When a Plan Comes Together

Chapters

Hard Times
Taking a Score
The Mare-Mart Heist

Hard Times

“Foreclosure? What do you mean foreclosure!?”

A grey unicorn stallion dressed in a slick black suit sporting a pair of round reading glasses stood imposingly in the door way. He levitated a steel briefcase, inside of it contained a multitude of manila folders filled with documents. Pulling one of the folders out, he proceeded to open it and divulge the paperwork inside. “Miss Heartstrings, you’re going on three months without payment. Don’t tell me you didn’t expect this to end any differently? I have paperwork from the banks stating that if you continue to default on your payments then this property will be repossessed.”

“This is horseshit! I made a payment last week. You can’t foreclose my house!” Lyra exclaimed, shocked as she tried to comprehend the situation at hand. She glanced over the documents back and forth in a panic, looking for some logical explanation.

“You paid one-hundred and eighty four bits last week, you owe the bank one-thousand two hundred and ninety-seven bits in total,” The stallion replied without so much as a shift in his unimpressed expression. Lyra was clutching her head in frustration as she pondered a plan to get herself out of this mess.

“Look I know it seems bad, really, but I swear I’ll get you the money. I just need a little more time, that’s all. It’s just really tough to make a living with the way the economy’s been lately. Please I just need a little more time,” Lyra begged as she dropped to the floor, groveling at his hooves as she pleaded for mercy.

“Trust me, Miss Heartstrings, I’m aware of how bad of things are. Your home is the seventh one so far that failed to meet payments this month. It’s truly splendid for some pony in my line of work,” the stallion chuckled as he returned the folder back into the briefcase. Lyra, her face flushed with anger, slammed the door in the stallions face.

“SCREW YOU! Just you wait; I’ll have that cash in no time! No pony is taking my home away!” Lyra screamed as she stumbled backwards from the door. Flopping back down onto the floor, she took a moment to rest her nerves.

“Lyra, are you ok? Whats wrong and who were you screaming at?” A beige colored mare asked as she made her way downstairs into the living quarters of the house.

“Bon-Bon! Oh uh, hmmm, how do I put this… I defaulted on the house note…”

“You what?! Lyra, how can you be so irresponsible?" You said you would take care of the property expenses," Bon-Bon scolded with a look of disapointmen in here eye. Suddenly the severity of the situation started to sink in. "Are we, are we losing the house?” Bon-Bon glanced around the room; a building that she had come to call home for the past few years. She turned to focus on her mint green roommate, who sat depressingly in the middle of the floor. “Lyra, what are we going to do?”

Lyra lifted her head up, hesitating for a moment as she struggled to think of a response. “I don’t know yet, but I’ll think of something. Perhaps I’ll take on a second job, get more hours… I don’t know… something.”

It was mid-day, the sun shined brightly over Ponyville Park as a gust blew through the trees; leaves dancing in the wind. Lying on a park bench by the lake, Lyra and Bon-Bon pondered on their current situation. Lyra was lying on her back, her head propped up against the arm rest while she crossed her hooves on her chest. Bonbon took a more traditional approach to siting down on a park bench like most ponies do. Glancing around, everything seemed fine on the surface, ponies still played in the park and there was business in the market square. However the effects of the economy where clear in ponies faces, ‘Will I be able to put food on the table?’ ‘Can I pay off that mortgage?’ ‘Will my fillies and colts be able to still attend school?’ All of these worries where as clear as day.

“So Lyra, what did they say?” asked a cautious Bon-Bon, eggier to know the course of action they would need to take. Lyra however stalled for a moment as she stared up at the sky.

“I’m sorry Lyra, we just can’t afford to pay anymore overtime. If you haven’t noticed we’re kinda in a pickle here,” Lyra responded sarcastically as she waved her arms in the air. “No pony’s hiring right now either so procuring a second job has been difficult.”

Lowering her head at the news; Bon-Bon struggled to think of possible solutions. “We could always sell some of that junk in the basement?”

“Thats is out of the question!” Lyra sneered viciously at the thought, raising her head off of the arm rest and batting an eye.

“Lyra, we are in a crisis right now! We need the money otherwise we won’t have a home, and I refuse to sleep in some dark alley way in the middle of winter.”

“I would cut off my own horn before I sell off my prized human artifacts collection, and that is the end of that discussion.” Lyra snorted, returning her head to the armrest as she returned her gazed towards the bright blue sky.

“Lyra, please, we don’t have any-” a sudden bust of magic erupted from behind the bench, a bright flash of blinding light. Both ponies sprang up at the sound, turning to see what was going on behind them. A towering figure emerged from the magic mist and approched the two ponies on the bench.

“Is that arguing I hear? Why friends shouldn’t argue, friends should be out frolicking in the sun, having picnics or whatever it is you ponies do.”

“Who the hell are you?" Lyra gazed up at the imposing figure, trying to put a name to the face. "Wait a minute, aren’t you the one who messed up Ponyville that one time? Turned all the roads into soap?”

“I see you’re a fan of my handiwork.”

“Please don’t use the word hand; you’ll get her started on a topic that knows no end,” Bon-Bon commented to the stranger, glancing back over to Lyra.

“Ah yes, you are indeed correct. I am Discord. Embodiment of chaos and bringer of bouquets,” Discord replied, pulling a set of multi-colored flower bouquets out of thin air, handing one to each pony.

Lyra glossed over the flowers in confusion at the randomness of Discords sudden debut, “What are these for?” She asked holding up the bouquet with a confused look.

Discord frowned and stuck his chin up at Lyras’ question, “Well if you don’t want them then I’ll just give them to somepony else who will appreciate them then,” and with a snap of his claw the flowers vanished just as fast as they appeared.

Bon-Bon turned her focus towards Discord while Lyra got teary eyed and trembling lips after losing the bouquet. “What do you want Discord? Why are you bothering us?”

“Bothering you, well I am offended for sure now, and to think I was going to offer you a solution to your current… financial problems,” Discord replied as a grin crept across his face, glancing behind him at the two ponies on the bench.

Lyra immediately snapped back into focus at Discords reply. “Wait! What kind of solution?” Standing up and leaning forward on the back rest of the bench, Lyra eagerly awaited Discords explanation.

“Heist, my beloved minty green unicorn who has an interest in a particular creature that I may or may not have information on, though that’s not important right now; anyhoo back to the subject at han… hoof, That’s my solution to your current dilemma,”

“Wait, hold on? You want us to steal money? We’re not thieves!” Bon-Bon exclaimed as she too stood up on the bench to face Discord.

“Phff, don’t think of it as stealing, think of it as… The planning and overseeing of sensitive operations.”

“So your solution is for us to hold up a few market stalls?” Lyra chuckled at the idea. “Sorry but there’s no money to be made in crime.”

“Blah, what do you know. Anypony can hold up a market stall and make a few bits, what I’m talking about will earn you thousands in one take. More than whatever you’re probably making at your current boring, dead-end job,” Teleporting right beside Lyra, Discord lifted her up and held her under his arm. Bringing his head right beside hers; he scratched his claw under her chin, “Besides I can tell that you will be particularly successful at it, my little pony.”

