Watcher led his cousin, and his cousin’s friends to a nearby diner Watcher frequented. It was retro, had various memorabilia from older days, a jukebox, and gave off a friendly atmosphere filled with the delicious smells of a classic eatery. The fry cook, Hoof Montagu, was a middle-aged earth pony with a rotund barrel and mane slicked back under his deli cap, and his daughter and niece were the waitresses, while the cashier was maned by his best friend’s nephew.

Seeing Watcher, Montagu smiled through the deli window and called out, “Well, well, Watcher m’boy! Come to grace this greasy spoon with your presence yet again, have we? And with friends no less! Has Tartarus finally frozen over?”

Watcher smirked and shook his head, “Hello, Montagu, you old coot.”

“Take a seat, y’all! I’ll be right with ya,” Hoof Montagu invited as he ducked back into the kitchen.

Midnight was glad he’d used a glamor to disguise himself, preferring to avoid his ‘adoring subjects’, so only Watcher, Star, and his friends could see through his illusory disguise as Watcher led them to a nearby table. He’d considered a booth, but decided a table with actual seats would be more convenient.

“I see you’ve made friends,” Midnight smirked at his cousin, but it was a sincere look of pride.

“Eh, Hoof kinda took a shine to me,” Watcher shrugged as they made themselves comfortable. “Called me the son he never wanted, thinks he’s a gas. Just don’t pull his hoof, I learned that the hard way…”

“I had no idea you were making friends outside of work,” Star said with a teasing elbow to Watcher’s ribs.

“Hoof’s owned this diner for more than twenty years, and has no plans to retire,” Watcher elaborated, “wanted to pass it onto his son eventually, but they had some kind of falling out a few years ago.”

“Over what?” asked Thunderlane.

“No idea,” Watcher sighed, finding the situation sad, “it’s kind of a sore subject for the big guy.”

“Hey, little buddy!” Watcher looked to see Hoof coming over, his forelegs held in an inviting gesture, and he humored the older stallion, getting up to give him a hug before he joined them at the table, before Hoof cleared his throat, “So, my friends! What can I do for ya?”

“To start off, I’ll take the special with a side of hayfries, please?” Watcher asked.

Hoof nodded before taking the others’ orders, but then he called over his daughter and passed said orders to her, saying he’d be along in a few to start cooking, before he returned his attention to his guests.

“Filling your bellies aside, I gather you’re here for something else… Your Majesty?” Hoof gave Midnight a knowing look, flabbergasting the alicorn, and even taking the others by surprise. “I’ve lived too long and experienced too much not to know the feeling of an alicorn’s presence, youngster.”

“Well, color me impressed,” Midnight tweaked the glamor to let Hoof see him as he truly was, before bringing up, “Y’know… I feel like I know you from somewhere. Not personally, though your name does ring a bell...”

“Oh, I’ve been around the block in my time, had my share of adventures back in my… thinner years, heheheheh,” Hoof chuckled while giving his belly a joking shake and pat. “Anyways, I take it this is more than just your appetites a’calling.”

“...I don’t suppose you’ve seen one of these before,” Watcher said hesitantly before placing something on the table.

Hoof gave it a look and awed, “Well! Whattya know? I haven’t seen a runestone such as this since my tour in the wilds of the Afriskan bush, during the Zebra Rebellion against the Rhino Lords.”

“Runestone?” echoed Macintosh.

“A stone that’s got a rune carved into it, and then imbued with mana to give it a magical effect, kind of like a spell,” Watcher explained, before looking to Hoof with trepidation. “But, are you sure it’s… zebra in nature?”

“I recognize this particular rune,” Hoof nodded, “and the carved details along the edges look like a personal touch that zebra runecasters use to 'sign' their work. Like an artist.”

“So the question is, what’s this runestone doing in Manehattan and how did some two-bit criminal get his hooves on it?” Midnight brought up.

“Well, Watcher hypothesized that someone is in town, selling runestones to criminals for money,” Star responded, “and anypony with enough bits could get their hooves on some pretty potent magic that you can hold in the frog of your hoof.”

“Well that depends,” Hoof interjected.

All eyes turned to the older stallion, and Watcher asked, “Depends on what, Hoof?”

“On how good your manners are, and how big your… pocketbook is,” Hoof chuckled with a foreboding tone. But then his tone turned serious as he held up the runestone, “Although, I can’t be sure… but there’s a chance I might know of whom this particular stone came from-”

“But, for now, I think we should eat! Can’t solve this case on an empty stomach, right Hoof?” Watcher asked, his eyes meeting the older stallion, giving him a knowing look to stop.

