Child of the Ransom Victim

Friday, June 17

The Present

Everything was pitch black at first. After a little while, a droplet of light dropped into the darkness and spread until Thunderlane’s vision was completely flooded. Once the light soaked into his vision, he saw vague blurs of color and motion until everything started to come into focus. Now completely out of his flashback memory, he looked around the brightly lit room, unsure if he recognized the place or not.

“Where am I?”

A crass voice answered him back. “Well I would think you would know where you are, you broke into this place after all. You must’ve fainted or something… I don’t know, I’m not a doctor or anything.” He strutted over to Thunderlane. “I do, however, have enough medical knowledge to know that Shiverwind isn’t coming back from the dead and although I did take the liberty of tying you down to this here table, I would never stoop to your level.” He backed up. “I know you killed him, you don’t have to waste your energy denying you killed him.”

“I want to know how you know.”

“I’m not going to give criminals the luxury of knowing how they bucked up.” Thunderlane pulled on the chain link bindings holding him down on the table. “Consider yourself being tied up as a preview of where you’ll be.”

“You… can’t…” he struggled to say anything at all, he had been found out.

“Can’t what? Throw you in jail? No. That’s the job of the police department. I’m simply here to point their hoof in the right direction.”

Thunderlane thought long and hard before saying, “You’re a vigilante, then.” He remembered Breezefly talking about something like that… he was very passionate about law.

“I guess I consider myself that.” He rubbed his hoof on his chest and looked at it. “But don’t you lecture me on the law, you murderer; sometimes ponies need to take the law into their own hooves when criminals cover their tracks so meticulously as you did.”

Thunderlane remembered what Spitfire said earlier. “What about Drifter and Emerald Skies? You accused them and they were innocent… so much for just vigilantism.”

Firestorm dropped his sarcastic edge. “That’s different,” he snapped.

“How?”

When Firestorm didn’t respond immediately, Thunderlane knew that his question successfully stumped him. He framed Drifter. Suddenly, he thought of something. Firestorm framed me as well… except that I actually did what he accused me of. He’s been guessing all this time and for me, he guessed right. Even after Thunderlane thought this, there was still silence.

“You got me.” Firestorm walked over to Thunderlane and untied his chains from the table, allowing him to move around. “I’ll tell you what. I will tell you how I found out… and I’ll tell you everything else, everything there is to know about me. I’ll say everything in court after the jury makes up its mind.” Firestorm casually trotted away from Thunderstorm and to the front door. “Have fun rotting in prison.”

“Where are you going?”

His eyes brightened and he laughed. “To the police station of course.”

“Oh no you don’t.” Thunderlane threw off the rest of his chains and rocketed straight at Firestorm, kicking him square in the chest.

Unfortunately, Firestorm recovered quickly. “I knew you were gonna fight. Come on,” he barked, “show me how a murderer fights. Fight me with the same anger you used to kill your fillyfriend’s father.”

“Shut up, you bucker.” Thunderlane threw a kick, but Firestorm easily blocked the assault.

“I don’t think so. I’ll tell everypony in Cloudsdale and soon enough, everypony in Equestria will know that Thunderlane killed Shiverwind so that he could have a clear path to the Wonderbolts and so that he could hold dear Cloud Chaser in his hooves for forever.” Firestorm smirked before he threw a kick at Thunderlane’s face, imprinting a hoof mark.

“That’s not true. That’s not why I… I will tell the truth about what I did… and what you did to my fillyfriend.” He kicked lower this time and strangely enough, Firestorm didn’t react as quickly when he shot low.

“Who are you gonna cry to? Who’s going to hear the poor, pitiful tale of Thunderlane the murderer?” He straightened up his voice. “Who’s going to show you mercy after what you did?” He waited. “Nopony!”

“But you-”

“-Yes I did. I raped Cloud Chaser. So what? Once I report you, once I tell the police that you confessed, it won’t matter anymore.” Firestorm leaned in close. “Besides, in a depraved city like this, who are they going to choose to save first? Huh? The one-time offense rapist or a murderer who continues to cover up his crime and put the ponies he knows around him in jeopardy? Thunderlane, might I remind you, I committed the lesser of two evils.” Firestorm turned around, confident that Thunderlane wasn’t going to attack for a little while. “I think I know why you broke into my house. I should have predicted it after I raped your fillyfriend.”

“What?” Thunderlane’s eyes searched for the answer.

“You tried to cripple me enough so that you could drag me to the police. Once there, you would’ve confessed that you murdered Shiverwind and that you were ashamed and guilty and so on… and then you would’ve immediately jumped up in defense of yourself. You would’ve declared, ‘Cloudsdale, this stallion raped my fillyfriend, but I, the white knight Thunderlane, who no longer has a single tarnish on his armor, have captured him and brought him to you,’ and the police would’ve believed you because they, after all, want to see the friendship of magic conquer the day. And what better way to achieve that goal than to have Thunderlane, the white knight, capture the rapist to clear his own name?” His calm voice shook as it grew louder and more fierce. “Everypony would’ve walked away happy… except for me, who would’ve been stuck in prison, paying time for your crime.” Firestorm was yelling at this point. “But that didn’t happen, did it? You were about to capture me, but then I forced you to remember your conscience, I forced you to remember your past, and you fainted. I’m not sure what magic was at work, but I guess I can say that Celestia defends the truth.”

“You liar,” he mumbled under his breath.

“What part of that was a lie? Go ahead Thunderlane, play the victim, you might as well practice your acting skills before you’re thrown in jail.”