“What makes you think that?” Lyra questioned as she pulled her head away from Discords claw.

“I have a nose for this sort of thing my dear,” Discord replied in a low, suggestive tone of voice. He dropped Lyra on the ground and pulled out a small wooden box, “I actually have a nose for all sorts of things. Wanna see?” He asks, opening the box. It was filled with an assortment of noses of all shapes and sizes. Lyra sat there staring into the box without a clue in the world.

“I appreciate the offer but I think I’ll pass,” Lyra replied as she picked herself off the ground and proceeded to brushing herself off.

“Oh boo… Well if you ever change your mind then simply use this,” Discord pulled out an oddly carved whistle which was decorated like himself. “This is the Whistle of Chaos, give it a blow and I’ll teach you everything you need to know about becoming financially independent. Except on Wednesdays at two o’clock, that’s me and Fluttershy’s picnic hour, she does make the best herbal tea. Anyways, tootles!”

Discord disappeared as the magic spell closed behind him. Lyra looked down at the whistle she now held in her hoof. Eyeing a nearby trash can she proceeded to throw it into the garbage, taking one last glance at it she lowered her hoof.

“Well he was sure annoying,” Bon-Bon commented as she approached Lyra, glancing back to see If Discord was still lingering around anywhere.

“You got that right.”

“Lyra, what are going to do, we need a real solution,”

Lyra glanced towards town as she tried to think of an answer. “I guess I’ll keep looking for a second job, it’s about all I can do right now.”

“Fired? How can I be fired?” asked a trembling pegasus sitting in an office room. Plaques and awards for best service lined the walls. In the center of it all was a large steel desk, spread out over the top of the desk were some personal files. A large bulky stallion with a five o’clock shadow on his chin struggled to get the words out of his throat.

“Looks, I’m really sorry Derpy, but the companys’ been have’n to let some of its’ workers go. We’z can’t afford to pay no more employees and still make a profit. It ain’t nothin personal or anything, we just needed to let some ponies go. Trust me; I didn’t want to see you go neither but to be fair we just threw some names into a hat and picked them that way. Yours was one that came up.”

Derpy sat in the cold metal folding chair, on the brink of tears and unable to utter a word. A nightmare that has been plaguing so many ponies was becoming a reality. Derpy took one final look at the post office she had served for so many years.

“Looks, if we start hiring again, I’ll let ya know as soon as possible. You were definitely one of our best mail mares, dats for sure. It’s a crying shame it’s come to this,” the large stallion replied as he closed the personal folder. “You take care of yourself, and don’t be afraid to ask us if you need anything.”

Outside the post office, Derpy sat there, lost in thought as reality started to sink in. She was without a job and with no way to pay rent or to buy food. Collapsing into tears, Derpy huddled up and sulked outside the office.

“Hey Derpy is that you? Hey you wouldn’t know if the post office is hiring…” Lyra yelled as she trotted up the street. As she drew closer she could tell something was immediately wrong. “Derpy what’s wrong? Is everything ok?”

Drying her eyes and wiping her muzzle, Derpy attempted to put on a smile as Lyra approached. “Oh, hello Lyra, what are you up to?” Derpy asked as she sniffled a bit while she wiped her eyes.

“Derpy what’s wrong? What happened to you?”

“Me? Oh nothing, it’s just…” Derpy hesitated for a moment, reliving the events that transpired. “I… lost my job.”

“What! No that can’t be, not to you!”

“Yeah, now I won’t be able to cover next months’ rent if I can’t get a new job in time. I won’t be able to afford to eat if I spend everything on rent. I… I just don’t know what happened? Where did it all go wrong? Just last week everything was fine and now…”

Lyra placed her hoof on Derpys shoulder, bringing her hysteria to a halt. She began to tear up as she looked up to Lyra, who was wearing a pleasant smile. “If you want, you can stay at my place, I don’t mind. And if we work together, I’m sure we can survive these hard times.”

“No no no, I can’t do that! I would be intruding and you already have too much to worry about besides me…”

“It’s ok Derpy, I said I don’t mind. It’s what friends are for,” Lyra grinned as Derpy stared at her in awe struck. Feeling a sense of hope, Derpy grinned right back as Lyra helped her off the ground. “Come on, I’ll show you the Place.”

“And here we are!” Lyra exclaimed with much enthusiasm. Derpy walked into the building slowly as she looked around.

“So do you live here by yourself?” Derpy asked as she trotted around, looking at layout of the room.

“Bon-Bon is my roommate; she pays for stuff like food while I take care of the utilities expenses. It’s a two bedroom, one bath upstairs. So we’ll have to find a place for you to sleep.”

“I can just sleep on the couch, it doesn’t really matter much to me. I’m just glad I’ll have a place to stay,” Derpy replied enthusiastically.

“As you can see, the living room and the kitchen are both down stairs and we have a fireplace so we don’t have to worry about the cold. Behind the pantry on the left is a door that leads to the basement. It has a few open ended rooms but I won’t make you stay down there.” Lyra smiled as she saw Derpy filled with joy and new hope. “Oh but there is one problem… this place is going to be foreclosed if we can’t pay the bill on time, so I need all the help I can get.”

“You can count on me! I’ll get a new job, A S A P!” Derpy exclaimed excitedly as she held her hoof in solute.

Lyra smiled at Derpys’ energetic cooperation and turned to open the door. “ Alright, let’s do this!”

“Sorry ya’ll. Apple season is just about over and I reckon we’re going to need to save every single bit we can.”

“Sorry darlings, with the way this dreadful economy is lately, I’ve been unable to sell my new summer line up. Ooh this really is a disaster. Come back again when things start to pick back up.”

“Sorry girls, it’s just a bad time to be in the flower business. I can barely afford the fertilizer to keep these things in top condition.”

“Are you kidding me?! With the way things have been going, we’re having to use twenty five percent less sugar in all our pastries. Twenty five percent less, can you believe that?! How can you make cupcakes with twenty five percent less sugar? TWENTY FIVE PERCENT! IT IS REDICULOUS!”

“Nope, no can do. Sorry, it’s just that no pony is buying sofas at this time… or quills for that matter.”

The door slammed as Derpy and Lyra returned into the house, exhausted from a day of job hunting. Lyra flopped down onto the couch while Derpy threw herself into a chair. “I never thought finding a job would be so difficult,” Lyra said as she let out a sigh, sprawled out on the couch.

“Oh, Lyra is that you? Home already… and is that Derpy with you?” Bon-Bon asked as she trotted down the stairs. Derpy waved as she sat up in the chair.

“Yeah, Derpy’s going to be staying with use for a while,” Lyra responded, “She’s out of a job and needs a place to stay.”

“Lyra, are you sure that’s a good idea, we’re not exactly in a position to be helping other ponies ourselves with this whole… crisis going on. No offense Derpy,” Bon-Bon replied as she made her way into the living room. “Why are you home this early anyway? I thought you were out job searching?”

