It was about half an hour before midnight, most of the guards were taking a quick break, so the only active guards were Vigilance and a few of the newer guards, though they were all stationed out on the perimeter, making him the only guard in the Royal Museum. This wasn’t protocol, and he figured this was a kind of hazing ritual for new guards to prove their worth, though if he had to prove himself with this, he’d be happy to do so. He moved from hall to hall, passing several artifacts, any item in this museum would be enough to set someone up for at least three generation. Though it took a special kind of creativity to rob a museum one that most thieves thankfully didn’t have. As he walked past one of the larger halls, he froze perking up a bit.
His gut was telling him that something wasn’t right. He looked round nothing was out of place, then he noticed a small window had been opened. What was worse, there hadn’t been any alarms to indicate that this window was open, nor had it been when he had gone past it two hours before. He was sure of it. As he walked over to investigate, he froze when passing a mirror. The helmet of every guard was enchanted to change their appearance to a completely uniform color and form, but the face that caught his eye when passing the mirror wasn’t the white of royal guard, but was that of his true purple coat and white mane.
“That explains why the alarm didn’t’ go off, but damnit.” He hissed under his breath. To get the other guards, he would have to leave the building entirely and go across the grounds. Unless whoever had broken in had overestimated the scope of their shutoff spell. Which wasn’t something he could count on, so alone and with a thief in the building he choice instead to do what he could to get them. He turned and ran down the halls checking each room as he ran by.
“Got you!” He glared at the bat pony, a mare his age, was standing stiff as stone being caught red handed with a museum artifact, an emerald from a dragon’s hoard that was easily the size of his hoof. “Put the gem down, and get on the floor you’re under arrest.”
“Sorry guard boy, but I didn’t come all this way just to get thrown into a slammer. Nice try though.” She smirked throwing down a small ball that erupted filling the room with smoke. The next thing that he knew he was being rammed into with enough force to throw him and the bat mare into the hall. By, the time he got his breath again she was galloping down the hall back toward the open window. On instinct he gave chase. Vigilance caught her, tackling her to the ground just as they reached the room with the open window. After a brief struggle she was pinned underneath him.
“Like I said,” He grunted as she continued to struggle. “You’re under arrest.” He struggled to keep her on the ground a hoof firmly on her back as he tried to get his rope. She grunted before in one fluid motion shifted her weight enough for a hind hoof to sweep under his. Already being off balance Vigilance fell to the ground.
“Sorry guard colt, but I was always going to win this. One look at my flank is enough to see that. Don’t worry big guy you’ll be admiring my flank at a distance. It’s not for you. Though, it’s still a nice view, and the last one you’re ever going to see of me.” She smirked back away tossing a small ball to the ground as Vigilance already back up was closing in on her. He paused taken off balance a second time.
“Lar?” It was the thief’s turn to be thrown off balance as her eyes flashed with recognition the room grew brighter as the small marble began to light up.
“Vigilance, I-I’m sorry.” She turned her head covering her eye as the room lit up like a beacon. He was completely blinded by the light and by the time he could see again he was surrounded by his superiors. He told them everything, everything except her name and that he knew her. For something like this they had to wake and inform the captain of the guard. And then give their report. Vigilance told the captain everything including why he had been the only one in the museum. His superiors however gave a completely different accounting of events. One that covered their own asses while throwing his into the fire. After the first one gave their report the others fell in line. Any protest from him was cut off immediately. And the captain of the guard was fuming. He was ordered to go home immediately, and he was to leave his armor with there. It had happened so fast he hadn’t known what to think or how to process it. He walked home in a complete stupor.
Vigilance closed the door to his small house and fell onto his couch not bothering to turn on the lights. Then he got that strange feeling again, and he looked around pulling the cord to turn on his inn table lamp. His eye narrowed spotting the source of the feeling almost instantly. “You broke into my house. Here to rob me?”
“No, I-I’m here to say sorry. You probably got in some trouble for being on shift when I robbed the place.” Larceny answered looking down at the floor. “But I had to do it. It was an offer to good to pass up.”
“Good luck trying to sell it. Every jewel cutter in Canterlot even Equestria will know that it’s been stolen before lunch tomorrow.” He said spitefully not even getting up from the couch. “How’s it feel, to have a fortune and know that you’ll never be able to spend it Flying Rat?” She pulled back at the slur, and deep down somewhere he hated himself for calling her that. The last time he’d heard somebody call her that, he had broken the filly’s nose for calling her that. But that had been a long time ago and at the moment he hated her more.
