Applejack stood over the barely moving but still conscious bodies of the pony and her demon companion that Applejack had just been fighting, that she had been winning against, and watched as her victory was snatched away from her by the woman at the top of the stone steps to the gates of Paradise, the salamander doing a little dance and rocking her hips side to side.

Applejack glared at Autumn Blaze, and at Coloratura who exited the gates right behind her, and she grit her teeth. She was so close to acquiring the pony soul for herself, and now it looked like she was going to have to fight Autumn for it.

“What’s the matter, Applejack?” Autumn said with that trademark ‘innocent’ smile of hers, but everyone knew it was anything but innocent. “Why you look so glum after you just won?”

“Cut the crap, Autumn,” Applejack snarled and bared her claws and fangs. “If you wanna fight me, let’s just do it.”

“Well, Applejack,” Autumn cricked her neck and stretched her hands over her head, and Applejack chose to ignore the way it made her taut muscles look against the thin fabric of her shirt, “if that’s how you want it to be—”

“It ain’t about ‘want’,” Applejack shrugged. “We both want the soul, we can’t afford to let the other have it. Ain’t that right?”

“Yeah,” Autumn sighed, “guess it is.”

“Wait, are you two serious?” Coloratura fretted. “You don’t have to—”

“Shut up, Rara,” Applejack and Autumn said nearly in synch, both looking at the siren with disdain. To her credit, she clammed up immediately. “Rara,” Applejack said, “why don’t you make yourself useful and restrain the prisoners while Autumn and I sort things out?”

“Okay, Applejack,” Coloratura nodded and retrieved some rope from subspace.

Autumn and Applejack met at the foot of the steps; neither one wanted the elevation to be a factor in their fight. Applejack looked around and sighed. It never got less depressing, looking around and seeing nothing but dirt and brown grass as far as her eyes could muster.

Though admittedly, the sight of the two prisoner gals trussed up and gagged, the purple one bemusedly accepting her fate and the redhead one still defiantly but helplessly struggling, was a nice addition. Coloratura may have been soft, but Applejack trusted her to watch the prisoners and make sure they didn’t escape.

“Eyes on me, baby,” Autumn snapped her fingers, and Applejack lazily turned her attention toward her. Applejack didn’t appreciate being ordered around, least of all by her.

Applejack wasn’t feeling terribly threatened by Autumn; she was confident in her own strength and was certain she wouldn’t need any kind of dirty tricks to win, but she sure wasn’t gonna hold back either. She needed that soul first and foremost.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a proper sparring match, huh?” Autumn Blaze giggled. “We used to do it all the time.”

“Yeah,” Applejack said sadly. Back when they first met, when the fires of passion and newly found friendship burned in Applejack’s blood, she could barely stand to keep her hands off of Autumn, and the only way she knew how to express that was through fighting. It wasn’t that long ago, yet it felt like an entirely different Applejack.

“I’ve missed it,” Autumn said. “This’ll be fun.”

“Y’know what?” Applejack let out a single chuckle. “Yer right. It may be our last match together. Let’s enjoy ourselves.”

“How ya feelin’ after the match you just had, AJ?” Autumn bounced excitedly. “You need a handicap?”

“You kiddin’?” Applejack pounded her palm with her fist and scraped her claws against the dirt. “I’m rarin’ to go! Don’t start tryin’ to buy time just cuz yer scared!”

“If you’re so confident,” Autumn said, and the seductive tone in her voice sent Applejack right back to first meeting her again and how infatuated she was, “then come at me already.”

Thing about Autumn Blaze, most of her fighting style was real defense hours, which suited Applejack just fine. She had no problem being the aggressor in this battle, especially since her natural born resistance to magic made a lot of Autumn’s Astromancy ineffective against her. She wouldn’t go down as easily as those other two gals, that was for sure.

Applejack charged and threw a fist at Autumn, but she just blocked it with her hand.

“You’re banking on that magic resistance of yours, right?” Autumn chuckled, and Applejack grit her teeth. “I’m not a one trick pony, Applejack.”

Autumn punched Applejack right in the head but it was barely enough to make the werewolf flinch; it was enough to distract her from Autumn’s hoof until it rammed into Applejack’s stomach and knocked the wind outta her, and then Autumn went to grab Applejack’s arms.

Applejack turned the tables though, grabbing Autumn’s arms before she could get a hold, and then spinning Autumn around and pinning her arms against her back, which was pressed right up against Applejack’s chest, the wolf having one hand around Autumn’s arms and the other around her stomach to keep her pinned.

