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Sly Cooper: Harmony Heist
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Chapter One: Takes One To Catch One
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The night was young, it was Saturday night and Canterlot City was teeming with life. In the local park the resident town favorite band "The Rainbooms" a group of 7 talented and literally magical girls one of which was a unicorn from an alternate universe. It certainly sounded strange when you said it like that but given that he was talking raccoon from another dimension with a knack for stealing things...it didn't come as much of a surprise. Sly had hidden himself in the shadows not far from the stage in the far ends of the park where the 7 girls had been practicing. Sly had known all of them in the alternate pony world...all but one but one he'd heard much about; Sunset Shimmer, the one whom he was here to find as per princess Twilight and Celestia's orders. For a few weeks now Sly and his gang had been enlisted under Equestrian law to put their thieving skills to use as well as their knack for espionage and pulling off impossible missions. Sly was sent here to recover an escaped set of villains who'd managed to slip through into the human world during the events of the friendship games, the portals Twilight had created expanded much further than they'd thought however, they were indeed all closed when Sunset set everything right however they'd still lingered undetected and it was left to Sly to handle this as he knew how criminals and villains thought and Sly felt he'd be better suited for this task than Twilight as she had issues of her own to deal with not to mention while Sly did have a morale code...at the end of the day he was still a thief and stealing things rightfully taken or not was never Twilight Sparkle's specialty...No, for this job he'd need somepony who was as good a thief as she was clever and smart; which was why they were here now.
"Ya think she'll help us buddy?"
"She'll have to...she doesn't really have a choice...besides she seems reasonable..."
"Easy Sly don't go trying anything slick..."
-Sly made a mock pout and gasped at Bentley hold a hand to his chest "Me? Do something 'slick'? Bentley old friend I wouldn't dream of it..."
"I swear you are such a horrible lair..."
"Hard to tell isn't it?"
"Uh fellas...shouldn't we...y'know? Talk to em now?"
"Right...you guys hang back and let me do the talking alright? I'm the one with the way with the ladies remember?"
"Ugh ease up cassanova..."
"Relax Bentley we may be on a job but that doesn't mean we can't relax a little...besides these girls are like the ones back in Equestria so we'll click right away I'm sure..."
"and what about this...'Sunset Shimmer'?
What about her? -he raised a quizzing brow-
Details on her are a little sketchy Sly...
So she turned into a raging demon and brainwashed some kids...big deal, not like anyone really got hurt and she turned a new leaf and then turned into a...what did Twilight say?
A shining phoenix alicorn that saved the entire dimension single handed...-he said in a matter of fact tone-
Yeah that...so i don't think we need you...Bentley'ing right now buddy...just chill and let me work...
Ugh fine Sly just be careful...don't need another Neyla on our hands ok?
I know buddy...and don't worry that won't ever happen again...I trust Twilight and Twilight trusts this Sunset Shimmer girl so I say we give her the benefit of the doubt but as always stay on guard...now if you'll excuse me...
-He said with his trademark sly grin that was infamous as a trademark to his family. Turning he'd leave from the dark and walk toward the stage as the girls were playing a song. His gold cane with a maple wood handle slung over on his shoulder as he held it in his right hand, he was dressed in a black shirt with a yellow collar, blue jacket w./ a hood, gray cargo jeans blue boots and wore blue and yellow gloves with a blue cap placed upon his head; his skin was gray and he'd removed his mask and a red backpack sat upon his back. As he came closer the song came to an end and the first to take notice of him was Rainbow Dash as he clapped at their performance, that Sly smug grin never leaving his face but it was kind and charming for him in a way.-
Wonderful song girls, I can see why this town finds you so popular...couldn't help but overhear your wonderful song just over yonder and I-
Who the heck are you?
Rainbow Dash! Where are your manners?! Do forgive her darling she can be a bit...abrasive...
Hahah oh don't sweat it Rarity...I'm used to it...the names Sly...Sly Cooper
Rainbow Applejack & Pinkie all looked at each other and then back at him with odd looks.
Sly...Cooper... -Rainbow asked quizzically-
That's the name don't ware it out Dash...
Sly Cooper...the raccoon thief...
Ringa ding ding AJ...
The same sly cooper from the totes awesome platformer video games series of which I totally own all copies of?!
And bingo was her name-o Pinks...
you're yankin' me right?! NO WAY your him...thats impossible...
About as impossible as the flame head over there being a magical pony from another universe beyond a magic mirror or the fact that you all are pony hybrid teenagers? I don't think its that odd...
They all gaped at that retort and he just chuckled
A video game character huh? guess it makes sense, im not from Equestria so me being human here wouldn't make sense...huh...i'll have to run this by Bentley...he's gonna get a kick out of this one...oh and Murray is gonna lose it
Bentley and Murray are here too?!
No way!!! Are the rest of them here?! Is Sly 4 canon? Oh oh! Are you and Carmelita still together?!
Uh...Yes...i dunno and...no...she...things happened...
He avoided going any further and sighed
but anyway...I need your help...Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight sent me and my gang here to help recapture a few escaped convicts, some of whom are very dangerous to be here...and since there is really only one of you here who understands magic and how it functions...Sunset Shimmer...We haven't been formally introduced before so as this is our first time meeting..."
He walked up to the fire haired girl and extended his hand and smiled
"Sly Cooper...pleased to meet you...Princess Twilight and Celestia send their regards."
