My name is Robin and as I carefully made my way through the alley, I made sure to stick to the shadows. My small size and the narrow alleys of Wharfton made blending into the darkness easy for me. I knew Wharfton like the back of my hoof. I knew the alleys, I knew the guard patrols, and I knew the hidden places nopony really looked at. I'm a cutpurse, a good one.

I have an advantage over the average thieves here. I am young, small, nimble, and fast. I'm the fastest filly on land. But being good only matters if you're fed, and I was hungry. New ponies were scarce and pickings were getting hard to find. So here I am, creeping through the shadows.

I crept to the corner and carefully watched the crowd as they walked by. I was looking for easy marks. Ponies who weren't keeping an eye on their valuables. Ponies who weren't looking out for fillies like me. Then I saw them. Two colts, and there wasn't a mare in sight. I couldn't believe it. Maybe my luck had changed.

As they left their alley, I prowled after them. Looked like a Stallion and his colt. They were oblivious to their surroundings and seemed to be playing around with each other as they walked. The colt had something that gleamed in his mane. It could have been a hair comb, but it had gotten covered and I couldn't get a good look at it. He had no purse or jewelry, so I looked the Stallion over. He was big for a stallion. His body language and the happy way he was looking around told me volumes. The two were new here. They had never seen a large township like this one, and he had no idea how to carry his purse in a real city. He had all the looks of a big dumb country colt.

I smiled and pulled out my razor. A razor is the signature tool of my trade. A cutpurse without a straight razor is like a sailor without a ship. I smiled as my razor gleamed in the sun, then frowned as it reflected movement behind me.

I kneeled to brush off my hoof and took a careful glance behind me. Dam, It was the city guard. Two of them, and they were very casually walking up to me.

They moved in the casual way of all guards everywhere. The way that says, 'Don't mind us, we're not interested in you at all. we are completely harmless and aren't about to tackle you to the ground at all. I grit my teeth, It was now or never.

"Showtime!"

I focused on the only two things in the world that mattered. The hair comb and the purse. I exploded from my crouching position and ran. My hooves were a blur as I jumped, twirling in the air as I passed between the two colts. My blade flashed and I had the purse. I kicked out the stallion's leg to end my spin and snatched whatever was in the colt's mane.

"FUUUCK!"

Dammit, I didn't know what that hair comb was made out of, but what I did know was that it was sharp. It cut me almost to the bone. Dammit, I did not need this right now. I bolted into high gear and shot forward toward the dockyard. I knew the docks and if I could reach it, I could lose the guard, injured or not.

I glanced over my shoulder as I took a corner. The guards were not only after me, they were closer than I expected. I parkoured, from a garbage can to a window, to the fence, and to the rooftop. I barely lost any speed at all. I smiled. This is what I lived for. A crash made me look. I was horrified to see that the guard had simply plowed through the fence and were still on my heels. I jumped from rooftop to rooftop and parkoured off a flagpole to the other side of the street. Still, on the roofs I jumped an alleyway, only to be hit hard mid-jump. Missing the jump, I slammed into the opposite wall and crumpled to the ground. I heard the guard clopping to a stop behind me. One of the guards was stooping down to retrieve her helmet from the ground. She looked it over and wiped away some dirt before putting it back on.

Soon after that, the other guard arrived.

"Dam Hawk, that was one Tartarus of a shot. Knocked her right out of the air! And with a helmet too."

"Little bastard was fast, I had to do something." I heard the guard moving toward me and tried to stand. I fell, she got me good. I was done.

"Come on mare, we got you fair and square. You ain't going anywhere and you know it."

I waved the guardsmare off as I tried to clear my head and at least sit up.

"Yeah, yeah, you got me. You got me."

I shook my head.

"Faust, did you have to hit me that hard? I'm still seeing stars"

The shorter guard said. "Don't run so fast next time and we won't."

She was smiling. I watched as she scooped up the pouch and began patting me down.

She rifled through my pack and pulled out the few pieces I was able to get today, and my sandwich.

"Is this all? Come on, where is the rest of it, We've been watching you at it all day."

I shook my head. It's been slow, That's all I could grab.

She shook her head.

"This isn't even going to be enough for more than a few beers. Well, you know the rules, We catch you, it's ours."

I watched the guards split my hard day's work between them as they walked away, and I got pissed.

