Equestria Broken

by gutterratt

Equestria Broken - Five: The Seeds

Five : The Seeds

"Don't ever count on anybody else, in this or any other land. I once hoped for friendship, to find a place among my kind. But those were the childish wishes of someone who was blind." Open Up Your Eyes - Emily Blunt (My Little Pony: The Movie)

Clout looked to the sky and grimaced. He could see the dark clouds above brightening some with morning’s light rising behind them. It was still drizzling down on him as he looked out from the alleyway he hid in. Without his gear or his cloak, it would be an easy thing for somepony to see what he was. The stallion shuddered at the thought of being on that stage in those shackles. He sucked in a breath of air through clenched teeth, shoved the memory in the back of his mind with all his other demons and looked around once more.

“So!” the pegasus said behind him, “My name’s Stratta. If I knew the pony I was looking for was you, that really would have made things a lot easier yesterday.” He trotted up next to Clout.

“Go away.” the crystal pony demanded before moving out of cover and to the next alley. He crouched down behind a crate as three stallions quietly chatted on their way to work. While they passed the crate, the thief watched them walk away for a few seconds to make sure none of them turned around before he left his new cover.

“I still do not see why you are going back to that filth covered storehouse.” complained the unicorn mare who was following the two stallions. Not having anything to hide, she casually walked along and watched the buckskin duck and dive behind anything big enough to hide himself.

“I said go away.” Clout growled to both of his stalkers.

“I’m not going anywhere." the pegasus protested as he took to the air, "I have a job for you and that pony merchant, uh, What's-His-Name, said you were the one that I needed to talk to.”

The crystal pony glared daggers at the gray and orange buck. For some reason, Merchant had told this pony where he was going. Clout did not appreciate his movements being tracked and would have to give his friend an earful next time he saw him.

“Don’t look at me like that!” Strata complained, “I brought the guards. If it wasn’t for me you would have been sold.”

“Pardon me,” the mare interjected, “but the pony who had unbound him would be I, so you did nothing to save him from his predicament. I, however, did.”

“And without my distraction how exactly was your plan going to go?”

“I was going to buy him obviously.” the mare said as a matter of fact in an irritated tone of voice, “And what would your plan have been if the guards had caught him, pray tell?”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you, you prissy aristocratic nopony.” the pegasus shot back.

“Nopony!” the mare exclaimed in outrage, “I shall have you know my family is very well kept. But, I suppose a low-life such as yourself would not know a pony of prestige having never seen a real one due to lack of ambition to earn bits.” the mare countered as she swished her long tail. Thinking she had won that argument she gave him a small smirk.

Stratta scoffed. “Just because somepony is poor doesn’t mean they haven’t met a pony that matters. I’ve met plenty of powerful ponies.” he shot back.

“Very well, name me one pony of such high social standing that you have met.” the mare challenged.

“Wulf Song.” he said, smirking.

“Mr. Song is not a pony of aristocracy. He, sir, is a criminal. Nothing more than a…” she paused for a moment searching for words, “deplorable, unlawful delinquent who is ruining this rich country!”

“Hah! That’s a laugh.” the pegasus nickered, “He’s saving lives, unshackling slaves and--”

“Will both of you shut up!” Clout whispered harshly as he eyed the storehouse. The Shade Nights were still abundant in the area with three standing guard, two organizing and cataloging all the items they found inside and the others loading the captured black market patrons into a cage wagon.

“Looks like those ruffians are getting what they deserve.” the mare commented.

“If you were going to buy him then you should be in chains alongside them.” Stratta snorted.

The mare glared at him. “I beg your pardon!” she said in outrage.

Clout whirled on the two of them, “I said shut up! Or… go argue someplace else, just leave me alone!” He stomped a hoof on the cobblestones for emphasis as he glared. His ears then twitched back as he glanced at the law ponies just around the corner of the building they were hiding behind. He internally breathed a sigh of relief when none of them noticed the sound he just made. He continued to glower at the two ponies behind him.

“My sincerest apologies.” the mare said as her ears drooped, “I did not mean to--”

The crystal pony's icy gaze made the mare stiffen up and shut her mouth. Stratta clicked his tongue in vexation but kept quiet.

The thief backtracked a bit before he began trotting down the nearest alleyway. A couple trash cans, a discarded ripped hat, a sleeping homeless pony wrapped in a still wet blanket and a few nailed shut crates that were set here and there along the path made it slightly difficult to move freely. Using the unopened wooden packages as an easy way to jump the fence that made the alleyway’s dead end, he continued on to his destination.

The pegasus casually followed from the air while the mare grumbled about how unlady-like it was to be climbing boxes and falling into a rather large puddle on the other side of the fence. Clout once again glared at her and she gave him a sheepish smile while she stood up and tried to brush the water off of herself.

Attempting to ignore his stalkers, the buckskin cautiously made his way past a couple more buildings until the back of the storehouse was in view. Several ponies in suits and fedoras were talking in hushed tones. They were occasionally looking in through a small window by the back door and three of them had firearms out. With all of them being pegasai, he had a feeling he knew exactly who they were.

“It would be prudent for us to withdraw.” the unicorn whispered, “To antagonize those ponies would be quite the ill-advised decision.”

“Why, are you afraid of their guns?” the pegasus asked, genuinely curious.

The mare glared at Stratta. “No,” she said, “those ponies are with the Spectrum Fliers. They are mafia, the largest organized crime family in all of Equestria. Do you know nothing?”

“I know plenty.” Stratta said. As he opened his muzzle to continue his rebuttal he could hear an exasperated sigh from the stallion he was following and decided to leave his comment as it was. He landed on the ground and looked to the roof of the building the crystal pony was eyeing. “I could fly you up there. Probably has a roof access.”

Clout ignored the suggestion and continued to watch the mafia soldiers.

“Why would they continue to linger after the King’s guard had arrived?” The mare asked no pony in particular.

As they observed, the door handle next to the mafia ponies began to turn. All of the gang members aimed their weapons at the building's exit. The stallion who stood in the doorway gave them all a flat look and blew the smoke from his cigarette at them. As all the pegasai lowered their weapons and began to talk with the Shade Night, Clout was suddenly lifted up off of the ground.

"H-hey!" the crystal pony said as he flailed his legs uselessly in the air.

"Stop, no, you can not take him! I need him!!" the mare called to the two stallions as Stratta carried Clout to the storehouse's roof.

After the gray pegasus set the thief down, Clout whirled on him. "I didn't want to be flown up here!" he quietly scolded, "I don't need help, I need you to go away. I work alone. I don't even know why you're following me."

Stratta smiled, "I told you, I have a job for you."

Clout glared. "I don't see clients, that's what Merchant is for. Go talk to him." he said as he pointed a hoof in the general direction of away.

"I did talk to him." Stratta said, "And he told me to talk to you."

"Go. Away."

Stratta chuckled, "He said you would be stubborn. He also told me that if I stuck to you like glue it would eventually annoy you enough to come with me for the job."

Clout let out a hiss of air through clenched teeth in annoyance.

"Welp, let's get going to get whatever it is you need from here so I can take you to meet my boss." Stratta said in triumph as he trotted to the building's roof access.

Clout's head dropped slightly as he folded his ears and reluctantly followed.

The pegasus reached his hoof out to try the door handle but stopped at the command of the thief. The crystal pony crouched down and peered through the keyhole for a moment before turning the door handle himself. With the door being locked and his tools inside the building, he decided to look around the roof for anything he could use to pick the lock with.

"What are you looking for?" Stratta asked. He watched the other stallion walk around the roof and stare at the floor, obviously ignoring the pegasus. He cleared his throat and Clout stopped to grit his teeth.

The crystal pony gave a sigh, "The door is locked, my tools, gear and saddlebags are inside, I'm looking for something to unlock the door with."

"Oh." Stratta said before nosing around in his own saddlebags. He grabbed a leather satchel in his teeth and set it on the ground before unrolling it. "Will anything in here help?" he asked.

Clout walked over to him and looked at the tools. Several metal instruments lay before him, all used to dig up ancient artifacts. Several different sized brushes, each designed with different bristles to brush away specific types of dirt accompanied the wooden handled utensils. Three small trowels with different shaped scoops, a miniature pick, something that had what looked like a tiny griffon talon at the end, a magnifying glass, something that could only be described as a long thin stick of metal with a handle and a simple spoon all fit neatly in their respective pouches within the satchel. The pony frowned at his choices but he had nothing else at his disposal to use so he decided to work with what was in front of him.

He took the small griffon talon looking tool and the long metal stick and attempted to get to work on the lock. With improper picking tools it took him longer than usual but he eventually got the lock undone. Clout shoved the utensils out towards the pegasus who complained they were bent.

"I'll buy you new ones, quit complaining." the Thief responded as he peered through the lock once more.

"These tools were expensive..." Stratta grumbled.

"I have enough bits so quit complaining."

The pegasus put away his tools with a sad sigh as Clout carefully and slowly opened the door. He poked his head in and looked around. Before him was a short set of stairs that led to a metal catwalk. The walkway was parallel to another on the other side of the room with a thin bridge between. Many ropes hung from the rafters, some tied with sandbag weights and others holding a massive thick curtain open to show the stage below to the empty audience seats.

Clout stepped onto the catwalk before him and grimaced at the noise his unpadded hooves made on the metal surface. He could hear a couple ponies talking below but didn't hear any alarm in their tone of voice so he slowly walked out. Looking down, he watched the two Shade Nights making their way to their companions at the front of the building.

A sound of hoof on metal made the guards stop and look around.

Clout looked behind him and mouthed 'stop' at the pegasus. After a moment, the guards moved on while muttering about the building being old. After they left, the crystal pony turned to face Stratta. "Either stay quiet or stay on the roof!" he scolded.

"Okay then," the pegasus said with a smile before jumping off the catwalk.

Clout's eyes went wide as he looked to the door the guards walked through.

Stratta quietly chuckled, flapping his wings slowly as he hovered next to the buckskin.

Clout glared at him before making his way to the ladder and descending to the stage. Setting hoof down behind the curtain, the open platform was before him. The very stage where he was paraded in front of an audience to be sold, now was just rows and rows of empty chairs. Just hours ago he was a bid away from re-living being somepony's toy to do with as they pleased. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a breath before focusing on the task at hoof.

"There's nopony here, you coming?" Stratta asked.

Clout gave a grunt and trotted to the door on the other side of the stage. As he motioned to look through the keyhole, the doorknob began to turn. The crystal pony opened his mouth to utter a curse under his breath but before he could, he was swept up once again into the air. He looked over his shoulder at the winged pony. "I already told you I didn't need your help!" he harshly whispered.

Stratta smiled, "Too slow."

The buckskin softly growled as a mare in Kings guard armor trotted out of the door with a scowl on her face.

"Where the hell is Paper Cut, he should have finished his stupid smoke break by now." she complained, "Lazy-ass." The Shade Night moved off the stage, through the center aisle of the seats and out a door in the opposite corner of the room.

The second that the door clicked closed behind her, the pegasus set Clout back on the stage. "Be quick, you don't have much time." Stratta warned.

The crystal thief took the time to roll his eyes exaggeratedly at the comment before peering through the keyhole. He could see the empty cages before the uniformed body of a pony passed in front of the door. Muffled voices came from the other room about waiting on a locksmith for a safe in the office. Thinking back, Clout didn't remember seeing any safe in the room.

When the guard moved out of view, the thief pulled away from the keyhole and slowly opened the door. The guard closest to him had a clipboard in her magic, double checking her paperwork. The other three were walking toward the exit.

The pegasus tapped a wing on Clout's shoulder. "Hey, they're coming in." he said.

The crystal pony glanced behind to the opening door before quickly moving into the next room. After making sure Stratta closed the door quietly, he slinked down behind a cage to make sure he wasn't noticed by the clipboard unicorn. Looking around, he didn't see where the pegasus went. Folding his ears, he swore to murder the winged pony if he got them caught. Ignoring wherever the idiot ran off to and with the unicorn cursing at a box she just tripped over, Clout swooped across the open space to the office door and slipped in.

