Rather Shrewd

Twilight Sparkle grasped the door handle with her mind and twisted, then opened to reveal the warm and sunny day that was beginning outside. "What a beautiful day!" She exclaimed, stretching her hooves and waiting for the inevitable.

The inevitable came in the form of a familiar gray pegasus, flying at high speeds towards her library. Most ponies would believe her to be a simple pegasus mare, but those wall-eyed irises gave her away every time. "Twilight! Watch out!" The mailmare yelled, on a collision course with the Element of Magic. Twilight sighed, knowing the drill, and held out her hooves silently.

Derpy pulled up at the last second, Twilight's mail dropping convienently from her satchel and into the unicorn's waiting hooves. Twilight Sparkle counted the items as they floated towards her. A letter from Celestia, bills, a late fee at the library... Twilight cocked her head at this and made a mental note to throw that one in the trash. My new order of quills, the new issue of Equestria Daily, a letter from Spike... The lavender mare's eyes grew as wide at the sun at this. "Spike!" She shouted, grabbing the items before they hit the ground and running inside. She didn't hear or bother to hear Derpy's cute farewell as she flew on to her next stop.

The unicorn quickly shut the door once she was inside and slit a hole in the top of the envelope with a small kitchen knife. "Yes yes yes yes yes!" She squealed as her magic slid the paper inside out. It was a fairly normal piece of parchment, with Spike's signiture crest- his footprint- printed at the top and his name written at the very bottom. She was so excited to see the scroll that she forgot completely about the letter from Princess Celestia, the quills, and the newspaper that still lay on the center table.

Twilight read the short letter quite quickly:

Dear Twilight,

I forgot how much fun Canterlot was! Moondancer even asked me out on a date! Can you believe it? Don't tell Rarity, though, she might get jealous. I can't keep all this awesomeness confined to only one mare, you know!
Oh yeah, and I miss you. I miss you a lot. Celestia's bed she made for me isn't nearly as comfortable as mine in the library. As much as Canterlot is fun, I can't wait to come back.

Your faithful assistant,

Spike

Twilight wiped a little tear from her eye. The dragon had been called to Canterlot by Celestia, on a mission to
make the perfect oven-baked pizza. "That's my Spike," she said warmly, levitating the note to the table, "always faithful and sweet."

She picked up the bag of quills and opened the small bag by pulling on the strings. Inside were twelve red-feathered quills, the ends of each shining and tipped with ink, ready to write. "Perfect." She commented, setting them by her side in case she had to reply to the princess.

Next she opened the princess' letter, which was quite curious on the outside because of the word "URGENT" stamped on in a crimson shad of red. She opened it at the top with the same knife she used for Spike's heartfelt letter, then began to read.

Dearest Twilight,

There has been a great disturbance in Equestria- a crazed sniper, roaming the hills for unsuspecting victims. We have no idea what he or she looks like, or if its a pony (Dismiss the thought) or some other creature, or its exact whereabouts. I advise you to be careful by alleys and the Everfree Forest especially, we don't know when this crazed shooter might attack next. I've released a nationwide emergency about this sniper, so make sure you and your friends take heed.

Stay Safe,

Princess Celestia

Twilight gasped. A sniper? In Equestria? She quickly brought forth a clean scroll along with a new quill and began to write back to the princess acknowledging her worries. But halfway through writing, she began thinking how she would get the letter to Canterlot. Running was not an option; it was early in the morning, and the sniper could be watching her every move if she went along the backway. Spike couldn't send it to her either.

She remembered Derpy was still making her rounds around suburban Ponyville. Writing the letter as fast as the wind and sealing it with a snap, the unicorn blasted out the door and looked to the sky.

She saw the ditzy mare not long after she left; Derpy was almost done with this area of Ponyville and was getting ready to head towards the Everfree Forest to deliver Zecora and Fluttershy's mail. She was talking with Rarity outside her boutique about an issue with her fashion magazine subscription.

"What do you mean you LOST it?" Rarity raged, her eyes like twin flames.

Derpy blushed slightly and peevishly looked at her hooves. "I just don't know what went wrong... I had it this morning, honest!" She pleaded.

The unicorn didn't accept that answer. "I payed 40 bits for that magazine! I expect to get what I payed for, Miss Hooves!"

"I don't know, Rarity... Maybe somepony else got it."

This made Rarity even angrier. "What do you think you should do about it then?!"

Derpy smiled slightly and lifted her wall-eyed face. "Nothing, I thought. Somepony might think it's a nice suprise to a magazine to read!"

