A Whole New World

"Come on, you bloody thing. I will find you."

Shadow looked up at me from his book and frowned, "You keep preening like that Dutch, and there'll be nothing left."

I rolled my eyes as I continued to search my wing for the source of the intense itching. It had been bothering me for the past few days, but this morning I had woken up to find it the only thing I could think about. I had now spent the past fifteen minutes searching my wing for a single feather, and when you're trying to find one among hundreds, you're there for a while.

"I'm getting close. I can feel it." I raised my hand a little higher, before feeling one feather shift and hit a nerve. Smiling triumphantly, I yanked and pulled loose the offending feather, only to find it was a simple lesser covert.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me," I said, looking at the tiny feather between my fingers, "All that trouble, for this? Hey Flurry, get over here."

As soon as the yellow unicorn trotted over, I dropped the feather on the floor and gestured at it. He seemed to get the message, and sparked his horn. In the blink of an eye, the feather burst into flames in the sand. Shadow simply watched from where he was sat.

"Ouch. I'd hate to see what you would do to a primary," he said with a laugh.

Over the past couple of weeks since the attempted ambush, things had seemed to change. The Diamond Dogs in the area became more active against us, and started taking their anger out on Zinc as a whole. Their favourite tactic was to pop out of the ground outside the base, throw one or two of their chemical bombs over the wall, before disappearing again down their hole. It was a cheap tactic, but no one had been wounded by it yet, which was a complete miracle. Cookie was the luckiest out of everyone.

He had just been leaving the cookhouse to grab some vegetables for the next meal when a dog appeared outside the wall closest to him. The ponies on the roof spotted him, but he was already gone before they could open fire. The bomb he threw sailed through a window into the cookhouse and exploded, destroying pretty much everything inside. It was a hell of a lucky throw, and Cookie would have been completely waxed if he was inside.

Despite almost being killed, Cookie didn't complain once. He was given a new place to set up shop, but it was only a tent with some basic appliances. It would offer no protection if another dog scored a hit, but Cookie settled in quickly, and still managed to get the food out on time. He was a persistent guy, and quickly gained a lot of friends for that.

In retaliation of the increased aggression, Ironhoof saw fit to start performing search raids. Using intelligence gathered from the locals, the battle group began sending out groups of ponies with the sole purpose of finding either supplies used by the dogs, or Alphas of the packs. At one point, Element 0-5 came across a large cache of weapons and gems hidden behind a fake wall in the backyard of a house. The canine owner unintentionally drew attention to himself by standing in front of it and looking very uncomfortable. Quick Flurry, being the street smart pony that he was, was the first to notice.

He walked straight up to the dog and prodded him in the chest. "Hey, what are you doing standing in front of this wall the whole time we've been here?" he demanded.

"What wall, pony?"

That sealed it.

After the small case of arson involving the covert, I stood up and extended my wing, giving a groan of pleasure at the distinct lack of itching. I sat back down and began tapping to an old tune, before Hammer Strike came trotting around the corner.

"We have visitors~" he said in a quiet, sing-song voice. I looked beyond him to see a pair of ponies appear round the corner. One of them was a unicorn mare, and had a small saddlebag on her side, while the larger earth pony stallion next to her was carrying a primitive film camera on his shoulder.

"Who are they?" Battle asked.

"A documentary team from Fillydelphia," Hammer replied, "They've spent the past few days at FOB Silver, filming the soldiers and taking their opinions. Now they've arrived at Zinc to learn what it's like in the city."

"And they're taking us for interviews?" Flurry asked, moving his cigarette from one side of his mouth to the other.

"More like filming us while we work," said Hammer, "They might ask some questions, but I met them just now, and they said they didn't want to get in our way any more than they needed too."

I looked up to see the pair of ponies trotting over to us, my fingers working on automatic as they disassembled my rifle. I watched them take a brief glance at me before turning to Battle Plan. The earth pony raised the camera to his eye.

"Excuse me," said the mare with the saddlebag, "My name is Film Reel. Me and my colleague are part of a documentary team filming soldiers on the front lines."

"Yes, I know," Battle said, "My friend told us who you are just before you arrived."

Film Reel blinked, "Oh, then that should save us some time. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about your time here."

