Damned Are the Guilty

The sun shone in through the crystal windows of Twilight's palace, moving along the track that Celestia had set for it for the day. The beams of light that entered through the window and shone down upon the Princess of Friendship, who cracked open her eyes as the morning let it self in.

'And another morning in Ponyville begins,' Twilight thought to herself as she sat up in her bed, stretching out her wings and limbs with a groan. She then shook out her mane before smiling at the rising of the sun, preparing herself for a great day. The princess hopped out of the bed and walked to her bathroom, taking proper care of her teeth before she left her room for the castle hallways, which were just as empty as they were the other night.

"Guess Spike and Starlight aren't back yet," Twilight muttered to herself after she peeked into Starlight's room, finding it exactly the same as it was previously. "That business off in Staliongrad must have taken longer than they thought. Guess I'm in charge of castle maintenance today then."

With the castle all to herself, Twilight hummed aloud as she entered into her kitchen. She grabbed hold of a bowl of salad from the kitchen before she sat herself down at the table, using her magic to teleport the newspaper that was always on her front porch at this time into her hooves. As she ate she glanced over the paper, a smile of pride crossing her face when she saw that her and her friends victory over Ratet was on the first page.

'I'm grateful that we were able to talk him down without the need for too much violence,' Twilight thought as she quickly glanced over the article, before flipping through the pages. After taking a moment to chuckle at the funnies, her eyes were caught by a headline that startled her.

"Pony gangsters slaughter in Delemare?" she asked with horror and confusion as she tore through the article with disbelief, the confusion being consumed by the horror as she read more and more into the story. "Wounds to the head that pierced through the front and back of the skull? What kind of weapon or spell could do such a thing? I should write a letter to Celestia and ask."

Not wanting to dwell on such morbid topics, Twilight placed the paper on her table and quickly downed the rest of her food before she walked out of the kitchen. Her mind was locked on the article that she had read as she walked to her private study, throwing open the door and marching over to her desk. She had planned to send Celestia the letter immediately, but she found that her letter would have to wait as a letter from Celestia already awaited her.

"And today started off looking so nice," she muttered to herself as she pulled open the letter, reading over it quickly while shaking her head with disbelief. "And now ponies magic are starting to vanish once again, much like when Tirek roamed the land. Could he be connected to the deaths of the gangster ponies?...Doubtful, that's not his style. Great. Saved the world one day and have to save it again the next."

Twilight let out a bitter sigh as she crumpled up the letter and tossed it to the side, throwing herself into one of her chairs. She sighed as she stared up at the ceiling, trying to think of what she needed to do first. Her thoughts then returned to Ratet and with another groan she realized that she had promised to help him with friendship lessons later that day.

'Alright. First I will head to Canterlot and visit Ratet in his prison cell. Work with him and see how much progress that we can make in a few hours. Next I should look into the being that is stealing magic. If it is Tirek, then I'll need to gather the girls up again from their vacations and put a stop to him,' Twilight planned out before the article she read forced itself into her mind again. 'And if I still have time, I'll send a letter to Delemare and see if the force there can show any light on the matter. Doubt it, but I've got to check.'

Realizing the weight of the long day that was awaiting her, Twilight mentally braced herself as she rose out of her chair. She walked over to her desk and grabbed a quill along with a piece of parchment. She quickly scribbled out a letter to Celestia, telling the princess that she would be on her way to Canterlot within the hour. Without Spike there to teleport her message right to Celestia, Twilight flew out of her castle and to the mailbox that rested right outside of the castle.

"The mailmare should be here within the hour. Gives me time to go around," Twilight muttered to herself as she spread her wings and took to the skies, flying to her one friend that she knew would also be awake at this hour. Her thoughts proved to be true as she flew over Sweet Apple Acres to see an orange earth pony hard at work under apple trees.

"Hey there, Applejack," Twilight greeted as she flew down from above, getting AJ to stop kicking her tree long enough to wave to the princess.

"Howdy, Twi. What's the matter?" Applejack asked with a knowing glance.

"What make you think something's the matter?"

"Because something's almost always the matter when it comes to you. Now spit it out, because this feels like a doozy."

[.45]

The rays of the sun were determined to cast away every shadow in the land of Equestria, whether those shadows hid behind the trees, under rocks or even those cast by skyscrapers. But the shadows that were cast by the sole human in all the land were impervious to the light. So as the Punisher sat on a fallen tree trunk, the sun found that his shadow would not be tarnished by its golden rays.

Not that the Punisher cared at all between the battle of the light and the darkness. At the moment he was studying over the large map that he had taken from the warehouse where he had blown those ponies brains out. With the light of the sun he was finally able to get a better view of the map, but the city names and locations only gave him more questions.

