Blaze the Pony Tale

The tension was thick in the apartment, as the diamond dog and zebra mare stood together, getting the skeptical stink eyes from Thunderlane and Star N' Stripe, the latter of whom was especially incensed at them, as she said, "How can you even begin to justify yourselves?! I get it, Watcher left, but at least he had the courage to walk away from something he knew, deep down, was a bad thing!"

"It's not that simple..." Nyra replied, her voice so laced with pain that Narbus pulled her into a hug, which she neither reciprocated nor resisted.

"Not too late, Nyrrrra... save Watcherrr, we still can," the diamond dog assured but he couldn't stop a worried whimper from eking out of his voice.

"Look, the situation is what it is, and arguing isn't going to help us save Watcher," Midnight spoke up, "What matters now is finding him and saving him from whatever the House of Assassins are planning to do with him. Nyra, can you tell me who else is involved in this besides Malice, and whatever they're working on?"

Patting Narbus on his forearm to assure him, Nyra extricated herself from his hug and cleared her throat, "The House of Assassins was recently commissioned by an aristocat from Abyssinnia, Mr. Winkle."

"Aristocat?" echoed Thunderlane.
"Abyssinnia?" repeated Macintosh.

"Abyssinnia is a country to the far east, across the Glistening Eastern Sea," explained Star, "it's even farther than the Griffon Kingdom. It's the nation of the Cats, who are strictly isolationists. Their law is, no one is allowed to enter their country or to leave, except for certain circumstances, like banishment."

"And they are ruled by an aristocracy, the members calling themselves the Aristocats," added Midnight, "They impose, what they call, a 'gentle dictatorship', where the citizens either conform to their society's expectations or else..."

"If they don' like outsiders an' no one inside can leave, how do ya know all this?" asked Macintosh.

"Because, years ago, I infiltrated Abyssinnia by shapeshifting into a Cat myself," explained Midnight, "and I saw with my own eyes what a fascist farce the Aristocats' 'gentle dictatorship' really is. I managed to make allies and even recruit a few Cats to become members of the Brotherhood. I only contact them if I deem it necessary, because I don't want for them to be compromised.

"One of the Cats I recruited, a Dr. Kat Manx, informed me about the Aristocats, and she's mentioned a Mr. Winkle to me before. Some fat cat with a reputation of shady business practices, but very few have ever dared to accuse him of any wrongdoing and even when they did nothing ever seemed to stick."

"This Mr. Winkle is bankrolling some kind of scheme," Nyra brought up, "using some pony doctor named Atom Nucleus."

"Nucleus?!" Midnight and Star both exclaimed.

"You know him?" asked Thunderlane.

"Atom Nucleus... he was a promising up-&-coming scientist," Midnight recalled, "until he wrote a book, filled with unethical and dangerous theories regarding experimental alteration of DNA. Things snowballed from there, and Nucleus was stripped of his doctorate and his reputation was destroyed. After that, he dropped out of the public eye and just vanished."

"From what I know, Atom Nucleus was hired by Mr. Winkle for some strange experiment involving this... foul tar-like substance," Nyra brought up.

Almost immediately, a chill of dread made itself known in Midnight's spine, and he immediately met Nyra's gaze, "...a tar-like substance?"

Knowing what he was about to ask, Nyra confirmed, "From the ruins of the clocktower, where Watcher was supposed to acquire a sample."

"Goddess help us...!" Midnight uttered in sheer horror, "Knights, swords at the ready!"

Mac and Thunder summoned their swords, as did Midnight, "Star, I need you-"

"No, sir! I - am coming - with you!" Star said in definite emphasis, "If Watcher's in danger, I have to be there to help! Please..."

Midnight considered it, as well as the mixture of determination and worry on Star's face, "Fine. But at least send word to the rest of the Hoods stationed in Manehatten. A potential crisis is looming, and should the worst come to pass they need to be ready to deal with whatever happens."

"I'm on it," Star went to the secret compartment in Watcher's apartment, where she knew he kept a special communication device that was exclusive to the Brotherhood of the Evening Hoods, and got to work alerting the Hoods of Manehatten.

