Into the Fray

Bien Hoa Air Base (Equestrian in Fillynam), 01-11-1964

In the early hours of November 1st, 1965, a guerrilla force called the FillyCong, who were untrained fighters that supported the government and fought for them, launched a surprise attack on this Equestrian Air Base. Of its three runways, one was put out of service, and another was damaged enough to temporarily be out of service. There were also four Equestrians killed in the attack. This event infuriated the soldiers in Fillynam, but no changes in patrol patterns were made.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dash’s Hooch, 30-11-1964

“I think me and Carrot Top are going to extend,” said Rarity to Dash.

“What?!” Exclaimed Dash, who swore that Rarity would leave ASAP.

“She’s really mad about that air base, we heard it over the Sun and Moon radio. She has it in her heart to avenge those four killed, and she’s also been inspired by those naval attacks on Equestrian ships; I don’t want to be the thing to stop her. We’ve both decided to extend by two years,” explained Rarity.

“Yeah, me and Mikey did the same thing. Not for avenging though. We did it because no other spots are available other than Fillynam,” said Dash.

The radio interrupted, “That was Yesterday by the Beatles, and this is FIMR your number one voted military radio in FIllynam. If you call it, we’ll play it. This is a shoutout song to Private First Class Whooves by her family back home, Eve of Destruction by Barry McGuire; enjoy Whooves and those listeners out there.” The song started playing.

“Yeah, we may be on the eve of destruction, we may not. Even if we are, even if we’re distanced, even if I’m relocated, I’ll be beside you, and I’m only a short walk away,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah, I may have to walk frequently; good exercise,” said Rarity. For the rest of the afternoon until about 2000 hours Rarity, Dash, and the rest of the mares and fillies in the hooch sat and talked. Some cleaned their rifles, others gossiped about the stuff in their magazines. After California Girls by The Beach Boys finished playing, Rarity left Ke Sanh and walked back to her camp.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pleiku Air Base, 07-02-1965

Another Equestrian air base was victim of a surprise assault by the FillyCong. This one, however, was deadlier than Bien Hoa. Eight Equestrians were killed, and over one hundred were wounded. All runways were put out of commission for at least a week, the base’s security measures were destroyed, and troops started becoming enraged. They all started wanting to kill those responsible for both attacks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saigon (Outside the Equestrian Embassy), 30-03-1965

It was early in the morning, the sun barely lighting the dark sky, when Marine MPs got a call of suspicious activity a few blocks southwest of the embassy at the local eatery. As Corporal Bunker and Sergeant Pillbox got out of their vehicle, automatic fire rang out. Bunker, who was getting out of the passenger side (facing the eatery door and windows), was killed in seconds. FillyCong fighters stormed out of the eatery and other buildings. Pillbox showed no resistance, throwing his pistol down and rushing to get to Bunker. The FillyCong fighters pulled him off of Bunker and slit his throat and threw him down next to Bunker. For hours after this, the embassy was on lockdown and Marines were in door-to-door combat with the fighters. Around midday, Equestria Army 2nd Infantry entered the area to aid the Marine Company, who had lost a good number of soldiers in the attack. Before dinner time rolled around, the FillyCong fighters were killed off (375), thirteen army & sixteen marines were injured, and four army & twenty-seven marines were killed. The attack enraged all of the Equestrian soldiers in the world and made the Equestrian public support the war effort. Patrols thickened and covered more area. The CIA even began operations in Fillynam, though EMI (Equestrian Military Intelligence) was still the primary intelligence supplier. The Marine Corps increased their drafting, but the army didn’t start drafting even after the embassy attack.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ke Sanh, 02-04-1965

It was activity day again for those in Ke Sanh, but today, unlike others, Camp Charlie members had their turn to be on-base for the day. While the stallions were playing football (American), the mares sat on the sideline and talked or whistled at stallions that passed, since most had removed their jungle jackets (which had just been recently given to those in Fillaynam) and undershirts.

