Two ponies try to make a living in the tough slums of Trottingham.
Silver Tongue and Half-Pence are on the outskirts of a bustling city, where nopony with the wit of a turkey would enter, but for these two, it's considered home. The poor part of this town is where the homeless seek shelter and thugs seek refuge, making it hard for anypony there to make a living for themselves. It's difficult to get out of there, though. You either get a breakthrough or you find yourself in handcuffs. This is my first story, so I would appreciate any constructive criticism. Thanks, and enjoy.
"Come on," I said, urgently, "it can't be that hard."
"One second, I almost got the lock," snapped back Half-Pence. She was busy fiddling with a lock to an "unoccupied" shop. Soon enough, you could hear the magical click. Half-Pence turned and gave a smug look, like that "I told you so" look after you just lost a bet you put a little money into. You know, the one that looks into your soul and says "Let's spend the next two weeks remembering my victory."
She creaked the door open ever so slightly that it startled me when she yelled "It's good!" and swung the door so fast it nearly came off the hinges. I hated stealing things, even Half-Pence knew this. I told her one day it will get us thrown in jail, she just replied with the usual, "At least we'll get free meals." Only if we don't get a shiv in the flank.
Meanwhile, the brown-coated mare was trotting around the house, looking for a bit or a scrap of food.
"Hey, Silver, take a look at this." I saw her near an open safe in the back room of the shop. She walked out with an old, cob-web covered magazine. It took me a while to see the print in the dark, but as soon as my eyes adjusted, I saw that she was holding an old copy of some suggestive literature (should I really go into detail?).
"Put that down, you don't know where that's been." I wanted to smack it out of my hand, but then I would have to spend the rest of my life washing that same hoof.
"Fine," she replied. She tossed the pages away, but I could tell something got her attention. "Hey, check this out!"
"Not another dirty magazine." I never really wanted to be in this worn out building, but there was no other choice than to wait for some loot to come our way and then scram.
"No, just come over here." Her amazed sound made me reluctantly walk over there to see what she had discovered, but it was better than just some crummy, 5 year old sack lunch we found in a run-down preschool.
"Woah, is that..." I was even impressed in what she had uncovered.
"Yeah, it is." She had found a small saddle bag with over 120 bits in it, enough to feed us for months.
"Grab the bag, we might be able to a hot meal before we head home." I was too excited to think of anything else but the luxury that we had just scored.
Half-Pence grabbed the bag with her teeth and slung it near her flank. My eyes caught to her cutie mark. I haven't really asked about how she got it before, but I never felt like bothering her about it, since it was pretty self-explanatory at this moment. It was a small satchel with gold bits falling out. It might have meant something else, but it might be because of her expertise in taking money from people who had too much of it to spare.
But enough of that now, we had just gotten some real loot, and we were going to spend it like Celestia herself.
Both of us were in a rush to get out of that building. A hundred bits, I thought, maybe we could get into the city after all these years.
Half-Pence and I waltzed out of the house, joy in our hearts, but then the mood sank once I saw the street.
I mean, it was the same street we've been crossing for 4 years now, but it could still make you feel like you just entered the haven of every criminal mind in all of Equestria. The overcrowded road was littered with trash and the homeless alike, but anypony there with this much money would be a pickpocket magnet.
"What are you waiting for?" Half-Pence was already across the street while I was letting the mood of it get to me.
"Sorry." I kind of meant it. I also wanted to thank her for breaking me out of that horrid trance.
"Just hurry it up, Silver." In case you didn't know, my name is Silver Tongue. Just like my name, my coat is a light gray. On my flank, my cutie mark is a hoof with 3 bits in the center. I could talk my way out of anything. There was a brand new loaf of bread in the nearby bakery, on sale for 8 bits. Thing is, I got her to stoop her price down to a measly 2 gold bits. And you thought Half-Pence was talented in getting money.
I followed my friend through the slums of the rough city. There were nearly mile-long lines to soup kitchens owned by the Princess in Canterlot. There were royal guards surrounding the place, just to make sure nopony snuck out of the place with an extra bowl. The punishment wasn't serious, but you were banned from that building for a month, so good luck finding a new district to find some food. You'll need it.
We were thinking the only thing we would see are these normal sights, but something just wasn't right.
And sure enough, down the road, there was something we hadn't seen in over a year.
"Do you see that?" I asked to Half-Pence.
"Yeah, why would he be here?" She sneered. "Isn't he too 'high-and-mighty' to even think of these people?"
It was Prince Blueblood, all the way from Canterlot. Why would he be here? I thought to myself, the only people that would care about this place are the people that call it home.
All the while, he was being bombarded with homeless mares with fillies at their sides. If it wasn't for the guard escort with him, somepony would be a rich swell.
