Author's Note

It should be noted that I've re-looked it over myself, but no real editor has looked it over. Hopefully it should be legible. Oh, and I should be updating on a roughly weekly basis on this point out. I have enough built up for about a month's worth of updates, after that you may be in a dry spell, but I'm hoping to finally wrap things up, since I've been sitting on this for years.

One Riot, One Ranger

Ke'mot woke up at the crack of dawn, as usual, and was quite happy with the fact the human was not in her bed again. Not that she was particularly surprised, it was a human after all.

Rolling out of bed, she stretched before making her way to the kitchen for some coffee. Putting the pot on, she turned and noticed the a note on her table.

You know, Kemo, "Luna's Rangers" sounds so much better than "Lunar Guard. You should really put up a motion to Princess Luna to see if you can get it changed. Ori'vor'e cyar'ika - Jack Smith.

"What the hell?" She dashed to the lean-to where she put the human, only to find it empty. "So your masters came for you, did they?"

Going back inside, she threw a quick breakfast together to go with her coffee, then donned her gear as she started outside. Commandant Crow needed to hear about this, and she had been itching for a reason to have another Guard come and take over the mundane things so that she could truly destroy the Guild.

For the second time in the past couple of days, she was sitting in the Commandant's kitchen drinking coffee.

"So what's got you worked up enough that you would visit me again so soon?" Storm Crow asked, an eyebrow rising in curious amusement.

"The human is missing, though a note was left on my table," the mare replied bluntly, then put the note on the table.

"How did somepony get into your house without you noticing?" He mused as he read over the letter.

"I'm not sure, it's the first time that's ever happened, and I'll admit it bothers me."

"Really? Nopony's ever broke in before?"

"No, I worded that poorly." Ke'mot said with a rare chuckle. "It's just this will be the first time somepony's done it successfully."

"So, the note is not only vague, but I don't believe that last phrase is of any language I've ever heard of. That's not to mention the name, doesn't quite roll off the tongue right, nor does it seem to belong to the same language as the parting phrase."

"I don't know myself, but I intend to find out. Do you think you could get a Guard down here to look after the area while I try and get to the bottom of this?"

Storm sighed. "Are you going to end up doing something that'll cause me to end up with a huge stack of paper on my desk?"

"I just want to be able to focus directly on destroying the Thieves Guild, and I can't do that if I have to take care of all of the other petty nuisances that come with the city," the guard sweetly told him.

"And here I thought you would have already taken care of that little problem!"

"It's not my fault the leaders aren't as idiotic as their minions," she grumbled back at him.

"Well that's settled, so are you going to stay for lunch? The stew will be ready soon."

"Of course I will, nopony in their right mind would turn down that stew of yours!"

A few days later she wandered about Manehattan looking for a rat to follow. She'd already scoured a few locations to no effect, but the lane she was currently on had a mix of ponies from all backgrounds, the perfect place for a pickpocket to do their work. The glinting of gold from one of her saddlebags was also the perfect bait for such low-lives. Walking slowly with the hood of her light grey cloak shielding her eyes from the sun, she appeared to be lost in her own thoughts, even if the opposite was true, and she only made it halfway down the street before a thief took the bait. Ke'mot didn't even have to turn around to figure out who it was, the lane had plenty of mirrored surfaces to look at, so spotting the nervous and shifty looking stallion was quite easy and she remembered his blue mane and brown coat as she crossed the street.

She snickered at what adorned the front of the shop, wondering who would want to wear so much leather and have to worry about stabbing themselves on the spikes, before heading back down they way she'd come, using the reflective surfaces once again to keep an eye on her target. It wasn't long until the thief ducked into a bar, so she stepped into an alley to flip her cloak so that the light grey was replaced with a darker grey before following him inside.

The inside was strangely clean considering how it looked from the outside, and it was quite busy for the time of day, though the smell of food wafting from the back helped answer that question. Taking a second to find her mark, who was sitting with a bronze colored stallion, she took a seat a few tables down with her back to him. A waitress walked up shortly after to take her order.

"Welcome to The Dragon, what can I get for you today?" She asked with a friendly smile.

"Pancakes and some milk, please."

"I'll have it right out for you."

Ke'mot nodded as the mare left, and began listening to the stallions.

"So how'd your walk go?"

"Not to bad, found a few bits on the ground, but nothing spectacular."

"The Boss will be happy about that, she said for you to take a stroll down 14th later."

The brown stallion grunted at the news. "Of course I get 14th, better send the expendable newbie to the worst part of town."

