Starcrossed

Chapter 9~ An Attempt At Theft

The sun was begging to dip towards the horizon when Fillydelphia came into view. Compared to Trottingham, Fillydalphia was much larger and had a lively look about it, with the Skykill River running through the city, Fillydelphia had once been a trade hub for inland Equestria, merchants from the south would traverse the river to trade in silks, fine wines and other luxury items.

"Not anymore though," Twilight explained. "Once more efficient land and sea routes were established, the river became obsolete and Fillydelphia was put in a bit of a tight spot."

"How are they doing nowadays?" Flash asked, admiring the tall building that were silhouetted against the setting sun.

"Well recently the city has been making a comeback, financial, insurance and other office jobs are flourishing in the city, it's a great place to be if your a businesspony."

"Well, I'm not," Flash said with a smile. "But I've heard that Fillydelphia can be a rough city, especially at night, promise you'll stick close to me okay?"

"Alright, worry-wart," Twilight teased, nudging Flash in the side. "Come on, we'll be stopping soon, if we hurry we can catch Lord Thunder Bolt before he goes to bed."

The train screeched and slowed and pulled into Fillydelphia station, the doors opened and Twilight and Flash exited the train into a quickly darkening city. A Fillydelphian guard was at the station, adorned in silver chain mail and helmet with a black plume. A white Fillydelphia cape on his back, a black bolt of lighting decorating the cape.

"Excuse me," Twilight said politely, the Bolt Guard turned and his eyes widened and he dropped into a low bow.

"Princess Twilight!" He said. "My apologies! We hadn't expected you this early, had we known there would have been a proper welcome!"

Twilight smiled awkwardly "it's okay, I should have sent a letter ahead of me, just lead us to Lord Thunder Bolt's manor please."

"Of course!" The Guard said, rising from his bow. "Just follow me your majesty."

"I'm still not used to that," Twilight whispered to Flash.

"You will," Flash whispered back.

The Bolt Guard lead them through the narrow streets of Fillydelphia, the sun had disappeared behind the horizon and their path was illuminated only by hanging lanterns of magical fire. Occasionally Flash would spot movement in the many alleyways, poor and drunk low life's eyed them, sizing up the risk, luckily the sight of a Royal Guard and a Bolt Guard scared off any attackers, it put a pain in Flash's chest to think he had once been counted among those criminals.

Lord Thunder's manor came into view, it was tall and made of grey stone. Banners depicting the sigil of House Bolt hung from from its walls, the two Bolt Guards that flanked the door bowed and opened the doors and allowed them into the warm and bright interior of Lord Thunder Bolt's manor.

The floor was polished and bright, comforting braziers burned bright along the stone walls. Several pillars were lined together, carved into them were depictions of Fillydelphia in the past, rest ships pulling into the port and happy merchants trading in precious goods from all corners of the world.

Lord Thunder Bolt sat on a silver throne, flanked by two Bolt Guards who were adorned in more heavy silver plate armour and a full-face helmet. Lord Thunder was a large Unicorn, with a grey and a jet black mane, his eyes were the colour of silver, he was adorned in a simple cloth tunic decorated in silver inlaid.

"Princess Twilight!" Lord Thunder exclaimed, jumping off his throne. "Your early!"

Twilight started to stoop into a bow but Lord Thunder caught her before she could complete it.

"No need for that!" Thunder Bolt said, with a hearty laugh. "I'm not some fucking snob from Manehatten! Your in Fillydelphia my girl! No need to scrap yourself on the floor for me!"

Twilight's eyes widened at the Lord's foul language but smiled warmly as she raised herself back up.

"I appreciate that Lord Thunder, I'm glad we can talk like equals," Twilight said.

"Of course! Some of these other Lords think themselves like the Two Princesses! Well... Three now! But here in Fillydelphia I'm equal to the lowest worker! Unlike that fucking priss Lord Iron Hill in Manehatten!"

Twilight giggled "you don't like Manehatten?"

"Peh bunch of prissy party-obsessed inbreds if you ask me," Lord Thunder said.

"I hope you don't mind my guard then," Twilight said with a laugh, making Flash's heart skip a beat. "He's from Manehatten."