“We were, and nopony seems to be hiring anywhere. We must have visited every place in town!” Lyra stared at the ceiling momentarily as she rested here mind. “If we can find Derpy a new job soon we can all collaborate all of our earnings to riding out this depression. It will be easier to pay the bills if we have three ponies working under one roof than just the two of us.”

Lyra sat up and rotated her head to help release the tension in her neck. After a few cracks she proceeded to massaging the center of her neck and shoulders with her hoof. Staring at the floor, she began to dwell on the immediate problem at hand. “It all won’t matter if we can’t get the one thousand bits by the end of the month.”

Lyra threw her hooves up in the air as she stretched out her arms and back. Bon-Bon and Derpy quickly glanced at each other before returning their attention to Lyra. “I’ll continue looking for a new job in the morning,” Derpy said as she hopped down out of the chair.

“And I’ll see if I can find any loose bits or valuables we can pawn off around here,” Bon-Bon replied with a smile.

“Well you won’t be seeing much of me then, I’ll be taking every available shift I can get my hooves on,” Lyra explained as she got up from the sofa. “Tomorrow’s going to be a long day for me, that’s for sure. But we will make it through this no matter what.”

“Yeah, No matter what!” Derpy exclaimed excitedly as she hopped down onto the floor.

“Agreed,” Bon-Bon replied with a smile, appreciative of what wonderful friends she has.

“All right everypony; gather around, I have some news for you.” Lyra stopped stocking shelves and looked over at her boss in the front of the store, all the other employees made their way over to hear what he had to say. “Listen up, due to recent events, we are having to make some cuts. So everypony is going to get a new copy of their schedule. We have had to cut hours drastically.”

There was a lot of commotion at this news, employees where panicking. Lyra stood there in shock at this info. Just how much time was cut she wondered. “This is outrageous! How can you just cut our hours like this!” one pony yelled out, a majority of other ponies agreed with this associate as they began to demand an explanation.

“Look, it was either cut hours or cut employees! We felt the best course of action was to cut the schedules. Yes you will be making a lot less but at least you still have your jobs.”

Her heart sunk into her stomach after hearing this. Lyra immediately ran to check her revised schedule. She stood there in shock. “No… theres no way I can make enough money with this many hours… I won’t even be able to make a quarter of the payment like this…”

“Look we’re all going through hard times, consider your selves lucky to still be employed. There are some out there who would kill to be in your position right now. That’s all, back to work, all of you.”

Entering the house, Lyra closed the door slowly behind her. She turned to see Derpy and Bon-Bon in the living room awaiting here arrival. “Please tell me you two have had more luck than me?”

Bon-Bon and Derpy glanced at each other, not sure who should go first. “I flew all over ponyville… there were no job positions available,” Derpy said as she lowered her head in failure.

“And it would seem that the pawn shop went out of business. I found some bits around here but it’s barely enough to buy one night’s dinner.” Bon-Bon noticed the anxiety in Lyra’s expression. “Lyra, what’s wrong, what happened?”

Lyra looked up at the two of them, struggling to break the news. “They changed up everyponies schedule so I’m not working as much anymore. For this month alone I’ll be working a total of sixty-four hours.”

Bon-Bon stumbled backwards in shock. “Lyra, that’s only eight full days of work, there’s no way we can survive on that kind of income! I mean I’m glad you still have a job but Lyra, what are we going to do about the house? We have a few weeks before that guy comes back to foreclose the place.”

Holding her hoof up to her mouth, Lyra glanced around the room, looking for anything that could give her an idea. She sat down on the cold wood floor for a moment, her gaze jumping around everywhere as she searched her mind over for ideas. Her eyes cut to Derpy who was just as worried. She too was in thought to how she could help.

Lyra let how a sigh as she stood back up and turned her focus to Derpy. “Derpy, you weren’t around when this happened. I may have a solution but I need to know if you’re willing to go through with this?”

“I’m willing to help out any way I can,” Derpy replied. Her eyes lighting up as she drew closer to hear what Lyra had to say.

“Yesterday morning before I ran into you, Bon-Bon and I met this guy named Discord…”

“NO! Lyra, that is out of the question!”

“Do we really have a choice Bon-Bon? Listen, we met this guy named Discord who you might have heard of. He offered us a way of making money, though his methods may not be entirely legal. He gave me a way to contact him should we decide to go with his idea; however doing so could result in us breaking the law. I’m willing to at least hear him out but I won’t drag you two into it. So I ask you, are you willing to at least see what he has to offer? Are you willing to hear him out?” Lyra gave both of them a serious stare, waiting to hear their responses.

“I’m in! You were nice enough to help me out, so I’m willing to help you out,” Derpy replied with a smile.

“This is a bad Idea…” Bon-Bon took in a deep breath and released a slow exhale. “But I’ll trust you this time Lyra. So I’m in as well.”

Lyra smiled pleasantly, her heart filled with joy to know her friends had her back. She levitated the Whistle of Chaos out of her saddle bag which rested in the corner of the room. “Alright, here goes nothing.”

Lyra pressed her lips against the stem of the whistle and blew as hard as she could into the instrument. The whistle let out an ear shattering roar of a jaguar, which led to some confused looks on the ponies faces. They sat there for a moment, waiting to see if anything would happen.

“Is that it? That was anti-climactic…”

A sudden flash of light appeared as the sound of thunder filled the room. As the ponies regained their sight they were met by the Lord of Chaos himself.

“Why hello ponies, what can I, Discord, do for you today?”

Taking a Score

“Well I must say you took your sweet time in calling me. I was beginning to wonder if you forgot about me.” Discord said as he stretched his back until it released a pop in is spine. “So who are you again exactly?”

Lyra leapt up in disbelief at Discord’s comment. “What do you mean? How can you forget who we are, you gave us the Whistle of Chaos after all!” Lyra exclaimed as she held the whistle up to Discord.

Discord glanced down at the whistle and looked it over. He the clutched his stomach and busted into laughter. “You think that thing means anything, I gave out like twenty of those things,” Discord chuckled as he whipped a tear from his eye. “You ponies truly are something else, let me tell you.”

Gritting her teeth, Lyra slammed her hoof into the floor, aloud clash echoed in the room. “So you’re telling me that your whole proposal was a LIE!”

Discord’s laughter began to subside as he glanced at Lyra’s irritated glare. He gave one last chuckle, “Oh alright, no need to lose your cool. I stand by what I said… what did I say to you again? Let me think for a sec… was it moonshining? Cock-fighting? No, that wasn’t it. Insurance fraud perhaps…”

Discord leaned down to get a closer look at Lyra. He then focused on the other two ponies in the room. Discord then smacked his paw into his claws as his memory returned. “Oh yes, silly me how could I forget. You’re the human obsessed unicorn and your incredibly boring friend!”

Bon-Bon frowned at Discords remark as he continued his thought. “Yes yes yes, I remember now. My star criminals, I proposed to you the wonderfully exhilarating art of heist. Oh I bet you have already concocted a most ingenious plan! Well don’t keep me waiting, I do want to hear your thoughts,” Discord exclaimed as he pulled out a director’s chair out of thin air which he then plopped down into with a bag of popcorn and sporting a pair of 3D glasses.

