Waters: Part 2 - Dark May

Chapters

This is an Event
Prologue: Magical Bags, Mr. Plegovich
Chapter 1: We Need You!
Chapter 2: The Liar
Chapter 3: The New Kid
Chapter 4: Are you Sure you want to do This?
Chapter 5: Magic!
Chapter 6: A Secret...
Chapter 7: Get Out Of...
Chapter 8: The Train
Chapter 9: A New World (Part 1)
Chapter 10: A New World (Part 2)
Chapter 11: The Truth
SOMETHING IN THE WAY...
Chapter 12: Information
Chapter 13: Blaleys, Dragons and Birds
Chapter 14: Straight Outta Ponyville (Part 1)
Chapter 15: Straight Outta Ponyville (Part 2)
Chapter 15.5: Minerva
Chapter 16: Pendants
Chapter 16.5: Guess Who Arrived...
Chapter 17: The Battle of Saik City
Chapter 18: Reencounter
Chapter 19: Revenge
Chapter 20: A Duel in La Lima
Chapter 21: Canterlot's Rage
Chapter 22: Dead?
Chapter 23: For Whom the Bullets Go? (Part 1)
Chapter 24: For Whom the Bullets Go? (Part 2)
Chapter 25: The Ambush of Manehattan
Chapter 26: Coming Back Home

This is an Event

Good Morning.
My name is Discord, and this is an Event.

This is not like the previous story. This is not Waters vs Blueblood.
This is Waters vs the World. Waters vs a God.

What I'm trying to say with this?

This story will be more destructive. More violent. A lot darker. Yep, I said it. It would be much, much darker than the previous one.

And besides, there is also another thing that is different from Waters: Part 1: MAGIC.

Yep, it includes magic too.

And there's another word, a keyword: CHANGES.

Everyone will change because this is an event.
The ultimate event.

Welcome to Waters: Part 2.

Prologue: Magical Bags, Mr. Plegovich

Author's Note

THIS PROLOGUE IS BETWEEN TWO CHAPTERS OF Waters: Part 1.

THIS HAPPENS BEFORE WATERS' Epilogue AND AFTER THE FINAL CHAPTER: The Canterlot High War (Part 3)

Prologue: Magical Bags, Mr. Plegovich

October 20th

Butter Valley

Sergei has just left one of Plegovich's Mansions. He will kill Blueblood because his boss, Mr. Plegovich, ordered him to do that.

Now, Mr. Nicholas Plegovich, the man who can control anything he wants in Equestria, is just looking at the sky through his window. He is now in a big living room, with a TV, a table and a box filled with cigars. Golden cigars.
He grabs one of them and lights it. He goes downstairs and enters his room, which only has a bed, a TV, a record player, and books. Lots of books. He opens one of them, which was on the floor, and gets out a small picture. In the photo, there is an old, red-skinned man sitting next to a young woman and three children.

"Family," whispers Plegovich. "I'll do it, father. I'll do it."

Suddenly, he hears a car stopping outside the mansion. He runs away from the room and opens the entrance door. He looks at three men carrying big bags filled with a strange powder. The boss smiles.

"I knew it," he says. "I knew you would do it!"

"Watch out, sir," says one of the men. A young, skinny, brown-haired, beige-skinned kid with a robotic right arm. He is Doom Kid, one of Plegovich's henchmen. "This is pure magic. I don't know how that Verminium guy turned magic into powder."

"Rumour has it he was so powerful he turned his magic into powder and left it in the Everfree Forest," says a lime-skinned man with a tuxedo and trainers. He is the infamous Gail Garry, a bounty hunter who turned into one of Plegovich's best friends. "Do you know what did we have to do to get these bags?"

"Yeah," says another man with a military uniform and sunglasses. He is Grigori Kobolov, a man who used to work for Equestria's army as a soldier, but met Plegovich one day and left Equestria for the mafia. His military uniform has a small tag that says: Lt. Kobolov. Equestria's Army. 2002.

These men, Kobolov, Garry, and Doom Kid, left the human world a year ago and entered the pony world to look for Verminium's magical bags. According to Equestria's old story, Verminium was a tyrant who ruled Equestria before the existence of Princess Celestia and Luna. He was so evil that he is often called The Devil in Equestrian History books. When Celestia and Luna defeated him thousands of years ago, he was sent to a lonely island in the human world and was trapped inside a statue that is inside a secure dungeon. No one knows where is this island, and plenty of people say it doesn't even exist.

However, before being defeated by Celestia and Luna, Verminium, who was a unicorn, cut his own horn and destroyed it until he turned it into just dust. Then, he put all his destroyed horn in magical bags and left them in the middle of the Everfree Forest.

"What did you have to do?" says Plegovich.

"We had to stay in a land called Ponyville for a few months," says Garry. "Then, we entered Everfree Forest. We were a long time there... it was a big place, and we have to fight to a zebra who was very annoying because every time she talked she rhymed... we were like... what the fuck? Dr. Seuss is here!"

Kobolov and Doom Kid start laughing uncontrollably. "And then..." says Doom Kid. "She told us these bags contained Verminium's destroyed horn, and it would be dangerous to use it and it was protected by princesses, blah blah blah... we almost killed her, you know? She told us so many times those bags were protected by that stupid monarchy from the pony world that we beat her up and stole the bags. Now, sir, you must take a look at this."

Doom Kid opens one of the bags and Plegovich looks at the powder. It has a light blue colour and shines a lot. "Oh my," says Plegovich. "This is truly beautiful... You are the best."

"And what do you want to do, sir?" asks Kobolov. Plegovich chuckles.

"We will go down in history, my sons... For the first time in history, we will mix... mafia and magic. For the first time in history, we will be...supergangsters. I will do what my dad wanted all his life."

Chapter 1: We Need You!

November 20th

A month has passed since the Fall Formal.
W and Trixie are going out, but they don't consider themselves as a couple.
Jack and Abe are still on their worlds, although Jacky hasn't asked Celestia to go out yet.
Ron is back in his work.
However, the gangsters have not entered Canterlot High again since the Fall Formal's night. All of them are living in Los Mantos now.
Today, W is near the Canterlot Mall, waiting for Trixie.

Meanwhile, at Butter Valley, on one of Plegovich's mansions, Lucas, Plegovich's nephew, and his uncle are having a conversation.

"I am tired," says Lucas. "You told me lots of times Pietro must be avenged, and you are not doing anything."

"Calm down," answers his uncle, while drinking a cup of tea and sitting in his living room's sofa to watch the TV. "Intelligent plans need a lot of time to be made."

"The only thing we have to do is to kill him, uncle! His partners won't bite our ass because we are their bosses!"

"Lucas... please. You know I don't want to kill him. He is sacred. Important. If I have him under my sleeve, everything will be a lot better."

"HE KILLED YOUR NEPHEW, UNCLE!"

Plegovich gets up from the sofa and draws a revolver. "What is that way of talking to me?" Lucas does not answer and takes a breath. "Your father educated you like assholes... I should have raised you from the beginning... your brother wouldn't have died if he hadn't been so arrogant and selfish."

Lucas doesn't say anything and goes away. Plegovich sits again on the sofa and whispers: "вот почему я убил своего брата," and grabs his phone. He starts looking for a name. The name.

W and Trixie are now hanging out at the Sweet Shoppe. Trixie ordered chocolate milkshake but W didn't want anything.

"Are you sure?" asks Trixie. "Don't you want anything?"

"No, it's OK."

"Are you still mad about...?"

W chuckles. "No, calm down... We can see each other though."

"Yes, but Everton University told Trixie if she wants to be a lawyer, she had to move to London to study."

"Yeah..." says W. "It is far from Canterlot."

"Far away," she answers. "That's the problem."

"It surprised me a lot," says W., "I thought you were going to study Equestrian Magic at Manehattan University."

"Well, Trixie has been interested in being a lawyer since she was a little girl," she answers. "And I am also interested in you too," she says, laughing.

"I knew it."

W and Trixie look to the person who has just talked. Rarity appears with a smile on her mouth. Behind her, Pinkie Pie is looking at them while laughing.

"Hi, Rarity... What?" asks W.

"I knew you were dating Trixie, darling!"

"Oh, come on!" says W. "What are you doing here?"

"We were just going to have lunch after school... and look at this! The first time I look at W since the Fall Formal, and he is... oh wow! Marvellous!"

Pinkie Pie suddenly jumps and lands in the table. "This is awesome, cute, kind, funny! I never knew you were together! Oh my! OH MY! I will write a fanfic about this on FIMFiction!"

"Ok, ok!" shouts W. "Will you leave us alone?"

"Oh yes! Oh yes!" shouts Pinkie Pie. "I've been waiting for this! Rarity, now it is the moment when the boyfriend wants to defend his girlfriend by getting up from his sit and saying Leave us!"

Suddenly, W's phone starts ringing. "Girls, girls," says W. "Please... besides, someone is calling me now. I need to answer the call."

Rarity grabs Pinkie Pie and moves her to another table. She greets him and also goes away W answers the call while Trixie is looking at him. "Hello?" he says.

"Hello there."

W recognizes the voice. A raspy, old voice with a weird accent. He thinks he is Plegovich but that voice looks like it comes from a younger mouth. "Um... Who am I talking to?"

"You don't recognize me, son?"

"Oh," says W, scared. "You."

"I am not a you, Bedmaker. I am Nicholas Plegovich."

"Yes, yes. I do recognize you, mister. Why are you... calling me?"

"Why? Are you busy?"

W looks at Trixie for a moment. He can't say no. He just can't do it, even if it's Trixie. "No."

"Oh... I thought you were. Well, if you aren't busy then... you can meet your future partners. Do you know what I mean? You will know Doom Kid, Garry, Kobolov... you will also meet Lucas, who hates you because you killed his brother but well... ha, ha. Both of us know Pietro was an asshole."

W takes a sigh of relief while holding the phone. "Um, look..."

"What?"

"Sorry if I haven't answered you since you gave me that letter but... You know I am working with another guy... with Ron. I can't work with both of you because that would be stressful and a mess for my life and I just can't... leavee Ron. He saved my life from misery." Plegovich does not answer now. "If you want..." says W. "Call me if you need help."

"Sure," says Plegovich. "Such a pity... but well, you are right. You can't leave Ron. You are right, you know that?"

"Mm-hmm."

"I should end the call now. увидимся, W."

"Um... bye?"

"Yes, bye."

Plegovich ends the call and W slowly leaves his phone on the table. "What happened?" asks Trixie.

"I... rejected a job offer," says W. "I am already working for Ron."

"Ron? The guy from the car store?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure that guy is only a car store owner? Trixie thinks he is something else."

W chuckles and grabs Trixie's hand. "No, Trix... he is only a stupid car store owner that saved my life."

"No."

"No?"

Plegovich and Sergei are now in the mansion's kitchen. It is big and it has a cooker, two sinks, two fridges, a dishwasher and a small table. Both men are talking next to the table.

"Why did he say no?" asks Sergei, confused.

"He is with Ron. He is being very loyal to him."

"Oh," says Sergei. "Yeah, you are right. He is Ron's Sergei."

"Yeah," says Plegovich, while grabbing a kitchen knife. "That fucking sucks."

"Why?"

"I need him."

"You want to kill him with your bare hands?"

"Nah... that doesn't matter. He is fresh meat, Sergei. Look at gangsters nowadays... They are all old pieces of crap except for Lucas and him. I am almost 45 years old, but I feel like I am a hundred-year-old man. If we have both Lucas and him... My plan will be perfect."

"Your father's plan?"

"My father's plan."

"But first, you will have to get Ron out of this. How would you do it?"

Plegovich stabs the knife in the table and leaves it there. "In that way, Sergei."

"Nah... sir," says Sergei, smiling. "That is not a Plegovich way to get rid of someone."

"I know," says Plegovich. "But we have to be quick."

"How about... the other way?"

"What?"

"A way where you would kill Ron, break W's feelings and assure he would be on your side."

Sergei now has Plegovich's attention. "What are you trying to tell me?"

"Sir," says Sergei while approaching his boss. "Do you remember Wade Waters?"

Meanwhile, in another mansion of Plegovich, Doom Kid, Garry and Kobolov are experimenting with Verminium's magic.

They are making small pills filled with magical powder, turning this into a drug that looks like a power-up. Doom Kid called this drug Harmony, because of the Elements of Harmony.

Minutes later, there are three pills on a small table. The three of them have to take the pill and see what happens.

"Are you sure?" says Doom Kid. "Is this safe in the first place?"

"I agree," says Garry. "A pill filled with magic will go through our throats and will end up in our stomach."

"Guys," says Kobolov. "I ate magic a long time ago, in the army. Everything's gonna be all right."

Kobolov then grabs the pill and swallows it. Garry and Doom Kid are now scared. "What are you feeling right now?" asks Garry. "Are you OK?"

Kobolov takes off his sunglasses and leaves them on a table. "Wow," he says. "I feel my whole stomach freezing. Goosebumps... goosebumps..."

The general vomits once on the floor. His other two partners try to run away but suddenly, Kobolov looks at his sunglasses and finds out they moved a little bit when he looked at them. He takes a long breath, cleans his mouth, stretches his hand and the sunglasses slowly move to the right. He raises his arm and realizes the sunglasses are slowly levitating.

"No fucking way," says Doom Kid. "This is fucking awesome." And then he takes the pill. Garry does the same. A minute later, Garry finds out he is walking a lot faster than before. He runs outside and returns to the room in only half a second. He is faster... a lot faster. Doom Kid, in a way to find out what did the pill do with him, smashes his fist against the table... breaking it in half. Doom Kid has super force now. The three of them start celebrating, but then, half an hour later, realize the pill's effect is limited, so they should need to make more and more pills to have those powers.

"Despite the effect is limited," says Doom Kid. "This is awesome... I broke a fucking table in half. Holy shit. I just can't believe this... Shit! This is awesome! HISTORICAL!"

Butter Valley.

Grey Footprints is at his house, alone. He is just taking a long breath while looking at a window. His room is empty, except for a small cupboard and sheets of papers on the floor. Lots of them. He is just relaxing when he looks at a mysterious shadow that appears behind him. He slowly turns around and looks at a man who knows.

"Did you miss me?" asks Plegovich while looking at him.

Grey Footprints tries to run away but falls to the floor while punching himself. His right pupil shrinks while he is trying to shout something: "Y---Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Yo-Yo-Yo-Yo-Yo-Yo-YOUOUOUYOUYOUYOUYOUYOUYOUYOUYOUYOUYOUYOUYOU! ARRGH!"

"Yep, you missed me, Grey Blackle. We need you."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Chapter 2: The Liar

"Did you miss me, Grey?"

"W-What? WHAT?!"

"I missed you, big boy. I need you in my hands again."

"N-Noooooo!"

"You will, Grey! That's why I am slowly turning you into a madman again!"

November 21st. Canterlot's Sweet Shoppe.

After a long time, Jack, Abe and even Ron are back in Canterlot. They are hanging out with W, who told them what happened yesterday. Ron is using sunglasses instead of a patch. "Yup," says Jack. "He truly wants you."

"I won't leave Ron because someone told me to do that," says W. "I am being very loyal to you, to be honest."

"I don't know," says Abe, worried. "Shall he accept, Ron?"

Ron shakes his head. "Why? It is not necessary. He is with me. He is under my sleeve. Why would he go for him?" he says, and then Ron touches W's shoulder: "Oh... and W, to be honest... you truly made me proud in this, W. You rejected him for me."

"That may be bad, Ron," says W. "I am scared."

"Don't be afraid," says Ron, while laughing, and then he whispers: "We already defeated Blueblood. We can put up with Plegovich."

"Sure?" says Jack.

"More than sure," answers Ron.

Canterlot High. The Mane 7 and Spike are just spending their time on the courtyard. Twilight is reading a book, while Fluttershy is playing with Angel, his bunny, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Sunset Shimmer are playing a card game and Rainbow Dash is playing football with Spike.

Another man is looking at them. He is in front of Canterlot High, sitting on a bench while smoking. He grabs a camera and takes two, three photographs. That man is Gail Garry, Plegovich's worker, and runs away after taking the photos.

La Lima.

There is a small bar on La Lima which people call The Bar with No Name. Gangsters often tell rookies this place is the most dangerous thing on Equestria. Even worse than mythical beasts like Tirek or King Sombra. It is always filled with the worst human beings that can ever exist.

There are six tables and a small bar. I one of those tables, a man is hanging out with a group of friends. A fat, hoary, dirty man. He and his group of friends are drinking beer and insulting everyone they look at.

Someone violently opens the door and everyone draws their guns and point to the man, but they suddenly realize who he is and everyone starts laughing: It is Doom Kid, without his robotic arm and just showing his stump. The fat man wakes up and shouts: "WELCOME BACK, ROBO-BITCH!"

Everyone starts laughing again, but suddenly Doom Kid touches the fat man's table. "I came back for a rematch, asshole!."

Now, everyone is silent. The fat man gets up from his chair and looks at Doom Kid: "Hey, this time I'm serious. Go away, or I'll fucking turn you into a mop and clean your blood with your scalp."

"I'm also serious this time," says Doom Kid. "I want a rematch now."

Everyone gets up and starts cheering the fat man's name. Both Doom Kid and his opponent get out of the bar and walk to Main Street. The barman grabs a bell and also goes outside, along with the clients. Once everyone stays outside, the barman rings the bell.

Doom Kid is now confident. He runs to his opponent, strangles him, grabs his head and... Crack. A second later, Main Street is now a blood lake. Doom Kid's left arm is now red while holding the fat man's decapitated head, along with his spine. The young man shows everybody what he had done and shuts everybody up. Then, he grabs the spine and starts kicking the head like a football, but realizes it is not like a normal ball and leaves the head on the floor, going away from La Lima.

Nobody speaks now. Doom Kid turns around and looks at everyone. He raises his arm and touches his face with it. "Boys... it's time to worship the new champ..."

All in all, Doom Kid won and perfectly controlled his new powers.

Now, W is heading to Trixie's house. He called her a time ago and said he was finally able to watch a movie with her. She wanted to watch Modern Times with him, and he agreed to do it. There is another important thing here: Trixie's aunt gave her his old house a long time ago when she found out about her sister's death because of Plegovich's hands.

Once he arrives at Trixie's house, he finds out the door is open. He draws a small pistol he had on his pocket and enters the house. Suddenly, he looks at Plegovich drinking a glass of water while looking at the TV in the living room, which is the entrance room at Trixie's house.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" shouts W while pointing at him with the gun. Plegovich does not even flinch and keeps watching the TV. "Where is Trixie? If you touched her, I swear..."

"You mean... the lady who owns this small house?" says Plegovich. "She went to a small kiosk. I don't know why."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, W... she let me in. I told her my name was Jakob Polomare, and I was looking for you... I also came here with Polomare sunglasses and a moustache!" Then, Plegovich wakes up and shows W his sunglasses and fake moustache.

"What do you want?" asks the young man.

"Wel... you are a lucky man, W. Sit down, next to me."

There are two couches in front of the TV. A blue couch and another one which is brown. The blue couch is Trixie's and the brown is W's. Plegovich is now sitting in Trixie's couch.

W now sits down on his couch. "What are you trying to say?" he asks.

"I mean, W," answers Plegovich. "Trixie is cute. She's pretty. I've got to admit that the way she talks is a little bit annoying but you can get used to it... you are lucky, kid. Well, you have a dangerous job but at least you earn lots of things from it. You earn respect, money, and power... Now, take a look at yourself, W. You are young, handsome, strong... you have a cute girl next to you... but suddenly, there is something into your world filled with rainbows. A dark stain. Pain."

"What?"

Plegovich looks for something in his pocket. He gets out an old photograph. There are three men on it: A younger Nicholas Plegovich without his swan tattoo on his neck, a light blue-skinned man with black hair, and a familiar man... a blue-skinned man with orange hair and a chin beard. W recognizes the last man... It's his father, Wade Waters. "I think this was 1992... or 1993. I don't remember... that guy from the left is me, the one in the right is my brother, Montreal. The one in the middle... is your father."

"I know."

"Wade and I were big friends during the nineties, I was only a crazy guy who controlled Manehattan, while your father was the infamous Mantos' Hero! Well, and when that day happened... 1995. Wayneville. The infamous Bitch..."

"The Bitch..." whispers W. "Fifteen years of my life trying to find him, but sadly he never appeared."

W gets up from the couch and goes for a glass of water. "What if..." says Plegovich. "The Bitch was a man you talk to every single day of your life?"

The young gangster stops walking and stays in that place for five seconds. Then, he turns around and looks at Plegovich. "You know... a guy told me anyone who worked with him would have murdered him and my mother..."

"Yup," says Plegovich. "Do you know that your father was not the only one who controlled Los Mantos during that time? He had an assistant."

"Who?"

"Guess who... someone you knew since you were a child. The one who saved your life..."

W now thinks... "Ron?" he says. "It's impossible. Ron would never do that."

"You never knew Ron in the nineties. Tell me, when did you know that Blueblood was the one who was sent by the Bitch to kill your parents?"

"Uh..." W struggles. "Um... a month ago."

"A MONTH AGO?" shouts Plegovich, while getting up from the small couch. "The last time I saw you, W, you were a little, little child. You were with Ron at that moment... and that was 15 years ago. Did he hide this for 15 years?" W doesn't answer now and Plegovich takes advantage, approaching him. "You see, my man... he is a liar. He hid it from you because he knew he was lying! Besides... do you know your father had an assistant while controlling Los Mantos? An old friend he knew in Benvenuto, the old 70's gang... his name was Ron Delight... and he was the one who murdered your father and your mother to obtain what he wanted all this time... Los Mantos City."

"I... I... s-still don't believe it..." says W, while sweating.

"Believe, W!" shouts Plegovich.

"How can I trust you?" he asks while turning around and looking at Plegovich's face.

"I am saying the truth, my kid..."

"And how can I FUCKING TRUST YOU?!" he shouts while grabbing Plegovich's wine-coloured jacket.

"You want more?" says Plegovich. "In 1994... a friend of mine, Mr Alexei Ushin, founder of my gang with my brother and me, talked to your father about Los Mantos... it's not necessary to say Ushin wanted to negotiate, he wanted the city, and suddenly, Ron shouted... he said "No, it's ours! It's Wade's! It's mine!"... Ushin, who may rest in peace, found out... Ron wanted Los Mantos for him, not for your father."

"I still..."

"Ushin talked to Ron later that day... and he confessed, but didn't tell anyone except for me and my brother because... he was murdered by Ron... and that motherfucker threatened us. He sent us a letter." Plegovich touches W's shoulder and hugs him. "It's hard to digest this but... if you join my gang, we will take revenge together and we will avenge Ushin and your parents."

W now feels he has lumps on his throat, about to cry: "This is impossible."

"It's real, my kid," says Plegovich. "I also have that letter for you."

Plegovich grabs a small, dirty, sheet of paper. W slowly grabs the paper and reads the first words:

"You two won't say a damn thing about the Mantos problem and Ushin..."

"No," he says while giving the letter to Plegovich. "It can't be him."

"Wanna see another thing?" says Plegovich. "This was sent to me... your father wrote it."

Plegovich gets out another letter from his pocket. W opens it and reads it.

"March 25th, 1995.

Plegovich:

I seriously need your help now. Half of my workers are only thinking about bringing me down... My kid Walter was born a month ago and since then things got worse. Ron Delight, my great friend... he is also on the other side. He wants the city. He wants to bring me down. I am thinking about moving to Wayneville with Wanda and the kids but please... I need someone to cover me for a while.

Nobody trusts in me, neither Gordo, Cosmos nor Ashton. Seductive ignored me, and you are the only one left..."

W recognizes his father's handwriting because of that card he found in Ron's house months ago and also because he came across letters or diaries who were written by him. It is clearly his father's handwriting. He recognizes it, and stops reading the card. However, he says another thing: "No. You are lying. He didn't do it."

"It is him! You only have to understand, W... you are now shocked, it's something common in human behaviour, but you will understand in a couple of minutes."

"But this is not possible, Plegovich! RON WAS A FRIEND OF MY FATHER! HE WOULD NEVER HAVE DONE THAT!" says W while getting up from the couch.

"Which is the main rule of being a gangster, W?" says Plegovich.

"NO!"

"Say it!"

"It can't be! He is not the Bitch!"

"SAY IT, WATERS!" shouts Plegovich, angrily. "BOTH OF US KNOW WHICH IS THE MAIN, FIRST RULE OF BEING A GANGSTER!"

W sits on the couch again and looks at the floor. "The only thing... that you should take care about... is yourself and just yourself."

"See?" says Plegovich. "You know gangsters are not so reliable... even Ron. Everyone has two sides."

W just looks at Plegovich in the face while trying not to cry, then, he gets up from the couch and leaves the house. A minute later, Trixie arrives with a small bag and asks Plegovich if W arrived. The man puts his sunglasses and fake moustache. "Yes, dear," says Plegovich. "But he walked away, he may be thinking about it."

Plegovich, dressed as Jakob Polomare, gets up from the blue couch and touches Trixie's shoulder. "ты вырос," he says.

"Excuse me?"

"I just wanted to say goodbye in a foreign language," he answers, smiling, and leaves Trixie's house.

A day after Plegovich's appearance on Grey Footprints' House.

We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you... We need you...

Shivers go down Grey Footprints' spine while trying to work. His right pupil starts shrinking again. Suddenly, he throws everything that is on his working table and falls from his chair. He tries to get Plegovich out of his mind, along with his repetitive words but he can't. Plegovich was right... He is slowly possessing him, turning him into Grey Blackle.

Jack is in his old apartment, lighting a cigarette and reading a book when his phone starts ringing. Then he realizes is W the one who calls.

"W? What happened?"

*gasping*

"What happened, W? Are you OK?"

"Have... *gasp* have you ever heard of a guy called... *gasp* Alexei Ushin?"

"Ushin?" says Jack, he tries to remember that name... but instantly recognizes it might be related to Plegovich. "Um... Yes. I think he was a guy who worked with Plegovich... Ron knew him."

"Ron?"

"Yeah, Ron... are you OK?"

"Yes, did he tell you... what happened with him?"

"Um... what's the matter?"

"Just say yes or no."

"Um... no. I think he was murdered but we never knew who killed him... if he was killed. Please, could you tell me what's happening?"

"Ushin... Ron... no way... this is impossible... that's it."

"That's it what?"

"He told me... Please, tell me this is a fucking lie, please..."

"What, W? "Who told you what?"

"He told me Ron wanted to betray my father in the '90s... please, don't tell me Ron was a betrayer!"

"What?" says Jack, while shivers go down his spine. "No! W-Why... Why would he do that?"

W gasps... "Did... Did you struggle?"

"No, W! Just tell me what the hell is happening! How do you know the Ushin thing? And no, Ron never betrayed your father!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Ensure it, Jack! ARE YOU SURE?"

"YES!"

"You are talking to the kid you raised! You watched me growing up! We were like father and son...! Tell me the truth... Do you swear by Susan you are telling me the truth?"

"Susan?" says Jack. He knows that when W says his late wife's name seriously is something that cannot be a joke. "I swear... I-I swear..."

"Are you sure?"

Jack closes his eyes while sighing. "Look... Ron did betray your father, but it was between 1994 and 1995... when your father couldn't handle with the city. He did it, and he strongly regrets doing it."

W doesn't answer. He sighs and looks like he is cleaning his face. "Jack... This is a pipebomb but... Plegovich told me everything. I quit."

"WHAT? Why? What did Plego---?"

W unexpectedly ends the call. Jack looks at his phone while thinking W's last words: Plegovich told me everything. Everyone knows Plegovich is a smart man, an incredible mastermind, a talented liar. What is Plegovich doing with him? What kind of game is playing with W? Jack tries to call him again but doesn't answer. Then, he desperately calls Ron.

"Yes?" answers the Pirate.

"We have a problem."

"Um... what kind of problem?"

"Plegovich."

Chapter 3: The New Kid

November 21st. Night

W and Trixie are hanging out together while watching a movie, but W is not even focused on the movie nor her... He feels strange, confused... he doesn't want to believe Plegovich's words, but every time he thinks about them he feels they are the plain truth.

"Are you OK?" asks Trixie while looking at W. He just shakes his head.

"No," he answers. "But don't care about that. I wanna know what happens with Daring Do."

"Waltie..." she says. "You know I can talk to me to solve your problems."

"This is different, Trix," he answers. "It's not an everyday problem. I haven't lost cash or a photograph or something like that... this is something you wouldn't understand."

"Why?"

"It is complex," he says. "Besides, I don't want you to be in my situation. I just... want you far away from that problem."

"But why? Can you tell Trixie what happened?"

W sighs and he wraps her whole body with his arm. "I have two things to choose... and I don't trust anyone of them... I think both sides are playing with my mind, messing with me..."

"Oh," she says. "Maybe I should help you with those things..."

"No," says W, while touching her hair. "I don't want them to touch you, because... you know, you are the only person in the world who I can talk with no problems. My parents died, my brother was murdered a month ago... my grandpa moved to somewhere else and he didn't even tell me... and the only thing I have... is you. If I lose you... I don't know what would I do."

"Don't worry," says Trixie, while kissing W's cheek and hugging him. "The Great and Powerful Trixie will be always with you."

W smiles while a tear comes out from one of his eyes. "Thank you, Trix."

"You are welcome, Waltie," she says. "And remember, you have to listen to your heart. What you truly want."

To your heart, she said. To your heart. He knows what his heart is shouting: REVENGE. He always wanted to take revenge on the Bitch, on his parents' murderer... the recent discovery of Ron's betrayal... he wants all of this to stop... Is Plegovich the key to the door?

November 22nd. Morning. Trixie's House.

W stayed the whole night on Trixie's house but couldn't even sleep. Her room is upstairs while the living room is downstairs, so W leaves Trixie's room by going downstairs and grabs his trenchcoat, but suddenly... he thinks about something. Revenge. Betrayal. His heart. Trixie's words. Then, he grabs his phone and calls someone.

"W?"

"Hi, Mr Plegovich."

"Oh my... now you are calling me MISTER Plegovich. May I know why are you calling now?"

"Listen... I don't know why am I doing this but... I listened to my heart and it shouts Revenge. I truly want to know the truth."

"I told you the truth, W."

"I just can't believe it. I don't think Ron would do that but... everything is connected."

"Because it's true, W! The Pirate killed your parents, my son." A long silence appears in the middle. "You wanna see me now, right?"

"Um... well... I don't know... yeah."

"Sure! Why don't you go to Manehattan right now? I'm there."

"Manehattan?" says W. "Now? It's 7 A.M. Trixie is sleeping."

"Oh... did you have fun tonight, kid?"

W chuckles. "Um... no. I was under the weather. I did not even sleep."

"Oh, such a pity..."

"Um... Plegovich, can I tell you something?"

"Sure, kid! I'm all ears."

"Please... Trixie doesn't know anything about this. Just... don't tell her anything about my situation. I explained to her yesterday about my problems but she doesn't know that I am inside this."

"Alright then! Now... come to Manehattan, I'm truly anxious to introduce to you my henchmen... you are officially the NEW KID of my gang!"

"Sure," says W. "I'll go. I'll wait for the next bus."

"Wait! Wait!"

"What?"

"I'll call Sergei. He will pick you up."

"No, it's OK..."

"No, no! It's not OK! My new kid needs a driver to go to Manehattan! Say goodbye to buses, trains and all that shit!"

"But..."

"No is no, W! My new kid needs a driver, even if he doesn't want to!"

"Um... OK."

Suddenly, W hears that someone is knocking at the door.

"Oh! I forgot! I've sent a special man for you minutes ago! Did he arrive?"

"Sergei?"

"No, no... another man."

W checks his pocket. He is scared. He has a gun. He slowly gets up while holding the phone and opens the door. Outside, a lime-skinned man with a white plain t-shirt, jeans and trainers, is waiting for him. "Hey, man!" says the visitor.

"Um... who is him?"

"He is Gail Garry, W. He is one of my henchmen... I'd love to see both of you meeting for the first time right now!"

"Uh..." says Garry. "Is the boss talking to you?"

"Yes."

"Ok... Can I pass? We'll wait for Sergei."

"Um..."

Garry disappears from where he is standing and a second later he is sitting on one of the couches. He has already turned on the TV. "Woah!" he says. "Were you watching Daring Do? I like those movies!" W is shocked. He wants to know how he teleported himself.

"Um... Plegovich?" asks W.

"Call me Sir, son."

"Sir... how does he walk so fast?"

"Oh... I can't answer to that, W. Sorry. You will know later... well, I have to go."

"But..."

Plegovich ends the call and W slowly approaches Garry but the man stops him: "Hey!" he says. "Did you watch the part where she fights with Dr Caballeron?"

"No," he answers. "I don't like Daring Do movies."

"And why are you watching one, then?"

"My girlfriend likes them."

Garry now looks at W, shocked. "Your girlfriend?" he says. "You are a gangster and you have a girlfriend? Are you serious?"

"Well, actually, it's not my girlfriend... we just hang out."

"Oh... a girl in your pocket," says Garry. "You are lucky, I haven't had a girlfriend for almost a year. I spent every minute of my life doing my work."

"Wait..." says W. "I know you."

Garry chuckles. "Of course... I have my name chiselled on the stone."

"Yeah...Gail Garry... you are the Bounty Hunter of Saik City."

"You, sir, are correct."

GAIL GARRY

"The Bounty Hunter of Saik City"

He was born on Saik, a small city which is the northernmost city of Equestria, located between the final steps of Magnus' Desert and the Atlantic Ocean.
His first victim as a bounty hunter was a lawyer who worked for the Orange family in Manehattan.
He met Plegovich 5 years ago and both of them became great friends.

"Haha..." says W. "You are like an Equestrian King Schultz."

"More than a King Schultz... a real bounty hunter."

"Um... and tell me... how's Plegovich in the gang? Is he...?"

"You will know soon," answers Garry. "Now we must wait for Sergei to come."

"Sergei?" asks a feminine voice behind them. A tired Trixie with pyjamas appears and looks at both men. "Um... who are you?"

"Is she?" asks Garry. W nods his head and the Bounty Hunter gets up. "Good morning, mademoiselle. My name is Garry, and I'll be your boyfriend's future partner."

"Partner of what?" asks Trixie.

"Of my new job," says W, interrupting Garry. "I've finally decided what to do... listen to my heart."

Garry chuckles while Trixie smiles at W, but suddenly, they hear a car stopping in front of the house and someone knocking the door.

"Pizza delivery," says the man who knocks. He has a low, heavy voice with a foreign accent.

"Sergei!" says Garry. "I know you are outside."

"Open the door, then."

"Wait," says Trixie. "I will open the door for him."

"No, no," says W. "I will, Trix... he will take me to my new workplace. Bye."

"By car?" she asks.

"Of course!" says Garry. "Our new employer must be treated like a king now."

Trixie laughs and kisses W's left cheek. "Good luck, Waltie. See you soon."

"See you soon, babe," answers W. Garry chuckles and leaves the house along with W and Sergei. The three of them get inside a long black car. W is the only one who is in the backseat.

"Nice girl, dude," says Garry. "Nice face, ass and cheeks."

"Don't talk about her like that," says W, angrily. "I'll fuck your face."

Garry laughs. "Sure? I can beat you up with my speed."

"WAIT!" shouts W. "How can you run like that?"

Garry raises his shoulders while laughing. "Magic." Sergei punches Garry's shoulder. "Ow!"

"Mr Plegovich doesn't want you to know about Garry's powers. Although he likes you and treats you like a king, you are still a rookie."

W decides to shut his mouth while everyone is in silence. An awkward situation.

Sombra Jail

"What are you doing here, in the first place? You've been looking at me for a minute without saying anything."

Gordo, who is now an inmate, and Ron are looking at each other while being in the lunchroom. "I have problems," says Ron.

"What kind of problem, Ron? Your problems are always stupid things with easy solutions."

"Ok, if you say... Is Plegovich an easy problem for you?"

"Oh," says Gordo while laughing. "Having problems with the capo?"

"He is messing with my people."

"What do you mean?" says the fat man while smiling.

"He is brainwashing W, and I don't know why. Maybe he may want revenge because of Pietro, but I know Plegovich won't avenge Pietro because he had an attitude that he didn't like. So... I just don't know why is he doing it."

"Brainwashing?"

"Yeah... he told him I betrayed and killed Wade and Wanda..."

"Well..." says Gordo. "You did betray Wade, but all of us know you didn't kill him."

"Yes..." says Ron, facepalming. "I was a fucking idiot... I betrayed my friend, stabbed him in the back... and then, when I found out I was wrong... he died... Let's leave this aside, please, because Plegovich mentioned another guy that was important during the '90s... Alexei Ushin."

"Alexei Ushin?" says Gordo. "That name sounds familiar."

"Alexei Ushin was Plegovich's partner... I don't know what happened with him, but Plegovich got rid of Ushin in a way... Now Jack told me W called him yesterday to ask him about Ushin and if I betrayed Wade and Wanda. I don't understand."

"You know what?" says Gordo. "There are two options: He's making a trap for him... or he's making a massive plan and needs W for it."

"Massive plan?" says Ron. "What are you trying to say?"

"Look... W is 24 years old... he is fresh meat. On the other hand, we appear. Greedy old men. I don't have the best body in the world and I am also in jail. You are a one-eyed guy who wears a stupid patch and is almost 50 years old. Your brother... a one-eyed meth cooker. Jack... a 40-year-old widower. Abe... a 60-year-old grandpa. What do you think? Who may be the best option for a new plan made by you? Lots of old men... or a new guy with energy, strength and youth?"

"There are lots of young gangsters in Equestria," says Ron.

"But you know W is the best one."

"I don't understand man... that's why I came here. I thought I could get you out of here to help me..."

Gordo's face shines now. His smile is bigger than his face but disappears when Ron gets up. "Wait, where are you going? Ron! RON! PLEASE, GET ME OUT! GET ME OUT!"

Ron does not answer because he is now lost in his thoughts while leaving jail.

Manehattan. Equestria's National Bank.

"We arrived," says Sergei while looking at the Bank's doors. An enormous, luxurious building that may occupy half of the street block where it was built.

"What?" says W. "The National Bank?"

"Yes," says Garry. "What's the matter?"

"But... it's the National Bank."

"And so?" says Garry while getting out of the car with W. "This is our house too. Don't be stupid... you thought we were going to rob it?"

"No," says W., "I thought it was strange... but is it your house for real?"

"Why don't you go inside with us and find out yourself?"

W, Garry and Sergei enter to the Bank. It is crowded and the workers are too busy while helping clients. There is a small corridor on the bank's left with a door. The three of them go through there, open the door, go downstairs and they are now in a long narrow hall filled with safes. Sergei opens one of the safes and reveals a secret door which leads to a secret room. Inside that small, grey room there are eight safes and four chests. Lt. Kobolov is smoking a cigarette while sitting on a chair inside.

"Oh, hello," says Lieutenant Kobolov while looking at them. "May I know why did you come here?"

"Um..." says W. "Aren't you...?"

"Oh my!" says Kobolov, while standing up. "The Bedmaker in real life! The Blueblood Slayer!"

"What?" says W. "I didn't kill Blueblood. Sergei did."

"Yeah, but you caught him right on time," says Kobolov and stretches his hand. "Lieutenant Grigori Kobolov. I worked in the army and now I work for Plegovich."

"Yes," answers W. "I know you... You are the Soldier."

GRIGORI KOBOLOV

"The Soldier"

He was born on Las Pegasus, and started working for the Equestrian Army in 2002 when he was only 27 years old. He met Plegovich years later and found a new job as Plegovich's worker and a hitman. He earned a nickname... The Soldier.

"Very good!" answers Kobolov. "Someone passed the test."

Everyone laughs and W just smiles while looking at the hidden room. "Oh," says Garry. "Wanna know what is this place?"

"This is one of our safes," says Kobolov. "We thought it was not worth it showing it to you, but you seem to be a reliable gangster, W... and reliable gangsters are not so common nowadays." Kobolov opens one of the safes and gets out from it a thousand dollars. "And these beauties are for you."

"What?" says W. "Why?"

"Because you are the new kid!" says Kobolov. "You deserve them."

"Yeah," says Garry. "I remember when I entered they gave me only two hundred. You should accept them."

"Nobody denies Plegovich's money," says Sergei, while looking at W. The young gangster knows that if he denies those dollars, they will beat him up instantly.

"Sure," he answers and saves the money on one of his trenchcoat's pockets.

"Now," says Garry. "We came for another thing, Kobolov."

"Yeah," he answers while locking the safe. "You wanna know where Plegovich is staying, right? I gave him my apartment on Scorpan Street. We should go there now... he is not patient."

"Well, you are the one who knows," says Garry. "I've never been to your house."

An hour and a half later, everyone is inside Kobolov's small apartment. There are only a kitchen, a bathroom and a small living room where Sergei and Plegovich are staying. Kobolov is just smoking a cigarette in the kitchen while Garry and W are in the bathroom. W is washing his hands and face while Garry is looking at him.

"Aren't you nervous?" says Garry. "You will have your first meeting with the Sovia. It is the gangster's dream."

"Yeah, but..." says W, "I think I am not 100% sure about this."

"Why?" says Garry.

"I don't know, yesterday I was with a gang, today I am with another one. It is a huge jump from one side to another."

Garry laughs. "You know, when I was at my first meeting with Plegovich, I thought the same. Weeks ago I was only a bounty hunter that waited for clients in my hometown, Saik, but then I jumped onto the other side of the cliff. I became... a gangster. A mafia man. A man who works for Plegovich. It was stressful at first, but then you get used to it... trust me."

"Do you think I can walk away?"

"Are you kidding me?" says Garry, laughing. "This whole meeting is because of you, man. You can't go away. You are already here."

Meanwhile, Sergei and Plegovich are talking in the living room.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" says Sergei. "It could be very risky. We don't know how he would react."

"I will tell him, Sergei," answers Plegovich. "Because he is part of my plan."

"If his reaction is not good, what should we do?"

"Um..." answers the boss. "He will have a good reaction, and if he doesn't... we will make him react."

Sombra Jail.

Grey Footprints appears on the jail, being covered by a black hoodie and sunglasses. Gordo, along with Disturbance, one of the Dark Spikes, sit on a table and start talking. Grey Footprints sits on the same table as them.

"Guys," says Grey Footprints. "I can't believe I am doing this but..."

"Yeah, Grey-O," answers Gordo. "What happened? Grey Footprints never called me in my life. This means something."

"Well..." says Grey Footprints while shaking. "Um... I called you because... you know... you were planning to steal Mr Pleg... Pleg... Plegovich's throne years ago and..."

"Not anymore," says Gordo. "You see... I am now living in a jail, Canterlot is not mine anymore... Mayor Mare is doing her best at eradicating my stuff... I can't do that."

"Yes, but..." says Grey Footprints. "I think I will help you find a way to do it because... I don't know, man... he... is doing something."

Disturbance raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

The governor slams his fist on the table and whispers: "He... He is trying to turn me into what I was... I... I truly don't want to become a gangster again..."

Suddenly, the situation is more complicated. Ron, along with Jack and Abe appear on the jail and come across with Grey Footprints, Gordo and Disturbance.

"Ok..." says Ron, while sitting on the table. "It looks like someone else came here to talk."

Grey Footprints takes out his sunglasses and shows his face. His right pupil is slowly shrinking. "Help me... he is driving me crazy..."

"Footprints?" says Ron. "Who is driving you crazy?"

"Who would be?" says Gordo. "Plegovich... first W, and now Footprints... what is he trying to do?"

"Fuck the whole thing up, I think," says Jack. "He will destroy all of us."

"All of us?" says Gordo, smiling. "He didn't do anything to me..."

"By now," answers Abe.

"Well..." says Disturbance. "You are the victims now... we haven't been touched by his shit yet."

Suddenly, Dream Raider, the jail's man, appears with a phone. He slowly approaches Jack and Abe.

"Hey, guys..." says Dream Raider. "Do you know where is W? He hasn't answered my calls since yesterday, man."

Nobody dares to answer that question. Meanwhile, a short, green-skinned man with red hair who is sitting on another table is looking at Gordo and Disturbance. He grabs a phone and calls someone.

Meanwhile, at Kobolov's living room, everyone sits on a small table. Kobolov and Gail Garry sit on the left and right side of the table, while W and Plegovich sit in front of each other. Sergei is standing up behind Plegovich. Suddenly, Plegovich grabs a small wooden box and puts it in the middle.

"Well, this is the moment you were waiting for," says Plegovich. "You want to know why does Garry run so fastly... right?" W nods his face while looking at the box. "Go ahead, open," says Plegovich, while pointing at the wooden box. W slowly grabs it and opens it: He finds a small pill inside.

W raises his eyebrows and looks at everyone: "Drugs?"

Everyone starts laughing. "No," answers Plegovich. "That is not a drug, W... that pill is an amulet, a talisman... a spell. It is a power provider."

"Can I...?"

"No," says Plegovich. "You can't consume it now, W... You will do it later, but not now."

"So... this pill is the main cause of Garry's powers?"

"And my powers too," says Kobolov, while closing the wooden box with his mind. "And also Doom Kid's... but well, he is not here, he is having fun in La Lima..."

"And why are you taking those pills? To defend yourselves?"

"No," says Plegovich while getting up from his chair and lending W a file filled with wrinkled papers. W opens the file and reads the first page.

"PUBLIC PROPERTY PROJECT: CONFIDENTIAL! ONLY FOR PLEGOVICH!

"Public Property?" says W... "Isn't that?"

"My father's name," answers Plegovich. "And don't worry, I'll summarize it for you..."

You see, W, Equestria nowadays is bullshit. Our new president is called Strict Proclamation, and he is trying to turn Equestria into liberal shit. He goes every place and says the same stupid phrase: "I will give to each one of you land for all, for the world, for Equestria!" Oh, you son of a bitch! Why don't you shut the hell up, you stupid asshole? That's why I created the project using my father's, my family's perspective of life. Plegovich stops his monologue for a second. Now, he looks at W, who is paying attention. "Have you ever heard of that word... fascism?"

"Fascism?" says W. "Yes... but I don't think Strict Proclamation is a fascist dude."

Plegovich laughs. "That dork? As a fascist? Hell no, W! I wasn't even talking about him!"

"What are you trying to say, then?"

"Let the boss talk," says Sergei, while approaching W. Plegovich keeps talking:

I realised years ago, thanks to my father, that equestrians are lost. They don't trust presidents anymore... governments are turning into useless groups of stupid people... citizens want a leader... a true leader that can carry all of them to a utopic land! Men, women, old people, babies, the poor, the rich, every single citizen! Half of Equestria doesn't believe in Strict Proclamation, but I am completely sure that everyone inside this country will believe and love their leader! They would finally find out what to do! They would find their path!

"And who would be that leader?" asks W.

"What do you think?" says Plegovich. "Me."

"Oh..." says W, while shaking a little bit. [He feels scared because he knows that Plegovich as president is not a good thing. "But... how are the pills related to that?"

"I know that my path to Strict Proclamation will be an odyssey... and that's why I wanted super gangsters to stay with me... Besides, I do know that on my first day as Equestria's president nobody would believe in me... and that's why I need to cope with them along with my men... my cops... my supermen. Protestants will be easily killed, riots would not happen anymore... everyone will respect me after that strategy. Everyone will do what I say, anytime, anywhere. I will be Equestria's new leader, and I will be responsible for taking this country to his utopia."

W is shocked and frightened. Plegovich said it clearly, with no struggles. He wants to turn Equestria into an authoritarian, horrifying dictatorship. His super gangsters, the ones who are now taking magic pills, will be their army against citizens. He realizes Plegovich is out of his mind... he is just a madman, a loose cannon, an insane person... but no... he can't deny this... no...

"And yes..." says Plegovich. "Once we arrive at the power, the first one that will die is Ron Delight, your parents' murderer... if you behave well, my kid, I'll let you kill him with your bare hands."

W knows Plegovich's plan is a catastrophe but he can't deny that offer. He still does not believe Ron killed his parents, especially now, because of Plegovich's demented words... but he knows that if he rejects this plan they will kill him right there. He thinks... is this worth it? Is this the correct thing? Is Ron the killer? Is it necessary to kill Ron?

"He still does not believe it," says Sergei.

"Come on!" shouts Kobolov. "Everyone here knows Ron killed Wade and Wanda... don't you, Garry?"

"Yes," answers the bounty hunter. "He did it. He betrayed him on '94... he killed them on '95."

"Did you tell him about Ushin?" answers Doom Kid. "That guy sacrificed himself for showing that fucker's true face."

"I..." says W, while looking at everyone. "I accept."

Plegovich laughs and kisses W's forehead. "My good boy... you won't regret this... never..."

Suddenly, Kobolov's phone starts ringing and he answers: "Hello?... Yes... Oh... Yes, I'll pass it to you."

Kobolov lends the phone to Plegovich. "Little Billy."

"Little Billy?" says Plegovich. "But he is in jail..." The boss grabs the phone and answers. "Hi, Bill... What? Oh, that stupid son of a bitch, look at him... yeah, please, I want him out... wait, wait..."

Plegovich now lends the phone to W. "What...?" says the young kid.

"I will leave it to you... say the magical words."

"Which magical words?"

"Repeat with me... I want all of them dead by tomorrow."

"What?"

"Say it," says Sergei, while standing behind Plegovich. W grabs Kobolov's phone and says the words. Then, Plegovich grabs the phone and he ends the call.

Hours later, at Sombra Jail.

Five mysterious men arrive at the jail and they easily enter the lunchroom. Dream Raider finds out and draws his gun, but the men interrupt:

"Calm down, Dream Raider," says one of the men. "We didn't come here for you. We came here for other men."

"Who?" asks Dream Raider, while being surrounded by Flim, Flam, Iron Will and other prisoners. One of the men approaches him and whispers:

"Gordo fuckin' Jameson. Plegovich called us."

Dream Raider now doesn't say anything. He slowly nods his head while looking at the other four men, who are going upstairs to look for Gordo and the Dark Spikes.

Meanwhile, Gordo is hanging out with the Dark Spikes in their cell. All of them are listening to Fly Me to the Moon by Bobby Womack on an MP3 player.

"Holy," says one of the Dark Spikes. "I think this guy is better than Sinatra."

"Sinatra?" says Gordo. "You are kidding, my man. Sinatra was the first one."

"Shut up," says Disturbance. "This one... Wom... Womack? Well, whoever he is, took this song and turned into an underrated gem."

Suddenly, they hear something coming. They look at the five men carrying guns and stopping at their cell. Gordo stands up while holding the MP3 player.

"Bye, fatto," says one of the hitmen. "This is for Plegovich."

Gordo raises his middle fingers and says: "Fuck you."

A second later, the men start firing their Tommy guns. The cell is now red because of the blood. Everyone inside is now dead or agonizing. Gordo, who was shot lots of times on his chest, looks at the MP3 player that is still playing Womack's song.

"And the... meek... shall... inherit the... earth," says Gordo before closing his eyes. The men leave.

Gordo and the Dark Spikes were murdered while listening to Fly Me to the Moon by Bobby Womack.

Chapter 4: Are you Sure you want to do This?

Author's Note

Ok.

This chapter has a very dark scene that can be graphic, so viewer discretion is advised.

Thank you.

Chapter 4: Are you Sure you want to do This?

January 22nd. Two months after Gordo's death.

W wakes up. Now he is in a cosy apartment on Manehattan.

W is no longer the old W we know. He never came back to Los Mantos neither Canterlot. He deleted every phone number he had on his phone, except for one: Trixie. He often goes to Canterlot, hiding by the name of Augustus Sentry, to go to Trixie's house, stop using his fake identity and say everything it's alright, but he has to work on Manehattan if he does not want to lose his job. He feels guilty because of that, but now he is getting used to it.

Ron, Jack and Abe don't know where is W right now.

Plegovich hasn't done anything related to his project yet. He is waiting for the right moment to do it.

Lucas Plegovich and W haven't even seen each other yet too.

But now, the first thing he does is getting up from his bed and cry. The last time he saw Trixie, a week ago, she told him she had to move to London next month because the entrance examinations now will be in February instead of April. The only person who calms him down a little bit is now leaving.

Suddenly, he receives a text message from Trixie.

"Sorry for this sad piece of news. I'm afraid I've got to go, Waltie."
- Trixie.

W answers to her.

"Don't worry, you will be still the only light of my shitty world."

Canterlot High

Flash Sentry is staying at the courtyard while talking to Bulk Biceps. Then, the muscleman walks away and Flash stays in the school entrance. He looks at the Rainbooms talking to each other on the grass. He takes a long breath and sits on the stairs.

Suddenly, he looks at a strange man on the other side of the street. He is standing on the street's corner with a camera. He hides in a bush a second later and starts taking photos of the Rainbooms. He clearly wants to do something, but he feels he is only a stupid paparazzi and thinks the Rainbooms will take him out, but suddenly, he stands up and gets out something from his pocket: something that looks like a handgun.

"HEY!" shouts Flash Sentry while pointing at the man. The mysterious photographer finds out but disappears a second later. He is not in the street anymore. "WHAT?"

Everyone is looking at him. The Rainbooms ask what happened.

"I-I saw a man with a camera and a gun... and he was taking photos of you!"

Kobolov enters to W's new apartment. The young gangster is drinking water while listening to John Coltrane. "Woah," says the soldier. "Arre you happy with the new home that Plegovich gave to you?"

"Yeah," says W, with a long face.

"Hey, that yeah didn't sound alright... what's the matter, my kid?"

"Shit happens sometimes, Kobolov."

"What kind of shit?"

W stops drinking his glass of water and grabs a cigarette. "Long story, the only person I can trust that is not with you will leave Equestria in February."

"Uh-huh..." says Kobolov. "Why? Who is this person?"

"A young, 18-year-old girl. She's about to end high school, but the entrance examinations were changed. She has to take that exam in February."

"Mm-hmm... a student..."

"Yes."

"Well, my man... universities are like that. They are just stupid assholes... you should take advantage of these last days and visit your lolita..."

"The fuck did you say?" says W, while fastly grabbing Kobolov's military jacket. "She is not my lolita or whatever the fuck you want to say."

"Woah, Woah, Woah..." says Kobolov. "Relax, man... why don't you go to the Manehattan's Spa and take a breath?"

"What?" says W. "It's too expensive."

"I can pay it for you, man," answers Kobolov. "I have no problem, big boy... I only want you calm and relaxed for these days, we have a lot to work."

Suddenly, someone knocks the door and Kobolov opens it. Doom Kid appears.

ROGER MADISON
"Doom Kid"
The only child of the Madison family, whose parents helped Plegovich to rise into the gangster world. They were murdered in the mid-'90s during an ambush and Plegovich decided to raise Roger by his own and named him Doom Kid.
At 17 years old, he lost his right arm due to an explosion. Since then, he has been using a robotic arm.

Kobolov tells Doom Kid what's been happening to W, and the young kid says:

"Hey, W! Kobby's right. You should go to a spa session, man..."

"Maybe," answers W. "I'm a little bit stressed, but I don't have enough money... I've already spent those dollars you gave me..."

"We'll give you more," says Kobolov. "But... only this time, let us pay for you, W."

"Please," says Doom Kid. "You might never have another opportunity like this."

W thinks about it for a second. "Well... if you are going to pay it for me, I'll go."

"Yes!" says Doom Kid. "Oh, and if you find Aloe and Lotus Blossom, just say that Doom Kid wants a piece of apple pie."

Kobolov looks at Doom Kid, shocked. That confuses W, especially because of Kobolov's reaction. "Apple pie?" says W.

"Nothing," says Kobolov. "Just... say it, and you will have your session."

"Um... sure."

Butter Valley.

Plegovich is in one of his four mansions in Butter Valley. He goes outside the mansion and opens a small gate that is buried in the middle of his garden. He climbs down a ladder, opens an iron door after climbing down, and looks at a man who is tied with handcuffs and a rope. He is only wearing a dirty slip.

"Hello, Grey."

"LETMEOUTLETMEOUTLETMEOUTLETMEOUTLETMEOUTLETMEOUTLETMEOUTLETMEOUTLETMEOUTLETMEOUT..."

"OH, SHUT THE FUCK UP! YOU CAN EVEN BE HEARD OUTSIDE THE GARDEN, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Grey Footprints, who is now turning into his old alter-ego, the infamous gangster Grey Blackle, shuts up. Plegovich gives him two slices of bread and a glass of water. "Here you have... I am sorry, Grey, but this is the only way I can turn you into your old past... I want you to be 100% Grey Blackle, for god's sake." Plegovich slowly approaches to Grey Blackle but the prisoner jumps onto him. Plegovich kicks him twice in the stomach and he falls.

"LET ME OUT!" shouts Grey Blackle. "LET ME OOOUT!"

Plegovich gets a taser from his pocket and hurts Blackle until he faints.

Meanwhile, at Celestia's Office, Abe is talking to both Luna and her about the Plegovich problem. They also know what's been happening lately since Jack told both sisters a week ago.

Jack is outside, on the school's courtyard... his characteristic goatee beard has been shaved. He only has a cool moustache and he's using sunglasses. He is waiting for Abe while drinking a soda.

Ron has taken cover on Los Mantos and no one knows where he is, except for Jack and Abe. They have been dealing with a gang crisis since W's disappearance. Lots of gangsters who worked for Ron, and even Percival and Femur, have decided to take a step aside and leave Ron alone because they think Plegovich might be going for him.

After a minute, Abe comes out. He is also changed. He still has his unique orange moustache, but he hasn't shaved for weeks. He is also using sunglasses and wearing a plain red t-shirt, instead of his characteristic squared shirts. Jack's clothes are also different. He is using jeans and a brown Doctor Whooves t-shirt instead of his regular plain shirt and black jacket.

"Doctor Whooves," says Abe while sitting on the stairs. "Why did you have to buy that t-shirt?"

"I like Doctor Whooves," answers Jack. "But this is from the old seasons... the 1996 TV show... Any news?"

"No..." says Abe. "I told Celestia and Luna everything... because you decided to do it and... I also decided."

"What?"

"I am scared, Jack," says Abe. "He took Grey Footprints away... he killed Gordo and the Dark Spikes... he threatened Dream Raider... and most importantly... he took W away from us. W..."

Jack sighs while drinking his soda. "We are the next ones... maybe..."

"Maybe..." whispers Abe. "I will try my best to get Rarity and Sweetie Belle out of this."

"Don't worry, Plegovich won't do anything to them... why would he want them in the first place?"

At the same time, Flash Sentry gets out of the school and also sits in the stairs. He keeps looking at the bushes where the mysterious man with a handgun hid. What was he going to do? What would have happened if he wouldn't have shouted?

"Hey," says Jack, while looking at Flash Sentry. "Long time no see."

Flash doesn't recognize them at first. "Um... who are you?"

"Oh," says Abe. "Sorry... we changed a lot during these last weeks. We are Jack and Abe."

"Oh!" says Flash. "Yes, I remember... W, Jack and Abe... the trio that saved my butt... um, where's W?"

Both Jack and Abe look at each other. "Um... long story," says Abe. "He is in Los Mantos right now. He decided to stay."

"Oh... and what are you doing here?"

"You know, I came to visit my sweet granddaughters..."

Flash's face now changes. He remembered this guy, Abe, is Rarity's grandfather. "Um, Abe... can I tell you something?"

"Sure," answers. Flash Sentry points at the bushes.

"See those bushes? A man hid there this morning. He was taking photos of your granddaughter, Rarity, and her friends... I thought he was just a stupid paparazzi, but then, he moved... and I saw a gun in one of his hands."

Abe and Jack's skins fade. They are pale... "What?" says Abe, confused.

"I saw that... and then, I shouted and... he vanished."

"Vanished?" says Jack.

"Yes," answers Flash Sentry. "He just disappeared from one second to another. That is the thing that confuses me the most. How did he do that?"

Abe takes off his sunglasses and touches Flash's shoulder. "Flash... I hope you are not joking because this is serious shit."

Flash now is as shocked as them. "I'm not kidding, Abe... I saw him. I can describe him to you."

"Please," said both men.

"Um... Brown hair, he was wearing a black... yes, a black jacket, dark jeans... his skin was green but looked like a lime's colour. He was wearing trainers... and that's it."

"Lime-skinned... brown hair... trainers... dark jeans..." says Jack. "Who would be him?"

"I think we found him," says Abe. "Just think, Jack."

"What?" says Jack.

"He is coming for us... lime-skinned... trainers... brown hair... that guy... that guy must be Garry."

"Garry?" says Jack. "Gail Garry?"

"What?" says Flash Sentry. "Gail who?"

"Do me a favour, Flash," says Abe, while getting up. "Don't tell anybody what you've just heard. Do it for those favours you gave to W a long time ago."

Jack and Abe run away from the school, and Jack throws the soda can in a trash bag, even though it was clean.

Manehattan's Spa.

W arrives at the spa's reception. It is a cosy, warm place covered with the same old colour: white. There are also a few light blue objects, but most of the reception is white. There are two girls as receptionists who look the same, but there are just two differences: their hair and skin colour are swapped. One of them is a blue-skinned woman with pink hair and the other one is a pink-skinned woman with blue hair. This is so surprising that makes W chuckle a bit. These girls are Aloe and Lotus Blossom.

"Um, hello?" says W, while looking at both girls. Both girls who were doing another thing, turn around and look at him. They are beautiful, something that makes W gasp. "Uh..."

"Yes, hello!" says Lotus Blossom. "How can we help you?"

W slowly approaches them. He looks that there is only an old woman in the reception, besides the girls and him. Once he approaches the spa girls, he realizes they have a special smell, a perfume... "Um, look, I'm not in the best mood right now and my friends wanted me to go here, to the spa... I've never been here so I have no idea how this works."

"Well, we can offer you certain sessions where you can choose what you want to relax You can have a massage, be on the jacuzzi for a while, be on the swimming pool..."

W reminds what Doom Kid told him... "Oh, and if you find Aloe and Lotus Blossom, just say that Doom Kid wants a piece of apple pie"... what did he try to tell him there? He should ask.

"Well," says W, "My friend told me I can have a special session but I have to look for Aloe and Lotus Blossom... do you know who they are?"

Both Aloe and Lotus Blossom look at each other. "Um... we are Aloe and Lotus Blossom."

"Uh..." says W, and then struggles. "Look, I don't understand this... but he told me I must ask for you... apple pie." The old woman who was behind W gets up from his seat and walks away. Both Aloe and Lotus Blossom are now lost in their thoughts. They blush at first, but then their blue and pink skin colours turn to white. W realizes that apple pie thing may not be something happy. "Sorry," says W. "W-What does that mean? I don't understand what's happening."

Aloe grabs a phone and calls somebody: "Chaz... if there is anyone on the jacuzzi, get him out immediately. We have an apple pie."

W hears some words from Chaz from the phone: "Oh shit." W is now more confused. A minute later, people get out along with a pale guy. He is Chaz, and he can't stop looking at W... His eyes demonstrate anger and resentment. "Wait, I truly don't understand..."

"Go, sir," says Lotus Blossom, with a fake smile. "The jacuzzi is only for you. I'll take you there."

Lotus Blossom opens a door and takes W to a big jacuzzi. W doesn't understand what's happening and asks her what does apple piemean, but she does not answer. She gives him a towel and something else that makes W jump... a condom.

"Um..." says W, shocked. "Why did you give me a condom?" Lotus Blossom does not answer, and W finds out a tear comes out of one of her eyes before closing the door. He is now scared, he takes off his clothes, even his underwear, and gets in the jacuzzi with the condom on his hands. While trying to find out what the hell is happening, someone knocks the door.

"Yes?" says W.

A second later, Aloe and Lotus Blossom enter the room. They are completely naked, and both of them try to hide their breasts' nipples with their hands. Both of them are blushing and completely scared. W's skin is now white.

"Um..." says Lotus Blossom. "Please, sir, can you put the condom? I... I truly don't want to get pregnant..."

"W-W-WHA... WHAT?" says W. "WHAT? WHAT? WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?"

"Apple Pie is a secret code that was invented by Mr Doom Kid, sir," says Aloe. "We must have sex with him and his friends, even if we don't want to."

Lotus Blossom starts crying while W realizes the Apple Pie thing was a code for sex... for non-consensual prostitution. "Oh my God..." says W, while gasping. "Oh my god, oh my god... I'm so sorry... I-I didn't want to..."

"No!" shouts Aloe. "We can't break the code! If we do, Plegovich will... he will kill us and destroy our spa!"

"Look... I don't want to have sex with you and I also don't want you to be uncomfortable, so... I'll go back and just say everything was OK, but you won't do anything. If something happens, I will take this responsibility, because this... this is horrendous, ladies. I'm sorry."

"Are you sure?" says Aloe. "Will you do it for us?"

"Yes," answers W.

Lotus Blossom slowly gets one of her feet inside the jacuzzi. "A... Are you sure you wouldn't grab me now to have sex?"

"What? No!" says W. "I won't have sex with you, calm down... relax. I am one of the good guys."

Both Lotus Blossom and Aloe get inside the jacuzzi. Their faces are calmer now. "So... I'll let you take a breath... is still here your partner, Chaz?"

At the same time, Chaz opens the door with a handgun. "I'm fucking sick of this shit!" shouts. "If you touch them..."

"No, he is good! He is good!" shouts Aloe. "He truly doesn't want to have sex."

"Are you sure?" shouts Chaz. "I can fucking shot this idiot right in his head."

"Chaz!" says W. "I won't have sex with them... I let them enter to relax, take a breath and tell me what's been happening."

Both spa girls nod with their heads. Chaz slowly puts the gun down, takes his shoes off and puts his feet inside the jacuzzi. "Sorry, man, I thought you were one of those."

"It's OK... tell me, Chas... when did this whole Apple Pie thing start?"

"Three Years ago... that asshole with a robotic arm fell in love with them... he created the code "Pinky Ice-Cream" to have sex with them, even if they didn't want to because they were threatened... they were going to kill them and burn the spa down, but one day his boss found out what was happening here... and then he never came back, until last year when he created the Apple Pie code."

Chaz' last words call W's attention. That means Doom Kid is doing this while Plegovich is looking to another side. He is doing the Apple Pie code under Plegovich's noses. "I tried once to get that son of a bitch out of this place, but..." says Chaz, and then he shows a scar on his chest. "He almost cut me in half with a knife."

