Eagle Eye finally arrived back in Ponyville. He landed on top of the library, making sure not to be seen. By now, the sun had gone down, and Luna had raised the moon into the sky. Eagle scanned the ground once more before landing down below and walking through the town. There were very few ponies out at this hour, and those that were out could easily be avoided. Maneuvering his way through the town, Eagle made it to the outskirts of Ponyville.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Sharp Side called to his friend.

“Just thinking,” answered Eagle.

“About what?” Sharp Side asked.

“My life as a whole,” Eagle answered. He started walking along the grass, just thinking about anything that came to mind. To his slight surprise, Sharp Side didn’t ask any further questions. As it turned out, Sharp Side decided to leave his friend be, signing off from his computers and going to bed for the night, leaving the Assassin to ponder his thoughts.

“Am I doing the right thing? What am I saying, of course I am. He’s responsible for their deaths. He deserves to die,” Eagle thought to himself. “Yet, then why do I feel like it’s the wrong thing to do?”

He stopped walking and sat down. His mind had never suffered from contrasting ideals such as these. Killing his father would finish his quest, yet, in doing so, he would lose his family entirely. Eagle knew that deep down, his father needed to die. He was responsible for the death of Sky Dove and Ruby, and he had to pay for it. But, at the same time, this was Eagle’s father. This was the stallion that had raised him from day one. He wasn’t great at it, but nonetheless.

Eagle shook his head in frustration and continued on his undecided path.

“What’s the matter?! I even said to the Princess that I’ve been ready to do this! Why am I having such a hard time submitting to that now?” Eagle argued with himself. He stopped in his tracks and stomped the ground out of anger. He removed his mask and pulled down his hood. He turned his eyes back to blue and sighed.

“What do I do?” he asked himself out loud. “Kill him or not, this attack has to happen. They have to be destroyed. He has to die! Why can’t I just get that through my head now?! Sweet Celestia, what do I do?!” Eagle shouted.

“For starters, stop making such a fuss over it,” a voice answered. Eagle turned around and looked up to see Rainbow Dash laying on a small cloud above him. She lowered the cloud, jumped off, and landed next to him.

“Oh… hey,” Eagle greeted dumbly. Rainbow Dash just sighed.

“Eagle, you told me a while ago that you would be able to kill him if you ever had the chance. You had a lot of chances, but you pussied out. Now, you’re going to have to go against his, what, thousands of soldiers, and him. You know what you gotta do, so suck it up and do it!” Rainbow said confidently. Eagle just looked at her with a dumbfounded expression.

“Uh…” Eagle replied, not knowing what to say. Rainbow sighed again.

“For Celestia’s sake, Eagle!” she shouted at him.

“What?!” he answered with a bit of anger in his tone.

“Stop being such a prick about this!”

“Okay Dash, fine. You tell me that you’ve lost your family, and that your father was responsible for it! Tell me that you could kill him with no remorse or doubt in the deed! Tell me that you would do it, and you would do so only for the sole purpose of getting revenge! Tell me all that, and then I’ll buck up!” Eagle shouted to her. Rainbow had retreated from her confident stance and had now backed away from her coltfriend a bit. Eagle was panting out of frustration, but he saw the slight fear in Dash’s eyes. He calmed down, lowered his head, and lied down on the ground.

“I felt like I could do it Dash. Now, I feel like I won’t be able to bring myself to doing it,” Eagle said. Rainbow lied down next to him and nuzzled his neck.

“Eagle, it’s alright. I get it. This is something big for you to do. I know that you’ve gotta be hurting right now. But think back to what he did. You know as well as I do that that punk should die, and you know I don’t think about death a lot. I’d never wish it upon anypony for them to be killed, but the Dark Flames of Heaven are one huge exception,” Rainbow said, looking up to Eagle. He looked back down to her and smiled.

“You know, you have a very unique way of cheering ponies up.”

“I try my best.” They shared a quick laugh, followed by them getting up, laying back on the cloud, and floating up to the sky.

“You can do it Eagle. I know you can. How many ponies have you killed up until now?” Rainbow asked.

“About… you know, I don’t think I could tell you,” Eagle answered.

“Exactly.” They smiled at each other and shared a quick kiss.

“Thanks Dash.”

“No problem Eagle.” With that, the two started to dose off, until they finally fell asleep.

Eagle had been staying in Ponyville for two days now. He decided some time for relaxation was just what he needed, so he was going to spend this week in Ponyville, staying with Rainbow Dash at her house. The first two days consisted of just Rainbow and Eagle hanging out, but for the next few days, they decided that they would spend some time with the rest of Rainbow Dash’s friends.

