Damned Are the Guilty

A sigh of relief escaped the purple alicorns lips as the doors to her castle opened to her knocking, allowing her access to her home. She walked inside in a slow manner, far more tired than she had let on to her friends and teacher back at Canterlot. Her plan was to find her bath, find her bed and then sleep off the rest of the day unless another crisis popped up.

'But I'm glad I managed to get through to Ratet,' she thought with a weary smile as she walked alone through the halls, knowing that both Spike and Starlight were out at the moment. 'He had the best of intentions, but nopony was ever there to help him find a positive way to apply his magic. Hopefully with the guidance of Celestia and Luna, as well as me from time to time, he'll turn into a real magician.'

Twilight pushed open the door to the bathroom and used her magic to turn the knob above the tub. A stream of hot water descended into the tub below, while Twilight reached under the sink and pulled out a bottle of bubble bath. She smiled at the bottle like it was an old friend before applying the pink liquid to the water. The bubbles rose with her spirits and once the tub was nearly filled she slid herself into the water.

'And with this, another crisis in Equestria has come to an end,' she realized as she covered everything but her face in bubbles as she surrendered herself to their soothing touch. She cracked open her eyes and stared up at the ceiling, her thoughts of victory slowly beginning to fade as another thought crossed her mind. 'But Ratet was another being that believed that the only way that they could undo some injustice was through force and violence. Tirek, Sombra, Discord...how many more like them are out there? And how many of them will we have to face eventually?'

'So many foes and not all of them are world enders like those three...but there are just so many that seek to harm others, to use their powers for their own gain,' Twilight thought with a groan as she slid further into the bubbles. 'How many will it take before the world sees the value in harmony? And how long will we have to fight?'

She shook her head slight to clear her thoughts before her horned glowed with a light that reflected in the bubbles, pulling over a book from the counter next to her that she had been reading during bath time. She resumed her page and lost herself in her book until the water began to get tepid, telling her that she had spent enough time in the bath.

She returned her book, used her magic to remove all of the bubbles that clung to her and rose out of her tub, grabbing the towel to wipe off the water that clung to her coat. She dried herself off before she glanced at herself in the mirror, finding a pony with tired eyes staring back at her. For a moment the both of them stared at each other before they both smiled and Twilight turned towards the door while hanging up her towel.

'Silly Twilight. You can't give up. You've always got to keep fighting,' she reminded herself as she exited the bathroom and headed for her bed chambers, glancing around to see that Spike hadn't cleaned the place up like he said he was going to. Twilight shook her head with a sigh, too tired to finish the job for him. The doors to her chamber opened with a small creak when she placed a hoof upon them and she slipped inside a moment later to find everything exactly as she had left it...aside from the note upon her sheets.

Twilight picked up the note with her magic, which also provided enough light for her to see what had been written.

'Dear Princess Twilight,'

'I hope that you are doing well. I know that I could come and talk to you in pony, but since I don't know when you're coming back I figured that it would be best to leave this in a place that you're sure to see it. Of course, you might just spend your next couple of nights in the library and...anyway, the reason I left this for you is because while you were off saving the world, some rumors popped up about a village at the southern edge of Equestria losing all of its magic. While nopony can really confirm it, it seems like something that you might be interested in. There isn't much information to go on, but this could be a problem if we don't look into it. Also, a number of friendship problems, including one with a possible supervillain, arose while you and your friends were out. Don't worry, I handled it. So all that's left is your paperwork.'

'Your student,'

'Starlight.'

'That's Starlight for you. Barely my pupil for a few months and already has a handle on friendship problems. Maybe even a faster grasp than me,' Twilight realized with a proud smile. 'Maybe she's ready to take my place as Ambassador of Harmony...and maybe it's time for me to finally step up to my princess duties.'

But then Twilight frowned at the letter, already pondering whether or not she would have time in the coming days to take a trip to a place that far away from Ponyville. But the note had been written in an urgent manner and Twilight knew that as a princess it was her duty to look after her subjects, so with a weary sigh for what tomorrow would bring she moved the note to the bedside stand. Twilight pulled back the covers and slipped into them, wrapping her wings close to her body before she rested her head upon her pillow.

