The City of Gardens and Cages
The Heart Thief
by Sharaloth
They called it the City of Gardens and Cages. The home of the Tyrant and the center of her dominion, spoken of only in hushed whispers and nervous glances. Those few merchants brave enough to travel to it refused to speak of what they found there in all but the broadest of terms. When the city came into view as Steady Hoof walked the long-disused rail line that had once connected the Heartland to the East, he could see just how appropriate that name was.
The city was a forest. Trees of every shape and size reached up between buildings that were themselves verdant with ivy and moss. Plants adorned every roof and balcony, spreading leafy branches out to cover the sky in a canopy of green. Berries and fruit hung from branches and vines that twisted over and around both natural and pony-made landscapes, and while it was the same stunted, discolored crop that grew in the Heartland, here it grew in abundance.
The works of ponies were completely integrated into this urban jungle. Bridges hung across the streets, strung from branch to branch of the mighty trees, connecting buildings together in suspended pathways. Fences of every conceivable variety surrounded the places individual ponies had taken to cultivate as their own. The result was that the city looked not like one single forest, but a thousand gardens built around and on top of each other.
Then there were the cages. They were invisible at first, blended against the background foliage and lost among the many fenced grounds. Once he saw them, though, Steady had to force himself to take his eyes away. They hung from branches, jutted from walls, or simply sat amidst flowers and grass. Cages of metal, cages of wood, cages of stone, and cages of bone. Most were empty, their doors standing wide. Some were not, and the ponies within watched the world outside with haunted, dead eyes.
Everywhere he looked there were animals. He could see birds of every color and shape flitting through the canopy. He spotted families of squirrels climbing up and down the trees. A wolf stalked through the brush, a bloody rabbit in its jaws. A colony of rats swarmed over an unidentifiable something in one of the cages; Steady did not linger to discover what it was.
Steady Hoof walked into the City of Gardens and Cages and hoped he had made the right choice. Not that he’d been given much of one. His friends caught, his name and mark known, the Sorceress’ domain was closed to him. The North and South were wild and lawless, where a thief like him needed civilization to thrive, and he didn’t have the wings to make a life in the Tempest’s realm. That left the Tyrant’s city, and the hope that all the stories told of it were exaggerations.
As he made his way inward from the edges of the city, he began to see overt signs of the Tyrant’s rule. Banners of gold, pink and blue fluttered in the breeze that blew between the tall buildings, proclaiming the justice and compassion of the city’s master. ‘Love Her’ one said. ‘She Watches’ another declared. ‘Obey Her’, ‘She Cares’, each demand accompanied by an assurance of the Tyrant’s omniscient benevolence, all done in bright pastel colors that were shocking against the green and brown foliage of the city.
Guards in concealing armor walked the streets in rigid formation, other ponies scrambling to get out of their way as they passed. They carried simple wooden clubs instead of the spears and blades he was used to seeing in the Heartland, but they looked no less deadly for the lack of points and edges. The helmets they wore were made of curved bars of metal crossed into a mesh that covered their heads, cages that turned the ponies within into faceless oppressors.
Steady avoided those guards, keeping near the buildings and taking cover in the shadows. Once they were out of sight he went back to his slow walk into the center of the city, watching the citizens of the Tyrant’s metropolis. What he saw were mostly easy marks. In the Heartland ponies always guarded their possessions carefully, wary of the many forces which sought to take them. Here the ponies displayed their wealth openly. They carried pouches full of gold, hung casually beside saddlebags or from strings around necks. They wore clothes of ostentatious color, and wore jewelry that sparkled in the green light that filtered through the canopy. With trees and bushes and hanging vines everywhere it was all too easy to disappear and steal unseen. By the time he was entering the city center he’d stolen more than enough to set himself up in this new place.
It seemed like a thief’s paradise, and so Steady Hoof watched even more closely for the trap that must be waiting for the unwary.
A shout caught his attention. He turned towards the source of the noise and saw a blue earth pony stallion staggering down the street. The pony turned every few steps to scream at an entourage of small animals following him. The animals were a diverse bunch, squirrels and rabbits next to chipmunks and mice. Every time he moved they followed him. Every time he stopped they did as well, sitting and staring at him with unblinking eyes. When the stallion took more than a few steps without turning back to them one of the animals rushed up to nip at his leg, prompting him to turn and scream at them again. His coat was matted with blood from all the small bites he had taken.
Steady Hoof might have been a thief, but he was also a pony, and compassion ran so deep in ponykind it was nearly genetic. He started towards the stallion, intent on helping however he could, but a hoof on his flank stopped him. He turned, feeling the goosebumps rise all over his body. He hadn’t heard whoever it was come up to him, hadn’t sensed them at all.
The hoof belonged to a dirty, orange pegasus mare with a short-cut purple mane. Her eyes held a wary look, but in their purple depths he recognized the strength that came from weathering all the evils of the world and coming out whole. A rare thing indeed.
She shook her head slowly as he stared at her. “Not a good idea,” she said. Her voice was low and throaty, scratched with a gentle roughness that made her seem younger than her dirty coat and worn mane made her look. “You help him, you’ll end up just like him.”
He glanced back at the stallion, who had stopped in the street to berate his followers with some of the vilest language Steady Hoof knew. He looked around and saw that nopony was moving to help the stallion. Many ponies refused to even look at him, and those that watched did so with tears in their eyes and a tremble in their legs. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“The Tyrant,” the mare replied. “He’s got her angry. I don’t know how, and it doesn’t really matter. This is his punishment.”
“Punishment?” Steady looked pointedly at the small critters still staring at the ranting stallion. “That?”
She gave him a wan smile. “They’ve been following him for days. Every time he ignores them for too long, they take a bite. Every time he sits still for too long, they take a bite. Never enough to kill him, never more than a little sting. Always enough to keep him from sleeping or resting. Always enough to keep him moving.”
“Why?” Steady asked as the stallion’s ranting got louder. “To drive him mad?”
“Maybe,” she shrugged. “Maybe just to be cruel before the end. Once they’re on you, they don’t stop. You can’t escape them, and you can’t leave the city. You just wander and wander until you succumb.”
“Succumb to what?” Steady asked.
Just then a shrill squeak pierced the air. Steady and the orange mare watched as one of the squirrels rushed up to the stallion, nipping at his leg. He reacted in rage and stomped down, crushing the arm of the squirrel when it proved not quick enough to get out of the way. The little creature squeaked and chittered as it scampered back, its crushed arm dragging uselessly on the ground. The stallion watched, eyes wide and wild with fear. "No!" he shouted, pleading with the animals that stared at him. "I didn't mean it! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!"
"Too late," the orange mare sighed, grabbing Steady in her hooves and dragging him back into the concealing brush with a buzz of her wings. Other ponies scattered, running for the buildings or just clearing the street. "If you're squeamish, you're going to want to look away."
Steady didn't look away. He'd witnessed some of the terrible punishments meted out by the Sorceress on his comrades, and he was sure the fury of the Tyrant could be no worse than that.
The other animals all threw back their heads and let out a shrieking cry that brought tears to Steady's eyes as he watched. In moments the street was swarming. Birds flew like a whirlwind around the doomed stallion, pecking and tearing at him. A roar announced the arrival of a huge brown bear which dove into the storm of birds without flinching, vicious claws mauling the stallion as he screamed. More creatures joined in: wolves and foxes, a horde of insects and vermin, even colorful songbirds that had no place in the violent fray. All bore down upon the stallion from every crevice and street and tore him to pieces.
It took longer than it should have. The stallion's screams went on and on, his flailing hooves and wide, terrified eyes visible as he thrashed under the blanket of death that covered him. Finally, after an eternity of agony, he fell still in the street. The carnivores quickly tore chunks of him out before leaving the scene as quickly as they came. Birds flew into the canopy, vanishing in moments. Even the carpet of rats and vermin scattered, rushing back to whatever it was they had been doing before being called to their grisly work.
In the end, all that was left was a bloody heap that couldn't be properly identified as a pony, being slowly dragged by a lone remaining wolf towards a wooden cage that stood open and ready to receive its eternal prisoner.
Steady Hoof swallowed hard. He tried to still his shaking knees, but only succeeded in sitting down. He tore his eyes away from the red-smeared ground and looked back at the orange mare. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and he needed to hold her and have her hold him as badly as he had ever needed food or gold.
"That's what you succumb to," she said, shaking her head. "Rule one: do not hurt the animals. Not ever, not for any reason. The animals are hers, all of them. They watch everything for her, and she always knows when one gets hurt, and who did it." She closed her eyes and muttered something under her breath. Perhaps it was a prayer for the fallen stallion, perhaps it was just a wish that she never share his fate. Either way, Steady could not hear her words, and did not ask.
"Is that why they were hounding him?" Steady asked instead. "Because he hurt an animal?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I doubt it, though. They followed him like that in order to get him to break that rule. Whatever he did to piss her off, it wasn't on any of the official 'thou-shalt-not' lists."
"And if you break those, then?" He gestured towards the remains.
