Two o’clock in the afternoon, thirty minutes before the ceremony begins and the beloved Princess Twilight Sparkle would be given the award for “Recognition to Scientific Contribution” from the Zebrabwean committee.

From his vantage point, Midnight fought every fiber of his being to go out and stop this farce, foil this trap… but he knew this might be the best chance they’d ever get of bringing down the House of Assassins. Even tipping Twilight off to the danger could spoil the venture, and it felt like snakes writhing in his gut that Midnight couldn’t warn his wife of the trap she was walking into.

The fact that he was using her for bait…

“You alright there, Midnight?” Watcher asked, walking up behind him.

“...I will be, when this is over,” Midnight did Cadance’s calming technique, taking the slightest edge off, before facing his team. “We’ve gone over the plan. You all know what to do. Make no mistake, fillies and gentlecolts… when everything goes sideways, it’s gonna be hell.”

The plaza in front of the Empony State Building was bustling with attendees, not just ponies but also several zebras. Excited chatter filled the air as the anticipation slowly grew.

Standing behind a tent built a short trot away from the raised platform, Twilight was feeling, as her good friend Pinkie Pie would say, nervou-cited.

Doing Cadance’s calming technique helped, but as Twilight peered out the tent, eyeing the crowd that had gathered to honor her, a face among them caught the purple princess’ eye.

Is… is that…? Twilight wondered as she was all but certain she could see Atom Nucleus among the sea of faces.

Twilight once studied the works of Atom Nucleus, once a renowned expert in the field of genetic engineering. His theories raised concerns and he was disgraced in the scientific community.

He looked not as handsome and confident as she remembered, but Twilight could swear-

*FWOOSH*

“Ah!” Twilight was startled as a strange gust of wind blew the tent’s tarp in her face, and when she managed to get it down and look again, Atom Nucleus was gone. “Strange… did I really see…?”

“Princess?” Twilight yiped and turned to see the zebra ambassador Ro standing behind her within the tent. The older equine chuckled softly, “Pardon me, Highness. Just wanted to check on you. Nervous, I take it?”

“Nervous, excited… both?” Twilight chuckled sheepishly before sighing, “Mr. Ro’, I… I’m not sure if I really deserve this.”

“Oh, is that all? Your Highness… this… this is your reward for all of your efforts, everypony out there is waiting for you to grace them with your presence for this crowning achievement,” Ro’ explained, smiling as he bowed his head to the princess, but in his mind, it was a reward for himself. “You wouldn’t want to come all this way and disappoint your subjects, do you?”

Despite her misgivings, Twilight understood that it would be wrong, even cruel, of her to turn away from such a reception. How would it look? How would they feel? Would they be hurt? Feel snubbed? To ignore such a grand gesture as this would send all the wrong messages and Twilight knew she could not decline this gesture.

Taking another deep breath, she said, “You’re right… I’m here, so I should at the very least say hello to my… adoring public? Heheheh…”

The weak chuckle from the princess caused Ro’ to smile in understanding, “Of course… Everything should be ready in a few minutes, the Mayor will call for you to come up and that will be when I present you with your reward.”

“Thank you, Ambassador Ro’,” Twilight gave him a grateful bow of her head.

“Please, just call me Ro’... Now if you'll excuse me, I promised to speak to one of my colleagues privately,” Ro’ said, bowing his head one last time as he trotted past the Princess as his smile slowly vanished as his eyes narrowed in annoyance.

“All is ready…” The zebra, after exiting the tent, peered out the corner of his eyes and saw Atom Nucleus, standing in a nearby alleyway.

Furrowing his brows, he (carefully) hurried over to the scientist and dragged him deeper into the alley, away from the excited crowd. Though their eyes were upon the platform, waiting for their princess, it would not do for even a single stray look to give anything away.

Throwing Atom against a dumpster, the zebra snarled, “I told you to keep a low profile!”

“I am! Urgh!” Atom grunted, feeling his shoulder ache a little, wincing as he stood up, “I simply felt it necessary to inform you everything is now in place.”

“Please… You informed me that everything was in place an hour ago, you forget that I come from the House of Assassins. I know everything about you, Nucleus… You went out there because of your jealousy of her majesty’s achievements over yours,” Malice mentioned as the scientist’s scowl was made known to the zebra.

“That insipid princess may have a mind for science… but she’s in no way deserving of even this petty excuse of recognition…!” Atom gritted his teeth, barely managing to keep his temper.

“Your demeanor is that of a pouty child… I don’t care about your pathetic resentment of Twilight Sparkle, but if you ruin this plan… I promise I’ll bathe these walls with your blood!” Malice threatened, slamming Atom against the dumpster as he released his hold on him. “Get into position… Soon, we'll be in command of an army powerful enough to conquer this city! Then Equestria… and then, the world!”

“Fine… but are you certain the plan will succeed?” Atom furrowed his brows, “Those Hooded characters are still out there. What if they show up and spoil everything?”

“And we’ll be ready for them… after all… We still have your experiments lying in wait, correct?” Atom nodded in response. “And Nimbus and Charcoal are on standby, we’ll be fine.”

Patting Atom on the head in a condescending manner, Malice then returned to the tent, leaving the scientist to seethe, “You have your methods, assassin…

“I have mine…” Atom whispered to himself as he held up a phial full of the tar, only it gave off an iridescent shimmer, as he turned to vanish into the alleyway.

“Fillies and gentlecolts!” rang the voice of Mayor Pescolt as he stood at the podium, a magical microphone amplifying his voice for all to hear, “As mayor of Manehatten, it is my honor- No, my privilege! To take this opportunity to express not simply my admiration, but also my deepest respect, for a pony whose mind and heart radiate as brightly as the sun. A pony whose achievements in her, relatively, short life serve as an inspiration to us all.

“That pony is none other… than Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, Daughter of House Esther, and friend to ponies everywhere!” Mayor Pescolt raised his right foreleg to wards the tent near the platform, and out came Twilight, having steeled herself to appear the picture of grace and majesty, as she raised her hoof to acknowledge the cheers of her subjects.

They waited until she stepped up onto the platform, but did not approach the mayor, who then continued, “Today, we gather here, in the Empony State plaza, to witness our Princess as she is recognized by my good friend, Ambassador Ro’,” Pescolt raised his left foreleg to indicate Ro’ as he stepped up onto the platform from the opposite side, carrying a golden trophy, resembling a healer’s mask, not unlike the one once worn by the legendary healer, Mage Meadowbrooke, “who has come all the way from Zebrabwe to act on behalf of his people. Let’s give him a hoof, shall we?”

Mayor Pescolt stepped down while clopping his hooves, everypony doing the same or stamping theirs as they gave rowdy cheers for the zebra ambassador who stepped up to the podium. He basked in their cheers, their adulation, their sad and pathetic ignorance of what was about to transpire… before he raised his hooves, encouraging silence.

When the last applause died down, Ro’ cleared his throat and spoke into the microphone, “Princess Twilight Sparkle, on behalf of my clan in Zebrabwe, it is a privilege to bestow upon you this award… May you continue being of service to all of Equestria, and for what is to come.”

Ro’ held up the award for Twilight to receive, and Twilight smiled as she approached to accept it-

*FWIKSH/SHAPLASH*

“Augh!” Twilight was startled as the golden mask on her award suddenly broke apart… spilling a strange viscous sludge of black onto the floor of the platform.

