Chaos now!

CHAPTER 9

MEDIVAC STATION “DELTA”

The next morning, the intrepid gang set off again towards their ultimate destination. Rainbow Dash allowed the boat crew to sleep in a little, for they had gone to bed during the wee hours of the morning following the awesome Vinyl Scratch concert they attended.

Excitable Sweetie Belle was going on and on about how great the concert was, how great the crowd was, how great Vinyl Scratch herself was, and how great the song selection was. Everybody just smiled and nodded knowingly without really listening to Sweetie Belle’s verbal dissertation on Vinyl Scratch’s awesomeness.

“I think Sweetie Belle literally had the time of her life last night.” Rainbow Dash smiled.

“Uhm hmm.” Applejack smiled back. “She’s been dreamin’ of attendin’ one of her concerts ever since she was a little filly. Looks like she finally got her wish last night. Next step is prolly meetin’ her in person, though ah think she’d probably faint just before she touched hooves with her.” She said as she glanced back at the still chattering filly, pitying Kark and Apple Bloom for having to endure Sweetie Belle’s giddy fangirl talk.

Applejack grew more serious as she changed the subject. “Pinkie Pie was right, though. Three barrels o’ methane fuel was more than enough to git us to Doe Long Bridge and back. So where exactly are we goin’ on this mission o’ yours?”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “I suppose now’s the time to tell you. We’re going about 75 klops past the Doe Long Bridge.”

“That’s Diamond Dawg territory.” Applejack said evenly.

“I know.” Rainbow Dash said. “We’re not supposed to be in Diamond Dog territory, but that’s where we’re going.”

“Okay. Next question: What’re you ‘n Kark goin’ to do there?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I can’t tell you that, not yet.”

“When!?”

“When the time is right.”

Applejack sighed. “You’re the one who shoulda had the Element of Honesty, not me.”

Rainbow Dash simply smiled.

Applejack’s then spotted something up river. There was a Diamond Dog civilian family in a boat alongside the riverbank pointing at something up ahead of them. Applejack saw smoke rising from the trees. As she turned the bend, she immediately grabbed the C.B. radio and made a call. “This is P.V.R. Sweet Apple. Call sign: gulf, bravo, tango, tango calling Medivac station ‘Delta’. Come in, Delta.”

She waited a few seconds for a response. When none came, she repeated the message. “This is P.V.R. Sweet Apple. Call sign: gulf, bravo, tango, tango calling Medivac station ‘Delta’. We need a Medivac Flight dispatched to the coordinates zulu, zulu, bravo, three, niner. We’ve got three, possibly four K.I.A.s up here. Do you copy?”

Everybody grew silent as they observed the scene. They saw at least three Pegasus ponies lying dead alongside the riverbank. One was lying precariously upside down on a tree branch close to the water. The smouldering remains of their rocket launchers were on the ground close by, and Kark noticed a machine gun barrel sticking up out of the water along the embankment.

Applejack was about to repeat her message a second time when a timid voice came on the radio. “Uhm… hello?”

Applejack thought she recognized the voice, but she wasn’t sure. “Hello. Who’s this?”

“Uhm… Fluttershy.”

Everybody on the boat was quite surprised at this, but no pony was more surprised than Applejack.

“Fluttershy! Ah cain’t believe it! It’s Applejack!”

“Applejack??? Oh my goodness! I don’t believe this! It’s so good to hear your voice again!”

“It’s good to hear your voice, too, sugarcube!” Applejack smiled. “What are ya doin’ on the horn? Where’s the Communications Officer?”

“Uhm… he’s dead. And until we can get a replacement sent out here, I guess I’m it.”

“Okay. That explains everything. Did ya get ma message about the K.I.A.s?”

“Yes. We’ll see what we can do about that.”

“All right. We’re ‘bout ten klops West o’ your position. We should be arrvin’ there in about a half ‘n hour.”

“Okay. We’ll see you then. Fluttershy out.”

“Seems this war’s allowing us to run into each other again.” Rainbow Dash smiled.

“Looks like it.” Applejack smiled in return.

The rain started pouring down just minutes before they arrived at Medivac Station “Delta”. Kark and all of the ponies had donned their specialized rain gear to protect themselves from the torrential downpour. Yet despite the protective gear, they still felt soaked to the bone.

Almost as soon as they acosted the boat against the makeshift dock, a male pony with nothing more than a plastic sheet over his head came out to greet them from a tent a few lengths away.

Rainbow Dash greeted him with a salute. “Hey, soldier! Where’s the C.O.?”

“Uhh… In the Medics tent, over that way.” He said as he pointed.

“Thank you.” Rainbow Dash said.

She then led her team towards the directed he pointed at. They met another couple of male soldiers on the way. “Which way to the Medics tent?” Rainbow Dash asked one of them.

“Just over there.” He said as he pointed behind him.

“Thanks.” Rainbow Dash said.

When they arrived, the entranceway to the tent in question was clearly marked “Medical Tent”. They all entered. Kark could barely able to squeeze through the entrance that was made for ponies. Inside, his head almost touched the ceiling.

Inside the dimly lit tent, they could see several hospital beds all lined up. A few of them were occupied by bandaged up ponies. A few nurses were milling about, caring for them. At the nearest bed, they saw the familiar mare they all knew comforting a male dark brown pony who looked to have suffered a head wound, given the bandage around his head.

“Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash called out.

The mare reacted to the sound of her name. She gasped when she saw who was calling her. “Rainbow Dash!” she said as she trotted over to greet her friend with a hug.