They then spent the next few minutes asking and answering questions about what it was like living in Zinc. I sat a few metres away, cleaning my rifle, while Battle commented on the the sand and the heat more than anything else. I looked over at the stallion holding the camera, and could see him starting to sweat. After spending time out here with the Royal Guard, it had become easy to identify someone who consumed more than their body required.

The reporter continued to write down notes from Battle's answers, "I learned from one of the officers that your squad was involved in the first ambush of the tour a couple of weeks ago. What was going through your head when you came under fire?"

Battle exhaled, mulling over the question before answering, "A lot of things. Fear at the thought of dying, obviously. Anger at the Diamond Dogs for attacking us, and strangely enough, excitement. This might sound a bit odd, but there's nothing like being shot at to get the adrenaline going. Luckily, our patrol leader managed to get us out of it with only a minor wound to one of our squad mates."

"And where is your patrol leader now?"

Battle gestured at me, "He's sitting right over there."

I saw the reporter looking at me out of the corner of my eye, "The creature? He's a Royal Guard?"

The rifle made a loud clack as I finished cleaning it and snapped the pieces back together, stood up and walked over, "Captain Dutch Jones, ma'am. And I'm a human."

The stallion turned the camera on me and started filming. The unicorn looked a bit confused, before clearing her throat when I sat down again, "Well... Captain. How did you react when your squad came under contact?"

I tapped my rifle as I thought of an answer, "That's a difficult question to answer. There are so many factors to take into account, it's hard to imagine until you actually experience it. Battle Plan over there managed to sum up the emotions pretty well. But as squad leader, I have to take into account where my guys are at all times. Every officer who joins is taught how to lead, naturally. But when you're out there, all the stuff you learn just goes straight out the window, and if you're not careful, you risk panicking."

"So despite being the leader, you were scared too?"

"Of course. There are more than a few out there who are under the illusion that being brave in a battle simply means not being afraid. But that's not true; of course you're afraid. Anyone who says they aren't is either lying or needs to see a therapist. Sometimes you just want to dig the biggest hole you can and hide until it's over. But being brave means acknowledging that fear, and getting on with the job anyway. Doubly so if you're the leader, because your guys are looking to you to get them out alive. That's when the training kicks in, and you start fighting back. Considering how sudden the ambush was, I'm amazed we didn't get more wounded, and I'm proud of the guys here for doing so well under pressure."

"That's appreciated, sir." Shadow called over.

The reporter was flipping through pages as she filled her notebook, "So what would you do if they attacked you on patrol again?"

"The exact same thing I did before," I said, "Assess the situation, eliminate the threat, fall back to a safer area. If necessary, prioritise the wounded and call for an evac. It's what we were trained to do, and it's kept us alive so far. Hopefully we won't be under another direct contact for the rest of the tour, but with the tenacity these Diamond Dogs are showing, I'm not--"

CRUMP

The sudden, distant noise brought my interview to an abrupt halt, and I stood up, alert in the blink of an eye.

"What was that?"

"Sounded like it came from the south, sir. Close too," shouted Hammer.

I immediately called Captain Bright Skies, "Ops Room, Element 0-5. We're hearing explosions to the south, any Equestrian forces in that area?"

"Roger that 0-5. We had a resupply convoy scheduled to arrive at Zinc to fill us up on food and munitions. Diamond Dogs must have hit them. The Commander and the Major want a pegasi recon team overhead now."

"Copy," I cut the connection, "Shadow, grab two pegasi and get overhead. We need to know what's going on over there. Report what you see back to the Ops Room." Shadow nodded and galloped over to another group of ponies who were perking there ears up at the sounds, "Hammer, Flurry, Battle, get on the roof." I looked over at the two reporters, "Stay down here, don't put yourself in any unnecessary risk."

They simply nodded, their ears flattened as they flinched at the sounds of battle. As I climbed onto the roof, Shadow flew high into the air, leading two other pegasi in an arrowhead formation. I got down on my belly and crawled to the edge, grabbing a pair of binoculars and looking in the direction of the noises.

After a few minutes, the convoy appeared round the corner. It was a few vehicles, no doubt filled with supplies meant for us, and they were in a sorry state. There were scorch marks, lumps of shrapnel and even whole chunks missing out of the wagons. The lead wagon had lost a wheel, and there was an earth pony lifting up the damaged corner and carrying the wagon down the street.

