Chaos now!

CHAPTER 6

VIN DRIN DROP

After a light breakfast, everypony readied themselves for their mission. Kark donned his leather backed armour that served him well since the start of the war. It was light enough to allow him to fly and manoeuvre around with ease. He imagined the kevlar uniforms the pegasus ponies wore equally as lightweight and manoeuvrable. Like him, the wings were left exposed for ease of flight. As long as they didn’t take a bullet to the wings, they’d be okay.

He was outfitted with a special harness to allow the earth ponies and unicorn pony he’d be carrying to stay on his back during flight. They, too, were outfitted with the special kevlar armour for extra protection.

Sweetie Belle then noticed something she just had to let her childhood friend know about. “Hey, Apple Bloom! You’re not gonna believe this. Look!” She pointed.

Apple Bloom gasped as she saw several pegasus ponies gather around the P.V.R. Sweet Apple. Two stayed on the dock to attach ropes and harnesses to it while eight pegasi hovered in mid air, waiting for their tethers to be hooked up so they can lift off. “Mah word! They’re pickin’ up the boat!” she exclaimed.

“Not too heavy for you?” Spitfire asked as she approached Kark. She had the sunglass goggles she always wore when she was with the Thunderbolts on her forehead. It was always practical for blocking out the sun’s glare in mid flight, and Kark thought it somehow made her look cooler.

“No.” Kark shook his head.

Spitfire grinned. “Great! Here.” She handed him a rather large rifle.

Kark immediately put a hand up. “I’m a neutral party.” He said as he refused the weapon.

Spitfire grew more serious. “If you’re gonna fly with the 109th, you’ll do as we do.” She handed him the weapon again. “Besides, rumour has it you had no compunctions in helping us fight for our cause when the Axis Armies first invaded.”

Kark hesitated before finally taking the weapon. It was a large semi automatic rifle that was already fully loaded with live rounds. He glanced over at Rainbow Dash standing beside her with her own machine gun she had taken from the boat’s stockade. She just smiled and shrugged. Kark tested the weapon’s reload mechanism. It cocked with ease!

“Okay! Is everybody ready!?” Spitfire called through her megaphone from her place at the front of the Wing.

A few ponies called out.

“I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!”

Almost everypony cried out. “YEAH!”

“Ready to kick some Dog tail!?”

“YEAH!!”

“All rightee then!” She then lowered her sunglass goggles onto her eyes. “Okay, son, let ‘er rip!” she ordered a young Pegasus pony standing next to her, who lifted the bugle he was carrying to his mouth and sounded the charge.

Spitfire gave the signal to take flight, and everypony took off in unison. Kark took a running start before spreading his massive wings and taking off.

They flew steadily north by northwest. Their target was about fifteen klicks away from their base camp position on the beach. The pegasi kept a steady pace so as not to tire out too soon. While Rainbow Dash flew beside Spitfire at the front of the pack, Kark hovered towards the back. Given his bulk and his wingspan, he needed the room.

About half way to their target, Spitfire hovered back towards Kark. “How’re your charges doing?” she asked him when she got beside him.

He glanced back at Applejack, who smiled and nodded. “So far so good.” He answered.

“Good!” she smiled. Then she got beside of Sweetie Belle. “Hey, Sweetie Belle. Since you have a talent for singing, I’m sure you’ll appreciate what we’re about to do. About a klop outside of the settlement, we’re gonna put on some music!”

“Music?”

“Yeah! We use ‘Flight Of The Valponies’. Scares the crap out of the ‘Canes! My troops love it!”

Spitfire then picked up speed to head back to the front of the Flight once more, leaving Sweetie Belle to just shake her head in disbelief. “Unbelievable.” She said to herself.

“Duke six, this is Red Leader!” Spitfire heard a Lieutenant say through her headset. “Target spotted dead ahead.”

“Acknowledged, Red Leader. Okay, troops, assume attack formation. Sound unit, time to rock and roll! Make it loud, and make it proud! It’s time to dance!”

With this, the sound of that classic orchestra piece blared all throughout the sky around them. The Sound Unit were equipped with some pretty sophisticated stereo speakers that have off High Definition surround sound that could be heard from klops away! Sweetie Belle laughed in delight at this. She also laughed because she thought this whole scenario was pretty funny.

The headsets the officers carried were pretty handy for ease of communication between them. Matter of fact, they carried a lot of top rated equipment that ensured success of their missions.

