This story occasionally uses the Thieves' Cant language. It's not hard to figure out, just replacing words with other words for the sake of being secretive but just for everyone's reference (mine mostly), here is the link: www.thievesguild.cc/english-to…

A fanfiction novel written by Radioactive_Ratt / GutterRatt (aka Crystal Green in the process of changing her online name)
My Little Pony is owned by Hasbro and was created by Bonnie Zacherie.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was created by Lauren Faust

“I mean, please, I am the master thief, son. That’s a fact that you might need to sleep on. I’ll never let go of my inner klepto, ‘cause I’ve been one ever since the get-go.” JT Machinima - Bleeding Secrets

The scent of smoke filled the large room. It hung in the air and mixed with the other lovely fragrances of body odor and alcohol. The haze hung low like a thick fog thanks to all the patrons of the tavern smoking their favorite flavor of tobacco. There were many ponies in the room, some non-ponies, including a table of griffons, a minotaur and four mutants including the bartender. The mutants might have once been a pony or griffon but thanks to the odd season of Chaos turning one limb or another into one that belonged on another creature, they were labeled as such. From the way they were all dressed, it was obvious none of them were high born and they were most likely up to no-good. Everyone present had some kind of weapon on them; at least a blade if not a firearm. Even the waitress carried a cutlass on her belt. Her poofy red mane bouncing as she trotted over to the next table, levitated a drink off the tray that was strapped to her back and set it down on the table in front of her. She was rewarded with a slap to the flank and the stallion was given a sharp smack from the blunt side of her blade.

The bartender looked on warily as he wiped a used mug clean with a rag. He hoped tonight would be a quiet night. He couldn’t afford any more repairs on his precious Muck and Buck Tavern, especially after paying his own medical bills from trying to break up the previous brawl. He reached a hoof up to rub at his recently broken antler at the thought and sighed.

There was a low murmur in the building as many of his customers were chatting with each other. A couple people were drunkenly passed out with their faces lying in a pool of their own vomit and a shout of victory accompanied grumbles of frustration as a blue griffon won at a game of cards. The bartender knew many of them well as they came in often and treated him decently enough. He watched an unfamiliar light orange mare step around the serving wench and ask another stallion if they recognized the buck in her picture. They shook their head and she moved on to the next.

The next pony she approached was one who visited often but the bartender stallion didn't know very well. He did, however, know they only ever ordered water and their favorite table was along the far wall, center booth by the window. The pony would sit for a few hours, smoke their cigarettes, sip their water and leave. They never spoke to anypony or asked for anything else, they just sat there.

Though the antlered pony wasn't aware, this pony always came to eavesdrop on the other's conversations and that's exactly what they were doing on this cloudy evening before the mare interrupted them.

“Excuse me,” the orange mare said as she showed the stranger her photograph, “have you seen this buck?”

The pony’s blue eyes stared at the image for a moment before they shook their head.

“Thanks, sorry to bother you.” She said with a sigh and trotted to a table of griffons.

The cloaked pony took a drag of their cigarette as they watched the mare interrogate the winged beasts. Apparently they all knew the buck in the photograph as they each gave a different name to the picture before the serving mare glanced over and gave yet another name. She commented on how he’s seen with many mares who look a lot like her. The buck had apparently used the red maned mare too and informed that he ditched every mare once he was done with them. She pointed with her hoof East-ish and gave the name of a hotel in Cloudsdale asking for the mare to give him a good thumping on her behalf. The orange mare suddenly hugged the waitress and caused the remaining two drinks on her tray to fall to the floor with a crash before rushing out the door. One of the sleeping ponies woke to the noise, semi-dried vomit dripping off their face, but nopony moved to help clean up the mess.

The cloaked pony turned their attention to another conversation, one in the booth behind them.

“So, you know that Count Markus guy right? The 'high and mighty' stuffing peddler in Canterlot?” The pale blue unicorn said to her companion who was sitting across the table.

The green pegasus retorted with a disgusted snort, “Yeah, that rich son of a bitch thinks he's better than everypony else.” He proceeded to scratch at some fleas in his dirty white mane while he listened.

“Well CJ and the birds of a feather were signaling a visit to the neighbors. It took a bit of convincing but I got everypony to agree we’d like you to join us. We could do with a better pair of eyes than Cricket. There’s going to be quite the rum stuffing.” She grinned.

The pegasus lifted an eyebrow in curiosity, “Oh yeah? How much rum is in the curbing law?”

Smirking, the unicorn’s horn began to glow a dull white as she levitated a scroll out of one of her saddlebags. “Well, we got a hole in need of plugging that says there’s something special hidden under the rug. He was supposed to switch hooves with his uncle but decided to keep it for himself. Seems he didn’t want to fall into boredom, get hooked and drop a glove. We don’t know what it is, but it’s supposed to be a tall buck’s bit.” The mare unrolled a scroll out on the table to show her companion. “Right there.” She pointed to a crudely drawn square next to a much larger squiggly rectangle that was supposed to represent the massive building, “The hole in need of plugging who gave us a peach about it said it’s in his slave stables. That's why the Count’s been having so many pigs around his place lately. Someone noticed his unusual behavior and someone else sang their song. They thought it was some kind of rare slave but he's just got the usual: seven earth, one pegasai and one unicorn.”

“Really?” the pegasus responded, “A piece of unknown contraband worth more than a chunk ‘o gin.” He said flatly as he whipped his tail and took a swig of his beer before continuing, “You guys have very poor holes to say the least. They can’t even be a little more long tongued about it?”

