Guardian of the Sun

by Hinterland Seer

Blaze Burn was a simple pegasus, just trying to keep him and his brother alive after the destruction wrought by Discord. Unfortunately, he found himself with all the wrong and right ponies in his struggle to free his friends and family from utter chaos. As time passes, he finds himself in walks of life he never imagined existed, like being sought after by Princess Celestia herself.

10. 10 Burning Path

Chapter 10: Burning Path

Blaze shook his head as he followed after Al and the others down the steps of the hidden staircase, delving into more of the depths of the basement region of the warehouse. For a lightning brief moment, he felt a wave of panic at the thought of being in the basement again, but he quelled his worries when they left the stairs and popped into a large circular chamber, with what appeared to be vault doors being the only other path out.

The group of skilled thieves marched across the cobble path, hoofsteps clinging in the otherwise silent room, walking towards the vault doors, in front of which sat a large, heavy oak table. Resting on top of the table were several files and stacks of paper, but those were insignificant to the main attraction that dominated the table: a massive model of the city lying in the center of the table. As Al approached, the model, what constituted more of a magical map, started to glow, and they rounded the table, each taking a spot to look at the map.

Blaze stared at the map, watching in open awe as he saw tiny models of ponies walking through the streets, some tearing down buildings, others repairing or building new ones. He noticed a patrol of pegasi flying over the city, and the color scheme struck him as odd. The guards were glowing solid red, while most of the other ponies blended in with the city, a dull grey. Then he saw the market district, where several of the wealthier merchants had stalls set up, and his attention was divided between the golden-colored merchants, the blue beggars wandering around, and the red figures stalking the rooftops. Blaze heard a throat being cleared, and he turned his gaze up, only to find the rest of the thieves all staring at him, making obvious that they had caught him staring in wonder. They weren't judging, as they each had the same reaction when they first saw the table, and they understood its allure.

"Welcome to the fold now Sweet T." Door Cracker said, slapping the pegasus roughly on his back, the younger thief giving just slightly under the weight of the larger pony's strength.

"This area is reserved for the elite among us, the best thieves, the ones who have proven their use, their loyalty." Al explained, drawing Blaze's attention his way. "We can have a formal induction after we complete this job, and you can consider it your initiation into the elite, kid."

"What job?" Vex Hooves asked, shifting her weight between her sides anxiously, hope finally pulling her energy up. It had been far too slow for her to work enough, and she was more than ready for a good heist, or maybe a high-end robbery. She didn't care, so long as she got to tear away at the wealth the nobility hoarded for themselves, as long as she had a chance to put her skills to work again.

"I'm getting to that, just give me a moment to let our newest Cutpurse Burglar take in the fact he rose ranks. Now, let's get the formalities out of the way." Al turned to face Blaze once more, the latter inclining his head at the shift of attention being placed on him again. "Blaze Burn, you are hereby being inducted into the Blackguard, as an honorary member and taking the temporary title of Cutpurse Burglar until a final induction is held. In order for you to have the privileges of the Blackguard, you must make a few oaths to the creed."

Blaze stiffened at the mention of oaths, before shrugging to himself and nodding for the master of the creed to continue. "Do you swear to hold your tongue should you be questioned about the Creed, be it under arrest or torture?"

"I do."

"Do you swear to return all property that rightly belongs to the Creed, be it from contacts, this here Warehouse, or anything of value stolen from those who wish to hoard wealth?"

"I do." He had a slight hesitation for this one, wondering just what constituted valuable items.

"Do you swear to protect the Creed, should any seek to harm the Warehouse?"

"I do."

"Well then, welcome to the Blackguard, kid. As honorary Blackguard, you now have access to everything we have to offer our finest. Now, everypony, let's get down to the finest business we have had in a rather long time." Al smiled, leaning his hooves on the edge of the table, staring down at the city magically sitting before him, eyes scanning the market districts for his target. "As you are aware, there have been rumors in circulation of a particularly wealthy family of ponies moving into the city, and due to their wealth and influence, they have their most prized possessions being stared in the Castle vault for safekeeping.

"The family themselves have purchased residence in the nobility district, getting a large slab of land that has been under construction for their manor." He pointed his hoof in over the empty plot of land that had several dozen grey workers constructing a large building. Sitting outside the construction site, no doubt enjoying an early breakfast, were three golden ponies. "They have a wagon train outside the city, holding the bulk of their items, under heavy guard. However, we aren't interested in their cheap items, as the luxury shit we are interested in is being kept within the castle."

"If it's in the castle how the hay are we going to get in there?" Door Cracker asked, obviously worried about the guards that were constantly protecting the palace from the intrusion of unwanted guests. Over the last year, Blaze noted irritably, the guard numbers had shot up, most likely due to the rumors of beasts attacking the country, and the influx of dangerous creatures in the Everfree.

"Actually, I think that I can help with that." Blaze spoke up, flinching when Door Cracker's and Al's gaze snapped to him. "If you can sneak past the guards on the walls, there are several servant's doors that lead into the Castle itself. I'm not familiar with the entire layout of the Castle, but I'm sure we could find a way to the vault without too much trouble."

"And you know this how?" Vex scoffed, pruning her grey wing with an idle hoof.

"I know this because over the last year I've made about a dozen trips inside the castle, with only a single buck up. I know how to sneak past the guards, I know which servant's doors are better for easy access, and I know the basic hall structure to get from the outside to the kitchens. I know where to go to avoid the throne room, and I have a limited, but basic understanding of the patrol routes that the guards take." Blaze replied, looking at the fellow pegasus, he had heard of Vex Hooves. She was the resident master burglar, an experienced thief that did the particularly rough infiltration jobs, mostly working with snatch and pass jobs. She was also considered one of the better lock-pickers in the creed, but Blaze had suspected that that would only make sense, as she would have a great many doors to open dishonestly.

He observed her as she planted her hoof back on the ground, and her gaze evened out over him, studying him as he studied her. She liked the arrogance in his tone, but she felt that he was too green for a job like this, but arguing with Al never really ended well for anypony, so she kept her mouth shut.

"Well then, kid. Show us where these entrances are." Door Cracker offered him his spot next to the table so Blaze could reach the royal district of the city, housing the castle. Blaze looked up at him, nervous to have the attention of the Blackguard on him, and walked closer to the real-time map of the city. He watched the guards patrolling the walls of the castle, observing their patterns as he figured exactly where he had made his infiltrations. Once he had figured it out, he lifted a hoof and pointed it at the eastern wall of the massive structure, near the royal gardens and the other buildings within the keep's enclosing walls.

"The one I have found easiest to sneak into has been this one, it's kind of a danger going in, as it connects to the hallway leading to the throne room, but the patrols are looser around there during the day. It also has a fairly easy loop to the kitchens." He answered, removing his hoof from the map before stepping back to his place away from said map. Door Cracker returned to his position, and studied the map for a moment, tapping a hoof to his chin as he thought.

"Why would you even try to trespass the castle grounds so close to the north-eastern gates, kid?"

"The district around there is full of the wealthier families." He answered, as if that explained everything, but when he saw the confused faces of the others around him, he had to elaborate. "Because of the influence they have had in the development of the city, I'm guessing from the earliest days of a united Equestria, they have lots of buildings using the sides of the walls as support. It makes getting close enough to hop over significantly easier. The hardest part being timing the patrols, but it's not like you guys don't have experience runnin' from the guards."

"Oh, I guess that makes some sense." The earth pony shrugged, turning his attention back to the map to scan the area as he watched where the guards on the walls went. "It'll help us that the sun sets in the west, so we could even try to hop over during the guard shift swaps."

"Ain't that good of an idea actually." Vex spoke up finally, pointing at the shift that was already in the process of changing. The night guards were obviously restless, while a surge of the day guards was marching out of the various doors towards their posts. "Sounds good on paper to hit it while the guards were done with guarding, but double the number wouldn't be helpful in the slightest."

"I think I can remedy that." Al said, placing both his front hooves on the map, his horn lighting up and a bottle of whiskey floated over to him, a shot glass following shortly after. "We need to scope the place out, along with figuring out just what it is that is being held in there. So, Sweet T: since you are all familiar with how the in's and out's work of sneaking in there, how about you take Vex and show her what you know. Find out what's going to be waiting on the inside, and I'll take Door Cracker to gather whatever we can on the merchants."

Blaze nodded, but it took Vex a moment to agree. "Sure, but how are we going to slip past the shifts? We go in too early, they spot us, too late and we hit double guard numbers."

"We'll get to that tonight, just head out and find out what you can, then meet back here to go over what we find. And remember, I just want you two to perfect getting past the guards, because I have a way to get information from the inside. I don't need you two getting caught by the watch, so just stick to the outsides for now."

"Sure thing boss." Vex sighed, turning around to leave, but Al's voice halted her in her tracks.

"Once you both feel that you got the patrols down, and have everything you want out of the way, meet me in the markets just outside. We should have everything we need to pull this off by tonight, or at least we should have enough to start prepping for this job." With that, he flicked his hoof, signaling that the meeting was over, and the group of expert thieves left the chamber, climbing the stairs. Blaze trotted out of the hallway, bolting in front of Vex and beating the fellow pegasus to the door. He kicked the door open, stopping just outside to hold it open for the three following him, though Vex simply grunted in return of the gesture, Al didn't seem to care, and Door Cracker cracked a small smile.

Once the two pairs had exited the building, Vex flared her wings to take off, with Blaze following shortly behind her, and they parted ways. Blaze and Vex went south, intending to follow the residential district to the border of the wealthy region, then fly east until they reached the edge of the city. Blaze took the lead once they hit the wealthy district, though he hardly had to lead the mare, as she was well acquainted with the region. They flew just above the rooftops, skimming the thatched roofs as they made their way closer to the wall bordering the castle proper.

The pair landed on a flat roof, watching the ponies below as they began to move about the streets, no doubt ready to begin their morning affairs. Blaze had just finally managed to adjust to the time, as he felt it was supposed to be later than it actually was. He surmised that it was because of the time he had already spent indoors, and in the Blackguard chamber beneath the warehouse that had no access to the morning rays of sunlight.

"Take not of the guards patrolling the walls, kid." Vex muttered to him, her eyes firmly glued to the skies as she kept watch for the sky patrols while she leaned closer to the edge of the roof, stance ready to dive below should they be noticed. It was still early, and both pegasi doubted that they would raise too much concern, though they were worried that some guard might want to ask them something. This nervousness led the pair to taking extra precautions, namely the two leaping down onto the street.

