The Pony Of Vengeance

by BradyBunch

Captured and Afraid

The world was black and fuzzy for Twilight when she first opened her eyes. She couldn't make out most of her surroundings at first, and noises, slightly distorted, floated past her. She blinked groggily and opened her eyes. After a minute or so of blinking, she was able to see where she was.

She was in a small room made entirely out of metal. No windows let light in. She was lying on the cold metal floor with her hooves tied, her wings bound, and her mouth gagged. The knots were so tight they hurt her. Scattered across the floor were the rest of her friends and Spike, all tied and gagged. She could not see if they were awake as well, but they weren't moving all that much.

Twilight blinked eye crud out of her face for a moment and activated her horn. Using her magic, she loosened the ropes around her face and wings. They fell to the floor like discarded garments. She stepped out of her loosened bonds on her hooves, and stood up uneasily.

She came over to Rarity, who was starting to stir as well. Twilight used her magic to remove her bonds and tossed the ropes and cloth aside. She bent over her and shook her shoulder. "Rarity. Rarity, it's me, Twilight."

"Twi... light..." Rarity put her head up, blinking away her former state. "Where are we?" She looked around the room in apprehension. Her eyes spotted the rest of her friends lying on the ground, and her eyes bulged. She scooted backwards into Twilight, who held her up. "What happened, darling? I-I remember being hit rather hard, but..." She shook her head. Then she sat up suddenly. "Case File! What happened to Case File, Twilight?"

The memory came back with startling clarity. Twilight, holding Case File in her hooves, trying in vain to reassure him that he was going to be okay. Him trying to reach for her face, the look of hurt he had on with the bullet buried deep inside the flesh in his side. The slick, awful feeling of his blood as she staunched his wound. The life dying in him as another bullet found itself in between his eyes, him falling lifelessly to the floor. It made her sick, reliving the grisly, terrible memory.

She looked at her hooves. They were a dark maroon color, still stained with Case File's blood. It was hard, and had cracked in places. "Case File's dead." It was only after she had said the words that she recognized the fact. Case File was dead! Her colleague trying to find Ironheart, who could potentially even be Ironheart, the pony that took charge of the entire investigation, was now dead!

Rarity took an inhale of pain. "And we accused him of being the terrorist. It was the last thing we ever talked to him about. We... we left him feeling mistrusted, and he never got a chance to explain himself..."

Twilight felt even more awful than ever after hearing that.

The rest of the girls were stirring now. They were shaking themselves slowly, and making low groans, muffled by their gags.

"Help me get them out," Twilight told Rarity. She nodded in reply, and they spent their time releasing the rest of their friends with their magic. At last, once all of them were free and steady on their hooves, the talking started.

"Ah feel absolutely awful," Applejack moaned. She cricked out a spot in her back. "That hurt more than gettin' hamstrung by a Timber Wolf."

"Would it kill them to wash the bag they used for me?" Rainbow grumbled, scratching her face. She stuck out her tongue. "I can still taste it."

"P-please d-d-don't talk about k-killing," Fluttershy whimpered, settling herself on the ground and curling up in a ball. "I-I-I've had enough!" She started to sob. Pinkie laid herself next to her and began absently to pat her on the back reassuringly. Rainbow shut her mouth instantly.

"Were we right, girls?" Twilight asked, looking around.

Nopony replied at first, then Rarity said, "I think we shouldn't have outright accused him." She tilted her head. "Whatever do you mean, were we right? Do you mean is it right now that he's dead?"

"No! Never!" Twilight shook her hooves. "Especially since we don't know if he was even innocent or not!"

"If Dr. Brainstem was tellin' the truth, Ah'm sure Case File would've corresponded with 'im," Applejack affirmed. "There wan't any reason fer 'im ta lie ta our faces, was there?"

Twilight slowly nodded. "But now we'll never know for sure." She looked around at the room. "Where are we, anyway? I remember a griffon..."

"Those criminals!" Rainbow exclaimed all of a sudden, flapping three feet in the air. "They foalnapped us! Twilight, you gotta get us out of here! Use your freaky magic or something!"

"I can't just go blasting through walls!" Twilight pointed out defensively. "What if I hurt somepony?"

"Twilight, the only ponies you'll be hurting will be the ones that foalnapped us in the first place!" Rainbow exploded.

There came the chattering sound of a door sliding open, and a voice they recognized said, "How right you are."

It was the griffon that had shot Case File. He was leaning on his rifle, smirking at the cargo he had brought in.

"Princess Twilight," he said, as if he was speaking to a delicious meal placed in front of him. "Amadeus would like a word with you."

