//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8: Explosions- Explosions Everywhere 
// Story: Bounty Hunters 2: Awakening 
// by Jasper77W 
//------------------------------//

Suddenly everything exploded, large chunks of concrete flying as the explosives inside the walls detonated. Rainbow shouldered her way out of the building through a window, feeling the familiar sensation of the solid shattering against her shoulder. 
She fell down towards the ground, and stretched out her wings to slow her descent. Despite this, she still landed pretty hard on the concrete pavements below. Her wing ached, as the wound still hadn't healed. She coughed up a few droplets of blood- her internal wound must've taken a hit.
She yelled and cursed, rubbing the shoulder that she landed on.
A few other royal marines were around her, groaning too.
She struggled up. Her arm hurt. She looked down, and saw that a piece of shrapnel was stuck in it. She ripped it out, screaming at the pain. Her black coat was grey from the dust that had stuck to it when she landed on the ground. She bent down and picked up her hat.
"Shining Armor!" she called. "Shining Armor!" 
She looked around her, but the captain was nowhere to be found.
"No... No..." She clutched her head. This is not happening. How will she explain to Twilight? She had accidentally pulled the trigger, after all...
Then there was coughing above her, and she looked up at the remains of the house.
Shining Armor was leaning on the side of what was left of the window sill, coughing and spluttering, waving a hoof and trying to get rid of the dust.
"Rainbow Dash- you're an idiot." he said.
"How...?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow, also glad that the guilt had been lifted away.
"I can cast all sorts of barriers, remember?" Shining Armor said.
"So... I-" Rainbow looked around her, and corrected herself. "We jumped out of the windows for no reason?"
"Well, the shield only had time to cover me... You know, it takes time to cover extra distance." Shining Armor said somewhat sheepishly, and Rainbow sighed.
"What now? What happened to the package?" the squad leader asked.
"There was no package." Rainbow said, frustrated. "They took it long ago. It was a freakin set-up all along." 
"Well that-" the squad leader began, shortly before his head exploded into a bloody pink mist as a high caliber round punched through his skull.
"Holy crap!" Rainbow leaped back into the remains of the building, hoping the concrete could cover her from the rifle fire.
"Sniper! Everypony take cover!" Shining Armor yelled, ducking down.
"Magnum!? Can you see him?" Rainbow yelled through the mic.
Magnum heard a loud bang, tilted her head to one side; and let the bullet hit the wall behind her where it would've hit between her eyes. "No visual. I know where he is though." her ears rung, but she could still hear everything. It was a mere discomfort. 
She slung her rifle over her shoulder and across her back, then jumped out the window. She landed lightly on her hooves, and quickly moved behind cover.
"Can you take care of him?" Rainbow asked, still in the building. 
"I'll give you the all clear once I'm done." Magnum pulled out a pistol, and swung around the corner.
There was another loud gunshot as the sniper fired, and Magnum pulled the trigger too. A deafening crack echoed across the empty concrete neighborhood as the two bullets met and split into pieces. Magnum heard some of the shredded pieces land on the ground near her.
She dived behind another building, catching a glimpse of a green mane as she reloaded her pistol for a full clip. She grinned- she knew a green maned stallion from snipe school in the military academy years. She had come across him on a contract before, and those were some fun times. She sometimes didn't want to kill him, because she doubted she'll find another sniper that's almost as good as she is. Shooting other targets to her was much like being at the shooting range- just live target practice.
She peered around the corner, but the stallion was already gone.
Oh, Deadeye, Quick witted as always; Magnum laughed.
She moved out from behind cover, ears pricked for a gunshot. She heard a bang behind her, and stepped to the side, letting the bullet pass. That's what she hated about unicorns- they can teleport.
"You missed Deadeye!" Magnum taunted, grinning and turning in the direction of the gunshot.
"Happens to the best of us." came the reply.
"Not you..." Magnum said, lowering her voice and narrowing her eyes to block out the sun. "And definitely not ME." 
There was another bang, and Magnum spun to avoid the bullet. She pulled the trigger as she was spinning, and a short moment later heard a yelp.
She stopped, the dust around her still slowly swirling. 
"Gotcha." she whispered, walking in the direction that she fired the bullet.
She found Deadeye on the floor in a building, groaning and clutching his shoulder. Exactly where Magnum shot the bullet. He saw her, and bared his teeth.
"Nice to see you too." Magnum said. 
"I should've known they'd hire you." Deadeye said through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, yeah. Did you get kicked out of the academy? Those shots weren't exactly expert." Magnum grinned, then heard a noise behind her. 
She swirled around, knocking the gun out of a stallion's hoof. Kneeing him in the guts, she then thumped him to the floor and put a bullet through his skull.
"You even have a spotter?" Magnum eyed the dead stallion on the floor and shook her head. "Disappointing." 
Deadeye suddenly lunged, drawing his pistol and ignoring the pain in his shoulder. He tackled Magnum to the floor, and her gun went skidding out of the room. He then pointed his pistol at her temple.
Magnum kicked him off, grabbing the gun. Deadeye yanked it away, and slammed an elbow into her stomach. She fell back, winded; and hit the floor. 
"You're not that good at close combat, are you?" Deadeye stood up, the pistol pointed straight at Magnum's head; a triumphant smile on his face. "A shame that the best sniper has to die now." he gave one final taunt, and pulled the trigger. 
Nothing happened. He pulled it again. Still nothing.
Magnum grinned, waving the clip full of pistol ammo teasingly in front of his face. She had removed it when she grabbed the gun. She waited for realization to dawn on Deadeye's face before pushing off the ground and launching both hooves into his injured and bleeding shoulder.
He screamed, the pistol skidding across the cold concrete floor and clunking against the far corner. He fell onto the ground, his injury hurting worse than ever.
"You... Bastard..." he managed to spit into the ground.
"You're lucky I avoided your pretty face." Magnum said, kicking him again in the stomach. "All clear. There may be more, but I got one." she then said into the mic.
"You little bi-" 
Magnum stomped on his hoof, cutting him off before he could finish the insult. "Sorry, what was that?"
"Yo-" 
She stomped again. This time Deadeye learnt to be quiet.
"Who's a good boy?" Magnum ruffled his mane, and he growled; making her laugh even harder. 
There were a series of hoofsteps as the squad busted in. One of them kicked Deadeye in the stomach.
"That's for our leader!" he yelled. 
"And this is for fun." Magnum kicked him in the same place. Deadeye groaned, but didn't say anything; which disappointed Magnum.
"Alright- bring him up. Think he's had enough." Shining Armor said. 
"We've got a lot of interrogation to do." Rainbow said, cracking her hooves together. "I bet this guy knows at least something we could use. Maybe where the book actually is."