"Midnight, what's this... tar stuff that's got you so on edge?" asked Thunderlane.

"Not too long ago, Watcher called upon me for help," Midnight explained, how he'd reunited with Watcher after years, helped him face a dark entity residing in a clocktower on the outskirts of Trottingham, how his brother Twinken had been involved, and of a malignant tar-like substance.
"I still don't know exactly what this substance is, other than it's dangerous and Faust knows what it can do to a living creature! Nyra, where is the House of Assassins keeping Watcher?"

"Have you a map?" asked Nyra, and Midnight immediately summoned one with a spell.

This Map was magical, appearing initially as a simple yet informative map of Equestria. But then he showed them how its magical functions enabled the user to "zoom in" to certain locations, to get closer looks at different cities, towns, and others throughout the country, along with greater details, helpful notes, tidbits of information, and so on.

He zoomed the Map, which he simply dubbed the Traveler's Map, to Manehatten. Following Nyra's direction, he focused it to Haydes' Trough, in the Westside of the city, and pointed out the pharmaceuticals company, where Atom had his lab set up in the basement level.

"Here," Nyra pointed to a back alley behind the company building, "there's a discrete service door in this alleyway. I checked it out when we arrived there, in order to take note of all the ins and outs of the location. This service door is actually used sparingly, and the hallway it leads to is cluttered with old junk."

"Hmm, anywhere else?" asked Midnight, wanting to keep options open.

"There is a window to the basement, but it's a bit of a tight squeeze unless you were a foal," Nyra pointed out the location of the basement window, "and it's also nearby Atom Nucleus' laboratory. There's a risk they might hear us enter that way or else there could be some kind of alarm. Nuceleus definitely seems the type to set up alarms if his lab were broken into."

"Hmm..." Midnight considered what he'd just learned. The two most promising ways in had their pros and cons, and after discussing it further with Nyra, he ascertained any other access point was too risky. Putting his mind to it, he pieced together a worthwhile strategy, and gestured for everyone to bring it in, "Here's what we're gonna do..."

In Atom Nucleus' laboratory, the not-so-good doctor along with the wicked zebra Malice observed their experiment as it tore apart the poor homeless ponies they'd captured to test the subject's killing capabilities. They'd thrown about a half-dozen victims into the reinforced chamber with their experiment.

The carnage lasted hardly two minutes, and the walls, floor, and ceiling were near-entirely painted red with blood and viscera.

"Amazing... its savagery, its abilities! If it can do this to worthless have-nots imagine what it could do to more capable... prey," Atom Nucleus was scribbling notes with manic interest.

"We shall see soon enough," Malice responded as he watched through the reinforced crystal glass window with a faux look of 'oh well', "Such a pity when a wayward son strays from the true path... we could have accomplished so much more together, my boy..."

"Speaking of 'together''," Atom spoke up, "two of your subordinates have yet to return. The zebra mare and the diamond dog."

"Hmm..." Malice considered that news to him, Did Nyra lose that connection she has with Watcher after...? If she did, she and Narbus...

Malice took pride in "confirming" the loyalty of his followers, but even he was not fool enough to think his followers were incapable of even the slightest possibility of treachery. He had not led the House of Assassins for longer than either of his predecessors by being trusting of his underlings. Indeed, twice in his career had a subordinate dared attempt to kill him, and in each case he'd anticipated and prepared accordingly to make those wretches rue the days they were born.

When it came down to it, Malice knew, for all her angry and bitter bluster towards Watcher, she did in fact love him. As for Narbus, Watcher had been the one to recruit him, and though the mutt knew that the older stallion was the boss Narbus always followed Watcher's lead.

No sense in throwing caution to the wind, he thought before responding to the doctor, "I fear the timetable needs to be moved up, my good mane."

Reaching into his saddlebag, Malice produced a runestone etched with a fiendish-looking mark that glowed a poisonous purple, "Implant this onto the subject, and it will be forcibly made obedient."