Ro’ dropped the award, his gracious smile suddenly twisting into surprised outrage, when he noticed a familiar crossl-bolt nailed into the floor beside him, and his outrage focused into seething infuriation as he growled, “Nyra…!”

“Shots from above!” “Everypony take cover!” “Protect the princess!” Policeponies began to take action while the crowd was starting to panic.

The moment is ruined, but it is still now or never! Malice grit his teeth as he pulled out a walkie-talkie and screamed into it, “ATOM!! DETONATE THE DEVICE! DO IT NOW!!!”

“Atom?!” Twilight echoed in confusion before realizing, So I did see him in the crowd?

“Acknowledged,” answered Atom’s voice on the walkie-talkie, and hardly a moment later…

KABOOMSH

From high above, a fiery blast ignited from the top floor of the Empony State Building, broken glass raining down… followed by a wave of the very same black substance, extending outwards, directly over the plaza.

“Your Majesty!” ‘Ro’’ gave Twilight a mocking curtsy before he took a runestone and crushed it under his hoof, releasing its magic and causing him to disappear in a flash of light, just like teleportation.

Twilight didn’t have time to wonder what the zebra was up to, as she watched in dread of the tar and glass coming down to swallow her and everypony present. Finally, the crowd was in full panic, everypony trying to escape the onslaught from above, only to crash into each other, trip over each other, push and knock each other this way and that, desperate to escape.

It was in vain, and just as the blackness was about to engulf them-

*FLASH*

“SHIRUDO TENEBRIS TRINITAS!!!” A blazing shield of turquoise blue manifested as an expanding circle directly above, bearing a familiar cutie-mark, as Twilight’s heart skipped a beat and then swelled with happy relief, as she felt her husband hold her close to him and he gazed down at her with a roguish smile, and said, “I missed you.”

“Not as much as I missed you,” Twilight replied before pulling Midnight into a loving kiss, which motivated Midnight even further and strengthened his magic even more.

The Dark Shield Midnight had cast, so named for being a shield spell for defending against dark magic, amplified by the Triplication Spell, which tripled any spell’s effect, provided one could muster the power, expanded until it covered most of the plaza.

Emphasis on ‘most’, for the tar splashed heavily upon the shield, and its foulness was spread outwards to the fringes, huge dollops of it coming down like molasses, and engulfing several among the crowd all the same.

“Midnight, what in the name of the Faust is going on?!” Twilight was beginning to panic, alarmed with worry to see the poor ponies covered by the tar begin to writhe and scream and snarl as the evil substance took effect.

“A terrorist attack, no time to explain! Star!” Midnight called, and Star arrived, accompanied by half a dozen Hoods, “Get the citizens to safety, leave the afflicted to the knights and myself.”

“Yes, Sir!” Star gestured for the Hoods to follow as they got to work rescuing the citizens who’d been lucky enough to be shielded.

Thankfully, the tarred ponies were still dazed and in agony as the wretched filth began to secure its hold upon their new hosts.

“Twilight, go with the citizens, protect them!” Midnight ordered before looking back, “Mac! Thunder!”

Both Macintosh and Thunderlane arrived, clad in their knightly armor, swords at the ready, while Midnight threw off his cloak, summoned his sword, and its magic washed over him, cladding him in his own armor, as the sapphire stallion declared, “We will handle this.”

“But, hold on!” Twilight protested, “Didn’t you say you came here to see Watcher?”

“Watcher has his own battle to face,” Midnight answered, turning to look up at the Empony State Building, “I only hope he’s up for it…”

When Malice teleported to the roof of the Empony State Building, directly above the floor from which the explosion came from, he was expecting to be meeting Atom Nucleus and his fellow assassins there, like they’d discussed. However, there was no sign of them, instead he found his apprentice, sitting back in a chair with his back leaning against a table beside him.

“Quite the spectacle you’ve thrown… made me almost believe this could have been pulled off by someone who wasn’t a part of the House of Assassins,” Watcher said, hopping off his chair as he unsheathed his sword from its scabbard. A black blade with red marking painted on it with a blue gem at the center of the hilt. “You always taught me about subtly when it came to the job, regardless of what it was, so how come you’ve decided to throw that all out the window?”

“Hehehe… As always, you never fail to surprise me, my apprentice, it’s why I spent so much time training you despite your age,” Malice sneered as he took a careful step and readied a runestone, just in case. “You were cunning, ruthless, even heartless like me. I’ve spent a lot of time serving… never receiving the recognition that I truly deserved, so I made a deal… took those who were either loyal or easy to manipulate if it meant I could escape control of that damn House…!”

“In all the time I spent fighting for you, killing for you… you never told me why. You never told Nyra or Narbus or anyone. Just that we were hired to take care of a job and stupidly we just followed you without question,” Watcher explained, his eyes looking down at his sword. A sword that belonged to his father. “But you weren’t really in charge… were you.”

Malice’s eye twitched when Watcher stated that as a fact. “Judging by your silence, I’m guessing I’m right.”

“Oh, if only you knew the whole story… I was merely a handler for recruits… I trained you and the others to be the perfect killers… Swift, precise, merciless. It was my duty, one I’ve grown weary of, all that effort and nothing to show for it. You think me a monster? You have no idea…” Malice explained, tapping the rune stone he had wrapped around his neck and he summoned a pair of long green blades that glowed with venomous power. “I’m done being the servant… It’s about time I stepped out of the shadows and took control of my destiny, as the master!”

“That I can understand…” Watcher raised his father’s sword, “but I will not allow for the exploitation of innocents. Despite everything, Malice, I still feel some respect for you. It is because of that respect I offer you this choice:

“Stand down and take responsibility for your actions… or else I swear by my father’s sword I will strike you down myself!”

“A true Master teaches his Apprentice well, but he does not teach him everything…” Malice narrowed his eyes as he hunkered down in a challenging pose.

“So be it! RAUGH!!” Watcher charged and Malice roared in return as he propelled himself to answer his former pupil’s challenge.

Macintosh raised his shield, shouting, “FORTRESS STANCE!!”

A barrier of apple-green magic surrounded him and the civilians who hadn’t been able to evacuate the plaza in time.

Midnight’s Dark Shield was still above, keeping the tar at bay but that didn’t stop the tar from seeping over the edges like molasses, cutting the plaza and those still within off as they didn’t dare try to cross the viscous substance while thick and icky globs of it continued to trail down from above, forming the likeness of a large black cage.

If that weren’t enough, over a dozen civvies got engulfed by the tar when it first fell, even with Midnight’s shield. Several more had tried to escape through the tar surrounding them, only to be swallowed up by it as well.

Thus, nearly twenty ponies had been overtaken by the tar, becoming monsters, like Watcher had been, and of course there were six more tarred ponies leftover from Malice and Atom’s initial experiments, leading to about twenty-five in total.

While most of the citizens who’d come to the ceremony had been safely evacuated, some still remained and were being protected by Macintosh’s Fortress Stance while Thunderlane shot Sonic Arrows from his bow, Skystrike.

Midnight had made sure to warn his friends not to harm the tarred victims, because they were innocent and not in control of themselves. The Sonic Arrows were the least harmful power Skystrike afforded Thunderlane, but he knew too many would eventually do lasting harm.

