Six : Unless
“I don't believe men are born to be killers, I don't believe the world can't be saved. How did you get here and when did it start? An innocent child with a thorn in his heart.” 12 Stones - World So Cold
Blue eyes shut tight against the harsh winds that stung them. The foal tried to cry in pain but his tears froze against his fur as quickly as they appeared. Breathing in the frigid, angry air burned his throat and chest worse than anything he had ever felt. The tiny golden colt tried to lift a leg to step forward but it was weighed down by the thick snow underhoof and the exhaustion of his small body. It took all his efforts to take a single step. He panted from the exertion and shuddered from the jolt of pain that surged through him to his core from his arctic environment. The colt's small frame collapsed into the snow leaving him with barely any strength to call out for help. More tears froze on his cheeks at the hopelessness of his situation as his raspy shouts were lost to the raging winds that surrounded him.
He heard a noise as he felt the winds shift around him. A whisper that was calling out to him. Opening his eyes, he saw the white powder of his landscape bubble up and take the shape of a pony. At first it was as small as he was but with the blink of an eye the white silhouette grew to a monstrous size. It grew and grew until the massive beast was all the golden foal could see. Once it was formed, it bent down to look at him with its empty eyes.
"Don't worry," the creature told him as it gave a toothy grin. The behemoth's smile extended to the back of its head, splitting the shape almost completely in half. "I will help you." it promised.
The colt was terrified as he fought against the great suction that pulled him and the swirling snow forward. He looked up to see gargantuan dark wings thrust forth. The gust of wind from the flapping of wings shoved the colt off of his hooves and into the cold night air. He landed hard on a wooden platform, the air forced from his lungs. Gasping and coughing for breath, the colt held a hoof to his aching side as he shakily stood and blinked hard. Before him were rows and rows of seats, each filled with a faceless pony. His eyes went wide with confusion and terror as all the lights above focused on him, making the tiny colt the center of attention.
"W-what's going on? Where am I?" the colt asked the crowd as he trembled, "I d-don't want to be here, p-please somepony, help!" As he cried out and gasped as he backed up in fear.
A jolt of electricity ran through him from behind and drove him to screech in pain and stumble forward. As he regained his balance, he could hear chains rattle beneath him with his shaky body. The stallion panted as he looked to his hooves and saw he was shackled tightly, preventing any escape. He looked wild-eyed at the crowd before him again as he began to hyperventilate.
"No! Please!!" he begged them in a shaky voice, "I-I can't, not again!"
Once again, the stallion tried to back away from the rows of ponies who were focused on him, raising their paddles in a bidding war. His chest tightened as he felt his heart slam against his ribcage in panic. He began to get nauseous and increasingly light-headed, feeling as if he was drowning in a sea of numbers. He tried to swallow the rising urge to vomit past the lump in his throat when he was suddenly hit from behind with the electric prod.
Rage filled his lungs as he gasped, the pain in his chest loosening some. He looked to his right with fury-filled eyes at the auctioneer. Purple jacket, rosy cheeks, a top hat tall as a tree and a wicked smile that he wanted to rip off the pony's face with his teeth. The adult sized chains fell off the adolescent colt's hooves as he pulled his bow and an arrow out from behind him.
"I said not again! Not ever again!! I'll kill you!" he roared, glaring daggers at the pony with the sickening smile. The colt set the arrow, pulled back and let it fly to its target. As he blinked, a loud sharp report sounded in the hollow space and he was a stallion once more.
The stage, the crowd and the auctioneer were gone and he found himself in a black void. He looked around him to see a crowd of ponies. The golden stallion couldn't make out any details like he was in a thick fog. Their blurred faces focused on what was ahead of them for a moment before they dispersed. He stood, watching them walk away. More and more ponies passed him, none taking notice of him as they continued and the extensive herd of ponies all around never seemed to thin. After a moment of watching them, he finally noticed that there was something on the ground in front of him.
Looking down, he could see a shape much clearer than the ponies who trotted past. His heart sank and his breath hitched in his throat as he saw in horror what lay before him. A tiny filly with a light pink coat and a dark blue mane. Her flower basket was splattered with blood and its contents were spilled out on the cobblestone ground. Several different kinds of flowers, some of them crushed, and a half eaten loaf of bread were wet from the small mud puddle they had fallen into. The frilly red dress she wore was disturbed by the gentle breeze that all the bodies moving about made and her eyes stared off into the nothingness.
"What? No, but I didn't…!" he tried to explain to her as he looked at his hooves. Horrified at the firearm he held, he threw the gun away and it slid across the floor, lost in the multitude of strangers. His ears folded and he backed away a few steps.
"And what did they do to you?!" an outraged voice reverberated around him, "You had no right to kill them!"
The stallion backed up another step as he looked all around him, the crowd fading away leaving only the dead foal. "It wasn't-- I didn't… I-I…" he said, trying in vain to say it wasn't his fault as tears welled up in his eyes.
"I am very disappointed in you." the voice told him as it sadly turned away.
"No! Please, I'm sorry, I didn't--" the golden stallion told it, "Don't leave me!" He gave a shuddering breath, clenched his eyes shut and took another step back. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." he said to the floor. He sniffled as tears fell and he looked up into the nothingness, hoping the voice was still there. Opening his muzzle to speak again, he lost his footing and fell.
This time, the tiny golden colt landed belly down on something soft and squeaky. When he opened his eyes, he could see a mattress was his landing pad. His hooves were each tied to a corner of the bed. He pulled at each of his bonds as he once again cried out for help, terrified of what was going to happen to him. The door of the room opened and his eyes grew wide when he saw who entered.
Relief flooded the colt as he saw a tall grey filly with a lavender mane was followed by a white colt with a dark brown mane. A short yellow stallion walked in next and he was followed by a cream colored colt with a light green mane. The last pony to enter was a tan mare with white socks and a sandy colored mane. The colt tied to the mattress smiled, so glad to see them all alive that tears formed in his eyes.
"Dad, help please? I'm stuck." he asked the yellow stallion. None of the five ponies moved. He called out to them again but they just stood there like dolls. The little colt could see deep emerald eyes behind them appearing from the darkness. As they got closer, his cries to the five in front of him grew so frantic his voice went hoarse. The wind had returned, only this time it blew thick dark smoke into a shape around those bright green eyes. The colt tugged at his bonds in terror as the black beast opened its mouth. He could see the fiery pits of Tartarus within for just a second before it bellowed flames down upon the five puppets. The colt could do nothing more than weep on the bed as he watched his friends and family turn to ash before him.
Blue eyes opened to see a tiny rodent nose in front of his face. He blinked a few times and his vision came in to focus on the young black rat sitting on his muzzle. He sucked in a deep breath and sighed.
"You know what would be awesome?" he asked Thief, "If my dreams weren't always one giant guilt trip." She twitched her nose at him in response. "Yeah, probably," Clout said as he sat up, "but it's never going to happen. Talking to ponies gets, ngh, messy…" He rubbed a hoof against his chest as the rat's ears perked up and she lifted her head. "Yes, I'm talking to you about it but with talking to you things don't get messy." Thief climbed to the top of his head. "Well, that's because I can pretend I know what you're saying to me." He stood up, shook himself slightly and looked up at her with an unamused expression. "Don't patronize me." Clout gently took his small friend off of his head and set her on the ground. "I gotta get my gear on. We can't lie in bed forever, we have work to do." he told her as he walked over to the pile of stuff he dumped on the floor several hours ago.
As he slipped into his duds, Thief scampered over to the closed door to crawl under the thin space between it and the floor. Clout finished adjusting his cloak, walked over to the door and opened it. He could hear the sound of Merchant chuckling in the kitchen.
"Well it sounds like your dad was a really good buck."
"Yeah, he was." came Stratta's voice. It was filled with a sad fondness, "That's why I--"
The sound of the closing door interrupted their conversation.
"Oh, Clout, evening!" the pegasus waved a hoof at him. He then realized, "Uh, sorry, that would be morning to you, right?"
Ignoring Stratta, Clout walked up to Merchant. He looked at the older buck for a moment before giving a sigh and looking away. "Sorry." the crystal pony told him.
Merchant gave him a warm smile, "Don't worry about it." He watched as Clout awkwardly rubbed his chest with a hoof and continued to stay silent. "So I heard you were pretty angry with me when Garrett told you that I told him to have you do this client talk yourself."
The crystal pony's gaze quickly shifted back to Merchant. "You know my rules, I don't talk to clients Merch, you do that." he said, obviously miffed with his friend.
The purple stallion looked at Stratta and gave a smile. "I already have and I decided, after getting all the details, that this is one commission talk you need to do yourself." he told the colt happily.
The pegasus gave Clout a big grin as the buckskin narrowed his eyes at Merchant. "Where is Flight." he said, changing the subject.
The purple pony cringed, "Well…" he began as Clout's ears flattened.
"He took off didn't he."
"Yes." Merchant replied but quickly elaborated, "But not for the reason you think! Uh… maybe…" The thief raised an eyebrow. "He left for Hayseed Swamps to try and get away from the ponies who paid him for that document. He couldn't produce a fake in time and now they're pretty pissed."
Clout swished his tail. "I wouldn't doubt there's another reason he took the coward's way out." he grumbled.
"That means next on your agenda is my job, right?" Stratta asked, a bit hesitant.
"I think I'm going to make a trip to the Southern border, I hear it's nice this time of year. Perfect barbeque weather."
Merchant gave the colt an unamused expression, "Clout, that's not even funny."
"Who said that was a joke?" he asked with a stern expression, "Roasted pegasus makes a perfect bribe for a dragon if I ever need a favor." The crystal pony saw both stallions give him a concerned look while behind them, Thief climbed out of one cupboard and into another with practiced skill, a small piece of bread in her mouth.
Stratta fluttered his wings nervously. "This job can't wait that long, there's a time limit…" he said lamely.
The purple stallion looked to Clout earnestly. "You are going to do this job." he told him firmly.
"Why." the buckskin childishly demanded, "This isn't something I do. It's too risky to talk one on one with others, that's why we have this system Merch."
"You talked to Flight one on one just yesterday." came the retort.
"That's because he's Flight. I know what kind of threat he is and I know how to take him down if need be." Clout told the earth pony, "And I know nopony in town likes him enough to set a trap, he owes too many people a lot of bits. Not to mention, no pony in this town would even dare try to sell me for the bits I'm worth because they don't want to piss you off."
"Clout--"
"I'm not willingly walking into a town full of untrustworthy ponies who could ambush me! Especially not Ponyville!"
Stratta gave him a smile. "It's okay, I'll be there! I won't leave your side. Trust me, there isn't a single pony in the Solar Nation who would want to put you in chains." the pegasus said enthusiastically.
The crystal pony glared at Stratta, "I don't trust you. I hardly even know you."
Stratta's ears drooped some and he lost his smile. Merchant stood up from his cushion and walked to Clout. "You trust me though." The colt's ears folded slightly. "I've been around, I actually know quite a few of the ponies who live in Ponyville and they're some good folks." he told the buckskin. Clout opened his muzzle but Merchant preemptively interrupted, "Look, you can't go your entire life without speaking to ponies. Besides, I want you to have a better life than this."
