Prologue: Classified Orders
Prologue: Classified Orders
"Okay listen up!" a burly man in the armies khaki uniform marched in front of me and my fellow pilots, "Each and every single one of you, upon leaving this base, will be an officer in the Army Air Corps of Equestria."
He stopped in front of me as I did my best not to grin, my best friend Ditzy Doo, though everyone called her Derpy, stared at me with one eye from the other side of the barracks. The drill sergeant looked me over and gave a small nod before turning away and walking behind me.
"Each and every one of you are the finest pilots we've got to offer, angels in a sky filled with demons." he shouted as he walked toward the middle of the room and stopped wit a click of his heel that could be heard outside the two minuet building, "I have seen so many of you break, and those that stand here among the empty bunks, you got what it takes."
It was true that only about half of us who came in here left due to cracking under pressure, medical issues, and other reasons that I was not quiet privy to, but we still remained.
"You need to be dressed and packed for your transport to where you will receive your planes before you go overseas, dismissed!" he yelled as he performed a left face and marched out the door to what had been our home for the entirety of the year as we learned how to be officers, how to fly any plane, and how to keep ourselves alive in the sky with metal wings.
I relaxed before turning around to my bunk to see what exactly he had left on it, I found a small folder that had my name on it, internally I was worried, though I dared not to show that to my fellow pilots.
"Whats in the package Dash?" Derpy asked from behind me, making me jump up a bit and hover in the air with my wings extended.
"Hey Derpy, mind not spooking a gal like that?" I yelled, as many of my fellow pilots laughed.
"Oh, sorry didn't mean ta." she replied as she scratched the back of her head.
"Yeah right." I said with sarcasm as I landed and opened the package.
Inside was a single sheet of paper with four names and a set of orders,
Lt Dash,
You are to report alongside your fellow pilots Ditzy, Thunderlane, Lightning Dust, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo, to Col Windcharger's office as soon as you are packed and ready for transition. More will be made known to you as to why once you arrive.
Col Windcharger, EAAC
I smiled and put the paper back into its folder before turning around to see the five others it mentioned with their bags ready, they had packed them up last night in preparation for today. I turned back to my small closet with my dress uniform inside of it and began stripping, folding my PT gear which I had only put on last night in their own separate compartment of my briefcase so that I wouldn't dirty any of my other close, before putting on my dress uniform.
"So what was the letter about Dash?" Scootaloo asked as she leaned on an old bunk.
"Our orders, I'll explian more on the way!" I said as I tied my shoes and straitened my tie, "Lets go and get those orders straitened out shall we?"
"Sounds good to me." Fluttershy timidly said as she took a few steps back into Thunderlane who put both hands on her arms and gave a soft smile.
"Well what are we waiting for, lets go slow pokes!" Lightning Dust chided, slightly getting on my nerves.
"Well, you are the only one still standing back there Lightning." I retorted, laughing with Derpy as we walked away with her behind us all.
"You don't think that this is about that last Tuesday do you?" Thunderlane asked, making me worry a little.
"No way, we already got chewed out about that, besides today is graduation Thunder!" Scootaloo said with a grin, her voice cracking ever so slightly to which she coughed.
"How did you join up again?" I asked, to which she just gave me a nervous look since she lied about her age, though when in the air she is right there with me and the others.
We walked in silence, all of us smiling like idiots as we walked up to the Colonels office and everyone got behind me. I did a quick check of my uniform before knocking one time and standing at attention, though that didn't last long.
"Enter." the Colonel said softly, just loud enough for me to hear through he door.
Opening the door I was greeted with an elderly military man with a long white beard. If it wasn't for the fact that he had more muscle than anyone else on the base, one could have mistaken him for Santa Clause. His one wing was a dull shade of grey, and his eyes a vibrant green, he smiled with his crooked grin before speaking.
"Sit down, none of you are in trouble." he said, putting our minds to ease.
I handed him the folder with our orders to come here, and he rang a bell, "Sir, you wanted to see us?"
"First I want to have breakfast with the best pilots at this field, then we can discuss business, and please, lets keep this informal." he said as he stood up and opened a door that led to the kitchen.
