The Stories of a Dreamlander

Chapter 17: See War, Sea War

Part 1: Bellerophon

TIME: 06:00 ERST
DATE: War Day 120/4 Octavius, 1002 C.S.
LOCATION: Fillydelphia Naval Yards, Slip #3

A lot had happened in the last sixty days. Tirek didn't rest on his laurels. His ability to reproduce my Sherman and Lee designs somehow, has given him weapons equal to ours, but not in the same concentration. His forces still took to the field armed half with firearms, and half with spears and other simplistic weapons. He switched tactics, though, and started focusing on hit-and-run raids. The various Equestrian Militia forces had fought off no less than a dozen raids in a month's time, and attacks on smaller outlying settlements were somewhat common, but were really capped with an attack on Canternooga a week ago.

The Canternooga County Militia - the first Regiment-sized formation formed along the "refined Militia" standards - easily repelled the attack in the Battle of Canternooga Springs. I didn't know it, but a few officers had been there as active combatants and observers that would be important later.

But today.. today was a special day indeed. We were celebrating the birth of Equestria's navy. Sport sailing had been a thing among coastal towns, and some nomadic or expatriate populations of Griffons had become fishers for sustenance. As of today, we had brought together every man-jack and yachter we could scrounge up, and trained many more, for the commissioning of the Equestrian Royal Navy's first ship - the HMS Bellerophon.

The name was my suggestion - something neutral. Bellerophon was supposedly a big hero before Hercules came around, so, I found it fitting that the first ship of the ERN be named for him. Bellerophon was a 85-meter long, 24-gun, 5-deck Screw Frigate, based on the Merrimack-class Screw Frigates of the 1850's. I deliberately made the design as simple as possible, based on drawings I had Spike reproduce from my Cell Phone's SIM chip back when it still had power. Steam engines existed here, and that made my job easier - I wouldn't have to invent the wheel, as it were.

The ship construction began, actually, before the war. Princess Celestia simply took over Slips #1 through 6 at the Fillydelphia Shipyards, and placed them under Royal control. We didn't have a real plan to arm the ships, at first, and I intended they only be used to transport military supplies and forces, if we had to cross any stretch of water over a kilometer.

The crewing requirements of a First Rate Frigate of this size was pretty high. In all, Bellerophon required 150 ponies to keep her going - 110 crew, 24 Petty Officers, and 16 Officers. This included a platoon of 24 Marines, led by a Lieutenant. The main personnel cost was in her rigging - she was a three-masted, ship-rig. Primarily as backup, of course, and for the same reasons that other early Screw ships did - lack of easily obtainable boiler coal. After the ERN set up coaling stations, and we commissioned coillers, the masts could be removed and the ships modified into proper Ironclads (with some transition towards more modern ship design, such as a forward-centre bridge and superstructure).

Primary armament was 10 205mm (roughly 8-inch) Naval Rifles per side. Not up-scaled 75mm's, but a totally different design, pretty similar to other late-19th century naval artillery, with a moving breechblock. For weight and aiming reasons, the main guns were mounted in sponsons instead of traditional open cannon ports. The foredeck and aft deck both sported an open twin mount of 255mm (roughly 10-inch) Naval Rifles with extended barrels to maximize range and mechanical accuracy.

What encouraged us to arm the ships was, of all things, piracy. And this was a Pre-War issue - it started just before Lonehoof Ridge. Not just any piracy, either, but the loss of 2 large lumber transport ships, one ship carrying manufactured goods, and another carrying food. All nabbed up within 300 nautical miles of Fillydelphia or Manehattan. It was a testy problem, and I was now convinced Tirek was behind this.

I strode out on the dock as the people - ponies - began assembling for the Commissioning Ceremony. The first pony I encountered was the leader of the Marine Detachment - a Lieutenant named Forest Spirit. Nice enough fellow, he had been training for the expanded Manehattan (Tiedown County) Militia's new Ranger unit when Derpy and Cheerilee both suggested him for the Marines. I'd met him once before.

K: "Lieutenant." I nodded.

Lt. Forest Spirit: "General." He saluted me.

K: "At ease, Lieutenant." I gave him a half-hearted salute back. "Relax a little. We're just going on a commissioning cruise. Two days out and back."

Lt. Forest Spirit: "With both Princesses aboard." He reminded me. "Ship's Security is my duty, General. I'm very new to all of this, and your manuals, if you will forgive me sir, are a bit hard to understand."

K: "What did you do before this, Lieutenant?" I canted my head to the side.

Lt. Forest Spirit: "Before the war? I was a park ranger. Simple enough job. Find lost ponies that decided on a nature hike, help any hurt forest animals, that sort of thing." He nodded sharply.

K: "Pretty good at tracking, then?" I tilted my head to him.

Lt. Forest Spirit: "Yes, sir. You have to be, to find people that don't even realise how lost they are." He shrugged.

K: "That'll come in handy if you have to put to shore for any reason." I reminded him.

Lt. Forest Spirit: "Aye-aye, sir. Anything else, sir?" He looked to me, crisply.

K: "No, not at all. Go ahead." I waved. "If you have something more important to do than chit-chat with me, please, go do it."

Lt. Forest Spirit: "Aye-aye, sir!" He clicked his rear hooves together before departing.

I take it back, the stallion has a stick up his ass. But he seems to know his job.

The next person I met with was a dual-role personality. A D.J. by night, and a Ranger by day, Dex Runner was also a Lieutenant, and leader of the Fillydelphia (Paddock County) Militia Regiment's Ranger Platoon. In order of precedence, that made him as important as a Company Commander of Cavalry, Infantry or Artillery - same with Forest Spirit - as he was a unit commander. The Paddock County Rangers were the first ranger unit outside of Derpy's Rangers that had been fully trained.

Dex was also providing shore security today, and I caught him interfacing with Altern (Royal Guard rank equal to a Lieutenant) Steel Shine, commander of Celestia and Luna's security detachment (both 1st Squads were here). I waited until Steel Shine left.

K: "Lieutenant.. Dex Runner, yes?" I nodded to him, examining him a bit.

Lt. Dex Runner: "Yes! General K. Nice to meet you, dude - uh, sir." He smiled at me with that youthful eagerness.

K: "Settling into your new job well enough?" I shrugged.

Lt. Dex Runner: "Sure am, sir! Things're runnin' real spiff. Clean an' rockin' - uh, sir." He smirked.

K: "Good. All the security procedures in place?" I looked over the yards.

Lt. Dex Runner: "Sure are, sir. Ain't a single stinkin' Raptorian or what, gonna sneak in here and do nothin' sir." He nodded firmly.

K: "Excellent." I smiled - he knew his stuff, too.

Lt. Dex Runner: "This is one killer trip, you don't mind me sayin', sir. I mean, totally, man! I've never had this kind'a responsibility before." He grinned widely.

K: "You'll do fine. As long as the Princesses don't die, you learn something, right?" I nodded slowly to him as I spoke.

Lt. Dex Runner: "Totally. Uh, sir." He quirked a brow. "But, like, what if they do kick?"

K: "Then you'll learn how to DJ from a dungeon, like everyone else." I shrugged. "At least until Tirek has us executed."

Lt. Dex Runner: "Maximum buzzkill, man. Uh, sir." He corrected himself.

K: "Hang loose, Lieutenant." I gave him the old thumb-pinkie twist. Not that he'd get the gesture, but it was quite popular.. in 1986.

He nodded to it.. understanding it perfectly.

Pacing over to the pavillion set up at the bow of the ship, I took another look at her Copper Sheathing. I remembered that the bolts needed to be Copper-Zinc alloy to avoid corrosion.. and metallurgy was one thing Equestria seemed to be pretty decent at - pre-1930's, but still, damned good. I inspected the champagne bottle we were going to use - actually, bubbly cider from Sweet Apple Acres. Granny's Special Reserve. Setting it back, I paced around a bit until Sunsine came up to me, giving me a nod.

Sgt. Sunshine Smiles: "Their royal highnesses will be here momentarily. Everything ready?"

K: "Seems to be. Security's tight, we got our crowd, everything's lining up." I shrugged. "Derpy coming?"

Sgt. Sunshine Smiles: "Well, she IS pregnant, sir.."

Derpy and Dr. Whooves had gotten married.. Cheerilee was in charge of the Royal Rangers until Derpy delivered, which should be in about 200 days or so. I hoped the war would be over by then - I didn't like the thought that Derpy's baby might grow up knowing only fear. She and I had become close friends since that day, over a year ago, when she found the three of us in the forest, and invited herself along.

K: "Still, I hope to see her." I shrugged.

Sgt. Sunshine Smiles: "Of course, sir. If you'll excuse me." He nodded and departed.

Luna came into the pavillion.. alone. She sauntered up to me and raised herself up to put her forelegs around me.

Luna: "I don't often say this, but, good morning." She kissed my cheek.

We'd spent the last three days together - and we'd been spending time together on-and-off since Gloom Volcano, when she admitted her feelings to me. Applejack didn't mind. She and the girls were busy with Ponyville, and that was my headquarters, so, every time I came home, I stayed with Applejack. And when I was on the road conducting official business, occasionally, I'd have Luna with me. The split of time wasn't equal, favoring Applejack, but it was acceptable to the Princess.

Personally, I wanted the war to be over with, so I could split my time between the palace and home. Both ladies were exceptional to me, and I wanted their lives to be full of gifts, happiness, and romance. Perhaps a few sweaty nights in between. I just wanted this to end. Still, I turned to embrace her, and kiss her on those grape-purple lips (she tasted vaguely chocolately).

K: "Been eating moon pies again, have you?" I smirked.

Luna: "Just had one, actually." She smirked back. "You ever wonder what would happen if we did have a child?"

K: "You mean you and me?" I asked, tilting my head.

Luna: "Yeah. What would it look like?" She tilted her head to me.

K: "Centaur. Body of a horse, with a human torso rising from the front." I nodded. "Or a hairless pony. If anything, I'd hope for a Centaur."

Luna: "Any reason?" She cocked a brow.

K: "More likely to be accepted, and easier to clothe." I grinned a bit.

Luna: "Logical as always." She kissed me again. "Let's get this ceremony over with, hm? I'm sure you're exhausted - you were up all night preparing."

K: "Mmm.. sleep. Sounds so good-"

Luna: "Sleep? Oh-ho-ho... you presume to get off too easily, My General.." She twitched a brow at me.

K: "I have a feeling that's exactly what you want out of me, My Princess." I smirked.


TIME: 06:30 ERST

Celestia: "Loyal Ponies of mine, we stand at this slipway today because we face problems the likes of which we had never imagined. War has come to us, our enemy spears our flanks at every opportunity. But we persevere. And today, we commission the sword of our new fleet - with Bellerophon and her sisters, we will secure our future, in peace and prosperity."

With a mighty telekinetic swing, the bottle was heaved at the mighty vessel, shattering on impact. With a great cheer, Bellerophon slipped from the slipway, and slid right into the water.

A better ceremony would be hard to come by, even on earth.

As we went to board her, I wondered what challenges we'd face, that Bellerophon would be our sword?

{End of Part 1}


Part 2: Encounter

TIME: 08:00 ERST
DATE: War Day 120
LOCATION: HMS Bellerophon, At Anchor off Fillydelphia Port

I strode the bridge of the ship, looking over my fine creation. It struck me how simple the layout was - how much manual control was needed on a vessel of the 19th century. She wasn't particularly fast, either. Twelve knots - or about 13.8mph - under power, 10 knots in a high wind. The masts were single piece - given that Equestria has so many unspoilt forests, finding proper timbers wasn't any problem at all. This beat the "patched" masts of actual 17th-19th century ships back on Earth, that were often made up of three pieces of timber lashed together with iron bands.

At the moment, Bellerophon was at anchor. The ship's captain, Saletine (a Griffon), strode along the deck of the bridge, checking each station. He was thorough - and he had been the best and most knowedgeable among all the people that signed up for Officer's School. An old salt, he claimed to be sixty years hatched, though no one could rightly recall his true age. His personal ship, the 'Windless Gale', had been seized by pirates a month before he was approached to join the ERN.

Capt. Saletine: "We're ready to disembark, General. Power or sail? There's a fine breeze today - we should make eight knots." Deep, baritone, commanding.

