Top Shot: Equestria in the Crosshairs

"Oh my word! It's so marvelous!", Rarity beamed with giant, sparkling eyes as she set them on the house that the contestants would be staying in for the new season of Top Shot, "I mean look at it! It's so simple with its shapes, but it's so advanced with all of the glass doors!"

"I never knew you were into architecture, Rarity.", Twilight giggled.

"Oh Twilight, clothing isn't the only thing that had a design that everypony will make their first impression on.", Rarity replied. Twilight had to agree with her. The impression the building gave, though much different than her tree library, was defiantly cozy. When the contestants reached the house, they couldn't help by stare in awe at the much different home than their own. A fireplace was the first thing Gilda saw when she walked inside.

"Seriously? It's already blazing out here. They really have to add a fireplace?"

"The Appaloosan Peninsula could get very cold during the winter, Gilda.", Spitfire spoke, "I should know, I used to have a part time job as the weather pony at the town of Appaloosa."

Rainbow Dash immediately slouched herself on the couch, spread her hooves, and yawned.

"I'm gonna lay here for a while...", she lazily spoke as she rolled over.

"You know, this house is great and all, but shouldn't we be a bit more concerned about the next challenge Colby will give us? What if we aren't prepared?", Soarin still looked at the outdoor dining patio.

"Ha! Soarin, if there's one thing I know about game shows, is that a good one never prepares the contestants! It's for the audience!", Iron Will laughed.

"In a way, I have to agree. I doubt they will get us ready that properly.", Zecora rhymed.

"Okay, if I hear a rhyme from you one more time, I'm gonna use the next weapon to end my misery.", Gilda groaned as shse headed off towards her bedroom. Apparently, Colby explained as they were heading down, that there were two large bedrooms, fitted with bunk beds. Boys slept apart from girls, naturally.

"Alright. I'll get you if Colby needs us again.", Shining Armor said to her before trotting off, "I'm gonna explore around a bit."

"Hey, mind if I join you?", Soarin asked, which Shining Armor nodded.

"Woah woah woah! Hey! What are you doing?!", Rainbow Dash sat up on the couch, "He's the enemy! Don't make 'nice' with the enemy!"

"Oh come on, that's just for the challenges. There's no reason we all can't be friends here, right?", Soarin looked around. Shining Armor had already left and gone looking, and Soarin managed to catch up to him.

"There's a flight of stairs there, and hey, a billiards table.", he pointed to the green and wooden game piece.

"Really? I thought it was always called 'pool'.", Soarin examined before walking away.

"Bathrooms over there...hey Soarin! check out this view!"

The pegasus came over and looked out the window.

"Meh. Nothing compared to flying in the sky."

"I could bet."

As the two Team Leaders scouted what was around the house, the majority of the contestants were still chatting down below.

"Hey Blue Blood-"

"Prince Blue Blood."

Trixie sighed and rolled her eyes.

"How are you going to beat Fluttershy at elimination?", she rose an eyebrow at him. Prince Blue Blood just laughed.

"I just have to not get dirty. That poor mare can hardly even use the weapon.", he looked over at Fluttershy.

"You know that won't be possible. Gunpowder will always come out of nearly every weapon in this gameshow. I think you need to resist being dirtied and just keep focusing on the game.", she narrowed her eyes, "Trixie knows it."

"Ugh! But have you seen this coat? It's perfect in every single way! I have to still look good for all of the cameras, that way, I can be a fan favorite!", he rose his hoof.

"You're not really gonna be much of a fan favorite if you can't get past the first day and be sent packing.", Trixie said as she walked away.

Blue Blood rose his hoof for a reply, but kept his mouth shut. When he thought of it to himself, unfortunately, Trixie was right. She was sacrificing her ego for better knowledge of the competition. He had to sacrifice his coat for a chance to win the Million Bits.

--

Fluttershy was just rolling around a shell casing that she had found in the house. On the bottom, it was printed: 7.62 NATO. She didn't look up when Iron WIll sat down with her.

"Hey there Fluttershy! Aren't you gonna come to the patio? Sunlight's good for you!", Iron Will chuckled.

Fluttershy kept rolling around the casing.

"Uh...did you hear me?"

"Just go away...", she spoke into the table, making a murmuring sound, but the minotaur still heard her clearly.

"Look, I know you can't squeeze the trigger on that gun, and that's what's bothering you.", he sat down and clicked open a soda can.

Fluttershy didn't look up, until she heard the soda can pop open.

"Aren't you supposed to encourage a healthy life now with your new exercise program I keep hearing about?", she looked at the can.

