The Legend of Friendship - Outcasts

by Danieru

6. The Thief - Part 2

The sun began to rise again...

Despite, traveling on a wooden cart, that was shaking through the whole trip, Fade actually managed to sleep through the night. Apparently, so did Rosa who was still sound asleep. There was no reason to wake her up. She was still tied up and couldn't move too much, she would probably prefer being asleep instead of spending time with Fade.

The farmer pony informed Fade that Fillydelphia was only about half a day away so Fade thought it would be best to relax for the rest of the day. He began thinking about what to do after he would arrive in Fillydelphia. To his frustration, he didn't know what would come after that. His only goal, for now, was to hide from the Royal Guards before they would capture him for attacking his own men or escaping the dungeon of Canterlot. Everything else didn't matter.

Fade closed his eyes for a moment but he opened them up again as soon as he noticed how something was flying over him, casting shadows on his face for a second. He looked forward to see what it was. It was something that he didn't want to see at all at this very moment.

"Oh, no..." Fade said after he spotted what was casting these shadows.

Royal Guards.

A bunch of Pegasus Royal Guards were flying over their heads and flew along the road. They seemed to be heading in the same direction than the wooden cart. They were heading towards Fillydelphia, probably looking for him, if he was hiding there. That must have been the reason.

Fortunately, those guards seemed to have missed the wooden cart on which he was on. Either that or they were just concerned about looking for him in Fillydelphia. Whatever it was, the farmer pony was heading towards Fillydelphia which was probably filled with Royal Guards looking for him by the time they would arrive.

He had to get away. Now!

Meanwhile, Rosa was still sound asleep.
She seemed to mumble some words while sleeping.
She probably had a really nice dream...

Several Years ago...

A little further away from a little town in Equestria, there was a single house that was almost separated from the town. In front of it was a large garden filled with a flower-field where an Earth Pony mare was busy taking care of it. Her coat was bright purple and her mane was an even brighter purple. Her eyes were yellow and her Cutie Mark consisted of a dark purple bellflower.

The mare watered her flowers which consisted mostly of bellflowers but there were also a lot more others that were in this field. It was really colorful and the warm smile on the mares face made it only look prettier.

But soon, her smile faded away as soon as she saw how her daughter was dragged towards her by somepony who didn't seem to be happy at all. "Bella!" The stallion said in an annoyed tone his voice.

Bella released a long sigh. "Not again..." she said bothered as she placed her watering can on the ground and walked towards the stallion.

The stallion dropped the little filly on the ground who crossed her legs and began sulking. "Bella, you really need to watch over this little devil! She almost broke some of my stuff while she tried to get her woodwork Cutie Mark!" The stallion explained angrily. The Earth Pony stallion had a gray coat and a yellow mane. His eyes were blue and on his flank was a rasp.

"I'm very sorry, Rasp I'll keep an eye on her," Bella apologized.

The stallion sighed. "You always say that. You know I can't be mad at you but I also don't want to keep bringing your daughter back because of things like this," he said a little frustrated.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble that she is causing," Bella apologized once more before she patted her daughter, causing her to smile in reply. "She just wants to find her special talent. That's why she is doing all those things, in hope that one of them would give her a Cutie Mark,"

"Well, when I was younger, that didn't include causing other ponies problems," he complained while he looked at the little filly.

The little filly looked up at the stallion confused. "You were once young?"

The stallion made sure that he wouldn't snap because of that comment and instead clenched his teeth as he looked at the little filly as some kind of warning. He made sure that Bella would understand and left again.

Bella however, was not really good at scolding so Rosa's "punishment" was really short. Instead, she noticed the frown on Rosa's face and tried to think of a way to do something against that. "You know what? If you really want to figure out your special talent by doing something new, then I might have something,"

"Really?" Rosa replied excitedly as she jumped up and down on the spot.

However, instead of giving her something exciting, it was just a bouquet of flowers. "How about you deliver those flowers?"

"Delivering flowers? Boooring," Rosa replied, clearly not excited about this task.