Not to mention, Thunderlane was fighting alone, flapping aloft, launching Sonic Arrows at all the tarred ponies, hoping to incapacitate them. Mac had to keep up his Fortress Stance to protect the remaining bystanders who couldn’t get away, and Midnight was dividing his attention and power between maintaining the Dark Shield above and using his shadow powers to fend off any tarred ponies that came too close to him.

Looking around at the situation, Midnight knew this was a battle of attrition - Thunderlane would either wear himself out or one of the tarred ponies would get lucky and yank him down. Mac couldn’t risk lowering Fortress Stance but even his energy would run out as other tarred ponies rammed and beat against the barrier. Even Midnight knew his own predicament was an increasingly slippery slope.

Looking up at the tar his Dark Shield spell was holding up, Midnight gritted his teeth since more of the tar continued to dribble down, he thought, If only there was a way to redirect the tar somewhere it can’t do any harm…!

“Having trouble, Your Royalness?” Midnight looked and saw a dark pegasus and a griffoness, both stained red, alighting upon each side of the platform where Midnight stood.

Both of them had ravenous looks in their eyes that were focused upon the alicorn, and he recalled Thunderlane and Star’s reports on these two.

“Charcoal and Nimbus, is it? My friends tell me you have… exotic tastes,” Midnight played it cool, refusing to give these creatures the satisfaction of unnerving him.

“And how long we have waited for the opportunity to taste alicorn…!” Charcoal bore his bloodstained teeth, looking more like a wolf than a pony.

“I want his tail!” Nimbus’s talons were on the verge of getting grabby.

“Even with my focus divided, you’ll find me to be no easy prey…!” Midnight bore his own fangs and flared his wings as he snarled at them.

“Any prey bears its teeth when cornered…” Charcoal mocked as he and Nimbus approached. “It’s more a sign of desperation than intimidation.”

“FRIGIS GLACIA!”

A magenta blast of magic zoomed past Charcoal, alarming him as the blast engulfed Nimbus, who screeched as she was momentarily engulfed before the power faded to reveal the griffoness was now frozen solid in glittering ice. “WHAT?!”

Looking back, Charcoal flinched to see Twilight had returned, along with that pesky pegasus mare, Star N’ Stripe.

“Midnight, maintain the shield, I’ll redirect the tar,” Twilight called to her husband as the purple princess began to focus her power, and a construct of magenta mana appeared above the shield overhead, a dome that encompassed the Dark Shield before it enclosed it along with the tar.

Midnight cut off the focus of his power to the spell, the shield vanishing, while Twilight compressed the sphere while casting another spell, which caused the tar to solidify.

“Uh-oh…!” Charcoal raised his wings, opting to make a getaway, only for tendrils of solid shadow to lash out and ensnare him. “N-NOO!! Lemme go, damn you!”

“I insist you stick around.” Charcoal turned to see Midnight just before the stallion’s black hoof knocked the pegasus’s light’s out.

Looking to his wife, Midnight smiled warmly as he went to her, saying, “Didn’t I tell you to leave with the citizens?”

“I had a feeling you might need a little help,” Twilight reached up to touch Midnight’s cheek and felt her heart warm as he tilted his head into her touch. “You taught me there are times I should listen to my instincts and not my head.”

“I suppose that depends on how thick one’s skull is,” Midnight teased.

“Sorry to break up the warm n’ fuzzies!” shouted the voice of Star, and the two alicorns finally noticed Star was helping Thunderlane fend off the tarred ponies, “But we could use some help here!”

Thunderlane’s Sonic Arrows had managed to knock out a few of the tarred ponies, but the majority of them were still kicking. And beating against Mac’s barrier, forcing him to hold his position to protect the civilians in there with him.

Midnight quickly conjured restraints, securing Charcoal in case he woke up, before looking to Twilight, “Our friends need us.”

“Then let’s settle this!” Twilight smirked boldly, “I’ll clean up the excess tar around the plaza, you help them.”

Nodding, Midnight charged to aid his friends while Twilight rushed to the plaza perimeter.

Midnight sent a pulse of telekinetic force to push the tarred ponies away from Mac’s barrier, then hurried to stand between Mac and the tarred ponies.

“Thunder, Star! To my sides, at once!” Midnight called to them. Once both stood beside him, Midnight instructed, “Everypony, cover your ears.”

Knowing what was about to happen, Thunderlane yelled to the civvies protected by Mac’s barrier, “Cover your ears, do it now!”

Midnight took a deep breath, his chest swelling with air, before he expelled it all in a SCREAM.

This Sonic Scream, considered the “evolution” of a Lunar Pony’s natural sense of echolocation, was different from how Midnight normally used it. It was loud, but not so bombastic or shrill enough to shatter glass or split eardrums

He aimed his scream at the tarred ponies, and almost at once all of them threw their heads back in agony, covering their ears, writhing on the ground, but it did no good. The Scream sounded at just the right intensity that it affected the tar more than the ponies.

The tar itself seemed to release their own shrill cries of torment, globs and tendrils of it separating from their hosts, their grips upon these ponies weakening. Seeing it was working, Midnight raised the volume just a little more even though his lungs were starting to ache as they were rapidly running out of breath.

Seeing Midnight needed help, Thunderlane pulled the energy bowstring of Skystrike back and angled it upwards. He had an idea, but he hoped he could hold back on the power, as he called out, “Crashing Sparks!”

Normally, this was one of his offensive powers, Crashing Thunder. But as he held back on his power, Thunderlane had focused it in the hopes that this would result in a weaker version of it, hence the word ‘sparks’ as the arrow launched, arced, and then burst into a shower of sizzling sparks of electricity.

As they rained down upon the tarred ponies, the sparks fizzed and popped with each point of contact, inducing more pain and perhaps the unpleasant sensation of pins n’ needles upon them. It worked, providing just enough of a nudge that the tar finally tore itself free from every victim it had enveloped and gathered together into an amorphous blob.

Seeing his opportunity, Midnight cut off the Scream, took a quick breath, and cast, “Frigis Glacia!”

A blast of freezing cold launched from Midnight’s horn, striking the blob of tar, quickly freezing it over.

Panting now that the tar was dealt with, Midnight took a moment to gather himself. Macintosh finally lowered his Fortress Stance shield, and pointed the civvies to evacuate. Thunderlane and Star rushed to Midnight’s side, Thunderlane asking, “You good, cap?”

“Pant, pant… ‘cap’?” Midnight echoed between his breaths.

“Well, you are the leader of the Knights of Harmony,” Thunderlane shrugged with a good-natured smirk. “But I recall you once said you don’t like to be called ‘boss’. So, I figured calling you cap, for captain, would suit you more.”

“Eeyup,” agreed Macintosh as he came over.

“And it looks like Princess Twilight has just finished collecting all the tar around the plaza,” Star pointed out, and they all smiled to see Twilight magically doing just that.

She’d divided the globs of tar up before freezing them solid with the Ice Cold Spell, and was now bringing them together, along with casting a ward to prevent any melting.

“Then it seems the situation at hoof is handled,” Midnight sighed in relief as he stood up.

“Handled indeed…” All eyes turned to see Atom Nucleus as the mad doctor approached with a disturbing look on his face. “Not the outcome I’d hoped for, but science is all about learning from failure.

“Thank you for gathering the subject matter, Your ‘Highnesses’. I’ll gladly take it off your hooves now.”