Lyra stared in confusion at Discord and his absurd magic and habits. “Wait what? I don’t have any plan, that’s why I called you! So you can help us create a plan!”

Discord pouted in his chair as he stared through the red and blue lenses of his glasses. “Look, you can’t expect me to hold your hand all the time you know. And yes that hand pun was for you. If you truly want to succeed then you will need to learn to walk on your own two feet… four feet.”

“Stop with the human puns already,” Bon-Bon said as she brought her hoof to her face, still in disbelief that they were even talking with Discord again in the first place.

Lyra put her front two hoofs on Discord’s legs as she pulled herself up to look him in the eye. “You said you would teach us, and I expect you to do just that!”

Discord let out a drawn out sigh, lowering his 3D glasses as he stared Lyra in the eyes. “Oh alright, I’ll teach you. You will still be doing all the planning though, after all this is your show.” Discord snapped his claws, instantly disappearing, chair and all as Lyra plummeted down to the floor. Discord reappeared in the middle of the room next to Derpy who was sitting down on a stool. Discord opened his mouth to speak only to pause and turned his attention to Derpy. He immediately knocked the little grey pegasus off the stool and sat down in her place.

“The first thing you will need is a target,” Discord said as a smirk ran across his face, snapping his claw.

Lyra, Bon-Bon, and Derpy rubbed their eyes after the blinding flash of light from Discords spell began to wear off. The three found themselves in the middle of a parking lot in front of a large convenient store. The skyline was not that of ponyville, but rather that of a large metropolis area. Sunlight gleamed off the large glass skyscrapers back in the horizon as the mid-day sun reached its peak.

“Where are we?” Bon-Bon asked as she glanced around at the unfamiliar landscape.

“Why we are at Mare-Mart, the perfect place for your first score!” Discord shouted. The three ponies glanced around to spot the source of the voice. Lyra looked upward and noticed Discord, hanging upside-down from a lamppost.

“I can see that, what city is this?” Lyra asks as she squinted her eyes, looking up at Discord all while the sun shined in her eyes.

“Eh… Fillydelphia if my memory serves me correctly,” Discord replied as he teleported down from the pole, looking around at the city while he scratched his head in confusion.

“Fillydelphia? You brought us all the way out to Fillydelphia to rob a store?!” Bon-Bon responded in disbelief as she glanced back and forth between Discord and the skyscrapers that dotted the horizon.

“Why so far away Mr. Discord,” Derpy asked curiously, “why not somewhere in Ponyville?”

“You don’t want to rob anypony who knows you, that’s one of the basic rules about being a good thief.”

Lyra kept quiet for a moment as she observed the store. Derpy and Bon-Bon glanced over at her; Discord crouched down beside her with a smile running across his face. “Do tell, what’s going on in that little pony brain of yours?”

Lyra looked over to Discord who was right beside her; she then turned to look at her friends. “We’re going to need a large take. Bon-Bon, Derpy, any ideas on how we can pull this off?”

“Wha… uh… we could bust open the front registers and grab what we need,” Bon-Bon suggested, still in shock that they were actually planning on going through with this.

“They might keep a safe in the back for all the stores profits. We could try cracking that,” Derpy said, expressing little confidence in her idea.

Lyra sat there thinking on both suggestions while Bon-Bon and Derpy waited on a response. “Well… if we hit each register individually then that would take too long and the police would be on use in minutes. As for the safe idea, I don’t think any of us can crack it without raising any alarms… we would need to get all the money at one time without the hassle of… THAT’S IT!” Lyra exclaimed, turning round to face her friends who looked on at her anxiously. “We hit them after hours when they are in the middle of transferring all the money from the registers to the safe!”

“How are we going to do that?” Bon-Bon asked curiously.

“I don’t know, but there has to be something we can do,” Lyra replied as she sat down, pondering the idea for a feasible plan.

“Well that’s all we need for now, back to your place then,” Discord replied with a smirk as he snapped his fingers.

Bon-Bon and the others quickly looked up at Discord in confusion. “Wait what... ” and with a snap of his claws they all vanished from the parking lot.

“You could at least warn us before you do that!” Bon-Bon shouted, not use to the effects of teleportation.

“HA! See, I knew you had a knack for this kind of thing!” Discord exclaimed, dancing around the room in joy. “Now you just need a planning room and you’ll be set!”

“Planning room? There is that vacant room in the basement we can use,” Lyra mentioned as she rubbed the side of her head.

“Oh a basement! I like the way you think my dear.”

The stairwell door creaked as the ponies opened it up and made their way into the cellar. The area was well kept and clean. Shelves and display cases lined the walls, filled with odd ends and bits. In the back corner of the basement, across from the vacant room entrance, sat a large steel cabinet with a massive lock on it.

“Oh, what’s in here?” Discord said as he used magic to pop the lock off. He reached in and starter rummaging through the contents inside. “OH, If Celestia knew you had this, she’d have you thrown in a dungeon immediately!”

“Hey! Get out of there! Those are rare human artifacts,” Lyra yelled as she rushed over to the cage, trying to pry whatever object Discord may have gotten his claws on.

“I must commend you for finding this. A fine example of human technology right here!” Discord replied as he swung the object loose from Lyra’s grip and pointed it down the room.

“Careful! According to my tomes, that’s called a shotgun and you DO NOT want to aim it at anypony!”

“Are you two done screwing around so we can get this whole ordeal out of our way?” Bon-Bon asked with a scowl as she opened the door to the vacant room.

Discord batted an eye-brow back at her while Lyra was hopping up and down trying to retrieve the gun from Discord. “Oh alright,” Discord pouted as he flung the weapon behind him back into its cage. There was a loud clash as the gun landed back in the cabinet, knocking everything else in there out of place. This left Lyra with a horrified look on her face.

“Yes, this will do nicely,” Discord proceeded to prep the room for planning. Snapping his claws, he placed a rectangular table and some chairs into the middle of the room. He then placed a large white board in the far right corner of the room. Lyra and Derpy entered the room as Discord was finishing up decorating. Including the tables and the white board, Discord also teleported one of Lyra’s bookshelves and a large vase in the back corner, mainly for aesthetic purposes. “Ladies, your new planning room.”

Lyra trotted up to the board, which already had a map of Fillydelphia and a basic layout of the store taped onto it. Bon-Bon, Derpy, and Discord took a seat at the table. “So Lyra, you’re in charge, what’s the plan?” Bon-Bon asked.

Lyra glanced over the layout once more before turning to face her friends. “Ok, I see two ways we can do this. Either way we’re going to have to intercept the money as it’s on its way to the safe,” Lyra glanced between Bon-Bon and Derpy momentarily.

“Option A, We go in aggressively. We hold the employees up at weapon point, demand the money. At that point we tie them up and secure the cash and make a break for it. It won’t be long before they call for help but we should have enough time to make our escape.”

Lyra gave a quick look to see if everyone was following along. “Option B, similar to option A yet instead of holding them up with weapons, we knock them out with an anesthetic. Once they are out cold we can then sneak the money out without drawn as much attention to ourselves.”

