Hero name: Princess Midnight

by King Ice

He's still at large (edited)

“The night is young,” a voice said. It belonged to an unknown shadow. A shadow that was standing at the top of a small building, at its edge. The shadow was barely visible in the darkness of the night, but the moonlight showed what looked like a pony with bat-like wings. The rest of his body and his clothes were hidden by darkness. “When the darkness falls, the world is mine, and it is time for me to judge those criminals who dare to break the law during my time.” The shadow looked below the building and saw two earth ponies harassing a young mare unicorn. The shadow narrowed its eyes and jumped.

“You sure you don’t want to come with us?” asked one of the stalkers. The young unicorn backed away in fear and shook her head. “That’s too bad, we just wanted to play. I guess we’ll have to force you.” His friend smiled.

“Please…” the unicorn murmured; however, the stalker smiled and came closer.

Suddenly, a shadowy figure fell on him hard enough to knock him out. His friend backed off in surprise.

“H… hey! Who’re you?!” he yelled, staring at the shadow. The young unicorn, seeing this, took the opportunity and ran away. The stalker groaned, turned around, and tried to follow her, but a bunch of bats flew in front of him and turned into the same figure which was behind him. “Wait! I… I know you! You are Vampony!” he shouted as he received a well-deserved hoof in the face, sending him flying into a bunch of trash cans.

“Your place is with those of your kind: the trash, and the prison,” Vampony said as he stood below a lamp post, revealing his appearance. He had a white coat, a black mane, and was wearing a black cape with a black mask. He was a unicorn with two long fangs and bat wings. “I feel I’ll have much work to do tonight,” he said to himself.

He looked at the two stalkers and lifted his horn; soon, they were attached together to the floor lamp by a magic rope. He nodded and flew away. He looked below him as he was flying. Judging from there, it seemed that the streets were calm, that innocents were safe, but he knew this was but a lie. There was always something happening out there. Something that could cost lives of innocents, and he would not accept that. During night’s reign, criminals must pay for their crimes. Suddenly, he saw it; an abandoned warehouse. If his information was true, then this must be the place. He slowed down and landed safely on top of it. He looked around and saw a window.

“Perfect,” he told himself

Inside the warehouse; three ponies were loading some guns in wooden boxes. Two of them were earth ponies and the last one was a pegasus.

“Okay, we’re almost done, the second team should come here tomorrow,” one of the earth ponies said as he dropped a gun in a box. Suddenly, the pegasus beside him cried in pain and stopped flying. He looked at his wings and saw bats biting them. He yelled in surprise as bats covered him with bites. The earth ponies looked terrified.

“CRAP! I know who this is! Quick! Grab a gun!” he shouted frantically. His companion took a gun and shot at the bats, but they easily dodged the bullets and formed Vampony’s body. Vampony took the crook that shot at him out in only one hit and flew straight to the last one.

“GET AWAY!” he shouted, shooting at Vampony, who easily avoided getting hit. He kicked the crook’s hoof, making him drop his gun, and pushed him against the wall by the throat.

“Now, you will tell me what I want to know!” Vampony shouted. “Who are you working for?”

“I… I don’t know… I mean… for nopony… I…” The crook tried to find an explanation, but Vampony pushed on his throat harder.

“Don’t try to fool me. I caught you last week, doing the same damn thing! And I don’t think somepony like you would be able to break out. Now, tell me! Who is your leader! He must have some power to ‘convince’ the police to let you out!” Vampony shouted as the criminal gulped.

“I don’t really know who’s the big boss, but I know who gave me these orders. His name’s The Counselor! That’s all I know, I swear!”

“The Counselor? I’ve heard this nickname before,” Vampony said, trying to remember where he heard it. “Do you know where he is?” Vampony asked as he pushed on his throat. The crook groaned.

“I… I don’t know, okay!?” he shouted, but Vampony simply glared at him. “But… there’s this guy who’s in contact with him. There’s a china shop at the fifth avenue, but that’s only a façade. It’s an underground bar and he’s usually there. His name is Jackson Light.” Vampony narrowed his eyes, ready to knock out this criminal, when he suddenly heard something beeping. He looked at the crook, then at his hoof. He removed his hoof from the crook’s throat, and saw a small red light flashing inside it.

“What’s that?!” Vampony shouted as he let the criminal go.

“I… I don’t know!” he responded, confused and scared. Suddenly, the light stopped beeping. Vampony widened his eyes in realization, and suddenly, the crook exploded in flames. The explosion was big enough to burn the wooden boxes; anypony else would have been dead in this situation, but not Vampony.

He suddenly burst out of the warehouse, holding the pegasus half bitten to death. The only damage that Vampony received was that his cape was a little burned. He turned around and saw the warehouse burning.

“Crap, I only saved one of them.” Vampony groaned as he looked at the pegasus. Even if this pegasus was a crook, he couldn’t let him die, just like the other one who’s burning right now. Vampony sighed as a part of his neck darkened, becoming all black. Suddenly, a bat came out of it, and Vampony looked at it. “Bring the police here, I’ll go find this Jackson Light. I think we’ll have a serious discussion.” He flew in fifth avenue’s direction. This may be a harder case than the previous ones, since there weren’t many ponies capable of putting a small bomb inside their lackeys. Without the bomb, he couldn’t see how it exploded, but by the way it did, it must have been when that crook gave him the information he wanted. The bomb must have responded to the crook’s brain when he talked about that Jackson Light, under pressure or stress.

He looked around. He was still far from that store the criminal had talked about. He sighed as he saw the night getting brighter.

“It seems that I started my work too late. The sun is rising, and I don’t have another choice than to work during the day,” he said to himself as he flew faster.

