"Get up."
I open my eyes and look at a woman who looks exactly like me. Yellow skin, short brown hair and she is also wearing a wine-colored dressing gown. It's a woman I recognize... because it's my mother. It's the only thing I remember from her. I've seen photos, yes, but that face is the only thing Baby W remembers about her. "That's it, Waltie," she says. "Open your eyes, you beauty. Momma's here."
"W... get up. Today's the day.
No! Mom! Who was the motherfucker who woke me up? I open my eyes and I look at Ron, Jack, Abe, and Calcu... um... Larry. Wait! How could Ron be here if we left him in Los Mantos last night? "What the fuck?" I ask. "How could Ron...?"
"I woke up at 6 A.M." he answers. "I came with Larry by car. We must go now to Gordo's. Now, I want you to dress up, and I mean... dress up."
"That means... I won't use my trenchcoat today..."
"No. Use the special suit."
Oh... the special suit. I thought I'd never wear that in Canterlot. I open a small wardrobe and I grab some black shoes, smart trousers, a white buttoned shirt, a black jacket, and a red tie. That's my special suit... well, that's not the suit's real name... the truth is this suit's called Special Suit for Specific Crimes... and it's not necessary to say why do I use it.
"I'm ready," I say. "Shall I take a shower?"
"No." answers Jack. "You will come back here filled with blood and sweat."
Blood. It is the first time they say blood while planning a heist. We never killed someone (intentionally) during a robbery. Why would we do that?
"Blood? But... this is a heist. We are not going to kill any--" Oh, shit. I remembered. Ludmila. I shut my mouth and we leave the motel.
It's 8:15 and now everyone is at Gordo's Chalet. Us, the Dark Spikes, the Plegovichs, Mr. Mortimer Blueblood and last but not least, Gordo and his right-hand man, Butch. The first thing we do is to grab our masks and hide it. I check my weaponry: I have my handgun in my pocket. Perfect. A handgun is easier to hide and it's not so exaggerated. However, the Dark Spikes brought three shotguns. Three shotguns! We are going to rob jewelry, not a kingdom!
After grabbing my beloved Discord mask, everyone goes outside, where there are two black cars with no plates. "Those are the cars you will use," says Gordo. "After the robbery, they will be sent to another part of Equestria, maybe Las Pegasus, and will be used in a demolition derby. I organized your positions along with Butch and I concluded the Dark Spikes will be in one car and the remaining members will be in the other one. During the robbery, Turmoil, Jack and Pietro will stay in the cars."
"What?" I say. "He has the coolest mask to rob a place and he stays in the car." I mean... my dream was robbing Ludmila's using Lord Tirek's mask. Everyone would shit their pants if they looked at me using it! That Tirek's mask is freakin' awesome and this situation would be a complete waste for it.
"Plegovich's orders," says Gordo.
"Come on... do we have to do everything Plegovich says? Who the fuck does he think he is?"
"Equestria's man, Waters." says Lucas. "And also, my uncle."
I should shut up. I don't wanna keep digging my own grave, so I let Gordo continue with his speech: "Ok... the last thing to know is... we will be watching you through the news channel in the chalet's TV. We will call you if we had any problems or news. Don't forget your one-use cellphones."
Gordo gives everyone a phone and greets everyone. Now, the moment has arrived. We are prepared. We will rob jewelry, capture Ludmila and send him to Lucas. Jack, Pietro, and Butch get to the car, and at that same moment I open the car door, a voice stops me.
"Hey, Walter." I turn around and I look at Mr. Blueblood. Why would he stop me? "Good luck," he says.
"Oh, thank you," I answer with a smile.
"You know... your father had the same behavior as you. Rebellious, brave, hated everyone who gave him orders..."
Wait... my father. How does he know my father? Why would he talk to me about my father now? "How do you know my father?" I ask him.
"We were friends... a long time ago."
"Blueblood." Interrupts Ron. "We are running out of time."
There is something that called my attention to this weird situation. Ron's gesture looked like he was really angry. That's something I should think about and ask later because now it is not the moment to think about gestures. I get in the car and I sit next to Jack, who is driving. Behind me, Pietro and Butch are getting prepared.
"Are you scared, Pietro?" I ask him, laughing. "If someone catches us, just say you are Plegovich's nephew and you will be free."
