Marianne was inspecting the drawer, only to find each of them filled with nothing but uniforms. “Damn it.”

  She closed it forcefully.

  Static!

“Marianne?”

  She picked up the walky-talky. “S"up Haystack, how’s it going?”

“Fine… um, where are you?”

“I’m at Ivan’s apartment.”

“What for?”

“Trying to see if there’s more evidence to prove that he planned this all along or something.” Marianne said. “What news do you have?”

“Well…” Marianne could already decipher the sadness in his voice.

  After his explanation…

“Oh, that’s unfortunate.” she lamented.

“Yeah, we were so close in finally takin’ him down too.” Haystack answered, feeling the same way. “What do we do now?”

“It’s okay Haystack, don’t worry.”

  His breath escaped at that. “What?”

“If we can’t get to them, then the outside will.” she reminded him.

“But what if they-”

“We’ll step in as always, Haystack. What is there to worry?”

  Big Mac kept quiet before talking. “Look, It’s been two years since ‘ah took this job and-”

  She interrupted again. “Don’t worry, Haystack. We’ll get the job done in no time.”

  He could only sigh. “Eeyup.”

“Plus, just because we failed the first time doesn’t mean that there won’t be any more opportunities, right?”

  Inaudibly, he grit his teeth; but quickly suppressed it. “Yeah, sure… Um, we’ll meet at the apartment?”

“Okay then.” she chirped before hanging up. Her mood would quickly drop though as she stared at the scene.

“Marianne, is something wrong?” asked a woman in black, turning on the TV.

“No Lily, I’m all right.” she groaned. “So what’s on?”

“Uh… just the government seal and a ‘Please stand by’ message. That’s all.”

“Interesting, now let's get back to work.” she said with a grin, standing up to head to the small kitchen close by.

“Um… Ma’am?” the lady asked, hesitantly. “About what happened to... you know.”

  Her mood then softened. “Just don’t worry about it, okay?”

  The lady was reluctant to say, “Okay then.”

“Good, now get to work.”

“Mmm Hmm.”

  And the two said nothing after that.

  Maribelle sat patiently on a metal bench, kicking her feet in the air with unison. She held a firm grip on her katana as her mind drifted back to last night.

  ”It’s okay, Maribelle.” Haystack cried, desperately searching in his pockets for a syringe. “You’re goin’ to be all right! ‘Ah promise!”

  It hurt her so much, but what hurt her the most was what Ivan asked her. It wasn’t worth mentioning, but it felt as if it was.

“Maribelle!”

“Huh?” she looked up, finding Haystack standing right in front of her.

“We’re leavin’.”

“Oh, okay.” she nodded, and hopped off the bench.

  The two would walk down the hallway, where there was no soldier in sight.

“What were you thinkin’ about?” Haystack asked her.

“Nothing much.” she answered, keeping a straightforward face unbroken.

“You can tell me you know.”

“N’ah.”

  They reached an elevator and went inside. The two kept quiet as the elevator kept its descent. Their sullen thoughts kept them from saying anything further.

  She only remembered how he looked so happy with that mare. The day looked bright and chipper as always, and her smile was equal to it. They had so much fun that day, but those smiles would quickly fall once the bullets began to fly at them.

  The doors would soon open to a wide room that was just as empty as the floors above. The only things that inhabited the place was a turret on the ceiling; along with shotguns and HMG’s mounted through the walls behind. Haystack could also see similar holes line up the walls beside him. The sight of this would make him quiver a bit as they continued to walk down the empty room before they exited out the double door.

  Outside, they were met with the black sedan.

“Marianne opted for me to give you a ride, sir.” the man in black said.

  The two only nodded and entered the vehicle. The man drove them down the lot, passing by carrier trucks that were unloading body bags by the dozens. The sight made Haystack glum. He couldn’t believe that Ivan and that girl would-

“Just don’t think about it.” Maribelle reminded. “It’s part of our job, anyways.”

“Yeah, but-”

“You killed too, so it isn't worth moping about.”

"But-" He looked back at the trucks, grimacing even more. “Hmm..., Eeyup.”

“Hmm, nearly a hundred dead in under twenty minutes.” said the driver in black. “That’s impressive.”

“Yeah, but, let’s not talk about that.” Maribelle told him.

  The man only looked at the mirror, finding a moping Haystack. “Agreed.”

  Marianne, exited out the building, standing against a Humvee.”

“So, we’re done here, right?” said the lady.

  Marianne looked down. “Tsk, nothing in there, might as well search someplace else?”

“Agree… What now then?”

“We wait, of course.” Marianne exhaled. “Those two just love to take their time.”

“Yeah.” the lady leaned against the Humvee also. “Oh, and Trevor informed me that he’s coming over from the Idaho front.”

“Oh, that’s nice.”

“I already informed him on the failure of this mission.”

“Okay.” she said casually.

  With concerned look,  she asked. “Uh… are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Lily. You don’t have to keep asking.”

