Das Ende
She was sinking... after all they had been through and survived, the Lapsis Taylor was going under. She was a one of a kind ship... she did not deserve such an end. With her lights still blazing and the crew rushing about to the lifeboats and spare rafts, Sea Breeze calmly went over to the mast of his sinking beauty, and slowly lowered the house flag of the Lunar Star Line, the Equestrian flag, and his personal naval reserve ensign. It was the least he could do.
By now, the ship's bow was already 14 feet underwater and she probably had only an hour left to float. The inner components of the ship were empty and devoid of crew now. Her compartments were closed and boilers left running in the chaos of the explosion. She probably would blow up... but that would come in time. Making his way over to the chart room under the nearly destroyed bridge, he passed by the radio room... Sparky's room. Inside, he saw most of the radio equipment functioning and some of Sparky's belongings in a suitcase. His mind thinking back to the wounded sailor, he decided to put whatever he could find that was Sparky's into it. Surprisingly, there was still enough room by the time he was done so on a hunch, he decided to remove one of the many radio sets and the headset and microphone and pack it into the suitcase. It was hard to fit, but the suitcase finally closed without any problems or damage to the equipment.
With all that done, he finally made his way to the chart room and made sure to collect everything of importance. The navigational charts, the ship's log, the manifest... everything. No doubt that they would all be used in the investigation that was bound to happen once word of the attack was heard of back home. It was all matters that he hopefully did not have to participate in other than giving his statement.
After packing up everything... he made his was to the boat deck and silently, stood in the crowd of sailors, looking for his First Officer. It took a few minutes but he eventually did find Riveted directing a lifeboat that was being lowered. After said boat was launched, he pulled him aside and handed him the items.
"I want you on the next boat Riveted, and I want you to take these." He ordered.
"Aren't you going to find a boat Sir?" Riveted asked.
"Well, not exactly a boat... but I'll get into one of the rafts before she goes. A Captain goes down with their ship after all." He said.
"Your a crazy old Stallion, I hope you know that." His first officer joked. With that, they had a little chuckle that was only silenced when the ship lurched slightly beneath them.
"Alright, you know what to do... go get in the boat now." he said, gesturing his hoof towards the boat.
"Aye Captain... see you on the other side eh." His first officer said before saluting and walking away.
*** *** ***
Spotlights shined all around the U-Boat and every piece of sea was lit up around the stricken submarine. It was so bright, Zimmern and the crew up-top could not see their attackers but it was obvious what it was... destroyers. The end was near, but no loyal citizen and defender of the Third Reich was going to give up that easily. Even Zimmern joined them in that fact.
"Surrender your vessel now or be subject to a forceful disarming!" A gruff voice called out from one of the sea of spotlights.
"If we are to do that, we would be violating out Soldier's Oath you Amerikanisch pigs!" Zimmern yelled out.
"Have it your way then." The voice returned.
Zimmern was about to give the order to fire all surface weaponry when a flash of light blinded him and the crew. Then, there was simply silence.
*** *** ***
The ending of the Lapsis Taylor was a a somber scene. Her bow lurched under the sea as her stern rose high into the sky, going nearly completely vertical, with every light still blazing. And then just like that, she slid into the water steadily like a hit knife through butter and did not even make a noise as she went under. There were no groans or creaks, just simply the sound of the waves crashing against the ship's sinking hull.
As her stern sank deeper into the water the power finally began to fail as the funnel flooded with water and the boilers were put out by the Cascade of water flowing into them. However, that did not stop the generators in the engine room from running for nearly 30 more seconds after the ship fully submerged. It was a near spiritual sight to see, and all around them in the boats, those who managed to snag cameras into the boats snapped pictures of the lit ship underwater before the power system finally gave way. And with that... The Lapsis Taylor was truly gone... Claimed by the sea.
Sitting in the inflatable raft, Sea Breeze looked upon the horizon as he saw numerous spotlights be turned on by destroyers and centered around a certain section of sea. They had found the culprit of all the misery that had taken place throughout the night.
Clutching the bags of charts, logs, flags, and the belongings of Sparky, his mind was put at ease and he felt his heartrate lower. Slowly, he drifted off into a well needed sleep. When he eventually woke up, he found himself on the deck of a battleship.
*** *** ***
Friedrich Zimmern woke up to an unpleasant point of view. When his eyes first opened and his brain's gears finally began to turn, he found himself lying face down on a cold, hard, metal floor. His surroundings were meager, 3 metals walls and one cell door. From the onset of when he finally got up, he could tell he was on a ship due to the feeling of the swells from beneath him. That meant only one thing in his mind... He was in the brig.