"Hmm," Atom examined the stone, and despite being an earth pony he sensed a depraved magic simmering within this little rock, "It will be done, but what do you mean, the timetable has to move up?"

"...I fear our enemies may be closing in on our present location," the zebra ho-hum'd, "so we'll leave the subject, along with the rejects, here as a... welcoming committee. Whether or not they succeed in slaughtering the do-gooder prince and his adorable little friends, it will buy us the time we need to set the stage for the final act."

Atom considered Malice's words before nodding in agreement. He went to a control panel beside the observation window, and began pressing buttons before taking hold of two joystick-like controls.

Inside the chamber, the subject snarled in a guttural roar, as though it were trying to hack out phlegm, as it heard a resonant tone before a crystal-like device emerged from the wall and unleashed a debilitating jolt of energy that spread throughout the chamber. The subject howled in agony as it was stunned and sprawled onto the floor, twitching in spasms.

Then, six cable-like appendages lowered down, spreading and writhing like octopus tentacles, before they lashed out and ensnared the subject around its barrel and neck. A third wrapped around its horn, preventing surges of uncontrolled magic, and the fourth and fifth grappled its forelegs, all but rendering the subject completely immobile.

It roared in impotent outrage as it struggled pathetically to free itself while Atom placed the runestone Malice had given him into a compartment that worked like a drawer, and upon pushing it in a similar compartment opened up inside the chamber. Using the sixth cable, the doctor plucked the runestone and then carefully carried it towards the subject as it writhed in van fury to free itself... before the stone was pressed against its forehead, right below the base of its horn.

The subject let out an unearthly scream as the stone worked its power, tendrils of malevolent purple magic erupting from the stone before they veered inwards and ensnared the subject. It fought more desperately as it felt those tendrils worm their way in, taking root and clutching its mind, full of pain, fear, rage, and confusion, and began to hammer them out with a simple yet undeniable instinct.

To obey.

Atom and Malice watched as the runestone did its work, and once the subject finally seemed to calm down, Malice sneered with satisfaction, before looking to the doctor, and triumphantly requesting, "May I?"

"By all means," Atom stepped back while pointing to the mic.

Settling before the mic, Malice pressed the button and spoke, his voice sounding out into the chamber via a speaker, "You are under my command. Now, bow..."

The subject fidgeted as the cables released their hold on it, and it bowed its head in subservience. Malice laughed with vile sadism before getting a hold of himself, and speaking into the mic again, "Enemies are coming. Among them is Midnight Blaze! Your orders are simple... Destroy Midnight. Destroy the crown!"

When the subject nodded in acknowledgement, Malice shouted, "NO!! Say it..."

"...destrrrroooyyy.... Miidniiiight... dessssstrooooyy theeee c-c-crooowwwnnnn..." the subject responded, its voice deep and sounding putrid with congestion.

"Again!" Malice demanded.

"Desssstrooyy Midnight... destrrrroy the crrrrown," the subject spoke a little more clearly but still sounded ominous.

"SAY IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT!!!" Malice demanded with a manic grin that disturbed even Atom, who took a step or two away from the zebra.

"Destroy Midnight... destroy... THE CROWN!!!!" the subject roared as its eyes suddenly glowed a furious purple and a pulse of vile power spread throughout the chamber, the walls breaking and crumbling from the sheer power, and even the observation window nearly broke away. It only just held although it was now nearly obscured by spiderwebs of cracks.

There was just enough unblemished glass for Malice to see, his student, turned the subject of Atom Nucleus' abominable experiment, was now perhaps the most diabolical weapon ever created.

A pity I won't be able to see you in action... Malice thought with a sinister sneer, but one thing is for certain: you will be...magnificent!

The alleyway was lit by a single light above the service door, and there was not a soul nearby. The alleyway led to an open area between the pharmaceuticals company and the neighboring building, but was still away from the actual street.