“If it’s about what happened to-”

“I underestimated Ivan’s capabilities, I know.” Marianne grumbled. “He’s too powerful for-”

  The lady raised her voice, matching that of Marianne’s. “I’m not talking about Ivan, I’m talking about-”

  Marianne only rolled her eyes, leaving her to be. Only to realize…

“Just… don’t bring it up… all right?” she requested softly.

  The lady sighed. “Fine then. I’ll be in the building if you need me.”

“Yeah, sure.”

  Although the lady was cautious in leaving her, she’d obey nevertheless.

  Marianne watched as she went back inside. ”Don’t take it too personally, Lily.”

  She’d hear a car approach from the right, noticing that it was the black sedan she sent.

  They kept driving over the plains, the jeep casting a soft shadow thanks to the morning sun. Jacklyn’s only occupation was to keep driving. She’d sometimes glance at Ivan, finding him looking out the window, and not wanting to look away.  It only made the atmosphere more uneasy when she did. She decided to turn on the radio to make sure it doesn’t worsen. The first thing to come on was a rap, so she quickly changed it. She’d fly by every channel until she finally found the one she wanted.

“You are listening to the Free Press of Equestria, here on the Ponies’ front Ninety-Seven point three FM.” exclaimed the man with reticence. “I am Jack Gertrude, your host for this program. I am also joined by head Priestess of the Celestial Temple of Tulsa, Oklahoma: Esmeralda Dalton…”

  Jacklyn looked back at Ivan, who was still looking out the window. Then she returned back to the plains ahead.

“… and Blaze, the Californian musician known for her biggest hit: Stars of the Open Sky. So how’s everyone doing?”

  The guests all greeted each other, and such.

“So, first topic of the day.” he began. “An infantry division of their majesties' Fifty-second Regiment managed to capture a town outside Fort Worth, Texas. Sadly, they lost more than half of their fighting force and required troops in other occupied cities to loosen their defenses to reinforce the town.”

  Jacklyn placed a few fingers over her mouth, not sure what to think on the matter.

“This brings the number of casualties in our armed forces to thirty thousand in this year alone. So, I ask you, what are your thoughts on the matter?”

“I think the direction for those troops was pathetic!” said the musician, the others would express their agreements… well, most of them actually. “General Sutton contracted an inexperienced commander to lead them, and look what they got! Eight Hundred dead, two hundred gravely wounded, and less than fifty being told to help those guys out while they hold the line against the counteroffensive that came! And guess what only ten troops were left uninjured before reinforcements arrived. Grrr, Jackass!”

“Look, the commander was up against one of the CHM’s High Command.” the priestess reminded her. “Just be happy that we were finally able to break through the front!”

“So they get a guy who only oversaw security within our territory to do it?” the musician responded bitterly.

  The priestess responded in nearly the same attitude. “We’ve been on the defensive for nearly two decades! Aren’t you happy that we’ve finally took some action!”

  The musician yelled, “The Defense Ministry is telling him to stay there and defend, Esmeralda! That’s a recipe for disaster!”

“Look guys,” the host intervened. “You’re looking at it the wrong way. Commander Garcia isn’t as inexperienced as you think. He managed to put down three Guerrilla attacks in record timing-”

“Then send him off to London if you have high hopes for him then!” the musician said.

“Plus, what does that have anything to do with the topic at hand!” the priestess shouted. “The guy crushed guerillas, woo hoo, but that doesn’t matter! He failed horribly at keeping our troops safe, and Mister Grump over here doesn’t understand that he’ll learn soon enough!”

“Who are you calling Mister Grump here! I’m stating the freaking facts, you’re probably just here to sugarcoat that poor excuse of a commander!”

“I am not doing such a thing!” the priestess yelled. “He may have messed up, but if we give him further educa-”

“Oh don’t give me that ‘educate our military leaders’ bull crap!” the host interjected. “If you mess up, then you don’t deserve such a position yet, period! You can’t just give a dumbass like him the position of battlefront commander and throw him on the front lines when he or she’s not ready!”

“That stupid ass policy is getting more and more of our men and women killed!” the musician yelled angrily. “Can’t the Defense ministry get it straight to their heads?”

“They don’t have to!” the priestess said. “The policy at least kept us safe from-”

“Well it isn’t helping us win the war!” the musician rebutted. “We’re not here to fight a war of attrition, Esmaralda! We’re making sure that mad priestesses like yourself don’t get any free passes!”

“Who’re you calling mad, you hothead!”

“Uh, ladies?”

“Now who you calling-”

  Jacklyn quickly shut it off, praying with urgency. “Oh sweet Celestia, help them please.”

“We’re not going to them, right?”

“Huh?” She turned to Ivan.

“I said we’re not going to them, right?”

  She only frowned. “Right.”

“Good.”

  It was again quiet, the motor making the only sound. Jacklyn would soon break it however. “So, did they treat you well?”

“Hmm?”

“Uh… how was the work place like?”

  Ivan paused a little before saying. “It’s been tough, but I’ve managed.”

“How so?” she asked, her curiosity increasing.

