"Take a seat." I ordered coldly to the pony who stared at me with wide eyes; he had a tan coat with a black mane, his cutie mark being that of a little stick of wood; cedar, to be specific. He had an average stallion physique and was middle-aged, but that didn't matter to me. The fact I was holding a magnum to his daughter's head while his wife and smaller child were tied up behind me were the main reason I knew he wouldn't make a move. This cabin was large, with five separate rooms, two of which were master bedrooms. I was in the living room, which was the largest area in the house. I was sitting in a chair in the corner, while another chair was placed opposite of me on the other side of the room.
The stallion, Cedar Baker, slowly took a seat in the chair opposite of me, his eyes never leaving mine. The old chair groaned as he sat in it, along with the wooden floor. "What do you want?" He asked after a few seconds of silence passed, a bead of sweat sliding down his cheek.
I smirked, "My dear little Baker, it's not what I want, it's what we want." I grabbed onto his daughter's chin and pulled back her head, pressing the gun against her throat while my lips curled into a smile. "You don't want your little girl to die, not when she's so young and vibrant, but I want the attention of a certain group of so-called heroes." I turned to the other two who were tied up, and chuckled, "And there's only one way they'll respond to my call..."
"No!" He shouted worriedly, getting up and out of the chair. He stopped, however, when he heard the loud, audible click of the magnum as I prepared to fire. I wasn't going to shoot her, I still needed her alive, but he needed to know who was in control. I stared him down, and he once again hesitantly sat back down in the rickety chair that reacted with a groan.
"One more reaction like that, and dealing with your dead child will be the least of your concerns." I stated as coldly as I could, watching as the look of fear and worry crossed his face. I smirked again, "Call them, or I'll kill your daughter."
He looked as though he was about to cry, but didn't. Instead, he pulled a phone out of his pocket and flipped it open, dialing a number. Once he finished, he brought the phone up to his ear and stared at me while the near-silent hum of the phone could be heard. I looked down at his daughter, a crooked smile sliding across my face. I then turned to him, "Show me..." He stopped, his eyes widening as he froze. I glared, "Oh my friend, you show me who you're calling right now..."
I watched as his hand shook as he lowered the phone and looked down at it, and soon I heard a female voice on the other side, "This is the Maretropolis Police Department, what's your emergenc-" BANG!!!
He jumped back as I shot the phone out of his hand, freezing once more as his heart noticeably raced. He slowly raised his head and looked into my eyes. I stared him down, watching as he fell to his knees and began pleading. I laughed inwardly as he continued to plead, but it was getting tiring quickly.
I aimed the gun at his leg and pulled the trigger, the bullet searing through his thigh as I watched him fall to his side while clutching his leg. He screamed in pain, and his daughter screamed in worry, while I simply kept quiet.
"Look at me, bud." I said coldly, my rage welling up inside me. He raised his head, a painful look on his face. "You had one job. One job. And you just had to go and fuck it up. I just wanted to fight them once, my friend. It'd be relieving to fight someone as powerful as them!" I pushed the barrel of the gun up against the side of his daughter's head. "But now I have no one to take my anger out on... and it's your fault." He shook his head, and he tried to crawl over to me, but his leg had lost a lot of blood after my little monologue so his efforts were useless.
"Now it's time to face the consequences, Mr. Baker." However, just as I said that, the wall behind me blew open and I was grabbed by a pair of hands that pulled me back. It was quick, but I was quicker, using the momentum to roll back to my feet. I aimed my gun at my attacker, but was surprised to see Mare Do Well, the secretive and fearless hero. Most villains fear her, but my fear was drained long ago, after what happened...
I shook those thoughts aside as Mare Do Well quickly dived to the side, avoiding my bullets as I quickly put my trigger finger to good use. The gun's recoil wasn't difficult to handle, but it didn't mean it was easy. After years of practice with it, however, I've learned plenty of ways to make the recoil seem nonexistent.
When Mare Do Well disappeared down a hall, I quickly looked over to the hostages, seeing that the daughter had crawled over to Mr. Baker, sobbing loudly. I ran over to her, grabbing her by the shoulder and bringing my left arm around her neck, the magnum in my right. I turned to the hall Mare Do Well disappeared behind, smirking, "You have two options, sweetheart; show yourself or explain to the police and Power Ponies how you failed to save a little girl..."
The room was silent, the only sound being the birds outside and the breath of the mother and child behind me. My eyes slowly scanned the area around me, before I heard the slow sound of footsteps coming from the hall. I aimed my gun, watching as Mare Do Well slowly came down the hall with her hands at shoulder height. I chuckled, "Wow, you're a true hero, aren't you?" She didn't answer, instead staring me down through her mask. "Not much of a talker, eh? Well, we can fix that real quick." I pointed the gun at the daughter's head, and I watched as Mare Do Well took a step forward before stopping herself.
I smirked, "Tell me, Mare Do Well, how did you know to come here?"
Mare Do Well's eyes narrowed, "I traced the phone call to here, just in time as it appeared the signal was lost not a second after I traced it."
I chuckled, "Well, you have Mr. Baker to thank for that one. But I think it's time you leave, I have a special meeting with six ponies, and the last thing I need is to be interrupted by a useless piece of shit like yourself."
She shook her head, her eyes narrowing, "Not happening." She took another step forward, then another. I frowned, aiming the gun at the mother behind me, causing Mare Do Well to stop in her tracks.
"Nothing quite like being an orphan, right, Mare Do Well?" Her eyes widened, and I smirked, "I know who's hiding under that mask, in fact I know everything about you. I also know that you wouldn't want two children to go through what you went through, especially at such a young age."
She glared daggers at me, "Stop, now!"
I snickered, "Sorry, sweet pea, ain't happening." I quickly aimed the gun at her chest, pulling the trigger. The bullet slammed into her chest causing her to reel back and eventually fall to the ground. When she remained still on the ground, I tossed the girl to the side and walked over to her body. I looked down at her with a smirk, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to find another person to contact the Power Ponies. This time I won't have some bitch in tights coming in to ruin the fun."
I kicked the door of the hinges, exiting the cabin and leaving the body of Mare Do Well and the family alone. The police probably heard the gunshots, and are probably on their way. And so I legged it to the city of Maretropolis, a warm smile on my face and a chilling magnum in my hand.
