The Captain walked through the MGD Building, still thinking over his chat with the Assassin. He didn’t want to believe that the Assassin was trying to do good, because in the mind of the Captain, the Assassin wasn’t doing good. He was killing other ponies. It was not his right to say who deserved to live or die.

‘So why is it I feel like he is right?’ the Captain thought to himself. He walked into his office and took a sip of his coffee. It had been a long past three days, and they were just going to get longer. Time seemed to pass slowly. For the Captain, he at least had some work to do. However, the Assassin only got to sit in an empty room.

Eagle Eye still had his head lowered after his chat with the Captain. He was crying over his memories of that night in the East District of Manehattan. He remembered how he lost his sister and mother. Eagle’s loss still weighed heavily upon him, and everything he had been doing had only been able to ease that pain slightly. But, Eagle raised his head at a sudden voice.

“Eagle…” the voice spoke. Looking up, Eagle saw the apparition of his sister. He wanted to speak, but he wouldn’t dare. He knew he was being monitored, and if he spoke at all, the Guard could use anything he said as evidence against him.

“Eagle, I’ve missed you so much. Why don’t you just stop fighting? Join mother and I in death. We need you with us Eagle, we need you…” Ruby spoke, the last bit sounding a bit demonic. Eagle tried to back away as Ruby stepped closer to him, but he was securely strapped to a chair. But, just as Ruby was about to touch his cheek with her hoof, she disappeared.

Eagle let out a soft cough as he shook his head after what he had witnessed. He had no idea if that was real or not, but he didn’t care, because it still scared the crap out of him. Over the past few months, Eagle had been having more nightmares in which his mother and sister would torment his mind, trying to blame him for their deaths. He knew he wasn’t responsible, but they would continue to torment and torture his mind. He couldn’t do anything to stop the dreams. All he could hope for was that he would soon be able to stop the Dark Flames of Heaven.

The cloaked carrier ships of the Dark Flames flew above the MGD Building, undetected by anything or anypony in the city. The Flames had brought five ships, each carrying fifty soldiers, ready to fight and die for the good of their cause. In the main carrier ship, the Master and Ice Storm stood in the bridge. Ice Storm, along with many other soldiers, awaited the Master’s order to attack.

“We await you call, Master. Say the word, and the Ashes of the Flames will descend,” Ice Storm said. The Master turned to Ice Storm. Turning back to his command system, he pressed an intercom button that connected the bridge of his ship to all the other ships.

“All ships, prepare battle cannons to strike the station. We shall invade the station after the initial bombardment,” the Master ordered. On command, the other ships of the small fleet readied their cannons.

“Fire!”

Explosions burst all around the MGD Building. Missile strikes erupted at every corner of the station. Guards were being flung around here and there. The scale of the attack was massive, and the Guard never suspected a thing. The Master’s plan was working to perfection. He turned to Ice Storm. Without even ordering anything, Ice Storm went to prepare.

However, even with his outfit completely on, Eagle Eye was completely unprepared for what was happening. He felt the building shake and erupt all around him. He was trapped and helpless. He started to struggle to get free of the hoof cuffs, but they were on too tight. So, he tried to shimmy his way through the room and break them off with something. This didn’t work either.

Whether it was a stroke of good or bad luck, an explosion suddenly erupted on the wall that was behind him, sending Eagle to the floor. The blast hurt like hell, but it managed to break his cuffs. Eagle quickly sat up as four Ashes of the Flames stepped into the room.

“It’s the Assassin!” one of them said.

“Should we kill him?” another asked.

“We must see if he is worthy. Ashes of the Flames, attack!” one of them ordered.

On command, three of the soldiers charged for Eagle. Quickly getting to his hooves, Eagle turned around and blocked a sword strike with his chain mail covered tail. He managed to knock the sword out of the soldier’s magical grasp. Eagle turned around and delivered an uppercut to the soldier, sending him flying backwards and to the floor.

Another soldier tried to charge his sword through Eagle’s chest, but Eagle managed to side step the attack. This soldier was a Pegasus, and was holding the sword in his mouth. Using this to his advantage, Eagle brought the soldier into a choke hold, and quickly snapped his neck. Eagle threw the soldier to the floor, but wasn’t quick enough to stop another one of the soldiers from smashing him backwards with a warhammer.

