//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Twilight Sparkle and the Master Thief // by DungeonMiner //------------------------------// “Bye, girls. See you next month!” Twilight said, waving as her friends left. “Goodbye, Darling! Best of luck with the thief problem!” Rarity called as she gave Twilight one last hug before leaving the room, leaving Twilight and Spike alone in the circular room. “Are you sure you want to stay behind?” Spike asked, “I know I ask for help to pick things up, but you normally escort everypony out.” She gave Spike a small smile before turning to face the bookshelf behind them. “If you’re done being smug up there, I assume you have something to talk about?” Spike looked confused before following her gaze up. There he saw the figure of Night laying on top of one of the bookshelves. “Oh,” he whispered. “You know what, I think I’ll escort the others out for a change.” Spike slipped out, leaving Twilight and Night in the room, with the latter still on top of the bookshelf. “You know,” Night said. “That was a nice meeting you had with your friends. It was a nice time out, and you played some games, learned how to move a robber around…” “If you mention the game again, I will have you buried alive,” Twilight said. Night smiled before he dropped to the floor, using a rope that he anchored somewhere that Twilight couldn’t see to slow his descent. “Alright, I won’t mention it,” he said, “but I will mention that I have completed yet another job for you.” Twilight sighed. “Fine, but you didn’t need to stalk the time I have with my friends to do it.” “Oh, Princess, you misunderstand, I was providing security.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Were you?” “If I’m watching it, then I can make sure nopony else can,” he said with a smirk. “Sure…” “Believe me or don’t that’s up to you, Princess.” “Yes, yes it is,” she said, watching Night as he walked around and picked a seat. “So, what is this story you want to tell me?” “Well, I took a train to Fillydelphia to check up on my hideout there. Which, by the way, is where most of the money that you pay me goes. Owning property in every single major city and making it look as trashy as possible, and then making sure that nopony tries to buy your property or condemn your building takes a lot more bits than you’d think.” “Noted. You were saying Fillydelphia?” ---$--- Fillydelphia was soaked. The pegasi had been dropping as much water as possible, wherever they could to try and make up for the dry spring the country suffered from earlier. Night checked the property, looking for any water damage even though it would probably keep the small building from being sold. The night was clear, though it had rained most of the day, leaving the grass beneath Night’s hooves spongy and soft. The Fillydelphia safehouse was the most neglected of them, Night would hesitantly admit. The house was a small storage shed on the docks, which used to be the outdoor storage lot’s headquarters. The lot had been sold to a competitor, but the old shed remained behind, the three feet of grass surrounding it free-standing, much to the lot owner’s annoyance. So far, everything looked solid, and he was about to slip in for a good night’s sleep after he took one final glance around to check for anypony watching him. What he found instead was light in a warehouse a few docks down. As Night watched it, a few thoughts entered his head. The first being that the warehouse had a good security guard, but unless someone bought it and began filling that building with supplies in the past week, it shouldn’t have anything worth guarding. The second thought that entered his head was that maybe it was a few teens sneaking into the abandoned warehouse to have some fun. He pocketed his key, raised the hood on his cloak, and began to head toward the warehouse with a sigh because his third thought was that it could be something far worse than a few teens. He moved as quickly as he dared, sticking to the streets. The roofs were too slippery to try and jump between them, so he had to stay low if he was going to make decent progress. He slipped over the warehouse’s outer wall and slid up next to it. He’d rather climb the building, but without scouting the building to know if the roof was strong enough to hold him, he couldn’t take that risk. Slowing his breathing, he glanced down the wall, looking for any sign of a way in. There didn’t appear to be any doors on this side, so he would have to try to get to the other side and check there if he didn’t want to try to go through the main door. He slipped around to the other side of the warehouse, always making sure he stayed on the wet ground, so he didn’t leave any hoof-prints. There he found a single side door, and sure enough, it was unblocked. With a smile, Night checked inside, and when he found no one there, he pulled a small cloth from his bag and stepped inside. ---$--- “You just carry a cloth around?” Twilight asked. Night pulled one out. “You never know when you might need one. It’s a rag, towel, makeshift breathing filter, and you can use it to muffle tools. They’re incredibly useful.” “You don’t just silence things with magic?” Night raised an eyebrow. “You think ponies like me have access to Destroy?” Destroy was an incredibly dangerous Technique. Create, Perceive, and Control all needed energy continually supplied to them to keep the effect going. This was not true for Destroy. Destroy was permanent, always. A Destroy Mind spell could do several terrifying things, like making a target forget a memory, permanently lose the ability to feel a specific emotion, or break someone’s sanity and consciousness until they