The guards came our way, with Blueblood walking behind. At first, you would have thought you would be getting a one-way ticket out of the place, but instead, just came the gruff voice of the constable.
"Out of our way, peasant, or get thrown in the brig of the Canterlot Castle."
"Why are you in our town?" Half-Pence was furious when royalty walked into the slums, mostly because everypony was so paranoid of their little paradise being torn down by the hands of Celestia to build another amusement park like they had done in Fillydelphia.
"Official orders, now scram." The guard's face was turning red. That was an unusual sight, since they were supposed to be the well-known monotone robots that they were commonly accused to be. "And what's this?" He snatched at Half-Pence's saddlebag faster than she could react.
"Hey! That's mine!" she yelled.
"Not anymore," the smug guard snapped back, "you couldn't get this money without stealing it, so just be happy we aren't taking you in for stealing a poor man's life savings. Now get lost before you get hurt."
There was nothing we could do but just glare at the corrupted official. The pair of guards walked off with our treasure.
"I'm quite sorry," said Prince Blueblood, standing back from his escort. He reached into his elegant shirt pocket and grabbed a small coin purse. He tossed it over to me, but I was too amazed to grab it in time. It landed on the pavement and slid a few inches to my front hoof. I grabbed it with my teeth.
"Why would you care about us?" Half-Pence blurted.
"I couldn't just stand back and watch you get your money taken." He was kinder than the other relatives of the Princess that had come our way. "I will make sure that Princess Celestia deducts the stolen money from his paycheck. How many bits were in that bag anyway?"
Half-Pence spoke up as quick as lightning, "150 bits, sir."
"It was 120 bits," I confessed. I couldn't possibly steal from this man. Half-Pence punched my shoulder, but I really didn't notice.
"Again, apologies." Blueblood had scampered off to the guards which had left him.
"How much money is in the bag?" Half-Pence muttered as Prince Blueblood fled from the street.
"50 bits," I remarked, "and a laundry ticket." I flicked that out of the small slip of paper into a gutter drain. We both were still awed by how charitable the prince had been. It wasn't common that somepony that hasn't been under a sustained roof in years was getting hand-outs. Other ponies were eyeing us down, probably thinking of the best way to kill us and take the money for themselves. We wouldn't let that happen.
We rushed down the road, dozens of refugees chasing after us. Our best bet was getting into a soup kitchen, at least there the guards would forget about our line-cutting and run-off the low-lives that would be getting their cracked hooves over our clothing, trying to find the smallest amount of gold.
I turned to Half-Pence. She looked back and nodded. I knew what that meant. Both of us started rushing through the ganged crowd that formed a half-line/half-mob around the royal building.
"Wait your turn," "Quit cutting," "Stop bucking pushing." There seemed to be more and more ponies after us than before. But luckily, the door of the kitchen was open.
"Halt!" The two pegasi guards grabbed us, but then released their grips when they also saw the horde of angry peasants reaching for our pockets. While the two officials were busy dealing with the crowd, we slipped in under their upraised wings.
A few months back, Half-Pence and I vowed that we wouldn't enter another soup kitchen unless we were starving to death. I'm glad this was an agreed exception. We couldn't stand the thought of being so helpless as to getting free food from the Princess's orders. If we wanted to eat, we would work for it.
The first thing I saw in the massive building were the tables. White linens covered each one of them. They were going to waste, though, mostly because the locals thought they were napkins. The line to 6 large vats of soup were small and short-lived. There were also vending machines, stocked with bottles of apple cider. When we're through here, I thought, we're coming back here for lunch tomorrow.
I turned to Half-Pence, but she was staring at somepony's overflowing pocket. I didn't know the richest of the poor would dine at what we recognized as a one-star eatery.
After a few minutes, the two guards came back in, one with a small cut on his cheek. I guess we hadn't noticed the commotion outside.
"Are you citizens alright?" the cut-one said, "what were they chasing two for?"
"Well," I retorted, "if you must know, one of your friends came and took somepony's allowance." I pointed to Half-Pence, and I figured she didn't want to say what we had done to get that money either. "The Prince, though, gave us the small fraction of what was stolen, but neither of us will stand for this oppression." I turned to Half-Pence, and she nodded with approval.
"We apologize for the acts of some other officials," said the other. "I shall report these crimes to the court as soon as possible. But for now," he said as he directed us to an empty table with four chairs, "we will be happy to accustom you to two to a full course meal, no charge."
That made my spirits rise. We trotted over to the table while the guard went to lock the door of the kitchen. Probably not to let anypony in and ruin our meal, I thought. Half-Pence and I sat across from each other. She had the greatest grin on her face, one I haven't seen in years. We had a few minutes to talk until our food came, but we let the silence roll in. We were greeted by eight royal guards. Surprisingly, none of them had silver platters.
