It was a cold night in the city of Manehattan, as snowflakes began to fall. Friends, families, and loved ones making their journey home. However, there are those who try to take advantage of this peace and quiet, as one pegasus thought it would be easy pickings to rob the local bank in this late hour

He soon came to regret that as he was pursued by a cloaked individual. The pegasus in question had a dark red coat and yellow mane and tail, he wore a black vest with multiple pockets as he carried two satchels stuffed full with Equestrian Bits and Bills, a few dropping every now and ten but he couldn't afford to stop and pick them up since he was the subject of a hot pursuit. He was gritting his teeth as he flapped his wings as hard and as fast as they could carry him and his ill-gotten gains (which wasn’t as fast as he would have liked, given how his tailgater was getting closer and closer), weaving through the air as he tried to maneuver around the buildings to try and lose this cloaked pony before swerving into an alleyway.

“Damn it! Why don't you get lost, you freak!” he shouted, reaching into one of his pockets he pulled out a couple of stones depicting strange symbols.

“Hope those zebras were telling the truth… TAKE THIS!” he roared, tossing three of the stones in the direction of the cloaked individual, the stones began to glow bright red before exploding, creating a thick and blinding smokescreen to provide him some cover Quickly, he ducked down and hid behind a trash can as he watched his pursuer fly over him and turning left down the alley.

“Ha! Can't believe that worked!” he cheered, about to take flight, but suddenly felt a pair of hooves grab hold of him and threw him across the alley, where he slammed, back-first, into a brick wall. “Gah!”

“Very sneaky, punk… it was a good thing I was following behind, keeping a close watch of the chase… otherwise you'd probably have gotten away.” The thief's vision swam before he shook his head and saw before him a unicorn stallion with a dark gray coat, his horn glowing a purple hue as he yanked the satchel bags full of money away. “Honestly, I'm shocked, but not really.”

“That money’s my score! I stole it fair and square! You two-bit freaks aren’t gonna profit off my efforts!!” the pegasus thief shouted, pulling out two more stones from another pocket.

“Yeah… I really don’t have a need for this, I'd get scolded if I even thought about swiping it,” he said, dropping the bags behind him as he began to stalk towards the thief, who began to feel nervous.

“D-Don’t come any closer or I'll blow ya sky high!”

“Good luck with that, I'm not sure how you got a hold of magic rune stones, but I can tell you from experience that those ones you have… they aren't the blowing up kind,” the unicorn retorted confidently, as the thief looked down at his hoof suddenly.

“Th-they're not!?” the thief glanced at the stones he had, the unicorn smirking.

Now that the perp was distracted, the unicorn's horn suddenly radiated with purple mana and a trash can, engulfed in that same mana, was flung towards the thief, knocking him to the ground as he dropped the rune stones.

Taking advantage of this, the unicorn immediately levitated the dropped rune stones away while the thief was too dazed to notice. But once he regained his wits, the thief was suddenly picked up and slammed into the wall, held in place by the unicorn’s magic.

The thief could now see who this pony was clearly, with the dim light illuminating his surroundings just enough to see the white mane and purple eyes. A face that made him cower in fear.

“W-Wait… if you… let me go… you can keep-” Before he could finish, he was suddenly in pain as he fell to the ground, realizing he was punched in his stomach.

“It’s greedy scum like you that make me sick.” Suddenly stepping on the thief's back and grabbing hold of one of his wings with his magic.

“N-No! Wait! Please!”

*Crack*

“AAAUUUGGHHHHH!!!!”

“Maybe now is a good time for the two of us to start talking. Otherwise, I'll be break every bone in this wing here and that's just the start,”

“Screw… you!”

“Have it your way.”

*CRACK*

“AAAAAAUGGGGH!! AAAAAAAHHH!!!! PLEASE, STOOOOPP!! UH-HUH-Huh…!!!”

“I'll stop… when you tell me what I want to know. Where did you get these?” he asked, levitating one of the rune stones to his face. “You can't get these just from any magic shop. So who did you get these from?”

“I-I don't know!”

