//------------------------------// // Chapter Eight: "I'll Do It Myself." // Story: Gems II: Dawn of The Princesses // by Pen Dragon //------------------------------// Chapter Eight: “I'll Do It Myself.” Moro scowled as he watched his newest student Midnight Blaze was currently in pain as he used his magic to crush the poor stallion under the weight of it all. Solidifying the difference in power was what made the unicorn accept the ram’s offer. Midnight, struggled to stand on his hooves, but was quickly slammed back down to the ground, gritting his teeth, he groaned in pain as his new “mentor” paced back and forth.  “It is truly remarkable how incompetent you are Midnight Blaze, I passed onto you my most sacred spells, healed you of your wounds, and allowed you to stay in my home. All I asked of you was to wait patiently, and plan our next move against the Order and those pathetic weaklings,” Moro explained, standing over the stallion as he used his right hoof to step on his student’s face, slowly and painfully crushing his skull against the unforgiving ground below, “Instead, you decided to disobey my orders, and exposed yourself, nearly exposing me in the process!” “You… said… GAH!” Was all Midnight could utter as Moro applied more pressure with his magic and his hoof. “YOU SAID TO SEIZE… HIS COMRADES AND TAKE THEM OUT!!! ONE BY ONE!!!!” “And did you succeed in killing that bounty hunter!?” He asked, removing his hoof so he could see the stallion’s face, but Midnight did not reply. “That’s what I thought…When I found you, I saw what my creator saw in me… raw, untamed, power… Something special.” “You’re making a mistake!” Midnight continued to growl, trying to get the hoof off of his collapsing head, “I’ve got plenty of power to take them out, I just need to come up with a new plan. Direct attacks aren’t going to work...” “Because you’re weak, despite all my influence,” continued Moro, scornfully. “Look at you! You are no sorceror, no magician! You are a pathetic, little child pretending he is destined for greatness! YOU ARE NOTHING! Bested by an earth pony who has no magic and a unicorn who has no control over his emotions! Even that pony would have made a better student than you!” Midnight felt his blood boiling just as much as he felt it pooling in his head from being stepped on. He would have loved to have seen Moro try to fight the opponents he had fought, and imagined the ram receiving a missile to the barrel just like he had fighting the bounty hunter, also entertaining the thought of Watcher’s “weird” blade spell chopping through his overconfident skull. Maybe this partnership wasn’t going to be productive after all. “I told you that you were not ready… perhaps you will learn from this failure and actually heed your master’s wisdom. I have a different task for you my boy,” Moro stated, his tortuous spell dissipating as he began to make his way up his staircase, as Midnight, slowly followed. “As you are aware, the Order has sent two assassins here in Everfree City to hunt down and kill Celestia and her allies. I want you to persuade them to join us, instead.” “The assassins cannot be trusted,” Midnight responded, pulling himself off the ground and rubbing his aching head with a hoof, “so I assume you mean more than just ‘persuade’.” “So you say… however, these are not your run of the mill assassins, in fact. They’ll be the very tools to bring down the Order and Celestia. Those two have powers one can only ever dream of having at their age. You will convince them… Or I will take everything I have given you with just a thought. Remember that you are nothing without me.” He explained, his green eyes glowing brightly as Midnight felt a twinge of pain in his chest, turning towards his cabinet, he pulled out a flask full of powder, throwing it atop of a round table in the center of the room and a green mist began to form. “Once you finish your task, you will meet me at Mount Chimera.” “Isn’t that… a prison for the most notorious criminals of pony kind?” Midnight asked. “Yes it is. You see Midnight, my shadow spell has managed to obtain some… useful information regarding this prison… It is believed that another Princess is somewhere within those walls...” ‘Another Princess? Thought Midnight, So there are more… and if that ‘Celestia’ mare was so easily swayed by Watcher, then maybe… I could claim my own. Of course, she could just be another cake-scarfing pig with no talents…’ “...and because of this information, I’ve sent some shadows to that prison… And I’ve identified who this Princess is,” Moro stated, as Midnight tilted his head in response, unclear about who it is. The ram smirked and went on to explain, “Her name is Twilight Sparkle. Princess of ‘Friendship’ if you could believe such a foolish thing, Midnight. Yet, her power according to legend was simply incredible. Able to decode spells that had long since fallen out of use during her time, rearrange them to do whatever she willed, and capable of taking down even the strongest magical creatures with just a little bit of study time. This mare is far more powerful than the currently active one is, at least as far as my studies took me. It is necessary we secure her for our own purposes, Midnight Blaze.” Ah so I was very wrong, he conspired, the new princess is a total powerhouse. Perfect! Of course, if this old bastard thinks he’s going to have me hoof-deliver her to him when I could just convince her to join me instead, he’s got some nerve. “Once you have those two assassin’s though, you’ll bring them back here to the lair, I will be sending an old colleague of mine to meet me here with his latest project. No longer will I have to steal magic like some beggar… I will have the powers of a goddess in my hooves and so much more.” He has some nerve, then, continued Midnight in his mind, thinking I’ll just help him collect the princess like a good little errand colt after he stepped on my head and caused that chest pain. Moro could see the stallion was starting to zone out, but what he didn’t realize was that Midnight had caught on to something. He continued to berate him arrogantly, “Midnight, are you paying attention?” Moro probably caused me chest pain by squeezing my heart, thought the stallion, making eye contact, and now that I think about it, what kind of a heart does an old jackass like him have anyways? I bet it’s full of plaque… “Whatever this silence is, it’s insubordinate,” growled the ram, preparing another spell, “do you intend to obey my orders or do I have to… GUH!” The old ram stopped, his chest jolting in agony while Midnight’s horn glowed, a patch of green light pulsing within the elder’s chest. He watched him grab onto the spot with a hoof, straining in pain and stumbling forward. “Oh… look at that, my magic has