In the corner of Cpt. Magnus Street, located not so far from Maretreal's city centre, there's a small white store, with a peculiar sign on his front: HOPPY'S on bold, with a big size, and next to it, a tiny phrasewhich says: Personal Defense, Guns. No shooting range.
Inside the store, there is a red-skinned man with brown hair and a big moustache, checking the news on a paper, alone. The store is filled with small guns and protection, such as vests or belts. Mr Hoppy Flytrap, the name of the owner, is even wearing a bulletproof vest under his grey t-shirt along with his worn-out jeans and brown leather shoes.
A car stops right in front of the entrance door, and Hoppy already knows who he is. He stops reading the newspaper and gets an ashtray from under the counter. He dumps all of the ash it has on a can and puts it over the counter while the man enters the store.
Sunglasses, white shirt, black jacket, pants and shoes and his fair hair. Eye Patch here. "Hi, Hoppy," says the man, opening the door which has a small OPEN sign hanging from it. "Good morning."
"Hi, E," replies Hoppy. "I put the ashtray if you want to try out the new thing I bought." Hoppy gets out from the counter a box with cigars. "Cigars made in Fillydelphia. These ones are excellent despite their price."
"Not today, Hop," replies Eye Patch while crossing his arms and approaching him. "I want you to get me a glass of the oldest whisky you have on the fridge. Today..." he takes a breath while touching his face. "Oh, boy... today's gonna be a great day."
"Great?" says Hop, confused. "I've known you for years, E. That face, that voice... you sound like someone's gonna cut your nuts off... Something happened with the guy I told him to go to you?"
Hoppy begins to unlock a door behind him and the counter. "Nah... Neighsay's OK," replies. Eye Patch scratches his hair. "It's something else, Hoppy. Something worse..." he chuckles. "Freaking worse. Bloodswan called. He wants a meeting."
Hoppy stops unlocking the door once he hears that name. He scratches his hair and turns around. "But you didn't do anything... didn't you?"
"It's not with me," he says. "It's with everyone. He called every big fish around the Equestrian cities. He wants a meeting at his house now. Why?..." Eye Patch slowly touches the ashtray. "No idea."
"But... was he angry?"
He bites his lips. "A bit."
Hoppy facepalms. "Man... that doesn't mean anything nice, isn't it?"
"Well..." Eye Patch scratches his hair. "No... but at least it's a meeting on his house... the place he never stains with blood."
"And are you sure about that?"
"If there's something I can predict of that son of a gun, is that he'll never dirty the places his father built.. and that house is his father's now."
Hoppy raises an eyebrow. "Well, if you say... don't you want one of my guns so you can use it just in ca--?"
"No, no," he denies. "That will only worsen things. Besides, his little henchmen always look at every move you do and everything you have or wear. They find out I have a gun and they'll end up kicking my ass out of town."
He bites his lips. "Are you sure?"
"Of course, Hop," he replies, smiling. "Now give me that glass of whisky before I get late... I don't have much time."
Rarity is in silence but smiling while helping Rainbow Dash and a recently arrived Applejack to carry the mats to the gym. "And when he tried to take the ball off me, I slowly kicked it and passed by him, right through the middle of his legs." Dash is telling a story to both of them and Applejack laughs loudly while Rarity smiles and bites her lips. She's slowly getting out of her cloud of thoughts and paying attention to Dashie's words.
"You shut his mouth up, lad," replies Applejack. "All that time speakin' and you caught his arse right at the top."
They are near the gym entrance when somebody comes out of it. A tall guy, with spiky blue hair, buttoning his leather jacket. He looks at the girls and smiles. "Hi, girls," he says. "Wait, do you need some help?"
"Hey, Flash! How are you?" shouts Rainbow Dash. "We can do it, no worries..."
"How am I?" he asks, scratching his hair while the girls enter the gym. Flash opens the gym's doors for them to leave the mats over a pile of older pads in the middle of the pitch. Rarity is the last one, being slower than her friends. "Shall I help you, Rarity?"
"You don't have to, Flash, I can do it," she looks at him and smiles. "Thanks anyway, darling."
Flash smiles at her again. "No, you're welcome."
"Flash!" shouts Applejack, stretching her arms. "Sugarcube! So long... so how are you feeling?"
"Oh!" he softly jumps and laughs. Rarity puts the mats on the pile and stretches her arms. "Well, you know... I came here with the boys from the band, Brawly and Ringo... we recorded a couple of demos last summer and we thought about releasing them like an EP, maybe through an indie site or something..."
"Hey, that sounds really cool," replies Dash. "Do you have the demos here? I want to give them a listen."
"I only have one in my phone," replies Sentry. "But you can ask Ringo. He has the other three."
"Sure, no problem," replies Applejack, while approaching him along with Dash. "What about that song you have, lad? You want to play us that a bit?"
