The Unlikeliest Thing to Happen
Sly Pocket blew another raspberry as he rested his head on the railing at the top of a red brick staircase. It was another boring weekend away from school with his father out at the council hall again while his mother kicked him out of the house for some “fresh air”. Even though Sly Pocket lived in a pretty big city of Kadiston and his family live comfortably, he could never quite find something exciting to do even with friends and the nearly constant festivals happening every week.
“Hey, Sly!” Sly Pocket lifted his head to look down at the street at a trio of ponies looking up at him; one unicorn and two pegasi. The orange unicorn's name was Buck Withers, another rich kid from the noble district whose dad inherited his grandfather's string of loan businesses. The pair of pegasi were Rain and Snow Clouds, respectively; they were actually twins with their matching sky blue coats and navy blue manes. The only way to tell them apart was their different voices and eye color.
“Come down here and stop looking like a depressed earth bound pony!” Buck yelled.
“Yeah, let’s go do something fun!” Rain Clouds' deep voice bellowed. Sly Pocket sneered his usual smirk and jumped over the edge of the staircase landing deftly in front of them. “Your idea of fun includes messing with mares with your doppelganger brother as you two constantly switch places. While it’s entertaining, it gets repetitive after that last three dozen mares or so.”
“And what's wrong with that?” Snow Clouds' mousey voice piped up. “That last mare we had wrapped around our hooves so much, we could have taken her to bed and she wouldn't have known if it was me or Rain giving it to her!” he laughed.
“Ugh, that mare looked more like a common earth bound than a unicorn is supposed to.” Buck lulled with his overly particulate manner. “If father had seen me come back with a pony that ugly, he would have disowned me and tossed back outside to live like an earth bound pony.”
“And how are you exempt from this argument?” Sly Pocket retorted. “You're just as ugly as she was!”
The three of them laughed and cackled at Buck's expense as they moved down the cobblestone steps. The streets were filled with its usual assortment of street vendors and actual businesses and the boring ponies that flocked to them like mindless lemmings. If there was one thing Sly Pocket didn't enjoy about living in this place, it was the boring routine of doing the same thing day in and day out. There wasn't anything exciting to do; this district was too well off to have any kind of commotion other than the occasional sweet roll supposedly being “stolen”. Most of the events happened in the lower sections of the city and his father wasn't helping with constantly reminding him to stay in the upper district.
The small talk continued for a bit between the gang until they ran out of things to say and another awkward silence fell between all four of them. Sly Pocket let out another long sigh; “So what are we going to do today?” he asked.
“I don't know,” the twins responded together, “Want to head down town and see some girls?”
“We are downtown,” Buck rolled his eyes as if to say it was obvious. “I say we head back up to the nobles' neighborhood to spend some time there. At least it will be something nice to look at rather than this dreary place.”
“Okay, calm down there, rich kid,” Sly said sarcastically. “It’s not like every one of us has a million bits or something to spend on a mansion or someth- oof!” Sly Pocket crashed into pony standing in front of him almost knocking both of them down.
“Watch where you're going, kid!” he snapped before pushing his way past the four of them. They all watched the adult leave until he was out of earshot.
“Jeez, what a jerk...!” Snow Clouds snarled. “I hope he gets hit by a carriage or something.”
For once, Buck actually nodded his head in agreement. “Most definitely; I'm sure my father could help me find out that pony's business and make a few inspections go awry for him.”
“Guys, check this out!” everypony turned to look at Sly Pocket currently holding a very shiny object about the size of a pine cone. It had a few jewels encrusted in it and the overall exterior looked like silver. They all gaped at the ornament dangling before their eyes like a carrot in front of a mule. “Where in Equestria did you find that?!” Rain Clouds thundered as quietly as he could.
“I don't know!” Sly Pocket nearly yelled back. “I think I might have accidentally grabbed it out of that pony's pocket! Do you know how much this thing could be worth?! It could be worth hundreds of bits!”
“Thousands, actually,” Snow Clouds analyzed the object more closely, “If I'm right, those are real jewels embedded at the top which makes this thing possibly worth fifteen hundred bits; give or take a few hundred.”
Sly Pocket gazed at his latest catch dangling from his hooves, mesmerized by it. “That was actually kind of fun...!”
The group snapped out of their trance, excitement bubbling like hot water. “Sly Pocket, you gotta try that again! I want to see what else you might be able to get!” the twins bounced up and down. Buck nodded fervently too; “Yes, I must see just how sneaky you are with those hooves if you could grab this little beauty!”