“Nucleus…” Midnight narrowed his eyes contemptuously.

“That’s Doctor Nucleus to you,” Nucleus retorted, “And I’ve worked too hard to see it all end like this!”

Reaching into his lab coat, Nucleus pulled out the phial of shimmering tar, “First and last warning, Sire. Step aside…”

“First and last warning, Doctor,” Midnight retorted as he raised his sword, Nightfall, “Stand down…”

“So be it…” Nucleus responded… before he upended the phial and drank it, much to everypony’s alarm.

Nucleus dropped the phial, which shattered onto the plaza floor around him, as he began to heave and broke into a sweat, suddenly feeling flashes of heat and cold while the stuff he drank literally began to boil inside his stomach.

He began to groan as he struggled to stand, looking almost drunk as he swayed and his groans began to turn into cries of agony. Then, to everyone’s horror, veins of black became visible under Nucleus’ coat, spreading throughout his body.

His muscles spasmed as though snakes were writhing beneath his skin. Slow and agonizing, tar began to seep out from the pores of his flesh as his fur began to fall off. Jagged spikes of bone began to burst through his flesh as his body began to grow more in size as sparks of electricity began to surround him. Extra appendages sprouted from his sides as they resembled that of minotaurs arms. Atom’s face though had the most change as he no longer looked liked a pony anymore, his snout- No- his entire face had stretched out as sharp spines came out from the side of his face and contorted antlers sprouted out from the side of his head as his mane fell off.

“ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!!!” The former doctor bellowed out as he slammed his hooves down, causing the ground beneath them to break with ease.

Everypony looked on in horror at the monstrosity that, only moments ago, had been a lanky couchpotato of an earth pony.

Now, Nucleus was well and truly a monster, larger than a bison (perhaps tall enough to look down even on Prince Sombra), the tar that had erupted from his pores and caused his coat and mane hair to fall out had formed into a scaly skin of black that shimmered colors like oil on water. His arms ended in large and ugly ape-like hands, the fingers extended by sharp talons. His hooves had expanded to be bigger than trash can lids. His tail had extended into a whip-like appendage ending in a reversed spike, like a harpoon.

His face, now resembling the likes of a crocodile, was a mouthful of sharp and crooked teeth as a tongue extended into a fork of three points, and his eyes… At first they seemed mad with bestial fury as he snarled and roared with a deep guttural rage.

And then, they cleared, revealing reptilian pupils, filled with fiendish brilliance as his hideous lips pulled back into a monstrous smile. “Do you see me now, Celestia! Do you see the power I’ve achieved with my own genius, my own hooves! You all mocked me, saying I was a fool! Now who’s the fool now! HAHAHAHAHA!”

“See my power, citizens of Manehatten! This is the power of evolution!” Atom Nucleus declared as he picked up a taxi-carriage with one hoof with ease and threw it in the direction of Midnight so suddenly.

Growling, Midnight waved his hoof, his telekinesis catching the carriage like a mitt catching a ball, and he set it down safely as he glared at the mad doctor, “You’re not evolved. You’re not even a genius! A true genius would never commit the folly of using himself as a laboratory specimen!

“Now all you are is an abomination…” Midnight snarled as he raised his sword, “Reach for the Light, Nightfall!”

The sword shone with nocturnal brilliance even though it was the middle of the day, and Midnight’s cloak dispersed like vapor as the light clad him in his helm and armor, and the sword itself transformed into a pair of clawed hoof gauntlets.

“Knights of Harmony! We must put an end to this fiend! Together!” Midnight led the charge as Thunderlane flew alongside him and Macintosh ran along the other.

“I wouldn’t expect someone who is now beneath me to understand! You can’t stop evolution! You, Celestia, all of you, especially that upstart Twilight Sparkle never understood! All of you hold the key to our evolution as a species, but you keep it to yourselves rather than share that power!” Atom explained, his eyes landing on Twilight Sparkle. “And YOU! You used to share my beliefs! I even shared my notes and research with you! Instead of helping me show everypony our potential, you ratted me out to the science committee and dragged my name through the mud!”

Atom’s hoof punched through the hard concrete of the street, before ripping it out and lunging upwards, dodging the knights’ charge, before he propelled himself towards the alicorn princess. “You took everything from me! So it’s only fair that I take away your freedom! After I kill all these inferior weaklings, I’ll finish what I started and create the ultimate servant of destruction for my client… And you, Twilight Sparkle, as thanks… you’ll be my next guinea pig!”

Taking flight to avoid Nucleus’ attack, Twilight raised a Mana Shield as she responded, “I did report you to the science committee, Atom Nucleus, because your theories, however brilliant, were dangerous!

“I tried to dissuade you, to encourage patience and work the theories out on careful experimentation!” Twilight flew higher as Nucleus threw more clunks of concrete at her, one of which impacted her shield.

It held, but it shook her up a bit, and she started using telekinesis to redirect the projectiles towards areas where no one would get hurt.

“But you were determined to act without regard for the risks and the consequences!”

“Clearly you’ve forgotten… You were also driven and determined, you once told me that science was the only thing that mattered. I thought we were the same, but the day you left for Ponyville was the day everything changed. You got soft… And when you become an alicorn, the next step for our species as a whole! You refused to share those secrets and you reported me! YOU DAMN BITCH!” Atom shouted, leaping into the air towards her at an alarming speed, about to slam his hooves and arms at her, but he was suddenly met by Midnight suddenly rising out of nowhere, waving his gauntlet-clad forelegs in a circle.

“HALF MOON SHIELD!!” Midnight exclaimed, and a half-sphere of lunar energy manifested in front of him, intercepting Nucleus’ attack.

“PIERCING LIGHTNING!” shouted Thunderlane from the mad doctor’s left and he turned just in time to get a lightning bolt to the face, electricity causing his whole body to spasm as he dropped like a stone back to the streets.

Groaning as he shook it off, Nucleus heard, “RISIN’ MOUNTAIN!”

Everypony looked at Macintosh and his sword and shield, Stone Edge, all grew in size as he became a giant, standing nearly three stables tall as he moved in, his every hoofstep a minor quake, to strike Nucleus with his shield.

Snarling, Nucleus raised his arms while planting his hooves into the ground and met Macintosh’s charge, like the unstoppable clashing with the unmovable. It truly was a sight. Even in his mutated form, Nucleus was hardly a third Mac’s enlarged size, and he held firm even as the mountainous Mac gritted his teeth and pressed down on the monster-ized doctor.

“Do you think I’ll let someone as inferior as you stop me! I AM EVOLUTION!” He roared, his muscles suddenly started to expand as his own size started to increase as the jagged bones started to grow larger and sharper. His extra limb grabbed hold of Mac’s face and lifted him off the ground before throwing him, headfirst, into a nearby sign. The ringer got to Mac’s noggin, causing him to pass out and fall flat onto his back in a tremendous KABLAM, followed by the knocked-out knight shrinking back down to his normal size. “Evolution… I am… Evolution… A fitting name for the next leader to lead the world on its path towards glorious evolution!”

“Atom, stop this!” The monster looked to see Twilight land nearby, a look of concern on her face, “This isn’t the way! Evolution is a natural process, it cannot be forced!”

