P.O.V.-Baker
At that moment I realized something was very wrong. Should I open fire or just let them pass. Or, I could go out and talk to them. But what if they were hostile? What if this was some kind of trap by the Germans? It may seem like a difficult choice, but when you know every choice you make determines the lives of your men, the answer is usually quick and clear.
P.O.V.- Third Person
“What? Why can’t we open fire?” Japer whispered to his commander.
“We don’t know what we’ve gotten ourselves into, Jas. Just let them pass us,” Baker answered.
“Besides, what’s the worst they could do?” said Courtland.
“Well…they could run up to us and explode!” Jasper exclaimed in a hushed voice.
“Really, Jas?” Baker deadpanned. “They don’t know we’re here, so just let them go by.”
Little by little, the would-be targets moved out of sight, though it wasn’t until it was totally silent that the men felt secure again. They got out from their positions in the woods and regrouped on the narrow road.
“What the hell is going on here?” asked Corrion, who was more curious than anything.
“I’m not sure, but we have to have to keep moving,” Baker said. “I’m guessing that there’s some sort of civilization in the direction we came from. Maybe we can find some answers there.”
“Yea, or a bunch of new bad guys that want to roast us over an open fire,” said Jasper.
“It’s just recon, we’ll run in, see what we can find, run out, and report back,” Baker said. “Now let’s get moving, from what I can see the sun’s going down.”
“Christ, how can you even tell in this place?” McCreary said. “This forest is way worse than the ones in France.”
The troops started to march down the road once again, this time being far more attentive to their surroundings. They kept their eyes open for anything that looked out of the ordinary; but, as they went on, such sights became more and more common.
The fog that covered the forest floor seemed to thicken. Large, strange shadows stalked them. The trees at one point seemed to be making the evilest of faces. It was really a test of even the older vet's nerves as the tried not to lose it.
They continued to go down the road for a couple of hours. They constantly held their weapons at the ready. Several strange noises followed them during their trip; most them sounded like the low growls of a predator stalking its prey. The men were becoming anxious, hoping they would soon exit the terrifying place.
Eventually, they came across a sign that seemed to answer that question, but raise more. It was a small, old wooden sign on the side of the road; being little more than a stick with another plank of wood fashioned to point in the direction they were already going. What was off was the name and that it was in English.
“Ponyville,” Franky read. “What kind of name is that?”
“It’s not Dutch, that’s for sure,” Corrion answered. “Does anyone see any other signs; maybe to Eindhoven?”
“I don’t see any others,” McCreary answered.
Before anyone else could speak, the squad heard something; like the snapping of twigs and rustling of leaves in the forest. Soon, it was followed by a low growl.
“Oi! You hear that?” Dawson asked.
“Yeah, sounds like it’s in front of us, somewhere in the woods,” Baker answered. “I don’t like this. Get ready guys.”
There wasn’t much cover on the road, and everyone knew it was unwise to run into the forest where the noise was coming from. The troops knelt down and scanned their surroundings; Jasper got into a prone position and covered the front of the road with the 30.
The men waited for a few tense seconds before they heard a much louder roar, followed by a massive beast jumping out onto the road and began charging t them. The troops immediately swung around to face the new opponent. No order was needed as all ten opened fire on the animal, stopping it in its tracks.
The whole encounter lasted about ten seconds. The large predator, which might have stood a chance if it was just one soldier, was overwhelmed by the barrage of bullets. Even after it hit the ground in a bloody heap, the men continued the barrage until Baker ordered a cease fire. The forest became quiet again, save for the clicking sound of reloading guns.
He cautiously approached the animal, checking for signs of life. After putting a couple more bullets from his M1 Garand into its now exposed skull for good measure, he began to look it over. At first he thought it was some kind of lion, but upon closer inspection, found that it had a large scorpion tail and the wings of a bat.
“What the hell is that thing, sarge?” Franky asked.
“I don’t know. Looks like some kind of weird hybrid creature,” Baker said, struggling to find the words to describe it.
“Well, one thing is for certain guys,” Corrion said, “We sure as hell aren’t in Kansas anymore.”
The men fell quiet for a second, letting the thought come in. If they weren’t in The Netherlands, then where were they? McCreary was the first one to respond to this thought, trying to lighten the mood.
“It would’ve been funnier if Paddock were here to say that,” he said, referring to third squad’s Kansas native.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, everyone couldn’t help but chuckle a bit; eventually it broke out into a round of laughter.
“Heh, alright, alright,” Baker called to his men, trying to calm them down. “Let’s keep it moving. I guess the next stop will be Ponyville.”
Twilight couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She didn’t know exactly what to expect when her and her friends arrived, but this was certainly one of the crazier things. Standing near the forest clearing where they could get a good view, but far back enough so that they wouldn’t be seen, they observed the fields.
There were bi-pedal creatures running about each doing some sort of task; and, they were everywhere.Each one wore clothes; more specifically, some type of green uniform. Some of the others were light brown. Each one also wore a metal helmet on their head. Also noticeable was that each uniform had symbols; some had a white heart painted on their helmet, while others had what looked like a spade. Some had a single yellow stripe on their side, while others had three; some even had diamonds on their shoulders. There were two things on each uniform, a strange symbol that looked like a flag on one side, and what looked like an eagle's head on the other.
They worked with a number of strange machines, such as long wooden and metal sticks that made a loud pop like thunder. Others had some kind of machine that they road around in at astonishing speeds; and it didn't seem to be pulled or pushed by something. It was truly shocking to see such a force.
“Huh, they looked a lot weaker when they were floating down,” Rainbow said, stunned by the sight.
“What do you suppose they want?” Applejack asked.