“No, Firestorm.”

“I’m done with you. I’m leaving.” Firestorm spread his wings over Thunderlane and in a few large flaps, he flew out the front door of his and his little sister, Spitfire’s house.

Thunderlane managed to shake off the last of the chains. That was weird. I don’t remember going unconscious at all. The quietness of the house reminded him that Firestorm was en route to the police station at that very moment. I can’t just follow him. He thought on his hooves. Cloud Chaser’s still outside, I have to go back home.

Kicking the door out of the way, and leaping outside, he noticed that Cloud Chaser had left.

“Shit. Where is she?” It doesn’t matter, I have to find her before that bucker gets to the police station. Thunderlane spread his wings and launched into the air, flying faster than he did at any point during cadet training. “Come on, come on. My house has got to be close.” He scanned the entire city of Cloudsdale before he saw his neighborhood in the distance. “Finally.” Ugh, he’s probably there already… I just need to get in and get out.

Whirls of cloud spun around his hooves when he hit the ground hard. His house was normal and unchanged, but it looked completely changed now that his free life was about to end. Instead, the house loomed over him and it seemed that with every step he took towards the house, the house only moved farther and farther away from him. Finally reaching his front door, Thunderlane body slammed the door opened and ran inside, expecting Cloud Chaser to be sitting somewhere within earshot.

“Cloud Chaser. Cloud Chaser?” She must not be here.

Thunderlane turned towards the door to fly off again when somepony boomed, “Well, well, well.”

Thunderlane turned around, eyes wide open.

“This reminds me of the same thing that happened here almost two months ago. I was standing on the porch after you had finished burying Shiverwind’s murdered body. Why have you taken so long? I told you what you needed to do to redeem yourself, to bring that old Thunderlane back.”

“Breezefly, I don’t have-”

“-Time for this? You’re right, you should hurry up and get to the police station and say that you murdered Shiverwind out of anger before a lying accuser claims you murdered him out of personal gain. Turn yourself in. Go, don’t waste your time.” Breezefly hid his face and he looked strange, as if he was sick.

“You know, the stallion who raped my fillyfriend somehow found out that I murdered Shiverwind.”

“I’m not surprised. Early this morning, there was a stallion who went into the Letter Law Litigation Firm and, according to what I heard, he accused you first. Your rapist must’ve found that information out from him. You have two stallions who want to see you charged with first degree murder and that number’s only going to rise if you wait.” Breezefly still covered his face.

Thunderlane thought about what he said, and he narrowed his eyes. “Well, Breezefly, if you really thought about everything, then can you explain to me exactly how I’ll stuff Cloud Chaser’s rapist in jail when I’m already in prison myself. Did you ever think of that? Huh?”

Nothing happened for a little while until Breezefly turned to face Thunderlane directly, uncovering his face. Breezefly was holding back tears. Thunderlane didn’t understand why he was so upset, Breezefly was usually too cold and mechanical to feel any kind of emotion, but a guilty feeling crawled inside and rested in his throat.

“Thunderlane,” he managed to say in his normal monotonous voice, though it was in danger of breaking up, “what happened to you? What happened to your strength? You used to be my friend. I used to complain about how you were so brazen all the time and you used to complain about how I only saw things in black and white. I remembered when you were going to become a Wonderbolt no matter what life threw at you. Now you’re just a shadow of your former self.”

“Breezefly, you don’t understand. I… I…” but he couldn’t think of anything authentic to say.

“Remember our deal before you talked to Spitfire? I said that as long as you make capturing this rapist about protecting Cloud Chaser, I will help you. I’ve thought of a way to fix all of this. I’ll go with you to help capture this rapist and then I’ll take care of the rest, it’s my job after all.”

“Oh, thank Celestia, Breezefly. I really need the help.”

“But,” Shiverwind turned his head up to stare vertically into Thunderlane’s eyes, “If you make capturing this rapist about clearing your name of murder, then I’ll walk away from you for forever. You’ll have nopony to bail you out, you’ll have nopony to visit you in prison, and I won’t forgive you. Understand?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t think you really know what will happen to you if you make this about yourself. You will lose everything and everypony,” he growled as his eyes watered red and the end of his mouth twitched a little.

“I understand, Breezefly. This is all my fault anyway. That’s exactly what he said when I tried to capture him earlier.”

“He said that you shouldn’t arrest him for clearing your name? That stallion is a lot smarter than I thought… but he is right.” Breezefly put his hoof up to his muzzle in thought. “Besides, even if you did arrest him for the sake of cleaning your record… you wouldn’t be able to do it…”

“Why not?”

“Because rape is not as grave of a crime as murder is. I’m sorry, but your murder of Shiverwind is a worse crime that Firestorm’s rape of your fillyfriend was. You and I both wish it wasn’t, but that’s the way it is.”

“That’s what he said as well… but, it-”

“-I don’t want to argue about it any longer; you know what you have to do. Think about it, Thunderlane, where would Cloud Chaser be when you’re not around?” Breezefly said as he wiped the frustration off his face.

Gears turned inside his head as Thunderlane thought about she could be. “The orphanage.”

They both nodded at each other before walking out the door, spreading their wings, and taking off to the skies heading north towards the downtown area. Only the whispering wind flying through their feathers made any kind of sound; the two of them couldn’t seem to talk casually anymore.

As Breezefly and Thunderlane flew over the police station, Breezefly remembered something. “Thunderlane wait.”

“What?”