“Oooh,” Autumn cooed and bit her lip, “this is almost better than winning.”

Applejack blushed and felt her body reacting to that sentence in ways she hadn't quite anticipated, and that moment of distraction gave Autumn all the leeway she needed to slip loose from Applejack’s grasp, the salamander breathing an explosive fireball that didn’t do much to scorch the magic resistant Applejack, but it deterred her vision enough for Autumn to prepare her next move.

That said, Applejack didn’t notice until the smoke cleared that she was struggling to lift one of her arms; Autumn had already went through with her next move, using the fire as a cover to distract Applejack from the smoke that disabled Applejack’s arm.

Autumn was panting from the exertion though; Applejack may not have been immune to magic, but getting past her resistance would take a lot outta anyone.

“You think this’ll be enough?” Applejack scoffed and patted her disabled arm. “I still got one left.” Applejack flexed her arm and she could see Autumn trying not to make it too obvious that she was thirsty. If Autumn thought she was the only one who could weaponize lesbianism, she had another thing coming.

Autumn started dancing to hype herself up as she always did, her hips swaying side to side hypnotically. God her hips were amazing… what Applejack wouldn’t do to get her hands on them and just—

Oh. Oh that’s what she was up to now. Fine then; just like before, two could play that game.

Applejack lifted her bum arm up with the other, stretching them both over her head, her abs glistening in the light as they dripped with the sweat that came from a tough battle, uncovered by the loosely knotted plaid shirt that barely covered Applejack’s chest and not much else.

“Oof,” Autumn bit into her fingers and groaned, “you’re killing me, Applejack.”

“Like whatcha see, hon?” Applejack teased, but then she let her arm fall limply to her side and cricked her neck. Time to get serious and earn that soul.

Applejack charged in and Autumn released a billow of smoke, but that didn’t even slow Applejack down. She knew Autumn was just going to block her attack again so she considered changing tactics, but nah. Applejack would simply bank on being much tougher than Autumn Blaze.

Autumn caught Applejack’s fist in her hand, but Applejack just kept pushing, and she was slowly overpowering Autumn’s grip. Before Autumn could start kicking Applejack, the wolf unclenched her fist and grabbed Autumn’s hand in hers, dragging the salamander close to her, close enough that their noses bumped into each other.

“Wow, that was kinda gay,” Autumn laughed, and Applejack followed suit.

“You never take anything seriously,” Applejack teased, putting Autumn in a headlock and getting feeling back in her other arm, so she used it to ruffle Autumn’s fluffy mane.

“I take everything seriously, I just have fun while I do it!” Autumn laughed and pushed herself away from Applejack. “You need to lighten up some.”

“Oh, you like how serious I am, don’t pretend,” Applejack scoffed and she picked Autumn Blaze up off the ground, putting the woman over her shoulders like Applejack was trying to bench press her. “You like it when I’m stubborn.”

“I do,” Autumn whispered, and then sighed coldly. “I just wish you could be happy too.”

“So do I,” Applejack muttered, putting Autumn down onto the ground on her hooves. “That’s why I need that soul.”

Applejack socked Autumn in the head, the woman nearly spinning around before collapsing to the ground in a heap, Applejack stepping her clawed foot onto the back of Autumn Blaze’s neck.

“I don’t want to lose you,” Autumn said suddenly, steam rising from her eyes.

“Wh-what?” Applejack asked confusedly.

“I don’t want to lose you,” Autumn dug her hands into her head and put it against the ground. “I love you, you stubborn ass! After we all lost so many of our friends and family, I hate it so much that you’re asking me to stand by and lose one more!”

Applejack felt her claws relax on Autumn’s neck. She looked over to Coloratura, who was visibly weeping but trying to keep herself composed. She looked at the purple pony whose soul Applejack so desperately needed, and the pony had her eyes closed like she was meditating.

The demon was still thrashing about. Nothing had changed there, and honestly Applejack was kinda awed by her energy. She always had a fondness for spirited prisoners.

Anyway, Applejack let her foot off Autumn’s neck and sighed.

“Let’s take the prisoners to their cells,” she muttered, and then she called Rara’s name to get her attention. “Rara, you tell Rarity that we got what she wanted.”

“Wh-what?” Autumn squeaked, sitting up and looking up at Applejack.

“I’m not givin’ up on my revenge, I can’t,” Applejack shook her head and grit her teeth, but then released those bad vibes with a sigh. “But if it means that much to you, I’ll do it yer way. We’ll let Rarity in on this.”

lesbeams

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