Everwinter

Loud bangs on solid wood reached Swift’s ears and woke him from his slumber. Cracking open his eyes, he saw thin lines of golden light slipping through the window shutters. With his mind still in a clouded state, he tried to go back to sleep, but the noise didn’t subside. It kept on going, pounding his nerves and making him wince with each blow. Realizing that trying to go back to sleep was futile, he groaned, got up, and headed for the trapdoor on the other side of his room.

Not many ponies knew where he lived or that the old mill was still inhabited. Dibs and Cantrip came to mind, but Dibs owned a key and Cantrip was unlikely to mistreat the door like that. There were a few others, not one of them someone Swift would have been happy to see on his doorstep.

He made his way across the ground floor and reached the front door. Beside the door was a metallic tube that was connected with the front wall of the building, a handy tool to observe without being noticed. A lens was inserted on its end through which Swift took a peek. After tilting it a bit, Swift was able to take a look at his visitors.

Three ponies stood in front of the door, featuring looks on their faces that signaled everyone that they meant trouble. One of them pounded at the door while the other two, bulkier in build, kept the surroundings in sight. One of the two motioned for a pony that had been staring from the other side of the street to get going again. As he did so, his cloak was moving, and a short, pointed form stood out from under it.

Swift had a guess who his visitors might be.

He unlocked the door and opened it. “Ah, Easy Manage’s staff i assume? You’re lucky. I don’t open the door at this hour except for very good friends.”

The pony that had been knocking at the door answered. “Let’s cut the bull and get right to it, shall we?”

“Of course! Even though i dislike it, i should probably ask you in.”

With that, he stepped to the side, let them in, and closed the door. The pony Swift had talked to walked over to a crate and sat down on it while the other two positioned themselves on both sides of the door. One of the watchdogs cleaned his teeth with his dagger.

Swift began to speak as he walked over to a wall to rest his back against it, his forelegs sitting on the windowsill behind him. “So, how can i be of service?”

The pony on the crate spoke with a deadpan, almost bored voice as if he had made the following speech countless times. “We are here to remind you that you are shy of fifty-eight bits including interest. The agreed upon date to pay it back was yesterday, and Mr. Easy Manage is wondering where his money is. He wishes to inform you that his conditions regarding loans are to be taken seriously.”

“And he’ll get the money, just not now. You guys can tell him that i’ve been robbed and that i need more time to get the money.”

“Excuses!” The pony jumped off the crate and took a few slow but purposeful steps in Swift’s direction. “But sure, i’ll deliver your message. Mr. Easy Manage will surely get back to you with a proper response.” When his face was only centimeters apart from Swift’s, it gained a mischievous grin. “Personally, i hope he’ll chooses me to be the... messenger. I’m not too fond of ponies like you, ponies who don’t know their place.”

Swift knew what came next, and nothing he could have said could have prevented it. “Great, maybe you can teach me a thing or two about it.”

In one rapid movement, a hoof hit Swift hard in the stomach. He leaned over, squirming in pain, while the other one followed Swift’s movement to be on the same level as Swift “How’s that for starters?”

“I get the point,” Swift gasped, forcing a smile on his face.

“Good!” The thug turned and walked towards the door, but stopped in front of it to look back one more time. “We’ll get back to you.”

He went through the door, the two goons following behind. One of them used the opportunity to point his hoof at his own nose and sneer. “Nice look, by the way.”

Swift just shot back a wry smile.

And with that, they were gone. Only then did Swift release his firm grasp on the heavy bust behind his back.

*

Swift was in dire need of money. Again. After the encounter with the goons, he hit up some of his earlier employers, but most couldn’t afford to pay a day laborer or simply didn’t need one. Others recognized Swift’s face and were even faster to deny him work. One, a local trader, even tried to stall their conversation long enough until the guards arrived, presumably in the hopes of a bounty. When Swift realized what he was trying to do, he turned to leave, only to walk into the pony’s personal guards. It took a fair bit of agility and cunning in the form of redirection of the dimwitted guards’ attention towards non-existent distractions, but Swift got away. That last encounter soured his mood though, and he decided to give up job-hunting for the day. It was early afternoon when he decided to went to The Silly Goblin early to just lounge.

The inn was sparse with customers at that time of day. Vigilant as he was, Swift examined them, tried to assess if they posed any danger, but no one struck him as being a troublemaker.

