It Was Just so… Shiny

The Next Day…

I awoke the next day to the rather pleasing sounds of birds chirping and singing merry little songs right by the window of my new temporary home. Although I would have loved to sleep in and forget about all my troubles I was also completely famished and wished I had accepted the offer from the sweet mare Bon Bon yesterday.

So my first objective before I could think about Twilight or The Elements of whatever was to get some breakfast. So I left my room and took a quick shower in the bathroom next door, washing the small amount of soot I'd picked up yesterday from hiding in Twilight's chimney.

I wondered if they would remember the design on the bag of my cutie mark and made a mental note to buy something to block it or maybe paint over it with washable paint like I'd done in past times when trying to fool guards or pass by undetected without using by lucky little charm.

I got out of the shower and made my way quietly past Bon Bon's and Lyra's rooms just in case they weren't awake yet. I had yet to meet Lyra although from the sounds of it she spent a lot of time doing something in the house's basement.

I shrugged and decided that if I investigated then it would be rude and if anything I wasn't looking to get kicked out of such a nice place just yet. So without making too much noise I snuck down the stairs and out of the house to a gloriously sunny day.

No clouds were in sight and the air had a fine sense of freshness that you didn't come across often nowadays. Ponies went by their business, laughing, talking, walking and selling things in a nearby small marketplace where various venders sold fruit, vegetables and small trinkets.

I needed to look like a tourist so I needed some tourist looking clothes but since I had absolutely no idea of the town and since I was very hungry I decided to visit Sugercube Corner which I remembered Bon Bon saying something about yesterday but what it was I was not sure.

There were no mobs going by and it seemed that the entire ghost pony thing had died down entirely for which I was glad but I didn't like the chances of ponies recognising me so I walked briskly. The shop wasn't hard to find and since it was now open I could see inside that it was a very brightly decorated shop which sold cakes of all sizes, colours and styles.

There was a nice looking plump mare behind the shop counter and in the corner of the shop I was surprised to see the pink mare which was one of Twilight's friends entertaining some colts and fillies with dancing, cartwheeling, spinning round and round and other gags which she performed at a hundred miles per hour.

"Good afternoon" said the plump mare kindly "I'm Mrs Cake. How can I help you"? She was a sweet old mare and I smiled and asked "Do you know anyplace around here that I can buy some clothes and the maybe find out a bit of tourist information whilst I'm here?" I asked and the mare smiled and replied "Well there are shops near the marketplace in the south of town and if you want more information I suppose the library is the best place to head to" she said smiling.

Although I was disappointed with her answer as I didn't want to go to the library I nodded and smiled before asking "You wouldn't happen to have any muffins would you"? Mrs Cake chuckled and shook her head as if I'd asked a ridiculous question and replied "Oh no dearie we don't but maybe somepony around here sells them".

I gave one last smile and she bid me goodbye and I exited the shop. Well I would have left but unfortunately for me the crazy pink friend of Twilight jumped me just as I put my hoof out the door and she instantly had me pinned.

"Aha" she said triumphantly and pointed her hoof at me in accusation of something. My heartbeat instantly rocketed and I prayed that she was just jumping me because she liked my looks and not because she recognised me from yesterday as the invisible pony.

"You thought you could get away with it didn't you? Thought you could just slip past old Pinkie Pie without me seeing well you're in big trouble mister" said the hyperactive pony as she grinned triumphantly.

I was a little ashamed that I had been found out by a mare who looked like she was stuck in the land of candy and miracles but she had caught me and I suppose I had some explaining to do so I swallowed hard and began to speak. "Yeah well I can explain" I began but she interrupted me and shouted "Yeah you can explain everything about yourself when I throw you the most super, fun, spectacular welcome to Ponyville party ever"!

I was completely taken aback as she got off me and proceeded to bounce around me and explain how amazing it was to meet a new pony and fifty different ways to bake cakes using shampoo or something too fast for me to identify.

"That's really kind but I'm just a tourist passing through and don't want any party thanks" I said but she shook her head and replied "But Bon Bon said you're staying with her and Lyra so how can you just be a tourist?" she asked and that also caught the attention of Mrs Cake.

I sheepishly grinned and thought fast before responding "Ha you found me out… I'm just viewing Ponyville to see if it's a nice enough town to live in and then maybe in the future I'll make living here permanent".

