A Whole New World

11th Autumn's End

It seems I had underestimated how evil a simple map on a board during a briefing could be. The images must have been dated, because wandering through Neighrut was like navigating a maze. Every single part of the city looked the same, and I thought it a blessing that we had our own maps at FOB Zinc to look over whenever we went out on patrol.

After two weeks of acclimatising, our bodies got used to the intense heat of the desert. We began to sweat less, and in turn, didn't need to consume as much water, meaning we had more to spare for washing, cooking and shaving. Zinc had a basic kitchen, and the military chef who had been stationed with us certainly knew his stuff. I didn't know what his name was, as everyone simply referred to him as 'Cookie'. Despite being surrounded by sand and in a potential warzone, he would still send out three meals a day for fifty ponies without fail. You had to give credit where it was due.

Because of our... losses with Emerald Squad, three other ponies had been sent over to work with me, Steel and Shadow. They had joined us the day after the briefing, and we had formed good bonds with them already. Our callsign had also been changed to accomodate the new conditions. Our patrol was codenamed Element 0-5, with Zinc's call-sign being Element, or Ops Room if we were calling from inside the FOB.

Trooper Hammer Strike was one of the new members of the squad. He was a pale blue earth pony, with a black mane. The first thing I noticed about him was that he was an absolute ox of a pony. His height would give Big Mac a run for his money, and he was built like a brick wall. If there was some heavy lifting that needed to be done around Zinc, Hammer would be the first one picked. He said that when he was a colt, his school would play a game that involved two teams trying to bring down a certain pony on the other team. Naturally, Hammer was the one who was always getting picked, as it apparently took at least half a dozen other ponies to subdue him. He'd just fight them off, one by one.

Even though his size and strength made him intimidating, he was one of the most polite and reserved ponies I'd met, and insisted on calling me 'Captain' since day one. He had a huge respect for authority, and was very well-mannered. He was the kind of guy I liked and respected.

The two other ponies were Guardsmen, and both were unicorns. Guardsman Battle Plan had a brown coat and a maroon mane. I had found that he was a few years older than me, having gone to the Equestrian equivalent of university to learn medical science. He had taken a degree there through much persuasion from his parents, and had managed to get quite a good qualification. He could have made a great officer with his skills, but I got the feeling he played dumb so that he could be a soldier down on the front lines.

Despite this, Battle Plan was an effective tactician, and would often add his own input during a briefing before a patrol. If not, he would always have a question about the route or what to expect. His qualifications in medicine had automatically made him the patrol medic too. If he didn't want to be an officer, there would be someone out there who would turn him into one without waiting for an answer.

The final pony was Guardsman Quick Flurry. A yellow unicorn with a striped man of dark and light green, he was also a bit of a wildcard. He was certainly disciplined enough to be a soldier, no doubt, but he had a tendency to speak his mind a bit. He was also extremely good at fencing stuff. He arrived on tour with a stack of clothes, magazines and other items he had 'found' before shipping out. Despite being curious as to where he got all this stuff, the rest of the soldiers were eager to see what he had for sale. I even found myself buying a tan cap from him to keep the sun out of my eyes. If he was a human, he probably would have been nicknamed 'Pikey'. As well as being the patrol's radioman, he was also a skilled marksman, and could hit a target 100 metres away with a single shot from his horn.

All in all, I saw him as a good and dependable soldier, who didn't seem like the type to back down from a confrontation. This hadn't always been a good thing, as he had supposedly pulled a knife on another pony after a drunken argument back in his hometown of Trottingham. Apparently he would have gone further too, if one of his friends hadn't stepped in. But I got the idea that if you picked him out of the gutter, told him to light his horn and charge in a particular direction, he'd fight out of his skin for you.

He was also the first, and only, pony I knew who smoked.

They had spent the two weeks at Fort Coltson with us. All of them were as trained as us, so it was simply a case of getting to know them, and how they worked. After we arrived at Zinc, the six of us began patrolling together. Flurry in particular was excited to get out on the street and show the Diamond Dogs 'which pony owns this patch'. He was in for a rude awakening.

If anyone was hoping to be fighting straight out the gates, they would be wrong. Our role was peacekeeping, which meant that we had to keep up a positive image and show the civilians that we were there to protect them. This resulted in us trying to look as friendly and approachable as possible, which in turn meant no helmets, engaging in conversations with the locals, and smiling all the time. We had to smile on patrol, we had to smile inside the FOB, and at the end of each day I had to massage my cheeks to dispel the aching.

