The Unusual Tale of a Human Thief in Equestria

An Unlikely Hero.

Interlude 1 - The Princess of the Night.

Luna yawned.

This was the fifth pony to come to her in this night court. That is not to say the night was still young, in fact, it is quite the opposite as the moon was almost reaching her peak in the sky. And Luna of all ponies would know about that.

It has been more than a year since Luna returned now and the ponies of Equestria are still reluctant to trust her. Not that she blames them of course, after all, you have to do some very nasty things to end up as an old pony tale about a demon mare that devours children.

Nowhere else was that fact more obvious than in the Nightly Court. She had been sitting on that throne for hours and only five meager ponies had attended her court. Granted she had just reinstated her Court so perhaps ponies were still not aware of it, but it still worried and saddened her that five ponies were, so far, the record number of petitioners in the Court's three months of activity.

And they were not even there for actual problems that she could solve. One was a rambling mad pony, convinced that the government was placing surveillance wards in his home, Luna attempted to reason with this stallion but it soon proved to be a fool's errand, in the end, she nodded and promised to remove the spells. She wagered this would not be the last she would hear of this pony.

The second and third ponies were a couple of the nobility finest sort. Shamefully, though, that means they were two self-entitled jerks that believe that just because their parents happened to be fairly important citizens who improved pony society with their hard work and dedication then they deserved the same amount of respect, naturally these ponies had never actually worked in their lives, let alone contributed to society. Luna ignored their requests and sent them away with the grace and expertise of a princess.

Her sister, however, might not agree with that statement.

The fourth pony had gotten lost returning to his room and needed directions to a bathroom.

At least that one had been polite.

This pony actually met the requirements for placing a petition in the night court. She had a problem that needed to be addressed, lacked the means to do so on her own and approached the Night Princess with politeness and grace.

"Your Highness? Am I boring you?" The scrawny mare asked, clearly fearful that Luna had found request unworthy. "I can leave if you wish, I'm sure the village can find a solution without bothering you, your Majesty."

Luna snapped out of her morose state and blushed at the realization of the disrespect with which she treated her subject. "Apologies Rose, this has been a long and stressful night and We find ourselves to be more spent than We believed." She apologized, making sure to look the pony in the eye and try to be as reassuring as possible. "Now, you were saying of the trouble a certain clan of Diamond Dogs was causing in your village?"

"Yes your Highness, they have been raiding our farms and harassing merchants and travelers that are coming and going from the village." Rose continued, "They are trying to take the land for themselves and we have been standing our ground but with no more merchants willing to trade with us and our crops being destroyed, come next harvest we may not be able to hold out for much longer. The guard is doing their best to fight back but they are greatly outnumbered."

Finally a pony who actually needed her help, Luna would have beamed up with joy had she not been paying much more attention to her body language since her last gaffe, "We assure you, White Rose, that the Guard will not stand by and idly watch while these vile creatures harm our subjects! We will send a detachment to Ore Valley immediately to apprehend these ruffians."

Rose thanked Luna profusely, bowing several times. It was clear this problem had been going on for quite some time, why had Celestia not taken measures yet? The villages in the fringes of Equestrian Territory have always needed extra protection from Canterlot before they could organize a defensive force of their own, especially those on the edge of the Badlands, and yet this place was in dire need of reinforcements. Why hadn't they received word of this before?

"But pray tell Rose, if this has been an issue for so long then why is it that you never tried to contact us before?"

The small mare looked up at the princess with a look of great confusion on her face, of all questions she expected from Princess Luna, that, was not one of them.

"What do you mean Princess? We have sent several letters and at least three ponies , two of them came back saying that Canterlot had promised help was coming soon."

"And the other?"

"We don't really know." But the look in her eyes and the crack in her voice told Luna they knew exactly what happened to him.

Now Luna was truly surprised. They had sent word about it? Then was Canterlot ignoring them on purpose? Was Celestia ignoring their pleas on purpose? That was impossible, Celestia had thrown herself before entire enemy battalions to save their troops the bloodshed during the Griffon Invasions, she would never do such a thing.

No, something else was afoot here. Either these ponies had been lying and they had never alerted the authorities or there was something much more sinister going on in this city.

