“How could you forget Eagle?!” Rainbow lashed out at Eagle. “One day! One day is all that you needed to give up for the sake of our relationship, and you couldn’t even get that right!” Eagle could clearly tell that she was pissed, and she had every right to be. Eagle held his head in his hooves as he let Rainbow lash out at him.

“I know, and I’m sorry Dash. Something just came up suddenly and I had to deal with it,” Eagle responded, trying to make himself sound convincing.

“What did you have to do Eagle that it was more important than our anniversary date?!” Now Eagle was up against the wall, figuratively and literally. Rainbow had backed him up against the wall his bed was up against, and the question she had asked him gave him very few options for a response.

“Well, I… you know… had to see Sharp Side… in the hospital.” Eagle could only imagine how stupid that sounded.

“Yeah right, I stopped by his place on my way over here, and he was there. He told me you should have been home, and he was right. If anything, I would say you were out getting into a street fight, on account of all of your bruises and cuts. Seriously, did you really have to just go out and fight for no reason just to miss our date?!” Eagle face-hoofed himself and sighed. He couldn’t find any possible excuse to come up with. Except for, of course, the truth. Eagle let out one more sigh and looked up to Rainbow Dash.

“Alright Dash, I’ll tell you.” She raised an eyebrow at him and waited for him to say something. “I… I’m the Assassin.” Rainbow gave it a moment before bursting out in laughter. “Why are you laughing?”

“Because, that’s the stupidest thing you could ever say!” Rainbow could barely control herself. She couldn’t imagine Eagle as a brutal killer like the Assassin. Eagle sighed and got up. He walked over to his dresser, which hid his gear behind it. He activated the panel and revealed his gear to Rainbow Dash, who upon looking at the gear stopped laughing and only looked at the stallion.

“Eagle?” She was speechless.

“Now do you believe me?” She got up from the floor and walked over to the equipment. She looked over everything, noticing every cut in the robe set that she had noticed before. She looked at Eagle and matched up the cuts. She stepped back in fear. “Dash, please, try to understand that…” but Eagle was stopped by a smack to the face. He looked back at Rainbow in surprise.

“This is what you’ve been spending your time doing?! You’ve been playing the part of a killer?! Eagle, while I’ll admit, that outfit is cool and all, how could you be so stupid?!” If Rainbow was pissed before, that paled in comparison to how pissed she was now.

“Dash, I’m sorry, but nopony could know about this. If I told anypony, I would risk their safety, which is especially why I didn’t tell you.” Eagle was about to continue, only to be met with a passionate kiss from Rainbow Dash. Eagle was caught completely off guard, but he loosened up and returned the passion that Rainbow was kissing with. Breaking the kiss, Eagle looked into her eyes. “I’m confused.”

“Yes, I am pissed that you’ve been lying to me, and yes, I’m concerned as to why you’re being a killer, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop loving you. I just don’t get why you didn’t tell me.”

“Were you not listening? I don’t want anypony other than Sharp Side getting involved.” Rainbow looked at him confusedly.

“Sharp Side’s in on this too?” Eagle simply nodded. “So you could tell your best friend but not your marefriend?!”

“I told him because he’s my partner in all of this. He helped me make my gear, he helps me on missions, and he knows how to keep a secret.”

“I can keep secrets,” Rainbow argued.

“Yeah, not really. But, seriously, if anypony else got involved, it would put them in harm’s way, and I don’t want that. If you were to get hurt because of your involvement with me, I could never forgive myself.”

“Eagle, if you know me, then you should know that nothing can hurt me. I’m Rainbow Dash after all, the greatest flyer in Equestria!”

“Then you should remember what happened that night, how you almost died at the hooves of one of the members of the Dark Flames. What if I hadn’t been there to save you Dash, what then?!” Now, Rainbow had been beaten. She couldn’t think of a logical answer.

“Okay, I guess you’re right, but, I know now, so what makes this different from telling me before?”

“Because now, I didn’t really have a choice but to tell you.” Eagle lowered his head in shame. He had been deliberately lying to Rainbow Dash, his marefriend, and now he was paying for it. But, when Rainbow simply kissed him again, he was shocked.