20 minutes later, Twilight’s apartment

Twilight Sparkle smiled as she put her plate in the dishwasher. She awoke one hour ago, very early, and it’d been several days that there weren’t any big villain attacks, meaning she finally had some time to herself. She usually read some books, or even did some experiments on her own, with the material she had of course, and the best of all was that she could work in her library.

She needed money, and the only job she had was in the library. Her salary wasn’t too bad, she had most popular library in town, but the problem was that she couldn’t work here entire days. She had to stop every criminal she saw, and patrol at night. She even quit school for it, but lately, there were less villains, or super-villains, for an unknown reason. Maybe stopping them with the help of other super-heroes scared the ones who weren’t arrested yet.

Twilight smiled as she went to the street in front of her apartment, right where her library was. Without surprise, she saw somepony standing in front of it. It was Fizzlepop, a mare that she met last week. She was a customer, but Twilight was sure to see that they were getting closer to each other, and they may become friends one day. Twilight approached her and saw her smile.

“Hi, Fizzlepop! You are early as always,” Twilight said, smiling. “Not that it annoys me or anything, I’m just happy to see that my library interests somepony so much,” Twilight added as she took her keys to unlock the front door of her library.

“Well, you have so many interesting books in here, and I’m happy that I found somepony I can share my interests with!” Fizzlepop responded with joy.

Twilight smiled at her and opened the library. The two mares came in happily, one of them happier than the other one. Twilight sat behind the counter as Fizzlepop stood in front of it. She looked at the saddlebag she had and grabbed several books inside, putting them on the counter.

“You already finished those? You really are fast!” Twilight exclaimed, surprised. Fizzlepop giggled.

“Yes, I was very excited. My job doesn’t require much of my time, so I used all of the free time I had to read these books I borrowed. This library is quite big, it’ll take me some time if I want to find a book that really interest me, so, do you have any suggestions?”

Twilight put a hoof on her chin, thinking of what she had read lately. She smiled as she found, in her mind, a delightful book to read.

“Do you know Daring Do?” Twilight asked excitedly. Fizzlepop thought about it for a second, then shook her head.

“No, I’ve never heard of it before.”

“I’m surprised, it’s a well-known novel after all. I have all the volumes somewhere in the library. I’ll go get them if you want to give it a try,” Twilight said as she pointed to all the books behind her. Fizzlepop always wondered how Twilight could find anything in this big place.

“I’d be glad to!” Fizzlepop exclaimed happily. Twilight smiled and was about to go, but Fizzlepop stopped her. “Wait, I was wondering…” Fizzlepop started looking down.

“Yes?” Twilight said as she turned around to look at Fizzlepop.

“Well, I was wondering if you want to… hang out with me this afternoon, since the library will be closed, at a café or something,” Fizzlepop murmured loud enough for Twilight to hear it.

“I can’t. I give courses to a young mare Saturday afternoons, but tomorrow is Sunday, so I should be free. I’d be happy to hang out with you tomorrow morning!” Twilight was indeed more than happy. It’d been such a long time since the last time she hung out with somepony. Her only friend had been Moondancer and nopony else, and since her death, she felt alone, even more so after she moved out from her parents’ home. She was always so lonely, and it felt good to have some company.

Vampony flew as fast as he could, but paid very close attention to the buildings. He was flying high enough to not be seen, unless somebody looked at the sky of course. He had to find that china shop quickly, as finding this Jackson Light would allow him to find The Counselor, and maybe after that, he’d have an opportunity to “talk” with the big boss. He must be very influential if he’s able to free criminals at will.

He looked down and finally found what he was searching for, the china shop. It was small, but he knew this was only fake. These criminals only knew how to hide, to operate in darkness. They were nothing more than cowards, crawling in shadows, hoping that they’d be safe.

“But what they still don’t understand is that shadows are my domain,” he said as he gritted his teeth. “And I won’t let scum live in my realm.”

Vampony landed in front of the shop, ignoring the sound of cars, ignoring civilians passing by and wondering what he was doing here on Sunday.

“I advise you to step back. Things could become dangerous, and call the police,” Vampony said to the citizens. The ponies looked at each other and obeyed. When a hero was here, villains were too.

In the China shop, the owner, a white pegasus, sitting behind the counter, frowned as he saw Vampony coming closer to the door. The owner put down the magazine he was reading, stood up, and put one hoof inside the counter, where he kept a gun.

“Great, another loony in costume. They always come here because an idiot sells us out, but they never find anything because they see no entrance to the underground bar and because they’re too afraid to punch a civilian. Go back to where you came from, hero,” he thought with a malicious smile.

Vampony approached the counter, looked around, and finally turned to the owner.

“I’m sure you know why I’m here. Show me the secret entrance, now!”

“I don’t see what you’re talking abou., I am only a small shop owner,” he responded, putting on an innocent smile. Vampony frowned.

“Do not trick me. Scum like you cannot hide its maliciousness,” Vampony said, starting to charge black magic in his horn.

The owner gulped and quickly took the gun, pointing it at Vampony; however, the hero shot a black magic beam right at the owner’s hoof. He yelled in pain as he dropped his gun. Vampony ignored his cry and flew at him. He punched the owner several times before throwing him at the counter. Vampony jumped on the criminal and put a hoof on his chest, keeping him from moving.

“Now, you tell me where the entrance is!”

The criminal/owner looked terrified and slowly nodded, then turned his head towards a wall where there was nothing. All the walls of the shop were hidden by shelves, except this one. Vampony sighed at the stupidity of criminals. He looked at the wall. It was made of wood, so it’d be easy to break.

