“Good morning, Purse Cutter. Did you sleep well?” the princess asked as he stumbled through the doors to her room groggily.
“For a hostage,” he managed, his head aching. In truth, he had barely slept at all, despite the luxurious room he had been provided. “I don’t get what you’re trying to do here. I can’t help but think you’re just waiting for me to let my guard down…” he said, eyeing Celestia suspiciously.
“What would you like for breakfast?” she asked, ignoring his question entirely with a sweet smile.
Cutter considered the question for a few moments, then slowly broke into a devious grin.
“The most expensive cake in Equestria, on a silver platter. If I’m going to be a guest here, I’m going to make things as difficult as I can for you.”
To his immediate chagrin, she smiled and simply summoned the food out of mid air with a spell.
“...that didn’t cost you a thing, did it?” he said, disappointed.
“Kindness never does,” she said happily. “Now then, what would you like to ask me today?”
This question deeply confused the stallion. He backed away slightly.
“What? I thought you were the one who was going to ask the questions here,” he said, taking the smallest, still-suspicious bite from his cake.
“We’ll get to that in good time, but for now I think I’d rather listen to yours instead. After all, you are as welcome to question me as I am to question you.”
“... okay,” he said at last. “Why won’t you just let me leave yet? All I want is my freedom!”
“Really now? Then why didn’t you try to escape last night? I had made sure the doors leading to a guaranteed escape were unlocked. All of them,” she smiled knowingly.
“W-well… I need to prove that you can’t change me. I won’t be like the rest.”
“Like the rest? No, you won’t be. They have all found their happiness in their own ways; no two ever quite came to the same conclusion, though many came to similar ones.”
Cutter was starting to get irritated. He decided to bring out the big guns, pushing his breakfast aside and walking forward angrily.
“...Well then, your kind and gentle Majesty,” he snarled. “Did any of them beg? Cry? Plea that you let them keep whatever precious individuality they had before you TORE IT OUT OF THEM?” he snarled, his voice echoing through the chamber.
The smile fell from Celestia’s face, replaced by a look of shame. She closed her eyes.
“A few. I allowed them to leave immediately. It would have been cruel to force them to stay in such fear of me. I confess… seeing such fear in the eyes of my beloved subjects breaks my heart. I wished only to help them, but I know when it is kinder to simply let them leave. They have abandoned their previous ways out of fear rather than an epiphany, and in a strange way that saddens me as much as if they had simply continued the life of a thief.”
“There are worse things to be than a thief, Princess. Like being a tyrant,” he said scornfully.
“I think perhaps it is my turn to ask a question, if I may,” she said, slowly regaining her cheerful disposition.
“You have heard the rumours of how I change the thieves brought before me, as have I. Some of these rumours frighten even myself. And yet you still took the risk to face me directly? Why? If I may be frank, if I had been in your position I would never have attempted such foolishness. What possible cause could you have had for seeking me out? Had I been brainwashing your peers as it was rumoured, this would have ended very badly for you.”
“Why?” he asked, downing his tea in a single gulp before pouring a second cup.
“Because a long time ago, I was a coward. Too weak to protect someone very important to me. And ever since I’ve taken it on myself to always face my fears, no matter how terrible they might be. I’ve run through the Everfree Forests with a pack of Timber Wolves on my tail. I ran through a dragon’s cave, escaping the jaws of death without so much as a scratch… but you scared me more than any of that. My individuality is all I have, Princess Celestia. Losing it would make me just another dull, meek face in the crowd. You won’t break me down, your Highness. Facing you will make me stronger.”
Celestia beamed, her smile even more joyous than usual.
“On that, I very much agree,” she said. “But it seems to me that all you ever seem to do is run. Have you never asked yourself why?”
“I’ve fought when I needed to,” he said defensively, “but a good thief goes unseen. I’ve only ever knocked out guards when I saw no way to break through their patrol routes, and they were all fine in the end.”
To his surprise, Celestia’s face became stern.
“No,” she said in a harsher voice than before, “not all of them. Close your eyes.”
Well, this is it. There’s no turning back now. I asked for this, and now I’ll finally see if I can resist that accursed spell of hers… here goes nothing.
