A month had passed since Shinobu came to Ponyville, and things had been going well. Pinkie joined the combat lessons with Dash and Spike, who all became powerful combatants under Travis's tutelage. Even though the lessons were often interrupted by Pinkie's lustful antics, they all ended up becoming strong enough to graduate to the next level.

Shinobu had made several friends beyond Twilight and her friends, and soon became accepted as one of the ponies who walked the streets. She even helped Rarity overcome her weakness for casual wear, and the two decided to start a line of clothing together. It was by far the best time of her life, and maybe even the place she'd stay forever.

Twilight made her way through the streets to Sugarcube Corner for her morning cupcake, with Spike on her back along for the ride. He tried to decide between getting a gemified donut, or a gemified...what were those flakey things that Shinobu made? Oh yeah, 'baklava.' That was a strange name for them, since they didn't buck, and they didn't have any lava. Maybe it meant something in a different language? His mind then wandered to the gemified versions of all the new pastries they were selling.

As she trotted down the road, Twilight began to hum a little tune to herself. Her song had no words, but each note and pitch was inspired by the sights around her, of the birds in the sky, the ponies doing their daily routines, the new patches of grass where there was none before, and the flowers that had bloomed from their buds.

It seemed that the happy mood from her humming was catching on, as she felt Spike begin to bob his head to the rhythm of the music. The only way this morning could get better was if Twilight won the lottery, but given the odds on that, she had to be happy with what she had already. But she was fine with that. All the bits in the world would have meant nothing compared to how she felt now. Things truly were going well, and they were sure to keep up like this.

But you know how these stories work. Peaceful life, happy days, good friends. The town always has to be attacked by GIANT RED LETTERS FALLING OUT OF THE SKY

THE LETTERS SMASHED ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING IN THEIR WAY AS THEY DROPPED FROM NOTHINGNESS

"What the hay is happening," Rainbow Dash yelled as she was woken up hours early by the unnatural disaster. Her concern for the civilians and her friends flung her into action and she grabbed her beam katana before she rocketed from her bedroom into Ponyville down below.

As soon as she landed, A WALL OF LETTERS CAME AT HER FROM ABOVE TO SQUASH HER

"Oh, horse apples in a hat," she shouted as she flew through the center of a letter 'O.'

All around her, she could see the letters SQUASHING THE ENTIRE TOWN.

Worry clutched her mind, as the thoughts of her friends caught in this chaos fueled her drive to save them.

Dash flew through the streets, pulling anypony she could out of HARM'S WAY to somewhere safer. She grew more desperate in her search when she found no sign of her friends anywhere.

"Rainbow Dash!! Down here!!"

Dash looked to see Twilight and Spike holding off the attack of FLYING WORDS.

Twilight was bursting them apart with blasts of her magic when Dash arrived. She landed next to her friend and tried to get a bearing on what was happening.

"Where did this all come from!?!?" Twilight shouted.

"I don't know, but it seriously has to stop!" Dash said as she and Twilight destroyed MORE LETTERS.

THE ASSAULT OF WORDS GREW MORE AND MORE INTENSE, AND SOON THERE WERE TOO MANY COMING AT ONCE FOR THEM TO DEFEND AGAINST. IT LOOKED LIKE IT WAS THE END FOR THE THREE THERE.

"Gentoken!!!"

A volley of familiar energy blades cut through the dangerous words as Shinobu arrived with Rarity, who was relieved to see her friends unharmed and embraced them tightly.

"Where are the others," Twilight asked.

"Pinkie's with Travis! I don't know about the others," Rarity answered before she ducked in cover at a tremendously loud noise that happened very close by.

Dash flew high and out of sight from the group.

"No! Rainbow Dash, we need to stay together," Rarity pleaded, worried that her friend's reckless nature may finally be the end of her. Her fear was unfounded, as Dash came back after only a few seconds.

"Follow me!" Was all Dash said as she led the others away.

Though anarchy raged around them, none of them were injured as what came next dropped next to them BARELY MISSING ANY OF THEM.

Dash led them to their destination: the remainder of their friends.

Applejack, Pinkie and Travis all stood protectively around Fluttershy who cowered low to the ground, wishing this to just be some terrible nightmare.

At the sight of their friends, Twilight's group rushed over to Travis's, each one asking what was happening.

Nopony had a clue to what was happening, and panicked about what to do next.

Twilight tried to formulate an evacuation plan, but was interrupted by Travis.