"Hey, What about my sandwich?!"

"It looks good, thanks!"

I grit my teeth in frustration, "Dammit, I worked all day for that!"

I watched as the taller guard stopped. She fished around in the purse and after looking at what she pulled out, she tossed me one coin.

Waving behind her as she walked off, I heard her say, "Don't say we didn't share!"

I closed my eyes and sighed. No dinner tonight.

My head snapped up to the sound of a loud clatter. I wasn't sure what I saw, but it looked like swinging hooves disappearing upward. I looked to the guards, but I could only spot one in the alley. It was the short guard, and she was looking up at the rooftops frantically. shifting franticly and pointing a crossbow at the roofs. A bag of some sort fell from the sky and landed on her. Whatever it was, it freaked her the hell out and she bolted my way, kicking the thing at me in her haste. Confused, I looked down as it bumped my leg and I went pale. No bag had eyes, and the dead eyes of the other mare were staring at nothing. I kicked the head away and scrambled back till I hit the wall.

"What the fuck!"

My eyes shot to the rooftops and I frantically looked for anything that could kill me. Seeing nothing, I looked to the surviving guard. I watched as she fired the crossbow at something I couldn't see. She screamed as something tackled her from the rooftop. No…It wasn't an attacker, it was the body of the dead guard. It had been thrown on her. Then I saw him. It was the stallion from the street. The stallion I stole from. He was flying. Hovering in midair and slowly dropping down into the alley. I watched the guard fire again and to my horror, the arrow shattered. The stallion calmly cantered toward the lone guard and didn't break stride as she shot him again at point-blank range. The arrows just shattered. They shattered.

I knew about the guard and their weapons. I had stolen several of them over the years and I knew what they could do and how much they were worth. That stallion that was calmly cantering in front of me was shrugging off crossbow bolts while wearing no armor at all. Crossbows rated at an eight hundred pound draw, Three times the power of a civilian model.

I looked around the alley. This, this is bad. I slowly got to my hooves and began backing away as quietly as I could. As I slowly backed my way out, I watched the stallion crush the crossbow to splinters. I watched him block sword swings with his bare front leg, and I watched as he shattered it after it failed to even cut him.

I looked over my shoulder and saw that I was still nowhere near the mouth of the alley. I looked back to the fight, only to find the stallion tossing two separate halves of the mare to the ground. Then he looked at me.

The fury in his eyes was all I needed to see. I exploded in the opposite direction as if evil itself was after me. The world seemed to slow down as I put absolutely everything I had into moving. Fear sparked adrenaline, and I felt my special talent kick in as an extra burst of speed.

The world slowed down even more. My muscles burned like fire and I didn't care. I ran faster than I ever have. my hooves hardly hitting the ground. I flew out of that alley and took a hard left, steel horseshoes sending lines of sparks as I slid in a drift around the corner. In two heartbeats I was three blocks away. In five heartbeats I was halfway through the city wharves and weaving between the crates. I just had to keep up the speed long enough to hit the forest edge.

Luck was not on my side. My eyes widened as a hoof shot out from between the crates, snatching me into the air.

"You and I, my little friend, are going to…talk."

Black Adam looked the filly over and shook his head.

All I could see was a scared street kid. This was no crooked cop or corrupt noble. This was some foal stealing for food. Steeling to survive. I sighed in resignation. 'Could anything be easy for me? Anything at all?'

Having made up my mind I shot upward, climbing until the city looked like a toy. I flipped the kid around to face me and pointed a hoof at Wharfton.

"They look like little ants from up here don't they?"

The kid shook herself out of her daze.

"W what?"

"The ponies. Look like ants don't they?"

I flip the kid upside down for a better view. She screamed.

"ANTS! Ants, yes they do! You're right, you're absolutely right!"

I smiled, I knew I was going to go to hell for this, but I thought the scared straight program might work on this kid.

"So, would you like to give me back those things you stole from me? If you do, I'll let you go."

Then the kid surprised me.

"No, no need to let me go. I'll do anything you say if you Don't let me go. Don't let go. I'll give you anything."

I wasn't planning the old, 'Agree to let then go then drop them, skit.' I honestly didn't think of it, but I would keep it in mind for next time.

"Smart filly. You'll have a long and successful life. Now give me my things." I said while slowly dropping altitude.