Bella giggled. "It may not be the most exciting task, but who knows? Maybe you enjoy bringing other ponies flowers? I think, it's really nice once you see the smiles on the faces of others," she explained showing a smile on her face as well.

Rosa was still not very excited but she gave it a try. Her mother didn't punish her so it would be rather mean if she wouldn't at least give it a try as some kind of thanks.

Rosa soon found herself carrying the bouquet through the little town. While she walked through the town, she did notice how other ponies tried to avoid her as much as possible and gave her some glares. But Rosa was used to that and kept walking without paying attention to it too much.

Rosa arrived at the door of the pony's house and knocked on it. A few minutes later, a little colt opened the door. "Hello," he greeted Rosa a little surprised after seeing the bouquet of flowers in front of him with a filly behind it.

"I am supposed to deliver these flowers to you," Rosa said with a smile on her face as she presented the flowers in front of the colt.

The colt gabbed them with one of his hooves and sniffed at them for a moment. "They are so nice, thank you," he said with a smile on his face as well.

Rosa had to admit that her mother was right about one thing. Seeing the smile on this little colt truly was something special and made her feel happy. It was kinda weird how one simple act like that could make her feel like that.

Another pony stepped towards the door from inside, this pony was a taller mare, most likely the mother of this little colt. She looked at the flowers before her eyes wandered towards Rosa who still kept up a bright smile. However, her smile was not returned by the mare and instead there was a mean glare that made Rosa feel a little uncomfortable.

"Oh, it's you," the mare said bitterly, much to her son's confusion who had no idea what this was all about. Rosa was about to say something but the mare cut her off with a warning. "Stay away from me and my son!" She said angrily, moving her head towards the little filly. "I don't want a little brat like you around my family!" She added before she slammed the door shut in front of Rosa, leaving her with a sad expression.

Rosa stood there for a moment and tried to not get angry or anything before she turned around to go home again. On her way home, she once again noticed how every eye was focused on her.

"There she is..." some mare whispered to another mare.

"Yes...that girl from..." the other mare replied before she was cut off.

"Shh! Don't talk about that! I want to forget it!"

Rosa, of course, overheard that and got angry. Instead of waling, she was now running home. Tears tried to come out of her eyes but she refused them to come out. Her sadness turned to anger and she just wanted to go home and don't leave the house for the rest of the day.

Rosa's house was a little far away from the rest of the town so it took her a few minutes to arrive there. She was exhausted from all the running and proceeded to walk normally again. Her anger, however, was still present. "Stupid town," she said quietly in a sad voice. "How is it my fault that I am..." she started until she saw some ponies in front of her house talking with her mother.

One pony talked with Bella while two others seemed to stand guard for something. Rosa knew that approaching them head on would probably cause some trouble so she sneaked around from the side until she finally heard what they were talking about.

The stallion in front of Bella seemed angered by something and demanded an explanation but Bella smiled and didn't let herself be intimidated. "I still don't really understand what I have to do with all this," she said a little confused.

The stallion seemed a little annoyed but still kept his calm. "We were sent here by our boss to collect some...funds," he hinted at.

"But I am just a mare that grows and sells flowers," Bella replied keeping a smile up the whole time. "I think you can get more out of...literally everypony else..."

"Don't play me as a foal," the stallion replied, showing more signs of anger this time. "We know about your connection with our boss. That is why we are here," he added in a more threatening.

Bella's smile vanished and she looked more concerned all of the sudden. "If you know who I am, then you should also know that I have no part in the things that you do. In fact, I don't even think that your boss sent you here in the first place," she figured.

However, this kind of behavior made the stallion even angrier. "Listen, Bella!" He said as he moved closer to her in a very threatening way. "You should be glad that we are even allowing you to stay here without taking some more drastic measures!" He said as he stepped closer to her eyes as if he wanted to get violent any time now.

Then suddenly, the stallion began to scream "Ooouch!" and began to lift his front leg to find out that Rosa had her teeth stuck into his leg. "What the? What do you think you are doing?" He exclaimed angrily as he shook his leg so that Rosa would let go.

