The Great Escape!

by Wheller

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Hopely decided to take another personal day tomorrow. The year was almost over anyway, and she was required by law to use all of them that were provided to her. The idea was, being a member of the police force was a stressful job, and having enough rest and relaxation was essential to a healthy life.

Well, Hopely had never exactly had one of those, but, perhaps now was the time to start. Felicity seemed to be rubbing off on her.

They’d gone back to Hopely’s apartment, and Felicity had immediately locked herself in the washroom. Hopely raised an eyebrow as she looked at the door, hearing the lock click, but she merely shrugged it off, she sat down, and turned on the television.

They were showing the election results. Hopely had completely forgotten about them. She leaned in close as a map of Equestria. She watched as constituencies slowly began to fill in. Some yellow, some blue, very few green, and the occasional few were in other colours. Small parties that in the grand scheme of things didn’t matter.

Hopely sighed, as the map filled in, it became obvious. Most of the constituencies were yellow. The Pony’s Progressive Party had won the election, and would be forming a government in the coming days. Not that it mattered, Parliament only held the illusion of power. Equestria belonged to the secretive cabal that was the Future Technologies Corporation. So the results of the Election mattered very little.

Hopely sighed, she watched Madeline Wolsey took to the stage to give a speech, and turned the television off. She wasn’t interested in hearing another politician with no real power to do anything flap their gums.

Hopely rose to her hooves and got up to use the washroom, only to find the door locked. She’d forgotten.

She banged on the door. ‘Felicity!? What are you doing in there?’ she asked.

The door opened and the cotton candy pink pony strode out. Hopely nearly jumped in surprise. She’d straightened her main and tail into short, neat little curls, it made her almost unrecognisable.

‘Well—that’s different,’ Hopely admitted.

Felicity smiled and nodded. ‘The old Pinkie Pie’s mane poofed up like that regardless of what she tried to do with it. It appears I don’t have the same problem.’

Hopely smiled back. ‘It looks good on you, a little strange, but I just have to get used to it,’ she said simply.

Felicity smiled brightly at her and threw her forelegs around her friend in a tight hug.

‘F-Felicity—’

‘Oh! Sorry Hopely, I forget my own strength sometimes,’ she said as she relaxed her grip.

Hopely took a deep breath, but kept smiling at her.

…

‘Summer! We have a problem!’ TANTALUS called out.

Summer’s eyes snapped open and she looked up. The dragon was pointing out the window. The road opposite the railroad tracks was swarming with trucks and motorcycles.

‘Not Spetznaz?’ Summer asked.

TANTALUS shook his head. ‘They seem to be the local garrison of motorised infantry,’ he said, glancing out the window at them again.

Summer smirked. ‘Shouldn’t be an issue then. I’ll handle them,’ she said, her voice filled with malevolence as she grabbed the HMG and climbed gingerly out the back window onto the rear platform of the engine. She set the gun on the railing. She had very few rounds of the original belt left, but she let them fly. One of them, a tracer, zoomed ahead of one of the motorcycles. Its pilot spotted the round and overcorrected in an attempt to dodge the gunfire. The bike lost its grip on the road and fell, sending him flying and slipping under one of the trucks. The driver of which, panicked, and in an attempt to keep steady, collided with another truck. More of the trucks slammed into them as the entire group became involved in a multivehicle pile-up.

Summer couldn’t help but let out a snicker. ‘Chumps,’ she said as she crawled back inside. ‘I dealt with them!’ she called out.

‘Not quite,’ Karkov said and motioned for Summer to take a pair of binocular goggles that were lying on the floor. Summer picked them up and slipped them on.

‘What am I looking for?’ she asked.

‘Directly ahead, on the tracks,’ Karkov said.

Summer looked forward, dialling in the goggles to catch a glimpse of what it was that Karkov was referring to. She saw two Cossacks standing on the tracks. Both wearing cold weather jackets. One of them wore his main slicked back, and almost seemed to have glowing green eyes. The other wore his mane spiked up, with eyes of amber. They looked entirely unconcerned that a train was barrelling towards them at breakneck speed.

Summer frowned. ‘It’s just two guys… standing on the tracks,’ she said, and paused. She looked closer, clicking forward to another level of magnification. It was at that point she realised, she recognised them.

