//------------------------------//
// The Truth 
// Story: Red Velvet and the Red Dawn 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

	Red smiled to himself as he wiped the blood of the sword he had acquired from Prince Blueblood, very satisfied with the outcome of his latest killing. Filthy Rich had screamed for the entire hour he had been awake, not that Red really cared so much about it since he had scream proofed his ears. During the death of his latest target he had ransacked the pouch he had found and discovered several bits laying around, giving him several more coins to add to his collection.

Now, however, Filthy Rich was dead and he needed to dispose of the body, which was quite easy since he had installed a disposal system that allowed him to drop the body into the lake beneath the ruins. Or more like the blood lake that was corrupted thanks to the continuous blood pouring into the water and the dropping of bodies into the depths. He flipped a switch and the bed raised itself as the body slid right off, right into the open pit and the corrupted pool that waited for it.

"I see you have made some changes to the castle since I was last here."

Red turned around to see his employer, the mysterious Lady Artemis, walk on in from the hallway, dragging two ponies in by their tails. One of them was a unicorn mare of similar age to the Elements of Harmony, dressed up like a spy with a suit that happened to cover her cutie mark. The second pony was a black coated changeling, one that wore a a wrapping around her side as if it had been harmed by something recently. The two of them looked like they had been bonked on their heads from behind and had been knocked out as a result of the action.

The question was; where had Lady Artemis acquired them from?

"I wanted to make it easier to dispose of the bodies," Red admitted, turning to face his guest as the trapdoor closed itself, "then it dinged on me one night, the forgotten lake below the ruins was the best place to dispose of all the bodies and all the blood. It has, in essence, become a blood lake. Now, who are these fine ponies you have brought to me?"

"I believe this is young Written Quill," Lady Artemis replied, strapping the unicorn into the table and placing a ring around her horn, "Apparently she is a member of the Nexus, the network that has dedicated its time to hunting you down and bringing you to justice. Their director, a stallion by the name of Fury, has recruited this changeling into helping them bring you in or kill you in the process."

"The times have truly fallen if the Princesses are resorting to using one of their sworn enemies to solve a personal crisis." Red said, locking the mare onto the table before doing to same steps to the changeling that had been following him, "I know Princess Celestia has talked with the mysterious Director Fury about catching me, but to actually send a changeling scout after me is something that I wasn't expecting her to do."

"Truth be told I wasn't expecting my sister to do something so stupid that could damage the foundation of Equestria," Lady Artemis continued, shaking her mane as the two ponies were locked down tight and had their magic suppressed, "I know Chrissy made a bad decision when she invaded our capital, but she was trying to help her subjects live better. Sometimes I think Tia does some of these things just to make it so she has something fun to do while her faithful student takes care of all the dangerous entities.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm supposed to meet with her royal sunbutt soon and it doesn't do me justice to be smelling of chemicals when we see each other."

Red looked ahead of himself for a few seconds, processing what he had just heard, when the truth dawned on him and he spun around. Lady Artemis had suddenly disappeared, as if she had never been standing behind him in the first place and the dust had moved as if he had moved it. There was a secret that she had spilled while in his company, one that could mean total war in Canterlot, if not all of Equestria, if anypony else knew what he had just heard. He sighed and went back to his tools, whistling as he decided which pony to carve open first and which tool he should use to begin.

Lady Artemis, having returned to the gateway she had used to enter the ruins, was glad that the stallion had not decided to follow her at all. Her slip up with how she referred to Princess Celestia must have given Red the idea that his employer was somepony else and not who she said she was. And that was the real truth; Lady Artemis was not who she appeared to be, but there was no way she was going to openly tell a murderer who he was working for. After all of this she wasn't willing her open mouth to ruin the plans she had been planning for the last few weeks.

~Canterlot, Fury's Headquarters~

Director Fury was not a very patient pony when the security of Canterlot, and sometimes Equestria as a whole, was being threatened by one pony that was murdering others. When he had to deal with ponies stealing or breaking into stores he was very patient, ever so he didn't have to really do much to convict whoever did the deed. The culprit behind the killings, the stallion Red Velvet they believed, was very good at hiding him or herself from the Nexus and they had yet to discover where they were hiding out.

