Chapter six
Author notes: all I have to say right now is that I am thankful to those who support me and give me hints on how to make my story better. I hope you enjoy it.
Shawn woke up to the smell of smoke, he crawled out of his sleeping bag seeing Scott kneeling in front of a fire. Shawn walked over and saw he was munching on a ration bar, his helmet laid to the side and his body armor was on the hood of the hummer.
"mourning" he said digging into his pack and handing Shawn a ration bar.
"thanks" Shawn took the bar, "where's Joseph and the other three"
"well Bert is still sleeping "he said pointing at the snoring man,"Ashely's is in the tank doing lord knows what, Joseph took a jog and harry is tending to his baby"
"his baby" Shawn asked.
"the .50" Scott explained
Shawn nodded as he kneeled beside Scott. Both men were in tank tops but Scott wore his dessert pants and Shawn wore his flight suit with the top hanging down. They chatted for a bit while eating their breakfast. Ashley came out and joined them. they started telling stories.
"and that's when we saw them hiding behind the sand dune" Ashley said, "so we rolled right up behind them and shot them in the fucking ass"
"haha I don't have any stories like that except the dogfight when I came here" Shawn said.
"well I got one" Scott said, "okay so I was with my squad in this small town. Intel said they saw some heat signatures in there. so of course they made us go and check it out. Well there were people, people with RPGs' and guns. They opened up on us. Half of my team was wiped out with the first volley of death that rained down on us"
"Harry was with me. He was making that gun fire so much I thought it was going to melt. I ran into a building only to bump face to face with one of those bastards" he took out a knife from his belt, "he knocked me down and shoved this against my throat. At about the moment I thought I was going to die but the guy's head exploded. I looked up to see Harry aiming the .50 at the doorway."
"we won but at the price of a third of my squad" he said
"that's rough" Shawn said.
"you get use to it" Scott said shrugging and went back to his rations.
The three got up and Shawn asked about their supplies.
"well we got enough shells to level that town" Ashley said, "and we got plenty of fuel"
"I got about six boxes of ammo for the .50 and more than enough for m-16s " Scott said.
"I have two missiles left and two sidewinders. Plenty of ammo for the guns" Shawn said," well what do you guys suggest we do now"
"I suggest we get to know our surroundings better" Joseph said walking up to the group, "there are plenty of things I saw while jogging that I would like to learn more about"
"sounds good to me" Shawn said, "I haven't really seen all that much"
"fine with me" Scott said.
"hell yeah I haven't seen squat yet" Ashley yelled.
"shut it Ashley" Bert yelled, "I'm trying to sleep!"
Ashley got up and walked over to where Bert was laying and yelled into his ear, "I'm sorry for being so LOUD!"
Bert grabbed his ear flinching as Ashley yelled, "what the hell" he yelled back. He was glaring at her but he saw Joseph standing there and he looked away.
"you got lucky this time" Bert muttered. Ashley just smiled and walked back to the group. Harry came running up, "what happened? I heard yelling" he asked.
"calm down Harry it just typical Ashley and Bert" Scott said
"oh" he said, "what you guys talking about anyways"
"just figuring out what to do" Shawn said.
"I would like to look around" Harry said.
"okay I think it's settled" Joseph said, "we are going on a little sightseeing"
Everyone nodded and climbed in the hummer. Bert came running tucking in his shirt,"hey! Where am I supposed to sit" he asked
"you can sit up here" Harry said.
Bert climbed up the jeep and stuck his legs inside the gun hole. He slapped the ceiling saying, "hit it boy!"
"alright how about some music everyone?" Scott asked smiling.
Joseph shrugged, "why the hell not"
Scott inserted a disk into the little radio he had on the floor near him. He pressed the play button and a heavy beating drum and bass ranged out from the speakers. Scott stepped on the gas and the hummer sped off.
They went around the town, Shawn noticed it was void of any ponies. Probably hiding from us he thought. They drove by the hospital and Shawn asked if they could stop.
