"This is an outrage, I tell you!" Check Mate held in a sigh that was fighting to escape his lips. The pony sitting across from him, a highly overweight unicorn by the name of Golden Chain, had been assaulting his senses for the last few minutes with a vivid recounting of the robbery of his store. "Four ponies, I tell you, four! Just smashed right through the front door and next thing I knew, I was on the floor and my ears were ringing, and those vagabonds just started breaking everything! Everything! They made enough noise to raise the dead, and you know how many guards came? None. None! I tell you, it's a sad day when an honest business pony such as myself has to be afraid of an attack in his own shop, in the middle of the day, in the capital of the greatest nation on the planet! I have half a mind to lodge a formal complaint to the princesses themselves right now-"
"That," Check Mate quickly interjected as he wiped some of Golden Chain's spittle from his cheek, "Sounds like an excellent idea. How about you write to the princesses, then go to the guards and file a report?" Golden Chain sat back with a huff.
"I can't do that. Some of the items that got stolen have some...questionable origins. You should know, you're the one who sold most of them to me." Check Mate frowned. Golden Chain did have a point. The jeweler was one of the Guild's most prominent fences. He had been the one to move most of the goods they collected from Check Mate's foster family. If the guards were to search through his wares, there would be some awkward questions to answer.
"Alright, so the guards are out. That still does not tell me why you are here." Golden Chain gave him a smug smile.
"Oh, it's simple really. I want you to recover my merchandise for me." Check Mate nodded.
"Simple enough, I suppose. We shall have those jewels back to you in no time." Golden Chain waggled a hoof under Check Mate's nose.
"I wasn't finished yet. Just getting back the jewels isn't enough. I want insurance that this won't happen again. I want you to teach those vagabonds a lesson they won't forget." Check Mate arched an eyebrow.
"Threats are not our style."
"Then make them your style! Just get me my damn jewels!" Golden Chain lunged forward in an explosive outburst before letting out a deep breath and sitting back. His oily smile slithered back onto his face. "After all, I am the only pony who can move jewelry for you. It is in your best interest to protect me." He rose from his seat. "This job takes precedence over any of your other business. Until my jewels come back, I won't move any other merchandise for you." With that, he turned and slowly left the bar.
Check Mate watched him leave. Once he was sure the fence was gone, he spoke to the seat behind him. "What do you think?"
"Why do we do business with that asshole again?" Check Mate's partner, Stratus, slid from his seat behind Check Mate to sit across from him. Check Mate let out a slight chuckle.
"I suppose he is a bit of an asshole, but he is a top notch fence, and I would prefer to keep his support. For now. In the meantime, I have a plan regarding our current situation."
"I'm pretty sure I know what this plan is, and I'm pretty sure I don't like it."
"Oh, come now, Stratus, you knew we would need additional help sooner or later."
"Yeah, but could it not be later instead of sooner?"
"Very well then. Feel free to go threaten those ponies yourself."
"You suck, you know that?"
Check Mate smiled. "I am not going to grace that with a reply. In all seriousness, it could be of great benefit to welcome a new member into our fold. Some pony handy in a fight..." His voice was drowned out by a sudden commotion from the far end of the bar. The two thieves turned to see the source of the noise.
It appeared that several ponies had had too much to drink, and a mini brawl had broken out. The ponies responsible rampaged across the room. Tables and chairs in their way were either broken to bits or incorporated into the fighting. The ponies nearby seemed about to join in, and for a moment it seemed that chaos would reign, but those on the fringe of the fight suddenly backed away. They returned to their drinks and did their best to feign ignorance of the fight.
The ponies in the brawl did not notice what had just occurred. They did not notice until two of them were hefted into the air by the scruff of their necks, then slammed together with an audible crack. The sudden noise gave the rest of the brawlers pause. They turned to see the bouncer, an enormous minotaur twice the size of any pony in the room, standing above them. He cracked his knuckles casually. The brawlers shared a quick glance, then scurried out of the bar with their tails between their legs.
Stratus and Check Mate glanced back at each other. Stratus shrugged.
"I suppose we could do worse."
"And with that, a great weight has been lifted from my heart. Brawn!" The minotaur turned to face the two ponies. "How about you come drink with us?" The minotaur surveyed the rest of the bar patrons, who very pointedly avoided eye contact, then shrugged. He crossed the bar in just a few strides and sat down. The chair creaked ominously under his weight.
"Stratus, Check. What's up?"
Check Mate motioned the bar tender to bring over a drink. "Just felt that you deserved some reward for preserving the peace and sanctity of this locale."
Brawn chuckled. "Yeah, and if you pull the other one, I'll break into a song and dance number. What do you really want?"
