This was probably the worst night Tattered Wing had since she was nearly murdered weeks before. What made it worse was the fact she had been warned about this creep of a pony well ahead of time and did nothing in response. As a result she was now taking into custody what was perhaps the first ever pony rapist on Earth.
She just wanted to go somewhere and drown herself in a bottle. She was such a screw up.
A few national guard members that the government had lent the community now held Swift Strike in the same van that had transported her here. She had no idea where she was going to have him held. All the legalities of her doing anything were fuzzy at best. The government was playing dumb about whether they had authority to enact justice in this case. She saw this for what it was, them not wanting to get involved with pony on pony violence. Let the ponies kill each other off, it did them a favor.
It did her no damn favors though. What was the most immediate problem was the red unicorn mare with the purple and yellow mane in front of her, demanding blood as they stood hidden by the high grass outside the house.
"Sunset, I understand how you feel, but rape is not a crime that earns execution, at least not here in the United States. I'm no executioner, nor will I ever be. I'm going to imprison him until we can figure out some sort of trial and then we'll do this the proper way," Tattered said evenly and calmly to the enraged unicorn.
"Your little Enclave killed a rapist before. Why are you hesitating now? He deserves to die, and die painfully," Sunset Blessing growled through gritted teeth as she gestured in the direction of the van.
"What happened then was a regrettable accident. They intended to maim that person, not kill. They were running high on emotion, just like you are right now. Cooler heads will prevail this time," Tattered explained in the same even voice.
"Phobia is a night pony and you claim you have conviction to keep night ponies safe. Where's that conviction now?" Sunset demanded as she stomped a hoof.
"We have Swift Strike in custody and he won't be doing this again. He'll be punished, and I'll do everything I can to see him punished harshly, but we're not killers," Tattered insisted as she met the unicorn's glare.
"You owe me, Broken One. I made sure to provide shelter for you and your brother. You're going to see my daughter gets justice for what was done to her," Sunset whispered harshly.
"And Phobia will get justice, actual justice, not blood-lust. I consider her a friend and she had warned me about Swift Strike before this happened to her. For that I owe her more than I owe you for my failure to stop this before it happened," Tattered said, still using an even tone, and still meeting the unicorn's fiery orange eyes. "If you make me do murder, then I'll tell all the suits about how you're keeping all those billions of dollars that you questionably gained stashed away for a rainy day. I'm sure they'll love to hear about how you aren't as leashed as they think you are and that you're stockpiling resources in case they turn on you--or in case you decide to turn on them."
Sunset narrowed her eyes and glared hatred at Tattered. Tattered held her gaze. She refused to be intimidated by this Christian fanatic turned pony that acted like she knew the will of her god. Tattered had already made up her mind that if she had any faith in anything otherworldly it was Princess Luna. Princess Luna may not be a god but she had at least done a miracle for her, God hadn't answered any cries for help as she and her friends were massacred in the street.
She resolved right then and there to find something to wear in honor of Princess Luna, but also just to spite Sunset. The thought made her smile.
Sunset noticed the smile, and even though she couldn't know what Tattered was thinking she sneered back in response.
"Fine then, lock him up and see your proper justice done. But watch yourself, Broken One, your position in this community could become very uncomfortable if I choose make it that way," Sunset spat.
"Take a look at me, I think I can deal with discomfort. You want me to dispense justice in Riverview? You're getting justice. If that means getting spit on by you I can handle that," Tattered said with a smile. She then dropped her smile before continuing in a more sympathetic tone. "I'll take care of Swift Strike, Sunset. You go see to Phobia. Even though you might not be the pony I'd personally want for a mother, I do give you credit for actually giving a damn about your daughter. That's more than my mother gives me. Go take care of her."
Sunset gave Tattered a stiff nod and retreated back into the house that Phobia Remedy and Rosetta Stone had claimed for their own. It was a decent sized place, and Tattered was mildly envious when comparing it to her own simple place that was really only a small narrow two-story shop that had been converted into a house. They didn't even have to rely on Sunset for getting it for them. It must be nice to have a rich pony like Wild Growth as a close family member.
Tattered Wing walked back out from the privacy of high grass of the lawn and looked towards the dark military van. They were going to be asking her where to take him and she really didn't know what to tell them. As far as she knew this town didn't have a proper jail of any sort, and she technically had no authority to use it even if there was. She only had the authority Sunset allowed her to have at the moment, and Sunset only had authority instead of the already existing town council because she had authority over the fifteen thousand residents that they had just brought to this town. The government really needed to speed up giving her official law enforcement authority soon if Tattered was supposed to do this job. Ponies and humans would soon start complaining about her and the Enclave being vigilantes again if there without that authority. That wasn't a fight she wanted to have.
