The hooded equine figure quietly made its way through the streets of Canterlot.

Careful to remain unseen, it dodged its way through the damp and dark streets of the poorer district.

It was late for a meeting.

Ducking into a nearby alley, the figure came up to a steel door. Smacking its hoof into the metal produced 3 clang sounds. Shortly after, a set of dark blue eyes was seen through a slot in the door. Scanning the figure stood there, it nodded before the slot closed and the door opened. The room within was small, barely big enough for the singular guard that remained. The guard opened a secondary wooden door and revealed a bustling 'warehouse', with ponies of all races and colors hustling about, carrying drugs, weapons, and files. several tables were set up within; atop them accoutrements for making and packaging drugs or weapons, and off to either side halls led to more areas of production and lodging. Steel racks were set up on the far end, for storage, and every twenty or thirty feet an armed pony stood, watching over the operation with careful eyes.

"Welcome back, Boss." A light blue unicorn said to the cloaked stallion.

Taking off their cloak, the black pegasus tossed it to a lackey nearby. His short grey mane and tail were cut roughly, and his red eyes shone with a fire of hate. On his flank was a silver sword crossed with a scythe. Walking around the tables teeming with activity, he made his way down the left hall towards his office. His lieutenant fell into step beside him, pushing the lesser ponies out of his way as they went.

"Talk to me, Firestorm." The pegasus said.

"Our drug operations are making us around 50,000 bits per month. Within about two or three months, our troops should be ready for the assault on Canterlot castle. Our mole in the Royal Guard says that the guards are incompetent, only good for show. They should be an easy battle." Firestorm, the unicorn, said.

"Good. Focus more on weapons systems. We need those spell-throwers ready for mass production by next week. Without them, even our hardened troops are going to have a tough time getting into the castle. We also need to make sure that we have enough troops to defend the castle from counter-attack once we've taken it. How's the enhancement serum coming along?"

"We've hit a snag, at this point it's more of a berserk rage potion than a proper combative enhancement drug. I estimate about a month until we get the mixture right."

"Get it done in two weeks. We don't have time for setbacks."

"You got it, boss."

Coming up to a heavy oak door, the pegasus turned to his colleague.

"Hey, Firestorm, you've been working damn hard recently. Go ahead and take tomorrow off. Get your thoughts in order. Alright?"

The unicorn was puzzled for a moment, but quickly one-hoof saluted and said,

"Alright, boss." and then he was gone.

Tainted Fury opened the door to his office, stepping inside. Around the large central conference table were four ponies, each representing one of the sponsors of their little operation. Walking around the table to his seat at the far end, Fury jumped up into it and looked over each of the others. After a moment, a cream-colored Earth pony spoke.

"We have information on Princess Luna and her ape."

Fury raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

The pony pulled out a thin file from their briefcase with their teeth, dexterously tossing it over in front of him.

Pausing for a moment, Fury looked down at the file before flipping it open to the first page.

A single, glossy photo print lay inside.

It was of Princess Luna and her human compatriot sharing a kiss at the party last night.

"My, my, what do we have here?"

"Tabloids are blowing up. Princess Luna has yet to release an official statement, but rumor has it that her and the ape are in a relationship."

"Speaking of the creature, what do we know about it?"

The pony which had given Fury the image pulled another file from his briefcase, this one not much thicker. Hoofing it open, the stallion sifted through a few pages, pulling out additional photos.

"We know his name and his occupation. That's it."

"Yes, I am aware that he completed the rigorous personal guard testing. Unfortunately, we don't know much about the testing past the first phase. Damned secrecy act. He may be a thorn in our side... Is he armed?"

"Yes. But we are unaware of how something so small can be dangerous." The pony passed a picture to Fury. It was poor quality, taken from afar, but showed the object quite clearly. An 'L' shape, with a hollow rectangle at the interior angle of the L.

"How do we even know that it's a weapon?" Fury asked, dubious.

A mare from across the table spoke.

"W-we don't. But as far as we're concerned, he is a weapon. You remember what happened when we tried to knock him off after his arrival," She shivered, "He tore through three Earth ponies and a Unicorn like wet hay!"

"They were also untrained and naive," Fury spat, "I can assure you, we will not have the same issues with my soldiers."

The mare shrank. Psh, Nobles.

"What about the assassin? Have we heard back from her?"

