Chapter 24: Battle of Paradise Estates (The Expedition III)
Part 1: Distance
TIME: 10:17 ERST
DATE: War Day 182
LOCATION: Everfree Forest, Old Kingdom Area, Near Paradise Estates
After leaving Havoc and his pack behind, we advanced to Paradise Estates. Pinkie was bouncing around, happily, while talking at length to Lyra, who was all smiles with Pinkie's attitude. Again, I sent Fluttershy, Dash and Sunshine out ahead as scouts. They should be reaching the Estates Ruins soon enough. I wondered if there would be much left after all this time? Equus didn't seem to be as geologically active as Earth and unlike most other "first civilization" settlements, no other settlements had been built on top of Paradise Estates.
This could be good or bad - it could mean the site was completely untouched, or that the site was completely razed to the ground with nothing left but a bare outline. Hopefully, it was closer to the former than the-
Sunshine: "General!" He came galloping up without the girls.
K: "What is it, Sergeant?" I was all buisness.
Sunshine: "Enemy forces are in control of the ruins - they have firearms I've never seen before!" He looked at Twilight. "The girls are fine, they're in deep concealment and observing the enemy."
K: "What makes you so certain these are enemies?" I shrugged. Hey, it was a hope, alright?
Sunshine: "Two Raptorians are among the forces." He shook his head. "The rest are Khyang."
K: "Khyang.." I scratched my head. "..Chinese Wild Ass?"
Twilight: "Don't call them that to their faces. Kianga and Equestria did fight that war, I mentioned." She nodded, a bit afraid.
K: *Sigh* "Oh, shit. Are the weapons automatic? Can you tell? Can you DRAW it?" I frowned.
Sunshine: "Give me a minute.." He grabbed Rarity's pencil and notebook-
Rarity: "HEY!"
Sunshine: "I'll give it back, just give me a sec." He scribbled out a rough design. It looked like the Pattons, but different. More wood used, and a larger magazine. Actually, it looked a lot like..
K: "That looks like a fucking AK-47.." *Growl/sigh* "..how in he hell?!"
Sunshine: "No idea.. uh.. what's an AK-47?" He cocked a brow at me.
K: "It's an assault rifle developed on Earth. One of the very first, and one of the most prolific. Sunshine? I need one of those rifles." I nodded to him, firmly.
Sunshine: "Oh-ho-ho.. I thought you'd never ask." He dug in his saddle bags and pulled out his grease stick, smearing some on his face. "How many do you want?"
K: "One, at least, and a few magazines." I looked at Octavia. "Set up a blind over there. Lyra, get a sniper position. Twilight?"
Twilight: "Yes, K?" She paced up.
K: "You and Rarity get back to Dream Castle, rustle up 15th Company, and get a message back to Ponyville. We need support. I want air dominance - uh, can these asses fly?" I shrugged.
Twilight: "Yes. They have all the same sub-species we do." She nodded.
K: "Oh, sweet fuck. Okay, two fighter squadrons, two bomber squadrons, the remaining Ponyville Infantry Companies, and 16th Company, 2nd Battalion. We'll hold here until you get back." I nodded.
Twilight: "Understood!" She nodded to Rarity and they took off at a full gallop.
K: "Pinkie, base of fire over there, with Applejack." I pointed.
Pinkie: "Right!" She hopped over.
K: "Make it happen, Sunshine." I nodded.
Sunshine: "Right." He grinned.
With that, he ran off. I pulled my Patton off my shoulder and looked at it. How bad was it? Did they have weapons equal to ours? Better? How had it happened? How did they manage to do this, and why were they doing it?
I knew nothing about the conflict between Equestria and Kianga. I had no idea what was causing them to take up arms against them again - but I suspected Tirek's involvement (I was wrong, but I didn't know that until much later). Shaking my head, I took cover near Octavia and waited for Sunshine's return.
TIME: 10:44 ERST
Sunshine returned alright.. dragging a tied-up prisoner with him, and escorted by Dash and Fluttershy. He had a cheesy grin on his face.. he'd accomplished his mission alright.
Sunshine: "Here you are, General." He placed not one, but three of these.. Kiangshikovs at my feet, with one spare magazine each. "They were only given one spare magazine each."
K: "And how did you find this out?" I crossed my arms, leaning against a tree.
Prisoner: *Gibberish Kiangese*
Sunshine: "He called you a two-legged devil. And made remarks about your mother." He seemed amused.
K: "Hm. Pity we don't have two of them. Seems I'll have to do this the hard way." I shrugged. "Ask him if he's willing to talk."
Sunshine: *Kiangese*
Prisoner: *Angry Kiangese* He spat at Sunshine's hooves.
K: "Taking that as a no." A short sniff.
Sunshine: "Eyup. So, what do we do with him?" He shrugged.
K: "Do you ponies practice torture?" I cocked a brow.
Sunshine: "Uh.. what do you think?" He gave me a flat grin.
K: "I think you'd tickle him to death with butterflies and cupcakes." I smirked.
Sunshine: "You'd be right." He grinned.
K: "That's okay. I'm not that nice. Anyone with a weak stomach? Look away." I walked over to Pinkie Pie and whispered in her ear while pulling out my Bayonet, pressing it in her hands.
Applejack gave me a horrified look. Even Rainbow Dash looked like she was going to puke. Lyra wouldn't look at all. Octavia stole Scratch's Music Player and stuck it in her ears, then poked Scratch to magic-power it. Scratch pulled out a second set of earphones and put them on, then turned it on. Ambrosia just put on her work headphones, and tilted her helmet down. Dr. Allcome just looked at the prisoner with a *Tsk-Tsk* look on his face.
The Prisoner started sweating. After all, these are ponies... why would they react with such fear and disgust if the two-legged devil is talking to the little, tubby pink one?
I watched her hair go flat, and she STALKED over to the Prisoner, grabbed him, and dragged him into the bushes. The look of fear on his face was priceless.
Prisoner: *SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL* *AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIEIEIEIEIE!!!* *GARGLE* *Groans*
*NUNUNUNUNUUHUHUHUHUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAHHHHHHHAHHAHAHAHGARLBLBLBL*
Sunshine: "General..! That's..! That's horrible! How could you!?" He looked at me, shocked. "Enemy or not, no one deserves that!"
K: "Just wait." I leaned against a tree, and shrugged.
Pinkie trotted back out, giggling, and humming a random song, hair poofy oncemore.
K: "Is he going to talk, now?" I crossed my arms with a little smirk.
Pinkie: "Oh, yeah! And he smells ALL better now!" She giggled again.
Sunshine ran into the bushes where the Kianganese prisoner was, and dragged him back out. He wasn't bleeding, no bones were broken, not a mark on him. But he was untied, and quivering like a blob of jell-o.
Applejack: "Whut'n tarnashun y'do to 'im!?" She demanded.
Pinkie: "Oh, LOTS of things! But I'll never tell..!" She winked.
K: "I asked her to introduce him to Equestrian cooking. Backwards." I broadly grinned.
Prisoner: *Poop noise* There's a fresh cupcake right between his legs. Perfectly formed. *Sobbing Kiangese Gibberish*
Sunshine: "He says he'll talk all you want, tell you anything you want, but he begs us not to bake a cake inside of him." He smirked.
Dash: "Pinkie!"
Pinkie: "What? Cakes are delicious!" She looked at the Prisoner and held up a frosting bag, giving him a vicious grin.
Prisoner: *More sobbing gibberish*
K: "I get the point. Ask him what these are, and how they work." I nodded.
As we questioned our prisoner, we found out his name was Lo'ping, Comrade Soldier, 23rd Special Combat Force, 223rd Infantry Division, 2nd Kiangese People's Army. His commander was Platoon Leader Hop'sing. He was not told their mission specifics, but he had been ordered to observe the "two-legged devil" at Paradise Estates. The Raptorians weren't part of it - they arrived with a reptile (Rep), then left after speaking with the "two-legged devil" in the ruins. He'd been caught while taking a leak - his immediate task had been to watch the camp fire, and the rifles they'd stolen had come from a rifle rack. There were 39 other Kiang with him, but the 25th, 27th and 21st Infantry Companies were nearby as well.
The Type 1 Rifle was new to him - it had only been given to him about a week ago, and while he was trained in its operation, he had not had a chance to fire more than twenty rounds from it. The weapons were new - they replaced a semi-automatic rifle that was in service until very recently. The semi-automatic rifle sounded like a copy of the Sherman from the way he described it, but with some changes, like adjustable sights. I'd never seen the point in serious adjustable sights, given that shooting without optics was only advised to be done out to 100 meters, given the high arcing trajectory of the ammunition - scopes with unicorns made shots out to 600 meters possible, but it was still no easy task. Lo'ping had never seen an optic on a rifle he had been issued or had been issued to his SCF.