W sighs and asks Chas to bring him his towel. He grabs it and leaves it aside. "You see, Chaz... I am a gangster, but I was raised in a different place, a different city... and the gangs I've been capos considered innocent, young women people that should never be related to the mafia. I knew things like these happen, but this is the first time I look at it with my own eyes." The gangster gets up and wraps his body with the towel. When he is about to get out, he stops: "Don't tell anybody this, because I am also a gangster, you know?"

Chaz and the girls nod their heads. "Um... can we at least know who are you? ask Lotus Blossom and Chaz.

"Call me Bed..." He suddenly realizes that nickname... Bedmaker, reminds him of his past in Los Mantos, with Ron, Abe and Jack... he decides to change it. "Call me W."

An hour later, every friend of Plegovich is in Butter Valley. Sergei was the one who picked up W in Manehattan and carried him to Las Pegasus. Sergei and W get down the car and the right-hand man of Plegovich goes to the garden with Gail Garry. Meanwhile, Doom Kid and Kobolov are inside the mansion, looking at Montreal Plegovich's picture.

"Did you know him?" says Doom Kid to Kobolov, while looking the man's picture.

"Yes," he answers. "You knew him too, you were a little boy... I remember you... but when he died I feel like he was forgotten."

Now, W enters the mansion and looks at both Doom Kid and Kobolov. The young gangster with a robotic arm looks at the Bedmaker with a smile. "How did it go?" W doesn't answer and just approaches both men. "Um... hey! Something happened?"

W draws a revolver and points at Doom Kid's head. "Woah!" says Kobolov. "What the fuck is going on, W?"

"You son of a bitch!" shouts W. "You motherfucker!"

"Woah, Woah, wait!" shouts Doom Kid. "What the hell happened?"

"I thought Apple Pie was anything but non-consensual prostitution!!!"

"Yes! It is, W! Come on, those two girls are fucking hot!"

"I know, but... I won't have sex with a girl that only has to fuck with me because if she doesn't do it she will be freakin' murdered! Do you understand that?"

"But... man! That's what some young gangsters do!" answers Doom Kid, angrily.

"Well, I was born in Los Mantos and my pals taught me young women should never be in a non-con situation!"

"And who in the fuck taught you that?" says Doom Kid, while grabbing W's gun. "Ron Delight? The one that stabbed your father in the back?"

"You..." says W, but finds out his gun doesn't work anymore, because its barrel has been destroyed by Doom Kid's force. Then, Kobolov moves the cylinder with his mind and W discovers it hasn't got any bullets.

"You need to learn, man..." says Doom Kid, while shaking his head. "This is a new world... You are not in Los Mantos anymore, you are in the biggest gang of Equestria right now! You are in the gold, and you need to get used to!"

Meanwhile, Plegovich, Sergei and Gail Garry are looking at the gate where Grey Blackle is kidnapped.

"Sergei," says Plegovich. "Wait here. You know this is a small hole and you are bigger than a freakin' building."

"Yes, Mr Plegovich," answers Sergei. "By the way, what should I do with the girl you told me to investigate?"

Plegovich doubts. "Um... which one?"

"Trixie Lulamoon."

"Mmmh... we should visit her."

Garry opens his eyes, shocked. "Wait... are you going to...?"

"No, we will only visit her," says Plegovich. "I have another idea against Delight... And if Waters is still not convinced... this one is going to drive him crazy..."

Plegovich opens the gate while he hears Doom Kid shouting. He hears the words non-consensual prostitution. He looks at the windows and orders Sergei to spy them. Garry and Plegovich climb down the secret ladder and they are now in front of the iron door.

"Garry," says Plegovich. "Did you enter Canterlot High this morning?"

Garry shakes his head. "I was, but... a stupid kid saw me. I have the Rainbooms' photos, though."

"Excellent," answers Plegovich. "You know... we can only do two things with the Rainbooms... brainwash them because their powers can be useful for me... or kill them. Keep that in your mind, Garry. We have to wait until the moment."

"But sir... why I have to take so many photographs?"

"I'm studying," says Plegovich. "Analyzing... I want to see their faces, their attitudes... their days... I want to see how they are going and find out where is the perfect moment to attack." Now, Plegovich opens the door and looks at Grey Blackle, the psychopath, who is looking at the dish where his food was. "Oh, how nice... you ate your meal! Good boy!"

Grey Blackle looks at Plegovich. His right pupil is much smaller than his left one... Garry gets scared because of the man's appearance. "Let me out," says Grey Blackle. "Let me out."

"I will let you out, Grey..." says Plegovich. "Garry, untie him."

"WHAT?" says Garry. "I have to untie this... thing?"

Grey Blackle looks at Garry, scared. "Look what you did..." says Plegovich. "You scared him! Do it!"

"Let me out," keeps saying Grey Blackle, who has already lost his mind. Garry unties the rope which wrapped Blackle's body, and when he is about to take the handcuffs out of him... Grey Blackle looks at Garry and whispers... "Free."

"I will let you..."

Garry takes the handcuffs out of Grey's hands, but he instantly jumps and tackles Plegovich. Both men fall to the floor and the madman starts punching Plegovich's face. "LET ME OUT!" shouts Blackle. Garry separates him and throws him to the wall.

"I DID LET YOU OUT, FUCKER!" shouts Plegovich. "Why did you do this to me?"

"I... I wanna be free!" shouts Blackle. "Me... Me! LET ME OUT! I WANNA SEE... SEE SKY!"

"You will see the sky!" says Plegovich, angry. "Go up! Go up! Open that door and climb the fucking ladder!"

Grey Blackle runs away and climbs up the ladder. He only has a dirty slip and that's it. He is almost naked. He opens the gate and covers his eyes because of the sunlight. Sergei looks at him and gets him out of the gate. He is now lying on the ground and slowly opens his eyes while being covered by Sergei's shadow.

"You," says Blackle. "I... I mi-mi-missed you, Doris."

"You keep calling me Doris..." says Sergei, while grabbing him from the neck. "And I'll leave you crazier than before."

Meanwhile, an awkward silence is inside the mansion, until Sergei opens the door.

"I listened to your sweet conversation," says Sergei. "You know, Doom Kid, that if Mr Plegovich finds out about the Apple Pie he will destroy you... but, for the first time in my life, I will be good with you... and I won't say anything."

"What?" says Doom Kid. "Are you sure? You've never done that before!"

"The only thing I don't want now is a problem... especially because a new guy joined the club."

"Who?" asks W, and Sergei moves from his position. Seconds later, Grey Blackle crawls into the room and looks at everyone. "Holly molly! Kobo, Doomo... and a new guy!"

"WHAT?" says Kobolov. "You let Blackle go?"

"Of course," says Plegovich while walking into the mansion. "Grey Blackle is what I need..."

"If you give him superpowers..." says Kobolov.

"Ha, ha!" shouts Plegovich. "He won't be a super gangster, he will only be my assistant by now. By the way, I heard something about non-consensual prostitution, and I don't like when my workers hide things from me. However, to be honest, I don't want to fight because my plan is progressing a lot so... don't tell me anything. Any questions?"

Grey Blackle raises his hand. "Who-o-o-o is that mysterious guy that looks like the young gangster I saw fifteen years ago?"

"He is, indeed," says Plegovich while approaching W and hugging him. "Your new friend, Grey! Walter Waters, a.k.a the Bedmaker!"

Grey jumps and also hugs W... "A pleasure to meet you, Bed!"

"I think the same, Grey..." says W, with a fake smile. "However, call me W, please..."

"Sure, W-W-W! Man, we are going to kill so many peo-o-o-ople together! We are going to have fun!"

Grey leaves W and returns to his previous position. Seconds later, W is the one who raises his hand. Plegovich looks at him. "Um..." says the Bedmaker. "You know, two months have passed since I joined you, Mr Plegovich, but... why am I the only one who hasn't got any powers?"

Now, everyone looks at each other, uncomfortably. Kobolov, Doom Kid and Garry, and even Sergei don't answer. Grey Blackle, who had a smile, changes his face while looking at Plegovich. He knows something awkward is happening. "Well," says Plegovich. "You are not the only one who hasn't got powers, W... I don't have powers, neither Sergei nor Grey."

"But... I will be in your plan, I am a partner of your super gangsters... why don't I have?"

Plegovich approaches him again and touches his shoulder. "You will have, W... but we have to wait for the right moment to do it. Kobolov, Doom Kid and Garry have been my men for lots of years. They know how I think, how I work, how I do things... You, W... you are one of the best gangsters I've ever seen... but, I have to be honest, you are still new in my gang... and you need to learn some things before taking the pill..."

W looks at everyone now. Doom Kid nods his head while smiling. "Which things?" says W.

"You will understand, W," says Plegovich, and then the boss hugs him. Everyone leaves the room, leaving W, who is lost in his thoughts, alone.

Chapter 5: Magic!

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 6: A Secret...

January 23rd.

Gail Garry is on a Manehattan street. His powers are now gone and he must be in Canterlot now because of Plegovich's orders, but he will arrive late because he doesn't have money, a car... and, from out of nowhere, he lost one of the two pills he had when he visited W. Then, Garry calls Plegovich.

"Yes?"

"Sir," says Garry. "I was about to go to Canterlot..."

"Garry, I've already told you. It's OK. You can take the second pill today but don't do it again for this week."

"Yes, I know, but... I don't know where is the second pill. I think I lost it."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No."

"You stupid... do you remember where were you the last time you had it?"

"Yeah," answers Garry, after a long breath.

"Go there and look for it... I won't give you another one if you lost it."

"Sure," says Garry, and decides to go straight to W's apartment.

W's Apartment

W tried to call Plegovich two more times, but he didn't answer both calls again. He sits on the floor and lies his head against the blue couch. He grabs the pill that fell from Garry's wallet and looks at it. Is it worth it? Shall he try it? What would happen after taking it? Will it change its life? For a day? For a week? Month? Year? Forever?

He is about to take it, puts it in his mouth but then... he hears a voice. "No."

W turns around and realizes that voice is familiar. He knows it. Suddenly, Discord appears in the brown couch and looks at him. The Bedmaker stands up and looks at the Chaos Maker. "You?" says W. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here to warn you."

"Of what?"

"That thing," he says while pointing out at the pill.

"What?" says W. "Now you are my babysitter?"

Discord stands up and W realizes he is taking this very seriously. He has a really bad face. "No, you idiot. If you take that pill now, you will drown into your own blood."

"What?" says W, again. "Why?"

"I must explain this to you, W. That pill is dangerous for you, for me, for all."

"For you?" says W. "What are you talking about?"

"A friend of mine told me those pills are very dangerous. "

Both W and Discord sit down on the couches. "Which friend?"

"An old friend... I'll explain it to you later, because that's not important right now. The main thing here is that pill must not be inside you

"Why? Because of what Garry told me?."

"The Overdose thing? Yes!"

"Um... But he told me he only took a pill per day. I think if I do the same I wouldn't have an OD."

"No, you would have, because you never ate magic before like Kobolov, you don't have Garry's physical state, and you are not a one-arm douchebag like Doom Kid. The three of us do survive because of that."

"What? Cutting my arm in half will make me survive?"

"It's hard to explain... Verminium's magic is hard to digest. You can either survive or die with the same pill on the same day. It is unstable, irregular magic on a pill. "

"But... um, well... You may be right. These pills must be unstable, thank you. ."

"No, you should thank my old friend because he was the one who told me this."

"Who's your old friend?."

However, W looks at the blue couch and realizes Discord is not there anymore. He sighs and leaves the pill aside. He looks at the apartment's window and the small crack it has because of his fight with Garry an hour ago while thinking about Discord's words. An old friend? An OD? An unstable pill? What kind of crazy paradox is this? Then, W turns around and hears someone is knocking his door.

"Who is it?" says W while handling the door handle.

"Open," says a low voice that starts coughing.

W opens the door and looks at two men. One of them is a blue-skinned, dark-haired man with a moustache, a pair of shorts and a Doctor Whooves shirt. The other one has a light-blue skin, orange hair and moustache and he hasn't shaved for weeks. He is wearing jeans and a Wondercolts shirt. Both men have caps and sunglasses. "What the..."

"Finally we found you," says one of the men. "Long time no see, Walter."

"Jack... Abe..." says W, and he closes the door. Both men stop the door and want to enter the room, but W is trying to close the door. "I WON'T LET YOU ENTER!"

"Why?" says Abe. "We only want to talk!"

"I don't want to fall on your lies again! I know Delight killed my parents!"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" says Jack. "He didn't kill them! The Bitch did!"

W opens the door and both men enter. "Um, ok... and do you know who in the hell is the Bitch?"

Both Jack and Abe look at each other. "No," answers Jack.

"See?" says W. "This Bitch thing is all a lie! He is the Bitch!"

"He is not the Bitch!" says Jack. "He betrayed your father a time ago, yes... however, he never killed him!"

"Please!" says W. "Go away! GO AWAY! I don't want to have an argument! I have enough with Plegovich and his fucking project!"

Silence. Now nobody talks until Jack asks: "What project are you talking about?"

"Nothing," answers W while gasping. "Um... just nothing."

"Nothing?" says Abe. "What are you doing, W? In what kind of project are you?"

W closes the door and starts gasping. "Look," says W. "I won't come back to Los Mantos... I won't talk to the man who betrayed my family but... I have to be honest... Plegovich's plan... is... is..."

"Is what?" says Jack.

"Horrifying."

"What?" says Abe. "Horrifying?"

Suddenly, at the same time, Garry appears on the apartment's hall. He is about to knock W's door, but he hears something.

"He..." says W. "He is trying to turn Equestria into... Hellquestria."

"Hellquestria?" says Jack.

"He wants to kill Strict Proclamation, replace him as president and wants to turn the country into... into..."

"Into what?"

"He wants to be King Sombra," says W. "An authoritarian guy who gets rid of his few enemies."

Both Jack and Abe look now at W and then, at each other. "Wow," says Jack. "So... Plegovich wants to be a god."

"I don't agree with his plan but... you do know Plegovich is my only way now. If I deny his orders, he will kill me. Besides, I don't want to go to Los Mantos again."

"You know you are doing the wrong thing, don't you?" says Jack. "You are making a big mistake. Ron may have betrayed your father, but he never killed him. You are falling in Plegovich's game."

"Plegovich told me everything I need to know. He gave me the card, he told me about Ushin..."

"Ushin was killed by Plegovich, not Ron!" shouts Abe.

"No!" shouts W. "No, no! Go away, please! I don't want to see you again!"

W opens the door. Garry's not there anymore. Jack and Abe look at W now.

"W..." says Abe. "Think about what are you doing..."

"I'm doing my things, Abraham!" shouts W. "Now, GO!"

Both Jack and Abe leave the room and W sits on the brown couch and sobs.

"Garry? Did you find your freakin' pill?"

"No, but I found another thing that is more important."

"What?"

"I need to talk to all of you. I want you in Manehattan now, please."

"Why? Is it so important?"

"More than anything, boss. We must get rid of someone. We need to talk."

"Oh... I'll tell everyone we will have a meeting."

"Don't tell Waters."

"Um... why?"

"I will explain it to you tonight. Be fast, boss."

Chapter 7: Get Out Of...

January 23rd. Night.

Everyone is having dinner at Plegovich's mansion, except for W. Sergei, Garry, Kobolov, Doom Kid, Lucas Plegovich, Grey Blackle and Nicholas Plegovich are eating on the table in silence (except for Blackle, who is next to his master, Mr Plegovich) after listening to Garry's words. Now all of them know W told Jack and Abe the whole plan. Plegovich thinks he betrayed him.

"I was expecting this, to be honest," says Plegovich. "Waters may have done this because we didn't let him take the pill." Garry doesn't say anything, but he knows that pill may be in W's apartment. "And he betrayed me... he stabbed me in the back."

"I told you, uncle!" says Lucas. "Now you have a betrayer on the streets... we must kill him right now!"

"I think the same," says Doom Kid. "That bitch must learn."

"Yeah!" shouts Garry. Sergei, Kobolov and Grey Blackle don't say anything. Plegovich gets up and caresses Blackle's hair.

"Master Plegovich," says Blackle. "Can I murder him with my b-b-bare hands, please?"

"No!" says Lucas. "I will be the one, Blackle."

Blackle fastly stands up and smashes his fists on the table. He starts stuttering. "This... This one w-w-will be my... my s-s-s-s-s-s-second!"

"Your second?" says Lucas. "I'll be your second master after my uncle, you son of a bitch."

Blackle starts gasping uncontrollably. "Don't... DON'T... D-D-D-D-DON'T YOU DARE TO SAY T-T-T-THE NAME OF THE L-L-LORD I-I-IN VAIN!"

Blackle jumps onto Lucas but Sergei gets him out of there and smashes him against a wall. Plegovich didn't even react to this... he is just looking at a picture of his family.

"I decided what to do..." says Plegovich.

"I w-w-w-will kill him!" shouts Grey Blackle while being handled by Sergei. "DO-DORIS, LET ME GO!"

"I will murder Waters!" shouts Lucas. "This fucking psychopath won't!"

"Neither Grey nor you will murder him now... I need to do something else before," says Plegovich. "Sergei... do me a favour."

"Yes, sir?" says the man while letting Blackle go.

"Call Ferr."

Sergei gasps, and when Sergei gasps, you have to be worried. Doom Kid, Kobolov and Garry are now with their mouth opened. Lucas is shocked but he also smiles, and Grey Blackle is the only one that didn't react to it. He is just looking at the roof, bored. "Ferr?" asks Sergei. "What... do you want to do?"

"Well..." says Plegovich. "I want to use the Train."

Garry passes out, Doom Kid feels nausea, Kobolov starts gasping while calming himself down, Sergei's eyes feel like they are coming out of their orbits and Lucas keeps smiling. Everyone knows the Train is anything but a joke.

"Do you think that he deserves it?" says Sergei. "I mean... I have no regrets and remorse but... I think the Train is too much for a man like him. We should use..."

"No," interrupts Plegovich. "Call him. I want the Train by tomorrow, ready... And you know what? My men... I have just realized this is the moment. This is the right moment where we can start our project. The PPP. Garry, Kobolov, Doom Kid... do your job. Today is the day."

January 24th. Canterlot High

Spike is bored. He is doing anything but messing through the hallways and the school. His owner, Twilight Sparkle, and her friends are now on a class which is taught by Mrs Cheerilee.

A time later, he comes across with Sunset Shimmer. "Oh, hi, Spike," she says while heading to the bathroom.

"Wassup, Sunset?" he says. "Do you know when is this going to end? I'm so bored!"

Sunset chuckles and caresses him. "Don't worry, Spike... just wait for a couple of minutes."

Sunset is about to enter the bathroom, but suddenly she listens to something. She is listening to someone's thoughts... odd thoughts.

"Rainbooms... Rainbooms... I need them for tomorrow... Plegovich needs them... Where the fuck are they?"

Sunset Shimmer wants to find out where is the man who is thinking about them, so she calls Spike.

"Yes?" says Spike, confused.

"Spike, I've listened to someone who was thinking about us..."

"Really? And what was he thinking?"

"He needs us for tomorrow... for someone called Plegovich..."

She feels those thoughts are getting nearer and decides to hide in the bathroom. Spike follows her, but then he looks at a man walking through the hallway. He seems to be in a hurry, and besides, he has a walkie talkie and his right hand is inside his pants' pocket.

The man, Gail Garry, comes across Spike but ignores him... Then, the bounty hunter stops in the middle of the hall and looks behind him. He crosses his eyes with Spike for a couple of seconds and then goes away. A minute later, Sunset Shimmer comes out. "He thought something else, and I don't like where is this going."

"What?" says Spike.

"He thought about... carrying us to a train. I should write something for Princess Twilight if she can help us from this."

January 24th. Plegovich's Mansion.

Plegovich is alone inside his mansion. He is looking at his brother's picture and then he goes to a cupboard, where he grabs two glasses. He leaves them on the table where he had his dinner yesterday and waits for his guest...

Minutes later, W appears on the mansion. He wants to ask him about the Rainbooms thing, but at the same time, he is thinking about why did he call him immediately. "Um... why did you want me right at this moment, Plegovich?"

"Don't call me Plegovich, W..." says the man, laughing. "Call me Nicholas."

"Nicholas?" says W. "Are you sure?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?"

Plegovich laughs and sits in a small chair in front of the two cups. W is still standing up. "So... why did you call me?" says W.

"Today is your day, W. Today you will show me whether you are a Plegovich man or a non-Plegovich man. Today, you will work for me... you will work on something."

"Really, what?" says W. "Do I have to threaten someone? Sell something? Spy on somebody?"

"No..." says Plegovich. "You will have to rob a train."

"A train?" says W, confused. "Alone?"

"Of course not! I will take you to my partner, Ferr, to let you know which is the train I want."

"Oh... And does this train have something?"

"Yes... lots of valuable objects... jewellery, to be honest..."

"Jewellery?" says W. "Ok... I'll just wait for Ferr if you say..."

"How about tomorrow morning?" says Plegovich.

"Um... I was thinking about visiting Trixie, you know, but..."

"No, no!" says Plegovich. "We can only visit Ferr tomorrow. When we kill Strict Proclamation and Delight, you can visit Trixie anytime you want!"

W thinks that was weird, but then sighs and knows he can't deny Plegovich's order. He may visit her next time... wait, he thinks... why is Trixie not answering my text messages?

W keeps thinking but then he comes back to reality through Plegovich's laugh. "Okay, okay... Cheer up... because of this recent mission you accepted, I would like to drink a toast."

W raises an eyebrow. "A toast?"

"Of course, W... your behaviour on my gang is marvellous, excellent, formidable... you seriously deserve a toast... wine?"

"Um... yeah, I do like wine."

"Ok..." says Plegovich, and then he grabs his glass and stands up. "Grab your glass, W."

W grabs his cup and Plegovich rises his. "Come on! We have to drink a toast!"

"But... we don't have wine in it..."

"This is the toast, Waters," answers Plegovich while chuckling. W thinks about those last words and something calls his attention: he called him Waters for the first time.

"Um... are you alright, Nicholas?"

"Don't call me Nicholas. Don't ever call me Nicholas."

W knows something strange is happening. He tries to walk away, but suddenly Plegovich jumps and breaks his glass against W's head. The young gangster falls to the floor and the crazy man starts kicking his chest. Then, Plegovich punches the Bedmaker's face several times until his nose starts bleeding. His lips are also covered of blood and two of his teeth are destroyed. He starts coughing while blood leaks from his mouth. "Uh... Argh... Uh..."

"You son of a bitch," says Plegovich. "You thought you could play with me... nobody plays with me. Nobody."

"What... what are you talking about?" whispers W.

"You betrayed me!" shouts Plegovich. "Garry told me you told everything to your old partners... and I am truly disappointed because of your behaviour, W... I thought you were reliable, but I have no choice..."

"No... No..."

"Yes!" shouts Plegovich while grabbing his trenchcoat. "I have no choice, W."

Then, the man draws a gun from his pocket and shoots a dart that lands on W's shoulder. Seconds later, the young gangster who was bleeding on the floor passes out.

Meanwhile, Jack and Abe are inside a small cottage in Los Mantos with Ron Delight, who is hiding from the public with sunglasses and a hoodie. Jack and Abe told Ron what Plegovich was trying to do in Equestria.

"Gordo was right," says Ron. "He was using W for this... this was the plan we tried to discover all this time."

"I don't think there is a way to stop it," says Abe. "Plegovich will do it anyway."

"But I think that if we convince W to come here again, we will weaken him."

"It is too late," says Ron. "Too late."

"Why?" says Abe. Ron gets out of the cottage and looks at the street where he is staying. Lots of kids sleeping on the street... He is living in Bormoth Street, one of the most dangerous places in Los Mantos, and also a drug zone.

"Everyone left me," says Ron. "Except for you two... Once W left Los Mantos and my zone, everyone started to leave me apart... And they left me alone, they did take a step aside. They treated me like garbage, like nothing. My empire... Now destroyed... it doesn't make any sense now. Los Mantos is lost and even my brother doesn't answer my calls. I am lost... and the city showed me his back. It abandoned me... and turned me into nothing."

"You know, Ron..." says Jack. "Three's a crowd. We can do it if we know what to do."

But then, a black car stops in Bormoth Street, running over some kids and stopping in front of the three men. From it, Sergei, Kobolov, and Doom Kid get down and the three of them point at the Pirate's small gang with their handguns.

"We finally found you," says Kobolov. "It wasn't so hard... we only looked for you in Bormoth Street, where no one wants to run."

Jack and Abe try to look for a gun or something, but find out they don't have anything to fight and they surrender. Ron sighs.

"Finally your kingdom has fallen," says Sergei. "Nobody believes in you."

Ron chuckles while looking to Sergei. "My kingdom hasn't fallen yet... you will have to kill me if you want it to fall."

"Ok," says Sergei, and the men shoot Ron, Jack and Abe with tranquillizer darts.

Chapter 8: The Train

Author's Note

This chapter is much more graphic than the rest. Viewer discretion is advised.

Chapter 8: The Train

January 25th. Saik's Train Station.

Saik's Train Station is a small building located far away from the city. Nevertheless, there is a train with only five wagons that is completely apart from the other trains. It is so far that it can't be seen from the train station. This train is also in a railway that is completely separated from the rest... because this railway is only used for certain purposes, including Plegovich's train.

Outside the train, there are only three men and a car. Those three guys are Nicholas Plegovich, his nephew Lucas and a cyan-skinned guy wearing a green overall, a brown hat and smoking a cigar. That guy is Ferr, the train driver.

"Shall I get him out?" says Lucas.

"Not yet," says Plegovich. "Ferr, please check if the train works. If it doesn't, this would be a complete waste of time."

"Yes, sir," says Ferr. "By the way, I am surprised."

"Why?" asks Plegovich, while handling a sheet of paper.

"I thought you would never call me again," says Ferr. "The last time we had the train was a complete mess."

Plegovich chuckles. "Not now. I have everything planned. Here you have the sheet of paper that says what kind of things do the wagons have."

Ferr grabs the sheet of paper and reads it. Suddenly, his skin colour fades to white. "But... but... who is the victim here?"

Lucas opens the car and gets out a fainted W with his face covered of blood. "This," says Lucas.

"But... this thing... is worse than the one we did to Karkov... this is horrifying!"

"Yes, I know," says Plegovich while laughing. "But don't worry, you will only have to drive the train. We will take charge of that."

At the same time, Sergei, Grey Blackle, Kobolov, Doom Kid and Gail Garry get down from the train and approach Ferr.

"Ferr," says Kobolov. "Everything's ready. You can get on the train."

"Man..." says Garry. "This is the cruellest train we have ever done... and we haven't even started."

"Grey," says Plegovich. "Go and look up for some water."

Sergei gives Grey Blackle a bucket. The crazy psychopath grabs the bucket with his teeth and runs away like a cheetah to look for some water. Minutes later, he appears with the bucket filled with water. Plegovich grabs it and throws the water to W's face. He starts coughing and opens his eyes.

W then finds out he is not in Los Mantos, nor Canterlot, nor Manehattan. He is in a camp. There are no houses nor streets. There is only grass where he is lying, a train and everyone looking at him.

"Good morning, sleepy," says Plegovich. "Are you ready for your ride?"

W starts gasping. He knows this won't end up well. "What... What..."

"Come on!" shouts Doom Kid. "Don't be a pussy! Come with us to the Train! You will like it!"

"But first..." says Garry. "He is alone. He should go to the train with a friend..."

Garry opens the car where W was sleeping and gets Pinkie Pie out. W opens his eyes and feels absolute fear. His face is now covered with blood and sweat. "No... NO!"

"Of course!" says Lucas Plegovich. "You will go to the train with a friend."

Sergei grabs W from his neck and gets him up. All of them start walking and get inside the fifth wagon. W looks that Spike is inside the fifth wagon. He looks like he was beaten up and his body is covered by scotch tape. They throw W to the wagon's floor and start kicking him until Garry gets in the train with Pinkie Pie. Everyone starts laughing except for Sergei and Plegovich, who are only watching the spectacle.

At that moment, W wakes up and tries to go for Plegovich but Sergei kicks him in his chest and falls to the floor again. The henchmen beat him up again and he lies on the floor, almost unconscious. Meanwhile, Doom Kid grabs Pinkie Pie by her neck and wakes her up. She starts moaning.

"Stop moaning, you bitch!" shouts Doom Kid. At the same time, Garry and Kobolov get W up and Lucas Plegovich and starts talking:

"Well... welcome to the Train, W. Now you will have to play the game."

"Game?" says Pinkie Pie, scared.

"I'm not talking to you, dear... I'm talking to this killer right here... to this gangster... to this bedmaker."

"What kind of game I have to play?" whispers W.

"There are five wagons with certain things and people, and we will tell you what to do with them... if you don't obey our orders... we will kill you... if you do our orders... we'll let you go."

W gasps. "And what I have to do now..."

"Well..." says Lucas Plegovich. "Hey... your name is Pinkie Pie, right?" She nods her head while being handled by Doom Kid. Lucas thinks while Plegovich is observing. "Uncle... what should I do?"

"How about...?" says Plegovich. "Waters... take her clothes off."

"No," instantly answers W while looking at Pinkie Pie's scared face. He realizes her geode, her stone is not in her neck.

"No?" says Lucas. "What did you say? Can you repeat it? I'm a little bit deaf."

"No," answers W, and at the same time, Lucas draws a gun and points right to Pinkie's head.

"What?" he asks again. W looks at Pinkie again, which has tears falling down her cheeks. "Do it!"

Garry and Kobolov throw W to Pinkie, and he looks that Pinkie only has a dirty white t-shirt. A part of her breasts can be seen, and Doom Kid decides to touch one of them. W tries to get Doom Kid out by slapping him on the face but Sergei grabs him again and smashes him against the wagon's floor three times. Then, Doom Kid spits on W's face and punches him on his chest with his robotic arm. He hasn't took the pill yet, so he doesn't have superpowers. "You lost," says Doom Kid while laughing.

"Okay..." says Garry while laughing. The bounty hunter gets a taser out from his pocket and shocks Spike, who starts jumping because of the pain while trying to get the scotch tape out of his body. "Let's go to the fourth wagon. You are losing by now, Waters."

Everyone, except for Spike and Pinkie Pie, moves to the fourth wagon. This time, Kobolov is the one that touches Pinkie's left breast, but Plegovich pushes him and he goes away. Plegovich wants to touch her, but she instantly gets away from her.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you," says Plegovich. Pinkie and Plegovich slowly approach each other and he kisses her forehead before caressing her pink, poofy hair.

"Who... who are you?" says Pinkie while crying.

Plegovich smiles and kisses Pinkie on her forehead again. "I am your president, Pinkie."

"AAARGH!" shouts Spike, behind them both. Plegovich looks at the dog, surprised. "Make it stop!"

"Oh, you talk, you little rascal!" says Plegovich. "I knew you were hiding something."

"Who are you? What do you want? Where is Twilight?" says Spike, while trying to free himself from the scotch tape. He looks at Plegovich with the scariest stare he has ever made, but Plegovich doesn't even move.

"I can answer only one question to you, dog... I am your new president," he says, and then he moves to the fourth wagon while closing the fifth one. The train is moving. Ferr turned on the engine.

W's eyes are covered by Sergei's hand. Once Plegovich arrives, Sergei says: "Now, open your eyes."

Sergei moves his hand away from W's face and he looks at the fourth wagon: Fluttershy and a kitchen knife next to her. Her eyes and mouth are covered with a cloth. "No, no," says W. "She doesn't deserve this... no..."

"Now..." says Kobolov. "You have to decide," and then the soldier grabs Fluttershy's right hand and kisses it, and after this, he unties the cloth that was covering Fluttershy's face. "You cut one finger... or Sergei cuts three."

"Oh, I liked that," says Lucas Plegovich, laughing. Fluttershy's face is completely covered with tears while her whole body is shaking. Kobolov then gives the knife to W, but the young gangster refuses to grab it.

"I don't wanna fight again," says Kobolov while touching W's throat with the knife. It is sharp... so sharp that makes a small scratch in W's throat that bleeds. "You do it or that small scratch on your throat will be worse."

Sergei pushes W again and he grabs the knife. Fluttershy looks at him and her right-hand start shaking again because of fear. W touches Fluttershy's shoulder and she recognizes him: "W... why..."

That voice... that smooth, scared whisper with a lump on her throat. He closes his eyes while holding the knife and a tear falls on one of his cheeks. He touches Fluttershy's hand and she starts sobbing.

"Come on!" says Lucas Plegovich, while looking at the scenario. W is swallowing all his anger while Fluttershy is crying of fear. Grey Blackle, Sergei and Plegovich are the only ones who are watching this without laughing. However, Plegovich opens his mouth.

"Ok," he says. "Let him go."

"What?" says Lucas. "But... he was going to do it!"

"Let him go," says Plegovich.

"Uncle!"

"You will not disrespect the orders of your uncle," says Sergei, and then he grabs W and smashes him against the wall behind him. After that, Plegovich gets the gangster up and looks at him.

"I let you go not for you, but the girl," he says while looking at him. "She was looking quite scared."

"You son of a bitch... you... son... of a bitch..." says W.

"Move him to the third wagon!" shouts Plegovich, and everyone grabs W and throw him to the third wagon. Grey Blackle approaches Fluttershy and touches her arm.

"D-Don't cry..." says Grey Blackle, trying to calm her down... "At l-least... they... did-didn't do anything t-to you." Then, he tries to smile but goes away when Plegovich appears. Fluttershy covers her face but the madman only kisses her forehead.

"This is it," says Plegovich. "Calm down, you little girl. I am not going to mutilate you."

Fluttershy doesn't answer and lies on the floor while covering her face with her hands. Then, Plegovich and Grey Blackle get out of the fourth wagon and they close it.

"W!" hears the bedmaker. It's a familiar voice with a special accent. He wakes up and looks at Rarity and Sweetie Belle hugging each other. W gasps again and Kobolov hits him once with a baseball bat.

"Argh!" says W, and realizes he is leaking blood from his mouth again. "Rarity... Rarity..."

Lucas Plegovich strangles W, gets him up and smashes him against the wagon's wall. Kobolov gives him the bat and the young Plegovich says: "You beat the big girl up or the small girl with the bat... until they bleed."

"No!" shouts W. "I won't! Kill me!"

"No, no, no..." says Lucas. "It is too early to watch you die. Besides... You lost. Kobolov, give me the knife."

"Stab me... stab me!" says W, pointing to his heart while being strangled by Lucas. "Right here! RIGHT FUCKING HERE!"

Kobolov gives him a small knife to Lucas, and W keeps shouting. He keeps telling him to stab him in the heart. "You idiot!" shouts Lucas. "I'm not going to cut you!" he says, and then he turns around and looks at Sweetie Belle. "I'm going to cut her..."

"NO!" shouts Rarity while wrapping his sister on her arms. "You won't! Whoever you are! Miserable, horrifying person!"

"Oh..." says Lucas Plegovich. "You wanna know who we are, right?" he says, and then points at W. "You wanna know who he is in real life? He is a gangster... All of us are gangsters... and that guy over there, with a swan tattoo, brown hair... with two eyes with different colour and with a pretty neat purple tuxedo... that guy, over there... is the new president of Equestria, my uncle, my boss, Nicholas Plegovich."

"I know you!" shouts Rarity while looking to Plegovich. "I know you were the one that turned Pietro into what he was! I know you were in the previous Fall Formal!"

"Well, darling," says Plegovich. "You are right, but now you have the chance to know me for real... Lucas... get the little girl out of her arms."

W wants to go for Plegovich again, but this time Doom Kid punches him in his tummy twice and leaves him on the floor. Lucas and Rarity start fighting for Sweetie Belle. She wants to cover Sweetie and herself into her magical shield, but she doesn't have her geode on her neck. Kobolov and Doom Kid join Lucas and they succeed. Sweetie Belle tries to run away but Lucas handles her right arm and makes in it a long cut that makes Sweetie scream.

"NO!" shouts Rarity, but she can't do anything because she was trapped by Sergei. Meanwhile, Plegovich and Grey Blackle are just looking at the chaos. The madman, along with his human pet Grey Blackle, opens the second wagon's door.

"Do you like it, Abe?" shouts Plegovich. "Your granddaughter's scream is music to my ears!"

W's eyes are now coming out of their orbits. Is Abe kidnapped on the second wagon?"

"NO!!!!" shouts someone. W identifies his voice... it's Abe's. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!!!!!"

"Wait..." says Plegovich. "I'll go with you in a couple of minutes."

Now, the boss grabs W by his neck and carries him to the second wagon. "Shut up, please," says Plegovich. "Only this one and I will enter the second wagon. Keep calm."

W finds out what is happening. Jack and Abe are tied to a chair. Their eyes are covered with a cloth. W is still on the floor and Plegovich puts a foot on him to keep him down. His whole body hurts now... he can't even move.

"These are your partners," says Plegovich. "Don't worry, you won't do anything to them..."

"You son of a bitch!" shouts Abe. "You touch my granddaughter, I kill you!"

"W!" shouts Jack. "If you are there, we can help you... just free us!"

"W!" shouts Abe.

"W shit!" interrupts Plegovich. "This man right here is not W anymore... he is the Train Victim... Hey, Train Victim... are you ready for your last game?"

"You... bitch..." says W. "I'll come back... and I'll kill you..."

"Keep talking, train victim... now you are going to face the final boss."

Plegovich kicks both chairs where Jack and Abe are tied, and both men fall to the floor. He grabs W again and carries him to the first wagon. There is nothing in the last wagon, except for Ron Delight, who is only using dirty dark jeans. His torso and feet are completely naked. He is smoking a cigar while waiting for Plegovich and W.

"Finally," says Ron Delight.

W looks at his former boss and whispers: "You."

"This is the endgame," says Nicholas Plegovich while drawing a handgun. "You kill Ron... or Ron kills you."

Ron draws a handgun and points to W, who has just got up. He stands up and his whole body is shaking. He grabs the handgun that Plegovich gave him and points to Ron too.

"W..." says Ron Delight after unloading the gun and throwing it away. "You failed."

"No..." says W. "You killed my parents."

"I never killed them... I don't know who did it, but I swear I was not the one."

"But you betrayed them..."

Ron sighs. "Yes, but I regret doing it."

"What are you waiting for?" says Plegovich. "He unloaded his gun... you can kill him."

W looks at Ron again and listens to Plegovich drawing another handgun. "I told you if you lied to me one more time I was going to leave..."

"Sorry," says Ron. "I didn't know how to handle with the situation... and that's why I gave up."

"You?" says W. "Giving up? You? You told me I should never give up... and look at you, the first thing you do is giving yourself in... why?"

Ron touches W's shoulder. "I lost, W. Los Mantos hasn't been mine since you left me for him. It is now Plegovich's."

"You are correct, Ron," says Plegovich. "And now you are useless to me... that's why I want you dead."

W slowly pulls the trigger while pointing to Ron's chest. "W..." says the Pirate. "You are the only one who can save them... Abe, Jack... the girls... Trixie..."

"Trixie?" says W. "Don't talk about her."

"Your parents..."

"Don't talk about my parents."

"Wade would be proud if you betrayed Plegovich..."

"DON'T TALK ABOUT WADE!" shouts W, and pulls the trigger. Ron falls to the floor and starts coughing. He has a hole on his chest now. "No," says W. "No!"

"Yes!" shouts Plegovich. "You did it... you won the game. However, you are a non-Plegovich man."

"No!" shouts W. "Ron! RON!"

"W..." says Ron. "W... you... are the only one..."

Plegovich kicks W and pushes him away from Ron. "Plegovich men are clever and look for their victims. They investigate. You killed a man who didn't kill your parents only because I told you a lie that you believed.

W stays on the floor, shocked. He fell on Plegovich's game. He shot Ron only because of a lie.

Plegovich now points at Ron with his handgun. "This is what happens when you brainwash my pals."

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Five gunshots on Ron's chest and the Pirate closes his eyes. W gets up and strangles Plegovich, but the madman shoots his last bullet that ends up in W's stomach. The Bedmaker falls to the floor and realizes his whole torso is covered with blood. His blood. He feels cold now. Like ice.

"Hey," says Plegovich. "I forgot to tell you this... you want to know how I've got the Rainbooms, boy?"

"Arrgh!" shouts W while having his mouth full of blood. "You bitch! LIAR!"

"Well, I'll take that as yes... while you were asleep, I called all my allies and they take Canterlot, including its most famous school, Canterlot High... I left those streets like nothing. Your friends, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Celestia, Luna, Micro Chips... No one is there anymore. Garry, Doom Kid and Kobolov took all of their pills because of that, and sadly they couldn't take another one for the train... That would have been funnier."

"Why... Why did you... y-you... do this?" says W. His skin colour is fading to white.

"You know, the Rainbooms have powers, so they were rivals and enemies for me... so I did it. Besides, I hate Canterlot."

"You..." whispers W.

"Oh! I forgot about this too..." says Plegovich while laughing. "I had fun with her."

Plegovich opens a box that was in the last wagon and leaves next to W a blue hoodie. W, who is almost dead, grabs the hoodie with his frightened, pale hands and thinks that he saw that hoodie before. While coughing and turning the blue hoodie into a red one, he reads a name...

Trixie Lulamoon.

"No..." says W. "NO!"

"She was crazy as hell, and well... you might see her down there, in hell..."

"NO! NO! NO!"

"Goodbye, Walter Waters."

Plegovich pushes W and he falls from the train. He lands in a small sand mountain in the Desert of Magnus. Seconds later, Plegovich throws Ron's corpse to the desert.

W, who is crying while being covered with blood, hugs Trixie's hoodie and closes his eyes.

An hour later, Plegovich and Lucas Plegovich get down the train, along with Ferr.

"You killed him?" says Ferr.

"Yes," answers Plegovich. "It was an accident, Lucas was going to kill him but... he tried to attack me."

"Oh," says Ferr, raising an eyebrow. "That decision made him lost. And what are you going to do now with the rest?"

"First, I need to kill Strict Proclamation and then I will decide what to do."

"Mm-hmm," says Ferr.

Plegovich stops walking and Lucas does the same, confused because of his uncle's decision. Ferr keeps walking, and a second later, he turns around. "What's the matter?" asks Ferr. Then, Plegovich draws a handgun and shots Ferr on the head, killing him.

"WHAT?" says Lucas Plegovich. "W... Why?"

"Why would I use Ferr after this?" says Plegovich, while lighting a cigarette. "I won't use the train anymore."

April 30th

W wakes up inside a cage. He opens his eyes and looks around him. He never saw anything like this in his life. He is inside an enormous cave that has platforms who has strange creatures trapped inside these big cages. He tries to wake up, but suddenly realizes he hasn't got hands, but hooves. "Uh..." he says. "What... The fuck?"

He gets up and finds out he hasn't got a human body. He has hooves... a tail... a mane... he is a stallion! Is he inside the infamous horse world Ron talked to him once?

Suddenly, he looks at an enormous, three-headed dog looking at him. "Help!" shouts W, "Where am I? WHERE AM I? I NEED TO KILL PLEGOVICH!"

"You won't come out of Tartarus until the princesses' order," answers a pony with a golden armor. He's a royal guard.

"Tar... Tartarus?" says W, shocked. "Where am I? Is this heaven? Hell? Purgatory? Am I alive? Dead? I need to go for Plegovich! He killed Trixie! HE KILLED TRIXIE AND TORTURED MY FRIENDS!"

"You are alive, Bedmaker," answers the royal guard. "And you won't come out and look for that Plegovich because you have to suffer the consequences for what you did to Manehattan and Ponyville."

"Ponyville?" says W. "What are you talking about?"

Chapter 9: A New World (Part 1)

May 1st

Tartarus

W woke up yesterday and found out he turned into a stallion who is trapped inside the Tartarus, and he doesn't even know why. He looks at his back and finds out he has a drawing on his rear: an unmade bed, but decides to leave it aside when he looks at Cerberus.

"Hey!" shouts W, again. "I told you lots of times and you don't answer. I need to go out. I need to go to my world and to kill a bad man... a very bad man!"

"Cerberus doesn't talk, you idiot!" says a goat-like creature. "Let me sleep!"

W looks at his right and looks that there is a bigger cage under him, where a skinny centaur sleeps next to a pink filly. They are Tirek and Cozy Glow. Cerberus only looks at him and turns around and suddenly, two big mares appear on the Tartarus. The biggest one is white and has the shape of a sun on her loin, while the other one is a dark blue mare with a moon and black stains as a mark. Both mares stand in front of W's cage, without even saying a word.

"Hello?" says W.

"Hello, Bedmaker," says the youngest mare. "Finally you've woken up."

"Who are you and how do you know me?" says W, angrily.

"Everybody knows you, Bedmaker," says the white mare. "Your infamous story as the Burglar of Canterlot and Ponyville even called our attention."

W's anger lowers when he hears that. "Burglar of Canterlot and Ponyville?" says W. "What are you talking about?"

"I am talking about that notorious robbery you did during the Grand Galloping Gala," says the white mare, raising an eyebrow. "I think you crossed the line there."

"The Grand Galloping Gala? What?"

The two mares look at each other. It looks like Bedmaker lost his memory or something."Wait, sister... what if he lost his memory for real?" says the youngest mare.

"Sister, you know Bedmaker lies every time," says the other mare while looking at W. "He is the real Bedmaker from Ponyville and he does remember what he did. Robberies and threatens."

W realizes that this bedmaker they are talking about maybe his counterpart from this world. "Wait..." says W. "Are you talking about my counterpart?"

The white mare raises an eyebrow. "Counterpart?"

"I am originally human," says W. "My name is Walter Theodore Waters, and people call me Bedmaker... but only as a nickname. They call me W too."

Now, the white mare, who is confused, looks at his sister and says: "No... No... the Bedmaker can be a good liar, but he could never lie to the governors of Equestria."

Governors of Equestria?... "Governors? Are you..." says W, shocked.

"We are Princesses Celestia and Luna," answers the dark blue mare, surprised.

"Celestia? Luna? Like Canterlot High?"

"Canterlot High?" asks Luna. "Wasn't that in...?"

"Sunset Shimmer," whispers Celestia. "It is in the human world."

"Sunset Shimmer?" asks W. "How do you know Sunset Shimmer?"

Nevertheless, Celestia and Luna are not listening to him now. Both princesses slowly walk away while looking at each other.

"Are you sure this stallion is the real Bedmaker?" asks Luna.

"He looks the same as Bedmaker, he also has his cutie mark..." answers Celestia. "He must be... he must be..."

"Are you sure?" says Luna. "Royal Guards told us he used to wear an earring on his left ear that he could never get out of it. Besides, this pony's attitude is different from Bedmaker's... you know that pony likes to mock everyone he sees... this one looks like he had no idea of what was the Grand Galloping Gala..."

"Stop, Luna... He must be... but I'm not sure... he may be lying but his face, his eyes shows something... something else. Besides... if he knows about Sunset Shimmer..."

"Wait, no!" shouts W, while looking at a portal opening in front of them. "Don't leave me! I need to be free! To go back to my world! Please! NO! I NEED TO GO BACK! THEY NEED ME! TRIX... RON! Ron... Ron... Tri...xie..."

Celestia and Luna get out of Tartarus while W starts punching the cage with his hooves. He remembers the train again and shivers go down his spine... but two images can't stop stomping his thoughts... Ron's body, lying on a train wagon's floor, killed by Plegovich... and Trixie's blue hoodie. Why did he have to get rid of Trixie? Why? She didn't do anything! Why did he do it?

"Calm down," says a familiar voice. Stallion W looks above him and finds out Discord is inside the cage with him, as a draconequus.

"You?"

"Hi, W... I haven't seen you since... that day before the Train."

"No," says W with a lump on his throat. "Don't ever say that again. I feel... I feel I'll never be the same after that. I've changed, Discord... I want to see Plegovich and all of his friends dead... and their blood on my hands..."

"Calm down, W... now you need to know something very important."

"What?" he says, angrily. "I've got to know that all of my friends may be dead and I am now a horse trapped inside a magic jail?"

"You are a stallion."

"WHATEVER THE FUCK I AM!"

"W... calm down... I came here to tell you that my old friend told me everything will be OK."

"Ok? Everything OK after the Train?" says W., "Ron's dead! Trixie's dead! Plegovich won... and everything's OK? Why don't you tell your old friend to go fuck himself?"

"Hey, that old friend of mine saved your life. He put you here. You should thank him."

"...He put me in this cage... as a stallion?"

"You would have died if it wasn't for us, W. This friend told me I had to magically cure you, carry you here, to the Tartarus, and leave you."

"Tell that friend of you I want to be free... and I want to kill Plegovich with my bare hands!"

"No," says Discord. "If my friend's words are true, you will have to wait just... a couple of minutes."

"What?" says W. "Why don't you get me out of here now? Why I have to wait?"

"Oh... he's calling me. I'll tell you later."

"But..." W shuts his mouth... because he finds out Discord is no longer there. He sighs and lies on the floor while a tear comes down from his right eye. Suddenly, Cerberus, the three-headed dog appears and starts barking.

"What do you want, dog?" says W.

However, Cerberus is not the only creature outside the cage right now. Behind him, a purple alicorn appears. It has a dark purple mane and also a purple aura around her horn. She is reading a book which is also surrounded by the same aura, and then the alicorn slowly moves her eyes and looks at W.

"Who are you?" says W.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle."

"Twilight Sparkle?" says W, shocked. "Twilight from the human world or this world?..." he says, but then he realizes she isn't the Twilight she knows, she is indeed from this world. The cage is opened and W can finally come out of it. Twilight stops reading her book and enters the cage.

"I am only letting you out because we want to know if you are the Bedmaker of the human world."

"I am, indeed," says W. "I am not a stallion, I am a human."

"Well, if you are human, you may explain to me what has happened these last weeks on Sunset Shimmer's world. Come with me."

"Pleg..."

"Not here," says Twilight Sparkle. "You will have to explain to all of us. Come with me to the Castle of Friendship."

Castle of Friendship

W enters the Castle of Friendship and looks that there is another massive building next to it, called the School of Friendship, that has a sign that says: "Holidays have been changed. New Year starts on August 1st.". After reading the sign, he enters the Castle of Friendship's throne room and stays next to Twilight and Spike. There are also other ponies inside the castle: Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Starlight Glimmer is also there but apart from the table. Everypony is silent and can't stop looking at W as a stranger... as a threat. Nopony, except for Twilight Sparkle, has told him something, and he feels a bit scared because of that.

W looks at a sign that calls his attention: there is a sign that says: "The Magic Bird hasn't attacked since April 30th... we seriously have to stop it!"

"What is that?" asks W. "An evil bird?"

The ponies look at each other. "Are you serious?" says Rarity. "That bird was the one you let go to rob the Great Galloping Gala. It is a giant evil bird that even Fluttershy cannot control."

"I... I tried to," says Fluttershy. "But he shouted to me and escaped... and since yesterday... He hasn't attacked Ponyville."

Suddenly, Twilight puts the book she was carrying on the throne room's table. He opens it with his magic and leaves it on a page.

"I want you to read this," says Twilight. "And I want you to explain all of us here what happened."

W nods his head and starts reading:

January 24th

Dear Princess Twilight:

I'm writing this to you because there is something that is worrying me, and I don't know who neither what this is.

Days ago, Flash Sentry told me and my friends, including your human counterpart, a stranger wanted to take us photos without our consent, but not only he did this, but also Flash told us he had a weapon that he may have wanted to use against us.

Today I was going to the school's bathroom until I heard a thought related to us. He wanted to look for the girls because someone called Plegovich wanted us for the next day. He may be a crazy journalist or something like that, but I'm still worried.

Sunset Shimmer.

January 25th

Dear Princess Twilight:

Something's happening. I don't like this... This may be worse than Midnight Sparkle, I think.

Lots of weird guys dressed in tuxedos arrived yesterday at school with a lime-skinned man. They told us we had to stop a threat in Saik City and wanted to go to as train.

There is only a page left. Twilight turns over the page with his magic and W reads the last letter with shivers.

April 25th
HELP
HELP
HELP
HELP
HELP

W looks at Twilight, shocked. "We tried to enter the human world," says Twilight. "But Canterlot's streets were empty. We didn't find anyone."

"When did you enter the human world?" asks W.

"Three days ago," answers Spike. W shakes his head.

"Well," says W. "Before explaining this to you, I want you to know that I am not related to any robbery or heist made by my counterpart. I am the human Bedmaker."

"If you are the human Bedmaker," says Rainbow Dash. "Tell us what happened on January 25th in the human world if you were there... because we saw you for the first time and were captured and sent to the Tartarus on March 1st."

W now looks at every pony around him. The only thing he is thinking right now is what is he going to say to all these ponies... what is he going to say about Plegovich, and he knows these ponies are serious as shit.

"Ok," says W. "I'll be honest. All your human counterparts were kidnapped... or disappeared, I don't know... by a man called Nicholas Plegovich."

Now, all of the ponies are shocked. Fluttershy covers her face with her hooves and Spike almost passes out. Twilight now approaches W. "Is that Plegovich guy the name you shouted yesterday?" she asks.

"Yes..." says W, with a lump on his throat. "He destroyed Canterlot... destroyed me... he kidnapped my friends, killed an old pal... he killed... he killed... Trixie."

"Trixie?" says Starlight Glimmer, shocked. "Trixie Lulamoon?"

W turns around and looks at Twilight. He slowly nods his head. "And that's it," he says. "This man called Plegovich made them disappear, and I have no clue where they are. Sorry for giving you little information."

"Don't worry," says Twilight Sparkle. "It is enough. Now, you can go back to your cage by now, until we decide when you can be free."

"Um..." says W, a little bit disappointed. "What? I need to go back to my human world, please! They need me!"

"Sorry," says Twilight Sparkle. "But we still don't know if you are the Bedmaker from Ponyville or the human world. We will verify your information and investigate about this. Unfortunately for you, you will have to be on the Tartarus until we come up to a conclusion."

"I am the human Bedmaker, Twilight! Please, you need to listen to me!"

But then, Royal Guards appear and carry W to the Tartarus. Once they close the Throne Room's Door, the Mane 6, Spike and Starlight Glimmer start discussing.

"I think he may be lying," says Rarity. "All of us know Bedmaker is a pretty good liar."

"He had his cutie mark, Twilight," says Starlight.

"I know, Starlight," she answers. "But I am not sure if this Bedmaker is the one we were looking for. Despite he is a stallion and has his cutie mark, he told us what happened in the human world."

"But... Twi," says Rainbow Dash. "We don't know if he is lying or not."

"Hey, I wanna say something," says Spike. "I saw his face while he was talking about Trixie. I think he is the human counterpart of Bedmaker and he may have known the human counterpart of Trixie while being on the other side of the mirror."

"I still believe da boy's a good liar," says Applejack. "No one can lie better than Bedmaker."

Then, something breaks in half from out of nowhere. Everypony looks at the object who broke: a mirror.

"What? No!" shouts Twilight Sparkle. "The Crystal Mirror broke in half! But... how?"

The ponies and Spike approach the broken Crystal Mirror, which was used to go to the human world. The Crystal Mirror is broken but... how did it break?

Tartarus

W comes back to the Tartarus, disappointed and still under the weather. He is angriest than ever because of the Train, but at the same time, he feels lost and blue because he doesn't know what to do inside the pony world and how to go home, to the human world... Besides, he doesn't know how are their friends there. Are they kidnapped? Dead? Alive? Where are they? What are they doing now? What are they doing to them?

He gets in the cage and the Royal Guards lock it. He lies on the floor and starts playing with his hooves, trying to learn how to live with these. Minutes later, Discord appears again inside the cell with a smoothie.

"Hello there."

"Hi," says W while looking to the cage's ceiling.

"How are you?"

W moves his head and looks to Discord. "Are you kidding me? You really asked me how I feel?"

"Whoops, sorry... I didn't know how to break the ice. Don't you want a smoothie?"

"No."

"Why not? It is strawberry-flavoured."

"I'm not in the right mood, Discord!" shouts W and gets up. "What the fuck do you want?"

"Um, OK... I came here to tell you something."

"What? Something from your old friend who is afraid of revealing his identity? Tell me who's him, for god's sake!"

"I've already told you I can't say his name here. Ponies are afraid of him."

"Why? Is that old friend of yours Lord Tirek or any other creature from Equestrian Mythology?"

"Yes, it is from Equestrian Mythology... and he is often referred to as the Devil."

W raises an eyebrow. "You mean... oh, man... which was his name? Vreminian?"

Discord chuckles. "No, you idiot. Sir Verminium is now locked inside a magic statue which is located into an unknown island. He would never be that guy because he will be trapped inside that statue forever."

"So who is him?"

"I can't tell you his name... the only thing I can say is that he broke a mirror for you!

"A mirror? Why?"

"Long story, but that's not what I want to talk about... um... he told me something you won't like so much."

"What?"

"You will have to wait here, on the Tartarus, until my old friend's order. You can't go to the human world until his word."

"Are you kidding me?" says W. "I can't wait until I enter the human world and destroy Plegovich... and you tell me this? How long I will have to stay here?"

Discord raises his shoulders. "He didn't tell me."

W closes his eyes and slams the cell's floor with his hooves. "You son of a..." he shouts, but finds out Discord is not there anymore. "No! No! I will never... never..."

W shouts and tries to get out of the cell. Then, he finds out Tirek and Cozy Glow, who are in a cage under him, are looking at him. He calms down and sits on the floor. "Sorry," he says. "I'm going through bad times."

"You are clearly a psychopath," says Cozy Glow, while looking at Tirek. "Maybe worse than him."

"Than me?" says Lord Tirek. "That weak pony... worse than me?"

"Hey, watch your mouth, goatee!" says W. "I can kick your ass even if I was that filly."

"Oh, you..." says Tirek, and suddenly W begins to feel colder than normal. He feels dizzy and looks at how the Tartarus is slowly turning into complete darkness.

"What?" he says while falling to the cage's floor. "What? Help!"

Tirek and Cozy Glow aren't there anymore, and a smooth voice starts whispering around W's stallion ears. "The Train... The Liar... Train, Train, Train... Liar, Liar, Liar... Bad Man, Bad Man, Bad Man..."

"NO, PLEASE!" shouts the scared stallion. Now he is only in a dark room while being surrounded by whispers and shouts. Suddenly, certain images appear around him. A train, the Crystal Mirror, both Twilight Sparkles (human and pony), Pinkie Pie crying, a kitchen knife and Grey Blackle. All these images start flying around him along with the whispers. "STOP! STOP! STOP!"

"AAAARGGHHHH!" shouts the whisper. All of the images join into a massive fireball and explode into a burst of light. W closes his eyes and feels something on his hooves... they are slowly turning into human hands.

He opens his eyes and he is a human again. A naked human. He turns his head to the right and finds out there are a black desk and a small chair. He wakes up and looks around. Everything is black. He can't see any other thing except for the desk and that chair.

"Sit down."

"Who is there?" shouts W. He can't see any human or pony near him. "Who are you?"

"Sit down, Walter Theodore Waters. We have to talk."

"On that chair?"

"On that chair, but be careful... you should wait three seconds because you will sneeze while sitting down and you will hit your head with my desk."

W thinks that is a joke. "Are you kid..." W's nose itches and then he sneezes. The voice was right. "Holy shit... you were right."

"Sit down now."

W now sits down and looks that there is a couch in front of him. The coach turns around and a tall, skinny man shows up. He is a beige-skinned, bald man with a black tuxedo with a tie and black sunglasses. He slowly puts his hands on the desk and remains silent.

"Um... may I know who are you? And why am I here?"

"Let me present, Walter Waters. My name is Event, and I am a preacher and a god from Equestrian Mythology."

"A god? Wow... I've never heard of you, though."

"People do know me... Ponies do know me but they fear me because I helped Verminium a long time ago to fight against Celestia and Luna to obtain Equestria's throne. The problem is that they never understood why I did it." Then, Event stands up and starts walking around W. "As a preacher, I can know what will happen in the future, and thanks to this I was the oracle. I was the one that everyone wanted to talk to. Everyone wanted to know their futures... And that day... I found out, thanks to my visions, that if Verminium won and obtained his throne, he would be easier to defeat in the future. I told Celestia and Luna this so many times... but they didn't believe me. They never did. They treated me like nothing. They said I was evil and now ponies fear me... and I only helped them with a master plan... with the power that makes me who I am... a preacher."

"Um..." says W. "And how is this related with me?"

"I don't like messing with time, Walter Waters... I only did it once because of Verminium and look at its results... I ended up like an enemy. That's why I prefer the future to be natural rather than be modified by my hands. However, a time ago I had a message... a whisper... a vision from the future, and I knew I had to mess with time again."

"Why?"

Event sits on his chair and slams his fist onto the table. "That Plegovich guy... with Verminium's magic on his hands... he will destroy your world, Walter Waters, and he will also destroy mine."

"How?" asks W. "How can he destroy this world if he is in the other one?"

"Well... take a look at this," says Event and then he touches W's forehead.

The Bedmaker closes his eyes and feels he is in a rush. He slowly opens his eyes and looks that he is Canterlot, in front of Canterlot High. The sky is not blue anymore, but dark red. There is also a strange, nasty smell around the area and W wants to know what it is.

While walking to Canterlot High's entrance door, he finds a newspaper and grabs it. There are only four words in the newspaper's cover: "This is the End."

W passes the Wondercolts Statue and finds out someone is there, on the floor. When he approaches the person, he finds out it is Applejack.

"Um..." says W, trying to remember her name. "Applejack? Applejack?"

Applejack doesn't answer, and W tries to wake her up by touching her shoulder. Soon he finds out her shoulder is cold, really cold. He slightly moves her and looks that somebody cut her neck. She's dead. "Oh my..." says W, shocked, and while looking around he finds another body, and another one, and another one, and another one.

There are three dead girls near the football pitch. W doesn't identify two of them, but he realizes the third dead girl is Sweetie Belle. All of them have cuts on her arms and legs, and one of those girls' (Applebloom) body has a note on her hands. W grabs it and reads it.

"Dear Applejack,

Come here, they are following us outside."

W leaves the note on the floor and enters Canterlot High. Everything inside is empty and silent. It looks like the school hasn't been cleaned for years, and the hallways are covered with bloodstains.

"Did you?"

W turns around, frightened, and looks that the cafeteria's door is locked. He tries to look inside through one of its windows, and sees that a girl is inside with a lime-skinned bald man with a cigarette on his mouth... that man may be Gail Garry, who knows.

"Did you understand, Sonata Dusk?" says the man. "You have been separated from your sisters because of Plegovich's orders. No tacos, no sisters, only you, me and the streets."

"I wanted to be in a happier place," says Sonata Dusk, crying. "You took me away from my last tacos!"

"You are in the happiest place of all time, Sonata! The Land of New Equestria! Where everyone lives beneath their leader, their master... Mr Plegovich!"

"But why I have to live under the orders of a man, Mr Garry?"

Yes, it is Gail Garry. "Because you have to," says Gail Garry and then he kisses Sonata's forehead. Seconds later, a portal is opened in the middle of the cafeteria and a man with a robotic arm comes out of it. It must be Doom Kid.

"Hey!" says Garry. "How did it go? How many non-Plegovich ponies you killed?"

"A lot, especially in Ponyville, man. Everyone there is non-Plegovich, I swear."

"How about Waters? Did you get him?"

Doom Kid laughs. "Holy shit, yeah," says Doom Kid, laughing. "He was hiding in Appleloosa. He shouted for all his dead friends... Tyler, Flanks, Delight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy... We killed him right there."

W walks away from that and everything is black again. Now, he is standing in front of Event.

"Did you like it?"

"Of course not."

"That future you saw, Walter Waters, is the future I want to change. That's why I analyzed so many timelines and situations and find out there is a way to make all of that stop. There is a way where Plegovich can lose and you can win."

"What should I do then? How do I do that?"

"You must do what I say... and that's it."

"Um... that's it?" he says, and then the Bedmaker raises an eyebrow. "Wait... aren't you...?"

"I am that old friend Discord told you about, and I cured you and put you in the Tartarus. I need you alive because Plegovich wins in all the futures... except the ones where you come back from the pony world. However, I found a future where you win, Equestria is not destroyed and Plegovich is defeated. The first thing you have to do if you want to live that future is to wait in your cage until Princess Twilight appears."

"Sure," says W. "But how long do I have to wait?"

"Little time."

Event covers W's face with his hand and disappears, and the Bedmaker comes back in the cell as a stallion.

"Just remember, W. You will have to do everything I tell to you."

Chapter 10: A New World (Part 2)

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 11: The Truth

May 2nd

Ponyville

The Mane 6 are walking around Ponyville, thinking about what W told them yesterday.

"Seriously, Flutters, you are the only one that strongly believes in him," says Rainbow Dash while looking at Fluttershy.

"Um... you know, Dash..." says Fluttershy. "He may have the same appearance and cutie mark... But I saw his face while he was talking about that... I knew he was saying the truth."

"We still have no idea who is this Plegovich, though," answers Rarity, while combing her mane. "Bedmaker is a really good liar, so he may have used this Plegovich thing to lie."

Pinkie Pie wants to say something, but then lots of Royal Guards come across next to them while running at something. The Mane 6 and other ponies now look at what's happening: the Royal Guards caught a yellow stallion with a brown mane and an earring in one of his ears. He also has a cutie mark: an unmade bed.

"No!" shouts the stallion. "You idiots! You would never catch me!"

The stallion tries to escape, but Royal Guards grab him and Princess Twilight comes out. She uses her horn to trap the stallion in a magic aura. The Princess approaches him and realizes something:

"BEDMAKER!" she shouts.

"We caught him near Canterlot," says a Royal Guard. "He was trying to steal Sapphire Shores' ruby dress."

"Princess Twilight!" shouts Bedmaker while being trapped in her magic aura. "I haven't seen your face for centuries! You need to get me free, now! I was saving Ponyville from the bird!"

Ponies from Ponyville get scared and start running away, but the Mane 6 don't fall on Bedmaker's lie.

"We won't fall on your game, Bedmaker," says Rainbow Dash.

"Holly molly..." says Bedmaker, while looking at the Mane 6. "I forgot the Special Equestrian Intelligence Service, a.k.a. S.E.I.S. was looking for me," he says and starts laughing.

