AoTG, Book 1: The Storm

by Nate6595

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure
Length: 5633

After many years of traveling two young adventurers find themselves in the hamlet of Ponyville, though their arrival soon brings a new threat to the peaceful town. Only with the help of some new friends can they hope to overcome their old foe.

"Where are we going next?"
It’s a simple question that can lead to the best adventures. It’s a question that the young adventurers Trotter Grey and Sash Stripes ask themselves every day. After many years of traveling through the vastness of Equestria the two brothers finally ended up in the town of Ponyville, a seemingly perfect place for an adventure to be found. Though throughout their travels they may have brought unknown dangers to the town and only with the help of some new friends can the brothers hope to overcome them.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-04-27 21:00:05 UTC

Just an Average Day

Just an Average Day

            “I really need to stop getting myself into these situations….”  Trotter Grey whispered to himself.

Trotter stood in the center of a webbed covered hall staring face to face with a horde of enraged changelings.  It was at this time three thoughts entered his head.  One: that the mass of bug-like creatures all looked the same and he wondered how they told each other apart.  Two: maybe exploring through the changeling capital in the Badlands was a bad idea and he shouldn’t have stolen their sacred orb or whatever it was.  And three: how his first thought sounded kind of racist and he shouldn’t say that out loud.

“Okay…”  Trotter called out to the horde that was slowly closing in on him.  He had to say this so his voice would echo over the violent buzzing of the mass.  Trotter smirked, “I know…uh, I know this looks bad, but-uh….heh?”

Trotter was completely surrounded by changelings, everywhere he looked he could see the glowing blue eyes of these terrifying creatures.  There must have been at least fifty of the buggers.  A few of the changelings were up in the air, getting a good view of blood-bath that was about to occur.  Over the sound of their buzzing wings Trotter could hear the sound of mocking, childlike laughter.

He looked around for an exit, there was always an exit, there was always a way out.  The hall or whatever he was currently trapped in looked like spacious cavern that was covered in an obsidian black spider web.  The webbing covered everything from the stalactites above to the jagged rocky floor.  This webbing on the floor made his hooves stick to it with each step he took, making it very difficult to escape from the changelings and leaving a black covering over his hooves.  There was also only one light source which illuminated from Trotter’s horn, though sadly this spell only created a good twelve foot radius of light.  Not only did this make it hard to find an exit, but it also gave the mass of changelings a collection atrocious shadows and made the webbing give off an eerie black shine.

And then if it couldn’t get any worse, there was the smell that filled air.  It smelt of burning brimstone and spoiled milk which caused a churning in his stomach.  It put a foul taste in his mouth that made him want to show the changelings what he had for lunch.

Trotter finally looked back to horde of changelings which were about to overwhelm him.  He was out of options, he had to say something.

“I know this looks bad, but before you do anything I think you made my friend pretty upset!”

Trotter pointed his hoof to a random place behind the changelings and almost perfectly the entire group of changelings simultaneously looked to where he pointed.  There was nothing there and when they looked back to spot where their prey once stood they found that he was no longer there.  He had completely vanished into thin air

****.

“Hahaha!  I can’t believe that worked!”

As Trotter galloped down the tunnel, the treasures in his saddle bag jingling with every step he took, he looked back at the direction he ran from and laughed at the echoing of angry changelings.  Though, that joy didn’t last long as the familiar sound of buzzing wings returned.  Trotter looked up at his horn and frowned.  He had forgotten to turn off his light spell when he teleported away.  There was also the sound of his hooves lifting off the sticky surface of the floor and the sound of the jingling from his large bags.

            “Balls…”  Trotter muttered bitterly under his breath.

Trotter looked back to where he was running and skidded to a stop.  He had nearly galloped into the wall of the cave.  Trotter quickly looked to his left and right to see his options, but of course it was a dead end…it wouldn’t be fair if it wasn’t.

Trotter sighed.  His hooves felt like they were going to fall off, it hadn’t been easy galloping across the sticky surface of the cave.  The entire endeavor had left him exhausted and out of breath.  He slowly turned around to face the buzzing horde of changelings that grew dangerously closer with each passing moment.

