//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Retrieving Stolen Property // Story: Element of Balance // by SamSwordsman123 //------------------------------// Fire made his way to Warm Heart Tower with his friends and saw the guards all assembled. “We’re terribly sorry, Prince Fire!” one of the guards, a unicorn named Silver Javelin said. “We were caught completely by surprise and they jumped us!” “Are you all alright?” Fire asked in concern. “Yes,” Silver said. Fire breathed in relief then looked around. “What did they take, the tapestries, the artwork? Many of the things here had been quite expensive, such as the rare painting of the Mare Lisa made by Leonardo Dacolt. “They took some paintings yes,” Silver said. “Including the Mare Lisa. It would fetch a nice price.” Fire felt a bit of anger, but sighed. “Well, I suppose it could be worse. Some of the paintings I brought were one of a kind and made by the best artists in Canterlot both from the past and present! But at least nopony got hurt.” “Yes, nopony got hurt,” Silver said. “But somebird did get taken away.” “What?” Fire exclaimed. He rushed to his room and saw to his horror, Aurora’s cage was empty! Also the sword that was Fire’s element was gone! “We found this note as well,” another guard, an Earth Pony named Mace Splinter with a yellow coat and the cutie mark of a mace splitting wood. He handed Fire a piece of paper. Fire read the note. We have your bird, give us a hundred thousand bits and we will release her unharmed. Come to the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres nearby at midnight. If you don’t show or don’t come alone… you probably don’t want to know. Fire felt a mixture of sadness, concern, fear, and anger at this. His mane didn’t light up as it usually reacted to anger alone. “They also took the sword of Harmony as well!” Silver said gesturing to the wall where it had been. “This is bad,” Fire said. “At least my mom has the other six elements in Canterlot. They should be okay.” “That’s good,” Twilight said. “But we should try and get the sword back. Yours is the element that becomes strongest when ours fail! We can’t leave something like that in the hooves of mere thieves!” “Oh, those terrible ruffians!” Rarity exclaimed. “Stealing from a prince! And stealing his beloved pet no less!” “You sure we can pay them one hundred thousand bits?” Vine Archer asked. Fire shook his head. “I only get half that much from my mom monthly.” “Only Fifty Thousand Bits a Month?” Applejack said incredulously. “Talk about living large!” Fire gritted his teeth before remembering Twilight’s special communication system. “Twilight, can you send a letter to my mom to-“ She shook her head. “Spike’s not here remember?” “Oh right,” Fire said looking down. He paced for a moment, trying to think. “We can’t let this injustice stand!” Applejack put in. “Especially one that's taking place on my land!” “There has to be something we can do,” Moondancer said. “Wait! What if we have an illusion of bits inside something like a cart or something?” “That could work,” Twilight said. “We could also be in the cart as well!” Vine Archer said. “Then we could ambush them when they open it to take the bits.” “And Moondancer, Rarity, Applejack, Fire, and I can cut off their escape!” Twilight said. Fire hesitated. “I… don’t want to put you mares in danger.” “Considerate of you, but we faced Nightmare Moon with you!” Rarity said. “I think we can handle some mere thieves!” “But what if they spot you?” Fire asked. “The note said to come alone!” “They obviously have no idea they’re dealing with the elements of harmony, including magic. There are such things as invisibility spells,” Twilight said. “That’s a complicated spell but if I can find one that will allow all us to sneak in without the thieves noticing. “ She turned to her fellow scholarly unicorn. “Up for a little spell research, Moondancer?” The yellow mare nodded with a smile. “Yes!” “Well, I think Big Macintsoh and me could just use the environment to our advantage,” Applejack said. “I know those orchards like the back of my hoof!” “Down to the last overworked chip?” Rarity asked with a smirk. Applejack smirked back. “You betcha!” “Girls, this isn’t the time for banter!” Fire said seriously. “My sunbird and an important Equestrian weapon have been stolen!” He thought over the last few weeks he’d been in Ponyville since he’d bought Aurora. Feeding her seed, fruits, and worms. Her singing recently as his guards played instruments to pass the time. He also thought of when he used the sword and returned his aunt to normal. Both were very important to him. “Did you see what kind of pony they were?” Rarity asked. “I don’t think so,” Silver said. “They were just Earth Ponies in masks from what I could