>So, I was talking to some of my other friends, and they mentioned that their magic had been disappearing a lot lately.
>Honestly, I thought it was only me being particularly bad at it, since us earth ponies only got our magic recently.
>And somepony else mentioned that they had been watching Princess Pipp's livestream, saying there was a thief on the loose that she and her friends were going to catch. That made me a teensy bit nervous.
>If they had royalty after them, I'm sure that this thief wouldn't want anything from a normal somepony like me, but I double... well, triple-checked the locks when I got home. 
>And that was the last I thought of that, until I heard some racket in the dead of the night. 
>Thought it was a rabbit going after some of my petunias or something.
>Opened the door with my broom in hoof, readying it as I stepped outside, but...
>It was way bigger than a rabbit.
>I don't really know what it was, really... or even how to describe it.
>It had a deer antler and a broken horn and a big shaggy mane and old, sad eyes. It definitely wasn't a pony.
>Regardless, it looked pretty pleased to see me. 
>"DON'T... touch ... my petunias...?" I squeaked, holding the broom in.
>"So nice to meet you." it said, stepping toward me. "I've heard a lot about you, Posey."
>I didn't respond. I couldn't. 
>"Oh, c'mon, cat got your tongue? Haven't you read your history books? Ah, well... I've come here on behalf of a friend. Just checking you aren't pretending to be them." He said, with a mischievous smile. 
>Even a foal could tell you that probably wasn't the whole truth. 
>"Show me around the place, why don't you?"
>Without taking my eyes off him, I opened my door and shuffled in, taking more steps than I had to and nearly tripping. 

>I felt a bit light headed.
>I didn't want anything stolen from me, but what could I do?
>On the bright side, I don't value much aside from my memories.
>He looked around until he found a framed photo, craning his long neck to it.
>Me, a few years ago, at a Maretime Bay festival. There were some other ponies in the background, but I was the main focus.
>"Is that you? Oh, how delightful!"
>He pulled out a marker and drew a top hat and mustache on me.
>"H-hey..."
>He pointed to the ponies in the background with a stub of a pinky. "These your friends?"
>"Ahh... well, I wasn't really that close to anypony until now..." I responded honestly.
>Honestly.
>Honestly...
>I was being polite to an intruder.
>But I suppose I did let him in.
>And I suppose he isn't being a thief.
>He came off as an old man who just wanted to talk to somebody.
>Why did he want to speak to a plain little earth pony like me, anyway?
>"Um, now that magic's back, and there's so many new people around, I feel like I have to welcome them, you know?"
>Maybe he wanted to be welcomed too. 
>But when I mentioned magic, he suddenly lost interest in what I said.
>"That's nice." he spat. 
>"Uh, what about you? How are your, um, friends?"
>His smile grew large. "Funny story! My friends are looking for me right now. I'm wanted by the sheriff and his little gang. Aren't they just the meanest? Me! A convict? When I'm just trying to help everypony... When they find me, I hope that they'll give the most heartfelt apology to me!"
>"H-huh?! You're not hiding here, are you?! I'm no criminal!"
>"Of course not, dear Posey. I just wanted to give a... new friend a visit!" he said, violently patting me on the head.
>Me, a new friend, to this creature I've never seen before.
>Suddenly I had an epiphany.
>"Oh, I get it! You want to be my friend because you're going to give me a wish!"
>"...Huh?"