However, it was not until Bella helped to release her daughter from this stallions leg. The two guard who kept guarding in front of the house walked to the stallion's side to make sure that he was alright while also keeping a close eye on Rosa.

Naturally, the stallion was not all too happy about this incident. "Is that your daughter!? You should keep her on a leash or something!" He said angrily as he looked at the filly who just stick her tongue out.

Bella kept Rosa close to her so that she wouldn't do anything stupid again. Any mother would probably apologize for such a behavior of her daughter but given how the stallion and Bella did not seem to be on any good terms at all, this did not happen.

After consulting his little bite wound, the stallion got surprisingly calm again. "Whatever. It is not too important so we will give you some more time with the money. You better not waste it," the stallion advised before he turned around, walking away with his two fellow ponies and leaving Rosa and Bella alone.

What followed was some scolding from Bella's side. Something that Rosa already expected. She couldn't just watch how her mother was approached by this stallion like that and had to do something. Bella understood her daughter's action but she also didn't want her to get in any kind of trouble.

"Who were those guys? What did they want? And why did they know you?" Rosa asked.

Bella hesitated to answer at first but figured that she should explain things because he daughter might have an idea what this all could be about. "To put it simply...criminals,"

By now, Rosa knew what this meant and lowered her head. "So they were working for..." she started before she stopped in mid-sentence.

"Yes," Bella said, nodding in the process. "Your father," which made Rosa clenched her teeth just by hearing this word.

Apparently, before Rosa was born, this little town where they lived, was home to a famous thief. A thief that soon became the leader of a whole group of thieves that made a name in the underground of Equestria and managed to slip under the nose of even Princess Celestia herself. Rosa did not know too many details about what they did or why they were feared by the townsfolk. This was because Bella did not want her to hear those things. In fact, Bella did not want her to hear anything about all this but since Rosa was not stupid and noticed how the townsfolk's looked at her every day, soon the truth had to come out.

Because this thief was born in this town, ponies around knew about him and grew to fear him. But at the same time, the ponies of this town were safe since this pony loved his hometown.

But soon he found a bigger love.
Bella.
The mare moved into this town and happened to come across this pony without knowing anything about him. Apparently, it was love at first sight and the two got married shortly after. Rosa was born and the famous thief stayed in town for a while but soon his "Thief business" was catching up to him, leaving both Bella and Rosa on their own.

Being the daughter of a dangerous thief like that always caught the attention of the town folks. They were afraid that Rosa would end up like him as well and because of that, she was always greeted with glares of distrust. Rosa was certainly not happy about this and blamed her father for being a criminal and leaving her and her mother alone as well as for making all the town folks hate her.

Remembering all those things was enough for Rosa to plainly not caring about those three ponies from before. It was not like her mother would have filled her in anyway. She just wanted her daughter to be safe and far away from trouble. She would have to take care of things eventually.

Still, Bella did not like to see her daughter with a frown on her face whenever it came to her husband so she decided to do something against it. She walked up to a drawer and grabbed something out of it. She then walked back to her daughter. "Here, take a look at this," she said as she presented her a little red brooch in the form of a rose.

"A brooch?" Rosa wondered.

Bella formed a bright smile. "Your father gave me this brooch when he asked me to marry him," she shared with a huge smile on her face.

Rosa actually had a hard time to get angry seeing her mother smiling like this and remained silent. Her mother then took the brooch and put it in Rosa's mane, much to her confusion. "What are you doing?" Rosa said confused, unaware of what her mother was doing at this point.

Bella then stepped back a few steps to take a look at Rosa with the brooch in her mane and giggled. "It looks good on you," she said happily. Rosa did feel a little uncomfortable to have something from her father and thought about some way to remove the brooch without hurting her mother's feelings. "Did you know that you were named after this?" Bella then added, causing Rosa to look in surprise. "It's a rose. When you were born, you had this red mane so we decided to call you Rosa. Rose was also a possibility but we thought that would be too obvious," Bella added as she sticks out her tongue a little embarrassed.

While this was certainly a cute story, it only made one question appear in Rosa's head.
"Why did dad left us alone?" She asked with a frown on her face.