found out quite quickly that you’re behind on your cardio, Moro,” Midnight chuckled, continuing his assault, “in fact, by the looks of your coronaries I’d say you were well overdue for a triple bypass. Let me just speed things along for you, shall I?” The ram couldn’t answer, his heart muscle couldn’t stand the lack of oxygen from his natural plaque buildup being turned into a full on myocardial infarction with just two tiny shield spells by Midnight. On a healthy pony this would never work, but the ancient and fatty heart tissue’s natural magical defenses couldn’t keep up. Moro sputtered, dropping to his knees as blood flow began to stop to his brain. His eyes desperately looked up at Midnight, begging for mercy, as he certainly couldn’t vocalize an apology for trying to squish his head earlier. “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll take over your dream from here, and take the Princess. She’ll be in good hooves,” his unicorn assailant laughed. Finally, the ram dropped down to the floor, eyes wide open but glazed over with a look of horror plastered on his lifeless face. The deed finished, Midnight released his heartstopper curse, and walked forward to begin the process of claiming the magic of his now deceased benefactor. Apollo’s Office Apollo sat patiently, as he waited for his two assassins to arrive, meanwhile Soul Writer paced back and forth, mumbling to himself about why it was taking so long for their supposed assassin’s to arrive. Rolling his eyes, Apollo stood up from his seat and trotted towards his fellow council member and threw the contents of a glass of water at Soul’s face. The drink doused the stallion, leaving him to wring out his facial hair in embarrassment. “If you are done being paranoid, I could use your help right now old friend,” Apollo asked, returning to his desk as Soul tried to dry himself off with his magic. “Paranoid? If you haven’t noticed, it’s been three weeks since we’ve deployed those mercenaries and we’ve yet to hear a peep from them concerning our ‘problem’. I’m starting to think the situation is far worse than what you make it out to be!” he argued, albeit respectfully. “I realized that relying on those fools was a mistake to begin with as the two have been only observing from what my agent has explained. As useful as this information is, it matters not if we can’t make a move against them, which is why I am done waiting for those two to strike” Apollo explained, filling his now empty glass with red wine from a bottle he pulled from under his desk with magic.  “Tell me Soul, was it not you who had rescued young Watcher and his friend a while back, taking them to the orphanage and accepting them into the academy?” With a sigh Soul nodded his head in response. “Yes, I did.” “And despite being on the council now, you want to do more to help our nation correct?” “And what is your point exactly?” “I’ll explain once our assassin’s arrive.” Outside City Hall Showing back up for their weekly report didn’t normally feel as uncomfortable to Shrike as it had before. This time, the walk up to the Order’s executive offices felt colder, as if there was a sense of danger about her that she couldn’t quite place a hoof on. “Amate, I don’t like this feeling I’ve gotten,” she said to her partner, “we haven’t found a good time to strike, and they’ll be asking about it.” No worries, signed Amate magically, just give the report and leave. “If only it were that easy,” answered Shrike as she flicked her barbed tail, spooking one of the guards at the door, “it’s like I’ve lost my touch. You’d think we would have dispatched those two by now....” It’s not like we haven’t had opportunities, but you insist that we wait, she messaged back. Which isn’t like you. “There’s just something… about this target and that stallion,” continued the other mare, pushing her way into the building, “something that makes me hold back. Like they’ve been through this before. Normally our targets are at least a little on guard, it’s that fear that opens them up to exploitation, far before we take them out. They’ve shown none of it.” Well I can’t blame them for just trying to live, joked Amate. Soon they were before Apollo and Soul writer in the boardroom, ready to give their report, the chancellor’s eyes ever piercing and intimidating, not that Shrike really cared. Now that she could see the looks on their faces, Amate sort of understood where her partner was coming from about not wanting to talk about it. “I’m sure you are aware why you two are here, correct?” Soul Writer asked, glaring at the two mares. It’s about our target’s correct? Amate replied with her magic. “I’ve realized that you two have taken your time with killing those fools and my patience is running very thin...” Apollo replied, levitating his glass of wine to take another quick sip of it before continuing, “and quite frankly it makes me question whether or not you two are even capable of being a footstool, nevermind assassins.” “I’d watch that high and mighty tone of yours… it’s not quite as simple as you make it to believe.” Shrike replied, glaring at the Chancellor as her barbed tail sprung up and squeezed out a droplet of noxious poison. “And I’d be careful about challenging my might…” Apollo stated, his horn glowing brightly and dozens of magic circles formed right above him and Soul writer, and blades began to appear, aimed directly towards the two mares below. “I’d like to keep my rug as clean as possible.” Amate placed her hoof on Shrike, motioning with her hoof to calm down, understanding fully the situation they were currently in. There were just some fights that couldn’t be won the direct way. “Maybe you should consider taking those two out yourself then, if this job isn’t worth our efforts,” Shrike responded, showing no fear, “everyone drops a contract once in a while.” “Oh I could, I very easily could,” Apollo chuckled, dismissing his threatening sword apparitions, “However, I’m certain you don’t want to pass on this opportunity I’m about to give you. Perhaps what you need is a slight change in priorities.” “Go on,” she muttered impatiently. “You see, I no longer want you to kill this faker anymore… I want you to kill her allies protecting her. The stallion that had helped her escape, Watcher and their new ally, the infamous bounty hunter Techorse. Soul Writer will be helping you out on this mission as he knows how Watcher behaves, his every move.” Apollo explained. Amate inquired, What about the false Princess? “You my dear, will be helping me track her down and I’ll be following behind you,” He replied, taking another sip of his wine glass before setting it down on the table. “You see… I’ve come to realize that waiting for her to be killed just isn’t going to satisfy me. I want to do it myself...”