Eagle walked down the streets of Ponyville, passing by all the ponies that were out and about. He always loved coming to Ponyville. He had started to visit so often, he had made a few new friends there. As he passed by them all, he would wave hello, and they would wave back. He felt as though he should be living here rather than in the city. But he had become greatly attached to Manehattan, and he couldn’t leave it behind him so easily.

Eagle’s destination was the Carousel Boutique, where he would be meeting up with Rainbow Dash and Rarity. Rarity had hooked Rainbow Dash into modeling a new dress that she had created. None of the other girls were available, leaving Rainbow Dash to take the spot.

As Eagle entered the dress shop, he couldn’t help but chuckle at what he saw. Rainbow Dash was wearing, by far, the most un-Rainbow Dash-ish dress ever. It was all poofy and regal, and it clearly didn’t fit the model’s taste. Rainbow Dash wore a look of distaste the entire time. When Eagle entered, her look changed to a scowl.

“Not. One. Word,” she said angrily.

“W-What?” Eagle replied, trying to hold back his laughter. “It looks… g-great on you…” Eagle continued. But, to no avail of his attempts, he couldn’t hold back his laughter, and burst into hysterical laughter outright. Rainbow Dash lowered her head in agony.

“Oh don’t look so glum Rainbow Dash. You look fine,” Rarity commented.

“Yeah, if she were the attending the “Wonderbolts Rejects Party”,” Eagle joked, continuing to laugh. Rarity rolled her eyes and continued her work.

“Can we please hurry this up?! I have somepony to pound into the ground!” Rainbow said angrily, glaring at Eagle. He stopped laughing for a moment, but quickly went right back to laughing. It was clearly too much for him to handle.

“Almost done…” Rarity said, making a few last additions. “And… done!” she shouted. She started to carefully remove the dress from Rainbow’s body. By the time that was finished, Eagle had stopped laughing, and was waiting for the two mares to finish up. As Rainbow stepped down from the stand she was on, she glared at Eagle.

“Oh, you’re gonna get it!” she said, still glaring at him.

“Gotta catch me first!” Eagle replied, darting out the door. Rainbow looked to Rarity for a quick second.

“Well Rarity, I can say without a doubt that this was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had,” Rainbow said plainly.

“Oh come now, it wasn’t that bad,” Rarity replied. Rainbow just raised an eyebrow at her. “Okay maybe it wasn’t great for you, but at least you helped me out. Anyway, I thank you for what you’ve done. As for now, you’ve got a stallion to catch.”

“You bet I do. Later!” Rainbow finished, hovering above the ground for a moment, just before darting out the door.

Eagle Eye already had a good head start on Rainbow Dash, but she managed to quickly catch up to him. When Eagle realized his marefriend was right on his tail, he soared up into the sky. Rainbow tailed him closely, almost biting his tail.

“Gotta move quicker than that to catch me!” he yelled back to her, darting off ahead. She caught up to him again, now right beside him. “Uh oh.” She bumped into him, causing him to spiral for a moment. As he regained his balance, she tackled into him, pulling him down to the ground. Just as they were about to hit, she pulled up and flew a few meters away from the ground. They soon came close to the swimming pond. Just as they flew over, Rainbow dropped Eagle right into the water.

“How you like that Eagle?” Rainbow asked mockingly, hovering over her coltfriend, who had just surfaced from underwater.

“Not as much as you’ll like it!” Eagle said, soaring upward and grabbing Rainbow Dash. He held her tight as they plummeted back into the water. As the two came back to the surface, they started to laugh and splash each other.

“Oh, fun! I’m in!” a voice yelled over to them. “Cannonball!” Eagle and Rainbow looked to the sky to see one pink mare, curled up in a ball and plummeting straight towards them. They quickly got out of the way as Pinkie Pie splashed down. When she came back up, she smiled at the two.

“Hi guys!” Pinkie greeted them.

“Hey Pinkie,” Rainbow and Eagle said simultaneously.

“I can see you two are havin some fun! I saw you swoop by a few minutes ago, so I decided to follow. What’s up?!” Pinkie asked.

“Dash was modeling for Rarity in the most ridiculous dress ever. I had a hilarious outburst, so Dash decided she was going to get me back for that,” Eagle answered.

“And I did,” Rainbow added.

“Yeah, sure,” Eagle joked. He was met with another splash from the cyan mare. She rolled her eyes at him as he chuckled to himself.

