Bring about the apocalypse in your pursuit of justice, and you are no greater than the evil you fight

Moonlight was shining against the castle walls like a mirror to the sky.

“So do we want a clean kill, or do we wanna send a message to...whoever?” Ira asked, cracking the knuckles in his claws as he walked forward.

“One: we already know Haimon is the one behind all this” Soul replied, trying to ignore the odd cracks of Ira’s claws “And two: we want to keep the assassin alive so we can get some answers”

“Pbbft, ‘answers’...” Ira remarked, raspberrying with his dark tongue “I could easily track these sorry sons of bitches down. Hell, I can already see a dark presence now. Maybe if you were to actually cut the proverbial leash, I could-””

“That’s out of the question!” Soul quickly shot at Ira, cutting him off “We’re trying to prevent more deaths, and I heavily doubt your ability follow that rule”

Ira scoffed at Soul’s comeback, and turned his attention to the large castle town before him. He could see almost the entire city from the road they stood on, which was a long distance from the castle town entrance.The mountain served at the city’s perch, allowing the town to revolve around a rise that lead to the castle. From the distance, the castellan city looked almost like a labyrinth of marble and stone.

“I wonder if they’ll let us in. This doesn’t seem like a time that Canterlot castle would be open to the public”” Daring pondered, looking towards the castle “Now that i think of it, we should’ve had Twilight inform the princess about us...”

“We can at least try” Soul replied half heartedly “I’ll be damned if I have to sit back instead of helping again”

“Mmh, technically you ARE damned” Ira added in “I mean, you come from the underworld and all”

“I never told you I was from the underworld...” Soul responded in a suspicious tone “How did you know that?”

Ira chuckled before speaking “I just guessed from the smell of death on you”

“Smell?...” Soul inquired curiously, then shook his head and disregarded the statement “Whatever. We should get moving now.”

Upon Soul’s words, the three began walking along the road to the entrance. As they moved closer, Soul quickly noticed the guards disappearing into the towers that watched the gate. Daring seemed to also take notice as she spoke.

“I don’t think they like you, Ira” Daring said towards Ira, who merely looked back with a curious expression “Can we all agree that I’m most qualified to do the talking?”

“That would be best” Soul responded as he eyed the guards’ movements carefully, watching for any hostile behaviour. Ira walked behind Soul and Daring like as if he had no clue what was happening. As Daring approached, one of the guards nearby the gate walked closer to meet her halfway.

“Hi! Uh, I know what you're thinking...” Daring yelled towards the guards watching the gate “These guys aren’t trouble. We were sent here by Twilight Sparkle to...deliver a message to the Princess”

“Sorry, but we’re under strict orders to keep any other humans from entering, and even so we still need to perform a weapon check” The guards firmly replied. He pointed to Soul as he continued “The black one’s weapon will have to stay with us, and the human isn’t allowed to enter right now”

“Hey, dumbass! I’m not human!” Ira complained from behind Daring “I dunno if you know, but normal humans aren’t likely to be red. Or spiky. Or-”

“You look human, and that’s all the clarification I need” The guard snapped back “There is a very pressing matter involving humans going on at the castle right now, and we can’t let you pass”

“Ok...could you let just me pass?” Daring offered, slightly to Sou land Ira’s noticeable dismay “I’ll talk to the princess and deliver the message, and maybe we can make an exception”

“I’ll have to consult my commander about it. Wait here” The guard turned around and entered the through the gate, only to return several minutes later. A white, armored stallion with a long blue mane was following, and began walking towards Daring when he noticed Soul behind her.

“Soulless Reaper? What are you doing here?” The stallion quickly approached as Soul met him beside daring “And...who is that?”