Enlisted men brought in a table, though admittedly we did stand up and help them out with it before the Col decided to order us to sit. They then brought in eggs, bacon, sausage, and beagles alongside orange juice for all of us before the Col sat down at the table.
"Each one of you have proved that you not only know how to fly, but are damn good at it too, that is why I put your names up for this tasking." he started before he began to eat his food.
"And what did you put our names up for sir?" I asked, cutting up a sausage.
"A joint operation with the boys and girls in Braytain Empire, they are putting their best new pilots out and they requested that we do the same." he replied giving us all a smile.
"So a joint squadron?" Lightning Dust asked after swallowing her last egg.
"Precisely, and since you will be representing our best pilots we are giving you each a P-51 Mustang which you will get to design a paint scheme to your own content." the Col said, just before finishing his food.
"Are you joking sir?" Scootaloo asked in disbelief.
"No I am not Second Lieutenant Scootaloo." he smiled.
We all finished our food in silence waiting to hear if he had anything else to say, as he had stricken us speechless, but he merely stood up once we had finished and saluted, to which we all stood up quickly and returned the sign of respect.
"Rainbow Dash, I do have something special for you, since you passed your leadership examinations with the highest scores of this training squadron, you are hereby promoted to First Lieutenant of the Equestrian Army Air Corps and are now in charge of the Equestrian Angels, as you all have referred to yourselves as." he said as he picked up epaulets with my new rank insignia on them and put them on my uniform where my Second Lieutenant ones had been.
"Thank you sir, I won't let you or my flight down!" I replied, giving him another salute that he returned with a smile.
"Now you six had better move out before you miss that train!" he shouted as he sat down behind his desk, still smiling.
"Yes sir!" we replied in unison before running out the door.
Chapter 1: The Ponies
"Hey Crash?" another officer shouted as my flight and I sat down on the train, keeping to ourselves as always.
"What do you need Wild Card?" I replied, rolling my eyes at the nickname they had given me when I crashed my third plane while practicing landings.
"I'm surprised you graduated seeing as though you can't land Rainbow Crash!" he yelled laughing, earning more of the officers and even a few enlisted to laugh with him.
"Hey, leave her alone!" Scootaloo yelled back in my defense.
"Okay, Chickaloo!" he chided, making me stand up abruptly and march up into his face.
"No one insults my flight, find your seat!" I yelled, glaring at him as he walked off laughing.
"Don't let him get to you Scoots, they're just as nervous as we are." Fluttershy cooed.
"Some less than others." Lightning Dust added with a glance at the pink haired pilot.
"Lets not get into this again Ace." I said, using her nickname to keep the mood light.
"Yeah, okay Dash." she said, getting the hint that she needed to shut up.
"First Lieutenant Dash!" a voice rang out as a sergeant made his way through the crowded train corridors.
"That's me." I shouted as I wove my left hand to get his attention.
"The Colonel forgot to give you this ma'am." he said as he gave me a quick salute and handed me a folder, before running back to the door to leave the train.
"Whats in it?" Thunderlane asked as he loosened his tie.
I opened the folder and it had detailed orders as to which stop we needed to take and where we were going, along with who we were to speak with once we arrived at the base in which we would become familiar with the new planes and be flown over seas.
1st Lt Dash,
If all goes well you will be leaving the train at 0400hrs tomorrow and walking to the Baltimare Airmy Air Field, I know this is short notice so I suggest you and your flight get some sleep. Once you arrive at the base you will need to speak with Staff Sergeant Flying Scott, he prefers just being called Scott, so that he can get your facilities prepped while you take a look at your planes. You, unlike your collegues, will have two weeks before a B-24 Liberator crew takes the six of you overseas and to your actual planes, the ones in Baltimare are only for training purposes.
Good Luck to you,
Col Windcharger, EAAC
"Just our orders, we should get sleep earlier than the others, since we are getting up at an unfathomable hour." I said with a small frown as I hated getting up any earlier than necessary, but then again this was the last time I would get any real practice before showtime.
"What time would that be?" Ditzy asked as she rose her brow.
"0400hrs." I sighed.
