Faux Pas: The Bluebird's Song

Chapter 3

The Rundown

“Hey, where ya from?”I turned from my chair to face this old drunk sitting beside me. Since I entered the bar, all he has done was pester me, asking for my name, my age, anything to catch me in a conversation. Obviously it was landing him nowhere but with my patience for his unimaginably horrid teeth growing thin, I had to get the message clearly across.“Look,” My voice had more conviction than I intended. Maybe that’s a good plus. “I don’t really care what you have to say and I just came here for a drink. But if you pester me enough with your bullshit, maybe I’ll consider breaking your neck right here, right now.”The Deity-awful smile faded from his face as he turned his head back to his drink, hoof toying with the shot glass.Not too many actually notice this but some ponies who drink at the bar counter appreciate the mirror behind the tender. Usually to make sure they still look sane but to others, others like me, we use it as a defence tool. And it always comes in handy in situations like these.I stared at the reflection that was supposed to be me; a grey mare with a blue mane that perfectly matches my sapphire eyes. The flying bird cutie mark, white as a dove. I smiled and she smiled back. To some, it would have felt... off. But after so many years, it never really mattered to me anymore. I stared again but something caught my eye in the background. Something that I instantly knew was off.Behind me, about a table or two away, was a stallion. His blond mane hidden in a bowler hat and tracing down his white, grey-spotted body was a black coat. I’d dare say it was purely luck but as he pulled out his wallet, his fluttering coat revealed a holstered gun strapped on his chest. From the looks of it, it was probably a Blanc 38. Looking around further, I spotted another stallion, dressed quite similarly. This time though, I could almost feel my intelligence draining away at his incompetence. Aside from the obvious stare at me, I could already make out the butt of the Thompson he’s trying to conceal. He probably thought it would pass to passers-by as a roll of newspaper but I doubt many ponies are that dumb. Hah! Big mistake.I looked at the depressed drunk again. This time, a lovely smile plastered on my face.“Say, I guess you’re not really such a bad guy after all, huh?” I offered him my most sincere smile. I know he’ll bite.The drunk smiled and looked back to me. His lips began to move but I gently placed a hoof on them and whispered “Come with me.”It really didn’t take much to mesmerize a buck like him. They were always gullible to a mare’s flank. Slowly, he followed me to the backroom, the aspiring assailants following suit... Or at least my instincts told me so.A torrent of rain poured in the back alley, soaking me and the drunk buck. Soon as I turned around, I spotted that lust in his eyes. I gave him another smile, one that hid my intentions.The door suddenly burst open, startling the intoxicated horse and sending him spinning right around to see what caused the noise.“STOP!” shouted one of them as he pulled out his Blanc with his horn’s power. “PERCHE SECURITY AGENCY!”The, possibly, apprentice of the agent followed suit, raising his Tommy gun’s barrel at me. I almost smirked as I saw his magic being quite weak. His barrel was shaking; possibly from the strain. That weapon isn’t easy after all. Especially with a drum magazine equipped. He’s definitely new.Drunk pony was in shock at first but as he began to realize what was going on, I had already pulled out my knife and aimed it at his throat, pulling him closer with my telekinesis. I let go a deadly smirk. These foals would find it hard to kill me as much as I’d find it easy to get rid of them. Some agents these are. Maybe if they shot first, announced later, they might have landed a graze to my shoulder. But these were the Perche. They just had to show flare. Hmph.“So, you really want to kill a civilian to get me?” The apprentice looked to his mentor for a split second. More than enough. I suddenly lunged at the mentor, the screaming drunk placed between me and his gun. Three shots erupted from his Blanc which tore right into my meat shield. The momentum though threw him off balance, leaving him open. The knife, on the other hand, drove straight for the apprentice’s head, the steel blade ploughing right through his skull and into his brain. His eyes rolled up as he began to drop to the ground.But he never hit it unscathed.Instantly pulling the knife off the younger’s head, the warmed blade tore into the senior’s neck. A gasp was all he could do when the knife cut through, severing his arteries and windpipe; effectively drowning him in his own blood.Both assailants twitched as they finally lost the lustre of a soul in their eyes. With a huff, I mindlessly wiped the blood off my knife on the agents’ clothes and holstered it back under my flank’s robe. Looking around, I proceeded back into the bar and sat down on my spot where my drink patiently waited for me.“He comin’ back?”Guess the tender worried about the payment. I would too if one of my customers was ordering such premium rum and finishing a whole bottle in a few hours. In Sorraia, nothing comes free and nothing comes cheap. And that bottle alone definitely does not cost a few bits.With a sigh, I replied one of the few things I just had to do to get that stench off my tail for now. “I’ll take it.”Heh, it was probably the least I could do for him to protect me. Maybe he was a little nice afterall... Deity, those horrible teeth!!!

