Colts will be Thieves

The sun was at its peak through the blue skies as it shined over the colorful buildings of Los Pegasus, from small diners to vibrant marketplaces to towering office structures. Speck, Scept and Cerebrate were at a muffin shop while they waited for Cise.

“So have you guys heard of E.Y.E.S?”, Cerebrate asked.

Speck was too busy eating his blueberry muffin, Scept answered, “Eyes?”

“Yeah, but it stands for Educating Your Experimental Sense.”

“Ah, okay. I’ve think I’ve only heard of them mentioned once some time ago, though. Tell me who they are?”

“They’re this sort of alternative hip-hop and rap, if that’s what I can call them, music group from Fillydelphia, my hometown, thank Celestia for that. I just started listening to them a few days ago, and wow, their music blows me away. When I hear them, I just completely forget music from other ponies like DJ-PON3. In fact, fuck her, I’ve hated her music anyways.”

Speck broke from his trance into the muffin, “Whoa, yeah. I listen to them too.”

“What do they usually rap about, anyways?”

“Well, that’s something that can’t be answered so easily.” Speck said. “Let me ask a question for you, first. What does Half Note sing about?”

“Uhhh... I’d say she usually sings about urban lifestyle in Equestria?”

“Yeah, Eyes also writes down raps about something like that, they would write about things from simply starting the day, to growing up, but they express it so metaphorically, it’s so damn good and unique. Along with that, they also talk about issues not many other musicians would try to talk about. Not to mention the great music they produce themselves.”

“Like what ‘issues’?”

“There’s this song they have, that’s talks about how most ponies need to realize that we need to take a break from the fast-paced life we have and just think about it. And another one, that’s about how an naturally free, Equestrian-born pony, would end up being a sort of slave of the vices of society, which is crazy because we don’t even think about it that much unless we actually look into it.”

“Huh, I don’t think I’ve heard about the first one before.” Cerebrate answered interested.

“What’s it called?”

“Oh, it’s called ‘Paradise’. It’s one of my favorites from them, and come on, you should actually listen to them sometime.”

“I think I’ll go do that. And hey, I kind of liked DJ-PON3’s music.”

Speck and Cerebrate gaudily laughed in his face for his ludicrous remark.

“Hey, she can be pretty creative with what she makes... even if it can, well, sound shitty.” Scept defended.

“Please,” Cerebrate snickered, “I can shit on a bagpipe, and it would ALMOST be the equivalent of what she makes.” Him and Speck then proceeded to cackle louder. Scept at first scowled at the insult, then gave in chuckling.

As if on cue, Cise walked up to their table, with a huge grin on his face.

“Gentlecolts.” he greeted as he took a seat, “Sorry if you had to wait a while longer.”

“Alright, what’s this about?” Scept asked. “All you told me this morning was to wait here at this muffin shop with these two, only telling me that ‘we have this thing we can do tonight’.”

“Okay. Okay. I have this friend who has other friends. And she told me about this box of gems, and I’m talking about rubies, sapphires, garnets, just any kind you can think of. And this box that was just sent to a deposit box in the Bank of Los Pegasus, waiting to be sent sometime this week.”

“Why would something like gems be in a deposit box?” Cerebrate asked, “Shouldn’t it be in that huge vault thing they have?”

“She tells me it apparently belongs to some form of royalty or whatever from Canterlot. And there would definitely be other ponies trying to rob the place on some high-level scale, so I guess they would put it there hiding where they would least expect it.”

“How would she know it’s in a deposit box?”

“Like I said, other friends. Hey, I don’t know everything. Anyways, there will be a ‘night shift guard’, who will be waiting for us, and he’ll give us the key to this said box. Tonight, around midnight, we grab the package, then we walk out to sell it to her next week. Nothing Daring Do-like.”

“That really doesn’t make sense, though.”, Scept remarked, “Why can’t she go there if the guard is waiting for whoever in the first place. In fact, why would all four of us even need to be there?”

“Well, this is one thing I should’ve mentioned... she, or mostly anyone else she knows, can’t go there because other guards there would have her arrested.”

“And why is that?”

“Because she’s part of the Laserteeth Crime Family.”

Scept gaped at Cise in astonishment.

“We’re working for them?! Cise, do you realize what could happen if we manage to ever so slightly fuck up on this? Even though it sounds like a picnic?”