Bella frowned as well. But soon, she began to pat her daughter's head and smiled again. "To protect us," she simply said before she walked away from her without any further explanation.

The matter was just left like that. No more explanation or questions. Rosa decided to wear this brooch from now on just because her mother seemed to be happy about this. It felt complicated when it came to Rosa's father. She did want to know a fair amount about him but at the same time, she didn't care too much as well. It was such a bother that Rosa decided to not think about it anymore this day.

Some days later...

It was only a matter of time until those sneaky ponies from before would visit Bella and Rosa again. This time, Rosa was not allowed to do anything rash so she just stood behind her mother. Unfortunately, the conversation didn't seem to go too well just like last time.

It was the same stallion like before who angrily discussed the matter with Bella. "So you are telling me that you still don't have enough money?" He asked bluntly.

Bella was replying rather calmly. "I think, we still haven't really cleared what this was even about. I don't think that I have any business with you. On top of that, I don't think you can make much money out of a flower pony," she said rather smugly.

"Feeling really smart, huh?" The stallion replied with a serious expression on his face.

The stallion's eyes wandered over to Rosa for a moment, making her feel rather uncomfortable in response. His eyes widened as soon as he spotted a little thing in her mane. "This brooch..." he said interested as he closed up to the filly until Bella placed her leg between the two of them. "You know, this brooch looks pretty valuable. I could take that instead of bits," he offered.

Just hearing that made Rosa clench her teeth in anger. She began to glare at the stallion, who could not care less about her expression at all and waited for a response from Bella.

It didn't take long until Bella replied. "Alright," she said with a sad tone in her voice.

"Huh?" Rosa then said confused as she looked at her mother.

"But after that, you will leave us alone, right?" Bella demanded.

"Yeah, I guess," the stallion replied, which actually sounded truthful enough that somepony could believe it.

"Then that's settled," Bella said before she turned towards her daughter reaching out her hoof so that Rosa could give her the brooch. To Bella's surprise, Rosa did not seem to want to give it to her. "What's wrong?" Bella asked surprised.

Rosa covered the brooch and stepped away a little. "I don't want to give the brooch to this guys!" She said protective of her brooch.

Bella only reacted even more surprised. "I thought you didn't like it because it was fro your father,"

Rosa did not reply to this and kept covering her brooch with a sad expression on her face. Bella did notice that Rosa was wearing the brooch every day since she gave it to her and was happy about it but she didn't realize that it was actually important to her.

"Ahem," the stallion then said, still waiting that somepony would give him the brooch anytime soon.

Bella kneeled down to met her daughter eye to eye and whispered some words to her. "Rosa, my dear. Do you want us to be happy? Do you want us to live a good and happy life?" She asked quietly.

Rosa nodded. "Of course, I want us to be happy," she replied a little hesitantly.

Bella grabbed Rosa's shoulders with her hooves. "This brooch is very important to me but you are even more important. If it means to protect you then this thing means nothing to me. You understand that, right?" She said as she smiled the whole time.

Rosa looked over to the three ponies one more time and thought carefully about this situation one more time before she finally nodded and removed her brooch from her mane, giving it to her mother afterward. Bella was about to give it to the stallion but she pulled her hoof away right before he could grab it. "If I'll give you this, you will leave us alone, right? Your boss will know the value of this so there is no more need for you to demand any more money, right?" Bella said in an almost professional way, causing the stallion to actually get worried about it for a second.

The brooch was then given to the stallion, who inspected it a little further. "Yes, I think that should be enough," he said before he signaled one of his other two companions to walk closer to him with a little sack in his mouth. He opened the sack and what Rosa saw inside of it shocked her.

The sack was full of bits, diamonds, and other pretty valuable looking stuff. Stuff that looked way more expensive than the brooch that they just got. The stallion threw the brooch casually inside of this sack as if it was just some kind of coin. This made Rosa's blood boil, causing her to walk towards the stallion angrily.

"You got to be kidding me!?" She exclaimed as she pulled his leg in the process. "You already got all this expensive stuff and you still demand to take more from us!?"