"Hey..." says Spike. "I kinda like that name, Twilight."

"This is not funny, Spike!" she shouts. "Now, Bedmaker... you will go back to Tartarus, where you belong."

Bedmaker raises an eyebrow. "Go back to Tartarus? But I've never been there!"

"What? I looked for you yesterday and found you..."

"Are you kidding? I've never been in Tartarus... wait, did you have a cage reserved for me? Awww, how nice from you, girls! Love you!"

"Wait," says Applejack. "That. Look at his ear. The ol' Bed boy didn't have it."

"Oh, you mean... my earring?" shouts Bedmaker. "It is my favourite thing about this world, besides the Fluttercord ship, girls... now, will you let me go? I need somewhere to do my necessities..."

The Mane 6 know that this Bedmaker's attitude is not the same as the one they talked to yesterday. Yesterday's Bedmaker was desperate for going back to the human world and was more serious than this one. Besides, Royal Guards look at Bedmaker's earring on his ear, which the other Bedmaker didn't have. Then, Princess Twilight looks at the Royal Guards and says: "I want to go to the Tartarus. I need to check out something."

W is sleeping on the cage, after having his fifth nightmare on the night. He wanted to sleep so much that he spent the whole morning trying to find a decent position where he can relax and sleep, but he can't... his thoughts, his past... it's slowly eating his mind. The Train... is turning him crazy, he has now a thirst of revenge mixed with drops of sadness and melancholy, because he doesn't know when is he going to return to his world. However, he still feels hope, especially because he has Event, a god, on his side, but at the same time he thinks that God is not so reliable... he just does not trust him.

"Wake up."

W recognizes that voice and immediately stands up. "What? What? What I have to do?"

"Wait for you."

"...for me? What?"

A portal is opened next to his cage. Royal Guards, the Mane 6, Spike and a stallion that looks exactly like W appear in front of the cage. The magic aura who was around the pony Bedmaker disappears and both Bedmakers look at each other.

"W-What?" says the pony Bedmaker. "How is he...?"

"Are you...?" says W. "Man... I never thought a horse with an earring could be so cool."

"Yeah, man," says the pony Bedmaker. "Wait... are you me?"

"Yes! I am Bedmaker too." says the human Bedmaker. "Hey... and you also have that drawing on your rear! I have it too!"

"That thing there is your cutie mark, d-bag," answers pony Bedmaker. "It's just a stupid mark related to your abilities and these things from this world where everything is called friendship..."

"Yeah, you are right, man!" answers human Bedmaker. "Everything here is named friendship! School of Friendship, Castle of Friendship, Streets of Friendship, Strip Club of Friendship..."

Both bedmakers laugh until Princess Twilight interrupts: "Ok, are you going to keep criticizing my world with your pony counterpart or you will come out of that cage?"

Human Bedmaker nods his head and the Royal Guards open the cage. "Wait!" says Pony Bedmaker. "I thought we were going to be best friends!"

"I need to save my world, Beddie," answers W. "But don't worry, you can make friends here. There are two guys under you."

Pony Bedmaker looks under his cage and finds Tirek and Cozy Glow sleeping. "Holy shit!" he shouts. "Lord Tirek! Cozy Glow! I'll ask Tirek for an autograph! He is my idol!"

"Bedmaker, time to go," says Twilight. "I just can't stand two bedmakers talking to each other."

"I have to go, Beddie," says W. "I'll miss you, man."

"I'll miss you too, man," answers the pony Bedmaker. Once W is about to enter the portal, he hears something: "Hey," says the pony Bedmaker. "If there is a family member of Public Property on the other side... kick his ass for me."

W laughs and nods his head. "Sure. I'll do it."

Outside the Castle of Friendship

W appears in front of the School of Friendship with the Royal Guards, the Mane 6, Spike and Starlight Glimmer with him.

"We are sorry," says one of the Royal Guards. "We thought you were the Bedmaker, despite the fact he always wears a silver earring on his left ear. Thanks to that small clue, we succeeded and identified the real Bedmaker. As an apology, we'll give you the proper compensation for you. How about two thousand gold coins from the Kingdom?"

Bedmaker shakes his head. "I want to go back to my world."

The Mane 6 feel ashamed now. "Actually," says Twilight Sparkle. "Something happened. We need to talk to you..."

Castle of Friendship

W enters the Castle of Friendship and looks at the broken Crystal Mirror. He then realizes that this is the broken mirror Discord told him about. "There is no way to fix this?" he asks.

"Yes," answers Spike. "But unfortunately you will have to wait for a long time."

"How much?"

Spike raises his shoulders. "I don't know. Fixing this and its magic will take... a month."

"No... fucking Event..." he thinks. "I can't wait for a month... my world needs me now. People may be dying now, right there... tell me there is another portal or something, please..."

The Mane 6 look at him and Rarity shakes her head. "I know there is one on the Everfree Forest..." says Twilight. "But it will take you to a stranded island in the middle of nowhere."

W sighs before hearing a voice: "Zecora."

"What?" he says. The Mane 6 and Spike raise an eyebrow. "You? Wait..."

"Tell them to go to Zecora's. You will find the key there."

"The key...?" he says, and then thinks: "I hope you are not joking me. You broke the Mirror that I could have used to go back."

"That mirror was going to be your ticket pass to death, Bedmaker."

"Why?"

"The mirror takes you to Canterlot High, which is now filled with Plegovich's workers. If they find you at that moment, they will kill you and leave you like trash."

"I could have killed all of them."

"Don't be so confident. Remember, you have to follow my words if you want Equestria to survive."

"Um... are you alright?" asks Spike, confused. W turns his head and looks at the Mane 6, again.

"Do you know... someone called Zecora?"

"Um... yes..." says Twilight. "May we know why?"

"Where is she?"

Everfree Forest

The Mane 6, Spike and W are getting nearer Zecora's House on the Everfree Forest. W finds another sign related to the mysterious bird. There is also a strange smell around the woods.

"Hmmm, girls," says Rainbow Dash. "Do you smell that?"

"It smells like strawberries," answers Rarity. "It may be interesting to use this odour on one of my new clothes..."

"Wait, girls!" shouts Twilight Sparkle. "This smell... hmmm, Spike... do you remember what that smell meant?"

"Um... strawberries?"

"No, Spike!" she shouts. "It is from a magic potion! A sleeping potion!"

The ponies and Spike get nearer Zecora's House and realize the smell is stronger. Twilight opens the door and finds everything inside Zecora's house destroyed. Everything is broken and Zecora is lying on the floor, bleeding and fainted.

"Oh no!" shouts Twilight. "Girls, Spike, Bedmaker, stay outside! Don't breath near Zecora's!"

"Go with Twilight."

"But..." says W.

"If you don't do it, Plegovich will win."

"Wait!" he shouts. "Twilight!"

W enters Zecora's house and looks there is a pink aura around the house. The smell is strong and he tries not to smell it. Twilight grabs a piece of cloth with her magic and covers W's nostrils and hers. "What are you doing?" she asks. "Don't you see this place is dangerous for you?"

W doesn't answer and tries to touch Zecora, but Twilight puts him away. Nevertheless, Zecora opens her eyes and starts gasping. She goes out of her house and groans.

"Those rascals!" says Zecora. "Those stupid bastards!"

"Zecora!" shouts Twilight, while getting out along with W. "What happened?"

"Those... those stallions! They beat me up like a battalion!"

"Which stallions?" asks Rainbow Dash.

"I don't know... but my potions were destroyed! Oh no!"

"Do you remember them?" says Spike "Something? Their mane?"

"Mmmhmm..." says Zecora, while trying to lay on the floor. "One of them didn't have a hoof... his friends helped him to move!"

W looks at Spike, confused. "Um... why is she rhyming while talking?" he asks.

"She talks like that," says Spike. "I got used to it... and you will, too."

"The other one had an orange mane and lime skin..." keeps saying Zecora, while the ponies are listening to her. "It looked like almost as green. The last one... um... the last one was grey-skinned... he always had a bad mood and did grins." W knows who is she talking about. Didn't have a hoof, lime skin, grey skin... Doom Kid, Garry and Kobolov were here. "They carried those bags filled with magic! Anything they may do with that magic will absolutely be tragic!"

"Oh my," says W and everypony look at him. "I think I've just found the thing."

"What?" says Applejack, confused.

"Those stallions... were Plegovich's workers."

La Lima.

Jack, Abe and Spike are inside a small house with Rushy, the new leader of La Lima. Jack and Abe are sitting on two wooden chairs while Spike is lying on Abe's lap. Next to them, there is a table with a handgun and a map. Rushy opens a small fridge that is next to the table and gets out from it another bottle of vodka.

"Want vodka?" asks Rushy while looking at Jack and Abe. "Trust me, you will like it." Both men shake their heads, and now Rushy looks at Spike. "It is also healthy for talking dogs." However, Spike also denies drinking it. "Well, more for me..."

"Why haven't we escaped?" says Spike while looking through a window. "I saw you kill that man on my face. We could have grabbed his car, went to Manehattan and killed Plegovich... and save my friends."

Rushy stops drinking and looks at Spike. "I was thinking about that... I killed Watchon, yes... we had the opportunity to go for Plegovich... but you know, doggy... Plegovich is a pretty clever man... so clever that he always has a plan for everything... if we go for him now, we will die..."

"And what if that doesn't happen and we kill him there?" asks Spike, again.

"If we kill him..." says Rushy. "You see, Equestria is his country now, and that means he has his army, his allies... everything. If we kill Plegovich, a friend of him will replace him and do the same thing... over and over... um... Spike? That was your name?"

"Yeah," he answers.

"So... you want to do the old method," says Jack. "You want to go for his weaker allies first, and then climb up the ladder until Plegovich."

Rushy laughs and finishes his glass. "Very good! That's what I want to do! Kill every single one of them!"

"So..." says Abe. "You want to do that plan, but you killed Watchon and stayed here, in La Lima... are you trying to tell us... that there are other guys here? In La Lima?"

"Well... yes," answers Rushy. "One guy."

Suddenly, Spike starts barking. He looks at a black car stopping near Rushy's House and a man comes out from it: Leritzko, one of Plegovich's workers. Rushy looks at him and sighs. "Two guys," he says. "They may be looking for you, boys. We should come out."

"If we get out of here, I'll bite that man," says Spike. "I remember his face from somewhere... but I don't remember who is him."

Jack, Abe, Spike and Rushy get out of the house and Leritzko stops at the right moment they appear. Plegovich's worker, who has now a shirt, a tie and smart pants, takes off his sunglasses and chuckles. "Look at this," he says. "Already making friends, guys?"

"I'm not only a friend," says Rushy. "But also a wise guy. You know what I'm talking about, Leritzko."

"Fuck you, Rushy," says Leritzko. "You know that your self-titled leadership on La Lima won't last so much now. On a couple of days, you will be just one more bitch on Plegovich's list."

"Yeah, yeah," says Rushy, and points out to the right. "Please, keep going, I don't want to see you around my house and my new pals. Don't break my balls and go away."

"Ok, ok, grumpy drunky," he says and starts laughing. He opens the car door and shows his handgun to Rushy, just in case he was armed. While getting in the car, his smile disappears and lowers the window. "Hey... now that I remember... on my way to La Lima, I found Watchon's car on the right side of the highway... it was destroyed, man... and Watchon was lying dead metres away..."

"Oh my," says Rushy, surprised. "He may have had an accident while going back to Manehattan."

"You know what... I looked at his body... someone shot him on his head."

Rushy raises his eyebrow, while Jack and Abe raise their shoulders. "No idea," says Rushy. "I'll be honest, Leritzko. Watchon arrived here, left them and went away."

Leritzko stares at them one more time, but then he sighs. "I'll ask everyone what happened here. If they answer something different, I'll go for you," he says and then he raises his middle finger and goes away.

"Stupid asshole," whispers Spike, angrily.

"Calm down, doggy," says Rushy. "Once we get rid of Leritzko and the other guy, Blaley, we'll get out of this piece of crap."

Zecora was sent to Ponyville Hospital after being found. The first thing Twilight did after this was immediately sending a letter to Princess Celestia and Luna about Verminium's bags. Now, the Mane 6, W, Starlight Glimmer and Spike are walking through the Ponyville Streets. Ponies are still afraid of W's appearance because he is just a copy of the pony Bedmaker, but now they look at him as a stranger instead of a burglar.

"So... there's no other way of going to the human world?" asks W.

"I don't know," answers Twilight. "Celestia and Luna may know another portal... I've just sent them a card to tell them about the bags which have been stolen. If they find a portal, don't worry, Bedmaker... we'll send Royal Guards to be with you."

W nods his head, but instantly someone talks to him.

"You must go through the portal alone. No Royal Guards."

The voice... Event's voice. He told him he had to go through the portal alone, and that means that in the future somebody will find another portal or maybe fix the mirror. "Another portal?" he whispers.

"Umm... yeah, buddy," answers Applejack. "They may find another one soon."

"Um... you know, Twilight," says W. "I want you to do me a favour, and please... I want you to do it."

"Um... sure, what?" she says.

"Please... I want you not to call the Royal Guards to go with me. It's not because I don't like them or whatever... it's something very important..."

"Well... why?" says Rainbow Dash. "Royal Guards may be useful for you, dude. They can help you against that Plegovich."

"No, seriously," answers W. "This man... Plegovich is very clever, and I don't want him to know that I am there. If I carry Royal Guards with me... they will easily find out, you know..."

"But darling, you can't do it alone!" says Rarity. "Twilight told us the streets were empty... there was such a sinister atmosphere around human Canterlot, who knows what kind of catastrophe may be happening right now?"

"Yes, you are right, Rarity..." he answers. "But it is better for me to go alone."

"Wait... how do you know her name?" says Spike, worried. W looks at him and chuckles because he knows he is jealous.

"Oh, I know all of your human counterparts, including you, Spike..."

"Mm-hmm," says Spike, while letting a sigh of relief go through his nostrils. W chuckles. "And was I a cool human?"

"No..." says W confused. "It's a long story..."

"Look to the left."

W looks to the left and finds out there is a grey-skinned stallion with black mane and tail and glasses talking to another pony. He hears a name in the distance:

"Oh, Calculated Risk, that's interesting," says the pony.

Calculated Risk. That name sounds very familiar. Where did he hear that from? Oh god, oh wait... Wait...

Months Ago. La Lima.

"Who's this? Are you a newbie?" asks W to Larry.

"No, I'm Mr. Calculated Risk and I'm Mr. Delight's assistant for a project."

"Calculated... Can I call you Larry? Larry's an easier name." answers W.

Days before the Fall Formal/Canterlot High War. Sandy Suburbs

"Where's Larry?" I ask, confused.

"The grey guy?" says my grandpa. "He escaped through the magical toilet. A coward... but that doesn't matter now. May a gang fight happen on Friday?"

"Maybe," I answer. "Who knows?"

"Hey... are you OK?" asks Starlight. "You've stopped walking for five minutes."

Larry escaped through the magical toilet... but wait, where is the other side of that toilet? Where did Larry appear when he escaped through that magical toilet Wilbur told him? His grandpa may be lying... but if there is something he knows now is that Larry never appeared again in the human world, and now he is in front of his eyes... No, his grandpa wasn't lying. He did escape and appeared in the pony world...

"Larry."

"What?" says Pinkie Pie. "Did you say party? I can organize a party for you this night!"

"Larry!" says W and then he runs to Calculated Risk.

"Wait, what are you doing?" shouts Twilight. "Come here!"

SOMETHING IN THE WAY...

Author's Note

Chapters whose titles are on caps (for instance, this one) are not related to the main plot and can be skippable, but can be useful to learn and know imformation and background about certain characters. For instance, this skippable chapter is about Alexei Ushin and his past.

SOMETHING IN THE WAY...

1993. Manehattan.

A grey-skinned man who is smartly dressed gets down from a bus and looks around him: buildings, brand-new cars and wealthy people walking on the streets. He is in Manehattan, Equestria's capital city.

"Holy..." whispers the man while looking at the biggest building out there, which has a horse statue on the top. It is the beautiful Golden Horse Hotel, which also has the Golden Horse Casino inside.

"Hey!" hears the man. He turns around and looks at a light-blue skinned man which carries the same suit as him and also has a trident tattoo on his right cheek. "The first time is surprising, yes, but you'll get used to."

Both men laugh and shake their hands. "Nice to meet you, Mr..." says the man.

"Montreal Plegovich, I am Nicholas' brother, and your name is...?"

"Alexei Ushin."

Montreal and Alexei start walking, heading to the Golden Horse Hotel. "Come with me, Alexei," he says. "You shouldn't be on a Manehattan street for so long..."

"Why?"

"We are more than a Manehattan street. Don't you know?"

"Yes, um... I know you..."

"Sshh! Don't talk about that right here. I'm already calling someone's attention with my tattoo. We should talk about you, your old days now... just relax... because it may be the last time you will be relaxed..."

Ushin looks at Montreal, shocked. "W... W-Why?"

"Being with Nicholas means you will have to work 24/7... From now on, you will never have free time to do what you want. Keeping up with the Plegovichs may mean being in the highest seats... but you will have to kick your ass if you want to be on that chair for a long time."

"That means..."

"You will never be calm again."

And with that phrase, Ushin's face completely changes from a happy grin to a shocking gesture.

Ushin and Montreal get inside a deluxe, marvellous living room in the Golden Horse. An old woman is sitting there, along with a young Nicholas Plegovich and a young purple-skinned lady with a black dress.

Ushin gets surprised while looking at the pretty lady's presence, but she only passes him by and leaves the living room with a glass filled with champagne. Meanwhile, Nicholas kisses the old woman on her forehead and laughs while looking at Ushin.

"Long time no see, old friend," says Plegovich. "Finally you listened to your father's words and came. You will be the second Ushin, along with Mr Glasnost, your father, to be on the Red Beast. This woman here is my aunt, Minerva. She's been on the business for years."

Ushin waves his hand at Minerva but she raises an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to give me a kiss?" she says.

"Um... why I..."

"Go ahead," says Montreal Plegovich. "Kiss her on her forehead."

"But..."

"Go ahead, Alexei..." says Nicholas, smiling. "We won't tell you the plan if you don't do it."

Alexei goes and slowly kisses Minerva's forehead. The Plegovichs smile and nod their head while looking at his action. "Very good," says Montreal, laughing.

"He has soft lips," says Minerva, the aunt. "I'd like him to kiss me one more time."

Ushin says that is not necessary, but the Plegovichs order him to do it again. He realizes that if he denies that the situation won't end up well, so he does it again.

"Ok..." says Nicholas Plegovich. "Sit down, Alexei. I'm about to tell you what my father was thinking for the past few years."

"The Red Beast's territories?" says Ushin. "I think if he does want the whole city of Manehattan..."

"No, no. We are not talking about that here," says Plegovich. "My father has a special project, don't you know? The project that wants the entire place."

Ushin raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean with place? A bank...?"

Plegovich smashes his hand against the table and slowly opens it. He touches his palm while Ushin looks at it, confused. "See this hand?" says Plegovich. "The thumb is Manehattan. The other four fingers are the other big cities: Canterlot, Las Pegasus, Los Mantos and Cloudsdale City. The palm is all of the remaining cities out there in Equestria. What my father's secret project says... this whole hand, every city, everyone... can be mine. Can be yours. Can be us."

Ushin feels shivers going down his spine and his whole body. The Five Cities? Is he crazy?

"The Five Cities?" says Alexei Ushin. "Are you nuts? That's impossible!"

"Not only the Five... we want the whole Equestria, and we are not nuts, Alexei... if you have a Plegovich on your back, you can do it."

1994. A Year Later. The Ushins' garden.

Alexei Ushin is looking at his father, who is smoking a cigar while looking at the plants on his garden. His father doesn't look him back, he is just concentrated on his problems.

"Do you know that thing you did may cause a war, right? On our hometown..." says Alexei. "Both of us knew that project was fucking crazy but... was that argument you had with them necessary? You know they will kill us, get rid of us, I don't know... shit, fuck... dad! Listen to me! We are dead men! They may be looking for us!"

"Son..." says Glasnost. "See those plants?"

"Why do you want to talk about the plants?" says Ushin.

"Look at them."

"But..."

"Just look at them, Alexei."

Alexei looks at the plants in front of him. "Why do you want me to look at them?"

"Those plants are you, Alexei." The son looks at his dad, confused. "You want to keep your mouth shut, and that's not the right thing to do. The Ushins always speak loud, no matter what. In my old days, our family was known to be the toughest around Luna Bay, and I won't change that because of a crazy old man with a stupid wealthy family that wants to kick my ass. I am not those plants, Alexei, because they don't move... they don't speak. I'll make my move, I'll speak... and I also want you to do that. You are an Ushin, Alexei... not a Plegovich."

"But... we are two. They are a hundred..."

"And what? You will join them because they are more than us?"

"Um... yes."

"You coward. I'll never be with them, no matter what... If I die, I'll die. If they kill me, they will kill me... but I will never change my opinion."

"Look, dad..."

"Stop," says Glasnost while touching his son's arm. "Do you want to be a plant?"

"Um... of course not."

"Then... why are you lying to yourself? Why are you giving yourself in, Alexei?"

"Because I don't wanna die..."

Glasnost sighs and goes inside his house, in silent. "You will regret that decision, kid," he says and leaves Alexei in the garden, alone. "Remember that I told you that."

1995. A Year Later. Butter Valley.

Ushin is in front of a door, waiting for someone to open it. His appearance has changed... he is not wearing wealthy tuxedos anymore, and he has now long hair and a full beard. He hasn't slept for two days and feels under the weather for real. Suddenly, someone opens his door: a young Sergei looking at him.

"What?"

"Um, hello... I am looking for..."

"No," says Sergei, unexpectedly. "Get out of here, We don't give money to hobos."

"Sergei," says Plegovich, wearing a purple tuxedo and showing for the first time his neck's swan tattoo. "That guy there is not a hobo. I know him. Come, Alexei."

Sergei raises both eyebrows and lets him in and both men sit in a cozy couch. "Champagne?" says Plegovich. Alexei denies it.

"Why... did you call me?" says Ushin. "I haven't received a call from you for a whole year..."

"Yeah, I know, sorry..." says Plegovich. "But that war started, your father was killed... and now my father has cancer. I've got to admit I almost forgot about you because of all that shit... and you know what? I want you again."

"Why?"

"Because I miss you, Alexei. Old friends shall not be betrayed."

Alexei laughs. "Your father killed mine... and they were old friends."

"No, that's different... they argued a time ago and the fight finished. If you look at our relationship, we never had an argument, so we never fought each other. That's why I have a job for you, to make you return."

"What?"

"I want you to rob a train."

"Sure," says Ushin, closing his eyes. "S... Sure... whaaat's... that about..."

"Ha, ha!" he chuckles. "You haven't slept, don't you?" Ushin nods his head, so Plegovich answers: "Then sleep my friend, this couch's comfy for you. Just relax... when you wake up, I'll tell everything for you... just relax."

Ushin doesn't answer anymore. He has just fallen asleep. Plegovich gets up and goes for Sergei.

"What, sir?" says Sergei, who is standing on the entrance door.

"It was easier than I thought. Come on, he has just fallen asleep. Grab him... go to the Train."

Twelve hours later, Ushin wakes up inside a train wagon. He is also tied to the wagon's floor with three ropes. He can't move either his arms or legs. Then, Plegovich gets in the wagon along with Sergei, his brother Montreal and a young Grey Blackle, being handled with a leash. Seconds later, ten men also get in the wagon with crowbars on their hands.

"What the hell?" says Ushin, trying to escape. "What the fuck?"

"You are not useful anymore, Alexei."

"No!" shouts Ushin. "You! YOU! You told me old friends should never be betrayed!"

"Ha, ha! You are not an old friend, Ushin... you are nothing. You are part of history."

"NOO! YOU MOTHER..." he shouts, and the ten men start hitting his chest with the crowbars and their feet. They beat them up and leave him almost dead minutes later. He has a concussion and his whole body is purple because of bruises. His nose and mouth are bleeding, and he also has lost two teeth and five of them are broken.

"Are you sure you don't want to shoot him in the head?" says Sergei.

"Nah..." says Plegovich. "Let him die of hunger and thirst," he says and everyone gets down from the wagon and the train starts moving.

"Holy shit... what happened to this wagon?"

Look at the coupling hook... it's broken. It looks like the wagon's hook broke in half and was separated from the train.

"Hey! There's something in the way..." hears Ushin while waking up. He is dizzy, he almost sees nothing but he can identify a human shape in front of him. "Look at this. What the hell?"

"Man, he is dead as fuck," says another man.

"No, wait!" someone shouts. "He's breathing! He's breathing! Get him out!"

Someone cuts the rope and a group of people get Ushin out from the train wagon. The victim realizes the train is not there... the wagon is the only thing that remains from it.

"Uh... uh..." whispers Ushin.

"Don't worry, my man," says one of his saviours. "Here in La Lima, we have medics everywhere. They can cure you. You will be alright."

Ushin realizes he survived and he is now in La Lima.

Chapter 12: Information

May 2nd

Ponyville

W stops and looks at Calculated Risk and the pony he was talking to. "Oh no, the Bedmaker!" shouts the pony, and both of them run away.

"No!" shouts W. "Calculated Risk! I need your help! LARRY!"

Calculated Risk stops and looks at his pony friend that keeps running. He slowly turns his head around while looking at W and Princess Twilight behind him.

"Why did you want to go for him?" asks Twilight, confused.

"I need your help, Larry," says W.

"What?" says Calculated Risk. He thinks that Bedmaker is not the pony one... it must be the other one. "You... what do you want?"

"I told you, Larry. I need your help."

W, Calculated Risk and Twilight go back to where they were before. "My grandpa told me you escaped through a magical toilet or something a time ago... I want to know where can I find that portal."

"Oh..." says Calculated Risk, while looking at everypony. "What happened? Did you accidentally enter here and want to come back with Mr Delight?" asks Calculated Risk.

W sighs and looks at Larry. "Ron has passed away. He was murdered, and now I need to avenge him by getting rid of his murderer... a crazy guy who may have now human Equestria on his hands."

Calculated Risk's mouth opens because of shock. "Oh... that's... shocking."

"I came here because the Crystal Mirror, the only portal I had to the human world near me, was broken, and my grandpa told me months ago you came back here through a magical toilet."

"Ugh..." says Calculated Risk. "Don't make me remember that... It was a gross experience."

"Ok, ok..." says Twilight, while coming back with her pony friends. "What's this? A magical toilet which is a portal? We must start from the beginning... How do you know each other?"

Calculated Risk looks at W now. He wants him to say the truth. "Um..." says W. "A long time ago, I worked for a man called Ron Delight... This man wanted something... and Calculated Risk was the one who knew it..."

"What kind of thing, Bedmaker?" asks Twilight.

W looks at Calculated Risk now, and the pony known as Larry says something: "Mr. Delight was looking for an amulet on the pony world and I decided to help him... both Delight and me met here, on Ponyville... and then I went to the human world and that's where I met Bedmaker. That's our story."

"And what's that magical toilet thing?" says Rainbow Dash. "I'm afraid that doesn't sound nice."

"It must be a toilet who talks, Dash," whispers Pinkie Pie. "Imagine... What would a magical toilet say?"

"Pinkie, please," says Twilight. "Do you know what is that toilet, Mr Risk?"

"Well..." says Calculated Risk. "The magical toilet works, yes... but the trip sucks... and the place where it carries you is far away too."

W raises an eyebrow. "Place? Which place are you talking about?"

Calculated Risk looks at Twilight and her friends. "The Dragon Lands," he answers.

La Lima.

Jack, Abe, Spike and Rushy are inside the house again. However, Spike keeps looking through the window, to see what is happening in La Lima at the moment.

"Stop doing that, Spike," says Abe. "The only thing you are doing is looking straight at dirt, mud and precarious houses made of wood."

"Yes, but maybe something will happen soon..." answers Spike. "Something that we can take advantage of... and we will escape and save Twi, Dash... save everyone, Abe! Save Rarity!"

Abe sighs. "I wish we could..."

While looking at the window, another car stops in La Lima and comes out from it a purple-skinned man with brown hair, pink sunglasses, a beige t-shirt and dark pants. Leritzko looks at him and both men stretch their hands.

"Hey, what's up?" says Jack, and then he looks at the window. "Leritzko and... wait, I know that guy."

"Really?" says Abe. "I've never seen him in my life."

"His face sounds familiar to me... but I don't remember his name."

"Petko?" says Rushy while looking at the men through another window. "I know him... works for Plegovich now... son of a bitch."

"Who in the hell is that guy? His face sounds familiar but I don't know why is he related to Plegovich." says Jack.

"He was in the Blue Mares of Manehattan," answers Rushy. "A great friend of his nephew, Lucas... he may have earned a better spot, and I've also heard he founded a cabaret months ago... maybe Plegovich is using that..."

"Hmmm..." says Jack. "Blue Mares..."

"Oh," says Rushy. "I forgot he worked for Rotten Scripture."

Jack holds his fist now. "Oh, now I know why I recognized him... he worked for my father's murderer... Hmmm, Spike?."

"Yeah?" says the dog.

"You wanna escape?"

"Yes."

"Go there and try to listen to what they are talking about."

"Are you crazy?" says Spike. "They will discover me."

"You are a dog, Spike," says Abe.

"Yeah... I hide the secret that I can talk like you hide the secret that you are freaking gangsters from me, you know what I mean, right?"

Rushy chuckles while hearing this and caresses Spike. "Good dog, Spikey. However, Jack's idea is not that bad. Both Leritzko and Petko don't know that you talk. You can do it."

Spike sighs. "If I do it, you will give me something?"

"Yeah, congratulations," says Jack. "And your chance to escape from La Lima and to kick everyone's ass, Spike."

"And to save Twilight, your owner, your friends, Rarity..." says Abe. "My Rarity... My Sweetie Belle..."

"Ok..." says Spike, while getting down from the table where he was standing. "Fine, I'll do it."

A minute later, Spike comes out of the house and starts messing around Petko's car. He decides to stay and lie near Petko's.

"Oh, look at this," says Petko. "Dogs in La Lima?"

"It is the dog from the newbies," answers Leritzko before chuckling. "Workers of Ron Delight. Sergei told me they were two guys and a dog... a talking dog."

"A talking dog?" says Petko, and then he starts laughing. "Bullshit! Dogs don't talk!"

"I think the same," says Leritzko while caressing Spike. "Why did they think this dog talk like a human? Dogs are like non-Plegovich people now, they only live to serve the men."

Spike groans but doesn't say anything. "Well," says Petko. "Can you let me finish? You know I'm in a hurry."

"Sure."

"Well," says Petko, and then he starts whispering: "Tell Blaley that my cabaret earned new employers: I have three dancers now... do you know them? Adagio Dazzle, Sonata Dusk, Aria Blaze...

Spike raises an eyebrow. The Dazzlings? As dancers? What were they doing before Plegovich? How did they end up as dancers?

"Um... They sound familiar," answers Leritzko. "Were they Seductive's girls? I remember when I entered the Golden Horse."

Seductive? Golden Horse? Spike slowly moves away from them and enters the house. However, Jack, Abe and Rushy are not alone anymore. A fourth man with black hair, sunglasses and a suit is talking to them. He is Blaley, the remaining guy on Plegovich's men on La Lima.

"I've already told you Watchon came here, left Tyler and Flanks here and left La Lima," answers Rushy.

"I don't trust you," answers Blaley. "Watchon had a shot on his head, and besides the Junior Brothers have vanished since Watchon's arrival."

Rushy raises his shoulders. "No idea," he says. "I haven't talked with the Brothers for weeks. They are in a different way than mine. "

Blaley groans. "Ugh... You know, Rushy... Leritzko told me he asked plenty of people about Watchon... and they answered him the same thing as you. If I grab the Junior Brothers outside La Lima and they say your name... I'll fucking hang you all in Main Street. You, Tyler, Flanks, every human being in La Lima including the dog. Consider your ass saved this time, bitch."

"Nice to see you around too, Blaley," says Rushy, laughing. Plegovich's man shows his anger by kicking the entrance door and walking away. "Sorry," he says while looking to everyone. "I like getting Blaley mad. It's funny."

"How did it go, Spike?" asks Abe.

"They mentioned some girls that I've heard before," he answers. "Do you know who are the Dazzlings?"

"Um..." says Abe. "Were they the Siren Sisters?"

"Yes!" answers Spike. "The Dazzlings were the ones who were in the Battle of the Bands, and these guys said they were with someone called Seductive and were dancers in Petko's cabaret..."

"Seductive..." says Jack. "The Dazzlings were with Seductive. She adopted them..."

"You say Seductive is with them? On Petko's cabaret?" says Abe.

"Maybe," says Jack. "Hey Rushy, do you know where's that cabaret?"

"No idea," says Rushy. "I think it is near Saik City, maybe on Cabbage Town, I never went there..."

"Uh..." says Abe. "What a pity. We don't know where is that."

There is an awkward silence after that. "Hey... I forgot to ask you... where's the other one?" asks Rushy.

"Which other one?" says Spike.

"Last Time you were in La Lima, there were you two and a younger kid with a brown trenchcoat, yellow skin, a cool earring... Is he the dog or what?"

"Oh, you mean... W?" says Jack.

The two guys and Spike look at each other. "Bedmaker," says Rushy. "I think they called him like this right here, on La Lima."

Abe sighs. "He fell on Plegovich's game and... He killed him. I've got to admit he did fall in a game we all knew it was a lie... but honestly, he had the worst part... and died. Poor kid... I... I strongly miss him."

"Yeah, I miss him too," says Jack, while having a lump on his throat. "He was... like a son to Ron, Abe and me. Plegovich used him to bring Delight, who was also killed by Plegovich, down. He told him Delight lied to him and killed his parents and a guy called Alexei Ushin..."

"What?" says Rushy, raising an eyebrow. "Ushin? What did he say about Ushin?"

"Um... I Don't remember," says Abe. "He told me Ron killed him."

Rushy opens the fridge and gets put a bottle of vodka. He opens it and starts drinking. "Do you know why I ended up here? Why I hate Plegovich more than anything?"

Jack, Abe and Spike raise their shoulders. Rushy drinks vodka again and says... "I am Alexei Ushin."

A Fort in Manehattan

There is a small room with a table, two chairs and a safe with a window. Ragamuffin and Kobolov are drinking tea there, while Ragamuffin is looking through the window. There is a big white room which has Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie trapped. Pinkie's hair isn't poofy anymore.

"Stop looking," says Kobolov. "Why are you looking at them for so long?"

"Nothing."

"Are you sure?" says Kobolov, chuckling. "Are you in love with one of them?"

Ragamuffin doesn't answer, and that makes Kobolov laugh and to get up from his chair. "You've got to tell me everything, which girl do you like?"

"No one."

"Come on... the pink one? The blondie that looks like you? The one with rainbow hair? Or that one with white skin and blue hair? That girl seems to be classier than the rest... you may be in love with that one..."

"I told you no one!" shouts Ragamuffin while pointing out at Kobolov.

"Ok..." says Kobolov. "If you are not in love with anyone, I can..."

"No!"

"Then... why don't you want me to talk to them? Or to know them?"

"Because we know what you are going to do!"

"Come on, I'm not a fucking rapist, Muffin! I just want to talk to them!"

"Don't talk to Rarity..."

Meanwhile, the four girls are listening to the conversation from inside.

"They are fighting because of you, Rarity," says Rainbow Dash.

"I know, but I don't care. No matter what, Ragamuffin will never be the same to me," answers Rarity. "Even if he tries to save me from those madman's hands, I'll still consider him a tactless betrayer."

Suddenly, Kobolov slams Ragamuffin against the safe's door and throws him to another wall using his telekinetic powers. "Girls!" shouts Applejack. "The guy's beating him up! We need to save that buddy now!"

"We can't," says Rainbow Dash, while hugging Pinkamena. "We lost our powers because these madmen took our necklaces away from us. Besides, this guy has telekinesis and would kick our booties in only a couple of seconds."

"But he has telekinesis thanks to those pills," answers Rarity. "We may have to wait for the right time."

"For what?" answers Rainbow Dash, "That door is indestructible. We can't do anything."

Meanwhile, outside the safe room, Ragamuffin wakes up with a broken nose and starts coughing. Then, Kobolov grabs a phone while smashing Ragamuffin against the wall one more time while using his powers.

Equestria's House

Plegovich is in the house's camp, sitting on a chair and smoking, along with his nephew Lucas Plegovich and Grey Blackle.

"Hey Grey," says Lucas Plegovich. "Go ahead, I'll throw you a stick and please come back with him, boy."

Lucas Plegovich moves his arm and Blackle starts running. However, Lucas doesn't throw any sticks. Minutes later, he comes back and looks at the two men laughing at him.

"Ha, you stupid!" says Lucas Plegovich. "I never threw anything! You stupid dog man!"

Grey Blackle turns around and lies on the floor, sad and about to cry while the Plegovichs laugh at him. Inside his mind, he feels anger and revenge. He wants revenge...

Ring! A phone starts ringing. Lucas grabs it and looks that Kobolov is calling.

"Kobolov?" says Lucas after answering the call. "Yes... Mm-hmm... Ok... Ok, bye."

Lucas ends the call and looks at Grey Blackle. "What happened?" asks his uncle.

"Hey, you!" shouts Lucas. "We finally found a home for you..."

"A-a-are you s-s-sure???" says Blackle while looking at Lucas Plegovich. "I h-hope this-is not a j-joke..."

"It is not a joke, psychopath," answers Lucas.

"And please, stop talking like if you were a ripped CD," says Plegovich and both uncle and nephew start laughing while Grey Blackle tries not to beat them up at that moment. "Where is he going, Lucas?"

"He will go to Manehattan with Kobolov and the new kid."

"Chalk's nephew?"

"Chalk's nephew. Ragamuffin."

Grey Blackle tries to get the leash out of his neck, but Plegovich grabs it. "No," says the boss. "You are not going to take this leash out of you. That's what you are, Grey, the dog..."

"W-W-W-Why?"

"That's what I raised you for... you are not a normal gangster, Grey... you are the Devil's Pet."

"But... I-I don't like to be a pet..."

Plegovich kisses Grey Blackle's forehead and hugs him. "I'm afraid to tell you Montreal grabbed you from your father's hands only because of that... we didn't want a worker... we wanted to have a beast under our arms... a creature who had to be gangsters' biggest fear... an anomaly... now go, Grey... Kobolov's waiting for you."

"A-a-anomaly?"

"Anomaly," answers Nicholas Plegovich. "You are not normal... and you will never be."

Lucas grabs Grey's leash and both men go away. Now, Grey Blackle feels sad... since Plegovich has won he has been mistreating him and laughing at him... he said he was just an anomaly... he told him he was a pet... they treated him like a dog... he had a leash, always next to his owner... he finds out that Plegovich wanted to treat him like that all this time... he just realized this and now... he has taken a decision: kill Nicholas Plegovich.

Chapter 13: Blaleys, Dragons and Birds

La Lima.

"You?" says Jack. "Are you Alexei Ushin?"

"Yes," says Rushy. "But please, keep calling me Rushy. I want to forget that past."

"And how did you end up here?" says Abe. "We thought you were dead all this time."

"Plegovich kicked my ass in '95. He told me I was out. I was just history. He used me to climb up the ladder and then he stabbed my back."

Rushy sits on the table while drinking vodka. "My father was Oleg Ushin...

... but everyone knew him as Glasnost. He was an old friend of Plegovich's father, Mr Public Property... both men were born on the '40s on Luna Bay, which is now known as Saik City. They grew up there and created their ideas in that freaking bay. When Public Property started making the project that is happening right now, he created the Red Beast gang, along with ex-members of the Clock who agreed with his idea of making Equestria a fascist kingdom. One of those men was my father, Glasnost.

Plegovich was born in 1972, like me. My father and Public Property raised us together. We were good friends... but when I was on my teenage years during the '90s... I began to think that his father's idea was crazy... was senseless... was evil. I told my father about my thoughts, and surprisingly... he thought the same as me.

My father talked to Public Property in 1994... both of them discussed and broke up. Glasnost was not in his gang anymore... and that created the Luna Bay War... where my father died. Public Property didn't even move a finger during that war, his sons and allies killed Glasnost and my family... and then he died in 1995 because of cancer.

Two days after his death, Plegovich told me I had to rob a train with him... when I arrived, I fell in his game. I was the first train victim. He and his friends beat me up, tied me to a wagon and told me: "You are history." They left and the train started to move. They thought I was going to die of hunger and thirst, but luckily I escaped and finished in La Lima, where I built a new identity under the name of Rushy."

"Wow," whispers Spike. "That was..."

"Shocking?" says Rushy. "Yeah, I finished like your pal W... Betrayed and almost dead."

"Well..." says Abe. "At least you survived... sadly W didn't make it."

"What a pity," whispers Rushy, while shaking his head. "Who knows where is his body..."

Ponyville

"Dragon Lands?" says W. "And where is that?"

"It is an island, W," answers Calculated Risk while looking at everypony. "An island filled with dragons."

"You don't say, Larry?" says W., "I thought it was filled with magic pillows... and tell me, how many dragons are there?"

"Lots of them," says Fluttershy. "and... Princess Ember controls all of them..."

"Yeah!" answers Calculated Risk. "When I woke up on the Dragon Lands, she was the one who woke me up and sent me to Canterlot City... I remember I came out of a small, narrow hole in the ground... and dragons looked at me."

"And is there a fast way to go there?"

"I think not," answers Rainbow Dash. "The Wonderbolts never went there and they may not will now... it is also an island... you will have to walk to the coast and then use a boat to go there."

"I can take you there," says Spike. "Well... I'm not so sure, to be honest... I don't know if I could fly with a stallion on my back."

"It's not necessary, Spike," says W. "So... nobody can carry me and I will have to go by boat..." says W. "I don't want to give up but..."

"Royal Guards may help you to find a solution," answers Spike. "I don't know why you don't want them."

"No, no... I don't want Royal Guards to go to that island..." answers W because Event told him no Royal Guards can enter through the portal. "I want to do this alone..."

Suddenly, a huge roar is heard far away from Ponyville: "ROAAARRRR!!!" The ponies run away while hearing the roar.

"THE BIRD!" shouts Rarity. "OH MY! THE BIRD IS HERE!"

"We have to hide! The Carousel is near, Rarity!" shouts Rainbow Dash, and the Mane 6, Spike, W and Calculated Risk run away and get inside the Carousel Boutique.

Carousel Boutique

The Mane 6 are hiding, but at the same time, they are planning something against the bird to make him stop flying around Ponyville. W stays looking outside through the window until he sees the bird: A 24 feet tall, big brown bird with red eyes. He gets scared but at the same time, he thinks he looks familiar. Fluttershy appears next to him and sighs.

"Well..." she whispers. "This bird there... is the one that Ponyville fears... He used to sleep in a cave far away... but Bedmaker woke him up and carried to the Great Galloping Gala..."

"Why?" says W. "Why would my counterpart do that?"

"To steal everything while everypony gets focused on the bird," answers Rainbow Dash. "That Bedmaker dude maybe a dummy but I've got to admit he is a pretty clever stallion. Oh, by the way," says Rainbow Dash while shaking her wings. "Sorry for mistreating you yesterday. We thought you were the pony Bedmaker, the evil one."

"It's OK..." says W, and then the three of them look at the bird flying around Ponyville again. That's when W finds out the bird has a scar on his left-wing. "Oh my," says W while slowly getting away from the window. "Holy..."

"What?" says Rainbow Dash. "What happened?"

"That bird... I think... it is him. It must be him."

"What? How?" asks the pegasus pony. "How do you know him?"

"It was in the human world once... I remember him..."

2007.
13 Years Ago.
Los Mantos-Canterlot Highway.
Jack, Abe, Ron and a 12-year-old W are in a car, running away from something.

"You stupid asshole!" shouts a younger Jack with his shaved head and a chin beard. "Were you the one who woke that fucking monster up?"

"Of course not!" shouts Young W, who carries a smaller brown trenchcoat and blue jeans. "The whale and his friends were the ones who woke him up!"

"Can you tell me what were you doing with Gordo and his gang next to a cave in the middle of a highway, W?" shouts Ron. "I told you so many times that you cannot go everywhere without my authorization!"

"Gordo told me he would give me a thousand dollars!" shouts the young kid. "Come on, even you can't deny that offer!"

"Ugh," answers young Abe with a full beard. "W, he is doing that only to laugh at you... because you are a young kid."

"Grr!" groans W. "But he gave me those dollars... or were they fake... um... fuck off!"

"Here it comes!" shouts Ron, and everyone looks at a 12-feet brown bird flying around them with a scar on his left-wing. "I can't go faster! We have to resist, guys!"

"Wait!" says W. "I have an idea."

"I don't like your ideas," says Jack. "They are all out of the question."

"Fuck off, Jack!" answers young W while looking at the bird through the rear window. "These giant birds may be from the other world... I don't know how did he end up here... however, Fletcher told me I can calm the bird down..."

"How?" says Abe. "By giving in? That would be stupid!"

"No..." says W. "You must tell him a joke... if he laughs, he will let you go... if he doesn't, he will eat you... and I have a very good joke on my tongue now."

"NO, W!" shouts Ron. "You won't tell that bird your joke! He will eat you!"

W looks that the door's window is completely lowered. He can escape from there. "But, Ron..." says the young kid. "It is a good one, it will work!"

"NO!" shouts Ron.

"Please!"

"NO!" answers the three men now, but W does exactly what they don't want to do and jumps through the car's door. Jack tries to grab his legs but he fails and W comes out of the car. Ron instantly stops the car and shouts: "W! COME BACK HERE!"

"Hey you!" shouts W and the bird stops flying. He lands on the ground and looks at the young midget who shouted at him. "I have something for you."

The bird roars and the three gangsters get out of the car. He is about to eat W, but the young kid says...

"Why did the chicken cross the road?" says W, while falling to the floor because the bird is slowly approaching him. "Hey, can you tell me why did the chicken cross the road?"

The bird groans and takes a breath. Seconds later, he shakes his head.

"Well, the chicken crossed the road because... he robbed a bank and was running away from the fucking police! HA HA HA HA! Man, that was a good joke!"

W stops smiling when he sees that the bird's face hasn't changed. "Shit," whispers Abe. "We are dead."

Surprisingly, the bird starts laughing and starts shaking his wings. W gets up and waves his hand: "Hey! Did you like it?"

"Ha, ha, ha!" says the bird. "Man, that was really funny."

"What?" says W while looking at Jack, Abe and Ron who are as confused as him. "You speak?"

"Of course! I am a magic bird that ended up in this world and I don't know how to come back home. I miss my old nest... near Appleloosa City..."

"Oh, man..." says W. "That's sad, bro. Let me give you a hug to cheer you up."

The magic bird approaches his head to W and the young kid hugs the bird's head. "Do you have a name?"

"Sure," says the magic bird. "My name is Avem Magnus and my surname is Rex Aetheres."

"Um..." says the young gangster. "I'll call you... Little Bird."

"Sure," he answers.

"So..." says Ron. "Hello, um... my name is Ron Delight and... you said you couldn't go back home?"

"Sadly no. I don't remember how I finished up here. I spent on that old cave two full moons."

"Oh..." says Ron. "Don't you know a portal in Canterlot High is opened every three full moons?"

"Canterlot High?" says Little Bird. "Where is it?"

"This is Los Mantos-Canterlot Highway. If you go north, you will find a city called Canterlot, where stays a big purple building whose name is Canterlot High, the school. On the school's entrance, you will find a white statue on a stone platform. If you go at night during the third full moon, you can go through that stone platform and enter pony Canterlot."

Little Bird nods his head. "Ok," he answers. "Thank you... May I know who are you, people, apart from Mr Ron Delight?"

"Jack Tyler," answers Jack.

"Abe Flanks," answers Abe.

"Well..." says W. "My name is Walter Theodore Waters, but you can call me W, Bedmaker, Daddy, The Pimp..."

"W..." says Ron. "Be serious."

"Um... call me W, then."

"Jack, Abe, Ron and W," says Little Bird while preparing himself to fly away. "I'll never forget your names... you were the ones who gave me the key... I'll never forget you!"

Little Bird spreads his wings and flies away. "Goodbye, Little Bird!" shouts W. "It was nice to meet you!"

"I'll never forget you too, W!"

Carousel Boutique.

W takes a breath and says: "It must be him, yes. I need to go."

"What?" says Rainbow Dash. "The bird is outside! You can't go there!"

"I need to talk to that bird now!"

"That bird does not talk!" says Twilight. "Who told you that?"

"I know he talks," says W. "I saw him on my world once... I need to talk to him."

"Hey! Wait!" shouts Fluttershy, but the yellow stallion gets out of the boutique. The ponies also get out and chase W.

"HEY!" shouts W to the bird. "COME HERE!"

The bird stops flying and lands in front of them, breaking a house and a path. A pony comes out of the broken house and escapes while the bird starts groaning while looking at him.

Calculated Risk and the Mane 6 slowly walk away while looking at the 24''0' bird in front of them, but W is still on the same place. Everypony is looking at him through their houses. "I want to tell you something..." tells to the bird which groans at W. "Hey... why did the chicken cross the road?"

The bird stops groaning and raises an eyebrow. "Uh?"

"Why did the chicken cross the road?"

"Um... uh... because he was... running away from the po... lice?"

Twilight is surprised now. The bird does talk. "Yeah, man!" shouts W. "Don't you remember me? Thirteen years have passed... and well, I am a stallion instead of a human but I truly remember you, Little Bird!"

Little Bird raises both eyebrows, surprised. "Oh... W?"

"Hell yeah, my man!"

"Are you sure? You look like that pony who distracted me and made me escape from my nest."

"Um..." says Fluttershy, smiling. "No... he is his human counterpart, mister."

"She's right," answers W, and both the bird and he start laughing and they hug each other before Little Bird approaches his head to the floor. "I missed you, boy."

"What are you doing here, then? Where are the other three humans?"

"Um..." says W, while losing his smile. "You see... one of them left this world, unfortunately... he was killed by a bad man, who also has my other two partners... and I want to save them."

"What?" he says. "Who did it? WHO DID IT?"

"A bitch called Nicholas Plegovich."

"NO! NOT PLEGOVICH! NOT AGAIN!"

"What?" asks Twilight Sparkle. "You... know Plegovich?"

"Three stallions entered my cave without my permission and stole my egg! My son! They left me a note that said that Plegovich needed my egg and there were three names. Those were the ones who robbed it. That's why I was flying around Ponyville! I couldn't control my anger... Arrgh!"

"But... why would they need that egg?" asks Spike.

"I don't know!"

"Ok, ok..." says W. "You know, Little Bird, I've been looking for a way to go to the human dimension, but Twilight's portal broke in half and the only portal that remains is in the Dragon Lands..."

"Dragon Lands..." he says. "I can carry you there."

"Sure?" asks W.

"More than sure, W. I will rescue my egg from those devils."

"Go with Little Bird, but remember... you MUST go through the portal alone."

W listens to Event's words and takes a breath: "Ok," he answers. "I'll go with you... however, I need to tell you something."

"Don't tell me anything," answers Little Bird, closing his eyes. "I saw that portal on the Dragon Lands a while ago... it is a very small hole where I can not enter... how can an enormous bird enter in such a small hole? I just can't..."

"Don't worry, my man..." says W, while trying to climb Little Bird's legs. "I'll grab that egg and I'll take it to you."

"Wait!" shouts Twilight. "Are you sure you can go to the Dragon Lands only with the bird?"

"It's OK, Twi," says W. "I can do it alone... and with a 24 feet bird... And well, I'll be a little bit tactless... and I'll go now because I want this whole thing to be finished immediately."

"Sure, W... come."

"Well..." says W, while looking at everypony that lives in Ponyville inside their houses looking at him. "Although I haven't stayed here for a long time, it was a pleasure to meet you all... and hey, Larry, goodbye, and good luck with your new pony life."

"Ha, ha," says Calculated Risk. "Thank you, W."

"Well, time to go, Little Bird... we'll start our fucking revenge."

"Wait a moment," says someone. Everypony comes out of their houses and looks at Princesses Celestia and Luna looking at W and Little Bird. "I want to congratulate you personally, Bedmaker," says Princess Celestia. "And we also apologize for mistaking you for your pony counterpart. However, we do want to know why don't you want Royal Guards or Twilight Sparkle and her group of friends from the Castle of Friendship to go with you."

"Um... I've already told you, princess... I want to go alone because I don't want to call Plegovich's attention with your Royal Guards... If I go alone, I can hide by myself but..."

"Royal Guards are stealthier than any other pony," answers Princess Luna. "They go through a special training session related to stealth and force."

"Well, um..."

Suddenly, W stops talking. Time has been stopped. Only Princesses Celestia and Luna can move or talk. They know something is happening.

"Behind you, sisters," says a beige-skinned stallion. His eyes have a light-blue light which shines and does not have pupils. He has a clock on a timeline as a cutie mark. Both princesses turn around and look at the pony who speaks between the frozen ponies.

"Event," says Celestia. "I thought you were banished from Equestria."

"No, I've always been in the shadows, looking at the future and thinking why you still don't believe that my decision related to Verminium helped you to win."

"We never believed your preacher ability, Event. Our father told us you were just a liar."

"Liar? Do you want to know what will happen if you let that stallion go to the human world along with Royal Guards?"

Celestia and Luna look at him and they whisper: "Tell us."

Event raises his hooves and turns the sky into images. Both princesses look at the images: W entering with Royal Guards to a house, the Royal Guards break a door and lots of gangsters appear and kill them. "And how do we know you are not lying to us?" asks Luna.

"Be careful, Princess Luna. In only seven seconds you will sneeze."

"Sneeze? Please, Event, leave us alone. We'll send Royal Guards to look for Verminium's mag... magic... sneeze!"

Luna sneezes and looks at Event, surprised. Seven seconds did pass between Event's words and her sneeze."And you still don't believe me? Please, I want you to send him alone, no Royal Guards, no matter what."

"Are you sure you haven't created that sneeze?" asks Luna. "Or was it natural?"

"I always keep time natural... except for this situation. This man in the human world has those magic bags you want to protect. If Plegovich keeps using that magic, both worlds will fall... this one and the human one... and the only one who can save us is that stallion up there." Event points out at W and Celestia and Luna look at him. "I am trying my best to help him to do the right things to make Plegovich lose... to make him win... I need your help, princesses, at least once. I need you to believe me."

The Princesses turn around and start whispering to each other untiñ Luna looks at Event with a new conclusion. "We still don't believe you, Event," says Princess Luna. "We are not completely sure of your decision."

"Well, if you don't believe me, I'll tell you something. I've seen the future and found out that you won't be on Plegovich's future... because you will be already dead." says Event, and then the images in the sky create only one image of Cozy Glow, Tirek, Queen Chrysalis and Grogar. "This will happen in only a couple of weeks. Tirek and Cozy Glow will escape from Tartarus and go far away from Ponyville and Canterlot and will find Queen Chrysalis on the way. The three of them go to the Forbidden Lands in Equestria and they may find Grogar's Tomb on June 29th. Tirek knows how to resurrect him, and he'll do it. Grogar will come back and with his new allies he is going to take Equestria, kill both of you and rule it forever."

The main image divides into five other ones:

Tirek and Cozy Glow escaping from Tartarus.
Both of them coming across Queen Chrysalis in the Everfree Forest.
The three of them with a resurrected Grogar.
Grogar and his allies taking Celestia out of the castle.
Celestia and Luna being hanged in public.

Both princesses feel frightened after looking at these images, and after this, Event approaches them. "Close your eyes and you will see that future with your own eyes."

Both princesses close their eyes and their hooves start shaking. Luna gasps while looking at everything that will happen soon. Seconds later, Celestia and Luna open their eyes, shocked. "Is this the future we are waiting for?" asks Luna, and Event nods his head.

"There is a way to make all of this stop," says Event. "And I'll tell you how do we stop it if you let that stallion up there to go to the Dragon Lands by his own."

"I hope you are not lying," answers Celestia. "We want that stallion to give us the bags of Verminium back."

"He will do it with no problems if you do what I'm trying to tell you. Leave him alone. No Royal Guards... No Twilights... Nothing. Only the bird and him."

"I hope you..." says Luna, but she is quickly interrupted by Event.

"This is the last time I say it... I'm not lying to you, princesses. I'm telling you the truth. What you have to do if you want Equestria to be saved."

Event disappears and the time comes back to normal.

"... okay," says W, while everypony is looking at him.

"What do we do?" whispers Luna. "Shall we trust him or...?"

"We'll let you go," says Princess Celestia, and all of the ponies get shocked because of her decision. "You will go along with the bird with only one thing to do..."

"What?" says W.

"Please... Equestria needs Verminium's bags again. We don't want that magic to be on the wrong hands."

"Sure," says W. "But next time think about a better place where you can hide those bags with maximum security and not in the middle of a forest..." Everypony looks at him, shocked. He has just put Princess Celestia in question and she is looking at him while raising an eyebrow... and he realizes he may have screwed it up and corrects himself: "I'm just kidding!"

"You are right anyways," says Princess Celestia. "It is time to go, and I hope you can bring back all of the bags from the other world... but before, I want you to take this." Suddenly, Spike opens his mouth and burps a letter. W gets surprised while looking at it and then the dragon flies to him using his wings. "That letter says that I authorize you to go to the human world through the Dragon Lands in case Princess Ember does not trust you."

"Um... OK," says W, while trying to hold the letter with his hooves.

"We, as Equestrians, we wish you luck..." says Princess Celestia. "We hope you can save your world from that man."

"Thank you, Princess," says W. "I'll come back with those bags, with that egg... and I'll save your world. Hasta la vista, everyone!"

Ponies wave their hooves to salute W and with those words, the Bedmaker and Little Bird go away from Ponyville, and an awkward silence invades the place. "Well..." says a pony next to the house which was broken by Little Bird. "Who is going to rebuild my house now?"

La Lima

The sun is setting and Main Street has now an orange colour because of the golden hour. Citizens get inside their homes and some of them are even sleeping. Meanwhile, Rushy, Jack, Abe and Spike are inside their small house with just a fridge, a table, two chairs and a window. Rushy is drinking vodka again, Jack and Abe are sitting on the chairs and Spike is just looking at the setting sun.

Suddenly, Abe grabs a radio and switches it on. There is no news yet, but a music station playing classical music. Jack shakes his head.

"Radios are no longer useful," says Rushy, laughing. "Well... to be honest... media is no longer useful. Plegovich has everything now, my children."

The four men hear that someone is knocking on the door. He is doing it non-stop, he may be nervous. He may want something.

"Who's out there?" asks Rushy.

"Open, you piece of shit!" says a furious voice. It's Blaley.

"Oh, Blaley! I missed you, sunshine..." answers Rushy, and opens the door. The four guys look the man outside is covered with blood and his shirt is ripped. He also has a machete on his hands. "Holy shit... where were you? In a slaughter?"

Blaley grabs Rushy and touches his neck with the machete. Jack and Abe automatically get up while Spike starts barking and they separate them both. "You son of a bitch! I found them!" shouts Blaley before getting thrown to the floor by Jack.

"You found what?" shouts Rushy.

"Junior Brothers! I saw them in Cabbage Town... They tried to run away but I grabbed them... they told me the truth... and I fucking killed them, as I'll do with all of you!"

"You say?" says Rushy. "You bitch, come here!"

Blaley gets up and pushes Rushy, but Jack grabs the machete which was on the floor and stabs it in Blaley's chest. The worker shouts while spitting blood all over Jack and Abe's face. Meanwhile, Spike runs onto Blaley and makes him trip over. "You know something, pal?" says the ushanka man, while stepping on Blaley's chest and getting the machete out of him. "A piece of advice... don't try to kill an armed man with two partners and a dog when you are alone with only a machete."

"Leritz... Leritzko and his men... will get rid of you..." whispers the man while having his mouth full of blood.

"Yeah, yeah," says Rushy, while drawing a handgun from his pocket. "Take this."

Rushy fires the handgun twice and kills Blaley. Spike keeps barking while Jack and Abe look at Rushy, confused. "Wait..." says Jack. "What are we going to do now?"

"With what?" says Rushy.

"With the body!" says Abe. "We can't hide it. We don't have bags or anything."

"Leave that to me," answers Rushy and he opens the fridge. He gets out another bottle of vodka and all of the shelves. Then, he grabs Blaley's body and looks at everyone. "Hey! At least you can help me!"

Jack and Abe help Rushy to move Blaley's body and get it in the fridge. Spike goes outside and looks that all of the houses are switching off their lights while the moon is rising. He listens to a car motor, then another one... and another one. They are all stopping near him. He hears a shout.

"THEY ARE THERE! THEY ARE THERE!"

"Guys!" shouts Spike. "We have to get out of here, NOW!"

The sun is also set in the Dragon Lands. It is a rocky island with lakes of lava. There is also a small bridge where eggs are hatching, and at that moment Princess Ember is checking on a couple of dragon eggs.

"Are you sure are they hatching?" asks Ember to another dragon. "They have been here for a while, and they are making me worried."

Suddenly, Princess Ember and the other dragon hear a roar and something stopping near them. "Well..." says the other dragon. "I think there may be something worse to worry about."

Dragons look at the bird who landed in front of them. Once Princess Ember arrives at the place, they realize there is a yellow stallion on him. The bird crouches and the stallion gets down from him. "Don't worry," says W. "I didn't come here to destroy you or anything, I only want to go through the portal. This letter I am holding now was written by Princess Celestia, and she authorizes me to go through your portal. Here you have, Dragon King."

W gives the letter he was holding to a big red dragon, but Princess Ember appears: "Hey," she says. "I am the Dragon Lord here."

"What?" says W, confused. "You?"

"Yes," she says, and grabs the letter which was being held by W's both hooves. "Let's see."

Now, dragons are looking at Little Bird, scared. "Hey," says one of the dragons to W. "I just want to know... How did you tame such a big bird?"

"Oh, um..." says W. "We were old friends that came across one day."

Little Bird chuckles while looking at the dragons. Then, Princess Ember grabs the letter and gives it to W again. "Ok then," she says. "But you need to know the portal is a narrow hole in the ground. Sadly, your... um... big friend won't enter through it."

"I know, Princess," answers Little Bird, and dragons got surprised because of his voice. "That's why everything depends on him."

"Everything?" asks Ember. "What are you trying to say?"

"I'll save your world and mine," answers W. "A crazy man with magic bags and an army will eventually destroy both Equestrias."

"And you are going to save the world alone?" she asks.

"Um... yeah," says W.

"What kind of madman are you?" she says. "Are you going to fight against a magic army that may destroy both Equestrias with no one on your side?"

"Yes," he answers. "Well... I'm not so alone. I have several allies by my side."

"Yeah," says a dragon, chuckling. "That bird and... who else?"

"I have allies on the other side, lady. Don't worry."

Ember looks at the letter again and sighs. "If you say... I'll let you go, then."

"Alone?" says one of the dragons.

"Yes," she answers. "He said he had allies on the other side, so..."

"Hey, Little Bird..." says W, but the bird's voice interrupts his dialogue.

"I know where is that portal. Last time I saw it was when I was flying around these lands five centuries ago. I remember how it looked like."

"Oh... don't you think that hole may have changed his appearance after five hundred years?"

"No idea," says Little Bird while crouching. "Now go up, we need to hurry."

W climbs Little Bird's head and stays up there while looking at all the dragons under him. Princess Ember flies to him. "If you say the truth about this madman, then the Dragon Lands' fate is under your responsibility too, stranger. Me, as the Dragon Lord and Princess of the Dragon Lands, I tell you my community wishes you luck."

"Thank you, Princess Amber."

"Ember," she answers.

"Oh, sorry," says W with a smile before flying away with Little Bird.

Almost May 3rd. Midnight.

Minutes later, they discover an oasis on the north coast on the island and Little Bird lands near it. W gets down and looks at the oasis. There are only three palms, sand and a very small hole. W approaches it and shouts: "Man! This hole is smaller than anything, I don't think I could get in!"

"You will," says pony Event while being next to W and Little Bird.

"Ah! You scared me!" shouts W. "I can't enter through this! My horse body is bigger and thicker than this freaking anthill!"

"Don't worry," says Event. "I've seen the future and you will enter."

"How?"

"Just get in, come on!"

"And wait... the toilet was in Sandy Suburbs, wasn't it?"

Event chuckles. "Sandy Suburbs is not a house anymore, W... That toilet is in a better place."

"Where?"

Event pushes pony W to the hole and he eventually falls through it. Little Bird looks at Event, shocked.

"Don't worry, Avem Magnus Rex Aetheres, he will grab your egg."

"I hope, Event," answers Little Bird. "Because if he does not, I will be the one who will banish you from Equestria instead of Princess Celestia."

"Aaarrghhh!"

"Hey, it's me! Did you miss your old pal, Discord?."

"Discord, you son of a bitch! I can't see anything! I don't know where am I going and I'm falling with no direction!"

"That's why this trip is so funny! Hey, listen... Event told me you will have to kill these guys if you want to have the good future on your hands."

"Now you have to tell me that?"

"Remember these guys...
"

PETKO
DOOM KID
GAIL GARRY
GRIGORI KOBOLOV
MINERVA PLEGOVICH
LUCAS PLEGOVICH
NICHOLAS PLEGOVICH

"Only these seven. You don't have to kill Sergei or Grey Blackle... they won't change anything according to his visions. Minerva Plegovich is Nicholas' auntie... although she is not a gangster anymore she is now working for his nephew. Petko has a cabaret on Cabbage Town... you know the other five. All in all, those are your victims, Bedmaker."

May 3rd. Midnight.

There is a rusty toilet next to an old man inside a completely dark attic. It looks like there is a party under it because of the loud music and people celebrating. The old man takes a breath and tries to move but he can't because his right hand is tied to something.

He hears something weird inside the toilet, it looks like something is coming out of it. He tries to know what is that but can't see because no lights are switched on in the attic. Seconds later, that thing comes out of the toilet and says something...

"Fucking Event, fucking Discord, son of a bitch... Finally! I have hands! YES! HANDS! But... where am I? Hey! Is there anybody here?" he says to know if someone is there.

"Hey," says the old man. The mysterious person falls to the floor.

"You scared me, man!" he shouts. "I can't see you, where are the lights?"