The unicorn waved a hoof in the air, “The peach said it was worth at least four dozen chunk ‘o gins but, they're not really sure exactly what it was, just its worth. They found a receipt with how much yellow tin they were going to exchange for it but the word ‘Void’ was written on it and it was found in the bin. The description was half a clock of mustang gem shards, whatever in the hell those are.” The unicorn took a gulp of her own mug of alcohol and watched as her friend’s face turned to a frown.

“You want me to join you guys. To get broken gem shards.” The pegasus’ ears went flat as he continued to argue his point to the mare.

“W-well, my uncle said that the mustang gem was some ancient thing, owned by the long gone legit rulers of the Crystal Empire. They can’t be worth a rusted button if it was owned by royalty!”

By the time the two began to argue over the logic of whether attempting to steal mystery shards from a mansion full of armed guards was a good idea or not, the pony who never drank a drop of alcohol had left their seat. After paying for their glass of water, they trotted out of the bar and into the chilled air of the night. Looking up, they could see thick clouds above and gaps between them that the sparkling sea of stars gleaned through. The wind calmly drifted along to let the moon peek out for only a brief moment before hiding back behind it's blanket.

Around them was the small makeshift town of The Everfree. Every building was basically a dilapidated heap of wood thrown together and not very well maintained. The 'road' that guided through the town had once looked nice. It used to be a wooden plank path that lead to every shop, every house and every other ram shack that was put up. The pony that had built it originally kept fixing it when fights broke out and destroyed parts of their hard work but, they had given up long ago and that pony was long dead. The Everfree's residents fought often. If not over haggling or for some kind of work contract then out of fun when they saw another they knew. This town was filled to the brim with all colors of riffraff including bandits, slavers, mercenaries, thieves, scammers and the just plain rotten. They had a system though and most abided by it. This pony didn't care for their bylaws but did try to stick by them nonetheless.

There were many other ponies roaming the streets at this late hour. Several hung out at popular stops such as Crowfoot's Crap Shack and Doc Maggot's Slice and Dice. Aside from the wooden buildings, there were many booths that were empty. These were only open during the day and no doubt sold goods of a sketchy nature. A large tightly woven netting hung above the mass of booths as a shade and partial rain cover. Unfortunately all the bullet holes and its poor craftsmanship in it didn't help with the weather. Some drunkard had stumbled out of the Crippled Cragidile Inn and promptly got into a fight with a pony they fell on top of before a stray dog decided to join in to try and get a free meal. A short distance away two gunshots rang out followed by three more and then some yelling replied to them. Nopony really cared, the rats of The Everfree were always squabbling.

As the cloaked pony reached the end of the town they were visibly assaulted with trees. They were everywhere, thick and entangled in each other's branches. Bushes tried to grow in between them and most were succeeding. A small trail had been carved into the forest and a thick layer of salt bricks covered the road below to keep the foliage at bay. Every so often one of the bricks would be replaced with a new one when they got too worn down from rain.

The only reason the forest hadn't overtaken the town was because the residents who broke the rules trimmed it back daily. They would be the ones who fixed all the salt brick borders and trim all the foliage back. Due to the large amount of residents who would much rather act like brutish children with bad attitudes that their mothers had never corrected than follow rules, there were plenty of drafted community service workers to hold back the unruly foliage.

The pony began to trot along the path through the Everfree Forest and soon the sounds of the town faded away leaving only the sounds of the forest. They could now hear timber wolves howling, crickets and owls around them. The chittering of tiny forest voles and a sharp squeal when one got taken by a predator. It was nothing unfamiliar and nothing they worried about.

Eventually another town came into view: Ponyville. Unlike The Everfree, this town had a wall around it. The wall had been hastily built and bombarded almost daily by war since it was put up. The wall was riddled with bullet holes and made with broken wooden planks, large scraps of metal and other various bits of debris. The pony could see others patrolling around the wall, some atop it with spotlights and a couple pegasai flying above as was the norm for the country cottage town. Trotting with the cover of the treeline, they didn't attract the attention of the guards as they made their way around the town to their destination.

Walking around the outer edge of this small city, they could see the large tree-like structure almost in the center, rising above the great wall. It appeared to act as a lookout tower despite the fact that it was probably just supposed to be a massive tree. The cloaked pony had never actually been within the town's walls and never cared to enter it unless required to do so by a job. They always made it a point to avoid any jobs that had to do with Ponyville anyway. Not because there wasn't anything good inside but because they didn't want to interact with the ponies inside. This pony was just that picky.

Heading around the town wall, they came upon the entrance. A large wooden gate with two tall guard posts to either side. There was a sort of makeshift pulley system set up above the gate that looked like levers and cranks in the guard towers that would lift the wall up high enough to let trade waggons in. At each of the towers were three ponies, one looking out with binoculars, and one talking to the third one as they shone the spotlights out into the night. Below were four more guards standing in front of the gate. One actually appeared to be sleeping while the others stood at attention waiting for travelers that would most likely not arrive until morning.

On the far side of the gate the cloaked pony could see their destination. Train tracks came into view from the vast beyond to the front of the defense and swerved away as if appalled at the state the ponies kept their town in. Being far enough away from the gate, the pony felt comfortable enough to hurriedly sneak past the guards and to the raised platform that came up to the tracks. They walked up the stairs, passed several rows of benches built onto the platform and headed towards the small building just beyond. As they clopped along, they could see silhouettes of a couple others sitting nearby. None of which stirred. A faint sickly smell hung in the air like the bad aftertaste of a spoiled drink came from the direction of one such person sitting as far away from the others as they possibly could.

The ticket booth. When the pony reached the counter they were separated by a pane of glass from the mare on the other side. A radio played from somewhere in the room. The disc jockey, Smile Cat, was reading his report of the news which had been repeating all day in between songs. The same garbage of who attacked who, which town was burning now and what new laws the Kings had decreed this week.