see.” Rarity sighed in relief. “That’s good. If it were unicorns or Pegasi that could make things challenging.” “Did you hear any names or anything?” Twilight asked. “Maybe one, Swipe I think!” Silver said. “Swipe? Swipe?” Applejack pondered. “You know him?” Fire asked. “I know an Earth Pony stallion called Sly Fox,” Applejack said. “He’s a smooth talker and usually just sings in town to entertain ponies every so often, a bit like Pinkie Pie. But I always had a bit of a weird feeling around him!” Fire put a hoof to his chin. “Well, we can’t accuse this Sly without proper proof. We need more than just a matching name to be concrete.” “You’re right,” Twilight agreed before turning to Moondancer. “Come on Moondancer, we’ll see if we can find a spell that will help us hide when we back Fire up tonight.” Two of the three unicorn mares present made their way back out to go to the library, leaving just one other. “Um, by any chance did you have any of the items linked to a locater spell?” Rarity asked. Fire shook his head. “That might be a good idea though, and apparently I need to have some extra security around here for when there are few guards present.” “We’ll come up with something, your highness,” Vine Archer said. “Perhaps we can set up a set of booby traps for when we aren’t expecting visitors.” Fire wasn’t sure how he felt about that but given the circumstances he might have to. “We’ll deal with this,” Applejack said. “These thieving varmints aren’t gonna get away with it! Me and Big Mac will watch for anything around Sweet Apple Acres tonight.” “Okay, but don’t engage,” Fire said. “My bird’s life could be on the line.” “You got it, partner,” Applejack said. Fire sighed. “Guess we’ll just have to see what happens tonight.” “You sure you want to just forget about the lead we have on Swipe though?” Vine Archer asked. “A name isn’t much but it’s the only lead we have. How many Swipe’s are in Ponyville?” An idea clicked in Fire’s head. “Mayor Mare would probably keep records of all the residents here in Ponyville,” he said. “She will probably be able to tell us!” “It’s worth a try at least,” Applejack said. “You go do that! But I need to get back to the farm and start my chores! I’m probably behind already! I’ll tell Big Mac about this!” “Make sure Granny Smith and Applebloom are locked inside!” Fire called after her. “Right!” she called back as she made her way off. He then looked at Rarity. “You don’t have to get involved if you don’t want to.” “Oh, it’s kind of you to be concerned your highness. But just because I’m a lady doesn’t mean I don’t want to help,” the fashionista said. “I helped against Nightmare Moon and I’m prepared to help if I can in this as well.” Fire nodded reluctantly. Some dark thoughts crossed his mind at what these thieves might do to her given the chance. But with him, Moondancer, Twilight, Applejack, her brother, and the guards he didn’t think he’d have a lot to worry about. … And so, Fire made his way to Town Hall. “Ah, good morning, Sheriff Fire!” the town leader said. “I’m pleased to report that our community has received a fine downpour.” “That’s good, Mayor,” Fire said. “But I’m afraid I have a bit of a problem. My house was broken into last night while I was gone and my guards were out looking for me.” Her eyes widened. “Oh my!” “One of my guards said he heard one of the thieves call the other Swipe. Do you have records of ponies living here in Ponyville?” Fire asked. “Yes,” Mayor Mare said walking to her cabinets and pulling out a folder after a moment. She skimmed through it and soon. “There is… only one Swipe in town!” That certainly seemed to be incriminating evidence. “Where does he live?” Fire asked. They got the address and walked over to the house in Ponyville. “Doesn’t look like anypony is home. Should we go in now?” Vine Archer asked looking at Fire after they had watched for a while. The guards had taken off their armor to avoid standing out upon Fire’s order. The prince didn’t want to take the chance of scaring the likely robber. If they captured him and it caused a scene, the other two thieves might take the opportunity to get away and take the things they’d stolen with them. Then Fire might never get them back. “We’re sure it’s him,” Fire said. “But they could have my things somewhere else, in one of their houses or in a secret stash they have hidden somewhere like the Everfree Forest. But we should see if we can find anything.” Fire looked around to make sure no one was watching and then cast an unlocking spell. The lock clicked and the two of them stepped inside. They tried to not leave any sign as they looked, but nothing that Fire recognized as his was visible in the house. They looked for an hour and nothing turned up. “No luck,” he said they