This spot is perfect!

Light Step smiled to herself as she alighted on a roof. The party had moved outside to the front of the castle so Luna could raise the moon with the town watching, and while this had screwed up her previous plan, she was quick to adapt and decided on a isolated rooftop about 130 meters from the balcony. She had thought about a cloud, but that would make her too visible. After all, nopony expects a pegasus near the ground! Taking off her bags, she pulled out her specialized crossbow and unfolded the limbs, once more checking it over. Happy with it's condition, she removed the bolts from the second bag. The Spell-Eaters glowed soft red in the dusk light. Choosing one, she pulled back the string, locking it back, and set the bolt on the barrel. She pulled out a combat harness from the other bag, slipping it over her upper body and securing the straps with a wing. The harness held her dagger, had slots for extra bolts and a pouch for miscellaneous items. Checking her scope, she turned a knob on the top, lighting the simple cross reticle via a charged crystal within the scope. The crossbow ready, she set it aside, sitting down and steeling herself for what she was about to do.

The rooftop she was on was far from the rest of the crowd, and she was sure that nopony would bother her here.

Sighing, she covered the crossbow with a blanket.

I'm about to kill the 'immortal' Princess of the night. What led me to do this? Was it the money? The feeling of taking power from her?

Step pondered these thoughts, unsure of what led her to this moment in time. Sure, she had done hits in the past, killing a Zebrican ambassador to the Griffin Empire, assassinating a Saddle Arabian businesspony, and a few others, but none had been on this scale.

She remembered the first time she killed, a 'simple' hit on a Minotaur that was getting 'too close' to her client's daughter. She remembered laying on a balcony, staring down the iron sights of the crossbow she bought specifically for the job, watching the Minotaur step out of his house, dressed in a suit and holding a bouquet of roses. She remembered slowly squeezing the hoof-trigger, launching the bolt at the Minotaur's head, but hitting its chest instead. The way he staggered, dropping the flowers and looking at the new one blooming on his dress shirt. Feebly reaching for the bolt, shock on his face before he pitched forward, jamming the bolt all the way through his chest and ending his life. Step had cried that night. She had taken a life, something nearly unheard of in the world, and had lost her innocence as well. She collected the payment the next day, a mere 2000 bits. That's what the Minotaur's life was worth. Two thousand bits.

After that, she stopped thinking of her contracts personally, but merely thought of it as exactly what it was. Her job. She stopped having nightmares after that. For her, the targets were no longer living, breathing beings, but just another target.

Opening her eyes, a single tear rolled down her cheek. She still remembered the look on that Minotaur's face. Pushing the thought away, she thought once more of how she was going to do this. When the princess was at the peak of her rise, she would take the shot. The Spell-eater would punch right through the magic, and with luck directly into her brain. After that, she wouldn't stick around. She would take off towards the hills, flying low to not arouse suspicion. When the night was over, she would be in Saddle Arabia, where her safe house was.

Nodding to herself, she lay down, waiting for the princess to make her appearance.

Princess Luna was distraught. In a mere 4 minutes, she was to raise the moon, but Rick was nowhere to be found. He had slipped out as they had walked into Twilight's throne room. After their 'meeting' with the mare Light Step, he had grown quiet, continuously looking behind him, uncomfortable. before he had left her in the company of the Elements of Harmony. The only thing he did was kiss her on the cheek, then he vanished.

"I'm sure he just wants to watch you from outside, Princess." Twilight Sparkle said, draping a wing around Luna.

"But he would have told us of this first! He always tells us where he's going beforehand." She said, despair evident on her face.

"I think you're overreacting, Princess," Rainbow Dash said, hovering above her. "He may be getting you something, like a present."

"Yeah! Maybe Rickey is getting you a super special present!" Pinkie pie said, her cheerful eyes improving Luna's mood slightly.

"We don't know... He said that he wouldn't let our relationship interfere wit-" She was cut off by a gasp from Rarity.

"You two are dating?! Dear Princess, you must tell us everything!" Rarity practically squealed.

Luna facehoofed, slightly annoyed.

"Yes, Miss Rarity, and we are raising the moon in a mere three minutes, so we will have to tell you some other time."

Rarity's eyes were filled with excitement as covered her mouth with her forehooves, squeeing.

"I apologize, darling, but I am most excited by this development!" She said, voice bursting with happiness.

In the corner, Rainbow Dash passed off a fifty bit coin to Fluttershy, who took it with a smug grin, unbefitting of her.

"I told you they were going to get together, Rainbow." She said, putting the coin away.

Rainbow crossed her arms, harrumphing.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She said grumpily.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was bouncing up and down, spouting words.

"Ohmygoshyouwtoaredatingimgoingtohavetothrowahappyrelationshippartyandahappyanniversarypartyeveryearandimsoexcited!!!!!!

