That one random story without a title

So, as it turns out, I've recently been writing up a story, just because. It is indeed My Little Pony-based, though it in itself does not really have much connection to the show itself. It's not made for anyone or anything, I just decided to start up the project one day and have continued expanding it throughout the recent days (weeks). Hopefully you guys like it, and tell me what you think!

Note: A non-MLP version of the story is also available (also just because) for those who would happen to want it.

Knock, knock.

Odin groggily lifted up his head, looking to see that someone had slid an envelope and newspaper into the room through the slit found at the bottom of the front door. He stared at the envelope for a few seconds, and then got up from his comfortable bed, using as little energy as he possibly could while doing so. He shambled over to the papers and picked up the envelope first, reading the front of it as he did so.

To: Odin, Apartment 107
From: Green Dose, Apartment Complex Manager
Subject: Rent’s Due

Odin stared at the “Rent’s Due” part of the cluster of words for a few seconds before walking over to his main desk, picking up one of his many knives and cutting open the top of the envelope. He pulled out the paper contained within and threw the envelope into a nearby wastebasket, unfolding its contents and beginning to read them as he took a seat in his only owned chair.

To Odin,

As you should know, I’ve already sent you two letters regarding this, but you’re rent was due at the end of last month, and right now you’re verging on having it two weeks late, nearing three. I understand that you are unemployed and may have difficulty finding work, but, as I’ve told you before, I can’t accept clients that don’t pay the required fees. If you don’t have the bits I need from you from last month and this month by the end of next week, I’m going to have no choice but to kick you out of your current apartment. Keep this in mind, and you’d better not forget about these warnings like you did last time.

From Green Dose

Odin read over the short letter once again, and then tossed it onto the surface of his desk. He didn’t really care too much about dealing with rent, but he did care about being thrown out and being forced to live on the streets. So, as usual, he had to find a quick way to get the bits he needed. Again. He thought about his options, but then realized that he had exhausted all of the ones he had put aside for situations like this.

The stallion shrugged to himself, and walked back over to the front door, picking up the magazine that had also been sitting on the floor in front of his door. Usually, he didn’t care much for the news, but in that specific edition something caught his eye. Looking down near the bottom of the paper, he saw the picture of a large gem being held in a glass display case in what seemed to be some sort of museum, complete with two armored guards standing nearby and keeping vigilant watch. Looking below that, Odin could see a subheading that read, “World’s Largest Recorded Sapphire to be Officially Introduced to the Canterlot Museum of Physical Sciences Tomorrow Night!”

Hmm... That might be an option... The Earth Pony thought about the idea for a minute, and then decided that he had indeed found the way in which he would gain his rent money. It wouldn’t be an easy heist, but nothing he couldn’t handle. A good portion of his arrows would be used, but he could make new ones. He knew exactly who would want his hooves on such an item, and he also knew a route he could take to get to that pony without being discovered. The gem wasn’t that big, after all. Only big relative to other gems. Easy to carry, and easy to hide.

The more Odin thought about it, the better the idea seemed to be, and after only a little planning, he was sure it could be pulled off easily. Looking out his window, the stallion could see that it was getting fairly late in the afternoon. If he wanted to do this, then he would have to leave the city within the hour. Night would not slow down for him, after all. He dropped the newspaper back onto the floor and then went over to his weapon rack. The only things there were a bow and a whole lot of arrows, along with a single all-purpose knife. Those were the only three things that he would need, though.

He grabbed his bow first and strapped it to his side, filling a quiver with a variety of arrows and then placing that onto his back soon after. He strapped his knife's scabbard to his chest as he always did, sliding the small weapon into its sheath before heading out the door. He made sure that no one was around to see him leave the small complex, and then from there began to head towards Manehattan's train station, as it would provide the fastest mode of transportation to Canterlot. It slightly annoyed him that he would have nothing to do during the time that it would take him to arrive at the capitol, but the benefits of the trip far outweighed the inconveniences.