K: "Rig for sails, captain. Let's put her through her paces." I nodded to him.

Capt. Saletine: "Aye-aye! RIG FOR SAIL, YE SALTY DOGS! GIVE ME FULL SAIL. HAUL IN ANCHOR, AND PREPARE TO LEAVE PORT!" He barked.

Master Bounder Bunsen: "You heard the Captain. Navigator, plot a course to Carousel Island. Helmsman, prepare to come right zero-two-five degrees port once we're under sail." He directed, expertly.

I strode out the back of the bridge, and found the Princesses standing among their Royal Guards and Lieutenant Spirit's Marines. Lieutenant Runner and his Rangers were mussing about on deck, lending a hand with general ship upkeep. I watched the sails unfurl - it may be a new ship, but her crew knew what they were doing.

Luna: "How does she look, My General?" She strode up next to me.

K: "She isn't taking on water, and we're not at the bottom of the harbor, so, I'd say pretty darn good, so far." I chuckled.

Celestia: "I have confidence, K." She nodded to me.

K: "As do I." I smirked.

The sails were unfurled, and we started to make speed. Everything was holding together, and our ship was moving.

We passed the slipways where the HMS Pegasus and HMS Terra were nearing completion. Back at Slipway #4 was HMS Unicorn. All three ships would be commissioned and put to sea within a week. Then, we'd finish the first Ship-of-the-Line (precursor of all Battleships) - the HMS Canterlot. She'd be much larger than the Bellerophon-class Frigates. Canterlot was due to be commissioned next month, giving Equestria a respectable five-ship flotilla. After the Canterlot and the Bellerophons were worked up for a while, brought back to port and inspected, then we'd start on the real meat of the navy - a full ten possibly improved Bellerophons, and four more Ships-of-the-Line, for a total fleet of 20 ships. Fifteen Frigates, five Ships-of-the-Line, divided into five flotillas of three Frigates and one Ship-of-the-Line each.

Ships take a while to build, but when you have the effort of every shipwright in the land working on them, things get easier. If we had easier access to coaling stations, I would have gone straight to ironclads, or early 20th century designs. But, that might take a while - we had to set up coaling stations first. The transition from coal to oil might not happen during the war, but that would be fine. Equestria had insanely large deposits of incredibly pure anthracite coal all over the place - the most energy-efficient and least-polluting coal available. Even if we burned that stuff up at 100 tons a day, we wouldn't run out for centuries.

Navies didn't run on rainbows and butterflies.


TIME: 11:33
LOCATION: HMS Bellerophon, 26nmi from Fillydelphia, 8nmi from Carousel Island.

I was again on the bridge, examining the operation of the ship. For about an hour, I stood at the helm, steering the mighty warship all by myself - check that one off my list of lifetime achivements, pilot a warship. The crew were in high spirits - we made 11 knots for a brief stretch, and were trying to find the wind again so we could test her at full sail. Luna was next to me, intently examining each officer and petty officer, and absorbing the knowledge of their roles. In turn, they all unquestioningly respected her curiosity - and that was a big key here, no one here was afraid of her in the slightest. Her reputation from Gloom Volcano was preceeding her, the crew felt like they were in good hands.

Spny. Keen Vision: "SHIP SIGHTED! TEN DEGREES OFF THE PORT STERN!" He called from the Crow's Nest.

Mstr. Bounder Bunsen: "Captain?" He looked to his commander.

Capt. Saletine: "LOOKOUT! CAN YOU IDENTIFY HER?" He leaned out, and called up, chewing the stem of his pipe.

Spny. Keen Vision: "NEGATIVE, SHE FLIES NO COLORS. NEVER SEEN ONE LIKE HER, CAP'N!" He called down.

Capt. Saletine: "Bloody hoofies.. wouldn't know their arse fr-"

Mstr. Bounder Bunsen: *Ahem* He nodded at the princess.

Capt. Saletine: "OH! Sorry, yer highness. I'll berate th' race o' me crew on me own time." He paced out the door of the pilot house, to go have a look himself.

Luna: "Colourful character.." She mused, rubbing her chin.

K: "Seems it. Racist and not ashamed. Says he has sass." I crossed my arms. "And balls."

Capt. Saletine: "BY THE BLOODY MOON!" He shrieked as he looked through the spyglass.

K: "Captain!?"

Luna: "What did I do?" She asked, confused.

Capt. Saletine: "STOW SAILS AN' GIVE ME FULL SPEED ON THE ENGINE! SOUND GENERAL QUARTERS! ALL CREWS TO GUNS!"

He came flying into the pilot house, and screeched to a halt next to both of us. He then started pushing us towards the stairs leading to the lower superstructure as the Signalman rang the ship's bell.

Capt. Saletine: "GET TO COVER! WE GOTS OURSELVES A PY'RATE SHIP!" He exclaimed.

K: "EXCUSE me, CAPTAIN, but not only do I outrank you, I gave you your job - I happen to KNOW-"

*Cannon shell whistle*

*LOUD splash!*

Mstr. Bounder Bunsen: "THE ENEMY VESSEL HAS OPENED FIRE!" He reported.. as if it wasn't obvious.

Capt. Saletine: "You goin' b'low decks, matey?" He asked me very matter-of-factually.

K: "If I lost my keel every time I got shot at, we'd've been defeated ages ago." I said, sternly.

Luna: "As Defense Advisor, I cannot perform my duties from a little hole in the middle of the ship, Captain." She narrowed her eyes very slightly at him.

Capt. Saletine: *Leers* "OH! I likes me a lass what wears her ovaries on the OUTside!" *Yar-har-har* "RETURN FIRE, STERN PIVOT GUN! GIVE ME RANGING SHOTS!"

Luna: *Coldly* "Spoken for." She put her foreleg around me.

Mstr. Bounder Bunsen: "STERN PIVOT GUN, OPEN FIRE FOR RANGING SHOTS! REPORT RANGE SETTINGS TO FIRE CONROL!" He shouted into the sound-powered telephone.

*Stern pivot gun fires*

*Distant splash*

Mstr. Bounder: "Captain, Enemy vessel is coming about.. she's exposing her side to us, captain!" He said, keeping an eye on her with binoculars.

Capt. Saletine: "Bloody hell! ALL GUNS OPEN FIRE TO PORT! ESTIMATE RANGE SETTINGS INDEPENDENTLY!" He chewed on his corncob pipe stem.

Mstr. Bounder: "Aye-aye. ALL PORTSIDE SPONSONS, OPEN FIRE, ESTIMATE RANGE AND AZIMUTH INDEPENDENTLY UNTIL FURTHER ORDERS!" He shouted into the megaphone he had.

I got out on deck, and borrowed a spyglass from the Lookout so I could get a better look at what we were facing. It looked like a mutant design between a Carrack and a proper Galleon, as it still had some kind of forward superstructure to it, but was strongly canted back like a Galleon, with some measure taken to reduce wind resistance over the length of the ship, like a boat-tailed bullet.

Oh, and it was easily large enough to mount over a hundred guns.

K: "Wow.." Was all I could say, before handing the spyglass back and going back inside. "Captain, she's awfully big. Her weight-of-shell is easily four times ours."

Capt. Saletine: "Aye.." He nodded.. with a tiny grin.

K: "And her crew has likely had more practise on their vessel than we have."

Capt. Saeltine: "Aye.." He nodded again, his grin growing.

K: "Captain, perhaps we should consider a withdrawl? If we can get back to Fillydelphia, the shore guns should be able to deal with her." I nodded back towards where the mainland was.

Capt. Saletine: "Fergiv'n my sass, General, but you give me this job, this ship, let me handle her!" He beamed a cocky grin.

K: "Alright, Captain." I shrugged. "You have my faith. Do what you must, but expect input."

Capt. Saletine: "No defeatist-talk on my deck, General!" He nodded, and went to take another look at the enemy vessel.

Cannon shells shreiked over us, landing on all sides. No hits.

K: "Aye-aye, captain." I gave a smug grin.

Capt. Saletine: "Master Bounder! Bring us two-two-zero degrees to port, an' keep that angle to 'em! We'll use our bow-facin' guns.." He grumbled aggressively.

"Crossing the T" was an old naval term wherein one enemy force would try to come broadside as the other met them head-on. By getting the broadside, the broadsiding force could generally put more weight-of-shell out than the force coming up bow-first, even if that force was in a broad formation. I planned for this, actually, when I designed the Bellerophons - they could fire from any angle. Six guns fore or aft, ten to fourteen on the broadside, or six gun in all cardinal directions at once.

The one advantage the "stem" of the "T" had over the broadside line was, it was often harder to hit an oncoming ship than one that nicely presented its whole side...

Mstr. Bounder: "AYE-AYE! HELMSMAN! TWO-TWO-ZERO TO PORT!"

Spny. Greecher: "AYE-AYE! TWO-TWO-ZERO TO PORT!" Another Griffon, oddly. He ham-fisted the wheel, and pulled us around.

..this was the case here, as we went from bracketing fire, to wild misses all over the place.

Capt. Saletine: "FIRE BOW GUNS UNTIL WE START SCORIN' HITS, MASTER BOUNDER!" He announced.

Mstr. Bounder: "AYE-AYE! BOW GUNS, FIRE AT WILL!" He ordered.

Obediently, the bow guns started opening up. The first to score a hit was the pivot gun. The Gunner there had elected to use different range and azimuth settings on each barrel, to maximize the chance of a hit. Once he scored one, I could see him relay the range and azimuth settings into the sound-powered phone.

Then, all of our forward guns started scoring hits.

I watched the enemy ship light up with flame, as hits from our guns took out the cannons in the center of the hull, the ones aimed at us. The enemy ship - sail-powered only - tried to haul over to starboard to run, its fire ceased. It looked like she was smoking good, too - I guessed that at least one of our shells started a fire on her.

K: "Excellent tactics, Captain.." I smirked.

Capt. Saletine: "We ain't won this scrap, yet, matey.. er, General-matey.." He chuckled darkly.

K: "Your next move?" I looked to him.

Capt. Saletine: "We take her!" He pounded a fist on the rail, and nodded fiercely.

Luna: "As a Prize, Captain!?" She was a bit surprised.

Capt. Saletine: "AYE! We could use another ship in our fleet! An' most'a th' navy has more experience on sail than steam! Why, we could deploy her to Manehattan in tha' interim, 'till we gets us a right-proper fleet goin'." He scractched his grizzled chin, thoughtfully.

I just shrugged at Luna.

Luna: "Make it happen, Captain. You have my blessing." She purred. Was she getting excited at all of this?

Capt. Saletine: "YOU HURD TH' PRINCESS, YE SCURVY BILGE-RATS! MARINES, PREPARE FER BOARDIN' ACTION! ALL HANDS PREPARE TA REPEL COUNTER-BOARDERS!" He screamed, invigorated.

Mstr. Bounder: "Aye-aye. MARINES! PREPARE FOR BOARDING ACTION! PRIZE CREW, STAND BY FOR HOSTILE BOARDING! ALL HANDS, PREPARE TO REPEL BOARDERS!" He donned his overcoat and sword belt, and headed out on deck. He was replaced at his post by Commander Mizzen Mast.

K: "Forgive me, My Princess, but your General leads from the front." I bowed slightly to her.

I gave her my Cane Sword, since she'd neglected to bring any of her weapons with her. She grabbed my trenchcoat, and kissed me on the lips.

Luna: "For luck, My General." She purred again.

With a grin and a half-chub, I followed Master Bounder out the rear of the pilot house. A Gunnery Petty Officer had a rack of Zhukovs and Chaffees ready. The Marines all had Scoped Shermans. I grabbed a Chaffee.

K: "Bit of advice, since none of you have killed before - don't hesitate. You hesitate, you're dead." I said, sliding the tube magazine in place firmly, letting it click.

Lt. Spirit: "We'll take that under advisement, General."

I grabbed a quiver of five magazine tubes, then pulled my sidearm - I'd brought my own Custer with me today. I checked the chambers as I followed everyone down to the deck, where I was met by Dex Runner and his Ranger Platoon.

Lt. Dex: "Uh, sir, like, what do you want us to do?" He asked, cocking his head to the side.

