Vietnam 1969. The Vietnam conflict rages on. Three Vietnamese brothers, fighting in the ARVN, NVA and VC have the same goal: Protect a lost filly
Vietnam 1969. The War rages on, The US troops slowly pull out. Three Vietnamese brothers, seperated since 1960, get united through a lost child in need. A child named Petunia Paleo.
Vietnam. A country that hadn’t seen peace for a very long time. Once it was a country under French colonial rule in the 19th century until the middle of the 1930s, then ruled by the Japanese from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and then plunged into the First Indochina War shortly after, as France tried to restore its colonial rule in 1946. In 1954, the French lost to the Viet Minh, the “League for the Independence of Vietnam”, a national coalition seeking independence for Vietnam from the French colonial empire.
As a result, Vietnam was divided into the North, a communist state supported by the Soviet Union and China, while the South was a democratic state supported by the United States.
But even after the colonial force was defeated, the League for the Independence of Vietnam, reformed into the National Liberation Front in 1960, wanted to overthrow the anti-communist government of South Vietnam and reunite the country. The Communist-ruled North Vietnam supported the NLF, the USA supported South Vietnam militarily. More and more ground forces of US troops, ordered to fight the National Liberation Front, were sent into South Vietnam as time passed. In response, China and the Soviet Union sent out troops to support the North.
It escalated from a civil war to a full-scale military war, which some people used to call the second Indochina War. For the US soldiers, it was known as the Vietnam War.
The U.S. government viewed involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam. It was a part of their wider strategy of containment. The North Vietnamese government viewed the war as a colonial war, fought initially against France, backed by the U.S., and later against South Vietnam, which it regarded as a U.S. puppet state. U.S. military advisors arrived beginning in 1950. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with U.S. troop levels tripling in 1961 and tripling again in 1962. U.S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965.
The first US troops were US Marines, equipped with their own artillery, helicopters and tanks, The US Army followed later. There was also the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, or MACV, the United States' unified command structure for all its military forces in South Vietnam during the Vietnam Conflict. It was created on February 2, 1962 in response to military assistance in South Vietnam, due to the threat of an attack from North Vietnam. Most known of MAVC was the Studies and Observations Group, short MACV-SOG, a highly classified, multi-service United States special operations unit which conducted covert unconventional warfare operations prior to and during the Vietnam War.
South Vietnam had its own army, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, commonly abbreviated to ARVN, completely supplied by the United States in weaponry and vehicles. Once the Vietnam War fully started, the ARVN saw less and less action in the war, mostly being replaced by American forces on the battlefield. Usually, the ARVN came after the initiation of American operations and supported American troops. ARVN forces also stayed within occupied cities and areas to defend them against counter-attacks.
In tactics, the Viet Cong, a lightly armed South Vietnamese front of communist sympathizers, largely fought a guerrilla war against anti-communist forces in the region, whereas the Vietnam People's Army engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing large units into battle. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, and airstrikes.
While the Western forces won most of the battles, the US forces had suffered heavy casualties throughout the years, the costs were rising rapidly and moral was dropping, as many had been pushed to their limits.
So, the US slowly pulled its troops out of Vietnam, planning to let the ARVN be the bulk of the remaining anti-communist aligned forces.
Hoang em Binh was one of the ARVN soldiers, patrolling the jungle with a soldier of the US Army, Ethan King. King was one of the first Army soldiers in Vietnam and served here ever since. Like many of his comrades, he had good morale at the beginning of the war. He was thirty years old, being a father and a husband, his family was what kept his spirits high. He had brown hair and green eyes.
Hoang was twenty-seven years old, having brown hair and eyes. He got drafted into the army and disliked fighting his fellow countrymen. As the Army of Republic of Vietnam got supplied by the United States, he was wearing a brown and tan uniform and had a M16 assault rifle as primary weapon, a M1911 as sidearm and a knife for close combat, the same loadout as King as they were both Riflemen, or Grunts as they were called sometimes. The battalion the young Vietnamese was in was one of the few that still saw action.
The M16 had low recoil, a high rate of fire and medium damage. Simply a very versatile weapon. While it was forbidden for the Western forces to use an AK-47, as it would cause friendly fire, Hoang liked the wooden design of it.
The American smacked himself. “Bugs! I really can’t wait to see my family again. How’s your mother, Binh?” He asked his comrade in English. They were best friends since they first have met back in 1965. The ARVN soldier could perfect his English due to the South being allied with the USA. He often helped Ethan often communicate with the villagers.
“Good, she’s just worried sick about me and my two brothers, she doesn’t want to lose any of us.” He had a younger and older brother. Back in 1960, their mother and father had an argument. Father believed into the communist ideology of the North, claiming it would be better for all of them. Mother, however, was against it. They never had any problems with the democratic government, their village was far in the south and was spared from all conflicts.
Yet, in his almost fanatic believe, father took Dung, Hoang’s older brother, with him to the North. Binh was just eighteen, Dung was twenty-three back then, now thirty years old if he hadn’t been killed, as he was possible in the Army of North Vietnam. Their youngest brother, Dang, was just fourteen, now he would be twenty-three, if he was still alive. He vanished shortly after father left with Dung. Rumors said that Dang got recruited by the National Liberation Front, also known as Viet Cong to the US forces. They were known to recruit by holding their recruits at gunpoint.
That scared Hoang, fearing he could kill his brothers. No matter what, he still cared for them.
“I got ya. I’m sorry for you and your mother, this entire war cost us all too many lives already. I pray for you and your brothers that you all survive and be reunited someday.” Hoang had told King once about his family and was glad that the US Soldier cheered him up whenever he could.
“Thanks. But watch your step, there could be booby traps, landmines or snipers everywhere.”
“Isn’t my first time.” Ethan replied, always wary.
As they continued to patrol, a strange sound invaded their ears, a sound that shouldn’t be here. The voice of a child. Crying, calling out for it's parents.
“Do you hear that?” King scanned his surroundings.
“Yeah, I do. Let’s investigate that.”
They moved slowly towards the source of the crying voice, coming from tight brushwood.
Both nodded at each other and the young Vietnamese asked in his language, “Hello?”
The brushwood shook violently. “Who-s t-there? P-please…help me.” The voice belonged to a young girl. A very scared young girl.
It pained both to hear the child like this, although they wondered why child had been lost in the middle of the endless jungle of Vietnam.
“We won’t hurt you.” They lowered their rifles to show they meant to harm.
“I can’t move, I’m stuck. It hurts.” The girl cried in pain.
“Don’t worry, we will help you.” Hoang shouldered his rifle and reached for his knife, pushing the brushwood aside, while King secured the area, watching for trouble. What came into view shocked him and his friend.
Before them was not a human girl as they had expected, but a filly with blue eyes, matching coat and a blue mane with brighter strands. Her left hind leg was stuck between a few thorny branches, bleeding. Tears streamed from her eyes.
In shock, both men stared, unable to proceed what they just saw. A talking foal? No, impossible! I think the war and the heat are too much for me! Both shared the same thoughts, shaking their heads, trying to get their minds clear, but it didn’t help.
“Please, help me! It hurts!” Her cry of pain tore them out of their thoughts, proving that their minds weren’t playing tricks on them.
“Shh, don’t worry, just hold still.” Hoang cut the thorns carefully, then retrieved a bandage out of his first aid kit and bandaged her leg. “See? All better now. Here.” He gave the foal his canteen.
“Thank you.” She took a sip, enjoying it. “Ah! Refreshing! I’m Petunia Paleo. What’s your name?” She asked, now a little calmer.
"My name is Hoang em Binh, but you can call me Hoang or Binh if you like.” He smiled sadly at her.
"I’m Ethan King. You’re really unlucky to land here.” He had sympathy in his voice.
“Why? Where am I?” She asked, confused.
Like he had read script, Ethan just said, “Welcome to the jungle.”
It took a few seconds for Petunia to understand King’s meaning. “J-jungle? No! Mommy...Daddy…” she collapsed on the ground, crying, realizing she was far away from her home and parents.
“Did you have to say that?” Hoang scolded his friend, looking with sympathy at the crying foal.
“Sorry, just popped in there.”
The South Vietnamese took the filly in his arms, patting her back. “Shh, calm down, we’ll help you.” He wiped a tear out of Petunia’s eye. It surprised King that his ally was so good with children, he had never seen this kind of behavior from him before.
“Thank you. Where am I?” She calmed down.
“Vietnam, or better said the South of Vietnam.” The soldier explained.
“Vietnam. I read of it once back home. I’m no fan of it, but judging by your uniforms, you are soldiers, right?”
It was unpleasant for both soldiers to talk about it, so Ethan replied, “Yes but it’s a long story, can we tell you this when we get you out of here?”
“S-sure.” Petunia replied lightly scared, realizing she landed in a warzone.
“Don’t worry, we will keep you save. I suggest we get her to the rally point and escort her by Huey to base. She should be safe there.”
“I was thinking the same.” The US soldier smiled at him.
“What’s a Huey?” Petunia asked, confused, wondering what they meant.
“You will see.” Hoang replied, putting her down and reaching for his rifle. “Stay behind me.”
She obeyed as they moved out, the soldiers kept their eyes open for traps and Viet Cong.
Luckily, they encountered no traps or enemies on the way to the rally point, a glade. A squad of US Soldiers was waiting here already. One of them, a radioman, asked King, “What took ya so long?”
“Well…we found someone who got lost.” He stepped aside to reveal Petunia, who lightly trembled. “These are my comrades, they won’t hurt you.”
She relaxed and stretched her hoof out in a greeting gesture. “Hello, I’m Petunia Paleo. What’s wrong?” She asked as the other soldiers shook their heads.
“OK King, now you’ve went insane. A talking filly! Impossible!” The radioman exclaimed in shock.
“No, John, I’m not nuts yet. She’s real, otherwise you wouldn’t see her too, would you?”
“I guess you’re right.”
Suddenly, a loud noise rang in the filly’s ears. She thought it was the wind. It took Petunia a moment to realize the deafening racket blowing through the trees wasn’t caused by any wind.
She looked up.
It was in the air and steadily lowering down to earth, not exactly gliding, nothing so graceful. It was streamlined but very bulky, looking like some giant green gourd than anything else, topped with frantically rotating propellers which was causing the abnormal gusts. Through the giant glass window at the front, Petunia saw a human, his face obscured by a protective helmet, goggles and mask, gave them a thumbs-up.
On feet of metal frame, the Bell UH-1 Iroquois landed, the propellers still spinning above.
“There’s our ride. Get in.” King ordered and the soldiers streamed it, Petunia looked at the helicopter in awe as Hoang lifted her up and got her in too.
Petunia enjoyed the view as the Helicopter took off into the air. During the flight, King and Hoang told her without going too deep into it, what the Vietnam War was, which year it was and what they were. The Engine of the Huey was loud, but she could still understand what they told her and the radio played a fitting song. Edwin Starr – War.
“That’s terrible. War belongs to the past where I’m from.” Paleo whimpered.
“So, where are you from?” King asked, cirious.
“From Equestria. We have Soldiers where I’m coming from, called the Royal Guard. They protect the princesses who are ruling Equestria. We have also the Wonderbolts who are Flight acrobatics but have also military duties in case of an emergency. In Equestria, Earth, Pegasus and Unicorn ponies live together in harmony. The magic in Equestria allows us to understand several languages. I was born in Ponyville a small village.
My parents are both Earth ponies. The Cutie Mark presents the special Talent of a pony. Mine is finding remains of dinosaur.” She showed her flank, the picture there showing a skull and two bones. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders, a club of three fillies that are helping others to get their Cutie Marks, helped me with mine. I’m an archaeologist, Oh, before I forget, the Princesses are in control the Sun and the moon.”
The soldiers looked at each other, trying to understand, The Vietnamese smiled at the child. “Sounds interesting and fascinating. But archaeologist is wrong. An archaeologist deals with culture, paleontogy is your special talent. You’re a paleontologist.”
“Really? My parents must have confused it. At first, they were unsettled by it until I found a Dino skeleton in our backyard. They thought my Cutie Mark means that I would be a pirate.” She explained, trying to suppress tears as she already missed her family.
“Shh, calm down. We’re here for you. I must say, that sounds kinda funny that they thought you would be a pirate.” Hoang chuckled.
Petunia smiled “Yep, it was. As how I got here, due my Cutie Mark, some foals at school are afraid of it, some even call me freak. One of them, a filly named Ice Star, called me a witch and a Necromancer, thinking I would resurrect the dead! Ridiculous! She went even so far to insult my parents, calling them bad parents and that they should never have let me get my Cutie Mark!” She exclaimed in light anger. “We argued and she zapped me with her magic, yelling that I should have never gotten my Cutie Mark for everypony’s safety!” She cried out in tears, the ARVN soldier took her in his arms patting her.
“Shh, calm down. My condolences. Some people are just that stupid, not understanding.”
Petunia sniffed. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“We’re here.” The pilot announced as the base was in sight. This base was special, it was build the same way as Khe Sahn Combat Base that was under siege by the NVA a year ago. Trenches, a land strip for US Aircrafts and some Warehouses for ammunition and Forces of the US Army, US Marines and the ARVN were stationed here together. A small force of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group, short MACV-SOG, a highly classified, multi-service United States special operations unit, was also stationed here. The Huey landed . “Don’t lose one word about her, got it?” Ethan asked the radioman and the others, they nodded as they got out before he realized something.
“Uhh, Hoang, got an idea how we can hide her from being seen?” Ethan tried to come up with something, not wanting to attract attention.
“Got it! Petunia, would you please get into my backpack? They won’t see you that way.”
“Sure.” It looked cute as she climbed in. She peeked out of the backpack as King and Hoang hurried to the tent they shared together. They were lucky to have this luxury, others had to share their tents with the entire unit.
The filly saw other soldiers wearing the same uniforms as King and Hoang, some of them were wearing casual camouflaged military fatigues and tank tops, showing how muscular they were compared to the Army soldiers.
She also noticed that some soldiers had other metal sticks, they had large boxes under them and belts, other had sticks that were made of metal and wood, some sticks had scopes on them.
Once in the tent, Petunia got out of Hoang's backpack, looking around. “Looks cozy. Those sticks you carry around, are those weapons?” She pointed a hoof to it.
Sticks? Both soldiers looked at each other until it clicked in their heads. She meant their rifles.
“Uh, yes. We both are armed with the M16 Assault Rifle. Standard Issue rifle for our soldiers. As the ARVN gets supplied by the USA, we use the same weapons. The M16 has low recoil, a high rate of fire, and medium damage, a very versatile weapon, twenty round magazine. As sidearm,” He pointed to his holster, “We use the Colt M1911 is a semi-automatic, magazine-fed, single-action .45 caliber handgun. It has a nine round magazine, medium recoil, medium damage and high accuracy.
Other soldiers use the M14 battle Rifle, selective-fire battle rifle derived from the M1 Garand which was the standard rifle for the US troops in the Second World War. At the beginning of the Vietnam War, they used mostly M14s, the M16 replaced it with the time but it’s still used as you can see.
The gun with the box and belt is the M60, our standard machine gun. Hundred rounds in one magazine, high recoil and rate of fire, medium damage and low accuracy but a good support weapon nevertheless.
The smaller guns are M3A1s, a submachine gun, thirty round magazine and with relatively low rate of fire, this weapon is easier to control than most submachine guns. Used by pointmans, Combat engineers and some Commanders.
Our Snipers either use the M16 with a scope or the M21, which is a marksman rifle adaptation of the M14.
The MACV has a different sidearm then we have. They use the Model 19 a .357 Magnum revolver, medium recoil, high damage, a medium rate of fire and medium-high accuracy and very powerful. As primary weapon, they use the CAR 15, which is short for Colt Automatic Rifle-15. It’s a compact, lightweight version compared to the M16, high rate of fire, moderate recoil, high damage, high accuracy and a magazine capacity of thirty rounds.”
“I’m no fan of weapons, but it sounds like you’re well equipped.” Petunia yawned as it was getting late.
“You should get some sleep.” King’s heart melted at the cute sight.
“Yes, Petunia. You can share my bed with me.” Hoang offered.
“Thanks.” Petunia said as she climbed into Hoang’s bed and fell asleep.
The young Asian took his boots and helmet off, pulling the sleeping filly close. “She looks like an Angel, doesn’t she?” He whispered as King took too off his helmet and boots, climbing into his own bed.
“Yeah, she does. Reminds me of my children. Goodnight.” He turned his light off and fell asleep.
Before Hoang turned his light off, he took one last look on Petunia. It was cute how she was curled up next to him, her chest gently lowering and raising. We will protect you from all harm, Petunia. And with that promise, he closed his eyes, falling asleep.
Both soldiers woke up in the night by whimpering. Petunia was shaking, small tears leaving her eyes. “I-I had a nightmare…” she buried her head into Hoang's chest, he patted her back.
“Shh…calm down.” The young child cried herself to sleep.
“Poor child.” Ethan had sympathy for her.
“Yes. I will protect her with my life if I have to, she doesn’t deserve to be here.”
“Agreed. You have my word, I will keep her safe too. Maybe, once I get on leave, I could take her to my home where she will be safe.”
“Good thought, Ethan.” Hoang wrapped his arm around her as both soldiers fell asleep again.
The next morning, the young Vietnamese woke up and stretched himself, seeing that King was already up and Petunia still asleep. He got up, careful not to wake her, and joined his American friend for Breakfast.
Petunia woke up with a yawn, stretching herself. A radio played.
“Good morning, Vietnam! This is the psychedelic music show at AFVN. I'm Army Specialist Zack Johnson, our APO here is 96309. If you send a request to that number, what we do is we open it like this...and when it arrives we read it, pull out that record and play it on the air. Like this one; 'Fortunate Son' by CCR.”
While this kind of music wasn’t her taste, she still enjoyed. As she opened the flap, she covered her eyes from the beautiful morning sun. Only now she realized that much of the land was covered in dirt and mud, although in the background were jungles, bush and grass. She didn’t mind the dirt at all, due her special talent, she was used to getting dirty.
The base was busy as it could be. Hueys and other larger helicopters flew around overhead, landing to get troops on board or to unload them, Soldiers patrolled, played cards, repaired vehicles or chatted. The young foal also saw some metal boxes on tracks driving around.
If my memory from school and the books is correctly, the humans call these tanks. Impressive machines. She thought as she looked around.
Petunia heard another sound of engines, seeing that Ethan drove some kind of vehicle with wheels, it reminded her of the carriages back home.
He stopped the vehicle next to her. “Morning, my dear. Slept well?” He smiled at her.
“Yes I did.”
“Glad to hear it. I bring you to the dining tent for breakfast.”
While she liked to have a good meal, she was uncomfortable with being in the dining tent for a certain reason. “Is this really a good idea? The others could freak out when they see me.”
“Don’t worry, we thought of that. Hop in.” He replied and she got on the passenger seat.
Petunia enjoyed the ride, feeling the wind brushing against her fur. She also saw more of the buildings and the airstrip as the dining tent was on the other side of the clearing.
“This is the M151 Military Utility Tactical Truck, MUTT for short, our standard light vehicle, light armor, high speed and high maneuverability. Ideal for recon, fast transports or to give support, as it can be armed with an anti-tank missile launcher.” He explained.
“The Helicopter we used to get there is the UH-1 Iroquois, also known as Huey. It’s our standard transport chopper, apart from the Boeing ACH-47 Chinook. The Huey is very useful for medical evacuation. As transport, it has 2 M60s mounted on the side doors for defense and fire support. There is also a gunship version, armed with missiles, although our actually gunship is the Bell AH-1 Cobra which also uses MGs and missiles.
For Air recon, the OH-6 Loach is our best bet as it is fast and easily maneuverable. Some commanders use it as a mobile command platform by riding in the back, leaning out of the window, overlooking the battlefield.”
“Interesting. I loved the ride in the Huey, I felt like a Pegasus flying in the air!” She exclaimed with glee.
“I can imagine that, my dear. Before I joined the army in 1963, I used to be a pilot. I quitted my job after an…accident.” He had a sad tone in his voice.
“Sorry to hear that. That was the reason why you joined the ground forces, right?”
“Correct. In a ground vehicle, fewer things can go wrong and end deadly than in a plane.” He replied, the tent was already in sight. “Here we are. End of the line.” He stopped in front of the tent.
The young filly jumped out, smelling something delicious coming out of the tent.
Stepping inside, she was surprised. The tent had several tables, they were all empty except for one where Hoang was sitting, enjoying some rice, a plate with pancakes on it next to him. The delicious smell came from them as they were still warm.
“Good morning, Petunia. I have ordered your breakfast. I hope you like pancakes.”
“And how!” She exclaimed in glee as she sat down on the chair, enjoying her meal, while Ethan ate some bread for breakfast.
The filly smiled as she chewed, enjoying every single bite. “That was delicious!” Her voice cracked after she was finished.
“Glad to hear it. Anything new, Ethan?”
“No, nothing to report. I suggest we bring her back to our tent and then we'll see.”
They got back to the jeep, Ethan took again the driver seat, Hoang the passenger seat, while Paleo took the backseat.
As they were about to cross the runway, a soldier yelled,” Clear the runway! Clear the runway! INCOMING!”
A wing of a damaged C-130 broken loose hurtled towards them, Petunia screamed in fear, King managed to dodge it but lost control of the MUTT.
The car rammed over a soldier as it went out of control, causing all three to fall out. Petunia was unharmed but disoriented.
“Hoang, over here!” King got up, his M16 ready, his comrade picked the filly up and they moved to the trenches. ”Get her to the bunker. GO!”
Artillery explosions all around them, a house got destroyed and several dead soldiers were scattered in the trench. A US Commander waved at them to get in before an explosion killed him. The bunker was connected to the trenches and was rumbling from the explosions. Hoang gently sat the child down in the bunker, two US soldiers, a Marine and a SOG operative were already inside. They looked at the filly with great shock, eyes wide.
“Keep her safe! Don’t let get her hurt!” King ordered, despite he was just a private but the soldiers nodded, acknowledging his order.
The young child now realized that they were under attack. “Wait! Hoang! King!” Both men could hear that she was crying as they left. Both men would comfort her but going out and fight in the trenches was the only way to guarantee her safety.
“Don’t worry, girl, we keep you safe!” The SOG operative fired his CAR 15 at the enemy, the NVA.
“Yes we will, by my honor as Marine!” The muscular soldier added as he fired too.
Hoang and King saw how the NVA attacked from a hill and in large numbers. The AVRN soldier had seen this before, he was one of the soldiers of South Vietnam that took part in the siege of Khe Sanh. King was a veteran of the Battle of la Drang Valley, the first major battle of the Vietnam War which took place in 1965.
An enemy soldier jumped into the trench to stab King but Hoang reacted quickly, killing the North Vietnamese with a headshot. He felt guilty and disliked it, as the NVA soldiers were basically fellow countrymen and one of those could be his older brother. If Hoang had to kill him, he would make sure it would be a quick death, he owed his brother that.
A Huey Slick gave support with his M60s, as the soldiers moved forward, taking more soldiers out. A hostile jumped from under a bridge, struggling with Hoang. He punched the NVA soldier into the face, then pulled the pin of the grenade. Pushing the attacker back, and crawling away, the explosion tore the North Vietnamese in half, only limbs and pieces of bones were left of him.
“I really pray that wasn’t you, brother.” Hoang whispered as he caught up with King.
“They’re using ladders to get across the trenches!” The Army soldier called as he fired his M16.
“Watch out, Flamethrowers!” Hoang warned him in return as the enemies tried to burn the Capitalist forces, a SOG Operative got hit, screaming in pain as he burned to death. Hoang took the soldier that wielded said flamethrower out, so he and King could move on.
“Incoming!” Another soldier yelled, the US Marines managed to get one of their M113 APCs into the battle, firing on the enemy. The M113 was only armed with one single M2 Browning machine gun, but was nevertheless effective in supporting and transporting troops.
“Roger that, Big Six, Red Rider is inbound. two minutes, please stand by.” An F-4 Phantom pilot reported.
King held his friend back as the APC got hit by RPGs, but was not destroyed by them. King moved first, in the moment Hoang did, the APC exploded and fell over the trench, forcing him to crawl under it.
Upon standing up, he saw how the Huey got and went down, the pilot screamed, ”Ugh! God dammit! Mayday, Mayday! Jesus Christ!”
The young Vietnamese looked shocked at the burning wreck. Just like Khe Sanh.
“Be advised, Red rider on station. Keep your head down.”
An explosion tore him out. Looking at the open area, it was burning, NVA soldiers screamed in pain as they burned. Hoang knew why.
Napalm bombs. Dropped by the F-4 Phantom, it was very effective against infantry and light vehicles, also providing area denial for a long time.
“High explosive ordnance on target. Have a nice day. Red Rider out.” The pilot spoke into the radio after he made his run.
Hoang made it up the hill to a bunker where King fired a mounted M60 at the remaining enemies. They both heard the sound of an engine. It came from the other side of the sea of flames. A quick flash out of the smoke hit the bunker, it was holding but both men were put into shellshock for a moment.
The reason, an enemy T-54 rolled in, the main battle tank of the NVA and some Viet Cong units.
“Tanks! No wonder they're getting bold...” Ethan mumbled as he got up.
A Marine with a M72 LAW joined them, taking aim at the tank. He fired and reloaded, the rocket seemed to have only limited effect as the Tank was smoking from the explosion but was still capable of fighting, aiming again at the bunker.
In the moment the US Marine aimed again, a stray shot from the co-axial machine gun hit him in the head, blood splattered from his wound as he fell to the ground, dropping his weapon.
“Damn it!” King took the LAW and prepared to take aim, only to hear an explosion. Looking outside, the T-54 was in flames, the turret blown off.
The cause of that was a M48 Patton, United States Army's, United States Marine Corps’ and Army of the Republic of Vietnam's standard tank, driving up, firing its cannon and coaxial machine gun at the NVA, keeping them busy, allowing King and Hoang to move to the end of the trenches, into a tunnel, which rumbled from artillery.
Before both entered it, they looked from the hill to the bunker, praying that Petunia would survive this attack.
The radios buzzed continuously. “One Seven, this is Red Rider, over. What's your status?”
“Low on fuel, inbound two minutes.”
“Stand fast, Two-Nine, you're covered.”
“Negative, I'm on final right now!”
“Six, Red Rider.”
“What's your position?”
“Just hang tight.”
“Okay, standing by.”
As the two came out of the tunnel, they regrouped with a group of Marines. King took cover and talked to the squad leader of the soldiers. Hoang saw how a medic tried to help a wounded soldier to his right, in the moment the medic knelt down to the wounded comrade, a bullet went right through his helmet and he fell dead to the ground.
“We're almost out of ammo. There's a weapon cache in that bunker on the right-“ Bullets flew over past him. “Damn!...but we can't get to it. They closed our right flank!”
Another Phantom bombed a treeline at the bottom of the hill, giving the South forces a chance to advance down the hill.
“They're making another push! South East side!” Another soldier yelled and they moved into a decaying forest that was burning.
At the top of the hill, Hoang got knocked down into shell shock by an explosion.
Petunia was scared, more scared than ever before in her life. She covered her ears from the loud gunfire, fearing she might go deaf, her eyes closed. “Get some!” The Marine yelled as he fired at the enemy.
“Man down!” His comrade yelled.
Petunia didn’t know why but for some reason, she peeked out of the bunker. What she saw next terrified her.
The young filly saw a badly wounded US soldier, Army by the looks of it. She couldn’t look away in shock as she saw that he was moving slowly in a zombie like manner, his helmet was missing, his eyes locked into a blank stare. The most shocking for her, was that the head of the soldier was covered in blood, the skull half missing, like a walking nightmare.
Petunia wanted to look away but she was frozen in fear, her body no longer able to move.
The wounded soldier eventually collapsed on his knees, dying, blood forming a puddle on the ground.
In her shock, she didn’t notice how the Marine picked her up, covering her eyes. “Don’t look.”
Hoang, still shell-shocked, saw how a comrade lunged at a NVA soldier, knocking him out before moving on, a North Vietnamese kicked a Marine into the gut, the soldier falling to the ground, the NVA soldier fired bullets into his chest without remorse or mercy.
Ethan got behind him, his M16 ready but it jammed, causing him to hit it lightly before the hostile noticed him and knocked him down by hitting the American with the butt of his AK. He took aim as Ethan was lying on the ground, trying to crawl away.
Hoang quickly drew his colt and shot the enemy into the head, saving King’s life.
The radio chatter was not stopping. “Do not, I repeat, do not engage.”
“Fire. Put it right there.”
“I'm coming around again, stay with me!”
“Belay that order, get your ass out of there!”
“Repeat your last!”
They entered another bunker. It was damaged, slightly burning. An AVRN medic took care of a wounded US Army soldier on the ground. A Marine removed blocks of wood off his body and got up to join the fight. A SOG Operative was coughing from all the smoke from the fire.
I hope the bunker where Petunia is hasn’t taken damage. Hoang thought with worry about her safety.
“More NVA moving in!...infantry and armor! They must have a damn division hidden out there!” A Army soldier reported.
Another Patton moved and a 551 Sheridan Tank, a light tank officially known as the Armored Reconnaissance/Airborne Assault Vehicle M551 moved up “Hoang! Get on the mounted machine gun of the Patton, I take the Sheridan!” King ordered.
The tactic was simple. Both soldiers used the mounted MGs to aid against the infantry, while the tanks destroyed the T-54. The Patton kept them busy while the Sheridan used its speed to flank the NVA tanks, firing on their weaker rear. Together, they destroyed six tanks before Phantoms killed the remaining enemies.
The friends got out of the tanks. “It’s over. That was a hell of an attack. Like Khe Sanh.” Hoang was relieved.
“Yes and I thought la Drang Valley was bad. Anyway, let’s check on Petunia, I hope she survived, she reminds me of my children.”
“Right.”
They walked back to the bunker. The damage by the attack was unbelievable. Destroyed vehicles, bodies of allies and enemies were everywhere. But the base itself was intact.
What they saw next broke their hearts. Petunia was held by the African American Marine with black hair and green eyes, patting her back as she cried her heart out, covered in dust. The SOG Operative had brown hair with matching eyes, wearing sunglasses.
Without a word, the Marine passed the filly over to Hoang. “Shh, it’s over.” She comforted her.
“I was so scared! The screams, explosions, I thought I would die! Everyone was shooting and killing each other! Why?! Why is everyone dying?!” She buried her head into his chest.
