//------------------------------// // A heist? // Story: The Secret Side Of Discord // by Lemon Pegasus //------------------------------// "Are you feeling any better?" Spiral Dust asked his friend. "I feel worse, if anything." His friend Rock Climb had been taken to hospital yesterday after a nasty accident caused him to badly injure his legs. Now, he sat on a mattress in the middle of a white room with a pale blue floor, a beside table to one side and a simple firefly lamp a couple of feet away. His right hind leg was in a massive cast, keeping it out stretched. His friend spoke in a tired voice. "The nurse said she'll be back with the test results any minute. Can you stay when she comes? I know you have work soon, but it might be bad news." Spiral Dust nodded and reassured his friend with a boyish head rub. "Sure, M-C Stone!" Rock Climb laughed. "You're not gonna live that down, are you?" Spiral Dust shook his head, smiling as Rock Climb laughed a bit more. It was an inside joke. Not too long ago, Rock Climb had a rap off against Spiral's dad and lost! At that moment, a mare in white uniform with a red medical cross on her chest entered the room, gingerly closing the door behind her. Spiral Dust now noticed that she had a sheet of paper with her, supposedly there were the results. "We have the results," called it! "And... it's not good news." The pony hoofed (handed? I dunno) the sheet to Spiral Dust, who had a look, then gave it to Rock Climb. According to the image, there was something in Rock Climb's leg, who studied the sheet much longer than Spiral Dust did, that shouldn't be there. "The bump in your leg, and the scar, is due to a tumor. We can have it removed, but it will be costly," Rock Climb's face went pale with shock, "without surgery however, it may worsen and spread to other areas. We may even have to..." Spiral Dust stopped her there. He knew what she was going to say and so did Rock Climb. They would have to amputate his leg. Rock Climb gave a deep sigh and covered his face with his hoof. Spiral Dust sighed. "...we just payed off the mortgage, as well as our bills for this week. Then there's the university bill we just paid back most of..." This was a concerning moment. "I'm not sure we can pay for that..." The nurse gave a blank look back, she wasn't going to perform surgery without payment. "We'll have to do more tests, Spiral Dust," The Nurse spoke gently yet with assertion, "I'm afraid I must ask you to come back later." Spiral Dust didn't want to go, but who was he to argue with the ponies who were there to help his friend? He rubbed his friend's arm as reassurance and said his goodbyes. "I'll visit again soon, okay?" "Okay, please do. Goodbye now." "Goodbye." He made his leave, making his way through the maze that was: Cloudsdale Health Center. Eventually leaving through the wide doors that stood at the front of the large building, he immediately felt stressed out, on the verge of shouting. He didn't fly home, he needed a walk. An expensive hospital bill to pay.... no money to pay it with. Anypony passing by would probably tell he wasn't exactly in the best of moods. He ran through ideas in his mind. "A loan? No, that would only make things worse once I have to pay it back. Must he have the surgery? Your best friend, an enthusiastic mountain climber losing a leg, of course he needs it!" He stood in front of his home now. "...steel it?" He entered his home. Not the best of houses, but it was home! There was a single couch in the living room and a not-so-big dining table with a wooden chair. He collapsed into his couch. "No! Breaking the law like that, what a dumb idea!" ...or was it? "...if I can get a group together, NO!" Spiral Dust kicked his couch, battling with his own mind. "Still. If I'm never caught, if I did it at night time maybe, nopony would know it was me..." He stopped the battle. "Is there really an alternative? Besides, it isn't out of greed! This is to pay for my sick friend's care!" He sighed and hid his face under his hooves. "...I'll need a team. I've never done this before..." Now, where would he find a group of ponies who would help him rob a place? You couldn't exactly walk into a bar and find a poster that read "robbers for hire" could you? "Unbelievable." Spiral Dust was staring right at a poster, in a bar, that read "robbers for hire." Unbelievable! They must have been rookies or something, surely this wasn't a very discreet thing to do! What if the police found this? The title at the top was followed by a description. "If you need some teammates to help you rob a store, steal from a bank or break into a pony's house, write to this address!" There was an address underneath. Now that really WAS dumb! Nope! Nope, he was walking away! Too obviously a trap or a prank! He ordered a drink and sat down at a stool with a plane red cushion. "I'll take an Applejack Daniels." The barmare grabbed a pint glass, placed it under a beer tap and pulled it back, a hissing sound arising as golden whiskey started pouring from the tap and filled the glass. The sound stopped, the glass was full. The barmare hoofed (still not sure about this phrase) the drink to Spiral Dust who gave her 2 bits for the drink. "You need work." A deep voice was heard in Spiral Dust's head. "You need a team. I can provide." Spiral Dust communicated with this imaginary voice using his own. "How did you know? And isn't telepathic communication banned?" "Yes, but I honestly don't care. Turn around, and we'll talk for real." The group was far into the dense growth of the Everfree Forest. "I turned around to face a pony who... come to think of it, kind of looked like an older version of Starswirl." Discord's mind clicked at that moment. "What? How?" Discord looked down at Starswirl. "Light blue fur, unicorn, white mane. Must have been talented with his music if he could use telepathic communication." Spiral Dust seemed to noticed the similarities between Starswirl and the pony he met, but it couldn't have been him! This was years ago! Discord was in deep thought, could this have been... Starswirl's true father? "Spiral Dust, did he mention having a child, or wife, or something!?" Discord had to know! Why... he wasn't sure, but he had to! "Didn't mention anything like that," Spiral Dust seemed to understand what Discord was getting at, "Though, he didn't tell me much about him. We were only doing a job together. I'm afraid, there's no way of knowing if he was Starswirl's true father." Discord sighed. "So, the story." This pony looked at Spiral Dust and, using that telepathic ability of his, levitated his drink beside his own, implying he wanted Spiral Dust to sit with him. Spiral Dust hesitated for a second, but he soon joined this mysterious pony's side. "We'll communicate through our minds," the pony began the conversation, "that way nopony will overhear us." "Okay, how did you know I need work?" Spiral Dust replied, taking a swig of his drink. "We're talking through our minds, how did you think?" "What, you read my mind? And I'm supposed to be cool with that?" "You were reading the poster. You ordered a drink. You look stressed. You clearly need work, I just needed to be sure." Spiral Dust didn't know who this pony was or anything about him. What he did know was: he did in fact need work. "Alright, yes I need money, and I need it fast! Can you provide?" Talking through their minds felt weird, but it was a lot more incognito than a random poster on the wall giving away an address! "Good. I know a job that we need an extra guy for. Night job, store heist, low risk, high take." This was a pretty good deal, in that case. "Sounds good. But I need to know more than that..."