In the morning, Midnight explained to Twilight and his family that he was needed in Manehatten, that his agents in the Brotherhood were asking for his help.

"And you're certain your agents really need your help?" Twilight was uncomfortable with her stallion going off to deal with criminals, nor did Twinken or Faerie Tail like the idea any better, the three of them giving Midnight concerned looks as they stood on the platform of Ponyville Train Station.

"The situation in Manehatten needs my direct involvement," Midnight nodded, his solemn demeanor making it clear he was serious about this, "and the Hoods I have stationed there are only a few."

"How many Hoods do you have altogether?" asked Twinken, a part of him a little excited by the spy aspect of this shady business of Midnight's.

"I can't give you an exact number, but I can say that I have small groups of agents stationed in most of the major cities in Equestria," answered Midnight, "I actually need to recruit another member ever since one of my Hoods lost his life a while back during that changeling business."

"I don't like this, son," Faerie Tail held her hoof over her heart, "Please, just ask Princess Celestia or someone else to take care of whatever's going on, and stay home with us."

"I'm sorry, Mom," Midnight stepped over to his mother and held her in his wings, enfolding Twilight and Twinken as well. "But this is my duty, not simply because I'm a Prince of Equestria but because I made a vow to protect Equestria and to my agents. I can't ask of them what I'm not willing to do myself, and it would be the epitome of selfishness if I sent them into danger while I stayed safely in the background."

He stepped back, looking at each of them in turn, "Everything will be fine. I should be back in a few days, a week at most. But my agents are counting on me to help them quell the rising crime rate in Manehatten, and it's better if this problem is nipped at the bud before things go too far."

Twilight, Twinken, and Faerie Tail all sighed with sad understanding but smiling at Midnight's dedication, not only to Equestria but to his agents. Faerie Tail stepepd up to her son, and reached up to caress his cheek in her hoof, "Your father would be so proud to hear you say that."

The compliment was bittersweet to Midnight but he accepted it with a humble smile when they heard the train whistle and the conductor call out, "All ABOOOAARRRDD!!!"

Making sure his saddlebags were secure, Midnight faced his family and gave them a confident smile, "That's my cue."

He held out his foreleg in an inviting way and they came in for a big hug, and once it was over he stepepd back, saying, "I'll see you all soon! Love you!"

Midnight stepped onto the train but just before he closed the door he heard Twilight, "Midnight!"

He looked back at his mare and saw a worried look on her face, "What will you do to protect Manehatten?"

For a long moment, Midnight's face was unreadable to Twilight but then he responded, his answer devoid of emotion, "What I must."

The door closed behind him and they watched as the train pulled out of the station and Twilight looked on even after the train was no longer in sight. She felt a hoof on her shoulder and looked to see Faerie Tail giving her a look of worry that mirrored her own.
"Auntie Faerie Tail, I..."

"I know, sweetie," Faerie Tail shared her honorary niece's concern as she thought of the answer and look Midnight gave before he left, "I've never seen my son look like that..."

"Midnight will be okay," Twinken said in a more assured voice even though he couldn't hide his own concern as he looked on down the railroad, his mother and Twilight giving him a look.
"And he'll make sure everypony in Manehatten is okay too."

The two mares shared a look and gave each other small smiles, feeling some of the worry lift from their shoulders thanks to Twinken's words.

The long train ride gave Midnight plenty of time to go over some files from his dossiers. He kept records of various criminals from all corners of Equestria, and looking into the Manehatten file, he re-familiarized himself with some of the more infamous scumbags of the Big Apple, such as Mad Dog Howl, a freelance hit-dog who often frequented Manehatten, Bumpy Roadz, a zebra gangster in the Haylem neighborhood, and Blanca Flanx, the head of the Eastside drug trade, to name a few. Most of the files he had of Manehatten's criminals, many had already been sent to prison, some were labeled 'eliminated', but there were in fact several individuals who had enough clout that gave them a realistic chance of filling the void in Manehatten that was once occupied by Hossmane.