The buck clicked his tongue in disgust at the price which had risen yet again since last month as he retrieved the coins from his saddlebag. After handing them over, she gave up the train ticket. When the exchange was completed the mare went back to her radio and the stallion headed over to a vacant seat. It wasn't too long before he could hear the whistle of the train announcing its presence. The brakes squealed as the large metal beast tried to halt its movement and when it finally stopped, the stallion boarded. Another stallion was there to greet him, punch his ticket with a hole and tell him which car of the train he was to sit in.

The hooded pony slowly walked to the passenger cart, getting his balance as the train began to move again. When the locomotive jerked forward, the pony almost fell on his face but promptly caught himself. Unfortunately, the jolt had caused something tiny and fuzzy to fall out of the stranger's hood and onto to the floor of the train. He picked it up in one hoof and swiftly made his way to an empty booth close to the door but farthest away from the few others that were actually aboard this time of night. With the visibility protection of the tall backed seats, the stallion pulled his hood down and smiled to the rat in his hooves. The little black rodent's fur was puffed out and she was furiously cleaning herself in embarrassment. The buck chuckled a bit as he petted her.

"I'm sorry Thief, you okay? I always forget you fall out at that part." the pony warmly said to his companion. The rat began to lick the stallion's hoof causing his smile to grow.

The dim moonlight that shone through the grimy window of the train, illuminating the pony's features. He was a buck skinned pony, gold with a dark gray muzzle and socks. His short cropped mane was black on the outer edges and white on the top. His blue eyes still watched his rat companion as she continued to groom herself. The pony had on thick leather vest with many pockets on top of a simple cloth hooded shirt. He had leather straps on his forelegs which held many thin tools the pony used for his job. Right at his withers was a large metal ring attached to the leather vest. Clipped to it was a quiver full of arrows that hung to his left side and a compound bow that hung to his right. His saddle bags weren't as full as they normally were but they soon would be. On each of his hooves was a soft boot with thick plush padding on the bottoms to help him walk silently wherever he went. Hiding all of his gear was a long dark brown cloak that would drag along the ground when he walked.

The train ride wasn't as long as some he's been on, just a few hours, and for the vast majority of the time he watched the world pass by out his window. The broken wall of Ponyville, a few guards and a traveling caravan of three carts being pulled by cattle. Passing them by so quickly, he couldn’t see if they had the slave brand on their flanks. Saddle Lake had something massive break the surface of the water only to dive back down seconds later. The moon's light glistened off the ripples the creature made only for the short moment it peeked through the clouds. A small swarm of bats flew South bound in the night's sky and the clouds seemed to be getting thicker as a pegasus flew West. As the pony flew, more clouds trailed behind seemingly coming from something strapped to its back. The train entered the cavern of the massive mountain Canterlot was built on and began it's slow steep climb to the grand city.

Thief had been gone for a while now but the pony wasn't worried. She wandered off often but always returned to her favorite pony after she was done exploring or finding food. She sniffed around the cabin, crawling under seats and into some ripped cushions out of curiosity. She explored some of the sleeping passengers, none of them being stirred awake as she walked over them and sniffed through their belongings. Passing a small family she stopped to watch the larger being rock back and forth, two fillies in her hooves.

"Don't trust, don't trust, don't trust." the mare seemed to mumble to herself, her voice shaky and distant, "Gotta get out, don't trust, keep them safe. I'll keep them safe for you my love. Won't come back, he won't. Don't trust, gotta get out. Don't trust, don't trust." The terrified mother seemed like she was in another place, ignoring the infant and toddler who were both squirming in her tight grasp.

The rat continued on her way in the darkness. Something in the air caught her attention and she followed the scent. It led her to two young ponies who were quietly arguing over something as their stallion guardian was sleeping. The colt had a cookie in his hooves but he was too busy trying to prove himself correct to his older sister to eat it. Smelling the sweet food in his hooves, Thief quickly jumped up onto the seat, snatched it away from the foal and happily bounce-ran back to her stallion friend. As the rat ran, she had a bit of difficulty running due to the cookie being too heavy to hold aloft causing the treat to keep getting stuck on the floor of the train making her trip. After some effort, she did finally make it to her buck friend and jumped up onto the seat. Or tried to as the cookie bumped her off of her landing pad. She set her prize on the floor of the cabin, stood on her hind legs and sniffed in the air, trying to get her friend’s attention.

The soft bump caught the stallion's attention and he helped his companion along with her cookie back up onto the seat before continuing to watch the black nothingness out the window that was the inside of the cave. As the rat munched on her newly acquired sweet, the colt and filly popped their heads around the seat and stared at her.

"See! I wasn't lying, I didn't drop it, it was stolen." the colt proudly said, breaking the almost-silence of the train car.

"Ahh!" the filly squeaked as she grabbed her brother and pulled him away, "Don't touch it! You'll get sick!"

"But that guy's sitting right next to it and he's not scared of it." the colt said trying to squirm out of his sister's grasp.

"Teddy, those things carry the Blight. It'll make you really sick and you'll die! That's how they all died, that's why we're with him!" she said pointing back to where the other stallion was.

The colt stopped struggling and looked down. "Well..." he began, "what if I want to get sick. What if I want to be with big brother again because you're a big butt! You never let me do what I want! I want to be with everypony else! I want mommy!" As he argued, he got louder and louder, struggling once more with renewed vigor until his sister clamped a hoof over his mouth.

In response to his sister’s question, Teddy gave his sister's hoof a big lick and she immediately released him, utterly disgusted at the saliva that now covered her foreleg. "Eeeww!" the filly exclaimed, "What is wrong with you? That’s gross!" She tried wiping it off on one of the nearby empty seat cushions.