K: "Get your shit, we could use a hand." I nodded.

Lt. Dex: "Like, yes sir! C'MON RANGERS! WE GOTTA JOB TO DO!" He ran off to get his team's equipment.

Lt. Spirit: "Ever boarded an enemy ship before, General?" He looked to me.

K: "Not outside of a video game.." I mused.

Lt. Spirit: "What's a video game?" He quizzed.

The Bellerophon was in an end-on chase with the enemy ship - and they didn't have the weather gauge to help them. We were running on steam power, they had square sails - a SEVERE detriment when running upwind or close to the wind source. We pulled heavy off to one side, and I saw why - we were nearing Carousel Island, and a good gust off of her mountains would give the enemy ship a burst of speed and maneuverability - she might broadside us with her undamaged port-side guns. Captain Saletine was risking some fire in exchange for cutting into their turning radius more sharply.

I was glad I designed these ships with reinforced ram prows.

Lieutenant Runner returned with his Platoon, just as we were pulling within a hundred meters of the enemy ship. I could see its crew, now - Raptorians, alright. Tirek was behind this piracy after all!

K: "Lieutenant Runner, Lieutenant Spirit, have your men fire at will. Any target they can hit - no peppering, I want solid hits only."

Lt. Dex: "You got it! Marksmen! Pick them bad dudes off!" He nodded to his platoon.

Lt. Spirit: "All Marines are Marksmen - Platoon, open fire! Confirmed targets only!" He ordered.

Great, like I needed a pissing contest among stallions right now. Still, the healthy competition was good for the men. And as I predicted, we rammed the aft-starboard-quarter of the much larger enemy ship at full steam, and the shuddering impact snapped the foremast off of the Bellerophon (easily replaced), sending it overboard.

K: "HOOK LINES! THROW!" I pointed.

I commanded, as the Naval Boarding Party led by Master Bounder started heaving thick ropes topped with spikey hooks up towards the top deck of the enemy vessel. I saw one hook around the head of a Raptorian, and the Chief Petty holding it give it a hard yank. The blood shot all over the place as he impaled its skull with the hook, and pulled the monster overboard.

Hooks up, we began climbing.

Under fire.

They had rifles.

I saw a couple of Naval personnel fall to Bellerophon's deck, hit with rifle fire. The Marines, still on deck, executed expert suppressing fire, and like a shooting gallery, I saw a line of Raptorians drop one after another.

Once we got up to the main deck, the real fun began. There were hundreds of Raptorians aboard this ship, and Raptorians don't surrender. I took cover behind a pile of barrels with Lieutnant Dex.

K: "Alright, we're going to sweep-and-clear this ship! I want everything dead!" I spoke as loud as I needed, to be heard.

Lt. Dex: "Right, man! ALRIGHT RANGERS! GIVE IT TO THEM!" He charged from cover, moving forward, covering his Machine Guns as they sprayed the decks.

I, on the other hand, took a left and headed for the exposed bridge. Along the way, I grabbed a pike pole with a cutting blade on the belly of its hook. Ponies and Griffons against the horde of Raptorians. The deck convulsed as the larger enemy ship tried to maneuver away from the smaller Bellerophon, its sails still fully rigged. I passed the mizzenmast on my way to the helm station, and used that pike pole's belly hook to start cutting some lines. I wasn't an expert on sails, but I knew that anything attached to a belaying pin was probably important.

I managed to slacken one corner of the lower sail.

K: "...taking too long.." I grabbed my flare gun and fired it directly into the rigging.

And once it caught, I started smelling roast chicken as the Raptorians fell from the mast and rigging, burning.

I went right for the helm - a stuffy looking bird with a large frock coat was standing by the helms-raptor. He saw me come up, and drew a sword - to be accurate, it looked like a cutlass. And a hefty one. It squawked in my direction, and just as I brought up my Chaffee to squeeze a round into him, he darted forwards and bashed it aside, sending the buckshot into the Raptorian manning the helm, disintegrating its feathery chest in a shower of blood and feathers, and denting the magazine of my Chaffee in the process.

Holding the Chaffee up in both hands, I blocked as he swung straight down into it, cracking it in half. This sent me on my ass as the ship lurched. The rudder was no longer being controlled by the helm, and the ship's forward masts caught a gust of wind from the island. Rolling to my left, the first thing I grabbed was my knife.

A twelve-inch (30.5cm) Arkansas Toothpick versus a twenty-four (61cm) inch cutlass.

I was a bit outmatched.

Rolling further, I slammed against the railing on the bridge area, and pulled myself up as the Raptorian charged at me, cutlass held high.

No one ever gave these guys prizes for intelligence.

I dove to the side as he got close, and he nearly went over the railing. I took the chance to stab him in the gizzard, shanking him hard, right up under the ribs. He tried to swing at me, and caught me with the handguard cup of the cutlass, in the face. Not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough to make me back off.

Losing my grip on my blood-soaked knife, I landed on my ass again, at the Helm. Scooting back along the slick deck, I crawled to the other end of the bridge while the Raptorian stalked after me. I pulled myself up on the rail on the other side, and grabbed a pike pole that had been sitting on a rack.

Now the advantage was mine.

I lunged and thrusted at the gut of the Raptorian, both hands on the spear. He deflected it to the side, so I released my grip on the back of the pike pole, and whipped it across my chest, cracking him in the dome with the blunt back of the pike pole. I jabbed him in the gut with the blunt end, and backed off, correcting my grip.

He swung downwards, a heaving chop, and I threw myself to his left, out of the arc of the sword swing.

It embedded itself in the rail.

He was vulnerable, and I gutted him for it. Jamming the pike pole sideways into his gut, I used the sharp belly of the hook portion to cut the skin of his belly in one long, ragged slice spilling his intestines all over the deck. He collapsed immediately.

Retrieving my knife, and pulled his cutlass out of the railing. I paced over to him as he gasped raggedly.

K: "When you get to Hell, tell Pluto, Hades and Satan to save a place at the table for Tirek." I said, pointing the tip of his own sword at him.

I then, with a roar, slammed the blade down on his neck, decapitating the bird-like monster in one swing.

I then gave the cheesiest grin.. 1980's Action Movie Star, I was not, but this was.. gratefying.


TIME: 13:47 ERST
LOCATION: HMS Bellerophon, 2nmi off the coast of Carousel Island

I strode the deck like the cock of the walk, the enemy captain's cutlass in my hands, sheathed. I walked right up to Captain Saletine, and presented him with the weapon.

K: "Captain Saletine, as General Commander of all Equestrian Military Forces, I present you with the enemy captain's sword - the prize is yours, sir, and the Princess and I commend you on your excellent seamanship and tactics." I held the cutlass out to him.

He looked ready to make waterfalls with his eyes as his scarred claws went to grasp the sword.

Capt. Saletine: "I thank ye.. more'n words c'n express, sir!" He looked at the prize ship. She was damaged, but she'd sail. "In the time honored tradition, I hereby rename ye The Princess of the Moon." He looked, no leered, at Princess Luna. "In yer honor, My Lady." He knelt on his rear knee before her, and before she could resist, took her right forehoof in his claw and kissed it.

Luna: "I-uh-Equestria thanks you for your loyal service, Captain." She took her hoof back and chuckled lighlty. And shot me an uneasy look.

Capt. Saletine: "A'course, M'lady!" He stiffened up, corrected his coat, and nodded to Master Bounder. "You may take 'er back to port, Master Bounder..!"

K: "CAPTAIN Bounder! Consider yourself promoted, Bounder. Your prize, you're captain now!"

Capt. Bounder: "I'm honored, sir! We'll return to port posthaste, General!"

K: "See you do, Captain. We're going to investigate Carousel Island.." I said, looking at Lieutenants Dex and Spirit.

Caruosel Island, after all, would make a fantastic pirate base..

[End of Part 2]


Part 3: Alarm

TIME: 14:50 ERST
DATE: War Day 120
LOCATION: Carousel Island

I led the Shore Party. Lieutenant Spirit and his Marines, along with Lieutenant Runner and his Rangers, led the way. I had two platoons, plus some naval personnel, under command of Lieutenant Commander Sea Swirl and Lieutenant Deep Blue from Ponyville. As we disembarked the long boats, I realized that I'd neglected to actually add proper cranes for decking the long boats - they were just sort of carried, stowed in the deck below the pilot house, and slid into the water with Pegasus Pony help.

Modifications for later. The other three Frigates would have a proper set of cranes.

K: "Alright, Lieutenant Spirit?" I nodded.

Lt. Spirit: "Aye?" He stepped up.

K: "Off to the north, sweep. Stay in radio contact." Another thing time had helped - we had working radios as standard issue gear, though only one per unit. They were still very heavy. "Dex, you're with me."

Lt. Dex: "Roger that, dude - I mean, sir." He nodded to me.

LCDR Sea Swirl: "And us, General?" She looked at the Naval shore party.

K: "Take the long boats, divide into two groups. One longboat, one Pershing. Stay alongside the group on shore as best as possible, to provide heavy suppressive fire, or an escape if things get hairy." I pointed and indicated my directions.

LCDR Sea Swirl: "Deep? Go with the General." She nodded.

Lt. Deep Blue: "Understood. General? Would you like to be in the boat, sir?" She gestured to it.

K: "Not at all. I want to walk this." I nodded firmly.

Deep Blue: "Aye-aye." She nodded with a grin.

K: "Uh.. Sea Swirl, Deep.. why'd you two sign up for the Navy and not the Ponyville Militia?" The thought crossed my mind - I'd known them both since I'd arrived here, almost a full year ago, now.

They looked at each other a moment and giggled.

Swirl: "We both grew up near the ocean together - that's how we got our cutie marks. I have a talent for understanding sea creatures, and Blue has a talent for finding them." A toothy grin.

Deep Blue: "Sea Bass.. hmm.." She smirked a little. "..I should see if we can catch some for dinner, if I have the time."

K: "So, ponies eat fish, too?" I quizzed as the Officers made ready to go.

Deep Blue: "Rarely.. I mean.. about as much as inland ponies'll eat meat. Well, excpet me - I love fish." She shrugged.

K: "Alrighty! I'm still learning about your world, ladies, so forgive me." I gave them both a short nod.

Sea Swirl: "Oh, no problem! You've been friends of ours since you first got here - it's the least we can do." She beamed a grin.

Deep Blue: "Yeah, ESPECIALLY after the Broken Shower incident.." She flushed very slightly.

Sea Swirl: "All your fault, I swear. READY TO SHOVE OFF! LET'S GO!" She hopped in her long boat and they rowed out about thirty feet from the shore.

Deep Blue: "I'm still really sorry about that, K.. uh, General." She coughed a bit.

K: "I prefer K." I shook my head. "'Sir' when I'm barking orders, though."

Deep Blue: "No problem." She loaded and mounted the longboat's Pershing on the bow gunwhale. "Uh.. K?"

K: "Yes, Blue?" I responded while looking at a comical tourist's map of the island - apparently, it used to have a fun park of some kind.

Deep Blue: "Are you and Princess Luna.. uh....?" She waggled her hoof a little.

K: "Applejack is my Leading Mare, if that's what you're asking, and Princess Luna and I are also together." I smiled a little.

Deep Blue: *Blush* "I thought so.. so you are taking to Equestrian customs.." She climbed to the middle of the boat, and gave me a shy grin.

K: *Cough* "Uh, Lieutenant, I hardly think that's.. uhm.. a necessary military intelligence.. uh, thing." I shrugged with a bit of a blush of my own.

WHAT IS IT WITH PONIES AND WANTING MY-

Lt. Dex: "General!" He pointed at the sky.

A flying raptorian.

K: "Get on the horn, let the Bellerophon know we have flyers around, and warn Lieutenant Spirit." I nodded. "And don't shoot it. Yet."

Deep Blue: "Roger that." A firm nod.

She called Bellerophon while I fanned my arms out, for everyone to take cover. Better for the Raptorian to possibly think it's just one boat and some shrubbery than a full-on Ranger Platoon with close support.

I then made a mental note to craft some Cutters or smaller Sloops-of-War (i.e. like an armed Bermuda Sloop) for close fire support to shore parties. I'd really like a 30-to-40 meter craft with a couple of light deck cannons right now.

