“Alright! Here you go! Now release her!” I slammed the brief case onto the Presidents desk.
“Well done. Thank you for your hard work. Here’s you check; £800,000 like we agreed”
I raised my voice more, “Where’s Rainbow dash? You said you would release her if we did this for you!”
The president sighed and stood up, “I can’t do that. The research that we will be conducting on her is too valuable to us.”
“Bullshit!” I yelled! “You said you’d release her if we did this”
“I can’t help you” he said with a shrug.
“This isn’t fair! She’s a living being, a SENTIENT one too. She’s not like our ponies. She thinks, she talks, she feels emotion!”
“I’m sorry but I can’ help you”
“Fine!” I said threateningly. “Violet, Take out your laptop and find out where Rainbow dash is.” I leaned forward on the desk looking darkly at the president “If you don’t have her released before Violet finds Rainbow herself, I will personally go rescue her and destroy anyone and anything that gets in my way. And trust me, we can do more damage than this research can ever pay for” I paused for a few seconds before continuing. “...And it’ll also be a shame if this....” I put my hand on the brief case. “...little secret of yours got out”
The president was starting to look worried. I could see the fear in his eyes. I looked like I was about to lose it. The french guards were actually pointing their weapons at me by this point.
“...You know that I will get her either way, dead or alive. This ‘research’ your doing? It will not last long. Cut your loses and have her released now”
Violet interrupted, “I found her. She’s at Research base Bravo two-seven. Secret American science base in the Alps”
I looked at her then back at the president “...well? What’s it gonna be?”
The president picked up his office phone and dialed a number. He looked at me reassuringly then....
“...Ah yes. It’s the french president. How are you today commander?...”
A voice was talking back on the phone. I couldn't hear what the voice was saying but I could guess quite easily from what the french president was saying back.
“Aha very good... Listen, I have a favour to ask. I have Courage here in the.... that's right... yes.... uhuh.... Okay, but he.... yep....well he won’t take no for an answer... He says... Yeah, that's right... he isn’t leaving me with a choice... mhmm... Really?... Okay.... yep... Thank you very much... okay. Take care....”
He’ put down the Phone and looked at me with dis-please. “She’ll be here in two hours.... I have also been assured she has been unharmed”
“I'm glad you saw it my way...”
“but....” he interrupted me, “You have to continue working for us. I want your team to follow up on this...” He pointed to the brief case. “I don’t care how you do it.... I want you to put a end to it. I’ll fund you on anything you need. I’d also prefer you not to mention this to anyone except me. No one knows how badly I’ve fucked up and it’ll make me look bad”
I looked at him with an evil grin “...It’ll be our little secret. But if I’m unable to stop this, I won’t be there to bail you out. You’re on your own if all goes to shit. So you better supply those funds”
He looked back at me, he had a much cooler head now. “Okay, so we are in agreement? I give you Rainbow dash and infinite funds, you make this go away?”
“I'm glad you see it my way Mr. President. Once Rainbow dash gets here I’ll get right on it”
----------
It had been nearly three hours since the little scene in the president’s office and Me and violet were still waiting for Rainbow dash to be returned to the Paris air base. I was starting to think that he had gone back on his word. Eventually the helicopter did arrive.The Pilot got out as soon as he landed and apologised for running late. He said the Pony gave them a lot of trouble. Behind him I could see two guys struggling to carry her as she struggled against them so much.
“Rainbow Dash?!” I yelled out to her!
Rainbow dash then swiftly knock both the guys down with little effort and flew towards me. She smiled happily and proceeded to hug me.
“Thanks! They told me it was you who had me released. I didn’t believe them till now though”
I smiled at her as she released me, “Well it was kind of my fault that you got taken in the first place. It was the least I could do”
“So what now?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” I asked curiously.
She started to look at the floor, brushing it with her hoof, “I mean like what are you going to do about me? I don’t know what to do with myself and you’re the only human I trust”
It was as if she was asking to stay with me for a while. She clearly had no goal of her own and I felt she was my responsibility. I then got to thinking that a Pegasus pony could be quite useful to me and it would be nice to have some company at the base a lot more often.
“...well....” as I started to speak she looked up at me hopefully... “...I guess you could stay with me for a while. You can be part of my team. Your ability to fly could be most useful for lifting things”
She seemed quite happy with my response, “Thank you so much...” but then she paused. Her voice dropped “ It would be nice to be appreciated again...” She became distracted by her thoughts. I assumed she was thinking about what happened back in Equestria. I felt so sorry for her, being so far from home. I didn’t know exactly where Equestria was but it certainly wasn’t on earth. I still didn’t know how she got here. I was going to ask her when we got back home right after the briefing with the team. It was impotent to brief them as soon as possible. This new Mission was very important.