He somberly shook his head, “So much for my great escape.”  He smiled softly, “Heh, this might actually be it…balls, I never even got me a girl to go home to.  I never even got a home to go to.  Sash would be so disappointed in me.”  Trotter quickly looked up with a new spark in his eyes.  “Oh yeah…”  Trotter said quietly, slowly remembering Sash.  “I can’t give up now, Sash is still waiting for me.  I can’t leave that idiot alone in place like this.  Heh, he might flirt with some poor changeling. Ha!”  Trotter licked his lips and looked at the approaching changeling horde.  He looked around his surroundings for something he could use.  There were always the stalactites which he could cause to fall on them, but then again he could cause a cave in.  He did have a few offensive spells, though against fifty the odds were against him.  He couldn’t fight his way out of this that quickly became apparent, he would have to trick them again.  He rapidly looked around his surroundings again, hoping his answer would magically appear.  “Okay…I can do this.”  Trotter looked back to the changelings.  They were so close to him that he could feel the hatred and bloodlust seep out of them.  “Okay, what do I do?  What…what do I do?”  Trotter turned his gaze from the changelings to the edge of his light.  That’s when the idea hit him like brick to face.  “Okay, okay…I need time this right.”  Trotter stomped his hooves down and got into a battle stance.  He looked up at his horn and gave it a confident smile, “Ready old friend?  I just need one more favor.”

Trotter’s eyes widened, broadening his senses.  At that moment everything seemed to go in slow motion.  The changelings finally came into the vicinity of his light.  They were moving fast, so fast that a cloud of dust had formed around the mass of hooves stampeding toward him.  They bared their fangs and hissed and shouted at him.  They wanted blood.  Even with all of this happening, they still seemed like they were moving in slow motion and Trotter could see every single movement they made.

Okay…eleven feet…ten feet…nine feet…eight feet…

“NOW!”  Trotter yelled.  He stomped his hoof down and the light from his horn beamed out, it was as though Celestia herself was casting the spell.  Living in such a dark place the changelings had rarely seen a light this bright.  The entire horde seemed jump back at it, more from fear of it than actually getting blinded by it.  They looked like dominos as they jump back and tripped over each other.  Trotter smirked, but he bit his tongue to prevent from laughing too hard.  His plan had worked more perfectly than he could have ever hoped.

He quickly jumped forward toward the pile of changelings and disappeared into a flash of light.  In another flash of light he reappeared on the other side of the collapsed pile of changelings and started down the hall.  As he galloped down the hall he looked back at the changelings and laughed at them.

“I guess I’ll be seeing myself out then!”

But before he could actually run away a few of the changelings from the collapsed pile had flown up to avoid the collision.  The best word that came to mind was pissed.  Trotter let out a gulp and counted them.

One…two…three….four...five of the ugly creatures.

He smirked once more, he could take five of them of easily.  He stomped his right hoof and a red glow surrounded his horn.  It didn’t take long for the first changeling come charging down at him.  Trotter quickly dodged the changeling causing him to crash into the rock floor and skid a crossed it.

He didn’t take time to admire his dodge, he needed to stay focused on the four changelings that were still there.  Another two of them came down towards him, this time their horns glowing with greenish fire that lit up the dark cave.  Three green fire bolts came shooting out of their horns and at Trotter.  He managed to duck and dodge one of them, the two however he wouldn’t be able to dodge.  He needed to think quickly, if he didn’t then he would be fried.  With another quick red glow of his horn he flashed away way with a quick teleport.  When he came out of it he skidded to stop and hit the wall to his left.  With another glow of his horn he shot a red flare at one the changelings that fired upon him.  The changeling got singed by the flare and scampered in the air.  It didn’t take long from it to lose control and fly into the other changeling that shot at him causing them both to crash into the wall.

The last two changelings landed on the stone floor in front the pile of their collapsed brothers and sisters.  They hissed and bore their fangs at him, their wings flapped furiously but they stayed on the ground.  The one to the left that was slightly taller than the other one took a step forward, its horn glowing with the familiar green fire.

“Before you do that, you might want to make sure you and your friend there are ready to fight me and brother there behind you!”  Trotter mocked.

The two changelings quickly looked behind themselves, a look of shock covering their faces.  Once again they had fallen for the same trick, but before they could look back their heads became wrapped in a reddish magic glow.  With a quiet shout Trotter levitated their heads together, knocking them both out.

