Damned Are the Guilty

The scream of a child snapped Frank back to his senses and a moment later he shot up off the floor, ready to fight to the bitter death. But as the memories faded and reality sunk in, he found that he might not be having to fight as soon as he thought. He glanced around to see that he was incased in a cell that looked to be made entirely made of crystals, crystals that looked incredibly tough. A few bits of furniture decorated the area, but what drew his full attention was the purple alicorn sitting on the other side of one of the crystal walls, smirking at him.

"Well well, the fearsome human finally awakens," Twilight said in a mocking voice as Frank slowly walked over to the wall, placing a hand on it. The moment he did so he felt a powerful current of magic surge through his hand, forcing him to release he grip. "Yeah, I wouldn't do that if I were you. Not unless you want pure alicorn magic rocking through your body. But by all means, go ahead and try. I'd love to see how much you can take."

Frank glanced behind him to see there was a small window that was also covered in crystals, but aside from the sun he couldn't see anything through the tiny hole. He frowned before slowly turning back to glare at Twilight, who was smirking up at him.

Frank looked down at himself to see that he was also missing a few of his items. Almost all of his guns had been taken, along with his bullet proof vest with the skull on it. All he had was his black, long sleeved shirt, his combat pants and combat boots. They had even taken his gloves.

"I would have let you keep your toys, but since you don't seem to share well with others I figured it wouldn't be fair to let you have your things," Twilight continued on in a mocking voice from the other side of the cell, getting Frank to watch her talk with narrowed eyes. "And stop giving me that glare. It's not going to work. You're trapped in there. Hell, you're trapped in the best prison that this world has to offer. You're going to be in here for a long time."

Frank wanted to laugh at her statement, as no prison had ever held him for long, but as he looked around past the crystal cell he realized that her statement might be more than just bragging. What looked to be teleportation pads lay around the main area that he could see, while a massive courtyard was far below him. Guards patrolled with strange weapons that Frank couldn't make out, but he knew that they would most likely hurt.

Then he remembered what he had learned from the centaurs and how close they might be to resurrecting their demonic master. He then flashed another look to Twilight, who was giving him a look of loathing. He knew it was a long shot, but if he wanted to get out of here quickly he had to try.

"I'm not the real threat here," he said in his nicest tone he could muster, but at this point "nicest" meant a cold voice that could chill anyone. Twilight smirked at him, but motioned for him to keep going. "Tirek is the real threat. If what I learned from his henchmen is true, and I don't doubt it, then there are only a few days before he rises. You have to-"

"Let me just stop you right there. I don't have to do anything," Twilight said with a cold glare, one that Frank was surprised she could make. "I know that Tirek is close to rising. My friends and I are already on it. We beat him before and we could do it again. But I had to make sure I was here, ensuring that the most dangerous criminal in Equestria was behind bars, so to speak."

"You are smart," Frank said with a dry laugh. "You've already figured out how dangerous I am."

"Yeah, I pieced it together when you blew the brains out of the back of the centaurs skulls. And then we found the ones that you tortured to get that information out of them," Twilight spat back with venom in her voice. "So there is no way in hell I would let you out of there, even if Tirek is rising. You wanna know why? Because as terrible as he is, I know what to expect with him. But I don't know what you might do next. And that is why I made sure to throw you in here first."

"I'm not you're enemy. I'm theirs," Frank said one last time, but Twilight smirked and shook her head at him before turning to leave.

"Because you're not a criminal? You're not a psychopath that kills others because he wants to? That somehow you're better than those you kill?" Twilight asked in her most mocking voice yet, getting Frank to narrow his eyes at her.

"I am a criminal. I'm not better than them. But I'm a criminal that hunts other criminals. The fear of me keeps criminals from going out at night. You need me to help you with this," Frank informed her as he grabbed at the bars, but a surge far stronger than the one before it tore through his body. Frank was flung across his cell and slammed into the wall, where he slid to the ground with pain flooding his eyes.

