The knives were the talk of the thieves for weeks.
While before he was “the new guy” who barely knew a person by name, now he was the center of attention, with ponies crowding around his lunch table. The Twin Moons, as they had come to be known as were stuck into the table, with thieves gathered around them, staring and practically drooling as the thousand bit daggers shone in the filtered light of the sectioned off sewers.
“Just look at those beauties,” a thief whispered as Mouse chewed his apple bread, “Why If I had one of those, I could be the terror of Unicornia.”
Shade, the earth pony that had brought in the crate of blackglass when Mouse first showed up stared at the knives enviously. “Aye...you wouldn’t need to sneak about with knives like that. There wouldn’t be a unicorn to stop you,” he said, reaching for the gleaming, crescent blades.
Mouse smacked the hoof away, before pulling both blades into his magical bag. “Hey, keep your sticky hooves to your own stuff, Shade. The daggers are mine.”
“I wasn’t gonna nick ‘em!” Shade grunted. “And if I was you wouldn’t have noticed.”
Dusk, the pegasus who was almost always seen next to Shade, on the rare occasion that he wanted to be seen, grunted. “This isn’t fair is what it is. Your first job and you get paid with knives fourteen times worth what I get.”
Mouse smiled, keeping one hoof on the opening of his bag while he sat in his chair. “Guess I’m just lucky.”
“Luck my eye! I should have had that job!” Shade growled.
“You wouldn’t have made it in the house,” another thief grunted.
“I could have,” Dusk said.
“Probably, unless the knives were in someone’s pockets,” another thief laughed.
“You wanna go? I’ll take you on!”
“Oi! The lot of ya! Shut up!” all heads turned to Big Sap, who stood in the doorway of the surprisingly clean cistern-cum-cafeteria. “Mouse, I’ve got another job.”
The unicorn leapt out of his chair and squeezed his way through the crowd, coming out on the other side to stand in front of Sap. “What’s the job?”
Sap frowned, before leading Mouse into the room that had been designated as his office. “Our employer needs some bits stolen,” Sap said, sitting at his desk.
“About that, who is our emplo—”
“The trick, is that you’re going to have to steal from a Golden Revolutionary.”
Mouse blinked, and silence filled the little office.
You could hear the thieves in the room beyond, drinking and enjoying their spoils through the stone walls and the thick oak door.
A long moment passed, before Mouse spoke up. “What’s a Golden Revolutionary?”
Sap sighed. “Come on, boy, this is your history!”
“I’ve been more concerned with living, thank you,” Mouse responded, deciding that was an easier explanation that growing up in prison.
Sap sighed again. “Alright, you know of Princess Platinum?”
“Yes,” Mouse answered.
“She used to be the crown princess of Unicornia. When she left, the throne passed to her sister Princess Gold, but something happened, and the youngest sister, Princess Silver took the crown. Gold was exiled instead, but a bunch of nobles that don’t like that have been backing Gold forever now, so there are all kinds of little wars all across Unicornia.”
Sap opened a drawer, and ruffled through it for a page. “Now, the Goldies like hanging around Equestria because they blame Platinum for all this, and something about the politics being easier, but that’s not important. The important thing is, they’re crazy, they’re here, we have a good share of targets, and our employer hates them with a passion.”
He set the page down on the desk, revealing a map of Baltimare. He pointed at a house on the outskirts, circled in red. “Your job is to head there, grab anything and everything you can, and leave the Goldy broke, alright?”
Mouse nodded. “I can do that.”
“Good, take care of that tonight, and you get 20% of whatever you catch.”
Mouse nodded, and began to head out, when Sap spoke again. “And Mouse?”
“Yeah?”
“It has...come to my attention that your latest reward has gotten some...ire of the rest of the gang.”
Mouse looked Sap over. “Yes?” he asked expectantly.
“Well, we wouldn’t want you to suffer for a job well done, so I’m prepared to offer you three thousand gold bits for the pair.”
Mouse raised an eyebrow. He knew the fences priced a single dagger for five thousand at least. Anything less than that was, well, thievery.
“I’ll pass…” Mouse muttered suspiciously.
“Are you sure?” Sap asked. “I know it’s a couple of bits short, but that’s the price you’d pay for some peace of mind.”
