Warning: Contains Suggestive themes not suitable for a younger audience. Viewer discretion is advised

************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Tonight the mission was silence. Although I preferred to lean more towards brute force, hoof and metal, I could still effectively perform a once-in-a-blue-mood stealthy procedure.

Checking over myself and making a mental note that I was prepared, I looked over the precipice I was perched on. Far beneath me I saw the complex. It was dotted with campfires, permanent tents, and milling ponies; heavily defended by high walls of cement and bleachers on all four sides. Overtop a glass dome prevented any notion of infiltration from above. Pulling a pair of binoculars out from my black Saddlepack, I levitated them over my eyes with my magic and focused on the perimeter. After about five minutes of recon, I came to a painfully obvious conclusion. The only way in was straight through the main entrance, which was only accessible with a swipe of what seemed to be an ID card.

My mind put it all in context, and I'd say that the place was about as heavily guarded as Celestia's Castle, an achievement worthy of praise no doubt. I sort of smiled reflectively as Celestia came to mind. I once defended her; it was my duty as the captain of the royal guard to do so. My grin fell away. Oh, that felt like a lifetime ago now, despite only being sixteen years in the past. I shook my head and refocused on the mission at hoof, no use getting caught up in the past. I sat down momentarily and planned. After a bit I got back up, ready... set. Closing my eyes I willed myself to change.

It used to be such a hard thing for me to go through; feeling the magic creep over me like a veil, hearing the pop of dislocating and then realigning joints, being unable to breathe for a minute or two... it used to be all so unsettling. As of late I'd gotten very much used to it- so much so that I hardly minded it anymore.

In a matter of five minutes the change was complete. There, sprouting from my shoulder blades was a pair of Pegasi wings sprouted. Without another second of hesitation I jumped off the rock face and drifted to the ground. The descent was exhilarating, and I felt very much in my element as I let the cool, self induced wind flow around me. I landed several hooves behind a guard who was patrolling the front of the complex. From his horn a harsh light shone, illuminating a few hooves around him in all directions. I followed close behind as he patrolled, keeping to whatever cover I could find.

As he rounded the corner of the complex I closed the distance. Far above I could see the makeshift gangplanks protruding at different heights from the exterior of the coliseum-like structure. On the platforms, poised in alert positions, a pegasus or two sat on sentry providing a second layer of defense and cover for the patrolling unicorns down below. I knew for a fact that I had to be flawless. Even the smallest slip would totally buck me in the behind.

It was after another two minutes that the opportunity for me to go through with my intentions finally arrived. The guard had momentarily stopped his tense trotting to dislodge a pebble of some sort from his hoof. As he dropped his head down to get a better look I rushed at him and jumped, landing on his back. From the upper position I'd given myself I put my two front hooves on the crest of his head -right by his ears- and put all my weight into a push downwards. As his forehead collided with the dry ground he was knocked unconscious. The glow at his horn faded. Now I had to act quickly. Making speedy work of the body I stripped the clothes off and dragged it right up close to the side of the complex before dumping it in a leafy bush. With that done I shifted myself into a unicorn; almost exactly the same size as the one who was now taking a nap. Right when the transformation was complete I put on the guard's getup and ignited my horn, mimicking the pony I had just knocked out.

The first guard I passed on my way to the entrance made me tense, but then he walked by me indifferently. The second time I crossed paths with a patrolling guard I felt far more assured that I wasn't going to blow my cover. After about a half a minute of trotting I made it back around the complex and up to the front entrance. Flanking the doorway on the left and right, two burly looking earth ponies watched me open the terminal and -after a quick feel over- find and swipe 'my' card. With the metallic sound of turning gears the door swung open. The first part of my plan had been a great success.

Upon entering the complex I almost immediately realized that it wasn't breezy. The feeling was almost alien to me. For a while now I'd been out in the surrounding lands where a constant gale had torn at me. Pushing the nagging sensation aside I scanned my surroundings. Makeshift tents and lean-to's lined what looked like abstract streets, essentially created by the shelters themselves. As I adapted to my surroundings the question arose: how -in all this chaos- was I going to find a single pony. Where to start?

Looking around I spotted a patched up tent. It was bigger than the rest and brown. Teetering Colts and fillies hung around the entrance engaged in rowdy conversation. From the looks of it I had spotted a tavern- good. If I wanted to figure out where the pony I was looking for was, this would probably be an excellent spot to gather some information. Taking a deep breath I trotted down the street and into the tavern. Inside it was stifling hot and buzzing with energy. There was no music, but the sheer amount of voices compensated, coming together to give the atmosphere a raucous sort of vibe. For a moment the sheer overload of sights and smell almost made me forget I was in the complex at all. Slipping between sweaty bodies I arrived at the bar table and hailed the bartender, a sturdy looking unicorn with a scar running down one of his cheeks. He came out of the back and looked at me.

