Path of Kindness and Blood
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Chapter 5
Friend or Foe
Part 2 - Confrontation
Minutes have passed as Applejack was jumping from tree to tree, searching the area for any sort of clues. She took a quick glance at the moon that shone among the stars, barely giving any visibility in darkness. Luckily, she was prepared for this as her goggles let her see in the dark, a fancy device they called ‘night vision’. Ah may know little about fancy magic and inventions, but Ah can tell trash from somethin’ useful, and whoever made those things did a darn good job, Applejack thought with a satisfied smile. Ah may still be at a disadvantage against those blood suckers, fighting against them in their own domain an’ all, but Ah sure ain’t scared.
Several minutes of jumping later, the farm mare frowned. Those ponies in the guild ain’t as smart as they pretend to be. Don’t they understand that spyin’ on vamponies is darn near impossible? It’s like tryin’ to beat Pinkie in a game of tag, she thought while taking a break on a tree branch. Finding a vampony in this forest was proving to be a very time consuming task, and she had to be at full strength to face one. After a few minutes of rest, she heard a noise coming from the main path next to the tree she was perched on. Curious, Applejack peeked from behind the leaves as a figure in a black cloak caught her attention. Well, Ah’ll be a silly pony, Ah found it.
Her heart started to beat faster as she licked her lips. Her eyes focused on the bypassing figure. Shootin’ it from here would be so easy. Stupid orders! There’s no way Ah can bypass them sharp senses, even with the stealth cloak. Feeling somewhat annoyed, Applejack waited patiently until her target passed by, hoping to gain some distance before climbing down the tree as quietly as she could. Once on the ground, she walked on the tips of her hooves from tree to tree, peeking at her target when it was in view. After a minute of following, she tilted her head to the side in confusion. How’s it still unaware of mah presence? Ah thought vamponies were supposed to hear a mouse from a mile away, or feel mah heart’s beatin’. Did they really send me to deal with a rookie? Ah feel offended.
More minutes passed as she was still following unnoticed, which caused the hunter to sweat nervously. Or maybe it’s a trap. Maybe it knows Ah’m following, and it’s trying to get me into a false sense of security, she thought before gritting her teeth in determination. Well, it ain’t gonna work on this huntress.
Suddenly, the target stopped moving and spoke loudly with a feminine voice, “Leave!”
Applejack blinked. While the voice seemed somewhat familiar, the vampony she followed was certainly a female.
“Please leave. I do not wish to hurt you. Leave while you still can!”
The huntress’s pupils shrank. Not hurt me, mah flank! she thought as she took out her crossbow and grabbed a bolt from her back. She peeked from behind the tree and aimed. “Say yer prayers, monster!”
The second she pulled the trigger, a silver bolt flew towards the target, swirling through the air while barely affected by wind as it was on course with vampony’s neck. A weak piercing noise reached the huntress’s exposed ear.
“Got ya!” Applejack said, satisfaction in her voice. What a rookie. It knew Ah was there and didn’t even dodge. Maybe Ah can get some info after a short interrogation. She slowly went from behind the tree and walked towards her target, one step at a time as she waited patiently for it to collapse. When a few seconds passed as it didn't happen, she stopped immediately.
While she never encountered a vampony before, much less fought one, as a huntress, Applejack was equipped with knowledge passed from generations to kill one. She immediately reloaded her crossbow and aimed, but hesitated to shoot. One bolt into target’s heart and next cut the head off, problem solved. Still, it would be a shame to kill it before gettin’ some info from its pierced throat.
Much to the huntress’s surprise, the vampony merely pulled the bolt from her neck and threw it against the ground. All the blood that wasn't covering the silver projectile quickly returned back into the wound as it healed itself. What? But that can’t be. She quickly shot another bolt, no longer bothering with sparing the vampony for interrogation as the sharp and deadly projectile flew towards the chest.
Before the heart could be pierced however, the bolt was swiftly deflected by her foe’s hoof.
Applejack growed and said, “If ya think ya can scare me, yer wrong.” She put the crossbow back into her cloak and looked at titanium bracers that hid two small silver blades. With her melee weapon on standby and ready for close confrontation and some head-cutting, Applejack took a fighting stance.
“Leave now, please!” the vampony responded. “Leave me alone!”
Part of Applejack’s brain kept telling her that she had heard this voice before, but the rest was focusing on silencing the monster once and for all. “Shut yer mouth, coward! If ya think Ah’ll back down just because ya say so, yer dead wrong.” With exposed teeth and an angered glare, Applejack charged the caped figure.