He had no idea what had happened earlier, only the thought that he and most likely his crew as well had been captured by the enemy. However..... The ships seemed oddly... German. The whole design of the bright itself and it's bulkhead cell door reminded him of German designs... But he did not know what to make of it. The only thing he could do was simply wait.
*** *** ***
It had been a long time since brig duty was even so much as assigned to an officer, let alone one of the principle members of the ship's officer corps. But Zahlmeister Rudolf Hartkopf did his duty, no matter how boring or tedious it was. It was certainly better than standing guard over the rations given to the crew of the U-Boat that had opened fire on their allies in the Equestrian Navy. Those boys were full on fanatics and he hoped to God that they would not be that way for long.
So there he sat, a copy of the Manehattan Times in one hand and a cup of actual coffee in the other. It was getting towards breakfast and he was looking forwards to getting something to eat as soon as Rollenoffizier Max Rollmann came to relieve him of the eternal boredom. All he had to do was sit and wait unless the sleeping U-Boat Captain decided to wake up. And as if God decided to throw him a curve ball, said Captain in the brig did wake up... And he did not seem too happy. Folding up and putting the newspaper away, Hartkopt got up from the chair, popped his back, took a swig of coffee, and made his way towards the bridge.
*** *** ***
The calmness of the previous night had vanished as soon as the morning sun broke through the clouds and began to shine on the German fleet. At first, it seemed like it was to be a calm day but that was not to be the case. Soon after dawn broke, clouds began to form and the once sunny morning was replaced by a heavy storm. However, said storm did not seem to hinder the view from the bridge of the Bismarck. In the distance, one could see the outlines of the Konigsberg and Karlsruhe sailing in formation with the accompanying destroyers Z26, Z16, Z27, Z21, and Z7. Numerous other destroyers were behind the ship but they were not to be seen from the bridge. Also accompanying the fleet were a few Equestrian destroyers who were towing the captured U-Boat along with them back to the base in Baltimare. The Scharnhorst and Blücher would've followed them if it weren't for a slight incident with the Griffon Navy which saw both ships be put into floating dry-docks for the foreseeable future.
There on the bridge, Captain Ernst Lindemann sat in his Captain's chair, sipping a warm up of coffee, reading the report of the previous night's action. It was relatively quiet on the bridge as the only sounds present were really those of the voices of the officers conversing of last night's action and the "new arrivals". If he were one of them, he probably would've joined them as well but after a talk with Admiral Lütjens, he decided that his best course of action was to stay silent.
Just as he was about to take another sip of his coffee, one of the doors to the bridge opened up and the ship's Administrative Officer Hartkopt made his way into the bridge with a half filled cup of coffee in his hand.
"He'rr Captain." He said, snapping a sharp salute to his superior.
"Ah, Hartkopt. I am guessing our guest is awake now?" Lindemann asked.
"Jawohl, He'rr Captain. I must say though, he does seem quite groggy." Hartkopt answered.
"Seems to be the norm with party indoctrinated ones... Well, do report this to Admiral Lütjens as well and tell him that I will be waiting at our guests "accommodations"." He ordered.
Hartkopt simply said "Jawohl He'rr Captain." And saluted before walking away to the stern to meet that Admiral at his quarters.
*** *** ***
It had been 3 hours since he had awoken from his involuntary slumber. While he took a slight nap, his breakfast was apparently slid into the bright without him noticing. During that time, he simply ate the food and toyed with his fork while he waited for something to happen. Voices were heard outside the door every now and then so he knew that something was going to happen involving him. It was just a matter of time before it did.
Without warning, the door to the bring began to open up and to his surprise, a man wearing the uniform of an Admiral within the Kriegsmarine walked inside. Immediately, Zimmern snapped to attention and saluted his superior officer, his military discipline never wavering. The admiral saluted back just as sharply and a few seconds later, an apparent aide to the admiral brought in two chairs for the two men and then closed the door behind them. Soon, both men found themselves sitting in silence. As they looked at each other, Zimmern could not help but feel as if he had seen the admiral before... Yet he didn't know where to pinpoint it. Without warning, the admiral decided to begin the conversation.
"May I have a name?" The admiral simply asked, his eye not darting from Zimmern's face.
"Friedrich Zimmern." Zimmern replied cooly.
"What is your rank He'rr Zimmern?" The admiral asked.
"Kapitän Zur See He'rr Admiral." He answered.
"Quite young for such a rank." The admiral observed.
What is he getting at? Zimmern thought.
"Anyways... That is beside the point. Tell me Captain, are you a member of the party?" The admiral asked.
"I beg the Admiral's pardon, what do you mean Sir?"
"It is a simple question, are you a member of the party?" The admiral once again asked.