“I'm down for it!” Sly nodded excitedly. “Do you think we should give this back?” the group exchanged a flurry of silent conversations between them for a moment. “Naaaaahhh!!” they all cheered.
“Hey, stop right there, thieves!!” the gang glanced over their shoulders to the pony they ran into earlier now with a hellish fire in his eyes.
“Oh, horse apples! Run guys!” the gang scattered to the winds with Rain Clouds and Sly Pocket taking to the sky and Snow Clouds and Buck dashing down the streets dodging their way through the crowds leaving a raging pony to scream at all of their backs.
~~~
Several years later...
“Hey, are you sure about this? Shady Shim said they would be here and they're not; I think he might have given us some bad info.”
“Hey, relax, alright? They'll be here; they always do. And besides, when has there ever been a job too hard for us? We've had way harder ones than this one! It'll be fine!”
“That's what I'm worried about, Sly. Every time you say that, things always go south for us. And quit smirking! That's not helping!”
“Oh relax, it won’t be that bad. We'll go in, steal the goods, and get out. If you want, I can go in alone and you can wait back here. Don't worry, we'll get you that money for your family and then you can retire from this and have a “normal” job. Even Buck is willing to give us a little extra money for this haul for you once we fence it off to him!”
Rain Clouds let out a heavy sigh as he rubbed his brow. “No, I'll come with you. I'm the only one who can pull out of most the stupid stunts you do. And if things do go south, Buck can bail us out with his connections on the council.”
“See, what's the issue here?” Sly Pocket tugged at his hoof gloves one last time before spreading his wings. “We've got all of our basis covered, so let’s get this done so you can retire. Look, there are the security guards; let’s go!” he gave a power flap of his wings headed for the grand mansion just waiting to get robbed. Rain Clouds grunted in dismay before following suit and chasing after his faster counterpart.
The pair landed silently outside the top balcony, both flanking the double doors that led inside. Sly Pocket took a small peak inside and found nopony there. He turned back to Rain Clouds and smirked giving him an affirmative nod before stepping over to check the lock.
“Hey, did Snow Clouds do his part of the job?” Rain asked while checking over his shoulder. “Did he remember to lock the door to this room and disable any alarm systems?”
“I don't know, he's your brother!” Sly hissed back as the lock in front of him gave a soft click. “Got it! Come on, let’s get in and get out of here!” his eager smirk plastered his face. Even after so many years of successful heists, the thrill of stealing still hadn't lost its unique adrenaline taste.
They stepped inside leaving the double doors open for their escape route after the heist. It was a fancy master bedroom with white being the only kind of color palate in it; white walls, white floor, white furniture, white four poster bed, and even more white things. Sly Pocket scanned the room for anything hidden or valuable. With a nod, he headed over to the painting hanging on the wall and removed it to reveal a hidden safe. While Sly was busy with the safe, Rain Clouds headed over to the door to peer through the key hole.
After a moment of silent work, Rain Clouds whispered into the darkness. “Hey, Sly?”
“Yeah?” he answered still focused on the safe.
“Have you ever looked at retiring? You know, like settling down or something?”
“And give up the thrill of adventure like stealing or finding hidden treasures? No way! Why would I want to do that?”
“Well, you know we can’t keep doing this forever, right?” he glanced back at his partner in crime from his place in front of the door.
“I know that; but I still think I have a good while to go before I need to worry about retiring. It’s not like we're wanted or anything right now.” he paused to look at Rain Clouds staring at him from the door. “You really want me to stop, huh?”
“Well, when you have your own wife and kid you would understand more why I want out. Look, let’s just get this last score so I can go back home and see my family again and put this behind me.”
“Fiiine...” Sly rolled his eyes. The safe gave one final click before the last tumbler fell into place and the safe door fell open. “Got it!” Sly snatched the small key laying in the middle of the box before showing it off to Rain, “Got the key, now let’s get to that family safe!”
Rain nodded and gave one more peek through his key hole before pulling out a set of wax keys he had made a couple weeks ago for this particular house. He flipped through a couple before sticking one in and turning. The door swung open into a long hallway elegantly decorated with gold tapestries and other valuable, but too large to carry, oddities.
“You’re welcome on getting all of those keys for you.” Sly Pocket sneered confidently.
“Oh please, like it’s that hard to steal a key.” it was Rain Clouds' time to roll his eyes.
“Do you doubt my skills, sir?” Sly Pocket waggled a feather at him as his other wing silently slipped a small golden, jewel encrusted egg into his saddle bags. Rain chuckled at his Sly's antics before they quietly padded down the hallway.