“A couple of bits?” The small unicorn repeated in his mind. Yes, perhaps in the same sense that he spent a couple of years in jail. “I’ve had worse,” Mouse said, before he left the office, and ran down the hallways.
Mouse slowly walked through Baltimare, heading for the outskirts so that he could check out the Revolutionary’s home before night fall, when he was suddenly joined by a slightly smaller stallion. “Well, well, funny running into you here.”
Mouse looked down at him surprised at the sudden appearance of none other than Cut Purse himself. “Cut?” he asked, completely surprised.
“Yup, just taking a walk. Glad to see you, by the way.”
“No, no! It’s great to see you, but...what are you doing here?”
“Are you busy?” Cut asked.
“Um...I have to be somewhere once it gets clean,” Mouse admitted, “but...until then I think it’s fine.”
“Good, good,” Cut said, before pulling Mouse back in town. “Listen, I’m not a guy to tell ponies how to do their job. That isn’t my schtick. The problem is I still expect ponies to do their job, regardless of how they do it.”
Mouse nodded.
“Now, I’ve heard that the business might be having some issues here, so I’m here to check it out, and...well...I’ll need a pair of eyes,” Cut said, throwing a meaningful look back towards Mouse.
He nodded slowly. So he was a spy then? He was to watch the Baltimare branch. He could do that.
“But that’s business, how’ve ya been without me?”
“Well, I was hired to help out a stuffed shirt the other day, and I bought a new set of knives.”
Cut’s brow furrowed. “Did you go by yourself?”
Mouse nodded. “The Boss said it was a one-pony job.”
“And you got out alright?”
“Yeah, it was exciting work.”
Cut frowned. “Follow me,” he said, leading Mouse down a street to another squat, but well-built building.
Cut quickly made his way inside, and Mouse was quick on his heels. Cut shut the door behind him, and they were finally free of the wandering eyes and curious ears of the street. The house seemed empty, but Cut didn’t move past the foyer regardless.
“Sap sent you to rob from a noble? Already? And by yourself?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Mouse admitted. “Why? Is that a big deal?”
“That’s a nearly a death sentence,” Cut said. “You don’t send a new thief into a noble’s house alone, especially not here. The Baltimare nobles can range anywhere from ruthless to downright vindictive when it comes to someone taking their stuff. The nicest ones are going to make sure you rot in jail for the rest of your life, no bail, no parole.”
Mouse blinked. “But...it wasn’t that hard…”
Cut looked at him like he grew a second head. “I think your luck’s making up for something,” he said. “Because there is no reason that should have been easy.”
“Sap said it was a good job because the Princess announced the day of mourning.”
Cut shook his head. “Sap wants you gone is what that tells me.”
Mouse blinked, shocked by the thought. “Why? What did I do?”
“It may have been something you didn’t do…” Cut muttered. “Alright, look. For now stick to smaller jobs, don’t deal with the nobles, and watch your back in the den. In the meantime, act like nothing’s wrong, okay?”
“Well, hang on, what if I get arrested?” Mouse asked. “I mean, I can get out, but I want to save that for—”
“Don’t worry about that. You came in by my recommendation. The Big Boss knows you’re here. If Sap can get you out, he has to. If he wants you gone, he either needs you to take a dirt nap or annoy the nobles bad enough that they want you in a jail cell coffin.”
Mouse nodded, before a thought crossed his mind. “Is that why Sap offered me the knives?”
“What knives?” Cut asked.
Mouse drew one from his magic bag, and showed the sickle-like blade to the smaller stallion.
“Was that the reward for the job?” Cut asked.
“He said our employer didn’t care what happened to it,” Mouse explained.
Cut groaned. “You’re not supposed to...ugh…” he sighed, his head in his hooves. “Okay. Look, things are complicated, and I need you to be my eyes and ears down there. Can you do that for me, or do we need to get you out?”
“No, I can work, besides, I kinda like it here in Baltimare.”
“Good, just be sure to watch your back out there, this isn’t a friendly home. Don’t report to me until you find something that hurts the business, once you do, I can get Sap what’s coming to him.”
Mouse nodded. “Alright, I’ll keep my eye open.”