“Well, you know how the DHHS operates nowadays.”

  The curiosity quickly sank. “Oh… I see.”

“You saw it there didn’t you?”

“I… yeah… it’s just like back in Chicago, right?”

  He sighed. “Kind of.”

“How so?”

“You just saw it.”

“Oh.. Uh…” Jacklyn stammered, scolding herself. “Right. Sorry that I’d ask such a-”

“Don’t worry Jackie, it’s all right.” Ivan silenced.

“I know, I know. It’s just that you’ve been gone for so long since that incident-”

“Do you think I care?” he interrupted. “I mean, we are going to Washington State, right?”

“Well, uh, yeah, but I… I… Look I’m sorry it’s that...”

Ivan just looked back at the plains.

   Jacklyn too kept quiet upon seeing that. Letting another round of silence go their way. As time went by, Ivan would go back to the past.

"To continue, I managed to find him seven years later, baring the Lunarist Flag.” he sighed softly, feeling a little pain from that memory. “… Only to be shot dead by a Celestianist sniper.”

“Oh…” He continued to stare down at Maribelle still feeling saddened that children like her were being forced to fight for her highness. “Well Ah’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t be… in this world, friends come and go, our society helps us remember that.”

“Ivan?”

“Hmm?” He turned to look at Jacklyn again.

“I asked what your job was.”

“Uh… You just-”

“No, not that one.” she rectified. “I mean… you know.”

“Oh…” his puzzled tone soured, looking back out the window. “Well… I was just a delivery boy for those guys.”

“Yeah, and?”

  Ivan sighed. “A couple things led to another… and now I’m here.”

“That explains a lot.” Jacklyn said. “So why try to hide it?”

  Ivan kept quiet for a moment. “There are some things in that job that are not worth telling, Jackie.”

“Like what?”

“You really want to know, don’t you?” Ivan looked back at her determined face.

“Mmm Hmm.”

“So I’m not saying.”

“Grrr.” She’d immediately cease her annoyance. “I understand.”

“The only thing I’ll say is that I now have fire, ice, and mind-control coming out of my hands. Impress~’d?” he joked.

“I…” Jacklyn blushed. “Just… don’t go overboard with it, alright?”

“Got it.”

  The two were quiet again. The vehicle kept going and going without further noise to accompany it besides the wind. Jacklyn kept her eyes on the road as usual while Ivan-

“Though, those powers of yours, scare me.”

  Ivan groaned. “Pointing out the obvious, huh?”

“Um...” she wined solemnly.

“I know, that’s probably what’s going to happen since word of this is already out.” he continued. “Hell, it's obvious the US Army won't be standing by and watch after that show.”

“That’s what scares me the most.”

“Hmm?”

“When we get to Washington State, do you think that we’ll have to change who we are for that?” Jacklyn asked.

“Well…” Ivan frowned. “It does sound likely…, but we’ll cross that bridge once we get there.”

“Yeah.” Again, it was quiet for a short moment. “So… Marianne is after us huh?”

  Ivan felt his stomach tie in knots, but was resilient. “Yep, that’s literally what happened.”

“That means…”

“Yeah, it applies to her too.”

  Jacklyn’s depressed mood was still on her shoulder even as Marianne became the topic. “Well, she always wanted to go to back to Canada, right?”

  Ivan sighed. “Well, I hope she finds another way… cause…”

  Jacklyn’s eyes watered.

“Um... Damn… anyway…”

“Do you know who she works for?” she asked, blinking her tears away.

  Ivan stepped out from his current state. “Uh… yeah, I’ve actually met him personally."

“Oh really?”

“Yeah.” Ivan took some time to explain.

  A green attack chopper flew across the plains, and would land over a helipad located on the wall. Stepping out were the same men in black, only they aligned beside US troops. Behind them was an elderly man in a white overcoat. They’d walk down the floor before they’d stop in front of a man with medals that patched his green uniform. “Good Day Trevor.”

  The man in white lifted his hands, and placed one over his chin, while the other was in midair. He then brought the top one down to slam against the other.

“Good...” said a voice, while he placed one elbow over the other the other arm, slamming it against it like a block. “Day.”

  The man looked with such puzzlement at what made that voice: a blue orb that hung from around his neck, flashing dimly with every word.

Trevor then took off his black hat, and added a gesture to his greeting.

“So that’s the kind of guy we’re dealing with, huh?” Jacklyn asked worryingly.

“Yep, it's not known whether he lost it during the war, or if he was like that since birth.” he pointed out. “But by all means, it doesn’t matter. Let’s just get to where we need to-”

“Uh, Ivan?’

“Yeah?”

  She pointed out the window in front. “Wh-what’s that?”

  He looked out in that direction to find a black dot in the distance. “Don’t know. Since we’re approaching it, we might-”

  The dot would get bigger as they got closer, revealing a crumpled and burned out armored vehicle. A crescent moon with wings at both sides, baring a star in the center, was visible over the worn out armor. Seeing this made troubled the two.

