To Run Away...

Chapter 15

  "Wow, what a night." sighed the woman in the recording. "The Body builders Josh bought are surely paying off. It's making him do better than before... hmm, especially in bed..."

  "Oh god." Ivan's head was now in his hands. "Why did you pick this up?"

  "... That boy still knows how give a girl what she wants, and it's all thanks to those juices... God, I can go on about it for a while. I mean, man, we rode each other like there was no tomorrow."

  "Well, better skip this."

   He tapped the fast forward button.

  "... He had me on my-."

  "Jeez, girl!" He tapped it again.

  "... He never skipped a beat-"

   He tapped it again. This made Pierre laugh a little, "Miss Baxter sounds really happy about it."

  "... Now, I'm out to buy more of that stuff..."

  "Thank you." Ivan sighed.

  "... I heard that they're giving out a discount on more of that 'Insta-Rush'." She sighed, "That stuff is in high-demand now, along with the other products. If I don't buy that in time, it's going to be the end of us... Well, not our love for each other, I mean our lives."

Click!

  "Odd recording you brought to me, Haystack." There was silence, making him look back. "Haystack? ... Haystack."

  "Huh?"

  "I said, it's an odd recording you brought me."

  "Oh, r'aght... sorry.' replied a depressed Haystack.

  "Nah, it's okay."

  "Hmm."

   He turned around, willing to leave him alone.

  "Man, I wonder why a tape that old was next to an RPG in the first place? What do you think Pierre?"

  "Hmm? Oh, yeah, I don't know." The spy answered. "Maybe that's where 'ze girl used to live... I heard she was a pretty popular fashion designer around Danville. Well, before 'ze country fell of course."

  "Huh, life must've been pretty good 'round here."

  "Hmm, it was supposed to be 'ze first Utopia, and seceding from 'ze United States was 'ze first step in doing so."

  "Yeah, but like all Utopias, they don't start out well. In the end, they either survive while in tact, choose a different path and delude the people into thinking that they've accomplished it, or die out completely."

   Pierre Nodded, "Isn't that 'ze truth? Just look at all 'ze nations out there."

   Haystack knew that one of those was his homeland. And he already understood what Ivan meant by not starting out well.

"Yep, for example, your country was overthrown more than once and tried to conquer all of Europe." said Ivan.

"Mmm Hmm."

"My country went into a civil war and had several economic problems, and Haystack's was conquered by some dragon thingy-"

"Draconequus." He chided.

"Whatever, and had one of their leaders banished to the moon for treason."

"Hmm, at least Equestria's alive and well." muttered Haystack.

"What?"

"Nothin'."

"Alright." Ivan shrugged.

   They exited the bridge, entering the Metropolitan area.

  "We're approaching 'ze checkpoint." Pierre announced. "Prepare to infiltrate."

   The two sat up, alert at the situation.

  "Have the bridge always had a checkpoint?" asked Ivan.

  "Not until you two came along of course."

  "Jeez, it's like we're false shepherds or something." He complained. "We're just mercenaries, why go after us?"

  "Don't know, but we'll find out eventually." He then remembered something. "Anyways, cloak yourselves, we'll be confronting more of them."

  "Yeah, but what about you? Your... cloaking cigs were confiscated."

   Pierre then took one out from under his sleeve. "Well, not all of them."

   He smoked one as the bus in front of them drove forward, forming into one of the soldiers.

   Upon reaching the checkpoint, he pushed the brake.

  "State your Identification, comrade."

  "The name's Sly Sludge."

   The soldier rolled his eyes. "Ah, you Starfox commandos... Is that a character from TMNT?"

  "No, it's from..." He flicked his fingers in thought. "...It's from... Uh, I got nothing."

  "Alright, nice try. Now get moving. Let's not delay."

  "Ok comrade, have a nice day." He grinned.

  "Ha ha, You too."

   The gate opened, signaling him to go forward.

  "All clear." Pierre announced.

   The two went visible in an instant.

  "Well that was quick." said Ivan.

  "It's very easy too... if you're careful."

  "I know."

   They drove down the street for about five blocks; passing by empty streets and patrolling troops before they drove to a curb and stopped.

  "Is it here?" asked Haystack.

