//------------------------------//
// Chapter IV - Mission Start 
// Story: Grand Larceny 
// by Waiting on my 20s 
//------------------------------//

12 DAYS TO MIDNIGHT


"Hey, Century."
"Yes, Trixie?"
"How'd Derpy get a hold of three Grand Galloping Gala tickets anyway?
"I don't know. She said she found them in her mailbox."
"But she's the mailmare."
"Exactly."
Up bright and early, Century and Trixie approached the cottage of Derpy Hooves. They'd come to get the three tickets to the Gala the pegasus had mysteriously received in her mailbox. Century hoped they'd arrived in time as he remembered she considered selling them.
Though if the tickets had already been sold, they could always just find the buyer and buy it from them. Or, if the buyer wasn't willing, and since the situation requires it, they could just steal it. Funny, Century thought. Less than a week ago, he couldn't imagine stealing a piece of candy. Let alone tickets to the most prominent event of the year.
Trixie knocked three times on the door, and the two waited for an answer. Not long behind the door, they could hear the clumsy antics of the pegasus as she approached it.
Trixie raised a brow, "Trixie knew Derpy was always a bit special, but what could she be doing in there to cause all that racket?"
Century chuckled, "Heck if I know. Must be something adorably stupid."
"Hello!" The door opened, and out popped the one and only Derpy Hooves, energetic as always. On her head was a mop head, and she seemed to have another hoof in the bucket it belonged to. For some reason, her foot protruded the bottom of the bucket.
Century smiled, "Hello again, Hooves. I see you're looking fabulous as always."
She giggled, "I was trying to clean a spill of milk I... Spilled. But when I was getting the water for the bucket, everything just fell apart. There's water and soap everywhere, my mop is broken, and I lost my bucket! I just don't know what went wrong!"
Trixie tilted her head, "You mean the bucket on your back left hoof?"
Derpy raised her back left hoof before placing it down again. Processing the information. "Oh... You found it, Trixie! Thank you!"
Trixie smiled, "Trixie aims to please."
"Can we come in?" Century asked, and without replying, Derpy opened the door for them to enter. The unicorn and Earth pony thank her before entering. Century could hear the sound of running water in the nearby bathroom, and Trixie spotted dozens of muffins on the kitchen counter.
"So, Mr. Century," Derpy began, trying and failing to remove the bucket from her hoof. "What brings you here? Come for muffins and milk?"
"No," Century replied, "It's about the tickets to the Gala. I hate to barge in like this, but Trixie and I need them desperately. Do you still have them, or did you sell them like you said?"
"Yeah, I sold them. Sorry. These ponies from the Crystal Empire bought them off me for six hundred bits! I was able to buy so many muffins, I couldn't count them all!"
Trixie sighed, "That complicates things, but Crystal Empire ponies? Trixie was expecting a buyer, but not from so far away. Did they come to you, or did you come to them?"
Derpy took a seat at the kitchen table, "Well, every once in a while, I have to deliver a package somewhere outside of Ponyville. When I got off break on Saturday, I had to deliver a package to the Crystal Empire. I thought, Well, those guys are kinda rich, right? So I brought the tickets with me. After I delivered the package, I checked to see if they'd wanna buy them from me. And to my luck, they did!"
"Do you remember their names?"
"Uh, I only remember one of their names. I delivered the package to her. A unicorn mare named Strawberry Jewel. She was white with really long, cherry-red hair, and her cutie mark was a lollipop."
Century put a hoof to his chin, "Do you remember the address? Or at least what part of the empire you delivered it to?"
"Um... I don't remember the address, but I know she lived west of the main castle. Wait, are you guys gonna buy back the tickets?"
"That's exactly what we're going to do. If you're wondering if I have the money, remember I'm an advisor to Mayor Mare. And it'd be a worthwhile purchase, so the citizens of Ponyville shouldn't be upset about it."
"What makes it worthwhile?"
"Uh... I'll tell you two weeks from now."
Trixie sighed, "So we're going to the Crystal Empire? Great. What a fantastic way to spend our time."
Century shrugged, "Then I guess we better get moving, huh?"
"Trixie guesses so. She just hopes Spirit's mission is going better than ours."



"Now then. If I was a multi-trillion bit gift from a technologically advanced, far-away nation, where would I hide?"
