Sugarcubes (Private)

It was morning in Appleloosa; Roughly 9:30AM. Nothing too unusual was happening in this small, but slowly expanding town in the far West of Equestria at this time of day... though there have been certain incidents involving thievery lately due to outlaws in the region and a very limited authoritative presence this far out from other civilizations.

While the town did have its own police force, it was still rather meek. And while relations with the buffalo tribe have been stable, their help was limited as well given the outlaws currently superior mobility over them.

But otherwise, today was, so far, the same as any other, though it was clear that the locals were seemingly constantly looking left and right for anything unusual that might suggest another raid on their town. Perhaps the one odd element was the outsider clad in red robes currently patrolling the town outskirts as extra help. An outsider by the name of Sugary Market. "... Pie theft... Honestly, who steals baked goods...? But it's not just that, it's ruining the local economy... And apparently the buffalos really like the pies they make here... That can't be good for anyone's mood as is... Well, I promised the Sheriff I'd lend my services. Let's see if I can't do some good around here..."

The train station running through Appleloosa was seldom used in comparison to other train stations out in The Wilds. It only made sense given that Appleloosa was still finding it's feet as a community but it did have the unfortunate, or perhaps fortunate for some, side effect of making it extremely noticeable whenever the old steam engine did pull up.

This time it was practically empty too; besides the token supplies and workers coming home for the week, only two ponies stepped out of the train. The large red stallion stood like a mountain compared to the rest but it was the orange mare who drew attention.

Applejack was known out in the Wilds and in Appleloosa thanks to her cousin Braeburn and his loud mouth, but she was fairly impressive in person; she had dressed for the wilds, her permanently present stetson had a red band wrapped around it and her attire was a white shirt with a sleveless brown jacket over that, her dust covered jeans mostly hidden by matching browns chaps.

It might have made sense but it was jarring to see an Element of Harmony armed, a bright white rifle slung in a holster over her back.

Eventually, Sugary's patrolling around the town would take him to the train station where he had noticed the train arrive. While it wasn't part of his job per-sé, he considered passing by for a moment to announce to the visitors or those that might not have been in the know about the thefts. Although the rifle that the Stetson wearing mare carried did hint that she probably did know what was going on, or she was a bandit in disguise.

It wasn't until he got close enough to warn and actually greet that he noticed the mare to be none other than a celebrity in the flesh, Applejack, while Big Mac seemed familiar to him but not quite as much that he could remember the name. He tipped his Fedora to them and spoke as quickly and briefly as he could. "Good morning. Just wanted to say there's been some incidents lately involving thieves... Pie thieves, if you can believe that. So do be wary around here, and take care. He'd once again tip hit Fedora, and begin to start walking again, though not so quickly that he could not be called upon if need be.

Big Mac held his arm out to stop Sugary from walking past. There wasn't anything aggressive in his movement, just a casual stopping motion to make sure Sugary didn't walk up.

"We're recruiting partner. Anypony who can make themselves more than meat shield in a fight and we're willing to pay cold hard bits. Interested? Or know where we can find volunteers?" Applejack asked as she roamed her eyes over the town's mainstreet.

Sugary paused with only mild reluctance, but kept moving his ears from time to time to listen about for good measure and looked around a bit as well before addressing Applejack. "Let me guess, you're here as Vigilantes? Your best bet might as well be the Sheriff's office since that's were some volunteers are going to show and lend aid. Fact is, I recently got a job as a mercenary..." Around that moment, he began to make his horn flare lightly with a yellow aura as his hand became engulfed in strong and very visible static as a small display of his power. "Sugary Market, extra security at your service...! Or do you mean you were recruiting for something else?"

"Nope, pretty much nailed it right in one partner." Applejack told him with a nod as she shook his hand. "Ah'm Applejack and this is my big brother Big Macintosh." She introduced her massive scarlet sibling as they walked together, the bigger stallion giving a nod to Sugary as he walked slightly behind the other two.

