As the helicopter flew low over the trees, Sokolov pondered the wisdom of opening fire on the ponies. Then again, he also pondered the wisdom of the ponies for doing it first, and for trying to arrest them. Clearly, if they were going over the city, there would be civilian casualties if a battle did erupt.

“They will be on us in two minutes, and we pass out of the city in four.” The pilot said. “Better hang on, we’re passing over the outskirts now.”

Sokolov looked down. Sure enough, houses were passing by below them, slowly being replaced by more built-up buildings. Ponies stared up at them in shock, and several times pegasi passed within meters of hitting them. Suddenly, he spotted a hint of gold coming up on their left side.

“Pegasi guards, nine o’ clock.” He said, first in Russian and then in English.

“Take them down.” Vasilyev said coldly, but with a bit of underlying nervousness.

Sokolov took careful aim and fired, his shots hitting one of the guards closing in on them. It tumbled to the streets forty meters below, electing screams from the inhabitants.

“Pegasi in front, turning!” The pilot yelled as the helicopter wrenched to the left, giving Sokolov a perfect view of the guards chasing them, but not a stable enough platform to fire from. Taking a deep breath, he hooked his right arm around a pole to keep stability, bringing the gun up to aim. He fired short bursts, at once hoping that they would not hit and scare it off – but as the same time hoping they would, sparing some civilian on the streets below.

Nevertheless, several tumbled from the sky, the brief glimpses he received revealing blood in abundance. The helicopter turned hard right, nearly knocking the Russian out of the helicopter if not for his safety tether. Several wooden and metal objects hit the hull and passed by them as pegasi armed with crossbows flew up beside them. At that moment, Ryan opened up with the Minigun.

It sprayed out bullets, impacted the pegasi (and tearing them apart) – as well as the building behind them. Vasilyev watched in horror as hundreds of rounds impacted the 16th floor of a building, causing part of the outside to fall away, revealing a panicking office – and, thankfully, no bodies.

The helicopter continued past that, headed over the city. If they were not wanted ten minutes ago, they certainly were now.

Thankfully, there were no more attacks as the helicopter headed over the edge of the city and out over the water.

“Where to?” Vasilyev asked the American sergeant.

He turned to confer with the pilot for a moment, before turning back.

“The coast of the main continent is a dozen miles to the east.” He said. “I suggest we follow it south.”

Vasilyev nodded. “Good suggestion. Let us do that.”

The helicopter banked left, headed slightly towards the east, and the short distance to the opposite shore was eaten up in a hurry. Soon enough, they were over dry land, a cause for a short celebration. However, a new problem popped up.

“It’s midafternoon, and we need to land to rest.” The pilot said. “Lucas and I are getting tired, and I don’t really trust the Russians to fly this.”

“Is there anywhere we can land?” The American sergeant asked.

The pilot nodded. “Farmland all the way along here. There’s a small clearing in an area of forest. The forest is a mile square, and the clearing is about sixty yards wide.” He pointed ahead of them, and indeed, there it was.

“How can you judge it at this distance?” The sergeant asked.

“Practice.” The pilot replied.

The sergeant sighed. “All right, land us there. I hope we don’t attract much trouble.”

“I heard.” Vasilyev said as the American sergeant came back. “We all need a rest.”

The sergeant rubbed his forehead, before nodding. “How long has it been since you’ve slept?”

“Midnight last night.” Vasilyev said.

The sergeant shrugged in reply. “I guess we do.” Turning back to the pilot, he issued a thumbs up, which the pilot returned.

Sokolov sighed. “Let’s just hope we don’t make a splash when we are thrown into the water.”

Author's Note

Yet again, another short chapter for you all.