“Oh…” Jacklyn was feeling goosebumps as a destroyed Humvee entered into view; baring two yellow wings embracing a red circle, where more yellow and a red horizontal line were inside. "Those two just don't know when to stop, don't they?"

“Yeah, the Government just had to hire those two bozos to quell the unrest." Ivan said.

"And then those two came in." Jacklyn sighed. "... Hey, about that pony-"

"I told you that he was just an old partner." Ivan said. "He's married now. That's all I'm gonna say."

  "Okay..." Jacklyn said, frowning.

"So, do you know where we are?" Ivan asked, trying to ease the gloom.

“We just entered the Rosebud Reservation." she glanced back at Ivan. "Hmm, I never thought that we'd go through here. Hopefully-"

  There were sudden beeping sounds coming from the fuel gauge. The meter was glowing red at the E.

  Ivan, now losing peace of mind, was asking. "Uh... You didn’t check for fuel?”

“We were in a hurry, remember?” Jacklyn rebutted.

“Oh, right.”

  The vehicle began to rumble persistently before stopping alongside the engine. The two looked at each other with gaped mouths before looking back at the plains. The only thing they could say to each other was, "Shoot."

“So, that was a clever move you made there mister Mayor.” Trevor complimented with the motion of his hands.

“Thanks.” the medal adorned mayor smirked, watching the man from his desk.

“But that does not excuse the fact that they got away.” Trevor glared. “We’ve been searching for him for four years now, losing him at the heat of the moment was a blow to our morale.”

  He looked up at the mayor with stern blue eyes. “Not to mention the deal that we had.”

  Muttering was being heard all around as the mayor stood there frozen.

“I may have done wrong, but that doesn’t mean that it’ll prevent me from contributing to my country.”

  The mayor rubbed his eyes, calming down. “Look, I already did part of the deal. Your Equestrian friend doesn’t have to worry about the FBI grabbing him by the tail. However, I'm not letting a criminal control us just for a short hunt. So, I propose that we deny your request to grant us a loan to improve the living conditions of our citizens. We will however, support you in the capture and execution of the now escapee of the Den with the abidance of handing half of what we uncover from his body to BLU industries... deal?"

   There was silence for a moment, but it would end with Trevor giving a little smirk. "Deal... The least you can do is not shoot us as we try to help.”

  The Mayor frowned. “Not to mention that you have your 'loose partnership' with BLU, and... the Pony’s backstory was a very tragic in my opinion.”

“Agree.”

  Haystack, who sat calmly over a provided pillow, was met with mumbles towards him. His body only tensed as such happened. The thought of what Trevor did to let him free was only taking him back.

  ”I’m sorry for what happened to you, Mister Macintosh.” said the Mayor, looking out the vast plains.

“It’s all right.” Haystack answered.

“But during your two year career, you should’ve known that you were working with a criminal.”

“Eeyup.”

He sighed. “Look, I’m not a fan of this guy. But to his credit, he’s trying to help us win over these hard times. Not to mention that he isn’t posing a serious threat to national security.”

“Eeyup.”

  With a soft grin on his face, he continued. “Who would’ve thought that he used to be head of the First Legionary Regiment. Should've known that he'd find me here. Hell, he helped me get this position anyway... He also knew that the Director and I were good friends and..."

  He sighed, looking back at Haystack. “Look, what I’m getting at is that even though you have a guy like him, doesn’t mean that you’re going the right path… But hey, who am I to know?”

  Haystack kept looking at the mayor, worryingly.

  The mayor would look back out the plains. “I’ll call the Director tomorrow, making sure that his boys don’t go hunting for a red farm pony. In exchange, you hunt down your guy, and don’t come back, okay?”

He nodded.

          The Mayor would smile. "You know, you shouldn't've left those photos there for RED to find, right?"

  Haystack frowned again, ashamed for what had happened that day. "Eeyup."

"You do like saying that a lot, don't you?" the Mayor asked with intrigue.

"Eeyup."

"I guess you'll keep doing so, right?"

  There would be a brief pause before he'd say, "Eeyup."

“Haystack." Marianne called.

“Hmm?” He looked towards her.

“Something’s bothering you?”

“Um… Nope.” he said, looking back at the conference.

  Marianne could only look with uneasiness before facing the conference also.

“So, do you have a proposed plan for us?” asked the mayor.

“My men are too far away to reach their position, but…”

  The sun was now in the center of the sky.

“How long have we been walking?” Jacklyn breathed, trudging her feet against the ground.

“Don’t know.” Ivan answered, looking at a map. "But on the bright side, the map is telling us we're going in the right direction."

“Uh… don’t you have a watch or something?” she asked, wiping sweat from her forehead.

  Ivan raised an eyebrow. “Uh, no. I thought you had a cellphone.”

“Ivan, do you think I’d have contacts out in the red zone?”

  Ivan looked back in front. “Hmm, Touché.”

“But do you at least know where we’re heading?”

“Not a clue, we’re just going in the direction the map is telling us to go."

“You think it's the right way?”