She smirked at him, a smile that did not reach anywhere near her eyes. "Some of 'em. Most just get you put in a cage. I guess they don't do the fancy executions in the Heartland, huh?"
"How did you...?"
She laughed, a bitter sound. "Come on, you've got newbie written all over you." She poked at his side with her hoof. "Skinny, but not starved, so you're not from the South. No mad-prophet jump-at-every-shadow gleam in your eyes so you're not from the North either. No wings, so if you're from the West then you've got way more chops than I figured you for. That leaves the Sorceress's domain."
There was no sense lying about it, so Steady nodded. "Yeah, I'm from there. I just got in today."
"I know," she smirked again. "I've been shadowing you all day. You've got some light hooves, mister." He stiffened. He hadn't spotted her, or anypony, following him. Her smile widened into a grin at his discomfort. "Relax. If I was going to turn you in to the cage-heads I would have done it hours ago."
He let out a heavy breath. "I guess so. Is that what they call the guards around here?"
"Not to their hidden faces," she replied. "And not if you respect the Tyrant's authority even a little bit, which I don't."
"Are they like the Sorceress's Chosen?" he asked, rising to his hooves again. The conversation was helping him gain some mental distance from the brutal scene he had just witnessed, and he was more than thankful to the orange pegasus for that, even if she wasn't doing it for that reason.
"I wouldn't know," she said, turning away from him. "I haven't been to the Heartland since I was a filly, and news doesn't exactly travel well anymore."
"Wait!" he cried. "Don't go yet!" He frantically thought of some way to keep her there. "Why, uh, why were you following me?"
She looked over her shoulder at him, eyebrow raised. "Why do you think?"
It took him a moment to focus on the question and come up with an answer, during which time he just stared at her open mouthed and moronic. "You were... you were casing me. Looking to see what kind of mark I was," he said. It was a gamble, but it was what he would have been doing, and he sensed that he and this pony had much in common.
Her eyes widened a bit. "Not as slow as you look, then," she said with a laughing snort. "There are three types of ponies who come here from the Heartland: merchants, adventurers and refugees. The first two are good targets, the last are good recruits."
"And I'm a recruit," Steady reasoned.
"As I said, you've got light hooves," she replied. "Now, you gonna come with me or am I going to have to drag you everywhere today?"
He trotted up to her, grinning stupidly as she led them through the brush and into an alleyway. "I'm Steady Hoof," he said.
"Scootaloo," she replied.
"That's a beautiful name."
"Suck up," she said, chuckling.
"It is," he insisted. "I mean it."
She gave him a confused look, but shrugged. "Okay. Whatever. Up we go." With a deft grace she reached up and began hauling herself up the side of the building, using the branches of a leaning willow tree growing from its roof like ropes. Steady followed her, finding that climbing was surprisingly easy once he noticed that she was putting her hooves in concealed steps along the side of the wall. Soon they were on the roof of the building, still low as far as the great canopy was concerned, but higher than some of the shorter ground-level trees.
"So you're a thief then, like me?" he asked.
"Heck yeah," she said, smirking again. "Best in the city. Where are you from?"
"Trottingham," he said.
"Get caught?"
"Almost," he said, hesitating. "Thieves who get caught in the Sorceress's domain, well, they don't get to leave."
"Figured," she sighed. "That part’s the same here. You don't get the full treatment if you're caught, but you do get tossed in a cage. Lots of times that's just as bad, especially if you don't have friends willing to risk their own necks getting you out."
"Wait, you said the animals watch for her, right?" he asked, a sinking feeling tightening his stomach.
"Yeah."
"They're everywhere. They had to have seen me today, just like you did."
She laughed. "Don't worry about that. She doesn't give a flying feather if you steal from other ponies, just don't take one little acorn from a squirrel's nest or you're wolf meat."
He relaxed a little at that, but only a little. "She doesn't inform her guards?"
Scootaloo shook her head. "Nope. Doesn't hand out descriptions, doesn't warn targets, doesn't care one whisker. She's got her rules, but thieving isn't on that list."
"What is on that list?"
She laughed again. "That's what I'm here for. You need a guide, somepony who can show you the ropes and give you the rules before you get yourself killed."
"You'd do that for me?" His brain buzzed at the thought of staying with her, being close to her.
"Sure. Assuming, that is, you accept my offer."
"Offer?" he asked, perplexed.
She looked him over. "I've seen your work, and you're good enough to get an invite. I'm part of a little thieves’ club. Nothing super-fancy but we've got our own den and we stick by each other. We keep the cage-heads off each other's backs and work together for big scores. I figure you might fit with us. What's your Talent?"
He shuffled around to show off his cutie mark, a protractor interlaced with a compass. "Engineering, mostly," he said. "I'm good at breaking into places. Mostly burglary and second-story work. I'm really good with locks, but less good with safes and no good at cons."
"How are you at logistics?"
"Decent," he allowed. "Not as good as somepony dedicated to it, but math skills come with my Talent, and that's always good in planning big heists."
She mused over that for a bit, then nodded. "Good enough. Want to join?"
"With all my heart," he replied.
She snorted back laughter. "Okay, Steady Hoof, welcome in. The others will take some time to warm up to you, but they know my judgment's good."
“Scootaloo, I... thanks. For, uh, saving me back there," he said, unable to meet her eyes but unwilling to look away.
“Take it as a lesson,” Scootaloo said. “You’re not in the Heartland anymore. Come on, I’ll show you around.” She leapt up, catching a thick hanging vine in her teeth and swinging across to the adjacent building. Steady Hoof took a moment to wonder why she didn’t just fly, but she was already beckoning him to follow, and he went gladly.
She led him across the rooftops of the city. They crossed bridges and swung between buildings on ropes of twisted vine. They skirted the edges of the walled gardens and walked along the ledges and railings of ever-taller buildings, stopping only for her to point out important buildings or other places of interest. The city was large, much larger than Trottingham, and Steady marveled at the size of the buildings and the way the plants hid everything behind a veil of green.
The skyways were just as populated as the ground-level streets, and sometimes they were forced into complicated and hair-raising dances on the edges of swaying bridges to pass by other ponies. In these times the greatest threat to Steady's safety was Scootaloo herself. Her grace was so entrancing, her poise so perfect that he became lost in it, and barely paid enough attention to what he was doing to keep his footing.
Finally, they came to the top of one of the tallest buildings. It was so tall that its roof poked up above the canopy of the city, allowing them to look out over the vast urban forest. Scootaloo stepped to the edge of the roof, standing in the afternoon sunlight with her eyes closed and a small smile on her face. “This is a good place to come sometimes,” she said. “To think, to just get away for a bit. To remember what the world was like before it all fell apart.”
Steady peeked over the edge. The ground was lost from view, blocked by the trees, but he could imagine the plunge all the same. “It’s a long way down,” he noted.
“It always is,” she breathed, hanging her head. “This is a good place to remember that, too.”
A glinting light caught Steady’s attention, and he looked over to the opposite side of the building from where Scootaloo was standing. He stepped over, careful to stay back from the vertigo-inducing drop, and looked down. Beneath them, covering acres of land, sat a massive greenhouse. It was difficult to see through the glare of the sun on its windows, but it looked like it contained a whole forest under the glass and criss-crossing steel beams. Attached to the greenhouse was a palace, its tall spires and golden domes decorated with animal motifs. It was the only building he’d seen in the city that was free of plants clinging to its walls, and even next to the immense greenhouse it stood out spectacularly because of it.
“That’s her place,” Scootaloo said, coming up to him. “The Tyrant’s palace. She practically never leaves.”
“Really? The Sorceress toured the Heartland all the time.”
“She doesn’t have to. The animals are everywhere, and since they all answer to her, she doesn’t have to shift her hooves one inch if she doesn’t want to.”
“And the greenhouse?”
“Her private forest.”
“What does she do in there?” Steady wondered.
“Don’t know, don’t care. We don’t steal from her palace.”
“One of her rules?”
Scootaloo shook her head. “One of mine. The Tyrant’s too dangerous, too powerful. She should be left alone.”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “Messing with the rulers is never a good idea.” They turned away from the view and back towards the rest of the city. He looked at her, biting his lip, but decided to go for it. “Do you... have anypony special?”
She spat out a laugh, smirking at him. “You don’t waste any time, do you?”
“I was just asking,” he quickly said, backing away a step.
“Pft, whatever. At least you’re upfront about it,” she replied, rolling her eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“Every stallion in the group’s made a pass at me,” she said. “But usually it takes them a while to work up the courage. You got guts, Steady. I like that.”
“Well, then...”
“I like you, but not like that,” she said, holding up a hoof to forestall him. “I don’t talk about it much, but before all this I lived in the Heartland. There was somepony there that I really, well, that I loved. Not like you’re thinking, nothing like that, but loved all the same. This pony made me feel like I could do anything, like I could be anything. They encouraged me and inspired me. I thought... I knew we had something special." The pain that suddenly welled up in her voice choked her off for a second, but she shook it off with a grunt. "Then the world changed, and I learned just how much all of that was worth. I can’t be what you want, Steady. I can be your friend, maybe even a close friend, but nothing more. Do you understand?”