After a quick dowsing spell, Midnight confirmed that there was apparently no one nearby. Not even in the buildings adjacent to the company, which wasn't all that surprising. This corner of Manehatten wasn't the friendliest, and some of the buildings were abandoned, derelict, empty, cleared out, with only petty criminals or destitute homeless in desperate need of shelter daring to hunker down in this part of the city.

Standing on the rooftops overlooking the area that led to the alley in which the service door was located, Midnight, clad in his armor as well as garbed in his cloak, focused on the clip-on earring he wore on his right ear, and thought, Everypony in position?

The earring held a small jewel that was enchanted with a mental link spell, enabling telepathic communication between those who wore the earrings that had been interconnected.

I'm ready, responded Star.

In position, responded Thunderlane.

Eeyup, affirmed Macintosh.

As am I, replied Nyra.

Rrready! Even mentally, Narbus couldn't help but growl.

Good. Now listen, everyone, reminded Midnight, we have no idea what we're walking into other than what Nyra and Narbus shared, but in all likelihood there is going to be some kind of security or even a trap. Thunderlane, maintain your position and watch our backs. Star, stand ready to aid Thunder in case he needs it. Mac, Nyra, Narbus, with me.

Mentally feeling their affirmation, Midnight proceeded, moving as a literal shadow down an alley wall towards the alleyway that led to the open area and was opposite the one that led to the service door. Rising out of the darkness, he flicked his ears, sensing Macintosh, Nyra, and Narbus arrive. Of them, Mac was the loudest even though he was doing his best to be sneaky, given he was in his armor. They'd considered forgoing armor until they needed it, but Midnight decided to err on the side of caution and had his knights wear their armor as well as Star, Nyra, and Narbus wear wear some kind of protection.

The open area before them was almost as large as Ponyville town square, only cluttered with a couple dumpsters overflowing with garbage, along with a few piles of discarded junk. Midnight held his hoof up, signaling them to hold while he cast a dowsing spell to sense anything nearby that was alive.

All he detected were a few rats in the garage, an alley cat, roaches, and some pigeons nesting up on the nearby buildings. There was not a pony soul nearby, which made sense since this wasn't a residential district. This place was so ridden with metropolitan malaise that even the homeless and petty criminals didn't hang around here.

Which was, in a ll honesty, a good thing, as Midnight thought, At least we won't have to worry about bystanders.

Since he was armed with an actual shield, Mac insisted on taking point, followed by Midnight and Nyra, with Narbus bringing up the rear. Shield raised and sword at the read, Mac carefully led the way as they approached the service door. Midnight discretely dowsed for any wards or possible magical traps, and was concerned when he detected none.

"Nyra... I sense no hidden magical surprises nearby," Midnight whispered to the zebra mare, "any thoughts?"

"I suggest you all stay on guard... The runes stones place prevents magic from detecting this place," Nyra responded.

"Hrrmmph... I'm not an expert on runic magic, only in the basics," Midnight berated himself.

"Not a surrrrrprrrrise... zebrrrrras keep this magic secrrrret," Narbus chimed in.

"Unicorns and other creatures practice their own brand of runic magic," clarified Midnight, "but I only ever bothered learning the basics of unicorn runes. Any suggestions?"

Nyra took a moment to contemplate before she reached into the pocket of her saddle and pulled out a empty rune stone and tossed it to the alicorn. "Channel you magic here, you can figure out how to work around the barrier. If you desire to learn, I won't hold your hoof."

Midnight regarded the stone skeptically, but he trusted Nyra and Narbus were sincere. So, taking a deep breath, he focused a steady flow of his power into the stone, unknowingly causing a rune to etch itself upon the stone and glow as it drank up the power.

Nyra took a moment to contemplate before she stopped dead in her tracks and turned towards the alicorn. “Your “runic magic” is appalling to say the least. Your kind have only scratched the surface of what you can accomplish.

“Narbus, give this one a rune stone, please?” Nyra asked, the diamond dog nodded as he pulled out a rune stone and tossed it towards Midnight. “I want you to channel your magic into this stone and ask yourself this question. “What do you want most right now?” truly think about it. And you’ll begin to have an understanding of what our magic is like.”

