... -Applebits

My eyes shot open as I flew threw the air, the detonations below me singing my already battered form. Slamming against the ground I screamed out in agony, as I skidded against the broken stone road. My new companions were to preoccupied with the small army that was responsible for tossing me through the air.

"Die you..." Skull started to say before a wicked crack filled the air and her body dropped to the ground.

"Sis!" Razor shouted, charging out from his cover and coming to his sisters aid.

The hostiles edged forward as Razor dragged his wounded sister into better cover. Once our attackers had their backs to me I slid forward and used my magic to pick up a semiautomatic rifle. Aiming in at who I assumed was their leader I pulled the trigger three times and nailed him in the back of his head with all three shots. The other three that were before me turned and began shooting me with small arms fire, lucky for me their accuracy was poor and most of the bullets missed my vitals. I attempted to pull myself up with my forehooves only to receive a buck to my face.

"Wench." a mare growled from above me as I grimaced in pain.

"Well then, wasn't expecting that... take the others, the boss wants em alive." a stallion shouted before I felt myself getting picked up by an armored hoof.

"Yes sir!" multiple new voices spout off ans I heard more ponies approach.

Opening my eyes I caught sight of my captures, their armor looked like trimmed down ranger gear and their heads were uncovered. One noticed me looking her up and down and decided to drop me.

"What are you looking at bitch?" she asked as she put her pistol to my head.

I tried to speak but found that my voice was gone, stroking my hoof across my neck I felt a hole that seemed to go clean through it.

"Hellhound got your tongue?" she screamed.

I tried to speak again but no sound came forth, I soon found myself crying silently though my movements would suggest that I was wailing.

"Hmph, worthless to us." she put more pressure to to my head with her weapon.

"Deadbolt!" the stallion from before shouted.

"What?" she replied.

"Don't shoot her, she may be useful later." he laughed as he placed a hoof on what was left of my flank.

I stopped sobbing and glanced back at him with a frown.

"What, you don't like that?" he asked.

I huffed before I saw him smile, I turned my head just in time to get bludgeoned in the face by Deadbolt's hoof.

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I slowly opened my eyes as I let out a breath, looking around I found that I was in a prison cell and that I was tied to a bar attached to the floor. The chain was rather rusty and the collar they had on me was choking me badly, but alas I could no longer speak so I could not complain. Their was a grimy mirror in the corner of my cell sitting next to a rather nasty pile of straw that looked as if somepony had been gutted on it. Looking into the mirror I noticed a small metal ring on my horn, I attempted to levitate it off but nothing happened.

"No use trying your magic, that ring stops it completely." Razor said from the cell next to mine.

I looked at him and tilted my head, then silently gasped when I remembered that Skull had been shot. Looking around I saw her in my cell, she too was chained to the wall.

"They didn't even patch her up, nor you for that matter Applebits." Razor said as he looked towards a door that burst open, his right eye grayed out with a bullet hole in it.

"Look who's up, and here I was worried I wouldn't have a mare to play with!" the stallion from earlier chuckled.

I just glared at him and crawled over to Skull to inspect her wound. The bullet had gone clean through her chest and out her flank on her left side.

"Aw, are you worried about..." he began to say before I heard a clean slashing sound and two thuds echoed through the halls.

"Applebits, aren't you a sight for sore eyes!" Lightnings voice said coolly.

I pulled myself over towards Skull and looked painfully at Lightning who cut the bars with ease.

"Whats wrong Applebits?" he asked, his visor splitting apart and sliding up his head to show his worried eyes.

I mouthed the words 'get this ring off my horn' but he didn't understand that I was unable to speak. I then smacked my horn and pointed a hoof to Skull as my eyes pleaded with his.

"I'll get it off ya, but you are going to need to explain what the buck is going on Bits!" he said as he rushed over and carefully took the ring off.

I gave him a smile before performing a healing spell on her to stop the bleeding and repair her organs within my abilities. I then scratched at my collar, it didn't take him long to get the hint and he cut it off before widening his eyes at my wound.

"Holy shit, can you heal yourself?" he asked.

"Whats wrong with her?" Razor asked, coming into the conversation.

"She has a hole in her neck." Lightning said as he regained his bearing.