The fashionista growled mercilessly and turned her head. "Leave, Miss Hooves. I don't think I need to say anymore on the subject."

"Okay then. See you tommorow!"

The pegasus waved at Rarity before lifting off lopsided into the air.

"Wait!" Twilight yelled at the mailmare. It was too late, though- Derpy was already too high up to hear anything other than her wingbeats. "Horsefeathers!" She cursed, speeding up and taking a dangerous detour away from the seething unicorn.

Her hooves crunched on various leaves and brush that had fallen over the course of a few wild storms brewed by the weather team. She had to catch that mailmare, whatever the cost.

Blood pounded in her ears and her hooves ached from running so fast. But she hadn't made a dent in the distance between her and Derpy. "Derpy!" She screamed out of instinct.

High above her, Derpy was doing cartwheels and spins and barrel rolls in the endless sky, as free as a bird. "My little pony, my little pony," she sang to herself, "ah ah ah ah~"

She didn't notice the frantic unicorn a thousand feet below, trying to catch her.

Twilight Sparkle was getting far too tired to catch the pegasus by foot, and by feather was no option. She was too tired to cast a speed spell on herself, but there was a simplier version of Rarity's wing spell that she might be able to accomplish without getting herself tired out over nothing.

Her horn began to glow a vibrant magenta like her eyes, and that same color began to take the form of two wings on her back. They wern't as strong as Rarity's, and wern't even solid, but were good enough to get her to her goal. There was a slight tingling on her back, then a hard strike, like a dozen needles hitting her flesh, as makeshift nerves began to connect themselves to her nervous system. The winged unicorn tried to flap her new wings, and the force pushed her forward so hard she became off balanced. Slowly she familiarized with the feeling, and tried to recreate the movement of Rainbow Dash or Celestia's wings.

She got her front hooves off the ground, but they realized they were too used to the soil to get the rest of her body up and away. "Buck." She muttered under her breath.

In the shadows, a creature watched her. Wicked, beady eyes looked at her with want and admiration. The eyes disappeared and a pure black device appeared in their spot.

Twilight Sparkle looked up and was fairly suprised to see Derpy only a few paces ahead of her. If she could get herself off the ground, she would surely catch the mailmare.

The creature let out a ghastly hiss, much like the noise on makes if they blow through their teeth.

Twilight spotted an overturned tree placed at a convienent angle up ahead. She calculated in her head her trajectory and braced her tired muscles.

The creature's hand reached for the trigger.

The unicorn's front hooves hit the hard wood.

There was a loud pop and a silver bullet flew out of the gun the creature was holding.

Twilight jumped off the tree and flapped her makeshift wings as hard as she could. She heard the gunshot and tried to duck, but it was far too late. The bullet came whizzing at her head...

There was the dull sound of an object going through flesh...

And the bullet went through her wing.

Fortunetely the wing was not flesh at all, and the bullet went right through her wing and on with its business. Twilight Sparkle then lifted into the air easily, fueled by the power in her jump to catch Derpy.

The creature in the darkness cursed softly and disappeared in the brush.

Now that she was airborne, Derpy was right ahead of her. "Derpy Hooves! Come back!" She yelled. The pegasus had her head in the clouds (literally) and didn't pay attention to her desperete cries.

"Derpy! Derpy Hooves! I have a letter for you! Come back, please!" She screamed louder.

Twilight Sparkle was tired of being ignored and she shot forward in a miniature Sonic Rainboom.

Below her the creature was back, in a different position, with the silver gun pointed at her once more. Its eyes were narrowed in concentration and determination. A shot went off, and the bullet flew once more.

The unicorn bumped into the pegasus at full speed and the two momentarily were one large pony. Derpy gasped, as did Twilight, and both stopped flapping for a moment out of sheer suprise.

Twilight's eyes widened and her mouth snapped open. "Derpy! Watch out!"

The pegasus smiled in her own lopsided fashion. "Hi, Twilight, didn't expect to see you up here! I'm fine, don't you worry 'bout-"

She stopped mid-sentence as the bullet hit her, right in the back leg. She screeched in pain as a spurt of blood showdered her face, then out of the unbearable pain she began to fall, Twilight hanging on to her.

Wind whipped their manes and fluttered their wings- Derpy's at least. Twilight Sparkle had, out of suprise seeing the mare hurt, let go of the spell. Now she was simply dead weight, dragging her friend down even faster. The sounds of their cries filled the air and brought the hiding creature great pleasure. It laughed, a cruel, hard laugh, and left once more.