"Rosa! Stop!" Bella said in order to stop her daughter from doing anything stupid.

The stallion was tying up the sack again and shook Rosa off from his leg, not even bothering to even reply to that as he walked away from the two, minding his own business again. Rosa would have liked nothing more than going up to him and say what was on her mind but her mother holds her back to prevent exactly that.

The stallions were out of sight and Rosa looked up to her mother, only seeing how she was shaking her head frustrated. "I know how you might feel in this situation but you also should think about your actions before you do something like this," Bella advised.

Rosa looked away and moved her eyes towards the direction where the three ponies left to, forming an angry expression. "Ponies like them...they took something important away from us without any regret...I'll never forgive ponies like them," she said as she narrowed her eyes in anger. She then raised her hoof a little and looked at it. "That is why I took this..."

Bella looked shocked into Rosa's hoof after she noticed what she was holding in it. It was the brooch that the three stallions took away from her.
How did she get it back?
When did she take it back?
Those were questions that swirled around Bella's head after seeing the brooch.

Rosa's hoof began to shake. "This brooch was so important to you and they took it just like that! I don't care if they come back! I don't care what they do, once they figure it out! I will take this brooch back again as much as it takes!" She said determinedly.

Suddenly, a bright light engulfed Rosa. She looked around to figure out what was happening. It looked familiar to Bella and she had an idea what was happening at the moment but she still kept quiet and waited. Rosa soon began to levitate above the ground, still being surrounded by this light. This was going on for a few more seconds until an even brighter light came from her for a second. After that, the light stopped and Rosa landed safely on the ground again.

"What just happened?" Rosa asked as she held her head with her hoof, feeling as if the world was spinning.

Bella, by now, knew what happened and advised her daughter to turn around to take a look at her flank. It didn't even take a second until Rosa realized what that meant. She grinned and looked at her flank and saw exactly what she was expecting. A Cutie Mark.

"A Cutie Mark! A Cutie Mark! Finally!" She said excitedly as she jumped up and down happily.

Her Cutie Mark was a brown sack. It almost looked like the sack that the stallion from before held in his hoof but at this very moment, Rosa didn't care about that and continued to be happy about getting her Cutie Mark.

Her mother smiled and congratulated her daughter for that. She began hugging her and Rosa returned the hug. Of course, this had to be celebrated so they went inside to plan a little party. Of course, since Rosa was always looked at as the daughter of a famous thief, there were not many ponies attending the party. But Rosa didn't care much about that.

However, while seeing her daughter happy like this, Bella couldn't stop thinking about what this Cutie Mark meant. A brown sack...like the one she stolen from to get the brooch back...Bella just had a bad feeling thinking about this.

A few days later...Early in the morning...

Bella was walking outside of the towns with a saddlebag on her back and a sad expression on her face. Before she was almost outside of the town, the stallion that was used to bring back Rosa to her, whenever she was causing trouble to the town walked up to her. Of course, he asked what exactly she was doing with a filled saddlebag on her back but he also had some kind of clue what exactly was going on. Bella filled him in about the three stallions that demanded money from them and he also knew who they were and who most likely sent them. With all this information, he puzzled together what Bella was up to.

"You really think this is the best?" Rasp asked concerned, actually showing some sympathy for Rosa. "What if they come and take Rosa away?"

"They won't..." Bella replied. "I don't think that they came for the money..."

"You think they are after?" The stallion started to figure out, widening his eyes in the process.

Bella only nodded quietly before she attempted to walk away again. But before she walked completely outside of the town, she turned around one more time to look at the stallion. "Please...take care of her for a while..." Bella said before she turned her head around again before she walked away.

The stallion nodded only silently as he watched Bella leaving the town for good. He was aware of Rosa's Cutie Mark and realized that her destiny came very close to that of her father's. Maybe that was one of the reasons why Bella left. But Rasp was in no position to think about those things. It was not his business. At least, that's what he thought.

A few hours later...

Rosa just woke up and climbed down from her bed. Normally, he mother would wake her up if she was sleeping for this long. Wondering where her mother was, Rosa walked around the house to find her but she had no luck. She looked everywhere but there was no sign from her mother. It was weird how silent it was.