The huntress jumped while activating the blade on her right foreleg and swung against the vampony’s head. Her target didn’t remain motionless however, as it jumped to the side, letting the sharp edge of Applejack’s weapon tear off small part of the black cloak from the torso area.
Applejack’s blade retreated swiftly into the bracer while her right forehoof pressed against the ground, causing dust to spread around it. Now balanced on one foreleg, she tilted her left forehoof slightly as it activated the small switch attached to bracer, and the second blade emerged in all its glory. With a smirk and swift push, Applejack went for the kill, right into her target’s heart from point blank range.
The vampony jumped to the side once again as it tried to keep its distance, barely evading the lethal blow. “Fight me, coward!” Applejack shouted before straightening her hoof as the blade was once again hiding inside the bracer. With the distance from her target increasing, she grabbed her crossbow for long range combat instead.
One after another, the huntress’s shots were deflected with a hoof. “Don't think you can run away. Ah know how to deal with vermin like ya!”
Applejack reloaded another bolt before grabbing a scent bomb from her cloak. She threw it at her target and shot half a second before it exploded. Despite overwhelming scent of garlic, the projectile was once again swiftly deflected, though the strong scent forced the vampony to press a hoof against its muzzle. Just as planned.
Applejack quickly pressed the attack as she reloaded another shot and grabbed the crossbow with her mouth. She charged and jumped towards the target once again while grabbing a crossbow with her left hoof and activating blade on her right bracer.
With the target coughing and somewhat dizzy, Applejack’s next shot quickly pierced Vampony’s right foreleg while the blade hit its left hind leg.
The huntress threw her crossbow to the side, it bounced on the ground with a weak thump. With the blade still impaled in the vampony’s left hind leg, Applejack turned around and delivered a double buck in the belly. Blood streamed from the impaled leg as the vampony crashed onto its belly with a loud scream of pain.
Applejack wiped the blood from her mask and charged, once again going for the kill. I have ya now.
Much to Applejack’s annoyance, her left bracer was struck and shattered to pieces while the blade ended up stuck in the side of vampony’s belly, away from the heart she tried to impale. The follow-up attack didn’t come, much to Applejack’s confusion. The vampony’s blood on her cloth started to hurt her as if it was an acid, leaving a few holes in her cloak and burned marks on her fur. The distraction was all the vampony needed to return the favour and deliver a swift strike against the huntress's belly.
The vampony pulled the blade out of her leg, only for the blood to return into her wound, both from the ground and the huntress's cloak. Her foreleg recovered to its former state as if nothing happened to it.
“You cannot win. Don’t make me hurt you,” the vampony called out again, her voice filled with despair. “I don’t know who you are or why you’re here, but if you won’t leave, you’ll die!”
“Pfff…” Applejack spat onto the ground in disgust as she murmured to herself. “My first vampony to hunt, and it had to be a coward.” Her aggravation grew when she once again looked at the hood covering the vampony’s face. Some sort of spell made it impossible to see whose face hid under it. With the crossbow lying somewhere on the ground and one of her blades broken, she pointed out her bracer on right foreleg and yelled, “Stop stalling and fight already!”
Applejack took out a small bottle from under her hole-filled cloak, this one containing water enhanced with white magic, but before she could throw it, a bolt lanced her foreleg. The bottle fell to the ground and shattered while the liquid sank into the dirt. Applejack screamed in pain before gritting her teeth as she looked to the side. “Who dares?!” she shouted while barely concealing the pain in her voice, quickly noticing two more caped figures, though one of the cloaks was a mix of pink and violet as the owner was holding a crossbow in its midnight blue magical aura.
“Stay back, you ruffian! As much as I abhor violence, I will not hesitate to shoot again if you will not leave my companion alone!”
The other vampony added, “What she said.”
Applejack growled as she yanked the silver bolt from her foreleg with help of her teeth. She let out another loud painful shriek and growled. “Ya gang up and use mah own weapon, ya'll will pay for this!” She charged on her three legs towards the two new adversaries. The one with the crossbow shot another bolt, but Applejack jumped before it could hit her second foreleg. The pink caped foe dropped its weapon and walked backward, but the second one got in the way and levitated two record disks from her cloak.
Before the huntress could understand the weight of the situation, one record disk struck against her belly, leaving a slash mark, while the second one hit against the mask, cutting it in two without damaging her muzzle.