Luna rolled her eyes, ignoring the pink pony's rambling. Looking at the clock, it was one minute to 7. Steeling herself, she prepared to step onto the balcony and address her subjects before raising the moon in front of them. Never having done this before, she was understandably nervous. She wished Rick was there to help her with her nerves, but he was off doing who-knows-what. Groaning, she hid behind her hooves, worried. But underneath the worry, was something else. Something she couldn't quite place. It felt like something was wrong, like something wasn't all that it seemed.

Her thoughts were broken by a purple alicorn placing a hoof on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Twilight looking at her with a genuine smile.

"I believe in you, Princess. You're going to do great out there." She said, pulling the princess into a hug. Luna returned it, a tear falling down a cheek.

"Thank you, young Twilight. Your words mean much to us."

The rest of the Elements looked at her with reassuring expressions. Luna, filled once more with confidence, got up and strode to the door to the balcony, opening it and stepping out into the dusk.

Rick was pissed off.

That bastard Light Step really believes she can follow Luna and I around, essentially stalking us, and not expect repercussions? She has another thing coming!

Rick carefully made his way through the crowd of ponies, scanning each and every one carefully, just as he had been trained. He had left Luna in a rush, deciding that Light Step was a threat to her safety. Back on Earth, he had done the same thing hundreds of times in training, and dozens of times on live ops. Working undercover, or on intel runs, he had walked through throngs of people at rallies, protests and concerts looking for one or two suspects. Other times, he had been tasked to follow a suspect before they hit them with the full force of S.W.A.T.

He was very good at multitasking, keeping an eye on things while doing something else. That's why he consistently noticed Light Step following them on the way back from the town hall, staying far, far behind, but not far enough. His concentration was only thrown when the 4 ponies came from the fork in the road, requiring more immediate action. After returning to their hotel, he noticed the pegasus watching through their window. Ignoring it, he knew that anything she tried would set off the magical alarms placed by Luna on the windows and door, bringing the full force of the Royal guard to their room. So he slept, safe and sound.

Then, earlier at the party, when she had run into him, his hinky bell went off once more.

Why did she have saddlebags on if she was at a party? Shouldn't she have taken them off at the door?

There were surely a thousand other reasons for her carrying them, but coupled with the events of the previous day, his suspicions were roused.

Although he seems ignorant, he is more observant than most ponies on their most paranoid day.

As his Akido sensei had once said, "Ignorance can be the best offensive strategy, if employed properly."

In his years in Law Enforcement, he had more than his fair share of combative experience. He had fought dozens of opponents ranging from a ninety pound woman hopped up on methamphetamine to a retired MMA cage fighter. Each ended the same way: A suspect in cuffs, beaten and bruised. Rick won fights because he fought to win, not for honor. He won because he knew that there were no rules on the street. Rules are for competitions.

When he knocked someone down, he didn't wait for them to get back up. He jumped on them and beat them into submission, locking them in cuffs.

Honor is for the movies. Winning is for the real world.

A scowl on his face, he continued his search. Something nice about Equestria was the fact that the ponies had different colored coats, making identification easy. Very few had grey coats, so finding her should have been easy.

Except it wasn't

He couldn't find her anywhere. Checking his watch, it read 18:58.

Shit!

He had to find her before Luna addressed the crowd. Who knows what the pegasus was planning?

Steeling himself, he exited the crowd, skirting around the edge.

C'mon, think! Okay, she's a pegasus, so maybe she's in the clouds?

Looking up, he scanned the clouds, finding nothing.

Fuck!

He grit his teeth as he kept looking.

Alright, alright. Since the whole town is out here, she can't be attempting something close-range. Not to mention that Luna would see that coming a mile away. So she's gotta be using something long range. If I were a sniper...

He paused, brow furrowed. Looking up at the rooftops, he scanned them. The close ones had pegasi on them, sitting and chatting. None of them were Light Step. Looking further, he spotted a silhouette against the slowly setting sun, about 50 metres from where he stood. Squinting, he saw wings flutter out, before settling back against its body.

Gotcha.

He began his brisk walk towards the house, deciding to take a more secluded route to avoid arousing suspicion.

"Good evening, Fillies and Gentlecolts of Ponyville."

He heard Luna begin to speak. Shit! He thought, picking up his pace towards the house. Ducking behind a nearby cottage, he carefully looked around the corner at the target house. The silhouette turned, taking something behind it. Squinting, Rick watched as the figure brought around the unmistakable shape of a crossbow.

OH FUCK!

He took off, sprinting towards the house at full speed.

This is fucking bad. Why did there have to be so many ponies to look through! Why did I have to be a fucking idiot and not deal with her right then and there? FUCK!

