Okay, sorry about the little extra waiting time. But there was one mother of a storm last night, and it kinda blew my garage door off.
Oh and it also caused the entire street to lose electricity…
In any case, I've had a long hard think on how to wrap up this story…and have come to something quite cool, at least I think so. You'll have to tell me.
Begin!
The Interrogation
(Interrogation)
I stared warily at the tea she was offering, narrowing my eyes somewhat they zoomed in on the liquid.
Upon gaining a closer look, my eyes scanned the rim of the cup for anything even remotely resembling powder. I know this might seem a little weird, but let me explain.
You see, when I was starting out here, there was something of a rivalry between Swift and a Earth Pony mare by the name of Bit Napper, though I doubt that was her real name. Swift always used to call her Bit the bitter…heh, it made me laugh.
In any case, she and Swift were always on each other's back, mostly because they always tended to out-steal the other.
Swift didn't even know me back then, and I was only thirteen at the time. My own skills were still a green as grass; I could just about manage to pickpocket a drunken mule.
The two of them were playing a rather intense game of shots when I noticed…something off about the small glass in his hoof. At the time my peculiar eyesight was something new to me, but I'd managed to more or less get it down pat.
Upon noticing something off about his glass, my curiosity got the better of me and I zoomed in to get a better look. As I did so, I noticed a rim of white powder, barely visible around the rim of it.
Fortunately for Swift, I'd seen something like this before.
Two Years Ago
Just as he was about to press it to his lips, I dived forward and smacked the glass out of his hoof.
"What the heck are you doing kid?!" Bit screeched angrily.
"There was powder around the glass," I explained, glaring at the now nervous mare accusingly.
Swift had since snapped out of his shock and was sniffing the glass carefully, though upon a single sniff he dropped it and looked at Bit incredulously, if not a little fearfully.
"That smelt like crushed Nirnroot," he said, his tone one of outrage. "You tried to poison me!"
Bit's muzzle was opening and closing at a remarkably fast rate, and her eyes were darting between us even quicker
"I…I wasn't trying…"
All of a sudden, she bolted away from the two of us as fast as her legs would allow. I tried to fly after her but found myself halted by a hoof on my withers. Looking back, I saw Swift gazing at me thankfully, much to my embarrassment.
"There's no need to chase her, kid," he said, a grim expression adorning his muzzle. "I'll tell the rest of the boys what happened, she won't be able to get within ten feet of this place."
"But she tried to kill you, we should a-"
"What?" he asked mirthfully. "Get her arrested? Drag her up to the guard and expect them not to arrest us too?"
I felt my cheeks go a bit red as I realized how stupid it actually sounded.
"Oh, sorry, it does sound a bit stupid," I mumbled.
Swift shook his head and grinned at me in amusement, though there a tad of confusion there.
"How long have you been here kid?" he asked curiously.
I cocked an eyebrow warily at the question, having already been asked…similar questions like it before.
"About four months, why do you ask?" I replied cautiously.
"Because you seem about green as grass and as innocent as a new born foal…"
He put a hoof under his muzzle and pursed his lips thoughtfully, muttering incoherent words to himself as he did so. After a minute or so, he apparently stopped thinking and looked down at me with a grin.
"Tell you what then, since you just saved my hide, how I take you under my wing and show your ropes?"
If scoffing was what he expected, his befuddled expression certainly didn't show it.
"Yeah…I've heard this before mate and I'm really not interested."
He squinted at me for a minute….before suddenly blanching and waving his hooves frantically.
"No, no that's disgusting," he shouted, shaking his head wildly. "I only want to show you how it all works down here, that's all. A who knows, maybe you'll pick up a few skills along the way."
"Just that then, no funny business?" I asked.
"No funny business kid, just me showing you how it's really done. Consider it a thank you for saving my life."
I eyed him warily for a few moments, not entirely sure whether or not to agree. True, I wasn't a very good thief. Even with my talent of staying hidden, pick pocketing and the like was still remarkably difficult to accomplish.
But if this turned out to be something like the last guy who wanted to help me…
"Okay then," I agreed slowly. "But I swear to Celestia, if there's even a HINT of something I don't like…"
"Okay, okay," he laughed, his right hoof slapping my withers friendly, much to my annoyance. "No funny stuff, I promise."
Grumbling, though with a little grin to compensate, I nodded and began to walk alongside him…only for Swift to suddenly stop and glance at me curiously.
"What's your name kid?" he asked.
"It's Chase," I replied.
Present Time
He took me under his wing after that, showing and telling me all I'd need to know about the Ratway and the Underworld. He'd come out with me on heists and show me what was valuable, and what was merely a prop, a fake.