Trotter smirked as he panted from exhaustion.  He wasn’t good at casting this many spells this quickly, after he escaped with Sash he would need to take a long break.  He shook his head, he couldn’t think about that now, he had to continue forward, first things first, the exit.

****

            Trotter, or rather his full name, Trotter Grey was a young chestnut colored unicorn from the small town of Hollow Shades.  He had a short, messy ash grey mane that unevenly stuck up in several places.  He hadn’t used any gel or product to keep the parts of his mane sticking up, it just did that on its own.  There was also a crimson highlight that stretched down from his hair and reached for his left eye, another part of his mane that he didn’t use a product for, just another natural thing it did.  Then there were his eyes, he had a great admiration for them.  They had a bright neon purple color that seemed to glow in the light of his spell.

            Around his neck he wore a long, striped black and dark grey scarf and right below it was a fine light black vest that always seemed to fit him perfectly.  Over the years several light brown patches had been poorly sown into his vest where he had acquired tears from the wear and tear of adventuring.  Then on each of his sides two large dark brown saddle bags shook and jingled with loot he had…“acquired” over the years.

            Trotter had been wandering through the bowels of the changeling citadel for a good time now.  It had been at least fifteen minutes since he had escaped from his predicament and the maze-like undercroft had been much harder to navigate than the first time down here.  It was especially difficult now that he had to dim his spell in fear of being discovered again, it was only bright enough for him to just see a few feet in front of himself.

            Trotter froze in place, he had been discovered.  Trotter had been so focused on where he was going he hadn’t been aware of the quiet hoof beats trailing behind him.  A voice had called to him from where he had last heard the hoof beats of whoever was stalking him.  It was a familiar, low fruity voice.

            “Geez, you’re taking your sweet ass time.”

            It took Trotter a moment to realize who it was, but when he did he couldn’t help but laugh.  “Is my ass really sweet?”

            “You know it Grey!”  Sash said growing dangerously louder.

            Trotter turned around and faced the cloaked figure, his light revealing the features of him.  In the light Sash’s dark steel hoof, his front left one, gleamed in the low light.  His metal hoof looked very similar to a regular hoof, just suited with a piece of lead colored metal.  From underneath the worn brown hood Trotter could see a light black striped muzzle stick out.  The rest of his body, even though it was hidden by a cloak, had similar light black and white strips covering the top of his back, his long tail, hooves, and short mohawk which awkwardly stuck up in his hood.  The parts of his body that weren’t covered in the stripes were a lightish grey color similar to most other zebras they had met before.

            “Shhh, quiet Sash, do want to wake up the rest the nest?  I’ve already had a run in today and I barely got out of that alive.”

            “Oh yeah!”  Sash said equally as loud as before, “I saw that!”  Sash flipped back his hood revealing the rest of his stripped face and two bright yellow eyes.  “I hope whatever you stole was worth it!”

            “What did I just say, hush now!”  Trotter yelled, his voice echoing down the passage.

Sash quickly shoved his hoof into Trotter’s mouth.  “Shhh, you need to control your volume or else you will attract more of those insects.”  Sash whispered.  He slowly removed his hoof from Trotter’s face and snickered at him.

            At first Trotter just glared at Sash for a moment, but it quickly faded into joy and he joined Sash in his laughter.

            “Haha, okay brother we should get out of here, did you find a suitable exit while I was down here?”  Trotter asked.

            “Uh…”  Sash looked up nervously and kicked the ground with his metal hoof.

            “Sash…?”

            Sash looked back at Trotter and smiled, “Haha!  Gotcha!  Of course I did!  Who do you think I am?”

            “I think you’re the zebra crazy enough to flirt with an angry griffon.”

            Sash started down the pass, “Come on the exit is this way…and that griffon was too hot not try!”

            Trotter quickly followed to the side of Sash, “I wasn’t talking about that one.”

            “Oh…well…he was just as attractive and if I had gone with my other pickup line I could have had him!”  Sash looked over to Trotter who was giving him a skeptical look.  “Oh shut up!  Let’s get out of here.  Any idea of where we’re going next?”

            Trotter smiled.  “I think I know the perfect place.”

The Next Adventure

The Next Adventure

            “So why Ponyville?”