----------
Back at the base I had assembled the team in the computer lab, Rainbow dash by my side. Everyone else gathered around the table computer. I loved the table computer. It was like a massive table but also a huge touch screen monitor. It was so cool and Rainbow dash was also amused by it. I had it installed by some frenchies a few hours before this meeting. It also made presenting plans much easier and neater.
“Okay, before we start I wish to introduce our new member, Rainbow Dash! She’ll be acting as a spare pair of Hooves and wings to help with base operations. She’s part of the team and I want her to be treated as such. Just because she’s not human it doesn’t make her any less important...”
Everyone casually nodded at me not really paying much attention.
I raised my voice a little, “Alright! Pay attention! We have a new assignment from the president. It looks like he made a few wrong deals and he wants us to fix it without anyone else finding out what he has done. We all know that Nuclear MISSILE warfare is obsolete due to the satellites in orbit. However nukes can still be dropped out of a plane or driven around in trucks. Anti-air takes care of any air attempts and proper border control stops any nukes from being smuggled in. However in an attempt to make peace the president, stupidly, gave the Russian diplomat Air codes to allow his planes to fly through the automated anti-air defences unharmed. This means he could fly a bomber right over Paris and drop a nuke right into the centre of it, wiping it from the face of the earth. That would kill our in tire leader ship and not to mention it would scare the shit out of any other UN city. Any nuking of Paris of any kind would mean the loss of the war and we’ll all have to speak Russian... I don’t want that. Not to mention the number of people who would be killed in the bombing.”
Edward began to ask, “So what are we going to do? Do we have any leads?”
“No, we don’t have any leads yet...” I said disappointingly. “...but I want Violet to get to work. Find me a lead okay? You have the entire computer lab at your disposal.”
Violet then ask curiously, “What about you then Courage?”
I grinned cunningly, “I'm going to meet an old friend who might be able to help us”

Violet got to work on the computer and everyone else had gone to do their assigned duties. I was on my way to the motor-pool and Rainbow dash ran up and started walking beside me.
“I want to come with you” She said.
“It might be dangerous, you should stay here where it’s safe” I suggested.
“...but I want to help! I want to do more then just move things around!” she cried.
“Our line of work is too dangerous and your not trained or equipped for it”
“...then make me!” She said hopefully. She was silent for a while. She could see I wasn’t going to say yes. Realising this she tried to reason with me. “Please! I want to do more for the team than lift things. I want to help people. I want to... to...”
I cut in front of her, “To make up for what you did to Princess Celestria?”
Her head dropped in sadness. I continued, “...what you did was not your fault. Surely you must understand that. I'm sure that even the other Ponies understand that. It was a mistake. Just go back to Equestria, I’m sure they’ll take you back”
“No.... They made it pretty clear I wasn’t wanted” She had stopped walking beside me. I stopped and looked at her. She looked heart broken now, a tear rolling down her face. I felt really bad.
“Oh Dashy...” I had no idea what to say so I just hugged her. She hugged back. Her voice was now cracked like she was trying to hold back the tears.
“Please, give me this chance to redeem myself. Let me help you”
It was clear she really wanted to make a difference. I didn’t like the idea of having her fight but she was really determined. She really wanted to redeem herself for what she did and I didn’t want to take that from her.
I gave a loud sigh, “Okay fine, once I meet with my friend I promise I will train you and make some weapons for you”
“Thank you!” she said wiping her tears with her hoof. “I promise not to disappoint you”
She hugged me tightly, thanking me again. After a few seconds she let go of me and smiled deeply at me. I wiped the remains of her tears and smiled back. After a few more seconds I re-focused on my task.
“Anyway, we need to get going. I have organised a meet with my friend. Hopefully he’ll have something for me”
“...we? You mean I can come?” She looked at me with cheerful excitement.
“Yes, just stay hidden in the clouds until I reach the meeting point. Then you can sneak down and join me”
----------
Me and Rainbow reached the parking lot where we were going to meet my friend. It was 1am and the parking lot was completely devoid of life. No one was around so it was safe for Rainbow Dash to stand with me. Me and Rainbow were standing near a white van in the corner of the storey. The van was old and very dirty. Someone had written “Clean me” down the side. We waited for a while but eventually I saw a sharp tall figure approach us. They had most likely already seen Rainbow Dash and I just hoped it was my friend.
“Gavriil?” I called out in a loud whisper “...is that you”
A strong Russian accent replied back in a similar tone, “Yes, it is me Comrade”
Out of the shadow approached a tall Russian man wearing a large black trench coat and a black and grey ushanka. He had really thick jaw bones and stubble around his face. He looked like a typical Russian soldier type and that was exactly what he was. I must emphasise the ‘Was’. He was part of the spetnaz and tried to arrest me on my mission to Siberia but we were bombed by Russian MIG’s. After being bombed by his own people and being betrayed by his government he wanted his revenge. His first act of revenge was helping me escape Siberia so I could continue my operations against his government but of course he wants them to really feel butt hurt, so he is going to help me screw up this nuke operation for them by giving me a lead. Hopefully he would have something for me to follow up on. If not then it would be all down to Violet to find us a lead.