The alicorn prince had suspected Hossmane's suicide would eventually come to this, and so he was already planning his strategy, dividing the minor from the significant, the petty crooks from the professional criminals that could very well rise up to take over Manehatten's criminal underworld. Most of them would be taken in and sent to prison, but there were some Midnight had his eyes on.

These targets he had in mind, These wastes of flesh won't live to see Celestia's sun tomorrow morning...

The sun was setting by the time the train from Ponyville pulled into Grand Central, but the princely passenger had already disembarked the Friendship Express. Now, he was garbed in his shadowy cloak, his face hidden within his hood, and walking down Furlong Acre, the enchantments woven into his cloak so intricate and powerful that he was as anonymous as any random face in the crowd. Nopony paid him any mind, even whenever someone bumped into him they gave a mild 'excuse me', not really registering his presence.

Which suited him perfectly. Right now, he was not Midnight Blaze, Prince of Equestria, Element of Faith, Guardian of Harmony, Head of House Obsidian.

Now?

He was the Hooded Pony, master of the Brotherhood of the Evening Hoods, the watchers of the night, the unseen punishers of the criminal element. Equestria’s deadliest assassin.

He arrived at the base of his agents in no time at all, turning to shadow and slipping inside without bothering to do the secret knock. That was for the agents, not for their leader. Slinking along the floor of the once grand hotel, he listened in, hearing voices in the lounge. Deciding to find out what his Hoods had done so far, he slithered in, completely undetected and rose up in the darkest corner, where the Hood he had in charge of this base was explaining the situation, using a projector to provide visual aids.

“...and this new drug, Burning Timber or whatever it’s called, is already poisoning the more vulnerable citizens of the populace. The homeless, runaways, those living in poverty,” said the Hood, a tall and strong Lunar Pegasus, evident by the cobalt blue leathery wings poking out from holes in the back of his cloak. Although he had his hood up, the Hooded Pony could see this Hood’s face, thanks to certain enchantments he had imbued into the Hood’s cloak. He had a shaggy coat of russet brown, his mane a similar but much lighter color, and his eyes were bright amber but had narrow pupils like a cat’s. The gear he wore under his cloak hid his cutie-mark.
“We need to find the source of this drug, determine how big this operation is, and shut it down before this reaches the point of no return.”

“Sounds like a plan!”

Every Hood in the lounge room startled and turned to see the Hooded Pony step out of the shadowy corner, vaporous shadows trailing out from under the undulating edges of his cloak as his barely-visible muzzle smirked, displaying his fangs before he said, “But before we get started, I’m going to need the full run-down.”

It was almost an hour before the Hooded Pony was gazing down from one of the many skyscrapers of the city, his goal clear, and his targets in mind. After his agents had given him the full scope, he took a few minutes to go over the major players in Manehatten’s crime world, divvy’d them up, and assigned each Hood a short list of three targets, instructing them to capture and bring them in. Alive, but they were free to be... persuasive.

As for the Hooded Pony himself, he’d decided to take the lion’s share of the list, and had marked three targets specifically, instructing his agents that these three criminals in particular were his. His to eliminate.

The rest, he would bring in himself.

But, first things first, and the Hooded Pony had already tracked down the first on his list, Hex Hound, a high-ranking enforcer of the Savage Horns with a rap sheet longer than his horn, including assault and battery, malevolent abuse of magic, multiple charges of drug possession, some of which had been enough for “intent to sell”, and so on. He’d been to jail before, but prison had only hardened Hex into a violent criminal. After he got out after an eight year stint, Hex had immediately violated his parole and somehow gotten his inhibitor ring removed and gone straight back to the Horns and rose up the ranks to become one of their most infamous enforcers. He’s had a warrant out for his arrest ever since.

But now... The Hooded Pony thought as he watched the scum lounging by a rooftop pool, he’s going back to prison before tonight is done.

