The Honest Thief

by Anypony Productions

The Breaking Point

It had been 7 years since Silver’s last robbery and had confided in working in the mines. He was now 18 and was built, strong and stone-faced. His attitude towards life had grown more and more despising over the years he had worked in the mines; how unfairly he was treated, the low pay and the endless droning cycle he lived was nearly unbearable. Get up, go dig, get home, repeat; this repetition had become a sad excuse for a livelihood and he would constantly think of the act of theft time and time again. Yet he promised his mother he would live the life of what his father wanted so the family could stay happy. He also remembered he was on his last chance with the law and if he was caught again the town would surely run him out for good.

However this ‘life’ Silver was living gave him bitterness and hatred; the idea of living this for the rest of his natural life was a fate worse than death he believed. Along with this, the mine owner, Radiant Sapphire, had begun to lower wages due to a lack in productivity. He threatened to continue this unless the workers picked up the pace and found more gems. Silver would grit his teeth when Sapphire was near him- he could barely control his anger towards him. Finally, a breaking point came.

“Well Mr. Spur, it seems you and your son have been lacking in gem count these past weeks. Now I am a tolerant stallion and appreciate a hard worker but it seems you or your son hasn’t been this.”

“Please, Mr. Sapphire, this area of the mine is low in gems and I suspect there aren’t much left.” Golden Spur seemed to be praying for his job.

“I’m sorry Mr. Spur but I have no time for worthless dirt like you and your son. Get out of my mine and stay out. The only reason I kept your father here was because he worked for nearly nothing- but you ask for a higher pay and deliver nothing.”

Silver Spur was enraged at Sapphire, how dare he talk to his father like this; after all the years of dedicated work he had given to him. Golden lowered his head and frowned deeply, he turned and trotted away.

“C,mon Silver, pack up your things, we’re no longer needed here.”

Silver gritted his teeth with pure hatred and tried with all his might to follow his father out of the mine and not beat Sapphire senseless. It was truly the final straw that broke the camel’s back for Silver; he could not tolerate this abuse without a lasting revenge on Radiant Sapphire.

Mrs. Spur was surprised to have Golden and Silver back early, “Oh you two are home early, did work let out?”

Golden sat back in his rocking chair and sighed deeply saying nothing. Silver simply walked in the shack and lied down on his bed mat. Mrs. Spur tried to get something out of either of them yet it was to no avail. She soon realized what had happened was deeply hurt. She was now uncertain how she would buy food and water for the family and how long they would last. After a couple hours, Golden finally got up from his chair and came into the house.

Silver was sitting down near his mother waiting for Golden to have dinner with them; none of the family said anything, silence told the story of what happened that day. However near the end of dinner, Golden finally spoke up.

“I worked 26 years for that pony and he just cuts me off like a used napkin. He even insulted my father, said he only kept him because he was cheap enough. I…I can’t believe this.” Tears swelled up in Golden’s eyes. “Excuse me for a moment.”

Golden trotted out of the house to hide his pain from the rest of the family. He always wanted to show no pain or weakness to Silver and would try to mask his true feelings in times of hardship. Mrs. Spur sighed, she knew without the money from the mines, the family would run out of money for food in a couple weeks.

Mrs. Spur started crying at the thought of being homeless and starving with her own son feeling such pain. Silver wrapped his hooves around her, she then spoke; “I just don’t know what we’re going to do. I… I…” She couldn’t continue speaking without crying more.

Silver felt rage unlike any he had ever felt before. He knew what he had to do.

End of Chapter 2