"I'm surprised you didn't check for guards before you came in." Stratta quietly commented. Clout glared at him as he hovered in the air. Stratta just smirked.

The thief looked around the room and was quite glad there was nopony in it but them. The neat and tidy office he remembered was now in disarray with drawers left open, papers on the floor and the chair shoved in a corner.

"You know, I wouldn't be surprised if the guards took whatever you're looking for. It's probably outside with all the crates of stuff they took out of the warehouse." The pegasus said, "Maybe we should look out there."

"Shut-up." Clout whispered as he walked around the desk. As he suspected, the safe was on the floor under the desk. It had been hidden by a small rug that too was tossed in a corner. Not having his tools, he was unable to pick the lock and with the door to the hidden space being big enough to fit a full sized pony he really wanted to see what was inside. The thief began to look around the room, hoofing through any drawer that he found.

"What are you looking for, maybe I can help?" Stratta asked.

"I'm looking for the key or something to pick this lock with. I don't need your help. You wouldn't even know what to look for anyway." Clout replied as he glared into an unhelpful drawer.

"Why not use my kit's tools again?"

The crystal pony went to slam a drawer shut in annoyance but stopped himself. He clenched his teeth and sucked in a breath. "This is a different kind of lock, stop asking questions. Go away and leave me alone!" he scolded.

"Just describe it to--" the pegasus began but cut himself off when he heard the doorknob move. Both stallions looked to the door and Clout's ears folded. With the ceiling of the room too low to use as a hiding spot, the pegasus dived behind the door while the buckskin hid under the desk. Both of them held their breath as the knob turned and the door opened.

Clopping of hooves on the wooden floor sounded through the silent room and the door creaked closed behind the pony. Clout's ears flattened in worry, hoping the pony didn't walk around the desk. His ears perked up as he heard Stratta give a complaint.

"You!" the pegasus harshly whispered, "How in Equus did you get past the guards and where did you get the keys from?" He flapped his wings in anger and gave a soft snort.

Clout peeked over the desk, flattened his ears and swished his tail once he saw who it was. The buck crawled out from under the desk and stood. "I told you to stop following me." he said to the charcoal unicorn mare as he gave her a flat look.

"Oh, so you don't want these keys then?" the mare said with a smirk as she jiggled them in her magic. The thief gave an annoyed grunt as he trotted over to her and snatched the keys out of her levitation spell.

Stratta watched as Clout went back around the desk to open the safe. "Seriously," he said, "how did you get past the guards? You just trotted right on in here like you had nothing to worry about."

The mare smirked as she said, "A lady never reveals her secrets."

The pegasus snorted, "Fine, don't tell me."

The unicorn gave a triumphant smile as Clout quietly closed the door to the safe after he exited the hidden room. Before addressing his two stalkers, he checked his gear once more. He had on his jacket, vest and cloak. His saddlebags were belted properly around his waist, notably empty to his growing frustrations. He did find his fox mask which was cracked in half within the safe room though. He adjusted his lock picking tools that were wrapped in their leather straps around his fetlocks, thankfully, all of them were present and accounted for. Despite their waterlogged adventure, they were not damaged thanks to their now slightly torn case. The crystal pony noted that aside from all his missing reappropriated goods, the only missing things were his bow, quiver and his small rodent companion.

Clout flipped the hood of his cloak over his head then walked around the desk, stopping in front of the other two ponies in the room. "I don't know how clear I can make this or how well either of you will understand." he began in a low tone of voice, "I don't want to keep repeating myself. So let me make this abundantly simple: I. Work. Alone. I do not work with a crew, I do not work on a team, I don't accept every job that is hoofed in front of me," he glared at Stratta, "and I don't have fanatical ponies following me around." he eyed the unicorn, "I work by myself, in the shadows where I don't get caught because I do a lot of things that others would disapprove of. Having a couple idiots following me around is going to get me caught and that's not going to end well. So, go away." The thief shoved his way past the pair and put a hoof on the door handle.

"No." the other two ponies said in unison. As they looked at each other for a moment, they could hear Clout grinding his teeth in frustration.

"I'm not leaving your side until you do the job my boss has for you." Stratta said, giving the back of Clout's hooded head a look of determination.

The crystal pony stared at the door in front of him for a long moment, waiting for the mare to speak but she stayed silent. He didn't understand these two. Both of them were so determined to follow him, but to what ends? They had to have a motive they weren't willing to throw away simply because he repeatedly complained at them. It seemed he only had two choices. He could either be a complete asshole to them, forcing them away or if they still refused to leave he was going to have to find some way to profit off of them at their expense. Finally he turned around and gave each of them a glare.

"Fine," he said to the pegasus, "on two conditions. If I tell you to do something you do it without question and if I go somewhere for any reason, you stay outside and leave me to my work. I don't need a burden that will get me caught."

Stratta had a slight inward cheer of victory as Merchant's advice had proven effective. "Fine." The pegasus said, "But you owe me for helping you out of the slaver's hooves."

"Whatever." Clout said with a sigh of discontent. He then addressed the unicorn. "Well?" he asked, "Aren't you going to explain why you're following me? You haven't given any sort of excuse yet and if you don't have a good reason then you need to trot off and leave me alone."

The mare gave a sheepish grin with a halfhearted chuckle as she began, "Uh, well…"

Clout glared daggers at her.

"I-I wanted to apologize." she said in haste.

The buckskin's expression softened ever so slightly to allow her to continue.

"I saw you snooping around in Cheyssie's mansion and I'm the one who got the guards. I didn't realize you were…" she trailed off as Clout gave an unamused expression.

The pegasus chimed in on behalf of the silent stallion, "So let me get this straight, you, an aristocratic priss who probably owns stables full of slaves, called the guards on somepony snooping around in whoever Chryssie is' mansion. You only became concerned for him being arrested after you found out he was a crystal pony. Your story doesn't make any sense."

"Crystal ponies have been the most tyrannized over everypony else. They are managed the worst by the Kings, dragons consider them a delicacy and they are even mandated to be castrated if they are not in the King's breeding stock. No other slave can say that." she shot back.

Stratta's ears folded back and he gave a snort. His tail swished as he opened his mouth to respond but held his tongue as Clout held up a hoof.

"Quiet." the buckskin said. The same hoof he raised, he used to rub his forehead in annoyance.

The mare looked at the crystal pony, "I owe you a debt and I'm not leaving your side until that debt is fulfilled. I almost got you killed, drowned and sold. I need to make this right, please let me come with you so I can make amends." She gave him a hard stare but he could see worry in her eyes. He couldn't figure out why not paying back a debt would be such a big deal to an aristocratic pony but besides that, the pegasus made a point that her story didn't make sense. Then again, the thought of what a wealthy pony could offer him in exchange for a life debt was too tempting. He thought of his belltower so filled with gold, gems and treasure the wooden floor of the building was complaining about it. He still needed more, much more.

"Fine." he finally said, "You will be bound to the same rules as…" pausing, he looked to the pegasus, "Feathers over here." He waved a hoof at the dark grey pegasus.

The mare gave a relieved smile as the other stallion complained, " My name is Stratta, Garett Stratta. Not 'Feathers'."

"You could not know how grateful I am, thank you ever so much! My name is Glaciated Era but you may refer to me as Glacier."

"Whatever." Clout said as he peered through the keyhole.

"Oh, I beg your pardon but, may I have those keys back? I must return them before we vacate this establishment." Glacier asked.

Stratta stared at her like she had three heads. "Are you mad? You want to go out of your way to seduce the guards again just so you can put the keys back. They probably already noticed the keys are gone, what's the point of returning them?"

The mare harrumphed. "And whom, may I ask, said that I had used my mare charm on them?" she asked.

"Stop fighting or I'm leaving both of you behind." Clout said. He looked to the unicorn, "If you want to get caught, that's your business but don't you dare get me caught again. You couldn't imagine what a thief would require to make up for two life debts." He gave a sly smile at the mental image and returned to watching the other room through the keyhole. "Keys are on the floor by the safe." he told her in a low voice as he saw a few guards walking by the door. He could hear them talking as they were all walking in the same direction, towards the large open docking gate. A pinstriped dark grey suit and red tie suddenly moved into view, blocking the rest of the room. The thief swiftly turned around, leapt over the desk, bumped into Glacier who gave a brief complaint and hid under the desk again. He could see the keys still lying on the carpet. As the door creaked open, he mouthed 'Get down!' at the unicorn but the pony opening the door demanded her attention before he could.

"Oh there you are!" a buck said in a hushed voice, "Come on, you've got to get out of here. Paper Cut says the locksmith will be here any minute."

Clout watched as Glacier looked in surprise at the stallion who stood in the doorway.

"Ah! My apologies." the mare said nervously as she eyed Stratta who looked like he was trying to merge with the wall behind the door. "I was hoping to have a few more minutes as I have been unsuccessful in locating my bracelet."

"I don't think you have a few more minutes unless you want to get caught by the King's guard."

The mare looked down, making eye contact with Clout. "Well, when you put it that way I do suppose it would be wise to vacate." she said as she walked to the door.

"Look, if I find it I'll try to get it back to you. I can't promise anything if the others find it though." the mobster said, "You have the keys, right?"

"Oh, I left them by the safe." she replied.

As the buck began to step through the doorway, Glacier stopped him with a hoof. "N-no, I shall retrieve them darling," she said before pushing him back a step, "I left them after all. You go on ahead, I will be right behind you."

The mobster gave her a suspicious look and watched her trot behind the desk. Her horn lit up with the yellow glow of her magic and the keys levitated into the air. The fedora wearing buck turned around and looked about the large empty room before glancing behind him to make sure the unicorn was following. Glacier trotted out behind him, the two walked towards the back entrance and the mare magically closed the door behind her.

Clout poked his head above the desk to look at the other buck in the room.

Stratta returned the stare, "What was that all about?"

The two stallions exited the small office, following the couple back to the theatre room all the while eavesdropping on their conversation.

"You know," the suit-wearing pony began, "you're really lucky the boss isn't here. She's mighty put off that you're late."

"I am aware," Glacier said with a sigh.

"Really, if she found ou--"

"I am aware!" she interrupted more forcefully.

The mobster didn't flinch but let her continue.

"My apologies." the unicorn said, looking to the floor as she walked.

Clout and Stratta had begun to climb the ladder back up to the catwalk as Glacier let out another sigh.

"I… I just require a few more days. Maybe a week at most and I shall restore my obligation to your company." she said.

The two reached the back door and the mobster pony put a hoof on the door handle. He ruffled his wings as he gave her a look. "I won't tell the boss I saw you but you'd best bet you'll be seeing Spectrum in the near future if you don't deliver as promised real soon."

The two hidden stallions opened the roof access door and walked out. The morning rain had lightened to a downpour of fine mist while the sun rose higher over the horizon. Clout gave a hard blink as his tired eyes tried to adjust to the unfamiliar amount of brightness. Stratta walked to the edge of the building and looked down. He watched as the mare thanked the Spectrum Flier pony and began to trot down the street.

The pegasus looked to Clout, "So should we ditch her or follow?"

The crystal thief trotted to the edge of the building. Watching the mare trot away, the thought of one less stalker became quite appealing. Then again, the thought of losing a life's debt worth of bits left a foul taste in his mouth. "We'll follow," he finally said.

Not wanting to be picked up by the pegasus for a third time, Clout galloped across the rooftop and lept to the next building. He followed a large metal pipe along the side of the structure that bent towards the ground once it reached the corner. The pipe disappeared into the cobblestones below, most likely connecting with a sewer under the city.

As Stratta easily glided through the air, his new companion gripped the pipe in all four hooves and slid down it, landing on the street with a soft grunt. An aged old earth pony mare awoke from her slumber, unlike the deceased yellow mule lying next to her. The elderly pony was dirty, ragged and shivering under her sopping wet hand-me-down cloak. She held her shakey hoof out to the strangers who had invaded her spot on the cold street.