“Very well than…”

*STOMP*

*CRACK!!!*

“AHHHHHHHHHH!! PLEASE, I SWEAR I DON'T KNOW WHO THEY ARE!!!? THEY ONLY TOLD ME THEY WERE GOING TO HELP ME AND… I'd SPLIT IT WITH THEM!!!!” bawled the thief, tears streaming out as the pain felt like it was killing him.

“See… was that so hard. Where did you get them?”

“Just… ahh… just downtown… two zebras sold them to me… J-Just… to test them.”

“Thanks for the info,” he said, immediately punching the thief in the face, his head hitting the hard concrete floor, knocking him out.

“Watcher! What the hell did you do!?” A feminine voice called out to the unicorn as he turned to the opening of the alleyway to see his partner uncloak herself, revealing a pegasus with a coat of pristine white, her mane a passionate red with azure blue streaks similar to stripes.

“I did my job… take the thief down and get information. Your words exactly, Star N’ Stripe,” Watcher replied in a testy manner, annoyed by her appearance.

“You were supposed to capture him and bring him in for interrogation! Not beat him senseless and-!!!” It was at that moment the pegasus, Star N’ Stripe, noticed the thief on the ground. Despite being knocked out, he continued to moan and cry from his body being so injured and the pain was torturous even in his unconscious state.

“Sweet Mother of Celestia! You- you beast! You mangled his wing! And beat him black n' blue?! What is the matter with you?! Were you actually trying to kill him!?” she shouted, glaring at her trainee.

For the past seven months, Star N’ Stripe had been assigned Watcher as her trainee and to be his handler, by Midnight personally. He’d tasked her with training Watcher in the Brotherhood's ways, how to handle criminals, how to investigate, and above all, to respect their code.

But things hadn’t been going well. Watcher hardly listened to her at all, and often deviated from his assignments and patrols, working Star to her last nerve.

“He's not dead, and I only broke one of his wings. He got off easy, especially after that last robbery he pulled when he almost killed three bystanders, putting them in the hospital! One broken wing ain't gonna kill him!” Watcher snapped, already annoyed to no end by this goody-goody two-hooves rule follower.

“We only punish those who escape justice by manipulating the law!” Star affirmed, “This thief is just another common criminal. I concede he’s injured innocents, but the code is the code.

“I can’t overlook this, Watcher…” Star came over, Watcher moving away as his mentor knelt down to examine the thief, before she gazed up at him solemnly. “I have to report your misconduct to Midnight.”

“Tch! Go ahead… maybe he'll also help get that stick out of your fat ass!” Watcher yelled, turning his back from her.

“Ha! You mean my shapely ass,” Star harrumphed while sashaying her rump around. “You wish you had a mare with an ass this good.”

“Pfft… Whatever, you couldn’t handle me if I was even remotely interested.” Watcher chuckled.

“Ain’t much of you to handle, honey…” Star smirked with a raised brow.

“Heh! And who here has actually got some action and who didn't? Oh yeah, you didn't… That other guy at the hood had to drop your ass at your place on the couch? Uh… what's his name again?”

“You know what they say about stallions and overcompensating, you poor-poor thing…” Star said in mock-sympathy.

“Heheh… Look, I still don't see the big deal is… It’s okay to hurt dirty politicians and corporate douchebags who corrupt the law, but it’s not okay to stop and hurt petty thieves who hurt innocents?” Watcher asked, genuinely curious about the line of when to cross it or not.

“I saw what happened, spoke to witnesses to confirm it,” Star answered, sounding serious, “This thief… there’s no denying he hurt innocents, but it wasn’t on purpose. He was trying to cover his escape, not that it excuses him.

“But how we fight the bad guys is just as important as what we fight for. Dirty politicians and corporate douchebags, as you so eloquently put it, disgrace and dishonor the law in ways far worse than a common criminal like him does.”

“I still think he deserved it, but then again, this wouldn't have happened if you had seen him duck behind those trash cans, when he created that smokescreen and I know you were thinking of wailing on this guy after that… remark he said about you,” Watcher said slyly as he smirked at her.