“Shh, calm down, it’s over now…” He whispered and she cried herself to sleep.
King looked at her, sad. “Poor girl but at least she has survived.”
“Yes. Thanks for keeping her safe.” The ARVN private thanked the Marine and SOG soldier.
“No need, it’s a matter of honor for me. Call me Dan.” The Marine introduced himself.
“I’m Jesper.” The SOG operative said, his brown eyes peeking at them over his sunglasses.
All were glad that the battle was won and the NVA pushed back. Petunia was safe.
Hoang brought the sleeping filly back to the tent, which was undamaged, tucking her in. “Sweet dreams.”
The others joined him, smiling sadly at the sleeping filly. “Poor child, she has already seen more than she should.” King whispered not to wake her.
“Yes. I don’t want to imagine how worried her parents must be.” Jesper added.
“I can watch her if you want. Dan offered.
“Thank you.”
For the rest of the day, they repaired the damage reinforcing fighting positions for future defense as they had no Intel how the NVA could attack them so easily.
Around noon, they were mostly done, so they checked on Petunia. She was still asleep, her chest slowly raising and lowering.
Dan checked and cleaned his weapon, to make sure it wouldn’t jam on him or go off and hurt or kill their young guest.
“How is she?” Hoang asked and the Marine looked up, smiling.
“Fine. She looks like an angel when she’s asleep.”
“Indeed, she does. She had really bad luck to land here. I suggest we bring her out as soon as possible.” Jesper was worried for her safety.
“King suggested that already. Although she would be safer in the USA than here, I don’t want her to end up in a lab.” Hoang shivered at the thought of it.
Ethan put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t you worry, when I get on leave, I’ll make sure she will be alright.”
Hoang knew he could trust his friend.
“Thanks man.”
“No problem.”
The filly yawned, waking from her sleep. “Hoang!” She hugged him, happy to see him safe and sound. “I’m sorry, I…It was too much for me!” She cried.
The young Asian responded by patting her back. “Shh, calm down. It’s alright.”
It took some time until she calmed down, looking up, sniffing. “Thanks. I appreciate your care for me. I just miss my parents and friends.”
“I’m sure they will find you. I still believe that I will see my brothers someday, even after all those years.”
“You’re right, I must have faith in it!” She exclaimed, raising her hoof into the air.
“That’s the spirit!” Dan smiled.
“Why did you join the Marines?” Petunia asked, curious.
“Well, as you know, I’m an Afro-American. In the USA, treatment of us is not very good. I joined the Marines as they treat me equally and I got a better deployment opportunity.”
“I see. Poor you. In Equestria, we all live happy together, racism does not exist.” The filly had sympathy for him.
“Don’t be, I’m used to it. I promise you with my honor, I will keep you safe. Semper fi!”
“Uhh, what?” She asked confused, tilting her head.
“That means 'always faithful.' It’s the motto of the US Marine Corps. So...” he curled his right hand up, “Semper fi?”
“SEMPER FI!” Petunia made a brohoof with him.
It pleased the others to see her happy, warming their hearts.
Jesper left the tent for a moment to make sure they wouldn’t get surprised by an officer giving out new orders or by other soldiers.
In the meantime, King got lunch for Petunia, potatoes, she enjoyed them as Jesper returned.
“Bad news, guys, we got a patrol missing. We’ve been put together as one unit to search for the missing patrol.”
“Great.” King groaned, “Where was their last transmission?”
“Somewhere near the river.”
“Okay. What about Petunia?" Hoang asked, "We can’t leave her alone here.”
“I’m afraid, taking her with us is the only option. You okay with that, Petunia?”
“I don’t mind it, I enjoy your company. And I want to help, I can carry supplies for you.”
“Good thought, my dear. Let’s go.” Hoang felt a little bit unsure about it.
She climbed into his backpack and the new squad moved to a Huey that brought them to the landing zone, where the South forces had small camp.
The filly saw red smoke in the distance which marked said landing zone.
Once the Huey touched the ground, the soldiers got out, Petunia saw a small tent where wounded were treated by medics and saw also how US Marines watched three men in Blue & Tan clothes, one of them was wearing a Pith helmet, the second wore what appeared to be a straw hat, while the third one had a scarf around his head. They were sitting on the ground.
The foal quickly got it that they were prisoners. She also noticed that they were wearing sandals instead of boots like the soldiers did.
Must be Viet Cong as Hoang and King told me.
“That's our ride, let's go!” Jesper tore her out as a Marine stopped a boat, a Patrol Boat River, commonly abbreviated to PBR, at the dock.
As the four soldiers got onboard, the young man asked Jesper, “S.O.G, right? Right?”
The four experienced soldiers saw that the Marine was very young, eighteen or nineteen years old, having brown hair with matching eyes. On his helmet was written, “Don’t shoot, I’m too short!” which meant he was a rookie.
The S.O.G. operative sighed, “They couldn't make it. Man the gun, don't get killed.” He pointed to the dual M2 Brownings at the front.
“Sir.” The young soldier did as told.
“Hoang, you’re driving, King you take the M60 at the rear.”
“Got it.”
As Hoang walked to the driver seat, Petunia got out, standing next to him, while Dan stood to the right of the cabin, Jesper to the left.
Hoang turned the knob on a radio. “...goes out to Sergeant Blundell, and all our boys at the RPO. Go get 'em.”
The radio played “Sympathy For the Devil" by the Rolling Stones, as the boat moved out of the harbor. The filly found the song a little bit strange, but enjoyed it still.
Petunia saw several US soldiers along with trucks moving up the road, two Huey’s flew overheard, firing their M60s at enemies in the distance.
"Heads up, enemy camp, on the left. RPG's!” Jesper warned as a missile flew past, missing the boat, the filly shrieked, cowering, body pressed into the ground as the crew returned fire. A few bullets hit the PBR but the cabin offered protection against it, so Petunia was unharmed. As the camp got destroyed, it exploded from the heavy fire, probably ammunition was stored in it.
A watch tower got also destroyed. “She's coming down!” Jesper cheered.
“Mortar fire! Mobile missile launchers up ahead, three of them.” He shouted as they came to a dead end at the right side, the left side was blocked by a barricade.
Hoang drove in slaloms to avoid getting hit, the trucks drove forth and back on the coast to evade the MG fire but it was in vain a the first exploded from a hit by the young Marine. “Nice hit!” Hoang praised him, despite feeling bad as they fought his fellow countrymen.
“Bulls-eye!” King managed to destroy the second truck.
Petunia slowly peered out of the cabin, seeing the last truck, trying to turn around before it got destroyed by the recruit.
“That's the last of them! All right! Now, head for that barricade blocking the river, our boys will take care of it!” Jesper ordered.
Petunia looked up, seeing how the Hueys fired missiles on the barricade, destroying and allowing the boat to proceed.
“Watch out, more RPGs!” Petunia shouted as another missile flew past the boat, she did not know what RPG meant but knew she should use that name for this kind of weapons.
The boat destroyed three more towers, Dan, Jesper and King fired on Viet Cong fighters that were shooting on the boat from the shore, while the young man took care of any tower he spotted or got pointed out by the filly.
She spotted another truck on the coast, instead of missiles, he fired bullets at a very fast rate, so she kept her head down. She couldn’t see what it was exactly from that distance.
“ZSU quad-50 to the left. He'll tear us to shreds!” The S.O.G soldier yelled but the MG gunner quickly took care of it, the truck exploding.
The team moved forward taking some more towers and another ZSU out.
Then, the young pony noticed three boats coming towards them, all made out of wood. A missile was fired from one of the boats, missing them by inches.
“Sampans! Don't let them get close.” Dan advised as he took one of the RPG gunners out. The Browning tore the Sampans to shreds in seconds, Petunia was impressed and terrified at the same time.
The boat crew took another ZSU out and moved to a small camp.
“Something big is on its way. This is it, boys.” Jesper said.
The filly saw a boat sailing in view, it looked similar to the PBR.
“PT boat! Aim for the back, the engine's in the rear!” Jesper advised the gunner, Hoang drove around the buildings to avoid the PT boat’s fire and to flank it.
The tactic seemed to work as the engine of the NVA vessel smoked after a few hits.
“It’s heavily damaged!” Dan pointed out as they drove around a building.
Somehow, the enemy vessel managed to get behind them but King’s M60 gave it the rest, it exploded and sung to the bottom. “We got 'em! We got 'em!”
“Medic!” Petunia yelled as the blood ran down the young Marine’s head and he fell backwards.
Jesper examined the marine gunner, a bullet had went through his helmet, his eyes pale.
King and Dan made a Christian gesture in respect. “No…” Petunia cried over their loss, Hoang patting her.
Looking at Jesper, he could swear that he tried his best not to cry as the young kid hadn’t made it.
“He was so young! He still had his life ahead of him!”
“Shh, calm down.”
Another PBR arrived and took care of the body, so the team could continue its mission. The Hueys flew ahead.
As they drove through the river, Jesper used Binoculars. "Nothing so far... Wait, something in the trees.” He spotted a downed Huey in the trees, still burning.
“Whatever happened, we just missed it.” Dan commented.
“We got a downed bird here... Talk to me.” He spoke into his radio to one of the Huey pilots.
“There's nothing out here.”
They continued to drive through the river.
“They found something, just ahead. Patching you through.” One of the pilots reported.
“I have visual confirmation, green smoke, I say again, I have visual confirmation.” The other one confirmed.
“Hoang, head for the shore.”
“Copy that, Jesper.”
“Wolf 10, this is Centurion 3. Follow me, you can land over here.”
“I have limited ground support, dropping now.” The Hueys landed, letting a Squad of Marines out as the team left the boat.
“We're all yours, sir. Where do you want us?” The squad leader asked.
“Have one of your guys guard the boat. The rest of your men, follow my lead.” Jesper ordered, the squad leader gave a sign to one of his men.
Petunia also got out, a first aid kit in her mouth, ready to help.
The Marines gave her a confused look. “Before you ask, she is real and don’t let her get hurt, you got that?” Jesper ordered and they nodded before moving out.
At the source of the green smoke, they found the missing patrol, all covered in blood, dead, one soldier held the flare in his hand, he was still alive, lying with his back on the ground, bleeding pretty badly from his chest.
Jesper knelt down to him as Petunia gave him the first aid kit. “Don’t worry soldier, you will be alright!” The others secured the area and collected the dog tags from the dead comrades.
“We…ambushed…haven’t… seen…” The wounded soldier tried to say.
“Shh, save your strength.” Looking up for a second, Jesper could swear he saw a glint coming from a tree. In a blink of an eye, the glint turned into a flash and he dove out of the way.
The shot missed him but killed the wounded soldier as the bullet hit his head.
“Ambush! Snipers in the trees!” Hoang pushed Petunia behind a rock as cover, returning fire. Other Viet Cong guerrillas joined the fight, pinning the South forces down.
The Huey’s came to their aid, but got shot down by RPGs.
Realizing that they couldn’t win this battle, worried about Petunia’s safety, Jesper shouted, “Retreat! Fall back, fall back!” He quickly collected the comrade’s dog tag before they retreated back to the boat.
Petunia followed him, feeling a sting in her chest, slowing down, the sting more intensive.
She reached her for chest, staring at it, shocked.
Her chest and hoof were covered in blood, a bullet had hit her.
She gritted her teeth, trying to overcome the pain and keeping up with the others but it was too much, she collapsed, holding her wound.
Tears left her eyes.
“Ow…ow…Mo-mommy….” She called out before her vision slowly faded to black.
Petunia’s mother was not doing well. Since her daughter went missing, she couldn’t sleep without worrying about her, often having nightmares.
“Mommy!” the filly’s voice rung in her ears. ”Help!”
“Hold on, sweetie! I’m coming!” She galloped in a jungle, following her daughter’s voice.
Petunia was crawling on the ground, bleeding from her chest, leaving a bloody trail in her wake. “It hurts…”
“Don’t worry, I’m here!” She pressed her hooves on Petunia’s wound to stop the bleeding.
“I…don’t want… to die…” Petunia got weaker, her eyes half open.
“You’re going to be alright! Stay with me!” her mother yelled desperate.
“Please…don’t forget me…” Petunia’s body went limp.
Her mother cried, her hooves covered in blood. “No…NO! PETUNIA!”
In that moment, Mrs. Paleo woke up, drenched in cold sweat, gaspingand breathing heavily.
“Honey, you okay?” Her husband asked worried.
“I…I just had another nightmare. She…she died in my hooves…” His wife trembled, the stallion wrapping an consoling hoof around her.
“Shh, calm down. I know how worried you are about her, I’m too. But we have to believe that she’s safe and sound.” He smiled at her.
“You’re right, we must have faith in it.” She could sleep much calmer that night.
The next morning, the married couple were sitting in the kitchen, eating breakfast. As Mrs. Paleo read the newspaper, she suppressed tears as the news reported about Petunia’s disappearance, but nothing new. Please…be safe. She prayed.
Her husband noticed her sadness. “I don’t know why, but I have to think of when we first met. Do you remember?” He asked, hoping it would cheer his wife up.
She let a light smile cross her lips. “Of course I do.”
Years ago, Mrs. Paleo was a very successful pearl diver, walking home in the evening from her work. “Ten pearls in one day, must be my lucky day!” She laughed merrily.
As she walked past an alley, somepony grabbed her from behind. “Scream and you’re dead. Give me all your pearls if you don’t want to die!”
“Okay, just…don’t hurt me.” The young mare whimpered.
“Let me her go at once!” A second voice yelled.
She couldn’t see the pony in the dark, but she saw a silverly, shining long object in his hoof.
“Or what? Back off or I’ll kill her! Her captor threatened, holding a knife close to her throat.
“Your mistake.”
In a swift and elegant move, the unknown pony rushed forward, stabbing her captor in the hooves without hurting her in the process. The criminal let out a cry of pain, dropping the knife, allowing the mare to escape.
She scurried behind her savior, seeing he was holding a fencing sword.
The attacker quickly recovered, grabbing his knife again.
“You’ll pay for this!” He charged at the fencer, who just smirked.
“En garde!” He held his sword out, disarming his opponent with another swift strike.
Before the criminal could react, he was knocked out by the fencing pony.
The young mare was impressed by the act, speechless until the fencer asked her, “Are you alright, Ma’am?”
”Y-yes, I’m okay.” Suddenly, everything went black.
Mrs. Paleo came to in a hospital room. There was a knock on the door. “Come in.”
An Earth pony stallion with a light golden coat, blue mane and matching eyes and two crossed fencing swords as Cutie Mark walked in.
“Ah, you’re awake. I’m glad to see you’re okay. It seems you got a very bloody wound during the fight, but the doctors took care of it. I’m Mr. Grant.”
“Ms. Levine. Levine Paleo. Thank you for saving me.” She blushed.
“You’re welcome. I was on my way home from training when I saw how he attempted to mug you, I knew what I had to do.” He looked away, blushing.
“And I’m grateful for that.” For some reason, her heart beat faster now. She leaned forward slowly and kissed him on the lips. Grant returned it.
“I think this is the beginning of a wonderful friendship.” He said, smiling.
It was more than that. Grant visited her regularly and she was pleased every time. After Paleo was released from the hospital, they spent time together, dating, Grant told her how he became afencing champion. Eventually, their love turned into marriage.
After their wonderful wedding and a beautiful evening, Levine got pregnant.
“You’re going to be a wonderful father.” Levine kissed her husband.
“And you’re a wonderful mother.” Grant returned it. Levine grimaced as the foal inside her kicked.
Then they went to bed with smiles, snuggling.
Time passed fast and soon, Levine’s water broke.
In the hospital, Doctor Stable and Nurse Redheart helped with the birth of the foal.
“It’s so painful!” The opal colored mare gasped heavily from the pain.
“I’ll be over soon. Push!” Redheart ordered.
Paleo screamed in pain louder than ever before in her life. Then the sound of a crying baby filled the room.
“My goodness… it’s a filly.” Her husband gently gave the newborn foal to Levine, tears of joy streaming out of her eyes.
The filly had blue eyes, matching coat and a blue mane with brighter strands. “How shall we name her?” Grant asked, proudly.
“Petunia. Welcome to the world, my sweet daughter.”She looked with teary eyes and a smile at her baby.
“Who knows what could have happened if you hadn’t been there back then, Grant.”
“Don’t even think about it, it belongs to the past. Now you make me think of our embarrassing reaction.” He blushed at the memory.
His wife smiled instead. “Oh, you….”
Both parents were cleaning the house as Petunia ran in, calling out, “Mommy! Daddy! I got my Cutie Mark!”
“Congratulations! What is it?” her father asked with pride. It turned into shock when they saw that Petunia had a skull and two bones as a Cutie Mark.
“What do you think?” The filly asked with joy, jumping up and down.
Both parents forced a smile. “It’s…nice.” They replied together.
“I can’t wait to tell my friends!” Petunia exclaimed, running out of the house.
While her parents were very proud of her, they were unsettled by their daughter’s Cutie Mark.
“What could her Cutie Mark mean?” Levine asked, worried.
“I don’t know. Maybe she will become a pirate?” Her husband replied.
“Pirate? What makes you think of that?” The mother asked, confused.
“Well, pirate flags have bones on them, so it could be possible. Plus, one of my ancestors was a pirate, if my memory is correct.”
“If you say so. I will make her some pirate clothes. But to be entirely sure, we should ask the ponies who help others with their Cutie Marks, the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”
“I will take care of that right away, honey.”
After the Crusaders arrived, Scootaloo kept Petunia busy while Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom talked with Petunia’s parents over a cup of tea.
“So, Scootaloo's keeping Petunia busy like you asked. What did you two want to talk about?” Sweetie Belle asked, curious.
“I'm sure you get these questions all the time. Oh, this is so awkward.” Mrs. Paleo was not sure what to say.
“Um, you're the experts, so we thought you'd have some insight into our daughter's new, uh, cutie mark.” Mr. Paleo tried to find the right words.
“What's wrong?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Obviously, we're both very proud of her and her cutie mark...” Petunia’s mother started.
“Despite its, um... unsettling nature.” The father finished.
“Unsettling?” Sweetie Belle looked out of the window.
“I don't get what you mean.” Apple Bloom replied as she,, Mr. and Mrs. Paleo joined Sweetie Belle.
“Her mark doesn't... bother you at all?” The mare asked the farmer filly with a concerned expression.
“Hey! Check out what we found!” Scootaloo called out.
They all went outside to the backyard, where Petunia had dug a hole into the sandpit, a Skeleton lying in the hole.”Look! A spiny-backed ponysaurus! In our own backyard! And I found him on my very own! How cool is that?!” Their daughter exclaimed with enthusiasm, happy and proud about her find.
Her parents now realized what her Cutie Mark meant. “Oh!” They chuckled, relieved. “She's an archaeologist.”
“Of course! What'd you think she was gonna be, a pirate?” Scootaloo replied, the CMC’s expression becoming confused as they saw the pirate clothes in the hooves of Petunia’s parents.
Realizing how embarrassing that was, the threw them away. „Pirate? Pfft! Why would we think that?” Mrs. Paleo countered embarrassed, before both laughed nervously.
“Why didn’t we realize that earlier? I first thought of something worse, like that she was a necromancer.” Her mother wondered.
“I don’t know. Guess it was the fear. And we confused paleontologist with archaeologist. But anyway, she can be proud of herself. Grant looked on the picture of Petunia and her find.
“Indeed. Let’s catch some fresh air, should help to get our minds clear.” Mrs. Paleo suggested.
“Sure.”
Outside, everypony greeted them and gave them their condolences, they thanked in return. That was what they liked very much about Ponyville, everypony helped each other in the time of need, no matter what.
During their walk, Petunia’s friends Dinky, Noi, Ruby and the CMC crossed their way. “Hello, Mrs. and Mr. Paleo. We’re sorry to hear what happened to your daughter!” they exclaimed together.
“Hello, girls. We know what a good friend our daughter is too you.” Both parents spoke in unison.
As the foals left, the Paleos continued to walk through Ponyville, seeing how one of Petunia’s classmates, Tender Taps, talked with the griffon Gabby, which they helped to find the CMC.
“Your dance moves are impressive! Your parents must be proud of you!” Gabby said to the young colt.
“Yes, they are!” He noticed Petunia’s parents. “Oh, hello Mrs. and Mr. Paleo, I’m sorry for what happened to Petunia.”
“Me too. If I get any information about her, I will let you know right away.” The Mail courier promised in her usual kind tone, sounding also worried about the young filly.
“Thank you, Gabby.” Both parents replied.
The two parents felt slightly better after getting condolences from their neighbors and their daughter’s friends, so they headed back to their home in Crichton Park.
“Our daughter has very good friends, don’t you think, Levine?”
“Yes, she has.”
Suddenly, the mare stopped abruptly, like she was frozen on the spot.
“What’s wrong?” Her husband asked, concerned
“I…have a stinging pain in my heart.” Her pupils shrunk and she collapsed, crying. “No…NO!”
Before the father could process what his wife went through, a voice echoed in his head.
Petunia saw only black and felt cold, her body numb. The pain however was gone. Slowly, the feeling in her body returned, something warm covered her.
Groaning, she slowly managed to open her eyes. It hurt to get up, but she overcame the pain. As she looked around, she noticed that she was on a bed, in a room that looked like an improvised hospital, built in what seemed to be a tunnel. She had bandages around her chest.
“I’m glad she survived. I’ll check if she’s awake.”
“Okay but don’t take too long, Dang.” Two voices rang in her ears, coming from the other side of the hallway. A man entered the room. He was wearing Blue & Tan colored clothes and a camouflaged Pith Helmet, having the same hair and eye color as Hoang.
The filly had a flashback of getting shot due the Viet Cong, she couldn’t help, but feel fear. “Please… don’t hurt me…” she whimpered.
He smiled sadly. “I wouldn’t dream of hurting you, my dear. Are you hungry? I made a bowl of rice for you.” He put it on the nightstand next to her.
“Thank you.” Something told her she could trust him, and she enjoyed her meal.
“You’re welcome. I couldn’t live with myself if I Iet you die after I heard how you called out for your mother. Now, what is a cute child you like you doing here?” He sat down next to Petunia. She took a deep breath.
“It’s kind of a long story.” She told him where she came from, how she landed here and how Hoang and King found her, taking care of her.
The Viet Cong smiled lightly. “My condolences. So, Hoang is still alive after all those years.”
It clicked it Paleo’s head. “You’re his younger brother Dang, right?” He nodded.
“Why did you join the Viet Cong?”
“Well, as you know, like the NVA, the National Liberation Front fights for a unified communist Vietnam. I, however, do not fight for that. I fight in the belief of being reunited with my brothers, not for communism or because of hate against the Americans.”
“So, they forced you to join them?” Petunia asked.
“No, it was my choice. I still care for Hoang and Dung.”
“B-but you’re the enemy of the ARVN, you could kill him!” The child exclaimed in fear. The Viet Cong guerilla let out a sigh.
“I know, back then, I never took into account that he would join the ARVN. Now I just watch my aim, hoping it isn’t my brother when I have a South Vietnamese in my sight.”
“I hope so too. What’s that on your back?” She pointed to his weapon he was wearing on his back, it looked similar to the M14.
“Oh, that? That’s the SKS, a Soviet-made semi-automatic rifle. It has a 10 round magazine, a relatively high fire cap, high recoil and good damage. As sidearm, I use the Soviet T-33, it was the standard sidearm for the Red Army in World War 2. It features an 8-round magazine, medium recoil, low damage and average accuracy but is very reliable. Apart from modern Soviet and Chinese firearms, we also use WW2 era weapons like the Mosin-Nagant and even German weapons from the Second World War.”
“Sounds like you’re well equipped for a Guerilla force.” She commented.
“Yeah, and masters in ambushes and traps as you…figured out.” He sounded unsure at Petunia’s near-death experience.
“Y-yeah, I noticed that.”
“Don’t worry, my comrades won’t hurt you. Follow me.”
“I hope you’re right.” She was concerned about it. As they walked through the tunnel, Petunia noticed how organized the NLF was. Supplies were scattered around the hallway, the other members of the Viet Cong walked past them, wearing the same clothes like Dang, some in grey or black instead of the Tan & Blue, others were shirtless. As headgear, many had the same hats she had seen before, some wore what appeared to be a helmet from WW2.
They had a variety of weapons, mostly a combination of wood and metal like the SKS Hoang’s brother had. The Guerillas cleaned their weapons or patrolled, either not paying attention to her or giving the filly a quick look as they moved past.
They reached a “room” where several Viet Cong were overlooking a map, one of them briefed them.
“Okay, we got a US patrol travelling through the area. We will set up snipers in the trees and ambush them, our guerillas will shoot from the bushes. That way, we will quickly eliminate them before they have a chance to react.”
“Commander, she’s awake.” Dang reported. The commander looked at the filly, his brown eyes and face showing no emotion.
“Good. Keep an eye on her, I don’t want her causing trouble.”
“Yes, sir.” It made the young Vietnamese wonder why the commander was so sure she should make trouble, Petunia was just a child.
“Don’t waste my time, child.” was all he said. She gulped at his response, fearing what he would do with her should she be bothering him.
Hoang’s younger brother patted her. “Calm down, I’ll make sure you won’t get hurt.”
“Thanks.” She smiled at him. “By the way, if you don’t mind me asking, have you met your brother Dung?” He looked sadly to the ground.
“No, I haven’t seen him since then. I can only hope and pray he is still alive. This war tore families apart, I just want it to end, so I can go back.” She hugged him in return.
“I hope that you can be reunited with them. Hoang’s missing you, your mother misses you too.”
“I know, I miss them too.” The Commander cleared his throat.
“I hate to interrupt this cute moment, but can we please concentrate on the enemy, we are at war.”
“Of course, sir.” Dang quickly replied. His commander was a serious, yet closed man. He demanded full concentration, nobody knew his background or his name, they just called him commander.
The radio buzzed.
“Scouts here, enemy patrol closing in.”
“Copy that.” The commander confirmed before turning to his men. “Get into position, quickly!” Dang did as told.
“Stay here, it’s safer in the tunnel.” She nodded. Outside, the snipers climbed into the trees, scouts laid out Caltrops, small improvised anti-personnel traps that consisted of two or more nails tied into a tripod with one sharp end always pointing upwards. The Guerillas also planted Punji Sticks, a simple spike, made out of wood or bamboo, generally placed upright in the ground in substantial numbers, their presence camouflaged by natural undergrowth, crops, grass, brush or similar materials. What Dang liked about them was that they didn’t necessarily mean to kill the person who stepped on it; rather, they were designed to wound the enemy and slow or halt his unit while the victim was evacuated to a medical facility. That way, the victims had a chance to survive and return to their families.
The Guerillas and MG gunners took positions, hidden in the grass.
Petunia peeked out of the tunnel entrance.
Soon, the sound of a tank echoed in the distance, a M48 Patton accompanied by a squad of Marines.
The Viet Cong fighters took aim, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Dang had the radioman in his sight, eliminating him as quickly as possible would prevent the Marines from calling for help or air support. A RPG Trooper fired on the tank, it exploded in a large fireball, the soldiers scrambling for cover. “Ambush! Get air support here, now!” The American squad leader yelled as he returned fire. Petunia looked away, fearing that Dan could be along the dead.
Dang fired on the radio, it exploded into hot shrapnel, having the same effect as a grenade, killing a few soldiers that were near the radio operator.
Some soldiers doved for cover, landing on the punji sticks impaling themselves, it disgusted the young Viet Cong, who went for headshots for a quick death. Some of the Marines stepped on the Caltrops, flinching in pain, making them easy targets.
As Dang reloaded, a Marine with “Born to kill” written on his helmet charged at him,
The Guerilla quickly drew his pistol, shooting the Marine into the head, his helmet flew off. Blood flow down the hole in his forehead, the body falling backward to the ground. The surviving Marines retreated. “Ha-ha, go home Gl!” One of the Viet Cong cheered.
“Great work! Does anybody need medical attention?” The commander asked after it was over. Only now, Dang noticed he was bleeding from his left arm, probably from a stray shot. Petunia ran quickly to him with a bandage. “Here.”
“Thank you.” He bandaged himself. The wind got stronger, the filly recognized why. A helicopter was inbound.
“Damn, a Cobra! Take cover!” The commander yelled as the chopper opened fire.
Dang grabbed Petunia to bring her to safety, she trembled as bullets from the M61 Vulcan hit the ground, missing them by inches. The Cobra fired rockets, it missed them, but the explosion threw them over.
Petunia rolled a few times before coming to a stop. Dang quickly got up, sprinting over to her. A Viet Cong fighter managed to shoot the Cobra down, the explosion as it hit the ground was stunning.
In the moment Hoang’s brother helped her up a loud echoing sound filled the air. Looking up, Petunia saw a quick flash, then something falling to the ground, exploding on the cobra wreck. Next thing the filly saw, was a giant fireball, screams of pain ringing in her ears and heat filling the air.
“Don’t look!” Dang covered her eyes as he brought her to safety, before another explosion blasted them away. Paleo hit the ground, everything went black.
“Ow…” She came to with an aching head, startling once her eyes were fully open. One of the helicopter rotors had been blown off in the explosion, sharp as a knife, lying inches away from her throat. “By Celestia…that was close…” She breathed heavily as she realized she had barely escaped death another time. Getting up, looking around, the foal saw that the explosion had thrown her into a ditch, too steep to get out by herself, it was still light outside.
Then she heard two voices. “My god…you see that?”
“Yes. Must have been an F-4 Phantom dropping a napalm bomb on those poor guys.”
They both were in Vietnamese. It was risky, but it could be her only chance to get out of this ditch. “Hello? Please help me.”
There was silence for a moment, before in a swift motion, a barrel of a gun pointed at her and fear took control. “I surrender! Please don’t shoot!” The filly held her hooves up. Her heart raced, fearing she would be shot, but then the gun lowered and she looked at a man in a tan uniform and matching cap, his eye and hair color was identical with Hoang and Dang.
An expression of confusion, the other man, having a tan helmet instead of a helmet had the same expression, shaking his head.
“Can you help me?” She asked, tearing them out of their shock.
“We can’t leave her here.” The cap wearing man said to his friend.
“I know but how are we gonna explain this to our squad leader and more important, to our commander?” The other one asked, now it clicked in the filly’s head that those were soldiers of North Vietnam.
“I don’t know, I’ll think of something. What’s your name? The cap wearing NVA soldier asked as he helped her out.