"Spare a bit for an old mare?" she begged with a raspy voice.

The pegasus hovered in the air above, giving the miserable pony a sad look as he watched Clout ignore her and trot on. Stratta took the time to toss two bits on the ground for her before catching up to the buckskinned pony.

The two stallions caught up to the fancy unicorn mare. Clout gave her a glancing look before he veered into the nearest empty alleyway. The mare followed.

"I am quite pleased you were able to make your exit without alarm." Glacier said.

Stratta landed behind Clout and both of the stallions looked at her.

"That conversation you had with the Spectrum Flier pony was quite interesting." Clout said with stony gaze, "Would you like to enlighten me on how you were planning to repay me a life debt when you can't pay them back?" He took a step forward threateningly but to the mare's credit she stood her ground this time.

"My personal matters with those gentlecolts are just that, personal," she said, "I can, and shall, settle my account with you and I am not leaving your side until this matter has been resolved."

Clout's harsh gaze intensified as the two stared at each other. Stratta watched on in silence as the crystal pony took another step. "If you swear a promise to me, you'd better keep it." the stallion growled.

With the two inches apart, their height difference was quite obvious. The mare was abnormally tall, almost the height of the fabled ancient alicorn princesses who were felled by King Discord. The crystal pony was shorter than average but definitely not foal size. The smaller buck angrily advanced on the taller mare causing her to begin nervously backing up.

"I don't take well to ponies who betray me. If you do, I will ruin your life. I will make it my life's mission to haunt you," he said as he slowly advanced on the mare, keeping his scowl on Glacier, "I will follow you everywhere, hiding in the shadows, stealing everything that you own."

The mare finally had nowhere else to go as her flank bumped into the wall.

"I will take every last bit, every keepsake, every useless piece of garbage until you have nothing to your name. I will steal the clothes from your very back and don't think for one second that I won't because I am very good at what I do," Clout's ears folded and his eyes narrowed, "And when you have nothing left, I will still haunt you. A phantom, hiding in the corner of your eye taking every last crumb of food from your mouth so your hunger drives you to insanity. After they finally cart you off to the insane asylum, I'll do the same to your family starting with your foals. Then I will destroy your siblings, your parents and all the rest. Every last relative until I own everything your extended family has to offer me. Only when everything you care about is gone will I be satisfied with my revenge. I will even haunt your damned dog if you have one."

The pegasus watched in concern as the mare visibly gulped in a most unlady-like fashion. After an uncomfortable moment of silence he decided to try and lighten the mood. "Ya know," Stratta said, "if you keep that scowl on your face it will become permanent. You'll scare away every filly and colt for miles around." He gave a chuckle and a nervous smile that quickly vanished as the moody stallion whirled on him.

"The exact same goes for you!" Clout barked, "You'd better think long and hard about if you really want me to do that job. The second you sell me out, like a certain dead pony recently did, it will not end well for you or your family. I will find every last one of them and destroy them." The crystal pony walked towards Stratta.

"Yeesh, sca-ry!" The stallion nervously fluttered his wings, "You don't have to be so mean, never even crossed my mind." The buckskin continued to glare. "By the way, how would you go about it if y--"

Clout cut off the pegasus' words with the stomp of his hoof. "I don't care if your family lives in the clouds or you tell me you're an orphan. You betray me and I will find every last one. You will all be caged at my command, your lives will all be ruined and you will rue the day you crossed me," he said.

After another uncomfortable moment of silence, Stratta decided on a different tactic. "Change of topic, why don't we get going! Off to the train station we go!" he stallion said in exaggerated enthusiasm and a nervous chuckle as he trotted towards the cobblestone street.

Glacier looked on in worry as Clout was obviously not at all amused. In fact, he was frustrated that both of them were determined to push past the crystal pony's outburst and continue to follow him like a lovestruck yearling.

"No," the thief said sternly.

The pegasus stopped in his tracks and looked to Clout. "What? But you said you would…" Stratta trailed off, not finishing his sentence as he watched the crystal pony trot past him and out of the alley. The archeologist shared a look with the aristocrat before they both began to follow the thief.

Knowing that chatting while the crystal pony was in such an angry mood could only be hazardous to their health, both the pegasus and the unicorn stayed silent as they followed. They both moved when he moved and hid when he hid. They tried to ignore the sick and dying who were cluttering the back alleys, coughing, moaning in pain and begging for medicine. Clout coldly walked right past them.

Glacier had tripped over several and made disgusted squeaks at the sight of their decaying bodies. The thief ignored her plight and decided to use the rooftops instead. The mare watched as the buckskin easily scaled the side of a building and the pegasus flew up into the air.

"Wait, what about--" she began to ask but was cut off as Stratta lifted her off the ground.

"You're heavier than you look." the pegasus said with a grunt.

"I would appreciate it if you would refrain from being rude."

"Well, I could drop you if you'd like."

"No!" she said swiftly, "No, I appreciate the assistance. Thank you."

"Was that so hard?" Stratta asked with a smile as the two of them soared through the air, following Clout as he jumped across several more buildings before descending. The pegasus followed his descent and set the mare down on the cobblestone below.

All three of the ponies looked at a very large building covered in a massive canvas sheet. Two dozen ponies were trotting about the building in odd suits that covered them from mane to tail. The outfits each had a large printed logo on them right where the pony's cutiemark would have been. A very curly number two and a sharp letter "B" colored in black with two white stripes going through the middle of each of the two triangles that made up the letter.

Several high society ponies were lined up in front of a carriage with another large symbol painted on its side. It was a bright yellow triangle with a biohazard symbol in the center of it. The Department of Sanitization were still at Chrysanthemum Blue's mansion cleaning up after the blight report last night.

Glacier broke the small group's silence, "Why have we returned to the manor?"

The crystal pony turned around to address his stalkers. "I am going to retrieve some things I left here. You two are going to stay here, stay hidden and stay out of trouble. Understand?" he asked.

Stratta nodded as Glaciated Era opened her muzzle once more.

"I beg your pardon but, I can assure you that Chrysanthemum Blue only kept her most treasured romance novels within that safe. I have seen the contents myself on several occasions. I do not believe it is worth retrieving." the unicorn stated.

Clout raised an eyebrow. "Good to know but that's not what I'm after." he said before turning and trotting off.

"Alright then." Glacier replied, watching him leave.

The pegasus turned to the mare. "How do you know Ms. Rich-What's-Her-Name Blue?" he asked.

The mare whisked her tail. "She's my cousin."

Leaving his two undesired companions in the hidden alcove of an older apartment building, Clout looked to the streets as he trotted. With the morning light brightening the foggy street, more ponies were roaming and tending to their daily tasks. A young pegasus filly used a broom to sweep dirt away from the entrance to a cheese shop. An earth pony slave could be seen inside of a bank cleaning the window. Scrawled on the window were fancy block letters that spelled out Draconem Reserve: Owned and Operated by Roth's Child. Many unicorn passerby's wearing casual dress were gathering around the Blue Estate, watching the activity and gossiping. In response to the growing crowd, several Shade Nights were galloping to the scene and warning the growing crowd to stay back and let the sanitization team do their jobs uninterrupted.

With everypony's attention on the front of the building, it wasn't difficult for the thief to make his way unnoticed to the rear of the mansion's barred wall. He found the same moss covered pillar he had used some hours ago and began to climb. Just as he reached the top of the fence post he could hear the faint sound of hoof steps on the cobblestone. He dropped down on the other side of the barrier and hid himself within the garden's rose bushes. He winced and decided this had not been one of his better ideas. He began to untangle part of his cloak from the thorns as he kept an eye out for the approaching pony. He yanked another thorn out of the fabric as he watched a foal trot into view.

A faded maroon colored colt trotted along the street. Under his left wing sat his messenger bag, a small blue shield shaped patch with a rearing yellow filly was sewn to its front and it was swollen with the day's newspapers. His dark colored mane bounced as he made his way to his daily route and Clout could see what looked like scars over his left greyed-out eye. He had on a simple stained sand colored shirt with a small bit of lace around the collar that was falling off. His cutiemark looked to be a black cat with green eyes.

The colt's ear twitched at the rustle of the leaves behind the large metal fencing. Clout shrunk down as close to the ground as he could as the foal looked over. The child tilted his head and blinked. The thief held his breath as the seconds ticked by. The foal continued to stand there, looking into the brush. His ears then perked up and a smile formed on his face and he gave Clout a small wave of his hoof. The young papercolt reached back to his saddlebags, grabbed one of his rolled up newspapers and set it on the ground. He pushed it with his nose until it was on the other side of the bars. The foal then gave one last smile at Clout before trotting away.

The crystal pony watched the colt leave. His ears folded back, suspicious of the child. As soon as he decided he was far enough away, Clout finished untangling himself from the rose bush. He grabbed the paper and stuffed it into his saddlebags to figure out the mystery later. He turned around and located his bow and quiver that he had stashed under the foliage before entering the party. Now he was only missing one more thing.

He snuck through the garden and made his way to the rear entrance of the mansion. Before him was the massive canvas sheet. He could smell the faint chemicals leaking through the fabric so he pulled his mask up over his muzzle. To keep the tent from being blown away in the wind, a long tube of fabric filled with sand bordered the entire edge of the tarp. Clout lifted the large sandbag so he could finish his search for the will that he was contracted to retrieve but as soon as he did, a strong waft of arid chemicals hit him like a brick wall. He could smell it so strongly through his mask it caused him to quickly back up, choking and coughing. His eyes burned and he squeezed them shut, his lungs uncontrollably forced him to exhale and he began to get dizzy.

With a trembling hoof, he pulled his mask down and tried his best to breathe in some chemical-free air and stop his coughing but his throat seized in protest. He tried his best not to cough, struggling against his body's involuntary actions as he worried the ponies on the other side of the building would hear him over their own noise. After just standing and breathing for a couple of minutes he was finally able to reasonably intake air without feeling asphyxiated. Clout's limbs were still a bit shaky and his chest ached incredibly. His eyes still stung and his throat was scratchy and throbbed but he knew he couldn't stay there all day. As he moved on, he became disappointed he couldn't throw the will of Chrysanthemum Blue in Flight Risk's face as he beat the crap out of him for setting him up. He knew he couldn't trust that foul pegasus and he shouldn't have. He only did it out of respect for Merchant. Clout clenched his teeth as he imagined that junkie swimming in bits for selling out an unregistered crystal pony. The asshole had done it before when Clout was a colt and despite what Merch claimed about his brother changing he wouldn't ever believe it.

The buckskin peeked around the corner of the tent and watched the ponies move about in their hazard suits. Half a dozen were working a large machine, pouring jugs of liquid into different tubes where the machine did something to it as it made a cacophony of noise. A large pipe was connected to the base of the machine. It stretched the length of the front yard and went under the tarp. One of the hazard ponies stayed where the pipe met the tent to make sure as little gas escaped as possible as the others yelled directions at each other. Several more were attending to the party patrons who were still present, hooking a few up to medical machines or taking blood for whatever testing they were doing.

Clout's ears perked as he saw a small cage on top of a couple sanitization department crates. There was a black furry lump in it and he knew exactly what that lump was. The thief rubbed his burning eyes with a hoof and pulled his mask back up before sneaking closer to the mass of activity.

With so many moving around and the crowd behind the front gates growing out of curiosity, he couldn't get very far. Any nooks or crannies he could have hidden in to get closer were removed by the massive canvas. There were some decorative plants around the front entrance but not enough to get as close as he needed to. And even if he swooped from cover to cover, avoiding the suited team of ponies, anypony in the crowd would be able to spot him sneaking around especially at this time of day. Clout's ears folded as he knew his options were limited. He rubbed his eyes again with a soft grunt of frustration.