'And just like that another crisis pops up that needs our help,' she thought to herself with a sigh. 'Barely home for an hour and already I need to fly to the ends of the world to help with another problem. Sigh...I'm tired. So tired. But I know I need to go. I have to help them. That's my duty.'

Twilight turned over and did her best to try and fall asleep, but her mind continued to wrack her with thoughts of what she might have to do if another threat popped up like Tirek or Sombra. Unbeknownst to herself she began to practice what she would say to the threat when she encountered them. It was her duty as the Princess of Friendship.

[.45]

Smoke lazy drifted into the air while the smell of cigars filled the room where six ponies sat together in front of a large table, each of them staring down at the cards that they held in their hooves. Two of them had cigars clamped in their teeth, while the largest pony glanced over the edge of his fedora at the rest of his crew. All sets of eyes glanced to him and it was only after every one of his crew was looking at him did he let out a chuckle as he placed his cards on the table.

'Straight. Read em and weep boys," he said as he laid the cards upon the table. His crew all let out groans as they tossed their own cards upon the table, none of them able to beat him. He laughed aloud before he reached out with a stick and scooped the large pile of chips over to his side. "Don't feel bad boys, I've been at this way longer than you."

"You're also our boss and would probably kick us out if we beat you too often at cards," one of them said with a chuckle and the boss flicked his cigar at the loud mouth.

"Regardless, it's been a good day," a pony with a green visor said from beside the large stallion. "Our profits have gone up two percent and the best part is our robberies haven't come close to attracting the attention of the princesses. As far as they're concerned, these robberies are just the actions of young ponies that are wild and free. They couldn't care less with all the world ending stuff going on."

"How about a cheer to the princesses? For their inability to look into anything that isn't a magical menace!" the head honcho said with a laugh as he and the other ponies around the table all let out a cheer to the princesses, before a pony in a black suit standing next to the table began to deal a new deck of cards. "I hope each of you are making good on the princesses blindness and are doing your jobs?"

"Yes sir. Every pony at this table has robbed at least one pony in the past three days, while others are making sure to move the illegal goods around," the stallion with the visor said as he looked at a list he held.

"Excellent. At this rate we may just take over this small town. Keep up the good work and perhaps we'll-"

His words were cut off as the light-bulb in the lamp above them short circuited, casting darkness upon the ponies at the table. Each of them shot to their hooves as the rest of the lights in the warehouse went off as well, leaving them in total darkness for a moment. Those with horns caused them to glow to light the area, all of them looking around with uncertainty. Then the lights flickered back on and the ponies all let out a relieved laugh.

"Just a breaker or something going off. One of you should get to work on that before-"

The body of a pony slammed onto the table from above, getting a yelp out of the collective group. All eyes rested upon the pony, one of theirs, who was pouring blood on the table from the massive knife wound in his back...with the knife still in it.

"Holy hell it's Racer. He was supposed to be guarding the entrance," one of the ponies whispered. The moment he did so, all of the ponies began to look around once more into the warehouse, suddenly aware of the shadows within the place. "Do you think it's the princesses?"

"Look at what they did to him! He's dead! The princesses would never do something this brutal!" the boss snarled as he reached into his coat and pulled out a small dart gun. "Keep an eye on those shadows, because whoever did this is a sick bastard! Pin Stripe, take two of ours boys with you and-"

The sound of a gunshot tore through the warehouse and one of the ponies skulls exploded into a shower of brains and blood. The others had just enough time to scream in horror before a man decked out in black armor slammed onto the cards table in front of them. He aimed his assault rifle at the two ponies in front of him and opened fire, punching holes in their bodies while blood sprayed across the floor.

"Holy shit!" one of them screamed before he too was gunned down in a hail of bullets. Another of the gangsters was quick enough with his magic to construct a barrier around both him and the boss, which saved both of their lives when the bullets slammed into the shield.