Eagle slowly got to his hooves, but was met with a powerful punch to the face. Faltering back, he got to his hooves and quickly managed to duck under another swing of the hammer. Eagle tackled the soldier to the floor and started to punch his face in. The soldier was able to push Eagle off, but it wasn’t enough to stop Eagle from grabbing the hammer and smashing the soldier’s skull in. It was almost as if a blood bomb had erupted, because the soldier’s blood and brains were splattered across the walls and floor.

Eagle dropped the hammer and looked to the fourth soldier, who was now aiming a rifle at him. The soldier began to fire off rounds at Eagle, who managed to dodge most of them. However, while trying to advance, two bullets hit Eagle in the chest. His protective padding wasn’t enough to stop the bullets from reaching his skin however. The bullets weren’t far in, but Eagle noticed that he was now bleeding. The soldier started to reload his rifle, but he wasn’t quick enough, as Eagle managed to get back up and elbow the soldier’s head into the wall, knocking him out.

“Well, that was different,” Eagle said to himself, breathing heavily now. That was honestly one of his toughest battles, and he only fought four of those guys. These soldiers were clearly trained to perfection, however, perfection wasn’t enough to save them. While incredibly skilled, Eagle had been training for months now, and his skills had greatly increased. But, after that fight, he realized that he would need more training to eliminate every member of the Dark Flames.

Eagle managed to pull the bullets out of his chest, with a minimal amount of pain. Throwing the bullets to the ground and stepping over the bodies of the soldiers, he stepped into a hallway. He heard all the alarms buzzing, and saw all the lights going off. The hallway was filled with smoke. Clearing some of the smoke, Eagle saw that a few of the guards had been crushed beneath the walls of the building. One guard was unfortunate to have gotten a shard of glass lodged straight through his skull. There weren’t many dead guards in the hallway, but there were enough to make any other pony sick.

Eagle looked past all of this and set out to find the armory. He needed to get his gear back, and he figured the armory was the best place to start. Walking through the halls of the building, which was no longer being bombarded by missile strikes, Eagle could hear the screams of the guards being slaughtered at the hooves of the soldiers of the Dark Flames. Hearing all of those screams and cries made Eagle feel like he should do something, but without his weapons, he wouldn’t be of much help.

Continuing through the halls, Eagle stayed hidden as a few of the guards ran through the building. He was sure they would still try to kill him if they got the chance, so he tried to remain hidden from them, as well as the Dark Flames. All he had to do was get his weapons, and he would be set to fight.

However, Eagle had no such luck, as he managed to bump into two guards. They were both Unicorns, armed with pistols. They aimed at Eagle, who had come to a stop.

“Halt, Assassin!” one of the guards called out. But, suddenly, that same guard had his brains splattered against the wall. The bullet came from behind Eagle. He turned to see another member of the Dark Flames, aiming a rifle at Eagle and the remaining guard. Eagle jumped into the air and flew into the soldier. This caused the soldier to drop his rifle, which Eagle quickly picked up in his hooves. He fired off two bullets into the soldier, then aimed the rifle at the guard.

“Don’t follow me,” Eagle said, dropping the rifle and running off. The guard did as he was told.

Continuing towards the armory, Eagle continued to dodge the sight of the Ashes of the Flames and the Manehattan Guard. But, coming up on an area with a heavy amount of smoke, Eagle heightened his senses to see through the thick layer of smoke. His mask helped him to breathe, so that wasn’t a problem, but the smoke was heavy enough to blind Eagle. However, his heightened vision was strong enough to see straight through it all.

Getting through the smoke, Eagle happened to stumble upon the armory. Smiling and nodding to himself, Eagle walked in and quickly managed to find his weapons. He made a mental note for Sharp Side to enchant his weapons the same way as his robes.

Strapping on his hidden blades, Eagle tested both out to make sure they worked. Finishing that, he strapped on his wing blades, flashing them a few times to make sure they had their normal amount of articulation. After that was done, Eagle threw his rifle over his back and gave himself one last check over.

After he finished that though, he took a moment to get a general feeling for the scope of the armory. It was on the ground floor of the ten story building, and it was even able to house an armed chariot. There were weapons scattered all around the room, many of which Eagle had never seen before. Anything from guns to melee weapons could be found in there. Eagle wouldn’t have minded taking a few of them for his own use, and maybe for Sharp Side’s entertainment, but he didn’t have time for that. It was time to get out of there.

But, before Eagle could get out of the armory, a large explosion erupted from across the large room. A cloud of smoke formed, blocking Eagle’s vision of what had caused the explosion. Through the smoke came another blast. The shot destroyed the armed chariot that Eagle had spotted a few seconds ago. With that, the room was now filled with even more smoke. Eagle quickly took cover behind three heavy crates as more blasts entered the room, destroying many of the weapons.