"Yes, I also want to listen," says Dash, then she looks at Rarity behind her. "Do you want to, Rarity?"
Rarity smiles again and takes a breath. She's calming down and getting out of that cloud of thoughts about Cattle Prod that's been tormenting her for days. "Sure," she says, with a wink. "I also want to listen to that... what is the song's name?"
"The name, uh?" says Flash, while taking out his phone. "Yes... we named it Vanity with Ringo, but Brawly said a better name for this song is Black Roses... could you tell me which name suits the song better?"
"Sure!" says Rainbow Dash, smiling.
"Here... I found it." Flash presses play on the phone and the song begins. It starts with a guitar playing a progression of chords, then the bass, then the drums. "I composed the riff one night, I couldn't sleep and I... well... started playing."
"I like it," says Rarity. "That guitar sound is magnificent, Flash... and the bass is gorgeous."
"The drums... I'm digging it," adds Dash. "I think Pinkie Pie would love listening to this."
"I agree with Rarity," says Applejack. "The bass sound is great."
"Ringo's magic," replies Flash. "Every time he touches a bass we know he's gonna rock it."
"I'm loving it," says Rarity, with a big smile. She's getting much calmer now, smiling, while Dash softly touches her shoulder. The rainbow-haired girl looks at her for a second, but with a peculiar sight. Despite not saying anything, Rarity understood what she meant. She told her with her eyes to take a breath... and feels goosebumps while thinking about that.
And then, she moves her head and looks at the gym entrance. Suddenly her smile fades away in a second. Her pupils shrink. She clenches her fists and teeth.
There are two men laying against the entrance doors. One of them is Little Ace, a skinny boy with blue skin and turquoise hair, while the other, Duke Starlight, is taller and is orange-skinned with dark red hair. Little Ace starts sarcastically clapping while Duke Starlight lets out a laugh. Rarity takes a step behind but Rainbow grabs her from the back, trying not to let her fall. Applejack's smile disappears while Flash Sentry turns around his head. Once he sees them both, he turns his whole body around, trying to cover Rarity, and pauses the song. "Great performance," replies Little Ace. "Sounded like a crappy, cheap cover of some daddy band of Maretreal but... really great performance."
"You're not going to make me feel bad with your words, Little Ace," replies Sentry. "I'm afraid you'll have to go harder."
"Ok, ok, Flash Shame-try," interrupts Duke Starlight. Then he looks at how the four of them are in silence, just observing them. "Oh, come on, don't act like you saw a ghost... we only came here to grab things and, well..."
"We also want to wish you a beautiful course start, I know we and you will have a beautiful time together," Little Ace says with a fake smile. Then, he waves his hand. "Hey, Rarity!"
Rarity's eyes get much wider and Dash goes to the front. "You said her name one more tim--!"
"Dash!" shouts Applejack, grabbing her from her back. "You know it's not worth it."
"Excuse me?" asks Duke Starlight while approaching them. "We are not worth it? Did you say that? You? The one who literally lives of selling piss-flavoured cider?"
Applejack snorts and her eyes widen. "Oh, y'all can't say such a thing to me-!"
"Enough!" shouts Rarity, who was crossing her arms and biting her lips apart from the spectacle, overthinking what could come out of this situation. She passes by her friends and stands right in front of both rascals, with a thin wall of air between them. "Don't you dare to disrespect my friend in that way... and if he wants to talk to me, tell him to come here, instead of sending his friends as they were dogs."
Moment of silence. Both men look at each other, confused, and Little Ace raises an eyebrow. "What are... what are you talking about... what?" he says, raising his shoulders.
"We came here to get stuff from the gym," adds Duke Starlight. "Not because of you and Cattle Prod!"
Little Ace points a finger at Rarity's face and looks at her angrily. "And I didn't like what you have just said... not even a single word. You dare to call me a dog again and I promise you I will bring some scissors to cut that hair of yours..." Little Ace approaches his face to her. Rarity stands back with a gross sight. "...darling."
Duke Starlight laughs after that imitation of Rarity, but suddenly something breaks all of the tension:
"Mm-hmm." A feminine voice resounds over the gym and everyone turns around to look at her. They easily identify her with her long, dark blue hair and purple blouse. "What's going on here?" asks Vice-Principal Luna.
Everyone gets in silence while Little Ace and Duke Starlight look at each other. Ace bites his lips, scratches his hair and says: "Nah... just a discussion, Vice-Principal," he replies. "We'll go back to carry something else."
Luna's serious face does not change "You dare to talk to another student in that way and I'm afraid both of you will be the first students sent into detention this year... and the course hasn't even started." She closes her eyes and takes a breath. "You two will come with me, I need help in the library. I'd also like to have a chat with you on the way. We need to talk."
Little Ace slowly approach the Vice-Principal. Duke Starlight takes a look behind for a second, and Flash Sentry observes his sight full of hatred.
