Doublecheck’s eyes roamed down the papers for the ninth time that night, and once again, the figures simply refused to add up. No matter how many times he made sure the numbers were the correct ones, being put into the right places in the balance sheets, and run through the right calculations, they turned up the same conclusion. There was money missing.
A lot of money.
He ran his hooves over his black mane out of frustration before he crumpled the paper up, and threw it across the deserted office. He was still relatively new to accountancy because he completed his degree only a year ago, but he was very good at his job at the First Bank of Fillydelphia. His cutie mark of several mathematical symbols told him as much, and he knew he could make the numbers dance in their formulae when he wanted to, so how could this much money go missing out of the bank. It was like there was a deliberate effort to hide the missing money by using unrecorded transactions to corporate accounts, but it was done in a way so a less talented pony would’ve missed the discrepancy entirely. However, this was his special talent and now he was looking at the math directly, it was clear to him that something was just not right.
He took note of several of the company names and account numbers and stuffed them into his satchel, so he could pull their records later.
“Right. One thing left to do,” the young bookkeeper muttered to himself before he forced himself out of his chair and stretched. The chestnut-brown stallion wasn’t the fittest earth pony around, nor was he out of shape. He wasn’t particularly handsome, nor was he unattractive. Average and forgettable would be the best way to describe him and that was just perfect for a bureaucrat like him. “Actually look in the vault.”
He had been working at reconciling the books long after every other pony went home, so the office was dark and quiet. It was nothing but row on row of empty desks with adding machines, calculators and ledger sheets over them. His eyes glanced to the clock. It was 11:34 and that explained why it was so dark out.
“I’ve got to stop working so late,” he groaned to himself. This was the whole reason he didn’t have much in the way of friends; he’d spend so much time with his work, that he’d never get out and make any. It was simply too late to do that this evening too, but he needed to sleep sometime. He planned to just leave a note to his manager on his desk that he needed to get a count of the actual, physical bits in the vault and pull several files, and get on that task tomorrow. In the middle of his planning, he heard voices coming from the vault’s direction.
“Just get it all loaded up,” said one voice, who sounded like the bank manager, Wheeler N. Dealer.
“Right boss,” came a chorus of gruff voices.
That was odd. There shouldn’t be anypony here other than the new security guards, but if Wheeler was still here, he could talk about him about getting into the vault first thing tomorrow morning. Doublecheck picked up his pace and turned the corner to see four large stallions in dark security uniforms and a green unicorn, wearing spats and a tie which cost more than Doublecheck would make in a month. The vault was open and there were several sacks of bits loaded onto a heavy cart.
All the bustling activity in the room ceased when they turned to stare at Doublecheck and he stared back at the whole scene. Something clicked in his head, and all the pieces landed into place. If he wasn’t about to get killed, he actually might of appreciated how clever the scam was.
“Uh, I n-need to talk to you, Mister Dealer,” Doublecheck squeaked in a pitiful effort to act innocent. He could see those eyes fill with ill-intent, but Wheeler put on his best smile in response. There wasn’t an ounce of mirth in that grin, and reminded the brown stallion more of a wolf baring teeth at a rabbit.
“Of course you do. Come on in. We can walk and talk,” he suggested with no effort to hide the slimey malice he had towards the accountant.
“I’d h-hate to in-interrupt though, s-sir. I’ll catch you in the m-morning,” Doublecheck stammered as he took several steps away from the door. The four ‘guards’ dropped the sacks of cash they were holding and began to close the distance to the scared pony.
“Look, I’m a busy stallion, Mister Doublecheck. I’d rather catch you now and be done with this. Don’t make this harder than it has to be,” warned the unicorn. There was a moment when Doublecheck actually considered taking up that offer, and promising to never tell anypony of what he just seen, but then he came to his senses. Instead of entering into the room, Doublecheck bolted for the nearest exit while screaming for help.
The four looked to Wheeler expectantly for a command, and he just was shocked that they couldn’t take the initiative for themselves. He had to give his head a shake because he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, but they really were standing there like morons, just looking to him. “Well, what are you waiting for!? Run! Get him! Take care of him!” he snapped loudly, and the four took off in pursuit.