Once the blasts had stopped, Eagle took a moment to peak out from the corner of one of the crates. He quickly spotted three soldiers of the Dark Flames, two of which were normal, earth pony soldiers. The third, however, was a Unicorn. The Unicorn removed his helmet to reveal that it was Ice Storm, the same stallion that had been eluding Eagle Eye for the past few months.

‘How the hell didn’t I realize he was a Unicorn the first time I saw him?’ Eagle thought to himself. ‘Must’ve missed it.’

Ice Storm ran one of his hooves through his sweaty white mane, pulling it back from over his eyes. He started to look around the room, as if he were looking for something in particular.

“The Assassin must be in here. He would have to come here for his weapons, unless he has already found them and left. Continue the search,” Ice Storm ordered. As ordered, the two earth pony soldiers began to walk through the armory, in search of Eagle.

Luckily, there was still a decent amount of smoke in the room. Eagle used this to his advantage, using it as a source of cover from his enemies. However, it still blinded him a bit, so he heightened his vision and hearing. He would be able to see the soldiers, as well as hear anything that might try to jump out and attack him.

Sneaking up on one of the soldiers, Eagle put a hoof over the soldier’s mouth, stopping him from calling out for help. Pulling him back, Eagle slid out his left hidden blade and stabbed the soldier through the head, lowering the body to the ground. Eagle removed his blade and flew up to one of the support beams in the room. He shouldered his rifle and aimed at the second soldier. Marking his target, he fired. The bullet passed straight through the soldier’s skull, splattering his blood on the floor.

Ice Storm took immediate notice of this and looked up to the ceiling. He was able to jump out of the way as Eagle tried to pounce on him. Eagle stared down Ice Storm as the Unicorn magicked his longsword. It was quite an impressive blade, and it seemed like Ice Storm had every intention to drive that blade through Eagle Eye’s skull. Eagle readied his wing blades and slid out his left hidden blade.

“You honestly think you can beat me, Assassin?” Ice Storm mocked.

“Why not?” Eagle retorted.

“It is time to see if you are truly worthy,” Ice Storm said, charging towards Eagle. He was quick, and Eagle was taken by surprise, as Ice Storm gave Eagle a clean slice across the chest with the blade. He fell to the floor, his blood dripping out of his chest. Eagle covered the wound and started to groan in pain. He let out a quick cough and turned back to Ice Storm.

Eagle was just quick enough to roll out of the way, as Ice Storm tried to drive his blade through Eagle Eye’s skull. Eagle tried to slice at Ice Storm with his wing blades, but the Unicorn simply used his magic to create a shield. Ice Storm then caused an explosion to erupt from the magical barrier, sending Eagle Eye across the floor. Getting back up, Eagle drew out his rifle and quickly fired off five rounds at Ice Storm. He managed to dodge three of them, but one of the bullets clipped his chest, and the other dug itself into Ice Storm’s front right hoof.

“Damn you!” he shouted, using his magic to pull out the bullet. But, while doing this, Eagle had taken off straight towards Ice Storm. Eagle managed to tackle Ice Storm to the ground. Holding down the Unicorn by the horn, Eagle raised his hidden blade, ready to plunge it into Ice Storm’s throat. But, the Unicorn managed to punch Eagle off.

Ice Storm stood up and started to charge his magic. Before Eagle could make a move, Ice Storm let out a blast of snow from his horn. The blast hit Eagle directly in the chest, sending him flying against the wall. Falling to the floor, Eagle gripped his chest and let out a violent cough. Not only was the attack powerful, but he was now shivering at how cold it was.

Ice Storm lunged forward with his sword in his magical grip. Eagle sluggishly ducked out of the way, but he wasn’t quick enough to stop Ice Storm from delivering a powerful uppercut. Eagle found himself on the floor again, coughing in immense pain. Ice Storm didn’t ease off though. As Eagle tried to hold himself up, Ice Storm elbowed Eagle’s skull, sending him back to the floor.

“You are so weak,” Ice Storm mocked, kicking Eagle across the floor. He readied his blade once again and charged for the fallen Assassin. But, Eagle just barely managed to counter, using his wing blade to send the blade flying into the air. Ice Storm was momentarily stunned, and Eagle used this to his advantage. He got up and started to pound away at Ice Storm’s face, delivering punch after punch. Eagle managed to land a powerful slice to the Unicorn’s chest with his wing blades, managing to strike past the set of armor Ice Storm was wearing.