When both students leave along with the Vice-Principal, all they can do is to take a breath. Rarity closes her eyes... the cloud of thoughts is invading her again... and this time is worse.
The store is still empty. Not many clients pass by. Hoppy is reading the newspaper again, although he's not paying much attention after Eye Patch told him earlier. A meeting with Bloodswan? The monster in a human body? At his house? With everyone? And he said he was angry... this is not a good thing. At all.
Wait... another car stops. Another familiar car stops. That may be good news... or bad. Jack and W get down from it and Hoppy leaves the newspaper on the counter again. He stands up from the chair where he was sitting and even opens the door for them. Jack raises an eyebrow. "Hoppy?" he says. "How you doing?"
"Come in," he says. "E came here a couple of minutes ago." Jack, W and Hoppy get in the store. "He told me... the guy-"
"He told us the same," Jack replies. "Bloodswan called. It's not the best morning of all and we know."
"Do you know why did he call?"
W shakes his head. "No idea," replies the young gangster.
"What did he tell you, Hop?" asks Jack while approaching the counter.
"Well," Hop passes by W. "He told me he called, he wanted a meeting with every boss of the cities and he was angry."
Jack scratches his hair and takes a look at the newspaper on the counter:
FATAL CAR CRASH IN FILLYDELPHIA: 3 DEAD
"Both of us know the same as you," replies Jack. He turns his head to look at Hoppy. "It looks like Bloodswan didn't tell anyone why did he want to make the meeting."
"I told E to carry a gun just in case but he said no..." Hoppy gets back on the counter. Jack shakes his head.
"And that's the best thing Eye could have said. The worst thing you can do is to carry a gun to that place..." he sighs. "Um, we came here for another thing..."
"Uh..." Hoppy raises his eyebrows. "What's the matter?"
"Well..." Jack looks at W while he approaches the counter. "It's a long story but... summarizing it, W has to enter Canterlot High under a fake identity."
Hoppy didn't expect that. He raises his eyebrows. "Canterlot High? The school?"
"Uh-huh," Jack nods, almost smiling. "It's a long story, I told you... and we came here to look for something that can change his face a bit. Not only to not put his face in a place out of the business but also to make him not recognizable for the Canterlot gangs."
Hoppy blinks while getting out of the counter with a small sign in his hand and pair of keys. "Ok," he says, and then he replaces the OPEN sign for the new one: WENT OUTSIDE. I'LL BE BACK. "Does Big Baby know anything of what you are going to do?" he asks while locking the entrance door. W shakes his head.
"No," replies Jack. "That would get things much worse. We are keeping it secret by now."
"Oh... and it's something... serious?" he asks while getting back to where he was. "I mean... the boy's going to be inside a school under a fake face. Is there a gang in that school?"
"Not really..." says W. "Basically, Hoppy, I have to kick a bully's ass, who is also Rarity's ex-boyfriend."
Hoppy chuckles after raising his eyebrows. That was unexpected. "Rarity?" he says. "Who is Rarity?"
"Abe's granddaughter," replies W. "I still think is a bit exaggerating to send me there but, at the same time... there's something about that bully that... really confuses me."
"What?" he asks. "What does confuse you?"
Jack blinks. "If you are going to ask him about the name..."
"No, it's not only that!" answers W. "You see... Abe told us that kid is problematic, a bully... he has been expelled more than one time from that school, but..."
The gun seller is playing with the keys while looking at W. "But?"
"He always comes back." Silence between the three of them. "I mean... Abe told me he got expelled, returned to the school, we have no idea why... then he got expelled again, and returned again... and the same thing happens, again and again. It's a cycle."
Hoppy looks at a door behind the counter. "What a strange cycle. He leaves, returns, leaves, returns."
"He gets expelled... he doesn't leave on his own," says W.
"And are you sure about that?"
W bites his lips for a second. "Well, not at all but... whether he gets expelled or leaves, the cycle of him getting out of school and then going back is strange in both ways... and that's something I don't like."
"Me neither," adds Jack. "That's why Abe started doing this. Rarity and her group of friends may be able to kick that stupid kid's ass, we don't know, but there's something... we just don't understand."
"Yeah, I also don't understand where is him going on with that," replies Hoppy, looking at the keys. He approaches the door behind the counter. "And you said something about the name..."
"Yes, it's something so strange it's comical," says W. "Eye Patch said the name of the kid sounds familiar to him but doesn't remember why. Abe says the same, Calc says the same... you know Calc, right?"
Hoppy finally finds the right key. "Wasn't he the kid who worked with Fletcher?"
"Yes, oh, and also Fletcher knows the na---"
"So what's his name?" Hoppy interrupts while putting the key in the door. The interruption made W uncomfortable for a moment but once the gun seller turns around, Jack looks at W and answers.
"Cattle Prod."
Hoppy raises an eyebrow and then shakes his head. "Nope. I don't know about that name." W lets out a sigh of relief while scratching his neck.
