Damned Are the Guilty

"I'm really getting sick of seeing things like this," Twilight said to the guards standing next to her, doing her best not to throw up again as she stared down at numerous deceased centaurs. A report by ponies in the area told her that the human had been in the area, but by the time she and the guards had arrived he had already vanished. 'But not before leaving us a wonderful present of more bodies that need to be buried. Faust alive, did he hack that ones head off with a saw?'

Most of the centaurs had holes in their heads and copious amounts of blood missing, but some of them had been brutalized before they had been killed. Twilight found one that had both of his hands taken off and a bloody hatchet laying on the ground next to him told Twilight his tale. Twilight had to repress the urge to both vomit and cry at the scene, forcing herself to stay strong as she tried to find any clues.

"These ones were tortured," one of the guards said to Twilight, getting the princess to glance over at him. He was kneeling down next to one of the centaurs, only this one had multiple holes in his body and had a contorted look of pain upon his face. Another nightmare for Twilight to deal with. "And it wasn't like he beat them until they talked. This...I've only seen torture like this from the worst of the worst. This is precise, like he knew what he was doing. Dear Faust, I thought your report on humans said they were mostly peaceful."

"Those were the ones that I've met. I've never met anypony like this monster," Twilight whispered as she tried to look away, but when she closed her eyes she found that the pained look of the centaur had been burned into her mind. "Why torture and butcher them like this? Why didn't he just kill them like he did the others?"

"He wanted information. They probably didn't talk. Hence the torture," one of the older guards with a trimmed, white beard said from beside the princess with a small shake of his head. "Clearly some of them held out longer than others. But considering only two were tortured, and the rest are dead, tells me that once he got the information he wanted he killed the rest of them."

"Information...what could they have that he would possibly want?" Twilight asked, but the elder guard could only shrug his shoulders with a sigh. Twilight shook her head and walked out of the warehouse, trying to not stare at the two dead centaurs that had been guarding the entrance to the warehouses. 'This was their base. They were working from in here. That's probably how they were able to get into the city so quickly. The human probably tracked them down last night. But does that mean he's still in the city?'

"I can see why you sent me such an urgent letter. This is hard to look at." Twilight snapped out of her thoughts to see the princess of the sun standing beside her, a pained look upon her face as she looked around at all of the bloodshed. "And yet your reports say that a lone human is responsible for all of this."

"I don't even know if I can call him human. He's merciless," Twilight said with a small shiver, getting Celestia to place a wing around her friend. "His expression didn't change when he gunned down the centaurs that I was fighting. Then when he fought me, his voice never changed from its cold tone, like he was hollow inside. I've never seen anypony like that."

"Um, princesses?" the guard with the beard stated, getting both of the princesses to turn to look at him. "I know that I shouldn't interrupt..."

"Go ahead. Speak your mind."

"Well, Princess Twilight called the human merciless. But that's not entirely true," he began, gaining him a cold look from Twilight.

"Look at the bodies. Look at the torture. After seeing all this, how can you say he's not merciless?" Twilight asked with a fury simmering beneath her calm exterior.

"Well...he didn't kill you," the guard stated and for the first time since her fight with the human Twilight realized that as well. "He gunned down the centaurs without mercy, I agree. What he did in here...will give me nightmares. But he only knocked you out. He left you alive."

"Okay, so he left me alive. Maybe he has a soft spot for princesses," Twilight spat in a sarcastic tone.

"Or maybe there is more to him than we believed," Celestia said in a knowing manner, before nodding to the guard to dismiss him. "Twilight, it is clear that this human is very different than the ones that we know of. We also do not know how he got here or who he is. Perhaps if we can find out the who and how, we can find out the why."

"He still needs to answer for what he's done," Twilight spat with justice burning in her eyes.

"That he does. But first we need to catch him," Celestia said with a small smile, before she pulled out a piece of parchment and began to write something down. When she was done she used her magic to make the scroll disappear, before smiling down at Twilight. "And I think I have figured out what will draw him in."

"What's that, Princess Celestia?"

"If I am right, this human that killed the centaurs is the same one that killed those gangsters in a small town a few days ago," Celestia said with an expression of sorrow on her face. "So many already dead. But he spared you. And I think I know why."

"Because I'm terrifying?"

"No. Because he only kills criminals or monsters," Celestia said with a knowing look and after a moment of thought Twilight could start to piece it together as well.