            Trotter looked away from the moving plains outside the train window and at his brother.  It had been a week since they had escaped the bowels of the changeling citadel and the harshness of the Badland’s violent terrain.  From there they made their way to the small dusty town of Dodge City.  They had spent a couple of days there to rest before taking the train to their next destination, Ponyville.

            Sash, as always, had questioned Trotter’s decision of where their next adventure would take place.  He lacked a sense of wonder until he actually was experiencing it and it had always led him to be skeptical of the amazing places they were head to.  Trotter always wondered if Sash’s skepticism was real or if he just faked it to get on Trotter’s nerve.

            “With everything that has happened there in the last four years I’m sure we’ll get at least one adventure in by the end of the week.”

            “I don’t know…”  Sash rolled his eyes and looked off to the door of their booth.

            “When have I ever taken you on an adventure that didn’t end up being fantastic?”  Before Sash could make a response Trotter raised his hoof to his mouth and stopped him from talking, “Besides the whole Los Pegasus fiasco, which I thought we agreed that we would never mention that again.”  Trotter said slightly blushing from the memory of the events that occurred on their mess of a trip.

            “Ha, alright…”  Sash said who also didn’t want to bring up the memory of Los Pegasus.

            Getting tired of the bright sun and the rolling green fields outside his window Trotter decided to take a look around his train cabin.  They had been able to purchase their own fancy private booth towards back of the train.  It had fine velvet carpeting, walking a crossed it felt as though walking across a bed of soft wool.  There were two bright red cushioned couches on which they comfortably sat upon.  The two couches sat against opposite walls facing each other.  Above their heads was a glazed wooden shelf where they kept there saddle bags full of loot and treasures.  The air of the room was filled with cinnamon smell that was nice change from the pungent stench of the changeling citadel.

            Trotter and Sash were a good three hours into the train ride.  According to the conductor it was supposed to take six or seven hours depending on weather, though it looked like a bright and sunny day so Trotter was confident in the six hour prediction.  For the first hour of the train ride they discussed the loot they “acquired.”  Afterwards they just discussed the usual, where they were going next.  Not necessarily Ponyville, but just the future and places they wanted to see.  The world was a big place and there was a lot to see.  It was too wonderful not to explore.  They could spend hours discussing where they could go, what they could see, and what treasures lay there.

            “What do you think the ponies there will be like?”  Sash asked looking away from the door and scratching his head with his metal hoof.

            “Well…”  Trotter started, “I’ve heard everypony there is really nice.  They’re all really helpful and kind, basically everypony there is friends with each other.”

            “Sounds nice, but that’s not what I meant.”  Sash winked at his brother and gave him the sly grin that Trotter knew so well.

            Trotter quickly brought his face down to his hoof and sighed.  “Heh, I’m sure there are plenty of available ponies for you.  Not that that would stop you…”

            “I guess this place could be worth a shot.”  Sash stretched out across his couch, “Hey, I think I might take a bit of nap, got some dreaming I want to catch up, some mares there are waiting for me, ha-ha…”

            Trotter laid back on his couch, “Yeah…”  Trotter started with a yawn, “I think I might join you there, any mares there for me?”

"Nope!"

            Trotter laid awake on his soft cloud like couch for a few moments, pondering Ponyville.  The stories and rumors had always intrigued ponies throughout all of Equestria, of course this included the brothers.  More so, it wouldn't be a terrible place for a storehouse or a base to plan out their future journeys.  Nothing permanent, just a place they could return to if they needed to and place to keep their overflowing stock of loot.  Ponyville, having entertained the fancies of so many others, seemed like the best place to make a safe-house for themselves.  And then, of course, there were enough mares and stallions there to keep Sash entertained, that was probably the most important thing.  He couldn't have his brother getting bored, that leads to all shorts of problems.  That bastard Sash...

Trotter closed his eyes.  That bastard Sash, so obsessed with getting lucky. Ha…that was his thought before dozing off, that bastard Sash.

****

            The horn whistle blew, piercing the air with a sound similar to that of a tea kettle’s whistle blowing through a microphone set to eleven.  Trotter and Sash both jumped out of their couches in total shock, Sash falling flat on his back on the soft floor and Trotter siting up in his couch charging up one of his more offensive spells in fear that they were under attack from some sort of unknown foe.  Once Trotter took a double-take and confirmed there was no enemy and turned his attention to his moaning brother.

