MLP:EG Graduation
Chapter 1: The Man with The Duster
It was a sunny day outside in the courtyard of Canterlot Park. The Wind was blowing, The Birds were singing and The Trees began whistling an old sad tune. None of that bothered dear Fluttershy or her dear friend Sunset Shimmer however. They were just relaxing on that Saturday morning without a care in the world.
"It's a nice day out isn't it Sunset?" Fluttershy asked her friend as she softly pets her bunny.
"It sure is Fluttershy, it sure is." Sunset replied as she stretched her arms before relaxing against the tree behind her.
"Hey when are the others coming?" Fluttershy asked turning to her friend with curiosity.
"Umm Twilight said she had to study for an exam on Monday, Applejack is helping her brother do chores around the farm, Rarity is helping her mother at the boutique, Pinkie and Rainbow said something about a soccer game today so I think it's just us." Sunset explained as she sat up to look at Fluttershy with disappointment.
"Oh that's okay, with Spring break over I imagine everyone has all kinds of stuff to do, what about you Sunset what did you do over the break?" Fluttershy asked as she resumed petting Angel Bunny.
"Well not much really, mostly I worked extra shifts at the mall to get this and next months' rent in, you?" Sunset replied.
"More of the same, though something strange did happen at the Pet Shop." Fluttershy admitted.
"Really what happened?" Sunset asked.
"Well there was this strange boy who almost got into a fight with another customer, see he had asked me to get a check up for his dog, a Pitbull, and the other customer demanded that I refuse and kick them out." Fluttershy started.
"Well that hardly seems fair." Sunset mentioned before relaxing back against the tree.
"I know, but when I tried to intervene the owner of the Pitbull just pinned the other customer against the wall and stood up for himself, he said something like 'If you got a problem then you can call the authorities' or something like that." Fluttershy finished.
"Hey that guy didn't happen to be wearing a leather duster at all would he?" Sunset asked as she sat up.
"Why yes he was, why have you seen him before?" Fluttershy questioned.
1 Week Ago:
Sunset woke to her alarm going off at 9:30 AM on Sunday morning. She stretched her body before getting dressed for the day and running out the door of her apartment only to crash into someone else carrying a large box full of books and clothes. Clothes and books that flew out of the box as the two landed on the ground.
"Oh I'm so sorry I didn't mean to bump into you like that." Sunset apologized before getting up to help the other person pick up the scattered items.
"Oh no it's fine I wasn't looking is all." The stranger said. He appeared to be a young teenager wearing a camel colored long coat that went down just above his ankles.
"My name is Sunset by the way, Sunset Shimmer, where are you taking these?" Sunset greeted as she put in the last of the books. Most of them she noticed were on ancient history or fantasies.
"Uh Swiftfoot, Swiftfoot Feather, I'm trying to take this to my apartment room 223." Swiftfoot claimed as he picked up the box.
"Oh cool looks like we're neighbors I'm in Apartment 224 just across the hall, I guess we'll be seeing each other quite a bit." Sunset said as she opened the door for him. The Stranger smiled as he walked in to set the box down.
"I would like that very much Sunset Shimmer." He said with a smile before the sound of cheerful barking came rushing out the door.
"Oh hello there what's your name?" Sunset asked as she leaned down to pet the white and brown spotted Pitbull who in turn began licking her cheek.
"Oh him, his name is Jackal, he might look fat and fierce but he's really just a big softie." Swiftfoot said before calling him in.
"Well I've gotta get going, it was nice meeting you." Sunset said before holding out her hand to him.
"The Pleasure is all mine, Have a pleasant day today." Swiftfoot said before shaking her hand.
Today:
"From there we just kept bumping into each other in the halls, I never took him for a violent one though." Sunset finished explaining.
"Well he seemed really worried for his dog that day, oh I hope Jackal is alright." Fluttershy stated with concern.
"Yeah me too, I'll ask about him next time I see Swiftfoot." Sunset proclaimed as she stood up.
"Well I for one have to get going, my shift for the pet shop starts soon." Fluttershy stated before standing up and holding her hand out to her friend.
"Yeah I should probably head home and check in with Princess Twilight." Sunset said as she took Fluttershy's hand and was helped up.
After saying their goodbyes and parting ways, Sunset made her way to the apartments. As she was about to turn the corner however she was stopped by someone trying to steal her purse.