---

They were led at gunpoint by the griffon sniper through the tunnels. They varied at intervals, changing from metal, like the room they had woken up in, to brick and mortar, to mere cloth and wood nailed into the flimsy cardboard walls. They were at one point circular, like a tunnel, and at other times it was rectangular. It made Twilight dizzy trying to remember where they had gone. Trying to memorize their routes in and out was therefore out of the question.

The ground was always wet. There were small puddles to the sides that stank with an awful smell of stagnant water and what Twilight heavily suspected was urine. Pipes, as thin as a finger, ran overhead, dripping where they weren't connected well. A drop would land on Twilight's head from time to time, and she tried to ignore it and stay silent. She didn't want to give the griffon behind her any reason to be annoyed.

Rarity, however, was under no such restraint. She made periodic complaints about how much it stank where they were, how hot the air seemed, how it would ruin her mane, and other snippy comments to the side.

After what seemed like forever, they came to a sealed steel door with a circular lock in the middle of it. The griffon pushed his way to the front and twisted the lock. It popped with a click, and the door loosened its grip. The griffon swung the door open with a heavy grunt and ushered them all in without another word. When the last pony, Rainbow, had been ushered in, the griffon sniper shut the door behind them and twisted the lock on the other side.

The room they entered was more spacious than any room they had seen thus far in Manehatten, with the exception of the Manehatten Institute of Technology. It was at least thirty feet high. On the walls were shelves filled with various trophies taken from a long career of crime-- a tattered and torn cape, a golden idol, a priceless jewel, and a scepter with a top shaped suspiciously like Twilight's head.

Banners hung from the ceiling, ornately decorated and colored, which Rarity kept her eyes on while they walked down the room's single aisle. Tables and chairs were scattered all about the room. Keeping out of their way were about fifty ponies and griffons alike, in tattered and torn clothing, looking seedy and dangerous with scars and missing teeth as they leered at the ponies and the baby dragon that had just entered. They were playing cards and pool.

At the far end of the room was a low chair with plush cushions on the back and seat. Sitting in it, hunched over, was a griffon they all recognized immediately by the deep scar on the side of his head. It was the griffon they had seen at the attack on the docks.

And next to him was another seedy-looking pony that Twilight also recognized at once. It was the pony whose life she had spared. That pony glared at all of them as they came close and nudged the black griffon in the chair. " 'Ey! Amadeus!"

Amadeus looked up and saw Princess Twilight and her friends right in front of him. He gave a smile. "Ah. It's you."

And Twilight felt a rush of fear, and apprehension. This griffon, the one bent over examining some points on a graph, had hired the griffon sharpshooter to kill Case File! He worked for him! This Amadeus had killed Case File!

"Sir?" the griffon sharpshooter interrupted. "I think you owe me something."

"Shut up," Amadeus glibly said. "I'll talk with you later. I have more important guests to entertain."

The griffon sharpshooter licked his lips again and stepped back, looking a little miffed.

Amadeus settled his chin in his hands and examined Twilight and the others curiously. "Princess Twilight..." he softly said, as if to himself. "I never thought I'd see the day when I would entertain a princess." He stood up. They could see a sidearm holstered at his side. "I am Amadeus, the head of organized crime in Manehatten. What brings the Elements of Harmony to my fair city?"

"Ah think ya already know what we have ta say," Applejack bluntly put out. "We want ta be set free, fer goodness' sakes!"

Amadeus was silent for a bit, then spoke. "I promise, my intentions are only mutually beneficial. I have noticed that you worked on the case of the Night Terror. I also noticed that you spared the lives of me and False Felony, to the side here. And so I instead have a proposition to make."

"And what proposition would that be?" Rarity demanded. "I can't imagine striking a deal with a criminal." She "Hmmph"ed and turned her face away.

"I can understand that. You're apprehensive, and you want to be free. But the fact of the matter is, what will you do if I do decide to release you? Keep quiet about me and the rest of my motley crew? No, Princess Twilight, you will order us arrested instead. I can provide you with some bits of information I think you'd be happy to learn about."

"What are you suggesting?" Twilight slowly asked, tilting her head up a little bit.

"You and I exchange information. If we figure it out together, we can ascertain if Case File's death was in vain or not."

Twilight almost blurted out, It doesn't matter for someone like you! You killed him before you knew! And now we'll never hear it from his mouth, we'll never know for certain! But she nodded outwardly. "And if we exchange all we know..."

"Then you and your friends can go free. I will allow you to return to the surface, and we will not pursue you."

Rainbow looked uncertain. "And if we decide not to..."