Dung? That must be Hoang’s and Dang’s older brother. Petunia figured out, or better hoped he was, he matched the description Hoang had given her.
“Follow us and stay close.” He said as they moved out, Petunia looked around, Dang was nowhere to be seen, she prayed he had escaped.
During their walk, the filly couldn’t help but ask, “What are you doing here?”
“We can’t tell her, she might be a spy of the enemy!” His comrade protested.
“She’s a child, man, and our task isn’t really important or top secret here.” Dung countered.
“I don’t care! We don’t know what she is or where she comes from! She must be a spy in disguise!” His comrade exclaimed.
“And how would you try to disguise a spy as a filly?” The young Vietnamese asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I…Uhh…”
“You can’t. There is no way that this would be possible.” He turned to the child. “We are patrolling the area, as it is close to the border of North Vietnam.”
“I see.” It left the foal wondering, was she really that far into the country? She hadn’t probably noticed it during the helicopter and boat ride.
They reached the rally point, several other soldiers and what she assumed as armored transport like the M113 were already there. This one was more square formed compared to the M113, having four wheels on each side and a turret with a machinegun on top of it.
“There you are. I was worried that you ran into trouble. What took you so long?” Their squad leader asked in a friendly tone.
“Well sir, we had no contact but found…someone in need.” He explained, revealing Petunia, she gave nervously a weak smile.
“H-hello, sir. I’m Petunia.”
The squad leader and his soldiers, save for Dung and his comrade, had their mouth open in shock, not believing that she just talked.
“She can talk?” The officer asked dumbfounded.
“Yes sir, we found her in a ditch calling for help, as we came across a destroyed NLF unit, possible from a napalm bombing run.” Dung explained, unsure howhis superior will take it.
The officer shook his head, trying to process it. “Well, we don’t have time for her backstory. That can wait until we’re back at our base and I won’t let a child die here. Get in.”
They entered the back of the APC, the seats were very comfortable as it moved towards the base.
She was sitting next to Dung, his head was slightly lowered, arms on his knees, his hands crossed, like he was in deep thought, the other soldiers had the same position
She decided to break the silence. “So, mind if I tell you about me?”
Dung raised his head, smiling. “I wouldn’t mind it, it’s a long trip. Anyone else minds it?” He asked his squad mates, they shook their heads.
With that as an answer, the filly told them where she came from.
Dung had sympathy with her. “My condolences for that. How did you end up in the ditch?”
She thought for a moment, not sure how he would react to it. “Well, your younger brother Hoang found and took care of me. As I got hurt, your other brother fixed me up.” She told him also about what they believed in, about their fight in the ARVN and NLF respectively and that they missed each other and him.
She feared that he might be upset about it.
He grinned. “So, they are still alive… After father brought me to Hanoi, he forbade me any contact to my mother and brothers or any friends I had back then, saying that they are bad for my education and that they are ‘mindless subjects and believers of the colonial regime of the American imperialists’, saying that communism is the future and would save us from the social collapse of democracy.”
Petunia might be still a foal, but she still understood that Dung would get in trouble for talking about communism. “Don’t you get in trouble for talking bad about it?” She asked, concerned.
His squad leader took the word, “When he integrated into our squad, he told us his backstory and we all had sympathy for him, nobody deserves a fate like that. We all don’t care about our government, we just want it to be over.”
“Yes. My dad hadn't always been like that. I mean, he'd spoken of how wonderful it would be to be rid of the Ngo Dinhs and be free to live under Socialist laws, but he was never very loud about it.
I think it really kicked off when that monk burned himself to death on the Saigon road. The rigidly Christian Ngo Dinhs had been persecuting them. So, he set himself on fire and burned, right there, for all to see, just to show the world what it was like to never be safe. No-one was allowed to help him. I guess this guy just had enough...and so did my father after that. He grew fanatical, no longer living in reality, but his own world. Even after all those years, I can still remember how it was back then when he took me with him…”
The three brothers played in their room as they heard shouting coming out of the living room.
“Why don’t you understand? Democracy is falling, only the communism can help us to survive its collapse!” Their father yelled, causing them to look after their parents, worried as they ever heard him so angry before.
“Our home got spared by the war and the democratic government never made us any problems, I don’t see a reason why we should leave our home!” Their mother countered.
Father slapped her across the face. “You’re just blind, a mindless subject and believer of the colonial regime of the American imperialists! I really don’t understand what I saw in you years ago!” He stomped out of their house.
Motherhad tears pouring out of her eyes at the slap, holding the spot where he had hit her.
Without a word all three brothers hugged her mother tightly to comfort her. “Thank you, children.”
“You’re welcome, mother.” They spoke in union.
In the evening, the three men had a conversation. “I never saw him like that before. I’m scared if what will happen.” Dang said, slightly scared of his father’s outburst.
“Me too brother, I don’t want to get separated from you or mother.” Hoang told his concern.
“I think I know why he became so…convinced about it. A few days ago, I and father went shopping in Saigon. There, a man got persecuted by some supporters of Ngo Dinhs. He set himself on fire and burned, right there, for all to see, just to show the world what it was like to never be safe. No-one was allowed to help him!” He exclaimed.
“Christ… Anyway, no matter what happens, we will stay together, brothers forever!” Hoang raised his hand into the air, his brothers did the same, doing a high-five.
The next day, however, changed everything.
In the early morning, Dung woke up as his father opened the door. “Get up, Son, we’re leaving.”
Sleepy, Dung asked, “Why? I don’t want to leave my brothers and mother.”
“And I thought as you’re the oldest of them you would understand. But I see you’re deceived like them.” His father was disappointed.
Realizing what his father wanted to do, the young man quickly got up, almost yelling, “What’s the big deal? Why? I don’t want to leave those I love! Why do you want to tear us apart?”
With a guilty expression, his father replied,” You are right, it would tear the family apart.” He seemed to regret it. “I’m sorry, Dung… but it’s for your wellbeing.” As soon as his father had finished his sentence, Dung was knocked out by him.
With an aching head, he came to in a bed.
Where am I? He wondered as he got up. Looking out of the window, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Red Propaganda posters with Communistic symbols and loudspeakers broadcasting Propaganda were everywhere.
The door opened, his father walked in. “Ah, you’re awake. Welcome in Hanoi, Dung!”
Dung was not pleased, he was filled with anger, balling his fists. “You kidnapped me! You…”
Before he could even touch his father, he was grabbed by the wrists and shoved back, falling onto the bed, his anger vanished from the pain.
“I know how you are feeling, but in time you will understand that I only did it for you. The Communism is the future. Your mother and brothers were blinded by the lies, in time you will see through them.” His father left.
Dung started to cry, realizing he would never see his brothers and mother again. But then, he remembered his promise. “Brothers forever…” He muttered with a glint of hope.
He hated his father for the following months. Every day, Dung had to endure re-education, as the communists tried to brainwash him with propaganda, using repetitive film and audio to break him, making him believe that the South was a regime that had to be “freed” by North Vietnam, that Communism was the key to peace.
Dung’s promise kept his will strong, he did never break.
His father became a high ranking person in the Northern government, having a good life.
Eventually, Dung pretended to believe into Communism, but in reality, he still did not believed into it, far from it actually. He hated it, hated his father for letting them torture him, his own son, disgusted by it.
The only thing Dung believed into it was his promise and seeing his brothers again someday.
Yet, at times, his father said to him that by living in the North, he could ensure that Dung could live happily together with his mother and brothers after Vietnam would be reunited under communist rule. It made Dung understand that his father was still belonging to the family, only wanting to ensure his family could life in a stable nation.
Maybe, father wasn’t fanatic, only expressing himself wrong.
But, Dung could never forgive his father for kidnapping him.
After Petunia had heard the entire story, she hugged him tightly. “I’m sorry to hear what happened to you!”
He patted her back. “It’s alright, my dear. And I promise you, I’ll do what I can do ensure you will be reunited with your family. It’s the least I can do.”
“Thank you.”
“We’re here.” The squad leader announced, opening the hatch.
Petunia walked outside, seeing that the NVA base had also an airstrip, and some Warehouses for ammunition like the base Hoang and his American friends had brought her to
“Take her to our barracks, I’ll talk with the commander about her.” The officer said as he left for to talk with the Platoon commander.
Like with Hoang, she climbed into Dung’s backpack to remain unseen.
She peeked out, seeing Helicopters flying around, they were more bulky than the ACH-47 Chinook, and smaller ones that looked similar to the Cobra.
She also saw machines with wings landing on the airstrip, if her memory served right, those were called planes.
In the Barracks, Dung let her out, she looked around. “Looks like a nice place. What are those planes and vehicles outside called?” She asked, curious.
“Well the transport we used to get here is the BTR-60, our standard APC, only armed with a heavy machinegun, but still effective in supporting and transporting soldiers.
The helicopters you saw are the Mi-8 Hip and the Ka-25 Hormone. The Mi-8 is a Soviet multi-role helicopter, our primary transport and attack helicopter.
The transport version is unarmed but can take a lot of damage, while the attack version has two rocket pods, particularly effective against armored vehicles, granted the rockets hit their target.
Our other helicopter is the Ka-25 Hormone, our Scout helicopter. It's similar to the AH-1G Huey Cobra in function and performance, armed with two side-mounted machine guns and two rocket pods. The Ka-25 is fast and easily maneuverable compared to the Hip, butlacks significantly in firepower, and therefore cannot engage armored units with much efficiency, but its machine guns can make it more suitable for aerial combat, as it's easy to miss an enemy helicopter with rockets.
And what you have seen on the landing strip are the MiG-17 and MiG-21. The first is our light attack aircraft armed with twin-auto cannon and bombs, only useful to attack stationary targets as it can be easily destroyed by anti-air defenses.
The MiG-21 is our main fighter, anadvanced jet fighter armed withcannons and unguided rockets, works well against light vehicles.”
“I see. I guess you use the same weapons as the NLF?”
“Yes, we do, our standard rifle is the AK-47, it has high damage, low accuracy, moderate recoil and a moderate rate of fire, which can balance its recoil out at close range with 30 rounds per mag. As sidearm, I use the Makarov PM, the soviet standard sidearm, 8 rounds, low recoil, average accuracy and medium damage.
Our scouts and commanders use the MAT-49 SMG, It features a 32 round magazine, a medium rate of fire, low damage, low accuracy and medium recoil. Machine gunners use the RPD LMG, 100 round capacity, high recoil, high damage and low accuracy. As such, it isvery reliable in close quarters combat, but is essentially a support weapon due to its high damage and capacity.
And our snipers use the SVD sniper rifle with 10 rounds,decent rate of fire and high damage, but with high recoil.”
“I’m no fan of weapons but I like the wooden design of it.” Petunia commented.
“Yeah, it looks nice, I must admit.”
The door opened and their commander walked in, they saluted.
“At ease. Your squad leader told me about a speaking foal, is that correct?” The commander asked, his voice and brown eyes were emotionless.
“Yes, Sir.” Dung replied and stepped aside. Petunia was nervous, not knowing how to act.
“H-hello.” She stuttered nervously.
“Hello. If I was informed correctly, you go by the name Petunia.”
“Y-yes.” The filly was afraid what he would do.
“Well, as I saw that was no joke by any of my soldiers, you are allowed to live with Private Dung. Keep her safe.”
“Yes, sir!” The squad saluted.
“Good, I’m about to get a visit from a high-ranking Chinese officer, show yourself from your best side. You Petunia, better stay out of sight.”
“Okay.”
With that answer, the commander left the barracks to prepare for his guest.
“Do you know anything about this guest he was talking about?” Petunia asked her friend.
“His name's Feng Qinmu but, other than what you've heard already, he's kind of a mystery.” Dung said.
“Chinese?” Petunia asked, confused.
“China and Vietnam are allies. But that's not quite the same as being friends. A neighbor is always either a firm companion or a lethal enemy...And China still isn't certain about which one it wants to be.” Dung replied unsure what to think of it himself.
“He’s here!” The MG gunner pointed out of the window, a Mi-8 Hip marked with Red stars was approaching the airstrip.
“Stay here.” The squad leader said before the NVA squad moved outside, to stand in formation to greet their guest as the helicopter landed.
As the helicopter's propellers finally whirred to a halt, three men strode out.
Two of them were soldiers, dressed in olive green with crimson and gold accents and green caps decorated with a single red star. They were of roughly the same height and build and were incredibly difficult to distinguish from each other purely by how they moved. Rigidly disciplined, without a step out of place, they marched out like a pair of automatons and saluted as a different man emerged.
He was a little older than his guard and was dressed in a worn but tidy off-white suit with a sash of red and gold. His jet-black hair was slicked back and his mouth was set into a slight sneer thanks to a small scar over the edge of his lip. His eyes were piercing and seemed to notice every man who glanced at him, evaluating any who drew near, as if ready to dart into action and go for a weak spot.
This man clearly wasn't a soldier but he certainly didn't seem afraid to fight.
Approaching Dung, he smiled wide and gave a cordial bow, the guards at either side of him marching in lockstep, completely expressionless.
Dung gave the three men a suspicious glare but bowed back.
“Mr. Feng Qinmu,” he said, “Our commander is expecting you.”
The man named Feng fixed him with a knowing glance and spoke.
“Yes...” he said in a calm and collected tone “I believe they will.”
Dung leaded Feng and his following guards, armed with Type 56s, the Chinese copy of the Soviet AK, visible by the fully enclosed front sight, to the building where the commander resided.
Then he headed back to Petunia. “Okay, our guest is taken care of. Are you hungry, my dear?”
The filly’s stomach growled, causing her to blush. “I take that as a yes.”
The Vietnamese went to the cafeteria to get a bowl of rice for the young filly. As he walked back, he crossed the building where Feng was in, he appeared to talk about an attack plan but it was muffed, so Dung wasn’t completely sure.
The young child enjoyed her meal, smiling happily as she ate it. “That was delicious!” She exclaimed happy after she had finished.
“Glad to hear it.” Dung smiled at her.
“Attention. Everyone report for briefing.” A PA system announced.
“Looks like we’re about to see some action.” The Scout commented.
“Wait here until we’re back.” Hung said to the young foal before they moved to the debriefing room.
Petunia waited patiently, it felt like forever for her, she wondered if such briefings were always so long.
“Maybe I should take a look around while they’re getting briefed, get to know the base.” She spoke to herself, not knowing what else she should do.
The base was large, but the eager filly covered it quickly, exploring the hangar after having seen the rest of the base. For some reason, she found the planes and helicopters very interesting to see up close.
After looking at them for some time, she wanted to go back, however, she couldn’t remember in which direction the barracks were. She tipped her forehead. “Which way was it again?” She asked herself.
What…” The filly heard a male voice in her ears. The Chinese officer stared at her, his guards behind him, their rifles shouldered.
Feng tilted his head, slightly confused and edged towards her, Petunia stepped back in fear. Realizing that she was afraid of him, he stopped, slowly got down on one knee and spoke gently, “Hello.” He greeted, yet Petunia hid behind a box of munitions. “Don't run off, I won't hurt you.” He kept his gently and very measured tone. “I haven't seen any creature like you before.”
Still scared, she replied, “Um...no, I'm not from here.”
Feng jumped slightly, completely perplexed. One of his guards reached for his rifle but the officer held up a hand to halt him. “Um...Does...Does this thing belong to anyone?” The officer asked in a very awkward tone, Petunia in her fear didn’t notice he called her thing.
A NVA private, together with his squad and the platoon commander, ran over to them. “Petunia! There you are!” Dung had looked everywhere for her.
“Dung!” She hugged him. “I'm sorry. I got lost, I couldn't find you anywhere.”
“It’s okay, it's okay, kid, just be careful, okay.” He returned it before noticing Feng, getting up and saluted his guest from China. “Mr. Feng.”
“Private Dung, what is this?” Feng asked in a serious manner, but his confusion could still be heard.
“This is Petunia Paleo.” Dung replied, seeing that his squad mates and commander appeared to be slightly nervous.
The Chinese blinked before looking at the filly. “Hello, Petunia.” Then turned back to the NVA soldier. “Private Dung, what is this?!”
“She's...a pony.” He replied honestly.
The officer stared at him for a moment. “...No, she's not, Private Dung.”
“Yes, she is, Mr. Feng.”
The guest massaged his temples, a sign that his patience was gone. “Private Dung...I admit, it's been a while since I spent time at a farm, but last time I checked, Ponies aren't blue! Or talking! I'll ask again, Private Dung! What! Is! This?!”
To calm him down, the commander asked in a calming voice, “Mr. Feng, your eyes do not deceive you, she’s from another world. May I explain?”
Feng turned to the platoon commander, sporting an expression of confusion, but the anger seemed to be gone. “Of course, I apologize for my outburst, I thought he was lying. I’m listening.” His voice was calm and curious.
“Well, it’s kind of a long story.” Dung told the Chinese how he found Petunia, what she was and where she was from, she confirmed everything.
Feng’s expression was neutral. “So, you’re telling me that she’s a talking pony from another world?” Dung and the commander nodded. “By the heavens, it is fortunate for you that you have her here to prove your claim...Else I would wonder if you were truly safe! In any case, I am sorry to hear you've endured such hardships, young one. I too lost my home and family at a...very young age. I know what it’s like....” He sounded honest, nobody could tell if it was just played or not.
Petunia saw a scar on his cheek, itcrossed over the right side of his mouth, slightly twisting his lips into an almost permanent sneer but his expression made it look like it was the reason for it to look like this, barely notable. “Sorry about your cheek.” She couldn’t help but say that as it looked pretty bad.
“Don't be. It left my opponent wide open for a killing blow. He was a warden in a Kuomintang prison. He was strong...but he lacked poise. He managed to scar me, true, and in return I gave him a dozen of his own.” His eyes gleamed. “And a grave. Anyway, shouldn’t you prepare for the attack?”
“Of course. What shall we do with her, commander?” The squad leader asked.
“You should take her with you, it could boost the moral if she’s with you.” Feng suggested.
“But-but…It’s too dangerous!” the filly exclaimed.
“I agree with that, it’s too risky.” Dung disliked the idea, standing protectively in front of her.
“Hmm, if she stays with me behind the front, it would guarantee her safety and could boost the moral.” The commander suggested.
“That could work.” Dung trusted him, he never had the opportunity to ask the platoon commander for his name, but he knew that the commander was caring for his men.
“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Petunia commented lightly worried as they got onboard a BTR-60, moving out with the rest of the platoon.
Before the commander moved out, Feng said to him, “If she causes any problems, get rid of her.”
“As you wish.” The NVA commander replied, not showing that he was slightly disgusted by it, he would never hurt a child.
Poor thing. Cut off from the world she grew up in, thrown into a bloody conflict...Still, so was I at her age. I proved useful...Why shouldn't she? Feng thought as he looked after the APC until it was out of sight.
“Don’t worry, we wil keep you save.” Dung patted Paleo.
She smiled. “Much appreciated. At first, I thought he would k-kill me.”
The NVA soldier thought what he had heard about Feng. He would get rid of problems but he would never do it himself. Rather order someone else to do it. “Well, I heard he is a capable fighter, as shown by his prison break. But he can be pretty…uncomfortable if you annoy him.”
“I see, someone you would rather not make angry.” She replied.
“Someone you would rather not meet at all. The less he knows about you the better.”
After a short ride, they reached their destination. An Outpost of the Southern forces, Feng had provided the NVA forces its location.
On a hill where they he could overlook the outpost, the commander gave his men the orders. “Listen up, we have order to capture this outpost. It’s well defended as the enemy has air and tank support, but so do we, so expect it to be a hard battle.Thank you, men. Good luck.”
As the soldiers moved out, using the APC as cover. Petunia prayed Dung would survive.
The commander used binoculars to oversee the assault, a radioman waited next to him.
He could see that the outpost was already under attack by NLF forces, they were held back so far at the security checkpoint with fortified MG positions, being mowed down, bodies scattered, but with the NVA, they could take the outpost.
“Let’s give them a hand.” The radioman knew what the commander meant, giving him the radio. “Battalion, this is Platoon Commander, Battalion, this is Platoon Commander. Fire support needed.Coordinates 0 5 3 0 2 0 1 7, fire on my mark, Battalion to Platoon Commander.”
“Battalion to Platoon Commander, understood. Target 0 5 3 0 2 0 1 7 accepted, Artillery fires as requested, out.”
The Artillery fired, forcing the defenders into cover, while the NLF forces retreated to avoid getting hit by the artillery
The NVA soldiers waited until the artillery fire was over. “That should weaken them.” The squad leader commented.
As the artillery stopped, he tapped a few times on the armored transporter to let the driver know they moved up.
The outpost was in flames from the high explosive shells but still, the defenses were not weakened at all, the enemy troops held the line with everything they got.
The BTR fired its machine gun, the NVA soldiers their weapons, the APC as cover, seeing that ARVN soldiers were along the American defenders, it made Dung scared that he might kill his brother, so he went for headshots to make sure it would be a quick death.
“Watch out, rocket launcher!” The Sniper warned as a US Army soldier fired a M72 on the BTR, the explosion from the hit threw Dung over, stunned for a few seconds.
Horrible screams of pain greeted his ears as his hearing returned, the Sniper’s arm got blown off, he screamed in pain for a few seconds before falling silent forever. Screams of pain came out of the burning wreck of the APC as the crew burned alive, the hatches got thrown open, the screaming men jumped out, rolling on the ground to out the fire out.
While Dung had seen many horrible things in the war already, he was still shocked by it, unable to move until someone slapped him on the shoulder.
“You okay?” The scout asked, having a bandage around his left arm, the MG gunner around his right leg, the Squad leader was unharmed.
Checking himself, Dung was also unharmed. “I’m good.”
In the moment they tried to advance, shots rained down from the sky in quick succession, making any attempt to enter the outpost suicidal.
Dung looked to the sky, seeing that the fire came from a plane, a AC-47 Spooky gunship, armed with three M134 Miniguns mounted in three spots along the left side of the plane, able to provide close air support, suppressing fire and as it did here, area denial. Dung had heard once of this plane, he was impressed by its firepower.
The commander had also spotted the AC-47. “This plane won’t be so spooky soon!” He grabbed the radio. “Battalion, this is platoon commander, request anti-air fire!” Repeat, Anti-air fire needed!”
“Copy that, on the way.”
Petunia saw a missile flying towards the gunship, once it hit, the explosion set the plane on fire, it went spinning to the ground, a great explosion followed as it crashed somewhere in the jungle, the filly looked away.
Once the Gunship was shot down, the soldiers of North Vietnam were about to advance, a smoke grenade got thrown, blocking their view.
They aimed at hit, ready for whatever would come out.
A shot of flame greeted them, forcing the squad to use the APC wreck as cover. Peeking around it, Dung saw a Combat Engineer of the US Marines with a flamethrower coming out of the smoke. “Burn Charlie, burn!” He screamed, burning a NVA soldier that tried to charge at him, only to scream in pain from the fire.
Going back to cover, Dung saw a sniper glint in a tree, then a quick and loud shot, it hit the flamethrower, it exploded,the soldier screamed it pain, as he was engulfed in flames.
Not able to bear the screams and seeing an enemy suffering like this, Dung aimed his AK, giving the American a quick and merciful death with a bullet to the head, rather to let him suffer a painful death. His squad mates also had sympathy with the American, the squad leader made the catholic cross out of respect. Taking another look into the direction, The Vietnamese saw that the shot that destroyed the fuel tank came from a NLF sniper, armed with a scoped M1891/30 Mosin-Nagant rifle, an old weapon but nevertheless still deadly and effective in the right hands.
“They’re retreating! Now’s our chance, advance!” The NVA officer ordered, the Rifleman took a quick look at the dead NLF fighters, they were unrecognizable, so he couldn’t tell if Dang was along them, he prayed not. As they moved in, he took notice that NLF fighters that had survived joined them, but he couldn’t tell if his brother was along them as well.
While most NVA soldiers didn’t trust the NLF and Dung didn’t know what to think of them, he was slightly impressed by their efficiency. His comrades just gave them a quick look before moving up, the Viet Cong had neutral expressions, completely focused on the battle.
“They got through, time to move up with them.” The commander said, taking the driver seat of a captured M151, the radioman and Petunia the passenger seats.
The combined Northern forces managed to push through to a small runway, with a few hangars for a few Hueys and Cobras, they were grounded due the SAM systems being still active.
Denying the South it’s air support gave the NLF and NVA forces a great advantage, pushing them back, Dung watched his aim as he fired at ARVN forces, afraid he could kill his brother.
As they reached the runway, the Scout of the Squad got blown to pieces by an explosion that startled Dung, his squad leader and MG gunner, seeing his remains.
“Got another one for you, Charlie!” A Grenadier of the US Marines yelled, reloading his M79 grenade launcher.
In the moment he aimed at the terrified squad, he flinched, blood flowed down his head, he struggled to stand before collapsing.
The shot came from behind, they saw that it was their commander who had shot the Grenadier, the barrel of his SKS still smoking.
He had parked his vehicle behind a wall for cover, his trusty radioman behind him.
Petunia stayed in cover behind a firm barrier next to Dung. She was slightly scared being on the front, but she felt safe with Dung, the bodies were out of her view, she did not dare to peek at them
“Hold the line!” The commander yelled, firing his battle rifle, Dung put his hand on Paleo’s back to let her know he would make sure she’s safe.
The sound of an engine rang in their ears, aM551 Sheridan moved up, his cannon and machine guns suppressed the communist infantry, halting their attack, forcing them to cover.
“Where’s our air support?” A NVA soldier yelled, desperately as they had no anti-tank weapons.
“It’s on its way!” The Commander replied, knowing that it should appear any minute now.
The tank fired at the barrier Petunia used for cover, the explosion threw her on her back with a cry of pain.
As she tried to get up, a quick flash flew by in her eyes and an explosion was ringing in her ears.
Worried about her, Dung quickly, covered by his comrades, got her back to cover. She saw now what both things were. The flash had been a round from a NVA T-54, the explosion came from the Sheridan, as it was burning, its turret blown off.
Even with the tank as support, the Northern forces could not advance, They and the Southern forces were shooting at each with neither side gaining ground, the T-54 got destroyed by another missile launcher, the explosion left a burning wreck, Petunia stared in shock at it until the radioman covered her eyes. “Don’t look.”
Several engine sounds of planes filled the sky as F-4 Phantoms and MIG-21s were dogfighting, together with several light attack aircrafts in form of the A-7 Corsair II and MiG-17 as support. Neither of the two air forces seemed to gain the upper hand.
Dung reloaded as someone shouted, “Watch out!” and a giant shadow covered the airstrip.
Peeking out of cover, the sound growing louder, a heavily damaged AC-47 was going on towards the US and ARVN forces, its two engines were on fire as well as the cockpit.
It crashed on the runway sliding along it, the soldiers either tried to run or dove out of the way.
Seeing that it came towards them, hearing Petunia scream, he quickly lifted her up and sprinted together with the others away, a powerful blast threw them away, Paleo rolled several times before coming to a stop with a cry of pain.
She heard a loud metal clang sound, seeing how debris had landed on Dung next to her, she was about to get up to check him but her vision started to get blurry.
She heard screams of pain, could faintly see the burning plane wreck, felt the heat coming from it and witnessed another explosion of the wreck before everything went black.
With aching bodies, Petunia and Dung woke up, seeing that it was night, the battle seemingly over.
“Oh my…” Petunia stared in shock, seeing the plane wreck and dead bodies of both sides scattered everywhere.
“Don’t look.” Dung got up, covering her eyes. It was too dark to identify the bodies, he just prayed that his squad mates and brothers weren’t along the dead.
“Let’s get out of here.” The NVA soldier overcame the pain, gently taking Petunia on his arm, he and the young filly were apart from being covered in dusk, unharmed.
He walked away from the base, through the jungle, shining his flashlight around and listening intently. No explosions. Not even in the distance. They both wondered if the battle was really over. If so… Why didn’t the other NVA soldiers help them?
A cold breeze brushed against the foal’s fur, Paleo pressed herself against Dung to warm herself.
After a while of aimlessly walking through the endless jungle, a cracking sound rang in Petunia’s ears, she saw light in the distance, a mix of yellow and red, three dark silhouettes sitting around it. “Look.” She pointed with a hoof to it.
“Can’t tell if those are friendlies or not. I guess there is only one way to find it out.”
He walked slowly closer, stepping on a twig,unintentionally, getting the men’s attention.
Alerted, they sprang up, their weapons drawn. “Hold it!” One of them yelled in English, Dung could understand it due his former life in the South.
“Don’t shoot!” He replied in English, hoping they wouldn’t fire on him or Petunia.
One of them activated a flashlight. “Step into the light where we can see you!”
Dung did as told, Petunia shielded her eyes as the light blinded her.
“Petunia?” One of the voices asked confused, it was familiar too.
“Hoang?” She asked as Dung gently put her down.
Now fully visible, he saw an AVRN soldier and three US soldiers; Army, Marine and SOG operative.
“I thought you had died!” Hoang exclaimed relieved, as she ran to him, hugging his legs.
“No, your brothers saved me!” She replied, happy to see him again.
Hoang looked at the NVA soldier, he looked exactly like his older brother Dung. “Brother? Is that really you?” Hoang asked, not believing that his long lost brother stood before him.
Before any of them could say anything, there was another Snap! Of a twig.
The US soldiers turned around, seeing what appeared to be a young Viet Cong fighter, looking familiar to Hoang and Dung.
“Dang? You’re ok!” Petunia ran into him, hugging him tightly too.
“I’m happy to see you too.” He replied, the US soldiers lowering their weapons.
“Dang, I haven’t seen or heard from you for nine years.” Hoang said, smiling, without words, the three brothers embraced each other in a group hug, with tears of joy.
Petunia and the three Americans just smiled happy and proudly at the sight of them being reunited.
“I missed you so much!” Dung cried happily.
“We too!” His brothers replied.
“Wait a minute…How did you get to know them, Petunia?” The ARVN soldier asked her.
“Well, it’s kind of a long story.”
“Okay, let's talk. Weapons down, everybody. Let's just talk. We're all in the same mess right now, shooting at each other can wait till tomorrow?” The Marine suggested.
“Good idea. May I introduce King, Dan and Jesper to you?” Petunia turned to Dang and Dung.
“Pleasure.” The two brothers said before the filly told her friends what happened.
“You really have been through a lot. One more reason to get you to safety as soon as possible.” King commented, seeing that it was too dangerous for her to be here any longer.