Lo'ping was two years into his five year conscription and had been selected for SCF training right away, because of his aptitude for machinery. His job within the SCF was keeping their equipment working - that equipment was just as extensive as ours was. They had field radios, portable artillery, the works. From the way he talked, it sounded as if Kianga had been copying Equestria all along, with as little as a two-week turn-around from the time I developed something to when they fielded their own (slightly improved in some cases) version.
K: "Espionage. The only way they'd get espionage this good is if there was a spy in Ponyville itself. Someone feeding them information - sneaking into my barn and copying my blueprints before I even get a design off the drawing board." I growled.
Sunshine: "And how long ago did you start drawing up designs for the Patton?" He tilted his head.
K: "War Day 118." I shrugged. "The gas piston looks like the design I discarded around War Day 138. Right before.." I looked at Fluttershy. "..Second Ponyville was a great opportunity to copy all of my designs. Anything I had." I shrugged. "That includes a mounted machine gun, a new mortar design.. a few other things. Fantastic."
I picked up one of the Type 1 Rifles, and aimed at a tree. I fired off a round and was surprised how fast it hit the target. And by the fact that it was noticably off a little.
K: "Better powder. I can feel it. Sharper recoil. But the accuracy seems.. off." I fired a few more rounds, holding the rifle as steady as possible. "It's a bullet hose!" *Grumble* "Then again, so's the AKM." Yes, the AK produced after a certain point is properly called an AKM, not an AK-47, technically. The difference is in the receiver - milled, and you have an AK-47, stamped and you have an AKM. "Makes sense.. it's even simpler than the Pattons, they probably don't have metallurgy like Equestria does."
Sunshine: "What do we do, General?" He shrugged.
K: "Simple. Kill them and the devil they're protecting, but not before we gather information. We need their officer and we need the person they're guarding." I nodded.
Yeah, that wasn't going to be easy. Three companies of enemy asses. If they had other military assets, I didn't know about them and neither did our prisoner. Either way, this was going to be hard - capturing officers and the "two-legged devil" they were guarding? Yeah, I was not looking forward to this at all.
{End of Part 1}
Part 2: Testing the Waters
TIME: 11:02 ERST
DATE: War Day 182
LOCATION: 500m from Paradise Estates
I was sitting next to our prisoner, while we awaited reinforcements. He was alternating between pooping out baked goods, and cursing his life. At least I think he was - I didn't speak Kiangese, but the blubbering of a grown man (pony) begging for mercy and his mother, are universal. Why DO people beg for their mothers? Is it the comfort? The sense of wanting to start over?
We had him bridled and lashed to a tree instead of bound up. I wanted him relatively mobile - besides baked goods up the ass, I didn't want him in any more discomfort - there's a brownie - than necessary. To show him that cooperating is a good thing, that ponies can show mercy. His coat was much like any other Tibetan/Chinese Wild Ass. I'd seen one in a zoo once. But, he had a cutie mark. Some kind of odd symbol that looked like what would happen if Chinese was crossed with five other Asian languages and turned into a stamp.
Sunshine was guarding him with suspicion. I found out that his father had served in the Kiangese War, and he'd Seen Some Shit. Apparently, he hung himself not too long after Sunshine his sister were born. Just about killed his mother, and she doted on her children lovingly. She'd died some time ago, and his sister was an artist in Las Pegasus. Apparently, earning a good living.
K: "When 15th Company gets here, I want us dug in, Sunshine." I reminded him.
Sunshine: "They will try Equine Wave attacks, if they know we're here. It's what they specialize in. Quantity over quality." He nodded in warning.
I hefted the Type 1 in my hands, and pulled the magazine, extracting a round from it. The casing was steel, laquered, much like Eastern Bloc ammo on Earth was. It was a faint yellowish, well constructed. The bullets in the casing were nicely made. I had to admire the craftsmanship.
Sunshine: "..okay, you've got me there." He shrugged.
K: "Actually, the quality is kinda shitty - the better powder seems to be the only thing they have going for them. Laquered steel isn't the best option for bullet casings. Brass absorbs and removes heat from the chamber better than steel does. Plus, Brass can be reloaded. Steel, often, can't." Well.. not entirely accurate, but it's beyond the reach of most casual handloaders.
Sunshine: "I wonder what my father would say." He looked at the Kiangese prisoner. "He'd probably tell me to carve this guy up and eat him in front of his buddies."
K: "The last war was bad, huh?" I asked, a note of concern.
Sunshine: "We had spears and swords. We killed at close range. The only thing that kept us from losing was the Kiangese's tactics. Bum rush whatever position with whomever was there. They didn't make proper tactical use of Pegasi as archers, or Unicorns as magic users." He gestured.
K: "Let me ask you something.."
Sunshine: "Sure."
*Poop noise* Hm.. green frosted cupcake.
K: "Do you remember the day your mother died?" It went back to Applejack not recalling how her parents died unless she thought really hard about it.
Sunshine: "Not.. really. I remember.. she was very sick.." He shook his head. "No, I honestly don't. Not very clearly."
K: "I see."
Prisoner: *NUNU! NUNU! NUUUHUHHUHU~!* *Frrrssstt PLOP!* Extra-large Bismark. Cream filling. Four inches (100mm) across, no less. Pinkie out-did herself.
Sunshine: "Should I give him some water?" He blinked.
K: "Good idea. Bowl on the ground, though. Don't feed him directly from your canteen - don't get too close. He might have half a bakery up his flank, but I don't trust any P-O-W." I shrugged.
Sunshine complied.. and I kept my M-19 about eight inches (20cm) from Lo'ping's head the entire time. Just in case. He didn't make much effort to fight or resist. I think he was too full of baked goods. After a bit, I could hear hooves.. coming from both directions.
K: "..shit. Cover." I pointed. "Octavia! Everyone to cover!"
Octavia: "Right." The rest of the Rangers and the girls made just a couple of moves each.
We were well hidden, but not dug in. We could be routed from this position with enough effort. I gave a poke to Sunshine's back.
K: "Tell Lo'ping that if he makes any sound at all, I'll make baking a cake inside his anus the least of his worries." I murmured.
Sunshine: *Hushed Kiangese*
Lo'ping: *Whimper*
We waited.. I was guessing, but I was pretty sure the advance unit from the Kiangese would get here first. I pressed myself up behind a rock, the barrel of the Patton sticking out just a bit between that rock and the next. Sunshine pushed Lo'ping up behind a dirt berm, and joined me. We were waiting.. this was going to be bad. Very bad.
The rush of hooves that came over the small rise in the distance were clearly Kiangese.. 120 meters.. that's farther than our iron sights could do without preparation. The next rise - closer to us - was 80 meters. I hand-signalled to hold fire. Not yet.. they needed to get closer. Of course, if we had better powder, like they did, this wouldn't even be fair. An M4 Carbine could take them at 120 meters. A real AKM could, too.
Sunshine: "Think they have grenade launchers?" He muttered to me.
K: "If so, I hope they're idiots about using them." I offered.
Below the rise, coming up to the second, I signalled Pinkie across the path to be ready to drop the hurt on them. She nodded with a grin.
The first head to crest the rise ahead of us was Kiangese alright.. an officer, judging by the amount of stuff on his uniform. We let him come.. then the next.. the next.. I held fire until there was at least two squads over the rise..
K: "OPEN FIRE!" I screamed as I pulled the trigger on my Patton, my sights right on the officer.
I watched blood spurt from his chest and flanks, as he went down. More of them started falling.. the volume of fire we presented mowed down most of the two squads we allowed over the rise, at 80 meters. I could hear Pinkie's Knox thumping.. she was firing shells as fast as she could reload, and dropping them right over the rise. I could hear the screams of the dying.. as I said, begging for mercy is universal. It knows no language.
With us dropping shells right over the rise, and murderous fire over its crest, the Kiangese would have been smart to withdraw. Instead, they scattered to both sides of the path, and returned fire wildly. I could hear Lyra's Scoped Sherman fire, rapid barks that found Kiangese marks. Every time one of them stuck their heads up to fire, they lost it. The fire died down.. they didn't know what to do.
K: "HOLD POSITION!" I called.