"Extra security's the name of the game right now, hence the weaponry." Applejack told him as they walked through the Appleloosa Main Street, toward the farms on the outskirts of the settlement. "Here to keep some varmints away from mah cousins land, ain't we Big Mac?"

"Eeyup."

"Reckon they'll run like spooked mice when they see Big Mac and this beauty." Applejack laughed as she indicated her rifle. "Braeburn won't have any trouble with disappearing desserts anymore."

((Nefarious!))

"So... the Element of Honesty and her brother really are here to help. Wonderful, the town could use a morale boost like that." He'd walk next to Applejack while keeping to his usual watch. He wasn't quite veering off from his patrol area, so he could afford to walk by her for now. "Still... Intimidation aside, the bandits have been known to take more sneaky or crafty approaches for their raids than outright muscle. Apparently, about half a dozen have ever been seen all at once during a robbery and lightly armed. So they're either lucky amateurs, or experienced thieves that hold back if they were actually better armed... So if you do come across them yourselves, do be wary. They might be more dangerous than they seem..."

Meanwhile, in another part of town where it was less crowded, a somewhat above average pony wearing a yellow dress and matching headpiece was pushing on a baby carriage with a very small pony inside of it. For the most part, their faces were very well covered, but if anyone got close enough...

"I can't believe it... This is the dumbest idea we've had so far! Does the boss really think they're gonna fall for this trick!?" said the 'baby' with a rather not-so-young sounding adult voice.

"It's not like we can keep doing the same thing over and over again. Boss said this might get them to drop their guard though, so even if it doesn't work this time, we can just try other tactics." said the bigger and taller of the two in a voice that was actually that of a mare and not a stallion pretending to be one.

"I'm wearing a diaper! This is just desperate and degrading!"

"... You do know the boss said to look like a baby, right...? I don't think he meant you had to dress up EXACTLY like one! Are you seriously wearing a diaper!? Where did you even get one!?"

"... I'm... I just... Shut up! J-Just shut up! I still think this is stupid!"

The mare just laughs heartily till tears come out.

"Hey! I said shut it!"

"Oh, calm down already, you idiot! You're gonna give us away! Here, drink this. It's cider..." the mare semi-forcefully puts a baby bottle in the short stallion's mouth, much to the other one's initial chagrin. After a short while of silent protesting, the stallion drinks his cider slowly and calms down. "Listen... Just wait for the signal... This goes right, we get more pies. It goes wrong, we make a run for it. Same as always... Now get ready, we're just one block away from the reserves we need to raid..."

"Yep, though we're tryin' not to advertise our presence until we can be certain that we're gonna see these varmints off for good. Plus, we don't just come prepared with only one way of dealing with trouble, that ain't the Apple family way." Applejack told Sugary with a smirk as she indicated Big Mac's rucksack.

The red stallion pulled a zipper down for Sugary's benefit as they rounded the corner to approach Braeburn's homestead; while the whole bag's contents weren't shown it was clear Big Mac was carrying enough trip wire and quick releases to set plenty of traps in addition to the more upfront approach he and Applejack were armed for.

Initially, Sugary had reservations about following the Apple siblings further in their direction, but then recalled that he had yet to actually patrol the area they were headed to and decided to accompany them while keeping a lookout as usual. He did, of course, took note of the contents of the bag himself. "Wow... I'm glad to see you're taking this matter very seriously... But are pies made or kept in abundance at your cousin's place? All that seems a tad excessive otherwise... Not that blame you for worrying. Several have been injured during the raids as far as I've been told."

As far as he knew, the building with the most pies being made and stored was under protection by other volunteers and some of the local, though rather limited, authorities. He trusted them to be competent in their task...

Though unbeknownst to them, one of the volunteers was actually part of the bandits in disguise as she looked from the rooftop of the very building she was supposed to be guarding, wings moving slightly though quickly in anxiety as she saw the other two moving closer. "... It's almost time... All we need is the signal... Now where is she?" thought the bandit from her position.

"Honestly sugarcube I sincerely hope these guns won't be needed." Applejack said as they reached the gate to the homestead. "We're a' hopin' that one great big scare when they see us toting around this kinda firepower will be enough to keep 'em out from now on, see that the Apple Family don't take shovin' and bullying lying down."

