A small flash of sunlight from the Chiefs Heliograph, signalled he was in position. I flicked off the safety and took aim. Another signal and the two ponies on the roof fell, choking out their last breaths in this world. Racking the crossbows mechanism, I clicked another bolt into position. The patrolling pony turned at the sound of the one on the roof falling into the bushes behind the cabin. He lifted his crossbow and stopped in his tracks, a bolt through his chest. Damn it, the crossbow was at maximum effective range already and this guys hide must be tougher than most.

I broke cover, the short sword held low, point forward. He turned just as I reached him, my swords point splitting his hide, sliding through muscle and sinew before finally piercing his heart.

I sidestepped neatly, allowing gravity to pull his still warm corpse from my slick blade. A quick flick and the blood cleared the deadly steel. I moved as silently as a cloud across the sky, low and smooth. I could feel my muscles working beneath my skin, tensing, ready to strike.

A whistle from the side of the house caught the attention of the sentry and I sprung forward, slitting the throat of the guard before he could react. I caught his crossbow before it hit the porch floor but the bolt slid and clattered onto the planking below. The other guard span to face the new threat, pausing in shock as he took in the sight of his comrade falling to the floor, blood fountaining from his throat, his gore dripping from my sword.

It was the last thing he would ever see. His arms twitched as the huge blue earth pony’s forelegs twisted his neck with a sharp snap, silencing him forever. Watching Mitre in action was certainly an education.

The cabins interior was in total darkness, the curtains closed and the lamps extinguished. This wasn’t going to be easy. I’d searched the ponies outside for flash bugs, not finding even one. Mitre signed a tactical move and, reloading the crossbows,
we entered. Once in the darkened hallway, the Chief used his heliograph to see inside the first room before swinging in. Nothing. Next room.

A Fizz’d up Pony, foam flying from his nostrils, charged at us from the darkness screaming like a harpy. I put two bolts into him before he went down.

The third room, nothing. The fourth and last…..

The Chief signed. ‘On three’, I nodded my understanding. We kicked the door open, crossbows sweeping the room. Damn….empty.

There were signs of a violent struggle, broken glass, plates and smaller items were spilled liberally across the floor. I moved over to the upended chair and, in the sliver of light from between the curtains, I could see a dark wet patch glistening. I ran my hoof through it. Blood…blood and green hair. I looked closer, it could have been from any green pony but, goddesses no…. I lifted a long pale green hair, long enough to be from a mane or tail.

“Fairlight ?”, the Chiefs voice from behind me brought me back to my senses. He gestured towards the window, blood and green hair smeared across the bottom of the frame told their own story.

A stifled cry from the front of the house resounded through the cabin. As one, we ran back down the hallway, covering each other as we made the front door. Outside….Meadow, lying on her side at the hooves of a violet pony, sporting a short buzz cut white mane. He seemed familiar but those eyes, purple eyes I’d seen recently….

“Fumbles.” The Chief spat, raising his crossbow, “What the fuck are you doing pony ?”

The violet unicorn grinned at us and sighed out an exaggerated breath. “Whats it look like Chief ? I’m here for my tip”, he laughed and violently kicked Meadow who let out a moan of pain.

“You bastard ! I’ll fucking kill you !”, I screamed at him in fury, my mind a haze of red anger. “Down boy !”, the traitorous unicorn laughed as a bolt slammed into my hind leg, sending me to the ground.

“Keep your dog on a leash Mitre, eh ?” He sneered.

Mitre lowered his crossbow, raising a hoof. “Okay Fumbles, steady now, you’ve got our attention. Let the filly go and we’ll talk.”

“That’s better !”, Fumbles said in a jovial voice. “But not quite good enough…”. Another bolt shot out and struck Mitre in the chest. He fell, the ground shaking as his bulk slammed into it.

“Look….Fumbles….you don’t have to do this…”, the Chief managed, a look of pain crossing his face.

The violet unicorn looked up at the sky and scratched his chin in thought, “You know, I did wonder about that ? But then I thought, nah, you’ve caused me a lot of trouble Chief. My employers are not happy ponies, not happy at all. You’ve caused delays in shipments, cost them, me, money.”

“Is that what this is about ? Money ?!”, I shouted at him. Fumbles rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue. Another bolt slammed into my flank, making me scream aloud as the white hot agony flared through my body.