A sudden new murmur began in the crowd out front. Clout watched as several Shade Nights ran past. One who was keeping the crowd off of the Blue's property yelled to one running pass. They stopped and responded. All the rest of the guards joined those running off with them after a shout from their commanding officer, deciding that whatever was happening was more important than crowd control. With the perfect distraction at just the right time, the crystal pony took the opportunity to swoop out of cover, grab the cage and run off back to the rear of the building. Once the buck was hidden within the flora of the back garden, he set the cage down on the ground and greeted his small friend.

He gave a couple hard coughs and flinched at the pain in his chest. "Hey Thief. I'm glad you're okay." he said to the rodent in a raspy voice.

Thief stood on her back legs, gripping the cage bars in her tiny paws and twitched her whiskers at him. Clout smiled under his mask, easily unlocked the padlock and opened the cage door. The rat swiftly ran out, climbed the stallion's leg and cuddled into his mane. The pony tilted his head into her cuddle and closed his eyes as relief flooded him that they had not butchered his tiny friend. He let out a shuddering breath before the duo left the empty cage behind, made their way back over the fence and to the unicorn and pegasus that Clout had left behind.

"I'm surprised you both stayed put." the crystal pony commented when he returned to them.

"I will admit that I was slightly apprehensive that you would not return." Glacier said with a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, I'm with her. I'm surprised you didn't just ditch us with how grumpy you were earlier." Stratta responded.

Clout rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "She owes me a mountain of bits, I'm not--" he interrupted himself with a raspy cough, "not going to give that up." Just as the pegasus's ears tilted and the mare opened her mouth, he continued, "What's going on, where are all the guards going?"

"Are you unwell?" the unicorn asked, "You seem impaired." She looked at him in concern and could see his eyes were slightly bloodshot.

Clout looked at her sternly before looking to the pegasus, glad that Stratta got the hint. "The Solar Nation had plans to remove some food shipments from those thugs today. They were going to give it to ponies who really need the food, and there are a lot of them. The Shade Nights have more than plenty so it wouldn't hurt them to learn to share for once." he said as he glared in the direction the guards ran.

The mare decided Stratta got his facts wrong. "Those ruffian rebels would be a more worthwhile company if they actually obeyed the laws." she huffed and swished her tail, "They are doing nothing more than destroying this great nation and they should be held accountable for their undesirable behavior. I do hope the King's guard will contain the rebel's distasteful conduct."

Stratta turned to give a look to Glacier and began to sputter in outrage. "Wha-- How can you-- Who in Tartarus thinks this nation is great? Who in Equus prospers from this stupid laws besides the already rich and powerful? How can you think what the guards do is just? And who the hell talks like the suffering of the innocent are beneath her?" With every question he threw at the aristocratic mare he got louder and more angry. His wings fluttered in frustration as Clout got in between them, preventing Glacier from giving a rebuttal.

"It doesn't concern us so quiet down. We're moving on."

The unicorn and the pegasus matched glares one last time before following the crystal pony out of the alcove. Everypony was still paying attention to the commotion at the mansion so they easily trotted behind the crowd, nopony noticing the stranger walking down the street with the bad cough. The group made their way down the street and toward the train station. Clout led the way while the two stayed silent behind him but he knew they were following him by the sound of their hooves on the cobblestone street.

It wasn't long before their gift of nopony around was gone. There were foals running through the puddles, carriages being driven down the road and ponies dining at open restaurants for breakfast. The thief grew increasingly concerned that somepony would call the guard for a suspicious pony in unusual duds. He decided it would be safer for him to use the thieves' highway so he veered down an alley, took his bow and a rope arrow and made his way to the rooftop of an art gallery building. He stopped only for a moment to catch his breath and un-dizzy himself before he began trotting along the roof tiles. Stratta flew up to him to stop the crystal pony.

"Hey, how is Whats-Her-Name supposed to follow? I mean, I can fly but she kinda can't climb a rope like you can." the pegasus said.

Clout stopped and looked behind himself. "I forgot you were following, you two were so quiet for once." he admitted.

"How can you forget us? You were so angry that we were following--"

"I normally work alone," the buckskin interrupted, "I'm not used to ponies following me. Go tell her we're heading to the train station, it isn't much farther. It's just easier for me to move about the city from the rooftops."

Stratta sighed. "Fine, fine. But don't blame me if she complains at you later. This is the second time you've basically ditched her like this without notice." he said before flying back down to the unicorn.

Clout gave another cough before he continued on his way along the moss-covered shingles of the old Victorian houses. They weren't as elegantly built as the ones in Canterlot but they weren't nearly as bad as the disheveled huts in Estuary Slums. As the smell of the salt sea wafted on the breeze and the sound of the harbor began to come into earshot, he knew he was right when he told the pegasus they weren't far from the train station. He just wished the salt in the air didn't burn his eyes as much as it did. Baltimare had a unique train rail that took it right beside the docks so it was easier to load cargo straight from the cargo ships onto the freight train. No other city had their train station so close to the sea. Because this was the case, it was a common thing for Baltimare's large market to be open so early in the morning. The stallion rubbed his eyes with a hoof and gave a throaty noise of annoyment. He watched as seagulls glided on the breeze above and Thief poked her head out of Clout's hood as she smelled the scent of freshly baked bread. He chuckled as the rat extended herself as much as she could before deciding to climb to his head instead of falling.

"Don't worry, we'll get you some food. I know it smells good doesn't it?" he commented to the small rodent. She licked the back of his ear in response. The crystal pony climbed down from the safety of the rooftops and into the archway of a rundown pub, closed for business so early in the day. He made sure to not enter the market yet as he was expecting a verbal lashing from the spoiled prissy unicorn and he didn't want her to make a scene.

"How dare you attempt to abscond from me!" Glacier scolded as she pranced up to Clout, her many strands of jewelry swaying with each angry step.

Clout gave her a flat look.

"I am a lady and you should do well to remember that sir."

"And I am not just some average pony who can strut around town flashing their jewelry." He gestured at her, "I can't just walk around without somepony seeing me as suspicious and calling the guards on me. Do you see how I'm dressed? Wouldn't this getup raise questions if you saw me lurking around your shop or home? I can't exactly take it off and not be noticed either." he paused to point a hoof at the pegasus as he opened his mouth to spout off a witty comment, "No, I can't just choose a different outfit. If I wore something ordinary ponies wore I wouldn't be able to blend in with the shadows as well as I do. Somepony in my profession needs to be able to stay hidden. Wearing different clothing wouldn't help my cause." he turned back to Glacier, "You, on the other hoof, are perfectly capable of just trotting out in the open without any pony being concerned you're by their shop window. They wouldn't care if you're loitering about. You don't look like you could steal a price tag let alone something worth a bit. In fact, you look like you're a walking advertisement for a free steal."

"I… I could so, do what you do!" the mare sputtered as she complained, "And what do you mean by a free steal! I, sir, do not condone that sort of action. It may be acceptable in other countries and by some low class standards but I am not some broodmare harlot who--"

Clout squeezed his eyes shut in annoyance. "I meant it would be really easy to steal from you. You're wearing your whole closet full of jewelry and I bet you wouldn't even notice if anypony took any of it while you weren't looking."

Before Glacier could open her mouth to give a rebuttal Stratta broke in, "C'mon, we have to get to the train station and find out when it will be here." He trotted in between them to get their attention focused on the marketplace before them.

The morning sun had finally broken through the soft fog layer, the streets before them visible but leaving the air feeling grossly sticky as if it now mixed with the smog of the city mills that bellowed noxious fumes of questionable breathability into the atmosphere. The market was a rectangular shape with three dozen booths set up. Several ships were docked nearby, some of their crew hauled crates while other crew members shouted over the crowd that they had the best goods from the Griffith Isles, others claimed they had the strongest drink from Fillydelphia's breweries and even others claimed they sold exotic wares from the Equestria's swamp-dwelling savage neighbors to the South. The market square was almost packed booth to booth with ponies of all sorts. There were those of high status in the city, unicorns in fancy robes or formal wear enjoying the prospect of buying the best goods before their colleagues could get the chance to. Earth pony slaves wandered about either with their masters, carrying the purchased items or sent here, list and pouch of bits to obey their commands of shopping on behalf of the one who owned them. On occasion, Clout could spot a pony he suspected as a petty thief, looking for any opportune moments to increase their wealth which, if done right, could be an easy thing in such a crowd. Many foals ran underhoof, excited to be in the morning market as well, most likely ignoring their parent's directives to stay close.

Three fillies chased a colt twice their size down the road, all laughing as they tried to catch him. Attempting to dissuade his pursuers, he aimed his hooves for every puddle he spotted. His tactic failed as the little fillies continued their chase. It did, however, work on Glacier as the three adults were caught in the crossfire.

"Agh! Rude!" the unicorn squeaked in rage, "Filthy little cretins!" She stamped her hoof down and watched them continue their game. She then cringed before looking down to her hoof. Both stallions chuckled as she complained how disgusting the commoners kept their streets. "What even is this… filth?" she asked nopony in particular.

"You don't want to know." Clout casually commented as he walked into the crowd.

"It's not mud, that's for sure." Strata added as he followed the crystal pony.

The mare's eyes widened as she extended her hoof away from herself and shook it ever so slightly to try and shake off the manure. She then looked up to see the tails of the stallions getting lost in the crowd. "Wait for me!" Glacier said as she galloped after them.

Not minding the large crowd he could disappear in, Clout squeezed past the herd of ponies. He looked to his right when a shout came from the boats. He couldn't see much from his low vantage point but as long as they ignored him, he didn't care. At the end of the row of booths, he turned left towards the train tracks.

Glacier and Strata once again lost track of their thief, getting pushed around by the bustling market. The mare loudly complained each time her golden chain jewelry was snagged on another pony's saddlebags and the archeologist stopped to help as she and the passerby argued over who was at fault. Stratta caught a stick skinny orange pony trying to steal his leather tool pouch out of his own saddlebags and the pony got a smack for it. The mare's excessively long braided tail got stepped on no less than four times and the pegasus got knocked back into an elderly mare when another pony dominoed into him by an angry stall guard.

Glacier gave the buck an impatient gaze as she watched him help the wrinkled old mare up with a wing. "Are you quite finished? We have misplaced our mutual acquaintance. We are not going to find him if we stop for every distraction."

"I'm not the only one stopping us." Stratta said as he brushed the dirt off of the elderly pony's ripped old dress. He waved to her as she shakily continued on her way before the pegasus turned back to the demanding unicorn.

"I must find where he went!"

Stratta raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you really have to pay him back? I mean, you know he's going to make you give him all the gold you have right?"

She huffed. "Still your muzzle and… fly up there," she waved a hoof in the air, "see if you can locate him."

He glared at her in protest. "I am not your servant or your slave, you can't just order me around!"

"But you are a pegasus." she countered, "Go on, do as you were told." She daintily waved a hoof at him, expecting the stallion to do her bidding.

"No. He was headed to the train station, we just have to go there and we'll find him."

The mare scowled at his response, "You, sir, should do as you are directed by your betters. You--"

"Or what?" he challenged. After a brief pause from the both of them he continued, "That's what I thought. And a unicorn being anypony's better is laughable."

The two of them stared angrily at each other before Stratta suggested they continue the search before the crystal pony abandoned them. As they reached the entrance of the train platform, Clout came trotting out from behind the building that served as the post office and ticket booth. He glanced at the two ponies and gave another couple coughs before veering toward the benches.

"So, when does our train leave?" Stratta asked as he trotted up to Clout.

The thief sat down before answering, "In an hour."

"You have the tickets then?" Glacier asked, "Where, pray tell, is our destination?"

The pegasus fluffed his wings and replied, "We're going to Ponyville, that's where my boss is."

The mare's face scrunched in disgust. "Ponyville," she started, "that rebel camp? What in Equus would those low lifes want with…" She trailed off in thought before realizing, "My, I don't actually believe you have told me your name." Glacier looked to the crystal pony who only ignored her and rubbed his eyes with a hoof in response.