Lyra gave a short sigh as she took a moment to let it all sink in. “Regardless of which strategy we go with our escape is pretty much the same. When we exit the building we will make our way to a nearby storm drain located here,” Lyra explained as she pointed to the city map. “Once in the drain we will make our way through the canal out into the woods to the west. We destroy all the gear and make our way back to Ponyville before the break of dawn.”

Derpy and Bon-Bon glanced at each other before returning their focus to Lyra. “I really think we should do this without any violence,” Bon-Bon said while Derpy nodded in agreement. Lyra nudged her head, agreeing with their decision as well.

“In that case, we’ll need a fast acting sedative such as chloroform. We can’t risk buying it, so we’ll have to steal some instead. We can probably get some from the dentist office. We will also need some disguises to conceal our identities. Again we can’t risk buying them so we will have to source the clothes from somewhere else.”

“So what are we going to do then?” Derpy asked as she raised her hoof as if she were in a classroom. Lyra paused for a moment as she gave it some thought.

“Bon-Bon and I will get the chloroform from the dentist office, you will head to the Fillydelphia store and gather info on the stores routine. Find out where their last register stop is and how long it takes them to get the money into the back room. Also keep an eye out for anything else important such as security, possible store exits and what not.”

“What about me?” Discord asked as he raised his paw up, imitating Derpy.

“I didn’t know you were going to help out.”

“Oh I wasn’t. I just wanted to make sure you knew that,” Discord responded sarcastically as he leaned back in his chair.

Lyra gave Discord a short glare in response to his comment, she then returned her gaze back to Bon-Bon and Derpy. “Alright, that’s the plan. Rest up today because tomorrow we start our prep work.”

“Lyra… Lyra are you awake?... Lyra?... LYRA!”

Opening up her tired eyes, Lyra rolled over in her bed to get a look the culprit who dared to wake her. Bon-Bon stood by a window as she drew back the curtains to let the light rain in. Still groggy, Lyra pulled the covers over her head as she hid from the rays of the sun.

“Bon-Bon, what are you doing? I’m trying to sleep.”

Grasping the corner of the comforter with her teeth, Bon-Bon yanked the covers off the bed. Lyra sprang forward, her eyes half open and bloodshot. “What are you doing in my room? Quit messing up my bed!”

“Pfhh, please, your bed is always a mess. You never make it up, unlike me; I always make my bed up in the morning. It’s part of being a clean, responsible pony; something you could learn from.” Bon-Bon replied in a snooty matter. “Now hurry up and get ready, we going to be late!”

“Late? Late for what?” asked Lyra, slowly rubbing her eyes as she fought off the urge to pull the blankets back and return her head to the pillow.

“Duh, hello, your dental appointment, remember?”

Lyra sat there propped up in her bed as she continued to rub her eyes. “What dental appointment?”

There was a loud, sudden smack as Bon-Bon’s fore hoof impacted Lyra’s muzzle, her teeth clashing as her body fell backwards onto the floor. “That dental appointment!” Bon-Bon replied in a dead serious tone.

“AHHH! FUUUUUUU…”

“So you tripped and hit your mouth on a chair?” asked a curious blue unicorn as she washed her hooves and proceeded to put on a surgical mask.

Lyra nodded slowly as she held an ice pack to her jaw, scowling at Bon-Bon the whole time. The two sat in the waiting room as the blue pony examined the dental tools. The room was nice and clean, award plaques and framed newspaper articles lined the waiting room. ‘Ponyville gets new dental coverage!’, ‘Minuette Colgate brings much need service to small town’,’Ponyville Dental office declared as one of the finest in Equestria’. Behind the front counter was the main operating area. Its walls where covered with oral health care and tips posters as well as some expensive looking X-ray monitors. There was a large hallway in the back right side of the room.

“So how did you fall over in the first place? I bet it must have been quite the ordeal,” the unicorn asked as she chuckled in a polite manner, motioning Lyra over to the work bench.

“Yeah, she was fixing some cereal and wasn’t paying attention when she slipped and fell. Slammed her face right into the chair,” Bon-Bon commented, mean while trying to ignore Lyra’s intimidating stare.

“Well you’re not the first pony to smash their face into some furniture. Let’s just hope you didn’t chip a tooth or anything,” the dentist replied as she began to examine Lyra’s mouth. A cold, piercing gaze turned to Bon-Bon after hearing those words.

“Hey, Minuette, can you excuse me for a moment? I need to go to the little filly’s room.” Bon-Bon asked, seizing her opportunity to collect the chemicals.

“Sure, the bathroom is down the hall, third door on the right.”

“Thank you,” Bon-Bon replied with a smile, trotting over to the hallway in the back. Passing by the first door which was nothing more than a janitor’s closet, she made her way to the two doors in the middle or the hallway. The one on the left was open; taking a peek inside, Bon-Bon saw that it was a large office. A nice mahogany desk sat in the middle of the room with a comfy looking office chair stationed behind it. There was a door farther back in the office, but it wasn’t clear as to where it led. Bon-Bon glanced over at the second hallway door on her right. It was labeled as storage.

Quietly as she could, Bon-Bon opened up the storage room door and toke a step inside. The shelves where filled with dental equipment, brushes, toothpaste, mask, yet not sign of chloroform or any other suitable sedative. Shutting the door, Bon-Bon quickly glanced back down the hallway, her heart racing as she fought for control of her nerves. The only other door was the bathroom at the end of the hall. Taking one last look to make sure nopony was coming, Bon-Bon slipped into Minuette’s office. The Desk was large and impressive, documents and folders where spread out across the surface. There were some filing cabinets in the back left corner behind the desk, however none of them seemed suited to storing any kind of chemical.

Bon-Bon approached the door in the back of the office. Her heart racing, skipping a beat to every little sound she heard. With one last glance behind her, Bon-Bon proceeded to opening the door. Inside were a large wall safe and a medicine cabinet filled with brown glass bottles. As quickly as she could, Bon-Bon skimmed through the different labels.

“Penicillin… Morphine… ah ha, Chloroform!” Bon-Bon whispered to herself upon finding the right bottle. As she grabbed the handle to open the case, Bon-Bon suddenly found herself in a situation. Realizing the cabinet was locked, Bon-Bon heart sank into her stomach. Immediately she peeked out the door. With no one around she quickly made her way to the desk, searching the draws for a key. She rummaged through each draw one by one, combing through rows of paperwork. Pulling out the top middle draw, Bon-Bon noticed something. Sitting in the middle of some folders was a bronze key. Bon-Bon swiped the key up and returned to the closet. Sticking the key into the slot, she heard a click as the cabinet door swung loose. Not wasting a moment, Bon-Bon grabbed the bottle of Chloroform and stuffed it in her mane.

