//------------------------------// // 8: The Guests of Area 13 // Story: The Jolly Rogers // by lockheed //------------------------------// ~~~~~ 10:00 Hours Stableside, Equestria Stableside Golf Course ~~~~~ “Little more to the left fellas!” The stallions in the standard military olive moved the replacement engine over until it aligned with the bolt holes on the new mount. “Perfect! Now bolt it in, hook up all the shit it needs, slap a new cowling on, and let’s get the hell outta here.” The pierced steel planking that had been brought in for the runway stretched out across the golf course as far as they could get it. It was easily almost the entire length of the course before it ended at a small lake. “Well General, if we can’t get it up in time I guess we’ll be swimming.” “Eeyup.” “Sargent! You get that last cowl panel screwed on yet?” A dark blue stallion leaned over the edge of the new engine down at Chris and I. “Almost Colonel. Tightening the last screw now. Aaand done! Catch me boys!” The sergeant jumped down from the wing onto a group of unsuspecting corporals and privates, crushing about half of them. He quickly rose and dusted himself off before trotting away for the command tent. “She’s ready for takeoff. Let’s get her airborne and get back to the base. I think Celestia said she was going to fly that Lieutenant Colonel from your squad out today.” “Oh great. If there’s one more pain in my neck Ah need today it’s one of my guys. Please tell me there’s another plane at the base for me to fly.” “They said the Spitfire’s out of the shop but you’ll have to talk to her pilot beforehand.” “Ok.” All three of us piled into the bomber again and went through the preflight. Then the moment of truth came as we had to start the right outboard engine. “Contact!” The engine sputtered and coughed before roaring to life. “Runs like a charm.” Pushing the throttles forward we taxied over to the psp runway before lowering the flaps and beginning to worry. ‘What if we don’t make it? What if we hit the lake? Can all three of us get out before it sinks?’ I shoved the thoughts out of my mind and pushed down on the brakes before slamming the throttles forward. “Engines are at max rpm sir!” Letting my feet off the brakes the bomber launched down the runway and used up most of it before we were able to get it off the ground. Swinging the gear up we circled around to see all the ponies on the ground waving wildly at us. We all gave a quick wave back before leveling out and heading for the base. ~~~~~ Two Hours Later Area 13 Hangar 21 ~~~~~ My boots made a clicking as I walked across the smooth concrete floor towards the brown and green Spitfire where a man in a blue uniform sat in the cockpit testing the controls. “Are you the pilot of this bird?” “Yes sir. How may I be of assistance?” Climbing out of the cockpit he stepped onto the wing root before jumping down to the floor. “Well Ah’m General Jones and Ah was told to come talk to the pilot.” “Oh well, I’m Group Captain Smith, Joseph Smith.” “Ah figured the rank by the four stripes on the end of your sleeves.” “You know Royal Air Force ranks?” “My uncle was an Eagle Squadron pilot. He had pictures of the men from his squad and all the ranks of the R.A.F. sketched in a notepad.” “Well anyone who served for his majesty is a friend of mine as well as their family. So are you the chap they told me would be borrowing my plane?” “Eeyup.” “So General if you don’t mind my asking, where are you from?” “Originally from Waverly, Illinois. Small town, mostly just farmers and truck drivers.” “That would explain the accent.” “Y’all got a problem with how Ah talk?” “Well you say Ah instead of I, you say y’all, and you just seem to lack proper grammar all together.” “Then Ah or, excuse me, I will have to learn. I grew up out where hoot owls fuck chickens and directions include turning when you see a barn so my English ain’t very good.” “That’s certainly a colorful description of your home town.” “It’s the truth though. So I was wondering if I could fly your beautiful aircraft.” “Of course. But be warned, she doesn’t have the regular controls of American fighters.” I put my foot up onto the step area of the wing and hoisted myself up onto the wing. “Go ahead and climb in and I’ll climb up and give you a quick introduction to the Supermarine Spitfire.” Lifting my foot up through the small open door on the side I put it down onto the floorboards of the fighter and slipped right in. Climbing up onto the wing Captain Smith began going through all the instruments on the dashboard. “And that’s the altimeter. Do you understand it all?” “Sure.” “Fantastic. I’ll have the ground crew open the doors and the tug pull you out. Here’s a helmet with the headset in it and here’s the throat mike. Good luck.” He hopped down and signaled several