//------------------------------//
// Job Well Done 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

"...And so after I beat him up, we got him to talk and figured out where he had been getting rid of all his loot. It was a pawn shop, and oh boy, did the owner not look happy to see us..." Valey grinned and flourished, still holding the unconscious Max by the scruff of his neck, and stuck out a wing. "And boom. Looks like nobody had come along to buy it yet. So we took it off the owner's talons, and here you are."

On her wingtip was a small golden horn ring, and the young stallion who had penned Max's wanted notice jumped with enthusiasm. "You all are lifesavers!" he congratulated, eagerly floating the ring back into place. "I haven't been able to look at my wife straight since I lost this... Thank you!"

"It was our pleasure," Gerardo insisted, catching the offered reward money with a talon. "This curmudgeon made the mistake of targeting us as well, so your request merely provided us with a clue as to where he was."

Maple watched as their client bounced off, standing next to the job board in the commerce building, and smiled. "Well, that feels satisfying. Although..."

"Yeah," Valey muttered, looking sideways at Max. "What are we going to do with this lug?"

"I was going to say we technically stole from the pawn shop and attacked a civilian," Maple uncertainly murmured, "but there's that too..."

"Indeed," Gerardo breathed. "Ideally, this vagabond would be turned in to a law enforcement agency who could force him to pay back damages to the shop, though I believe I neglected to notice the location of such a place during our tour. And we can't very well let him go and trust him to repay his debts himself, because he clearly hasn't learned a thing."

"There has to be a sheriff around here somewhere," Slipstream said, straightening her posture and looking around. "Gerardo, want to go and look? You carry him, I'll scout around."

Valey raised an eyebrow, glancing at Maple and the fillies. "And us?"

"Well, someone has to take Melia her locket back." Slipstream shrugged.

Maple nodded in agreement. "Meet at the plaza when we're done?"

"Deal."





Starlight stepped, blinking, into the central plaza. The last hour or two had gone by in a flash, with a pawn shop raid she had been left outside for and the processes of lugging Max back to the commerce building and summoning their client.

"I don't want to say that was easy..." Maple began, matching her pace and echoing her thoughts. "But it really feels like there should have been more to it than that."

"Nahhh," Valey admonished, lazily twirling Melia's locket around a wingtip. "It was easy because that was a lone mook. We fight insane yaks, professional armies and supernatural monsters. We were just out of his league."

"Not like that," Maple went on, staring straight ahead. "Like... someone said someone else had done something bad, so we went and ruined that someone else's day and treated them like a toy. It turns out we stopped a thief after all, but what if someone put a notice on that board about someone who was innocent? We already knew that stallion had robbed us and were trying to get our things back, but it still feels like there should have been more. Something to make sure whoever gets hunted down deserves it."

Valey shrugged. "Yeah, that would basically put every bounty hunter ever out of the job. Someone says they'll pay money to see someone else beaten up, that's kind of on them. I guess this is just how the Empire's legal system works? Or Izvaldi's, anyway. If you don't like it, either don't do it or take really, really good care to ensure whoever you're about to mess up deserves it."

Maple frowned.

"Could always ask lord griffon dude, too," Valey added. "Still, with Wallace around it's probably an honor system or something. I bet it'd hurt both of their feelings if you suggested Izvaldi had enough shady types not to be able to handle something like that."

"I don't know," Maple sighed. "I did like seeing that stallion happy at the end, though." She blinked. "Didn't Morena say something about this? Her whole description went by kind of fast, but she said the jobs on the left board were always safe, and the ones on the right might be morally questionable? Now that I'm stopping to think about it, I guess this is what she meant."

"Hey." Valey nodded. "As long as I get my exercise, you can ignore the right board or both or whatever else in this town."

"You sure like your exercise," Jamjars remarked, perfectly contented by the bouncing of her own mane. "Trying to get in shape for the next time you see Amber?"

Valey raised an eyebrow at her. "I will suplex you into that fountain."

"Let's not," Maple quickly interceded, moving to walk between Valey and Jamjars. "Everyone here is in perfectly good shape."

As they continued to the school building's entrance, staring at Jamjars from behind and wondering if the filly was being snippy because she herself was flagging. Most of Starlight's exercise came in bits and pieces of extreme exertion, like her ill-prepared trek through the mountains, but Jamjars had lived most of her life cooped up in a house. She recalled her taking poorly to the heat during their walk together in Ironridge during the long evacuation, and realized Jamjars was likely the least physically-capable member of the entire group. It wouldn't do anyone any good to point that out, though.

Once they were in the building, it was two short switchbacks of stairs to the entrance to the principals' room. Standing in the staff room, Maple reached up a hoof and knocked on Melia's lime-green door.

"Come in!" Sirena's chipper, upbeat voice answered.

When Starlight entered, the double-desk was half empty, Melia's chair alone and abandoned. Sirena blinked from her side, realizing who it was, and beamed and grinned, waving them in. "Hey, you're back! Wow, that must've been quite the tour, 'cause it's ben forever! Did you see the underground?"

Maple blinked. "Oh? Melia isn't back yet?"

"The tour wrapped hours ago," Valey added in concern, following along behind. "She kinda ran off in a huff."

"Hours ago?" Sirena frowned, then sighed. "Yeah, that sounds like her. She's been taking some recent bad business really, really hard. I'm still mad at Chauncey, to tell you the truth. Were you checking up on her, or something?"

"Nah." Valey shook her head, then held out the locket. "There was some punk running around the hospital and we got mugged. They swiped this, and we went and got it back."

"We wanted to return it," Maple added.

Sirena's eyes widened, and she seized it with a gasp. "What!? This...?" Delicately, she clicked the locket open in her telekinesis and stared at the inside for a moment, face falling. "Ouch. Thanks for getting it back. I'll be sure to give it to her."

Maple walked apologetically up to the desk. "I don't suppose it's my business to press, but... she doesn't seem very happy, and you seemed a little strained earlier too. Is there anything we can do to help?"

Sirena shook her head in thanks, twin tails waving behind her. "Nope. We've got things moving in a better direction, and if this really got stolen and you got it back, you're already the best. But if you do want something to do, be at the concert tonight! The more people who show up, the better for our morale!"

"That's cool." Valey nodded respectfully, taking a step backwards toward the entrance. "It's on our list."

"Yeah..." Sirena sighed, then floated the open locket towards them. "This is a totally random question, but do you like it? I made it myself as a present a few weeks ago."

Maple peered closed, and Starlight leaned in too. Inside the locket was a single picture, showing the sisters together and much younger - about the age in Jamjars' poster, Starlight guessed. They were singing together, laughing and smiling, with a caption that read 'Twin sisters best friends forever!'

What caught Starlight's eye more, however, was the prominent equals sign etched into the back of the metal cover, and with a brief pang she remembered her cutie mark kit back in her saddlebags on Shinespark's ship.

"I bet there's a story behind that picture," Maple murmured.

"Hit me up some time when I'm not working or singing if you really want to hear it," Sirena offered. "But right now, I've got a bell to ring and some end-of-day announcements to handle! Ring ring!"

"We'll see you then," Maple promised, and they quietly left.