"Jeanne!!" He yelled and would have ran off if Twilight didn't stop him.

"We need to stay together!" She tried to reason, but to no avail.

"Fuck that! My cat's over there!" He said angrily, desperately wanting to protect his pet.

Twilight saw that sure enough, Jeanne was amid the chaos around them, but as soon as Travis got close to her, she ran off with Travis following after her.

Twilight groaned as she realized they would have to put off their evacuation to keep Travis safe.

They all ran after him to find both him and Jeanne stopped in an alleyway.

"What're ya thinkin' runnin' off like that?" Applejack admonished. She would have gone on if she hadn't noticed what Travis and Jeanne were looking at.

It was a distorted piece of space, like the one that Travis came through when he first arrived in Equestria.

"What is that?" Pinkie asked wonderingly.

"That's our ticket to safety," Travis answered. "All of you: in!"

His friends all hesitated to do so. Twilight still needed to help evacuate the town.

"We need to help--" Twilight was cut off when more falling letters SMASHED BEHIND THEM ALL

"Get in there!" Travis yelled as he hustled them in.

One by one, his friends disappeared through the portal until it was down to him, Jeanne and Pinkie.

Pinkie stopped before she went in to kiss Travis, hoping that it wouldn't be their last. She went in, and after her, Travis picked up Jeanne and charged gung-ho.

"MOEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!"

A small mewling noise, accompanied by something soft and velvety rubbing against his face awoke Travis from unconsciousness. He opened his eyes and found himself lying on the ground in the sand with Jeanne pawing at his face to wake him up.

"Hey there, kitty girl," he groaned as he extended a hand to scratch her ears.

Wait a second: a hand!?

Travis got up from the dirt to find himself standing on two legs.

He felt his face, to find that it was no longer a pony's muzzle.

A feel of his head, and there was no trace of his unicorn horn.

A car then zoomed past him and Jeanne, making Travis take a startled step backwards.

He viewed his surroundings to find that he was on a long stretch of highway that seemed to go on forever in both direction. More distressing was that his friends were nowhere in sight.

"Jeanne, I've a feeling we're not in Equestria anymore," Travis said to his pet.

He turned around to see if there were any familiar landmarks, and boy did he find one.

On the side of the road, he saw a green road sign that indicated his hometown, Santa Destroy to be fifty-one miles down the road from where he was now. Below that was a second sign that someone must have nailed there that said, 'If you're going away from it, you're going the right way.'

Travis kicked a little dust, knowing that he had a very long walk ahead of him. He picked Jeanne up and put her on his shoulder to ride up there, just like when she was a tiny little kitten.

"This just keeps getting better and better, Jeanne. I wonder how the others are doing."

"What the buck is this!"

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both awoke to find themselves in a back alley somewhere, and totally didn't recognize each other when they did. Instead of their familiar pegasus forms, they both looked like some kind of giant monkey.

Worse than that, where the hay were their wings!?

"I can't live without my wings! That's my identity! It's who I am! Now what do I have!? These dragon claw things!? These things on my chest!? I'm a freak! A sideshow! A mutation," Rainbow Dash panicked.

As Dash flustered about, Fluttershy took the time to more closely examine her new form.

To Fluttershy, it wasn't all that bad. She often wondered what it was like to be a different species, and now she was living that fantasy. She then took notice of the fact that she and Dash were both fully clothed like how Travis always was.

"At least we look nice in these clothes," Fluttershy offered, trying to console Dash.

It seemed to work, when Dash stopped panicking to look herself over.

Dash's upper body was clad in a sky blue bikini top and a pair of black, fingerless gloves, and nothing else, which revealed a long scar that went up her side. Her legs were covered by a pair of tight-fitting jeans, which were held on by a belt that had her beam katana fastened to it, and a pair of blue sneakers on her feet.

Fluttershy was dressed simply, in only a solid yellow sundress, a pair of pink flip flops and a floral hairpin that held her bangs. Dash had to admit: she looked adorable in those clothes, even if she was a monkey.

"I guess there's that. So what do we do now?"

"I think we should try to find out where we are."

Dash agreed wholeheartedly, and tried to take to the sky out of habit.

"Rainbow Dash: we're monkeys now," Fluttershy gently reminded her friend.

Dash flushed red in frustration. This was going to take some getting used to.

Instead, she decided to take advantage of her simian body, and climbed a nearby drainpipe with some difficulty.

