Chapter 4: What?

"Let me give you girls a quick run through." said Whiskey as Nails was over at the weapons table selecting his various tools. "The way this will work is that Nails will go in there and make him answer any questions. Out here, they can't see us because this is a special type of mirror that we can see through but they can't. Everything that is said in there will be heard out here and recorded but it will be impossible to hear anything we say. Got that?" the remaining ponies nodded their heads. They had no idea what was going to happen as Nails walked back up with his choices.

"Let's do this." Nails said as he walked into the room. The ponies took seats so they could see into the room where the interrogation was about to begin.

"Hello, my name is Nails. They asked me to interrogate you but I'm going to make this easy on you. Why are you here?"

"So I was flying around and I get lost right? So a bunch of pegasi stop me and ask me what I was doing in a military zone."

"Get ready." said Whiskey as they listened to the pony talk, "You are about to see a master at work."

"It was all just a big misunderstanding."

A gunshot rang out throughout the room startling everyone including the pegasus that was being interrogated.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Did I break your concentration? Please... continue."

The startled pegasus didn't say anything.

"Oh, so you were finished? Well, allow me to respond to your story with a few questions. Where is Iron Foot?"

"What?"

Nails put his claw under the table and threw it across the room. This startled the pony and he fell onto his back and started to back up as Nails approached.

"Where is Iron Foot?"

"What?"

"I've never been to what! Is it nice this time of year?"

"What?"

"I'm getting the message that you don't really want to talk to me right now. Well, I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice. Are you going to give me a straight answer?"

"What? I-"

"Say what again! Say it again! I dare you! I double dare you!"

"What?"

Nails fired the gun and the bullet impacted into the pony's shoulder.

"He's gonna kill that pony if you ain't careful!" exclaimed Applejack.

"No he's not." said Whiskey, "He knows exactly what he's doing."

"Now that you know I mean business, let's get started." at this Nails took hold of the pony and threw him across the room. As soon as they landed Nails was upon them again. He took out a lead pipe and placed it into the pony's mouth.

"Where is Iron Foot?"

"I don't know!" was the muffled answer that Nails got back.

"Wrong answer!" said Nails as he picked up a bat and hit the pony in the back of the head. The pony bit down hard on the pipe and broke off a few teeth. He felt the pain of metal impacting raw gums when Nails hit him with the bat again. This time it was in the face.

"One more time! Where is Iron Foot?"

"I don't know!"

Nails took out a knife and stabbed the pony in the wing. Rainbow Dash winced, knew how much it hurt whenever a wing took a blow having experienced them several times. Nails left the knife in the wing.

"Try again! Where is Iron Foot?"

"I'm not telling you even if I did know!"

"Care to tell me who knows?"

"No!"

Nails took the bat again and hit the pony in the leg breaking it. "I got all day!"

"I won't tell you anything!"

Nails grabbed the pony and threw him into a wall. He then took out another knife and plunged it into the other wing pinning the pony to the wall. He then proceeded to deliver a series of punches with his claw asking questions in between each punch.

"Who knows? Tell me and this can all be over!"

"I'm...never...going...to...tell...you."

"Have it your way." said Nails as he walked out of the room.

Whiskey watched as Nails walked out of the room. "I've never known you to give up! Why are you starting now?"

"The pony said he would never tell me. So I'm going to make that happen."

"He's our only lead!"

"He doesn't know that." Nails walked up to the a closet. "This stuff is flammable right?"

"Yeah, but I don't see why you would need that." said Whiskey as he watched Nails walk back into the room.

"Ok, I believe that you're never going to talk. So I'm gonna give you that chance." Nails said as he dumped some of the stuff he had gotten from the closet onto the pony. He then proceeded to back up until he was on the other side of the room.

"What's he doing?" asked Rainbow Dash as she watched Nails pour the liquid over the pony. "He's gonna burn him alive!"

Whiskey's eyes had widened in delight. "Exactly." was all he said as he watched Nails take out his lighter.

Nails put the lighter to the liquid and it started to burn. It was a very slow burn due to the thickness of it, but a burn nonetheless. The flame slowly made its way towards the pony who was helpless to move since he was pinned to the wall.

The pony watched as the flame started to inch closer and closer. He could already feel its heat as it made its way towards him. He started to glance nervously at Nails and back at the fire.

"Ok! Fine! I'll talk! Just put out the fire!"

"I'd suggest talking fast. Fires are tough to put out but if I like what I hear I promise you won't feel a thing."

The pony glanced at the fire. Before he began to talk.

"I've never seen Iron Foot! The pony I took orders from is a pegasus named Blackmane!"

"Can I get a description of him?"

"Not a him. Her. She's got a black mane and a green coat. Her mane is very long and off to one side! Please stop the fire!"

"You're in luck. I liked what I heard. But I never said anything about putting out the fire. I said you wouldn't feel a thing."