“Eagle, like I said, I don’t care if you’re the Assassin. I just care that you’re my coltfriend, and that we’re together. That’s it.” She wrapped him in a passionate hug. “I love you Eagle, and nothing will change that.” Eagle smiled to himself and returned the hug.

“I love you too Dash. Thanks.” The two broke the hug after thirty seconds. Dash looked at Eagle with a smile.

“Oh yeah, I did a few calculations, and I actually think it’s been three months since we’ve been dating.”

“Really?” Eagle asked.

“Yeah, because we got back together on… that night. You were asleep for one month, then there was that one month for your mental recovery with me coming here at night and you going to Sharp Side’s during the day, and then, there was that first month of you being the Assassin I guess. You have been acting weird this past month, so I guess that’s what’s been making you act funny.” Eagle let everything run through his mind and came to the conclusion that she was right.

“Wow, I can’t believe you managed to figure that out. I had no idea you were smart,” Eagle said jokingly. Rainbow gave him a little shove and laughed.

“Whatever, did you get us the Wonderbolts tickets?”

“Wow, way to change the topic suddenly, but yes, I did get them,” Eagle said, reaching over to his desk and showing her the two tickets. Her face beamed with joy as she wrapped him in another hug.

“Awesome! Now, I think it’s time I show you what I got you.” Rainbow unfolded her wings and reached for something under her right wing.

“Nice place to hide a gift, but seriously, you didn’t have to get me anything… what did you get me?” Rainbow pulled out a small baggie. “Dash, what did you get me?” Eagle asked again, this time with a hint of concern in his voice.

“Something special,” she responded, giving him a seductive look. From the bag, she pulled out a wrapped, circular piece of plastic. Eagle gave her a deadpanned look.

“Um, is that a…” Eagle started to ask.

“Condom?” Rainbow finished for him.

“Uh, yeah… why did you… how long have you wanted to do this?”

“I won’t lie, since we first met at the nightclub that night three months ago.” Rainbow started to blush but didn’t stop looking at Eagle with her seductive look.

“Just one question,” Eagle said.

“What?”

“Are you on the pill?” Rainbow nodded in return, which only made Eagle smile. “Then help me strap that little guy on and we can get started.” Rainbow ripped off the packaging, threw Eagle on the bed, strapped on the covering over his member, and laid herself over him.

“Ready to lose that V-Card of yours?” Rainbow asked seductively.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Eagle responded. Eagle reached over to his lamp and shut the light off. Shortly after, the fun began for the two Pegasi.

Eagle Eye woke the next morning with Rainbow Dash right beside him. He found his member still inside the young mare’s marehood. He chuckled to himself before slowly pulling out, which only managed to wake up the mare. She looked at her lover with a smile.

“Good morning,” she said.

“Good morning, sleep well?”

“I did, especially since I was here with you,” Rainbow responded. Eagle smiled and gave her a kiss. He looked under his covers to look at the bed sheets.

“Well, that’s a mess,” Eagle said plainly. Rainbow merely snickered to herself and kissed him on the head.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you can get them cleaned in no time.” Eagle looked back to the mare.

“Among other things.” They shared a quick laugh before kissing each other. Rainbow started to move herself over Eagle again, which he complied with. Round two sounded good right about now, until a knock came from the door.

“Eagle Eye, are you awake son?” It was Eagle’s father. Thankfully, Fire Streak hadn’t arrived home until very late in the night. Eagle and Rainbow were fast asleep before he arrived home, so he overheard none of the previous night’s events. He might not have even known that Rainbow was with Eagle. “If you are, I’m just letting you know that I’m heading out. I should be back by one.” Rainbow and Eagle heard Fire Streak walk back downstairs and head out the door.

“Well, now that he’s gone…” Rainbow said, returning to kiss Eagle. He gladly returned her kisses, but he stopped her momentarily to look at the clock.

“Ah crap, it’s already twelve?! I’m supposed to meet Sharp Side in half an hour!”

“More Assassin stuff?” Rainbow asked. Eagle looked back to her. She was now frowning a bit, and looked a little disappointed.

“I’m sorry Dash, but remember how you found me yesterday near that destroyed shack?” Rainbow nodded in response. “Well, I had tracked a member of the Dark Flames of Heaven to that shack. I killed him, but I managed to gather some intel beforehand as to one of Flames’ benefactors. I need to find this stallion and find out what he knows.”