The Raptorian moved off, finally - I wasn't sure if it'd spotted us or not, but either way, the sky was clear.

K: "Alright, let's move. We're heading south along the shore until we find a good path inland." I said, pulling myself from the sand.

We moved along the shore for about an hour - the shore being between three and twenty meters of sand separating the water from a sheer rock wall. Looked organic - possibly a coral mountain? I didn't know if Plate Tectonics even applied here, but it might have been volcanic, too. It wasn't typical sandstone or anything like that. The shore was dotted with shrubbery and some tropical plants - I guessed we were basically near what Equestria would consider Bermuda, or even the northern Bahamas or the Windward Islands of the Carolinas. Something like that - near tropical, but coolish weather.

Oh, and coconut trees. One nearly hit me in the head as it fell.

Lt. Dex: "Oh, watch that, sir!" He said, walking over and picking it up. "Nice one. Looks plenty ripe.." He studied it a moment, before sticking it in his saddle bag.

K: "Lunch?" I cocked a brow at him.

Lt. Dex: "Never know, sir." He nodded sagely.


TIME: 16:00 ERST

We were near the southern edge of the island, not far from where our naval battle took place. There were pieces of debris on the shore already, from the re-named The Princess of the Moon. The shore here became densely vegetated, and the rock wall that had blocked us, curved inland. I checked the map again - we were near what used to be the arrival docks. I immediately thought of Fantasy Island.

K: "De plane, boss. De plane." I smirked.

Lt. Dex: "Pardon, General, sir?" He looked at me quizzically.

K: "Never mind." I shook my head.

It would be nice, though. My fantasy at this moment would be an Equestria without war. But, I was sure, everyone had that same fantasy right about now.

Though Deep Blue would probably want me in that somewhere, it seemed.

K: "Alright, creep low. Get in the thicket and we're crawling to the edge of the little inlet where the docks used to be. Be careful, and don't get spotted." I held my hand out, indicating what I wanted him to do.

Lt. Dex: "Like, roger, sir. C'mon, Rangers.." He gave me a wide grin.

He got low first, and crawled on his belly towards the edge of the thicket. Right on the other side should be more sand, and the inlet. In the middle was a small rise, bare of vegetation, and a good vantage point. I pulled out my spyglass and took a look towards the inlet.

Two large sloops, several private yachts, and one good-sized Pinnace. Full-rigged. 40 meters long. Probably about 25 wide. Looked like a 8-gun. Beautiful.

I wanted it.

K: "Dex, raise Lieutenant Spirit. I want him to come around from the other side and catch anything down there in a crossfire. Pincer movement." I indicated with my hands.

Lt. Dex: "Right, sir." A short nod in return.

Meanwhile, I scooted back to the outer tip of the inlet, and waved for Deep's longboat to come over. Once she got near the shore, and got out, I laid out my plan.

K: "Signal the Bellerophon. Have them come around to the inlet - I want it blockaded." I pointed to the opening of the inlet.

Deep Blue: "Right." She nodded with a small grin.

K: "Then disembark your ponies, and set up your Pershing on the edge of the grass line here, right at the little mound, so you can pour fire down into the inlet." I pointed with my Chaffee.

Deep Blue: "Got it." A firm nod and a steely gaze - she was sure something.

One six-pony machine gun team to back up a platoon of Rangers, with Marines coming from the other way, and a warship to close off the sea route. This was coming together perfectly.. and now, I was thinking about the A-Team. Only, shit was real here. Things were going to die. I crawled back to Dex.

K: "It's all set up. Tell Spirit to wait for the Bellerophon to block the sea route - then we infiltrate the inlet and start eliminating enemy troops." I pointed, staying low. "Quietly, if possible. I don't want to start a shooting match until we have to, but when we do, I want the Naval teams with Machine Guns on either side, giving us supporting and suppressive fires."

Lt. Dex: "You got it, sir." He called it in.


TIME: 16:30 ERST

Everything was ready - Bellerophon was just coming around the bend when I gave Dex the signal to start creeping in. We left our Pershings at the edge of the thicket or on the small rise, manned, though I had two Pershing Teams switch weapons with the sailors, leaving the Naval personnel all armed with Pershings and giving me four extra ponies to sneak in with.

As I expected, these prizes were guarded well.

Stupidly, but well.

Raptorians, most armed with pike poles, spears, or crude billhooks, were standing guard over the ships. It seemed the Pinnace was theirs. Well, for now. We split into smaller groups - first into squads, then into fire teams of three. I stuck with Lt. Dex and the two ponies directly under him. As we came up to each Guard, we'd grab them, pull them down, and cut their throats.

We got a dozen before the idiots noticed the Frigate moving in on them.

One loud squawk, and the alarm was sounded.

K: "OPEN FIRE, OPEN FIRE!"

And just as suddenly as the squawking started, it was drown out by the force of machine gunfire. From both sides, the Pershing teams opened up, and cut down everything that crossed their sights. I put three rounds into one Raptorian, and one into another.

After less than a minute, the skirmish was ours.

K: "HEAD COUNT! ALL RANKS!"

Lt. Dex: "NO INJURED!"

Lt. Spirit: "NO INJURED!"

LCDR Sea Swirl: "NO INJURED!"

Lt. Deep Blue: "NO INJURED!"

We made out like bandits.

K: "ALRIGHT, NAVAL PERSONNEL ASSEMBLE AT THE PINNACE - RANGERS AND MARINES, SWEEP AND CLEAR THESE BOATS!" I stood tall, and made wide waving motions to the ships, to make sure they all saw me.

Lt. Spirit: "AYE-AYE!" He called from his position.

Lt. Dex: "Yes, sir!" He snapped to attention.

A few minutes later, and I was walking the gangplank of the Pinnace. Deep Blue and Sea Swirl were going over her with a fine toothed comb, making sure no Raptorians were hiding around her. I kept my guard up, but as I approached the helm, and felt the fine craftsmanship of her wheel, I couldn't help but be impressed.

Had Tirek made this, or..?

K: "When you're done down there, let me know." I called after the ladies.

A few minutes later, with me examining the large brass and copper compass, and other minor bits around the helm, LCDR Sea Swirl came up to me, with Lieutenant Deep Blue, holding a large cutlass.

LCDR Sea Swirl: "General, since you gave the last one away to Captain Saletine, and if you don't think it presumptuous of a pair of junior officers to do so, we'd like to present you with the Captain's sword." She bowed her head a bit.

I took it up, and examined her. A nice, if heavy, blade. Not something I'd use in a fight - it was unbalanced towards the cutting edge. If you swung it, though, it'd HURT whatever it hit. Perfect for a brutish Raptorian with the raw muscle to chop and cleave with the thing. Not so for a Human. Still, she was made quite nicely.

Too nicely.

K: "I accept. Swirl, Blue.. have either of you considered the possibility that Tirek is getting help from somewhere?" I shrugged to them, hefting my new sharpy-stabby stick.

They looked at each other, and shrugged a little.

Sea Swirl: "Beats me, sir.." She shook her head.

K: "Well, look at the cannon fodder - mostly spears and billhooks and whatnot. Simple enough to craft, right? Okay, this cutlass?" I hefted it to show them the workponyship. "An expert swordsmith made this. This isn't some cookie cutter design. And I don't see swordsmiths in Equestria.." I motioned to the compass. "And what of this? Expertly crafted, plenty of skill needed to make this.. and the ship itself.."

Sea Swirl: "So.. who's supporting them?" She shrugged at me.

K: "That's what I'd like to know." I shrugged. "Does Tirek have a whole nation to himself, or what?"

We really did know very little of him, other than he seemed to want us all dead.

Sea Swirl: "Uh.." She blinked.

Deep Blue: "..we kinda thought you knew the answer to that.." She tilted her head at me.

Sea Swirl: "..since you're the expert on him and all." She nodded.

I shrugged.

K: "I have no idea! There's so many differences.. I suppose it's possible he has a nation, an industrial base.. but does he rule over the Raptorians, or others like him, or what? In the original animation, he seemed to be the only one of his kind." I played with the ship's wheel a moment. "We'll call her HMS Alarm." I said, finally.

Deep Blue: "Sir?"

K: "This Pinnace. She'll be HMS Alarm from now on. When we get her back to port, I want to do some modifications and fit her with an engine." I patted the side of the railing.

She had the room for it.. she seemed, actually, over-built. Like, something made to cross an entire ocean..

..what was Tirek's home? Where was it? We knew so little. Perhaps the island held more clues.

{End of Part 3}


Part 4: Liberate the Oppressed

TIME: 18:30 ERST
DATE: War Day 120
LOCATION: Carousel Island

We'd secured the bay, and inspected all of the ships. Besides my new Pinnace, there were 22 other boats or small ships here. All of them belonged to Equestrian citizens - only the Pinnace was Tirek's. And it was a lucky thing they didn't set her to sea for our engagement - we might have lost. The ship was well constructed, mounting eight gun plus a mount for a bow chaser that wasn't installed. She'd make fine service in Equestria's navy.

K: "Sea Swirl?" I motioned her back over.

Sea Swirl: "Yes, K?" She nodded to me.

K: "You're promoted to Master. Alarm is yours. Pick your own crew." I patted her shoulder.

Mstr. Sea Swirl: "Got my first officer right here, K." She hugged Deep Blue.

Lt. Deep Blue: "Wow.. first voyage and already your own ship? I sure picked the right mare.." She kissed her, casually.

K: "OH! I.. didn't realise you two were.." I shrugged.

Mstr. Sea Swirl: "What, you didn't get a clue from the thing clogging the shower?" She blushed a bit.

K: "Buh-I.. thought.. one of you ladies had been.. handling her own problems.. and.. yeah.." *Cough* I blushed.

Lt. Deep Blue: "Nope. We were having a little fun together when it slipped down the drain and SOMEONE stomped on it..!" She poked Sea Swirl.

Mstr. Sea Swirl: "Accident! Total accident." She huffed, but grinned.

K: *AHEM!* "Alright, enough. For now, get your crew together and get her ready to sail. If we need out, I want out." I nodded firmly to them both.

Mstr. Sea Swirl: "So, what do we do with the other captured ships?" She shook her head.

Lt. Forest Spirit: "General!" He came trotting up, and saluted me.

K: "What's up, Lieutenant?" I shrugged, and half-saluted back.

Lt. Forest Spirit: "There's evidence they've taken hostages, sir, and they were recently moved." He held up a cut piece of rope with a little fresh blood on it.

K: "Probably as soon as they saw our Frigate defeat their Ship-of-the-Line.." I shrugged. "Alright, form up your Marines. We're going to move out immediately. Let -Master- Sea Swirl know if you need ammo or supplies, she can run one of the Longboats to the Bellerophon."

Lt. Forest Spirit: "You got it, sir." He immediately set about his job - he seemed to take to it well.


TIME: 19:40 ERST

We resupplied from the ship, and brought a few extra naval personnel along - the sailing crew of the Bellerophon wasn't needed now that her foremast was snapped clean. They'd effected emergency repairs, and detangled all of the rigging - she'd be in port for a week getting a new mast and rigging fixed, but she could run under coal power back to port, which freed up enough crew to take HMS Alarm out of port and recover a few of the smaller ships. I divided up sailing crews to take some of them back to Fillydelphia, but I kept two larger boats - one a private yacht, and the other a bulk grain carrier (empty) - here, with skeleton crews ready. Just in case we had a lot of hostages to evacuate and we had to make a hasty retreat.

But, the unit was ready to go. Dex's Rangers and Spirit's Marines.

Lt. Dex: "Uh, like, sir? Who's in charge if you get hurt..?" Dex, with the pertinent question for the win.

K: "Work it out. You're equally experienced, equally trained - this is an operation to which you're both suited. Work together, isn't that what you were taught in training?" I gestured wit han upturned hand.

Lt. Dex: "Totally, dude! I mean, sir." He sheepishly adjusted his sunglasses.

K: "Alright, let's get going." I nodded with a small grin.

Lt. Spirit: "Are you certain we shouldn't wait for reinforcements?" Another pertinent question.

I checked the chamber on my (new) Chaffee as I actually pondered this one - I mean, there were plenty of for-and-against arguments for this one.