That remained the case until two other ponies entered the inn. Both of them wore rags, not unlike a lot of other ponies that didn’t have anything else to protect them against the cold. One of the newcomers had a short, scraggly beard and carried a saddle bag. The other one, noticeably younger but still an adult, stood out by the morose expression on his face.

Swift couldn’t hold back a smirk at the sight. Well, if these two aren’t up to no good, then i don’t know who is. He decided it would be a good idea to fight his boredom by observing them a little bit, analyzing them. It would be good practice for his pony reading skills at the very least.

The two settled down in a corner of the room, secluding themselves from the other customers. They sat in front of each other in a way so that Swift could still see both of their faces.

Not too social, huh? Could mean anything. There aren’t many ponies here yet, anyway.

They began to talk, leaning forward to each other a little bit while doing so. Their voices were hushed, given the fact that Swift couldn’t hear them, even in the relatively quite taproom. He focused on their eyes. The bearded one’s were focused on his dialogue partner, but the other pony cast glances to the side now and then, forcing Swift to let his eyes wander around the room to avoid suspicion.

Crap, did he notice me?

Turning his eyes back to the two, the younger pony glanced to the side once more. This time, as Swift looked away again, he caught something else from the corner of his eye: The bearded one made movements with his hoof as he spoke. Swift turned his eyes on him instead, looking for some meaning behind the movements. The pony didn’t seem to generally use gestures much as he talked, but still he made movements now and then, seemingly to accentuate what he was saying. Another wave with his hoof, and the other one’s eyes were once again fixed on his partner.

Swift nodded inwardly at that. He’s trying to keep his attention, to keep him from arousing suspicion by looking around the room the whole time. The grumpy one is nervous.

The conversation went on, and Swift focused more on their expressions now. The bearded one’s look was neutral, through and through. If there were any emotions, his cold and calculating expression didn’t betray them in the slightest. The other one’s morose expression was just as consistent. The difference was that a morose expression was much more emotional than a neutral one.

It’s a barrier. The grumpy one keeps that face up because he’s afraid that ponies might read his true emotions. The other one though? He’s a professional. Doesn’t need a mask. Impressive how he even manages to keep his face straight while dealing with such a bag of nerves.

The two had talked for a few minutes when the bearded one stood up and walked over to the bar. It didn’t escape Swift that he brought his saddle bag with him.

Not even leaving the table without it. I wonder what’s in there...

The pony talked with the stallion behind the bar, Brim Ale, the owner of the inn, and was handed a key soon after.

Yeah, these two are most certainly not planning on cuddling.

The pony walked back to the table and sat down again. Both him and the other one didn’t seem to want to leave the table anytime soon. Instead, Brim Ale brought them two mugs before returning back and walking through the door that led into the kitchen.

Mh... if they’re not using the room right now, i could use the time to do a little snooping around. First, i need to find out which room they took though.

Swift knew that Brim Ale wrote the room numbers on the keys themselves, so taking a peek at the key would be the most straightforward thing to do. However, the bearded pony had put it in his saddle bag, and he guarded the bag like gold. Swift was a good thief, but not good enough to be able to rummage through a bag in search of a small key without the pony sitting next to it noticing.

Swift was a good thief, and that’s why he didn’t settle for the most straightforward method, if it wasn’t the most promising. He could perhaps not take a peek at the right key, but he could look at the other ones behind the bar. Then, it would just be a matter of eliminating the wrong rooms. The right room would be one for which the key was not available. However, there were likely more than one key missing.

Brim Ale always retrieved the keys whenever a customer who had paid for a room left the inn, even if only for a short time. They would get them back as soon as they returned. That way, Brim Ale ensured that the keys didn’t get lost somewhere in the city. That procedure worked in Swift’s favor because it meant that the keys of occupied rooms could lie with the keys on unoccupied rooms, increasing the amount of keys available and therefore decreasing the difficulty of finding the correct room.

Even if, after taking that procedure into account, there were still multiple keys missing, Swift could still try to find out if rooms were occupied by listening for noises by the corresponding doors and eliminate the rooms that way. The rest was luck.

That only left the question of how to get behind the counter without getting noticed. Swift wasn’t too worried about the customers noticing. Sometimes, you could hide in plain sight. Brim Ale, however, wouldn’t be all that amused to find him rummaging through his room keys. A distraction was needed.

At that exact moment, the door to the inn opened. Swift’s thoughtful eyes shifted towards the newcomer to find a green coated mare entering.