“I’m done listening to your pathetic whimperings! A hypocrite like you has no say in these matters! You and your fellow alicorns would rather stall our progress! If magic was the main focus, science would have gone to greater heights to the point we might have even become technologically advanced.” Atom explained, about to charge the princess of friendship before an idea came to mind. “You’ve seen my power now, princess… You’ve seen my evolution… You could join me, like we talked about before… If you think this is impressive, imagine the power you could achieve if you joined me! What we could accomplish together!””

“Oh Atom…” Twilight shook her head as she even dared to approach the mutated scientist.

Midnight and Thunderlane kept aloft, both of them concerned. But Midnight trusted his wife, and was fast enough to intervene should he have to.

“I once looked up to you,” Twilight explained with true sympathy in her manner and voice, “Your mind, your dreams! Even though we never met, I always looked forward to our correspondence when you offered me tutoring in the various fields of biological science. Don’t you remember?”

“You were the only one who I thought understood… Clearly I was wrong,” Atom replied solemnly, before reeling his hoof and fist back as he let out a monstrous roar as he tried to turn the princess of friendship into paste.

“TWILIGHT!!” Thunderlane cried out in alarm even though Midnight did not. He sensed it before she cast it, as Twilight raised a powerful Mana Shield, protecting herself from Nucleus’ attack.

“RRGHH!!” Nucleus pulled his fist back, but then Twilight spoke again.

“No, Atom. You were wrong,” Twilight responded, “Despite not seeing you face to face until it was too late, you taught me so much… but there was something you taught me that I never forgot.

“The words of the esteemed scientist, Arcane Yord.”

Nucleus gasped softly, as he recalled those words, the words of perhaps his greatest hero in the ways of science. They ran through his mind even as Twilight spoke them aloud:

“No great science should ever put lives in danger.”

Those words had inspired Atom so long ago, when he was a colt. Twilight continued and even dared to approach her old tutor, and place a hoof onto his hand, “Look around, Atom. Look at all you’ve done, what you’ve become!

“Is this ‘great science’ worth the lives you’ve endangered? The peril you’ve done to yourself?”

“SHUT UP!!!” Atom shouted with panic, denying what he was seeing around him. “ATOM NUCLEUS IS DEAD! THERE IS ONLY EVOLUTION!!!”

With a painful roar, Atom, or rather Evolution used his hands to grab hold of his back, his claws digging deep into his flesh as began to rip it off as bones started to sprout free, bones that began to grow long and flesh began to wrap around it. Evolution now had wings.

“I get stronger and stronger with every passing moment! None of you can stop me now! I am invincible, I am the path to the future! I AM EVOLUTIOOOOOON!!!” Evolution roared as he tried to once again strike the princess, but before his fists could land, she had teleported away immediately, his fists only meeting the hard concrete ground, causing a massive wave of destruction in his wake as the ground shattered and buildings around him began to collapse.

Twilight Flashed to Midnight’s side in the air, her husband taking her hoof in his gauntlet as Midnight said, “This has gone far enough, Twilight. He… is too far gone.”

“I thought I could reach him… but perhaps he just can’t be reached in his mutated state,” Twilight sighed with genuine sorrow.

“Then perhaps restoring him may also restore his sense of reason,” Midnight suggested, “The tar is a manifestation of evil magic, Twilight. We both know a spell that can undo it.”

“What if it kills him?” Twilight fretted even as her former tutor began to lash out like a rabid animal, causing more and more destruction to the city around them.

“That… is a risk we’ll have to take,” Midnight said with understanding balanced with a reminder that this was their responsibility.

Taking a deep breath, Twilight said, “Very well… I shall add a woven spell and then we will cast it together.”

“After you, my love,” Midnight gestured for his wife to take the lead.

Furrowing her brows, mustering her power, Twilight began:

“Wayward Scholar, proud and bright

Once your brilliance shone with light

But now is gone the guiding heart

Your tainted darkness we now shall part!”

Taking her husband’s hoof in her own, Twilight nodded and Midnight’s own horn and eyes lit up with his turquoise mana to match the intensity of his wife’s magenta, and both they chanted:

“Omenous Finité.”

The power of two alicorns rained down upon the mutated doctor, turquoise and magenta engulfing him with the purity of light, causing Nucleus to roar in exquisite agony as the light boiled his skin and bones! He howled as the evil that had polluted his being was purged like the infection it truly was, and his form began to shrink and shrivel, the arms atrophying into nothing, the exposed bones crumbling into brittly dust. His maw of teeth shrank back down while the sharp teeth themselves dropped from his lips.

The roars and howls softened into pathetic whimpers and cries as Atom Nucleus was returned to equine form, but his body no longer resembled his former self. His skin was naked and looked rashy and sensitive, red and abrased. His hooves were cracked, his mouth was now gums with no teeth, and his eyes were glazed over and ran with tears.

Floating down, Twilight stifled a sob at the sight of her former tutor. Midnight pulled her into a hug, and promised, “I will make sure he gets the best medical care possible. But he will still have to face the consequences of his actions.”

“I understand…” sobbed Twilight as she broke away from her husband and knelt down beside Atom, and gingerly touched his cheek, wiping away his tears, “Perhaps, with help, he can be the pony he once was…”

KAKRAMSH

Everyone flinched as they looked up and saw the spire on top of the Empony State Building topple and begin to fall. Thinking quickly, Midnight cast a featherweight spell upon the spire, so it would fall as softly as a feather and cause no serious impact once it reached the ground.

“What’s going on up there?” Thunderlane raised his wing to shield the light from his eyes for a better look.

“Watcher…!” Midnight suddenly remembered. Spreading his wings, he looked to Thunderlane and Twilight, “Secure Charcoal and Nimbus and the tar! I have to help Watcher!”

As he took flight, Twilight and Thunderlane watched Midnight rise, just as Mac came around with a groan as he held his head, “Uhh… wha’d Ah miss?”

“Pant… pant…” Watcher struggled to even out his breathing, but the situation was looking grim, as he clutched his injured shoulder.

Looking around the rooftop of the Empony State Building, he saw his friends all knocked out or unable to fight any longer. Narbus lay unconscious under some rubble and debris. Nyra lay paralyzed from a poison Malice had used on her, leaving her struggling to stay conscious but unable to move. Star had shown up recently to join the fight, only to get a broken wing for her courage, and forced by Watcher to sit the rest of this out with the use of a binding spell.

The fight with his former master had been fierce and intense. He’d held his own well-enough but even after Nyra and Narbus came to his aid, it became clear that Malice had indeed kept a few tricks to himself, as the wicked zebra loomed over them all, his blades glowing with poisonous green magic.

“Sigh… Still standing… As usual you never cease to surprise me, Watcher,” Malice stated, looking over his blade before glancing back at his former protege. “If only you had focused on your original mission, you could have stood by my side even, leading my army across these lands to purge it of the weak and create a new world order where the strong rule,”

“Pfft… Yeah, right, you and I both know that you would’ve killed me the moment you perceived me as a threat to your so-called new world,” Watcher replied, grunting as he dashed forward, sword in the grip of his magic. With a swing of his father’s blade, it clashed against the double blades of the zebra, unflinching, Malice only smirked as the unicorn scowled.

“Such fire!” Malice smirked, pushing back Watcher before a glow on his chest appeared, revealing several rune stones attached to an armored chest plate, conjuring several more blades that suddenly launched at him.