"I talk to ponies." came the defiant response.
"Oh yeah? Who do you talk to?"
"Lots of ponies. All the time. Just… nopony you'd know." Clout replied, "And what's wrong with the way I live my life?"
"Well," Stratta piped in, "for one: stealing is wrong."
Clout glared at the pegasus. "Nopony asked you."
Merchant sighed. "Clout, I want something more for you. Thieves don't grow old, they end up hanged and for you, maybe even worse. I worry every day for you."
"Well you shouldn't, I don't get caught."
"Technically you did on your last job." the pegasus commented. Clout ignored him.
"And for the hundredth time, I don't want to have this conversation." the crystal pony argued.
"What I want for you is--"
"To find a mare, settle down, have some foals and grow old." Clout said in a mocking tone of voice, "Yes, I know, you've told me this over and over. It's not gunna happen Merch and you know why I can't do that." He glared at the older pony.
Merchant gave him a sad look and said, "You could if you would give somepony a chance." Seeing the crystal pony refuse to budge on the issue once again, Merchant decided to drop that particular conversation topic for the moment. "Fine." he said, "But at least do this one job then I won't make you do anything like this ever again."
The buckskin eyed him for a moment, thinking it over. He sucked in a breath. "Fine." Clout told them, "Fine, I'll do it. But y--"
He was cut off when Merch threw a leg over him. "I knew you would! I knew you were a good colt deep down!" he said as he grinned Stratta.
"What?" Clout asked in confusion.
The purple pony gave the crystal pony a wink as Stratta smiled. "And hey, maybe this venture into uncharted territory will help you find the marefriend of your dreams." the old stallion joked hopefully.
Clout sighed and shook his head. "You just never stop, do you." he said with a half smile.
Merchant gave him a small squeeze. "That's what I'm here for!" he said as he took his hoof off of Clout.
"Fuck, can you fuck faces keep it down?" an angry voice yelled at them from down the hall, "Do any of you shit stains know what fucking time it is? It's shut-the-fuck-up o'clock. So, you know, shut the fuck up!"
"So which are we? Fuck faces or shit stains?" Clout asked her.
Kit squinted her half-asleep eyes at him, "What?"
"Which are we? Fuck faces or shit stains because we kinda can't be both simultaneously." he elaborated as Thief climbed off of the kitchen counter and up onto his back, satisfied with her kitchen adventure.
The tiny red filly rubbed an eye with a hoof. "What? I… you… Ugh!" she sputtered before she gave a cry of utter exasperation, "Just, shut up!" She went back into her room and slammed the door as hard as she could, causing dirt to sprinkle down from the roof of the cavern.
All three stallions chuckled at the younger pony as they heard another door open.
"She has a rather barbaric way of stating it but she is highly accurate." Glacier told them as she walked down the hall, "You gentlestallions are quite boisterous."
"Wait, gentle?" Merchant questioned.
The mare had done her long mane and tail up in an elegantly but ever so slightly messy bun. She had removed all her golden chain jewelry, replacing it with businesslike attire. A pale gray collared shirt with rolled up sleeves was under a dark maroon vest. Her saddlebag was strapped around her waist and she used her magic to tuck a stray strand of her mane behind her ear.
"What happened to all your hoity-toity jewelry?" the pegasus asked her.
Glacier gave a smile. "After how frequently my adornments had gotten entangled in refuse of late, I had thought an adjustment of attire would be appropriate." she told him, "I had a further prospect to adorn myself more to Clout's liking seeing as how he is our escort for the time being. I would not wish to hamper him from his errands as I had before."
Since his other stalker was finally ready, the crystal thief decided it was time to go. Ignoring the unicorn's statements, Clout walked past her without a second glance. "Let's get this stupid job over with." he said with a sigh, obviously not excited about this latest commission.
As the three traveling companions ascended the stairs, they could hear Merchant send them off with a, "Toodles then."
They exited the shop through the beaded curtain and began down the path back into town. Clout pulled his hood over his head and his mask over his muzzle to conceal as much of himself as he could. With how dark it was outside, he knew the guards working the Ponyville gate wouldn't hesitate to shove a torch light in his face so he wanted to hinder their 'good look' at him as much as he could.
"You, sir, you are a pegasus--" the unicorn said, directing her statement to Stratta.
"Oh, you noticed, have you?" he interrupted her as he mockingly flapped his wings.
"Yes, very amusing." she said with an eye roll before continuing, "If I am not mistaken, pegasai control the weather, yes? Why must they make it so cold at night?" She shivered at the chill in the air.
Stratta gave a sigh of annoyance as he looked away from the mare. "I... don't know, I'm not a weather pony." he told her. Knowing that answer wouldn't satisfy her question he tried to elaborate, "It's something about the cycle of seasons or something. During a certain time of year, some plants need to go into a sort of hibernation... thing, I think… And the cold is how they do that, maybe. I don't know, go ask a weather pony!"
Wanting to ignore the intimidating creatures all around them in the mercenary city, Glacier continued their conversation, "Cold makes the plants hibernate? More like they perish. Those pegasai brutes only want us to freeze and starve, do they not? If there is anypony to blame for the food shortages that those ruffian rebels are so fond of complaining about, they very well should address the matter with those dwelling in the clouds. The Kings have no control over such things and crops do not flourish in freezing temperatures. If they would only keep the weather at an ideal warmth, there would be bountiful crops all year long." She swished her tail and gave a harrumph at the very idea to blame those in charge.
Stratta scoffed as he glared at her, "I don't know what country you've been living in if you think it's the pegasai's fault. And how in the world do you think they have no control over the weather? Discord can make it overcast with cotton candy clouds, rain chocolate milk and hail popcorn that pops when it hits the ground with a snap of his claw."
Clout ignored their argument as he walked along. He noticed a lot of ponies and griffons were out as usual but there was a tension to the air. He saw many of them verbally hashing out what sounded like petty issues. Somepony bumped into someone else and both parties refused to ignore the matter, others having shouting matches over goods or prices and others began to fight over the terms of commissions. He could hear yelling from multiple ponies at the Crippled Cragidile Inn and the distinct voice of Hydroplane but with noise all about the town it was hard to hear what they were going on about. Those who were staying out of the fighting were swiftly completing their nightly errands and making their way off the streets. A small group of creatures made their way to an inn, two ponies hauling carts in the same direction were walking at a faster pace than just a leisurely stroll and the weekly night market was unusually closed tonight.
"Clout, you agree with me, right?" Stratta asked in an of-course-you-do tone of voice.
The crystal pony watched as three slavers hurried their cargo along in the direction of the public slave barn. A pegasus mare tripped over her chains and they whipped her for it. From this distance, she appeared to be almost solid white with some faint color in her long mane and a really short tail. "What?" came his disinterested response as he continued to watch the mare.
"If King Discord actually cared, he would just poof food into existence and not let ponies starve! Aren't you paying any attention?"
After the slaves and their masters disappeared behind a building, Clout quickened his pace. "We need to get out of here, something's going on." he told them.
"Are you… But…" the pegasus began.
The unicorn gave a dainty laugh of triumph. "I told you he would see it my way!"
"Look Ms. Prissy Horn," Stratta growled, "Just because he didn't answer doesn't mean he takes your side."
Even with the two of them continuing to bicker, they matched the crystal pony's speed and soon reached the edge of town. As they began along the salt stone path Clout interrupted their argument, "Hey, uh, Feather Head."
"Garrett."
"Yeah, whatever. When you were talking to Merchant, did he mention anything going on in town tonight?" he asked, swiveling his ears back behind him some.
The pegasus scratched his chin with a wing in thought. "Um, no, he didn't mention anything like that. We didn't even talk about the town. We talked about other things!" he said grinning at the thief.
"Is there cause for concern?" Glacier asked him.
"No." came the reply, "It's nothing." Clout said as he furrowed his brows.
The three stayed silent as they trotted along. Above them, the stars twinkled brightly and few clouds remained. Though the half moon did not give off much light, they could see the looming structure without much difficulty. The holes in the wall from the recent attack looked to be mostly patched but it was hard to tell how reinforced they were. Three guards stood at attention in front of the gate, another slowly wandered the still destroyed train platform while two more were quietly chatting out front of the small shack to the side of the gate.
Stratta gave a small, "Aww," of disappointment when he didn't see Crossfire anywhere. He trotted slightly ahead of Clout and Glacier to address the sentry ponies. "Hi guys!" the pegasus said cheerfully to the group.
Short Stack glared at him. "Stratta you were supposed to report in two days ago." she scolded, "Why have you not done so yet? You do know how many rules you've broken this past week, right?"
Stratta gave her a big carefree smile as he waved a wing, "Oh, it's fine. Don't worry about that. Hey, could you let us through the gate?" He nodded his head slightly, assuming their immediate answer would be an obvious yes.
The mare's jaw clenched. "Don't worry about it?" she repeated back in anger, "You still have a mountain of incomplete paperwork not turned in and you're not worried about it?" Short took a threatening step forward, "I should have you demoted for slacking off on your duties!"
The pegasus gave a sly grin. "It's just paperwork. Besides," he said, "we're rebels. Isn't it supposed to be in our resume that we don't often follow the rules?" He gave a satisfactory chuckle as she only growled in response. "Look, I finally found somepony to do that job Wulf's had in mind for months now, so... If you would let us in, we'll be on our way."
"Wulf has plenty of changlings he could send on that stupid mission of his. He hasn't done it yet because nopony believes him that it will work not to mention it's a suicide mission."
"Changlings?" Glacier asked.
Ignoring the aristopony, Stratta continued to argue with the commander, "No, he hasn't sent anypony because he doesn't want anypony to get hurt. They don't know what they're doing when it comes to stealing. The master thief on the other hoof," he pointed a wing behind himself to Clout, "he can totally pull it off!"
Commander Short Stack used her magic to pull a lit torch from the wall next to the gate. She walked closer to Clout to get a better look at him using the small fire. The crystal pony squinted his eyes at the fire as she stared him down.
Stratta shoved his way between the two and batted the torch away with a wing. "Will you knock it off, he's fine now let us in."
"I want both of them thoroughly interrogated before they're allowed through my gates," Short Stack demanded, "I refuse to let untrustworthy ponies into my city."
Stratta scoffed in disbelief. "First of all, it's not your gate or your town." he told her, "Second, I told you, he's fine to let in. Don't you trust me?"
"No." came the blunt answer, "You have proven multiple times over that due to your libido, you have an incredible lack of judgement when it comes to the honorable nature of others."
Clout raised an eyebrow at the pegasus' back while Glacier glared.
The pegasus put a hoof to his muzzle to try and make their conversation at least slightly more private. "Could you keep that on the down-low, I don't want him getting the wrong idea." he harshly whispered, "Besides, it's not like that this time." He put his hoof down and gave another big smile. "He's the real deal!"
The commander eyed him suspiciously. "The unicorn." she demanded.
"Huh?" Stratta blinked, "Oh, her. You can do whatever with her. She's basically a nopony anyway." He waved a wing, dismissing the issue.