Locking the cabinet back, she turned to face the door. As she cracked it open, hoof steps could be heard as somepony entered the room. “I’ll be one moment, I just need to grab your files so I can check your previous visits,” Minuette shouted as she entered the office. Bon-Bon dropped her head down as she backed away from the crack in the door, her heart beat echoed in her ears as it began to beat faster and faster. The sound of metal could be heard as Minuette opened one of the filing cabinets and searched through the folders. “H… Heartstrings… ah, here we go!” The cabinet draw rattled as it rolled back into place. Minuette, now with the files she needed, trotted out of the room. Taking a moment to catch her breath, Bon-Bon checked to make sure the coast was clear. Shutting the door and returning the key to its rightful place, Bon-Bon exited the office.

“Sorry it took me so long. What did I miss, is everything ok?” Bon-Bon inquired as she trotted back into the main room.

Colgate turned to face Bon-Bon, removing the mask as she levitated the folder filled with Lyra’s dental history. “Well I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that there was no real damage done to her teeth. The bad news is that Miss Heartstrings hasn’t been flossing as much as she needs to, and by that I mean it looks like she hasn’t flossed once since her last appointment. Other than that, all is good. Just watch your step next time and floss regularly and everything will be fine,” Minuette explained with a smile as she folded up the files and laid them down on a near by counter.

“Do come again!” Minuette said as she waved from the front door of the office. Lyra and Bon-Bon waved back as they made their way down the street. After Minuette returned inside, Bon-Bon gave Lyra a grin as she pulled the little brown bottle out from here mane.

“Here it is, chloroform, just like you asked.”

Lyra levitated the bottle closer to get a better look. Bon-Bon was cantering right beside her, her head held high from success of her first mission. “That wasn’t too bad I guess. Overall I’d say we did a pretty good job back there, me retrieving the stuff while you played distraction, it was perfect. Plus I know that you’re still mad about me hitting you and all but in the end it paid off. Besides you needed a visit to the dentist anyway, with your lazy habits and all, it’s no wonder why…” Suddenly Lyra smacked Bon-Bon upside the head, causing her to fall face forward right into the ground. “OWWW! LYRA! WHAT THE FUC…”

“Ahahaha! What in the world happen to you two?” Discord asked laughingly as he pointed towards Lyra and Bon-Bon. Both mares held ice packs against their faces, glaring each other in the eye. The three sat in the planning room, securing the chloroform until it was ready for the heist.

“Swo nwow awl we nweed to dro iz wait un Dwerpy?” Lyra mumbled as she pressed the ice pack to her face.

Bon-Bon raised an eyebrow after hearing Lyra’s jumbled question “What?”

Removing the ice pack from her mouth, Lyra repeated herself. “So now all we need to do is wait on Derpy?”

“So do tell? What intriguing circumstances unfolded that requires you two in the need of ice packs?” Discord inquired with a grin. He sat there with a bag of popcorn as he waited to hear the details. Lyra and Bon-Bon locked eyes for a moment.

“Bon-Bon punched me in the face and I knocked her to the ground.”

Bon-Bon chuckled with a smirk, “Oh I didn’t punch you, I bitch slapped you good.”

“Yeah and you dropped like a brick, face first and plot last.”

“You were just grudgeful, I hit you first so we had an excuse to go to the dentist!”

The two bickered on as Discord laughed the whole time. Moments later Derpy came trotting down the stairs with a saddlebag full of clothes. Entering the planning room, her cheerful smile vanished upon seeing Lyra and Bon-Bon arguing. “Did I miss something?” Derpy asked curiously as everyone else shifted their attention to her.

“Oh Derpy, no it’s nothing. So you have the disguises?” Lyra asked; springing back up with excitement and eagerness to get the plan moving forward.

Derpy wearing a grin tossed the saddlebag onto the table. Lyra and Bon-Bon immediately started rummaging through the clothes. Upon pulling out the outfits, Lyra’s excitement turned to confusion at the sight of it. Bon-Bon just cringed at the idea of wearing it.

“Derpy, where did you get these from?” Lyra questioned as she unfolded the outfit even more.

Putting her hooves on her hips and holding her head up high, “I got them from the attic in my house!” Derpy replied with a smirk.

"I'm not even going to question why you have outfits like these."

“Ehh, I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing something like this,” Bon-Bon commented as she stuffed her disguise back into the bag.

“Good, if everything goes according to plan, nopony will even know it was you in that getup.” Lyra examined her disguise a bit more. “All though, that style does seem to fit you.”

“Haha, very funny.”

“Alright, so now we just need to scope out the place to get an idea of when to stike,” Lyra said turning her focus to Derpy.

Derpy just smiled, “Already ahead of you, I took care of that last night. They start collecting at 11:00 and end with the register by the camping gear in the back. There’s also a fire exit in that department as well.”

“Wow, great work Derpy, I’m impressed,” Lyra applauded.

“Ponies always think I’m dump or stupid because of my eyes or because I’m a bit clumsiness sometimes. But after they hear how I helped pull of a super awesome store heist, they’ll think twice!”

“Uh Derpy, that’s not something you should go telling ponies,” Bon-Bon commented in disbelief.

Lyra turned to face the planning board, letting it all sink in. “Ok everypony, that’s it. Tomorrow, after I get off work, we leave for Fillydelphia. If you want out, now’s the time!”

Bon-Bon and Derpy glanced at each other for a brief moment, Discord sat in the back grinning. “We came this far. We’re with you Lyra,” Bon-Bon replied with a faithful smile.

“Like I said, you helped me out, time for me to return the favor!” Derpy hoof pumped in excitement.

As rush of warmth and comfort washed over Lyra, knowing she could count on her friends to stand by her side during these hard times. Even though what they were about to do would be seen as a heinous crime. Even though they are risking arrest, they were willing to stick with her. “Alright then, tomorrow night, we take our first score!”

The Mare-Mart Heist

It was 5:30 pm in the afternoon and Lyra was just clocking out of work. Her mind had been restless all day, and now that the time was approaching, her heart began to beat faster. Chills ran down her spine with each step she took closer to home. The sky over Ponyville was starting to blend from turquoise to pink to orange. Upon reaching her house, Lyra hesitated for a brief moment. There was no going back. She opened the door and went inside.

The door to the planning room opened as Lyra entered. Bon-Bon, Derpy, and Discord where waiting on her arrival as they where gathered around the table. Dropping her saddlebag by the door entrance, Lyra proceeded to the board to prep the gang. Laid out across the table where the disguises, bandanas, and the chloroform; all set and ready to go. Spread out across the white board was the map of Fillydelphia, which took up half the area, a crudely sketched layout of the store towards the top left corner and a checklist of things to get and do just below that.

“Alright girls, this is it. Let’s go over the plan one more time.” Derpy and Bon-Bon nodded with serious expressions, showing that they were listening. “We will leave for Fillydelphia shortly. As we draw close to the city limits, we will put on our disguises. Once we arrive, we'll need to enter in at separate times as to not draw attention to ourselves. As it gets close to 11:00, we will make our way towards the camping and outdoors section of the store. I will be near the counter. Bon-Bon, you will be down the aisle right across the register. Derpy will be on look out by the corner of the main aisle. You and me will quickly subdue the employees with the chloroform doused rags. Once they’re out, we will load the cash into a duffle bag; we’ll just use one from the store. Once that’s done, we make our escape.”