were rendered catatonic, little better than a vegetable. Destroy Image was perhaps one of the least damaging family of spells. It could render someone invisible, but true invisibility was more of a sacrifice of one’s visible form. Creating a new, permanent, visual form required a pair of spells, which made the whole process far more complicated, but they could still be heard and felt. Sound was, oddly, an exception to the rule. The temporal nature of sound meant that the sound made by an object was erased entirely, but if a new sound was created, it could be heard. Silence spells were good for singular sounds, a single hoofstep, or a single word of a sentence. Some silence spells could last longer, cutting all sound in an area for a time, but those took far more power in the initial casting. No, she should have expected Night not to have the Destroy Technique. That was too strong a tool to have in the hooves of the public. “That was a dumb question. I forget that most ponies don’t have the same magic schooling as I did. Continue.” Night nodded but didn’t comment. ---$--- Wiping his hooves dry with every step inside, Night found a place to hide, keeping the larger part of the warehouse out of sight. He climbed up onto a set of old, worm-eaten crates that groaned under his weight. He picked his way up carefully before poking his head out and finally took a chance to look around. And the moment he looked, he knew that the third thought that went through his head was right. Four ponies were patrolling the room, each of them walking around eight pallets of white plastic, a standard MO for Boot Legger’s merchandise. He was happy to see that it wasn’t sentient merchandise, but that didn’t make it much better. The question that Night was more concerned with was what exactly he was moving here. He’d have to get close if he wanted to find out what he was moving, which, while not necessary, was undoubtedly useful for figuring out how to deal with the problem. The four guards were going to make this fun, though. The question was how to do the job? It didn’t take him long to settle on a little fun. He moved, dropping back to the ground, and rushing to the back of the warehouse where there was less light to hide from. He began to work, casting “Create Image” to make small, illusionary sounds. They started as small, little clicks that only one of the ponies could hear. Each one got progressively louder with every cast Night made. “Do you guys hear that?” his target, a large, green pegasus pony, asked. “What?” a purple pegasus guard asked. “That clicking sound?” The pegasus glanced at the other two ponies, one burnt orange, one yellow, both earth ponies, glanced between each other, swinging their flashlights about. “No, what are you talking about?” “You don’t hear that clicking?” the first pony asked, his flashlight sliding across the back of the warehouse. “Have you been digging into the stuff here, man?” “What? No! Don’t you hear that?” Night smiled and clicked again. “I’m going to check that out,” the first pony said. He walked forward, into the shadows, his flashlight scanning for any kind of sign of life. The other three glanced at each other. “Do...do you think he’s alright?” “I don’t know, man,” the yellow one said. The three continued to patrol for a moment or two before the first pony screamed. All eyes and flashlights turned to the source of the cry, and they found the guard, standing confused. “That…” he said. “That wasn’t me. My flashlight just went out, and then I heard that…” The other flashlights went out. They clicked the buttons on the flashlights frantically as the darkness suddenly surrounded them. “Come on. Come on!” One of the ponies said in the darkness. One of the lights came on. “There we go!” the purple pegasus said, as his light shone directly at the ceiling. The other three ponies went pale. “What?” the purple pony said before turning around. A charred face stared back at him. It opened its mouth, its skin cracking with each movement. “You…” is said in a long, wispy breath, “should not have come here…” The purple pony dropped his flashlight. He was running for the door. “Hey! Hey! Don’t leave me behind, man!” The others were running behind him as fast as their legs could carry them, and once the door closed, Night shook his head and smiled. “Sometimes, it’s too easy,” he said, dropping the rest of his spells before picking up one of the flashlights to look over one of the crates. He held up the light as he pulled his knife to stab into the package to see what exactly was inside. He finally pried open a package and found a fine, white powder. He took the flashlight and passed it over the powder, revealing an iridescent glow of reds and blues. Feydust. Night frowned in disgust. Feydust was a known performance enhancer, specifically a mental enhancer, though it pushed its users to use it for simpler and simpler tasks. Night knew more than one college dropout who had a significant chunk of their life ruined by the stuff. They typically wound up as beggars, nearly unable to nearly speak without a dose of the powder. Night glanced around before he looked to the old crates. ---$--- “The crates went up in smoke pretty easily,” Night said. “The rest of the warehouse should have been safe given how soaked it was, but the drugs went up in smoke.” Twilight sighed. “Why did you set them on fire?” she asked. “Because that’s the best way to deal with drugs,” Night said. “If they burn, then the only ponies that get hurt are the ponies that were trying to sell. Besides, it fit the theme I built with my illusion.” “Yes, but I can’t use that as evidence.” “What’s up with you and evidence?” Night