“I’m not sure,” Twilight answered. “But, I think it’s best if we let the Princess know before we try anything. Let’s watch a little more, then head back.”
They continued to watch, seeing another flying machine come overhead. Just as Dash said, more of the creatures jumped out and plummeted towards the ground. Before they hit it, some kind of chute would come out of their back and restrained them, allowing them to float safely to the ground.
“It’s amazing! How do they make that thing fly?” Twilight thought out loud.
“I curious as to what they make those chute things out of,” Rarity said. “And their clothing style is quite…interesting, as well.”
Before they could continue, they hear a series of pops, similar to the ones the creature’s sticks made. But, these were more far off, and they came from behind them.
“Did you hear that?” Dash asked. “That came from behind us, near Ponyville!”
“Let’s hurry back,” Twilight said. “Something bad might have happened.”
Doubling back down the road, the six ran through the forest. They were about halfway back to town when they reached the sign. Just in front of it was a horrifying sight. A Manticore was lying dead in the road in a pool of its own blood.
Each of them displayed varying degrees of shock. Fluttershy turned her head away and cried softly, Pinkie’s mane fell straight in a depressed state, and Rarity outright fainted. The others stood back as Twilight moved forward to inspect it.
She looked it over, trying her best not to be sick. She found that there were dozens of small holes in the animal. To kill a creature as deadly as a Manticore must have required something with a lot of power; something that was very deadly. From the sound of those pops they heard earlier, she guessed that they must have come from the creatures.
“What should we do, Twi?” Applejack asked.
“We keep going and tell the Princess about this as soon as we get back.”
“Hey, look at these tracks!” Rainbow yelled from her spot.
Going to where she was, they found several prints in the dirt. It was hard to tell, but there were so many that they were easily recognizable. They weren’t hoof prints, however. These were longer and less round, and they all pointed towards their home town.
“Oh no!” said Twilight as she realized the final part. “Those things must be heading towards Ponyville!”
“What!?” Rarity yelled, snapping out of her seemingly sub-conscious state.
“We have to hurry! Who knows what they’ll do if they get to town before us!”
Baker and his men had finally reached the end of the forest. When they got out, they were greeted by the scene of a small village. It seemed to be made up mostly of cottages, and the residents were of the same kind of horses they had spotted earlier. It was already dark, so most of the remaining ones seemed to be heading into their individual homes.
“What should we do, Matt?” Corrion asked as the squad gathered around and took a knee to listen.
“Ok, at least we’ve found out where those horse things came from. Let’s head down there and see if we can’t get some answers.”
“But we still don’t know if they’re hostile or not,” Dawson said.
“Then we’ll just have to do this quietly,” he said as he stood up. “On me guys, and stay on your toes.”
The troops jogged quietly into town, keeping an eye open for anything major. Most of the residents were already sleeping soundly at this point, but the troops still stuck to the alleyways so as not to attract attention.
“Where are we even going?” Courtland asked.
“I was hoping to find the town square, but now I don’t know,” Baker replied. “Let’s just keep looking and see what we can find. We’ll start by going into houses; with any luck, the owners won’t be home and we can find something useful.”
“Where should we start?” Franky asked.
“What about the one across the street? There’s no lights on inside,” McCreary suggested pointing to the strange looking house.
“The hell is that thing made of, gingerbread?” Holden whispered to himself.
The troops hustled across the street, being careful to avoid any beams of light. They all stacked up in front of the doorway, with Corrion on one side and Courtland on the other. On Baker’s order, Courtland quietly checked to see if the door was locked and, upon discovering that it was, promptly kicked it in. The men poured in, quickly and quietly, checking around for any signs of hostiles. When the call of ‘clear’ echoed, the men relaxed.
“Alright guys,” Baker said as he found and flipped the light switch. “Check for anything that could tell us where we are or- Zano, what the hell are you doing!?”
The men looked over to see the corporal munching happily away at a set of what looked like a set of fresh cupcakes.
“Wha?” he asked, trying to finish chewing before he spoke again. “They’re pretty good! Certainly better than the crap we get in the rations.”
Baker opened his mouth to respond, but closed it when he heard something at the door. Spinning around with guns at the ready, the men came face to face with the same six creatures they saw in the woods earlier.
The looks on their faces differed in each. The pink one seemed to be confused, the blue one looked like she was ready to charge the soldiers, and the rest had solid fear displayed on their features.
The men’s faces were mostly the same. A hint of fear in each that didn’t show from behind a wall of determination and focus, all of them pointing their weapons at the new arrivals. Only Zanovich, who was standing over to the side with his BAR in one hand and a half eaten treat in the other, was different; displaying a look of surprise and confusion.
There was absolute silence. During the standoff, none spoke for fear of the consequences. Everything would have gone quite bad if it wasn’t for Pinkie unintentionally breaking the deadlock.
“Hey! Those are my cupcakes you’re eating!” she said, pointing a hoof to Zanovich.
“Huh? Oh, sorry,” he replied.
“It’s ok!” she said as she bounced over to him. “I’m always glad to see sompony enjoy my work!”
“Well thanks, I guess,” he replied.
“My name’s Pinkie Pie! What’s yours?” she asked, getting very close to his face.
“Uh, Thomas Zanovich.”
“Zano-what now? That’s a funny name!” she giggled, causing the paratrooper to blush a bit from embarrassment.
“W-well you can just call me Zano if you like.”
“Zano? That’s even funnier!” she laughed. “I think I’ll call you that!”
Zanovich groaned in frustration, causing McCreary to chuckle a bit. His chuckle then became an all-out laughter that spread around to the other and caused the men to relax and lower their weapons.
“I guess we should start working things out now,” Baker said to the group of mini horses.