A happy pegasus alighted on a tower balcony and began to sing.

This affront was completely uncalled for and would not go unpunished.

Within the tower, in a dusty old wood-and-plaster room, another pegasus stirred at the sound of the tone-deaf pony. She rolled over, landing on the mass of bandages that made up her right wing, and awoke from the pain.

Sky Runner's eye flickered open.

Patches of sunlight made it into the room through damaged shutters, illuminating enough of the room to reveal just how dank and filthy the place was. There wasn't much in the way of furnishings...a couple of clouds pushed into the corners to act as a shower and a bed respectively...and two dressers, one smaller than the other.

Sky rolled onto her hooves and stood up, shaking her mane groggily. A cloud of dust got kicked up by the motion, catching the rays of sunlight and floating around her like a smoke bomb. This little tower couldn't be in a worse state unless termites started chewing through the floorboards.

Standing under her shower, Sky pulled off her bandages, casting them off down her stairwell. She was too drowsy to deal with those things right now. Trying not to look at her bad wing, she gave the cloud a smack around the underbelly.
The water was freezing cold as expected, and as it struck her wounds the little pegasus tensed up, feeling her legs stiffen out of reflex. At least she was getting clean, and more importantly awake.

"Travel light, let the sun eclipse you, cause your flight's about to leeeeave...!" wailed the voice from outside.

Giving the cloud a shake to stop it from spraying water everywhere, Sky towelled off and pulled some fresh bandages out of her rapidly depleting first aid kit. Sure, she was going through them fast, but they had to cover her whole entire wing, and that sure as hell wasn't healing any time soon...

Sky was a burglar, although she most certainly wouldn't use the term to describe herself. She was a liberator of objects, a connoisseur of curios, a curator of the most avant-garde of museums. There were few locks that could slow her down, few rooftops in the city that she hadn't trod, and very few guards that she had not escaped. Here was a pegasus who could jump higher and run faster than anypony else, who was lighter on her hooves, better at sneaking, a notorious one-pony rise in crime.

Mostly, however, she was a thief, a smartass, a shameless flirt, and a flightless train wreck.

Of course, when your special talent is the ability to move unseen, you're more or less doomed to one career path. To her credit, it was one that she was exceptionally good at. She'd been practicing her craft ever since she was a filly, since she'd first come to this tower. Sure, there were other thieves. Stronger ones, bigger ones, better ones, but nopony was faster than her.

"Bird's eye view, awake the stars cause they're all around you...!"

Sky pulled her gear off the larger of the two mannequins that stood next to her dresser, and looked at herself in the mirror. First the burglar's mask. It was tradition, as much a symbol of her trade as a crest was a symbol of a guard. It was about appearances.
With the mask on, you could be anypony. She didn't have to be Sky Runner. She could be some double agent guard, the baker from down the street, the fishmonger from Stallion Street, anypony.
Next came her barding. It was only padded leather, and didn't cover any more of her body than it needed to (you never know when waving your flanks in a guard's face might get you out of trouble, after all). It was really only there to keep her safe from some of her nastier falls. It even came with hoof mufflers!

Finally, armament.

Sky had only two weapons. The first was a longbow, which she slung across her back along with a quiver of grappling and hypodermic arrows. The second, which she affixed to her hoof, was a small crossbow, built upon a small mechanism that allowed the crossbar to spring outwards. Around her shoulders was a bandolier of sleep darts, a special formula that she had "discovered" herself. It was a potent formula, and not one that she really liked using.

Okay, that was a blatant lie. It was hilariously fun to use.

"Because after all, those wings will take you up so high, so bid the forest floor goodbye as you race the wind and take to the skyyyyyyyyy!"

Oh Luna, he's still going.

Sky frowned at the high-pitched shrieking from the top of her tower. Tucking her wings under her little cloak, the pony climbed the stairs to the roof hatch. It was time to offer her skills as an Equestrian Idol judge.