Glacier stomped a hoof and folded her ears back, "I would greatly appreciate it if you would refrain from referring to me as a 'nopony'." she scolded, "I am Glaciated Era, daughter of the great Hailstone, founder and CEO of the Frozen Paradise Corporation. If you are permitting Clout to enter your district, I too demand ingress. Wherever he proceeds, I shall accompany him." She put a dignified hoof to her chest with her long-winded introduction.
"You are an aristocratic unicorn," Short Stack said, "You will not be given access to Ponyville."
Glacier's ears folded back and she took a threatening step towards the other mare as the guards pointed their weapons at her to protect their commanding officer. "You will grant me access! If I do not enter, he will not enter!" she said as she pointed a hoof next to her.
Short Stack's eyes widened. "He's gone! Everypony, keep your guard up and search the area. The thief is missing." She yelled to her subordinates. She then turned to the pegasus, "Stratta, if we get attacked or if anything goes missing because you brought him here, it will not end well for you." she threatened before glaring at Glacier, "Silver, take her for a thorough interrogation."
The light dapple pegasus nervously stepped forward and aimed her spear at the mare as instructed. "Y-yes ma'am." came the shaky reply.
The crystal pony watched as Glacier was taken to the small shack for questioning that he was taken to a few days prior. The rest of the ponies, Stratta included, searched the area. Clout pulled his rope arrow out of the side of the wall as he sat atop it. He looked to Thief on his shoulder as he rewound the loose rope. "If i knew it was going to be this much of a pain in the ass just to get into the stupid city, I would have put up more of a fight with Merchant about this job." he told the rat. He put his used arrow away and sighed. "Well, I told him I'd do it so I guess we'd better get going and find this Wulf pony."
Looking past the walls he saw the town of Ponyville, a Solar Nation stronghold. The half lit moon hid the finer details of the place but he could make out many building tops. It was as if the original buildings were put up with proper construction using plaster, insulation and paint. Additions beyond the older structures were thrown together strictly with wood and nails. Additional rooms atop the buildings, catwalks between and miniature housing between the nicer buildings looked feeble and barely standing. Just a few walls for support and a roof would provide for the overabundance of residents thanks to thousands of freed slaves the rebels refused to abandon.
The wall itself wasn't much taller than the highest building, not including the massive tree in the middle of town. Part of the wall acted as a parapet for an inner walkway that was crudely built for patrols. He could see several guards in the distance along the path but none had noticed him. He got off the top of the wall and set hoof on the rickety structure before climbing down one of its supports. When he stood on the ground he knew belonged to the rebels, he gave a slight cringe that he finally entered Ponyville. Long ago, he had swore to himself that he would never again come to this wretched town but here he was. His ears folded at the thought of more nightmares from his past making him not want to sleep but he steeled his resolve and walked forward.
To his left he could see the closed gate. More ponies were stationed to guard here than outside. Each ready at their post in full armor and bearing multiple types of weapons. Only a few were actually at attention though. Many were quietly chatting with each other and he spotted two ponies who were sleeping standing up. Many large cement blocks and damaged hunks of steel were scattered about as barricades and gravel was used to fill the many potholes in the dirt road.
Aside from the guards by the wall, the town was void of night life. No guards were patrolling the streets, nopony was out getting shitface drunk and no delinquent foals were out past their bedtime. Clout walked in the middle of the road, uneasy about how quiet it was and he was constantly looking over his shoulder. The only sounds were the distant chatter of the guards on the other side of the gate, his padded hooves on the slightly damp dirt street and the wind that was softly blowing a squeaky bakery sign. Thief popped her head out of Clout's cloak and sniffed at the air. The crystal pony looked to her then further down the road where the rodent's nose was pointed.
As he continued along the path he could make out a figure sitting at a bench. Slowly getting closer he saw who she was. A caramel colored coat with cream legs and belly, her mane was a reddish brown with almost black tips to it. Her wings and tail were very different then the last time he saw her. Bat-like wings were tucked in at her sides and her lengthy tail hung off the bench. The long tuft of fur at the end almost hid a sharp curved stinger like that of a scorpion. Her golden-yellow eyes were staring at the stars above and she held a hot mug of tea in her hooves.
Clout stopped and looked around the street. Not finding a clear alleyway to use, he took his bow off his back and grabbed a rope arrow. "Come on," he quietly told Thief, "Let's go a different way." As he made his way to a building on the opposite side of the street from the mare, another pegasus swiftly landed in front of him.
"There you are!" Stratta exclaimed, "Why did you run off like that? You almost got me in big trouble!"
The crystal pony gave him a flat look. "Seems to me you got yourself in trouble without my help." he pointed out, "I was tired of waiting and she pisses me off. I thought I would bypass the headache and find Wulf myself."
"You don't even know where he is."
"He's your leader, right?" Clout said, "He's either in the big tree fortress thing or in the tallest building. Not that hard to figure out." He set the arrow and pulled back on his bow. As he lifted it high to aim for the top of the building the pegasus put a hoof on the weapon, gently pushing it down.
"Actually you're wrong," he said, "several years ago he gave his home to some slaves he rescued. Said they needed it more than he did."
Clout raised an eyebrow at him.
"He sleeps in one of the alley lean-to structures now. It may be cold some nights but he says he refuses to put ponies in living conditions he's not willing to live in himself."
The crystal pony put his bow and arrow away. "Fine," he said, "where is he."
"Probably sleeping." Stratta said, pointing out the obvious, "I mean, it is one in the morning." He gave a disappointed sigh before saying, "But if you insist on seeing him now, he's just a couple of allies down." He pointed down the road with a wing. "Oh!" he said when he noticed the mare on the bench, "Hi Charity!" He waved a wing at her in greeting. She gave a small wave of her hoof back at him. "Come on, let's go say hi. You'd like Charity, she's really nice." The enthusiastic pegasus trotted happily over to the mare before looking back to the crystal pony. Noticing he wasn't moving, he complained, "Aren't you coming?"
Clout's ears drooped some and he gave an annoyed grunt before slowly walking over. When he got just a few feet away he stopped, wanting to keep his distance. Being much closer to her than before, he could see that time had taken its toll on her.
Stratta smiled. "Charity, this is Clout. Clout, this is--"
"Clout?" Charity interrupted, "As in Clout Upshot?" She slowly got off the bench, set her mug of tea where she previously sat and walked uncomfortably close to the crystal pony. The mare proceeded to pull his mask down and she rudely shoved his hood off of his head, irritated he was hiding from her. Charity examined the pony, looking at his blue eyes, golden coat, dark muzzle and his short black and white mane. She ignored the young black rat on his shoulder as the mare stared at the buckskin in disbelief. Thief, being exposed to the chill in the air when Charity shoved the hood down around Clout's shoulders, proceeded to go hide under the crystal pony's cloak. "It is you." she said breathlessly.
Clout furrowed his brow and looked away. "Hi Charity." came his disgruntled response.
She gave him a warm smile, "I'm glad to see you're doing well."
"Can we go see Wulf already." the crystal pony grumbled to the other stallion.
Stratta looked to Clout then to Charity. "What's wrong? Did you two used to date and had a bad breakup or something?" he asked, thoroughly confused.
The crystal pony glared daggers at him. "Are you kidding? She's damned near thirty years older than me!"
"I used to care for him long ago when he was a colt," Charity elaborated, "He's probably avoiding me because of bad memories."
"And that's exactly why I was going to scale that building instead of continuing down the road." Clout grumbled, "Can we leave now."
Stratta put a comforting wing over the buckskin's back and he was promptly shoved away by the grumpy stallion. "Aww, come on, don't be rude to Charity, she cared for you as a colt right? You should be more grateful"
Charity smiled. "Garrett, don't worry about it. This is actually a whole lot better than he used to be towards others." she said with a chuckle.
Stratta's ears perked up. "Wait a second," he said with realization, "you knew him as a colt! You could tell me what he was like as a kid since he keeps avoiding my questions!" He fluttered his wings in excitement.
"And that's our cue to leave." Clout said as he grabbed his pegasus companion by the collar of his shirt and began to drag him away.
"You know," Stratta started as he fumbled along in the crystal pony's grasp, "just because we're leaving doesn't mean I'm not going to ask her later. I live here so we do see each other quite often."
Clout stopped to glare at the pegasus again.
"Wulf is sleeping," the pegasus stallion said once more, "and this will kill time until morning. It also gives you a chance to prevent Charity from telling me anything you don't want her to say." Stratta hoped the suggestion would be a compromise enough to placate the crystal pony.
Clout continued to glower. "All of it. Everything. That's what I don't want her to tell you."
"Well, in that case," Charity piped in, "if I can't tell him the story of the angriest, tiniest colt I've ever had in my orphanage, I could just tell him my own personal story of when I had to deal with the tiniest, angriest colt." She gave Clout a sly smile.
The crystal pony gave her a hard stare for a minute before letting out a throaty growl. "Everypony is against me." he said to himself, "And of all the stupid ponies to be awake at this hour, in this town, it had to be her." Stratta followed as Clout made his way back over to the elderly mare who returned to her seat on the bench. "Why are you so damned interested in my personal life anyway?" he spat at Stratta.
The pegasus stallion scratched at the back of his head with a hoof as he grinned nervously. "Uh, no reason." he said, "I just… uh, I'm a story oriented pony. Gotta know everypony's backstory…" he finished lamely, knowing that was a pathetic excuse.
The thief eyed him suspiciously. "I thought you were an archeologist."
"Oh, yes!" Stratta said with more confidence, "That's why! Archeology is the study of the past which includes the history of ponies. You never know when somepony's history will be important for future generations to know!"
Clout narrowed his eyes at him.
The pegasus stallion's grin grew strained under the pressure. Then his ear twitched and he looked away from the gaze, "That's my story and I'm sticking to it!"
"Whatever." The crystal pony said.
Stratta gave a sigh of relief. "So, quick question Charity, why are you up so late?" he asked.
The mare chuckled. "One of the foals wet the bed. I couldn't fall back asleep so I thought I'd come outside and enjoy the stars while I could." she told him.
"So, you said Clout was the angriest colt you've ever had." Stratta said, "He's still pretty angry so, what do you mean?"
The mare looked at Clout who's ears folded. "He was actually very violent." she told him and put a hoof to her chest to reveal an old thin scar across her front, "He's the one who gave me my scar. It's faded and my fur's grown long enough to hide it but it's still there." The Crystal pony refused to meet her gaze. "He's never apologized but I did deserve it at the time I suppose."
Stratta turned to the other stallion. "Clout, how could you not apologize? That's a really big scar!"
"She told you she deserved it so drop it." the thief snapped.
Stratta looked at the mare while he pointed a hoof at Clout. "Seriously?" he asked in disbelief, "That's not right! You're just going to let him get away with that?"
Charity gave a sad smile, "It's in the past, he was only a colt. It's fine Garrett."
Stratta sighed and rubbed his forehead with a wing. "Fine, fine. If you say so. Just, tell me more, why was he so angry?"
"Because he was hurt." she said as a matter of fact, "He didn't even have his cutiemark yet and he was so malnourished, sick and injured we all thought he wouldn't make it."