Cut nodded, and smiled. “I knew you were the stallion for the job, I knew it.”
Mouse smiled at the praise, before he spoke. “By the way, who is our employer?”
“Earth pony landowner,” Cut explained quickly. “Hates Equestria, trying and failing to bring about economic ruin. It does pay well, though,” he said before he sent Mouse on his way. “Go on, now, before anyone realizes you’re gone. I’ll be here when you’re ready to report. And remember, we never spoke.”
Mouse smirked as he stepped out the door. “Of course not.”
Cut smiled, and shut the door, leaving Mouse alone in the street.
Mouse frown, before he began to walk back toward the outskirts where the revolutionary was waiting for him. His thoughts went to Sap, and what exactly that entailed for him.
Sap wanted him dead, or gone at least, and that meant sending on him on difficult missions. There was no question that the daggers he now had were supposed to be bait, which meant it was no wonder that everyone in the den wanted them.
But the bigger question was why. Why did Sap want to get rid of him? What did he do? What could Mouse have possibly done to gain the ire of a pony he barely knew? What could have possibly—
“Well, well. Look who it is,” a voice said behind him.
Mouse frowned as he turned to see the mare, officer Golden Shield standing behind him, and glaring.
“Hello, officer,” Mouse grunted. “Is there a problem?”
“What are you up to, thief?”
“Thief?” Mouse asked, as years of rebellion bubbled to the surface. “That’s quite the accusation to make without proof, wouldn’t you say?”
“That’s only a matter of time,” she said as she walked up next to him, glaring all the way.
“Is it now?” Mouse asked. “That’s odd, because I imagine it'd be hard to find proof of an event that never happened.”
“You just wait, thief, I will find it,” she warned.
“My dear, if I were to steal something, I doubt you would find it.”
“Is that a challenge?” She asked.
“One I doubt you could live up to,” Mouse said with a smirk.
The revolutionary lived in a smaller building not far from the edge of town. It stood outside the walls that were built around the first founding buildings of the city, but the actual edge of town was still far enough away that the goldie was still relatively protected.
Unfortunately for him, protection from the wild and protection from the city were two different things. This was officially the poor end of town, the buildings, though nicer than the Alehouse, were by no means noble, but that made it perfect for a stallion like Mouse.
Mouse snuck through the covered alleys built by the jettying of the newer, wooden buildings. He watched and waited, letting the guards fly past as they held their torches aloft, caring little for the poorer ponies.
He smiled as an opening presented itself, and he slipped across the street, with only the flutter of his cloak to give him away. He ducked into another alley, formed by two houses where neither perceived the chance of a neighbor. The alley was thin, and a pony could hardly walk down its length.
It was the perfect width for what Mouse needed.
Pushing against both walls, he forced himself up off the ground and into air, up the walls until he reached the jettying walls of the second floor.
With the jutting walls now closer together, his speed picked up until he finally reached the Goldie’s window, looking out on a view it had for a few weeks at most.
It was now the thief’s front door.
He slipped in and went to work, grabbing everything he could get his hooves on and sliding them into his magical bag. He didn't care what he grabbed, it hardly mattered to him.
He emptied a drawer, dumping the contents in the bag, smiling wildly at the thought of Golden Shield’s face. The thought that she was never going to catch him for this was intoxicating. It would be the ultimate revenge to finally stick it to the guards after two decades of being their plaything.
That's what he was stealing for. Not Sap. Not the gang. Not the earth pony landowner he had never met. Not even Cut. No, he was stealing for the simple pleasure of watching the face of Golden Shield as she failed to catch him.
For now, that was enough for Mouse.
Gold? Into the bag. Silver? Into the bag. Heirlooms? Bag. Trinkets? Bag. Mouse even tried to fit in a small, but wonderfully carved table into the small mouth of the magical bag. Anything and everything that Mouse could think of to get the attention of the guard.
The bigger the problem he made, the better. If he could get the entire guard after him, then that would make it all the better when he watched them as he ate from the food stalls.
Actually that sounded very fun. He set that idea aside for later, smirking at the thought even as he entered the next room.
The door swung open, revealing the small room and the the stallion who owned it.
He was fast asleep, lying on his cot with a simple sheet to cover him.