“I don’t have it. I gave it to the buyer before I was even off of Palace grounds.” That piqued his interest but he wasn’t a guard anymore so what did it matter. “I-I wanted to tell you why I did it, I swear I didn’t know that it was you.” Something inside of him snapped.
“You didn’t know!” He jumped off the couch and came within five feet from her. “Didn’t know ever see my cutie mark? Guarding ponies and things is my special talent! What I’m meant for, and that’s gone now!”
“No, I didn’t know!” She countered making him step back a bit as tears were streaking down her cheeks. “I didn’t know because you never wrote back! After all the moves my mom and dad did, I always sent you and Borealis letters! But he moved away too, and no matter how many letters I sent you never answered! Never once!” She was sobbing now, and a bolt of guilt shot through his heart. “There weren’t any crusaders in the colonies, they never gave me the time of day, I never fit in anywhere! And one of my best friends! The one pony in all the world I wanted to be with most since the day I met him never wrote back! The pony I loved never wrote back!” His eyes went wide. “Never cared! All of this-I did-did to just g-et a house here-in Canterlot, near you.” She broke down. He had lost his job, and now he was losing his friend.
“Yeah! Well!” He tried to think of anything to be mad at her about but each sob felt like another knife to his chest. “I’m sorry!” He pulled her into a hug. She continued sobbing into his chest. “I-I was a stupid colt. I should have written. I’m sorry for calling you a flying rat. I’m sorry you felt like I never cared. I always thought we’d be together, and when you left, it was never the same. I’m sorry.” He held her close. “You can stay with me tonight, want some food?”
“Y-yes please.” She said. “You’re, you’re not mad at me anymore?”
“Only if you’re not mad at me anymore.” Vigilance said lifting her head to look at him. She leaned up and kissed him. She pulled back smiling.
“You have cuties now. I remember when that was all it took to beat you in an argument.” She smiled wiping away some more tears. He gave her a smile before grabbing her and throwing her onto his couch. She squeaked before he was on top of her pushing her into the cushions kissing her. Her face became red as his tongue pushed into her mouth and brushed against the roof of her mouth. After a few seconds that could have been hours, he pulled back and softly wiped the saliva from her lips.
“I’ve gotten a lot better at debating, so if you want to beat me in an argument again, you’re going to have to up your game.” He laughed as he looked up at him with star struck eyes and a blush that covered her entire face. “You want noodles?”
“Y-y-eah.” She nodded in a daze. Vigilance went to his pantry and pulled out two of the hundreds of instant noodle packets, and turned on the tap filling up a pan.
“So, are you going to get up and eat in the kitchen or on the couch?” He asked as he put the pan on the stove and dumped the noodles in.”
“Yeah.” He laughed.
“That’s not exactly an answer to the question I aksed.” He walked back over to the couch; she was still laying there were he put her.
“Y-you kissed me. That was the first time you kissed me.”
“I had to do something to make it up to you for making you cry, and the slur, and not writing you back so were fair and square now right?”
“Not even close it’ll take a lot more than one kiss to make up for all those missed letters.”
“Is that so?” He asked leaning over her. “I’m going to make sure that we’re fair and square tonight. I can do a lot more than just kiss you.” She licked her lips. “After dinner we’ll go to bad, oh that reminds me. I don’t have a guest bedroom guess you’ll have to sleep with me in my bed.” He whispered into her ear as his hoof trailed softly around the edge of her other ear. “Well I say sleep, not sure we’ll be getting any of that tonight.” She gulped as she squirmed on the couch.
“Eee.” She squeaked as he leaned down a gave her a small peck on the cheek. Before going back over to tend to the noodles and make sure they didn’t burn. Within a quarter of an hour the two of them were sitting side by side in his living room eating their noodles in quiet anticipation of what was to come. Despite Vigilances bravado from earlier he couldn’t help but giving the mare next to him nervous looks. She was still in her cat burglar outfit but it didn’t leave much of anything to the imagination. Form fitting it followed the curves of her body well. He couldn’t help but feel a bit worked up when the both placed their empty bowls on his coffee table before he led her to his room.
“Take that suit off,” he said, and she quickly obeyed. He watched her undress as she gave him a bit of a striptease, before going all the way. Within a minute she stood naked in front of him. This time though it felt a lot more intimate now. He looked over her and she returned his gaze. “Ready.”
