Chapter Six:
Talented thief

"Good mornin Jing." Applejack greeted the young boy as he entered the dining room. "Good morning miss Applejack." Jing greeted.

"Oh please, just call me AJ, everypony else does." Applejack said cheerfully. "Well alright, if you insist." Jing said as he sat down at the table.

"Who's yer friend AJ dear? Did y'all git a coltfriend while ah weren't lookin?" Granny Smith said as she entered from the kitchen with a plate of pancakes and some plates for serving. "G-Granny! It's nuthin of the sort!" Applejack exclaimed.

"Ah well, that's a right shame, he might be a little weird lookin, but he's kinda cute." Granny said as she studied his face.

"Eh heh, Thank you ma'am." Jing said, a little taken aback. "Oh hush, y'all call me Granny just like everypony else hon. Ain't nopony called me ma'am since Gran'pappy Apple." She chided. "Yes Granny." Jing answered. "Alright everypony, help yerselves." Granny finally said.

"Do you understand your orders?" Blueblood asked a hooded figure. "Yes prince." She replied. "Very good, then away with you, and do not return unless you have succeeded." He ordered. After the figure had left, Sherry approached Blueblood from the shadows.

"Are you certain that one is up to the task?" She inquired. "She had better be. After all, she is well aware of what shall become of her if she fails." He dismissed. "Let us hope that you are right." Sherry said as her eyes narrowed.

"Hey Applejack, are you heading into town?" Jing asked. "Yep, gotta make some money fer the farm by sellin some of our apples." She answered. "Well would you mind if Kir and I came with you?" He asked her as they walked side by side, Kir resting on Jing's shoulder like usual.

"Ah can't see why not, would be nice to have some company." Applejack told him as they continued down the road.

"So applejack, I have to ask, what is it with the marks everyone has on their sides?" Jing inquired. "Yeah I've been kinda wondering about that myself." Kir added. "Well, those are our cutie marks." Applejack answered simply. "Really? You don't need a mark to tell me you're a cutie Applejack!" Kir said as he flew next to AJ's head. "Excuse me?" Applejack said as she gave him an annoyed look, making Kir back off.

"Sorry about that, my companion tends to have a one track mind." Jing apologized as they entered the town.

"Hey, this isn't a half bad place when it doesn't look like a ghost town." Kir said as he flew through the air.

"So Applejack, you never finished telling me what a cutie mark is." Jing asked as he helped AJ set up her stall. "Oh right, a cutie mark is the manifestation on a ponies body which depicts what their special talent is. For me it's for mah skill as an apple farmer." She said proudly.

"Wow, that sounds pretty neat." Jing said thoughtfully. "Don't y'all have anythin like that?" AJ asked. "Well no, not really." Jing informed her.

"Well then what would yer special talent be?" She asked him, causing him to freeze. "Uhh..." Was all he said.

"Jing? Y'all alright?" AJ asked as she looked at him. "Umm yeah, I'm fine, don't worry about it." Jing said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Why don't you look where you're going dork eyes." Jing heard someone shout behind him, causing him to turn around and look for the source. "B-but you tripped me.." He heard a mare say, who was laying on the ground a little bit away from them. A bag that was strapped to her side spilled open with what appeared to be letters laying on the ground. "Don't you back talk me you little whorse." A dark brown stallion said as he slapped her. "NO STOP IT, DON'T HURT MY MOMMY!" Called out a small unicorn filly as she held onto her mother.

"Beat it ya little twerp!" He said as he once again raised his hoof, intending to strike the child.

He never got the chance. As he was bringing it down for the strike, his leg was stopped by something grabbing onto it from behind.

"I think that's quite enough sir." Said Jing as he held onto the earth stallion's foreleg. "What the buck? Mind your own business ya freak."
He said angrily. "Well, when a looser like you thinks he's some big guy for beating on women and children. I'd say it becomes my business."
He said as he narrowed his eyes at the offender. "Are you alright my dear?" Kir asked the mare as he landed by her.

"Alright, if you wanna play, let's go then!" The stallion exclaimed as he yanked himself free from Jing's grasp and took a swing at him.

As if in slow motion, Jing side stepped around the thug, turning as he did so, and backhanded him to the side of the head as he stood between the mare and her child, and their attacker.

"Oh you're dead you little punk." The brown pony said as he appeared to be reaching for something in his mane, but after a little bit, it seemed he couldn't find it. "Hey what the? Where is it?" He pondered. "Missing something?" Jing asked as he spun the crook's knife by it's handle on his finger tip. "What the.... But.... When did you...." He tried to say. 'That was amazin. Ah didn't even see him take it.' AJ thought as she looked on. 'Wait... When ah asked him about his talent......Could this be it? Is that why he didn't answer?' She realized.

"ALRIGHT, I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU! I'M GOING TO FLATTEN YOU!" The angered stallion shouted as he charged.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Kir said as he flew next to Jing. "Lets do it partner." He said to his companion. Both nodding to each other, Kir transformed into his weapon form, wrapping himself around Jing's right arm as they took a stance and pointed at the offending stallion, causing him to pause in confusion.

"Twilight was heading for the market with her assistant Spike. They had recently run low on some food items at their home and were out shopping. "It's a rather nice day today." Twilight said to herself, until her thoughts drifted to the town's new arrivals.

'I wonder what Jing and Kir are up to?' she pondered just as they entered the market district and saw a what looked like a golden green glow coming from the middle of a crowd.

"GIMME A KIR ROYALE!" She suddenly heard Jing's voice shout, which was followed by what appeared to be a small explosion and a large brown earth stallion being sent flying into some garbage cans.

"Wh....What?" She asked as she pushed through the crowd. Setting her eyes on Jing, and what appeared to be Kir wrapped around his arm.
"WHAT IN EQUESTRIA IS GOING ON HERE!" She shouted.

Author's Note

Chapter six done, along with our first real fight scene. Let me know if you guys enjoyed it.
And sorry to the Ditzy and Dinky fans who saw her getting hit, rest assured, I thoroughly enjoyed giving him flying lessons.
See you next time!