“Yes, I was planning to rough him up some, just to show him what for,” Star shrugged but then looked serious, “But then afterwards I would have turned him over to the police along with all the other evidence we have on him.

“Now, thanks to you, he needs to go to the hospital, and he can use what happened to him as a defense if he’s actually taken to trial.”

“Yeah… three robberies in two weeks, seven bystanders injured, thousands of Bits worth of damages and evasion of law enforcement. Yeah… that defense is definitely gonna help him out. Honestly, Star, you can’t tell me you’ve never done what I just did yourself!”

Star looked into Watcher’s eyes, and then he suddenly felt oddly bad as he saw something in Star’s eyes waver, before she looked at the thief, and sighed.

“I did… and it felt great! For the first five minutes… then afterwards, I felt…” Star blinked a tear away before it could be shed, and then got herself together.
“The code is there for a reason, Watcher. Those who fight monsters are in danger of becoming monsters themselves…”

She looked at Watcher again, and he couldn’t help but feel a strange blush as he finally saw something in his mentor he hadn’t before.

She cares about me! Watcher realized to himself.

“Ahem…Well, anyways, even if this looks bad, I did get information out of him. This guy is a just low-level thug, a petty thief who could only really rob local grocery stores, and pickpocket drunk snobs, right?

“So how can somepony like him… rob banks with high-level security? Unless…” Watcher paused, waiting for Star to finish his sentence.

“Unless, he received help from someone with connections to gear and tools to help with said robberies,” she said, as it began to dawn on her that there’s a lot more going on.

“This guy had magic rune stones, and not just any… hoofcrafted by Zebras, experts on the most exotic and potent of all rune magic. Top of the line and unmatched.” Watcher explained, levitating one of the rune stones he picked up and showed it to her. “See the runic symbols imprinted on the stone? This one is a paralysis stone, rendering whoever it hits unable to move for a while. It'd take this guy’s entire food budget for the month just to afford four of these.”

“So they cost a wing and a hoof, and this guy still has his,” Star wondered, “so either he stole them or he got them in some kind of deal.”

“Most likely the latter. If he even tried to steal them, especially if they're made by Zebras, he wouldn't be alive right now. Unless you have a permit, you can only get these at the black market and Midnight cut off that chain here after the Coup of Avarice was foiled… at least in Equestria,” Watcher explained, snagging the rune stones in his saddlebag.

“But you just said these were made by zebras, meaning they’re still available in places like Zebrabwe,” gathered Star.

“Yes… but does this guy look like he can afford to go there? Just to get a couple dozen of these? No… there might be a new seller in town… or- No- We should probably get this guy taken to the police, er- The hospital, I mean, and then report it to the police,” Watcher quickly changed the subject as he immediately picked up the unconscious pegasus over his shoulder.

“H-Hey, wait, what about-”

“Sorry, I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but all I can say is that we'll probably need to send a report to Shadow Lock to look into this… Not really something we need to look into just yet.”

“Wait? Are you following protocol? Doth, my ears deceive me?” Star teased, giving a teasing smirk that made his cheeks turn lightly red.

“Nope, just… taking this situation more seriously since I can't exactly go looking into this without permission now," Watcher stated, trying to change the subject as the two began to make their way out of the alleyway. “So, are you still gonna report me?”

Star’s mirth faded, and she sighed.
“I have to, Watcher… I can’t look the other way on this.”

“Heh, I figured as much… Really fucking hate being on a tight leash,” he joked, still a little annoyed.

Sighing, Star reached out with her hoof and said, “Say, why don’t we grab a drink at the Last Drop after we take this guy to the hospital? My treat.”

Watcher’s eyes widened surprisingly by her offer. “Well I-”

Just as they were about to make it out if the alley. He stopped as he noticed something at the end of the alleyway, just barely perceptible in the shade but unmistakable. A white stallion, his head covered in blood and several scars riddled across his face and flesh missing on the side of his face.

Silver Smith?

“Why did you abandon us?” Watcher heard the phantasm say, as the blood on his face turned black, and the scars split open, tar bleeding out of them.