“It’s good to see you too, Shining” Soul sarcastically replied “Me, Daring and the red one were sent here by Twilight to help with the “problem” you’re having”

“Twilight sent you here to help? She must’ve contacted Princess Celestia...” Shining Armor quickly looked towards Ira, then back at Soul “Well, at any rate, I can get you and your friend through the gate, but the...human has to stay outside”

“That’s our problem, Shining” Soul responded in a hasty tone “The human is crucial to helping us, and...to be honest...we wouldn’t be alive if not for him”

Shining was quiet for a few moments as he pondered his decision, occasionally turning his attention at Ira. Finally he spoke in a hush “Fine, but if he causes any trouble, we won’t hesitate to take him down. ”

“Don’t worry. Neither will I” Soul replied coldly as he looked back at Ira “Thanks, Shining”

As Shining Armor led the trio past the gate and through the city, Ira had become unnerved. Soul took notice once he saw Ira darting his gaze about like a frightened rodent. He stayed as far away from any passing ponies as he could, although most of the ponies he passed did the same, and acted as if he disliked being noticed.

He must be getting more attention than he’s used to Soul guessed as he watched Ira attempt to cover his face from a gasping bystander He seems tense. I should keep a close eye on him

Within almost five minutes, the four were at the entrance to the castle. Shining quickly spoke with the guards at the front to let Ira and Soul pass by. As they neared the doors to the building, Ira suddenly shot his gaze to somewhere high on the castle. Against the sun, Soul could make out an expression of urgency on his face.

“Celestia and Luna are in the throne room right now” Shining stated as they passed the hedge maze near the entrance “I can take you guys to them for now, but I'll have to return to my post afterwards”

“Throne room, huh? So that’s where the sun is...” Ira trailed off, his gaze still on the castle “Heh, thanks for the info, Shiny. I’d rather skip walking up this big thing. See you suckers on the flip side!”

With his words, Ira suddenly took off into a sprint towards the castle, and leaped up to a nearby window’s balcony. He quickly rubbed his claws together before propelling himself high up the wall and digging his claws into the concrete. He then began climbing up the stone, leaving several marks in it as he scaled the castle.

“I can tell he isn’t going to be very obedient” Daring remarked as she watched Ira climb the castle “We should get after him, Soul”

“Agreed” Soul replied as he and Daring spread their wings. With a small running start, they were off into the air towards the wall that Ira hung on.

As he flew, Soul noticed guards scrambling about on the outer castle walls, and quickly guessed what they were doing. Within a few moments Soul saw various arrows fly towards Ira as he climbed. Most of the arrows hit Ira dead on, but didn’t phase him. He simply looked around as if he didn’t know what hit him. He quickly realized the situation as the second small wave of arrows pelted him and looked as if he would retaliate when he suddenly shot his gaze upwards again. He was still hanging on the wall for a few moments before he started climbing again at a much faster pace.

He obviously has a drive for something Soul thought, attempting to increase his speed as he raced towards Ira’s intended entry point. Upon getting closer, he realized that the room Ira was headed for was where Princess Celestia and Luna stood, their frontside blocked by guards. I knew he wasn’t going to give up on her so easily. I’ve got to beat him up there

After several intense moments, Ira had made it to one of the windows to the room. Keeping his climbing speed, Ira launched himself through the glass and towards Celestia. Everything seemed to slow down as Soul watched Ira leap forward, only to suddenly stop the blade of another human who appeared out of thin air. Soul had almost forgot he was flying before quickly adjusting himself to slow down just before the window, where Daring eventually joined him.

The room was silent at the scene. Ira stood in front of Celestia, holding back the thin blade of what seemed to be the very assassin after the princess. The bottom of the human’s face was masked and it wore a tight black outfit with a hooded cape, along with felt fingerless gloves and boots. What stood out most, however, was the human’s ginger coloured hair, which dropped down at the front and covered half of it’s face. The human seemed to be struggling against Ira's guard before noticing all the eyes on it. All the attention caused it to immediately back off and disappear from sight in a second.

“Wha-...a-are you?...” Celestia stuttered, her confused face focused on the demon in front of her “...you’re that same demon...Jayhawk's demon”

Celestia’s words caused Ira to turn his attention to her slightly as he kept facing forward “Yeah, I’m the same one, big whup” Ira remarked in a rushed tone. He quickly took a defensive stance as his sword formed in his hand “We can scrap 'bout it after I slaughter this little nuisance. Right now, you gotta work with me”

“He’s lying, sister!” Luna cut in, pointing a hoof towards Ira “He’s a humanoid demon. He must be working with the other one to try and trick us!”

