//------------------------------//
// On the Road again. 
// Story: The Fat Friar 
// by Ssendam the Masked 
//------------------------------//


One year later...


I sat in my chair, drumming my fingers. Thanks to a rat in our group, we were now hiding in the back-up hiding spot in the Everfree. 
"Hey, what's got you so down?" I looked at one of my favourite travelling companions, Trixie. When I'd met her on the mean streets of Neigh Orleans, I'd felt a lot of pity for the slumping, alcoholic mare, entertaining drunken louts with cheap magic tricks. Now, she was clean, and even if she had a bit of an ego at times, her expertise with illusions and fireworks was admirable.
"Nothing, Trixie, it's just..." I slumped. This group was meant to help people out, not cause such destruction. 
"Who would have guessed that Flash Sentry was a mole?" The young pegasus had been down on his luck, living over a brothel in Manehatten and trying to earn a couple of bits. I gave him the chance to join the Everfree Merry Ponies, a little group I'd founded a year ago. Then, it had only been the quick eyes of one of my top spies seeing him dressed in guard armour that caused me to gather my group up and beat it to a new hideout.

One year ago, I left the diabetic sugar bowl that was Ponyville with a magic staff in my hands and a bag on my back. Since then, I'd seen a fair amount of the world- Canterlot, Manehatten, Neigh Orleans, the like. What I saw sickened me. 
For all their high talk of 'harmony,' and 'equality,' it was pretty obvious that there were huge class divides. Nobles could buy practically anything, while those who society disliked were cast out into the streets, not even given any consideration. It was just the same as Earth, only nobody seemed to want to overthrow the caste system. I'd seen that, too- I remember it clearly. People divided into castes depending on birth. Earth ponies were almost never nobles, pegasi were middle case citizens, and unicorns had the best prospects. 

Once I'd seen the beggars being herded out of the front streets to the back ones in Canterlot, I made a vow. I was going to do everything in my power to tip the scales in the downtrodden's favour. At first, I just gave them food, something to help them through the day. But it wasn't enough. I was only one fat man with practically no worldly possessions at all. All I was doing was feeding a couple of starving ponies and not really helping the bigger problem. 

The idea came to me once on the road, where I'd been attacked by a starving pony. Instead of beating him up and turning him into the Guard, I had an idea. I explained it to him- we were going to bust into a bank, steal as much money as we could and get as much to eat as we could. That pony, known as Red Robin, called me crazy. I told him to wait there. I then went to Canterlot bank, and demonstrated the capabilities of my staff there. I didn't kill anybody, but those there still have the scars where my flames burnt them.

When I returned two hours later with a large sack of bits, he lost his doubts. After that, we ate a good meal, and gave the money away to the beggars in the street. This was a more potent sign of changing the status quo. I then had a brainwave. I asked the beggars if they would like to aid us in the thefts, take some money for themselves so that they could survive. A few agreed, but the rest disagreed, saying that they respected the Princess. I didn't force them to join; it was their decision. 

The next six months were hectic for our little group. The press had a field day with our crimes, denouncing us as 'dishonest thieves.' We didn't care, we were doing the right thing, even if it was wrong by law. Thanks to the staff of balance, every altercation ended in our favour, but we needed more magic. We found a few unicorns who were willing to help us out, namely Trixie and Quick Hoof, who had left Ponyville on her own advice. 

The Princess had to cover up the good we were doing, but there were always those who saw. A few ponies who saw that, while our methods were questionable, our goals were right. They were the ones who gave us the title, "The Everfree Merry Ponies." I liked that title, and sketched it into the walls of the banks we robbed. 

There were always a few close calls- the Guard were getting steadily faster and faster in response to our bank robbing. We responded with more elaborate escape plans each time. But now, our undercover 'spotters' had their identities risked. 

You see, it's not always enough to have might on your side. Sometimes, you need to have some subtlety. So we had the spotters. These were ponies who weren't part of our group, at least not officially. They scouted out banks and houses we were robbing, giving a cursory detailed glance. Those ponies were also very good at spying out guards and raising the alarm. 