  "No, but we can't go any further." He turned off the vehicle and opened the door. "The News station is heavily guarded, so we're going in through another way."

  "How?" Asked Ivan. "By Parkouring our way to it?"

  "That, and we came to get something from a guy. Now cloak yourselves again."

   Haystack was the first to obey.

  "Fine."

   Without being detected, they walked towards the skyscraper and entered into the lobby.

  "Morning Comrade." The officer on the counter greeted with a salute, "How's your morning?"

  "Great!" He grinned, giving the man a thumbs up.

  "Yeah, time for a new day!"

   The two followed Pierre into an elevator.

  "Okay..." He pressed the button for the top floor, "Uncloak."

   The two were now visible again, luckily, after the doors closed.

  "Have you ever wondered why Troy just gives us the mission and not go into further detail?"

  "No, because I know why."

  "What is it then?"

   Haystack was feeling nauseous by the ascension. It was something that he could've told Ivan a while ago.

  "Ahvan?" Haystack interrupted. "Do ya feel dizzy?"

  "Uh, No?" He answered politely. "But I'm assuming that you still aren't used to elevators, aren't ya?"

   He nodded, making his head hurt even more.

  "Don't worry, just stay strong, that's all I can say." But something about that boggled his mind. "You know I always wonder why you ponies are so confusing when it's up to technology. I mean you've coexisted with us since civilization began and you still aren't as advanced as we are."

  "Well excuse us for havin' to deal with divided tribes, discord, King Sombra, and Nightmare moon." The stallion groaned.

  "Whoa, don't get pissed man. I was just wondering."

Ding!

   The door opened, making them come out and walk down the hall.

  "Anyways, we had to deal with the dark ages and we turned out fi-"

  "Shhh!" Pierre whispered, "I don't think Equestrians like talking about that."

  "Fine." He said, leaving the wearily frustrated pony to be.

   They walked another few steps before reaching their location.

  "Here it is, room H8."

Knock! Knock!

   Pierre then intervened, preventing him from making a third knock. "Whoa, Ivan. Let me handle this."

   He took out a key and unlocked the door, "Get in."

  "Uh, where did you get that key?"

  "'Ze owner."

  "Seriously?"

   They followed him in, where tables full of weapons were waiting inside.

  "Huh, no wonder."

  "Hmm?"

  "No wonder you have his key."

  "It's a she." He closed the door before anyone outside saw.

  "Oh."

  "Grab 'ze weapons from' ze table. We'll be leaving shortly. Oh yeah, and grab that." He pointed at three boxes on the couch.

"Ok then, I'll go there first." Ivan walked over to them, picking one of them up and reading the product name, "The... Air-grabber?"

"Yep, an official product from BLU. Just pull 'ze trigger and you'll be flying in 'ze air, but don't shoot it too far."

  After opening the box, Ivan began to take a good look at the gadget, which looked similar to that of a Rivet gun, only with a longer muzzle. He looked at the controls and got a clear understanding on how to use it.

"You like it?"

"Don't know, gotta find out." He then handed them the other boxes and began to supply himself with ammo. With that, Pierre would be on the lookout for enemy troops by looking the door's peephole.

   Ivan grabbed the odd shaped sniper rifle in front of him. "Here Haystack."

"Uh, thanks." Haystack grabbed the rifle.

"You're going to need that. If we're going to infiltrate the building, then we're going to need some support."  He handed him the ammo.

"Huh, aren't these bullets a little too small for a sniper rifle?" Haystack said, observing the blue pellets in the magazine.

"I don't know, just take it."

"Hmm, alright." He looked below and spotted a shotgun. "Er, take this."

  He slid it over.

"Uh, nah, shotguns aren't for me." He mumbled

"Hmm?"

"Er, You should take it." He slid it back.

"Oh... k?" He looked at Pierre, giving him a worried face; which Pierre replied with the same feeling.

  Ivan sighed again, grabbing the SMG from the second table. "Alright, let's get moving."

  He aimed the SMG at the window.

D-r-r-r-r!

Crash!

  He then ran up towards it and jumped out, pulling the trigger of his Air-grabber.

Tw-wch!

  The rope spat out like a regular grabbling. Only this time, instead of going down like a tired bullet; it remained strait and grabbed onto the air as if it were concrete.