"why? It looks like a normal hospital" Scott asked.
"well when I came here the first day I accidentally shot one a pony" Shawn said rubbing his head, "I want to pop in and say I'm sorry, plus I'm curious to know how it's doing"
"what do you mean by a pony" Ashley asked.
"come on Ashley it's better for you to see what he means" Joseph said.
They stopped and Scott turned off the music. They all got out of the hummer and entered the hospital. When they opened the door a pony wearing a nurse hat was behind the counter. She was shocked as the six humans walked up to her.
"hey um... Do you know where a Pegasus is? It was wearing a blue suit and goggles" Shawn asked.
"y...you m..ean the wonderbolt" the nurse asked.
"ah yes that one!"Shawn said.
"down the hall r...room 215" the nurse said shivering.
"thanks" he said
He walked down the hall and seeing the room labeled 215 Shawn opened it up and entered. He saw a Pegasus with a orange and yellow mane laying in a bed, it's wing had a heavy bandage around it. The Pegasus turned around and jumped a little bit at the sight of Shawn.
"what are you doing here" the Pegasus glared daggers at him.
"just here to say sorry. I wasn't trying to hit you" Shawn said.
"what the hell!" Bert yelled from the lobby.
"for once in my life I agree with Bert! What the hell!" Ashley yelled.
"you two calm down" Joseph yelled.
"how can you say that! There are talking ponies" Bert yelled back pointing at the scared nurse.
"that's it soldier! Drop down and give me another hundred!" Joseph fumed.
"b...but really. Talking ponies!" Bert said.
"now private!" Joseph said.
Bert looked at Joseph and then dropped down and started doing pushups. Few patients at the hospital looked out their rooms to see Bert doing pushups and Joseph standing over him saying out loud, "one...two...three..."
A doctor strode into the lobby and looked at Bert. He walked back the way he came slowly trying not to be noticed.
"I uh..think it's time for me to go" Shawn said.
He ran into the lobby, "come on Bert get up we're leaving" Shawn said and turned to the nurse apologizing.
They all got back in the hummer and drove off. Scott had turned the music back on. "hey guys! I think we might want to head up to that city on the side of the mountain!" Shawn yelled over the music.
"why" Scott asked.
"I think the princess would like to meet you" he said.
Scott looked at Joseph who shrugged, "why not" he said.
They were driving along a dirt road up to the city known as canterlot. They were laughing as they told jokes. When they stopped with the jokes they listened to the heavy beat of the songs that were playing. They reached the city in no time, they drove through the gates and drive along the narrow streets up to the castle. The ponies they drove by we're staring at them in shock as the armored attack vehicle roared past them blaring music.
They were stopped at the castle gate as three pagans us guards on gold armor stood in front of them.
"halt ...what b..business do you have within the castle" one of the guards said.
"what did he say" Ashley asked yelling over the music
"I dunno" Harry yelled.
"Scott turn that damn thing off" Joseph yelled.
"what" Scott yelled back.
Shawn leaned forward punching the off button.
"what did you say" Shawn asked the guard.
The guard said, "what business do you have within the castle"
"oh my god I still can't get over the fact that they talk" Bert muttered to himself earning a glare from Joseph.
"we would like to see celestia" Shawn said.
"I'm sorry but you have to have royal business in order to see the princess" the Pegasus said.
"uh huh how about you go tell the princess that Shawn wants to talk" he said.
the guard left and returned in a couple of minutes, "you may enter" he said
They drove up to where the doors were and hopped out. They entered the castle to see a waiting celestia.
"Shawn how good to see you" she gazed upon everyone else, "and who are they" she asked
"captain Joseph walker. U.S. fifth armor division" Joseph said.
"same here 'cept I'm a private" Bert said
"I'm Ashley same as Bert there" she said.
"Scott Deckard second division of the U.S. army" Scott said.
"Harry colt. I man the gun next to Scott" he said.