"Charity…" Clout said in a warning tone of voice.
"Don't worry," she told him, "I won't go into detail."
The crystal pony snorted in response as Stratta looked between them, disappointed they were keeping details out of the story.
"Anyway, for the first week or so he mostly slept but when he finally did wake up we had been quite surprised. He smashed a nearby lamp and used that to hurt me." She rubbed a hoof at the old scar, "It wasn't just me he lashed out at. Anytime anypony came near he grabbed anything within reach and used it as a weapon. Didn't matter if it was me, one of the doctors trying to tend to his wounds or one of the other orphans wanting to invite him to play, he was determined not to let anypony near him.
"He didn't trust anypony so much he barely slept and refused to eat. He was unpredictable, very bitter and quick to lash out. We had to isolate him from the other foals and anything he could use as a weapon. The doctors were glad most of the time he wore himself out in his outbursts so they could actually try to help him heal, physically at least.The doctors really learned to be careful after he woke up one time. The tiny colt bit a chunk right out of Doctor Patch's foreleg." she gave a small chuckle remembering how upset the doctor had been at the time, "You can still see where he got bit. Left a considerable dent in his leg."
Stratta looked at Clout. "You were not a very nice kid." he said with furrowed brows.
"Yes, very sad. Anyway, can we go now?" he asked in an annoyed tone of voice.
The pegasus stallion shook his head, "Nope! I want to hear more!"
Charity smiled at them, enjoying the company.
Clout narrowed his eyes at the mare and said, "You just love torturing me, don't you."
"Well, let's see…" she put a hoof to her chin in thought, "This is the first time I've seen you since you were sent away so, I doubt I'll ever get another chance for payback so..." she put her hoof back on her now cold mug of tea and gave him a wicked grin, "Yeah, I do believe I am enjoying this quite a bit."
"Hate you. Both of you."
"So what happened for him to get sent away? Sounds like you guys put up with a lot from him." Stratta asked.
"We did but that was because we were determined to save him." Charity sadly replied, "We didn't want to send him away but something happened that put the other foals at risk and we couldn't let that happen again." She paused to take in a breath and looked at the tea in her mug, "I had received a new foal to care for. She was a little filly, told by us and all the other kids to stay away from Clout. That he was by himself for a reason. She told the other kids that nopony should be by themselves and so she was determined to make him her friend. By the time the other kids got us he had hurt her pretty badly and still had her pinned on the ground beating her bloody with his hooves."
"And then I was sent away, end of story." Clout finished for her.
"Was she okay?" Stratta asked as the thief began to walk away from the two.
"She died."
Clout stopped in his tracks and looked back at Charity. "What?" he asked in complete shock.
She looked at the buck skinned pony. "Fin never told you?" she asked, "You caved in her skull. They tried everything they could to save her but she died."
Clout looked at his hooves while images of his nightmare flashed in his mind. The rage he felt as he pulled back on his bow. The smell of cordite from the gun in his hooves and the tiny filly lying dead before him. He clenched his eyes shut, grit his teeth, trying to shove everything back down.
"Clout?" Charity asked with concern.
Stratta walked up behind him and reached a hoof out. "Hey, you okay?"
"Don't touch me." the crystal pony barked and the pegasus stallion flinched back. "I'm fine, it's in the past which means there's nothing anypony can do so drop it." He growled as he swiftly began trotting away.
The pegasus stallion watched Clout with unease before looking back to Charity.
"Well?" she said, "Aren't you going to go after him?"
"I…" Stratta trailed off, looked at Clout's receding form then back to Charity, "Thanks for the story, we'll have to talk again some time." The pegasus mare waived at him as he galloped to catch up to the crystal pony.
Clout continued to glare ahead of himself as he ignored the hoofsteps that were now clopping alongside him.
"So…"
"Don't even start."
"Where ya going?"
The thief childishly decided to not answer the annoying pegasus.
"Who's Fin?" Stratta asked.
Clout glanced to the stallion as he twitched an ear in irritation. "That's Charity's nickname for Merchant." he decided to answer, hoping it would make him shut up for at least a few minutes, "His name used to be Pathfinder."
"Hah!" Stratta exclaimed, "I knew that couldn't have been his real name! How did you two meet anyway?"
"No more stories." Clout firmly declared.
"Then could you at least tell me where we're going?"
"To find Wulf so I can get out of here."
Stratta's ears folded some. "Why don't we find something else to do and wait until sunrise to wake him?" he said, hoping the crystal pony would agree. To his disappointment, the stallion stayed quiet. He tried a different tactic, "Why don't we go get some, uh, breakfast! You didn't eat anything while we were at Merchant's place." Still not getting a response he tried again, "We could go watch that unicorn mare get interrogated. That would be fun, right?"
"Is there anything that would stop your verbal diarrhea?" Clout asked sharply.
"I just want to talk to you, is there any harm in wanting to get to know you?" Stratta sadly asked.
"Yes." said the crystal pony.
They walked in silence for a few minutes until Stratta got tired of the awkward silence. "Hey, could--"
"No." Clout interrupted.
"You're no fun." the pegasus pouted, "Well if you won't talk to me, I'll talk to you!" he decided, "What would you like to know?" silence, "Oh! I know, since I got to hear one of your childhood stories, I'll tell you one of mine!" he gave the grumpy pony a big grin, "I was born on a Tuesday--"
"Fine, let's go watch the unicorn get questioned." Clout loudly said to stop the pegasus from continuing. He turned around and started walking back towards the gate.
"Seriously," Stratta told him as he followed, "you aren't any fun at all. It's only natural for friends to want to get to know each other better. Don't you want to know more about me?"
"I'm not your friend."
"But we could be friends!"
"I don't do friends."
The pegasus looked at his hooves as he walked. "Friends make life better. Fun times get even more fun with friends and you can lean on them when times get tough." he said dejectedly, "Friends, good friends, they can make life so much more colorful. Being all by yourself, all the time… That's just sad and lonely…"
The dull light of the sunrise began to show on the horizon and with it Clout could see two figures walking their way on the road. "I prefer to be alone," he told Stratta, "There isn't anypony in this world you can trust to get that close. Eventually they'll all stab you in the back, find your weaknesses and use them against you. Being alone is safer. Trusting others, that's just foolish."
Stratta looked back up at Clout. "But what about Merchant? Isn't he like your friend or… family? Adopted father or something?"
"Forced acquaintance."
"I'm sure he would be very sad to hear you think of him that way." came the pegasus' distant reply.
As they got closer to the two others walking down the street, they could hear them arguing fairly loudly. From their voices, Clout could tell that one was Glacier and the other was a deep male voice he didn't recognize.
"As I recall, I was the one who terminated our relationship due to your lack of determination to receive the proper payment for your services. I saw our relationship for what it truly was and I refused to be anypony's confectionery mare." Glacier said angrily.
"As I recall," the male voice shot back, "I broke up with you because of your obsession. And I never once asked you to pay for a single thing."
"I have told you before, putting my family first is not an obsession." the unicorn told him, "Besides, that project you're referring to as an 'obsession' I will have completed presently."
"I highly doubt that."
She ignored his comment, "And after which I suppose I might be receptive enough to consider rekindling our stipulation."
As they got closer, Clout saw that the mare was talking to a griffon. He was a thinly built bird with a dark beak and clawed hands. From under his beak and down his belly, he had white feathers that faded up his body to give him champagne wings and a peach colored back. From the sides of his beak, covering his eyes and to the back of his head where feathers fanned out were thick black stripes, one on either side of his head. His mulberry colored crown of feathers were groomed back to give him an elegant appearance. He wore a long white doctor's coat and he held a clipboard with his tail, the bright blue tuft of fur on the end was hiding all the notes written on the paper. His appearance was completed with a stethoscope draped across the back of his neck and a set of glasses that sat atop his beak.
The griffon glared at her, "And who says I'll want to rekindle our relationship? I know for a fact you'll never--" he stopped talking when he finally noticed the two stallions.
Glacier trotted ahead to them as she happily said, "There you are! I am quite pleased you have not departed." She turned to her griffon friend who casually strolled up to the small group. "Desmund," she said then turned to the crystal pony, "this is Clout." She gave the stallion a smile and the crystal pony slightly folded his ears in response.
"So, you're…" Desmund began as his eyes widened.
"Ah! The pony I owe the life debt to." Glacier finished for him.
Clout narrowed his eyes at the two of them and put his hood back over his head. The griffon looked to the mare with an expression neither Clout nor Stratta understood.
Glacier smiled at the two stallions, "Gentlebucks, this is my tiercelfriend, Desmund."
Desmund shot her an angry look. "Lacy," he said in an annoyed tone of voice, "I'm not your tiercelfriend any more and I would greatly appreciate it if you would abandon the notion I would ever be so again." He began to walk away.
"We will talk further on that matter at another time dear." the unicorn told him casually with a wave of her hoof. When she realized he was walking away, she trotted to his side and walked with him. The two stallions, having nothing better to do so early in the morning, decided to follow.
Desmund glanced over at his pony entourage. "I cannot stay and chat," he told Glacier, "I must return to my work."
Glacier flicked her tail as she walked. "What could you possibly be doing here that is so important you are inclined to neglect our conversation." she said, thoroughly irritated at being brushed off, "Do I not deserve your full attention? I will have you know I have substantially more to say to you than what has at present been expressed."
The griffon sighed and rolled his eyes. "Glacier, I only came to get you because you wouldn't stop demanding the guards to go get me. I have other responsibilities besides you." he told her as they turned down another street.
"Oh, is that how she got out of her interrogation?" Stratta asked.
"Yes." Desmund replied, obviously annoyed, "She kept insisting I would tell them how good of a pony she was. She's lucky I was in town today. I lied to them of course."
"Oh please, darling," Glacier nickered, "I am good and you are well aware of this fact."
The griffon chuffed, "That all depends on how you look at yourself my dear."
"Mmm, yes," the unicorn purred, "and I choose to look at that fact in a very specific light."
"Oh?" Desmund inquired, "And exactly which light might that be, pray tell? I do not recall ever actually calling you 'good'."
"Then I suppose I must have a better recollection of events than you do. Every time I made you screech at the top of your lungs you did, in fact, call me good." Glacier said with a smirk.
The griffon gave an awkward cough and looked away from her. "Lacy," he said in an irked tone of voice, "I do not believe the activities we had shared in the privacy of the bedroom should be, in any measure, public knowledge."
Stratta grinned at Desmund. "So you're a screamer are you?" he inquired in a sultry tone of voice.
Thoroughly uncomfortable about the direction their conversation was going, Clout decided it was definitely time to change the topic. "Where are we going?" he asked.
Relieved that someone wanted to talk about something besides his sex life, Desmund was eager to answer, "I am going back to the clinic. I am on duty for the overnight shift and there are a couple of patients that need to have specific hourly care."
"Yes, any excuse to change the subject of conversation and avoid for once actually admitting that I am, indeed, correct." the unicorn spat loudly as they came upon two large buildings. Desmund finally decided not to encourage further debate with Glacier by keeping his mouth shut.
