It took a while, but eventually, the Dark Flames of Heaven were completely eliminated. By the time Eagle Eye turned twenty-two, they were gone from the world. From that point, it seemed like the Assassin would be put to rest, so to speak. However, Eagle Eye and Sharp Side had no idea how much influence the Assassin would gain over the four years that followed the defeat of the Dark Flames of Heaven.

Aside from the initial hero label that the Assassin received, he also earned himself a great deal of respect from both enemies and allies. He even gained some allies in the process. Now, Eagle Eye could practically count the Captain of the Manehattan Guard as a close friend.

As for his enemies, most of the criminals that remained in Manehattan ditched their old habits of crime-doing. Granted, Eagle still had a lot to deal with in the city, but not as much as he used to. Some big shots would try to fight back, but it would always end the same. But regardless of whom it was, they knew to either fear or respect the Assassin.

Along with some new friends and well-earned respect, the Assassin had given himself some major upgrades. After his father’s death, Eagle Eye had to find his own place to live. About one year after his father’s death, he found an apartment penthouse on the North side of Manehattan. It wasn’t necessarily on the outskirts of the city, but it wasn’t too far in that his identity as the Assassin could be discovered.

Of course, Eagle loved his new home. He suited it up with plenty of furnishings that would suit his needs. But, for Eagle, it was too much space. So, he and Sharp Side devised the ultimate plan to turn a sizeable amount of the penthouse into Eagle’s very own personal hidden base of operations.

Eagle Eye took to calling his new hideout the Nest. Whether or not it was looked at as a play-on-words, the Nest was just what the Assassin needed. The entire process took just about one year. By the time Eagle turned twenty-two, the Nest was completed.

The entrance to the hideout was a small door that was hidden beyond Eagle’s fireplace. The fireplace could offer heat when needed, but with a simple twist of a knob on the wall, the heat given off from the flames faded away, and the door to the Nest could be accessed.

The hideout had everything that Eagle could need. Ranging from the latest technology for computers and small scale surveillance systems, to a small training ring and workbench, the Nest had it all. One of Eagle’s personal favorites of the Nest was the storage unit he had for his robes and gear. Along with practically everything else he could want, Eagle and Sharp Side installed a small hatch in the roof of the building to act as a secret exit/entrance from and to the Nest.

Eagle Eye’s work load seemed to only increase thanks to his new computer systems though. With all of the equipment he now had, Eagle could track down targets with ease, along with the traditional sneaking and eavesdropping missions. Along with this, Eagle could receive and accept contracts by communicating with others that had access to this kind of technology. And the pay was never short of incredible.

This also led to Eagle’s work taking him all over Equestria. The Assassin was no longer just a Manehattan hero. Now, the Assassin was known across all of Equestria. He had gained notoriety in Los Pegasus, Trottingham, Hoofington, Baltimare, pretty much any major city in Equestria now knew the name of the Assassin.

And the fun didn’t stop for Eagle even after the Nest was completed. For all of this new work, the Assassin needed some new upgrades to deal with it all. However, most of these upgrades turned out to be small tweaks. For one, Eagle’s rifle, the Avenger, had undergone a major change in how it was handled. No longer did it have its unique firing style. The rifle had been changed to follow a more traditional trigger type, such as most other rifles used during the time. But this turned out to be extremely useful, as the rifle could now fire as fast as Eagle could pull the trigger.

As for appearance, the mask that Eagle wore had earned a small, and what some might consider frightening, addition. The metal mask that hid Eagle’s identity no longer just covered his muzzle. It now covered his eyes as well. Truthfully, it had almost become a full helmet. Just like when it was created, it would fold out to cover the rest of Eagle’s head and neck, providing him with much needed protection.

As for the addition of the visor, it was quite simple for Sharp Side to do. And the results were simply awesome. The mask now covered Eagle’s face completely. When the mask was initially placed on Eagle’s face, it had no color. But once it locked into place, the visor would turn on and flash a dark red color. If Eagle’s enemies were unlucky enough to see it, they would be struck to the bone with fear.

Luckily for Eagle, the visor didn’t let off too much light that he could be discovered. The visor was just a simple line that crossed over Eagle’s eyes, but Sharp Side had been able to work the visor so that Eagle would be able to see completely as if he wasn’t wearing anything.

And of course, Eagle had to get his armor fixed up a little better. Although his armor was already light, Sharp Side had figured out a way to make it just a bit lighter, while making it even more durable. Now, the Assassin’s armor could withstand heavy bullet fire and strong slashes and hacks from blades and such.