The crazy pink pony gasped and cried "I must throw you a Welcome to Ponyville Party immediately just so you know how totally amazing it is to live here"! "She's going on and on and on, jeez does this mare ever run out of breath?!" I asked myself and with a sigh told her bluntly "I'm sorry but I'm not very much into parties Miss Pie but if you wish to do something if anything then please-please-please let me just leave and forget about throwing me a party".

Pinkie Pie seemed to think about it for a moment before she decided "I think that all you need is a pick me up. Moving into a new town can be really-really stressful and I know just the way to relieve stress… with a PARTY!" she exclaimed.

I was pretty annoyed with this mare but then again the other side of my brain told me that she was a friend of Twilight's and her childish ways probably made her a little careless when it came to revealing information.

I tested upon this theory by asking her "Well Pinkie I would absolutely love a party tonight but I need to ask first. Are you friends with the student of Princess Celestia? Her eyes seemed to bulge at that moment and she nodded furiously and answered "You bet. Twilight and me are best of friends along with the other harmony bearers cause you see we're all The Elements of Harmony which it like super cool because the first time we got them we like defeated Nightmare Moon who was actually Princess Luna except transformed into a big meanie and…" I had to cut her off there by asking "What do you mean you're an element bearer"!?

The pink pony looked puzzled and asked "You don't get around a lot do you? Me and my friends are all the bearers of The Elements of Harmony which the Princess keeps in Canterlot so they are kept safe, me and Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and good ol' Applejack are all bearers, which reminds me I totally have got to go and…" she was cut off however by a strange rumbling which suddenly made a lot of objects begin to shake throughout the store.

The rumbling got worse and everypony including me looked outside to see what looked like a gigantic cloud of dust heading our way. "I don't remember Equestria having the ability to create dust storms" I murmured but then out of nowhere in the sky a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail shot out of a nearby cloud and yelled "Stampede"!

This got everypony's attention and suddenly there was a chorus of screams followed by the locking of doors and everypony pulling their vases or door mats inside their houses. Pinkie Pie just chuckled and began to move along the rapidly vibrating ground at a constant rate and exclaimed "This makes my voice sound funny" and laughing crazily.

That's when I once again saw her. Twilight Sparkle must have been walking nearby and exclaimed to Pinkie "Pinkie are you crazy? Run!" before galloping off to a safer distance herself. "I seriously couldn't believe that I had been in this town for less than two days and already it seemed that a mob and stampedes were springing up as if daring for me to intervene.

However as I peered out from Sugercube Corner I saw I didn't have to do anything as somepony else seemed to be managing the herd of what looked like cows racing across the pleasant planes to the town.

A mare with a cowboy hat and an orange coat with a blond mane was shouting something to her canine companion who barked alongside her. The mare suddenly lassoed the leading cow and along with her dog began to steer her over to the side. The rest of the herd followed just before the mad cows hit the bridge and a crowd of ponies cheered.

I couldn't see Twilight anymore but I knew she'd probably be in there somewhere so I left the street and decided to head to the stores Pinkie had talked about although they might have all taken cover when they heard the earthquake of cows thundering towards the town.

I strolled along as vendors seemed to pop up from underneath there stalls and begin gossiping about the small catastrophe which almost occurred. These were fruit and vegetable vendors and although I was absolutely starving I contained the hunger eating away at me in search for some clothing first.

I looked around and eventually saw a sign with a hat on it which I imagined must have been the store. Although I had so many bits it was hard to count I always loved the challenge of stores and figured that since I was on holiday I should just challenge myself to a game of take what isn't yours and don't pay for it.

I opened the door and a bell signalled the cashier behind a desk with a till on the end that I had entered and he stood up from where he'd been cowering behind the desk and asked "Is the stampede gone?" in a voice which dripped with the words "I am a suck-up".

I nodded and he sighed in relief and asked "Do you need some assistance sir"? I shook my head but then as an idea occurred to me I asked "Do you have a red dotted caps with little green ridges on them and the sign saying "I love Ponyville" on them"?

The cashier looked a little surprised and commented "That's quite a precise piece of clothing you want there sir… unfortunately I think we just might be fresh out of those". I looked at him pleadingly and asked "Could you please just have a little look in the back to see if you have one?" adding everything to my sincerity except the puppy dog eyes.