Yet was the operative word, considering they had a disturbance with Written's state of mind, which was common among those who were out in the field. She had been knocked unconscious by something, which could very well mean that she and Cherry had found the hiding place they had been searching for for the last few weeks. It was a type of magical transmitter the Nexus used, but according to the various readings it seemed that Written and Cherry were...in the Everfree Forest?

Or more like the ruined castle of the Alicorn Sisters?

Fury was slightly shocked, the castle was a place that he and the Nexus were forbidden to search by the order of Princesses Celestia and Luna. That was an order he had considered to be wrong at the time of its issuing, but now that he had a firm point of where two of his agents had disappeared in he now had something that could aid them. All he had to do now was present some evidence that the pony behind the killings was in the ruined castle and he hoped he could convince the Princess to withdraw her order.

The room he was standing in was part of his underground and above ground headquarters, which was basically two stories above the ground itself and another two below the ground. So in all he had four layers of operations, allowing the Nexus members to move around freely without running into others at all. Fury himself stood in the center of the highest story of the building, allowing him to watch over the capital of the nation while the others focused on other threats.

"Director Fury," one of the mares called out, turning her head to face him, "We have received another notice from the castle. There appears to be two other lifeforms roaming the forgotten ruins. By their heat signatures they appear to be ponies as well."

"We got you Red Velvet," Fury shouted to the room, receiving a cheer from the various members present, "Golden Wing, give the order to begin assembling the army. Bronze Clock, make sure to set up a time lapse spell so we can make the most of our time."

"Sir?" one of the mares asked, "What about telling Princess Celestia about the ponies in the ruined castle?"

"Let's take care of the stallion and his helper before we report in," the Director replied, "We're heading to Red's house to access whatever Written and Cherry found to make them arrive in the ruined castle. I would prepare yourselves for a fight mare and gentlecolts, because our opponent is a skilled user of magic. One we will bring to justice before the Princess herself."

~Red's House, Basement~

Lady Artemis stumbled out of the gateway connecting the ruins and Red's basement, glad that she wasn't followed by the stallion. She knew enough about magic to know that the Nexus was tracking the mare called Written Quill, so now they knew where Red was. As much as she wanted her plans to continue she knew that now that Red was cornered the plan was up and she had to cut her losses. And that meant that Red was going to either die at the hooves of the Nexus or be brought before Princess Celestia and be punished however she saw fit.

She quickly passed through the basement door, down the corridor that lead her past the study room, and out the front door. She lifted up her hood and returned to the shadows, choosing to rest in the alleyway near Red's house to watch and wait. If she was right about the Nexus then any minute now an armed assembly of ponies would march down the street and stop in front of Red's house. If nothing happened in the next ten minutes then her suspicions were wrong, but knowing the Director's style the ponies would be there soon.

And sure enough she saw a group of at least twenty ponies advancing towards her location, being led by Director Fury himself.

She was very surprised, she actually wasn't expecting the Director of the Nexus to make a move against Red personally. She had expected the armed forces, a high number of ponies working in the Nexus to come together to face a common threat, but not this. If he was here then that meant he felt whoever was behind the murders was very dangerous and needed his immediate attention.

Red was screwed.

"Okay then," Director Fury said, loud enough for his forces to hear him and low enough so they didn't wake anypony up, "Inside this house is the murderer who has abducted several ponies over the last few weeks, ending in their permanent disappearance. Tonight we take the fight to Red Velvet, adviser to Princess Celestia, and make him pay for the crimes against Equestria and our citizens."

And with that said the twenty ponies advanced into the house, leaving Lady Artemis alone to the rest of her devices for the night.

~The Ruined Castle~

Red smiled again and pressed the edge of his scalpel against the front left hoof of the young Written Quill, feeling the tool break the skin easily. It was an unexpected bonus for his line of work, some bonus killings for a couple of ponies that wouldn't be missed too much once he was done. He knew that the unicorn would be missed by her classmates, if she was still in school, but seeing how she was in the Nexus he figured they would have teams looking for her quickly. The changeling, however, was never going to be missed, seeing how she had likely stolen one of his victims lives to get love easily.