ground personnel to open the doors. As the doors started spreading apart a small tractor roared to life in the corner of the hangar with a sergeant sitting at the wheel. Driving over in front of the plane he parked and a corporal ran over with a hook up in his hoofs. The plane lurched forward signaling that the fighter had been hooked up to the tug and we rolled out into the bright desert sunlight. A different corporal ran out and unhooked the fighter for the tug to pull away. Taking off my officer’s cap I replaced it with the leather helmet and shut the small door on the side of the cockpit. Plugging the headset in and slipping the throat mike around my neck I carefully plugged it into the headset in the helmet. “Clear prop!” I flipped the magnetos to the start position and watched the propeller spin several times before the engine started up with some small flames shooting out from the exhaust pipes. Slowly moving the throttle forward I taxied the plane out to the runway. “Tower this is Red One, request takeoff from runway 9 left.” “Red One, you’re cleared for takeoff.” Shoving the throttle all the way forward the plane shot off like a rocket for the other side of the field. I pulled back on the stick and felt the plane climb like a homesick angel. My hand reached down and flipped the gear handle before I reached up and slid the canopy shut. As I climbed for nine thousand feet the tower called me on the radio. “Red One, we have an unidentified contact thirty miles north-west of the base. Flight level of six thousand. Intercept and lead them away. If they don’t turn away you’re cleared to fire upon them.” “Roger that.” Banking right I found a heading of three fifteen and scanned the sky for any sign of the unidentified contact. After fifteen minutes of looking I found a small speck on the horizon and banked to get alongside it. Pulling up next to it I dropped the gear and flaps to loose speed and keep alongside it. Looking out the window I could see a griffin in a blue uniform with what looked like a camera gripped in his talons. I began giving hand signals for him to turn around but he seemed to pick up speed after I did. “Tower this is Red One. Contact is not turning around.” “Red One, what is the contact?” “Looks like a griffin with a camera.” “Shoot that bastard down now!” “Roger that.” Pulling the nose up to drop more speed I brought the plane on the verge of a stall to get behind the griffin. When I leveled out I found him directly ahead and almost exactly in the gun sight. Banking a little to the left to adjust to get him in the crosshairs I pushed the button on the controls and let loose a hail of bullets from the four machine guns in each wing. I saw his right wing let loose a small red cloud and he began to spiral towards the ground. Rolling inverted I watched as he spiraled from six thousand to one hundred feet before he managed to extend his crippled wing and glide down to the desert floor. “Tower this is Red One. Contact has been injured and is currently on the desert floor approximately six miles from the base.” “Roger that. We’re sending out a band aid buggy for him. Return to base immediately.” “Copy that. Red One, retuning to base.” Raising the gear and flaps I flew off for the base and landed as quickly as I could. As I taxied towards the hangar where the Spitfire was housed I saw an ambulance returning to base apparently with the griffin inside. Pulling the plane into the hangar I shut down the engine and removed the helmet to hurry for the infirmary. After choking myself from forgetting the throat mike I ran to the infirmary and found the griffin handcuffed to a hospital bed getting his wing stitched up. “Doc, once you’re done with him have the son of a bitch sent over to interrogation.” “Yes sir.” My boot sank into a small spot of sand as I walked out of the infirmary towards the officer’s barracks. Going into the third building I found Thunderstreak and the kids all siting around on their bunks. Lancaster was sitting at a table with six officers and cards in his hoofs. Slamming the cards down he laughed and the officers groaned and swore as they threw their cards on the table while Lancaster scooped up the bits on the table. “The kids a damn cheater!” “No I am not. You simply lack the ability to play cards.” “And you know who’d say that? A cheater!” “Says the Lieutenant with cards in his sleeve.” All eyes focused on the lieutenant’s sleeve and they didn’t look happy. Turning away so I wouldn’t see any ensuing fight I sat down on Thunderstreak’s bunk with her and looked at the mare’s magazine she had in her hoofs. “Is that the magazine that said I was Equestria’s most handsome stallion?” “Yes and when did you start saying I instead of Ah?” “When the Brit in hangar twenty one said I don’t know no proper grammar.” “So