When the colt was finally released, he went over to the seat that the rat sat on and put his hooves on it, resting his head between them and watched as Thief nibbled on the cookie. She paused for a moment, chewing what was in her mouth and sniffing in Teddy's direction before she continued. The colt reached out to pet her and the action caught the attention of the buck in the seat.

He looked over to the two foals, then to his rat and back to the foals. The filly stared up at him and was fascinated with the stallion’s eyes for a reason she couldn’t immediately understand. She saw something there, something different that she had never seen before. The filly had no idea what it was but she couldn't look away. She had a feeling that if she just kept staring, didn't look away, didn't blink, she would see it. At least, just for a second.

The train finally came to a massive cave lit with many, many lanterns. Their small flames danced in the glass boxes that contained them, lighting up the space around them. The train began to slow to a stop just beside a platform similar to the one outside of Ponyville. There were dozens upon dozens of small shacks, reinforced boxes and tents filling the space outside the train. Above, on the cavern ceiling, lights danced and twinkled between the old roots that hung thick and low. There in the tangle, lightning bugs found a place to call home.

As the light from the train station lanterns shone against the stallion's eyes, the filly gasped. "Diamonds! You have diamonds in your eyes!" she exclaimed. Excitement on her tiny face. Her brother was smiling too as he petted the black rodent. The children's glee was short lived as another pony clopped up behind them.

"There you two are!" a stallion whose coat was a green so bright it couldn’t be found in nature said, glaring at the two children as he scolded them. "Do you want me to put the chains back on you? Get back to your seats or I'm going to have you two branded the second we get there!"

As the two foals slunk down, the buckskinned stallion finally noticed the marks on the foals. Some old and some recent. They looked to be whip lashes, scars the young ponies would carry for the rest of their lives. The young colt tried to hide under his sister but he wasn’t succeeding very well because she wasn’t much bigger than he was. "Y-yes sir. It won't happen again." the filly said quietly, her eyes downcast.

Both of them were visibly shaken as they slowly marched back to their seat. The green buck slammed his hoof down on the floor of the train with a clang and the two began to trot faster. He then looked to the buck skinned pony.

The stranger put his rat companion back on his shoulders, put his hood up and got out of his seat, shoving the other buck out of his way. With a glare, the green pony walked back to the foals and the thief inspected his new whip as he headed towards the exit. It was made of some decent materials, had quite a lot of blood on it but was used too much and not maintained well enough to last through however many slaves its previous owner had gone through. It was quite worn and looked ready to snap apart in several places if used once or twice more. The second he stepped off the train, the old battered weapon was thrown in the nearby trash can. Not even worth the bits it would take to repair it.

He trotted down the steps of the platform and set hoof in the small settlement known as Estuary Slums. The buck had always wondered where this place had gotten its name since it was nowhere near an ocean but had never got a clear answer. One rumor said that during one of the previous months of Chaos, the waters of the sea wiped out half the land and rested at the mouth of this cave, the survivors settling here. Another said Estuary was the name of the first pony to have been kicked out of Canterlot and started the settlement. Yet another said somepony just liked the word and decided that's what this place was going to be called since they didn't like it's previous title of 'Lower Mouth Ghetto'. With almost everypony in the slums sleeping, he was able to quickly pass by the dilapidated collection of shacks and enter the Canterlot city limits. He could never figure out how they could sleep with so many lanterns shining about the village.

Out of the small settlement, the stallion stepped onto the pristine marble pathway. It was a large white painted wooden path with marble stones set into it for decoration that stretched out in a sideways arch around the massive waterfall that fell down the side of the mountain. The crash of the water left a constant mist that hung in the air. A thundering sound like boulders continuously smashing down a cliffside was brought on by the massive water stream, silencing all other sounds in the area. The railing was elegantly crafted, unicorn shapes embedded each of the painstakingly carved pieces. The King's royal flag hung on a tall pole every five meters along the path. Each pole had a lantern to either side of it to help light the path. The flag bore a deep red circle with a black line down the center of it like a cat's eye. Two black shadow wings sprouted to either side of the red circle, a silver crown and red horn hovered above. Behind it were three dark purple crystal spires all on a lighter purple background. This design was also etched into the white marble flooring like a pattern without color. There were a pair of benches every so often overlooking the landscape. The buck passed a couple sitting at one of them, probably having a romantic night out.

Finally rounding the last edge of the waterfall, there was a tall set of stairs leading up to the city entrance. He got to the top and reached the last platform before the city. It was a wide semi-circle adorned with the same accents as the marble path. Directly ahead of him was the city entrance. A tall set of thick reinforced wooden doors pulled open by the slaves chained to it if anyone wished to enter or exit. The eight ponies with brands on their flanks were curled up together for warmth. To the right was a large lean-to that stretched out three meters and sideways another eight. Under it were caravans parked to be protected by rain and snow. Just beyond the lean-to was an open barn where the caravaners kept their cattle until their next journey. Even further on the right-hoof side was a walkway, the long dirt trail through the mountain that travelers would take if they didn’t use the train or had pack animals to haul goods for sale. To the left of the city gates was an inn for those travelers to stay at until they were given access into the city. Most traveling merchants were not allowed into Canterlot but were allowed to stay outside and sell their goods.

On the left side of the inn were a set of simple wooden stairs that led up and around the back side of the building, leading up to the roofed bridge above the entrance. The King's guard, known as the Shadow Nights, were stationed all around. The two on the bridge walked back and forth in opposite directions to keep themselves awake. Below were several others who stood at attention inspecting their weapons or talking amongst themselves. They wore black uniforms with red trim, silver buttons and gunmetal gray saddlebags with black trim. The King's symbol was on a patch on their left shoulder, bars and stars adorned their right to show their rank. They were each clean, well shaven and had the same mane and tail style no matter their gender. Their only differences were their coat and mane colors.

