Star could only stare in disbelief at the smoldering smoke where Watcher had once stood. For six months, she had been training the unicorn to be a member of the Evening Hoods. Despite the constant bickering and complaints they had with one another, she did love how funny the stallion could be. She wasn’t sure when, but somewhere along the way, she started to admire Watcher’s drive, his kindness for others, and even when he made her laugh. She liked it when he smiled, and now… it’s gone.

Watcher was gone in an instant, a part of her prayed to Celestia that this was all a bad dream.

“N-No…He… He can’t be gone!”

Midnight wasted no time as he focused and seemed to go into a trance, his eyes flaring with his turquoise blue mana before his horn emitted rings of energy that slowly expanded outwards.

“Midnight, what’re you-” Thunderlane tried to ask, only to get a wing over his mouth.

“Shush! He’s searching…” Star had seen her leader do this before, and they waited as Midnight did whatever… until his eyes cleared up and he sighed in disappointment.

“I dowsed for Watcher’s mana,” the alicorn said apologetically, “but wherever he is, he’s outside my range. Those golems came for him and once they got him they warped away. Unless I can get closer I won’t be able to dowse for Watcher and ping his location.”

“Wha’ kinda range you got t’ search for Watcher like that?” asked Macintosh.

“Enough to cover around half of Manehatten, more if I have the energy,” Midnight responded as he released the power of his knightly magic, his armor vanishing and his gauntlets returning to sword form.

Macintosh and Thunderlane did the same, and the knights all reabsorbed their swords back into their bodies.

Thunderlane and Macintosh regarded the deeply worried Star before sighing and Thunderlane asked, “So what do we do?”

“What do you think? We’re gonna search every inch of this city until we find Watch!” Star shouted, frustrated that her leader’s spell didn’t find him. “Midnight, I think we should also send word to the other hoods to start searching as well!”

“...No, we need to handle this ourselves,” responded Midnight with a heavy tone.

“By ourselves?! We could search for weeks and not come close to finding Watcher!” Star yelled, starting to get hysterical. “Manehatten’s one of the biggest metropolitan areas and has perhaps the second largest population in all of Eqeustria!”

“Which is why the other Hoods of Manehatten need to hold their positions,” answered Midnight, his tone taking an authoritative edge, “If we just scramble and search we won’t accomplish anything, and it leaves our operatives vulnerable to any enemy units out there.

“We’re not dealing with common criminals, Star N’ Stripe. This is the House of Assassins… we have to approach this with our heads focused and cool. We’ll send word to the other Hoods to keep their eyes and ears out for Watcher and anything else that could lead us to him. Otherwise, they must hold their ground in case this goes pear-shaped. Am I understood…?”

Star firmly nodded despite wanting to argue, but Midnight had a point. “So what the buck are we supposed to do then? The longer we wait, the less time Watcher has… We-We don’t know… what they’re doing to him!

“I knew… he was having a hard time, and I didn’t do a damn thing to help him! If we had tried harder, then maybe we could have been better prepared for this! Or at the very least, he’d still be right here next to me!” Star shouted, tears immediately coming out as she started sobbing. “Why didn’t I… just tell him! I should have told him…”

“Make no mistake…” Midnight’s tone changed grimly as he turned away from his agent and his friends, looking towards the broken window of Watcher’s apartment, looking out to the city. For most, especially those who did not know, Manehatten was beautiful, Busy, bustling, but beautiful all the same. For those who knew better, it was like a rosebush containing a thorn behind every leaf and petal.

Midnight’s eyes flared with mana again, blazing and blistering out the corners of his eyes like fire, as he bore his fangs and stated, “If these pieces of filth have done harm to one of my Hoods and a member of my family, I will kill them myself… in a way that will make them beg to be put out of their misery…”

Macintosh and Thunderlane shared a troubled look before the earth pony stepped forward and placed a hoof on his brother’s shoulder, “Easy there, haystack. Like ya said, we gotta keep focused.”