            Sash slowly sat up.  His eyes were shut tightly and he was rubbing the back of his head with his good hoof.  Trotter smiled at him.  He knew wasn’t in that Sash wasn’t in as much as he let on, he was just a drama queen.  He had been the tough one of the two of them, always running straight into danger, fighting off all the monsters Trotter couldn’t handle.

Sash’s eyes opened and seem to shrink in confusion as he became wrapped in a crimson magical glow.  He was quickly lifted off of the ground and gently placed on his hooves.  A similar crimson glow around Trotter’s horn faded along with levitation glow around Sash’s body.

Sash grinned at Trotter, “Thanks brother!”  Sash put his metal on the back of his neck and cracked his neck, “Did we arrive yet?”  Sash turned around and looked out the window.

Outside their window a small cloud of white smoke rose from somewhere underneath the train.  It blocked out their view for a few brief moments before lifting into sky.  Behind it a small wooden building was revealed. The ticket station had a small lightish blue door and bright yellow hay roof.  There were two large glass windows in which the brothers could see three candy colored ponies talking with the ticket seller pony.  They all looked so happy, like they weren’t just buying train tickets.  It put weird feeling in Trotter’s stomach.  It wasn’t a bad feeling, it felt…good, a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time, not since his childhood in Hollow Shades.

Trotter hadn’t noticed that Sash had stopped looking.  Sash had been getting their bags of the overhead rack and gently placing them on the ground.  Obviously eager to get out there and meet the locals for…obvious reasons…

            “Gra yor tuff nd let’s get oing!”  Sash said, muffled by a bag strap that he held tightly in his mouth.  He spit it out and smiled at his brother, “We doing the usual plan?”

            Trotter nodded his head, “Yep, I’ll take my bags and find us a place to stay for a bit, you…well, try not to get into too much trouble while I’m gone.  More so than usual please, these are good ponies here.”

            Sash gave a very sly smirk to his brother, “I can change that.”

            Trotter shot him a glare and shook his head, “Don’t you dare, not here.”

            Sash shrugged and threw on his bags.  He closed his eyes and pointed his nose upward as he started for the door, “My dear brother…”  He said in an uptight voice, mocking that of a higher class pony from Canterlot, “You do give too little credit and I am quite displeased at it.”  He lowered his head and shot his brother another smiling and laughed to himself, “Come on, you know me.”

            “Heh, yeah, that’s what I’m worried about.”

            “Shut it, I’ll be fine and I’ll try to behave.”  And with that said Sash with jingling bags left his brother alone in the train cabin to sort out the arrangements they would need for the next week or so.

            A red glow surrounded two of the bags and they were levitated off the ground and onto his back.  A familiar weight was burdened onto his back, not that he minded it.  In a way it was sort of comforting to him, it gave him a nostalgic feeling.  Trotter turned to the door with a glare and smirk of determination.

            “Alright Ponyville, show me what you got.”

****

            Trotter found himself somewhere in the north of town.  He hadn’t gotten far from the train station, but he somehow got lost among the bustle of the large town.  All around the street there were sounds of ponies talking and laughing. A few of the ponies were doing business at makeshift stands where other ponies could sell a variety of goods ranging from food to common household tools.  It was definitely a colorfully diverse town.  Surrounding him were ponies of all different colors and breeds.

            The town itself was kind of bland in trotter’s opinions.  Besides the shape and size of them the houses were pretty much the same.  They all had same tannish color and the same hay roofing.  The only variations in buildings were the few shops on the grass covered street.  They had large glass windows advertising their products and signs above the door with a picture of whatever they were selling.  One of the buildings was probably a bakery or some sort of café because there was a sweet cinnamon smell in the air.  But with all of these buildings there was still no tavern or inn in sight.

            Trotter looked up at the sky.  For a moment it felt like a drop of water had hit the tip of muzzle.  When he looked up he discovered that a thick layer of clouds had appeared.  He hadn’t noticed the sudden change in weather.  It looked as though dark grey sky could start pouring at any moment.

            “Huh…that’s strange…”  Trotter whispered to himself.

