//------------------------------//
// Stuck in Canterlot 
// Story: Phantom Thief 
// by Phonyyx 
//------------------------------//

Garrett blinked one eye and then both eyes. The sun was burning pain to them. No, it was really more of an annoyance than anything painful. He had woken up not too long after passing out, but that didn't matter, he didn't need to sleep for long to feel refreshed and revitalized. Last night's endeavor netted him a decently large number of bits. Now, what to spend them on? The question had been lingering in his head since he woke up. All he knew was that to survive here, he needed bits, but it only now occurred to him that he didn't know what he had needed them for. He didn't need to eat pony food to survive. Nor did he have any reason to waste them on fruitless and quickly-lost endeavors like personal comfort or entertainment. I need to do something though, it'd be a shameful waste not to do anything.
Deciding to explore Canterlot; Garrett put on the belt, removed the quiver, placed a bag of bits in its place, opened the door, and walked down the stairs. If he wanted to survive here, he would also need to memorize the layout and make connections. Without connections to sustain him with emotions, he would surely die. That pink pony from the party last night gave him a boost of emotions, but he'd burned right through them when making the flame-portals. Now, he was nearing an empty tank. While, yes he could survive without any intake of emotional energy for almost a full month before it affected him physically, it would completely cut off his magic; and that magic was what sustained his disguises. Unsurprisingly, it was rather difficult to drain ponies of their emotional energy when he looked like a giant evil bug. He turned down the cobblestone road and headed to the marketplace.
In his basic infiltration training, Garrett was taught to start building relationships quickly and efficiently. The best places to do this was in public places like the market or a park. As he thought back to his training; start simple, work on them consistently, but always plan out everything. The most powerful weapons to any changeling, be them simple a drone or the Queen herself, were their words and ability to sense emotions. The most skilled changelings could weave any conversation under into their grasps. The key was to catch on to the emotions of the others and use this knowledge to your advantage, something Garrett did fairly well, despite not being an Infiltrator. Ponies were naturally friendly, so Garret would have to mimic this attitude. Ugh. This is ridiculous. We changelings are the perfection of nature incarnate. I shouldn't have to butter up to them.


The number of ponies at the market was astonishing, Garrett knew that Canterlot, as the country's capital, had a large population. He just didn't realize it was this big, The streets were filled with so many ponies that it was impossible to walk through the sea of ponies without bumping into somepony. The sheer number daunted him. Maybe I should try somewhere else. Somewhere less... occupied. The park could do. Garrett turned and... realized he had no idea where the park was, or if Cantelrot even had one. Throwing away that plan, Garrett just headed into a cafe. At least, he thought it was a cafe. He realized his mistake when he opened the door and found an empty room, with just one in there. This wasn't a cafe, it was a pub. It was slightly dark in there. Honestly, Garrett liked it darker, it eased the pain his eyes felt when out in the sun. The place looked like it was falling on hard times, the only other pony there was probably the owner.
If a pony looked in here, they would see a business falling on hard times, but Garrett saw an opportunity. He thought it through his head. If he could help the owner, then he would be incredibly happy. Garrett could establish a connection and means to garner even more connections. The more connections he held, the more emotional energy he could feast on. Garrett walked over to the bar and plopped himself down on a stool. The other pony came over and introduced himself. "Welcome to The Pub Down By Moonlit Water. Now, what can I do for you?" The way he said that was a monotonous tone like he'd done this countless times before, and couldn't but accept the truth of it almost being the end of it.
Garrett quickly scanned the menu hanging behind the pony and chose something he could safely ingest. "Water... please."
"Three bits," Garrett pulled out three bits and placed them in front of himself. "One glass of water" -he took the bits "-coming right up," he turned behind him and levitated a cup near him as he selected the water tap. Water and other simple substances were harmless to ingest. Garrett took the time to look around the bar, seeing small cobwebs here and there, the barkeep put a cup of water in front of Garrett, pulling his attention away from the surrounding to the drink.
"Doesn't seem like business isn't booming?"
"Nope, hasn't been for a long time. The names Taproot."
"Garrett." Garrett took a sip of water.
"Well, that's an odd name." Not as weird as Taproot. Seriously, who names their children that?
"You from around here?"
Garrett looked up from his drink. "Huh? Oh, no I'm not."
"Where you from then?" Where am I from? I don't know any pony cities! Great, I'm about to... No, wait. I'm not from anywhere. I've traveled the world.
"I'm not from anywhere specifically. I've traveled the world mostly, not to any cities mind you, no I've gone to the hidden and more remote places in the world," Garrett took another sip of his drink to add in some drama. That was always good for a hidden backstory. "I've actually just moved here to Canterlot and looking for a place to work." He was partially truthful. If he didn't have a job but had a steady income of bits apparently from the ether, it would bring suspicion. And preying eyes was the biggest thing he wanted to avoid.
"Well I would say you could work here, but as you can see, there really isn't any business to afford the building's upkeep." That was just what Garrett wanted Taproot to say.
"What if I could convince someponies to come here for service?"
"Well, if you could do that, then yeah, I'd employ you." Upon hearing what he wanted to, Garrett put down his drink and got up.
"Well, you might want to get ready, I plan on bringing some customers."


