Waking up proved to be a chore. Slogging my head upwards to realize that my left hoof was already dangling off the edge of the couch feeling slightly painful, not only that I had slept oddly with a hoof dangling, but also that I had a serious headache. Last night had been a ruckus, but I got paid enough to live for another few months. That's all that matters: a steady cash flow.

Speaking of cash the envelope at my door rested on my nightstand, alongside where I had tossed the tools of the trade from the night prior. I trotted over to it gently; that is, after falling out of my couch and landing with an amusing thump. The envelope was a mere 5 feet away, so it didn't take much to reach it. Once I was at it I noticed something rather peculiar. The address was in Latin.

'Savare Vitas'

I knew enough of the language to know exactly what it meant. Savare Vitas is a infinitive phrase meaning 'To save lives'. It's now taken up by the six new government officials. Ironically, I really see no life saving purpose for them, other than to keep countries from nagging at each other over trivial problems. To be honest, I think this might just be a coincidence: there's no way any governmental body would need the assistance of a pony like me, especially if they have control of the defense forces and Equestrian Secret Society.

Whatever. I ripped the top open with my mouth. The contents spilled all over the floor.

'Wonderful job, Dasher, this is exactly what you need' I thought to myself.

Ignoring my sarcastic alter-ego, I proceeded to pick up the first part of the contents. It was a photo. The mare in it wasn't too bad in the looks department, though she did look about middle age. She had aged well. Her dark purple mane, save for a few random streaks of colors here and there, and her pinkish coat; looked innocent enough. Only problem though: there were other pictures of her.

One showed her cutie mark, resting on her flank lay an equality sign. Though her special talent may be math, she didn't look the type one bit. On further examination, something wasn't right about the way that mark sat. Something was off; it was as if she had tried to attach a crooked cutout of the sign and painted over it to make some almost convincing illusion that it was hers. There wasn't any way.

The next picture confirmed my suspicions. In the next photo she was drying off with a towel, and there the real mark showed. It was actually a star, leading behind it a solid line of light blue. Why would shy lie about her mark? What's so detrimental that she would need to paint over it so that nobody would identify her? I had a feeling I knew what this buyer wanted done.

I dropped that; it was the last image of her. On the floor was 5 pages of papers, all of different ages and subjects. Something else had gotten a firm grasp on my attention though. Looking just above the papers was a large money clip. The clip was full to the point of breaking, so I pulled the money out first in hopes to keep the small steel clip for a bit longer.

Counting the money methodically, my suspicion rose with each dollar. Every bill was a 500 Bit Bill, stamped on the front was Celestia's face. I kept going until there was none left. About two minutes later I finally got to the end, there was fifty bills in clip. And even more odd, the bits were fresh. 25,000 dollars of fresh bits.

I couldn't say no to whoever this was, I wouldn't care if this chick was trying to have me end the world if there was more payment to it.
So I went to the papers. The first one I picked up was a full report on her. The mare's name was 'Starlight Glimmer'. It showed an image of her face from all sides, or should I say of the front and then one on the left side. The section where her cutie mark was located showed two, one was the prompt equality symbol, the other was the one I saw earlier.

Skipping straight to the chase I read about her. Born in Canterlot, she has a degree in Government and Civil Engineering; a good mix for a leader. She had attended the school for gifted unicorns, so she was definitely an aristocrat. She disappeared until 12 years later where she would rule over a small town under a communist-monarchy. She escaped arrest from government officials and is still at large.

I flipped through to the next set of notes, this one was jotted down with gibberish. It was on things like quotes from her. Some of them were methodically taken by someone who had the hoofwriting of a secretary for Celestia herself. It wasn't important, though it did contain a small map leading to different areas.

The next sheet would have a list of associates, and a price next to each one of their names and pictures; I saved that one for later. The second to last sheet would be another one of those, and the names went on and on. I tucked those into my jacket pocket, which I was still wearing, and I also took that moment to remove the hammer and broken crowbar from my large breast pocket.

Looking at the final sheet, it was stamped and closed with a 'For Cloud Dasher's eyes only' stamp. Under it had the same Latin quote. I opened it carefully and saw it was a formal note. I read the contents quietly to myself.

'Dear, Mr. Dasher.

I have been keeping a close eye on you lately, and I must say I disapprove of your 'business' you've been running for the past half-year. It's very... unusual of a change for a police officer in the safest city in Equestria. Though I'd hate to say it I might just understand why ponies need ponies like you. I have a job I need you to do. The pony in the mail I've sent you (along with an up-front fee, as a formality) has been reaping havoc on my mind lately. She was the leader of a Fascist movement that me and my associates were supposed to suppress. She escaped unharmed. This will not happen again.

I have suspicion that she has been restarting this life in another part of Equestria. This has left me to one issue though: where? The last town she was building was not on the map, and I have good reason to believe this one won't be either. I need you to find her, and I need you to kill her.
Meet me tomorrow at 5 PM outside the friendship castle. I'll be waiting.
Should you complete this task we'll wipe your record clean and give you legal immunity.
Very well,
Twilight Sparkle.'