"Give me some Grease would ya?" I said.

"You bet." He replied, levitating a wooden mug out from under the counter and placing it under a round keg. The stopper was pulled out and a brackish stream of impure cider flowed out. Topping the mug off he levitated it to me and placed it down, spilling some on the countertop.

"That'll be one bit." I opened my Saddlepack and gave him the amount he had asked for. Before dropping the bit down I looked over to one of the darker corners of the tent. There, a pegasi Mare sat alone... toying with her mane subconsciously. She looked as though she might be waiting for somepony, but a glance around the tented area led me to believe that no one was interested in her. They were all far too distracted by their own mugs to give a damn... all the better for me.

With a coy smile I pulled out a second bit and placed the two down beside each other.

"Give me another one for the Mare in the corner." I motioned with my chin and the bartender followed. As he saw who I was referring too, his jaw dropped.

"You sure? You're kidding me... right?"

I laughed in return."Why would I be kidding you? Do I look like the kind of Pony that dillydallies?" he shook his head. "Then get to it!" he muttered disbelievingly and poured another mug of Grease.

"Here." He slid them both to me and chuckled."You sir are a Darepony... we need more of your kind in our ranks. Tell me how it goes ok?" he winked and I nodded, my muzzle cracking into a mischievous smile. He continued "Will that be all, or would you like to buy a mug for Blitz as well?" Blitz... I had my suspicions that that might be the Colt I was looking for. I laughed out loud and lightly hoofed him in the shoulder.

"That'll be all." Turning away I levitated the drinks above my head and made my way through the drunken crowd to the Mare in the corner. She only noticed me once I was a few hooves away. As I approached, she smiled cutely and addressed me directly.

"And what would a soldier like you be doing here? Shouldn't you be on guard?" I shook my head and smiled back.

"I'm off duty... and what might an attractive Mare like you be doing in some skuzzy bar?" Her eyes flared with something undeterminable.

"I'm off duty." I took this opportunity to sit down beside her and place one of the mugs down.

"So that makes the two of us." I replied. She chuckled and her wings flared slightly in curiosity. On cue I felt a sensation in the pit of my stomach.

"Indeed it does. Well you've brought me a drink, talked me up... I'm guessing you want me to do something for you? Cut corners at tomorrow's training? A promotion perhaps?" I shook my head and brought my own mug down, taking a gulp before placing it beside her own.

"No, that's not what I had in mind at all. I only want to talk..." I said.

"And..." She replied, looking at me from the corner of her sapphire eyes. She batted her lashes.

"And just... talk." I moved in a little closer. The more I had her mentally, the more she
would be willing to give up. She moved the slightest bit in. Up this close I could practically feel her heated body.

"Let's talk then; what do you want to know?" She took a deep gulp of Grease. I nodded. We were finally getting somewhere.

"Do you know where Blitz is at?" The Pegasi frowned. Clearly, she hadn't expected me to ask that.

"Blitz? What do you want him for?" she asked, straightening up. Very suddenly she looked like a complete stranger. Nothing like the cute Mare I saw in the dark corner toying with her mane. There was another strange glimmer in her eyes.

"That's no business of yours, dear . So can you tell me?" I asked.

"Sure, you've entertained me long enough." Suddenly she was back to her normal, flirty, self again. Whatever feelings I might have felt a minute before died as elation -and I admit- arousal, filled me up. The mission was turning out to be far more enjoyable then I had initially suspected... maybe I could even kill two birds with one stone this evening.

She leaned in even further and rested her head on my chest. Another sensation, but this time, slightly lower than my stomach. I molded my body around hers, creating a comfortable resting spot. She craned her neck back and looked up at me. There was a lust in her eyes. I noticed with a start how appealing she was to me. Two birds with one stone... I laughed internally.

"If you're looking for Blitz at this time of the night, you'll find him here; in the back room of the bar. I don't think you'll get very far with him now though, he's probably head over hooves in his drink... or in another Filly." She turned around so that she was straddling me from the front. We were now eye to eye. "Now will you be on your way?" I paused momentarily, dropping my gaze down to her waist. On my way down I noticed the silver chain around her neck holding a dog tag. I smiled even wider than before and raised my gaze to meet her at eye level.

"Almost... can we talk a little more... in the backroom possibly?" I brought a hoof up to stroke her wild and unkempt mane. A roguish figure... my luck. She matched my smile and shook her head.

"No... I've got a better place."

"You lead my dear." Reluctantly she got off my chest and I stood up. Trailing behind her like a newborn foal I followed her through the sweaty bodies and outside of the bar. Two or three minutes later and we had arrived. The Pegasi had stopped in front of a long abandoned tent, surrounded with pallets and other rubble. I could only guess that it was a storage tent.