The Unicorn fell back, coughing out blood. Eagle gave him another punch, then slid out his hidden blade. Aiming right for the spot where his wing blades had sliced, Eagle drove his blade into the open section of Ice Storm’s armor, plunging his blade through the Unicorn’s chest. He let out a short grunt from the strike. Eagle was quick enough to throw Ice Storm in the path of his descending blade. Looking up, Ice Storm felt a sudden shock in his back. His blade had landed right in his back.

Still in shock, Ice Storm started to groan in pain, but he didn’t seem to be too fazed by the pain. Eagle on the other hoof was ready to finish this piece of trash. Eagle rushed up and ducked under a weak punch. He delivered two punches and a slice to the face with his hidden blade. Ice Storm looked back, still not wanting to give up. Eagle gave him another uppercut, causing Ice Storm to stumble back a bit. Eagle then jumped into the air directly over Ice Storm, who was too weak to do anything. Eagle dove right down to the Unicorn, punching the blade straight through his back. He even managed to get the tip of the blade stuck in the floor.

“GAAAH!” Ice Storm cried out in pain. With his own blade firmly lodged straight through his back, Ice Storm’s hooves gave out, causing him to slide down his blade to the floor. He started to cry and squirm in pain, trying to get himself free. Eagle Eye wasn’t about to let that happen.

“You probably should’ve kept your helmet on,” Eagle mocked, right before he drove his left hidden blade through the skull of Ice Storm. The Unicorn stopped moving and crying as he instantly died. Eagle removed his blade, and Ice Storm’s head fell to the floor. His blood began to spill out onto the floor. But, Eagle Eye was still in pain. He fell back and started to cough in pain again, hacking up a little blood. He looked over his chest, which had now taken a bullet from a guard and a slice from Ice Storm. He wasn’t fairing too well.

Eagle suddenly heard the soft clomping of a hoof behind him, the same area where Ice Storm and the other two soldiers had entered. Slowly turning around, Eagle was faced with a fully armor clad Unicorn, his purple eyes seeming to beam right through Eagle Eye. He got to his hooves and stood ready to fight. The Unicorn ceased his hoof clomping and chuckled.

“You don’t exactly seem to be in the best shape to fight me, Assassin,” the Unicorn said. He started to examine the white robed stallion that stood before him, and Eagle did the same to the armor clad Unicorn. The armor was quite bulky, but it seemed like this Unicorn had no trouble moving around in it. It was colored dark purple, with golden accents. The entire body of the Unicorn was covered, either in armor or a secondary layer of chain mail. The torso was made up of a large, layered piece of armor. His legs were also covered with layered armor, but at the hooves, three sharp looking blades ran buck up the stallion’s legs for the lengths of the lower halves of his legs. His tail was covered in a similar way to Eagle Eye’s. The helmet was almost scary to look at. The eyes glowed a dark shade of purple, but the rest of the helmet wasn’t good either. It had a space for the Unicorn’s horn, but the layering around it made it as sharp as any other blade. The rest of the helmet was round with similar layering to the rest of the armor. Eagle seemed to be able to figure out who this stallion was based on what he was.

“You must be the Master of the Dark Flames of Heaven,” he said.

“My, my, you do catch on quickly. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Assassin,” he said, his tone almost mocking to Eagle Eye.

“Shut up!” Eagle shouted. The Master simply let out another chuckle.

“Well now, what’s the reason for that?” the Master asked mockingly.

“You were a fool to come here. Now, I shall take your life!” Eagle said, readying his blades.

“Will you?” the Master said. “I come here not to fight Assassin. I come here with an offer.”

“Yeah, well the answer’s no!”

“And why is that?!” the Master said back, his tone becoming a bit angrier. “You seem to think yourself different from the Dark Flames of Heaven. You have been doing the same thing we have been doing all along Assassin.”

“I have not been killing innocent ponies that do not deserve death. The ponies I have killed all deserved to die. You seem to find enjoyment out of slaughtering and murdering thousands of innocent ponies, and for what?!”

“So that this world may be cleansed by the Dark Flames, you arrogant fool!” the Master fought back.

“Oh, I’m the fool?! You think because you are doing the right thing, but you aren’t!”

“And who are you to judge?” the Master asked. “Many in the city of Manehattan view your work as unjust and cruel, even if you are killing off the ponies that are most despised by the world. You are no better than the ponies you have killed,” the Master continued, his tone now a bit more calm.