Spirit stood atop the roof of a building in Manehattan, looking down below at the Red Hoof Cargo Terminal. She arrived at the city an hour ago and was surveying the terminal below for the hypercarrier. Unfortunately, the port was only full of basic ships.
Frigates, brigs, schooners, galleons, barques, some man o' wars, and even a ship of the line. What the heck did Equestria need that for? Spirit thought to herself. The last time Equestria fought a naval war was thousands of years ago. Sure, there was the Storm King. But he had airships. Then again, there was that massive whole fleet of ships he had.
"The ship obviously wouldn't be out in the open, so then where could they've possibly hidden it?" Spirit scratched the top of her head. Did Capper seriously lie? No way, he wouldn't! ...Would he? Probably.
It had to be here. Spirit didn't come all this way for nothing. Spirit had to have faith in Capper and at least try. This was the best opportunity they had. Giving up right now was not an option.
Lo and behold, Spirit spotted a large port warehouse on the far side of the terminal. And by far, it was on the complete other side of the dockyard. Said dockyard was at least three miles long. And the warehouse was more than a mile inward.
Spirit sighed, "Oh, great. More walking."
...
"Ah! Hello there, miss! What brings ya to the port today? Not to be rude, but ya don't quite look like you belong here."
Spirit looked up at the pegasus working the toll. He looked like he was on the verge of becoming an elderly stallion. Spirit shrugged. "Oh, I was just taking a look. I heard about a rumor and got curious."
He smiled and spoke in his tired, gruff voice. "A rumor, huh? What kinda rumor ya talkin' 'bout?"
"Some say there's a secret advanced ship at this port as a gift from a far-away nation. Specifically in that big building way over there. What do you say?"
"Hah! I say baloney!"
Spirit cringed, "Baloney?"
"Of course! Why would such a thing even exist? And how advanced? It's got double the sails or somethin'? Magical cargo bay? The steerin' wheel moves on its own?"
Spirit shrugged, "Well, it's said that it's just really fast. Like, hypersonic fast."
The pegasus chortled, "A large, underwater, high-hypersonic cargo ship that also turns into a submarine? Seriously?"
"...It turns into a submarine?"
"…W-What!? No! I-I...Listen little marey, there's no secret hypersonic cargo ship back here. Stop listenin' to silly rumors. Go get a latte or somethin'!" The pegasus waved Spirit off, irritated.
Spirit turned and trotted away, "Okay, okay, I'm going. Guess it really was a rumor." However, as she got further and further away from the toll, Spirit approached a small hole in the nearby fence and smiled.
"What a terrible liar."



"Century, Trixie wonders if you've ever been to the Crystal Empire."
"Just once. It was a sort of diplomatic thing."
"And what, pray tell, transpired?"
"...Diplomatic things."
Century and the Great and Powerful Trixie sat side by side on a train. Their mission to get ahold of the Grand Galloping Gala tickets had them on a train to the Crystal Empire. The Friendship Express, to be specific.
The Friendship Express was another thing Century disliked. He understood Equestria was a happy, cheerful place, but the train was seriously pushing it. The bright pink, the hearts all over the locomotive, it was like it was pulled straight out of a little girl's television show.
Not only that, but it was rather small. Subway trains in Manehattan and Fillydelphia were longer than the Friendship Express. But Century assumed it wasn't really a problem since ponies rarely use it. Which was rather strange to him. Perhaps ponies just don't travel that much.
"What are you thinking about?"
Century perked up, "Me? Oh, uh, I was just... Nothing, uh... What about you? Have you ever been to the Crystal Empire?"
"Trixie has, but her trips haven't been very eventful. Trixie's performed there twice, and while Trixie's first performance was great, Trixie's second performance... not so great."
"Right..."
Century looked out the window ahead of them before looking down at Trixie. She looked back, then raised an eyebrow, "What?"
"Nothing, just... This awkward silence is killing me. I don't know what to talk about."
"Trixie suggests we talk about the Gala and how we'll go about things."
Century crossed his hoofs, "No, we need Spirit to do that."
"Yes, Trixie understands. What a boring trip this will be."
...
Trixie and Century stepped off the Friendship Express and gazed at the Crystal Empire's castle. Century huffed, "Hm, it seems bigger than I remember. Shinier too. Like it's made of pure glass or something."