She gave Luna a silent prayer that Sunset wouldn't try using Alex's well being as leverage against her. Sunset put on a pleasant face for just about everypony, and the humans most of the time too, but the mare was completely unscrupulous when anypony pissed her off. Lavender Mist had told Tattered about what Sunset had done with the Equestrians, and she had seen Number Crunch limping about after Sunset lost her temper with the accountant for some reason. Sunset Blessing wasn't above playing dirty to get what she wanted. As far as Tattered was concerned Sunset Blessing was the biggest criminal in town.
A criminal that Tattered was sadly beholden to. Just the way to start her law enforcement career, being put in place by a criminal and answerable to them.
She walked over to the van and did a quick knock on the door. A moment later the door opened. Sitting inside were four Enclave night ponies, two national guard humans, and Swift Strike. She carefully climbed into the van with them, and the door was shut behind her.
"Where to?" The guardsmen driving asked her.
"City hall, we'll hold him there overnight until I can figure out what else to do with him," Tattered instructed with a wave of a hoof to start driving, having made the decision that very second. It would have to do for now.
"You should just let me go. That pony had it coming to her, and I've done everything for you," Swift Strike with raspy voice, accented with pain. He hadn't gone unharmed, Sunset had squeezed him pretty tightly with her magic and hurled him extremely hard into a wall. It was a suprise Sunset hadn't tried to kill him herself; damn mare didn't want to get her own hooves dirty.
"Shut your muzzle. I don't want to hear it. Rape is a serious crime, and even though I won't be punishing you in the way Sunset wants me to that doesn't mean you aren't getting off gently," Tattered snapped.
"You wouldn't even be in your position of authority without me. All of you and your friends would still be nobodies still confined in a hospital. You owe me," Swift Strike replied with a grunt.
Tattered Wing was getting really tired of ponies telling her how much she owed them. Worse, the fact that she did owe Swift Strike for helping her bring the Enclave of Night into existence had probably been the biggest factor in why she hadn't acted before he did something like this. She had been warned about his violent behavior toward mares, and she had made excuses not to take action due to his assistance in starting the Enclave.
Hell, the Enclave had been founded on the principle that they needed to be more violent than what their natural instincts as ponies normally allowed. In that light it was unsurprising that Swift Strike had decided to seek his own twisted version of justice for perceived wrongs against him. In a sense the Enclave had nurtured this pony into being a monster.
Something had to be done to make sure these kinds of things didn't happen again from Enclave members. She would need to sit and consult with Dan and Melissa, the other surviving Broken Ones, about what might be done. Seeing them was always a painful reminder of her past mistakes though, and she didn't want any more of those tonight.
For now violence would continue to serve as an answer.
"If he speaks again I want somepony to buck him in the snout. If he continues to try to speak continue to do so. I don't want to hear his voice again until some sort of trial is arranged. Does everypony understand?" Tattered instructed the four Enclave ponies.
"Yes, Broken One," the other Enclave members said in unison.
There wasn't another peep heard from Swift Strike after that.
"There, that looks like everything is in order. Let's go over the terms and conditions one more time and then you can sign and find yourselves dinner. I apologize if this gets wordy, but I have to make sure you understand the terms and conditions for legal reasons," Number Crunch said as she pointed to the document.
"Yes, ma'am," Devon said, with suppressed excitement. She couldn't believe this was going to get this accomplished so quickly. The ponies certainly seemed eager to get them housed.
"Alright, going over the pertinent points again. You are granted a loan for the total of one-hundred and twenty thousand US dollars. This loan is for the purpose of purchasing and doing repairs if needed on a house, though you are free to spend it as you wish. You are required to provide receipt of purchase of every non-perishable item purchased or service rendered with aid of this loan. Do you understand this part clearly?" Number Crunch asked as she went over the first part.
"I understand, ma'am," Devon answered as she held Jessie tight. Robby lay in a corner looking bored.