Fluttershy watched nervously, afraid that Dash may fall.

"Can you tell where we are?"

Dash reached the top and scanned the area. A short distance away, she saw a path through the alleyways to a street. But she couldn't recognize any landmarks that she saw up there. The entire surrounding area was completely foreign to her.

"Negative, Flutters!" Dash called from her high perch. "But I found a way out of this alley. It's just over that waaaay--!"

Dash yelled as the drainpipe she was on came loose under her weight. She fell over backwards off the pipe, and plummeted to the ground.

"Oh no! Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy yelled when she saw her friend falling, knowing that she had no wings to save herself.

Dash realized the same thing when her flight reflex failed to activate. The only option she had left was to right herself to her hooves. Or whatever it was she had now.

She only barely managed to twist mid-air to land safely before she hit the ground.

"Are you alright," Fluttershy asked, wide eyed.

Dash stood up from her crouching position and tried to hide her shakiness.

"Let's just get out of this alley," she said, as she clearly struggled to keep her voice steady after the harrowing experience.

The two made their way through the winding alleyways until they found themselves on a city street with other monkeys using the sidewalk.

"What do we do now," Fluttershy nervously asked.

"We try to blend in, I guess," was all Dash said as she tried to emulate the way they were all walking down the sidewalk.

Fluttershy grew more and more nervous by the second, and took Dash's hand to comfort herself. She didn't know why she felt so anxious there. None of the other monkeys seemed to acknowledge her and Dash, but she couldn't help but feel like they might be hostile. Maybe it was the way they had such harsh faces, and wore dark clothes.

"I want to go home, Rainbow," she said quietly in Dash's ear. She felt her worry leave her when Dash held her hand just a little tighter and her other hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry so much, Flutters. I bet these guys are nicer than they look," Dash assured.

"Excuse me, but it looks like you ladies are lost," said a monkey as he walked up to them.

"See what I mean," Dash said as she got a better look at the Samaritan who approached them.

He was a tall monkey, with jet black hair and was wearing a dark suit. On his face, he wore a pair of thick glasses. But the features that stood out the most were the sword on his belt, and left arm appeared bulky and mechanical.

"If you'd like, I could take one of you on a walk across the dark side of the moon. And then we could make our dreams come true," he said as he presented a single rose to Fluttershy, who immediately hid behind Dash.

Dash rolled her eyes when she realized why this guy was talking to them. Sure, he seemed nice, but this wasn't the right time for a date.

"Sorry, but she's not into men," Dash informed the lothario, remembering what Travis called the males of his species.

The stranger looked down and saw the way Dash and Fluttershy were holding hands.

"Clearly," he said with a smirk, "Sorry to have bothered you."

Dash realized what he was insinuating and jerked her hand away from Fluttershy.

"What!? No, it's just her! She's the one who's not into men. I am."

Dash then realized that she had left herself open to more flirting from the bespectacled stranger.

"Aw, horse apples," she thought to herself as she tried to walk away with Fluttershy.

But their admirer turned out to be more persistent than she liked.

"You're strangers here, aren't you," he asked as he stepped in front of them once more, "I can tell by the bewildered way your friend's looking around and how you're trying too hard to act like you belong here."

Dash's ire rose as he hit the nail right on the head.

"Why don't you stick with me? I can keep you safe while you get your bearings in this dangerous place."

Fluttershy squeaked nervously when she heard the word 'dangerous,' and she became more nervous when she saw Dash draw her sword.

"Don't worry, we can look after ourselves. We've got all the protection we need right here," Dash said as she twirled the sword in one hand.

"Sure, you have a beam katana, but do you know how to use it."

Their admirer then drew his own sword, which made both of the human turned ponies flinch.

"Let's make a deal: the two of us can duel, and if you win, I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day. But if I win, I get to take you on a grand tour of the city."

Dash could never say no to a challenge. She readied her stance as Fluttershy backed off.

"I hope you're a righty, because you're going to be lonely tonight, pal," Dash quipped.

Fluttershy turned beet red at the vulgar comment. Travis had clearly been a bad influence on Dash.

"Only the morning after you and I experience paradise," their admirer said as he pocketed his glasses and unbuttoned his jacket.

The two duelists took their stances, and raised their swords to swing.

Dash was suddenly stopped when she felt a hand around her waist.

"There ya are, darlin'," the newcomer said to her in an accent she'd never heard before, "I been lookin' all over for ya."