“Hmmm…” Midnight eyed Nyra as he held the stone, a tad miffed by her condescending earlier, but he shoved that aside and focused. What do I want…?

He considered the question carefully. Did he want to rescue Watcher? Of course, but that didn’t seem like the right question. Nor did finding their enemies click either. So then…

Midnight was struck with inspiration, and held the stone as he thought, I want to see what our enemies are planning…

The stone flared with the turquoise energy from Midnight’s mana, and it crumbled to dust as the magic did its work. Midnight felt a rush of energy concentrate to his eyes, making him squeeze them shut to gather himself… before he opened them and they glowed, enabling him to see into the building. It was like looking through transparent images, seeing past the walls, the wiring, the plumbing, the interior furnishings.

But something in particular gave off a glow, and Midnight focused his perception towards the source… and saw it was some kind of blueprint.

A blueprint of what…? Midnight wondered. He scrutinized it carefully… and realized what he was looking at. The blueprint was unmistakable, depicting the tallest building in Manehatten: The Empony State Building.

What would they be doing with this? Midnight wondered... when chill fell over his withers, a familiar one. A chill he hadn’t felt since…

The door burst open, flying off its hinges, Mac raising his shield to protect them from the errant projectile, and they heard a strange sound. Like a slitherly liquid and a congested growling deeper than the hungry grumble of a dragon’s belly.

They watched as several goopy black monstrosities exited the service door, about a dozen total. All of them had the basic shape of a pony yet each was filthy and wretched, completely covered and dripping with that foul tar, with only their eyes, glowing red or yellow or even purple, all with a hateful malevolence directed straight at the unlikely band of heroes.

But then… they each moved to the sides as another tar-coated figure stepped out, making itself known. It was bigger, it was scarier, it had a horn! And its eyes, seething a dark and furious purple glared a burning rage straight into the sapphire alicorn…

“Desssstroy Midniiight… deeesstroy… the crrrrrroooowwnnnn…!”

“Haystack, Ah think it’s talkin’ `bout you,” Mac whispered the obvious as he kept his shield up.

Midnight did not answer. He looked upon these creatures with a dispirited pity. What had Malice and Atom Nucleus done? The blue alicorn knew that these things were once normal ponies, but no more.

“Destrrrroy Midnight… Desssstroy the crrrrown!” the largest monster’s voice was deep and putrid, sounding like somepony heavily congested though its voice was starting to sound clearer, but then its dark purple eyes began to flare with cursed purple flames.

Wait… no, it- it can’t be! Midnight felt his heart tighten as though it were caught in a vice as he was filled with a cold dread.

He heard Nyra gasp beside him, and his fears were all but confirmed.

“Destroy Midnight! Destroy… THE CROOOOOWWWWWNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!” Throwing its head back, the monster roared with unbridled rage, a force impressing upon them like a terrible pressure, and the other tar monsters began to roar and snarl in response to the one that held dominance over them.

“GET BACK!!!” Narbus barked as he grabbed Nyra and leapt away.

Mac almost ran too, but he noticed Midnight stood stupefied with fear and shock. “Midnight!”

The big red earth pony hurried back to get his brother, but Midnight stood there, staring at the monster even as it glared murderously back, a tear running down Midnight’s cheek… which then suddenly ached from the slap Mac gave him, braying, “MOVE!!!”

Shaking it off, as well as the pain, Midnight reclaimed his wits and followed Macintosh to the open area, where Narbus and Nyra were waiting already. Thunderlane and Star held their post on the rooftop, even as the tar monsters began to approach.

They stood together on the far end, opposite the way the monsters were coming as the beasts began to spread out, the leader coming forward as it continued to glare at Midnight.

He wasn’t sure what to do. His suspicions were not one hundred percent, but every instinct was warning him-

“DESTROY MIDNIIIIGGHHTTT!!!!!!” the lead monster screamed in a bestial manner as its form bunched up like a mass of goo before it launched itself forward, moving so fast Midnight had been unable to react as it engulfed him, cutting off his scream, before it bunched up again and launched itself into the air, arcing over the rooftops.

