It was early, about 6 am. The sun was just breaking over the tall buildings of Manehattan and warming the countryside. The streets were empty and almost all of the ponies were still sound asleep, it being the weekend and all. However, one pony, still yawning, managed her way out of her apartment building and headed off to her bakery, about five blocks away.

In an across from the bakery were two young talented Pegasus colts, both at the young age of 10, as of today. Ace was a very calm, quiet, and relaxed colt that could out fly any pony, as least that he knew of. He was best known for never being caught while stealing. Bolt, on the other hoof, was smart, more observant, and talkative than Ace. He knew exactly what to do in any situation. Bolt was also a very gifted flyer, but he was in no comparison to Ace. Bolt had a long straight white mane and a dark yellow coat white white tipped feathers. Ace had a long wavy black mane and a dark navy blue coat with white tipped feathers as well.

As far as they knew, they had no father, mother, brother, sister, or any relative for that matter. Their memory of family , from when they were even younger, was completely blank. In fact, Ace and Bolt didn’t even know their real names. They simply gave one another the names “Ace” and “Bolt,” based on what they were good at.

They’ve been together for as long as they can remember. What was very unusual about these colts, is that they had yet to discover their super special talent. Yes, neither one of them had their cuttie mark.

Ace and Bolt were huddled together for warmth in a box in an alley. It was a cloudless night, so sleeping on the ground was the only option for the two pegasi. Bolt was easily woken by the sound of keys jingling as the young pony, leaving her apartment, walked by the alley that sheltered them for the night.

“Ace…Ace! Common wake up, we’re gonna miss our opportunity,” said Bolt. “Forget it, just let me sleep,” Ace mumbled. “Common Ace, we’re just in time, look!” Bolt pulled Ace to his hooves and pointed out their target as she was getting ready to open her shop. “If we’re gonna celebrate our birthday, we’re gonna need a cake right?” Bolt egging Ace on. “Do you really think that robbing a lady on our birthday will cheer me up after waking me so early.” Ace mumbled as he dropped back into the pile of newspapers. “Well course, it’s early, she’s probably really tired and there’s no other pony in sight, this is the perfect chance.”

Ace never liked the idea of robbing another pony, unless it was for food. A strong sense of injustice would always come over him before he made a robbery. He becoming quite use to thieving, but in a moral sense, it just didn’t seem right. Ace was almost ashamed of having wings for this specific reason.

Ace slowly lifted his head from the crumbled up newspaper bed and stared up at Bolt, who was eyeing the pony across the street. The two colts peeked their heads out and around the wall corner and stared at the pony shuffling through her keys to open the shop’s door. “Can’t we at least go for a swim first, this alleys filthy, and I think I have something stuck in my ear,” Ace complained. “Nonsense, look, just stick to the plan that I told you last night, and we’ll have ourselves a tasty meal …It’s been a while since we’ve had a good meal and I’m tired of having to scavenge for apple cores in dumpster after dumpster late at night when we should be asleep. Please Ace, let this be my birthday present to you.” Bolt’s voice became softer and more sincere as he tried to convince his brother. Ace hugged his beloved brother to comfort him, “The only thing I need is you, to watch my back and never leave me. To me, that would be the best birthday present I could ever recive.” Bolt smiled as a small tear rolled down his cheek. He shook his head trying to hide his emotion and returned the smile with another to Ace.

The bakery mare was now at the front door of her shop. Ace and Bolt stealthily stepped out from the alley and stretched out their wings in the warm morning sun, getting ready to go through with their plan. Bolt ran into the street just after Ace snuck around the bakery to work his way in some bushes in the front. The second she opened the door with her keys, Bolt yelled out “Please miss I need your help! My friend hurt himself and he’s not moving, please follow me!” The mare, without hesitation, left her shop open and unattended as she rushed to follow Bolt. Bolt lead her around the street corner and took her several blocks away, giving Ace plenty of time to make his move.

