I'm sending you the bill! (Patreon)

Another moment from my Royal Equestria Security Forces (RESF) anthro MLP dreamscape. It was after midnight and Luna's moon hung high in the sky over Ft. Trotterdale. Things for the most part were quiet in this very upscale part of the town. It was a weeknight and most households were now partaking in a quiet evening of sleep.

     Except for one.

     The unicorn seemed to just appear in the room. Flowing from the shadows the stallion slowly swept the room with his suppressed pistol. Satisfied that he was alone he removed a small engraved stone tablet and once again checked the location of his target. With his knowledge of the floor plan Night Veil knew this matched up with the location of the master bedroom in the mansion. Quickly checking his watch he then proceeded to flow back into the shadows.

     Many unicorns measured the effectiveness and prestige based on how powerful a spell they could wield. They reveled in being able to create big, flashy, dramatic magics that they could use to wow, impress, and sometimes intimidate others into giving them they perceived as being their entitled respect. Night Veil found them to be boorish, unrefined, uncultured oafs. The true measure of a powerful unicorns was the ability to subtly manipulate the environment and its occupants in such a way that the observer didn't even realize it had occur. It was then that one could truly perform some impressive feats.

     Like killing your fellow pony and getting away with it. Or making it look like some other pony was responsible for it. Night Veil's magic was sublime in its execution. It was subtle and very, very discreet, leaving only the tiniest whispers of residue afterwards. It was designed to blend into the general background magic of the world. Leaving almost no evidence of the deeds he'd done.

     And he'd done many, many deeds. His skills had brought him to the quiet attention of one of the most prominent Associations in Equestria where he was now kept on retainer for when special assignments came up that required his special skills. Two months ago he'd received one of these special assignments. In fact it was the greatest assignment he'd ever received.

     To kill the Queen of the Changelings.

     Many of the Associations were alarmed at the speed which Chrysalis and her kind had been able to emerge and openly move into the criminal world taking control of several smaller Associations, and infiltrate the ranks of many others. In world where paranoia was a constant part of the game Night Veil's Association had decided another layer of it was an unnecessary, and possibly deadly, nuisance. So they'd sent him remove this nuisance.

     Night Veil had to commend the pony, or ponies, who'd designed the security system for the mansion. Their efforts had denied him the simple option of just appearing in his target's location. There were many and varied defenses in place and this had a resulted in him taking an indirect route to where his target was.

     He'd met his target in the flesh two weeks ago at Gala held at the Ft. Trotterdale Center for the Performing Art. Like her the stallion had been in disguise, but he had succeed in placing a very delicate tracking charm spell on the queen. Since then he'd been tracking her movements attempting to establish a pattern to them. At the same time he'd research what data he could find concerning the mansion and the queen's immediate entourage. With this data he'd formulated the plan he was now carrying out.

     He was certain that his beautiful charm hadn't been detected. Still it was not a perfect thing. The charm spell told him only where his target was within roughly a 12ft circle. He could've crafted a more powerful and accurate spell , but that would've most likely been detected and removed. Alerting his target and spoiling his chances for a successful mission. He would take a bit less accuracy for the element of surprise.

     Finally after using the shadows to slip past several more layers of defenses Night Veil emerged in room of his target. He flowed out of the shadows into the master bedroom. This was good because doing so many shadow shifts in a row was starting to wear on him. He emerged into the room with his pistol already raised. His point of entry had proven fortuitous. Lit by the pale moonlight pouring past the curtains and onto the bed and nude form of the sleeping queen.

     Muscle memory and practice kicked in now. He'd debated whether to use a spell to kill her Majesty, but changeling physiology was still a grey area and he was uncertain which spell would be most effective. So he'd decided on a more mundane solution. Thumbing the safety off on his pistol he settled the dots of his night sights on the sleeping figure and pressed the trigger 5 times.

     Pputt kichak. The suppressed pistol clattered over and over again as it cycled and punched out 230gr, subsonic projectiles. To assure success in the mission Night Veil had procured some very expensive and difficult obtain destabilized mage crystal or DMC ammunition for tonight. The projectiles threw out rings of arcane energy from the muzzle. Briefly illuminating the room faintly with dim green light. The stallion observed the bedding covering lower part of the queen's body and pillow beneath her head shred and burst throwing pillow material into the air as the projectiles performed their duties.

     The body didn't move. It didn't twitch or convulse from impacts, nor did the stallion observe the expected splattering of blood and exploding cranial material from such hits. Even as he fired the final round Night Veil knew something was wrong. Instinctively he started weaving another shadow shift spell with his mind to retreat. He never got the chance to finish it.

     The room was suddenly filled with the thunderous roar and the light of muzzle flashes and arcane energy from a long burst of automatic weapons fire. The stallion convulsed as his own body was now on the receiving end of 12 DMC projectiles that easily smashed through his defensive wards and detonated in his torso. He collapsed in a bloody heap on the bedroom floor.

     Chrysalis's bodyguards came barreling to find the room heavy with the smell of gunpowder, ozone-like scent of magic, and the familiar odor of fresh blood. As the lights came on they saw standing in the far corner of her chambers her Majesty holding a still smoking bullpup rifle. Like the illusion of her on the bed Chrysalis was nude. Indifferent to this she addressed the guards.

     "You two were slow in your responses! You!" She pointed to the closest guard. "Activate the silent compound alert! You." She pointed at the body. "Check that hunk of meat and make sure its not going to explode!"

     Having given her immediate instructions Chrysalis marched over to her nightstand and retrieved her cellphone. As this happened more guards arrived and she barked out instructions to them. Finally the second guard looked up at his queen.

     "Your Majesty. The body is not trapped or rigged to do anything harmful."

     Chrysalis nodded and walked up to the corpse she'd just made and proceeded to snap several photos of it. She then proceeded to make a call. Still nude she started pacing around the bedroom while holding the still smoking rifle. Finally somepony on the other end apparently picked up.

     "Anchor Point! You worthless excuse of a creature!" She roared. "Is this is how you repay my business?! Is this is how you reward my trust?! By sending one of your killer kolts to my home!"

     The queen continued pacing. "Don't play stupid with me! You want proof!" The changeling proceeded to send the photos she'd just taken. "He should still look familiar to you! Despite me rearranging him a bit a minute ago! I knew this pony! He worked for you! You rotting sack of meat!"

     Chrysalis came over and absentmindedly kicked the corpse as she listened to the other pony on the line. "How do I know that Anchor? I'm a changeling Anchor! Work it out! We're good at this type of thing if you weren't aware of that! You dull witted imbecile! I was aware somepony had put a tracker on me a couple of weeks ago. I just wanted to see who had done it! Now! I am going to send this heap of meat back to you! Also I'm sending you the bill for a...." She paused and looked around the room for a moment. "A new mattress, bedding...." She made the illusion of herself in bed disappear then she looked down at the bedroom floor. "And new carpet! Because your damn assassin has bled all over it! And Anchor we will be having a very, very important and extensive meeting over this! Got it! Good!"

     The queen hung up and looked over at head of her security. "436C I'll be sleeping in the main guest room tonight! Make sure it is ready for me and...." She dropped the magazine from the rifle and worked the action ejecting the cartridge from the chamber. "Thanks. This came in handy tonight."

     Chrysalis then passed the rifle to the head of her security and walked out of the room.