K: "Because I'd rather not risk the lives of potential hostages by waiting. But I did ask the Bellerophon to call for assistance - the 2nd Fighter Squadron is back at Fillydelphia, and the 5th Combat Air Support Team is a few hours more away. Still, I don't want to wait that long - and we wouldn't get any infantry support at all unless I sent Bellerophon back to port - and she's working with a skeleton crew as it is." I shrugged.

Lt. Spirit: "Good point, sir." He paced up to the edge of what seemed to be the path inland.

K: "Spirit, Marines to the flank and rear. Dex, Rangers up front." I indicated. "Remember to keep as much distance as you can without getting separated.."

Lt. Dex: "Kinda counter-intuitive, ain't it, dude-sir?" He.. was getting better at that. Bless his heart, he tried.

K: "It's a jungle.." I shrugged. "..we either bunch togther and get nailed with one good explosive, or spread out and get picked off one at a time without the others noticing. Pick your poison day. I'll take the middle ground - as far apart as possible without losing visual contact."

We advanced into the bush, and for a while, it was both slow going (the path being barely wide enough for ONE pony) and uneventful. We ended up at a fork in the road, however, after about thirty minutes march..

K: "Hmm... hold up." I held up a fist.

I opened up the map, motioning for both the Rangers and the Marines to take cover. As they did, I motioned for Dex and Spirit to come up. As they did, I showed them the cartoony map that was made for visitors.

K: "We have a choice. Split up or stay together. The path up the mountain leads to the visitor center, and the path down that way leads to the guest cabins - both are very likely spots to hold hostages." I shrugged. "Opinions?"

Dex: "Split up! Cover more turf!" A sharp nod.

Spirit: "Stay together, of course." He shrugged.

K: "I figured you'd say that." I shook my head. "I'm undecided myself. We could check them one at a time, and risk discovery.. but again, if we split our forces, we run the risk of getting outnumbered and overwhelmed individually."

Dex & Spirit: "Exactly." They looked at each other with a bit of annoyance.

K: "Gentlemen." I wagged a finger. "We'll split up - but, if you do not make contact with the enemy at your location, double-time it to the other."

Spirit: "And if we both make contact?" Of course he'd ask that.

K: "Simple. From where the Guest Cabins are, I can call in artillery from the Bellerophon's deck guns - with any luck, we won't shell hostages by mistake, but at least we can get fire support. That should break their ranks if necessary. Let's make this happen, ponies. Rangers, you get the Visitor Center. Marines, with me, we get the Guest Cabins."

Dex: "Works." He smirked a bit.

He shrugged, and motioned for his Rangers to move up the slope - he was good at keeping them scattered, and off the main path. Good man - er, pony. Meanwhile, I led the way with the Marines - I did have a shotgun, and if I had to fire I didn't want one of the shells to tag some poor pony in the flank or something. I, too, kept low - lower than them, I was practically crawling as we moved silently up the path towards the cabins. We kept this up for another half hour or so, when we finally got to the cabins.

K: "Are all pony resorts this spread out?" I murmured to Spirit as we got to the edge of a small rise that led into a small depression where the cabins had been constructed years ago.

Spirit: "We're ponies, General, we happen to enjoy long nature strolls, and that was the point of this resort - a jungle paradise." He muttered back, pulling out his spyglass and examining the small compound.

K: "See anything?" I leaned in a bit.

I shifted my Chaffee forwards, and silently pulled the tube magazine off, and replaced the buckshot load with one for slugs, opening the chamber as I slid the new magazine into place, to let the loaded buckshot shell drop out quietly. This was a pony-built Chaffee, so, I had to remind myself to squeeze the whole grip when shooting, not just pull the trigger. And tuck it closer than I ordinarily would - my personal Chaffee had a longer stock and conventional trigger. These Pony-sized shotguns only held 6 shells. That was a 17.5-inch barrel and tube magazine, making it close to the upper limit of what they could effectively wield in battle.

Spirit: "Affirmative. I have.. five.. seven.. ten guards, total. Assume twenty altogether." He glanced back at me a moment.

K: "We need confirmation that there's hostages here - they might just be using this place for barracks.." I shrugged. "Send in Second Squad. Around by the flank." In four-squad Ranger and Marine Platoons, the First Squad was Command, Second and Third were Maneuver elements, while Fourth was Base of Fire - and in both, all had scoped Shermans if they weren't carrying something else, which Rangers usually did. "Fourth Squad moves along the left, the center of the compound is open there. Have them set up about twenty meters to our left. First and Third hold here."

Spirit: "Roger." He made the arrangements.

I moved over to where Second Squad was, and met Sergeant Sigmask. He was someone I'd seen before, on the ship. Quiet Marine. He tended to carry several extra Sherman bayonets with him, on his belt. He was, supposedly, extremely effective at hoof-to-hoof combat, and a good stalker. He'd done odd jobs before the war, apparently, and was a totally different person when he had his War Face on.

K: "Sergeant." I nodded to him.

Sgt. Sigmask: "General." He nodded back, curtly but respectfully. "We are ready."

K: "Follow me, I'm leading this recon job." I gestured.

The big limiting factor so far was.. we lacked suppressors. I hadn't been able to design one efficient enough to warrant mass production for rifles, and while I had prototypes for pistols, they were both frail and, as they used wipes, tended to slow the bullet down too much for my liking, reducing penetration in "soft tissue" (I used extra-firm gelatin as a tissue ananlogue) by almost half, and I was well aware that the 9x18 Makarov round that all this firearms technology basically came from, wasn't exactly a legendary manstopper as it was. At least I hadn't started with .32ACP - given the Raptorians, it might not be effective at all.

Sgt. Sigmask: "Of course. Let's go, then." He was cold about it.

I wasn't sure if I should be worried. I signaled to Spirit - he'd open fire if we got into trouble. Walking far around the right, we came up almost directly behind the cabins. I waved for Sigmask and his Squad to fan out while I checked the cabin. This consisted of standing straight up and a little bit on the raised balls of my feet - pony windows, by and large, were not very high off the ground, but these had boards over them in a typically humorously haphazard fashion as might be expected of this world. And for some reason it stuck with me that such a trivial thing would still be trivial. Looking inside, I could see ponies alright - about a dozen of them. Most were chained or roped to the ground. Several were wounded, and there were at least three foals in there that I could see, one's nose was badly bruised and bleeding from her snout. She looked about 11 or so, if I was to guess.

And the Inner Parent in me went full Papa Wolf. I had to fight the urge to ram my Chaffee in the throat of the nearest Raptorian and pull the trigger until he was nothing but a cloud of feathers. While they say 'don't anger a Mama Bear,' the reason is, Papa Wolf doesn't leave anything behind.

Instead, I reported to Sigmask.

K: *Very Silent Whisper* "About a dozen adults, three foals, several injured, including one of the kids." I could hear one of the Marines tighten his grip on his Sherman. "We do this quietly. Under the cabin, grab for feet, just like training."

I got down on my belly, pulling out my hunting knife, and clenched it in my teeth, blade out, as we all crawled under the cabin. We could see the three Raptorians guarding the cabin. Others were milling about, elsewhere. No one was really paying attention. I nodded to Sigmask, and we went for it. Grabbing the ankles of the one nearest me, I pulled with all my rage, and he went right to the ground in almost perfect synch with the other two. We dragged them under the cabin floorboards.

There was blood. So much blood.

I jammed my hunting knife in the Raptorian's neck after getting control of his beak and holding it shut, drawing the blade across its scrawny little neck, back and forth, until the head came off. The one to my right managed to make a little grunt/squawk, as I watched his eyes shrink from round orbs to little dots, as life was ripped from his feathery hide. The one on my right, Sergeant Sigmask got. When I looked over, I caught him cutting off the Raptorian's tail bone section, feathers and all, and stick the bloody war trophy in his saddle bag.

I motioned for us to roll on our backs, and we used our blades to start gently prying a section of floorboards away. I managed to get mine done first - I was, after all, more suited to the task as it required HANDS to be done easily. I popped the floorboard up, and caught eyes with the wounded filly I'd seen earlier.

K: *Whisper* "My name is General K. I'm here to get you out."

Wounded Filly: "Dib.. Pwincess Woona send you?" She said, through her broken and swollen muzzle.

K: *Whisper* "Yes, and she's on the ship we came here on."

Wounded Filly: "You gubba git dem nasty pywits?" She asked, a little tear sliding down her muzzle.

K: *Whisper* "You bet, little one. Now, let everyone know they need to be quiet so we can rescue them."

She nodded and whispered to the next one in line as Sigmask and the rest of the Marines opened a large enough hole in the floor of the cabin to get inside. I pulled myself in first, and examined the heavy chains used to hold the Filly down.

K: "Why are you chained up like this, little one?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

Wounded Filly: "'Cuz I bit one ob de nasty pywits." She murmured. "Then they beated me up.." She looked towards the ground.

I started unscrewing the huge screws they'd sunk into the floorboards to hold the main chain ring in place. Once I had one side done, I hauled all my weight against the U shaped ring, and bent it enough to get the chain free. I then untangled it from around her, and pulled her out of them, up into my arms.

K: "What's your name, sweetheart?" I murmured to her.

Starlight Mint: "Stawight Mint." Said the filly, curling up in my arms.

K: "Where are your parents?" I asked, quietly.

Starlight Mint: "Dey took dem to da gem mine.." She frowned.

Slave labor. This was just getting better and better.

K: "Are there others in the other cabins?" I asked, gently petting her mane - it was matted with dirt and blood.

Starlight Mint: "Yes.." She snuggled in.. like she felt safe. My heart melted like soft chocolate on an open fire.

We quickly got the hostages out of the holes in the floorboards, and back into the jungle. Once they were secure, I nodded to Sigmask.

K: "We need to get the rest of the hostages." I shrugged. "Get these back to Lieutenant Spirit. Third Squad extracts the hostages." I instructed. "We-"

There was a bright flash. All of a sudden, Starlight came from my arms..

..and there, on her once-blank flank was the most shocking thing I'd ever seen. Two iron cuffs, with a broken chain between them them, and MY Hunting Knife dividing the two, with a yellow ribbon crossing the handle - the words "DE OPRESSO LIBER" was clearly read on the ribbon.

She was also fully healed. Her injuries were gone.

This Filly was a born Ranger.

Starlight Mint: "Whoaa...! I got my cutie mark!!" She wiggled her ass at us. I had but a moment to process all of this, when I heard a gun shot's crack that pierced the foliage around us.

K: "..yeah, lovely. UNDER FIRE! UNDER FIRE! TAKE COVER!" I yelled, pushing Civilians down to their bellies, as Sigmask's Marines returned fire.

Now, we were going to have to rescue the rest of them while taking fire.

K: "SIGMASK! GIVE ME COVER FIRE!" I yelled. I was going to do something stupid.

Sgt. Sigmask: "YOU HEARD HIM! SECOND SQUAD, COVERING FIRE!"

They opened up on the Raptorians that were rushing out of the far cabin, and as they crossed the open courtyard area, I saw Lieutenant Spirit's Pershings open up, and chop them down - a few managed to get to cover, and we had the Guards scattered all over the area, all pinned down, all taking heavy fire. I knew them - they were too chicken wuss to break from cover unless someone tougher than them ordered them to.

I moved over to the second cabin - hoping Spirit's Marines wouldn't Blue-on-Blue me by mistake - and dove in the door, just as some rounds caught the door frame and went through the wood, up into the ceiling. I rolled on my belly, and returned fire on the squad of Raptorians that was taking cover behind a pile of large stones in the center of the courtyard, until my magazine ran dry. Now I was the one pinned down!

Then I heard the rushing of little hooves come up the side of the cabin, turn the corner, and there was Starlight, jumping into the cabin and rolling flat next to me.

K: "WHAT THE HELL, STARLIGHT? YOU SHOULD BE TAKING COVER!" I bellowed.

Starlight Mint: "You needed help.." She gave me a pouty face.. and the Father in me overrode the General in me.

K: ".....d'oh! Alright, alright! Here!" I pulled my hunting knife from my belt and slid it over to her as I pressed the ejector on the Chaffee's magazine, and in the same motion as sliding over my knife, I pulled a tube magazine from my quiver and slid it in place. "Cut the others free!" I instructed, as I went back to shooting.