A mare in the same uniform trotted out of a small building below the bridge. She held a clipboard in one wing and a pencil behind an ear. She walked up to a pair of stallion guards and spoke to them for a moment, referencing the clipboard several times. They saluted her and trotted off into the town. The mare made a note on her clipboard with the pencil and trotted back into the building.

The cloaked stallion trotted to the inn, a couple of the guards watching him carefully as he moved. Once he reached the door, the edge of the building blocked the guard’s view of him. The buck continued to walk around to the left side of the building, stopped and looked up. It was a brick building with wooden trim and several windows covered in curtains. He unlatched his bow and grabbed one of the arrows from his quiver. Pulling on the thin string that kept the long rope from getting tangled in the quiver, the length dropped to the ground, one of the two ends still attached to the arrow. He set the wooden rod and looked up to the building, aiming his shot as he pulled back on the string. He released. The arrow flew in the air, rope trailing behind. It landed with a soft thunk into the top most wooden trim of the building.

After clipping his bow back on the latch of his vest, he grabbed the tail end of the rope and began to climb. He reached the end and hopped onto the roof of the building. Though the inn was taller than the bridge, if the buck stood up straight, he could clearly see the guards walking the bridge above the city entrance. Ducking down, he grabbed the arrow and plucked it out of the wooden beam to stuff it into his saddlebags. Sneaking atop the building he reached another wall made of plaster.

The guards below gave a shout and a whip lash sounded down below. The pony crept along the roof to see what the noise was and peeked over the side. The slaves were on their hooves tugging at their bonds as the gate slowly groaned as it opened. Eight more slaves were on the opposite side of the doors pushing them open while the others pulled. Once the gate was open enough, two guards escorted a filly out of the city. The young pony collapsed and one of the guards kicked her. She cried out as she struggled to get back to her hooves, one of which was very swollen and different shades of red and a dark purple. She tripped over her injured leg again and fell just before the stairs.

The mare with the clipboard came out of her office to see what the commotion was. She looked to the guards who nodded to her before she looked to the filly. “PC-103, you have not met your daily quota at the workhouse in three days. Due to your lack of willingness to contribute to the sustainability of the city, you are hereby expelled until further notice. If you change your mind and are willing to continue working, you will be required to visit a Shadow Night office in your closest city and fill out form W6-90-F and we will reconsider granting you your citizenship back. Until then, you have thirty minutes to remove yourself from Canterlot property or we will give you flying lessons. Have a good day.” She said coldly before turning back to the two guards, “Good, now go find the other two.”

“But,” the filly said with a raspy voice, “I-I want to work! I just… My leg hurts so bad but I didn’t have a medical voucher and, and I, I can’t move it anymore it just hurts so much. Nopony will help me, please! Let me stay, I want to work!” Tears rolled down her face as she looked to the mare.

“You will remove yourself from the property or measures will be taken to have you removed by the city guards. Have a good day.” She said as she watched the guards trot back into the city and the gates close behind them, her back to the filly.

The filly grit her teeth as her tears continued to fall. Very slowly, she got on her three shaky hooves and started to hobble down the stairs using her little wings for added balance. She dragged her dead foreleg along as she went. The stallion sighed at the all too common sight and got back to his work. He walked back over to the wall and looked up. It was the side of another building with a few windows here and there. Being built on a mountain top, Canterlot was overly built to fit as many ponies as they could in it so most of the city was a maze with houses built atop houses. The cloaked pony jumped and grabbed onto an edge of a windowsill and peeked inside to make sure nopony was around before quietly slipping in.

The room was small and only held a bed, dresser and a standing mirror. Sleeping in the bed was a yellow mare with an orange mane. Atop the dresser was a couple of bits, a silver laced pen and a few pieces of paper which had been scribbled on with a work-in-progress love letter. He stuffed the bits and the pen into his saddlebags before quietly exiting the room through the door. He slowly walked down the hallway and observed his surroundings. Two locked doors, a side table with a lantern that wasn't lit, a bird cage with a canary in it and a few paintings on the walls. The ceiling had water damage and a large crack which traveled down half the wall, mold creeping out from within. He turned a corner and came upon another window. He took the golden lighter that sat on the sill before looking outside.

Canterlot. It was a pristine city for the rich and wealthy. Or at least wealthy enough to enter. To be able to enter the city, one must either use a passport to be allowed in for a strictly limited number of days, pay five thousand bits to purchase a citypass or prove they have a job waiting for them on the inside. Unless, of course, they know the few secret entrances those of the Thieves Guild used. Those who lived here ignored the war going on in all the lower-classed cities around them. The only ones who mattered lived here or in the Crystal Empire.

The stallion's ears folded back for a moment as he observed the many Shade Nights who roamed the streets. They kept the weak, sick and dying out. They beat the riff raff into submission and helped keep unruly slaves in line. There were a few stray animals here and there, wild cats and dogs that the guards often tried to deal with. If they let the animals continue to roam the streets, they would get throngs of parasites and the threat of the Blight. This wasn't a city he fancied to steal from due to the dangers but the prizes were certainly worth the risks. Luckily he knew the layout of this large city well enough to avoid the larger gatherings of the city guards and so, the stallion began his descent.

Once he reached the cobblestone path leading between the many buildings, he quickly padded behind a parked hay cart and waited until the approaching two guards passed and the light from their lantern went with them. He poked his head out to watch them leave for a moment, his eyes catching on the left guard's coin purse.