"In fact, most ponies back home think we've been abandoned." Rose continued, sounding heartbroken and slightly terrified to be saying such things to the Princess of The Night, "Me and my friends are some of the only ones who refused to believe that Canterlot would do that to us, so we decided to skip the regular channels and come directly to you." She finished but quickly noticed her mistake and corrected herself, "Your Highness."

"Hmm, it is hard to believe that the Guard would simply ignore a plea for aid from one of our border settlements." Luna pondered, more to herself than to anypony else really. "But no matter, you are in need of aid and aid you shall receive. Forget the General Guard, I'll send a detachment of my finest ponies, the Umbral Guard will see to it that this threat is eliminated, tomorrow you shall begin your journey back home alongside them and soon Ore Valley will be free of these criminals."

Once again the little earth mare face lighted up with joy and Luna was assaulted by another barrage of 'thank yous' and reverences, when Rose was finally done showing her gratitude, Luna arranged a private room for her and her travel companions that were waiting for the mare's return to some inn at the city below. Something was wrong with this whole situation and Luna would much rather have her own people watching over these ponies than trust the regular Guard, especially in light of this new information.

Yes, something was definitely rotten in the city of Canterlot.

And Luna would get to the bottom of it.

"Steward," Luna called the elderly pony sitting on a cushion beside her as soon as Rose had left. "Fetch Lieutenant Skies for me, tell her to meet me in my chambers immediately."

The old stallion silently bowed and took off with a surprising swiftness for somepony of his age, leaving Luna quite surprised that the old stallion that looked like he was about to crumble beneath his own weight actually had so much energy inside him. Luna quickly shrugged the surprise off, got up from her throne and told the guards that she wouldn't be receiving any more ponies that night and began her walk back to her chambers.

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"Lieutenant Skies reporting for duty your Highness!" Came the soft and nervous voice of the young soldier as the steward motioned for her to enter Princess Luna's chambers.

Needless to say, this whole situation was very unexpected for the recently promoted mare. Up until only a few months ago, she was a corporal serving under her sergeant with the team she now found herself in charge off, so a private meeting in the middle of the night with the Princess herself was definitely not among the things she expected to happen in the near future.

"Thank you, Tight Schedule," Luna said as she left her balcony to greet her guest. "I would like to speak to the Lieutenant in private, so if you could please excuse us."

"Of course your Highness, I'll be seeing to my other duties, if you have need of me." The steward bowed respectfully and, with a short nod to the Lieutenant, left to do as he said.

And with the click of the door closing, both ponies were left staring at each other in silence. With Skies growing ever more nervous as Luna stood there eyeing her, sizing her up, as if she wasn't completely sure Skies was what she was expecting.

"So..." Luna finally broke the ice, she lit up her horn and a couple of files and papers left her desk floating up to her and resting just before her face, she took some seconds to give them a superficial reading before lowering them so that she could look at the Lieutenant once again. "This is the pony who, upon seeing her commanding officer attempt to surrender to a changeling squad, proceeded to incapacitate said pony and take command of her forces herself, forced the enemy forces to retreat who, by the way, were in greater number with no further casualties?"

It always sounds so much more dignified and heroic when other ponies describe it. As far as Skies was concerned that feat was not the product of courage, brilliance or an outstanding sense of duty, rather it was the product of overwhelming terror and an exacerbated desire to have one last hayburger at her favorite place.

But for some reason, her superiors didn't seem to care about her version of the events. "Umm- Yes, your Majesty." She answered sheepishly.

To her surprise, Luna broke out in a hearty laughter, tossing all those papers and files over her shoulder. The Princess, still giggling like a school filly, walked up to the now very scared soldier and draping a wing over the pegasus, guided her to the balcony. "No need to be bashful with me. I for one think this is one of the best things I've seen in quite some time." The Princess reassured her still, trying not to laugh, "Be honest with me now, and trust me, if you lie I will know. Did you actually plan all this or did the whole situation simply spiraled out of control and you had to.... Oh, what is the expression I'm looking for again?"

"Roll with it?" Skies suggested.

"Yes! Precisely, roll with it. What a marvelous figure of speech." Luna muttered to herself.