Garrett already had a plan on how to get ponies into The Pub Down By Moonlit Water. All he needed was to run into somepony. Specifically, somepony with a drink and not surrounded by a group of others. Garrett saw them. Another unicorn he was... Fancy Pants! With a smug grin, Garrett went to get his "friends" attention. It would be easier to convince somepony he already knew to check out the pub than a random pony from the street. Timing his trot, Garrett knocked Fancy Pants right over. "Ow, sorry, I didn't hurt... Fancy Pants?"
"Garrett, I didn't expect to see you again this soon. But its a welcome surprise. What brings you out to the market today?"
"Just browsing," -Garrett gave a happy smiling, scolding himself internally for smiling, then pretending to now notice Fancy's spilled beverage "-Ohh, I'm sorry about your drink?"
"O don't worry about it, I'm fairly certain I can get another soon."
"No, I'm the cause of it spilling, so I owe you a new drink. Come with me, I know exactly where I can get you a new drink." Garrett turned and led Fancy Pants to the pub. Opening the doors, Garrett held them open for Fancy.
"A pub. Seems a bit informal doesn't it."
"Well, sometimes informal is good. Come on, your drink is waiting." Garrett paid for a sweet tea, whatever that was, and got a conversation in the pub started between himself, Fancy, and Taproot. It wasn't too difficult to subtly bring up the future of the pub if the business didn't start to go better. Now, all Garrett had to do was wait.




Tough Locke exited Steele's office, more confused than he had ever been in his entire life. Was this a vengeful spirit, the actual Phantom Thief survived the cave-in, or was this somepony else completely taking up the identity to use as a cover. He didn't know. The Phantom Thief cost his great-grandfather his life, then why was he alive when his great-grandfather dead?
"Hey, Locke." Locke looked up to see Blaze waving a hoof to him.
"Hey, Blaze. What is it?"
"I was wondering if you could help me unpack a few things in my lab upstairs. Nothing too big." Blaze gave a smile.
"Sure." That should help me think about something else.
The two of them spent almost an hour organizing the boxes themselves. Blaze had insisted on it; he claimed that if they first organized the boxes, then it would make the actual unpacking a whole lot easier. And it was. Once they organized everything they started to unpack the boxes of... science stuff. They made small talk all the while.
"Locke, have you been living here in Canterlot long?" Blaze asked.
"Hm. Oh, no. My family and I recently moved here from Manehatten."
"What for?"
"I was offered a higher pay for working here than back in Manehatten. Plus my daughter, Lily, is incredibly skilled at magic; she was able to perform a teleportation spell at just five. Granted, it was just an apple from the opposite side of a table, but still. Anyway, my wife's brother offered to teach Lily in magic and he lives here in Canterlot."
"Oh. Well, how was it? Living in Manehatten I mean."
"It was nice once you get over the constant sound of wagons, carts, and ponies walking day and night. My wife, Rosie, grew up in Manehatten; I grew up on my family's farm not too far away from Appleloosa. I moved to Manehatten to attend college there. That's when I met Rosie, she helped me find my way around Manehatten." Locke finished his story and placed a clear, dry-erase board beside one of the tables.
"I think that's the last box," Blaze looked around the room for any more boxes, finding none. "Yep, it is."
"So, Blaze" -Locke leaned back onto a table desk- "how long have you been a forensic scientist?"
"Not long. Actually, this is my first job as one."
"Hmm, our last forensic scientist had to move to Baltimare to be closer to his family. I'm guessing that because he was our only forensic, you were assigned here when he left. Am I right?"
"Yep."
"What school did you attend for forensic training?"
"Well, first I attended college in Cloudsdale, where I majored in Chemistry and Biology; then, after I graduated, I attended the nearby University of Cloudsdale and received my masters in forensic science there. It helps that my mother is a biologist and my father is a chemist."
"It's like you were made to be a forensic scientist."
"Yeah, it does seem that way."
"Anyway, it's been nice to meet you Blaze. But I've got to go, I'm supposed to be meeting my brother-in-law in a while."
"Alright, see you later then."