"Why my boss wants him is none of your business. They don't let stuffy unicorns in anyways."

"I beg your pardon but I am not leaving his side!" she insisted with a stomp of her hoof.

Stratta gave her a questioning look as Clout's ears folded.

"Well… I-I mean, not until I have repaid my debt to him of course." The unease in the air began to thicken until the mare abruptly changed the topic of conversation. "Shopping time! Let's go look at their wares, I love shopping!" Glacier exclaimed, obviously faking overenthusiasm for a market that was far below her high-class standards.

"You do what you want, I'm waiting for the train." Clout said as he looked to the empty train tracks, glad to be able to take a break for a minute.

Stratta ignored her and sat next to the crystal pony on the bench. The unicorn gave a pouty face to the two stallions who were not interested in participating. She suddenly grabbed the thief's foreleg and pulled him off of his seat.

"Let's go, this will be fun!" she told him while she hugged his leg to her.

"H-hey!" the crystal pony exclaimed in surprise as he was dragged along, "Don't touch me! Let go!"

Stratta turned around in his seat. He put one of his forelegs on the backrest of the bench and rested his chin on his leg while he watched the two bicker.

"Oh calm down, the train will not arrive for an hour, correct? We have plenty of time to have a little fun!" the unicorn reassured, "I just want to go look at a couple of booths." The mare only managed to drag him a few feet from the benches before he managed to free himself.

"Then go look on your own, I'm not a foalsitter!" he spat angrily.

"A gentlecolt always worries for a mare. Thus, he goes with her to protect her, as her knight in shining armor. Besides, what if I get mugged? There are a lot of shady looking ponies in this market who may do any manner of despicable things to a lady such as myself." she said with a smile.

"Oh, and you don't think I would?" Clout retorted dryly as Garret snickered. The crystal pony gave another hard stare at the unicorn. "You look capable enough to be on your own to me." he told her before giving a small cough.

Glacier pouted for a moment before putting her hooves together. "Please?"

Clout gave her a flat, disinterested look, turned around and began to walk back to the bench. With his head still on his foreleg, Stratta looked to the unicorn mare, then to the buckskin.

"So," the pegasus started, "since we have some time, want to swap cutiemark stories?"

"Ooookkaaayy," Clout said as he made a quick one-eighty, "the market it is." His ears drooped some and he gave a disappointed grunt as he quickly trotted down the steps of the train platform. Overjoyed, Glacier gave a small cheer of victory and trotted after him as Stratta gave a disappointed sigh before following the two from the air.

"Oh, by the way," the mare began as they walked, "how much were you charged for the train tickets? I would be remiss if I did not give you compensation for the one you retrieved for me."

Clout raised an eyebrow at her. "Who says I got you one?"

"Pardon? I had thought you retrieved a ticket for each of us." Glacier asked in shock.

"I didn't. I just--"

"I'll go get them." Stratta said dejectedly.

"Hey, feather-head, If you had let me finish I would have said that I just grabbed a hoof-full. I didn't get any specifically for you two."

Stratta hovered in the air for a moment. "So, then you--"

The crystal pony reached up, grabbed Stratta's long orange tail and yanked it down to the ground before he could finish his sentence. The pegasus' ass landed hard on the wooden dock of the market harbor before Clout's glare bored into him.

"Not so loud." he quietly growled, "Got it?"

Stratta looked down at his rear, ignoring the crystal pony. "Oww, I think you gave me splinters." he said as he rubbed his flank with a hoof. Clout snorted and shook his head in annoyance as he continued on his way. Glacier was suddenly by the thief's side.

"So, from what I understand there is no need to compensate you for the tickets then?" she asked, choosing her phrasing in hopes to not get on his bad side again. He only walked towards the nearest booth.

"You did get at least three though, right?" Stratta asked.

Ignoring the question, Clout looked over the wares of the first vendor. Several different kinds of fish lay lined up in trays on the table. A barrel of clams and one of scallops sat to either side and three wooden crab traps were lined up in front with several crawling around in each. Not as interesting as the booths in The Everfree but they were allowed to sell unique, dangerous or illegal things unlike this market. He watched as the pegasus stallion behind the table rolled up three fish in a newspaper for a bedraggled looking earth pony.

Glacier grimaced at the fish stand. "Does he expect his patrons to eat them raw? He should cook them first. That is utterly revolting!" she quietly commented to the two others in her group.

"Then he would charge them more," Stratta said, "They cook it at home." He raised an eyebrow at her.

She put a hoof to her chest, "Well, if they can afford a chef, I am quite certain they would be able to pay for a decent meal, those look horrid!"

"Are you serious?" Stratta gave her a skeptical look, "You can't be this naïve."

"I am a well read aristocratic mare, I am not naïve, sir!"

"Moving on." Clout interjected as he started walking again. The others followed in silence, their new argument forgotten as they came upon the next booth. Baskets lined with thick canvas cloth crowded the table, each filled with a different colored powder. The overpowering aroma of the booth discouraged the trio from window shopping this spice vendor's wares. They moved on to the next one.

This booth had fine woven fabrics on display. Each colored cloth had a beautiful design spotted delicately with tiny gems to accentuate the cloth's artwork. The gypsy-looking lavender unicorn mare was busy with several customers while many more admired her silks as they waited. Glacier stopped for a moment to marvel at the wares. Both the stallions also stopped and waited on her but Stratta only had patience enough for a couple of minutes before continuing on. Clout took the time to nonchalantly lighten somepony's purse and fill his own. He almost got caught when he involuntarily coughed and got their attention. Glacier noticed her buck escorts getting bored of waiting and scrambled to catch up to them.

The fourth booth they came to had a large assortment of carved images. Some were of a bizarre creature made of a pony, dragon, jackal and a raven. A few on the same side of the table represented a faceless white alicorn stallion. Three of the statues depicted the two doing battle with an inscription on the base that read The Two at Odds will only find Chaos if they do not find Harmony. Another set of wooden statues showed two alicorn mares encircling each other, one with a moon in her hooves and the other the sun. In the center of the circle the two mares made was another, smaller alicorn holding the planet of Equus. A few were intricate looking six pointed stars while others were of a regal, strange looking unicorn figure. The unicorn pony statue had slender legs, cloven hooves, a curved horn and a stick-skinny tail with a ball of fluff on its end. The vast majority of the statue's carved fur was curly and unusually long. The inscription simply said Tranquility. There were also a few statues of King Sombra as well as King Discord but not as many of this booth's customers were as interested in them as they were in the other carved images.

Clout scoffed at the religious paraphernalia as he continued on to the next booth. Glacier marveled at the statues of the Trinity Architects while Stratta gave a disapproving frown to the Chaos statues.

When all three reached the next booth, they came upon a female griffon selling what the pegasus could only gather were rocks. Uninterested, he moved onto the final stall in the row while Glacier and Clout looked a little while longer. The griffon herself had a large curving beak that almost seemed too big for her face. Her bird half was black and white while her feline half was tan with black speckles and the shortest tail Clout had ever seen on a griffon. A long speckled brown lizard wrapped its skinny tail around her neck as she held a stone in her webbed talons. The rocks in question neither of the ponies had ever seen in Equestria before. They were varied in color, some were brown and some milky caramel. Others were slate with golden fragments or marbled pearl with silver and green in them. The two could hear the griffon speak in her strange accent to a customer about her wares as she carefully drilled a hole through the center of the stone she held so she could add it to the necklace she was making. Apparently Griffonstone had the name for a reason and gemstones, beaded jewelry and intricate stonemasonry work was a specialty of their lands.

The crystal pony and unicorn mare caught up with Stratta who they saw had a pastry in his hooves. The final stand in the row offered freshly baked bread and pastries that were being cooked and brought out by two fillies from their house directly behind the booth. The unicorn mare ignored it entirely while Clout took advantage of the large crowd, stealing a loaf of bread. He followed the two ponies to the thinner part of the crowd and they all stopped for a moment. He gave a piece of the bread to his rat friend who took it happily and scurried into one of his saddlebags while the other two ponies started up in conversation.

"Well, that was unproductive." Stratta commented.

"Why, yes it was, we have less time until our fare arrives."

"Speaking of which," Clout said, "I'm going back to the train platform."

As he began to turn around, Glacier objected, "But you mustn't, we have yet to finish looking at all the booths."

As the crystal pony opened his muzzle to give an angry retort, he was interrupted by a small filly. She had a basket full of several different kinds of flowers that was held by a strap that went around the back of her neck. She was a light pink color with a dark blue mane and tail that had two streaks of color in it. Her frilly red dress was stained, ripped, obviously old and gave off a faint smell as if she stole it from a corpse.

"Hello mister," the filly said in a raspy voice, "would you like to buy a flower for your marefriend?" She gave a small hopeful smile at him.

"No." he said bluntly. Glacier gave a disappointed whine while he elaborated, "I don't want to buy a flower and she's not my marefriend. I don't even know her." he waved a hoof in the unicorn's direction.

The little filly looked down. "Okay, sorry to bother you." she said.

As she began to turn away, Clout sighed and grumbled about how much he hated kids before he tossed the almost full loaf of bread in her basket. It crushed a few of the flowers but put a smile on the filly's face. She thanked him before galloping away through the crowd.

He looked to his two forced companions and saw Stratta smiling while Glacier was still upset he didn't buy her a flower. "Walk." he snorted, irritated for the hundredth time that day. Instead of making their way back on the other side of the market, they decided to find out why ponies were gathered at the opposite side of the clearing. They could see a long line of ponies, mostly earth and pegasai ponies, waiting to get whatever was at the front of the line. As the three walked beside it, they noticed all of the ponies were holding a ticket. Getting closer to the front of the line, they could make out a voice above the buzz of the market. The speech sounded like a stallion's and they could only make out a few words here and there.

"What is he saying?" Glacier asked.

"Something about King Discord I think." Clout replied with a small cough.

Stratta nodded in confirmation. "A preacher of the Two at Odds I think. He's mostly reciting lines from their Harmony Quartet books."

Glacier turned to the pegasus. "Oh, are you one of those 'King Discord is the archfiend' types?"

"Not that it's any of your business but more than half the ponies who are a part of the Solar Nation pray to the Bard of Harmony so I can recognize the scriptures when I hear them."

The three came upon the stand that everypony was lined up in front of and saw it was a government booth. Clout's ears folded slightly as he watched a very young earth pony colt give the guard his food voucher. They verified it, made a mark on their clipboard and hoofed over a small bag. The colt made an objection over how little there was and he got a smack for it by a guard. The preacher's words grew louder as he shouted in opposition to the 'gifts' from the false king and the guards grew tired of it. Stratta suggested they move on as a small scuffle broke out between the guards and some of the stallion's followers.

Closer to the docks was yet another crowd of ponies. This time the trio could see why, even with everypony blocking the way. A large stage was set up by the peer with many boxes to either side. A bright yellow banner with 2B Pharmaceuticals written on it was hung proudly above. Much of the crowd was being kept at bay by Spectrum Fliers that Glacier suspected were hired bodyguards.

Stratta had a smile on his face as he could see two tall yellow unicorns with white and red manes trot onto stage. One of the two sported a mustache while the other was clean shaven. "Hey! Let's get a closer look, I've never seen one of their live advertisements before!"

Clout raised an eyebrow as the pegasus happily squeezed himself through the herd. The crystal pony had never seen somepony so enthusiastic over pharmaceuticals before but he followed the two into the crowd nonetheless. As they squeezed their way to the front, the two unicorns on stage began their amateur theatrical performance. Background music began and the two brothers each raised a hoof in unison to give a symmetrical bow. The crowd began to cheer in excitement as they watched the duo on stage.