“Good to see you again Comrade” He said in a very welcoming voice.
“Indeed, it has been many months. Anyway straight to business. Do you have anything for me?”
“Very efficient my friend. I don’t have any information about the codes or the nukes but I know where might be able to find it”
“Give me what you got...”
Before I could finish I could hear skidding tyres coming from round the corner. We all looked around to see what was happening. To our surprise, two black Sedans drove up and drifted to the side, blocking the path between the rows of parked cars. Four Russian spetnaz soldiers got out of each one, armed for bare, and immediately opened fire on us. Luckily we dove behind the van to gain cover from the bullets. As we did I pulled out a P99 Pistol from the back of my trousers and instantly started blind firing from the side of the van, emptying a whole clip.
“...shit they must of followed me!” complained Gavriil.
I instantly asked in response, “Did you not suspect they would?”
“...of course I did”. He proceeded to pull an AEK-919k SMG from his trench coat. “I guess we’ll just have to fight our way out then” he said relentlessly.
I reloaded my Pistol and took a peak around the side of the van. They were spreading out around the lot taking cover behind the other cars. They were still firing at us but they were mainly just suppressing us till they all got into suitable cover, or they were just trying to keep us pinned here so something else they had planned could happen. Possibly C4 right below us? or maybe guys coming through the door that leads to the stairs. Either way we couldn’t stay behind this van for very long. It was time to find a car. I was hoping to steal one of the sedans the Spetnaz used to get here. I assumed the keys would still be in the ignition which meant no tedious hot wiring.
I had a plan. It was simple but the best we had. “Gavriil, take my place and get ready to cover me. I'm going to run across to that green car. Then I can take out a few of the spetnaz troops while you move up to steal their car. Once there you can drive it back here to pick me and Rainbow up. We can then drive out of here before more show up”
“Da Comrade. I'm ready”
I moved away from the van and got ready to run across the floor to the car. Gavriil, moved into my old position ready to cover me.
“Are you ready Comrade?” he asked.
“Now!”. I leaped out of cover sprinting for the car. Gavriil lent out from the behind the van, firing at the enemy soldiers. His SMG packed a real mean punch as the windows of cars shattered everywhere. Many car alarms were going off, screaming for their owners to come save them. Bullets were flying everywhere in my direction as I dived for the green car. I grazed my elbows landing the dive on the hard asphalt, it hurt but that dive meant the difference between a graze and a bullet to the face. I took a second to pick myself up and instantly stood up, taking a few shots at the Russians. I hit two guys, one straight in the head and the other in the chest. Gavriil took out two while I was running across the lot. Only four remained and Gavriil was now moving from car to car towards the Spetnaz sedan. I reloaded and took a few more shots at the other Russians. These four were behind tight cover and were hard to shoot from such a distance with a shitty pistol, but the fire definitely kept their heads down for a few seconds while Gavriil stole their car. Gavriil had successfully stolen their car and drove it between the white van and the green car I was behind. Gavriil got out again and fired another clip at the Russians. I ran for the drivers seat and Rainbow ran for the front passenger seat. A black van pulled up next to the other Russians and about six more guys climbed out, armed with AK’s and UMP’s, all opening fire on us. I opened the door for Dash as I figured she wouldn’t be able to open it with her hooves. Gavriil emptied his clip and jumped in the back. As soon as he was in I drove out of there.

On the bottom level of the parking lot we were about to go down the exit ramp. The beams of spotlights from a Hughes 500 attack helicopter dazed me as we flew down the ramp.
“A chopper? A fucking chopper?!?” I yelled with rage. I made an immediate left turn at the bottom of the ramp. Two more black sedans were closing in on our six, both filled with Russian spetnaz. The Hughes helicopter also followed us but was not yet using it’s weapons, Thankfully. The Hughes was armed with Vulcan mini-guns and many rockets.
We were now on the streets of London. Even though it was 1am people still walked the streets, cars and buses still on the road and many shops still open. The Russians from the sedans started firing at us. Within seconds our back window was cracked from the bullet fire and the left wing mirror was shattered. Gavriil lent out the window to return fire.
“Watch your fire!” I said cautiously “...we don’t want any civilian casualties!”
“Don’t worry Curry. I will be careful” he said reassuringly.
“Did he just call me Curry?” I said quietly to myself with Confusion.