“That rapist isn’t going to go tell the police about you,” Breezefly declared firmly.

A few different reactions stirred Thunderlane’s face into a confused look as he couldn’t decide if what Breezefly said was a good thing or not. “Why wouldn’t he?”

“I know that sort of criminal,” he huffed as he tried to keep up with his much faster friend. Thunderlane slowed down a bit.

“What do you mean?”

“If he knows about your murder and if he raped your fillyfriend, then… I think he’s trying to blackmail you. What happened last night was only a warning.” Breezefly’s eyes darted around as if to gather more information.

“I still don’t-”

“-Thunderlane, he’s going to tell everypony that you murdered Shiverwind unless you hand over Cloud Chaser to him. He’s probably at the orphanage… he must know where she is.” Breezefly thought of something else on the fly, “Or maybe since she is missing, Firestorm already has her in his possession and will force you to confess your crime as ransom for her return. This criminal is probably going to want some sick and demented satisfaction before he turns you in.”

“It’s a good suggestion, but how can you be sure?”

“I can never be completely sure, but I have good reason to believe that this might definitely be the explanation we’re looking for.”

“Why?”

Breezefly cocked his head to one side before remembering an infamous case a few months back. “Do you know the story about Emerald Skies and Drifter?”

His eyes widened. Spitfire told me that story, her brother Firestorm framed Drifter for murdering Emerald Skies. Firestorm said it himself too. But how does Breezefly know about that story? It’s such a low profile case. Thunderlane thought for a moment. If I say no, then I’ll be lying, but if I say yes, then I might miss something important. “Go on.”

“Drifter did not kill Emerald Skies, that’s for sure, but before Emerald Skies’ stunt incident, the two did get in a fight the night before the rally. Then, of course, Emerald Skies tragically died when trying to perform the Buccaneer Blaze and the court figured out that it was because Drifter bucked up her wings when they fought. Somehow, a stallion—I’m forgetting his name—must’ve found out the cause behind the crash. Well, he threatened to ruin Drifter’s reputation unless Drifter confessed that he abused his fillyfriend the night before the rally.

“Even though Drifter was terrified since he didn’t know how that slimy stallion figured out what happened, he refused to pay the ransom since he figured that nothing could possibly be worse than admitting that a stallion beat up somepony he loved. Unfortunately, what he did was worse, he accused him of murdering her out of jealousy for her awesome stunt skills and Drifter was thrown in prison. Luckily, Spitfire found out the truth and although the details are blurry, I know that Drifter was set free. If Cloud Chaser’s rapist is anything like the stallion who accused Drifter of murder, you’ll be forced to make an impossible decision. Hopefully it won’t come to that.” Breezefly’s anger for Thunderlane’s crime vanished after he told the story.

Thunderlane wanted so desperately to say, They’re the same ponies. It’s Firestorm, but he simply murmured, “I understand.”

Not too long after the story did Breezefly and Thunderlane touch down outside the orphanage house. It didn’t take Thunderlane long to notice that practically every police pony in Cloudsdale surrounded the building. Many bystanders curiously watched the scene even though nothing much seemed to happen.

Another crowd of fillies and colts huddled together surrounded by a few dozen police ponies warning the two of them that the building was completely evacuated. Flitter and another mare Thunderlane recognized spotted him from across the crowd.

When Flitter tried to run past the crowd a police stallion said in an official voice, “I’m sorry, but we can’t leave until the premises are completely secured.”

“Can you at least let Thunderlane in?” The mare standing beside Flitter said, she was the director of the orphanage from what he understood.

The guard turned to face Thunderlane. “You must be Thunderlane. Thank goodness you’re here; since you live with Cloud Chaser, the police would be more than willing to let Flitter leave.” The stallion backed up a little when he saw Thunderlane’s worried face

“Where’s Cloud Chaser?”

He looked back to the other cops in confusion. “I thought she was with you,” he finally said.”

“Cloud Chaser is missing then.”

“It must’ve been him,” the guard said quickly. “This place is on lockdown ever since we got a report of a mysterious stallion was creeping around the place. We thought we had accounted for every child, but it looks like Cloud Chaser is gone. It must’ve been him.”

It’s Firestorm. “Do you know what he looks like… the creepy stallion?”

“Well, one of the younger colts thought he saw an orange coat and a grey mane, but he also said that the stallion was super fast, making him hard to detect.” The stallion looked confident with himself after he gave the report.

I have to tell them about the rape now or else I won’t get anywhere. “That description sounds exactly like the stallion who raped Cloud Chaser last night. And now since she’s missing… the same stallion must’ve come back here and kidnapped her.”

Breezefly knit his eyebrows together and turned away. That description also sounds familiar, where have I seen that color coat and mane before? He put a hoof to his forehead trying to recall his memories.

“Hey Thunderlane!” A voice shouted from a ways away and Thunderlane immediately noticed a familiar tan police stallion.

“What’s up, Bucko?”

Bucko exhaled quickly, he never like dealing with sensitive issues. “Hey, I know you’re gonna knock everypony else out of the park during the final race. I want to see your face on those Wonderbolt posters for a change.” His smile evaporated once he remembered the bad news he had to deliver. “Look, Thunder, I have bad news.”

“What is it?”

“The search parties we sent out to find Shiverwind’s body all came back this morning with nothing to show. Since it’s been almost two months since his disappearance, the police have no choice but to declare that he has died. I know your fillyfriend would be upset. Are you okay with this?”

I killed him. “I’m okay.”

