Iron Wings

by Select Few

The Best Laid Plans

Time: 8:13 A.M. 06/29/4 PHA
Location: 10km above Griffinland, near the Equestrian Border.

Twilight’s face went pale white. “No... m-m-magic? Why? How could you do this? Is it permanent? What will Celestia think? She’ll strip my Princess-hood! Banish me from Equestria! I’ll never see my friends again!” Her eyes shrunk to tiny pinpricks. “Oh, no. My friends won’t want to be my friends anymore! Without my magic, I’m just a… just a…”

Franz didn’t like where this was going. “Just a what, Kleine Prinzessin?”

“A nobody! There’s nothing special about me! Magic is who I was, and you took it from me! You monster!” And with that, the newest princess of Equestria, the Element of Magic and the savior of the kingdom four times over, broke down and cried.

Franz went over to her. “Nein, Nein, Prinzessin.” He tried to comfort her, but she batted him away. Or, she tried to, anyway. It was a difficult task to perform with your legs bound together. “Stay away from me!”

“Prinzessin, you’re overreacting. Sich beruhigen.”

“Overreacting? OVERREACTING?!” Twilight yelled at Franz. “YOU TOOK THE ONE THING THAT MADE ME SPECIAL!”

“Es ist nicht von Dauer!”

“…”

“…”

“…Why didn’t you say so?” Twilight asked, finally calming down.

Franz starting petting Twilight’s head, which earned him a glare. Ignoring it, he continued. “I would have, Kleine Prinzessin, but you would not let me.”

“Oh.” Twilight blushed for a second, but recovered quickly. “Well, would you have reacted differently, had you been in my place?”

Franz thought about this for a second. “wahrheitsgemäß? No, I would likely have reacted the same way.”

Twilight was about to say something, but was interrupted by a voice coming from the cockpit.

“Oberst Franz, come in Oberst Franz. Can you hear me? Verdammt Maschine, warum kann ich nicht senden Sie einfach eine Schriftrolle? Come in Oberst Franz!”

Franz stood up and headed towards the cockpit. “Ah, that would be my superiors. Don’t go anywhere, Kleine Prinzessin!”

“Would you stop calling me that?! I’m not little!” Twilight yelled after him.

“Compared to me, Prinzessin,” Franz said, only his head sticking out of the cockpit and into the room, “Only your Sonnengöttin is not small.” And with that, he disappeared into the cockpit.

“Oberst Franz, reporting in. Go ahead, Brigadegeneral.”

“Ah, Oberst Franz! I was beginning to wonder if this Stück Scheiße was even working!” Amsel’s voice was distorted, but still understandable. “So, how did the artifact jagd do?”

“Wunderbar! I even caught a Prinzessin!” Franz said, laughing.

There was a short silence and then, “Repeat, Oberst Franz. It sounded like you said you had captured a Prinzessin?”

“Ja! Listen!” Franz yelled back into the room that Twilight was in, “Kleine Prinzessin! Say something for Der Brigadegeneral!”

“Equestria will make you pay for this, Franz! Just you wait!”

“Sie ist feisty, ja?” Franz snickered. “But, she’ll come in handy later on.”

“…Oberst Franz, your orders said nothing about taking ponies. You were only supposed to retrieve the target and return.” There was concern in Amsel’s voice, and rightly so. Where before the war was merely business for both sides, the theft of one of the Princesses of Equestria would fuel the fires of the Equestrians, making this conflict far more personal.

“It’s fine, Brigadegeneral. She is part of the target that I was sent to capture. A Vital-Komponente, as it were.” Franz said into the microphone. At this, Twilight yelled from the back of the ship, “You know, I can hear everything you guys are saying, right?”

“Sie ist eine Haftung, Oberst. Wer weiß, was sie konnte von Ihrem Schiff alleine lernen?”

“Sie spricht Deutsch, Brigadegeneral. Kein dafür brauchen.” Franz said, albeit a bit more quietly.

“Great, so you had to kidnap the only princess who could learn all of our secrets, AND translate them back for their government?” Amsel was audibly upset now. Franz was getting irritated, too, but for very different reasons.

“What would you have had me do, Amsel?! Had I left her, they could easily have taken the Elements back and used them against us! Then where would we be?!” Franz was yelling into the radio now, and it was only by virtue of Autopilot that they did not crash into one of the many mountains along the border.

Amsel was quiet again. “…Franz… Did you say Elements? As in, Elements of Harmony?”

“Ja, Brigadegeneral, I did.” Franz replied, no longer yelling but not quite speaking at a normal volume.

“Franz. Why would you take the Elements? We have no use for them, and their theft puts not only Equestria but the Alliance in danger as well.” Amsel was quiet now, his voice barely a whisper. In the back of his mind, Franz registered that there was genuine fear in it, but in his current mindset he ignored it, intent on winning the argument first and foremost.

“Because I was ordered to. I was told to go into Equestria and take them, so obviously we have some use for them.” Franz answered, thinking that he had won the argument with that sentence.

“Franz. Franz, listen to me.” The fear in Amsel’s voice was obvious now. No, more than fear, there was absolute dread flowing in his voice, surrounded by doubt and swimming in uncertainty. Franz had never heard that in Amsel’s voice, so he quelled his anger and paid close attention. “Franz, I want you to take the Elements and the Prinzessin back to Equestria. I don’t care how you have to do it, just get them back there. Do you hear me?! That’s an order!” Amsel was yelling into the radio now, and both Franz and Twilight could hear the urgency in his voice. “Take the Elements back to Eques-“

*BANG*

The sound of a mechanical spellcaster blared through the radio speaker. A powerful invention of the Zebras, a mechanical spellcaster allowed for non-magic users to harness the power of a few powerful combat spells, namely the magic and fire bolts. Deadly in the hands of a master, and they only took a few weeks to of training to use. This technology quickly spread through the military ranks of most non-magical races, though the nations that contained magic users were slow to use them. Many races currently use the mechanical spellcaster as a status symbol. The higher your rank, the more powerful spellcaster you received. These races include the Zebras, Minotaurs, and goats.

But by far the most prominent advocate and user of the mechanical spellcaster is the Draco-Griffon Alliance.

“Amsel?” Franz tried to contact him, but received only silence in response. “Brigadegeneral Amsel, are you there?”

“Belay that order, Oberst. Continue as originally planned.” A familiar voice played over the radio, though Franz couldn’t put a name to it. When he realized that, he knew exactly who it was.

The dragon from Special Forces shut off the radio, but that didn’t stop a message from reaching Franz, nor did it stop Twilight from getting it, too.

Something was terribly wrong in the Alliance, and Franz was the catalyst.

Author's Note:

What a shame. I really liked Amsel.