Here I was, getting help from a Filly. What WAS this war coming to!?

I heard her cutting ropes and telling everyone to stay low. Then I heard the unmistakable sound of hooves kicking planks, until the planks broke. Sure enough, Starlight had broken the back wall of the Cabin all by herself.

Starlight: "THIS WAY! COME ON!"

Maybe there WAS something to the whole "Cutie Marks Recognize Talent And Enhance It" thing? If that was the case, she would already be as strong as an Adult.. and she WAS an Earth Pony.. which, if I guessed right as I crawled back from the doorway.. meant she'd be as strong as Rambo and as lethal as Craddock, all in one, when she got older.

Chuck Norris in Pony Form?

I wondered about that as I ran to the rear room of the cabin and dove through the hole. Starlight came out last, and just as I got to the ground on my hands and knees, I felt her land on my back. I looked up just in time to see a spear-wielding Raptorian come around the corner.

Starlight jumped off my back and drop-double-mule-kicked the bastard right in the head, sending him reeling. I took the opening as a chance to roll on my back and whip my Custer out, firing a single round through his head. I grabbed Starlight and carried her as I led the eleven hostages through the bush to Second Squad's location.

K: "What's gotten into your head, Starlight!?" I asked as I carried her.

Starlight: "I.. can't.. watch when someone's in trouble? I gotta do somthing?" She questioned, mainly, herself.

Taking cover, I set her down as I reloaded my Chaffee again.

K: "I guess it's your Cutie Mark.." I shook my head as I shoved the tube magazine in place. "..you must be so driven to help, you're willing to risk your life to save others."

She reminded me immediately of the statue in Celestia's garden of the mare with the shield and wreath cutie mark. And reminded myself that her special talent was, apparently, liberating the oppressed. De Opresso Liber. The motto of the United States Army Special Forces.

My influence on this world had just caused it to generate its own born-and-marked soldier. This was either good, or bad.

K: "Alright, one cabin left. Sigmask, give me cover!" I harshly whispered over to him.

Sgt. Sigmask: "Of course." He nodded.

K: "And since you won't listen if I say 'no' and you have my knife.." I picked her up and carried her.

The last cabin had windows in the back that weren't boarded up properly. I used my hands, Starlight used my knife, and we pried them off. Once we had an opening, I pushed her through, and gave her cover with my Chaffee, through the opening. I had a clear view of the back room area, the dividing wall, and a good look out the front.

What? I was using every asset at my disposal - and as far as I was concerned, I had the next Leonidas in Filly form right there with me. I guess, over the last two'ish years and change, I'd grown accustomed to the concept of magic, and how powerful a Cutie Mark can really be. My faith wasn't purely in technology any more.

Starlight started cutting the hostages free - and with the help of a couple adults, managed to free another that was chained down - and I saw a Raptorian in the front room. He was right by the dividing wall, at a closed door. A feather under the door tipped me off. I motioned for Starlight and the hostages to get down. Then I mag-dumped into the door itself, blowing chunks out of it, and making a feathery mess.

K: "This way! Let's go!" I reached into the window and pulled the rest of the boards off from the "back."

Boards down, I guided the hostages out as I reloaded again. Starlight was the last one out. We led them - WE led them - back to Second Squad's position.

K: "HOSTAGES HAVE BEEN RESCUED! SECOND SQUAD, PREPARE TO FALL BACK!" I called out at the top of my lungs.

Sgt. Sigmask: "UNDERSTOOD!"

I ran over to the pony carrying the radio, and hoped Bellerophon was in position - this was going to be tricky without proper grid squares or a singular point of reference..

K: C> "BELLEROPHON, THIS IS ALPHA LEADER ACTUAL! FIRE MISSION FOR DECK GUNS! ENEMY INFANTRY IN LIGHT COVER! FLARE NOT POSSIBLE! I AM DIALING YOU IN MANUALLY! DIRECTION IS ZERO-ONE-FIVE DEGREES APPROXIMATE FROM CENTRAL BAY! RANGE IS TWO-TWO-HUNDRED APPROXIMATE! QUICK FIRE MARKING SHELL FOR FIRE ADJUSTMENT! OVER!"

Lt. Gazzard: C> "Bellerophon acknowledges! Marking shell inbound! Over!"

*Artillery shell whistle*

*PA-CHOOF!*

Too close.. it landed almost on top of Third Squad. The Pershings went quiet, and I'd managed to smother my machine gunners with marking smoke - they were blinded, but I had a point of adjustment.

K: C> "BELLEROPHON, ROUND WAS SHORT. ADJUST RIGHT FIVE DEGREES, TWO MINUTES - ADD ONE HUNDRED. QUICK FIRE MARKING SHELL FOR ADJUSTMENT! OVER!"

Lt. Gazzard: C> "Bellerophon acknowledges! Incoming marking shell! Over!"

*Artillery shell whistle*

*PA-CHOOF!*

Right in the center of the compound.

K: "BELLEROPHON, CONFIRMED ON TARGET. BOMBARDMENT MISSION, TWENTY ROUNDS AYCH-EE, END WITH TWO ROUNDS COVERING SMOKE! FIRE AT WILL, FIRE FOR EFFECT!"

Lt. Gazzard: C> "Nominal, Alpha Leader Actual! Rounds out!"

I leaned up from the radio, and waved to Lt. Spirit.

K: "COVER! COVER! INCOMING THUNDER!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

In about ten seconds, the first shells landed. One hit the first cabin, and blew it into huge chunks, showering the area with wooden shrapnel. The second slammed home near the center of the courtyard, perhaps five meters from where the smoke landed. The next eighteen shells plastered the Guest Cabins, and covered the area with enough H-E to make any Raptorians that MIGHT have survived, deaf and dumb. Two shells of white covering smoke landed last, obscuring the entire area.

K: "SECOND SQUAD, WITHDRAW, COVER FORMATION, PROTECT THE HOSTAGES!"

We pulled back to Lieutenant Spirit's positon, and with him, we retreated back up the trail. Nothing pursued us as we made our way towards the docks..

K: C> "Alpha Leader Actual to Foxtrot Romeo Leader.." Foxtrot Romeo - Fillydephia Rangers. I raised Lieutenant Dex. "..come in, over."

Dex: C> "Foxtrot Romeo Leader Actual, roger."

K: C> "Status report: 33 hostages rescued. Approximately 30 enemy K-I-A. No injuries. Acknowledge and report status. Over."

Dex: C> "Acknowledged.. and sir, you wouldn't believe me if I told you.."

{End of Part 4}


Part 5: Deception

TIME: 21:20 ERST
DATE: War Day 120
LOCATION: 500 meters from the Visitor Center, Carousel Island

Princess Luna and her squad of Guards, with Sergeant Sunshine (he got a promotion of sorts after Gloom Volcano - moved from 3rd Squad to 1st Squad), were going to join us, now that night had fallen. After all - she is her most powerful at nighttime, and her access to Nightmare powers might come in handy. They did last time. Plus, she insisted.

Mint: "Princess Luna's coming!" She giggled.

K: "Yes, now keep it down, dear. I don't want the enemy to hear us." I watched as she got all serious, and smudged a bit of black from Lieutenant Dex's grease stick on each cheekbone.

Oh, yeah, and Starlight refused to leave my side. When we tried to send her along with Second Squad to the beach area to get on one of the evacuation ships, she didn't throw a temper-tantrum, she just cried. Loudly. Like being separated from me would and was causing her physical pain. It made me wonder what she'd gone through that a HUMAN - a creature she'd never seen before - was the one thing she'd latch on to.

Princess Luna and her guard came stepping up right about then, with Second Squad, now that they'd seen to the hostages. I nodded to her.

K: "Princess Luna." I bowed gently to her.

Luna: "And who is this dear child?" She said, keeping her voice low.

K: "This is Starlight Mint.." I nodded to her.

Luna: "You do not fear me?" She asked, a little surprised that she'd bow before her. "You do not fear The Nightmare Moon?"

Mint bowed respectfully before her Princess of the Night, blushing with excitement.

Mint: "You're no Nightmare Moon, Princess! You're my hero!" She gave a beaming grin.

Luna: "Oh.." She looked ready to cry, royal stiffness and officialdom be damned. It touched her heart.

K: "Take a look at her Cutie Mark.. she just got it about an hour and a half ago." I pointed to it.

As Luna looked at her cutie mark, and to the hunting knife on my hip, she shook her head in awe.

Luna: "I've not seen anything like this before.." She raised her head to me. "What do these letters mean? I've not ever seen them formed like this before.."

K: "De Oppresso Liber. It's Latin - a functionally dead language on my world that is often used to evoke images of great courage and honor. The words mean 'To Liberate the Oppressed.' It's the motto of the most feared land warriors of my home nation - the United States Army Special Forces. My.. father in law.. was a member of this force. He was a great warrior who fought with honor and courage, attaining high rank through his hard work and accomplishments, of which the people can never fully know about, as what he did was in great secret." I said, trying to make it all make sense.

I'd never met the man - he died of cancer before I'd met my wife, but from everything I was ever told, John Rambo couldn't hold a candle to his supreme awesomeness, and that he'd done a LOT of really, really Black Ops shit in his day. Stuff America would never admit happened - and probably with very good reason.

There was a reason why people like him did what they did - they protected our country from threats we don't know exist, and are better off NOT knowing exist. His rank had been as high as Master Sergeant before he'd (reportedly) struck a superior officer for providing poor intelligence and causing many of his team to be killed. The shit he did - backed up by his also-Army wife's accounts of his actions - was literally shit you'd see in movies. And not very good ones, either. But, they happened.

Not officially, of course.

And now, Starlight bore their mark. She was the embodiment of a concept, an idea, if you will. Of liberation. Freedom.

Luna: "I.. see. And she is not on the boat because..?" She trailed off the question.

K: "She refused to leave my side, Princess." I shrugged.

Mint: "He's my General. He rescued me, and he's going to help me rescue my parents!" She said, beaming.

Luna: *Chortle* "Well! You're quite confident in yourself, aren't you?" She smiled.

Mint: "A'course! My daddy told me I can do anything I set my mind to. And right now, I wanna get them out of the mines!" She huffed in the general direction of the enemy.

K: "She.. was actually a real help in getting the hostages to safety, and as much as I'd rather see her get to the boats, I know she'll tag along anyway. Her Cutie Mark, Princess.. it's calling to her to right these wrongs." I shrugged. "It's the best way I can describe it. The filly is a natural-born warrior - probably the purest you'll see in Equestria."

Luna: "Then it is an honor to have you along. But stay close to myself or the General. We do not want to see you harmed." She nuzzled the filly, reassuringly. "What is the plan, My General?" She asked with a touch of eagerness in her voice as she gently sharpened her hoof-shoes against a rock, and checking the Lee she'd drawn from the ship's armory.

K: "The Visitor Center is the center of a massive slave mining operation. They're digging gems - or so Lieutenant Dex reports. Lieutenant? Your observations?" I turned to him.

Dex: "Uh.. R-right. Uh, My Princess-Ma'am.." He stepped forward, clumsily searching for the right platitudes. "Uh.. well, we got within a hundred meters of the place, and we found out the Raptorians are using the hostages there as slave labor. They're digging gems alright - the mountain's swiss-cheesed with tunnels. They've got Diamond Dogs working with them, but I can't tell who's side they're on - they weren't armed and they looked like they were being escorted around. I got no idea why they're digging gems.." He looked at Forest Spirit.

Spirit: "..but I put forward the theory that they're digging gems to use as payment. Perhaps to hire some rogue dragons. Tirek's forces in Equestria have seemed to be quieting down since Canternooga, the raids have slowed to a trickle. I think that whatever forces he had, he basically landed here unopposed, then after the Battle of Lone Hoof Ridge, he ran for it, and we've been dealing only with the forces he initially brought with him - "

K: " - which, if I hadn't arrived in time to help build a military, would have been more than enough to capture the Elements, and the rest of Equestria - " I interjected.

Spirit: " - and whoever is in charge here, is working under Tirek's orders to raise forces in this area to keep up the pressure on us, while he gathers perhaps more forces from his homeland, wherever that may be." He nodded, first to me, then Luna.