Skies took a moment to decide whether or not, to be honest with her Princess but she wisely realized her threat was most likely very well founded, besides it's not like it would matter anyway. "You know the whole 'incapacitated her commanding officer?'" She asked the Princess, who promptly nodded, "Well, actually I freaked out when she said we would be surrendering and ended up kicking her in the face, she got knocked out and I suddenly found myself with fifteen soldiers looking at me as if I knew what I was doing." She paused to take a deep breath and finished, "I didn't. I really didn't"

And so Luna laughed even harder. "Oh, this is outstanding!" She said as soon as she caught her breath, "You are perfect, Skies."

"Perfect? Your Highness?" The confused mare blurted out, almost forgot to address Luna by her title but managed to catch herself in time. "Did I say that right? I don't think you heard that right."

"I have an assignment for you and your team," Luna said. Not really caring about what the Lieutenant had to say anymore. "And it's very important that you are not to discuss it with anypony except for your team."

"Me? Isn't there anypony more qualified?" Skies argued, getting more and more concerned, "Somepony who didn't freak out and assaulted a superior in the middle of combat? I can name a few if it helps."

"Shush, I've made my decision." Luna, however, only shrugged her off and continued without missing a beat. "You are to escort a group of ponies back to their home in Ore Valley, one of our border settlements in the Badlands tomorrow morning, needless to say, their well-being is paramount here."

"Yes, your Highness." Skies sighed, defeated.

"Once you arrive in Ore Valley you are to coordinate the village's defenses, you will locate the group of Diamond Dogs that are preying on those poor ponies, and apprehend them for questioning." Luna continued, "Find out who they're working for if they're working for somepony, why they are targeting that village in particular and what happened to one of the ponies they sent to seek the aid of Canterlot, he is missing and presumed dead."

"Understood ma'am, but if you don't mind me asking, why are we not supposed to talk about it with anypony else?" Skies asked, despite her better judgment.

"I do mind, Lieutenant." Luna harshly answered, "These are your orders, carry them out. It is enough for you to know that your discretion is paramount to the mission."

"Yes, Princess. Understood." The Lieutenant immediately saluted, she should know better by now than to question such things, after all somepony of her rank isn't exactly privy to the Princesses'es plans.

"And one last thing," Luna mentioned as she motioned for the Lieutenant to follow her to the door. "Shortly after your arrival in Ore Valley, you are to expect one of my agents, he will assist you with this mission."

"Will he be taking command ma'am?"

"No, he will be your partner, of sorts." Luna explained, "as far as rank is concerned just consider him to be your equal, even though he holds no real military rank."

Skies found that very odd after all, this was hardly protocol. But Princess Luna herself gave the order, so there would be no point in arguing.

"He will have a badge recognizing as an Agent of the Crown..." Luna then paused, as if uncertain on how to continue, "You'll know him when you see him, trust me. There will be a file awaiting you on your quarters with more details on the village and such, it's not much to go on but I am confident you can do it."

Skies stopped right outside Luna's door and with a sharp turn, saluted once more. "Yes, your Highness. You will not be disappointed." She hoped.

Luna gave her a confident smile, she looked certain she had made the right choice. Skies, on the other hand, was not so sure. "I better not be Skies." She finished with a statement that seemed very out of place in such a friendly and cheerful tone of voice and promptly closed the door. Leaving Lieutenant Skies to return to the barracks and share the good news with her team.

She really could not see how she was best suited for this assignment, in fact, the whole briefing felt rushed as if this whole thing had been put together in the last minute, and quite frankly she would not be surprised if that was the case.

However Skies was a soldier, even if she wasn't as confident as the Princess was in her abilities, and if a soldier gets and order she carries it out. Skies would be no different.

Even if she did hit a couple of bumps along the way.

Author's Note

So... Interludes.
Yeah this will be a thing from time to time. It will be a way for me to show things from another perspective, maybe I'll revisit some chapter through the eyes of one of the ponies, or I'll do something similar to this one, where I explore events that Janos would not be present for, other times it will have virtually nothing to do with Janos or his story, instead focusing on some side character.
I promise this is not me trying to buy time to get an actual chapter out. Promise.