"It's not the nicest, but we will have our privacy." she said, running her body underneath my neck, making sure to give a long stroke across my fur. Her mane tickled. If I had wings, they'd be protruding straight up right now.

"I think it'll do just fine... you can't be too picky nowadays."

"That's right, you can't..." she drawled off and came up to me, putting her hooves on my shoulder and giving me a kiss. "Let's get inside shall we?" Practically overflowing with anticipation I let her lead me through the flaps and into the space beyond. Once we were inside, she pulled me down onto an old futon and into another deep kiss. At first I was a little ridged, but soon, as our saliva began to mix, I loosened up. "Now that's better." She embraced me tighter, grinding up against me.

"Indeed..." my voice was cut off as she pulled me into another kiss. I pulled away. "Let me get my things off. I don't want to be weighed down..."

"Of course... soldier," she replied. "I'd best do that as well." Slowly she unzipped her vest and pulled off her walky-talky. The strapped on knee pads and other light armor was discarded next. By the time I had gotten everything off of me, the pegasi was already undressed and prepared. I bent down and pulled something out of my saddle bag. It was a set of hoofcuffs. Turning around I levitated them over to her.

"Will you put them on dear, or should I?" I smirked. Almost there...

"Be my guest... you're rather dominating it seems... I like that," she said, licking her lips. I opened the hoofcuffs, clipping one section to a protruding pipe and the other to her hoof. My mission had just been successful.

You see, the Mare in front of me was not who I had initially suspected. At first I was using her as a simple source for me to collect information on whom and where the leader of the complex was. After some hints though... justly the bartender's reaction, her strange response from when I first met her, the gleaming in her eyes and, most importantly, her dog tag. I realized that she, not the colt named 'Blitz' that the bar tender had mentioned, was my target. The one who I had been sent to assassinate: the leader of the complex. Oh, how easily she fell into my trap! Now all I had to do was find the best way to finish her off cleanly.

"I imagined you'd be a little harder to get." I exclaimed, breaking character and walking up to her all business. She clenched her teeth and pulled tryingly at the hoofcuffs, they only rattled on the pipe.

"What the buck are you talking about?" she exclaimed.

"You are the leader of this complex. I'm here to assassinate you."

"But how did you get in? My guards..."

"I took one of them out, stole his getup, and then got in the complex." I interrupted her.

"I guess so..." all her lustiness had been replaced by anger. Her tone had turned dangerous.

"So what are you going to do?"

"Kill you swiftly. A beautiful Mare like you doesn't deserve anything slow or painful." I shrugged off my Saddlepack and began rummaging, trying to locate my blade in all the other miscellaneous. With my ears I could hear her struggling again with the Hoofcuffs. "Struggling is not going to get you anywh..." I drawled off, smiling to myself. Flipping over a final piece of parchment paper I retrieved the blade from the depths of the Saddlepack. Pulling the cold metal out I levitated it up above my head and returned my attention to the futon where my prisoner was.

"I found..." I stopped in the middle of talking. My eyes widened in shock as my brain reeled quizzically. I dropped the knife. My prisoner had disappeared, leaving the hoofcuffs in a tangle by the lead pipe.

"What the...!" A buck from behind sent me sprawling forwards. Seriously thrown off balance I rolled over sloppily. before I could get up though I was pinned by four hooves to the futon. Other then the heavy breathing coming from me and the Mare on top, silence pervaded in the cool room... and then I spoke up.

"I have to admit dear that was a smooth move. How..." She interrupted me with a wicked smile.

"Did you seriously think I was actually interested in you?"

"Yes." I replied.

"Maybe a bit, You're quite handsome." She replied with a mocking peck on my cheek.

"As you are seductive, clearly; you led me to here... and what better than a spot to seclude me," I said, feeling a bit foolish for getting so caught up in my façade. "But how did you get out?"

"I stole your key," she said, smiling venomously, pushing me further down into the futon. The pressure was starting to really hurt. "Right here on the futon when I was kissing you."

"It was a rather deep kiss. Did you at least enjoy it? I certainly did," I replied. She laughed.

"A charmer till the bitter end, I see. It's a downright shame you're out to kill me. We could of made a decent pair." She flicked her mane out of her eyes. "I have to admit though, I only really realized your true intentions a minute ago. You should have gotten me more aroused before getting all cocky; you might have had a better chance at saving yourself."

"Saving myself?" I said incredulously. "What? Have you sent some of your soldiers my way?"

