Chaser

Chaser

Story 3

Chapter 3: Crash Courses

By: SleeplessScribe

As soon as Quick heard what I said, she grabbed a hold of me, dragging me into the corner. Without the light reflecting off her glasses, I saw her bright green eyes glaring a hole through me. “So you’re not only going to let this hayseed join, but you’re making her your equal within five minutes of initiation? Jet, what has gotten in to you?”

She hated when I rolled my eyes at her, and I’m sure my grin wasn’t helping. “When was the last time my judgment was wrong? I see something in Applejack here, and I think she’s going to prove to be more help than you can imagine. Besides, I’ve already gotten a little glimpse of what she can do in-“

The brainy mare’s frown turned to a vicious scowl as she got up in my face. “And what’s that supposed to mean, huh? Did our frisky new friend give you a nice view, Jet? Well I hope you enjoyed it, you jerk! I don’t care what you say, or what you do, I will never accept this… hussy as one of us!”

This was about the time she stormed out of wherever we were, and I followed her trying to apologize. However, I stood still as her words twisted the grin into a frown of my own, and my tone froze her in place. “Quick Fix! You listen right now, you hear? If you had let me finish what I was going to say, you would have known that I was talking about her power! She beat on one of those punching bags so fast you’d have thought she was a machine! Look, I don’t know if you’re jealous, offended, threatened, or whatever, but you do not, I repeat you do not speak of anyone on this team as if they’re some common whorse! Do you understand me?”

Okay, I’ll admit, seeing her knees shaking as she bit her lip did make me feel a little bad, but she knew how I felt about the subject I ended on. Dust and Jack just stood there with blank expressions on their faces- as usual- and Sprint was kind of hiding behind quite the concerned looking Applejack.

After a long silence, Quick finally turned back to the door, her head lowered. “Sorry, Jet, I… I wasn’t thinking. You know I didn’t mean it like that. I just….” She trailed off, slowly leaving the room at a snail’s pace.

When I had finally calmed down, I turned back to Applejack and let out a sigh. “Sorry you had to see that, AJ. I don’t normally lose my cool like that.” Even a light chuckle was impossible at this point, so I just made for the exit myself. “When you’re ready, come see me in the last theater. It’s torn up, but we still have a use for it.”

I closed the door, but I stuck around for a bit, listening as I heard them talking.

“So, what exactly was that?”

I heard both Jack and Dust’s voices, but Sprint shut them both up by talking a little faster. “It’s no secret anymore that Quick Fix has a big crush on my brother, and she gets real jealous real easy sometimes. She has a habit of being hostile towards any mare that Jet seems attached to in some way. And, honestly, with you it’s probably worse.”

“Why would it be worse with me?”

It was now my goal to get out as soon as possible. If Sprint was about to say what I think she was, I’m sure my face would have turned as red as AJ’s probably was right now. Everypony knew I kind of had a thing for blondes, but I really wished my sis would keep that detail about me to herself. Rather than think about all the possible reactions the farm pony might have, I tried to focus on my new task: training her.

I had yet to tell her the Chasers were freerunners; we stayed hidden by keeping to rooftops, and we trained ourselves to climb buildings and hurl over obstacles in order to more easily catch criminals. There was no doubt in my mind Applejack could easily learn these skills, but I wanted to make sure she did. She also needed an introduction to our equipment that was both quick and informative, and it normally took the guy I put in charge of training rookies ten minutes just to explain all of our gear.

Applejack had something the Chasers needed, I could just tell. I just wasn’t sure what that something was yet. However, it didn’t really matter; if you ask any member of this group if I’ve ever had a hunch that was wrong, you’ll get a solid “no”.

While the carpet had been pulled up to pad the insides of the sleeping quarters, the theater still function quite well as a storage space for equipment. The typical Chaser arsenal consisted of two leather bracers with claws at the end used for holding on to ledges, one of my dad’s experimental headset radio thingies that still blew me away, three pairs of hoof cuffs, and a head-mounted flashlight. Each recruit received a little “starter pack” with these items in a saddle bag, but as they gained more experienced and poked their way into a specialty section, their gear would change. Applejack, however, would keep the same gear that I used, and this was it.