"God, look at the state of that," I muttered, "What the hell have those guys been through?"

Apparently hearing me, Flurry said, "Never mind that, what in Celestia's mane is that pony doing out in the open carrying the damn thing?"

"It seems like it was a bit of a waste, attaching all of that armour," Hammer remarked.

When we arrived, every vehicle in our possession was given extra armour in case they came under contact. That basically involved bolting slabs of metal to the sides, and on the wheels to offer additional protection against the dogs' bombs. The engineers had spent a lot of time and bits doing it, but by taking a look at the earth pony, we could assume it hadn't exactly worked.

When they got within 100 metres of the gates, Element 0-1 and 0-4 left Zinc to give them some support. When they reached the gates, I prepared to move, "Battle, Flurry, get suppressing fire on any dog that pokes their head up. Hammer, on me."

"Yes Captain."

I jumped off the roof and opened the gates to let the wagons through. The ponies that had been serving as the security detail collapsed as we helped the wounded through the gates. They were muttering, "Thank Celestia that's over," as they lay their weapons down for a breather. After the distance they must have covered, I wouldn't be surprised if some of them were suffering from heat exhaustion.

I had expected the earth pony carrying the wagon to sit down as soon as he came to a stop, but he continued to help other ponies into the base until there was no one left to carry, at which point he passed out from heat stroke. Upon closer examination, I found no less than sixteen pieces of shrapnel in his armour, with another four in his skin.

With the resupply convoy safely inside, Shadow and the other two pegasi landed back inside Zinc, and the unicorns on the roof carried on firing magic until the Diamond Dogs left. A few minutes later, someone shouted, "Stand down," and we all let out a sigh of relief. I returned to the roof to meet Battle and Flurry, and Shadow joined us soon afterwards.

"How did we get away with that?" he asked as he sat down beside us.

Battle chuckled, "I don't know Shadow, but if anypony here's carrying a journal, they won't leave today out."

I heard another set of hoofsteps approaching, and saw Bright Skies stepping onto the roof behind us. The rest of my squad saluted her, and she returned it before saying, "At ease. All call signs are accounted for Captain, I'm just spreading the word."

"I thought you were in charge of the Ops Room," I said.

"Major Wingfleet said he would take over," she explained, "After today, he told me I earned a breather."

"You certainly did," I muttered, before saying, "How are the supplies?"

"Somehow we managed to keep almost everything intact. While the wagons will probably be scrapped, the stuff inside wasn't damaged."

"Sounds like the armour did make a difference after all," Flurry commented.

"I think that documentary team was filming the whole thing," Battle said, "They seemed awfully interested in you, Dutch."

"I'm fine with that," I said, "The more that ponies know about humans, the less funny looks I'll be getting when I go outside."

"Tell you what, that earth pony deserves a medal for carrying the wagon all the way to the base under fire," Hammer said, "He looked younger than you Shadow."

"Touché Hammer," said the dark grey pegasus.

"How are the casualties?" I asked.

"Not great." Bright Skies said, "We had a lot of ponies suffering from heat exhaustion after today's weather. About 90% of them are on a trip back to Coltson for treatment, with a few of them likely to be going back to Canterlot after being classed as P1. But it looks like they're all going to live."

Unbelievably, no one had been killed. Again, we could chalk that up to the training of the Royal Guard trumping the tactics of the dogs, just like our contact. It seemed that overall, they were pretty bad at teamwork and organising a fight that was entirely on their terms. Flurry boasted that if we had been out there, we would have wiped the floor with them. As the adrenaline from the battle started to ebb away, we started to let ourselves relax, thinking that our troubles were over for the day.

But today, we had spoken too soon.

By six o'clock, the sun was still up in the sky, but it had started to cool down. Bright Skies had gone to bed for an early sleep, while our squad was on the roof of the main compound, watching the streets for any signs of a evening contact. Suddenly, a series of cracks and quiet explosions came from our west. We immediately got down for fear of an assault, but it looked like the fight wasn't meant for us. Every now and then, there was a flash from the modified crossbows that the dogs used, as well as the occasional beam of magic from a unicorn's horn that had missed its intended target. The fact that there were unicorns out there set us on edge.

"Woah. Sounds like somepony's getting smashed over there. I thought all of our patrols were already inside Zinc, Dutch." Flurry said.