Fluttershy was wearing a nurse’s hat, and she looked a little bit tired. As she greeted all of the other ponies one by one, Kark became lost in his thoughts again.

Soft spoken Fluttershy always had a talent for medicine and healing. “T.L.C.” was definitely her middle name. When the war broke out, she had to abandon her veterinary care responsibilities in favour of looking after her own kind. Every wounded soldier in this tent was in good hooves!

When Fluttershy focused her attention on him, Kark snapped back to reality. “I can’t believe you’re here.” She began as she hugged him lightly. “I’d heard you were dead; or at least, gone back to your dragon country.”

“Well, that’s obviously not the case.” Kark said as he returned her hug.

“Obviously.” Fluttershy smiled.

“We need to talk to the C.O.” Rainbow dash announced.

“Uhm. Well, I guess until the new C.O. gets here, that would be me.”

“Come again?” Applejack asked in confusion.

“I’m the acting C.O. around here, for now.”

“I don’t get it!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “What happened to the real C.O.?”

“Well, he stepped on a landmine three days ago.”

“Did ya request that a new C.O. be sent here from H.Q.?” Applejack asked.

“We did, almost as soon as it happened. We’re still waiting. Resources are spread pretty thin around here.”

“Well, we need to refill our medical supplies for the boat.” Applejack said after a few moments of silence.

“And we were hoping you could provide us with some intel as to what’s up ahead.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Well, from what I gathered, it’s all smooth sailing from here to Doe Long Bridge. It’s there that things start to get… hairy… as some of these ponies like to say. Most of the ponies you see here come from there. The fighting is pretty fierce up there!”

“Not good!” Apple Bloom cried.

Sweetie Belle reassured her by placing a hoof on her shoulder.

“As for the medical supplies, you’ll have to fill out an ordinance form.” Fluttershy said. Then she looked around. “Now where did I put those? Oh! I think there are some in my quarters. Let me get my raincoat, then I’ll be right with you.”

As the mare went to get dressed for a venture out into the outside downpour, the ponies were left wondering how the Medivac Station is able to function adequately with Fluttershy in charge. Her personality made her the right candidate to receive the Element of Kindness; but she wasn’t really quick on the ball, when it comes to split second decisions.

A few minutes later, Fluttershy led her friend inside her tent quarters. It was roomy enough for even Kark to fit in, and he was just barely able to squeeze through the entranceway. “Here we are. It’s not much, but I call it ‘home’.”

Kark’s attention was drawn to a nearby birdcage. His face lit up when he saw what was inside of it, though.

“Rainbow Dash! LOOK!” he said as he got her attention.

She gazed in the direction he was pointing, and was surprised and delighted at the same time. “Why it’s PHILOMENA!”

“Fluttershy, what’s Princess Celestia’s pet phoenix doin’ here? Ya didn’t steal ‘er again, did ya?” Applejack asked.

Fluttershy smiled and shook her head. “Oh, no. Before Princess Celestia went into exile, she left Philomena with me to look after until she returned.”

“Did she undergo one of her deaths and rebirth things?” Applejack asked.

Fluttershy nodded. “Once, a couple of months ago. I don’t think she’s due for another two years or so. Right, Philomena?”

Philomena squawked from her place inside the cage.

Fluttershy was surprised when she felt Kark’s hands on her shoulders. “Fluttershy, you’ve gotta promise that you will do whatever you can to keep Philomena alive. Okay?”

“Uhh…”

“Promise me, Fluttershy!”

“O-okay, I promise. But why is it so important to you?”

“Wait! Isn’t there some sort o’ legend that says that phoenixes can resurrect alicorns, or somethin’?” Applejack asked.

“Kark believes there is.” Rainbow said in answer. “He sees Philomena as his only chance of ever seeing Princess Luna alive again. And to be honest, I believe it, too!”

“Really? Can it be true?” Applejack asked.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t. In any case, it’s the only thing that’s keeping Kark going.”

Applejack looked sad. She didn’t need to say anything more. She knew how badly Kark missed Princess Luna. If Philomena could somehow bring the alicorn Princess of The Night back to life, he would never ask anything from anybody ever again.

“Ah! Here they are.” Fluttershy announced as she brought a clipboard with the ordinance forms she was looking for. “Just fill out one of these and give it to the Quartermaster at the Supplies tent just next door, and she’ll give you what you need.” She said as she handed the clipboard to Applejack.

“Thanks, Fluttershy.” She smiled as she took it and began filling it out with a pencil.

“Don’t worry, Kark.” She smiled as she touched the big dragon’s shoulder with her hoof. “Where there’s hope, there’s a way.”

Kark smiled kindly at the mare he had come to treasure as a dear friend.

A male soldier entering the tent interrupted the proceedings. “Fluttershy, we need you! We’ve got wounded.”

Fluttershy glanced outside the open tent flap and saw several wounded ponies stumble towards the Medics tent. Some were being carried inside with the help of either a stretcher or other ponies. “OOH, my! I’ve gotta go. Come see me before you leave, though.” She said as she trotted out to make her way towards the Medics tent where there were wounded to treat.

Within an hour, after the boat was restocked with the medical supplies, the crew of the P.V.R. Sweet Apple was ready to cast off. Fluttershy saw them off, and they exchanged goodbye hugs with her. She reiterated her promise to Kark that she’d do whatever she could to keep Philomena alive for him. Kark gave her a thank you smile as he boarded the boat, which soon departed East towards the Doe Long Bridge.