“Okay, just, just hear me out on this. I’m on good terms with her, so if we were to make a mistake, she would let it go. After all, this isn’t something that has been planned for more than a few months, this is something that only came up a couple days ago, and the opportunity is right there, so it’s more like ‘Nothing to lose, but everything to gain.’”

“Now that I see it that way, I’d be up to it.” Speck said, feeling more content now, “How exactly will the four of us be involved, anyhow?”

“Cerebrate will glide above the bank for a while, being as a scout to watch for other possible thieves. Speck and I will go inside to pick up the package, and Scept will be the one driving, of course.”

“Because my horn works.” Scept coughed out. “So after this thing is over, how much will we get paid?”

Cise began grinning again, “Uhh... I’d say about a half million bits.”

The sounds of three jaws smashing the table echoed throughout the blocks of Los Pegasus.

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Moonlight shined over the sleepy streets of the city as Scept’s car pulled up in front of the Bank of Los Pegasus. Sitting in the front passenger seat, Cise turned back and gave a nod to Cerebrate to fly up to the top of the bank#.

“What kind of guards are there?”, Speck asked.

“Only Earth ponies,” Cise replied, “You’d think they’d at least hire guards that were unicorns and pegasi, though.” He turned to Scept. “And you better stay here.”

“Really, how long are you going to assume I’m going to stray off to a strip club or some shit everytime I’m by myself? That was just one time.”

“Whatever.”, Cise and Speck then walked up the steps to the entrance of the bank.

As expected, the only ponies inside were a group of 6 security guards minding their job, some in one spot conversing while the rest roamed around. The two walked up to a uniform, reading a newspaper sitting behind a counter next to a wooden door.

“I’m here because of Ms. Crescent.”, Cise said.

“Okay, but what is the password?”, the pony answered without looking up.

He gave a quick look back to Speck, then back, “Uh, no. I know that no password was included for taking the damn key. All I’d need to say is that, she, Ms. Miasma Crescent, sent me.”

“Well, you thought wrong, you witling faggot.”

Speck couldn’t help but giggle at the creative insult.

“Are you serious, did you just say that?” Cise was trying to keep his temper cool.

“I don’t need to answer that, since you responded in the first place.”

“... Look, you and I both know who she is. And we both know that she told us that the only thing I’d have to do is say SHE sent me. So stop fucking around and just give the key.”

The guard then looked up at the both of them with a threatening stare, then burst into a chuckle.

“I got you both there, heh heh. Yeah, here’s the key.” He flung it at Speck’s face, making him flinch. Cise only responded with a look of revolt as they walked into the room of deposit boxes.

Scept was barely falling asleep back at the car. At this point, he was actually considering if he would make a quick stop at the bar across the street for a cup of coffee.

He was about to open the car door, until he heard a loud gunshot echoing from the exterior back of the bank, followed by a loud scream. Immediately, five guards dashed out of the bank to the scene.

In the midst of the sounds of the yelling, Scept saw Cerebrate flying from the roof of the bank towards the car covering his face.

“Motherfucker, I think I was shot in the face!!!”, he muffled through his legs.

“Shit, let me see.” he said in a panic running over to him. “There’s no way you could’ve been flying here if you were.”

Taking a look, Scept saw a long, bleeding gash running along the left side of his face.

“Wow, you are fucking lucky they only grazed you. Looks like something that would be a scar at the end of the week.” He helped him climb into the back then sat in the driver’s seat.

“What happened up there?”

“I was waitin’ up there as Cise told me to, then a few minutes later I see the shadows of what looked like other security guards, I don’t know. Then one of them saw me and shot at my head.”

“To be honest, it’s good that they shot at you sooner, or whoever they are would’ve actually got into the bank by now.”

Only 5 seconds later, Cise and Speck strolled out of the bank, holding a large silver box.

“HURRY THE FUCK UP! WE GOTTA GO!”, Scept shouted impatiently through the window.

Confused, the two hopped into the car without hesitation and Scept stepped on it, speeding through the streets.

“What was with the rush?” Cise said unconcerned, “We got the stuff, and there was a somewhat convenient distraction outside.”

“The ‘distraction’ did THIS to my face!” Cerebrate snarled, smacking him to get his attention. The sight of the cut made him heave a little.

“Ah, shit. How did that even manage to happen?!”

“I was up there because of the pointless job of ‘scouting’, or whatever the fuck you called it, and other guards saw me from the back of the bank. I was that fucking close to having my brain blown out!”