I can hear. Why let one person change who you are?” “Same reason I was worried about asking you to the gala. I was worried I wasn’t good enough for you. I just want to be the best I can be for you.” “James, sweetie, you’re perfect just the way you are. You don’t have to change who you are for me or the kids. Just be yourself and we’ll all be fine. Don’t change to be the person other’s think you should be.” “I didn’t plan on doing much more except just saying I instead of Ah. I ain’t learnin’ no damn proper English.” “Good.” Thunderstreak leaned her head against me as she flipped through her magazine. Looking over her shoulder at the article about me I was surprised about how much they knew about me and I chuckled at some of the rumors about me that had started swirling around. As we sat I failed to notice Colonel Ambrose standing in front of us until he cleared his throat. “General, the patient has been moved to interrogation room five and is waiting for you.” “Thank you Colonel. Thunderstreak, I’ve got to go. I’ll be back within a couple hours.” “Ok sweetie. Be careful.” “Yes dear.” ~~~~~ 13:30 Hours Interrogation Room 5 Area 13 ~~~~~ The griffin sat staring at me with blood shot eyes. His blood stained uniform had been torn by both the bullets I had fired at him and the MP’s getting him in the ambulance. “Listen, we can do this the hard way or the easy way. Why were you flying towards the base with a camera?” “Because I like the lighting here, why the fuck do you think?” “And looks like we’re doin’ this the hard way. So why did the socialists send you out here?” “To know what Equestria is up to. Chancellor Gold Feather likes to keep tabs on all the neighboring nations.” “Did you say Chancellor Gold Feather?” “Oh, I forgot you don’t get the paper out here. He was pronounced the new chancellor last night after his opponent met a terrible end.” “What kind of terrible end?” “An assassin shot him in the head while he was at home. Bastard deserved what he got.” “So rather than win by votes your party leader would rather win by having someone who often talks about his wife and four kids shot to death?” “Yes. Speaking of which, how are your marefriend and her kids?” My eye twitched and without thinking I took out my gun and pointed it at him. “What are you going to do General, kill me?” “No. I’m gonna do this.” I pointed the gun at his left knee and fired causing him to scream and clutch at the mangled part of his leg. The door to the interrogation room flung open and Colonel Ambrose rushed in next to me. “For Christ’s sake General. You can’t just shoot him!” “Oh yes I can. Here, watch me do it again.” Taking aim I fired at his right knee and watched a red mist form around his newly destroyed knee. “General, give me the gun before you kill him!” “Touch my gun and you’re next Colonel! Now tell me all of what you were doing here before I decide to blow your god damned head off!” “Alright! I was supposed to take pictures of the base and any aircraft outside their hangers! Equestria isn’t the only nation that figured out how to bring humans to this world and we needed to know what we’re up against! All I’ve found so far is a crazy General with a fucking gun!” “I’m American. Of course I’m gonna be crazy and have a gun. Y’all better consider yourself lucky I don’t put your feet in a blender.” “Just put me out of my misery. Now!” “No. I want you to suffer. I want to see you beg for mercy. And I want you to know that I am the most ruthless son of a bitch you will ever meet.” “You’re insane!” Giving a thumbs up to him I walked out of the room and holstered my gun. Halfway down the hallway Princess Luna approached me with a disapproving look. “James, did you really just shoot the prisoner in the knees?!” “Got information a hell of a lot faster than doin’ it the normal way. The Griffin Kingdom has humans. Once the bastard is healed up he’s gonna talk to me again.” “Why in the name of tartarus would we allow you to go back in and interrogate him?” “Because he knows if I’m crazy enough to shoot him twice within two minutes then I’ll be crazy ‘nough to do it again. Trust me, he’ll talk.” “When you put it that way James I suppose you may be the right man for the job.” “Damn right I’m the right man for the job. Now, while that sack o’ shit is getting’ patched up why don’t you tell me who else is on this base. So far I’ve met Colonel Ambrose and Captain Smith. Who else do I need to meet?” ~~~~~ “Lieutenant Day!” A black man poked his head around the corner or the doorway of the hangar and broke into a grin. “Princess Luna. To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing my favorite princess again?” “Well Rodger, this is General James Jones and I am introducing him to all the other humans on the base.” “Hello General, I’m Lieutenant Rodger Day of the