"Probably, I don't know for sure." Ivan admitted. "This was an outdated trail from Idy's early years. So maybe it'll work."

"Oh... great." she said with a weak smile.

  The two kept walking for what seemed like hours, even though the sun had moved just slightly. Jacklyn now had her arm wrapped across Ivan’s shoulder as she panted despairingly.

“H-How the hell are you a mercenary?” Ivan asked, perturbed by her breathing. She just kept panting, before Ivan decided to put her down.

“Like I said Ivan, jobs are scarcer now.” she breathed.

“Well that doesn’t excuse the fact that you’re exhausted.” Ivan said. “Have you been drinking your water?”

  She nodded her head. “Ran out though.”

“That explains it.” Ivan reached for his water bottle and tilted it over her face. “Say aah.”

“Aah..” she sang, opening her mouth.

  He let the water flow down her tongue, swallowing it by ounce. She’d softly push it away once she had enough, swiping her mouth with her sleeve.

“Uh, thanks.” she said with a smile.

“No problem.” he replied while tossing the bottle to the side.

  Her smile diminished. “Wait, why’d you do that for?”

“We’re out.”

“What!”

“We’re out.”

“But didn’t we get supplies from that Bill-“ When she saw Ivan’s stroppy grin, it could only imply one thing. “Shoot.”

“Yeah, and we haven’t seen a single town for miles either.” Ivan stood up. “So I guess we’re going to have to hold out.”

"Aw damn it." she moaned.

  They looked in the direction they were going, noticing that there was nothing but junk out there.

  "I... I-"

“Can you get up now?” Ivan reached a hand out for her.

“Yep.” she said, feeling a bit solemn, but trying to ease it. “Ready to walk by old war vehicle number two hundred and fifty.”

  He laughed, causing Jacklyn to join. They’d get back up and continue their walk…

“Wait, you’ve been keeping count?”

  The sun moved a little more, while Jacklyn had her arm over Ivan’s shoulder again.

“Still couldn’t handle it, huh?” Ivan cooed. “No biggie.”

  He wasted no time and looked around. Speedily, he inspected every armored vehicle in the area. When he found one that interested him.

“Huh, an old Patton tank.” Ivan said.

“Huh?” Jacklyn slurred.

“The M60 Patton, a tank that fought alongside the first M1 Abrams during the third World War before being decommissioned. Now it’s fighting for the Sisterhood-”

“Uggh, not that Ivan!” Weakly, she pointed forward. “That.”

  He placed the light in that direction. “Huh, what’s that?”

  Passed the road was a massive parking lot, behind that was a large flat building. Ivan then noticed a tall silhouette above. He pointed the light at it to find a sign that displayed a blue T standing beside a red A. Underneath it displayed Logos from various restaurants.

“Oh, I heard of these.” Jacklyn uttered, a little smile on her face. “People would stop by these places to get some gas, eat something, or go to the bathroom.”

“Where’d ya here that?”

“Well, I had a friend who was from the green zone.” Jacklyn said. “Said that her bus stopped by one and ate in a diner. Told me she ate some delicious bacon and eggs and-”

“Hold on!” Ivan interrupted. “Why would she leave for Chicago?”

“To visit some relatives?”

“Well, good point.” Ivan stared at the building for a while. ‘Well, since you say that that’s the case, let’s see if we can find anything useful in there.”

  When entering…

“Only if whoever was in control of it didn’t raze it to the ground.” Ivan groaned loudly at the nonexistent interior.

  Jacklyn looked behind her to find the front wall still standing. “Now what?”

  Ivan sighed, looking out at the small buildings that was miles away. “We just keep going.”

“Oh…” she whined weakly.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.” she moaned.

  The two kept treading down the roofless foundation and into the back before reaching the grassy area. Throughout the walk, Ivan could hear Jacklyn pant and whine as her legs began to shake. He rolled his eyes, stopping to kneel down beside her. “I’m surprised you’d join a mercenary group like that. I’m guessing that you barely passed by one point or something.”

  After regaining control of her speech, she’d say. “Why bring this up again?”

“You already know.”

  She clenched onto her chest with such agony, winded.

  He looked at the forest, before looking back at her. “Lie down.”

“What!” she said as her face reddened at the request.

“Just do it.”

  She looked away slightly as she held onto her chest. “But Ivan, we can’t, I mean… I’m not…”

  Ivan groaned. “Oh Jesus, get your mind out of the gutter and do as I say!”

  This surprised her into embarrassment. “Oh… uh… alright.”

"Can you give me your shield first."

"Uh, sure." She took the shield off her back and hand it over to him.

  In a couple seconds, her back was on the grass. She’d feel a slight pinch of pain in her head though. Something that would make her see four Ivans then one, then four again, then one, then four again, then back to one, and that was it. “Uhhh…”

  Suddenly, she was light as air. She slurred again before finding her head pressed against his shoulder, feeling his hand gripping underneath her legs. She was speechless, all she could do then was place a hand over his chest for support.

“Just be lucky that your legs aren’t hurting, okay?” Ivan said, agitated.