"Is he?" Thunder Bolt said, eyeing Flash before cracking a smile. "Well if he's tough enough to survive Fort Snowhawk then he's alright by me!"

"It's late, I'll have my guard get you a room, we can discuss the details of your visit in the morn."

"Thank you for your hospitality Lord Thunder," Twilight said before following one of Lord Thunder's personal guards through a side door and into a long hallway, the Bolt Guard lead them to a large room that was lavishly furnished.

Twilight thanked the guard who nodded silently and left, Flash checked the windows and door to make sure they were secure as Twilight made herself comfortable.

"Lord Thunder's a lot... Different from Lord Forest, don't you think?" Twilight said.

"Yeah, but in a good way," Flash said. "But I don't know about all that swearing."

"He's just eccentric," Twilight laughed. "I'm enjoying Fillydelphia already."

"Well don't get too comfortable, we'll be leaving for Balimare in two days," Flash said. "Now get some rest."

Twilight nodded and entered her bed as Flash left the room.

                                                                       ~~*~~

The wind pulled at the Thieves brown cloak and ruffled his grey feathers, he sat at the peak of a tall office building that stood in sight of the lord's manor. Through a window the Thief could see a purple Alicorn, his mark, moving around in the room with the red-jewelled amulet that was prize firmly clasped around her neck.

The Princess moved and was replaced by her personal guard, and the Thief frowned. Something about that particular guard struck a cord of familiarity with the Thief, but he quickly dismissed it and refocused on the task at hoof, that guard was the obstacle to get around, he was with the Princess almost every moment of the day, somehow the Thief had to get him away from the Princess.

The Thief shivered, the claws of winter still held on in spite of the approaching spring and the Thief could not spend the night outside in the quickly dropping temperature. Spreading his wings the Thief took to the sky and gilded to the ground, not willing to draw attention to himself by flying high above the city.

It took not three minutes but the Thief found a satisfactory inn, it was a wooden, two-storied tavern and inn combination that had obviously seen better days, the entire exterior was wet and rotted in places, crusted over with salt from the sea, obviously a place for cheap spirits and cheap rooms. A sign hung outside the inn, it depicted a smiling Gryphon holding a claw-full of cards, one of which was turned to reveal the card to be an ace of spades, the sign read 'The Gambling Gryphon' on it.

The Thief opened the front door, his nose being assaulted by the sent of ale, vomit, and wood smoke. Fighting back a cough the Thief entered the Gambling Gryphon, the tavern was only dimly lit by a roaring fireplace and was packed with many rough-looking characters, Earth Ponies mostly but with quite a few Gryphons and even a few Saddle-Arabians who stood out with their distinctive turbans and other assorted headdresses.

The Thief turned quite a few heads when he entered, most dismissed him immediately as unimportant or they noticed the amour and decided to not get involved. The Thief sat down at the bar and the innkeeper approached him, he was a simple-looking Earth Pony with a light green coat and a grey mane and beard.

"Fancy an ale traveller?" He asked.

"Just a small one," the Thief answered.

The innkeeper nodded and went to go fetch a small cup, the Thief took this moment to observe the other tenants. Workers mostly, probably employed at the local port or shipping yard, the Gryphons, Saddle-Arabians and other outsiders were probably a mixture of travellers, vagabonds, and mercenaries, suddenly an idea popped into the Thief's head.

The innkeeper returned with a small iron cup full of cheap ale, the Thief thanked him and sipped at the intoxicant. The ale was disgusting, barely processed, it scalded the Thief's throat and left a sour taste in his mouth, still drink was drink and the Thief downed the rest in a single gulp. After some thought the Thief hailed over the innkeeper again who offered a refill but the Thief refused, looking for information rather than alcohol.

"Tell me, do you know any good local mercenaries?" The Thief asked casually, making the innkeeper look very uncomfortable.

"Windclaw could help you," he said, pointing to a dangerous-looking Gryphon who sat in a far corner. "Don't try to stiff his pay though, or he'll gut you himself."

The Thief nodded his thanks and left the bar, he slipped through the crowd with practiced ease and sat right down at the table that the Gryphon mercenary was sitting at. Windclaw eyed the newcomer from under a deep green hood, he was adorned in armour made from animal hide and wrapped in a green cloak, a crossbow was slung over his back and a curved scimitar was at his side.