Watcher grimaced in alarm as he used his magic to propel himself back, twisting his body in an effort to avoid the blades. Most missed, but he felt one cut into his left foreleg. Immediately, he felt a numbness begin to spread, and he knew he was in trouble.

Landing, Watcher noticed the blades had nailed themselves into the wall behind him, but he kept Malice in his line of sight.

“At least you know better than to take your eyes completely off your opponent,” Malice chuckled darkly, and quickly touched his shield rune to conjure a bubble-shaped shield of mana around himself, foiling Watcher’s Flamethrower Spell. “Oh, come now, my boy. You know me better than that!”

“Grrgh!” Watcher growled in vexation, remembering that Malice’s shield runes were top-notch in protecting him from magical attacks. Malice liked direct combat, to get up close and personal… so he could watch the light leave the eyes of his victims when he killed them.

The problem was, the numbing effect was potent, even as Watcher did his best to use Recovery, a mana wielding skill to recover from minor wounds or counteract minor poisons and such. The numbing was still working in spite of his Recovery, so the poison was anything but mild.

Shit! It’s still spreading… I don’t have a choice! This is gonna hurt…Watcher thought, but that did little to reassure himself as he used his father’s blade to chop off his own hoof. Letting out a guttural scream of deepest agony, he used a quick fire spell to cauterize the wound and stop the bleeding, before he was pushed down by the zebra.

“You never cease to impress me, Watcher,” Malice said with a flat expression yet a tone of intrigue. “To amputate a limb on the fly, without even using anesthesia? I can honestly say, I’m uncertain I could be so brave to do the same thing…”

“Damn you… Damn you to TARTARUS! I hope the Pale One makes your death as agonizing as possible!” Watcher screamed, trying to ignore the pain.

“Oh do settle down,” Malice sighed as he cast a minor healing rune, which at the very least dulled Watcher’s pain. “I’m trying to have a conversation here, so stifle that incessant whining, and listen:

“I offer you this final chance, Watcher…” Malice spoke, his tone losing all jest, as serious as a blade to the throat, as he held out his hoof to his former student, “Join me… or die.”

Taking a deep breath, trying to muster his power along with his will, Watcher gave his former teacher a look that gave his answer before he voiced it, “Never.”

They held each other’s gaze for a moment. But Malice sighed with genuine disappointment, before his eyes gleamed like colt steel, and he summoned his blades back from the wall, and they zoomed towards him before orbiting around him as he coldly retorted, “So be it…”

Touching another of his runestones, Malice channeled more power into his blades, each of them glimmering with a strange monochromatic shimmer as they converged together.

“You could have had it all, but I see that foolishness runs in your family,” Malice said with such cold detachment, before shrugging it off, “Ah well, can’t reason with crazy.

“Just know, my deepest failure, that I shall endeavor to find the most creative of endings, for your friends, for your family, for your cousin.. And especially his wife.”

Narrowing his eyes with deepest contempt, Watcher scoffed, “You? Against my cuz? Huh… enjoy Haydes, cuz’ that’s where you’ll be going once he sets his eyes on you.”

“Well, may the best killer win,” Malice responded without the slightest intimidation as he willed for his converged blades to come down upon Watcher, the unicorn refusing to look away, to give Malice that satisfaction-

*VWUP/Shinnn/Vewp*

“WHAT?!” Malice had almost missed it, as a portal of turquoise mana had opened precisely above Watcher, Malice’s weapons vanishing into it, and then the portal had winked out of existence.

“Malice!” The zebra looked past Watcher and was startled to see a particular cloaked pony standing on the ledge of the Empony State Building. “An assassin… who’s about to die!”

“Who the fuck are you?!” Malice demanded, touching more of his weapon runes to conjure backup blades.

The interloper threw off his cloak, and Malice glared with a growl to see… “Midnight Blaze!”

The alicorn prince gave Malice an amused look, but there was no hiding the burning contempt in those turquoise eyes, their sights on the zebra, as Midnight said, “Pleasure to be meeting you, quite a pleasure!

“Because I’m about to end your fucking life!” Midnight declared with sadistic glee as he bared his fangs and stomped his hooves and summoned writhing tendrils of shadowstuff, ablaze with burning blue magical fire.

“Grrrr!! You insolent-” Malice’s runes lit up as he use a Levitation stone to boost his jump as he lunged towards Midnight, his blades spiraling around him as the zebra glared murderously at this upstart who called himself an assassin.

Midnight smirked as his shadow tendrils lashed out, some of them being shredded by Malice’s blades but the rest found their mark and pushed him back and pinned him down.

While Malice fought to free himself, Midnight stepped down from the ledge and gave his cousin a teasing look, “Having trouble, brother?”

“Heh! You certainly decided to take your sweet time. Were you too busy staring into Twilight’s eyes to notice the explosion up here?~” Watcher teased back, taking his cousin’s hoof as the alicorn pulled him up.

“Heheh, here,” Midnight reached into a small portal and pulled out a crystal container, filled with a prismatic liquid, “Drink that elixir and share it with the others. I’ll handle him.”

“I’ll be fine… The ones who really need this… are them,” Watcher gestured to his fallen comrades, eyes landing on Star as his ears fell down. “Keep him busy, I’m gonna help my friends.”

“Take some of that for yourself, as well,” Midnight insisted before leaning over to whisper something into Watcher’s ear, the unicorn’s eyes widening with understanding as he looked at his cousin, and saw him in a new light, as the alicorn winked and said, “Sit tight!”

Charging in, Midnight reached into his Alicorn Dimension, and pulled out two moon-shaped blades, both of them gleaming silver, the inner edges replaced with handles wrapped in faux-leather while the outer edges were razor sharp, each blade set with a perfect sapphire and engraved with stars and swirls, the sapphire stallion spinning around as he hurtled towards Malice.

Seeing his foe incoming, Malice angrily activated a Flux Rune, causing all magic but his own around him to momentarily go into flux. This destabilized the shadow tendrils, allowing him to break free quite easily, and then leap away, avoiding what would have been his bisection.

Rrgh! Damn him, that was my last Flux Rune! Malice thought as he put a few pony-lengths between him and the prince, his ire rising at the cocky rise of Midnight’s brow as he gave Malice an amused look.

Standing up straight, Midnight ho-hum’d, “So, you’re the big-bad assassin Watcher’s told me about?

“Heh. I’m underwhelmed…” Midnight grinned, baring his fangs, showing Malice the height of his respect, which was none at all.

“And you are the head of the Brotherhood of the Evening Hoods, am I correct?” Malice asked, letting out a derisive chuckle. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised… My informants spent months trying to uncover who was leading such a deceptive group of unique individuals,”

“Oh, so that was you,” Midnight acknowledged this fact to be true but played it cool, “A few of my Hoods had brought rumors to my attention of someone showing an unhealthy interest in our organization.”

“Well, you can’t exactly blame me, can you? It’s part of the whole assassin thing. When we’re given a task, we’re expected to complete it without fail, it’s why failures like Nyra, Narbus, and Watcher that usually get eliminated. The House of Assassins were founded for one singular purpose: to kill by any means necessary. It’s why I even risked sending some of the best to… find out who was in charge, because you know what happens when you cut the head off a snake, right?”