He kept low and crept up behind them, following their hoofsteps. His ears listened to the conversation of the two as he reached for the small bag.

"Yeah, they caught a small band of rebels in the eastern district yesterday. Only four of them but they were trying to break into Barron Silver Mane's manor." The white unicorn said to her partner.

"Tsk," the green mare rolled her eyes, "Those idiots will never learn. They can't just take somepony's property. You know, if they would just submit, this place would be a whole lot better. The Kings have done great things for this land and they just can't see it."

The white mare swished her tail, "Well, some ponies just can't open their eyes and see the bigger picture. They only think of themselves and their selfishness is what's ruining this country."

Before their conversation went any further, the stallion easily took the coin purse in his teeth and was sneaking off in the opposite direction. Once out of earshot of the two mares, he stuffed the coin purse in his own saddle bags and continued on his way. He passed more than a dozen locked doors, a couple standing out in the streets talking amongst each other and a few more guards patrolling the streets before he came upon a small canal. The pony petted his rat a few times, urging her to sit atop his head before he slowly dipped himself into the chilly water. The few small fish swimming down the pony-made river scattered as the stallion moved silently in the night. The few times guards got close to the canal, he held his breath and ducked deeper into the water but making sure Thief was still nice and dry.

After close to twenty minutes, the two finally reached the end of the canal. A wall loomed above with several metal bars beneath to hold back intruders from swimming under it. The wall extended a long ways to his left and only a couple meters to his right before it turned a corner. In between the canal and the right corner was a brightly lit wall torch. The stallion grabbed his bow and another arrow, this one with a water balloon at the end instead of the usual iron arrowhead. Before he could align the arrow and pull the string back tight, he could hear the clopping of hoofsteps on the stone ground. He made his way to the wall closest to the torch and sunk low in the water, holding onto the wall. He heard the hoofsteps get louder, closer and there was a couple coughs from the pony above. A new light source began to illuminate the water as the guard walked to the water's edge. The hidden pony folded his ears flat and silently wished for the other to move already. The guard stopped, coughed once more before a cigarette was tossed into the river. The pony above sniffled his stuffy nose, turned and began to walk away.

Peeking over the edge when the guard's light was gone, he could see the end of their tail turn the corner. The buck kicked off from the wall, aligned his shot and released. The water balloon splashed the wall torch out leaving the remains of the arrow to lightly clatter to the ground. He got out of the water to collect the used arrow before looking around the corner. Since this wall was completely stone he couldn't use a rope arrow nor could he jump high enough let alone fly without wings. He decided that he was just going to have to invite himself in through the front door. This wall kept straight for about five meters before it protruded outwards like an open drawer where the gate and a light on either side of it were. And, of course, there were two guards there too, one on either side of the gate.

The buck observed their outfits. Not the King's garb, a blue uniform that was less fancy and more like a hand-me-down. Patched in several places and unkempt. Probably just random ponies that the rich hired to protect what was on the other side of the stone fence. He watched as the pony that had passed him earlier began to trot back the way she had come. He either needed to think fast to find a way inside or hide in the water again. Already being wet and slightly chilly, he had no intent on getting back in the water. He quickly pulled out yet another arrow from his pack, pulled back and let it fly. The blunt arrow twanged off of the bakery sign across the street catching the immediate attention of the three guards. Only the two mares who were farther away went to investigate. The one closest to the buck stayed at his post.

The stallion mentally scoffed before quickly making his way into the illumination and behind the guard while his attention was elsewhere. The guard buck called out to the other two and they replied. Occupied with each other, they unknowingly allowed the cloaked pony to make his way into the grounds undetected, climbing up the barred gate and landing on the other side with a soft 'tpf' of his padded shoes. He slipped in between a small building and the wall to his left, hiding in the shadows before the guard buck turned around to investigate the noise he thought he heard. After a couple of minutes they settled down and went back to their posts.

The small building the thief hid behind, he noticed, was an outbuilding of some sort. He stood up on two legs and looked inside a window near the top. He could see tools, a rake or pitchfork? With the angle he was looking at it from, he couldn't tell. A small table with some papers on them that looked old. There was a set of keys hanging on a bent nail by the door and a humming machine thing he assumed was the house's generator. Rich ponies had required their own power source for a reason unknown to him.

Slowly peeking out the way he had come, he saw the large metal gate on his right with the far guard in sight at her post. The large walkway from the gate's entrance was actually paved in concrete along with the path that led around the back of the sizable house. The thief assumed personal electricity cost too much and they couldn't afford a proper mansion. To his left was a tall metal pole with a light at the top. Not a fire lantern but an actual electrical bulb. Another light stood tall across the pavement parallel to it. Directly across the driveway was another smaller building. This one had a semi-second story with only half the building being built as a lookout for the guards to see over the wall. The bottom portion was probably either the guard's office or sleeping quarters. There was also another guard standing just outside the door of the building. In between the two lamp posts was a brougham pony drawn carriage parked in the driveway. It was painted a deep purple with golden stars and moons elegantly painted on it and it was adorned with white diamonds embedded everywhere to represent even more stars.

The pony walked to the other side of the outbuilding to survey the rest of his available routes. As a pony passed by right in front of him, he went wide eyed, quickly backed up and sunk low. His heart began to beat faster as he waited. Luckily he spotted them first and they hadn't even noticed him. After they were out of the way, he released the breath he didn't realize he was holding and peeked around the corner once more. To his left on this side of the outbuilding was the disappearing flank of the guard pony, rounding the back side of the house. Straight ahead was a bed of flowers and a few trimmed bushes that bordered the house. He slowly made his way between the next side of the outbuilding and the side of the auctioneer's home. There looked to be the cement path continuing from the driveway going all the way around the large residence. The path also led to the wide double doors of the home. Just next to the doors was a raised wooden deck. Upon the wooden platform, there were a few chairs surrounding a small round table with an umbrella that had lace trimming hanging down. The radio on the table was silent as the night.