"Nope." Big Mac's voice boomed as he held the gate open for the two. They could see Braeburn already coming down the path to meet them, clad in his brown attire as usual and thankfully unarmed unlike his cousins.

Sugary nodded in agreement to their approach as he kept walking along with them. "Let's hope things do stay that way... for you fellas at least. If the bandits get caught soon, that'll be the end of it... And while I would appreciate it, I'd rather you and your brother didn't do more than necessary and let the volunteers and guards do the work instead. I think you both do plenty as is being farmers... and a known heroine..." His tone towards Applejack's fairly known hero status and affiliation as the Element of Honesty was not quite meant to be as flattering so much as a way of saying she could afford to let herself rest and stay out of danger with others ready to tackle it on instead as, for one, he knew full well that being a farmer alone was a daunting task, and two, he had no reason to get either of the siblings involved if it could be avoided as he had been specifically hired for the job, where as they had not. Though he had to admit, he was curious as to what made her rumored to be a tough mare in times of crisis either way.

Over in the distance, he spotted a wagon being pulled by what seemed like a lone stallion over in the distance coming to the town, but then slowly made his way to another direction instead where a few hills and plenty of shade were. Eventually, the carriage would stop under the shade and the stallion would just casually sit and rest up while drinking from a water cantine while what seemed like a mare came out and spoke with him briefly before going back inside. "Hm..."

Sticking with his thoughts to address them fairly soon, he turned to look briefly in the direction of Braeburn and smiled a bit. When he first came into the town, he was greeted in a rather memorable way with his sing-song way of saying the town's name like it was the next best thing since fresh cool drinks out in these arid parts of the continent. In short, Sugary already considered Braeburn as good company just as he was slowly considering the elder Apple siblings as decent company.

Meanwhile, inside a bar, there was a very Zap Apple cider happy pegasus getting drink after drink after drink while mumbling often about pies and yearning for them along with others who mourned their losses as well. However, this particular pegasus was actually only mourning what didn't belong to her... yet. Eventually, she looked at the time and got up somewhat slowly, paid the bartender for his services which were lately becoming far less expensive than pies, made her way out the door, and then quickly jogged back in to use the bathroom with in flustered annoyance. "Consarnit, it's almost time to start, but I really gotta gooooo!!!" And much to her unwanted torture, she had to wait on another as she tried to think on as little on liquids as possible.

"Maybe not but we do it ourselves and we know it gets done." Braeburn added as he walked up but the smile on his face didn't match his words as he threw his arms around his cousins for a huge hug. He tipped his hat respectfully to Sugary, the two knowing each other from around the town. "Mighty nice of ya to help out Sugary; after this is done you feel free to stick around for a good ole' apple family cook out, what do you say?" He offered as they continued up to the homestead.

Applejack smiled at Sugary's compliments. "Well known. Heh, maybe it'll scare the varmints off, Tartarus have no fury like a pissed off Twilight Sparkle." She laughed to herself.

Sugary genuinely smiled at Braeburn's offer. It wasn't often he got invited to eat with decent folk out of the blue, and especially the Apple Family whom even he has heard of their big family gatherings and meals. "Mr. Braeburn... I'd like that."

Then there was Applejack's comment, whom he thought about a tad bit after a light chuckle of his own. "Hm... Who knows? Maybe that would discourage them plenty... By the way..." He took on a more neutral expression as he looked over to where the as of yet unknown pair had stopped over in the distance while talking to the Apple's. "... Do any travelers normally stop and rest over there? For that matter, do they even seem the least bit familiar to you?" In truth, they weren't at all... unless Braeburn had somehow had the displeasure of seeing any of the bandits up close before that he might feel something familiar about the strangers, but for the wrong reasons.

Applejack nodded. "Sure. Apple family always has an open door for a traveler or a wanderer who needs a bite to eat and a bed for the night, it's our way and in the days of mah Granny Smith it was how we lived ourselves for a time; off the goodwill of kind strangers." She told him as they came up to Braeburn's porch, the stallion himself sitting on a bench in front of the large farmhouse.