Suddenly, the owner was surrounded by black magic. Vampony was using his magic to levitate him. The owner stared at him in confusion, but Vampony didn’t pay any attention to that as he threw the owner right at the wall, breaking it in the process. The owner, if he wasn’t knocked out by that, sure was when he fell down the stairs. Yes, there were stairs, surely leading to the underground bar.

Many stallions were gathered, some drinking beer, others playing pool, and there was one unicorn, at the corner of the room, who was sticking a syringe into his veins. He was smiling happily..

As they were laughing and drinking, they heard a sound of something breaking. After several seconds, the door broke as the owner fell on the ground. They all looked at him, stopping what they were doing, then suddenly took guns out of their belts, pointing them at the broken door, waiting for someone to come down the stairs. They were all doing this except one pony that was still drinking a beer calmly. It was an orange earth pony with a brown mane, his gun still at his belt, who seemed rather confident.

After several seconds, nothing happened, and the criminals lowered their weapons, but at this moment, Vampony flew inside. He punched the nearest criminals to him as the others started shooting. He easily dodged every bullet, as he turned himself into a bunch of bats, only to transform back into his normal form. This way of fighting, along with his powers, made it easier for him to dodge attacks and attack swiftly.

Even the drug addict took a gun, and with a massive smile on his face, started shooting randomly, not paying attention to his surroundings, even hitting some of his “friends”. Vampony, seeing this, took out the crook in front of him and shot a black magic beam at the drug addict. The beam hit the target and soon turned into a black magic rope that tied around him. He continued knocking out the thugs, as he dodged their bullets, and used black magic ropes to tie the ones who were too far from him.

It took him only several minutes to take them out, but there was still one, who hadn’t budged since the beginning of the fight. He was perfectly calm, and as Vampony approached him, suddenly the pony turned around and shot at him. Vampony barely dodged the bullet as it cut his left cheek. The mysterious pony used his left hindleg to hit Vampony in the face, repelling him. Vampony groaned as he felt the pain.

“You dodged that bullet pretty well, I’m surprised. It seems that you have a good reaction time!”

“Are you Jackson Light?”

“That would be me. Too bad you won’t live to tell anypony!” Jackson yelled as he shot three more times.

Vampony easily dodged the bullets and charged his magic. Jackson saw this coming, jumped to his right side, and raised a table, using it as a shield. At the same time Vampony shot his magic, but the ropes only tied the table. Jackson jumped above it and shot at Vampony at the same time. The hero dodged the bullets again and turned himself into a group of bats, which flew towards Jackson, who continued to shoot at them, missing every bat. Vampony reformed and punched the gun away. He was ready to hit Jackson with his right foreleg, but to his surprise, Jackson stopped it with a foreleg of his own. Jackson smiled and used his forelegs to throw Vampony at a table, breaking it.

The hero stood up quickly and blocked the other punches coming from Jackson, the two of them exchanging several hits. Jackson caught Vampony’s foreleg again and punched him in the face. However, Jackson was very surprised to see that Vampony’s head turned into a group of bats while the body was still there. Jackson, still surprised, couldn’t counter Vampony’s attack, as his body turned around and used his right hindleg to hit Jackson on the chin. Jackson’s head flew backward as he growled in pain. He tried to punch Vampony again in the stomach, but he only punched a bat as Vampony turned part of his chest into bats. Jackson didn’t have time to register what happened as the bats bit his foreleg, locking it in Vampony’s body. The hero’s head returned to its place as he started punching Jackson, who was unable to fight back.

After several minutes, Vampony punched him one last time. He changed his body into bats again to let Jackson fall on the ground.

“It looks like you win, bastard,” Jackson said as he coughed blood with a scowl.

“Now, the police will soon arrive, so I suggest you talk, and fast. If you do so I may let you go, or maybe you’d prefer to stay with your little friends?” Vampony pointed at the other defeated criminals around the room.

“Okay, okay, I’ll talk.”

“Good choice. Now tell me, who is The Counselor? Who is he working for?”

“Woah, slow down, buddy, I don’t know who The Counselor is. I’ve already seen his face, but I’ve never tried to do any research on his identity. I don’t care about him, just about the job,” Jackson said. Vampony hardened his look,and  Jackson gulped. “B… But I know where we’re supposed to meet. I meet him, he gives me orders, and I execute them! I’m supposed to meet him tomorrow, at 10PM, at the abandoned train station on the edge of the city,” Jackson explained as Vampony nodded, satisfied with the answer. “As for your second question, he… he’s working for Crime Master.”

Vampony widened his eyes. Crime Master?! It seemed he was on a bigger case than he thought. “With so much evidence here even Crime Master won’t be able to get me out of prison. Now… now let me go, I hear the sirens!” Vampony didn’t even reply as he used black magic ropes to attach Jackson. “Hey! We had a deal!”

“Scum like yourself are always selfish fools. Freedom? I will never let somepony as filthy as you be free. You cause too much pain, and you don’t deserve what we ponies call ‘freedom’,” Vampony said as he turned into a group of bats and flew outside of the bar.

However, as he took off, he didn’t notice the barpony, hiding behind the counter, sending an urgent message by phone.

“Thank you, Miss Twilight,” Twinkle Shine said as she was about to leave the apartment. Twilight had helped her study, improved her grades, and she was happy to know someone so intelligent. Twilight was an immense help.

“You’re welcome, Twinkle Shine. I hope this will get you to pass your exams!” Twilight exclaimed as Twinkle Shine exited. Twilight smiled and closed the door.

She turned around and looked at her apartment. It was sunset, almost night, and Twilight should go patrolling, but she didn’t feel herself doing it. There were no major problems in weeks. Maybe she could sleep sooner tonight. She smiled as she turned off the lights, ready to go to bed, when she suddenly remembered something important. She turned around and went to her bathroom.