I could hear someone yelling in Kiangese.. someone got a brainwave. Better nip that in the bud. I motioned for Pinkie to drop an egg on the source of the talking. I was answered with a flame shell. A thunk.. and a whistle.. and a bursting noise, followed by screaming. Pained, agonized screaming. Not one, but at least four or five seperate voices. Then, rapid gunshots, and the screaming stopped. They put their own men out of their misery.
I wasn't sure if that was noble or barbaric.
Right about then was when the thundering hooves behind us told me that 15th Company was almost here. Without standing and revealing my positon, I called out to them..
K: "FIFTEENTH COMPANY, GET TO COVER! WE ARE IN CONTACT!" I heard the hooves stop, then scatter.
A few moments later, the Sergeant that I'd spoken to some time ago, along with the company's Captain made their way up to me.
15th Co. Captain: "Captain Silver Spark, sorry we didn't get properly introduced earlier, General." He nodded to the sergeant. "Quartermaster Sergeant Black Berry."
K: "Captain, Sergeant, have second and third squad swiftly infiltrate to the right, and fourth and fifth to the left. They're spread out near the path, at the forest's edge. Rout them back on to the path, or force them to withdraw. Sixth and Seventh, left side of the path to the rear of Sergeant Octavia. First, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, to the rear of me. Make it happen."
Capt. Silver Spark: "Roger that." He nodded to Black Berry, and the Sergeant took off.
I could hear more angry Kiangese.. someone had a thought again. I waved to Pinkie and Lyra. Lyra nodded, she had a target. I motioned for her to take the shot. One loud crack later, and the Kiangese stopped in mid-sentence. I was conditioning them to realise that whomever gets a bright idea, gets dead. Keep them off balance, keep them without effective leadership..
K: "Sunshine, order them to surrender." I said, my eyes fixed on where the Kiangese had taken cover.
Sunshine: "Right." *Yelling in Kiangese*
His answer was volume fire from the bush by the side of the road..
K: "PINKIE! SHUT THEM UP!"
Pinkie: "Got iiit!" *THOOP!* *BLADAM!*
*Screaming in Kiangese*
She got them alright. I could see body parts everywhere.
K: "Sunshine. Again."
Sunshine: *Yelling in Kiangese*
Nothing. They got the idea that answering "no" with bullets puts them in danger. I took the silence as a silent refusal to quit.
Sunshine: "They won't give up, you know. They're too sold on the idea that they're superior creatures." He snorted.
K: "Well, the flankers should be in position.." I peered over the rock.
Gunfire started without warning. Shermans belching rounds from two different angles, saturating the Kiangese positions with fire. They tried to withdraw, only for Lyra, Pinkie and the snipers and grenadiers with the four squads behind us opening up on them as they tried to withdraw up the path.
We cut them down without mercy. No quarter. They died on ther hooves.. and I watched. Not a single one was allowed to escape.. the final shot came from Black Berry standing on a rock, shooting a fleeing Kiangese in the back at about seventy meters. The last one to withdraw, fell over like a stunned sheep, dying in a pool of his own blood and intestines.
I turned to our Prisoner..
K: "Ask him what unit that was."
Sunshine: *Kiangese*
Lo'ping: *Responds sobbing in Kiangese*
Sunshine: "He says that was a unit from one of the infantry companies. He's not sure which."
K: "Ask him how many Kyhang are in a squad."
Sunshine: *Kiangese*
Lo'ping: *Responds Kiangese*
Sunshine: "He says there's ten to a squad, then ten squads to a company."
K: "A hundred per company.. and we do half that amount. We're going to be badly outnumbered any way you cut it." I shook my head.
Sunshine: "No kidding." He frowned.
Capt. Silver Spark: "Orders, General?"
K: "Dig in, quickly. I want foxholes and field fortifications ASAP. Clear some of those trees on both flanks, use the wood to build a machine gun pill box." I waved my hand over the area.
Capt. Silver Spark: "Roger."
K: "SERGEANT! COLLECT THE ENEMY WEAPONS SUPPLIES!" I called out to Black Berry, and he nodded in agreement.
I helped them dig the fortifications. Having hands and arms as large as mine compared to them, I was able to move more earth faster than the ponies under my command. I aided with the center portion - 15th Company had been smart enough to bring along unfilled sand bags, which we filled with the moved earth. I had no idea how long it would take for the Ponyville Infantry to get here, or the Air Force units I'd called for.
Dr. Allcome made himself busy with Nurse Redheart and the medics of 15th Company, setting up a triage area far to the rear, by a circle of rocks. Fluttershy was giving them a hand. Black Berry had Second Squad performing forward scouting.. they were up ahead, waiting for the enemy to come, and make contact with us.
Capt. Silver Spark: "You know, it's a shame we don't have anything explosive we could use for traps." He shrugged.
K: "It's a bigger shame I never reinvented the Claymore Mine." I shrugged.
Capt. Silver Spark: "May I..?"
K: "Square of explosive, vaguely curved, with loads of small ball bearings in it. Blow it, it's like a huge shotgun shell. Very deadly. Fantastic trap. Been in use for.. oh, about thirty years or so. So good, it hasn't really changed in all that time." I shrugged, helping a pony lift a log so we could create a firing position. "Good, now clear enough dirt to peep through." I instructed.
Capt. Silver Spark: "Sounds nasty."
K: "It is." I helped clear some dirt under the log for a firing slit.
15th Company had all Shermans and Pershings. They hadn't been issued the new Pattons yet, and it was just as well. With Colonel Williams giving me that high quality powder to reproduce, I would probably end up changing things as it was. Their medics and radiomen had Zhukov's, which was just as well. I'd be designing a new pistol round and new sidearms and SMG's to go with it. Again, thanks to Colonel Williams.
TIME: 14:57 ERST
After some time, we had a nice set of fortifications going. We sat back, and rested, everyone getting water or a quick nip of oats or something. Trees had been felled all around the fortifications, giving us about 20m on all sides of clear fire, with a pill box near the center of the oversized C-shaped trench line. We had foxholes near the center, and a couple of sniper blinds set up near the flanks. Pretty secure for a few hours work.
Capt. Silver Spark: "When do you think they'll hit us again?"
K: "Before dark. How many did we kill?" I nodded to the stacked bodies.
Capt. Silver Spark: "Fifty. Half a company." He nodded back.
K: "They have another two and a half companies, plus a Special Combat Force, waiting for us. Their Special Combat Forces are half-company elite formations. Shock troopers, not special forces like our Rangers." I mused.
Capt. Silver Spark: "Shock Troopers?"
K: "They move fast, hit hard, and try to breach openings in defenses. They don't have a great deal of extra training other than being very good at mobile fire, having light weapons, and sappers - troops with explosive charges who's only job is to get close enough to enemy defense fortifications to blow holes in them, or take out enemy equipment." I shrugged. "Our Rangers, on the other hand, are all expert shots, with training in infiltration, silent destruction of enemy equipment, use of just about every piece of equipment in our arsenal, and are specialized towards long term light, fast operations. Hence why I brought Rangers on The Expedition and not, say, Marines. Marines are more a combination of Paratroopers and Rangers - light weapons, but short term operations. Unlike Paratroopers, Marines are trained on every weapon system available, including naval guns. No, their Special Combat Force is like a light version of our Paratroopers, but without the ability to rapidly land behind enemy lines and take advantage of weaknesses in the enemy's rear defesnes to raise havoc."
Essentially, I'd designed Pony Rangers more like U.S. Special Forces. They could be completely independent if they needed to be, for long periods of time. Paratroopers were strictly light raiders, but they could take and hold ground. Marines were a combination. They could deploy light or heavy, land rapidly from ships, board other ships, take and hold beach heads, then function like Rangers or shock troopers for the Army forces that would land behind them.
Sunshine: "Basically, they're designed to take casualties. We're designed to prevent them at all costs. The two ideas don't work well together, and somepony usually gets hurt.. them more than us." He snickered.
Capt. Silver Spark: *Cough* "Right. What now?"
K: "Sunshine, take three, advance ahead of Second Squad. Give me intel. I want to know what they're up to. Another prisoner might be handy, but don't risk being detected. Come on back if something big is in the works." I nodded to him.
Sunshine: "Understood, General." He picked Octavia, Lyra and Scratch, and off they went.
K: "Captain, disperse the ponies as planned." I nodded to him.
Capt. Silver Spark: "Roger that." And off HE went. This left me in the firing trench with three other ponies.
K: "Relax, boys and girl. I'll stand watch." And watch I did.