"The door is in front of me," says the old man. "It has a switch on his right."

"And where are you?"

"I hear your voice... it's on my right, move a little bit to the left."

W, who has just come out of the toilet like a human, finds out there is light under a door. He approaches it and touches a switch that it's on his right. That is the moment when he turns on the lights.

Chapter 14: Straight Outta Ponyville (Part 1)

May 3rd

Unknown Place

W turns on the lights and both men look at each other. They are inside a small attic filled with boxes. W looks behind and sees the door he approached seconds before is made of steel. Then, he looks at a thin, hoary man with wrinkled grey skin and the old man looks at W, a yellow-skinned young man with brown hair who only has jeans and a black t-shirt with the drawing of his cutie mark, an unmade bed. His characteristic brown trenchcoat and silver earring on his left ear are gone. W touches his ear and looks at his torso. "No! My earring! My trenchcoat!"

The old man's eyes are now shining... "You..."

"Where are we?" says W. "This isn't Sandy Suburbs..."

"You..." keeps saying the old man while shaking.

"What?"

"Come... hug your grandpa."

W is now surprised while looking at the old man... which is his grandpa!... "Wilbur?"

His grandfather nods his head. "Yeah, my kid... come with me... I thought you were dead."

Both W and Wilbur hug each other, and then W tries to break the chain which is tying Wilbur to a metal pipe, but Wilbur says it is not necessary now. "Why? I need you free, grandpa! You can't be like this!"

Then, W looks at his right while crouching next to Wilbur. He looks that there is an opened small box which has a severed head. He approaches the box and gets the head out.

"That one is Ghetto, Seductive's worker," answers Wilbur. "He was the first one who was executed by the Cabaret."

"What?" says W. "The Cabaret?"

Wilbur laughs while trying not to cry. "Kid... we are in Petko's Cabaret, W... on Cabbage Town."

"Petko?" says W... and then he remembers what Discord told him minutes ago. Petko was on the victims' list. He was the first man Event mentioned. "Where is he?"

"Downstairs," says Wilbur. "But it is impossible to get him now... he has lots of men behind him now... today's the party."

"The party of what?"

"It's a party they always do every night... before the executions."

"Which executions?"

"Sit down," says Wilbur. "I need to explain it to you."

W sits down, next to Wilbur. "What do you have to explain to me?"

"Every night, before the party... a guy named Chalk comes with a couple of cards. A long time ago, there were sixteen guys here, you know... there was a card for each one of them... the one who grabbed the Ace of Spades... was the one who was going to be executed the next day."

"Sixteen guys?"

"Yeah... There was Tom Delight, Ron's brother, Commissioner Percival and his partner Femur, a kind guy named Chaz, also Ghetto... all of them were executed days before May 3rd... they were sent to Cabbage Park, and bang... they were riddled and then decapitated... Petko likes to show his victims' heads to everyone during the parties..."

"Fifteen men got killed..."

"And I am the last one," says W's grandpa. "Tomorrow is my death day."

"Tomorrow won't be your death day," says W. "I'll get you out of here and we'll kill Petko."

"No, W..." says Wilbur, laughing. "You don't have to cope with an old man now... you need to do your work..."

"Old man?" says W. "You are my grandpa, man! I'll get you out of here and both of us will save our friends..."

"I don't know where is Cosmos, Celestia and Luna's father, W..." answers Wilbur. "They separated us. I was sent here and he... I have no freaking idea."

"We'll save Cosmos, then," says W. "But first... we need to get out of here."

W tries to open the door but finds out it is locked. Meanwhile, the music is getting louder and louder and W listens to a voice who is getting nearer him.

"Come on! We will have so much fun here!"

"No! Please! Get off me, you sick fuck!"

W finds out the voices are in front of the door, trying to open it. He turns off the lights and hides behind the boxes.

Meanwhile, on La Lima...

Five cars stop behind Rushy's house on La Lima. Ten men get down from the five cars and look at Leritzko, who is behind them.

"That shout..." whispers Leritzko, while drawing a handgun. "I think it was Blaley. We've got to grab them."

"Be silent," says one of the men.

The ten men slowly move to the right while Leritzko goes to the left. He slowly opens his pocket and gets out of it a small box. He opens it and finds a pill with Verminium's magic. He slowly nods his head while smiling and puts it in his mouth.

On the other hand, Spike starts barking again and Rushy opens the fridge again while Jack and Abe are hiding behind the chairs and the table.

"Rushy, what the hell are you doing?" asks Jack.

"Just let me do the work, Jacko!" shouts Rushy, and then he gets Blaley's body out of the fridge and hides behind its door. Spike hides behind Jack and Abe while two of the ten men enter the house.

One of the henchmen fires to the fridge's door and Rushy comes out using Blaley's body as a shield and with his handgun. The rebel man kills one of them with a shot on his head and the second one tries to throw him down, but Abe comes out of his place and smashes his head against the fridge three times, leaving a bloodstain on the cold metal. At the same time, the third, the fourth and the fifth man enter the house. Abe grabs the second man's weapon and both Rushy and him kill two henchmen. Jack and Spike get up after being under the table and Jack grabs another handgun. Spike looks at him.

"What should I do?" says Spike.

"Hide," answers Jack.

"No! I want to do something!"

Spike runs and bites the fifth man's leg, distracting him and helping Jack, who kills the gangster with a gunshot. Suddenly, the five remaining men start firing from outside the house and the four crouch. The chairs, the table, a vodka bottle and also the fridge are now filled with holes and gunpowder. Seconds later, the roof automatically rises and the house's walls fall. Now, the four guys are looking at the five men around them and Leritzko, stretching his hand and with his nose bleeding. He is grabbing his head with his other hand.

"This is for Blaley!" shouts Leritzko, and throws Rushy away with his brand-new telekinetic powers which were obtained through the pill. The other three warriors are shocked... he has powers now!

Abe runs away while the other five men try to kill him, but suddenly Leritzko throws, with his powers, those five men to Abe. Jack and Spike take advantage of this and both of them try to go for Leritzko but soon they are also thrown away due to his powers.

One of the henchmen gets up and he is angry because he was thrown by Leritzko's powers, but soon Plegovich's worker kills the five men, breaking their necks with his magic. Rushy gets up and shoots his last four bullets, but all of them are just a miss. Abe comes back to help Rushy while Spike and Jack also get up and run to Leritzko, but the worker throws them away again.

Meanwhile, the citizens of La Lima are looking at the battle from inside their houses. Leritzko starts smashing the dead workers' bodies against Jack, Abe, Rushy and Spike. Eventually, Rushy and Abe get up again but they are thrown by Leritzko and crash onto a house with people inside. There are three junkies inside who look at their leader now.

"Hi, Rico..." says Rushy while trying to move. "I want to tell you something... remember plan B?"

Rico, one of the junkies, nods his head: "Yeah, but... are you sure?" he says. "That plan you told us before Blaley's arrival must have a reward because it's risky as fuck..."

Rushy raises his arm and touches the junkie's head. "Your freedom... is your reward if we get rid of this son of a bitch."

Rico looks at his friend from behind and asks: "Hey... where is the horn?"

A junkie grabs a small horn and blows it. Few citizens of La Lima come out while the others stay inside their houses, afraid of Leritzko's powers. On the other hand, Leritzko's skin is slowly fading into white and he is losing weight. His arms and legs almost look like bones and his nose and mouth are leaking blood. The powers are slowly killing him.

"You... You... Aaargh!" shouts Leritzko. "You won't..."

Those few citizens that came out from their houses start surrounding Leritzko and one of them stabs a kitchen knife on his back. After that, all of the citizens get out and start approaching the scene while others start kicking Leritzko's body on the floor. Another group of Lima's junkies grab the dead men's bodies and put them inside a big campfire. Rushy, Jack, Abe and Spike get inside the huge amount of people which is around Leritzko and look at what's happening. Plenty of junkies are now stabbing knives, kicking, punching and also shooting at Leritzko's body, who is almost dead. All of them are shouting two words, a sentence:

"FUCK PLEGOVICH! FUCK PLEGOVICH!"

All in all, La Lima is now a riot killing Leritzko and getting rid of Plegovich's dead men. Minutes later, the junkies grab Leritzko's destroyed corpse and put it inside the campfire. Another group of citizens grab lots and lots of bottles of gasoline and pour all of them on those bodies. While one of them lights a match and throws it to the bodies that will burn, the junkies start celebrating and laughing. Another group of junkies grab Rushy from behind and start hugging him, unstoppably.

"RUSHY'S OUR HERO! RUSHY'S OUR HERO! RUSHY'S OUR HERO!"

Jack, Abe and Spike look at the show. Dead bodies burning on a campfire, junkies celebrating and Rushy, in the middle of all the chaos, being hugged and kissed by junkies who are shouting his name. "Hey, hey, hey!" shouts Rushy. "I want to say something, fellas!" The junkies start celebrating again while a group of guys get out from their houses a small box with marshmallows. "Ok, ok, I'm about to say something... the plan worked... when that son of a bitch, Blaley, arrived at this freaking town, I told all of you... we were not a couple of stupid assholes, we were not junkies, we were not dogs!"

"Hey!" shouts Spike, angrily.

"Oh, sorry, Spike..." answers Rushy. "We were not the ones who worked for the motherfucker, THE MOTHERFUCKER WORKED FOR US!"

The citizens start clapping and shouting of joy, and Rushy keeps talking: "I said I was the leader of La Lima for a while, and I told you that we were tough enough to make a fucking riot on Main Street... AGAINST THOSE BITCHES!"

"RUSHY! RUSHY! RUSHY!" shout the citizens while some are eating marshmallows made by the human campfire, which is the main cause of a hideous, undescribable smell around the place. Spike smells it and gets shocked.

"What's that smell?..." he says. "I want... ugh... I want to throw up..."

Jack grabs Spike from the floor and covers his nose. "I wouldn't like to describe that smell to you..."

"And now...." keeps saying Rushy. "I want to say two things... only two... First of all, I would like you to thank my partners, those two men, that dog... if it wasn't for them, we would never have won or been the same!" The citizens now make a standing ovation to Jack, Abe and Spike before Rushy says his last phrase: "Now... secondly... I've set off a new mission for me... I'll go for Plegovich and his men... all of them... this will hurt for me but... I'll leave my hometown for a while..."

The citizens stop clapping and look at Rushy in shock. "No!" says a Lima citizen. "We'll go with you!"

"No..." says Rushy. "No. Please no."

"Why?" says another one. "All together we can kick his ass!"

"Plegovich will not look for you, guys... he will look for me. I don't want you to get inside this shit."

"But..."

"Guys..." says Rushy, sighing. "I know this is hard to understand but... since the day Plegovich brought Strict Proclamation down... La Lima hasn't been anything but fear... loneliness... cruelty. The only way we can get that shit out of our lungs is by bringing Plegovich down... and I'll be that man on a mission... I'll do it for you, guys. I don't want you to leave your life... to leave the city... to leave La Lima alone. I promise... I'll get rid of every single one of them. Every single fucking one of them... All in all, guys, I will leave my role as Lima's leader because of this mission... and you, all of you... ALL OF YOU!... will be the leader. Neither one nor two or three. Every one of you."

The citizens stay in silence for a while and everyone starts clapping, including Jack and Abe.

"THANK YOU, RUSHY!" says the men while Rushy hugs plenty of them and goes with Jack, Abe and Spike.

Rushy grabs Jack and Abe's faces and whispers: "I will accomplish my father and the old Alexei Ushin's wishes... we will get rid of that fucking madman."

Someone opens the attic's door and turns on the light. It is a fat beige-skinned man with white hair wearing black pants, shoes, a white shirt and a brown trenchcoat. W, while hiding in the boxes... recognizes that trenchcoat. It is his. He is also along with a familiar girl... Adagio Dazzle, the infamous leader of the Dazzlings. She is wearing only a red tight dress.

"Mr Wilbur!" shouts the old man. "Look at what I'm wearing tonight! The worst trenchcoat I've ever seen in my life!"

"Don't you dare, Chalk, to talk about my son's and grandson's trenchcoat."

"I mean..." says Chalk. "It is pretty neat but... it is dirty, ripped... besides, this brown colour looks like shit! It is shit! What do you think, baby?"

"Get off me! You son of a bitch!" shouts Adagio Dazzle and eventually, she pushes Chalk away but he grabs her by the neck and stomps her against the door.

"You little fucking bitch, don't you dare push me away! You may have been powerful on that Battle of the Bands thing, but I'm not a 16-year-old teenager! I'm an old gangster and I can kick your ass the way I want!"

"Stop, Chalk!" shouts Wilbur. "You're strangling her!"

W tries to resist his desires of killing Chalk at that right moment... but he can't. He is strangling an innocent woman, while having his old trenchcoat. "CHALK!" says his grandpa while getting up. "CHALK! PLEASE, YOU ARE KILLING HER!"

Adagio's face is now purple while Chalk is laughing. She tries to push him or kick him but she can't. Wilbur also wants to do something but he can't due to he is tied to a metal pipe. It all looks like Adagio's going to die, but suddenly something rises from the boxes and calls Chalk's attention. W, with his jeans and a black t-shirt with his cutie mark stampd on it, with no trenchcoat nor earring on his left ear, looks at Chalk with his evilest stare.

"Give me back my fucking trenchcoat," says W while looking to Chalk. The old man lets Adagio go and looks at W, shocked.

"What the?..." says Chalk, while struggling with his own words. "I thought... they killed you."

"I am more alive than you, you son of a bitch. Now give me back my trenchcoat," he says while getting out of the pile of boxes. Wilbur and Adagio look at the scene in shock and Chalk just chuckles.

"Oh... you want this piece of crap?"

"That piece of crap was my father's and also mine. You have two choices, give me that back or I'll take it from you."

Chalk laughs. "How are you going to do...?" but he is interrupted when Adagio gets up and kicks him in his balls. W grabs him and throws him away while Adagio closes the door. Chalk rises, now with a knife pointing right at W's head. "You stupid kid... I'm going to kill all of you! Your grandpa, that skank and you!"

"Skank?" shouts Adagio Dazzle and tries to go for him until W stops her.

"Go ahead," says W. "Do it."

"But... W!" shouts Wilbur.

"Do it," answers the Bedmaker. Chalk is about to stab the knife on his chest but suddenly he pushes Adagio and makes her trip over and crashes against Chalk. The knife ends up on the floor. Then, she starts punching her face while the old man tries to grab her and at one moment, she grabs his neck and strangles him.

"Get this!" shouts Adagio. "Get this! You sick... motherfucker... This is for trying to touch me and my sisters!"

Chalk's face turns purple and he tries to resist, but there is one moment Chalk stops moving and his eyes look to nowhere. "Stop," says W. "That's enough. You killed him."

"It's not enough!" she shouts while crying. "He tried to... separate me from my sisters! Treated me like garbage! I'm not garbage... I'm not... garbage!"

"It's OK..." W hugs Adagio and she starts crying on his shoulder. W turns around to look at his grandpa, who raises his shoulders. "It's OK..."

Wilbur hears footsteps near the door and someone knocks it.

"Hey, Chalk... hey!"

W instantly grabs Chalk's knife but Adagio grabs his arm. "Don't even think about it." Then, she wipes her face and slowly opens the door. "What?"

"Is he OK?" asks the henchman.

"Yes... why?"

"Um... I've heard shouts..."

"Oh... It was a small argument between Chalk and the man," she says, pointing at Wilbur. W hides with Chalk's body behind some boxes.

"Um... is it necessary to get rid of him now?"

Wilbur closes his eyes, ready to be killed. "No, no!" she says. "Chalk will get rid of him... it is not necessary for you..."

"Um... are you sure? Chalk, are you there? We can do it for you, man..."

The henchman tries to look inside, but Adagio does not let him. Suddenly, he realizes something's wrong.

"What the hell's happening here?" he pushes Adagio and looks that some boxes have fallen from its place and there is a huge pile of them in a corner. "What the?"

Adagio grabs him from behind, smashes his head against the metallic door and instantly closes it. The henchman falls to the floor while his head is bleeding. He's knocked out. Meanwhile, W gets up and grabs his trenchcoat from Chalk's body. Adagio grabs a key that was in the henchman's pocket and thinks about unlocking the chain.

"This one... would it be the key?" asks Adagio. "For him?"

"Grandson, leave me. It is not necessary... you will only have to..."

"Grandpa," says W, while holding the key and putting it inside the lock. "I will only have to save you... and kill all those bitches out there. I won't leave you here... never."

"But... I'm an old man."

"How lucky..." whispers W while unlocking the chain. "You may be an old man... but you are my grandpa."

Wilbur gets up but his legs hurt. He hasn't moved them for months, and that's why W helps him to move. "Where's Petko?" asks W to Adagio Dazzle.

"Downstairs," she answers.

"Great," says W, while approaching to the door and stepping on the knocked henchman.

Chapter 15: Straight Outta Ponyville (Part 2)

May 3rd. Midnight.

Petko's Cabaret

W, Wilbur and Adagio Dazzle got out of the room and find themselves in a dark alley. W has the knocked out henchman's gun on his hands. No one is there except for them, and there is a small blue light illuminating it. The music is now louder. W rubs his head and looks at Adagio Dazzle for a while until she finds out.

"What?" she says, angrily.

"You..." says W. "Your face seems familiar to me."

Adagio is now as confused as W and Wilbur. "Please, tell me you don't remember me from the Battle of the Bands."

"...Dazzlings?" says W.

Adagio Dazzle sighs. "Shit... just don't mention that."

"No... I remember you from another place..."

Silence appears between them, turning this situation into a very awkward one. Suddenly, W hears a noise and immediately draws a gun and looks everywhere, but then they discover it was just a small mouse passing by. W exhales a sigh of relief and looks at Adagio again. "Again?" she says, angrily. "Are you trying to remember the day where you were born, for god's sake?"

"Ashton," says W. "I remember you... Adagio Dazzle... the Siren Sisters of Fillydelphia."

Adagio's eyes shine and then close. "What?" she says. "You..."

"I was ten years old when the Ashton Gang War happened, almost eleven. Now I am..." W stops talking. He realizes he has 25 years old now because his birthday was on February 4th. "Now I am 25."

Adagio looks at W on his eyes and raises her eyebrows... "The Kid... Bedmaker?"

"Hell yeah," says W with a small smile. "I was that kid. I grew up but you... you haven't changed a shit."

"...Can we just stop talking about this?" says Adagio, angrily. "We need to save my sisters, my adoptive mother and kill that scumbag."

W raises an eyebrow. "Adoptive mother?"

"Seductive is his adoptive mother," answers W's grandpa.

"Yes..." she says. "And if anybody touches her, I'll kill them."

W laughs. "We have a tough lady here, grandpa."

"Hell yeah."

Adagio doesn't laugh and grabs W by his trenchcoat and hits his head with hers. "Watch your mouth, you kid. You wouldn't like to see me angry."

"Hey!" shouts someone. W draws the gun and fires once. The voice answers with another gunshot. Wilbur instantly crawls while W keeps firing and Adagio keeps standing up in the same spot as before. The mysterious man falls to the floor and stops firing. However, another voice appears and starts firing, but this time Adagio grabs W's gun and fires once. The henchman falls to the floor and dies. Perfect headshot. W and Wilbur look at Adagio, surprised. They don't say anything and makes Adagio smile.

"We need to hurry up," she says and starts walking away. W and Wilbur grab the guns that were from the dead henchmen and follow her.

The three of them turn to the right and the music gets much louder. However, W finds out it is just another alley. There are no stairs.

"How big is this place?" says W. "Where are the stairs?"

"It's a freaking cabaret, Bedmaker," says Adagio. "And now we have to turn to the left again to go downstairs."

While getting to the left, there is another alley where four drunk men are laughing and jumping of joy. Adagio instantly points at them with the gun but W grabs her arm.

"No," he says. "They are harmless."

"Harmless?" says Adagio. "Those guys are harmless?"

"I agree with Adagio, W," says Wilbur.

"Just let me do the work," answers W. The four men approach them and start shouting again. They look at them and instantly W shouts out loud too. They shout again, so does W, and this continues for a couple of seconds until they leave laughing. Adagio and Wilbur only look at him, bewildered.

"It's a code between junkies," says W. "You wouldn't understand..."

W stops talking while going downstairs and looking at the cabaret. It is W's first time here and the place he is looking at right now shocks him. It's a huge cabaret, filled with tables and chairs looking at a scenario. The music is much louder now and there are also gangsters dancing with alcohol bottles on their hands, celebrating. There is also a man on the scenario dancing while drinking two bottles of beer. Adagio points at him.

"That son of a bitch," she says.

"That guy is...?" says W.

"Petko," she answers. "We can kill him right there with no problem but... all these gangsters..."

"No, no, no..." says Wilbur. "I'll go back there... I'm just worsening things."

"No, grandpa, please," says W. "Things are still OK."

Suddenly, a purple-skinned woman smoking a cigar appears in a table near them. She looks at Adagio Dazzle and opens her mouth. That woman is Seductive.

"Seductive," says W. He slowly waves his hand and she does the same. Seconds later, Adagio winks an eye. Seductive nods her head.

"What are you trying to do?" says W to Adagio Dazzle.

"What we planned every single day, stay back," she says, and shouts: "OK! LISTEN TO ME NOW!"

Nobody listens to Adagio's words, and both W and Wilbur get behind Adagio, looking at her, confused. That's the moment when the grandson asks his grandfather: "Hey... why are you trying to give up?"

"I just wanna go back there and chain myself," says Wilbur.

"Why? You are Schizoid, grandpa... This is the first time I've heard this from you. If this happened a year before, you may have told me not to give up, never..."

Wilbur rubs his head and touches his grandson's shoulders. "Look at me."

"I'm looking at you."

"I feel... I can't do anything against Plegovich, because everything I had... he took it away from me... he shaved my beard... he cut my hair... he kicked my ass... he fed me with shitty food while locking me with other fifteen guys... I feel... I feel tired and weak, W."

"But now I am here with you, grandpa. We can kick his ass. We are the Waters."

Wilbur chuckles and denies with his head. "I haven't been a Waters since they told me to shut up and I did. I'm not a gangster anymore... you are the gangster... and I am the weak."

"Oh, come on!" shouts W. "Stop victimizing yourself, grandpa! You are not weak!"

"You haven't understood yet," says Wilbur. "I could beat Plegovich if I was a gangster and a Waters, and now I'm neither a Waters nor a gangster... and you... you are both."

No one listens to Adagio, and suddenly she fires her gun and destroys a radio that was next to Petko. There is no music now. W and Wilbur stop their conversation and look at her, trying to figure out what is she doing while they are drawing their handguns. Seductive smiles and Petko drops his bottles of beer while the gangsters are looking at her. "Uh?" says one of the gangsters, confused.

"I'm done with this..." says Adagio Dazzle. "If only me and my sisters had my pendants everything would have been easier but... now I have to take another measure... Petko, I declare you war."

Nobody answers to that, and Adagio starts sweating. Petko slowly draws a handgun at the same time Seductive does it. W and Wilbur who are hiding on the stairs, look at each other. "What?" whispers W.

"I agree with you on this, W. I don't understand this plan."

Petko and the gangsters look at each other, in silence.

Petko laughs while holding his gun, and seconds later the gangsters do the same and start going for Adagio and Seductive. Adagio and Seductive point their guns but they are fastly trapped by the gangsters while Petko runs and enters the scenario's backstage.

"Kill them! Kill them!" shouts one of the gangsters, but suddenly, a gunshot interrupts everything. W goes downstairs, enters the cabaret and Wilbur is hiding behind him. The Bedmaker is holding his gun, pointing to the roof in silence. Gangsters are looking at him, shocked.

"It... it... IT CAN'T BE! YOU ARE DEAD!" shouts one of the gangsters while pointing the gun to W. "PLEGOVICH KILLED YOU!"

"I'm a ghost, fuckers... I'm your illusion," says W and looks at Adagio. "Boo." All of the gangsters run away because they think W is a ghost for real, and even some of them leave their guns there. Wilbur stops hiding behind his grandson and helps Adagio and Seductive to get up.

"Seductive... Adagio" says Wilbur. "What the hell was that? That was the worst plan I've ever seen in my entire life!" shouts Wilbur.

"Yeah!" says W. "Those gangsters didn't kill you because they were drunk as fuck. I expected this awful plan from Adagio but... you?"

Seductive sighs. "Sorry... I was worried, bad... um..." Her words are interrupted because she instantly crawls and almost passes out. Adagio helps her to get up again and she slowly starts breathing. "I didn't have time to make... even a small part of a plan, they vanished... so fast..."

"Who?" says W.

"Sonata. Aria," she says.

"Is there any news?" says Adagio, while hugging Seductive. She shakes her head.

"They are still there."

"Where?" asks W. Seductive points to a small door next to the scenario.

"Backstage."

"Let's go, then."

"No," says Seductive, while gasping. "That place is full of... misery. You can't just go like that."

"What... you think I'm not armed?" says W, and then he grabs a handgun from the floor. "This is enough."

"No," she says again. "When I say that place is full of misery... I'm saying the truth, Bedmaker. Petko and other greedy assholes get in the backstage to snort cocaine and make handjobs between each other... but this night... Sonata and Aria went there... and never came back..."

"So... why are we wasting time here?" says W. "We must go inside. They must be there."

"Dead or alive," says Wilbur, looking at his grandson. Adagio closes her eyes, trying not to cry, and Seductive rubs her head, cleaning her face.

"We must go there..." says the adoptive mother. "But... I just..."

"Calm down," says Adagio. "We are four. We can fight against those guys inside."

Seductive takes a long breath and looks at her vomit, and looks at W and his grandfather, nodding her head: "You know... a week ago Petko made a party celebrating your death... but I knew you were alive, I don't know how but... I knew... and when I saw you there," she says, pointing to the stairs... "Behind Adagio... I knew we had a chance..."

"And what are we waiting for, Seductive?" says W. "Let's go."

Seductive takes a long breath, grabs a gun from the floor and eventually accepts while the four walk to the scenario and stay in front of the backstage's door. They don't hear anything or anyone inside. Then, Adagio slowly opens the door and looks that the whole backstage is dark. There are no lights on.

"What?" says Adagio. W decides to enter first and touches a wall to see if there is a switch near his hands.

Nobody talks until they hear something falling from inside. Adagio points with her gun at the darkness. Seductive decides to move further and get inside the backstage.

"No!" shouts Adagio. "Come here!"

Somebody switches on the lights. Backstage is a grey narrow alley with three doors, two on the right and one in front of them. However, the man who switched on the lights comes out of another door, along with the other four men. Seductive starts firing but the gun only had two bullets, and both of them finished in the gangster's tactical vest.

Seductive takes cover, leaving the backstage and staying in the door while W, Wilbur and Adagio look at each other. They also leave backstage and listen to the gangsters coming nearer.

"You pussies!" says one of them. Adagio takes a long breath and exhales.

"Nobody calls me a pussy," she replies and gets in backstage with W. Both of them unstoppably fire their guns, and two gangsters die because of Adagio's headshots. The other two guys open the third door and hide there. That's the right moment when Wilbur and Seductive return to backstage and the Bedmaker looks at the Siren.

"Where did you learn to fire like that?" he says while looking at his gun's magazine. Few bullets left.

"Natural talent," she says while trying to find the gun's magazine. Seductive gives Adagio another gun she found on the cabaret. "No..."

"Yes, Adagio," says Seductive. "This is the only one that has at least five bullets."

Wilbur grabs the dead gangsters' weapons and gives one to Seductive. The four are armed.

Adagio is the first one to stay in front of the door where the two gangsters are hiding. Sonata, Aria and Petko haven't been found yet.

"Natural talent?" says W. "That's impossible."

"Well," says Adagio. "I've got to admit Ms Seductive taught me how to handle a gun, just in case."

"You should thank me," says Seductive. Adagio smiles while looking at her adoptive mother. Suddenly, the door is opened by one of the gangsters and W kills one of them, shooting him in the head. The other gangster raises his hands and Adagio strangles him.

"Tell me! WHERE ARE MY SISTERS?"

"Front... door..." says the gangster. "It is... locked..."

"Where are the keys, then?" says Seductive, while touching his head with the gun she's holding.

"Petko has them... please, let me go... let me go..."

"Let you go?" says Adagio. "I'll let you go now..." The siren strangles him stronger, but Seductive stops her.

"Wait!" she shouts. "Stop, Adagio, stop!"

The gangster breathes again, while W grabs the dead man's gun that was on the floor.

"Kill him, Bedmaker!" shouts Adagio, while Seductive is calming her down. W looks at his grandpa.

"You know what your father said once, right?" says Wilbur while having eye contact with his grandson. "Let the cowards go for a while." The Bedmaker nods and shots the gangster on his shoulder.

"Aaargh!" shouts the gangster while uncontrollably moving because of the pain. Adagio calms down and leaves the room with Seductive.

"Good luck, d-bag," says W while leaving the room... however, the gangster does something unexpected: he slowly draws a small revolver from one of his pockets and points at W. His grandfather finds out and decides to sacrifice himself.

"NO!" shouts the grandfather and the gangster fires his gun. W instantly turns around and riddles the injured gangster.

"Grandpa!" shouts W and helps his grandpa to wake up. Luckily, the bullet ends up on his right arm and didn't kill him, but he is still injured.

"I'm OK... I'm OK... it's just..."

Seductive looks that a dead gangster has bandage coming out of his pocket. She grabs it and gives it to W, which wraps around his grandfather's arm. "Don't touch your arm..." says W. "Please, Seductive, take care of him... I'll go for Petko."

"No," says Adagio. "I will go for Petko."

"Of course not!" shouts W. "I must kill Petko!"

"Why?"

W doesn't want to say the truth of Event, because he knows Adagio won't believe it. "I... um... I want to get revenge by killing Petko."

"Revenge of what?"

"They thought they killed me... and I'll let them know I am alive."

"Oh, excuse me, Mr Revenge... Were you trapped inside this shitty place for months as a freaking dancer that tries not to be raped by fat hoary gangsters? Of course not!"

"But... did they almost kill you? Or shot you in the stomach? Shit no! I must be the one who kills Petko!"

"No, you won't! I will kill Petko and look for my sisters!"

"NO!" shouts W while smashing his fist against a wall. Both Wilbur and Seductive are shocked, looking to W and Adagio Dazzle's argument. "I won't let you kill him, I must!"

"Gosh, how could your girlfriend put up with you if you had one?"

"MY GIRLFRIEND IS DEAD!" says W while grabbing Adagio's dress. The Dazzling stops talking and W rubs his head while gasping.

"W, calm down..." whispers Wilbur. "It is the first time I saw a Waters shouting to a woman."

W reflects of what he did and lets Adagio go. The siren is now shocked while looking at the Bedmaker, and then she turns around and tries to bring the door down. "PETKO!" she shouts. "OPEN, YOU BITCH! LET MY SISTERS GO!"

"Petko won't let you enter after what you did," says someone that is neither Petko nor the sirens. His voice is lower.

"Open, whoever you are!" shouts Adagio. W, who is behind her, shots his gun once to the door and the mysterious man stops talking. Now there is a hole in the door, where both of them can see what's happening inside. The room is empty... there are only a wardrobe and a bed where Aria Blaze is staying. "ARIA!"

"ADAGIO!" shouts Aria. "HELP ME! SONATA IS IN DANGER!"

"WHAT HAPPENED?" says Adagio. "Please, open!"

Aria, who is wearing an orange dress, fastly gets up from the bed, while stepping on the dead man's body. She grabs a key that was on the floor and opens the door. The four guys enter the room, and Seductive hugs her adopted daughter. "Where's Sonata?" asks the mother.

"There is a bunker under this room which leads to an emergency exit," answers Aria, pointing to the wardrobe. "There is a hidden door behind that wardrobe which lead to the bunker... Sonata and that scumbag are there...!"

Aria is interrupted because of Adagio's hug. Both of them start crying... it is the first time they hug for months. Wilbur tries to move the wardrobe with his injured arm but both W and Seductive don't let him do it.

"No, grandpa," says W. "You are injured. Let me do it."

"I'll help you, W," says Seductive, while grabbing the wardrobe from the left side. It is empty, and that means it is easier to carry.

"Grandson..." whispers Wilbur. "Why?"

"Why what?" asks W while moving the wardrobe with Seductive.

"Why are you trying to save me?"

W stops and looks at his grandpa. "Are you kidding? You are my grandpa, Wilbur... and you are not weak, for Star Swirl's sake! How many times I have to tell you? I won't leave you here, dying! Once we get out of here I'll take you to a hospital near here..."

"There are no hospitals..." says Wilbur. "And I'm injured. I'm feeling cold. I..."

"There is a hospital on Cabbage Town..." says Seductive.

"See?" says W. "We'll take you to that hospital and we will leave... The doctors will treat you well... I'll put you there with a fake name... even if we have to take a risk to do it."

"No..." says Wilbur. "I am not Schizoid anymore, W... I'm just an old man... and I need to finish this."

Seductive and W move the wardrobe and find a secret corridor with a door inside. "Finish what?" says W.

"All."

"No," says W. "We'll take you to a hospital and that's it. You will stay there safe." Then, he draws his handgun and is prepared to take Petko down... but the two Dazzlings push him away and try to bring the door down.

"OPEN! WE WANT SONATA!" they shout. Seductive tries to calm them down but she can't. Petko doesn't answer.

"CALM DOWN!" shouts W while pushing them away from the door. Aria wants to strangle him but then everyone gets silent when they hear someone walking to the door. W slowly puts his finger inside the trigger.

Petko fastly opens the door and aims at something with a handgun, but both W and Adagio shot him on the chest with their guns. He falls to the floor, agonizing, while the Dazzlings look at Sonata Dusk sleeping on a sofa. It is a white room with a big black door that says Emergency Exit a table with a bottle of wine, two glasses and a bed. Adagio, Seductive and Aria go for Sonata. They touch her face and she slowly opens her eyes. Once she looks at her sisters, Adagio and Aria hug her. They thought she was dead, but Sonata innocently answers she was just sleeping. W and his grandfather look at Petko agonizing on the floor.

"Uh... uh..." whispers Petko. "I thought... you were... a... a ghost."

"Well, turns out you are the ghost now," answers W, chuckling and firing once to his head. The guy is dead.

PETKO

The Dazzlings stop hugging to each other and Adagio looks at W... "I... I was going to..."

"No," says W. "I had to do it."

"Why?" says Adagio. "Because of that revenge shit? Don't tread on me! I've already told you we are the toughest around there!"

"Until I arrived," says W, creating an awkward moment. "Now we have to open this door that looks like a monster."

"I have the key..." says Sonata, with a smile. She starts looking for the key through the black dress she's wearing. "Wait," she realizes, "I don't have it."

Meanwhile, in the scenario, the gangsters that ran away from W, thinking that he was a ghost, come back with more gangsters on their back. Besides, there is a leader, an important man with them: Gail Garry.

"If you brought me because you had a fucking illusion, I'll execute you."

"We are not joking!" says one of the gangsters. "We saw that guy you killed standing in front of us!"

Garry punches the gangster in the face. "How many bottles you drank, asshole? Did you bring me and my guys from Saik City because of a fake fucking ghost?"

"Yes!"

"You SON OF A BITCH! You told me there was a raid here, and I believed you because the word Raid means something true, you stupid fucker! Aaargh!"

"He's saying the truth!" says another gangster. "He was with the dancers and that strange dude who was in the attic!"

Garry takes a breath and looks at the other gangster. "Wait... where is Petko? And Chalk? Where are the dancers... Seductive... Wilbur Waters?"

"Yeah, you are right..." says another gangster. Garry shouts and smashes his fist against a table. "I don't find them."

"YOU DON'T FIND THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT HERE, YOU STUPID! LOOK FOR THEM NOW! GO TO THE BACKSTAGE!"

A group of gangsters go backstage to look for the men.

Sonata finally found the key and Seductive opens the door. It's a huge door made of metal... but it has only one key lock. She unlocks it and opens the door, letting fresh air enter the room. The big black door directly leads to the route. Besides, it is a really cold night, and the moon is so shiny that illuminates nearly every one of them inside the room. Seductive looks at a white car with the keys on the car's hood. It is Petko's car, and he used to put the car keys on the hood. He knew that nobody would steal it, because he was one of Plegovich's main henchmen.

"That guy always used to leave the car keys on the hood," answers Aria, while looking at Petko's body. "What an idiot."

The Dazzlings are the first that come out of the room. Wilbur and W are about to come out until they hear something.

"They are dead! Garry, the guys are dead!"

"They are here again," says Seductive, while opening the car's front door. "Hurry up!"

W is about to come out with Wilbur, but suddenly, his grandpa takes a long breath and pushes W away. W falls to the ground outside the room and Wilbur closes the big black door, staying inside the room. W instantly gets up and tries to open the door, but it has no handle on his side. "GRANDPA! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? OPEN THE DOOR!"

"Go! Go! You don't need me anymore!"

"I NEED YOU! YOU ARE MY GRANDFATHER!"

"Go! Go! There is no time! You don't need an injured old man to go with you!

"NO! NO! YOU... YOU CAN'T!"

Seductive tries to calm W down but he pushes her. He tries to open the door while crying but another voice behind him says something:

"Time to go... you can't stay here anymore..."

Event, the god that is helping W, appears behind him. He is the only one that can see him. "I can't leave him alone," says the Bedmaker while trying to save his grandfather.

"He sacrificed himself to give you time to escape... you need to go. If you die, you lose."

"Bedmaker, we don't have time, let him go!" shouts Adagio Dazzle. "PLEASE!"

W takes a long breath and tries to open the door one more time, but he can't because he hasn't got a handle.

"HEY, YOU!" shouts someone from inside. "SON OF A BITCH!"

"Love you, grandpa," says W, and he slowly walks away. He stops in the middle and returns to the door again but he gives up and eventually enters the car. They go away.

"HEY, YOU!" shouts one of the gangsters, while aiming his gun at Wilbur. "SON OF A BITCH!"

Wilbur Waters raises his hands. Gail Garry enters the bunker and looks at Petko's corpse. He slowly nods his head and chuckles. "What happened here, grandpa?"

"The good things happened, Garry," says Wilbur, while sitting on the floor and lying against the black door.

"What do you mean with the good things?" says the henchman, while drawing a revolver from his pocket. "You killed Petko?"

Wilbur denies with his head. "No... guess who..."

"I told you!" says a gangster behind Garry. "It was the ghost!"

"Shut the fuck up!" answers Garry. Then, the bounty hunter approaches Wilbur and touches his head with the revolver. "Where are the dancers, Wilbur?"

"I have no idea," he says. "They killed Petko and they left."

"Where did they go?"

"I have no idea, I told you."

"The dancers... the dancers..." whispers Garry. "Shit.... the pendants."

"What?" says Wilbur. "You mean..."

"None of your fucking business, Wilbur," answers Garry and then he looks at the other gangsters. "Give me a phone..."

The bounty hunter wakes up and somebody gives him his phone. He dials a number and while he is calling, he shoots three times at Wilbur's chest, killing him.

"What?"

"Sergei?"

"Garry, what?"

"We have a problem, where are you?"

"Mr Plegovich told me days ago I had to take care of Ms Minerva until next week."

"Please, Sergei... take care of Minerva with your life... the dancers may be going there."

"Why?"

"I don't know, but they killed Petko and escaped..."

"Did you find them with your speed?"

"No, I've already taken my pill this morning, and I have them all on Saik... That's why I'll send you half of my men to Minerva's."

"Why not all, Garry? Minerva's very important to Mr Plegovich."

"Half of my men will stay at Saik City... I need workers and I also want the harbour to be secure."

"Saik City, or Saik Harbour, as you say, is only a piece of dirt, Garry. Minerva is more important. Send me all of your men."

Garry rubs his head, thinking. Sergei's robotic voice feels like a drill inside his head. "I... I... look, Sergei... I don't care if you think my city is a piece of dirt... I want it to be safe... I'll send you half my men. Bye."

Garry ends the call and looks at Wilbur, who is now dead and rests in the floor while bleeding. "Are you alright, sir?" asks a gangster. Garry gives him the phone.

"I want all of you to go Minerva's, except for... ten of you. Is there any bathroom here? I want to wash my face. I need to relax..."

Chapter 15.5: Minerva

February 3rd

On the left side of the route that goes to Saik City, there is a big white mansion where Minerva Plegovich lives. She is Plegovich's aunt, and Utopia's (Plegovich's mother) younger sister. She is 78 years old and was never related to the gangster world, but knows that her surname is an important word in that atmosphere. That's why she always helps his nephew in case he needs anything. However, the only thing she knows nowadays is her house. She never goes out.

Three men arrive in a car that day. They are Plegovich, his nephew Lucas, and Sergei, Plegovich's most loyal worker, which is carrying a small bag on his hands. Plegovich opens the mansion's door with his copy of the key and finds his aunt Minerva watching TV on a small, cosy living room. She looks at them and smiles.

"Aunt Minerva," says Plegovich, smiling. "Long time no see."

"Nephew..." says the aunt, while trying to get up from her couch.

"No, no!" says the madman. "I'll hug you there, don't get up..."

Plegovich hugs Minerva, then his grandson Lucas kisses her on her forehead, and last but not least... Sergei only waves his hand at her. "What brings you here today?" says the aunt. "After your president thing..."

"Yes..." says Plegovich, laughing. "It was hard at first. I admit Strict Proclamation was hard to bring down... there were lots of men on Equestria's House, but thanks to my pills and my super gangsters, we killed them..."

"You killed Strict Proclamation?" asks Minerva, surprised.

"No. We killed them all except for him."

"Oh! I thought you finally murdered that guy... And where is him?" she asks with a smile. Plegovich raises his shoulders, laughing.

"That's a secret, auntie," he says, smiling. "I can't tell you where he is."

"Oh, come on!" she shouts.

"It is part of the game, granny," says Lucas. "The game is that we can't say where is Strict Proclamation now."

"Oh, and..." says Minerva. "Did you find Pietro's... Pietro's killer?"

Plegovich and Lucas look at each other. "Yeah," says Lucas. "And it was the best thing we could have ever done."

"Oh... that is... wow," she says, smiling. "We finally avenged Pietro Plegovich and killed that miserable rat... although Piet he was a little bit big-headed... but we have to be honest... no one wastes Plegovich's blood."

"Yes! That's my aunt talking!" says Plegovich, smiling and hugging his aunt. "But honestly, I didn't come here to talk about Pietro or his killer... I'm here for a favour, auntie... I'm sorry but... I need you to do me a favour."

"Of course, new president!" she shouts. "What can I do for you?"

"Let me tell you a story, auntie..." says Plegovich, and Sergei gets from the bag three red, shiny pendants. "See those pendants over there?"

"Yeah," answers Minerva. "They are truly beautiful."

"Those pendants belonged to three dangerous girls... I don't know how, but... they had a special power while using them... they tried to resist that day where we broke in the Golden Horse Casino in Las Pegasus, remember? Did you read that in the newspaper? On the TV?"

"I remembered watching that on the TV, yeah... my nephew facing the worst faces of Manehattan."

"Of course... and you know, there was a lady there who decided not to work with me... he told me I was crazy, he said our family... you, Lucas, our beloved father, mother, Pietro, Montreal... me... our family was a mental hospital."

Minerva's face turns into anger. "That lady has a dirty mouth," she says. "You should wash it with soap and a bullet."

"Don't worry, auntie... I've already cleaned it. I broke in the Casino and when we found out those three girls that were with that lady had those pendants with powers... we knew we had trouble there... and do you know what we did?"

"What?" she says, with googly eyes.

"We resisted. I was with Lt. Kobolov there, do you remember him?"

"Yes."

"Kobolov trapped them with his special powers... I got the pendants out from them... and you know what? I put them on and I couldn't have those powers, and the fact that I couldn't get them made me so angry... so angry..."

"You killed them?" says Minerva, surprised.

"No," says Plegovich. "I've sent them to a cabaret in Cabbage Town. They will rot like hell inside that place... and I want those pendants to be in a safe place."

"Here?"

"Yes... I don't know any other place where I can hide those pendants... I looked in Everfree Camp... a bank... a mine but... they don't convince me, and when I think about you... about leaving those pendants here... on my aunt's house... it makes me comfortable, it makes me breathe."

"Awww, how nice, Nicholas..." says Minerva, smiling. "Of course, I'll take care of those pendants with my life..."

"I know you will do it, auntie," says Plegovich. "And well, we must go now. I've got a job to do."

THREE MONTHS LATER: May 3rd.

Sergei is on the phone while being on the mansion. Minerva fell asleep while watching TV. "Saik City, or Saik Harbour, as you say, is only a piece of dirt, Garry. Minerva is more important. Send me all of your men," he says, but Garry does not do his order and ends his call. He looks at the phone angrily and smashes it against a wall, breaking it in pieces. Minerva hasn't woken up yet.

Sergei starts messing around the living room next to Minerva. That's the moment when he finds the house phone and calls Plegovich. However, the phone that appears on Minerva's phone is only Plegovich's old home number, the one at Butter Valley's, neither the Equestria House's number nor his cellphone's. He is not sure if he is going to answer the call. He decides to call him instead and he does not answer. He calls again. Nothing. He decides to call Plegovich's phone number but remembers that he has just broken his cellphone in pieces.

What can he do now?

Plegovich is busy now, talking to Doom Kid through his cellphone. He is in the President's Room, inside Equestria's House. A big, white room holding a big brown desk and pictures of mythical creatures of Equestria on the walls. At the same time, he remembered he didn't give his aunt his new phone number at Equestria's House, but he thinks he can call Sergei later for that. After all, he is in her mansion. Lucas is outside, smoking. He also has a bandage on his nose.

"So..." says Plegovich.

"Yes, that may be a problem... I've got no news.

"From no one?" he says, raising his eyebrows.

"No, sir. Neither Leritzko nor Blaley."

"And what about Watchon?"

"Last time Leritzko called me he told me he found him dead on the route... he had a shot on his head, but it looked like he had an accident."

Plegovich chuckles. "Well, I think that Watchon dude was stupid enough to die due to an accident but... a shot on his head?"

"Yes, Leritzko told me that..."

"See, Doom Kid... I didn't like La Lima before this, and now... I hate that place full of shit. I hate it. I freaking hate it. I think I'm gonna vomit with only mentioning its name, ugh..."

"And what should I do, sir?"

Plegovich lies on the president's chair and looks at one of the mythical creatures... a chimaera. He looks at the scary faces of the lion, the goat and the snake. In that specific moment, he takes a breath and chuckles. "Um... where are you, Doom Kid?" he says.

"I'm in Los Mantos, sir. With my men."

"Your men? You mean... my men."

"Well, yeah."

"How many men?" Doom Kid doesn't answer. "Hey."

"Um... I don't know... Sixty... Seventy... Most of them are outside, on Mantos' streets."

"That's perfect," says Plegovich, chuckling. He has now a wide smile.

"What do you want to do?"

"Well... I want you to go to La Lima with your men... look for Leritzko and Blaley..."

"And take them back home? OK."

Plegovich's smile suddenly disappears. "Let me talk, Doom Kid. I don't like people who interrupt me."

"Sorry..."

"I want you to look for Leritzko and Blaley, dead or alive... and once you finish with that... I want you to reunite every citizen of La Lima... and execute them."

Doom Kid doesn't talk now. "What?"

"That's what I want you to do. Bye."

Plegovich ends the call and takes a breath, chuckling. Suddenly, his phone rings again. It is Garry.

"Garry?" he says with an emotionless voice.

"Sir, I want to tell you something."

"What?"

"I've sent half of my men to Minerva. The Sirens and Seductive escaped."

"Shit," says Plegovich, shocked. "Why didn't you send all your men?"

"My city needs to be safe too! I need my workers!"

"Yeah... and I need to kick you in the ass! Does your shitty harbour need to be safe? From what?"

"I know, I know the new harbour is already safe but... they are only four girls! Why would I take all my men there for four women?"

"Who knows if there would be four women? They escaped! They may be looking for allies! I don't know! Thank me they don't know where she is, but I know they will find her soon and I want her to be saved... if you have to make a sacrifice, you will have to make a sacrifice. If you have to take all your men there, you will take all your men there."

"Um... look..."

"Look shit, Garry... That's what you have to do."

Plegovich ends the call, looks at the chimaera picture again and tries to imitate the lion's face. However, he gives up seconds later and comes out of the house, coming across with Lucas, with the bandage on his nose.

"Hey," says Plegovich, with a serious gesture. "I want you to do me a favour."

"Sure."

"Call your friends, those Blue Mares... tell them you will have to look for Seductive."

"Seductive?"

"She escaped. With her adopted daughters."

"Shit," answers Lucas Plegovich. "Ok... we'll be Manehattan's eyes tonight. I'll call them and if we find them..."

"Come here with them, and I want them alive."

Chapter 16: Pendants

May 3rd

Route

Silence.

Seductive is driving, and she doesn't even know where is she going. The Dazzlings are on the back, also silent. W is next to Seductive, next to the driver's seat, covering his face with his hands. His grandfather sacrificed for him minutes ago, and with his death, he is now the only man alive that has the Waters family blood on his veins, and he sadly can't digest that fact. He has now an anvil on his back, a charge on his whole body. Now he needs to shout, to cry. "Wait, stop," whispers W. "Stop! Stop the car!"

"Why?" says Seductive.

"Stop..." he says. Seductive stops the car in the right side of the highway, far away from the spotlights. There is only grass around them. W gets out of the car and throws up in the ground. Seductive decides to get down to help him but suddenly, time is stopped. A second later, Event and Discord appear in front of W.

"Hey, Event," hears W. "Why do I have to turn myself into Grogar?"

"If you want to save Ponyville, you have to do what I tell you, Discord. Now, go... I need to talk to him."

"Oh, hi, W! How you doing?" W slowly moves his head and looks at Discord. His nose is bleeding and his mouth is covered with vomit. "Oh... you are doing well... um... bye..."

Discord disappears and now Event sits in the ground. "You are going the right way."

"Yeah..." whispers W. "The right way..."

The time god raises an eyebrow. "I feel sarcasm on your words."

"Of course, you dumb! Look at me... my grandfather died minutes ago... I am the only one alive in my family... and... and..."

"Just think, W... there is light at the end of the tunnel."

W sarcastically smiles while hearing those words. "Light? LIGHT? My whole family is fucking dead! I don't know where are my friends! Trixie's dead! Everyone's dead or disappeared or whatever!"

W looks at the sky, which is being covered by big grey clouds. It's about to rain. "There will be a thunderstorm,"

W is still lost on his thoughts. "It... it doesn't make any sense... if I kill them... if I kill Plegovich... they wouldn't come back."

Event gets his sunglasses off and looks at W with his shiny, light blue eyes with no pupils. "You see, W... I know something."

"What?" he says. "Something from the future? Something I must kill to win or whatever the way you want to say it?"

"No, there is an old spell from the ancient times, before the creation of Equestria... it is a special spell that only gods with an unbelievable power can do. We can revive people."

W looks at Event with his eyes full of tears. "Really?"

"Yes. However, Discord doesn't have that power... and I have it, but I can revive only one person. I can't revive more than one because I am not powerful enough to do it..."

"What? Are you... you want to make a deal?"

"Ha, ha... gangsters always know when we are about to make a deal... yes, it is a kind of deal," says Event. "If you kill all those people Discord told you... I'll use my powers to revive Trixie Lulamoon."

W is now silent, looking at Event, who stands up and puts on his sunglasses. "What?" he says. "You... you will?"

"I never fail, Bedmaker... and now, your objective is Minerva Plegovich. Tell Seductive and the sirens they are going the right way, and the pendants are at a white mansion that's only three miles from here. Minerva Plegovich is also inside that mansion, taking care of those pendants. If you want a living girlfriend, do what I tell you to do."

The time comes back to normal and Event disappears. Seductive helps W to get up and he takes a breath. "Seductive," he says.

"What, dear?"

W struggles for a moment and then he comes back. "The pendants... the pendants are in a mansion."

"What?"

W rubs his face. "The pendants are on a white mansion that's only three miles from here. They are there with... with Minerva Plegovich."

"And how do you know that, kid?"

"...I... I investigated."

Seductive and W get in the car again.

"Investigate?" asks Seductive.

"Yeah," answers W while getting in the car. "I investigated before starting my revenge against Plegovich... I already knew those things you were looking for are in Minerva Plegovich's mansion, which is two miles away."

Meanwhile, eight black cars appear on the highway, going to the way they were going too. Luckily, they don't see them because they are far from the spotlights. "And you think those cars are going to that mansion you told me?" says Seductive.

"Maybe."

"Which mansion?" says Aria.

"The pendants are in that mansion," answers Seductive.

"Our pendants?" say the three Dazzlings. "We must go there quickly!"

"Yes, but we have to take care of ourselves," says Adagio. "Those black cars meant something. They may stop right there..."

The five of them are more focused on arriving at that mansion now instead of being lost on their thoughts. However, it is still an awkward situation where nobody talks.

"Hey... what's your name?" says Sonata Dusk.

"He is the kid we saw a couple of years ago..." answers Adagio. "The Bedmaker."

"The Bedmaker?" says Aria. "From the Ashton thing?"

"Yeah," says W.

"Um..." says Aria. "Thank you for being one of those guys who saved us from that stupid Ashton dude."

"You're welcome," answers W.

"By the way," asks Sonata Dusk. "Where are the other guys who saved us? Which were their names?" She is talking about Jack, Abe and Ron.

Silence, again. W closes his eyes and looks through the car's window. "A drunk Petko told me one of them died, Sonata," says Seductive. "And I have no idea about the other two."

"Who died?" asks Aria, surprised.

"Ron," answers W.

Seductive stops the car. "What?" says Seductive.

"Plegovich killed Ron."

Seductive rubs her face. "Oh god..." she says. "First Ghetto, then his brother... Tom Delight... and now him. I knew it was him... it was so obvious... but I still can't believe it."

"He gave in, Seductive," answers W. "We had the opportunity to kill him. We had two guns. We were in front of him... but I saw his face... he gave in... I don't know why, but he did it. That bitch killed him and then he shot me but I survived. And I don't know what's the matter with Abe and Jack... I saw them for the last time in that fucking place."

"Which place?" asks Aria Blaze.

W gasps while remembering the Train. "A train."

"Oh, dear..." says Seductive, while accelerating again. "The infamous train..."

"Which train?" innocently asks Sonata Dusk.

"A special train," answers W.

"And why it is special?"

"Sonata," says Seductive, and the siren shuts up. There is still one mile and a half left. At that moment, W turns around and looks at Adagio.

"Hey, Adagio," he says.

The siren raises an eyebrow, not looking to him. "What?"

"Sorry for shouting at you... like my grandpa said... the Waters are not like that."

Adagio chuckles. "I accept your apology, Bedmaker... and..."

"And?" says W.

Now Adagio looks at him. "Sorry about your girlfriend's loss."

"Yeah..." says W, while thinking about Event's offer. Will he revive Trixie for real? "Thank you."

Minutes later, they finally arrive at the mansion. There are six black cars are outside the mansion's hectares, and the gangsters are taking care of the entrance door. At that moment, Seductive turns to the right, going further from the mansion and hiding from the gangsters and the spotlights. She also turns off the cars' lights.

"What are you doing?" says W.

"The ultimate plan," she answers, smiling. "You are gonna like it."

Seductive does some manoeuvres and leaves the car in a position that heads towards the mansion's door, specifically in front of it. "Seriously... what are you doing?" asks Aria to her adoptive mother. That's the moment when she starts accelerating.

Meanwhile, the gangsters that are taking care of the entrance door are just concentrating on his job. Suddenly, they hear a sound... sounds like a roar, maybe. They look at a car coming to them and...

CRASH.

The car enters the house, running over lots of guards and destroying the door. The only ones inside the mansion are Sergei and Minerva.

"Sergei!" shouts the old lady. The big man appears, grabs Minerva and puts her on a wheelchair. "Oh my! The pendants! The pendants! They are under my couch!"

Sergei grabs a small wooden box that is under the couch and runs away with Minerva on a wheelchair to another room inside the mansion. At the same time, the Dazzlings, Seductive and W get down from the car. Eight gangsters died because of Seductive's plan, but there are sixteen alive.

Seductive's forehead is bleeding while W's nose is redder now. The Dazzlings are unscratched.

"Mother!" shouts Adagio.

"I'm OK," says Seductive, cleaning his forehead. "Let's go for your pendants, babes."

W and the girls fastly get out of the car and find out the car's hood was, in fact, a trunk. They easily open it because it's broken and find out there are a couple of handguns there. Everyone grabs only one, except for Seductive, which grabs two. The remaining gangsters are running to the entrance door, firing their guns.

"RUN!" says Seductive, and the Dazzlings follow her. W stays there for a second but then he decides to run away. Some gangsters enter the mansion, walking over the broken car. Meanwhile, Sergei accidentally throws the pendants' box while hiding Minerva from the intruders but instead of looking for them again, he closes the door. He heard shouts and footsteps outside. On a desperate way to grab them, he slowly opens the bathroom's door but at the same time, Seductive and the Dazzlings open a door that was in the living room. They are now in the hall and find out there is an open box on the floor with three red jewels. Adagio, Sonata and Aria jump over them like if they were savage animals. The three of them grab the pendants and they put them on their necks and Seductive cries of joy while listening to her adopted daughters singing with their necklaces for the first time. W starts feeling under the weather while hearing them and then Seductive asks them to stop. "Now, do me a favour," she says. "Go outside and sing to those gangsters out there. You have a crowd that will cheer for you."

The Dazzlings run away while Seductive only walks after them. W follows Seductive, but later he stays at the door for a second, turns around and looks at the hall. It has only two doors, one at the right that says Bathroom and another one in front of him with a sign that reads Bedroom. W decides to enter the Bedroom while the Bathroom's door is opened by Sergei.

"Stay here," says Sergei, carrying a shotgun. "Don't say anything."

"HEY, ASSHOLES!" shouts Aria while looking at the gangsters. "THIS IS FOR YOU!"

The gangsters start firing again while the Dazzlings and Seductive take cover in the living room. That's the moment they start singing. Once they sing, the gangsters stop firing their guns and look at each other.

"I fucking hate you," says a gangster to another one. "Motherfucker."

Both men start fighting each other, and a second later every gangster starts firing their guns, killing themselves because of the sirens' voices.

Sergei decides to hide in the bathroom again while hearing those voices, and that's the moment where W opens the Bedroom's door and comes out. He looks at the bedroom one more time and says: "Shit. The wardrobe," and enters again, closing the door. Seconds later, the sirens stop singing and Sergei comes out.

"I don't hear anything," says Adagio. "And that was also delicious."

"They killed themselves..." says Seductive, while looking at the window. Sergei appears on the living room and shoots his shotgun. The pellets hit Seductive on her back and she falls to the floor. The Dazzlings are now shocked, looking at the scenario.

"Get out or I'll kill you," says Sergei while holding the shotgun.

"NO!!!" shouts Aria, and both Adagio and her start shooting against Sergei, who hides behind the living room's furniture. Sonata tries to help his adoptive mother, Seductive, but it's too late.

Meanwhile, W heard Aria's shout and gets out of the Bedroom... he is about to come out but hears something in the bathroom and opens the door. Minerva's there, sitting on the wheelchair.

"Who are you?" she says. "Son of a bitch..."

"Minerva Plegovich?" asks W.

"Yeah..." says the old woman with an evil growl. "Whoever you are, my nephew will kill you."

"He already tried and failed... and sorry, this is not personal," says W and shots her once in the head.

MINERVA PLEGOVICH

Sergei hears the gunshot and leaves the living room. He instantly opens the bathroom's door and looks at W and Minerva's body with a hole in her head. She's dead. "NO!" shouts Sergei, trying to fire, but W instantly shots him three times on the chest. The big man falls and smashes his head against the wall. The Dazzlings enter the hall and Adagio shots Sergei two more times on his chest. "MOTHER... FUCKER!"

"Hey, hey! What happened?" asks W. Sonata strongly hugs him while Aria and Adagio are kicking Sergei's body.

W takes a look at the living room and finds Seductive's body. "Oh, shit..." he whispers. He tries to do something but he already knows it's too late. The adoptive mother of the Dazzlings is lying dead on the floor, with her eyes closed.

"This is sad," says Event, while sitting on the couch, looking at W. The Bedmaker only looks at him. "However, you need to focus on your next objective. If you drive only two miles to the north, you will enter Saik City, where Gail Garry is staying right now. Remember, Bedmaker... if you kill them all... Trixie will come back."

W slowly nods his head while looking at Seductive. The Dazzlings are still crying and Sonata hugs W one more time. "Girls," says W. "I want to tell you something."

"What, Mr Bedmaker?" says Sonata, while crying on W's shoulder.

"I need your help."

Now, the Dazzlings look at W in silence. They are still crying, but not sobbing. "What do you want now?" says Adagio, angry and sad at the same time.

"I want your help to bring Plegovich down."

"Plegovich?" says Aria. "That's impossible... we will never do..."

"If you follow me, it will be possible. The only thing we have to do now... is to go to Saik City and kill its leader."

"Are you serious?" says Aria, while crying. "Never."

W looks at them and takes a breath. "Believe it or not..." he says. "Well... I've been planning revenge against Plegovich. That man we killed... his name was Sergei and was Plegovich's most loyal man. He ordered him to come here... and he was the one who took you your pendants out, the one who put you in that cabaret, the one who tried to kill your adoptive mother... we could say that he is an indirect killer of your adoptive mother... and if we get rid of him... you'll get your revenge. You decide. Come with me to Saik City to avenge your mother or... go away.
"

Sonata is still hugging W but slowly nods her head. "I'll do anything to avenge mommy," she says while looking at Aria and Adagio.

Aria looks at Adagio now. She is the main decision. The siren with orange poofy hair takes a breath and looks at W. "Fuck... OK. Let's go."

Petko's Cabaret

A rusty, old car arrives at Petko's cabaret. Four guys get out of the dirty car: Rushy, Jack, Abe and Spike.

"Look at this old piece of shit," says Rushy, smiling. "I thought Rico's car was useless but it works!"

"Yeah!" says Jack. "It leaks gasoline, the car stopped five times in the road, the engine was about to explode and yeah... it works."

"Uh, come on!" says Spike. "It was the only car in La Lima. At least it brought us here."

"Spike's right," says Abe. "And so... this is...?"

Cabbage Town is empty. They are now in front of a big dirty brown building. They identified the building as a cabaret because it has a paper stuck to a wall with scotch tape that reads: "Petko's Cabaret."

"Yeah," says Rushy. "But... it is silent."

"Is it closed?" asks Jack.

"No, it can't be... it's a freaking cabaret," answers Abe.

The four men enter the cabaret and the first thing they see is the scenario. It is empty and the lights are still on. The tables and chairs are empty, and there are some guns on the floor. Apart from that, the place is completely bleak.

"Shit, what happened here?" says Rushy. "This is impossible. It looks like the cabaret turned into the Desert of Magnus."

Suddenly, Spike smells something. "I smell..." says Spike. "Something familiar. Perfume..."

"Perfume?" says Abe. Spike smells the perfume and jumps onto the scenario, looking at the backstage door. "Wait, Spike!"

The three men follow Spike and enter the backstage. They look at him trying to open the door which leads to the wardrobe room. Rushy opens it and Spike sees the show. "Oh!" he says and jumps because of his shock. "Oh my..."

"No way," says Rushy, while looking at Petko's body, who is lying on the same position as before. "No fucking way."

"This guy..." says Abe, while entering the room. "Wait! There's another one!"

Jack and Spike enter while Rushy is looking at Petko's body. Jack looks at the second dead man. "I... I recognize him... but from where?"

"Yeah," says Abe. "I think I saw him once too."

"Oh god," says Spike while gasping. "So much blood... and... and corpses in a day,"

"Calm down, Spikey," says Jack, while looking at the dead man's face. "Dark grey wrinkled skin, yellowish eyes... grey hair..."

"Wilbur," says Abe.

"Wilbur? It can't be!"

"Do you know any other man with dark grey wrinkled skin, yellowish eyes and grey hair?"

Jack thinks and ends up to a conclusion: Abe's right. "Shit," he whispers.

"Wilbur?" says Spike. "Who is Wilbur?"

Jack gets up and takes a breath. A tear is falling from one of his eyes. "There are no Waters anymore."

Abe nods his head and both men hug. "That son of a bitch..." whispers Abe. "He's going to pay."

"Hey," says Rushy. "I found this."

The two men and the dog approach Rushy, who found a tiny paper under Petko's body. It says SAIK.

"Saik City..." says Abe. "You think?"

"They may have been here..." says Rushy.

"And they may have killed Wilbur," says Jack. "We are going to give him what they need."

"A kick in the ass?" asks Spike.

"A bullet in the head," says Abe. Rushy chuckles.

"That's an idea I'd love to do," says the ushanka man.

"And what if... we do it right now... this night?" asks Jack.

Now, the three men laugh. Spike doesn't understand so much what is going on, but he also laughs. "You are gonna pay, Plegovich," says Rushy. "We'll start by burning the whole city of Saik."

W and the Dazzlings get into one of the cars that were parked outside the mansion's hectares and drive to Saik City. Meanwhile, Sergei opens his eyes. He was not dead. He has been alive all this time. He gets up and enters the bathroom, only to look at Minerva Plegovich's body, lying on the wheelchair while his pink dress is now red because of the blood, and now he looks at the mirror and gets off the two tactical vests that saved his life. One under the other one.

"Saik City..." whispers Sergei while throwing the tactical vests to the bathroom's bath. He thinks while getting out of the bathroom and grabs a cellphone from a dead gangster. Luckily, he has Plegovich's phone number. He calls him.

Plegovich answers the call faster than anyone ever could. "Hello?"

"It's me, Mr Plegovich."

"Sergei... So?"

"I'm afraid to tell you that Ms Minerva has passed away."

"No... NO!"

"I'm sorry, sir."

Silence, and seconds later: "Who killed her?"

Sergei recognizes the murderer's face again. Every time he closes his eyes he looks at him. It can't be! It can't be... he's alive... "If I told you you wouldn't believe it."

"Why?"

"...Walter Waters killed Minerva."

Silence. Both Sergei and Plegovich don't talk. "What?"

"I also can't believe this, sir. I thought you killed him, but I saw his face."