:D:

I breathed in the cool morning air as I looked out the window. One of the few joys anyone could really have in such a broken world as this would be the wonderful temperature the morning brought. These lands were full of ash, destruction, poison, and mayhem. Why, what would you expect from the Republic of Asura? This land of seemingly eternal night? If it weren’t for the clock I had, I would never have known the difference between morning and midnight.After ‘enjoying’ the scenic view of the wasteland, I trotted to the washroom. The cool water instantly shot everything to crystal clear focus. And, just like everyday that I get to do this, I began to hate this city with almost a passion. Sorraia was never quiet. Always full of noise, depression, agony, and death. I never was a fan of the noise... But I’ve always specialized in the others.I looked back, another form was on my bed. It lay still, motionless. I smiled.CRRACK!!I heard the door fly off its hinges and land somewhere opposite; the crash suggested it must have hit the window. Clops soon followed; sounded like at least seven. Wearing armor? I bet considering how heavy the steps were.Another loud crack sent the door flying past my view from the bathroom door and crashing somewhere on my bed’s headboard. I guessed at least one was on the door, two at the most as their slow hoofsteps echoed in the room. Taking no more chances, I telekinetically lifted the motionless form from under the sheets and pulled the trigger. A short whine then a scream comparable to that of a phoenix filled the room. The Vulcan made short work of a portion of my wall near the door and possibly one of the intruders. Releasing the trigger, I risked a peak and found two armoured bodies on the floor; one of which was now missing a head. I instantly ducked my head back in as one of the armoured ponies, which they called tanks by the way, sent a spray of ammo my way, hitting the doorsill where my head once was.“Give up, Faux Pas!” he shouted. Hmm, if only he didn’t try to kill me, I would probably thought his voice was actually cute. “You’re surrounded!”I guess these boys aren’t gonna give me up, let me down, and desert me. OH well, time for plan B.With a quick burst of fire from Michelangelo, I dove and sprinted to my window, landing on the steel fire exit platform. This soon proved to be one of my wisest actions thus far as a grenade detonated where my bathroom is... Or was. But new trouble met me as I looked down and found that more tanks were climbing up to where I stood. Scrambling to my legs, I bolted up the stairs fast as my legs could take me. They were slow, yes, but they were armed. I, on the further rotten hand of luck, was not.I felt the bullets whiz past me as I ran. Sparks and lead erupted around me from the steel as the sound of machinegun fire echoed from below. But with these foals such poorshots, I was starting to doubt anything would hit me anytime soon. Heh, nope. Not gonna happen.The roof seemed clear as I hopped off the exit ladders. Seemed. The door to the stairwell suddenly blew off. And with no wall to stop it, it simply drifted off past the ledge and down to the streets below. I spared no time wondering how many were on the stairwell. If I wanted to live, I had to get away. Fast!I ran right, rushing to the stairwell’s blind spot; behind it. Well, of course, these tanks just had to be smart. The immediately aimed for the emergency stairwell first then tracked me when they saw nothing. I guess they found me within a few seconds as I began to hear them galloping behind me.PFOOSH!! BOOM!!!No, that was not a grenade launcher, was it?PFOOSH PFOOSH!! BOOM!!!I suddenly began to feel panic as grenades were being launched at me and exploding with tremendous force. Looks like I now know what took down my door. I ran and strafed, dodging the explosive projectiles hurled at me from large-bore barrels. Then I began to hear a familiar whining sound coming from somewhere below. It wasn’t one of an animal though but more of...The answer suddenly presented itself in the form of a VTOL assault craft; its sliding door open and a gunner aiming straight for me. Large calibre machinegun rounds tore through the concrete where I was as I leapt to the side. Then, an idea. It was crazy but if I can pull it off, it should be good enough for an escape.