TIME: 15:44 ERST
I leaned against the firing position, cradling my Patton while the three with me, rested. Knowing your enemy doesn't have the ability to hit anything accurately closer than 60 meters helps. We expanded the circle around the trenches to 40 meters on all sides. And waited. It would take Twilight until almost dark to get back to Ponyville from where I sent her, and she might not get back with the Ponyville Infantry Company until late that night.
I only hoped we could hold out until then.
Up ahead, I could hear movement.. then shouting.. then shooting. Then calls of 'FALL BACK!' I couldn't see what was happening, because of the rise, though.
K: "UP AND AT 'EM! EVERYONE TO FIRING POSITIONS!" I called, and everyone got to cover.
Up over the rise came Sergeant Black Berry and his squad, following behind Sunshine Smiles, Octavia, Scratch, and Lyra. Lyra's right upper foreleg was bandaged. They had four prisoners with them.. and there was a cloud of dust coming for the far rise. Looked like at least as many as before, probably more.
K: "PREPARE TO FIRE AS SOON AS OUR TROOPS ARE IN THE TRENCH!" I ordered.
Safeties came off, belts were jacked into position.. we were ready for whatever fresh hell was coming our way.
{End of Part 2}
Part 3: Weakness
TIME: 15:45 ERST
DATE: War Day 182
LOCATION: 500m from Paradise Estates
With the thundering of hooves, I swore I could hear something else. Something familiar, that shouldn't be here. Something that didn't make sense. But it did. The grinding of gears, the sound of something pulling itself across the ground.. the thunder of a beast crawling across the earth..
K: "Tank.." I said to myself as I saw the cloud of dust it kicked up.
And as it came over the rise, I was struck in awe. Not just at what I was seeing, but what it MEANT. Oh, sure, Tirek was a big magical threat and he probably had a huge army waiting for us, but this was science. And as I'm rather famous for saying by this point, Science will Fuck You.
Well, just so happens, it was about to fuck ME for once.
I didn't like the feeling.
They painted it greenish-tan, for some reason, same color as their uniforms. The layout was much like what I would expect to see for a first generation armored vehicle. A big metal box with guns on it. Reminded me a little of the German A7V, honestly. A big gun in front and what looked like machine guns on the side. As it came over the ridge, all I could do was scream.
K: "TAAAAAAAAAAANK!" My mind stopped. Frozen. I had to bash my face into the log ahead of me to get it working again. "STAY HERE!" I ordered the three next to me, as I vaulted over the edge. "CAPTAIN! ALL TROOPS, DO NOT FIRE ON THE BIG METAL BOX! AMBROSIA, PINKIE, DASH, OVER HERE! MOVE, MOVE!"
Capt. Silver Spark: "UNDERSTOOD! YOU HEARD THE GENERAL, OPEN FIRE ONLY ON THE INFANTRY!"
I could hear chattering in confusion. But I was not going to let the fresh, new terror of tanks destroy this unit. I had ponies out there, running this way, that DEPENDED on my ability to counter that thing.
The question was, how?
Ambrosia, Dash and Pinkie ran towards the first machine gun pill box with me, and we met up behind it.
K: "Ambrosia, I need all the explosives you've got." I started, and as she pulled them out of her saddle bags, I turned to The Pink One. "Pinkie, TELL me you keep Emergency Cymbals around?"
Pinkie: "Well, of course, ever since the Paras-"
K: "Give me ALL of them!" I demanded, cutting her off.
Pinkie: "Oh-Okay.." She quivered a little.
K: "Dash, I.. I'm about to ask you to do something VERY stupid, and VERY risky.." My voice wavered.
Dash: "Name it." She was determined.
I put the explosives together with the cymbals.. I was making an EFP-IED. America's enemies had taught me something.. the Iraqui Insurgents did almost this exact same thing to American armored vehicles during the Second Iraq War. But they'd packed them inside 155mm shell casings and such. I? I was using whatever I had with me. I used a Drum from Pinkie's Emergency Orchestra Instruments Supply to make the IED body, the cymbal to make the explosively formed penetrator, and Ambrosia's explosives to propel it.
The only thing I needed was a delivery system.
K: "Dash, listen to me very carefully. I need you to fly ahead and put one of these things, cymbal-side down, on top of the Tank. Then I need you to set off the charge." I didn't have anything to stick the charge to the tank, though...
Dash: "I-I'll do it." Her voice quaked a little.
K: "Ambrosia, three-second fuses." I said, wrapping the EFP-IED body with rope and anything handy to reinforce it. I put a thick steel dinner plate on the top to force the explosion downwards. This wasn't going to be ideal..
Ambrosia: "That's cutting it rather close.." She started.
*Artillery shell whistle*
It exploded 50 meters to our rear.
K: "No choice. Do it." I ordered, finishing my preparations.
Ambrosia: "Right."
K: "Dash.." I looked at her.. I was basically asking her to commit suicide.. I don't think I needed to explain further.
Dash: *Nervous laugh* "Don't worry about a thing! I'll have that.. TANK knocked out in TEN. SECONDS. FLAT."
I handed her the completed IED.
K: "Be carefu-u-uh!" She kissed me. Deep, hard, our lips pressing together in a wonderful cascade of Skittles and saliva.
Dash: *Softly* "In case I don't come back.." The way her eyes looked at me.. jealousy? Envy?
K: "I.." I didn't know what to say.
She rocketed into the sky.. and arced over the pill box, IED in hoof. Were those.. tears?
K: "What was THAT all about?" I asked, nervously brushing off my coat.
Pinkie: "Silly! She likes you, too!" Then PINKIE kissed me. Though hers was far less serious, and more like 'I don't want to be left out.'
K: *MRGFR!* *POP* "Ah! Tastes like cupcakes!" I smacked my lips.
Ambrosia: *Giggle*
K: "What, you want a kiss, too?"
Ambrosia: "Jim would be jealous." She smirked at me. Oh-ho-ho.. I didn't know about THAT one.
K: "Uh-huh. Get back out there, and shoot Asses! Pinkie? Grenades on that thing if it gets into range."
Pinkie: "Right."
I ran back around the corner, and dove back into the firing position I was in, just as Sunshine and his team came over the edge of the Trench, prisoners and 2nd Squad in tow.
Sunshine: "WHAT IS THAT THING?!"
K: "IT'S A TANK! DON'T BOTHER SHOOTING IT, SHOOT THE INFANTRY!"
Sunshine clubbed his prisoners over the head as Scratch and Octavia dragged them away. Lyra slid into position next to me and Sunshine.
Lyra: "WHAE'S DASH DOIN'!? SHA'LL BE KILL'T!" She screamed in fear and pointed at Dash circling above us, looking for an opening.
K: "KILLING THAT TANK! NOW SHOOT THOSE SOLDIERS!"
The sound of gunfire erupted almost as soon as Sunshine and his team hit the trenches. Yeah, the shots weren't going to be very accurate - they were shooting at the 120m mark, but it would be harrassing, volume fire. It should strike something, and even if it didn't, it would certainly keep their heads down. Lyra? Was picking them off here and there.. her skill with a Sniper Sherman was really splendid. She didn't seem concerned with her injury all that much.
The automatic rifle fire peppered the logs, the earthen berms, and all around the trenches. The Tank was situated on top of the far rise, lobbing shells at us from a distance. One struck the second machine gun pill box, detonated and sent debris and pony parts everywhere. I didn't bother to think about the casualties.
I remembered that early World War I tanks were fought with artillery barrages.. we didn't have that luxury, though I desperately wanted to see Cosmic and the Baltimare Artillery coming over the rise, I knew it wouldn't happen. Finally, Dash saw her opening and swooped down, planting the IED right on the top of the tank. I saw her pull the fuse, and dive into the bushes to the side of it. Apparently, none of the infantry had the time or cared to pursue her - but some of them did gather around and move to try and get the odd device off the tank.
The EFP-IED went off and apparently hit the ammunition magazine for the main gun, because it erupted like a volcano. At least twenty Kiangese standing near the tank, were simply gone. There wasn't enough left of them to bury in a toothpick box. The fried blood flew everywhere, along with the shrapnel and bits and pieces of the enemy. Those who weren't killed by the blast, had their eardrums ruptured, and were on the ground, writhing in pain. The screaming died down at the sound of grinding gears.. and marching hooves.
A second tank.. they didn't just have one. Dash heard it, too, and came flying back to me, looking a little freaked out. She had a little blood coming from her snout, but it didn't look serious.
Dash: "Th-There... another company.. and another tank!"