He's the reason I'm so good at what I do.
And even when I started to go all lone wolf, he'd still drop whatever he was doing and help me if I needed it…even if I never asked him to help.
I suppose when it all came down to it, Swift was more than friend to me. He was a mentor for two years of my life…he was the only one I could trust in a world of lies and deception.
Until now that is.
Celestia hadn't taken her eyes off of me, nor had she uttered a single word, even whilst I obviously examined the cup.
There's no powder, and the tea looks alright…
A sudden titter of soft laughter snapped me out of my thoughts and onto Celestia, who was holding a hoof to her muzzle in amusement.
"Is something funny?" I snarled, surprising myself with the sheer amount of venom in my voice.
Celestia either didn't notice or chose to overlook it. In any case she quickly stilled her light giggling and regarded me regretfully.
"Oh, I do apologize," she said, bowing her head a touch. "But I found your scrutiny quite comical, forgive me."
I do have to admit that her gentle voice was most certainly soothing. But I knew better than to trust honeyed words, Swift had taught me that.
Swift…
His name…the betrayal that followed, it filled my very essence with a rage unlike any other. How could I have thought about him with such praise beforehand, when he had not so long ago betrayed what little trust I had?
"You're angry," Celestia uttered suddenly, yet quietly.
"It's none of your business Princess," I spat, scowling up at the great mare scornfully.
In all honesty, I was kind of hoping that my words would hurt her…or something. But alas they did not. She merely tilted her head and gazed at me regally, yet without a single bit of arrogance or superiority.
It was weird.
"Very well then," she said finally, lighting up her horn and grasping the furthest cup, before using her magic to steadily glide it over to me. "Will you at least drink some tea with me; I assure you it is in no way poisoned, whether by magic or alchemy."
"Of course it's not," I mocked, rolling my eyes.
"I swear on my sister's life that it is not," she promised, that smile still firmly adorned upon her muzzle.
I didn't believe her, I didn't trust her, and I had no reason whatsoever to drink the tea. Yet I did so anyway, much to my dismay and her apparent joy.
Why did I drink it?
"There we go," she said, smiling warmly. "There's nothing to be worried about, if I had truly wanted to do you harm than I would have already done so."
Her words, while annoyingly gentle, were true. I couldn't think of a reason she'd want to keep me alive, only to poison me later on…unless she was as much a tyrant as some believed?
Yet as I waited in silence, a silence she granted with nothing but that stupid smile, the results of poisoning never born fruit.
I had no stomach ache, no headache, no nausea…nothing.
"Is it nice?" she asked suddenly, forcing my attention onto her out of instinct.
"Is what nice?"
"The tea," she said. "It's a rare brand from Saddle Arabia; I've always been partial to it on occasion."
I blinked in honest confusion at the question…wasn't she supposed to be whittling me down with furious questions?
Though she did have a point, the tea was nice, in an exotic sort of way.
"It's fine," I muttered, draining the rest of the cup quickly so as to clear my suddenly dry, if not very nervous throat.
Then it hit me.
This was it. I was going to be interrogated by Celestia. There was every chance that whatever she had done to the others, to Swift…it could happen to me!
…No!
No! I will NOT become like him, I will NOT!
"My sister was correct wasn't she?"
Celestia's question snapped me out of my internal tirade, causing my eyes to snap onto her own.
"About what?" I asked, a light snarl fighting its way into my question.
To my surprise, Celestia flared up her magic and whisked both her cup and mine, as well as the tray and teapot away into nothing. She then turned slightly on the immensely large cushion, her entire body facing my direction.
Yet her eyes and smile, they remained the same…soft and warm.
"You possess far too much anger for one so young," she explained, her voice gentle and pitying.
I didn't need her pity.
"Oh really, what gave that away your highness?"
Still a smile, gentle and warm…why couldn't she just be angry? I could deal with angry.
"Everything about you tells the tale," she began. "Your attitude, your appearance, the pain you hide behind your eyes. All of it cries outrage, despair, vengeance upon a world you obviously hate."
Her smile, to my surprise, seemed to waver a little. It's everlasting mask of gentle content slipping into a brief outline of grief…for me?
"I cannot help but wonder," she continued, a slight change in her tone, yet another break of her perfect character. "What terrible wrong occurred to set you on this path?"
Her words were spoken effortlessly, perfectly even. The words she used, the way in which she used them…all of them true.
I felt my eyes sting upon hearing them, but I quickly blinked it away.
"What makes you think anything happened to me?" I asked.
Celestia said nothing for a few moments, choosing instead to merely regard me with sympathetic eyes.
