Chapter 1

“If I wasn't so scared shitless of the old man, I would be laughing right now.”

Matt “Shelly” Novak peeked up through the right side hatch of the M4A3E8 Sherman tank, which also was a viewpoint between the legs of the tank commander Ian Collins. Ian sighed heavily with annoyance.

“Shelly,” he hissed at the gunner. “Get your damn head out from between my crotch and get back on the gun with Zeus!”

At the sound of his nickname, Zachariah “Zeus” Marshall elbowed Matt in the chest. The loader let out an audible humph as the air left his lungs and he plopped back down next to the tank’s seventy-six millimeter M1 gun.

“Should we help him?” Bill Harper’s muffled voice called up from the driver seat.

An uneasy silence filled the tank before Ian finally spoke.

“If somebody doesn’t help him, we are all going to get cussed out into next Sunday. I’ll signal the others to follow me into the field.”

As Ian stood up in the hatch, Matt kicked awake the man sitting in front of him.

“Waaake up Fishy!” Matt said, in a patronizing sing-along tune.

Jeff Fisher, the co-driver, jumped and looked around.

“Wha...?” He asked, looking, and feeling, dazed.

“We are moving forward,” Ian replied with a sigh. “Get on the ball! All of you be on edge; the Black Wolf was sighted this morning in a nearby town.”

‘There,’ Ian thought. ‘That should put them on edge and wake them up.’

Frederic Herrmann peered through his binoculars at the American jeep. He had been watching it from his position behind a high hedge for a good five minutes, ever since it first got stuck in the mud. All in all, the scene playing out before him was quite humorous. Two Yankee soldiers, and the jeep driver, struggled valiantly to try and get the vehicle unstuck while a flashy man stood in the back barking inaudible orders. Frederic knew exactly who the flashy man was- every German soldier knew- but he dared not fire on the jeep for several reasons. He looked back down through the hatch of his Tiger I at the tank gunner watching him impatiently.

“I told you once already Felix,” Frederic huffed. “I will not fire on the American general.”

Felix Bandt chewed his lips contemplatively. “Why?”

“If we kill him… Let’s just say the Americans won't be taking any prisoners for a while. Also, we’re using him as bait.”

Felix looked appeased with the tank commander’s answer and went back to polishing the breach of the tank's eighty-eight. Frederic shook his head at the obsessive tendencies of the gunner and turned his attention back to the jeep. To his surprise, seven American Sherman tanks had emerged from the foggy hedgerow that they had been hiding behind, and were now surrounding the jeep in a defensive semicircle. A tank in particular caught his eye: one bearing a green, four-leaf clover on its sides, and the word ‘Lucky.’

“Felix, Udo!” he said to the gunner and loader. “Five-hundred meters. Elevation two clicks, rotation five. You should be able to see them through the sight. I will let you choose your targets. Just don’t shoot the enemy general!”

In his mind, the image of his smiling wife and children distracted him, but only for a moment.

Ian tapped impatiently on the outer rim of the hatch as they slogged towards the jeep. He knew that it was probably not a good idea to sit exposed, snipers being so common; Zachariah shared these fears.

“Hey,” he whispered. His voice was barely audible over the sound of the engine. “I don’t like you standing out in the open like that.”

“I appreciate your concern Zeus, but if there are any snipers in the area, we would know by now.”

“Yes, you’d have been shot. Still, I don't like the surrounding area. It doesn't feel right.” As the gunner expressed his concerns, Ian could hear the anxiety in his voice. Closing on the jeep’s position, Ian remained standing. They were the second tank to arrive at the stranded vehicle and immediately he wished he hadn’t gone out there in the first place. As they arrived next to the jeep, the six foot tall, and otherwise imposing, man standing in the back glared at them.

“Took you fucking long enough!” He screamed.

“Sorry Sir, General Patton Sir!” Ian replied calmly. Being a second lieutenant in Patton’s Third Army had made Ian used to the General’s vernacular “enthusiasm”. “What do you want us to do?”

The General stared at Ian for a few moments, a look that basically screamed to him that he had just asked a stupid question.

“Boy,” Patton said slowly. “You are in a tank. Pull this son of a bitch out!”

The two Privates that had been attempting to free the jeep prepared to attach a long cable between the two vehicles as Ian directed the tank in front of the jeep. Soon the jeep was pulled free and Patton grinning.

“Do you think he is going to give us a medal for saving his jeep?” Matt asked with, punctuated with a laugh.

“He better.” Zach took a long gulp from a canteen. “I haven't gotten a real medal yet. Not in the Navy and not in-”

A thunderous explosion rattled the tank, and for a panicked moment, the crew believed that they had been hit. Ian was quick to yell out that Lucky had not been hit, but the news was still not good.

“Number four is gone,” Ian said flatly. “I didn't see where it came from but it definitely was an enemy tank.”