Sunshine: "Yeah, about that, I was coming back to report that they were prepared for a full offensive immediately - it looked like they were going to try and take Dream Castle. Just a guess, I didn't have time to question those jokers." He shrugged.
K: "I hope this is all they have, this is our last IED. You know what to do. Wait for it to get closer." I nodded, looking through the firing slit at the approaching armored monstrosity.
Dash: "Y-Yeah.." She shook off the stars - the explosion had rocked her pretty bad - and waited. We all waited. The survivors of the first assault were either trying to crawl out of the way, or were simply lying there, too wounded or dazed by the explosion to try and move.. the first tank was burning brightly in the middle of the path, providing excellent illumination for the area around it. And catching some of the nearby trees on fire. As if we didn't have enough to worry about.
K: "HOLD FIRE!" I called. I wanted them to get close this time. Real close. Close enough that our troops would be able to shoot pretty accurately, and hit their targets without adjusting their sights for every shot.
We had one pill box knocked out of action, and we had at least a dozen or more wounded being dragged out of the far sides of the trenches. I didn't even look.. I was too focused on what was happening in front of me. Like a macabre waltz of death.
The Infantry advanced BEHIND the tank this time - a dangerous little brain wave. We didn't have a nice field of meat to shoot at, we had whatever was visible from the sides. I was tempted to call for retreat.. there was really no way we could answer a tank and an infantry company that was taking shelter behind it.. Dash flying out there would be stupid - she'd have to dodge all that incoming fire.. then, I heard shooting behind us, and saw Dr. Allcome, Fluttershy, Redheart and the 15th Company Medics desperately trying to drag wounded ponies towards the trench while shooting towards the rear.
Dr. Allcome: "WE'RE BEING ATTACKED FROM BEHIND!" He screamed.
K: "...fuck."
Dash: "We're surrounded." She bowed her head. It wasn't an acknowledgement of defeat, though.
Sunshine: "Probably Lo'Ping's buddies. Kiangese shock troopers coming up from the rear and shooting medical personnel? Sounds about their style." He spat.
K: "FUCK!" I cursed.
Sunshine: "Orders, General? Something along the lines of 'save the last bullet for yourself'?" He cocked a brow at me.
K: "Yeah. Exactly." Surrounded, outnumbered, forest catching alight all around us.. I reloaded my Patton and tried to think of other options.
Sunshine: "It's been an honor serving with you for TWO lives, General." I heard him rack the bolt on a discarded Pershing, ready to take as many Kiangese with him as his ammo would allow.
..then Rainbow Dash rocketed into the sky.
K: "DASH! NO! GET BACK HERE!" I yelled, futiley.. she was going to try and take out the tank and as many enemy soliders as she could.. I knew her, I knew what she would do.. to protect her friends.. my heart sank.
Sunshine: "BUCKING NIGHTMARE!" He profaned. At.. least I think it was a profanity.
Everything seemed to happen in complete automation. Almost in slow motion. I was powerless..
K: "COVERING-FUCKING-FIRE!" I screamed, turning my attention to the soldiers I could see around the tank.
..this was suicide..
Sunshine: "EVERY OTHER PONY, COVER FIRE TO THE REAR!"
..I was going to get my little ponies killed here..
Lyra: "MARKSPONIES, TARGET OFFICERS!"
..the pounding of my eardrums was deafening in my ears..
Octavia: "MACHINE GUNS, COVER THE REAR!"
..all I could do was shoot...
Scratch: "OVER HERE, DOCTOR! COME TO US!"
..and watch as Dash started her dive on the metal beast..
Applejack: "DASH! GET OUT OF THERE! YOU'RE GOING TO GET KILLED!"
..and swallow my heart back into my chest as I saw a spray of blood come from her body, her graceful form dropping from the sky.
{End of Part 3}
Part 4: Blue Blood
TIME: 16:02 ERST
DATE: War Day 182/6 Decemus, 1002 C.S.
LOCATON: Entrenched Position, 500m from Paradise Estates
Applejack: "DAAAASH!" She shrieked. I had to tackle her to keep her from running out there.
K: "NO! YOU'LL GET KILLED, TOO!"
*Artillery shell explosion*
That was right behind us.
Applejack: "WHUT DUZ IT MATTER!? WE'RE DEAD ANYWAY!" She sobbed. "AH WAHNT TA HELP DASH!"
K: "GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF, JACKIE!" I shook her. "YOU GO OUT THERE, YOU'RE DEAD FOR SURE! YOU STAY HERE, MAYBE YOU AREN'T - THAT'S BETTER THAN A GUARANTEE!"
Sunshine: "THEY'RE CHARGING! EQUINE WAVE ATTACK!"
Applejack: "Buh-"
*Artillery shell whistle*
Too close.. too close.. that's going to land-
My body covered hers without a thought. Instinct.
*Artillery shell explosion*
I was stunned. Like a flash-bang grenade going off. Everything was moving in slow motion.. I pitched myself up, sure I was blown in half or dead already. Just in time to see a Kiangese Infantryman standing right above me. Suddenly, a spurt of blood on the Kiangese's uniform. I didn't hear the shot. I looked down, and Applejack had her Custer out. I look back up, pull myself up, and grab for the nearest weapon. A discarded Sherman.
I have just enough time to swing it like a bat, cracking the next one in the face. I grabbed his Type 1, spun him around, and squeezed the grip, loosing all his remaining ammunition into five of his buddies, while he took several rounds meant for me. I tossed him aside, grabbed the Sherman, and squeezed the grip until the weapon was empty. The bayonet was already attached. I lunged over the top of the trench, tackling a Kiangese to the ground, driving the bayonet through its stomach. Behind me, I could feel the concussion of Applejack's Custers as they fired off.
When I looked up, five more were moving in on me. I rolled back, drawing my M-19, only to have it knocked away before I could bring it into action. Dead.. I was sure I was dead.. until a cloaked figure charged straight into them, knocking them all over like bowling pins. And just like that, the slow motion effect screeched back into real time.
Cloaked Pony: "TAKE IT!" My M-19 was tossed back into my hands - he was a Unicorn.
I quickly fired into the five Kiangese that had been trying to kill me. They stopped moving, and I popped the chamber to reload.
Cloaked Unicorn: "COVER ME!"
K: "Whoever you are.. you got it!" I grabbed two Type 1's - one for each hand, and stood my ground.
Flipping the Fire Selectors to Semi-Auto, I pulsed my grip, shooting anything not wearing an Equestrian uniform, marching forwards a little, covering the Cloaked Unicorn. I watched him gallop over to Rainbow Dash, and drag her to the side.. then run back towards the tank, levitating the IED. He used his unicorn magic to hold it to the side of the tank, AND pull the fuse. He then erected a small energy field around himself and Dash.
When the IED went off, the second tank erupted in a gout of flame, cracking the earth with is explosion. This took out a few Kiangese that had been near it, and deafened more. The Unicorn's energy field cracked with the strain of holding back that much kinetic energy, finally collapsing just as the explosion ended. Magic power spent, he grabbed Dash with his mouth and dragged her back towards us.
That still left us with another problem - the enemy coming from behind. The ones in front were mostly depleted, and with the tank gone, the remaining troops were at a loss for what to do. This let our remaining troops fire back on them, and scatter them more.
Cloaked Unicorn: "TAKE HER! SHE'S BEEN HIT!" He said, depositing her next to me, and picking up a Type 1 from the ground.
I grabbed Dash and dragged her back to the trench, with the Cloaked Unicorn now covering me. In the trench, I examined her wound.
K: "Dash.. can you hear me?"
Dash: "Mm.." A response! She was still alive!
I pressed my hands over the wound.. it was in her shoulder, it had passed right under her arm, and come out near the base of her left wing, essentially grazing her back, under the skin. I had no idea what kind of blood vessels were under there, or what sort of internal bleeding she might have, but I pressed the wounds with my hands to try and force the bleeding to stop. Direct pressure.
The Unicorn jumped down into the trench with me.
Cloaked Unicorn: "How bad is it?!"
K: "I don't know! You talk like I know pony physiology!" I said, a bit frustrated.
Sunshine: *Ugh* "General!"
He crawled out from underneath part of the firing trench I'd helped construct. The wood had been blown over with the artillery shell from the tank that had nearly killed me and Applejack. He was battered, bleeding, but it didn't look serious.
K: "Sunshine! Pour fire on whatever's out there!" I ordered.
Sunshine: "Right!" He looked at the cloaked pony.. and shook his head, picking up a Sherman and banging away.