The thief and his hidden rodent friend looked up at the enormous cathedral as they passed. The large double door looked big enough for a minotaur to walk through without having to duck down. It was inset several feet from the outer wall of the building. Every brick was delicately carved with thin spiral shapes, curving and twisting to act as fake vines. On every other brick there was one of four instruments chiseled within the vines, a lute, harp, clavichord and a zither. Six frosted glass windows stood tall with three on either side of the door's entryway and each window was no wider than a foreleg.
Decorating the entirety of the rest of the building's lower half were large statues, each tucked away in their own crevasse of the wall. Every carved image was of a faceless pony adorned in a hooded robe, standing on their hind legs and playing an instrument. The race of the stone ponies seemed to pattern: pegasai, earth then unicorn. Clout thought the artist who created the pegasai playing the clavichord did a terrible job because it looked like there wasn't nearly enough room for the pony, its spread wings and the long keyed instrument.
The upper half of the chapel displayed a massive stained glass window spanning almost the entire length. On it displayed a faceless white alicorn with a bone flute tied around his neck, presenting four books to the world. Each novel had different musical notes on their covers. The pegasus had mentioned it before that a lot of the Solar Nation rebels worshipped the Bard of Harmony so he figured those must have been the Harmony Quartet books. The roof tiles were a dark green that complimented the sandy color of the building and it had too many tall spires adorning the roof to count while they walked.
Thief twitched her whiskers at it before hiding back in Clout's hood. "Yeah," he quietly told her, "I like our chapel better too."
"You have a chapel?" Stratta asked, "Wouldn't have pegged you for a religious thief."
The crystal pony glanced at him for a moment, considering if he should give even more information to the overly curious pegasus or not. He decided a short response would work, "I live in one." Stratta smiled and to the crystal pony's relief no more questions were asked.
The building next to the church was much smaller in comparison but still quite large. Unadorned with anything fancier than many windows and white trim, this three story building was obviously the hospital with its green cross sign out front by the doors and the overused medical wagon parked nearby. The vehicle's two harnesses lay limp on the ground as its drivers napped in the wagon, ready to be called out for whatever emergencies they might be needed for.
Clout slowed his pace as the other three headed for the entrance. As Desmund opened the door and entered, Glacier looked back to notice the crystal pony's hesitation. "Are you not joining us?" she asked him. Stratta stopped to hear Clout's reply as well.
"Why are we going in there?" the thief asked.
"Because we still need to waste another hour or two." the pegasus answered, "We can also grab some food from the cafeteria."
"I think I'll wait out here."
Glacier tucked a loose strand of her mane behind an ear with her magic. "Are you certain you do not wish to join us?" she asked, "Does a hot meal not sound delectable? I think it is a marvelous idea."
Stratta blinked at the mare. "Did… Did you actually just agree with me on something?" he asked mockingly, "Guys, I think the war's going to end today!"
"The pegasus made a quip, how amusing." the mare said dryly before entering the hospital.
Stratta chuckled at Glacier's reaction. "So you're really not coming?" he asked, watching the thief eye a nearby apartment building.
"Nope, staying."
The pegasus raised an eyebrow before grabbing the front of Clout's cloak with a wing. "Come on. I know if I leave you out here you're just gunna go steal something."
"Would you ponies stop dragging me places!" the crystal pony complained as he was dragged inside the hospital.
They entered through the doors and were greeted with the usual drab décor one would see at a hospital. An uncomfortable waiting room filled with rows of empty chairs, pale striped wallpaper peeling off the walls in places from a leak nopony bothered to fix, a few potted plants placed here and there and the unmistakable but ever so faint scent of antiseptic in the air. The seat behind the front desk was lacking the receptionist who was supposed to be tending to the lobby and one drawer of the several filing cabinets behind the desk was left slightly open.
The charcoal unicorn came trotting in from one of three hallways leading further into the clinic. She had an annoyed look on her face as she glanced to the two stallions. "Once more, that disrespectful griffon has been quick to discard me." she told them, "I shall have him know it is rather rude to depart without a formal remark."
Stratta raised an eyebrow as Clout inspected a suspicious floor stain with a bored expression on his face. "He did say he had to go see a few patients." the pegasus told her.
Her ears folded back. "That is no excuse for being just plain rude." she shot back. Glacier stopped in front of the two stallions and gave a frustrated huff.
The pegasus gave her a flat look. "If there was an emergency with one of his patients that might have been his reason." the mare opened her muzzle at Stratta's comment to, once again, give another snooty complaint so he decided to preemptively interrupt her, "But if it would make you happy we can look for him on the way to the cafeteria."
Glacier closed her mouth and glared at him, saving the rest of her verbal ammunition for her ex-lover. Seeing she was done ranting, Stratta walked to the closest hallway, opposite of the one Glacier had just come from. "Okay then, shall we?" he asked his two companions. When he saw them both following he began leading them to their destination. As they walked down the hall, they passed many doors on either side of the corridor. Scenic paintings hung here and there between rooms and several empty gurneys were parked in random places. The second hallway they passed had a directory stating that the cafeteria, Pathology Department and x rays were further down the way they walked.
Clout slowed for just a moment as he heard a sound down the hallway they were passing. He perked his ears, trying to make out any words. "Sounds like someone's not happy," he commented.
"Pardon?" Glacier stopped and asked.
The two stallions stopped as well and Clout elaborated, "Somepony's yelling down that way."
With the sound of their hooves silenced, they listened for the sounds the thief mentioned. The muffled noises were obvious now and they sounded from a room several doors down. The three looked at each other, the crystal pony waiting for one of the other two to make a decision. Before Stratta could say they should let the shouting person be and continue on to breakfast, Glacier began to trot toward the noise.
The stallions followed at a slower pace, Stratta upset that the mare was leading the group and Clout wanting nothing more than to do the rebel's stupid job so he could go home to his fortress of solitude.
"Hey," Stratta said to the mare, "we really shouldn't barge in on other pony's arguments."
"I only wish to determine if Desmund is a participant so when their current spat of furious words has been completed, I may have my own words with him." she replied with a determined look at the door the shouts came from.
Being so close to the room, they were finally able to hear the words that were being said through the slightly ajar door. "You took it! You took it and you didn't even ask! Give it back right now!" came small squeaky shouts.
"Look, I can't just--"
"I didn't want anypony to take it, I just needed medicine. You took it off, you can put it back on!"
Desmund's voice stuttered as he tried to reason with the irate child, "I-I… Look, that's not how it works and… you would have died if we left it on. We had to remove it."
"No, you didn't!" they said.
As Glacier got to the door, she quietly pushed it open enough to see the scene. There was a small grey pegasus with a long blue striped mane and tail that bounced in its tight curls as the three legged foal hobbled around. Their remaining unsteady legs were incredibly shaky, sweat beaded down their face and the bandages over the tiny stump that was left of the front left leg was stained with blood. They were just about the age when foals got their cutiemarks but this one's flank was still blank. Anything within reach was used as a projectile to throw at the griffon doctor who was trying to explain why it was necessary to remove the massively infected limb.
"Medicine wouldn't have done anything. Your leg was already dead and if we didn't cut it off it would have killed you."
"I don't care I want it back! I don't want to be a three legged pony!" the foal chucked a pen that they found lying on the floor at Desmund.
The griffon didn't bother to flinch at the weakly thrown writing utensil. "You need to settle down and get back in bed. That infection got into your bloodstream and you are still very sick." he told the foal as he batted away a flying slipper, "And no more yelling, there are a lot of other patients here who need rest, just like you do."
"I don't care, I want my leg back!" the foal began to cry as another slipper was weakly tossed in the doctor's direction, falling short of its intended target.
Peeking around the corner of the open door behind Glacier and Stratta, Clout recognized the foal. "Hm, I wondered what happened to that filly that was kicked out of Canterlot a couple nights ago." he muttered to himself.
The foal's gaze shot up to give the crystal pony a cold glare, "I am not a filly!" the colt shouted.
Desmund gave the three adult ponies an overwhelmed look before returning his attention to the foal. "Come on," he told him, "let's get you back into bed."
"Leave me alone, I hate you!" came the sobbing cry of despair as the colt tried to hide under the bed.
The griffon rubbed the back of his head with his clawed hand, not sure what to do.
"You never were considerably proficient with children." Glacier ridiculed.
Desmund glared at the unicorn as Stratta walked over to the crying colt. "Hey, I know it sucks right now but look on the bright side." he said with a smile, "Now you can have a great career as a pirate. All the best swashbucklers have a pegleg."
The young pegasus looked up at him and sniffled.
"I bet you that doctor griffon has an eyepatch somewhere he can give you."
The colt looked away. "I don't want to be a pirate, I want my leg back…"
"You three should go, I need to get him back into bed." Desmund told them as he crouched down to grab the colt.
The pegasus gave a sad sigh as he walked back to the door. "Feel better soon kid."
"Well I for one am not going anywhere." Glacier said, "You may feel our conversation has been completed but I have much more to say to you."
Clout gave a bored sigh. Tired of hearing the unicorn complain about nothing, he turned to Stratta, "The food is free, right?"
The pegasus stallion smiled. "Of course!" he replied, "This way."
Leaving the mare and griffon to continue their talk, the two bucks doubled back to the previous hallway and followed the signs to the cafeteria. After passing through the double door, they entered into a large open space filled with tables and chairs. On the far wall was another double door and two other doors next to it. Both marked bathrooms with one for mares and the other for stallions. The wall to the right was almost entirely a window to view the hospital's small garden area. The only part not made of glass was the wooden door by the corner closest to them. Half of the left wall was a long counter and beyond it was a decently sized kitchen with a creature flying about that Clout had never seen before.
The beast was solid black with a shiny appearance like a polished stone. Its legs were average pony-length but they had strange holes through them like swiss cheese. Its tail and mane were made of spines that had incredibly thin skin between them that reminded him of a spiny dorsal fin on a fish. The creature had a broad neck and some sort of thick shell-like structure on its back that two delicate see-through wings were attached to. It had a wide head, a curved horn such as a unicorn would have and two long thin ears that pointed straight up almost like antennae. The long fangs it bore and large blue eyes completed the bizarre appearance. The crystal pony couldn't tell if this thing was one of the ancient legendary alicorns, a bug, a mutant or something far stranger.
Clout hesitated at the sight of the creature for just a moment as the pegasus trotted right up to the counter. "Good morning Domatia!" Stratta said with over enthusiasm, "And how is our hardworking lady changling today?" He gave a big smile and leaned against the counter.
"Good?" she growled, "Good?!" Domatia turned around in the air to face the pegasus, "I have to get my tired ass out of bed at three in the morning just to prep and cook all this fucking food for you stupid ponies because no one knows how to cook a decent meal around here!"
Stratta gave a laugh, "We love you too, Tia."
The changling violently threw her spatula across the room where it shattered into pieces against the wall. "Garrett, I will kill you." she threatened, "All of you, I will poison your next meal." Domatia buzzed quickly across the room to an oven and cursed again as she took the cooked bread out before flying to another counter and quickly chopped up a dozen carrots all the while glaring in anger.
"Ya know, you say that every day. I'm beginning to think that's your way of saying you love us."