He then turned his attention to Dash's opponent.

"Yer lucky I got here just now. She'd o' taken ya apart and put ya back together."

Dash didn't like that the guy was touching her like he was doing, but she appreciated him vouching for her skill.

It seemed he had diffused the situation, as her opponent put his weapon away.

"You could've said you had a boyfriend," the admirer said as he buttoned up his jacket and put his glasses back on.

"Yeah, but I wanted to fight a tough opponent. Scrapping with regular drips get boring after a while," Dash said, playing off the situation at hoof.

Her admirer's voice remained steady and calm as it had before, but it carried a heavy undertone that let anypony listening know how serious he was.

"One of the worst offenses a man can commit is stealing another man's woman. I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline any future advances you make. And that includes private duels."

"I made advances," Dash thought incredulously, "Now I'm even more glad I won't see him anymore. What kind of guy can't own up to his actions?"

She then noticed the other man's arm wrap around her more tightly.

"Ya best be headin' on yer way then," he said to the man with the glasses, "I'd hate ta think what horrors are workin' their way in from the dark side while yer chasin' tail."

Without another word, the man with the glasses walked away down the road.

Dash took the other man's hand off her waist and stood in front of him to thank him.

She took a brief second to get a look at him, and saw that he was taller than she was, and had brown hair, pale skin, and was wearing a dress shirt under a vest and a pair of pinstriped pants with black shoes.

"Hey, thanks for what you did, but we have to go now. Come on, Flutters."

Before they could even move, the well-dressed man motioned for both of them to follow him.

"Keep walkin' with me," he said simply.

"What they hay for," Dash said, objecting to being ordered around.

"Because if we don't: we'll all end up dead,"

"Are you threatening us!?"

"He said we'd all be dead," Fluttershy said timidly as she went with the well-dressed man, frightened of the aspect of death. Her words let Rainbow Dash know that his own life was at stake as well, prompting her to trust him and do as he requested.

"Why should we follow you," Dash demanded to know.

Did this happen to everypony in this city? Was it a part of their daily lives to be approached by others and lead them to some unknown destination?

"I don't wanna alarm ya, but I'm bein' followed," the man answered.

Dash and Fluttershy both tried to look over their shoulders, but were stopped by their escort.

"Don't look back. He thinks he can ambush us, but it's us who'll have a surprise for him."

This was insane! They hadn't been in that strange place an hour, and already their lives were in danger! What the hay was this place?

"Why are we the ones in danger!? Why'd you drag us into this," Dash asked quietly, though anger was clearly evident in her tone.

"I didn't mean ta do this, but if I didn't ya'd be dead as soon as he passed ya," their escort explained perfectly calm, as if there was nothing to worry about. He seemed to be in complete control of the situation.

It irritated Dash to no end, but at the same time, something about it made her feel slightly at ease. It was the same trait that Travis had: no matter how terrible a situation got, he never lost his cool and maintained a grip on the matter. Maybe it was this similarity to her friend that made her trust him enough to follow him.

Fluttershy's anxiety grew the more she heard spoken. There were many things that frightened her, but nothing so much as the unknown. If their escort was to be believed, they were all in terrible danger, but from what, she couldn't say. Knowing what it was wouldn't make her any safer, but it would ease her mind to at least attach an identity to the threat.

Slowly, she peered over her shoulder, trying to see who or what was following them. She turned her head, and into her periphery came a shadowy figure, dressed in a black shirt with some kind of graphic on it and trousers that were mottled with many colors of green and brown.

He came after them with a rapid pace, anticipating the kill to be made. He was going to get them. It was only a matter of time.

Seeing the figure, if only just barely made Fluttershy shudder and snap her gaze forward again. She wanted to shriek when she saw their pursuer, but fear paralyzed her throat. She jumped when she felt something touch her arm, and found it to be her escort's hand.

"Don't be afraid, Miss," he said reassuringly, "Whatever happens, I'll make sure that no harm will come to either of ya. That's a promise."

Fluttershy was still uneasy for her safety, but this man's words were so genuine that she felt she could trust his resolve to protect her. She nodded and stepped slightly closer to him to remain in his safe proximity.

Dash was impressed. Even she had trouble bringing Fluttershy down from her anxiety attacks when she was that scared. She also appreciated that he was going to take responsibility for involving them by protecting them both. So far, it seemed that he could be trusted to take care of them. Not that Dash needed it. She could probably take on whoever was tailing them with ease, if she could get that chance.