K: "This of course explains how he was able to gather so many of your old enemies, like Hydia, to fight against Equestria after so much time of simply doing nothing. I think the Ship-of-the-Line we engaged was just what he left behind. The craftsmanship on that ship and the new HMS Alarm hint at a very well developed industrial base, and at least, an excellent shipbuilding industry and the capability to make cannons. Most of the Raptorians have been unarmed or armed with spears, but even the spears showed signs of craftsmanship. And the swords the naval officers carried? Very well crafted, if clumsy for anyone but a Raptorian." I shrugged. "Tirek has a nation, no doubt about it. How big that nation may be, or how it's populated, I can't guess. All I can say is, we surprised him with our ability to fight back effectively, and he's scrambling to counter us. How he managed to reproduce the Shermans is a mystery. I suspect that another island or someplace else between Equestria and his lands, has a factory of some kind. Likely much closer to here than his own lands - the timing of the first copies coming into the field was very short, though I suspect they were all using captured ammunition. There was a significant amount in the palace that was missing after the raid."

Luna: "I see.." She nodded. "If this indeed is the case, then Tirek's other facility should be located. We must try to capture the enemy commander, if we can." She said, momentarily rubbing her chin with her left fetlock.

K: "Oh, yeah, because taking a P-O-W worked so well last time." I frowned. "But you're completely right. Moreover, I think if we have to have a POW camp, Carousel Island is the best bet." That brought to mind other conflicts.

POW Policy, how to manage and feed them, what to do with them, how they should be treated, who's going to PAY for all of it.. it was a daunting thought. Even if the Raptorians were evil in action, were they purely evil entities? If so.. do we just exterminate them all? The thought of ponies committing genocide did NOT sit well with me. A lot of it was due to lack of information.. and an apparent language barrier.

Luna: "So, do we attack now, or await the 2nd Fighter Squadron? They should be here soon." She shrugged.

K: "I'd like to wait. The mountain is at a horrible angle, I'd never be able to get artillery support up here. I'd like at least some advantage."

Luna: "Wise. Lieutenant Dex?" She turned to him and nodded.

Dex: "Yes'm?" He looked up, a little intimidated by Her Royal Highness.

Luna: "Deploy your Rangers along a broad front, take cover as best as possible. Keep the enemy under observation, but try not to be detected." She had taken to my lessons well...

Dex: "Yes ma'am!" He nodded firmly.

He motioned for his troops to follow him, as he deployed his four squads along the edge of the wooded area at the top of the hill. Broken rock and pieces of building concealed the edge of the wood very effectively, making spotting them rather hard, especially when combined with the foliage. Dex set up one of his machine guns at the very edge, at a pile of rocks, in a small hole, giving it a commanding view of the slave labor camp. The other Pershing was set off to the side of 3rd Squad, at a huge bush, giving a good crossfire. Dex was quite talented at this.


TIME: 21:44 ERST

I could see wings in the night. The 2nd was here. Spirit's Marines had them land down the mountain at a little clearing I was using as a command post. The man in charge was Captain Aero Dart, a former Young Flyers School Instructor. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Gilda knew him - he'd been their teacher. I paced up to him as he landed. REAF uniforms were heavily inspired by British RAF uniforms of the 1940's. A rather deliberate thing on my part, actually, I adored the color RAF Blue and I thought the uniforms were awesome looking. Aero Dart pulled his goggles up and adjusted his Mitchell Carbine on his shoulder.

K: "Captain Dart." I nodded.

Capt. Aero Dart: "General! My Princess!" He nodded to me, and bowed his head to Luna. "Second Fighter Squadron, Royal Equestrian Air Force Fighter Command, reporting for duty!" And ended with a salute.

K: "No need to be so formal, Captain." I shrugged. "Let me brief you on the situation." I walked him over to a large, flat rock I was using as an improvised map table. "The enemy has hostages they're using as slave labor. In addition, we've uncovered some startling information. Tirek seems to be from across the sea somewhere, as he had a Ship-of-the-Line and a Pinnace in harbor here, that had been conducting commerce raiding on Equestria, and taking prisoners on the high seas, and bringing them here. The enemy force is, as expected, not very coherent. I think the individual groups on the island kept to themselves and only interacted when necessary. Our objective is to liberate the hostages, and try to capture the enemy commander, if said commander is indeed an intelligent entity, and not just the biggest, baddest bird in the bunch." I indicated the Visitor's Center and the improvised sand table. "I need the Second to give air support. Strafing runs, if necessary, but more than likely, you'll be swooping in as we liberate hostages, and pulling them off the battlefield while giving cover."

Capt. Aero Dart: "Number of hostages and enemy?" He asked, studying the sand table, and running his left fetlock over his moustache.

K: "At least twenty hostages, probably more that we can't see. Enemy numbers are conservatively estimated as one hundred. Two companies, by our standards." I indicated where we'd seen them. "They've got proper guard towers, fences, and regular patrols. An organized operation."

Capt. Aero Dart: "So, how are we going to proceed, General?" He lifted his head.

K: "Rangers and Marines under cover of darkness are going to slowly infiltrate the perimeter and cut the fencing in three places. The Marines will be the ones extracting the hostages. Rangers are to harrass and pin down the enemy, and hopefully prevent them from any organized counter-attack." A nod to him.

I showed with my hands where the breaches would be made. The Marines would make one at the far side of the clearing, while the Rangers made two at the near side. Then how the Rangers would advance into the clearing and strike, while holding one of the smaller auxiliary buildings in the Visitor Center compound.

Capt. Aero Dart: "And our signals?" He asked, checking off all the boxes.

K: "Red Flare for a strafing run, Purple Flare for hostage rescue. Make sure you fly down to the Bellerophon and grab two Litters, we might have Ponies that can't walk on thier own." I nodded slowly.

Capt. Aero Dart: "LAWN DART!" He barked.

Apy. Lawn Dart: "Yes, Da-Uh, Father. Captain!" She looked a little out-of-place for this. Lawn Dart looked a bit on the young side, but I could guess how she ended up in the 2nd, given her father was apparently Captain.

Capt. Aero Dart: "Take three others, get Litters from the ship." He instructed to his daughter-and-subordinate.

Apy. Lawn Dart: "Roger that, sir." She and three others flew off towards the Bellerophon, while I fixed Aero Dart with a hard gaze.

Capt. Aero Dart: "..problem, General?" He caught sight of my gaze.

K: "Bringing your daughter to an active battlefield. That's a problem." I crossed my arms. "The whole point of joining the military is to protect your offspring. This isn't a game, Captain, or a social club. This is war. This is serious. Over a hundred ponies have died already, and here you are, bringing your daughter into battle." I didn't shout, I stated.

Capt. Aero Dart: "I don't see an issue, sir." He got defensive.

K: "As long as you're prepared to see her die, or for her to see you die, I don't either. But that's exactly the position you've put her in. She could die today. You could die today. As long as you're prepared for the psychological impact of that, and the scar it's going to leave on whomever's left behind, go right ahead, Captain. I hand out ranks for aptitude, not personal decisions that I might not agree with." I shook my head and shrugged.

Did I have a problem with it? Damned straight - she wasn't quite the same age as AJ and the Girls, at least a couple years younger, she wasn't done growing yet, and her father seemed to think it was a dandy idea to get her involved in the family business - the Air Force - apparently without considering the reality that they might see each other die.

It was the main reason I didn't want Applejack at my side all the time. If I died, I didn't want her to see it.

Capt. Aero Dart: "I..."

K: "Think very hard, Captain. Do you remember when your parents died? Have they? Do you really know how devastating death can be?" The first face that came to my mind was Berry Punch.. that I'd failed her somehow. I waved a hand at him. "No. Never mind. You've made your choice, Captain, I have no place to criticize you for your selection of Flyers, provided she passed basic without issues."

Sgt. Cirro Stratus: "She did, sir. Actually, she should have been Corporal but he didn't want to show favouritism." He interjected, then bowed his head back.

K: "No, it's alright, Sergeant. I'm.. I do want to hear all the facts." I watched Lawn Dart and the others return. "Let's make this happen." I looked at Luna. "Rangers or Marines?" I said - I'd be going where she'd go. And while we conducted our strategy meeting, Luna had taken to letting Mint ride on her back. Mint had paid full attention to the plan, too.

Luna: "Marines. This one wants to find her parents, and it shall be done."

K: "Alright, let's go."


TIME: 22:00 ERST

At precisely 22:00, we launched our attack. I'd moved two of the Pershings from the Marines 3rd Squad to the Rangers 2nd Squad, so the Rangers would have a larger base of fire to keep the Raptorians down. Luna, Mint and I were at the head of the advance. As soon as the Rangers 3rd Squad opened up with machine gunfire on the Raptorian towers, the alarms went off, and the Raptorians were distracted. Half of the Raptorians that had been rounding up hostages, left their posts.

That was our chance. We crept along the ground, with Luna obscuring our advance with magical mist, concealing us in darkness. We got to the fence and immediately started making holes. The fence was made of crossed logs with some improvised barbed wire over it. We set to work with clippers and knives. The guards weren't paying much attention as it was.

Mint: "Holes big'nough for us to fit.." She pointed out. And it was, as long as I lay flat on my back.

K: "Moving up." I said quietly.

Luna: "Be careful!" She hissed. "We don't wish for our Stallion to be killed whilst being both brave and stupid."

K: "Then would you rather he die just being stupid?" I said as I crawled through.

On the other side, I moved up low to the ground, grasping my knife. I grabbed the first Raptorian I saw, as he was coming around the bend of a rock, and pulled him back against the blade, letting his weight do all my work for me. Pushing him off, I stuck the blade up the back of his skull, to make damned sure he was dead. The Marines weren't far behind us.

Mint: "I see the hostages! They have them over there!" She hiss/whispered, and pointed.

The hostages were in a pit, more or less, with semi-shallow sides. They were being guarded by twenty Raptorians directly, and a few others milling about. I could also see mounds with horseshoes on them - graves. I counted six. Six had died before we even knew what was going on here. Behind the pit was a large cave opening that looked like it had been tunnelled out manually, with hard labor. They'd worked these poor ponies hard, and it showed. There were carts nearby with broken rocks, and another half-full of Gems. Rarity would have a massive marestiffy right now, seeing all of this.

The main Visitor's Center Building was under fire from the Rangers, and it seemed the Raptorians were using it as a barracks, not a command building like I'd thought. It made me wonder where the command facility was, and who was in charge of this place. No military genius, that was for certain.

Guilt.. that guilt again.

I pulled my Chaffee through the fence as Sunshine joined us. He took a knee and covered us with his scoped Sherman.

Sgt. Sunshine: "Plan?" He, I could tell, already had a target selected.

K: "They're too close together to sneak up on." First squad was through the fence. "Spirit, get a base of fire set up along this shack and line of buildings. Get ready to cover me and Luna's 1st. We'll go in, you cover us."

Lt. Spirit: "Of course." He set First Squad up, then Third Squad's remaining Pershing. Luna's 1st, Royal Moonbutt and I took concealment behind a large bush near our first hole. Second and Fourth Squads would break through up to the side of the pit area, and give us a crossfire. We snuck as close as we could to the Pit, before we were spotted by a lucky Raptorian.

He squawked, I took his head clean off with one shot. Then everyone opened up. Tracer fire criss-crossed the edges of the pit until the main guards were all down. I then moved quickly, in a low run, aiming and firing at anything with wings. Luna was moving forward at a gallop, casting lightning at anything that wasn't friendly, with Mint on her back, firing her Lee with more-than-decent accuracy. Especially considering she'd never used a firearm before, as far as I knew.

I threw myself over the edge of the pit, and rolled to a stop in the middle of the group of pony hostages. Most of them had never even heard of me before, I supposed - or if they did, they had no mental image of what a "human" looked like. So, their cowering in fear was understandable.

K: "My name is General K. I'm here to rescue you!" I announced as a pesky Raptorian stuck his face over the edge, and ate a full 12-gauge shell of Shot, the easy way. Blood went everywhere.

I rolled over on my side, and braced myself on the edge of the pit, covering Luna, Luna's 1st Guards, and Mint of course, from the Raptorians coming out of the mines. I fired until empty, just as Sunshine came up next to me.