"You know how many mouths I have to feed?" she shouted as she worked, "You ponies think it's all sunshine and rainbows every day all the time. Well it's not! I get a limited number of ingredients, most of which is moldy or pathetic, and I have to use it anyway just to meet the minimum quota of meals. Then I get ponies complaining, 'I'm still hungry,' 'This tastes funny,' 'I don't like that food, I want something else,' or 'I'm allergic to that!' Excuses, excuses. Just eat the damned food or starve. And then, oh, it gets better, and then you stinking ponies have to bring even more ponies here for me to feed!" she pointed her wooden spoon at Clout, throwing splatters of sauce at him.
The stallion wiped it off his face with a hoof and decided to try it. Tasted like cranberry sauce.
"How am I supposed to keep up like this?! And you say 'Good morning'. I say you are the parasites, not us. The nobles are right to call you tick-- Agh!!" Domatia exclaimed in pain as she ran into some hanging pots, not watching where she was flying in her cooking frenzy. Out of pure rage she attacked the pots, breaking the ceiling hangers and sending most of the cooking instruments flying into the dining room. Stratta ducked down as one almost hit him. "I told them a thousand times not to hang the fucking pots!" she roared before grabbing the handle of a frying pan and using it as a baseball bat to send one of the offending objects careening through the air to embed itself into the wall.
Clout quickly understood why she had no help. As her rampage continued, he noticed a smell in the air. "Is something burning?" he asked.
Domatia halted in her tracks and looked to the sauce pot on the stove. "Damn it!" the changling cried out as she resumed her work duties, still spouting raging complaints the entire time.
Clout looked over at the pegasus who returned his gaze with a smile. "She's fun, isn't she?" Stratta asked.
The crystal pony only gave him a flat look in response. "Both of us were almost killed with cooking pots." he said, stating the obvious, "That's not exactly what I would like on my gravestone."
Stratta chuckled before trotting to the end of the counter. Just passed the kitchen bar was a wooden display structure filled to the brim with apples. Most of them were shriveled, small or bruised. A couple had worm holes and several were almost completely rotten.
"The Solar Nation has a contract with the nearby farm and that's where we get our apples from. I know they look kinda gross but at least it's food." Stratta said as he took a couple decent ones and walked over to a table.
Clout took three and walked over to the same bench. He set them down and let Thief onto the table so she could nibble on one. As they started eating, the pegasus continued.
"Kind of hard for ponies to grow proper food when Discord makes the seasons change so frequently. Kills the crops before they can even grow, you know." he trailed off as he stared at the apple in his hoof. "The food here is only free to those with jobs outside the city and the patients who are being cared for at the hospital. Anypony who lives here has to pay so we have bits to buy more food. There are other places but this is the only place where we can get anything decent because it's Domatia who cooks it. She's not usually ready to serve the food until around seven or eight because no pony is willing to work with her and risk the concussions." he poked at the largest bruise on his apple with a hoof, "The only reason we get a free meal is because we bring in the goods. Food shipments, artifacts to sell, information and other stuff. Thing is, if we don't meet our own quota, we don't get the food we earned." He set the apple back on the table, suddenly losing his appetite.
They sat in silence for a few minutes as Stratta continued to stare at his apples while Clout and Thief ate their food. For a moment, the only sounds in the cafeteria were the mumbled curses and clanging metal from the kitchen.
Not one for liking awkward silences, Stratta tried to come up with a topic of conversation. His ears perked up and he looked at Clout. "So, what's--" he started.
"New rule," the crystal pony hastily said, "no more personal questions."
The pegasus gave a chuckle as he expected him to say something like that. "Hahaha, I was just going to ask what your favorite color was."
Clout narrowed his eyes at the stallion, not believing him for a second.
Stratta put his hooves up in surrender. "Alright, alright, no more personal questions." he said. He watched as the thief looked away and took another bite of his apple. Looking down to the table he watched the rodent throw the peel away and burrow into the rotten fruit. His gaze returned to the pony across the table. "I did want to ask you though," Stratta began, "what's the deal with this Flight Risk fella and that mare? I mean, you blame him for your last job but she says it's her fault, it doesn't really make any sense to me. What exactly happened?"
Clout furrowed his brow at the winged pony, internally debating on whether or not that counted as a personal question. He swallowed his latest bite and opened his muzzle. "I was contracted to steal a will. I know I should have probably gotten a map of the mansion before I went because that place was so huge but I figured it would be better to have a look around while all the staff were busy with the party. I was upstairs, found a safe and was going to check it out when she and three guards caught me. I figure one of three things happened. Either Flight bought the guards, set me up and was the one who sold me at the auction, the mare is actually being truthful and is the one who got me caught or I was snitched on by the kids I helped out earlier that night."
Stratta's eyes grew wide and he got a silly grin on his face.
"What." Clout said awkwardly.
"You helped out some kids?" the pegasus asked excitedly.
The crystal pony folded his ears, grit his teeth and looked away. "They were supposed to give me information in return…" he grumbled.
Stratta happily sat back in his chair. "So if you're adamant on killing Risk, that means you don't believe her story or that it's her fault so why are you letting her tag along?" he questioned.
The buckskin looked down at Thief who was covered in applesauce and leisurely grooming herself. "No," he replied, "I don't believe her. Not for one second. I think she's only following because she knows what I am. I blame Flight because he's done something similar in the past. I know he's capable of doing something like that and I don't trust him in the slightest. She on the other hoof I don't know at all. I don't trust her either, or you for that matter." Stratta looked slightly sad at that remark, "She is, however, offering me a ton of bits which it's not in my nature to pass something like that up so if she's willing, I might as well indulge her."
The pegasus furrowed his brow. "But what about those conversations she's had? The one with the Spectrum Flier and now the one with Desmund, don't you find anything about them suspicious?" he asked with obvious concern for his new friend in his tone of voice.
"Of course I did." Clout said with annoyance, "I'm not an idiot you know." He reached out to pet his tiny friend still cleaning herself on the table. "I already told you I don't trust her and whatever she had planned, she knows what will happen. I already discussed with her the consequences and I doubt she'd try anything so foolish. If she does it'll probably be a pathetic, half-baked plan that'll be easy to overcome. I'm just looking forward to all the bits I'll get out of her when it's all over." The thief gave a cocky grin at the thought.
Stratta looked at him skeptically, "You don't think you're putting a little too much confidence in your abilities?" he asked with a cringe.
"Nope." came the confident reply.
The pegasus folded his ears again in worry. "Alright but just, please be careful around her. I think she's craftier than you make her out to be."
"Why are you so concerned about me? You hardly even know me and we're not friends. We only met yesterday." Clout asked in curiosity. Besides Merchant, he had never met somepony so insistent on barging into his life like this. At least Merchant never asked so many personal questions. But then again, Merchant had to deal with the crystal pony when he was still a tiny ball of fury on bandaged legs.
Stratta awkwardly looked down at his uneaten apples and proceeded to roll one around on the table as he searched for the right words, "W-well, I… I'm, um… The reason, it's because--"
The door the stallions had entered the cafeteria from roughly opened and an irate unicorn swiftly trotted in while talking to herself. "-ot accomplish it, I shall show him." she growled as she moved to the table where the two stallions sat, "Has he made any noteworthy accomplishments? I have not been informed of any so he has no room to speak of me in such a manner." She sat down at the small table next to the bucks as she continued ranting to herself, "I have spoken to him on many occasions about this matter so he should be well aware I mean what I say." She grabbed one of Stratta's uneaten apples before continuing, "I am a lady and he should learn not to be so rude!" She took a large angry bite out of the fruit and chewed on it for only a moment before her eyes went wide and her muzzle scrunched up in disgust. Hastily looking for a napkin or something to spit the rot out onto, her eyes began to water at the taste.
The pegasus sighed, grabbed his handkerchief out from his saddlebag and hoofed it over to the mare. Glacier quickly spat the food out into the cloth and began to complain some more.
"How could you allow me to eat something so revolting? One of you should have spoken up, that was utterly disgusting!"
Stratta glared at her and responded, "Because you barged in here, interrupted our conversation, stole my food and then decided to insult what little food the Solar Nation can manage to actually grow."
As the two ponies began another heated discussion, Clout sighed in boredom and laid his head on the table. He was tired of being around everypony so he decided he wasn't going to bother paying attention to them. Looking over at Thief, he gave her a small smile as the rodent had tucked her head under herself, her tail was wrapped around her body and she looked like a black fuzzy potato. He reached out and petted her only to wake her up, disturbing the vegetable. He gave a soft chuckle and a quiet apology as she sniffed the air at him. When hooves slammed onto the table, Thief bolted to Clout's saddlebags in fright. He checked to make sure she was okay before giving the two others at the table an icy gaze, halting their talk in its tracks. Both the unicorn and the pegasus gave him a sheepish look of apology but he was still annoyed with them.
"Can we please go see Wulf and get this over with." the crystal pony practically demanded.
"Uhh," Stratta blinked, "s-sure, I guess…" The pegasus got off his seat and folded his ears as he led the small group out of the hospital. He had no idea what time it was and he really hoped Wulf Song was awake because it looked as if the thief was ready to decline the job if he had to wait any longer. Stratta walked at a leisurely pace, hoping to waste at least a couple more minutes as he took them out of the building, down the street and towards the massive Golden Oak Library. He was reassured that the leader would most likely be awake when he saw how many people were awake and walking around town.
"I thought you said he lived in one of those alleyway house things, why are we going to the giant tree?" Clout asked.
"Well," Stratta replied, "if he's awake like we're hoping that's where he'll be. The Golden Oak Library is where he commands from. That's where battle plans are made, the information from our spies is collected and where he issues outside jobs and internal duties. If he's not there we'll check his bunk."
The tree was one of the largest either Clout or Glacier had ever seen. It looked to be close to ten stories tall with thick branches that were held tall by its sturdy trunk. At the base of the tree was a simple wooden door while they could see windows or balconies on some of the thicker branches with lookouts manning most of them. Many barricades were set up around the tree with half a dozen ponies standing guard out front. As the small group got closer, Stratta waved a wing in greeting. "Hi guys!" he said cheerfully.
A light grey earth pony mare wearing thick leather barding and a rifle on her back nodded at him. She and three others were sitting in the dirt around a small crate playing cards while two foals who were also in armor were fast asleep by the tree's door in the early morning sunlight. She looked to the two others who were with the pegasus stallion and eyed them. "Garrett, you know we don't let outsiders in here." she told him.
"Aww, come on Fuff, don't you trust me?" Stratta asked with a smile.
"No."
"Ouch," he responded, putting a hoof to his heart, "I do have a heart ya know. Why do you have to break it so often?"
The mare gave him a flat look, thoroughly unamused.
"Commander Kerfuffle," another guard said as she put down her cards, "Garrett's two companions could remain here. Wulf did assign task 703-C to him last week. He might want an update."
The mare in charge looked at her in bafflement. "Paramount, I will never understand how you can remember such specific details." Paramount blushed and looked at her cards in embarrassment. Kerfuffle turned back to the trio, "You can go on in, your friends can wait here."
