Morning dawned to find Scratch and much of her crew recovering from the previous evening's revelry.
At the same time, far away another pony was giving a valuable life lesson in my Equestria dreamscape.
The old stallion reviewed the list one more time. In a heavy Neighpoles accent he spoke to the mare in his shop "Elreght. So ye gunne be needeng twu ceses uf buerbun. Twu ceses uf brendy. Wun cese uf gen, and fuur ceses uf beer delevered tu yer place. Uss thet reght?"

Heartbreaker mentally reviewed and translated the old stallion's statement for a second. "Yeah governor! That's the ticket. So how many bit do I owe ya for my essentials?"

After a few minutes of negotiating and haggling the earth pony mare stepped out shop and into the bright Neighpoles day. The Scale Bearer had arrived a few days ago having secured herself a modest bungalow on one of the city's slopes that had a gorgeous view of the harbor a mile or so away from its back veranda and yard. There under the shade of a couple large trees the mare planned to spend many an afternoon just reclining on a lounge taking in the view while enjoying a drink and a smoke. These supplies would be delivered in the afternoon.

She'd visited the tobacconist earlier that morning and had already obtained a couple boxes of mighty fine smokes. The ice company had delivered her first shipment of ice yesterday afternoon and ice box would be good and chilled when the groceries arrived later today.

Beyond getting her home for the next half year or so set up Heartbreaker had no clear plan for her stay in Neighpoles, and that was the way she liked it. She spent the last year slowly working her way into the ranks of the Bloodhooves Association in Manehatten. Any day her cover could've been blown and odds of her not making out alive rather slim. After months of living on the razor's edge it was nice to just chill. She especially hoped that Princess Celestia would seriously take up her offer to come and discreetly visit her one evening or more.

Yeah. She thought. That would be so sweet. Just like her.

Heartbreaker has specifically chosen Neighpoles because there was almost no reports of Association activity in the city. Which was just fine with her. She'd had her fill of them for awhile.

Still years of training and instincts meant she was always on guard. Her eyes were always scanning her surroundings and she was aware of every pony she passed by. It was Saturday morning and streets were fairly full of ponies enjoying the pleasant weekend. She was halfway back to her place when the mare felt a young unicorn filly bump against her as she galloped by the Scale Bearer merely glanced back to get a better look of her then shot down the next alley.

Free n'Clear sat down on her haunches and leaned up against one of the brick wall that lined the alley. Glancing quickly up and down the alley she could see no other pony. Pushing back her soft cap she used her levitation remove the lift the heavy coin purse from her vest pocket. At the same time she pulled a nougat bar another pocket and began unwrapping it. Like the coin purse she'd acquired through creative means just a few minutes ago. She giggled to herself. The mare hadn't even noticed her taking it.

Taking a bite of the nougat the filly popped latch on coin purse and took a peek. As she did the grin on her face got bigger and bigger. That mare she'd lifted this from had been loaded! Amongst the usual mix of bits and smaller coins were a couple a 10 bit gold pieces, but what particularly made Free n'Clear giddy was two fresh and crisp 100 bit bills. This one haul equaled more than every other lift she'd done to date! The pastel pink filly took another bite of her candy bar. It seemed to taste even sweeter now.

The filly was so absorbed in her newfound wealth that it was only when a shadow fell across her that she suddenly realized she was no longer alone in the alley. She looked to see a steel shod crashing down for what appeared to be her head. In desperation she threw her front hooves to cover her face and closed her eyes. The wall behind her shuddered, and there was the thunderous sound of shattering brick. Followed by the sensation of crumbling brick fragments falling on her. Then silence.

Slowly opening her eyes Free n'Clear looked up. Towering over was the chocolate brown mare she'd taken the coin purse. Most her face was hidden by the shadows of her dark grey bowler. Although her eyes burned like two coals. Silently the mare stared at her as she rolled the cigar around in her mouth. After a couple of second spoke softly.

"Mate! Ya appear to have taken something that belongs me!" The mare's tone voice made it very clear she knew what the filly had done. The mare continued loomed over the filly as the smoke from her cigar created an ever growing cloud. Obviously she waiting for the guilty party to connect the dots. Finally after a couple seconds Free n'Clear dropped the purse on the ground and slowly curled up in a ball.

"Please don't hurt me." She said in a small, plaintive voice.

Heartbreaker growled at the filly. "Don't move. Don't even think about it. Got it?" The filly frantically nodded her head. Slowly the mare sat down on her haunches and with her front hooves picked up the coin purse. After quickly confirming the contents were still there the earth pony stowed it back in vest pocket. Then she sat there and stared at filly all the while puffing away angrily on the cigar. After what seemed like an eternity she spoke again.

"Name?"

"Excuse me?"

"Yer name. What's yer damn name!" Growled the mare.

"Free n"Clear!" Exclaimed the filly.

Heartbreaker leaned forward so she loomed over the filly who was now lying on ground in the alleyway. Once again the mare stared at the filly ominously for several seconds. Then she took a long pull of her cigar. Removed it from her mouth and tapped the ash off the end of it.

"Yer obviously a rank amateur since yer not working with a team. Ya've got no pass and yer stupid enough to checking yer haul in broad, fucking daylight. So why ya do it?"

Free n'Clear tried to speak but found her mouth suddenly as dry as the desert. Swallowing several times she finally spoke. "Because it was fun and exciting and I could get free money. And, and because I've never gotten caught…well until now."

Heartbreaker looked the filly up and down. From her outfit and manner of speech the Scale Bearer could tell that the filly was from one of the middle to upper middle class families in Neighpoles. She returned the cigar to her mouth and puffed on it for several second. Then through clenched teeth she spoke with a voice that dripped with disdain. "Sun and moon! Either yer the cockiest thing I've run into in quite awhile, or yer such a fucking amateur ya can't come up with a decent excuse!"

She removed the cigar and spat on the ground in front of the filly. "Ya didn't even try the old. I'm only doing this because my poor ma or pa is sick shtick! Not that I'd believe it for a second! Ya've got the stink of money! Yer just doing this fer kicks!"

Free n'Clear felt tears beginning to trickle down her cheeks. "P,p,please don't hurt me."

Heartbreaker laughed. "Shit! I've busted all the teeth out of pony's mouth for less than this! And that's the rub. I need to decide what I'm going to do with ya. I could turn ya over ta the constables." The filly blanched and the mare chuckled. "But yer folks might have the kind of bits to hush it up!"

The mare tapped her chin with a front hoof. "I could get rid ya easy enough, but that might be a bit extreme and would be work for me and I'm on vacation." Even more color drained from the filly's face. "Hmm. I'll admit yer lift was good. Most ponies wouldn't have noticed until it ya were long gone. So yer not clumsy. And let me guess yer desperate for yer ma and pa to not find out about this?"

The filly frantically nodded her head. A grin spread across the mare's face. "Well! Obviously ya've got plenty of spare time on yer hooves so I'm going to give ya job mate!" Heartbreaker pulled a pencil and a piece of paper from a vest pocket. She then proceeded to scribble down an address. With that accomplished she passed the paper to the filly.

"Show up at that address tomorrow at 10am."

"And if I don't?" The filly asked sheepishly.

Heartbreaker got to her hooves and glared down at the Free n'Clear. "Then I'll hunt ya down mate, and things will get messy. Very, very messy. Got it?"

The filly's eyes went wide and she nodded her head again. The mare stared at her for another second and then trotted off.

To be continued.