“For Celestia’s sake Fumbles, you’re a Watch Pony, we’re your brothers. Don’t do this.”
He shook his head, “My employers are not patient ponies Chief, oh, wait, here they are now.”
A sky carriage pulled by two cloaked unicorns landed gracefully near by. Fumbles kept his crossbow trained on us and two ponies, both covered with the same type of cloak as the carriages drivers, walked up to the violet one. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but it didn’t look good for any of us by the sidelong glances we were getting. I looked to Meadow, she was breathing but unconscious.

“Chief…”, I whispered, “..how you keeping up ?”.
He looked at me weakly, the bolt was deeply embedded, probably pressing on his heart by its position. If he didn’t get help soon, it’d be too late.

“Fairlight…..”, he croaked, “….save Meadow….”, his face contorted in pain, “Listen…I don’t think I’m…. going to make it, boy…. Get her out of here, tell Shelly I’m sorry. Can you….can you do that for me ?”.
“Chief for Luna’s sake, hold on the team’s on its way, helps coming”, I told my Chief, trying to sound encouraging. He nodded, closing his eyes with a smile. He didn’t believe me, I could tell.

Fumbles was having a conversation with another occupant of the sky carriage, finally bowing low as the door closed. With a flurry of wings, the carriage took to the air and out over the trees. The violet stallion walked over to Meadow sneering down at her before leaning down and running his tongue slowly up her neck while watching my reaction. “Such a pretty little thing isn’t she ?”, he oozed in that sickly voice of his, “I’ll bet you’ve ploughed this one plenty.”

I snarled at the damnable creature, “Leave her alone you bastard, you’ve done enough.”
“Done enough !?” he cried aloud waving his forelegs in the air in a theatrical display of mockery, “Oh no, Mister Watch pony, I haven’t done nearly enough. You see, we need a…..yes…an example. Ponies are timid creatures by nature, the strong ones rising to the top to lead the rest. Good followers you see ?”. He waved an expansive gesture with a foreleg, “Fear can be used as a tool to keep the others in line, allow our operation here to continue without…..’interference’.”

“You….traitorous dog”, Mitre said, “The watch will find you and….”
Fumbles clopped his hooves together and jigged about with a look of glee, “Oh ! Of course ! Silly me, how could I forget. Must be my age, but then you’d know all about that wouldn’t you Mitre ?”. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, round golden coloured device. My heart sank.

“So trusting…..”, he said softly.

Standing on his hind legs as if to an imaginative audience, Fumbles shouted out, his voice echoing across the forest clearing,

“Oh ponies of the Watch, where fore art thou ? Come hither to the rescue of these three, thy distressed brothers and sister.” He spoke to the device, mimicking the Chiefs voice, “Whats that ? You’re there and the place is empty ? A bomb you say ? Everyone blown to matchwood you say ? Oh my goodness !”

Fumbles shook his mane and fixed us with a look of absolute contempt, “Yes, I’m afraid, dearest Chief Mitre and supporting act….”, he gestured towards me dismissively, “your flying squad will be slightly delayed. Rather than arriving here in, what was it now….’thirty minutes ?’, there will be a slight change to the scheduled destination…..”.

He stood on his hind legs again, forelegs raised up and head back, “….The Afterlife !” he screamed out hysterically.

“You first, cunt….”, Mitre gasped out as he emptied the entire magazine of the crossbow into Fumbles’ chest. The vile creature staggered back, scrabbling at the shafts protruding from him, blood already beginning to trickle down from the wounds. He fell backwards, dead.

I looked to Mitre. The Chiefs eyes were glassy and lifeless, my old boss and mentor, had left to join the Eternal Herd. I magicked up my crossbow and rolled to see the cloaked ponies rushing me. I loosed a shot off at the first and he yelped as the bolt clipped his ear. I tried to cycle the next bolt but the cursed thing was jammed solid. Using it like a cudgel, I swung it at the biggest one of the two, bouncing off him harmlessly.

As their distance closed, I drew my sword. The large pony stopped and produced a long black tube from the depths of his cloak. I’d seen these before, this was one of those scum from the warehouse and now he was going to finish the job. I was staring death in the face when my world exploded in fire and pain. I fell into darkness, the world crumbling in around me. From what sounded like they came from a distant world, I heard the fading voices of the two ponies,

“Celestias tits, Mel, looks like you damn near blew his head off ! Is he still alive ?”

“Still breathing, but not for long I reckon. Come on we’ve got a job to do.”.

“We’ve still got time to have some fun with this cute little filly first, right ?”

“Yeah. By the time we’re done with these two, no pony will ever fuck with the boss ever again.”

Their laughter was the last thing I hear before the darkness swallowed me whole.