Applejack landed on her four hooves as she forgot about her pierced ankle, and immediately knelt from pain as she accumulated even more wounds. She slowly raised her head and looked at the approaching vampony from behind, who stopped in her tracks.
“A-Applejack!” The vampony said with complete shock as she took a step back, quickly losing balance on her trembling legs. “W-what… it can’t be true… You can’t be a monster hunter! You just can’t!” With forehooves pressed against part of the cloak covering her head, the vampony started shaking it. “This can't be happening, please, let it be just a dream, it has to be!” She laughed with a hint of insanity before it turned into a sobbing. She added in a somber tone, “You can’t be a hunter, Applejack, anypony but you!”
The huntress ignored her bleeding wounds and charged at her target, using its hesitation to her advantage.
“No, don’t do it!” the pink caped vampony shouted. She quickly grabbed the crossbow with her magic as it trembled in midair, but she couldn’t press the trigger.
Applejack swung her right blade towards the foe’s face in an attempt to cut the neck, but left only small slashed mark. With one swift move of her bleeding foreleg, she punched the vampony, forcing her hood back, revealing the face. Applejack’s eyes opened widely, her mouth agape and her heart skipped a bit. She couldn’t believe her eyes. “F-Fluttershy?”
The farm mare shook her head as a tear slide down her cheek, and she could see tears dripping from Fluttershy’s watered eyes. “Yer… yer one of them vamponies?” she said with mix between physical and mental pain. She quickly retreated and next swung her uninjured foreleg and slammed against the ground.
The pony she considered a friend, a weak shy pegasus with a good heart and lots of love for animals turned out to be a blood-sucking monster. How? When? Unable to look into the red pupils of her former friend, she pushed Fluttershy violently away. Feeling her blood start to boil, she yelled, “Who turned mah friend into a monster?!” She looked at other two that stared at her from a distance, crossbow aimed at her, barely able to see them without her goggles.
Now it all makes sense. She didn’t hear me and didn't know how to fight, or maybe was afraid to fight in the first place. She had to have been turned tonight. Dagnabbit. As a professional huntress, she knew that she didn't stand a chance against a pureblood, taking one down would require a good plan, the best equipment and a squad of the most elite hunters working together. How could she, someone who hadn't even fought common vamponies before, stand a chance? She didn’t care though. “Did you two do this to her? Damn you purebloods, ruining innocents lives like that. Ah’ll kill all of ya!”
Applejack’s wounded foreleg bent slightly from sudden pressure of her body, but she straightened it and took a fighting stance. Surely doing this with a large wound on one’s belly was rather unpleasant. Both the huntress and her foe started at each other speechlessly for several seconds. Suddenly, Applejack’s former-friend’s words reached her ears.
“L-leave, fast.”
Applejack turned her head to Fluttershy while pointing at other two. “Who turned ya? Did they do this?”
“Applejack, please…”
“Did they?!”
She shook her head in response.
“Then who? Tell me a name and Ah will take his insides out with mah hoof!”
Fluttershy took a step back and said with hoarse voice, “N-nopony turned me.”
“Stop lyin’!”
“I am telling the truth.”
Applejack’s mind was a mess. She looked into Fluttershy’s red eyes in search for the truth, finding nothing but confidence in her voice. It wasn’t a lie, no matter how much she wished it to be. Applejack stomped her good hoof against the ground with and grit her teeth. If Fluttershy wasn’t turned into vampony, that means...
“Dagnabbit… Ah had a monster under mah very nose and failed to notice.”
The vampony took another step back while tears started to form in her eyes. “B-but… I’m not–”
“We ate and played together, told stories next to the campfire. Ah’m such a fool.” She shot Fluttershy an enraged glare. “Ah trusted ya, and ya turned out to be a snake among the chickens, wolf among the sheep!” The vampony looked to the side and bit her lips as Applejack continued, “Ah’m goin’ ta kill ya, even if that’s the last thing Ah–” a yelp of pain left the huntress's mouth before everything slowly started to fade into darkness. Her legs trembled before giving up to the weight as the huntress slammed against the dirt with a weak thump, her head now lying sideways on the soft grass. A crying noise being the last thing Applejack heard before her mind swirled into the world of dreams.
Fuck this Applejack.
HA! Applejack sure is a jerk in this, good thing she got beat!!! Great chapter!!!
Looks like Applejack's next in line to be turned into a thestral. Not only because Fluttershy will probably have to if she wants to save her life, but also because they'll need to keep her from ratting them out. Would be pretty cool since Applejack could play double agent being both a thestral and a hunter.