“Heheheh, well, on one hoof, I must sincerely commend you,” Midnight shrugged in an amicable manner, “I hunted your group a while back, but was never able to find tangible leads. Not a name, not a symbol, not a nothin’... Eventually, other concerns demanded my attention and I, obviously, made a mistake in writing you all off and letting the trail go cold.”

“Well, we wouldn’t have persevered for more than two hundred years… Did you think a group of highly trained killers and mercenaries would be easy to find?” Malice mocked. “Haven’t you ever wondered how ponies who were one day here suddenly vanished? Or when citizens were healthy one day and dead the next?”

“Why, yes, as a matter of fact, that’s exactly what first put me on your scent. Which leads me to the other hoof…” Midnight’s eyes darkened as he glared Malice with such frigid contempt the zebra felt it pierce his marrow, as the alicorn softly seethed, “The Brotherhood of the Evening Hoods… the House of Assassins. Both deal in the business of death… but there is a defining difference between us, Malice… do you know what that is?”

“HAHAHAHAHA! Of course I know! Your pathetic Brotherhood… Are weak… feeble minded who aren’t willing to do what needs to be done! I’ve done my research on your group, such talented individuals, unable to do what needs to be done to bring about your peace. Only one has actually spilled blood… And that’s you, the leader… You would have been a perfect fit for the House of Assassins,” Malice explained, conjuring several blades, swinging them wildly at the alicorn prince who dodged the poisonous blades effortlessly. “Did you know that you were the second one who ever got close to finding us?”

“The second, you say,” Midnight cast a telekinetic pulse of such force Malice winced as he felt his mental grasp on his blades loosen, with some of them dropping to the floor, as Midnight said, “While it’s true I alone hold the duties of assassination in the Brotherhood, I alone don’t have blood on my hooves… but that’s not the difference I’m talking about, Malice!”

Midnight spun around, whipping blades of solid shadow from his tail at Malice, who bunched his remaining blades together, forming a makeshift shield. But one of the shadow blades made it past and found its mark in the zebra’s shoulder, to his gritting agony.

His focus faltered a moment as Malice’s blades-turned-shield dropped and he quickly touched a healing rune to patch himself up. But then he noticed Midnight coming closer.

“I take life in the pursuit of peace and justice… you and your lot… you take life for profit and pleasure!” Midnight spat with deepest contempt, “I’d be lying if I claimed never to have taken pleasure in the kill before, but every life I've taken was in service to my nation and my subjects. Just as I will in taking yours and the rest of the House of Assassins…!”

“The rest of us? You honestly think you can do that!?” Malice asked, confused for a brief moment before he started laughing. “HAHAHAHAHAHA! Fool! You are just as amusing as Watcher! If only I had found you instead of him! You could have even helped me escape that hell hole with ease!

“I’m so impressed, that you deserve to know a tidbit about your precious cousin,”

“What do you mean?” Midnight demanded, narrowing his eyes.

“You see, you were close to finding us, but not as close as the old Mayor of Vanhoover, oh what was his name again… the names tend to blur together after awhile. Ah yes! Mayor Puffer Hoffer! He got close, closer than anyone else to finding out the truth about us.”

“Hmm, I take it his efforts caused you to take greater care in covering your tracks…” Midnight huffed, “Thanks a lot, Mister Mayor, for making my job all the harder…”

“Can’t blame an old bastard for seeking justice against us… A real do-gooder! Which is why… I tasked your precious cousin to… deal with him personally,” Malice grinned, his eyes landing on his former protege. “I still remember the look on that old fool’s face when Watcher burned him alive, the screams of agony and you want to know the best part? The look on that wretch’s wife’s face as she cried, begging Watcher to stop, but he didn’t! And doesn’t your precious laws dictate those who kill government officials are to be… executed? Such a crime shouldn’t go unpunished right?”

“Getting desperate now, are we?” Malice was stunned at that response as Midnight shrugged, “Trying to turn me against my cousin? For such a big-time assassin, that’s really rather pathetic…”

“What did you say…!?” Malice gritted his teeth in outrage.

“Watcher told me his crimes already,” Midnight answered with a detached look, “I know every life he’s taken in service to the House of Assassins, every crime he’s committed, aided, and abetted. And he will atone for his wrongs by serving me in the Brotherhood for the rest of his life… That is his penance.

“And as much as you disgust me, I am willing to offer you the same. All you have to do… is kneel.”

“Kneel… Kneel?!? I am done kneeling to those who think they can control my destiny!” Malice pulled out a rune stone and threw it directly at the alicorn. Suddenly, several hooves of bones appeared, latching onto him as skulls of fallen ponies came out, ready to rip the alicorn prince apart. “I spent years serving a damn Countess and doing her dirty work! But I will say that serving her allowed me the opportunity to… gain some information,”

“Necro Amrro!” Midnight cast a ward that layered his body with magical protection against the undead skulls, causing them to burn up in cinders after coming in contact with the ward while Midnight glared at Malice, “Countess? Information?”

“Huh… Seems that I gave you too much credit, eh? Don’t tell me that you thought I was the head of the House of Assassins?! Pfft! Guess I expected too much!” Malice grinned, pulling out several rune stones from his pocket and threw them to the ground. Summoning dozens of undead, only for Midnight to fuel his ward with more power to fend them off. “You see, it took time, but some of my best assassins found the location of a particular base belonging to your Brotherhood.”

“ErrRAUGH!!” Midnight roared as he incinerated the skulls and then cast a Seal over the rooftop, preventing any more summoning of the undead. “What are you talking about?! My bases and facilities are perfectly hidden!

“I’ll admit your group is effective and formidable, but no one’s ever found even one of my bases since I took leadership of the Brotherhood!”

“Ha! You wouldn’t happen to be thinking of the base hidden in the most remote corner of the Badlands, now would you?” Malice sneered, taking greater pleasure in seeing Midnight flinch. “That’s what I thought! So, if there are no further interruptions…

“Hehehe! Then, allow me to recite the names on this list,” Malice pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. “Ryder of the PAW Patrol… Lightning Dust, currently deep undercover infiltrating the Shadowbolts… Astaur Earthfury of Taurra… Magnus of the Dragonlands… Dr. Kat Manx of Abyssinnia? Ooh, that one should put a smile on Winkle’s face!”

“Impossible…!” Midnight growled, his eyes widening with fury edged with panic as he bore his fangs. “Even if you did find that base, you couldn’t have stolen that list! It’s sealed inside enchanted glass!”

“Please… Do you think that we don’t have our ways?~” Malice smirked, tapping the rune stones on his chest all at once and conjured over a dozen blades, all glowing a bright green as more undead started to come out of the rune stones he had thrown before.

But Midnight’s Seal did its work, causing the undead to turn to ashes the moment they emerged from the evil magic conjuring them, as Midnight glared at the zebra with bloodlust so intense Malice couldn’t help but cackle in delight, even when Midnight spoke in an ominous tone, “You’re not leaving this rooftop with that list…!”

“Oh, this will be quite valuable to my client, I hear she’s quite ruthless… Once she sees what I’ll accomplish, she’ll do me the honor of terminating the Countess for me,” Malice grinned as his undead kept trying to get to the alicorn. “Then, I’ll be the true head of the House of Assassin’s, but I think our time here is at an end.”