With a weak smile, he answered, “She’s doing well, but terribly misses you both. She doesn’t want to lose any of us.”
“I see. When I joined the NLF, I was a young fool, thinking I could reunite us by helping them. But I never thought I would make it worse.” The NLF fighter lowered his head.
“It’s okay. You thought you would do it for us, I don’t blame you, Dang. What brought father to all that?” Hoang asked his older brother.
“Neither do I, Dang. Father…” His voice had a hint of slight disgust and anger. “…brought me to Hanoi to begin a ‘better’ life, but for me, it was just pain and horror. They tortured me, trying to turn me into a communist. Our promise was keeping me strong. I hated and disgusted father for letting them do that to me. Father’s now a high ranking person in the government. Whenever I mentioned mother or any of you, he yelled at me that I should forget you, as you are mindless believers of the imperialistic regime and that I should be glad that he had ‘freed’ me.”
Hoang could understand it, but yet, for some reason, he couldn’t hate his father for that, he just couldn’t.
“I kind of liked father...” His brothers stared at him, not believing what he said. “Yeah, I know what he's done but...I remember what he was like before all this. He could be stern, he could be grouchy but...I remember him smiling. I remember once, he taught me how to play the Bien Khanh. It was a surprise for mother's birthday. We were going to practice those Buddhist symphonies she liked. He was a...hard master. Gave me that look whenever I played a flat note or missed a beat, folding his arms, shaking his head, you know the look. But...when I finally did it right, I remember that smile. And I remember that smile all through the song I played to mother. And then, when she insisted I just play Happy Birthday, he chuckled, and we played it together...”
He sighed as Dung and Dang looked at each other.
“I know he's become...different, but...Dung, you can't keep on seeing him as some demon you have to ward away. He's just as damaged by this war as us, he just dealt with it differently. And you know...I don't think there'd be anything wrong with just talking to him. Yelling at him is like yelling at a stone wall, it's not going to make any difference. But if you just sit down and talk with him...like how mother used to do...It could work.”
“Yeah…War brings out the worst of all of us. Maybe it could work, it’s worth a try.” Dung let out a sigh.
“Can you do me and Dung a favor? Send our mother our regards when you see her again?” Dang asked Hoang.
“Sure, I can do that.”
“You all three have been through something no family should be. I pray for all of you that you survive this war and can live a happy life.” The foal gave the brothers a tight hug, showing her sympathy for them.
“And we must thank you, Petunia. Thanks to you, we are reunited after nine years, even if it’s a short moment. The brothers said in unison.
She blushed. “You are welcome.” Then she let out a yawn, showing how tired she was.
"You should catch some sleep, it was an exhausting day for you.” Jesper said, finding it cute as she snuggled against Hoang, falling asleep.
After a while of watching the stars, they all fell asleep.
In the next morning, Paleo awoke as someone gently shook her shoulder. “Petunia, time to wake up.” It was Hoang.
“Good morning!” She greeted happy, noticing that Dung and Dang were gone.
“Morning, my dear. My brothers left, but they will never forget you. You helped us to ease our common anxiety of killing each other, as I know they’re still alive and the other way around.”
“You’re welcome!” She exclaimed happy before a loud noise filled the sky.
A Loach was flying over them, the soldiers waved to get its attention. It made a maneuver of turning around, titling its front forward to show that the pilot had seen them.
Within a few minutes, a Huey Slick arrived at their position and landed, allowing them to get onboard.
The chopper brought them back to their base, where a medic checked the soldiers for injuries. It turned out that he used to be a vet before joining the military and checked also Petunia for injuries, promising to keep her presence secret.
“Good news, apart from a few bruises, you’re fine, same goes for your friends. If you get hurt, you know where to find me.”
“Thank you, doc.” She appreciated it.
“Well, my leave begins tomorrow, I suggest you kill the time until then. Hoang, why don’t you visit your mother? I’m sure she will be happy to see you,” King suggested.
“Good idea. Want to come too, petty?”
Petunia nodded before asking, “Petty?”
“A nickname for you we thought of. Do you like it?” Hoang asked her, a little bit ashamed.
She grinned. “Of course I do!”
“Glad you like. The village isn’t far, about twenty or thirty minutes by car. Hop in.” Hoang got into the driver seat of a M151, starting the engine.
She climbed on the passenger seat. “Have a pleasant trip!” The US soldiers said together as Hoang drove out of the base, turning the radio on, it played Canned Heat - On the Road Again.
Petunia enjoyed the ride, seeing the jungle.
After a while, the village was insight, The ARVN soldier parked the car outside, the villagers, young and old came to greet him, not noticing his young passenger.
“Welcome back home, Hoang!” They all said in unison.
“Thank you. It’s nice to be home again.”
“Who’s your friend?” One of the villagers asked, pointing to Petunia, the filly was visibly nervous from the attention they gave her.
“It’s a long story, but I would like to see my mother first.”
The villagers nodded, stepping aside, the filly followed Huang to a house at the other end of the village, knocking on the door.
An elderly woman with light grey hair and brown eyes opened the door. “Hoang! How nice to see you again!” They hugged each other, the young filly smiled at the happy sight.
“Hello again, mother. It’s been so long.”
“Indeed, it has. Have you heard anything about your brothers? And…who’s your little friend?”
“Long story, can we please talk about everything ver a cup of tea and a bowl rice inside?”
“Of course, my son.”
Inside, Hoang told his mother how he found Petunia, where she came from and how she met his brothers, also telling what happened to father. His mother had sympathy for the young foal.
“You poor child. You really don’t deserve to be here.”
“I know, Ms. Binh, but your sons took good care of me.” Petunia replied.
“I appreciate your politeness, but Hoa is just fine. I really can’t believe that father has so changed. He was so polite and friendly when I first met him and now…he’s so serious and stern, taking one of our children away and letting them t-torture him….how could he get so mean?” She wondered with a mix of sadness and anger.
“I don’t know, but Dang and Dung still care for you. They just want it to be over as you and I.” Hoang replied.
“Yet, he took our children to a place where he believed they would be safe and strong. In a way, we're not all that different. When you meet Dung again, would you give him a message from me?”
“Sure, mother, what is it?” He grabbed a notebook and waited for what his mother would say.
“I know you've lost a lot of love and faith in your father. I did too when all this madness began. But understand that what he's put you through is very much the same as he was put through at your age. We tried to keep together, heavens know we tried. The war changed him and not for the better...But I won't lie and say it didn't change me. I regret not simply talking to him and working this out...And you will too if this goes on too long, you can trust your mother on that.”
“Okay, I have everything written down. I will give it to him should I see him again.”
“Mind if I take some fresh air?” Petunia asked politely.
“Not at all, sweetheart.” Hoa smiled at the foal.
For some reason, the word about the little filly flew around. It didn’t take long until Petunia played tag with the children in the village, having much fun.
“I’m proud of you, Hoang. You did the right thing helping her.”
He looked out of the window, smiling as she was happy. “I know and I’m proud. I just hope that her parents find her quickly, she has seen more than she should of this terrible war.”
“Yes, my son. No matter how this war goes, I will be always with you.” His mother smiled.
In the evening, Hoa made some rice for her guest, Petunia enjoyed it very much.
“That was delicious!” she exclaimed before yawning.
“Glad to hear it. You should catch some sleep so you’re fit for your journey to the USA.”
“Yes, Hoa.” She followed Hoang to the guest room, where he tucked her in.
“Sweet dreams.”
Hoang’s mother looked at the sleeping filly. “She’s looking like an Angel.”
“Yes she does, mother. And I will do anything I can to make sure she gets home, safe and sound.” He would do anything to keep her alive, even if it meant his own life.
“That’s the spirit.” His mother replied with pride.
They went into their own beds, Hoang had almost forgotten how comfortable a normal bed was.
In the morning, Petunia was awoken by the beautiful morning sun shining in, stretching and yawn.
Hoang walked in with a bowl of rice. “Good morning, I made you breakfast.” He greeted in his friendly voice.
“Thank you.” The filly enjoyed it with a smile.
“Glad to hear it.”
As they walked out, Hoa called out, “Have a nice trip!”
Hoang drove the filly back to the base where King already waited.
“Morning, sweetheart, slept well?” He asked her.
“Of course!” She exclaimed happily.
He smiled. “Glad to hear it.”
It didn’t take long until a plane landed to bring the soldiers home. Despite their attempts to keep Petunia’s presence secret, somehow the other soldiers got aware of her.
To her and her friends’ surprise, the others were not shocked, they had sympathy for her, telling that they would protect her,
The filly thanked them, getting onboard the plane. “Have a nice stay!” Hoang, Jesper and Dan waved with smiles as the plane started to move forward, climbing into the sky.
“It’s a long ride, you better catch some rest, Petunia.” King suggested with a smile, looking forward to seeing his family again, listing to The Box Tops - The Letter.
“Okay.” Paleo closed her eyes, taking a nap, enjoying the ride, as she leaned back into the seat, the hearts of all soldiers melting at the cute sight.
Around noon, the plane arrived at an airport, they took the next train to King’s hometown.
As they got out, King announced proudly, “Welcome to New Bordeaux, Petunia. A city on the Gulf Coast of the United States. It is known for its round-the-clock nightlife, vibrant live-music scene, and spicy, singular cuisine. With ten districts featuring a mixture of ethnicities, the city is a true melting pot of French, Irish, Haitian, African, and American cultures.”
After he had said this, a red Berkley Country Sedan stopped in front of them, a woman with black hair and blue eyes along with two children, a boy with blue eyes and black hair, and a girl with brown hair and green eyes got out.
“Daddy!” The kids hugged him happy.
“I missed you too, children.” King returned the hug, smiling.
“Ethan, welcome back.” His wife kissed him, Petunia smiled at the sight, happy for him to be reunited with his family.
“It’s nice to see you again, Emily. And you too, Lara and Liam.”
“Say…who’s this?” His wife pointed to Petunia, confused. The filly waved friendly at her.
“Petunia Paleo. It’s a long story, can I tell you this at home?”
“Sure, my dear.”
“Hello, Mrs. King.” Petunia greeted, causing the mother and her children to take a step back.
“Did she…just talk?” Emily asked.
“Yes. As I said, a long story, it’ll better if I explain this at home.” He replied a little bit embarrassed.
This didn’t prevent his children to introduce themselves to Petunia with a hint of curiosity.
“Hello, Petunia, I’m Liam, this is my sister Lara.” The young boy smiled at her.
The filly gave him her hoof for a shake. “Pleasure.”
“Ever since we got your telegram about going home, I couldn’t help but worry about you, like ‘what if the plane crashes?’ What if the train’s delayed?’ ‘What if they call you back?’ And so on. I can still remember, every night on the TV, right after the news they showed the names of the men killed over there in Vietnam. I saw the list scroll by, praying that your name won’t show up.” His wife explained.
Ethan smiled at her. “But it never did. Nothin’ happened to me.”
Paleo enjoyed the view of the city, seeing how a policeman to her right wrote a ticket to a driver who had been speeding.
Finally at Ethan’s home, the earth pony was smiling happy at the furnishings of the house. A telephone and radio were in the living room, plus a TV. “Nice place you have here.”
“Thank you. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable while I make lunch?” Emily suggested.
The three children danced together to the music while Ethan and Emily were making Veggies as lunch.
“Now, tell me, how did you find her and where is she from?” Emily asked, curious.
“Well…” He told his wife how he and Hoang found her in the jungle and through what had she been so far.
With a sad expression, Emily looked at the happy foal. “Poor child. But I’m so proud of you.”
“I couldn’t leave her there.”
His wife kissed him. “You did the right thing. I feel sorry for her and Hoang and his brothers.”
Then they had lunch, Petunia enjoyed every bite with a big grin.“Delicious! You’re a good cook!”
The mother blushed at the compliment. “Thank you.”
Ethan took the moment to explain Petunia’s origin to his children. They had sympathy with her.
“Sorry to hear what happened to you. We will do anything we can to make sure your stay is comfortable,” The siblings spoke together.
“Appreciated.” Petunia replied.
“I have an idea. How about we show you the landmarks of New Bordeaux?” The mother suggested.
The filly smiled. “I would love that.”
And so, the King family showed her the landmarks of the city, like the Anderson Bay Lighthouse, the Baron Saturday's Fun Park, the Cleavon Duvall State Park, the Eaglehurst Plantation and the General's Circle.
The filly enjoyed the tour, it was already evening when they got home.
After enjoying a delicious dinner, the young filly yawned, showing how tired she was. “That was fun.”
“Yes, it was. We have a guest room, you should get some rest.” King tucked her in, she smiled at the teddy bear on the guest bed, hugging it tightly. “Sweet dreams.” He couldn’t help himself but to kiss her on the forehead.
As he went to his own bed, his wife kissed him. “I love you.”
Returning it, smiling, he replied, “I love you too.”
In the morning, Petunia woke up, stretching herself as Lara and Liam came in, the girl was carrying a Breakfast Board with a bowl of oatmeal and a glass of juice on it.
“Good morning, Petunia, we made you breakfast.” They spoke together.
“Good morning and thank you.” The filly enjoyed her breakfast, smiling.
“You’re welcome.” The girl was happy to see that their guest enjoyed it.
They walked out of the guest room, seeing that Ethan and Emily were still asleep.
“I have an idea. How about we make breakfast for them?” Petunia suggested, the siblings nodded.
Emily and her husband woke up as a wonderful smell came out of the kitchen. Petunia and the siblings walked in. They carried Breakfast Boards with toasts and two glasses of juice on them in. “Thanks, children.” The woman was pleased by such a nice act.
“That was delicious.” Ethan had enjoyed it.
His wife checked the fridge, noticing they were short of milk. “We’re short of milk, can you buy some, Ethan?”
“Sure thing, want to come too, Petunia?”
She grinned, “With pleasure!”
Ethan switched to his standard issue jacket and jeans as he led Paleo to his personal car, a red Eckhart Champion.
On the way, the filly saw what seemed to be an anti-war protest, people were waving signs with that said ‘Welcome home, god bless you’ and ‘Get out of Vietnam!’ just to call a few.
While driving to the Central Market, the filly heard a siren in the distance, appearing to come from behind. It grew louder and louder.
Looking behind, she saw a police car with turned on siren coming from behind. “Hey, a police car's coming.”
“Okay, I think I'll slow down then.” Ethan pulled over, so the police could drive through without problems.
“And there's another police car...And another...” The filly’s eyes widened with dread. “And another and another and another...” She counted over twenty police cars speeding past them.
“Wonder why they need so many.” Petunia commented.
“Probably backup for a major crime, I suppose. The New Bordeaux Police Department is known to be very…serious of any crime to put it lightly.” Ethan explained with a slight hint of fear.
With a little delay, they reached the Central Market, buying what they needed. Petunia was a little bit shy at first, afraid how the people would react, Ethan had already an idea, he pretended she was his daughter in a costume, which seemed to work as the people smiled at the filly, commenting how cute and well made her “Costume” was.
After everything was loaded into the Eckhart Champion, the young father gave the filly some chocolate, which she enjoyed.
Angry yells echoed in their ears, they both wondered what was going on, as the yells were incomprehensible.
Then, King’s eyes widened in fear. It was a protest against the Civil Rights Movement, waving signs with ‘Blacks out!’ ‘Round them up!’ and other signs, shouting angrily, “Niggers out!” The police tried to keep it under control, but the angry mob pushed them back, throwing stones and bottles at the cops who covered their heads, some were stomping on police officers that were lying on the ground, while some officers did the same to some of the protesters.
“We better get out of here!” Ethan yelled slightly in panic, knowing that such protesters were unpredictable.
A small group separated from the protesters, heading towards King and Paleo as they got into the car.
The engine wasn’t starting. “Come on!” Ethan begged frantically, noticing that the group came closer, the child trembling in fear.
One of the angry men opened the door, dragging Ethan out of his car. “Where do you think you’re going, Nigger lover?!” The man tried to punch Ethan, he blocked it, punching the man back.
“Excuse me?! Watch your mouth!” King countered.
“You don’t get it! Every one of these niggers needs to be round up and shot!Take a look around. There's a goddamn war goin' on!” The protester yelled angrily.
The small group tried to beat King up, but due to his experience in the war and training, he could easily defend himself, the protest had escalated into a street war, police and protesters fought each other with batons and hands.
Scared by that violence, Petunia took a step back. “Run, get to safety!” Ethan yelled as he punched a protester into the face, making him stumble.
She obeyed without hesitating, running away from the fight.
“After her!” A very angry voice echoed in her ears.
Aimlessly, she took turns through the alleys until she came to a dead end, seeing several shadows approaching from behind. No, no, no!
It were three boys from the angry mob.
“You thought you could escape from us? WRONG, you coward!” One of them yelled at her.
“Please don’t hurt me! I didn’t do anything!” She pleaded, trembling in fear.
One of them cracked his knuckles. “I’m going to enjoy this.”
The filly closed her eyes, waiting for the pain.
“Beating up a defenseless child? Not in my town!” A fourth voice shouted.
Slowly opening her eyes, she saw that the boys had turned around, a man with black hair, brown eyes and the same color as Dan faced them, looking not too pleased. He was wearing the same clothes as Ethan.
“Leave her alone. I won’t say it again.” He ordered, his voice slightly aggressive.
“Or what? Get lost, Nigger!” The leader of them yelled, raising his fist.
“Bad move.” The man replied, delivering several punches in quick succession, making the boy stumble before head-butting him 3 times, making the boy fall on his back, knocked out.
The second boy stepped back with a hint of fear before trying a desperate punch, the man ducked, then grabbed the boy by the throat, lifting him up before slamming him into the ground, knocking him out too. The third was now in a complete state of fear, trembling as the soldier came closer.
The experienced man performed the same move as with the second boy, knocking the last one out too.
Petunia had her eyes closed, trembling. She flinched as a hand touched her fur.
Slowly opening her eyes again, Petunia saw that the man was kneeling, holding out a hand, showing he meant no harm.
“Thank you.” The filly was grateful as he helped her up. What’s your name?”
“Lincoln. Lincoln Clay.” He smiled.
“Petunia Paleo.” The foal introduced herself.
“Pleasure. Let’s get out of here.”
As they walked out, a police officer crossed their way, discovering the knocked out boys. “Crime in progress! Send backup!”He drew his pistol, firing at Clay, bullets flew past the child, she screamed as Lincoln picked her up, fleeing out of the alley to his personal car.
Without a word, he put her on the passenger seat, getting on the driver seat and fastening the seat belt as several police sirens echoed in the distance.
“All available units, suspicious individual on foot. Officers investigating.” The dispatch informed.
As Clay started the engine, about a dozen police cars chased him, the officers opened fire, his passenger screaming in fear.
He drove aimlessly through the streets, taking random turns to shake off the police, but they stayed on his tail.
On a straight road, the police had set up a roadblock. “Watch out, a roadblock!” Petunia yelled in fear as he headed straight forward it.
“I got this!” Spotting a construction side with a ramp next to the roadblock, he used it to jump over it, the cops crashed into their roadblock, creating a multiple collision.
The officers got out of their cars, shooting ineffectively at the fleeing car.
“Responding units, visual contact with suspect lost.”
Clay raced down the road for a minute before the dispatch radioed in again. “All units, pursuit is called off, abandon search and return to patrols. Repeat, pursuit is called off, abandon search and return to patrols.”
“They lost us.” Petunia breathed heavily from the adrenaline, trying to calm down.
“Yes, that’s the NBPD, shoot first and ask questions later. Are you hurt?” Lincoln asked, worried about her, slowing down his car.
Smiling upon hearing the song, the veteran starting to sing, “I fought the law…and the law lost!” with a little laugh.
While enjoying the song, the filly asked “Where are you heading? Can you bring me home, my friends will be worried.”
“Sure thing, Petunia. But I still have something to do before I can bring you home.”
“That’s fine for me, as long as it doesn’t take too long.” The filly replied, not minding it at all.
Clay drove through all districts of the town, stopping at two buildings in every district, getting out of the car, into the building, then came out, Petunia waited in the car.
By the time everything was done, the sun began to set.
“I suggest you rest the night at my place and tomorrow, I bring you home, okay?” the man said, Petunia just yawned.
They drove to a bar, Paleo read the sign on the roof. Sammy's Bar.
The filly was impressed by the furnishings, the bar featured a live Jazz band, a fully staffed kitchen, an outdoor smoking patio, and a game room with billiards and darts.
The guests and staff were too busy to notice her as she followed Clay upstairs to a guest room, tucking her in and bringing her dinner.
“Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Clay.” Petunia was grateful after she had dined.
With a smile, he replied, “You’re welcome and Lincoln is just fine. If you need something, I’m in the basement.”
“Okay, goodnight, Lincoln.” Paleo fell asleep, hoping that the Kings weren’t too worried about her.
In the next morning, she breakfasted together with Clay, telling her backstory.
“Sorry to hear what happened to you. Glad to hear that Ethan’s still alive and well.” He smiled lightly. “We served some time together in Vietnam, becoming good friends. After I got home, I prayed he would too in one piece.”
“Well, time for a meeting, isn’t it?” Petunia grinned.
“Guess you’re right.” He walked with her to his personal car, a black Samson Drifter. Upon getting in and putting the seatbelts on, he started the engine and with squealing tires raced towards Downtown, Petunia raised her hooves like in a roller coaster, grinning, the radio played Steppenwolf - Born To Be Wild.
Arriving at their destination, Lincoln used the doorbell, Emily opened the door. “Yes, how can I help you?”
“Hello Mrs. King, I assume you are missing someone?” he stepped aside, revealing a very happy Petunia.
“Petunia! Thank god, you’re okay!” The woman exclaimed happily before hugging Clay. “Thank you!”
“No need to thank me, ma’am, I did only what I knew was right. Plus to visit an old friend.”
“Then, come in.”
They stepped inside, the siblings were glad to see Petunia again, hugging her. “We were so worried about you!” they both exclaimed.
“I’m fine, thanks to Mr. Clay.” She pointed to him, he waved with a smile, the kids returned it.
“Lincoln Clay, it’s been a long time since we saw each other.” Ethan said, stretching his hand out for a handshake which turned into a friendly hug.
“I missed you too, Ethan.” The kids smiled at the warm reunion between old friends.
Then, they celebrated and talked for the rest of the day. In the evening, the kids played in the living room while the adults enjoyed some wine in the kitchen, the radio played The Animals - House of the Rising Sun.
“It’s really nice to see you again, safe and sound, Ethan. You haven’t changed a bit since we saw each other back in 1965.”
“Yeah, it’s nice to see you again too. While I can’t say I’m proud of you for being a mafia boss, I’m glad that you took care of the leading crime family one year ago, making this city a lot better. I’m honored to know you.” Ethan said to him.
“If he killed your family, would you did the same?” Lincoln countered.
“Maybe.” was Ethan’s reply.
“Honey, take a look at that.” His wife said with a smile as she looked into the living room. Their hearts melted at what they saw.
The kids, including Petunia, were asleep on the ground, a crumpled picture in the filly’s hooves.
It was a picture of her parents. Her mother had a turquoise coat, dark blue mane and green eyes and a clam with a sparkling pearl inside as Cutie Mark. Her father had a light golden coat, blue mane and matching eyes and two crossed fencing swords as Cutie Mark. “I miss you.” stood above them.
Emily hung the picture up on the fridge before she tucked her children in and her husband brought Petunia to bed.
“It’s heartbreaking how she missed her parents.” Emily suppressed a tear.
“Agreed but she’s save with us. I admit she’s grown on me.” Ethan replied.
“And everyone who wants to harm her has to go through me.” Clay promised.
“We appreciate it. You can have the couch.” Emily offered.
“I will take the basement.” Lincoln politely declined the offer. The married couple could tell that Clay’s war experiences scarred him mentally and physically, leaving him unable to sleep soundly, most likely suffering from PTSD.
They went into their own bed. “It’s so nice to have you back, my dear.” Ethan’s wife kissed him before they fell asleep.
Time passed. Lincoln regularly visited the Kings, spending time with them, Petunia and Ethan were pleased every time. The filly helped out in the house as good as she could, having much fun with Lara and Liam. Lincoln told the Kings Petunia reminded him of a young white girl he had a crush on when he was ten.
Sometimes, they did trips to the park together, the intolerant boys didn’t bother them again.
Once, the Kings went with Petunia to a dinner, Lincoln joined shortly after, the owner warned him that, “This shop’s whites only, boy.” only to cut himself off when he saw that it was Lincoln.
Clay just asked, “Care to correct yourself, sir?” with a stern tone, causing the owner to reply that Lincoln was always welcome here.
Eventually, Ethan had to go back to Vietnam, Petunia could stay with his family.
“Be careful out there, Ethan.” Petunia gave him a goodbye hug.
He stroked her mane. “I will, petty.” Then he went onboard the plane, heading for Vietnam once again.
It made her sad that he had to leave again. She had enjoyed her time with his family.
“There is that little brat!” Someone yelled as she was about to go back. Turning around, she was shocked, walking back in fear as it were the three boys who had tried to beat her up.
“This time, your nigger friend won’t help you! Get her!” The leader yelled, one of the two the boys charged at her. In self-defense, she bucked him as hard a she could into the gut, causing him to stumble, giving her a chance to run.
The terrified filly came to what seemed an open door to a small storage room, she got in, closing the door behind her.
Paleo held her breath as the boys ran past her.
She let out a sigh of relief as they were gone.
Out of the sudden, she felt how the “Storage room” started to move.
What the? She wondered, inspecting the cargo. Food, medical supplies, ammo, headed for Vietnam.
Then she felt how the “Cargo room” went slight upwards, making her realize that she was on a cargo plane. “Well… it can’t get worse than this, can it?” She mumbled, knowing that she couldn’t get out until the plane would land.
The plane with King landed on an aircraft carrier, as he had to switch to a helicopter to make the rest of the trip.
Hoang, Dan and Jesper waited for him. “Nice to see you again, I hope your leave was relaxing.” Hoang greeted him.
“Of course it was. Even met an old friend of mine.” He smiled at the memories.
A cargo plane landed with supplies, the group walked past it to get to the Huey that would bring them to the base.
“H-hello? Someone there?” A young frightened voice came out of the plane, the soldiers recognizing it instantly.
Opening the door, the filly jumped into King’s arms.
“Petunia? What are you doing here?” He asked, confused.
“T-the boys you wanted to beat me up found me! I hid in the plane, not knowing it would fly to Vietnam!” she explained, scared that she might get killed again.
“Shh, calm down. Guess Lincoln has to teach them another lesson. We send you back with the next transport, I don’t want to put you into danger.”
“I’m afraid this won’t be simple. As far as I know, there won’t be any flight back to the USA for the next twenty-four hours, the only option left is to take her to base.” Dan replied, not liking it.
“Damn it. Anyway, inform my family about her, so they know where she is.” King said to Jesper, who nodded.
“Right away!” The SOG operative left for the radio room.
“Well, we have order to capture hill 937 as part of the operation to destroy NVA Base Areas in the remote A Shau Valley, as it had been an infiltration route into South Vietnam prior to 1966. I overhead the plan: The Marines have order to reconnaissance in force toward the Laotian border while the ARVN units cut the highway through the base of the valley. If heavy resistance is met, we shall call in air support, destroying the enemy in their own operating areas and block escape routes into Laos. We are likely to encounter serious resistance. If a US Battalion should discover a North Vietnamese unit, orders are to fix it in place until a reinforcing battalion lifts in to cut off its retreat and destroy it.”
“Sounds like a good plan, if it works is another question.” Hoang commented.
Suddenly, a warning tone rang in their ears. “Incoming!” the pilot shouted as a missile flew towards the chopper, Petunia looked at it in fear, her pupils small.
The impact knocked them all over, Petunia was close to the door, getting thrown out of the Huey with a scream.
“Petunia!” Hoang yelled, trying to get to the door, but as the Huey spun out of control, he got thrown to the other side due the G-force.
“Help!” She screamed, barely holding for dear life on the leg of the chopper with one hoof.
“Coming!” Hoang got up, trying to reach the other side but got thrown around, the others too.
“I’m slipping!” Petunia yelled, losing her grip.
This time, Hoang managed to grab the seat next to the door, pulling himself to the open door.
“I can’t hold on much longer!” The filly yelled.
She lost her grip, in that moment, the AVRN soldier managed to grab her hoof, pulling her up, the others had managed to get a steady grip themselves, assisting him.
Once pulled in, Hoang clenched her protectively as the chopper went down.
“That…hurt…” Petunia regained consciousness, rubbing her head.
Checking herself, she had suffered some cuts from the crash, but was otherwise fine.
“Uhh…” Hoang, Dan, Ethan and Jesper also woke up, being unharmed.
“Petunia, are you hurt?” Dan asked.
“I’m fine.”
Ethan checked the pilot, somehow, one of the rotor blades had broken of the chopper and had pierced him, blood everywhere on the blade and his chest, he was dead on the spot, there was nothing they could do for him. “He’s dead.” He got the pilot’s dog tag, while the others checked the wreck for ammo and supplies. They scavenged some rations, a M60 with two magazines of ammo and a M21 with three magazines, along with a few grenades.
“Radio’s gone and we’re somewhere in a remote area of the Central Highlands. Guess we have to walk to the nearest US outpost.” Dan took the MG, Jesper the sniper rifle, as they had lost their rifles in the crash, Hoang and King still had their M16s.
“How long it is going to be?” Petunia asked King.
“Well, it’s gonna be a long way, Petunia, it could take us a couple of days.” It wasn’t easy for him to tell her.
The filly’s eyes went wide. “Days?! Is it really that far away?” She exclaimed with fear.
“Unfortunately, yes, but we will keep you safe, promise.” His promise caused her to smile weakly.
“Okay.”
Jesper took the lead, walking through harsh terrain towards the nearest outpost, knowing that the terrain was full of traps and enemies.
After about half an hour, they rested for ten minutes before moving on.
While Petunia felt safe with them, the fear of dying refused to get out of her head, trembling slightly, the AVRN soldier noticed it, patting her to calm her down.
She gave him a smile in response, as they walked past a ruined farmhouse, making the foal wonder if the house was ruined due the war or was ruined even before it.
“Hostiles!” Someone yelled, tearing her out of her thought, a bullet flew past her, Hoang pushed her behind a wall for cover.