Wow this puts feeling Pinkie keen in a whole new light.
Cliffhanger... of course... Waiting for the next chapter
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6729118
Considering that her parrents were killed by a pureblood, she have a legitimate reason to fell hathret towards them. When she discovered that the thestral she fought was Fluttershy, she wanted nothing but to kill the one that turned her, but after finding out that Fluttershy wasn't turned, this is where her anger was redirected.
Sure, she act like a jerk, but this is usually how one act to someone who he/she consider as an enemy.
6729201
The hunters often go through inspection. If AJ would be turned, other hunters would find out about it. I am afraid turning Applejack is a double edged sword.
6729377
What Pinkie's Keen episode have to do with it if I may ask ?
6729449
CHapter 5 isn't done yet, there are still some parts remaining.
6729570 I know. That doesn't mean I can't root for Applejack getting beat up.
6729570 Not if it's someone you know or a friend. How normal people act is disbelieve but they slowly start realizing 'Hey maybe they're still my friend and I can reach out'. If they are? You stop attacking and start conversing about how it happened. They don't, like Applejack showed, go right back to being pissed and still attack them like a dumb ass. So no. I still hate this fucking AJ.
6729570 Pinkie's doozy leads them to Froggy Bottom Bog where Fluttershy was possibly in danger and with the Apple family being monster hunters...
For some reason all the chapters in this history feels lie they re half or even a third of their actual size...which is good since it feels like there s not enough.
I can see AJ going on that route being thick headed like she is and all but darn, lets hope she can be brought to reason lol
Dem cliffhangers thou
6729118
To be fair her lines make it out to make the Apples here being multi-generational hunters. In all canons AJ is extreme with her family roots always pushing it. She was told since infancy that all vamponies are evil, gonna take alot to shake that ingrained belief. Don't honestly blame here too much.
6729201
I wouldn't worry about AJ being turned, I'm sure Fluttershy and her friends would never let it happen. Even with the conflict between her and AJ, Shy would never allow it.
Sad, yet expected, to see AJ behaving like that. To be fair, her mother and father was killed by a pureblood, so it is a understandable reaction. But, I still have faith that she will eventually see reasons. For now, I just have to continue reading to see how it will goes...
Edited: Almost forgot something. Records? Never heard of a weapon with that name...unless they are literally using record discs as weapon. The closest things that come to mind would be the chakrams (and its smaller cousin, the chakri...not sure what its plural form).
C&Cs:
...she titled her left forehoof slightly as it activated the small switch attached to bracer...
> Replace ‘titled’ with ‘tilted’. Be careful with this error.
The one with crossbow shot another bolt...
> Add ‘the' after ‘with’.
...lots of love for animals turned out to be a blood sucking monster.
> Combine ‘blood sucking’.
If Fluttershy wasn’t turned into vampony, that means...”
> Remove the quotation.
6729636 That's true...but I hate Applejack, so its another reason for me to like this story.
6729935
Applejack isn't the best of the Mane 6. She reminds me so much of some of the worst people I know. Family devotion is a good virtue till it goes bad making you staying devoted to family members who are absolutely the worst people in the world no matter how much they purposefully hurt you or try to control your life unreasonably because "they are family". Something similar is gonna go on here. Don't forget the indoctrination too, really hard to shake off.
Just realized how personal that got. Also Rarity is still worst pony regardless.
6729982 Well, its my opinion.
6728895
How hot is dragonfire?
6729570 sorry, I mean "chapter" as the next "part" the next "thing" you publish in the story... If last was chapter 15, I mean, waiting for the 16
6729591 I agree a none jerk would have gone hey wait a minute especially because Applejack and knew there was something off about the fight at first she could pin it on her being a rookie but what she found out she was a pureblood it became very hard to argue that Fluttershy was going easy on her and add it to be someone she knows personally it is quite obvious that Applejack is a horrible horrible pony who is full of herself and self-centered.
Applejackass has never been a favored character, no matter how she's written she's way to shallow. Rainbow isn't much better but everyonce in a while she does stop and look around and see how the world's turning
6729765
Fixed. As for the records, I mean redord disks, sorry.
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6729982
I didn't expect Aj would get so much hate in this chapter. I mean, I assumed it would be a bit, but not that much. Oh well,
6729765
Skill check: Bardic knowledge/Storycrafting.
AJ's parents died in the attack that killed Fluttershy's parents.