three hundred thirty second fighter group. How can I help you this fine afternoon?” “Well Rodger, I’ve been tasked with building the air armada for the R.E.A.F. and I understand you’re the pilot of an ol’ P-51 Mustang.” “Yes sir! The red tailed bird’s right in here if you want to take a look at her.” Walking into the hangar my eyes locked onto the silver B model Mustang with its tail and wing tips painted blood red. “Oh she’s even more beautiful than I thought.” “Isn’t she? Got four confirmed kills in her. I would have six but that bastard Archer claimed two of mine for himself so he could make ace.” “Yeah, folks ‘ll do that. Dad had three of his stolen from him by Kepford in the Pacific.” “Your old man told me about that. Only difference ‘tween our situations though was he was already an ace. He could afford to lose those three.” Walking across the smooth hangar floor I went over to the immaculate warplane and climbed up onto the wing. “Is the cockpit very roomy Lieutenant?” “More so than you would think.” “Ya mind if I climb in and get a feel for it?” “Go right ahead.” Popping open the top of the canopy I carefully lowered the side of it and climbed inside. Sliding down into the seat I looked around at all the switches, levers, and instruments and felt right at home. “She’s not as complicated as she looks General. She’s fairly easy on the controls for a fighter. Flap leaver is by your left foot. Most of it is reachable without looking away from the windscreen.” “Not bad. I’d like to fly it one day if you’d let me.” “As long as you don’t end up on any golf courses I don’t mind if you fly it.” “Hahaha you’re fuckin’ hilarious.” I deadpanned. Lieutenant Day grinned before he walked away towards a mechanic. “Come along General. There are many more things for you see here. We’ll leave tomorrow for another base in the north. You should feel more at home with the jets there.” “I grew up with old prop planes so I’m a bit more at home with them but I do love the speed.” “You feel the need General.” I froze before turning to glare at Luna. “Luna, don’t you fuckin’ say it.” “The need, for speed.” “And you said it. Austin told you to use that one if you got the chance didn’t he?” “Indeed he did.” “So now I know I need to kick his ass when I get back to Canterlot.” “Actually you won’t be going back to Canterlot for very long. We have decided to build an air field in Ponyville. You’re squadron will be the first ones there and we want you to also head the division that maintains safety regulations for that one and all future bases. Canterlot also wants to celebrate you and your men with a parade this Tuesday. We’re going to commandeer several cars for it that the men on the northern base built during their spare time. My sister has been searching for a reason to borrow those limousines from them and now she has one.” “What make and model are they?” “They said it was a 1962 Lincoln Continental and a 1955 Cadillac DeVille.” Continuing on with our tour of the base we headed for hangar eighteen which had the doors wide open and a B-25 Mitchell sitting inside and a record player sitting on a table not far from the plane. As we stepped over the boundary between outside and into the hangar there was a noticeable temperature drop and we could finally hear the record on the player. “Major Nichols! Are you here?” A red haired man stuck his head out from a hole in the top of the bomber and waved at us with a big grin. “Hey Luna! Come on up!” We climbed up the steps they had against the wing and walked over to the top of the fuselage where Major Nichols was wedged in the crawl space over the bombay. “Luna there should be a wire brush somewhere out there. Can you please give it to me?” Luna floated a small wire brush to him and he began scraping away at the inside of the plane. “Damned thing is starting to rust. I told them boys they can’t drink when they come in the crawl space for a nap. Do they ever listen though? No. Rank means nothing to them.” “Get used to it. Once they see you as a buddy they never respect you. Try to be friendly but be firm at the same time.” “You must be that new general I heard about. I’m Major Grayson Nichols. How you like Equestria so far?” “It’s actually pretty nice aside from the death threats and the war clouds on the horizon.” “Yeah. We hardly ever leave the base so most of the time when we get news from the outside it’s almost a week old.” Grayson tossed the brush out onto the wing and climbed out of the crawl space where a panel had been removed for more room. “Doesn’t matter if you take a panel off, that damn thing is cramped either way.” “Too bad you ain’t in that seventeen out there. Plenty of room in that bird.” “I wish I was. At least that thing has a belly turret. This Mitchell ain’t got shit for underside protection. The older