Ten minutes seemed to be the trend today as the country girl walked through the door. “Jet, can we talk for a second?”

I was putting together a bag for her, but I wasn’t too bad at multitasking. “Sure, what’cha wanna talk about?”

When I was finished I turned to face her, and she was pulling a Quick and circling her hoof on the ground. “Well, a couple things. What exactly is it that you see in me?”

After a little bit of thought, I set the bag down as I let out a sigh. “I’m not exactly sure. Something about you tells me that you’re just all around good, and I really admire how you’ve thrown yourself into a fight you had nothing to do with just because you thought it was right.” Picking the bag back up, I handed it to her. “Integrity like that is hard to find right now.”

AJ tilted her head at the bag, looking inside. “What in tarnation is all this for?”

There were plenty of small buildings for me to choose from, but most of them were a few blocks away, which gave me time to both explain the gear and answer any more questions. “Basic gear. You’re going to be sticking with me, so this is all you’ll need.”

Her lips kind of curled inward, forming a thin line on her face. “Okay… but that doesn’t tell me what it’s for.”

I motioned with my head for her to follow, and we made our way out of the theater. The best place to start her training would probably be Cheddar Charlie’s Pizza, and it was also the closest to where we were at two blocks away. “Well Applejack, I told you you would find out how I got so strong, right? Well, we’re freerunners, meaning we make a joke out of obstacle courses. We can vault over fences, slide under road blocks, jump rooftops, and even climb buildings. The Chasers are still vigilantes, so the guards would be after us regardless of Monopoly’s generous donations to their payroll, but that just makes them even more adamant to catch us. So we figured that we should travel in ways they couldn’t possible match.”

The freckled farmer raised a brow at me. “So you’re saying you climb buildings? How in the world do you manage that?”

“When we get where we’re going, I’ll show you, and I’ll explain what’s in that bag. Any other questions?”

“Um, yeah. Why were you so upset at what Quick Fix said about me?”

I froze at her question, causing her to bump into me. Helping her up, I looked her straight in the eyes with as serious of an expression as I could put on. “That’s very thin ice you’re treading on, Applejack. I like you, but that doesn’t mean I trust you enough with something as personal as that. I’m sorry to say this, but don’t bring this up again. If I feel like I can tell you, I will.”

She lowered her hat a little, giving me a nod. “I understand, Jet, I was just curious. I’m not one to pry, so I’ll leave it at that. So, where exactly are we headed?”

Until AJ brought it up, I hadn’t even noticed how fast we were walking. Charlie’s was in sight now, so I pointed over to it. “Since you are gonna be my co-leader, I figured it was best to start teaching you the ropes myself. That pizzeria over there is one of the smaller buildings in the city, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble.”

Applejack shook her head quickly, causing her hat to flop over her left ear before she set it right. “Wait, so you think I can learn how to climb buildings? Are you out of your mind?”

I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, reaching out and patting her shoulder. “Applejack, didn’t I say we Chasers were just a little bit crazy? Besides, once you get good at it, jumping from place to place can get pretty fun.”

She rolled her eyes at me, making the same face she had when I spoke about her gear. “I’ve climbed many a tree in my day, what makes you think I can go up a flat building?”

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes, but a smile spread across my face. “You really are new to this city. Nothing is perfect, and that’s especially true for pretty much every building in this city. Cracks, depressions, protrusions, all these things are what help us pull ourselves up along walls. However, we do have our limits and don’t climb anything too tall. If I had to give an image, I’d say the highest we’d go is the third story of any building. We’re not that crazy. Some of the gear you have helps with climbing, too.”

The pretty mare let out a sigh, raising her head back up. “If you say so. So how long do you think this should take? I know I said I wanted to help, but I’m sure you can’t blame me for being worried about my family.”