“Right, right, right, I’ll be back with those specials for ya,” Hoof replied with a shrug, making his way back towards the kitchen.

“By the way, Midnight, I forgot to ask, but how’s Aunt Faerie Tail doing?” Watcher asked.

“She’s doing well,” Midnight resisted the urge to raise his brow. He’d noticed how Watcher had interrupted whatever Hoof was gonna say, but for now he’d let it slide. “Her pregnancy’s starting to progress normally, but there’s still a fair amount of time before she’s ready to give birth.

“Twinken’s finally getting a better handle on his powers, and he’s working through the baggage he was under before. As for Twilight and me…”

Midnight trailed off, looking dismayed. Watcher looked over to Thunderlane and Macintosh, and both of them were concerned as well, but they said nothing, knowing it wasn’t their palace to say.

Knowing he’d have to break that ice himself, Watcher asked, “Something happen?”

Midnight sighed and asked, “Have you heard about the Griffon Kingdom?”

“I only know that a civil war has broken out and the kingdom is heading down a dumpster fire, but what does that have to do with- Wait, did you start that?” Watcher asked, his eyes widening.

Sighing, Midnight replied, “No, we tried to prevent it. But we failed, and now my friend, Prince Doran, faces something he never asked for… a war as well as the burden of being heir to the Griffon Kingdom throne.”

“But this is not what troubles you.” The two cousins gave Star a look, and she gave Midnight a knowing look and shrugged with a sympathetic smile, “Mare’s intuition.”

“Well, I am troubled by the civil war, but…” Midnight groaned as he leaned his head back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling, “It’s what happened while we were there… and it involves another mare.”

“Midnight, Ah think ya should get to th' point,” Big Mac stated, concerned for his brother.

“Midnight, what did you do?!” Watcher demanded, glaring at the alicorn in front of him. “You didn’t… Did you cheat-”

“SHE KISSED ME!!!” Midnight snapped, throwing his forelegs out in frustration. “How many goddessdamn times do I have to say it?!!?!?”

“Woah…” was all Thunderlane could say as he stared in disbelief.

As Midnight panted, he ignored the stares he felt from all around the diner while Watcher held up his hooves in surrender, “Easy, cuz, easy… Tell me what happened exactly?”

Taking a deep breath, Midnight apologized, before he explained all that had happened, about Sunset Shimmer, the role she’d played in the scheme that led the griffons to civil war, and how she’d kissed him while he’d been down and unable to defend himself.

And how Twilight was holding it against him in spite of knowing Midnight hadn’t done anything wrong.

“...and now we keep giving each other the silent treatment, the cold shoulder, or we just start spitting fire whenever I try to be nice!”

“Damn…” Star muttered as Hoof’s daughter brought them their meals. “Oh, thank you!”

“That's… wow, I’m assuming she’s put you in the dog house?” Watcher asked.

“Oh she wishes!” Midnight said through gritted teeth before he started chomping into his burger. After swallowing down a mouthful, he griped, “I don’t get why she’s being so saddlesore about this! It’s not like I asked Sunset to kiss me! I was hurt and couldn’t move! She saw it for herself, and she’s acting like I betrayed her somehow!”

“Here’s my question for you, little cousin. Did you… like it? There is a reason why I’m asking this question, so please, don’t bite my head off,” Watcher asked, taking a hoof full of hayfries and stuffing them in his mouth.

Midnight gave Watcher a brief stink eye before considering the question. Had he liked it? Looking back, he recalled the pain from having been blasted by Sunset’s solar magic. It’d left him in such agony he could hardly move, and then he’d thought Sunset was going to finish him off… and instead he was liplocked and left so utterly bamboozled his mind had stopped working up until he felt Twilight glaring at him, snapping him back into reality.

But the kiss itself?

When Midnight thought about it, from an outside perspective, he had to admit, Sunset was a rather beautiful unicorn. Though she was allied with Catrina (and not counting their history) Midnight could honestly say he found her attractive. There were things about Sunset that Midnight could actually admire, such as her determination, her grit, her prowess as a sorceress…

Watcher had all the answer he needed, just seeing even the subtlest blush on his cousin’s face.

“Annnnd that’s why your wife is mad at you. When a mare you’re with, whether she's your fillyfriend, lover, or wife, finds even a hint that you’re attracted to another female, of course she’s gonna be pissed at you! If you didn’t find this Sunset attractive then you would have been repulsed by that kiss and would have reacted accordingly. But you didn’t… Do you get it now?” Watcher asked after his explanation.