Today was no exception. We were out on another repetitive patrol, this time wandering through the downtown area. This was supposedly the shadier side of town, where the majority of the nastier Diamond Dogs lived, hiding from the public eye until they kidnapped or threatened someone. For that reason, our patrol had been given some temporary additions. Two members of the griffin military were joining us, giving advice on the recent goings-on, and warnings if we were entering a nastier part of town.

Unfortunately, that didn't mean that we all got along. Because of the gung-ho attitude of griffins and their training, they were more used to looking for fights, and considered being placed with us to be some sort of punishment. They were quick to voice their opinions, and started trying to wind us up as we traveled through the town.

"Look at you ponies," one of them said, "You'd think the soldiers of Princess Celestia would know a few things about actually being a soldier."

His mate laughed, but the rest of us kept our cool, not wanting or needing a conflict. Quick Flurry, however, was starting to get agitated.

"Come on boss," he said to me, "This is getting on my nerves. These griffins might be the first guys I shoot."

"I understand you're frustrated, Flurry," I replied calmly, "But we have a job to do, and these griffins are the only help we have for knowing what's around the next corner. Besides, I'd rather be with them than sat in the same room as Ironhoof."

"On that we can agree Dutch," Shadow said, "I know he's a good leader, but that guy can be a real jerk sometimes."

We shared a laugh, which resulted in us being given a look of confusion from the griffins. They hadn't been given the same communication spell as us, so they couldn't hear what we were saying. The simply shook their heads and carried on walking, mumbling something about our mental stability.

We continued down the street and rounded the corner. We only had a couple more blocks to cover before heading back to the FOB. Me and Hammer were at the front of the patrol, with a griffin behind us. Shadow, Steel, and Battle were in the centre, watching our sides, with Flurry and the second griffin taking up the rear.

As I laid eyes on the street, I began looking for combat indicators - warnings that gave away a potential enemy hiding in wait. Looking down the road and at the buildings, I couldn't see a single soul. There were no griffin children playing in the street, and the normally common sight of locals sat on their balconies was gone. This was a serious combat indicator, and my instincts were telling me that something was very wrong.

I spoke out loud so the griffins could hear me too, "I don't like this guys. Everyone keep your eyes--"

I only managed to get a brief warning out to the patrol before the whole world erupted around us.

Something small zipped past in front of me, burying itself in the stone wall before exploding and caking me in dust. Coughing, I saw that the wall now had a large chunk missing out of it. Turning my head to try and find the source, I saw a figure duck out of sight behind a window, followed by another appearing in the window next to him. It had a roughly canine face, and it's large, elongated arms were holding what looked like a modified crossbow.

"CONTACT LEFT!"

Acting on pure instinct, I lifted my rifle and flicked off the safety catch, wasting no time in putting two rounds into the Diamond Dog. The 7.62mm rounds cut through him like butter, and he collapsed below the window, his blood staining the wall behind him.

I managed to get a brief glance at the crossbow before I had dropped him. We had been told that Diamond Dogs had found a way to replace the heads of their bolts with a pair of extremely volatile liquids, stored in vials. When the bolt impacted a wall or a target, the chemicals would react and explode, acting almost like a miniature grenade. While the shrapnel wouldn't be much of an issue because of the size, a direct hit would have serious consequences. If one of them hit you in the arm or hoof, it would take it clean off. If it hit the body, you'd have a hole in you the size of a dinner plate. If that first dog had aimed a metre to his right, he would have cut me in half, and likely taken Hammer's head off.

The rest of the patrol, even the griffins, were paralyzed at the thought that they were being ambushed, and a few were looking at me for instructions, rather than watching their lines. We were out in the open, and an unknown number of hostiles were in the immediate vicinity. I saw the wall the bolt had impacted had a gate at one end, and began thinking ahead on how to get ourselves out of this mess.

"Everyone over to the right side of the road, through the gate. Take cover behind that wall!" I shouted. Steel and Battle moved, followed by the griffins, and stuck the weapons over the top of the wall, allowing me and Hammer to move. As we moved, and without me saying a word, Flurry and Shadow turned and stopped in the road, keeping their crossbow and horn trained on the window. I reached the wall and saw the second dog pop back up for another shot, only for a crossbow bolt to impale his shoulder, followed by a beam of magic through his heart. Flurry calmly called out, "Target down," before joining us behind the wall.

The first explosion seemed to be a signal for others to attack. As Shadow headed toward us, I saw more dogs beginning to appear from the windows and alleys. One appeared from an alley ten metres away with an ordinary crossbow and aimed it at Shadow. Before I could shout a warning, he fired his bolt, and Shadow collapsed as it hit him in the side.