“Well, if you’d like Dashie, I could help you out with that,” Pinkie said.

“I’d like nothing more…” Rainbow replied. The two mares looked at Eagle, who looked back in pretend fear.

“Uh oh…” The two mares started splashing him with everything they had. Eagle tried to splash back, but the waves that were being sent his way were too much. At least, too much in a playful way. He could have easily fought back, but he was having too much fun to do so. So, he dove under the water, snuck under Rainbow Dash, and lifted her up. With one big toss, he threw her a few inches forward, with her landing with a splash.

“Oooh, me next, me next!” Pinkie cried out. Eagle chuckled as Pinkie jumped over to him. He caught her and tossed her next to where Rainbow had landed. The two mares looked at Eagle and started to laugh. Eagle couldn’t help but join them in the laughter.

“Yeah, I definitely needed this relaxation time.”

Now into his fifth day in Ponyville, Eagle Eye had had himself a strong amount of fun during his stay. On his third day, he, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack had themselves a mini Iron Pony competition. The winner was Applejack this time, on account of her strict no wings rule. Still, overall, it was fun for the three ponies. On the fourth day, Eagle attended one of the many pet play dates that the girls had from time to time. Even though Eagle didn’t have a pet, it was still fun for him to be there. He took a considerable liking to Rainbow’s pet, Tank. Maybe it was just because he was Rainbow Dash’s pet. It didn’t matter.

Now, on his fifth day in Ponyville, the girls and Eagle Eye were just going to hang out at Sugarcube Corner. Nothing special. Just six mares and one stallion, hanging out as friends. Well, technically five mares and two lovers, but they didn’t care.

As Eagle and Rainbow Dash entered Sugarcube Corner, they were greeted by the rest of their friends. They all started conversing and chatting up, taking seats around the room. Eventually, Rarity brought up an interesting topic to get everypony’s attention.

“Did you girls hear that somepony thinks they saw the Assassin coming out of the Everfree Forest the other day?” Rarity asked the group. Eagle couldn’t help but smirk a little.

“Actually I have,” Twilight answered. “Whether or not it’s true, I got to thinking that maybe the Assassin’s possible hideout is located in the forest,” she added.

“That’s crazy talk Twilight. Everypony knows that the Assassin works mostly in Manehattan. Sure, he visits other areas of Equestria, but mostly Manehattan,” Rainbow spoke up.

“Ah reckon he had some business to git to in the forest,” Applejack chimed in.

“What would he have to do in the forest?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well… ya know, Ah don’t know.”

“Maybe it was something so important that he decided to just take whatever his business was and move it to the forest!” Pinkie spoke up. The girls and Eagle looked at her in confusion. “What?”

“Why would he ever want to attend to business in the Everfree Forest? As brave and courageous as he may be, that forest isn’t for anypony,” Rarity said.

“Maybe he had a target that he tailed into the forest,” Twilight said. Talk about the Assassin continued to circle the room, eventually getting to a point where the girls started stating their opinions on the Assassin. Mostly, the girls all thought he was a true hero. Eagle loved hearing that. Finally, the girls all looked to Eagle Eye, wondering why he hadn’t said anything yet.

“What do you think Eagle?” Rarity asked.

“Yea. Ya haven’t said a thing since we brought em up,” Applejack added.

“Eh, I just like hearing what other ponies have to say about him. I’m used to hearing his name being slandered all the time in the city. That’s not as common as it used to be, but still. I guess I just wanted to hear some new opinions,” Eagle answered.

“Yeah, every time I visit Manehattan, I hear a whole bunch of different things about the Assassin. Some ponies think he’s a hero, and others think he’s a criminal,” Rainbow Dash added.

“Well if you ask me he is certainly a true hero, something you don’t find much of nowadays. I especially love his robes. I would love to design something just for him. I’m sure I could make many great changes to those already beautiful robes,” Rarity said. Eagle and Rainbow chuckled together, leaving Rarity confused.

“Yeah, maybe you could add a nice regal collar to it,” Rainbow joked.

“Laugh if you wish, but I still think he’d appreciate the help.”

“Ah think he looks fine jus the way he is,” Applejack chimed in.

“I wonder what he’d look like in pink?!” Pinkie Pie said cheerfully. “Ooooh I can already see it!”

“Of course you can Pinkie,” Eagle joked. They all shared a quick, collective laugh before Twilight spoke up again.

“I still think he’s a little too mysterious. I mean, yeah, he’s surely been in the news a lot, but there’s still so much about him that nopony knows. I’m sure the biggest question is who is he? I’d like to ask how he managed to be able to make his wings turn into blades. Certainly he couldn’t have done that by himself,” she said.