And with Eagle Eye at the age of twenty five, his career as the Assassin was at its peak. The Assassin had become a true master at what he did, and nopony could deny that simple fact. As for white coated stallion himself, his life couldn’t be better.

Except, unfortunately, for the fact that Eagle Eye was starting to lose his mind. Ever since the day that Eagle killed his father, the young stallion had been having even more horrible nightmares. Every time he had a nightmare, it seemed even worse than the last one he would go through. And what made it all worse was that sometimes his nightmares enjoyed visiting him during the day.

Eagle was starting to see his fallen family members as if they were right there with him. And whenever they would pay him a visit, they would cause him to suffer from unbearable headaches. Often at times, these visits would leave Eagle Eye rocking himself back and forth on the floor of his apartment. And nopony would ever be there to help him.

Sky Dove, Ruby, and Fire Streak would always find some new horrible things to say to Eagle Eye. They would curse him for what he has done, they would tell him to give up the fight he has been going through over the past years, or Sky Dove and Ruby would call him a terrible son and brother, respectively. Fire Streak would mock his son, often calling him a murderer. Everything that they said found a way to hurt Eagle Eye more and more.

But, the young stallion still managed to find happiness in his life. His relationship with Rainbow Dash was at its best, and Eagle could only tell that it was almost time to propose to his lover. Rainbow Dash knew that he would ask her any day now. She just had to wait for that day to come.

Eagle Eye’s life had changed so much over the course of these five years. He had lost his mother and sister, gotten back together with his former marefriend, taken on the mantle of the Assassin, killed his father, became viewed as a hero as the Assassin, and had somehow managed to take his life back into his own hooves. So, as a whole, Eagle thought he was living a good life.

What Eagle didn’t foresee was how quickly it all would change once again.

It was a cold November night. The wind was softly howling, the streets of Manehattan were bustling as usual, and the stars of Luna’s night sky were shining brightly. Eagle Eye, watching over the city as the Assassin, stood atop a random skyscraper with his robes blowing in the air. His rifle rested on his back, his blades rested in their sheathes on his forelegs, his armor pieces were covering his body in their specific places, and his eyes panned over the city behind his mask.

Sharp Side, now in his own apartment as well (still in Eagle Eye’s old neighborhood however), using the same new tech that Eagle had received, called to his friend.

“Alright brother, Razor is supposedly still in the area. Thanks to the tracker you managed to plant on him, I’m seeing that he’s just a few blocks away from you.” Sharp Side’s call reached Eagle’s ears through the communication system built into Eagle’s mask. The data that Sharp Side had spoken about popped up in front of Eagle’s face on the inside of his mask (another added perk to the upgraded mask of the Assassin).

“Nice. Tonight, this guy will understand why it’s wrong to mess with the ponies of Manehattan,” Eagle replied. Razor, a new killer in the city of Manehattan, had been active for around two weeks now. He had been on an insane killing spree, taking the lives of over thirty innocent ponies. Eagle Eye and Sharp Side had been tailing the killer for days now, but only on the previous night were they able to plant a tracking device on him. Now, it was time for him to pay.

Eagle took flight towards his destination. He pulled up some data on Razor that he had been reading before he left the Nest to begin his mission. Eagle had managed to learn pretty much everything there was to learn about this crazed killer, but he wanted to check everything over one more time.

Razor was known mostly because of the heinous crimes he had committed, but even more than that were his methods. He would mutilate his victims, five of which he had chopped of limbs before finishing the deed. One of his victims had been decapitated, and it was reported that another victim had her eyeballs ripped out.

“I feel like puking just from reading this stuff,” Eagle told Sharp Side.

“I’m right there with you bro,” Sharp Side replied.

Eagle arrived at his destination in no time, landing on the top of a small building. He arrived just in time to see Razor exit his little home, which was nothing more than a tiny homemade completely out of boxes. The brown coated stallion pulled out a bloodied knife and ran it through his dark red mane. Razor then brandished his knife in front of his face and licked a dried line of blood off of it.

“I wonder who my next victim will be tonight,” Razor said to himself. Eagle cringed at hearing the psychopath’s twisted voice. Eagle readied his rifle as Razor made his way down the street, skipping merrily to his own demented tune.

“Time to die,” Eagle said, pulling the trigger. The bullet passed right through Razor’s chest, sending the stallion sprawling to the floor. He tried to crawl away, but Eagle quickly jumped from the rooftop and pounced on him.

“I hope you had fun Razor, because it all ends here,” Eagle said, his red visor managing quite well to earn him a fearful gaze from Razor.