"Windclaw?" The Thief asked.

"Maybe," Windclaw said, his yellow eyes reflecting the light of the fireplace. "Who's asking?"

"Someone who would hire you," The Thief said, Windclaw hummed and looked the stranger over taking note of his amour.

"Guildmember huh?" Windclaw said. "What's someone like you want with someone like me?"

"I'm on a job and I find myself in need of some extra hooves," the Thief said. "And in my line of work, extra hoofs are well paid for."

"Well I can't give you extra hoofs, but extra claws are just as good," Windclaw said, grinning. "Although, I don't come cheap."

"You'll get paid, but I need the job done first," the Thief said.

"Fine, what's the job?" Windclaw asked.

"Well, in case you don't know Fillydelphia is playing host to Equestria's newest crowded Princess, young purple Alicorn, wings and all, she's currently staying the the Lord's manor," the Thief said.

"Yes, yes, I'm aware," Windclaw. "So what? You want me to gut her? Or just teach her a lesson?"

"No," the Thief almost snapped.

"Oh that's right," Windclaw. "You Guild-types don't like getting dirty, shame."

"Anyway," the Thief said, changing the subject. "That Princess has something that I want, but she also has a personal guard that doesn't like to take personal time."

"So we need to take the guard out of the equation," Windclaw said.

"Yes, but not in the way your thinking," the Thief said. "The Princess is going to be making several different public appearances tomorrow, at your own discretion I want you to attempt to attack her but here's the trick, you've got to purposely fail and then give chase so that guard of hers will follow you, with him gone I can slip in, grab my prize, and leave."

"Interesting," Windbeak said. "And how will you know where she'll go once I attack?"

"Logically they would rush he'd back to the Lord's manor, if not I'm going to be following her around anyway so if she goes anywhere different I'll be right behind."

"Curious," Windbeak said, hailing over a serving mare and getting them both drinks. "Alright, I'll do it, but I want a hundred bits."

Thief frowned "seventy," he said.

"Ninety-five," Windbeak countered.

"Eighty."

"Ninety."

"Eighty-five."

"Deal," Windbeak said and he held out his cup and the Thief met it with his own, cracking a slight smile before the two outlaws downed their intoxicants, as the Thief struggled not to choke or cough Windbeak simply licked his beak and got up from the table.

"I'll be off then, I'll need time to stalk my prey," he said.

"Don't kill her," the Thief reiterated. "If you do then you don't get paid, your a distraction."

"Yes, yes," Windbeak dismissed. "Just make sure you do pay, or you and I will have a problem."

With that Windbeak left the tavern, the Thief leaned back in his chair. He had considered all the possibilities and different outcomes, if all went well than the amulet would be his and his new life of wealth would begin, just like he had always dreamed.

The Thief got up and went over to the innkeeper, he quickly bartered the price for a small room before heading upstairs to his temporary bedding. It was a small thin room with a small nightstand, a single candle, and a small simple bedroll that was spread out on the floor, after making sure no one was around the Thief took off his cloak, satchels, and armour before rolling into bed and slipping into an only slightly restful sleep.

When he awoke the next morning the Thief quickly dressed and left the Gambling Gryphon through the decisively less-packed tavern. The morning air was crisp and cold, a fresh sheet of frozen dew frosted over the buildings, nevertheless the sun was bright in the clear sky and it warmed the Thief's cold skin.

He spread his wings and took to the sky, making sure to stick close to buildings and move from rooftop to rooftop only when he was sure no one was looking. He came in sight of the Lord's manor and sat down at the peak of his chosen building, it was early yet and the Thief doubted the Princess would begin her tour for al least another hour, the Thief wrapped himself in his cloak and waited patiently.

At some point the Thief had dosed off in the warm morning sun, when he awoke he silently cursed himself for lapsing in discipline. Nothing seemed to have moved yet though, but paranoid thoughts began to enter the Thief's head, what if he had just missed the Princess? He began silently debating wether or not to go looking for his mark when the front doors of the manor opened and his mark stepped out followed by her personal guard, several Bolt Guards and Lord Thunder Bolt himself.