"Shadow!" I called out, running out from the safety of the wall and dragging him behind cover. Battle Plan rushed over and began checking the area where he was hit. Shadow was breathing heavily, and the bolt was embedded under his wing.

"I'm alright," Shadow said, regaining his senses, "I'm alright... am I alright?"

I rolled him over and looked at the bolt. It had hit his armour, but hadn't gone any further. I stuck a hand under his vest, searching for the warm sensation of blood, but all I could feel was his dry coat. Patting Battle on the shoulder, I pulled out the bolt and tossed it aside, "Yeah, you're alright. That new armour saved your hide. You feeling alright?"

He sighed with relief, "Yeah. Quit looking at me like that, you had me worried." He picked up his crossbow, reloaded, and carried on firing bolts at the Diamond Dogs. He certainly wasn't wasting any time in getting back at them.

"Flurry!" the unicorn was by my side in a second, "Contact Zinc and tell them what's going on here."

He nodded and lit up his horn, amplifying his own spell, "Element, this is Element 0-5. We have been engaged in the downtown area, map grid 528491. Requesting assistance."

He paused, before saying, "Roger that, 0-5 out," and removing the spell, "They're sending Element 0-3 to our position now, ETA ten minutes."

"I want fire superiority," I ordered as Flurry returned to the wall, "Pick your targets, shoot when you can hit. Battle, Flurry, keep them suppressed."

This was the first enemy contact we had experienced so far on our tour. It was a textbook ambush, and it had damn near worked. But now the two most dangerous threats had been neutralised, thanks to Shadow and Flurry, and we could now engage the remaining hostiles. Despite being a first time for returning fire for a lot of these ponies, I didn't need to say a word to them. With the knowledge that their enemy could be killed, they were casually peering over the wall and returning fire with me.

I heard a few deep voices on the far side of the building behind us, and got the feeling that a few dogs were going to try and flank us at some point. I moved over to an alley - the only entrance to our position other than the gate, and kicked open a wooden door.

"Griffins," the two soldiers looked over at me from their firing positions, "I want you two here. Stop any dogs trying to flank us."

They followed my order without a word, setting up a new base of fire down the alley. With our flank covered, I moved back to the wall and carried on taking aimed shots at the contacts.

"Targets on the corner, two o'clock!" Hammer shouted. As he spoke, he altered his aim and fired a bolt at a dog trying to outflank us. It hit him square in the chest, and he crumpled before trying to crawl back behind the wall. These dogs are good. Good thing we're better. Another three dogs appeared from the same corner, and Battle began firing magic, forcing them to retreat.

I moved to one side of the wall to reassess our situation. We had what looked like a whole pack on us, which could total at twenty dogs. We'd already taken down a few of them, as well as two with heavier weaponry, so our job was slowly getting easier. As I peered over, a dog revealed himself from a window across the street and leveled his weapon at us. I did the same, and as the crack of my rifle reached my ears, I saw the bolt pass the side of my head. I was momentarily relieved that it had missed, but a cry of pain behind me made my heart stop.

"Pony down! Steel's hit!"

I whirled around and saw Steel lying on the floor. The bolt had gone through his front right shoulder, staining the sand with blood and making him unable to use his weapon.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," he muttered to himself as we propped him against the wall. Battle Plan rushed over and sparked his horn, casting a spell on Steel that would numb the pain. Meanwhile, Flurry call Zinc again.

"Contact casualty, wait out," he said. 'Wait out' meant that more information would be sent, and no one should talk in case they disrupted the spell. Recently, the generals at Canterlot had come up with a new method for categorising wounded. P1 was reserved for soldiers who needed medical attention immediately or else wouldn't make it. P2 was for incapacitated ponies, whose wound's weren't life threatening. P3 would classify the walking wounded, and P4 was for the dead, as they needed the least attention. Steel's wound had put him out of action, but he could still move, and a bolt to the shoulder wasn't going to kill him.

"Casualty is currently P3," Flurry explained, and I agreed with him, "Hostile numbers are low. We are holding our position."

Another pause, then Flurry said to me, "0-3's two minutes out, sir. They've told us to hold until then."

I moved over to Battle, who had wrapped a bandage around Steel's shoulder and snapped off the ends of the bolt, "How's he doing?"

"I've done what I can, but this bolt isn't coming out until we get back to Zinc."

"Just pass me my crossbow," Steel said through gritted teeth, "I will put those buckers in the ground."

"As much as I'd like that, you'll only make yourself worse," I said, "Hammer, how're we doing?"

"Not many left Captain," he responded as he looked over the wall again, "I've hit three of them, but I think the rest of them are starting to fall back."