She thought about Fizzlepop, and Twinkle Shine. It was great having some company sometimes, it felt… right. She’d been alone, for many years. She was living alone in this apartment, she quit school, and she didn’t talk to many ponies at the library.

She entered in her bathroom, opened the cupboard with her magic and took a small container, the word “ANTIDEPRESSANT” written on it. She took some pills with water, swallowed them, and finally put the container back in the cupboard. Then,she  teleported herself in front of her bed. She laid on it, covering herself with a blanket, closed her eyes, and fell asleep as she smiled.

Twilight woke up, later than usual, because she didn’t have to run the library today. However, she still had to meet up Fizzlepop at 10AM at a café called Sugarcube Corner. Twilight did some research on the web. It was a rather strange building, and it looked like it was made of sweets. However, Twilight didn’t pay much attention to that. She was just happy to hang out with someone. Twilight brushed her teeth and immediately went to the place, skipping breakfast because she was thinking of getting something to eat at Sugarcube Corner.

After several minutes, Twilight arrived at the café and saw Fizzlepop through a bay window. Twilight rushed over, thinking she was late.

“I… I’m not late, I hope?” Twilight asked as she sat down in front of Fizzlepop, panting.

“No, it’s alright, you’re just in time. I’m happy to see you, Twilight.”

As they started talking about their interests, another pony came rushing to them, a pink earth pony.

“HI! I’M PINKIE PIE, NICE TO MEET YOU!” she shouted excitedly. Twilight was surprised, and confused. Who was that?

“Hum, Hi… I’m Twilight Sparkle and this is…”

“Oh, I already know who this is, it’s Fizzlepop!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, smiling.

“You know her?” Twilight murmured to Fizzlepop, who smiled and nodded.

“Well… she works here actually, and since I often come here, she knows me pretty well,” Fizzlepop answered.

“So, what do you want?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“As usual, I would like coffee, and two cupcakes,” Fizzlepop ordered. Pinkie Pie nodded, then turned to Twilight.

“I guess I’ll take the same as her,” Twilight said, but then when heard her stomach growling, she blushed. “Well, you should add two cupcakes to that.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie exclaimed as she ran to the counter.

“What a strange mare,” Twilight thought aloud.

“Yes, she is, but she is also wonderful. I’ve never seen somepony as happy as her.”

“So, Fizzlepop, you didn’t tell me what you think about Daring Do,” Twilight said, changing the subject. “We started reading it together yesterday morning, did you read more?”

“Yes actually, you were right. It’s so interesting and well done, the characters of the writer, A.K. Yearling was it, seemed so real, and even how she described the events, it’s… it’s like it really happened!”

“I’m glad you like it, I’m a huge fan of her work.”

“You know, Twilight, I… I’m thankful that you accepted my invitation, and that you shared your interests with me. I don’t have many friends, and I don’t have a lot to talk about with them. Whenever I’m with you, I feel like you can understand me,” Fizzlepop said shyly.

Twilight widened her eyes, surprised by what Fizzlepop said. It felt… nice. She’d been so lonely that she forgot what it was like to speak with somepony so freely, and to express your true feelings.

“Would you like to be my friend?” Fizzlepop asked.

“Of course, I’d love to, Fizzlepop!” Twilight exclaimed happily.

“Here’s what you ordered!” Pinkie Pie said as she gave Twilight and her new friend their food.

“Thanks,” Fizzlepop said as the pink mare left.

The two mares started eating their cupcakes and drinking their coffees, but that didn’t stop them from talking about Daring Do and of all allegories that she put in her books.

However, Twilight suddenly changed the subject. She had been intrigued by Fizzlepop’s horn since she met her, but she never dared ask her because it might be something she didn’t want to talk about.

“Fizzlepop,” Twilight started, making Fizzlepop stop what she was doing, “I was wondering… what happened to your horn?”

Fizzlepop’s look saddened. She looked down and sighed.

“B… But if you don’t want to talk about it, I understand. I was just curious… I’m sorry,” Twilight said, backpedaling when she saw how Fizzlepop looked.

“No… it’s fine. Besides, I think I can tell you. I moved on, and this incident doesn’t sadden me much anymore,” Fizzlepop started. She closed her eyes, remembering what happened that fateful day. “I remember it like it was yesterday. I was… 6. My parents and I were going to the supermarket. It was my birthday, and they wanted to buy me a gift. I still remember our car, as white as snow. My father was always careful, paying attention to his surroundings, but… it came out of nowhere… it was a huge black truck. I don’t know who was driving it, but he hit our car so hard that it rolled on the ground. I was unconscious, but when I woke up, I was at the hospital, my horn was broken and… and my parents passed away.” As Fizzlepop told Twilight, she felt tears coming out of her eyes, but wiped them as fast as she could.

“Oh… I’m sorry… I-”

“No… You don’t have to worry about that, Twilight, it’s… it’s good to talk about it sometimes.”

“Then… if you don’t mind me asking… what were your parents like?”

“Hmm… I don’t remember much, but… I know that my father was always so… kind, and generous. He loved helping others, it was like a second nature for him. Whenever he saw somepony in trouble, he wanted to help them. He also loved smoking, even though my mother always told him to stop, that it was unhealthy. She was very caring. Taking care of us was something she loved doing. She was always saying that a family is important, that it needed to be protected, because the role of a family is to be by your side, even if you’re wrong. When I was young, I thought she was so wise, but… now, I think it’s a little idealistic,” Fizzlepop finished. She was smiling as she thought about her parents. If only they had lived longer… “What about your parents, Twilight?