"We're almost in position," their escort said as they approached an underpass, "Do exactly as I say, and we'll make it through this alive."

The three of them went into the gaping maw of the underpass and disappeared from the world of light, temporarily eluding their pursuer.

The man who had been shadowing them stepped into the dimly lit underpass after them, expecting an easy kill. Instead, what he found was that the three of them had disappeared from view entirely.

He stepped further in, cautiously scanning his surroundings.

There wasn't much to see in the dim light, and the roar of passing cars kept him from hearing anything.

But there was still one logical place for his quarry to have disappeared so quickly.

The center of the underpass was supported by a line of concrete pillars, spread out every thirty feet or so. Each supported area held two pillars that were placed about six feet apart from one another.

If they wanted to hide from him, that was where they'd be.

He drew two large knives from his belt, and with the swiftness and silence of a phantom, weaved through what traffic was present in the underpass.

He made it to the center and quickly approached the double pillars.

He stopped suddenly, savoring the kill for a second, and then sprang around the corner stabbing against both pillars.

With a sudden shock of surprise, he found that he had only drove both of his knives deep into the concrete structures.

He tried to pull his weapons out, but before he could dislodge them, his quarry came dropping from above, swinging his weapon down the middle of his target.

The target should have been split in two, but suddenly disappeared from sight to evade the attack.

The escort looked around, expecting an attack from a different angle, like all of elusive speedsters did. Instead, he felt his entire front assaulted by a volley of blows, though the target couldn't be seen.

He was then pushed into the street, where he narrowly avoided being hit by a passing car.

As soon as he stepped back into the safety of the concrete center, he saw the two knives shake loose of the pillars without being touched, then float stationary in the air.

The phenomenon was explained when the target appeared from nothingness, holding his two knives.

So, he could turn invisible, which was probably more annoying than a speedster.

But the escort didn't seemed to be bothered by that just yet, as this fight had only begun.

He surrounded himself with an array of orbs that he produced from the beam katana in his hand.

As he swung his weapon, the energy orbs trailed after it like a wake of water, striking at the opponent in succession.

Each attack from the sword and the orbs were blocked easily, as if he anticipated every direction they would come from.

The two then took their battle to the street, and parted from each other as a car came between them.

They charged again, but as soon as they met, the opponent disappeared.

The escort swung in all directions, while dodging the oncoming traffic as necessary, but no results came from his wild swinging.

He saw his opponent reappear in front of him and stabbed hard.

His opponent disappeared again to reveal an oncoming car that was only a couple feet from hitting the escort.

He dove to the center, between the pillars, and then felt himself kicked by an invisible foot.

It was enough to send him into the other side of the underpass, and push him into more traffic.

He was soon followed by his invisible attacker, who stayed hidden by his cheap tactic.

As the attacks came from unseen directions, the escort began trying to use the oncoming traffic as a shield against the phantom blows.

He started running against the flow of traffic, weaving in and out of the oncoming cars, blocking when an attack was sensed coming.

He became distracted from a knife that materialized out of the air and flew towards him.

That distraction was all that was needed to make the escort barely notice the approaching car.

It was nearly too late for him to move.

The vehicle only grazed his side, but it was still enough to send him sprawling against the wall of the far side.

He held his aching side, for though it was only barely hit, it hurt enough to make him dread imagining getting hit by the whole thing.

His opponent reappeared in front of him, and quickly crossed the blades of his knives at his target's neck.

He smiled sickly, loving the anticipation of the kill, and desperately wanting the thrill of committing the deed. He froze there, boring his insane delight into his target's mind.

But, he should not have drawn out his pleasure.

If the assassin had killed his target as he was supposed to do, he would not have allowed his target to place his foot on his stomach and launch him into traffic, into the front of a passing SUV, which carried him away and out of sight down the road.

The escort sheathed his weapon and walked along the sidewalk to an easily missed alcove just at the entrance where his charges were hiding.

"You can come out now. It's safe."

"Who was that," Fluttershy gasped as she and Dash came out of hiding.

"Don't know. All I know is that he was cut from the story. They seem to be comin' after me with increasin' frequency," he answered.

That part about being cut from the story made no sense at all. It was something that was expected to be heard from Pinkie or Travis.

The women's minds then went to their friends, and the fact that they were all separated in this insane asylum of a city.