"Next part, repayment of this loan is at a three-point-five percent yearly interest rate over the course of thirty years accrued monthly. You are not obligated to make your first payment for three years, with interest beginning to accumulate at two years, though you may make payments towards your principal before then. If unable to meet your payment obligations you may file a hardship request form for temporary delay of payments. There is no promise that your hardship request will be accepted, but it shall be reviewed. If you continue to be unable to make payments any property you purchased with this loan that exceeds five hundred dollars in value is subject to confiscation by your creditor to be resold to try to cover the debt. If the value of your loan is not able to be repaid by this confiscation any future pay from your work, money in bank accounts, social security benefits, and any tax refunds you may otherwise receive will be garnished at a rate of thirty percent until such time as when the debt is repaid with appropriate interest. Are these details clear to you?" Number Crunch asked.
"Yes, ma'am. They sound like pretty close to a normal mortgage, though with a very good interest rate," Devon answered.
"That they are," Number Crunch agreed. "Final batch of details I need to go over. This contract is not able to be changed without your consent. Your creditor is officially the United States government acting through this agency dubbed The First Pony Bank. The US government holds the right to transfer or sell rights to your debt to other agencies. You have the right to be informed of such a transaction if it so occurs. Your contract shall again not be changed if a new crediting agency takes control without express consent by you. These are your rights given to you concerning your debt. Do you understand this last part?"
"I understand, ma'am," Devon said with a nod.
"Good, then just sign my copy where I have marked on each page. You are welcome to re-read any section you wish before signing. Once you sign this will be finalized," Number Crunch instructed as she floated the stack of documents over to her.
Devon carefully sat Jessie and her blanket down on the desk then picked a pen and got to work, re-skimming through a few sections as she went. Everything seemed to be exactly as they said, with no hidden clauses that she could see. They weren't even going to run a credit check on her. Number Crunch insisted that they just desperately wanted to get the humans housed as soon as possible as making sure humans were successful was top priority to Sunset Blessing, the area's pony leader.
She finished signing and passed the documents back to Number Crunch. The blue unicorn took the documents up in her blue magical aura and quickly double checked to make sure everything was in order then she floated the pen up and made a few signatures of her own on several lines.
"Congratulations, Miss Middleton. All you need to do is a little house hunting now and you'll have a proper roof over your head before the week is out. Be quick about it, There are plenty of vacant houses, but plenty of humans that have already gotten these loans," Number Crunch said with a smile. "I've done the math on how many humans have gotten these loans. Tell me... what exactly is math to you?"
"Um, a very important subject to learn in school?" Devon answered in confusion.
"Mental-abuse-to-humans," Number laughed. "Sorry, mathematician joke, math is kind of my thing."
"I kind of guessed that. I can't thank you enough though. I didn't expect so much help with this," Devon said gratefully as she folded up her copy and then picked her sleeping filly back up.
"I'm happy to help. It feels good being able to do good for someone else and today has been a long day of helping dreams come true. This is definitely my favorite aspect of my job," Number Crunch said happily as she made a move to stand as well.
A knock came to the door then and opened to show an orange furred pegasus mare with a purple mane walked in with a dejected look. Number Crunch sat back down with a frown as the mare walked in.
"Number, I know it's late and you want to go to home to your husband soon, but Sunset has something she needs us to take care of," the pegasus said in a low voice.
"What kind of something?" Number Crunch responded with a raised brow. "Surely anything else financial can wait till morning."
"It's something else than that," the pegasus said in the same sad voice. She looked at Devon and her children then back to Number Crunch. "Are you about done here? I need to discuss this with you in private."
"We're done," Devon said hurriedly as she stood up. "Come on Robby, let's go find some dinner and then go find Miss Phobia."
"You're going to look for Phobia? Why?" The pegasus asked in an odd tone of voice.
"She had volunteered to help with watching my son sometimes overnight and I was going to see what kinds of times were convenient for her," Devon explained.
"Tonight might not be the best night to be bothering her. Her head is likely in a very bad place right now. She's had a very bad night tonight, so I'd recommend waiting a few days at least," the pegasus said with a sad shake of her head.
"I know the circumstances and concur with Tonya. Tonight is definitely not the night to be knocking on Phobia's door," Number Crunch said in a grim tone. "Maybe in a few weeks she'll be more up to things, perhaps Tonya can let her know you were trying to follow up."
"Yeah, I'll do that for you. She'll need some distractions," Tonya said with lowered ears.
"Is she okay? Did something happen? She was very nice to me and my foals," Devon asked with worry.
"We don't know yet. She's definitely hurt, physically and mentally. I'm not giving out the details, but hopefully she'll recover soon. I'll let her know you were concerned about her. What's your name?" Tonya asked.