models had one but they took it off starting with the G model I think.” “Well this is a nice J model I’ll say that. What group are you with?” “Three forty fifth bomb group, five oh first bomb squadron.” “So you’re fifth air force. Lot less mosquitoes out here than in New Guinea.” “Definitely. Sergeant, put the needle back on the record! I like to keep music in the hangar so time seems to go faster. Now, if you excuse me I need to check the status of some parts that are getting sand blasted.” We all climbed down from the wing to the floor. “General Jones, I am afraid that I will not have time to show the rest of the base so why don’t you head for the officer’s barracks and try to rest until we head for the northern air field.” “Alright. I might go see that griffin before we leave too.” “Just promise me you won’t shoot him this time.” “I can’t do that.” “Fine, just try your best to refrain from shooting him.” Luna and I parted ways and I headed for the infirmary where hopefully they had patched the griffin up. ‘How would they fix two destroyed knees? Magic maybe? If they could fix up Marko within two days after he survived a plane wreck why not two shots to the knees?’ There was an occasional spot of shade from a cloud overhead as the infirmary grew closer. Walking into the infirmary I could see the griffin lying on a bed on the far side of the room with his knees bandaged and a doctor standing by the bed. As I walked towards the hospital bed the griffin began to squirm and tried to get away. “Calm your shit birdbrain. I’m only here to talk.” “Doctor, can you give us a moment?” “As long as the general agrees not to shoot you in the knees again.” The doctor shot me a look before trotting away. “Now, who are you?” “I am Second Lieutenant Rory Zoller of the Sixty First Reconnaissance Wing.” “Well Lieutenant Zoller, I need you to tell me what humans you have in your country.” “We have two pilots, a tank crew with their tank, and a sea captain. They’re the reason we have such advanced weapons.” “Who are they?” “The tank crews, the captain, and one of the pilots are from a place called the Third Reich and a man from Japan.” “So we’re facing a few Nazis and a Jap. We took ‘em on before so it shouldn’t be that hard.” “That is where you will face a problem General Jones. Our best pilot can out fly the German ace in nine out of ten mock dogfights they get in and is supposed to start training pilots soon.” “Alright, I’ll make you a deal. You switch over to our side, help us get as much info as we can on all we can, and we’ll set you up in a comfy house on one of our bases.” “You have a deal general. I never really wanted to fly for Gold Feather but when the socialists took over my town they gave me an option, either I join their militia or my family and I would be shot. I volunteered for this mission because they said there was a chance the flier would be intercepted. I knew it was my chance to escape. I never planned on you shooting me down or to be such a no good bastard towards you. Guess I got what I deserved.” He looked down at his destroyed knees. “They say I’ll be able to walk with leg braces or I can be in a wheelchair. I’ll take having stiff legs over being a cripple.” “How long until they said you can get out of here?” “A couple weeks until it’s all fine. Until then I’ll talk to your intelligence officers where ever I can.” “Thank you for cooperating with me Lieutenant Zoller. My apologies for shooting you earlier.” “It’s fine general. Maybe one day when the non-too far off war is over I can tell my children I was lucky enough to be shot by the greatest general in Equestria.” “You have children Lieutenant?” “A son and a daughter. My pride and joys. They were the only things that kept me going when the socialists sent me away.” “I’ll try to arrange for a special ops team to go and retrieve them for you.” “Thank you general. You are a far kinder man than you first let on.” I smiled and left the infirmary for the officer’s barracks to try and get some sleep before leaving for the other base in the morning. ~~~~~ 20:50 Hours Officer’s Barracks Area 13 ~~~~~ Thunderstreak shifted in an attempt to stay on the bunk with me and still somehow hold on to her book. “Having a tough time there honey?” “They sure as tartarus didn’t design these bunks for couples did they?” “Unless Liberace is in charge of an all-male base, no they didn’t.” Finally getting fed up with trying to lie next to me, Thunderstreak climbed up onto me with her book. Flipping her book back open on my chest she continued reading. “Comfy?” “You aren’t a mattress but yes. Very. You know, Lancaster asked me earlier if I was going to marry you. I think he’s rushing us.” “Sounds like it.” “He really likes you ya know. Even though you two haven’t spent much time together he really looks up