"Well, at least I'm not the only one," adds W.
"It's not a nice name, though. His name is not Beautiful Rose, or Sparky Butterfly or Pinkie Pie." Hoppy unlocks the door and opens it, there is a hall. "You may enter first."
There is a small, narrow hall that has another door with a small bathroom and an old, odd bookcase filled with books and small, empty packages of ammo. The bookcase seems that it has never been cleaned for decades. "Anyone wants to use the bathroom?" asks Hoppy.
Both shake their heads: "No, we're right," replies Jack. "Shall I help you with that?"
"You want to?" says Hoppy. "I was going to ask the boy for help."
W raises an eyebrow. "Um... to move the... uh..." It's dirty. Really dirty... "Well... alright." Hoppy gets next to one side of the bookcase, while W gets into the other. "Have you ever cleaned this? Once? Or twice?"
Hoppy laughs while grabbing the left side of the bookcase. "I think this still has dirt from the time we bought it. I thought about cleaning it with E but he's always busy."
"And can't you do it alone?" asks W while grabbing the right side.
"I tried once... and I got tired..." he chuckles. "There's too much dirt..." Both men start to move the bookcase. "To the left..." says Hoppy, while both men carry it to the left. Jack also offers help by carrying the bookcase from its back. Once they move the bookcase, they look at what was hidden all this time: a door-shaped gap that leads to a small room.
Hoppy switches on the room's light, which is only an old, thin lightbulb hanging from the roof made of concrete. It is a small place with only a bed, a bedside table, wardrobes and lots and lots of newspapers thrown on the floor. "Son of a gun..." says Hoppy. "E told me he cleaned this place... look at all of these newspapers on the floor filled with dirt."
"Wow..." says W, biting his lips. "I still can't believe E sleeps here sometimes." He looks at the newspapers on the floor, which are filled with dirt and most of them are painfully wrinkled. "Man, I bet there are more rats living in this tiny thing than people living in Baltimare." Hoppy laughs while both Jack and W stop to read a newspaper title which says:
THE CANTERLOT TIMES
October 28th, 1996
TEN YEARS OF DIESEL FLAME'S CASE: WHO WAS DIESEL FLAME? and A BRIEF ARTICLE ABOUT EQUESTRIAN GANGS by prestigious journalist Glasgow Parsons.
"Diesel Flame," says W, almost unconsciously.
"The legend itself," sarcastically says Jack, smiling. "The only time in Equestrian history where all of the gangs and rival mafias fought together against one man."
"He was an asshole," Hoppy laughs. "E told me the story a long time ago," he says while opening a wardrobe and raises his eyebrows, surprised. "Well, I expected much more dirt coming out." The wardrobe is filled with bags of unknown stuff on the upper shelves, and the lower shelf is filled with piles and piles of newspapers. "Diesel Flame thought he could get rid of all and become the man just by saying fuck you to both Father and the... the Clock? Right?"
"Yeah, the Clock of Canterlot," replies Jack. "That old gang everybody knew about."
Hoppy chuckles. "Yeah, and you know, boy," he says, taking out a big bag filled with random things out of the wardrobe. "He thought he was going to turn into the King of Equestria just by whining like a baby and rejecting both big families. Do you know what happened later?"
W helps Hoppy to put the bag on the floor. Despite it doesn't look like it's a heavy thing, it is. "He was killed," replies the young gangster.
Hoppy chuckles. "That's right! Totally unexpected!" W looks that the bag has a zip on it and kneels to open it. While crouching, he finds out there is another newspaper on the floor.
Manehattan Daily: The Voice of the Capitol
December 16th, 1997
Canterlot's Disappearing Couple hasn't been found yet: Still no witnesses on the Waters Case. WHO WERE THEY?
He doesn't say anything and just unzips the bag, which contains several ties, wrinkled coloured shirts and a couple of fake wigs. "Wigs," just replies W. "I didn't expect Patch to have so much..."
"There was a time we used wigs to get in the legal parties of a governor who ended up negotiating with us for a gasoline inversion..." explains Jack, scratching his jaw. "I think it was the mid-90s..." then he looks at a short, dark wig. "Oh, and there's that one... I won it on a bet in Las Pegasus... long story."
W chuckles. "You won a wig on a bet? In Las Pegasus?"
"I told you it's a long story..." Jack smiles.
"It was those times... those weird times," adds Hoppy. "2000s, before coming across the young Walter, and when Jack had a shaved head, no beard and didn't look like a lawyer."
W grabs that infamous dark wig and looks at it. However, now that Hoppy is talking about Jack's appearance, something else came to his mind and now he can't let it go. It's an important thing. "Hey, Jack..."
"Yeah?" says the old gangster while kneeling and grabbing another wig. "Look at this... another blonde wig..."