Amadeus looked at Rainbow squarely. "The only way back up to the surface is if I allow you to," he replied. "If you do not comply with my wishes, you will stay down here until you do."

Twilight knew better. She could blast her way out of here if she really wanted to. There would be nothing to stand in her way. But in order to placate the leader of crime, and to make it so he would not pursue them after they broke out, she slowly, slowly nodded. "Fine."

"Twilight!" Rarity looked shocked. "Are you seriously getting along with this--this criminal?"

"I think it's for the best, Rarity," Twilight gravely said. "We can continue our work this way."

"You got any cake?" Pinkie asked suddenly.

Amadeus looked a little jolted by the out-of-nowhere request, but he shook his head. "Sorry, Element of Laughter. No cake down here." He sat back down.

"Oh." Her face fell.

Twilight fixed Amadeus a look. "Tell me, Amadeus, apart from the attack on the harbor, have you ever actually seen the Night Terror?"

"No, Princess Twilight." He shook his head morosely. "I had only heard about him from the newspapers." He leaned forward intently. "Have you?"

"No." Twilight said. "We've been trying to ferret out where he was and what he was doing, and why. But he leaves very little trace of his actions. Not any kind of hoofprints, or stray hairs, or skin flakes, or scraps of cloth. Nothing."

"That is interesting..." Amadeus stroked his chin. "It is pertinent we ascertain how he does it all. Has he left nothing else?"

"Weeelll," Pinkie interrupted. "He did leave behind a very threatening message at the harbor saying how 'every traitorous soul shall bow in my shadow' and that his name was Ironheart." She shrugged casually.

Amadeus's eyes got noticeably wider, and he sat up straighter. "Ironheart?" he whispered. "That is disturbing. Most disturbing indeed."

Twilight had a stroke of an idea then. She knew that Ironheart, whoever he was, and the griffons alike had been buying their weapons from the same source. If she could find out who had been supplying them, she could track down the supplier and talk to him. She could then find out who else he had been supplying weapons to, and from there she could track down Ironheart. In a friendly tone, she asked, "Have you noticed any, um, similarities between the weapons the two of you use?"

"Explain." Amadeus looked concerned.

"Ironheart uses bullets with a peace symbol inscribed into the bottom. And we compared that with the bullets you've ordered. They also have a peace symbol. So we think that both Ironheart and you have been getting your weapons from the same source."

Twilight immediately knew she had said the right thing. Amadeus jolted in his seat, and the room, full of idle chatter before, fell silent at once. The disbelief was in the air, so real it felt like you could reach out and feel it in the air. Nopony moved or said anything once Twilight had finished.

Amadeus's leg shook, and he buried his face in his palms. "We've been played," he whispered, indiscernible to the others. "We all have."

"We would like to know who your supplier is," Twilight continued. "It's the only way we can catch him."

Amadeus took his face out of his hands and stared at Twilight incredulously, mixed with shock. "If only I could..." he whispered. "What'll you do to him?"

"Talk ta him," Applejack said. "And hopefully try ta convince him ta shut down the market."

"Trust me, you want to believe her," Pinkie told Amadeus. "If there's anypony you can trust to tell the truth, it's her."

Amadeus didn't say anything for a long time. He just kept looking at the ground. Finally he let out a soft whisper. "Client 24."

"Huh?" Rainbow demanded.

"That's the only name he has," Amadeus clarified. "And he's made a deal with another pony. This other pony buys weapons from Client 24 and sells them to me. And with his profits, this business partner gives Client 24 support for a project he's working on-- a project to make even more destructive weapons. The only complication is that with this Ironheart out destroying shipments and killing the ponies accompanying them, this other business partner's lost enormous amounts of money. I can only imagine how the Night Terror must feel, shorting out the supply of the very tools he uses. He's either being duped, or he's the one truly in control."

Applejack and Twilight exchanged looks. They knew now how things worked. Client 24 was the real threat, not the Night Terror. Ironheart was just a pawn in the game Client 24 was playing. But how? What did Client 24 benefit from it all?

"But do you know who the business partner is?" Fluttershy asked politely.

"That's confidential information," Amadeus responded brusquely. "Classified."

"Beggin' yer pardon, mister Amadeus, but at this point, nuthin's classified anymore." Applejack told him. "We gotta know everythin' about this."

"I believe it's time for you to give some information to me now," Amadeus cut her off. "What requirements does the Night Terror need to satisfy?"

Pinkie shot her head up. "Well, we can say that we know whoever Client 24 is, he's a pony that worked at the laboratory where the weapons were first developed. He must have been somepony who really hated Bright Mind."

Amadeus looked confused. "Who?"