He didn’t, but he nodded. Her voice was harsh and certain, but it was clear how much loss and sadness lay hidden underneath the surface. “I understand."
She let out a held breath. “Okay, glad we got that out of the way before it got awkward. Come on, Steady. Let me show you the rest of the gang.” She leapt from the roof, using her wings to slow her fall as she landed on a bridge leading to a lower building. It was the most he had seen her use her wings the entire time.
He looked down after her, vertigo forgotten as his mind turned inwards and ruminated on the sadness he had seen in her. He was in love with her. He knew it down to the core of his soul, and he would do anything to make her sadness go away. “I won't give up," he promised. "I will win your heart." After all, she had already stolen his.
***
The thieves’ den was hidden underneath one of the many overgrown buildings in the center of the Tyrant's city. There were three entrances, two of them hidden by dense foliage and the third a tunnel from a building across the street. The den had one large common room and half a dozen smaller spaces that were used to store loot or provide private areas to talk or rest. Tables were set up in the main room, and drinks were passed around freely. While the thieves all had their own places to stay, this was where they could come together to share friendship and good company. On a good night a pony could close their eyes in this place and imagine that the world outside had never fallen.
Steady stood nervously in the corner and watched as his beloved laughed. It didn’t matter what she was laughing at, the fact that she was laughing at all filled his heart with joy. It was a rare thing, her laughter. Even here in the thieves’ den, surrounded by friends and comrades and safe from the patrolling guards, laughter was too often in short supply.
In the few months he had been part of this crew of thieves, they had been through both triumph and tragedy. He had worked with them to take treasure from those who had much, and mourned with them as a few of their number who were not quite fast enough were locked into cages and left to die. His skills, honed in the greedy and paranoid Heartland, made short work of the locks and safes of the Tyrant’s city. It did not take long for his place with the crew to be secure. He was one of them. Family. And he had her to thank.
Yet she refused to acknowledge the depth of feeling he held for her. Every overture he made was rebuffed, every gesture of kindness refused. She was not cruel to him, did not crush his heart like another might have. She simply refused him, time and time again.
The more he knew of her, the more his love grew. It was deeper than the ocean now, more sturdy than mountains. He had learned young that the most important things in life had to be fought for, and the only way to surely fail was to stop trying. He would not give up.
So he screwed up his courage and approached her, ready to try again. “Scootaloo,” he said, catching her attention. She was sitting with Lightstep, her unicorn second in command, who rolled his eyes and muttered a curse under his breath as Steady came up to them.
She turned and gave him a weary smile. “Steady. Nice job last night. Glad to see you live up to your name.” The job she was referring to had been a simple burglary, but the guards had made a surprise patrol and nearly caught them. Steady had managed to get the door he was picking open in time to usher all the thieves with him inside and close it before they were caught.
“Thanks,” he said, grinning back at her. “I, uh, got you something,” he reached into his bag and pulled out a glass rose. It was beautifully done, the bloom tinted to be the same color as Scootaloo’s eyes.
She sighed and shook her head. “You really aren’t getting it, are you?”
“I know what you’ve said,” Steady replied. “I know what everypony else thinks. It doesn’t matter. I’m in love with you. Please, take this as proof.”
“No!” Scootaloo snapped, striking out with a hoof. She caught the rose and knocked it to the floor, shattering the delicate sculpture into a thousand pieces. Steady was so surprised by her anger that he stumbled back, falling to his haunches. “Why do you do this?” she asked, exasperated. “Why do you even...” She shook her head, not finishing her thought.
Lightstep leaned over to her. “You can’t let this go on,” he said. “He’s got to stop it, or he’s got to go.”
“I can’t just kick him out,” Scootaloo said, staring down at Steady. “Nopony deserves that.”
“Come on, you don’t want him gone, but he’s just going to keep trying,” Lightstep said. “The only other option you have is to give him a shot, or at least enough of one to make him shut up. Idiots like him need a chance, something to focus on.”
She sighed, then turned back to Steady. “This isn’t going to work,” she told him.
“I will win your heart,” he said. “Whatever it takes.”
“Fine,” Scootaloo snorted. “You know I’m not interested, but I’ll give it a try,” Steady’s smile was so wide and so happy Scootaloo had to look away. “But! I’ll only give it a shot if you prove you’re serious.”
“I'll do anything,” he vowed.
“I mean it,” Scootaloo warned. “You want a shot with me, you’re going to have to go above and beyond.”
“What do you want me to do?” Steady begged. “I’ll do it. I swear.”
“Steal the Tyrant’s heart,” Scootaloo said. The room fell completely silent as the thieves stared at her, disbelief written in every face. “Not... not her literal heart,” she clarified, shrinking a bit under their gaze. “The thing closest to her heart. What she loves most. Bring me that, and you’ll get your chance.”
The room broke out into murmurs as the thieves discussed the challenge Scootaloo had laid at Steady’s hooves. “I’ll do it,” he repeated, getting up. “I will.”
“Sure,” Scootaloo sighed. “Just don’t kill yourself trying, okay?”
“I won’t,” he promised.
She watched him for a long moment before shaking her head. She walked away from the table, taking her drink with her. Lightstep laid a hoof on Steady’s shoulder. “You shouldn’t have pushed her,” he said. “She said no, you should have just taken that as your answer months ago.”
“We’re meant to be,” Steady said. “She’ll see that. I’ll get the Tyrant’s heart, I’ll prove how much I love her.”
“You moron.” Lightstep slapped him lightly across the back of the head. “If it was up to me I’d have you tossed in front of the cage-heads. There used to be laws protecting mares from stallions like you.”
“I’m not some stalker!” Steady snapped, shaking Lightstep off. “I’m not an idiot. I’m in love.”
“She doesn’t want it.”
“She’s miserable,” Steady said, pleading with his fellow thief. “Can’t you see it? She’s miserable and angry and hurt so deeply she won’t let anyone close to her.”
“We’re all hurt,” Lightstep said. “We’re all miserable. The world was good once, and then it changed and nopony made it out happy.”
“Doesn’t she deserve to be?” Steady asked. “Doesn’t she deserve as much happiness as she can get? Don’t we all?” Lightstep opened his mouth to reply, but the words were lost in his throat, and he just shook his head. “I love her, I just want to see her happy.”
“And you think she’ll be happy with you?”
“I have to try.”
Lightstep sighed again. “Whatever you want, this isn’t the way to do it. She’s sent you on a fool’s errand, boy. The Tyrant doesn’t love anything. Everypony knows that.”
“Nopony loves nothing,” Steady said. “Even the most evil and cold-hearted have something close to them, something precious. I’ll find it. I’ll steal the Tyrant's heart and then use it to steal Scootaloo’s. No matter what it takes.”
***
Steady examined the glass beneath him. It was thick and smooth, carefully set into the metal frame that gave the greenhouse shape. The bright, full moon shone on the glass, obscuring the private forest beneath with its reflection. He took one last look around, watching for guard patrols, and set to work.
More than three weeks of planning had gone into this attempt. He’d spent every available moment watching the palace, timing patrols and guard shifts and looking for the best way to get in. It quickly occurred to him that the greenhouse was the most vulnerable part of the palace’s defenses. There were other ways in, but they all required a team and none of the other thieves would work with him on this. So the greenhouse was it.
As night darkened the world he had climbed up the side of the greenhouse, using techniques perfected from years of larceny in Trottingham’s paranoid streets. The size of the glassed-in forest worked in his favor. In a smaller greenhouse his silhouette would have been easily seen against a clear night sky. For this place he could have been a bird or pegasus passing by, nothing that would register with any guard ponies within. He just hoped that the animals weren’t watching; if the Tyrant caught wind of what he was doing she might rethink her hooves-off policy regarding thieves.
With carefully muffled blows he loosened the pane of glass in front of him. Once he had it unseated it came up easily, and he held it open with a prop he’d carved himself specifically for this job. That done, he secured a rope to the metal frame of the greenhouse and lowered himself into the palace.
He had selected his entry point so that the tallest trees would obscure the open glass panel and rope, giving him an escape route and shrinking his chances of being caught by pony guards. As he slid down the rope he realized that the trees also blocked his view of the rest of the greenhouse, denying him the opportunity to see what the patrols inside were like, if there were any at all. Still, he was in, and he wasn’t going to waste the opportunity just because he didn’t know all the little details.
He tied off the bottom of his rope once he reached the ground, making sure that it was concealed enough to be invisible to casual inspection, but visible enough that he could find it again in a hurry if he needed to. Once that was done he crept through the copse of tall trees, looking for a path or other way to get to the palace proper.
He found a path easily enough, the rough dirt trail looking more like something that would be found out in the wild than what he would expect from a large and carefully-cultivated greenhouse. He brushed the thought aside, making his way down the path and thankful that the dirt muffled hoofsteps far better than stone or tile would.