They were caught unaware by a VC patrol. The four soldiers returned fire, Petunia covered her ears from the loud guns. Hoang feared one of the VC fighters could be his brother, but deep in his heart, he knew that Dang would hesitate to shoot, seeing his brother and especially Petunia, those guerrillas were fighting without hesitation to kill their enemies, not caring for the scared foal. He managed to take out an enemy with a headshot, blood and brain matter spurting from the wound, the soldier struggling to stand before eventually collapsing.
“Grenade!” the foal yelled as a grenade landed next to her, Hoang threw it back, into a window, the explosion blasted the Viet Cong fighter out, another one got buried under the debris.
The three US soldiers, along with their South Vietnamese ally, managed to defeat the enemy force, searching the bodies, taking some ammo and food from them.
Hoang was relieved to see that none of the bodies was his brother, before they moved on towards east.
After an hour of walking, they made another rest of ten minutes, Ethan looked on his watch, it was 5PM.
“Already that late? Time goes fast.” He mumbled.
After they were on the move again, the group walked past a rice field as suddenly, Petunia heard fast hiss sounds ringing in her ears, followed by several more, causing her instinctively to dive to the ground next to a wall, the soldiers did too.
They were pinned down by machinegun fire. Hoang peeked out of his cover, seeing a flash of enemy fire in the rice field, an entrenched machine gun nest.
Bullets flew past them as Jesper shouted, “Hasn’t anybody got a grenade?!”
Knowing he had to act fast to avoid that the others get hurt or killed, he quickly grabbed one of his grenades, aimed for the flash, using all his strength in the throw.
A small explosion and screams of pain followed, showing that he successfully had taken the enemy machinegun nest out. They went to check the remains for anything useful.
It was an NVA MG nest, they could see it from the uniforms, the explosion had made the bodies unrecognizable, making Hoang pray his brother wasn’t along them, savaging some ammo from the smoking MG nest.
After walking for some time and taking rest for a few minutes, the group came to a village, Vietnamese, both young and old, came to watch them. Hoang decided to ask the villagers for help, one old villager spoke for the others, he was happy to talk to the soldiers.
“Can you help us?” The ARVN soldier asked in his language.
“What you need? We help uncle Sam all the time.” The old man replied.
“Have you medicine or food?” Hang asked him.
“Medicines all gone, VC took everything. Steal food, kill animals.”
The young Vietnamese thought for a moment. If the Viet Cong take everything, they must be close. “Are there Viet Cong nearby?”
“Some come at night. Camp 5,6 clicks from here.” The villager replied.
“Thank you.” Realizing that this was all he could ask the villager, Hoang ceased the questioning.
Petunia noticed a villager trying to cover a small hole in the ground behind the huts. Taping Hoang on the shoulder to get his attention, she pointed to it.
Suspicious, the soldiers took a look, pointing a flashlight into it. “Jesper, take a look into it.” King ordered as Jesper was the only one who was small enough to climb down the narrow entrance.
There were muffed shots from below. Seconds later, Jesper appeared, dragging a case of ammunition, a bag of grenades and some claymores.
The old man was quite surprised as Hoang returned to him in a slow pace.
“Hello again. Look what I found...” His voice was humorless, showing the weapons they had found. “Right before that happened.” He pointed to the tunnel. “I'd like to know why.”
The villager was quiet, shuffling nervously. Hoang folded his arms and scowled. “You don't seem to be replying. How about food again?”
“Okay. I show you.” The old man led him to a hidden store of rice and pots of dried fish, the soldiers filled their bags before moving on.
“Was that really necessary?” Petunia asked, not liking what they had done.
Ethan let out a sigh. “Unfortunately, yes. The Viet Cong hide along the Villagers, making them impossible to identify. They raid the villages, eliminating our officers or other government nationals, weakening the villager’s trust in us, also, some of our men raid them too, so they’re very suspicious of us too, but don’t show it, playing nice. Sometimes, you have to break the rules to reach our goal, nobody of us enjoys this.” His voice was one of disgust and regret.
“I still don't like it.” She replied, head lowered.
“Neither do I. No-one should.”
The sun was setting, it was, according to Ethan’s watch, 8 pm. “Let’s dig in here for the night.” He suggested, the others agreeing.
The filly helped them to build a trench for sleeping, snuggling next to Hoang as she fell asleep.
“Once we’ve reached the outpost, we need to get her out ASAP, it’s way too dangerous for her.” Jesper whispered, careful not to wake her.
“Yes, I agree. Until then, we have to keep her safe, no matter what.” Dan replied, having sympathy for her.
“Indeed. I take the first watch.” Ethan looked out for trouble while the others rested for the night.
Later in the night, Hoang and the others awoke by a sound. Slowly opening their eyes, they took notice it came from Paleo.
She was whimpering and sobbing in her sleep, lightly trembling.
“Poor girl, must have a nightmare.” Dan felt sorry for her.
Knowing that it could alert a VC patrol to their presence, Hoang tried to calm her down. “Shh, we’re here for you.” He whispered into her ear, wrapping an arm around the filly.
Petunia screamed and kicked around, trying to break free in her sleep.
Ethan ran over, trying together with Hoang to quiet her down, she still struggled.
Seeing no other option, the Army soldier reached for his sidearm, whipping her with it.
It worked, she got knocked out, but it filled him with regret. “I’m sorry, Petunia.” He whispered in her ear.
The South Vietnamese hugged her to ensure she wouldn’t have another nightmare.
In the morning, the soldiers made a quick breakfast, Petunia had a small bump on her head, still sleeping.
“Ugh…my head…” The filly woke up, rubbing her forehead.
“Good morning, Petunia.” Hoang gave her a ration.
“I’m s-sorry, I had a n-nightmare…” she apologized, being slightly aware what happened in the night.
King waved a hand. “It’s okay, it can happen to any of us. Back in 68’ during the Tet offensive, I saw many young men not able to take it anymore. Battle fatigue. War brings out the worst of us. As such, I’m very sorry that I had to hit you.”
Her response surprised him. “It’s okay, it heals anyway.”
Then they continued their march.
The group walked for some time, taking rest every now and then. Petunia saw a cluster of huts in the distance, seeing a glint from them.
It turned into a flash, accompanied by a loud sound, a bullet hit the ground near the filly, causing her to yelp. “Sniper!” Ethan yelled, pushing her behind a wall as cover, more bullets hit the wall.
They were pinned down by Sniper fire. Jesper aimed down the scope of the M21, knowing he had to act fast or the others could get hurt or killed. Scanning the area, he couldn’t see any sniper, they were well camouflaged. A flash came out of one of the huts, the SOG operative aimed for it and fired. He could see through the magnified view that an enemy sniper fell out of the window.
“Good shot, Jesper!” Dan complimented him.
A second flash came out of another hut, the US soldier had seen it, taking aim, exhaled, then pulled the trigger. The enemy fell out of a window.
They waited in cover for a few minutes, they enemy fire was no more, meaning that Jesper had taken out all snipers. They checked the surrounding area after that, taking some ammo from the bodies. Dan noticed that the right eye of one VC sniper was completely gone and covered in blood, the scope of his rifle was broken.
“You shot him right through the scope, how come you aren’t a sniper with such a marksmanship?” He asked, impressed
A little bit blushing, Jesper replied, “I was in a gun club before joining the Military, but never had the patience snipers have.”
They moved on once again, walking through the jungle for hours, making rest for a few minutes if needed.
After a while, Petunia spotted what seemed to be a bunker in the distance, not watching her step, tripping over a root, tumbling down a small hill. “Petunia!” Hoang yelled as she tried to stop her fall, to no avail, until she hit a sign with her head.
“Ow!” She exclaimed in pain before staring at the sign in shock.
Mines!
She had landed at a minefield.
“Whatever you do, stay where you are!” Jesper yelled, coming to her aid.
A narrow passage was between the soldiers and her, so only the SOG operative could get to her. “We must clear it, so the others can cross it.” He explained, seeing the fear in her eyes.
“W-what?” She asked scared.
“I hate to say this, but you have to crawl through the minefield, stabbing at the ground along the way to check for the mines.” He really hated it, but there was no other way.
“O-okay…” She whimpered, grabbing a stone and crawled through, Jesper followed her to disarm any mine she would find.
The filly trembled heavily while she did this, fearing that the slightest wrong move would set a mine off, killing her in a very painful way.
“You’re doing a great job!” Hoang called out, trying to encourage her.
It didn’t really help, but she appreciated it.
Petunia found around thirteen mines before Jesper said, “That seem to be all of them. You can cross it now.” Hearing it, Petunia let out a big breath of relief, never wanting to do this again.
Her eyes hadn’t lied to her, she had really seen a bunker, its entrance was protected by the minefield they had crossed.
The soldiers checked for booby traps, luckily finding none, before taking supplies from the bunker, moving on. “You did a great job, Petunia.” Jesper patted her, she gave him a weak smile in return.
The group reached another village, entering it slowly, a crowd of grim faced peasants gathered around them, making Paleo feel uncomfortable.
As with last time, Hoang spoke for the group. “We need help. Do you have you food or medicine?” He asked, the villager stayed grim faced, not replying at all.
“Are Viet Cong nearby?” Again, the villager gave no reply.
The ARVN soldier ceased the questioning, realizing it was no good. But then, he realized how he couldpersuade the villagers. “Petunia, would you please step forward?” The filly was a bit confused and nervous at this but did as told.
“Yes, Hoang?” She asked, the villagers dropped their grim expressions, surprised by the talking filly, exactly the reaction Hoang hoped they would have.
“I know what you’re thinking, but she’s real and we need to get her to safety. We need any help we can get to do this and we don’t want to harm anyone. So, can you help us?” Hoang asked again, the villager lowered his head.
“VC took all food. Nothing left but rice.” He gave them a few half empty rice pots. Then he showed the group a hut where a cache of arms was hidden, in it were some ammo, grenades and remains of captured US rations. “VC, some come at night, maybe ten to twenty. Used to be camp 5 or 6 clicks south.”
“Thank you.” Hoang thanked the villager and the group travelled again.
The sun was setting once again, signaling the survivors that it was time to dig in for the night. The filly was sleeping peacefully this night.
Petunia was got awaken by a strange sound, like footsteps. Still sleepy, she looked around, noticing that all her friends were asleep.
Suspicious and seeing no other option, Paleo decided to take a look around but stayed near the trench. It was dark, her eyes slowly adjusted to it, allowing her to see a little bit.
The filly came to a swamp, only crickets filled the air with sound. Must been my imagination.
In the moment she turned around, the filly got caught in a root, tripping and barely keeping herself from crying out in pain to avoid alerting possible nearby enemies.
In the moment she got up, the filly froze in shock.
Bodies were scattered everywhere, torn open, some had missing limbs, it looked like a mass grave, the filly managed to keep herself from vomiting, not wanting to alert anybody nearby.
As first, she thought a wild animal was the cause for this. But then, she noticed something.
Some of the bodies had knives in them, hinting that was work of a human, not an animal.
The little filly gave a tiny whimper as the swamp suddenly felt wider and more dangerous all alone. Trying hard to keep quiet, she backed herself up against a tree, vivid with bright green moss and fungus.
Something was out there. Something that had cut through a team of soldiers like scissors through paper.
And now she was alone with a wild, murderous beast.
But where was it hiding?
Where could it hide.
There was a creak behind her. Breathing in quickly, she noticed the shadow of the branches had changed drastically. Like a pair of griffon talons they were rising, ready to snatch.
With a scream, she wriggled frantically as the tree clutched her tight, wrapping around her belly, threatening to squeeze the breath out of her.
“No! Get off! Get away from me!”
With a grunt of confusion, the tree dropped her. Scrambling in the dirt, Petunia made a run for it.
She felt her back hoof catch on something.
With an almighty snap, a set of wooden claws, lashed together from branches and vines, shot out of the undergrowth and flipped over, pinning the filly to the ground.
Staring up the canopy, Petunia watched, terrified, as...things...crawled out of the forest. Golems made of moss, bark, pondweed or clumps of soil. Filthy, haggard but smiling. Smiling down at her.
“Please...” she squealed “Please let me go! Who are you?! What are you?! What do you want with me?!”
One of them bent down, a pair of manic, twitching eyes visible through a mask of forest litter. He breathed into her face, stinking of tobacco and rotten flesh and then sniffed deeply.
Then he spoke, his accent clearly American, but his tone very much unlike that of Ethan, King or Lincoln. It was slow, quiet and utterly unhinged. The words terrified her to the core.
“Fresh...Meat...”
The filly gulped, it was her end. Please, remember me. Petunia made one final prayer for her parents.
“Identify yourself!” Ethan’s voice rang in her ears, pointing a flashlight into her direction, causing the man to let her go, fleeing along with the others.
“Are you okay? I heard your screams.” He sounded concerned for her, helping the filly up.
“I’m fine. I heard a noise and since you were asleep, I wanted to check it to keep you safe.” She explained.
“I understand, but next time, wake one of us to check it out. For your own safety.” Ethan replied, taking a quick look at the bodies.
I guess these are the men from whom the villagers got the supplies. Poor guys. This is way too brutal for the Viet Cong…Could it be…them?
He thought as he and Petunia got back, falling asleep.
In the early morning, the filly was awoken by a loud piercing sound, covering her ears.
Noticing that it came from the same direction where she had found the bodies, Petunia shook Ethan’s shoulder to wake him.
Sleepy, he was about to ask what’s wrong but then also heard the loud noise. “Stay here.” He said, grabbing his M16 and taking a look.
Not able to bear the noise, the filly followed him.
Seeing the same swamp from a safe distance, the two took notice of two men in US uniforms dragging a weeping bearded man to a small metal bunker from which the piercing sound of screeching machinery was echoing across the site, like a power drill or buzz saw.
One of them slammed on the door with the butt of his rifle and stood back.
It opened and Petunia's ears shot to the sides of her head in alarm.
The screeching wasn't from machinery at all. It was unmistakably the sound of a woman screaming. On and on and on.
A towering hulk of a man strode out, taller than the others by at least two heads, so much so that he had to stoop slightly as he walked through the doorway. His enormous muscles showed clearly through the skin on his arms and his open shirt showed off bulging biceps above a six-pack. This man clearly did a lot of exercise.
His head was broad with a chin like a cinder-block. His dull blonde hair was cropped short like most marines but he was growing stubble. His mouth was set in an arrogant smirk while his small, deep-set eyes were a pale turquoise and seemed to contrast with it, looking almost constantly on edge, ready to dart into action at the first sign of trouble.
He appeared wet and, as he walked outside, standing to his full-height, it dawned on her that he was covered in a dark red liquid, spattered over his face and chest and entirely covering his hands.
“What is it?” he said flatly. Strangely his voice was quiet and seemed pretty calm.
"This guy wanted to talk, Sarge.” one of the man answered, gesturing to the weeping prisoner.
The man's smile grew wider and he stepped closer to look the kneeling man in the eye, his massive boots thudding heavily on the soil.
Then he turned his head, so swiftly that Petunia could swear he heard a 'click' as he barked loudly.
“Polly!”
“I am coming, Sergeant” An ancient-looking old Asian man with wispy white hair and a prominent limp hobbled over on a stick, nearly tripping on the debris littered around the base, and fell to his knees between them. He and the man spoke for a moment in Vietnamese before the man the sergeant had called 'Polly' spoke to his leader in English.
“This is Thuy Si Thon, Sergeant.”
There was a pause.
“And?” There was a distinct disparaging tone to his voice.
“He...he asks...pleads, even, that you release his fiancé, who he saw go with you into the bunker three days ago. He says he's told your men all they need to know and that if you let them go home safely, he will give you all the wealth he and his family own.”
“Ah...I see...Yeah, I remember now.” The sergeant nodded and squatted down to look the kneeling, crying man in the eye, the smirk wide on his face.
“Well, allow me to start by saying congratulations, my good man. Your fiancé is...a real looker. Really. No kidding. Most beautiful girl I've seen in years, the kind of fiancé any man would be proud of.”
His tone was so frank, one would imagine him saying this at a pleasant dinner in suits than in a warzone.
Between them, the man named 'Polly' translated to the terrified Thuy Si Thon.
“And she's sweet too. You see, three days ago, she came to me and said you meant the world to her. Seriously. And she said she would do anything to keep you safe. So...we reached a compromise. If I let you go...she agreed to do whatever...I...asked.”
His pale eyes gleamed as Thuy's mouth opened wide with horror. As if on cue, the men gathered and held him in place as the sergeant continued.
“Oh, she was fun. I dunno', I guess she must have been thinking of you because she really gave it her all. But then...things got a bit out-of-hand. Ask any girl back home, I can sometimes get a bit too passionate.”
Petunia had no real clue what the man was talking about but there was something extremely unsettling about his tone and manner, something completely off.
She'd known bullies back home, bullies who thought she was weird, scary, dirty, even stupid. But she remembered the looks of pleasure on their faces as she cried.
This look was greater than any she'd seen. Somehow, the words the sergeant was saying were hurting the man at his mercy, who knelt sobbing as Polly translated, the old man's voice cracking as he, himself, fought back tears.
And the sergeant was enjoying it.
It’s…it’s them! Ethan recognized those men, wishing he could save the Vietnamese but he couldn’t risk endangering Petunia, giving away his position, forced to listen to the rest of this conversation.
“But...” he continued “She said she'd do anything. And I took her up on that offer. But by the end, and this is where it gets really sad" she sighed, shaking his head mockingly "By the time things were nearly done, she didn't care. She'd forgotten all about you, she couldn't care less what happened to her fiancé...as long as I put her out of her misery.”
His massive hand reached at the back of his belt and removed an item.
From a distance, it looked like fabric, pale beige on one side and dark crimson on the other with three holes cut out of it. The sergeant threw it on the ground as Thuy and Polly both gasped with horror.
A moment later, Petunia did the same, nearly collapsing to her knees, the last meal she'd eaten welling up in her throat, never having felt more sickened and horrified in her life.
The sergeant stood back up and grinned.
“It's okay" he chuckled “I saved you her pretty face...Go ahead...give it a kiss.”
At this point, Petunia couldn’t hold it anymore, having to throw up.
The Army soldier picked her up, getting back to the trench as fast as he could.
“Wake up, we need to go! It’s them!” He yelled, causing the others to wake up in alert, knowing who he meant, gathering their equipment.
“Double March!” King ordered and the group moved out.
“Who…what are those men?” Petunia wasn’t sure if they could still be called men.
“Trust me, its best you don’t know.” Dan said to her, his voice had a hint of fear.
The group travelled for a few hours, taking regular breaks. They didn’t encounter any Viet Cong, which was a nice change.
Around noon, Jesper could see a flagstaff with a US flag in the distance, pulling a smile to his lips. The outpost was insight.
Petunia noticed the big sign, she grinned upon reading it.
Welcome to Du Hoc.
They had made it.
Inside, medics took care of Petunia’s cuts, taking also the pilot’s dog tags from King.
Then they rested on cots in the barracks, enjoying every second, it was much more comfortable than the cold ground they had to sleep on during their travel.
Petunia let out a moan of relief as she leaned back into the pillow, enjoying it to the fullest.
“I can’t tell how nice it is to be in an actual bed again.”
“I believe you that.” Hoang replied as he cleaned his rifle.
Suddenly, a siren sounded, causing everyone to jump up in alert. “What’s going on?” The filly asked, startled.
“We are under attack! Quick, let’s get you to the bunker!” Hoang picked her up, running out of the barracks, seeing NVA soldiers were the attackers, firing at US and ARVN soldiers who stood their ground.
“Incoming!” Dan yelled, firing his M60 at the enemy.
Jesper spotted a RPG trooper along with two other NVA soldiers. The SOG operative took aim at the enemy RPG, firing a shot at the rocket launcher wielding soldier.
The bullet hit the trooper into the chest with enough force to throw him on his back, firing the RPG by accident in the progress.
The explosion threw Hoang and Petunia over, the filly landed with a cry of pain on the ground.
Her ears were ringing, her vision blurry and swimming.
The foal heard muffled screams, bodies hit the ground, blood sprayed everywhere.
As she slowly recovered from it, Petunia witnessed to her horror, that most bodies were ARVN and US soldiers, the NVA was winning, in the heat of the battle, she couldn’t tell if her friends were still alive or dead.
“Don’t move!” A voice yelled, she found herself surrounded by NVA soldiers.
“Don’t shoot!” She pleaded, trembling, staying on the ground, hooves behind her head.
The soldiers led her to a truck, where an officer, a lieutenant if she saw the insignias on his uniform right, was sitting.
“Well, looks like the rumors are true, a talking pony.” His voice was cold, unemotional.
“P-please…don’t hurt me…” The filly whimpered in fear.
“Sir, with all due respect, she’s a child and a civilian! We can’t take her prisoner!” One of the soldiers protested, the filly recognized the voice, it was Dung.
“Be quiet private, I’m in command here. I got special orders from high command to capture her alive.”
Dung’s blood froze, suspecting who had given that order. “Can’t we just…” He struggled to find the right words. “Put her under house arrest? She is a civilian after all.”
“House arrest?” The NVA officer let out a laugh. “Oh no, private. Given that she might know a lot and that she’s unique, it was decided that she is to become an honored guest of our nation’s most secure fortress:
The Hoa Lo Prison. That sent a shiver down Dung’s spine. This prison was built by the French colonists in Vietnam for political prisoners when Vietnam was still part of French Indochina, located in downtown Hanoi, it was impossible to escape, at least there was no report that a U.S. prisoner of war successfully escaped from a North Vietnamese prison so far.
Dung was sometimes deployed as a prison guard there, he hated every second of it.
The young soldier had seen how the prisoners were treated. From the beginning, U.S. POWs endured miserable conditions, including poor food and unsanitary accommodation. Although North Vietnam was a signatory of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949, which demanded “decent and humane treatment” of prisoners of war, severe torture methods were employed, such as rope bindings, irons, beatings, and prolonged solitary confinement, while Communists denied it by stating that prisoners were treated well and in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.
Dung felt sorry for every prisoner, knowing that the aim of the torture was usually not acquiring military information. Rather, it was to break the will of the prisoners, both individually and as a group. The goal of the North Vietnamese was to get written or recorded statements from the prisoners that criticized U.S. conduct of the war and praised how the North Vietnamese treated them. Such POW statements would be viewed as a propaganda victory in the battle to sway world and U.S. domestic opinion against the U.S. war effort. Prisoners got occasionally released for propaganda or other purposes. The prison complex was sarcastically nicknamed the “Hanoi Hilton” by the American POWs, in reference to the well-known Hilton Hotel chain.
Knowing the same could happen to Petunia made his blood boil in anger at the person who had given the order to capture her. He did not know why, but for some reason, something told him that his father was behind this. But then again, it could have been also from a high-ranking person that was his father’s supervisor, making Dung think about it if he should be angry at his father at all.
Right now, the only thing he could do, was to comfort her as good as he could, patting her during the ride, the filly was trembling heavily, scared of what they would do with her. At least, they didn’t restrain her, thinking it wasn’t necessary. Dung couldn’t blame her for being so much scared, it was understandable.
It made sense, a young filly like her couldn’t put up much of a fight against a fully grown soldier.
As the truck reached the capital of North Vietnam, Dung let out a sigh, praying to god Petunia would survive this all.
The soldiers led the scared filly into the prison, the floors were cold. Petunia was brought to a NVA officer. “Prisoner transport from Du Hoc.” Dung reported, hating to have to do this.
“I heard. Good work. Any incidents?” The officer asked, standard procedure with new prisoners.
“Not at all, sir.”
“And the prisoner?”
“She’s a child…” Dung couldn’t finish as the officer interrupted him.
“What is it?”
“She’s pretty scared and had suffered some cuts from the battle. So, um, is the doctor going to look after her?” The young soldier asked, not wanting her health to get worse.
“The doctor? Not that I heard.” The officer replied, his voice unemotional.
“I see... So where am I taking her?” Dung asked, unsure what to think of this.
“Put her into the next free cell.” The officer ordered.
“Are they going to interrogate her?” Dung prayed they would not and if they would, go easy on her.
“That's none of your business. Now take her to the next free cell.” The officer ordered coldly.
“She is just a child, she wouldn’t last…”
“So what if she does?” The officer countered.
“What?” Dung couldn’t believe what he just heard.
“We have our orders. Hurry up and take her to the cell. Do it. Or I'll report you.”
“Understood.” Dung managed to hide his disgust.
Petunia showed no reaction, she just trembled as Dung led her to the cell.
As he opened the door, Dung tried to comfort her. “Listen, Petunia. I know it’s hard, but if they interrogate you, you have to stay strong, for your family and friends.”
The scared filly gave no reply, only nodded, barely noticeable as she got into the cell and the door got closed.
Once left alone, the filly couldn’t contain the pressure anymore, curling into a ball, crying, calling out for her parents.
Dung was assigned to guard her cell, hearing everything, filling him with sympathy for the young child. He had to do everything he could to prevent her from being tortured, she wouldn’t last long.
Getting her out wouldn’t be easy, let alone bringing her to the South of Vietnam. Right now, the only thing he could do was comfort her, keeping her moral up.
While trying to come with an idea to get her out of here, the sounds of boots tore him out, coming closer, seeing two shadows on the wall.
The shadows turned out to be two men, one of them was hearing the uniform of a general, having the same eyes as him but slightly grey hair, the other man sported black hair and brown eyes.
Dung knew who they were, the officer was his father, the other man his personal guard, Lieutenant Lan.
“We wish to interrogate the prisoner.” Dung’s father said as they stopped next to the NVA soldier.
Knowing that yelling wouldn’t bring any results, Dung replied calmly, “With all due respect, she’s a child, it would be dishonorable to…”
“Dung, we have no choice. This is for the cause.” His father countered with a cold and emotionless tone.
“There's no cause in torturing innocents who don't know anything!” Dung yelled.
“We don't know that!” His father replied.
“I know that! Don't you trust me?! Don't you trust your own son?!” The young Vietnamese wanted to know.
In his usual emotionless tone, father replied. “I trust you, Dung, so I decided given how close you are to her, that you shall be her interrogator.”
Dung’s face became pale. “You…you can’t be serious…”
“I am serious. Since you know her, you can get her to tell us what she knows without having to hurt her.”
Dung understood what his father meant. “I understand. And if she doesn’t know anything of use?”
“That is not my decision, but that of my superior.”
It made Dung uncomfortable. “Okay…I don’t want her to get hurt.”
“I hope so, for your sake.” His father replied, leaving with Lan as Dung opened the cell door, Petunia looked up with tear-filled eyes, it broke his heart to see her like this.
Taking a deep breath, Dung spoke, “Listen, Petunia. I don't want you to get hurt and I know you're scared. Please, just.... answer the question for the sake of us both. I promise they won't harm you.”
With a shaky voice, she told him, “The US and ARVN forces plan to capture hill 937 as part of the operation to destroy NVA Base Areas in the remote A Shau Valley. The Marines have order to reconnaissance in force toward the Laotian border while the ARVN units cut the highway through the base of the valley. If heavy resistance is met, they shall call in air support, destroying the enemy in their own operating areas and block escape routes into Laos. If a US Battalion should discover a North Vietnamese unit, orders are to fix it in place until a reinforcing battalion lifts in to cut off its retreat and destroy it. That’s all I know, honest!”
The soldier could tell she was honest and scared, not wanting to die.
“I believe you, petty. I will do anything I can to prevent that they hurt you.”
Without warning, the filly hugged him. “Thank you! I also have a message from your mother.”
“Message? I’m all ears.” Dung was surprised at this.
The filly quoted, “’I know you've lost a lot of love and faith in your father. I did too when all this madness began. But understand that what he's put you through is very much the same as he was put through at your age. We tried to keep together, heavens know we tried. The war changed him and not for the better...But I won't lie and say it didn't change me. I regret not simply talking to him and working this out...And you will too if this goes on too long, you can trust your mother on that.’ Hoang was supposed to give it to you should he meet you again.”
“That’s very touching, Petunia. It warms my heart that mother has not forgotten me. Sorry, but I have to lock the door again. I’ll be back soon.”
Her smile faded, changing to an expression of fear and sadness. “Just…don’t take too long…please.”
“I come back as soon as I can.” With that, he closed the door, making his way to his father’s office.
The bodyguard stood outside, opening the door for him.
“What have you to report?” his father asked, sitting on his desk, doing paperwork, the office had some Communist flags and a picture of the North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh.
“Well, she got some information about the next officer of the Capitalist forces.” Ding told him what he knew.
Father gave a barely noticeable smile. “Good, good.”
“There is also another thing. She got a message from mother.”
That seemed to surprise his father, as he stopped his work, looking up. “What message?”
“She regrets not simply talking to you and working this out, that you and her are not that different.”
Father stayed motionless, processing the information, making Dung wonder how he will react to this.
After what seemed to be hours, father mumbled, “So, she finally understood.” Again, a barely noticeable smile. “Took her long enough.”
“So, what happens to Petunia?” Dung asked.
“That lies in the hands of my supervisor. We'll increase her rations. It wouldn't bring us any benefit to let her starve. Return to your post.”
“Yes, general.” What fascinated Dung at times about his father, despite being cold and serious, was that he was very clever, showing an unusual caring side to prisoners that behaved, which was very rare.
Back at the cell, the filly asked through the door, “What did he say?” with a hint of hope in her voice.
Letting out a sigh, hating it to disappoint her, he said, “That the decision has his supervisor. I’m afraid it will take some time.”
“No…” A quiet whimper came from the other side.”
“But, he gives you double rations, so you stay strong.”
He didn’t know if Petunia had heard this as she gave no reply, just crying until she cried herself to sleep.
Seeing that it was getting late, Dung opened the door, walked in and put the sleeping filly on the bed, tucking her in. “I promise I get you out of here.” The soldier whispered into her ear before walking out, closing the door, going to the sleeping quarters to get some rest.
In the next morning, he brought her breakfast, consisting of a bowl of rice and a glass of juice. Crying greeted his ears as he reached the cell.
“I just wanna go home… Lemme go home…Lemme go home…”
Dung opened the door, feeling sorry for her. “Good morning, I made you breakfast.” He placed it on the table next to the bed, the filly looked up with a sad expression.
“T-thank you.” She gladly took it, but her sad expression stayed.
Making sure he wasn’t watched, Dung sat down next to her. “I know it’s hard, Petunia. You have to stay strong.” The soldier stroked her mane.
“Easy for you to say. I had a nightmare about t-them t-torturing me…” She buried her head into his chest. “I want my mama…”
Dung could tell that she was homesick, it reminded him of his time after he awoke in Hanoi.
