sigma's magazine release, her left hand already tearing a fresh one from her belt. "Reloading."

Applejack turned and made a mad dash for the entrance. She reached it just as Sunset finished thumbing the slide lock and sent a single pellet zipping over her shoulder.

Shoot! Sunset sprinted after her. Can't. Let. Her. Load! She dove through the giant doorway, twisting mid-air to land on her back and skid across the hard ground, gripping her pistol firmly in both hands and taking aim at where her target was going to end up.

Applejack's thrown knife went high, a last-ditch ambush aimed at someone running, not falling. Sunset's attack did not miss.

"Gyah! Hit! I'm hit, that's game!" Applejack pulled off her hat, fanning herself.

Sunset rolled onto her back, spread-eagled in the dirt and threw her arms in the air. "YEAH! WHOO! I WIN! INNOCENTS WIN!"

"Dear Miss Celestia.

"Every action has reactions. However, the extent that they might reach and how deeply they might affect people may be impossible to know for sure. But everybody does things for a reason, and having all the sides of the story is an important step in resolving the repercussions of bad decisions." Sunset typed out loud. She looked up, hoping someone else would continue.

Pinkie Pie took the initiative. "Just as important is to give them the benefit of the doubt. People don't usually want trouble, sometimes it just seems that way. You can also give them cake, which is just as good as a benefit of the doubt!"

"I'm fairly certain cake is not mandatory." Rarity pointed out. Sunset tapped the backspace key, wondering why she had even bothered to type that out verbatim.

Applejack ignored them, speaking to empty air. "My Ma had a sayin'; just cause the apple is green don't mean it's sour. Sometime you need to have a little trust, even if ya don't like green apples." Sunset made sure to type that, fitting it nicely into the last paragraph.

"I think that's wonderful that you two aren't at odds anymore." Fluttershy pointed out as Sunset signed and sent the email, finding a place to set her laptop amongst the remains of the barbecue. "I can already tell you're both less stressed."

"Meh." Sunset lazily glanced over at Applejack, who looked away pointedly. "We'll still butt heads, I think. But we're over being at each other's throats."

"Humph."

"So tell me, Applejack," Sunset needled, "does every saying in your family have to do with apples?"

"Look here, you-!"

"CUTIE CRUSADER SNIPERS YAAAAAY~!"

The three enthusiastic pre-teens interrupted by charging onto the porch, trailing sheets of paper with dozens of holes poked in them. Most where scattered, but a few were starting to form tighter groupings. Rainbow Dash was quick with encouragement when Scootaloo held hers up.

"Hey! Pretty sick shooting, huh? Can we get more bullets?"

"Ha! Sure thing, squirt! That's almost as good as my first try!"

"Sweetie Bell!" Rarity gasped, shocked. Sunset caught sight of the back side of a surprisingly tight pattern through one of the Crusader's targets. She wondered what the problem was until she turned the paper around to reveal a crudely drawn picture of the fashionista with the majority of her chest missing due to pellet-holes.

The rest of the girls cracked up as Rarity stuttered, trying to strike a balance between praise and horror.

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.

Wow. A little darker and more... violent than I expected to write. This little arc took on a life of its own.

Applejack's issues mirror my own when my loved ones are threatened, so it may have come through a bit thick. Sunset, and really all of the Equestria Girls, seem to be evolving slowly but surely away from canon. Even I'm interested to see how things go from here on out!

I'd also like to announce plans for some special little extras; Sunset Side Stories, spotlighting her experiences with the girls away from the games. You can feel free to skip them, nothing plot-important will happen but I hope you'll like them nonetheless. Canceled. Might do more after the "official" story is over.

As always, thanks to my editor! Bruh!