Derpy and Twilight hit the ground hard, the unicorn on top of the pegasus. Although Twilight wasn't that heavy, it still got a moan out of Derpy. "I'm so sorry!" Twilight said as she got off and surveyed the damage. Derpy's leg, which had a medium-sized bullet hole near where the bone met the rest of the body, bled quickly and the gray fur around it was stained crimson. She could see the white bone and pigmented muscles beneath.

"It hurts... So much..." Derpy whined, twitching the leg every few moments.

Twilight winced. "I just don't know what happened... Were you being followed?"

"N-n-o."

"Where you being watched?"

"Twilight, I just don't know!"

The unicorn retreated and her horn began to glow. Derpy's leg began to glow as well, and she groaned as Twilight's magic touch felt her skin. "I can probably fix this up in a jiffy!" Twilight exclaimed. Derpy let out a high-pitched wail. "Okay... Just do it q-q-uick."

She barely got to finish her sentence when Twilight began to pull excess skin from the rest of her leg, then a little from other areas of her body, then stuck them together at the point of the wound. She molded the flaps of skin together into one, then smoothed it oun. A bit of color returned to Derpy's face. "Thanks, Twilight!" She got up easily and showed off her slim figure. "I was wonderin' what to do with all this loose skin!" She added playfully. Then she turned to the unicorn, her eyes in their usual derped fashion. "You wanted something, Twilight?"

Twilight Sparkle had almost forgotten about the letter. She pulled said letter out of her knapsack and handed it to Derpy, who looked at it before depositing it in her own satchel. "Can you deliver this to Celestia, and quick? It's very urgent." She said.

Derpy's eyes shone and gave a lopsided smile. "Right away!" With that she lifted off into the air, heading towards Fluttershy's Cottage and hopefully, Twilight thought, Canterlot.

The creature slipped quietly through the shadows as if it were one. The only sound was the slight dragging of the black gun on the warm dirt as it stalked its next victim. Actually, I wouldn't count those warning shots, it thought sourly. It hit that gray pegasus the second time, but that blasted unicorn dodged the first one. It's head was spinning from the thought of a winged unicorn- only Celestia and Luna were alicorns. Either way, it missed and it wasted a precious bullet in the process.

"That won't happen this time." It whispered.

The thing spotted its prey and jumped into position. It was a rainbow-maned pegasus, with cyan fur and a sparkle in her eye. Why had it chose her out of the entire assembled town? She, in particular, was the most colorful and by its estimations, one of the few strong-willed ponies who wouldn't give up easily.

The pegasus was hovering over the town at an easy pace, taking in what the mayor upfront was saying. "I am decreeing a townwide emergency," she began, "there is a sniper on the loose who is snatching lives from the most unassuming and least prepared."

That rainbow-maned mare got a weird look on her face and spoke her mind in front of the entire of the town. "A sniper? Don't fear, Mayor, for Rainbow Dash is here!"

She sped off in front of the mayor's face, leaving a rainbow trail behind her. The mayor snapped out her jaws and caught her tail, pulling the pegasus back into the crowd. "No, Rainbow, we shall not rush blindly into action until we know what we're up against." She chastised roughly.

The creature smiled. Rainbow Dash had a strong personality, and in some ways it warmed its heart to see such a headstrong pony stand up for herself. But there was business to be done. It moved it's arm so it covered the trigger, and made sure the gun was properly aimed. It didn't want it to be a rerun of the previous unicorn's experiance. It aimed at the cyan pony's heart.

A part of it pained it to press on the trigger, but that would be showing weakness. Weakness would get nobody nowhere.

There was a deafening boom, and the bullet flew.

"Oh really? Because-" Rainbow Dash gasped and crumpled to the ground, blood flying and limbs splayed. There was a bullet hole in her chest, not her heart as it had hoped, but still packed enough punch to eliminate her from the sky.

The throng of ponies rushed to her side, crying and yelling for an ambulance. Four ponies in particular, two earth ponies, a unicorn and another pegasus, came up to the fallen one and picked her up before setting Rainbow on one of the earth ponies' back and running off to the local library, which hidden in a tree.

As much as it hurt it to leave the deathbed of the cyan pegasus, the creature crept into the deep shadows and looked for a new victim.

"Twi! Twilight! Were are ya?"

Twilight Sparkle looked up from her book and pushed in her leather bookmark. "Come in!" She called out.

Into the room came her friends, minus Rainbow Dash for some quaint reason. "Twi, we need ya-or fancy magical-whatsits!"

