The Drop of A Feather

by RAVENous

Chapter Five - Vices

I sat on a bench near the castle. The sun near turning in after a long trip across the sky. Scootaloo sat next to me. To the nearby guards we were just a couple watching the sunset. In all reality we were waiting. Waiting for Blade. Although I didn’t know Blade, I knew that he was a pony of high importance. Somepony who can’t simply leave his work station during the day to pursue other things. He had to leave at night.

I knew the chances were extremely slim that he’d be meeting up with his dealer on that exact day, but I’m a thief, naturally lucky. Even if he wasn’t and I tailed him for no reason Scootaloo was going to have a look in his room. She had become fairly good at sneaking, as I had been teaching her how to improve her form the last couple of days. I knew it would be risky sending her into the castle like that, but I trusted that she could handle it. I had found out Blade’s room had a balcony, which made it easy to access. It almost seemed too convenient, but that’s a thief’s luck.

A white unicorn with a semi-short cyan mane walked out of the castle. He wore a blade at his flank. It was different from the ones the guards carried. Much more slim and light. Thin with a double edge and no curves. The sword was replicated by his cutie mark. He wore a single saddle bag. It was obvious who this was.

I realized how lucky it was that I chose to wear my dagger. Somehow it slipped my mind that he would probably be armed. I had never actually struck a pony with my dagger, or anything at all. I had never been in any direct physical confrontation. Though that was true I knew I would be ready. I had trained myself in my room, and I was pretty sure I had this whole combat thing down. Although I knew I would be no match for this pony. If it came down to a fight my best option would be to throw the dagger at him and run. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that though.

He strolled past Scootaloo and me. Of course he didn’t much but glance in our direction. He didn’t have any reason to take interest in us. I gave Scootaloo a kiss and the cheek and said, “I better get home. I love you.”

Even though that was the signal to set our plan in motion, it felt good to say it. I liked to tell her that I loved her. I felt a sense of dramatic irony. The guards didn’t have a clue. Tricking people with the truth was. . odd.

“I love you too,” Scootaloo said with a smile. She kissed me on my lips with more passion than I had expected. This wasn’t part of the plan at all, but it was an adjustment that I accepted wholeheartedly. She broke the kiss and we both stood from the bench and went our separate ways. The plan was for her to loop around and fly back to the rooftops of the castle. She knew to not fly far from the tops and to stay low. It wasn’t going to be too much of a challenge for her.

I started walking down the steps that had lead up to the castle courtyard. Blade wasn’t too far ahead of me. We walked into the downtown district of Canterlot. He entered a coffee shop that I had only been to once. The coffee there was terrible, but it didn’t really matter.

I entered the shop shortly after Blade. The ponies in here seemed to be having a mildly good time. I never understood why anypony would want coffee this late at night, but ponies still did it. Blade was sitting at a small table by himself sipping out of a cup of coffee, reading a book. Nothing fancy, just a normal cup of coffee. His saddle bag was hung up on the back of his chair. I went up to the counter and ordered a green tea with pomegranate. I sat at a table so with my chair facing the back of Blade’s head. I drank my tea slowly and relaxed. I formed a nice plan in my head.

I few minutes passed and I finished the last of my tea. I rose from my seat and approached Blade. “I just wanted to say you have great taste in books. I think that you’re actually the first pony other than myself that I’ve seen read that book.”

It happened that this was true. I had never seen anypony else read the particular book he was reading. The book contained really deep stuff. Things that would make a lot of ponies scared, due to its shocking depth into things ponies don’t normally associate with.

“Thanks, I’m rereading it actually. One of my favorite books.” He didn’t seem too interested in talking to me, but that’s how I wanted things to happen.

“Yeah I love it. Anyway I have to go, or else my mom will get pissed off at me. Cya!” I played off as a normal teen pretty well. I left the shop with an addition stuffed in my dagger’s sheath. A small piece of paper that I swiped from his hanging saddlebag ever so slyly. I uncrumpled the paper not far from the shop.

Meet me behind the theatre tonight at 9:00 if you’re looking to refill.

This was definite progress. All I had to do was bust him after they make the deal. It wouldn’t be too hard. Just more pickpocket work. I walked to the theatre, which wasn’t all that far from the shop. I sat on a bench near the entrance and threw the hood of my sweater of my head. I pulled a cigarette from my coat’s pocket, put in my mouth and lit it. It had been awhile since I last smoked. I hadn’t smoked since met Scoots. I think I was only doing it then so that I could look like a badass, which I probably did.

Blade walked into the alleyway next to the theatre. He gave an unsure glance in my direction, but continued to walk. If that were me I would have known that the kid from the coffee shop was sitting just thirty feet away, but Blade wasn’t that keen it seemed. He came back from the alleyway a few minutes later. He started walking in my direction, but I kept my cool. He must have had other errands to run.

Then he did something I didn’t expect at all. Something that tore my whole plan in half. He sat down next to me and rolled his newly purchased drugs into a cigarette. He lit it and stuck it in his mouth. “Well, you were stupid to follow me. Don’t you realize that I am a master at swordsmanship and that I have military training? I know when somepony is following me, even though you made it much harder than anypony else I’ve come across. You know my secret now. Obviously you have a reason for doing this, but I’m not one to listen to reason. Not when the odds are in my favor. I could strike you down and tell the guards that you pulled that pig sticker on me, and that’s probably what I’ll do. So what do you have to say for yourself?”

I knew that this was a bad position to be in and that he held my life in his hooves, but I still had Scootaloo. “Well I wouldn’t say that is is over for me just yet. What you don’t realize is that I had somepony search your room. You know that cute little pegasus sitting next to me on the bench? Right now she’s probably back at the hotel room, with a bit of your stash. I’ve told her that if I don’t return that she should go to the guards reveal the evidence. So you can kill me and risk your job, your house and basically your whole life, or you could go along with what I have to say.”

He took another hit from his spiked cigarette. “Well I guess you got me. I have to hand it to you, you’re quite the master mind. I guess I can’t just kill you and be done with this mess. Let’s go back to this hotel of yours and talk the details of what ever it is you want from me.” We both stood from our seats. I knew that he didn’t dare attack me, so I walked with him with my defences down. These complications seemed to work out just fine.

I opened the door to our room in the inn. Scootaloo was asleep on the bed. I shook her awake. The empty wine bottle next to the bed disturbed me. “I got him, Scoots. Wake up.”

She slowly opened her eyes half way and stared up at me. “Hey, cool. There was a little bit of a hitch at the castle, but I still got the stuff. Now come give me a kiss!”

She rolled over to reveal a bleeding cut on her underbelly.

Comments

[mines5]

oh god that ending
Don't die scoots I dun want you to die

[mccullou29]

Oh shit what happened to scoots?