"Hey!" She yelled at the masked Figure as she held on to her purse.
"Give it here!" He yelled before punching her square across the face.
She fell back a few steps before recovering and watching him turn the corner into a dark alley. Not giving a second thought she rushed after him into the alley where she was met by three other masked figures. Before she could run away two of them had already grabbed and pinned her against the wall but not without a fight however. The two that grabbed her had suffered many blows to the face and crotch.
"What all did she have?" one of them asked.
"Nothing much in her purse." The third said.
"Hey what about her necklace?" The second asked.
"No not my geode take anything else but that." She begged.
"Oh but boss man wants shiny things that make big buck on the market man." The first one said.
"Yeah and big buck make boss man happy." The Second said.
"And that makes us happy." The Third said.
"I don't think any of you are getting anything." A familiar voice stated that startled the three muggers.
"Who said that?" They all asked.
Before they could even react Swiftfoot ran out from the shadows of the alley and round house kicked the one holding Sunset's purse. As he grabbed Sunset's purse out of the air he quickly turned around to elbow the second one's face and upper cutting the third from under the chin.
"Get out of here." He told Sunset as he handed her the purse.
She only nodded as she took the purse and ran to the end of the alley. She stopped and turned to him in worry as she watched him wait for the robbers to get up. After seeing him quickly turn around backslapping one of them however she quickly ran away to the apartments. She waited in agony as gunshots could now be heard and police sirens began blaring. After what seemed like forever she finally heard knocking at her door. She quickly ran to it and opened it to find Swiftfoot standing above her.
"You would happen to know how to stitch a bullet wound would you?" He asked before collapsing in front of her.
"SWIFTFOOT!" She yelled just before Jackal came running into her apartment.
Without hesitation she called the hospital and time after that seemed to slow down to snail's pace. But she stayed with him all the way to the hospital where hours would pass without her noticing. She became so focused on why, why would he risk himself like that for someone he had just met. Not that she was complaining of course, but even after the Fall Formal it took her weeks upon weeks to gain anyone's trust. So why would this boy after only knowing her for a week risk himself like that?
"SUNSET!" She heard a familiar voice yell. Sunset looked up from her trance to see Twilight and the others standing before her.
"Oh my gosh are you alright?" Rainbow Dash questioned as she rushed to her friend.
"Darling please tell me nothing is broken?" Rarity asked.
"What happened how many were there?" Applejack demanded.
"Hey come on girls give her some space." Pinkie suggested.
"She did just witness something traumatizing." Fluttershy added.
Sunset smiled at the worry her friends had for her. But she was still distraught about Swiftfoot. The Doctors said he had suffered many possible concussions as well as three bullet shots, one hit his shoulder while the other two were just below his torso. Speaking of the Doctors one had just come out.
"Um Sunset Shimmer?" He called out in a brittish accent.
"That's me." Sunset said as she stood up and walked forward to him.
"Ah well good news is he'll pull through and will be ready to go by Monday." The Doctor explained.
"And the bad news?" She asked with worry in her face.
"Well the bad news is we have found bits of shrapnel in his body, looks like Hollow Point Bullets so we need to keep him here under sedation in order to pull them out." The Doctor explained.
"But he'll be good to come home on Monday right?" She asked.
"Yes but the bad news doesn't stop there, quite frankly we're surprised he's even alive right now, we found scarred tissue all over his body as well as some bruised bones and torn muscles in both his shoulders and knees." The Doctor mentioned as he handed her the clipboard explaining everything.
"What?!" She questioned with worry.
"Like I said we can get the shrapnel out and get him walking by Monday, but if he goes on like this he may not have much longer. I highly recommend that he get's looked at and starts physical therapy immediately." The doctor told her before taking back the clipboard.
"I'll be sure to tell him that." Sunset said before The Doctor walked away.
While Sunset stayed at the Hospital, her friends went home in worry and fear of what has happened that night. Here in Canterlot it is rare to witness a robbery let alone participate in one. You would think that Canterlot is this nice, warm, and fuzzy county just south of Los Angeles, well I'm sorry to disappoint but not in this universe. In this Universe Canterlot is the center of an underground crime gang known as The Kurthecs and it was that group that you will later learn was that start of this tragedy. Back with Sunset after waiting two and a half days Swiftfoot finally recovered and was on his way to his new school.