"This is not about what we want, Brawn, it is about what you want. Specifically, a new job."
Brawn merely stared back. "That's what this is about? You want to offer me a job? Pff. You're not the first ponies to try this, so I'll tell you what I told them. I'm perfectly happy staying on the right side of the law. You can go ahead and find some other thug to beat ponies up." The bartender arrived with a flagon of ale. Brawn downed it in a single swig. "Thanks for the drink." He rose and began to walk away. He had gone just a few feet when he stopped. His shoulders dropped in a sigh, then he squared them and turned around.
"Just for the sake of argument, what exactly would you need?"
"We would need some thug to beat some ponies up." Brawn let out a snort.
"Yeah, I bet you do. It pay well?"
"Better than this."
"Any fun?"
"The most you have ever had."
"That's a pretty steep order to fill." Brawn stroked his beard in contemplation. "You know what? Why not, I'm in. Who are we roughing up?"
"That is what we need to find out."
"Sure sounds fun. Give me an hour till my shift ends, then we can go."
…
Glass Jewel leaped to his hooves as the customer entered his shop. The earth pony was obviously from the upper class, and was likely to spend a lot of money.
"Ah, good day to you, sir? Could I perhaps be of assistance?" The earth pony looked up from his inspection of a display.
"Why, as a matter of fact, you could. I am courting with a most lovely young mare, and I need something to win her heart."
"In that case, you've come to the right shop! Our jewelry is the top of the line, leagues above our competitors! If you would direct your attention to these necklaces, I'm sure one of them will catch your eye!" The customer looked at the display.
"Why, those may be the most lovely necklaces I have ever seen. I think I like that one." Glass Jewel felt his smile grow.
"Excellent! The necklace is on a special discount, just-"
"You know, that necklace looks rather familiar."
Glass Jewel's smile faltered just slightly. "Oh?"
"I am almost positive I have seen it before. Where was it? Oh, how could I forget? It was in the shop of my dear friend, Golden Chain. He just got robbed, did you hear? I would bet those thieves could not wait to pass their gains off. Probably want to sell it to some second rate jewelry store, nice and far from the crime scene. Much like this place, I would imagine."
Glass Jewel began to sweat. "Sir, I don't know what you're implying, but I can assure you that all my wares were fairly bought."
The customer smiled at him, but Glass Jewel felt no warmth from it.
"Are you insulting my intelligence?" Glass pursed his lips and looked around for some way out. There was none. "I do not like it when ponies insult my intelligence. But, and this is the important part, my friend likes it even less." Glass Jewel was just about to run for the door when the opening was filled with an enormous wall of fur and muscle. Glass gulped and slowly raised his eyes to meet the face of the minotaur who now stood in his shop. The minotaur stared back.
The customer, who Glass Jewel could now safely say was not a customer, barely acknowledged the hulking monster behind him. He slowly advanced towards Glass Jewel. Glass tried to back away, but felt his retreat blocked by the counter. The customer pressed his face in close. "I am not going to ask again. Where did you get those jewels?" Glass Jewel heard the sound of the minotaur's knuckles crack. They sounded painful. He made a decision.
He had a professional reputation to maintain. Ponies sold to him because they knew he was discreet and fast. If he caved now and gave in one of his sources, it would ruin his image.
Of course, if he didn't talk, that minotaur's fists would ruin his image worse. And at the end of the day, the flank he had to worry about most was his own.
…
Brawn looked across at Stratus. They had found almost half of the missing jewelry in the store, and the owner had been more than happy to share the location of the rest. Now, Check Mate was overseeing the jewelry's safe return while Brawn and Stratus scouted out the other place.
The information from the jeweler had led them to a run down old warehouse. The pegasus and the minotaur now sat in silence in a nearby alley.
Brawn glanced over at Stratus, then coughed into his hand.
"Nice weather we're having, isn't it?" Stratus glanced back.
"Ok, what are you doing?"
"Look, we've been sitting here for almost an hour and you haven't said a word. What's up?"
Stratus shifted his weight and looked away. "Nothing's up. Just haven't been talking." He remained silent for a moment, then sighed. "Look, it's nothing about you. You seem like a nice enough guy, but I just don't trust ponies. Or minotaurs, for that matter."
"You trust Check Mate."
"That's different."
"How so?"
"We have a mutual need for each other. I need some pony to make the plans, he needs some pony to carry them out."
Brawn nodded along slowly. "I get it. You trust him because you have to." The two stood in silence for a few minutes. "Of course, I kept your secret."
Stratus almost leaped into the air, then tried unsuccessfully to mask his surprise. "What-what secret? I don't have a secret. I mean, I have plenty of secrets, but none that you-"
"I know you can't fly."