“Oh to hell with that, you can be a little late now can’t you?” Rainbow asked, giving Eagle a sort of puppy dog face. Eagle couldn’t resist his lust for the mare.

“I’m sure Sharp Side won’t mind,” Eagle responded. Rainbow gave him a seductive smile and began to kiss him again. Breaking the kiss, Eagle Eye spoke. “Time for round two.”

Eagle Eye flew through the sky with his gear at the ready. After his second round with Rainbow Dash, the two had a short breakfast, and then Eagle Eye sent Rainbow on her way home. He was late at this point, but he figured Sharp Side wouldn’t care. The two stallions would have all the time in the world to get the mission done. Eagle flew through the skies towards Sharp Side’s house, in quite a good mood.

‘Who knew that mare could buck like that?’ he thought to himself. He finally arrived at Sharp Side’s house and headed for the garage. Opening the door, Eagle was met with an angry look from his best friend.

“Dude, you’re late!” Sharp Side said in a less-than-amused tone.

“Sorry. Dash stayed late last night and we kinda…”

“You had sex with her didn’t you?” Eagle simply nodded, showing no shame for what he had done. “Meh, fair enough I guess. Anyway, you ready?” Eagle chuckled to himself at how quickly Sharp Side had just given up being angry.

“Yeah, I’m ready to go. Let’s find out what this smithy knows about the Dark Flames.” Sharp Side readied his computer as Eagle headed back out for the blacksmith shop he was at the previous day.

Arriving at the blacksmith shop, Eagle scoped out the surrounding area. He quickly found that there were a few guards patrolling the area. They weren’t there for any particular reason, just to patrol another area. Eagle planned out his method of entry into the shop, which wasn’t that difficult. He would use the back entrance, and hopefully, there wouldn’t be any members of the Dark Flames in the shop. Thankfully, the windows in the front of the shop weren’t too revealing, but Eagle would most likely take the smithy of the shop into the back.

Eagle initiated his attack, sneaking down to street level and into the back alleyway behind the shop. He snuck to the back entrance and entered the shop undetected. Upon entering, Eagle felt the temperature rise, obviously from the forge that was being used. Eagle wanted to cough, but he had to hold it in, unless he wanted to give himself away. He made his way to a spot to hide near the front of the shop, where he saw the blacksmith.

The stallion was middle aged, with a long, pointed beard. His mane was grey, and he had a white coat that was covered with smolder and ash. He had a blacksmith hammer for a cutie mark, which made sense. The stallion was currently hammering away at a blade, a very good looking blade at that. He stopped hammering to let the steel sizzle in the water for a second, and then brought it back out to hammer it again. After a few more hammer swings, he held up the blade in his hooves and sighed to himself.

“Finally, this blade is finished,” he said, holding up the sword. It was a beautiful piece of metalwork. It was double-edged, and it had quite a good length, being at least twenty inches long. Closer to where the handle was, the blade broke off into small, jagged edges, which looked quite deadly. The blade, overall, was a gleaming piece of steel, ready to pierce the heart of any pony foolish enough to stand in the way of it.

“The Master should be quite pleased with his new blade. I’ll be sure to get that bonus now,” the stallion said to himself. He was starting to clean off the blade with a cloth. But, his mentioning of the Master only managed to piss of the stallion that was watching him. Eagle snuck around the smithy and waited for the right moment to strike. The old stallion had no idea he was being watched.

Eagle noticed that the front windows to the shop had shades that could completely cover them. Using this to his advantage, Eagle clipped the holdings on the shades and let them cover up the windows. The shop was now completely hidden from the view of anypony outside. But, the stallion took immediate notice of this, jumping from his chair.

“Hello? Who’s there? Show yourself!”

“If you insist,” Eagle replied. He delivered a powerful uppercut to the stallion’s chin and sent him, and the blade, to the ground. Eagle kicked the blade aside and walked over to the stallion. “Tell me what you know of the Dark Flames of Heaven,” he demanded.

“The who? I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the stallion responded. He was a poor liar.

“Nice try, but I heard you say how that blade is for the Master, and I know that smithies don’t have Masters. I also know that you met with the one known as Ice Storm. Now, I’ll ask again, what do you know of the Dark Flames?!” Eagle asked again, this time with more of an aggressive tone.