"And what about you?" Asks Pietro. Everyone starts laughing.
"Your uncle is our boss, not our protector... If we screw it, we screw it."
Meanwhile, Gordo approaches to Ron. "Ron." He says. "You know why are we doing this, right?"
"For the meth I owe you."
"Yeah, but that's not the only thing. We are doing this for our friendship, Ronnie."
"Uh-huh..."
"You know what that means, right?"
"What?"
"We will be in a better situation during the Fort thing."
Ron just smoothly smiles while Lucas tells the drivers to go away. Turmoil doesn't turn the car on, so Disturbance turns it on and starts driving.
Manehattan
Manehattan, bebé!
"We arrived in Manehattan, Piet!" I shout while laughing. Pietro doesn't answer, because he is so scared that he can barely speak. I mean, I look at his face and I can't stop laughing. His face looks like a crumpled sheet of paper. Butch is calm, to be honest, so I'm not going to say anything about him. Jack looks behind and looks at the Dark Spikes' car, who is getting nearer, but then, someone stops us... and also our joy and adrenaline.
"Oh shit. Fuck." Says Jack. We are now in one of the main avenues, and in one of its corners, there are some cops having fun. There's also a little bit of traffic... Hmmm... I don't like this.
"What is the police doing?" Asks Butch.
"They are checking everyone." Answers Jack. "On a Saturday? Come on!"
Everyone gets more desperate and desperate. We can be caught now because every car is being stopped and checked by them. A mysterious black car with no plates would call their attention. And two? Oh my, it would be worse.
After a minute, our turn arrives. "Hey." Says one of the cops, while we are stopping near them. "Stop." I lower the car window when a pale cop with black hair approaches the car. The policeman looks at the car and something calls his attention: "The plates?"
"Uh... we lost them."
"Lost? Oh... interesting. Both of them?"
"Yes."
The cop smiles. "Would you open the trunk for me, then?"
"Sure!"
Jack is about to open the trunk, but the cop is still staying on his position. Another cop approaches him.
"There is another black car with no plates behind..." says the other cop. Shit! Shit! "I don't like those guys."
Now we are fucked. Fucked. The cop now looks at Jack and me with a scary stare. "Oh, look at this..." he says, smiling. "There is another car like yours. Black, no plates."
"Shit." Says Butch. Pietro is about to pee himself. The cop knocks Pietro's door and he fastly lowers it.
"Oh, shit." Says the policeman. The second cop looks at Pietro and sighs.
"I-is t-there... anything wrong?" Asks Pietro, while sweating.
"Pietro Plegovich." Says one of the cops. "Lucas told me we wouldn't touch Pietro and his friends for this weekend."
The cops start laughing and a cop girl approaches to Pietro. "Lucas told me you were going to Ludmila," she says.
"Yes," I say.
"Am I talking to you?" answers the girl and I shut my mouth. "Kick his ass, little Peter. Ludmila's just a greedy idiot. Go."
Jack accelerates and escapes. This was close... very close. Thanks to Pietro for this one... Everyone inside the car is in silence but smiling, except for Pietro, who is very scared.
"Corrupted cops." Says Butch.
"You are lucky, Pietro." says W. "Thanks to Star Swirl you were here."
The cars turn on the left and we finally arrive at our destination. We are in front of Ludmila's Jewelry and at this right moment, we put on our masks.
"Wish me luck, Jacky," I say. "You too, Pietro."
I get out of the car with Butch while the Dark Spikes are waiting for us. I check my pocket again. Perfect. The Dark Spikes open their trunk and grab those three shotguns. We cross the street fastly, calling people's attention, and I open the door.
It is obvious that we are here to commit a crime. Once the employees see us, they call 911. Luckily, there are no clients inside and Raspberry Sweets is not there.
"HEY, MOTHERFUCKERS!" I shout. "THIS IS A FUCKING ROBBERY!" And then Riot starts breaking the windows which protect jewels with his bare hands. Tumult and Disturbance threaten the employees and reclaim for Ludmila's appearance. Butch and I are just grabbing the jewels.
"WE WANT THE OWNER!" shout Disturbance and Tumult. "BRING ME THE OWNER OR I'LL SHOOT YOU!"