"Truth be told though, those two ring a bell; the two of them were causin' a ruckus in the saloon the other day, not something I wanted to involve myself with." Braeburn said with his eyes fixed on the two. "Ya know 'em Sugary?"

Sugary shook his head lightly at Braeburn's question. "No, I do not... But I intend to find out who they might be... Mr. Braeburn, you mentioned a bar fight. I'll go and see if it's really them, or another couple. Please, continue as you were. I'll be back..." And with that, he left in the direction of the wagon and the couple to leave the Apple's be for the time being...

After several minutes, and a light but constant aura around his horn in preparation, he managed to interrogate and even look into the contents of the wagon. From the expressions, the ones being interrogated seemed somewhat on edge the entire time, but never once did anything that would appear to be a cause for concern.

Having finished with his task eventually, he'd return to meet with the Apple's on whatever it was they were doing at the time, looking back the the strangers once in a while, only to get awkward smiles and waves. "Hm... They didn't seem to be the troublemakers, and didn't have much of anything in the wagon either... But either they were scared of me, or something else was bothering them. They looked way too unnerved just from a chat even after I told them I'm just doing voluntary security work. Other than that, their wagon had nothing but the bare minimum of supplies and a lot of space... I could swear I smelled paint though, but couldn't tell from where since they had no paint cans, yet it didn't quite seem to be coming from them directly... Any of that seem strange to any of you too? It's just not enough for me to do anything about."

Braeburn had taken to weaving what looked to be the beginnings of a basket on the hanging couch on the front porch by the time Sugary returned. "To be fair Sugary, you ARE in the kind of profession that would make somepony a little nervous to see you rooting through their stuff." braeburn suggested as he continued his weaving. "The paint ain't TOO unusual but most folks I know wouldn't bother to paint a wagon, you've seen the amount of dust this place kicks up; unless you ain't planning on actually using it there really ain't much point."

Applejack was sitting next to her cousin, juggling a pair of apples with one hand while Big Mac had apparently wandered off. "Frankly I'm not fond of anythin's that's out of the ordinary right now; if there's even the slightest hint of a varmint I want a good long look at it."

Sugary could not help but scrunch his nose lightly in thought at being referred to as a cause for concern, even though Braeburn was technically right. "Well, that's the thing, they didn't have much to look at at all. It looked like they were either on their way to restock, or just ran out of whatever they might have had there... Which is why I find it odd they choose to be far away... But all I can do is keep watch and keep patrolling. Same goes for not staying here longer for a chat, unfortunately..."

He then looked at the two in what they were doing, and smiled a bit. It set his mind at ease in seeing Braeburn weave a basket from scratch, a rare sight for him, and the same went for seeing AJ juggle the apples without a second thought despite her concerns. He wondered though, if they were perhaps coping with recent troubles by keeping busy with anything, or if they were always like that. Then, oddly, the more he looked at the apples, the more something came to his mind before he thought to bid them farewell for the time being...

Elsewhere in the main part of the town, the pink pegasus mare wearing the black coat, pants, and cowboy hat had finally finished doing her business, and wobbled out of the cider bar... Or rather, she was pretending to wobble as she made her way over to where the reserves were being guarded the most. The guards, of course, seemed to stand a little straighter as she got closer, but stopped in the middle of the somewhat quiet street area since not many were willing to come close to such a well guarded place with the exception of a few, and then stared at them quietly for a moment before she hiccuped and spoke to them. "Hhheeeeeyyy~ I bet yeerrr all real tough guysss~... I can take ya onnn~"

From the rooftop of the spot they were guarding, the blue pegasi mare wearing blue jeans, and a brown leather coat called over her partner for a moment. "Heh... Hey, get a load of this drunk. Can you believe her?" Her partner, bored at looking in all directions with only the pretend-drunk of a mare to be concerned over, made his way over to where he was called. "Like I said, can you believe her...?" The stallion simply shook his head, but kept a grip on his own rifle and a focused eye on the mare... exactly what the blue mare wanted. "Tell you what, you stare at her, I'll take the other corner..." And she moved behind his sight, where she could sneak attack him at any time.