"Whoa!" Ivan shouted, the hook throwing him into the air and draining his screams out with its force. He felt the breeze stroll past him, making him want to play some easy listenable music as he sailed in the sky. It made him feel a bit free when he did this, as if he could soar in the sky with the Pegasi. However, that experience didn't last long... of course. He then looked down as the rush of air faded into obscurity. "Crap."

  He made his descent, letting in a new wave of air through his body.  Fortunately, he was able to stand his ground, putting his feet at the bottom and land safely on the rooftop of the next building... if you call falling over upon landing safety.

"Phew, good thing I was trained to-"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

"Huh?" He faced upwards and placed his hand against his forehead for a better look.

"Umph!" Pierre was the first to land.

"Huh, I didn't know you were-" He was then interrupted by yet another burst of fright, "Oh, it wasn't you then?"

"Ow!" Haystack grunted, skidding against the roof with force before slamming his hind legs relief, "Ow."

"You all right buddy?" Ivan asked in a nonchalant matter.

"Yeah." Haystack struggled to get up, feeling dazed from the fall. "You humans and y'er fancy technology."

"Ha, and proud of it, too!... Well, most of it." He then turned his attention towards Pierre, who was looking around for directions. "So where to now?"

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

"Damn, looks like they heard that."

"Gee, I wonder what gave them that idea?" groaned Haystack, annoyed by his reaction.

"This way." announced Pierre. He then fired the rope into the air, letting it hold on to it and send him on his way. It wouldn't take long before the others followed.

"Ah'van!" Haystack shouted.

"Yeah?" Ivan replied with a less frightful tone than Haystack's.

"Wh'ah aren't ya scared of this thing!"

"I am! But Hey, It's also cool!"

"Whaddaya mean!"

"I mean, We can sort of fly!"

"We can't fl'ah, only birds, Pegas'ah, and most drag-"

"I said sort of!"

  They landed on one of the roofs, running over it before going onto the next one. There, Pierre made a sharp turn to the right.

"The Hell?"

"Whoa, Pierre!" Ivan shouted, while he and Haystack stumbled to slow down, "Wait up!"

  Once they regained their footing, they continued their pursuit.

Tw-wch!

  Pierre, at that moment, was already flying in the air, heading towards another building across the street.

  The two were next. "Pierre, slow down man, we can't-"

Twang! T-twang! T-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-twang!

"Damn it, why didn't we see it!?" Ivan muttered, looking at the chopper behind them.

BOOM!

"Ah hay!"

  The two were in awe of the choppers sudden explosion.

"Remember that!" Pierre shouted, holding onto his rifle as smoke seeped from the grenade launcher.

"What, the explosion!?"

"No, when I do what I just did! When something like that happens, prepare for when I make that move!"

"Alright!"

  They hopped off the next building and fired their hooks. While in the sky, Ivan looked over to the cloudy horizon to his left and found a strange sight.

"Hey, Pierre, what's that?"

"Huh?'

"That, over there!' He pointed at what he was looking at.

"Oh, that! That's ze leader's palace, also known as 'Die Staaliche Auge'!"

"German right?!

"Yeah! How did you know?"

"Just a hunch!"

"Ah'm surpr'ahsed that it's shaped l'ahke a wrench!"

  Exasperated by his screaming, Ivan thought.  "I'm surprised that you can't close that mouth. Maybe, that's how the chopper spotted us."

"I'm surprised that you two didn't see it!" He looked ahead and found a skyscraper in front of them. "Look, we can attack from 'ze top of that tower, follow me!"

   Approaching it, Pierre fired again once he and the gun was reeled in. After that boost of air, he placed his feet forward and landed on the brick wall. With his feet on the wall, combined with the rush of air, he increased speed and ascended up the building. Ivan would repeat after him and do the same. Haystack however... well, he managed to place his hooves against the wall as if he was spelunking.

"S-son of a b-bitch." He quivered, holding on for dear life. Looking at the grey sky above, he came up with an idea. What if he could shoot his way up to the top by shooting the rope up there? Well, he had to give it a try, knowing that he won't be able to run up these walls with his hooves.

"Ok, l-let's aim this d-doohickey up." Once the gun was aimed at the sky, he pulled the trigger.