“I know how you are feeling. After I woke up in Hanoi, I became also homesick, wishing I could see my mother and brothers again. The promise I made with my brothers kept me strong, getting over my homesickness. I know you can get over it too. And I will with you, no matter what.”
“Thank you!” The filly smiled again, very grateful.
“Tell me, what have you experienced since the campfire?” He asked, curious.
“A lot of fun!” The filly grinned, telling him about her stay in the USA.
“Sounds like the stories are true that the west is that good. Sometimes, I dreamed that I escaped back to the South, traveling to the USA, living a happy live, a life I never had here in the North.”
“I can imagine that.” Petunia replied, hugging him to cheer him up.
A few days passed without any information about the decision, making Dung wonder if his father’s supervisor had decided that Petunia spends the rest of her life here, or worse, had given the execution order for her.
Then finally, an answer came, as he saw a single shadow walking into his direction. To Dung’s surprise, it was only Lan. “Got news about the decision?” Dung asked him.
“Yes, best you hear it personally, follow me.”
Dung gulped, fearing that this couldn’t be good for Paleo.
Once at the office, the young man asked his father, “You wanted to see me?”
“Yes. I’m afraid it doesn’t look good for your young friend.” Father’s voice was cold, but somehow, Dung could hear some sympathy for the filly, his expression neutral.
“What do you mean? She told us everything she knows.” Dung feared what would come, horrified.
“For my supervisor it wasn’t…satisfactory. He ordered her to be interrogated again.”
In shock, not believing what he had heard, the Vietnamese exclaimed, “What?! You can’t be serious!”
Cold, his father replied, “I am serious, I have an order to do the interrogation myself.”
Dung stood there, completely stunned as his father and Lan walked past him. “Mother would never recognize you as the man she had married.” Dung couldn’t believe it.
This seemed to get a reaction from his father, as he stopped, turning around, slightly surprised. “Dung, unlike your mother, I don't hide behind comfortable delusions. I know what you think of me and I really don't let that bother me, so if you're hoping one day I'll cave in and beg for your forgiveness, you're just as delusional. You don't have to see me as a father, but you'd do damn well to see me as your commander.”
This angered Dung slightly. “Or what? You'll put a bullet in my head?!”
His father looked coldly at him, it felt like an eternity “You'd be wise not to tempt me.”
Then the NVA general and his bodyguard walked to Petunia’s cell, Dung close behind, wanting to protect her.
Dung hesitated to open the door, not wanting her to get hurt, but he had no other choice.
The filly looked scared, trembling, huddling into the corner. “Please, I told you everything I know!”
“Lan, Dung, leave me alone with her.”
Lan bowed. “As you wish.”
Dung looked with worry at Petunia, fearing what would happen to her.
She knew how much he cared for her, seeing the fear in his eyes.
Petunia was very scared, but still, she had to calm him down somehow.
Something told her that the General was an honorable man, just wanting to talk, that he was somehow different from other NVA officers, like Dung was.
But even if she was wrong, she had to give Dung hope, like he had tried to cheer up her.
The filly managed to gather somecourage, giving him a weak smile. “I-I-it's okay, Dung...I'll be fine...I promise.”
He looked back at Petunia and threw one last hateful look at his father, before leaving, knowing that protesting was no use.
The elderly man looked her into the eyes, no sigh of emotion. “So, you are Petunia Paleo, the talking filly everyone was talking about, you may call me General Vu. I'm not going to hurt you. That is a solemn promise. I don't do that. But nor do I allow potential liars and spies to live. You ask what I will do if you do not tell me what I want to know? I will remove you from this safe, comfortable cell of yours and place you below.
You see, not many people know this, but this prison has an underground cell block. It used to be a sewage system...And to be perfectly honest, its contents haven't changed. Filth. The soldiers call the lower cell block ‘Dia Nguc.’” He paused, the filly tried to understand what those words meant.
“It means ‘Hell’. And again, an appropriate name given the nature of those within.
Dia Nguc is where we put the scum. Not the political dissidents, not the POWs or even the traitors. The truly irredeemable kind. There are no guards in Dia Nguc, we simply throw prisoners down below and leave them. No guards, no food, no laws. And they revel in it. I have seen them do things to humans that I wouldn't see in a nightmare. You, a little animal, alone, afraid, thinking, speaking and feeling like a human, but exempt from the laws of humanity? They will find no end of fun and games with you. You won't last two minutes. But there will be no blood on my hands. Only their hands...and many other parts as well.
When this interrogation continues, you are going to tell us what we want to know. I hope, for your sake, I've made that very clear.” His voice sounded very serious.
“I already told Dung everything I know! They didn’t tell me more! I swear!”
“No date for the attack or time of day?” He asked before a sound of beating echoed through the corridors. ”What now?” He looked into the direction of the sound before turning back to Petunia. “I’ll be right back.” With that, he walked off, leaving the child to wonder what was going on.
A few minutes earlier
As Dung walked away with Lan, he couldn’t help but think about Petunia’s safety, what they would do to her. Remembering what she had told him about her stay in the USA, he mumbled, “You should be in the free west and not here, Petunia. Stupid boys, if I would live over there, I had taught them a lesson! Doesn’t sound so bad to live in the West.”
Without warning, Lan turned around, pinning him against the wall, staring at him with disgust. “I don't believe this…Do you even hear yourself? Travel to America, live under Uncle Sam's rules, become rich and famous and never have to suffer again, blah, blah, blah-WHAT ABOUT US!” He screamed. “What about the men dying to defend our country from the people who you call the kindest and noblest men on earth?! Does none of that mean anything to you?! Is that it? All the years the Commander's taught you the importance of our nation and its place in the world, you just want to turn your back on that so you can skip through the streets of New York without a care in the world?! You think your way, running from your problems and wishing they didn't exist, is honestly better than your father's way, fighting those problems until they're gone?! Do you honestly not see what we're fighting for or what's at stake?!” Lan quieted down, glaring at Dung. “If you are honestly your father's son...I guess he's right about the lying bitch you call mother.”
That insult woke a beast inside the young man.
He headbutted Lan, freeing himself from his grip. “What did you just said about my mother?!” Enraged, Dung punched the lieutenant, who blocked or evaded his punches with effort. “Nobody insults my mother like that! She’s caring and loving!” The soldier yelled in his rage.
“Enough! Get up, both of you!” Vu ordered in a strict tone once he saw the fighting, causing both men to stop, caught completely off guard.
Lan bowedimmediately, Dung just seethed at him.
With a disappointed expression, Vu scolded them, “Is this it, then? You're both content to do the American's jobs for them? You childish buffoons call yourselves soldiers?!”
“I'm sorry, Commander.” Lan apologized.
“You cannot let him get away with what he said! Father, he called-“ Dung tried to explain, only to be cut off by his father.
“I said enough! You're both on fatigues. Lan, the foundry. Dung, the cooks.” He turned around walking back to the cell, Dung followed him.
“Both of you get out of my sight, I wish to continue speaking with our little talking pet.” Vu said, making Petunia cringe.
Dung protested, “No. I told you, she's with me. She's under my-“
“Do you understand an order when you hear one? Out of my sight at once! This is your last warning.” The elderly man ordered with a slightly aggressive voice.
What happened next, shocked Petunia.
Dung drew his sidearm, aiming at his own father. “Step away from her, we're leaving.” He ordered, his voice slightly angered.
“You're mad, Dung! Put down the gun!” Lan yelled, trying to protect his supervisor.
“You want to go the same way?! I'll do it!” Dung yelled, the filly noticed a change in his voice. It sounded…desperate.
“Enough...” Vu was calm, turning to Dung with a look that registered disappointment, no, more than that, Petunia couldn’t tell what it was. “So you've finally grown a spine...I'm disappointed you choose to show it in this...peculiar way.”
“I'm not interested in what you have to say, old man. You let her go. We're leaving.” The voice of the private grew more desperate.
“You'll do no such thing. You will give me that gun or I will remove it from your person and add the bullets to the conversation you have just interrupted.” The general pointed to Paleo, she got what he meant.
“You hurt her and I will blow your goddamn brains out, I swear!” Dung shouted, trying to stay calm.
After a few minutes of looking at his son, Yu replied in his cold tone, “...No...I don't think you will...”
“Why not?” Dung hid his confusion, wanting to know.
“Because, as you're so fond of telling me...You're not like me.” Again, Vu waited, it seemed like hours, the NVA private’s hand was shaking noticeably. “Young man, this is your last warning.” Vu warned, Dung sighed despondently, giving his father the pistol, turning around to leave. “Don't walk off. I've yet to decide whether or not to forget this ever happened.” Vu gave his bodyguard the gun. “Lieutenant. If this soldier tries anything...well, I think you'll know what to do.”
“Yes, sir.” Lan acknowledged.
“Now...where were we?” Yu got his attention back to the prisoner.
“You...you'd kill your own son?” the filly asked in disbelief.
“A son who was prepared to kill his own father for the sake of a small talking animal he'd barely known a week.” He looked at his son, Dung had his head lowered, a single tear escaped his eye. “And you think I'm the madman. Your mother once told me she didn't raise a violent child...Yet time and time again, you've proven her a liar.” Then he looked back at Petunia.
“So, they haven’t told you a date for the attack or a time of day?”
It took Petunia a moment to process what had just happened before she answered the question. “They haven’t told me anything about this, honest.” She sounded calm, but the fear was still there.
With a neutral expression, the general said, “Well...I believe that concludes it. We're done for now. Thank you, Miss Petunia, you've been very helpful. Dung, you may take your pet and return to your post.”
Surprised, Dung asked, “My post? She answered your questions. We want to leave this place.”
Letting out an irritated sigh, Vu said to him, “Do you honestly expect a prize for not murdering your commanding officer?! Did I really pick my stupidest son to come with me?! I will clarify and try to keep it as simple as possible. Your prize is your life and my forgetfulness. You will assume the same duties you had before this took place. Do you understand how that works, Dung? Whatever you feel about my role as a father is irrelevant. I am still your commander and you are still a soldier of the Army of North Vietnam. That means doing what I say, taking what I give you and hoping it's not a bullet! Now get out of my sight.”
Lan took him to the kitchen.
“One last thing. I am wondering if it is true what is said about your home.” Vu said, a bit of curiosity in his cold voice.
Petunia didn’t expect this, but she answered, “Yes.” And so, she told him about her home and family.
With an emotionless expression, Vu said, “I’m sorry to hear what happened to you. As long as I’m in charge here, you will be treated well and properly fed.”
While being glad for it, she was still unsure, due to his reaction about his son. “Thank you but…Dung told me you...kidnapped him...took him to Hanoi and forced him to join the army. How could you do this to him?” It was not easy to ask, fearing it might upset him.
A barely noticeable chuckle escaped him. “Is that what he told you? What an imagination my boy has.”
The filly quickly realized what he meant, but Dung sounded honest, he couldn’t have done that. Or could he?
“So...he was lying to me?”
“...Yes and no. The night I decided to leave the indifferent cesspit we'd been closeted in, Dung caught me walking out the door. He asked me what I was doing. I told him I was going to protect our home and family, fighting off the hordes who dare call our land their colony and our people their slaves.” He had no regret in his voice.
Petunia thought for a moment. “And...what did he say?”
“He said nothing. I simply asked if he wanted to join me, see the world outside and be part of the great wave of change that was to come...He said yes.”
It didn’t make sense for her. “But...he said he hated it in Hanoi.”
“He did. And he came to hate me for bringing him there. I never told him what was going to happen...because he never asked. It's hardly my fault if what he agreed to wasn't quite as enjoyable as he imagined. He made his choice...as I did.”
The filly couldn’t believe Vu, she just couldn’t, Dung could never have chosen this.
“Why did you do this to him? Just for believing in communism?”
“I’ll tell you this: In the south, you can be executed for the slightest sign of being a communist, I wanted to save at least a part of my family.”
“But they never harmed you.” Petunia replied, remembering how King and Hoang got along.
“Did he leave that part out as well? They drew guns on us long before we even thought of drawing knives. And do you know why? Because the Americans would have the world believe that living equally is the Devil. Countless friends of mine were slaughtered because of the fear the West instilled in our idiotic ministry...and that was long before this war even began. As far as I know, the family I left behind still lives. When I left, I took everything that could link them to my ideals. I kept them safe from the paranoid tyranny of their so-called democracy. Dung should thank me for that much at least.”
While it made some sense, Petunia didn’t know if she could believe this.
“Anyway, since you seem to be close to Dung, what about helping him out in the kitchen?” Before she could reply, he added, “Think about it, it’d way better than sitting in the cell the entire day, wouldn’t it?” He let the filly think about it.
It was actually a good one, that way, she got some change and could talk with Dung. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
A barely noticeable nod was his acknowledgment, making a gesture to follow him.
The filly was led to what appeared to be a dining room, a large table in the middle with stairs, a candle holder in the middle of the table, the walls were colored in red, communist flags on the walls.
“I await an important guest. You will be my waiter.”
“I understand, I get to work at once.” The filly replied, fearing that refusal would get her back into the cell.
The kitchen was just down the hall, Dung was there, wearing typical cook clothes, preparing meals of all kind. “Dung?” She asked, startling him accidentally.
“Oh, it’s you. What are you doing here?” He asked, surprised to see her.
“Your father offered me to help you out, instead of having to spend the day in the cell.”
With an unsure expression, he replied, “At least one good thought of him.”
“I wanted to ask you something.” The filly added.
“You can ask me anything.” He replied while focusing on his work.
“Did you lie to me?”
That surprised him, causing him to stop and look at her. “What do you mean?”
“Your father said to me that you agreed to come with him. It is true that you agreed to go with him?” She wanted to know.
Taking a deep breath, Dung told her, “Listen, Petunia, he tried to trick you, I would never agree to something like this, leaving my family behind.”
“He also said he did it to protect you from being executed if you would be suspected to be a communist.” The child added.
“More to save himself. Let’s get back to work before the chef scolds us.” He suggested.
“Of course.” That was enough for her to tell that he didn’t lie to her.
The guest hadn’t arrived yet, Petunia set the table, plates, knives and forks, Vu was looking out of the window, enjoying the view.
There was a knock on the door.
Must be the guest. She thought.
“Enter.” Vu said and his bodyguard entered, saluting. “Lieutenant, I thought I had ordered for you to do the laundry.”
“Yes sir, I just wanted to inform you about the progress of my foraging.”
“Go on.”
“A village in Xuyen Moc. They have plentiful amounts of lumber and livestock that we could easily shelter and feed our soldiers with.”
“And to exchange?” Vu asked.
“Sir?” Lan did not understand.
“You took them off the villagers. What do you intend to give in exchange?” Vu replied.
“...I don't quite understand, sir. We're fighting for them, aren't they obligated to provide for us?”
“Lan, I taught you to be realistic. We are never going to protect our country if we steal from its people. We must give them something in return. Fair exchange for all is key to a stable Communist society, that's the cleanest way to establish it.” Vu explained.
“So...we could arm them. In case of enemy attack. We have some to spare and they're unlikely to need all that much.”
“Rifles and bullets won't feed them. What do we have in our stores?”
“Plenty of vegetables and grain, but they're not going to last us long. It's not that we get through them, we just don't have anywhere to store them before they go bad.” Lan got it now.
“Does the village? Any place where they can keep foods safe and fresh?”
“I believe so. We passed by one, but it looked rather sparse.”
Vu seemed to smile, again, barely visible. “Excellent. Turn out our own supplies. Fill their granary with the food that we can't store. Rifles for the wood, crops for the livestock. Fair exchange, you see. Finish your current work, then get to it.”
Lan saluted, “As you command, sir.” With that, he left the room.
The entire time, Vu had spoken in a very frank and serious tone, but it showed Petunia that he cared for the people, helping where he could.
After that, it didn’t take long until there was another knock on the door. “Come in.” Vu said.
To Petunia’s surprise, it was Feng who came in. “Mr. Feng, I hope you had a pleasant trip.” Vu greeted, offering a handshake.
“'I did, thank you, General.” Feng returned the handshake.
“You'll want some form of refreshment, I assume?” Vu asked as they both sat down.
“Tea please.”
“Right away.” Petunia went for the kitchen, Feng looked after her, surprised to see her here.
“Ah, Miss Paleo. I'm surprised to see she's still staying with your men. I was under the impression that the plan was to take her home.”
With a barely noticeable sigh, trying to think for a few minutes Vu replied, “There are still certain procedures to be...fully considered.”
“Of course.” Feng smiled subtly.
The filly couldn’t hear the conversation anymore as she reached the kitchen, Dung had already prepared the meals, Spring rolls, a well-known meal in Vietnam and some drinks on a plate.
She grabbed the plate with her teeth, earth ponies were strong and had a good sense of balance, it was no problem for her.
Petunia carried it to the dining room, placing it on the table, then poured both men a cup of tea.
“I have heard that the Americans want to take your positions atA Shau Valley?” Feng asked.
“Yes, but we are well prepared, with manpower alone, we placed artillery on the hill and are well dug in.”
“I believe you that, but even if you lose, it can still be a victory.It is my belief that a moment of chaos affords opportunities lost soon after.” Feng replied as he took a bite.
Clearly unimpressed, Vu said to him, “You say that as if you were the first man alive to think it. Yes, a crisis is an opportunity. Do not claim to bring me good news where none exists. I don't know how it works in China, but in Vietnam, we consider it a form of lying. If we lose that hill, we lose part of Vietnam. That is not a victory.”
With a smirk, Feng said, “Oh, but it is. Do you remember the Tet offensive? We got defeated, yes, butpropagandistically and on a political level, it was a full success for us.
The Americans sing songs of their soldiers and pilots and marines night and day. They like to imagine that World War II was them versus the world. They neglect to mention that they only became somewhat invested in the matter of world war when it was their lands that were getting bombed and raided. To them, everything that had happened before then, the wars in Europe, Africa, the Fall of Paris, that was just someone else's problem.
Russia ended World War II. Communist Russia brought Berlin to heel and crushed the Nazi regime, never to let it rise again. It was not America, they were busy camping over in Okinawa, shelling men armed with swords! Yet as long as someone else can be praised for Hitler's downfall other than Communist Russia, the West will praise America and continue to believe that they will win every war. If we can prove that is not the case, Communism will endure.
Because if those fools in the South honestly believe America can solve their problems...they're going to be very disappointed. Oh, they'll liberate the country for certain...but once that's done, they'll take all they can and leave. All that takes place after a war this grisly; famine, crime, poverty, misery and strife never before seen...that'll just be someone else's problem. Not theirs.
The Tet offensive showed them exactly this. Even if we lose the hill, it could be another political victory for us, weakening the American’s trust that the war is necessary.”
“I understand your view of it, but still, I care for the men under my command, high loses can lower their own moral.”
Petunia was blaming herself that many US and ARVN soldiers would die, because of her.
Due to this, she was trembling a bit, spilling some tea on the table and Feng’s hand. “I’m sorry!” She apologized, cleaning it up.
“It’s only tea.” He said calm, not minding it at all before turning back to Yu. “But, the propaganda could raise it again. The propaganda of Germany in WW2 is a good example, it failed only when defeat was near.”
“Yes. Petunia, please leave us alone. I will call you, should we should need more.” Yu said to her.
The filly bowed, “As you wish.” Then she left the room, trying to get over the guilt.
It can’t be my fault! Can it? Oh, I don’t want to imagine how many will die!
She'd like to curl herself into a ball and cry, but she had to pull herself together to avoid getting back into the cell, should Vu see her like that.
“I thank you for your hospitality, General. I would like to stay longer, but I’m needed elsewhere.” She heard Feng through the door, did time pass that fast?
“It was a pleasure to talk with you, Mr. Feng.” Vu replied before the door opened and the Chinese walked out, giving Petunia a wave with his hand to say goodbye.
Then she walked into the dining room to clear the table, seeing that some Spring rolls were left.
“Are you hungry?” Vu asked her as she was about to grab the plate.
“No.” She replied, despite being actually hungry.
“Of course you are. Eat.” He said, instead of his cold tone, he sounded more friendly and caring.
“I’ll eat in the kitchen later.” She replied.
“It’s impolite to refuse such an offer. Eat, take what you like.” He pointed to the table, sounding stern, but still friendly, the filly obeyed, taking the remaining Spring rolls, enjoying them.
Vu sat down too, placing a pot of tea next to her and an empty cup. “Drinking enough is important, I recommend some Artichoke tea, it’s consumed mostly by children.”
“Thank you.” She poured herself a cup, the tea tasted similar to a fried egg.
“Tell me, what is your father?” The general asked her.
“He’s a fencer, quickly becoming a champion at it, while my mother is a pearl diver. They are very proud of me.”
Vu seemed to smile. “Pearls…They are hard to get, but a beautiful reward once you get one.”
“Indeed, my mother told me sometimes about it, she was very successful, finding ten pearls on the day she first met my father.”
“Then, you mother was very luckily that day to find so many. As for your father, was he in the military?”
“No, he does fencing for a sport and hobby, enjoying how elegant it is.”
I agree, it is very elegant, much care must be taken to disarm your opponent, so I’ve heard. What do the bones on your flank mean? Death?”
“What?” The filly was a bit surprised by this question. “Oh, no, it shows my special talent, I’m a paleontologist, although my parents thought it meant I would be a pirate.” She blushed a bit.
“Well, that had made sense given your parents’ hobbies.”
“If I may ask, sir, how were your parents?” The filly felt guilty to ask.
With a small hint of sadness, Vu told her, “I only knew my father, my mother died shortly after I was born. He loved me, doing everything he could to protect me from the French colonists and Viet Minh as both used children like you in the war. He was a good man, sacrificing himself to protect our village in what became known as the Indochina War.”
That made Petunia think of the soldiers who could die because of her, she trembled slightly as the guilt took over.
The elderly man put a hand on her shoulder, calming her down. “Deep breathes, girl. You aren't in any trouble.”
“W-why? Why should I not be guilty for the men that could die on that hill?” She asked, confused.
“Because we know of the attack on the hill quite for some time already, long before you even got here, that’s why my superior ordered your interrogation, wanting something new to know. He isn’t able to see when you have to accept the only information you have.”
As the filly looked into his eyes, something told her he was honest and not lying. “Thank you!” She was glad about it.
“You’re welcome.”
There was a knock on the door, Lan came in. Seeing his commander and Petunia sitting together at the table, he asked, “Am I disrupting?”
“Not at all, Lieutenant, what have you to report?” Yu asked him.
“I just wanted to report that I did my work as ordered.”
Vu raised one eyebrow, unimpressed “...Yes...I'm happy you can follow orders. Are you expecting applause?” Lan's face fell, Vu looked at him a bit more approvingly, almost fatherly. “Don't pout, Lan. I'm certain you did a good job. But you don't need to tell me when you've done so. A soldier doesn't wait on ceremony. Save that for my supervisor. Now, you've something else to tell me, I assume. Let's hear it.”
The bodyguard saluted. “Yes, sir.”
Yun and his guest ate and talked for some time.
The door opened, a bald man in officer uniform walked in, seeing the two eating and talking together, bristling at this sight, startling Petunia, while Vu was not surprised at all. “I didn't hear you knock.” He took a sip of his tea, not even looking at the man.
“I didn't order you to eat and collude with prisoners.” The man said in disbelief and anger.
“Correct. You ordered me to interrogate them.” Vu replied calmly, Petunia quickly comprehended that this man was his superior, making her wonder why he called him supervisor.
The Supervisor stared at them indignantly, it felt like hours before he yelled, “You call this an interrogation?!”
“I can't very easily interrogate a prisoner if they starve to death.”
“Why is she out of her cell?”
“Because I ordered her brought to my study.”
“Yes, I can see that! Why?!” Petunia could see that the bald man lost his patience.
“Because my study is where I tend to work. The walk from here to her cell takes time, time I could otherwise spend productively.” It made sense to the filly what Vu told the officer
“I was waiting for you in that damn cell, to hear the results of your interrogation, for half-an-hour!”
Vu slowly turned to look at him, “I hope you found it comfortable.”
Petunia and Lan both stared in shock not able to say anything for several minutes.
“...Are you threatening me?!” The Supervisor yelled, enraged
With a blank expression, Vu asked, “Would you know if I was?”
The Supervisor stood there, stunned, for what seemed like hours before he took a deep breath, the side of his mouth was twitching.
“I want to hear what she's told you! Do not keep me waiting long!”
“I shall finish my interrogation as quickly as I possibly can, sir.”
Vu’s superior nodded, scowling, and storming off, slamming the door shut.
After some minutes, Vu turned back to Petunia. “Do you fancy a dessert?”
Lan couldn’t hold it back anymore, bursting out laughing. Vu smiled slightly.
With a grin, the filly said, “I would like it.” Vu raised his hand and Lan left the room, coming back with a bowl of Yogurt. “If you don’t mind, why haven’t you told your superior yet?”
“Because the walk from my study to his office takes time.”
Petunia chuckled, “But...he looked like he was in a really bad mood.”
“I prefer him in a bad mood. Makes him easier to predict.”
The child enjoyed every spoon, then carried the dirty dishes to the kitchen, helping Dung clean everything.
“I must say, despite being very serious, your father is a very caring military leader.” Petunia commented.
The man looked at Petunia with a disgusted expression. “No offense, petty, I'm willing to admit that he's a good soldier, and a good commander. Most of the men around here say so. But he's still the man who tore my family apart. And, no matter what reasons he may have had, I can't respect him for that!”
“S-sorry, I didn’t want to offend you…”Petunia was scared by his outburst, on the verge of tears.
Realizing what he had done, Dung wrapped his arms around her for a hug. “Sorry, I just…after nine years of not seeing my mother and brothers, I just want this all to end, wanting to see them again. I can’t take it any longer.”
The filly returned the hug. “It’s okay, Dung, I can understand your pain. I’m sure you will see them again.”
“I hope so too. To be honest with you, I miss the South.”
“Do you miss the dangers of it too?” Vu came from behind, his voice and expression showed disappointment. Petunia didn’t understand, he was so nice to her and suddenly…so cold again. Could it be that he had a multiple personality?
“I only wanted to protect you from this, it’s my duty as father.” Yu added.
Dung let out a sigh. “Look, I get that we were in danger, okay! I understand that, at least! I'm willing to admit our government wasn’t exactly saints. But...ever since we arrived in Hanoi, you refused to act like my father! You just put me through one trial after the next, never impressed, never satisfied, without end, all to build me into your ideal soldier you could command against your enemies!”
“And do you suppose it was any different for your two brothers? They weren't trained by their mother. They were trained by some general who turned boys into men and now commands them. Just as I did. But you refuse to see me as a commander who made you a soldier, as all my other soldiers do. You still see me as a father who failed his family, who should have kept them together, safe from the war. Well, I couldn't. I tried, Dung, for five long years, I tried. But I couldn't keep the war from affecting you any more than you could keep it from affecting your little friend.” Yu countered in his cold voice, folding his arms, being silent for a few minutes. “Think on that.”
That’s it!
Enraged, Dung grabbed his father, pinning him against the wall. “Are you so clouded by your beloved communism? Open your eyes! You caused all this! Because of you, I have to pray every day that I won’t kill my brother Hoang, who got drafted in the ARVN and prays he won’t kill me or our youngest brother, who is in the NLF, praying he won’t have to kill Hoang! Worst of all, mother is worried sick about us all! Had you not taken me with you nine years ago, all of this had never happened! We all three want to survive and see each other again! You took everything from me!”
Vu gave a disinterested sigh and then uppercutted him, very fast for a man of his age. As Dung was on the floor, his father put his hands behind his back and stepped on Dung's shoulder, keeping him pressed to the ground as he spoke, calmly but sternly, without much emotion,
“Right...I'll assume you're listening now. You've said your piece, now I shall say mine. Whenever I offer you any sort of compensation for how things in our family turned out, you have a tendency to throw it back in my face and...frankly...it's gotten rather stale. If you continue to act like a whining, petulant child then I shall treat you like one. And should it continue beyond the limits of my already weathered patience then a sharp lesson will be in order. One neither of us will enjoy. One that will involve Petunia...And a bullet.” Dung strugged, growling slightly. Vu raised a finger in front of him as response.
“No. Don't talk. You've already said your piece. And I've said mine. Reflect on what I've told you. Now if you would please remember that you are a soldier, fighting a war to free your country and get...back...to work.” He glared at his son before turning and leaving without another word.
The filly stared in shock at the eldery man, unable to believe how he could be so cold towards his son.
The sound of hastily footsteps gretted her ears, seeing her friend stomped out of the kitchen, his face locked into a half angry, half shocked expression.
Petunia galloped after Dung. “Dung, wait!” She called out, to no avail.
The foal followed the young man to the sleeping quarters, where she saw him lying on one of the beds, crying.
“I had to let it out, I was so tired of everything! I miss my real home! I want to see my brothers again!” He looked at her with a tear-filled face before burying his head into the pillow again.
Paleo climbed into the bed, wrapping her hooves around him. “Shh, it’s alright, Dung. Let it out.” She said in a comforting tone, understanding him, having sympathy.
The man cried himself to sleep. “Sleep well.” The filly whispered into his ear.
Seeing it was getting late, the sun setting as the pony looked through the window, Petunia snuggled herself into the bed, yawning before falling asleep.
In the morning, Dung woke up, smiling upon seeing how his young friend snuggled with him in her sleep.
The filly stirred, waking up, slowly opening her eyes, yawning. With a smile, she said, “Good morning, Dung!”
“Morning, Petunia.”
There was a knock on the door, Lan came in. With an expression of hate and disgust, Dung asked, “What do you want?”
“To apologize. It was wrong of me to insult your mother. I was never truly aware of your family situation. I had overhead you arguing with your father a few times.” The lieutenant had his head lowered, sounding very sorry and honest.
Confused, Dung asked, “Why? Why do you suddenly care so much?”
Petunia found it also strange. She could understand that what Lan had done was wrong, but something told her, there was something else. “Is there something that bothers you?” She wanted to know.
With a sigh, Lan replied, “At least your family's still alive.” It took Dung and Petunia a few moments to realize what the bodyguard meant. “How do you think I wound up here?”
The filly hugged him. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Lan patted her. “It’s okay.”
“What happened to you?” Dung asked him with sympathy.
“My family died during the bombing raids of the Americans. Your father took care of me, raising me into the man I am today.”
“I'm sorry. Looks like we both went through a lot.”
“Yes. Listen, if you want to start a new life, I won’t stop you. This is my home. I'm going to stay here and make life easier. That's what we're fighting for, no matter what the authorities in the South and over in the West would have us think. Your father wants to talk with you.” Lan stepped aside, letting Vu in.