Rarity, Dash, and Carrot Top were all seated in a group with a couple of other mares from Ke Sanh. Everypony was having a good time. It was even better for the mares when an argument between two stallions led to a fight, which ended in one stallion having his trousers fall down (since he took his belt off earlier in the game) and is boxers ripped in the side. MPs were quick to arrive and took the two away, and the game resumed.

“So how’s the hill camps?” Dash asked Rarity, “I’ve always wondered what it is like.

“Not so grand. If we’re not doing guard duty or doing PT, we mainly sit around and talk or maintenance our gear. Two mares three tents down from us were busted with pot yesterday,” she replied.

“Oh man; I bet the MPs tore them up,” Dash said.

“Oh no, their Command Sergeant Major busted them.”

“Daaaaaaaaaaaamn. I bet they really hate their lives right now.”

After an hour, the game was winding down. A mare that designated herself as referee was laying down a call.

“Offsides, Bare backs, five yar-”

An explosion rocked the field.

Immediately, everypony ran to where their gear was laid out. The stallions didn’t even try to put their shirts or jackets back on, they just went straight for their gear and rifles. Rarity and Dash split up so that they could get their gear. The raid siren started up, piercing the air with its screeches. Seconds afterwards, another explosion shook the ground, and three other raid sirens joined the fray. This was a major issue, as there were four camps; one couldn’t activate its siren.

The next minute was absolute hell. Every Marine in Ke Sanh was mobile and running to their guard stations. NCOs were yelling, sirens were piercing the air, explosions rattled the ground, and every step Rarity took made her tremble. Her and Carrot Top’s post was the gate that had a path leading to Camp Charlie. As they reached the bunker, a machine gunner had already occupied the bunker’s mounted M60. The sirens died down so that troops could hear. For what seemed like an eternity, all was quiet. It lasted only seven seconds, though. Ponies could be seen charging down the hill from the camp. The gunner opened up, as did Carrot Top. Rarity raised her rifle and took aim. She picked a pony out, he was wearing civilian clothes, but was charging with an AK47. She pulled. Two rounds came out of her rifle. The first hit the colt in his shoulder, spinning him around. The second hit him in the neck, an explosion of pink mist splattered out of his neck as he fell to the ground. Rarity started to shake violently. She just killed a pony. Fear filled her, and she started to tear. Then, a stallion jumped over the corpse, and Rarity shot him by instinct. Four rounds hit him in the chest, not as bad as the first. Then, wetness splattered her right side as screaming of bloody murder filled the bunker. She looked to the gunner. He was laying on the ground, not wearing his fragmentation vest, his entire left chest a mush of blood, meat, and bone fragments.

Carrot Top faced the door and yelled as loud as she could, “MEDIC!” She then faced the slit and began firing again.

A medic entered the bunker and started to treat him. Shortly after, a big, meaty Staff Sergeant entered. His rifle looked like a twig to him, Rarity thought.

“YOU, GET ON THAT 60!” He yelled at Rarity.

“AYE SIR!” She yelled back, slinging her rifle and occupying the machine gun.

She pulled the trigger, and the gun let loose. It vibrated harder than the helicopters during turbulence that she experienced during training. She tried to stop, but she couldn’t. When she saw a pony drop, she moved to the next one. One pony had her arm fly off, but Rarity paid no attention to it. The killer instinct that she absorbed during training had kicked in, and she only cared about dropping as many ponies as possible.

After a minute of firing, her body was filled with a tingling sensation. It took her a second to realize that the 60 had finished off its belt and stopped firing. She didn’t know how to reload it, but gunfire all around had stopped. No ponies continued charging down the hill. Even the explosions stopped.

It had been about eight minutes from the first explosion to the last bullet shot.

After recuperating, Rarity’s company went to their camp. They stayed off the path, and stayed kneeled the entire way up, ready just in case there were enemies left. Rarity couldn’t help but noticed the bodies that laid dead and torn on the ground.

Camp Charlie was the base that hadn’t deployed its siren. Every MP in the camp was laying dead, and a good portion of the camp laid destroyed. Fortunately, Rarity’s tent was still semi-standing.