Cloaked Unicorn: "I'm going to get a medic!" He ran off, without bothering to duck the incoming fire.
Applejack: "Who WAS that?!"
K: "Don't know, but he's a certified bad-flank." I retorted.
He returned a few moments later with Fluttershy and Redheart. They moved over to me, and opened their respective medical kits.
Cloaked Unicorn: "We have to do something about the forces behind us!"
K: "I've got a plan. Sort of. LYRA?! YOU STILL ALIVE!?"
Lyra: *Groan* "Aye.. but ah'm hert." I could hear her off to my left.
K: "Bad?"
Lyra: "Ah k'n feight." She dragged herself out from underneath some sandbags. Her Sherman was snapped in half, though.
K: "Find a weapon. Your gun's broken." I checked the magazine in the Type 1 I was still holding. Empty. Figures.
Cloaked Unicorn: "What's the plan?"
K: "Fall back to the edge of the wood there." I pointed to the trees we'd cleared out. "It'll give us a huge field of fire, and force them to come to us."
Cloaked Unicorn: "Snags?"
K: "We need to keep their heads down to do it effeectively. Sunshine! Is that Pershing still working?"
Sunshine: "Yeah. Empty, though."
K: "Sunshine, gather everyone that's around here and form them up. Get everyone a weapon. Take rifles from the enemy dead if you have to. I'll form up the left flank. The left flank will push on the enemy behind us, while the right flank falls back. Once you've fallen back to the edge of the wood, the right flank covers the left while the left withdraws."
Sunshine: "Understood."
I advanced, and I found the cloaked unicorn with me. He moved fast, constantly watching his perimeter. A human named Chris Costa might call it "three-sixty threat-scanning." Together, we got to where the 'left flank' was - the left side of the C-shaped trench. They were the ones taking fire from the unit attacking from the rear. I climbed over dead bodies of ponies - there were still troops left, I could still hear shooting - and finally fell over a pile of Kiangese corpses, almost in Quartermaster Sergeant Black Berry's lap.
K: "Sergeant!" I smiled.
QMS Black Berry: "General! We're taking a lot of fire here, and we have a LOT of wounded!" He was worried, but he held it together.
K: "They're going to have to suck it up if they're still mobile! We're going to be wiped out if we don't get a cohesive base of fire going! Gather everyone up that can still move, get them a weapon, and prepare to attack!" I pointed.
QMS Black Berry: "ATTACK!?" He was stunned!
K: "We're going to advance towards the enemy that's harassing our rear, and pin them down while the right flank falls back. They'll cover us while we fall back, once they're in position!" I waved a hand towards the enemy's positions.
QMS Black Berry: "That's insane!" He reeled back a bit.
K: "You'd rather sit here and let them keep us pinned down until the rest of their forces arrive from the other way?!" I gestured.
QMS Black Berry: "Point taken. EVERYPONY THAT CAN STILL WALK, FORM UP BY THE BLOCKHOUSE! GATHER EVERYTHING YOU CAN, FIX BAYONETS AND PREPARE TO ATTACK! GENERAL K'S ORDERS!"
K: "Alright, let's move." I grabbed a discarded Sherman, and a bandolier of magazines off a dead Pony. "I'll cover you. Big Guy! Get a weapon!"
Cloaked Unicorn: "Got one right here." He pulled a Sagebrush Shotgun from under his cloak. I'd started selling those commericially some time ago. "Ready when you are."
K: "Leapfrog. I'll go first, give me cover." I racked the bolt on the Sherman to pull the stovepiped round out, and made sure the magazine had ammo in it. "Ready?"
QMS Black Berry & Cloaked Unicorn: "Ready!"
I ran for it. Kicking up dust and blood-soaked mud as I moved, I ran for the destroyed block house. The first piece of cover I had was a large rock we'd left in place as it was too big to move quickly. Taking cover there, I aimed my rifle in the general direction of the incoming fire, and waved to the other two. Then I opened fire. I could hear a full gallop behind me - one of them was moving - and I kept firing at anything that looked like a threat.
I was joined by the Cloaked Unicorn. He whipped the Sagebrush up, levelled it at a target, and fired one barrel, then over at another and fired again. The double-barrelled shotgun's loud booms echoed among the occasional fire coming from small clusters here and there. This wasn't a contiguous battle field any longer. It was a totally unfocused fire fight with two's and three's of Ponies shooting at larger clusters of Kyhang. The Cloaked One and I provided cover for Black Berry, and he moved up.
We made the last leap to the pillbox's crater, covering a few others along the way. When we arrived, Black Berry took stock of what we had left.
QMS Black Berry: "Out of four squads on this flank (24 Ponies), we have 15 that can fight. Five are wounded, but they can still shoot. We're at less than half our ammo." He reported in.
K: "Cross-level what you can. See if that Pershing still works." I checked on one of the other ponies in the pill box's ruins. Wounded. Badly. We couldn't do much for him right now, so I put a bandage over his wound and hoped he'd hold on. The Cloaked One helped me. "Who ARE you?" I finally asked.
Cloaked Unicorn: "I'll tell you later. You won't believe it." He chuckled. He SOUNDED like a pony that's seen some shit. Someone that's had a lot of hard life lessons, had to fight for everything he's ever had. A man.. pony.. I could trust.
K: "Ready, Sergeant?" I nodded to him.
QMS Black Berry: "Ready." He steeled his gaze.
K: "Let's make it happen." I loaded a fresh magazine into the Sherman. "CHAAAAAAAARGE!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
The seventeen ponies with me screamed as well, and over the edge of the pill box's rear wall we poured, firing on the spread-out forces that had come up behind us. Pushing them back was essential.. and just as I predicted, they had no idea what to do. Instead of us playing it safe and staying under cover, we attacked them head-on. Their strategy was designed to force their opponents on the defensive and wear them down - they didn't respond as well to being the ones under attack. They didn't know how to take effective cover, form a proper defensive line, and lay down suppressive fire - and when we started coming at them, they simply stayed where they were, or ran in the other direction.
We pushed their forces back past the medical area - and as Sunshine had more or less predicted, anypony left behind was killed. They didn't have a need for prisoners. At that point, we stopped and held, taking proper cover and laying down proper suppressive fire. Thrown off balance as they were, their unit cohesion was completely ruined, and their officers and NCO's were having a hard time rallying their troops. That gave the Right Flank the time needed to withdraw.
Once their cover fire started to come in, I stood up just a bit, and yelled to the remaining dozen ponies.
K: "WE HAVE COVER FIRE! FALL BACK! FALL BACK!"
And back we fell, an orderly withdraw from our positions. Groups of four leapfrogging in twos, back behind each piece of cover - any fallen log, stone, or shell hole. And right back to the edge of the forest. The two units were linked up again, at last.
K: "Captain!" I found Silver Streak nursing a bad foreleg wound. Dr. Allcome (who I was happy to see alive) was tending to him.
Capt. Silver Streak: "What now, General?"
K: "Simple, we wait for the enemy to form up and prepare to attack us, if they manage to rally enough to get a cohesive push ready. Then we attack them before they have a chance to charge. If they just send little bits of whatever they can against us, we have nothing to worry about. We still have superior fire power to anything over two of their squads in size, and I don't think they have any whole squads to attack us with. So, it's either going to be a disorganized piecemeal attack, or they manage to rally, we charge them, and scatter them again. Make sure everyone has a weapon and as much ammo as possible. Get the wounded back into the forest some more, but anyone that can shoot, needs to be up here." I nodded.
Capt. Silver Streak: "Undersood, General." He nodded back.
QMS Black Berry: "I'll see to it, sir." And off he went.
Pinkie: "Do you think we have a chance, K?" She was actually worried.
K: "We do, now. Yeah, we're less than half strength, but they're so disorganized, I don't think they'll be able to really attack us in any serious way, right now. All we have to do is hold out a bit longer.. we should get reinforcements soon." I shrugged.
At least, I hoped we would. The Kiangese still had another half an infantry company out there, plus survivors from the first two frontal assaults, and whatever was left of the unit that attacked the rear. I guessed they had about a hundred combat-capable troops left. We had.. about a quarter that number. In the traditional sense, an attacking force needs 3:1 numerical superiority to a defender in order to have a chance at winning.. but that depended on the attacker having something resembling cohesion. Right now, they did not.
Still.. if the reinforcements didn't get here soon, we'd be in a lot of trouble.