“Alright, alright, I’ll tell you what I know! I only make weapons for them. They pay me, and I do what they tell me to. They promised that my shop would be free from harm if I helped them, and that I would reborn as the greatest blacksmith in the world.”

“And you are actually skeptical enough to believe that? There is no rebirth you fool, there is only death with these killers. Your shop will not be spared, and you will not be the greatest blacksmith in the world. You have been lied to.”

“That’s what you think, Assassin. Yes, we know who you are, don’t be so surprised. They’re coming for you, you know? They will have your head. As for me, I am safe. I will live a prosperous life, with more bits than I could ever need. You, you will die a painful death at the hooves of the Master, thanks to my smithing skills.”

“You are referring to your blade?” The stallion nodded. Eagle walked over and slammed his hooves down on the blade, snapping it in two. “Now, what will happen when the Dark Flames discover that their weapons were made from a mediocre smith? Your craftsmanship isn’t as great as you think it is, smithy.” Eagle looked to the blacksmith. “Where has Ice Storm gone?”

“I don’t know, he never tells me, but even if I did, he wouldn’t be in the same spot for long. You’ll never find him, or the Master. They will find you, Assassin!”

“And when they do, I’ll kill them all. Now, all I need to decide is what to do with you.” Eagle looked to the blacksmith.

“Just you wait Assassin! They will have your head when I tell them what you’ve done to me!” the stallion shouted.

“Oh, they will indeed discover what I’ve done, but I highly doubt they’ll give two shits about it. Tell me something smithy, do you have an apprentice?” Eagle asked. The stallion looked at him in confusion.

“Yes, but he doesn’t know anything about what I do. Why would you care though?” Eagle walked over to the stallion, who was still on the floor.

“Because he’s about to inherit your business.” Eagle slid out his hidden blade and drove it into the stallion’s throat. The stallion tried to fight back, but he couldn’t do anything. All he could do was gag from the blood in his throat. His body started to spasm, and shortly after, he died, his blood still falling onto the floor.

“You aligned yourself with stallions of hate and death. Now, you pay the price for it. Requiescat in pace.” Eagle closed the stallions eyes, removed his blade from his throat, and stood up.

“Did you really have to kill him?” Sharp Side asked Eagle from over the mic system.

“Yes, I did. Had I not, he would have reported back to the Dark Flames on what has occurred here.”

“True, but nopony in the city knew that this stallion was allied with the Dark Flames. When the authorities find that stallion’s body, they’ll think that somepony, meaning you, killed an innocent stallion.” Sharp Side’s words held a powerful truth to them. Eagle now realized that he had killed, in the eyes of the public, an innocent stallion. He and Sharp Side knew that this stallion was anything but, but the public didn’t know that.

“It’s too late to turn back now Sharp Side. The deed is done, and now, this stallion is dead. This was practically a waste of our time. He didn’t know where Ice Storm has gone, and now we’re right back where we started. We’re right back at a Celestia’s forsaken dead end.”

“Maybe, for now. But, what I would recommend you do now is search the shop for the weapons that the blacksmith was building for the Dark Flames. Even if the weapons are of cheap make, it won’t help us to know that the Dark Flames have more weapons.” Eagle Eye nodded to himself and searched for a cellar door. He went into the back and found said door. Opening it and heading down, Eagle Eye found about 800 completed swords.

“Wow, that’s a lot of swords. I won’t be able to pull the same stunt I pulled in Ponyville. I need to destroy these weapons a different way.” Eagle began to look around, but found nothing that could be of use.

“Stop searching dude. Why do you think I gave you those concentrated explosives before you left?” Sharp Side called to his friend. Eagle face hoofed himself and reached into his pouch. He found ten mini-explosive devices. Eagle began to spread the explosives across the room.

“Now let’s just hope that we don’t burn the place down. Detonate them when you’re ready Sharp Side,” Eagle said, exiting the cellar and shutting the hatch. Eagle covered his ears and waited for the explosion. He heard a boom come from the cellar. Opening the door, Eagle found the room to be a mess. Every piece of steel was destroyed, with fragments of the swords scattered across the room. The room itself was generally untouched, still looking to be in pretty good shape, but far from perfect. Eagle nodded at his and Sharp Side’s handy work and left the shop via the back door.