The group began to walk casually down the street, heading north. Apparently Lord Thunder was taking his guest on a tour of some sort, they quickly disappeared behind a building but the Thief was quick. He gilded down to a lower level of rooftop and landed softy, he snuck to the edge of the roof and peered over, his mark was indeed simply casually strolling down the street with Lord Thunder Bolt and three guards including her own, the Thief could even overhear their conversation.

"The streets don't seem very busy," the Princess was saying.

"Not at this hour, no!" Lord Thunder laughed. "Morning rush is usually around eight, hopefully we can get our tour done before we're run over by angry commuters!"

"Hopefully," the Princess giggled. "So, what do you know about this city's history?..."

The Thief lost interest at that point, so he resigned himself to watching his mark like a hawk and stalking her like a lion. Occasionally he would glance around, looking to see if he could spot Windbeak with no avail, he chose to treat this as a good sign, that the mercenary was staying out of sight until the opportune moment.

The group continued down the street at an easy pace, the Thief didn't have to change rooftops often. Still, it had been almost a full hour of stalking his mark and the Thief hadn't spotted hide nor tail of Windbeak, doubts about the mercenary's integrity began to enter his mind, maybe he should have paid Windbeak up front? Maybe he fled? Leaving the Thief to find another way?

Just as these thoughts entered the Thief's head he spotted movement on the talk office building to his right, across the street. There he could just make out a pair of large wings folding in and a hooded head just barely peaking over the edge of the building. Windbeak, the Gryphon stared down at the small group and unstrapped his crossbow, aiming the weapon towards the Princess.

The Thief frowned, Don't kill her he thought, and he held his breath as a faint twang of Windbeak's crossbow was heard. The bolt sped through the air, passing millimetres away from the Princess's face before it skidded across the stone street, the Bolt Guards and the Princess's personal one drew their weapons and put themselves in between where Windbeak was and their charges.

"Take them both back to the manor!" The personal guard commanded. "I'll take care of the shooter!" With that he spread his orange wings and sped after Windbeak who had already turned tail.

The Thief silently cursed as the remaining guards rapidly guided the Lord Thunder and the Princess back towards the manor, his plan had backfired! Now his mark would be locked away and surrounded by Bolt Guards! Still... The obstacle of her personal guard was temporarily remedied, the Bolt Guards would be easy to slip past, but how to do it...

The Thief racked his brain as he turned around and took flight, meaning to loop back around to the Lord's manor. Suddenly an idea popped into his head, he banked left away from the manor and descended between two buildings, into an alleyway. There he found what he was looking for; an maintenance tunnel for the cities sewer system, the access cover was old and rusted over, it looked like no one had been down there in years which suited the Thief's purposes nicely.

Taking out a dagger the Thief began to chip away at the layer of rust, slowly scooping out the orange mess until he could stick his dagger through the gap and under the cover. With a quick movement the Thief popped the cover free, there was a hiss and a found stretch reached the Thief's nose, almost making him gag, a combination of feces, spoiled food, and strangely a faint sent of rotten flesh.

Taking several deep breaths the Thief lowered himself into the sewer, replacing the cover as he did so. The Thief dropped down and landed with a splash in the sludge that flowed slowly through the sewer tunnel, resisting the urge to vomit the Thief climbed out of the sludge and onto a thin walkway on the right side of the tunnel.

It was dark, the only points of light came from the access cover that the Thief had just entered through and a lit room far down the tunnel. With cautious movements the Thief made his way towards that room, when he neared it he discovered a hall that lead away from the sludge flow, quickly the Thief peered into the lit room he had been heading for originally.

The room turned out to be a pit, both the tunnel that the Thief was in and several other pipes dumbed sludge into a deep pit that lead down to a large fast-flowing river of water and feces. On the other side of the gap was another tunnel that seemed to lead the direction that the Thief was going, the problem was that another pipe above the Thief's desired route was spilling sludge in a thick disgusting waterfall.

Frowning the Thief turned around and turned into the hall he had seen before, it was short and lead to a darkened room with several empty barrels, a set of stone stairs lead down from the hall and there was another tunnel leading the direction of the manor. The Thief began to creep down the stairs but before he could reach the floor he heard voices echoing down the tunnel he was heading for, sending him scampering back up the stairs.

"Can't see a bucking thing," one voice said loudly over the sound of rushing water. "Why'd we gotta hide down 'ere anyway?"