“Well… I think that my mother is the wisest in the family. Whenever I need some answers to my problems, she knows the solution, she knows what to say to comfort me… She loves looking at the stars, at midnight they’re so beautiful. Even though unlike her I don’t look much at them, I understand why she does. As for my father; he’s enthusiastic, a bit paranoid, and I must say, he didn’t have much authority when I still lived with them.”

They continued talking about their families, and for the first time of her life, Fizzlepop was actually smiling as she talked about her deceased parents. She thought that whenever she thought about them she’d only feel despair and sorrow. However, now she felt joy, proud to be their daughter.

As for Twilight, she was happy to finally find someone to talk to this long. This was the longest conversation she had in years, beside those with her parents.

Night Light groaned in anger. It’d been weeks since he gave his camera to the police, but nothing had happened since then. He knew they didn’t want to scare the citizens of Manehattan, but he was sure the cops didn’t intervene! Something wasn’t right. Night Light wasn’t the paranoid type, but Crime Master was the most influent criminal in town. He must have had henchponies in the police quarters.

Night Light gritted his teeth. He was supposed to get an assignment from the boss, but he couldn’t accept that now! He was so close to finding out who Crime Master really was. He couldn’t let someone as dangerous as him live freely in this city. He had to find a way to arrest him, but he had to do it slowly, carefully.

“Wait! Now that I think about it, there was this pegasus, The Counselor! He wasn’t hiding his face. I didn’t recognize him, but he must be in our archives!” Night Light thought. He looked around.

There were many ponies here, some working on computers, some talking to someone else, but Night Light ignored them. He was searching for a precise pony: Shining Star.

“There he is!” Night Light ran to his friend.

Shining Star was a white pegasus with a red mane, and one of the best investigators of the newspaper. He was also a close friend to Night Light.

“Night! What can I do for you?”

“It’s something urgent! I need your computer to see the archives.” Shining Star nodded, as he didn’t see any reasons to refuse this request. “And… I’d really appreciate if you could take the assignment the boss wanted to give me.”

“You want me to take one of your assignment? That’s unlike you, Night. You must be onto something big,” Shining Star said, grinning. “Okay, I’ll accept that. I didn’t have anything important to do anyway. Good luck with whatever you’re doing!”

Shining Star smiled and went to the boss’ office. Night Light sat on the chair and started typing on the keyboard, using his magic to do so. He entered the archives. They were full of ponies, and even though there were pictures, finding someone without knowing his name would take hours. However, Night Light was lucky that they improved this system, since there were now various categories. Night Light clicked on the category “Pegasi”, then he clicked on “20-40”. By his appearance, this Counselor looked like he was still young.

After searching for at least 2 hours, Night Light sighed. He hadn’t found anything. It was like this Counselor never existed! He didn’t have much of a choice, he needed to find another way. And he might, already, have found a way. A pegasus was arrested yesterday; he was stopped by Vampony, but the police released him because the evidence was all burned to the ground. This pegasus may have nothing to do with The Counselor, but it was his only lead. All the most influential criminals allied themselves with Crime Master after all, maybe that pegasus worked for one of them.

The only problem was where that pegasus lived. Night Light reread his address and gasped. It’d be hard; the pegasus lived in the lower part of Manehattan. Besides being small, it was also the poorest neighborhood of the city. And this neighborhood was, unfortunately, full of racists; they hated unicorns, one of the reasons that few unicorns lived here.

Well… he didn’t have much of a choice if he wanted to find out who Crime Master was.

Night Light parked his car and sighed. The streets were dirty and there weren’t many ponies passing by. That pegasus didn’t live too far from there, but he couldn’t use his car to continue. He’d always repeat to himself that he wasn’t the paranoid type, but he was scared that something might happen to his belongings. Even though he was already in the neighborhood he should be fine because he still wasn’t at the center of it.

He got out of his car and locked it. He took a piece of paper out of one of his saddlebags and glanced at it. The address of the pegasus he wanted to see was written on it. He nodded and began walking.

However, after several minutes, he was stopped by an earth pony and two pegasi standing beside him. They were in front of Night Light and didn’t look like they wanted to let him pass.

“What do we have here?” the earth pony said, grinning. He seemed to be the leader of the group.

“It’s a dickface!”

“What’re ya doing here? Dickfaces aren’t authorized!”

Night Light gulped, but tried to remain calm. He couldn’t fight! e didn’t even know how to throw a punch! He’d try to convince them to let him pass. They’re all civilized ponies after all.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, good sirs, but I…”

“Ha! ‘Good sirs’ he says! Trying to play a smartass?! Ya buckin’ dickface!” the leader yelled mockingly as he pushed Night Light. The journalist gasped as he tried to stay calm, though it was hard because he had his camera hanging around his neck and was afraid to lose it.

“You unicorns think you’re so high and mighty. I hate that!”

“Maybe we should give that dickface a lesson, don’t you think, guys?” one of the pegasi suggested. It’d been a long time since the last time they beat up a unicorn.

“I… I’m sorry, but I didn’t do anything wrong! I… I just want to pass. To pay a visit to somepony. I would be very grateful if you could leave me alone, gentlecolts,” Night Light stuttered, trying to resonate with them. They looked at each other, but… they seemed angrier than before. Did Night Light say something wrong?

“What did ya call us?” the earth pony shouted as he pushed Night Light again.

“What does ‘gentlecoats’ buckin’ mean?! Did ya insult us!? You, dickface!”

“Yeah, you think we’re stupid or somethin’?!”

The three ponies started coming closer as Night Light stepped back in fear. He wasn’t even at the pegasus’ house, and he already had problems! How could he be so unlucky?