Scootaloo smiled, "You don't sound to thrilled about that." she said as she pulle dout a small deck of Bicycle Playing Cards.
"Well you know me, I like my sleep." I replied.
"So what are we playing?" Thunderlane asked as the train lurched forward.
"Dash wake up!" Scootaloo whispered as the train rolled to a stop at their station.
"Ung, time already?" I replied as the world slowly came into focus.
"Yeah, grab your bag everyone else is already walking out the door!" she replied a little loader than she meant too.
"Thanks kid." I replied as I grabbed my duffle bag and charged out of the stall with her right behind me.
As soon as we stepped off the train the whistle blew and the locomotive was tearing out of the station. With a sigh I quickened my pace and caught up to my flight with Scoots to my rear. No one said a word as we made our way to the front of the station, it was almost pitch black outside and the streets were quiet.
"This is Baltimare right?" Lightning Dust asked as she looked around.
"Yeah, this is the place." Derpy replied.
Looking around with my sleepy eyes I spotted a single army truck with a sergeant who was napping at the wheel. When I knocked on his window he practically jumped out of his seat as his eyes grew as wide as headlights.
"Hey sarge!" I said, thus getting his attention.
"Ma'am, I am supposed to be waiting for Angel Flight!" he replied, still looking startled.
"That's us, are you okay to drive?" I asked since he looked as if he had just had a panic attack.
"Yes ma'am, that is why I was sent." he replied as he turned the engine over.
I looked back and nodded to my flight before tossing my duff in the back and climbing in, my actions were followed by each of my pilots. Once we were all seated I knocked on his window and he began to drive towards what I assumed was the base and not a ditch, though part of me wondered if we were safe with him driving.
"So, you ready to see these new ponies?" Scootaloo asked as she bounced her legs to keep herself awake.
"I'm more interested in the inside of my eyelids right now Scoots." I replied, earning a couple nods of agreement from bothe Lightning Dust and Thunderlane.
C'mon Dash, they're Mustangs, don't tell me you don't want to fly one as soon as possible?" she asked.
"Flying tired is worse than flying drunk Scootaloo." Derpy stated, to which I gave a nod as I stifled a yawn.
"Fine, I'll wait to fly it tomorrow." Scoots replied with a fat lip.
I stifled a laugh before smiling, "Hey, at least we don't have to kill ourselves now that we are out of training."
"Yeah, now we are part of the regular officers!" Lightning shouted.
"And how should officers behave?" Derpy chided, getting both of us to calm down.
"Yeah, your right Ditzy, I suppose we are all just a little tired." I said before elbowing Thunderlane in the arm.
"What?" he asked.
"You are overly quiet?" I asked.
"Nothing really that I want to say." he replied.
Even though it didn't feel as if it had taken that long, we arrived at the Army Air Field shortly afterwords. Getting out of the truck with my duff on my back I could see the sun peaking over the horizon, which meant I wasn't going to get to sleep anytime soon.
"Okay, I got you all here in one piece ma'am." the sergeant said as he got out of the truck and yawned.
"Good work, now return to your normal activities, and talk to your superior officer about getting some rest." I replied as I returned the salute he gave me.
"Are you Lieutenant Dash?" a gruff voice said from behind me.
"Yes, who's asking?" I turned around to be greeted by a lone Staff Sergeant.
"My name is Scott, I was told that you would be arriving today to get settled in and see the planes we have here for you." he said as he saluted me.
"Thank you, though I think we are to tired to safely fly today, it would still be nice to get familiar with the systems in the new planes." I replied, returning his salute.
"Fine by me, the planes are yours to fly on your call." he said as he silently began to walk towards what looked like barracks.
Without another word said we started after him toward what would be our new home for three weeks before we were to be sent off to Braytain for our deployment.
"This is the officers barracks." he said as he stopped in front of the two minuet building that was closest to the runway.
"Thanks, any particular area you want us to set up in?" I asked as the others walked inside.
"So long as you stay in the same row I'm happy ma'am." he replied, to which I gave him a smile and a nod before heading inside myself.
"This place is nice, almost like the one back at boot." Thunderlane commented as he set his bag down next to a bunk in the very back.