"What I need is for you to stay in here for sixty years or so," Twilight replied in a voice as sharp and cold as ice as she chucked in a single apple for him. "After that, maybe we can talk about parole. Maybe a few years earlier if you're really nice. But until then, get comfortable. This is your new home. You'll have a few visitors, namely Luna once she's done with her mission, but after that, get used to be lonely. You'll be here for a long time."

Twilight turned and walked away after saying her peace, allowing two guards that had been hiding in the shadows to flank Frank's cell and stand there. Frank tasted blood as he rose back to his feet, but as he wiped a bit of blood off of his lips with his thumb, a thin smile spread across his face as he picked up the fruit.

'So objects can't go out, but they can come in. So the guards can pacify their inmates before they can get too rowdy,' Frank thought to himself as he started to watch the patterns of the guards, along with where they appeared and disappeared in the teleporter pads. Along with one that had a strange crystal around his neck. 'And I have a feeling everything works that way in here.'

.45

"How did it go?" Celestia asked Twilight as her former student emerged from the prison, an angry smile on Twilight's face as she exited the place. "From the expression on your face, it seems that you had quite the talk with the human. Did you find out anything about him?"

"That we may need to worry about shifting him to a nut house eventually. Because he's crazy," Twilight said with a shake of her head. "He tried to convince me to let him out so that he could help us find Tirek. And by find, I'm fairly certain that he meant kill. Not that he did a good job, because he's still stuck in there."

"Glad to see that you avoided temptation," Celestia said with a small chuckle as she and Twilight headed for the princesses airship, which had brought them there. "But did he give up anything about Tirek?"

"He said that we need his help to bring down Tirek. That we only have a few days before Tirek rises and rains fire from the sky and all that," Twilight said with a bitter sigh, one that made Celestia look down at the other princess with surprise. "I'm sorry, Princess Celestia. It's just...this is the third time that we've had to deal with Tirek. And then we just got done dealing with Chrysalis again. And then we had to stop Ratet from destroying all magic..."

"Twilight."

"All I'm saying is I'm getting tired of constantly fighting evil. Why can't evil just take a break?" Twilight asked her mentor. "You had a successful thousand years with no issues, but the moment I become princess it's like every villain in the world returns. I don't know if I can constantly fight evil every few weeks for the next thousand years. I don't know if I'm that strong."

"Well Twilight, you could always fully accept your princess duties and pass off your Element to Starlight, if you feel she is ready," Celestia suggested, getting Twilight to shake her head. "And speaking of your princess duties, you have another appointment with Ratet tomorrow. Remember, you promised to help him understand the magic of friendship and harmony."

"I know I did, princess. I just wish that all of this stuff wasn't going on all at the same time," Twilight groaned as she stared up at the sky. "He's just so hard to handle. It's like he doesn't want to listen to anything that doesn't support his opinion. Have you ever had to deal with anypony like that?"

"All the time, my former student. The trick is that you trick them into thinking that what you're saying is what they actually want," Celestia said with a wink to Twilight. "It's hard to master, but once you do it is helpful in getting even the most stubborn pony to see reason. I can show you how to do it if you wish?"

"Thank you Celestia, that sounds like something I could use," Twilight agreed, before she stopped for a moment and glanced back at the princess. She narrowed her eyes with a look of concern, before she turned and joined with Celestia again. "Do you think we should have more security in there? I mean, that human is one of the most brutal-"

"He is cruel, that is certain, but that place was created to hold the strongest of monsters and the most powerful of magic users. Without his weapons, he will not be getting out of there," Celestia assured Twilight as she glanced up at the sky, smiling when there wasn't a cloud in the sky. "But let us move on to happier topics. Anything coming up that you are looking forward to?"

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to stopping Tirek and then spending the next six weeks in my bubble bath," Twilight replied, getting Celestia to smirk.

"That sounds like a good idea, Twilight. Perhaps I should try a bubble bath once more."