Ace quickly flew into the bakery and picked out a fresh batch of cupcakes and the biggest cake he could find. He lifted the cake carefully and balanced it on his back while he held onto the cupcakes with his hooves. He flew as fast as he could out the door, without dropping anything, and made his way to the roof of the tall bank building across the street.

Meanwhile, Bolt lead the pony behind him far enough from the bakery of what he thought was necessary. He quickly ditched her in the street and bolted around another building to hide behind. The bakery mare stopped in the middle of the street, puzzled of where the young colt went. Bolt figured that Ace should’ve had plenty of time to steal something as he slowly snuck away to go meet his brother.

Ace and Bolt meet each other on the roof of the city bank and gazed at the delicious looking treats.“Hahaha, we’re getting too good at this!” Bolt sunk his face into the delicious chocolate cake and flapped his wings with excitement. Ace stared at Bolt’s wings as they flapped, only to be reminded of what they were using their wings for. Ace looked at his own wings and was ashamed of eating something that didn’t belong to him. But couldn’t refuse something so tasty, especially since this was the first full meal for over three days. Ace looked forward only to notice that Bolt had stopped eating, only to be looking at him with confused look. “You gonna eat that?” Bolt asked. Ace simply smiled and ate his share, trying to forget about what they had done.

Ace and Bolt continued their trickery over and over again on unsuspecting ponies working fruit and vegetable stands . As weeks passed, their expertise in robbery grew strong. However, city authorities started receiving complaints of these two miscreants and eventually put out a for the two ponies offering a small, but satisfying reward for their capture. It wasn’t long until Bolt’s keen eye caught sight of these drawings of what vaguely looked them on light posts and carriage pick-up stops. Bolt suggested that they needed to leave Manehattan as soon as possible and continue their thieving someplace else. Ace couldn’t of cared less, because he believed that he was invincible to the authorities. Ace was never a pony for arguments so he agreed with Bolt.

Late one night, Bolt opened a map of Equestria that he had stool from a tourist earlier, to look over with Ace. Ace had trouble sounding out some of the cities, but Bolt helped him with that. One town, in the center of the map, caught their eye in particular. “We’ve never been there, how bout it?” Suggest Bolt. Ace simply smiled and nodded yes. It was decided, they would leave for Ponyville early in the morning, undetected.

It was still dark when Ace and Bolt left early the next morning to make their way to Ponyville. As they walked on for a couple of hours through the forest separating Manehatten and Ponyville, the sun finally broke over the mountains to warm the earth. However, the forest trees shaded the colts from the warm morning sun. Flying over them wasn’t an option, because they feared they would be seen. “It’s ffre freeezzing… I didn’t th th think Ponyville was th this far ffrrrrom Manehatan.” Complained Bolt. They both walked on for a little longer until they were able to make out a small clearing in the path that lead out of the forest.

Once they reached the end of the path that lead out of the forest, they stopped to gaze at the beautiful scenery that surrounded Ponyville. The mountains, hills, lakes, and meadows looked as if they were pulled straight out of a story book. Bolt’s mouth hung open as if he was staring at the gates of heaven. Ace simply wondered ,’why hadn’t he journeyed here earlier?’ Living here was bound to be more pleasant than in the dirty streets of Manehattan. “I’ve made up my mind Bolt, from here on out, we will never rob another pony again.” Ace declared. Bolt frowned as he came back to. “I wish it could be that way, but how in the world are we going to pay for food?” “I don’t care, I’m done with having to resort to crime to simply get by in life. There’s more than one of us, so there’s gotta be something we can do to earn money. We’ll find jobs if that’s what it takes to earn a living. Plus we’ll have a fresh start, we won’t have to hide from everypony.” Bolt agreed, but only because he had never heard Ace say so much at one time.

Ponyville was now in clear view and the two colts grew very excited . “Hey!” yelled an unknown voice. Bolt stopped in his tracks while Ace turned to see who it was. The voice came from a tall and broad stallion that was wearing a heavy suit of armor. “You two look familiar, stay right there.” Order the guard. Ace and Bolt froze with fear, as the stallion walked over to them.