"I don't know what he's using, but my shield can't take much more!" he screamed to the boss as the both of them backed away from the gunman. Even if they couldn't see his eyes, they could see the area around his eyes narrow as he realized his weapon wasn't having its desired effect.

'I need something stronger,' the Punisher thought as he shoulder his assault rifle before he swung his other gun off of his left shoulder. He grabbed it tight before he pumped it once, hearing the shell slide into place. What sounded like an explosion went off before he could fire and his head swiveled to the warehouse door, where three more ponies armed with crossbows all ran inside. He cast a glance to the pony that he had identified as the boss, seeing that he was smirking from beneath his shield.

Without a second thought the Punisher pulled out a pistol and fired three quick shots, causing the three ponies that were running into the warehouse to fall to the ground with a new hole in each of their heads. Punisher holstered his pistol before he glanced back at the two behind the shield, glad to see that neither of them was happy now. He fired a blast from his shotgun and the barrier shattered into hundreds of pieces, causing both sets of eyes to drown with horror as they could only stare at the man with the white skull.

Punisher hopped off the table and marched over to the two ponies, both of who were too terrified by what they had just witnessed to even tease the thought of running away. He looked from one to the other before he glared down at the boss pony, kicking him in the chest and sending him sprawling onto the ground.

"I'm only going to ask once. Where am I?" the Punisher asked the pony in a tone that was completely devoid of emotion.

"W-what do you mean where are you?" the boss stammered out with fear. Punisher sighed before he reached down to where his pistol was holstered. "Whoa wait a sec, I'll tell you! You're in Delemare, in the south east corner of Equestria!" the boss stammered out, but his eyes widened even further with terror as the Punisher grabbed hold of his pistol and pulled it out of its holster. "Wait! I'm talking! I'm-"

BANG!

A scream erupted from the goons lips as the bosses head snapped back, his body slumping to the side as blood poured from the hole in his head. The Punisher stared at him for a second before he took aim with the pistol, aiming right between the goons eyes.

"I'm only going to ask this once. Where. Am. I?"

"You're in Equestria! A land filled with magic and creatures of all shapes and sizes!" the goon blurted out as quickly as he could, trying not to wet himself. "Since it doesn't look like you're from around here this place is ruled by two alicorns and is mostly dominated by ponies! This is Delemare, a small, out of the way town at the edge of Equestria! Is there anything else you need to know?!"

"How many crime rings are in this town?" the Punisher asked.

"There's only us! This place is so far out of the way that nopony wants to waste any time here! We're the only ones, I promise!" the goon spewed as his while body shook.

"No. You were the only ones."

His pistol fired again and the pony fell to the ground without another sound, leaving the Punisher alone in a warehouse filled with all sorts of items within crates. He marched over to a desk that he had seen coming in and tore it open, finding a map of the land that he took. Nothing else within the desk seemed valuable, so he headed towards the exit of the warehouse. Yet just as he prepared to leave into the night, he spied something that caught his eye.

[.45]

"...and then these punks snatched my purse, pushed me down and ran off into the night," an old mare said to one of the few police ponies that was stationed in Delemare, who was writing down what the mare was saying in a notebook. "I have no doubt they're connected to that gang that showed up here a year ago!"

"If that's the case, them I'm going to need backup if I'm going to help you," the police pony said with a sigh as she pushed her hat back and gazed up at the street light that they were standing under. "But look ma'am, it might just be easier to get a new bag. Dealing with these goons might be more than we can handle. I'll see what I can do, but-"

Her words went silent when the both of them heard the sound of something approaching. Both the old mare and the police pony turned their heads to see a figure walking towards them, one that was barely visible in the light. But was perfectly visible was the white skull upon his armored chest...and the fact that even as he stepped into the light his eyes were still cast in shadow. Both ponies could only stare as the man walked up to them, twice the size of them and far more menacing. He looked from one to the other, before he extended an arm and dropped the old mares purse on the ground.

The two ponies stared at it for a moment before the man turned and began to walk away, neither of them daring to chase after him. All they could do was watch as he moved further and further into the darkness, before he completely vanished into the shadows from where he came.