"I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but we need to go now. Thanks," Dash said as she and Fluttershy started to leave to find their friends. Not only did they want to find their friends, but they wanted to leave their escort in case he was attacked again by some more random psychos.

"Don't mention it. But if ya ever need another favor, just ask. I'm only here to help."

There was another quality he shared with Travis. He only wanted to help a couple of strangers that he'd never met before, and thought nothing of it, like it was just the right thing to do.

Seeing that in him brought a smile to Dash's face, but he couldn't hold a candle to Travis himself. She wasn't too keen to stay with him, but decided to take up that offer to ask a favor as a courtesy.

"Never bump into us again," Dash said, still with a smile.

"Understood."

And the man turned to walk away from the two former mares.

But Dash wasn't quite done with him.

"Wait! What about your name?"

"Henry. Henry Cooldown."

Cooldown? Cooldown. Cool-down. Touch-down.

It was a longshot, but it was all that Dash had to go off of.

"Do you know Travis Touchdown," Fluttershy asked before she could. Apparently, she had arrived at the same conclusion.

"Know him? He's my twin," Henry said.

He was completely unprepared when the two women suddenly looked concerned and jolted forward.

"Have you seen him?"

"Is he alright?"

"What's he look like as a monkey?"

The two bombarded him with an overwhelming amount of questions, making him take a step back under their advancing steps.

"Take it easy. I can take ya to where he lives if ya wanna see him so badly," he said to the women.

Dash and Fluttershy both gladly followed him out of the underpass to where Travis lived, feeling much better about their situation now knowing they'd be in familiar company.

Dash glanced over at Henry.

"Rainbow Dash."

Henry glanced at Dash, not sure of what he heard.

"My name's Rainbow Dash. Fastest flier in Equestria."

"I'm sure that's impressive wherever that is," he said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Dash still hadn't had a chance to get used to her new surroundings and introduced herself in the usual fashion out of habit.

"Uh, yeah," she said as her face tinted red. Henry's reaction made her feel uncomfortable, though not in a way that she hated. "That's Fluttershy next to me," she said as Fluttershy waved at him reservedly.

"Pleasure makin' your acquaintance."

Dash's embarrassed grin became a sly smile as they walked.

"How come Travis never mentioned he had a brother?" She thought to herself.

"I look amazing," Rarity said as she looked at herself in a mirror.

She and Applejack found themselves in the changing room of a clothing store, an area that Rarity was able to identify as soon as they had woken up.

The mirror revealed that both of their forms had changed to grotesque proportions, like a hairless gorilla, giving them both the shock of their lives.

Rarity came down from it though, when she noticed what they were both wearing.

Applejack's entire torso was bare, except for a red, plaid flannel shirt that was tied over her breasts with the sleeves rolled up. Her legs were clad in a pair of boot cut jeans and brown boots. Her hat, thankfully, remained atop her head.

And while Applejack looked like some kind of rural laborer, Rarity looked like some sort of high society noble like she'd always dreamed.

She was wearing an elegant, white dress that bared one of her legs and a small part of her chest. Her arms were covered by purple gloves that went up to her shoulders, and were complimented with matching purple stockings on her legs. Her feet were adorned with silver shoes, which matched perfectly with the silver bracelet around one of her wrists, and her silver earrings with diamonds.

Applejack was on the verge of panicking when she saw their new forms, but managed to keep a cool head, knowing that panic never helped any situation. But seeing Rarity take this sudden development so well helped calm her nerves a little bit.

"I guess it's fine and dandy, but shouldn't we see where we are," she asked, eager to get out of the cramped space.

"I completely agree, darling. For no matter how appalling this form is, the world must bear witness to this bedazzling spectacle," Rarity said, touting her new outfit.

"Right, sure," Applejack said with a smile at her friends' flamboyant nature.

She opened the curtain to let the two of them out, but they saw something that almost made the two of them retreat back into the small room.

Outside, they saw a monkey like them, and from what they could see of him behind his counter, he was dressed in a blue jacket, black hat and a pair of glasses. But that wasn't what frightened them.

His face appeared to have no skin on it, baring a skeletal smile as he faced them. Barely a second's time was needed to realized that this was only a bandana that he wore over his face. They both wondered why he would wear such a bizarre accessory as they stepped out into his store.

"Look who stopped in: a couple of new faces, looking for that new style," he said in a foreign accent. The two women looked at him, taking in his gaudy, outlandish appearance.