*

"Remind me- why am I not in that interrogation room?" Rainbow asked, sitting cross-legged and grumpy on a metal bench in the police department.
"Because we found a science faction stallion that claimed you interrogated him and we found him with a gruesomely busted ankle and several bone fractures." Shining Armor said.
"Him." Rainbow growled. Although thanks to that weakling the science faction got brought down.
"Anyway-" Shining Armor looked down at some notes. "We did get something. Not much, since he was hired like Magnum. He doesn't know much about his contractors, so there's the problem... But he did tell us where he was hired."
"Let me guess- that warehouse." Rainbow said.
"Indeed. The one back in Manehatten." Shining Armor nodded.
"Field trip it is, then-" Rainbow stood up.
"You're staying until you get better." Shining Armor said sternly. 
"Oh? Then what are you going to do?" 
"I'm going to send in surveillance. Otherwise, I'm heading back to Canterlot. No more duties to perform here, so I'll just carry out my 'royal duties' else where." 
"You mean spending time with Cadence." Rainbow said flatly.
Shining Armor paused, pretending to think about it. "Essentially, yes. If you put it this way: 'to protect and look after the princess', then you've really got something." he said, walking out.
Rainbow groaned.
"You better heal fast." she growled at her wing.

*

"Hi sis." Dainty said as Rainbow closed the door behind her. "We tidied up the house while you were gone. But... We couldn't do anything about the car, so..."
Rainbow mentally kicked herself for forgetting. "Well, let's just leave the car there for now..." she chuckled nervously. "Anyhow, you girls certainly did a great job with the house." 
"And Vinyl made six successful cuts on one cucumber! She's learning fast." Dainty grinned.
"Good to hear. Oh yeah, Daint- your dentist appointment is in half an hour. Gotta see Colgate." Rainbow said.
Dainty groaned. Sure, Colgate is nice and friendly... But... She's just.... Weird. 
"I'm sure she's got another one of those paper butterfly thingies she can give to you. Also I'll try convince her not to use the toothpaste cannon this time." Rainbow said, trying to lighten Dainty's slightly dimmed mood. She turned to Vinyl. "Wanna come with us?"
"To the dentist? Really? No, thanks." Vinyl said. 
"We might go for ice-cream afterwards. If Dainty here did a good job cleaning her teeth, that is." Rainbow shot Dainty a sideways glance, who smiled innocently.
Vinyl glared at the two of them, then-
"Can't say no to ice cream." she got off the sofa. 