Celestia seemingly agreed with Luna’s words as her expression grew slight anger “Everypony, please stand back!” Celestia yelled as she took an alerted stance. Her horn had begun to glow when Ira suddenly whipped around and grasped it, cutting off the flow of magic completely.

“Listen, princess ‘stick up her ass’, I’m after the assassin who is likely trying to kill both of you!” Ira affirmed in an agitated tone “So, are you gonna deny the savior in front of your eyes, or are you gonna trust me for a minute of your damned life?!”

Celestia’s shock slowly faded as Ira let go of her horn and turned back around. He began looking around the room in search for his target when Celestia spoke up “...alright, I’ll help you. But on one condition”

“I swear, you people and your fucking conditions...” Ira remarked in an annoyed tone, covering his face with his claw “What is it, what's the catch?”

“Under no circumstances will you hurt any more of my subjects” Celestia replied confidently “I will not stand to have my people killed by a demon”

“Oddly biased...” Ira quickly noted, suddenly smiling smugly back at her “That doesn’t include you...or her” Ira pointed towards Luna, who seemed taken aback by his comment

“It doesn’t have to” Soul cut in as he landed in the room “You won’t be trying to hurt either of them. I’ll make sure of that”

“Oh yeah, the big hero will protect the princesses” Ira mocked as he turned his attention towards the door of the room “I’m not the one trying to hurt them anyways. Cut off the door....assassin’s trying to escape”

“Guards, the door” Celestia ordered, which half of the guards nearby her followed without hesitation. As the ran towards the door, the pony leading the group tripped an unseen wire and was suddenly hit in the side of the head with a small knife. Ira laughed loudly as the pony fell forward from his momentum, and caused the other guards to stop.

“Oh, I can’t believe none of them saw that!” Ira yelled through his cackling laughter “My god... ah, the door, you dumb asses! I was serious!”

Hesitantly, the rest of the ponies ran to the door and stood in front of it. A black blur suddenly moved by them, and another one of the guards fell to the floor with a slit throat.

“And another one bites the stone! Don’t worry, I’ll just do everything!” Ira joked as he calmed his amusement. With a quick stepping movement, Ira dashed towards a pillar and slammed directly into it with his shoulder. The force of the hit lightly shook the entire room, and the human suddenly fell from in between the pillar and the wall after appearing out of thin air “See? Assassin”

A few guards had begun an advance to the human when Soul stopped them “No, don’t leave her side!” Soul shouted as he took to the air with his scythe “I’ve got this!” He quickly flew towards the assassin with his weapon, but Ira grabbed his tail and stopped him in mid-air.

“No, bad pony! Baaad!” Ira said in a stern tone “This one is mine. You sit back and watch like a good little boy” Ira dropped Soul and turned towards the human, just to see that it was already gone once more “Oh, for fucks sake...” Ira suddenly turned towards another pillar as he spoke “You know you can’t hide you from me, right? Using that little cloak power lets me sniff you out easily!”

After a few silent moments, the human walked out from behind another pillar at the opposite end of the room. At a still and consistent view, it was clear that the human was a female. She was holding a bloodied Estoc firmly. Not much of her face could be seen, but it was obvious that she was annoyed with Ira.

“There you go. Playing hide and seek is dumb. Let’s play ‘Catch the ninja’ instead!” Ira exclaimed in a chipper tone “You can be the ninja, and I’ll be the demon guy with the big sword” Ira held up his sword and motioned to it with his other hand. The human merely responded by taking a proper stance with her blade in anticipation “Alright...GO!”

Ira suddenly lunged forward sword first in a thrusting attack, which the human merely dodged by a slight movement of her body. Before she could counter, Ira stopped his dash and swung his sword sideways towards the human. She quickly hopped up over his swing and landed on his blade as it stopped, following up the dodge by immediately piercing Ira’s forehead with her blade. Ira’s face was blank as his eyes widened into slight shock. He stood still for a few moments before lowering his sword, causing the human to land on the floor and pull her blade from Ira’s head.