“Hey! You three, stop!” a voice shouted. Night Light and the three attackers turned around and saw a white unicorn stallion dressed as police officer getting out of a police car.

“Oh, come on. It’s officer dickface again…” the leader murmured as he glared at the police officer.

“I already arrested you last week, doing the same damn thing! This is the last warning I’ll give you: either get the buck out of here and leave this guy alone, or I take you down to the station! Is that understood!?” the police officer shouted menacingly. The attackers nodded and quickly left.

“Thank you, sir.”

“You’re welcome, but I suggest you be more careful. There are guys worse than them here.”

Night Light nodded and left the police officer. This time, he decided to walk a little faster than before. Not that he was scared or something. He just wanted to be more careful like the police officer said.

It took only several minutes for Night Light to arrive to his destination, but he was there in front of the pegasus’ door house. Speaking of his house, it was a little dilapidated. It was still better than some other houses he saw though.

He breathed in and out, preparing himself to knock on the door. That pegasus may be dangerous, but it was his duty as a citizen of this city to see him and ask him a few questions. Night Light knocked at the door.

“Who’s that?” a voice asked from behind the door.

“Hello, mister Storm! I’m Night Light. I work for The Pony Times. I have a few questions for you.”

The voice didn’t respond at first. Maybe because he was thinking of an answer or because he was… scared?

“I… Get away! I have nothing to say!”

Night Light lowered his head. He couldn’t give up now! He was so close!

“I promise you that I’m not with the police! I’m not a superhero and I’m not here to hurt you, if you think that I’m here for that. Please, let me in! I promise that I won’t tell anypony that you’re the one who gave me this information!” Night Light exclaimed desperately.

He didn’t hear anything after that; the pegasus was quiet. Night Light lowered his head, ready to go back to his home and cry in his wife’s hooves because he failed to save the city. However, he heard the sound of the door being unlocked. He turned around to look at the door which was now open; the pegasus staring at him.

“Fine. Come in,” he said sadly, but Night Light smiled. There was still hope.

Night Light entered in the house. It wasn’t very homely and there wasn’t much light. Night glanced at the pegasus, who was closing the door, and noticed that his wings were covered by bandages. Night Light deduced that he received these wounds in his fight against Vampony.

“First off, why are you here alone? I could kill you easily if I wanted to,” the pegasus asked, suspicious. He must have thought that it was a trap of some sort, and he was pretty direct.

“I know that it’s a bad idea to do something like that. I didn’t even tell anypony that I came here; I assure you. So, you could kill me now, if you want to,” Night Light started. Needless to say that confused Storm. Was he a fool? “However, I think you’re not who ponies think you are. I believe that everypony deserves a second chance. I’m sure that not every criminal is doing something evil just because he’s evil! Even though there are no good reasons to commit crimes, I think that there are no bad reasons either. Well, that they aren’t all bad. When somepony really needs money and can’t find a job, and loses everything he has, he might turn to the only solution he sees. But please, you must help me. I can see that you’re not a bad pony! There are ponies, like Crime Master, that doesn’t cherish anything but money and power. Even though I believe they deserve a second chance, we can’t let them be free! Until they’re completely redeemed, that is. Do you really want to hurt others? I think it’s time you change, now. Help me, and I promise you that I’ll help you later on. Maybe I could convince my boss to give you a job; pegasi are efficient when we need them to take pictures without being noticed,” Night Light said, pouring his soul into his words.

Storm glanced at the ground, thinking of Night Light’s words. Maybe he could change and have an actual job. Maybe… his life would get better.

“Okay… What do you want to know?” Storm said, finally yielding to Night’s words.

“Do you work for The Counselor?” Night Light asked as Storm nodded. “And do you know his real name?”

“He… he doesn’t have a real name actually… What I mean is… He never gave us his name. I’m a guy that worked for Crime Master, before he allied himself with the other criminals. And since my first day, nopony mentioned The Counselor’s name or Crime Master’s. I think only the highest ranked ponies in the organization know their real identities,” Storm explained.

Night Light nodded and wrote everything on a notebook.

“Where could I find him?”

“I don’t have their address, I’m only a lackey. However, The Counselor sent me an ‘invitation’ to the abandoned train station on the edge of the city. I must go today at 10 P.M. and get a gun. He didn’t tell me why though. I… I think I won’t go. So, I hope that you’ll find a way to arrest him and Crime Master with the information I gave you. If you don’t succeed… they’ll kill me.”

Night Light nodded. This was the biggest opportunity of his life. He’d stop Crime Master and bring at least a little more peace to this city.

Twilight enjoyed every minute of her day. Why? Because, after enjoying her breakfast at Sugarcube Corner with Fizzlepop, she spent the day with her. They wanted to get to know each other. Besides, friends were supposed to spend their time together, weren’t they? Fizzlepop had proposed to go to an amusement park. Twilight accepted of course. It was the first time that she went to an amusement park with a friend! Now it was sunset, and Fizzlepop wanted to accompany Twilight home. The hero was surprised but accepted. She knew she could defend herself, but Fizzlepop didn’t. Her being a hero was still a secret and she was going to keep it that way.

“Well, we’re here,” Twilight said while looking at the door of the building with her apartment. “Thank you for keeping me company, Fizzlepop.”

“You’re welcome, Twi.”

“What was that?” Twilight asked, surprised by this nickname.

“Oh, I… I thought friends gave each other nicknames, so… I… I’m sorry.”

“No, you don’t need to apologize. I was just surprised. I like that nickname,” Twilight said, and it seemed that her words were enough to reassure Fizzlepop. “Thank you, Berry.”

Fizzlepop widened her eyes in surprise. Twi and Berry looked at each other and chuckled.

“I think that I like this nickname, too.”