“Speaking of your fillyfriend Cloud Chaser, where is she? I know she’s not with you. I don’t know if you mind me asking, but it’s just that this place is on lockdown because of a stallion lurking around this place.” Bucko’s face contorted in anger at the thought of the stallion.

“Eh… I don’t know where she is. We think that the stallion that came here ran off with her.” Thunderlane sighed knowing he didn’t have to lie.

“Aw shit,” shouted Bucko.

Breezefly whispered in Thunderlane’s ear, “Tell him.”

“What?”

“Tell him about the rape. Bucko doesn’t know about all the accusations floating around.”

“Fine,” Thunderlane whispered back before turning back to Bucko. “I have to tell you something.”

“Yes.” He raised an eyebrow.

“Last night after you left, I decided to go see another one of my friends, Breezefly over here, and Cloud Chaser went to visit her sister at the orphanage. When I came back from my visit, I found out that Cloud Chaser was raped on her way home. When I talked to her about what happened, she gave me the same description the little colt did when he saw that weird stallion everypony’s been talking about around here.” Thunderlane looked at Bucko, then at the other cop, then at Breezefly, and then back at Bucko again.

“Wait… my sister…” Flitter tried to swallow the revelation. “Why didn’t you tell me,” she accused.

“What do you think I just did?” Thunderlane snapped.

“You’ve got to be kidding me… now that Cloud Chaser’s missing and the stallion with the same description left the property, she’s probably being…” a tense silence followed.

The other cop said bluntly, “Do you know who he is?”

Thunderlane sighed and declared, “I know for sure his name is Firestorm.”

Breezefly jumped back in shock. “Firestorm? Oh, buck me. I know that name. He was the stallion who accused you of murdering Shiverwind; he was the first to walk into the law firm in Cloudsdale Square. I thought there were two different stallions. You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Bucko boomed, “Thunderlane would never murder Shiverwind.”

Thunderlane ignored him, whipped around to stare Breezefly straight in the eye, and roared, “you knew all along?”

“I didn’t know Firestorm was the rapist you were looking for until just now. You never told me a name.”

“He must’ve told you how he figured out…” but Thunderlane stopped himself when he remembered that Bucko and the other police ponies were standing behind him.

“Firestorm,” Bucko grumbled, “he’s the one that framed Drifter earlier this…” he turned around to face a group of guards milling around and bellowed, “Guards! Haul your flanks over to sixteen hundred Victor’s Boulevard, Cloud Chaser is being held hostage for sure.” A team of almost a dozen guards took off north to Spitfire’s mansion.

Immediately afterwards, a stern looking grey stallion with a reddish mane and tail wearing a thick navy blue uniform descended in between Bucko and Thunderlane. He stared at all the ponies around him before looking Bucko in the eye; Bucko stared back at his harsh red eyes and the scar on top of his muzzle. He was the captain of the police guard.

“Bucko. Did you say that all of the search parties were failures?”

“Yes sir,” He responded.

“There must be only one explanation for all of this. It’s the only explanation that will allow us to lock up that monster Firestorm once and for all.” Everypony took in a collective breath. “The stallion who came here earlier and raped Cloud Chaser must be the same stallion who killed Shiverwind. It makes perfect sense that for Firestorm to kill Shiverwind, he wanted Cloud Chaser all to himself and he didn’t want to have to deal with her father. Do you agree?”

Thunderlane stared into the captain’s harsh eyes, but he saw the even colder eyes of Breezefly warning him not to make this about himself. I killed Shiverwind. “Does that mean you’re planning to drag Firestorm to court?” He asked testingly.

“Of course,” he spat.

I need to tell them that Firestorm killed Shiverwind so that they can successfully arrest him and throw him in prison. I don’t want another pony to suffer the same fate as Drifter… and I won’t be next in line. He sighed, knowing Breezefly was listening silently behind him. “Yes. That’s correct sir. Firestorm did murder Shiverwind. I know because Cloud Chaser saw the confrontation go down; she told me because she was too afraid herself to tell the police.”

“Very well then. Since you said all that, you should expect for the prosecution to use you as an eyewitness. I’ll meet up with the other guards at Firestorm’s residence.”

“Good luck on your search,” Thunderlane said as the police captain and Bucko flew off to the north. The remaining guards dismissed the crowd of fillies and colts and some of their foster parents as well now that the coast was clear.

Soon, the only ponies there were Thunderlane and Breezefly who trotted right up to his face and attempted to hold back his anger.

“You… you lied to the police. Wh… what-”

“-I had to Breezefly,” Thunderlane tried to sound like he was equally as pissed off, but he couldn’t hope to match the heat boiling inside his friend, “The police told me they won’t be able to capture Firestorm unless I tell them that he also killed Shiverwind. I want him behind bars and my fillyfriend Cloud Chaser to be safe more than anything.”

Breezefly scoffed, “The police won’t be able to… that’s ridiculous. We’ll see if your right about that. You could have said right then and there that you killed Shiverwind… but you didn’t. Why-”

“-Because Firestorm would go free.” This time, Thunderlane was legitimately angry and he could feel the same fire that lit up his blood the day he murdered Shiverwind outside his house. “You’ve been accusing me of being selfish this entire time, but all I’ve ever done since my fillyfriend was raped is finding this bastard stallion. I-”

“-Don’t twist the truth. You always have your way with words. For Celestia’s sake, you even lied on Shiverwind’s tombstone. What you did back there… you denied that you killed Shiverwind.”