"She should complete her assignment within a day or do. Provided she hasn't been compromised."

"Yes, that would be... unfortunate." Fury said, a grimace on his face.

Murmurs of assent filled the room.

Clearing his throat, Fury spoke again.

"Alright. The soldiers are aching for a trial, and I'm inclined to give one to them. There's a small garrison on the far edge of the Everfree; we could have them raid it and cover our tracks by blaming Timberwolves. Make it seem like they got attacked from the forest."

The group nodded, entertaining the idea.

"All in favor?"

All hooves rose.

"Motion carries. We'll enact the plan tomorrow night."

Rick awoke to warmth and softness. Opening his eyes, he was introduced to the adorable Princess Luna, snuggled up next to him and snoozing with a cute smile on her face.

I am 100% okay with seeing this every morning.

Luna shifted a bit, groggily opening her eyes as well.

"Good morning, Love." Rick said, softly running his fingers through Luna's galaxy mane.

"Good morning, my human," Luna replied, "Do you have the time, per chance?"

"9:30," He stated, checking his watch.

"Agh! Earlier than usual! Blasted schedule!"

Rick let out a snicker. Sitting up, he stretched out his arms above his head and let out a yawn, cracking his back in the process. Giving Luna a quick kiss, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood, scratching his lower thigh as he meticulously made his way to the bathroom, leaving Luna on the bed. Smiling slightly, Luna hopped off the bed as well, wandering over thru the kitchen to her room. On the bedside stand, her silver chestpiece and shoes lay glimmering. Over the past few days, she felt far nicer not wearing them, as they were quite heavy. Yes, she was an Alicorn, and even stronger than Rick(a drunken arm-wrestle had proved that, although he definitely had more leverage), but they still weighed down on her.

Her stomach rumbled.

"Hmm... what to eat..." She mused, putting a hoof to her chin in thought.

Sugarcube Corner sounded pretty good. She decided to bring it up with Rick when he came out of the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Rick was washing his hair in the shower.

Rinsing off, Rick stood under the showerhead for another few moments, enjoying the water, before turning it off and stepping out. Quickly drying off, he wrapped a towel around his waist before walking into his room. As he walked out, Luna called from the other room.

"Rick, love! Does Sugarcube Corner sound good for breakfast?"

"Absolutely! I could go for a bagel right now." Rick answered without hesitation, dropping his towel and reaching for his luggage. Luna walked into the room.

"Excellen-" she stopped her sentence short, cheeks turning red, at Rick's naked form.

"What-now?" Rick asked, turning around and looking at her.

Luna stared at Rick's crotch, jaw slightly open and eyes fixated on a certain part of Rick's anatomy.

Rick looked down at himself, then back up at Luna.

"Well excuse me if it's a little small! It gets bigger, I swear!" He said, crossing his arms.

Luna, who had been thinking some rather raunchy thoughts, snapped out of her zone.

"-Th-at is n-not what I was thinkin-g!" She stammered.

"Uh-huh. Look all you want, love." He said, pulling on a set of boxer briefs.

Luna took advantage of that statement, sitting down in place and watching Rick clothe himself. Even after all these months together, she still found his policy of constantly wearing clothing a bit strange. Yet another weird human custom.

Rick finished putting on his shirt, tucking it into his jeans. Grabbing a belt from his luggage, he took his magazines and began to slip his belt on, looping equipment on as he went. Finally, he put his empty holster on, fastened his belt, and picked up his gun.

Then dropped it right back on the table, reeling back from it and letting out a shout. Luna was instantly at his side, looking around vigilantly for anything that could have caused the reaction.

"Are you okay?" she asked sharply, concern evident in her tone.

"Yeah! Yeah, just... had a moment there. Sorry." He said, calming down and squeezing his eyes closed tightly, before opening once more. Luna was wary.

"Are you sure?" She said.

"Yeah. I just had a flashback, that's all. Happens from time to time. Uh, do you know of any psychiatrists that I could see in the near future? Preferably a combat psychiatrist, or something similar." He said, shaking off the moment.

"I'm sure we can find one. I believe there is one for the guard who may be able to see you. I'll make an inquiry when we return to Canterlot this evening."

Rick dropped to his knees and grasped Luna's head, pulling her close and planting a kiss on her lips. He held it for a moment, before breaking the union and embracing her.