As they landed, a single merchant let out a startled grunt, before he grumbled to himself and walked away. Glad that they avoided getting caught up in any useless arguing with a pony that most likely had a stick shoved up their ass, they slowly walked along the street, occasionally casting discreet glances towards the battlements behind the houses. Blaze already knew this portion of the wall fairly well, though the guard numbers had increased since his first hop over to the other side. He was still worried about trying to find a way to have the guards that patrolled the path be distracted long enough for the group to be able to sneak past.

While Blaze mulled it over, Vex was busy keeping her head low and her eyes on the skies. Far above them was a survey team, something that had her pretty worried, as the two pegasi hovering over the city would likely be a huge problem for them if they tried anything odd; like, say, hopping the wall when the guards weren't looking. She had to be careful to not look like she was staring at the guards above, as she would certainly draw attention to herself.

Sighing, she pushed Blaze lightly with her wing, his gaze pulling over to her slowly, a questioning look stapled to his face. "Come on, let's loop around this row of houses and see if there is a place that we can find to stake out the guards."

Blaze simply shrugged, he didn't have a better idea, and let her lead him around the first corner they passed. The pair trotted along at a sedated pace, looking as casual as possible to any early morning passerby's. Eventually, after a few minutes of patiently strolling around some blocks, they found a large building that had a real-estate sign displaying in bold letters: "For sale." Vex glanced at Blaze, but he was already checking the vicinity for any unwelcome gazers. He nodded it was clear, and the two quickly leaped over the fence, landing softly in the front lawn of the abandoned mansion. Blaze cast a quick glance at the building, noting that it had a large tower in the back that would be perfect for watching the wall for quite a long time. Slipping into the shadows, Blaze and Vex wound their way towards the building, hiding from any gazing eyes by sticking within the bushes, hiding up in a tree as they passed one, and hugging the wall as they approached the building itself.

Blaze turned to watch their backs as Vex pulled out a lock pick and pry bar, then set to work opening the garden-door they were standing in front of. Within a few seconds of silent work, Vex slid the oak door open, gracefully dipping inside, with Blaze hot on her tail. The two welcomed the darkness, as the interior hadn't been lit, and the old blinds had been drawn, though Blaze guessed that the amount of dust being kicked up suggested that the blinds had been closed for quite some time, completely undisturbed.

Vex led the way to the first pair of stairs they could see, and creeping up the stone path, they made their way onto the second floor. Blaze was amazed at how much space there was in the entry way alone; he could fit the entire community on this floor, and still have some space left over. Along the dimly lit hallway were several busts and an ancient rug that probably had been forgotten about long ago. As the two crept back towards what they could only assume was the stairs leading to the tower, they passed the eastern windows, noting that slight rays of sunlight were beginning to break through the cracks in the curtains. With the faint amount of light provided to them, they found themselves standing at the base of the stairs leading higher up, narrowing and confirming their suspicions; they had indeed found the tower.

Finally perched in a place that would keep themselves undetected as they observed the patrols, the two sat in silence for the better part of two hours, taking as many notes as they could dare remember about guard positions and paths. Blaze enjoyed the view, mostly because he could see the guards patrolling on the ground just behind the wall, and he was able to draw up a path in his head about where to go to get the thieves in and out without too much hassle from local law enforcement.

After those two hours, Vex groaned audibly, the sudden break from silence felt like a lightning bolt slapping off in their ears. The dark grey mare stretched her back, her wings flapping lightly as she tried to get blood back into her extremities. Blaze followed suit shortly after, glad that they had made some progress.

"So, what do you think?" He asked as they began to trot down to the ground level, both sets of hooves kicking up larger amounts of dust as they hurried to get out of the building before anything else decided to show up. Vex didn't reply until they had gotten back to the garden door, then she turned to Blaze with a frown burnt into her muzzle.

"I think this was a stupid idea, there are way too many guards, and the patrols are all aligned, there are no blind spots, there are multiple ponies watching the same areas. And all the while, there are several groups of pegasi doing laps around the castle, at least one facing in either direction at all times. I think we shouldn't have tried to do something like this." She growled as she pushed the door open harder than she would have like to, causing the wood to abruptly slam onto the white stone that made up the rest of the building. She flinched a little, pausing to listen for anypony to complain about the noise from the abandoned building, but when none came she just shrugged and kept going out.

"Really? I thought it wasn't going to be easy, but I think I found a pattern and a way to go around the guards, and under the patrols." Blaze replied as he gently closed the door, returning the deadbolt back into place using his own lock-pick, removing any evidence the possibility of suspicion of the duo being there. He hoped the dust resettled before anypony checked out the house. Vex stopped right in front of the colt, and he nearly ran right into her.

"How?" She asked incredulously as she slowly turned around to look at him like he was spewing nonsense from his muzzle. "There were at least twenty guards just patrolling the walls, four alone on the section you want us to go over. I saw the patrols inside the wall, too! There had to have been a dozen guards moving about the place! If you want to try and get in there, please, please explain to me how the buck you are going to do it!"

"Alright, it's pretty simple, don't get your feathers in a twist." Blaze replied with the barest hint of frustration in his tone, but he got himself under control and motioned for them to keep moving forward. Daylight was burning. "Don't even know why you wouldn't think about it, though."

"Spill." She snapped at him.

"The guards on the wall are the only real challenge, but all you have to do is get their attention focused on a distraction. Something simple and away from where we are going to go. If we are to hit the castle at night, which I believe we will, then we will be able to hide in the shadows behind them as we slip by." The two stalked through the loose foliage of the run-down garden, using whatever shades they could to hide from spying eyes. That was their job.

"And what do you propose we do to get their attention?" She asked as they carefully peered over the wall to wait for a clear moment to hop back over. Once the street had emptied enough for them to slip past unnoticed, the pair quickly leapt over the short cobblestone wall and landed gracefully.

"I figured we could get some of the drunks that like to wander around the streets, pick them up and drop them in front of the buildings, down in the streets. Give them a reason to start a brawl, and while the guards are entertained, we slip past." Blaze thought aloud.

"No, that won't work. It would be too hard for us to get the drunks there, and the guards would be sure to notice us if we tried. We need something a little more subtle than that." Vex put a hoof to her chin as they started to fly towards the market, intending to reach Al and Door Cracker in the lunch-hour traffic. "Something that would be sure to not only get their attention, but hold it for a while. Hmm."

The pegasi landed gently in the market region, quickly slipping into the crowd to blend in better. They worked their way over to one of their guild stalls, as they saw that Al and Door Cracker were already waiting for them there. Bobbing between ponies as they made their way through the crowd, Blaze also put his thoughts into what they would be able to use for a distraction, though nothing was coming to mind. Sighing in defeat, he just decided that if the four of them couldn't come up with something, they'd be pressed for how to get past the wall. He trusted them to figure it out, however, as Vex was one of the most talented burglars in the creed, while Al was the head of them for a reason. He turned his attention to what he remembered of the guard patrols within the outer perimeter of the wall, and he slyly grinned as he saw the shitty gap that they left in their paths. Right next to the blacksmith building, just behind some of the other outcropping buildings within the inner courtyard, he saw a gap. The gardens were regularly patrolled, even though said patrols were only the passing guards taking a quick glance in the bushes. Four ponies would have no issue hopping over the wall as a patrol turns around from investigating the gardens. Then all the thieves would have to do was stalk their way behind the roses, hiding when the next patrol gave the gardens a glance, and be patient for them to return to their duties.

It was slightly unnerving that the rest of the castle would be so tightly locked up, but then this one sliver of space would be so loose. Shrugging to himself to not look the gift pony in the mouth, he thanked whoever would listen for his good luck. The hardest part so far would be getting a proper distraction that would catch the guards' attention, but not alert the whole damn palace that the place was under threat. That would be bad.

"So, what did you find?" Al asked as the pair of winged ponies made their way up to the other members of the Blackguard. The four looked between each other until Vex gave Blaze a little wing-slap, forcing him to take the helm and report what they found. Blaze gulped slightly, though he knew he had something to work with, which was significantly better than nothing.

"Well, Al. The guard numbers have shot through the bucking roof, and I think that our chances at getting in are being attacked by the Sisters. I know we can still do it, we just need some time to prepare a course of action that can get us past the walls." He began nervously, then at Al's nod to continue, he sucked in a deep breath and centered his thoughts. He relayed what they had observed in the castle grounds, causing both Al and Door Cracker to scowl in distaste. He was happy that they hadn't totally rejected his desire for a distraction, though what made him particularly happy was that Vex, the current master at creeping into places unseen hadn't dismissed his ideas entirely. It made him excited that his knowledge of burglary was enough to pass as acceptable to the experienced members.

"I'll take a look tonight, after we deal with the merchant dilemma." Al said, motioning for Door Cracker to explain to them their own findings as the leading Blackguard turned to the merchant behind the stall. The unicorn nodded at the fence, before the latter reached under his stall and produced a bottle of Northern Prussian Vodka, and offering the entire thing to the Blackguard. While he was receiving his alcohol, the other three were discussing why they were needing to keep an eye on the merchants that were moving into the city.

"Apparently, with Cloudsdale being rebuilt now that Discord is gone, these merchants have been moving in significantly more resources than we thought. Turns out, we're gonna watch them for the next day or two as they move in supplies to the city, figure out what is going where, and how to deal with it." The earth pony explained to the two pegasi, leaning back against the stall.

"Why don't we just hit the moving teams hard, take it while it's out in the open, and haul the loot back to the warehouse?" Blaze asked, curious as to why this wasn't brought up earlier, though Door Cracker only shook his head in response.

"No can do there, kid. The teams moving the goods are said to be more heavily guarded than the castle itself. And before you ask; no. We are not going to try to rob their caravans outside the city, what with it being guarded by a bunch of the city guard, a squad of the Sisters' own royal guards, as well as the bulk of the mercs that the merchants have hired on as guards." Door Cracker continued, looking around the market, scanning the crowd for anything important. Eventually, his eyes settled back on the group of thieves as Al made his way back into the circle.

"Kid, do you think you can come up with any other ways for us to get inside the castle? Door Cracker, Vex and I are going to take a peek at some of the moving teams while we figure out what is going to the merchant's new property and what is being carted off to the castle itself." Blaze shrank a little at the thought of being cast aside from the interesting work, but perked back up when he thought about it. He nodded to the unicorn, preparing to take off to watch the guards again, and devise a way to break past the defenses undetected. "And before you go, remember to stay sharp, because this is the biggest job we will be doing for quite a while and I don't want you to buck this up."