Lily fell back onto Max's bed, groaning. Her brother was sitting in his desk chair, mixing up a Rubik's Cube. "I'm bored. Let's go do something Max," Lily said, breaking the silence.
"Dad said he was going to take you to the new café later. I'm pretty sure you can wait," Max retorted to his little sister. "And he just left. It's going to be a few hours before he gets back at best. Here," Max tossed the Rubik's Cube over to Lily. She caught it in her magic and examined it closely. Max looked over at the clock on his desk, watching it. "And-" Max stared at the clock until the seconds' stick hit the twelve "-go."
Lily immediately set at twisting and turning the cube's sides. "Do you think we'll be able to see Uncle Crocus soon?"
"I don't know. He works at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, so he probably has work to do," Max replied. The older unicorn picked up a dart and took aim at the dart board. Throwing the dart to hit the thin line between the center circle and the ring layer beside it.
"Done." Lily held up the Rubik's Cube triumphantly. As soon as he heard her say it, Max looked back at the clock.
"Oh, it took you one minute and thirty-two seconds. Just four seconds away from a new record. Sorry, sis." Max looked back to Lily.
"It's okay." Lily tossed the cube back to her older brother and laid back on the bed. "You know, since its going to be a few hours before Dad gets back, you and I could go to the park." She looked eagerly at her older brother. Hoping that he would say yes. Please say yes, please say yes.
Max looked over at Lily, who had practically had puppy dog eyes. "Sure," Max said affectionately rolling his own eyes at this ridiculous attempt of an emotional tug at his heart. It was a nice-looking day after all. Max placed the Rubik's Cube onto his desk. Lily hopped off his bed. No, not hopped isn't right. It was more like she bounded off the bed with an amount of exuberant energy only found in stars. Yeah, that's more like it.
"Mommy," Lily called out.
"Yes, Lily. What is it?" Rosie replied back.
"Max and I are going out to the park."
"Okay, thanks for telling me. And stay with your brother. And Max, don't let her out of your sight, okay?"
Max shifted his legs slightly, thought about something for a moment, and opened his mouth to reply. Lily, took notice of all this and cut him off before he could utter a single syllable. "Don't worry mommy, I won't let him out of my sight." Max let out a sigh and looked over at her. Mouthing the words thank you. Lily skipped over to the door and opened it easily. Max followed her out the door, closing it behind him. 