She was absolutely right; I didn’t blame her. Lucky for us, we were now just across the street from the restaurant, and no guards had come through here on patrol, yet. Teasingly opening AJ’s bag for her, I took out her headset thingy and lifted her hat, slipping the headset, and her hat, back on.

I felt a small wisp of air every time Applejack blew on the little microphone near her mouth, her eyes crossed as she tried to look at it. “What the hay is this thing, some kind of head mounted harmonica?”

A shrug was all I had to give in response. “My dad has been looking into ways to communicate without the need for letters. He’s explained to me how it works, but most of the time what he says goes over my head. All I know, and all I need to know, is that these things lets us talk to our techs back at base. If any of us is out while a crime is going on, they can tell us instantly so we can respond.”

She began poking at it with her hoof. Honestly, her lack of knowledge was kind of cute. “Huh, talk about fancy.”

“Hey, is someone there?” The deep, somewhat muffled voice no doubt was coming from a guard. That wouldn’t have been a problem had I know where he was and what route he was taking, but obviously I didn’t.

Grabbing Applejack’s hoof, I made a mad dash for the shadows between the pizza joint and the building next to it I didn’t care to look at to see what it was. “AJ, ready for a crash course in climbing?”

“I guess I gotta be, don’t I?”

“Got that right, just… watch me, alright?” Luckily, Charlie’s wasn’t built by the greatest of craftsmen, and there were quite a few bricks poking out to take a hold of. In a hurry, I leaned my front hooves against the way, slowly moving them up as if I was walking until I was standing straight up on my hind legs, then pushed myself up with a small jump. I did have to look down to make sure my new friend was watching, and sure enough, she was. In fact, she was already trying to mimic me as I made my way up. “Alright, it’s not that hard. Just look for anything you can put under your hoof, and use it to pull yourself up. It’s more a matter of- shit shit shit!”

The guard was making his way towards us. Though the fact that he wasn’t running meant he hadn’t seen us yet, if Applejack didn’t get up in time, he would. As soon as I was at the top, I reached my hoof out to help her. The restaurant was only 25 feet, not too tall for a first climb.

She managed to grab my hoof, but was giving me a glare the whole time. “Excuse me? You mind repeating tha-“ Before she could finish her sentence, her hoof slipped as she tried to grab the gutters and pull herself to the top.

Grabbing her was easy, but pulling her back up? Not so much. Applejack wasn’t heavy, but she definitely wasn’t as light as she looked. Fortunately, with a bit of effort and a little help Applejack managed to pull herself up. I think the guard heard the commotion, but lucky for us Cheddar Charlie’s had a big sign with the name of the place on the roof, giving us both a decent hiding spot while we waited for the guard to pass.

After a quick inspection of the area, he shrugged and continued on his way. I was about to let out a sigh of relief until I turned around and was met with the same glare AJ was giving me a few moments ago. “What?”

I had been slapped in the mouth before, but that was a whole new breed of smack. There was no doubt in my mind she was trying to make it hurt, but I wasn’t sure if she intended for it to leave a mark. “I do not appreciate that kind of language, Jet, and the next time I hear you use it, I’ll hit you so hard you won’t be able to use it again!”

Raising a hoof to the spot she slapped, I just stared at her wide eyed. I was starting to like her more and more, to be perfectly honest. Not because she slapped me, but because she reprimanded me for doing something she thought was wrong. “Sorry, AJ, it’s a bad habit. I’ll work on it.”

Soon after, an orange hoof was poking into my chest, and Applejack’s face was still locked in its rather frightening position. “You had better. I don’t wanna hear another swear word come out of your mouth, you hear me?”

Shrinking back, I was almost afraid to look her in the eyes now. “Yes ma’am.”

She crossed her left legs in front of her right, giving a satisfied smile. “Good. Now are you gonna explain these gizmos?”

With a nod, I pulled out each item from her bag, pointing at each item. “This right hear I know I don’t have to explain. No offense, but I highly doubt that you wouldn’t know what a flashlight is considering your line of work.”