The unicorn hopped up to get a better look at her friends. "Okay, but why-" She spotted the fallen pegasus and rushed to her. "What in the name of Equestria happened here?" She cried, racking her brain for a solution.

Applejack looked as confused as she. "Well, ya see," the farm pony began, "Rainbow was flyin' and talkin' with the mayor one minute and the next she was a-bleedin' and crumpled up like a scroll on the ground." She shrugged and moved her hat slightly. "How she got there? I ain't got the slightest idea."

Twilight examined the wound; it was now tinged green around the edge and the blood was still flowing like a waterfall. She winced when the pegasus didn't move as she touched her with a hoof.

Rarity winced as well and her horn glowed. She lifted a medical book intitled "A Guide to Wounds" from a nearby shelf and gave it to her friend, flipping it to the correct page. "I feel absolutely terrible," Rarity said sadly, "whatever shall happen to poor Rainbow?"

Pinkie Pie bounced to Twilight's side and watched over the unicorn's shoulder as she cast a spell on Rainbow Dash, one to see the insides of her body and find out what had caused the sudden wound. "Whatcha doin', Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked happily as if nothing had ever happened. "Something magical-y and smart, that's for sure!"

Applejack pulled her pink friend away as Rainbow Dash's body began to dim and shimmer, becoming translucent and losing all of its rainbow coloring. Now all of them could see her insides and muscles, and beneath that, bone. Fluttershy gasped and pointed a shaky hoof at her cyan counterpart's body. "Wha-what is that?" She squealed.

Twilight followed her trembling hoof to Rainbow Dash's chest, almost by her heart, and she bit her lip in order to keep from shouting. By her heart, embedded in a layer of muscle, was a silver bullet the size of one of Spike's scales. It was slowly making it's way deeper into her body, hitting veins along the way as it was forced downwards by her spasming muscles. Twilight Sparkle took a closer look at what was beneath that layer of muscle and couldn't contain her shout- under the muscle was her lungs (Which were barely moving), something that if hit would surely kill her.

"We've got to get that out!" Twilight yelled, barking out materials needed for an operation. A standard butter knife, towels, tweezers and a bucket of water was brought to her instantly, and she said she needed complete concentration and silence to save her friend's life. Hope in their hearts as well as fear, the others left the library and watched their shadows as they waited for Twilight's body to reappear. She didn't come out for almost an entire day.

When they finally saw a flash of lavender fur, the remaining four burst into the library and searched for their friend. "How's Dashie?" Pinkie Pie dashed from one place to the other in a flash of pink.

Twilight Sparkle shut the door once more and smiled, her mane ruffled and bagd under her eyes. "She's fine." The unicorn sighed happily. "She just needs some rest- along with peace and quiet." She glared at the hyperactive earth pony.

Satisfied with the news, Twilight escorted her friends outside and told them that in a few short days their feathered friend would be able to walk and talk as if nothing had happened. She bid them farewell before going back into her own abode.

A week later Rainbow Dash was back on her hooves and flying around the sky. Spike had also returned from his visit with baggy eyes and a claw cramp, not saying anything to Twilight Sparkle as he hopped into his bed and slept for two days straight without moving a muscle.

One day long after both events had occured Twilight invited the others to her home while her faitful assistant was out getting supplies in town.

As Rarity's white hooves crossed the threshold a magenta aura surrounded the door and it slammed shut. The generous unicorn gasped and gallopped to the far side of the treehouse before any other items could nearly step on her. When she saw that her friend was the one who closed it, her eyes narrowed and she daintly brushed a bit of dust from the top layer of her fur.

"What in Equestria has you so uptight, darling?" Rarity asked with a tone of disapproval. "There's no reason to slam doors over any matter."

Twilight didn't answer as her eyes flew across each of her five friends to take attendance of who was present. When she saw everypony was there, she turned to her with tired eyes and a few hairs out of line.

"I've been thinking about what happened with Rainbow-" she indicated the long scar on the cyan mare's body- "and who could've wanted to do such a thing. They would need to have a great motive, or just bad aim."

Rainbow Dash winced. "Sure, some ponies don't think I'm the best, but who would want to do try to shoot me?"

Pinkie Pie leaped up from behind her and landed in front of the lavender unicorn. "Maybe Rainbow Dash did something bad to him or her!" She gasped loudly. "Maybe Dashie shot the shooter!"

"How the buck does that make sense? For one, I don't have fingers..."

The party pony giggled. "Oops, I forgot."