"This is impossible... this... I shot him in the stomach! I left him in the Magnus Desert, Sergei! I left him there to die!"

"I'm afraid he did survive..."

"Shit... shit... that's... that's not possible, Sergei, but if you say..."

"I will never lie to you, Mr Plegovich. Besides, the Sirens and Waters said something about going to Saik..."

"No," says Plegovich. "Come here, to Manehattan. I need you near me, specially right now that my beloved aunt was murdered.

"Yes, sir. And what about Garry?"

"He will handle that. Hey, you said... the Sirens and Waters... what about Seductive?"

Sergei looks at Seductive's body on the floor. "Dead."

"Ok... Now, come here, to the House. I'll be waiting for you. Bye."

"Bye," says Sergei, and then he keeps the cellphone on a pocket, enters Minerva's bedroom, opens the wardrobe and gets a key from it, gets out of the mansion, opens a small door outside Minerva's and enters the garage. There is a white Chevrolet Bel Air there, where Sergei enters thanks to the wardrobe's key.

Chapter 16.5: Guess Who Arrived...

A Fort in Manehattan. May 2nd: Evening.

A car arrives at the infamous fort in Manehattan where Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie are retained. Three men get out of the car: Grey Blackle is the first one to come out while being handled by Lucas Plegovich with a leash on his neck. A minute later, a hoary, robust man comes out. Kobolov, who is watching the scenario since the Fort's door, shouts:

"HOLY!"

The hoary man smiles. "Did you miss me?" he says. That hoary man is none other than Colonel Karzov, who was Kobolov's colonel during his militia years. However, Karzov was not only an Equestrian Sargeant but also one of the oldest and most loyal workers (and friends too) of Mr Public Property and his sons. Besides, Karzov was the one who introduced Kobolov to the mafia.

"Where were you all this time, Mr Karzov?" says a joyful Kobolov to Karzov. Both men handshake while Ragamuffin comes out and looks at what's happening right now. He doesn't recognize both Karzov and Grey Blackle and decide to get inside again.

"I was busy doing what Plegovich told me to do," answers Karzov. "I was on the retirement home when he called me months ago, and I collaborated him with the plan to destroy Strict Proclamation's kingdom. Now I am a man of gold in the new Equestrian Republic, living in the last room of the Golden Horse Hotel of Manehattan... and yeah, Lucas passed by and... I wanted to see you, man."

"Oh..." says Kobolov, chuckling. "Thank you, man... and you have the penthouse? It's pure beauty..."

"The nicer, the better, they say," says Karzov while Lucas enters the fort with Grey Blackle on a leash. "Whoops, sorry for distracting you from the main point of this... guess who arrived..."

"Grey Blackle?" says Kobolov. "Here?"

"Yeah," says Lucas. "You told me you wanted a third man to take care of those girls."

Grey Blackle looks at Kobolov and slowly waves his hand, whispering: "H-H-Hey..."

"Shut up," says Kobolov. "I wanted a sane third man... not this!"

"Sorry," says Lucas, smiling. "This is what we have."

"Are you kidding?" says Kobolov. "Plegovich has a zillion of men working for him! And you bring me Grey fucking Blackle?"

"All those zillions of men are busy doing specific jobs," says Lucas, whose smile has faded into seriousness. "Such as Garry's workers with that shit he thought, about a harbour in Saik City... and well, etcetera."

"I can be that third man," says Karzov, raising his shoulders. "I have no problem with staying for a while... maybe until tomorrow afternoon."

Kobolov does a sigh of relief and touches his fellow colonel's shoulder. "Uhh... thank you, Karzov, for existing. You can take him away, Lucas."

"No," says Lucas, angry. "I don't want him on the House again."

"Really?" says Kobolov. "Why?"

"I don't wanna have a psychopath in my land!"

"Psy-cho?..." says Grey Blackle, looking at Lucas with his frightening eyes and his shrunk right pupil.

"Shut up!" says Kobolov, and then he sighs and looks at Karzov. The veteran colonel only rises his shoulders. "Plegovich doesn't want him, does he?" asks the soldier. Lucas nods with his head and he closes his eyes, nodding his head. "Ok," says Kobolov. "Give me Blackle and go away."

Lucas smiles and nods his head, letting Blackle go. However, the psychopath doesn't move and is only looking at the sky. "Hey, you idiot!" shouts Lucas. "Move." Blackle raises an eyebrow and his right pupil shrinks more than before. He fastly turns around and punches Lucas in the face, breaking his nose and making him fall. "YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" shouts Plegovich's nephew while getting up and kicking him in his chest. Kobolov starts kicking Blackle's back while Karzov is just watching.

"Hey! Kid! Ragamuffin!" shouts Kobolov. "Ragamuffin!"

Ragamuffin comes out, shocked. "W... What?"

"Bring me the baton!"

"Ba-ba-baton..." says Grey Blackle, surprised, and Kobolov sticks him to the floor using his powers, leaving him with no escape.

"Why?" asks Ragamuffin. Lucas Plegovich looks at him.

"Are you kidding me, kid? Are you watching what we are doing?" shouts Plegovich's nephew. "Bring me that baton right now!"

Ragamuffin runs away and comes back with a black baton seconds later. "Um... I'll go?" he asks. Karzov, Lucas and Kobolov look at him.

"Stay," says Karzov. "Looking deep into your eyes I see you never watched someone getting his ass kicked."

"What? But..." says the blonde kid, worried about the psychopath.

"Stay," says the Colonel with an eye wink. "You should."

Ragamuffin slowly walks and stands next to Karzov while watching Lucas Plegovich beating Grey Blackle up by hurting him with a baton.

An hour later, the small room where Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie are retained is silent. Nobody is talking, although all of them are completely awake. Suddenly, they hear someone coming near and unlocking the door. The four girls get up, surprised, and Pinkie Pie's hair turns poofy. However, their hope breaks when the one who opens the door is Ragamuffin. Pinkie's hair is smooth again, but Rarity and Rainbow Dash get up to go for Ragamuffin and escape.

"COME HERE!" shouts the fashionista, but Ragamuffin pushes her away while Rainbow Dash gets him inside the room. Applejack enters the fight too and gets out of the room.

"Girls!" shouts Applejack. "We haven't got enough time! It's time to..."

Applejack is interrupted when Kobolov's powers get him back to the room. She also hits her head with the metallic door and is knocked out.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash try to get out but they are easily thrown away by Kobolov's powers. Karzov, who is behind his fellow pupil, looks at the scenario. Ragamuffin gets out of the room, running away, and Kobolov shouts:

"BRING HIM! THROW HIM HERE, KARZOV!"

Karzov, who's holding Grey Blackle through the leash, throws him to the room and Kobolov fastly closes before getting grabbed by Rarity and Rainbow Dash again.

"NO!" shouts Rarity. "LET US OUT! LET US OUT!"

"I won't let you out, ladies!" shouts Kobolov. "Shut the hell up!"

"Why are they here?" asks Karzov. "Four innocent girls?"

Kobolov and Karzov leave the room while looking at Rarity crying. "These girls?" says Kobolov. "They are anything but innocent... they are the Rainbooms."

"Rainbooms?" says Karzov.

"The girls who saved the world from Vignette Valencia, Midnight Sparkle, Gaea Everfree... do you watch the news?"

"Yes, but... why are they trapped there?"

"Plegovich ordered me not to kill them, but retain them... only to know that they are suffering. It's something that came out from the boss' crazy mind..."

Ragamuffin is outside the Fort, gasping while lying on the ground. Kobolov and Karzov laugh out loud.

"What happened, boy?" shouts Kobolov. "Did they kick your ass? Hahahaha!"

Ragamuffin doesn't answer, and Karzov takes advantage of this to ask Kobolov something: "Are you sure you don't want to kill Blackle? It seems that nobody wants him..."

"Nah..." says Kobolov. "He can be useful. Besides, now I want to see Rainbooms' reactions when they find out who is him..."

Rainbow Dash punches the window in a desperate try to escape, but nothing happens. Meanwhile, Applejack and Rarity try to find out who is the new man with them. Grey Blackle is knocked out and still has his neck trapped by the notorious leash. This is the first thing Rarity focuses on.

"Look at the leash," she says.

"You think they been treating him as a slave?" says Applejack, while touching the leash. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie slowly approaches them with her smooth, uncoloured, flat hair and looks at the knocked out man on the floor.

"I do think, Applejack," says Pinkie in a grave voice. "We will have those leashes in the future, we may be slaves too..."

"Don't say that, Pinkie!" says Rarity, while having her eyes full of tears. "We will escape, find Twilight, Fluttershy and Sunset Shimmer and get rid of all those men that did bring the president Strict Proclamation down!"

"If only we had our powers..." says Rainbow Dash. "Whoever Plegovich is, he will pay soon!"

Grey Blackle suddenly gets up and tackles Rainbow Dash, falling over her. Pinkie's hair turns poofy again because of her jumpscare, and Rarity and Applejack try to get Blackle over her and calm him down. Eventually, he ends up punching the metallic door with his fists.

"LET ME OUT!" shouts Grey Blackle. "LET ME OUT! LETMEOUTLETMEOUTLETMEOUT!"

"Calm down!" says Rarity. "They won't hear you! Even that freaking betrayer!"

Blackle keeps smashing the door, but this time with his head. He does it several times until he falls to the room's floor, almost knocked out. "Hey, hey!" shouts Rainbow Dash, while trying to wake Blackle up again. "Hey, you!"

"I... am... n-n-not... an... a-a-a-a-anomaly..." says Grey Blackle, and then passes out while closing his eyes.

Chapter 17: The Battle of Saik City

Author's Note

Sorry! I published the chapter but it seemed that nothing happened! That's why I published it again. :applecry:

Oh boy, here we come... :pinkiegasp: chapters with more than 5000 words are coming! :twilightsheepish: :raritydespair:

I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 17: The Battle of Saik City

Saik City

Saik City is, in fact, a small city. It only has four streets and one avenue: Locke Street. Between the intersections of the streets and this avenue, there are several houses and stores which are now empty. Most citizens of Saik City have been moved from their original houses due to Garry's new project in mind: he is thinking about turning his hometown, Saik City, into a harbour. According to Plegovich's words and Public Property's secret project, there are only three harbours in Equestria: one in Baltimare, another one in Everfree, and the last one in Fillydelphia. However, Fillydelphia's harbour stopped working four years ago due to a decree made by Strict Proclamation and the other two harbours have been qualified as old platforms with outdated machinery. Meanwhile, Saik City is the northernmost city of all Equestria, and there are only two miles between the city and the North Equestrian Sea.

Garry told Plegovich the idea, and the mad boss agreed with him although he didn't like it so much. Over the past few weeks, Garry's thoughts about Plegovich have been fading to disgust. The madman orders him to take the power pills every day and hates his boss' selfishness. The bounty hunter always listens to his boss' advice, but Plegovich never listens to his thoughts and words. He knows he is not the only one that thinks the same because plenty of gangsters that work for Plegovich share the same ideas, but didn't want to do anything due to their fear of Plegovich's cruelty. Moreover, he sometimes thinks it could be a good idea to fight against him, but he also knows that having Plegovich against his side would be a fatal mistake. That's why he is still working under Plegovich's shadow but doing projects with his Garry style.

Right now, it's raining on Saik City, and there is only one place in the city with the lights on, a small canteen. It has only three tables, another room with a locked door and a bar filled with alcohol. There are a couple of workers there, that are helping Garry with the harbour's project. Those men not only have Garry as their leader but also they have an administrator who controls them: that man is called Stinky Herb, a giant, fat, bald man with dirty clothes and a hideous smell. He is Garry's best friend from the city, who is a rookie gangster and is always with his son, Stinky Herbie Junior, which is shorter, smaller and thinner than him, has hair but has the same smell as his father.

It is almost 1:30 A.M. and Garry enters the canteen along with several men that went with him to Petko's cabaret.

"So...?" says Stinky Herb, while drinking a whole bottle of whisky. "What happened with the raid of the ghost?"

Everyone laughs, but Garry and his men don't. That's when Stinky Herbie Jr. finds out. "Hey, Garry!" says Herbie with an acute voice. "Why the long face?"

"Something happened," answers Garry while grabbing Stinky Herb's bottle of whisky.

"Did the ghost scare you, pal?" says Stinky Herb. Everyone laughs.

"No," says Garry. "Petko's dead."

Now the canteen is pure silence. No one dares to talk after Garry's words, and that's the moment when Stinky Herb talks: "How?" he says. "How... did that happen?"

"Seductive and her adopted daughters have escaped... and Wilbur Waters was free until I killed him."

"What about Chalk?" says Stinky Herb.

"My men also found him dead, upstairs."

"Oh, shit..." says Stinky Herb. "Do you think this was related to the brainy?"

"No, that's impossible..." says Garry. "By the way, how's the brainy doing? Is she hungry? I need her for tomorrow... we still need to know what kind of machinery we should buy for the harbour."

"I think..." says Stinky Herb, and then he asks his son: "Did you give food to the brainy today?"

"The little brain... No! I forgot to do it!"

Stinky Herb slaps his son's face. "You stupid!" he shouts. "We need her safe and sound! Hey, someone, give me a sandwich!" Two workers of Stinky Herb get up and make a sandwich. They give it to Stinky Herb and he stands up. "And what about the other thing?"

"What thing?" says Herb's son.

"She told me you touched her... several times yesterday."

"...So?" he says.

Herb slaps his son's face again. "Don't you touch her! I told you we need her safe and sound!"

"I don't understand why touching her would be bad!" he says. Herb looks at Garry and the bounty hunter raises his shoulders, letting him go. Then, Herb enters the locked room. It's a small, dirty bathroom with a broken toilet and a rusty bathroom sink. A girl is sitting in the toilet, whose left arm is chained to the bathroom sink. She is Twilight Sparkle, a.k.a. The Brainy.

"Hey," says Stinky Herb. "Wake up. Time for dinner."

Twilight Sparkle opens her eyes and coughs because of Stinky Herb's indescribable smell. She grabs the sandwich and asks: "Did... Did you wash your hands?"

"Of course," says Stinky Herb. However, Twilight looks at how dirty are his hands. "Just eat the sandwich, for god's sake."

Twilight grabs the sandwich and bites a small portion of it. Stinky Herb opens the door and Gail Garry comes in. "Hello, Brainy... how was your day?"

She looks around her and raises his eyebrows: "Pretty good."

"You are so funny, brainy," says Stinky Herb, laughing.

"Well," says Garry. "Tomorrow won't be time for jokes. You will have to help us with the harbour's machinery, and now that I remember... you recommended me buying three Limestone LR-5250 cranes for the coast... but you never told us how much it was."

Twilight Sparkle raises her shoulders. "I have no idea."

"Are you sure? I hope you are not lying to us, girl, because we are being pretty good to you. Your rainboom friends may be suffering worse consequences than you."

"You should feel lucky," says Stinky Herb. "You even have that... thing near you."

Garry chuckles. "Oh, thank you for reminding me of that thing, Herb... I'll come back."

Garry comes out of the room and returns with Twilight's geode on his hands. "Last time we gave you this thing... you threw all of us far away from you. That's why I decided not to give it to you until you reconsidered your stupid behaviour... and well, these past few weeks you behaved... really well."

"Yeah, I agree," says Stinky Herb. "I agree, Garry."

"I was thinking, you know, I thought about... giving it to you again... only to help us with carrying the machinery with your magic. However, if I see you doing something else with your magic that it's outside my authorization... even if you use it only to tie your shoes... I'll fucking shoot you in the head, got it?"

Twilight Sparkle nods her head, with no gestures at all. However, she can't stop thinking about her friends' fate, because she is the only one around Saik City... and maybe this whole zone... and maybe all of Equestria. Once Garry and Herb get out of there, Herb receives a phone call. PLEGOVICH.

5 Minutes Ago

There is a car on the dark route. It is now 1:25 A.M. and W is driving a stolen car that was in Minerva's mansion while having Adagio Dazzle next to him and Sonata Dusk and Aria Blaze in the backseats. There is only silence in the car, making this an awkward, uncomfortable moment that doesn't demonstrate happiness at all. Suddenly, thunder is heard and Sonata looks through the window.

"It started to rain," says Sonata, almost whispering. Aria Blaze also looks at the window which is being touched by those raindrops.

"Where the hell is the wiper washer?" whispers W while trying to find where he can switch on the wiper arm. He is now driving slower and looks at Adagio Dazzle while looking for the switch. She is lying against the window, rubbing her head and crying. "Hey..."

Adagio stops rubbing her head and looks at W with her bloodshot eyes. "Now what?" she whispers.

"Um..." says W. "You... all of you... you will get your revenge."

The Dazzlings look at the Bedmaker now. "You called me only for that?" says Adagio.

W is driving slower than before while trying to find the wiper switch. "Well... this was an awkward situation so..."

Aria sighs. "Fuck you."

"No... he is right, indeed," whispers Sonata Dusk. "We will get our revenge."

"You always agree with the stupid people, Sonata," says Aria. "Typical."

"Oh, come on, Aria..." says Sonata. "He was right..."

"Hey!" says W. "I finally found the wiper washer." However, the Dazzlings are not listening to him now. Aria and Sonata start arguing and Adagio stops it.

"STOP!" shouts Adagio. "PLEASE, STOP! ENOUGH!"

"But..." says Sonata, about to cry. "B-but..."

"BUT WHAT, SONATA? SHUT UP!" says Adagio, and then she crawls in her seat. "Oh gosh... Why am I here, why? Why am I going to Saik City with you two and this dude? Oh my god... oh my... go..."

Adagio starts crying again while W switches on the wiper washer and drives faster without saying anything. Silence, along with the thunderstorm, invades the place again, until W looks at a sign outside. "WELCOME TO SAIK CITY"

Minutes later, W looks at a sentry box with its lights on. He is now driving slower because of the rain, which has turned into a war of raindrops and thunder.

"Hey!" says Sonata Dusk, near W's ear. "Look at the sentry box."

"Yes," answers W. "We will pass it by, don't worry."

W is about to accelerate, but then he hears a shout: "HEY! WAIT!"

W stops and the Dazzlings look at him. Adagio Dazzle sighs while cleaning his face with tears and touches her throat, about to sing. However, W tells her not to sing by now. The mysterious voice appears and stands in front of W's window with jeans, black leather shoes and a hoodie. He has red skin and orange hair. "Hey," says W while slowly touching his pocket, which has a gun.

The mysterious man looks inside. "What... what... wait," he says. "The Dazzlings."

"The what?" says Adagio Dazzle. "He knows us. We gotta kill him..."

The mysterious man gets scared but W saves his life. "No," says the Bedmaker, while looking at the man. Suddenly, he turns on the car's inner light and the man's face is illuminated. "Your face seems familiar to me, dude."

"Every face seems familiar to you, come on," says Adagio Dazzle, while trying to grab W's gun.

W grabs Adagio's hands and slowly put them away, later, he looks at the man again. "What's your name?"

"Um... what?"

"What's your name, man? It's a simple question."

"Um... Big Macintosh."

"Big Macintosh..." says W. "Um... I don't remember your name but your face... I do."

"Wait..." says Big Mac, while approaching W's face. "You were in that chaotic night... against Blueblood... you may know Applejack then."

W sighs. "Don't remind me of that night, please... and yes, I know Applejack. Wasn't her the lady with the hat?"

"I am her brother."

"Oh," says W. The Dazzlings are now looking at him, surprised. "And why are you here? On Saik City?"

"Long story... they grabbed me and said I had a kind of folk face, I don't know... and because of that, they sent me here, to work on that sentry box and to administrate the workers' assistance..."

"Workers? Of what?" says the Bedmaker. Adagio is not trying to grab W's gun now, but she is looking at her sisters. Sonata is focused on Big Mac and W's conversation, while Aria is just looking at the thunderstorm through the window, angrily.

"They want to build a harbour here... that guy... that speedy folk..."

"Gail Garry," says W. "Is he here?"

"Yeah," says Big Mac. "He is here with his workers."

"Ok... Big Macintosh, right?"

"Eeyup."

"Can I call you Big Mac?"

"Sure. Everyone calls me by that."

"I want you to do me a favour."

Big Mac rises his eyebrows. "What kind of favour?"

"An easy one."

"What are you trying to do?" interrupts Aria Blaze. "A favour?"

"Aria!" shouts Sonata. "Let him talk."

"Thanks, Sonata," says W while looking at the innocent siren, who's smiling for the first time on this night. "Mac, I want you to stay there, inside that sentry box, until I come back... got it?"

"Uh... that's what I do every night but... sure."

"But tonight will be a special night, remember," says W. "Do not move." The Bedmaker is about to accelerate but the car sound fades into pure silence. The Dazzlings and Mac stop moving, turning into statues. "Oh fuck," he whispers. "What do you want now? Where are you?"

"I've heard you insulted me," says Event, while lying on the backseat in between Aria and Sonata.

"Excuse me! I didn't insult you!" says W, turning around. "I only said... oh, fuck!"

"Which is a swear word."

"Come on... what do you want?"

"I'm here to tell you how do you have to kill Garry if you want to win."

"Sure... what should I do? Kill him while singing Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees?"

"You may think this is a joke, but if you want to kill Garry... you will have to use something you wanted to do since you joined Plegovich."

"Don't say that name again, please. Besides, what kind of thing I always wanted to do?"

"This," says Event while giving W a small box. W opens it and feels goosebumps by just looking at what's inside. There are magical pills. The ones that Garry, Kobolov and Doom Kid take to gain powers.

"Holy... holy shit," says W. "Where did you get them from?"

"I robbed some," says Event. "But you don't have to take them now. I'll tell you when you have to do it. On the other hand, I need to tell you that Sergei is alive and called Plegovich, telling him that you are alive."

"What?" says W, shocked. "Sergei's alive? How?"

"He had not only one, but two tactical vests."

"Son of a bitch..." says W, while slowly punching the steering wheel. "I should have shot him in the head."

"Don't worry," says Event. "He is not your main problem right now. Plegovich has just called one of Garry's workers and told him you and the sirens were going for them. That means you will have lots of cars filled with gangsters coming at you in... now."

"Now?"

"Now. You should tell the Dazzlings to use their pendants... it will be convenient for you."

"I have a question," says W. "Can I just kill Garry with your help? You stop time like the way you are doing it right now, I shot him in the head and you turn time back to normal life."

"No."

"Why?"

"That would mean I will constantly play with time and will eventually destroy this reality's time and space. I recommend you to keep time straight and to do the things the way I tell you to do."

W sighs. "Fuck you."

Event takes off his sunglasses. "You shouldn't insult to a god that is your main help during these days and eventually will be the only one that will take you to the win. Think about it, Bedmaker."

W doesn't answer and the time comes back to normal life, leading to Event's disappearance. The rain keeps falling while W is taking a breath. Big Mac runs away and enters the sentry box. "The pendants," says W.

"What?" says Adagio. "What's the matter?"

W hears the sound of a car near them. Then, he looks at two lights illuminating him. Then four. Six. Eight. Ten. Five cars have stopped in front of them. Big Mac instantly switches off the sentry box's lights. "This is the matter," says W. "Start singing."

The gangsters come out of the cars and the Dazzlings start singing while crouching inside the car. Gangsters start firing against the stolen car, breaking the front window and the hood, but suddenly the Dazzlings and W hear shouts and Sonata slowly moves her head to look. The gangsters are killing themselves again, the pendants worked. Minutes later, W gets out of the car with a handgun and looks that there are two gangsters still alive, fighting. He is now getting wet because of the rain while looking at the two men fighting. There is also an awful smell that mixes the wet grass next to the route with gunpowder's odour. W silently enters the sentry box while holding a small box on his hand: the pills.

"No, please! I have a family!"

"It's me, Big Mac," says W, closing the door. "Where are the lights? I wanted to check if you were OK."

"Uh... uh... to your right."

W finds the switch and turns on the lights. It is a small, white room with only a desk and a chair. Big Mac, who was taking cover under the desk and covering his ears, gets up and takes a breath. "May I know what happened outside? I've heard gunshots and..."

The sirens stop singing and W goes outside. Sonata raises his thumb, smiling. There is only one gangster alive, lying on the floor and coughing. W shoots him on his chest with the handgun he robbed before and steals the few ammo left from the gangster's handguns. Big Mac takes a look outside while turning off the lights.

"Stay inside, Mac," says W. "We'll enter. Garry's on a canteen now, right?"

"...Wait," says Big Mac, trying to figure out if those dead gangsters are actually dead. "Why did you come here? What are you trying to do?"

W points at the dead gangsters. "What do you think?"

Big Mac raises his eyebrows. "Oh... oh my... you came here to... kill Garry?"

"No, we came here to dance some jams... of course, Mac! Do you think why those guys came here? They were trying to kill us..."

"Oh my..." says Big Mac. "You are not going to kill me... right?"

"If you keep asking me stupid questions, maybe. Now go inside and stay there until we come back."

"Why? Will you... pick me up?"

"Pick him up?" says Aria Blaze. "Someone else inside this car? No, thanks!"

"Shut up, Aria!" says Sonata. "Mr Bedmaker is right, we can't leave him alone!"

"Girls, no time for fights," says W. "We need to go to that canteen now."

"Oh, come on!" says Aria. "Do you think I will come out of the car to get wet with this thunderstorm and the cold night? I only have an orange dress, I will die of hypothermia!"

"I agree with Aria," says Adagio. "Why don't we destroy the canteen's door with the car and we enter like that?"

"That may be a good idea," says W. "But Garry may run away. I want to look at him, face to face."

Big Mac goes inside, without saying anything, and Adagio sighs. "Do you think I'm going to fight gangsters in the middle of this cold rain?"

W gets inside the car. "Yes," he says. "Because you decided to come here."

"I decided?" says Adagio, angrily. "You told us you needed our help!"

"But you were the one that said yes, neither me nor your sisters."

"Excuse me, Adagio said yes but... did you see your freaking doggy face when you said that?" interrupts Aria. "You looked like a puppy that didn't get his meal. That's why she said yes."

Adagio chuckles. "This is the first time I completely agree with you this time, Aria."

"Alright," says W, while opening the car door again. "If you don't want to avenge your adoptive mother, I'll go alone, then."

Adagio and Aria don't answer and the smiles they had seconds before have disappeared. On the other hand, Sonata also opens the car's back door and he tries to cover his head from the rain. "Sonata!" shouts Adagio. "What are you doing?"

"I'll go avenge mom!" shouts Sonata. "Wait for me, Mr Bedmaker!"

W listens to Sonata's voice and sees she is cold. W immediately unbuttons his trenchcoat and gives it to her, but before doing that he grabs the pills' box that was in his pocket and keeps it in his jeans. "Take my trenchcoat, Sonata," he says. "You may not catch a cold with it."

Sonata smiles and blushes while grabbing the trenchcoat and she puts it on. "What about you, Mr Bedmaker?" she asks.

"I don't care if I catch a cold, Sonata... I want to catch that speedy son of a bitch now."

"Wait!" shouts someone else. Sonata Dusk and W look behind them and see Adagio and Aria are trying to get out of the car, but they don't want to get wet. W sighs and looks at Sonata.

"You are the only good one of them all," he says, and carries a smiling Sonata inside the car again and he starts driving. All in all, W and the three Dazzlings are entering to Saik Harbour to look for Gail Garry.

Garry, Stinky Herb and his son Junior are the only ones, along with other two gangsters, who are still inside the canteen.

"They haven't come back yet," says Stinky Herbie Jr. while looking at his father and his boss, Garry, with a worrying sight. Garry is on a table, thinking about his pills. Suddenly, he gets up and opens the door. The thunderstorm is more aggressive at the moment.

"What are you going to do?" says Herb, confused. "Are you going to the entrance to know what happened?"

"I'll go for my pills," says Garry. "Just in case."

"But... how far is your house from the canteen?"

"Not too much," says Garry. "I'll go on foot."

"Wait!" shouts Stinky Herb. "I can carry you."

"No," says Garry. "I want you two and Herbie to stay here... Come with me, dude."

One of the henchmen walks away with Garry going to the right, leaving Stinky Herb, Stinky Herbie Junior and another gangster inside the canteen. Stinky Herb takes advantage of this moment to open Twilight Sparkle's door. She still has the sandwich on his hands. "You didn't eat the meal yet?" says Herb, angrily. "I prepared it specifically for you..."

"Sorry," she says. "I'm not hungry."

"Why are you not hungry?" says Stinky Herb. "You didn't eat anything today."

"I'm just... not hungry. Thank you."

"Ok, if you say..." says Stinky Herb before closing Twilight's door again. "Any news of the guys that went to the entrance?" he asks, but neither his son nor the gangster answers him, they only shake their heads.

Meanwhile, on the left corner of the street. There is a car with three sirens and a man looking at the canteen. Suddenly, they look at Garry walking away with another gangster.

"That's the motherfucker," says W. "The guy with orange hair and lime skin."

He is about to accelerate, turn to the left and run over him, but suddenly time is stopped again. "Fuck!" he shouts. "What do you want now?"

"Calm down," says Event, while staying in the backseat. "You will have to let Garry go by now,"

"WHAT?" says W. "Didn't you tell me that I had to come here to kill Garry?"

"Yes, but Garry must be the last man you will kill here. You need to get rid of three men who are inside the canteen and save one person."

"Save someone?" says W. "Who?"

"Her name is Twilight Sparkle."

"What?" says W, turning around his head to look at Event. "Twilight Sparkle? Why is she here?"

"They have been using her as an assistant for the harbour thing. She is so clever that perfectly knows how to create a specific harbour on this place."

"Alright," says W while taking a breath. "Shall I use...?"

"Don't use the pills for this. I'll tell you when is the right moment to consume them."

The time comes back to normal and the Dazzlings are looking at him. "So..." says Adagio. "Will you accelerate or not?"

"Wait..." says W while drawing his gun. "We have to enter the canteen first."

"That canteen?" asks Aria. "Why?"

"Rumour has it there is a girl that needs to be saved inside," says W. "We should take a look."

"And what about the guys that walked away?" says Adagio.

"They will come back," says the Bedmaker while opening the car's door.

"Really? Are you going to come out?" says Adagio. "It looks like the sky will fall and eventually will lead to a global flood."

"Yep," says W. "Someone has to enter that canteen."

The Dazzlings look at each other and sigh. Sonata Dusk nods with her head and comes out of the car with W's trenchcoat and standing behind him.

"I don't want to catch the flu," says Aria.

"Oh, come on, Aria!" shouts Sonata. "You are a freaking siren! Besides... Ms Mommy would be very proud..." Aria and Adagio look at each other again. Sonata keeps begging them to help her and W. "We will enter the canteen. We'll only stay for a few seconds in the rain..."

"Oh, come on, Sonata... Ok..." says Adagio. "If you shut up, I'll get out!"

"YES!" says Sonata, while hugging W. The Bedmaker looks at her, strangely. Aria growls while getting out of the car and now the three Dazzlings are outside. W wants to walk but Sonata keeps hugging him.

"Um, Sonata..."

"I don't want you to catch the flu, Mr Bedmaker," she answers.

"If you don't want me to catch a cold, stay behind me and both of us will walk faster. I'll be the first one to enter."

Stinky Herbie Jr. is sleeping on the table while his father Herb and the other gangster are only drinking. Suddenly, he listens to someone shouting and gets up.

"Did you hear that?" says Herbie Jr. Herb and the gangster look at him, confused. "It sounded like a girl shouting."

Herb looks at the door where Twilight is kept. He opens it and he looks that she is there, sleeping. "You think she called her friends?"

"That's impossible," says Stinky Herbie Jr. "The remaining Rainbooms were kept in Manehattan, I don't think they drove all the way here."

"What about Seductive and the Sirens? Petko's death?" says Stinky Herb. "They may have died because she told them to do it!"

Twilight Sparkle slowly opens her eyes... she wasn't sleeping. Suddenly, Stinky Herb starts looking for something inside his dirty jeans... a gun.

"What?" asks Twilight Sparkle. The unnamed gangster is looking at her while Stinky Herb is looking for his gun. Stinky Herbie Jr. is about to open the door, but suddenly someone opens it and shoots to the unnamed gangster's head, killing him. Stinky Herb tries to go after the mysterious man but suddenly, three other girls enter the canteen and one of them with orange poofy hair fires him three times on his chest. Stinky Herbie Jr. gets shot in his shoulder and falls to the floor, agonizing.

"Oh my!" says Sonata. "The girl! We have to let her go!"

From Stinky Herb's chest comes out a grey key, which Aria slowly grabs while covering her nose from Herb's nasty smell. Adagio also carefully touches the key while trying not to throw up because of its smell, and unlocks Twilight's chain. She instantly comes out and grabs something which is inside a bottle under the canteen's bar.

"You.. son of a..." whispers Stinky Herb, only to be riddled by Aria Blaze with a shot on his head. The siren jumps of shock after firing the gun.

"That felt... wow and not wow at the same time..." whispers Aria and Adagio touches her shoulder at the same time.

"Welcome to Ms Seductive's old world, Aria," she says.

"ARGH! YOU FUCK!" shouts Stinky Herbie Jr. while trying to find his gun. He gets out something from his pocket but it isn't a gun, but a white cloth. He is about to be shot in the head by W, the man who entered, but a purple aura appears around the guy's head and breaks his neck. W turns around and looks at Twilight with her geode.

"Oh..." says W while looking at her. "Thank you, Twilight."

"Long time no see... W, right?" she says while taking off her glasses. "They didn't hurt me but, to be honest, he... that guy deserved it."

"Wait!" shouts Aria. "Aren't you... yes!"

"It's she!" says Adagio. "Twilight Sparkle... from the Battle of the Bands!"

"What?" says Twilight, confused. W keeps looking at something next to Stinky Herbie's body... the white cloth. However, he turns around and tries to calm down the sirens and Twilight.

"Ok..." says W. "Twilight, if you ask why we saved you and why are we here, I'll answer you later, this is a long story... Now we have to look for Garry... and Twilight, I can't believe you, as a Rainboom that always forgives her enemies, actually killed someone... that was surprising."

Twilight opens her eyes and rubs her head, taking off her glasses. She has realized she killed somebody. "Oh my God... oh my God! I... I killed someone!"

Twilight is about to pass out but the sirens try to calm her down, telling her that he murdered a bad man. She lies against the canteen's bar, only to look at Stinky Herb's body with a hole on his head and the unnamed gangster lying dead on a table with a big red stain. She immediately throws up while Sonata tries to calm her down by singing a lullaby.

Meanwhile, W can't stop looking at the white cloth that was inside Stinky Herbie's pocket. He slowly grabs it and analyzes it... he suddenly realizes it is underwear. Women's underwear. It is white and has a small, dark yellow bowtie. The Bedmaker's arms start shaking while looking at the underwear. He tries to get up but eventually falls to the floor and hits his back with a table. The Dazzlings and Twilight look at him... his skin is almost white. He has just remembered something.

November 5th (Last Year)

Canterlot Mall

The news channels are still going nuts about Governor Blueblood's death and his dark side that was inside the mafia. One week and a half have passed since that tragic Fall Formal which ended up with Blueblood's mysterious death caused by an unknown man with a sniper rifle, and on the other hand, three men (Jack, Abe and W) were declared as unknown heroes. The only time they appeared was in the new Fall Formal that happened a week later, where Plegovich was, and after that moment, all of them disappeared and returned to Los Mantos... except for W.

W decided to be with Trixie for a while. He knew she was crazy, but he liked her. He wasn't in love with her, like Trixie with him, but felt she was a pretty girl. He is now in a clothing store in Canterlot Mall, wearing jeans, a black hoodie, a grey beanie and round sunglasses. He decided not to use his trenchcoat nor showing his bare face in the mall in case somebody recognized him. He looks at himself in a mirror that it's inside the clothing store while hearing a TV channel talking about Mayor Mare, the new Canterlot's Governor, and her last speech against gang wars and Blueblood. She also talked about Jack, Abe and him but not too much. She only referred them as mysterious figures who fought against the enemy. He is a lot calmer because people are slowly forgetting about them, not only because they think they were only three brave cops who helped the Rainbooms to stop the man, but also because there is a bigger and darker enigma inside this thing: Who killed Blueblood? W knows who killed him, Sergei, the toughest henchman who works for Plegovich, with a sniper rifle. However, the only ones who know Sergei was the killer are Jack, Abe and him. Nobody else, even the Rainbooms, knows who was, and the news channels and even the new Government are trying to figure out that man's name, something that W knows they will never find.

W turns around to watch the clothing store's TV. A journalist has just announced Strict Proclamation, Equestria's President will make a live speech on a couple of minutes. Two shop assistants are watching the TV while W tries not to call their attention by looking at some trousers.

"Shall I switch over the channel?" says one of the shop assistants.

"No," answers the other one. "I wanna see what Proclamation thinks about this."

Meanwhile, W gets into a section that calls his attention: there are trenchcoats on sale. He looks at a neat black leather trenchcoat, but once he looks at its high price he turns around and sighs. Minutes later, Trixie comes out of the dressing room with a purple jacket and talks with a shop assistant. At the same time, Strict Proclamation, a tall, hoary, older adult with a smart suit, beige hair and beige skin appears on TV. He's ready to say some words:

"I, Strict Proclamation, as Equestria's President, am extremely concerned about what's been happening on Canterlot over the past few days. Blueblood's dark side, a second face, has truly disappointed every citizen of this beautiful country and me, and this crime that will remain in history for eternity it's only a part of the problem... and sorry for my informal words, but I would say this is only a small cherry of the cake. Gangs, organized crime and mafia have been one of the biggest problems of Equestria since the last few decades. Groups of several gangsters, like the infamous Clock of Canterlot in 1978, the Benvenuto in 1985, the Red Beast in 1994, the Canterlotian Gang War in 1998, and the Ashton Family in 2005... are only a small part of our problem. Those gangs I mentioned before may have disappeared, found by the government and all of their capos may have been arrested and died in jail... but that doesn't mean the problem is over. It keeps going, and I am completely sure it is worse, a lot worse than the eighties, the nineties, and the '00s... because we are talking about a governor, a man who was supposed to bring peace to his city... was a part of this. I'll do my best to annihilate this poison that stays in Equestria's veins, and I will give you a safe land for all of you, with no mafia, no gangsters and no organized crime. I'll say one more time... I am extremely disappointed with Blueblood's behaviour. Thank you."

W raises his eyebrows surprised. "That speech was... wow," says Trixie, who is now next to W. "Did you buy something? You told me you wanted to buy a trenchcoat."

"No," answers. "Prices here are... kind of expensive."

"Yeah..." says Trixie, chuckling. "But Trixie couldn't let this beautiful purple jacket go. Besides, Trixie bought also new underwear," she says, winking an eye to W and nudging him. W smiles. "Oh gosh..." she says. "Nobody may recognize you now, so you can take off that beanie, although Trixie likes those sunglasses... they make you great like me."

"No, it's OK, Trix," answers W. At the same time, they come out of the shop while Trixie is carrying a bag with the jacket and the underwear.

"What do you think?" she says. "I didn't show you what I bought."

"Don't take the underwear here, Trixie," says W, smiling. "We are in public."

"Of course not, dummy!" she says, laughing. "Take a look."

W takes a look inside the bag. There are a purple jacket and underwear, he looks at some white panties with a small yellow bowtie and chuckles. "What the hell... with that yellow bowtie?" he says.

November 17th

Trixie is looking for something in her bedroom, desperately. Suddenly, W enters the bedroom and asks what's the matter.

"Trixie lost her favourite panties!"

"Um... which one?" he asks.

"Those white panties with a small yellow bowtie. Trixie liked them."

W keeps holding the panties on his hands. How did the panties end up here? On a gangster's pocket on Saik? Did they break in her house and robbed it? Did they find it the day they killed her? How could this happen?"

"Panties?" says Adagio. "That guy had panties on his pocket? Ugh... pervert."

W gets up and leaves the panties on a table, he rubs his head and opens the bar's door.

"Wait!" says Aria. "Where are you going?"

"Girls," says W. "I want you to come back to the city's entrance and wait for me."

"What?" says Adagio. "You are going to fight two guys alone? What if they are armed?"

"I don't care, girls," says W. "I want to talk Garry face to face, alone. I don't want you behind my back, please. Wait for me at the entrance."

"But..." says Sonata.

"Please," answers W and comes out, while taking a breath in the middle of the rain. The sirens and Twilight slowly get out. "Do anyone of you know how to drive? I forgot to say that."

The Dazzlings look at Adagio. "Well, I know how but I haven't driven a car since I was captured by fucking Plegovich."

"Oh gosh!" says Twilight. "I'm freaking tired of hearing that surname! Who's that guy? Can anybody explain to me? Everyone here talked about him!"

"I can explain it to you," says Sonata. "But first, you will have to answer my question... are you sure you don't hate us for being sirens?"

Twilight raises an eyebrow. "Um... I've read something about you on the Canterlot's Gazette but..."

"Girls," says W. "You should go.."

"Didn't you call us to help you against that man?" says Aria. "Why don't you need us now?"

"Because I changed my plan, Aria," says W. "I want you to go to the entrance. Only this time."

Aria shuts her mouth and growls while running away with the sirens and Twilight. W walks and stands in the middle of the street while being completely wet because of the thunderstorm. Sonata takes off W's trenchcoat and gives it to him.

"Good luck," says the siren with a smile before running away with Twilight. Then, Adagio turns on the car and leaves, leaving W alone. A minute later, The gangster looks at his left and somebody is standing on the canteen door.

"This is the moment where you take the pills, Waters," says Event while looking at Garry and his partner approaching W.

"And will I have the same powers as Garry?"

"If I tell you, you will lose," replies the God and disappears. Garry finally appears with his partner and stands in front of him.

"Who in the fuck are you?" says Garry. He hasn't recognized him yet. His partner aims his gun to W but the Bedmaker kills him with two shots on his chest. Garry immediately grabs W's neck through his power speed and finds out who is that man. He fastly lets him go while thinking about how could he survive. W falls to the floor and grabs his wet trenchcoat while holding the pills' box. "You..." says Garry. "You did... you did survive."

"Shit yeah," says W. "And I'll kill you all... starting with you."

"Wait!" says Garry. "Wait, wait! We... we can..."

"We can what?" says W. "We can shit... I came here to kill you, and now that I saw Trixie's panties on your fucking city I'll fucking crucify you."

"Oh," says Garry, laughing. "You found the white panties?" he says while laughing out loud. "Fucking Herbie Junior said they smelled good..."

But eventually Garry's smile disappears. "Herbie..." he whispers, and takes a look inside the canteen, coming across Stinky Herb and his son's corpses. W aims his pistol at Garry's head but the bounty hunter beats him up with his speed and takes the gun out of his hand. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" says Garry. "I thought Plegovich was a motherfucker... but you... you killed Herb and Herbie... they didn't deserve to die... you... you motherfucker!"

W smashes his head against Garry's and he is free. He tries to grab his gun again but Garry grabs the pistol with his super-speed and throws it away. Seconds later, he enters the canteen and grabs from the bar a machete. W is unarmed, and Garry is now holding a machete in the middle of the rain. "You know what I wanted to tell you?" says Garry. "I thought about... allying, you know... because I realized Plegovich is motherfucking Satan. I knew Herb, my best friend, and me alone couldn't do anything... but if we had you... I still think that if we had you on our side, Plegovich' ass cheeks would be contracted because of his fear... but now that you killed my best friend of life, Herb... I'll fucking kill you."

"Wait," says W. "Two things before killing me."

"What?" says Garry.

"Two things. Will you let me talk for the last time at least?"

Garry approaches W with his speed and touches the Bedmaker's neck with the machete. "Do it."

"Firstly, I didn't kill that fat, stinky dude, although he deserved to die only because of its smell. How can you be friends with that fucking human broccoli?"

Garry makes a small cut on W's neck with the machete. It is very sharp. "You know what... only because I'm a good guy and not a fucking Plegovich... I'll let you talk for the last time."

"Thank you," says W, smiling. "Secondly..."

W spits at Garry's face and pushes him away to run. He realizes he has lost the box with the pills and starts looking for it until he finds it. Suddenly, Garry gets up and approaches him, but sees he has a pill on his hands, which W gets in his mouth.

Garry laughs and lets him go. "Oh, man... I truly admit I didn't expect you taking a power pill," he says and kicks W away. "Let's see what kind of power you've got."

W suddenly starts suffering the secondary effects of the magic pill's first time: he starts coughing and throws up in the middle of the street. He lies on the wet floor but seconds later he gets up. He extends his hand, trying to figure out what power does he have, but it doesn't do anything. Garry starts laughing. W keeps trying to find out what is his power by extending his hands, ankles and legs. "Nice show," says Garry. "But maybe you don't find your power because the pill didn't take effect on you... so, where were we, then?" he says. "On the white panties?"

Garry laughs again and W runs to him shouting: "SON OF A BITCH!" However, Garry, using his super-speed, stretches his hand and approaches W, about to cut him in half with the machete. However, he trips over and gets pushed away by something. Once Garry gets up, he looks at W standing up in front of him, stretching his hand. He slowly moves and feels the arm's movements are the same that all his body is doing: He fell in the trap.

The bounty hunter starts laughing when he finds out what is happening. "You haven't understood your thing yet?" he shouts while chuckling. Nevertheless, W uses his brand-new telekinesis to throw Garry inside the canteen with an incredible force, breaking the door. "No way, no way..." says Garry, and he fastly gets out with a gun on his hand; the gun that Herb was looking for, which was in his left pocket. W gets the gun from him and looks at Garry while grabbing his head and gasping. "Welcome to my world, sunshine," says Garry. W points at Garry's head Herb's gun while having him on the floor. He traps him by stepping on his chest.

Garry looks at W, smiling. "Well... now I need to know I lost."

W keeps gasping and starts touching his chest. "Dead... dead man," he whispers.

"At least I was right, bitch..." says Garry. "You can bring Plegovich down, W... you have the best power the pill could have given to you..."

However, W doesn't feel too well. He feels cold, under the weather, like if he was trapped under ice or inside a bottle. He barely hears Garry's voice now and seconds later, he looks at Garry laughing and shoots him in the head.

GAIL GARRY

After killing Gail Garry, W gets out of the canteen and takes a long, long breath in the rain. He looks at the gun and then at his reflection on the water. Seconds later, he throws the gun away, takes another breath and slowly levitates it by stretching his arm. His nose starts bleeding and he fastly falls to the floor and gets up with a headache and with difficulties to breath.

"Do you like your secret power?" says Event, next to W who is sitting on the wet floor. "Don't worry. You're feeling under the weather because your brain is slowly processing how could you do this kind of thing. Last time I checked the future I saw you learning super-speed through the pill, and then you killed Garry in a speed battle. However, Verminium's magic is so unpredictable that anything you can imagine may happen when you take that pill... and guess what, it gave you one of the best powers it could have given to you."

"T... Telekinesis?" says W, while standing up.

"Of course, it is better than others."

"But... is this...?"

"Sadly, it is limited. You can't ask anybody for unlimited telekinesis, Bedmaker. It is one of the best powers you may have, but you need to know when you have to use the remaining pills."

"But... can you get me more pills?"

"Yes, you can have all the pills you want, but you need to know, Waters... that you can only take a pill per day... and you only have that power for ten minutes," says Event, while W tries to bring himself the gun by using his telekinesis, so he stretches his hand... But nothing happens. The pill's power has finished. "Your next objective is Doom Kid, which is staying in La Lima. However, don't go to La Lima now, not tomorrow... I'll tell you when you have to go... it is unsafe now."

"Unsafe? La Lima has been always unsafe. Why don't you want me to go now?"

"If I tell you, you will lose."

"Oh, come on, why?"

"Trust me," says Event. "You wouldn't like to go to La Lima until I tell you when. Now, remember, Waters... one per day, for ten minutes."

Event gives W the box that W lost in the fight against Garry, which has all the pills inside and also gives him the brown trenchcoat, which W puts on.

5 Minutes Ago

The Dazzlings and Twilight arrive at the city's entrance and wait there. Twilight looks at the dead gangsters in the middle of the entrance street and opens her mouth. "Ok... can you tell me what has been happening here?" she says. "One day, I was at school... and the next day, I was locked in a bathroom and two guys told me I had to create a secret project. And now, W and you three kill all of these guys and save me? What on Celestia's words is happening right now?"

"Equestria has turned into a meltdown," answers Adagio. "That happened."

"Meltdown? What do you mean with a meltdown? Does this Plegovich something to do with this?"

"Plegovich is the meltdown, girl," says Aria. "He brought down that guy... um, what was his name? Um..."

"Oh, I know!" says Sonata. "Doctor Whooves?"

"No, you stupid," interrupts Adagio. "That guy Aria is talking about is Strict Proclamation, Twilight Sparkle."

"What... Strict Proclamation? Equestria's President?"

"Yes," says Adagio.

"You still haven't answered my question, Ms Sparkle," says Sonata. "Honestly, I am going to say I am sorry for making such big trouble in your school..."

"Um..." says Twilight. "I wasn't at Canterlot High when you did that."

"Um..." says Aria, confused. However, then she looks at an old, rusty car stopping in the middle of the entrance.

"Holy shit!" says Rushy, while stopping the car and looking at the dead gangsters. "Are we in Saik City or Saik fucking Slaughter?"

Jack, Abe and Spike get out while Rushy looks at the sentry box. "A sentry box?" he says. "What the hell is going on here?"

Spike starts barking. "I smell Twilight!" he shouts. "I smell her perfume!"

Meanwhile, inside the car, Twilight listens to Spike and gets out of the car.

"Wait!" shouts Adagio. "Where are you going?"

Twilight gets in the middle of both cars and Spike looks at her. Both of them look at themselves and hug, after a long time without seeing each other. Jack and Abe realize there is a car in front of Twilight and Spike, and the three Dazzlings come out. Adagio draws a gun and points at them.

"Woah, Woah, Woah!" says Rushy, after looking at the situation. "What the..." he says while chuckling. "Oh man, this makes me laugh... what the fuck is going on here?"

"Wait..." says Jack, after looking at the sirens in front of him. "They are... They are the Sirens!"

"The Sirens of Ashton?" says Abe.

"Aren't you..." says Adagio. "The guys who saved us from Ashton?"

"Oh my god!" shouts Rushy. "Holly molly! We found sirens on Saik Slaughter, Jacko!"

"What were you doing with the Dazzlings, Twi?" asks Spike, confused.

"They saved me, Spike," she answers while holding her dog with her arms. "They saved me with that boy... you remember him?"

"Which boy?" asks Spike, confused.

"Um... what was his name... um, W."

Jack and Abe raise an eyebrow, together. "What?" asks Jack. "What did you say?"

"W and the Dazzlings saved me."

"W?" says Abe. "It can't be, girl... W is dead."

"He is not," says Adagio. "I had to put up with him all this night... a night that I will remember... for my entire life..." she says while having tears on her eyes. "Miss Seductive..."

The Dazzlings hug each other while Jack, Abe and Rushy look at each other. "Ms Seductive..." says Abe. "Ms Seductive what?"

Aria and Sonata keep hugging while Adagio cleans her face with the raindrops. "Ms Seductive is dead," she says. "She was killed by Plegovich's workers."

Silence, until Jack whispers: "Fucking Plegovich..."

"HEY!" shouts Rushy. "Who's that son of a bitch?" he says, pointing at a figure approaching them. Jack, Abe, Adagio and Rushy point their guns at the figure while Sonata gets behind Adagio and Aria and Twilight holding Spike stay in the middle.

"Don't shoot," says the figure, who suddenly reveals his face while passing by the car who was driven by Adagio to the entrance. Jack and Abe slowly throw the guns to the floor while looking at his face. Spike stops breathing and Rushy hasn't recognized him yet. W is standing in front of everyone while buttoning his wet brown trenchcoat.

"Um..." says Rushy, confused. "Hey, Jacko, Abrahamo, why did you throw the guns... do you know this guy?"

W laughs while looking at Jack and Abe's faces, and starts singing the chorus of Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees.

Chapter 18: Reencounter

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 19: Revenge

May 3rd. 3:30 A.M.

Saik City.

Rushy and also W are outside the canteen, alone. The rain is not so aggressive although it hasn't stopped yet. W raises his arms while getting wet. Rushy smiles. "Your first shower in days, boy?"

"Uh... something like that," whispers W. "I'm trying to relax."

Rushy nods. "Yeah," he says. "I understand..."

"You understand?" says W, angrily. "You understand that my whole family was killed by the same man?"

"Yeah," says Rushy. "Believe it or not, Bedmaker, we share a lot of things. Families, childhoods, thoughts, addictions..."

"And how well do you know me to say that we share lots of things?"

"My father was murdered by the Plegovichs, Bedmaker. My mother left my family a long time ago so my father was the only one around me in my childhood days and then, they took him away from me. I was also betrayed like you, W. They manipulated me like a fucking marionette... and I ended up in La Lima, turning myself into a drug addict to forget my old days... I tried cocaine, heroin, benzodiazepines... but the day my drug mule passed away because of a speedball overdose... I decided to leave that shit, and that's the moment when I said... wait, what the hell am I doing? I am no avenging my father's death... and I realized Ieft Ushin, only to slowly turn myself into an alter-ego... a tough guy... a crazy old man with a funny and cool ushanka on his head."

"Rushy," says W. "Fucking speedballs... I never tried them but a friend of mine told me they were a guillotine... oh my," says W, rubbing his head. "I hope that friend, Dream Raider, is OK..."

"Maybe he is," says Rushy. "If he survived speedballs..."

"Wait..." says W. "Let's not change the topic... tell me about the Bitch..."

Rushy sighs and looks at the clouds, taking his ushanka off his head, revealing he is bald. "Well... I joined the Plegovichs in 1993, or the Red Beast in that epoch, which was slowly turning to the infamous gang ruled by the Plegovich Brothers: The Sovia."

"Why was it called Sovia?"

"Because of their grandfather, Soviatto. Soviatto taught Public Property how to survive as a gangster, and Public Property taught his sons the same shit. Every Plegovich had the same ideology that Nikolai told you, and that was the problem that caused your father's death."

"H... How?"

"It all started in 1994."

1994.

There are six men and a woman on a warehouse, smoking and waiting for someone: They are Montreal, Nicholas Plegovich, a young Ushin and his father Glasnost, a young colonel Karzov (a fellow of Public Property), and last but not least, a small, fat man with dark red hair, yellow wrinkled skin, a dark red tuxedo with a white shirt and a black tie, along with smart black shoes. That man, who's sitting on a chair smoking a cigar, it's Public Property, the boss of them all and Nicholas and Montreal Plegovich's father. Next to him, there is his sister-in-law, Minerva, on a wheelchair while laughing.

Suddenly, three men enter the warehouse: a light-blue skinned guy with orange hair and an eye patch, a brown-skinned young man with light blue eyes and brown hair, and finally a blue-skinned man with orange hair and a chin beard. The eye patch man and the brown-skinned man are wearing smart pants, a white t-shirt and a black shirt, while the blue-skinned man is only wearing jeans and a white t-shirt that says: BEST DAD IN LOS MANTOS! These men are specifically Ron (the one with the eye patch), Mortimer Blueblood (the brown-haired man) and finally, W's father, Wade Waters. Wade doesn't know, but Ron is actually planning how to turn his back on him, to obtain the city of Los Mantos.

Meanwhile, Jack, who is only a rookie gangster, and Abe, who is in Canterlot with his wife, haven't been called by the Plegovichs.

"OH YEAH! OH YEAH!" shouts Wade Waters. "Guess who's gonna be a dad... again?"

"What?" says Plegovich, smiling. "Really man? Are you gonna be a father again?"

Everyone starts cheering for Wade. "Yeah!" says Wade. "And Ron will be his godfather."

Ron looks at Wade, confused. "His? Are you gonna have a boy?" he says.

Wade's smile disappears. "Oh, shit..." he says. "I revealed it... Wanda will fucking kick my ass."

Everyone laughs at Wade's reaction. However, Public Property shouts out another man: "Hey, hey!" he says. "Hey, hey, look at... look at my pal Blueblood!"

Everyone claps again, but this time for Blueblood. "Recently released from fucking jail," says Blueblood. "Only to do the S.A.M.O. again."

Everyone laughs again and Wade starts asking Blueblood for Jean-Michel Basquiat, who was also called SAMO, until Public Property shouts again.

"Hey! Hey!" he says, coughing. "Hey... I called you three for... something."

"Yeah," says Ron. "We've been waiting for this for a whole week. It calls my attention that you didn't call neither Jacky Kid nor Abe..."

"A whole week?" says Wade. "Montreal called me two weeks ago. And yeah... What's the matter, boys? Where are Mostacho and Jacobo?"

"We called you because we thought you were the chosen ones, both Abe and the rookie can wait," answers Montreal.

"For what?" says Blueblood.

"For this," answers Plegovich, pointing at a small folder that says: PUBLIC PROPERTY PROJECT: DO NOT OPEN!

"Ron, Blueblood and my father?"

"Yeah," says Rushy. "I looked at the three of them. They were wild, young... Plegovich was trying to make them those super gangsters with some pills, you know, but never got something complete. Everything he got was just... a pile of nothing. Nevertheless, he was sure of one goddamn thing: he wanted to do that before his father passed away. He had cancer. Lung cancer."

"Too many cigars," whispers W.

"Yeah... too many son-of-a-bitch thing, too."

"And... what happened then?"

"Plegovich was pretty desperate and started calling everyone only to have a big group of guys behind him... knowing that they will bring the President of Equestria down... I think the President in 1994 was... um... uh, god..."

"I wasn't even born in 1994, so..."

"It doesn't matter, the thing was... your father read the project... but he rejected it. He thought it was so evil... something that a gangster shouldn't do... he thought about... um... he was the gangster with a white glove, the gangster against authority, the gangster against repressive masses, the gangster against power, corrupted power... but the Plegovichs were fucking greedy assholes with the black glove... wanted everything for them, to them, only them... they didn't care if innocent people were harmed on the way, son. You know what your father did?"

"What?"

"He threatened the whole family. He threatened Public Property, the Plegovich Brothers, Minerva, Colonel Karzov, my father, also me, ha, ha... he told us he was going to write the whole plan on sheets of papers with no name on it and will throw them on the streets of Los Mantos, revealing their names. Your father was a fucking maniac... but he was brave."

"He was the Mantos' Hero after all," whispers W.

"Yeah... and after that, it was obvious that Wade had to run away... I later discovered he had an argument with Plegovich and sent you to a guy named Fletcher."

"Yeah, an old friend of him, Fletcher..." says W, and he opens his mouth again. "Oh my... Fletcher... also Fletcher, where is him?"

"Don't worry now," says Rushy. "He may be alive."

"I hope... and what... what happened after that? Well, I know, but..."

"Sadly, shit happened in Los Mantos. Gangsters started looking at Wade Waters like a different thing. He was not like them... your father was... different, you know?"

W nods his head. "Yeah."

"He had a big city, and gangsters said... he had so many dirt on his hands and didn't want to do anything. People started to go after him, betraying him, including his most loyal partners, Ron The Pirate Delight and also Gordo Jameson. That's when your father made a fatal decision that, in my opinion, indirectly killed him: he asked the Plegovichs for help. He was desperate."

W remembers that letter.

"Plegovich:

I seriously need your help now. Half of my workers are only thinking about bringing me down... My kid Walter was born a month ago and since then things got worse. Ron Delight, my great friend... he is also on the other side. He wants the city. He wants to bring me down. I am thinking about moving to Wayneville with Wanda and the kids but please... I need someone to cover me for a while."

"Yeah," says W. "Pretty desperate."

"That killed him, apart from another thing. Two weeks after that argument, my father and Public Property broke up. They weren't friends anymore... and in 1995, both of them died. My father was killed and Public Property died of cancer. Plegovich betrayed me, your father was murdered... and I stayed in La Lima with no information at all, until a guy called Vikovzky arrived in 1997."

"Vikovzky?"

"He was a stupid guy that worked for Plegovich. He told me Plegovich found your father's address on Wayneville because Ron told Plegovich where he was during an ambush."

W's blood freezes. "W... What?"

"The Pirate wanted to betray your father because he wanted Los Mantos... but soon he found out his friend's life was more important than a city. The problem was... he realized that when it was too late."

April 1995. A month ago, in March 1995, Wade was so desperately trying to find someone to help him that he asked Plegovich for help... Plegovich answered the letter because he wanted to know a specific address (to look for him and kill him)... but Wade suddenly knew this was a whole mistake and never answered him again. Plegovich wanted to look for him, to catch him like a cat grabs a mouse. April 1995. A cold night in Los Mantos. A young Ron Delight, with no Abe or Jack on his side, gets kidnapped by the Plegovichs while he was sleeping. He later appears on a warehouse, tied to a chair. The Pirate with no eye patch and only with slips open his only eye and looks at the Plegovich brothers, along with a young Grey Blackle handled with a leash. There is also a pale man: Vikovzky, the man Rushy was talking about.

"Ron fucking Delight," says Plegovich. "Where were we?"

"What... what... what the fuck?" says the Pirate. "Pleg... Plegovich? NO! NO! LET ME GO!"

"Shut the hell up or I'll let this little pet go for you!" shouts Montreal while holding Grey Blackle, who is trying to bite Ron's legs. "You know why are you tied to a chair, looking at us holding Grey... you know."

"No," says Ron. "No idea."

"Oh, come on!" shouts Plegovich. "Don't you know, you stupid?"

"Well..." says Ron while calming himself down. "Yeah."

"So? What are you waiting for?" says Nicholas, while holding Ron's face. "Are you going to tell me where is Wade Waters or not?"

The Pirate spits at Plegovich's face and shouts: "Fuck you!" shouts Ron Delight. "FUCK YOU!"

"Hey, Vikovzky," says Plegovich while cleaning his face. "Bring the magical cloth."

"Fuck you," whispers Ron Delight. "Fuck that magical cloth too. Fuck Vikovzky."

"Ohhh," says Plegovich while approaching Ron Delight. "Would you rather... feeling you are drowning to death while having your face covered with a cloth or... let my little dog Grey Blackle to do his job? Choice's on you, Pirate... unless you tell me which is Wade Waters' address in Wayneville."

"What?" says Ron Delight. "No! You're wrong! He's not living in Wayneville!"

"Yes, he is," says Montreal. "He was so fucking desperate because of his kingdom's fall that he wrote a letter to us asking for help... fucking dork..."

Ron Delight closes his eyes and sighs while Plegovich spits him back on the face. Montreal Plegovich starts laughing while looking at the tortured soul trying to come up to a conclusion. "So?" says Montreal. "Vikovzky, the cloth!"

"Wayneville," whispers Ron Delight. Both Plegovich brothers raise his eyebrows, smiling.

"What?" says Nicholas. "You said?"

"Wayneville," says Ron Delight. "It's on... um... uh... it's on 23rd Street. Silver Building. Apartment... The apartment... um... 5-C."

Plegovich chuckles. "The fifth floor?" he asks.

"Yeah," answers the Pirate. Suddenly, Vikovzky lets him go and Plegovich sits on the floor with Ron Delight.

"You see, Ron," says Nicholas. "You wanna know why Montreal and I are not killing you... but will kill Wade Waters instead?" Ron doesn't answer. "You know, I always wanted to have an enemy... an enemy who stayed as a witness... a witness of every single one of my feats... If I kill both Wade and you, it would make no sense because... who am I going to mock and torture for all my life if my both rejecters were murdered?"

"Besides," says Montreal. "Last days you were so submissive..."

"That's right!" shouts Plegovich. "That's right... I agree with Montreal. What's happening to you, Blackbeard? When I met you back in the eighties... you were the toughest around, man... and now you give up... you give in... you give your friend's life to his enemy, along with his wife's lives... and who knows? Maybe his sons' lives..."

"You won't do anything to Willy and Walt," whispers Ron Delight. "If you ever touch them..."

"Oh, I see..." says Plegovich. "Well, you gave me Waters' address too fast, so I let you go on this one... I won't kill their sons. However, may I know why are you so submissive nowadays, Ron?"

Ron only looks at Plegovich in his eyes. "You will lose, Plegovich. You will fucking lose."

Montreal, Vikovzky, Plegovich and even Blackle laugh. "Oh," says Vikovzky. "And how do you know that?"

Ron looks at Vikovzky now and smiles. "He's with me."

W and Rushy look at each other in the middle of the rain. "And who was him?"

"Who?"

"The guy Ron said to Vikovzky."

Rushy raises his shoulders. "No idea. Vikovzky never told me about that guy, and he died in 1999 because of an overdose so... he died with that secret."

"Jack?" says W. "Abe?"

"You?" says Rushy.

"That's impossible," answers the Bedmaker. "I was months old when that happened."

Rushy laughs. "Yeah, how dumb am I sometimes... sorry."

"It's OK, buddy," he answers. "Let's go back to the canteen."

Canterlot High. May 3rd. 7:00 A.M.

Although Plegovich closed Canterlot High for a while, he decided to re-open it.

Lucas talked with the Blue Mares hours before all of this happened. While Doom Kid is on his way to riddle La Lima on its whole, a beige-skinned, hoary man (with a sprinkling of blonde) who has a white shirt, smart pants, black shoes and aviator lenses is on the front of Canterlot High, along with three other men. That man is Howlman, also known as the evil guy Rotten Scripture, a veteran gangster who works for Plegovich, and also the man who killed Jack's father, the journalist Edinburgh Tyler, a.k.a. The Gangster Hunter.

Howlman met Public Property on the '80s and they discovered both of them shared ideas: they thought Equestria's Political Parties were not worth enough to control the country. They thought Equestria was lost, was in a freefall and the only ones who could save it were them. Themselves, with their fascist thoughts. That's why they became close friends, but Howlman decided not to leave his job as a lawyer on Vegas & Howlman, a famous attorney office on Manehattan. However, when Edinburgh Tyler found out he had several connections with the mafia, he decided to kill him personally. Public Property gave him his house address, and he went there and shot the journalist in the head. Edinburgh knew this was going to happen, so he left to his only son Jack a letter that saved his life. He is now Jack Tyler, our guy. Nevertheless, his persona fell into a meltdown in the '90s when they discovered he covered up a Plegovich on a case. The cops tried to arrest him but he escaped on time, only to work as a Plegovich rookie until the present day.