The kid gulped, "I, I don't have them. The guard took them from me when I got cornered. They're in that alley."

I nodded and dropped at elevator speeds back down to ground level then walked us back to the alleyway.

As we walked I watched the filly glancing at my back.

"Is there something the matter?"

She flinched, "N no…yes, kind of. How can you fly with no wings? You're not a pegasus, so how?"

I give her a serious expression. "I eat a lot of beans."

"What? But that just gives you gas."

"A lot of beans."

The kid stops.

"it doesn't work that way!"

Smart kid. I stifle a smile.

"Look Kid, anypony can fly. You just have to know the secret, that's all."

I can see the gears turning in the troublemaker's head.

"So what's the secret?" She asks.

I stop and glance at her.

I stoop down and hoof up some dirt, then let it sift out of my grip as I talk.

"The secret is in the ground. It was always in the ground this whole time. Nopony ever noticed."

I watch as the kid closely examines the dirt.

"But how?"

"Flight is simple. It's all about the ground. You avoid it."

I Deadpan.

"You fling yourself at the ground as hard as you can … then miss." I stifle a grin as the kid gives me a look.

She hoofs the bridge of her muzzle.

"Your so full of manure your eyes are brown," she says with a huff crossing her arms.

"Ok, I'll prove it."

I walk over to a crate and step up onto it.

"Watch closely. The trick is, to miss. You have to miss."

The filly gives me a deadpan look.

"I …miss…I have to miss…the ground, seriously?"

So I prove it. I fling myself dramatically toward the ground and swoop up into a hover. The fillies mouth drops open.

"Now you try it."

I watch as the kid heads toward the crate looking very confused. I stop her.

"No, not that one, it's too short, that's for advanced flyers. Try that one, it's much taller." I say, pointing a hoof at a pyramid of crates nearby.

"Isn't taller more dangerous?" she asks.

Smart kid, I'm starting to like her.

"Nope, it's easier. More time to fall so it's easier to miss."

I watch as the kid crawls to the top and looks over at the ground with a dubious expression.

She looks at me like this is the dumbest thing she's done. I smile and nod encouragingly at her.

She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, leans forward, and face plants into the ground.

She's smart…But not too smart.

I grin, 'That's what you get for stealing from me."

We get to the alleyway and trot inside. As my eyes adjust to the gloom I suddenly stop. The kid, who is on my back with a sprained foreleg stops swearing and looks around. Her ears fold back as she takes in the scene.

I walk forward, my eye twitching. The kid slides off my back and limps forward to inspect things herself. She turns to say something but stops, having noticed my violently twitching eye.

The guards are naked. There is no armor. There are no helmets, there are no weapons. There are no coin purses. The bodies were stripped bare.

I hear a voice, and my attention snaps to the kid.

Her ears slowly flatten as she sees my face. Her sentence running out of steam.

"They even stole the, san,dwi,ch .. urm. heh, oh." As she slowly went silent.

I close my eyes and count to five.

"Where?"

"Um where?"

"Yes, where. Where are they?"

The kid is backing up at this point.

She looks around, "They?"

"Foals your age don't work alone. You are part of a crew or a family. Most likely other foals like you working together. Protection in numbers, led by an older kid or an adult."

I look at her.

"So where are they?"

She looks confused.

"How do you know that?"

"I've read 'Enders Shadow', and 'Oliver Twist' I know how this works."

"Wait, what?"

I clear my throat, "Never mind, that." I stalk toward her. "You and I are going for a visit."

"But, what about your son?" She says in desperation.

"Who?"

"The other colt you were with."

I smile, "He'll be fine."

"He is just a colt, shouldn't be alone." She tried, Smile wilting.

"Hearts can take care of himself."

'WAKE UP!'

'WAKE UP!'

'Hearts, you need to wake UP!'

I stirred, 'The voice? My foal? No. Maybe? Whaz, where am I?'

Then as the world slowly came into focus, and I seriously wish that it hadn't. My body was a mass of pain. I tried turning my head and the movement caught my breath. I felt bones shift in my ribs. I tried to say something, but as my tongue moved to form the letters, I felt spaces. My eyes widened. I had spaces where my teeth should be.