Eagle arrived back at Sharp Side’s home shortly after. Eagle removed his hood and mask. He threw the mask aside and smashed his hoof on the ground.

“Dude, what’s wrong?” Sharp Side asked.

“Our one good lead, gone! We spent two months doing this shit, and for what?! We are right back to the beginning Sharp Side. Everything we’ve done is practically worthless now.”

“Not true. We managed to destroy two shipments of weapons for the Dark Flames,” Sharp Side said, trying to reassure his friend.

“They’ll get more weapons regardless!” Eagle retaliated. He sat in a chair and held his head in anger.

“Eagle, don’t worry. We’ll get another lead on these guys. We both knew that this would take some time when we started this thing.” Eagle sighed and nodded in agreement.

“I guess so. For now, I guess all we can do is continue with more simple missions. I’ll continue to take down the criminals of the city for now until we can get a solid lead on the Dark Flames again. I just hope that we get a new lead soon.” Sharp Side nodded to his friend and continued working on his computer. Eagle Eye decided to hang out for a while before heading home.

Eagle needed some rest from the events of the past two days. He entered via his secret entrance, had his gear removed, and rested on his bed. He checked the clock to see it was now two o’clock.

“Weird. Dad said he would be home by one. He’s never… wait, what am I saying, he’s always late. Oh well,” Eagle said to himself, laying his head on his pillow. Eagle would need all his strength in the coming days, for now, things were starting to get serious.

The last two months were spent by Eagle Eye and Sharp Side just doing simple missions. Not one single lead could be found on the Dark Flames of Heaven. Even after they landed a small attack on Baltimare, no leads could be found. Eagle investigated the very attack sight, but nothing came from it. Eagle became more and more frustrated with how things were going, but Sharp Side and Rainbow Dash kept him sane.

Things between Rainbow and Eagle had actually gotten a lot better. Thankfully, after that one night of fun, Rainbow hadn’t gotten pregnant, which was music to Eagle’s ears. The two continued their relationship, and it somehow seemed to be strengthened by the whole Assassin thing. Regardless, the love between the two Pegasi was unbreakable, and Eagle loved Rainbow Dash to pieces.

The Assassin himself had gotten a few upgrades in the recent months. Sharp Side had found a way to simplify the hookblades. Instead of having to do multiple flicks of the hoof to extend the hookblade, Eagle would now just extend the hookblade every time. When he went to stab something, the hookblade would retract as Eagle drove his blade into whatever it was he was stabbing, leaving the sharp hidden blade to do its work.

Eagle Eye’s overall robe outfit had been made to look more like an actual set of robes. Now, instead of just the two tail ends, there were also a few low-hanging pieces of robes to conceal more of Eagle’s body. His front legs were now slightly covered with nicely designed coverings. The overall outfit had also received an intricate design, outlined with trails and designs that made the Assassin look more menacing. Most of the designs were accented in the color of blood red.

The biggest updates were to the hood and hidden blade bracers. The hood and bracers had been given Eagle designs on them. There was now an Eagle with its wings full span on the hood and bracers, and it looked amazing. Everything else about the Assassin’s look remained the same, for now at least.

Today, however, held in store an upgrade to the newly named sniper rifle of Eagle Eye. He and Sharp Side found it appropriate to name the rifle, and they came up with a suitable name. They decided on the Avenger.

Eagle entered Sharp Side’s garage and set his rifle on the workbench. Sharp Side slid over in his chair with a silencer in hoof.

“So, Eagle, let me ask you something. How many kills have you racked up with the Avenger?” Sharp Side asked.

“At least seventy-five,” Eagle answered.

“Uh huh, and out of that number of kills, how many times were you detected after taking the killing shot?”

“Every time.”

“Well, that shall happen no more, because I have finally managed to find a way to add a silencer to your rifle without lessening its quality and performance,” Sharp Side said, showing Eagle the silencer. It was a sleek piece of black metal, matching the color of Eagle’s rifle. “With this puppy, every shot you take will be dead silent.” Eagle watched Sharp Side slip the silencer over the rifle barrel.

“And you’re sure this will make the rifle as “dead silent” as you say it will?” Eagle Eye asked.