A little further down the street where the very tall violet pegasi mare in the long frilly dress kept pushing the carriage with the equally colored dwarf unicorn stallion in the baby clothes along with her, stared at the 'drunk' mare very carefully. "... Hey... It's almost time... Better be ready..." She pulled back on the carriage top a tad slowly, looking at whomever among the civilians where closest to them and the pink mare before pulling out the stallion.

The pink mare was becoming a bit of a nuisance by now to the guards who were now urging her to move away for her own safety. She merely grinned widely at them, and pretended to look in all directions, but was, like the tall mare, looking for any among the civilians, before spotting one to her liking, and then looking straight at the guards. "Heeeeyyy~..." She raised her arms over her head in an exaggerated gesture, made her hands look like 'pistols', and spoke again while still pointing upwards. "Reach for the skies! Pew!" At that very moment, the blue mare on the rooftop hit the stallion on the back of the head hard, and sent him forcefully down and unconscious unto some of the others below, knocking out a couple more and sending the others into a panic. Once that was done, the tall violet mare took the dwarf unicorn stallion, held him like a Tommy Gum, cocked his tail, and began to open rapid fire on the remaining guards, though the shots were not lethal, but meant to stun and sting and give crowd control. Along with the rapid fire, the pink mare, with practiced speed and nimbleness, searched into the inside of her coat and pulled out a magic wand that was clearly charged for use as she pointed it at a civilian, and caught said civilian within a magic static charge bubble in a single and quick shot. "Nobody move, or the big guy here gets it...!"

Back at Braeburn's, Sugary was about to ask the question lingering at the tip of his tongue when his ears perked up at the sound of shooting and screaming coming from the town. He took a couple quick steps towards the direction of the noise to get to work, but a mild chill went down his spine as he looked back over to the Apple's. "Applejack, Braeburn! Where is Big Mac!?"

((So, yeah... You gave me an opportunity to have Big Mac be that captive, or it can be someone else. Your choice, OP. o3o ))

Braeburn sighed as he continued his weaving. "If it is them they aren't making a very good job of hiding it. If they're not, well they wouldn't be the first lot of not particularly well versed travellers to make their way through lookin' for somepony who knows right from left." Braeburn supposed as he finished up the first side of the basket. "Still though, wouldn't hurt to be keepin' an eye on 'em."

"Ah you two worry too much." Applejack assured them, catching the apples in both hands, offering one to Sugary and taking a bite out of one herself. "Those varmints don't stand a chance against the Apples and a pony like Sugary. Heck, I'd probly run if I say mahself comin'."

"Why, to get away from the overwhelming ego?" Braeburn joked only to have his hat shoved over his eyes. "Worth it."


Braeburn had time to get his hat back up before they heard the shots. "The buck?!" Braeburn yelled while Applejack grabbed her rifle before noticing something.

The instant she noticed Big Macintosh had vanished she half dragged half lead Sugary and Braeburn over to the homestead boundaries, barely leaving them enough time to grab their weapons.

Sugary wished he had the time to laugh and eat the apple given. Instead, all he could do was to hold onto the fruit with his mouth as he was dragged away rather forcibly, nearly loosing his fedora from the quick jerk and pull before catching it on time, and then proceeding to eat the apple with a baffled and surprised expression while being towed along with Braeburn. "M-Miss Applejack! Slow d-down! *munch* Whether or not something m-might have happened to y-your brother *munch* we still need to be careful! Please, let's find a g-good vantage *munch* or hiding point first! If it's t-the bandits, we'll need to see if- *munchspit* ah~ that was good~- We'll need to see if we can do anything to stop them at all!"