Meanwhile, in the Diamond Dog settlement, the routine of their village life went on as normal. When the faint sound of music echoed toward them, though, the alarm was sounded. The town’s bell started peeling off, thus signalling the villagers to run for cover. A nearby school was evacuated to safety when a female Diamond Dog soldier directed the Teacher and other nearby villagers to quickly take shelter. The children all obediently fell in line behind the teacher in rows of two before they sprinted off towards shelter. A young Diamond Dog boy lagged behind, curious to see the approaching ponies. A girl slightly older than he was, perhaps his older sister, came back to grab him by the hand and lead him away.

Near the makeshift bridge outside the village, several Diamond Dog soldiers were running towards their posts, grabbing automatic weapons as they went, readying themselves for the coming firefight.

“And…. FIRE AT WILL!” Spitfire ordered as they crossed over the point of the off shore sand bar just before the beach. Everypony let loose a barrage of missiles and automatic weapons fire at designated targets. One missile found its mark as a house believed to be a command post burst into flames. Near the bridge, several Diamond Dog soldiers fell to the hail of machine gun fire that rained down upon them. Those that survived the initial barrage opened fire at random at the pegasus ponies, but they proved to be too fast for them. Several more Diamond Dogs fell to a second hail of automatic weapons fire.

“Duke six, this is Red Leader.” The Lieutenant called in his headset. “I’m seeing some kind of large artillery weapon down there. Looks like an older machine gun!”

It was, in fact, an older rapid fire machine gun. It was being malehandled by three Diamond Dog soldiers who were unleashing a hailstorm of bullets from it at the flying ponies. One nearby male pony screamed as he took a bullet in his wing and fell to his death.

“Roger, Red Leader! You have my permission to take it out!” Spitfire ordered.

“Acknowledged!” the Lieutenant said. It only took a matter of seconds for the Lieutenant to swoop down and fire two missiles from the weapons array he carried in his back. The missiles found their mark as the machine bunker exploded in flames and the weapon and enemy soldiers were silenced.

“Outstanding, Red Leader, outstanding! Get ya a barrel of cider for that one!” Spitfire exclaimed as she observed the scene through a pair of binoculars she was carrying.

Meanwhile, the hail of machine gun fire and missile barrage continued as more Diamond Dog soldiers fell to the coming storm. Rainbow Dash took out a few Doggies she got a bead on with her own machine gun.

When a perimeter was formed, several Pegasus ponies landed on the shores of the beach to begin a ground based assault. One younger pony landed, but then cowered behind screaming. “NOOO! I’M NOT GOING! I’M NOT GOING! I’M NOT GOING!”

He couldn’t have looked older than a colt who had just reached adulthood. A male compatriot of his pushed him from behind, and forced him into the forward charge.

“Duke 6, this is Red Leader!” Spitfire heard in her headset.

“Go ahead.”

“I’m seeing a vehicle down here in the courtyard. A few Dogs are loading what appear to be wooden crates in it. Probably ammunitions, weapons and whatever diamonds they have. Looks like there’s about five or six of them. They’re now taking off like a rocket towards the bridge!”

It was, in fact, an ox cart being pulled by a single water buffalo. The six Diamond Dogs had just finished loading the crates in the back of the wagon, got on board, and then the driver whipped the buffalo into a gallop and sprinted the cart towards the makeshift bridge on the other side of the village.

“Roger, Red Leader.” Spitfire said. “Clear a path, I’m coming in myself. These people never give up!”

The cart was on the bridge by the time Spitfire was within range. She fired a single shot from the rocket launcher she had on her back, which quickly found its mark, blasting the ox cart off the bridge, and instantly killing the Diamond Dog soldiers in it. The water buffalo, though, escaped the blast and quickly swam away, as it fell into the water.

“Nice shot, Spitty!” Rainbow Dash commented as she saw the direct hit.

Meanwhile, the ground assault units the village square, and attempted to secure the area. A few of them were hit with a hail of machine gun bullets! A couple of them fell to the ground wounded. The fire came from a couple of sniper towers a few hundred lengths away. The snipers were using armour piercing rounds, as they were able to break through the kevlar armour and find their mark. The towers were soon targeted and destroyed by missile fire. Whoever was inside those towers were not left alive.

“Duke six, this is Red Leader! We’ve got wounded down here!”

“Understood! I went those ponies air lifted to a hospital in fifteen minutes!”

One of the wounded, a male Pegasus who was entirely black, except for a white blotch on his mouth and nose, was screaming in pain as he was lying in a pool of his own blood. He had taken a few armour piercing rounds to his left rear leg, which completely shattered his femur. A Field Medic was feverishly trying to tie a tourniquet around the injured leg in an effort to stop the blood flow. An elderly Diamond Dog couple, probably the village elders, stood a short distance away observing the scene, and looking very worried. They were actually praying that the nightmare they were witnessing would soon come to an end.