“You’re right. I had to in order to protect Cloud Chaser. If I admitted to killing Shiverwind, he would’ve arrested me right then and there and Cloud Chaser would be left with nopony to defend her should that rapist come slithering back to my house or back to the orphanage again.”

Breezefly short circuited, “But you-”

“-You said to me that as long as I make my mission of hunting down Firestorm about Cloud Chaser and not about my own name, you would agree to help me. I told a lie to the police because I have to be around to protect Cloud Chaser and bring Firestorm to justice. You said it yourself and you just can’t back out of our agreement. Okay?” Thunderlane didn’t even believe what he was saying.

He grit his teeth as his brain wrestled with Thunderlane’s claim. Eventually his claim pinned Breezefly’s brain down. “Fine!” Breezefly shot up into the air and loomed over Thunderlane. “I don’t care what happens to you or your fillyfriend anymore. You should never have moved back to Cloudsdale.” Breezefly flapped his wings in Thunderlane’s face before taking off in the opposite direction of the guards.

Thunderlane stared at Breezefly flying off into the distance before he hung his head. In defeat, he flew back to his cloud home as the afternoon dragged on.

Loud knocking sounds reverberated through Spitfire and Firestorm’s giant mansion. A squadron of about a dozen police guards and the police captain waited by the front door of the mansion for a response. The lights were off, the door was locked, and nopony came.

“He knows we’re hunting him down, he’s not gonna make a sound,” the police captain suggested to another cop.

“If Cloud Chaser was really in there, she’d be screaming for help for sure,” a guard exclaimed.

“Either that or Firestorm found a way to get her to shut up.” The police captain bit back at the guard before whispering to everypony present. “Listen up,” they all leaned in, “All of you have probably dealt with petty thievery and drunken brawls while you were on duty. Maybe you have even dealt with occasional intruder situations or extortion threats. However, none of you have met a criminal mastermind quite like the one we’re about to say hello to right now.”

“What makes him so bad? There’s, like, twelve of us and only one of him,” Bucko snorted confidently.

“Maybe, but before today, we’ve been going after the wrong ponies this whole time whenever a case has something to do with the Wonderbolts. Case after case after case, this Firestorm criminal has expertly framed all of his victims and we’ve never figured it out. Until today, that is.”

“But we still outnumber him.”

“It doesn’t matter how many guards we have, Firestorm will always have the upper hoof if he’s really holding Cloud Chaser hostage. He’ll kill her or something before we get the chance to arrest him. I know you’re close friends with Thunderlane; I want you to listen to me for the sake of his fillyfriend.”

“Okay.”

The captain took a quick glance at everypony before saying, “Alright guards, time to bust down these doors.”

“This is the Cloudsdale police. We have a warrant.” The guard didn’t even bother to wait for a response before bucking the door open. The door didn’t open immediately, but after he heard cracking noises, he simply leaned on the wood and busted inside.

“Spears ready,” the captain shouted.

“Show yourself Firestorm,” another guard shouted nervously as he ambled further into the darkness. “You’re under arrest for the murder of Shiverwind and for the rape of Cloud Chaser. Return her over to us and we won’t have to use violence.” Another guard eventually found the switch to the light, revealing the large and empty foyer.

“Search the house,” a second guard hissed.

“Look,” Bucko boomed as he pointed to what looked like a blanket covering a table. “What is that?”

The police captain trudged over to take a look for himself. On top of the table was a chained down blanket covering something large and eerily pony shaped. “Well, that’s got to be Cloud Chaser under all of those restraints. Let’s get her out of this mad house before Firestorm turns up somewhere; looks like we have a dash of luck on our side.”

A guard from the back of the group unlocked his tool box he brought along because he knew something like this would happen, and wielded a pair of cable cutters. He walked up to the table and said in a gruff voice, “Don’t worry Mrs. Chaser, I’ll get you out of this.”

The cable cutters sliced through the chains like they were bitter, metallic-tasting butter. The chains slithered off of the table, hitting the ground with a loud banging sound. A few of the guards jumped back at the noise.

“Oh for Celestia’s sake, you stallions act like you’re out alone on your first Nightmare Night,” the police captain chuckled. “Just pull the blankets off already,” he looked back to where a few of the guards went searching for Firestorm, “they should’ve been back by now.”

“She doesn’t seem to be responding,” one of the guards mentioned.

“Will you just pull off the sheets already,” the captain groaned as another guard bit one corner of the blanket with his mouth and revealed what was underneath.

A collection of various sheets and pillows tied up to look like a pony stared up at the guards with eyes drawn with red marker. Everypony backed up when they say the fake pony and looked around as if the walls and the ceilings of the mansion might give an explanation.

A guard from the search ran back and declared, “We couldn’t find him,” before noticing the fake pony himself.

“He’s not here.” The captain slammed his front hooves on the floor.

“Where is he? He’s not at the orphanage.”

The captain motioned to one half of the squadron and yelled, “All of you, fly back to the orphanage and make sure all those fillies and colts are safe. Reorder the lockdown if you must.” He turned to the remaining half and shouted, “As for you, fly to Thunderlane’s house and make sure Firestorm hasn’t broken in or anything. He’s targeting Thunderlane just as much as he targeted Shiverwind.”

Almost everypony flew off to their assigned locations.

“Except for you, Bucko; you’re coming with me.”

“Where?” He turned around.

“To the law firm. I have to tell the judge that,” he hung his head, “that we haven’t yet been able to catch Firestorm.”

Bucko cocked his head. “Can’t we just kill this stallion if he’s really this dangerous?”