"That's what Bright Skies told me." I replied. To make sure I wasn't wrong, I called the Ops Room, "Ops Room, this is Element 0-5, can you confirm all call signs are inside the perimeter?"

There was a pause before the reply came, and I recognised Wingfleet's voice, "Confirmed 0-5. We can hear it from here. Whoever's out there, it's not one of ours."

The only thing we could do was sit and listen to the cracks. It continued for another ten minutes, before a louder explosion drowned out the rest, and a purple cloud of smoke rose into the air.

"Sweet Celestia, that's concentrated magical energy," Battle said, "They only carry those in gems, stored in massive containers. That must be a supply convoy, and a big one! Who the hay is that?"

Wingfleet had been right, the ambush hadn't been triggered by anyone from Zinc, as we were all inside the compound. It was only when a reconnaissance team was sent out the next morning that any of us managed to figure out what exactly had happened.

It was a giant convoy of Lunar Guard. Specifically, the 17th Battalion. They had been passing through here on their way out from further up north. It was the end of their nine month tour of duty, and they were going back to a base in Fillydelphia before getting sent home to their families. I could only imagine how happy they would have been at the thought.

At least 4 packs of Diamond Dogs, totaling at almost 70 hostiles, had been lying in wait for them on either side of the main road parallel to Neighrut, ready to attack anything that was a pony. They probably didn't realise that it wasn't the ponies from Zinc. If they did, they must have not cared, so long as they got to use their weapons.

When the bolts had started coming in, the ponies had abandoned their vehicles and took off into the city in a desperate bid to get away from the canines. Three were killed, a 20 year-old Guardsman, and two Sergeants, aged 29 and 35. Seventeen others were wounded. Most made it to relative safety, where they were picked up by either us or the relief team sent by Fort Coltson, but two were missing in action.

Both Zinc and the relief team launched a massive search party to try and find them. That meant going back into the city and baiting the dogs from the ambush to come get us while others would search the city. We covered ground at a good pace, but the two soldiers had ducked into the western districts, and it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. They were on the run for hours.

At first, the ponies tried to hide, but were soon spotted by a small group of dogs who had avoided the fighting. In a crazy flight for their lives, they were chased through the back alleys and sewage systems of the streets. I think the dogs wanted to publicly execute them for escaping the ambush on the convoy.

Eventually, at around midnight two days after the attack, they took cover in a house, only to find that it was populated by three Diamond Dogs. Normally, that would have been the end for them, but they got a lucky break. The dogs there were some of the very few who wanted nothing to do with the packs. They took them in, tended to their wounds, then escorted them to the front gates of Zinc and left them with us. It was quite a sight to see a trio of dogs walking with two Lunar Guard ponies, only to simply give them to us with nothing but a friendly wave. Some of the guys didn't believe them when they told us their story.

But that was probably the best part of what happened. Half of the convoy's 26 vehicles were nothing but burnt husks. They stayed on that road for the next few days, staining the sand with ash and leaving a line of burnt wood and mangled metal almost half a mile down the road. The smoke from the gem-filled container didn't stop for almost 48 hours.

We had also heard that the Diamond Dogs had been so anxious at attacking the convoy that they had killed eleven of their own in the crossfire. We thought that was astounding.

The battle group at Zinc had known absolutely nothing about the convoy. That meant no one had been informed about the angry hornet's nest they were about to walk right into. As they had come from the west, none of us had seen them from the sun's glare as it set. There was a hint of anger in all of us too; nobody should have been going anywhere near Neighrut without all of us knowing about it first. I wasn't a General, but it didn't take one to know that if you're passing through someone else's area of operations, you tell them. If you don't, this happens.

But it looked like the Lunar Guard weren't to blame either. When we asked what their story was, they told us their CO had told them that there had been no fighting in Neighrut for the past month, and no troops were based here. Now, three of their ponies were dead. Even more had holes in them, and thousands of bits in military equipment had gone up in smoke. Someone back at Canterlot had screwed up, big time.

With the drama of the Lunar Guard over, most of Zinc's newest arrivals settled down wherever they could while a transport came over to pick them up. It had been a very long day for all of us, and we were looking forward to getting our heads down. It wouldn't be long before the month was up, and we would all be leaving Neighrut and heading out to the plains, and with it, FOB Gold.