"You said you were going to be keeping an eye on the school too. Not from the inside, though."
Silence in the room. "Uh-huh," replies Jack.
"Shouldn't you also change your physical appearance to not be identified... just in case?"
Hoppy raises his eyebrows and Jack blinks. "That's actually a..." Jack bites his lips and nods his head. "Good question, W."
"I mean, I don't know if it's necessary for you to wear a wig but... you should, I don't know, wear a pair of sunglasses or... an earring and... you can shave your beard..."
"No, not my beard." Both Hoppy and W get surprised by that response while Jack stands up. "I will use a pair of sunglasses, I may change my clothes a bit... but not shaving my beard."
W also stands up, with the dark wig in his hands. "Man... why? It's not a superpower..."
"It's... um... I can't."
Hoppy and W look at each other now. "But... I understand you like the beard, Jacky," says Hoppy. "It really suits on you, man, but... nothing happens if you shave it for a couple of days, it will eventually grow up again..."
"No, it's not because of that," adds Jack. "I don't have any problems in shaving my beard, but I can't, not because I don't want to... it's because there's something else that doesn't let me do it."
W raises his eyebrows in shock. "Holy shit, Jack... what doesn't let you shave your beard?"
He leaves the blonde wig on the bag. "I'll tell you when we get in the car."
"In the car?" asks W. "How? Why?"
"Hey, I also wanna know," interrupts Hoppy from behind. "I let you in, at least..."
Jack looks at Hoppy and raises an eyebrow. "You know what I mean, Hop."
"I know?" he asks, confused. "What, from everything we know?"
"Do you have some contact lenses?" asks Jack. "Did Eye Patch keep those dark ones he bought a time ago?"
Hoppy snorts. "Hey! Don't change the topic, Jacky."
"I'm not changing it, I'm just asking."
Silence in the room again. Hoppy blinks and looks at a smaller bag in the wardrobe which he opens. W doesn't say anything because of how confusing were those last seconds and crouches again... however, the tension breaks when Hoppy suddenly stops looking for that object he was thinking about in the small bag and slowly turns his head to look at Jack. The gangster with a beard is also staring at him. "You were going to Canterlot High, right?" asks Hoppy.
W nods his head. Jack replies: "Yeah."
"Oh," adds Hoppy while nodding his head. "It's a good point to consider but... don't you think she may have forgotten you? After all these years?"
Jack shakes his head and fastly answers Hoppy's question: "It's not only her but also her sister."
"Wait, what?" suddenly interrupts W. "Who are you talking about? Wait... uh..." He suddenly remembers what he and his brother were talking about earlier this morning:
"Well, you know... if my mind doesn't lie to me... I remember that name, Celestia, as one of Mom and Dad's friends in their Acting Class."
"Wait... wait, wait, wait, wait..." He stands up. Jack and Hoppy look at him in silence. "You said..." he points at Jack. "You told me once my parents and you used to go to Acting Classes on Canterlot with someone called Celestia."
And at that moment, some kind of sparkle appeared in Jack's eyes. He chuckles and looks at Hoppy, then at W again. "Yes. Your parents wanted me to present as myself but I went there under a fake name anyway... that's something good if you want to think, but at that moment I didn't have my beard... and she almost recognized me."
W raises his shoulders. "Uh, come on... I agree with Hoppy... she may have forgotten you, almost 25 years have passed since that moment and logically both you and she have grown up and changed your appearance. Besides," W crosses his arms. "You said she almost recognized you... from where?"
Jack and Hoppy look at each other. "You didn't tell him?" says Hoppy. "Even I know that."
"What?" W raises his eyebrows in surprise.
Jack takes a breath. "I haven't talked to anyone about my youth for decades, Hoppy. You only know this because I told you that when I had 18 years old in the nineties. He doesn't know it."
Suddenly, the young gangster has a spark in his eyes. "Oh my God," W grabs his head, open-mouthed. "You had sex with her?"
Everyone's faces change. "NO!" shouts Jack while Hoppy begins to laugh out loud. The gangster with a beard takes a breath while W covers his mouth, embarrassed and almost laughing. "I didn't have anything. I went to High School with her."
Hoppy stops laughing and returns to his task again, looking for contact lenses. "Boy," he says, chuckling. "That absolutely made my day." W blushes for a second and Jack facepalms.
"You went to school with her?" asks W. "But, Jack... you were a teenager when you were with her at school! You're not 18 anymore... your face, your personality, everything changed... now you're a grumpy old man! I don't think she may recognize you if you shave your beard. You can also wear sunglasses!"
Jack shakes his head. "I don't know. It's taking a risk. She almost recognized me on that Acting Class and I had... um... 23 years old, your age right now."
"Jack... you had 23 years old, of course, she would recognize you... but recognizing you at 46?" Jack doesn't answer. "With a mental age of a hundred?"