Max and Lily walked around the park for a good while. The two didn't exactly know what to do there. Lily just wanted to do something other than laying down doing nothing. Max wanted to get out of the house for a while. Neither of them knew anypony there and nopony interacted with them. But, they didn't mind.
The two walked in silence along a trail, with Lily following the birds chirping and flying. Trees stood tall and proud on both sides and a cool wind blew past them, bending and waving the trees. Soon the dirt trail gave way to an opening with a playground set with a dozen or so foals climbing all over it. Lily's eyes widened into continents. She turned to Max, behind her, gleefully. Max nodded.
Lily bounded into a run towards the playground set. Max taking a personal pace himself. Lily reached the playground and started to climb up the stairs to the slide, only to be stopped by a trio of fillies. All were a little older than Lily but still younger than Max.
"And who said you could come onto our playground." one filly spat.
"Huh?" Lily asked confusingly. "What do you mean?"
"What do we mean? Did you hear that Teri." one of the fillies retorted.
A pegasus, presumably Teri, smirked. "Yeah, this little baby hasn't even earned her cutie mark. She probably needs to be told the rules. Des, why don't you tell this blank the rules."
"The rules are simple. If you don't have a cutie mark, you don't get let in," Des, an earth pony, glared at Lily.
"You can just turn your little blank flank back around and run on home to your mommy and daddy." the final bully, a unicorn, pushed Lily down the small set of stairs. Lily was fighting back tears now. Her foreleg let out a tiny trickle of blood. The group of bullies laughed at her misfortune.
"HEY!"
"What now?" Teri stopped laughing long enough to see a very angry Max, stomping over to them.
"You do NOT hurt my sister like that." Max put himself between Lily and her tormenters. "She did nothing to deserve that."
"Oh. He didn't just tell you what to do, did he Lotus," Des mocked to the other bullies.
The one who pushed Lily, Lotus, simply smirked. "Oh, he is going to regret that," Lotus whispered. "Oh, but she had every reason to deserve that. She was trying to get into our playground without a cutie mark. And you don't have one either. So, what are you going to do? Side with the loser or walk away."
"Nopony hurts my sister," Max said through gritted teeth.
"So be it. Your mistake." with that, Lotus encased Max in her magic and tossed him to the ground. Hard.
"You are nothing but a... a... Lily?" Max turned to his sister. Sniff. She was crying. "Lily." Max reached a hoof out to her, but she was up and running before he could comfort her. Max gave chase, following her blindly through the trees.


Lily finally stopped running and fell to the ground. She then just let it all out. She sat there sobbing alone. She stayed there alone for a few minutes. "Oh my," a voice near her called out. Lily looked up to see a unicorn looking back down to her. "Are you okay, my dear?" He noticed her bleeding hoof. "No, you're hurt. Here, let me help you with that." He bent down and pulled out a small rag out of the satchel he was wearing. He wrapped it around her scrapped leg. "There, better now?"
Lily stopped sniffling long enough to nod. "Yes, thank you, mister."
"Don't worry. Can you move it?" His voice was calm and assuring.
"I think so." Lily moved her leg forward and back, wincing at the pain. "It hurts when I move it though."
"Does it hurt inside or on the skin?"
"On the skin."
"Good, that means you didn't twist anything. Now, how did this happen?"
"A group of meanies wouldn't let me play on the playground set because I don't have a cutie mark, then the pushed me down. After that, my brother told them to quit it, but they just bullied him too."
"Well, is that your brother?" he pointed a hoof to something behind Lily. She turned around to see Max running over to her.
"Lily, are you okay?" Max asked as soon as he reached her.
"I am now, thanks to this nice mister."
"Thank you, mister... Uncle Crocus."
The unicorn shifted his glasses and his eyes widened. "Max!" Crocus then looked down at Lily. "That means you must be Lily." Crocus smiled at the two. "I haven't seen either of you in... who knows how long. The last time I saw you, Lily, you were still learning how to crawl." Crocus looked around. "Is Rosie with the two of you?"
"No, just me and Lily here." Max rubbed Lily's head. "What are you doing out here Crocus?"
"Oh, I always take a walk down here. It helps me clear my mind."
"Uncle Crocus, Max said you worked at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, do you?" Lily asked her uncle, looking at him with wonder in her eyes.
"Yes, I do. Would the two of you like to see my classroom?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" Lily responded excitedly.
"Max?"
"Sure," Max answered.
"Well, follow me."




Turns out, Fancy Pants holds a large amount of sway over the popular opinion of the ponies of Canterlot. Once a few ponies noticed him in Taproots pub, they were attracted to it like moths to a flame. Ponies are simple-minded enough that all it takes is a well-known face for them to praise a place like a holy site.
Taproot taped on Garrett's shoulder. "I really didn't think you could actually do it, but you somehow did." The feelings of appreciation coming off of him were tasteful. "Well, you held up your end of the bargain so I'll hold up my end of the bargain. You can start helping me out tomorrow."
"Okay," Garrett answered back. Taproot returned to serve his patrons. Now, on to some other things. Garrett exited the pub and made his way down a street side. He wasn't searching for anything in particular, just... something. Something of interest. Something... like that. It was a library. He didn't remember a single thing about pony history, a library would be the perfect place to rectify that. Garrett walked into the old building. The building was wasteful. There was a big open spot that reached up to the top of the building, about three stories, and had nothing occupying it other than a circular shelf/desk thing that shorter than his abysmal disguise.


