Pony Elite V2

The executioner paced the stage. The gagged and bound ponies behind him whimpered and squirmed as the crowd roared for blood. “These, ponies, have committed unspeakable crimes against our noble protector, Princess Celestia! Treason, murder and blasphemy are the more reasonable of their offenses! And it is today that they pay for their crimes!” He shouted. The crowd cheered on the executioner. A rock flew up from the crowd and slammed into one of the ponies faces. His nose began to run blood that dripped onto the stage. “It appears we have a fan favorite!” The stallion yelled out into the crowd as he walked over the the injured pony who had his head tilted up to stop the bleeding. “I’m going to enjoy this Barasov.” He said grabbing the pony’s chin and making him look him in the eye.

“Not as much as I will.” The bound pony said with a sly smile. He spit out some blood which ‘accidentally’ found its mark on the boot of the executioner. “Oops, I missed. I was aiming for your eye.” He sneered. The executioner growled and delivered a mighty blow to the proud pony’s face.

“Look upon this arrogant moron as an example. Never, cross, the princess.” He shouted into the crowd. He drew himself up to his full height and drew the hoofgun from the holster on his hip.He slipped his hoof into the trigger guard and held the barrel against the pony’s neck where his carotid artery pumped his life blood through his body. If this bullet didn’t kill him immediately, he would bleed out within a minute. “Any last words?” He said. The pony looked him in the eye, a smile adorned his beaten face.

“See ya’ in tartarus, jackass!” He shouted. He looked up to one of the buildings across the street and winked.

Up in the building, a pony sat with a rifle in his hooves. A rifle that had taken the lives of many evil ponies. A wicked nineteen tick marks had been carved into the stock of the rifle. One for each bullet that had pierced the flesh of his victims. The pony watched as the executioner raised himself up to full height, exposing his chest. He scoffed at the stupidity of the pony on the stage. “C’mon, you couldn’t make this easier if you painted a bullseye on your chest.” He said to himself. He looked down his scope and pressed the stock into his shoulder. The wind was blowing at exactly six and a half miles per hour to the east and with this distance, bullet drop wouldn’t be too much of a problem. He lined up the shot, putting the crosshairs of the scope onto the executioner’s chest and waited for the signal.

And there it was. The sniper applied the slightest pressure to the trigger of his rifle and that was all it needed. The rifle recoiled against his shoulder as the bullet came flying out of the barrel with a deadly intent. It spiraled through the air the way bullets do, leaving a barely noticeable trail of vapor in its wake. The bullet tore into the executioner’s chest, deforming as it entered, and pierced his heart. The bastard was dead before he hit the ground. The sniper pulled back the bolt on his rifle and an empty casing popped out and clattered to the floor. THe sniper pushed the bolt in, loading the second round into the chamber and squeezed off another round into the lieutenant's neck.

Satisfied with his work, the sniper shouldered his rifle and drew his hoofgun. He had trained himself to walk on two hooves so he could handle a gun and walk at the same time. Like the, what were they called, Humans, that Lyra obsessed over. The sniper smiled at the thought of Lyra. ‘That crazy mare.’ He thought to himself as he walked out into the street and towards the square. The crowd had cleared out after hearing the gunshots but no doubt the guard heard it as well and were already on their way. He climbed up the steps and onto the stage. One of the ponies spit out his gag when he saw his saviour.

“Oh thank Luna for you.” He said.

“It’s what I do.” He said pulling out his combat knife and cutting the first pony loose, then the second, then the third.

“Oh man, took me a minute to find you. I thought you’d left us Nick.” The pony whose nose was still bleeding, but not badly.

“I could never leave one of the republic behind.” Nick said handing the former captive the executioner’s side arm. “Now let’s get out of here before the rest of the guard show up.” He said turning back to the street.

They trotted through the deserted streets of Canterlot, or what had been Canterlot. After the uprising, it had come to be known as Celestian Headquarters. Now it was a shell of it’s former self, like the rest of the Celestian Empire. This was all that remained of the former government. The New Lunar Republic(NLR) had seen to that. “So, where are we going Nick?” One of the former captives asked.

“We’ve got a little spot outside of the city where the plains meet the woods. Orders are to take you there.” Nick said rounding a corner, but he jumped back behind cover when the ground in front of him exploded. “Shit, they found us!” Nick said Bringing his rifle back to his hooves.

“What are we going to do.I don’t even have a weapon!” One of the former captives said.

“You three are going to run as fast as you can to that mound of debris over there while I provide covering fire.” Nick said pointing to a spot about fifty meters down the street. “You wait for my first shot and then you run like cerberus is on your tails.” Nick said. Not waiting for a response he, pulled the but of the rifle into his shoulder and squeezed off a round.

It was a lucky shot considering that he hadn’t taken wind into account as well as the distance and yet still managed to send it through the back hind leg of one of the guards. He didn’t take his eye off the guard as he pulled the bolt back and pushed it back in. One of the guards had come over to help his wounded comrade, but Nick wasn’t going to give him the chance. THis time, taking into account the variables, he lined up the shot with the pony’s side and squeezed the trigger. Another one of the deadly projectiles ripped through the air and into the torso of the guard, killing him. That left just two more guards. Nick hid himself back behind the wall as several rounds ripped through the air where he had been just a mere second before to reload his rifle.

He peeked back around the corner and scoffed at the stupidity of the two guards. They had disregarded him and turned their attention to the former captives. But that wasn’t the stupid part, they had positioned themselves in such a way that one round could kill the both of them, if put in the right place. Nick aimed his rifle, carefully lining up the shot with the two ponies’ sides. If this bullet didn’t bounce around too much inside the first pony, then it would exit his body and enter the second guard’s, killing the two of them. “Fly true my friend.” Nick said squeezing the trigger and releasing the round it tore through the air and into the first guard, blowing through the gap in the ribcage and through the heart of the first guard before exiting the first and entering the second with just enough velocity to penetrate the ribcage and collapse a lung.

Without even chambering another round, nick shouldered his rifle and ran down the street. He could see the gates only a few hundred meters away. He hadn’t noticed them a few moments ago because his main focus was to take out the guards, but now he could see them. “Follow me colts!” He yelled as he passed by the rubble pile. The other stallions stood and sprinted down the street with him. nick vaulted over a pile of sandbags without even letting it break his stride and kept running. Even just spending a few hours in this city was too much for him. He wanted to be back on the plains, back with the rest of the Lunar Republic. His orders were not to stay at the little entrenchment that they had set up, not anymore.

He burst through the gates and into the plains outside of the city with the other ponies hot on his tail.

“Oh man I hate that place.” Nick said looking back at the city.

“You and me both. Hey, that was some pretty great shooting back there.” The former captive said.

“It’s what I was trained to do. If I wasn't good, they wouldn't keep me around.” Nick said as he began trotting down the dirt road that led to the plains.