'So...ponies. That's what I'm dealing with here,' Punisher thought to himself as he gazed across the map, making a mental note of each city and landmark that he might need to recognize later. 'Guess they weren't kidding when they said that that mutant girl had the ability to hop dimensions. Might have been too quick on the trigger with her. Killed my only way back to Earth.'

'But ponies...ponies with magic and the ability to talk and who have actually Boston accents...my little girl would love this place,' Punisher realized before he closed his eyes and forced those thoughts away. When he opened his eyes once more they were filled with purpose and a few ideas. 'But this world ain't the paradise she read about. Last night showed me that. This world still has criminals...so at least I know I'll be busy while I look for a way back.'

Punisher placed his gloved finger on the city of Delemare, finding that he was at the very edge of the nation called Equestria. He moved his finger along to find which city was the closest, grimacing when he saw that the distance between the two was quite a distance away. The railroad tracks gave him hope for a quick way to get to the next city.

'Need to be on the lookout for tracks. Might get me there quicker,' Punisher decided before he rolled up the map off of the grass, tucking in behind him before he rose to his feet. He glanced back at the small town of Delemare, narrowing his eyes when he didn't see the station. 'The railroad would have to be somewhere close to the town. Probably missed it on my way out here. If I go back though, I run the risk of them coming after me. Even if they don't know me, they'd know I'm dangerous. Especially after last night.'

But with no other options at the moment besides a long trek to the next city, Punisher sighed before he began his march to find the train station. While he walked he took his assault rifle in his hands, pulling on the magazine and examining how many shots he had left in it.

'Fifteen. And I've got three more magazines attached,' Punisher noted before he returned the magazine into the gun, slipping it over his shoulder before he took up his shotgun and counted the shells that he had left. 'I'm cut off from my storage houses, so I'm going to have to conserve my shots. I've used up a decent amount of pistol ammo, meaning I should give those a rest for a while. Need to keep it up close.'

He slid the shotgun back over his shoulder and returned to silence as he walked towards the town, keeping his eyes and ears open in case of any more trouble. But as he got close to the town he heard the sound of a commotion, causing him to take shelter next to one of the trees that was close to the city while glancing into town.

What he saw was ponies in police outfits running around with images of him clutched in their hooves. Well, images of the skull that he had upon his chest at the very least. But from the little he could hear at his distance, he quickly became certain that the skull was all they knew about him, aside from the fact that he was tall.

The sound of a train whistle snapped his attention away from the police ponies and towards the east side of the town, knowing that what he sought lay in that direction. The Punisher, not wanting to cause more trouble than was necessary, waited until the ponies were out of sight before he made his move. He sprinted past the open areas of the town, making sure to wait until the streets were clear before moving on. While he didn't like having to be so cautious, Punisher knew that he was at a disadvantage in this land and needed to be alert.

'And there's my ticket to the next city,' Punisher thought to himself when he finally laid eyes upon the train station, spying the train out of town that had smoke spewing from the front of it. Rolled down next to a bush and glanced out from behind it, noting how few ponies were actually at the station that early in the morning. What made him snarl slightly was the number of police ponies that were patrolling the area.

'But they're on a pattern. Meaning that they don't really expect trouble,' Punisher noted before he hunkered down and spent the next ten minutes learning the police ponies patterns. When he noticed a huge gap in their timing, he took that moment and sprinted at full speed towards the train. He slid past the police ponies and rolled up on the other side of the train, away from the station and the eyes of the police ponies.

Punisher held his breath for a moment as he waited to see if any of them had managed to spy him, but when the morning remained silent he knew that he hadn't been seen. Taking advantage of the blindness of the ponies he moved past the train cars to the back of the train, glancing around the gold and pink train to see that none of the police were near the caboose door.

"Don't mind if I do," Punisher muttered as he pulled himself onto the back of the caboose, smirking when he found that the door on the caboose wasn't locked. He slid inside of the caboose and closed the door behind him, glancing around quickly to see that no one inside the train had witnessed him. He sighed slightly before he walked through the caboose and slid open the door to the next car slightly, a bit surprised to see that there was no ponies within that car either.

'Must not be a good time for a train ride,' he thought before he crouched down and closed the door behind him. He remained crouched next to one of the cushioned seats, out of view, until he heard the conductor let out a call for all to get on. He pulled out a pistol and waited for the door at the other end to open and for his cover to be blown, but when it never happened he figured that he was safe.

"Might as well stay comfortable," Punisher muttered as he picked himself up and sat down in one of the seats, glancing out the window to see that the train had already left the station. He pulled out his map once more and glanced at it, shaking his head when he took another moment to think about what had happened to him.

'So. Stuck on another world, with talking magical ponies, with no idea how to get home. Heh, not the worse situation I've found myself in,' he figured before he placed the map on the table in front of him, marking the next location with his knife. 'But I will get back to Earth. And nothing, be it criminal or pony, will get in my way. Especially criminals.'