"Maybe...during our battle he did ask, or rather said, if I was the hero of this world. I told him yes, but I didn't think..." Twilight trailed off, figuring that was a close as she could get to the truth before she brought the human in. "But if we're going to bait him out, then we would need somepony who is evil or a terrifying monster. But they'd also have to be able to survive against...ah."

"You're catching on. I just sent a letter to a good friend of ours, one that has been wanting to make up for betraying us to side with Tirek a few years back," Celestia stated. "I warned him about what the human can do, thanks to your letters, and he should be here any time now."

"And once the human is out in the open...?"

"Bring him in, Twilight," Celestia said with a smile. "I wouldn't dream of taking that pleasure away from you."

.45

It had been a good day. Probably the best one Frank had since he had arrived in the new world. As the human crouched down behind a large trash bin, he allowed himself a moment to rest. The centaur's had been apart of the group that had attacked the city, meaning that they knew the same things that their buddies had. He had killed most of them, but left a few alive to find out more about the demon Tirek.

'Can't believe the first one put up so much of a fight, though,' Frank thought to himself as he loaded shells into his shotgun. 'Thought for sure sawing off his hands would get him to talk. Also going to have to watch out for their magical horns in the future,' Frank finished as he held a hand to his side, where he had been struck by a blast of magic that he hadn't been quick enough to get out of the way of.

Frank had been forced to kill that centaur. Even without his hands, the fools devotion to his demon lord gave him the will to keep fighting Frank. A shot to the head had put an end to that. The second centaur had been much more talkative, especially after a few knife wounds. He gave up everything. The centaur's plans, where most of them were located and a lot about their demon boss. What Frank had learned about him made Frank uneasy.

'A centaur that can steal the magic of those around him and use their power to further his own, becoming more and more invincible with each being he steals magic from. That's unsettling,' Frank thought as he tried to think of ways to kill the demon if it every got to full power, but he came up with very little. 'Got to kill him before he has the chance to achieve his real power. I've killed a few magical beings in my time, but a seventy foot magical monster from hell might be too much for me.'

Frank winced as he felt the magical wound act up, sending a blazing pain coursing through his side. Frank was generally good at suppressing all forms of pain, but the magical wound seemed to be able to get around his sheer willpower. He'd have to remember that the next time he went up against a magical being.

'I need to get out of this city,' he finally thought to himself, putting an end to his momentary respite and forcing himself to stand. He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a small map of the city. He found the train station and began to move where it was located, doing his best to remain hidden. 'A week. That's how long until they believe they can revive Tirek. But I know where they're going to be hiding. I can kill them all before-'

Frank's thoughts were interrupted when he heard numerous ponies began to scream not too far from him, along with a sound that he had quickly learned to associate with magic. A flash of light erupted in the distance and for a moment Frank thought that he saw a cloud in the shape of a laughing face ascend into the sky. More screams followed the explosion along with more of a light show.

'How many damned times is this place going to be attacked? It's like New York all over again,' Frank thought to himself before he grabbed his rifle and raced out of the alleyway, heading for the explosions and magic. Too his surprise the cause of the chaos wasn't that far from where he had been hiding, but the being behind it was beyond anything he could have imagined. As he skidded to a stop at a street corner, his eyes were immediately drawn to a being that floated above the ground.

It was a mix and match of creatures. A lion leg, a goat horn, and numerous other animals parts made up the being, but what made the Punisher narrow his eyes was the ponies around it, all of who had been turned into statues made of pure gold. Without waiting for an explanation Punisher took aim and fired a three round burst into the back of the beings head, but when the bullets shattered against a magical barrier the Punisher snarled.

"Wow, here already?" the being asked as it's head spun around a full one eighty to face the Punisher, who face didn't change at the strange sight. The being gave Punisher a toothy grin before the rest of his body turned as well, rubbing his hands as he narrowed his eyes at the human. The two locked eyes for a moment and then the being slowly backed away. "Yep, you're him. Exactly like what I heard."

Punisher looked from the being to the golden ponies, his eyes blazing with a hatred as black as hell. "What, them? Don't worry, they're fine. In fact, you could say that they're just...golden!" the being said with a laugh, but once more Punisher's face didn't change. He did, however, try to shoot a bullet into the mouth of the creature, but once more his barrier of magic stopped it.

"Sheesh, right to business, huh?" the being asked before he cracked his neck by rotating his head a full three sixty. "Fine. I can respect that. But first, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Discord, god of chaos. And you are?"

"I'm going to kill you," Punisher replied. He then switched to his shotgun and mentally prepared himself for the task of killing a god.