Suddenly, a gunshot is heard by the distance, and Butch falls to the floor. His mask has been destroyed and his neck is bleeding. That means... Requiescat in pace, Butch. Ludmila appears under the store's counter, holding a golden gun.
"Don't fucking move." Says Ludmila. "The police are coming, you pieces of shit."
"You are the piece of shit!" Shouts Tumult. "A pal of ours just died... because of you."
"You almost killed my employees..."
Tumult points at Ludmila with the shotgun. We think that there may be a safe behind the shop's counter. "Do you have a safe?" asks Disturbance. Meanwhile, Tumult and Riot get the employees out. There is something that is making me nervous: The police. Come on! All the people who were walking on this street ran away because of the robbery... and this didn't even call the police's attention. I'm not talking about those cops I came across, but every police station in Manehattan, including the ones who don't know who we are and what are we doing here at this moment. This is completely weird. Why is the police taking so long to arrive? Is this because of Pietro?
"Safe? No!" answers Ludmila.
"And how did you pay Plegovich to secure your store from rookie burglars?"
Ludmila's face changes. Now he knows what's going on. Not only we came to rob the place, but also we came for him. "W-With the money I earned every day!" he shouts.
"Stop lying, you dumbass!" shouts Disturbance. "I've heard you didn't want to use the store's earnings to pay Plegovich for your security... so you used your family's savings, which Mr Plegovich told us they are always near you."
"I fucking swear!" he shouts. "My savings are not here... I keep them in my house."
Tumult grabs Ludmila and crashes him against the shop counter, made of glass. His head starts bleeding while Riot punches him in the face and leaves him unconscious.
"No, Riot!" I shout. "You can't kill him now!"
Meanwhile, Disturbance and I grab everything we can. The police haven't arrived yet... this is weird. Even if the police were with us, they always sent at least two or three police cars to make chaos, but in this case, they are not even coming, I think. A minute later, Tumult returns with a smile. "I found a safe. Bring Ludmila to me," he says.
"But... he is unconscious. I punched him in the face," says Riot.
Tumult's face now demonstrates his anger. "You fucking idiot! Why did you punch him in the face? The police may be around the corner and you knock the man we need down!"
"There may be a solution," I say. "How is the code? Numbers? Letters?"
"Letters." answers Tumult.
There is a door behind the shop counter. Inside, there is only a computer, some cups of tea and cookies on a table. There is also another door which may be Ludmila's room if he stayed too late during his work. It has a comfy bed, a TV and... there is a safe next to the bed. A big one. The safe has a keyboard under it.
"Holy shit..." says Disturbance, while taking off his mask. "This is huge."
"How can we find out the code?" says Tumult. "There are lots of combinations... and the police may be near."
I lie on the bed. I'm not hearing any sirens or cars... the police are not here yet. I just don't like that... why would they take so much time? Meanwhile, the three Dark Spikes are thinking about the password.
"Think this," says Disturbance. "Ludmila's a selfish dude. Do you think the password would be...?"
Disturbance keys in LUDMILA and the safe's lock is open. Everyone, including me, start celebrating. Once they open the safe, we find out it has 35,500 bucks. Not much... but something.
"Now, we must go away. Now," I say. Riot grabs Ludmila and all of us get out of the jewellery store. Surprisingly, there are no police cars there... Just nothing.
I get in the car while Jack and Pietro put on their masks.
"Did a police car appear at least?" I ask. Both of them shake their heads.
"Where is Butch?" asks Jack. I point to the sky without saying anything. "What do you mean with that? Is he dead?"
"Yes. Ludmila shot him in the neck," I answer. "He may have survived but... I don't know, I'm afraid we were running out of time."
"What?" shouts Pietro. "But... he's a friend of you! You could have helped at least!"
Jack and me look at each other while laughing... I learned the answer of that question when I was 10 years old, and I will never forget it: "Well, Pietro, unless you know him since your first day or saved your life, the word friends does not exist in this world. The only things you should care about are yourself... and yourself. Fuck the others."
Jack accelerates and is ready to run, but suddenly... I hear a siren. They have finally arrived. Luckily they didn't arrive during the robbery... or maybe, this was on purpose. They were waiting for us.
"HEY!" shouts Pietro. "THE COPS!"