Rick mentally cursed himself, reaching under his dress coat and pulling his Glock from his hip holster, racking a round into the chamber. Nearing the house, he spotted a ladder leaning up against the chimney, and a few chimney-sweep tools laying around the base.

Perfect!

He jumped onto the 6th rung, gun still in hand, before rapidly ascending. Reaching the top, he quietly jumped onto the roof, the shingles making little noise. In front of him, about 12 feet, the pegasus lay on the peak of the roof, crossbow in hoof, looking through a scope mounted on top, right at Luna. He saw a faint red glow from the bolt secured on the barrel.

Motherfucker has Spelleaters. She planned this.

He brought his gun up in a two handed shooters grip, pushing down on the switch mounted just in front of the trigger, turning on the 300 lumen light mounted beneath the barrel. It was Light Step, all right. Same mane, coat, and bags laying next to her. His right index finger found the trigger and it's cold embrace.

The pegasus froze, becoming completely still.

"Let's not do something we both regret." Rick said, coldly. His gun remained steady as a rock.

Slowly, the pegasus released her grip on the crossbow, carefully standing but staying turned away from Rick. In the distance, princess Luna's horn began to glow, the light illuminating the pegasus even more.

"Back up to my voice." Rick said.

"I don't think you understand what's going on here, sir." Light Step said, carefully choosing her words.

"Back. Up. Now." Rick said, spacing his words with punctuality.

"You don't understand! I'm just following my contract!"

Does this pony really think I'm gonna believe that shit? Dumbass.

"I don't give a flat fuck what you're doing. You are not only on a rooftop with a crossbow, you are in possession of illegal ammunition, showing intent to harm Princess Luna. You have a mil-spec combat harness on. You are well within range of your weapon, and you have been following her for several days. She already has a guard, so that narrows the possibilities down. I think it's best if you just do as I say and BACK THE FUCK UP!" Rick finished with a shout.

Light Step looked back up at the balcony. Princess Luna had reached the peak of her levitation, glowing brightly as the moon slowly rose from in front of her. Looking back down, Step decided on what she was going to do. She had no idea what weapon, if any, the human had, and so she carefully backed up, pausing to use a hoof to take something from her harness.

Rick watched her back up, and noticed her reaching for something on her harness. Tightening his grip, he spoke coldly.

"Drop it. Now."

Light Step froze. Carefully extending the hoof which held the small throwing knife, she set it on the ground.

But as soon as her hoof hit the ground, she rolled to the side, picking the knife up and hurling it at the human.

Rick saw her dive to the side, and followed her with his aim before the back of his left hand erupted into agony.

"Fuck!" He yelled, losing half his grip on his gun. The pegasus took this time to rush at him, a large dagger in her teeth.

Light Step knew that this human would be easy to kill. He was holding a small black 'L' shaped stick-thing, with the light coming from beneath it. She didn't care what it was, there was no way he would be able to do anything with it.

Or so she thought.

Rick, still standing, took a half step back, before unleashing a snap kick directly into Step's muzzle, knocking the dagger from between her teeth. She reeled back, falling onto her back. Rick brought his injured left hand up to his chest, painfully curling it into a fist and holding it tight against himself. At the same time, he pushed his gun arm out at a "Quarter-Homie" 45 degree angle and leaned slightly forward, bracing himself.

It was then that Rick made a choice that he had only made twice in his career.

The world's pace slowed to a crawl, and all ambient noise drained from the surroundings. The cheering ponies not 50 meteres away, the chirping of the birds, nothing was heard by the man. His right index finger slowly curled around the trigger, taking up the slack and slowly progressing beyond. Slowly, he saw the pegasus begin to sit up, the corner of its mouth dripping blood, its eyes angry and its face pulled back in a snarl.

He slowly squeezed further, the six pound custom double-stage trigger reaching it's break point. A few more ounces and that wall would break like a glass rod, releasing the firing pin. The pegasus filled the tritium iron sights of his gun.

The pegasus slowly attempted to launch itself at Rick, wings unfurling and giving it extra propellant.

Rick began to stop seeing it as a pegasus, a living being, seeing it as just another target.

The 'glass rod' snapped.

Rick didn't even hear the shot. He saw the bullet leave the barrel, the .40 S&W Hollowpoint flying uncaring towards the snarling pony. He saw the muzzle flare, and saw the slide slowly cycle, watching the ejected casing lazily spin off to the side, smoking. He felt the gun slowly push back into his hand and arm, the stout recoil blurring his sight picture. The slide returned to the front of the gun, a new round chambered. Lining up the sights once again, he pulled through the glass wall.

THATOW

He heard the second shot, loud, sharp and poignant, and once more watched the firearm go through the motions in his hand. As always, it functioned uncaring of the situation around it. Merely a tool, doing as it was designed to do.