“But that’s not fair!!” Midnight protested, “I can’t help what I feel! Hell, if Twilight got kissed by another pony, I’d at least give her the benefit of the doubt!”

“Yes, I agree and I know this sucks, but like I mentioned before, Twilight knows you have some kind of attraction to this mare and she feels threatened by it. The memory of that kiss and you liking it, is ingrained into her mind,” Watcher clarified before asking, “Imagine if you saw Twilight kissing another pony, like you said, and you see her all ablush, or see that she has some kind of attraction. How would that make you feel?”

Midnight considered the hypothetical situation, and had to admit, he wouldn’t like it, and he might be a little sore about it…

“Okay, fine! I wouldn't like it, but I wouldn’t be petty about it!” Midnight maintained, taking a breath before stating, “As I said, I would give Twilight the benefit of the doubt and let her explain her take on it. So we could clear the air.”

“But did you do that?”

“I tried!” Midnight exasperated, “I mean- I… Well, not at first, that is. I kinda… ignored what happened at first. i mean- We were trying to prevent a war! After that didn't pan out, I thought I should wait a bit before bringing... that up again. But then when I tried to discuss it with Twilight, that’s when the whole drama actually started!”

“Hmm… Well all I can say is that you need to make it up to Twilight, you’re the one at fault here, and I get it. You had no control over what happened, but you also admitted that you did for a moment… feel attracted to this mare. However, I say a big romantic gesture is what you need to do to make it up to her. Take her out to her favorite restaurant, get her a present, actually talk to her. Apologize to her and explain to her everything. I think you’ll be surprised by her response.”

“Sounds like you know a great deal about this, huh Watch?” Star asked, her eye twitching as she gave a crooked smile.

“Yeah, maybe you’ve got some stories of your own to share?” Thunderlane jumped in with a grin.

“Yeeeeah… Not really, but anyways, you get what I’m saying?” Watcher asked with a dodgy look in his eyes.

Midnight gave Watcher an indignant look, like he wanted to argue the point further. But he just sighed and sank in his chair, wanting to be angry but growing increasingly tired of being angry.

He knew the kind of mare his wife was. Twilight was somepony who made sense of the world by studying and researching whatever piqued her interest or confused her into conundrum. Only feelings and matters of the heart were not so easily made sense of.

“Whatever… I’ll figure something out later,” Midnight sulked as he returned to eating his food.

“Still, I gotta admit… I kinda wish I was living there in Ponyville, just to see all the craziness that goes on there.” Watcher joked, letting out a chuckle as he took a bite out of his large sandwich.

“Well, yer always welcome t’ swing by fer a visit, Watcher,” Macintosh invited, “Midnight, Twinken, an’ Faerie Tail are honorary Apples, an’ Ah think o’ Midnight an’ Twinken as th’ little brothers Ah never had. So… Ah reckon tha’ makes you fam’ly too.”

“Well I’m honored… Anyways, you all should probably get unpacked and get some sleep, I’ve got something I need to take care of at my apartment.” Watcher suggested, his horn lighting up as the remains of his sandwich were wrapped up in the paper for it to have later. “We’ll pick up on this later.”

Back in the Castle of Friendship, Twilight was in the library, sitting at her usual spot, snoot into one of her favorite history books. It was one of her escapes, diving into books, losing herself in the world of the written word, either learning something new or refamiliarizing herself with some subject that might be fading from her memory.

Ordinarily, she enjoyed it, pouring over various works of literature or intellectual subjects of magic, arithmetic, science, chemistry, alchemy, astronomy…

But this time, she couldn’t shake the icky and infuriating feeling in her gut that was just making her ornery and frustrated. Try as she might, the image of Sunset kissing her husband always loomed in the back of her mind, however much she tried to keep her mind off of it. Then she’d remember that look on her dumb husband’s face.

Stupefied, that subtle blush, perhaps even the underlying hint of interest.

Argh, I shouldn’t think that, but… Twilight sighed as she tried Cadance’s calming technique of breathing out her stress. It helped, but not nearly enough.

“Knock-knock!” Twilight turned to see Faerie Tail enter the library, levitating a serving tray with a steam teapot, cups, and what looked to be a bowl of marshmallows?

“Hello, dear. Ooh, a tad chilly in here, isn’t it?” Faerie Tail smiled that motherly smile Twilight remembered from her days as a filly, “Nothing my mother’s old hot cocoa recipe can’t help with. Pour you a cup?”