“Um… okay.” she cooed.

They were now in the city, finding it empty and looted. held the scope firmly in hand. On occasion, Ivan would look at Jacklyn to see if she was okay. At the very moment, she was unresponsive. Fortunately, she could tell by her breathing that it was nothing too serious.

The sight of this only made him worry. Most of all, it would annoy him to the point where both feelings were battling for control.

”On June thirteenth, Nineteen eighty five, the Socialist Viet-Laotian Republic agreed to make peace with India once it was heard that the Chinese Government had surrendered to the Soviets, and that thousands of PLA troops were resisting the unconditional surrender…”

Ivan looked back out the window, letting the teacher ramble on. On the concrete ground, students were running laps. He’d briefly glance at the dilapidated city before hearing the whistle blow. Now, the students were either stretching or sitting in exhaustion… except for one person.

“Come on Jackie!” he’d hear the coach shout. “Get a move on, you can do it!”

He looked back at the track to find her trudging her legs, heart clenched by her hand, and shirt stained with sweat. Ivan frowned, watching as she struggled to finish her lap. The coach would continue to encourage her before she’d reach the finish line.

“Good job Jackie, you did your best!” The coach pat her on the back before she’d fall to her knees, breathing heavily as a couple of guys and girls would go over to her for support. One would give her a water bottle, which she’d drink like a child. A couple seconds later, she’d look up over to his direction. Her eyes narrowed as she leaned forward. In a few seconds, she’d quickly smile and wave cheerfully.

Seeing this, Ivan gave a little wave himself, smiling all the while.

“Ivan.”

“Hmm?” He looked back at the teacher.

“You do realize that you’re in history class, right?” the teacher asked with suspicion.

Ivan raised an eyebrow. “Uh, yeah?”

“Good.” the teacher said, smiling. “So you know what to do.”

“Yep.” Ivan groaned, looking back at his textbook.

“Okay then, Ahem… The remaining PLA forces managed to hold out in Southeast China, letting the VLPA troops join them without problems…”

Ivan looked back out the window, to find them all gone.

“Ivan!”

“Yes?”

The teacher looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Pay, attention.”

“Ugh, fine.”

The teacher continued on as Ivan kept doing what a student does.

Then there was the sound of cracking

In breakneck speed, he shifted his sight over to the source. Which was a piece of concrete rolling down the street adjacent to him. He only looked back at the street in front of him. “Must’ve been some kind of animal.”

He sighed and just kept walking.

He’d find a suitable area for some rest: a traffic light in the corner of an intersection. She let Jacklyn rest on his shoulder again, not wanting her to get uncomfortable from the rough terrain. Looking around, the empty dust and shell filled streets were everywhere. The buildings reduced to rubble and dereliction. He could vaguely clarify some writing on one of the nearby walls, reading in what appeared to be blood, ’Sunbutt will bleed!!!’

“Damn it Jackie.” Ivan mumbled, looking down onto her. “You didn’t need to be here, you know.”

He looked back up at the sky, hoping that he’d relax in due time. “You shouldn’t’ve come out here if you were going to fall like this, right?”

There was no response. “Right…? Uh, Jackie?”

He looked over to her, finding that her eyes were closed shut.

“No, no, no, Jackie!” Ivan shook her softly, but no response. “Damn, damn it to-”

Tap!

“Shoot!” Frantically, he looked around upon hearing that. He searched and searched before looking away. Nothing. Nevertheless, he reached for his pocket to get out a small mirror. He turned it slightly to search behind him. He searched from left to right, and back. Then he put it away, took out a smoke bomb, and…

BOOM!

…

Blam!

There was the sound of a man screaming in pain.

“Charge!!”

“Son of a-”

It would be followed by the battle cries of many before relentless gunshots would ensue.

“Cease fire, cease fire!”

The group would stop shooting as the smoke clearing up. The only bodies they’d see were the ones from the shooters’ comrades.

“He’s gone, sir. Asshole was clever enough to deceive us.”

“Then keep looking.” ordered the Mayor. “The Legion is on its way to intercept, so do your best to find him. Oh, and by the Pony’s request, bring him alive. I heard you guys were going for the overkill there.”

“Sorry sir, the guy tried to hide, so we tried to-”

The Mayor sighed. “Just bring him alive, okay?”

“You got it, sir!”

Static!

“Alright boys, split up into squads and get to searching! You spot that guy, make sure he doesn’t die!”

“Yes sir!” the group chanted before doing as ordered.

Ivan on the other hand was hiding patiently inside what looked like an insurance office, with Jacklyn in his arms. He peeked around a table he was hiding behind to observe who they were. All of them wore either patriotic hunting outfits, patriotic Jerseys, et cetera. “Grrr, Damn Minutemen.”

He began to look around via his mirror, hoping to find a safe way out of here. Unfortunately, the enemy was ubiquitous. Everywhere he looked, there was a group of them somewhere, guns ready to bring him down. The only option he had was to fight them head on. The challenging part though, was that they came well prepared. Pickup trucks armed with HMG’s too were roaming the streets alongside the foot soldiers.