I felt fear. I'm hurt bad. I'm hurt really bad and I'm in trouble. I started to sniffle. I hated being helpless. I was shaking and I was starting to panic. The fear and helplessness washed over me and I lost it for a while. I'm not sure if I lost consciousness, or if I blanked out but after what could have been days, I woke up again.

When consciousness came back I felt a little better. The pain was less now, and I could move a bit more easily. I took stock of my body. My ribs were sore but healing, and my teeth seemed to be slowly growing back. It seemed like somepony had taken me to a barber or a surgeon. I tried to sit up but failed as the pain hit. I was bedbound. As I cursed my luck a sound caught my attention.

I saw a young colt who had been sitting by my bed. He put down his knitting and began to leave the room. In a panic, I called out.

"H, hey. Don't go!"

He stopped and gave me a pitying look.

"Where am I? Wha, What happened?"

I slowly tried to clear my head.

"I, I can't remember."

He oddly pursed his lips, then spoke.

"You were attacked hon. The Sur took you into our brothel. We've been patching you up."

My head was killing me but I had to speak.

"I had friends. Adam. He, he is an older stallion."

I was dizzy now.

"He, he is my brother. I, I need him."

I shook my head. “And Jeromy. I need Jeromy.”

The colt just smiled sadly at me.

"Lady Fleur wants to speak to you."

He said as he walked out.

I took in my surroundings. It was a small room and strangely barren. There were no dressers or wardrobes. The bedroom only contained a bed, a washstand, a wastebasket, and a side table with a lamp. The lamp's light was red, painting the room in an odd hue. I was not in a livable bedroom, but then, where was I?

After a few minutes, a set of hoofbeats could be heard coming in my direction. Then after a pause, the door opened and a tall white unicorn strode in. She was a handsome mare. Well built with a golden mane and a haughty air about her. As I looked her over, I could see that she wore real jewels.

I realized that I had been looking her over and tried to hide my blush. I could tell by her predatory smile that she had caught me looking. She circled the bed and looked me over. There was something in her expression that was giving me chills. The more I looked at this mare, the more uneasy I began to feel. I needed Jeromy.

Then she spoke.

"Hearts Obsession."

She ran her hoof along the bedding.

"Took an axe."

She smiled at me.

"Isn't that how the rhyme goes? The new one that all the colts are using with their jump ropes?"

She yanked the sheets off me and started looking me over. My teeth grit and my eyes squeezed shut.

"How does it go again? Oh, come on now, I'm sure you know it."

Her hoof slid along my side.

"Ah yes. I remember now."

"Hearts Ob-ses-sion took an axe!"

"Gave his mo-ther four-ty whacks!"

" And when he saw what-he-had-done!"

" He gave his si-re forty one!"

She ran a kerchief under her nose like she found a bad smell.

'Personally, I think it's dreadful. Far too dark for a colts rhyme. Luckily I can bring an end to such a tasteless little poem."

Her grin turned feral, displaying her fangs.

"Don't you agree, my little, golden, goose?"

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay

I hope the wait is worth it.

Monk

The United states isn't unique in the world when it comes to murders and murderers. But in the past, especially in more rural areas, murder was almost unheard of. And so we come to one of Americas most imfimous crimes. The Borden Murders.

Most in modern times learn about this old tragedy from the jump rope rhyme.

Lizzie Borden took an axe.
Gave her mother forty whacks.
When she saw what she had done.
Gave her father forty one.

Basically, back in 1892, A wealthy but not rich family was found extremely brutally murdered in their home. This happened in Fall River, Massachusetts, a textile mill town 50 miles south of Boston. The bodies were found by Lizzies sister. The weapon, an axe, was never found and is believed to be at the bottom of the water well on the property. And while everyone on the planet at that time believed that Lizzy was guilty of the murders, no one could convict her of it. At the time, no one could believe such a soft spoken and innocent looking girl could do such a thing. Lizzy was well schooled, well spoken, polite, and extremely friendly. In the end, she was never convicted, although she spent the rest of her short life being treated as an outcast. Much like how Zecora was treated by ponyville.

If you like reading about clever and devious 1800s American murderers, study up on H.H. Holmes and his mechanical murder hotel. He took advantage of the huge worlds fair that was taking place in his city. Killing many travelers from the US and abroad who came to see the "Once in a lifetime event.

History is fascinating stuff