“So what did y’all wanna show me?” Jasper asked Horizon as she rummaged through her backpack while he sat in a chair in her bedroom in front of her vanity mirror. Horizon had quite a bit of makeup, but a lot of it looked unused as the girl mostly only wore eyeliner and nail polish.

Still in her school uniform, the girl retrieved a pair of gloves from her bag and slipped them on. They were black in color, but the tips had a set of razor-sharp nails attached to them. At first glance, Jasper could tell they were likely made of stainless steel.

“Those are... Quite the fashion statement? I don’t exactly know what kind of outfit they’d compliment though... Sorry, fashion ain’t my strong suit, be better to ask my sister...” Jasper rubbed his neck, uncertain of what kind of reaction the teen was hoping for from him.

Horizon shook her head as she did a few swipes at the air with the bladed gloves. “They’re weapons.”

“What in tarnation are y’all thinkin’? You brought those to school!? You could have gotten in huge trouble, Horizon!” Jasper protested.

Horizon shrugged. “The way I see it, with those demons lurking around trying to get the box from us, we’re better off being prepared to protect ourselves. Being kicked out of school should be the lowest of our concerns when there are demons about, right?”

He wanted to continue protesting, but Jasper bit his lip as he realized she had an excellent point. There was no telling how many more of those demons there were or what they were capable of, or even when they would strike again. It made logical sense to be prepared for them.

“I suppose so, but why claws?” Jasper raised a brow.

The girl’s hand touched her medallion as she spoke. “When my powers first manifested they formed light claws. It also seemed to suit my fighting style anyway, so I figured claws made the most logical sense. On top of that, they can help me climb better.”

Jasper chuckled. “You are good at climbing...”

Horizon nodded in agreement. “We should be ready to fight at a moment’s notice. There’s a distinct possibility that now that we have these medallions that those demons will be more likely to attack us.”

“How do y’all figure that?” Jasper asked.

“If they could track down the box, there is a possibility they can sense magic in general,” Horizon explained.

Jasper had to admit it wasn’t too far fetched. Weeks ago if you had told him that they would be faced with demons who fight using magic powers, he would have said that whoever said such madness belonged in the looney bin, but after all he had seen, he was ready to accept that anything was possible. What else did he not know about? If demons and magic existed, surely anything could.

“That makes sense... This is all starting to get a little too real...” Jasper admitted.

Looking past him, Horizon saw herself in the mirror, she saw her rather crude weapons on her hands, and she raised a claw as if she were ready to attack. If one of those demons came at her again, she would be ready this time.

An ice cream parlor in the middle of the city was getting ready to close when a tall woman entered the building. The owner looked up with a confused expression as the woman entered with her hands tucked into her long coat’s pockets. Her hair could be described as an absolute mess of dark red locks, and her grey eyes had an empty stare about them.

He blinked as she approached and pulled a hand out of her pocket with a photograph in it. “Excuse me, do you know this girl?”

The man looked down at the photo which appeared to be a candid shot taken from far away. Instantly he was suspicious. He recognized the girl in the photo as Horizon Shimmer, a semi-regular customer who came in with her group of friends.

“What do you want with her?” He asked with a raised brow.

The woman’s face kept a neutral expression. “I just want to ask her a few questions...”

“And who are you?” He questioned.

“Does it matter?” She shrugged.

Her cold emotionless tone only made him more suspicious of her. As he stood behind the counter, he carefully reached to grab whatever object nearby he could use to defend himself if the situation called for it.

“A stranger asking around about a teenage girl? It kind of does matter... Can I see some identification before I answer any more questions?” He asked.

The woman nodded and pulled the other hand out of her coat pocket, brandishing a pistol that she pointed directly at his head. With her finger on the trigger, a laser sight appeared between his eyes causing him to freeze.

“Does this work?” She asked, her voice showing no change in emotion.

“Look, I don’t want any trouble...” He spoke as calmly as he could.

“If you tell me what I want to know before I count to ten, then there won’t be any, how about that?” She stated.

He gulped.

“One... Two...” She began.

He remained frozen, unsure of what to do.

“Three... Four... Five...” She continued.

If he told her who the teenager was, she was certain to try and harm her as well if she was willing to point a gun at him. He didn’t want to be responsible for that.

“Six... Seven... Eight...”

Fear eventually won over rationality, as he begged for his life. “Please! I’ll tell you!”

“I’m listening...” She kept the gun pointed.

“Her name is Horizon Shimmer. She’s from the Shimmer family, the richest people in the city...” He said.

Nodding, she lowered her gun. “Where does she go to school?”

“Crystal Prep, I think. I’ve seen her in their uniform...” He explained.

Nodding, she put the gun away and grabbed a scrap of paper from the counter and placed it in front of him. “Write down the address for me.”

He squinted in confusion. She must have been from out of town to not know where that school was, but he followed her orders and hastily scribbled down the address to the academy.

Once he finished, the woman looked it over and nodded before stuffing it into her pocket. Her hand brushed her denim shorts as she looked the man in the eyes. “My name is Summer Flare by the way...” She stated calmly.

His brow shot up once more. “Why are you telling me this...?”

“I think it’s always appropriate that a person know who their killer is, don’t you?” She asked.

“What?” He blinked.