“Why did you forget us!?”

He shook his head immediately and noticed everything that was happening was all in his head.

“Watcher? Are you okay, you look like you've seen a ghost?”

“L-Let’s just get this guy taken care of… I'm sorry, maybe another time.”

As Watcher carried the perp away, Star couldn’t help but worry. In spite of all the aggravations and frustrations Watcher had given her, the senior Hood had found herself coming to care about her junior more and more. He was rude and nasty sometimes, and could be a real jerk. Tonight was probably the worst of him she’d ever seen. But through it all, Star had seen something beneath that thuggish and rogue exterior.

A stallion with a heart. A heart that was not cold, but broken.

As she followed, Star thought to herself, I’m not giving up on you, Watcher.

A flag flew atop Ponyville Town Hall, a flag that depicted a beautiful crystalline tree with the cutie-marks of Princess Twilight Sparkle and Prince Midnight Blaze to each side of the tree's trunk. Above the tree, from left to right, were constellations forming a unicorn, an earth pony, and a pegasus. The fabric was a darker shade of sapphire blue shimmered with magenta and turquoise sparkles that likened it to a night sky, and bordered with bright lavender.

A few weeks had passed since Midnight and Twilight returned from Canterlot after their experience in the Griffon Kingdom, which was now embroiled in a civil war. After reporting back to Celestia what had happened, and that Sunset Shimmer was involved, Celestia had been forced to confess what was perhaps her greatest mistake. The dirty details had left Midnight and Twilight so shocked and disgusted that they had claimed Ponyville and all its surrounding lands as their own domain, dubbing it the Haven of Harmony.

Upon returning to Ponyville, they had called the Council of Friendship to explain what had happened and why it was happening, and their friends and fellow council members had been... disturbed to say the least. Applejack most especially had been so disgusted by Princess Celestia's actions, but Midnight and Twilight had forbade her and the rest of them from repeating the topics of their meeting to anypony beyond it. As much as it didn't sit well with the Pony who represented Honesty, she choked it down and understood that spreading this ugly truth would do more harm than good.

Blueblood had asked, what would they do now that Ponyville and its surrounding lands were independent. Twilight clarified that they were still a part of Equestria, but that she and Midnight had established their domain and so she and her husband were now the highest authority within it, similar to Shining Armor and Cadance being the rulers of the Crystal Empire, which was a city-state. She then added that they would make a proclamation to Ponyville, explaining it to their citizens and would answer further questions.

Pinkie Pie had raised her hoof and asked if the domain had a name yet, and Midnight confirmed by declaring the domain was now the Haven of Harmony, and then commissioned Rarity to make their flag.

It was Fluttershy who'd asked a very good question that might have been a bit too soon: Would they ever make up with Princess Celestia?

Although they didn't look at her, Midnight and Twilight's expressions were answer enough for Fluttershy as well as the rest of them, to understand: It would take time.

A couple of days later, Midnight and Twilight were relieved when The Break of Dawn returned, bringing home Spike, Twinken, Faerie Tail, and the guards who'd gone with them in that initial trip to the Shetland Isles.
The day after, Spike called the townsponies to Town Hall, where Midnight and Twilight made their proclamation: That Ponyville, and her surrounding lands, from the Whitetail Woods to the Galloping Gorge, it was all now their own domain, which they dubbed the Haven of Harmony, and displayed their new flag.

Mayor Mare had not taken kindly to this sudden announcement without having even been consulted beforehoof. But Midnight glared her into submission before saying she would remain mayor to manage the town, but he and Twilight were the highest authorities from now on. Next they'd taken questions from the locals:
Were they now no longer part of Equestria? No, they remained citizens of Equestria, only that Prince Midnight and Princess Twilight were now the ruling authorities of this established domain of theirs.
Could they come and go, or was there a process for that? They were free to come and go as they pleased.
Would they still be able to do business outside the Haven? Yes, they would.
What about those visiting, did they require paperwork and ID's to enter? Confirmed relatives would be free to enter to visit family while non-related individuals would be screened to confirm whether or not they came with ill intent.
What about foreigners? The screening process would apply to them too.