“Only one way to find out my friend,” Sharp Side responded, handing Eagle the rifle. Eagle shouldered his rifle, inserted his hoof into the shooting slot, and pulled back. He barely heard a sound, but noticed that the red target had a large hole in it. The silencer worked to perfection.

“Bang bang,” Eagle said in approval.

“Indeed. You will be able to retain your rate of fire, and the penetrating power of each bullet will remain the same. We can continue to find ways to upgrade the Avenger later on, but right now, you’ve got a mission to do.”

“Right. Have you been tracking the High Rollers?” Eagle asked. Recently, Eagle and Sharp had been tracking down a notorious gang known as the High Rollers. Their most recent crime involved robbing a bank. But, just to top it off, they killed everypony in the bank. Just hearing that story made Eagle cringe, and he knew he had a new set of targets to eliminate.

“I have, and I know exactly where they’ll be tonight. Right now, they’re at the docks, moving a shipment of weapons back to their hideout. It should take them the duration of the daytime. You, of course, will be waiting for them when they arrive. We’ve got a few hours though, so I see no reason to rush anything.” Eagle nodded and checked over his gear a bit more. He really did love his new look and improvements to his gear.

“Hey, have you been working on any new methods of protection for me?” Eagle asked.

“Actually, I have. I’ve been working on making a lightweight set of metal armor for you that will form to your body’s shape. It’s a work in progress, but I’ll figure something out,” Sharp Side replied. Eagle nodded and continued to examine his gear. The two stallions waited two more hours before Eagle set off for the base of the High Rollers.

The night was quiet, the streets were empty, and everything was as it should be. But, tonight, blood would be spilled. Eagle stood on the rooftop right outside the hideout of the High Rollers, waiting for their return. They were located in an old apartment building, but Sharp Side discovered that there was a secret underground hideout used by the gang. Eagle would follow the gang down to said base and blow it to smithereens. What was great was that the apartment building had been vacant for years now, but nopony really knew. The place was perfect for a hideout, but this also meant that Eagle could destroy the place without killing any innocent ponies. The building was only about three stories tall as well, and the area it was located in wasn’t heavily populated. This late at night, nopony would get hurt by the building tumbling to the ground.

After waiting a short while, the High Rollers finally drove up in an armored truck. The boss of the gang, Big Money, got out of the front passenger seat. His goons exited from the truck and began to unload the weapons, with the help of a few other gang members that had come out from the apartment building. Big Money watched his weapons being taken into the hideout, smiling and nodding as every box passed him. Eagle Eye could only imagine the joy he would get from driving his blade into that tainted stallion’s throat.

As the last box entered the elevator into the apartment building, Eagle stealthily made his way down to the street level. The gang members followed Big Money into the building and down the elevator into the hideout. Eagle managed to slip in unnoticed and quickly managed to hop onto the top of the elevator as it descended into the hideout. As it neared the bottom, Eagle hopped off and snuck in the hideout through a ventilation shaft. Upon entering the hideout, Eagle saw that the place was filled to the brim with decent tech and gang members. Eagle watched Big Money and his men enter with the weapons. The men cheered as their leader presented the merchandise.

“Men, we’ve returned with the loot. With these weapons, nopony can stop us! Within a few months, we’ll take the West District of this city by force, and everypony will know who the High Rollers are!” Big Money’s small speech granted him the praise of his men. He sent them back to work and went to his desk.

“What a piece of shit,” Sharp Side said over the mic. “Hey, before you go in there and eliminate these buckers, do a slow scan of the room.”

“Yeah, I know, to check for how many guys are in here,” Eagle replied quietly.

“Well, that, and because I want to see if I can tap in and see the schematics to the tech they’ve got in there. They’ve got some pretty decent tech, much better than my stuff. If I can get the schematics for all that stuff, our technical, and tactical, capabilities during missions should seriously increase.” Eagle complied and began his scan of the room. Sharp Side noted every piece of tech he saw from his computer. He noted to Eagle when he was finished, and Eagle Eye began to plan his attack.