He was grinning. Cantrip, you come in the nick of time!

He waved to make himself noticeable, and she trotted over to him happily. “Swift, you here so early?”

Swift shrugged. “I was looking for work, but couldn’t find any.”

Cantrip sat down next to Swift as she responded. “Sorry to hear that.”

“Yeah well, some of Easy’s goons showed up earlier and said something about the loan being overdue.”

“Wow, you’re certainly in great demand at the moment.”

“You could say that,” Swift replied thoughtfully, his eyes once again on the two ponies in the corner “Say, can you do me a favor, Can?”

“Anything, unless it qualifies as this so called ‘work’ you just talked about.”

“It doesn’t.” Swift tilted his head in the direction of the two conspicuous ponies. “Do you see those two jokers over there?”

Cantrip’s eyes wandered in the indicated direction before she lowered her voice to speak in a conspiratorial manner. “You mean those two?”

“Yes.”

“With the one who can’t help but glance around the room all nervously and tries to mask it by acting all cranky?”

“Uh huh.”

“And with the other one who’s annoyed by the cranky one, but doesn’t want to show it to avoid suspicion, and who is acting as if he’s carrying gold nuggets in his saddle bag?”

“Yep.”

Cantrip raised her voice again as she continued to speak casually. “Oh yeah, i noticed them when i came in. They’re totally up to something.”

“Exactly, and i’m going to find out what it is. All i need you to do is to distract Brim Ale so that i can take a look at his room keys behind the counter.”

Cantrip scratched her head to that. “What’s the connection between those two and the room keys?”

“Trust me; i’ll tell you later. So, will you do it?”

She tilted her head to both sides in contemplation. “Mh, i don’t know Swift. There’s a significant risk for me too, you know. Distractions are... you know... difficult. You’re lacking arguments.”

Swift flattened his ears against his head in annoyance. “Fine, one bit and no more!”

In an instant, Cantrip’s look of contemplation was replaced by a grin. “You’re a sweetie, Swift, and so generous!”

“With friends like you, who needs enemies?” he said and rolled his eyes, knowing that she didn’t really care about the money.

At that moment, Brim Ale came out of the kitchen and brought food to the table with the two suspicious characters before walking back behind the counter.

Cantrip stood up. “That’s my cue,” she said before trotting over to the counter. “That’s where you’ve been, Al. I just came from outside. Do you remember those guys the other day who eyed your carriage as if it would make ideal firewood? I couldn’t help but notice that the gate to the shed is wide open.”

Brim Ale’s response was to widen his eyes in shock and anger. “Argh! I warned them what would happen, if i saw them again.” Quickly, he reached down under the counter and produced a club. “I’m a stallion of my word!” he exclaimed before rushing out through the main door, followed closely by the snickering Cantrip.

Swift took a look around the taproom. Some ponies were surprised at the incident, others ignored it, but after a few moments everyone acted as if nothing had happened.

Swift didn’t waste any time and stood up. He headed directly for the counter at a casual pace and, as if it was completely normal, walked behind it. He made his way to the spot where Brim Ale kept the keys when he noticed something from the corner of his eye. He turned his head to find questioning glances directed towards him from some of the customers.

He put on his best sheepish smile. “Lost my key last night. Al must’ve put it back to the others.”

After a moment’s hesitation, the other ponies shrugged and resumed to mind their own business. Some of them may have swallowed the lie, other may have not. It didn’t matter to Swift.

He grabbed the keyring from under the counter and laid it on top of it. The Silly Goblin had eight rooms and another bigger one that couldn’t be locked. Swift found five keys on the ring. His voice was low as he muttered to himself. “Damn, where is it!?” Having obtained all the information he needed, he came out from behind the counter. Throwing one last look at the two ponies in the corner to ensure that they weren’t suspicious of him, he headed for the stairs.

The upper floor consisted of a single hallway that was flanked by doors on both sides. Swift made his way to the nearest door for which the key was missing and put his ear against it. At first, he heard nothing, but then a mare cleared her throat, and steps could be heard. That room was obviously occupied.

One down, two to go.

Swift did the same at the next door. Again, he heard nothing. He waited a little while longer, closing his eyes to concentrate on his hearing, but no sound came from beyond the door. He tried the door to find that it was locked.

For now, he abandoned it and went to the third door to repeat the procedure one more time. Again, there was silence and the door was locked.