"Here it is, boys," says Howlman. "Canterlot High." Howlman looks at the entrance door which has a sheet of paper: "NO FASCISTS". He slowly rips it off and tears it up while looking at his three men. "Which was the name of the guy we had to grab?"

"Zephyr Breeze," answers one of the men. "He has been staying for hours asking all students about his sister, Fluttershy, and a friend of her called Rainbow Dash."

"Ok," says Howlman. "Was it... green skin... the hippie one?" The gangsters nod their heads and they enter. Once they step inside the school, the students shut their mouths and look at the four men walking on the hallways. Suddenly, Celestia and Luna appear and stop walking while looking at them. Howlman looks at them and says: "I'll talk to you later."

Minutes later, they find Zephyr Breeze on the music room, holding a keyboard. "Zephyr Breeze?" asks one of the gangsters while looking at him. The guy looks at them and knows something is not OK.

"Um... who are you?" he asks.

"No, no, no," says Howlman. "Firstly, you answer our question... are you Zephyr Breeze?"

He thinks about what's he going to do. Will he nod his head? Will he shake? Will he lie? Will he sacrifice himself? For whom? For what? What should he do? "Ummm... no," he says. "I have no idea who is that guy."

Howlman laughs. "You dumbass... we already know you are Zephyr Breeze, bitch. To the ground."

"Sorry!" shouts Zephyr Breeze. "If I hurt you, sorry. If I... if, if..."

"To. The. Ground," says Howlman, and Zephyr Breeze sits on the ground. "On your knees."

Zephyr Breeze sighs. "But..."

"Don't you understand, fuck-face?" says one of the gangsters. "On your fucking knees."

Zephyr Breeze kneels in front of Howlman and his men, and one of the gangsters closes the door. Suddenly, Howlman approaches Zephyr Breeze and also kneels in front of him too. They look at each other for a couple of seconds, until one of the gangsters tasers Zephyr Breeze and he shouts of pain.

"Aaargghhh!" shouts Zephyr Breeze, desperately to let him go.

"Keep tasing him until he passes out!" shouts Howlman, and then he leaves the room to go for his another objective.

Howlman sits in front of Celestia and Luna, in the Principal's Office. Luna offers him a cup of tea, but Howlman denies it.

"You know why I am here," says Howlman.

"For tasing my students without my authorization?" says Principal Celestia.

"Um... not only that," says Howlman. "But also I came to warn you."

"For what?"

"There was a sheet of paper on the school's entrance," he says. "It said... no fascists. What you mean with that?"

Celestia and Luna raise their shoulders. "We have no idea of who was the one who stuck that sheet of paper on the door."

"Ha," says Howlman. "But you didn't even try to rip it off, don't you?" The Principals don't answer. "See?" he says. "This is a warning... and it only happens once in a lifetime, Celestia and Luna. The second time won't be the same thing."

Howlman leaves the school without saying anything, while his three men carry a fainted Zephyr Breeze through the hallways until they get him inside a car.

La Lima. May 3rd. 09:00 A.M.

Doom Kid looks at his phone while staying in La Lima, lost in his thoughts after Frith, the infamous gangster with only three toes in one of his feet, words about Plegovich. He has to stay there because of Plegovich's crazy mind, and he doesn't want to leave La Lima because he doesn't know what Plegovich may do if he does it. Then, he gets a text message from Lucas Plegovich, the nephew.

"Doom Kid: Tell your men they need to get rid of some bitches in Saik. They killed Garry and maybe there."

Doom Kid's eyes almost come out of its orbits. "WHAT?" he shouts. "Garry's what?"

"Garry what, Kid?" says Little Billy, one of Plegovich's workers.

"Somebody killed him," says Doom Kid, and all of the gangsters who were working around him stop to look at the one-armed boy in silence.

"Holy shit..." whispers Little Billy. "Who?"

"No idea," says Doom Kid. "Lucas has just sent me a text message and told me to get rid of them so..."

"Oh..." says Little Billy. "Ey, Big K."

Everyone looks now at an enormous, robust, cyan-skinned bald man with green eyes who is wearing a black shirt and worn-out jeans. His unique presence, with tattoos covering his arms, an ear-ring in his left ear and golden and silver grills on his teeth, is notorious. His name is Big Kahuna, one of Little Billy's friends and a gangster who works for Plegovich. "Bill," he says.

"Do me a favour," says Little Billy. "Can you lead an ambush to Saik?"

Big Kahuna raises an eyebrow. "You think I'm not tough enough?"

Little Billy laughs. "Of course you are tough enough, Big K! I just want you to lead the ambush, kill the men who killed Garry and then come back. I'll give you 50 bucks if you do it."

"50?" says Big K. "150."

The gangsters gather around Big Kahuna and Little Billy, who are saying bigger and bigger numbers. "How about... 300?" says Little Billy.

"650," answers Big K.

"No, wait, wait," says Little Billy. "That's too much... how about... 400."

"400..." says Big Kahuna. "Deal."

Little Billy and Big Kahuna do a handshake and the big man calls out for several men. Minutes later, three men who were called out by Kahuna appear. "Hey, boys... how about 400 for an ambush in Saik?" he says.

"I've heard what you said with Lil Billy," answers one of the men. "100 each... no shit."

"No, no," says Big Kahuna. "400 each."

"WHAT?" shouts Little Billy. "Hell no, you bitch! I've only said 400 for you! Not 400 for each one!"

"Well, this time I change the bet, Bill, you invented it and you did the handshake."

"Fuck off!" says Little Billy while drawing a gun. Doom Kid interferes and gets in the middle of the fight.

"Woah Woah, stop!" shouts Doom Kid. "If you come back, Kahuna, I'll give you 1600. We still have The National Bank's Secret Room out there, filled with money. God's sake..."

"Um... ok, then, but you promised, Doom Kid," answers Big Kahuna.

"Yeah... if you come back," says Doom Kid before hearing Big Kahuna laughing near his face. Then, the four men get inside a car and will eventually be the ambush of Saik.

At the same time, at 11:00 A.M, Grey Blackle, who is locked inside the fort with Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Applejack, has remained silent and calm, waiting for the right moment to escape. He's thinking, sleeping. The Rainbooms have been trying to talk to him but he is unconscious almost all the time. Kobolov is looking at his phone while drinking a cup of coffee outside the mysterious fort in Manehattan. Colonel Karzov is next to him, looking at his reflection on a small water pond. Then, Ragamuffin appears and sits next to Kobolov.

"How you doin', kid?" says Kobolov.

"Quite good, quite bad," says Ragamuffin. "My uncle hasn't sent me a text message since the previous night. He told me he was going to tell me today when he was going to take me to Cabbage Town but... I haven't received anything."

Kobolov nods his head while drinking his coffee. "Chalk was your uncle, right?"

"Yeah, he is."

"Hmmm... he may be sleeping, or drunk. I've known your uncle for years, kid. I know how he deals with life."

A second later, in all of a sudden, Kobolov receives a text message.

"Kobolov:

Tell Ragamuffin and Karzov not to move from the fort until things calm down. Garry's dead. Do your best at retaining the four Rainbooms. Tell Ragamf his uncle Chalk is dead.

Lucas."

Kobolov reads that message and slowly turns the mobile phone off, shocked. That was... a not-so-good piece of news. Ragamuffin looks at Kobolov, surprised. "What happened?" the kid asks.

Kobolov wants to talk but doesn't know how to now. "Uh... um... yo-yo-your uncle is dead."

Ragamuffin's skin fades to white. "What?"

"I... I have no idea who killed him but... Lucas has just sent me a text message."

Ragamuffin does not react and just gets up. Karzov comes back and looks at the scenario. Then the kid goes inside and closes the door. Karzov sits on where he was. "What happened?" says the veteran colonel.

"Garry's dead... and just in case we will have to keep you here for a while until things calm down..."

"What? Really?" says Karzov while looking at his former soldier. "Shit... that's..."

"Indescribable," says Kobolov. "Unbelievable."

"Who did it?"

Kobolov raises his shoulders. "No idea."

Karzov and Kobolov look at the cloudy sky in silence.

Half an hour later, there is also another man looking at the cloudy sky. W is still on Saik City. Six hours ago, Jack, Abe, Rushy, Big Mac and him carried the bodies who were inside the canteen to the coast, near the Equestrian Sea. Big Mac almost threw up while looking at the four dead men along with Stinky Herb and Herbie's indescribable smell but all of them calmed him down. Now he is walking around the canteen, stepping on the wet streets after the thunderstorm which is not there anymore, and he suddenly finds Twilight doing the same thing.

"Oh," says W., "I thought you were sleeping."

"Sleeping?" whispers Twilight. "No. I don't feel too well."

"Um... why?"

Twilight looks at W. "Are you kidding me?"

"Well, this whole thing is shit, yeah, but we'll get out of it."

"No, I'm not talking about the whole thing, I'm talking about... I killed someone, W."

"Twilight," says W, while touching Twilight's shoulders. "You killed a man who deserved to die."

"But I don't kill anyone, W!" she shouts. "I'm not a killer, I'm a Rainboom!"

"Well, you killed him because you were in a state of mental rage and you wanted revenge, it's understandable..."

"It's understandable for you because you are a gangster, W!"

W sighs while looking at Twilight's shocked face. "Yeah, you are right but... things happen, you know? Just breath, accept it and leave it behind, Twilight. You killed a bad man," says W while walking away.

"And..."

"And what, Twilight?"

"And how many bad men did you kill?"

W stops and takes another breath. "Why do you want to know that?"

"I don't know... uh... have you ever felt like this... have you ever felt guilty of taking someone's life?"

W rubs his head. "It's no time for these questions.."

"Have you?"

W raises his shoulders. "Yeah, sometimes I feel guilty, sometimes not. It depends on the guy." W stops talking and walks away, but then he turns around again: "You see, Twilight, it's hard to explain but... we grew up in two completely different ways, I don't know you for the whole but... I know you don't share the same perspective as me. I grew up talking to the equestrian society's most crazy psychopaths, and this Plegovich is just one of them. And you..." he says, pointing at Twilight with his finger. "I don't know how was your childhood but... you grew up talking to the kindest, most loyal, honest, generous people that has ever existed. Besides, did you grow up with your parents?"

Twilight Sparkle slowly nods her head. "Yeah... Mr Night Light and Ms Twilight Velvet."

"Mr Night Light... Twilight Velvet..." says W. "The chemists?"

"Yeah, they won a Nobel Prize in 1996..."

"See?" says W, chuckling. "My parents died in 1995 when I was months old. Plegovich killed them. I never talked to them. My first words... they weren't there. When I started walking on my own, they also weren't there... and when you grow up alone in a world full of psychopaths trying to find who killed your parents, your mind starts collecting memories, advises, and your perspective of life morphs into... something so strange and weird..." W rubs his head. "Sorry, sorry... I went out of the edge."

"It's OK..." says Twilight. "I think I... understood."

"Yeah," says W. "That's why I don't feel guilty sometimes, Twilight, especially inside this thing, at this right moment, on this day. I'm getting rid of the men who killed my family, my roots... that's what I call revenge."

W turns around and looks at the Dazzlings. They heard it all. "I didn't know the Bedmaker was such a deep man," answers Adagio with a grin on her face.

"I agree," says Aria.

W looks behind the Dazzlings. There is a car moving in the distance. "What the hell is that?" he says.

"What?" says Adagio, and then she turns around and looks at the car, which has stopped on the city's entrance because of the other cars that are staying there, which were driven by the gangsters who died while listening to the Dazzlings' voices the night before.

"Let's go," says W. "Right now."

"Why?" asks the Dazzlings, and then W and Twilight run away. The Dazzlings do the same and the five of them enter a house next to the canteen, where Jack, Abe, Rushy, Spike and Big Mac are staying. Twilight stays in the house while W tells the other men there is a car on the entrance. Before getting out, W grabs the pills' box, which was hidden under a mattress and stays near the entrance door.

"What are you doing?" hears W while looking through a window.

"What?" whispers W while looking around. Jack, Abe and Rushy are looking through another window, while Spike, Big Mac, Twilight and the Dazzlings are behind them.

"I'm not physically present right now. What are you doing with the box?"

"I'm taking it."

"If you want to use the pills to get rid of the men who have just stopped, don't do it. You mustn't use them right now."

"Oh, come on..." whispers W while looking at the car, very low. Four men get down from it. "Why?"

"You must use them against Doom Kid in La Lima... today."

"Today? Didn't you tell me today was not a day to go to La Lima?"

"I revised the future events again, and we have to hurry up Bedmaker. The things that I told you that will happen in La Lima have been made. Once you get rid of these guys... you should go to La Lima."

W chuckles. "Great," he whispers, and then he looks at all of them: "What should we do?"

Jack looks at W now. "Well... I think we should go out... only the two of us with Abe and Rushy."

"Are you sure?" says Rushy. "I would say... let them have fun for a while..."

"Nah," says Abe. "We'll go."

"But we don't have guns," says Adagio.

"Or anything," says Big Mac. "We are unarmed."

"Yeah," says Aria. "When was the last time you all fired a gun? 2 AM?"

"Um... my gun still has ammo," says Jack. "You think...?"

"We'll go," says W, while looking at the box. "Let me do the job."

"How?"

W looks at the box again. Event told him not to use the pills for this... but he knows this is the only way to kill those men... will he do it? Is he sure? "Trust me," says the man while walking away from the window. Then, he stands in front of the entrance door next to the windows while swallowing the power pill.

"What are you trying to do?" says Jack while everyone is looking. "You say trust me and that's it."

W only looks at his hands while feeling guilty of what he has just done. He swallowed the pill Event didn't want him to swallow now. "Just... trust me. I'll explain later."

"And you will go alone?" says Rushy, but then W closes the door while looking at the four men.

On the other hand, Big Kahuna and his three men look at W.

"Hey," says one of them. "That guy..."

The three men and Big Kahuna draw their guns but don't do anything. They are just looking at him, coming to them. "You think he's gonna talk, Big K?" asks another man. "It seems he's not carrying any weapons."

"Can you tell me what the hell is this guy doing?" says Adagio. "Is he going to commit suicide?"

Seconds later, W looks at Big Kahuna on its whole. Big, robust and tough. He slowly takes a look at his neck. Then, he looks at the other three men holding their handguns. "Hi," says W, while looking at Big Kahuna's neck.

"Hi," says Big Kahuna. "Why are you looking so long to my face? Do I like you, kid?"

The gangsters laugh while hearing Big Kahuna's mock. "Nah," answers W. "Firstly, I'm trying to figure out something," he says while stretching his hand. "And secondly, I'm not looking at your face."

W opens his hand and fastly moves it to the left. At the same time, the workers' necks are brutally moved to the left and are broken. Big Kahuna gets scared and throws his gun away while his partners fall to the floor, dead.

"Hey, wait," says Big Kahuna, desperate. "This wasn't my idea. It was Doom Kid's... he sent me, man. Don't kill me. Besides I'm scared of Plegovich,"

"Not today," says W, and then he breaks his neck and hits the wet floor. However, W starts feeling quite bad and turns around, only to look at someone with a gun. The man fires his weapon and W fastly falls to the floor.

"Hey!" shouts Discord. "Jackpot! Hahaha!"

W gets up and realizes he was never shot or hit by a pellet, all this time Discord was holding an airgun. W takes this as a really bad joke, but then Event appears and starts strangling W.

"You stupid! You are stupid! I TOLD YOU!" Event keeps strangling W while getting out his sunglasses."DON'T TAKE THE PILL!"

"It was the only way I could have killed them!"

"Of course not!" shouts Event while letting W go. "You could have riddled them with gunfire, but no... you took the pill!"

"It is only a fucking pill, Event!"

"But you took that pill now, you can't take the other one on La Lima... and trust me, you will need that, boy."

"Why?" says W, while approaching Event. "Can you tell me at least what's happening in La Lima, for god's sake?"

"Wanna know why I didn't want you or anyone of your group to be on La Lima right now?"

"I'm all ears."

"Doom Kid and his men have killed every inhabitant of La Lima."

W raises his eyebrows, shocked. "...what?"

"Yeah. Doom Kid is not alone, and that's why I wanted you to take the pill... it is your only way to survive."

"Well..." says W., "I think I'd take another one."

"You think this is easy," says Event. "Two pills in less than four hours... it can kill you easily, W. Your human body can't resist so much contained magic."

"I don't care," says W. "I'll do it to hold the future straight."

"But you may hardly survive," says Event.

"And you need to be safe and sound for the duel."

"Discord!"

"Wait, what?" says W, shocked. "What duel?"

Event sighs. "The last time you reveal things, Discord. Bedmaker... the only way to survive and to kill Doom Kid... is using the pill and then having a Lima duel against him."

"A Lima duel?" says W. "On the Main Street?"

"Yes."

"You know those duels are until death, right? I need to kill Doom Kid to win. That's no shit, Event."

"And that's why I wanted you to use the pill."

"But I can't cheat, Event. It's a Lima duel."

"Come on, Waters!" shouts Event. "All of the inhabitants of La Lima are dead! You think someone will care if you are cheating or not?" Then, Event calms down and keeps saying: "Besides, no Lima guys, no rules. Everyone can cheat."

"Even Doom Kid."

"See?" says Event while taking a breath. "That's why I didn't want you to take the pill now. If you take that pill again on La Lima... it will be hard to get through."

W takes a breath. "Ok," says W. "I'll resist."

"I hope," says Event. "If you die, there's no way back."

Event and Discord fade in the air and disappear. The time comes back to normal while everyone gets out of the house. Jack, Abe and Rushy are the first ones who arrive at the cars. "What the hell was that?" says Jack, confused. "How do... how did you kill them? Uh..."

"Look," says W, stretching his arms. "It's a long story. Remember when I told you Plegovich's plan? Um... it's quite a long story."

"You have powers?" says Abe. "All of a sudden? Out of nowhere?"

"Wait a moment..." says Twilight. "How did you earn these powers when you are not an Element of Harmony?"

W sighs and shows everyone the box filled with pills. He opens it and shows everyone the box. "These things are used by Plegovich and his henchmen to earn magical powers. They brought Strict Proclamation down thanks to these things, and now I am taking them to fight against them."

"But..." says Twilight, looking at the pills. "How did he replicate magic?"

"Through the late dictator Verminium's magic," answers W. "They stole its magic from the other side, the pony world, and turned it into these pills."

"W... wow," says Adagio, covering her mouth.

"Wasn't Verminium that weird guy with big, big sideburns?" asks Sonata, rubbing her head.

"But how did they do it?" asks Jack.

"The princesses of the pony world, who curiously are Celestia and Luna, told me they hid the bags in a kind of forest and they robbed it."

"And did they give you the box?" asks Abe.

"Um... no," says W. "I robbed it by my own, and when I came back... it was still with me." No one answers now. They only look at W in silence until the Bedmaker talks: "Um... these guys told me something. Something not very kind."

"What, boy?" says Rushy, chuckling. "These guys' things are always not very kind."

"Well, it's about La Lima..." says W, and Rushy's smile disappears.

"No," says Rushy. "Tell me... it is not what I'm thinking."

"Did they...?" asks Abe, until W interrupts.

"They killed them all."

Rushy kneels on the wet ground while rubbing his head with one hand and touching the ground with the other one. He is not crying, but he slowly takes a long, long breath and releases all the carbon dioxide that was in his lungs. Jack, Abe and Spike look at each other, shocked, while the Dazzlings, Twilight and Big Mac haven't completely understood the problem. "Rico... Marcel... Duchamp..." whispers Rushy. "They killed them all..."

"Yes," says W.

Rushy gets up and stretches his hands, touching W's shoulders. "We'll kill those motherfuckers... now."

"Now?" shouts Adagio. "Are you crazy?"

"I don't care if you will come with me," says Rushy. "I'll go to La Lima to kill those bitches, alone or not. Who's with me?"

W chuckles and raises his hand. "I'll go," he answers but then he coughs and spits something while covering his mouth with his forearm. Once he gets the forearm out of his mouth, he looks at his dirty brown trenchcoat stained with red. He also has a red liquid coming out of his mouth. Blood.

"The pills," says Jack. "Those pills may be slowly killing you."

W feels frightened while hearing that, especially because Event told him two pills in less than four hours can be deathly. "I hope not," whispers W. "We should go to La Lima now. Who's with Rushy and me?"

Abe and Jack slowly raise their hand. Then Spike. Then Sonata. Then Big Mac. The only ones remaining are Adagio, Aria and Twilight. "Twilight, Big Mac, Spike," says W. "You will stay inside the cars, safe. We and the Dazzlings may do the jobs."

"Oh, come on!" says Spike.

"Great!" shouts Adagio. "More people to fight against? No thanks!"

"Yup," says W. "But we have to do that if you want to get rid of Plegovich."

Adagio and Aria look at each other, and a minute later, they slowly raise their hands. Twilight is the last one and decides to participate, but not to get out of the car. Minutes later, the crew is divided into two groups:

Rushy, W and the Dazzlings get in Big Kahuna's car.
Jack, Abe, Twilight, Big Mac and Spike get in one of the cars that were used by the gangsters who died on the city's entrance last night.

While checking the car, W accidentally opens the glovie in Big Kahuna's car and finds something interesting. There is a CD in the glovie. The Bedmaker grabs it and looks at the cover: The Bends by Radiohead. W turns it around and reads the back:

"Ey, Big K:
I don't forget you told me you wanted to listen to Street Spirit (Fade Out)on a rainy night, man. That's what I bought the CD for you, pal. I'm not keen on these dudes, but I listened to that song, and it feels like somebody is eating me alive, man. It is worse than that Metallica song, Fade to Black.

Your pal Frith."

W chuckles while reading the back. When he was younger, between his teenage years and his early twenties, he used to listen to Radiohead, especially that album, Kid A. Maybe, for the first time in his life, he finds something in common with a Plegovich henchman. Both of them, Big Kahuna and him, liked to listen to this song on a rainy night. Then, from out of nowhere, a quote comes out of his mind, his troubled perspective.

"Have you ever felt guilty of taking someone's life?"

Twilight asked him that question, and he thought at first it was just a stupid question from a shocked rich teenage student, but now that question has truly shocked him now. He... he feels guilty of killing Big Kahuna. He worked for Plegovich, a man who deserves to die, maybe he was sent by Doom Kid, another man who deserves to die but him... he was just a needle in the hay, like him right now. Both of them were needles in that Plegovich hay until now. He's dead and Plegovich is looking for W now. He takes a breath while opening the CD case. Rushy accelerates.

"Umm... what are you doing?" asks Adagio. Rushy looks at W grabbing the CD and looking at it. He looks at the car stereo player and puts the CD inside.

"Um... what?" says Rushy. "Why are you putting that CD?"

W doesn't answer while hearing the wind effects of the first song on the album, Planet Telex. He starts skipping and skipping every song until arriving at the last song: Street Spirit (Fade Out)

The song starts playing. "Oh," says Rushy. "What a sad song."

"Let this play until we arrive, Rushy," answers W., "I think I'm about to die."

"Excuse me," says Aria. "We all can die here, mister."

W smiles while cleaning his blood from his mouth and then, taking a look at the pills' bo, thinking about Event's warning. Will he take the second pill on La Lima? Will he resist? He only whispers: "You don't understand."

While both cars are leaving Saik City, W takes a last look at the city, by looking at Big Kahuna's corpse on the wet ground. Then he turns around and thinks of several things while looking through the window and listening to the song:

Plegovich.
The remaining Rainbooms.
Ron.
Trixie.
Big Kahuna.
His parents.
Event and Discord.
Celestia and Luna.
His life.

But now, he only thinks about his life while holding the pills and the Radiohead's CD. Meanwhile, Garry's corpse, along with the others, are slowly getting inside the deep sea.

Author's Note

Prepare for next chapter...

:eeyup: :twilightoops:

...

Wait, where is :yay: ???

Chapter 20: A Duel in La Lima

Author's Note

This chapter is long, very long... Sorry! :fluttershysad: but if you were looking for violence, here you have a duel.

I recommend you to read this chapter in night mode because there are some words that are boldened in bright yellow and beige, and that may hurt your eyes while reading in normal mode. Thank you!

Chapter 20: A Duel in La Lima

Before the duel, which will happen at 12:00., Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo come out of Canterlot High during a recess. Sweetie Belle still has her scar, which was caused by a knife cut Lucas Plegovich made to her back in the Train. She's now afraid of trains and alone in her world. The only ones near her now are his parents, Cookie Crumbles and Hondo Flanks, whose mother already lived in Canterlot and his father recently moved to the house. Both Hondo and her tried to inform several journalists about her daughter Rarity's disappearance, but no one has ever answered them yet. On the other hand, Hondo has tried looking for his father, Abe Flanks, once but failed, he went to Los Mantos and couldn't find anything. While Hondo Flanks is working for the family, Cookie takes care of Sweetie Belle in the house.

What about Scootaloo and Applebloom? Applebloom is also alone, because both of his brothers, Applejack and Big Mac, have disappeared. Granny Smith is the only one that can take care of her, and after finishing with her daily job, Granny takes her granddaughter, Applebloom, to home. Granny's business, Sweet Apple Acres, which also belonged to the Canterlot's Government, has been bought by a bigger company. She's not the owner anymore, so she is doing her best at her job in Canterlot High, and thanks to Celestia and Luna, she has a bigger salary. Scootaloo doesn't have any disappeared relative, but she empathizes with her two best friends and feels under the weather because of that.

While leaving the school, everyone, even them, talks about what happened hours ago: four mysterious men took Zephyr Breeze away. His gestures showed... fear. He fainted while the men were taking him and never came back. What did they do to him? Is he alive? Is he OK? Maybe yes? Maybe not?

The Cutie Mark Crusaders pass by the entrance door and get in the street. However, Applebloom looks around her and immediately stops walking. Scootaloo stops and asks her what's the matter.

"I just..." says Applebloom, while sitting on the stairs. "I feel... I have to do something."

"For what?" asks Scootaloo.

"To make all of this stop."

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle look at each other. "But... how, Applebloom?" says Scootaloo. "We can't do anything to go back to normal. It looks like this is big and... sadly, the bad guy will win this time."

"I still feel we have to do something, Scoots..." says Applebloom. "At least, find out where my sister and her friends are."

"But we are not sure about where can they be," says Sweetie Belle, while sitting next to Applebloom. The Apple teenager girl nudges her friend's shoulder.

"But we can find where they are."

"How?" says Scootaloo.

"I have an idea."

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo look at each other again. They don't follow her ideas.

W, Rushy and the Dazzlings are driving near Jack and Abe's car. The song has just finished and now the inside is pure silence. Rushy looks at W for a second. "Hey," he says. "Check if there is another CD."

W opens the glovie and finds there is another CD: Master of Reality by Black Sabbath. "Man..." says W. "These guys had a good taste."

"Yeah," says Rushy, smiling. "Master of Reality? Play it right now. I need to unburden myself before all of this."

W still feels guilty because of Big Kahuna's fate and Twilight's question keeps struggling on his mind. However, he has his thoughts focused on another thing. He gets the Radiohead's CD out and puts the Master of Reality CD, waiting for the first song to start. Then, seconds later, someone starts coughing. It is Sweet Leaf. W lowers the volume, though. "Rushy," he says. "I want to tell you something."

"What?"

"Those guys also told me they had a leader in La Lima... Doom Kid."

"...that guy must die," he whispers.

"Yeah," he says. "But I want to get rid of him... in a specific way."

Rushy lowers the car's speed. "What you mean with... specific? You will use those pills?"

"No," says W, sighing. "You will be the only one that will understand... I will fight Doom Kid... on a duel."

Rushy immediately stops the car and stops the stereo. The Dazzlings want to know what is happening, and then, Jack and Abe stop the car too.

"What happened?" says Jack while lowering the window.

Rushy keeps looking at W. "This kid wants to fight the leader guy on a duel."

"A duel?" says Jack. "On la Lima? Are you fucking crazy, W?"

"No," says W. "I have the pills, you know..."

"But you can't cheat!" says Abe. "You know, we are gangsters, but... we don't mess with Lima shit!"

"Come on!" shouts W. "Doom Kid killed everyone! He deserves this! He deserves to suffer in the duel!"

"Are you sure?" says Rushy. "You seem that you don't care about your decision. You can die, seriously. We can lose you in that battle."

"Plegovich and all his henchmen are looking for us," says W. "As Aria said before, everyone here is about to die if we don't make the right moves. If we enter and start shooting, they will kill us, but if we take the duel... they may give us a chance. You know gangsters respect the duel with their lives."

"What do you mean with the duel, in the first place?" says Adagio.

"A duel where two men fight until death, girl," answers Rushy. "Yeah, you are right... if we say we bring the duel... we may distract all those motherfuckers... but are you sure you want to do that sacrifice?"

W looks first at the Radiohead CD which was Big Kahuna's and then at everyone. He slowly nods his head while looking at Jack and Abe. "Yeah... I'll do it."

Rushy nudges W's back. "Wish you luck, kid."

"Thank you," he answers. Sonata Dusk does the same, and Jack and Abe nod their heads too, agreeing with W.

"Um... well, wish you luck too," says Adagio and Aria only raises her thumb. Spike, Twilight and Big Mac only look at him. Rushy looks at the stereo.

"Shall I put Solitude to calm you down?" he asks.

Solitude is the calmest song in Master of Reality, something that makes W chuckle. "Come on, dude... play Into the Void."

"That's the attitude I like," says Rushy, chuckling. "We are going to bring down those motherfuckers."

"And thank you too, girls," says W. "Thank you."

"You are welcome, Mr Bedmaker!" shouts Sonata while Rushy plays Into the Void by Black Sabbath.

Meanwhile, at Canterlot High's Library, Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are looking for something through the newspapers that were released this week. Since the Plegovich thing begun, Celestia and Luna decided to save the newspapers in the school to preserve this dark and cruel page of Equestria's history.

"Are you sure your idea is worth it?" whispers Scootaloo. "We've been here for fifteen minutes."

"I'm trying to find out that, Scootaloo," answers Applebloom while reading a newspaper. Suddenly, she finds something that calls her attention: his brother is on a photo. "Girls!" whispers Applebloom. "M... My brother!"

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo get up and find Big Mac is on a photo, carrying a box filled with tools next to other men. The title reads: "Once again, our workers, who will rebuild the way to our new Equestria, are building a new harbour on Saik City."

"Saik City?" says Applebloom. "Where is that?"

"Saik..." whispers Scootaloo. "I think it's north Equestria. Far, far away, Applebloom..."

"Look at his face," says Sweetie Belle. "He seems to be... lost."

And he is, indeed. The CMC look at Applebloom's brother's face. He is lost, sad, trying to find the way back home. "Yeah," says Applebloom. "He seems to be... looking for me."

"And did you find something about the girls?" asks Sweetie Belle. "We have to be quick, we only have five minutes left for the next subject.."

"No, I can't find anything..."

Manehattan. Near Equestria's House.

On the other hand, Plegovich is talking to Filthy Rich on his office, who is one of the co-owners of EBS, Equestrian Broadcasting System, a conglomerate which owns plenty of TV channels of Equestrian media. Plegovich plans to use EBS to broadcast to all of Equestria the hidden truth: He wants people to identify Strict Proclamation and all of the previous presidents as enemies who were taking Equestria into a path of darkness with no sense at all. Plegovich, who has now a new nickname: The Leader, wants to put himself in the spotlight, telling people why he did bring Strict Proclamation down, using a secret, an abandoned project which was planned years ago by another president called Project Nine. Project Nine was about the privatization of almost every public company in Equestria, which could have leaden to massive unemployment and also a sharp rise in poverty, with more people who don't have enough to get the necessities to survive. Plegovich wants to tell people that Strict Proclamation wanted to turn Project Nine into a real thing, destroying Equestrians from the inside. That's why he brought him down, and that's why he is there: to save them all. To save equestrians from their worst enemy: themselves.

"What do you think, huh?" says Plegovich while looking at Filthy Rich. "It's a proper way to promote... no, another word... to show people what is this all about."

"Uh..."

"You see, all of a sudden, Project Nine appears and is born... it's the devil."

"Um..."

"The Devil appears, Strict Proclamation goes down, I rise... The Leader rises."

"Look, Mr Plegovich..."

"The Leader rises, people start to understand what's happening... and... and... what?"

"Um..." says Filthy Rich, rubbing his hair. "You see, you are a good guy, pals of the Elite know you very well, but I think this is not the proper way to use us... we are a broadcasting system... not a political party."

"Umm... I never said I was going to promote this."

"You said it."

Plegovich takes a breath. He doesn't like to be discussed. "Well, it was just a mistake..." he says, smiling. "Isn't it?"

"Um, look... sorry, but we don't want to mess with these things, you know we are not a subjective system... we are objective, Mr Plegovich, we don't promote politicians."

"Oh," says Plegovich, while raising an eyebrow and smiling. "I see, well..."

Seconds later, Sergei comes in with a bag. "Hey!" shouts Filthy Rich. "You can't en..."

"He will enter," says Plegovich. "He's my assistant, Sergei Duzov."

"A pleasure to meet you," says Sergei.

"But..."

"He will stay in this office room because I say it," answers Plegovich. "Open the bag, Sergei."

Sergei opens the bag and shows a couple of photos to Filthy Rich: one of them has Gordo, the old Canterlot's capo who was murdered by Plegovich's men, and Mortimer Blueblood. Filthy Rich's pupils fade from fear while looking at the pictures. "Um... who are they?" he says.

"Come on..." says Plegovich. "You know them, Filth."

"No... no idea... I never saw them before."

"Stop lying!" says Plegovich, laughing. "The three of us know that you tried to participate on that stupid, fake robbery planned by Blueblood... desperately to gain money because EBS was slowly falling into his death and nobody of Your friends from the Equestrian Elite wanted to give you a freaking cent.. you know why? Because of Project fucking Nine, Filthy! Don't you know that? EBS is a public company."

"No, no! I would never join the mafia because of desperation!"

"Yes, yes!" shouts Plegovich. "You would join the mafia because of desperation... and we have evidence."

Sergei gets out another photo. It's a photo of Gordo and him, sharing a cup of tea. "Oh, fuck," says Sergei, laughing. "I think the guy in the left looks like you."

Filthy Rich rubs his head. "So... you are blackmailing me?"

"No, we are playing Pictionary, dumbass," says Plegovich. "If you want to call it like that, yes, we are blackmailing you. If you don't make my political propaganda I will call all of the Equestrian Gazettes to show the entire world who is Filthy Rich."

Filthy Rich keeps rubbing his head and takes his jacket off, but then, he starts laughing. "Show it... I don't care. I don't care about jail. I prefer jail rather than promoting your stupid, fascist political propaganda."

Sergei looks at Plegovich, shocked. The madman, the Leader only does one thing. He smiles. All the time. Then, he slowly approaches Sergei's face. "I knew this would happen," he says. "Thanks for the plan B, Sergei. Now, call that magical phone number: Zero... Three..." Filthy Rich's smile slowly disappears while hearing that phone number. "Four... Two... Four... Six... One..." Filthy Rich prays. He wants him not to say One again. "One..." Oh gosh... oh no... please, don't say one one more time. "One..." His mind is begging him not to say eight, please, no, no... "Eight."

Sergei calls the phone number while looking at Filthy Rich. The magnate waits for Spoiled Rich or his daughter, but someone else answers the call instead.

"Oh, so plan B worked? Hahaha! Bonzo, Sergei has just called me! You owe me 100 fucking bucks!"

"Hey, Slash," says Plegovich. "Bring me the little girl."

"No!" shouts Filthy Rich. "No, please, no! Uh... uh... I'll..." he says while crying and gasping. "Oh, my god... I'll do all of the political propaganda this weekend... please, let her go... please..."

Plegovich laughs like a maniac. "Hey, Slash," says Plegovich. "Let the girl go."

"What, why?"

"Let her go, he has just apologized."

"Ha, what a pussy."

Sergei ends the call while looking at Rich, who is rubbing his head and trying to take a breath while cleaning his face. "Thank you, Mr Rich," says Plegovich. "I'd like to show me the propaganda when it's finished."

Little Billy is looking at the route, waiting for Big Kahuna to come. Behind him, metres away, Doom Kid is lying against one of the remaining cottages' wall. Gangsters are still getting rid of the inhabitants' bodies, by putting them all inside dirty blankets and throwing them far from the cottages, on the wastelands. Well... After all, La Lima was and still is a wasteland too.

Suddenly, Doom Kid gets up and a gangster finds out: "What's up, Kid?" he asks.

"You know..." says Doom Kid. "I feel... someone's left."

"Left? What do you mean?"

Doom Kid looks at his men carrying the blankets far away. "I mean... I recognized some faces but... I didn't find one I do remember."

"You mean... the inhabitants we killed?"

"Yeah," says Doom Kid. "I think... there's one left."

"But we killed them... all of them," answers the gangster.

"No," says Doom Kid. "There's one left... a guy with an ushanka on his head. I never saw him."

Meanwhile, the gangsters start listening to a familiar song: Into the Void by Black Sabbath. Rushy, from the car, looks at Little Billy waving his hand. "Girls," says Rushy, smiling.

"Excuse me?" says Adagio. "Are you talking to us?"

"Who am I talking to then?" says Rushy. "One question... Have you ever seen a car running over someone?"

"Don't you dare," says Aria.

"Oh, come on..." says Rushy. "He's a freaking midget!"

Rushy starts accelerating and the Dazzlings beg him to stop. Jack's car is behind them.

Meanwhile, Little Billy realizes something's wrong. The car is going for him. Whoever is driving the car, it's not Big Kahuna. "Wait!" shouts Little Billy. "Sto--!"

Too late. Little Billy tries to run, but Rushy runs over him and the little gangster's body gets stuck under the car, breaking his neck and killing him. The gangsters and Doom Kid draw their guns, pointing at the car. They don't want to shoot, just in case the guy inside it's Big Kahuna.

"Oh... my... god," says Adagio, shocked. "WHY IN THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?"

"It was completely necessary!" shouts Rushy, and then he lowers the window. "WAIT! WAIT! DON'T SHOOT!"

Doom Kid's face turns into pure shock. "That guy," he whispers. "I was talking about that guy."

"DON'T SHOOT!" shouts Rushy. "I HAVE THE ULTIMATE OFFER FOR YOU!" he shouts and then nudges W's shoulder. "Stay here, I have an idea."

Rushy gets out of the car, while the Dazzlings rub their head. "Oh my god, Adagio," says Aria. "I've just seen a guy getting ran over and killed and now that dude wants to talk to a horde of weirdos...god, why?"

"Calm down," says W, while stopping the CD and getting it inside the case. "You won't do anything."

"Anything?" says Adagio. "Are you kidding me? We had enough... our adoptive mother was murdered, we got rid of one guy, we slept on an abandoned house... and now we need to get rid of all these assholes?"

"No, no," says W. "Change the words... you won't get rid of those assholes... I will get rid of those assholes."

"Oh, look at this!" whispers Sonata. "I found some cool shades!"

Sonata grabs some black round sunglasses that were under W's seat. Adagio and Aria ignore her, but W takes a look at the sunglasses. It reminds him of those sunglasses he used that day when he went with Trixie to the Canterlot Mall. He remembers her words:

"Nobody may recognize you now, so you can take off that beanie, although Trixie likes those sunglasses... they make you great like me."

"Can I keep them, Sonata?" asks W.

"Sure!" she answers, smiling. Adagio chuckles.

"Why do you want to use those sunglasses right now?" says Aria.

W laughs. "Why wouldn't I?"

Meanwhile, Rushy is confronting them all. The gangsters also notice that Jack and Abe get down from another car. "What is this?" says Doom Kid. "Jack Tyler? Abe Flanks?"

"Doom Kid Madison," says Abe. "What a surprise! I haven't seen you since you had two arms."

"Shut the fuck up or I'll shoot you in the head," says Doom Kid. "You already killed Billy and Big Kahuna, I don't mind killing all of you now."

"And you killed all of my friends of La Lima, like nothing," says Rushy. "I also want to kill you now, but we've been thinking about something."

Doom Kid aims his gun to Rushy's head. "I don't care. You will be someone else on my death list."

"What about a duel?" says Jack, and Doom Kid puts his finger inside the trigger. However, he doesn't pull it. He is just standing there, straight. The gangsters who were behind Doom Kid, holding their guns, are slowly moving them away from their enemy's heads, only to look at their leader in La Lima: the one-armed man, Doom Kid. "What do you think, kid?"

Doom Kid puts the gun down. "A duel... against who?"

"We can't tell you yet," says Rushy. "We are offering you a duel. You know gangsters like us, like you, take this very seriously. We will only tell you if you accept your offer. If you decline it... I'm afraid I won't..."

"And I will kill you if I decline," says Doom Kid. "What you think, guys?"

"Come on," says one of the men. "They killed Billy, Kahuna... Let them have some fun before killing them, Kid."

Doom Kid chuckles. "Ok."

Rushy, Jack and Abe look at each other, smiling. "He said OK," whispers Sonata from inside the car. At the same time, Spike tells Twilight and Big Mac the same thing.

"I hope W can survive this one," whispers Twilight.

"Are you sure?" says Big Mac. "Seems these folks know what're they doing... they may kill da boy in a couple of seconds."

Outside, Doom Kid smiles. "I accept your offer."

"Ok," says Rushy. "Hey, big boy! COME HERE!"

"No!" shouts Sonata. "They are gonna kill you!"

"Just stay here, girls," says W while getting out of the car. Dirty face and hair, round black sunglasses, black t-shirt with his cutie mark, ripped blue jeans, black shoes and his characteristic dirty brown trenchcoat with blood drops. He comes out chuckling while all of the gangsters look at him, confused. Doom Kid's smile disappears while looking at him.

"No," says Doom Kid. "That's impossible... no, no. I decline. I'll fucking kill you."

"You can't decline now, Doom Kid," answers Rushy. "You accepted your offer. Here you have, your rival, the Bedmaker."

"No!" shouts Doom Kid. "NO! IT CAN'T BE! I SAW HIS BODY! I SAW PLEGOVICH KILLING HIM! I... I!"

"Turns out I'm still alive," says W while unbuttoning his brown trenchcoat. "I survived, I've risen, I've already killed Petko, Minerva Plegovich and Garry... and you, Doom Kid, you are the fourth one on my list."

"NO!" says Doom Kid while drawing his gun. "NO! NO!"

"I have the ultimate offer for you, bitch!" shouts Bedmaker while taking off his trenchcoat. Then, he grabs the pills' box and opens it. "Do you still have your pills?"

Doom Kid's men start whispering between each other while one of them gets inside a cottage. Doom Kid puts the gun down again while chuckling. Then, he releases a long, long weird laugh while waiting for something. "Lucky you," says the one-armed man. "I have my pills and I haven't taken one for three days. I'm sane... that means..." Doom Kid keeps laughing. "You are taking pills, Waters?"

W only nods his head. "Yes," he says. "And as I said before, I have the ultimate offer for you. We will have our duel using our pills... if I lose, you can kill me. You can kill them," he says, pointing to Jack, Abe and Rushy. "And you can kill all of the guys who are inside the cars."

"WHAT?" whispers Adagio. "Son of a fucking bitch! I'll kill him before that one-armed dude shots him in the head!"

Twilight and Big Mac get shocked while Spike starts crying. The Bedmaker keeps talking. "And then you will call your boss Plegovich, and you will tell him you killed me... and you will be the new hero. However, if I kill you..."

The men interrupt him with plenty of laughs. Doom Kid is also laughing but shouts: "Ok! Ok! Shut up, I wanna know what this zombie douche has to say, at least..."

"If I kill you," says W. "Nobody of your men can kill me after killing you, and if one of you opens fire against me or my mates, or calls someone, even his fucking late great-grandfather, you can consider yourselves dead."

Doom Kid turns around while W grabs a couple of pills and gets it inside his jeans' right pocket. Then, he throws his trenchcoat away. Rushy, Jack and Abe look at him. "I hope you win, bitch," whispers Jack to W. "I'd hate to be murdered by such dorks."

W winks an eye to Jack and the man who went inside the cottage comes back with a bag. "What you think, men?" says Doom Kid while grabbing his pills. "Shall we grant this poor kid's wish?" The gangsters nod their heads. Some of them say "Yeah", "Go kick his ass", and "Wish you luck". Doom Kid accepted the offer and turns around, looking straight at W. "Three rounds?" he says.

"Three rounds. The first who bleeds loses. You can't win if you make a part of the body which was hurt before bleeds."

Seconds later, another gangster comes back with another box and gives it to Doom Kid. The one-armed man opens it and gets a katana out. "Oh cool!" says Sonata. "Are we going to be decapitated with a katana?"

"Shut up Sonata!" shouts Adagio.

Doom Kid grabs the katana and takes a pill. "You know," he says. "I was waiting for someone to get killed by this beautiful thing... it's very, very sharp." Then, he points at W's head with the katana and seconds later he puts it down, on the dirt. "What are you waiting for, Waters?" says Doom Kid, while taking off a jacket he had... he is now shirtless, showing his stump and its union with the arm prosthesis. It is a grey prosthesis with wooden fingers, which can be moved thanks to muscular electrodes that were implanted during an operation he had months after his accident. However, every time he takes the pills, Verminium's magic updates the electrodes, letting Doom Kid move the fake arm like a normal one although he doesn't feel pain. Meanwhile, W also takes his black t-shirt off, revealing his small chest tattoo around his neck, that says Bedmaker. His torso is dirty and smells quite bad. It is a mixture of sweat, blood and gunpowder. He gives the t-shirt to Rushy and looks at Doom Kid. The one-armed man takes a long breath and uses his prosthesis to grab the sword and touch W's chest. "Once I kill you," he says. "I'll fucking cut that tattoo of your chest and stick it in the welcome sign."

"You wish," says W. "I want your prosthesis."

"Before this duel, I want all of those guys you told me about to get down of the cars. I want them to see this."

"Sure," says W. "HEY! COME HERE! PLEASE!"

The Dazzlings are the first ones to get down. Adagio approaches W and slaps him in the face. "You stupid asshole!" she says. "Did you say we are going to die if you lose?"

"I don't know why are you worrying so much," says W. "You are immortal."

"I can live millions of years but I can die, you moron!" she shouts, strangling him. Then, she goes away with her sisters. Sonata Dusk wishes him luck while Twilight, Big Mac and Spike slowly get out of the car.

"Oh, I see," says Doom Kid. "The girls are immortal? Are they sirens?"

"Shut the fuck up, you stupid stump," says Aria, angrily. The gangsters start shouting and laughing. Doom Kid laughs too.

"Oh," shouts Doom Kid. "I see they are very kind, to be honest."

"I like the blue girl with a ponytail," says a gangster.

"Yeah, I think we'll leave someone alive."

"Yeah," says W. "To treat them like slaves, like you did with the spa employees."

Doom Kid chuckles. "Can we stop talking and start fighting? We are here, shirtless, to do only one thing." Then, Doom Kid starts playing with his katana. Jack, Abe and Rushy sit down on a corner while Big Mac and Spike lie on the car. Twilight turns around to not look at anything. The Dazzlings also sit down while Adagio is crying, lying against the car and next to Little Billy's corpse.

Doom Kid stretches his hand, but W doesn't want to shake his hand with him. They slowly move to the middle of the Main Street, like a duel in the Wild West. They stand and look at each other while taking a distance between, almost three metres. Doom Kid starts playing with his katana while W is looking at the pill.

"You know you can die if you take that pill, right? If you haven't taken that pill against Big Kahuna, you could be safe." Event appears and stands next to W, but the Bedmaker is the only one who can see him.

"Tell me," he whispers. "Will I win?" Event takes off his sunglasses but doesn't answer. "Are you going to answer my question or not?"

Event takes a breath. "I can't tell you."

"Why?"

Event bites his lips. "You know... I'm already looking for another key. You have no choice."

Another key. He was the key before. The one that retained the good future in the normal time. Now... Event, the man who knows everything, is already looking for others. What does that mean? W only looks at him, breathing, and then looks at Doom Kid, holding his sword. "Fuck you," says the Bedmaker and takes the pill. He tastes it, although it has no taste at all, and finally swallows it. He feels something cold inside his stomach. Then, shivers down his whole body. His arms and legs are shaking and his nose starts bleeding. He starts feeling dizzy, and everything is turning upside down for him. He coughs and spits blood, which falls and touches the cold dirt below him. Doom Kid, his rival, the one-armed man, smiles.

"It seems someone can't retain the magic," whispers Doom Kid, before hitting the ground with his prosthesis once, creating a big deep hole with just his wooden knuckles. The gangsters start cheering for Doom Kid while Jack, Abe and Rushy looking at the spectacle.

"This kid's going to lose," whispers Rushy. "And we're going to watch him die."

"Yeah, before our deaths," says Abe. Then, the two men look at Jack, who is taking his grey t-shirt off, revealing his blue-skinned torso. "What are you doing?"

"Hugging the old t-shirt which Susan gave to me," he answers. "I'm finally going to see her in heaven, along with my father."

"Or hell," says Rushy. "Remember, gangsters always go to hell."

The Dazzlings are crying. Twilight, Big Mac and Spike are hugging each other although she is trying not to look at the fight. W, meanwhile, is trying to calm himself down and gain consciousness while singing to himself a song of his childhood: The Unforgiven by Metallica. He thinks now that song was made for him all this time. Nose bleeding. Mouth bleeding. Eyes almost wide shut. W looks like an undead man but he is trying his best to resist.

"Are you sure you want to fight?" says Doom Kid, chuckling.

W cleans his nose and mouth. "Fuck yeah," he whispers and Doom Kid starts dancing with his katana, approaching W. However, Doom Kid throws the katana in the air and W holds it with his telekinesis. Then, he stabs it in the dirt. "If you are going to fight... don't cheat."

Doom Kid stays surprised while looking at his katana stabbed in the ground. "Oh... telekinesis?" says Doom Kid. "Remember... I do have super-force. I can kill you with just a finger."

"Don't cheat," keeps saying W while trying not to fall to the floor. His yellow skin shines because of sweat and his fingers are slowly getting wrinkled, but he is still there, standing. The one-armed man runs to him, but W throws himself against him and his back hits Doom Kid's chest. He falls to the floor with no air while Doom Kid coughs once and isn't damaged.

"Shit," says Doom Kid. "I've got admit I've got wetter than hurt. Your skin is covered with sweat. Everywhere."

"Fuck... fuck you," whispers W. Doom Kid grabs W by the neck and throws him away. The gangsters are cheering and laughing at W, who ends up inside one of the gangsters' car, breaking a window and getting inside of it.

"Hey! That was my car!" shouts one. Doom Kid looks at the katana. He's about to grab it, but then, he chuckles and walks away. W is in the car, almost dead. His back is bleeding because of the glass shatters. He turns to the right and finds out something. His grandfather Wilbur is on the driver's seat. He's raving.

"You know?" says Wilbur. "These fucking cars suck. All these new models suck, grandson. The best car I had in my life was an Equestrian Model: Shadowbolt 300. 1984 Edition. Oh, gosh... such a beautiful car! It was perfect... the inside, the outside, the engine... holy crap! I missed that bitch! I also can't forget my 1957 Sunliner, but you know what other thing came out in 1984? Ride the Lightning, my son. Ride the Fucking Lightning! Huh?" Wilbur turns around and looks at his grandson, with his back bleeding, raving and drooling. "Oh, boy... that pill's killing you, right? Well... you took a bad decision, yes, but don't worry, I know you can do it... you won't die... the end isn't here yet, boy."

The end. Wilbur's phrase reminds W of one of Metallica's songs in Ride the Lightning, Fade to Black. He starts singing to himself again, this time, Fade to Black's lyrics. However, he hears someone opening the car's door and getting him out of there. His face hits and lies against the dirt and Doom Kid looks at his red back. "He's bleeding," he says. "I won the first round."

The gangsters cheer for Doom Kid again, some of them are applauding him. However, there are still two rounds left. A gangster says that if the remaining rounds are necessary. Doom Kid replies: "Yes, I wanna break this son of a bitch in half before killing him."

Doom Kid throws W away again, this time he ends up next to a destroyed cottage. He slowly opens his eyes filled with tears and looks at someone sitting inside the broken cottage: Ron.

"W," says Ron, with his characteristic tone. "Look at that bottle next to you. It's nice. You can use it."

The Bedmaker only looks at the bottle, which is next to his head. Green bottle made of glass. "I... I'm almost dead, Ron..." he whispers.

"Come on," says Ron. "You told me I shouldn't give up, and now you give up?"

"I've got to agree with Ron this time, Waltie," says a girly voice. Suddenly, Trixie appears next to Ron. "Trixie has to admit this guy is kinda weird but he's right... you shouldn't give up, tricky!"

"Hey, Trixie," says Ron. "Only because I have an eye patch doesn't mean I am weird."

Nevertheless, Doom Kid passes by between W and the illusions and both Ron and Trixie disappear. He kicks the bottle away and steps on W's back, which still has glass shatters. W wants to shout but he can't... his throat, tongue and vocal cords are too tired to do it. "Ok," says Doom Kid. "I still didn't make you bleed, unless the back. I wanna go for the chest."

Doom Kid grabs W by his neck again. The Bedmaker takes a look at the bottle. It's not far away from him, once Doom Kid helps him to stand up, he punches his face. The one-armed man punches him back, on his nose, although he didn't use his super-force. That's the moment when the fight stops being so biased. Doom Kid punches W on the stomach with a little bit more of his power and the Bedmaker falls to the floor with no air again. He looks at his right: the bottle is near him. He slowly stretches his hand... and the bottle slowly, slowly moves. It approaches him. However, Doom Kid steps on his hand, making him stop his telekinesis. Meanwhile, Rushy stands up and shouts: "COME ON, BOY! YOU CAN DO IT!"

The gangsters laugh at him. Jack and Abe raise their eyebrows. However, Spike, who was lying against the car with Twilight and Big Mac, does the same thing: "COME ON!"

"See?" says Wilbur, who appears again in W's rave, this time in front of him, being sat on the ground. "They are cheering for you, son. You shouldn't give up."

Doom Kid moves W and steps on his back again. However, the Bedmaker slowly gets up and Doom Kid starts kicking his back, making it bleed again. He still hasn't won the second round, because the back was already hurt before. W hits Doom Kid's ankle with his elbow and slowly gets up to go for the bottle. He stretches his hand again, and the bottle is slowly going to him, while he kneels. Jack, Abe and Rushy start looking at him and they slowly make a smile which is interrupted by Doom Kid, who kicks W in the back and he falls to the floor. Then, the one-armed man finds out the plan. "Oh," he says. "You were looking for that bottle? I'll take it for you." Doom Kid grabs the bottle after stepping on W's back a few times. He is about to smash it in W's head, but when he is about to grab him, he unexpectedly jumps onto him and strangles his neck. The Dazzlings who were lying next to Little Billy's corpse, get up. Twilight takes a look for the first time and Spike starts barking and shaking his small tail. Jack, Abe and Rushy laugh while the gangsters are in silence. However, Doom Kid punches W again in the stomach, making him throw up blood. He lies in the floor again, coughing. He takes a look at his skin covered with sweat. It's beige, instead of his characteristic yellow. He's getting pale and cold. Doom Kid gets up and cleans his face stained with W's blood, and tries to grab the bottle he threw away, but suddenly W grabs it again, with its telekinesis. Spike keeps barking while W tries to get up with the bottle.

The one-armed man gets sick of all this and makes a hole just by making a step on the dirt. He's using his super-force now. However, W gets up, this time a little bit faster and goes for Doom Kid. Both of them crash their bodies and Doom Kid starts strangling W again, this time stronger, but W uses the bottle and, with all his remaining force, crashes it into Doom Kid's right arm's bone radius, breaking it in pieces. "AARGH!" shouts the one-armed man, letting W go. Doom Kid, then, looks at his right arm, which is bleeding. W wins the second round.

Jack, Abe and Rushy get up and hug each other. "FUCK YEAH!" they shout. The Dazzlings look at the scenario and Sonata starts clapping and cheering. Aria looks at Adagio and says: "You think it is worth cheering?"

"Not yet, Aria," says Adagio. "We still have the third round."

Big Mac and Adagio take their first breath of relief while Spike keeps barking. Twilight turns around again. Finally, the third and last round has just started. Doom Kid looks at the katana and tries to get it out of the dirt, but W, who is lying on the floor again, looks at something else: Doom Kid's prosthesis. He looks at it for a while and starts chuckling then: "W, you... are... a fucking... genius."

"You broke that bottle in my arm?" shouts Doom Kid, grabbing the katana. "Huh? You will see now." The one-armed man easily gets the katana out with his force, but now W is focused on another thing. He slowly stretches his left hand in a desperate try to do something. "What the hell are you doing?" says Doom Kid, and seconds later, he feels his prosthesis is moving by his own. He is slowly losing his secret power, his secret union between the nerves and the prosthesis is slowly going away. "NO!" he shouts while trying to hold its prosthesis in the right place but W, after raving and drooling again, breaks the prosthesis in half and the broken part goes to him. He gets up and has now a piece of hardwood (with metal inside) which has five wooden fingers. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" shouts the one-armed man with half an arm prosthesis. He tries to go for him but W hits his face with the prosthesis. Jack, Abe and Rushy chuckle and hug each other again, while Sonata and Spike keep cheering. Adagio, Aria, Twilight and Big Mac are only lying on the dirt, begging not to be murdered. Doom Kid touches his face and realizes W has just broken his nose with his prosthesis. He has lost. His nose is bleeding. W won. However, before turning around and showing his face, he says: "Wait."

W kneels while holding the prosthesis. "What?" he says.

"I wanna change the rules," he says. "The third round is won if you kill the other guy."

W laughs. "You say that because you are bleeding, right?"

Doom Kid shows his face. His nose is broken. "Yeah," he replies while still holding the katana. "You die, you lose. You survive, you win."

"Don't do it, W!" shouts Abe. "Don't!"

"Shut up, Abe-O!" shouts Rushy. "Let him decide!"

"Are you kidding me?" says Abe. "He has already won! Why would he accept that?"

W listens to every one of them telling him not to accept Doom Kid's offer. The Dazzlings, Jack and Abe, Spike, Big Mac and even Twilight Sparkle. However, he says: "Sure."

"NO!" shouts Jack. "My God, this kid is dumb as fuck! I don't wanna die!"

"Didn't you want to see your father and Susan?" says Abe, and then Jack puts on his t-shirt.

"I reconsidered it," he answers. Twilight lies on the floor again, begging not to die, along with Big Mac. Spike enters the car and hides there, and the Dazzlings start crying again, except for Sonata who is still cheering for W. Then, W and Doom Kid crash again and W slowly dodges Doom Kid's katana slices. One. Two. Three. On the fourth one, W gets a small smooth cut in his right arm but doesn't give up, although he is covered with sweat, blood and dirt. He is also pale and feels dizzy and cold, but no, no, he's not going to give up. Of course not, he is the Bedmaker after all. Seconds later, W gets his opportunity and smashes the prosthesis on his face, breaking a small part of it.

Doom Kid falls to the floor with his face dyed in red colour. W runs to him and kneels in front of him, grabbing his chest. He starts playing with the prosthesis until he smashes it on Doom Kid's face. One. Two. Three... Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight! Eight! EIGHT! Eight times until he throws it away and starts strangling him! Everyone is on their nerves now. They can't see the battle now, because the duel is not so biased as before and nobody knows who is gonna win. Nobody... except Event.

Doom Kid is still conscious and slowly grabs the katana while cleaning his face. He has now his nose broken, some teeth on the floor along with blood coming off his mouth and both of his eyes have bruises. He is dizzy, but not so much as W. He grabs the katana while W gets up at the same time. The Bedmaker, which was almost dead minutes ago, has recovered a little bit of energy. He is getting up faster but he is still pale and sweating. He tries to stretch his hand but coughs again, throwing up blood for the second time. He recovers fastly and tries to kick Doom Kid's face, but the man's katana makes a deep cut in W's chest, leaving him with no air. He grabs his chest, which starts bleeding, and falls to the floor coughing. The gangsters laugh again after a long minute of silence.

"I told you," says Doom Kid, leaving his katana on the dirt. "I was going for that tattoo."

W's chest and back hurt for real. He wants all of this to stop, and he is trying to accept this is over. He coughs again while his mouth is leaking blood but then, out of nowhere... he starts raving again. His brother, William Waters, who died a year ago because of Pietro Plegovich, is in front of him. "Hey! Long time no see, brother."

"What?" he whispers. "William?"

"Yeah! It's me!" he says, smiling. "Oh, what do I see behind you? Looks like Doom Kid left his katana behind your feet! You know what you can do!"

"I can't..." says W. "My whole... body hurts."

"At least try it," he says, chuckling. "Don't be stupid."

Suddenly, Doom Kid gets in front of William's shadow and puts his dirty boot on W's head, stepping on it. "I'll just... make you suffer a little bit more of time, and then I'll kill you, kill all these douches around me with the help of my friends, and then I'll call Plegovich, telling him that I killed you. What you think?"

Doom Kid now looks at W, taking the boot out of his head and letting him talk. "I lost, yeah..." he says, smiling. "But I think... you shouldn't..."

"Shouldn't what?"

W slowly moves his head and looks at Doom Kid, breathing. "You shouldn't leave... a weapon on dirt... when you have a rival with telekinesis." W fastly grabs the katana with his telekinesis and Doom Kid starts kicking his head. However, W punches Doom Kid's ankle again, fastly gets up and points at Doom Kid with the katana. Jack, Abe, Rushy and the other guys recover their hope. Rushy and Jack laugh while Abe and Sonata start cheering for him. Doom Kid makes a hole again with his foot thanks to his super-force and runs to him but W stabs the katana right in his chest. Jack, Abe and Rushy jump with joy, celebrating. The Dazzlings too. Big Mac and Spike hug while Twilight, who didn't want to see this whole battle, looks at the spectacle for the second time and, even if she doesn't want it because someone is getting murdered, she takes a long breath and calms herself down because now she knows she is not going to die there. "Bad choice you made there, dude," says W to Doom Kid and then he gets the katana out of his chest. Doom Kid kneels on the dirt while holding his chest, coughing. W, which is still sweating, bleeding and dizzy, slowly moves the katana, touching Doom Kid's neck, and prepares himself for the final lap. "Now, the final move..." he says. "AAHHH!" He shouts and fastly moves the katana over Doom Kid's neck. Seconds later, the one-armed man stops holding his chest with his right arm, and a line of blood appears on his neck. Then his head falls to the dirt, behind his body.

DOOM KID

W falls to the floor again while still holding the katana. Jack, Abe and Rushy celebrate while grabbing W and hugging him. The gangsters are now in silence while looking at his late leader's head on the dirt, bleeding and soulless. W, however, approach them while still holding the katana. He has, for the first time, a rush of emotions... adrenaline, anger, sadness, joy, resentment, suffering, fun and revenge. He throws up blood while looking at the whole group of gangsters and starts gasping while all of them throw their guns away. They lost, they accepted the duel, and now they must suffer the consequences. Some of them stand up, while others keep sitting on the ground. W looks at all of them while having his rush of emotions and points at one of them with the katana.

"On your knees, bitches," he says.

"What?" says one of the gangsters. "Please, no... we won't."

"On your knees, bitches," he says again, trying to calm himself down but at the same time trying to let the anger go. His rush of emotions is slowly making him lose his mind. The gangsters kneel in front of W while he is only stretching his hands to the air, holding the katana.

"W," says Jack. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Let... me... be," he answers. One of the gangsters draw a gun and shoot at him, but W's telekinesis stops the bullet and turns it around, launching it at him and killing him. The gangsters are now frightened while kneeling. "Now," he says. "Someone give me a phone who has Plegovich's phone number."

Seconds later, someone gives him a phone. W grabs it, then he goes for Doom Kid's head only to put it in the ground in front of the gangsters and stabs the katana on his face, sticking the head to the ground. He takes a picture of the head and sends it to Plegovich. Finally, he politely asks everyone to stand up. "Repeat with me," he says, while everyone behind him is observing. "You... you can go, but before... give me your phones."

The gangsters slowly go away after giving W their phones, scared, while looking at Doom Kid's corpse... except one of them, which didn't even have a phone. A big, fat, bald guy raises his thumb to W. "Good job, man. I also hated him. He was a douchebag..."

"Hey..." says Rushy. "Aren't you that dude whose nickname was related with his fingers?"

The guy smiles. "Yes! My name is Fritos."

"Fritos? That is a snack, not a name," says Jack. "Come on, get out of here."

"Oh, but I like to be called Fritos or Frith," says the three-finger gangster. "It's like Gordon Summer... and Sting."

Frith's example makes Jack and Abe chuckle, and then he goes away before greeting everyone. The gangsters left, Doom Kid is dead. However, W is still not feeling OK. The Dazzlings and Twilight, Big Mac and Spike approach him.

"Well," says Jack. "Luckily we survived but... why in the hell did you do that, W?"

W is still under the weather because of its rush of emotions and feelings. He looks at Jack while his whole bleeding body is shaking. He tries to answer that question but he can't. Suddenly he can't talk, breath, anything. He has a blackout and falls to the floor. He closes his eyes and wakes up in a black room... in front of Event.

"What?" says W, his skin is now yellow instead of beige... and he feels completely well. "Now I feel..."

"Better?" says Event, looking at him. "You're experiencing something called Rush of Emotions, Bedmaker. The magic that is living inside your body is gaining control over your nerves and feelings, making you feel so many things at the same time, something that can kill you if is too late to control it."

"And I'm going to die because of that?" he says.

"No," says Event. "You will get better in a couple of minutes. Just don't take another pill. Don't be stupid. This time you survived for just... a little."

"Yeah," says W, and then he approaches Event. "And... did you know I was going to win?"

"Yes," he answers. "But the only way you could have won that battle... was making you believe you will lose... and you told yourself you couldn't lose, and that's why you started..."

"Raving?" interrupts W.

"Uh-huh," says Event, smiling. "Images of dead people desperately appeared on your mind from you to help yourself... and it worked, it was good. You remembered old times, childhood... with the Fade to Black thing. And now, I'm going to tell you two things but before, congratulations on getting rid of Doom Kid."

"Yeah... not necessary to flatter me but well..." says W. "And who's next?"

"That's what I was going to tell you, but..."

"But?"

"You need to do some things before. Three."

"Three things?"