"Bright Mind was the name of the scientist that created guns in the first place," Twilight explained. The rest of the room was all listening with genuine interest. "What makes you think that, Pinkie?"

"Well, how else would you explain it?" Pinkie said. "I mean, he stole all of the credit for his invention, but Bright Mind exposed him. He must have really hated that. And after Bright Mind went KABLOOEY!, that pony must have felt like now was the time for him to take advantage of the situation. He could have stolen the weapons, feeling like it was the way to take revenge on Bright Mind."

All the mares stood with open mouths, staring at Pinkie. It wasn't often that she came up with an idea that was actually useful and not... well, normal for Pinkie.

Twilight was the first to speak, flabbergasted. "Pinkie? That was..."

"Yes?" Pinkie asked casually.

"Smart!" Twilight shook her head. "I can't believe it! You thought of something I completely overlooked!" She started to pace. "It makes sense! Client 24 could be somepony that bullied Bright Mind in the past, and stole his invention to claim responsibility for such a terrible invention! And he could get rich off of it on the side! It's a perfect hypothesis!" Twilight got excited, tapping her hooves together. "Now all we have to do is call up Dr. Brainstem and see who worked alongside Bright Mind so we can narrow it down!"

"I honestly have no idea of what you're talking about," Amadeus interrupted. "But it seems you don't know who it is."

"We definitely know who it wasn't!" Rarity exclaimed, getting in close to Amadeus. "We know it wasn't Case File! Which you, by the way, decided to kill!"

"I did not kill him," he responded. "Client 24's partner was the one that ordered his execution."

"And you went along with it?" Rarity demanded. "You allowed an innocent pony to be killed!" And as soon as she said it, she knew it was true. So did the other girls, who all suddenly realized their initial suspicion was incorrect, that it was somepony else.

"And now we know for certain that he was not the Night Terror," Amadeus responded coolly. "And even if he was, his hideous work would have stopped. Sometimes it's necessary to sacrifice a single piece in order to win the game."

But before Rarity could continue, a meek and timid voice spoke in place of hers. A voice that got progressively more aggressive.

"He... was... INNOCENT!" Fluttershy screamed. The girls recoiled and made way for the angry pegasus to have room. Fluttershy flapped up to Amadeus, outrage etched in her face. "It's never okay to kill innocents just because you have a suspicion that they might be a threat! What if that happened to you? If you were hunted down just because somepony decided you might maybe be a danger, would you see the big picture then? Would you be okay with being killed if it meant somepony else could be absolutely certain about something? Would you see the big picture, that your death was meaningless, and just accept that it was 'for the greater good?' No! You wouldn't!"

SMACK

Fluttershy flew backward, a bright red mark on her cheek where Amadeus had slapped her. She thudded on the ground, making a pitiful sound. She curled up in a ball, took a few short ragged inhales, and cried. She wrapped her mane around her and sobbed into it, making the most anguished wails the girls had heard.

Twilight immediately charged her horn, but Amadeus, fast as a whip, snapped the sidearm out of the holster at his side, aiming directly at Twilight's horn.

"We'll see which is faster," he told her. He cocked the gun. All around the six girls, the assembled ponies and griffons gathered around in excitement to watch the showdown.

Twilight looked from her horn above her head to Amadeus's finger, resting on the trigger. She wouldn't be fast enough to fire her spell. She knew it by just looking at it. Reluctantly, seeing Amadeus's finger twitch, she relaxed her horn's power.

Immediately there came a host of ponies and griffons alike into the group of six, grabbing limbs and holding them in place. Twilight and her friends resisted, but there were just too many. Twilight and her friends were held down by the full force of Amadeus's cohorts.

"I think that's all we're going to get out of them for now," Amadeus lazily said. "Take them back to their cell until tomorrow."

"No!" Rainbow struggled harder. She saw Fluttershy weeping on the ground, and was filled with rage against Amadeus. There were four small points on her cheek that were dribbling out small droplets of blood, from where he had made contact.

Amadeus had drawn blood from her closest friends.

Pulling hard, she yanked her arm free of the grasp of a pony and slugged him in the face. She then twisted away and punched a griffon in the gut, making him double over and drop the long curved saber pressed to her throat. Rainbow caught it in her teeth and spun, creating a wide circle in the middle of the group.

Amadeus pointed his sidearm at her, but found it yanked out of his grasp by a lavender aura of magic. The gun snapped itself in half and fell to the ground. Twilight had also broken free of her restraints, and was now staring down Amadeus with a hateful look. Rainbow Dash, right beside her, angrily clutched the saber in her teeth, the point directed straight at Amadeus's throat. The ponies and griffons fell back; Amadeus was in the line of fire, too close for them to attack.