Mouse took a quick look around, and noted the small statuette on the small end table next to bed, and held it up in what little light there was.
It was a small, golden unicorn, that wore a crown decorated with small jewels. The resemblance to Princess Platinum was uncanny, and it did not take Mouse more than a second to realize this was probably a statuette of the now infamous Princess Gold.
He looked it over, and the heft alone made it obvious that it was real gold.
Then he looked back to stallion.
And then he set the little statuette back on the table.
Sap frowned as he checked his notes, reading over the blur of numbers with a shard of blackglass spinning in his hooves.
This would be difficult. Not hard, but difficult. With Cut’s spy snooping around he’d have to keep things tight now, can’t make any mistakes or the boss’ eye might wander toward him. If the boss started digging, he’d find the lie Sap had built around him and he just couldn’t afford that kind of attention.
He’d be on the headsman’s block in a week if the boss found out.
He muttered, cursing the new stallion. He had to come in and start ruining everything. He had to put his nose where it didn’t belong. He had to refuse Sap’s little bribe of blackglass. That was the worst. What kind of thief has enough honor to refuse a bribe? No, that was when Sap knew this little stallion was real trouble.
So he had to get rid of him. That wasn’t hard. All it would take was a dangerous job, and once their employer had a suitable mission for him, Sap was quick to hand it off and let the problem take care of itself.
Then he had to pull off the noble job so well that they blamed one of the servants for it.
That proved it. This wasn’t just a spy, this was a professional. This was one best plants Sap had ever seen. It was obvious that Sap had given him too much breathing room with the day of mourning, he couldn’t play with this guy. No, he had to do something serious.
Very serious.
Bribes to the guards came to mind, but he shook that thought. He wouldn’t trust the Baltimare guards as far as a unicorn could throw them, they’d turn on the thief delivering the bribe just as fast as accept it. No, that couldn’t work.
More dangerous work came to mind, but with how well the spy had managed to pull of the last noble job, Sap wasn’t sure.
No, he needed something that was more certain. He needed this guy out of the picture as soon as possible.
He needed—
The door slammed open, and Sap spun to see Mouse standing in the doorway, with a bag hovering beside him. “I’m back.”
“Right,” Sap nodded, regarding the spy with suspicion as he did his best to hide his mistrust, “I can see that.”
Mouse upended the bag, pouring out silverware, gold, an odd piece of furniture or two and everything he had taken from the revolutionary’s house. When the bag emptied of what Mouse wanted to give, he grabbed a gold coin from the pile. “Take this from my cut,” he said, before he turned and walked out.
“What? Why? Where are you going?” Sap asked.
Mouse paused in the hallway, and looked back. “I’m...not comfortable these days with so many thieves looking for knives.”
“They’re not supposed to steal from members in the gang,” Sap noted.
“‘Not supposed to’ and ‘won’t’ are two different things,” Mouse said. “I’m just going to spend the night at an inn, enjoy some goosefeather for a change. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
Sap’s eyes narrowed. “Right…” he muttered.
But Mouse paid him no mind, and went on his way.
As morning dawned, Mouse sat outside the Fox’s Heart Inn, and smiled as he drank a cup of morning tea outside.
He had purchased a room just as the innkeeper came down to open up, along with breakfast. This gave him a wonderful opportunity to watch the Baltimare guard as they rushed through the streets, searching for the thief that had insulted their honor.
It was quite the story apparently, a unicorn’s home had been broken into. It was all quite terrible, but what made it worse was not simply that the unicorn had had nearly everything stolen, but also the message scrawled in ink on the wall.
The message itself was almost scandalous, claiming the guard couldn’t find their own tailholes or some such, while calling out a particular officer in particular, a miss Golden Shield, saying that she, in particular, couldn’t catch him if she tried.
Or so Mouse heard, he wasn’t sure.
But the slight against the guard had gotten out, and they could not let it stand.
It was hilarious to watch them scramble about, searching this way and that for any sign of a thief that no one had seen.
It was perfect.
“You,” a voice growled, and Mouse turned to see Golden glare at him from the street.
“Good morning, Officer,” Mouse said with a smile as he sipped his tea. “Would you like some breakfast?”
Golden kept glaring.
And Mouse just smiled.