It was his careful and quiet tread that allowed him to hear the guards coming well before they came into view. Steady stepped out of the path and into the dark brush-filled woods, backing several paces from the road before ducking down and becoming as still as the night that shrouded him. Within moments he saw a trio of guards march past. Even in the heart of their mistress's power they wore their full armor and face-concealing helmets. Steady smiled a bit at that. The guards wouldn't be able to see well in this dim light, and the obstruction of their helmets would hide him even further from their eyes.
He held his breath until they were past. They might not be able to see well, but their ears would be keen and any sound out of place could alert them. Even once they were out of sight he waited for a count of twenty, making sure that they were not tricking him, and that there was not a lagging guard. He'd seen traps like that in the Heartland, especially when it came to the Sorceress and her Chosen.
Finally sure that they were past, he stood up. A rustle of leaves to his right made him spin, barely holding in a cry as he dropped into a defensive crouch. For a panicked moment he was sure that the guards had gotten the drop on him and snuck around while he was distracted. When he saw the shining, blue eyes staring out at him from the darkness he knew that this was no guard. They were frightened, those eyes, and brimming with unshed tears. Not the eyes of a threat.
It took a moment for even his dark-adjusted vision to see the rest of the pony in the shadows. She lay curled in a hollow at the base of a tree near where he stood, her tail tucked close to her side. She shook as she watched him, clearly terrified. She didn't look dangerous, she barely looked capable of standing up to a stiff wind. Steady relaxed his guard and stepped closer. The mare pulled further into herself, her wings twitching once with some ghost of a flight reflex before clamping securely against her sides.
As he got closer he could hear her muttering to herself, barely able to make it out even in the quiet of the indoor forest. "Please go away, please go away," she said, over and over again.
"I won't hurt you," Steady assured her, lying down a few feet from her and extending a friendly hoof. She shied away, but didn't scream or run. "I promise, I won't hurt you."
"You're n-n-not a guard," she stammered out, her voice plaintive and small. "You shouldn't be here."
"No, I'm not a guard," Steady admitted. "But I'm not a bad guy."
"Then w-why are you here?" she asked.
Steady opened his mouth to respond, but had to close it when he realized there was no good response to that question. "Okay," he said. "I'm a bit of a bad guy, but not the kind that hurts anypony."
"How do I know that?" she asked, and it seemed like more a question for herself than for him.
"You don't, but it's true," he said. "Look at me." She complied. "I'm not going to hurt you. I've promised, and I always keep my promises."
She stared at him, looking deep into his eyes. He tried to keep his face as open as possible, letting her see his sincerity. Finally, she relaxed. It wasn't much, but enough to let him know that she believed him. "You shouldn't be here," she repeated in a worried whisper.
"It's okay, the guards didn't see me. Or you," he said. "Why are you hiding from them?"
"Me?" She blinked in surprise at the question, then looked down at herself, shocked to find that she was hidden away. "Oh, I didn't realize I was hiding. I'm sorry."
Steady held back a laugh. "What are you sorry for? Did you break in here too?"
"What? Oh, no. I would never be able to do something like that," she said quickly. He believed her. "I live here."
"You live in the palace?"
"Mostly out here, in the forest," she clarified. "I don't like the rest of the palace. It's so cold and gray and scary in there. And that's where all the guards live."
"If you live here, then you must be allowed to be here, right?" She nodded. "Then why were you hiding?"
"Oh! I, um, that is, well, I was frightened."
"Frightened?" he prompted.
"I heard hoofsteps, and I knew somepony was coming and, um, I didn't know who it was. So I got scared and hid here."
This time Steady did laugh, but kept it down to a few quiet chuckles. "Hoofsteps on this ground don't make much sound. You have to be as timid as a mouse to run from that."
"Oh yes!" she agreed, nodding vigorously. "I like mice, they're so cute and cuddly and smart. They always know where to go to hide."
Steady didn't know quite how to respond to that, so he just smiled. "I'm Steady Hoof, what's your name?"
"Oh, um, I'm Fluttershy," she said, hiding her face behind her mane as she said her name.
"Pleased to meet you, Fluttershy," he said, extending a hoof to her. She peeked out of her mane and looked at it, as if worried that he was going to hit her. He pulled back, not wanting to frighten a possible source of information. "What do you do here?"
"I, um, I take care of the animals," she said.
"I thought all the animals answered to the Tyrant," Steady mused.
"Oh, yes they do," Fluttershy said, coming out from behind her mane again. "But that doesn't mean they don't need somepony to take care of them."
"So you work for the Tyrant?"
"Um, well, I don't exactly get paid," she said. Steady's heart went out to her. He'd seen ponies in the Heartland like this. After losing everything and being beaten down time and again, something inside a pony just broke, and they became frightened of everything. Such ponies were easily bullied and terrorized into doing things another might balk at. This was obviously the case here, with Fluttershy a slave to the Tyrant's whims. Such ponies never survived long in the fallen world.
Steady always found that the best thing to do for such ponies was to show them a little kindness. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy," he said. "Being forced to work is never any fun."
"Oh, I'm not forced," she said. "I love all the little creatures, and I love taking care of them."
"But you're kept in here, caged."
"I can, um, I can leave," she said. "It's just..." She shrank back again, shivering. "It's just so scary out there."
"It's alright," Steady said, putting as much understanding into his tone as possible. "You don't have to leave if you don't want to. I won't make you."
She relaxed, uncurling a bit. "I'm sorry," she said. "I know I'm a scaredy-cat."
"Not that much of one," he said. "You're talking to me, after all."
A hesitant smile spread on her face. "I am, aren't I? Oh, this is so daring!"
He chuckled again. "Yes, talking to a thief is pretty daring."
Her eyes went wide. "You're a thief! But, um, I don't have anything to steal!"
"That's alright. I'm not going to steal from you. I'm here to steal from the Tyrant."
She blinked at him, surprised. "That's not a very good idea, if, um, if you don't mind me saying so, that is."
"No, it's okay. Speak your mind."
"Oh, well, she can get angry." Fluttershy shuddered. "Very angry. She hurts ponies when she's angry. Hurts them really badly. So, um, if I were you I wouldn't do anything to make her mad."
Steady nodded. "I know how much she can hurt ponies. I've seen it out in the city. I know the risks."
She bit her lip, frowning slightly at him. "I don't, um, I don't think you do. What are you trying to steal from her?"
"Her heart," Steady said. Fluttershy let out a squeak and curled right back up. Steady snorted out a laugh. "Not her actual, beating heart. I know enough to know that's impossible," Fluttershy relaxed a bit. "I'm in love, Fluttershy."
"With the Tyrant?!" Her head came up incredulously, her voice raised above a whisper for the first time in the conversation.
"No, not with the Tyrant," he said. "With the most wonderful mare in the world. She's beautiful and strong and smart and dynamic, and all the things a stallion could ever want."
"Oh." Fluttershy smiled. "She sounds nice."
"She is," he said. "But she's been hurt. This world, well, you know how scary it can be, how much it can hurt ponies." She nodded. "Well, I think she's seen some of the worst of it, and it's left scars. She's cut herself off from love, hidden her heart away from a world that's hurt her so much. I want to make her see that she can still be loved, and that she can love without being hurt. She's... she's given me a chance, but I have to prove myself first. To do that she's set me a challenge. She wants me to steal the thing closest to the Tyrant's heart, her most beloved possession."
Fluttershy absorbed this, looking down at the ground for a long moment before speaking again. "If it's alright with you, I don't think that's a fair challenge." She looked up, meeting his eyes. "You should probably stop before you get hurt."
"It doesn't have to be fair, or easy, or safe," Steady said. "When I was a colt my parents told me stories of great knights. How they would travel across the world and battle monsters and Dragons to win the hoof of the one they loved. Their challenges were never easy or safe, and rarely fair. I want to be a knight for my lady, I want to show her that even in the fallen world there is hope."
Fluttershy shook her head, smiling at him. "I understand," she said, then rose to her hooves in a graceful unfolding motion. Steady stared, shocked with how tall and beautiful she was. She had managed to curl herself into such a tight ball that he had completely misjudged her proportions. She shook some of the dirt out of her flowing pink mane and stretched her yellow wings. A necklace tight around her throat caught his eye, its central gem in the same butterfly shape that made up her cutie mark.
He rose as well. "I'm glad you do."
"But, um, you'll never make it into the palace to find what you're looking for," she said, then walked past him.
Steady frowned, but turned and kept pace with her. "What do you mean? Where are you going?"
"Oh, uh, I'm going to look after the animals," she said, ducking her head a bit. "I'm sorry, but they really do need to be taken care of. If, um, you don't mind."
"Oh, that's okay," he said as they stepped out into the path. He looked around but found no evidence of another guard patrol coming through. "What do you mean I won't make it?"
"You came in here at night, and I guess most of the guards are asleep, but she isn't," Fluttershy said. "The Tyrant doesn't sleep."
"Ever?" Steady was a little perplexed by this. None of the stories of the Sorceress mentioned that she never slept, and he'd heard so little about the Tyrant's personal habits that he assumed she would be the same.