closed the door behind them. “I guess I’ll have one of you watch this place tonight and enter when he leaves. If he gets away when we ambush him he’ll probably come back to get supplies before he tries to escape.” Vine nodded. They went about their day as they usually would, patrolling. This was a patrol full of worry for Fire though as he wondered what could happen to Aurora and the sword of Harmony. The bird was precious to him as his pet, and the sword was an element important to the protection of Equestria. Much would depend on them getting it back tonight. The hours rolled by slowly, his mother’s son went down and was replaced with his newly returned aunt’s moon. Finally, Fire set out with his friends. Rarity, Twilight, and Moondancer all used invisibility spells, with the latter two able to cast them and include Rarity as well. Applejack and Big Macintosh watched the orchards in bushes they moved along the floor. They had met a couple hours ago and discussed a plan. Fire would send a signal up to the thieves as they had not received specific instructions on where exactly in the orchard to meet the thieves. He sent up a spark of red magic that exploded in a shower of fireworks. He waited for a while and then sent up another one. Then they came, three Earth Pony stallions all in black outfits that concealed their appearances along with the darkness. Fire had his horn lit up, which didn’t help as the red masked their true features in its hue. They held Aurora in a smaller cage. “Aurora!” he exclaimed before looking at the perpetrators. “You have the bits?” the middle stallion, most likely the leader, asked. Fire gestured to the wagon he’d been pulling through the orchard behind him. If this were any other circumstances, he would have had one of his servants pulling it instead. Two of the three masked ponies eyed the wagon with suspicion. “That could be a good way to hide some guards or something,” the leader said. Damn they’d figured it out. “I agree,” one of the other said. “Ah, come on guys you think the prince will actually have some tricks up his hoof?” the last one said. There was the sound of a branch being stepped on nearby. This drew the attention of everypony around. Had Moodancer or one of the other unicorns stepped on it? Fire gritted his teeth, if they suspected something was up then… They looked and saw it was just a raccoon. “Swipe! You go and check the wagon!” the leader ordered. Swipe, the only member of the trio Fire knew the name of, made his way to the wagon. The leader then took his torch while the other member opened the cage containing Aurora. The leader held the flame in front of the sunbird to prevent her from flying out. He opened the back door and looked inside. To his eyes, it held a large number of chests and gold bit bags. The chests were open to reveal their contents of jewels and gold coins. “Looks good to me!” he shouted to his fellows looking back at them. “Ah!” He was suddenly yanked into the wagon by the guards that were invisible thanks to Moondancer and Twilight’s spells. Before the leader and other Earth Pony could react, the two unicorns appeared either side of them and the torch threatening Aurora was pulled from their hoof in one direction while Aurora’s cage was pulled in the other. The sunbird flapped her wings and immediately flew out. “Aurora!” Fire exclaimed as he held out his hoof. She landed on it and he nuzzled her. “Oh, are you okay?” She tweeted in confirmation, though she said was a little scared from what he understood. Fire then looked back at the thieves and they made to run, then Applejack and Big Macintosh emerged from their hiding places with yells, Big Mac tackled one of them to the ground while Applejack used her lasso to catch the other. They tied the thieves up to a tree. Now just to find out the answers they needed. “Where are all my things?” Fire asked seriously. They didn’t answer. He lit up his horn. “You know as a prince I’m able to resort to interrogating you with more force if needed right?” He shot a spell at them and they flinched in fear. But instead of pain, the one that was hit, Swipe Fox, began laughing uncontrollably. “Ahhahaha! Stop, that tickles!” he said. “I thought you were gonna torture us!” the leader said. “Yeah, tickle torture! We’re not savages who cut hooves off like in the olden days,” Fire said. Swipe laughed for a few more seconds before Fire undid the spell. “Okay, okay! The things are in Bright Wane’s house in the basement!” He gestured to the leader. “We were planning to sell them off to random ponies in Manehattan where it was unlikely anypony would know.” Fire smiled. They were soon led to Bright Wane’s house and went into the basement where they found the stolen objects. Fire looked over them and let out