  Tw-wch!

  The rope shot out with impressive speed, fast enough to soar past his comrades.

  When Ivan saw the rope, the first question he asked was. "Jesus, did Haystack stay behind?!"

  Snap!

"Uh oh?" Haystack muttered, realizing that it was too high. "WWWWHHHAAAAAA!!!!"

  The force of the reeling was too brute, sending him flying into the clouds.

"Ugh, son of a bitch, I'll get 'em." Ivan jumped off the wall and fired his Air-grabber into the sky.

  Haystack in the meantime, kept flying towards the grey skies above. The force and speed of his flight was making him wish that it would end already.

"Please Celestia." Haystack prayed in his head. "End this n'aghtmare!"

  His worries would soon fade once he went through the clouds and felt the gentle breeze of the other side.

"Celestia?" Haystack asked softly, looking at the bright sun in front of them. "Am 'ah dead?"

  The sight of the sun made him feel warm inside... a little too warm. The brightness of the sun, combined with the rush of the air, was now temporarily erasing his consciousness. All he could hear now, was his beating heart, which was the only thing giving him company.

  The fall felt graceful as well. It felt as if he was diving into water and feeling the cold water surround him.

Tw-wch!

  Zzzzz!

  Tw-wch!

"Oh no." Ivan groaned. "Not again."

  He caught him with precise accuracy, even though he had to go to the ground now. Knowing that there was no other way, he placed his feet on the bottom and prepared for impact. With his feet like that, and Haystack being carried above him, he felt like superman; only without the cape and super strength.

"Oh, this is going to hurt." Ivan thought, watching the rooftop get bigger as he approached it.

Thud!

  Snap!

"OOOOWWWW!!!" Ivan shrieked, collapsing onto the rooftop in pain.

"Ivan, are you all right?" Pierre asked worryingly.

"No, you idiot! My leg's broken!!" He then calmed himself down, sighed, bared through the pain, and looked at Haystack's unconscious body. "If I had a nickel for every time this pony got knocked out, I'd have like four right now... Ow."

"Four, really?"

"Yep, that guy just has a very vulnerable head, I guess." He then reached into his pocket and got out a syringe before injecting it over Haystack's neck. Once it was empty, Haystack opened his eyes.

"Uh, what happened?"

"Ya got knocked out again. Sheesh, does that happen all the time to you?"

"Uh, no?"

"Hmm, and another thing."

"What?" He asked, sitting on his haunches and massaging his head.

"My leg's broken, I need another one of your syringes." Ivan demanded, sitting up while doing so.

"Oh, uh, alright." He buried his muzzle into his pockets and got out the last syringe he had; and injected it into Ivan's leg, "This is common back on the farm."

"What, making incantations like this?"

"No, gettin' hurt. Good thing we invented this syringe. It expels hospital bills from our family."

"Hey, that doesn't answer my question."

"What question?"

"Do you make these stuff?"

"Yeah, but we get the ingredients from a zebra who-"

  He was taken aback by the news. "Hold on, there are zebras in Equestria?"

"Uh-"

"Since when were there zebras in Equestria?"

"'Ah don't know, she's always been there.  M'ah granny says that 'ah shouldn't trust her, 'cause she's a witch and all, but 'ah don't know wh'ah. She sends me down there to b'ah the ingredients for this stuff. Teh, hypocrite." Once his speech was done, he was met with two gaped mouths.

"All in favor of forgetting everything he just said, say 'I'." suggested Ivan.

"I." said Ivan.

"Je." said Pierre.

"That works too." He looked down at his leg, and noticed that it was movable again. Standing up, he walked over to the edge and observed the large news station below.

"So, do you remember what to do Haystack?... Haystack?" He looked behind him, realizing that Haystack was just moped in shame for leaking valuable information, "Haystack, we said we're not going to tell anyone. Plus, why would they believe us?"

"It's not that, its just that-"

  He rolled his eyes. "Whatever it is, save it until we complete our mission. You know what to do, right?""

  The stallion nodded.

"Good, let's go, Pierre." He fired his Air-grabber into the sky, with Pierre following. "Ugh, him and his other reasons."

  Haystack in the meantime, lied on his belly and placed his head on the scope.

  He then thought. "Wh'ah are we so different?"