"Ah...I do need a break sometimes, but it's not like we're on camera right now. Right?", he turned around, and surely, there was a unicorn, holding the large equipment, "Whatever. Now, Fluttershy"

The butter colored pegasus rose her eyes.

"I know you really don't like me-", Iron Will was interrupted.

"Oh that's not true, I don't hate anypony.", she caused Iron Will to laugh at her again.

"I really could learn something from you! But still, I know my 'assertive' training made you a little...too assertive. But I really don't like seeing a dissatisfied customer. Or in that case, a dissatisfied teammate."

"But I'm not even on any one of your teams. I won't even make it through elimination.", Fluttershy looked down at the shell casing again.

"Nonsense! I'll help you prep up and get over your fear of shooting. When life's no longer full of glee, always seek out me.", he gave one of his signature quotes he always used for advertising.

"I really don't know...", Fluttershy sat up.

"Hey, what do you have to loose? You're only gaining.", Iron Will flexed one of his muscles.

Fluttershy thought about it for about half a minute, and after that, she started nodding.

"Good choice!", Iron Will suddenly clapped his hands together, and to Fluttershy, it sounded like an explosion. She immediately jumped and smashed her head into the ceiling.

"OW! My head...", she rubbed her temple.

"Fluttershy, remember. You have to get over your fear of loud noises if actually want a chance at winning elimination. I even heard there is a small prize if you beat Blue Blood. Imagine how cozy your animal friends would be!"

Fluttershy forgot about her pain and imagined Angle hopping around a new set of play equipment. Then, her thought was interrupted by Iron Will clapping again, causing the windows to rattle and Fluttershy to fall out of her chair again.

--

"Who wants another hayburger?!", Shining Armor yelled from the grill.

"Oh! Me! Me! Me!", Pinkie Pie snatched it with her mouth straight off the grill without burning her face in symmetrical lines. He flipped another one to Little Strongheart, who licked her lips hungrily.

"Now I know we have the right team leader!", Strongheart cheered as she took a bite from her burger.

"I know! I never knew you could cook!", Twilight said in between bites of her food.

"Marriage calls for it from both sides you know. You'll know the same when you do get hitched.", Shining Armor flipped another burger. Then, a familiar voice spoke at the patio.

"I swear, it that hay cooking? It smells even better than what I'm used too.", Colby Donaldson stepped into the patio and went out the doors of the house.

"Oh Celestia! Colby! You gotta try this! It's amazing!", Rainbow Dash scarfed down an entire burger.

"I appreciate it, but I've already had my lunch. But that burger smells amazing...naw. I couldn't.", Colby chuckled to himself.

"Wmhat mare youm meer form?", Pinkie Pie asked Colby through her full mouth.

"Oh, I'm here to warn Fluttershy and Prince Blue Blood that elimination is in thirty minutes. Have they already packed their belongings?", Colby looked around.

"Ah' know Fluttershy has, but ahm' not sure bout' Blue Blood.", Applejack told Colby, followed by an "Eeyup" from Big Macintosh.

"I see. Well, I'll go tell them that elimination is coming. And I'll tell them I wish them both good luck."

Colby walked back into the familiar house hold.

"I remember this from the seasons on this show...", he said to himself as he came to Fluttershy and Iron Will. They appeared to be talking about something. Iron WIll was going on about what his new exercising training program was about, and Fluttershy was paying attention, though she clearly showed no interest. Then, when Fluttershy wasn't paying attention, Iron Will suddenly smashed his hands together, and produced a noise as if someone had fired a cannon next to Colby. He rubbed a finger in his ear and he spoke.

"Fluttershy, elimination is in thirty minutes. Hope you're all packed up and ready."

"Oh, thank you Colby.", he heard as he turned away. But Colby noticed something. Fluttershy was hardly startled by Iron Will's clapping. Colby had heard many noises on this show, but nothing as loud as that. Fluttershy didn't even jump.

"Prince Blue Blood, elimination is in thirty minutes. Hope you're ready and packed up to go."

"Thank you subject for the futile reminder.", Blue Blood answered from the bedroom. Colby took no offense and walked down the stairs.

"This will be interesting."

--

ELIMINATION CHALLENGE

Fluttershy and Blue Blood were walking down the trail, but took another path as the trail branched off into multiple ones. Cacti and shrubs littered the area, and Blue Blood dusted off his coat again. They came to another shooting range, which had several white flags holding the Top Shot logo on it, and they sat down on a log, where Colby was waiting near a table. The two ponies looked ahead, and there were two conveyer belts with red targets moving on each one of them. They kept going around and disappeared behind a wooden crate, only to reappear again on the other side and move to the left. They got themselves situated on the log and waited for Colby to speak.