To be honest, I didn't know what to say first. I knew that with the up front charge this would have to be a big job. Bigger than anything I've seen honestly: I've never been assigned a politician in my life, much more the head of an enemy resistance movement. This should pay well. I got my leather jacket on and headed out the door, knife in pocket.

Getting there was easy; just walk towards the giant ass building on the far northern end of the town. It stood out like a bad joke in a professional act. There was a straight road leading down to the castle; ten minutes down there and I would arrive. I began my quest walking out towards the building and down said road. I passed all the normal monuments, all the normal offices and houses. Then I reached my destination.

At the front of the castle was a line of Equestrian Royal Guards, all anticipating my move. Standing at attention, in the front of the formation stood Equestria's newest princess, Twilight Sparkle. A purple on purple pony, most would consider it an honor to be anywhere near her. I, however, found this occasion completely horrid. Stepping towards her she gave a command.

"Guards, at ease. Parade rest!" She shouted, and instantly all the guards halted and stood in a handsome position reserved for parades.

"You'll need to forgive me for the guards, you just cannot let your guard down." She said with a smile on only one side of her mouth.

She was in formal wear, as she bore her crown upon her head; It was too cliche. The halls were clean as can be, not a spot in sight. This is until I reached the destination she wanted me to be with her at. It was a planning room. What got my attention wasn't the massive map in the center, it actually was the gigantic tree practically growing out of the top.

"I see you're very... organic with your decor?" I said softly, making sure not to create an echo down the hall.

"Well, this was a gift from some close friends. It really spiced the place up."

"I'd assume so," I said, looking back behind me. The hall was striped to the core.

We walked over towards the map, where there was a large chair, one that seemed too out of place, seeing as it was smaller than the rest of the thrones and had no mark on it. She must've bought it just for guests.

"Now I assume you read the letter, no?" she said, putting on glasses to help her better read the map.

"Yea, honestly I wouldn't imagine being here."

"Well, someone of your aptitude, as sick as it is to call it that, should have privacy when discussing plans."

"Speaking of plans, how do you want her dealt with?"

"Any way you see fit. I just want her gone."

"Room to be creative? Sounds nice."

"Now the last time I had made contact with her was on the mountains right about here."

She pointed to the far northeastern section of the map. There was a newly added town that wasn't there on the map I was given. Perfect: following outdated directions. Needless to say, that must've been the town she was running, simply dubbed 'Our Town'. It made sense for it to be some form of Fascist/Communist government to have a leader have full control over a town and still claim it to be 'shared'.

"Now, she ran into a cave and never returned. It's a possibility there is another hole she could've used to exit. The names on the other sheet of paper are people who are followers, people who also need to be dealt with. I've put a price over them if you feel inclined to hunt them down."

"You really don't want this cancer spreading, do you? For the princess of friendship, you're awfully unfriendly to these ponies."

"Well, yes, but under our constitution it states that I may do anything necessary to protect others; this is necessary."

"If you say so," I said with a shrug.

"Now, find them and eliminate them with extreme prejudice," she said.

I left the building with a clear set trail on what needed to be done, and walking down the road I thought of what they asked of me. Did they, or she, really want me to do this? Did she have Celestia's consent to do so? If so, then why not just have the Royal Guard go after them? Why so discrete?

I took a left towards an alley. It may not be safe, but it'd take me closer to the bar faster then taking to the road. Halfway through, I heard somepony step on a bottle, or more like swing it. I swiped around to see a dirty unicorn, levitating a broken bottle. He meant business. And so did I.

"Listen, punk, I don't want to take your life, but I got no problem doin’ it, kid. Just drop your bit pouch and we won't have any trouble."
He sounded like he was from Manehattan, not an issue though. They never are tough fighters.

"Thats ironic, seems like you're already in a bit of trouble," I said ominously.

"Oh really? How so?"

"Simple."

I spread my wings and flew towards him. He tried to thrust the bottle, but instead the bottle ended up hitting the wrong end of my hoof. The bottle shattered into pieces. Just as quickly as it started, I used the force of the initial launch to fly into his breast. He coughed something incomprehensible. Soon enough, he was back to talking.

"You piece of shit! Listen, son, this is a stickup. Drop the fuckin bits!" he yelled.

"Not happening,"

This time I pulled out my knife, and flying towards him again I pressed the button. The blade had flown out from the handle and stopped right where it was supposed to. I pushed it hard into his heart, blood spilling on the ground. I pulled upwards towards his throat, but instead it was stopped by the collar bone. He then tried pulling something out with his magic. All too fast I found he was grabbing his shotgun.

It was a short sawed off. I pulled out the knife out and stabbed his hoof. It had impaled his arm all the way between the bones. He screamed and instead of focusing on levitating his shotgun, he dropped it. I used this gained time to fly over to his left, kick off the wall and stab him in the neck. He was down for good.

I left the shotgun there; it had broken as soon as it had hit the ground. Instead I turned around and walked towards the bar. I trotted in at a sturdy pace so that I could be out of sight before the crowd shows up. Finally reaching the bar, I entered and sat at the seat by the far end of it. I ordered 3 scotches and downed them all. After that it was straight home. I had some work to do.

Author's Notes:

Sorry but the last two chapters were really short, but the story is picking up I promise! just tell me what you think and I'll be sure to read and respond!