Fluttershy shook her head. "Not ever. Something happened to her a long time ago, and she doesn't rest anymore. More than that, she always keeps her pets close. Her chambers are full of things she cares about, I’ve seen them when I go to feed the animals she has watching them. But, um, if you go into the palace she'll know, and I don't want to think about what would happen then."
"Horse apples," Steady swore. Fluttershy gave him a disapproving look. "Sorry," he said, smiling sheepishly.
"Um, I forgive you," she said, stepping off the path and through a screening thicket of trees. What they found on the other side brought Steady up short.
The clearing beyond the trees was wide and flat, there were lidded metal tubs around the edges and tables full of what looked like medical supplies scattered throughout. It was also full of animals. Every sort of creature was there: birds, mice, rabbits, wolves, bears and raccoons were only a few of those he could identify at a glance. They looked up as Steady and Fluttershy entered the clearing, their eyes locked on the graceful pegasus as she stepped forward into their midst.
Every one of those animals had been mutilated. Some were missing limbs, others covered in badly-healed scars. Still more had injuries so terrible Steady couldn't look at them for long without feeling like he was going to be sick. A few seemed to be intact, but they lay so perfectly still, with only their breathing to indicate life still remained in them, that he could only imagine the terrible internal injuries at work.
As one they surged towards Fluttershy. They crawled or hopped or limped to her, a mass of damaged animal flesh that made Steady rear back. He thought of grabbing Fluttershy and running, but as the first of the animals reached her he saw it wasn't necessary. They weren't moving in to attack, but to adore. The creatures came to her and licked at her hooves, their expressions filled with such adulation and joy that it was clear even to Steady. Those birds that could still fly flitted about her head, giving her a halo of colorful feathers.
"Hello, little ones," she greeted them with a warm smile, wings extending. "Momma's here."
"What happened to them?" Steady asked, swallowing hard.
"The Tyrant," she answered. She kneeled down and began nuzzling the maimed creatures one by one. For their part they didn't fight for place, each taking their turn with Fluttershy before moving out of the way to let the next critter through. "Sometimes she hurts them," Fluttershy continued. "I look after them. I make sure they don't suffer too much."
"I thought the Tyrant cared for the animals," Steady said.
"She does," Fluttershy said, then sighed. "It's complicated. There are two sides to every coin."
"What does that mean?"
"Exactly what I said," Fluttershy replied, then returned to working with the animals.
Steady watched as she went among them, petting and nuzzling and whispering kind words in their ears. They followed her, but didn't crowd, letting her move and have her space. After she had greeted all the animals personally she went to one of the metal tubs and unlatched it, revealing the animal food that was kept inside. With practiced ease she began to distribute the food to the animals flocking around her. It was surreal, and it was quiet.
"They aren't making sounds," Steady said. "No barks, no yips, no tweets, nothing."
"They know I get frightened of loud noises," Fluttershy said. "And some of them, well, um, the Tyrant made it so they can't make sounds."
"This is horrible," Steady said.
"I know," Fluttershy sighed. She walked over to the animals that hadn't moved. Their eyes tracked her, but their bodies lay still. "These are the worst of them," she said, kneeling and nuzzling a thin bear that weakly tried to lick her in return. "She knows how to hurt you so that you can still feel everything, but can't move. I care for these ones most of all. So much cruelty requires even greater kindness to balance it, don't you think?"
Steady shook his head, his breath coming in short, hitched bursts. "I think this is all wrong," he said. "I'd heard that the Tyrant was worse than the Sorceress, but I didn't believe it until this."
"Do you understand, then?" Fluttershy asked. "Why you shouldn't try to steal from her?"
Steady looked out on the horror in front of him, and at the beautiful pegasus kneeling in the center of it. One bright light in a sea of evil. It was overwhelming. "I... I can't," he stammered out. A bird missing the top half of its beak and most of one wing hopped up to him and gave him a quizzical look. He gagged. He'd thought what he'd seen in the Heartland was the worst of the fallen world. The punishments the Sorceress had meted out to his friends still woke him with nightmares, but her fury had been swift and elegant. This was different. Everything the Tyrant did was bathed in cruelty. "I have to go," he gasped out, then turned and fled.
***
Steady returned to the greenhouse three days later, swallowing his disgust at what he'd seen and screwing up his courage to ask something brave from the most fearful mare he'd ever met. The loose pane of glass was still there, as was the rope he'd used, and he wasted no time in descending to the indoor forest. It was just as quiet as it had been last time, the trees eerie in their stillness. He listened for the guard patrol before heading to the clearing he’d run from last time.
When he got there he found Fluttershy singing to the animals. Her voice was quiet enough that the trees around the clearing muffled it completely, but so beautiful that Steady paused on the edge of the clearing to listen without interrupting. She sang a wordless lullaby, a soothing song of peace and rest that had all of the animals lying down and falling asleep at her hooves. Steady felt his own eyes grow heavy as her song continued, and had to bite his cheek to keep himself awake.
Finally, when all the animals were asleep, she finished her song and looked up to see him standing there. She smiled and waved before carefully picking her way through the sleeping creatures to come to him. “You came back,” she said. “Not, um, that I’m not happy to see you, but you still shouldn’t be here.”
“I can’t give up,” Steady said, carefully looking only at her and not the mutilated animals that slept with the silence of corpses behind her. “Can you understand? I love her, and I can’t give that up, no matter how dangerous it is.”
“Oh.” Fluttershy looked down, frowning. “I don’t think you dying is going to make her happy, though.”
“I know.” Steady took in a heavy breath. This was the hard part. “And you’re right. I’d never make it, not with all her animals watching.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
“I can’t do it,” Steady said, locking eyes with her. “But you can.”
“Me?” Fluttershy flinched back. “Oh no! No-no-no-no-no! I couldn’t!”
“Fluttershy,” he said, stepping closer as she shrank away. “You are allowed in the palace, right? Into her personal chambers?”
“Um, yes?”
“And the animals, her animals, love you, right?” Fluttershy was silent for a long moment before twitching her head in a nod. “You’re allowed to be there. They won’t bother you, and they won’t tell the Tyrant because you’re allowed to be there.”
“It’s too dangerous!” Fluttershy squeaked.
“I know,” Steady said, laying a comforting hoof on the shaking mare. “I know it’s dangerous. I wouldn’t ask you if there were any other way. But there isn’t. Please, Fluttershy. You’re my only hope.”
“I’m too scared!”
“You can be brave, Fluttershy. I know you can!” Steady encouraged. “You already are brave. One of the bravest mares I’ve ever seen.”
“How? How can you think I’m brave?” Fluttershy asked, curling up on the ground until all her grace and beauty was hidden in a ball of yellow and pink fear.
“Look at where you are,” Steady said, sweeping a hoof around the clearing. “You live with this. Day in and day out, under the Tyrant’s hoof. She could do this to you at any time, could do worse. I know strong ponies who’d crack under this kind of pressure. This is the kind of thing that makes others so afraid they can’t leave their houses. This is the kind of thing that makes ponies kill themselves. Yet here you are, helping the animals, caring for them. You don’t think that’s brave?”
“I-I just...” She trailed off, staring into the middle distance for a long moment before speaking again. “Is it really brave?”
“It is,” he confirmed. “You’re afraid, Fluttershy. You have every right to be. But I know from what I see here, and what I see in you. You might be afraid, but you have the strength to fight through it, to get up and do what’s right.”
“I do?” Fluttershy uncurled, eyes wide as his encouragement began to take effect.
“You do,” he confirmed. “And right now I need you to be brave for me, just like you are for all your other friends here.”
“Other?”
“Yeah,” Steady smiled. “I know we’ve only met twice, but I want to be your friend, Fluttershy. Will you be mine?”
“I...” She paused, then got to her hooves and smiled at him. “I would like that.”
“Then we’re friends,” Steady said. “And as a friend, I need your help. Will you help me?”
“I... yes,” Fluttershy said with a determined nod.
“Thank you,” Steady said, grinning widely. “Thank you so much!”
She ducked her head, blushing. “I don’t know what you need, though.”
“Something she cares about,” Steady said, growing serious. “Something that is important to her.”
She frowned as she thought about it. “I, um, I guess there might be one thing.”
“Is it something she cares for? Something precious to her?”
She nodded. “It’s, um, it’s important to her.”
“Can you get it for me?” She looked at him with eyes full of worry. “Can you be brave for me?”
She took a deep breath and flared her wings. “Yes. Yes I can.”
Steady smiled again. “Okay. Now, we’ll have to wait until she’s not there herself.”
“Oh, she’s not there right now,” Fluttershy said.
“She’s out?”
“She’s not in the palace,” Fluttershy confirmed.
“Do you know when she’ll be back?” Steady asked. She answered with a noncommittal shrug. “Then this might be the best time. Can you do it? Can you go now?”
“Yes,” she said, then cringed. “I don’t think my courage will last if I wait anyways.” He chuckled at that and stepped in to give her a quick, reassuring nuzzle. She blinked at him, obviously surprised by his actions, but not shying away. “I’ll get it for you, but I can’t tell you that it’s what is closest to her heart.”