“Y-You can’t kill me! I’m Razor! Nopony kills me!” the psychopath cried out.

“Sorry to disappoint.” Eagle slid out his left hidden blade and drove it into the stallion’s neck, making him gag and cough up large amounts of blood. Eagle left the murderer’s lifeless corpse in a puddle of blood.

“You will receive no pity from me. May your soul burn for an eternity. Requiescat in pace, punk.” Eagle shut Razor’s eyes and walked away.

“You know, it amazes me how after five years of being the Assassin, you still manage to come up with those short little monologues that you give after you kill a target,” Sharp Side called to Eagle Eye.

“It’s not that hard really. I just say something based on the actions of the target. Plus, I’ve reused some of my lines from time to time. How have you not noticed that?” Eagle asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m always just too caught up in the fact that you successfully killed your target. But, whatever the case, another contract fulfilled. I’m sure that stallion that contacted us will be glad to pay you the sum you discussed about with him.”

“Truthfully, I almost don’t want his money. He lost his daughter to Razor, and that’s a pain that nopony should ever suffer from. But, if he insists, I’ll accept the bits.”

Eagle flew off into the night sky, gazing over the brightly lit city. He was headed home, where he would be meeting up with Rainbow Dash for a romantic evening, including a dinner cooked by Eagle, an action filled movie, and probably sex. Eagle checked the time by bringing it up via his mask.

“Alright brother, I’m heading home for the night,” Eagle told Sharp Side.

“Tell Rainbow Dash I said hello,” Sharp Side responded. With that, the two shut off their communication devices and went about their own business.

Eagle arrived at his apartment and stealthily entered the Nest through the secret hatch in the roof. Entering his base of operations, he went straight to his computer to confirm the death of Razor, reporting it to the Manehattan Guard and the stallion that he received the contract from. After that, Eagle pulled up his robe mannequin and removed his gear, placing it all neatly in place. Once he finished with that, he exited his base and entered his living room through the fireplace.

Rather than enter through the front door, Rainbow Dash decided to knock on Eagle’s window. The knock was loud enough of course to gain Eagle’s attention.

“Hey, open up!” Rainbow called from outside. Eagle chuckled as he walked over and opened the window.

“Why hello you,” he greeted his marefriend.

“Nice timing.”

“Oh, you saw me coming home?”

“Of course I did. I followed you actually. How could you not notice?”

“I was just thinking about how much fun we’re going to have tonight.” Eagle drew a smirk on his face and pulled Rainbow into the apartment. She giggled and began to kiss him. But, Eagle was quick to stop her.

“Now, now, let’s save some for the movie and for desert,” Eagle said, chuckling. Rainbow kissed his cheek and smiled at him.

“I think there’ll be plenty left over,” Rainbow said, walking into the living room and lying down on the soft couch. Eagle rested next to her and wrapped an arm around her.

“Ahem, aren’t you supposed to be making dinner?” Rainbow Dash joked.

“In a while. No need to rush,” Eagle replied. And then, the two Pegasi heard a growl coming from Eagle’s stomach. The white-coated stallion chuckled. “I guess I’ll get on that then.” Rainbow giggled and watched her stallion enter the kitchen.

A few hours after their dinner and movie, Eagle Eye and Rainbow Dash found themselves in bed with each other. They tossed and turned, making out and bucking like animals. The bedroom filled with the scents of their sex and their moans and cries.

After their session of love making ended, the two quickly passed out. Luckily for Eagle, the comfort of his lover kept his nightmares away for the night. But, upon waking up the next morning, Eagle was greeted by the sight of his sister standing on the floor behind Rainbow Dash.

“Eagle, why did you protect her? I’m your little sister. You should have protected me!” Ruby shouted at him. Of course, only Eagle heard her. He tried his best to ignore her, and soon enough, she vanished, just as Rainbow Dash woke up. She saw the worried look in her stallion’s eyes.

“Eagle. Who was it?” she asked. Eagle rested his head against Rainbow’s.

“It was Ruby this time.”

“What did she say?” Eagle didn’t answer. Rainbow simply sighed and cuddled closer to her coltfriend. “Don’t worry, I’m here.” Eagle did the same as her and cuddled closer.

A little while after, the two got out of bed and took a quick shower to clean themselves up from the previous night’s activities. This was followed by a quick breakfast. Afterwards, the couple said their goodbyes. Rainbow Dash was needed back in Ponyville for the day, but she promised Eagle Eye that she would be back the next day. They kissed once more, Rainbow exited out the window, and Eagle was left alone once again.