Eventually, she figured that her mother was delivering some flowers to somepony somewhere in the town so she stayed home for a while and tried to kill some time. But her mother was not coming home for a while now. Soon, Rosa began to worry a little about this and stepped outside. She was about to open the door but she spotted something on the ground right in front of it. A letter laid on the ground. Of course, she picked it up and read what it had to say. But what she was about to read was definitely not what she wanted right now.

Dear Rosa...

It's me...your mother...

Before you read any further, let me tell you that you are the most important pony in my life.
I love you more than anything in this whole wide world. The last thing I want is ruining your chance of living a normal and happy life or putting you in danger.

That is why I have to go...I have to go away from you...so that your life can continue.

I'm sorry that I can't give you any more details but please understand that I am doing this for you.
You may hate me after reading this. You might cry and don't know how to react to this. But please...don't go out and look for me. Live your own live Find your happiness. Try to find friends that accept you for who you are. Do what want to do with your life. Be happy.

Maybe one day you will understand why I had to do this and laugh back at it. I know that you won't break out from something like this for long. You are strong. Far stronger then I was at your age. You don't need me.

Live...my dear...

Live...

Tears began to run down Rosa's cheeks. She dropped the letter on the ground. Rosa charged out of the house in denial and hoped to get some answer. She opened the door and tried to charge right to the town but landed on the ground after she ran right into somepony.

"Uncle Rasp," Rosa said with tears running down on her face.

The stallion gave her a frown but he was not waiting in front of her house for nothing and began to get to the point. "You are not following her," he said with a very serious tone in his voice.

Rosa could have asked how he knew about that but at that moment she was way too sad to care about it. There were more questions in her head that she could count. She wanted answers so so badly. And she wanted them now. But right now, all she could do was jump into Rasp in hope for some comfort. Of course, Rasp was kind enough to give her the comfort that she was looking for and hugged her back.

Deep down, Rosa thought about the letter. To an extent, she knew that her mother had something to do with those three ponies that visited them. She left because she wanted to protect her daughter. There must have been a reason. Maybe the stallions were about to do something terrible to Rosa. Whatever it was, there was nothing that Rosa could do now. She was just a little filly that just got her Cutie Mark. So all she could do is what her mother wanted her to do...

Living her own life...

Back in the present...

It was shaking a little. Like on a boat. Up and down.
Rosa began to open her eyes. She saw a grass field that moved up and down. After she was about to be fully awake, she noticed that she was carried by somepony. Fade was carrying her on his back as he walked over this grass field.

"What the!?" She exclaimed confused as soon as she got a full grasp of the situation.

"Oh, you're awake," Fade replied as soon as he noticed how Rosa was awake now.

Rosa then began to struggle. Fade was about to let her down but the mare struggled so much that she accidentally dropped on the ground herself. "Ow! Careful!" She complained, making it sound like as if it was Fade's fault.

Fade kept a bland expression while Rosa kept jumping up and down on the ground. She was still tied up and looked like a fish that was out of the water. It looked weird, to say the least, but Fade kept a normal expression where everypony would probably laugh, right now.

"Wait! Where is my bag!?" Rosa then asked in worry, making her look all over the place.

"It's right here," Fade replied as he threw the bag right in front of her face.

Rosa let out a relieved sigh and calmed down again. It was now time to ask the more important questions. "Why are we in the middle of nowhere? What happened to that farmer and his cart?" She began to ask.

Fade explained. "I saw members of the Royal Guards flying towards Fillydelphia. If we stayed in that cart, then they would have found us eventually so we needed to get away,"

Rosa formed a disbelieving expression on her face. "You mean, you?" She said, causing Fade to look back in surprise. "You did something that forces you to flee from them, not me! So there is no reason for you to drag me around with you!" She pointed out annoyed turning around with an offended expression on her face.

Fade looked away, frowning. He was aware that he had no right to drag her around, even if she was a thief. He didn't even think about it when he grabbed her as he escaped from the cart. The plan was to bring her to Fillydelphia so that somepony could deal with her but now that he couldn't get to this town because of the Royal Guards, this was no option anymore.