Swift knew that, due to the askew nature of the inn’s roof, almost every room had a small, separate cavity above the ceiling to keep the ceiling height of each room the same. These cavities weren’t meant to be accessible, but that wouldn’t stop Swift. His plan was to enter the room and hide inside the cavity, watching the two ponies through slits in the ceiling from above. However, once the two ponies were inside their room, Swift couldn’t get to the cavity anymore, because his only way to get there was to go through the room. That meant that he had to pick the right room beforehand.

Now, we get to the luck part.

With no clues as to which was the right room, Swift simply picked one. With a short glance down both directions of the hallway, he lifted his foreleg to bring out his lock picks from his saddle bag...

only to find that he wasn’t carrying a saddle bag.

He shut his eyes to fight the rising annoyance. I swear, from now on, i’ll never leave home without them ever again.

There was no way for Swift to open the lock without his lock picks. He could have perhaps opened the door by force, but that would have been less than subtle, and he didn’t want to damage property, if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. However, Swift knew that, when it came to burglary, there were multiple entry points more often than not. In that particular case, the window on the other side of the room came to mind.

He turned around and made his way back through the hallway and down the stairs. As he walked across the taproom, he noticed that the two ponies were still sitting at the table in the corner, not about to be finished with their meal anytime soon. Outside the inn, Swift entered the nearest alleyway and rounded the building until he stood directly under the window in question. It was a few meters above the ground, and it was slightly agape, enough to put a hoof through it.

Swift took in his surroundings to find that the alleyway was quite narrow, being flanked by timber-framed buildings and devoid of any other ponies. It was just what he needed.

He pressed his back against the wall under the window and braced himself. Then, with a short but speedy dash, he jumped at the wall he was facing. His hindhooves touched the wall first, and he immediately pushed against it with all his might. The resulting leap sent him flying through the air directly towards the window. With his forelegs stretched out, he grabbed the frame while the rest of his body slammed against the wall. Nonetheless, he managed to keep himself suspended. He pulled himself up, reached one hoof through the window to lift the bolt holding the window in place, and pushed the window open. With one last pull of his forelegs, Swift was inside the room.

The room itself was sparsely furnished. A single bed stood by the wall, in the middle of the room, a chair was situated in front of a desk, a coat rack was beside the door, and there was even a small fireplace with the tools that were needed to tend to the fire in a rack beside it.

After having inspected the room, Swift turned around to face the window again. He closed it a little bit and lowered the bolt again, leaving the window in the exact same position as before. Swift had learned years ago that when you manipulated something at the scene of the crime, it was always best to leave as much as possible exactly how you had encountered it to avoid suspicion. Even if the signs of a break-in remained, you could still buy yourself some time by being thorough, and in a delicate profession like Swift’s that could mean the difference between a successful job and a chopped off hoof.

After he was done with the window, he examined the ceiling. It didn’t take long for him to find a spot, near the table, where the thin wooden boards were far enough apart from each other to fit something through. As much as Swift wished he had his tools with him, a crowbar wasn’t even necessary here.

With a firm step, he walked over to the fireplace and grabbed the poker beside it. Then, he positioned the chair directly under the spot in the ceiling with the gap and climbed onto the chair. He tucked the poker between the boards and pushed it upwards carefully. It took only a bit of pressure and one of the boards was loose. With a firm push of his hooves, it was shoved back to its original position, revealing the nail that held it in its place. He pulled it out of the board with his teeth. Then, he repeated the process at the other end of the board to loosen it completely. Board and nails were stashed in the cavity above the ceiling – again, Swift chose to keep the scene of the crime tidy – before he resumed his work on the next board.

After a few minutes, a hole had formed in the ceiling, big enough for a pony to fit through. Content with his work, Swift climbed through it, entering the dusty, dark cavity above the room. He leaned down the hole and used the poker to push the chair under him back to the desk where it had originally stood. After that, he searched for a spot from which he could see a good portion of the room through gaps in the ceiling. The only other thing left to do was to lie down and wait.

Barely a few minutes had passed when Swift heard steps from beyond the door. He was fully prepared to hear them pass it when the door suddenly opened. The two ponies in question entered, the bearded one still in possession of his saddle bag. The door was closed behind them and locked.

Both of them took a look around the room. Now that no other ponies could openly watch them, Swift could finally see the apparent apprehension in the younger pony’s face. Swift, however, could not feel satisfied in having read the pony correctly as the pony’s look wandered over the hole in the ceiling and remained there. In fact, both of the ponies’ gazes were focused on the hole for a while longer than Swift was comfortable with.