“MIDNIGHT!!!!” Macintosh and Thunderlane both cried out, but then the other monsters charged, demanding their attention.

As Mac and Narbus fought the fiends directly, Thunderlane began to provide support, shooting them with lightning arrows while Nyra threw some rune stones she’d already prepared.

Only Star broke away and followed after the monster and her abducted leader.

Midnight found himself being unceremoniously dropped onto the wooden surface of a dock, wet with seawater, the salt in the air deeply refreshing as he gasped, having been unable to breathe inside of that filthy monstrosity.

Coughing his throat clear, Midnight looked over to the monster with trepidation, the way it stood there, glaring, waiting, seething with the patient ferocity of a predator.

Gathering himself, Midnight stood up and faced the beast, looking around to confirm they were at the Manehatten docks, with sailboats, yachts, tugboats, and even freighters and a luxury liner moored nearby.

Given the hour, there were few cries from nearby gulls, and hardly a soul in sight.

“Destroy Midnight…” Midnight returned his attention to the foe before him. Its voice was clearer, and sounded all too familiar as it snarled, “Destroy the crown!!”

“...it’s you, isn’t it,” Midnight replied, sounding despondent yet there was a hopeful undertone, “If you’re in there, if there’s a chance… I’m gonna set you free!

“Find the Light, Nightfall!” Midnight’s sword flared with nocturnal brilliance before stellar mist engulfed him as his armor shone with lunar brilliance and his sword became armored gauntlets bearing claws of pristine silvery steel.

His knightly armor gleamed with its nocturnal colors, and his helm lowered a protective visor for his face yet allowed him to see through it perfectly.

Rearing up, Midnight slammed the palms of his gauntlets onto the ground while exclaiming, “Shadow Lassos!”

His shadow extended out from underneath him towards the monster before whips of shadowstuff manifested and writhed like snakes before they lashed out at their target.

The beast reacted by throwing its head back and opening its maw, releasing a terrible gurgly roar as deep and guttural as the bowels of a volcano. Which wasn't a bad analogy, because only a moment later did a burst of purple flames erupt from the monster's mouth, headed skyward. As it began to arc, the purple fireball exploded into numerous smaller flames that rained down, setting the area around them ablaze.

Including Midnight's Shadow Lassos. He watched in unexpected awe as the tenebrous tendrils were incinerated as easily as paper, burning the shadowstuff to ashes before it was blown away in the nighttime sea breeze.

This thing is smarter than it looks... Midnight thought before changing tactics.

Slowly the creature stalked towards the alicorn prince, its maw dripping with tar as smoke seeped from the edges of its mouth.

“Midnight… Crown! Must pay!” It uttered under its breath as suddenly it slammed its hooves to the ground and large black tendrils began rapidly approaching Midnight.

Midnight waved his left gauntlet, declaring, "Half Moon Shield!"

By his word did appear half of a spherical bubble directly in front of him, colored a transparent turquoise, as it not only protected him from the wretched tendrils of tar but even reacted negatively to them, like an ice cube touching the middle of a hot pan.

Among the powers of his sword, Nightfall, Midnight had learned it was not limited to offensive techniques. Half Moon Shield was its basic defensive skill, and it could react negatively to the touch of whatever came in contact with it that had harmful intent.

“SCORCHING… FIRE… SPIDER’S STRIKE!” It shouted, and from the tip of its horn, a flame ignited and was launched directly towards the prince, splitting into at orbs of flames covering every direction of possible escape.

Upon hearing this, Midnight knew for certain that this creature was indeed Watcher.

"Not a bad move, but not good enough!!" Midnight reared up and spun `round, his gauntlets flaring with shadowy fire that gave off lunar radiance as he shouted, "DARKEST LARIAT!!!"

The attack created a vortex of energy rotating at high velocity around himself, permeating with nocturnal power so intense that once the orbs of flame made contact they were blown apart into dying embers.