a breath of relief. “Everything is here,” he said. “Wonderful!” Rarity said. “That was easy compared to Nightmare Moon!” They all worked together to levitate or carry the objects out and return them to Warm Heart Tower where they belonged. They set them back in their proper places, the tapestries being hung on the wall, Aurora happily returning to her cage and eating her seed and fruit hungrily, while Fire put his sword back above his bed. He then cast a locater and summoning spell on it so that he could bring it to his side whenever the situation might arise and in case it got stolen again. Having the summoning spell on it might render the locater unnecessary but he didn’t want to take a chance. Though if I got stolen again, and he summoned it, he wouldn’t know who stole it. He turned to the mares. “Thanks for all your help today girls,” Fire said. “They might have gotten away if not for all of you. I could kiss all of you!” All of them blushed. “Ah shucks, that won’t be necessary Fire! I’m just happy to help a friend!” Applejack said. Moondancer rubbed her foreleg with her hoof. “Yep!” Big Mac said. Fire looked at him, realizing he’d forgotten the stallion. “Oh, and thanks to you as well Big Mac.” Rarity struggled to meet his eyes and said, “Very kind of you.” Twilight just smiled. Before Fire could do anything though, they were interrupted by a confetti canon going off. “Victory party!” Pinkie Pie declared as she appeared out of nowhere. “You got your bird, sword and everything else back safely! Congratulations your royal sheriffness!” ‘How did you know?” Fire asked. “Oh, I heard what happened from Rarity when she stopped by Sugarcube corner for a little treat,” Pinkie said. “Even a lady needs to satisfy her cravings every so often,” Rarity said. “I do enjoy a little sweet.” “Who doesn’t?” Fire said. “So, I thought I’d bring you a cake!” Pinkie said as she revealed it. It was a vanilla frosted chocolate cake with red berries on top and bird and sword designs on the frosting. “Looks good Pinkie!” Fire said. The party pony began cutting the cake and passed a piece out to everypony including Fire’s guards and servants. “Feels good to be given a cake,” Vine Archer said. “And to be able to help out.” “We need to step up our game, the Element Bearers might get all the glory soon!” Silver said. “Can’t have civilians outshine us! Though it was a pretty impressive spell you two could do there.” He looked at Moondancer and Twilight who smiled at him. “Well, me and Twilight did focus more on magic then you guards do,” Moondancer said. “But you have all that hoof to hoof training and other stuff, but we focus exclusively on magic at the Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.” “You know you’re right,” Silver said. “Perhaps you could show me how to do that invisibility spell sometime Miss Moondancer.” Moondancer blushed. “Perhaps I will good sir!” She then looked back at Fire and smiled wider. The prince was still a bit uncertain of his feelings for her. He valued her friendship and admired her intelligence just as with Twilight and enjoyed spending time with her. He supposed he’d have to see how it went at the gala. … Meanwhile, in a small village, a certain unicorn thief cast a spell on the window a local jewelry store. The window received a circular opening as it was cut with the spell. The jewelry inside levitated out and into the unicorns open bag. “And Gold Steel strikes again!” the unicorn boasted proudly. He teleported back to his home in Canterlot. The greatest advantage of learning from the school of magic was the access to the wonderful spells he could use for his nefarious deeds. Also, with how much he managed to steal, his trips only required occasional use. He opened the secret compartment in his house that hidden his stolen goods. He was a white unicorn with a steel gray and gold mane to match his name. His job in the royal guard offered a comfortable income, but with the treasure he procured from all around Equestria he’d soon have a much nicer home somewhere. And he knew exactly where. His grandfather on his mother’s side had an estate to the south that was rich. She’d left that life behind though to marry his father and denied Gold a chance to live a prosperous life. His mother should have stayed where she was after she got pregnant with him. But Gold would soon put his plan into motion to claim what was his by right. “Nopony will suspect a thing since I have noble blood,” he said to himself. “What’s a little more treasure to add to the horde?” He went to bed and received a newspaper the next morning. Earth Pony Thieves captured in Ponyville was the headline. Apparently, they were to be transferred to Canterlot Dungeons. “Hmm, maybe I can use this to my advantage,” Gold said.