[End of Part 4]
Part 5: Lesson
TIME: 17:33 ERST
DATE: War Day 182
LOCATION: Edge of the Treeline, near the Entrenched Position, 520m from Paradise Estates
We'd been waiting for the other horseshoe to drop for the last 20 minutes. After our brazen attack and withdraw to a defensible position, we'd warded off smaller bands of two's and three's - the shattered remnants of units, unable to think critically for themselves, following their orders to the letter and trying to kill us all. We'd not taken a single further casualty.
Of the 60 Ponies in 15th Company, we now had 27 dead or missing, and 21 wounded with us. That left us with a dozen unwounded. From the 15 in the expedition, everyone but Dr. Allcome and Fluttershy were somehow wounded, myself included, while Twilight, Spike, and Rarity were off getting reinforcements. It was pretty bleak - the enemy had at least 50 more fresh troops to throw at us, and we had no real effective fighting force left. Low on ammo, little real cover besides trees.. yeah, if they could rally and hit us hard, we'd be dead, I was sure of it.
Wounded or not, I went to check on the troops. I found the mystery cloaked pony giving water to one of the wounded from 15th Company.
K: "You seem to know what you're doing." I said, walking up beside him as he laid the wounded pony's head down.
Cloaked Unicorn: "I learned." He said, flatly.
K: "I'd like to know how." I crossed my arms, my face still covered in dried blood and mud.
When he pulled his cloak of I nearly fainted. He was the last pony I expected to see anywhere near a battlefield.
K: "PRINCE BLUEBLOOD!?" I heard gasps from everywhere.
Blueblood: "Just Blueblood, please. I don't really deserve the title 'Prince.'" He gave me a sideways glance.
K: "How..?"
When I said I never saw Prince Blueblood ever again, I wasn't lying. He wasn't the same pony I'd seen cowering in the corner in a puddle of his own urine, with Canterlot and the palace being bombed, all those months ago.
Bluebood: "It's a long story. I really.." He shrugged. "..I don't want to sound like I'm bragging."
K: "Tell me." I sat down on a log.
Blueblood: "After the attack on Canterlot.. I left. Nothing but the clothes on my back. I saw you, I saw the Guards, I saw how you acted.. that you didn't care for your own lives, if it meant protecting what was important. I was humbled. I realized at that moment that I'd been nothing but a spoiled brat, expecting the world be handed to me on a silver platter, just because I was the Prince of Ambleion (Albion - Britain, basically).." He got down on all fours, resting his belly on the ground. "I ended up in a little village called Hayseed. The people there were very poor.. they all worked very hard for a living, but.. they didn't have a school, they didn't have a clinic.. nothing. So, I built them."
K: "You just.. built them?"
Blueblood: "I cut the trees, shaped the timber, sunk the piles, built the frame, raised the frame, added the siding.. all of it." He shrugged. "I had no idea what I was doing." He looked at his forelegs and hooves - they were roughened up, his muscles well defined and thick. "But I learned as I went.. I got some help from the others, but.." He shook his head. "I didn't use my money, or my power to do it. I did it myself. With my own hooves. It took me two months to build it.. I never asked for a thing, but they fed me. One nice family let me sleep in their barn. I never once complained. Never.. once.. asked them for any help. Once I was done with the school, I built the clinic. Same thing."
K: "So, how'd you learn your way around a weapon?" I asked, nodding at the well-worn Sagebrush at his side.
Blueblood: "One day, a stranger came to town. I didn't recognise her at first.."
K: "Her?"
Blueblood: "Please, sir, let me finish."
K: "Go ahead."
Blueblood: "She was.. different. Something was off about her, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I didn't recognise her, though I should have, right away. I had no idea what she.." He trailed off. "..a while later, a trader came around the village. The stranger had been working at a rock farm, earning what few bits she could. The trader had all kinds of items with them - strange things that had come from some kind of excavation that had been attacked some time back. The stranger knew what one of the artifacts was.. it was an amulet of insane power. She bought it for the princely sum of ten bits, from a pony that didn't know any better." His eyes started to water. "I'd.. fallen in love by this time. A beautiful mare.. a commoner, but, by then, I was one of them. I was just Blueblood. Then.. the stranger figured out how the amulet worked. She.. changed."
K: "How?"
Blueblood: "Into an Alicorn."
K: "Trixie." I said, flatly. "Fuck me."
Blueblood: "Yes. The stranger was none other than Trixie Lulamoon."
K: "What happened?"
Blueblood: "She burned Hayseed to the ground, is what happened. Her and her constructs. Things that rose from the earth - undead, barely animated creatures."
K: "This is all starting to make a lot of sense. We battled a Lich named Hydia some time back, and she spoke of wasting her precious Necrooze on someone. I think.. I think she was referring to Trixie. If Trixie betrayed her and left, instead of going right back into Tirek's service, then.. that would explain why she felt she wasted it." I shook my head.
Blueblood: "This shotgun belonged to the rock farmer. He'd bought it around the time I first got there, to ward off wolves and things." He shrugged. "When Trixie attacked the village, they had no defenses. No militia to help them. Few weapons. Trixie killed them all. I fought back, but.. there was nothing I could do. She.. she mocked me, you know? She said she was letting me go, so she could take me as her own, later."
Pinkie: "Rock farmer..?" She asked, padding over.
Wait.. wasn't her father...? The realization hit me like a slug to the chest. If I was right, Trixie had killed Pinkie's family. I sat down and started shaking.. the emotional reality of it made tears flow from my eyes, my voice shake..
K: "APPLEJACK!" I yelled, very harshly.
Applejack: "Whut is it, Honeybun!?" She came over, looking at me, concrened. I'd never spoken her name in that tone before.
K: "Come here.." I grabbed her rougher than I wanted to, and whispered into her ear. Not my theory, but my instructions.
Applejack: "..ah trust you." And quick as lightning, she whipped around and bucked Pinkie Pie in the head hard enough to knock her out.
Blueblood: "WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?"
K: *Quivering* "Because.. the Rock Farmer.." I grabbed the Sagebrush.. the proof.. it was etched in the metal butt plate. Iggy's Cutie Mark. "..was her.. father." The tears came, with no way to stop or slow them. I couldn't talk.. the grief strangled the words in my throat. Finally, I had to punch the tree next to me just to regain some composure. "Pinkie.. isn't.. stable. Mentally. She's.. prone to psychological breaks.. and.. she's going to find out sooner or later, but.. if she finds out now, she might kill us all. She's.. scary.. when she.. changes." All I could do was pull Applejack close to me and hold her.
Applejack: *Sobbing* "Whut're we gunna do!? First Dash, now Pinkie!?" She cried uncontrollably, sobbing into my shoulder.
Fluttershy: "What's going on over here?" She asked, coming over with bandages, medicine and water on a small tray.
K: "Trixie.. burned.. killed.. Pinkie's family.." Was all I could choke out.
Fluttershy: *Calmly* "..I see." She set the tray down, and tied up Pinkie after stripping her naked. Blueblood watched her. "I have to take this to the wounded." She walked off, calm and collected.
My mind was racing.. now, I really wanted Colonel Williams here. Someone. Anyone. Not me. I just wanted to crawl into a hole and cry. This was too much. Did she do it on purpose? Did she want to hurt Pinkie in a way that can't be healed? Was this Trixie's way of taking revenge - killing the families of the Elements of Harmony? What was going to happen to Pinkie? Was she going to go completely insane and never come back?
Blueblood: "I didn't know Limestone or Marble had another sister.." He shook his head, looking at Pinkie. "..I loved Marble so much."
K: "..w-what?" Didn't know.. she..
Applejack: "Pinkie has THREE sisters!" She looked up, straight at him. "Maud's still alive!" She laugh/cried into my shoulder. "Maud's still alive!!"
Trixie didn't get them all.. it was a miracle.. but at least Pinkie wasn't going to be all alone. I sobbed in sadness and joy, holding tightly to Applejack. I felt love.. a strong, powerful love that overwhelmed that deep depressive tragic sadness that hit me in the gut so hard before. It was a love that wanted to protect Applejack, Apple Bloom, Big Mac, Granny.. MY family.. and everyone they cared about.
Fluttershy: *Screaming* "I'M GOING TO RIP OFF YOUR HEADS AND SHIT DOWN YOUR NECKS!!" *Machine gunfire*
K: "FUCK!" I bolted from my position, running towards the edge of the treeline.