Trixie sighed, "Well, that's splendid and all, but we've got a job to do. Come Century, let's not waste time."
"Let's."
The two approached a sign displaying a map of the empire. All the streets and stores and cafés and whatnot. Luckily, it seemed the train had dropped them on the east side of the empire. Meaning they only had to walk straight ahead.
Century came up beside Trixie as they trotted forward. "Now Trixie, let's not get distracted. It's a straight shot to the west wing, and then some."
Trixie scoffed, "Did you forget who you're talking to? The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't get distracted."
Trixie's stomach rumbled, and Century furrowed his brow. "H-However," Trixie giggled, nervous, "The Great and Powerful Trixie does get hungry. A-And it's not like you can fault her for that. She didn't eat this morning."
Century huffed, "Okay, why didn't you eat this morning?"
"T-Trixie forgot to do her weekly grocery shopping! She also isn't exactly rich, so bits are just an eensy, weensy bit hard to come by."
Century glared at Trixie, while Trixie stared back, putting on an innocent, this is definitely not my fault, and you're rude for thinking so face. Of course, this didn't faze the bureaucrat.
He rolled his eyes, "Whatever fatty, we'll get some food at this IHoof over here."
Trixie's eyes glowed before that glow quickly died. "That does sound divine, but Trixie can't afford-"
"Then let me pay for it. I have the bits." Century straightened his back, "From this moment on, I'm your sugar daddy. If you annoy me any further, I'll take that wagon and break it down for parts. Are we clear?"
Trixie smiled, "Crystal... Hah! Crystal! In the Crystal Empire! Trixie is quite the clever bumpkin, isn't she?"
"I will end you."



Using a mock invisibility spell akin to camouflage, Spirit eagerly and stealthily approached the large warehouse. This several-hour scouting trip was either about to pay off immensely, or Spirit was going to return home frustrated and depressingly hopeless.
She trotted up the stairs to the main entrance. "These doors look awfully heavy, and don't even have handles." She whispered. She looked for a way in, and noticed next to the main door was a key card entry system and a keypad access system.
"Well, if they're using something this rare and expensive, they're definitely hiding something in here, so that's good news. But both of these things? This is gonna be annoying to crack... Unless..."
Spirit wondered for a moment before looking up. The warehouse must've had an opening on the roof. She decided to use a weak levitation spell similar to Starlight's, but Spirit couldn't do the spell while camouflaged. She'd have to be quick and time it right.
She stepped over to the side of the warehouse and scoured ahead to see if anypony could see her. There was a watchtower in the distance, but it'd be much harder to time her movements as it was daytime, and the tower wasn't using a searchlight.
Spirit thought for a moment before deciding on something. If she was caught, all she needed to do was quickly confirm the ship was here, and then make a break for it. Using the camouflage spell to escape. However, there could be a failsafe or something in place that'd activate as soon as she was caught. Or she could end up missing out on vital information. Imagine actually taking the crown, reaching Manehattan, and the boat doesn't even sail. Let alone them being able to access the deck.
"But how tight could security be," she whispered. Most of the dockyard's workers probably didn't even know the ship was there. It's very secretive, after all. Then again, it could all be some secret cult or conspiracy every worker at the terminal knew about. Then it hit her.
"A distraction!" She quickly exclaimed. A quick bolt of magic in the sky or water was sure to get ponies' attention. At least for a second. But it had to be big. Pointing her horn towards the ocean, Spirit charged a bolt of magic for a minute or two. Once it was ready, she fired. Small enough that it couldn't be seen, but the power within was enough to cause a massive wave. Luckily, it wasn't towards the shore. Most of it, at least.
Just as she predicted, every pony on site, and even some off-site, gaped at the enormous random wave in awe. Spirit ended her camouflage spell and utilized the levitation spell. Seeing as she wasn't as good as Starlight, the levitation was slow, but the distraction did its job very well.
She reached the roof and almost immediately enabled her camouflage again. The roof was made of remarkably durable steel and was as thick as the castle doors in Canterlot. Spirit sighed, "Really making me want it, aren't ya?"
She took a deep breath. If she knew she was going to have to pry a roof this dense and heavy, she never would've fired that bolt into the sea. Not to mention she couldn't risk disabling the camouflage spell. She dug her hooves into the roof and conjured as much magic as she could in her horn.
