Stepping off the train, you looked around as ponies went about their evening business and thankfully didn’t pay you any attention. You eased your way through the crowd, not failing to notice there had been an increase of guard activity in town, meaning your report was now inaccurate. Holding your head high with confidence, you did your best to look like you belonged, working your way towards your first waypoint; Town Hall.

You got there with no problems at all then started looking for your second marker, but frowned when it wasn’t anywhere in sight. That was until the large red earth pony finished hitching himself up to his cart and moved out of the way, your eyes flicking to the green apple that adorned his… flank…

Buck yeah, that’s luck! You gave him a certain amount of distance, then moved to the shadows and followed him out of town. It didn’t take long for the buildings to become more spread out, the stallion in front of you keeping a pleasant pace, until he stopped in the middle of the path. You quickly hid in some shrubs at the side of the path as the stallion began to look around.

He gave a low whistle, and you peeked out of the bush to see a plum coloured earth pony mare with three flowers for a cutie mark appear from a nearby building and approach, the pair sharing a quick nuzzle.

Doing your best not to gag at the mushiness, you waited until the mare jumped into the near empty cart and the stallion started moving once more, then fell into step with him again. The sun had started disappearing behind the western mountains and bathed the sky in a warm orange by the time your destination appeared, several small barns and one farmstead.

The mare and the stallion headed towards one of the barns, a smirk on his face as she leaned forward and said something with a giggle. Leaving them to it, you headed towards the house, where a light had just been extinguished downstairs with one remaining lit on the first floor. Making a note of which room it was, you flew up to the roof and looked around, smirking as you spotted a hatchway.

Slipping a wingtip through the gap between the frame and the lid on the side opposite to the hatch, it popped free without a sound, giving you access to attic. Illumination was provided through a window facing the west, an orange glow filling the room. A silent search of the storage space turned up no results, so you trotted towards the staircase hidden in one of the corners. The top step creaked as soon as you put your hoof on it, followed by growling from the floor below.

“Calm down, girl. It’s jus’ AB an’ her friends rootin’ through the junk. Come now, we got an early start in the mornin’, time fer bed.”

There were a few more growls but they got quieter, disappearing when a door clicked shut. Taking a deep breath, you spread your wings and gently fluttered down to the next floor, entering a corridor with several doors on either side. Unlike the first door to your left, the one on the right was open, so you flew in there and had a good look round.

It was a sparsely decorated room, more for function than form, and no sign of your objective in sight. A small statue facing the window made you give a small chuckle. Celestia was rearing up on her hindlegs in exactly the same pose as the statue that fell on you a couple of years ago, but this one was drastically smaller.

Gripping it with your forehooves, a quick test lift revealed it to be lightweight, so you carefully slipped it into your saddlebag and left the room. The next one on this side was the bathroom, so you ignored that and drifted over to the only other open door on this level. It was easy to see this was a foal’s room, going by the mess, but you might find something of use.

The closet contained too much stuff for you to look through, and the left drawers on the dresser were filled with school supplies. The top one on the right, however, contained something that would have some small value. An otherwise ordinary pink hairbow, though this one was gem encrusted with several small but expensive gems. This would be easy to sell on, as many of the shallow mothers in Canterlot would want it for their filly. Or colt.

Into your saddlebag it went and, after checking the other drawer, you slipped from the room and down to the ground floor. You couldn’t spend much more time searching for extras, so placed your saddlebag at the base of the stairs and crept down the hallway. Opening the one door there, your eyes took a few moments to adjust to the light level of the room, but once they did, your gaze settled onto you target.

Slowly walking around the bed, whose occupant was well asleep, you reached a wing up and brushed it across the necklace hanging down from a stand. The actual necklace was a simple gold one, but the pendant hanging on it was your goal, and you didn’t care for the reason.

The jewel was actually several different ones, fused together in some way and shaped in that of an apple. Carefully lifting it down, you turned around and started to leave the room, when a sudden creak from the floorboards made you freeze.

“What’s that? Who? Wings? Sky, is that you?” You panicked a little, then realised the mare, as that was definitely a female voice, couldn’t see you that well in the twilight, and with that you cleared your throat.

“Yeah. Just popped over to see how the family’s doing.”

“Well, next time bring Bolt with ya, ya hear!”

“Sure, I’ll bring her.” You started walking once more, but felt the mare’s glare even though you couldn’t see her.

“Mah Sky wouldn’t forget his own colt.” The light in the room snapped on and there was a scream from behind. Turning to the bed, you saw an elderly mare shaking a hoof at you, then her eyes locked onto what was held in your wing. “MAH NECKLACE! APPLEJACK, THIEF!!!!”