*

Colgate didn't live in Cloudsdale, but being the best in Equestria meant Rainbow was willing to pay her to come over to the City of the Pegasi. Not that she didn't have the money.
"Brushie brushie!" Colgate grinned as Rainbow gently shoved Dainty into the hotel room. The gleam from her white teeth was enough to make Dainty dizzy. "Been brushing?"
Dainty nodded nervously. It was really nerves from Colgate than her bag full of scary looking tools. 
"Let's get you checked, shall we?" there was a loud snap as Colgate slipped some rubber gloves onto her hooves. "Open wide-"
Before Dainty could actually open her jaw, Colgate had already shoved a small mirror in it.
"Too slow!" she giggled, peering inside.
Rainbow sighed, shaking her head.
After half an hour or so, Dainty was finally able to let her mouth close. Colgate grinned at Rainbow.
"She's doing great. There's nothing wrong, although it's not as white." she said.
"Oh? It looks white to me..." Rainbow peered at Dainty's grin. 
"It's zero point one percent yellow." Colgate said seriously.
"I think she'll be fine." Rainbow said. "Thanks anyway." she said, handing the cash over to Colgate and walking out.
"What's with her?" Vinyl raised an eyebrow as they exited. 
"No pony knows." Rainbow said. "Where was the ice cream store again?" 
"You mean you don't know?" Dainty asked, almost crying. She just sat through half an hour of discomfort for nothing?
"Kidding." Rainbow grinned, hugging her. "Should be just around the corner." she said as they left the hotel and walked onto the busy Cloudsdale streets.
And so it was. The ice cream store was like a small bar, painted a bright pink. It practically gleamed in the bright sunlight, and despite all this; the neon lights were still highly visible.
"This world is so small..." Rainbow sighed as they spotted Blaze and Halcyon sitting under an umbrella outside the store, chatting away and basically leaving their ice creams untouched.
"Hey girls!" Halcyon grinned at them as they approached.
"Staying in Cloudsdale?" Rainbow asked.
"Not really. We just stayed since last time you blew half the city up. But you know- has a beautiful view here and all."
Rainbow looked at the streets around them. "Yeah. Beautiful." 
"Oh come on, we just thought we at least need to have some fun now that we're here. Thanks to you by the way." Halcyon said.
"Ok... We'll just uh... Leave you two to that." Rainbow said, leading Dainty into the store.
"We've got three spare seats!" Blaze said.
Rainbow searched her mind for a reason to reject the offer, but came up with none.
"Yeah. I'll just get the ice cream first."
They all got a discount, thanks to the presence of the famed DJ. Everything didn't go as awkwardly as Rainbow thought it would- after all, they did seem to be disrupting a date. But Blaze and Halcyon didn't seem to mind at all, and actually looked like they enjoyed the extra company. Dainty was really just talking all the time, not really eating her ice cream.
"It's melting." Rainbow reminded her. Dainty looked down, and quickly scooped up what was still frozen. 
"Let's change that." Halcyon tapped the glass cup with a hoof, her horn glowing. With a gentle flash, the ice cream froze back. It wasn't ice though- it was just right. 
"Thanks." Dainty said, and Halcyon smiled friendlily.
Suddenly Rainbow's phone rang, and she quickly took it out of her pocket.
"Hello?" 
"Rainbow! Where are you? Are you with Vinyl and Dainty?" it was Shining Armor- and he sounded more worried than Rainbow ever heard him.
"Yeah, I'm with them." Rainbow frowned. "I'm near the edge of Cloudsdale... Why?"
"Is your car nearby?" 
"Orange one?"
"Orange one!"
"Eh..." Rainbow looked to her right, and saw Colgate getting a ride in a taxi. Must've come here for just a visit, then. Seems like a busy pony. "I can see it right now..." 
"Shuck! THEN GET THE BUCK OUTTA THERE!!" 
There was a loud whooshing sound, and they spotted something on the horizon- a bright yellow dot, gleaming and competing against the sun.
"What is that..?" Halcyon frowned.
"Rainbow! Rainbow? Are you there?" but Rainbow was already lowering the phone to her pocket. She peered at the object, then found an odd gleam too. It looked like a...
"Shuck. EVERYPONY RUN!!!" she yelled at the top of her voice, grabbing Dainty and Vinyl as she recognized the shape as a missile.