"I don't know, I don't know..." interrupts Jack, then she raises a hand to W. "Look, I don't want to shave my beard but... at the same time you're right. You have a point. Not only lots of years have passed but also... Big Baby and his boys are now used to looking at me with a full beard." He touches his jaw. "Maybe I'll do some touch-ups."
W, smiling, raises his shoulders. "You see? You can be like Hoppy and be with a moustache."
"Nah, that may turn me into a gun seller." Everybody laughs, even Hoppy until he opens his mouth.
"Nope..." he says. "I think... I've lost that bag of contact lenses."
W lets out a sigh of relief. "Well, at least my eyes won't--"
"We'll buy a pack of them in black." W looks at Jack with his eyes widened.
"You know those things are expensive..." he tells his partner, but Jack laughs.
"Our least important problem is the money, W... and apart from that, it's not a knife, neither a laser beam, it's just a small thing you put on your eyes... I used them a couple of times and doesn't even feel bad."
"What?" asks Hoppy, now closing the small bag and putting it again in the wardrobe. "He's scared of contact lenses?"
W frowns. "No, I'm not scared, it's just-"
Jack interrupts. "A bit."
"No, I'm not!" He raises a finger. "I just feel... they are kind of uncomfortable."
"They're not, trust me," says Jack to his partner. "I used them a long time ago when I had your age. I think both of us have the same eyes, I mean, we are human, aren't we?"
W nods his head. "We are."
"That means you can hold it. Come on," he says. "We should go back to the school."
Those.
Those two kids are sitting on a bench, trying not to tremble and to overthink about what's going to happen next. They were literally thrown away by Sharp Baton, only to be looked after by his younger but more evil brother. At least Sharp Baton doesn't fool or bully them around all the time. "Dude," softly says Snails to his friend. "I just..."
"I also don't understand what's happening."
Silence again between them both, until Snails speaks: "I wanted to say... if there's no other way to have a bit of cash in our hands, dude..."
"I'm still confused... guns? A guy telling us we won't use them to steal? So... what are we going to use it for then...?"
"Maybe we'll hunt deers..."
"Where?" Snips raises his shoulders. "There are no deers in Canterlot, and besides, you remember that time I told you I watched a hunting show through TV? The guy was using a rifle..." he approaches his friend to whisper to him: "Why would we use handguns to hunt a deer?"
"We're still not sure about why would we use them... tomorrow they will tell-"
"Are you sure?" Snips interrupts while scratching his hair. "Did you see their faces when we asked those questions...? They clearly had no idea what to answer." He takes a breath. "I think... Cattle Prod and his brother are into something... weird."
"Weird? Well..." Snails scratches his ear. "Now you say that? Since the first time we talked to Cattle Prod, everything felt... tense."
"But Cattle Prod is stupid, a bully," Snips clenches his fist. "I understand why would we get tense with him, but then we met his brother and that other guy, and they gave us a gun..." He raises his shoulders. "What do you think? Where do you think this is going?"
Snails also raises his shoulders. "I don't know, the only way to find an answer to that question is to keep moving here."
"And what if it's something we don't like?"
Snails bites his lips. "Well, we can get out of that, you know..."
Suddenly, a tire screeching is heard far from the street. A black sports car appears on the street at a high speed... a car they do recognize. "Crap," says Snips, turning his head back to look at his friend. "Should we... run?"
Snails shakes his head. "They'll beat us up later."
Somebody gets his head out of the car while the driver it's lowering its speed. It's a grey-skinned guy with short black hair. He also gets his arm out of the car, which has a bottle of beer. "HEY, YOU!" shouts the guy. "GET IN THE CAR OR WE'LL RUN OVER YOU LIKE STUPID PIGEONS!"
The peace that was at that moment in the park vanishes after that. Snips and Snails freeze from fear after hearing that shout and the loud screeching of the car stopping right next to them. Then, the guy starts slapping the car door with his other empty hand until another voice from the car shouts at him: "You dare to hit the car again and I'll shove that bottle up your ass."
The voice has spoken. He is there. Inside the car... and he's driving... Sharp Baton's younger brother...
Cattle Prod...
A thick, red-skinned arm, with a golden ring that has a beautiful ruby on his ring finger, grabs the grey dude and takes him apart from his sight, crushing him against his car seat. Then, a well-shaped, red-skinned man with blonde-brown hair and green eyes looks at both children, who look at him almost in fear. "Get in the car."
Snips and Snails instantly run to the car and open the backdoor, while all of the people at the park are observing them in pure shock.
The car is like a nightclub, the song Negative Creep by Nirvana can be heard not only from inside but also from kilometres away. Snails closes the door and doesn't say anything, neither Snips. Cattle Prod doesn't even talk to them when they get in, neither the grey guy. The red kid only looks at them as an evil bully and looks at his friend again. He slaps him in the face. "Ouch!" shouts the grey guy. "Why did you do---?"
