//------------------------------// // Searching for Anwser // Story: SpikesXLuna the Sequel // by Faithful Brony //------------------------------// The ride to Manehatten was quite long, and Twilight couldn't think of anything to say the entire ride. She was feeling so helpless and out of place on this mission. If you wanted to ask her a question about magic or the history of Equestria, she could help you figure it out in a snap. However Twilight was out of her element tracking down underground mob ponies, or interrogating somepony for information. From what she could see, Luna definitely had enough of a group to do this without her. So why was she even here, it just didn't make sense to her. On top of that, she was worried about Spike. She thought her skills would be better suited helping the doctors at Tender Heart Hospital. Twilight knew quite a number of healing and restoration spells, anyone of them might be able to heal him. Regardless though, her mentor requested this of her and on Faust holy name herself, she would get it done. She looked back to Luna only to receive a brief glance before she got up from her seat. "Get ready everyone, we will be departing soon," Twilight said as Luna went to stand in front of the door at the far end of the cart. Twilight wondered what was going on in her cousins mind, but she would have to deal with that later. They needed to go scout the land to find their next target. Once the group got out of the train station, Luna teleported the group to a taxi that was not in use. "Taxi, take us to the Gritz Hotel," Princess Luna ordered driver before entering the cab. The others quickly followed suit and the taxi got to rolling. The ride was less then smooth but they reached their hotel well enough. the group headed in and the hotel manager was their waiting for them. "Ah, hello mademoiselle's, it is great to have you here. Your room is prepared and your package is already up there waiting for you," the manager stated while bowing to the Princess. "Thank you sir Delmont, if I require anything else I will notify you. have a good day sir," Luna wished to the manager as she teleported her group to the royal suite. The group looked at the different ornate paintings and items that lined the wall as they approached an intricately carved wood door. Shadowfoot opened the door and the group craned their necks in at the enormity of the room. It must have taken up most of the building floor, the rest belonging to the hallway leading to the room. Princess Luna was the only one to walk past as if it was normal, even Twilight seemed shocked by the size. Soon the group got pass their shock and went in to set their stuff in their respective rooms. After getting everything in and put away, the group went back to the main room to go over their agenda. "I had my pony advisors compile information into a short dossier. The target is an earth pony who goes by the name of Fire Sash. He lives somewhere in the north district and he wont be alone. The target is paranoid and has been known to travel with guards especially in big cities. The muscle is usually hired gun but he has always been known to have some extras hidden nearby. This makes it dangerous since they will probably be dressed like civilians, so be carful," Princess Luna said as she and the group headed out to go acquire their target. Manehatten was a pretty big city full of shops, hotels and all sorts of other buildings used for different purposes. The city was pretty diverse in many cultures as well as different groups and gang affiliations all around the place. It was disgusting that such vile and criminalization could be found it such a great city. The princess wished their was something they could do but it was beyond even her power to remove. Searching for the bad guys wasn't that difficult, surprisingly. Many actually knew the location and were more than willing to give him up. A lot of civilians wanted him gone and had many things to say about him. This Stallion didn't seem have very many ponies that like him. Following street, it lead to an old neighborhood that had obviously seen better days. The house at the end on the left side was where they were headed. When they got halfway there, everypony went into stealth mode and snuck up close to the location. They went through a back alley from the next to the location and around into the backyard. Climbing over a fence and a couple of bushes, they came through another alley leading up to the side of the building. Climbing up onto the fire escape rails, they scaled to the top of the building and looked through each window searching for their target. When they got to the fifth floor, Ashcloud saw a group of mob ponies and several gangsters in the room with the target. He signaled to the others and they climbed back down to talk about a plan. "Okay so what do we do, he's got a bunch of mob ponies all of which are probably armed to the teeth," Ashcloud pointing out the somewhat obvious obstacles. "I say we go in there and smash them to bit, they cant be that strong and I could use a challenge," Grondar said as he pulled out his signature giant mace with sharp spikes on the head. "You are correct Grondar, we could go in there take them down and interrogate the target, but there are more subtle routes we could take in this situation. We could distract the mob ponies and take Fire Sash without them ever knowing," Luna stated with certainty. "You could sneak in to turn out the lights, and I'll go invisible and grab Fire Sash in the confusion. If anything goes wrong, we can always fall back on Grondar to come in and take them out," Abbadon said suggesting a plan. "That could work, they wouldn't be able to see us in the darkness and they certainly wouldn't be able to fight. Either way we still get the target, i like it and I think we should try it," Shadowfoot said grinning at the high rate of success. They all nodded in agreement to the plan and began the task. Luna turned into a shadow and went through the front door to begin her task. Abbadon went invisible and went in with her to get into position. Grondar climbed up to the window and pulled his weapon out, ready to beat down the mob group at a moments notice. The rest ran to the bushes next to the front door as to pick off any stragglers to come out of the building. Luna searched around the house for several minutes before she found a small door that lead down to a dark and damp cellar. The humidity in the air was pretty thick, and cold, enough so to send a chill down your spine. She had no trouble seeing since she was use to seeing in the darkness of night. The room was not to big and so it didn't take her long to find the breaker at the other end of the room. Flipping the switch, she was met with the mechanical noise of everything in the house shutting down. Quickly retreating back to the front door, she rejoined with Abbadon and went up to the room waiting for their chance. The wait was brief as two thugs came out the door unaware of the entities next to them as they walked down the hall. Heading into the room they crawled along the ceiling immediately spotting Fire Sash in a large chair near the window. Luna slipped out the room