Clout glared at Stratta. "If it's going to be this difficult to--"
The pegasus held out a wing to stop the crystal pony's protest and gave him an apologetic look before trying once more with the guards. "Look Fuff, Clout's good to enter. I brought him for that old mission Wulf's never been able to arrange."
She raised an eyebrow. "And the unicorn?" she asked venomously.
Glacier glared at Kerfuffle's tone of voice.
Stratta shrugged, "She's okay I guess. You can try to stop her from following but so far nopony's been successful."
Kerfuffle narrowed her eyes at the unicorn. "Amethyst, Street Rat," she shouted to wake the foals to attention, "you two will escort Garrett and these two ponies to see Wulf. Mainly keep an eye on the unicorn. If she does anything suspicious, you know what to do."
The two foals behind her groggily rubbed their eyes and yawned. One of the foals Clout recognized. The colt had been talking to several adults in Estuary Slums on the same day the now three legged foal was kicked out of Canterlot. He was white, his left ear was a mud-brown color and his mane was striped with tan and red. He had a few freckles on his face and a scar over the top of his muzzle. His tan scarf was a couple shades darker than his mane and he had on the same dirty brown vest with the patch from the other day.
The foal leaning against him as a pillow was obviously a few years younger than him considering her size. Amethyst was a deep purple filly whose legs, muzzle, belly, mane and tail were a pale gray color. She had small dark leathery wings, she wore a thick patchwork jacket and an old looking hard hat that was several sizes too big. Both foals were armed with BB guns on their backs that were hung from leather slings.
The older colt blinked groggily at their commander and asked for their orders to be repeated. Kerfuffle patiently told her directions once more to the two foals as they both stood and saluted her. Amethyst and Street Rat obediently went and positioned themselves on either side of Glacier who gave an offended harrumph at the earth pony mare. Kerfuffle waved the group of now five ponies inside with a hoof and Stratta led them into the Golden Oak Library.
The hollowed out interior of the tree was a very spacious area making Clout wonder how in Equus the tree was even still alive. Magic he guessed. Around the walls were carved out shelving for the hundreds of books lining them. A single window next to the door was the only window he saw to let in natural sunlight but the magically enhanced painting of a sun on the ceiling lit the room just as well. In the center of the room was a large semi-circular desk with four ponies stationed at it. Two of them were working telegraphs and the other two were helping ponies who walked in, one of which was organizing documents from the last pony they helped while the other was talking to another rebel about their report that needed to be done three days ago. Behind the desk towards the rear of the room was a winding staircase and beside that was a door. The crystal thief debated in his mind whether the door was just an emergency exit or if it somehow actually led to another room. He already saw the tree as bigger on the inside than the outside so unless alien magic was involved, he was betting on an emergency exit.
"Next." the pony dealing with paperwork said.
Stratta and the others walked up to see the dark blue earth pony mare with her long turquoise mane take a stamp and punch it on a couple more documents.
"Hello, my name is Rhinehart, how can I help you." she said in a dull tone of voice before looking up from her paperwork, "Oh, it's you."
Stratta put a foreleg on the desk, fluttered his wings and gave her a smile, "Hey Rhine, is Wulf in?" he asked, trying to be suave.
She gave him a flat look. "Where are your reports, Stratta. You don't turn in your papers and it's our ass for incomplete documentation." she said, obviously irritated.
"It'll get done, don't worry!" he said as he waved a wing, "So, about Wulf…"
She narrowed her eyes at him. Finally she said, "He's in the back room in a meeting."
Stratta thanked her and trotted towards the door Clout thought was an emergency exit while Rhinehart called out she wanted the reports he owed her. As the others followed behind, Glacier commented, "I had not realized the rebels required documentation of their actions. Is that so when the organization collapses they can be persecuted to the full extent of the law for all the crimes they have committed?"
"No!" Street Rat said sounding quite offended, "They're lessons so we can see what worked and what didn't you dumb unicorn." The scorn in the young pony's voice did not seem to shock the mare.
Stratta decided to clarify, "Well, yes, that for battle strategy, to see what ideas and plans helped the people like we had planned, which were effective against our targets and as a record of what happened when everything is said and done. Wulf wants to make sure the right story is written in the history books no matter which side wins. Even if we lose it will show our efforts were for the good of the people."
As Stratta opened the door, Glacier decided to make a snide remark. "That opinion is entirely determined by which side you shine a light upon your actions." she said.
The room they entered was about one third the size of the front room. The entirety of the back wall was made of several windows above a window seat. The left-most window had a sizable crack in it which let a small breeze in from outside so the room's air didn't feel so stale. Both the left and right walls were made of even more bookshelves all filled to the brim with books of all kinds. A thick, oblong shaped wooden table sat in the center of the room with several cushions for ponies to sit on. Many of them were repaired but still others had stuffing hanging out from rips most likely from armor or gear. The only thing atop the table was a crumpled note.
Three ponies were standing around the round table arguing over what seemed to be a transportation issue. One was an ocean blue pegasus mare with a poofy pink and magenta mane. She had on a simple short pale yellow dress accentuated with lace on its sleeves and the bottom of the gown. She had dark saddlebags attached at her waist, a gun holster complete with a revolver strapped to her foreleg and a hat to match her dress atop the messy bun that her mane was tied in. Her light green eyes were staring intently at a slate colored pegasus whose dark plumb eyes refused to back down from her gaze.
The stallion's burgundy striped mane was cut short and unkempt while his navy blue jacket and peach shirt were stained and ripped in several places. There were several repaired patches on his jacket, scars across his exposed hide and his left wing was bandaged.
The third pony was more composed than the other two, standing on the sidelines of their argument and smirking at their plight. The earth pony mare was a red clay color with a medium length, darker colored straight mane and long tail. She had white markings that included tipped ears, a stripe down her forehead to her chin, her belly and back left leg. Her front right leg was a golden lion's paw instead of a normal pony leg and the only thing she wore was a cabbie cap on her head and a simple bow tied to her tail.
"-can't go! I'm going whether you like it or not. You always say groups are safest, travel in at least three, bla, bla, bla. Do you want me to be safe or not?" the dress wearing mare challenged.
The stallion flared out his wings. "I don't want you to go at all! I'm flabbergasted that you even want to go!" he shouted back.
"My mother is dying! Why wouldn't I want to go?!"
"Oh, I don't know Cotton, maybe we should list the reasons why you shouldn't." the stallion spat, "First, Appleoosa is a war zone, you could be killed! Orca would have my head if I let anything happen to you. On that note, you have a four year old filly who needs her mother. You want to make her motherless? I certainly don't. A young filly needs both parents, not just her dad. You--"
"I need my mother too!" she interrupted with tears in her eyes, "I am not going to let her die all alone like my brother did. She's all the family I have left and I'm not staying here while she hides in her cupboard with gunfire and explosions outside!"
The stallion gave an exasperated sigh. "Candy," he began in a softer tone of voice, "you have more than just her. When you married Orca you built upon your family. You had Scarlett and he says you two are trying for a second. What about them? Candy, you can't just think about yourself here. That's--"
"You're making me out to be the selfish one when I'm thinking about what's best for my mother? How dare you!" Cotton Candy growled.
"Look, there are other options, other ways to go about--"
"I don't need any other options. This is the option and I'm--"
"Cotton, she's probably already dead!" he said louder than he intended. An apologetic look appeared on his face for a moment when he saw the mare take a step back, visibly shaken. "I-I… What… Ugh." he sighed in frustration and closed his eyes to compose himself, "What I meant to say… The letter you got," he put a hoof on the crumpled piece of paper that was on the table, "Cotton, she wrote this almost three months ago by the date here."
The mare took his words and just stood there, staring at the floor. When he tried to get her attention, she looked up at him with both fire and tears in her eyes. She glared at him enough for him to take a step back. "I am going and you cannot stop me." she told him before she snatched the letter off the table and stormed out of the room. Stratta, Clout and Glacier swiftly got out of the irate mare's way before she slammed the door behind herself.
"Well, somepony's in a mood." Stratta commented as he trotted over to the table. Glacier and her guards slowly followed as Clout stayed by the door to admire his new locket he found in a passing saddlebag. The earth pony mare nodded in greeting to the three while Wulf sat and rubbed his temples with his wing feathers.
"I swear, if it's not one thing it's another." the rebel leader complained, "What do you want Garrett. I don't have the patience for you today so make it quick and painless please."
Stratta smirked and opened his muzzle, ready with an inappropriate response.
"May I remind you Mr. Stratta," the earth pony mare began, "there are foals present." She glanced at Glacier's guards.
He snorted, "You're no fun Goldie."
She gave him a flat look, "I try my best sir."
Stratta turned to his boss. "So! I think I have somepony who might brighten up your day." he said.
Wulf's only response was to give the excited pegasus an expression of complete exhaustion.
"This," he pointed a wing at Clout who still stood by the door, "is Clout and he's a master thief."
Wulf raised his eyebrows and shook his head slightly as he responded, "Okay, and?"
Stratta's wings drooped. "What do you mean 'and'?" he scoffed, "What about your big plan that required the best thief in all of Equestria?"
Clout raised an eyebrow at the two pegasai.
"How many times do I have to tell you, the plans we come up with when we're drunk are always terrible." the leader said.
"No, it's the best plan!"
"It's a terrible plan and it's not going to work."
"But it's one of your plans, it'll totally work!" Stratta said with a grin.
"Stop shouting my drunken stupidity to the whole town!"
"Sir, if I may interject," Goldie said with an irritated tone of voice, "my anti-alcohol law will fail to be implemented if our leader does not have the self control enough to not go to the bar every weekend." She glared at him.
Wulf rubbed his forehead with a wing and grit his teeth. "Fletch, I'm not going to be the pony who bans alcohol." he said.
"Sir, a drunk population is an unaware population. We need to make sure everypony will be alert at all times. We cannot be caught with our head in the clouds." Gold chastised, "That attack just the other day, we would have had fewer casualties if the guards were actually paying attention."
"Telling them not to drink just because we want them to be alert at all times is like saying don't celebrate small victories, don't mourn the dead, don't enjoy life with some friends while you still have a life because tomorrow you might be dead." Wulf said bitterly, refusing to budge on the matter.
Goldie took a meaningful step towards her superior and opened her muzzle but the stallion pre-interrupted her. "No Gold, leave."
"But sir, I am your second in command, I should--"
"I don't care, leave me!" he practically shouted.
The mare's ears folded and she swished her tail at him before storming out.
Stratta only gave the room a few seconds of silence before continuing his excited pestering. "So, about the plan…" he began, much to Wulf's chagrin, "It wouldn't hurt to at least try it. I know Clout can do it." The utmost confidence in Stratta's voice made the other pegasus look over at Clout with interest. "And not if, but when the plan works, King Sombra will finally be able to be taken down and all we'll have to worry about is Discord."
Wulf sighed, "Stratta…"
"Hey, have faith in family. Yeah?"
The rebel leader contemplated this for a moment as he looked between the thief and his soldier. Finally he gave in, "Alright. We can give it a shot I guess."
"Yay!" Stratta whinnied. He looked back at Clout with a smile and motioned for him to join them at the table.