There were some harsh thuds from the floor above and you darted from the room, sliding along the floor and under your saddlebags, running to another room. Barking followed you, close but not close enough, as you made an internal lap of the building. You could see the base of the stairs and knew you were free, but another mare appeared from the hall next to them.

You tried to slow down but failed to do so, raising your hooves to deflect the blow she was aiming at you. It didn’t hit, but you felt an impact, and when you stopped you glanced down to see the mare was a little dazed. The tip of her orange muzzle was dripping red, and as you went to check on her you cried out in pain, for the dog in the household had caught up and sunk its teeth into your wing.

After a few moments of flailing in anguish, your other wing grasped a wooden pole, and you went to use it when a weak whistle filled the air, the dog pulling her teeth back a little before letting go and moving over to the downed mare. With your right wing now unusable, you wouldn’t be flying back to town, and you’d need to get some medical treatment done to stop the bleeding.

As you turned to leave, your golden eyes met the emerald ones of the mare, which were blazing in hatred at you. Before anything else went wrong, you headed towards the front door, the dog growling at you all the while, and you left the house, heading back towards the town, but not the station just yet.

You let out a hiss of pain, your wing stinging as the nurse poured some antiseptic fluid over your wound. Gritting your teeth, you remained still as she covered the bite marks and wrapped a bandage around your wing, then placed the soiled supplies into a waiting bin.

“Okay, I’ll just get the release and payment forms for you, then you’re free to go.”

You just nodded to the smiling mare, but as soon as she was out of the room you began moving. Grabbing a couple of towels, you wrapped several small bottles in them and stuffed out your saddlebags. You gave your wing an experimental flap, but didn’t get far as pain fired back from it. Pushing aside your loot, you pulled a cloak from your bag, slipped your saddlebags on, then donned the cloak.

Knowing you’d have to walk out, you peeked out the door and spotted the nurse at the reception desk, gathering several bits of paper. Her back was to you, so you took the chance and slipped down the corridor, finding a fire exit.

With a quick buck to the handle, the sturdy doors sprung open, and as no alarms went off, you stepped out into the evening air. Ponyville’s hospital was, thankfully, located not far from the train station, and within ten short minutes you had arrived at the end of the platform. Here there were no guards, and they didn’t have conductors on trains that ran this late, so it meant a free ride.

Making your way to the front carriage, you glanced around to ensure nopony was watching, then slipped in. There were a few ponies inside, but none of them even looked towards you as you slid your saddlebags to one of the seats then hopped up next to them. It was a good thirty minutes until the train started moving, and soon the town was well behind you. The other ponies in the carriage were slowly starting to drift off, but you had to remain alert just in case.

A sudden jolt forced you from your seat to the floor, and you hissed in pain as you landed on your injured wing. Wincing as you stood, a glance out the window showed you had arrived at your destination, and the rest of the carriage were starting to disembark.

Wrapping your cloak over you, you slipped out of the door and looked around, then panicked a little. Spread out in the station were Canterot’s finest, watching as ponies left the train. Averting your gaze, you grimaced as a stallion walked calmly onto the platform; his back from neck to tail was bare, pink blistering skin with the odd patch of fur.

Turning away from his gaze, which had settled on you for some unknown reason, you headed in the direction least populated by guards, heaving a sigh of relief once you were in the city’s deserted streets. You stuck to the back alleys, only crossing the main streets when you had to, until you came to a stop outside a building in the shadow of the castle itself.

A series of well practiced knocks on the door a moment later and you were in one of the back rooms, which was dimly lit by a single candle. You could just make out the snout of a yellow furred pony opposite you in the gloom, and the only parts you could see left you questioning whether they were male or female.

A muted green glow appeared on their head, meaning they were a unicorn and also hiding themselves with a cloak, as you could see the magical aura through the cloth. A brown bag secured with string was dumped onto the table, the contents clinking and making your ears twitch. You went to grab it with your hoof, but the green glow deflected your grasping limb.

“The item first, if you please.”

You understood perfectly fine, as some others in your ‘profession’ had taken the money and run, so you reached into the outer pocket and pulled out what you had purloined from the farmhouse. You placed it on the table and caught a brief smile from the other party, and the bits were slid across the table. You tested the weight, and once satisfied, made a hasty exit.

There was a cold chill in the air that night, and you paused in fear as several of Princess Luna’s Night Guards came towards you, but they just passed right on by. Taking the good fortune that had come your way as a sign, you galloped off in the direction of the tavern.