Wheeler sighed and looked at the work he had to do by himself now, thanks to the intrusion. “I knew I should’ve hired another goon,” he griped to nopony before he struggled to lift a bag of coins in his aura and put it on the cart. If he was lucky, it wouldn’t take long for his ponies to catch and deal with the accountant.
****
Trixie was tossing and turning in her sheets, but getting no sleep for her efforts. It was a common occurrence as of late that just left her tired, and her blue coat and lighter blue-grey mane in a mess. Her mind was simply too full with thoughts to let her have any rest tonight. And, the frequently passing trains were no help, with their loud whistles and obnoxious clattering.
Things hadn’t been going well for Trixie since the whole ‘amulet’ disaster a month ago. Infact, it was downright terrible for her. She was run out of Ponyville again, but this time, it was because there was a warrant out for her arrest for all the damage and havoc she had caused while under the influence of that cursed artifact. If she could go back and choose to never touch that thing, she would in a moment. Not only is she wanted by the law because of it, she was still outplayed by parlour tricks by her nemesis. Normally, she would’ve seen right through that amatuer little production that they put on, but the Alicorn amulet had taken her so far from her right mind, she actually fell for the whole thing. Just thinking about it made Trixie thump a hoof on the wall beside her small bed. She knew all those tricks and could do them a thousand times better than Twilight did, but she was blinded by the raw power she had at the time.
Now, it was even harder than before for the showmare to find work because she always had to worry about being arrested. And, that Twilight upstaged her, yet again. She wasn’t angry at Celestia’s favoured student, but frustrated with herself that she let herself be beaten. Now, she was living as a common busker and that was simply not something worthy of the Great and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon. Her name should be in the limelights, not on post office walls! That last thought made her lash her hoof out against the wall with a dull thump, and she followed that with a long sigh.
Her hoof still touched the wall when she said, “I’m sorry.” She began a loving pat on the wooden surface to complete the apology. For all that happened, this time she still had her wagon. It wasn’t like her first one, but it was just as good as the original, and was entirely hers. She even had designed everything herself and built it with her own magic and hooves to her exacting specifications. Just being in it made her feel safe. It was her castle-on-wheels and within it she could find quiet time to collect her thoughts, or refine her acts and the glamour spell on the outside of the wagon made it impossible to tell it was hers, making it a perfect hideout from those that seeked her. Tonight, it looked like a large pile of trash in a dark alley,and there was no pony that would ever bother with that.
Then, just to prove Trixie wrong again, something knocked against the outside of the wagon.
****
The furious sound of hoofbeats rang through the empty night streets as Doublecheck hopelessly tried to lose his pursuers. They were faster and stronger than him and they knew it it, too. Every time he threw a glance back to the pursuers, they were a little closer to him and looked a little angrier. It was just a matter of time now.
Already, the accountant’s legs ached with the exertion and there hadn’t been a single sign of another pony on the streets since he had burst out into the back alley behind the bank. Not that it mattered much, because he was panting so hard, he couldn’t call for help even if he did see another pony. At this rate, they were going to catch him before he could get help and he didn’t want to know what they planned for him.
Between the sounds of his hooves on cobblestones, his own ragged breathing and the sound of his heart thumping hard, he heard a whistle. A train whistle. And, if there was a train, there would be ponies. He just had to keep away from the four goons for a few more blocks.
Doublecheck glanced over his shoulder again and this time one actually was close enough to make a lunge for him. He changed directions just in time to have the goon miss his tackle and land in a tumbling heap beside him. If he still had any breath to spare, that would've made him scream.
“Come on! Just a little further!” he thought to himself as he forced himself to keep up the sprint, “It’s just right there!” He could see the train’s headlight, and he saw he had once chance to get to safety and threw all he had left into the effort. He just had to get across the tracks before the train cut him off.
Even with the roar of the engine, he could hear how close the other stallions were. They were going to catch him, and he was so close now. The accountant took one final and desperate leap to cross the tracks, just as one of his pursuers tried to catch his tail in his mouth, and only got a few hairs and close brush with a train as a reward. The landing was rough though and Doublecheck’s legs couldn’t even keep him on his hooves. Instead, he crumpled gracelessly to the ground on one side of the train while the four waited on the other side patiently for it to pass. The train would only act as a wall for a minute or two, and then they could resume their pursuit. When they did, he had nothing left to give to evade them.