"Good. Griffins, what's your status?"

"Dropped one dog, but other than that it's been quiet," one of them said, Good, looks like we're pretty much done here.

All of a sudden, I heard a new voice in my head, "Element 0-5, this is Element 0-3, hold your fire to the north. We have you in sight."

I looked to my left and saw a group of ponies in military gear moving down the street, "Roger 0-3, we see you."

The patrol took cover up the street, providing fire where they could. I ordered Shadow to come with me as I left the cover of the wall and moved to their position. I recognised their officer as Lieutenant Ice Pick, Diamond Squad's leader during training.

"How's your wounded?" asked the Lieutenant.

"He's stable. Do we have an extraction plan?"

"Yes sir. There's a wagon a few hundred metres from here waiting to pick us up. Grab your team and we can get out of here."

Shadow and I headed back down the street and returned to our patrol, gathering everyone round, "Here's the plan. We move in intervals, covering each other as we fall back. Hammer, you and the griffins come with me on the far side of the street. Flurry, Battle and Shadow, you'll cover Steel and move as we cover you."

"I don't think that'll all be necessary Captain," a griffin said, "Looks like they're all gone."

"Regardless, keep your wits about you. They might come back. Any questions?" they all shook their heads, "Then let's go."

Both squads moved as one as we retreated, watching the street corners and giving others cover while they crossed. Me, Hammer and the griffins would aim our weapons down the street, while Flurry, Battle and Shadow would get Steel across the street, out of harm's way. We only allowed ourselves to relax once we came in sight of the extraction vehicle, slowing ourselves down to a jog. Making sure Steel was still stable, I climbed in and let everyone else do the same before shutting the door and sitting down, letting out a long sigh of relief. Opposite me, Quick Flurry pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, lit it, and took a drag.

"I guess we were wrong," one of the griffins remarked, "For a bunch of ponies and a monkey, you're alright."

It felt like a long way back to Zinc under the heat of the day, but we managed to make it back without any further drama from the Diamond Dogs. As we got out of the wagon, Battle and Flurry took Steel to a nearby medical tent while everyone else drank some much-needed water from their canteens. I leaned against a wall while enjoying the cool liquid, and noticed several of the ponies nearby were staring at me.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked to them.

"I think they're just worried about telling you," Major Wingfleet said as he exited the main compound, "Turn around and hold still."

He walked round behind me, and I felt something yank on my back, between my wings. He walked back to my front carrying a bolt in his teeth, which he spat into the sand.

"You've had that in your armour since you walked through the gates," he said, "I was hearing everything that was happening in the Ops Room. Sounds like you handled yourself well out there."

I picked up the bolt and examined it, giving a small laugh of disbelief, "This probably happened as we were falling back. Some cheeky bastard must have taken a potshot at me, can you believe that? At least we've proved the new armour works in combat."

"And the dogs will think twice about trying to attack us after today," Wingfleet said, "See if Cookie can make something for your team. They've deserved it."

"Thank you sir."

I waited outside the medical tent as the medics examined Steel. It had only been fifteen minutes since they had taken him to be examined, but I was still concerned about him, to the extent that I began pacing back and forth past the doorway. After another five minutes, a medic walked out of the tent and saluted me.

I returned the gesture and said, "At ease Sergeant. What's Steel's condition?"

"The Trooper suffered only minor wounds from the bolt, no bone or arterial damage," the medic explained, "He's suffered some muscular trauma, but not enough to send him home. He's going to have to go back to Fort Coltson until he's recovered."

Crap. We were going to be short of a pony for a couple of weeks, "Do you mind if I see him?"

"No sir, go right in."

I pushed the flap aside and walked over to Steel. He was sat on the edge of a stretcher bed with a bandage covering his shoulder.

"Hey man, you alright?" I asked.

"Annoyed," Steel simply replied, "First contact with the enemy and I get wounded. Now I'm going back to Coltson while you guys get to stay out here. It bucking sucks." He hopped off the bed and began to walk around on his remaining hooves, "Plus walking on three legs is a nuisance."

I laughed, "You don't get to complain until you're walking on two," he laughed too, and I saw his spirits were lifted from that remark, if only a little bit, "Come on. The others will be glad to see you're ok."

Steel received several pats on the back from the rest of the squad, before heading back into the medical tent under doctor's orders to rest. By tomorrow he'd be on a transport out of Neighrut and back to Coltson until he'd recovered, but until then, we would simply have to wait. Right now I had to deal with a debriefing with Commander Ironhoof.

I sighed as I headed towards the main compound, with his office inside, Fun fun fun.