"It often takes only one shot."
~ Lieutenant Silver Phosphor, heavy crossbow specialist and sharpshooter of the Lunar Guard.
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My job is to watch. My job is to wait. I suppose that makes me a spectator of sorts, some unseen, distant guardian waiting for the right time to strike.
I watch. I wait. Peering through a glass lens down towards the party below. The guards, they watch, they protect, but none can accurately survey the entirety of the gardens all at once.
Tonight, it's this year's Grand Galloping Gala.
Below, I see Princess Twilight Sparkle mingling with the crowd. I've decided to watch over her, for now.
I hear hoofsteps from behind me.
"Anything happened yet?" I hear a voice say, behind my left side. I don't even flinch. My grip tightens, ever so slightly, around the massive black and silver crossbow in my hooves.
"Nothing so far," I reply, turning my head. I see a tall, navy blue stallion staring back at me, clad in a suit of armor only worn by us members of the Lunar Guard. Dark, polished plates cover his body, as well as the joints of his leathery, batlike wings. Two hefty steel gauntlets cover the lower halves of his forelegs.
"Good. Keep watch," Lieutenant Quasar responds, turning away and flying off into the shadows. I return my gaze back down through the crossbow's scope. Nothing out of the ordinary below.
I watch as Twilight makes her way towards the 'restricted' seating, where important VIPs such as the Wonderbolts, Royal Guard captains, and even the princesses themselves are seated. I see several familiar faces guarding its perimeter.
Lord Solus Imperium, the second commander of the Canterlot Royal Guard, stands watch at the VIP area's quote-unquote entrance. I know little of Imperium beyond his name, only that he rose to the top following Prince Shining Armor's transfer to the Crystal Empire.
Imperium looks at the young princess, nods, and lets her pass. I watch as she approaches a table already seating three ponies. She sits, offering Princess Celestia a cheery wave, before turning her attention towards Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and her husband, Prince Shining Armor. Princess Luna is nowhere to be seen, but I regretfully admit to myself that I'm not surprised at all.
Cadenza eagerly speaks with Twilight, with Shining Armor tossing in a comment or two along the way. Celestia stays interestingly silent, though it's likely nothing more than a polite gesture.
I gently lower my weapon a few inches, satisfied with the situation. I swing myself to the left, once again raising the scope to my eye and resuming my work. I am once again a silent surveyor, watching and waiting.
I spot a familiar face on the edge of the crowd, though it belongs to a stallion whom I didn't expect to see. Two vertical lines run down the left side of his face, and the numerous scars on his left foreleg are visible through the gaps in his suit of armor. I shift the crossbow in my hooves as I watch Captain Eclipse, leader of the Lunar Guard, slide through the crowd. The two long, sharp swords hung from his side sit sheathed and ready, prepared for any sign of trouble.
I grip the crossbow as uneasiness takes hold of my heart. The presence of the captain himself at this particular moment brings no comfort, only a measure of anxiety. I turn my weapon further to the left, only coming across more and more faces in the distant crowd. I recognize a few of them, while others go unknown. This does not fill me with a renewed sense of ease, instead quite the opposite.
Any single one of the unfamiliar faces below could be hiding in plain sight. Any single one of them could be carrying a malicious weapon, or worse, could be a malicious individual.
I shift my crossbow again at the thought. That possibility is very much real, no matter how hard I try to convince myself otherwise. Tonight, especially, I do not feel comfortable in the slightest. Ever since we made that discovery yesterday, everything has felt very, very wrong.
I release a shaky sigh, steadying my grasp on the crossbow. Calm nerves, calm nerves. Nothing has happened. Nothing is out of the ordinary.
Tonight is the Grand Galloping Gala.
I hear hoofsteps nearby, behind me. Dread and anxiety hit my chest like a train as I slowly lower the weapon. I feel my heart rate increase, and a rush of adrenaline floods my system. I don't turn my head.
"Anything happened yet?" a voice asks. This time, I do not respond.
I gently set the crossbow down. Several seconds pass in total silence. Slowly, I rest a hoof upon a single wooden handle on the side of my chestplate.
"Hello?"
I tear my knife from its sheath as I whirl around, blindly slashing at the open air. A grunt is heard as I make contact, followed by a bright flash of green light. I leap forward, thoughtless and running on instinct, swinging the knife's blade again, and again, and again.
The coal-black figure now before me falls back, wounded, bleeding, and angry. It snarls a two-tone, insectoid howl, before buzzing its translucent wings and sending itself flying forwards.
Without a thought, I thrust my knife upwards. The blade makes contact, and it sinks in deep. I quickly twist the knife, worsening the wound before forcibly ripping it out again. Green blood soaks my hooves as the lifeless body of a changeling, fanatically loyal to its queen, falls down before me.
I turn, eyes wild, mouth open, and shout. I yell and wave my forelegs. Nobody below notices. In frantic frustration, I immediately pick up my crossbow, peering down to where Captain Eclipse now stands. I prepare to fire off a bolt and embed it into the ground beside him, but a flash of motion catches my eye. A lone, pure white pegasus flies through the air, making a beeline towards the table where three princesses and a prince sit. Several guards move to intercept, but a flash of jade light renders their target gone.
I witness the false pegasus exit the teleport. I shift my crossbow, line up the scope, and take one, single shot. The bolt flies fast and true, its path one of clear certainty.
The pegasus disappears. A changeling falls in his place. Time grinds to a halt as it hits the ground.
Silence. Utter, complete silence. I find myself incapable of moving.
I watch, I wait, as the crowd below erupts in a sea of bright, jade flames.
The End
Author's Note
About time I uploaded something.
Consider this a little teaser into my alternate version of Equestria. While this short little story takes place in my version of the universe, I don't consider this particular story as being 100% canon. It's directly related to my other, much larger projects, but at least for now I'm classifying this as independent of those.
Hope you enjoyed, or it was at the very least a bearable experience.
Written and published entirely through my phone, so if any formatting issues exist please do tell me.