Before his mind could process what was happening, the woman raised her hand up and a series of needles appeared between her fingers. They were black and radiated some kind of dark mist off of them.

Within a second, she tossed them at him, all of them piercing his skull and coming out the other side. He was dead in only a split second as his body collapsed to the floor.

Summer shook her head as she began to make her way out, raising her hand to cause fire to appear which she threw behind her to set the establishment ablaze. She would be long gone before the police arrived.

She now knew where to find her target, now it was a matter of waiting for the right moment.

Cinder pushed as hard as she could, trying to move a boulder that was just far too much weight for her body to handle. Even with the assistance of her mechanical arm, she couldn’t make it budge even an inch.

Pushing herself as far as she could, her footing was slipping as the ground became muddy with the water filling up around her feet. She wouldn’t let that deter her as she continued to put all of her strength into trying to move the boulder. She strained herself to exhaustion before a loud stream of water could be heard bursting into the cave.

Within seconds she found herself completely submerged in water. Realizing she had no other choice, she pushed herself up to the surface, gasping for air as she emerged.

The moment her head popped above the water, Cinder woke up and found herself panting and sweating. She felt her body and realized she had been dreaming. The woman leaned over the side of the bed and wiped her sweaty forehead. The memories of that day still were so fresh in her mind.

Looking in the corner of the room, her katanas sat there. She was thankful that she had augmented her arm to allow her to summon them from anywhere she was, as she felt naked and defenseless without them. So long as she held those blades, a part of her family was always with her.

She forced herself out of bed and stood looking out the window at the city below.

Cinder hopped out of the window onto the fire escape, still in an undershirt and boxers as she looked to the city. Humans had made this place their home, and now this would have to be her home as well. Could she ever really get used to a place like this? She didn’t know. All she knew was that she had her work cut out for her. Finding Eclipse was becoming more complicated than she had imagined, but now more was happening that she hadn’t anticipated.

The Apple family had magic about them, and they weren’t the only ones for sure. The entire world was in great danger, and Cinder knew that. She had allies, but she wasn’t sure who she could rely on just yet.

Yuna had been hard at work for many days and sleepless nights, but she was finally ready to unveil her greatest accomplishment to the girl she loved. She had invited her over to show it off.

Horizon arrived several minutes late, as expected, but Yuna welcomed her inside regardless. As the two walked through the house, they caught a glimpse of Moondancer who smiled at them. “Oh, Horizon, it’s nice to see you again.”

Horizon waved plainly. “Hello, Miss Moondancer.”

Moondancer let out a hearty laugh. “You’re a family friend, you can just call me Moondancer.”

“Very well then, Moondancer.” Horizon nodded.

More laughter left the woman as she found herself amused by Horizon’s odd mannerisms. She was nothing like her mother, nor like her aunt Shimmer. Still, she had a unique charm about her, something about her oddness made her strangely lovable.

Yuna led the two into her bedroom where she shut the door and locked it to ensure that her elder sister wouldn’t walk in on them while she showed off her new invention. Horizon observed the door locking, but thought little of it as she made herself comfortable and sat down on Yuna’s bed.

“What did you want to show me?” Horizon asked.

Yuna grinned from ear to ear as she made a projection appear before Horizon with her phone. “So, if you’re going to be fighting demons, I figured you needed the best tools for the job!”

Horizon observed the projection that just appeared to be a bunch of random data to her. She tilted her head to see if it made more sense from another angle but still could not decipher what any of it meant.

“What kind of tools did you have in mind?” Horizon asked.

Clearing her throat, Yuna made the projection transform into a cartoon dog. He appeared to be a German Shepard, but he walked on two feet, waving at Horizon with his paw. “Say hello to Moon.” Yuna smiled.

“Moon?” Horizon asked.

Yuna nodded. “Yes, I named him after your old family dog that your mother used to have.”

“What is he?” Horizon blinked.

The dog cleared his throat and spoke to Horizon. “Hello, Horizon. A pleasure to meet you.”

Leaning in, Horizon spoke to the projection. “You can understand me?”

The dog nodded and gave a salute. “Indeed, I can. I am a highly advanced learning AI programmed by Miss Yuna. I was designed to assist you in any way that I can.”

“Learning AI?” Horizon tilted her head.

Yuna began to explain. “He is capable of learning things that he wasn’t programmed with. He is the perfect tool for fighting demons and any other magic mishaps you get into.”

Moon finished her thought for her. “I have already been uploaded with all information on magic that Yuna has already obtained, and I will analyze any that you encounter. We will be working together from now on, Horizon, so I hope that I can be of service to you.” He bowed before her.

Horizon looked over at Yuna. “How do I use him though?”

Yuna smirked. “May I see your glasses?”

Shrugging, Horizon took her glasses off and handed them to Yuna. Carefully, Yuna picked up some kind of glass from her desk and placed it over the left lens. It went over it seamlessly and didn’t seem to change the appearance of her glasses much at all.

Yuna handed them back to Horizon, who put them back on, but now she noticed that Moon appeared in her vision.

“I decided that augmented reality was the best way to apply him, so I used AR glass that could seamlessly fuse to your regular glasses. This way, you can use Moon wherever and whenever. He’s always with you,” Yuna spoke proudly of her invention.

Horizon watched as Moon waved at her. “This is pretty cool, Yuna. You’re really smart.”