"I told you," another voice said. "If we show our faces up there we're dead, the Talons will find us in a second, we just need to get out of the city."

"Yeah, but we can't while we're lost can we?" The original voice said.

"We're not lost," the second voice insisted.

"Uh-Huh, we've been down here for days Clear Sky," the first voice said back. "I lost count the amount of times we almost died from a rat... Or other things."

Two stallions entered the room where the Thief was hidden, one was large and muscled Earth Pony, adorned  in a mix-matched set of armour and carrying a deadly battle-axe slung over his back, his companion 'Clear Sky' was a smaller Pegasus and was clad in rough leather padding, carrying several daggers on his person.

"Can't see a bucking thing in here," Clear Sky said. "Stay there, I'm going to look around for a torch or somthin' okay?"

His companion grunted and Iron Hoof moved away, going to the barrels on the far end of the room. The Thief considered his options as he watched Clear Sky move away from his partner, he could just sneak by but seeing how these two were not familiar with the sewer layout its a high possibility they could pose a problem in an escape situation, the thought of killing them made the Thief's stomach churn. As much as he disrespected the law, murder was something he'd rather avoid, that left a third option that was looking more attractive by the second, as Iron Hoof began rummaging through the barrels the Thief made up his mind.

Strapped to the Thief's back was that third solution, it was a small club, about half a meter long with small metal rivets dotting its surface. The Thief grinned and dropped down from his perch atop the stairs, right behind the larger of the two stallions with not a sound to be heard, without hesitation the club met the stallions temple and a dull thunk and the stallion collapsed, the grinning Thief putting his back to the wall and waiting.

Clear Sky must have heard the blow over the sound of rushing water because he stopped his searching and peered into the blackness where he had left his companion.

"Iron Hoof?" He called into the darkness. "You still there, mate?"

No answer came and Clear Sky drew one of his daggers, slowly advancing forward. The Thief smiled as he slipped behind the Pegasus, Clear Sky bumped into Iron Hoof's unconscious body, he drew in a supposed breath with was immediately released as the Thief bonked him over the head as well.

The Thief had to resist laughing openly as Clear Sky fell to the ground next to his companion, his heart was racing, and he felt elated, this was a blast! All of his other escapades pickpocketing or infiltrating paled in comparison to this experience! The Thief replaced his club and began to head off when a devilish thought entered his head that made his smile grow.

Turning back the Thief shifted the positions of the two lowlifes, entangling their hooves around each other until it appeared that they had fallen asleep together.

The Thief laughed openly this time.

The tunnel lead next to the dumping pit, the Thief could see the waterfalls of sludge falling through the grates placed in the walls. He arrived on the far side of the hall and the pit, it gave way to a circular room with a drain on the ceiling flooding a beam of light into the centre of the room, two other tunnels lead to either side away from each other whilst there was nothing but solid brick wall in the direction of the Lord's manor.

The Thief paused for a moment, either way could lead to his destination but a wrong choice would mean possibly hours of backtracking and time was running thin, Windbeak could only act as a distraction for so long.

Suddenly the sound of crumbling stone came from the wall in front of the Thief, part of the wall gave way and something moved in from the newly form hole. The Thief heard a shrill squeak and stepped back in surprise and slight horror as a gigantic rat stepped into the light, it was the size of a dog, it's eyes were blood red and its teeth razor sharp in it's foaming mouth.

The rat launched itself at the Thief who sidestepped away, drawing his short sword as he did so, he faced the rat which hissed at him, before either of them could make a move the Thief was felt a weight land in his back, another rat! This one latched onto the Thief's back and tried biting through hid armour.

The Thief bucked and spun in a panic, trying to dislodge the vile creature on his back, he forgot about the first rat and paid for it. The rodent scampered forward and sunk it's teeth into the Thief's foreleg, the Thief screamed in pain, drooping his sword as the rat tore a chuck of his flesh away before retreating, blood poured out if the wound and adrenaline rushed through the Thief's veins.

With a violent jerk the Thief threw the rat off his back, he retrieved his sword and quickly pierced the vile thing through the eye. Spinning the Thief caught the other rat mid-jump as it tried to launch itself at him again, his blade sliced open the rat's underbelly, spilling it's guts as it hit the ground dead.