“I asked about that, but that lump of criminal scum somehow has a defense lawyer and besides, the judge said that somepony else…” he trailed off, not wanting to tell Bucko. “Well, it doesn’t matter. Let’s go.” Bucko followed his captain out of the empty mansion.

About a half hour earlier

A long shadow stretched from the side of his house as the sun sank ever lower and as afternoon became evening. His house was now just an empty shell; no life or energy lit up the insides anymore and it was no safe house for Cloud Chaser anymore, she was long gone.

He trudged up to the front door, pulled out a key from his right saddlebag, and turned the key in the lock only to feel that it was already unlocked. Meekly pushing the door open, Thunderlane was enveloped by the darkness.

My fillyfriend is missing, I lied to the police, Breezefly hates me, and this Firestorm stallion is probably reporting me to the police right now. Turning on the switch, the light blinded him as if he never experienced it before. He turned around to face the living area of the house and he saw Firestorm casually lying down on his blue couch.

“Greetings, Thunderlane,” he said in a regal voice.

“H… how did you get into my house?” Thunderlane snarled, baring his teeth.

“Oh, just like any other civilized pony would… with a key.”

“Where’d you get the key?”

Firestorm turned his head up to look at the ceiling in boredom. “I don’t care about the little stuff like you do. What do you really want?”

“Where is-”

“-Cloud Chaser? That’s the million bit question, isn’t it? My memory is quite fuzzy, but there is something that might jog my memory.” He sat up and clapped his hooves together in excitement. “If you confess that you killed Shiverwind all those weeks ago, I might just remember where I stuffed her. Silly me, I’m always forgetting where I put stuff. Last week, I lost my contacts for a full two days and the week before, I lost my keys. I promise, Thunderlane, I’ll remember where I put your fillyfriend if you confess to the police that you killed Shiverwind.”

This is just like what Breezefly predicted would happen. He’s holding her ransom somewhere. I… I can’t buy into it. “The police. I already told them that you raped Cloud Chaser and they’re searching all over Cloudsdale for you. They knew you were at the orphanage.”

“Is that supposed to be a threat?” He scoffed. “I guess it was, but Thunderlane, if you’re practicing for your future career in prison, you’re doing it all wrong; you’re not supposed to be threatening jail guards. You should know that.” He laid back on the couch. “I promise you that they won’t find Cloud Chaser… and if I do get arrested, I will make sure that Cloud Chaser either goes down with me or goes down to the Everfree Forest without any wings.”

Thunderlane’s blood boiled and he barked, “you give her back.”

“Wait. I think I remember something about her. Yes, my memory is coming back.” His bright orange eyes burned a hole in Thunderlane’s gut. “I remember the chilling screams as I dragged her through those dark hallways in the orphanage. She called out to you a lot. ‘Thunderlane, help! Help me, Thunderlane; get me out of here.’ That’s so sweet. At least, if I remember correctly.”

“You’re not going to scare me into confessing.”

Firestorm smiled. “Oh, you’re a tough stallion, I like it. I remember something else. Thunderlane, I have to tell you that after a while, her screams got really annoying and since I’m not a masochist or anything, I decided to gag her mouth shut with some bandages I found at the orphanage.”

“Just stop,” he shouted, feeling his body shake. “Listen to me.”

“I don’t usually listen to criminals, but I’ll entertain you for this time only.”

“Firestorm, we can stall as long as long as we want, but eventually the police will find their way here and you’ll be arrested for rape. And d’you know what else they’ll do?”

“What? I can’t wait to hear this,” he said sarcastically.

“They’ll interrogate you, and if you don’t say anything, they’ll capture you and throw you in prison. Your threat won’t work on me or the police. You’ll be behind bars, you won’t be able to do anything.”

“If that’s true, Thunderlane, can you tell me where she is?” He smirked.

“Why are you so sure that she’ll die if you get arrested? What power do you have?”

He didn’t say anything in response and instead, he merely gave a confused look. Thunderlane knew he wasn’t going to be able to glean any more information from him and he resorted to racking his mind for any ideas.

“You’re really sure of yourself. I think… I think she’s in this very house. It’s the only you can assure that she’ll die if the police come knocking.” Once Thunderlane saw Firestorm’s face contort in rage, he sprinted back into his room to check to see if what he said was true.

Luckily, Cloud Chaser was in the first room he checked. She was tied down to Thunderlane’s bed with crude, frayed rope that was probably just as powerful as the chains that Firestorm used to tie Thunderlane down to his table earlier today. Her mouth was gagged with bandages, just like he said. Those pink eyes of her lit up in a vibrant mixture of relief and fear when she saw her coltfriend hover over her.

“It’s okay, I’m gonna get you out of here,” he whispered to the eerily calm Cloud Chaser.

The door flew open with a cracking sound. “Not so fast Thunderlane. I can’t let you have her back until I get the whole story from you.”

“What are you talking-”

“-You know perfectly well what I’m talking about. Y’see, since you told the police about little old me raping your fillyfriend, nopony will ever figure out that you murdered Shiverwind and that your fillyfriend assisted in the cover up and as a result, you two will go on to live happily ever after with me rotting in prison in compensation for your crime.” Firestorm reached into his left saddlebag and unsheathed a knife with his mouth. “But I won’t let that happen. I’ll make sure justice is satisfied.”