The monster growled in vexation as the embers, along with smoke and ash filled the air, obscuring its foe... before the rotation stopped, a gust of wind blowing it away... revealing Midnight had vanished!

"Destroy... Midnight! Destroy the crown! Destroy Midnight... destroy... THE CROWN!!!!" The monster roared in frustrated fury before it lashed out with tendrils of tar that blistered with its purple flames.

Nearby boats and vessels were struck, setting them on fire. A nearby fishing store was totaled. The monster was frantically infuriated, looking madly for its prey while Midnight observed.

The Hunter's Moon Cloak was Nightfall's stealth skill, rendering its master invisible under the moonlight.

Midnight watched as the monster continued to damage its surroundings, and he thought, I gotta subdue him or a bystander might get hurt!

Putting a little more distance between them, Midnight lit up his horn to cast a weather spell he had used plenty of times. A spell to summon rainfall.

Plenty of unicorns, even of Gamma level, could use this spell, though weather pegasi were annoyed by it. Depending on the power of the conjurer the rainfall could be light or heavy, lasting from a short shower to a long torrent.

For an alicorn, it could manifest as a rainstorm powerful and vast enough to thoroughly soak a city roughly comparable to Manehatten itself.

Midnight didn’t go that far however, focusing the rain to fall directly over the docks, and threw in a potent counterspell for dark magic to lace the raindrops with.

He watched as his rain did its work and noticed how the monster had paused as it glared up at the rain, snarling with seething rage. Every drop of rain that fell upon it made some seam hiss off its tarry goop.

If the rain is having any effect on him, it’s not nearly enough, thought Midnight as he prepared for his next move, I’m gonna have to try a more direct approach…!

Diving into his own shadow, Midnight, for lack of a better word, swam through shadow space. It was always a somewhat bizarre experience, like he were “swimming” just below the surface of water and seeing the world above him likewise albeit slightly blurry or shaded, depending on where light and shadow actually fell upon the surface of a floor, the ground, a wall, or a ceiling.

But Midnight could not deny the benefits to this power, such as becoming imperceptible to even magical detection or magically augmented senses.

Still, the power did have downsides too. One was, it was as though Midnight were a bubble of air that the “water” was trying to push back to the surface.

As he made his way towards the monster, he noticed it was continuing to seethe loathsomely up at the rain. That suited Midnight fine, and he quickly determined his next tactic as he zeroed in on his target, passing right underneath… before launching out of his shadow, his gauntlet’s claws each trailing a Shadow Lasso to ensnare-

“CHAINS OF ICARUS!!!” the monster snarled immediately, and from out of nowhere flaming chains, metal ringing as though the links were being struck against each other in quick-succession, whipped out.

Midnight was utterly taken aback as the chains looped onto his gauntlets and then his hind fetlocks. Thank Goddess his armor and gauntlets protected his limbs from the fire, but it didn’t change the fact that Midnight had been suddenly and unexpectedly immobilized!

The chains went taut, pulling Midnight’s limbs out and holding him in place, and Midnight was shocked that even his own strength was not enough to ease the chains’ pressure, let alone break them.

For a moment, Midnight was so frantic, trying to get loose, he almost didn’t notice the monster rise up in front of him, suspending itself via three tentacles of tar as thick as tree trunks.

Realizing his situation as it glared him menacingly in the face, Midnight grunted after another vain attempt to pull himself free before saying, “Watcher… You’re in there, I know you are! This isn’t you, it’s the tar!

“You need to remember who you really are! Think of your mom, think of your sisters! Think of your father…!”

“Destroy Midnight…” This time, the monster’s voice was clear and perfectly understandable, and it broke Midnight’s heart to his cousin’s voice as he made no indication that he could hear him, “Destroy the crown…!”

The monster-ized Watcher raised a foreleg, the tar upon it morphing into a long and lethal blade resembling solid obsidian, how it seethed from the rain that continued to drop, and he raised it overhead.

“Forgive me, Watcher…” Midnight hung his head in shame, afraid of what he was going to have to do to-

“WATCHER, NOOO!!!!!”