Petunia and Dung were surprised to see that the elderly man hadn’t his cold glance anymore, instead, his expression was one of…regret, sadness.
“My son, I want to apologize too. I…finally understand that what I did nine years ago was wrong. I will understand if you don’t forgive me, but I wanted to let you know that I still love you, your brothers and your mother. What I did back then, was out of fear, to protect you all but I got blinded by it too, not realizing what it would cause. Also, if you want to go back to the south, I won’t stop you either or see you as traitor. You were right, I am the only one to blame.” He lowered his head in shame.
Dung walked towards his father with a neutral expression, Petunia expected he would slap him. Instead he…hugged his father, with tears in his eyes.
“That’s the father I know!” The young man exclaimed in joy.
Vu returned the hug. “I know, I know.” He also had tears in his eyes, an expression of joy, Petunia and Lan smiled at the heartwarming sight.
The father gently broke the hug, turning to his bodyguard. “Leave us alone.”
“As you wish.” Lan bowered before getting out of the room.
As they were alone, Vu said, “I support you in any way I can to help getting Petunia to safety. But, there is something else I need to tell you.” Vu sounded a bit worried.
“What is it, father?”
“The NLF is about to take our former home, as the US forces are weakened here. I personally will take a squad to ensure there are no civilian casualties.” His voice was again firm and frank.
“What? What about mother?” Dung asked, worried.
Vu pulled out a passport out of his pocket. “If she wants to leave for America, I prepared a passport and notice for her. Patrols have orders to let her through, as I have told my men she’s pregnantand requires treatment not available in Vietnam. They believe me since rumors went around that she was unfaithful to me. If she wishes to stay, I’ll do my best to keep her safe. Lan will be in charge of the units in the area, I trust him with acting with honor and compassion.”
Dung blinked, trying to make sense of it. “I understand, I hope it will work.”
Yu opened his mouth to reply as suddenly, his superior walked in. “There you are. In my office, all of you!” He ordered in a strict tone, Petunia gulped, fearing the worst, Dung also didn’t like this, his father stayed calm as they moved to the office.
Inside, they saw Feng and his guards, the former was reading a document on the desk.
With a triumphant smirk, Vu’s superior asked “Care to explain?”
Vu stayed calm. “You'll need to be more specific, sir.”
“General, I have grown tired of you treating me like a fool. It ends here, do you understand?!” The officer yelled at him.
“If I have given offence, I apologize.”
“It’s your son who's given the offence, General.” The higher ranking soldier explained.
Vu was a bit confused what he meant, but decided to play along. “I apologize on his behalf. I'll see to it that he is properly chastised.”
With an evil grin, his superior said, “Oh, no need. I'll see it myself!” He drew his sidearm, trained at Yu.
Vu lost his composure. ”What is this?!” He demanded to know, totally caught off guard.
“This, General, is the fate of all traitors. Private Dung here and Miss Petunia Paleo worked with known members of the ARVN and the US Marines!” The supervisor countered with a yell.
Vu tried to come up with a lie, knowing what he meant. “I...Sir, whoever fabricated this story is either a fool or a madman.”
Feng looked up. “I resent that, sir.”
Vu stared at the Chinese in shock. “F-F-Feng?!”
Feng shrugged innocently “Well, he is in charge. You said it yourself. Sorry, were you hoping I'd keep secrets from my superiors? No, no, that would never do.”
“I...I trusted you!” Vu couldn’t believe it.
“That wasn't very smart.” Feng replied coldly.
“Oh I have been looking forward to this, General. You know as well as I the price for collaborating with enemies of the state.” The high ranking man pointed the gun at Dung.
“No! Please don't hurt him! He's not a traitor! They were rescuing us!” Petunia pleaded.
“Pipe down! After this, you're for the stewpot, you whiny little nuisance!”
“Don't you dare hurt her!” Dung yelled, Feng's guards primed their rifles on him.
“Wait!” Vu yelled, staring at his son, fear in his eyes. “Sir...Listen, I gave the order. I take full responsibility. Do anything with me as you wish, but Private Dung had no part in this. He was following orders.”
“You've told me enough about him already for me to know that's not true.” His superior replied coldly.
“Sir...please...”
The Supervisor grinned. “Look at you, General Vu, feared and beloved by all who know him, whimpering like a child. First, you're going to see your son scream in agony. Then both of you are going to eat your little friend, piece by piece. Then the Private here, will face a firing squad while you, General, will be taken to Hanoi to receive every refinement of punishment a traitor receives in North Vietnam. Mr. Feng has made all the arrangements, isn't that right?”
Feng looked up from the documents. “Hm? Sorry, my mind was elsewhere.”
The elderly supervisor was irritated, his moment of triumph ruined. “Must you do that now?”
“Yes. Very important. News of the attack. The Swamp Devils, wiped out. Zero Civilian casualties. The area was made that much safer. Quite impressive. It'll do wonders for public opinion.” He smiled slightly, glad the threat was eliminated.
The Supervisor got caught off guard by this. “Yes, well...They're still traitors!”
“Are they though? Who's to say? Maybe the whole thing is better off forgotten about.” Feng asked in return.
“Absolutely not! They'll die for their offence! I'll take this to Ho Chi Minh himself!” The men shouted at the Chinese.”
“No...You won't.” Feng reached under the desk, drawing his gun, a Shanxi Type 17, the Chinese Copy of the German famous Mauser C96, a.k.a “The Broomhandle”, on the supervisor.
The NVA officer paled. “Wh-wh-wha-what?!” One of Feng's guards hit him with the butt of his rifle, knocking the gun out of his hand “No! You can't do this!” He yelled, angry.
Feng smirked. “Oh, but I can. General Vu and his sons have proven themselves useful. Far more useful than you ever were...I hate bad investments. Really, I do. They haunt me.”
The supervisor backed into a corner. ”You...you'll never get away with this!”
“If you believe that...you really don't know me at all.” Feng shot him into the head, blood splattered everywhere as the body hit the ground, Petunia shrieked.
“F-Feng, wha...wha...” Vu couldn’t believe what just happened.”
Feng put a hand to his mouth. “Shh...” Then he looked around before handing Vu his gun “Hold this please.” Vu did as told before the Chinese ruffled his hair, undoing his collar and signaling to his guard. The guard nodded, hitting Feng in the face, then thrrowing the documents to the floor. “Xie Xie, Xiashi.” Vu and Dung could understand what Feng had said, it meant, “Thank you, Corporal.”
“Feng, have you gone mad?!” Vu yelled.
“Shh...Play along...”He looked at the dead body, pulling out his wallet, finding several American bank notes, placing them in the supervisor's pocket. He then walked over to the door and banged against it, yelling, “Guards! Guards!” Before falling over, gently caught by his bodyguard as Lan and some prison guards rushed in. Feng glared at them. “You took your damn time! This man just drew a gun on me!” He pointed at the dead supervisor. “If it weren't for General Vu here, you'd be looking at several corpses and a very angry Chairman! Some bodyguards you two are!” His bodyguards bowed shamefully.
“But...why would he try to kill you.” Lan wondered before he inspected the body, finding something interesting. ”Wait...is this...“ He held up the US Dollar bills.
Dung slowly understood what Feng was trying to do. “That explains it! He must have taken a bribe from the Americans! With Ambassador Feng dead, Chairman Mao would stop aiding us! It all makes sense.”
“Why, that sniveling traitor! To think I shook hands with that filth!” Feng was disgusted.
Vu now understood too. “Right. I believe I shall taking charge until a new supervisor can be found. I will inform Ho Chi Minh of everything. Feed this traitor to the dogs. Then we can work on getting this filly home while we have a moment's peace.” He ordered his men.
Lan saluted. “Yes, sir.” He and the guards took the body away as Feng closed the door, smiling at a stunned Vu, Dung and Petunia.
“My grandmother always said I should have become an actor.” Again, he smiled.
“Thank you!” The filly hugged him, tears in her eyes, glad that he had saved them.
Feng patted her. “Save your gratitude, little one. While I had your interests at heart, I won't say mine didn't come as an extension.” He looked at Yu and Dung. “Private Dung, General Vu, your deeds against the Swamp Devils made you and your battalion, however briefly, into national heroes. What my late colleague failed to realize was that killing you bare moments after this occasion would have seemed more than a little suspicious. When asked to explain himself, he would no doubt bring my name into it, which would inevitably damage relations between North Vietnam and the People's Republic of China. This of course would have made Chairman Mao very unhappy with me. And I knew all too well what that would lead to. And in all fairness, I've grown quite fond of you fellows. It seemed so wasteful to put an end to you after coming so far.”
“Of course, right away. I will prepare a ride for her.” Before he could give an order, Feng gave one of his bodyguards a sign and they walked out.
“I already have that covered, there’s a truck outside you can use.”
“Very good.” Vu smiled.
“Can I use the bathroom before we go?” Petunia asked, squirming in place.
“Of course, Feng, would you be so kindly and show her the way?” Vu asked him.
Me?” Feng looked at Vu and Dung, confused why he should, until he got it after a few seconds. “Ah, right. Very well, follow me Miss Paleo. I'll leave you two to...well...you know...” He and Petunia walked out, leaving father and son alone.
“Was this...Was this what it was like? For you? Trying to protect us?” Dung asked his father
Vu looked at him, his eyes seemed tired for the first time in years. “Every single day.”
Dung took a few minutes to take the words in. His father slowly, tentatively, placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Dung...I don't know when or if you'll ever have a family of your own...I've never seen you with a woman...But if you ever have children, I hope this war ends before then, no matter who prevails. I would never want you to go through what I went through nor would I want my grandchildren to go through what you went through...what I put you through...” He sounded caring for his oldest son.
“Thank you. Despite this all, I can’t help but see Petunia as my daughter, wondering if I could come with her to her home.” Dung replied, wondering how life in Equestria would be for him.
Vu smiled warmly. “It's a far more difficult task than it seems...But I'd say you've done an impressive job of it.”
“Much better!” The filly exclaimed, relieved as she and Feng came back.
“I wish you a pleasant trip!” Vu said goodbye as she and Dung left, Feng was waving.
Outside, Lan crossed their way. “Dung.” He smiled. “Don't do anything stupid.”
Dung chuckled as he got on the driver seat, while Petunia took the passenger seat. “I wouldn't give my dad the satisfaction.”
Then he started the engine, the bodyguard waved goodbye until the truck was out of sight.
Yu joined him. “I have never once doubted that I made the right decision when I joined the Northern Army...But that doesn't make it any easier, knowing how my own son feels about me, knowing what I had to put him through.”
“You did the right thing, General.” Lan replied with pride in his voice.
“I wonder if my mother would still recognize me.” Dung mumbled.
“I’m sure she will, as she still remembers you. If you don’t mind, what are those ‘Swamp Devils’ Feng mentioned?” She asked, curious.
Dung didn’t know who they were exactly, he knew only that they were hostile to US and NVA troops equally if the reports were true to believe. With a hint of fear, he spoke, “It’s best you don’t know. I only know they ain’t friendly to us, neither to the South.”
“O-okay.” Petunia thought back, could be the men she saw be the Swamp Devils? It was a possibility.
“It will be a long ride, I suggest you close your eyes until we arrive.” Dung suggested.
The filly nodded, closing her eyes, drifting off to sleep.
She awoke after some time, the truck was now driving through a jungle, it was evening as the sky was orange-red.
“Do you think we arrive before it is night or should we take a rest?” Petunia asked with a yawn.
“I’d rather drive through the night, you never know what maroons in the jungle.”
Petunia remembered the scene with the men, shivering at it. “I understand. Have you ever thought what kind of job you would do after the war is over?”
Dung sighed.” Not really, I’ve been a soldier for nine years, I can’t think of anything else. But when I was your age, I loved to-“
Fast as lighting, the windshield shattered, Petunia shrieked, ducking out of instinct.
A blaring sound greeted her ears. Looking up, she saw that Dung was knocked out, his head had fallen on the horn, causing it to blare, his foot still on the accelerator.
Without hesitation, Petunia took over the wheel, trying to keep it under control.
As she had never driven a car before, the truck left the road, the filly lost control, causing the vehicle to crash into a ditch, turning over and over again, Petunia screamed in pain until the truck came to a stop, upturned.
Her ears were ringing, her vision blurry, Paleo groaned in pain, hearing faint voices before blacking out.
Dung slowly regained consciousness, groaning as he opened his eyes, finding himself on a bed in what seemed to be an improvised hospital in a tunnel.
He had a few bandages wrapped around his arms and legs, but was otherwise fine. Where am I?
To his surprise, his younger brother Dang walked in. “Ah, you’re awake, brother.“ He was glad to see his older brother was alive.
“What happened?” The NVA soldier asked, holding his head in pain.
“Well, one of our snipers reported a vehicle closing in, not knowing it was a NVA truck and opened fire. When we saw you, we took you in to patch you up. I guess you wanted to take Petunia home?”
Dung slightly panicked as he noticed she wasn’t with him. “Where is she? Don’t tell me she-“
The NLF fighter held his hand up, trying to calm his brother down. “Calm down, she survived. But…”
“But what?” The private was worried about her.
“My new commander doesn’t trust in the NVA. As such, she’s in a cell. You got treated as he doesn’t want that the North cutting our supplies by holding one of their soldiers as prisoner.” Dang had regret in his voice.
“Can…Can I see her?” The soldier asked with hope.
“Follow me.” His younger brother said, leading him to the cells. Dung noticed that most guerillas gave him a suspicious look, only a few seemed to not pay attention to him as they moved past.
What he saw next broke his heart. Apart from the poor child, there were four other prisoners. His brother Hoang who patted the filly as she cried into his chest, King, Jesper and Dan.
The AVRN soldier had his head lowered, then looked up, surprised to see his older brother. “Dung, what are you doing here?”
“It’s kind of a long story.” With that, he told his brothers and friends what had happened to her and so on.
“Poor kid. She was really lucky.” Dan looked with Sympathy at Petunia.
“And if it is true about the NLF attacking our home, than we can only pray that mother will be safe.” Hoang was worried for her safety.
“I can’t believe it! Our village was spared from the war for so long and now this? I didn’t join to destroy my home, but to ensure we could be reunited again!” Dang was disgusted.
“Who said it would be the NLF forces you belong to, it would be any other of the VC troops in the area.” King countered.
“Yeah. How did you five end up here?” Dung asked his brother and the US soldiers.
Ethan took the word, “Well, due to the misfired missile, we got disoriented, yet managed to retreat, but got separated from the others. Before we knew it, we were surrounded by Viet Cong forces. It’s been a few days since then. I don’t want to imagine how my family feels upon hearing that I’m MIA or even KIA.” He looked worried to the ground.
“I hear ya. I felt exactly the same way about my brothers when I came to Hanoi.” He had sympathy for the Army soldier.
“I keep them fed since then. And I promise, I will find a way to get you all out of here and to safety.” Dang said to the prisoners, sounding very honest.
“Are you sure, Dang? I don’t want to lose you.” Hoang said
“We made a promise nine years ago and I will keep it no matter what!” His brother exclaimed.
“I don’t want to interrupt but can you take me to your commander? I would like to have a word with him.”
“Uh, sure thing Dung, I had an order to bring you to him once you woke up.” Dang replied.
He led Dung to his commander, who was studying a map on the wall. “Sir, he’s awake.”
The officer turned around, he had a beard, grey hair and brown eyes. “Good. What were you doing so far from the North?” He asked Dung, his expression neutral and his voice without any emotion.
“Well, the filly in the prison cell, I had an order to bring her to a safe place in the south. As such, I request her release so I can complete my order.” He replied.
“I’m afraid this won’t be possible. I don’t have much trust in you NVA guys, despite being our allies.” The commander was cold.
Dung was disappointed. “If I don’t report in time, they will send a search party after me.”
“You will complete your order in time, not just yet, rest for now, I expect an important guest, until he’s gone, stay out of sight.” The NLF commander replied, emotionless.
“As you wish.” Dung wasn’t sure if he could trust this man, but he was sure if he would threat him, that this would endanger Petunia’s life.
So he walked with his youngest brother back to the cells. “Do you have an idea who this guest could be?”
“Not a clue, Dung. But I suspect it must be a very important one. You better stay out of sight when he arrives. I have the feeling that it might be a high-ranking officer from the North or its suppliers and that it might go badly for petty should you try to get him to let Petunia free.”
“You’re right, it’s a risk I can’t take. Yet, I’m curious who it could be.”
“Me too, guess we just can wait and see.” Dang replied, seeing that the young child had cried herself to sleep.
“I don’t know if this makes you feel better, but I have heard the Swamp Devils are wiped out.” Dung thought that could cheer his brother and friends up.
Ethan gave the NVA soldier a weak smile. “That is good news, we all lost too many men to those guys already. I don’t want to imagine what they would have done to Petunia.” He shivered at the thought.
“Yeah, at least she didn’t get captured by them.” Hoang added as a voice echoed through the corridor.
“Mr. Feng. I see you found your way here. I assume you want to discuss matters of war with those who actually understand them.” It was the NLF commander.
“Feng?! He’s the guest?” Dang couldn’t believe it.
Given that we get supplied by the Chinese, it makes sense that somebody like him would be sent to us. Let’s hear why he is here but remember, stay out of sight, not that things will go bad for Petunia.” Dang reminded him.
“Right.” They moved closer, staying out of sight as the officer and Chinese had a conversation.
“I hope the weapons and provisions my men have stocked your troops with will aid you, captain. I stopped by an orchard I used to spend a lot of my childhood to pick some rather nice plums I always like to share with my good friends.” He produced a small bowl of them. “They are most sweet and help move the bowels. Do try one.” The Chinese sounded slightly friendly, his smile was barely noticeable.
The Commander was unsmiling “...I'm not your good friend, my bowels work fine and your plums don't interest me half as much as your reasons for being here.”
Feng thought for a moment. “Hm...perceptive. It seems the Chairman was right to observe your people closely. Very well. I come bearing news that concerns you and your troops on the frontier. My...sources have informed me that the American troops plan on raiding a village several miles west of Ngai Giao, working under suspicion that the local villagers are supplying us. Their orders are to forcibly seize all munitions, which will likely descend into a full-on massacre of the village the instant someone looks at them the wrong way.”
“Then we must move to protect it, set up an ambush on the road and...”
“Yes, yes, so it would seem. However...”
“What do you mean however? These people are in danger.” The NLF leader did not understand, his expression one of confusion.
“Yes but they're not our people. The Americans have been misinformed. The munitions they're looking for are in a completely different province. The people of this village are not supplying us at all. Most of them don't even support us. So we have no real reason to leap to their aid and the more practical course of action would be to wait until the enemy has finished, helping themselves to the spoils as it were, and catch them unaware.” Feng explained, his expression neutral.
“...Have you no shred of compassion?!” The officer yelled, disgusted by him.
Feng stayed calm, almost smirking. “Of course. A shred. That's all we can afford in this business.”
“If you think I'm going to let innocent people be slaughtered...” The NLF commander slowly lost his patience.
“Yes, I do think that. That's what war is. It's not meant to be easy and if you can't get used to that, you clearly weren't meant to be a soldier.”
“Now you listen here, Feng...” The elderly man replied, his expression was one of disgust.
“No, you listen. If you think I'm doing this just because I'm uncaring, you're wrong. My cares go far greater than you can imagine. You don't know what's at stake.” He pulled out an old photo of several American politicians in discussion. “Mean anything to you? There was silence for several moments until the VC shook his head. “Didn't think so. I will illuminate. In a weeks time, a bill is passed through the US Congress to determine whether or not its nation can and wishes to increase its spending on its continued hostilities in Vietnam. If it's carried, your frontier will become a bloodbath. We're not just talking guns and fighter jets. The Americans will overwhelm you. Tanks, missiles, firebombs, nerve gas, maybe even one or two of their beloved nuclear warheads. Your men are fighting well, but against such odds, they will fall in days and the foe will continue advancing until the streets of Hanoi are awash with the blood of your fighting men's families.” Feng countered calmly, not impressed.
The leader was confused. “...What does this have to do with the village?”
“Heavens give me strength, is it not obvious?! Public opinion is everything to the West and that's drying up. The youth of America have observed their war for what it is, a shameful string of atrocities and perversions carried out upon the innocent. One more tale of horror and gore in the headlines will be enough to overturn the bill for the sake of popular appeal, leaving their troops to take the fall for the deeds that shamed their nation. In order to save your men, that village must burn. And the world must see it burn.” Feng explained.
“Would you do the same if it were a Chinese village?” The commander asked in return.
Without pausing, the Chinese replied, “Of course, without hesitation. China is rather large, if you haven't noticed.”
The elderly man was disgusted upon hearing this”...Wh...What?”
“For heaven’s sake, use your head! What do you consider worse? A few dozen dead in an hour or millions dead over a decade? Yes, war is a dreadful thing, but I rather thought you and your men had learned that by now.” Feng countered.
The NLF soldier stared down, horrified at the fact he's even considering it. “...Supposing...” He tried to come up with an answer.
“Yes?”
“...Supposing we let the attack happen...but come in before they're finished...save as many as we can.” The VC figured out.
“I suppose that wouldn't make all that much difference. Regardless, brutality must ensue and the results must be made as public as possible. Raise support for our cause, valiantly protecting the old men, women and children of your beloved homeland from this bloodthirsty horde, against all the odds.”
“My cause, Mr. Feng...Not yours.” The VC reminded him.
“As you say. We must all do what we must...For a greater good.” Feng replied, cold.
“Is that it? Dozens slaughtered while we sit here? Is that all this is to you, Feng? Politics?” The commander was disgusted of this.
Casually, Feng said, “Our Chairman Mao said it best. 'Politics is essentially war without bloodshed'...and even then, that's not always the case.”
The two brothers didn’t hear the rest of the conversation as they went back to the cells, trying to process what Feng had said.
“I can’t believe what I just heard. Feng… he would…” Dang mumbled in disbelief.
Dung replied, “I know a bit about him, he’s a clever man that knows how to achieve his goals only by words. He talks only like that to convince others.”
“I hope you are right. If he’s responsible for the attack on our home, then…” Dang sounded worried, his expression with a slight hint of anger.
“He wouldn’t do that, he would be risking to lose our father’s support in that regard.” Yet the NVA soldier was unsure about this.
“Ah, good that I find you here. We are moving out.” Both men startled at the voice of the commander from behind.
“Sir, what about the prisoners?” Dang asked, hoping he could get at least Petunia to safety.
“You stay here and guard them.” Then, he pointed to Dung. “You and your little friend can go now.”
“Thank you.” While the NVA private was glad about it, he couldn’t leave his brother Hoang and friends behind.
After the other guerrillas had moved out, Dang opened the cell door, to Hoang’s and the US soldiers’ surprise, he brought them also their weapons. “I won’t leave any of you behind.”
“Appreciated, but you risk being marked as a traitor.” Hoang replied with concern for his younger brother, his expression showed worry.
“I told you, I’ll keep my promise, no matter what. Plus you could use someone that can lead you past booby-traps through the jungle.” Dang replied with a determined tone, wrapping a sash of red, cyan and yellow around his right shoulder, giving him the look of a freelance guerrilla to avoid suspicion.
“Thank you!” Petunia hugged him with tears of joy.
The young man smiled. “No need to thank, petty, I will keep you safe with my life.”
He led them outside to a large clearing, noticing a bulk helicopter looking similar to the Mi-8 in the middle, two soldiers in wood camouflage uniforms and having black balaclavas covering their heads were doing maintenance work on the chopper.
The NVA, NLF and US soldiers had never seen this kind of helicopter before but could tell this was also built by the soviets and the 2 soldiers next to it belonged to the Spetsnaz, the elite special operations group of the Russian military.
“Grip on the stabilizer is jamming.” The first soviet soldier said to his comrade.
“Make it fast. We have been ordered to return to base.” The other replied.
“I need at least ten minutes.”
Ethan breathed heavily. “That chopper is our ride out of here. Fire when ready.” He and Hoang took aim, Petunia looked away as they fired, taking the soviets out.
Then they all inspected the chopper. “Looks like a combination of gunship and low-capacity troop transport, capable of transporting up to eight fully-armed soldiers. Smart idea, I give them that.” King commented.
Dang asked him, “Can you fly this chopper and land it?”
“Surely you can't be serious.” King replied.
“I am serious ... and don't call me Shirley.”
The former pilot smiled. “I can fly anything!”
He took the pilot seat, Hoang the gunner seat, while the others took the passenger seats in the back.
“Ok, what's our loadout? UV-32 rockets...12mm nose cannon...They are ready for World War 3.” Ethan was impressed.
“Chain load systems on the 32's.” Hoang was impressed too.
“Rotor's on.” King flicked a switch on the left side of his dashboard. “UV-32's assigned.” Then he flicked a switch on the other side. “12mm cannon assigned.”
“We have full power. You ready?” While the ARVN soldier had no experience in flying helicopters, Ethan had shown him once how a chopper worked.
“Ready.” The Army soldier took the helicopter into the air.
While the chopper flew towards the south, Petunia let out a sigh of relief, closing her eyes, falling asleep in Dung’s arms, he and the others smiled at the cute sight.
The filly had lost track of time, waking up after a few hours she suspected.
Suddenly, the helicopter was filled with a loud, incessant beeping as the lights around the monitor flashed wildly. “A missile?!” King yelled in surprise, trying to take evasive action, Hoang looked around with an almost panicked expression, trying to spot it,
“What’s going on?” Paleo asked, scared, looking at the NVA soldier for answers as the others toughened their grips.
“I don’t know!” he yelled before a loud explosion caused everyone to lose their balance, getting thrown around, the smell of smoke and fire entered their noses as they tried to hold on something. “I don’t want to die!” the filly panicked.
Dung managed to clutch Petunia protectively as the chopper came closer to the ground, King tried to make the landing as smooth as possible but the controls weren’t responding anymore.
Then there was the impact, the force of it was so great that there was nothing but pain, then a void of total blackness took over.
The ARVN private woke up with a blurry vision, crawling out of the wreck, seeing the others unconscious, but unharmed around the wreck.
Then he saw two men carrying Petunia away, He couldn’t see them directly due the vagueness, but could swear they were wearing US uniforms, due the same color as his US friends.
He drew his M1911, aiming at them, pulling the trigger, the pistol made only clicking noises before another man kicked it out of his hand.
Another two men walked to him, the first was taller than the others, having enormous muscles, but that was everything he could see with his blurry vision but his hearing slowly cleared.
“Well, well, well, looks like another successful hunt!” The tall man sounded very satisfied.
Hoang couldn’t think about who they were before the other man stomped on him, knocking him out.
With an aching head, the young AVRN soldier came to, groaning in pain. What happened? He wondered, looking around, finding himself in a wooden cage in what seemed to be a Viet Cong cave, his brothers and friends next to him in other wooden cages.
They all were awake, looking down at the ground with sad expressions.
“Brothers…King…What happened?” He asked them, not able to remember anything.
“We got shot down and captured. At first, we all thought it were NVA or VC forces, even thought our allies shot us down by accident. But then, we realized to our horror, our captors are…them.” The Army soldier explained causing Hoang’s eyes to widen in horror as his skin became pale.
“No…not them…everything but that!”
“I wish I had other news for you, brother, but it’s the truth. The Swamp Devils got us.” His older brother said in a depressed voice, his head low.
Hoang couldn’t believe it. But…you said that they got wiped out!”
Dung let out a sigh. “Feng thought so, but apparently a small number of them survived, using his abandoned VC cave as a new base of operations.”
“That isn’t good. What about Petunia?” The young Vietnamese asked with worry about her.
“She’s okay.” Dung pointed to a cage between him and King, the filly was locked in there, crying her heart out, her eyes already red. It broke Hoang’s heart to see this.
Even though he couldn’t reach her, he had to comfort her. “Shh petty, I’m here for you, don’t cry.”
The filly looked up with a very scared expression.
“I don’t wanna die! I wanna go home!” She cried in fear, tears leaving her eyes.
“I promise you will return home safe and sound, Petunia.” It would be difficult to escape, but Hoang had sworn to himself, he would bring Petunia home or die trying. And as his older brother had order to bring her back, their father would probably look for them should Dung not return. This alone gave him hope that they would get out of here.
“Dung?” He asked.
The NVA soldier lifted his head up. “Yes?”
“Tell me, apart from the bad things, how was life in the North?” The ARVN private got curious but had regrets for asking this. “You don’t have to tell if you don’t want to.”
Despite this, Dung smiled slightly. “Well, if you throw away the bad things I went through there, good. While most soldiers were rude to me due to being from the South, the civilians were like here, friendly, always ready to help each other. Made me think of home, of you, mother. I can imagine that she would be overjoyed to see me again, but I’m not so sure about father.”
“I know. She forgives him, but I also can’t imagine that she would be happy to see him again. But I’m sure she will be happy to see you too.” He returned a smile of his own.
“I’m sure of that too-“ Dang added before the sounds of boots cut him off.
A man with enormous muscles, blonde hair and turquoise eyes walked in, wearing a torn US uniform. “Looks like our friends are awake.” His voice was cold, his face unemotional. “I must admit, it must been my lucky day, finding a speaking animal.” He came closer to her cage, causing her to back up in fear.
“Don’t you dare touch her!” Ethan shouted angrily, trying to defend her.
The man turned to him. “You care for a speaking animal? Then let me tell you something. You know what's funny about this war? We are so damn far away from home that they're just guessing what we're up to. None of it matters. This place? They call it hell...WRONG!!!” He screamed, “Wars only hell if you allow it to be, if you're so damn weak that a little blood and screaming is all it takes to break you. You know what's really funny?! Back home, I spent one night stealing a motorbike, blazing a few joints and asking a hooker for my money back a bit too loudly. What happens? Four years in jail. But over here, I go to any village, kill every man I see, have my way with every woman and make the children fight over who gets to eat. What happens? Nothing. Nothing at all. That's what this is. That's what war is. Laws don't apply here. Morality doesn't apply here. So what makes you a criminal over in America makes you a hero over in Vietnam and in the eyes of the same damn people! They say we came here to fight for freedom and that's what I found here. Freedom. Freedom to do whatever I want, however I want to whoever I want. That's real freedom. This is where I belong...This is where I rule.”
Then he turned back to the cowering filly. “A talking pony, huh? That's okay. Hardly the most damn thing I've seen in this war. But that's fine. Because in my experience, if something can talk...” He drew a knife ”...then it can scream...”