She tried and failed instantly. As soon as her magic got a grip on the steel and tried to pull, she immediately collapsed, exhausted. That thing was heavier than an entire island. How did anypony install this in the first place?! She wondered, rightfully baffled.
She sat, stumped. It was just one thing after another today, wasn't it? Spirit scratched her head and tried to think up another idea. She couldn't give up now. Not when she'd gotten far. She thought about Trixie and Century.
Imagining they all regroup, and while Century and Trixie are ecstatic they've gotten the tickets, Spirit comes back with nothing to show for it. The wave of depression that would hit them could make a squirrel suicidal. Phasing straight through to-
"That's it!" She quietly exclaimed. A phasing spell had come to mind. With it, she could pass right through the steel roof without having to move or break it. It was a foolproof plan.
However, it was an extremely difficult spell to pull off. She wasn't even sure if Starlight or Twilight could do it. She'd have to use all the magic she had, and then some. Without it, she won't get through, or worse, she'll get stuck.
Because it'd use all her magic, she couldn't utilize the camouflage spell at the same time. And there was always the risk that ponies were inside, guarding the ship. If she were to successfully phase through, she'd be paralyzed for at least half an hour just because of the sheer energy and skill it takes to pull off such a spell. And getting caught was the last thing she needed.
But Spirit saw no other option than this. It was a risk worth taking, after all. She glanced behind to see if anyone could see her, and hoped she was in the clear. She then disabled the camouflage spell and closed her eyes before whispering.
"Please don't screw this up. Please... Please..."



"Hello? Anypony home? The Great and Powerful Trixie would appreciate somepony answering this door."
"Maybe if you didn't knock and talk like a weirdo, they'd be less hesitant."
Century and the proclaimed Great and Powerful Trixie stood before the door of who they hoped to be Strawberry Jewel. They'd already been to all the doors of the west wing. An awfully dull and disappointing experience. Trixie brushed her mane before responding to the advisor.
"Trixie did not ask for your opinion."
"Trixie can suck my-"
"Hello?"
The door opened to reveal a rather scrawny pegasus colt with a white coat and a purple mane. He lacked his cutie mark and wore a face that was just in between bored and sad. Century assumed the colt to be Jewel's son.
Trixie smiled before replying, "Hello, young filly, The Great and Powerful-"
"Shut up," Century shoved his hoof in Trixie's mouth before addressing the colt. "Hey kid, do you know a mare named Strawberry Jewel? My doofus of a friend and I are looking for her. Can I get your name?"
"Violet Grape, but call me Cairo. My mom named me Violet, and I’ve never liked it. And to answer you’re question, Strawberry Jewel's my mom. She's inside right now wrapping gifts with dad. But, who are you?"
"Sorry Cairo, but we'd just prefer to talk to your mom."
Cairo raised an eyebrow, slightly worried, "What do you want?"
Century chuckled, "Relax kid, we're not gonna do anything violent or stupid. We just wanna talk. Listen, my name's Century, and this is Trixie. We're ponies from Ponyville. We mean no harm."
Violet scanned Century and Trixie, still concerned as to why they'd come. Reluctantly, he held open the door. "Mom's in the dining room. I'm... Not sure if she'll want to hear what you have to say."
Century waved him off and entered the house, "I'm an important person, kid. She'll listen to me. Besides, I've got money."
Trixie rolled her eyes and followed, "Don't mind him, sweetie. He's got a massive ego."
"I know you're not talking, Trixie."
Century and Trixie went where Violet directed, entering the dining room. Just as Violet stated, Strawberry Jewel was inside wrapping several presents. There was a stallion with her, also wrapping presents. Century and Trixie assumed this to be the dad.
Strawberry Jewel jerked her head around when she heard the two ponies enter and groaned. "Violet, I specifically remember telling you not to let anyone in, your father and I are busy."
Century cleared his throat, "Good afternoon, Mrs. Jewel. I know you don't want to talk, but this is rather urgent. My name is Century, and my friend here is-"
"The Great and Powerful Trixie, glad to make your acquaintance!" The mare exclaimed, cutting Century off, and annoying Strawberry.