Meanwhile, the couple that had been near the rocky hills and shade were slowly making their move, circling the town further still once they were away from anyone's sights again. In the town itself, Big Mac was indeed the one that had been held captive by casuality within the static bubble held by the pink mare standing on the very entrance of the shop while holding an extra wand now in case she needed to fire again, while the on on the rooftop the blue mare kept her sights and ears sharp and her rifle locked and loaded, while the oddly-sized couple took to levitating as many of the pies they could all in one go. While most of the nearby guards had been disabled or suppressed, more had arrived from around the town cautiously, but the hostage situation meant they were limited in their options for now given what had happened in such a short time as the bandits made and continued with their plans...

"You just keep eating your apple Mr Market and I'll worry about figurin' how many ways I can beat these varmints so hard their momma's won't recognise 'em!" Applejack yelled back to him; the anger the orange mare had at the idea that her brother could be in trouble was plain to see, even if in this case it might be a little misguided.

Thankfully Braeburn agreed with Sugary and managed to pull the smaller stallion loose before he followed suit; Applejack didn't stop stomping along even with them loose, so Braeburn quickly gestured for Sugary to keep up as he tried to reason with his cousin.

Big Mac seemed relatively calm inside the bubble, initial shock not withstanding. "Miss, can I advise y'all to just lemme go now before I have to apprehend you mahself?" He asked, very calm and collected for a stallion in his situation.

While Sugary was rather hesitant about trying to force an angry Apple to change course, he had to do so by casting a quick and small Silence spell on Applejack's throat and pull her arm to the side towards a stack of hay with a few small holes just wide enough to peek through while urging Braeburn to help him with her in case she struggled too much as well as to get him to hide along with them.

As much as he personally disliked using magic to force others to cooperate, especially on non-magic users, he was doing this with her safety in mind. He spotted Big Mac as the captive, and was more than sure she and Braeburn saw him as well, so he knew full well she was likely going to be rather upset about it even more so. "Miss Applejack, please! Stay hidden! Let the guards deal with this!" He really hoped she'd cooperate lest he be forced to do something more strict. He also hoped that bandits did not see them yet as it could mean a chance to use some stealth against them, though the bandits themselves weren't actually equipped to deal with all the guards at once either, their saving grace being their hostage, their eyes in the roof armed with a rifle that may or may not have spotted the group, and the fact they had most of the guards within their sights by now on the main street with the ruckus they caused.

Meanwhile, the pink mare stared briefly at Big Mac with a bemused look, though swearing to herself that he seemed familiar from somewhere, before she lightly flicked the wand and made him turn upside down. "You wish, big red, but you ain't that cute! Now hush, or I'll shock you next time...! And hurry up back there, we got the heat on us!"

Inside the building, the couple had almost finished taking all the pies into levitation, but the dwarf stallion was beginning to look slightly strained. "Guh... Hey, have the others gotten here yet? I can't keep up firing and levitating things too much..."

"Oh, don't give up on me now, we just need to stick to the plan a bit longer! We almost hit the Jackpot!" said the tall mare as she kept making use of the stallion's magic, ready to use him as a weapon again if it came to it while the other couple that had been using the wagon outside were slowly moving in closer to the back of the building while making sure they weren't spotted yet.

By that time, the Sheriff would make his own appearance and start negotiating for Big Mac's release and the surrender of the bandits. "You're outgunned and outnumbered this time! You ain't gonna go very far, so give up now, and let the hostage go!"

"I don't think so, scruffy! Not while I got this hostage! I will hurt him if you try to stop us, and you don't want that, now do you!?" yelled the pink mare at the Sheriff.

The Sheriff looked somewhat stunned and nervous as it were. He wasn't very experienced in these kinds of situations as some of the worst he had to deal with in his career were the disputes with the Buffalo tribes, and it had been some time since those and they were solved much more differently. He hadn't even given the proper order to surround the building either as he tried to keep up to speed with what was before him. "N-Now don't go on doing anything stupid like t-that! You'll make our dear Braeburn sad!"

"... Who the heck is he, and why should I care!?"

"Well, he's a mighty fine young local that helped us make peace with the Buffalo tribes, likes to talk about his family, and you're holding his cousin Big Mac hostage."