The Thief sat down, replacing his sword and gritting his teeth from pain as he inspected his wound, the rat had taken several layers of flesh and it's teeth and punctured deep, blood had coated the Thief's fur and hoof. Reaching into his bag the Thief took out a small red bottle, he pulled the cork free with a pop and poured the golden liquid onto his injury, the healing potion stung like a manticore's tail but it stopped the bleeding, the Thief chugged the rest of the potion and before his eyes a fresh layer of skin grew over his wound.

He threw the bottle away and stood up, testing his leg. The potion was only a temporary solution and he would need to see a healer before day's end, the Thief looked at the tunnel that the rats had come through, it seemed to lead in the direction he needed to go, the healer would need to wait.

Slowly and cautiously the Thief entered the tunnel, this one was clearly not Pony-made but he doubted the rats and dug through solid bedrock, it made the Thief wary for what else might be down there.

The tunnel went downwards on a steady incline and continued for at least a hundred meters before giving way to a small rectangular room that had been cut out. Wooden pillars stood in the middle of the room to keep the ceiling stable and burning torches hung from those pillars, there was another tunnel on the right side of the room that lead further down.

The Thief paused, peering into the dimly lit room, he saw movement and froze just as a rat entered the light of one of the torches. It didn't seem to have noticed the Thief yet and that served him just fine, as the rat casually crawled away the Thief pulled out his small crossbow, with a quick aim he fired the bolt right into the rodents head.

With a grin the Thief reloaded his crossbow and replaced it, he moved quickly towards the the next tunnel but stopped at when he spotted something tucked in to the far wall. He grabbed a nearby torch and held it in front of him, it turned out he had spotted a small wooden chest that had been placed in the corner.

The Thief's grin widened as he tried to open the chest only to find it locked, but this didn't feed him off as he simply placed the torch on the ground and pulled out two thin pieces on metal that were tucked into his gauntlets, slipping them gently into the chest's keyhole he felt around until he found the tumblers, with swift movements the Thief pushed the tumblers upwards one by one until he heard a soft click.

Pulling his picks out the Thief opened the chest, inside it was a small bag of bits, several potions, a couple rusty daggers and a small golden horn rink. With glee the Thief swiped the potions, coins, and ring, paying no mind to the poorly made daggers, the Thief put away the loot into his bag before moving on down the tunnel.

This one was short and lead back into the sewer's proper, the tunnel ending a meter or so from the floor. The Thief hopped down and looked around, a river of semi-clear water flowed from a grate to his left to a grate to his far right, a door on the far end of the room lead to the next section.

The Thief jumped over the river and began to head towards the door, that was until he spotted something next to the door and he stopped. Apparently whatever it was had heard him because it began to move, the Thief squinted and made out the shape on a Pony standing up.

"Stay there," the Thief said. "Just sit back down and we won't have any problems."

No response came and whoever it was moved slowly towards the Thief, a dry moan came from it and and the Thief had to stop himself from screaming as the thing entered the light.

It was a mare, once, now most of her face was made of rotting flesh. Maggots writhed and crawled over the putrid flesh, hundreds of them falling off the corpse in a disgusting cascade, it's left eye was bloodshot and dried out while the other was no more leaving an empty soulless socket in its place. As more and more of the zombie's body was revealed the Thief became increasingly disgusted and horrified, holes were torn in the corpse's body that showed yellowed bones and rotting internal organs, the fur was mostly gone leaving bare skin that had been knower and chewed to bits by rats and maggots.

The Thief was left frozen in place, his mind unable to comprehend what he was seeing and therefore unable to create a reaction. It was only when the zombie closed the distance and the putrid smell of rotting flesh hit the Thief's nose that his instincts finally kicked in, the Thief's wings extended and he tried to take flight, meaning to take advantage of the sewer's high ceiling.

He was too slow, the moment the Thief got airborne his escape was interrupted by the zombie chomping down on his leg. The bite didn't pierce through his armour but the Thief was plucked out of the air with surprising strength and was slammed into the ground, before the Thief could do anything the zombie was on top of him.

