Equestrian Royal Intelligence

KABOOM!!!

I was thrown across the room and into a wall as an explosion decimated the stained glass windows and wall next to me. My back slammed into the wall, making me grunt in surprise, and fell to the ground with a snap. Pain writhed it way across my body, but I forced myself stand up. I looked back around my body, not sure what made that large snap sound, until I looked back. My left wing was bent at an unnatural angle in the middle of the bone, not at the joint. I managed to get a curse out of my mouth, which barely wanted to move. "For fuck sake..." And for some reason my coat was covered in blood, although my cuts and scratches weren't bleeding that badl-

"AHHHHHH!!!!" The scream came from the Royal Guard on the left side of the entrance, which on which side the bomb had blown up. One of his hoofs were a nearly blown off, and his chest was a bloody mess. From here I could see a gash through his I galloped over. The other Guard was already there.

"Are you o-okay? Please-" More screaming interrupted me, and I forced a scroll I found into his mouth as a gag.
"Mffw mffw!!!!" The screaming finally stopped. The Guard's eyes darted to look at me. "As I said p-please stay s-still... The medics are on their w-way." I was talking quite fast and my breathing was fast and shallow, trying to fight back the pain in my wing. Oh shit. I forgot about the Princesses! I mentally facehoofed at my stupidity as I galloped as fast as my body would let me over to their thrones. Thankfully, they were relatively unharmed, with only minor cuts and bruises. I looked back; the Guard was using a piece of tapestry covering his fallen brother with who was laying dead on the ground. I turned my attention back to Princess Celestia.

"Lieutenant, there are ponies in the castle! Find them immediat-"

RATA-TATA-TATA-TAT!!!

Seven bullets whizzed overhead, ricocheting off the wall and breaking all of the remaining glass hanging in the windows. Everypony in the room ran into cover behind the thrones.

"Who is shooting at us?" I asked the Royal Guard that slid behind the throne at the last second. The firing started back up, this time a little more accurate.

"I don't know! Somepony, it looks like, is wearing a black mask and clothing!"

RATA-TATA-TATA-TATA-TATA-TAT!!!

Our cover was being slowly eaten away. Celestia and Luna both looked pissed, but without a gun, they couldn't shoot back. Using my newfound magic skills, I slid my carbine out of it's holster and loaded a magazine. I threw the rifle out into the air over the thrones and blindly pulled the trigger.

PEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEW- click-click-click.

Damn! I had fired the whole clip without- the shooting stopped. I looked over the barricade. Our opponent kneeled down, holding his hoof over his chest. I did hit my target! The Guard next to me rolled out from the cover and ran over to our opponent. I vaulted over the barricade, and ran after him.

"Drop the weapon! Drop it! Drop it!" he yelled, motioning with his sword-rifle.

Clink.

I looked down. In the unknown pony's mouth was a pin. A spherical metal object clattered to the floor. I turned to gallop away. Instinctively, the Guard tried to flee also, but it was too late for him.

"Noo-!"

BOOM!!!

I was painted red as the grenade exploded, instantly killing the Guard and the intruder. Blood splattered against my coat, and bits of flesh stuck to me, wanting to be part of a fully functioning pony again. I stood there, unsure if this really was happening. And then I screamed. I couldn't help it. Three ponies had died in front of me, in a gruesome manner. I was covered in blood. I tried to block it out of my mind, but I had finally snapped. I wanted my mother, to go back to those days long ago where she would hold me in her lap and tell me stories of how Celestia had banished Luna to the moon. I wanted to curl up into a little ball and block out the outside world. I wanted to put the barrel of my weapon up to my head and pull the trigger. But I knew I couldn't. No. I had a job. I had a duty. That outweighed whatever I thought, whatever I wanted. And so I stood up. A scowl on my face, I strode out of the decimated throne room.

"D-Dasher! Where are you going?" exclaimed Princess Luna.

"To finish this fucking thing."

"Intruder alert at the southern gate!"

"Multiple hostiles at the western gate! We need backup!"

"We are pinned down in the courtyard! OH SH-" My comm-link chirped as I switched it off, and I galloped down the hallway. The hallways were empty aside from the occasional group of Guards running to their posts, sword-rifles drawn. The pew-pew of magical weapons and racket of conventional weapons blended together to create a never-ending roar. I galloped through a doorway and immediately ducked as bullets chipped away at the stone archway above me.

"Shit!" I magically pulled out the clip and tried to load another one, (It was still hard to even levitate the weapon, let alone both it and the clip) and finally succeeded. I put the carbine up to my shoulder, and stood up. Looking through the scope, I picked off one after another.

PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW!

Another volley of rounds whizzed by, and one grazed my mane, barely missing my temple. I turned to my attacker and pulled the trigger.

PEWEWEW!!!

Lances of light slashed through the pony's chest into his heart, instantly killing him. No, wait, her. I galloped up to the corpse, crouched down, and pulled off her mask. It wasn't a pony. No. It was a zebra. Zebras attacking Canterlot? No. That just can't be. The zebras in Equestria were a bit weird and a bit cut off from others, yes, but they worshipped Princess Celestia and Princess Luna just as much as any other pony in Equestria. But thinking about zebras, there have been many reports about a group of zebras forming a militia in the North-

RATA-TATA-TAT!!!

Bullets tore through my still sticking out left wing and my left flank. I fell to the ground, my brain registering extreme pain on most of my left side. I aimed my carbine at him and emptied the rest of the magazine into my new attacker.

PEWEWEW!!!

I won the shooting competitions at the Academy for a reason. The three bolts slashed at the zebra's chest, making him stumble. The zebra (I assumed) limped a little closer, raised his (I could tell by how confident he was) automatic rifle, and started to squeeze the trigger. I closed my eyes, praying to Celestia to make my death quick and painless.

click.

I opened my left eye. The zebra looked down at the rifle he was holding in his mouth. He pulled the bolt back with his hoof, and pulled the trigger again.

click.

His determined expression wiped off of his face. He continued to pull the trigger, obviously not believing that it had jammed.

click. click. click. click.

His eyes went wide in fear as I slowly lifted my carbine out of the pool of blood surrounding me. Shaking the carbine, I slowly stood up. The zebra opened his mouth and dropped his rifle. It hit the floor with a clatter. Pointing the barrel towards him, I squeezed the trigger with my magic.

click.

Well shit.