“Do you think he works alone?” Fluttershy asked.

“Probably not. He’s got so much advanced gear, and he seems a bit too brute-like to be smart enough to make any of that gear. I’d say he has somepony smart working with him,” Twilight answered. Eagle felt a little hurt by that comment, but he quickly dropped it.

“All I know is that he went into that forest and probably kicked some flank!” Rainbow spoke up.

“An wha’s that?” Applejack asked.

“Because wherever the Assassin goes, pain is sure to follow,” Rainbow answered.

“Ain’t that the truth,” Eagle added. Another collective laugh was shared, followed by more talk of the Assassin. The topic changed after a little while, and soon enough, the sun had set. The ponies all said their goodbyes and went home to their respective houses. Pinkie of course stayed put.

When Eagle and Rainbow arrived at Dash’s home, they headed straight to bed. They were a little too tired to do anything else. They snuggled up together, feeling each other’s warmth as they got cozy.

“How many more days?” Rainbow asked.

“About two, if I’m correct,” Eagle answered.

“You think you’re ready?”

“I know I’m ready. After these past few days, I now know I have something more to fight for. You can bet your bits that I’m going to win this. Not just for me, but for Equestria as well.” Rainbow kissed Eagle and smiled at him.

“That’s what I like to hear. Now let’s get some sleep.” With that said, the two Pegasi closed their eyes. Eagle wrapped Rainbow in his wings, holding her close. He kissed her once on the forehead before they both fell asleep.

Eagle awoke from his slumber. He watched his marefriend sleeping peacefully, her mane in a bit of a mess. He felt his stallionhood still caressed inside Rainbow’s tight marehood. The previous night had been quite enjoyable for the two. They figured that this could have been the last night that they would spend together, so they made it enjoyable.

Shortly after Eagle woke up, Rainbow’s eyes opened.

“Hey you,” she said, letting out a cute yawn.

“Morning,” Eagle replied, kissing her. “Some night huh?”

“Damn right.” They both looked down at the mess they had made. Eagle couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Man, that’s messy,” he said.

“You think?” Rainbow joked. Eagle pulled out slowly, sending a slight sensation through Rainbow’s body. The two then decided to get up and went to take a quick shower. However, that quick shower wasn’t as quick as they hoped. And it wasn’t even because of anything sexual.

“Are you sure you can do this Eagle?” Rainbow asked, resting in his hooves as the water fell over them.

“I promise I’ll be fine. After it’s all over, I’ll come right back here and tell you all about it,” Eagle said. They were both sitting on the floor of the bathtub, letting the shower water wash over them. “Hell, you’ll probably see and hear all the explosions coming from the forest.”

“I know… I just want you to come back to me. Alive.”

“I will. You can be sure of that.” Rainbow looked up to him and kissed him passionately. They finished up their shower after resting there for a few minutes more. They headed to the kitchen, had a quick breakfast, and then headed back into Rainbow Dash’s room.

Eagle started to get his gear ready. He started with his armor. He put on all of the protective plating that went under his robes, letting it mold to the shape of whatever area the armor was for. Then, he put on the metal sheath for his tail. It molded perfectly with every hair of his red tail. Then, he started putting on his robes. He strapped everything on, making sure it was all in place. Then came his hidden blades. He strapped them on, and then put on his bracers. Next, he threw his rifle over his shoulder, checking the bayonet and making sure it had a full clip before doing so. Next, he put on his chest plate. After that simply came his hood and mask.

But, before he put them on, he looked to Rainbow Dash. She walked up to him and kissed him with more passion than ever before. When she broke the kiss, she looked into his eyes, which were now red.

“Go do what you gotta do.”

“I plan to.”

Eagle put on his mask, allowing it to convert to its helmet-like mode. When his head and neck were covered, he pulled up his hood. He walked over to the window, but before he jumped out, he looked back to Rainbow Dash. She nodded to him, and he nodded back. He jumped out and soared through the sky, heading for the Everfree Forest. Rainbow Dash was left with only the hope that he would come back alive.

As Eagle flew to the Everfree Forest, only one thought came to mind.

“Time to finish this.”

Author's Notes:

Holy crap! I finally wrote a new chapter! Took me long enough. Yeah, next chapter is the beginning of the final battle. The battle is gonna be broken up into two parts. You'll figure out what those parts are soon enough.

Also, does anyone think that the sexual references I make are a little... much? I don't, just wondering if you guys do.