After a few more questions, the townsponies were somewhat satisfied, but then somepony asked, What did the Royal Sisters or Prince Sombra think about this?

Midnight and Twilight both furrowed their brows and stated that while Princess Luna and Prince Sombra were free to visit, Princess Celestia was not unless they (Midnight and Twilight) both gave their expressed permission. When the locals asked why, they refused to answer, simply stating that was between them and Celestia.

Since then, Midnight and Twilight had kept busy with smoothing out the wrinkles of establishing the Haven of Harmony. It turned out, declaring a town and its surrounding lands a domain entailed paperwork and even meetings with concerned parties.

Midnight handled the external concerns while Twilight did the same with the internal, such as concerned citizens, families, farmers, businesses, and so on. It kept them pretty busy, but as things started to wind down, they realized there was some unresolved issues…

At breakfast one morning, Midnight was reading while waiting for Spike to finish cooking. He’d given Midnight some buttered toast and OJ to placate him in the meantime, when Twilight came in.

Noticing his wife, Midnight gave her a welcoming smile and said, "Good morning, Twily."

"Ugh..." Twilight responded in a not-morning-pony way, as she went towards the kitchen, only for Spike to bar the doorway.

"Up-bup-bup! Master Chef Spike is in the middle of making a breakfast masterpiece!” the little dragon stated in haughty manner before pointing to the dining table. “Please wait with your husband, and I’ll bring you your usual banana nut muffin and orange juice while you wait.”

Twilight groaned as she did so and sat at the table. On the side opposite of her husband instead of beside him, as was usual. Noticing this, and the way Twilight gazed off into sluggish stupor, Midnight narrowed his eyes and raised his book to cover them before saying, “Well aren’t you a bright ball of sunshine this morning…”

“Please… Don’t say the word sunshine, sunset, or sun… I don’t like it when you say it now.” Twilight sighed as she propped her head up using her hoof and foreleg on the dining table..

“Wh- Er- Where is this coming from?” Midnight flabbergasted.

“Just- Please don't say it. Hearing it coming from you just makes me more mad at you.” she huffed.

“Sheesh, all I said was good morning, I get the cold shoulder, and now this…” Midnight harrumphed as he returned to his novel.

Twilight was about to respond to that remark when Spike wheeled the serving cart, “Breakfast is served!”

He immediately got to work setting everything out, and then kissed his fingers as he placed the cloche-covered plates before the two alicorns, “Eggs sunny side up a la Spike!”

Spike raised the cloches to reveal eggs prepared sunny side up, with strawberry noses and haybacon smiles.

“Spike, you know I prefer cheese omelettes!” Midnight sighed wearily, unknowingly poking at Twilight’s ire yet again.

“Huh, I would think you would enjoy something sunny side-up,” Twilight huffed under her breath as she accepted her plate.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Midnight gaped at Twilight, having heard her light snark.

"Oh I just thought Sunny Side Up was your favorite kind of eggs, is all," Twilight said with a light edge in her tone.

"Twilight, all I said was that I prefer Cheese Omelettes- Oh! But that's right," Midnight snarked back before mockingly saying, "They're too... cheesy...!"

"Oh, but not as cheesy as her lips, I'm sure!" Twilight finally gave Midnight such a stink eye.

Those words struck a nerve, that Midnight's horn lit up with fiery mana as he threw up his hooves and shouted, "SHE KISSED ME!!"

"Uh, guys...?" interrupted the meek voice of Spike.

"WHAT?!?" the two alicorns shouted towards the drake, who flinched at their outburst and pointed towards a shaded corner in the dining room.

"We have a guest, please don't hurt me!" Spike whined as he then held his tail like a security blanket.

Twilight and Midnight both immediately felt bad for scaring Spike, but while Twilight comforted the little dragon Midnight’s eyes fell upon the shaded corner, from out of which stepped…

“Shadow Lock? Wh-what’re you doing here?” Midnight was baffled. It was rare for Shadow Lock to actually come to him whether it was Brotherhood business or not, but Shadow looked a tad uncomfortable, and it wasn’t because he’d walked into marriage drama on the verge of turning into a spat.