Immediately to his left, a little more than two meters away was the lamp post. Past the carriage he could see more greenery, two small trees and a wooden shade structure but past that was his destination: a wooden barn. The rich always kept their slaves in a barn to keep them believing that's the best they deserve. They weren't allowed to sleep in the house, not even the dog house. The cold hard dirt was for them but they at least were fed and had a roof over their heads. Unfortunately, some didn't even get that.

The stallion could make out the door to the stable, a lantern just above it with a guard on either side. He could see another pony walking around the back side of the house, just passing the large window on the corner next to the barn. He saw a path he could take but he would have to be cautious.

Before proceeding, he took his little furry friend out of his hood and set her on the ground. He petted her a few times and looked to the outbuilding. He put his muzzle down to her level before whispering to her, "Okay Thief, time to go to work. Today, you get to chew on some wires for me, alright?" He gently nudged her towards the shack and she began her trek around it to look for a way inside.

He stepped out of his hiding spot, keeping to what little shadow the outbuilding provided from the lantern. With the vehicle in the driveway, it blocked the view of both the guard at the guard house and the one on the right side of the barn's door but not the left one. He was just about to take out a blunt arrow when they turned their head for a brief moment. The stallion made a quick dash in as little illumination as he could, around the corner of the house and onto the wooden deck. He hid behind a couple of the elegant chairs as he looked to the guards. He was lucky none of them noticed and the lights didn't go as far as the deck.

He crawled to the edge of the wooden platform where it met the window. Inside was more money spent. Fancy furniture, decor and rare works of art showed how wealthy these ponies were. Also a self portrait of the buck himself. A dark brown pony with a sky-blue mane wearing a tuxedo. That was Count Markus, auctioneer unicorn for Canterlot. The cloaked pony looked to the two standing in front of the slave barn. The fire from the lantern above them didn't brighten up the area too much and there was quite a bit of darkness between that and the electric lamp beyond the carriage. He carefully crept between the two light sources and to the darkness of the garden.

It wasn't a very large garden, just a hedge of flowering bushes around the square space with a bench in the center and a wooden pergola above. The cement walkway was much thinner and led from the walkway outside the garden to the seating area. Around was a multitude of flowers dotting the green grass. To the right side of the seating area was a small pond with three large koi in it.

The buck crept up to the hedge closest to the barn and peeked out. The pony he had almost run into was walking out from around the back side of the house. One of the two guards at the front of the barn gave a small cough but other than that, they all stayed silent. When the pony had passed the garden, the thief backed up a couple steps before making a running leap over the hedge. He cleared it and landed on the other side, sliding to a stop on the dirt floor before quickly scrambling between the barn and the wall.

The cloaked pony could hear hoofsteps coming closer so he decided it was best to make his way to the back side of the barn.

"I'd feel better if we made a thorough check of the barn. Want to make sure none of the slaves are digging themselves out again."

The buckskin put his ears back. He had to find a place to hide. Unfortunately, a large pile of manure blocked his path in the far corner. He tried looking around it and saw a metal chute in the wall that must have been to dump the mound into the sewers below. Unfortunately, it must be clogged. Reluctantly, the buck held his breath and moved around it as close to the barn as he could manage. Looking back he could see he left hoof prints in the pile and he could feel some had seeped into his leather padded boots. He didn't have time to cover his tracks so he continued behind the barn.

He could hear several more complaints punctuated with curse words as they complained the lights were out. The pony that was checking the barn for tunnels had turned back the way they came. The thief smirked. 'Good girl.' he thought. After knocking the mess out of his boots, he put them back on and looked around for any way into the barn. No back door and the only windows were short, wide and up high for air flow, not decoration. At the end of the alley was a large stack of boxes. He smirked as he made his way up the boxes to the roof.

The barn's flat roof was covered with thin brick tiles and most of them were heavily damaged from weather. The stallion could feel his weight pushing against the barn's rafters causing them to bow down. He gritted his teeth and folded his ears back. Taking another step, the wood creaked and he swallowed. He looked to the roof again, seeing the many broken tiles scattered about and saw that towards the far corner was a large hole in it.

Taking in a breath, he carefully made his was along the edge of the roof, not wanting to risk falling through the weakened center. He reached the hole and looked through it. It was too tall to jump back up if he went in and even with the electrical lights out he couldn't escape through the front door. Even as the other ponies were still growling orders at each other, one of the two guards still stood at attention beside the barn door. He had no idea where the second guard went to. The small fire light from the door's overhead lantern was still lit and shining through but strangely there was another light inside the barn.

The cloaked pony peeked his head into the hole and saw the missing guard. They were in the barn counting the slaves and levitating a lantern next to themselves. There were several piles of moldy hay around and three groups of ponies huddled together. An adult sleeping with a foal and two adolescents. One group of three sleeping a short distance away and another group of two older adults who slept by the door. The dim light of the guard's lantern shown their raggedy condition, thin shapes in torn rags. When the guard was satisfied they trotted out of the barn to report all the slaves present.

The stallion took the used rope arrow out of his quiver and shoved it roughly into the side of the barn. He grabbed the rope and dropped it through the hole in the roof, letting it dangle down. Grabbing the rope, he dropped himself down into the hole. As he slid down the length of rope he kept an eye on the guards to make sure they weren't going to come back in. He landed onto the slightly muddy floor and looked to the two slaves sleeping by the door. Still sleeping, even with the ruckus outside. He looked around the open space and mentally groaned when he realized he would have to search through all that dirty hay to find the mystery box. It looked like they hadn't cleaned it in a week thanks to the clog in the sewer drain.