“...Yes, please, Auntie Faerie Tail,” Twilight smiled a little and accepted the offer, as well as the unexpected company.

Though Faerie Tail was not her aunt, and technically her mother-in-law, Twilight had always known and loved Faerie Tail as her surrogate aunt, and so continued to address her as such. Faerie Tail didn’t mind. She’d always loved her honorary niece as though she were the daughter she never had.

She poured the hot cocoa, added a few marshmallows, as well as a little milk to cool it, and sprinkled it off with a hint of cinnamon, before offering it to the lavender princess.

Twilight took a careful sip, and mmm’d at the taste and drank more, welcoming the comforting heat into her stomach, and it quickly helped to begin warming her up.

“Thank you very much, Auntie,” Twilight said kindly as she set the cup and saucer onto the reading table. “I didn’t even realize how much I needed that.”

“You’re welcome, Twilight. Now…” Faerie Tail’s tone took a maternal shift. The kind where a mom gives one the foreboding sense of a lecture, before she sat beside Twilight and raised her brow at her, “What’s eating ya? And don’t you say nothing, because mothers know these things. Even mothers-in-law.”

Twilight should have expected this, but she knew there was no getting out of it. Faerie Tail could read her like a book, just as her own mother could, and in spite of having avoided discussing it with her as well as Twinken and Spike, the time had come to let it out.

“...How much did you hear this morning at breakfast?”

“Enough to know that somepony kissed Midnight, and it obviously bothers you,” Faerie Tail responded in a bedside manner.
“But, I also heard him say that she kissed him. From that, I presume a mare kissed your husband without his consent, and you are holding this against him.”

“I… well! It’s… urgh!” Twilight mentally scrambled for a response, something to give her some kind of clout but not to hang herself with.
“It’s… it’s not that I… He- She…! I don’t know! I don’t know what to think or say or do about it, but every time I try to forget about it, I end up thinking about it anyway and it infuriates me! I know he didn’t kiss her back, but… Just something about it all bothers me! I’m sorry if that doesn’t make sense, Midnight would never betray me and I know he loves me, but I don’t know why I’m still so mad at him!?”

“Did you ever think, Twilight, that this is what that mare wants?” Faerie Tail pointed out.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“What if the reason for the kiss… was to get this exact sort of reaction out of you?” suggested Faerie Tail. “To drive a wedge between you and Midnight, to hurt your relationship. I don’t fully understand the situation or anything else relevant to it. I don’t even know what this mare is like, or what her angle is. But even from what little I’ve gleaned from you and Midnight, I can conclude she’s trying to hurt your marriage by doing what she did right in front of you, and when Midnight was unable to prevent it from happening.”

Twilight was stunned, mentally slapping herself in the face by those words, and she hung her head, instantly feeling like a pile of horseapples, “I… I never thought of it that way…”

“...Is that all that’s bothering you?” Faerie Tail gently pressed.

Twilight took a moment to reflect, and looked past the kiss… as well as after it. The events in the Griffon Kingdom, what happened, and then how the meeting with Celestia went after returning to Equestria.

Faerie Tail immediately noticed a dawning expression on her daughter-in-law’s face, but the moment Twilight looked up to the older mare, about to say something, she placed her hoof onto Twilight’s lips, and said, “Nope.”

“Hmmph?!” Twilight pushed Faerie Tail’s hoof away, but the unicorn was already getting up.

“Whatever it is, it’s something you must discuss with your husband when he gets home,” Faerie Tail declared, and raised her hoof when Twilight was about to protest, “No, Twilight. It’s between you and Midnight, not me, or anypony else. You love him, you said so yourself. But you’ve allowed this mare’s actions to put a strain on your relationship, and so you and he must work at undoing the damage by being frank with each other.

“When he gets home, just talk to him, and let him talk to you. Get out your feelings, share everything that’s bothering you, because we both know it’s not just the kiss, and compromise where you go from there in figuring out how the both of you will work towards clearing the air and making amends. Okay?”

Twilight gazed up at the older mare with awe, and sighed, “Emotions can be so… messy, can they, Auntie Faerie Tail?”

“Hahah, emotions are always messy, dear,” Faerie Tail reached up and brushed a stray lock out of Twilight’s face, “I know that, as a therapist, as a mother, but most of all, as a pony. You can read all the books you like on the subject, but you can’t make sense of it intellectually, but emotionally. And that means being honest with those you care about and who care about you, but especially with yourself. Oh!”

Faerie Tail gasped slightly and looked towards her barrel, Twilight suddenly getting concerned, but Faerie Tail smiled, and said, “Your future baby brother or sister in law just kicked me.”