Thunderlane wasn’t fazed by the move and instead, the shimmering metal of the dagger spurred his mind into action as he pranced around, looking for a solution. He noticed his bedstand a few meters to the right of him and he spat back, “It takes two to tango, Firestorm.” Lunging towards the bedstand, Thunderlane evaded Firestorm’s heavy hoofed swipe which merely ended up slicing the mattress open. Thunderlane opened one of the drawers and pulled a knife of his own out with his mouth. “Stay away from my fillyfriend.”

“I suppose you think you’re going to scare me away with that little knife of yours, Thunderlane; you’re wasting your time,” Firestorm said through grit teeth as he held onto his weapon.

“I don’t think so.” Thunderlane glared back at him.

Firestorm groaned in annoyance. “You and I both know that we’ll both get ourselves killed if we engage in a knife fight.”

“Yeah,” he scoffed, “says the pony who pulled out his knife first.”

“Tell you what, Thunderlane. I’ll drop mine first if you do the same… it’ll be fair again.”

“I don’t trust you.”

Firestorm responded intelligently, “I’m not asking you to trust me. Do you want both of us to be killed or do you want both of us to survive? You can’t pick and choose when we are so evenly matched.” Firestorm stared him in the eyes. “I realize now that my ransom strategy failed, but that doesn’t mean you’ll run away from your crime scott-free. You’ve got blood on your hooves and there’s no point in spilling more.” Firestorm opened his mouth and let the knife fall, which clanked metallically when it struck the cloud marble ground. “Do I trust you to do the same, or are you just going to kill me like you did Shiverwind?”

“No.”

“No… what? I want you to drop your weapon and defend your fillyfriend like a true Stallion, not like a murderer. You don’t have what it takes to defeat me in hoof to hoof combat, I bested you twice. Thunderlane,” he bellowed, delivering an ultimatum, “either you use that knife to kill me, proving to everypony that you are the murderer you so fervently deny, or you drop that knife, letting me overpower you for the third time and letting me take your precious fillyfriend as ransom once again. I can do this forever. Either way, you lose.”

Thunderlane tried to think under the pressure of Firestorm’s crooked, gleaming smile. “I don’t care what happens to me at this point, I won’t let you hurt her. You’ll see how strong I really am when I defend her,” he shouted, but Firestorm’s face only degenerated into further annoyance.

“Quite frankly, I’ve already seen your strength… and I’m not impressed to say the least. You failed to defend your fillyfriend when I raped her last night and you fought me and lost not once, but twice. And here we are again. If you want to kill me to defend her, get on with it, but it won’t undo what I did to her.” Firestorm frowned, figuring that Thunderlane wasn’t really taking in the gravity of his ultimatum. “Listen buttercup, where’s your strength? You’re a cadet full of hot air, Thunderlane. You’re not strong enough to admit your own crime.” Firestorm stood menacingly across from Thunderlane; he knew he had successfully cornered Thunderlane into a decision he couldn’t possibly make.

However, after a few moments of deep thought, Thunderlane figured out a solution he should have seen a long time ago. Cloud Chaser saw the spark in his yellow eyes and she instantly knew that they were going to live another day.

“I’ll show you where I get my strength from.” Thunderlane remembered what Breezefly said to him about Cloud Chaser yesterday. He ran back to Cloud Chaser and cut the ropes bound around her with the knife in his mouth. Thunderlane had a hard time holding on to the knife with his mouth, but he nevertheless managed to slice through the rope. Next, he cut off the bandages around her mouth, making sure not to nick Cloud Chaser’s face in the process. After Cloud Chaser stretch for a bit, Thunderlane chucked his knife across the room in defiance. “Now you’ll have to deal with my fillyfriend as well, and let me tell you, I don’t think she was all that happy about getting raped and bound.”

Cloud Chaser glared at Firestorm, sensing unease stirring beneath his orange coat. Thunderlane gave Cloud Chaser a quick kiss on the cheek before muttering, “We have to defeat this bucker.”

Firestorm barred his teeth at the new development, but he quickly snarled, “This isn’t a bet I’m willing to take.” He then picked up the knife he dropped earlier and rushed towards the couple.

Cloud Chaser seemed to know exactly what to do; she picked up the rope that had fallen to the ground and threw it at Firestorm’s face. It definitely didn’t stop him, but it did distract him enough for Thunderlane to buck him into the bathroom wall, successfully knocking the knife out of his mouth.

Firestorm got up and shook off the jolt, figuring out only too late that wielding a knife was no longer an option. Thunderlane declared confidently, “Mares can defend themselves, Firestorm; this isn’t the Paleopony Period anymore. I’m strong enough to know that Cloud Chaser can defend herself as well as I can.”

Cloud Chaser chimed in. “You overpowered both of us when we were separated, but let’s see how you do against the greatest couple in all of Equestria.” She smiled at Firestorm as he backed up towards the door of the bedroom.

Firestorm’s eyes widened and darted around the room as he tried to look for a solution, an opening. After a moment or two, he shook his head and growled, “Just because your fillyfriend wants to cover your flanks as much as you do, doesn’t mean that you’ll evade my punishment.” Firestorm barely finished his sentence when he suddenly leapt at Thunderlane. Thunderlane wasn’t caught off guard this time, but before Firestorm made contact with Thunderlane, he suddenly stopped and rammed into Cloud Chaser. Successfully faking her out, Firestorm landed a few well placed kicks on her face until Thunderlane yanked him off of her.