asked. “What’s up with you and burning it?” Twilight asked back before she noticed Night’s grin. “Look, my guards can’t do the job without evidence!” “If they did their job, it wouldn’t matter,” Night said. “Boot Legger doesn’t care what happens to his runners. His position is if you get arrested, that’s on you. If your guards came in, they would have arrested four nobodies, who would have spent the rest of their lives rotting in prison while the responsible pony would just shrug and try again.” “So you burned it down, instead, so he still has those four ponies, can shrug and try again.” Night shook his head. “No, Princess, he has four ponies who claim they were haunted by a ghost. He has four ponies he has to deal with now because they left his merchandise. Those four ponies, if they know what’s good for them, will get out, and try and to make a plea deal, because that’s the only way to get into a normal life after failing Boot Legger is to get into witness protection.” Twilight blinked. “It’s literally the best way to try and get Boot Legger locked up. Getting ponies to quit and turn him in is the best way to gather enough witnesses against him to make a case.” “And...how long have you been working at this?” Twilight asked. “A few years,” Night said. “Then it’s obviously not working, is it?” “No,” Night began. “The problem is right now that Boot Legger has enough ponies around him to work in cells. I have taken out cells this way, which hurts his lieutenants, the only ponies he actually trusts. The dream is the day when he doesn’t have any more ponies to take the fall for him.” Twilight raised an eyebrow and sighed. “That is such a sad excuse.” “Pardon?” Night asked. “With the other ones so far, you’ve pointed out that my guard either has a poor position to move from or that the arrests don’t matter. Here, they may as well get arrested, because they can turn on this Boot Legger either way. You’re causing chaos and property damage for no reason at all.” “No reason? They only have a reason to turn on Boot because they let his merchandise go. If they get arrested, they have hope of Boot Legger getting them out. He won’t, but they don’t know that.” “You’ve obviously never written a paper before,” Twilight said. Night blinked. “What?” “Everyone knows that when you write an argumentative essay, you present your strongest argument last. This strengthens your position the most, and makes it seem like you are building to a more solid position.” Night shook his head. “Wh-what does that have to do with anything?” “All of your arguments have been becoming weaker and weaker since you’ve started. Your best statement was when you brought me the ledger, which was decent evidence of criminal activity. However, when you brought me the ledger, I could no longer use it, since you obtained it illegally and made it inadmissible in court. “Then, you proceeded to speak of this inane counter-thieving. The idea, I suppose, has merit in the sense that you stop ponies from being robbed. However, instead of actively protecting an area, you wait for a house to be broken in. This allowed a family to be traumatized by letting their home be broken into before you finally did something. Meanwhile, you let the pony who’s guilty of theft and breaking and entering to get away without more than a slap on the fetlock. “Finally, now that you have revealed that your method of dealing with black market sellers and movers, you’ve shown me that your greatest weapon is property damage. You’ve actively admitted to destroying evidence that my guard can use in favor of trying to make moves against the politics of criminals, which by your own admission is a slow process with no real end in sight. Therefore, I find your arguments to be simplistic, and they fail to produce any real hope in me that you are doing what is right for the country.” Night blinked as Twilight smiled, having delivered her reasoning. “What was that?” he asked. “It—” “No, no!” Night interrupted. “What was that? You just spent the last two minutes telling me that I’m awful at my job while ignoring the fact that your precious guard didn’t even tell you these things were happening!” “My guard, if given the proper tools and time, could easily do the same thing you could,” Twilight said, “and if they did, they could bring me all the evidence I need to get these ponies behind bars. They could do better than property damage.” “Property damage is what hurts them the most!” Night cried. “It costs them money! You know, the thing they turned to crime to get? You’re suggesting, at best, a fee to do what they want.” “What?” “Currently, your gardens have a fine for littering,” Night said. “350 bits per piece of litter. That’s basically nothing to a pony like me. If I sold all my properties and walked, I could wreck your entire garden and still have enough cash to walk out and eat at a five-star restaurant. It means nothing. Your system of justice is little more than a tax on crime!” “You’re doing the same exact thing!” “I’m hurting their income! Every time they send a pony out, and he comes back with nothing, that’s a full loss for their business.” “They’re criminals, it’s not a business.” “Crime is their business! Why is that so hard for you to see?” Twilight sighed. “We’re obviously not getting anywhere with this.” “No, obviously not,” Night agreed. “You’re dismissed,” Twilight said, before walking out of the room. “Gladly, You Highness,” Night said, before leaving. Twilight ignored the thief as he climbed back up the wall like an insect, before walking straight to her royal bedroom. There, Twilight paused, taking a few deep breaths before turning to her writing desk. There she pulled out her