His contact laughed at that. "Don't worry! You're just sight-seeing today, just don't look aggressive and you'll be fine! I hear there's a nice little museum there too, maybe look around it to ease your nerves."

Having heard enough, she went over and sat down beside them. "I hope you boys don't mind? I was starting to feel lonely over there by myself," she said sweetly.

"For a lovely mare like you, it would be our honor." Bronze said with a smile, while Brown just looked uneasy.

"It was really rude of me, but I overheard how your boss is letting you go to the museum as part of your job? That sounds lovely! Where would you work to get such a treat?" Her cloak still covered her wings and made it hard to see her eyes, but a sweet voice is usually all the convincing a stallion needs.

"We work at the Arts center down on 10th, occasionally we visit the local museums to get a feel on how well it's being run and taken care of." Bronze informed her.

Perking her ears up so the hood of her cloak slid off her head and they could see hey eyes clearly, she decided to ask her question in another way. "Well then, I don't suppose you'd mind taking me there? I'd really like to meet this boss of yours?"

The two stallions froze, only thestrals had slitted eyes, and they were almost all affiliated with the Lunar Guard. "I'm afraid she's out of town right now." Bronze stuttered, "and the offices is off-limits except for business."

Ke'mot just smiled at them, which had the side-effect of revealing her fangs. "You're such a spoilsport, but if you insist, how about answering a few questions, and then I'll leave you alone?"

"Here you go miss," the waitress said as she disappeared as suddenly as she arrived, a stack of pancakes and a glass of milk being left in her wake.

"Thank you dear," she called to the waitresses, before turning back to the pair. "So, tell me what you know about the training of human thieves, and the general location of your hideout. Telling me that will allow you to honestly say you didn't tell me where it's at, which is a really good deal for you, I might add."

"Alright, fine." Bronze replied with a sigh. "We aren't training humans as thieves, how the hell would you do that anyway? As for the base, it's somewhere in the old warehouse district. Anything else?"

"Just pick up the tab for me," replied the smirking mare as she got up and walked out on them.

"What a bitch," the brown stallion grumbled.

"Careful there, she's one of them Lunar Guards, she could still be here and we'd never know."

Ke'mot had her hood pulled up as she walked down the street for the third time that day, lost in thought about what she had learned.

So the Guild had nothing to do with him... This might be harder than I expected... Dragging herself out of her thoughts, she looks up and notices the store from earlier, noticing the sign reading The Golden Spindle. As she looked through the window, quietly chuckling at the "clothes" on display, a human walked across her vision. Normally the mare would have ignored it and been on her way, but this human looked familiar, though the lighting made it difficult to know for sure. Walking trough the door, the Guard's sight improved dramatically as the ringing of the doorbell faded.

"Welcome to The Golden Spindle, my name's Frosted Thimble, how may I help you today?" The cheery voice of a mare called as she walked through a door behind the counter.

The owner definitely looked the part, with more than a few piercings across her face and ears. "I'm just looking around, don't let me bother you."

"Just call if you need me! And don't mind Jack if he comes through, he occasionally wanders out and stares at all of the shiny metal." Frost told her with a giggle at the human's expense.

"Will do!" She replied with a laugh of her own. Wandering about the shop, she eventually came across the human, who appeared to be randomly moving things around.

"Hey there boy, are you sure you're supposed to be moving that?" Ke'mot asked the human, who appeared to be wearing a loose pair of shorts and a sleeveless shirt. The human turned and looked at her, and for a second she thought he looked confused, before he pushed her hood back and started scratching her behind the ears.

"Stop that," she growled as she swatted his hand away and pulled her hood back up.

The human flinched and went back to messing with the clothes. She left him with a huff, though her mind was busy trying to figure out if that was the same human. Deciding that he was, she went back to the front to talk to the owner about it.

"Miss Thimble? Mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"Of course! What do you need help with?" The seamstress replied as she walked back into the lobby.

"May I see that human's papers?" She asked as she fished the symbol of her station out of her bags, a silver crescent moon pendant.

"Oh, I don't have them, he actually belongs to a friend of mine, I'm just taking care of him for a few days while she's out of town. May I ask why?"

"You can, but that's classified. I will, however, tell you that he was in my possession until recently, and he didn't leave of my accord."

"You're saying my friend stole him from you? I don't think she's a thief, or stupid enough to steal from a Lunar Guard, of all ponies. Are you sure he's the same?"

"Very." Ke'mot replied. "So until further notice, I'm reclaiming him. If your friend wishes to retrieve him, she may find me at The Flagon Dragon Inn.