"You can count on me sir!" He exclaimed with a sly salute before launching himself into the air, heading off to the wealthier district to find a good place to take a 'nap.'

"You sure we can trust him to do this, boss?" Vex asked after the white pegasus had left, leaving the veterans to deal with the nasty business of getting some information out of the lone merc they had captured. The three knew what to do, having done more than one dirty job to get information on a potential hit. They all slowly walked back to the warehouse, knowing that Al had already put the poor guy in the dungeons for interrogation.

"I do. Kid's got heart, balls, and the fire in him to keep us afloat. Just got to worry about the Sisters interfering with him, because they are really bent on getting him on their side." Al replied coolly as they walked down the crowded streets towards the quiet of their base. The comment made Vex's ears perk up, as she had only heard the rumors about his heritage, and she ahd to admit she was curious as to their validity.

"So it's true then? He does have the old blood in him?"

"More than likely so, which is why we need him." Al responded, opening the warehouse door for the other two with his magic, closing it shut tightly behind him as they made their way into the warehouse proper. "Just imagine the possibilities of having a Gold Blood working for the creed, the amount of wealth we could acquire. His wings will be one of the biggest assets to us, so for now we have to stay on his good side, make him want to stay here. The Sisters made in abundantly clear that they want him to join their forces willingly, and having him upset at us is the best chance they are going to have to twists him under their hooves."

"What are we going to do about it then?" Door Cracker finally spoke up, inciting both Al and Vex to look over at him, as he had remained silent for the entire trip back. "The Sisters, I mean."

"Well, since they were adamant about wanting Blaze to tear away from us on his own terms, I suppose we will have to give him a reason to remain loyal to us. You're doing a fine job of that yourself, Door Cracker. Just keep him on good terms with us, keep this relationship he has with the creed as strong as possible, we can't afford to lose him."

"Well, actually, boss. . ." Vex spoke up, the attention of the other two shifting to her. "If we pull this off, the news will spread pretty damn fast, and if word gets around that we have the skills to break into the Castle of the Two Sisters, then our reputation is going to skyrocket. With that much cred, we might not even have to keep the kid, because all sorts of thieves are going to come flocking to us."

"Good point, but I still don't want to lose him, not yet at least. I made him a Blackguard, and you all approved of it, and it would look pretty bucking bad if a new Blackguard, an elite among thieves, were to suddenly up and quit the creed. All that reputation won't do us shit if we don't have the means of backing it up if the kid were to leave. We need him here for as long as it will last, and even then, we should hold onto him a little longer." Al said as he led the other Blackguards down to the elite chambers, taking them towards the dungeons. The trio made their way down through the corridors, the stones cold and damp even though torches adorned the walls at even intervals. "Come on, enough of that. We got a job to do, and information to get out of a stallion."

They broke through the stone corridor to another large circular chamber, lit only by a few braziers used to heat iron rods for torturing prisoners. Lining the back wall was a line of cages, each buried into the side of the chamber, five of them in total, yet only the centermost one was occupied. A lone stallion sat on the sooty floor, staring in rightful terror at the Blackguards that had him caged. The black iron bars were locked tight, and the flickering light from the brazier did little to break the darkness within the cell. Yet the stallion sitting there was perfectly able to see the three thieves standing just outside his door, watching him and silently deciding how to go about garnering the information they needed.

Eventually, Al sighed, having had enough of trying to intimidate the fool into giving them what they needed. He walked forward, his horn lighting up, revealing in the slightest hint of light the conditions of the cell. The stallion backed away from the door, screaming incoherently as the thief opened the cell and walked in.

"How about we cut to the chase, eh friend? You know why you are here, and we would greatly appreciate it if you would comply with our wishes and tell us everything we need to know." He spoke calmly, almost friendly to the stallion, who had only backed as far as he could into the cell, hiding away from the fate that would befall him. "No? Well, I guess it has been some time since I last had a little fun. . ."

"I ain't gonna tell you nothing!" The stallion shouted, a sudden burst of courage surged through him as he leapt towards the unicorn standing above him. Al didn't even flinch, his horn simply grew brighter and the charging stallion suddenly found himself wrapped in a murky brown aura as he was held still by magic. He struggled briefly before he felt his hooves slam against the stone floor, an audible crack resounding in the chamber. There was silence for but a moment, then cries of agony pierced the room, echoing and growing louder as pain surrounded the stallion as he dropped from Al's magical grip and landed heavily on the floor.

"Let's get this over with, okay? I am going to get this information, whether you want to hide it or not, and I would rather you make this as pleasant as possible for yourself. Just tell us what arrangements are being made to house the valuables in the castle, because the sooner you tell us, the sooner the pain will be over." Al said in what the other two Blackguards considered to be his most comforting voice, though the twinge of irritation lurking in the back alluded to the paint he stallion would receive for refusing.

"I'm, I'm not saying anything." The stallion choked out, his hooves tucked tightly against his body, though his hind legs stuck out at painful-looking angles. Al just breathed a light sigh, a smile creeping its way onto his muzzle as his horn flashed again. Instead of floating in the air, the stallion noted that his mane was floating of its own accord, and when he turned his head to see what the head Blackguard was doing, his neck was suddenly jerked up. His hooves flailed around as his body was forced into a somersault, and he landed on his back, a pained scream escaping his lips when his head smacked against the stone floor. Door Cracker looked away, while not shy to brutality, he knew that things here would escalate quickly if Al didn't get answers soon. The merc cried out, flailing his hooves in front of Al's face as the unicorn's horn lit up once more: "Wait! Wait!"

"Going to tell us what is going on with the treasures your boss is keeping?" Al spoke up, hope barely concealed, hope that the stallion had broken before the unicorn had broken a sweat. He shoulders sagged for a moment when the prisoner spat a blob of blood-laced spittle at him, though a small chuckled escaped him as he readied his next spell. "Very well then. I was hoping to get some practice with getting information."

His horn flared brightly, and the prisoner found himself launched against the wall, several of his ribs cracking with the force of impact, while a howl of pain echoed in the empty chamber. Door Cracker resumed watching the interrogation with a frown on his muzzle; sometimes he wondered why sell-swords like these even bothered holding back anything. It wasn't like they were renowned for loyalty, and they all knew that this wasn't a situation that the prisoner was likely to get out of just by being stubborn. Vex, on the other hoof, had a grin plastered on her face as she watched in glee at the torture. She was giddy with excitement, as this was one of her favorite parts of the job, the only other competition was the looks on the faces of the ponies she toyed with as she stole their valuables. Shouting at her as she dipped into the night with their goodies.

Al wasn't done, though and he made this known to the prisoner by taking the stallion in his magical grip and throwing him against the wall again. And again. He heard the loud crack of ribs breaking from the force, and only then did he give the prisoner a chance to rest.

"Make this easy on yourself. All you have to do is tell us what we want to know." He cooed at the stallion, who had curled up into a ball near the wall, pain forcing tears to streak down his face.

"Buck off." The prisoner replied weakly, though it only made Al's grin grow wider as a new technique for interrogation entered his mind. His horn glowed, and as the prisoner clenched to prepare for another bout of pain, he let out a startled yelp when he began to glow gold, a healing spell repairing the damage to his body. Vex let out an irritated growl, as she was hoping to see the merc suffer for defying them. "What the hay?"

"Yeah, what's the big idea boss?" Vex called, stepping up to the pair of stallions, glaring down at the prisoner before her gaze shifted to confusion as she turned to question Al.

"See, we aren't all that bad. Just think about how this could all be over, and it is as simple as you telling us what we want to know." Al spoke to the prisoner, though his words carried the answer that Vex was asking for, and as understanding bloomed across her face, she smiled and trotted back to the door, standing beside Door Cracker in her original position. "This could all be over, and all you have to do is answer that one, teeny, tiny, super simple question. Make this easier for yourself."

"I-I can't! If I told you what was going on, they would kill me!" The prisoner panicked, his hooves running down his sides as he felt his broken ribs completely repaired. When he was sure that he was back in one piece again, he glared at Al, whose horn had begun to glow once more. "Look, I don't want any trouble, I just want to get back home, I needed this job to get me the money I needed to survive!"

"Shame." Al muttered, his horn bursting with light as the prisoner felt all four of his legs snap, the sickening crunch making even Vex flinch momentarily as the stallion began to scream in earnest again. Al let the prisoner squirm on the ground for a little bit before he returned his magic to causing pain for him. "Tell. Me. What. Is. Going. On. With. The. Goods."

Each word was punctuated with him snapping one bone or another, a scream from the prisoner, and happy little squeals from Vex. Once Al had finished his phrase, he let the prisoner sit on the floor in silent agony, while Vex was getting more and more excited. She had gone so far as to rapidly applaud Al for his work, but silenced herself when he shot her a glare. She shied away from the cell, backing behind Door Cracker to avoid the glare that Al kept on her until she had shrunken away from the room. Once the room was clear of her sadistic qualities, Al returned his attention to the prisoner, who was silently sobbing in a heap against the wall.

Al walked up to the stallion, using his magic to gently lift him so they could look each other in the eye. He then used his magic to heal some of the more prominent injuries, fixing up the worst of them and allowing the guy a chance to catch his breath.

"Now that we have that out of the way, why don't you just tell me what I need to know, huh?" Al asked as he laid the prisoner back on the ground, albeit gently this time, reassuring him that he was not going to be punished unless he acted stupid. Feeling broken at what had happened to his body, being broken down so easily, the prisoner felt his will shatter, though it really had disintegrated once he felt his ribs break through his skin, one piercing his lung during that last rout of abuse. He nodded weakly, giving in to the pressure, and succumbing to the unicorn.

The stallion stood up on shaky legs and looked around the room, eyes darting rapidly between AL and Door Cracker, only once did he dare to look at Vex. Sighing in defeat, the prisoner revealed everything he knew, which much to the Blackguards' disappointment, was absolutely nothing useful at all. He knew that valuables were going to the Castle Vault, but other than that, he could only give vague details about what was being moved around. He did have a single promising point, which happened to be that he knew the vault was buried in the castle, fairly close to the throne room, and that it had guards stationed outside of it all the time. Al didn't bother to mention that that piece of information was useless, as all vaults like this were to be guarded 'round the clock. He let it slide, however, as he knew he had just broken he guy down to a blabbering mess. The stallion continued to list off every little detail he could think of, even trying to please Al with information about the merchants themselves, such as their eating habits, and the wife's habit of taking certain employees into her room at questionable hours. While Al was entertained by the information, it was completely irrelevant to the topic at hoof, and he had to finally silence the guy with a raised hoof before he rambled about breakfast for another several minutes.