Blaze quickly got up, dragging Halcyon with him.
"Head to the edge!" he yelled. They won't have a chance to outrun the explosion, but they might be able to fall faster than run... How they'll survive the jump is a later concern. They'll need to survive the explosion for now.
"Shining Armor! Do you have any info on that missile?" Rainbow yelled into the phone, Dainty clamped under an arm as she sprinted down the streets with the others. The civilian ponies don't seem to realize anything yet. Halcyon was trying to convince them to run, but all they did was laugh.
"We need to go." Blaze laid a hoof on Halcyon's shoulder, pushing her to run after the others.
"The word 'missile' is an understatement." Shining Armor said. "I'd use the words 'warhead' or 'nuke'. Yeah, it's more like a nuke."
"Target?" Rainbow asked, slowing slightly.
"Your car." 
Rainbow froze, her mind spinning as she thought through the situation.
"Rainbow? Listen, I know what you're thinking- but don't do it! you won't make it!"
"Watch me." Rainbow said, and hung up. She threw Dainty to Vinyl, and started running back in the direction of her sports car.
"Shuck- Rainbow! What the hay are you doing! RUN DAMNIT!" Blaze yelled.
"You guys keep going- try to survive the fall will ya. This might not work... But I'm not going down without trying." Rainbow said, still running towards her car. She flicked out her keys, unlocking the doors with a simple beep.
"Shining Armor! Give me a countdown!" Rainbow said, activating the car's systems.
"NO! YOU GET OUT OF THAT DAMN CAR!" Shining Armor yelled.
"You're the one on the phone. I'm the one in control. Hurry up or you'll get me killed for no reason." Rainbow said, activating the engines.
"You're going to get killed for no reason anyway! How the hay do you expect me to explain this to Twilight?"
"You won't have to if you give me the BUCKING COUNTDOWN." Rainbow stomped on the acceleration. 
"Fine. Twenty seconds..."
"Really?" Rainbow gasped. "Oh, shuck." 
"Nineteen..." 
Rainbow raced through the empty streets, aiming for the edge of Cloudsdale. If she could drive it off in time...
"Seventeen."
There were a few more streets before she could actually get to the edge. She drove past Blaze and Halcyon, shocked and horrified expressions on their faces.
"Fifteen." 
She drove past Dainty and Vinyl, who both looked confusedly at her at first. What their reaction was later Rainbow didn't know, because she had already drifted around another corner.
"Twelve- Rainbow, if you don't get out of there..." Shining Armor started.
"Aye aye, just keep going with the countdown." Rainbow interrupted. 
The end was in sight, the metal railings gleaming in the sun while in the far background the nuke continued its flight of doom.
"Nine..."
There was a speed bump up ahead, but she didn't slow down. Her leg ached from being on the acceleration for so long.
Shining Armor had stopped counting down, so Rainbow started counting in her own head.
Seven...
The car hit the bump, and sailed up into the air. The sports car flew, gliding over the road.
Six...
The car crashed back down, losing some of its speed. Rainbow cursed, but kept driving.
Five...
The railing was about only ten meters away now- and getting closer and closer. The blue sky seemed infinite behind it, clouds swirling as the nuke ran through them. 
Four...
There was a loud crash and a bright shower of sparks as the sports car collided with the railing, ripping it out from the ground with bits of solid cloud flying everywhere.
Three...
The car continued going, sailing through the air and slowly tipping down. Rainbow could see the details on the warhead as it was so close.
Two...
Rainbow grabbed hold of the side door, and kicked off the seat. The door flung open, and she came out with it. Her momentum snapped the door off the car, and her wings twisted to spin her around.  
One.
Rainbow watched through the window of the door, the car getting further away as it continued with its momentum and she fell in a different direction. 
There was a bright flash as the nuke made contact with the car ten meters away.




Author: Please do comment on what you liked and disliked about the story so far- it could really help. And thanks for all the likes!