The Russian cars were right up our arse now. One had driven down the side on the other side of the road right beside us. I saw the three passengers reloading their weapons. It was clear they were going to try take me out. I quickly reached for my Pistol and fired at them. I was aiming my weapon at the driver hoping to take him out, not watching the road which was probably a bad idea while going 45 on a city road. I emptied my clip into their car only grazing the drivers back. I couldn’t reload because I was driving. I was thinking “Shit shit shit what now” as the Russians lent out of their windows to fire. Heavy sprays of machine gun fire began to bombard our car. I was hit in the left arm and waist almost straight away, Rainbow was hit on the chest and Gavriil was also hit but I didn’t see where as I was too busy driving. After about 10 seconds of getting sprayed with bullets I tried to ram the car beside us to put them off balance. I slammed my car as hard as I could into the side of them. They pulled back and started to spray the back end of the car again. I wasn’t sure how much more this car could take. I also started to feel dizzy from the blood loss from my wounds. I could feel the blood seeping out of me. The Russian car tried to pull up beside me again, ramming the side of me again. I was trying to force their car onto the side walk as I slowly took over their lane.
“BUS!!” Yelled Rainbow in panic!!
I looked ahead as a Double Decker bus hurtled towards us. Just before it hit us I returned to my lane and the bus just completely destroyed the Russian car.

The other Russian car rammed the back end of my car jolting me forward into the wheel. The smack of the wheel caused my nose to bleed heavily. More bullets flew in though the back window as it shattered to pieces, two bullets hitting Rainbow Dash in the back and one hitting me in my back also. I had no idea if Gavriil was conscious but I assumed not since he stopped shooting. Rainbow dash passed out from the pain of her wounds and I was about to do the same. The Russian car tried to spin us out by swiping out back end from the side. I manage to pull forward as they swung. They were expecting most of their momentum to go into my car but since I pulled out the way all their momentum launched them into a lamp post.

That was the last of the cars but the Chopper was still tailing us. At that moment I could hear the Mini-guns spinning up. “Aw shit” I said quietly to myself. After a few seconds of whistling from the Mini-guns spinning up a massive continuous barrage of bullets were blasted from the Heli’s guns and started to rip the road apart. Chunks of asphalt tearing from the road going everywhere, car’s crashing to the sides trying to avoid the fire. The Choppers aim wasn’t great. It’s weight kept shifting and it swerved quite a lot. Despite it’s aim being off it wasn’t completely ineffective. Bullets flew through the roof into the dash board causing sparks everywhere as the electronics short circuited. Realising going straight was a bad idea I took a very sharp left turn onto a large bridge going over the Themes river in an attempt to escape the chopper. The chopper swung round to follow, flying by the side of the bridge at my level. Two guys on the side fired assault rifles at me, bursting the front right tire. The car became harder to control without the tire but I kept it stable. The Helicopter pulled above me and that's when it unloaded hell on the bridge. Rockets flew all over the road ahead as I tried to avoid being hit. I could see the bridge collapsing in my rear view mirror. I put more pressure on the throttle trying to stay ahead of the chaos behind while at the same time dodging the explosions ahead. I had barely reached the end of the bridge before it completely collapsed. I tried to turn right but without my tire I had no grip so I just continued to slide sideways down the road. The chopper hovered above the wreckage of the bridge taking aim at us with it’s last rocket. Once it had fully held a still position it released it’s last rocket. It flew towards us and hit the ground directly under the car, launching us in the air before we crashed harshly into the side of a large truck.

Everything was dark, my wounds were too intense and I could feel my life slipping from me. The spot lights from the chopper blinded me as I looked straight into them. I tried to force myself up. My leg was crushed and my head was cracked open. My bullet wounds from the chase still hurting like a bitch. I finally got myself up and pulled Rainbow from the wreckage. I went to help Gavriil out but his body was completely crushed by the cars roof. More black trucks arrived to the scene as I tried desperately to pull Gavriil out from the car.
He was barely conscious. He started cough before speaking. “There’s no time. You need to get out of here” he said, trying to keep his breath. I could hear in his voice that he was in mortal agony.
“I’m not going to abandon you. I just need to....”
He cut me off from my sentence, “There’s no time Curry, they’ll be here in seconds. There is much more at stake. If we die then so do the chances of us winning this war... and the chances of saving Russia from a fate worst than death. Take this...”. He handed me a small envelope. “...It has all the information you need.” He coughed some more and was finding it difficult to breath. “...Now go! Stop the Nukes and save the people from the corruption of my Fascist government”
He reached for his SMG and pulled it close to him, aiming towards the trucks that has arrived in the background. I didn’t know what to do. I just did what he said and got out of there. I picked up Rainbow Dash who was still unconscious and ran from the scene. As I ran I could hear small arms fire going off behind me, Then... a load bang from what sounded like a shotgun. I stopped to the noise of the shotgun then shook my head in moaning before I continued to flee the scene. At least I got what I needed from him. Now he can rest in peace knowing he did his part...