“Is… is that the first time you’ve felt it?” Twilight looked upon Faerie Tail’s growing tummy, finding the very image practically sacred, as she could recall the vision Midnight once shared with her.

Of them and their own family.

“It actually started a few days ago,” Faerie Tail replied before gently taking Twilight’s hoof, and placing it over a spot on her pregnant belly. “Just… wait.”

Twilight did so… and felt her heart skip a beat when she felt a gentle bump at her hoof, and the two mares shared a loving smile in that moment.

Atom Nucleus was honestly irked by the arrival of the House of Assassins. He had never been a fan of them as he had dealings with them before in the past, but they had never treated him with any kind of respect. Only doing what they pleased as they walked all over him. It’s why he had originally had his boss hire the former mercenary Watcher to retrieve the black substance from the Tower.

Seeing their boat pull into the dock, Atom immediately ushered his associates to board the large vessel to retrieve the cargo onboard. As the ramp began to descend, Atom was greeted with the sight of five cloaked individuals coming down.

“Ah, welcome back to Manehatten, it has been awhile since your last visit. I hope your travel here wasn’t inconvenient for you?” He asked, one of the hooded figures removed their hood, revealing a young beautiful Zebra who had her mane braided and tied back. Her blood red eyes sent a shiver down Atom’s spine that he could only describe as pure hatred, or perhaps it was fear he was feeling.

“We can skip the pleasantries, you know why we come to this… filthy concrete jungle. The hunt!” She answered, grabbing the stallion by the collar of his lab coat and pulling him closer to her. Her glare pierced his very soul as he was frozen stiff in fear. “Where is he? Black Death, you know where he hides, do you not?”

“O-Ooooffff… Of c-course, N-Nyra… Once we get the runes stone to our facilities I’ll give you the exact coordinates of where he’s hiding!” Atom stuttered, feeling her release her grip on his lab coat. He began to take deep breaths.

“Very well, Narbus, did you bring them?” Nyra asked, turning her gaze towards the tall hooded figure, who’s paw came out from underneath his cloak.

“Grrrrrufff… Yes… I got them. They’ll… help fffffffffind him.” The hulking hooded figure named Narbus said, pulling out four rune stones and throwing them into the air. The runes began to glow a bright purple before they morphed into large golems with glowing purple eyes. “FFFFFFFFFIND Black Death! Brrrrring him to us! Mooooove silently! Stay out of sight”

*GRRRROWWWWLL*

The four golems snarled and growled as they began sniffing the air before making a dash towards the city, climbing over the large cargo boxes and leaping into the air as they made their way to the streets of Manehatten. Atom only looked with his mouth agape as his eye began to twitch.

“What the buck! You can’t just send-” Atom was immediately silenced by a knife gently pressing against his throat.

“I suggest you hold your tongue… doc. We may have a transaction with you providing our own hoof crafted rune stones in exchange for medicine and gold for our clans, but that only goes so far…” Removing his hood, revealing another Zebra, a stallion who had several scars across his face. He had green eyes and several piercings on his left ear. A branded mark of a star on his neck. “Black Death has lied, cheated, and betrayed our House, and for that he must pay with a painful and agonizing death.”

“Ok-ok-ok-ok! I won’t question your decisions, but I don’t know who that is! You have to be more specific about who-”

“Watcher! The son of a bitch who abandoned me, stole from and betrayed us! That’s who he is!” Nyra shouted, only to receive a glare from her fellow Zebra.

“Shut. Your. Mouth…!” the zebra stallion ordered with measured menace.

“S-Sorry, Malice,” Nyra shuddered and bowed her head slightly.

The zebra stallion known as Malice then turned his gaze back towards Atom, lowering his blade from his throat. “For now, let us rendezvous at your facility, Doc, we have a lot to discuss.”

“R-Right… We have even more distributors now to spread the product of your magic rune stones, but were you able to make those special rune stones we requested?” Atom asked, nervously as he rubbed his neck with his hoof.

“Of course… Nimbus! Charcoal! Make sure those incompetent pawns of theirs bring them, the last thing we want is for them to forget.”

“Yes, Chieftain!” the remaining two cloaked figures answered, wings flared out through slips in their cloaks and they took to the air, back to their ship.

Atom wanted to speak, but seeing the glares on all of their faces or what he could see mainly from Nyra and Malice was all he needed to know.

They were ready to hunt.

Next Chapter: 430. Hunted from the Past - Part 4 Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 6 Minutes