Everypony knew of the scientific miracles their company blessed Equestria with. From soaps and lotion to cough syrup, pain meds and water purifiers. Their company created disinfectant sprays, humidifiers and gas masks. All of which and so much more was available for consumer purchase thanks to the Flim Flam brothers. Everypony knew that without them, Equestria would have collapsed from the plague long ago. With their help the country limped along and continued its fight against the deadly disease. The crowd and everypony on the dock knew the brothers only put on a performance advertisement when they had a new product to release. The hired bodyguards were enough to keep the excited crow at bay when they had their guns out and ready to deter any bad behavior.

"Mares and gentlecolts," the mustached stallion, Flim, began, "if you would give us just a moment of your time." The eager herd of ponies tried their best to settle down so they could hear them better, some ponies were shushing their neighbors while others scolded loud foals.

"My brother and I have come here to this great city of Baltimare for you," the clean shaven one, Flam, said as he pointed out into the crowd, "Yes! Just for you, to bring you the latest and greatest of technologies!"

"Innovation from our top experts that will change the world as we know it!" Flam exclaimed.

"Allow us," Flim said as the background music upped its tempo, "the founders of Two Brothers Pharmaceuticals to introduce you to our new sensational product!"

"A breakthrough in science!"

"A comfort to your health!"

"And a weight off your mind!" they both shouted in unison. With that introduction, they finally began to sing to the tune of the music playing from the speakers. The audience cheered in anticipation of the song.

"Everypony knows these times are tough and brutal." one began.

"With struggle after struggle your efforts soon seem futile." The other brother said as he ran his hooves down the sides of his face in fake exhaustion.

The tempo of the tune slowed a bit for the next line. "The day to day monotony of work is just a start…"

One brother picked up a cardboard cutout of a skin and bones foal off of the stage floor for a prop as he sang, "You starve yourself to feed your foals, it only breaks your heart…" He tilted his head down and put a hoof on his chest.

The other one lifted an empty sack with a bit sign on it and tried in vain to dump its contents out onto the floor. "Your taxes rise, you get laid off, your landlord kicks you out."

The somber tune continued its depressing sound as the one holding the cardboard foal shackled its thinly drawn hooves and passed it to his brother in exchange for the empty sack. "The workhouse full, you sell your foals, your heart just fills with doubt!"

"What little you have left, taken by a thief in the night." One of them used their magic to float the empty sack off stage while they both extended a hoof out towards it watching it fly out of their reach.

The music slowed even more, almost to a crawl as they continued to describe the worst life had to offer. "Will you stand back up and try again or be taken by the blight?" they both asked the crowd. With that the tempo finally picked up to a more cheerful tune.

"Just seven days is what they say before you fall down dead!" Flim sang as his brother clutched his chest, spun around on one hoof and fell on his back in obvious fake death, holding up a single white lily in his hooves.

Flam quickly revived as he jumped up to sing his line while his brother acted. "Painful boils molt your coat, forcing you to bed!" The clean shaven stallion pulled a string attached to his striped dress shirt. As the action somehow inflated several tiny balloons attached to his outfit to represent boils, he pulled a large tuft of fake fur out of a collar pocket and tossed it forward, the hairs softly blowing in the morning sea breeze. He then began to sing.

"A wheezing cough and shaking hooves, blood comes out both ends!" The other stallion coughed a couple times before magicing a ribbon to be thrown in front of him and one behind. He put a hoof over his muzzle in embarrassment.

One brother got down on his knees as he acted out praying to a god. "You suffer through organ failure, death is a Godsend!"

Flim looked to his brother in terror as he asked him, "All that sounds very scary! Whatever can we do?"

Flam smiled to his twin, "It's very simple brother and we've brought it just for you!" the buck pointed a hoof out to the throng of ponies before them.

The tune grew more excited as they came to the conclusion of their advertisement. The unicorn siblings put a leg over each other's shoulder as they once again sang in unison, "Two Brothers Pharmaceuticals presents to you today the miracle technology that's really child's play!" A large ball got tossed into the crowd with their logo on it by a guard and each pony it came to bounced it into the air with their heads as they continued to listen in anticipation.

Flam broke the brotherly hold as he winked at the crowd with a hoof to his muzzle, "Two bits for a bottle with our famous guarantee!"

They both raised their hooves in the air as together they used their magic to create a display of colored sparks in the heavens above that gave off loud pops as they appeared. Some of them formed the shape of their company's logo while other sparks formed a bottle on either side of it.

They both sang the final line in unison as loud as they could over the roar of the magical fireworks, "2B curative tonic will make that dreaded blight flee!"

For only a moment the entire crowd stood stock still, processing that last line. Once everyone realized what it meant, every creature shoved their way forward to the stage, desperate to get their hooves on the miracle elixir. With all the bodies and limbs flailing about in a frenzied rush, Clout lost sight of his two temporary traveling companions. Being shorter than average, he was unable to see above the writhing mass. The collective cacophony of anger and desperation made the shouts of Flim, Flam and their guards just mute noise that got lost in the sea of shouts.

The thief was shoved this way and that. He tried to determine which way was out of the crowd but whichever way he tried to shove himself, he was shoved in the mutual direction everypony else was trying to go. In his struggle the buck had a hoof stepped on, he was shoved forward into a mare who kicked him in the muzzle. Somepony slammed into his side and he bumped into another stallion who shoved him back. The little black rodent hiding in Clout's saddle bags decided she did not like getting squished and barely clung onto her ride as she climbed her way into his hood. Clout's ears folded back as he was shoved forward more, face first into another pony's tail. Somepony fell onto his back and he immediately attempted to buck them off of him.

Another body suddenly slammed into his side and knocked the wind out of him, causing him to have another coughing fit as he fell to the floor. He landed on top of another pony who was lying on the ground. The pony who had been atop Clout fell on top of the one who shoved the thief sideways. As the buckskin attempted to get to his hooves, he had to scramble back as quickly as he could to avoid getting stepped on by another pony going in reverse as quickly as she could. As much as the crystal pony was used to ducking and dodging, Clout was getting real tired of being pushed around. As he was plowed into from behind again, he was thrown forward into the rear end of a filly, propelling her forward from the domino effect. He decided he would have to hurt the pegasus for such a stupid idea, all he wanted to do was sit on the bench and wait for the train.

A loud sharp report stilled and silenced the dock.

Clout gave a couple of coughs and rubbed his head, a bit dizzy, before he looked. The filly he shoved forward lye still on the wooden dock in front of him, the pegasus guard with a smoking gun held in his wing feathers.

"We told you all to back up!" the pegasus shouted with a scowl on his face. Glowering at everypony, he continued while his employers looked on in shock from their stage, "They have plenty of tonic in stock, you'll all get what you have the bits for. Now for the last time, one at a time and no rushing the stage! I'm not going to say it again!"

The crystal pony stood in place, staring at the dead foal as the crowd moved around them. His chest burned and his legs shook but all he could focus on was the tiny filly on the ground being ignored by everypony else.

"There you are!" a mare's voice said as it got closer to him. "I lost you when these peasants became unruly but I am quite pleased I was able to locate you." Glacier looked at him as he continued to stare at the foal in shock. She grew worried at his unresponsiveness. "Are you all together? You seem out of sorts." she commented.

Clout blinked and sucked in a breath. He looked to the unicorn mare then back to the foal. "I-I," he began and slightly shook his head, "Fine, I'm fine." Without saying another word he made his way towards the train station, this time with much more ease through the crowd. Glacier looked on in concern.

"I imagine any pony would be quite unsettled being so close to meeting their end." she commented, trying to get the crystal pony to confide in her. To her disappointment, he ignored her comment and continued on past the booths towards his destination. This time he was more than determined not to let either pony change his mind of planting his flank firmly on the train station bench until the sound of the horn could be heard.

"Hey guys!" Stratta said to them as he glided down from the sky, "Thought I'd never find you when everypony started going crazy. I flew up into the air and couldn't make heads or tails if they were all going to kill each other over that new tonic stuff." He landed next to them as they reached the wooden deck. Clout gave the pegasus a sharp look before smacking him hard with a hoof. "Oow!" he cried out as he held his hurt shoulder with a wing, "That was so mean, what was that for?"

"For making me stupidly follow you into a crowd of ponies where I had to listen to the stupidest of songs before I was stupidly subjected to being kicked, stepped on and shoved by ten million stupid strangers!" the thief complained as he raised a hoof in the direction they came from. He stomped away to sit on a nearby bench to pout on while the other two followed.

"I too would give you a good smack if it weren't so unlady-like." the mare unhappily commented before sitting next to the buckskin, "Mares such as myself should not be treated in such a barbaric manner. I was treated to the same unruly display that he was. I even had somepony rudely come up behind me! Nopony should so impolitely shove their muzzle under a lady's tail unless given express permission to do so." She harrumphed and swished the end of her tail that hung off the bench they sat on.

At that comment Clout sucked in a sharp breath and looked away. The train couldn't come soon enough. Standing in front of the two, Stratta looked from Glacier to the uncomfortable expression on Clout's face. The pegasus gave a wicked grin. "So Clout, was she any good?" he asked.

The buckskin gave a few throaty coughs as his ears flattened and his face reddened. Glacier gave a confused look to the grey buck as he teased the thief. She turned back to Clout as he continued to look away. "Pardon me but what is he talking about?" she asked.

"I…" he began, "have no--" idea, he was about to say when he was interrupted by the train's loud horn. Clout eagerly stood and took a step toward the incoming train as it screeched to a slow halt. Stratta chuckled as Glacier whined about not getting the joke. The buckskin ignored the two as he stepped aboard the second the doors opened, shoving somepony aside who was trying to exit. He dropped two tickets on the floor as he took his own out of his saddlebag, not caring if the two behind him noticed or not. He hoofed over his ticket which was punched by the ticket pony and when he got it back he stuffed it into a pocket. The unicorn and pegasus behind him picked up the dropped passes, had them stamped and followed the buckskin to a booth.

"There was no need to drop our admission onto the floor." Glacier commented as she scooched herself into the booth, forcing Clout to sit as closed to the window as possible. The crystal pony stiffened and sat up straighter as the mare continued to slide in uncomfortably close.

"I didn't do it on purpose," Clout lied, "they fell out when I grabbed mine. I just didn't bother picking them up." He looked out the window, away from the gaze of the two ponies and was unsure why he felt the need to make an excuse to them.

The charcoal mare brushed a hoof through the length of her mane as she replied, "No harm came to them so think nothing of it." She got a tired grunt in response.

Sensing an awkward silence bubbling to the surface, Stratta decided on a topic of conversation. "So Clout, got any family?"

Just as the pegasus finished the question, the train lurched forward jolting all the ponies into the back of the seat in front of them. Glacier got a piece of her jewelry strands caught on an exposed spring from the back of the booth in front of her, Stratta bit his tongue hard enough to make it bleed and the jolt helped wake Clout to attention for a moment as Thief was thrown to the floor of the train car.

The unicorn bolted out of her seat at the sight of the rodent in a very unlady-like manor but was fiercely held in place by her tangled jewelry. Clout gave a few coughs as he and Stratta stared at the mare, neither moving to help. Flustered and often glancing over at the rat she shakily attempted to free her bonds as quickly as she could.

"Graceful, very graceful." Stratta commented while Clout reached down to help his tiny friend back up. As soon as the mare detached herself, she moved around Stratta and walked as nonchalantly as she could manage to the back door of the train cart, attempting to casually read the safety signs posted by the exit.

"What's the matter?" Stratta asked the aristopony, "It doesn't seem very upper class to get that badly shaken over something so small." He looked to Clout as the buckskin petted his tiny friend who sat on his lap. The pegasus tried to hide his own unease by continuing to tease the prissy unicorn. "Whatcha doing over there? Why don't you come sit down?" he asked.

"No!" Glacier said at once, refusing to look at the two stallions, "No, I-uh, have um… never been on a commoner's mode of transportation before and--," she sucked in a breath, "it, um, it is… quite important for one to review the safety instructions when using a new mode of transportation."

Clout continued to ignore the two as he rested his forehead on the window next to him. He stared off into space as the cold of the glass slightly helped with his growing headache.