"Thank you, my friend. Your information has been quite helpful." He lied with a happy smile on his face, allowing the prisoner to return the grateful gesture before he stood up, offering a hoof to the stallion and pulling him onto his hooves. "Now, let's get you all patched up then we can all leave and finish the day doing what we have to do."

"We're just going to let him go?!" Vex screeched, leaping around Door Cracker and back into the cell. "After all the work we put into this interrogation, and you're just giving his a slight slap on the hoof and letting him go to tell the merchants what we are up to?!"

"Vex, please." Al held up a hoof to stop her and give her a chance to take a breath before he continued. "I said that I would patch him up, and I am nothing if not a stallion that keeps his word."

He finished the sentence with a kind smile as he turned to the prisoner, who still bore the extremely grateful smile on his face, though it had hints of worry about what Vex was going to do. "So, let's get you all fixed up."

As he said that, his horn glowed brightly, and an enveloping light wrapped itself around the prisoner, while he sighed in relief. As he was being healed, Al winked to the other two thieves in the room, and Vex suddenly caught on, seeing a blade appear just behind the prisoner. As he laid the stallion back onto the ground, he offered a smile before giving a brief apology, yet the prisoner had a short opportunity to be confused before the blade buried itself in his skull. With a soft thud, the blade slammed through the bone, sticking into the front of his skull, though the tip could barely be seen jutting out of the stallion's left eyeball. Before the guy could register that he had been crossed, he was dead, his body dropping to the ground as his muscled lost input from the now-dead brain. Al sighed in relief, glad that they had that taken care of, and with a flash of his horn, the body disappeared, vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"Wonder how Sweet T is doing." Door Cracker mumbled as the trio made their way back out of the prison chamber and back through the cold, damp, grey stone corridors. The other two simply nodded their agreements, each thinking of some aspect of the job or another.

As they made their way back into the warehouse, each busy mulling over something to do with this huge of a job, their final key to getting this job done watching the guards. Blaze was assigned the task of finding the best ways in and out of the castle, and he was going to do just that. He was slightly surprised that he hadn't had Vex here to help him, as she was the master burglar, but he didn't mind. To him, this was an opportunity to prove that he was just as deserving of the title of Cutpurse burglar as well. . .

Blaze had to think for a moment to wonder if he even knew if anypony had been given that rank, then he realized that he wouldn't know, because just today he learned about the bucking Blackguard. Shrugging to himself to get over it, he returned his attention to the task at hoof: watching the bucking guards do absolutely jack shit for work. He knew the importance of knowing exactly what guards were going to be where but he was getting bored with just sitting there in the tree, doing nothing. The guards hadn't even taken water breaks, and despite being about a bazillion degrees outside, they remained steadfast in discipline. He respected their fortitude, as he was in the shade, wearing a jacket and his saddlebags, and he wasn't even liking the intensity of Celestia's sun right then. He checked his surroundings once again, making sure none of the nearby patrols didn't decide to stumble across his spying from his tree. He was actually a little surprised at how easy it had been for him to get passed the guards and over the wall, even when it was midday.

All he had to do was wait for the pegasi team above the wall to fly towards the northern portion of the castle and then he leaped into the air. Using the massive tower on the south-western corner to stay out of sight, he just zipped past the single guard posted on top of it. Once he had gotten around the tower guard, he had simply dropped down below the inside of the wall, waiting in the shadows of the tower for the patrols on the ground to clear out, before he dived towards the buildings outside the castle. Once hidden from the walls, he had taken up to hide in the tree, safe from the pegasi, and out of sight of the ground troops. His branch was just high enough for him to see over the rooftops, though he couldn't see a whole lot. He did manage to learn a few things about the tower weakness, though.

All he had to do was get the guard up top to look to the city, facing away from the wall, then he would have some kind of distraction on the other end of the wall. The guards down on the ramparts would investigate it, the guard above would be facing away, and then there was more than enough room between the tower and the closest guards for several thieves to sneak past undetected. The only real hitch was going to be taking care of the pegasi, though Blaze was working on how to solve that as he mulled over the rest of the information he had learned.

Feeling that the best thing he could do was think it over while discussing what he now knew with the rest of the Blackguard, Blaze prepared to leave. He sat up in the branch he was resting on, feeling his muscles welcome the movement after spending two entire hours. He waited for the nearest patrol to turn around, and then he silently hopped off the tree branch, landing in a tiny cloud of dust coming from the sun-dried dirt paths around the buildings. Slinking back into the shadows to hide before the next patrol stumbled across him, Blaze slowly made his way back to the outer wall.

As he slid through the patrols like a snake in the grass, he kept an eye on the pegasi patrols flying above the castle so he could remain undetected. He was forced to stop at the edge of a building, hiding behind a crate on the corner as another winged squadron soared overhead, and then something really bad happened.

He took a single, careful step forward, leaning around the crate to continue on his way, when there was a bright flash of light, and a sudden popping sensation, then Blaze found himself blind and dazed. He rolled backwards into the shade offered by the building once more, blinking rapidly to clear his vision and evaluate the situation better. Rubbing his eyes with a hoof, he was finally able to clearly see what had happened, though the moment his mind registered that Princess Celestia herself stood in front of him, a wide grin plastered over her face, there was another bright flash. Blaze felt like his insides were being stretched from him, twisted and pulled around while being dunked in a pool of fire. Then the sensation stopped, though for recovery, his body's only reaction was to relieve the stress by removing any left-over materials that may have been in his stomach.

He heaved his early breakfast onto the floor, and continued to do so for a good several minutes. Once his stomach was thoroughly cleaned, he wiped his muzzle with a shaking hoof and took a moment to observe his surroundings. He found himself sitting in what looked like a study, there was a pair of high-backed chairs, bookshelves lined the walls, and underneath the chairs lay a massive golden rug, which extended to just before his pile of returned breakfast.

He slumped back onto the stone floor, leaning away from the acidic pile of half-digested food, and looked around for where the Princess Celestia waited. He soon found her standing at the edge of his vision, and he shot to his hooves, backing away from her as if she was a violent criminal. Her grin never left her face as her horn lit up and the puddle of breakfast next to him vanished, and she slowly walked closer to him. Blaze kept backing away until he felt his ass hit a bookshelf. He gulped as her grin only grew wider with each step she took to close the distance between them, each one slow and deliberate. He felt that she was taunting him with her power, letting him know that she was in charge here.

"What do you want?" He asked, desperate for anything to get her to stop and give him the opportunity to escape. Her grin lowered slightly, until it returned full-force, and she halted her advance to cock her head to the side.

"I hath only the wish to speak to thee." She responded, her voice radiating with a passion and warmth to rival the sun, something that Blaze most definitively noticed as new. When he remained silent, she took a careful step forward, making Blaze back further into the bookshelf, though he felt no more comfortable by the books that pressed against his flanks, reassuring him the he had nowhere to run.

"If that we the case, I doubt you would have foalnapped me back there." He responded, hoping that by humoring her, he would buy the time to escape. He even went as far as to offer her a weak smile, though under the circumstance, and by her reaction he knew he done fucked up. Her grin turned momentarily into a scowl, but returned once more and she suddenly took three large steps and closed the distance. Her magic flared up, and Blaze felt himself wrapped in her golden aura as she pulled up so they could look eye to eye. "Not that it matters, though, does it?"

"Why hath thee intruded upon mine property?" She asked, not unkindly, but Blaze felt that the language wasn't really meant for casual conversation. He could understand the romanticizing of it, and even the regal use of it, but this? He was rather uncomfortable with the method that she was speaking. His mind snapped back to the question, as he realized that her stare was bearing down on him while she waited for an answer.

"Uh. . ." He groaned to get something in his brain to come up with an excuse. "I was sightseeing?"

Celestia stared at him for a moment longer, her grin turning into a loose smile as her eyes faded out while she appeared to think about it. Her horn glared brighter, and Blaze felt the pressure around his body tighten, and her pink eyes refocused on him, making him audibly gulp. She smiled warmly at him, then her eyes sparked to life, and Blaze found himself slammed against the books, his wings flaring out in surprise. Before he could make any motion, Celestia pressed her face up close to his, eyes bearing down on him with an intensity that he was unsure whether to be terrified of or rebellious to. While he felt insecure about his current situation, with her eyes hardened into intimidation, her voice held that soft, lovely tone that made his ears want to beg her to keep speaking. "Let us try this one again."

"Wait!" He blurted out, tucking wings against his sides again, preparing himself for another beating while he tried to get an answer out that she could believe. "Would you let me go if I promised to not come back?"

"Thee does not hath an answer to our question?" She cocked her head to the side, her grin and fierce eyes deeply conflicting with the tender tone she was speaking in, and Blaze knew why she was the Princess of the Day. She wasn't one to be bucked with, he suddenly understood that she had the skills to appear pleasant, but make one's life a living-Tartarus. "We shalt make sure thee understands that thine Princess shalt hath an answer from thee."

He braced for impact, knowing that pain would soon grip his body as she beat the truth out of him, and he inhaled sharply, expecting pain any moment. With eyes shut, he hoped that she would be a little gentle about it, and after a moment of remaining non-broken, he opened his eyes. He had to flinch back, because the strength and frustration in her eyes had been replaced with a tender look a mother would give to her foal when they got hurt. Her grin was replaced with a sad smile, and Blaze felt himself numbed with shock.

Celestia lowered Blaze with her magic, gently setting him on the ground as she walked over to one of the chairs. She sat in it daintily, and her horn flared up, turning the other into a couch, before Blaze was lifted again and placed on the new furniture. Once he was sitting on the couch, Celestia summoned a tea kettle and two cups and began to fill them. She offered one to him, while taking the other for herself. "Tea?"

He was still processing the fact that she had stopped from beating him, so his body went on auto pilot, and his hoof reached up and took the hot cup. His gaze fell blankly on the princess, and she had her own resting on him in a curious manner, an expression that was unreadable to the pegasus. She gently blew into her cup, then took a small sip from her drink, all the while their eyes never left contact. After a minute of relative silence, Blaze was finally able to accept that the princess that was just about to beat his ass was now enjoying tea with him. He shook his head, trying to understand what had transpired in the five minutes before, but decided that he would be better to just forget the whole ordeal even happened.