He forced himself to his hooves again, and moved as quickly as he can into the alley directly across the way, with full intent to hide, but already his legs were shaking on every step. “D-damn. If I get through this, I’m going to take up running,” he gasped to himself, as he passed a huge pile of junk and trash bags, and as if on cue his legs failed him again. To stop himself from falling right to the ground, he staggered back to lean back onto what was hopefully a trash bag filled with cotton balls and feathers. Instead, he hit something hard and wooden, but it in no way resembled broken trash. It was a single solid shape that didn’t match with what he was seeing at all. But, more importantly, he felt a door handle behind the illusion. Whatever was behind the illusion, it couldn’t be worse than the four ponies that were following him, could it?
Down the alley was nothing but dark windows, trash cans and a lack of ponies, and Doublecheck didn’t think he could go much further. The real clincher though was the sound of the train fading and resumed galloping of four, very large stallions. He turned the handle and fell through the hidden door into a tiny living space.
“Tabernac!” exclaimed blue mare, from her bed on the opposite side of the wagon, “Get out of Trixie’s wagon!”
“Please! Just let me stay in here until they go away! They’ll kill me!” Doublecheck gasped out plaintively as he pulled the door shut. The mare had her aura charging up to blast the pony out of her wagon, when she heard the voices approaching on the outside. She perked an ear to listen to them, and he held his breath out of fear.
“Did you see where he went?” one of the guards asked as he moved passed the wagon. They weren’t running but just moving at a canter.
“All I know is he went this way,” another answered.
The showmare became curious enough to get up and peer through one of the windows, which made Doublecheck whisper, “What are you doing?”
“Oh, please! Untalented ponies like this can’t see or hear through Trixie’s magic,” she confidently declared as she went back to watching the group of toughs.
“Boss is going to be pissed he got away,” a third complained before kicking over a trashcan. “I wanted to get me an ear, too.”
“Not like he can prove anything,” the final one pointed out, “The idiot is probably scared witless and ain’t coming back anyways. And, if he does come back, we give him a dirt nap then.”
She inspected the brown stallion again, and furrowed her brow. He didn’t seem the sort to be associating with this sort of ruffian. She finally asked, “What did you do?”
Doublecheck was still on the wagon floor, and wincing at the sound of every hoofstep around the hidden wagon. If they just reached out this way a bit, they’d know that the wagon was here, and then, it’d be all over for him. “I-I caught them stealing a lot of money,” he explained in a whisper.
“So, what do we do now? Just go back to the bank?” the first one asked of his peers.
“I guess so. We’re going to get chewed out, but the boss has a pretty good plan. I don’t think this loser really matters that much,” another answered.
“You know, he could be hiding somewhere close by. That guy didn’t look like he was fit enough to run another two steps. I bet that he can hear everything we’re saying right now, even,” the fourth tough pointed out, before kicking over another can.
The pained and terrified expression on the brown stallion’s face was clear to Trixie, and it was getting worse with every noise from the outside. She might not know him, but who couldn’t feel sorry for him, so after using her magic to don her hat and cape, she strode to the back door of the wagon and opened it. That made him wince because he was sure that the act would bring their attention to the trash pile. “Don’t look at me like that. The Great and Powerful Trixie knows exactly what she is doing. We’re still in the wagon, and they’re still untalented hacks,” she stated before she lowered her horn to line up her shot. A tiny burst of magic shot from the tip to her target, which was a trashcan as far down the alley as she could see. It did several somersaults in the air before crashing to the ground. Every bit of attention from the thugs turned towards the sudden racket.
“Told you guys! Get him!” the fourth one said with an evil smile painted on his face. “Dibs on his ear!”
“No way! It’s mine!” was the last of the argument that they could hear as the four ran into the darkness. For some reason, Trixie did want to point out the the thugs that a pony did have two ears, but she doubted that the stallion she just saved would appreciate that very much. As soon as they were out of sight, Doublecheck let himself breath.
“Losers,” Trixie said smugly.
“Oh, thank Celestia,” he said, before shakily getting to his hooves, “How did you know that’d work?”