and cast a distraction spell in another room nearby quickly sliding back into the target room. As she suspected, three more mob ponies left the room splitting up most of the group amongst the house. Abbadon quickly knocked out the target while Luna did a mind spell on the rest of the ponies in the room. To their eyes Fire Sash was still sipping on his scotch while reading the newspaper. Abbadon slipped out through the window and Luna slid through the house, out to the back alley where they came in with the rest of the group. "They'll be figuring out soon enough that there boss isn't there, we better take this interrogation somewhere more private. I have a small warehouse in a location not to far from here," Shadowfoot said as he waved the rest of the group to follow. Luna picked up the knocked out fat Fire Sash and followed her team mate. After an hour of walking they came upon a small factory that was relatively inactive. A few lights were on but other than that, there wasn't much else. Going into the factory, you could see that it was mostly gone. Machines had been torn down and removed and it was barren of anything worth salvaging. The group went through an entrance leading into an underground basement of the complex where the scene completely changed. There was a couple of small metal forging station running with a work bench next to it. In another area, there was a refrigerator and a dining area that was shaped to look like a retro diner. The last area had an enchanting station and a potion making station, both of which were ready for use. "Wow, where did you learn to make weaponized gem," Ashcloud asked Shadowfoot as he pointed at the store case above the enchanting station? "From a gem maker that I met on one of my foreign jobs. He had some tricks that I thought would improve my stealth skills and stuff I could use just in case I need to get quick away from the locals if caught. Stealing is an art form my friend and one that takes years to perfect," Shadowfoot said as he stepped down on a trigger panel. A hatch in the middle of the room opened up, lifting out a board with chain cuffs and restraints on it. "I'm a bit shocked, why do you have this," Abbadon asked as she stared at the large board? "I keep this in case I have a target of interest I need to, chat with for long periods of time. You'd be surprise how long it takes to get information out of some races on this planet. Some have a higher resistances to my method but I find a way usually," Shadowfoot said as he helped Luna hook Fire Sash up to the board. Shadowfoot laid out a bunch of torture tools that were sterile but they had a lot of wear marks on them. This was an indicator that they had seen a lot of use. This notion sent a shiver up Twilights spine, as well as several others in the group. Luna grabbed the electrical wires nearby and hooked it up to the table. "Twilight please stand back and Abbadon, Grondar, and Ashcloud, go stand guard outside to make sure no one comes near this building. Shadowfoot do you have a bucket of water, Luna asked the thief pony. His response was pulling a chain and a smale pale of water landing next to her. She picked up the pale with her magic and tossed the contents at Fire Sash's face causing him to jolt forward in shock. The stallion looked around noticing the two in front of him and a third off to the right. she however was a dark figure in the bright light that was pointed at him. "What is going on, who are you, I demand to know where you have taken me," Fire Sash said spouting out command as if it was his place to be giving them. Luna pulled a chain switch and waited. The clouds started to float down above the building forming one singular mass. Electricity shot onto a rod attached to the top of the building. The massive jolt was sent down through a series of cables into the table, sending millions of volts of electricity into Fire Sash. He screamed in agony as his nerves seared with pain from the shock. His muscles were convulsing and the veins were slowly increasing into a noticeable size. After a few more seconds Luna pulled the chain again and the surge stopped. Fire Sash collapsed into a relaxed hanging state from the board, breathing shallow from the intense pain. you will not ask the questions I will, and you will answer them correctly. If you lie I will know, and that will earn you another shock. We will continue this session until you've answered all my questions. When we are done, I will determine whether or not you will be allowed to live," Princess Luna said as her anger showed for a brief moment. "Ha I doubt that but if your going to try, good luck. I give it about five minutes before you give up and go home," the arrogant Fire Sash said to the ponies he still couldn't see fully. "Let us begin then," Luna said as she pulled the chain starting the process up again. The electricity soon came back like before and went into the rod, ending up at the table. The electricity surged through Fire Sash, sending him into another full body spasm. The prisoner screamed as his eyes started bulging out of their sockets. This continued for another fifteen second before she turned off the current. The prisoner collapsed in pain, but the chains held him up. "Who told you to send a pony to hire some assassins in Canterlot," Shadowfoot said asking the first question? "Whats in it for me, i should get something out of this if i turn over my employer," the prisoner said attempting to negotiate for his information? That earned him another thirty seconds of electricity coursing through him. When the shock was done he was in more incredible pain. "You don't get anything, you answer the questions and if you answer correctly i might let you live. Now tells us, or do i have to shock you again," the princess hinted as she reached for the chain. "NO, no, no, I will answer the question just don't do that again. one day I was working and my boss told me to hire a couple of ponies and kill a specified target. I was a bit tired and didn't feel like doing it so I sent one of my guys to go and do it for me. my bosses name is Evergreen and I would really like it if you didn't tell him I gave you this information," fire Sash pleaded for them not to. "Next, where might we be able to find him," Luna continued, not even bothering to answer him? "He runs a major operation in Hoofington which is his turf," he said not wanting to piss his captors off. "What does he do, and how can I find him," Luna asked not wanting to waste time? "He's a pimp, he has hundreds of mares who work for him. He can usually be found at Bue'vont, a high class restaurant/bar that he owns," Fire Sash said trying to be descriptive of the place. "see, that wasn't so difficult now was it. Shadowfoot write down this information," Luna whispered to the thief pony as he began jotting it all down. "So are we done now, are you going to release me," Fire Sash asked since he thought this meant he would be given his freedom? "No, unfortunately for you, I have a lot more questions to ask," the princess said as her magic aura began to glow its familiar midnight blue. her eyes glowed a menacing white and she gazed at him as he realized he was in for a world of pain.