To Run Away...

Chapter 5

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A music box played a soft lilting tune in Haystack's head. It felt sweet to listen to, making him want to sleep even more.

   But, that desire was cut off by an aggressive knock on the door downstairs, accompanied by the chant of an Angry mob.

"SINNER! SINNER! SINNER! SINNER..."

   Due to this, Haystack opened his eyes, revealing onto him a grey wall. Sitting up, he noticed that the window to his right wasn't showing what was outside. Instead, the view was blocked by an opaque bright light.

"GRANNY SMITH?" A demonic voice yelled in utter rage, "GRANNY SMITH!"

  "What?" He became affright as his heart raced.

"GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE THIS INSTANT!"

  "W-Whaddaya want?" He heard an elderly mare ask in fear.

"YOU KNOW WHAT WE WANT, YOU HAG!"

   Haystack left the bed and began to head out the door.

"WIPE AWAY THE DEBT, TO WIPE AWAY HIS SIN!"

   That one sentence terrified him as he walked down the hallway, which was as colorless as his room.

  "Well, we could pay it off if ya ended the boycott on our apples!" She retorted.

   Haystack descended down the stairs in slow paced steps.

"YEAH, BUT WE PONYVILLIANS HAVE THE RIGHT TO NOT HELP YOU!"

   He stood in the middle of the empty living room.

  "Then leave us alone!" Granny Smith choked up.

   Haystack in the meantime, ignored her, and headed for the door.

  "Big Macintosh! What the hay are ya doin'?" The elderly mare called out with concern.

   He placed his hoof on the door before turning around to face Granny Smith. She had tears streaming down her face as she sat on her haunches,  comforting a much younger mare who was looking at a puddle below, a puddle she created with her own eyes. The image was strong enough to break his heart. But, he had to suck it up. And with that, he answered, "Fixin' what 'ah just started."

   He pushed the door laggardly, letting in a grain size of the outside light inside. Suddenly, somepony stopped him, grabbing onto his foreleg with a hoof. He turned around to see who it was. However, the pony's eyes were too bright to reveal his or her face. They were even bright enough to knock him out. And so the darkness resumed as he layed on the floor.

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   Water began to overwhelm his body (Excluding his muzzle and eyelids.) as he felt a rush of energy giving him the power to open his eyes.

  "Damn you Haystack! Don't fail me now!" He heard Ivan's voice call out through an earpiece as he felt a sharp sting on his left foreleg.

   Once Haystack was fully awake and aware of the situation, he said. "Ugh, what a dream."

  "Doesn't matter, let's get the hell out of here!" He said as he let the empty syringe float away.

  "Yes sir. Oh, and what am 'ah wearin'?"

  "Oxygen mask with built in goggles." He swam out the window with Haystack behind him. "Well, mines is, yours is just separate. Also, they feature a water drainage system. I don't how it works and I don't ask, I'm just happy that it works."

   They began to swim upwards as the subway train sank to the bottom of the lake.

  "And how are we still talkin' to each other? Can't human technology get damaged in water?"

  "Not all tech. Some of it is waterproof, like the earpieces we have on. Also, I forgot to mention that the masks have built in communicators. So that's another reason."

  "Huh, also, ya know they'll be waitin' fer us up there, r'aght?"

  "That's why we're not heading that way. Are you even looking at the direction we're going?"

   Haystack then realized that they were going in another direction.

  "Oh, r'aght." He said, mentally scolding himself for this recent mistake.

  "Hmm, So, any other questions?"

   With that, his dream returned to his mind, "Uh, yes, can 'ah ask ya somethin' personal?"

  "I thought we had a deal."

   He didn't forget about what he told him back on the train. However, that wasn't going to prevent the earth pony from asking.

  "What-"

  "I said we had a deal." He was starting to get annoyed. "So it's best that we don't talk about it."

  "Yes sir." He nodded with shame.

   After a while, they managed to reach the shoreline, and they remained quiet throughout that time. Upon arrival, they stood on their feet/hooves and took off their oxygen masks. But what they found on the shore was a surprise, it was a vast crowd of people looking at them with awe and fear.

  "Ah'van, wh'ah are they lookin' at us lah'ke that?" Haystack muttered to him.

  "Don't know, but a better question would be, why are they all wearing lab coats and overalls with letter D's on them? Come on, let's go."

   They proceeded up the sandy slope as the civilians watched their every move, making Haystack a little uncomfortable.

   Once at the top, a parking lot would appear , where it was filled entirely of cars dating back to twenty-thirteen.

  "Huh?" Ivan muttered as he felt someone pull his overcoat like a puppy.

   The duo turned around, to find a little girl who quickly looked away at their sight, hiding her face with her blonde hair.

  "E-excuse me?" She asked in quietude.

  "Yes?" He asked with sympathy as Haystack only watched with the same feeling.

  "Um, Troy, w-wanted me t-to give you this." She handed him a walkie talkie.

  "Oh?" He politely took it from her hand. Once the device was no longer touching her hand, she ran off.

  "Huh, shy, isn't she?" said Haystack as she ran down Ivan ignored that, and observed the walkie talkie, which had yet another sticky note. It made Ivan roll his eyes again.

   On the note, it simply read,

TURN IT ON.

   And so he did, once he threw away the note of course.

  "Uh, Hello?" Ivan asked as he held it in front of his mouth.

  "'Ah, Ivan Bentley! Nice to meet you!" The man on the other side said with such greatness to hear from him.

  "Uh, how do you know my name?"

Static!

  "What the-"

   A brief tune played on the loudspeaker, which was located in the center of the parking lot. It would then be replaced by a female announcer with a voice of urgency.

  "Friends, two infiltrators are on the loose in our fair city..."

  "I think they know that we're not dead." Ivan said.

  "Ya think?" said Haystack to the obvious remark.

  "... These mongrels have murdered thirty of our comrades, and one of them wields the power to create ice..."

  "Huh?" Ivan muttered as the tugging returned. And so they turned around to find the same girl from earlier hide timidly behind her hair again.

  "Um... M-my Dad... says that-"

  "It's okay Maribelle." A man in a lab coat contemplated behind her. "Now, open the door for them. Hi, my name's Davey."

  "Uh, Hello." Ivan said nervously as Haystack gave a slight wave.

   She ran past the two before opening the door of an SUV to their left, hiding behind the door itself.

  "Get in." The man said to them, "And I recommend that your Equine friend go in the back."

  "... I repeat, all citizens are told to stay indoors until the matter is resolved. Please have in mind that no matter how much of our comrades we lose, we, the people on Doofania..."

  "Doofania?"

CLICK!

   After they were seated, and all the doors were closed, they left the parking spot.

  "So, why didn't they call the cops?" Ivan asked with that in question.

  "Huh?" The man asked.

  "Because unlike Caesar's Rome, we're not brainwashed. However, they're not experienced in combat." The voice on the other side intervened, "So, now that we're here, let me introduce you to Davey and his Daughter Maribelle."

  "They already introduced themselves sir."

  "Oh, anyways, they are a part of the resistance."

  "Oh good. What a cliché." He muttered.

  "Whaddaya mean?"

  "In every totalitarian nation, they'll always be people opposing the dictator."

  "Huh, true that."