"So, how goes thine involvement with the creed?" The question snapped Blaze back to the matter at hoof, though he still felt that something was off, but he just couldn't put his hoof on it. So he decided that he should just get on with this, and maybe he could get out of the situation without a scratch. He shrugged, finally taking control of his body, and he looked down at the cup of tea is his hooves. Lifting the drink up to his lips, he waited a moment for the steam to indicate the temperature of the drink, and he took a careful sip, finding the temperature to be bearable. He nodded to both the question and to himself, and he took a larger gulp of the drink finding that while it wasn't as good as cider or mead, it was enjoyable in its own right.

"Fine." He answered as he finished the drink in one final gulp, and then the cup was glowing gold, floating as if by magic, and refilled from the kettle. The cup floated back to him, and he nodded his thanks to the Princess, who was merely happy that the Gold Blood had finally decided to be civil with her. She waited for him to expand his thoughts further, and took another drink of her tea, noting that in another, she would have to refill it. Then there came an uncomfortable silence as Blaze lacked the feeling that he should continue with an explanation of how his occupation was going, while Celestia was happy to listen to what he had to say.

"Is there anything that thee hath to enjoy working with thieves? Anything else that thou hast think that thee could have some skill at?" She pried gently, and then Blaze realized what she was doing, though he was also glad that she didn't know that he knew what she was trying to do. He felt that it would have made things a lot more complicated and less friendly during this conversation, so he decided to humor her.

"The guys are alright, the work pays well, and I can really have time off whenever I want, aside from any major jobs we have to do." He took a drink from the tea, waiting for Celestia to come up with whatever response she would give him. He felt that this was merely a ticking clock, and at some point, things would take a turn for the worst, and it was all riding on his playing dumb.

"And hath thee always wanted to be but a common thief?" She continued, and while she sounded sincere in her question, Blaze knew the truth. Without his prior knowledge, Blaze figured that he would have taken the bait without hesitation and fallen for the trap, but as it was, he didn't really enjoy lying, even if it was to Celestia. Still, lies had to be made.

"Not always, but now that I am a part of the family, I can't imagine any place I'd be better suited for, now that my only family is gone." He realized the mistake he made much too late, as he could see the gears already turning in her head. He let out a small sigh and finished his drink again, noting that the Princess was too distracted to refill it.

"Just imagine what could have happened if thee had ignored thine coworkers in crime: how much more time thee would have had to keep watch over thine little Star Burn."

"No." He shook his head, trying to keep it straight so he wouldn't fall into another trap, but the memory of coming home to find out that Star had disappeared, emotions were welling in him again. "If I hadn't joined the creed, bad shit would have happened to us, either the creed themselves showing up to make us keep our silence, interrupting our dealings within the market. Tartarus, we wouldn't have even been able to make the money to do half the shit that we haven't been able to do without those guys."

"We hast thought thou would have been able to find a form of employment that offers more compensation than those criminals, perishing thine thought that thine current occupation is far from a legal business." Blaze felt that this was a poor excuse for her trying to sway him to her side, but he kept his tongue and decided to place his empty cup on the side of his chair while he thought of a response. Unfortunately, Celestia seemed to feel that she needed to elaborate her argument, and didn't give him the chance to make a valid counterargument. "But we can't change the past, and we hath only the ability to look forwards, which is where we shalt go with this next question. Thinking about the future, dost thou really see thine's self with mere common criminals such as thieves? Dost thee really think that that band of thieves, burglars, and criminals is the place where thee truly belongs?"

"Yes." He replied without hesitation, which caught her off-guard, if only for a moment, but that moment was all he needed to smash her train of thought. "I can't imagine any other place that I can be that would not only provide for those that I have under my wing, but also give me a set of skills that I will be able to use for a long time. Nor can I think of any place that would fit me, as a runaway colt that has nothing to his name other than more mouths to feed. The creed offers me a place to learn and grown, and a place to keep my new family fed and safe, while also allowing me to collect enough money to ensure I can retire. There is no better place than where I am now."

Celestia was speechless for a moment, as she knew that he had taken the role of the primary provider for the community in the warehouse he lived in, but she hadn't thought that he was the only source of income. Eventually, she nodded to herself, finding a way to resume her argument, and with new fuel for her argument, she thought no better way to put it than this: "So, protecting thine family and future is thine's primary concern? Well, we hast thought we can imagine several occupational positions within this castle alone that would be grateful to have a young stallion working in them. And each position has a stable income, acceptable job security, and is protected from danger by myself and mine sister, Luna."

"No thanks. I can't just betray the creed like that." Blaze waved off the offer, opting to take the tea that was floating in front of him instead. He finished the tea before Celestia could respond, and set it on the end of the couch before standing from said couch and stretching. He was very glad that this little banter had turned out to protect not only his hide, but also their plans for the robbery. "Speaking of whom, I really should start heading back, else they get worried about me."

Celestia wasn't having any of that, though, and her horn lit up, holding Blaze mid-stretch. She sat from her own chair and walked over to him, looking him in the eye. "We aren't done speaking to thee yet, young Blaze Burn. We hast suggest that thee return to thine seat and listen to our offer."

"Fine. Not like I have a choice, do I?" Blaze sighed, and once he was finally free of the Princess' magic, he let himself get comfortable, as he knew he was going to be here for a while. "But if you want to keep talking, please drop all that stupid 'thee' and 'thou' shit, it gets really bucking old really bucking quick. I feel like our conversations are taking place over an important diplomacy meeting that I couldn't give a flying buck about."

"Why hast thee an issue with the royal tongue thine leaders hath use for formal speeches?" She cocked her head to the side, eyes gently running back and forth as she processed the request, before her eyes lit up and a light scarlet blush spread over her cheeks. "Oh, we do apologize! We understand: this is not a formal meeting, nor are you interested in exchanging idle banter in a form of speaking as complex as this one."

"It's not that it's too complex, it is that it is just so bucking irritating trying to translate what you say into normal bucking Equus. Just speak normally, and then we won't have any problems. I don't speak in 'fancy' and I'm not interested in learning it, so if you want an actual conversation, then we are going to have to talk like this." Blaze said, pulling his front legs under him so he could lay on his stomach and be as comfortable as possible. Celestia seemed to agree with the sentiment, as before she took her seat, she cast a spell and replaced her reading chair with a small couch, only slightly smaller than his own. She mimicked his actions, laying on her stomach with her legs tucked under her, though her couch barely fit her length. "And now that we are settled in, and you can hopefully control your urge to speak like a damned Princess, what else did you want to talk about? I don't exactly have all day."

"Well, the first order of discourse-"

"Stop." Blaze interrupted, raising a hoof into the air to get her attention better. "Simple Equus, remember?"

"Right, apologies. Well, the first topic I would like to speak about is your current impression of the thief's guild." She said, though after a moment, her gaze dropped to the ground, and she looked up with a small frown on her features. "This is significantly harder than we hast originally thought."

"You'll get used to it if you want to have any more conversations with any of your actual citizens, and not just those snobby nobles that think that they own the world." Blaze dismissed her comment as he resumed his resting position, while Celestia smiled and nodded for him to answer her question. "And you want to know how I view the creed?"

She nodded, causing Blaze to sigh so he could think about how he honestly viewed the creed. His first thought was that they weren't all that bad, and that some of the members were pretty cool, like Door Cracker and Vex. Though he felt that there was a lot more to Vex than he probably wanted to know; to him she simply felt, almost scary. Like there was a monster under her skin, or that she wasn't entirely Equine. Then he thought about the basement, and how bucked up it was to have that shit down there, but it wasn't like he could really tell the Princesses about something like that, because they already knew about it. Sometimes he wished he didn't know what he knew. He wondered if it would be worth it to just tell her the truth, that he wished he didn't have to steal from others, but then he remembered that he wasn't stealing from the innocent, though the rest of the creed didn't seem to follow his ideology. But the biggest thing holding his tongue right then was that just that morning, he had received an honorary title amongst the Blackguard, something that Blaze knew was going good for him. For him to snitch on the creed, especially after working to the top of the rabble, he understood that the phrase had truth to it for a reason: "Snitches get stitches."

Celestia clearing her throat returned Blaze to the real world, and he had to shake his head to center his thoughts and remember what he was doing and then what the question was. Once he had regained his bearings, he smiled an apology, which Celestia returned, then he set his face back to thinking about how to answer her request. Then inspiration struck, and he had his answer, so his inhaled to begin this web.

"I first thought that the bastards were alright, that they had everything in the city under their control. I thought that they would be a bitch to really enter the ranks of, and when they told me they needed hooves in the field earning their name back, I was thrilled. I had a chance to become part of the greatest creed of all time." He began in fake excitement, and he knew that Celestia was going to catch the lie, but he knew that she didn't know that he knew that she knew about what he knew or didn't know. That made his fabricated excitement hold a shred of truth to it. "And when they led me to their headquarters just outside the city, I understood why it was that they were the best of the best. I had joined the elite, and I knew that I could earn not only my keep, but that I also had the chance at earning enough bits to take Star and I away from the city.

"Then, as time went on, I discovered just how deep in the dumps the fuckers were, and I realized something: if I were to work my flank off, bust my ass hard enough, maybe I'd be able to rise high enough to really earn some dough." He continued, though now that he had a decent story riding on, he was getting worried that he would have to keep it up for the sake of appearances. But of course, he had spun to much of a story to just stop now, there was no way of saving face and turning back now. "That's where I've been, over this last year, busting my ass and working my flank to get some serious bits stored away. Not that it matters anymore, though, what with Star having disappeared."

"Yes. Actually, we have a proposition for you about that, if you would listen to us?" Celestia offered, because she well knew that the story he had spun was nothing but bullshit and she wanted to just move on, but she also figured a little fun wouldn't hurt. "We are well aware that thee, sorry you, have been ascending quickly within the thief's guild, as your leader Al Capony gives us regular updates on you whenever we visit that little warehouse of yours."

Blaze couldn't help but smile, as he had been caught in his lie, though his smile was twofold; one side was that he had no more web to maintain, and the second was that she obviously didn't know that he already knew that she knew about him. He simply let out a fake sigh with his grin, and motioned for her to continue, though she showed her mild curiosity that he wasn't freaking out about her revelation.