He shook his head. “It’s something she holds dear. That will have to do.”
She nodded, and with a nervous skitter to her step she trotted out of the silent clearing and towards the palace. Steady didn’t follow her, not knowing what guards or other surprises she would pass by. He didn’t want to stay in the clearing, not with all the brutalized animals, but he figured he was safe enough from the guard patrols here that he couldn’t afford to leave. He hunkered down in the bushes around the edge of the clearing and carefully refused to look at the cruel horror all around him.
As he waited he found himself contemplating the timid mare, and made a promise to himself that he would find a way to free her. If that necklace was anything like the stone collars the Chosen of the Sorceress wore, it would allow the Tyrant to locate Fluttershy at any time. Worse yet, there were rumors that the collars of the Chosen could control or kill those who wore them. If this was the same thing, he’d have to find some way around that if he was to have any hope of liberating her from this awful place.
First, though, he would win over Scootaloo. Once that was done he could worry about his next impossible task.
Fluttershy returned nearly twenty minutes later, a metal case dangling from a strap clutched in her mouth. She practically galloped back into the clearing, heaving for breath. Her wings were clenched so tightly to her sides that they trembled from the exertion and her mane was plastered to her face with sweat. Steady jumped up immediately, rushing over to her. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Are you being chased?”
“N-n-no,” she said, shivering as she set the case down. “I was j-just really frightened.”
“But they didn’t stop you? There aren’t guards or bloodthirsty animals coming after us right now?” She shook her head. “Then you did it, Fluttershy! You conquered your fear and you did it!”
She gave him a weak smile. “Yeah, I guess I did.”
He knelt down to examine the case. “Let’s see what we’ve got here,” he said, opening the latch. The case opened to reveal a crystal cylinder within. The cylinder was filled with a liquid that sparkled in the moonlight and let off a gentle silver glow. Suspended in the liquid was an apple. A big, red, juicy apple. Steady’s breath caught in his throat. He remembered apples like that, from so long ago it seemed like a dream. The Druid had taken all the good apples with her when she went to the South, leaving only small, hard yellow things to grow in the orchards. They filled the stomach well enough, but the taste was like sand and they smelled of wet paper. This, this was a real apple. His mouth watered just looking at it.
“It’s beautiful,” Fluttershy said, leaning in close. “I can almost smell it through the crystal. Is this what you wanted? I hope she likes it,” Fluttershy said, ducking her head as her cheeks reddened.
Steady nodded. “I think so. I hope so.”
“So, um, will you come back to see me again?”
Steady smiled and nodded. “I promise, Fluttershy. I’ll be back, and I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me. I’m going to get you out of this place.”
Her eyes widened at that. “Oh, no! You shouldn’t do anything like that.”
“How can I do anything else? Fluttershy, if you’re my friend I have to do something about this. You’ve been living under the Tyrant’s hoof, and you’ve held up so far, but,” he paused, shaking his head. “You’re too gentle for this place. I don’t know how you stand it. How you stand her.”
“She’s, um,” Fluttershy kicked at the dirt, lips pressed tightly as she searched for words. “I don’t mind. She’s no worse to me than any other pony would be. I don’t mind being here and taking care of all my little friends.”
“You should be free,” he insisted
“I’m as free as I could ever be,” she replied.
Knowing he could do nothing to convince her that night, Steady just made his goodbyes and left.
***
The thieves’ den was filled with a reverent hush as Steady lifted the crystal cylinder up for everypony to see. There were gasps as the apple came into view from the watching crowd of thieves. Scootaloo stood on the other side of a table from Steady, and even her eyes went wide at the sight of the crystal cylinder and its contents.
“Is that what I think it is?” Lightstep asked as Steady reverently laid the container down on a table.
“An apple,” Steady said. “A perfect apple. From the personal chambers of the Tyrant herself.” He grinned at Scootaloo, who stared at the apple with a blank expression.
Lightstep’s horn glowed, passing a beam of powder-blue magic through the cylinder. “It’s enchanted, not just for preservation but also for regeneration. As long as you only took a bite or two from this apple every week, it will stay whole and fresh forever.” Awe was clear in the unicorn’s voice, and his hoof shook as he reached out to open the cylinder. Steady stopped him before he could open it.
“A few bites a week,” one of the thieves said. “Who gets first bite?”
“We’ll work out a system,” Lightstep said, blinking away tears. “Take turns.”
“Yeah, but who first?” another voice called out. There were murmurs of agreement.
“Scootaloo,” Steady said, loud and firm. “I stole it for her. It’s hers to do with as she pleases.”
The eyes of every thief in the den went to Scootaloo. “How did you get this?” she asked.
“It wasn’t easy,” Steady replied, unsure how she would respond to hearing that one of the Tyrant’s servants had helped him.
Scootaloo nodded absently and reached for the cylinder. Gingerly she opened it, the nearly invisible latch responding easily to her practiced hooves. The apple immediately rose to the surface of the silvery liquid, bobbing there enticingly.
The smell filled the den, bringing memories of a time before the fallen world to those old enough to have them. There was a sob as one hardened thief broke down into tears, and others barely kept their composure. Steady swallowed hard, feeling his own colthood memories threatening to choke him.
Scootaloo leaned down, her muzzle right above the tantalizing sweetness of the red fruit. She breathed deep, taking in that most nostalgic of scents. “Applebloom,” she whispered.
Then with a cry she slammed the cylinder shut. The apple sunk back to the middle, floating gently in its enchanted bath. Scootaloo shoved the cylinder away from her, eyes wide and wings fluttering.
“What?” Steady asked, shocked at her behavior. “What’s wrong?”
“Of course she doesn’t want it, she doesn’t want anything from Steady!” a thief called. “I call first dibs!”
“You can’t call first!” another shouted back.
There were more cries and shouts as the thieves began to argue about who was to get first bite of that apple. It might have turned into outright fighting had Scootaloo not slammed her hooves down on the table, catching their attention. “Enough!” she roared out. The room quieted. “Nopony is getting this apple. It’s poisoned.”
“What?” Steady couldn’t believe it. The apple couldn’t be poisoned, that just wasn’t possible.
“I didn’t detect any poison,” Lightstep said. “I wouldn’t have let something like that slip past me.”
“You wouldn’t see it,” Scootaloo said. “I know its scent. This is a Sweet Apple Acres apple. It comes from my old home, Ponyville. The orchards there were destroyed. By the Druid.”
As one the ponies took a step back from the apple. All their desire for the fruit from moments ago had been replaced with fear and apprehension. Now it was like a coiled snake, possibly venomous but definitely dangerous.
“No, it’s not possible,” Steady said. “This was in her chambers. I’m sure she cared for it!”
“Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t,” Scootaloo said. “Either way, who knows what this apple will do to anypony that eats it? I don’t want to find out.” There were noises of agreement from the other thieves as they drew away from the Druid’s apple.
“But why?” Steady stared at the fruit. “Why have it regenerate if eating it is so dangerous?”
“It isn’t dangerous to her,” Scootaloo said, coming around the table and laying a comforting hoof on Steady’s shoulder. “She’s immortal, unkillable. This is just a show of superiority over us. She can eat the apple without fear, we can’t. A petty cruelty. I know her, Steady, I know what she is. This is just like her.”
“What do you mean you know her?”
“Well, I guess I should say I knew her,” Scootaloo clarified. “Before it all went bad we used to live in the same town. All the rulers did. I knew them all then, before they changed.”
He looked at her with newfound understanding. “I’d heard that they were once mortal. There are stories, but I’ve never met anypony who knew them.”
“Now you have,” Scootaloo said. “But you’re not going to find many others. Most of the ponies from Ponyville died in those first few days. What was left of us got scattered across Equestria, and most of those haven’t survived as long as I have.”
The pain he saw in her, the mistrust and the hurt, it was all beginning to make more sense. She’d been there for the start of it all, had been watching the world collapse for longer than anypony else. It wasn’t that she was hurting more than them, she just had a head start. “What was she like? The Tyrant, before?”
Scootaloo shook her head. “No. Not going to talk about it.”
“But sometimes talking can...”
“No,” Scootaloo said, her tone brooking no refusal. “Talking won’t help. Not with this. It’ll just be messing with old scabs that shouldn’t be picked at. It happened a long time ago, and I don’t care anymore. All I want to do is live my life now. You understand that, Steady? Drop this.” He nodded, unable to think of something to say even as every part of him demanded that he comfort her. She accepted his answer, glancing at the apple. “This can’t have been easy to get. I’m kinda impressed you actually went all the way to get it. It’s not her heart, though. She cares for this about as much as she cares for any random trophy.”
“I... I know,” he said.
“You learned from this, right?” Scootaloo asked. “You understand why I told you to get her heart?”
“I understand,” he said. He had learned from this. He’d learned that Scootaloo knew the Tyrant personally. He couldn’t settle for just something she kept close. Whatever he stole had to be really, truly the Tyrant’s most prized possession. He’d been an idiot to think of settling for the first trinket he got in the first place. Half measures like that made him unworthy of her, and he made a silent vow to not screw it up again.