“I couldn’t agree more!” Malice turned to find Watcher standing in front of him, his hoof that he had amputated was now replaced with what looked like tar, but its color was completely white apart from a colorful shimmer like oil on water. Suddenly, white tendrils came out suddenly, wrapping around the zebra, hoisting him up into the air so suddenly as Malice looked flabbergasted by Watcher’s sudden control over his tar! “Guess, the tar wasn’t completely out of my system!”

Watcher spun around, swinging his former master in the air before throwing him through the wall. Immediately, he picked him up again before bringing him back towards him, while simultaneously casting several purple flames above his head and launching them at him.

“GRRRAAAH!” Malice yelled as the tendrils continued to tighten around him as he was hit repeatedly by balls of flames. Each one getting more intense with heat, even with Malice’s ward runes passively protecting him from elemental magic. “HOW DARE YOU!!!”

Malice immediately conjured more blades and sliced the tendrils that were wrapped around him while activating his healing rune stone. “You’ll regret defying me! I’m going to cut off all your hooves and make you watch as I slowly kill Nyra, Narbus, that damn hood, and your cousin in the most painful and agonizing ways you couldn’t possibly imagine!”

“Not before I remove your head from your shoulders!” Watcher gritted his teeth, as he levitated his blade and threw it at his master, the blade though, was not aimed at him directly, but rather something on him.

Watcher’s Sword pierced a rune stone that was on Malice’s armor, shattering it to pieces as the zebra’s eyes widened in complete shock. The zebra watched as many of his runestones dropped out of his armor and most of them shattered when they hit the floor. No magic worked however, because breaking the runestones had to be a deliberate act by Malice himself.

It was then he noticed one of the surviving runestones, A Travel Rune! I just have to…!

“Finité Arcanorum!!!” came the voice of Midnight, and a pulse of his magic washed over the remaining runestones and Malice felt his blood run cold as any hope he had of fighting or fleeing literally turned to dust before his very eyes.

He was literally knocked out of his stupor as Watcher sent Malice flying with an uppercut to the jaw, and the zebra stallion was flat on his back, blood dribbling from his lips, and he felt his tongue swish against something in his mouth and spat out, much to his horror and anger, a few of his teeth.

Terror and panic began to flood Malice’s mind as he saw Watcher and Midnight approach him, and he struggled to his hooves while holding one of them out in desperate pleading, “WAITWAITWAITWAITWAITWAITWAITWAIT!!! There’s a deal to be struck here!”

“No deals, Malice!” Midnight growled with an unforgiving shake of his head, “You planned to sell the very lives of my subordinates for a dirty profit… and I’ve already made my last offer.”

“Grrrrr… Damn you, Midnight… and damn you, Watcher! You could have had it all, you filthy ingrate! You could have had power! Mares! Riches! Everything you could have ever wanted, all of it would have been yours…!” Malice screamed in rave and rant with the look of a madmane, spittle flying from his mouth, as he glared at his former apprentice with unforgiving hatred. “After everything I’ve done for you, you betray me for petty sentiment!!”

“I chose my side,” Watcher stated, his eyes looking at his former master with not anger or hate, but disappointment? “And I can’t allow you to live… not after everything you’ve done… You tried to turn thousands into your meat puppets and you tried to kill me, my cousin, and his wife! I don’t care what excuses or deals you come up with!”

Watcher’s horn was suddenly enveloped in a purple hue as he pulled the list of names from Malice’s pocket to his robe and passing it to his cousin. “Take this list, and get the others out of here Midnight… This is something I have to do… Alone.”

Seeing the look in his cousin’s eyes, Midnight took the list and burned it to ashes with a single ignition of his mana, before nodding in understanding as he patted his cousin on the shoulder and whispered to him, “Do as you will, brother. Whatever you choose, I am proud of you…”

Midnight spun his horn around, causing portals of his mana to appear over his head, as well as the heads of Nyra, Narbus, and Star, who were all unconscious but alive. The portals came down, taking them away in winks of light, leaving the fallen master and the former apprentice alone on the rooftop of the Empony State Building.

“Do you really think this will be the end?” Malice asked, no longer trying to weasel his way out of this. For this was now his fate as he grinned at the unicorn. “She was most likely watching… She has her ways of knowing, for she is the founder… She is the true head of the House of Assassins.”

“Does it look like I care? Because honestly, I don’t… I spent so much time killing for what I believed to be justice, and… Every. Single. Day, I had to live with those deaths haunting me. Dealing with those voices, but now… I was given a second chance to be better, to truly do some good. You taught me how to fight, how to use my powers… Imagine the good you could do with your knowledge, and skills?”

“You were my mentor and probably the closest thing I’ll have to a father figure… If Midnight of all ponies could offer you redemption… Then I could do the same, right?” Watcher asked, extending his hoof out towards the zebra.

“Hehehe… Sentiment… You never fail to surprise me, Watcher… We could have had the whole world in our hooves.” Malice lamented with a faux ‘oh well’ tone, a bittersweet smile on his face, his hoof reaching into his pocket, pulling out a final rune stone. “Which is why, I’ll be giving you this final bit of information… Mother Miracle… That’s who truly runs the House of Assassins. May Faust have mercy on your souls when you meet her… For what it’s worth… You were like a son to me.”

Placing the final rune stone against his head, the stone activated, blowing the zebra’s head to pieces as his body fell to the ground. The unicorn didn’t react at all as the blood of his former master splattered over the floor, a little bit getting on his cheek.

“Farewell… Master Malice,” Watcher said coldly as he turned his back, deciding to take the stairs all the way down. For once, Watcher didn’t feel like using his magic and wanted to take the long way down, be alone with his thoughts before he talked to everypony else. “May the Pale One have mercy on your soul.”

As Watcher opened the door and started making his way down the building, Malice watched his former apprentice- Nay… his son walk away from the darkness he’d cast the young stallion into for so long.

“Will he be okay?” Malice asked the presence standing beside him.

The Pale One nodded and gently spoke, “He will live a good life, he has so much more to do, before his time…”

Malice peered down at his headless corpse. He’d never really thought it would end this way. Now that it had regrets he’d buried or didn’t even know he’d had began to run through his mind, weighing upon his spirit so heavily that he even began to hunch from the burden of his own sins.

“I wonder… if things could have been different,” Malice sighed heavily. “But I guess, I let the chance come and go.”

“It is time,” the Pale One said, and Malice nodded. He’d take whatever came next. But then the Pale One said, “Perhaps one day, the two of you will have that chance after all.”

That slightest possibility of hope brought the smallest smile to Malice’s face, but he said nothing, as the Pale One spread his wings and gently wrapped his cloak around Malice’s spirit, they moved on.

Author's Note

Shirudo Tenebris Trinitas (Shirudo, Romaji for 'shield' + Tenebris, Latin for 'darkness' + Trinitas, derived from 'trinity') A Shield Spell to defend against Dark Magic, tripled in its power and effect.

Frigis Glacia (Latin for 'Ice Cold') A spell to freeze something in ice

Omenous Finité (Omen + Ominous + Menace, Finité, Latin for 'finite', French for 'finished') A general counterspell to dark magic

Necro Amrro (Necro, relating to the dead + Amrro, derived from 'armor') A defense ward for protection against the undead.

Finité Arcanorum (Finité, derived from 'finite' or Latin Finire 'to end' + Derived from Arcana) a powerful counterspell against magic in general.

Hats off to anyone who can spot a reference and from where they came