“On the contrary,” Eagle started. “I am far greater than any of the ponies I’ve killed. I have truly been cleansing this city of the scum that taints it every night and day. I have saved innocent lives, rather than destroy them. I am the true good here, not you!” Through the Master’s helmet, Eagle could hear groans of anger.

“You had better watch your tongue, boy,” he said, pulling out a grandmaster sword. The blade was smithed to near perfection, and it intimidated Eagle greatly. He even took a small step back as the Master readied it.

“I will ask you one more time, and you had better answer wisely. Will you join the Dark Flames of Heaven?” The Master waited eagerly for the Assassin’s answer. Before Eagle Eye spoke, he flashed his blades one more time.

“I’ll see to it that you burn in your own flames, you monster.”

The Master only snickered to himself before dashing straight towards Eagle Eye. To Eagle’s own surprise, the Master was extremely agile, regardless of the armor he was wearing. Eagle barely managed to duck under a swing from the Master’s sword, but he couldn’t stop the two powerful punches that came afterward. The Master then turned around and bucked Eagle so hard he flew into a few crates about halfway across the room.

Eagle tried to get up, but his strength was failing him. It took him too long to get up, and as he did, he was sliced in his left front leg by the Master’s sword. He let out a cry of pain as he fell back down, only to be knocked back again by another powerful uppercut.

Eagle slowly got up and tried to do a double slice with his wing blades. The Master simply used a protective ward spell, and then blasted Eagle back across the floor with a powerful beam of magic. The Master then started to charge his horn. Eagle could notice a dark purple flame beginning to form around the horn. The Master then unleashed a torrent of flames towards Eagle Eye. He barely managed to get out of the way. When Eagle looked back, the flames that had been left behind didn’t seem to even start to fade away.

“I bet you’re curious about the spell. You see, all of the Ashes of the Flames that are Unicorns are taught the Dark Flame spell, a flame spell that allows the flames to burn forever, or at least until the caster of the spells eliminates the flames him or herself.” Eagle could care less about the spell. He only cared to not step near those flames, because they didn’t look too good. Stepping in them wouldn’t end well.

The Master lunged towards Eagle again, his sword still in his magical grip. He slammed the blade down as Eagle managed to side step the attack. Eagle slid out his right hookblade, latched it onto the Master’s front right leg, pulled him forward, and set him to the ground with an elbow to the back. However, the Master wasn’t fazed at all, and he simply knocked Eagle over and got back to his own hooves.

He raised the sword high above the both of them, but before he could slam it down on the wounded Assassin, Eagle Eye managed to land a powerful buck on the Master’s chin. Eagle could hear a few bones cracking from that kick. The Master faltered back a bit from the attack, but remained ready to fight. He simply gave his neck a loud crack and stood ready.

Eagle got back to his hooves, but he showed obvious signs of himself getting weaker. The Master took advantage of this and started to swing relentlessly at Eagle. He managed to duck under a few of them, but the Master landed a deadly strike on Eagle’s chest, right in the same spot as before. Eagle fell back to the floor and started to cough up blood. He quickly slid open his mask to let himself spit it all out, then slid the mask back over before the Master could see who he was.

The Master walked over to Eagle Eye, but he was quick to react. He used his tail to whip the Master to the floor. Eagle got to his hooves as quick as he could and lunged for the Master, but he was simply shot back by a beam of magic. His protective padding had now been ruined, and it could no longer truly protect Eagle from any of the attacks that the Master could dish out. He had to be careful.

The Master got back to his hooves, but this time, he didn’t attack. He just stood there, as if he was waiting for the Assassin to make another move. Eagle just stared him down, waiting.

“I thought you were supposed to be good at fighting,” the Master said mockingly. Eagle simply cracked his neck and lunged forward.

He managed to actually catch the Master off guard, as he ducked under a sword swipe and slashed at his chest with his wing blades. His strike managed to crack some of the armor, which gave Eagle an idea. He flew backwards, shouldered his rifle, and fired off two rounds right at the spot where he had slashed the Master. Both bullets met their mark, and they sent the Master to the floor.

The Master stood back up and growled. He charged his horn again, but was interrupted by another bullet to the leg. The bullet didn’t pass through, but the impact sent a sudden shock through the Master’s hoof that caused him to falter. Eagle used this to his advantage and got in close.