“That was...a mistake...” Ira spoke as if he was holding back an urge to explode “A big. God damn. MISTAKE!” Ira yelled his last word out into the air as a surge of red energy burst out from him, pushing back the human a few feet. His body became roughly metallic and toned itself to a stronger shape. Several spikes jolted out of his joints as a dark aura formed around him. The blood curdling roar following his transformation ensured that Ira was no longer the immature and insane demon of once before, but was now no different than a raging beast.

“That could be problematic” Daring remarked in a worried tone “Soul...”

“I know, but don’t you remember what Jay said?” Soul quickly replied “If we let the demon kill it’s target, Jay will return to normal.”

“Soul, that is reasonable and all...” Daring responded in haste “...but I’d rather not let him off our only lead! We may not get another!”

Both Daring and Soul returned their attention to Ira as they heard a loud smash, to see that Ira had slammed his fist into the pillar to his left. As it came crashing down upon him, he quickly cracked it in half by raising up his opposite fist. He then grabbed the nearest cylindrical piece of stone and swung it towards the human, continuing the attack several times as she jumped away. After a few swings, he javelin-tossed it towards her and caught her with a dashing punch as she dodged. The pillar just barely missed the group of ponies and crashed through a nearby window.

Soul could barely keep track of Ira’s movements as he unleashed a ruthless flurry of fists and kicks upon the small opening he had caught. He ended his combo with a quick knee, which sent the human crashing into the left side of the room. She hit the wall hard and slid down to the floor, seemingly unconscious. Ira looked content with his assault as he began walking forward, the sound of his steps on the floor the only sound throughout the dead silence. As the human tried to get back to her feet, Ira quickly leaped forward and grabbed her by the neck, holding her high in the air as if she weighed nothing

“That little poke hurt!” Ira spoke in an intimidating tone. He brung the human closer as he continued “Now I’m going to make you hurt! Eye for an eye, bitch!”

Ira followed his threat by dropping the human and quickly catching her stomach with his fist. On the momentum of the punch, Ira threw the human high into the air, then leaped off the nearby wall to her height and slammed her down the ground with both his fists. As the human soared towards the floor, Ira suddenly disappeared in a small plume of smoke and reappeared under her fast enough to stop the human’s fall with his flat hand. The human coughed out blood as she lay nearly motionless on Ira’s palm, and slowly slid off as he lowered it.

“Too easy....but, I’m not done with you yet” Ira affirmed as he picked the human up by her hood, dropping her on her feet so she would stand. Her hood fell down to reveal her short hair and a scar across the side on her neck. She was only visible for a few seconds before Ira’s next attack turned her into a black blur. The human flew directly through a nearby pillar, and slid across the room until she stopped a few feet from the guards at the door. Ira leaped across the room to the human,and shook the ground as he landed, then grabbed the human and stood her up once again “Pathetic! At least have the dignity to stand while I kill you!”

Ira raised up a claw in attack when Soul quickly spoke up “Stop! Ira, that’s enough” Soul said in a firm tone as he cautiously approached “We need her alive, and well enough for interrogation”

Ira slowly turned his head enough to meet Soul’s eyes. His gaze was nearly crippling; Soul had never met Ira’s eyes in his current form before. The way Ira stared back at Soul was, at most, enough to make him uneasy. He looked as if he would retort against Soul’s command, but instead began walking away the human and tossed his claw into the air behind him to motion that the guards could apprehend the human.

At least he listened... Soul thought, a feeling of relief flowing through him I’d rather not chance fighting him again

While Ira walked back to Soul and Daring, the guards near the door began to pick up the human and bring her to one of the dungeon cells. As soon as the human was near the door, however, she immediately broke free of their grasp and ran back to her target. A black blur was all that could be seen as the human dashed across the room, past Ira and directly towards the princesses. She seemingly faked her feign to try and catch Ira and the guards at an opportune time, but as she stopped in mid air for an attack on Celestia, her and everypony else quickly realized that her weapon was gone. She landed softly, looking around for the blade she had in her hand just a moment ago.