Her company commander started talking. “I want the Equestrian bodies in Tent 5, and get all of your belongings into your footlocker, 5 tons (flatbed trucks) will be here in ten minutes.” They were to stay in temporary tents erected in the field that was used to play football, along with Ke Sanh members and camp members that lost their hooch or tent in the attack. Twenty four were evacuated to the nearest hospital, and seventeen body bags laid in the multi-purpose building. On the radio, Rarity heard that the army started drafting again. She also learned that the ponies attacking were FillyCong. The war had begun....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Da Nang Airbase, 15-08-1965

Twilight Sparkle was sitting in an ACed tent, waiting for word on where she was to go. She was asked by Celestia to enter the Army Officer Corps. She did, and after completing basic, cavalry training, and OCS, she was sent to Fillynam. While the grunts stood on the blacktop in formation, she was sitting in a folding chair in a cooled tent. She finally got word two hours later. She was to be deployed to Forward Operating Base Saigon, four miles Southwest of Saigon. Her and the 1st Cavalry Airmobile were to load up in 5 tons in twenty minutes, and would be situated in the base before nightfall.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dash’s Hooch, 15-08-1965

Rainbow Dash sighed. “I just wish these mares or colts would work with me here. Everypony I’ve tried for, I got nothing. Closest I’ve gotten to what felt right was with AJ, which ended whenever we had that night where I tried to tease her. Fucking life.”

“I’m sorry Dashie, maybe you’ll get lucky after this war. Good things comes to those who wait,” Rarity said while hugging Dash to try and comfort her.

“Yeah, sounds crappy. I wouldn’t even know the feel though. I’ve just spent my time on my farm trying to make a living. Some living it’s turned to be, huh?” said Carrot Top.

“Yeah. I don’t know about you all, but I wasn’t really made for this kind of stuff,” said a unicorn towards the rear of the hooch smoking a cigarette.

A mosquito bit Rainbow Dash. “Goddamnit! There’s a tear in the screens somewhere!”

“No, that was me, sorry,” said Mikey, who just entered the hooch.

“Way to knock on a ladies’ hooch Mikey,” said Dash.

“Ain’t got time for knocking, I’ve come to give y’all a heads up, and Dash a note.”

“What is it?” They all asked.

“Now this isn’t confirmed, but rumor has it we’ll be doing a mission with 3rd Infantry Division of the Army in a few days twenty five miles north of Saigon. I don’t know when though. It could be a span from tomorrow to a week from now. Dash, I’m here because of that. Here, take this.” He handed her a piece of paper that had a red tab on it.

“Why are you writing your death note?” Dash asked?

“I’m point man for both MC and Army if this things launches,” he replied.

“Oh...” Dash said, looking depressed at the fact.

“Hey, don’t worry about it kid.” He ruffled the fuzz on her hair.

“Hey! Knock it out!” She giggled and shooed his arm off.

“You mares sleep well, and make sure your gear is prepped,” Mikey said to the hooch.

“Bye Mikey/Mike/Michael,” the hooch replied, not everypony using the same name for Mikey. With that, he left for his hooch.

“I guess we should get back to our camp to assemble our gear,” Rarity said to Dash.

“Okay, I guess I should arrange mine too,” Dash replied.

Rarity then got up with Carrot Top and left to walk back to their camp, which had been repaired physically from the failed siege of Ke Sanh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FOB Saigon, 16-08-1965

Twilight was awoke by the sound of helicopters taking off. When she left the officers’ quarters, which was an apartment building, she saw members of the 3rd ID (Infantry Division) moving about in utility uniforms to the mess hall. Twilight looked at her watch, 400 hours. “Too early,” she said, and returned to her room. About an hour later she was again awoken from the sounds of chatter and laughter. She looked out her window sleepily and saw 3rd ID in their gear and with their weapons. Twilight went outside to try and find their commanding officer.

“Hey sweetheat!”

“Hey baby, turn around!”

“Aw damn, dat flank!”