The Hooded Pony leapt from the skyscraper, diving dozens of stories downwards towards the rooftop across the street, enveloping himself with shadow and landing as silently as the breeze, on the other side of the pool. Keeping to the shadows, the Hooded Pony took a closer look at Hex. The unusually brawny unicorn had a bruise-purple coat, a spiky mane colored a light brown like sawdust, a part of his long horn was chipped, he wore a heavy golden necklace with two large H’s, obviously signifying his name, and his cutie-mark was hidden by a pair of swim trunks, and a gnarly pair of shades rested on the bridge of his nose. His horn lit up with a deep red aura, levitating a bottle of beer to his mouth, which he sipped and ah’d in content.

The Hooded Pony sighed, having a disdain for alcoholics, but he perked his ears as he heard Hex talking to himself, “Oh yeah... once this product soaks into the buyers, nopony will be able to go without Burning Timber for too long. M-m-more addicts, m-m-more money, heh-heh-heh-heh!”

The Hooded Pony narrowed his eyes in disdain before he began his work and exhaled, casting a faint but noticeable mist across the rooftop. However, Hex was too relaxed to even notice, which was fine... up until he heard a splash, startling him to sit up and remove his shades, revealing the left eye of his that had been scarred shut, as he looked around, saying, “Wha- Who’s there?!”

The ripples in the pool were already fading, but he could see a dark shape in the water, thanks to the underwater pool lights. Narrowing his remaining eye, Hex readied a spell, his horn lighting up, creating a sizzling sound from the spell that was ready to fire at a moment’s notice, only for a tendril of darkness to lash out from the water, and quickly ensnare Hex’s horn, causing him to yelp in surprise as he was yanked downward. He grunted and groaned from his aching horn as he felt the pressure of whatever had grabbed him was still holding on. Snorting, he pulled himself up to his hooves and glared at the shape in the water, “You must think you got balls t’ buck around with me, schmuckwad, but you’re about to”-

Hex stopped talking when his assailant rose up out of the water, a mass of darkness topped with the hooded head of a unicorn whose face he could not see. It was only a moment before he realized who this was and began to shiver in fright as the Hooded Pony’s horn lit up, and the water soaking him almost instantly evaporated, leaving him dry and foreboding as he stepped out of the pool and willed the tendril of shadow he had holding Hex by the horn to make the scum kiss the floor. Groaning fearfully, Hex nervously looked up at the Hooded Pony, who then opened his mouth and said in an oddly polite tone, “Enjoying a little moonlight swim?”

“Uh... yeah?” squeaked Hex, fearful of what this guy might do.

“Well, then I assume you’re in such a relaxed mood that maybe you’ll tell me a little about this Burning Timber I’ve been hearing about...” The Hooded Pony’s tone turned low and ominous, and Hex knew he wasn’t asking nicely.

“Uh- Yeah- Sure-sure, I’ll tell you everything I know!” Hex whimpered fearfully, “Just... don’t kill me, man!”

“Oh, don’t worry, Hex,” The Hooded Pony leaned downward, his lips pulling back into a fiendish smile that revealed his sharp fangs, “So long as you tell me the truth, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

So Hex spilled his guts, and explained that Burning Timber was a highly addictive drug made from the wood of timberwolves and poison joke, rolled up into a flammable parchment with magic enhancing properties. Users smoked it like they would cigars, but unlike tobacco, Burning Timber created a powerful high that left the users in such a euphoria they would laugh like hyenas as the trace amounts of timberwolf bark collected in their bloodstream and drain magic away from their thaumaturgical system! The bark would continue to grow the more the user smoked Burning Timber, forcing the body to expend its magic in a vain effort to reject the bark, disrupting and slowly but surely weakening the user’s magical abilities until the growth of bark in the users’ bodies cut off their blood flow and killed them or the hallucinogenic effects drove them insane.

The Hooded Pony was horrified at such a monstrous drug, and demanded who had concocted the stuff.