“That wasn’t my fault!”

“Guess what, it was, you daft cunt! YOU should’ve known there were other guards outside and that they act like fucking zebras with guns!”

“Whoopity-doo, I’m sorry that I don’t know that-”
“YOU TWO JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP! I’M GETTING A WORSE HEADACHE THAN CEREBRATE HERE!”, Scept interrupted.

Another 30 minutes were spent silently driving towards Scept’s house, until Cise starting speaking again.

“You know,” looking into the box of beautiful gems, “things turned out to be pretty outstanding. Well... despite what just happened.”

“No, it didn’t.” Cerebrate scowled back, covering his wound.

“Do you realize what I’m holding here? We got away with stealing half a million bits worth of gems. We could probably even fix that cut you have and still have the same amount.”

“Fine.”

They finally arrived at Scept’s house, a modest design among the dozen others lined up#.

Stepping out and walking to the front door, he said, “You guys can stay over or just walk home, I don’t care.” They then followed him inside as he made a beeline to his bedroom.

“I’m going to have the gems kept here.” Cise said as he walked into the kitchen.

“When are we going to trade them again?” Speck asked, wrapping a cloth around Cerebrate’s head, “I’m pretty sure the other guards could have at least suspected us to taking them.”

“This week, I guess a couple days from now, don’t worry.” he explained as he placed the box in a low counter. “Scept and I will meet my friend at some parking lot, we only trade it, then we drive back. I’ll have Cerebrate’s cut fixed courtesy of her, as well, then we split it between the four of us.”

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“Mr. Cise,” Songbird greeted as he walked into Interview Room #2. “Your friend, Speck, has told me about a robbery the four of you have committed in the Bank of Los Pegasus over a year ago.”
Cise cursed Speck under his breath, then sighed. “Yeah, that’s right...”
“He’s already told me about how you managed to walk off with those ‘half-a-millions worth’ of gems from the bank. I want you to explain what happened after that, he said it was only you and Scept this time.”
“Ok, uhh...”
“Mr. Cise, I can practically hear you producing lies in your mind right now. You mind as well tell the truth. And what else do you even need to lie about? Speck has already told the most for what happened. All you need to say is HOW you traded the gems.”
“Alright, alright. Two days from that night, I get a letter from Miasma saying we will have to meet her at the Heartstrings Memorial Park to trade the gems. Scept was with me so he could drive.”

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“Alright now, where is she?” Scept wondered, “We’ve been waiting here for, like, ten minutes now.”

“Maybe she’s already here? I have no idea whether she’d come by a wagon, car, or walked here... ”

A wagon then conveniently landed beside their car, flown by two pegasi. In it, was a white, mare unicorn with a green and light-blue colored mane tied back with bangs. Complementing that, she was wearing a black cape and golden bracelets on her front legs.

“There she is, hand me the gems.”, he stepped out the passenger seat.

Scept stayed in the car as he observed him speaking with Miasma. She didn’t seem so pleased when Cise looked like he mentioned the accident with Cerebrate.

“It’s your fault, you know how stupid the security is there!”, he heard her scold.

But it wasn’t what they were talking about which stuck out to him. It was the pegasus who was leading the wagon she was in. He looked way too familiar to just be an insignificant pony in his life. He stared at the pegasus until Cise sat back in the car with a large suitcase.

“It’s ours, cousin.” Cise smiled as he held up the suitcase.

Scept only chuckled as he kept glaring at the pegasi as they flew Ms. Crescent away.

“What? Not too thrilled that we’re rolling in it now?”

“Huh? Oh, uh no! I’m happy about that. Did you see that pegasus flying her wagon?”

“What do you mean? There was two?”

“The blue one.”

“What about him?”

“I have a feeling I’ve seen him somewhere... could have been a few months ago, I think... “

“So what? You just saw somepony you don’t know, again.”

“No, it wasn’t the kind where you just walk by them. I think I saw him when... “ Scept’s eyes widened. “Ah, shit... “

“Just say it!”

“I-I... I remember him when Speck made me run him over and beat the living shit out of him in an alleyway.”

“Whoa, that Olympus stallion he used to talk about?”

“... Yeah, yeah, that’s EXACTLY him!”

“Should we tell him?”

“Maybe. Crap, I don’t know how he’d react, though. He still has a grudge against the bastard.”

“We’ll tell him later on, just drive for now.”