"You're right..." Fade then said before he walked up to Rosa. His horn began to glow and the ropes around Rosa were moving while being surrounded by the same light. The ropes began to loosen up and Rosa was free again.

The mare looked at Fade to her surprise of his sudden action. "Finally," she said before she began to stretch her legs a little. "So you realized that dragging me around was pointless, huh?" She guessed smugly. Fade didn't answer and just looked away. Rosa still remembered how she guessed that Fade did something bad that would prevent him from going back to Canterlot so she tried to poke around a little to find out what Fade seemed to be so upset about. "You know, I am just some thief so it's probably not that bad if you tell me about those things that you did. I can probably top them," she said, again smugly.

Fade actually considered telling someone about the things that happened. Maybe then he would no longer feel so alone. Rosa was right. She was just some thief. That's how he saw her. He could care less about what she would think about him. But more importantly, he needed somepony to talk to.

"I can't go back..." Fade said quietly.

Rosa rolled her eyes. "Yes, we already got to that point. Would you mind explaining me why?" She poked around further, trying to get a better answer out of him. Not that she was so drilled to know what happened.

Fade looked directly into Rosa's eyes with a serious expression on his face. "To protect my daughter..."

Rosa seemed to be caught off guard by those words and looked a little flustered. But soon, she got a little angered by this, even if she didn't show it from the outside. "Is she in Canterlot? How are you protecting her if you stay away from her?" She said offended as if this matter was hitting her on a personal level.

Fade didn't understand why Rosa acted like this all of the sudden but he explained further. "It's complicated. The way I am right now is not safe for her. And putting her in danger is the last thing I want," he said as he looked at his own hoof with a frustrated look on his face.

Those words seemed to strike Rosa even further. She did not remember what she was dreaming before she woke up but she did remember the letter that her mother wrote before she left. Up until now, she tried to forget it most of the time, following her own path and living her own life. She didn't like how Fade remembered her of this day but at the same time, she felt like as if she could not leave him.

"Alright then!" Rosa said in a cheerful tone. "Then where are you heading to? Because from the looks of it, you don't make the impression as if you know much about traveling," she said provocatively. Fade was about to object this but Rosa continued shortly after. "That's where I come in! Let's stick together for a while. See it as thanks for letting me go," she added with a happy smile on her face.

Fade smelled a trap. She was acting way too cheerful all of the sudden. There was no way to tell what was going on in this mare's head after all. But was Fade ready to be on his own again? Maybe he needed somepony around to keep him busy. Is that why he dragged her along with him?

The two looked at each other. Fade's face was colored in concern while Rosa's was filled with optimism and cheerfulness. The silence became a little awkward after a while so Fade spoke up the next best thing in his mind.

"You will probably get into trouble if you accompany me," Fade warned.

"I can handle some trouble," Rosa smugly replied accompanied with a grin on her face.

Fade then walked away and offered the mare to follow her. If she offered to accompany him, then there was no way that he would decline it. He needed somepony to talk to, even if it was a thief. But Fade was in no position to talk down to her. If a thief was considered bad for him, then what would make that him? The one who attacked his own soldiers and was corrupted by dark magic?

Rosa's thoughts were a lot different. She didn't see the danger that she was following, right now. All she thought about was what was going on in his head. And why he would think that his daughter would be happy if her father was not around...

To be continued...

Author's Note:

A new year, a new chapter!
...
Those things don't have anything to do with each other!

What do you think will happen next?
Which character will be focused on the next chapter?
Tagma and Sole?
Fade and Rosa?
Someone else?
Find out in the next chapter!

Please consider leaving some kind of feedback.
Also, make sure to follow me or this story if you want to keep track of all of my stories.

See you all in the next chapter.
Bye!

Reading Order:

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship Season 1 + 2(Chapter 1 - 53)

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship - Diary of The Storm Wings

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship Season 3(Chapter 54 - 65)

Equestria Girls - The Legend of Friendship

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship - Outcasts