"But... But..." Thimble started panicking, but let out a sigh of defeat when she saw Jack signing for her to stop. "Okay, let me get his collar and leash. I just hope she's not angry with me..."

Once the human was leashed properly, Ke'mot turned back to the mare as she went through the door. "Thank you for your cooperation, and have a nice day." Frosted Thimble just waved.

After making it to her room at The Dragon, Ke'mot tossed her bags and gear on the bed with a long sigh. "I'm starting to think you're more trouble than you're worth."

She was about to head towards a nice, hot shower when the sound of scribbling caught her attention. Looking behind her, the human was holding a pencil and a note piece of paper, which apparently was from the now opened desk he was by. The mare was about to chuckle at his foolishness when she noticed the words written on it, You and me both, Kemo.

"And who exactly taught you that little trick?" The mare asked him with an acidic glare.

The human scribbled some more. Mrs. Woods, she was a nice old lady, and a really good teacher.

"So a human with some sort of intelligence, were you some kind of experiment?" Ke'mot's voice was all business, though the glare remained.

Looking at her in confusion, he wrote out an answer. No... Aren't you supposed to be freaking out? That seems to be the general response, and it's really taking the fun out of this.

"I'm a Lunar Guard, and it saddens me to say that a human that appears to at least try to be intelligent barely breaks the top ten on my 'weird shit' list." Walking over to him, she punched him in the arm. Hard. "And that's for jumping into bed with me, you damned pervert."

Rubbing his shoulder, he wrote out a single word. Ouch

"You deserved it," she remarked as she tied began tying his hands and feet. "Now you're not going anywhere, can't have you walking around freely while I'm in the shower. No peeking or getting at my gear, so it's two birds with one stone, as they say."

The human attempted to dissuade her by pouting, though she promptly ignored it in favor of taking her shower. The bathroom was surprisingly nice, with a clawfoot tub and a wide shower head that had adjustable water pressure. Grabbing the soap and brush, she cranked the pressure up so that she could fully enjoy the experience.

Twenty minutes later she emerged in a cloud of steam, sighing contentedly as she went over to unbind the human. A few quick tugs and he was free, "So how about we have a little chat?"

Sure, why not?

"Good, I would have hated to do this the hard way," the mare told him with a cold smile. "First, what are you doing in Equestria?"

The human shrugged. I'm guessing "wishing I was home" isn't the answer you want?" A flat stare was all the answer he needed. I honestly have no idea, I just sort of ended up here as a mute, and a benefactor that shall remain unnamed has kept me out of the pound. We may or may not have tried borrowing trinkets off of rich people, but we quickly dismissed that as a terrible idea, so now I'm a show-human.

"That's bothersome. Next question, do you intend to get home, and how do you propose to do it?"

I'd like to, but considering I'm from a different world, my intentions really don't matter. So instead I've decided to make the best of what I got by trying to live a long and quiet life under the radar. It's gone swimmingly so far. He flipped the pad around with a roll of his eyes.

"Very funny," came the sarcastic reply. "So, I'm sure you've heard of our Princesses, why wouldn't you go to them for help?"

Same reason you wouldn't go to our leaders, they lead a nation where it's completely legal for me to be owned as property and to be extensively tested if I fall too far outside the norms.

"So there are thestrals in your world?"

Jack shook his head. No, but there are ponies and horses with natural colorations that are beasts of burden. If anything from this world where to show up, it'd likely end up as government secret and experiment. They might end up being a decently well treated prisoner if they're lucky.

"You know, as one of the Lunar Guards under the command of Princess Luna herself, I can promise you they would treat you well."

Sure, but how about the general public? What happens when they learn that a small percentage of humans might be as intelligent as them? I'm guessing it would cause panic and some amount of discomfort for any of your "normal" humans.

Ke'mot sighed tiredly. "You're right there, as much as I hate to admit it the normal ponies would probably go into a panic. In that case, I have a proposition for you: You help me destroy the Thieves Guild, and I won't put you in jail or reveal you to the Princesses."

The human shrugged. Sure, it's not like I'm doing anything else right now. Or that I really have much of a choice.

"So, I'm going to leave you untied, but I swear on Luna's moon if you attempt to leave or so much as think to touch me, I will track you down and kill you," she warned him with more than a little venom. Compared to a rattlesnake, anyway.

The human shuddered slightly under the look.Yes Ma'am.

"Good, I'll see you in the morning," the mare said as she hopped into bed. With nothing more to say, Jack leaned back against the wall and tried to catch some sleep.