“Looking for something?” Ira spoke as he held up the human’s thin-bladed weapon by the tip, still walking towards the group “I don’’t miss anything. It’s useless to try and catch ‘The Guardian’ off guard” Ira quickly raised up the sword by it’s blade and crushed it in his fist. The human stared back at him blankly in shock, then started looking around nervously as she realized her situation. Ira flicked his wrist and threw the shattered weapon down before continuing “There’s no use in running now. I knew what you would plan before you even planned it, little girl”

The human seemed as if she would faint any minute. She shook slightly as Ira approached her, and fell to her knees as he stopped in front of her. Her head hung down for several moments.

“I’ve...n-never failed” the human whispered “Never so badly...not even close...” The human spoke in a tone that made it sound as if she would break down and cry any second.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash near the other end of the room. Everybody, including Ira and the assassin, looked over to see the source of the sound. The doors were opened as far as they could go, and the guards near the door had been thrown back. A familiar shape stood in a small cloud of dust. Soul’s gut wrenched as the cloud dissipated to reveal that Haimon was standing in the doorway.

“Is there some...trouble, Alphinx?” Haimon asked while he walked slowly past the knocked down guards. When the guards tried to stand, Haimon quickly cut them down with the edge of his axe without any signs of effort or attention “I was hoping you would be finished by now”

Alphinx simply stared back at Haimon as if he was Death himself. Ira had begun to chuckle a bit before breaking out into loud laughter. The sound of his crazed merriment filled the room. Soul considered covered his ears when Ira stopped suddenly and looked at Haimon, who stopped upon meeting his gaze.

“This is too good. I simply can’t believe my eyes! Ira mocked while walking forward “You?! You’re the guy who shut down Jay and his angel?! Bullshit!” Ira spat at the ground as he stopped about 15 feet from Haimon. "It's like the fuckin' circus is in town, or something! I feel like I'm being pranked!

“I see you are just as sure about yourself as he was...” Haimon responded, sheathing his axe and crossing his arms. He quickly looked at Soul before scratching his chin “However, I’m not here to waste time fighting. You, please kill the demon and the princesses for me” Haimon pointed towards Soul as he spoke.

“Sorry, but I’m on their side” Soul replied in a bitter tone “If you want something done, do it yourself. Your assassin is a good example of that”

“Oh, I’m not here for violence. I only wish to execute a plan of sorts” Haimon spoke as if he had been in the same situation this before. He held out his hand forward “Alphinx, shall we?”

On Haimon’s command, Alphinx quickly stood and ran towards him, only to be stopped by Ira’s claw in her face. Alphinx tried several times to push past or get around him, but to no avail.

“I don’ think so! Caught this 'ere bitch m'self! Ira yelled at Haimon in a mocking southern accent. He jabbed Alphinx in the stomach with a hard punch, and held her beside him by the neck as if she were a trophy “If y'all want her back so badly, then come and git her!”

“Please have her released for me, would you?” Haimon commanded once more towards Soul “I don’t have much time to spend here”

“Don’t command me, Haimon! I’m not your puppet!” Soul remarked in a more annoyed tone “Your virus isn’t strong enough to break me”

“Now, now, I would likely beg to differ that” Haimon spoke in a softer tone, as if he was trying to calm Soul down “I want to do this the easy way. Do as I say, or I will make you”

Soul stood still and silent. Haimon seemed displeased with Soul’s response, but kept his composure and clasped his hands to together. He smiled quickly before holding out a hand towards Soul.

“I would rather it be done plain and simple, but I did warn you!” Haimon exclaimed as if he were speaking to a child “You may feel a bit of pain, but only if you resist”

Suddenly, Haimon’s hand begun to glow a dull red. After several moments, the light pulsed, and a strike of pain hit Soul like a rock. His body froze up completely, and begun moving without his consent. He tried to keep his limbs in place as they hinged towards his weapon, gritting his teeth through the burn it caused his body. Something tried to control him, and his vision was slowly becoming darker. Celestia and Luna quickly looked at each other, then back at Soul. Alphinx quickly pushed away from Ira’s grasp as he turned his attention to Soul, and she quickly ran over to Haimon, nearly tripping on the way.

“Good, now we can leave” Haimon stated, turning around towards the door of the room “Have fun, my little pawn”

Author's Note

Alphinx is my moe assassin. Deal with it.