"well its very nice to meet all of you .come I would like to hear your story" she said.
They all headed to her quarters and entered. Joseph started out by telling his,Bert's,and Ashley's story. Scott told celestia of being ordered to drive along side Joseph and his crew.
"hmm so all of you saw and entered a strange bright light" she said, "that's very interesting" after talking for awhile more Shawn asked about the fighter pilot being held here.
"oh him? I allowed him to leave yesterday" she said.
Shawn looked back at Joseph, "we need to get back to the jet. Now!" he yelled
The ran out of the room leaving celestia there confused. After passing some servant and guards they reached the jeep and sped off back towards the town. They sped past applejack who jumped as the hummer roared past her. They reached the jet to see the Iraq fighter pilot climbing into the it.
"stop him!" Shawn yelled.
The pilot spun around and saw them racing towards him. He scrambled into the cockpit and closed the canopy. Scott spun the wheel making the hummer skid to the right allowing Joseph to raise the m-16 stored in the hummer. He sighted in the pilots head and shot one single bullet. The bullet shot through the glass, went through the pilot's head and went through the other side of the canopy.
They saw the pilot's head jerk to the side and then slump forward.
"haha nice shot Joseph" Bert said.
"thanks" he said switching the gun back to safety.
Shawn jumped out and ran to his precious jet. He climbed up and opened the canopy. He didn't even need to check the pilot's pulse. One look at the bullet hole in his head said it all. Shawn dragged the dead body out of the cockpit and laid it on the ground.
"what do we do with him" Ashley asked.
Shawn sighed looking at the man he tried to kill when he got here. He looked around and said, "we do what we would do with anyone else. Bury him"
"your kidding aren't you" Bert asked," remember what he did to your squadron. And he just tried to steal your jet"
"that doesn't matter now! What do you want to do Bert! Leave him here?" Shawn yelled.
Bert looked away and grunted. "I agree with Shawn" Scott said.
"as do I" Harry said.
A few hours of silence was done when everyone separated to go look for sticks and logs to use as a fire for the burial of the dead pilot. They were taking the body to the pile of sticks and logs when celestia, twilight, rainbow, rarity, and some other pony walked up to the group. Shawn and the others didn't notice them walk up. They continued to put the body on the pile. Joseph walked over the tank grabbing a stick with cloth on it and proceeded to light it. He walked back over throwing it on the pile if sticks.
The fire slowly spread to cover the entire pile. Everyone including the ponies watching could see the body being licked at by the flames.
" should we say something" Ashley asked.
" how about just a moment of silence" Shawn said.
Ashley nodded. They stood there as the body burned. Celestia leaned down to whisper to twilight," I think it's best to come back in the mourning" twilight nodded and motioned to the other ponies to leave.
The group of humans slowly dispatched leaving only coals and ash behind. Ashley moved over to Shawn saying," why are you so...saddened for that guy"
" partly because I haven't been in the air force that long and also partly because he's human too" he said.
Ashley nodded and patted him on the shoulder. She went back to her sleeping bag. Shawn stayed up until the others were asleep. He got up to go to the jet and looked inside the cockpit seeing the blood in the canopy. He looked around and saw a piece of paper laying on the bottom of the cockpit. Shawn leaned in a grabbed the paper; opening it he saw a picture drawn by a child, the picture was of the child and a man holding hands. By what little Arabic he knew the writing on the picture said " daddy". Shawn squeezed the paper.
" god. Why do I feel so horrible about this man" he asked.
He sighed heavily and slipped the picture into his pocket. Returning to his sleeping bag he lowly fell asleep dreaming about the shooting over and over.
"good. Very good. The first one is starting to crack" a tall figure said standing at the forest edge.
A smaller figure next to the taller one chuckled," this was a brilliant plan my king"
The tall figure whipped around and hissed," quiet you fool. come. Let's head back."
Author notes: hmmm yes. Things are getting quite interesting. Well just hold on till tomorrow and find out.