***
There were fewer animals in the clearing this time. He didn’t know what that meant, and pushed the observation out of his mind. Fluttershy wasn’t there when he showed up, but he knew she’d be by eventually, so he waited. The animals didn’t approach him; they barely seemed to notice him at all. They just waited for their caretaker with the unnatural quiet that sent shivers along Steady’s spine.
“You came back,” Fluttershy said as she entered the clearing and saw him. There was surprise in her eyes, and delight. “I thought maybe that since you got what you wanted I wouldn’t see you again.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” Steady assured her. “But, Fluttershy, something went wrong.”
“Oh.” She ducked her head. “She didn’t like it, did she?”
“No, but that’s because the apple was the wrong thing,” Steady said. “It wasn’t the Tyrant’s heart. Just one of her trophies.”
“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy squeaked. “It looked important!”
“No, it’s okay,” Steady quickly assured her. “You couldn’t have known. I didn’t know. She did, though. She knows the Tyrant, knew her from before she ascended, when she was still a mortal pony. I can’t just get her a trophy, I have to find something real. Something truly personal.”
“Steady, I think you should stop,” Fluttershy said. “I, um, I think you’re just going to get your heart broken. I’m sure this mare is very nice and all those wonderful things you said about her are true, but it, um, it sounds like this is something you can’t succeed at.”
“I will succeed!” Steady declared, stamping a hoof in emphasis. Fluttershy shrank back from him, her mane falling in front of her face and her wings clamping tightly to her sides. “I will succeed. All I need is this one thing. Just one thing, and Scootaloo’s heart will be mine.”
Fluttershy peeked out from between locks of pink mane. “S-Scootaloo?”
Steady nodded, backing away half a step and taking a deep breath to calm himself down. “Yeah. That’s her, my beloved.”
“It’s a very pretty name,” Fluttershy said, relaxing herself.
Steady smiled. “It is.”
“And you really love her?” Steady nodded again. “I, um, I think I might know of something.”
“Something personal?”
“I can’t say,” Fluttershy said, stepping towards him. “But it’s not one of her trophies. It isn’t something she looks at often, she keeps it in a closet, but it’s, um, it’s out of place. I think it might be a memory of who she used to be.”
“A memory.” Steady contemplated that idea. “That might just be it. The Tyrant might not care about anything, but the pony she once was? She would have cared. Yes, this sounds like exactly what I need.”
“Oh, good,” Fluttershy said, smiling. “I’m glad I could help. Do you want me to, um, go get it?”
“If it’s safe for you.”
“Oh, yes. Much safer than getting the apple was,” Fluttershy said. “I’ll be right back.”
She walked off into the trees. Steady sat down and waited. He didn’t need to wait nearly as long as he had the last time, and this time Fluttershy came back without fear hurrying her steps. She laid a cardboard box down in front of him and smiled proudly.
“This is it?” Steady asked, nudging the box. It had some weight to it, but not much.
Fluttershy nodded. “Yes. I think this is it. This is the key to Scootaloo’s heart.”
“What is it?” Steady poked at the lid to the box, but Fluttershy stopped him with a gentle hoof.
“It’s delicate,” she said. “And personal. I don’t think we can understand what it means. I think Scootaloo should be the one to take a first look at it, if that's okay with you.”
“I–”
“I think it’s important,” Fluttershy said, interrupting him.
He was so shocked that she had actually managed to cut him off that the thought he’d been trying to articulate completely slipped his mind. “Okay,” he said, shrugging. “I’ll let her see it first.”
Fluttershy favored him with a beatific smile. “I’m so happy I could help you.”
“I’m glad I came across a pony like you,” Steady said. “There aren’t a lot left in the world.” He hefted the box up onto his back. “When this is done. When I’ve won Scootaloo’s heart, I’ll come back for you. I’ll free you from this place. I don’t know how yet, but I’ll figure out a way.”
Fluttershy shook her head. “Why are you so set on that? Why would you even care about me?”
“Scootaloo has my heart, but that doesn’t mean I can’t care about anypony else,” Steady said, brushing her mane out of her face with a hoof. “A sweet, delicate, demure thing like you doesn’t deserve to be languishing here.”
“There are two sides to every coin, Steady,” Fluttershy said. “You shouldn’t worry about me.”
“I’ll come back,” Steady promised. “When I care about something, I don’t give up on it.” With that he left, a surge of hope and purpose adding spring to his step.
***
Steady laid the box reverently in front of Scootaloo, who once more stood across the table from him. The thieves were gathered again, but kept their distance this time, wary of another Druid’s apple incident. Lightstep stood beside Steady, shaking his head in disbelief. “You went back,” he grumbled. “After what happened last time you went back and did the same stupid thing again!”
“It’s okay,” Steady assured him. “I didn’t get caught.”
“It’s not about getting caught, idiot,” Lightstep admonished.
“Steady,” Scootaloo said, catching his attention. “I’ve tried to be nice about it. I’ve tried to be direct, I’ve tried nearly everything. Why do you refuse to take the stupid hint?”
“Scootaloo, please,” he said. “You said that...”
“I don’t care what I said!” she snapped, cutting him off. “You weren’t supposed to go this far. You were supposed to... to give up. I asked you to do the impossible. You were supposed to figure that out, get sad, get drunk and get over it. Not break into the palace, twice, to try to find something that doesn’t exist.”
“It’s not impossible,” Steady said, calm in the face of her anger. “I found a way. For you, I would do anything.”
“You shouldn’t have tried,” Scootaloo said, meeting his eyes. “I don’t want to be with you, Steady. I never did and I never will. No matter how many trinkets you bring me, no matter how many trophies you steal. Never.”
Steady held her gaze for a moment before dropping his eyes. The thieves were silent as they watched the drama play out, but he could feel their eyes on him, judging. He couldn’t back down now, couldn’t let it all go to waste. He remembered what Fluttershy had told him when she had given him the box. “A heart is like a lock,” he said, his voice quiet and solemn. “It can be closed or open. When it’s open things can go in and out freely, and when closed it guards everything behind it from being touched. Sometimes a lock can seem impenetrable, and sometimes it can be left closed for so long that it rusts in place, and it seems like nopony could ever get it to open again without breaking it. I’m good with locks, and I know that even the heaviest, most disused lock can be opened again, so long as you have the right key. Even the Tyrant’s. Even yours.” He slid the box closer to Scootaloo. “This is the key to your heart.”
Scootaloo looked at him for a long moment before sighing. Her shoulders slumped and she shook her head. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, but reached for the box. “I’m not making any promises, Steady, but let’s see what you brought me this time.”
“Be careful,” Steady warned her. “It’s delicate.”
She snorted and lifted the lid on the box. She froze the moment her eyes saw what was inside, her jaw dropping open as she let out a faint keening noise. Tears welled up in her eyes and she staggered back like she had been struck, tripping over her own hooves and falling to the floor. Tears pooled under her face as the stunned thieves watched, and she curled in on herself and sobbed.
“What did you do?” Lightstep cried, shoving Steady aside and bounding around the table to go to the stricken pegasus. “What have you done?”
“I-I don’t know!” Steady replied, as shocked as anypony about what had happened.
“What was it?” Lightstep asked Scootaloo, kneeling beside her and stroking her mane. “Come on, talk to me.”
“It isn’t possible,” Scootaloo gasped out. “No. No! It’s too cruel. Too cruel.”
“What was it?” Lightstep asked again, but Scootaloo just shook her head.
Steady grabbed the box, drawing it back to himself and throwing open the lid. The thieves behind him scattered, not wanting any part of whatever had felled their leader. Steady stared into the box, but all it contained was a small blue scooter with a broken handle. A foal’s toy, scratched and dirty from hard use and long storage. “I don’t understand,” Steady Hoof breathed, staring at the toy as if he could will it to make sense.
With a scream of rage Scootaloo lurched off of the floor and leapt at him. Steady didn’t even flinch back as she slammed into him, bearing him to the ground and smashing him across the face with her hoof. “Why would you bring that here?” she screamed, punching him again. “How did you get it? How?”
“The-the Tyrant’s chambers,” Steady said, spitting out blood. “I found it in her chambers.”
“Liar!” Scootaloo laid into him again, hitting so hard it knocked a tooth from the earth pony’s mouth. “You liar! You never got near her chambers, and you never could! You’d be dead before you took two steps in! How did you get it? Tell me the truth!”
“I had help!” Steady relented, holding his forehooves up to shield his face. “Please stop! I had help!”
“Who?” she demanded, slamming her hooves into his legs, battering at him as she screamed. “Who helped you?”
“Fluttershy!” he cried out. Her blows stopped. “Her name is Fluttershy! She’s a servant, she takes care of the Tyrant’s animals. She got it for me.”