“If I remember right, Snow Clouds said the safe would be at the end of this hallway and to the-, ah, there it is!” as if on cue, Rain Clouds spotted a pair of large, extravagant, yellow doors to his right at the end of their current corridor. They slowed to a stop in front of them and stared at the three-times-their-size doors in front of them.
“A little big for just one pony to walk in.” Rain commented.
“Do you think he's over compensating for something?” Sly Pocket smirked again as Rain groaned at the crude humor.
“Who cares who owns this, open it up and let’s get the goods!” Sly stepped forward tossing said key in his hoof before shoving it into the hole and turning. He paused listening to the clicks of multiple locks and bolts sliding out of their locked places until silence fell again. He glanced back at Rain Clouds who motioned with his hoof to get on with it. Sly Pocket turned back to the door and pulled on its handle.
The door swung open to reveal the biggest storage of gold and riches he had ever seen. Rare and elegant items littered the huge safe from floor to ceiling with bags of bits that were stacked equally high. Whoever this pony was, they were loaded to the brim!
“Sweet Celestia!” Sly swore, “I've never seen a haul this big; it’s almost beautiful...”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s great; now let’s get the most valuable stuff and get out of here!” Rain Clouds pressed forward into the room. Sly pocket didn't move, but a sliver of light caught his attention followed by a wave a panic. “No, Rain, wait; Stop!” Rain Clouds looked back at Sly just as his hoof caught on a trip wire. In the blink of an eye, Rain was scooped up and trapped inside a magical bubble shield while Sly had just enough time to dodge back and away from the trap.
A siren screamed throughout the house as a secondary security system alert the entire mansion to their presence. Overhead Rain pounded against the magic shield with his hoof making no damage what so ever. “Sly!!” he yelled down, “Get me out of here!!”
“I'm working on it, I'm working on it!” Sly Pocket's mind raced with ideas to get his friend out, but magical traps and devices were outside of his expertise. Usually, when they found something magical, Buck was the one who would take care of it.
“Hey!!” a voice yelled from the opposite end of the hallway. The blood drained from Sly's face as he saw none other than Buck Withers himself standing with a robe wrapped around him and Snow Clouds at his side. Of all the places he could have robbed, why did it happen to be his best friend's mansion?! How could Snow Clouds not have told them of this? He would have turned down the job in a heartbeat if he knew it would be on his own friend's home.
“Just what do you think you two are doing!?!” Buck yelled at them.
“Wha-, but I thought-, Snow, why didn't you tell me this was Buck's place!?”
Snow Clouds shrugged, “Somepony offered me a better cut if I got you two locked up. You guys have been stirring up a lot of trouble and somepony wanted it stopped and I wasn't going to jail for it.” his squeaky voice still hadn't changed over the years; right now, it was the most hated thing in the world for Sly Pocket.
“We will talk about you later,” Buck snarled at Snow, “But right now you are all going to jail for this! Guards!!” A blast of magical energy erupted from Buck's horn and Sly just managed to dodge to the side of it.
“Sly Pocket, run!!” he glanced up at Rain Clouds yelling at him to escape. He wanted to stay and help, but there was no way he could see that fixing anything other than getting them all thrown in the dungeons. He gritted his teeth and did the last thing he wanted to do, he turned his back on his crew and ran.
He ran back down the hallway he came from as more blasts of magic rained down on him from behind. Bits of wall and valuable items were destroyed in the hail of magic blasts leaving craters and ruined furniture. Sharp pieces showered Sly as he dashed back into the bedroom and shut the door behind him grabbing the wax key in the process. Shouts of guards and more alarms could be heard outside of the open balcony. Sly Pocket stuck the wax key in his saddle bag for now; he would dispose of it later.
Sly opened his wings and dove out the double doors into the air outside heading for the planned escape route; an abandoned building not too far from here. Keeping to the shadows, he managed to dodge all of the lights and small range detection spells all the guards at the mansion were casting. After a few more tense moments of avoiding the city street guards he arrived at the designated safe house; or, what was the designated safe house. Three guards were already standing outside the building waiting for him and the building itself was set ablaze. The only other option for Sly Pocket now was to flee town; again.
Sly gripped his hooves tightly. He swore he would find a way to get Rain Clouds out of jail, get back at his brother Snow Clouds, and hopefully apologize to Buck. If he had to do it all with money, then Sly Pocket would find or steal every valuable in the world until he could get his friends back. First, he was going to have to pay off his expected bounty now on his head if he ever wanted to come back to this city without being arrested on the spot. Sly had heard of a few odd jobs that he could do in the surrounding towns for some extra bits. It was probably the best place for him to start for buying his and Rain Clouds' freedom.