"I know what you're thinking," he said, making the two realize that they'd been staring, "But that's okay. As far as I'm concerned, everyone has their own thing. They just have to do it first."

That statement resonated to Rarity.

The cashier's words, along with the contents on the racks sparked a creative fire in her like never before. This would help along the budding success of her casual wear as new ideas for shirts, pants, jackets, hats and anything else.

Rarity was reminded that they were separated from their friends when Applejack motioned her towards the door. She left, regretting that she was not able to take a longer look at the store's merchandise.

"See you in another life, sisters," the cashier said as they left.

Once the two stepped outside, they found themselves in an isolated area, bereft of any sign of life, as if the clothing store was the only outpost for civilization in a vast ghost town.

"Ain't anyone else livin' here," Applejack asked as she looked up and down the road. "I mean really: who opens a store in a dusty gulch like this?"

"Perhaps the cashier can direct us towards a more populous area," Rarity suggested, and turned to reenter the store.

Before she even could try to reach for the handle, loud banging noises sounded around them, and parts of their surroundings became riddled with holes.

They both recognized those sounds. They were the same sounds that came from the weapons that Pinkie's assassin used, but without the whirring to accompany each bang.

Before they could take cover in the store, metal shutters closed over the door and every window, keeping them from getting in.

They both searched desperately for something to hide behind, but all they could find was a public trash can that was only big enough for one of them to get behind.

As they both hid behind the can, trying to fit their bodies behind it as well as possible, the noises stopped, and two unfamiliar voices sounded. One sounded nonchalant and disconnected, while the other sounded brutal and thuggish, with an unfamiliar accent.

"Looks like a couple of bystanders got caught in our duel. I told you we should've done this in the field."

"If they were stupid enough to walk into our crossfire, then it's their own damn fault they're dead."

Rarity and Applejack saw one of the voice's owners in front of them. A monkey with shaggy brown hair, and a blue suit with a pink undershirt. His eyes seemed stuck in a harsh glare, like some kind of fierce monster from Tartarus.

The other one looked much different from his opponent. The other participant in the duel was wearing a white shirt, with black pants and a red overshirt. His hair was black and he had sideburns. He had the face of somepony who loved starting trouble, and didn't care about who got hurt in the process. Both of them held small, silver-colored cannons in their hands.

"They aren't dead, Coyote," the one in the suit said. He then turned to Rarity and Applejack, "You two had better get out of here while you can. I can't guarantee your safety if you stay."

The hellion quickly dashed forward, firing his cannon at the other duelist, continuing the fight they were having.

"Rarity, use yer magic to take their cannons," Applejack said, distressed.

"I can't! I'm trying, but I can't," Rarity said, equally distressed, if not more so at not being able to do what came natural to unicorns.

"Then I guess it's up to me to end this," Applejack said as she cracked her knuckles, ready to knock some sense into both of their heads to end their petty fight. She psyched herself up, and stood up.

As soon as she did, one of their projectiles whizzed right past her face, barely missing her by mere centimeters.

"Celestia!" Applejack shouted as she ducked back to her cover behind the trash can. "Second thought: let's get the buck outta here!"

She and Rarity both ran away from the fight, but it seemed that the fight found them once more.

The two duelists had maneuvered so that they caught the women in their crossfire again.

"Why can't they settle this over tea," Rarity shouted as she and Applejack crouched low beneath the cannon fire.

They tried once more to move to safety, but the fight seemed to follow them no matter where they went.

Things became worse when it turned out that the two duelists could use magic.

The one in the red shirt crouched low, and then jumped high into the sky, landing on a nearby rooftop and using the vents up there as cover.

The one in the suit started to gather a strange light into the barrel of his cannon that illuminated the small area around him.

A breeze whipped up around him, and a wave of force radiated from him when he fired his projectile.

"Collateral Shot," he shouted as a ball of malevolent light shot from his cannon and destroyed the entire rooftop.

The one in the red shirt had already jumped from the rooftop and landed on the ground between Applejack and Rarity.

They knew that he was trouble, but he began to show how terrible he really was when he wrapped his arm around Applejack's neck, and used her as a shield against his opponent.

The opponent seemed to care more about the bystanders, as he stopped firing his weapon and stuck to remaining in cover, likely to formulate a plan.

Applejack struggled against her captor, but he proved to be as strong as she was. Or was it because she was weaker in her new form? She thrust her elbow into his ribs, which loosened his hold on her, but not enough for her to escape.