"How about I give you the abridged version," the pegasus told her, "Sit in the bench while the train is in motion. If you don't want anything stolen, sit near your companions."

Glacier's ear twitched and she gulped as she slowly looked back to the bucks. Then she noticed how many other ponies were on the train. With half the seats full and many staring at her, some lost in their own conversations and others messing with their bags, she thought it would be best to rejoin her two acquaintances in the booth. She slowly and daintily made her way back and when it was in sight she kept her gaze trained on the rodent. The mare sat as close to the edge of the seat as she could, forcing Stratta to sit in the middle of the two. Glacier was at the farthest point from Thief but close enough to the two stallions that she was confident no strangers would try anything with her.

"Now was that so hard?"

"Quite."

Seeing Clout's expression in the train window, he guessed this was not the time to strike up the conversation of his personal life. "So!" not one for letting silence happen, Stratta continued to talk, "Despite the craziness at the end, that was quite a show!" He looked to them, expecting commentary, disappointed they both stayed silent. "So do you think that stuff really works?" he asked. The pegasus looked to Clout and elbowed him. The crystal pony blinked and looked to Stratta.

"Huh?"

"The tonic! You think this plague is finally over? That would be amazing!"

Clout grumbled as he tried to hide a yawn with a sigh. "I don't put much faith in bottled miracles." he finally said, rubbing an eye with a hoof and hoping that answer would satisfy the annoying pegasus.

"Aww, come on, you're not even going to entertain the idea that the stuff actually works."

"Nope."

"You're no fun." Stratta sighed.

The mare decided to distract herself from her fears and join in on the conversation. "Only half of 2B Pharmaceuticals' products actually work as intended. I doubt it is anything more than apple juice and beet leaves. A placebo to make a profit off of the lower class." she said.

"Oh and they don't do that to the rich?" Stratta retorted, "That tent thing and the whole 'Sanitization Department' crap? That does nothing too, just a ploy to get your bits."

The mare glared at him, "It does so, it has prevented us wealthy from succumbing to the blight. That is the reason you poor perish so often, you could not afford a proper cleansing of your home."

"Still a placebo."

The mare continued to glare at the pegasus' cocky grin.

"Hey!" the buck decided it was time for a change of topic, "You're a unicorn, well, not a poor one."

Glacier gave him a flat look as Clout gave a small cough.

"What does your family do? I mean like, how do they earn their massive wealth? Ooh! Do they make enough bits to fill a swimming pool? You could go swimming in your cash, that would be so much fun!" he clopped his hooves together in excitement at the thought.

"You are such a foal." Glacier said.

"Trying to swim in bits doesn't work. Actually kinda hurts." Clout commented, "Don't even make for a comfy bed. Stupid bits."

Both ponies looked to Clout, surprised he joined in.

"So you have attempted this before, have you?" the mare asked.

Clout only gave an incoherent grumble in response.

"I would imagine a slab of pointy metal wouldn't be too comfortable to sleep on." Stratta said.

"To answer your previous question," Glacier said to the pegasus, "My father is the one who founded the Frozen Paradise Corporation. He did inherit some money from his father but not being the eldest he did not receive the largest portion. Nonetheless, he made it work." She brushed her mane out of her vision, an expression of pride for her family's earnings beamed on her face.

"I heard that company was tanking since other unicorns found it easy to do a freezing spell." Clout's comment broke the mare's façade.

"I, well, we-- We provide clean consumable ice. Freezing water from a commoner's tap is hardly safe!" she said, trying to justify her family's business.

Stratta put a hoof to his muzzle in thought. "So," he began, "if anypony can do a freezing spell, what's the point of buying ice? Seems like your dad wasn't the brightest when thinking up his business venture. I would have gone with jackets! Everypony loves jackets! Cool looking ones with an enchantment to protect the wearer from those annoying chaos bubbles. Hmm, then again, no one's come up with that kind of spell yet… Oh! If you did, the business wouldn't fail like it is now!"

"Simpleton," Glacier said, "Do you not think something like that would anger King Discord?"

"Oh yeah." came the reply.

"If I may inquire, what exactly is your occupation? I get that you work for the rebels but what precisely do you do? Your cutiemark does nothing as far as hints go. I certainly could not imagine bones helping the rebellion's cause in any measure." The mare questioned as she gestured at the pegasus' flank.

Stratta gave a slight glare. "Are you making fun of my cutiemark?" he asked, "I like my cutiemark.

"I had meant no offense," she said a little haughtily, "I merely noted your talents could not be very useful to their cause. Unless of course it means you sweep the bodies of the deceased out of the roadway."

"Well it sure sounded like you meant to offend. I'm an archeologist actually. I collect rare artifacts for them to sell so they have extra bits to use towards the cause. I do other jobs now and then but I am quite useful." Stratta huffed in defense, "Besides, what the heck does your cutiemark even mean? Can't have anything to do with your family's ice business being a weird clock wrapped in string, doesn't even make any sense."

Glacier snorted out an uncouth burst of laughter before catching herself, putting a hoof to her muzzle. She cleared her throat but still couldn't hold back a thin smile. "I'm a time traveler, I laugh at archeologists." She said, "And just because my family has a business doesn't mean I must be a participant."

The pegasus scoffed, "Yeah, right. No pony can do that spell."

"Do you not believe m--"

The mare was cut off by the loud horn of the train as it sounded its arrival in Ponyville. Clout squinted and gave a cough at the unwanted brightness of the day through the window as the train came to a stop. The clouds above were still thick but the rain had stopped and the sun shone down where it could. Thief climbed up from his lap to his shoulder, ready to go wherever her friend took them. The buck stood up even before the train came to a complete stop and stared at the two ponies who blocked his path, very annoyed that neither of them were moving so he could leave.

"This conversation isn't over by the way, you're going to have to prove you can do what you say you can do." Stratta challenged the mare as they watched several other ponies pass by to exit the train.

"I can and I shall, name the time and location and I will leave you in awe." she said in response, ready to show up the lowly archeologist.

When the other ponies on the train moved to the exit, both Glacier and Stratta stood to make their own exit. Clout grumbled a, 'Finally.' as he practically shoved them out of the booth.

"Well that was rather rude." the mare commented as she stepped onto the platform. The three exited the train station and reached Ponyville's massive door.

"You can prove yourself after we talk to Wulf Song." the pegasus told her with a grin as he trotted over to the guards.

Not paying attention to the ponies behind him, Clout continued walking to his own destination. Glacier looked to one stallion and then the other before following Clout toward the Everfree Forest.

"Heeeyyyy Crossfire!" Stratta said with a big grin, "Didn't know you'd be on duty today."

The guard put down the geode and pushed his fancy looking magnifying eye glasses up to the top of his head. When he saw who was addressing him, his eyes went wide and his cheeks flushed in embarrassment at the sight of the pegasus. The unicorn's pale yellow coat made his blush hard to hide so he tilted his head down to let his long grey and red bangs hide his face. "G-Garrett, you're back! ...Early… Um, hi." came the weak reply.

The pegasus chuckled knowingly. "Hey could you guys open up the gates? We need in to see Wulf." he said before leaning in close to the unicorn's ear, "And since I'm in the neighborhood, if you're free, tonight we could…" he trailed off leaving the rest of the sentence to Cross' imagination.

Cross got a shiver up his spine as his blush deepened.

"Oi, quit teasin' the lad ya git." a large built buck said as he walked up to them. He was a light gray colored Earth pony with a ghostly green mane that had a single black stripe through it. The sclera of his left eye was a bright green instead of the normal white and he wore heavy plated armor, a spear attached to his right side and an old revolver on his left foreleg.

"Bomby! Aww, you can join in too if you want!" Stratta said, clearly excited at the prospect.

"Eh, no. I don't do, er, that." came the awkward reply, "By the weh, who's 'we'?"

The pegasus' ears perked up, "Oh! I should introduce you! This is--" he turned around to introduce his companions only to discover both the prissy unicorn and his thief had vanished. He took off into the air to get a better vantage point to see if he could spot them. As soon as he saw a long blue tail slip in through the brush a ways away, he turned back towards the gate guards. "I'll be right back, sorry!" With that he bolted off to follow them.

"Oww! Ugh, this pathway could certainly do with some maintenance." Glacier complained as she, yet again, attempted to untangle her snagged mane. With the branch thoroughly entwined in both her mane and jewelry she was having a tough time trying to untangle it. As her frustrated grumbles continued, Clout looked back to her, coughed again, and stopped walking. He watched her fight with the branch to no avail for a few more seconds before walking over to help. He gently grabbed her mane with one hoof and the stick with the other before freeing her from the bush. She watched in astonishment how easily he got the branch out of her mane. After he had turned back around and continued to walk, she watched him for a moment longer before trotting to catch up.

"Thank you." she said, "I am quite grateful for your assistance."

"Why didn't you just ask for help."

Taken aback by his statement she paused for a moment. "W-well, to be honest I had not believed you would offer your assistance so generously." she said with a hint of shame in her voice at the accusation.

"I'm not that big of an asshole you know." he said, "I may have to charge you if that becomes a habit though."

Before the two could get any farther, Stratta landed in front of them, an annoyed expression on his face. "Where are you going?" he asked Clout, "We're supposed to be going that way." he pointed a hoof towards Ponyville. "You know, to see my boss to talk about the job. Ring any bells?"

Clout raised an eyebrow. "You think just because we're close by that we're going there right this second." he said as he started walking around the pegasus, "I have better things to do."

"Wha-- but he's… You need-- And the job! I just--" the archeologist sputtered as the mare followed the buckskin, amused at the pegasus' plight. "But you got the train tickets to--" He cut himself off as he flew in front of Clout again, this time flying backwards instead since the crystal pony wasn't stopping. "You are not allowed to pawn my job onto somepony else!" he demanded.

"Be quiet, your job isn't as high on my list of priorities as you may think it is." Clout said as he glared ahead.

Stratta crossed his forelegs, "I thought you wanted to get rid of me as soon as possible. I'm not leaving your side until you do the job you know. It can't be anypony else, it has to be you." He gave a determined look to the buckskin.

Glacier decided to butt into the conversation, "If I may inquire, why must it be him specifically?"

"Because he's the master thief! He's the best at what he does and everypony knows it!" Stratta said with a big confident grin on his muzzle.

"No." Clout corrected, "I am a great thief but not many ponies know. If you try to make a career out of thieving and you gain a reputation you're not doing it right." He continued to glare at the pegasus as his smile faltered. "How in Equus a pony like you found out let alone the entirety of the damned rebels means I'm not doing a good enough job."

Stratta waved his hooves at Clout, "N-no! You're doing the best job! I-I just…" he trailed off as he rubbed the back of his head with a hoof and looked away.

"Whatever." came the disinterested response as the thief pushed past the floating pony and into The Everfree.

"Look, I didn't--" Stratta tried to explain as he landed and trotted to Clout's side, "No one at the Solar Nation even knows and I wasn't looking for you specifically. Well, s-sort of…" he trailed off for a second as the thief looked into every building's window as they passed. "I just asked around town for the best thief. That shop pony's the one who pointed me in your direction." He continued to stare at Clout, hoping to get a response out of the grump. Seeing him look through yet another window they passed, Stratta resigned to staying quiet. He lowered his head a bit and slowed his pace some. "Garrett, you idiot." he muttered under his breath to himself as his ears drooped.

Clout, too busy stomping along the cracked wooden path and glaring at every window he could look through, didn't even acknowledge the pegasus. Though it was just after mid-day, The Everfree wasn't as bustling as it normally was today. A little more than half of the wares booths were open, not as many patrons were in the local taverns and there were only the occasional group of shady looking characters gossiping amongst themselves.

Glacier got a shiver up her spine as she made eye contact with several members of one group. They smiled at her as their companions turned to look at her as well. She could see the weapons on their belts, one bore a large scar on his face while two others were each missing a limb. She gulped and walked closer to Clout, asking him with a slightly shaky voice, "Uh, i-if I may inquire, where is our destination and please tell me we will arrive soon."