“Mac’s right,” Thunderlane nodded before regarding the shattered remains of the golem he and Macintosh destroyed. “We got one of them, maybe it can provide some kind of clue, give us a lead to start searching.”

“Step back, all of you,” Midnight cleared his head and his mana reached out, ensnaring every piece, every fragment, levitating them up and then they rotated as the pieces came together, reassembling into the golem but now only held together by magic as Midnight cast a spell to analyze it. “It’s faint, but… there’s still traces of rune magic residue remaining.”

“Does that mean-”

“Yes Star, I can track where they took him… but I’ll need to get to work immediately before it dissipates completely. In the meantime, all of you prepare yourselves. If the House of Assassins is really as formidable and cunning as Watcher implied…” Midnight regarded the golem shards as he ominously stated, “They know we’re coming…”

When Watcher finally came to, everything was completely dark despite the throbbing black eye he was given by Narbus. As he tried to stand up, he immediately fell down, feeling the clanging of chains around the fetlocks of his hooves.

Damn… Narbus really did a number on me with his golems, I think they broke something…

He wasn’t sure how long he had waited, but soon he was blinded by a bright light above him and he soon realized that he was in a glass cell in a bright white room. His hooves were chained up with no ordinary chains, but enchanted ones. Built to hold powerful unicorns like him. Watcher felt a pressure on his horn, and knew at once he’d been outfitted with an inhibitor ring to prevent his usage of magic.

Standard House of Assassins procedure when dealing with unicorns… he thought with a pained grumble.

“I see you still make that face when you get lost in your thoughts… I’m almost glad that hasn’t changed at least.” Peering out of the darkness from the other side of the glass, Nyra had stepped into the light. “It’s been a long time… hasn’t it, Watcher?”

“Nyra…”

“At least you remember my name, but is that all you have to say to me?”

“No… I wanted to say… You look good, considering this shiner Narbus so kindly bestowed upon me.”

“Flattery won’t do you any good… Not this time, not after what you did to me. I’d say you got off easy considering Narbus only broke a few ribs and gave you that black eye.”

“So… You still hate me for that day, huh? Glad I’m not the only one.” Watcher let out a chuckle when he said that. “But you know why I did that though… We weren’t ready… and you know that.”

“You. LEFT. ME! At the Altar!” Nyra shouted, her face turning bright red as she glared daggers at the dark gray unicorn. “We were supposed to be married… spending the rest of our lives together, raising a family together like we always talked about.

“But you left… You left me alone-”

“We weren’t ready… I wasn’t ready… the work that we do, the things we’ve done, the lives we’ve taken! Nyra, I loved and cared about you and I did want to marry you, more than anything… But the blood on our hooves… The guilt was too much. You deserved to be with someone who loves and cherishes you, and it was when you were ready to get out of this life… Neither of us were ready to leave this life, I wasn’t ready to leave this life!” Watcher explained.

“So instead you left me… alone. To face the fear and the death with no one else to rely on!” Nyra seethed with heartbroken ire.

“I’m sorry… I know that’s not what you want to hear, but that’s all I can say… I never wanted to hurt you… and I didn’t tell you how I felt about the marriage because I was scared.”

“Scared? We’re all scared…” Nyra said ominously as she looked down her muzzle at the stallion who had betrayed her. “You’d have to be crazy not to be scared…”

Watcher couldn’t help but let out a little laugh before a smirk formed on his face. “I had a feeling you’d say something like that… Which is why I’m warning you now… Ugh… You need to leave… get far away from here, cause my cousin is coming, and he won’t show you any merc-”

“I am already aware of Prince Midnight and his Brotherhood of Evening Hoods, we even ID'd half of its members all across Equestria. It wasn’t easy, but we have Narbus to thank for that… Actually if I recall, you were the one who showed him how talented he was with rune stones.” She explained to him. “He has been creating new rune stones with specific applications… Still hard to believe he was a kid.”