"Yes. Firstly, you will go to the car with the broken window where you cut your whole back with the glass shatters and you will open its trunk using the key that it's inside. Inside that trunk, you will find Little Bird's egg. Plegovich planned a secret thing with it... he was trying to make a Little Bird his guard and main pet of his government. He was going to call him... Public Property Utopia Montreal Jr."

"Wow," says W, unsurprised. "That's the first one?"

"Yes. Secondly, you will tell the Dazzlings to carry it to the pony Equestria."

W laughs. "Are you kidding me? The Dazzlings? I told them they were going to help me bring Plegovich down. Now I've got to take them out of the way?"

"Yes. You can't put Jack, Abe or Rushy because the three of them will be essential for you, and you can't also take Twilight Sparkle, Spike or Big Macintosh because they have no idea about how are things in the horse world and believe me, they are now bad. Besides, if you let the sirens go back to the ponified Equestria, I'll help them go to Baltimare where pony Seductive lives, and with that, the battle against Glow, Tirek and Chrysalis will be easier."

"Which battle?" says W.

"Nothing necessary for you to know," answers Event. "If they don't want to follow your orders, tell them they will have another opportunity to go back, start a new life and find pony Seductive on Baltimare. Now, the third thing of all... your next objective is a man called Howlman."

"Howlman?" says W. "I don't remember that name on the list Discord told me."

"It is not in the list because you don't have to kill him," says Event, and then he turns around. "Someone else has to kill him."

"Who?"

"Your partner Jack Tyler."

W raises his eyebrows. "Jack? Um... why?"

"That man killed his father, Edinburgh Tyler. If he kills Howlman, his revenge will be satisfied and Plegovich's control over Canterlot will be weaker. You kill two birds with one bullet, Bedmaker. Now, talking about you... your next objective is Grigori Kobolov, but first, get rid of Howlman. Now, you will tell Jack that Howlman's on Canterlot, and if he asks you why, answer him that Doom Kid told you that while strangling you."

W wants to answer Event, but he immediately wakes up in La Lima, being surrounded by everyone. His skin is beige, he feels cold and weak, his chest has a long deep cut and his back is still bleeding. "W," says Jack. "Oh, my god... I thought you were dead." W's rush of emotions is slowly going away, making him a lot calmer. He starts gasping while looking at Jack.

"Jack," says W. "Jack..."

"What, W?" he says. "I'm here."

"...Howlman is in Canterlot."

Jack's face shakes a little bit. Abe looks at him, surprised. The other ones don't know who is that Howlman. "And... and... what? And how do you know Howlman is in Canterlot?"

"Doom Kid told me. He's there right now... we have to stop him."

"Oh my god!" shouts Aria. "And now we are going to Canterlot? Gosh! Can we take a rest, at least? One?"

W fastly gets up while his back and chest are still bleeding. His whole body is shaking but he doesn't care. "You three..." he says while pointing at the Dazzlings with his finger. "You three will take your rest now. Ey, Big Mac... carry me to the car with the broken window."

"Why?" says Big Mac, raising an eyebrow.

"Just do it."

"Sure," says Big Mac, and then he grabs W and carries him to the car. He tells Big Mac to grab the car keys which are inside and open the trunk. Once he opens the trunk, he looks at a big orange egg lying inside. "Wow..." he says. "There is a... a big, huge, giant egg."

"Biggie," says W. "Can I call you Biggie? Like Biggie Smalls."

"Eeyup," answers Big Mac.

"Carry that egg first and give it to Adagio, then carry me," he says while lying on the floor.
Jack approaches the almost dead W. "What the hell are you doing?" he says. "You are almost dead, we should carry to a hospital."

"Yeah," whispers W. "The fugitive that everyone is looking for... in a hospital. Twilight... Twilight!"

Twilight Sparkle approaches W now. "What?" she says, while Big Mac is carrying the egg.

"You are clever, right?"

"Umm... why?" she says. "What do you want to do?"

"Answer my question," he says while trying to get up. "Are you clever?"

"Yes," she answers.

"Wanna find your friends?"

"Yes."

"Do you know about medicine?"

"Um... not much, but yes."

"Touch my hand, then. Tell me how cold am I. I'm freaking frozen."

Twilight touches W's hand and she gets scared. His hand... feels like ice. He must be dead by now because this temperature cannot be in a normal person. "You... you... this temperature is so low... you can be already dead."

W laughs. "Great, I'm breaking the laws of medicine."

"We need to take you to a hospital or something... we will get you in with a fake identity, maybe."

"Yeah, whatever," says W. "Biggie! Take me to the Dazzlings!"

Big Mac appears, grabs W with his arms again and carries him to the Dazzlings. "Gosh," says Adagio. "Why are you giving me this egg, Gollum?"

"Girls," says W, laughing. "You have to do one more task, the final one."

"What?" says Aria, confused.

"Take that egg to Equestria... the ponified Equestria, and give it to its mother, a 24-feet brown bird with a scar on his left-wing."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" says Aria. "You told me we were going to bring Plegovich down together! To-ge-ther!"

"I know, I know," says W. "But you are the only ones who can do that task. I need Jack, Abe and Rushy, and Biggie, Twilight and Spike have no idea where is this bird or where they will be when they enter the other side. The three of you are the only ones."

"Great," says Adagio. "But you know Star Swirl the Bearded expelled us from there a thousand years ago?"

"No," says W. "But if you go and give back that egg, you will free Ponyville from a threat, and the princesses will thank you. Come on, girls, ponified Equestria is the most peaceful shit I've ever seen in my entire life."

"But..." says Adagio. "How do you know all of this? The egg... that we are the only ones who can carry it back...?"

"That... doesn't matter," says W, feeling dizzy. "You have to carry that egg back."

"And then what?" says Adagio. "Are we going to come back?"

"Um... no."

"But..." says Adagio, touching W's face. "But you told us we were going to avenge our mother!"

W sighs and looks at Big Mac. "Hey, Ryan Gosling, can you let me down for a second?"

Big Mac chuckles. "Eeyup," he says and lets W lie on the floor, looking at the Dazzlings.

"Girls," says W, while looking at them. "I know I promised you that, but sadly you are the only ones who can go there to bring that egg back to its mother. Besides, didn't you want... your entire life to go back to Equestria?"

The three Dazzlings look at each other. "Um..." says Adagio. "Yes, but we are here to avenge our mother now. We helped you to kill that lime-skinned man at Saik City... and even our adoptive mother helped you and gave her life for what you told her!"

"I know, I know!" shouts W. "I know this is bad. I know it's my fault... and I will always apologize because I admit it... she died in the place I told her to go, but at least you have your pendants back, you know?" The three Dazzlings look at each other. "And now I have to do what I have to do..."

"What?" says Aria. "Die? Your physical state is even worrying us."

"No, I won't die, although my physical state is horrifying," says W. "Um... I want to make a deal with you."

"Ugh," says Adagio, growling. "Typical gangster."

"Listen to me," says W. "Your adoptive mother's death is my fault, you are right. You are completely right... and yes, I also told you to go with me to Saik and here now, but... I want to make this deal. You go there to give back that egg and stay... and I will take your adoptive mother's death as a punishment... something I have to make for you... I promise to you... I will avenge your mother for you. I will kill Plegovich for you three and Seductive. You don't have to do anything."

The three Dazzlings look at each other again. Meanwhile, Spike appears and starts licking W's face.

"Oh gosh," says the dog, scared. "Your skin is colder than ice."

W chuckles. "Yeah, your owner Twi was scared of my body temperature."

"But man..." says Spike. "We need to heat you in an oven to recover your normal temperature."

W laughs out loud before ending up in a burst of coughs. His chest is not bleeding anymore but still hurts a lot. His back is still bleeding. His skin's beige colour is fading to white while looking at the Dazzlings. He has lost so much blood. Jack, Abe and Rushy are talking about leaving W in a hospital and then doing the job for him. They will kill Plegovich for him. Twilight is trying to calm herself down and then Big Mac sits next to her.

"Big Mac," she says. "How could we sleep after this whole odyssey?"

He chuckles while looking at his arms and his grey hoodie they gave to him in Saik City. It has small drops of W's blood. "I... have no idea," he answers. "But I will get through everything to save my sister and to bring back the peaceful life we were living before."

Twilight takes a breath and nods her head. "I don't know where are my friends... and I'm more than worried because of them."

"See?" says Big Mac. "When I look at these unusual things that have been happening... I admit that looking at lots of dead men and someone being stabbed with a sword and being decapitated is something traumatic, disgusting, horrifying but... I told ya before. These folks, you know, are getting rid of the men who have my sister and y'all friends locked up in wherever they are. I just think... Despite that W folk's cruel as hell and even took a photo of a severed head being stabbed with a katana in front of me... that guy, along with the sirens and the other three dudes, are the only ones who took me away and, even if they don't know, are helping me to find the answer of that question which has invaded my mind for months: where are my sisters and Granny Smith?"

Twilight gets shocked while listening to Big Mac's words. Seconds later, she gets up and slowly approaches Abe, Jack and Rushy... who are looking at W and figure out what to do. Jack is still shocked about what W told him...

"Howlman is in Canterlot."

His father's murderer. The guy that tried to look for so many years... It's there. He told him but... how does he know he is there? He told him Doom Kid said that, but is he sure? He has lost so much blood he may be raving by now.

"Um," says Twilight, while looking at the three men. "Excuse me, Rarity's grandpa... can I talk to you for a moment?"

Jack and Rushy look at each other, confused. "What happened, Twilight?" says Abe, surprised. "What's the matter?"

"Since I've been freed by W inside Saik City several things have happened to me. I looked at this horrifying spectacle for a while, I saw W taking a photo of a severed head like if it was street art and... and..."

Abe touches Twilight's shoulders. "Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine."

"I'm... I'm not sure if everything's going to be fine!" says Twilight, crying. "I've killed someone, Mr Flanks... don't you realize I killed someone?"

"First time?" says Rushy. "I understand. It's hard to get through."

"Rushy!" shouts Abe. "Look, Twi... what happened with that?"

"Yes," also says Jack, trying to calm her down. "What happened?"

"I was..." she says. "I had so many things... thoughts in my mind that I couldn't control myself... and ended up breaking one of my kidnappers' neck with my magic. And I... I feel so guilty."

Abe hugs Twilight. "No, dear," he says. "I know it's hard for you, but calm down, you did it because you had so much trouble in your mind, girl. You were alone, isolated from your world, from your friends, from your school... in a land of nowhere with the worst men of all... it's much more than understandable."

"I agree," says Jack. Then he turns around to look at W talking with Spike about life. The Dazzlings finally conclude.

"And..." she says while hugging Abe. "Why are you getting rid of these men? For cruelty?"

"What?" says Abe. "Of course not, dear. We are not killing them because we are cruel, Twilight. We are killing them to save everyone's life, girl. Sadly, this is the only way we can save Rarity and your friends. I know this method is not the best for you but... if we don't get rid of them, they will get rid of us."

"But, that is not a fight..." she says. "That's..."

"War," says Abe. "Yup, like W said back in Saik City... we are in a gang war, sunshine. You are in a gang war. We are getting rid of these men before they get rid of us, Rarity, anyone else... including you."

"Um... that's not my case," says Rushy, approaching Abe. "I'm getting rid of these men for revenge."

Abe looks at Rushy, angry. "In a way, you are doing this to don't be killed by them."

Rushy raises his eyebrows. "Well, yeah. You are right in that, but..."

"Don't screw it up," says Abe to Rushy. The ushanka man softly nods his head and goes with W, who is waiting for the Dazzlings' conclusion.

"So, boy?" says Rushy. "In the beginning, I've got to admit I didn't have faith in you, but once you beat that dude up, I knew you were the head of that duel."

W and Rushy laugh out loud while Spike doesn't laugh because of how dark is that joke. Jack chuckles a bit. "So," says Adagio, interrupting the laughs. "We came up to a conclusion."

"So?" says W. Adagio kneels and looks at W.

"We will go there and stay, but remember... you promised you would avenge your adoptive mother and us by killing Plegovich. If you fail, believe in my word... we'll kill you before Plegovich kills you."

"Sure," says W while raising his thumb. "If I fail, you will kill me."

"And after all," says Adagio. "Your actions would never give us our adoptive mother back, even if she was her counterpart."

"Actually," says W. "There's a pony counterpart of her in Baltimare."

The three Dazzlings get surprised, and Adagio gets W up. "What?" he says.

W falls again but Jack grabs him on time. "There's a pony counterpart of her in Baltimare City."

"And how do you know that?" she says. "I hope you are not mocking us, because you'll pay hard."

"No," says W. "There's a pony counterpart of Seductive in Baltimare, trust me."

Adagio looks at Aria now. She raises her shoulders while looking at Sonata. Adagio takes a breath. "Uh... OK," says Adagio. "But if you are lying..."

"I'm not lying!" shouts W, and then he coughs.

"Um... I have a question," says Sonata.

"Shut up, Sonata," says Aria, and the pony-tail dazzling gets mad at her.

"Oh, don't interrupt me! Please let me talk!" shouts Sonata Dusk. "Um... you said we have to go there."

"Yes," answers W.

"So... how are we going to go there?"

W wants to talk but can't answer that question. Suddenly, Event appears on his mind, pointing to a yellow car that it's inside a cottage. "Tell Big Mac to carry you to the yellow car and open the trunk which is already unlocked. You will find there Wilbur's toilet." The Bedmaker nods his head and points at the yellow car.

"Biggie!" says W. "Take me to the yellow car."

Big Mac, who was lying on the ground, gets up and looks at the yellow car. He grabs W, takes it to the car and opens the trunk... there is a toilet there. W smiles while looking at it.

"There's a toilet," says Big Mac. "A pretty dirty toilet."

"That toilet..." says W. "Grab it and take it to the Dazzlings."

"WHAT?" says Adagio. "What are you trying to do with that toilet?"

"That toilet..." says W. "...is the portal."

"Woah, Woah, Woah," says Adagio, approaching him and Big Mac. "Are you saying that you have to enter that toilet to go to Equestria?"

"Yup," says W, while lying against the car's trunk.

"Are... are you fucking kidding me?"

"No."

Big Mac puts the toilet next to Adagio. It doesn't have a stinky or horrifying smell but is completely covered with dirt. However, Adagio finds something that is not normal. The toilet has water. How can that have water if it is not connected to any pipe? Besides, it has a small button on its right side, and she decides to press it. The water flushes but never leaks, and seconds later it turns into something purple that gets expanded, creating a round portal inside the toilet. "Oh," she says. "It looks like... ugh, why is this portal in a toilet?"

"No idea," says W. "My grandfather had that toilet."

The Dazzlings approach the toilet. "Do I have to enter there?" says Aria.

"We have no choice, Aria," says Sonata. "Come on, I'll be the first one... but first, I need to say goodbye... goodbye everyone! and also," she says, and then she hugs Adagio. "Goodbye, beloved tacos from the human world, I wish I could find you there, Mr Taco Bell!"

Sonata is about to enter but is pushed away by Aria. "Bye," she says. "And if I get dirty while travelling through this portal, I'll go back to kick your ass, Bedmaker."

"I'll miss you too, Aria," answers W, and then she enters. Adagio takes another breath and stretches her hand. She gets W up again and he sits on the trunk. Both of them shake their hands and she says:

"I hope you are not lying, Bedmaker. You promised to avenge my mother," she says and then she grabs the egg which was next to Spike. "Good luck," she says, and then she enters the portal with the egg. Sonata is the last one to leave because she is handshaking everyone until he arrives at W.

"Bye, Sonata," he says, stretching his hand. She shakes hands with him but a second later she crashes her face with him and kisses him on the lips. "Mmmm!" Only to release him after. "Woah, Woah, Woah... what the hell, Sonata?"

"Um... what?"

"Why did you kiss me?"

"Oh," she says. "That's my way of wishing you luck, Mr Bedmaker! Goodbye!" She then jumps and gets in the toilet, which now closes itself and breaks in half.

"Well," says Rushy. "That was... certainly unexpected."

Chapter 21: Canterlot's Rage

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 22: Dead?

"What?" says W, shocked. "Am I... am I...?

"Um," says Discord.. "It's hard to explain."

"...Dead?"

"I told you it's hard to explain."

W raises his eyebrows. "Um, uh... why?"

Discord appears now drinking a cup of coffee. "Coffee is for the hardest days, and... well, W... technically, according to the laws of time, space, reality and the Old Pillars... you are dead."

"What?" says W, again. "So... no, no, no. NO! THIS CAN'T BE OVER!"

"Well, you are not dead," says Discord, and then he approaches to W's face with his hot cup. "But you are almost. The magic of Verminium that is living inside you is killing you, but at the same time is trying its best to leaving you alive because if you die, the magic from inside vanishes."

W gets up and looks at Discord, grabbing his head. "What?"

"I told you," he says. "It's hard to believe."

Discord and W sit on the distance and then a portal is opened in front of them. Event comes out but he is not alone. There are six guys with him. Three women and three men. One of the men is bigger than the rest and has light blue skin and orange hair and beard. The other men are an orange-skinned young kid dressed as a guardsman and a third man who is dressed like a wizard with his big white beard. On the other hand, the three women are all young. There is one with cyan hair and dressed in a kimono, another one with long green hair and a green dress, and the last woman has a crown and coral-coloured skin.

Those six are Mage Meadowbrook, Rockhoof, Somnambula, Mistmane, Flash Magnus and Star Swirl the Bearded: The Pillars of Old Equestria.

W thought they were just a myth Fletcher used to tell him at nighttime but turns out the six of them are real, in front of his own eyes. Nevertheless, the Pillars are arguing with Event.

"The only thing I want is to get the magic out of him. I helped you lots of times against enemies of the other world. Remember Tirek in the past? Or the Pony of Shadows?"

"But this is different, Event!" shouts Rockhoof. "You did it all alone and didn't even ask us for help. It demonstrates your lack of education and also experience at administrating and controlling these time events, Event. I think I agree with my partners here, and I won't let you save Walter Theodore Waters' life."

"NO!" shouts W, interrupting the Pillars. "Please... I know you."

"You know us?" says Star Swirl, while pointing at W with his cane. "I don't know you as you know me... if you don't know me as I know you."

"I know you are the Pillars of Old Equestria. Who are you? The ones above all?"

The six pillars look at each other. "We are the gods of Equestria," answers Somnambula. "We are omniscient and omnipotent. If you want to hurt us, you can't do us anything."

"I don't want to fight with you nor hurt you," says W. "Look, my world, my country... is being invaded by a tyrant who is killing innocent people and will eventually turn into something worse if we don't stop it. He has Verminium's magic by his side, and if he uses it more than he should... he will turn into something that even you won't stop. That's why Event wanted me, because I am, along with all my friends, the ones who can stop it. I just... had an accident. I made a bad decision."

"See?" says Star Swirl the Bearded. "If you asked us for help, he could have avoided all of this, Event. It's a shame, but... we can't do anything. We will wait until that Plegovich comes here."

"No! No!" shouts Event. "Don't you see? Don't you understand? A lot of innocent people will die because of this! If we don't stop it, everything inside Equestria will eventually fade to dust! Even you six! We need another opportunity to stop Plegovich!"

"We can't break the rules," says Mage Meadowbrook. "He is going to die."

"I know!" says Event. "He is agonizing because of the magic eating his insides, but I know you can get the magic out of him."

"I'm sorry," says Somanmbula. "But we can't do that, it would be like resurrecting someone. It would be unfair for the other dead souls in Heaven and Hell to get the magic out of this soul," she says, pointing at W. "Besides, it would break the rules written by Oaa."

"This is a special case, Somnambula," says Event. "This is not even unfair because he hasn't died yet and it won't break the rules written by Oaa because he hasn't passed away."

"I can make a deal with you," says W.

"No! No!" says Event. "You shut up. I'm talking to them, not you."

Star Swirl chuckles. "I'm extremely sorry, Bedmaker. Sadly you can't make any deals with us because this has already finished, my kid. You are dead, and because of your life as a gangster, you will live in hell forever."

"No, please!" shouts W. "I... I..."

"Ok," says Event, taking off his sunglasses and revealing his shiny eyes. "I know what do you want from me, Star Swirl."

"Hmmm..." says Star Swirl the Bearded, holding his cane. "What do you mean with that, Event?"

"I've been working with Discord on my own to stop Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow on the pony world. I have my plans and I'm already making them real. I know... you want me to work with all of you on this problem. You need my help... If you save this man, I promise I will work with you and for you with this."

The six Pillars look at Star Swirl now. All of them know they need Event to stop the three antagonists before they dominate all of Pony Equestria. However, Star Swirl takes a breath: "I almost accept. I'm glad you accepted working with us for this. However, I think only one thing should deserve this young man's fate: I want you to accept working with us for not only this problem but also everyone of the situations that will happen after this one. If you accept that decision, I will get the magic out of him. If not, I'm afraid this kid will be taken by Rockhoof to hell."

Event takes a breath and looks at Discord. The Lord of Chaos only raises his shoulders, confused. Event bites his lips for a second and looks at W now. The Bedmaker only looks at him waiting for his word. "Yes."

Star Swirl stretches Event's hand. "I'm glad you accepted my offer. Are we going to do this now? I can't stand looking at that living soul staying here on the purgatory. You know the rules, Event."

Event rubs his head and puts his sunglasses again. His light blue shine from his eyes has a darker colour now. "I need to solve something. Give me only a couple of minutes."

"Hurry up," says Star Swirl before disappearing with the other five pillars by entering the portal.

W stands up and stays next to Event but he god instantly grabs his head and breaks his neck, killing him. Discord shouts, but seconds later, W's neck fixes itself and goes back to normal, and the Bedmaker breathes again. "Shit!" says W. "Why in the hell did you do that?"

"That is for doing what you wanted to do instead of listening to me, W. And also... you can't die in the purgatory. You are a soul."

"Uh... argh... and will I live?" says W.

"Yes, but listen to me. This is your final chance. It may be the first time the pillars do something like this, and there's no way back. So there's no resurrection, no third chance, nothing. Be alive, don't you dare to be killed or die. And now, you will have to stop taking those pills for a while."

W sighs. "Really, for how long?"

"Until tomorrow night, maybe," says Event and then he stops to look at something far, far away. "What... what is he doing here?."

"Who?" says W, and then he turns around. A human body is far from them, looking at him. He is smartly dressed while wearing an eye patch on his left eye. His orange hair covers his light blue face a bit. He is the man that died before, and now, his soul was looking at him, directly to W's eyes. He's Ron Delight, on the purgatory. "Oh... R... Ron!"

W stands up and runs to Ron. The Pirate, who was straight like a stone, before, moves and stretches his hand with W's. "Hi, W."

"Ron... what... what are you doing here?"

"I requested to be in the purgatory for a while, and Star Swirl accepted it."

"Why?"

"I just need time to relax on my own." Event suddenly appears and also stretches Ron's hand. "Hi, Event," he says.

"Hi, Delight. Long time no see."

Suddenly the words make W's brain explode. "Wait..." says W. "Do you... do you know each other?

Ron looks at him, and then at Event. "You... did you tell him?"

"No," answers Event.

"What?" says W. "What did he want you to tell me?"

Ron sighs because this will be a long thing. "Sit down, W," says Ron. "This is long... and this is important."

Well, It all started in 1995. I knew... I knew that saving your father from Plegovich's hands was almost impossible at that time. It was too late. I realized I will lose a great friend and I couldn't do anything to stop it. I realized that while I was walking on a cold night in 1995.

1995. Los Mantos.

A young Ron Delight is walking on the street while being illuminated through the moonlight. He is trying to figure out a way where he can save his friend, Wade Waters, who he tried to betray a long time ago, but knows that can't be reached nowadays, especially because of Plegovichs walking around the zone.

He is about to pass by a street alley until someone calls his attention: "Mr Delight."

"Woah," whispers Ron. Someone called him... who? He turns around and hears the same voice again:

"Inside the alley, Mr Delight."

Ron looks inside the alley while slowly drawing a knife. He thinks someone from Plegovich is inside the alley, but eventually, a bald man with black sunglasses and a black suit appears in front of him. "Hello, Mr Delight. My name is Event."

".....What?" says Ron, confused. "Who are you?"

"I'm the man who will help you bring down Plegovich."

Ron fastly gets his knife and touches Event's chest with it. "If you are trying to mock me and you work for Plegovich, I recommend you to get out of my way, immediately. Don't step on me."

"I'm neither mocking you nor working for Plegovich, Delight. As I said before, I'm here to help you bring down Plegovich."

"...and Event is your name?"

"Yes."

"I've never heard of you. Who are you, for real?"

"I am a god, Ron Delight," he says, and then he puts his hand over Ron's forehead, making him see the future. The future of Plegovich's victories.

"Holy... AAARGH!" he shouts after falling to the floor. "What... what in the fucking hell was that?"

"That future you saw is the one that will wait for us if we don't do anything now."

"And is there also a way to save my partner?"

"Unfortunately, no. Your partner Wade must die if you want to win."

"Why?"

"Because Wade Waters is already dead and he can't help us. You will be captured by Plegovich in a couple of days, you will say your friend's name there."

"No!" says Ron, angrily. "Why? I will never betray Wade."

"You've already tried to."

"That was a past shit... why would I need to say the name of my friend?"

"Because if you don't say it, Plegovich will lose his mind and will eventually kill every one of the family of Waters, including his son William, and Walter, who is still inside his mother's belly, and if you want to win, Delight... keep those children alive."

And I did it. I told Plegovich your father's name and he eventually looked for him. He planned to kill you and William, W, but I told him not to do it. He accepted it, and because of me and Event, you are alive... but this story goes on.

1997.

Ron is alone at his home sweet home, looking at Red Punch's recently decapitated head in a jar. That's the right moment when Event appears.

"Hello again, Mr Delight."

"Gosh!" shouts Ron. "Would you ever tell me you will appear some time? Every time you are here I shit my pants, man!"

"My apologies."

"Why are you here, Event?"

"I came here to tell you something very important. This is crucial against Plegovich."

"What?" says Ron, confused.

"Wade's son, Walter, is a key against Plegovich. You must free him from the orphanage."

"But... he is only two years old, Event."

"I know. That's why I am telling you to free him... on a specific date, and it must be that date."

"When?"

Event takes off his sunglasses, revealing his light blue, shiny eyes. "February 4th, 2005."

"2005?" says Ron. "Are you sure? I don't know if I'll be still alive in 2005. I'm a fucking gangster."

"You'll be still alive, Delight. Do not worry about that."

"And what about the Y2K? Will that destroy the world and also that orphanage?"

"Ha," says Event, chuckling. "You humans, with your paranoia and conspiracy... there will be no Y2K, Delight. On February 4th, the year 2005... you will break in the orphanage and get Walter Waters out of there."

"Yes," says Ron. "And then what?"

"You will teach him how to be a gangster."

"Teaching a 10-year-old kid how to be a gangster? No, thanks."

"I never told you you had to teach him how to be a gangster on the same day you broke in the orphanage. The only thing I want you to tell him is that his parents are dead. Only that."

"And what about Plegovich?"

"Just... let him look it up," says Event, smiling.

8 Years Later. February 1st, 2005.

A young Jack with black hair and a chin beard and a young Abe with a full beard, enter Ron's house. He is sitting on a desk with Event.

"Hi, Ron," says Abe. "Why did you want us to come here?"

"Gentlemen," says Ron. "Let me present to you... Mr Donald Smith."

Event stands up and stretches both Jack and Abe's hands. "Nice to meet you, gentlemen. You can call me Don or Sam."

"Nice to meet you too," said both men before sitting next to Event (Donald Smith) and in front of Ron Delight.

"How can I tell you this, guys," says Ron, while biting his lips. "Remember Wade's youngest son, Walter?"

"Yes," says Abe. "The kid in the orphanage... what happened?"

"We must get him out of there."

"Oh," says Jack, surprised. "May we know why? What happened?"

"Donald," says Ron.

Event takes a breath and starts his monologue: "Firstly, I wanna say my real name is not Donald Smith, but Samuel Sharpan, a.k.a. Joven Sammy, an old friend of Ron Delight from the extinct mafia organization Benvenuto Gang. I left the mafia and changed my identity in 1992, and I worked as the orphanage's accountant from 1994 to 1997. Believe my words now, because I have to say that orphanage is just... hell in the human world. Its conditions are horrendous and the boys' life quality there is... undescribable. Not only the conditions are horrifying, but the orphanage and its association are now in an economic meltdown. They are slowly drowning themselves, waiting for the end."

"And Walter, Wade's son, is there," says Ron. "I promised Wade his sons will have a better life than him, on a good house, on a good family... I never told him I was going to send Walter into that world. That makes me feel so sick of myself."

"But..." says Abe. "You want to break in the orphanage, rob Walter and... where do we take him?"

"I told this to Fletcher, the musician who was Wade's friend from Los Mantos. He told me he had no problem, the kid has ten years old."

"Will you tell him about the date, Ron?"

"Yeah, I forgot. Thanks, Sam. I want this break-in to be done on a specific date that cannot be changed. Don't ask us why, but we want to do it on that date."

"Sure," says Abe. "When?"

"February 4th. Noon."

Jack chuckles. "I'm in."

"Me too," says Abe. "Is Smith going to participate in the robbery?"

"I'm sorry, mister. I won't. I don't want to participate in the mafia ever again, but I'm doing this for that kid and the others."

"Sure, sure," says Abe. "So... February 4th, noon. Ok, I can."

Ron gets up and stretches hands with both Abe and Jack. "Thank you, guys," he says. "I knew you would help me."

"Always, Ron," says Jack, while getting up from his chair. "Goodbye, Ron. Goodbye, Mr Smith... or shall I call you..."

"Call me Mr Smith."

Jack stretches hands with Event and Abe does the same, greeting Mr Smith. Both men go away and close the door and now Ron looks at Event. "Now we have to wait," says the Pirate. "Are you sure that Walter will be the key against Plegovich?"

"Yes," answers Event. "He will become the key once you introduce him to the gangster world before 2010. You have five years to make him enter. If 2010 arrives and he is not in the mafia... we will have failed."

"Five years?" says Ron. "Ok... I'll let him have a free year at least. That poor kid needs to take a breath on a family environment... I know Fletcher is not a mother and a father together but... he will be a good tutor for him. When 2006 begins, I'll introduce him to the mafia. I promise."

That was my original plan, W. However, once I told you your parents died because of the Bitch, you escaped from Fletcher's house and I had no choice. I introduced you to the mafia days after we broke in.

"So... this is the last time we will see each other...?" asks Ron.

Event takes his sunglasses and leaves them on the desk. "No," he says.

"No?" asks Ron. "For what?"

"One more message," says Event. "But you will have to wait for that moment."

Ron turns around. "For how long?"

...

"For how long, Event?" says Ron.

...

Ron turns around and sees that Event is not there anymore.

November 19th, 2019. Almost two months after Blueblood's death.

Ron is in The Middle of Nowhere, the small bar in the highway when he decides to go out in the midnight to smoke a cigarette. Suddenly, he finds out two strange lights are looking at him. He immediately draws his gun until he hears a voice he hasn't heard for a long, long, long time.

"Don't shoot, Mr. Delight," says Event. "It's me."

Ron puts the gun down and looks at the figure. Event puts on his sunglasses. "You..." says Event. "So long... waiting for that message."

"That's right," says Event. "And look at that... you turned that 10-year-old kid into an expert. The Bedmaker."

"Yeah," says Ron. "You know... he found out Blueblood killed his parents, but he doesn't know..."

"I told you," says Event. "If you ever tell him Plegovich ordered his parents' head, the plan will go wrong. He will try to kill Plegovich and will die. That's why I'm telling you to shut your mouth... especially on the days that will come."

"What will happen on next year?"

Event sighs and touches Ron's shoulder. "Sorry to tell you this, Ron... but I'm afraid the months of November, December and January will be your worst months ever..."

Ron's face makes a scared gesture. "Why?"

"I can't tell you, Ron... but the only thing you should know is... you will die in January 25th."

Ron blinks and takes a long breath. "But... h-how?"

"Plegovich will kill you, and there's no other thing to do, Ron. If you want W to win... you must die."

Wow, that was rough. Ron throws the cigarette away and sits on the ground, looking at the highway and its spotlights. He rubs his head while Event nudges his back, trying to comfort him. "Why?"

"If you do it, Plegovich's behaviour will change and that will take him to his death. It is inevitable, Ron."

The Pirate has fallen. Now that he has just heard he must die, he doesn't know what to do with his life. The Middle of Nowhere is nothing for him. Everything has just turned into nothing for the Pirate of Los Mantos. "Can I make a call?" he asks.

"Sure."

Ron grabs his phone and calls a phone number. Suddenly, a woman answers. "Ron, I've already told you I..."

"Listen to me, Amethyst," says Ron. "This is the last time I will call you. I'm about to die. I just... want to talk to my daughter for a minute. Please, tell me the truth... is she there?"

Amethyst Spark, the lady who gave birth the only daughter of Ron, does not answer. "Why are you about to die?

"That doesn't matter, Amethyst... is Raspberry Sweets there?"

Amethyst doesn't answer for almost a minute. She doesn't know that to do... will she listen to the man who abandoned both her and her daughter? Or will she leave him alone, agonizing? "...Yes."

"Pass her to me, Amethyst. Goodbye... and have a good life."

Seconds later, Raspberry Sweets, Ron's daughter, attends the phone. "Hello... dad?"

"Hi, Raspberry."

"Why do you want to call me right now? You had the chance for almost 20 years."

"I'm calling you because I'm about to die, and I apologize for leaving you."

"...That's it? You only apologize?"

"No," answers Ron, while touching his eye patch. "There is a bank account on Manehattan Public Bank which is mine. I have the number on my pocket. All the money that's inside is yours." Raspberry Sweets doesn't answer while Ron is telling her which one's the number. However, the Pirate hears that someone is writing something on the other side. "That's all," he says.

"But... why do you want to give me your money?"

"Because I don't need it anymore. Bye."

Ron ends the call and looks at Event. "Wise decision," says the time god looking at him.

That's what happened. I admit that when Plegovich's plan started I began to lose my mind and I almost forgot this. I went to Sombra Jail to ask Gordo for help, but when I realized this was inevitable and I had to die to make you win, I waited. That's why I gave up in the Train.

W's mind is about to explode. That was too much information for him. More than normal. A lot. They have just told him in his face that Ron knew all this time that Plegovich was the infamous Bitch, but couldn't tell him anything because the plan would be ruined. Besides, the decision that changed his life, the orphanage's heist which took him away... was also planned by Event. If it wasn't for the time god, nothing could have happened. His whole life was just part of a plan.

"So..." says W. "All my life was just... a plan."

"I don't know how to say it, W," says Ron. "The decision that turned you into a gangster was a plan, yes, but that doesn't mean your whole life was a plan."

"But... I decided to be a gangster because of your plan! Your plan was to turn me into a gangster! All this time I was... I was..." says W, and then he kneels on the floor. "All this time I was... manipulated and..."

"You weren't manipulated."

"Look who's talking!" shouts W. "The man who made all of this! All my life happened because of you... I'm just an experiment of yours!"

"An experiment that will save everyone's lives," says Event. "I know that your whole life may have been controlled by my hands and Ron's, but we were doing it because that way is the way that you wanted."

"The way that I wanted?" says W, angry. "Are you kidding me? I never decided to do it!"

"You decided to be a gangster."

"Because that was part of your plan."

"To save Equestria's humans."

"And what about me, huh?" says W, grabbing Event's suit. "I'm a human too. I'm a life. Don't you know I have feelings? I'm not a fucking god with no regrets and remorse like you. I'm a fucking human being."

"I know, W," say Event. "I know your decisions, your job now... everything was part of a plan, but that plan has a meaning: you will save everyone's lives, and you will obtain what you wanted all this time: revenge."

"Yes," says W. "But that doesn't mean I chose the revenge for myself."

"You chose it, W," says Event. "If you didn't want to choose it, you won't be here right now. I promise you..."

"I promise shit! Just... fuck your pills and fuck you!"

W gets out the box of pills and throws it to the purgatory's floor, breaking it in pieces. He turns around and sits down.

"You want to kill Plegovich, don't you?"

"I won't answer your questions."

"You want to kill Plegovich, don't you?" W doesn't answer yet, and Event takes his final card: "I know you want to kill Plegovich, W. He killed your family. He killed your girlfriend. He killed your boss... and he will kill all of your remaining friends if you don't do anything. The world that you know will be destroyed and will never be the same as before. This is the only chance you have to stop that. If you want to live a life according to your own perspective and enjoy it next to the people you love... you have to stop Plegovich. So... are you going to take this decision by yourself? To save your life?"

W is much more than disappointed. This day is so long that he doesn't know when it is going to end. He sighs and rubs his head while listening to the god. "We still have the deal of reviving Trixie if I win, right?"

"Yes," answers Event. "I won't ever lie to you."

W chuckles. "Stop lying, dumbass with sunglasses," and then he stands up and looks at the time god into his shiny eyes covered by his sunglasses. Suddenly, W fastly grabs Event's head and breaks his neck. The time god falls to the floor, dead.

"NO!" shouts Ron. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?"

"Wait," says W, and Event starts breathing again. However, he is not angry.

"Do you feel better now, that you broke my neck?"

"A little bit better," says W. "You deserved it for manipulating me. I don't forgive you for this and you know. Besides, I've already taken that decision for myself, and I will save my life, my pals, Equestria and my parents, but remember... we have to talk."

"Yes," says Event. "I admit I deserved it, Waters, and I am glad that you understood that we have to do what we were waiting for this whole time." Event stretches his hand and waits for W to shake hands with him. "This is our only chance to do this."

W looks at the god's hand. "If I do it, will you give me Trixie back and stop controlling my life as a plan?"

"Yes."

W takes a long, long breath but doesn't stretch his hand. "I expect you to do your part of the deal."

"I will."

"Finally you finished," says Star Swirl. "Can I get that soul out of here, for Oaa's rules?"

Event nods his head and W looks at Ron while Star Swirl approaches him. The old man touches W's chest. "I want you to know something, boy. Right now you are breaking one of the rules written by the One Above All, named Oaa. I should put you in hell like the gangster you are, Bedmaker, but Event will get mad if I do and I don't want to argue with him, I'm an old god and my back hurts. From now on... your soul is mine, Walter Waters."

The pale, dead W suddenly wakes up and goes back to his yellow skin and normal tone. He is now on a table in the cafeteria and everyone who is looking at him is in shock. W is back.

Chapter 23: For Whom the Bullets Go? (Part 1)

W wakes up in the cafeteria, while being handled by Abe and Rushy until they realize his eyes are open. That's the moment when both men find out W's alive, and put them on a table. "What?" says Jack. "How are you alive now? Was it...?"

"I need to talk to you," says W, while lying on the cafeteria's table.

"What? But?"

"I need to talk to you and Abe, in private. Now."

Everyone is confused. Suddenly, Celestia comes back with a megaphone. "I've already told the students to stay inside the class... oh my god, W is alive!"

"Celestia," says W. "Is there any empty classroom?"

"But what do you want to talk?" asks Twilight, confused. "What happened? What did you see?"

W takes another breath and sits in Celestia's chair. "For how long I lied on the floor?"

"Like a..." says Rushy. "...Minute and a half."

W nods his head. "Well, that means I was dead for a minute and a half. However, that is the less important thing."

"The less?" says Spike. "You were dead, W!"

"Yes," says the Bedmaker. "But when I died I saw several things I wanted to talk to you about. Only you two," he says, pointing at Jack and Abe.

"What?"

"That's what I want to talk in private."

W, Jack and Abe are now alone, in the classroom. W is standing, looking at the board while holding chalk. Jack and Abe are behind him, sitting on a desk. "What do you want to explain, W?" says Jack. "What did you see?"

"I died."

"Yeah, we all know that."

"When I died..." says W. "I saw something... I saw someone."

"Someone?" says Abe. "You mean... Ron?"

"Yeah," he answers. "I saw him... He told me something I never knew... and I want to know if you remember that."

"What?" asks Jack.

W throws the chalk away and looks at them. "Do you remember... a guy called Donald Smith?"

Jack and Abe look at each other, confused. They think for a while until someone dares to speak: "Yeah," says Abe. "The guy from the orphanage. He was a little bit weird but... I remember him."

"I think that wasn't his real name," says Jack.

"No, it isn't," answers W. "Now... I will answer the questions you asked me before. Do you want to know how did I survive this?"

"How?" says Abe.

"Thanks to that guy."

Abe raises an eyebrow and looks at Jack. "Donald Smith? What the hell was he doing on the Desert?"

"No, no, no," says W. "That guy's name is neither Donald Smith nor Samuel Sharpan nor anything else. His real name is Event, and he's a god who's helping me to stop Plegovich."

Abe and Jack are now more confused than before. "What kind of deus ex machina is this?" says Abe.

"A god? Called Event?" says Jack. "I don't even remember him. I know Mage Meadowbrook, Star Swirl..."

"Event was a God who was expelled from Equestria a long time ago by Princesses Celestia and Luna, due to he helped Sir Verminium to obtain the throne. However, Event did that because of its ability to see the future and predict events that will happen with no mistakes. If Verminium obtained the throne, he was easier to defeat. The same thing is happening right now with Plegovich. Event is helping me to defeat Plegovich thanks to his visions, and I have to do everything he tells me to do. That's why I entered the horse world: he threw me there. That's why I took the pills: He gave them to me. He's with me."

"No, no, no," says Jack. "This can't be possible. I hardly believed in you at that time when you told us Discord appeared on a drug trip of yours."

"But what Discord told me was the truth, Jack! The same thing is happening here!"

"Then show us your evidence!" says Abe. "Show us where is Event, something... tell us."

"I'm here."

Abe and Jack turn around and jump after listening to that voice. Event is standing behind them, with his black sunglasses, bald head and smart suit. "What?" says Jack. "Donald Smith?"

"I'm afraid to tell you, Mr Tyler, I'm not Donald Smith. What your partner said is true. My name is Event, I am a god and I am helping W to stop Plegovich."

Jack and Abe look at W now, surprised. he was right all this time. "And why a god is helping someone against Plegovich?" asks Abe. "What did Plegovich do to you?"

"Why did you appear on that day with Ron?" asks Jack.

"He helped Ron to destroy Plegovich... and he also sacrificed himself to help us."

"Ron?" says Jack to W. "Sacrificing himself to help us?"

"I told him to do it. He needed to die to fulfil Plegovich's ego... something that will be also a cause of his meltdown. Besides, I helped you on the orphanage's robbery because I needed W to be part of the plan."

Jack and Abe can't believe what they are hearing. His boss sacrificed himself to make this work. Donald Smith, whoever he is, is now the one who is controlling everything right now... "So... he did it to make this work, right?" says Abe.

"Yes," says Event. "And now... I need you to keep progressing with the plan."

"No shit!" shouts Jack, drawing a gun. "You are not going to make us sacrifice ourselves!"

"No, Mr Tyler," says Event. "I'm here to tell you that you have to save people right now if you want to win this. Besides, Mr Tyler, you have an additional mission.""

"What?" says Jack.

"You have to kill Mr Howlman."

"Ha," says Jack. "That would be a pleasure for me."

"And this is for the three of you, including Mr Ushin, who is not here. You will have to save two groups of people before the moon comes."

"Who?" asks W, and then Event appears next to him, on the board. "Uh! Can you say you will appear here instead of scaring the shit out of me, for god's sake? Aaarrgh!"

"My apologies," says Event. "Those two groups of people you have to save are the remaining Rainbooms, along with Fletcher."

"Fletcher?" says W, holding Event's shoulders. "Is he alive? Oh my god..."

"Is Rarity alive?" says Abe, worried.

"She's alive, Mr Flanks."

"Oh my..." says Abe, rubbing his head. "Thank you... Thank you, Star Swirl."

Event growls. "I'm the one who told you that."

"Sorry... Thank you, Event... May I know where are they?"

"Rarity is locked in an abandoned fort in the middle of Manehattan-Canterlot Highway, with Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash... and Grey Blackle."

"GREY BLACKLE?" shout the three men at the same time.

"NO!" shouts Abe. "No, no, no! She can't be with that fucking maniac! Tell me that it's a joke, please!"

"I beg you to calm down, Mr Flanks. Grey Blackle has been less aggressive and more inoffensive since they locked him up with them. Changing topic, Sunset Shimmer, Fluttershy and Fletcher are locked up in the Pegasus' Fort."

"Pegasus' Fort?" says Abe. "But... how did they..."

"I can't tell you that right now. I strongly recommend you to grab Rushy and go, the four of you, to the Manehattan abandoned fort to save Rarity and her friends... Besides, W..."

"What?"

"The man who is inside that Manehattan fort will be your next objective. His name is Grigori Kobolov. You will have to kill him there."

"Sure."

"Hurry up," says Event. "You don't have much time left if you wanna do it quickly."

Event fades while W, Jack and Abe look at each other. They know what to do now.

While they get out of the empty classroom, the other part of the crew is staying in the cafeteria. Granny Smith, the only one who was staying there, starts checking on Big Mac, taking a breath of relief while looking at his grandson safe and sound, but at the same time, looking at his clothes and body, which are completely covered with dirt. Twilight's clothes are also dirty while her glasses are almost broken in half. Celestia, Flash Sentry, Luna and Nurse Redheart are also there, taking care of Big Mac, while Rushy and Spike are looking around the cafeteria.

"Are you sure, Mac?" shouts Granny Smith while looking at his grandson's face. "Are you sure those rascals didn't do anything to y'all?"

"No, Granny, I swear I'm OK," answers Big Mac. "Neither Twilight nor the folks."

Granny Smith then goes with Rushy and stretches his hand strongly. Rushy's hand feels being squashed by a rock. "Ouch, lady," says Rushy. "Your hands are hard as a boulder."

"That's the ol' Apple force, pal," says Granny Smith. "I thank y'all for saving my grandson Mac for these rascals."

"No, you're welcome," says Rushy, moving his squashed hand. "Although I'm not the one who saved your grandson from the hands of the enemy... the young kid did."

Suddenly, W, Jack and Abe enter the cafeteria in silence. The first thing they do is looking at Rushy, waving their hand. "Come here," says Jack. Granny Smith comes after Rushy and stretches the hands of the three of them, squashing them.

"I'm glad you saved both my beloved grandson and Twilight Sparkle," she says while looking to Jack.

"Um... actually... he did it," says Jack, pointing at W. "And your hands keep being hard as a rock."

"Wow..." says Granny Smith, looking at W. "You saved them alone?"

"Not actually," he says. "I had help but... they went on another mission now. Talking about missions, I'm afraid we have to go, Mrs Granny."

"Where?" asks Celestia. "Are you sure you don't want to be checked by Nurse Redheart?"

"No," says W. "I talked with Jack and Abe in private because I found some."

"You found what?" asks Twilight, confused.

W sits with them and looks at Big Mac. "You said you were Applejack's brother, right?"

"Eeyup."

W slowly nods his head and looks at Jack, Abe and Rushy. Jack nods his head and W knows what to do: "We found your sister and her friends."

Both Twilight and Big Mac get up from the table while Spike starts barking. "Where are they?" says Twilight. "I'll go with you!"

"They are in Manehattan," answers Abe.

"I will go with you now, we need to help!" shouts Big Mac.

"You are not going anywhere, grandson!" shouts Granny Smith. "I don't want you to get hurt!"

"But Applejack is there, granny!"

"The one who saved your life will go for you! Isn't that true, mister?"

"Yes," says W. "We will go now instead of you, Big Mac. Jack, Abe, Rushy, I need you."

"I need to go now too!" shouts Twilight.

"And me too!" also shouts Spike.

"No!" shouts W. "You won't go anywhere, neither of you. I recommend you to stay here in case something happens on the school. Besides, it's dangerous."

"Why?" says Twilight, confronting the men in front of her. "That is unfair! I already have my geode and my powers! My magical powers can be really helpful to you!"

"We know," says Abe. "But it's dangerous, Twilight. We can't take you there, and if you come with us, the school may be more exposed."

"Who knows what's going to happen there?" also says Rushy.

"But..."

"No, Twilight!" says Celestia. "They have already told you that is dangerous and you need to stay here. They will save them and take them back here for you."

"But..." says Twilight, taking her glasses off and rubbing her face. "But... I don't understand... I... I feel..."

While Rushy opens the cafeteria's door, about to get out with Jack and Abe, W replies to Twilight: "You feel like that because you care about them, Twilight. You care about people."

"And you care about people?"

Everyone stops to look at the guy who said that. Flash Sentry is now in front of W, looking at him with his angry bare eyes. He slowly stands up and approaches the Bedmaker, waiting for his answer. "Tell me," says Flash Sentry. "Because I think, since the day we met for the first time when you saved my ass from Jet Set and sent him to the hospital... I think you are not a student."

"He was never a student, Flash," says Twilight. "He's a gangster."

W closes his eyes and takes a breath. Flash chuckles while looking at him. "I knew it..." he says. "You are a gangster... that means you three are also gangsters..." looking at Abe, Jack and Rushy. "You are inside illegal business... do you really care about people?"

Abe speaks, answering Flash Sentry's question but W interrupts: "Flash," he says, while approaching at the young boy, so, so close his noses are almost about to touch. "You are saying we don't care about people because we are gangsters and then you say that time when I saved your ass... Don't you know you are contradicting yourself?"

"Why?"

"If I didn't care about people you would be already dead, Flash. If I weren't there to save your ass, that Jet Set asshole would have killed you and still be free like the bitch he is."

Flash tries to keep arguing but swallows saliva while trying to breathe. "That means..." says Granny Smith. "You are not good folks?"

"We are trying to be this time," says Rushy. "Aren't you, guys?"

"Like a way to redeem our past, maybe," says W. "No idea."

Granny Smith sighs. "Well, at least you saved my Big Mac boy and you'll save my little girl Applejack. I should thank you for that, folks."

"Not necessary," says Abe. "I think... it's time to go."

"Yes," says W, while still focusing on Flash. "We've got to go."

"We don't have much time," answers Jack.

"Wait," says Flash Sentry, for the last time. Everyone stops only to look at him again. However, he is not looking at them, but the floor. He feels humiliated while going, looking for his question. "Can I help you?"

"No, Flash," says Celestia. "You can't do it. You must stay safe right here."

"But..."

"No buts, folk," says Granny Smith. "She's right, Flash. You shouldn't disrespect Ms Celestia... nor these men."

Flash dares to open his mouth one more time, but he doesn't say anything. He knows he doesn't have the same experience as the men in front of him. He couldn't handle the gun when he was in front of Howlman, why would he handle it at that moment? Rushy opens the cafeteria's door then, waiting for his partners to go with him. Jack takes a long breath, trying to swallow the lump that is still in his throat and his chest's pressure. Abe, while thinking about Rarity, rubs his head while holding himself onto one of the cafeteria's tables. On the other hand, W is the only one standing straight, recognizing the eyes looking at him. Both Twilight and Flash want to go with him, but they know that place is not for them. However, their thoughts fade away when W starts shaking his head and moving his right foot. "Um... what are you doing?" asks Twilight Sparkle. "Shouldn't you go right now?"

"Let him be," says Jack, while looking at the tables. "I have known him since he was a child. He usually does that to calm himself down..." Then, he turns around and looks at W. "What song are you playing on your mind now?"

W raises his index finger and starts touching his cheeks with it. He slowly nods his head with a smile while looking to Jack: "Feiticeira by Deftones."

Flash Sentry raises his eyebrows, surprised: "I never would have guessed you liked Deftones. I have the Around the Fur LP on my house."

W chuckles for the first time in this day of Canterlot Rage. "You lucky punk," he says, and then he looks at Rushy. "Go, Rushy. Wait for us outside. We don't have enough time."

Rushy nods his head and closes the door. Jack and Abe move their heads and look at Celestia, Luna and the students. "Once we get the girls out of there," says Jack. "We'll go out and come back here. We need them safe and sound, not with us after this."

"And if they don't want to," says Abe. "Ms..."

"We will persuade them and keep them safe on Canterlot," answers Principal Celestia, while holding her breath and looking at Jack. The blue-skinned man, son of a journalist, slowly moves his eyes and tries not to look at her while turning back. That's the right moment when the chosen men turn around and look at the door in front of them. They will get out of their comfortable days, just about to enter the warzone. They will feel the pain they never experienced before.

Jack looks at the roof and sighs. "This is for you, father," he whispers, and then he turns around. "I'm afraid we have to go now. We have no time."

"Go, please!" says Granny Smith while holding the door. "If we keep holding you up here my Applejack won't last so long."

W goes out without even waving his hand or saying something... Abe does the same but he handshakes Granny Smith. Jack slowly waves his hand and goes away, but suddenly, Granny Smith's stone arm stops him. The old lady looks at him with a smile. "What?" he asks.

The old lady smiles. "I think I've found the key to your game."

Jack raises an eyebrow, confused. "What do you mean?"

"... that guy on the 95 Fall Formal... Shaved head, two earrings... it was you."

Jack's back feels on a rush. "I don't know what are you talking about."

"You know what I'm talking about, son," whispers Granny Smith, smiling. "Tom Jacks was just a stupid folk to get around Miss Celestia... you like her, don't you?"

Jack rubs his head. "Please, miss... I..."

"I know," says Granny Smith. "I just want to tell you... if you don't take the risk..."

"Goodbye," says Jack, leaving Granny Smith with a lump on her throat. However, she is right. Absolutely right. He has to. He has to take that risk if he wants to approach Celestia, even one last time, but not now. Now it's too late for that.

Minutes later Jack gets out of the school. "Finally," says W. "What the hell were you doing?"

"Thinking," answers Jack.

"No time for thinking," says Abe. "We need to go to Manehattan."

Rushy immediately gets up of the courtyard's ground and looks at them while moving his arms. "Woah, Woah, Woah. Do you want to go to Manehattan?"

"Now," says Abe. "My granddaughter is there. On a fort."

"Which fort?" says Rushy, approaching the three men.

"One in the middle of..."

"Ah, don't tell me anything..." says Rushy. "I know that fort... Plegovich's father used it to hide money. Nevertheless, if you want to go to Manehattan, we are fucking empty. We only have..."

"Yeah, we know," says Jack, interrupting him. "We only have two pistols, or three..."

"I know a place."

Yes, W said that. How does he say that when he hates Canterlot and doesn't know anything about it? That's what Jack and Abe ask him, but he simply answers:

"Yeah, but there is only one place I know more than ever and it's here, on Canterlot. I hope it is not closed, because in that case we are fucked."

"And what do you mean?" asks Rushy, confused.

Meanwhile, on Equestria's House, Plegovich and his nephew are looking at each other face-to-face. The uncle, the madman, has been waiting for this moment for a long, long time, but Lucas, the surviving nephew, has no idea of what's really going on the house now. He takes a look at the House's roof, filled with strange creators of the Equestrian mythology, such as frequent dragons and anything else especially focuses on the chimaera which has holes. He seems for a moment that the chimaera is actually his uncle, but those thoughts are interrupted when Plegovich puts an old, golden gun in the table. It's a revolver which demonstrates history with only looking at it. It clearly has that certain aura that involves his eyes in the old times, an old age he never lived.

"See that gun, nephew?" asks Plegovich to Lucas. The young gangster only looks at it and nods his head. "Answer me."

"Yes," answers Lucas.

"This Golden Gun is the most important thing I have."

Lucas raises his eyebrows, shocked. How could this Golden Gun be the most important thing of Plegovich? And believe me, Plegovich has Equestria on his hands. "More than Equestria? Why would be this old gun the most important thing you have, uncle?"

Suddenly, Plegovich slams his fist on the table. That comment made by Lucas was really offensive for him. "Please," says Plegovich, looking at his own nephew with burning eyes. "Swallow those words."

"Oh..." says Lucas at that right moment, because he realized how serious was this thing. "Sure."

The madman growls while looking at the old gun on the table. "Have you ever listened to your family's story?"

Lucas shakes his head while trying to remember something that he already doesn't know. "No."

"Have you ever heard of your late great-grandfather?"

Lucas closes his eyes, he knows. "Ummm... was his name... Sov?"

"Soviatto."

"What?" says Lucas. "So... this gun belongs to him?"

Plegovich automatically gets up of his chair and grabs Lucas' jacket. "Let's go for a walk," slowly replies, and both Plegovichs get out of the room.

You see, Lucas.

I can't believe you are about to be a 24-year-old man, being born in Manehattan, in early 1996, and your father, my brother, Montreal Plegovich, never told you something about our history. Our blood's story.

Gangsters under us tend to think we are Russians, but we are not. It all started when a man called Iosif Plegovich, born in 1923, in a small city of our country, the Belarussian People's Republic, moved to Equestria along with another family, the Diesels. He was hungry. Lost. Didn't know where to land. The only thing that he carried on its way to Equestria by boat was just... this. This golden gun.

He changed his name to Soviatto when he started working in a famous gang of that era, the Observattos. They were a fillydelphian gang that offered protection to local stores in the area. Your great-grandfather realized that... was a way of life. That's when he started speaking English, talking to people and developing his own job... but the Observattos never wanted to share things with him after he created his own protection and also loans to the stores. That's why he moved to Luna Bay, now called Saik.

In 1954, he met an equestrian lady, and three years later... Vladimir Plegovich was born. You may know him as his cutie name: Public Property, father of Montreal and me. He gained his cutie mark while being influenced by the Cold War and raised in his father's gang, where everyone was communist. However, my father started thinking that Equestria's current form of government was useless, and that's when it all started. He raised into the lungs of the gang and founded the Clock of Canterlot along with Cosmos, Donald Delight, Llewelyn Flanks and Wilbur Waters. They were almost gods. Nothing will ever come and pass over the freaking clock, but when my father told everyone his ideas, telling them we would destroy the dystopic government and start again, they expelled him... and that's when he formed the Red Beast and some went with him, there he was... Jakob Diesel, the descendant of the family that moved to Equestria with Soviatto. Sadly, he passed away... and he honestly deserved it. We offered protection, loans, and when the Nightmare Queen released their second CD, they were buying our brand-new heroin... and our product turned into the fashion.

Sadly, Soviatto died in 1987, and before his last breath he gave this gun to my father... he told him only one thing... the only thing that mattered with this golden gun was... For whom the bullets went.

When my father died in 1994, he gave Montreal and told him the same thing. Eleven years later, your father and I had it.

"What?" says Lucas.

The perfect moment.

The best time of our lives... the Ashton Gang War of 2005. You may remember it, you were nine years old. Pietro, who may rest in peace, was only four. Your mother died a long time ago, and when you found out your father died during that gang war, you cry... but he died for you, my nephew. He sacrificed himself because of only one thing... after his death, the good times destroyed the dark bubble. I talked to the right man and thanks to him, I became the king of Equestria. The Boss. The capo. The most important gangster.

Lucas lets a tear go after remembering his late parents, and then something cold touches his hand. The golden gun is waiting for him. "...Oh," he says. "You..."

"I want you to have this."

"But..."

"No buts."

Lucas looks at the gun and slowly grabs it. It's colder than he thought. "Um... I think..."

"Don't thank me, nephew. Just tell me..." he says, and then he approaches his nephew. "For whom the bullets go?"

Lucas closes his eyes thinking about something. For whom the bullets go? For whom? There's someone around his head, pushing him around... laughing, showing a smile.

...

"I don't know why... Walter Waters is on my mind."

Plegovich chuckles but then he gets interrupted by a phone call. "Yeah?" he says when he answers the call. "Uh... Look at that... and you ran away, you fucking coward?"

"What?" says Lucas, shocked. "What happened?"

"Howlman," says Plegovich. "No, no, no... you are going back, okay? If you found them and you were armed, you should have killed them on that fucking street.... wait," exclaims the mad uncle. "Please, come back here, and take Lucas."

"What? Where am I going?"

"I'll tell you. Keep the gun."

"Um..." says Lucas, struggling. "Sure... and..."

"Wait..." answers the uncle, ending the call. "And what?"

"There's something I want to talk about..."

Plegovich happily nods his head. "Sure."

"You've said that you talked to a man to arrive where you are now..."

The uncle chuckles. "You wanna know who's that man, right?"

Lucas blushes and then nods his head. "Yeah... that means someone..."

"There's someone more powerful than me?"

"No, no, no," says Lucas, trying to refuse at his own words. "I didn't want to say that..."

"Don't worry," answers Plegovich, showing a rare sign of humbleness. "If you want to know... I admit that guy who put me in that chair has more power than me as president... but he's loyal to me, so... he's just someone else."

Lucas swallows saliva while listening to that... he just realized again how powerful is his uncle right now. Moreover, how powerful is his family, blood...

Vinyl Scratch started working in Arpeggio's in December 2019. Her boss, Arpeggio, although he wanted to be called Mr Fletcher, was a humble old man that needed help with the products. His strength was slowly going away from his body and she, a big fan of music, offered help.

Now everything's so different. She wanted to work in the morning because Fletcher is not there anymore and the store would be closed at that time, and this, as her only way to gain incomes, turned into her life. She has classes at school, but now her friend Octavia sends her the classes by phone. She has to work hard now, especially because Fletcher has disappeared, and Plegovich may be behind her back. She has been also already warned two times because Arpeggio's stock has CDs of a band called The Nightmare Queen, a thrash metal band from Canterlot that had some trouble with the mafia, especially the Plegovichs, and she is afraid something like that will ever happen again... and once she sees four strange men, with their dirty faces, entering the music shop... she feels this is turning real again.

"No, please," she whines. "I've already destroyed every copy of the Nightmare Queen, please, no..."

"We are not Plegovich's men, dear," says Rushy. "The Nightmare Queen may have betrayed the Red Beast... but they didn't betray us."

"W, why are we in Arpeggio's?" asks Jack. "Fletcher's not here."

"I know that, Jack," says W. "How long has passed since Fletcher disappeared, girl?"

Vinyl is still confused about that question, but she answers it anyway: "Um... a couple of months, he hasn't shown up here since April."

W approaches to Vinyl Scratch and looks at the store. It wasn't so emptier than he thought before. He may give this a chance. "Ok..." he says. "What's your name, dear?"

"W, what are you doing?" says Abe.

"Leave him alone," interrupts Rushy, holding his hands. "He's just flirting."

"I am not flirting," replies W. "And what's your name, girl?..."

Vinyl Scratch doubts for a moment but she eventually says: "Vinyl."

"Vinyl, Vinyl, Vinyl..." says W. The Bedmaker then looks that there is a metallic door behind her. "Did Fletcher ever tell you what's behind that door?"

Vinyl turns around and looks at the metallic door with a number pad in the middle. "No," she answered. "He told me I should never open it, on my first day. Maybe is it a safe place?"

W smiles and chuckles while looking at Vinyl, and then he says: "Permit me." The young man passes by the reception bar and looks at the door. Neither the three men nor Vinyl knows what is he doing. Suddenly, W starts touching the number pad....

"02...04...1995. The birthday of the biggest around."

Eventually W keys in 02041995 in the number pad and a music song starts playing: Living in the Sunlight by Tiny Tim. W touches the door's handle and it is opened. The door is open.

"Oh, crap..." says W, rubbing his face. "This smells just like every day I've been here: bullshit."

Eventually, the things that are inside the door are shown to the world. Lots and lots of wooden shelves filled with dirt and humidity which keep safe lots of old books and a pretty big vinyl collection. However, this is not the only thing that stays inside the room: There is also a big wooden chest with a big lock that has a drawing of a baby with a sign:

"TOYS 4 KIDZ."

"Here it is," whispers W while looking at the mysterious chest. "In the middle of old books about Mythology and Fletcher's vinyl collection... Nobody touched this, I expect."

But suddenly, Jack and Abe are confused when they enter the secret room and look at the number pad on the door. Vinyl and Rushy also do the same but stay at the door. "Why in the hell did you know this?" asks Jack.

"Remember when I was 19, almost twenty? I decided to work here for a while. Fletcher needed help. He was getting old," says W while trying to open the chest. "By the time I have arrived, Fletcher was already installing that beast of a door to keep his vinyl collection locked and safe. I told him not to install the number pad because that would call everybody's attention. How ironic, huh?" says W, laughing. "The safer, the more insecure."

"Mr Fletcher hid his collection all this time?" asks Vinyl Scratch, shocked while looking at the types of vinyl, which are almost wet because of the room's moisture. They haven't been cleaned for months.

"Yes, dear," says W., "He told me that he felt more secure when his collection was near him at work."

Vinyl Scratch raises an eyebrow. "Wait... Fletcher always used to tell me about an old guy who worked here... he said his name was..."

"Buck?" asks W. "Buck Velazco?"

Vinyl's words get out of her mouth and fade in the air. "Y-Yes..." she answers.

"Great," says W, and stops trying to open the chest to look at Vinyl Scratch and his friends. "I'm Buck Velazco."

Jack and Abe feel confused. "You changed your name to Buck Velazco?" asks Jack.

"Yeah," says W., "It was that time Gordo hated me because I gave him that essay I wrote about how he was the fattest capo of Equestrian history. If I entered Canterlot as Walter Waters, he would have kicked my big balls, that's what I changed my name and bought a fake wig and glasses."

"Oh..." said Jack and Abe. "Yeah, I remember. Please, don't ever remind me of that fucking year again."

"Yeah, it sucked," answers W while going back to the locked chest.

"So..." says Vinyl, but suddenly she gets interrupted while saying: "Your real name is not Buck Velaz...?"

"Long story to tell, dear," answers Abe. "We don't have enough time. W, can you open that freaking chest? For god's sake?"

"I swear I can't!" shouts W. "I don't have the keys and I'm trying to open it with a clip I found in my trenchcoat..."

And suddenly Rushy comes to the rescue, he draws a gun and shoots at the lock. A scared W gets his hands out and then he looks at the man, angrily. Vinyl covers her ears but calms down fastly. "Happy?" says Rushy, while looking at the broken lock.

"Yes," says W. "Of course! Because my hands don't exist and they can't bleed if they get shot, you son of a..." W opens the chest, but what's inside takes his words out of his tongue. "You son of a bitch."

"What?" says Jack.

"You son of a bitch!"

Everyone, even Vinyl, looks at the chest's inside. There are only two revolvers and a sawed-off shotgun.

"A... a shotgun?" says Vinyl. "Why Fletcher would hide a shotgun on a chest that says Toys 4 Kidz?"