Stratus bristled. "I can fly."
"Then do it. Right now."
"I would, but if I did, it might... give away our location! Yeah! We don't want any pony in the warehouse to know where we are!" Brawn gave Stratus a level stare. Stratus finally looked away. "Does any pony else know?"
"Just me. If you don't mind me asking, how did it happen?"
"I got beaten up real bad as a foal one day. My wing got hit with a brick. I didn't know anything about first aid or splints, so I just hoped it would get better." Stratus stretched out his left wing. It hung at a crooked angle, and Stratus grimaced in pain at the effort. Brawn nodded.
"Sorry to hear that." Stratus grunted in response.
"If you tell any pony, I will ruin your life," he threatened. Brawn lifted his hands in a calming pose.
"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. You can trust me." Brawn thought for a moment. "You said you only trust Check Mate because of mutual need, right?" Stratus slowly nodded. "Ok then, now we have mutual need." Stratus looked questioningly at him. "I know your secret. It's only fair if you know mine." He leaned close and whispered something into Stratus' ear. Stratus looked startled, then looked at the minotaur with new respect.
"Sorry to hear that," he said. Brawn gave a sympathetic smile.
"Well there you go. I keep your secret, you keep mine. Now, we have mutual need, and we can trust each other. Sound fair?" Stratus thought about it for a moment, then nodded.
"Yeah, I guess I can work with that." The two shook, hand and hoof.
"What's going on here?" They turned to see Check Mate approaching.
"Just getting to know each other a little better," said Stratus.
"That sounds wonderful. Are the two of you ready to deliver a message?" They both nodded. Stratus gave Brawn a sly grin.
"So, any ideas for what you're gonna do?"
"I was thinking I would go in, politely explain to them why stealing from honest business ponies is wrong, then put somebody's head through a brick wall to make my point." The minotaur rose to his full height, and suddenly the alley seemed much smaller. Stratus stepped aside and gave a courteous sweep with his arm.
"Ladies first." Brawn stared down at him.
"You know, I would prefer the head I put through a wall be one of theirs, but in a pinch, I'll just take whatever crook is closest." Stratus quickly backed away. Brawn chuckled, cracked his knuckles once, then strode forwards into the warehouse.
…
Less than an hour later, the trio sat back in their usual seats at the bar. Each of them had a smile on their face and a drink in the air.
"To a job well done," toasted Check Mate, and all three drank. Check Mate set his mug down first with a sigh of contentment. "Before any of us become to intoxicated to remember, we should split up our pay. Here you go." He slid two sizeable sacks of coin across the table to his companions. Brawn lifted his up with a look of surprise.
"Either I've drunk more than I think I have, or there was some mistake. This is almost two months of wages for me."
"Yes, there was a most peculiar coincidence. It turned out that in Glass Jewel's shop, there were several pieces he had not even known were stolen. I chose to appropriate those, in addition to reclaiming Mr. Chain's lost property."
Stratus grinned at him. "And did you tell Mr. Chain about those pieces?" Check Mate merely smiled in response. Brawn chuckled.
"Well, thank you two for that. Money has been a bit tight for me lately, so I'll take anything I can get." Stratus looked over at him, then dumped his sack of bits onto the table and slid half of them over to Brawn.
"Here, you can take some of mine." He went to take another drink, then stopped when he saw the other's expressions. "What? I don't really need the money that bad right now. Besides, you earned it." Check Mate lifted a hoof to his ear.
"Wait, do you hear that? I hear a mysterious beating sound from Stratus. Why, I cannot believe it, he just grew a heart!" Stratus stuck out his tongue at his partner and went back to his drink. Brawn smiled at their antics.
"I have just one question. Every pony in here has some shady dealings, but you two seem cut from a different cloth. Who are you, really?" Stratus and Check Mate shared a quick glance.
"Should we tell him?" Check Mate asked. Stratus shrugged.
"Sure. I trust him." Check Mate turned to Brawn.
"Have you read the newspaper recently?" Brawn nodded. "Read any stories about one 'Thieves Guild'?" Brawn looked puzzled for a moment, then a smile spread on his face.
"I have. According to the papers, they're the 'most dastardly, mysterious organization in recent history, with eyes and ears all over the city, and enough manpower to pull off any job.'"
"Well, my friend, you presently have the honor of drinking with both halves of said Guild." Brawn threw back his head and roared with laughter.
"I knew it! I knew there was something about you two! Ha! Just think, all those stories and rumors, and you're just two ponies drinking in a second rate bar." Check Mate smiled.
"That is true. Of course, if you would like, that number could change to three." Brawn laughed for a moment longer, then stopped. Confusion flickered onto his face.