"Devon, Devon Middleton," Devon answered. She didn't feel any better from the mare's answers. Phobia was a night pony, and Devon had a terrible vision of her getting hurt like Tattered Wing was hurt.
Tonya suddenly stiffened up and started examining Devon closely. "Did you say Devon Middleton? As in wife to Paul Middleton?"
"Yeah, that's me," Devon said with a confused look at the pegasus. "Do I know you?"
"It's complicated," Tonya said with an aggravated shake of her head. "Where's Paul?"
"He...didn't come. He drove us to the convention center yesterday and left us," Devon said in a pained voice.
"He did what!!" Tonya yelled. The fury in her voice made Devon step back. Robby bristled up and stood between them.
"I don't want to be discussing this in front of my son," Devon said in a harsh whisper as she tried to coax Robby into stepping back.
Tonya gave Robby a considering look as she defluffed her own feathers a bit then nodded to Devon. "We'll talk in a day or two. I can't believe he would...actually I believe it. Fuck my brother."
"Brother?" Devon said in confusion as she realized exactly who this pony must be. Paul's younger brother, Thomas Middleton. She didn't really know much about him other than there was a lot of family drama that no one wanted to talk about. "You're..."
She didn't get to finish as Tonya cut her off with a hiss and a raised wing. "Don't say that name! Yes, I'm who you think I am, Tonya Middleton. We'll talk soon. For now I have important business to deal with, and I'm not in the mood to deal with more family crap this second, especially family that disowned me. My best friend is in bad shape right now and I can't have this discussion right now."
"Alright...if you say so," Devon said hesitantly. If Thomas had gone to being Tonya before the transformation that might explain the family drama, her parents-in-law didn't seem like they were the type to just accept that. Still, Tonya represented actual family in town. That's something that she didn't know she had until now, and made her feel a little less alone.
It clicked in Devon's mind then that Tattered Wing had likely rushed off to attend to whatever had happened to Phobia, and that Tonya and Phobia were close friends. Tattered Wing had said that almost all the adult night ponies knew how to defend herself, and that she had jinxed it by saying that. If Tonya had been disowned by the family this was like having family hurt. Devon couldn't fault Tonya for being short with her right now if that was the case.
"And I think that is all the talk we need for tonight. I'm going to be handling a lot of the house and land purchases in town so I'll see you again soon. Take care of yourself," Number Crunch said to her with a forced smile as if the entire conversation between Devon and Tonya had not just happened.
Devon made her way out the door. As she was exiting the door she heard the Tonya start speaking to Number Crunch again.
"You need to sit down and make yourself comfortable. You're going to want to get a beer and a cigarette for this talk. I might need that too," Tonya said in a neutral tone. Devon didn't hear anymore as the door slammed shut behind her.
Number Crunch really wanted to put her past behind her. To this point she thought Tonya wanted to help her with that, what Tonya was asking her to do on Sunset's behalf tonight made her question the pegasus's sincerity.
"Sunset can go screw herself. If she really wants Swift Strike dead she can kill him herself and bloody her own hooves. I'm not going to do it," Number said in the firmest tone she could manage.
"She can't, it would be too obvious if she did it," Tonya replied with a downcast stare at the floor.
Number brought her head low to the desk as she answered in a harsh whisper, "Well then, I guess he's going to live or she's going to have to find another pony to be her hitmare. I've never actually killed anypony myself and I'm not about to start."
"You've arranged killings in the past. You're the only pony she trusts to deal with something like this," Tonya answered in a low voice.
"That was me as a human, that was Annette Crowfield. I'm not that person anymore, I'm Number Crunch now, and I'm going to be a good pony that does the right things. I'm starting over with a clean ledger," Number said firmly once again.
Tonya raised an eyebrow at her. "You're the pony that threatened to plant Phobia into the ground if I'm not mistaken. It seems to me that you've got a fairly bloodthirsty side to you still."
Number Crunch lowered her head in shame and turned away from the orange pegasus. Why'd she have to bring that up? Tonya knew that she had already accepted her punishment for that, and that wasn't what she wanted to be.
"I did my time for that. You know I submitted myself for punishment on that because I knew I was wrong. Why are you rubbing that in my face now," Number said in a hurt whisper.
"Perhaps you should explain to me why it happened at all if that isn't your nature?" Tonya suggested.
"I really don't know what got into me that day. She started talking and I just started getting so angry, it was like she was pulling the worst parts of me to the surface. That shouldn't have happened," Number said after a long moment of silence.