“Harm only one hair of her and you mess with all of us!” Dung screamed in anger, his eyes full of rage.
“You keep believing that, little man.” The leader of the Swamp Devils was unimpressed as he left, then stopped at the doorway, turning around one last time. “Dan, Jesper, did you miss me?” He asked taunting.
“If you hurt her, you will be sorry, very sorry.” The SOG operative said in a threating voice, the Marine glared at the muscular man with hate.
“We will see. I’m pretty sure your little friend will be a delicious meal.” Petunia stared in shock upon hearing this as he left, staying like this for several minutes before breaking down crying. They all felt sorry for her.
“You two know him?” King asked his comrades in surprise.
“Unfortunately. His name is Grundy. We know him, against our wishes. Arrogant piece of ex-con trash. His kind gave the US Commando Unit a bad name. We weren't sad to hear he'd vanished into the jungle. Personally we hoped he went off to meet his maker. Until we heard of the Swamp Devils.” Dan explained, sighing as Jesper continued for him.
“He got signed-up for military service after his prison term ended. His parole officer recommended it.
He thought that over in Vietnam, no-one would stop him doing what he liked to someone as long as they were the enemy. We proved to him that wasn't the case, he went rogue.”
“I see, a deserter.” King replied, knowing how bad this was. Paleo had cried herself to sleep.
In the next day, they all knew they were screwed. All they could hear was Petunia sobbing. She had given up, none of them could blame her, she was still a child, not able to handle something like this.
Hoang looked up as two Swamp Devils opened his cage and pulled him out. They dragged him into another room, seating him, Petunia and Dan at a table in a dark cave. The filly trembled as Jesper’s M-19 got placed on the table.
Grundy talked with a man of a normal build, with brown hair and green eyes. “I go on the hunt, do as you like with our guests, Boone.”
“Yes, sir.” Boone saluted as Grundy left with some of his men.
Boone leaned over, many of the others started to watch. A Bookie collected the bets, the Marine looked at him in disgust. “Screw…you…maniac…” Dan spat at him, the Bookie put a meat cleaver to his throat in anger at being spat on.
“Dan, don’t!” Hoang yelled to avoid him getting killed, Petunia didn’t said a word, she just trembled, watching everything with a very scared expression.
“You dead, Marine!” The Bookie shouted before Boone slammed a pipe on the table, causing the Bookie to step back.
“Last chance. Play... or die.” Boone said in a cold voice.
“You don't scare me...maniac.” The Afro-American was unimpressed.
Enraged at that insult, Boone slammed the pipe into the back of Dan’s head several times, brutally spraying blood everywhere, screaming in anger, Paleo gasped in shock at the sight, while the Bookie held Hoangback with his cleaver, shaking his head to tell him not to interfere or he's next.
“Dan! DAN! You bastard!” The ARVN soldier yelled in rage.
“Next.” Boone said coldly as he threw the body on the ground.
“You will all pay for this!”
Then, the next “player” was brought in, a Swamp Devil aiming an AK-47 at him. “Don't you touch me...”
“Ethan? No…” Hoang was shocked that his best friend was next, also noticing that Jesper, Dang and Dung were forced to watch everything.
The Bookie planted his cleaver in the table as he retrieved the Revolver to reload it. King sat down, facing Hoang. “We're gonna make 'em pay.” King said to his friend determined.
“You - no talk! Play!” The Bookie checked the cylinder, spun it, placing the revolver back on the table, and spun the M-19. The barrel ended up pointing at the foal, she shivered, glancing at her friends fearfully.
With a shaking hoof, Petunia picked it up, staring at her three friends, her wide amber eyes moist with tears, struggling to keep control. “Please, tell my parents I love them.” She pulled the trigger.
Click.
Letting out a breath of relief, she placed it down, still trembling. Both knew they had to do something.„What's the plan?” The Army soldier asked.
“I'm thinking....I'm thinking....” Hoang tried to get up with one.
“No talk!” The Bookie shouted.
“One chance, Hoang.”
“We'll take it.”
“Okay.” The Bookie slapped King, and moved the M-19 closer to him, growing impatient at Ethan not taking his turn.
“Shoot, Shoot, Shoot!”
“You can’t kill me!” The American shouted.
“You shoot, G.I.! You shoot!”
King picked up the gun, aiming at his head. “DAMN!”
Click.
Relieved, breathing heavily, he put the Revolver down. “This time, this time, do it!”
The Bookie slammed his cleaver back on the table. “Shut up!”
“Ready.” King said to his friend as the Bookie handed the M-19 to Hoang.
“Play!” He said. To Petunia’s shock, Hoang picked the gun up without spinning it, yet hesitated to aim at his head. “Shoot, shoot!” The Bookie grew impatient again.
“Six and eight o' clock.” Hoang said, his brothers and Jesper nodded, while Petunia was confused what he meant, the Bookie looked around in confusion before looking back at Hoang as he aimed at himself.
Please no! Don’t die, Hoang! The young pony looked at him with tear filled eyes as he was about to pull the trigger. She didn’t want to die, but she also wanted her friends to return home safe and sound.
Everything was in slow motion as the ARVN soldier grabbed the Bookie by his neck, the revolver aimed at his chest, pulling the trigger, blood sprayed from the Bookie’s neck, revealing that the next chamber was the loaded one.
He then used the body as shield, drawing the Bookie’s pistol from his holster while Petunia instinctively doved to the ground, King, Jesper, Dung and Dang knocked out their captors as Hoang scored headshots on two Swamp Devils.
Boone used this to run. Jesper picked up his revolver while the others collected their sidearms, taking AK-47s as primary weapons.
Paleo slowly looked up, seeing the dead bodies, breathing heavily. “It is over?” She asked, shaken.
“Yes.” Hoang said in a comforting voice before turning to his friends and brothers. “Boone, now.”
“Let's go!” King’s eyes showed his thirst for avenging Dan.
The group started to move through the tunnels, Petunia stayed back to avoid getting hurt. The other Swamp Devils tried to buy time for Boone to warn Grundy by engaging the group.
“Don't let that bastard get away! If he makes it out, he'll warn Grundy!” King fired at everyone he spotted.
“He ain't getting out!” Hoang replied, filled with anger against Boone.
“Roger that!”
Despite the heavy resistance, the five soldiers pushed through the tunnels, killing every Swamp Devil that tried to stop them.
“Keep going! The Bastard’s gonna die!” Jesper shouted in anger.
“Damn right he is.” Dang agreed.
“Oh, he'll pay for what he did!” Dung added.
“Not just him, Grundy too.” Hoang replied with disgust towards the leader of the Swamp Devils.
“I'm gonna kill him - for Dan.” Ethan’s voice was cold.
Petunia had never heard them so angry or cold before, it scared her that they wouldn’t be the same persons she knew. Still, it was understandable, they had lost a good friend and wanted revenge for this.
It made her wonder if she would lose a good friend of her like that, if she would react the same way.
Eventually, they came to the exit which was on a platform, Boone tried to escape the cave complex, prying on the door.
“You're not going anywhere!” Hoang shouted as he and the others fired at him, the bullets perforated his body, blood splattered from it before he fell backwards towards the ground.
“We got him. For Dan.” King calmed down, sounding cheerfully.
“For Dan.” Hoang mourned him, his two friends, brothers and Petunia too.
“Let's go. We ain't got time to waste.” Dang climbed up and opened the door, helping the others up. “I know this cave, it’s the same I got trained in, it isn’t far from our village.”
“Then lead the way.” Jesper reloaded his rifle.
The filly let out a breath of relief. They were still alive and out of this cave. “Don’t worry, we protect you to our last breath.” The ARVN soldier smiled at her, she returned it as they moved out, Dang taking point.
After a while, the filly could see smoke in the distance. “There’s fire!” She pointed to it.
“Oh, no…” Hoang and his brothers started to run towards it, followed by the others, seeing their worst nightmare.
Their village was burned down, the villagers dead, their bodies burned, scattered around what was left of their home.
“No…NO!” Dang collapsed, crying his heart out, his brothers started to cry too.
Petunia was shocked to see this. They had lost everything. In a try to cheer them up, she hugged the brothers. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m truly sorry for your loss too. You three suffered too much already.” King and Jesper had sympathy with them.
“Do you…Do you think it was Feng’s work?” Dang asked, suspecting him.
“No, Feng's no killer. Not strictly speaking. This isn't his style. Yeah, he could probably have a hundred people killed...but he wouldn't be able to watch. He likes things done subtly. Problems gotten rid of and never spoken again. He doesn't believe in...showing off.” Dung replied. “Plus he knew our father, destroying our home would have made father furious, Feng wouldn’t risk to lose our father’s support. Maybe it were NLF troops?”
“That wasn’t caused by the Viet Cong.” King said as he pointed to bodies of NLF fighters, along bodies of NVA soldiers.
They started to look around until they found two bodies, an elderly woman and an elderly man. ”MOTHER!” Hoang yelled in shock, rushing over with his brothers.
Their mother’s body was covered in blood, a hole in her head, her husband next to her, both were lying against the wall but both were holding hands together. No…NO!” The three brothers collapsed crying, mourning their loss, Jesper and King made the catholic cross in respect while Petunia looked away, not able to bear it.
She was such a polite and nice woman…She hasn’t deserved this. A tear left her eye.
It was a consolation for the three brothers that their mother had forgiven their father, hinted by the hand holding. Hoang’s grief turned into rage. “I swear I will kill the one who did this to our parents!” He exclaimed at the top of his lungs.
“Good luck with that.” A only too familiar voice said taunting to him.
Turning around, they saw Grundy step out of the shadow, ten of his men with him.
“When I’m done with you, I will enjoy eating your little friend, piece by piece.” The leader of the Swamp Devils grinned sadistically at Petunia, who took a step back in fear.
Despite his anger, Hoang quickly calmed down. “There’s only one person dying here today and it ain’t me, my brothers or my friends. You will pay for killing my parents.”
“Your parents? Ahh, yes. I remember. Your father was a poor excuse for a soldier. As I aimed the gun at his wife's head, he begged me to spare her life...No dignity.”
This caused Hoang to be enraged. With a scream, he and his brothers charged at Grundy.
In that moment, King put Paleo behind a fence for cover as the other Swamp Devils opened fire, he and Jesper returned it.
Grundy simply sidestepped to avoid Hoang’s punch, then punched the South Vietnamese into the chest, making him stumble.
Dung delivered a punch to the American’s chest, due to his muscles, he shrugged it off like it was nothing. “Is that all you got?” He taunted as he grabbed the NVA soldier by the shoulders.
Dung bite his wrist in response, causing him to cry in pain.
Hoang used this moment to deliver a punch to the Swamp Devil’s nose, managing to break it. However, Grundy quickly recovered.” You have to do better than that!”
The rogue shook his head, unaware of Dang creeping beside him. The NLF fighter jumped on his back from behind, causing him to lose balance, grunting and spinning around, the American trying to get Dang off of him.
Distracted by this, Dang’s brothers used this to beat him, having success as he grunted also in pain with every hit he took.
Grundy’s foot got caught in a root, he fell over, landing hard on the ground while Dang managed to catch himself.
The brothers stopped upon noticing that a wire got caught in his leg.
“What’s wrong, scared?” Grundy taunted before he heard a click sound. His expression wasn’t one of shock or surprise, but disappointment. “Mother…”
Then a big explosion, causing the brothers to cover their eyes, coughing from the smoke.
Even Petunia and the Americans had to cough. A metallic clang noise rang in King’s ears, he turned around to see blood splattering from Jesper’s head, a hole in his helmet, falling backwards to the ground as a puddle of red liquid formed on the ground.
“Die!” One Swamp Devil lunged at him, throwing him to the ground trying to stab him with a knife, he struggled against it.
The brothers couldn’t help him as they were still stunned by the explosion.
Ethan grunted in pain as his opponent slowly overpowered him, the knife coming closer to his chest.
No…
Then suddenly, a gunshot, blood flowing down from the Swamp Devil’s head, his expression empty, the knife falling out of his hand.
The Army soldier threw the body off him, his expression becoming one of sympathy once he saw who had fired the shot that had saved him.
Petunia. She was holding Jesper’s M-19 in her right hoof, shaking with a terrified expression before throwing it away, starting to cry.
King knew from experience, the first kill was never easy and she was still a child, probably traumatized from it, if she wasn’t already from the horrible things she had seen before.
Trying to comfort her, he took her on his arm, patting her back, she buried her head into his chest, crying her heart out.
“It’s over… The Swamp Devils are no more…” Dung let out a breath of relief.
Then, a terrified groan of pain came out of the smoke, making the filly flinch.
As the smoke vanished, the four men were horrified as well. Grundy had survived the explosion, covered in blood, his left arm blown off.
With a furious expression and another groan of pain, he moved slowly towards them.
They took protective positions in front of Petunia.
“You…will pay… for this!” The wounded man yelled in anger. “I’m not finished yet…”
He got cut off as he got caught in another root, falling toward and a terrible sound of his flesh getting ripped could be heard.
“Ouch.” Dang commented, seeing that Grundy has fallen into Punji Sticks, impaled by them, not moving.
King covered Petunia’s eyes. The three brothers walked towards her, Dung stopped, turning around and threw a grenade into the trap, not looking at the explosion. As they all looked at him, he just said in a nonchalant tone, “Helps to be sure.”
“Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.” Hoang replied in the same tone.
The filly spotted a shadow coming out of the woods, no several shadows, four at least. “Watch out!” She tried to warn her friends, but they were caught off guard as the shadows revealed themselves to be more Swamp Devils.
“You snooze, you lose!” One of the Swamp Devils taunted, his weapon ready as he aiming at Petunia, she closed her eyes, expecting to die, her friends tried to drew their sidearms.
Quick as a flash, five shots rang in her ears, the two Americans and three Vietnamese saw how one Swamp Devil after another fell dead to the ground in quick succession.
As Petunia slowly opened her eyes, she saw three more shadows coming out of the woods.
It was Feng and his bodyguards to their surprise, the former’s pistol barrel was smoking, holding it sideways, one arm behind his back, very nonchalant.
Dung had heard of this shooting style, called bandit shooting, due to being used against bandits. By holding the gun sideways, the muzzle climb shifted the gun horizontally, allowing for a deadly sweep in close quarters. The spent casings would eject to the side, negating the issues with jamming, and the recoil actually helped guide the operator's hand in close quarters to acquire the next target; the idea was to aim at the right-most target and use the muzzle jump to guide aim to the next target. This technique was feared by the Japanese during the Invasion of China.
They looked at him, stunned, unable to process why he had saved them for what seemed like hours until he said with a glance, “Oh, I'm sorry, did you want that one?”
Dung asked, confused, “Why?”
“Simple, really. The Swamp Devils were a great threat, not only to the south but the north as well. As my men failed to eliminate them completely, I decided to do this myself. Plus, you wanted to bring your little friend home safe and sound, right?”
“Yes…” The NVA soldier replied, trying to understand.
“You all did a great deal for this country by helping to eliminate this threat.”
“I guess so. Would you be so kind and help us to give our friend and parents a proper burial?” As Hoang asked this, Paleo noticed that Feng seemed to have compassion for them.
“Of course, it’s the least I can do for them. Your father was one of the most capable men I ever saw in my career. While I never knew your mother, Vu told me much about her. I can tell that she raised you well.” The Chinese holstered his weapon.
As the men dig the graves, Petunia could swear she saw Vu stirring for a second.
Could he be still alive? She wondered, taking a closer look.
The man started to groan. “He’s alive!” She exclaimed in surprise, the three brothers stopped their work, rushing over to their father.
“Uhh…my head….” Vu held his head in pain.
“Father, are you okay?” Dung helped him up.
“I’m fine. Damn Swamp Devils surprised us when we told the NLF to stand down.” He turned to Hoa’s body, a single tear escaping his eye. “You didn’t deserve this, Hoa. You were a great wife and mother. I should have seen this coming!” He smashed his fist into the ground, breaking down. Then, he felt something warm around him.
Petunia had wrapped her forehooves around him. “I’m sorry for your loss, but you have tried.”
Vu let out a weak smile. “Yes. At least, you have forgiven me for what I did nine years ago, my wife. As for you, my sons, I feared the worst when I heard you went missing. I can’t tell how happy I am to see that you and Petunia are alright.”
“The NLF commander hadn’t dared to hurt her after I told him he was holding the little turquoise Qilin prisoner.” Feng explained.
“Qilin? Why did you name me like that?” The filly asked, not knowing what that meant.
The Chinese replied slightly nervous, “It’s a…nickname I picked for you so they wouldn’t hurt you. It’s a lucky charm in my culture.”
“Ah, I see.” She replied.
“How did you survive?” Hoang asked his father.
“Well, as Grundy wanted to shoot my wife, I struggled with him until he knocked me out. Last thing I felt before everything went black was Hoa’s hand.” Yu told as far as he could remember. “Wait, where’s Lan?” He asked upon not seeing him along the bodies.
“Don’t worry, he’s alive. He’s the reason why I’m here, managing to escape and inform me about the situation. A bit injured, but treated as we speak.” Feng replied.
“At least he survived this slaughter.” The elderly father was relieved to hear this.
After they had buried her and Jesper, Vu said to his sons, “I don’t expect any of you to forgive me for what I did. But I want to let you know, that I want you to be safe. If you want to begin a new life with her or in the USA, do as you like.” He knew if North Vietnam would win the war that Hoang would be sent into a reeducation camp, which consisted of forced labor and political indoctrination, or would be forced to clear a minefield. The Officers and generals were corrupt, poorly trained and ineffective, a sign that this was more likely to happen. Dang would mostly suffer the same fate due to being South Vietnamese and Dung wouldn’t want to let his brothers suffer such a fate.
Now, as their mother was dead and their home destroyed, they had nowhere to go. He lowered his head with a sigh, blaming himself for all of this.
Unexpectedly, his sons hugged him with tears. “We forgive you!” They said in unsion. The elderly man cried tears of joy.
Petunia smiled at the heart warming sight, noticing that even Feng seemed to smile.
“Ah, I just came in time.” A new voice sounded, surprising everyone. Turning into the direction the voice came from, they saw an elderly man, using a crutch to walk, his hair grey and having blue eyes. “I’m Polly, I used to be Grundy’s translator, against my will. You did not only help this country, but me as well. For that, I will be forever grateful.”
“It’s nothing. Hoang, you and your brothers could get with me to the USA, my wife said to me once that she would like to meet you.” King offered his friends.
Hoang smiled, his brothers nodded. “I’d like that. Would you like to join us too, Polly?”
The translator waved a hand. “Thanks for the offer but I’m so enfeebled that I probably wouldn’t survive the journey. I rather spent my last moments here in peace.”
“Okay. Farewell, father.” Hoang and his brothers said goodbye.
“Goodbye, my sons. May you live the rest of your lives in peace.” Vu replied as King saluted while Paleo waved goodbye, watching after them until they were out of sight.
Feng turned to his men. “None of this ever happened, gentlemen.” They nodded, then assisted Polly as they walked to their means of transportation.
“You can be proud of your sons, Vu. They put honor and care before everything else.” The Chinese said to him.
“Yes, that’s my sons. I couldn’t be any prouder of them. And I spared them from a horrible fate.” Vu replied, not thinking he would ever see them again, but knowing they could live a happy life together.
“General Vu em Binh...It's been an honor.” Feng paused, bashful for several moments. “You should know that if ever our nations decide to go to war, I intend to retire.”
“I'm glad to hear it. I fear I could not do the same.” Vu replied, feeling tied to his country.
“I didn't think you would. I wish you luck. However well you've done as a father, I've seen few better soldiers in my time. And good soldiers deserve their victory.” Feng said with pride.
“Agreed. May you rest in peace, Hoa.” Vu made a silent prayer for his wife.
As Hoang, Petunia, King, Dung and Dang reached the US base, the other soldiers were relieved that Petunia, Hoang and King were still alive and well. After Hoang explained that Dung and Dang were his brothers, the former NVA soldier and Viet Cong member got treated well by them.
King was awarded with the Purple Heart and for wiping out the Swamp Devils, the Silver Star. Due to the brothers’ surprise for helping King, they got the same awards, despite not being part of the military. The officer that had awarded them, told them they had earned it for keeping Petunia safe and destroying the Swamp Devils.
The plane ride to the USA was the most relaxing and comfortable ride Hoang, Dung and Dang had ever experienced so far.
Upon reaching King’s hometown, his family was overjoyed to see him and Petunia in one piece. “Daddy! We were so worried!” His children exclaimed as they hugged him.
“I and Petunia are fine, kids.” He kissed his wife. “Emily, may I introduce Hoang and his brothers to you?”
Having switched to civilian clothing, they smiled at the woman and her children. “Hello, Mrs. King. I’m Hoang em Binh but Hoang is just fine.”
“Dung and Dang is also fine.” His brothers added.
“The pleasure is all mine, Hoang.”
“Welcome in New Bordeaux!” The siblings exclaimed happy.
They walked home, King used this to explain what had happened.
“Oh my…I’m really sorry to hear that.” The mother had sympathy for the three brothers.
“It’s okay, in our hearts, our mother is still alive.” Dang replied as Liam and Lara give him and Dung a hug to cheer them up.
“I owe you something. Without you, I wouldn’t have survived back there.” Petunia was very grateful.
“You owe us nothing, Petunia, we did only what was right to do.” Dung replied with a smile, relieved that she was safe now.
“Say, when do you have to go back?” Emily asked her husband.
“I don’t. I got discharged. Now, I can finally spend more time with you.”
“Glad to hear it.”
However, once they reached Downtown, they saw smoke in the distance, yelling and fighting sounds, making them wonder what was going on.
Once it was in view, everyone was shocked.
A brutal street battle between rioters and police forces was raging on, the house of the King family was on fire as the rioters used Molotov Cocktails against the police forces, who responded with nightsticks and water cannons.
“Our house!” Emily shouted in shock, not believing what she saw.
“Bastards!” Ethan exclaimed while his children just stared in shock.
Petunia and the three Asians also stared at the fire, feeling sorry for the American family. Seeing that the street battle threatened to go out of control, Hoang took the word. “I hate to say it, but we should get out of here before the rioters attack us.” The least he wanted that Petunia or Ethan’s children would get hurt.
Emily just nodded with tears in her eyes, before they left.
As they walked away, still in shock about what they had seen, Lincoln crossed their way. “Hello again, Ethan. I can’t say how happy I am to hear that you and Petunia are back safe and sound.” Then he noticed their shocked expressions. “Did I say something wrong?” He asked a bit worried.
Ethan shook his head. “No. It’s just, I came back from the war, only to see my house set on fire by rioters.” He explained in a depressed voice.
Petunia noticed that Clay was twitching for a moment before replying, “Sorry to hear that. But don’t worry, I’ll pay for the repairs and you can stay at my place until the repairs are done.” He offered his friends.
“Thank you, Lincoln.” Ethan was glad as his family wasn’t going to be homeless, his wife and children agreed too.
Clay invited his friends to Sammy’s bar for some food and drinks, King used this to tell his friend what he had experienced and about the experiences of Hoang, Dang and Dung.
The veteran had sympathy with the Asians. “I’m terribly sorry to hear what happened to your home and mother. But thanks to you, Petunia and my friend survived. So, I would say, this toast is on you!” Clay raised his glass, the brothers, King and Emily raised their glasses too.
They had beer while the kids had Juice. While Hoang and his brothers still had to process the death of their beloved mother, they knew she was still alive in their hearts. The beer tasted very good, better that they could have imagined.
Later, the family decided to see what was left of their house, only to see that it had completely burned down to the ground, leaving only ash. Emily collapsed crying with her children, King and Petunia tried their best to comfort them.
“They really didn’t deserve this.” Hoang said with pity, feeling sorry for them.
“I agree. Yet, if it hadn’t been for us, Emily would have been a widow.” Dang figured out.
“Indeed. I kinda like it here already.” Dung admitted.
For the young family, it was a consolation that Clay would pay the repairs and offer shelter until the house was rebuilt.
On the way back to Sammy’s bar, a group of young men walked past them, looking with disgust at King. “You think you a hero for fighting in Vietnam? You’re not.” One of them said in a very rude tone to him.
“Excuse me?” He asked slightly offended.
“You’re a disgrace, a baby killer! Killing for our corrupt government!” The man tried to punch Ethan, Clay grabbed the man by his wrist.
“I advise you kindly to leave him alone.” He said in a calm, yet serious tone.
“Or what?” One of the others shouted now in anger, charging at Lincoln who shoved the first men into his attacker, throwing both to the ground. This action caused the others to back up in fear, then run away.
“W-what was that?” Petunia asked, a bit scared.
“It’s hard to explain. You have already seen how unpopular the Vietnam War is here. Some people hate us soldiers for fighting in Vietnam, offending us, some even attack us.” Ethan explained as they continued to walk home.
However, they had to encounter more insults of hateful citizens, they did not attack King, but threw garbage at him, the filly noticed how he flinched for a few seconds every time they insulted him.
Back at Sammy’s bar, they dined and went to bed, King’s family and Petunia took the guest beds, the brothers insisted on sleeping on the ground or took the couch.
The young filly awoke in the morning, hearing quiet weeping, seeing Ethan’s wife and children still asleep, but the soldier was nowhere to be seen. The brothers were also still asleep.
Curious, she followed the sound, it came from the patio, what she saw broke her heart.
The former Army soldier was looking at the sunrise, tears leaving his eyes. “Ethan, what’s wrong?” Paleo asked with concern.
He was startled by her. “It’s nothing…I…I risked my life over there in Vietnam for my country and this what I got as thanks…I feel like our own government left us behind…”
Without hesitation, the filly hugged him tightly. “Don’t listen to what those mean people say, Ethan. You are a hero for saving me.”
“Indeed you are, Ethan. You can be proud of yourself for keeping her save.” His family had joined them, his wife smiled proudly.
“Ethan, I have lost a lot of good friends in Vietnam, but you are the best friend I could ask for.” Hoang added.
The American smiled weakly. “Thank you. I just don’t know how I should continue now that I’m no longer in the military.”
“I’m sure we will find something for you.” Petunia replied with determination.
Someone cleared his throat, they turned around, seeing Clay standing in the doorway.” I’m sorry to interrupt this family moment, but there is someone who would like to see you.”
They wondered who it could be as Lincoln went downstairs to get the visitor he had mentioned.
Shorty after, a white Alicorn with floating mane and magenta eyes stepped into the room, leaving the humans shocked and fascinated. “Greetings, I’m looking for a missing citizen, is she here?” The Alicorn asked with a friendly voice.
The humans blinked to make sure their eyes didn’t deceive them, while Petunia grinned.
“Uhh, yes, she’s here.” Ethan and the others stepped aside to reveal the happy filly.
“Rise, my subject. I’m glad to see that you are well. And I’m not the only one who is happy to see you.” The Princess pointed behind herself, showing she was not alone.
“Petunia!” The two ponies exclaimed, overjoyed.
“Mama! Papa!” The filly ran towards them for a hug, very happy to see them. “I missed you so much!”
“My little filly, I can’t say how happy I am to see you safe and sound!” Her mother cried tears of joy.
The humans smiled with happiness at the wonderful sight of a family being reunited again.
“Me too! They helped me!” The filly pointed to the Americans and the Asians with a big smile.
Ethan took the word. “Yes, we did. I’m Ethan King, this is my wife Emily, my children Liam and Lara and my friends, Hoang, Dung, Dang and Clay.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all and I’m grateful for keeping my subject safe. Now, Petunia, you surely have a lot to tell.” Celestia smiled at the filly.
Petunia trembled, “Yes and no. There are t-things that are…”
“Shh, if it’s too hard to tell, let me try something, Petunia.” The Alicorn spoke in a calming voice, touching the foal’s forehead with her horn. A white light blended everyone’s vision for a moment.
Celestia and Petunia’s parents now saw what the young filly had experienced, from the day Ethan and King had found her, to today.
“My poor baby!” Mrs. Paleo hugged her daughter to comfort her.
“Your highness, Mom, dad, could the Kings, Hoang and his brothers come with us? They have lost everything, no place they can call home.” The foal asked with hope.
The Princess of the Sun smiled warmly. “I don’t see a reason why they couldn’t; they have surely earned it. Do you accept?” She asked the former soldiers.
They were quite surprise about such an offer but their answer was clear. “We accept.” They all bowed.
“We don’t mind it, It’s no problem to expand our house.” Petunia’s father replied.
Ethan turned to Clay. “Farewell, Clay, you were a good friend to me.”
Lincoln smiled. “You were a good friend too. Enjoy your new life.”
Celestia’s horn glowed, everything went white once again and the American family and Vietnamese brothers found themselves in the house of the Paleo family.
Ice Star was also in the house, feeling very sorry. “Petunia, I’m really, really sorry for insulting you and your parents. C-can you forgive me?”
Petunia smiled. “Yes. You helped indirectly to reunite a family that got torn apart.” She turned to the three brothers and the American family. “Welcome to Equestria!”
One month later
Ethan with his family, Hoang, Dung and Dang couldn’t complain about their new life in Equestria. The three brothers lived together with Petunia’s family while the King family had their own house right next to them. The four men worked as Royal Guards, due to the war, they couldn’t imagine a different job than being soldiers.
They regularly helped Petunia with her discoveries, it was always fun and made music together. Liam and Lara were together with Petunia in school and members of the CMC.
The three brothers along with Ethan and Emily helped Petunia’s parents to clean the house as the three young voices called out, “Mommy, daddy, uncles, we’re home!”
“Welcome back. How was school?” Hoang asked the children with a happy smile.
“Great! Right now, the Cutie Mark Crusaders invited us to Sugarcube Corner!” They exclaimed in unison and left with smiles.
The adults watched after them until they were out of sight.
Ethan turned the radio on. “May I have this dance?” He asked his wife.
They all danced together.
For Ethan, he could live a life without discrimination by other people just because he was a soldier.
For Hoang, Dang and Dung, it was more complicated. They knew that South Vietnam would most likely lose the war without the support of the USA and they probably wouldn’t have survived this.
Here, they could live a peaceful life, a life that never had been possible in Vietnam. Their mother had wanted it so for them and they knew she would be alive in their hearts.
What was most important for them, they had kept their promise and they would keep it, no matter what would happen.
They could finally live together again, in peace and Petunia was their lucky charm that would keep it that way.
After nine years, they were finally reunited, able to live in peace as family, as they had always wanted.