"This is my car, not yours," he tells his friend while pointing at him with a finger. Snips only observes the beautiful ring he has on his hand. "You can do what you did on your car, Silverstorm, but not mine. OK?"
Silverstorm nods his head in silence. "OK." Cattle Prod nods his head, scratches his neck.
"Ok... I'm not in my mood. Today's not a nice day," he says. "I tried to call my uncle, he said he was mad, on a bad day... and the worst thing I can ever imagine... is of my uncle being angry. He's like... I just don't know how to describe it, man... you've gotta see it in real life."
"No, thanks," replies Silverstorm, looking at a fixed point.
Cattle Prod laughs and then changes his face to turn his back and look at the children. "Beer," he only says. "I want one, and if it's not so cold..." Snips fastly grabs a bottle of beer from under the driver seat. Luckily, it's cold but doesn't even lift his back up when Cattle Prod gets the beer out of his hand, almost making the small child fall. Snails only clenches his fists... but doesn't do anything. He laughs while opening the beer thanks to his ring. "I'm going to tell you something... and I'll be clear as shit, babyfaces..."
Snips and Snails look at each other for a second and then at Cattle Prod drinking the beer. Then, he steps on the accelerator out of nowhere and gets the car out of there so fastly both children crash their heads against the seats. Silverstorm and Cattle Prod start laughing. "Ouch!" shouts Snails, getting up and sitting again on the chair. "That was not funny at all!"
"It wasn't for you, but it was for me!" shouts Cattle Prod, while driving at a high speed and with one hand on the wheel and the other holding the bottle of beer. "Look, I only came here because my brother told me to, so if it was for me... you can live in that freaking park if you want. Now, in school, you'll do everything I'll tell you to do... even if I order you to wear ballet tutus, you'll do it because I say it..."
Silverstorm laughs. "Ballet tutus..."
"And if you don't listen to me or you say something I didn't tell you to say..." Cattle Prod quickly stops the car, screeching the tires. Snails covers himself by putting his arms over his head, but Snips falls in the same joke and crashes his head against Cattle Prod's seat. Cattle Prod and Silverstorm laugh again while Snails helps Snips to get up. "You don't do what I do, and you'll end up in the school sewers with your balls inside your mouth," the red young man turns back to look at both kids with a menacing stare. "And trust me, I know where the fucking sewers are."
And Snips and Snails, frozen again, think about that one more time.
Is this worth it?
The car has stopped in a familiar street, looking at Fletcher's store. The engine is still on, and both gangsters are waiting in silence for something they don't even know. W looks at himself through the rearview mirror. He has a black wig on his head. "This is not bad at all," he says with a grin. "What do you think?"
Jack stays in silence for a second until he lets out a laugh. W's face changes from a smile to a serious gesture. "No, it suits you... it's not bad, but... it's really odd to look at you with that hair colour."
"Yeah... I don't even recognise myself... I always had my hair brown, never dark... is that good, isn't it?"
"Sure," replies Jack. "The least recognizable, the better..." he snaps his fingers. "Good.. we have the wig, the name, the school's open... the only thing we need is those contact lenses and the papers..."
W bites his lips. "And what time is it?"
Jack checks his watch again. "Quarter to twelve. We're about to get in the noon."
"12 PM? Mmmh..." W sighs. "What if the school is open until that time? Are you sure they will be still open in the afternoon?"
Jack shakes his head while opening the car door. "No, honestly. We should hurry up if you want to do this today..." then he looks at the young gangster in his eyes. "But first... are you sure you wanna do this now? There's no way back after doing it... and don't tell me on Sunday you had a better name or a better wig for Swift... Swift what? Which one was the name?"
"Swift Arrow was the name," replies W. "I mean, it's not a bad name... it's like, uh... speed, confidence..." W keeps thinking. "Sounds good... Swift Arrow... that name literally is a way of saying I don't have erectile dysfunction."
Jack stays in silence and closes his eyes without even making a single movement. "That was... the worst pun I've heard in... decades."
W raises an eyebrow. "I didn't mean it as a joke... I said it seriously."
"It's the worst pun I've heard in a long time, anyway..." Jack grabs his head. "Look, there's an optics store on the left corner on this street," Jack now opens the door for complete. "If you want to save time, I want you to go to Fletcher's and ask Calc about the papers."
W looks from outside the car. Fletcher's store is near the car, almost in front of it. "Um..." he says. "Ok... I step in and I... just ask?"
Jack nods his head. "Tell Fletcher you want to see Calc... don't talk about the papers in front of the clients."
"Yeah, I know, I know," W opens the car door, gets out and hears that Jack starts chuckling. He turns around. "What?"
The old gangster smiles. "You can leave the wig on the car if you want."
Oops. W looks at himself on the car window and realizes he still has the wig. He blushes a bit while taking it off and leaves it on the car seat, looking at both sides while closing the door. "Did anybody see that?" he asks while approaching Jack, who is now outside the car.