Amadeus looked taken aback, looking at the two mares that were closing in on him. He was backed up against the back wall, next to an emergency exit. Then, incredibly, he smirked. "Well, this just turned itself upside down, didn't it? But even with this rather interesting turn of events, I still win. You have me cornered. But what now?"

"I should kill you," Twilight grunted through gritted teeth. Her horn charged again, humming with dangerous power. "I will kill you."

Amadeus laughed. "Then, Princess Twilight, you would prove yourself a hypocrite to the agenda you push as Princess of Friendship. If you kill me now, you abandon tolerance and love. Your hooves will be stained with my blood. You will be the one responsible for the death of another. Would you qualify as a proper friend then?"

Twilight looked down at her hooves, still brown with old blood, Case File's blood. How could she do it? How could she take the life of someone else, even Amadeus?

Amadeus sneered at Rainbow Dash next, the saber still tightly clenched in her teeth. "And you, Rainbow Dash. There's nothing stopping you from protecting your friends, is there? There's nothing to stop you from killing me. Go ahead. Do it. You'd be hailed as a hero by everyone." He took a sideways glance at Fluttershy, still lying on the ground. "Well, almost everyone."

The saber dropped down, just a bit. Rainbow's eyes widened, and she realized that she still hadn't killed anypony yet in her life. Would she start now?

Amadeus reached behind him and hit the release for the door. It chattered open with a clinking of chains, and it opened into a dark abyss beyond. "Now let's ramp up the pressure. If you cannot decide who will kill me first, I escape, and you will be left at the mercy of my lovely associates here. And even if you do kill me, what about them?" He indicated the ponies and griffons still in the room. He laughed again. "No option is harmless now. You made it that way, didn't you?"

Rainbow glanced at Twilight. Twilight glanced at Rainbow. Neither of them wanted to strike first. But there was a mutual understanding between them. They could not let Amadeus escape. They could not surrender, either. Something had to be done. Steeling their resolve, they both looked at Amadeus again.

Twilight charged her horn. It sparked and crackled with energy.

Rainbow adjusted the saber in her teeth.

"Come on, then!" Amadeus laughed, and stood on his hind legs. He spread his arms out wide. "Which of you is going to do it? Which of you is going to go first and prove yourself to be a cold-blooded killer?"

Comments

[PrototypeJ]

Great chapter. Are Rainbow and Twilight really going kill Amadeus in the next chapter or not? They never took a life before do you think they have takes to do it now?

[Xanatos Speed Chess]

I personally wouldn't lose any sleep over killing Amadeus -- especially since, if he loves his semantics so much, the circumstances would make it very self-defensive anyway.

[FanficReader920]

Wouldn’t be a twist if Fluttershy did it?

[Coyote Fire]

Wow! I am glad I happened across this gem! Crusty and cracked and dark as it is, I love it! Fav'd and can't wait for the next chapter!

[Yutah123]

He hit Fluttershy!

DEATH SENTENCE!

[Notrab M]

"Come on, then!" Amadeus laughed, and stood on his hind legs. He spread his arms out wide. "Which of you is going to do it? Which of you is going to go first and prove yourself to be a cold-blooded killer?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvamRJvAB2U

[BradyBunch]

9530438
Yes! You got the reference!

[Jade Dawn]

"He...was...INNOCENT!" Fluttershy screamed. The girls recoiled and made way for the angry pegasus to have room. Fluttershy flapped up to Amadeus, outrage etched in her face. "It's never okay to kill innocents just because you have a suspicion that they might be a threat! What if that happened to you? If you would be hunted down just because somepony decided you might maybe be a danger, would you see the big picture then? Would you be okay with being killed if it meant somepony else could be absolutely certain about something? Would you see the big picture, that your death was meaningless, and just accept that it was "for the greater good?" No! You wouldn't!"

SMACK

Fluttershy flew backwards, a bright red mark on her cheek where Amadeus had slapped her. She thudded on the ground, making a pitiful sound.

And that was the last thing that Amadeus ever did before Discord turned him inside out and set his entrails on fire before wishing him into the Cornfield.

[Jade Dawn]

Re-reading this and I just noticed:

On the walls were shelves filled with various trophies taken from a long career of crime- a tattered and torn cape, a golden idol, a priceless jewel, and a scepter with a top shaped suspiciously like Twilight's head.

Also, wait a second. In the dock chapter, I don't remember Amadeus being described as a griffon, but here he is? Did I miss something?

[BradyBunch]

10247560
The giveaway was when I described his appendages. He has a hand. What pony do you know has a hand?

(Except the Night Terror.)