The pony's eyes widened in horror as Nails pulled out his gun again. "No! No! No!" the words were drowned out as the gun fired and the bullet hit him in the head. Brain matter and blood splattered on the wall behind the pony.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight were throwing up and Applejack was doing her best to keep from losing her stomach. Nails opened the door and the smell wafted out catching Applejack by surprise. She succumbed to the sickness and ran over to the trash can that Twilight and Rainbow Dash were sharing so that she could throw up into it. Pinkie Pie hadn't made it there and was losing her stomach onto the floor.

"It's not that bad!" said Nails as he began walking up the stairs. "Now come on! We got a pony to find! Whiskey, I believe that you have a fire to put out."

Whiskey walked into the room and cast a spell that put out the flames.

Twilight was the first to finish so she ran up the stairs after Nails.

"You killed him! You said he wouldn't feel a thing and you killed him!"

"I told the truth. I shot to the head results in instant death. He felt nothing it was quick and painless."

"And disgusting! Why couldn't you let him live?"

"Twilight, are you aware of the punishment for aiding terrorism in Forshan?"

"No, but it can't be that bad!"

"They get hung and it can be felt. Believe me when I say it sucks to be hung. I didn't give him the punishment he did deserve. I showed mercy."

Twilight stopped in her tracks. A while back, Nails had said something about the difference between mercy and respect. He had said that he never showed mercy.

"So, he would have died anyway you just saved him pain?"

"Yes. Now if I am correct we should probably go find Rarity and Fluttershy."

"Yeah, we probably should."

"Twilight?"

"Yes Nails?"

"They will probably ask you what happened. Don't tell them exactly. I don't want them to be scared of me because of how seriously I take my work. My skills are ones that require great control in order for them to be used right."

"Well, I'm going to go tell the ones that watched about what to say to Fluttershy and Rarity. So that nothing slips out."

"Good idea. I'll go find them." said Nails.

Nails found Rarity and Fluttershy in the garden looking at various flowers and exotic animals. He watched them for a little while. They were having fun; in all of this war they were still having fun. He watched them for a while as Fluttershy attempted to make friends with all of the animals. These two were oblivious to what had just happened a few yards below them, and even more so to the future which Nails knew so clearly. He finally walked up to them.

They noticed him coming and Rarity was the first to talk to him.

"Hello Nails! How did the interrogation go?"

"It went very well. Even though we couldn't get Iron Foots location we were able to get a lead on a contact of his. We don't know where they are but I'm certain we could find some kind of file on them here."

"That's great. We could be back in Equestria in a matter of weeks, maybe days if we are lucky!"

"Ya, we could." said Nails nervously.

"Is something wrong Nails?" asked Fluttershy.

"Nothing, it's just that I realized that you probably don't know how long it can take to track down a file."

"Nonsense! It can't take that long can it?"

The group of seven ponies plus Whiskey looked into the room. There were filing cabinets along all of the walls each one filled to the brim with files. Some drawers were stuck open from the mass of files on the inside.

"I spoke too soon." said Rarity.

"Twilight, since you're a librarian you should be a big help in the search. How do you usually find books?" asked Nails.

Twilight looked over at Rainbow Dash who winked back and left the room.

Nails noticed this, "Where is she going?"

"Hold on." was all Twilight said back.

"YEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

A rainbow colored blur streaked into the room and crashed into the filing cabinets throwing files everywhere. Nails poked his head out of the mass of files that had fallen on top of him.

"What the hell did that accomplish?"

"Pinkie Pie?"

Pinkie Pie poked her head out of the files with one in her mouth which she tossed to Nails. Nails opened the file and his eyes widened.

"Son of a bitch! How the hell did you do that!"

"We still don't know how she does that." Applejack said, "With Pinkie Pie it's one of those weird unexplainable things that you just have to accept."

"Ok then." Nails started to read the file, "It says here that she was last seen in the middle of the Salt Flats."

"Salt Flats?" asked Rarity.

"There used to be a few bodies of salt water here in Forshan. When those dried up the salt was left behind leaving large flat areas of salt. These are usually extremely difficult to live in due to lack of water. It would be the perfect place to hide!"

"Exactly, it also says that she was seen transporting several weapon crates into her base of operations. No arrest was attempted because not enough evidence could be gathered to incriminate her. Well, we got enough evidence now."

"Ok, how do you want to handle this Nails?" asked Whiskey.

"I've been to the salt flats, you can see a fly a mile away. Surely if we walked there we would be detected and they would leave. If we teleport there, there's no guarantee that we would get the location perfect and we would still be detected."

"What are you saying?"

"We can't go from the outside in, and from the inside out is definitely not in the question. That leaves only on direction to make the approach from."

"I know what you're thinking Nails and I will tell you know that we don't have the soldiers to do that!"

"You don't, but I know who does." said Nails starting to grin.