Within a few hours it was night, and Odin had successfully arrived at the train station, taken a train to Canterlot and then arrived at the Canterlot Museum without arousing any suspicion, getting some helpful information on the construction on the way. He chose to stop by an isolated park near the large building before he began his assault, sitting in a bench with his bow next to him while he looked over the map of the museum that he had gained once again.

According to the information that he had been given, the museum itself was surrounded by a fifteen foot high wall, one foot thick and most likely only serving as a deterrent to peasants and trespassers. It wasn't well protected and would be an easy obstacle to get past, its only defenses being two guards keeping watch over the main entrance to the area within, along with two more guards that constantly patrolled the perimeter of the wall itself, as the stallion had observed soon after he had arrived. An explosive arrow or two would easily take care of the wall, but getting rid of the guards would probably attract less attention.

The museum itself could be found inside the large area contained within the protective wall, and was rather large and well protected. Odin had gained a second map of the various guard routes and positions throughout the building, and glancing at it he could see that there were quite a few sentries and patrols to be found through the museum, along with the extra reinforcements that would undoubtedly be there because of the event that was to take place on the following day. Combat was not an issue, but Odin did believe that it might prove to be difficult to keep from being discovered throughout the course of his mission, and the last thing he wanted was to have to deal with the Royal Guard or similar security force, which would inevitably happen if he was caught causing too much mayhem.

A nearby clock tower chimed eleven times to signal that it was now 11:00 PM, and at that moment Odin put away his two maps and picked up his bow, heading towards the nearby museum at a leisurely pace.

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((Note #1: I have indeed written more, but I'll save that for later, just because.))

((Note #2: As for the time and place in which this story is set...just please don't ask details. Not even I am fully sure about what's going on here in some cases. Just accept this: this story is set in Equestria, in a time era that is the equivalent of our Eurapean-esque medieval phase, though also containing some primitive (or occasionally not so primitive) forms of technology found in modern day Equestria. Steampunk, if you will, though less...steam-y...))

Within moments he had exited the park’s boundaries and was able to see the protective wall surrounding his target only a small distance away. As expected, two guards were guarding the main entrance. They were both Pegasi, most likely so that no one would try to fly over the wall while they were nearby. As he walked towards them, Odin pulled out a specialized arrow from his quiver and loaded it onto his bow, taking quick aim and firing it at the ground between the two ponies before the guards could notice and respond to him.

The small container found at the tip of the arrow burst open when the projectile hit the ground, and sleeping toxins rolled out from the point at which the arrow had hit, causing a light green fog to quickly appear around the two guards. Within only a few moments the two sentries were asleep, and Odin moved to recover their bodies, picking them up and hiding them in nearby bushes as fast he could. He didn’t need the other two guards keeping watch over the wall to find their bodies. Them not being at their post was already suspicious enough.

Regardless, once he had finished the quick task, the fog that had appeared in front of the wall’s main entrance had already lifted, and so Odin went up to the door that blocked the entryway and easily picked its lock using lockpicking tools that he had hidden in the handle of his knife.

It took only a few seconds to get the door unlocked, and once he had done so Odin quickly opened it and went through, observing the area within in a glance. The target museum was indeed in the center of the area, surrounded by large gardens containing a variety of bright and luscious plants. The front entrance to the museum, as with the previous wall, was made up of a large, ornate wooden door, which had two more armored guards posted on each of its sides, one an Earth Pony and one a Pegasus.

When Odin saw these two ponies, he quickly reacted by pulling out two arrows from the quiver on his back and loading them both into his bow at the same time. He took quick but careful aim and, while constantly holding his bow parallel to the ground, let go of the drawstring and fired. Firing two arrows in a single shot and making sure they both hit their targets was a very difficult thing to accomplish for even skilled archers, but Odin had been able to master the feat over time. In fact, the stallion had been able to train himself to perfectly fire up to four arrows at a time, and was currently training himself to be able to fire five.