"However, back to the matter at hoof: my sister and I were wondering if you had ever considered joining the guards, as your abilities with you wings would make you extremely valuable to the reclamation of order and harmony to the lands." She finished, her pink eyes staring directly into his navy-blue orbs, and he was satisfied that she hadn't wasted time, as he had heard the political system had a tendency to do. He did appreciate her direct approach, though him being privy to previous knowledge also leant him hindsight, and he had to choose carefully how he would go about this. He wanted to keep his hidden advantage exactly that for as long as possible: hidden.

"Having you trained as a guard would allow us to employ a Gold Blood into restoring our cities, and repairing the damage wrought by Discord."

"I like the offer of doing good, and I see you trying to appeal to my inner sense of morality, but I do have one major issue with what you are asking of me. My issue is this: what could I possibly have to gain from this? I know that you want to appeal to my justice, but my justice extends to those that are like family to me, and my family is in no immediate threat from the past damage Discord did. They are all safe, and I see no reason to leave the creed and betray my brothers and sisters in crime for some lifestyle that others wish me to pursue."

"Wow, you show intelligence beyond your age, young Blaze Burn." Celestia remarked, the white porcelain tea kettle vanishing, as the two had emptied it, before a midnight blue and black one replaced it. She poured them both more tea, and offered him a cup, which he took graciously. He couldn't hold back the smirk forming on the edge of his lips, as the idea that she thought he wouldn't see through her attempts at wooing him. "Tell me this, though Blaze Burn: would it be worth it to you to join our cause if we were able to help you deal with those menacing spirits underneath the city?"

Blaze froze with the tea cup just inches from his lips, and he stared down at the Princess hard, wondering just where she was going with this. She only chuckled at his response.

"Or how about if you were to join our fight for harmony, you would be able to put the best of our resources into finding out what happened to your dear brother?" Blaze felt warmth flooding back into his body at the mention of Star, and that warmth soon turned into a wave of anger that she was trying to pull the same card that Luna had already used up.

"Do you honestly take me for a fool, Celestia? You must surely know that Luna already offered to spare royal resources in the search for my brother, and what good did that do? I made more progress in figuring it out on my bucking own! There isn't a damn thing left for me to search to find him, HE IS GONE! Don't you get it?! Star disappeared, and he isn't coming back." Blaze slumped back into his seat, sighing and looking down at the spilled cup of tea that now lay shattered on the floor, the tea soaking into the carpet. He glanced up to see Celestia walking towards him, though he was no longer in the mood to do anything, all he did want to do was just go back to the creed, tell them what he knew, then go home and sleep.

"I apologize for my brashness earlier." Celestia said as she plopped her royal white flank on the seat next to him, her horn glowing as the pieces or the cup fit themselves back together, and with a pop, a towel began to soak the tea from the rug. Blaze felt a wing rub his back, and if he was in the mood, he probably would have snapped it off of him. As he was, Blaze only wanted to be able to rest, to properly mourn for his lost baby brother, and while he knew this wasn't the place to do it, he was running on low energy about it for a while now. "I shouldn't have brought it up, it was my mistake, though I do wish to try to help you find some closure on the subject."

"Please, just don't." He whimpered, feeling more unsure about how he was going to make it through another year without Star. Hay, he was wondering how he had managed to make it through each and every day without being able to come home to see that adorable little blue face, with those cute little lavender eyes that sparkled with youthful excitement and awe. Blaze felt the floodgates breaking, and he knew there was no holding it back any longer, no way he was going to fight this one off, so he just stopped resisting, and felt himself fall apart at the loss of his only reason to fight.

"I don't want to force this on you, but I want you to know that I have been trying to get my guards to go out and interact with the city more. I want them to be able to relate with the citizens, to be able to connect with their struggles, and to help them through losses such as these. You could help prevent other brothers and sisters from being separated, you could stop others from having to experience this pain." She quietly spoke to him as he sobbed on her favorite couch, her wing never stopped stroking his back They sat like that for longer than either dared to think, until a knock on the door alerted the pair that there was still a city for the princess to manage. "Just promise me you will think on it, okay?"

Blaze weakly nodded, and was about to head to the window to make his escape from the castle, when Celestia's wing wrapped itself tighter around his shoulders. He looked up at her in confusion, but was met with her facing the door, leading him to it, and panic welled inside him as he thought she was taking him to the guard. He tried to resist, his strength now returning thanks to the emotional ride being over, but the Princess was stronger than he had expected. Just before she opened the door, he made one last ditch effort to escape, only to be held down by her magic as she stared at him with a face that said, 'Shut up and do as I say.'

She returned her gaze to the door, and it became wrapped in her golden aura, opening to reveal a guard standing at attention. The guard barely flashed a glance at Blaze, before his attention returned to staring directly in front of him as he waited for permission to speak.

"What need hath thou to say, Shield?" Celestia sounded more annoyed than anything making Blaze believe that this 'Shield' character was probably more of a nuisance to the Princess than anything else. And if that was the case, and he is still on the guard, Blaze was starting to think that maybe the Sisters actually needed guards more than he originally believed.

"Your Highness, the advisers await your appearance in the Court Hall to discuss plans regarding the development and reconstruction of the city." He said after a short bow.

"Please offer my apologies to the council at my delay, and inform them that we shalt be there posthaste." Celestia said, once more losing a sigh that indicated she would rather be away from this particular guard than anything else. Said guard merely bowed and then trotted off to what Blaze assumed would lead to this Court Hall. Celestia then continued to walk out of the room, there was only a single guard standing at her door, clad in golden armor and bearing a large sword strapped to his back, while his hoof was wrapped around a short spear. As the two occupants of the room walked out, Blaze noted that the guard did seem a little jittery in the presence of the Princess, though he didn't do anything to move other than a subtle shake that was barely perceivable. "That be another topic that we wish to ask of thee, you Blaze Burn. Tis of a more personal nature, of certain sorts but should thee join the royal guard corps, we would have another body to add to the list, and a more competent soldier than most of the riffraff thou shalt see anytime soon."

"Why are all the guards so bad, then?" He dared to ask, hoping that he didn't insult the guard following them enough that he would lash out at him. Blaze didn't think that would happen, as Celestia had called into question herself the quality of the guards on patrol, which he was certain would be a major blow to the pride, but he felt safe enough to brave the question.

"It is not the fault of the guards, perish the thought please Blaze Burn. No, the issue hath been found in the difficulty lying in wait in the current times, as ponies in Equestria struggle to regain their hoofing, not all are able to sacrifice thine time to patrol this lonely castle." Celestia explained as the trio made their way to the entrance hall of the castle, just before the throne room. "We would hope in the years to come that we hath have the opportunity to enlist more guards that are qualified to patrol, and even more to train new recruits coming in."

"So you want me to become a guard, grow up and then train other guards?" Blaze sounded incredulous that the princess would want him to teach others, teaching just wasn't his thing. Celestia gave a light chuckle, shaking her head as they continued to walk down the hallways, soon arriving at the double doors that would lead to the outdoors, and the path to Blaze's freedom once more.

"No, we hath a dream that you would grow into a fine stallion that serves his country not because he has to, but because he desires to." Celestia explained as she led him further outside, the sun beating down on them as they made their way towards the nearest gate. Blaze was surprised, as he had expected an entirely different situation, one in which Celestia left him at the doors, and he would have to evade the guards as he made his way to the city beyond. The princess in question caught on to his thoughts pretty fast, and gave him a light slap on his side with her wing, and she also picked up on the face he made when he felt their feathers brush. She also noticed the blush creeping into his white face, though she chose not to comment, she thought it was cute. "We bid thee farewell, and that the next time we meet, it shalt be a joyous reunion."

Blaze nodded his reply, and trotted through the open gates, feeling the wind blowing through his mane as he leaped into the air, embracing freedom once more. His first move once freeing himself from the castle was to head directly to the creed, hoping that Al or Door Cracker was there so he could relay what he found out about the castle patrols.

Walking towards the bar, Blaze was surprised to see all three of the Blackguard members sitting next to each other as they enjoyed their drinks. Blaze approached them, taking a seat to the right of Door Cracker, while Al sat in the middle, leaving Vex to take the left seat. He waited for the earth pony next to him to finish his drink before he began, and at the nod of the stallion, Blaze took a deep breath before he began. Yet before he could tell what he had learned, Al interrupted him by looking over Door Cracker's shoulder, a solemn expression on his face.

"I hope you have an explanation for why our guys and gals inside the castle saw you having a nice little walk with the Princess." Was all he said before he turned back to his drink to listen to the tale as comfortably as possible. Vex's ears perked up at the words from the head Blackguard, and she turned to face the pegasus to hear what excuse he had cooked up for them.

"Alright." Blaze began nervously, unsure as to where to begin to get the information that he had, so he just told them what had happened to him, starting at how he had slipped past the guards on the tower, and how he believed they would be able to slip by unnoticed as long as they timed everything right. He explained his notes on the patrol patterns on the grounds below, in the courtyards and around the buildings, before finally finishing with his run-in with the Princess of the Sun. He spared them quite a few details regarding the actual conversation, but he got the gist of what was said to the trio of thieves that needed the information. "And then she got all cozy with me, kind of weird, if I'm going to be honest here. The only good thing about it was that she was able to let me out without too much of an issue, though I wish I had the practice of getting back out of the castle without any issue."

"Are you absolutely sure you are going to stick with the story of you not telling the Princess our plans with the loot in the vaults?" Vex asked, her eyes narrowing on Blaze as he sighed and turned to face her, his own scowl appearing on his face to match hers.

"I literally just told you what had happened, and if you don't trust me, then that is your own damn fault. I did the best fucking job I could with what I had at my disposal at the time, and I would like to see you do better when you have a bucking Princess trying to convince you to do something. It's not like she was going to force me, but she damn sure wanted me to go to her guards." Blaze shot back.

"Enough you two, we don't need our own damn partners at each other's throats over something like this. I really doubt that Blaze told the princess anything, if his past reactions to royalty are anything to go by." Door Cracker told Vex, who didn't seem in the least convinced that the pale pegasus was trustworthy. "And on top of that, we can all verify the information that he provided, and using what he had also given us, I know we can trust the kid to not buck this job up. Too much is riding on it, and he wants us to be able to keep on going, don't you kid?"