“Of course, I am. Ar-“ Was all she got out before he looked lips with her again. This time it did last several minutes as he guided her to his bed and pulled her into his embrace. One of his hooves followed middle of her back, while the other danced idly round her cutie mark. When they finally pulled apart her wings were flared out as was, he.
“I’m about to make up for a lot of lost time.” He smiled leaning in and softly kissing her neck.
“You finally caught on; took you long enough slow poke.” She gasped as a hoof gently glided of the leathery part of her wing. “Well quit wasting time and get started you have a lot of missed letters to make up for.”
Larceny lay curled up in Vigilance’s embrace. The sun would be coming up any minute now. Not that they cared he softly moved a stand of her mane back into place. “I love. I guess, I was scared that you were going to forget and make new friends when you left, that eventually the letters would stop coming and I’d know that was when I’d lost you as a friend,” he said pulling her a bit closer. “But I always cared.”
"You were right. You were a stupid colt.” She kissed his shoulder, the first thing that she could reach. “If I close my eyes you aren’t going to arrest me, are you?”
“I have to be a member of the guard to do that. You won’t rob me if I close my eyes, will you?” His hoof idly ran up and down her side.
“What do you mean you are a guard?” He gave her a sad laugh. “You are, you were the only one on duty just because you didn’t catch me doesn’t mean that they can just fire you.”
“I wasn’t the only one on duty just the only one on patrol, when I was taken to the Captain of the Guard, I told him what happened, minus your name and that I knew you. But the others they told a different story. It was my word against theirs. They won I got fired.” He explained with an empty voice, equal parts tired and upset.
“That’s not right.”
“You don’t have to explain that to me. It’s the Captain of the Guard you have to convince,” he said drifting off to sleep. When he woke up it was noon and he was alone in his bed, he groaned as he slid out of bed. “What a dream.” He walked to his bedroom door until he got to her Larceny’s cloths laying on the floor. “Wait that wasn’t a dream. Hey Lar, where are you?” He called walking down stairs. He checked the kitchen, then the bathroom before recalling what he said to her just before he went under. “No! She didn’t!” He went outside and nearly tripped on the morning paper. His blood went cold, and he felt his heart sink into his stomach. There on the front page was her face plastered on the middle. ‘Jewel Thief Steals Priceless Emerald Then Boldly Tells Celestia To Her Face That She Did It!” He just finished reading the headline before bolting down the street. “Stupid. Stupid! Stupid!”
He was out of breath by the time he got to the palace, avoid the guards he ran right into Celestia’s thrown room, protocol and consequences be damned. “You’re Majesties she didn’t-didn’t mean any of it!” He said between panted breaths.
“Oh, were you pulling our leg Larceny?” Celestia asked the bat pony who sat between her and Luna.
“Nope I meant every word.” She gave a small bow. “Anyways that’s the end of my report, so I guess job complete. I’m speeding some very, very over do quality time with my coltfriend so you know where to find me, but please don’t find me.”
“Report. Job. Wait what?” He asked still trying to catch his breath.
“We believe our sister should answer this. As for thou we can not believe that you are so out of breath. Surely the walk from thine home to here is not a challenge. He was not this tired last night. Larceny thou must train thine stallion’s endurance.” Both Larceny and Vigilance’s face went slightly red at hearing one of the Princess talk so casually about their activities. Larceny mumbled something of a reply that nobody could hear or understand.
“That aside, I wanted to test the readiness and diligence of my guards, and I just happened to remember that there were three little foals that snuck into my room one night with scissors, and gave me a rather, unique mane style.” She smiled as they both blushed and mumbled their apologies for that failed cutie mark attempt. “But one is now a in the Crystal Empire and wouldn’t be available for several months, and the other was already a guard. That left just one.” She looked to Larceny. “A little pony who without her friends had lost her way. She locked eyes with Vigilance. “Now you report to me what did you learn about friendship.” He gulped being put on the spot and just said the first thing that came to mind.
“That you should never purposely lose touch with your friends, and it’s never to late to rebuild old friendships.” She nodded at that.
“Very good, now you may both go, oh and Vigilance. I’m not sure what my Captain of the Guards said to you, but you are expected to be at your post bright and early at the start of next month, until then enjoy your vacation.”
“Thank you, princesses.” He bowed as he and Larceny made their way out and back to his place.