Eagle noted that out of the fifty stallions within the hideout, seventeen of them were armed with assault rifles. Eagle shouldered his own rifle and began his assault. He fired off silent rounds at each of the armed thugs, taking out each of them with a headshot. He didn’t stay in the same position either, moving from beam to beam after every four shots or so. Eagle had quickly eliminated 17 of the men in the room, and that number slowly increased, as Eagle continued to drop the men with his rifle. He took a quick moment to reload a new clip with 25 bullets, which was a new upgrade from the standard 20.

Eagle took out another five goons before throwing his rifle over his back. Eagle had still not been found by the High Rollers, but Big Money had begun to fire off rounds into the ceiling like a mad dog. Eagle moved over to a fuse box and killed the lights. The men didn’t fire off any bullets, but a few pulled out flashlights. Eagle used his heightened senses as a sort of night vision, being able to see every remaining thug. There were about 28 thugs left to eliminate, which wouldn’t be a problem.

Eagle hopped onto one of the tables and landed on top of two thugs, driving his hidden blades into their skulls. One thug tried to move his flashlight over to the spot, but Eagle quickly used his hookblade to pull the goon over and stabbed him in the chest with his other blade. He took the thug’s rifle and started to gun down some of the other soldiers, eliminating four of them. He dropped the rifle when it ran out of bullets, and lunged for another goon. He drove his right wing blade into the thug’s throat, spun around, sliced another thug’s throat, and pulled another thug over by the throat with his hookblade. Eagle flipped the thug over as he stabbed him in the chest.

The lights suddenly came back on, and all eyes were on the Assassin. None of the remaining thugs were armed with rifles, except for Big Money, who opted to stand back as his eighteen remaining thugs charged for the hooded stallion. Eagle dodged the knife of one goon, grabbed the goon by the muzzle, and drove that same knife into the skull of another goon. Eagle then snapped the neck of the thug with the knife, and then performed one of his coolest new tricks. As he was surrounded by five thugs, Eagle spun around with his wing blades out, slicing the throats of the goons. He even managed to decapitate one of them, sending the skull flying through the air with blood trailing along with it. And that blood was only a small percentage of the blood covering the room now.

“Eleven more to go, who’s next?” Eagle taunted. The remaining thugs charged Eagle with knifes and clubs, all of which were poor choices. Eagle dodged one of the clubs, disarmed the thug, and swung the club into his skull, easily shattering it. He continued to spin and killed another two of the thugs by shattering their skulls. Eagle threw the club aside and blocked two knife strikes with his wing blades. He pushed the knives out of the mouths of the stallions holding them and stabbed the two in their skulls. Pulling his blades out, more blood covered the floor. Eagle gave himself a smile and spun around to block another knife blow. He hooked the knife with his hookblade and delivered a blow that managed to snap the neck of the stallion.

Eagle turned to see the five remaining guards quivering in fear. They were all standing together, waiting for a moment to strike. This was extremely stupid, as Eagle jumped towards them and sent his wing blades across their throats, sending their blood through the air. Eagle gave himself another smile as the five fell to the ground, gagging and coughing up blood. But, he was sent to the floor by a bullet to the side.

“You think you can come into my hideout and take out my men like that?! Guess again!” Big Money said. Thankfully, Eagle’s padding was resistant enough to block the bullet from doing any real damage, as he quickly got back up.

“Well, then how is it I literally just eliminated every single one of you goons in three minutes flat, give or take?” Eagle taunted back. Big Money took out his pistol again and tried shooting at the Assassin, who simply flew up into the air and disappeared.

“Stop hiding!”

“Very well.” Eagle dropped down and sent his wing blades into the skull of Big Money. The stallion fell to the ground and died, his skull now with two large holes in them. The stallion’s blood was spilling across the floor, as his body lay up against table. Eagle knelt down in front of the stallion.

“You have made thievery and murder a fetish. Stallions like you deserve no pity. Requiescat in pace.” Eagle went to close Big Money’s eyes, only to find that his eyes were gone. “Serves you right, bastard.”

“Damn, that’s some killing you just did. I think that’s a record, for both the amount of ponies you killed in one mission, and the time you did it in,” Sharp Side called to Eagle Eye. Eagle chuckled to himself and got up. He pulled out a heavy explosive from his pouch and found a spot to set it up.

“Alright, so I’ve got how long before this thing goes off?”