royal, golden sealing wax, her inkpot, and quill. She wrote quickly, penning the letter that she had already tried wording in her head a few times now. “Dear Mr. Night Silk, After much deliberation, I have decided that your request for continued aid with this venture is inane and counter-intuitive. Your funds from the Crown are hereby to be redistributed to more deserving programs. Furthermore, any further activity which may be regarded as criminal will be treated as such to the furthest extent of the law…” That was as far as she got before her anger began to sputter out. She was going a little far, she would admit, especially considering Night did offer her a service to her own security, which he did point out to be lacking in a few places. Still, she finished the letter, checked it over for any obvious mistake, and wrote a second draft. Night was not as useful as he thought he was. That was the main problem. Yes, his smug little smile made her want to punch him in the face, but he was mostly that way because he thought he was worth it. And maybe he was. Considering how easily he duped her guards in broad daylight, he certainly could get in anywhere he wanted. However, he wasn’t doing the good he thought he was, and she was going to make sure he stopped. She would still honor the deal, though. She had to give him the full three months. Her mind was just already made up. ---$--- Spike wandered back up through the corridors of the castle, after having seen everypony else out. It was good to see the girls again, and while seeing Rarity was always a treat, he bemoaned the fact that Starlight couldn’t come. Starlight...well...the nice way of putting it was that she was the newcomer to Twilight’s circle of friends, and she managed to shake up the dynamic a bit. While the girls had always made efforts to include him, he was still somewhat outside the group. Spike personally always chalked it up to sleeping through the return of Nightmare Moon. But when Starlight came, she brought with her the idea that Spike was just as involved as everypony else. She stuck with the group, and by proxy, dragged him up onto the same pedestal like the others. And well, can you blame a dragon for liking that? His thoughts were cut short as he nearly flew face-first into Night. “Woah! Sorry about that.” Night sighed. “Don’t worry, I’m used to ponies not seeing me.” “Well, I am not a pony, so I get to apologize anyway,” Spike said with a smile. Night shook his head. “Thanks, I guess.” “So how’d the meeting go?” “Not great,” Night said. “I’m probably out of a job now.” “I don’t know about that,” Spike said. “She may disapprove of what you’re doing, but Twilight gave you three months. She’ll stick to that deadline.” “Really, because she seems to me to be the kind of pony that turns work in early, and then reminds the teacher there’s homework.” Spike grimaced. “Well... you’re not wrong...but she also spent a few years as a teacher. She gave you the deadline; she’ll stick to it.” Night shrugged. “So I have three months to find a new job then.” “Hey, hey, don’t knock yourself out just yet,” Spike said, walking along with him as he began to head out. “You’ll figure something out, I’m sure.” “And why are you rooting for me?” Night asked sardonically. “Not that I don’t appreciate the moral support, but you’re on her side.” “I am,” Spike said, “but if Celestia thought you were a good pony, and you did good work, then that’s reason enough for me to believe.” Night glanced down at the dragon. “Well, thanks, I guess,” he said, his voice softening slightly. Spike nodded. “I’m just trying to help.” The two walked in silence for a while, until Night found himself at the door of the Keep. “Hey, Night,” Spike said, getting the thief’s attention. “As someone who’s known Twilight for my entire life, let me tell you that if you really want to win her over, and your stories aren’t working, then you might need to show her what you do.” “Show her?” Night asked. “Twilight likes to get caught up on small details like ‘do this alone,’ or ‘write to me about friendship problems,’ but forgets to look at the whole picture like ‘saving the Crystal Empire is more important than the test,’ or ‘if there’s not a problem, then that’s okay.’ If she’s hung up on the details, you might need to show her the important thing.” Night blinked. “I’ll be honest, I’m not quite sure what you said there.” Spike raised an eyebrow. “Did you not read the friendship book the girls published?” Night shrugged. “Haven’t really been much of a reader.” “Okay, but you get the big picture, right?” he asked. “She can’t see the forest for the trees sometimes?” “Yeah, so show her the forest.” Night frowned and gave a grunt to acknowledge that he heard the dragon. “Well, anyway, best of luck to you, alright?” Spike said as he waved and began to head back inside. “Yeah, thanks. You too,” Night said, before frowning again. “Show her the forest, huh?” Get her to focus back on the big picture. “Well, the big picture is that I’m trying to get ponies in jail, but she didn’t like that one. Is there...is there a bigger picture I’m missing too?” As he moved across the courtyard and out of the castle, he racked his brain an answer. What was the big picture? The one, the Princess of all ponies, would get behind no matter what? If the law and punishing ponies weren’t enough, what was? He thought, going back to try and remember something, anything that he could to try and convince the Princess. And just as he thought about one of his jobs releasing slaves that he found the answer. His eyes widened, and his smile returned before he began to head for the train station. He needed to head for the coast.