One of Clout's ears twitched before he decided to walk closer. As he passed Glacier, the mare followed him and they both sat down. The two pint-sized guards stood quietly behind the unicorn's seat while the buck in charge addressed them.
"Ponies, my apologies about the arguments." he started, "My name is Wulf Song and I am the leader of the Solar Nation. The mare I dismissed was my second in command, Gold Fletching. I'm sure you've heard many things about my organization and have your own opinions about it. I'm hiring you to do a job and that job will cripple the crown, in turn, benefitting the Solar Nation. Are you positive you are willing to take on this job?"
The crystal pony's expression remained hidden under the half shadow of his hood. He opened his muzzle and said, "I really don't care. I just want your bits."
"Humph." Wulf scoffed, "Typical mercenary." He turned to the unicorn, "And you?"
"Me?" Glacier asked as she put a hoof to her chest, "If you must inquire, I would prefer not to engage in your juvenile delinquent activities of fantastical delusions of which you describe as an upheaval in democracy when in reality it is nothing more than a boorish troupe of indoctrinated common folk wreaking havoc for the country." The two pegasai in the room glared at her, "Luckily for both you and I, I will not be participating in any activities involving your farce outfit as I am simply our mutual acquaintance's plus one."
Wulf turned to Stratta and asked, "Why is she here?"
Stratta continued to glare at the unicorn. "How come every time you open your muzzle you have to insult everypony in the room and you have to do it with the fanciest words in the dictionary just to prop yourself up higher on your imaginary pedestal?" he asked in disgust.
"I am simply stating the facts as they are and nothing more." Glacier said haughtily.
"Ignore her," Clout told the stallions, "she is no concern of yours." The unicorn gave Stratta a smug grin of victory at the crystal pony's comment. "Just tell me what the job is."
"Alright," the rebel leader began, "I need you to steal the amulet King Sombra's wears. I believe it is called the alicorn amulet." He turned around, walked to a nearby bookshelf, grabbed a tome and brought it to the table. It was titled Sombra's Dynasty. It looked used and had extra pieces of paper sticking out here and there. He opened it to one of the papers not bound to the book and presented it to them. The note showed a drawing that was of a triangular piece of dark metal with a blood red stone in the center. The base of the triangle was its top and it had the head and wings of a pony complete with a large unicorn horn attached. The alicorn shape was on the base of the triangle above the stone, giving the amulet its name.
Wulf hoofed the paper to Clout and continued, "What books we have found about the amulet are few and far between. Only small snippets of information about it. All of them say it increases the wearer's magical powers greatly. We believe if we take this from him, we will be more evenly matched directly if we can get our best fighters alone with him. One thing I should mention is one of the books says only the pony wearing it can take it off. We don't know if that's true or just a rumor spread in ancient times so nopony would try to take it."
Clout took the drawing and looked at it for a moment. "What exactly are you paying?" he asked.
Wulf sighted. "We don't have much but--"
"Maybe payment could be the recognition that you helped topple a tyrannical dictator?" Stratta offered.
"You're joking, right?" the thief replied with a flat look.
"You really don't care about this war, do you?" the rebel leader asked.
Clout only raised an eyebrow.
"You do realize that even if you don't pick a side, the results of your actions will have an impact and that might force you to one cause." Wulf told him, "Once you are on one side it may be difficult to switch."
"I really don't care."
"So what do you care about? Besides bits, I mean. You've got to be living for somepony, a cause or a dream, something. Everypony is."
"No. And I didn't come here to be given a lifestyle lecture." the crystal pony harshly stated.
Wulf glared, "Too bad because you're getting one. I'm tired of all these creatures from The Everfree thinking they have nothing to lose so they can just kill, pillage and rape all day every day. You do have something, everypony does. Most ponies don't know what they have until it's gone forever. Times are hard and there are devastating losses all around. You'd better figure out what you cherish most now so you can fight to protect it before it's too late. Depending on what it is you care about may determine the cause you fight for and being tied to one side or the other because of the actions you take before you figure your shit out may be the downfall of everything around you."
"If you say so." came the disinterested reply.
"If I may inquire," Glacier started, butting her nose into the lecture, "what specifically do you care about? If it is the country itself I must say I could not believe you in the slightest as this war you started has made everything significantly worse over the years."
Stratta gave her a harsh stare. "That's funny coming from a unicorn, especially one from upper society." he sneered.
The rebel leader didn't bother chastising his soldier. "I saw what was happening to the world around me from a very different perspective than you upper class do. The poorest of us know nothing of company stocks, politics hidden from public eye or how hard negotiations are with our neighboring countries. We know what we can see around us. Our children are starving, our neighbors are dying of plague, our taxes are rising to unlivable levels, local family run shops are being forced to close because they cannot meet the absurd almost weekly changing rules they must abide by to stay open and within the law. Just last month the king decided to take over all the griffon territory. Many of my people fear a griffon retaliation because they do not want war to come to their doorstep. I am hoping I may be able to form an alliance with any rebellion there.
"We see many of our ponies be forcibly drafted into the king's army. Granted the soldiers are well fed and taken care of but we suspect brain washing or massive bribery because when those ponies are patrolling the streets they seem to not recognize their loved ones and are willing to beat them to death for breaking small, insignificant laws that are put into place only because Discord thinks they're funny. Regardless of the guard everywhere, crime is rampant. Businesses and homes are getting broken into and what little folks actually have is being stolen. Ponies fight over food and many are buried under debt they will never be able to pay back. Ponies sell each other into slavery in hopes that the payment they receive will help keep their family off the street. They hope their children they sell will be given to a master who will actually be able to give them the proper care that they need instead of only having a single apple to share between a three generational household for dinner.
"Then what we hear over the radio worries us as well. Increases in road tolls means an increase in traveling merchant prices. While small locally owned businesses are being shut down the workhouses fill up overnight and not everypony gets the chance to earn bits. Mafia thugs are taking over the streets because they have made deals with the crown guard, chaos month being more frequent because Discord is bored -- which by the way ruins the chances of any worthwhile crops having the time to grow properly. I have to say that turning the soil itself into a checkerboard does not help any pony. Then to top it all off ponies are getting foalnapped and nopony knows a damned thing! To keep my ponies safe I have to make sure to send them out in groups of at least three which does not help when I have a limited number of ponies I send out on errands."
Clout turned to Stratta. "I never saw you with two other ponies, you were always by yourself besides that one pony you were with in Merchant's shop." he said.
The pegasus rolled his eyes. "Sure, go right ahead and be a tattle tail."
Wulf narrowed his gaze at his soldier.
Shrugging his wings like he did nothing wrong, Stratta replied with a, "What?"
"Look," the rebel leader said continuing his lecture, "the point is, I opened my eyes and realized the world the working class has been living in. Everypony is going about their day in a fog, focusing on themselves and trying to just survive. I know some will say they do care about their neighbors and their community but I wasn't seeing anypony actually trying to change life itself for the better. I know we can save this world, it is not yet lost because we are still standing on our own four hooves and we can take that step forward. Not to put too fine a point on it but when shit rolls down hill and hits the slums hard like this, the ones at the top of the mountain are to blame for setting things into motion. I realized that unless ponies cared enough to change things for the better, nothing was going to get better, it was just going to stay the same or get worse. Everypony can make a difference if they just tried to and everypony should try.
"All those ponies in The Everfree, I don't believe they truly wanted to become scum, they were born the same as everypony else, an innocent child. Children see the world in a much brighter light than us adults do because they see everypony as equals and want to help regardless of laws or social stigma. It is the evil that corrupts that innocence that turns us into monsters but I know if we push past that and try to care about each other again, we can fix this world. It is with that belief that I decided to step up and do something about it. We have had the same king in place for damn near a millennia, however that happened. All of his advisers, bankers, the war council and all the rest are always in their positions for life. It's their decisions, their rulings, decrees and laws that have made such a mess of the lower class like this. I decided what I care about is helping my community. Trying some different rulers for a change is the thing I believe wholeheartedly will fix things, at least a little bit."
"That seems quite extreme if I do say so." Glacier commented with a hoof to her chest.
"It's kind of hard to help your fellow ponies when the guard won't even allow you to bring homeless ponies into your own home." Stratta growled.
"That, I can assure you, is an immense exaggeration." the mare said with a laugh.
Wulf had a stern look on his face. "If you are caught housing any rebels, the sick, an escaped slave, an illegal immigrant, anypony who is running from the king's laws or anypony who is running from tax or debt collectors, it is your head along with theirs. Ponies lie to survive so those whom you allow into your home could be any of those and you would unknowingly endanger the life of your family. Not that many ponies are willing to risk it which is why you see so many on the streets."
Glacier still kept her expression of disbelief on her face.
"We need a new government or to at least try something new." the rebel leader turned to face Clout, "If you can do this, to pull this off and weaken him to give us a fighting chance, the entire country of Equestria would be indebted to you. Especially if this works and we can bring some happiness and hope back into this land."
The thief's ear twitched as he thought of what he would get for an entire country being indebted to him. He imagined a mountain of gold a thousand times over what he had stashed in his bell tower. A palace of white marble and emerald accents. A massive throne made of gold. He could finally show the world what he was and nopony could deny his fortune. A crystal pony of worth who made himself an aristocrat with his own hooves. Clout was swiftly broken out of his fantasy when he heard his pegasus stalker speak.
"He can do it." Stratta said with unwavering confidence. He cocked a smile and looked at the crystal pony, "I know he can!"
Clout gave a small glare at him, unsure why this stranger was building up the thief's image so much.
Wulf looked between his soldier and the thief before saying, "Well, what say you, thief?" He watched as Clout pocketed the drawing of the amulet.
"I'll do your stupid job. Talk payment with the dimber damber like you should have done to begin with," he shot a displeased look at Stratta, "I'm tired of this conversation." He rubbed his forehead with a hoof in annoyance.
Wulf nodded. "Go talk to Rhinehart, she'll get the paperwork filled out for you." he said, "My suggestion would be to attempt it while he's out of the Crystal Empire. Radio broadcasts say he'll be inspecting a new soot mine in Los Pegasus in two days. If you lose this chance, getting to the Crystal Empire will be almost an impossible feat, especially if you don't have the proper teleportation spell. With the never ending blizzard still showing no signs of letting up so the railway can have a chance to dethaw, there really is no other way to get there."
Clout nodded and turned to leave, his two companions following.
"Good luck and may the Bard play you a harmonious tune on your journey."
As they exited the room, the crystal pony reflected on how much faith this pegasus he met only a day ago had in him. He really wasn't sure how he felt about it. Uneasy was one way to put it but for some reason he felt he had to do something in return. Clout decided he could at least answer that simple question Stratta had asked earlier that night. "Yellow." he said in a quiet voice.
The pegasus stopped for a brief moment, utterly confused. "What?"
Clout paused as well, turning his head towards the other stallion but refusing to look at him as he repeated uncomfortably, "It's… yellow." He then swiftly moved toward the front desk.
Stratta blinked, trying to figure out what in Equus the thief was talking about. Understanding dawned and a grin grew on his face as he realized they were finally becoming friends like he wanted. The stubborn crystal pony actually told Stratta his favorite color.