            He shook it off and continued down the street.  A few of the stand’s sellers tried to get his attention to buy something, but he ignored them.  It wasn’t until a pony directly grabbed his shoulder that Trotter took notice of them.

“Sir!”  A small voice called from behind.  The voice sounded young like a colt or filly, but Trotter ignored it thinking it was directed at somepony else, but once the voice called him again with that high pitched, “Sir!”  Trotter turned and faced the young light black filly.

            “Oh, I’m sorry.”  Trotter said giving the colt a reassuring smile.  “What do you need little buddy?”

            The young pegasus puffed up her cheeks and glared at Trotter, “I’m not little!”

            Trotter held back a laugh, “Heh, of course you are, I’m very sorry!”  Trotter ruffled the filly’s light oak colored mane.  He lowered himself to her level and looked into her glaring eyes, “How can I help you young miss…?”

            The filly mumbled something and looked off into the distance with a thick shade of blush on her cheeks.

            “I’m sorry…”  Trotter said quietly, “I didn’t catch that.”

            The filly looked at the ground and kicked it nervously with her hoof.  “Feath…Sna…”

            “One more time please?”

            “Feather Snatch…”

            Trotter chuckled, “That’s a very nice name Miss Swift Feather.”  Feather Snatch blushed some and looked in another direction.  “So Feather Snatch, how can I help you today?”

            The blush on Feather Snatch’s face faded away, instead it was replaced with a devious smirk.  She looked up at Trotter with those faded blue eyes and shook her head at him.  She flapped her wings started for the sky.  She looked down at him and laughed, “Already got what I needed from you!”  Next to her another two pegasi appeared.  One of them, the colt, had a bright orange coat and light blonde mane, the other one was slightly fatter and had dark green coat with dark pink mane.  Both of the pegasi that joined them seemed to have something that shined in their hooves.  They seemed familiar…like…

            Trotter’s heart sank.  How could he have been so stupid?  He looked at his open saddle bags for a second and then back at the spot where the pegasi had been.  They were gone just like the few artifacts they had stolen from him.  Trotter frowned for a moment than smirked.

            “Little Bastards…”

****

            Down in one of the darker alleys of Ponyville three pegasi admired the three objects they had just stolen from another stupid victim.  One had been a black orb that seemed to have blackish orange spiral in the center of it.  The second item had been a small stone dish with an elaborate design of some ancient pony in a massive mask, it had been carved into the stone surface of the plate so it had been a bit hard to make the association for the young foals.  And finally they had found a rather modern looking journal.  It had black front and back cover and was bound with a red string.  It looked old, almost as old as the other two artifacts.

            Feather Snatch looked up at the sky.  For a minute she thought she had heard something from the overhanging roofs above.  It was getting surprisingly cloudy, it had just been sunny a minute ago, must be a freak storm.  After determining that she was just paranoid and didn’t actually hear anything she looked back to the journal they had stolen.  The other two were observing the other objects they had gotten.  For some reason, though, she had taken an interest in the journal.  She fiddled with the strap kept it closed.

Bang!

            The three foals turned their heads to the large crashing noise that sounded from behind them.  Over by a collapsed garbage can the foals spotted the pony who they had just robbed.  He stood for an awkward moment deciding whether or not to pick up the trash he had littered across the dirty, mud covered ally.  It had already smelt like rotting food here and trash just added onto it, but was really worth picking up?

            “Ha, sorry about that, didn’t mean to scare you guys.”  Trotter laughed.  He slowly walked toward the foals who were getting ready to flee.  “No no no!”  Trotter urged.  “I just wanted to tell you how clever you guys were!”

            The two foals that had robbed Trotter took a few steps back, but Feather Snatch stayed where she was.  Her eyes narrowed at Trotter, observing him.  He was up to something, but she couldn’t tell what.

            “The way you distracted with that innocent filly routine and slyness of you two in the back!  Even I’m not sly, you heard my dexterity levels before when I knocked over that garbage can! HA!”  Trotter was slowly getting closer to them, slowly getting within reaching distance.

            Before he could close enough to grab her, Feather Snatch raised her hoof to him.  “Not another step closer!”  She felt confident, finally understanding his plan.  “You can congratulate us from there.”