Both gangsters get nearer to each other. "Well, people often walk by this stree---"
The young gangster puts his hand on Jack's shoulder and whispers to his partner: "I don't mean all people, Jack."
Jack's smile suddenly fades and the gangster frowns. He also looks at both sides, then he shakes his head. "No." He approaches his protégé. "No, I don't recognise anyone," he looks at both sides again while looking for something in his jacket. "Despite I didn't recognise anybody, don't be so much time outside anyway. Once you finish with your thing," he gets out a pair of sunglasses from the jacket and puts it on. "Send me a message by phone and I'll go to Fletcher's."
W nods his head, looks at both sides again and takes a breath: "Sure."
The young gangster opens the backdoor where Calc is hiding, closing all of the tabs of the PC before turning it off. "Oh, W," he says when he looks at him. "I have already finished. I was about to shut down the apps."
"Let me see," he replies. "You did it with the tools you always use?"
Calc grabs a bag next to the monitor and gives it to W. "Like always... patience, ability... a bit of Photoshop..." W opens the bag and gets out one of the forged transcripts from Everton High School. His pupils shrink when he looks at how real the paper feels. It has his now new name written with pen: SWIFT ARROW and a list of subjects which... wait...
"Wait," suddenly says W. "Wait. Wait..."
Calc turns around to look at the gangster while closing an Internet tab. "What?"
"An A in Maths?" W keeps reading the transcript. "B in Accountancy? A in History? Wait, wait..."
"Um, well... I didn't know how to fill those spots, so I thought it would be better for you if I filled it in with good marks..."
"Man," says W. "I appreciate your idea to make me look like a clever guy, but I don't know where this will take me, dude. What if a teacher looks at this and suddenly puts me in those spelling bee contests where everything smells like shit?" Calculated Risk starts laughing. "I'm not freaking laughing, Calc! Besides... A in Maths? The only maths I know are the ones I've learnt on the mob and I don't know too much else! What if the math teacher asks me to multiply seven by infinity..."
"Man, you can't multiply by infinity," Calc replies, still laughing. "Infinity has an unknown quantity of digits. The answer will be undefined in every case..."
"And this transcript has an unknown quantity of stuff I don't know... a fucking A in Chemistry? Do you want to know how many elements I know from the Periodic Table?"
"Well, there's hydrogen, the first one, then you have--"
"I didn't ask for you to tell me the elements, man..." Calc is still laughing. "And why are you laughing? This is serious!"
"Aw, man, sorry..." Calc turns around and grabs a pen from his desk. "I loved that spelling bee joke."
"Wait... do they really smell like shit, don't they?"
"I don't know, I've never been into one..." Calc's smile slowly goes away while trying to hold his laugh. "Well, look, don't say anything about them... even if you don't know how to explain the things you've learnt... just simulate!"
"Simulate!" W chuckles. "Yes... yes... what if Mr Johnson from Accountancy asks me to do a balance sheet for a company... do I have to simulate?"
"Man, come on!" Calc stretches his arms. "You will never do that on Accountancy, it's a subject where you learn, not a job... look... um..." he touches his face. "There's something else about those transcripts... something important."
W, still shocked, raises an eyebrow. "What?"
"You have to do something else before you go... see those empty spots in the upper part of the transcript?" He points at a blank space in one of the papers. "I've already written the name for you, but you have to fill in your address, date of birth, postal code and ID. You'll have to invent all of that with a pen..."
W scratches his hair for a second and nods his head while biting his lips. Then he chuckles. "Aw, man... you invented the marks... but you didn't invent this? An address?"
Calc bites his lips. "Man, I thought it would be better for you... a good mark is always better than a bad one... sorry."
W, after hearing that, takes a small breath. "Well... it's done. OK..." he scratches his neck. "Can I do this here?"
"Sure, no problem, I'll give you the pen," Calc replies while nodding his head, before making a small jump and grabbing one of the transcripts from the bag. "Oh, I forgot."
W raises an eyebrow. "What? You put me an A in PE?" he asks, while Calculated Risk shows him the transcript he's just grabbed.
"No, I have to show you this." He points at a sign on the right side, which has a black stamp on it:
"MAYOR MARE. PRINCIPAL OF EVERTON HIGH SCHOOL - EDUCATIONAL SUPERVISOR."
"This sign is the most important thing on this transcript. It's the thing that will make everyone believe this is veridical."
W grabs the transcript to look at the sign with more detail. "And... wait... you, you did fake this? The sign?"
Calc makes a small grin while nodding. "Yeah, I did. I also had to fake the stamp... I made it like twenty minutes ago, so the ink it's still fresh. Try not to touch it so much."
W chuckles. "Well, at least you have the talent, I've got to admit..." He laughs and approaches Calc's desk to start filling in the transcripts' blank spaces.