“Of course you all know,”

“Watcher, I want you to know that I’ll never forgive you for leaving me, but it’s not too late for you to join us… If you beg Malice for forgiveness and swear the oath, you’ll be accepted into our clan… We can be together, just like we always talked about. Please, I don’t want to-

“You don’t want to what, Nyra?” Interrupted the suspicious tone of Atom Nucleus as he entered the room with Malice following behind him.

“Who’s this schlub?” Watcher raised a brow at the sight of the shabby-looking scientist.

“Charming, I am Dr. Atom Nucleus,” Atom Nucleus responded with a dry tone.

“Wait… Atom Nucleus? I know that name…” Watcher racked his brains trying to remember., and then it hit him, “You’re that quack doctor who wrote that crazy book on Equestrian DNA Alteration!”

“I am NOT a quack! I am a scientist who is about to change the world!”

“I believe you mean, we are about to change the world.” spoke a voice with such malice it was any wonder its owner shared that word as his name. As the zebra stallion entered the room to stand beside the doctor, his piercing gaze on Watcher never faltering “Hello, Watcher, comfortable?”

“Oh yeah… definitely, I honestly thought I’d be getting the VIP treatment with my entrails tied around my neck! If I’m still alive, it means you obviously want something from me,” Watcher surmised, glaring at the smug zebra as he let out a chuckle.

“Sharp as ever, my wayward protegé. A pity you never lost your pathetic squeamishness,” Malice said in an ‘oh well’ tone. “But perhaps that’s more my failure as a teacher, to have failed one of my most promising students and see him throw away all that talent and potential… just because he couldn’t let go of that bleeding heart.

“However, I’m sure Nyra here has asked, begged even that you should rejoin us… I can be forgiving, but I’m sure she didn’t tell you that there would be a catch.” Malice smirked, his eyes looking towards his fellow zebra who looked at him confused.

“There always is…”

“Heh, like I said… Sharp as ever. You see, we got hired from a contact who has paid a large sum to our clan to assassinate… this individual. Saying that… she’s a threat to her plans and must be dealt with quietly.” Malice explained, pulling a photo out of his cloak and slipping it through an opening of Watcher’s glass cell.

When he picked it up, his eyes widened as he let out a gasp, dropping the photo of Midnight and Twilight, with her face circled in red marker. “BASTARD!”

“No need for name calling, I am only telling you what the objective is. Besides, it’s not like your cousin here is the target, after all our client wants to deal with him personally.”

“Blood runs thicker than water, Malice, and I would never betray Midnight like that… Even if this wasn’t the catch I made my choice the moment I left… Go fuck yourselves.” Watcher stated, glaring at the zebra intensely, before turning his gaze towards Nyra, who jerked in surprise at his eyes. “And you’re loyal… to this psychotic fuck?”

“Sigh… Watcher, you disappoint me… but that doesn’t mean you aren’t useless. Nyra, gather the others and head out… It’s time to tie up loose ends.” Malice ordered.

“Malice, I don’t think it’s wise-”

“Are you questioning my order, Nyra?” Malice asked calmly, but the look in his eyes, she could tell that if she pushed her luck even an inch further…

“No… We shall leave at once.” Nyra replied, as she made her way towards the door, she turned her head back towards the cell to look at the stallion she once loved, who looked away from her in anger and disgust. She stifled a gasp, feeling a pang of hurt in her heart, along with… regret. With that she exited the room, leaving the three stallions alone.

“Now… Doctor, I believe you should prep our newest lab rat for… our newest project.” Malice stated, Atom Nucleus immediately pulled a lever that began to open a vent just above Watcher’s cell.

“I hope you enjoy our latest experiment… It took time, but we’ve managed to finally find a way to control the substance that they had brought in six months ago,” Atom explained, unable to contain his grin as he looked back at their new guinea pig. “It’s been awhile, but I’m sure you remember it! After all… you were ordered to bring it in~”

With a press of a button and the look of horror as Watcher began to realize what he was referring too, black tar came pouring down and all that he could see was darkness.

Next Chapter: 432. Hunted from the Past - Part 6 Estimated time remaining: 40 Minutes