Blaze simply nodded, his glare never once leaving Vex's, and the two had a silent standoff while Al had refused to comment on the information that was being offered. After a tense minute of silence, Door Cracker having given up on resolving the conflict, Al decided to bless the younger generations with his knowledge. "It's not the best of information, but I think you did good with what you have. Detailed patrols routes, consistent information that we can verify, and alternate routes of entry should others fail. I wish you had the time to explore the castle a bit before we get this job done, but it is what it is."

"What do you mean?" Blaze looked confused at why they didn't have time, surely, they had a day or two, which was more than enough time for him to take a sneak peek within the stone walls to find out where they are going. "We got plenty of time, don't we? I can just run inside the castle tomorrow or the day after, get you some information on the path to the vault, then get back out in no time."

"What I mean to say, kid, is that we are going to hit the vault tonight, and that we need to prepare for the job. Vex, Door Cracker and I have been coming up with distractions for the guards on the wall, and I think we have everything we need to pull this off." Al explained, finishing off his mug of cider before standing from the table, Vex and Blaze following shortly after. Door Cracker opted to remain in his favorite seat, ordering another bottle of mead, while Al led the other two towards his desk. Once the head master of the creed had taken his seat and gotten comfortable, he rested his fore-legs behind his head and leaned back into his chair, observing the two pegasi before him. "I've got special instructions for you two, seeing as how you got both the lock-picking skills and the infiltration skills that are needed to pull this off."

"Wait, wait, wait. Boss, you telling me that Blaze and I are gonna work together on this?" Vex halted Al before he could finish, and while the youngest member of the Blackguard agreed with the burglar on this, he was curious. "Because that just ain't cool boss. Not cool."

"Vex, just shut up for a moment, please." Al sighed, pinching his nose with a hoof, before resuming his original position and reclining back as far as the chair would allow him to. "Now, as I was saying, because this is such an important job, and because I need special skills for specific purposes on this, I got us four and a few other important ponies working on this job. Vex, you and Blaze are going into the castle, you are going to help each other crack the vault, steal whatever valuables you can that the merchants own, and get out of there as quickly as you can.

"Blaze, this is your first big job, so I wanted to make a few rules clear to you. First rule, and this one is extremely important; get in, grab what you can carry and still fly with, and get out in less than a minute. Normally, we'd give you five minutes to grab shit and bail, but with this literally being the bucking Castle vaults, we are going to be very pressed for time. Second rule: Only grab what the merchant owns, we don't need the royalty to come crashing down on us for stealing something priceless to them. Trust me, kid. I speak from experience." Al chuckled as he recalled when one of the older members had tried to steal several gems from the Princesses, only to find out that they were the most prized possessions the Sisters owned. The creed took a hit like never before when it was discovered who stole the Elements of Harmony. "Third rule to know: If you get captured, keep your mouth shut. Snitches get stitches, unless you reveal something inexcusable, then we'll make sure prison sounds like a lovely summer vacation with what we'll do to you."

Blaze nodded, the rules made sense, of course he already figured that snitching would be beaten out of the system, and he could have guessed about mobility with loot. A thief that has massive wealth but can't go anywhere is not a good thief, but the one that has loaded pockets and wings that carry him, well he has money and freedom to steal some more. He wouldn't have to worry about the second rule as long as he was told what to grab before the job. "Anything else I need to know before I find out what I should be looking for in the vault?"

Al shook his head, waving the pair off while he levitated a hat over to his head so he could take a nap. As Blaze made his way back to the bar to get a lunch-time drink, when Vex's wings stuck out in front of him. He stopped to listen to what the mare had to say, though he wasn't thrilled about needing to work with her, she was the best at breaking and entering, something he agreed was only slightly important for a mission like this. "Look kid, I like this about as much as you do, but boss said we have to work together, and he told me that we gotta behave if we want our cuts, so how about we call it a truce until the job is over?"

Blaze hesitated for a moment, looking at her outstretched hoof, a nicety that he wasn't quite expecting, though he was happy it was there. He flashed a kind smile, taking her hoof in his own, not before spitting on it of course, just to piss her off a little. "I'd love to earn my cut."

Though feeling disgust at his childish behavior, Vex couldn't help but be humored by the fact that he had the mindset to keep business above personal vendettas. She wiped her hoof on her vest, then began to leave the room, heading for her own personal chambers to get some rest before the big job that night. Blaze would be happy to admit that he was a little nervous about robing the Princesses blind, right under their noses, but he felt better knowing that he also had three Blackguards with him, along with whoever Al decided to bring. While his thoughts were focused on the job, Blaze felt it necessary to find out just what the buck he was supposed to be taking, so he went to Door Cracker, who was still seated in his stool sipping at a mug cider.

"Hey, Door Cracker, got a minute to answer a question or two about tonight?" Blaze asked as he took a seat next to his master, nodding thanks to the bartender when he was offered a mug of cider, though he wouldn't have complained with mead either. The earth pony merely shrugged, pulling a list from somewhere Blaze couldn't really see, and offered it to the younger thief. Blaze examined the contents on the sheet, typical merchant valuables: table-sets, silver and gold items, jewelry, bags of bits, etc. etc. Blaze sighed and gave back the list, expecting this to be an interesting night, figuring he had better get some rest of his own, after all, it had been a long day, with little sleep last night.

Blaze had one final thought that he wanted to pass by the Blackguard before he left however, so he stopped himself halfway through turning around on the stool and looked at the stallion. "Hey Door Cracker, what do you know about the other ponies that Al said he'd be bringing along, and what are they going to do?"

"Meet up back here an hour before dusk, we'll be going over everything else then, but other than that, I ain't got a bucking clue, kid. Al said he had some old friends that owed him favors, so he's got some others that are probably going to either be sentries or getaway fliers. I imagine that Al would inform us of what the final plan is as we get everything set, so let's hope this all can go off without a hitch. Been way too bucking long since we have had anything on this level of crazy, I was afraid that Al might have been starting to get a little sanity in his system, then we'd all have shit jobs to work."

"Yeah, I'm sure we're all glad the insanity runs in the family, huh?" Blaze joked, plopping his now-empty mug onto the counter for the barkeeper to tend to when he got to it. "Well, I'm off to get ready, get some rest and make sure I got everything I'm going to need for tonight. See you then, eh?"

Door Cracker raised his mug, then took a hearty chug of the mead, Blaze smelt the honey from where he was, and he was suddenly very tempted to stay and share a mug, but he knew that one would turn into three, into five, into ten. He didn't have time to challenge Door Cracker again, probably ever. That bastard put down alcohol like Celestia put down cake. Blaze shook his head at the thought, seeing the amount of cake baking materials he had seen in the kitchens, every bucking time he broke in, it amazed him how anyplace still had flour or eggs. Sugar should be about as rare as blood diamonds with how much frosting goes on Celestia's cakes.

Blaze flew his way home, dearly hoping to have a quiet day with a small late lunch/early dinner, and then he could get some rest and maybe a nap before he made sure he had everything he needed for the job. Flying to the community, it struck him as odd how things were suddenly in motion that he had never even considered, and now he was wondering just where life was taking him now. A small part of him was relieved that life was kicking back into gear, but another part reminded him that he had a lot of shit that still needed to be done.

Giving into his need to prepare, Blaze walked inside, welcomed by a party of three workers, who were finishing the railing, while he presumed others were in the back rooms preparing everything. Blaze waved his greeting, then trotted towards his room, stripping off his jacket, though once he entered the room, his nose shriveled at the smell. He was amazed at how long sex could make itself known from the past for so long, even with the damned window open.

Sighing to himself, he just threw the jacket on his bed, sliding out of his saddlebags, instead choosing to go in his birthday suit and free himself from sweaty clothing until he had to wear them. Sneaking in a white coat of fur wasn't easy, thus the jacket and saddlebags. He walked to the washroom, glad that it was empty, and pulled the tap, allowing the tub to fill, once more with cool water. Once he was satisfied with the level, he stopped the flow of water and slipped into the tub, allowing the cool water to wash away the heat and grime from a long day in the dust and dirt.

Once he felt he was cleaned enough, he climbed out of the tub and let the water drain away, toweling himself off while he walked out of the baths. Satisfied that he was dry, Blaze immediately wound his way to the kitchen in relative silence, only greeting a single pony along the way, until he was in the empty kitchen. He was mildly surprised nopony had made anything for lunch, but he shrugged it off, opening the pantry and pulling out some crackers to snack on while he figured out what he wanted to eat for a real meal. After some idle munching, he decided on taking some of the fruits and vegetables from the cooler, and mixing himself a small salad. Eating in the kitchen to save time, Blaze made short work of his short meal, then let loose a sleepy yawn and left his bowl in the sink, intending to head to his room.

He had made it exactly three feet from the entrance to the kitchen before he was stopped by a familiar pegasus. The little fur ball of happiness leaped up and tackled Blaze to the ground, hugging him tightly, before he wrapped a leg around her and stood up. "Hey Asta, what's up?"

"Nothing, just wondering why you're home early." The pegasus filly replied, shrugging her light brown shoulders in a way that Blaze found nearly as adorable as Star when he did that. His smile almost faltered as he thought that, but he managed to stop himself from ruining the moment, instead, he let out another yawn, feeling ready for a nap.

"Just trying to get some rest before I head back out again tonight, if I'm going to be honest. I gotta head out to work before the sun sets, and I'll probably be gone all night, so I'm here to get what I need, sleep and food, and then I'll be heading back out." He explained as he placed the brown pegasus on his back and marched to his room, stopping just outside to drop her off, as he really didn't want to have to explain to her what the odd smell in the room was. "I'll be back before the morning, so it won't be too bad, but this is really important for work that I be gone tonight, think of it as a special occasion meeting with some friends of my boss."

"Okay." She sounded unsure, but Blaze knew that she would drop it, after all, they trusted each other, and after a parting hug, one that Asta insisted be as long as she could hold onto him, they finally separated. Blaze entered his room and shut the door behind him as he stumbled over to his bed. He pulled the sheets over him, glad for the light cover, and not feeling overheated because of a blanket, he soon found himself gently drifting into sleep.

Blaze walked through the burning city, pillars of black smoke rose from buildings that only held fuel for the flames. He carelessly trotted down the main street, passing many shops and businesses that he had become familiar with. The only things left untouched were those made of fire-resistant materials, like the stone castle, or the walls, but he knew what was happening. This was the Chaos Wars, and Discord had finally chosen this city to perish under his power. Celestia and Luna had assigned troops to deal with the minor nuisances that the foal Prince of Chaos brought out to play, while the Sisters themselves took care of the master himself.