"What's the deal, where's our food?" Half-Pence shot out those words like a bullet.
A large, bulky guard spoke up for the first time.
"By special orders from Princess Celestia, we are taking you into custody for theft."
"We didn't do anything!" Half-Pence spat into the face of the guard that was prosecuting her. The constable wiped his face with a nearby dishcloth.
"Prince Blueblood has given you a small amount of money. Hand over the bag. Now." The guard was so unwavering it was nearly scary.
"We can always run," Half-Pence whispered. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I had only realized that there were four more guards surrounding to door. We couldn't possibly outrun all of them, but there was no other choice.
"Go," I called, and at the same time, Half-Pence had thrown her chair at one of the guards. We bolted over the table, the hooves of the officials brushing helplessly at our sides. Tables were being tipped over by the pursuing guards, only to make more obstacles for the ones behind. I turned to the front, seeing a line of the four officials blocking our way. It was hopeless, I thought. And soon enough, I was right. One guard had picked me up by the shoulders. The other guard had some trouble grabbing Half-Pence. She kicked and struggled, only landing soft punches on her opponent's chest.
"Ugh," the guard that had been hit with a chair was just now getting up. "Take them them to the chariot." He had a large cut above his cheek, and he probably didn't seem to notice it.
The two guards that had grabbed us were now dragging Half-Pence carelessly across the pavement. Every single pony that was on that road was taking notice to our helplessness. There were looks of disgrace from nearly all of their faces. I wouldn't blame them. If somepony gave our town a bad reputation, I wouldn't be so happy either.
We were flung into the back of a gated chariot with 4 other troublemakers. I knew most of them. One of them was nicknamed "Light-Hooves," but was caught stealing from an old hag near her grave. But that was two months ago, why would he just now be getting punished? I didn't know any of the other criminals in the cart, though, but Half-Pence was looking like she was going to burst from either all the rage she had or all the questions she had built up to know about the other occupants.
***
The next 72 hours were the worst of my life.
After a few minutes of being hauled off to prison, Half-Pence had finally asked a mare why she had been caught. She just shrugged off the question like it had been a filly asking. She turned to the next passenger and eagerly asked. "The guards found me trying to steal a chariot. If they hadn't been looking for others, I would have stolen that chariot and been halfway to Fillydelphia."
She swapped looks with Light Hooves. "Hey, I know you. You owned that-"
"Shh!" he interrupted. "It's bad enough I've been caught stealing, don't mention," he turned around to see if the guards in the front were paying any attention, "the organization."
That's right. There was a small pickpocket gang led by him months ago. Their headquarters were swarming with the homeless, and when they abandoned, they never reassembled. Shame, it had been Half-Pence's dream to join that group. I had told her the gang was too unorganized, and when it collapsed, she had just said, "They weren't cut out for me, anyways.
Half-Pence turned and urged the next occupant to tell what had landed him a third-class ticket to imprisonment. "I've been down this trail too many, times. It might just be my last." There was a long, awkward silence.
"That didn't answer my question," Half-Pence blurted.
"I'm sorry," replied the gray-maned pony. "I got sent here for breaking and entering a home."
"Why," I asked, "to steal?"
"No, I wanted to see a an old friend. But you're just fillies, you wouldn't understand."
At that point, it looked like he was going to cry. He took out a worn photo from his pocket and stared at it the rest of the trip to Canterlot.
***
Canterlot wasn't what I expected. I thought I would be seeing a small, stone stronghold like what I've seen from books we'd rummaged out of a library. But it was more magnificent than that.
The sunlight rising over the buildings and pillars in the massive kingdom sprayed over the rich green land. The mountainous landscape added to the scenic view that would soon be our eternal prison.
"Alright," the guard in front had said wearily, "get in line, all of you."
I had finally been able to stretched my limbs after 3 days. The relaxation was abruptly dampened as the guards nudged us out from the other side.
After 2 minutes of getting out and walking on land, the guards had spoken up. "Line up, alphabetical order."
I had leaped behind Half-Pence, who had situated herself in the front. The other passengers stood dumbfounded. The official pushed them into line and started the long march up the mountain to the castle of Canterlot.
"Get a move on, prisoners." The guards were tailing us as we made the long trudge up the mountain.
If it weren't for the sweet scent of grass under our hooves, one smell I hadn't been able to remember in years, this trip would have started in Half-Pence and I running again, only to be punished in a harsher manner.
There was a steep trail weaving around the beautiful landmark, but the path was as narrow as a single pony, meaning Half-Pence couldn't walk by my side.
While the line traveled up the winding mountain, the sounds of the city of Canterlot came into earshot. Large chatter and street performers were finally expressed as we came closer to the gates of the castle that would be our demise.