            Trotter gave careless look and shrugged.  “Sure!”  Trotter smiled at her, “No problem.  You three were brilliant.  Quite the team!”  Trotter’s smile faded, “Though I do need those things back.”

            “No chance!”  The orange colt said from behind Feather Snatch.

            “You can forget it!”  The watermelon like filly called to Trotter.

            Feather Snatch just shook her head at Trotter who just smiled at them.

            “Alright!  I’ll tell you what I’ll do!”  Trotter leaned against the dirty wall of the ally.  He quickly pushed himself off it once he felt how sticky it was.  He rubbed his shoulder how and giggled.  “I’m not from around here, maybe you guys new that, maybe you didn’t, but…”  Trotter took a pause to look at each of them.  “I’m guessing you guys have some sort of authority and I can report you to them!”  He gave a loud hoof stomp to the ground, but accidently stepped on piece of rotting fruit causing a shiver to shoot across his back.  His face showed no sign of discomfort though.  “But, I’m not going to do that.”  The foals looked confused at this, but Trotter went on.  “I’ll give you a chance to run with what you stolen and if you can get away you get to keep the stuff.  If I catch you, I get the stuff.”  He shot each of them a smile.  “How does that sound?”

            “Y-you would do that?”  The orange colt asked in a confused tone.

            “Mhmm!  Now, shall we begin?”

            The two foals behind Feather Snatch nodded at each other and took off towards the sky.  Feather Snatch stayed though, still confused to why this pony would do that.

            “What are you up to?”  Feather Snatch asked, taking a few steps toward Trotter.  She still had the journal with her, but she wasn’t worried about losing it.

            “Nothing.”  Trotter turned around and walked toward the street.

            “W-wait?”  Feather Snatch ran up to Trotter, “Melon Seed and Picker went the other way!  Why are you going this way?”

            “Because I don’t need to chase them.”  Trotter answered carelessly.

            “But…what about your stuff?”

            “You mean this stuff?”  From his bags the orb and plate were levitated out in reddish magic glow.  Trotter didn’t look down at Feather Snatch though he just made the turn onto the bustling street.

            “When-how, what?!”

            Trotter looked down at Feather Snatch and smirked.  “I’ve been at this longer than you kid, I know a few tricks.”

            Feather Snatch stood in the street a moment letting Trotter get ahead her.  After the moment passed she quickly galloped passed him, turned and stopped him from going any further.

            “Teach me.”

            “Teach you?”  Trotter tilted his head, “Teach you to steal?”

            “Yes, I want to learn to be a better thief!  You can teach me.”  Her voice sounded hopeful.

            Trotter leaned down and smiled at her.  He had always wanted a protégé and she seemed like an eager little runt.  There was something else about her, something he liked about her.  He saw a bit of himself in her.  She reminded him of himself when he was her age.

            “Alright…Four conditions and I’ll teach you what I know.”

            “Name them.”  She said in quick and serious tone.

            “One, you give me my journal back.”

            “Sure.”

            “You stop hanging around those two misfits, they’re bad influences.”

            “Okay, they smell anyways.”

            Trotter chuckled at that.  “Heh, you’re funny I like that.”

            “You can flatter me later, what’s the third?”

            “You listen to everything I have to say and follow my orders.”

            “I thought that was what teachers expect from their students.”

            “Very good.”

            “What’s the last one?”

            “You don’t steal from good ponies, they’ve done nothing wrong, they don’t deserve it.  Only steal from bad ponies.”

            Feather Snatch took a moment to process this, just like Trotter did when he was her age.  She had to think if it would be worth all the loot she’d miss out on because of this decision.

            “Fine…”  She finally agreed.

            Trotter stood up and brushed off his knees.  He started down the street leaving Feather Snatch standing there with his journal.

            “Hold on to my journal for now.”  Trotter called back to her, “We’ll start next Monday!  Meet me in the ally.  We’ll have our first lesson there!”

            “Why not now?”  She chased over to him.

            “Eager!  I like that!”  He stopped and ruffled her mane again.  “I can’t teach you now though!  My brother has been alone too long and I don’t like the thought of that!  Why don’t you read my journal and pick up some things from that.”  Trotter started into a gallop.  He looked back at her and grinned, “Stay dry, it looks like a storm is coming!”