"Where are your parents little one?" she asked suddenly.
I blinked a couple of times in surprise at the question, though my eyes quickly narrowed angrily as it sunk in.
"I don't have a clue," I replied bitterly. "And my name is not little one, it's Chase."
…Was she smirking?
"Oh?" she uttered mirthfully. "That's a very unusual name."
She was smirking!
"Is there something wrong with it?" I asked heatedly.
To my great satisfaction, Celestia put her hooves up in the air and waved them frantically. Though she was still smirking, much to my annoyance.
"Not at all," she said, "I just think it's rather cute is all."
Cute?
"My name is not cute!"
"Of course it's not," she agreed impishly. "Silly me."
"Are you mocking me?" I asked harshly, taking an intimidating step forward, not that she seemed perturbed in the slightest.
Though her eyes did widen a touch.
"No, no of course not," she dismissed contritely. "I was only trying to make you feel at ease, there's no need to be so hostile."
"No need?!" I all but screeched. "How DARE you! How dare you try to be so…so flippant after all you've done!"
"After all I've done?" she asked, her tone completely innocent. "And what have I done exactly?"
I won't lie, I don't have the best temper at times. But at that question…I felt something within me snap. Everything that had happened to me, whether within the past six months or before, all of the hate and rage that accompanied it…accompanied them.
It didn't simmer, it didn't heat up.
It burst from me like nothing I'd ever felt before.
"What have you DONE?" I began furiously. "What haven't you done?! I had a decent life before you started moulding half the underworld into good little ponies! I had a friend I could trust with my life before you twisted him into a shameful echo of himself!
"I had respect that everypony admired, but now they avoid me like a rabid dog. And what happens if I steal, what happens if I manage to find a broker and sell something at a quarter of what it should be? What if I offer those foolish idiots some bits to get by on?
"I'll tell you what, they REFUSE ME! They prefer to live in squalor! They want me to stay out of their pathetic little lives while they scrounge around in the dirt and wallow in their own self-pity. Oh, why won't anypony help us, all we want is a couple of bits to get by. Well I OFFERED! But no, my bits aren't good enough for them!
"But you know what, it's fine, it's absolutely fine. After all it's just pride. Once they have a few bits chucked at their hooves then they'll HAVE to respect me, they'll HAVE to accept me!
"And what luck do I have! A few days of pressing my ear to the ground and voila, Money Bags the local jeweller has managed to get a hold of a very valuable gem. A gem a certain CLIENT is prepared to pay handsomely for. So we meet up, have nice little chat, and then off he goes to wait for me in a secluded little spot."
My eyes were stinging like mad as I raved, but I didn't stop. I didn't dare stop now, for if I did…I wasn't sure what would happen.
"But oh ho ho, what do I happen to come across?" I continued, beside myself with rage. "A BUCKING SET UP! Yeah, that's right. My friend, my ONLY friend betrays me because of YOU! He betrays me because he wants what's best for me. Well he never asked me! All he did was plead and beg with me to come and see THE MIGHTY CELESTIA! All praise her divine will, all praise her OMNISCENT FLANK!
"And what do you do? You ask me what you've done, you dare to ask me what you've done. Well I'll tell you what you've done. You stole my friend, you stole my livelihood, you stole my life! And I hate you for it! I hate Swift! I hate those pathetic prideful mules! I hate you, I hate you, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I HATE-"
Two hooves gently wrapped themselves around my trembling form, pulling me firmly, yet softly to their bearer. Trapped in my fury I was barely aware of it, I couldn't even see with all the tears in…my…eyes.
I'm crying?
I was…and I was still repeating that word, that hate…mumbling it actually.
"I hate you, I hate you…I hate you…I hate-"
Celestia kissed my forehead soothingly, the bizarre sensation of the touch breaking me out of my increasingly incoherent mutterings. I looked up at her with my bleary vision…and for the first time that day, I finally saw the emotion behind the eternal smile and tender eyes.
She cared for me, and upon realizing this…I fell apart.
"Why did Swift leave?" I sobbed helplessly, clinging onto her as I broke down. "Why does everypony hate me? I just wanted to help them and they threw it back in my face!"
I'm not sure how long I clung to her…for all intents and purposes crying like a little colt. But as she wrapped her wings around me, as she placed her lips upon my head, as she nuzzled me with affection I knew not…
As all of this happened…In that one moment, I let go of my dignity and became a child once more.
"Why does nopony love me?" I asked inconsolably.
A hoof stroking my back softly, a touch so gentle upon my wet cheek…a voice so tender, so affectionate against my ear.
"I love you, my little pony."