The corpse pinned the Thief's wings under it's cracked hoof, it leaned down towards the Thief's neck with it's jaw unhinged. The Thief managed to keep the beast at bay with another hoof, the zombie snapped his jaws like a crocodile, the Thief grit his teeth and managed to maneuver his rear hooves under the zombie and violently bucked the creature away, freeing his wing from it's weight.

The corpse landed on it's back and was slow to get up, the Thief took got up and took out his club. He ran over to the zombie and cracked the club onto its skull, the zombie's head smashed back down but it continued to moved never the less, angry and full of disgust the Thief continued to rain down blows on the undead skull.

"Why," he growled, slamming his club down again.

"Is there," smash.

"A bucking," smash.

"Zombie," smash.

"IN THE BUCKING SEWER!" With a final blow the Thief splattered rotten brains over the stone floor at sat down, catching his breath.

This was just too much, when he had agreed to this job it had seemed simple. Find the Princess, grab the amulet, leave, and then enjoy a wealthy long life with the Thieves Guild, but this... This was not exactly what the Thief had imagined his first heist being like, he's imagined infiltrating a castle, slipping past sleepy guards before stealing an amulet from a lone Princess then dashing off into the night. Not trudging through a dank sewer full of lowlifes, giant rats, and mother bucking zombie, the experience had made him reconsider his options.

But just as the seed of doubt entered his head it was drowned out by a more powerful force, greed. The allure of gold and jewels filled his mind, he though off all the fat nobles he could stiff and shops he could rob with the knowledge and resources that the guild offered, and this job was the gateway to that life, a better life.

Filled with even more determination that before the Thief got up and galloped into the next room, there was an access hole there and by his reckoning it lead into the Lord's manor. The Thief quickly climbed the latter and gently opened the cover, he climbed into a small servants closet that was full of brooms, dustpans, and other cleaning supplies.

The Thief gently pushed open the closet door just in time to see a Bolt Guard patrolling the hallway past the closet, the Thief closed the door quickly and sought another way out. The hallway was obviously guarded and he guessed that there was scarcely any hiding spots, just then the Thief spotted something, a small panel on the right.

The Thief pulled at the panel and it came loose, revealing a small tunnel that lead through the wall, of course! This was a servant's hole, common in noble houses so cleaners and other staff could move from room to room while appearing out of sight. The Thief entered the hole and swiftly traversed through the darkness, he felt along the wall for another panel and eventually he found one, the Thief pushed gently on it and peered into the room.

There she was, the Princess, his mark, she was pacing back and forth in her room, her necklace bouncing against her chest with every step. The Thief grinned and he began to formulate a plan, he could wait until her back was turned and swipe the necklace, or just knock her out, even take it at knifepoint, just as the Thief was coming to a conclusion when the sound of hoofbeats echoed beyond the door.

"Twilight! I'm glad your alright!"

The Thief's heart dropped as the Princess's personal guard entered the room, he closed the panel he had opened. Frustration filled his heart, all that work for nothing! He had failed! As the Thief went back the way he came a single thought managed to enter his angered mind.

Why does that guard sound so familiar?

                                                                        ~~*~~

Twilight stepped onto the balcony where Lord Thunder awaited her, the Lord of Fillydelphia looked over his city from his vantage point as the sun dipped down beneath the horizon.

"I'm sorry about the attack earlier, Princess," Lord Thunder said.

"You couldn't of known," Twilight said. "No one was hurt and that's all that matters."

"Still, I think it's best that we cut your visit short, you should move on to Manhatten in the morning."

"Alright," Twilight said, looking at Lord Thunder's troubled face. "What's the matter?"

"A storm is brewing Princess," Thunder Bolt said. "You and your friends best batten down the hatches lest you be taken by it, your travels across Equestria will show you what troubles are festering on the edges of the country."

"You think some disaster is on its way?" Twilight asked.

"I think that our strength will be tested in the days to come," Lord Thunder said. "A bounty hunter had the boldness to attack a Princess, when criminals are emboldened like that then we must prepare for worse things to come."

"Maybe I can stop it then? Whatever it is?" Twilight suggested. "That is my duty as a Princess isn't it?"

"It is," Lord Thunder said. "And Equestria is blessed to have such a wise and caring Princess to govern over it."

Twilight didn't say anything back, but she smiled and felt her cheeks heat up, but she looked up at the night sky, confident in the success of her trip so far.