Both our car and the Dark Spikes accelerate and run away. The cops are following us but they are being very kind. It could be because Pietro is inside one of the cars, but actually, I don't know. They are not even shouting Stop the fucking car! or those stupid phrases. And what about the guns? No one is firing their guns, so they are just following us in complete silence.
"What happens with the police?" asks Jack. "Why are they so kind now?"
Suddenly, my phone starts ringing. It's Ron. "Hi?" I say, after answering the call.
"Did you go out? Are you inside?"
"Yes. Ludmila is in Dark Spikes' car. We had a problem... Butch. He was cooked and left in the oven. On the other hand, the police are being very kind... and I don't like it. I feel they have something juicy and we don't know."
That phrase terrifies Pietro. Jack is not paying attention because he is driving. "Actually, they do."
I knew it. "Oh fuck... what do they have? How do you know?"
"I'm watching the news. Watch out, guys. The Rainbooms are coming.
Rainbooms. That word Flash Sentry said to describe Rarity and her friends... Are they also superheroines or something like that? Ron ends the call and leaves me with no answers.
"What happened?" asks Pietro, terrified.
"Turn on the radio, Jack," I say. Jack does this.
"Hello, yes. I'm being informed about a robbery in Ludmila's Jewellery Store... you know, Manehattan. The Rainbooms, the Equestrian superheroines which were protagonists of the 2015 Battle of the Bands Case, have been called and decided to stop this chaos, facing up the notorious robbers..."
Jack instantly turns off the radio. The three of us are now in silence, looking to our eyes while trying not to cry. "Shit," says Jack, with a smile. "Now we are screwed."
That may be the answer to the police's behaviour. They were calm because they knew they would be helped by a higher power. We can't stop now... well, why would we stop? We can't keep moving, because the Rainbooms will still find us!
"Do you see them?" Ask Jack.
I lower the car's window again and I look outside. There are only police cars following us, without saying a word. Suddenly, I see something rising in the sky... seven things rising in the sky.
"Yes," I say. "Go faster!"
We pass next to a sign that says we are leaving Manehattan and we are entering the other side of the Canterlot-Manehattan Highway. A white shield appears in front of us. It's Rarity.
The TV reporter shouts:"Look at this! The Rainbooms have just entered to Manehattan! OH! A white shield has appeared in front of the robbers! They got caught... Wait! They are driving back to Manehattan! The famous Twilight appears to elevate those cars with her magic!"
"No! No! No! Fuck!" shouts Ron. He knows there's no escape to this. Everyone is watching the TV in silence, almost crying.
"No! They will discover me!" shouts Pietro. Yes, little Peter, we are screwed. Fucking screwed.
However, something strange happens.
The magic that was elevating our cars is now gone and our vehicles go down slowly. It looks like there's another magic moving us and we look to the Rainbooms, who are as confused as us.
"Girls!" Shouts Twilight. "Did you see that?"
"What?" Says Rainbow Dash, while running very, very fast. "But... what could have happened?"
All of them are running around us, but no one dares to open the door... well, they are not even looking at us... what happened? Why are they not looking at the robbers?
"What happened? Uh... It looks like the cars disappeared... but, how? You watched it! I watched it! The cars were being elevated and... poof! They disappeared!"
"What the fuck has just happened?" Says Gordo. Even Blueblood is confused about this. Ron calls W's phone.
Ron's calling me again. Meanwhile, Jack is talking to Disturbance. It looks like we have disappeared and nobody knows why. We take advantage of the situation and I decide to escape. Surprisingly, no one reacts to our escape. They are all confused, looking for us. Are we in another dimension or what? Why are we invisible?
"Turn on the radio, W," says Jack. I turn it on and the news is the cars' disappearance.
"Why would the cars disappear?" asks Pietro confused. "Was it caused by magic?"
"I don't know," says Jack. "It could have been anything."
I look behind the car and I see someone next to Pietro. My yellow face fades into white.
"Thank me for saving your ass, W."
"Discord?" I say. Both Jack and Pietro look at me.
"Who are you talking to?" Asks Pietro. I wink my eyes and Discord's figure disappears. Now we are only three in the car. This means Discord made the cars invisible... but why? Why would he save us now?
Meanwhile, Pietro's phone starts ringing. He has a call. "Lucas?" he says. "Uh... okay. Yes. We are OK."
"What happened?" I ask him, after ending the call.