"Jawohl He'rr Admiral. I am a member of the party like any other sensible German." He answered, unsure of where the Admiral was going. Suddenly, he began to notice details on the Admiral's uniform. The swatstika and eagle had been removed from both the tunic and the cap and were both replaced by Iron Crosses. Something was very wrong here...
"So... You say you are a good German yes? Well then tell me... Would any good German fire upon neutral warships and civilian merchant ships without provocation? Hm?" The admiral pressed.
"He'rr admiral, if this is about my command last night, those ships were valid targets as they were carrying war materials to the allies!" Zimmern nearly yelled.
"He'rr Captain, there is no need to raise your voice, especially in front of a superior officer..." The admiral vaguely threatened. With that, Zimmern quited down a bit.
"Now... Did you even bother to check the flags the ships were flying or identify them? Surely a man of your rank would do so." The admiral asked.
"With all due respect He'rr admiral, it was too dark to check the flags being flown but the ships we identified were direct matches to allied ships. We even spotted and sank a Fletcher class destroyer." Zimmern defended, his temper rising.
"Captain Zimmern, those ships you fired upon were not even American or British!" The admiral yelled.
"We identified those stupid pigs and they were allied ships He'rr Admiral. Those idiots did not even dim their own lights!" Zimmern yelled back.
"You do not even know what you have done here Captain so I suggest you sit down and listen!" The admiral ordered.
"I will not take orders from some loony who dares to desecrate the national emblem and the ideology of the party and the Führer!" Zimmern said in blatant defiance.
"Enough with this party nonsense damnit! Don't you understand the situation, it was lost when it began! For me and this ship, it ended when they took out our steering gear and the Führer left us abandoned. Don't you understand that or are you too brainwashed to comprehend the moral rights and wrongs of what you have done today?" The admiral retorted, his face devoid of rage but full of anger.
"TRAITOR!" Zimmern screached. The admiral remained unphased by that comment but the anger was still there. Slowly though, the admiral calmed down.
"You and your crew may see that of me... But you will soon learn Captain, like all of us have. I hope you do not attempt anything while you are on board. The Bismarck has already seen too much bloodshed. I expect you to expect reformation, and for your sake, I hope you see the error in the party and the Führer." The admiral said calmly before leaving the shocked Zimmern in silence.
The Bismarck... But she sank... he thought. Inwardly, he wanted to throw up and cry for a reason he didn't know. But then, another realization came upon him... He just spoken with Admiral Lütjens. As if the weight of the world was dropped upon him, the room faded to black as Zimmeen collapsed onto the floor, his heart aching from the pent up stress and fear he had held back.
Within minutes, a medic was brought in and the former U-Boat captain was placed into the infirmary for a heart attack. When the Bismarck and the fleet docked in Baltimare, he was in a coma for another 2 weeks.
*** *** ***
1 Week Later
There was no covering up the arrival of a fleet with an entirely different species on board now. For the isolated incidents, it was possible but after the tragic incident with the apparent U-Boat, there was nothing that could be done. The announcement was to take place later in the afternoon, but it wouldn't help anything. All it would do was confirm rumors already well spread throughout Equestria.
That all didn't matter to Sea Breeze, now officially unretired. In typical Equestrian fashion, those up top who read the report of the ramming attack thought of the possibilities of more U-Boats showing up and sought to create a task force to prevent anything like said incident from happening again. So, who do they think is the best to lead said taskforce.... Sea Breeze. He really thought that the Germans were the better pick but considering all of this was new to the nobles in the assembly, they decided that an Equestrian was to lead this new task force. And who better to lead it than the pony that successfully rammed a U-Boat. Not the best choice in mind but there certainly were worse.
So there the newly recommissioned reservist sat, in a little dive bar in Baltimare, wearing the uniform of a newly minted Admiral (a few ranks up from where he was as a regular Captain). Sipping on his beer with the newspaper in his other hoof, he chuckled as he read the articles on the humans and what threat they posed. The article itself was a whole load of aliens bullcrap and none of the sources were even credible so it was something good to laugh at to keep his mind away from everything that happened in the past week.
As the alcohol made it's way into his bloodstream, his mind drifted off back to the night when he had to load Sparky into a stretcher before the Lapsis Taylor went down. Sparky currently was doing quite well in the hospital and was very much surprised to see all of his belongings in a suitcase when Sea Breeze brought it to him during a visit. The smile on the young stallion's face would never leave Sea Breeze's mind for the rest of his life.
Taking another sip from the beer, Sea Breeze did not notice the door to the bar opening and the entrance of a German officer and his former first mate Riveted Keel.
"Drinking Sir? I thought you gave that up years ago on the Puddinghead!" His first mate called out.