After a tiring half hour, we had gotten to a secure, gold plated gate. Beyond that, large shops bustled for what looked like miles. And at the center of all those shops was the spectacular castle of Canterlot.
A guard ruefully walked up to the gate and thrust it open. Nearly all talking stopped, and rich ponies and guards gathered on the sidewalks to watch our slow trot to the castle.
Looks of disgust and hatred poured onto the faces of the onlookers. Obviously, this hasn't been the first time criminals have been transported to the gleaming city's borders. But oddly, despised faces quickly turned to confusion once they saw that there were two fillies being taken to Princess Celestia. We all made our trip to the castle with our heads down, ashamed of the massive crowd of spectators.
The superstructure that was the domain of the Princess had made a large shadow, shrouding us visitors in darkness. The steps of the castle were now coming in to view, and I had reluctantly made my first step into a hopeless future.
***
The guards gathered around the giant doors to the throne room. We were anxious to see the Ruler of Equestria in our own eyes. It would have been an honor if the Princess wasn't going to send us to prison for years.
"Do not insult Princess Celestia, or we will have your flanks on a platter," said the guard while he was opening the door to the throne room. And there sat the most honored pony in all of Equestria.
"Step forward," she commanded. The six criminals, including me, trotted in front of the Princess. She examined us, and then looked at a nearby steward magically hovering a clipboard and a quill pen in mid-air. It wasn't so common as to see unicorns in the slums of Trottingham.
She looked at us once again. "Guards, take them to the prison. Not, the fillies. I want to speak with these."
Now that scared me out of my wits. Was she setting us free, was she going to murder us on display, was she, was she? My mind was racing a million miles per hour.
The guards hauled off the other criminals. There were only two left. Me, and Half-Pence. She didn't look so pleased with what the Princess had just administered to the two of us.
"You have stolen a large sum of gold from others less fortunate than you." Celestia's voice was shockingly serious. "How do you plead?"
"Guilty!" Half-Pence had blurted. I didn't know how hard this had been for her. Then, Princess Celestia's gaze slowly turned to me. "And you?"
I sighed. I had no other choice but to cooperate. "Gui-"
"Princess Celestia! Prince Blueblood stormed in from the other side of the room.
"What is it now, nephew?"
"These two fillies are innocent!" I couldn't believe it. Princess Celestia's nephew was actually speaking up for two street thugs.
"Sit down, Blueblood, or you will be sent to prison with these two ruffians." A fire burned in Celestia's eyes now. She. Was. Furious.
"One of your men has stolen from these two, your Majesty."
"Is this true, fillies?" Princess Celestia's face looked less blood-thirsty and more concerned.
"Yes," I spoke up, "it is. We were walking down the street when an escort of Blueblood took the satchel from us."
"We even have a witness," Half-Pence said, definitely. She pointed a hoof at Prince Blueblood.
"The guard's name is Surefire," responded the Prince.
"He's the one who had reported the theft." Princess Celestia's composure was more aimed toward assisting us. "We must stop this true criminal at once."
"I will send a dispatch of guards to his location." Princess Celestia responded. "Speaking of, where is Captain Surefire?"
"The thing is," he said, sheepishly, "I kind of... don't know."
"It may take months to find him and bring him to justice." Princess Celestia turned to Half-Pence and I. "Fillies, if you wish to, you may join on the journey to track down this corrupted official?"
"Wait," Half-Pence interrupted, "why are you being so nice to us after you looked like you wanted to rip us apart?"
"You see, young filly, I have several prisoner transports here to the castle. It wouldn't hurt to look a little menacing, would it?" She gave us a very sly smile. "But besides that, will you accept this request?"
I turned to Half-Pence. She couldn't decide what to do, take the quest, or go back home. We had never really went on any adventure, so this was as good a chance as any.
"We'll do it," I said. Half-Pence turned to me with excitement in her eyes.
"I can't believe it! We get to get away from the slums!" she rang.
"That is," Celestia came in, "if you catch him."
"We can do it," we said in unison. Oddly, Prince Blueblood had joined in the chorus. I hadn't noticed he was standing next to me.
"Good," the Princess responded. "I hope the best from you. Especially you, nephew."
"I will not disappoint you, your Majesty." He said that with such uneasiness.
"I shall request a chariot for the three of you as soon as possible. But, in the mean time, go into the dining hall and prepare for the journey."
"Come on," spoke Blueblood, "follow me, fillies. I'll show you the way."
________________________________________
Note to readers,
The lack of chapters and words in the previous chapters are due to writer's block and sleep depreciation. I hope to create longer, fuller chapters in the future. -Seth, "Makin' Cupcakes"