The artist languished in the praise from her crush. “Thank you... I just wanted to help as much as I can...”

“Can you still use Moon?” Horizon asked.

Yuna nodded. “Yes, he is linked up to my phone as well, so he can be in both places at once. He can even carry on conversations with both of us at the same time and retain any information that either of us feeds him. Consider him a link between us that we can both use however we see fit.”

Moon gave another salute in Horizon’s glasses. “I live to serve! We shall take down any demons that come our way!”

“It’s good to have you on our team then, Moon.” Horizon nodded.

Summer Flare sat in a car and sighed as she leaned back in her seat. She had been watching the movements of Horizon Shimmer for a good day now and was growing bored of waiting. Her expression was as emotionless as ever as she felt the phone on her wrist vibrate.

She checked the caller ID to see it was Eight Ball. Answering, a hologram of the man appeared before her. She glared at him half asleep. “What do you want?”

“Have you killed the girl yet?” Eight asked.

“No.” Summer shrugged.

Eight nodded as he played with a butterfly knife in his left hand, tossing it over to his right. “Any particular reason that you’re dragging this game of cat and mouse out?”

Summer couldn’t believe sometimes how obtuse her superior was. She detested wasting her time explaining simple concepts to him. “It’s not so easy to just murder a girl in broad daylight even with demonic powers. One has to find the perfect moment. The last thing we need is the police sniffing their noses around us after all.”

“Just kill the police if they get too close...” Eight suggested.

Shaking her head, Summer internally cursed how stupid he was sometimes. Eight was brilliant, but also a complete moron at the same time. “Too risky, even with our powers a full-scale investigation with the entire police department would be difficult for even us to clean up.”

“I like difficult... A challenge sounds fun... I’d love to have that many victims to play with...” Eight’s voice sounded eerie and unnerving. For as long as she knew him, Summer felt like the guy was a total creep.

“We have to focus on the job at hand,” Summer responded.

“You’re boring, Summer. As if your monotone voice isn’t bad enough, you’re also a boring bitch who plays everything safe. How do I get stuck with such boring subordinates? I swear if it weren’t for the fact that you get results, I’d have killed you just for boring the shit out of me...” Eight admitted quite brazenly.

He was known for killing those who failed him, but on occasion, he also would kill those who didn’t fulfill their potential. Summer wasn’t as intimidated by him as some of the others though.

“If we kill her now we will have to go through a lot of extra effort to get the box. She doesn’t bring it with her to school, so we need to wait until she has it on her, anyway. No box, and it’s just a worthless killing, we’d have to squeeze one of the other kids to get it...” Summer explained.

“So long as the killing is fun, there are no worthless killings,” Eight corrected.

Summer Flare was silent.

“Kill her by the end of the week, or you and I will be playing a very special kind of game...” Eight threatened.

She didn’t even answer, instead, she hung up and looked out her window at the school not too far from where she was parked. Horizon Shimmer was inside, but she was almost always surrounded by other humans. Getting her alone was the goal, but Summer noticed that she was often around another teenager.

She had done a bit of searching and knew his name was Jasper Apple, a student at Canterlot High School on the other side of the city. After school, Horizon would go pick him up, or he would pick her up in his truck depending on the day of the week. Summer had hoped to get the two apart, but she had accepted that the odds of catching the girl in a place where she could take her out silently without Jasper present were low, so she accepted that she likely would have to kill him too.

Reaching into her backseat, the woman retrieved a handgun and checked the magazine. She had eight rounds left, plenty to waste two teenagers. Since her job was to kill them and not simply injure, she knew she’d have to put a few extra bullets in them. First, though, she needed to get them to tell her where the box was.

Pulling up a file from her phone, Summer leaned back as she examined the data she had collected. She had become fairly efficient with human technology and had learned how useful it could be.

Our intelligence on this subject tells us now that she had a daughter named Horizon Shimmer who lives with her guardian, Twilight Shimmer (formerly Twilight Sparkle). This new information was added to our logs recently, and we’re still learning more about the child. It’s at least been confirmed that she has the same magic potential as her mother. While we are certain her abilities are nowhere near a threat, it is still advised to proceed with caution when approaching the subject

There were pages upon pages of data on the girl, but Summer focused only on the new information that was relevant. It wouldn’t be over until the entire Shimmer family was dead, and she knew that much. After she killed Horizon, it was only a matter of time before she was ordered to kill Twilight as well.

Anyone else would hesitate before killing a mother and her child, but not Summer Flare. She was the best killer they had as she could kill a person while looking them in the eye and show no signs of remorse. She was hyper-focused, and that made her deadly as an assassin.

Noticing Horizon exit the school, Summer paid close attention to the girl getting in her expensive car. She could already tell that it was too soon, she would make her move tomorrow. She wanted just a little more time to study the girl.

Summer Flare stood in the rain in just an undershirt, and a pair of boxers as the cold rain soaked her young body. At the age of only thirteen, most girls in her position would be shivering cold, but instead, Summer felt little. There was a fire in her that kept her body from feeling the stinging sensation of being too cold, instead, she stood quietly while a cloaked man stood beside her.

He glanced at the girl and she could make out his jaw and a gentle glint of light reflecting off of one of his eyes as he stood there observing her.

“How do you feel?” He asked in a low voice.