“Distraction is a critical part of any good showmare’s act, so you should be thanking Trixie for saving you, and not Celestia,” she answered back as she closed the door. Her magic might stop ponies from seeing into the wagon, but it didn’t do anything to the cool air of the late summer night.
Doublecheck was bright enough to realise that the mare was referring to herself in the third person. Sure, it was strange, but she did just save his life so he wasn’t about to question it. “Thank you, Trixie. Thank you so very, very much. I’m Doublecheck.”
“As much as Trixie appreciates an audience, you should be going now. You smell of sweat,” she said flatly. The longer he stayed inside the wagon, the more she was becoming uncomfortable with another being inside of her wagon.
“Please, let me buy you a coffee or a meal or something. It’s the least I can do.” he said, then realised how stupid he sounded for offering so little for her saving his life.
She was about to outright dismiss the offer, but it was a good idea to get moving before the goons passed by again, and it wasn’t like she was getting much sleep tonight anyways. Besides, it had be a few days since she had a proper meal. “Alright, Trixie could use a midnight snack, and she is rather curious why you were in trouble with them in the first place.”
“I stumbled onto something big. I don’t even know what I’m going to do! They’re going to rob First Fillydelphia totally blind, and it could be months before anypony else even realises it happened,” he explained..
“Trixie thinks you should go to the police,” she answered, while she made herself busy with getting the wagon ready to move. She knew every inch of her home, and where every switch and catch was. A flick of a switch made her bed flip up and against the wall, and another lever made a bench lift up out of the floor to lay on while she looked through a wide window to operate her wagon. She had no intentions of pulling her wagon like a common workpony, but instead, she channelled an animation spell through her home, and with a lurch, it started rolling along.
The routine baffled Doublecheck until the wagon started moving, at which point, he braced himself on a wall. He was never good with moving vehicles and he was already exhausted, so he needed all the help he could get. “The money’s already gone on paper, and they are taking it physically right now. The police will take weeks just looking over the books, trying to figure out that there was even a robbery in the first place. And, even if they do figure it out, he’ll have a huge head start with over with a lot of cash, and he still has those guys to come after me. He’s going to pull the wool over everypony's eyes, and pull off the greatest bank robbery in years.” he returned, feeling more and more hopeless at his situation.
She scoffed internally. She was completely sure that she could pull off a better heist if she tried to do one. All he was doing was a simple misdirection play, and that sort of thing was foal’s play, even with an entire audience watching you do it on stage and looking for that tell-a-tale mistake. “Trixie could do it much better than he could, because he left a pony that saw through the trick. If Trixie did this, nopony would ever know that it happened.”
“You’re pretty sure of yourself,” he said as he carefully made his way to the front of the wagon in a swaying stagger. Every step was one that his tired legs were protesting vehemently.
“Of course I am. I’m the Great and Powerful Trixie,” she stated with a grin, before a thought occurred to her, “How did you do that, anyways?”
“I’m a very good accountant, and Wheeler was actually at the vault tonight. It’s not hard to put it all together when you catch them with the money red-hoofed, but that’s why I was being chased down. None of that really matters now, though,” he said with a sad shrug.
The mare hummed in consideration. She’d been looking for a big break to help her bounce back from her humiliation in Ponyville and the legal avenues were something she couldn’t use because of her legal situation. She needed to do something that would let her prove how great she really was to herself, and this sounded like a greater challenge than simple card tricks on street corners. And, best of all, the opportunity just stumbled into her wagon by chance. After mulling the idea in her head for a minute, she asked, “What would one need to do to foil the greatest bank robbery in Equestria?”
The stallion was surprised by the question and even more surprised to see that wide smile on the mare’s face. “Well, I think we need to get the right paper records, the bits and Wheeler all in the same place at the same time. If we can do that, there’d be an ironclad case against him,” Doublecheck answered finally.
The more she thought about it, the more possible it seemed. Already her heart was fluttering excitedly as if she just stepped onto a stage. The challenge alone was tantalizing, and the mare was already working through each step of the act. She tapped her hoof on her chin, considering the possibilities.
“Trixie thinks she has a show to put on,” she giggled. This was going to be fun.