The crystal pony gave a low growl as he turned a corner, picking up his pace. Ahead of them, they could see Merchant's large pony head shaped tree. It was shaded from the sun rays by the thick foliage above but its appearance gave the mare pause for a second as she realized, "Is that our destination? It is quite… grotesque." she trailed off, not wanting to enter into someplace that looked like a severed pony head. Her desire to not be left alone in a place with this many untrustworthy creatures everywhere pushed her forward to follow the two stallions into the entrance. Glacier and Stratta followed behind Clout whose ears were flat in a boiling rage as he stomped his way through the small shop. Glacier glanced over curiously at the small red filly quietly snoring on the floor by a shelf. She had fallen asleep while restocking and had a large mace in her hooves that she was using as a pillow.

The crystal pony stopped in front of the counter. "Where is he." he slowly demanded with a growl.

Not looking up from his ledger, Merchant gave a small wave of his hoof. "Hello Clout." he said as he made a few marks in his book, "Who are you looking for?"

"Who do you think!" he barked back, startling the two behind him as well as waking the foal from her slumber. He took in a shuddering breath as he held back another cough, trying not to interrupt his own outburst.

Merchant gave a knowing sigh, closed his ledger and took his glasses off of his muzzle. He set them both on the counter and looked to Clout. He saw the colt's eyes were bloodshot. His posture drooped with exhaustion and his expression was one of deprecated outrage despite his furious tone of voice. "Clout," he said, "go down stairs and go to sleep."

"W-wait, we can't stay, we need to--" Stratta tried to interrupt.

Clout seethed. "No," he snarled, ignoring the pegasus, "you will tell me where Flight Risk is!" The two ponies behind him each backed up a step as he reared up and slammed both forehooves on the counter for emphasis.

The purple pony glanced to his glasses to make sure the smashing of hooves hadn't damaged them before continuing to address the huffy pony. "He's not here." Merchant said patiently, "I can find out where he went but I'll need a couple of hours. In the meantime, you should go downstairs."

"I need to--" came the immediate response.

"Clout." Merchant warned.

The crystal pony flinched at the tone of voice. With that single word from the shopkeeper, he got off the counter and slowly walked around. He made his way to the basement stairs, refusing to look at Merchant and unwilling to give him the satisfaction of seeing the defeat on the younger pony's face. Both Glacier and Stratta watched in awe as the buckskin obeyed the orders without another word and disappeared down the steps.

"How much do you charge?" came the question that broke the silence.

All three ponies looked down at Crimson Kit who was staring at Garrett quizzically.

He blinked at her. "Uh, excuse me?" he asked, thoroughly confused.

"Her!" Crimson said as she irritatedly pointed to Glacier, "How much do you charge to rent out your marefriend?"

"Honey, that's not something that…" Merchant began but trailed off as Glacier spoke up.

"Is the filly implying what I think she's implying?" the mare asked in an offended tone of voice.

"Well, uh, yes." her father replied as he walked around the counter.

"What?" Kit asked with a glare, "I wanna rent her like the stallions at the bar do with each other. I wanna know why they rent their marefriends so I'm gunna rent her and see what's all the big deal with renting mares. I wanna see how different it is from buying a slave."

Glacier glared, and Stratta chuckled as Merchant gave an awkward clear of his throat. "Are you done stocking those shelves I asked you to young filly?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Why do I have to do it? It's boring cause you won't let me play with them, I just have to put them on the stupid shelf." she complained as she referenced the pile of weapons she was sleeping on not too long ago.

"Come on Kit," he said to her, "it's not that hard of a task." He lowered his head down to her level before he offered, "Tell you what, you finish that, I'll talk to Clout's new friends and then we'll go out for ice cream. What do you say?" He gave her a smile and watched as she saluted, gave a 'Yes boss!' and got to work.

"So, how in the world did you actually get that stubborn buck to do what you told him?" Stratta asked as he watched the filly gallop the few feet to her chore.

The shopkeeper turned to the two and chuckled, "Years of practice."

"Why did you send him to his chambers in the middle of the day? Seems counterproductive to me." the mare commented.

"You do realize ponies in the thieving business do their deeds in the dark, right?" came the pegasus' snarky response.

She gave a huff of annoyance, "I am not an ignoramus thank you very much. However, I am simply attempting to inquire as to why we are not progressing in whatever it is that he came here for. It is obvious you only gave him that answer in an attempt to pacify his anger." she waved a hoof at the purple pony, "I would rather not linger so long in such a disreputable city as this one. It is quite clear aristoponies such as myself do not last long with so many suspect characters lingering about."

Merchant blinked at her for a moment. "Sorry? I don't speak fancy." Much to her chagrin, the pegasus laughed.

"I guess I had forgotten most ponies who are not well to do have not learned proper modern ponish." she exasperated and rubbed her temple with a hoof.

Stratta smiled, still internally laughing at her. "She means where can we stay that's safe while we wait for him." he said with a small chuckle.

"Oh!" the shopkeeper said, "Well, I wouldn't suggest browsing shops, especially with her in that gaudy outfit." She glared at him, trying to set him on fire with her gaze. "What? It screams 'steal from me'. Stop glaring at me, I've had enough of that for one day." She looked away to glare at his wares. "If you do plan to continue going with him, I would actually suggest using one of my spare rooms downstairs and sleeping as well. He only works at night, I'm surprised to see him awake so late in the day."

"Ugh, with his attitude, I'm kind of having second thoughts about actually having him do the job…" the pegasus said dejectedly as he rubbed the back of his head with a wing.

Glacier gave a small sigh, "He has been rather quarrelsome."

"Yeah, Clout's always been one of those types of ponies who turns into a real ass if he doesn't get enough sleep." Merchant explained, "Once he's up he should be easier to deal with. He looked like he had been through the ringer for that job he was on, I'm not surprised he's pissed at Flight. Wonder what happened." He glanced back to the hatch behind the counter.

Stratta shrugged as Glacier rubbed one foreleg with the other. "Well… the guards apprehended him. Sort of…" she said lamely, "Oh but I saved him from that auction and I promised I would repay him of course." She gave a thin smile.

"No you didn't, I did!" Stratta argued.

The purple pony's eyes went wide, "Auction, you said auction? What?" They ignored him as they restarted their argument once more.

"Hey," Kit called up to him, "I'm done, ice cream time." she demanded.

"I--" Merchant began but looked down to his daughter, back up to the two and back down, "...Right, ice cream. Give me just one more moment. I'm going to show them to their rooms and I'll be right back okay?"

"Ice cream now!"

"Behave young filly." he said as he turned back to the two, "Come on, I'll show you where you can stay. Don't worry about payment. Anypony who's a friend of Clout's is somepony to be treasured." When they stopped their argument and glared at one another, he turned around and walked down to the basement.

They followed him down the stairs and into a wide brightly lit hallway. Though it was a simple dirt cavern that was obviously dug out by hoof, it was decorated in such a way it felt warm and homey. The tunnel braces were painted a light blue and had gold colored cloth draped across each gap up near the ceiling. Every couple spaces between the braces there was a lantern attached to the wall making the underground bright, and causing the decorated glass bottles that hung from the ceiling to sparkle. The right side of the hall had pictures in frames hung above a royal blue couch that sat across from the doors that were on the left side of the tunnel. Next to the couch was a table with a dying houseplant.

On top of the long sapphire colored floor rug that had an elegant pattern to it were foal toys scattered about. Tiny log shaped pieces of wood were used to make a small house with the extra pieces scattered about while carved pony characters stood around it. Toy guns were on either side of the couch and a cushion was up ended by one of them as if to block the pretend bullets. Colored pieces of chalk lay scattered by several of the wall supports and drawings of cats decorated most of the lower half of them. Some had old faded pictures made of paint. Clumsy doodles of large winged beasts with sharp teeth breathing fire and eating ponies with only a few drawings of a yellow pony with a white mane, one of the pony surrounded by flames. Several books lay haphazardly on the couch and another was on the floor across the hallway as if it were thrown away for being a bad story.

They passed by a door slightly cracked open that had a drawing on the front of it. One of the two ponies on the front was a small golden colt with a white mane while the other pony was slightly taller but the only remnants of it were light gray hooves and a purple mane. The pony drawing was mutilated so much with a sharp object that whoever damaged the foal's drawing almost cut a hole through the door.

"Sorry about the mess," Merchant said, gesturing to the toys everywhere, "I wasn't exactly expecting guests."

Past the couch was another hallway with more doors and they could see that the end of the hallway they were walking down opened up to a large room containing a dining room table and kitchen area. The earth pony stopped at the other hallway and pointed a hoof down it.

"You can pick whatever room you'd like. They're all pretty much the same. Bathroom is this door here, closest to the main hallway so it's easy to find and use whatever you'd like in the kitchen if you want to."

Glacier tentatively opened one of the room doors and grimaced at the inside. Stratta looked to Merchant and asked, "So, why do you have so many rooms? Your place doesn't seem to be an inn."

Merchant chuckled, "No reason." He glanced back at the damaged door before continuing, "I guess I just like to have something to do in my downtime so, digging it is."

The pegasus raised an eyebrow before turning towards the hallway of rooms. "Thanks, I guess." he told the shopkeeper, "I was really hoping we could get to talk to Wulf about that job as soon as possible because there is a time limit but, I guess we do have a few days so…"

"Hey, from what you told me you're right, this is important." Merchant walked over and put a hoof on Stratta's back, "Clout will find a way to get it done, I promise. He's pretty good at what he does despite my reservations about it."

Stratta's gaze dropped to the floor, "I don't know, he may be good but this may be too much for anypony. I mean, stealing from the King? Who can do that and get away with it?"

The older pony put his hoof back to the ground, "Well, if I know that colt, he's going to do it or die trying. I just hope it's the latter."

"Yeah." came the distant reply.

As Merchant left the two to their own devices, he passed by the open room and peeked in. The room was simple with a single queen sized bed in the center of the far wall. It was neatly made, the sheets covered in a thick layer of dust from being undisturbed for so long. The book shelf in the corner to the right of the bed was crooked, pulled away from the wall only enough for what looked like a pile of old stained sheets. Clout's gear was tossed in the middle of the floor and the purple stallion could see him curled up on the lump. Too large for the small nest, his limbs stuck out the side. With his tail tucked tightly between his legs, Clout was fast asleep, breathing in soft raspy breaths.

The purple buck's ears drooped some and he sighed. He walked back down the hallway to another door, opened the linen closet, pulled out a blanket and closed it. He quietly went back to Clout's room and draped the sheet on top of the buckskin before walking out of the room and closing the door.

Author's Note:

Ugh, I am so sorry this took so long T__T Life got in the way and I lost motivation due to stuff. I'll start working on Chapter 6 right away. Also sorry the song sucks, I'm not a song writer in any measure but I tried.

Flim and Flam DO NOT belong to me! They belong to Hasbro and are from My Little Pony: Frendship is Magic.

All other characters found in this chapter belong to me, GutterRatt so please do not steal them. They can all be found on my toyhou.se account over here including the random characters like the flowerfilly and papercolt (Basically anyone with a proper description):

https://toyhou.se/GutterRatt1213/characters/folder:1192030

Comments

[Mix-up]

you should really put this story in more groups if you want more exposer

[gutterratt]

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Thank you for the advice! <3 Honestly I'm not sure I want more exposure than what little its gotten. I don't think my story's all that great, it's just something I needed to get out of my head and having it here lets me not loose it. (Also I'm not very confident in my writing skills...) If other people like it that's awesome and they can share it all they want! I'll keep your advice in mind though if I ever decide to get my story out there more :)

[Mix-up]

11027771
I also notice you are an artist with your DeviantArt Gallery, I am not entirely sure with really represent your art style but it is interesting, keep it up.

Here is some of my work

DeviantArt Link