Lyra moved to the city map and pointed towards a big red circle that was drawn on it. “We will exit through the fire escape and make our way to this drainage canal right here by the store. Using the large culverts we can easily move under the streets undetected. The drains will lead out to this pond right here. Once outside of the city, we destroy all the evidence and make our way back to ponyville. We pull this off and we save our home!”

Bon-Bon gulped as reality started to sink in for her. Derpy on the other hand was primed and ready to go. The three packed their stuff and prepared to set out. Discord, appearing at the top of the stairs, opened the basement door to let the ponies out. “Why I do wish you the best of luck my little criminals. Go and make daddy Discord proud!”

“Daddy Discord?” Lyra asked in confusion, stopping half way up the stairs as she comprehended what she just heard.

“Ah you know what I mean, be on your way, you got a store to rob!” Discord exclaimed, teleporting behind her and kicking her up the stairs and out the door.

“You touch me and I’ll break your leg!” Bon-Bon growled as she made her way up the stairs, glaring aggressively towards Discord. He just threw his paws up in the air and back away with a smirk.

Derpy hovered behind with a smile. “Good-bye daddy Discord, we won’t let you down!” Derpy exclaimed happily. She flew up to Discord and gave him a warming embrace. Shocked by this, Discord stood there in awe, unsure as to what was going on. Derpy released Discord and darted out of the basement as the door closed behind her.

Discord stood there for a moment, mesmerized by what just happen. He chuckled, “Wow… I never had a daughter before…”

Several hours passed as the team made their way to Fillydelphia. The city lights where becoming visible through the thick tree line. Tall skyscrapers illuminated the night sky as a crescent moon hung above. The wind rustled through the forest as Lyra brought the party to a halt.

“Alright, we’re close enough. Let’s get changed into our outfits before we get any closer to the city.” Lyra dropped her saddlebag and motioned the others to do the same.

“Uh, I really don’t want to wear something like this,” Bon-Bon groaned as she trotted off to the side of the road.

Derpy batted an eyebrow, insulted by Bon-Bon’s comment. “Hey, what do you have against gothic lolita?”

“Yeah Bon-Bon, it’s not all that bad. I’m actually starting to like this look,” Lyra inputted sarcastically as she changed into the black laced dress.

“But mine looks like some sort of maid dress…”

“Bon-Bon, that is a maids dress,” Lyra chuckled. “Look, it covers up our cutie marks and these hats hide our manes. That’s the important thing; no pony will be able to identify us with these on.”

“I honestly don’t see what the big deal is. Ponies wear outfits like these all the time at conventions and such… or if you're emo then you might wear this as well.” Derpy commented as she pulled the stockings up her hind leg. Derpy finished first in putting on her dress. Lyra and Bon-Bon took a bit long but eventually got in disguise.

Lyra’s disguise consisted of a large frilly dress with a black veil. She wore a black wig that was proved with the outfit to cover her mane. Derpy’s outfit resembled a black ballerina style skirt. The sleeves and leggings where striped with black and white alternating. She too wore a black wig with a small top hat nestled to the side. Bon-Bon sported a maid dress with long black stockings. The look was completed with a blonde wig and a ruffled maid headpiece.

Their sights set on each other, Lyra and Derpy busted into laughter. Bon-Bon however, refused to partake in their humor. Wiping her eye, Lyra brought herself back on track. “Ok, remember that we need to enter at separate times. We don’t want to draw attention as a group.”

“How are we not going to draw attention? Just look at us,” Bon-Bon stated, questioning the absurdity of their getups.

“Well like Derpy said, we’ll just pretend we’re cosplaying for some convention. Once all of us are inside, we need to stay close. When they start emptying the registers, we’ll make our way to the camping supplies and prepare the chloroform. Alright then, best of luck to all of us.”

The three made their way into the store, entering within ten minutes of each other. With thirty more minutes left till eleven, the girls bided their time, browsing through the store. While some ponies gave them a strange look or two, Lyra and the others were mostly ignored. Being a big city meant that cosplay and other oddities was more or less a common sight from time to time.

“Hey, that’s a nice maid outfit you got there. You cosplay a lot?” asked a strange stallion, glancing over Bon-Bon’s dress.

Her heart began to pick up pace, unprepared to deal with somepony questioning her like this. Bon-Bon knew that if she didn’t play along, their cover would be blown. “Why yes, I never say no to a good cosplay opportunity.”

“You pull of a good Sakura Hauriri cosplay. Yeah ‘Sakura no meido-tastic ga boken’ is one of my favorite ecchi comedies, though you should really watch ‘Pegasasu koko pajamapati’. I find it to be one the better story driven anime of that genre, though it is a bit heavy on the fan service at times. So what other shows are you in to?” The strange stallion asked a completely clueless Bon-Bon.

Bon-Bon hesitated for a moment, unable to think of a response. She looks around for anything that could get her out of this corner. She noticed Lyra down the aisle, “Yeah uh, I like the one with the humans in it. I know, I’m weird like that and you probably don’t want to hear about it.” Bon-Bon tried to escape yet her worst fear was met.

“Well there are quite a few with humans in them, I personally like ‘Grolthor: The Grand Wizard of Frenz’. It’s one of my all-time favorites. Have you seen it? Its fantastic fantasy adventure about a human wizard named Grolthor who can turn into a dragon and…” Before the stallion could continue, Bon-Bon held her hoof up to stop his rambling.

“Yes well, that definitely sound like one worth watching… I have somepony I have to meet up with. So I bid you farewell,” Bon-Bon replied, unable to take much more of his conversation. She quickly trotted off towards Lyra as the stallion stood there in confusion.

Lyra was combing through some magazines while Derpy was within earshot away. Bon-Bon let out a sigh as she approached Lyra. “I swear I can’t take much more of this!”

“What’s wrong?” Lyra asked worryingly about her friend’s issue.

“Some strange stallion just came up and started talk all sorts of nonsense!” Bon-Bon took a few short breaths as she vented her anxiety.

“What kind of nonsense?”

“I don’t know! Something about Sakura Hauriri and pegasasu koko... something…”

“Pegasasu koko Pajamapati?” Derpy question intriguingly. “I love that show, so funny!”

Derpy sat there with a grin on her face, Bon-Bon just glared at her angrily.

“Ok, let’s just stay calm, no need to get worked up over a show. Besides if you're going to watch anything, it should be 'Grolthor: The Wizard that Time Forgot', its the best one in the series," Lyra commented with a smug look on her face, her grin growing as Bon-Bon grew more frustrated.

"Why did I even bother bringing this up with you two," Bon-Bon sighed, "Look, if anymore weirdos show up then you're going to deal with them, understood!"

"Don't worry, it shouldn't be much longer now. We'll be out of here soon. Just keep calm until it that time, ok," Lyra assured with a smile.