"Fluttershy and Prince Blue Blood. The moment of truth has arrived to decided whether you'll stay in this competition, or get sent packing home."

Fluttershy bit her lip, and Prince Blood Blue kept concentrating.

"In the previous challenge, you used the Maxim machine gun, an extremely powerful gun used in Trench Warfare in the First World War. But now, you'll be using a bit of a different weapon.", Colby said as he hoisted a much more slender and long gun, which Fluttershy remembered Twilight telling her about a "rifle".

"Shooters, this is the Lee Enfield Infantry Rifle, the standard issued rifle to troops of the British Empire in World War 1, and one of the most successful bolt-action rifles of all time."

"It certainly is quite different than that horrid machine gun."

"Do you have to hold down the trigger for it to shoot more than once?"

Colby chuckled. He began to explain how a bolt-action rifle operated, how to load in the magazine, and what the iron sights looked like.

"Okay. First, you slide...then you aim down here...pull the rigger once...open the slide..."

Blue Blood nodded at the weapon and fixed the buttstock into his shoulder and rested his cheek to look down the sights. They were a little awkward to him, but it was easy to determine where he should aim. Fluttershy had a bit of trouble holding up the weapon, but managed to get the feel of the iron sights and pull the bolt a few times. After a few more minutes of exercise, the time for the elimination challenge came, and the rest of the competitors walked up the trail and sat down near the log. Fluttershy and Blue blood got up, and went to their firing stations, tables with sandbags to steady and support the rifle, with several spare magazines by their side.

"Everyone else but Fluttershy and Blue Blood, you are safe. For now. Shooters, here's how the elimination challenge will function."

"The conveyer belt will rotate the nine-inch red targets across. Your goal is to shoot down all of the red targets before the other marksmen can shoot down his or hers. Take caution. At random intervals, some of the targets will rotate and turn into black targets. If you hit one, two of the targets of which you previously shot down will reset and come right back up, costing you precious time. Wait for a target to rotate back into a red one, or focus on the others that are still red."

Both of the ponies took in the information and eyed the conveyer belts. The red targets were moving across the belts as Fluttershy and Blue Blood prepared for Colby's signal. They loaded their rifles and aimed down the sights. They cocked the bolt back in the "open" position and waited longer.

"Marksmen ready?!"

"R-Ready...if that's okay with you..."

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"Set...GO!"

The conveyer belt began to move, both safety switches were clicked off, and Fluttershy loaded in the first round from the magazine. She aimed down the sights, now knowing what noise was about to come out of the rifle, and pulled the trigger.

"KA-POW!"

"Clang!"

The noise of what she heard was indeed similar to Iron Will's clapping, but it much more brief and flat. It made her heart jump once, it hurt her shoulder, but she looked through the sights again. She noticed one of the targets was missing, indicating she had hit the first one. She felt happy and warm inside, but Blue Blood managed to hit his not long after. The Prince then looked down at his coat, which had gotten dirty by the dust and the table as he leaned against it, but resisted the urge to dust himself off.

"Both shooters take out their first target and come out strong!", Colby announced.

Blue Blood managed to fire again after chambering another bullet with the bolt. When he shot, no target had gone down, nor a "clang" noise was heard. Frustrated that he missed, he fired once again shortly after. The result was no different and the dust cloud rose behind the conveyer belt. Fluttershy was receiving better luck by concentrating on one target, waiting for it to move in her iron sights, then pulling the trigger after steadying the rifle. Another satisfying "Clang!" was heard and the target fell out of view. Blue Blood now concentrated through his sights, and once a target filled his sights...

"KA-POW!"

"Clang!"

"Oh man! There goes another one!", Colby spoke.

The red circle fell out of view. He cocked the bolt back, up, down, and forward so the next bullet was chambered and ready to fire. He pulled the trigger, making the rifle buck into his shoulder, smoke billow out, and another target fell down. Fluttershy managed to shoot down another target on the conveyer belt, but when she aimed at another red target, several of them, including the one she was aiming at swiveled around and reviled their black sides. She stopped herself from pulling the trigger, and engaged a red circle that was between two black ones. She aimed down the sights carefully, exhaled, and squeezed the trigger.

"KA-POW!"

No target fell down, and it occurred to her that she missed. She chambered in another round, knowing it was the fifth and final round in the magazine, and aimed at a non-black target. Blue Blood aimed carefully, and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. He opened the bolt, and realized the magazine had gone dry. Cursing himself for his ignorance of the current ammunition, he popped the magazine out, loaded in a new one, and chambered in a fresh round. But when he aimed down the iron sights, he heard another target get hit on Fluttershy's side.