“I don’t know! I swear to Faust, I don’t know who came up with Burning Timber!” whimpered Hex, shaking nervously, “All I know is, my boss bought some from another gang leader and they’re already planning sales to local bums, addicts, and... and...”

“And what...?” the Hooded Pony pressed with an edge in his voice.

“And high school kids?” squeaked Hex fearfully.

The Hooded Pony lack of a response was almost worse than an burst of outrage, and Hex continued to whimper in fear, terrified that he might have just signed his own death warrant.

“Thank you for being so cooperative...” The Hooded Pony said ominously, “but now it’s time to take you in.”

“Sure, whatever, jail’s fine with me,” Hex sighed in relief, only to hear a condescending chuckle from the Hooded Pony.

“Ha, jail?” he said snidely before baring his fangs in a ferocious snarl, that Hex yelped in horror and covered his eyes, only to feel magic pull his hooves from his face as the Hooded Pony said, “I said that I’m taking you in, not that I was taking you to jail.”

“Wha- But I- I don’t get it!” Hex’s whole body shook, but then what happened next made him freeze.

First the Hooded Pony cast a spell of purplish green that struck He’x horn. He cringed in discomfort and gasped to see his reflection in the pool. Whatever the Hooded Pony had done, it had caused small black crystals to grow on Hex’s horn like blemishes. He concentrated, only to feel a spiking migraine that made him cry out in pain, and he realized, I can’t use my magic!

Then the Hooded Pony chuckled darkly as his aura levitated Hex off the floor, and he struggled to get down, “Lemme go! Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you! I’ll-I’ll tell you my boss’s hideout location, where he keeps his stashes and money! ANYTHING!!”

The Hooded Pony gave no response, but Hex felt tingles of magic all over his body, and then he began to notice something strange. The Hooded Pony was getting bigger and bigger-

Wait, no! Hex realized in horror that the Hooded Pony was not getting bigger, I’m getting smaller!

He continued to struggle when he heard an ominous chuckle and looked to see the Hooded Pony lick his lips and then an icy chill spread through his veins as it dawned on him what the Hooded Pony had meant by ‘taking him in’.

The Hooded Pony looked upon Hex, who he’d shrunk to the size of a mouse, and the tiny stallion was already thrashing about, trying to get loose of the Hooded Pony’s magical grasp. He chuckled cruelly at the shrunken thug’s terror as he held up his hoof and directed his prey towards his mouth, and Hex screamed in squealing terror at the sight of the open fanged maw that almost instantly closed in around him, only Hex’s head sticking out from the Hooded Pony’s lips. The Hooded Pony took a taste and mm’d the salty terror before sucking Hex completely into his mouth. He toyed with Hex, swishing him around inside, trapping him in his left cheek and sucking, just to tease him a bit, and feeling the pitiful struggles to escape.

However, as much as he was enjoying himself, the Hooded Pony thought, So many tasty little snacks, not enough time to enjoy them...

Maneuvering Hex onto his tongue, the Hooded Pony tilted his head back, hearing Hex screaming as he slid down and there was a mighty GULP.

The Hooded Pony sighed in blessed relief as he felt his snack go down, sitting a moment before he felt his new prisoner become acquainted with his temporary cell. Almost immediately, he felt Hex moving in his belly, pretty frantically, scared out of his mind, probably afraid of being digested. The Hooded Pony let him think that but while he’d shrunken Hex he’d enchanted him with a few spells, one that would protect him from his stomach acids, another that would allow him to breathe. He waited for the third to take effect and nodded in satisfaction when he felt the movements cease, meaning Hex was now sleeping like a baby, safe and sound within a chamber of flesh.

*Burp*

The Hooded Pony chuckled as he felt the taste come back to his mouth, but he remembered he still had more targets to... bring in. Standing up, he took a running start, and dove off the rooftop, shadowstuff engulfing him as he swooped off for his next prey.

Author's Note

Mad Dog Howl - Mad Dog Coll
Bumpy Roadz - Bump Johnson
Blanca Flanx - Griselda Blanco

Look `em up