"Ah... Just a little medicinal pick-me-up for the road ahead." He replied.
"Ja... I think we all need it quite frankly." The Admiral, Lütjens, said... Taking off his cap.
"Hey... Question to ask before the next few drinks comes Lütjens, what happened the kid?" Sea Breeze asked nonchalantly.
"Ach, he is still in a com from what I have heard. If he ever comes out, I hope he won't be the same in regards to his beliefs... But I do think Reformation is needed." Lütjens replied with a sigh.
"Yeah... But I think Reformation may have to come after the prison sentence after the shit he and his crew pulled." Sea Breeze replied.
"Indeed... Maybe we can convince the Princesses to do something. Princess Luna may have a good idea in terms of reforming those who have gone to the deep end. Not to be offensive to the dear element of kindness, but with the way the kid and his crew were talking, they take the National Socialist belief of the "master race" quite far..." Lütjens said.
"Yeah... Well, all of that can wait I guess. Right now, I need a few more drinks. You guys up for some as well?" He asked.
Both Riveted Keel and Lütjens said yes and with that, the rest of the afternoon between the two ponies and man we're spent drinking as more company from their respective crews began to arrive.
*** *** ***
Darkness was everywhere. It was a scary feeling for many. For Zimmern, he felt nothing. No fear, no pain, no suffering... Just emptiness in the void. It felt like he was floating with nowhere to go... Trapped in his mind as he could only think about where his life has led him. Halfway through his reminiscing, a voice echoed throughout his mind and figure appeared in the dark.
"My my... You have caused quite a lot of chaos my boy." The figure said, slowly clapping it's hands.
"Who are you?" Zimmern asked.
"Oh, me? I am nothing to you at the moment. You may call me... Discord though, if the name suites you." It replied, not coming out of the darkness.
"What do you want from me?" Zimmern asked.
"Nothing my good Captain. I just came to congratulate you." The voice said before the echo faded into the darkness.
Nothing but darkness and silence occurred for the next week. Unknown to Zimmern, his end had already drawn near and was upon him. It was just a matter of time for the young Nazi.
Fin
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Huh guess Even Discord dislikes Nazis. Also, don’t think Fluttershy could reform someone who firmly believes that certain groups of people must be exterminated for his people to thrive. So yeah best leave that to Luna and if that fails just send him to Tartarus.
10189133
Well, the ending itself is supposed to be cryptic so that it is open to possibilities.
The Bismark?
Did the Lusitania show up in Equestria a bit before it did? Will the Andrea Doria show up in a decade or so? Are their some humans living on some uncharted island whose ancestors washed ashore a few centuries ago?
10190065
There was a story a while back which showed an equestrian fleet in exile living on their ships and such. I like to think of the German Fleet in Equestria as somewhat like that but also a fleet able to dock in Equestrian ports as long as it is undercover and such like that. Think of it as a long deployment fleet that is resupplied at sea and was only able to come back to Port if repairs, refits, and upgrades were needed. It was a well kept secret because no prior incidents occured up until this current incident with Zimmern's Uboat.
10190065
Also... very late follow up but I think the Lusitania would be more of a curse than a blessing considering she suffered from extremely terrible vibrations in the stern.
There are a couple of questions I'd like to ask about this story. Firstly, from what I know of Lütjens, I'm not sure if your portrayal of him is ideal for the role he plays in your story. Of course, I've nothing against artistic license, but at one point it is stated that he was abandoned by Hitler, while if I remember correctly, it was in fact Lütjens who chose to pursue risky maneuvers north of the British isles. Moreover, he did not relay the status of his task force and the Bismarck (which had been damaged after sinking the Hood) to the naval headquarters. As one last point, from what I read about him, he seemed to be on the Nazi side of the spectrum when it came to political views, so I'm not sure if his portrayal as a reformer is that accurate.
Other than that, I'd like to point out a few inconsistencies. How come the ponies possessed naval guns (for which gunpowder or other propellant surely would be necessary), though no small arms (having used spears and crossbows in the story)? Another thing was about the submarine. The IXC had two rear torpedo tubes which it could use to attack pursuing ships. In light of this option, I feel like you left out a pretty important option for the sub after it was rammed (proposing that it was possible to run but the merchant would call destroyers and other ships in on it while a IXC should have been able to engage pursuing ships as I have mentioned).
The last thing that I'd like to ask is about the unexplained white flash which seemingly knocked out the crew of the sub after they refused to surrender.
All in all though, a nice read. Upvoted and favourited. I would love to see a sequel to this.
Less than a thousand views. Criminal.
The Bismarck alongside the Dreadnought are the biggest chill inducers on the sea…