"Are you sure you're okay, no internal bleeding, no scars, or broken bones?" Sunset asked the boy in pain.
"Yeah I'm fine Sunset, no need to get all worked up." Swiftfoot said as he closed his locker.
"Sorry it's just that…" She couldn't finish her sentence as they started walking down the hall together.
"Hey think nothing of it, had it been anyone else I would've done the same thing, you're just lucky I was there same time as you." Swiftfoot said as he pulled out his schedule to see where he was going.
Sunset was confused by his statement. Would he really just do that for anyone? She asked herself this as she starred deep into his Hazel eyes. Wondering just who this boy was and why he would do such things for those around him.
"Well looks like I'm heading to physics for my first class." He said as he folded the paper and put it away.
"Oh cool we have the same first class, guess you're stuck with me partner." Sunset teased as she lightly punched him on his arm.
Swiftfoot rolled his eyes but smiled at the young girls' cheerfulness. True he was starting to get annoyed by her being overly worried about him, but so long as she stayed cool with him he assumed that would be fine.
"Alright just stop worrying about my injuries, give me a few days and I'll be just fine." He pleaded walking past a group of students.
Sunset didn't notice them starring in their direction. But Swiftfoot did and he tried his best to ignore them. It was hard to tell if those were looks of disapproval or judgment.
"Sorry but I make no promises I can't keep." Sunset said with a roll of her eyes as they reached their physics class.
"Whatever you say Cortana." Swiftfoot said.
"THERE HE IS!" a British voice called out before both Sunset and Swiftfoot were tackled and dragged to an empty classroom.
"What the Hell!" Swiftfoot called out as he shook his head before he was stood up by Rarity.
"Rarity what the heck was that about?!" Sunset yelled as Rainbow dash turned on the lights.
"Sorry but we had to get to him before the paparazzi found you." Rainbow Dash stated as she walked up to the group.
"Why is there a paparazzi after me?" Swiftfoot asked while Rarity quickly began taking measurements of the boy.
"Tell me do you wear anything other than coats?" Rarity asked as she sat down and began sketching.
"Umm no, underneath I do like a pair of jeans and a red T-Shirt." Swiftfoot answered.
"Okay seriously what is going on?" Sunset demanded. Rainbow Dash simply pointed out the window towards the school yard where a group of students were running rampet into the school.
"Is that The School Newspaper Club?" Sunset asked, slowly backing away from the window.
"Yup and they want an interview with mister hot shot over there in the suit." Rainbow stated as she pointed to Swiftfoot who was now in a Black Formal suit and tie with a black fedora covering his brown hair.
"I'm not even sure how this happened so quick." Swiftfoot stated.
"You're right this is way too basic darling." Rarity admitted as she went back to sketching.
"Why do they want an interview, he was shot and nearly killed?" Sunset questioned.
"Yeah shot and nearly killed saving you, plus it's his first day here, so I'm not surprised at all, if anything I'm waiting on Pinkie to spring at any moment with her party canon." Rainbow said as she walked over to Swiftfoot and Rarity how had the boy dressed in a black vest with a pair of knee high punk boots.
"Hmm I feel like it's missing something." Rarity stated as she tapped her pencil against her forehead.
"Never mind that Rarity once this blows over we have to get to class." Rainbow stated before turning to Swiftfoot.
"Hey man, thanks for saving her we owe you one." Rainbow dash told him before turning and leaving. Swiftfoot didn't understand what just happened. He couldn't tell if she had resentment filled in her or she was being sincere.
You see when you're constantly moving around from school to school you fail to see what's really good in people and you can't seem to find the courage to form long lasting and meaningful relationships. As was the case for Swiftfoot here. The only reason he seemed nice and caring towards Sunset and maybe her friends was because in his mind he thought he knew that in a months' time he would already be moving on somewhere else, but he didn't want to be rude so he is only acting like he cares and is pretending that whatever might happen won't. The reason for all of his moving around is because this young man is on probation.
He was caught trying to stop a drug trade between The Kurthecs and another gang from another city. The police don't know why he attempted this all on his own or how he even knew about it because he refused to tell them. So instead of throwing him in juvenile jail they decided to keep him as a wild card and put him on probation until they decide they need him, or he serves his parole. Which is where we find the young man right now, his parole was to finish high school and graduate.
END!