The first arrow hit the Pegasus guard, who had attempted to call for help when Odin had been spotted. The arrow quickly silenced him when it pierced his throat, but he was unfortunately able to make a very short sound before the projectile ruptured his vocal chords. Odin could only hope that no nearby guards had heard the sound.

The second arrow that had been shot had, as expected, flown straight towards the other guard, but the Earth Pony had somehow been able to dodge the projectile, and proceeded to charge at Odin with his sword held in his mouth. He’s fast. Very much so. No matter. Odin dropped his bow onto the ground and drew his knife from its scabbard, readying himself for the guard’s impact.

The pony laterally swung his blade as he neared Odin, who simply deflected the large sword with his knife’s hoof guard and lunged forward when the attacker was thrown off balance, stabbing the stallion in the side of his neck and pulling out the small weapon in less than a second. Blood gushed out of the guard’s neck, and he soon dropped his sword, collapsing a few moments later just after he had breathed his last breath.

Odin watched as blood pooled under the corpse, frowning. Even if he did bother to hide the body, the mess left behind would be impossible not to notice. The stallion put his knife back into its proper place after wiping the blood off of it, and then picked up his bow off of the ground, happy to see that none of the fluid had gotten on it, which could have possibly ruined the weapon. He glanced around once more in case any other guards had decided to show themselves, but then approached the museum when he saw that no one else was in the area.

From what Odin could recall from his map of guard routes, he knew that two more ponies would be stationed on the inside of the door as well, one on each side along with one more patrolling the room within constantly. He had no doubts that he would be able to handle the three guards, but doing so without being discovered would be considerably more difficult. So he took a different route.

Rather than going through the museum's main entrance, Odin stepped back from the doorway and looked up, seeing a balcony surrounding that part of the building’s perimeter on the second floor, as expected. He took out a second specialized arrow from the quiver on his back, this one having a few feet of thin but sturdy rope attached to it just above its nock and coiled around the shaft of the arrow itself, along with abs wider tip complete with large barbs. It was designed by Odin to be a specialized type of grappling hook.

He loaded the arrow into his bow, and after a quick moment of aiming he fired it into the wall that the balcony was built into, the attached rope trailing behind it. Pulling on the arrow's rope to make sure it had a good grip, Odin then put his bow back onto his back and proceeded to climb up to the museum's balcony. Once he had reached the overhanging platform, he yanked the arrow from its place in the wall with a hard tug, and then put it back into his quiver after coiling the rope around its shaft. He had only brought one such arrow with him because of the space that it took up when it was in his quiver, and he didn't want to waste the specialized projectile when he might need it later.

After a quick look around to make sure that no one was on the balcony with him, Odin quickly but quietly moved towards the nearest doorway. According to the map he had obtained, this side of the building consisted of rooms and offices where different financialists and other office-based employees worked.

As Odin approached the door, he took out his lock picking tools and paused momentarily to pick its lock, entering the room within and quietly closing the door behind him once he had done so. Looking around, he could see that the area that he had entered was a private room of some sort, containing simple furniture, such as a bed, a desk and a wardrobe, and various personal possessions. The stallion had no idea why anyone would need living quarters or anything similar in a museum, but he didn't dwell on it. After all, it didn't affect his plans in the slightest.

Regardless, with a quick look around Odin was able to find the door that led to the rest of the museum. He quietly went over to it, but, as he approached the door, he saw its knob turning and quickly looked over the room for the most easily accessible hiding spot. In that case, his mind first targeted the desk just behind him. The stallion quickly moved back towards the desk and crouched down to hide under it, in the small spot that had been added to give a pony sitting there a little more space and comfort.

Making sure not to move even the slightest, Odin listened for any nearby sounds that would tell him what the pony on the other side of the door was doing. He could hear the door open, and quiet hoofsteps gave away the pony’s path towards one of the walls of the room, to the left of the previously used door.