"Fluttershy has taken the lead! But this can still be anyone's game!", Colby clapped his hands.

Fluttershy quickly removed her magazine, operated the steps to load a new one in, chambered another round, and fired again. She hit another red target, bringing her score to five red targets hit, compared to Blue blood's three. Then, the sound of a rifle firing came on Blue Blood's range, and one of his targets were struck down.

"Blue Blood's catching up!", Colby and the other contestants were getting pumped with excitement. Before Fluttershy fired again, Blue Blood scored another hit on a target extremely quickly, bringing him to a tie with Fluttershy.

"They're tied! They're tied!", Colby looked at both of the shooters. Fluttershy shot down her next target, and the ones next to that one turned black. Blue Blood managed to smack down another target with a .303 cartridge. But it seems that Blue blood was getting increasingly faster with his shooting, as he struck down another target, brining him ahead of Fluttershy. Fluttershy fired again at the red target, but she missed and the bullet sailed right past. But when Blue Blood found a red target, the very same target, along with a few others swiveled around and changed into black targets. He pulled the trigger, realizing too late at what he had done. He had struck the black target. It didn't go down, but two red targets that he had previously shot popped right back up. He then began to panic when Fluttershy had reloaded and hit another one of her targets, getting her two targets ahead of Blue Blood's five, after he had struck the black target. The targets switched again on Blue Blood's side, and he avoided shooting one and went for another.

"Blue Blood is beginning to regain himself! Watch out Fluttershy!"

Then, in the span of four seconds, Fluttershy struck one target, cocked the gun, and hit another one, bringing her to nine targets hit, three more than Blue Blood's score.

"This can't be happening!", Blue Blood cried out as he shot down another target after reloading, but at the same time as Fluttershy popped down her last one, ending the game.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!"

Blue Blood and Fluttershy opened their bolts, pushed the safety back on, and set the rifles down. Blue Blood couldn't believe his eyes when red targets were still going around on the conveyer belt.

"Fluttershy, you've scored ten targets hit. Blue Blood, you've scored seven.", Colby spoke to everyone.

"Fluttershy wins elimination and claims an additional prize of one thousand Bits!"

Everyone cheered and clapped, save for a few, including Blue Blood.

"Prince Blue Blood. I'm sorry, but you have fired your last shot. It was still a great pleasure for you to come on Top Shot.", Colby said to Blue Blood.

"Fine! I didn't care about the prize anyways! I have Canterlot and at least my coat won't be polluted like it is here!", Blue Blood stepped away from the table and headed back to the house to pack his things and leave.

"Fluttershy, since you've won elimination, you get to choose which team you-"

"Blue. Defiantly Blue. If...that's okay with everypony..."

The members of the Blue Team hoisted Fluttershy into the air and cheered for her as they welcomed their newest member. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Iron Will, standing a bit away, and winked at her. She winked back when she was in midair.

"Yeah! Fluttershy! WHOOP WHOOP!", Iron Will rose his arms up.

It was quite the celebration, which made the Red Team leave early. The Blue Team followed them back to the house, and to them , it just started to feel like a second home.

--

Soarin stretched as he walked into his bedroom. He sat down on his bunk and decided to crack open one of those basic knowledge firearms books that Twilight was nice enough to give everypony. But before he finished reading the front title, a voice came into his ear.

"Hey. Soarin.", it was unmistakably Spitfire's voice. Soarin turned around.

"Oh. Hey Soarin! But...I don't think you're supposed to be near the colt's bunkroom-"

"We need to talk."

Soarin shut his mouth and hopped off the bed.

"Yeah Spitfire? What's up?"

"Alright. Listen here. I don't care what Colby put you as a position, but I'm the team leader."

"Uhh...but Colby-"

"I don't care about Colby. You've always been my wingpony, and I've always been the flight leader. It's no different here. Everypony will follow my directions, and you will too.", Spitfire glared into his eyes.

"Hey! That's not fair! You can't just go around ordering me what to do now! I was chosen to be the team leader! I even got a higher score than you on the first challenge! Twice your score!", Soarin argued.

"Well, it would be a shame if the removal of a Wonderbolt would commence."

Soarin's eyes went wide.

"..."

"That's what I thought.", Spitfire said as she walked away, "Oh, and don't worry. I'll split the prize money with you. I'm pretty sure you could buy something nice with 500 Bits."

Soarin was just left there, still trying to gather what had just happened.