to you. Anyone who can make one star general in a few days after joining the air force is a hero to him.” “Well from being around him as little as I have I can tell he’s a good kid, as long as he’s not planted in front of that damn TV.” “He wants you to take him flying sometime.” “I can arrange that. So when we get off the base in the north we’ll have a couple days in Ponyville before we have to go to Canterlot for that parade, and well, I was thinking about looking for a house there.” “Are you hinting you want me to move in with you?” “If you want me to be. I guess I wouldn’t be the only one to be rushing us if I did.” “Well, I suppose since it is Ponyville it would be a smaller school so the kids might do better. Less crime in a small town that’s for sure. And if it’s a real house instead of an apartment it would definitely give us all more room. James, I know it is a bit rushed but can we move in with you if you buy a house in Ponyville?” “You know it. I can’t remember the last time anyone has made me as happy as you. You are the most wonderful girl I’ve ever dated.” “And you are the most wonderful guy I have ever dated. I hope we run into one of my ex-husband’s just so I can show them I upgraded to a nice guy.” I could feel more eyes on me so I turned to see Lancaster standing by the bunk staring at us. “Are you going to marry my mum?” “Well kiddo it’s only been five days since I took her to the gala so not yet. But she did say she would move in with me if I buy a house in Ponyville.” “So we get to live with you?!” Lancaster’s smile went from ear to ear at the thought. “Sure do.” “Are there many kids for me to play with?” “I know at least three fillies that will be all over you since you ain’t got a cutie mark.” “Yay! Let’s go now!” “We’ll go after I finish some business at another base.” “How long will we be there?” “We’ll leave Sunday morning for Ponyville and then your mom and I will be going to Canterlot for a parade on Tuesday.” “Can I come?” “It’s probably best if you stay home with your brother and sister if we get a house in Ponyville. But it’s supposed to be on the TV so you can watch it which is almost like being there.” “Fine.” Lancaster trotted away for the table at the end of the barracks where a small TV had been put. “Well we know at least one of them will be happy about the move.” “It’s like a song I used to listen to as a kid but instead of a girl telling me I’ll be wed it’s a kid telling me I need to marry his mom.” “And if you got any better at singin’ from when you were a kid you should sound about like Dino or Presley by now. Looking over to the area on the right of the bunk I saw dad sitting there with a beer. “James sang as a kid?” “Sure did. Won first place in the seventh grade talent show.” “It was eighth grade.” “Close enough. Kid had a voice as smooth as silk and could damned near sing any song you gave him.” “Well than I’m disappointed he hasn’t serenaded me yet.” “I did at the Apple’s house but you were too drunk to remember.” “Then do it when I’m sober.” “I’ll save it for the wedding.” “So there is going to be a wedding. Nice to know Ah’ll be getting a daughter-in-law.” “Can you please go?” “Oh, sorry junior. I’ll just go see what my future grandkids are up to.” Dad walked away towards the kids with the beer still in his hand. “James, he’s you’re dad. Maybe try to connect with him. He hasn’t seen you since you were a kid and he never got to see you grow up into a man. I wish my dad had made an effort to get to know me so I’m not letting you push him away.” “Fine, I’ll hang out with him tomorrow but right now it’s time for bed.” “Alright but there is no way I can sleep on your stomach.” “Thunderstreak, I sleep on my side so there should be room for you. And just in case I’ll hold onto you. Now grab that blanket while I get out of this damn uniform.” Climbing off me Thunderstreak grabbed a blanket off the foot of the bunk as I striped down to my underwear and began putting on a grey wife beater that I had Rarity make. Spreading the blanket out Thunderstreak then climbed back into the bunk and waited for me to lie down. As I slid the shirt down I suddenly felt a hoof on the right side of my back stopping the shirt from going down further. “James, what is this scar on your back?” “Some friends and I got involved in a bar brawl when I was eighteen and one of the guys pulled a knife. Cut my back open and I had to get stitches. Cut almost down to the ribs but you can’t kill a Waverly Scottie, you can only piss him off.” “You were a busy boy when you were young.” “Yep. Now, let’s get some shuteye.” Lying down beside Thunderstreak I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her towards me, feeling her fur brush against the exposed part of my chest. “I love you James.” “Love you too honey. I love you too.”