What made it worse was that one squad consisting of about eight of them, was already lining up outside the door. In urgency, he began to look around again, finding more tables and desks… and a door… or at least an entrance.

“One…” the Minuteman whispered.

Now Ivan had to think of a ploy. In an instant, he thought of one.

“Two…”

He took out his grenade, and got ready to pull the pin.

“Three!”

After pulling it out, he tossed the grenade over towards the front door.

Bam!

BOOM!

“The hell?” their boss shouted. He then found the sight of his subordinates bleeding on the ground while gunfire was being fired from inside the building.

Ivan crashed through the back door, leading him to an alleyway. Through his lowered arms, he fired his last two bullets at the three men, killing two.  With the shield on his back, he charged down the alley while the last man hopelessly fired his assault rifle at him.

Angry, the man slammed his rifle against the ground and radioed, “Sarge, he’s running down an alleyway. Heading for South Harper Street! Be advised, he has a riot shield strapped to his back.”

Ivan ran down the street, coincidentally for him though, an HMG pickup truck had already arrived at his position.

“Stop!” the driver shouted.

Ivan ignored him, and kept running past him.

“Fine… Snips!”

Rat-at-at…!

Ivan turned his body to the right, running sideways.

Tw-tw-tw-tw-tw-tw…!

Ivan then ran forward into another alleyway, kneeling down. He began to reload his pistol when the truck had returned.

“I said, put the guns down!” the driver demanded.

Still, no response.

Rat-at-at…!

Tw-tw-tw...!

The bullets nearly knocked him to the ground, granting him only one option left.

”Imperium!” With the quick thrust of the hand, a black mist soared towards the man firing the HMG. In an instant, he turned the gun around, and began firing it at passing by comrades.

Cl-click!

Ivan would hear the driver shout. “Snips, what the hell are you-”

Blam! Blam!

He said no more once Ivan had shot him dead.

Ivan then proceeded to pick up Jacklyn and ran towards the truck. Quickly placing Jacklyn in the front seat, using her shield as a metal blanket. He quickly shifted the lever to drive and got going. His hopes were crushed though, when another truck had arrived right in front of him.

“Snips, drop the gun!” The man holding the Machine gun shouted. “Please! Don’t do this to yoursel-”

Rat-at-at!

Three fatal shots to his head was what came to him.

“Nips you traitor!” The driver screamed, firing her submachine gun at him. She was met with a rain of bullets that ended her life.

Ivan, simply rammed through the truck, heading in the direction he needed to go. Not stopping for anything, he spotted the sign that announced he was at the city’s limits. “Hmm, easy does-”

The miniature celebration would be interrupted by sixteen minutemen joining together on the street. “Son of a bitch.”

On the Helicopter…

“I’van, don’t do this.” Big Mac thought.

“You all right, Haystack?”

He looked down, finding Maribelle looking at him with worry.

“Eeyup… Ah’m f’ahne.”

Maribelle frowned, looking out at the green below. ”I pity you, my friend.”

His eyes would water.

“Disable the truck!” one of the minutemen would shout.

“Why isn’t that guy shooting?” Ivan muttered, the enemy’s bullets already hitting his windshield. He temporarily looked behind him, finding that he had already left. “Well, you do it the old fashioned way.”

He used his rifle to break through the window, firing as many shots as possible. Five of them would be shot down from where they stood.

Crash!

The glass broke, following a man who jumped over the hood to finish him with his knife. “You’re not going anywhere, assho-”

Blam!

The man only hung limp before Ivan lightly pushed him off. He blew the smoke out of his pistol, muttering, “Sorry buddy, but I don't feel like being ‘rescued’, this time.”

He could already hear the bullets hit from behind while the sound of gunfire was becoming less and less capable of being heard. He took out another gas canister from his pocket. “Hmm, last one I guess.”

Ivan then tossed it out the window to explode.

“Well then, let’s find some water and-” When he saw the blood on her sleeve and vest, he only sighed. “God damn these people.”

Down the road, Ivan would park the car in the grass.

There, Ivan reached into her pockets to find that syringe.

“Come on, come on.” Ivan mumbled restlessly before finding one. “Yes.”

He injected it into her arm and watched as the wounds began to disappear from sight. “Good, now I don’t have to worry about her bleeding to death.”

Ivan looked back at her face, making him feel down. He then looked back at the smoke, which had been reduced to nothing thanks to how far he’s driven away from it. All he did then was place the lever back on drive and got going. The sun was still over the western horizon, and was barely shining brightly in front of his face. It was bright enough to blind him at some moments, forcing him to stop the car once more.  “Damn sun.”

He then pressed the gas pedal, hoping to balance eyesight and driving.

The sun’s luminosity and the road in front proved to be too difficult for Ivan to balance. Instead, he ended up out of the road, and forcing himself to brake. “Damn it.”

He banged both his fists against the steering wheel. “Damn it!”