The young pre-teen shook her head. “I am fine, I don’t feel anything.”

He nodded at her. “Good, you are in control then. With an affinity toward fire, you should easily be able to keep yourself warm under any circumstances. The cold will never bother you so long as you maintain control of your aspect.”

“And this is the way to do so?” She asked.

“Yes, just remember what you’ve been taught, and you will be a master in no time at all. You know your element, and you know how to enhance it when you need to, but you also need to understand the importance of focus and control,” the man explained.

Summer was starting to understand what he meant. He had been teaching her for a good eight weeks now, and she was beginning to get a grasp on her abilities.

“Now that you’ve managed this, I think it’s time for your first real test...” The man stated as he gestured with his hand for her to follow.

Nodding, Summer gave chase and followed him into a nearby shed that they had been using as a base of operations for their training exercises. The soaked girl stood there and tilted her head as he rummaged through a box in the room and retrieved a cloak that was her size and offered it to her. “You will need your cloak for this.”

Not even bothering to dry off, the girl placed it over her form and pulled the hood up over her wet short red hair and tilted her head as she observed her mentor. “Now what?”

Her mentor looked over at her and then to the door. He opened it and gestured again for her to follow him. The two remained silent for a considerable amount of time as they walked through the forest toward the nearby town. It was dark out, and they were aided by the cover of darkness. Gesturing for her to stay low and unseen, he took the young girl through the town until they arrived at a small home near an old farmhouse.

Once they arrived he turned back to her and spoke. “You need to understand how far you must maintain control. There is no room for failure, and thus why you will need to understand this lesson you’re about to learn. Pay close attention...”

Summer nodded.

Her mentor broke the door open with ease and stepped into the house. He glanced about and took note of where he sensed the inhabitants were. He looked back at his student and gave instructions. “Wait here until I call for you.”

The young girl did as she was told and sat on the floor waiting.

He was gone for only a few minutes and Summer could hear screams and crying coming from the other room. Regardless, she remained steadfast in following her orders and didn’t move from her place until she heard her mentor’s voice once more. “Summer, come on in.”

Standing up, Summer cracked her neck and casually entered the next room.

There, in the middle of the room were three dining room chairs, each with a member of the family that lived there tied to one. A middle-aged man, a fair looking women, whom Summer assumed was the mother of the family, and a young girl probably only a few years younger than Summer herself.

They were whimpering, but they paused for a moment when Summer removed her hood, revealing the face of a child. The father gasped when he saw Summer’s face. “Who are you people!? Why are you doing this!?”

Summer’s mentor ignored them, as did she. “What’re we doing, exactly?” Summer asked.

Reaching into his cloak, her mentor retrieved a revolver, offering it to Summer. “Take the gun.”

“What the hell is wrong with you!?” The mother screamed.

Summer stared at the weapon, but took it and did her best to hold it firmly. She experimented with trying to hold it straight and then met eyes with her mentor. “What now?”

“It’s time for you to show what you’ve learned...” He spoke.

“How will this relate to what I’ve learned?” She asked.

“This is the ultimate test of control. Prove to yourself that you are completely in absolute control...” He explained.

She didn’t quite understand. “I was always told that killing was wrong.”

“Your powers manifest in ways that reflect who you are inside. Yours allowed you to forge assassin’s needles. Deadly dark pins that can pierce through foes and even immobilize others. You can deny your path all you want, but the demonic energy in you knows that you are meant to be an assassin, and this exercise will teach you the most important lesson...” He explained to her.

She was starting to put it all together in her head. “So, you want me to kill them?”

He shook his head and pointed. “Not all of them... Just the child.”

The little girl let out a few sobs as she heard those words and cried for her mother.

“If you can look a child in the eye and do this, then you are ready for the next level,” he told her.

Wasting no time arguing with him, Summer approached the little girl carefully with the gun at her side. Each step she took caused the child to scream and beg for life. The mother started pleading with Summer. “Please! Don’t do this! She’s just a child, and so are you! A child shouldn’t do something like this!”

Summer ignored the woman’s pleas and pointed the gun directly at the child’s head.

The husband decided to take his crack at dissuading her from shooting as his daughter screamed and begged while the barrel of the gun touched his daughter’s forehead.

“YOU’RE SICK! YOU’RE FUCKING SICK! MAKING A CHILD KILL ANOTHER CHILD! YOU SICK FUCK!” He screamed as he thrashed about in his chair, trying to break loose, only to fall only the floor still attached to it. “Please! Don’t hurt her!”

Summer met eyes with the child and gave her a cold stare with her finger on the trigger. Without another thought, she pulled it only to hear a click.

She blinked, realizing that the gun wasn’t loaded.

The family continued to beg and scream, but her mentor ignored them. “Congratulations, you just killed a child and felt nothing.”

“The gun wasn’t loaded though, so she wasn’t hurt...” Summer pointed out.

“You didn’t know that though. You acted as if it were. Tell me, what would have changed had it actually been loaded?” He asked her.

Looking down at the gun in her hand, she thought about it. Since she had already made the choice to pull the trigger, she had accepted any outcome that followed, so realistically, he was right; the gun being loaded or not made no actual difference. The only thing that would have changed would be the child would have died, but Summer realized that she had already accepted that outcome.