Twilight was about to turn around to yell at them, but it was about this time she realized that she took her jammies off before falling asleep. Heavily blushing and embarrassed, she ran back to her room and threw her jammies and slippers on. When she went outside again, her jammie pants almost fell down from the force of the Huey rotor blades. Hueys had just landed and the 3rd ID members were mounting up. Guess she wouldn’t know until the daily briefing. With lack of sleep and remaining embarrassment, she went back her room and slept until morning.

When she woke up, she put on her dress uniform Class B and went to the Briefing Barrack. It was there that they were informed that 3rd ID and Marines were patrolling an area north of Saigon. Those IDs remaining on base were to continue their weekly plans. 1st Cav was to become acquainted with the facility. They all got up to leave except for 1st Cav Colonel Moore and the Base Commander. Twilight was the last to leave, but before she got out of the doorway, the colonel spoke up.

“And Ms. Sparkle, refrain from giving ID a show. How you feel at night is your business, but I don’t want to hear of you roaming base in the nude again. Are we clear?”

“Yes sir,” she replied sheepishly.

“Speak like you have some confidence. Resume your daily plans.”

She quickly left after that, searching for her company commander to get the daily plans.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FOB Saigon, 16-08-1965

Sparkle had just gotten the daily plans for her platoon. Though 1st Cavalry was supposed to be familiarizing themselves with the base, they had new orders to rehearse helicopter assault, also known as airmobility. She set out to find her platoon sergeant.

From across an open patch of concrete, she could hear a pony speaking at her formation with an elevated voice. When Twilight looked over, she saw her platoon. She decided to head on over to read off the plans and meet her platoon sergeant, which she was unable to meet until this moment. When she got closer, she saw everypony in their utility uniforms and wearing their olive headgear (ranging from a military version of the ball cap to bandanas to wool caps). Then she saw an orange pony walk in front of the formation, still speaking loudly. She was in utilities too, but she was wearing her Cavalry Stetson. She had a Sergeant First Class rank on her sleeves, and she looked very familiar to Twilight. The SFC noticed Twilight and immediately turned to her and saluted her.

“Lieutenant Sparkle,” she said before dropping her salute.

Twilight turned towards the formation. “Alright listen up everypony,” she said, “Today we’re going to be practicing air assault again. I know you all have been working on the same procedure over and over again, but command really wants us to get it right, and being realistic with you all, if you don’t rehearse the procedure, you’ll make an error. Errors is what gets soldiers killed. We’re looking to minimize casualties, so do good today, hooah?”

“Hooah!” the platoon replied all at once.

Twilight turned to the orange SFC. “Sergeant, resume your activities.”

“Yes ma'am,” she replied.

Twilight saluted the sergeant real quickly, and after the sergeant raised hers and dropped, Twilight dropped hers and went to her office to plan the rest of the week out based on the company commander’s weekly guidelines.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

25 miles north of Saigon, 16-08-1965

Around 400 hours that morning, roll call was called at the parade grounds of Ke Sanh after early colt’s breakfast. Rarity’s battalion (which also included Dash) was being picked up by Army ID slicks (Hueys) and taken to the landing zone to clear it. Once the helicopters landed, they would rush into cover and wait for things to go quiet before determining if the LZ was hot or cold. Once secured, both battalion in the 3rd ID would land and offload. Once completed, they would all patrol the area all day looking for FIllyCong installments, personnel, or both. When the slicks arrived, her battalion loaded up into 18 slicks and flew to the LZ. It took about half an hour, but the helicopters started to descend.

“One minute!” Said Rarity’s squad leader in their slick. She checked her gear to make sure it was ready. Then she checked herself; it was her first time outside of base, and she might be shot at. Finally, she checked Carrot Top, who was ready to go.

“Ten seconds!”

You could practically jump out now and be fine. Rarity did notice that the LZ was a field, which could only hold six slicks at a time. That meant her platoon would be the only ones on the ground for about a minute.

“Go! Jump! Jump!”

