Uneasy Lies the Head

It was a normal, uneventful day in Personable Pete's Ponyville Pawn. Pete stood behind the counter, watching the objects in his store do nothing. Hour after hour, they sat and waited to be purchased. Occasionally a pony would come in an examine an oar on the wall, or maybe the ship in the bottle over on the far side of the counter.

It was well into the afternoon and Pete had reached a full understanding that today was simply not going anywhere. Fate had decreed that, on this day, he would not make any money. Not a single bit would go into that register. It was an awful feeling. Perhaps it was his big, grey mustache. Nopony ever liked Pete's big, grey mustache but Pete. Pete had a suspicion his wife had left him because of his mustache.

Just as Pete laid his head upon his hoof, lazily watching the store and continuing to consider his depressing disposition, the door pushed open and a small bell atop it jangled loudly. In walked a small pink filly just out of school, he assumed. She was carrying a small bag in her mouth, and he leaned forward to see a small object weighing it down from the inside. A bit! She had a bit in the bag! She was coming to spend money! Fantastic!

Pete straightened himself up and adjusted his collar, waiting for her to make her decision. Little fillies and colts loved to spend money, they just couldn't hold on to it, and she was eyeing that wooden wagon wheel pretty hard. This was Pete's time to shine. He knew he could sell it to her. That was his job. That was his passion.

He rounded the counter and began to make his way to her, when suddenly the door opened again. She brought friends!

Pete turned towards the door to see the local librarian walking towards him.

"Oh. Twilight Sparkle, good day to you. Come to see the new books?"

Twilight smiled and stepped once more towards him.

"Oh, no, I was just stopping in to let you know that we're currently on the lookout for a particular piece of jewelry. Nopony has turned in a sort of crown, or tiara, lately... have they?" She giggled. "I know it sounds kind of peculiar, so I'm sure you'd know if you'd seen it. It's been missing since yesterday morning."

Pete scratched at his chin and then dropped his hoof back to the floor. "I'm pretty sure I've not seen any crowns lately," he chuckled, "but I'll let you know if a strange thing like that happens to find its way in here."

Twilight smiled and sweetly added, "Thanks, Pete. Your help is always greatly appreciated. It's a sort of golden crown with a small, diamond shaped purple gem in the crest of it."

Sunny Day almost gagged on the bag sticking out of her mouth. Her purple gem? She had stolen someone else's property! What was she going to do? She couldn't just- No. No, wait, this was her gem, now. She found it in the garbage; that means somepony didn't want it, and she did. They gave it away, and she took it. It was her gem, now.

She shook her head lightly as she thought. She didn't really believe that, though. This gem belonged to somepony else; she couldn't just claim it for herself. Oh, but what about the money it could make her? This was such a beautiful gem! She couldn't just hand it away and go back to her poor life. What about her house? What about her family?

She jumped and turned around quickly when she felt a touch to her shoulder. She looked back into the eyes of the smiling, purple pony looking back at her.

"Hi! Looking for something to spend some bits on? I know just the thing, and I bet Pete here will even give you a discount since you're with me; won't you, Pete?." Twilight looked at Pete, then turned back to Sunny, smiled, and patted the filly's head. Every touch by her hoof made Sunny flinch, and each one prompted a thought from her head.

Pat

I stole your gem.

Pat

I'm so sorry

Pat

-but you can't have it back.

Twilight let out another giggle and then followed with, "Don't look so worried; I promise I don't bite! I bet Pete's got just the perfect book for a little, growing pony like you."

Each word that came out of her mouth was punctuated by the lights above drawing the shadows deeper and deeper over her face as she leaned in. Sunny's breath continuously got heavier, and one of the gasps caused her to drop the bag to the floor. It hit the ground and Twilight leaned down and picked it up with her mouth.

Just then, another blue pony entered into the room.

"You can't make every little filly into a reader, Twilight, I mean come on. Some of us have better things to do than read all day." She sarcastically drew out the word 'read,' and then winked at the little filly who had looked over at her, mortified.

Twilight's words were a bit muffled with the sack in her mouth. "Thath's whuth you thaid about yourthelf buhfore, too."

The blue pony hung her head at the remark a bit, and said, "Uh, yeah... But still, she wants to play, not read silly old books all day long. She should buy a ball. Don't you think, sport?" She looked hopefully at Sunny.

Sunny Day, however, was staring at the bag dangling from Twilight's mouth. She had to retrieve it, but she had absolutely no idea what to say or do, so she continued watching it swing, hanging down, waiting. It swung back and forth, back and forth, like the "Great, Great" grandfather clock a merchant had tried to sell to her the other day in the Ponyville market square.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Slump.

It hit the ground and Sunny continued staring at it, speechless.

Twilight looked up at her with another smile, and gently continued, "How many bits did you bring with you, sweetie?" She reached with her front hoof and started to pull at the lacing on the bag. Sunny immediately grabbed the bag out from under her hoof with her mouth and quickly rattled off the words blowing through her mind at break-neck speed.

"I'm sorry I just remembered I have to be somewhere right now because my teacher wants me to do my home-pie and my mom is making apple-work and I need to go bye!"

She turned and ran as fast as she could through the blue pony's legs, brushed against her unusually colored tail, then bounded off the steps. Another pony, just on her way up, greeted her.  "Howdy pardn- what...? Where are you goin', you silly little pony?"

Sunny didn't look back to see what she wanted. She knew they were chasing her. She knew they were going to catch her at any minute, hold her down, take their gem,  and carry her back to the orphanage. She'd get adopted by a mean old pony with nothing at her house but old books filled with her family photographs. And she'd have to look at them all day, every day, because the old mare would forget that they just looked at them, and she would have to eat applesauce all the time and never have any real food because the old mare who adopted her would never know how to make anything and the only things she’d be allowed to eat without her teeth in was applesauce.

She ran, and ran. She turned into an alley, then galloped across the street into another until she was so out of breath, she couldn't run anymore. Eventually she stopped, panting, her head hung in both exasperation and shame. She dropped the little bag on the ground and stared at it, then kicked it with her front hoof. What a piece of crud. A stolen piece of crud. A stolen, beautiful piece of complete crud, and now...

She had to figure out how to get rid of it.