Cutter closed his eyes and found himself in a strange, quiet place. At first, it was an empty void, but as the seconds passed it slowly became full of life, colour and sound, like a drawing being sketched out before him. The sea glistened with the moon’s full radiance, and the jealous stars clung desperately to the skies’ face, adamant that they would not be outshone. A lone guard whistled tunelessly as he walked down the docks, never straying far from the warehouse he was watching over.
Celestia was there, looking at Cutter with the slightest hint of disapproval.
“Where are we? What’s going on?” he said, his voice full of fear.
“A few moons ago, you hurt a guard who worked a night shift at this place. His name was Moonshine, and he had a particularly thin skull.”
Cutter backed away, horrified.
“Tell me he didn’t…!”
“Watch,” she said simply, and the two were brought back to that night. Moonshine was whistling to himself, whilst Cutter slowly approached from behind and knocked him out with a blackjack.
“NO!” Cutter yelled, only for Celestia to place a hoof on his shoulder.
“They cannot see or hear us. This is only a memory, nothing more. Now, let me show you what your actions that night wrought for poor Moonshine.”
The scene shifted to a house Cutter had never seen before. Moonbeam sat at a table, clutching his head. His wife came over and hugged him.
“Are the headaches getting any better, honey?” she asked.
“A little. They come and go…” he sighed. “They had to let me go, said I was in no state to guard anything anymore. I just hope Comet doesn’t think any less of his old man now…”
“Of course he won’t, he loves you so much!” his wife said, hugging him tighter. She turned her head away so he wouldn’t notice her tears.
Cutter closed his eyes, unable to bear what he had done. He felt the strangest sensation, as though the world was shifting once more beneath his feet. When he finally gained the courage to open his eyes again the two were back in Celestia’s room again. Cutter felt awful, sickened by his actions.
“Princess, this is awful...what happened to him?” he said, his voice holding a tone of concern he hadn't used in years.
“He eventually recovered enough to find a new position as a guard- at the same museum you attempted to rob last night, ironically. But let that be a reminder of what your chosen path can do… and I dare say some of the others I have spoken to have done far worse…” she said darkly.
“Worse? Like… kill?” he whispered.
Celestia turned away, as if speaking more to herself than Cutter.
“I have taken it upon myself to save them from their darkness. All of them. And yes, some have fallen further than others,” she turned back to him, her smile sweet once more.
”You are fortunate that you have yet to fall that far yourself, my little pony. The way of the thief is an hollow one, full of empty promises. Ironically, it steals things from those that take it up… though I doubt that bothers you. Tell me, why did you become a thief?”
“Like I said, I wanted to make sure I was no coward. What better life than one of adventure, of the thrill of taking what isn’t mine? And I’ve got a mischievous side, too. The way I saw it, I was killing two birds with one stone,” he grinned.
“Is that so? There are better ways to show bravery, child. Nobler ways. You saw that fateful night as a reason to become brave, but you forget why you needed such bravery. To protect that which you lo-”
“Please, not yet. I’m not ready to talk about him yet,” Cutter said in a wounded voice.
“Very well. You may leave the grounds if you wish. My guards will escort you wherever you wish to go. Biggs, Wedge!” she shouted to the guards at the door.
“Yes, your majesty?” Biggs said.
“Take Purse Cutter wherever he pleases- within reason. Bring him back in an hour,” she said.
“As you command. Come, prisoner-” Wedge noted the scornful look Celestia was giving him and changed his tone “-come er, guest.”
***
“I don’t get it. Freedom to go wherever you like after the stunt you pulled, and you come here? I woulda gone for a drink myself, kid,” said Biggs, his tone more casual now he was out of the palace.
Purse Cutter stared at the grave in front of him. It was a modest one, worn down by years of harsh weather, yet it was priceless to the stallion. The epitaph could still be read, but only faintly. Cutter felt a lump in his throat. The warmth on his back and the fresh wet grass beneath his hooves felt wrong to him; this wasn’t what the visit was meant to feel like.
Here lies Warm Winds, died age seven.
May his laughter echo in the heavens forever.
“Nice day out, isn’t it?” Wedge said. “Not a cloud in the sky.”
“Don’t worry,” Cutter said sadly. “Sooner or later, it always rains.”