He had a point, whatever he was trying to prove, he already had. “Nothing, I guess.”

He nodded and took the gun back from her. “Now you understand a critical part of our plans. Killing is something we will have to do to accomplish our goals, you have to be numb to it, just as you’ve been for a long time now.”

“Killing is merely a tool to achieve our end goal?” Summer asked.

“Now you understand. We are not monsters, we are merely part of a bigger vision... It is what will be required of us, after all, there isn't any room for those who hesitate,” he said.

Those words stuck with her. They would carry her to where she needed to be.

So much time had passed since then, and she hardly saw her mentor after their training was complete. She would study under a few of the others in their organization, but the words of her mentor stuck with her the most. At the end of the day, Summer didn’t really care about the end goal anymore, she had a purpose now. She would do the work assigned to her and she would do it to perfection. Nothing else mattered to her, if she died, she would be fine with that outcome.

Pulling her car around a corner, she had followed Horizon and her friend Jasper to an old storage facility, one she recognized from her files as an abandoned base of operations for Sunset Shimmer years ago. The girl met with a dark fate that day, and since then it had been uncovered by her daughter. Her organization was foolish to not realize that the box was hidden in plain sight this entire time. One of a handful of remaining pieces to their ultimate goal.

She watched as Horizon and Jasper got out of their car before stepping out of her own.

“I keep thinking that there is something else here that we’re missing...” Jasper stated as they stood next to the entrance to the underground facility.

Horizon shrugged. “We’ve searched it up and down, so I don’t think there’s anything we missed.”

“Maybe you’re not looking hard enough?” Summer’s voice called out to the two.

Both of them looked in the direction of the unfamiliar voice to see a woman in her early twenties standing with her hands in her long coat’s pockets. Her wild unruly red hair was the most noticeable feature on her.

“Who’re you?” Jasper asked, taking a defensive stance.

Summer cracked her neck and removed her jacket, tossing it aside to reveal a tank top that was slanted at the bottom showing off her midriff, and a pair of black denim booty shorts to accompany it. Her face remained neutral as her gentle pink lips parted ever so slightly.

“My name is Summer Flare, and I suppose it’s good to get that out of the way, as I believe everyone should know the name of their killer...” She spoke calmly.

“Killer?” Jasper raised a brow.

She nodded. “Yes, I’m here to kill you.”

Horizon remained calm as she tilted her head. “Why would you want to kill us?”

“It’s not really about what I want, it’s about what is required of me.” Summer yawned.

“An oath to duty then. Admirable.” Horizon nodded.

Summer nodded back. “Quite, I like you. We seem to think alike, it’s a shame I was given these orders to kill you and take the box from you.”

“You’re working for the same people that Blade did then?” Jasper asked, his legs putting him in a position to defend if she lunged at them.

She nodded. “Yes, but I don’t think it matters.”

As she spoke, the two noticed a tail sway behind her. It was fairly short, but it had a tuft of fur at the end of it, similar to that of a donkey.

“A tail? What are you?” Horizon asked.

“I am a kirin.”

“Aren’t kirins some kind of mythical creature?” Horizon raised a brow.

“In this world, maybe, but in my world, we are somewhat common...” Summer explained.

“Your world?” Jasper blinked.

She nodded. “Equestria. I, like all the others you have probably encountered so far, are Equestrian.”

“What’s Equestria?” Horizon asked.

“Another universe entirely. A world dominated by equine creatures, it’s where magic comes from in the first place. You didn’t really think that humans would create something like magic did you?” Summer questioned.

“So this other world called Equestria, all of those working with you are from it?” Horizon questioned.

Summer raised her hand and several black needles appeared between her fingers as she readied herself. “Correct. And like the others, I too am a demon.”

Horizon retrieved the set of bladed gloves she crafted from her bag and brandished them before taking a unique battle stance. She let her right arm dangle in front of her while her left was raised in the air, ready to strike. She lowered herself to make herself more difficult to knock down. Her posture reminded Summer of some kind of animal.

Jasper just cracked his knuckles and took a boxer’s stance. Summer assumed he had likely learned how to fight from school or something.

“Why is some alternate universe alien kirin wastin’ their time here in this world? If you exist in a world where magic is that common, why come to this place? Humans pose no threat to y’all, we didn’t even know that your world existed before today...” Jasper interrogated.

Summer shrugged as she prepared herself to fight. “Don’t really understand it myself, but I do what I’m told. Either way, it doesn’t matter because neither of you will live long enough to find out anyway. I was given orders to kill you, and even with your combined abilities, your magic is really no match for someone on my level...”

Horizon kept herself ready to strike as she felt the power of her medallion course through her. Jasper had learned a trick or two with his own as he focused himself and his energy into his fists. “Alright, let’s dance then...” Jasper grinned.

Not wasting any more time, Summer lunged forward and delivered a powerful upward kick at Jasper, who blocked with his arms, only to be pushed back. The woman’s might was impressive, with a kick strong enough to push a large male like Jasper back, he knew that she had tremendous strength for her size.

Jasper bolted back toward her and took a few swings only for the woman to dodge each one with ease. She ducked and punched him in the side, causing him to stagger back a bit. The teen recovered quickly as Horizon took her chance and swung her left claw at Summer, followed by a follow up with the right one.