Midnight felt his heat leap into his throat as the source of the voice made itself known when Star n’ Stripe zoomed in, putting herself between Midnight and Watcher while raising a shield-

KerSHLANG

“Ooh!” Midnight felt Star ram into him as she was forced back by the impact of the blow against her shield, and the tautness of the burning chains gave just the slightest slack and sent Star in reverse trajectory, causing her to crash, shield-first, into Watcher.

The unexpected physical interruption broke Tarred Watcher’s focus, and the chains holding Midnight loosened. The sapphire stallion seized the moment and cast, “Finité Dispel!!”

The counterspell was basic, but the power behind it more than made up for it, as a pulse of turquoise mana that shimmered with its negative color counterpart burst from Midnight’s horn. The magic snuffed out the chains’ fire before each link broke apart like glass, setting Midnight free as he shook off the parts of the chains that had snared him.

Looking, he saw Tarred Watcher snarling viciously at Star, who held her shield to her side while her eyes were on the threat before her.

“Watcher… please hear me,” Star begged, her eyes glimmering with quiet desperation, “You are… one of the most ornery, stubborn, and just plain rude pains in the plot that’s ever been my dumb luck to know!

“But underneath all that, I’ve come to see somepony worthwhile!”

“RRRAAAUUGHH!!!!” Tarred Watcher roared as he snapped with dribbling teeth at Star, forcing her to suddenly back off in alarm as Tarred Watcher held up a foreleg… before lashing out in a tentacle of tar that speared right towards the pegasus mare-

SHLING

-only for a silver slash to cut it cleanly, causing the tar to drop in a goopy kersplot onto the dock where Tarred Watcher and Star stood, the latter seeing Midnight flapping aloft to the side, his weapons’ claws gleaming under the moonlight.

But then, they saw Tarred Watcher shake his head, looking confused, frustrated, or in pain. Or perhaps even all of the above.

Immediately, Midnight wondered before saying, “Keep trying, Star! I’ve got him.”

Landing a few yards behind Tarred Watcher, Midnight focused the full of his power through his shadow, which reached out before a mass of writhing shadowy tentacles flared upwards and quickly ensnared Tarred Watcher. The beast lashed out and struggled to get free, but Midnight didn’t let up. He didn’t slacken his grasp. He couldn’t afford to hesitate.

Seeing her leader giving her the chance she needed, Star cautiously but determinedly approached the poor creature before her, even as it continued to snarl and struggle in desperation to escape Midnight’s hold.

“Watcher… I see you, I see your pain. I’ve seen the struggles you have suffered through, and the burdens you’ve carried. I may not yet understand them all, but I want to. I want to help you, but you have to let me! Life has been unfair to you, so just this once, let me be the one to pull you out of that darkness!”

“Ssssssstar… Goooo… Don’t… GRRRRRAAAAORR!”

He can hear us! Midnight thought as he gritted his teeth before saying aloud, “Star, you’re getting through to him. Keep going!! Rgh…!”

“I know that it’s scary to be vulnerable, Watch,” Star got closer, not letting Tarred Watcher’s snarls and struggles ward her off any longer, “I know how hard it can be, to let down your guard… I did once, and somepony broke my heart. It made me never want to do that again, but I realized that would have meant closing myself off and never finding somepony special, somepony who would make me feel special…

“It’s a risk, yes,” Star now stood directly in front of Tarred Watcher, who had stopped struggling but continued to snarl and growl at Star, as she said, “but the risk is worth it, especially when it pays off. When you find that special somepony… and I believe I have.”

The growls and snarls softened, almost completely stopping, and Midnight felt Tarred Watcher starting to relax though he continued to fidget, as though he was in discomfort.

Star reached up, not caring about the tar, how it stung her hoof as she gently wiped some of it away… and smiled with hope to see Watcher’s eye, his real eye, as he looked upon her with that familiar, beautiful purple, as it shed a tear.

“No, I know I have,” Star uttered softly as she looked Watcher straight in the eye, and tenderly said, “...because I love you.”