“Then I’ll be going. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Twilight said as she opened the door of her building. She said one last time goodbye and entered.

Fizzlepop smiled to herself. She felt that this would be a tremendous change in her life. Since the first day she saw Twilight, she knew she’d never want to leave her. Because now she understood what the word “friend” meant.

There stood Princess Midnight, watching the rising moon. It was time for her nightly patrol. She skipped the last one, and just like she expected, nothing happened. However, she couldn’t keep doing this. It was a one-time thing. Now she had to get back to chasing criminals.

Even though there were less criminals, she still worked. She changed her costume. She had golden colored boots, a tight, dark purple suit with black stripes, and a black eye mask.

Midnight spread her wings and took off. She looked around, inspecting every corner of the city. However, she stopped suddenly when she saw another hero: Vampony. It looked like he was on a case. Midnight decided to go directly ask him. Maybe he needed help.

“Vampony!”

Vampony stopped in his tracks and turned around to see who was calling him. He looked carefully at who was flying towards him and quickly recognized Midnight. He remembered that the news was talking a lot about her lately, but he never paid attention to that.

“What do you want?” he asked impatiently as she arrived in front of him. He didn’t have time to waste.

“I saw you flying and I thought you needed some help. We’re both heroes, so we should help each other. Did you find something?”

Vampony sighed.

“I work alone. And as for your question, it’s none of your business. I’m on the trail of somepony and I don’t need help,” Vampony said. Midnight was about to reply but didn’t get the chance as Vampony flew away.

The Counselor was standing in front of his car, smiling. He knew this was going to be a good night. He was waiting for a special pony. Originally, he came here to give orders, but now he was here for another matter.

“Where is he?” he thought aloud.

“Your lackey won’t come,” Vampony responded as he landed slowly in front of The Counselor.

“Oh, but I was talking about you,” The Counselor laughed. “You see, I knew you’d come.”

As he finished his sentence a dozen of ponies, who were hidden in the shadows, surrounded Vampony. They all had guns in their hooves. Vampony sighed.

“Do you really think they can do something against me?” Vampony asked as The Counselor kept smiling. “Besides, I could have called the police. You might be surrounded by now.”

“Please, we know a lot about you. You work alone. And even if the police really are here, they won’t do anything, and neither will you, because our monster is protecting me.”

Vampony narrowed his eyes and looked around him. None of the ponies surrounding him were shooting, which was strange.

Not far from Vampony, Night Light was hiding behind a scrap of metal, taking pictures of the scene. As soon as he came he called the police, of course. They should be here soon. He thought it’d be harder than that; he was lucky that a hero had found out about this meeting. Now Vampony would arrest The Counselor and they’d be able to find Crime Master and stop his business. As he was taking pictures, he noticed something moving towards Vampony. The hero saw it too because of the loud sound it was making with each of its steps. It… It was…

Rockhead slammed his fist where Vampony was, strong enough to shake the ground. He pulled back his hand but saw no corpse on the ground.

Vampony had dodged easily as he saw the monster coming at him. He gritted his teeth, concentrating all his magic in his horn. He’d need it if he wanted to stop Rockhead. He shot his magic ropes, but this time they were much bigger and stronger. Rockhead didn’t even try to dodge as he was completely tied. He groaned and fell on his knees.

Vampony landed in front of him.

“That monster was supposed to protect you?” Vampony asked. However, he thought he’d see desperation in the eyes of these criminals, but they were all smiling. “What?”

Suddenly, Rockhead tore the ropes apart like they were nothing. Vampony didn’t even have time to react as Rockhead punched him. The monster’s fist was bigger than Vampony’s entire body! The punch sent him flying through a brick wall; fortunately, or unfortunately, Vampony was stopped by a big scrap of metal. He fell on the ground and coughed blood.

“I… I was hit by a train before… but that punch was something else!” Vampony groaned and tried to stand up; however, the pain stopped him. He coughed even more blood. “Damn it. He… broke one of my ribs.”

“This is Rockhead. I forgot to warn you, but he’s not very good when it comes to greeting ponies. I hope you’ll forgive his behavior,” The Counselor chuckled.

Vampony gritted his teeth and got back to his legs, trying to ignore the pain. Rockhead started walking towards the wounded hero. However, the monster was stopped when an object, flying like a rocket, hit him. The ground cracked, and the dirt was raised, making a smoke screen. When they could finally see what happened, they saw Princess Midnight slamming into Rockhead’s face with her hoof. She started hitting harder, and each time the ground shook.

Usually she held back. However, this Rockhead was more enduring than her previous enemies. She’d need to use all her strength. She smiled as she thought that the monster was stunned. However, Rockhead caught her left hindleg and started hitting her on the ground like she was a simple doll!

After some time, he threw her in the sky. Midnight shook her head and came back to her senses. She decided to land beside Vampony.

“He’s stronger than I thought. He didn’t budge, but I think my punches hurt him,” Midnight stated.

“What are you doing here?!” Vampony shouted in anger.

“I followed you, but now is not the time to argue. They’re going to shoot at us. Can you dodge?”

Vampony nodded and quickly turned into a group of bats, which allowed him to dodge the bullets easily. As for Midnight, she flew out of the way and started shooting magic beams at the attackers. Not ordinary magic beams though. She shot at the crooks’ guns. When her magic hit them, they turned into bright magic vines, which tied the criminals, a new spell she created specifically for weapons.

Vampony, even if he was injured, was taking out his enemies with his usual flair. Problem was that both Midnight and Vampony had to dodge Rockhead’s punches; that beast was too strong, and Vampony was weaker due to his condition. If he wasn’t careful enough, his broken rib could pierce his lung.

