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Nick Pick, jailbreaker and thief extrodanaire3,254 words
Paranoia, parties, and fights, oh my!5,135 words
The past will come to haunt you....3,592 words
What friends are for1,500 words
Life as a known thief1,104 words

What friends are for

A/N: can any of you catch the ponification in this chapter? i hope so, because it's kinda obvious. anyway, enjoy!

I awoke in a hospital bed. One thing I may have forgotten to mention is that I have marelaria. It’s a disease that, when not treated, can be very deadly. That’s what happens when all you have to drink for a few years is dirty water. “Oh good, you’re awake. You gave everypony quite a scare the other day.” I looked over to see a white nurse unicorn standing there, tending to another patient. “That’s what happens when you don’t carry your marelaria medication on you at all times.” she scolded me. I just rolled my eyes and went to sleep. I awoke the next morning to the sound of laughter coming from my left. I looked over to see Rainbow Dash sitting up in her hospital bed laughing at me.

“What happened to you, tough guy?” she asked mockingly.

“Marelaria. Harder to avoid than having a knee kicked in.” I shot back. She looked at me quizzically. She apparently didn’t know what it was, and I didn’t feel like explaining it to her.

“Whatever it is, it sounds pretty bad. It’s not contagious, is it?” she asked. Now it was my turn to laugh.

“No, it’s not. But if it was, you’re the first pony I’d give it to.” I said. We stared at each other for a moment, then we both busted out laughing.

“Hey, look, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for the way I acted the other day.” she said after the laughter died down a bit. “I really should’ve just taken the hint and left. We cool?” she said holding out a hoof. Now I have to admit, that was the last thing I expected. Hell, I half expected her to hate my guts. But you know what? I make ‘friends’ whenever I can.

“Yeah, sure, we’re cool.” I said taking the shake. Just then, the nurse walked back in.

“Mister Pick? You’ve got a visitor.” she said as she stepped to the side, revealing Twilight as my visitor. She was levitating a scroll, and knowing that she was Celestia’s student, I got a feeling in my gut that this wasn’t going to be a social visit.

“Nick, how are you? I heard about what happened.”

“Look, just get to the point. I’m sorry, but you have a scroll, and if you’re here to visit me with a scroll, it’s business.”

“Oh, alright then.” she said, opening the scroll to read it. “Dear Nicholas Pick, by order of Princess Luna, you are to meet her at your residence one day from Today. Looks like somepony’s popular with the princess.” she said jokingly, flashing me a smile. I sighed.

“More so than I’d like. Does the letter say why she want’s to meet me?”

“Umm….. No, it doesn’t. That’s strange.” she said, scrunching her face up in confusion. It took all my self control not to laugh at her face in that position. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, didn’t even try.

“HAHAHA! Twilight, you should see your face right now, you look ridiculous!” she said, laughing so hard she was beginning to cry. Twilight just rolled her eyes, left the letter on the small table next to my bed, and left. “So Nick, when you gettin’ out of here?” Rainbow asked me.

“I wasn’t aware we were in prison.” I joked “But I should be able to leave today. You?”

“I’ve still got a couple weeks.” she said, giving me an evil stare for a moment. It was cut short my the detective walking in, the nurse trailing behind her, trying to explain that she couldn’t just walk in there.

“So Nicholas, mind tellin’ me how one goes about getting a lock pick for a cutie mark? Doesn’t seem all that common. Or having to do with anything legal.” she asked….. Well, I had to have known this was comin’ sooner or later.

“Well, if you must know, I got it when I was a kid. A friend of mine was arrested for a crime she didn’t commit, and I knew it. But who would believe a couple of street rats, eh? So, I only saw one option: bust her out. I got myself arrested, which was the easy part, considering the guards in Canterlot would arrest us for lookin’ at them the wrong way. The hard part was getting back out. As I’m sure you know, the Canterlot dungeon is known to be the hardest in all of Equestria to bust out of. Nopony had ever busted out of there before, but I managed to pull it off. So yeah, my talent is picking locks, big deal.” I explained, hoping she wouldn’t carry this conversation further. But she did.

“Big deal indeed, it seems you’ve busted out of quite a few different prisons recently, after doing certain things while you were there. I don’t suppose you remember the name Lock Shot? Records say he was a friend of yours. Killed in prison about a week ago.” she said before she started digging in her saddle bags and pulled out what looked like a case file and threw it on the table next to my bed. A picture of him spilled out…. He was beat bad. He had been a good friend of mine, one of the few ponies I actually trusted… and now I’m being accused for his murder.

“W-W-What!? Lock’s dead!? You’re kidding, you have to be, this is all some sick, twisted joke…… right?” I asked her, only to see her shake her head. “No….. No, he can’t be gone…. He can’t be….”

“Oh, he is. And we have reason to believe yo-”

“I swear to Luna, if you say you think I killed him, this will get real ugly, real fast. Lock was one of the only friends I had growing up, and I risked my flank for him on more then one occasion. He was like the brother I never had, and I would never do anything I thought would end in… something like this.” I said, looking back at the picture….. He was gone. Killed in prison. I picked up the case file and began to read through it. Bits of it struck me as odd, such as why he was there; pick pocketing. He was a good enough thief to not get caught doing something like that, so I could only draw one conclusion. “I always told him to leave the jail breaking to me…… Fuckin’ idiot.” I mumbled to myself as I threw the file back down on the table. I knew she had every intention of arresting me today, but I had a few ways to avoid that. “Look, I’m sure you want me to walk out of here in irons, but there’s a few things you have to know.” I said. This was gonna be great. She was gonna get soooo pissed off.

“Oh really? And what would they be?” she asked me…. And it took all my strength not to laugh.

“Well, for starters, I left my marelaria pills at home, and I’ll need those. Second off, I currently have diplomatic immunity, on the basis that princess Luna is coming to town to speak with me…. Tomorrow.” I told her, and she started opening her mouth and closing it again, looking for the words to say. Eventually she found them, which is good. Seeing her flop around like a fish out of water was getting annoying.

“You’re lying.” she said. That was it. No proof I was lying or anything. I won.

“Actually, I’m not. I have a letter from her right here, and I have a witness to it’s being read.” I said, gesturing to the letter and to Rainbow Dash, who nodded vigorously. And here I thought she would cross me. Smart mare. I hoofed the detective the letter, which she read, slack jawed and defeated looking. Oh, how I love seeing that look on law enforcement. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

“Well then…. You win this time, Nicholas. But next time? You’re leaving here in irons, complete with a full cavity search.” she said as she walked away… I shuddered. I still remembered the first time they’d done a full cavity search. It was…. Violating, to say the least. I breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Rainbow.

“Hey, thanks for vouchin’ for me right there. I fully expected you to do everything in your power to get me arrested.” I said jokingly. She just kinda laughed.

“Hey, that’s what friends are for.”

“Yeah… friends.”

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