Fortunately, Flash Sentry was only a fresh member of the Everfree Merry Ponies, so he didn't see the spotters. They preferred to keep their identities anonymous, and I liked that. Meant that rats like Flash wouldn't find them. 

I decided on a course of action.
"The next raid shall have to be changed." Quick Hoof looked at me as if I'd lost my marbles.
"That's not a very wise decision." I sighed and nodded, rubbing my bald head.
"I know, but we are helping out people, and wallowing in the Everfree isn't going to change anything." Quick Hoof sighed. 
"I suppose you're right." She turned around.
"You heard the Fat Friar, let's get your gear on!" I stood up, surveying the glade.

It had taken a lot of effort, but we had plenty of tents set up here. A cloud bank overhead shielded our position from high flying pegasi, and there were wards all around the perimeter that detected when an unauthorised intruder was going in. One of the first things we'd down when Flash betrayed us was to remove his approval from the wards. The other thing we'd done was install a watch. Nopony liked the Everfree Forest all that much, but we'd all learned a lot about herb lore, which plants to eat and when to eat them. We were perfectly self-sustaining here.

I grabbed my staff, feeling the power flow through my fingers. Grabbing my skull cap, I jogged over to the meeting point. Once there, I consulted with our spotter.
"Any news?" Lieutenant Stern Hoof nodded, keeping a careful eye out. Even though I knew that he was loyal to our cause, I was still cautious with him. 
"There's a tax wagon that's passing from Ponyville to Canterlot in a few hours. More than enough time to get ready for them." I grinned, and turned to give the orders. 
"Let's head out, boys!" 



Tax carriage

Flash Sentry looked on uneasily into the forest. Even though the raid had only captured three members of the group, it was still being hailed as a bold move against these bandits. He knew it wasn't, really. From what he'd seen, the group that met in the depths of the forest numbered near a hundred, and their members grew daily from the beggars in the streets. He wasn't even sure how many of them acted as 'spotters' for the bandits to move. 

He'd told the Princess everything he could about the group's tactics- they preferred to ambush, strike hard and take everything they could, then retreat into the forest. That was when their leader wasn't around. He'd participated in a few raids, and was amazed at the diligence that they put into their work. It was almost as tough as the guard physical and teamwork drills. Truly, he admired them. 

But even though they were doing the right thing, they were going about it in the wrong way. He kept a careful eye on the trees. Who knew where or when a possible attack might occur-

With a mighty explosion, the back wheels of the cart were taken down. It dragged onto the ground, and Flash jumped up, sword in hand. Standing behind the cart, wiping mud off of himself, was the Fat Friar himself. Flash stared. This wasn't some mysterious creature from another continent- this was a warrior who only had a half smile on his lips. 

A unicorn tried to blast him, but a wave of his staff deflected it. The Friar spun, shooting a brown fireball out in the general direction, spinning it the other way to flash freeze Flash to the cart with a large chunk of brownish ice. Other guards tried to attack, but he slammed his staff into the ground, and the earth swallowed their legs. A pegasus trying to dive bomb him was rewarded with a miniature cyclone coming out of the tip of the staff, slamming him into a tree with the crackle of breaking wing bones. Flash struggled to get out, before giving up. The Friar looked at him curiously. Then, he frowned.
"Flash Sentry?" Flash slumped in defeat. The Friar was probably going to kill him. He struggled with his bonds, but the Friar had frozen him well. All he could to was watch the Friar remove several bags of gold. 
"Flash... I want you to know this." He walked up, staring him right in the eyes.
"I forgive you." With that, he stalked off, the other guards incapacitated by the very earth beneath their hooves. Flash felt tears in his eyes.

Why had the Friar forgiven him? It was a question he didn't understand. 


Hideout.


I sat back down, covering my face with my hands. Beside me, Quick Hoof looked at me sympathetically.
"You still want him to be in the band, don't you?" I sighed.
"If he wants to be a Guard, then I won't force him to rejoin. I have never forced anybody to join the Everfree Merry Ponies." 
With that, I went off to my tent, thinking about a potential friend of mine.