It was when he suddenly jolted forward and cursed in pain that he let her go.

When he keeled over, Rarity hit him again with a wooden plank she had found.

"Evil! Upstart! Thug!" She yelled as she whaled on him. She was going to protect Applejack, even if it meant had to sacrifice her refined demeanor.

Rarity raised her plank to hit him again, but was stopped by Applejack.

"He's had enough, Rarity! Let's go," she said as she took Rarity's hand to leave.

Rarity realized what she had done, and wanted to leave the scene as fast as possible, hoping she'd be able to forget this incident.

Their escape was cut off when the thug in red jumped in front of them and aimed his cannon at them.

Rage had twisted his face to a monstrous visage, and the women knew there was no escaping his fury.

"You bitches are dead," he said under his breath, but just loud enough for them to hear him, "You're fucking dead!"

His voice told them that he would see them both die, even if it meant the end of himself.

"Hold it," they heard the other opponent's voice and saw his cannon aim directly at his opponent's head, "You're fight's with me. You haven't forgotten why we started this, did you?"

"You're right," said the thug in red, "Bigger fish to fry."

And he aimed his cannon in the other's face as he turned to face him directly.

Even though they weren't being aimed at anymore, Rarity and Applejack felt more tense as they watched the men face off.

"Now hold on a minute," Applejack began, "Can't y'all talk about this?"

"You can't understand how deep this shit between us goes," said the duelist in the suit.

"He's the fucker who killed me," said the thug in red.

His statement made no sense. Did he mean that as some kind of metaphor? Did he very nearly kill him and it was just as bad as being dead? Did he mean it literally, and the two were ghosts? Any number of things could have been interpreted from that statement, and trying to figure it out only added to the women's trouble.

Just when they thought the men were going to kill each other, a third monkey arrived.

He was taller than the two of them, and was wearing a white suit. In one hand, he carried a silver briefcase.

"Dan! Coyote! What are you two doing out here? We have business to take care of in Europe. Now go. The master is expecting us."

Applejack and Rarity didn't know what he was talking about, but he seemed to have ended the fight the way the two duelists lowered their weapons. They shot each other a glare, silently letting each other know that this wasn't over. The left down the road, leaving their accomplice in white behind.

"If the two of you need to get to town, just follow this road that way," he said, motioning in the direction opposite the one he and his friends were heading, much to the relief of the women.

Without another word, Rarity and Applejack hurried in that direction, and never looked back.

Though only a few minutes, the walk seemed very long before they finally saw another face.

Along with the faces came the roars of what looked like metal, pony-less carriages, and the stench of the city.

Rarity also began to wonder why those monkeys could use magic, but she couldn't. They immediately began to long for the familiarity of their home, not wanting to spend another minute in this scary, violent, disgusting place.

But then they saw something familiar down the sidewalk.

Two figures, one with pink hair that frizzed like cotton candy, and the other with white hair and a sword on her belt, were on the sidewalk perpendicular to the one they were on.

They dared get their hopes up, and rushed toward the figures, calling out their names.

Author's Notes:

Henry's fight scene was originally going to be an anticlimactic thing where he just ambushed the guy and split him in half. But then I figured: you know something? People who wanted Henry in the story expect a fight scene from him, so instead of pitting him against some random shmuck, he fought against an assassin who was cut from the original story.

The assassin that Henry fought was supposed to be the Dash's assassin, and his name was Corpse Grinder (due to his violent nature and being named after George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher from Cannibal Corpse. He was also dressed as a stereotypical death metal fan to further drive home the reference).

Other cut assassins have appeared in this story were the unicorn with the glasses and the book, who was originally going to be Fluttershy's assassin, and was to come off as a kindly, welcoming bookish type, but he wasn't weird or cute enough.

Also, the unicorn with the vast array of weapons ended up becoming Cream, and the weapons were changed to a bunch of daggers.

As for the girl's outfits, Dash's was inspired by punk fashion, much like the outfit Rarity made for her. Fluttershy's idea was to look as cute as possible, and what's cuter than a sundress (besides Applebloom in a bunny costume)? Applejack was inspired by ranchers, obviously. And Rarity's clothes were inspired by Bayonetta's 'Sunday Best' in Bayonetta 2.

Cameo appearances were made by Mondo Zappa from Killer is Dead; and Dan, Coyote and Garcian Smith from Killer7.