"... C-.... C-C-Cousin B-... Big Mac...!?" spoke the mare as her memory was beginning to get jolted, and not in the right way.

"Yeah, Big Mac. Braburn's cousin and Applejack's older brother."

"A-Applejack!?!?"

"Yeah, she's a famous mare, and-..."

"I know who she is, but we got her brother!?"

"Eeyup!" said several of the locals in unison.

"Are you serious!? Out of all the hostages, you got someone related to a hero!?" yelled the blue mare from the rooftop, still keeping watch, but looking rather vexed and none too happy to have the truth revealed to her this way.

"How was I supposed to know he'd be here!? I just shot the first one I could get! I barely knew what he looked like!"

"Hey, what the heck!? That's Applejack's brother!? She's some supermare working for Princess Celestia or something, ain't she!?" spoke the very tall and now very nervous mare from inside the building.

"Element of... er... rainbows...? I don't remember what, but if she's nearby, then those other friends of hers could be here too! They might zap us to the sun!" said the dwarf stallion as he joined in on the panicking.

"Or turn us into lamps!!" said the tall mare.

"Or make us explode... Twice...!!" said the mare on the roof.

"Shut up!! We're not letting him go! We stick to the plan!" commanded the pink mare while shaking lightly.

"But-..."

"Shut up! You shut up! Everypony, shut up!!!" It was clear, as the pink mare shouted to everyone within sight such as the guards, onlookers, and her own lackeys, that she was well and truly panicking as the last thing on her mind was to get anyone famous involved in their latest heist, and having the big older brother farmer of someone who, for all she knew, was related to someone who could be extremely dangerous to their health, was nothing short of worrisome and stressful. "This is bad...! This is very, very bad...!"

As it were, things became that much more tense in the area as the mare stared at Big Mac with an entirely different mindset, and carefully turned him right side up again. "... Not a word out of you..." The rest of the gathered crowd would instead get an intense stare from a nervous group of bandits that might snap at any time.

Applejack looked for a moment like she was seriously considering just abandoning Sugary and Braeburn before, with a frustrated groan, she saw reason and ducked down to hide with Sugary and her cousin.

"Look, ah know that I ain't... in the most clear of heads right now, so why don't you call the shots?" Applejack suggested to Sugary. "And that better not turn out to be literal." She added; even in her angry state at seeing her family being threatened and held hostage Applejack didn't want to kill anypony if she could avoid it, any alternative would be better so long as they would be captured.

Still though, from where they were hidden they could clearly see the events unfolding, and Sugary could see every bit of worry etched across Applejack's face, along with fear in Braeburn's.

"It's your loss Miss." Big Mac said politely from inside his containment. "But if ah were you it wouldn't be the Elements of Harmony that I'd worry about." He said simply, staring out at them with an almost bored look from within his prison; he gave a polite nod and wave to the sheriff deputies and helpfully pointed out with his hands which of the bandits were armed and which ones weren't. If bullets started flying he'd be safe in the prison but he'd rather not see anypony get shot; if the sheriff and their deputies could just disarm all the armed bandits then this needn't end badly.

Sugary was relieved to know Applejack was being cooperative, but made sure to keep a close eye on her and Braeburn; The last thing he wanted was for either of them to rush out unprepared towards the bandits, or to panic immensely. The first thing he did was to try and reassure her that he wasn't that gung-ho as he pointed at his horn briefly and lightly flexed his fingers. "All the firepower I really need is right here. I can control magic, not a bullet. So don't worry..."

Watching and listening from their position still, there was some of what he heard from the panicking bandits which struck him with an image of the mare beside him that seemed somewhat misplaced from what he knew so far about her and her friends. "Miss Applejack... What those bandits said, how much of it is true? For that matter, how many really know what it means to be... well... an Element?" He wasn't fully sure himself, having only gathered second and third hand information as he got to know the land over the last couple years. But anything Applejack says might come in handy soon.