On the other hand, Light Step had been sure she was going to kill the human, flying at him as fast and hard as she could, when the loudest two sounds she had ever heard in her life sounded out.

THATOW THATOW

With the sounds, she felt a loss of function in her wings, then in her legs.

It was as if Celestia herself flicked a switch, relieving her of her motor functions.

The thing in the human's hand had sent a jet of flame out the end of it, followed by another shortly after, corresponding with the sounds.

Step tumbled to the roof with the loss of her limbs, landing on her side, sliding a few feet down the roof and becoming aware of a burning sensation in her lungs, followed by what felt like a pony shoving a burning hot poker in between her ribs. Trying to let out a scream, the only sound she made was a soft wheeze. Straining to bring her eyes around to look at her chest, she saw two small red holes slowly leaking her blood. She struggled to move, unable to do so.
Trying to breathe, she had a hard time drawing air into her lungs, wheezing like she had just run a marathon. She could feel her brain starting to cry out for oxygen, and slowly her bodily functions began to slow down, her brain shutting down everything but the most essential of processes. She felt a sticky liquid running down the feathers of her wings, matting them together.
Trying to flap them, she merely twitched one of them. Letting out one final wheeze, she looked up at the Human, watching him come towards her, the firestick still in his hand, before her eyes closed for the last time, introducing her to a new darkness. She felt the pain leaving her body, the worries of mortal life drifting away, along with her tainted soul. Her final thought broke through the void:

Was it all worth it?

The world came back in full force to Rick. He could smell the cordite and gunpowder from his gun invading his nostrils, and a familiar coppery smell hit him as well.

Blood.

Keeping his gun on the pegasus, he could see the two 10mm holes, spaced about 3 inches apart on her chest. A wing twitched, almost causing him to fire again, but he refrained. The pegasus let out one final wheeze, her blue eyes focusing on his gun, before they fluttered closed and the wheezing ceased. Taking his finger off the trigger and laying it on the side of the trigger guard, he exhaled, quietly saying,

"Target down."

It was something he always did. Helped him cope with the stress of what he had done. Was he justified in shooting the pegasus? Absolutely. She had attacked him, and shown clear intent to harm the Lunar Princess. He did nothing wrong.

But he would still have some nightmares for a few weeks. It happened every time.

Blood ran down the shingles, dripping off the roof into the street. Rick pushed the magazine eject, using his left hand to painfully take the magazine and place it in his pocket, before racking the slide and quickly catching the live cartridge. Wincing as he did so, he finally noticed the small, three inch knife in the back of his hand. Hissing, he holstered his pistol and reached up to grip the handle of the blade. Slowly pulling it out, a torrent of blood ran down his hand.

Fuck. Musta burst a few capillaries.

Taking off his dress jacket, he tore off a strip of the dark silk fabric with his teeth, wrapping it around his injured hand and tying an awkward knot. Blood quickly soaked through the cloth.

Rarity is not going to like that. But given the circumstances, I think she'll forgive me.

A large winged shape alighted on the roof next to him.

"RICK! Rick, are you oka-" Princess Luna abruptly stopped talking, looking at the dead pegasus, the crossbow, and Rick's hand with wide eyes.

"Oh my..." Luna said, trailing off as she took in the grisly sight. She rushed over to Rick, looking at his hand with utter concern.

Rick suddenly pulled her into an unexpected hug, wrapping both hands tightly around her, slightly trembling as he did so. She felt his blood dribble onto one of her wings. With the hug, Luna felt all of his emotions, his worry, his sorrow, his righteous fury flow into her. Tears coming to her eyes, she drunk this in, returning the hug with empathy, her forehooves on his shoulders.

"Oh, Rick, I'm so sorry..." Luna said, the royal 'we' absent from her words. Rick merely held on, working his way through his feelings.

"L-Luna..." He stuttered. "She was- she was going to k-kill you." The normally austere man was starting to tear up, the notion of the one he loved being killed becoming too much for the hardened cop to bear.

He cried into her, bleeding the events of the night into her.

The stars dimmed.

The world became still for the two, sharing the hug together.

And inside her, Luna felt his sorrow.

And she wept for him.

And he wept for her.

Author's Note

"There are those who have experienced the “Thank God it wasn’t me” response. Having this thought race through your mind upon seeing violent death is arguably one of the deepest, darkest, most shameful of all human responses. However, when you tell people that it is a normal thought, it is as if a huge weight has been lifted, and their sense of shame no longer has power to hurt them."

-Dave Grossman, On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and Peace.

Contrast is the key to a good story. Once again, I got into a mood and couldn't stop writing, so this chapter was out quick. Hope you enjoyed.

May the innocent never be forced to experience the horror that is killing.