His eyes seemed to soften and he said "Wait right here, I think that maybe I might have got some In a few months ago". He toddled off and left me all alone in the store without any supervision. "Pony's round here seem to be so gullible and careless, it almost takes the fun out of it" I said aloud as I picked up a nearby shopping bag on the counter and began to pile clothes into it whilst the cashier shouted "I can't seem to find one but I shall look in the cellar for you sir" followed by the sound of much crashing, banging and general rummaging from the back.

I didn't feel bad about taking the stuff, this guy obviously didn't deserve to run a business If he could trust somepony like me to be left alone. That's why I never left my valuables in plain sight and always made an attempt to hide them from prying eyes but then some ponies called this paranoid yet I looked at it as safety measures.

I went to leave but spotted a small tart with cherries on them by the looks of it and swiped it from the desk of the cashier before proceeding to take a bite of the scrumptious treat. It tasted of more than cherries, more like victory.

I exited the store with the bag held tightly in my mouth and went on my way back to Bon Bon and Lyra's house. On the way however I was stopped when I saw a local vendor selling cameras. They were the flash bulb type of film cameras and a little outdated but then again a camera would add to my image as a tourist and help to capture any images I might need whilst under the persona.

I went over to the store and practically took the camera from under her nose. It was so confusing how nopony guards their wares like they did in Saddle Arabia where I'd seen marketplaces so big that ponies who had attempted to steal from old mares running fruit stalls and they'd nearly gotten their fore-limbs cut off when they discovered that she had a machete under the stall the entire time.

Here there was just no challenge, no commitment and in a way it was kind of depressing and made me feel a little bored. However I kept telling myself "I wanted this" although I gritted my teeth when thinking about it.

However all thoughts seemed to disappear from my mind when I saw it. It was just so… so shiny and gold and more importantly about a hundred or so ponies were looking directly at it and it was just begging… begging to be taken.

I saw a stage which was set up right next to the Town Hall and it seemed an award ceremony was going to be taking place. "This is more like it" I said to myself before ducking into an alleyway and rifling through the bag of stolen goods which I had… well stolen.

I donned a red cap and a terrible green floral shirt and finally the camera which I strapped around my neck. I probably looked like the worst dressed tourist in Equestria but then my taste in fashion was always said to be quite stale.

I walked out of the alleyway and stared down the street at the Town Hall where more and more pony's seemed to be gathering for the award event. I got another good look at the trophy and couldn't help but rub my hooves together as I drew up the plan in my head.

The stage was small so I couldn't hide underneath it and cut a hole through the top to drag the trophy down. It was a fairly large sized trophy and although I doubted it was made of gold I was positive that by the way it seemed to make a small impression on the stage, which would be barely noticeable to the untrained eyes but to mine I could see clearly that the trophy was weighing heavily upon the stage.

Everypony had their attention on the stage but after the stamped this morning I guessed that they would be easily scared and distracted by loud noises and by the looks of it the best way to get an entire crowd to change their attention from the front of a stage was to do something irregular.

The final thing I would need in my plan was a way to get the trophy away without anypony noticing and in a hurry but dragging it would take too much time and make too much noise which I didn't have. However looking at the town hall I saw that the roof seemed to be free of anypony and by the looks of it I could easily climb to the top, hook the trophy with some rope and pull the trophy to freedom.

Well a kind of freedom but I knew that the trophy would be so much more happy to be in my possession. Somepony bumped into me from behind but I paid no heed until a female's voice said "Oh do excuse me" and I wheeled round to see it was Twilight Sparkle.

"Ah" I cried and jumped back before I turned my head slightly to the side so that she wouldn't get a good look at my face. She looked worried for a moment and asked "Are you all right?" to which I responded with a hasty and gruff "I'm fine. I'm fine" before making to move in the opposite direction she was going. "Well –if you're sure then" she called after me before trotting off with a puzzled expression.

I saw that some of her magenta magic was levitating some few hundred reading cards along with her and I guessed that she must be about to read a speech for the pony that was about to receive the reward. She looked confident as she strode towards the crowd but I didn't want all the attention to be focused on the stage right now so I looked around hastily to see what my distraction would be and found that the nearby PA system was all around the Town Hall and the streets of Ponyville.

This made me think for a few moments until a brilliant idea came to my mind. The system must be controlled and maintained in the town hall so it could be altered I was sure to perhaps put out a certain frequency which might be unpleasant to the ears of everypony.