Century, "Yes, the endlessly dense Trixie. We've come from Ponyville to acquire something of yours. Those Grand Galloping Gala tickets?"
Strawberry ceased her wrapping almost immediately and turned her full body around. The stallion further down the table noticed this and raised a brow, though she signaled to him to not worry. He nodded before returning to wrapping the gifts. This perplexed Century and Trixie. It was as if the stallion didn't hear what Century had said at all.
They were able to get a better look at him when she moved. The stallion was a pegasus. He wore a white coat and a cobalt-blue mane, in a style similar to a soldier. On his rear, a cutie mark that appeared to be a blue and black paintbrush.
Strawberry Jewel sighed, "What about the tickets?"
"Well," Century began, "I understand you purchased the tickets for a hefty sum, and my friend I need them. So I am willing to buy them off you for double the amount of bits that you gave the mail mare. That sound good?"
"No, it doesn't. I was madly desperate to get these tickets. You see Mr. Century, my husband and I own an art business. Charlie Hoof Design. This gala is a grand opportunity to promote said business, along with meeting all four Princesses at once. Something my son Violet has been genuinely excited about. And believe me, it's not easy getting him excited about anything!"
"Ma'am please, my friend and I are very desperate to get ahold of those tickets. I can't explain everything, but the stakes are stupidly high. I can not only pay you back, but I can get you tickets for next year!"
"Why don't you have tickets this year? And why should I believe you can acquire these so easily for next year?"
"I didn't wanna go this year, but now my friend and I have to. And another pony back at Ponyville, it's this whole thing. As for acquiring them, I'm the political advisor to Mayor Mare back at Ponyville. Normally, she doesn't want to go, but next year, we’d definitely get them if we asked."
Jewel stared, frustrated. "I-I'm supposed to believe the words of a politician?"
Trixie sighed, "Yes, surprisingly. Century here is annoying, but he does come through with such promises. If you ask Trixie, he's made of money."
Century scoffed, "I'm not made of money, don't give them the wrong idea. Princess Celestia respects our town and its governor. She'd be more than willing if I asked."
Trixie stepped forward, "If it really bothers you, we could always promote Charlie Hoof ourselves. Give the Princesses the image that you're a very busy mare and stallion and couldn't come yourself because of all that rich, plentiful business you're getting."
Jewel grew nervous, "But Violet really wants to see the Princesses!"
"Sure," Century began, "I can get him a ticket to the very next meeting that they're all together. Or at least the Sun and Moon Princesses. You can count on that."
"Er... But what about-"
But Jewel was cut off by her husband, who put a hoof on her shoulder and gave her a smile. She seemed to know instantly what he was inferring, and she sighed.
She turned to face him, and using her magic, she created a sentence before her. It asked, "Are you sure? Didn't you really want this?"
In response, the stallion made several motions and symbols using his wings. With that, Century and Trixie finally understood why he was being so quiet. Making them feel awful on the inside.
Jewel sighed before leaving the room. A while later, she returned with the two tickets. She spoke, "How much are you willing to pay us?"
Century cleared his throat, "Twelve hundred bits. I promise you'll get it less than two weeks from now. There's just much my friend and I have to do in that time. I hope you'll understand. And if you like, our offer to promote your business still stands-"
"No! I... No thank you. We will do that ourselves. Next time."
Jewel transferred the tickets from her magic to Trixie's. She placed them in Century's satchel, and the two turned to the exit. Walking past a saddened Cairo. Or Violet. Whatever the heck that situation was.
As Century reached for the nob, Jewel exclaimed, "W-Wait..." She sighed, "There is one thing I need you to do."
Century tilted his head and Jewel continued, trotting up to them. "The presents. Help us wrap them and you bring them to Celestia on the day of the Gala. You can at least do that for me, can't you?"
Century looked at Trixie. Trixie looked back. They both internally groaned, and Century replied, "Of course. It's only fair."



"Ow... My head, ugh..."
Spirit struggled to raise her head off the cold, cement floor. An hour had passed since she phased through the roof, and not only did it work, but it seemed she hadn't been caught. Although, she smelled something.
Blood.
While she survived using the spell, it seemed the immense strain on her head and body had knocked her out, and the drop to the floor was the cherry on top. Thankfully, she wasn't terribly hurt. That's pony durability for you. However, the drop must've been awful if it managed to get her to bleed.