Thunderlane thought he had stopped Firestorm, but Firestorm was simply too quick for his own good and he fired back with a side kick to Thunderlane’s jaw. Cloud Chaser rushed up to him but Firestorm noticed her as well and kicked Cloud Chaser on the side of her neck before whipping around to buck at Thunderlane. Unfortunately for him, Firestorm bucked too low and only Thunderlane’s left hoof was damaged. Thunderlane quickly recovered and rushed Firestorm down, but he aimed too low as well and Firestorm managed to hop out of the way.

Meanwhile, Cloud Chaser burst through the bedroom door and out into the main living space of the house. When Firestorm emerged from the bedroom, Cloud Chaser picked up one of Thunderlane’s empty glass bottles of apple cider and slung it at Firestorm’s head. The glass shattered on the back of the head and even though it did no damage, Firestorm reached back to feel the impact, worried that blood might be trickling where he couldn’t feel it.

Thunderlane exploited Firestorm’s reaction and bucked him in the side of his hip. Unfortunately, he recovered quickly, ducked under another bottle thrown by Cloud Chaser, and kicked Thunderlane square in the face, sending him stumbling backwards.

Firestorm didn’t pay attention to Cloud Chaser silently gliding and landing behind him and when he finally turned around, she wrapped her right hoof around Firestorm’s neck, attempting to choke from behind. His choking alerted Thunderlane who saw Firestorm writhing in pain before Cloud Chaser released him back towards Thunderlane. Firestorm recovered quickly and bucked Thunderlane in the face. This time, Thunderlane managed to shake off his headshot and bucked Firestorm again. He still aimed too low, but this time, he managed to slam his hooves into Firestorm’s legs. Another quick strike to the legs made Firestorm cry out in pain as he slowly lowered himself to the ground.

Cloud Chaser and Thunderlane loomed over Firestorm, but even though he was crippled, he still managed to hang a brash smile on his face. He chuckled softly.

“What do you want now?” Thunderlane roared.

“You’re free now. You defeated the villain.” Firestorm managed to say despite the burning sensation in his chest. “With little ol’ me out of the way, you won’t have to worry about doing jail time anymore. Even though you murdered Shiverwind, you got me out of the way, the one stallion who knows what you did, and without me, you’ll go free.”

“What are you saying?” Cloud Chaser kicked him on the side of the face.

Firestorm purred coldly, “I’m tired of playing the villain. My real purpose was to throw you two behind bars for what you did to Shiverwind, but since you’ll kill me if I try to fight any more, I’ll happily confer the title of villain onto the both of you.” Firestorm sat up and faced Cloud Chaser; he stared deep into her eyes. “I find it strange that you are so adamant about defending Thunderlane. After all, you were the one that-”

A loud knocking sound interrupted Firestorm. “This is the Cloudsdale police.” The familiar voice of the police captain rang true throughout the entire house. Cloud Chaser ran over to the door and let the entire squadron into Thunderlane’s house.

Firestorm said to himself, “Now it’s time for Firestorm the martyr to accept his fate.”

Thunderlane turned towards Cloud Chaser and said worriedly, “What was that, what was he talking about?”

“Thunder, it was… I-”

“-Thunderlane, it’s great that we showed up when we did.” Bucko smiled at his weary looking friend. “It looks like you did the hard part for us already. I knew you were always capable of defending yourself and your fillyfriend; the other police doubted you all the way here, including the captain.”

“Yeah… well I had some help with that.” He motioned to Cloud Chaser who gave a little nod.

Bucko frowned. “You definitely do not want to mess around with her, Thunderlane.” The three of them laughed for a long moment before the police captain stepped in.

“Firestorm,” he announced as he shackled him in a pair of shining hoof cuffs. Firestorm didn’t struggle, but his fierce orange eyes warned the captain that he was holding back a whole other animal. “You are under arrest for the intrusion of Loving Wings Orphanage, the rape of Cloud Chaser, and the murder of Shiverwind. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to a defense attorney and if you cannot afford a lawyer, a public attorney must be provided for you. Got it?”

“Yes,” he said.

He didn’t kill Shiverwind. Thunderlane panicked as the squadron moved towards the front door. “Wait a minute.”

“What is it, Thunderlane?” The police captain tried to paint an amiable expression on his face, but he couldn’t shake his hard personality.

“Okay, now I know that Firestorm raped Cloud Chaser and intruded into the orphanage… but you can’t confirm that Firestorm killed Shiverwind, you don’t have any evidence. I know I hate that stallion, but I don’t think he killed Shiverwind…” he faded. Thunderlane looked like he wanted to say more, but he couldn’t bring himself to confess.

“We’ll let the court decide if Firestorm’s guilty or not. As for you, the prosecuting attorney told me to ask you whether or not you would take the stand as the plaintiff,” Thunderlane looked confused, “the main prosecutor in the case against Firestorm.”

“I have to end this. Firestorm has been framing cadets for a long time now. I won’t pass up the opportunity to shut my fillyfriend’s rapist in jail. I’ll be the prosecutor.” Thunderlane paced.

The captain smiled and said, “We’ll win this case. We have two live witnesses and the best prosecuting attorney in Cloudsdale… no, in Equestria.”

“I’ll finally be free,” Thunderlane said as the police left his house. He walked back to the bathroom in order to clean up all the cuts he got from the skirmish. We’ll finally be free. Thunderlane looked up in the mirror and saw the face of Shiverwind’s murderer. I have to see the sneering face of Shiverwind’s murderer almost everyday. When Thunderlane finished washing up, he walked out of the room and stared at Cloud Chaser, realizing that he couldn’t bring himself to love her now.

He knew he wasn’t free.