With a plan in order I decided that it would be best that I made haste as it looked like Twilight was getting ready to ascend to the stage and made my way down the streets until I mixed with the crowd. The Town Hall was covered in the standard banners it flew from its roof everyday and also seemed to have a gigantic and quite elegantly designed picture of an apple on the centre of the front banner which made me wonder if it had something to do with the Apple Orchard I had seen on my way into town a day ago.

I entered the mass of ponies and began to mingle my way through the lot of them whilst all the time keeping up the pretentions of a tourist sightseeing by occasionally looking around at something not particularly interesting and pretending to look at it through the sights of my cheap antique camera.

Eventually I made my way to the side of the stage area and moved towards the large double doors of the Town Hall itself. Nopony paid much attention which was what I wanted and without any problems I entered the cute little Town Hall and looked around the large area which I supposed was used for addressing its citizens, parties and other recreational activities.

There was I side door with a badly painted sign above it saying "Offices" which I entered slowly. All the desks were empty which wasn't much, especially since there were only four desks filled with very small amounts of paperwork. There were three other doors there. One was the Mayor's office, the second was labelled Machine Room and finally a door with which was labelled Treasury.

Although the PA system controls would either be in the Machine room or the Mayor's Office I couldn't help but take a peek into the Treasury. There was nothing in the room except a medium sized safe and despite running on the clock it looked simple enough and so I took a little crack at the code.

Turning the dial until I heard four clicks I pulled the leaver by the side and with haste I turned it to see the town funds. To my surprise, after turning it I found to my surprise about five bits and a few notes which read "Funding Pending". Somehow this didn't surprise me and it was no wonder why Ponyville was so backwards in the way it was run.

Suddenly I heard Twilight's voice come over on the speakers and I decided it was time I hurried up and found the PA control booth or wherever it was kept. I rushed into the Mayor's office and found only a lavishly decorated interior with a large oak desk and rustic oak wooden library shelves as well a generally warm feel which the gigantic fireplace gave you just by looking at it.

"Well I see where funding's gone" I said to myself and deduced that they wouldn't put a messy control system in such a lavish office. So that left the Machine Room, which I hurried into whilst listening to the muffled sounds Twilight speaking outside.

The Machine Room was fairly basic with no decoration and was filled with filing cabinets a fuse box and an aging back-up generator. There was a rickety old table with a bunch of papers and assorted junk all over it.

I found the small controls on top of the table under a pile of letters from the pony who probably worked here although what anypony could do down here other than change the occasional fuse baffled me. I swept them off of the table and looked for the volume knob. I turned it right down and listened for the sound of Twilight's voice. It had disappeared so I then turned up the frequency to about 20 KHz and after ripping my terrible floral shirt and stuffing bits of the clothing in my ears I prepared for the overwhelming sound I was about to inflict upon the poor and unsuspecting citizens of Ponyville.

The noise was immediate and felt like a thousand screaming souls of the damned all screaming directly into my head. I imagined what it must be like for everypony outside but I myself was struggling to get my body into motion and resist the urge to cover my ears.

I heard the windows of the Town Hall shatter as I ran through the offices and back into the main hall. After finding the stairs I ascended them two at a time until I was overlooking the town from the roof.

The noise got better because of the differences in height but I still figured that I'd more ban likely get a headache from this along with everypony else in the square. I wasted no time in getting the rope I'd stolen from the side of the construction site and after hastily tying a lasso knot in the top I dangled it over the side.

Nopony was looking up as most had their hooves over their ears and their eyes scrunched up in pain. However some ponies were staggering their way towards the Town Hall and I knew that I didn't have long before my distraction would be uncovered.

I carefully hooked the lasso around the little figurine of a pony atop he trophy and slowly drew the rope back until it was taut against the side of the building and wrapped the rest around my fore-hooves before beacon myself against the roof's guard rail and using all my strength to pull.

It was so heavy and I could only get it about halfway before my muscles screamed for me to stop. I rested and took a second to appreciate Niles who had always done he heavy lifting.

I sucked it up and used all of my reserves to pulls the trophy up and over the roof of the town hall. Just as he last part of the trophy was pulled over the roof the screaming stopped. Well it didn't exactly stop as it seemed an echo of the sound was still traveling through my mind as probably with everypony else but it would seem that somepony had managed to find the volume switch.

Now I didn't know how smart they'd be. Would they recognise it as sabotage or believe it to be a mechanical failure? Would they search the building if they did suspect sabotage?

I wondered on this for a minute but then came he shocked gasps from down below and I couldn't help but give a very naughty peek over the side to see the faces of the citizens who I'd just zapped with the speakers from their own PA system.