Horizon’s training with her mother was formidable, but nothing compared to a trained killer like Summer. The assassin sidestepped the swipe and grabbed Horizon’s wrist and yanked, causing her to stumble but catch herself and instantly get herself back in a position to retaliate.

While Summer was distracted with Horizon, Jasper stomped onto the ground, causing a chunk of asphalt to rise up in a spike under Summer. She noticed it just in the lick of time and jumped out of the way. Jasper followed it up with eight more attempts to get her with the earth spikes, all of which she jumped or flipped over. Her acrobatic abilities were beyond impressive.

Summer considered just using the gun she had brought but knew that such a loud sound would likely attract unwanted witnesses. While she was okay with killing any additional witnesses, it was more hassle than it was worth, besides, she really wanted to test her abilities in a proper fight anyway.

Instead of the firearm, she produced eight dark needles between her fingers and threw them in the two teens’ direction. Jasper saw them coming before his companion and warned her as he leaped to push her out of the way. “Look out!”

Jasper tackled Horizon and the two rolled across the asphalt. The two blinked as their eyes met and they pulled themselves up just in time for Summer to launch another set of needles their way.

Narrowly dodging the needles, the two kept their eyes on Summer now.

Summer casually stepped forward and opened the palm of her hand as she spoke. “So, you’re an earth affinity and a light affinity then?”

“So what?” Jasper spat.

Summer’s hand glowed until a red flame ignited it. The flame danced around her hand like it was alive. “Your powers are weak, unrefined. Only when you learn to focus yourself will you ever be strong. My mentor, who is even stronger than I would wipe the floor with you two. You are far too weak to defeat him, the wisest thing for you both to do is simply surrender the box and then let me kill you quickly so you don’t need to suffer long.”

Jasper shook his head as he moved forward in defiance. “What does your little group even hope to accomplish?”

Summer hurled a fireball his way, which Jasper narrowly dodged. Horizon projected a light barrier to protect herself from it as Summer reading another two in each hand. With skill and finesse, she began tossing them at the two teenagers in rapid succession, Horizon and Jasper moving nimbly to escape them.

“Today you turn seventeen, which means that you have trained long enough to be given assignments...” Doctor Chem explained to the growing Kirin turned human.

Summer Flare stood silently with her tail to her side as she listened to his instruction. Now that she was no longer a mere child, she was permitted to learn more about the order and the other members of it. As far as she knew, she was the youngest to ever join. Never before had they had a child join their ranks and essentially be raised by the order, but stranger things had happened.

The good doctor gestured for her to follow, which she did without hesitation until the two entered a set of double doors into an old abandoned factory. There, sitting atop of a set of crates with a set of dice in his rigid right hand was a man that all in the order had grown to either loathe or fear, Eight Ball.

He glanced at the red-headed girl who stood before him with the plain expression upon her face. She wasn’t much to look at, and her deadpan look only made her less appealing.

Eight returned his attention to his dice as he spoke to her, not bothering to make eye contact. “So you’re the new recruit, huh? We haven’t had one in a long time. I understand that you’ve been being trained since you were a child to join us?”

“Correct.” Summer nodded.

He nodded as his eyes squinted while he stared at his dice. “Well, if you’re ready then from now on, you answer to me. You do what I say, without question, and you don’t fail me. Fail and you’re going to regret the outcome, understand?”

“Yes,” Summer replied plainly.

A smirk crossed the crooked man’s lips. “I like you already, you make promises without hesitation and you understand your role in this game. Just remember not to get too cocky, as even the greatest players slip up from time to time. It’d be a shame if you and I had to play a game...”

She wasn’t certain what he meant by “game”, but she had no intention of failing on her missions. “Just give me an assignment,” she said.

“Eager? You don’t have any questions? Not about me, or the order?” He shot a glance in her direction.

Summer shook her head. “None of that is relevant to me. I joined to understand myself, and I understand myself now better than ever. I already have what I want, so I’m not concerned with what the order’s overall goals are. Just give me people to kill and I’ll make sure they’re dead.”

“Eager for the taste of blood... A woman after my own heart...” Eight nodded.

“Killing is what I am good at, so it’s wiser to focus on my strengths rather than waste my time pretending I care about anything else...” Summer explained.

Eight thought over her words for a few moments. After giving it some thought, he decided that it was best to put her to the test by giving her a considerable challenge, and he knew just the one.

The man retrieved a photo from a file that sat next to him on the crates he was perched on. He tossed the photo toward her and it landed in front of her feet. Summer looked down and saw a middle-aged man who was balding. He didn’t look particularly threatening to her.

“This is Gold Sales, a businessman in a town about eighty miles away. He runs a pawn shop there where he swindles people out of their possessions so he can resell them at extremely high rates,” Eight said.

Picking up the photo, Summer looked it over, studying his face as she answered. “Capitalism functions that way, does it not?”

“Don’t mistake me, I could care less. The point is that he’s come into possession of a very important item; a necklace.” Eight tossed another photo of what appeared to be some kind of gold heart pendant.

“You want me to steal the pendant?” Summer asked.

“Yes, but it’s not really the pendant we care about, it’s what’s inside it. The idiot likely hasn’t figured out that it can open. However, it’s likely that he’s not going to part with it so easily, so do what you have to in order to get it. Try and keep a low profile as well, let’s see if you really are as good as we’ve been told...” Eight said.