Twilight Sparkle shushed them. "That actually makes sense, Pinkie Pie," she thought long and hard about what her friend said, "because nopony could do it if they didn't have hands!"

"What about magic, Twilight?" Rarity raised an eyebrow. "How could you tell if a unicorn used the leathal weapon against Rainbow?"

Twilight Sparkle would have hit her head against the wall if her friends wern't watching her so intently. "Of course." She murmured under her breath. "I forgot to factor that it in."

"Did ya see anything, Rainbow?" Applejack spoke up. "Any fur color or cutie mark?"

She shook her head. "I didn't know there was somepony with a gun until I was on the ground."

The unicorn shook her head. At this rate, we'll find the culprit when Scootaloo starts to fly!

Suddenly the switches clicked and the gears in her head spun. When Derpy had been shot down with her letters, the bullet had been the same length and density, with the same point at the tip. Whomever had cast it's eyes on the cross-eyed pegasus had tried to do the same with Rainbow Dash- if they found evidence at that crime scene, they would definetely find the destructive creature behind these doings and possibly save the rest of Equestria from the danger of the sniper.

"Since nopony in here has absolutely any idea who could have done it, I've got a theory that might-"

The frantic flash of magenta stopped the words from coming out of her mouth. "It's Spike!" Pinkie Pie shouted.

Twilgiht shook her head, whipping her purple mane about. "How does that even make sense?" She assaulted Pinkie with questions. "Why would Spike, the most loyal of assistants and an amazing friend to each and every one of you, have even the slightest motive to hurt- maybe even kill- you? Or Derpy Hooves, for that matter?"

Fluttershy blinked her huge eyes on confusion. "H-how did sweet Derpy Hooves get sucked into this horrible, horrible tragedy?" Realization dawned upon her and she leaped upon Twilight Sparkle. "She didn't get hurt, did she?"

"Unfortunetly." Twilight responded flatly as she pushed the pegasus off her chest. Fluttershy was still standing, shocked, as her pink friend got up on her soapbox.

"Well, why not?" Her cheerful personality and high voice made it hard for her stern words to come across as serious. "If Spike wasn't here, why couldn't it have been him?"

"You haven't answered my questions. And how could he have been here when he was in Canterlot?"

Pinkie Pie looked genuinely concerned. "Twilight, Spike isn't the Element of Honesty or anything; he can tell a lie."

The more the pony talked the more Twilight had a vague feeling her assistant was the one to blame. But she was still far from completely believing Pinkie's theory. "But why? That's what I want to know, Pinkie."

She shrugged. "Maybe he's had a rough experiance with Dashie- maybe she splashed rain on his scroll or something..."

"A little water on a scroll doesn't mean you go on a rampage through the streets with a shotgun."

"...Maybe he has a grudge against ponies."

This Twilight thought over a few times. Sure, they respected him, but certainly looked at him a little lower than themselves and fellow ponies. Could that tiny difference in respect mean so much to him?

She was enveloped in magenta mist and reappeared in the alcove that held both her and Spike's beds. She noted how large and luxurious hers was compared to the small and probably uncomfortable one he slept in every night.

The unicorn ignored Fluttershy's scared cries and Rarity's sharp whines as her mind was set on finding Spike's miniature, leather briefcase he brought with him whenever he was gone overnight- which was very rare. She was greeted with ice cream containers and plastic spoons and portraits of the unicorn of his dreams, but no briefcase.

With her head down she went down the stairs to where the rest of her friends were anxiously waiting. When they asked what she was doing, she simply replied that it wasn't important.

"Were you looking for this, Twi?" Pinkie Pie pulled from inside her mane a leather briefcase, the perfect size for a baby dragon.

Twilight grabbed it so quickly the force sent the earth pony spinning. She hurried to open the brass locks on either side with her magic, as the rest of her friends gathered at her shoulders for the grand reveal of what was within. A satisfying click signaled she could open it.

With a gentle tug of magic Twilight flipped the lid and scanned the inside. It was lined with a fine velvet material that was slightly worn out from Spike's pointed claws digging into it, with a few indentations from where some objects, like his pillow, always rested.

Her eyes caught exactly what she was looking for- a shiny black pistol, small enough that even a baby dragon could easily pull the trigger on an unsuspecting pony. Inscribed in the side was the word "Rarity" with fancy swirls circling the letters.

Rarity didn't know whether to blush or scream.

Twilight looked up in shock; her precious Spike- why had he committed such a crime?

With a stern look and a flash of purple, white, orange, yellow, blue and pink the ponies were out the door and heading for the heart of town.

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