Spirit, weak and hesitant, wiped some off the side of her head and stared at it. Everypony agreed that blood was an abominable sight. And that fear was exacerbated when that blood was your own.
Wanting to get the sight out of her head, Spirit wiped the blood on the floor and surveyed the warehouse. It seemed smaller on the inside. Besides the lack of outside light, it looked like every other warehouse at the port. However, she noticed something that very quickly ticked her off.
There was no boat.
She trotted to the edge of the cement deck and examined the water. Maybe what that old stallion said about the ship being submersible had some merit. But she couldn't see anything in the water.
"Uh... W-What? N-No, you... You can't be serious..."
She turned to a rectangular tower overlooking the water. Likely where the controls were. Or at least she could find some important information up there. Growing desperate, she galloped towards it.
Approaching the base Spirit began trotting up the heavy, steel stairs. Almost slipping at one point. She reached the top and opened the main entrance to the tower. She then switched on the lights.
The room before her had two floors. There were posters and analytical drawings on the wall and on a table in the middle of the room. In front of a window overlooking the water outside was a lengthy control panel full of all sorts of buttons, lights, and switches. With a retro touchscreen in the middle.
Spirit approached the board and sighed, "This whole thing looks like it was worth a fortune. Hm? What's this here..."
Spirit spotted a logo on the bottom right corner of the panel. It looked like a soaring eagle with the words, "Hermes Shipping Co.’' beneath it in bold. She assumed it to be the manufacturing company that created the control system, and maybe the hypercarrier as well.
She poked the screen, and her eyes widened as it lit up. But that was nothing compared to what the screen displayed. "'Hoof print required?!' What?!" Spirit shouted, bewildered and blown away at the technology before her. This thing must cost billions of bits!
Below the prompt was a name. Starboard Sail. Spirit suspected that name belonged to the captain of the ship. Not far from the control board was a mini trash can. Spirit, curious, stepped on the pedal to open it. Sitting amongst a bunch of basic trash was a torn piece of paper with words written on it. She smiled, "Finally, some intel."
Spirit grabbed the note from the trash with her magic and read it aloud. "'Captain Starboard, I've changed the name of the passcode to the warehouse yet again since you've forgotten it for the fifth time. The code is five, seven, eight, four, two. Keep this note with you at all times. Just like the keycard. Seriously, don't screw it up this time...' Well, sweet. Got the keycode awfully easy... Too easy..."
Nodding it off, Spirit shoved the note into her satchel before a diagram of the ship caught her eye. A rather large poster. Spirit stepped forward in awe and scrutinized every detail.
The ship was similar to a frigate, but it's armor was incredibly reinforced. Its sails were far bigger than average and more numerous, the cannons were structured in a way Spirit had never seen before, and it seemed to fire something far sharper and deadlier than cannonballs. And to top it all off, several boosters were sticking out of its stern. "Must be connected to that hyperdrive or whatever," Spirit assumed.
Beneath that poster was another detailing and displaying the ship in its submarine mode. Confirming what that old coot at the toll said. She was a little confused as to why the pony running the toll booth would have that information, but she definitely wasn't complaining. She chuckled, "That guy is so losing his job."
Something Spirit noticed on both posters was this strange electric device in the center. It seemed to be about the size of a port-a-potty. There was text in bold next to it that read: 'Hyperdriver activation requires a combination of the magic of two above-average unicorns.' Looks like she'd need Trixie to get the driver started. But Ms. Great and Powerful didn't appear to be all that talented in magic.
She looked back out the window and sighed. She imagined that the ship was always in submerged mode while at the port, or it just so happened to be submerged today. Or somepony was using it. If so, all Spirit could do is hope they'd be back before Saturday.
She stepped back and wore an accomplished grin on her face. It seemed she'd successfully done her part. But just to be sure, she decided to check upstairs. Didn't want to risk missing anything.
She approached said stairs and quietly climbed them. The stairs were wooden and creaky, which slightly worried her. The last thing she wanted was to find out somepony was up there, and that she'd end up getting caught. All she had was that phasing spell, and she likely couldn't do that again for a month.
Spirit approached the door and silently pushed it open. She poked her head through to scan the room for anypony, but sighed in relief as nopony was inside.