Tonya stared at her for a long moment with an unreadable expression before continuing. "It was like she was getting into your head? Pulling all the parts of you that you fear to the surface, is that it?"
Number nodded sadly. She hated to admit that those parts of her were still there, but Phobia had pulled them all to the surface with just a few short sentences. Was she such a vile pony that it was easy to set her off? Was she really still just as much a monster as she was when she was a human--or worse?
"Phobia and I are going to need to have a talk about responsibly talking to ponies," Tonya muttered to herself then shook her head and sighed. Number raised a confused eyebrow at that strange comment, but before she could ask about it Tonya reached over the desk and put a hoof on Number's foreleg. "I know you want to do what's right. I know you want to do good. Swift Strike is a monster that will hurt ponies in the future if he isn't put down. You don't want him to hurt anypony else."
Number shook her head to clear it, it felt foggy for some reason. She then looked back at Tonya. "No, I don't want him to hurt anypony else, but I don't want to be a murderer."
"You want to do what's right. Ask yourself, is it right to let him have an opportunity to do this again to some other mare? Is it murder to put down a monster? You want to do the right thing for the sake of other ponies. Isn't this the right thing?" Tonya asked slowly, enunciating each word with perfect clarity.
"What if he could change? I changed, maybe he can too," Number said as her head swam. She felt like she making up excuses to stop what must be done. It felt so clear that he deserved death as she considered Tonya's words.
Tonya sighed as she lowered her ears. "That's a fair point. I'll go with you then, and I'll find out if he can be redeemed or not. I don't want any pony that doesn't need to die be killed either. That way we can both be sure that the right thing is being done. You can watch me question him and if something has to be done you can have your conscious assured you did the right thing."
"Where's he being held? And how do we keep anypony from knowing what we're doing?" Number asked, as she gave in. She still didn't feel right about this at all, but she'd have the chance to find out if he was really as irredeemable as Tonya implied.
Tonya pointed a hoof to the wall. "He's on the far end of the other hallway right now. The room looks exactly like this one, only with no computer. We're going to let him escape and then follow him."
"Let him escape!" Number whispered in shock as her ears flattened. "Are you crazy! What if he gets away from us? How are we supposed to get him apprehended again? How do we even get him out?"
"There's a vent just like the one in here that exits straight to the outside. A night pony wouldn't be able to open it on their own normally, but you can use your magic to open it up to where he can crawl through. Since the room looks like this one you should be able to picture it perfectly to be able to do it without line of sight," Tonya explained as she gestured to this room's vent.
"And what do we do once he gets out? I assume you'll be standing by to track him, but how are we supposed to bring him back?" Number asked as she examined this room's vent.
"If he doesn't show he can redeemed we won't need to worry about that part. If he does show he can be redeemed you can pin him down with your magic and I can fetch the Enclave ponies to come recapture him. We'll be doing our civic duty recapturing a dangerous criminal," Tonya said as she grimaced down to the floor with her forelegs folded in front of her.
"I still don't feel right about this," Number said.
Tonya took a deep breath before answering. "Let's put this in a different perspective; if humans hear about pony rapists it will become another reason to demonize us. I know that there are plenty of human rapists, but the one thing we have going for us with humans is we come off as passive and harmless as a species. We can't let them start thinking we're dangerous."
"And killing a pony ourselves is going to be better how?!" Number demanded as she stood up in her chair, almost forgetting to keep her voice down.
"They don't have to find out we did it. If they find a body it can be blamed on wild animals or violent humans. There's no reason for them to suspect a pony," Tonya asserted as she looked Number in the eye.
"Maybe, but it still feels wrong," Number grumbled as she settled back in her seat.
"You want the best possible future for ponies, you want your fellow ponies safe from monsters like Swift Strike, and should be willing to go to any lengths to get what you want," Tonya said, again using that slow and deliberate tone.
Number shook her head again as she considered what she wanted. She didn't want to be a murderer but she didn't want Swift Strike to have the opportunity to do this again.
Tonya was right, Swift Strike's actions could not be allowed to be repeated. She didn't want to kill a pony, but if it came to it that was for the greater good. This wasn't murder, this was justice. She'd possibly be less of a good pony if she didn't take action. This was a pony that deserved death, and it took commitment to the well being of her fellow ponies to do what needed to be done.
She might feel really uncomfortable doing this, but she knew in the end it was the right thing to do.