"I'm sorry about that. It's one of the downsides of my job." He said, squeezing her.

"It's absolutely fine, my love. I love you all the same." She returned, nibbling on his ear playfully.

He pulled away from her, a genuine smile on his face, before returning to the table. Picking up his gun once more, Luna watched carefully as he removed the magazine, checking the capacity, before re-inserting it into the gun and racking the slide. Pulling back the slide slightly and seeing that a round was indeed loaded, he holstered the gun and grabbed his light jacket. Pulling it on, he zipped up the front and turned to Luna.

"Ready when you are, sweetie."

The walk to Sugarcube Corner was lovely, albeit a bit quiet. Even at 10 AM, there were very few ponies out, and many of them were avoiding eye contact with the Princess. Luna knew why, as the previous night probably had them shaken. Passing by a newsstand manned by a crotchety old stallion, she took a couple bits from her mane(Rick always wondered how she got them to stay there) and set them on the counter. The stallion looked up from his reading, looked back down, then jumped up with wide eyes at the sight of Princess Luna.

"Oh, my! My apologies, Princess, you caught me off guard!"

"It's alright, my subject. Would you mind handing me one of these papers?"

"Certainly, Princess!"

The stallion retrieved a newspaper and set it on the counter alongside the bits, then took the bits and put them into a small pouch.

"Thank you, Mr...?"

"Well Read, Princess."

"Thank you, Mr. Read. Have a lovely rest of your morning." Luna said, giving the stallion a gentle smile and passing the paper to Rick.

"You as well, Princess!" The stallion waved after them as they continued their walk to Sugarcube Corner. At least some of the populace wasn't terrified.

Finally arriving, Rick stepped forward to the door and pushed it open, the bell jingling as he held it for Luna.

Suddenly, a pink pony appeared at the counter, excitedly bouncing up and down in place.

"Hiya, Princess! Hiya, Rick!" Pinkie Pie said, a massive smile plastered on her face. "How are you guys?"

Shaking his head with a smile, Rick replied, "I'm okay, Pinkie. Better than I was last night."

"Well that's good! Anyways, what can I do you guys for?" the energetic pony asked.

"We'd like to get breakfast, please." Luna said.

"Super! What'll you have?"

Perusing his options, Rick settled on a cinnamon sugar bagel and a doughnut that looked too delicious to pass up. Luna picked a cheese danish. Pointing out their choices to Pinkie, she took them from the display case and went to warm them up. Rick set a ten-bit coin on the counter and grabbed a small packet of cream cheese, fresh made in-house. Luna had already found a booth. The rest of the small cafe area was empty, as it was past 'true' breakfast time. Rick slid into the booth next to Luna, draping an arm around her swan-like neck and bringing her closer to him. Luna snuggled in next to him, cooing softly. Rick used his other hand to pull the newspaper out of his jacket so they could peruse it together.

The first headline read Murder in Ponyville? with a poorly shot image of Luna taking flight minutes after the shooting last night. Rick sighed and set the paper on the table, rolling his eyes. Luna picked it up in her magic and scrutinized it, reading the first bit of the article.

"Well, there's good news here and bad news. The good is that the paper didn't implicate me as the suspect, but the bad news is that they're saying I didn't react fast enough. Like I even knew anything was going to happen anyways! Damnned journalists. Besides, they don't even have anything to say about your shots! It's as if-"

"They don't know that my gun exists." Rick finished for her.

"Exactly! They're saying that it was my magic!"

"Well, to them, it is. Keep in mind, only a few peop-ponies know about it."

"True..."

Luna settled in to finish the rest of the paper, as Rick played with her ethereal mane, reveling in the surprising softness of the fibers. Luna unconsciously leaned more into him, letting out a soft sigh of content. Rick began to softly stroke at Luna's withers and back, making sure to avoid the wings. Luna became less focused on the paper, closing her eyes with a dreamy smile, putting all her weight into Rick.

She was snapped out of her blissful relaxation by one Pinkie Pie, delivering their food with a smile. Thanking the energetic pink mare, Luna and Rick slowly ate their breakfasts, with Rick picking up the neglected paper, whilst continuing to pet Luna.

Despite the events of the previous night, things were starting to look up for the Lunar couple.

Author's Note

I really need an editor.
Also, Sorry about boring plot.