She stepped fully through the door and discovered it to be some sort of quarters. There were three beds, each with items and objects lying around. She stepped toward the closest bed and noticed the captain’s hat hanging from the headboard.
"Must be Starboard's," She whispered, before noticing an open envelope on his bed. Curious, Spirit opened it, and her eyes practically exploded out of their sockets. She slowly grew and wore the largest smile she'd ever had as her mind filled with joy and relief.
"...This heist just got stupid-easy..."



"Trixie."
"..."
"You can't seriously be still thinking about that filly at the IHoof."
"She ate all the strawberry syrup! Trixie's never had strawberry syrup before- Trixie never even knew strawberry syrup existed! And the kid just stole it from her!"
"He was six years old."
"And?!"
"There was also cranberry syrup-"
	"That's revolting!"
Trixie and Century, as always, shot the ship back and forth after returning from the Crystal Empire. Now that they'd finished their mission with the Gala tickets, they were just waiting on Spirit to return from Manehattan.
Century groaned and muttered to himself, "Spirit, I'm losing my mind. Where are you?"
The door busted open, and the two ponies whipped their heads around. Century beamed, "Speak of the Devil!"
Spirit trotted into the dining room, wearing a grand smile. Trixie smiled in return, "Trixie assumes your mission was a success as well?"
"Yep!" She replied, and dropped her satchel on the circular table. Almost hitting one of the presents from Jewel. Using her magic, she pulled out two diagrams of the hypercruiser, a torn piece of paper, and the last one surprised them both.
Spirit sat down in between the both of them, upsetting Trixie a bit, and began spreading everything out. She cleared her throat, "Okay, first things first, the hypercarrier is real. And it's even got the ability to go underwater, like a submarine mode."
She continued, "However, to access the ship, we apparently need a hoof print from the captain. Starboard Sail. Not to mention, the warehouse it's located in is heavily secured. I had to use a phase spell just to get in, and that knocked me out for an hour. To access the warehouse normally, we need a keycard and a keycode."
"Thankfully, I've already got the keycode. They left it in the trash, the bums. But the keycard is always with Captain Starboard. And I originally thought that would be difficult, but check this out."
Spirit pulled forward the note she found on the second floor of the tower. She smiled, "Yep, Starboard was invited to the Grand Galloping Gala. Which means just about everything we need will be at the Gala. We'll have to split up, obviously."
Trixie frowned, "So, how are we going to get a hoof print of this captain?"
"Easy. While at the warehouse, I also found out that Starboard surprisingly is into fashion. Pretty dresses and crap, he's like a connoisseur. Thankfully, we know somepony who's always working on fashion."
Trixie smiled, "Well, we've got the tickets, and we know the ship is real. Now we just need a full plan.”
Century stared intensely at the diagram. He then stood up, "Okay, here's what I'm thinking, guys. To get the main prize, the crown, we're gonna need a distraction. A window that'll allow us to grab the crown and get out fast."
Trixie beamed, "Trixie could put on a show! It would be a fantastic display. But then something could, unfortunately, go wrong, allowing a window for the crown to be taken!"
Spirit shook her head, "But Pinkie Pie's already putting on a show. Don't know what it's gonna be, but knowing her, I can only imagine what she's got cooking."
"Pinkie would not protest sharing the stage. She's an awfully reasonable pony. Trixie's sure she and Pinkie could come to a compromise of some sort."
Century nodded, "Alright, now what about Starboard?"
Spirit replied, "I'll go to Rarity's and get a dress. One that's special and touchy. Like, feathers from some cool bird, or whatever. I'm sure with the right amount of bits, she'd be willing. Then, on the day of the Gala, I'll get Starboard to touch it somewhere. We'll use that as the print."
Century smiled, "Alright, now there's just me. I'll have to somehow get close to Celestia. Maybe use my immaculate charm."
Trixie and Spirit's faces' flattened, and Century smirked, "What? If you're thinking I'm lying, I just simply haven't picked either of you."
Spirit sighed, "Whatever. But at least we all know what we're doing tomorrow." Trixie beamed, and Century agreed.
The second phase of the heist had been completed. Now, all that was left were the finishing touches. The fate of Equestria, and ultimately the world was depending on it. And Century wasn't a failure.
Not anymore.