“Surrender now, Faux! It’s over!” shouted one of the tanks from behind me. Look like those suits actually have a built in speaker system. Wow. I think I want one.I turned left, my back to the assault craft and the tanks rushing behind me. From that angle, the assault craft would definitely think twice about shooting but the tanks would surely try to plumel me with their grenade launchers...Which they didn’t. I looked around and wondered. Hah! Out of ammo. Just perfect.With a smooth movement of my hooves, I kicked off a shift of direction on one of the air conditioning units and galloped straight towards the now on-coming tanks. I’m guessing they think they can hit me with rapid fire ammo at this range but sorry, your retarded auto-lock is easy to mess with. I dodged and weaved; messing with the scanners and making them shoot over and wide. They must be terribly frustrated now as they realized that their highly advanced equipment was actually powerless against quick thinking. Besides, I have a better plan than they can think of. And the prize is right past them.Every one of them tried to block me but never suspected what ponkour can do; using my forehoof, I hopped up top one of them and skipped past each by hopping over their armorous hides. Some tried to reach but hopping had its advantages, I was somewhat beyond their hooves’ reach.Finally skipping off the last tank, I landed on the ground and galloped straight for the ledge, the VTOL, hovering before me. Was I scared? Of course, I’m scared! But this gamble was well worth it! A hop, a skip, and a...JUMP!!I jumped off the ledge, eyes set for the hovercraft. I know I wouldn’t reach with just a regular jump though. What to do? My horn glowed bright as I used more of that specialty unicorns do and shoved myself with a bit more momentum. Just enough to...BUCK!!My hooves met with the face of the shocked gunner. It was most probable that he thought I was not going to make it and plummet to my death, fifteen stories above. But hey, common misconception, right? The gunner toppled over, sliding to the other side and off the craft, plummeting to his death. I would have probably followed suit had I not managed to grab the harness lying on the floor. Why he wasn’t wearing it was beyond me. Hope someone learned from that lesson.The pilot looked back, finding me alone and a portable fire extinguisher slamming straight to his face. One good slam probably broke his neck as he laid limp on his chair and the VTOL, suddenly banked sharply to the left. I instantly dove to the seat beside the pilot’s and pulled the yoke. The craft righted itself but was still going forward with momentum. I breathed a sigh of relief which became a gasp when I heard an alarm go off. Apparently, tanks had the ability to launch surface-to-air missiles. Whoop-dee-doo, what a surprise. Should’ve seen that coming.I instantly banked the craft to the right and slammed a hoof on the rudder, my other forehoof pushing fast on the accelerator. The projectile missed my tail by inches but it was too close for comfort. I have to get out of this craft before more come my way. And I’m caught in a long straight road. I definitely have no cover.I pushed the craft forward as fast as I could, wires and posts dangerously close to me. One wrong move and my escape would definitely be for nothing. I lowered the craft a bit more to the ground, praying that I don’t break anything when I crash hop off. I kicked the hatch beside me. It took about three tries but it flew off somewhere, maybe landing on to a car. I didn’t care. I had other things to worry about. Another alarm screamed; a missile was already on its way to ram itself in this ship’s flank. Thinking it’s now or never, I jumped.I woke up on a car’s roof. My back stung in pain but I was alive and, quite possibly, nothing broken. Realizing what it was that I needed to do, I hopped off the ruined vehicle to run. Maybe I was out too long as I found myself surrounded by the tanks, their auto-guns aimed right at me. At this range, hey, I’d be ground meat even if I do the dodgey-dodgey thing. I sat in resignation with a smirk.“Not bad. Guess you win this round.”One of them approached me and shot me with something. As I looked to my left flank, I found a dart, sticking into my flesh. With a light chuckle, the darkness enveloped me. I guess some rest would be nice too after all that running.

No side.