She found herself filled with rage. ‘Yuri Tasarov, and Oleg Petrenko,’ she said with a growl. She could hardly believe it. They’d murdered Cereal Wheatly in cold blood, and taken her prisoner during the Emergency, and there they were, just standing there. ‘Increase speed,’ she ordered.

Iron Will nodded his head and adjusted the throttle, pushing it all the way forward as the diesel engine increased speed. Yuri and Oleg were undaunted, standing their ground until the last possible moment, when both of them jumped, and grabbed a hold of the engine’s railing, pulling themselves up onto the engine and into the controller’s compartment.

Summer pulled her pistol on Yuri. Yuri smiled at her and gave a quiet chuckle, before licking his hoof and using it to push a hair in his mane back that had fallen out of place. ‘Come now, Miss Lightfall. You did not really think we were just going to let you go?’

‘Honestly?’ Summer said. ‘I was kind of hoping you would.’

Yuri smirked. ‘I am afraid not.’

Summer was not about to put up with his nonsense. He might be able to intimidate others with his demeanour, but Summer was a mare with nothing to lose. ‘You’ll take me back over my dead body.’

‘If that is your wish,’ he said with a nod, and looked up to Iron Will, Sprocket, to TANTALUS, and then to Karkov. ‘All I want is her, what happens to the rest of you is no concern of mine.’

The others stood silent before Yuri looked to Oleg. ‘Take her.’

Summer leapt into action first, diving at Oleg, recalling the words of Drill Sergeant Gunmetal during her basic training.

‘It is important to remember! You are not Schäferhund! You do not have sharp teeth! You are not a gryphon; you do not have sharp talons! You are not a kangaroo! You cannot balance on your tail and kick your enemy in the face, and possibly claw their eyes out while doing it! Which means, that if you are forced to fight up close and personal, you are at a disadvantage, which is why, if you are forced to fight in close quarters, you must be the one to initiate combat!’

Fortunately, she seemed to have caught Oleg off guard as she bashed his face in with her hoof, landing a powerful blow and knocking him to the floor. She had initiated, and she now had the upper hoof.

Oleg countered, responding with driving his own hoof into her stomach, and throwing her off him. Summer clattered to the floor and brought herself to her hooves. Oleg did the same, blood trickling from his nose, he gently dabbed at it with his hoof, looking down at the blood and frowning, before drawing a knife from his sleeve.

Summer glanced over to Karkov, and TANTALUS, Iron Will even, looking for help, but there was something odd about them. They almost seemed to be in a hypnotic trance, and she glanced over at Yuri, who merely stood there with that grin on his face. ‘They are in no condition to help you. Oleg, I grow tired of this. End it.’

Oleg nodded and lunged at her with the knife. Summer bared her teeth and lowered her head slightly, Oleg’s eyes suddenly went wide as Summer pulled under his chin, her horn impaling him in his throat. Oleg stumbled back, blood oozing from his neck, he grabbed at it as he choked on his own blood, before falling to the floor, gasping for air.

Yuri’s grin turned to a frown.

Summer felt Oleg’s blood run down her horn, dripping onto her face. ‘You’re going to have to do your own dirty work from now on. You want me? Come and get me,’ she said, a look of pure insanity formed over her face as her lips gave way to a malevolent sneer.

Yuri glanced down at Oleg, who’s movements began to slow, he let out a gurgle, before he fell still, and then back up to Summer. ‘I think not—Not today,’ he said, slowly backing out of the cabin. He looked back to Summer and offered her a smile. ‘Until we meet again, Summer Lightfall,’ he said before jumping off, hitting the ground with a roll and scampering off.

Summer scowled and looked down at Oleg’s body, she grabbed his forelegs in her telekinesis and dragged him outside too, tossing his body off the platform. ‘I hope you get eaten by bears.’

She looked back to the other members of her party, all of whom were coming out of their trance like state.

‘What happened?’ TANTALUS asked, clutching his head.

‘Yuri Tasarov and Oleg Petrenko happened,’ Summer said with a scowl. ‘Yuri is more dangerous than I thought, he seemed to be able to put you all in a trance just by looking at you.’

TANTALUS nodded and looked up at Summer’s horn, gasping with surprise. ‘Is that blood?’

‘Oleg’s,’ she said with a nod. ‘Fortunately, Oleg Petrenko will not bother anyone anymore. I saw to that.’