After some time, the small fries were all knocked out. The only one left was Rockhead.

“Rockhead gonna squash big bird lady!” the monster shouted at Midnight.

“Oh, look. He gave me a nickname. I’m flattered,” Midnight said as she flew in Rockhead’s direction. The monster raised his hands, ready to crush the hero. However, Midnight was too fast, and dodged his attack by flying between his legs. Rockhead slammed his hands in the ground, missing the hero.

Vampony took the opportunity to tie Rockhead’s hands to his feet with his shadow magic. He knew the monster would break his ties, but it’d hopefully leave enough time for Princess Midnight to attack.

Midnight flew above Rockhead and slammed her forelegs into his head, hammering it into the ground. She started charging magic into her horn and released it on the monster, creating a small explosion in the process.

Dust covered the area. Midnight felt relief as she didn’t hear Rockhead moving. He must’ve been knocked out. However, she was wrong. Midnight didn’t even know what happened. In less than a second, she was suddenly lying on the ground. Beside her was Vampony, who was shaking her. She looked around but couldn’t see clearly; her vision was blurred. She coughed blood. Vampony was moving his lips but she couldn’t hear anything. What… What happened?

“Stop… hurting Rockhead!” Rockhead shouted while raising his hands. He started punching the ground. It looked like he was starting to go crazy.

“M… Midnight! Get back to your senses!” Vampony shouted. He coughed blood, more than before. He was more wounded than he thought.

“W… What… happened?” Midnight asked as she looked around, still dizzy.

“He punched you in the face. You bounced on the ground until landing at my side. His punches are strong… so, your brain surely received a shock from this,” Vampony explained.

Midnight stood up. Her legs were still shaking. This must be why she didn’t remembering receiving the punch. Rockhead’s strength must be gigantic to do something like that. She was still feeling the effects!

“W… Wait…” she started. Now that she thought about it… Every time she hit Rockhead, she hit him on the head and he seemed a little stunned afterwards. And now he was going crazy. He was a mass of endurance and brute force, but his head was still the most vulnerable part of his body! “Vampony, we need to attack him again. On the head.”

Vampony nodded. Midnight tried to focus her attention on Rockhead now. It’d be hard with her brain still shaken. Rockhead glared at the two heroes and started run at them. He let a loud roar escape his throat as he charged. Midnight started charging her magic; she’d need a more powerful beam. Meanwhile, Vampony was flying in Rockhead’s direction. Rockhead roared and tried to punch him, but Vampony turned into a group of bats and dodged it.

The bats started flying around Rockhead, and mostly… well… his head. The monster tried to punch, only to miss his target and punch his head instead. He roared again as he felt pain.

“STOP HURTING ROCKHEAD!” he shouted in anger. He raised his fists; though, he felt dizzy. But he didn’t care. He was going to destroy the land below him to stop these two heroes.

“NOW, VAMPONY!” Midnight shouted as she released her magic.

Vampony flew away from Rockhead and turned into his pony self as the monster received an enormous amount of magic to his head. There was a big explosion, covering the entire area with light.

“Bird lady… stop…” Rockhead murmured and fell, his face directed to the ground.

Midnight and Vampony were panting and beaten up. But they did it.

“We beat that thing. W… Where is The Counselor?” Midnight asked as she looked around. The lackies were still tied up, but The Counselor wasn’t here anymore.

“Damn it! He must have escaped! That damn pegasus!” Vampony shouted. However, he quickly calmed down when he felt the immense pain at his left side, where his rib was broken. “I’ll have to go to the hospital. Although, I’ll have to make sure that they don’t take off my mask,” Vampony said as he heard police sirens coming closer. “And you? How is your head?”

“I think it’ll be okay. I’m a quick healer, and he didn’t put all his strength in that punch since I stunned him,” Midnight explained, Vampony nodded.

After that, the police came as well as the media. Midnight even saw her father; he was the one who called the police—of course, he didn’t know that Princess Midnight was in reality Twilight Sparkle. They arrested the criminals and Rockhead. Rockhead’s body was surrounded by an armored cylinder and was transported in an armored lorry to make sure he didn’t escape.

The Counselor opened the door. He was still tired from his flight, but he tried not to pant. He was in Crime Master’s office, and the crime overlord wasn’t wearing his mask. However, his face was still hidden in shadows; though, The Counselor already knew what he looked like.

“I… I came back,” The Counselor stuttered. Crime Master sighed.

“I’m disappointed.”

“I… I’m… sorry… I-I I thought I’ll stop them!”

“You misused my Rockhead. My trump card! FOOL! You lost my weapon!” Crime Master shouted. The Counselor winced. Crime Master was always calm, but now…

“We… We can break him out! I… I’ll do everything I can to get him out of prison!”

“Do you think I’m stupid? I saw the news. THEY’RE TAKING HIM INTO TARTARUS! The most impenetrable prison in all of Equestria!” Crime Master shouted. The anger was rising, he could feel it.

“I-I I won’t fail you again!”

“No… No, you won’t,” Crime Master said in agreement, calmer than earlier. Then, two guards entered in the room. The Counselor glanced at them. Suddenly they put their forelegs around his neck, ready to take him out. “I hate failure… You lost my weapon. Now, you must pay.”

“W… WAIT! PLEASE!” The Counselor shouted, totally panicked. He knew what was going to happen to him. Crime Master didn’t listen as his two guards took the fool out of his office.

Crime Master pushed a button on his desk andnd several seconds later, his door opened again. A blue unicorn entered in the room, a stallion with a purple mane.

“You called for me?” he asked as Crime Master nodded in response.

“Yes. Who are you?”

“I’m The Counselor.”

“Good.”