Sure enough, Fluttershy had completely lost it. She'd grabbed a Pershing and was proceeding to go Rambo on every Kiangese that was close by. Her hooves stomped the wounded into the ground, her shrieks of rage struck terror into the hearts and minds of the stragglers that had been trying to form up for an attack - which she was now interrupting - and caused them to scatter. Meat to the grinder - she was pumping rounds with a fierce sort of determination. A terrifying beauty.. a focused rage unlike anything I'd ever seen.
She was stalking them.. not marching, not walking, stalking. One of them came up and tried to bayonet her. She bashed it over the head with the Pershing hard enough to break it in half, then took her knife and gutted him from crotch to sternum in one fast, deep, bloodied cut. Intestines were thrown everywhere as she anatomized the poor bastard. I watched as the Kiangese ran in every direction, away from this murderous Fluttershy. No longer yellow and timid, she was seething with rage. She took the Type 1 discarded by the enemy soldier, and used it to mow down three more.
Dr. Allcome: "FLUTTERSHY! COME BACK! YOU'LL BE HURT!" He yelled from the treeline as I came up.
K: "FLUTTERSHY! STOP! IT'S NOT GOING TO BRING THEM BACK!" I shook my head.. she wasn't going to listen. Then, I heard yelling.
Sunshine: "They're going to charge." He said, matter-of-factly.
K: "..fuck." *Sigh* "EVERYONE! CHARGE!" I yelled. It was the only way. I wasn't going to lose her.. Equestria couldn't lose her, too.
We tore out of the treeline, our courageous few, meeting the oncoming remainder of the infantry company that we'd blunted initially - the last of the fresh troops the Kiangese had. We were vastly outnumbered, outgunned, and out-supplied. It didn't matter any more. Either we killed them and drove them off, or they would over run us anyway. Perhaps Fluttershy had the right idea? Better to go down while kicking ass and taking names than go down cowering in a hole.
My body moved by automation. My actions weren't my own. Was this what soldiers went through? When training and instinct took over and they trusted to luck that they would live? I had a rifle.. I don't remember what one.. but I remember shooting it at oncoming Kiangese, trying desperately to catch up to Fluttershy. To protect her. I didn't see, but I knew that Applejack was behind me. She was with me. Protecting me as I tried to protect her friend. Was Blueblood with us? I was pretty sure he was. I didn't know.
I ended up in a close-quarter melee with five of them. I tackled one to the ground, and punched his snout until I felt it break. I kicked hard, I hit something, I didn't even know any more. I got away from them, grabbed something that shot bullets, and killed them with it. Scrambling over dead bodies, I got up next to Fluttershy, and shot something that was trying to tackle her. I pulled her behind me, pointed her at more of them, and gave her the weapon in my hands, grabbing another from the battle field. But as I did, I myself was grabbed, by the weapon's owner. Still alive. I didn't have time to react properly - I got a rifle butt to the forehead.
Blackness.
TIME: 18:22 ERST
DATE: War Day 182
LOCATION: Field of Battle, 520m from Paradise Estates
I woke up to Dr. Allcome standing over me. He smiled warmly, despite having a bandaged right foreleg.
Dr. Allcome: "I'm glad to see you're still among the living. You're running up an awful bill, though.. house calls don't come cheap these days." He smiled warmly.
K: "Yeah. At least I have my private physician with me." My head hurt. A lot.
Forcing myself up, I found I was still on the field of battle. Corpses everywhere.. dead bodies slumped over each other. I couldn't see the girls.
K: "Where.. where are the Elements?"
Dr. Allcome: "No worse for wear, for the most part. Alive, if that's what you're asking. We sustained an additional five fatalities. Nopony that survived is unwounded. But, for all intents and purposes, we have won the battle. Unless the enemy has more forces-"
A streak in the sky. Spitfire - I could see her uniform from here.
K: "Signal flare, Doctor. Reinforcements have arrived."
Dr. Allcome: "Of course." He paced away and fired a signal flare into the sky.
From the direction of Ponyville came the Ponyville Infantry Company. From the skies came Gilda's Cloudriders, the Wonderbolts, and two squadrons from Bomber Command. Reinforcements.. right after we needed them. So much for that. I fixed my glasses on my face, cleaning them off with some bit of cloth from my shirt that wasn't entirely filthy, and stood up.
Spitfire and Gilda both landed near the edge of the battlefield, and ran up to me as I approached.
K: "Gilda, MedEvac. We have lots of wounded - Dash was shot, I have no idea how bad."
Gilda: "DASH!" She sounded panicked, but kept herself together as she ran off, issuing orders to the rest of the unit.
K: "Spitfire, I want air cover. We were attacked by Kiangese - they have a weapon we've never seen before, but I have. I want you up there and attacking any Kiangese that you see. Any stragglers. Don't worry about prisoners, I don't want any of them getting away. None must survive."
Spitfire: "On it, General." Off she flew.
I walked to meet Harv, Written Script, Twilight and Rarity, marching at the head of the Infantry unit.
K: "Harv - we have lots of wounded. Rig litters for non-critical cases. Script, I want all this hardware policed up and taken back to town."
Colonel Golden Harvest: "Understood." And off SHE went.
Twilight: "Sweet Celestia.. is.. is anypony alright?!"
K: "We took casulaties. I need you to do something very important, though, Twilight, and I don't have time for questions. Pinkie is in the woods over there, tied up. I need her taken to the Clinic, and I need a room completely cleared of all furniture, and mattresses and padding fastened to the walls, floors and ceiling. She needs to be locked up. Don't ask, just do it. I'll explain later." I nodded.
Twilight: "A-Alright.."
Rarity: "My GOODNESS, darling.. this must have been horrible! I almost wish we'd stayed behind to help!" She looked shocked at the level of gore that covered the field. Saddened.. a little scared, even.
Then, Blueblood walked up, having shed his cloak and gear.
Rarity: "YOU!" Impulsively, she reached out and back-hoofed him with her foreleg. "WHAT are YOU doing here!?"
Blueblood: "Miss Rarity-ACK!" He took the hit. He didn't even try to defend himself. "I deserved that." Lowering his head, he silently walked away.
Rarity: *Snort* "I apologise if he made your battle more difficult, K."
K: "Rarity, that was the most immature thing I've ever seen." I snorted. She didn't realise it was directed at her.
Rarity: "I know! The NERVE of that spoiled rotten so-called Prince! How dare he-" I cut her off.
K: *Angrily* "RARITY! He SAVED my LIFE. AND Rainbow Dash's! If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't even BE here! You have NO idea what that man's been through since you saw him last! He's NO spoiled-rotten so-called Prince any more! No, he's CHANGED, Rarity! Do you know what he did!? He left Canterlot with nothing but the clothes on his back, went to a town, built a god-damned school, a fucking clinic, with his own four hooves. He didn't use his money, or his power to get it done, he did it all by himself! He fell in love with Marble Pie! And you know what happened? He nearly died PROTECTING PINKIE'S FAMILY FROM TRIXIE! ONLY TO WATCH HER KILL THEM ALL!" I grabbed her by the forelegs and lifted her up. "And then he set out ALL BY HIMSELF to try and STOP her! To KILL her if he had to! And when he got HERE, he SAVED MY LIFE, then he SAVED RAINBOW DASH, THEN HE SAVED THE WHOLE FUCKING COMPANY! DON'T YOU GET IT!? OR ARE YOU TOO SELF-ABSORBED TO SEE ANYTHING BEYOND THAT STUPID SOCIETY BULLSHIT!?" I felt a hoof on my arm. It was Harv. I set Rarity down, and shook my head. "I'm.. sorry, Rarity."
Rarity: *Sniffle* "No.. no I'm the one that needs to apologise." She shook her head. "I shouldn't have just assumed..." She looked up at me. "Did.. he really go through all of that?"
K: "Every bit of it." I said, a touch bitterly.
Rarity: "How can I ever apologise to him after something like that?" She drooped her head.
Golden Harvest: "You know, Rarity.. when a guy's looking for forgiveness, they tend to be ready to accept a lot of hard knocks to get it." She nodded to her.
Rarity ran off.. I could see tears in her eyes. I slunk down next to a blasted-apart tree and shook my head.
K: "I don't know what to do next, Harv.." I hugged my knees to my chest, and just sat there.
Golden Harvest: "You'll figure it out, K." She gave me a hug. "We have faith in you."
Faith is a powerful thing. But after a battle like that, with developments that shocking, I was at a loss for options. I was stunned, wounded, and right then and there, I questioned whether this war was spiralling out of control. Would Equestria be able to win? Or would we be set upon by enemies from all sides and crushed?
{End of Chapter 24}