“Do you think it was the Black Wolf?” Matt practically squealed in fear.

“Shut it Shelly,” Zachariah hissed as he panned the turret around, searching for the light cloud of smoke that would betray the enemy’s position through the gun’s sight. He noticed Patton’s jeep speeding away, but the General was not in it. Another explosion and pieces of tank filled his view of the surroundings.

“I think that was number six!” Zeus growled.

He continued to pan across the distant hedgerow. Two more American tanks exploded, and a heavy cloud of smoke floated parallel to the hedges, making it harder for Zachariah to see in the first place. He still had yet to find the tank itself- he waited for the enemy to fire again -as they all hoped dearly that the next shell wouldn't be for them. The next sound they heard was almost as surprising as incoming artillery.

“Open this hatch,” came Patton’s muffled voice along with several heavy knocks.

Ian heaved open the entrance and the General’s personage filled their vision through the hole, blocking most of the sky..

“Can't you see that son of a bitch?” He inquired loudly. “He is hiding right there!”
Ian stood up and followed where Patton was pointing. He could barely make out a large dark shape through the leaves of the hedge. There was a flash and report from the dark shape, and another tank exploded, rocking the vehicle a fair amount.

“Kill that bastard!” Patton cheered as he stood defiantly on the turret. “I feel all tingly inside, so this must be a good day!”

Ian stood for a moment, puzzled at what Patton had said. Pausing a bit longer, he realized he too felt a tingling sensation creeping over him. He didn’t have time to think about it long, however, as a shell whizzed overhead and exploded harmlessly behind them.

“Zeus!” Ian shouted, preparing to give his favorite order. “Get a lightning bolt ready and send this bastard to hell!”

“I told you not to aim for Patton!” Frederic growled at Felix.

The gunner didn’t reply as he continued to peer at the Americans through the sight. There was a deep ‘whomp’, the characteristic noise of a shell missing in the dirt, and the sound of dirt raining from the sky onto the tank’s roof.

“They are shooting back sir,” Felix stated, eerily calm and collected.

“Don’t shoot,” Frederic warned. “Wait for more tanks to show up.”

“Sir?”

“Yes, Udo?” Frederick replied, annoyance and urgency tinging his tone.

“Is there a fuel leak or exhaust seeping in? I feel light headed and...well it feels like I have spiders under my skin.” They could hear the fear in his words.

The crew paused momentarily.

“I feel the same way,” Felix said, sounding surprised.

“Hmm.” Was all Frederick said. He looked quickly at his arms while taking a deep breath tasting the air for hits of fumes and fuel. Smelling nothing out of place, he quickly determined that nothing was dangerously out of order. He looked back at his hands as the eighty-eight thundered again.

“Looks like they are trying to flank us. the tank with Patton," Felix shouted as Udo prepared another shell. The gunner looked out through his periscope and sighed heavily. “Are you sure you don’t want me to fire?”

Frederic didn't respond. He was busy watching a small purple flame dance across his fingertips.

“It’s the Black Wolf,” Zeus yelled over the sound of the strained engine.

“Get in range and flank that bastard!” Patton had now replaced Ian in the commander's position. The second lieutenant was now hunched uncomfortably in the small space by the General’s legs.

“Yes sir!” Bill replied, too enthusiastic considering the danger.

The tank lurched forward as they tried to get in position for a shot on the weaker sections of the enemy armor.

“I got a clear shot!” Zeus cheered as the massive shape of the enemy tank filled his view. Lucky came to a sudden halt and soon after the hull shook with the report of their gun. “I hate it when that happens!” Zeus screamed in anger, his glassware unstable, and his shot had not aimed properly from the vibrations.

Firing another round, he watched through the periscope as the shell he had just fired glanced off the dark black armor of the tiger and rocket skyward at a steep angle, buzzing angrily towards the heavens.

“Pour it on!” Patton yelled triumphantly as another shell was promptly loaded and fired but to no effect on the enemy’s thick armor- the shell, shattering on contact, made nothing but sparks and a big rippling dent in the steel. Obviously he was the only man enjoying the situation.

Matt prepared to slide a new shell into the breach when an explosion coursed through the tank, filling the hull with a strange purple-pink fire; all the men prepared for agony, but this explosion didn’t rend them as immediately as they thought. Still, they were all terrified.

“Ah don't want to die!” Fishy screamed, his voice reaching a horrifically loud volume.

'This is interesting,' Ian thought, complacent as his body, and the others’ too, were engulfed in unearthly flame. 'So this is how I die; and it doesn't even hurt.'

There was a sudden falling sensation as the crew blacked out at once.

___________________________________________________________________
Here it is. My first and possibly only HiE. I hope you enjoy.
I do not own MLP; FiM
Comment your opinion please.
Thanks to Dusknight Haze for the edit on chapters 1-2.

Theme song of Blood and Guts and Ponies by BaroqueNexus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC0i15zpEow#t=152