Eagle immediately spotted numerous points of connection in the Master’s armor. He used these as striking points. Eagle began to slide his hidden blades into the connection points, managing to stab and slice away at the Master. He tried to fight back, but Eagle kept his assault going. But, the Master got a lucky hit on Eagle, punching him straight in the chest. He tried to swing his sword, but before he could, Eagle jumped over and grabbed him by the tail.

Eagle then pulled the Master in, slid out his hidden blade, and used it to completely rip off a large chunk of armor protecting the Master’s right side. Eagle drove his blade into the Master, but as the Master started to groan in pain, Eagle caught notice of the cutie mark that adorned the Master’s flank. It was a powerful flame with a streak of smoke trailing off of it, the same cutie mark as his father.

‘No…’ Eagle thought to himself, but taking that small moment gave the Master a chance to retaliate. Eagle pulled out his blade, but he wasn’t quick enough to stop the Master from elbowing him in the face and causing him to fall to the floor. He stood over the Assassin with his blade ready to finish him.

“This… ends… here,” the Master said, breathing heavily now. But, before he could do drive his blade through Eagle’s throat, the Master heard the voices of numerous Manehattan Guard members approaching the armory. The Master had no time to properly finish his enemy, so he left the Assassin with something to remember him by. He slammed his hoof against Eagle’s right wing, causing the wing blade to break off and snap in two.

“We will finish this another time, Assassin. You had better be ready,” the Master said, leaving the Assassin there at the mercy of the approaching guards. The Master used his magic to teleport out of the room and back to his command ship. Disregarding the surprised looks of his soldiers, he walked up to the intercom set that would link to his soldiers in the MGD Building.

“All soldiers, fall back to your ships. We are finished here,” the Master ordered.

Down in the building, any and all soldiers that were fighting began to retreat. Most of the Unicorns simply used their magic to teleport out of the building. The Pegasi soldiers flew out of the building, while the earth pony soldiers ran for ropes that could be used to climb back up to the ships. Within a few minutes, the Dark Flames of Heaven were gone.

Eagle Eye tried to get back to his hooves, as he knew the guards were getting closer. He took notice of the entrance used by Ice Storm and the Master, so he opted to use it. Getting on his hooves, Eagle removed the mechanism for his wing blades and smashed them into pieces. He didn’t want to leave anything for the Manehattan Guard to use.

Slowly running towards the hole in wall, Eagle turned around to see the guards had arrived.

“There’s the Assassin. Kill him!” one guard ordered.

Eagle quickly managed to get out of the armory. He flew for one of the openings in the building’s walls. He jumped out onto the streets. Luckily for him, nopony was out on the streets after what had just happened. A few guards were outside, and took notice of the Assassin. But, before they could even get an aim on him, Eagle jumped into the air and flew off. A few guards began to fire off rounds at him, but he was long gone already.

But, Eagle knew he couldn’t stay in the city, not in his condition. He had to go somewhere else that was safe. He knew exactly where to go, but it would be a long flight. He would have to risk it. Eagle was off to Ponyville, and more specifically, Rainbow Dash.

Eagle had been flying for what felt like hours, but it had only been a mere forty minutes. In his condition, he couldn’t fly very fast, but he had to make it to Ponyville at least. He noticed that his chest was dripping blood, and he had removed his mask and lowered his hood so that he could spit out all the blood that was coming up from his gut.

Finally, Eagle could make out Ponyville in the distance. But, as soon as he saw it, the vision of the town began to blur out. Eagle was beginning to fade out of consciousness.

“No… not yet,” he said to himself, continuing to fly. He was so close, yet so far away. He managed to reach the outskirts of the town, but just as he did, he fell. Eagle impacted with the ground and began to tumble along the grassy fields that made up the outskirts of Ponyville. When he stopped, Eagle laid himself out on his back, breathing heavily and still coughing up blood. His chest was bleeding out to a dangerous level now. But, he knew that if anypony found him like this, he would be discovered. He quickly strapped his mask back on and threw his hood over his head. Those actions however used up all his remaining strength.

But, just before he passed out, he heard the flapping of wings and a familiar voice.

“Eagle Eye!” the voice cried out, sounding almost like an echo. Eagle managed to roll his head over to see the blurred image of Rainbow Dash. That was the last thing he saw before he passed out.

Author's Notes:

Wow, this felt like forever. Writing this one felt fun, but at the same time, it felt very tedious. Maybe it's because I've been writing too much action stuff lately. I hope this chapter was enjoyable enough. After all, I did make a big semi-reveal towards the end of it didn't I?