Everything about this place was wasteful, many books just stated the same thing over and over again, and others just copied the one before it. There were entire sections of the building dedicated to fashion, one for sports, architecture, geology, geography, linguistics, mathematics, science, literature, nature, biomes. You name it, there was a section for it. All except for the interesting subjects. Destructive and complex magics weren't even in the library. Those were held somewhere else. It didn't matter, that wasn't what he was searching for. Garrett finally found the section on history and... it was vague and complex. Equestria wasn't formed until the three different tribes united to fight off the windigos. The ponies were actually quite hostile and aggressive to one another in the past. The princesses united Equestria under a single ruler. Changelings weren't all that different in how they acted. If the Queen died, then the Hive would fall into disarray and chaos as changelings grabbled for the leader position left vacant in the power vacuum.
An entire section on Equestrian Military? Yes, please.
Garrett searched through the many, many books on the Equestrian Military. They were... pathetic to put it lightly. But that was when they were individuals. The ponies greatly outnumbered every other creature in the world. And what they lacked in strength, they made up for in ingenuity. They didn't need to overpower their foes, just outlast them. They created ships that flew in the air with wings or magic, and the train could transport goods or ponies to a variety of locations. What would it be like if ponies went to war? Garrett didn't want to think of that anymore. He had no doubt that the ponies were a formidable prey.




Crocus opened the door to his classroom and Lily gasped. The place was amazing.
"I take it that you like it?" Crocus asked jokingly.
"Wow," was all Lily could manage.
"Well, first let's take a closer look at that scrap," Crocus picked up Lily and sat her down on his desk. Max walked up to a blackboard with dozens of theories and laws written all over it. "That's tomorrow's lesson," Crocus opened a drawer and pulled out a small first-aid kit. He unwrapped the bandage from earlier and applied some sort of cream to it and wrapped a new bandage over it. "There."
"Thanks."
"You know, I was supposed to meet the two of you and your father at a cafe later today."
"Daddy's at work right now. They called him in because of an emergency."
"Hmm, what time does he get off?"
"We don't know. It was his supposed to be his free day off and they called him in last minute," Max replied.
"Well, I say we go see him at the cafe in a bit. You two don't go anywhere, I've just got to get a few things."


Crocus led his niece and nephew through the crowded streets of Canterlot. They finally came to a stop and Crocus led them into a building.
"Alright, this is where your father should be." Crocus looked at the ponies sitting at tables. None looked like Locke.
"Crocus, its good to see you. The usual?" one of the waiters asked.
"Uh, oh. No, I'm just waiting for somepony." The three ponies took a seat at a booth. The waiter came up to Crocus again.
"Well, who are these little ones?"
"There my niece and nephew. Lily and Max."
"Well, it's nice to meet the two of you. I'm Hill Song." Hill smiled at the two foals. "Crocus, why do I get the feeling that you didn't offer them anything to have while they're here?"
"Well, what do the two of you want?"
"Are there frosty's?" Lily asked as if she'd been waiting all day for one, which, she probably was.
"Yes, they have frosty's. What about you Max?" Crocus asked. Max politely shook his head no.
"So, one frosty. What flavor?" Hill asked.
"Chocolate!"
"One chocolate frosty coming right up." Hill turned around and left towards the kitchen.
"Uncle Crocus, how come you never visited us before?"
"Well, I'm just always working and working at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns doesn't leave me with a whole lot of time for anything else," Crocus answered. A younger blue pegasus walked up to the table with a chocolate frosty.
"Sorry, but my sister is dealing with an obnoxious customer. But, here's your chocolate frosty," the pegasus said. Both Lily and Max looked confusingly at her. "What?"
"This is Rain Song, Hill's little sister. She helps her sister work here. Thanks, Rain," Crocus quickly cleared up the confusion.
"Oh," both Lily and Max said in unison. Lily focused her attention on the treat in front of her. She quickly started slurping up the frosty, forgetting what happens when you quickly drink something ice cream.
"Does your family not feed her?" Crocus asked jokingly.
"Nope," Lily answered, humoring Crocus for a while. She then returned to the frosty.
"We do feed you."
Crocus looked back towards the entrance to see Locke standing, smiling.
"Come on over and sit down." Crocus motioned for Locke.
"AHH, brain freeze."
Locke hadn't expected to see his children at the cafe when he met up with Crocus. When he sat down, he couldn't help but chuckle at Lily's brain freeze.
"So, when did you two meet Uncle Crocus here?" Locke looked over to his children.
"We ran into him at the park earlier. Ahh," Lily squeezed her head in a vain attempt to relieve the cold pressure she was experiencing.
"What were the two of you doing at the park?"
"We went to do something, anything other than sitting around doing nothing." The brain freeze finally seceded and Lily returned to enjoying the frosty, slowly this time.