“WHERE’S THAT STRETCHER!?” The Medic screamed as a few Pegasus ponies threw down harnesses that were used to attach the stretcher to in order for the wounded to be air lifted away, once they were secured.

While all this was going on, a lone Diamond Dog female snuck up behind them and threw something in the middle of them. “GRENADE! GRENADE!” one pony screamed as everyone tried to scramble away, but it was too late. The grenade exploded in seconds, killing everypony within a few feet of the blast. Their now lifeless bodies flew every which way. One pony, who survived the blast, fell down hard on some concrete steps and screamed as he caught fire from the fiery shrapnel that rained down on him.

“Bucking savages!” Spitfire exclaimed as she witnessed the scene.

“Holy crap, she’s an animal!” the Red Leader Lieutenant was heard saying. “I’m gonna burn this bucking machine gun right up her ass!”

He then swooped down and let loose a barrage of machine gun fire that struck down the fleeing Diamond Dog female, as well as a couple of other soldiers who were close by.

“Duke Six, this is Yellow Leader! I’m taking heavy fire over here by the tree line. Looks like there’s a lot of Doggy activity out here!”

“Roger that, Yellow Leader.” Spitfire said in response. “Pull back, if you think you can’t handle it.”

“Roger, Duke Six, will adv-“

He was silenced when an incendiary shell exploded right in front of him. His lifeless body fell like a rock to the ground.

Spitfire was dumbstruck by what just happened. “Everypony, pull back from that tree line NOW!” she ordered when she regained her composure.

Kark, meanwhile, came in for a landing on the beach. He chose a spot that would be well away from the ongoing firefight. However, a mortar shell exploded a few lengths away from him. He landed far enough out of range, though, so that the Dogs couldn’t get an accurate bead on him. The ponies he was carrying soon detached themselves from the harness and slid off his back.

Soon after, Spitfire fired a barrage of rockets at the makeshift bridge blocking the mouth of the Non, utterly destroying the obstacle. Applejack and her crew now had a clear path into the Non River!

Moments later, Spitfire and Rainbow Dash joined Kark and the other ponies on the beach.

“Is everybody all right?” Spitfire asked.

“Just fine.” Kark said in response.

“You fillies just lay low ‘til the boat gets here.” Applejack ordered.

“Incoming!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Everybody lay flat on the ground as the mortar shell exploded a few lengths away to their left. Except for Spitfire, who just stood there and looked back at where the mortar shell fell.

“Duke Six, this is Ground Assault Command. We’re taking heavy fire here close to the tree line! Things are pretty hairy out here!!”

“Roger that. Think it’s time we evened the odds. Hold on. Let me call in an air strike.”

She then switched her headset to Radio mode. “This is Big Duke Six calling Air Command. Come in, Air Command!”

About a klop away, a lone Pegasus pony flying casually responded. “Roger, Big Duke Six. We copy.”

“I need a ‘palm strike just North of our position ASAP. We’re taking heavy weapons fire from Doggy. By Celestia, I want that damned tree line BOMBED!”

“Roger, Big Duke Six. I’m radioing in your request to H.Q.”

“Hold onto your tails and horns, folks! Things are about to get really hairy.” Spitfire smirked.

“Incoming!” they heard somepony scream from a few lengths away. Everyone lay flat on the ground again as the shell exploded almost directly behind them. Spitfire, however, still stood her ground.

“Air Command to Duke Six.”

“This is Big Duke Six. Go ahead.”

“Just received word that a Wing has been dispatched to your designated target now. Better get your troops back, it’s gonna be a doozy!”

“Thank you!” She then switched her headset back to its original mode. “All units! All units! Pull back! Rain’s coming.”

Several “roger”s and acknowledgments echoed in her headset as all the field commanders complied.

Off in the distance, they could see the recon Pegasus who had just radioed in the air strike veer away.

A few seconds later, they observed four Pegasus ponies sweep down low from the southwest. They flew over the forested area, and it exploded into several huge fireballs as they dropped their napalm payloads at the designated target.

Kark and his pony friends reacted as they felt the heat and the concussion from the explosion. The pegasus ponies then swept down towards their area and proceeded to make a landing a few lengths away from them.

The suits they wore were dark blue in colour, and were made of the same kevlar material as The Flying 109th. The Wing Leader cantered over to them. They recognized the filly instantly as soon as she took off her sunglass goggles and face mask, and were quite surprised to see who it was.