Summer took about eight more seconds to study both pictures before stuffing them into her pocket and nodding. “Consider him dead and the pendant in our possession.”

He nodded. “Just to further test your abilities, we’re not giving you any money to afford a car or anything, so figure it out on no budget.”

She shrugged. “Shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I like the attitude, but let’s see if it stands up...”

It wasn’t long before both of the teens realized that their opponent may be more than a match for the two of them. Even with their combined abilities, Summer Flare was clearly too skilled. The young woman was able to toss fire in their direction in rapid succession without missing a beat or getting remotely tired. She fought with such skill and precision that there was no keeping up.

Jasper glance at Horizon and gave the signal that the two had agreed upon prior. Horizon instantly recognized it and focused all of her power to produce a blinding light. Summer stepped backward once the light blinded her temporarily, and while it took a good eighty seconds for her to recover, she knew it was a diversion tactic. Once her eyes opened back up, the two teenagers were long gone.

In the confusion, they had managed to get back into Horizon’s car and peel out of the area quickly. They weren’t foolish enough to continue fighting with a girl who was obviously more than a match for them.

Jasper looked behind them to see if she was following, but fortunately, she wasn’t. Horizon didn’t seem to show any obvious signs of concern, but Jasper knew that she likely could sense how tough Summer was.

Relaxing in his seat, Jasper let out a sigh as he observed Horizon checking her phone while the car drove them toward their next destination. “Horizon, that girl wasn’t like them other demons...”

Horizon nodded as she began to check the files she had saved. Moon appeared in the holographic window on her phone and waved at the two. “Moon, what can you tell us about Summer Flare?”

Jasper blinked in surprise. “What’s that?”

Moon stood on his two hind legs like a person and bowed to Jasper. “Greetings, you must be Jasper. I am Moon, an artificial intelligence designed by Yuna for Horizon. I analyze her battle data and keep records for her and Yuna. I am programmed to detail as much intel as I can about anything that would help you all on your mission.”

Jasper looked in awe. He knew that Yuna was smart, but he had never seen an AI like this in person, she had to be truly brilliant.

“So can y’all tell us anything about that Summer character?” Jasper asked.

Moon produced a pair of glasses from behind himself and placed them upon his face as he began to explain what he knew. “Cross-referencing her with as much historical data as I can, I can safely assume that Summer Flare is not an ordinary demon as Jasper put it.”

“So what is she?” Horizon tilted her head.

“A child soldier,” Moon stated plainly, “or rather, the technical definition anyway.”

“What the hell is that?” Jasper blinked.

“A child soldier is someone who was raised to fight from a young age, essentially people who were trained to kill during a time in their life where they should have had no such concept...” Horizon explained.

Moon clapped as he praised Horizon for her knowledge. “Precisely! It was a fairly common practice in many ancient civilizations such as Sparta. It would seem that our friend has been killing people for a long time, likely in their childhood as well. That means she is a patient and efficient killer. You two likely won’t lose her that easily. We’ve only bought ourselves a little time by fleeing, but there is little doubt she will continue to try and kill you.”

“What can we do then?” Jasper asked.

Moon frowned as he gave them the news. “I’m afraid your only chance at survival will be to kill Summer. She will chase you until she is dead, as I can tell she is a woman who follows orders to a T. If she was being truthful and her orders are to kill you both, it’s wise to assume that is the truth. I’ve set our course to Canterlot High School.”

“Why there?” Horizon blinked.

Moon removed the glasses he had donned and produced a cloth that he began to utilize for cleaning his lenses. “Given that Summer is a trained assassin, she is less likely to engage directly with too many witnesses. An assassin’s job is to eliminate targets as quietly as possible. I’m sure whoever she works for doesn’t want too many eyes on him. It would be sensible to assume that her goal is to get you both into a place secluded enough to take you out quietly, though she may forgo that given the urgency of the situation for her now... I would estimate that the chances are only about eight percent though.” Moon placed a paw on his chin in thought.

“What do you mean?” Horizon questioned.

Moon made a crude diagram appear on a whiteboard behind him before placing a pair of glasses on his face. The dog retrieved a ruler from seemingly nowhere and began to point at the board which was sporting what could be described as a child’s drawing of Summer and another stick figure that had a question mark for a face.

Tapping on Summer, Moon began to explain. “Summer is an assassin hired by some mysterious entity that wants you both dead, and possession of the box you have.” His ruler tapped on the other stick figure with the question mark for a face. “Now that the two of you know she was sent to kill you though, you both present a far larger threat to her leader, as an assassin would know that any targets who escape are likely going to try and unravel the identity of their employer. This means it is now a far higher priority to take you both out.”

Jasper was beginning to understand it all as he nodded. “So if they let Horizon and I live...”

“We pose a threat to her leader...” Horizon finished his thought.

That much was true, as Jasper and Horizon definitely posed a threat to the girl’s leader. In the end, there was a distinct possibility that not only would they have to kill Summer, but her leader as well.

Moon rubbed his neck. “It would appear though that Summer Flare was not lying when she spoke of magic coming from Equestria. When I analyzed her magic and cross-referenced it with your own, I found that it’s all a match, the only anomaly is her demonic essence.”