After a small giggle, she gave me a nod. “None taken, and you’re right.”

“These are basic hoof cuffs in case we run into bad dudes. Slap a pair of these on ‘em and they won’t be getting away from you any time soon. And these,” I picked up one of the bracers, strapping it on and showing her the claws, “we use these for harder to climb surfaces. These claws here dig in to stone and brick, and they can also be used to grab ledges.”

Applejack snatched it off of my foreleg and stared at it. “Well this wouldn’t been helpful a few minutes ago! Why didn’t you tell me about them?”

I cleared my throat before my response. “Well, to be fair, we were kind of in danger of getting spotted.”

She gave me a shrug, seemingly accepting of my simple response. “Fair enough. So, what’s next? Now that I know I have these claw thingies, going up walls is gonna be a lot easier.”

Before I could actually respond, I heard a voice through my headset. As they spoke, I heard one of our three alarms in the background, as well. “Jet! Bad news! Firecracker’s been spotted with two more thugs, but they outran the Assault team that caught them!”

It took actual though to keep from swearing again as I stomped my hoof. “Ugh! That’s the fourth time this week! Any idea where they are?”

“That’s the good news: she’s coming to you.”

Turning to Applejack, the serious expression returned to my face. “Getting down is just as easy, if not easier, than going up. Are you ready for your crash course in pursuit?”

She scoffed, giving me a grin. “Are you kidding? I’ve run more races than you could imagine, ain’t no two bit good gonna outrun me!”

I shook my head before setting both hooves on her shoulders. “Applejack, Firecracker isn’t an everyday thug. She’s a ringleader, one of the few ponies we know of who has vital information we can use to convict Monopoly.”

Her eyes widened as she looked down at the street. “So if we can get a hold of her that could very well be the end of your problems right there?”

“Exactly.”

She was quite the brave, and or crazy pony to just jump off the roof as she did, but AJ did follow all the rules of reducing the impact of a jump. I followed suit, and almost immediately the mare in question zoomed by us, her bright yellow coat and red and white mane sticking out like a pigeon at a crow convention. “That’s her! Let’s get her!”

We both took off after her and her two lackeys. She knew we were chasing her, and it sucked. Firecracker and I had run races together before this whole mess with TimeTech, and she’s only lost to me once. However, I had a new secret weapon: Applejack. The farm girl was quite a bit faster than I was, and she was closing the gap with Firecracker quickly.

However, the goons quickly caught on as one moved to cut her off. We ran through alleys, across the park, and after so long of keeping on their tails, we finally were given an advantage. The only Pegasus in Manehattan rushed out from behind a building and tackled our target to the ground. While it did give us time to take down the two lackeys and cuff them, it wasn’t long before one of my fears came to light: Dust’s personal vendetta against the mare getting in the way of him being a Chaser.

Firecracker was on the ground, underneath Dust who had one of his claws on and raised to strike her. He came down quickly, but was stopped by a bright orange hoof. The Pegasus turned to Applejack, glaring at her with just as much rage as he harbored toward the earth pony beneath him. “Applejack, let me go.”

She shook her head, keeping a firm grip on his hoof. “No can do, Dust.”

Before he could say anything, I grabbed a hold of him as well. “Dust, you know the rules. Once you cross that line, you don’t go back. Remember our rule: we save lives, we don’t take them.”

He let out a low growl, lowering his hoof as he looked down. “Oh, well that’s just great!” Slamming his hooves down, we both saw that in during our argument, Firecracker had vanished, quite literally from under our noses. “Now look, she’s gone! I would’ve had her too!”

We both let him go, and I jerked the bracer off of him. “I think I’m going to have to take these away from you, Dust. These are only to be used in a fight if we’re faced with armed opponents. You know that.”

“Pfft, whatever.”

After all of us were on our hooves, Applejack gave us a much needed reminder. “Well, she may have gotten away, but we ain’t going back empty hooved.”

All attention then turned to the two colts still cuffed and on the ground. Firecracker, in her haste to get away, had left them behind.