“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle exclaimed in unison.

“Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo gasped as she trotted over to greet her childhood friends. All three of them fell into a group embrace, squealing with delight.

Kark had only met the young Pegasus filly a few times, but never had the opportunity to really bond with her. He noticed that the three male colts who were with her couldn’t be that much older than she was.

“Rainbow Dash!” Kark heard Scootaloo gasp as she turned her attention to the pegasus whom she had idolized ever since she was a young filly.

“Heya, kid!” Rainbow Dash smiled as she accepted the embrace from a filly whom she had mentored and befriended years ago.

“Ambassador Kark.” Scootaloo nodded in acknowledgment.

Kark returned the nod. “Scootaloo.”

“I’ve heard about what happened.” Scootaloo began as she turned her attention back to Rainbow Dash. “When you took that bullet to your wing, I thought the worst. I was so worried!”

“Hey! I can still fly. That’s the main thing, right?”

Scootaloo giggled.

Scootaloo did pretty well for herself. She became one of the top flyers among the Junior Grade Thunderbolts. Most of what she knew about flying, she learned from Rainbow Dash; whom she idolized like crazy from the days when she was part of the Cutie Mark Crusaders with her two other filly friends.

She finally earned her grey cloud and thunderbolt cutie mark when she established an air speed record a few years ago. She became the second fastest pegasus pony alive! Second only to Rainbow Dash!

When the war started, she was drafted into the Royal Pegasus Air Support Forces whose main duty was flying bombing raids on enemy targets. It didn’t take her long to reach the rank of Lieutenant. She was probably commanding pegasi who were twice as old as she was, in the field. What balls!

“So, have you heard anything from Soarin?” Rainbow Dash eagerly asked Scootaloo.

The young filly sadly shook her head. “No. Sorry.”

Rainbow Dash looked extremely disappointed.

“Do you smell that?” Spitfire asked. “Do you smell that!?” she asked again.

Applejack sniffed the air. “Yeah. Smells lahk… methane, of somethin’. What in tarnation is that?”

“Napalm, my dear!” Spitfire grinned and answered as she pointed behind her. “I love the smell of napalm in the morning! I’m willing to bet my very last bit that when we go do a sweep of the area later on, we won’t find one stinking ‘Cane body; because everything would’ve been burned to a crisp.”

Everyone looked towards the forest area that still smouldered from the air strike that took place several minutes earlier. They saw several Diamond Dogs grouped together slowly marching towards the village area. They were being watched by a few pony soldiers. Prisoners of war, Kark thought to himself. What the 109th did here today would set Doggy back a few months. Of course, if they received orders to pull out and leave this entire area to the ponies, this place wouldn’t be hairy anymore.

“But it’s the smell, that methane smell! It smells like… victory!” Spitfire grinned

Everyone stayed awkwardly silent for a few moments.

“Applejack, LOOK!” Apple Bloom gasped to break the silence. She pointed to something in the sky.

Everybody observed eight male pegasus ponies come down to lower the P.V.R. Sweet Apple into the water. The boat splashed down a few lengths off shore as the harness ropes were released. The pegasi flew away with the harnesses they used to carry the boat.

“That’s our cue! Let’s go.” Applejack said as she trotted towards the water. Everybody followed her.

When they reached the shore, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shared a final sad embrace with Scootaloo. Each filly wished each other luck in their separate ongoing missions. Scootaloo even took a moment to hug Rainbow Dash goodbye. In a way, Rainbow Dash was like a mother figure to her. Scootaloo was to the point of tears when she begged Rainbow Dash to stay safe. Rainbow Dash reassured Scootaloo by saying that she was going to be fine, and that she’d see her again real soon.

“Thanks for everything.” Kark smiled to Spitfire as he handed the semi automatic rifle back to her. He hadn’t even fired a single shot with it!

“Keep it.” Spitfire smiled back as she pushed the rifle back to him. “You may need it more than we do.”

“You sure?” Kark questioned.

“I insist!” Spitfire said, still smiling.

Kark returned the smile slowly, and nodded. “All right then!” he said as he got on the boat.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” Spitfire called.

The mare turned to face the Colonel.

“If you ever find Soarin, tell him I said ‘hi’.” Spitfire smiled.

“Will do!” Rainbow Dash returned the smile and snapped a salute.

Both Spitfire and Scootaloo returned the salute.

The boat was soon revved up and turned towards the now opened up area of the Non River.

Everyone waved and said goodbye as the P.V.R. Sweet Apple sped away down the river, deeper into enemy controlled Equestria.