I merely chuckled hard, though I made no sound, before shaking my head.

"Oh, before I forget, brought something for ya!" Lightning said as he dashed over to the door he came in.

I tilted my head a grinned as I saw my armor with my legs getting hoisted by a rope under him as he flew back inside. He set them down next to me before I pointed at Razor who was still locked up.

"This guy with you?" Lightning inquired.

I gave a nod and Lightning quickly freed him of his bonds, allowing him to rush to his little sisters side. Then Lightning got to work reconnecting my legs and helping me put my armor back on. I gave him a nod before he held up a hoof and began to tinker with my helmet.

"Okay that should do it, talk." he commanded.

"But I can't, wait what?" I asked in a fuzzy version of my own voice, as if I was speaking through a radio.

"Buck yeah, it works!" he grinned.

I turned around to see Skull stand up slowly, evidently still in pain, though with a look of surprise to see two armored ponies standing in front of her.

"Who are you!" she asked with fear in her voice.

"Don't worry, my friend Lightning is here to help us out Skull." I answered her in my crappy radio voice.

"Applebits, what happened to your voice?" she asked.

Before I could answer Lightning was impaled by a wicked looking sword and Razor stepped towards us.

"Now!"he yelled, and more of the ponies from before rushed into the room.

"What is this big brother?" Skull asked as she wobbled to my side.

"Heh, don't tell me you didn't see this coming sis, ever wonder what really happened to mom and dad?" he asked as the armored ponies surrounded us.

"You told me that a Manticore killed them." she shouted in response with tears in her eyes.

"Ha, that was what I said, what I didn't mention was that there was no Manicore involved, just me and my knives." he shot back with a wicked grin.

"But, mamma... papa..." she broke down next to me in tears.

"You're a monster." I said, my substitute voice cackling as my mini-guns spun up.

"Why, because I wanted to be successful in this Celestia damned wasteland?" he asked me, his mercs aiming a me with a favorable assortment of firearms.

I chose to reply in a fashion rather unlike me, and if this had happened a few month ago would have never happened, I lit his ass up. Streams of fire shot forth from my mini-guns as his mercs dove for cover fro my missiles.

"Eat shit and die bastards!" I yelled as I reared up, my battle saddle tracking my targets as I did so.

"Holy shit she's got firepower!" Razor yelled he dove away from the hail of bullets.

Lightning chose that moment to stand up and enter the fray. He removed the blade from his side and cut two of the twenty or so mercs that hadn't been eradicated by my weapons down with his wings before glancing towards our only exit, which was flooding with more mercs.

"Steelcrusher, the door!" Lightning yelled, using my code name for the first time in ages.

"On it!" I replied as I slammed my hooves down and began charging the door.

I plowed through the ponies, I crushed them with my hooves, I reveled in their pain as their guts decorated my armor, I even laughed as the lone survivor of her squad tried to crawl away. I wrapped her in my magic and stripped her armor off, then I levitated out a nice sized sword from one of her buddies and slowly rammed it up her unmentionable area. I listened to her scream in antagonizing pain before Lightning smacked me across the head.

"Luna's sweet ass, Bits what do you think you are doing?" he yelled at me.

"I... I don't know..." I looked down at her mutilated form before pulling the blade out of her, she wasn't any older than sixteen and I put her through that.

She looked at me with fear in her eyes as my horn began to glow. I put my horn between her legs it her wound glowed with it, soon enough it sealed up and she lost consciousness.

"I'm sorry kid, I lost control." I said as I broke down, Lightning checked our surroundings before putting a hoof around me.

"You killed them, my first marefriend too, all over what, caps?" Skull yelled as she stood up and backed her brother into a wall.

"Do I look like I care Skull?" Razor replied.

"You should." she replied as she slammed her hoof into his face and broke his jaw, "I will tear you apart!"

"Skull!" I screamed, though I went unheard as she drove her hoof down on his crotch and smashed it inwards.

"You will never hurt me again Razor, never again." she whispered, though we could all clearly hear her.

Author's Notes:

And thus Applebits is no longer useless, the fic is once more being updated, and the plot has been twisted again. Sorry if this is a tad more gory than usual on my part, hope you liked it.

Stay Brony Everypony!