He slowly crept to one of the corners of the room and started sifting through the straw. He flinched when the sound of the moving hay seemed like gunfire on a silent hill. He looked to the door and when neither of the guards came to investigate he began his search.

"Hush! If they come in and find you talking to him we'll all be punished." another voice whispered harshly.

The thief turned and saw the mare who was curled around two fillies and the young colt had all woken up. The colt rubbed his eyes and turned over, falling back asleep. One of the fillies looked to the mare then back to the buck. The other shivered and laid her head back down.

"Go back to sleep Maybell." the mare whispered to the filly before putting her head down as well.

Maybell glanced once more at the intruder then mimicked the mare's motions. The stallion pulled his hooves out of the hay and looked to the door before he walked up to the filly. He put his head down to her ear and spoke.

"I'm looking for a box. It's in this stable. Do you know where it is?" he asked her.

Her eyes popped open. "What do you need the box for?" Maybell asked in response.

The filly looked to the older mare and then to the stranger. She pointed with her muzzle in the direction of another pony. One in the group of three. It was the pegasus.

"Keep quiet. That filly says you know where the box is. Where is it?" The thief questioned.

"No it's not." the buckskin said firmly, "Where is it?" He glared daggers at the tan stallion who didn't realize he was being interrogated. A light that moved into the barn frightened the stranger back into a darker corner of the barn while the pegasus looked towards the door.

"Hey! Quiet down in here! I hear one more peep I'll beat the lot of you, got it?" one of the guards yelled from the doorway as he looked inside to the slaves.

The pegasus eyes met briefly with the guard. "I-I'm sorry sir," he spoke softly as he stuttered, "I must have been talking in my sleep again. I'll, um... I'll try not to do it again." His voice deflated as he spoke, eyes downcast and ears drooping.

The guard smirked. "Again Fly? You know what this means." he said with a chuckle.

The pegasus swallowed as he got up on shaky legs. "Yes, yes sir." he said as he swallowed, keeping his head low. As he walked into the lantern's light, the thief could see too many scars to count on the slave's body and an S shaped brand on his flank where his cutiemark should have been. The guard levitated a whip from his saddlebags and moments later sharp cracks and muffled cries of pain could be heard outside the barn.

The buckskin cursed under his breath, his shortcut had been removed. He began searching through the hay once more until the noises outside grew quieter. Instead of commands being thrown around, there was muffled conversation. The pegasus had been sent back into the barn. He moved stiffly, breathing in sharply as pain punctuated every movement as he walked. He looked to the stranger in the barn before slowly lying down, setting his head on the straw away from him.

The stallion lightly shook himself, swished his short tail and continued his quiet search for the elusive box. He knew the pegasus wouldn't give up the information he needed now and if he tried, the slave might call for the guards. He made his way around the barn and noticed something odd when he was close to the door. After moving yet another small bit of the straw out of the way, there was a plank of wood halfway buried in the ground. He looked toward the open door as he uncovered more of the wood.

A small hatch with a rope handle set into the dirt floor hid his prize. The box within the hole was no bigger than one of his saddlebags. He quickly stuffed it into his pack, saving his newly acquired treasure for later viewing. He gave a passing glance to the pegasus before climbing back up his rope. Once he reached the roof, he pulled the rope out of the hole and dropped the length down the side of the building. Climbing down it, he was grateful not to have to walk over the manure pile again. He crept along the side of the building as he decided to retrace his hoofsteps. He could see one of the guards rounding the house and starting to walk in front of it, a lantern attached to their back. In fact, every guard had a lantern of their own now. Unfortunately, Thief's efforts to help by killing the power was thwarted by quick thinking.

The cloaked pony narrowed his eyes and scanned the area. Thinking of his small furry companion made him wonder where she wandered off to. He suddenly felt something brush up against his rear right hoof and turned to look. Then he smiled as he saw a small ball of black fur next to him. Thief bounded closer to him and climbed up his foreleg, tried to hide in one of his saddle bags but was forced to climb into the other one since the box had already stolen her favorite spot.

With his rat companion accounted for, the buck decided it was time to leave. He looked again to the guards, keeping a watchful eye on the closest one as he crept out. There was more visibility for the guards with their torches but he was confident enough that he could make it out the same way he got in. The stallion liked a good challenge once in awhile as they helped keep his skills sharp. Once he felt he was close enough to the hedge, he made a quick gallop and jumped over it gracefully. Only it was graceful in the way he caught his hoof on the dog cage that was in front of the hedge and fell on top of it. He was so focused on the guards that he hadn't even noticed it was there.

He lifted himself up and locked eyes with the animal in the cage. He went wide eyed as the dog began to bristle its fur and growl. It barked at him as he scrambled off the cage and alerted the guards. All eyes were on him now as he attempted to flee but was abruptly stopped as the dog had a powerful bite on the cloak through the bars. The thief glanced to the guards quickly approaching and unlatched the cloth, leaving it to be torn to shreds by the vicious animal.

Galloping back down the alleyway he had come from, he headed towards the manure pile with the guards on his tail. He awkwardly stepped into the pile of muck once more and rounded the corner of the barn. With the guards shooting their firearms and shouting, he hopped up the boxes again and jumped over the wall, landing on the other side with a roll. He quickly got to his hooves, looked back to the outer ponies before galloping away into the late night.

Equestria Broken

by gutterratt

Equestria Broken - One : The Thief