"Yeah, but here we don't have to worry about our lives being run by a push up crazy drill sergeant." Lightning replied as she set her bags down next to his and claimed the top bunk.
Fluttershy set up her bunk under Scootaloo, while Derpy claimed the lower bunk of the bed I chose. Hearing a cough behind me I turned around to see a fellow First Lieutenant standing there with another second lieutenant.
"Hello, my names is Big Blue, and this is my co-pilot Silver Wing, welcome to the Officers Barracks." he said as he held out his hand.
"Hey, my names Rainbow Dash, this is Ditzy Doo, Fluttershy, Scootaloo, Thunderlane, and Lightning Dust." I replied as I shook his hand.
"You are the fighter pilots that we are supposed to take over?" he asked while his co-pilot merely yawned and gave a small wave.
"Yeah, do you know where everyone else is?" I asked.
"They will be arriving after we leave in three weeks, so you have the base to yourselves for a bit." Silver Wing replied for his commanding officer.
"Ah, so when is breakfast?" Derpy asked, her left eye scanning the ceiling while her right looked at the two pilots.
"Are her eyes supposed to do that?" Blue asked as he raised a brow.
"Nothing abnormal for Derpy sir." Scootaloo responded with a small smile.
"Breakfast starts in an hour, need help unpacking?" Silver answered her, as Blue was still questioning if she should fly, let alone walk.
"Thanks, also is there a rule about when we sleep, we woke up at 0400hrs this morning?" I asked as Blue helped me hang up my spare spare uniform.
"You can go to sleep right after dinner tonight if you want, otherwise they keep us to a tight schedule." he replied as he tucked my duff away.
"Thanks, and why are we putting that away?" I eyed him oddly.
"You will only need a few uniforms out, your going to be packing this bag sooner than you know it." he stated, flashing me a smile.
"Okay, so where is the mess?" I asked as I turned to find that everyone was ready to go.
"Just follow us, we'll get you there." he said as he walked away.
We walked out right behind them and Scott gave a salute, which both myself and Blue returned before we all started walking toward the mess. I turned around to find my flight staring off to our left and followed their gaze, over there sitting out on the ramp were six P-51B Mustangs glistening silver in the morning sun.
"LT, would you mind if we stopped by the ponies?" Scootaloo asked, to which I had no problem as breakfast didn't start for thirty or so minuets.
"First time seeing a Mustang?" Blue asked.
"Yeah, they finished our training in Kittyhawks, that's why they sent us here, so we could get used to the new planes." I replied as we walked up to the majestic planes.
"I think I'll name mine Angry Hen!" Scootaloo stated, naming it after her own nickname.
"You really want to stick with that?" Lightning asked as she examined the planes 30mm hispano guns.
"Yeah, whats yours gonna be called?" the shorter orange winged pilot asked.
"I think Ace up my Sleeve will do fine." she replied, a wicked grin crossing her face.
"Um, I like Hopping Mad." Fluttershy spoke out, to which most of us cracked a smile before looking at Thunderlane for his idea for his plane.
"Thunder's Pride?" he asked as if he needed approval.
"That sounds good, what about you Derpy?" I asked the blond pilot.
"The Battle Muffin!" she stated as she crossed her arms, "What about yours?"
"Needs to be 20% Cooler." I said with a smile, to which everyone laughed.
Chapter 2: Getting in the Saddle
Chapter 2: Getting in the Saddle
I pitched the nose of the P-51B Mustang down, all I could see was dirt in my wind screen. Looking behind me and to my right I could see Derpy following my dive before I jerked the stick back and pulled the plane out just a little over fifty feet off the ground, Derpy matching my manuvere perfectly.
"Great flying Dash, whats your speed?" she said with a slight thrill in her voice.
"I pulled out of the dive a four hundred twenty miles per hour Derp!" I exclaimed, this thing could easily out dive just about any of the fighters we have, though the Thunderbolt I heard about was one helluva plane.