"He said he was under a Canterlot Mall sign in the hallway."
"A Canterlot Mall sign?" Says Jack. "That's almost 3 miles away."
3 miles? Really? I hope there is a reward for this. We are invisible now, but I'm afraid the police will still find us.
I see that Canterlot Mall sign and I also look at someone getting out of a car. There is also a chair in the highway. Both cars stop and everyone gets out. Ludmila is carried by Riot and Tumult while being completely tied and also awake. He starts moving unstoppably and gets sat on the chair. He recognizes Lucas' face.
"Holy shit!" shouts Ludmila. "I have the money... I will pay for your security!"
"You mean this money?" says Disturbance, while grabbing the bag which has the safe's money. He opens it and Lucas looks at it.
"Hey!" shouts Lucas, while smiling. "You have it!"
"I was saving!" shouts Ludmila. "Please... no... don't kill me!"
We look at how Ludmila is trying not to pee himself while crying. Lucas and the Dark Spikes start laughing, while Pietro, Jack and I just smile... awkwardly. This situation is kind of uncomfortable.
"Well..." I say. "What kind of special thing did you want to do, Lucas?"
The Plegovich smiles at me. "This will be a historical day, Waters," he says while drawing a gun from his suit. "Today, the Chosen One will kill Ludmila."
"NO!" says Ludmila. "PLEASE!"
"SHUT UP, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" shouts Lucas, before approaching Pietro and giving him his gun. "Your turn."
"Wait, what?" says Pietro. "Do I have to kill him?"
"Yes," responds Lucas. "This will be your first kill. Your revenge. An achievement that must be obtained by every gangster."
Pietro looks at Ludmila and then at the gun. He rubs his head, hair and nose while thinking until he arrives at a conclusion in his mind: "N-No... I-I won't do this... I can't."
"Come on!" says Disturbance. "It's a man who tried to ruin you. Ruin your family... your surname is a privileged one... do you really wanna see that surname with a stain?"
"Of course not, but I... can't kill someone to keep my surname clean!"
"Yes," says Lucas. "You can."
Ludmila is still crying while everyone is watching this soap opera in silence. After a minute who seemed like an eternity, Lucas decides to kill Ludmila. "Ok," he says. "I'll do it, you pussy."
"NO! NO!" shouts Ludmila, but he is shot in the head seconds later and then the Dark Spikes untie him. They put the body inside the car's trunk and leave... that's the exact moment where we have to escape.
"We will leave, Lucas," says Jack.
"Go away, Tyler..." he answers. "And also you, Waters... I need to talk to my brother in private."
Both Jack and I get on the car and leave.
Lucas kept those $35,500 on his uncle's pocket. All of Ludmila's jewellery was sold to Gordo and then turned into a big amount of money. Ron and he are now in peace. Pietro had a long talk with his brother about the gangster world and he left with some advice. W and Jack stayed in the motel for the whole day.
The police found Butch's body, but no one discovered his real identity and name. Gordo ordered a portrait of Butch for a tribute. He will hang it on his Canterlot's secret Chalet.
Pietro arrives at school after a long time. He is now in the cafeteria, hanging out with his idiotic friends from Canterlot High's Rugby Team. He is also watching the news channel, which is talking about the cars' disappearance. Almost every guy is talking about the hot topic of the day: Today Celestia has announced that the Fall Formal will be in three weeks.
"Hey, Pietro..." says one of his friends. "Are you going to ask Rainbow Dash?"
"Nah..." he responds. "I don't know. There are a lot of hotties in this place, you know... You have Lyra, Bon Bon..."
"Aren't they lesbians?" asks a blue-skinned friend from Pietro. Everyone gets confused.
"I don't know." answers another friend. "I wish... Having sex with lesbians is my wet dream..."
"I would pick Sunset Shimmer." says the blue-skinned boy. "She is hot... come on, guys, you have to agree with me. She is hot..."
"Meh..." answers an orange-skinned kid in the table. "I would choose Trixie."
"TRIXIE?" shouts almost everyone. "Are you fucking crazy?"
"I mean, she is crazy but... she is pretty."
"You are out of your mind, Duke Starlight," says Pietro. "Are you sure you wanna hear a crazy girl talking about magic tricks in third person?"
"No..." answers Duke Starlight. "You may be right, guys... she may be pretty but she is crazy."
