Echoes of the Past

Hawksight01

Prologue

I can't tell you how many times I've been called a thief. It seems every other day somepony accuses me that I took something from them, or that I was spying on them and I should be locked up. I just keep saying to them "I am the Thief of Goodwill. I do not take what is not mine. I do not spy for no reason. If something is missing then it was paid for. If I was watching you then somepony is doubting your friendship." There are not many who believe this but if I was lying then I would be in jail. Of course, when they have a job for me, they'll change their tune.

My talent is stealth. Sneaking around and avoiding getting caught is what I am good at. Unlike most ponies the day I earned my cutie mark was received with mixed reactions. Many ponies were worried that I would become a thief. They were concerned that I would break into other pony's houses and take what was not mine. That wasn't me. My destiny would not be behind bars. I would show them I could bring good from stealth.

It took a very long time to turn my talent into a career. I first needed to find ways to use stealth in way that I can be helpful. So I figured that there must be errands that needed to get done that ponies would rather not be seen while doing. Eventually most of my jobs would be watching other ponies to see if friendships were going sour, as well as fetching items that were difficult to acquire. Then there were also those special jobs. Those are what I am known for, those are were the challenge is.

After I figured out what I could do with my talent I needed to get properly equipped. I did not want to be spotted because of my bright green eyes. I had four similar cloaks made. One is black to keep me hidden in the dark. Another is white to let blend in the snow and the sky. It's also useful when I get a job in Cloudsdale as well as making me nearly invisible while spying on top of a cloud. The third is a dark green scheme to cover me when I'm in a forest. Lastly, one for when I'm in broad daylight: a bright color scheme that keeps me concealed during the fall as well when I need to create a distraction. Each had various slits to allow my wings, mane, and tail to come out. It also had a hood that can cover my whole face to protect it from high speed winds. My last bit of gear is some glasses attached to the hood to let me see better in the dark and shield my eyes from the sun. These were designed by me but made by the same pony who made the outfits for the Wonderbolts. She did a good job: strong metallic looking fibers interwoven with silent aerodynamic material keeping me warm and cozy any time of the year. It did cost a lot but it was worth it. Then I took all that to get it enchanted by the local wizard. I got a spell put on that made the wearer slightly transparent; a ghost-like appearance. I also got an enchantment for my horseshoes; it made my hooves practically silent. Now all geared up I was ready.

The final piece was all a matter of getting attention. This was easier than I thought. Apparently my talent is in high demand mainly because there are so few ponies that can do this. I soon had so many jobs I had to turn some down. The biggest reason why was that the job wanted me to perform a crime or other dark deeds that ponies needed to get done but don't want to their own hooves dirty. So usually my services were off to the highest bidder. As for my name, I stopped using it as it did not match my skill set and now I'm only known as The Thief of Goodwill.

So we begin: I was standing in my small isolated house between Ponyville and Canterlot just taking off my gear and brushing my mane and tail when I found a small white square on the floor. It was a tiny piece of paper. Somepony must have slipped it into my wings when I was in town. I read it:

"Thief of Goodwill, meet me in my bedroom in Canterlot tomorrow night.

-Celestia

PS Don't get caught."

Wow. The first thing I knew is that this is big. I don't know what I would do but I would have to find out. I haven't gotten big job since I had to shadow the Mayor of Ponyville. This was Celestia's signature so it must real. She also said not to get caught. This must have meant that I had to prove to her that I'm ready for whatever task she gives me. I stomped my hooves in excitement and began planning how I am going to do this. How will I do this?

I took tomorrow off to plan to break into Canterlot Royal Castle. I pulled out some of my schematics I have acquired throughout my adventures, studying them as much I can, trying to find anything I don't already know. I spent the whole day trying to find anything that could help me. I did not find much. In the afternoon I was a nervous wreak. I was banging my head against the wall and cursing myself for having made no progress. I have not found a single thing that could aid me in my break in. Finally I gave up this search. If I could not physically prepare myself I could at least get mentally ready. I spent the rest of the day building confidence and focus.

Sunset arrived so fast that day. The sun usually crept over the sky for me. But today it dashed across that blue sky. Well I was ready as I could ever be. I snapped on my cloak and my various tools and gadgets that I would probably need and stepped outside of my house. I watched the rest of the sun disappear over the mountains, took a deep breath, unfolded my wings, lowered my hood, and "Here we go."