I then spotted the two Piper Cubs with target sheets behind them for our target practice, those civilian pilots must have more guts than those bomber pilots I heard about in the Eighth Army Air Force. Rolling to my right and gently pulling the stick I eased my fighter into place as I pulled the trigger on target plane one's sheet. Derpy flew ahead and peppered target two's sheet before shooting up into the sky and circling back around to my wing.
We did this repeatedly for some time, practicing highly complex maneuvers and strafing targets both in the air and on the ground. The planes were performing perfectly, though if I was reading my rad gauge correctly then my plane was reading a little hotter than I would like.
"Hey, anybody else got the rad gauge in the yellow?" Scootaloo asked over the radio.
"Yeah, mines at two hundred degrees." I replied as I cut my throttle down a bit.
"Affirmative, my radiator is hot as well." Lightning Dust chimed over the radio.
"Reduce your throttle by twenty five percent, lets not run these engines too hard now." Thunderlane chuckled, I guess he noticed it before us, or he was just being a smart ass as usual.
"Um, anybody else notice that it is almost lunch time now?" Fluttershy added as she formed up behind me with Thunderlane on her right.
"Yeah, lets land and call it for a bit, I think we've gotten the hang of these fighters!" Lightning Dust proclaimed as both she and Scoots formed up on my left.
"We will continue training tomorrow if the weather permits, we need to know what the limits of these planes are before we get into a combat situation." I said sternly, hoping that they would see my point.
I didn't hear anything in response over the radios, so I checked on Derpy and Scootaloo since I could see them and surly enough they're mouths we moving. I looked down and checked my radio, everything on it seemed fine, so I attempted to transmit, but was hot with a wall of static. I looked over to Derpy and she was waving at me, I waved back and pointed to my ears before making a cutting motion across my neck, I guess she spread the message I sent over the radio cause everyone gave me a little more room.
Derpy then fly up next to my wing tip and pointed down towards the runway and then to me, thus saying that she wanted me to land at the runway. Giving her a thumbs up I dipped down and banked right into the approach to pattern, I could see personnel on the ground rushing over to the runway, was a dead radio really that big a deal. Then I smelled the smoke, checking behind me I realized that I was leaving a nice long black cloud in the sky as I came in. Frantically I checked my gauges for reasons why, both my oil temperature and water temperature were high and climbing quickly, I reasoned that my engine would be soon to quit as I came into my turn to base.
I could see emergency vehicles on the ground, did they really think I would need them though? I regretted thinking that when the noise of my planes Merlin engine died out and left me with only the sound of whipping wind. I checked my speed and found that I was slowly accelerating so I put my flaps down by one setting. Once I reached one hundred twenty miles per hour I put my gear down and set my flaps to full, the runway was close, if I kept my glide slope I would touch down on it threshold, not ideal, but it would work.
My gear touched the ground and I bounced, looking down at my speed I was holding at ninety, keeping my nose up slightly I eased the plane down onto the strip and felt the tail gently touch the ground before I applied the brakes. The smoke was now billowing out of the front of the plane making it hard for me to see, then I felt the heat and I didn't need to think anymore. I removed the harness and opened my canopy up before jumping out of it and running to a safe distance.
"Lieutenant are you alright?" Sergeant Scott inquired as he ran up to me, his uniform only halfway on.
"I'm okay, though I'm not sure what happened, all I know is that the water and oil were overheated." I said as I brought out my flight cap and put it on.
"The crew will take care of it LT." he sighed, grateful that it wasn't too bad.
I watched as they hosed down my plane and brought it off the runway and into its own little area on the side of the ramp, my flight was now landing behind me. Turning around I could see their planes as they taxied in, each of them pulled their planes over to where we had found them yesterday and shut their engines off.
"Dash!" Scootaloo yelled as she hopped out of her plane and ran over to me, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, but lets not let the planes get above one hundred ninety degrees for water now, okay?" I replied, grinning as my other pilots ran up to check on me.
"So, what now?" Lightning Dust asked with her arm crossed, probably still a little sour about not getting picked to lead the flight.
"Now, we go eat lunch before any of us have another near death experience before we even get shot at." I laughed.
"I agree." Fluttershy complied with a nod from everyone but Lightning who just sighed and followed along.