K: *Low* "Watch it, Sunshine, you died once already - let's not have a repeat." I said as I reloaded.

Sunshine: "I died at your side, for my Princess, once already. I'd do it again and you know it." He smirked and magdumped into a group of Raptorians, scoring 8/10 hits.

As the rest of Luna's 1st got to positions, I slid back down the edge. Everyone was in awe of Princess Luna, standing before them, having come to rescue them.

K: "Which of you is Starlight Mint's parents?" I said, taking a knee by Luna, and continually threat-scanning.

Pony: "She is.." A rather thin-looking male with a chestnut coat pointed at an emaciated, battered, bruised and bleeding mare next to two other ponies. One of them was gently stroking her mane.

I moved over. It looked bad. Flare Gun was out already, and I loaded a purple flare. Before I addressed them, I fired it off.

K: "I'm General K. Are you Starlight's mother?" I asked, gently taking her hoof in my hand. It.. was very cold.

Starlight's Mother: *Weakly* "Yes.." She looked at Princess Luna. "Princess! Please.. please take care of my baby.. promise me.." She rolled her head weakly on its side to look at Starlight Mint.

Starlight: "Momma..?" She was on the verge of tears, sliding over to her, and hugging her foreleg desperately. "Momma! Where's Daddy?"

Starlight's Mother: "They.. they killed him.." She choked out. "..and they've killed me, too. My darling angel, I.." She choked, made a gasping noise, and gripped Starlight's hoof in her hooves, painfully hauling her body over on its side. "Please.. be strong.. be.. be strong.." With a look of hopelessness in her face, she looked at me..

K: "Don't worry.. we'll make sure.. we'll.. we'll take care of her.." I started, my throat forming a knot of anguish.

Luna: "Yes, My Little Pony.." She gently stroked Starlight's Mother's mane with her fetlock. "..I promise." Tears rolled down her muzzle, as she nuzzled the mare gently.

Starlight's Mother: "My baby girl.. be strong.. I.." She reached out, barely having the strength to touch Starlight's face, rubbing off a small spot of dirt before her eyes went as small as pencil tips.. and she went limp.

Seven.

Starlight: "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" She wailed. She knew, she wasn't stupid..

My face tightened up, and I stood all the way up. No. This wasn't happening. This was a world of happy endings.. where everyone had cake and pie at Pinkie's place after a fun little adventure.. this wasn't supposed to happen like this!

Something in my mind snapped. Something that would have been disciplined not to, had I been a solider, and not a scholar. My rage boiled over, my blood rushed to my ears.. I could not stop myself.

K: "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" I screamed, at the ground. I turned, faced the mine and raised my Chaffee. "I'M GOING TO KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU, I SWEAR TO ALMIGHTY GOD - YOU.. YOU.. AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!" I'd never.. never felt rage like this before. I was shaking.. then I stopped.

Luna stood at my side, and bellowed.

Luna: *Royal Canterlot Voice, With Rage* "YOU HAVE TAKEN ONE OF THE MOON'S CHILDREN! FOR THAT, YOU SHALL ALL SUFFER MY NIGHTMARE'S WRATH!" She surged with energy, and we marched forwards.

Out of the pit, to the surprise of Luna's guards. Callously, I fired once at each target I saw, taking them as they came. No feeling, just rage and intense focus. Once, in the chest.. twice, in the face.. thrice, in the gut.. quadrice, in the throat.. quintice, to the groin area.. sextice, in the gizzard. Callously, I ejected the magazine into the face of the next one, whipped out and spun my Custer, and fired one in his gut, one-handed.

Luna was being far worse. Lightning was striking multiple Raptorians, frying them in their feathers. One dared stab at her with his spear, only to have it glance off of her Nightmare Armor. She levitated him with her horn's telekinesis, and TORE HIM IN HALF, spraying his intestines over the faces of three other Raptorians, blinding them, before she summoned up a pit of darkness, and dragged all three of them into it, with dark little demon hands pulling them into the darkness. Their screams echoed unnaturally around the cavern, before their body parts were ejected in a butchered mess from the dark singularity the pit rolled itself into.

Luna's 1st advanced, finally, seeing their General and their Princess go completely apeshit (apt term, considering my species) on the enemy, their rage - our rage - giving us a grim sort of intimidation on the enemy to the point where they simply couldn't function intelligently. Not that they were, to begin with.

We marched into the main cavern of the Mine, a bloody chainsaw of bullets and magical death, tearing up every single Raptorian we could find. The main chamber looked like a strip-mining operation. A giant spiral going down. I could see a building had been constructed here, carefully, off to the side. I knew the one in charge would be here - it had a carpet out front.

K: "There!" I pointed. "Remember.. we need them alive." I had to remind myself of that. Right now, I wanted the power to cast a Nuke of Rage on the island and kill anything not a pony. Or myself. I just wanted them all to BURN in a fire as hot as my rage.. it was even worse than the anger I felt at Discord. This was as pure as human rage could get. My belly burned like a giant hot coal.. I wanted them all dead.

We marched at the building, Luna's 1st moving in behind us, and the Marines coming up behind them. I just pointed at the spiral, I needn't have spoken at that point. Spirit took the lead, marching down the spiral, sweeping and clearing it. Luna, myself, and her guards marched on the command building.

K: "YOU IN THAT GOD-FORSAKEN BUILDING! COME OUT, NOW! GIVE THE FUCK UP, OR I FUCKING SWEAR TO MY ALMIGHTY GOD, I WILL GO OLD-FUCKING-TESTAMENT ON YOUR ASSES!"

I was already imagining horrible things I would do to whomever was in there. Pillar of Salt? Perhaps in every tiny wound the tip of my knife could poke in their hides, in every orifice, and poured over everything that bled as I gave them a taste of what they'd done, before I'd ask them a single question. That I turned to a religious connection to torture, later, after I calmed down, honestly didn't surprise me any. Faith was what one turns to in extremes. And this was an extreme.

K: "DO YOU HEAR ME!? I AM GENERAL K, I AM HUMAN, I BRING SCIENCE, AND IF YOU DON'T GIVE UP THIS FUCKING SECOND, SCIENCE WILL FUCK YOU!" That was pretty much my catchphrase. 'Science will FUCK you.' It was at the point of giving me comfort to say those words.

What shocked me was the Diamond Dogs that poured out of the building, grovelling on their hands and knees, as they approached us. Unarmed.

Diamond Dog: "PLEEZ NO BE HURTINGS US!!" He begged, tears streaming down his face, snot coming from his nose. "WE GIVE! NO FIGHT YOU! NO HURT US, PLEEZ! WE BEZ GOOD PUPPY!" I watched as he and a couple of others, rolled on their backs in prostration, and urinated all over themselves in submission. The others that were too terrified to roll over, simply made puddles in the ground, from their own piss.

K: "..where's the big boss?" I said to the one that had spoken. "We will deal with the reason you're here, later."

Diamond Dog: "Bozz inzide! Iz truth! Please!" He looked at the building. "Bad kitty! She casted horrible hexeses!" He curled up at my feet, and hugged his knees.

I walked past him with no emotion what so ever. I knew who this was, the only one it could possibly be...

K: "Katrina.." I said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "REFORMED, HUH!? WHERE'S YOUR FUCKING WEED, YOU BITCH!?" I marched at the door, ejecting the partial magazine of Shot Shells and reloading with Slugs.

I racked the chamber. She was addicted to Witchweed, to give her her powers. A potion, actually, made from it. She'd originally used Bushwoolies to make it. But, she'd apparently reformed in antiquity and swore off the stuff.

I kicked the door in. Actually, I kicked hard enough, that I broke the hinges. I stomped inside.

K: "KATRINA!! COME OUT AN' MEET YER DOOM! GIVE UP, THERE'S NO ESCAPE FOR YOU!"

Luna was right behind me. The main room looked like a planning area. I wanted a chainsaw right about now. I stomped up the stairs, and kicked in the door to the room up there - there was only one.

What I saw in there, deflated my rage faster than the Hindenburg's fireball. It was Katrina alright. Laying on her bed - a shit-ass wooden thing with one blanket - emaciated and filthy, looking like a drugged-out junkie that hit rock-bottom and fell straight through. My lip quivered.

She wasn't the boss here. She was just as big of a victim as the ponies were.

Then I realised exactly what was going on here.

K: "REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPP!!!!! SHOW YOURSELF! I SWEAR TO EVERTHING THAT IS HOLY, I'M GOING TO ROAST YOUR LIZARD ASS OVER A FUCKING GRILL AND EAT YOU!!! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE! SHOW YOURSELF!!" I screamed.

Luna: *Echo* "Who is Rep?"

K: "Rep's the fucking slimeball that got Katrina hooked again, I'll bet, or at the very least liked the idea of fucking controlling her, and used her to intimidate everyone. His natural fucking form is like a humanoid lizard, and short-and-skinny, a little fucking pussy that couldn't fucking intimidate a fucking bug. But Katrina? No, no, once she's on Witchweed Potion, she's a fucking beast. He USED HER.. he GOT HER HOOKED on FUCKING DRUGS to FUCKING USE HER like SOME KIND of FUCKING TOOL.. HE FUCKING USED HER LIKE A FUCKING SOCK!" I cursed, red in the face as I tore through everything in the room, feeling for anything unnatural. "AND WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HIM, I'M GOING TO FUCKING SKIN HIM ALIVE AN MAKE HIM WATCH WHILE I MAKE BOOTS, BELTS, AND A WALLET OUT OF HIS FUCKING HIDE, ONE FUCKING STRIP AT A FUCKING TIME! THEN I'M GOING TO FUCKING BARBECUE HIM OVER AN OPEN FIRE, AND MAKE HIM WATCH AS I EAT HIM, PIECE BY PIECE, BEFORE I FUCKING LET HIM DIE!"

Starlight's parents.. the other dead ponies.. the living ones.. the way he USED Katrina.. I had so much rage, if I'd managed to actually catch him right then, I would have done all those things and more.

Problem was, Rep was long gone, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I flew to the window overlooking the main area, and sure enough, we were short one Diamond Dog. He'd shape-shifted, blended in, and run like a little bitch while we thought we were going to confront Katrina.

K: *GRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGGH!!!!!!* I bellowed in rage and frustration. "Fucker! FUCKER! FUCKING PIG-FUCKING, PIECE OF SNAKESHIT!" I bashed my fists on the windowsill. Twice.

Luna: *Echo* "He has evaded us." She looked at Katrina. "He will one day pay for his crimes."


TIME: 00:01 ESRT
DATE: War Day 121
LOCATION: Carousel Island Bay, aboard HMS Alarm

I was pacing the deck, still trying to calm down. Katrina was in the captain's cabin, being looked after by Luna. Master Sea Swirl and Lieutenant Deep Blue were getting everything ready to go. She'd selected ten other ponies she trusted to help her run the ship. I'd picked Alarm specifically, as I'd sent Bellerophon ahead to escort the Grain Carrier (with the Diamond Dogs as POW's) and the Yacht (evacuating the Hostages) back to Fillydelphia as I cleaned up here. Luna's Guards were with us, but the Marines and Rangers were on the two civilian ships - the Marines with the POW's and the Rangers with the Hostages.

Well, except one hostage. Starlight Mint refused to leave me and Luna's side. She'd cried the entire time everything was getting ready, but she'd stopped crying once we got on the boat. Her parent's bodies were aboard the Grain Carrier, since it had independent compartments, along with the recovered bodies of the other Hostages that hadn't survived the ordeal.

Mstr. Sea Swirl: "General..?" She paced up to me.

K: *Tersely* "Yes, Miss Sea Swirl?" 'Miss' or 'Mister' being the appropriate shorthand for the naval rank Master/Mistress.

Mstr. Sea Swirl: "There's nothing you could have done.." She walked over and put a hoof on my arm. She gave me a weak smile. "..we'll get him. Wherever he ran to, we'll get him eventually."

K: "When I do, he's dead. I don't care if he tries to give up, I'm going to grill him over an open fire and have myself some roast gecko.." My lip twitched as I walked to the rail of the ship.

I swore, Rep wouldn't live very long, if I had my say.

{End of Chapter 17}