Then, however, they both turned their eyes away. The bearded one headed towards the window and closed it before both of them sat down on either side of the bed. The saddle bag was opened and a map – no, a plan showing the layout of a building – was laid down on it.

Swift squinted his eyes as he took in the details of the drawing. There was a wall around the whole premise, leaving open space at every side of the building that sat in the middle. The building itself was rectangular in shape and had two floors. Swift’s eyes widened when he finally realized what the two were up to.

A break-in into the bishop’s manor? This is going to be interesting!

The bearded one spoke up with a firm voice as he began to point out spots on the map with his hoof. “This is the outer wall. With the right tools, you shouldn’t have any problems getting over it.” His hoof shifted a few centimeters onto one of the open spaces between wall and building. “Problems begin here. With the lack of shrubbery and trees there are no hiding spots. The snow also gives you away as soon as the guards patrolling the perimeter lay eyes on your hoofprints. So, unless you can fly and make yourself invisible, i suggest you take a different route.”

Again, his hoof wandered, now sliding along two parallel dotted lines. “This is the manor’s secret underground passage. The bishop uses it to smuggle things in and out of the building,” he said before his hoof rested at the end of both lines by the side of a cliff, located just outside of the city walls. “This is your entry point. A small path by the side of the cliff leads to this entrance. You reach the path via an abandoned building here.” He pointed at a house that clung to the inner part of the city wall. Then, he produced a key from his saddle bag and threw it down onto the bed. “This is the key to that house.”

The other pony, still keeping his mouth shut, took it. The bearded one’s attention, however, was already on the map again. “I don’t know of many guards in the tunnel, which leads me to believe that you might encounter traps down there. I don’t know what kinds though.”

The young thief held his gaze steadily on the map, but a frown became visible on his forehead.

The bearded one continued. “Security on the inside is comparatively lax. The bishop appreciates being alone. He doesn’t expect any intruders to get past the tight security outside and by the entrances.” The pony pointed his hoof at a spot of the second floor. “The bishop’s most prized possessions are here, directly behind his chambers. This is the trickiest part of it all. The vault is sealed, not only by an iron door, for which i don’t have the key, but also” – for the first time since the two had entered the room, he looked directly in the other pony’s eyes – “by defensive spells.”

The other pony tried to hide it, but the disappointment in his features was clear. It didn’t last long though as he gained a determined look shortly thereafter. “I’ll find a way around them.”

The bearded one didn’t hide his skepticism. “You sure about that?”

The other one was quick to reply with a glare. “What are you trying to say?”

The bearded one took a few moments to assess the young thief before he replied. “Look, kid, this isn’t exactly a stroll. I know a few good thieves that would think twice about doing such a job. I know a professional when i see one, and you’re not one of them.”

The other one held the glare for a few more moments. Then, he drew his eyes away and answered, his voice not as firm anymore. “I have my reasons for doing this. If i manage it or not is my concern, not yours.”

The other one shrugged, no emotion visible besides indifference. “You’re right. Anyway, that’s all the info i have. You can keep the map and make up your own plan from here. Now, where’s the money?”

The other one produced a small bag and laid it down onto the bed. “It’s the agreed upon amount.”

“Right, but let me make sure anyway.”

The next few minutes were silent except for the tinkling noises of the coins as the bearded one counted the bits. The other one used the time to examine the map a bit closer, apparently conceiving a plan for his break-in. The silence was almost palpable, and Swift didn’t dare to move a muscle and had to fight the urge to hold his breath for fear of detection.

But then, the bearded one spoke again as he got ready to leave. “Good, you have what you wanted, and i have my money, which means the deal is done.” Without any further words, he headed for the door and left.

The other one stayed. He stood completely still, not moving a muscle or making a sound. His eyes were fixed on the map, but he didn’t seem to be too interested in it. Instead, he stared into nothingness, completely lost in thought. After a few minutes, Swift started to feel a little uncomfortable at the situation, but then, with a heavy sigh, the pony took the map and turned to leave as well, locking the door behind him. The meeting had come and gone, and the room was vacant once more.

Swift waited just a little while longer to make sure that they were really gone before he too left his hiding place. As he made his way towards the window, his mind was busy recollecting all the details of the map and information he had just heard for future reference.

He had found a new job after all.