“I apologize for dropping in like this, Midnight,” Shadow Lock gave a respectful bow before levitating out a sealed envelope, “but I have this message from Star N’ Stripe.”

“Oh boy…” Midnight had an idea of what this might be about. He’d received a few reports from Star, one his best operatives stationed in Manehatten, and the Hood he’d assigned to be Watcher’s handler and mentor.

Midnight,
I have sent this letter to inform you of your cousin, Watcher, who had broken Brotherhood protocol: by assaulting a criminal he had already apprehended.

I won’t go into details, but the thief is currently hospitalized due to how severe the injuries inflicted upon him by Watcher are. However, we have learned a lot about this thief through Watcher’s “interrogation” and we believe there may be a possible new dealer of illicit magic here in Manehattan and we may require your aid.

I have also been meaning to mention this a few weeks ago, but Watcher has been acting strange as of late. He's become increasingly aggressive in his work as a Hood and he's been turning in hsiu reports late with little to no excuses..

I don't know if it's just me, but he seems exhausted and troubled by something. Please speak to him when you have the chance. He won't open up to me.

Your Sister Hood,
Star N’ Stripe

“Hmm…” Midnight had been afraid of this. Granted, he’d figured Watcher would be rough around the edges after bringing him into the Brotherhood, but he’d hoped the work would give him focus and perhaps fulfillment. Did I rush his basic training? Did I put him in the field too soon?

“Oh my, is something going on?” Both alicorns looked to the doorway, where Faerie Tail and Twinken stood, the both of them looking a bit sluggish, indicating they’d recently woken up.

Faerie Tail’s tummy was starting to show more and more, her pregnancy coming along. The problem was, due to the unusual circumstances of her pregnancy, they weren’t entirely certain as to how long the pregnancy would last. It’d taken about three months after Faerie Tail’s awakening before she’d even begun to feel the symptoms of early pregnancy. That was four months ago, making it seven months total, and she didn’t even look like she was halfway through.

Twinken lit up his horn to pull out a chair for his mom, the unicorn mare taking her seat and sighing in relief to be off her hooves.

“Morning everypony, but what’s the matter with Spike?” asked Twinken as he took his own seat.

Midnight looked and was not surprised that Shadow Lock had taken the opportunity to make himself scarce, as though he’d never been here at all. The only proof being the message he’d delivered.

Spike was finally calmed down, after getting a hug and soothing words from Twilight before regaining his composure, and clearing his throat, “Uh- Nothing serious! Just… a little case of the jitters… Now! Any requests for breakfast?”

“My usual is fine, thanks, Spike,” Twinken asked while Faerie Tail paused.

“Mm, can you bring me some orange juice while I have a think on it, dear?” the mare requested.

“You got it!” Spike rushed into the kitchen, leaving the family to notice the tension a little more clearly.

“Are… you two okay?” Faerie Tail knew they weren’t. Something about this tension felt familiar. Like she’d experienced it before, with her own husband. “Did something happen?”

“Yes, it has,” Midnight sighed wearily, raising the message, “Watcher seems to be having trouble, so I’m gonna go check on him.”

“Is he okay? It’s been a bit since we had that… adventure,” Twinken commented while looking a tad guilty for how he’d run off before, and gotten involved in that ‘adventure’.

“I’m not sure. But I should look into this situation personally,” Midnight responded before his shadow rose up to envelop him, and then fell away, revealing he was now garbed in his hooded cloak.
“I’m gonna be gone for a few days, a week at most. Until then, hold down the fort, everypony. I love you.”

Then Midnight sank into his shadow, his presence marked by shadowy vapor as it slithered away, vanishing out the doorway, and Faerie Tail and Twinken’s eyes turned towards Twilight. The purple princess looked to be torn between warning to be angry yet feeling sorry.

Next Chapter: 428. Hunted from the Past - Part 2 Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 40 Minutes