"This is not Fletcher's," says W. "This is from a friend... and Dream Raider told me there were plenty of guns here! There are only... three."

"There is a sawed-off shotgun there..." says Rushy. "That can kill lots of people with only a couple of pellets. The revolvers... well."

"Wait," says Vinyl Scratch. "You are not Plegovich's men, you said this but... what? What are you going to do? Who are you?"

W gets up and looks at Vinyl Scratch. "Well... if we are not Plegovich and we are looking for guns while hiding, what do you think?"

Vinyl raises her eyebrows, surprised. She began to understand.

Chapter 24: For Whom the Bullets Go? (Part 2)

They decided to accept their fate and grabbed the only few guns that were in the chest. However, when they are about to come out, trying to avoid Vinyl Scratch's questions, W stops walking while looking at some shelves filled with CDs.

"What are you doing?" asks Abe. "This is no time for buying CDs, W!"

The Bedmaker checks his pockets: fortunately, he has a twenty dollar bill in one of them. It is wet, maybe because of the humidity or W's sweat, and also has small stains of blood in the right. He has an opportunity... maybe the last one. "Yeah, I know," he says. "But I saw Coolio's single of Gangsta's Paradise and I couldn't let it go."

"Come on!" shouts Abe, almost spraying smoke out of his ears. "Rarity is in danger along with her friends and you are buying a freaking CD that you can buy at any time!"

"It may be our last," answers W while grabbing the CD single. "Our last time here."

"Wait," says Vinyl Scratch, raising her eyebrows. "Rarity? Her friends? Wait... wait..." She gets out of her spot, the reception, and stands in front of the entrance door. "You were in Canterlot High last year. You three... not you, the guy with the hat, but..."

W sighs and rubs his head. "Look, I don't even want to remember that night, can you let us go and let me pay this?"

Vinyl Scratch nods her head, but says at the same time: "Please, can you explain to me what's going on at least? You just came out of nowhere to look for something I never knew it was here because you want to go for this guy, Plegovich?"

W sighs. "You see," he says.

Suddenly Jack interrupts the situation: "Girl," he says. "I'm afraid we are in a hurry now but..."

"And you are going to leave me alone with no explanation at all?" says Vinyl, serious. "If you don't tell me I won't sell you that single CD."

"Uh, come on," whispers W, looking at the Coolio's single. He doesn't want to miss the opportunity of buying it. Maybe because it may be the last one before the ambush? Maybe, but in all of Equestria's years he's never seen a single copy of Gangsta's Paradise, a song that makes him laugh because it talks about an atmosphere W stays, but now... right now... there is not a paradise. Bruh, it is worse than hell now, right here on Canterlot. Shall he buy it? Because this isn't a good moment to blast this CD on a stereo. "Um... uh... I'll tell you quickly because we need to go."

The Bedmaker gives her the CD and the 20 dollar bill while buttoning his dirty trenchcoat. "I want to know how are you related to Rarity and her friends, and why this Plegovich turned Equestria into a monstrosity," she says, looking for the answer.

While Vinyl gets in the bar to look for change, the attitudes of everyone changes. Abe feels like he has just got a shocking conclusion out of nowhere on his mind and Jack knows that he's got one. Meanwhile, Rushy takes a look outside and finds a black car passing by the store. They didn't stop but lowered their speed for a moment while being on the corner, in front of the Sweet Shoppe, but suddenly accelerated at a high speed and faded away.

Meanwhile, there are only two men on the black car that passed by the store. They are Lucas Plegovich and Mr Howlman, listening to Alice in Chains' song, Brother.

Lucas has the golden gun on his pocket, waiting for the right moment to use it. Suddenly, Howlman lights a cigarette and looks outside. "What's the name of this song?" he asks.

"Brother."

Howlman tries not to make any gestures but he eventually makes one: he raises his eyebrows and raises his teeth. "Pietro, right? I'm sorry, man."

"Yeah," says Lucas. "He was big-headed but... he was my brother. No one kills a Plegovich, you know... uh... and it's a shame I don't have this EP. Sap... I think that's its name. That's why I have it on that CD."

"Yeah," answers Howlman. "We passed by Arpeggio's. Maybe that girl has Sap in one of those empty shelves."

"No," answers Lucas. "I don't have time for that. You know what I want to do now."

Vinyl holds the bill on her hands and looks for change in the cash register. "That man turned Strict Proclamation down because he had an idea he wanted to make... he wanted to change the whole country for his benefit, for his point of view," says W. "The problem is... nobody shares his point of view, except for him."

"And what about the police? The army?" she asks. "I've never seen anyone since all of this started."

"He fought against both, but I'm not sure about their fates. I've heard they suspended the police institution," answers Jack, coming out of the store. "I don't know about the army. Maybe they are also suspended."

Vinyl grabs money to give W back for the single. "And what about you? You will..."

"We will rescue my granddaughter, Rarity," says Abe. "And also her friends."

She only nods her head while hearing that, and when the girl is about to give W the money along with the single, the Bedmaker only grabs the CD. "Goodbye," he says. "Good luck with the store."

"Hey... wait!" she shouts. "Your money! You didn't grab the change!"

"No," answers W. "Keep it."

Jack and Abe look at W, surprised. Something has changed. The girl slowly puts her headphones again but doesn't plug it in on her cellphone. She waves her hand while looking at the four men who didn't even say goodbye. "Good luck," she says, but only W answers to her, by raising his thumb. Rushy is outside, looking at his right while lying his back on the car.

"What happened, Rushy?" says Jack, while getting on the driver seat. He is going to drive now, especially because W, Rushy and Abe's faces show something else. They are too focused on their thoughts.

The ushanka man gets in the car's backseat with Abe. W sits next to Jack. "I've seen a car passing by," says Rushy, while holding the sawed-off shotgun. "I didn't like it."

"It's no time to look for the car," says Jack. "We need to go there..." While Jack switches on Big Kahuna's car, he looks at W, chuckling for the first time. "How weird of you..." he whispers. "You told the girl to keep the change. I thought you were going to threaten her to give you the cash, showing that typical greed in you."

W shakes his head, rubbing his temples with his dirty hands. "I'm not OK, Jack," he answers. "If I were OK, I would have immediately asked her for the change. I wanted the change but... I'm not OK."

"Is it the pills, buddy?" says Rushy, while looking behind him, on the rear window.

"No," he answers. "Remember me? Remember the man I was before all of this shit?"

"Yeah," says Jack, while turning to the right, getting nearer the highway. "You were an immature, clumsy, pervert, greedy boy that only found the purpose of life on getting high and going to parties to fuck blondies. You were a bad boy, but a stupid one."

W wants to say something, but he knows that Jack in the inside is right. "Thank you for the flattery," answers W.

"That was a nice love letter," says Rushy, laughing.

"Yeah, but..." says W, looking through the window. "When I was younger and when we entered Canterlot to take care of Rarity and Sweetie Belle and then we got into that shitty thing of the Pegasus Fort... I was always trying to find... the funny thing of the situation."

"Funny thing?" asks Jack. "When we were against Blueblood?"

"Yeah," says W. "Even if we were against Blueblood, I was still making jokes or being the funny thing of the gang. Ron, Abe and you were always with the same faces... serious grin... I was trying at least to smile, but now I feel my smile is gone. I am no longer the funny man." Jack and Rushy don't answer to that. Abe is still thinking about something. "I feel... this is not something I can do."

"What?" asks Rushy.

"Revenge... I want to kill Plegovich, I want to get rid of him. He ruined my life but... I am destroying, killing so many people in the process... You see, I decapitated an asshole with a fucking katana... that Doom Kid bitch deserved to die but... I feel I'm becoming something I don't want to turn into."

Jack takes a breath... he knows what he's talking about. "A killer," he says.

"Gangsters are killers. I killed one of the Barnes a time ago and I didn't talk about this like the way I am doing it right now," says W. "But this... I am turning into something else... I think I'm turning into a hitman..."

"A punisher," exclaims Rushy.

W turns around and looks at Rushy. "Yeah, something like that. I feel my parents wouldn't like that... my father was a gangster, but neither a killer nor a punisher. I'm becoming the red sheep of the family."

"That punisher thing reminds me of someone..." says Rushy, letting W to find the answer for himself. The Bedmaker knows who is he talking about, and looks at Jack waiting for the moment to say it aloud.

"Plegovich," they say at the same time. W feels his wrath and revenge are slowly changing his attitude... and he's afraid of becoming a punisher, something that neither his parents nor Trixie wanted him to become. Even Ron wouldn't expect to look at a Bedmaker, a funny and maybe clumsy guy, decapitating a man with a sword and also killing an elder woman. He feels he's becoming into a Plegovich... into a Sergei, the Robot, the... punisher. However, W is not the only one reflecting on something.

"Abe," says Jack. "I know you... what are you thinking about? Rarity? We are about to save her, don't..."

"No, no," interrupts Abe. "I'm just thinking about something W reminded me of."

"What?" asks W.

"You weren't here but..:" says Abe, looking through the car window. "Plegovich brought SP down in January 28th. He fought the police and the army... but there's something I still don't understand..." he whispers between his lips, and then he looks at Jack. "Jack, how long did Plegovich's fight against the army and SP take? Do you remember?"

Jack tries to remember it closing his eyes. "Two hours," he answers. "I remember he put us in a building in Manehattan, left at 4 P.M. and came back at 6... or half-past six, maybe?"

"Two hours?" asks W, shocked. "Only two hours?"

"Yes," says Abe. "I know Plegovich is a powerful man and has lots of people working for him but.... if you put all of Plegovich's men, in a nutshell, you can't compare it with the army and the police, even if some of them had those pills. It could have been easier... but that doesn't mean a few men can destroy a whole army..."

"I feel," says Jack. "I feel there's something else."

W's back freezes. "Something else? Does that mean we have to get Ride of them too...?"

"No," says Abe. "I have a hypothesis." W turns around while Jack opens his ears to listen to Abe. Rushy also pays attention. "Maybe the ones who are helping Plegovich are the Equestrian Elite."

"No way!" shout both Jack and Rushy. W gets shocked by his partners' reaction.

"We are not sure, but it's something!" shouts Abe. "Just think, Jack... when the Ashton shit happened, you know who Mr Stanley Ashton, the father of the family, was, right?"

"Yeah," replies Jack. "He was the owner of the National Bank of Equestria, but that doesn't mean he was in a kind of Elite, Abe! The Elite stopped existing in the '90s when the Clock of Canterlot separated into two parts. There's no way, no possibility that there is another fucking elite up our asses!"

"Then," says Abe, reaching to his partner. "How can you explain that after Ashton's death, Plegovich becomes out of nowhere into the King of Equestria, and his brother Montreal magically appeared dead, with a shot on his head?"

"I agree," says Rushy, but W still doesn't understand what do they mean with the Elite.

"What elite are you talking about?" he asks.

And then everyone came back to their spot. "Uh," says Jack while calming himself down. "You see... when you were born the elite had been already disintegrated. I was younger than you, W, when it stopped."

"We still don't know if that Cornelius guy is out there," says Abe.

"Cornelius is dead," exclaims Rushy. "A friend of mine from La Lima told me that."

"And who's Cornelius?" asks W, but suddenly Abe touches his back.

"Leave Jack alone, W, he's driving," he says. "I'll tell it to you."

Rushy chuckles while looking at that scenario, like a father telling a tale to his son. W turns around to look at his partner, grandfather of Rarity and Sweetie Belle.

You see, W, since the day we got you out of that orphanage with Ron and Jack, you learned that in Equestria there are two groups of people: The good ones and the bad ones. You had the policemen, the politicians and the president on one side, and gangsters, thieves, from the other one. You also know that civilians and normal people cannot escape from this. They can be also divided into those two famous groups of good and evil because the bad ones are not only criminals or murderers and not all of the good ones are cops. We always told you that there was no escape to this, and it was impossible to be completely neutral. There was no third group.

However, in the past century, there was a third group.

They were the only ones who were over the top. The biggest fishes around town. The only human beings that could control a politician and a capo at the same time. It was a table with only ten or twenty guys, I have no idea, but those twenty guys had more money and power together than the rest of the country. You can do whatever you want as a president and a capo, but if you try to cut the wires that make you an elite puppet... consider yourself dead.

I had a brother, W, you never met him, even Jack didn't. He died before you were born. His name was Llewelyn Flanks, aka Lemur, a founder of the Clock of Canterlot who had a friend of the Elite called Cornelius Cinch. That's when I found out the Elite was not a myth, but a reality. We had a thing on the '80s with the Clock being separated and the Nightmare Queen... but they never entered that shit because they were not affected. They never messed with our problems, the only thing we needed to do was... respect them... and of course, not to touch the companies and properties that belonged to them. If we tried to... hehe. Besides, you hardly got any orders from them, telling you what to do. It was so weird to hear something that got out of the Elite directed to you. The only thing I remember was when Ron, Gordo and your father killed a Canterlot Governor, Shiny Estate, because of their orders.

Now Rushy starts talking:

Yeah, but once the nineties started... they faded away. Some of them were almost broke because of bad decisions, and the government took advantage of it. The companies which belonged to them were privatized and sold to international corporations and external countries. Almost everyone left Equestria and stayed in other countries, died, committed suicide, were imprisoned in the '90s... only a few of them survived. I think only the Ashtons... and the Oranges. They disappeared, and neither the good guys nor the bad guys have a leader right now. The Master of Puppets is gone.

W's eyes shine again. Too many things revealed in one day. One long, long, hectic, historical, long... how many times I am going to say long? Gosh, it's a LONG day today. "And you say..." says W. "Plegovich is working with those guys."

"No," says Abe. "Plegovich is working FOR those guys."

"The elite must be a non-existent thing now, Abe!" says Jack. "Calm down."

Suddenly, they realized they are in the middle of the highway and they didn't even find out. They are near.

Everybody knew he was a big fish at the moment he put his left foot inside the school. Lucas Plegovich, holding his golden gun, showing it to innocent students around, starts playing and messing around while heading with Howlman to Celestia's Office. He smoothly knocks the door and waits for an answer.

"How do I look?" says Lucas, showing his teeth to Howlman. "Handsome? Like a good, good G? I need to behave like a real capo today, Howlman."

"Yeah," says Howlman. "Why do you worry about your appearance now?"
"
"My uncle gave me a gun, an important one... It's the first time I'll use this," says Lucas in a funny tone while pointing with his finger at the golden gun. Then, Vice-Principal Luna opens the door. She knows this is not going to end up well when he looks at the swan tattoo in Lucas' neck. "Hello, lady," says Lucas. "I thought you were going to be with brighter skin colour and... was it purple hair? Ugh, nevermind..."

"That's my sister."

"Oh... turns out you are two sisters. Two? Or how many?"

"What do you want?"

"Hey!" says Lucas, smiling while raising his arms. Luna looks at the golden gun on his right hand and her whole body starts trembling. "Take it easy. Take it easy. We are not in the army, miss!" says Lucas, moving his index finger and laughing. "We are in Canterlot High! The School of Friendship and Happiness!" However, the roses rot when Lucas whispers to Luna's ear: "Thank my uncle we let you open this fucking building instead of delivering you to Cabbage Town. Now, if you don't let me in to have a conversation... I'm afraid I will have to use this," he says, moving his gun. "And your nice dark head with blue hair will turn into red and I wouldn't like to get my clothes dirty." Lucas, in a desperate way to soften the situation, says aloud. "Isn't this jacket cool?"

Luna doesn't say anything, showing her blank face, and lets both Lucas and Howlman in, closing the door. Outside the room, Flash Sentry looked at everything. He's angrier than before.

"What happened?" asks a voice behind him. It is Twilight.

"Go," says Flash Sentry. "If they see you, they may get mad. Hide in the cafeteria, Twilight."

Celestia and Luna take a seat in front of both men. "What's the matter now?" says Celestia.

"No, no, no," says Lucas. "It was me the one who had to ask that question."

The principals look at each other. "Why?" asks Luna.

"A little bird..." he says, pointing to Howlman. "...told my uncle and me that three fugitives were here. You may know two because we've seen them with you on the Canterlot High War against that asshole named Mortimer Blueblood. Tell me... why are you hiding Jack Tyler, Abraham Flanks and another guy called Rushy from us?"

"What?" says Celestia, shocked, holding her heart with a hand. "What are you talking about?"

"What I'm talking about is that both of you are sneaky, meanie rats!" shouts Lucas while holding his gun.

"I absolutely have no idea what are you talking about!" shouts the Vice-Principal, slightly frowning and getting up from her chair. "Jack Tyler, Abraham Flanks haven't been inside this school for months and that another man was never here!"

Luna sits down again and Celestia takes a breath before commenting: "If you want to complain about something, mister, you should look up for the real events first."

Lucas Plegovich instantly gets up from his chair and approaches to Celestia so much that the Principal has to move her head back. She told him what to do. To a Plegovich. Luna, who is next to her, wants to do something but she's afraid her decision may worsen the tension. "You are not going to tell me what I should do, señorita. I came here to complain about something you did, not to listen to you complaining. Isn't it, Howlman?"

Howlman, who was silent all this time, nods his head while cleaning his aviator lenses. "I saw them, Ms Celestia. Right there on the courtyard," he says. "And what I say is a real event."

Celestia raises her shoulders. "They never entered here and we didn't see them."

Luna also makes a comment: "And what we say are real events..." but suddenly Lucas slams his fist on the Principal's desk.

"You're lying!" he shouts. "How can you not see them when you control everything inside this school?"

"You are saying it, mister!" shouts Celestia while getting up from her chair and confronting Lucas. "We control everything inside, not the outside. If those men were outside the school, in the courtyard, we absolutely have no idea because we were inside. Now, please, I'd like you to go immediately. There are innocent students having classes here."

Lucas eventually decides to sit down, looking at the sisters with fiery eyes. Howlman decides yo soften the place by nudging Lucas' shoulder and winking an eye. That means something and Lucas knows what he's trying to do. "We'll be kind this time, Celestia," says Lucas, while looking at Howlman. "And we'll let you go, but this is not over yet. We'll come back and we will keep asking you, to look for the truth."

"I've already told you the truth," says Celestia.

"Stop lying, please," says Lucas, sarcastically smiling. "Stop trying to be innocent, Cellie. All of us know you are not the one these students of Canterlot High see every day. You are not the good-hearted principal that everyone believes in. You too, Luna. You are the daughters of a man who lost a stupid war of wrath and became a cripple..."

The ice breaks when Celestia stretches her hand and slaps Lucas in the face. Howlman gets up and tries to grab the golden gun from Lucas but the man puts it inside his pocket. Luna grabs Celestia from behind and tries to cover her from them, but nobody does anything.

"How dare you to talk about my father in that way?!" says aloud Celestia while rubbing her hair, which is dishevelled after her abrupt movement. "You dishonest, impolite!"

"See?" says Lucas, covering his nose and cheeks with his hand. "You are showing your true face, Ms Celestia! Showing your true feelings! Are you also hiding what we need to know?"

"GET OUT!" shouts Celestia while holding a small paper on her hands which is being wrinkled.

Lucas gets the gun out and shows it to them. "This is not over yet. This has just started."

Lucas and Howlman get out of the office in silence and pass by Flash Sentry. Howlman recognizes the young kid but doesn't say anything. They leave the school, heading to their car while being looked by every one of the teenagers studying and take a breath.

"You wanted to take me out," says Lucas while still rubbing his face. "That hurt, man. That bitch knows how to slap."

"Yes," answers Howlman. "I took you out, winked the eye because the tension was really bad."

Lucas smiles. "Come on, Howlman... I know you. You are older than me but... I know you like a father knows a son."

"Well, I was thinking about something," says Howlman. "Plegovich decided to re-open the school on April but... this is not good. You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because we are not there. We are not inside."

Lucas raises his shoulders. "What you mean with that?"

Howlman nudges Lucas' shoulder. "I think we should hijack Canterlot High."

Lucas starts laughing. "Don't make me laugh, Howlman! You can hijack a plane, a ship... but a school? What do you want to do?"

"When you hijack something... don't you take it to another direction?"

"Yes."

"Well, if we get Celestia and Luna out of there... we can take Canterlot High into our direction."

Lucas is still not convinced. "But... how do you want to do this? I just..."

"We can take the Blue Mares here in only an hour. How time is it? Half-past one? At 2:30 P.M. the Blue Mares will have already taken the school, and it will be ours."

Lucas' ears are now paying attention while getting into the car with Howlman and keeps adding salt to the plan. "I like the way you are telling me this now, Howlman," he says. "I have an idea too."

"You?" says Howlman while driving. "What?"

"We can hijack Canterlot High... but we still have Crystal Prep round the corner... what if?"

Howlman stops listening and answers: "No," and the young man stops talking.

"Um... why?"

"You shouldn't do that."

"Why? Principal Cinch isn't..."

"I strongly recommend you not to touch Principal Cinch."

Lucas' eyes are now like golf balls. Why would Howlman deny that so fastly and strongly? Is it... "Uh..." says Lucas, smiling. "Are you in love?"

"No!" says Howlman. "I wouldn't fuck Principal Cinch even if someone gave me a million dollars."

"Then, why don't you want me to hijack Crystal Prep?"

Howlman knows. Not so much, but knows something. The main problem is that the answer ins his mind is not a nice one. "Look," says Howlman. "If I tell you, your uncle will eventually hang me in the gallows. As you said, you treat me like a father to his son, but I am older and I know much more things than you."

Meanwhile, in the house, Plegovich is messing around the President Room when Sergei interrupts the moment with a huge smile showing his blank teeth. The madman knows that a smiling Sergei is not something normal, so he asks what's going on.

"Guess who has just arrived for a visit, sir," says Sergei.

Plegovich raises his shoulders. "No idea, Sergei," he answers. "Let him go. I'm not in my mood."

"Are you sure, sir?"

"Yes."

Sergei decides to go further this time. He knows this guest is more than special. "Are you sure?"

Plegovich raises an eyebrow and turns around to look at Sergei, and then, someone else starts speaking. "Where's the new president of the Equestrian Republic?" shouts someone. A tall, thin man with light-blue skin, purple short hair, formally combed and a small, refined purple moustache that shows royalty. He's wearing a smart, striking purple tuxedo with a red tie, a white shirt and a yellow tulip pinned to the jacket. His physical appearance lets you know he's not only a high-class, formal man but also someone who knows how to control things. The man enters the President Room and looks at a Plegovich who is surprised and smiling after a long, long time in the day.

"Oh my..." says Plegovich, laughing. "AUGUSTUS CORNELIUS CINCH! THE MAN IN FLESH AND BONES, IN PERSON!"

"Not necessary to flatter me, Nicholas," says Augustus. "I must be the one who has to flatter you. Look at this. This is... oh, I don't have words to describe what I'm feeling. Your great Sergei, right-hand man received me and I knew I was in the perfect Equestria. How are things?" Plegovich's face changes when he sits down and listens to that question. Cinch sits in front of him and looks at the chimaera painting with gunshots. "Oh... may I know what happened to the chimaera? It was a pretty nice painting. I asked Strict Proclamation to change it. The roof is no place for chimaeras, they shall be at the entrance... by the way, did you do that thing with Strict?"

Plegovich raises his eyebrows. "Yes, but honestly I didn't want to," he answers. "It was a gruesome plan, Cinch, and when I say it was gruesome... I mean it was fucking nasty. You have a really dark mind, Augustus."

Cinch chuckles. "Thanks."

Plegovich laughs and keeps talking. "And well.... things are... well, they were good but today there was a small tremor, you know... I had to visit Filthy Rich."

"Uh, yes," answers Cinch while grabbing a glass of water delivered by Sergei. He's the only man that received water from the Plegovichs. "Filthy Rich changed his mind a time ago and left the table... he clearly doesn't understand how are things. He doesn't understand your way is also our way, Plegovich. It's our only way to have our old companies back. The nineties, SP, Mayor Mare, the Project Nine... all of those motherfuckers..."

"Well," says Plegovich, not looking at Cinch in his eyes. "At least we got to the top, didn't we? Strict Proclamation fell, the pills worked, my father's words are relevant again... and I also thank you for helping me against the army and the police, Cinch. If it wasn't for your Elite men nothing of this would have happened."

Cinch knows something is wrong with Plegovich because he is often deviating his sight while talking to him. His heterochromatic eyes are moving away. "You shouldn't thank me, as I said before," says Cinch, smiling. "I should thank you for giving the Elite a new path of our resurrection... anyway, how's Lucas? The boy? I didn't see him."

"Um..." says Plegovich. "He went on a trip to Canterlot. I gave him the gun."

"Which one?"

"The one that belonged to my grandfather. I also told him how I ended up here, you know. After Ashton's death. It was a conversation."

Cinch opens his eyes because of shock. "Oh," he says. "Did you... Did you tell him the whole story?"

Plegovich chuckles. "Of course not, Cinch. I'm not stupid."

"The one-seat thing... did you tell him?"

"No," says Plegovich. "How will I tell Lucas that I became the King of Equestria by killing his father, my brother Montreal? He will turn against me."

Cinch nods his head. "Yes... but I still feel something's wrong."

"About what?"

Cinch stays in silence for a couple of seconds. "Are you sure everything's alright?"

Plegovich thinks about what's he going to say. He can't lie. He can't play. It is hard to admit it, but this long day has been trembling since it started. "Well," says Plegovich. "I had a thing."

"What?" says Cinch, paying attention.

"Two of my main men died on two ambushes. There's a small rebellion out there, but I've got to admit I'm not giving it so much attention... I like to plan everything. You know me, Cinch."

"Really?" says Cinch. "Who died?"

"Gail Garry and Doom Kid."

Cinch gets up from his chair and turns his head above him, looking at the wounded chimaera on the house's roof. "Hmmm... do you think Kobolov will go through the same thing?"

Plegovich nods his head. "Maybe."

"And what are you going to do?"

Plegovich also stands up and stays in front of Cinch, looking at the chimaera too. "You know, Cinch... Most of my men are busy, at my fort in Butter Valley, or round Manehattan. Saik City and La Lima are empty, and I'm trying to recover them by sending some of my boys. Honestly, I didn't like Garry's idea of making a harbour but I've gotta admit..."

"You are making this longer, Nicholas," says Cinch. "What are you going to do?"

Plegovich sighs while looking at the elite man in front of him. "I'll send some."

"Some?"

"I told you, Augustus," answers Plegovich. "Most of my men are busy... but..."

"But?"

Everything again. A silent Plegovich looking at the chimaera, opening his wardrobe to look at himself in the mirror. He has something inside him that wants to say. Cinch would not believe him, but it's true. He sees it in a way he cannot understand what is happening for real, but his ego is now bigger, so huge that he wants to face the man that mocked his gunshot. That laughed at his failed try of killing him. He doesn't consider him as an enemy anymore, but a loose end that he has to tie to fulfil his mind, his ego, his way of life... and no, no, no. He doesn't want a stupid midget, a rookie, to get rid of him, no. He wants to handle this situation personally... he betrayed him... said his father's plan was Hellquestria and now he is magically alive... how does a 25-year-old asshole turn into a loose end of his? Is Wade Waters' ghost laughing at him, out there in hell? Of course not! Nobody laughs at Nicholas Plegovich. Nobody. "I think I may handle this personally."

"Personally?" says Cinch. "You mean...?"

"This night I will be at the abandoned fort of Manehattan and will wait for that son of a bitch."

However, Plegovich is wrong. He won't wait for those sons of bitches because they have already arrived before him.

It is almost 2 P.M. when Rushy tells Jack to turn into the right in the middle of the highway. A long road with no asphalt at all that leads to a green container, next to a small, squared, abandoned fort. "I think this was Jakob Diesel's house. It was a fort used by the Manehattan Government, I don't know for, but once they left it rotting for itself Diesel took the fort and started living there."

"Jakob Diesel," says Abe. "That reminds me of old, old times."

The four men get out of the car. Cloudy sky, still no sun. It's also cold. Time for a jacket, maybe. They try to focus on the fort, figuring out how to enter and if there's any sound that may alert them, but the place seems desert. They don't hear anything nor see something. Abe doesn't hear Rarity while looking around the wasteland. Then everyone focuses on the only thing that stands out there: the container. It has no locks but the doors are still closed.

Rushy puts his ear against the container's door but doesn't listen to anything from inside. "Um... I don't listen to anything."

"Nothing?" says Abe. "Rarity may be here... No!" he shouts, rubbing his head. "If they put her inside that container... I swear..."

"With Grey Blackle," says W.

"Shut up, you!" shouts Abe.

BONG.

Something did make a sound inside the container... or maybe someone? The four men jump because of their shock and try to open the door. "Rarity!" shouts Abe. "Rarity!"

The four men, after a minute, open the container... and the doors welcome the men with a putrid, vomitive smell from the inside. There are no teenage girls neither girly voices... it's just silence along with the deathly smell of something.

"OH MY GOD!" shouts Abe while smelling the container's inside. Everyone has to take a breath outside to don't pass out.

"Holy shit..." says Rushy. "What kind of smell is that?"

Jack dares to open completely the doors and the circus show is on their eyes. There's a man, a decomposed corpse who may have been there for months, hanged through a hook stuck on his head. His chest is opened, showing his insides although his organs are not there. It looks like he had been left there to dissect. He has still pants and shoes, but are covered and stained with dirt and blood.

"Who's that man?"

None of them recognizes it, especially because the corpse has started decomposing. Right under the dirt and blood, stays a beige skin. "Who's this man and why did he have such a horrifying death?" says Abe. Meanwhile, W discovers that there is another man in the corner of the container. He is not hanged or opened but is lying on the floor, being almost naked. He only has white underpants. W tries to touch it, but the suffering man immediately touches him back and starts strangling him. Jack, Abe and Rushy are about to kill him but something comes to the rescue:

"WAIT!" shouts W, while still being strangled. "WAIT! DREAMO!"

And turns out he was. The grey-skinned man with a torso full of tattoos reacts and immediately stops strangling his friend. His whole body is not only filled with tattoos now but also with bruises, scratches and dirt. He can barely move. "Dream Raider?" says Abe. W immediately recognized him. "Your friend from the orphanage?"

W looks at his friend of the same age and tries to hold him. He touches his shoulders while looking at his completely haggard appearance. "What are you doing here? Who did this to you?"

Dream Raider can barely talk too. He only hugs his friend while looking for help. "They... they grabbed my neck from Sombra and took me here, man... Sombra Jail is emp...ty..."

"You are now with us, Dreamo," says W. "Stay here."

"Do you know who's this man?" asks Abe to Dream Raider. Jack and Rushy are still looking at the horrifying body. "God... the smell..."

Dream Raider opens his eyes for real now. He has the light he hasn't seen for so long right on his eyes, and now he looks at the horrifying show. He starts pointing out at the corpse, desperately looking at W. "Who is him, Dream?" says W. "You know him?"

"That man... that man, Walter... he is none other than Strict Proclamation."

Chapter 25: The Ambush of Manehattan

Author's Note

Grey Blackle's dialogues are now coloured in turquoise.

Chapter 25: The Ambush of Manehattan

Strict Proclamation is the decomposing body in the container.

"Holy shit..." says Rushy. "This guy was the president?"

"Yeah," says Abe. "What's left of him."

While looking around the place, Jack finds something else inside the container: a small device which looks like a cellphone. When he wants to turn it back to look at the screen, he finds out there's nothing. What's this? Dream Raider slowly stretches his hand, pointing at the device.

"Mr Tyler... that's... that's a portable charger."

"A portable charger?" asks Jack, turning around and looking at Dream Raider being held by W. "Why is there a charger here?"

Dream Raider now looks at W with his bruised eyes. "It's... It's Kobolov's."

"Ok, ok... sir, I'm afraid I have to tell you my cellphone is very low on battery... and the only plug which is Type A is now charging Ragamuffin's cellphone..."

"Be quick and charge it, Kobolov. Tonight I'll be there. Wait for the men that will arrive soon to protect the zone."

"Sure." Kobolov ends the call and looks at Karzov. Both of them are in the small room looking at the five prisoners locked in the safe with a window. "Goddamnit I hate this place," says Kobolov to Karzov. "A big shitty fort with only one good plug. Who in the fuck was the architect of this?"

"This was made in the forties, I think," answers Karzov, looking at the roof. "This was going to be a gold bank in Manehattan, like Pegasus' Fort."

Kobolov raises his eyebrows. He knows the truth about that fort. "Yeah," he says. Karzov looks again and the window and finds out something.

"Hey, that son of a bitch is looking at you again."

Kobolov takes his sunglasses off, revealing his purple eyes. Grey Blackle, the fifth prisoner along with the Rainbooms, can't stop looking at him while playing with his leash. That's the right moment when Kobolov gets nearer the window. Inside the cell, Grey Blackle jumps and goes straight like a missile to the window, getting off his mind. Pinkie Pie and the girls get so scared by the madman's speed their hair get spiky. "O-open!"

"I won't open you," says Kobolov. "You are going to rot here like the fucking psycho you are. If you are hungry, there you have food," he says, pointing at the girls. "Don't mock me."

"Uh?" exclaims Rarity, angry. "You consider my person as food?"

"I'm not talking to you!" says Kobolov to Rarity and then he goes again to Grey Blackle. "The part where you were is now finished, Blackle, so you are not going out, you bitch. You know that you are more like a disadvantage instead of a benefit to Plegovich because your abnormality doesn't work in his project."

Grey Blackle makes an evil smile while his right pupil starts shrinking. "I will p-play with your nostril-ls and make LEGOs with it.."

"Ha!" says Kobolov smiling. "Despite you suffer from a serious personality disorder, Grey... you still have some creative insults..." And then his mouth stays like a straight line. "However, that doesn't mean I'll let you out."

Kobolov gets away from the window raising his middle finger. Grey Blackle starts smashing the window with his head again, making the soldiers laugh, but desperately Rainbow Dash and Applejack get him out of there. "Wait, dude! Calm down!" shouts Rainbow while holding Grey. "If you keep smashing your head you won't be OK!"

Grey immediately grabs Rainbow's blue jacket while being held by Applejack. He has a big scratch on his forehead. "I-I'm already... n-not OK, Rain-rain-rainbow girl..."

On the other side, Kobolov asks Karzov to go to the container and grab the portable charger he forgot when feeding Dream Raider with SP's liver. He admits he hides it there because Ragamuffin has already taken it several times without Kobolov's permission. Then, Pinkie Pie inside the cell gets up and starts caressing Grey's hair. He needed to seriously calm down, and Pinkie is trying her best.

"I don't recommend you to eat me," says Pinkie Pie while his hair is slowly getting poofy. "I've already tried to and my skin is so sweet and sugary it may be risky for diabetics to eat."

"Did you really do that, Pinkie?" asks Rainbow Dash. "Seriously?"

Rarity looks that Kobolov also gets out of the room. "Hey," says Applejack. "I knew you reminded me of somebody, sugar cube," says Applejack. "You are like that folk... uh... I don't remember his name, yikes..."

"Grey Footprints," says Pinkie Pie. That name wakes something up inside of Grey Blackle. His right pupil is now growing up instead of shrinking even more. "Are you Grey Footprints' crazy twin brother?" she asks while twirling her hair, which is now becoming poofy.

Blackle slowly gets up from the floor where Applejack left him. He starts trembling, something that makes Pinkie hug him for a moment. Rarity and the other girls also get nearer Applejack. "W-well, a-a-actually... Grey-y Foot-prints is-s my-y other-r me."

The girls didn't expect that, although they didn't fully understand it. Rarity, however, has a plus: "That guy said you suffered from a serious personality disorder."

"The d-d-disorder they-y-y creat-ted in me!" he shouts, and then he tries to go for the window but both Applejack and Rainbow Dash stop him and make him sit down again.

"What do you mean with that?" says Rainbow Dash, looking at Blackle right in his eyes. "What did they do to you?"

Blackle looks at the empty window now and touches Pinkie's poofy hair. "I... I-I w-w-was..."

"Hey!" says Applejack. "Don't tremble, sugar cube. We won't harm ya."

Blackle stops trembling while taking a long breath and slowly caressing his throat. "I was... b-bad... my f-f-family was dead the day they found me... and Ple-Ple... that man trained m-me to becom-me his pet."

"A pet?" says Rarity. "That's horrifying, darling! You are a human being!"

Blackle's eyes shine, even his smaller right pupil when he hears that. "They said... s-s-said I was t-t-trash af-af-after they g-g-got the throne... they said... I-I-I was an a-a... a-a..."

"Say it," says Rainbow Dash.

Immediately Blackle gets up and looks at the window, pointing out at nothing. "AN ANOMALY!"

The girls stay in shock. "They called you an anomaly?" says Pinkie Pie. "For me you are normal."

Blackle's eyes now shine while looking at the girls. "You... you say?"

"Yeah," says Rainbow Dash.

"You... you say I-I am nor-r-rmal?"

"Absolutely, darling, you are a human being," replies Rarity. "Poor of you, being treated as a pet. How traumatic!"

"I-I-I know I've done horrible thi-things... but t-t-they mad-made me d-do it and-and I-I d-d-d-d-didn't want to... t-they trai-trained me to be-become their... the-their... pe-pe-pe-pe-personal killing machine."

"Oh, calm down, sweetie!" says Pinkie Pie, hugging Blackle. "For me you are not that. You are normal."

"You don't look like a killing machine, sugar cube," says Applejack with a smile.

Something inside Blackle changes. He gets up, takes a breath and points at the window again. "I AM NOT AN ANOMALY! I AM GREY BLACKLE, AND I WAS TRAINED BY ALL OF YOU TO BECOME THE DEVIL'S FEAR! AND NOW I WILL BE THEIR FEAR!"

Grey Blackle goes to the window again, but this time he punches it with his fist instead of smashing his head, leaving a small crack on the window. The girls try to stop him again, but once they look at the crack, Pinkie Pie's hair colour clarifies and turns to pink again. Ragamuffin enters the room and looks at the angry Blackle in front of him, but then something interrupts the war. A gunshot is heard from outside the room and everyone knows that something happened.

Meanwhile, Kobolov is in another room of the fort, reading a letter.

February 28th
Dear Mr Kobolov,

Plegovich told me I had to write a letter to you. The two men that decided to save my life are now the ones who are controlling everything in the Pegasus Fort. The three prisoners are OK, locked up in a small cage under the ground.

I was wondering when I'll be going to get my reward for doing your job. A long time ago I met a little girl called Gabby, and sadly she has disappeared since I entered jail because of that failed heist in 2002, you may have heard that. She's the only thing I have and love, and inmates from jail told me the police or the army may have arrested her for purposes related to that horrifying mistake I made, the heist.

This is the first letter I sent to you because Mr Plegovich told me you may know something related to her. The only thing I want is Gabby and my old apartment from Fillydelphia back. It's not money nor anything with economic value. I have already betrayed a man of word, don't make me do this again for leaving me alone.

Gilda.

Gilda, Gilda, Gilda... Kobolov heard of her when she was imprisoned for that failed heist in the National Bank that she and another woman, Chrysalis, tried to do in 2002. He never met her in person, but he knows already that her last written phrase shows a sign of a problematical woman. She already betrayed someone, what would she do with Plegovich and him now? Well, she may die fastly because Plegovich is now the whole country but... that phrase...

"Don't make me do this again for leaving me alone."

What is she trying to do? Warn him? Who in the fuck does she think she is...?

Suddenly, Kobolov hears a gunshot.

2 Minutes Ago

W and Rushy decide to get Dream Raider out of the container while Jack and Abe try to get Strict Proclamation out of the hook. His whole head is literally impaled through it. "Man," says Jack. "What a horrifying death."

"This feeds my theory, Jack," he says while looking at Strict Proclamation. "Look at this. A president of Equestria being murdered in a gruesome way."

"Come on, Abe," says Jack. "Do you really think an Elite told Plegovich to do that? He did it on his own! He brought him down and turned into the president!"

"Yes, but... do you remem...?" says Abe, but desperately changes his mind. "No, you don't."

"What?"

"Shiny Estate."

"The governor that Gordo and Ron murdered? Yeah."

"It was an order from the Elite."

"Yes, and how is this related to that?"

"My brother told me the Elite wanted Shiny Estate hanging while being dissected. It was their touch, their message."

"But I think..."

"Shiny Estate was murdered by three gunshots and was not dissected, yes, but the Elite told him that anyway."

While Jack and Abe are discussing, W and Rushy are trying to get Dream Raider out of the container. "Calm down," says W. "We will put you in the car and then we'll do the work."

"This guy needs a doctor, boy," says Rushy while looking at the sawed-off shotgun coming out from his leather jacket. He's afraid it will come out and fall to the floor.

"He will make it, Rushy, he will make it."

When Rushy is about to open the door, he finds out something else is opening it for him. Once the other man opens the door, Karzov and Rushy see each other. The ushanka man turns around and looks at Karzov, who is now shocked looking at the four men. He tries to look for a gun but he realizes he is unarmed. That's when he decides to run to the fort but Rushy fastly draws the shotgun. "No, you're not going to run away, Karzov," says Rushy. He recognizes him.

"You..." says Karzov, shocked while looking at the man. "You know me?"

"You remember me?" says Rushy, getting out of the container while the other three men get out from behind. "My face has changed but... you may remember my name... Alexei Ushin."

Karzov's face changes for the worst while remembering that name. "...Alex?"

"Stop calling me like that, we are not in 1993, you prick."

"Why?" says Karzov, looking at the door, waiting for the right moment to run away. "Why are you doing this?"

Rushy turns around and looks at W. "See this guy? He was one of the men who planned your parents' death." Now W has a different point of view of the man. He looks at him with anger, something that makes Karzov run to the fort. However, his plan fails when Rushy shots him in the back.

"ARGH!" shouts the old man while falling to the ground with his bleeding back. "K... K... KOBOLOV! HELP!" he shouts while having his mouth full of blood.

"No," says Rushy. "You are not going to ask for help now, you fuck... that one was for my friends of La Lima, and this one... is for my father..."

"NO----"

Rushy moves Karzov and now shots him in the chest with the shotgun, killing him. The remaining birds that were around fly away and everyone hears the shots... even the ones from the inside.

Kobolov knows something is wrong, so the first thing he does is taking a pill and gaining his telekinesis again. Ragamuffin gets out of the room but Kobolov tells him to hide inside. Once the soldier opens the entrance door, he looks at four men taking out his prisoner, Dream Raider, and also Karzov dead on the floor. His purple eyes shrink while shouting: "You're gonna pay!"

Kobolov gets inside the fort again and the four men enter the fort, leaving Dream Raider alone. Rushy is the first one to enter but gets thrown into the room's wall because of the telekinesis.

"Come on," says Abe while getting inside. "Another telekinetic man?"

The entrance room is small and has only two doors: the entrance and another room. Kobolov starts coughing while being inside and runs to the other room. Clearly the magic is not on its best day. While Jack and Abe help Rushy to get up, W opens the door to go for Kobolov, who is running away while coughing to another room.

"Wait!" shouts Abe, and he goes behind W. "DON'T RUN AWAY, YOU RAT! GIVE ME BACK MY GRANDDAUGHTER, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Rarity heard that shout. Everyone did. Ragamuffin opens the door while Rarity smiles. "That's... that's my grandpa's voice," she says.

"Your grandfather?" says Rainbow Dash. "He came... to rescue us?"

"Duh, why would he come here, Dash?" answers Rarity while looking at Pinkie smiling.

"Flanks," says Grey Blackle while looking at the window crack. "That's Flanks."

"What?" says Rarity, surprised. "You know my grandfather?"

"E-Everyone does."

Ragamuffin is about to come out but closes the door when he hears Kobolov and the other men getting nearer. On the other hand, Kobolov goes upstairs, to a secret second store through another room and passes by the secret room where the girls are staying. W and Abe, who are chasing him, stop when they hear someone shouting:

"GRANDPA!"

Abe immediately stops and looks at the door in front of him. "Go, W," whispers. "Go for him and I'll go here."

W nods his head and runs away while Abe opens the door with just a kick, also hitting Ragamuffin and making him fall to the floor. Abe enters and looks that at the end of a narrow hall, there is a big safe with a window where Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Grey Blackle are being imprisoned. Ragamuffin wants to counter-attack but Abe steps fastly on his hand with one foot and on his throat with the another, pointing a gun to his head. "Open the safe," says Abe.

"L... L... Let me go..." whispers Ragamuffin while being choked with Abe's foot.

"Open the fucking safe," answers the grandfather after getting his foot out of his throat and getting Ragamuffin up. Abe closes the door and Ragamuffin slowly opens the safe. Grey Blackle is the first one to come out, jumping onto Ragamuffin and starting to choke him. Rarity and the girls try to separate them, but Abe is the ace that does it, punching Grey Blackle in the face and getting him out of there. Now Grey Blackle is the victim, being choked by Abe after being smashed onto a wall. "I expect you didn't touch my granddaughter, you son of a bitch."

"I... I didn't..."

"Grandpa!" shouts Rarity, trying to separate him from Grey Blackle. "Please, he's a good person!"

"Good person?" says Abe, turning around Rarity and sarcastically smiling. "This son of a bitch is a good person for you?"

"Please, grandpa!" shouts Rarity. "He's harmless."

Abe laughs out loud. "Harmless? You don't know this man."

"He knows you, grandpa," says Rarity. "Why?"

Abe shuts up for a moment and decides to let Blackle go, but once he lets his hands off his neck, Grey jumps onto Ragamuffin and starts strangling him again. "No time for that, Rarity," says Abe. "We need to get out of here."

After Applejack and Pinkie Pie get Grey Blackle out of there, Ragamuffin gets up with his hands up and says: "Please, don't kill me."

Abe points his gun at Ragamuffin but doesn't shoot. "Tell me why I shouldn't kill you."

"I... I met Rarity and his friends on a ship, long story... I had... um... an affair with Rarity and... well..."

"He broke my heart, grandpa!" shouts Rarity. "He doesn't deserve such a painful fate but... he betrayed all of us and put me in this unhygienic place for two days!"

Abe decides to listen to Rarity and don't kill him. He doesn't want to kill a young man in front of his granddaughter. However, this kid is not going to get free so easily. He slowly puts his gun down and kicks him fastly, right in his balls, and then he smashes him onto the floor. "Consider yourself lucky, asshole," says Abe, and all of them go away from the room, except for Ragamuffin.

"Wait!" shouts Ragamuffin. "Wait, no! There is something... next door that belongs to Rainbow Dash..."

Everyone hears that and looks at Rainbow. "Well, thank you," says Abe, and then he closes the door. Grey Blackle, who grabbed a key from Ragamuffin's pocket, decides to put the key in the keylock: it matches. "Lock him up, Blackle," says Abe.

Grey smiles. "Alright," he says, and then he locks the young boy up.

"WAIT, NO! PLEASE! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!"

"Isn't that too much for Ragamuffin?" asks Rarity to his grandfather while going next door. "I mean..."

"You are too generous, Rarity," answers his grandfather. "You gave him your heart and he gave you two days locked up in a cell."

Rarity takes a breath while Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie try to open another door. However, Grey Blackle jumps onto the door and breaks it in half. On the inside, there is only a desk and a window. Abe enters along with the girls and finds a letter written for Kobolov, from someone named Gilda. Once he moves the letter away, he finds something that calls Rainbow's attention.

"My..." says Rainbow Dash, trying to hide his shock and joy. "MY GEODE IS HERE!"

There is a third store filled with shelves and almost no light. Maybe it was intended to keep the gold right there on the abandoned project of Manehattan. W enters there to look for Kobolov but doesn't find him... he only looks at the dirty broken walls which are written with aerosol. Some graffitis say:

"JAKOB" "FUCK YOU" "PLEGOVICHS WON'T MAKE IT" "DIESEL > EQUESTRIA"

Maybe its author was Jakob Diesel, the guy Rushy said before. However, there is one graffiti that calls his attention: "PLEGOVICHS WON'T MAKE IT". Was he also an enemy of them? What happened? Who was him? Was he also... consumed by the Plegovichs? Did he also turn into a punisher? He finds out there is another graffiti, the fifth one, up there on the roof, only one word which makes W tremble:

"DISAPPOINTMENT"

Disappointed of what? Of himself? Of whom? Was he going through the same stuff as his?

"Jakob Diesel." W immediately draws his gun while staring at the shelves around. He still doesn't find Kobolov. "I never met him. You neither. He died in 1987, when three gangsters hanged him in public, in the old Los Mantos' House, which belonged to the government. Sometimes when Plegovich told me his story, he reminded me of you."

"Get the fuck out! From wherever you fucking are, Kobolov!"

"Do you know who was one of the three gangsters that killed Diesel?"

"WHERE ARE YOU, KOBOLOV?"

"Your father."

W starts messing around the shelves. "My father? Huh?"

Your father participated in Jakob Diesel's murder because he tried to kill him once. He also killed Lemur, who you may know as Abraham Flanks' brother. Wade said that Jakob Diesel was the executioner of the mafia... and if they let him go, all of them would have died."

Suddenly, W finds Kobolov behind a shelf. "What would your father have done if he found out... you are slowly turning into the executioner of today?"

Something changes in W when Kobolov says that. "NO!" he shouts, but he suddenly gets thrown away to a shelf because of the telekinesis, and also Kobolov is not OK. He coughs and spits blood, maybe the magic didn't digest too well this day.

"I knew you were alive!" says Kobolov, grabbing W's gun. "I just... felt that, and when I found out Garry and Chalk died, I knew you hanged their heads. Don't tell me why, but I knew you were coming back... but if you want to kill me, I will riddle you easily."

Kobolov is about to shoot W in the head but when he fires the gun, he finds out is unloaded. W laughs. "I was only using that gun to play a joke on you, dumbass. Time to fight."

"To fight?" says Kobolov, chuckling, and then he throws W away to another shelf, breaking it in half. "Time to break all these shelves with you, I say."

W is now hurt. He's not sure but he thinks his back is bleeding again, but when Kobolov is about to get him up and throw him away again, something happens. Someone gets in the middle.

A sound of wind and a figure who runs in the highest speed they've ever seen stops between Kobolov and W. A girl with rainbow hair. "Hey, dude," she says with a grin. "Thanks for leaving that geode here."

"What?" says Kobolov, but then he gets trapped by Rainbow Dash and both of them get out of the room, crashing through a wall and eventually falling to the ground. W immediately wakes up with his wounded back. "RAINBOW DASH!" he shouts. Suddenly, Rushy, Jack and Applejack appear on the third store to look at the scene.

Down below, both Kobolov and Rainbow Dash are injured but not severely. Both of them are filled with scratches and bruises, but they are not bleeding. Then, Rarity comes out of the fort along with Grey Blackle, Pinkie Pie and Abe.

"RAINBOW! RAINBOW!" shouts Rarity. "CAN YOU SEE ME? HEAR ME?"

"RAINBOW!" shouts Pinkie, while shaking her. "How many fingers do you see? Tell me!"

Rainbow Dash starts coughing and breathing. "Um... I'm alright. My whole body hurts but thankfully my speed muffled it. Can you help me to get up?"

Abe also helps Rainbow Dash to get up, while Kobolov is slowly opening his eyes. He had the worst injure of the fall because his back directly crashed onto the wall which broke in pieces. He can barely move now and he's very injured and exhausted to use his powers. Now he thinks why in the hell did he leave that geode there. Was it because he wanted to study it? Or was it another shit? Argh, nevermind.

W, Rushy, Jack and Applejack also get out of the fort and look at the injured Kobolov next to the container and also next to Karzov's body. Dream Raider is still there, with his open eyes.

Once he looks at W, Grey Blackle gets in front of him and both of them look at each other. "T-t-the man who came back."

W looks at Blackle and thinks about what should he do. In spite of his reckless appearance and loyalty to Plegovich, Event said he wasn't necessary to kill. "Get out of here, Blackle," says W. "I need to get rid of something."

Then, the others start realizing it. Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, now with her poofy hair, look at W who was supposedly dead. "Um... W?" asks Rarity. "What... what the...?"

"I never died, Rarity," answers W. "Plegovich invented it all." That's the only answer he gives before helping Dream Raider to get up. "I came for you firstly, Dreamo. I'll get you in the car. Hey, someone."

Applejack decides to help and Dream Raider now looks at W while being moved by the cowgirl. "They... they faked your death?"

"Eeyup," says W, at a Big Mac-style that makes Applejack chuckle and remembers her brother.

Dream Raider smiles and slowly shakes his head. "I had no fucking idea."

"I-I knew you we-we-were hiding something, mis-mister."

Blackle is now next to W while Applejack is carrying Dream Raider to the car by her own. "I told you," says W. "Get out of here. Don't make me harm you."

"B-but... I am... I am n-no more in favour of of-of Plegovich."

"Stop lying," says W.

"He's not lying!" shouts Pinkie Pie. "He told us that."

"He doesn't seem evil to me," says Rarity. "He looks more... adorable."

Jack and Rushy chuckle. "Adorable?" says Rushy. "Yes... it is the most adorable psychopath torturer I've ever seen. I remember you, Grey Blackle. You didn't change a fucking shit."

Blackle recognizes that voice and starts moving his neck to look for an answer. "A-A-A-Alex?"

"Oh, come on," says Rushy. "Another one who calls me Alex? The last one who called me like that is lying dead right here," he says, pointing at Karzov's body. The girls find out there is a real corpse right there and turn around, except for Pinkie Pie.

"Woooh," she says. "There's too much tomato sauce on the chest of this man. Shall I wake him up to tell him?"

Rushy raises his eyebrow, confused. "Um... girl..."

"MAN! MISTER!" shouts Pinkie Pie. "Do you listen to me? Hey!"

"N-No! He is... he is... s-s-sleeping... d-d-don't w-w-wake him up-p-p!"

"Oh..." says Pinkie Pie, rubbing her hair. "Well, I'd better not do it..." and then she waves her hand at Karzov's body. "Bye bye!"

"See?" says Rarity, trying not to look at Karzov while looking at his grandpa. "He is innocent, grandpa. He can't be a killing machine."

However, Kobolov starts gasping and that's the right moment where Blackle starts his game. He jumps onto Kobolov and slaps him in the face. "You son of a bitch," whispers Kobolov.

"T-this... i-is... for... beating me up with a f-f-f-fucking baton."

Grey Blackle shows his bloodthirst when he grabs Kobolov by his neck and throws him away to the container. Then, he grabs his head and fastly starts smashing it against the container while biting one of his ears. Rarity and the girls get shocked while looking at Grey, and Abe starts laughing, looking at his granddaughter which has just turned around.

"I told you," says Abe to Rarity while W gets Blackle out of there.

"WAIT!" W shouts. "STOP RIGHT NOW!"

W grabs Blackle by his back and gets him off Kobolov, but he is trying to get off W so bad that Applejack, Rushy and also Jack help him to get Blackle off Kobolov. Once they calm down Grey, W looks that Kobolov is still alive, although one of his ears are ripped off and his forehead is bleeding, having a completely red face. He is almost unconscious but he is still breathing and coughing.

W now grabs the gun Kobolov robbed from him and loads it. "Wait!" says Rarity. "Are you...?"

Once he is about to shoot Kobolov in the head, two cars appear in front of the fort. They know who they are.

"GIRLS!" shouts Abe. "TAKE COVER!"

Six men get out of the cars and start firing their guns, but then the time stops. Someone needs to work. Rainbow Dash slowly gets up because he was lying on the ground and takes a breath. He rubs her hair one more time and starts running, taking the bullets away from her friends and the gangsters and also disarming the men, but then she finds out there's one figure who has a higher speed than the others, although it can't match hers: Grey Blackle jumps on one of the men and breaks his neck. The sound of the neck being broken is so slow that Dash hears it, detail by detail. Once she stops disarming all of them, she fastly punches them to stop Blackle from killing people.

Crash! And suddenly time goes back again.

Four men fall to the floor after being punched by Rainbow Dash, while two other men are already dead because of Blackle. "Hey, dude!" shouts Rainbow Dash. "Don't kill them! They are people!"

The others find out what is happening. Rainbow Dash did it all along with Blackle. However, two men grab Dash from behind and Grey Blackle punches one of them. W runs onto the other man and tackles him, making both of them to crash against a car. Both Blackle and W grab the henchman's guns from the floor and kill the two men with a shot on the head. Rainbow Dash, who was left on the ground, gets shocked at how the movements they did were the same. The other two men also get up, but Blackle easily kills them both with his gun. All of them dead. Blackle took five, W took one.

"Harmless, huh?" says Abe, laughing. Rarity is trying to find water to clean her face and take a breath after everything she saw. Pinkie Pie is still trying to figure out why Karzov is asleep while Applejack and Rushy are getting her out of there. Jack and Rushy find out Kobolov is moving by his own, he is now sitting on the ground, laying his back against the container, looking at everything. His head is bleeding: ear ripped off, open forehead. W goes back to where he was and finds out Kobolov has opened his eyes.

"You know," whispers Kobolov while looking at W. "I'm actually proud."

"Of what?" says Rushy. Everyone now is looking at the fallen soldier.

"I'm proud you will be the one who will murder me, Bedmaker. I should have stayed in the army but... my temptations put me here. Kill me."

Rarity sighs. "Is it necessary...?"

"Yes, Rarity," says W, almost angrily and with fiery eyes, looking to Kobolov. "I have to kill him."

"Wait," says Rainbow Dash. "Ask him about the other geodes. Where are they?"

Kobolov takes a breath. "Gilda's got them," he says. "She's in Las Pegasus Fort."

The girls look at each other while hearing that. Pegasus Fort. Are the geodes there? For Real?

Kobolov coughs again and W sits down in front of him. "I'm actually thinking about those things I told you up there on the fort, W. Your Bedmaker personality is going away... and you are slowly turning into the executioner of the mafia."

"Stop calling me like that," says W.

"It's the truth, W," he whispers. "Now I think you are able... able to kill Plegovich. Something I would never have thought if you were the W of before. That's because you are slowly gaining a new, reckless personality."

W grabs his gun and touches Kobolov's head with it. Everyone is listening to the soldier, although the girls feel uncomfortable while looking at the scene... that eventually will turn into a crime. They don't want to end this in that way, but they know this is not the right moment to argue about it, just because this whole thing since it started months ago, is an awkward situation. "Shut the fuck up," says the Bedmaker.

Kobolov smiles for the last time. "It's the truth, W. You are winning... you are now about to kill me thanks to your new personality... if you were the infantile kid you were before the Train... you would never have done this, but you know who you are turning into, boy... if you kill Plegovich... you will turn into Plegovich."

W's skin freezes when he hears that. He knows... in the inside, at the bottom of his heart... he may be right. But no, no, NO! HE IS NOT PLEGOVICH! HE WON'T BE! HE IS WALTER WATERS, THE BEDMAKER! "I am the Bedmaker, Kobolov. Not Plegovich."

Kobolov chuckles. "You clearly don't understand."

"Open your mouth."

"Sure," says the soldier, and by the time he opens the mouth W has already put the barrel inside, touching his tongue.

"G-g-goodbye, Kobolov," says Grey Blackle, waving his hand and smiling with an evil face.

Kobolov raises his middle finger to Grey one more time and looks at W with those purple eyes which are now weaker than ever. The weakest soldier of the army. "It was a pleasure to meet you, W," he says, although it is barely understandable because of the barrel holding his tongue. However, W's face doesn't make a single change, not even a small, small grin. He only says:

"Not for me," and then he shots once.

GRIGORI KOBOLOV

The green container now has a stain of blood and a corpse under it. Kobolov is dead and everyone is silent, especially W for what has just said Kobolov. He doesn't believe it and also doesn't know why, but he really felt those last words.

"That's because you are slowly gaining a new, reckless personality."

"It's the truth, W. You are winning... you are now about to kill me thanks to your new personality... if you were the infantile kid you were before the Train... you would never have done this."

"If you kill Plegovich... you will turn into Plegovich."

"Have you ever felt guilty of killing someone?"

"And you care about people?"

They are spinning around his head. They go on and on and on. They don't stop. WON'T stop. Never. "Oh god," says W while holding his head, which he feels he is about to fall over.

"Calm down," says Abe, while Jack and Rushy are comforting him. "We finished."

The girls turn around and look at W, stressed and also laying on the ground. "Finished?" says W, closing his eyes. "We haven't even started."

"You killed the three most important consiglieres, right-hand men of Plegovich after Sergei, W," says Jack. "We clearly made something."

"And everything in one day," says Rushy. "That's what I call revenge."

"I'm not OK," says W, rubbing his head. "I don't feel right. I just..."

"It's OK!" says Jack. "It's OK! Calm down!"

"No, it's... it's..." says W, breathing fastly. "Those words... I... I..."

"You are not turning into anything, W," says Abe. "Calm down, it was just Kobolov raving."

"He may be raving but... I don't know..." W starts trembling, unstoppably. He is now pale, something that call the girls' attention. "His words were... oh my god... I feel so... different."

"Calm down, calm down," says Jack, hugging his partner. "Come on, I'll get you up."

Everyone, even the girls, helps W to get up and he stays in the car where Dream Raider is. Both friends look at each other in a desperate situation. W, calming himself down, remembers an old song he heard: On a Clear Day you will See Forever, by the Peddlers. At the same time he is playing it in his head, Dreamo, his friend, nods his head looking at him. W does the same and does a circle with his hand, meaning an old thing he used to make with Dream Raider on his childhood, to refer the O-word, better known as the Orphanage. Dream Raider also does the same.

W suddenly decides to cut another loose end.

"Blackle," he says. "Come here."

The girls don't understand it, but the gangsters know that something won't end up well there. Blackle runs to W, happily and laughing. "A-a-awaiting for your w-w-words... mister Waters."

Blackle gets next to W but the Bedmaker doesn't do anything. He takes a long breath thinking of what he should do. Seconds later, the decision is made. He gets out a gun and points at Grey Blackle right in the head.

Shall he kill him? Is it necessary? His partners react by opening their eyes. The girls gasp and start:

"NO!" shouts Pinkie Pie. "DON'T STAIN HIM WITH TOMATO SAUCE!"

"Wait, no!" also shouts Rainbow Dash. "He did it to protect us! Don't do it!"

"It is not necessary, W!" shouts Rarity.

The girls want to interfere but suddenly the gangsters stop them. He helped them, but Abe, Jack and Rushy know the true nature of Grey Blackle and know he is so inhuman it might be a problem, so he may be better dead than alive. Everything depends on W. His life depends on W.

Blackle says for the first time a whole lot of words without stuttering: "Please, think about what you are doing," he says, while his pupil is growing up, almost being as big as his normal one. "We are looking for the same thing, W... Both of us want to kill Plegovich, and I swear I'm not lying. I won't ever, ever lie to the man who has the same desires as me. And I admit I am crazy, I am a psycho, a torturer, a killing machine... but in the end, on our insides... we are the same person, W. We are looking for the same ending, looking for the same head, looking for revenge. If you don't kill me, I promise I will be your most loyal ally, worker and friend... sir.

Sir. And it goes again. He called him sir, just like he would call Plegovich. Is Kobolov right or not? Is his desire for revenge changing him? If it is, is it changing it positively... or negatively? Is he slowly turning into another Plegovich? No... he mustn't turn into another Plegovich, he must think... The girls and his partners are still fighting and shouting. W looks at Dream Raider one more time, and his friend tells him what he has to do... the O... the circle with his hand... what he must do.

"Have you ever felt guilty of killing someone?"

"And you care about people?"

The O... the O...

He is not Nicholas Plegovich, but Walter Waters. No.

"Just one thing, Blackle," says W. "Don't. Ever. Call me... sir."

Eventually, W puts the gun down and the girls stop shouting. His partners stop interfering, and Blackle's pupil shrinks again while stretching his hand. "We are on the same spot... i-i-i-isn't it?" W still hasn't changed his face, but he stretches hands with Blackle. "I sw-swear I will work with you until the end, Waters. You-you know... psy-psychos don't lie."

"Yes," says W. "I decided to let him go. He will work with me, guys. If he does something I don't like, you know what's going to happen. It's my decision."

Then, the Bedmaker approaches the girls who are confused and shocked about what's been happening. "Girls," he says. "I know everything that has been happening since that... train day is strange... so I'll summarize it for you. Plegovich has turned into the President of Equestria, something you may know but... we are here to stop it. You too. Now we are taking you to Canterlot High."

"...And where's the President?" says Rainbow Dash. "Strict Proclamation?"

The gangsters now look at the green container, which is closed. "Right there," says Rushy, pointing out at the container. "If you are sensitive, I don't recommend you to look at him, girls. His head has been impaled by some kind of industrial hook chained to the container's roof."

The girls think about it and get disgusted by just imagining that. "What should we do with him?" says Abe. "Shall we...?"

"Wait," says W. Then he approaches at Jack. "I think the most probable answer of this is no but..."

"But what?" says Jack.

"You still have your swiss knife? Remember?"

"Oh..." says Jack. "Of course not. I don't have it here."

"Wait!" shouts Grey Blackle while looking at Karzov's body. "Karzov has a swiss knife here."

W approaches Karzov's body and grabs the swiss knife given to him by Blackle. It's a small and red one, but works. When he is about to open the container's door, he looks that Kobolov's cellphone is on the ground. He grabs it and sends a message. Then, he exclaims: "Watch the smell. Especially you, Rarity, with your Canterlot nose."

"Hey," says Rarity, offended. "I've been several days without taking a shower because of this. My hygiene has been slowly decaying, darling, so I can put up with any kind of smell..."

W opens the door and the container releases that awful stench coming out of Strict Proclamation's body, something that makes everyone cover their noses except for Blackle. W almost closes the door, letting a tiny flash of light illuminate SP's chest, and comes out minutes later.

"Take," says W and gives the swiss knife to Jack. "You might replace the old one with this."

"What did you do?" asks Rainbow Dash.

W raises his shoulders, changing his face for the first time after Kobolov's death making a small grin. "A message. Do you know I like writing curse words in Spanish? I really like the maldito hijo de puta one."

"And how is that related with the knife, folk?" asks Applejack.

"Figure it out!" shouts W while opening the car door where Dream Raider is. "Now... it's time."

"Time for what?" says Rarity while everyone is approaching the cars.

"Time to go back to Canterlot."

"And What about our geodes?"

"We'll Talk about that when we arrive to Canterlot High," says Abe. "Now, let's take a breath... For god's sake."

Rarity takes a breath and a tear comes out of her eyes. "Time to come back home," she whispers to herself.

Chapter 26: Coming Back Home

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