Celestia never liked paperwork. Just the thought of sitting at a desk reading word after word and so on. Well...it just wasn't fun for her. She found it boring and awful that any pony should have to do paperwork like hers. She muttered the words of each form to herself.
"Article 2224.4 will allow public singing of copyrighted songs for profit...." she groaned. This was rock bottom for boredom.

Suddenly there was a knock on her bedroom door.
"Who is it?" She asked still at her desk.
"Ma'am its sir Bronze and miss Twilight." Bronze said in a fake country accent that clearly amused him.
"Well come on in'." Celestia said in her own fake accent. She opened the door from her desk.

Bronze and Twilight entered the room, Bronze wore some kind of ranch hat.
"Where in Equestria did you get that hat?" Celestia asked utterly confused
"Went out into town for about 20 minutes to take a walk and bought it." he answered tipping his hat and bowing "Your Majesty" he added jokingly.
"Ha ha. Very funny" Celestia said sarcastically "what do you need?"
"Just wanted to see if you wanted to take a walk with me while Twilight is studying." Bronze said
"Studying?" Celestia said confused again "...for what?"
"I don't quite know." Bronze said "she said she was going to study...so I let her use my room for that, even gave her my good pen."
"You have a good pen?" Celestia asked
"Yes, what you think I don't have a good pen?"
"You don't do much writing."
"Not true, I have a journal. Thank you very much" he said sending his nose skyward and huffing out that gentlecolt's cold shoulder look. Then laughing.
"Well...I guess we could go."
"Well now, I feel insulted, so maybe we won't go...unless you make it up to me." Bronze said his nose still skyward and his eyes closed.
"Well....how about this....we take a little walk....and make it romantic?" Celestia unsure of how to make anything she could do with Bronze sexual or seductive.
Bronze simply laughed. "You aren't one for sounding very seductive"
"Oh stop....Princess's don't get dates...just paperwork" Celestia whispered seductively.

As they left the castle, Bronze at first saw a shadow on the ground. It looked like some pony was standing on a rooftop. He looked up on the roof top. He saw nothing.

"Are you okay?" Celestia asked.

"Just a little paranoid I guess."

"Paranoid?" Celestia began to look worried.

"Yeah....hey listen I'll meet you in a second. Here take my necklace." he held his necklace in his right hoof and continued to scan the rooftops.

"Your necklace?" Celestia said

"Yes. The bond it and I share insures I will always know where it is. Just take it and give me a about 10 minutes"

Celestia took his necklace and wore it.

Bronze looked at her "Now you got style" he laughed, "Go to wherever I will meet you wherever you go."

With that he was off.

Hunters averagely study their prey. This assassin knew that, and lived by it. Princess Celestia. Her target. However Celestia was either always in the castle or with that orange colt. The assassin may have trusted her combat skill but there was something about that one. The Dark Queen had warned her of an Orange one, told to her by the oracle.

"The Princess and Orange one split up...perfect."

The Assassin spread her wings and flew a safe distance above the streets but also nearly touching the rooftops. She followed Celestia for many minutes. Then went down into the crowds near a restaurant. And waited for Celestia to approach.

"Princess Celestia!" She put on her fake Ponyvile tourist voice.

"Hello faithful subject" Celestia said as the assassin bowed before her "What do you need, girl?"

"I found some interesting symbols in that alley and I was wondering if they were magical." The assassin lied pointing to an alley.

"Symbols? Lead the way" Celestia said curious.
Easy kill. The assassin thought.

Bronze watched from the rooftops, crowds pasted by.
"Maybe I am losing my mind." He said to himself as he sat scanning the rooftops and streets.
He made his way off the buildings and into the streets when he felt something in his chest. He coughed uncontrollably. He covered his mouth with his hoof. As he coughed he felt liquid hit his hoof. He stopped coughing and looked at his hoof. The substance was red. Blood? At that point a thousand thoughts jumped through his mind with one specific memory of something Twilight had told him before he was teleported back in time.

####

Bronze and Twilight stood in Zecora's abandoned home.

"So we have a deal?" Twilight asked her left hoof in front of her "Save Celestia, you live your life in peace, fail and you die when her heart stops." her tone of voice was that of gloom.

"How will I know when I am about to die?" Bronze asked "And what do you mean peace?"

"The spell will detect if Celestia is about die 1 minute before any harm is done to her and you will cough blood. And by peace I mean you live in a Ponyvile were you are not a slave" She explained

"Deal." Bronze had said shaking her hoof.
####

Bronze ran through the streets ignoring any orders to stop or to 'Watch it' as he bumped into the citizens. He ran for a location he had never been to but, knew Celestia was there. His breath had become labored. He felt a sharp pain in his head. He coughed again, his vision was now surrounded by black.

He turned a corner to an alley and sprinted.
####

Celestia didn't know what was going on, first she was in an alley examining symbols written in chalk. Next she felt a chain around her neck, choking her. She couldn't understand it, as she choked she heard the girl laughing. Her strength to fight back already gone. She collapsed on the stone ground by the wall with the symbols. The rope loosened then went away. Celestia was on her side now, she gasped and coughed. She was almost unable to look her ambusher in the eye. This was mostly because she may have had was drained as her life was nearly chocked away. The young girl laughed at her plight. Suddenly there was a shout from the roofs above.

"Hey rookie! Hooves off my Princess!"

Celestia was dazed and her vision blurred, but she saw the orange shape drop on the assassin. Then she heard Bronze's laugh.

"Wow, knock out and I was hoping for a fight." Celestia's vision cleared.

"Bronze...."

"It's okay I'm here...stay down for a sec, while I finish this assassin...."

Before Celestia could speak up again, Bronze brought his left front hoof down the unconscious assassin's wind pipe. There was a satisfying 'Crack!' upon contact. Bronze turned to Celestia then rushed over to her.

"Come on lets get you up" he helped her as she stood "She didn't hurt you too bad, did she?"

Celestia coughed "No...just winded...badly."

"Alright come on...she's dead now."

Celestia eyed dry blood on Bronze's lips "Your....your lips...blood?"

"I'll explain later. Come on." Bronze helped her out of the alley.

Next Chapter: Love is in the air Estimated time remaining: 51 Minutes