“About a minute and a half, more than enough time to get out of there. I already have a path lined out for you, so just follow my directions.” Eagle nodded and planted the explosive device. Sharp Side guided Eagle out of the hideout and back outside. Eagle stood on the rooftop that he had been standing on a while ago. After hearing a noticeable boom, the former hideout of the High Rollers was leveled completely. Eagle smiled at his work and turned to head home. But, before he could go anywhere, a bullet zoomed past him.

“Assassin, do not move! We have you surrounded!” the Captain of the Manehattan Guard called out over a microphone. Suddenly, search lights were pointed on the hooded stallion by the Pegasi flying above. Eagle covered his eyes, but he was able to notice when about twenty other Pegasi guards flew up to the rooftop and surrounded him. He looked around to see he was, once again, outnumbered.

“Well this is bucked,” Sharp Side called from over the mic. “My advice… get the buck out of there!” With that, Eagle shot up into the sky and flew off.

“After him!” the Captain ordered. Every guard on the rooftop pursued the Assassin, flying as fast as they could. They began to shoot with their pistols at the fleeing stallion, but Eagle managed to dodge every one. Eagle made a sudden move when he dive-bombed to the street level and began to run through the streets. The pursuing guards did the same, but they clumsily bumped into all the pedestrians that Eagle had knocked over as a kind of chase breaker. Eagle ran into another alley and began to climb, due to his wings being tired out from flying so fast with the wing blades on. As he reached the rooftop, he was once again surrounded by the Pegasi guards. The rooftop this time, however, was too small for Eagle to try to fly away. The guards had surrounded him too closely, and would be able to pull him back down if he tried to fly away. So, Eagle opted to take his battle stance.

“Give up now, Assassin, and you will not be harmed,” the Captain called to the Assassin. But, the hooded stallion stayed in his battle position, ready to fight. “This is your last chance! Surrender yourself now, or we will use force.” Eagle had no intentions on giving up. His training had left him ready to take on anypony, even the Manehattan Guard, who had received military-like training. Eagle knew better than to kill these stallions, but if he had to crack some skulls, he would. “Very well then. Attack!” the Captain ordered.

Two guards charged forward towards Eagle from opposite sides, ready to punch the hooded stallion. He ducked under one punch and delivered an uppercut to the first stallion, then swept the second one by his legs and took him to the ground. Getting up, Eagle blocked another punch with his bracer, grabbed the stallion by the collar, and head butted him. He then sidestepped to dodge another blow, turned around, and whipped the guard with his armored tail. Eagle was doing pretty well with just his hooves, but he wanted to step up his game a bit.

As another guard moved in for a punch, Eagle pulled him towards himself a bit, chopped the guard in the next, gave him a punch to the face that sent the guard back a bit, kicked in the guard’s leg, and delivered a knee to the head. The guard was sent to the floor in pain. Next up, Eagle blocked another punch from behind, turned around, and delivered four consecutive punches to the guard’s face, the last blow sending the guard to the floor. Now Eagle was on fire.

But, just as he was getting his groove going, Eagle was sent to the floor by a bullet to his side. His protective padding kept the bullet from penetrating his skin, but Eagle was now seriously hurt. Getting up, he met the hoof of another guard, which sent him sliding across the rooftop. Before another guard could hit him though, he instinctively bucked the guard back across the rooftop. But, there were still many other guards.

One of the Pegasi holding a search light flew in and blinded Eagle, causing him to falter backwards. He turned to get his eyes away from the light, only to get punched in the face again by another guard. Eagle was sent to the floor again by another bullet to his side. This one hurt a lot more. It had managed to slightly enter his skin, and he was now bleeding out a bit. Eagle slowly stood back up, but he didn’t stay there long. The Captain walked up and sent him to the floor with a night stick. Eagle’s breathing was heavy now, and he so badly wanted to get up and fly away, but there was no way he could do so. The Captain walked over to the Assassin and knelt down beside him.

“I’m gonna put you behind bars for a long time Assassin. Your days of murder are over,” the Captain said, standing up. Eagle looked up one more time before the Captain knocked him out.

“Eagle, no!” Sharp Side called over the mic system, but it was too late. The Manehattan Guard had finally managed to capture the Assassin, as they began to fly him to the MGD Station. Sharp Side could only watch from Eagle Eye’s still active camera as his best friend was taken away. The Assassin had been defeated.