He could only sit there, doing his best to not let the sun blind him.

“I-Ivan…”

He looked beside her, finding Jacklyn’s eyes had open, as the rest of her body hung limp.

Ivan could only smile weakly. “H-Hey. You’ve been out for a while.”

“Uh… yeah… I have, haven’t I?” she slurred, squinting her right eye as the sun forced her to do as such.

“Mmm Hmm.” He looked past her to find a cabin resting over the empty plains.

“So what happened while I was out?” Jacklyn asked curiously, sitting on a table.

“I ran into those Minutemen again.” Ivan said, bouncing a little ball he found against the wooden floor.

Jacklyn grimaced, “Oh, that’s unfortunate.”

Ivan aligned his poster, saying. “I say it’s more interesting actually.”

“Why say that?”

Ivan giggled. “Well to start, I had to carry you around.”

Jacklyn was thankful that the night was hiding her blushes. Her legs beginning to flail in unison.

“Second, it seems that they want me alive.”

She leaned over to him. “Why?”

“Probably just to kill us off, of course.” Ivan shrugged. “I resort to exhibit M.”

Jacklyn raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Ivan rolled his eyes. “Marianne.”

“Oh… right.” Jacklyn adjusted her dangling hair, frowning. “Her… what now?”

“Well, we’re heading out tomorrow.” Ivan said, looking at the pickup truck outside. It’s too dark to keep driving, and not to mention that if I continued, I’d be both in Washington, and blind by sunset.”

Jacklyn giggled. “Yeah, I agree.”

The two sat there, looking up at the florescent night sky.

“How the hell did you even get to Fort Xavier anyway?” Ivan asked inquisitively.

The question made her cease all leg movements, as her demeanor turned into sorrow. “I… I stowed away in a supply truck. Didn’t need any supplies myself though, the trip was rather short… Ivan?”

She found him, looking at the sky with a shocked expression. “Uh… Okay.”

She too looked back at the sky. “The ride was simple, no incidents occurred, and I managed to get in undetected.”

“I see.” Ivan uttered. “You don’t miss Chicago, at all? I’d expect you to be back there instead of here.”

“N’ah.” she giggled. “Life in Chicago and here seems about the same.”

“Yeah, you sort of got a point there.”

They were silent again, until, “But hey, there’s a bright side to this.”

“And what would that be?”

“Remember when they’d cut the power back in Chicago?” Jacklyn asked with a hint of bliss.

“Yeah.”

She placed her hands over the table. “Times like that were lovely, you know. I’d look out at the stars, and sometimes think about how Luna’s doing.”

Ivan could tell that she was probably grinning like an idiot at the moment.

“I mean, when she raised the moon, why would ponies turn away from her.”

“Pffft,” Ivan groaned, “It’s called sleep, Jackie. Maybe the reason Celestia banished her to the moon was so that she could stop being a spoiled brat.”

“No, no, no, Luna didn’t mean it like that.” she said defensively, but calm. “Just the thought of feeling abandoned must’ve been hard on her. To make matters worse, doing something like that only made her more hated… Hmm, life on the moon must be really lonely up there, right?”

Ivan paused for a moment, “Well… maybe.”

“Yeah…. I’d feel the same way.” she said, looking at the night sky in awe and pity. “Now a thousand years have gone by and I’m worried for how things will go once she comes back.”

“Honestly, I can’t believe that you believe in that stuff, especially when the astronauts couldn’t find her" Ivan sighed. "But hey, if the mare in the moon can only be seen in Equestria, then I’d rather digress... But in answer to your ‘worry’, I don’t know. I mean that’s how the Ideological wars started, right.”

“I guess so.” Jacklyn, though saddened by this fact, chose to cheer up a bit while asking, “Remember the time when I visited your house?"

“Ugh, let’s not remind ourselves of that.” Ivan said grumpily, blushing himself.

“Oh… but I thought the night sky felt.. Fitting…, to be honest.” Jacklyn sighed.

Ivan shrugged. “Sure, whatever you say.”

They kept quiet again for a little moment more.

“So what now?” Jacklyn asked.

“You only have one syringe left, don’t you?”

“Mmm Hmm.” Jacklyn sulked.

“Then let’s not get into any more trouble, okay?” Ivan stated. “Just be glad that syringe surprisingly cures dehydration.”

“Okay.”

Ivan smirked. “You had a lot of guts to come here, you know.”

She felt flattered at that. “Yeah.”

“So don’t mess this up, got it?”

“Mmm Hmm.”

After a short pause, Ivan would say, “Oh, and by the way, I forgive you.”

She looked back at him. “Huh?”

“We were in a hurry, remember?” Ivan said with a smile.

She could only do the same when she figured it out. “Oh, heh, right.”

Underneath the same night sky, Haystack lied on a soft bed beside his little companion, Maribelle. She was fast asleep, but not him. He looked out the broken window in front of him. His head hanging low, and his thoughts in gloom. ”Ivan… It doesn’t have to end this way.” Next Chapter: Chapter 4 Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 41 Minutes