Blaze didn't care about all that though, he was busy mulling over why he had to choose this life, why he had become a royal guard in the first place. What had he done to warrant this? He kicked a pebble, watching as it bounced around on the cobblestone street, until a knurled claw stopped it. Blaze finally decided to look up, and saw a large timberwolf, easily as large as Luna. The timberwolf was larger than they usually were this time of year, and this one had sickly green orbs of eyes that pulsated with the power that Discord was using to control them. What sick creatures, Blaze couldn't help but feel bad for them, as Discord only created them from the Everfree for the sake of entertaining himself.

The Prince had no thought put into whether these things would even want to exist, he just made them so, and here they were, terrorizing ponies for a fool's enjoyment.

'Come a little bit closer, before we begin.' The wolf seemed to hear his thoughts, nearly obeying his silent command through the Gold Blood's sheer willpower. 'Let me tell you how I want it, and exactly what I need.'

Blaze waited for the wolf to attack, but it merely bowed to him, and he ran his hoof down the hound's back, patting it on the side as he continued to walk. Things weren't too bad here, all things considered, the city was burning, yes, creatures were attacking ponies ruthlessly, sure. But at least there still was a city and ponies in it. Cloudsdale had been ripped apart, Trottingham had been leveled, not a soul left alive in the city, Manehattan had been swiped from the face of Equus.

'So come on and tell me, can you fly like you're free? "Cause I need to feel, yeah I need to say:'

"I must confess: I'm addicted to this, shove your kiss straight through my chest." He shouted, the sky parting as a streak of lightning flashed overhead, illuminating the cotton candy clouds as chocolate milk rain began to descend from the heavens. "I can't deny, I'd die without this, make me feel like a god!"

Music, love, and sex.

Blaze calmed down, taking brief shelter in what was left of the creed warehouse, wondering just what to do. Surely the Sisters could handle this, because this was way before his time, he had only seen what happened after they defeated him. He pondered it for a moment before deciding to just go with the flow, and that meant that he was going to follow this timberwolf and see what it would do. Not like he had anything better to do.

That was, until something much better to do came into his field of vision, and he had to do a double take to make sure he saw that right. Standing out in the chocolaty rain, soaking from the liquid, stood the most beautiful mare he had ever laid eyes upon. He galloped through the rain, not caring much for what hit his cloaked body as he tried to reach his destination.

'Adrenalize me.'

"I crave excess, Blaze Burn. Turning wine into sweat, dripping down my neck." The mare purred, making the stallion nearly trip as his heart beat sped up several times, and all he wanted was to get to this lovely mare, this most beautiful, attractive, damnable sexy unicorn mistress. He finally reached her, and she awaited him with open hooves, and as the two slammed into each other, Blaze heard music faintly playing in the background. 'I can't deny, I'd die without this. Make me feel like a god. Adrenalize me.'

He kissed the mare wish as much passion as he could, feeling his heart pick up pace again, adrenaline rushing through his veins as he finally achieved what he wanted, what he had desired for so long. He got the mare! Then something in the wind shifted, the rain stopped pelting against his cloak, and the mare stopped kissing him back. Confused, Blaze opened his eyes, only to find that the mare had fallen to the ground, a shocked expression adorning her face, and then he watched as the life drained from her eyes, the color leaving her face. He watched as the fire inside of her slowly flickered out, leaving the body, the beautiful body, without a pony inside, without a pony to love, to cherish. This husk was all that remained. And the music died. Blaze knelt before her corpse, wondering just why in the hay did she have to die, and why couldn't he take her place.

Then something began to whisper in the back of his mind, and he jerked up, only to look at the ugliest thing in the world, next to Discord. It was Grogar, and while he absolutely hated necromancy, there was a glint in the goat's eyes that made Blaze hope. It made him believe that he could have his love back.

"Name your price, Grogar." Was all Blaze had to say, and the necromancer merely smile, his bells ringing and then his eyes flashed a sickly green, with red mixed in for good measure. Then all the world went black, and Black felt pressure building in his skull, and it kept growing, and wouldn't stop. Blaze feared that the pressure would kill him, but he survived, and the pressure still kept building.

Blaze awoke with a sharp growl of pain, the memory of the pressure inside his skull now rapidly fading, but he couldn't help but hold his head with his hooves, wondering just why the buck he had to have these weird ass dreams. He got out of bed and left his room behind, walking into the main area, watching the groups of ponies doing what had become a pastime in the warehouse; sitting around the fireplace and enjoying each other's company. He smiled, glad that they had formed such a strong family connection, and happy that he was given the opportunity to save them from destruction. He walked into the group to engage in idle talk for the next hour, as he still had some time before he had to prepare to leave for the job.

He sat next to the nameless pegasus, listening to the old guy talking about some of the processes that had taken place in the reconstruction of Cloudsdale. Blaze listened until he found that he just wasn't focusing like he wished he could, so he excused himself from the circle and made his way back to his room, where he picked up his saddlebag, as well as the black jacket he had purchased. He draped himself in everything that he needed, packing some extra items in the saddlebags just in case of emergency; bandages, a small blade, a cookie or three, a splint, and some healing lotion.

Once he was sure that he was ready, he went back into the main room to tell the group that he was going to be gone most of the night, so they shouldn't worry about him. He got goodbye hugs from Asta, Muffin, and Sweet Flower, which he gratefully returned. "Now you three remember, no sugary treats past dinnertime, okay?"

"Yeah, we know." All three responded at the same time, though the grins they were sporting made Blaze think they were probably just going to get into trouble the night for sneaking cookies away from the pantry. Not that he particularly minded it, they were kids after all, and that was the sort of thing he would expect to see from kids. Not good behavior, but kid behavior regardless.

He patted each of them on their heads, and gave each of them a hug, if only because he was trying to kill some time before he had to leave. In the end, he ran out of excuses to stay, bade the community a good night, and left the warehouse. Once he was free from the building, he breathed in a deep, centering breath and thought about what he was going to do with his cut of the loot. He knew he was going to save a bit of it, he would need savings at some point, he couldn't keep investing all his bits on the community, especially not anymore, since they were becoming self-sustaining. That opened up avenues of consideration within shopping that Blaze had simply never been able to afford or had never had a lack of priorities to consider.

He was still thinking about what he would even do with the bulk of his cut when he found himself at the creed headquarters. He let himself in the ramshackle door, and made his way over to the bar, where a waiting Vex and Door Cracker already sat. Once Blaze made himself known to the others, they all grunted and began to head to the hallway, ready for Al to open the door and have the, all head down to the Blackguard chambers. The four soon entered the basement-like chamber, only to find that three ponies were already down there, each clad in black or white cloaks, all with red accents on them. In the dark, and with their hoods up, Blaze had no idea of telling who these ponies were, but a quick guess made him sure they were the 'friends' that Al had said owed him some favors.

The group of seven made their way over to the map of the city, where they surrounded the table, each pair of eyes quickly observing what the castle guard detail looked like, knowing that the shift change was in an hour or so.

"Before we begin, let me tell you all about my three associates here." Al spoke up, indicating the three hooded figures. "They are here to assist you with guard disposal and infiltration, and I think it would be best to let them do their jobs. They come from another creed, though theirs isn't thieves, so don't get in their way. They'll do their jobs we do ours, now let's go over the details one last time."

"Blaze and I are to infiltrate the castle and find the vault, where we are to enter and steal whatever valuables we can carry that belong to the merchant. Said items have already been discussed, so we can save time there." Vex answered hers and Blaze's roles in the job. One of the associates nodded to them, it was a mare, pegasus by the looks of the cloak bulges where her wings would be.

"And I'm going to be accompanying you to make sure that you remain undisturbed by unwelcome guests."

"Hate to break it to you, ma'am" Blaze said to the hooded mare. "But we kind of are the unwelcome guests."

"Shut up, kid." Al ended the debate quickly, not in the mood to deal with that shit then, they had a job to do. He nodded over to Door Cracker. "Us two are going to be monitoring the getaway route from the abandoned mansion. Making sure that the road leading out is safe."

"And that is where we come in." One of the two hooded stallions said, leaning against the table, placing his front hooves on said table to take their attention. "Us two will be the ones that actually make sure you guys can get in and out without being caught. That said, you guys mentioned that you are in need of a distraction, and that is our first goal; make a distraction so you three can break in. We'll keep an eye out for the exit, don't worry."

"Right, we all got the plan, so let's get ready to move out. Shift changes in forty-five minutes, so let's not miss the window." Al said as he backed from the table. "You three, wait for these two to cause the distraction before hopping along the tower. Blaze, you're lead because you have experience getting through that gap, which means you are responsible for getting all three of you into the castle in one piece, without guard assistance. Okay?"

Blaze simply nodded, trying to make sure his anxiety doesn't show, because that would have disastrous consequences on his reputation with the creed. The seven ponies went up the stairs and began filing out of the warehouse, each heading to their respective positions just out of sight of the exhausted day guards around the castle perimeter. And as the seven silently crept through the emptying streets, they became more and more like shadow hawks, gliding towards their unsuspecting prey. Just before the groups spilt up, Blaze had a question eating away at him, so he went up to Door Cracker to get the quiet phrase out. "Inside the vault for one minute, then evac, right? And how am I supposed to bucking handle two experienced ponies like this?"

"Don't worry about it kid, you'll be fine, just don't tell them to do something stupid and they will be able to handle themselves. Don't stress about stupid shit." Door Cracker chuckled to the pegasus to try to ease his nerves, because as much as they all would deny it, a job this big grates on the nerves of anypony trying to pull it off. Too many unknown variables, a lot of risk, but that sweet, sweet massive payload if done right.

Blaze was at least placated with the answer, so he moved to return to Vex and the hooded mare at their position just underneath the tower, waiting for the signal to advance.

Author's Note: This chapter is coming out early because I've got a lot, and I mean a lot, of shit I've gotta get done, so I won't be able to do a whole lot of writing any time soon. I f I don't get the next chapter out real soon, don't hold your breath for it. It may take a long time to come out.

Also, in the last chapter, I just want to point out that many of you know what I did with a particular scene, whether you know it or not is up to you. I know that you know that I know what I did. And I did it on purpose because Blaze has to have something about himself to be proud of; the poor fucker's losing everything so far.