Scootaloo stepped off of him, her eyes wide as she looked around at her fellow thieves. The expression on her face was something Steady had never thought he would see on her, though he had seen it on others often enough: terror. Sheer, soul-deep terror. “You’ve killed us,” she whispered. Then with a shake she pulled herself together and began to give orders. “Pack up! Light belongings only, nothing too heavy to run with. If it takes more than a minute to grab, it’s not worth it! Once you’ve got your stuff, buddy up and start running. Scatter and run as far as you can go, out of the city, out of the East. Head for the North or the Heartland, but not the South. If you’ve got wings keep going until you hit the West. That gives you the best chance to survive. I’m sorry everypony. I’m so sorry, but this is it. This is goodbye. You were all good ponies, and I wish you good luck once you get wherever you’re going.”
There were some scattered protests, but enough of them knew the look in Scootaloo’s eyes that they didn’t question it, and they dragged those who were slower on the uptake along with them. Lightstep came up to Scootaloo. “What is it?” he asked. “What’s he done?”
“The Tyrant’s coming,” Scootaloo said. “I don’t know if she’s giving us a head start or what, but we’re being hunted now. If we’re quick, if we’re lucky, then a few of us might even make it out of the city alive.”
“What is that?” Lightstep asked, indicating the box.
“A memory,” Scootaloo said. “One I didn’t want to get back.”
“Why?” Steady asked, still on the floor, bleeding from his bruised and cut mouth. “The Tyrant doesn’t care about thieves, right? Why do we have to run?”
“I honestly don’t care if you do or not,” Scootaloo spat at him, her lips trembling with rage. “Stay and die or don’t and live, I don’t care. But if I ever see you again I’ll kill you myself. Am I clear?”
“Why?” Steady asked again, seeing the venom in her gaze but unable to accept it.
“You brought the Tyrant down on us, you idiot,” Scootaloo snarled. “She doesn’t care about thieves, but she does care about hurting ponies. She cares about hurting me. You led her right to us.”
“No,” Steady insisted. “The Tyrant can’t know. I wasn’t caught. Fluttershy wasn’t caught.”
Scootaloo’s disgusted gaze was tinged with pity as she looked down at him, shaking her head. “You fool. You poor fool, Fluttershy is the Tyrant!”
***
There were wolves in the streets. They stalked through bushes and between trees like phantoms haunting the city. Steady kept as far away from them as possible, but he didn’t think it mattered. They had plenty of chances to chase him, yet they didn't. They weren’t going after him, they didn’t even care that he was there. They were hunting Scootaloo and the other thieves, and he’d led them to their prey. He was practically on their side.
His mouth had stopped bleeding, but it still ached where Scootaloo had vented her anger on him. He wished she had kept hitting, had pummeled him until there was nothing left. Instead she had simply walked away, leaving him to rot in the consequences of his mistakes. His heart broken and his life in tatters, he turned to the one place he might find answers as to why it all went wrong: the Tyrant’s greenhouse.
His rope was still there, the glass panel still loose. She was inviting him in. He went.
He knew where she would be, and wasted no time in striding to the clearing where she kept her pets. When he got there it was empty save for her, standing in a beam of moonlight and staring up at the cloudless sky with wide, innocent eyes. She looked down at him and gave him a warm smile of welcome, her necklace practically glowing at her throat.
“Why?” he asked from the edge of the clearing. “You used me. I thought you were my friend, and you used me. Why?”
“I’m sorry,” she said, turning to him. “She didn’t like it, did she?”
“Why did you do this to me?” he roared, stepping closer.
She flinched away as if he had struck her. “Oh no! I was just doing what you wanted!” Her eyes swam with unshed tears as she looked at him. “You wanted Scootaloo’s heart, and that’s what I gave you. Her most prized possession, her fondest memories.”
“You used me to find them!”
“I knew where they were already,” she replied, bringing him up short. “A nice mister mouse and his family made their home in the walls. Mice don’t really recognize individual ponies, but they know enough that he told me where your friends were staying a long time ago. I’m always watching, Steady. Always.”
“Then why? Why attack now? Why give me that toy to show her?”
“So that she remembered it,” Fluttershy said, stepping closer to him. He could see only warm kindness in her smile as she came near. “So that she remembered when she used to be happy.”
“You used me to get to her,” Steady said, unable to keep his rage hot in the face of her serenity.
“You wanted to get to her, Steady. I just, um, helped.”
He felt tears drip down his muzzle. “She hates me.”
She nuzzled him gently, her wings extending to enfold him in a hug and draw him close. “There, there. It’s okay. Some ponies just don’t like to be reminded of what they’ve lost, and why they lost it.”
“I love her,” Steady sobbed, letting her draw him into that warm embrace.
“And she broke your heart,” Fluttershy said, wrapping her forelegs around his neck as he cried. “I know how that must feel. I understand how hurt you are. But don’t worry, momma’s going to make it all go away.”
There was a sudden sense of pressure in Steady’s neck that coincided with a crunch that he felt through his whole body. Then his legs went slack and he slipped to the ground, kept from falling by the Tyrant’s grip. He stared up at her, and panic filled him as he realized he couldn’t move anything from the neck down. She gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead.
“What are you–” he began, but she silenced him with a smile.
“Hush now,” she said, smoothing out his mane with a soothing hoof. “It’s okay. I know how to take care of hurt creatures. I know how to help you heal. Don’t be afraid.” She looked up at the moon as it ghosted through the sky beyond the glass of the greenhouse. “I know how much the world can hurt you. I know how scary it all is. I’m afraid of so much. I’ve always been afraid. When I lived in Ponyville with Scootaloo and all my friends, I was afraid of everything, sometimes even my own shadow! A lot of ponies told me I had to stand up to my fears, that if I faced them then I’d see they couldn’t hurt me and I wouldn’t be so scared anymore.” She gave him a wry smile. “They were wrong, weren’t they?”
Steady couldn’t shiver. He couldn’t do anything but stare at her as she spoke softly and stroked him like he was a small, panicked animal that needed to be calmed. He felt like a small, panicked animal.
“That’s why I’m here, Steady,” she continued, speaking softly enough that her voice could barely be heard over his own panting breath. “This is my place, a place where I can be safe. A place where I can hide from all the bad and scary things in the world. And most of all, where I can hide from the monster I see reflected in your eyes.”
Hoofsteps came close. Steady couldn’t turn his head to look, but when Fluttershy carefully laid him on the ground he saw that they were surrounded by a ring of guards, their caged faces horrifying in their uniform blankness. “You can hide with me,” the Tyrant said, giving him a soft nuzzle before turning to her guards. “Bring him, but be careful. That is, um, if you can.”
The guards nodded, and two of them lifted Steady carefully onto the back of a third. The Tyrant spread her wings and hovered next to him as the procession made their way from the clearing. Steady cried, unable to do more than whimper softly as they took him to a new clearing, one he hadn’t seen before. This one was much like the place where the Tyrant had kept her animals, and was similarly full of injured and mutilated creatures. This time, however, those creatures were ponies.
There were representatives from every tribe, some were strapped down to beds and others looked just as paralyzed as Steady. Many showed the signs of the Tyrant’s cruelty, covered in scars or missing limbs. Some stared around them with the same wild panic that he felt clawing at his sanity. A few glared with undisguised hatred at the yellow pegasus that fluttered into the clearing. More, many more, were looking at the Tyrant with the same mindless adoration he’d seen in the animals she had tended to. None were making any sounds.
“Hello, little ones,” the Tyrant greeted them with a warm smile. “Momma’s here.”
The guards placed Steady on an empty bed, and the Tyrant hovered over to his side. He stared at her as she cooed in his ear, comforting him with a mother's touch. “Why?” he managed to ask.
“Oh, Steady. I already told you why. There are two sides to every coin. I’m here because I want to be, and this is what I want to be doing: taking care of ponies and animals. It’s my Talent, it’s what I’ve always felt best doing. But creatures need to be hurt before you can take care of them.” Her lips pulled back in a vicious smile, an expression both alien and terrifyingly at home on her face. “And as the old saying goes: sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.”
He screamed. He couldn’t help it, the fear overwhelmed him.
She flinched back, then shook her head. “No, no, no. I’m sorry, Steady, but you know I don’t like loud noises.” She turned to one of her guards. “Could you please cut out his voice? If, um, that’s alright with you.”
One of the guards grabbed Steady’s head, pulling it back until his neck was stretched out. He couldn’t fight back, couldn’t do anything more than just scream. The Tyrant stroked his mane and whispered gentle words into his ear as one of the unicorn guards lifted up a scalpel and brought it to his throat. He felt it cut into him, felt the snap as his voice was taken and his cries fell silent. He looked up as the moon was hidden by a cloud, seeing for the first time the way the steel bars of the greenhouse criss-crossed between the panes of glass. The bars of an enormous cage, one he had walked into.
“It’s okay, there, there, it will all be alright,” the Tyrant said. His horror at what was being done to him only increased as he realized how much comfort he was taking in her words. “I’ll make sure all the hurt goes away. I know you hate me now, and that’s okay, I don’t blame you. You just had your heart broken, and losing the one you love hurts so much. But I’m here, and I’m going to help you heal. You might think it won’t happen, that you’ll never be whole again, but I know you will. It will take time, and care, and a lot more pain. But eventually? Oh, Steady, eventually you’re going to love me.”