Garrett walked down the street back to his makeshift home. The sun was lowering herself in the sky. He had spent Queen knows how long looking up anything in that library. Most of it was junk. The books about something useful were far and few while the number of those books that weren't outdated and held any actually prudent information were even fewer. He eventually gave up on finding anything that way and headed on to his home.
A new problem presented itself to him. The Shrouded Drapes was marked for demolition. The crews of workers and demolition experts made that evident enough. He couldn't let them see him going inside. That would lead to a multitude of questions, like why was he living in there, who was he, and how long he'd been living there. Those were questions Garrett had rather leave unasked. He dipped into an alleyway and focused his senses. The world around him darkened and the only sight was of glowing colors of emotions in the shape of the ponies. They were going from room to room, clearing them out and were getting close to his room.
The world snapped back into focus and Garrett peeled his false skin off, and in its place grew Thief's skin. Thief put his hooves against a wall. Forming a flame-portal, he transported himself into his room. Now, all he had to do was get his stuff out of the room quickly and, preferably, without being seen. Easier said than done. Much easier. The biggest obstacle was the drawer, it was too big to flame-port.You know, I really don't need that anyway. Thief dumped all the bits and belongings into the satchel bags and put the quiver of arrows on the satchel belt along with the bow. He could hear the hoofsteps now. And they were getting closer. Rushing himself, he formed a flame-portal. Thief could see the door open and one worker look inside right as Thief's surroundings changed from the hotel room and into the alleyway across the street. "Great, now I don't have anywhere to hide," Thief muttered to himself.
The housing problem would need to be remedied fast. He could just hide in another abandoned hotel but ultimately decided against it. He was lucky enough to make it back in time to get his stuff out and he didn't want to tempt that luck any more than needed. The universe could be a cruel, cruel mistress. I need to hide somewhere in Canterlot and near the pub. And the Phantom Crystals, I'll need to find a supply of those too. And I can't be seen near the castle, it would be suicide to do so. Too many guards. So, he needed to find a secure location that was out of the way of the pony population, yet still close enough to them for food. The pegasus of Canterlot were placing clouds in the sky around the city. Probably for a rainstorm. Why do these ponies need to regulate the weather? Us changelings easily lived without controlling nature. Let the rain come when it wants to, not when you want it to. Stupid ponies. Thief took in a look of his surroundings and found himself staring at a small black bird that was staring back at him. A raven. "Shoo," Thief motioned for the raven to go away, but it remained. "Shoo, go away. What do you want?" It actually responded.
The raven flew up and onto Thief's back and pulled out one of the arrows. It then took off with it. "Hey, that's mine!" Thief gave chase, following the raven down the street and into another alleyway. This alleyway lead right to a dead-end. The mountain that Canterlot was suspended on. I've got you now. Only, he didn't have it. The raven flew down a crevice in the side of the cliff and into a dark abyss. Really! Thief followed the raven down the darkness and into a... a mine. An abandoned mine. Thief couldn't see two feet in front of himself. He closed his eyes, and reopened them, now with his natural eyes. The darkness faded away to reveal the raven perched on a rock, with the arrow still in its mouth. "Now, stay still and give me back my arrow." The raven flew a bit further away and placed the arrow down in front of a crystal. Thief walked over and retrieved his arrow. And then he saw what the raven was trying to show him.
A Phantom Crystal. No, many Phantom Crystals. "Wow."