They stumbled around dizzily with their eyes rolling around in their skulls and by the looks of it I could imagine that quite a few wouldn't be able to hear for a few days if not weeks.

Nopony launched into fits if gossip about the topic since most ponies were trying to hold their lunch in but they all noticed the trophy had been stolen and couldn't help hub give gasps.

Eventually the gasps and cries of shocks increased until everypony was staring at the stage which had once contained a very heavy trophy. As hearing began to return early for somepony's they began to ask questions amongst themselves but when the mayor came dizzily onto the stage with her mane all ruffled I began to see why Ponyville (and the budget) was completely empty.

She was quite an old mare with an expensive pair of spectacles and a certain air about her which smelled of money. Of course there was no money and now there was no statue which would be hard to explain.

I actually couldn't help but suppress a laugh at how hilariously devious the situation had been and how amazingly well I'd pulled it off. Maybe this vacation would be more fun than I thought.

The Mayor couldn't of course use the microphone which had been set up at the stand so she had to yell very loud "It's alright everypony, the problem was the faulty speaker system and technicians are on to it right now"! "What about the trophy" somepony shouted and the Mayor gave a look of puzzlement before she jumped back in realisation that the trophy (which now that I was examining it looked as if it was steel with a layer of gold paint) had disappeared right under the noses of everypony in Ponyville.

Everypony was not happy about the current events and what made it worse was the fact that the pony that was to receive the reward turned up with two barrels of apples and a look of exhaustion all over her body.

"She must work at the Apple Orchard" I told myself but after a careful look I saw that she was wearing a cowboy hat and remembered the blond pony who had diverted the stampede this morning.

"So this is a reward ceremony for her" I told myself and looked on as she tiredly stepped up to the podium to receive her reward whilst apologising "Sorry I'm late everypony" and looking like she was about to collapse on her hooves.

This was the awkward part where the Mayor gave a large smile and sheepishly began to think what she could do to get out of this situation. "Well... umm Applejack, I and everypony else have called you here to honour you for saving he town with giving this huge trophy to you for all he other hard work you do as you're friends have explained but-but unfortunately it seems that the trophy we had only minutes ago has... well it has kind of been misplaced" she gave up and asked aloud "Did anypony see anything"?

There was a chorus of heads shaking and I couldn't help but once again grin for the great success my excellent plan had been. That was of course before something typical went wrong.

"Everypony, I have just returned from the scene of the crime for you see this was obviously a from fillies and gentle opts" declared a very determined and slightly dishevelled looking Twilight Sparkle who had just rushed up onto the stage.

"Someone had turned the PA systems up to about 20 KHz which is why all the windows shattered and all our brains nearly burst out our ears and whilst distracted the villain then must have somehow taken the trophy." She explained to a shocked crowd.

I didn't like the way the conversation was going and although I wanted to back out with the trophy I couldn't help but see how far she'd get with this.

She began to pace the stage in a very detective kind of way as she looked at the floor of he stage where the trophy had been and hen at all the speakers surrounding the Town Hall.

She took a glance round and then announced "It is obvious that the pony couldn't gallop up and grab the trophy unless they had industrial ear buds or some form of magical spell which negates sound but I highly doubt that. However the pony must have been in the Town Hall originally and must have used the this this to their advantage, so after the sound is turned up freakishly loud they must have ascended the steps of the Town Hall to the roof and then used a rope or possibly magic to grab the trophy and pull it up although it is most likely to be a stallion as he amount of force both magically and physically would be a challenge for any mare.

The crowd stared at Twilight with their mouths hanging open but I beat them all as mine was practically gaping. "How could she possibly know?" I asked myself but then again I forgot that this mare was not just looks.

Wait, since when was I ever saying she was looks? However my bafflement and questions would have to wait later as suddenly everypony looked up and I had to quickly shoot my head away from the edge of the roof for fear of being spotted.

Of course it was too late as was signalled by a mare screaming "I saw him!" and followed by a choroid of yells from stallions and mare and a little dramatically screaming as well. Not the I could hear them that well with the ringing in my head but I had other problems to concern myself with.

These being the flood of Unicorn's and Earth Ponies all swarming into the Town Hall and the sudden sound of wings flapping as Pegasi took to the air. I acted on instinct and saying a tearfully goodbye to my lovely, stolen trophy I grabbed the rope from round it and before a Pegasus could fly up to my level I leapt from the Town Hall.