Then, a short, purple-skinned boy with blue short hair and big glasses comes across Pietro's band while shaking. Pietro nudges his shoulder three times and the boy sighs.
"Hey, Micro Chips..." says Pietro. "Did you know about the Fall Formal thing?"
The shy kid turns around and looks at the bully, exposed. "Y-Yes..."
"Will you go with a girl?" asks Pietro, while his other friends are laughing.
"I don't know..." answers Micro Chips with a very depressing gesture and trying not to run away.
"You don't know? Oh... that's a shame."
"Yes... I know," says Micro Chips while holding himself. "Nobody loves me."
The guys start laughing again. Pietro just smiles while everyone in the cafeteria is looking at Micro Chips. There is also a pink-skinned girl with poofy, pink hair laughing but she doesn't know why everyone in Pietro's table is smiling. Pietro realizes she is laughing.
"Pinkie Pie," says Pietro. "Would you like Micro Chips to be your partner in the Fall Formal?"
"No!" interrupts one of Pietro's friends. "She's not a girl for that weird nerd! She is a girl for me! Look at those legs, come on!"
Everyone of Pietro's friends starts whistling to Pinkie Pie. Her pink cheeks blush and this awakes Rainbow Dash's anger.
"You idiots!" shouts Rainbow Dash. "Don't you dare to talk to my friend in that way!"
"And what are you doing to do, Dashie?" asks Pietro, while chuckling.
This pseudo-fight is interrupted by someone who enters the cafeteria in silence. A yellow-skinned, young man with short brown hair and an earring on his left ear: W.
"Woah, Woah, Woah," says W, surprised. "Are you going to fight? Can I participate?"
"You?" says Pietro. "What the fuck are you doing here? I'm in the middle of an argument with these idiots."
"Hey..." says W, while stopping Rainbow Dash from kicking Pietro's ass. "Calm down, I'll handle this."
"He will humiliate you," says Rainbow Dash. "Like everyone."
W chuckles while looking at Dash. "He? Humiliating me? That's impossible, Dash."
Pietro starts laughing while Pinkie Pie calms Rainbow Dash down. "What are you doing here?" asks Plegovich's nephew.
"I came to check if you were OK. I see you are OK here... you seem to be the King of Canterlot High with that attitude, aren't you?"
"Do you know this clown?" asks one of Pietro's friends. "What did you do with him?"
"N-Nothing..." responds Pietro, while he starts sweating.
"Nothing?" says W, chuckling. "Oh man, that weekend was heavy, boy... wasn't it?"
"Shut the fuck up!" he says while rising from his table. All his friends start doing the same thing.
"Hey, you clown," says the blue-skinned boy. "Nobody called you. Get out of here if you don't want to get your ass kicked."
W starts laughing. "Do you really wanna fight, bitches? Here? On Happiness High?"
Pietro's friends start looking at each other. "Ok then. When?" says the blue-skinned man.
"No," says Pietro. "I will fight him alone, Little Ace."
"Little Ace? HA!" says W. "What an ugly name, come on!"
Everybody in the cafeteria starts laughing, even Rainbow Dash. Little Ace wants to punch W's face but Pietro stops him.
"Say something before I leave you on the floor without teeth," says Pietro.
"Ok, I'll start," answers W, before taking a breath. "You seem to be the King of Canterlot High, but I know that outside this school you are nothing. Your ass is always safe because your uncle is powerful, but if you were alone, you would lose in an argument against a teddy bear."
"I have this," says Pietro, while pointing at his biceps. "What do you have?"
W tells him to come nearer. He wants to whisper him something.
"What do you have?" asks Pietro.
"Come here and I'll tell you."
"I won't."
Little Ace pushes Pietro away to go for W. Fortunately, the gangster grabs him by his neck and crashes his head against one of the tables. The blue-skinned boy's nose starts bleeding and runs away to Nurse Redheart. Everybody in the cafeteria is silent. "Are you going to come now?" asks W. "Or will I break your nose like Little Bitch?"
Pietro and W get nearer. "What do you have then?" asks Pietro.
"I have information, Pietro. Facts. You wouldn't like it if I told everyone what we did this weekend." Pietro is silent now. He knows W may cause chaos. "I came because Blueblood called us. We need to go now."
To be continued...