Meanwhile, the pink mare was less than amused at Big Mac's warning, and nearly made good with the threat to shock him... that is, she would have where it not for the fact she did not want to injure their only hostage who happened to be related to a particular VIP in any way right now. Still, she was slowly looking more and more exasperated as the seconds went by and some of the locals waved at Big Mac as if things weren't too bad. Not that there was nothing at stake as the tall violet mare reluctantly proceeded to move to the back of the shop and making her dwarf companion charge up for a concentrated shot against a wall.

Behind the locale several yards away, the other couple waited for the rest to either make or break with their heist, still unaware of what was really happening on the other side.

"Ah wish more of it was true, I'd gladly take the chance to zap those varmints up to the sun if'n I had the means." Applejack whispered while she glared from their hiding place at the panicking thugs; she couldn't help but smile when Big Mac calmly looked at another thug, who flinched and tripped over a box behind him.

Big Macintosh's glare around at the thugs seemed to make most of them hesitate or at least not want to be in arms length even though he couldn't do anything to them. The pink mare was the exception, something Braeburn couldn't help but notice. "There ain't nothin' that I can recall about that mare. Sugary, she ain't one of your mercenary types is she?" He asked.

"I don't rightly care what she is, soon she's gonna be dead meat." Applejack took another breath to calm herself before turning to Sugary. "Alright Mr Market, what's the plan?"

"Sorry, but I've never seen that mare before. I don't know who she is at all... And the plan... Is to try and intimidate them to surrender. If they think you're that powerful of a mare..." Sugary would look somewhat at Applejack, lighting up his horn subtly, and transferring a mild boosting Aura onto his hand as he moved it within her view. "... Then let's give them a powerful mare. I'll share my magic with you, and you talk them into stopping, or face the wrath of an Element. You following me? And don't worry, you leave the spells to me. I'll do everything I can to protect you... But if you don't trust me, I won't blame you. We can try something else along with the others..."

Almost at that very moment, the bandits on the other side of the building were finally ready as they stood on the corners of it, making absolutely sure no one else were to suddenly show up along with them, while inside the building, the nervous couple finally had been given enough time to set up their target, and with one single charged and concentrated shot, the mare made the stallion hit a large circular section of the wall like a big magic saw. It was loud, and it was just the kind of thing they had been preparing for some time now. Were it not for the pink mare's previous command to maintain as scheduled, they might have lacked the resolve to do so at that moment.

Right outside, and now sweating bullets as she heard the noise, she steeled her nerves as she glared back at Big Mac and the now provoked mercenaries, guards, and onlookers as the noise seemed to get them riled up as well, and ready to take the offensive. The pink mare, of course, was rather quick to demand. "If anyone so much as tries to move any closer or shoot any of my team, he's gonna get it! I'm dead serious!" She was gripping her wands hard. She was an improviser, but this was far more dangerous than she had hoped things would get for them to deal with. What drove her on was the fact that it was only the big red stallion, and not his famed sister, that she had to deal with, so it meant she only needed to proceed with as few risks to anyone as possible, keep control, and all should be well... or so she thought.

On the rooftop, the mare with the rifle kept still, watching for anyone that might suddenly make a dash towards the building, still unaware of the trio behind the hay stacks somewhat further away. It was likely she'd end up making the first shot herself as she stared down the barrel of her weapon towards some that were also pointing back up at her. As it were, she had been tasked into being the last one to move from her position, which meant all the more pressure on her.

Shortly afterwards, the wall was cut and pushed down on the other side, the couple outside brought out concealed Flintlocks from their clothes as the others came out with all the remaining pies that were meant to be sold in bulk by the town, or risk losing a part of their limited economy again and be forced to remain and underdeveloped town longer still. The mare on the roof had her finger on the trigger and her ears perked without so much as blinking, while the mare holding Big Mac hostage hurried into the building and towards the other side with him in tow.

Once again, Sugary would speak to Applejack, more urgency in his voice being evident. "Miss, it's now or never! Wanna try tricking them or not!?" He held his hand closer to hers as if making the offer more sternly. He was hesitant to put her in any danger, but he was also looking to resolve things as quickly and as harmlessly as possible for everyone, and he got the feeling that she would want to get involved in some way anyway.