Generally this would be viewed as a stupid plan as I had no wings or magic which could potentially save me so most ponies probably could see my destiny as a lovely Dawn pancake on the street floor below, however I flicked my hoof and the rope I'd taken unfurled itself and fastened around a nearby house's chimney.

I clenched the rope tightly with my teeth and using the momentum which I'd gained from the fall I swung myself through the air until I was on the same level as the house and then let go, landing on top of a thatched roof and proffering to apron along it.

When I reached the edge of the roof I leapt across to a colourful yellow roof which made me think of sunshine and daffodils and general happiness. "Smart idea using the colour scheme of the roofs to keep ponies happy" I thought to myself and briefly wondered if the paint had some kind of drug in it or I was just feeling particularly happy as I made my daring and if I may say so "dashing" escape.

However my escape was impeded when suddenly a rainbow maned cyan mare that I'd seen this morning, flew at lightning speed just above me. "You're not escaping from the best flyer in Equestria punk!" She announced with a dive in an attempt to grab me. However I was too quick and easily dodged to the side before she could make contact.

She almost crashed into the roof and with a frustrated grunt of anger she once more took to the sky, flying extremely close to the roofs and gaining definite speed on me. I realised that I was going to run out of roofs if I didn't shake he and before that would happen I made a move to dive left when I came to a roof which was larger than the others and would require me to leap over it but instead dived right, falling off of the roof I was on and down into the alleyway below.

I heard the crashing and the splintering of the house's roof which she had crashed through when she had attempted to turn from left to right and not realised a larger roof was right in front of her. I grinned to myself as I landed in a large bin which stank of rotten fruit and other bad smells but I didn't care I felt alive and happy, which were two things I really-really loved were and the loss of the trophy although a great shame wasn't all that bad since I did technically steal it without anypony noticing.

"And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for that meddling Sparkle" I chuckled to myself, actually quite pleased for some reason that Twilight had been able to piece together my little robbery. If she ever wanted to become a criminal then I was positive she'd make a promising student.

I pulled myself out of the bins and tore the floral shirt from my front, I also took the rolled up pieces of the shirt from my ears and realised they probably looked a little stupid whilst running. Next the cap went in the trash and I brushed a banana peel out of my mane before I stepped out into the street with my camera still around my neck.

I acted casual as a walked back to Bon Bon's and Lyra's house and it seemed to have payed off as once more parties of ponies passed me with hunting looks on their faces when they should have been looking for me.

I supposed I was a difficult pony to remember and the cap and terrible shirt probably didn't help but the real give away was the cutie mark. I couldn't count the amount of times I'd been caught out because of my cutie mark which Niles had never had to bother with but then he was a griffon and although Griffons were a major player in the different races there were very few that wondered outside their Kingdoms and those that did usually for reasons personal or to make a name for themselves without the restrictive government of the Griffons which Niles had told me about.

I wasn't too worried however since remembering a pony's cutie mark was very difficult and especially so when there were so many ponies that everypony met each day and nopony usually stared at another's flank intentionally.

I decided that I was still a little hungry so I stopped off at a café nearby and decided to order a sandwich. The café was fairly nice and the waiter had a typical waiter moustache and the menu was a typical fancy design.

Nothing particularly interesting seemed to happen which was kind of interesting since only ten minutes ago I'd been running across a roof-top after stealing a trophy of considerable size. I was conscious of the fact that I stank slightly which a few other ponies seemed to notice but they did the polite thing of walking by and not paying attention as they tried to get the constant ringing out of their ears. My ears were better but I could see that somepony's were still having to shout or put their ears close to others mouths so as to be able to hear each other.

The windows of the houses and stores around the town hall seemed to have been completely shattered as I picked up on from casual conversation from around the tables and from ponies passing by my table.

It was nice to just sit out in the afternoon sun and enjoy my vacation. The sandwich I had ordered seemed to take an hour to make which made me question the priority of my order but I enjoyed the sandwich none the less and after a further half-an-hour decided I should really head on home and left the table without paying.

Other than messing around all day I had done nothing and had even lost the bag of stolen clothes so I was feeling real good but I told myself "Tomorrow you really have to go to work" although somehow I suspected that my work had come to me when I looked at Bon Bon's place as I came round the corner.