Twenty minutes later and the store began to shut down. There were few employees and even fewer customers. Lyra, Bon-Bon, and Derpy made their way to the ambush point in the back of the store, waiting in the aisle across from the register. The ponies covered their faces with black laced bandanas. Lyra levitated the brown glass bottle and began to drench the chloroform onto a pair of wash rags. The cloth grew dark as it soaked up the chloroform. Lyra held her head back while she did this.

“Be very careful, this stuff is highly dangerous. Hold it to their muzzles long enough for them to stop struggling, any longer and we put their health at risk. We don’t want to hurt them.” Lyra slowly levitated a rag to Bon-Bon. “We have to take them out at the exact same time. If one of them screams; its game over for us.”
Lyra motioned to Derpy, “Take this; the moment they’re knocked out, bring us this duffle bag so we can start moving the money.” Derpy nodded as she took hold of the bag. “Ok girls, I don’t need to remind you what happens if we fail.”

“We know, Lyra, we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t.”

“Ok then, positions everypony!” Lyra cantered across the aisle, pretending to browse the wares, making sure not to reveal her mask. Derpy snuck around to her spot in the tool aisle and did the same. Bon-Bon followed suit. It wasn’t long until the collection crew made their way to the last register.

Lyra glanced up, waiting for the two mares to open the cash draw and begin adding the money to the collection box. She nodded to Bon-Bon who waited across the aisle. Using her unicorn magic, Lyra teleported behind the first mare and muffled her with the cloth. At the same time, Bon-Bon galloped across the aisle and grasped the second mare off gaurd, covering her face with the rag. Within a minute, the two mares ceased all struggling and collapsed to the floor.

That was Derpy’s cue. Dashing across the aisle to the counter, Derpy handed over the duffle bag to Bon-Bon. Without wasting a second, Lyra and Bon-Bon began scooping the money out of the cash box into the bag. Their hearts beating faster than ever, blood and adrenaline rushing through their veins. With each toss, bits and bills began to fill the brown duffle bag, increasing their payout.

“This is really happening!”

“No time to talk, focus on filling the bag!”

As Lyra and Bon-Bon rushed to empty the cash box, a customer came strolling out of a center aisle. It took her a moment but she soon took noticed as to what was happening. Lyra and Bon-Bon froze in fear.

“Quick, TAKE HER OUT!” Lyra ordered shifting her focus to Derpy.

Derpy snatched up one of the chloroform cloths and hurled it at the unsuspecting mare. She let out a scream as the rag landed on her face. Panicking, she tried to flee only to run into and trip on her basket. Derpy rushed over and subdued her, muffling her mouth until the drug started to kick in. She retrieved the rag darted back towards Lyra and Bon-Bon.

“Somepony’s bound to have heard that! Derpy, help Bon-Bon get the rest of the money in the bag!” Lyra immediately ran off towards the tool section.

“Lyra, where are you going?!” Bon-Bon shouted but quickly refocused on getting the last of the money.

Lyra scanned the tool aisle and rushed to grab a large wood splitting axe. As Derpy and Bon-Bon finished transferring the last of the bits, Lyra motioned them to the fire exit. Using all of her strength, Lyra swung the large axe right at a tube that ran up the side of the wall and into the alarm. There was a loud clink as the axe cut through the metal pipe. Sparing not even a second, Lyra yanked the axe loose and slammed the door open. To her relief, the fire alarm did not sound.

The three rushed to the edge of the driveway where a tall chain link fence stood between them and the canal. Lyra swung the axe overhead and brought it crashing down. The metal links rattled as the axe sliced a large gap in the fence. Pushing through, Lyra used the head of the axe to hook and pull open a large enough gap for Derpy and Bon-Bon to enter. Derpy hopped through the hole while Bon-Bon slid down the sides of the canal. She stumbled into the water but was quick to get back on her hooves. With the duffle bag slung over Bon-Bon’s back, the three ran into the large, dark culvert. Water splashed under their hooves as they galloped though the drain. City lights flashed as they exited one culvert out into the open and straight into another.

As they made their way several blocks down, the sound of police sirens echoed from the city, headed in the direction of the Mare-Mart. “Let’s keep moving. It won’t be long until they realize where we went,” Lyra shouted, picking up speed as they neared the city limits. “We’re almost there!” A light grew at the end of the tunnel where the storm drain emptied out into the lake. The moment of truth, Lyra’s mind was running rampant. Would they make it or would there be a squad of cops awaiting their arrival? The darkness vanished as they leapt from the storm drain, their hooves sliding in the water as the came to a hault.

The sound of frogs and crickets sang as the moon light reflected off the surface of the pond. The sirens were distant, still far back in the city. The ponies were panting, their dresses soaked from running through the canal. Lyra fought to catch her breath. “Cu… Come on! We need to leave here before the police track us here.” Fighting off their exhaustion, Lyra, Derpy, and Bon-Bon pushed forward, trekking through the shallows until they reached the woods.

Deep into the forest, the ponies entered a small clearing to stop and take a breather. The three collapsed to the ground, the leaves cushioning their fall. Lyra started to undress herself while Derpy and Bon-Bon laid flat on the ground, breathless and tired. “We need to… we need to get out of these clothes…” Lyra said as she fell backwards after pulling off the last stocking. Moments later both Derpy and Bon-Bon removed their clothes as well. Tossing the clothing into a pile, Lyra uncorked the bottle of chloroform and poured the remaining liquid onto the dresses.

“I’m sorry about this Derpy, but we can’t leave any evidence,” Lyra apologized as she threw the bottle into the pile.

“I… understand… I’ll just… buy new ones,” Derpy replied, still out of breath as she fell back onto the leaves.

With a spark of her magic, Lyra set the evidence ablaze. The flames crackled as the dresses were engulfed by the fire. Lyra stoked the flames with a stick until the dresses where nothing but ashes. With the evidence destroyed and the fire extinguished, Lyra, Bon-Bon, and Derpy made their way back to Ponyville.

It was early in the morning, the moon was past its peak and all of Ponyville was dead quiet. Lyra scanned the streets, dark circles under her eyes as she fought to make it back home. Battling fatigue and and sleep, the three snuck through town and made their way back to their house. Once inside, Lyra motioned them to the basement door. Not even bothering to turn on the lights, the three crept down into cellar. Being below ground and with no windows to alert the neighbors, Lyra turned on the basement lights and entered the planning room.

Bon-Bon, dead tired from carrying the duffle bag all the way back to Ponyville, tossed it up onto the table. The table rattled with a loud thud as Bon-Bon let out a winded sigh. The ponies gathered around as Lyra unzipped the bag. Their eyes lit up at what they saw. Lyra began to chuckle maniacally.

“Did… did we just pull that off? Did we just get away with that?!” Bon-Bon questioned in disbelief.

Lyra drew her laughter to a close. She lifted her head, the dark circles under her eyes contrasted against her bright amber irises as a grin ran across her face.

“Yes... yes we did!”

Author's Note

Heist Payout: 12,730 Bits

Bank Payment: 1,113 Bits
Lyra's Cut: 40%: 4,647 Bits
Bon-Bon's Cut: 25%: 2,904 Bits
Derpy's Cut: 25%: 2,904 Bits
Discords's Cut: 10%: 1,162 Bits