"Wait. Did you just offer me a job?"
"I can promise you pay at least this good or better on a regular basis."
"I don't know." Brawn shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, the money is good, and I like you guys, but I'm no thief."
"We are not asking you to be. We already have one thief, and there are times that I feel that is one too many. No, what we need is a guard."
Brawn frowned. "To guard what?"
…
The two ponies, plus their minotaur companion, stood before an old, decrepit house. It stood isolated from it's neighbors by a tall stone wall, and an iron wrought gate separated the drive from the street. The house itself was old brickwork, with windows dotted sporadically about.
"When did you buy this?" Stratus asked incredulously.
"I just finished the paperwork today. It cost a small fortune to acquire. Luckily for us, we had one. Come, see the inside." The three of them pushed the gate open and walked up the gravel drive. The front door squeaked open on rusty hinges to reveal a dusty entry hall.
"The house belonged to Baron Nut Meg, many years ago. He was something of a paranoid eccentric, and there are several hidden rooms and passages throughout."
"Secret passages?" Stratus asked.
"Yes. I was just going to ask you if you would like to search for them. I feel that you may have more luck than the pony selling this house." Stratus grinned and trotted off down a corridor. Check Mate turned to Brawn.
"So, have you decided on my offer? We would supply you with lodging, a reasonable paycheck, and several other benefits." Brawn nodded.
"I just have one condition."
"Name it."
"You're hiring me as a guard, and that's what I'm going to be. No going out to rough ponies up, no shakedowns or assaults, no tagging along on jobs. I do have some morals." Check Mate nodded.
"I believe we can accommodate that." Brawn smiled.
"In that case, you can count me in." He extended his hand. Check Mate took it and shook.
"Mr. Brawn, welcome to the Thieves Guild."
…
Ace let out a groan. How had it all gone so wrong? They had done the job perfectly. No pony had seen their faces, they passed off the jewelry to a trusted buyer, they had held some of it back, yet here they stood, nothing to show for their efforts.
Bouncer, the de facto leader of their small gang, was chewing them out.
"You just stood back and let them take it! Not one of you did a thing to stop them!"
"I didn't see you doing much, Bouncer."
"That's because that minotaur put my head through a wall!" Bouncer seethed with rage. Ace decided that it was time to intervene.
"Look, why don't we calm down? We lost the money, but we're all okay. We can find some way to get it back."
"'Oh, stay calm, Bouncer. It's not like we just lost almost fifty thousand bits!'" Bouncer responded with a sarcastic imitation of Ace's voice, slowly dissolving into anger. The gang leader threw his head around, looking for another target for his anger. "And look at that! One of you idiots left the damn window open! Any guard passing by here probably heard every damn thing we said! One of you spineless failures go close it!" Ace bit back a retort and went to the window. He knew that he had to come up with something. His little sister's school tuition was coming up soon, and unless his parents had crawled out of their bottles and gotten a job, it would be up to him to pay it. Again. He needed the money, and fast.
Ace stepped up to the window and began to close it. As he did, he felt something hot prick his neck for a second. The sensation was so abrupt, he did not even cry out. He simply staggered back away from the window and turned to face his gang. Bouncer looked over at him with an expression of disgust.
"Why is that window still open? I thought I told you..." his voice trailed off, and his face slowly shifted to a mask of horror. Ace wondered what was wrong. He tried to ask, but to his surprise, he could not speak. He touched a hoof to his neck. It pulled away red with blood. He had just enough time to wonder whose it was before his legs stopped working and he fell to the ground.
He lifted his head in time to see a pair of knives take Ivory and Breeze in the chests. The two ponies fell without a sound. Bouncer stared in horror as a figure appeared before him. The lights in the room were growing dark for Ace, but he could make out the faint silhouette of a pony. The pony slowly advanced toward Bouncer, who backed away hurriedly. Bouncer's gaze was focused on the pony before him, so he could not see Ace's prone body when he tripped over it. The pony stepped over Ace and pressed on for Bouncer. Ace could not find the strength to turn his head to see what happened, but he heard Bouncer's begging silenced abruptly. Something warm splashed along the back of Ace's head. Ace wondered what it might be for a moment, but decided that it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was trying to figure out how to pay his sister's tuition so she wouldn't be like him.
He was still trying to find an answer when he bled out on the floor.
The figure responsible for the four deaths contemplated the bodies for no more than a moment before turning away. It walked out the door with a measured pace. Just as it left the warehouse, there was a slight flash of light, and the building erupted into flame.
By the time the guards arrived on the scene, the four bodies inside had been reduced to ash. The only thing the guards found was a ruined husk of building, and the smell of destruction.