4 years, six months after exile

It was during one of her check-ins with the Caesar that she received her first assignment.

"It's a simple assassination. Your target is Parliamentarian Nobilis. He has proven a thorn in my side, what with his arguments for 'Expanding the Parliaments power' and 'The proper use of the Caesars power'. He is a threat to the Empire, and he must die."

Rainbow said, "Well, where is he?"

"The smug bastard is a bit suspicious of me. He lives outside the pomerium at a small villa in the hills to the south. That means his guards will be armed, and often on high alert. However, nothing you shouldn't be able to handle."

"Well, Caesar," she said. "You are in charge of who is on the parliament, right? Its an appointed position. So, why not just fire him or something?"

The Caesar looked at her with a look of a mix between disgust and annoyance. "Must I explain everything to you like a tiny child first learning to do basic math? He is too dangerous to stay alive. If I simply remove him from parliament, then he could rally support among the citizenry. No, he must die. Now, stop questioning my orders, and get it done!"

Rainbow snapped into a salute, saying, "By your command, Caesar!", as she trotted off to complete her mission.

"Oh, and one more thing," Drusilla said. After Rainbow stopped and turned to look at her, she said, "Don't incriminate me, or yourself. Make it look like an accident, a suicide; anything but an assassination. No point in having the common folk getting up in arms over a martyr. Now, go."

Sure enough, the villa was in the hills south of the city. It had a high wall, about fifteen feet; more than enough to keep out most people around here unless they had a grappling hook. The inner courtyard had a large fountain, which led up to the main building. Said main building was of typical upper-class Pryhan style: A multi-room structure of plaster coated brick with a central, open-air room with a pool for rainwater to drain into. Several armed guards walked along the edges of the structure, keeping a constant watch out for anything that might seek to harm the Parliamentarian.

She had waited until after lunch to head on down to toward the villa. The sun was just starting to dip towards the horizon when she arrived at the villa. She wanted to wait until dark, so she hid herself among some bushes, and waited. Well, she played Solitaire with sticks and leaves, but that was beside the point.

Soon, the sun had disappeared below the horizon, and Luna's moon had started to rise into the cool air. She left the bushes and her primitive game to soar up above the villa. She hid among the few clouds that still clung to the sky, watching the shifting lamp-light of the guards below her.

She studied where exactly the guards would be walking on their patrols, and plotted her course to a second-story room with an open window. When the nearest guard to the first stretch of her plotted path moved out of the way, she shot down, flapping her wings at the right moment to avoid hitting the pavement. She then skimmed along the paved floor, hooves never touching the ground. Whenever a guard got close, she would dart behind a nearby piece of cover to avoid being seen. Finally, after about five minutes of sneaking around, she reached the base of the building, then shot up onto a small outcropping by the upstairs window.

She had assumed, correctly, that this was the main bedroom. Inside, a large, expensive bed dominated most of the room. Other bits of furniture were a few shelves with personal effects, a dresser, and a door leading to what could be assumed a personal bathroom. And, sitting at the desk on the far wall from her, was her target.

Nobilis was a Terran with a brushed, light red coat and a darker shade of red for a mane. From her angle, Rainbow could pick out other details about him. He was an older individual, about fifty to fifty-five, with light wrinkles and a few streaks of gray hair in his well-combed mane. His cutie mark was the imperial eagle; the same symbol that adorned the flags on the palace walls. As she slipped inside the room, he straightened up and said, calm as a cup of water, "I see the Caesar finally chose to have me killed, eh?"

Taken aback for a second, Rainbow replied back, "Yep, dead on."

"I shouldn't be surprised," he said, rising up from his chair and turning to look at her. "As a last request, may I know your name?"

A bit of a strange request, but one she would indulge. "Rainbow Dash." Then, another thought occurred to her: "You're not gonna resist? Call for help, defend yourself, anything?"

Of all the things he could've done, he chose to just smile at her. "What's the use? I've read the reports from Zebrica. You turned the course of a battle single-handedly. I have no doubt you would make mincemeat of my men, and I wish to only have one death tonight. So, how will it be done?"

Snapping herself out of her stunned state, she said, "I was gonna hold your mouth shut and cut the joints just above your hoof. Decent amount of arteries there, and it would be quick. More or less painless, too."

He turned back around and sat back down. "Well, do it." Rainbow, sighing, simply pulled out her stiletto knife from its compartment and complied with both his and her Caesars command.

It was about ten when she slipped into her apartment, carefully shutting the door. Castus was nowhere to be seen, and she could hear her son's light snores from down here. Instead of just heading up to go to sleep, as her body ordered her to, she instead sat down on the couch, peeling off her helmet, goggles, and neck gaiter as she let herself get lost in thought.

She had done as he requested and slit the area above his hooves. He slumped down in his chair, bleeding out in a few minutes. She had left after he finally stopped moving, but not before finding another knife to coat in his blood to make it seem like a suicide. Mission accomplished. However, she felt guilty about it.

He had seemed like a nice person. On his desk, next to his body, was a picture of his family; a wife, a daughter, and two sons. And the things that the Caesar told her he was for seemed ok, at least to her. He was respected enough the Caesar was paranoid that his firing or public death would spark a revolt. And she had killed him. He was a good man, and I killed him with no remorse.

She shuddered, then slid off the rest of her armor. She slowly made her way upstairs, trying her hardest not to have her metal claws make too much noise. When she reached her nightstand, she opened up the cabinet inside the nightstand, pulling out the box of crackers she had been given at the start of the week. She smiled; what would she do without these? She opened it up and popped one in her mouth.

Oddly enough, even after she bit into it, she didn't get the feeling. The rush, the euphoria; nothing. There was a feeling like cold water in her mouth, but that was it. Curious, she popped another one into her mouth. There it is, she thought as she slid back onto her bed. She must've just started to build up an immunity to the stuff. Oh well; she'll just have to start taking two more often.

Next Chapter: 50~Patrician Party Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 41 Minutes