Too bad he was going to end her life as well.

A rock slipped somewhere and he withdrew the scalpel, his ears listening for any other movement that was unusual for the area he was in. He had grown used to the silence of the Everfree Forest, the silence that came when all the creatures were silent for the night. Right now he could hear hoofsteps, hooves hitting what sounded like smooth stone as if they were searching for something in the area. Or more like somepony.

Red realized exactly what was going to happen; the Nexus had finally caught up with him and they were coming prepared to deal with a pony capable of killing others. He would show them what happens to those who decided to try and take down somepony who was skilled in high level magic, magic that nearly as powerful as Celestia's own magic. He gently placed the tool on the tray and picked up the sword, allowing the blade to come out of the sheath while he faced the opening. Be was ready for them, but if he were to fall in battle he hoped that the Blood Rune would do something to aid him after he died.

"I should have known you guys would have found me eventually," Red called out, the hoofsteps stopping for a second and giving him a moment to count how many there really were, "I was hoping that I would continue my murder spree without getting caught for a few more weeks, but you caught me by surprise. I should have known you would have kept a lease of all of your watchdogs, making them wait for your command before coming out and attacking me directly."

There was no reply, just the silence as if he had been speaking to nothing. But when he thought there was nothing he noticed a lurking shadow and he swung the sword, cutting into someponies leg within seconds. After the first scream all heck broke loose as he dodged magic blasts and cut into others, his eyes looking for the leader of the Nexus so he could end them all.

Director Fury, always the master of stealth, was not one for fighting a battle while there were innocent bystanders around. Before he really fought anyone he released Written Quill and dragged her back to the gateway, repeating the process with his new recruit. Fury was known for being sneaky, always appearing where he was least expected and taking enemies with the fewest casualties possible. That was why when he was sure the two were secured he sent a mental link to the others to withdraw, leaving him with the target.

"I see you have no wish for any immediate deaths," Red challenged, watching Fury appear out of the shadows with no weapons to be shown, "I have wounded several of your soldiers, not that you seem to care if I cut a few legs off during a fight. How about I stick this sword in your skull and topple the Nexus in one fell swoop?"

"One does not simply behead the head of an organization," Fury replied, eying the surroundings as he noticed the Blood Rune, "but let's see what your made of."

Red swung the sword and found it blocked by what appeared to be shadows turned into a pure blade, somehow stopping his own blade. Fury's own expression remained neutral while Red's grew to anger, fueling his rage as he tried again and again to cut into his enemy. The two danced, rage meeting shadow, while the rest of the Nexus watched the flash of steel on steel. Fury played silently, keeping his eyes focused on Red while Red grew even more angry at his own failed attempts.

That was until Fury stabbed Red right in the leg, forcing his concentration off and causing him to drop the blade to the ground.

"Foul play," Red said, staring Fury in the eyes as he slowly moved himself over the trapdoor, "I should have known that you would not have played with real weapons. Now I guess I'm paying for my ignorance."

"Come in with us Red," Fury said, his one eye staring at the stallion as he picked up the fallen blade, "and I won't run you through with your own blade. You have two choices; either come in with us and face the justice of Princess Celestia or die at the hooves of the weapon you dropped."

"Buck off." Red shouted, his horn lighting up as he drew the cord that activated the trapdoor.

Just as the trapdoor opened Red found the blade he had stolen from Prince Blueblood lodged in his chest with only the handle showing. Director Fury was true to his word, either he brought himself in or he would die by the blade he had taken. Red's eyes rolled back and he stopped breathing as his limp body plummeted down to the blood lake, the resting place of all his victims.

How appropriate, Red's last thought coursed through his mind, To be buried with my victims.

Director Fury watched Red's lifeless body hit the surface of the lake beneath the ruins and sighed. The murders were finally over and the killer responsible for all of it had been put down like the dog he had been. But as he and the rest of his soldiers made their way out of the ruins he had the nagging feelings that something was wrong still. Red had been the underling of somepony else, somepony who wanted to topple the structure of Equestria for no reason.

So why did he get the feeling that he and the Nexus hadn't seen the last of Red Velvet just yet?