The curtains were drawn and I thought I saw one move and it was strange for both the curtains to be drawn when the sun still had an hour to go down and the curtain to move on its own and there was no breeze about today and I could remember no fan or ventilation system in the building.

Then again it was possible that Bon Bon or the other pony who I hadn't met yet was in although it wasn't a weekday and I was sure they both had jobs. "It could have been one of those things" one side of me told myself but the other side of me screamed "They're waiting for you to come in so they can arrest you"!

So in light of the circumstances I decided it best I took a detour and so I stepped back and circled round the street until I was at the back of the building. A fence separated a nice little garden and with a quick hop over the fence I was in the garden and staying low. I saw that the windows on this side of the house were also closed which made me definitely suspicious so I decided to once more use the great skills of Equestria's best thief to break into the house was supposed to be paying rent for.

I climbed up the house using the windows as fast as I could so to eliminate the chance of ponies seeing me until I reached the side window of my room. After looking at the window I saw the hinges were old and with a large push I was able to pry it open. I entered my room quietly and looked around to see if my room had been searched.

I saw Nile's rifle was still above the wardrobe and after feeling around I found my amulet and stuff all wrapped neatly and untouched in my cloak. I left the cloak and put the amulet on and already felt ten times more confident when I felt the very subtle magic work over me and turn me invisible. I also put a saddlebag on my back with my most valuable items in case I had to get out in a hurry.

I would have grinned but I wasn't invisible to other pony's ears and was holding my breath. I wasn't usually this serious but I wasn't sure if Twilight Sparkle had pieced together her seeing me this morning in that terrible floral shirt and somehow through asking around maybe she could have traced me back here.

I was quiet as I walked through the hallway and looked down the darkened stairs. There was nopony in by the sounds of it but that theory was dashed to pieces when I heard somepony whisper "Pinkie I thought you told us he'd probably be back in half-an-hour but he hasn't showed up for almost an hour now"!

There was some shuffling and I heard the voice of the annoying and fast paced pink pony reply "I don't get t he was walking down the street a second ago". Everypony seemed anxious to meet me so I descended the stairs silently and saw in the gloom about twenty pony's all hiding behind the couch, decoration and a table of treats and cakes were all set up along with a banner which I could just make out reading "Welcome to Ponyville please Stay".

I was touched by the fact that everypony wanted to throw me a party and I believed I could make out Bon Bon next to the crazy pink party pony. So she was in on it too then. I was really glad I hadn't walked in on this as the initial surprise would probably have made me jump out the window and once more run for fear of being discovered.

However I could see no ill will intended here and decided that I would have a little fun before I revealed myself. I moved silently over to a white pony with purple hair and a strange pony with what looked like an hourglass for a cutie mark.

I took off my amulet and pressed its centre before placing it in my saddlebag and pretending to be one of the ponies waiting for my own party. Five minutes passed and nothing happened and I decided to ask "Whose party is this for anyway?" I asked sounding confused.

The white mare next to me smiled and replied "Oh for some new pony in town that Pinkie Pie met earlier called Dawn". I couldn't help but give a small snigger before I replied in a surprised tone "My name is Dawn"! It was loud enough that everypony in the room instantly wheeled round to where my voice had come from and suddenly the light flickered on.

Everypony stared at me and Bon Bon stood up in shock along with the white pony that had answered me and looked to be the most gorgeous pony I'd ever met. Her hair was a deep purple and her coat shined and her eyes were all bright and sparkly. She was one of the most stunning ponies ever and I think I might have been staring for a little too long as everypony was now looking at me funnily.

"Oh… umm yes I'm new Dawn pleased to meet everypony" I said with a very cheerful grin in the direction of the pretty mare. Pinkie Pie looked shocked that I had somehow showed up in the middle of the party and asked "How long were you hiding there"?

I kept the grin plastered on my face and answered "Oh you know just since we started preparing for the party. Did nopony see me"? There were shakings of heads but I planted the seed of doubt when I explained "You know I was the one that carried that stuff" before I made a small gesture with my hoof.

Everypony instantly began to nod their heads and one stallion even said "Oh yeah now you mention It I do remember you helping set up". The pink pony still couldn't believe it but none the less she shrugged off the failed surprise with a laugh and yelled "Well Surprise!" along with everypony else and then the party started. Little did I know of the hard time I would have explaining things as the night would go on.

Ok so just a thanks to everyone that's reviewed, really kept me inspired to write and if there are any suggestions then please PM me or leave a review. J