"Um...Nice to meet you?" Sunset said hesitantly.
"Aw what? Not scared are ya? Last I checked from the princess' you were fearless...determined...powerful...and formally quite the little miss sticky fingers..." He grinned his usual cocky sly grin
"That isn't me anymore...I've changed..." Sunset said with a light scowl crossing her arms.
"Of course, the way you'd been going about was totally wrong, I mean Twilight is royalty yeah but she isn't corput royalty like that stallion Sombra I heard about...which is another reason I'm here...your friend with the glasses there whose the doppleganger of the princess? When she threw her accidental magic tantrum she spread those portals a little further than she thought...and as a result some very dangerous Equestrian criminals escaped into this world and are now in hiding among you..." Sly said hardening his voice only a little to show he was serious about the matter. "Before they'd escaped they'd managed to each make off with some...let's say very dangerous magic artifacts from the crystal vaults in the crystal empire...and one such relic was the remains of King Sombra."
Sunset instantly froze up at the mentioning of this. While she never saw Sombra in person she had heard the stories about the stallion king of shadow who'd enslaved the entire crystal empire then cursed it into banishment only to have it return 1000 years later after the return of princess Luna. She'd heard from Twilight that he was defeated and destroyed but now clearly that wasn't the case. She could see this Sly character wasn't lying or playing games...he truly did need their help.
"How can we help?"
"Well as the leader of this group here I know you have the most knowledge on magic thus you'd be the best for showing us how to track it...as will you science fair friend over there..."
"H-Hey!" Twilight said with a blush as her glasses fell down her face and she pushed them back up.
"Plus the rest of you girls will be a big help too...I'm good friends with the Equestria versions of you and they've saved my tail more than once and I know if these two get involved...nothing will stop you from helping them am I right?"
"Damn straight Cooper..."
"Darn tootin'"
"Totes!"
"Mhm"
"Quite right indeed"
"It's settled then, we need to establish a-"
"SAFE HOUSE!" Pinkie Rainbow and Applejack shouted in unison catching Sly off guard
"Uh yeah...how did you-"
"Well duh, toldja; we played all the games! Band of Thieves was my favorite, best story, best drama and the best baddies ever! Dimitri is awesome! IS HE HERE TOO?!!?"
"Hehe yeah he is...the whole gang is waiting back at the van with Murray and Bentley...We only just got here an hour or so ago and haven't gotten a chance to do much recon so which of you girls can-"
"ME!!" me me me me me me me me me pick me!!" Pinkie said hopping up and down raising her hand
"Pinkie does know this city pretty well...and I'll admit I'm familiar with the more...um...'seedy' parts of town...did a lot of things I'm not proud of around there when I wasn't so nice..." Sunset said squaring her shoulders.
"No ones past is perfect Shimmer...believe me...we've all made mistakes we regret...all of us..." He said running a hand across his chest for a second before shaking away any unpleasant memories. "Anyway, let's get going back to the gang shall we ladies?"
"I...Can't...Believe this! We're going on a heist...WITH SLY FREAKIN' COOPER!! If this is a dream no one pinch me-OW! I said don't pinch me!!"
"What? I wanted to make sure!" Pinkie said with a laugh
Sly chuckled and shook his head getting off the stage and walking back to the van to meet back up with the gang and reintroduce them to the mane 6 and formally introduce them to Sunset and vise versa. Sunset walked directly next to Sly and asked
"So why me again? I told you I'm not much of thief anymore..."
"True...but you know the saying....old habits die hard; and this time your stealing something and returning it to who it was stolen from...totally different." Sly said nonchalantly, this was everyday work for him and his moral code was strong, he only ever stole from the rich and corrupt and often times stole back things that were wrongfully taken from the innocent. "And then theres another old saying...takes one to catch one...these criminals are Equestrian...your Equestrian...you have the best chance at finding them."
"So were they all ponies?"
"Yes, I've got detailed files on each of them back in the van on Bentley's computer..."
"and what about these other artifacts? It wasn't the elements of harmony was it?"
"Oh no if it was then princess twilight would be here herself but these artifacts are no less dangerous...in fact...they might be even more dangerous...all of them are highly powerful dark magical artifacts that were locked away deep in the crystal empire's forrbbin relics holding vault."
"And just how did they manage to steal them?"
"That's still something Twilight, Celestia, Luna and Cadence are trying to discover as we speak..."
"This is bad"
"Yeah...it is, but together we'll get through it...we always have and Twilight said that if you were with us on this heist? She calculated it with Bentley...the odds of us failing were only 10% and that was mostly error left up to circumstance...I swear if Princess Twilight wasn't a mare only type of princess she'd probably fall in love with old shell-head." He grinned with a chuckle
"Wait how did you know tha-"
"Haha uncovering secrets is what I do Shims...and she's not very discreet about who she pines after either"
"Oh..." Sunset's blush was incredibly heavy now
"Heheh don't worry Sunshine...your secret is safe with me...gotta say you both have good taste."
"Are you hitting on me?"
"If I were you'd have probably already slapped me by now..."
He grinned and kept walking toward the van with the others and Rainbow, Applejack and Pinkie were completely fangirling over the team van taking selfies in front of it.
"C'mon out everyone, cost is clear and they trust me...they won't shoot us with rainbows or anything."
To Be Continued....