“Meaning?” Jasper yawned as the AI explained.

“There is a key somewhere in there. This place, ‘Equestria’, I am compiling a file on it as we speak; data is limited at the moment, but I think understanding this place will assist us greatly in understanding what’s going on,” Moon spoke.

The two teens didn’t get a chance to answer before Moon announced their arrival at Canterlot High School. “We’re here. It looks like the only ones still here though are the janitorial staff...”

Parking the car, Horizon and Jasper stepped out, causing Moon to disappear from the holographic window projected from Horizon’s phone, and return to her glasses.

Moon began to wave his paws all about causing Horizon to notice him in the corner of her glasses. “What’s wrong, Moon?”

“You’re getting a video call from Yuna!” He stated.

The two teens headed around the school toward the sports fields in the back as Horizon answered the call, causing a hologram of a video call window to appear in front of her as they walked. Yuna adjusted her glasses as she observed the two. “Horizon? Jasper? Are you both alright? Moon sent me some battle data and said that you two had to make a fast retreat, what happened?”

Jasper spoke up for the two of them. “We’re fine now, just a bit tuckered out is all, I think we gave that girl the slip...”

“Moon brought me up to speed on this Summer Flare girl, sounds pretty bad, I’m glad you got away, but are you even safe now?” Yuna asked.

Horizon just shrugged, not seeming to be particularly concerned about the present danger they were obviously in. “Safety is relative, I suppose.”

That answer didn’t reassure Yuna in the slightest.

Jasper was about to comment but noticed that something seemed amiss around them. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something seemed off. Gesturing to Horizon, he commanded her to end her call. “Horizon, hang up the phone...”

“Why?” Horizon tilted her head.

“Just do it...” Jasper glanced at her as his blue eyes scanned the area.

Shrugging, Horizon gave a simple wave to Yuna. “I suppose I’ll call you back later.”

Hanging up before Yuna could reply, Horizon turned her attention to Jasper who was looking around suspiciously. “What’s wrong?”

Jasper then noticed what was bothering him. In the time that it had taken to drive to the school from the storage facility, the Sun had started to descend in the sky quite rapidly and now the streetlights were starting to all fire up. In the poor light from one of those lights, he had noticed that the asphalt on the ground they stood on was very odd.

The two were right in front of the sports fields, still in the back parking area, but Jasper noted that the ground there had a discolored shape that stood out.

“I think I found the issues, someone has wet the ground here in a very specific pattern, but why?” Jasper scratched his chin.

Horizon joined him and stared intently as the asphalt. “It looks like it was wet in some kind of checkered pattern...”

“Why would someone do that?” Jasper raised a brow.

Moon quickly appeared on Horizon’s glasses to issue a warning. “Horizon, Jasper, that’s gasoline! Get away from that area!”

Wasting no time, the two teens swiftly bolted away from the lines of gasoline right before they ignited. Looking up to the top of the school, there on the roof stood Summer Flare with her index finger and thumb pinched together with a small flame floating above them.

The fire she had created burned out relatively quickly as she had complete control of it. Once the flames were gone, she hopped off the roof and landed on her feet before the two. A drop like that should have killed her, but it was clear to Jasper and Horizon that a Kirin or even a demon like her was far more capable.

It was obvious that the gasoline was her doing and while she likely felt no reservations about killing them, Moon was at least somewhat correct, in that the woman couldn’t risk them getting more involved and as a result, she was willing to take the risk of killing them in a public area. While the school would have been a safe bet during the day, at night it was little more than a pathetic hiding place for the two.

“What does your organization even do?” Jasper asked, seeing as how they wouldn’t avoid her.

Summer shrugged as her hands ignited into blue flames. “Don’t know, don’t care.”

“You don’t even know what your organization does!?” Jasper gasped as the girl took a lunge at him only for the teenage boy to block it and move out of her way.

A few more strikes came his way, one getting him in the cheek, but it was not enough damage to bring him down, though he could tell by the fact that even such an indirect hit caused him a considerable amount of pain, that the girl’s punches were likely deadly. Fortunate for Jasper, with the power of the medallion around his neck, so were his. The teen returned the attack with a few punches of his own, but by the eighth strike that was about to be dodged, Summer caught his fist in her palm and pulled him down, kneeing him in the gut.

The attack knocked the wind out of him and he knelt down to catch his breath. To his good fortune, Horizon was on the job and tried to counter-attack, swiping with her makeshift claws, only for Summer to dodge the attack. The attack did at least serve as an ample distraction for Jasper while he recovered and came back up to a proper stand.

Coming at Summer at the same time, both teens attempted to attack her, only for her to dodge both of their attempts and reposition herself for another assault.

Right before Summer attacked, Jasper and Horizon blinked and a wall of ice formed in front of them. The two were about to question where it came from but decided it was best to take advantage of the situation and instead, high tail it out.

They ran back to Horizon’s car which Horizon set the coordinates for Jasper’s home. Looking behind them as the car took off, more walls of ice continued to form and Summer wasted most of her time trying to melt the ice in her path. Just as quickly as she would melt one wall, another would appear though.

This diversion gave Jasper and Horizon plenty of time to getaway. The two leaned back in their seats while they thought over what they had just endured.

Our kirin friend joins the fray. Summer and Eight Ball clearly don't like each other that much, huh?