“Rarity grabbed her rifle by its carry handle, and leaped out the side of the Huey. It was only a three to four foot drop, but she could still feel her weight crash onto her hooves, which proved that jungle boots weren’t ideal for jumping around. Once her hooves touched down though, she ran alongside Carrot Top to a small mound where they dove behind and aimed their rifles down range. Ten seconds after getting into cover, Alpha Company’s Hueys lifted off, making room for Bravo Company. It took them only a minute to offload, but it seemed like forever to Rarity. Bravo left, and Charlie Company’s Hueys came in to offload. Charlie’s offloading seemed even longer than Bravo’s even though in real time it was actually faster. Once Charlie Company’s slicks rose, all 18 Hueys left, leaving the LZ in a haze of dead silence. Five minutes passed, then ten. Once it hit around the fifteen mark, Gunnery Sergeants and Lieutenants were yelling at their formations to get ready. 3rd ID was dropping, which would take a long time.

3rd ID’s drop went smoothly. They had six slicks left. When they came in to offload, Rarity though she saw something move in the brush ahead. She instantly focused on that spot. After a few seconds of focusing, she saw an eye peering back at her. She shot. She held the trigger down and sprayed the treeline. Others did the same. Many rifles started firing, and numerous machine guns started chopping into the trees.

After Rarity finished off one and a half magazines, she could hear her LT yelling at everypony.

CEASE FIRE! CEASE FIRE! CEASE FUCKING FIRE GODDAMNIT!”

It took a few seconds, but firing eventually stopped. Rarity and a line of her platoon members cautiously moved towards the treeline. When they reached it, they had killed two ponies. Her Gunnery Sergeant searched the one to her left by a few paces, and she searched the one she spotted. Despite the fire, the first only was only hit once in the chest. His bleeding had stopped, but there was a decent amount of blood soaking his clothes and the dirt underneath them. She eventually found a knife that had the Fillynam Government Seal engraved into the blade.

Her GySgt walked over. “You found the same knife huh?”

“Yes sir,” Rarity replied.

“Must be FC,” he said, and took the knife from Rarity. He gave them to the platoon’s LT, and he put them in his web gear’s buttpack, and wrote something in a notebook.

They continued their patrol without much action. The most action after the LZ incident was when they had to cross a creek. Dash walked over to Rarity and said she could cross first via log. Rarity tried it, but fell in. When they pulled her out, her legs were soaked and there was mud all over the seat of her trousers.

“Ha! Rarity shit herself guys!” Dash exclaimed through her laughter.

“Real funny Dash,” Rarity replied. She noticed Rainbow Dash had set her M60 down, so she pushed her into the creek. When Rainbow Dash got out, her face and throat was covered with mud.

“Aw man, I ate some and it’s down my jacket and undershirt!” she said.

Rarity started to laugh. “Look everypony, Dashie ate and is wearing shit!”

After cleaning themselves up, the two along with their platoon built a bridge with multiple logs.

Most of the patrol, Mikey was in front of everypony. There were moments where he had everypony stop and take cover because he thought he saw something. They were all false alarms though. At around 1545 hours, the Marines started asking their commanders for a break. After practically every Marine asking for one, everypony, Marine and 3rd ID, took a break. Dash, Rarity, Carrot Top, and Mikey ate C-Ration meals in a circle. There wasn’t much chat other than Mikey expressing his concerns with being pointman. At around 1630 hours, everypony resumed the patrol. Once the Joint-Op Commander declared the area as clear, they all went back to the LZ. 3rd ID left while Marines kept the LZ perimeter clear. Once the army left, the Marines loaded up into their helicopters and rode back to Ke Sanh. When Rarity and Carrot Top finished their hike back to camp after landing at Ke Sanh, it was 2047 hours. They woke up around 300 hours.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FOB Saigon, 16-08-1965

After planning and training all day, Twilight was looking forwards to sleeping that night. She had learned that her platoon sergeant was none other than Applejack, who had joined the army about ten years ago. Twilight took a shower, brushed her teeth, and wrote to Celestia about her first day on base. She set the alarm in her wristwatch for the next morning, and remembered her jammies before crawling into bed and falling fast asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.