However! At least one of AJ's parents were betrayed and murdered by the villian.
6730801 I'm not saying it to be against the story. I love this story! I just hate Applejack in general.
6730851
The problem with this theory is that Applejack mention that her folks was chasing just one particular pureblood.
If they was responsible for the death of Fluttershy's family, she would have noted more than one 'vampony'. While there might a possibility that they belonged in the same clan of hunters, I think they was killed either before the operation dealing with Shy's folks, or somewhere else while the event was going on.
6730801
Gotcha.
6730801
Eh, kinda what happens when you have something like what AJ did and a lot of people are invested in the story. So take it as a compliment.
6730002
You said that like I was disagreeing with you. Was kinda agreeing dude. Only part that might have gone against you is the declaration of Rarity bring far worse than Applejack.
6730851
Not really. Applejack parrents died before Fluttershy lost her parrents.
The reason why price for pureblood's heads went up was because during attack on a powerful pureblood, many skilled hunters lost their lives. Which is why when Shackles and his followers eliminated Fluttershy's parrents, the reward he received was at least tripled.
6730872
I understand your opinion. It is just that I personally don't dislike Applejack, and while she is a huntress in this story, I hoped that her parrents being killed by a pureblood and following family's hoofsteps, it would be good enough explanation for her harsh behaviour. So I am a bit surpriced that so many readers disliked her that much.
6730904
Correct. AJ's parrents died before Fluttershy's parrents were killed, which is why Shackles got so much cash.
Love this series so much. I would like to see Fluttershy kick some major flank eventually, either to protect her friends or for whatever reason she losses her temper. We keep hearing about the power of purebloods, and I understand Flutter's family and their view on violence, but I would like to see more of it here and there. Just so Flutter's isn't a complete pushover
Also, I don't mind Applejack as a character
There are only so many roles that can be filled in something like mlp, especially with that many main characters. And very few of those roles are actually based around honesty as a primary principle. I feel a farmer was a good role for honesty, and they nailed the role right on the head. She is more honest than RB is loyal, or Rarity is generous I feel. You can't really expect a farmer to have many 'deep' moments considering how practical they are.
And a huntress Applejack? That's just awesome. She has to choose between being loyal to her headstrong principles, or choose between going back on everything she has ever known. Great character conflict if you ask me, and someone with that much pride will suffer greatly with that sort of decision.
Keep up the great work!!! ^-^
6731707 Ah. Sorry.
6731423 Oh. Don't worry about it.
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I wasn't.
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i was worried it would waffle on the invitation, but now that theres a confrontation I cant wait for more, hopefully soon.
pinkie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/rsz/mlfw2468_small.jpg
AJ you can't claim the moral high ground if you were repeatedly trying to kill someone who refused to fight back.
And of course, as with all hunters, when seeing an enemy specifically trying NOT to hurt you, you do your best to make them suffer for having a heart. Let's hear it for mindless hatred. Geeze AJ, with that kind of mentality, you could teach the Waffen SS a thing or two.
7118115 Harsh much?
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6730801
The problem for me isn't AJ in general, it's your version of Applejack at this moment that is making me feel spitting mad. But seriously, if the Elements of Harmony aren't in harmony or could never be in harmony because of things that come from this, then I don't see that I could keep enjoying the story. Should I quit?
7118115 Harsh but very true, honestly blind hatred and fanaticism is just a horrible blight.
As for AJ yes I hate her as well at the moment, I mean wow before she was going on about how much she owed Flutters for saving Winoa. Saying that the girl saved a part of her family
But oh wait you are a Vamp, nah I take all that back you SUCK!
Yeah that is just ugh...
(Sings) RA-SISIM!
Also: Trying to kill someone who refuses to fight back, just because something like them was an ahole that one time.
(Slow clap)
Way to grab the moral high ground, AJ.
What's more, I can't believe you didn't recognize Rarity's voice or speech pattern. Worst. Hunter. Ever.
Before anypony decide to quit from this fiv or begin call for an Applejack inquizition can i suggest that we just wait out until the end i mean there could be character development. Yes ponys sometimes screw it.
I say we wait out what will happen if nothing can change Applejack's opinion and dont want to stop killing Fluttershy you can kill her but until this just CALM DOWN AND WAIT IT OUT UNTIL THE END FOR CELESTIA'S SAKE!
Thank and sorry for the ranting but its sometimes so hard to see that a character get so much negative attention i think anypony could be bring into so situation where he/she is the "bad guy". Pwease
Thank you