"Hah! I'll let you in on a little secret, boyo. I wouldn't get to boss burly stallions around if I couldn't even take care of one little piece of trash on my own." She took a hoof and dashed me across the muzzle, tearing my lip in the process. Rearing she brought her hoof down again smashing my jaw: more blood. As she reared again, her hard hoof aiming to break my ribcage, I launched into action. Rising with all my might I threw her off of me. As I got up she returned my advance with a tackle. Still not fully stable I fell backwards into a stack of pallets and they came crashing down on me. She allowed me to get up.

"You can still escape you know," she said, "I won't take much offence... I'll even let you leave my complex unharmed. I respect your sort you know... I might even need you for a task or two in the future." I smiled aggressively at the Mare.

"Not on your life dear." I replied. My horn glowed. From behind her the blade I had previously dropped rose from the ground. With a nod of my head I shot the blade at her. She jumped out of the way at the last second, escaping with only a scratch across her flank. The blade embedded deeply in a wooden crate behind me. As I went to pull the blade out she lunged at me, forcing me to break my concentration and fend her off with a hoof. She stumbled slightly, but quickly recovered. Clearly, my opponent was well trained. A worthy competitor even... and here I thought I'd finish the mission without much of a problem. We moved into close combat. She would strike out speedily; I would just barely fend her blow off and return with one of my own. The third time I struck at her she blocked my hooves dead on.

Both our hooves locked at their bottoms and we paused momentarily, trying to push the other one down. I succeeded and she fell onto her back. I pinned her there and landed a single blow to her face. She didn't even shout out. With a surge of power she flung me off of her and into the box that my blade had embedded into. My impact had loosened up the blade enough for me to yank it out. Now I was at an advantage. Levitating the blade I poised and then struck, attempting to pierce her heart. She rolled out of the way and flipped over a trio of large metal bins.

"You're just full of tricks aren't you?"

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet." I couldn't see her behind the makeshift wall of metal. A splintering sound and then a crash. Seconds later she reemerged with a splintered piece of wood.

"And now you have a bigger stick." I exclaimed, eyeing her weapon.

"Ironic eh?" she flicked her mane and smiled mischievously. We started circling, both intent and battle tempted. She lashed out and I moved out of the way slicing out at her with my own weapon. She blocked it and smashed it to the ground.

"And now..." before I could levitate my blade again, she pushed it out of the way. It skidded to a stop underneath some junk to me left. "There has been a total role reversal." She licked her lips. Somewhere in the distance a siren began blaring. With a growl I rushed her head on, dodging her futile swing and grabbing her around the waist, destroying her equilibrium and sprawling her on the ground. Her splintered weapon fell out of her reach.

"I'm going to kill you here dear. You've put up far too much of a fight." I straddled her, holding her to the ground while I began to strangle her. A noise from somewhere behind and a voice. A scrawny, rather unattractive Colt with a ragged mane and crooked teeth appeared at the entrance to the tent.

"Crescent Ma'm. Wraiths..." the Colt's voice cut off as he caught sight of the two of us wrestling on the ground. I turned. Crescent turned. "Ma'm?" the Colt looked around at the destruction. "Should I be concerned?" Crescent jabbed me in the ribs and I stopped putting pressure on her throat.

"Kinky stuff Blitz. We were just having a good time..." She looked back down at me.
"Isn't that right soldier?"

"Yes." I said uncertainly, reeling from the suddenness of it all. So this was Blitz.

"You needn't worry Blitz. What's the news?" Blitz composed himself and began speaking.

"Wraiths Ma'm, they're attacking the complex! We need you in the barracks ASAP." She pushed me off of her and stood up.

"I'll be there in a second. Start suiting up." the Colt nodded and dashed back out of the tent. When he left Crescent turned to me. "I've got an idea."

"And what's that?" I asked regaining my composure. I suddenly was uninterested in killing the mare in front of me. It had gone on for too long, and like anything, the rush had ended.

"You help me defend my complex and we can do this all over again tomorrow night." I got up and pondered my options.

"Or, in the 'heat of battle' I could accidently stab you in an 'attempt' to kill a Turned Earth Pony..." She smiled mischievously.

"And I could accidently slit your throat by clipping you with one of my wing blades while taking off to attack a Turned Pegasi..." It was my turn to smile.

"You are one stubborn Mare aren't you? Out to make my job all the more challenging?"

"Yes."

"And you won't go down quietly..."

"Nope." She paused momentarily and trotted towards me. The undeterminable flare was back
in her eyes. "So now you have two options. Attempt to kill me in the few seconds right now or attempt to kill me tomorrow evening when the night is all yours and I've been weakened by the battle." I began to laugh. Hard.

"Tomorrow it is then." Crescent walked out; I followed close behind.

************************************************************************************************************************************************************

I'd like to give a big thanks to my editor (http://awsweetholyhell.deviantart.com/) who, after looking over my first version of this Slice-o-life, suggested I try again so that I was par to my last submission. I did just that and damn, am I happy how it turned out!