“Son…” a voice said behind Eagle. He didn’t dare to turn around. Eagle simply opened the window once again. “You can’t ignore us forever son.” The young stallion put his frontal hooves on the rim of the window.

“Just shut up Dad,” Eagle said, jumping out the window, closing it behind him, without looking at his father of course, and flew off towards Sharp Side’s house.

“You alright Eagle?” Sharp Side asked his friend as he entered the apartment.

“My sister and father paid me another visit,” Eagle told his green coated friend. Eagle entered the decently sized apartment and laid himself out on the couch. Sharp Side looked to his hypothetical brother with great concern.

“Eagle, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this for a while now. I think it’s time we end all of this Assassin business,” Sharp Side said, earning a look of both surprise and confusion from Eagle Eye.

“What?” was all Eagle could say.

“You heard me. I think it’s time that the Assassin’s career was put to an end.” Eagle was baffled. He couldn’t believe what Sharp Side was saying.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I am.”

“Sharp, look at what I’ve done as the Assassin. Look at what we’ve accomplished together! We’ve done so much for Equestria! We can’t just end it all in one foul swoop.” Eagle was now standing and facing his friend with all seriousness.

“Eagle, the Assassin has practically become nothing but a mercenary. He was a hero at first, but now, he’s just a super cool Guard of Equestria. The message that we set out with in the beginning with the Assassin was hope. We accomplished all of that. We don’t need to keep doing this anymore. And, think about Rainbow Dash. You’re going to propose to her any day now. You think she wants her husband to be risking his life every day just for thrills?”

Eagle was starting to get aggravated with his friend. Sharp Side had come up with a lot of crazy ideas in the past, but this one took the cake. It wasn’t even an idea. To Eagle, it seemed like a plan. A plan to destroy everything that the two had accomplished over the past five years.

“I’m sorry Sharp Side, but that’s not going to happen. Rainbow Dash understands what I do, and she’s fine with it. If we ever have children, then sure, I’ll stop. But for now, I’m not done being the Assassin. End of discussion.”

“No, it’s not the end of the discussion. You shouldn’t have to keep doing this Eagle. Remember that I told you I was working on a new suit for myself? Well, I’m practically done with it. I could take over for you,” Sharp Side told his friend. For the past two years, Sharp Side had been creating a mechanical suit of armor. He hoped that he would one day be able to join his friend on missions. Now, he wanted to use it as a way to help his friend in a very different way than originally planned.

“Why would you do that?” Eagle asked. “We agreed that you were going to use that armor to help me on missions, not take over my work completely.”

“Eagle, you’ve got somepony to love,” Sharp Side said.

“So do you! You still have a family!”

“Eagle, my mother isn’t going to be around for much longer. Her illness is beating her. And my brother is barely ever around. Ever since he was promoted into the Equestrian Guard, he never has time to come home. Hell, you’re my family too Eagle. We’re brothers, and I don’t want to lose my brother.” Eagle let out an annoyed sigh.

“Sharp Side, I’m sorry, but as of now, I’m not done being the Assassin. Like I said before, end of discussion.” Sharp Side saw no way to change Eagle’s outlook. He was set on being the Assassin for a while longer, and he could do nothing about it.

“If that’s what you want, fine.” With the discussion ended, the two stallions sat together in silence. Eagle broke the silence after a few moments though.

“How is your brother anyway?” he asked.

“He’s doing alright. Like I said, new Equestrian Guard and all. I just wish I got to see him more often,” Sharp Side replied.

“Well, the next time he’s around, invite me over to chill. I don’t think I’ve ever met him.”

“Really? You never met him?”

“Not that I recall.”

“Well, I guess we’ll have to fix that the next time he’s home.”

After a while, the tension created between the dissipated, and they were playing video games together and sharing tons of laughs. Just like any best friends would.

Author's Notes:

I re-posted this chapter with a small update. All I did was erase the end portion. Otherwise, nothing is different. This is so that I can finally finish the story.

Man this was a hard chapter to write. Mostly because of the beginning portion. It's nothing but descriptions and what's new with Eagle Eye. I hope all of that stuff made sense, was bearable and made Eagle Eye/The Assassin seem much cooler.

As for everything else, it was pretty easy to do. So now, we see that the Assassin is more awesome, Eagle and Rainbow Dash are probably going to marry soon, and Sharp Side wants Eagle to quit.

Oh yeah, and if you want to know how Eagle's mask works, just think of Iron Man's helmet and how it works in the movies. That's basically how Eagle's mask works.