You stopped a couple of streets before that though, walking up to a window that had bars on either side giving a slight tap to it. A hatch on the inside opened to reveal a young, pretty mare, who wiped her tired eyes before looking at you, her mouth turning into massive grin.

“Cage!”

“Good evening, Honey Pot.”

“You look beat. You getting enough sleep?”

“Yeah, just had a busy, busy night. So anyway, got another deposit.” She gave you a nod and lifted the window up a little, creating a hatch that could be used to pass items. Taking out the brown bag, you set it on the window sill and pushed it towards her. “The usual please, Honey. Ten percent to my patron, and split the remaining between my account and you-know-where.”

“You know how much you’d have if you didn’t do this?”

“I don’t care, I need something to make balance.” Honey just raised an eyebrow at you, then stepped away from the counter and poured the bits on a table, counting them all out. She then grabbed three slips of paper and wrote on them, leaving two on the table and bringing the last over to you. “All good?”

“Yep, your account now stands at sixty five thousand, two hundred and seventy three bits and twenty two crowns. The same amount since you started coming here has certainly helped at the... you know, the place.”

“Good. Feels nice to give something back.” She frowned at you, but you just waved it away with a hoof. She slid the new balance cheque onto the sill and moved it towards you, her muzzle next to it, so you moved closer and gave her your customary payment, the mare giggling as your lips met hers. You held yourself there for a few moments then pulled away. “Good night, Honey.”

“Night, Cagey.”

The hatched closed as you walked away, and pretty soon you were back in the inn, waving to the innkeeper as you ascended the stairs. Once into your room, you slipped off your cloak and bags, bringing your wing around to check the wound. The nurse had managed to thread the bandage around your feathers, which meant you wouldn’t be flying for a few days.

Giving a wistful sigh, you slumped into bed and pulled the covers over you, then clicked off the lamp. A short while later you heard your door creak open, a shadow falling over the wall you faced. A muted click a moment later you were left in the dark, but you weren’t worried. The pony slipped in behind you and ran their hoof along your side, then rested it on your flank.

“Hello, Cagey.” You rolled over, pressing into a passionate kiss with the mare, covering her with you wing. She pulled away and nuzzled under your chin, a soft sigh escaping her lips. “You know, I always get a fuzzy feeling when you give money to the orphanage.”

You groaned, lowering your gaze and meeting hers in the moonlight streaming through the window. “Do you always have to say that?”

“Don’t forget your origins, Cage. The mares there were nice.”

“That they were. Let’s get some sleep, my sweet Honey Pot.” Your lips met in one more soft kiss, then you both snuggled closer and laid your heads upon the pillows, drifting off to slumber.

Inside the farmstead of Sweet Apple Acres, one earth pony mare sat on the couch shaking, her faithful companion pressed against her side and letting forth the occasional whimper. In Winona’s mind she had failed and her mistress had gotten injured, so she would comfort her in the hopes of staving off punishment.

The bitch let out a low growl as she sensed a being approaching, but she quieted down when the young pony her mistress clearly loved poked his head over the couch’s edge. The colt’s tiny wings flapped frantically as he clambered up the cushions, sliding in behind Winona, who sat patiently until he was against her mistress’ side, then she pressed against them both.

“Jay-Jay need hug to smile.”

Very slowly, Applejack turned to see her second cousin and one of her best friends’ colt trying to wrap his hooves around her, but failing as he was only a couple of years old. She petted Winona a few times and then hoisted Freedom Bolt to her chest, falling sideways to the couch, whereupon Winona shuffled behind Applejack’s hind legs and settle into the crux of her knees, her head on her mistress and watching the colt.

“Jay-Jay feel good?”

“Ah’m feelin’ better seein’ you, Bolt.” The colt let out a giggle as Applejack nuzzled him. Then she looked across at the other couch where his mother and father were sitting, the mare wrapped in the stallion’s hooves with one of his wings draped over her, all told a rather adorable sight, but there was something bugging Applejack. “Say Sky, what’s with the frown?”

“The pony you described from last night, he seems vaguely familiar, but I’m not sure.”

“Well, the guards’ll get ‘im, you’ll see.”

“I certainly hope so, AJ, I hope so. How’s Granny?”

“Mac said it’ll be best if we jus’ let her think it was a bad dream, an’ that we moved the necklace into the vault in the cellar. She’s still a little shaken, but will be right as rain in no time.”

“And you?”

“If Ah ever see that good fer nothin’ pony again, Ah’m gonna do more than let ol’ Winona ‘ere bite his wing.”

Author's Note

Ouchy... that had to hurt. Wait... isn't this a AJ romance fic?