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Prologue 1,358 words
July 1st, 1916-The battle of the Somme-The First World War4,166 words
September 17th, 1862-The battle of Antietam-The American Civil War2,758 words
October 25th, 1415-The battle of Agincourt-The Hundred Years War2,528 words
October 2nd, 1942-The battle for the 'Red October' Factory canteen, Siege of Stalingrad-The Second World War3,887 words

October 2nd, 1942-The battle for the 'Red October' Factory canteen, Siege of Stalingrad-The Second World War

"My hands are done for, and have been ever since the beginning of December. The little finger of my left hand is missing and - what's even worse - the three middle fingers of my right one are frozen. I can only hold my mug with my thumb and little finger. I'm pretty helpless; only when a man has lost any fingers does he see how much he needs them for the smallest jobs. The best thing I can do with the little finger is to shoot with it. My hands are finished."
-Anonymous German soldier during the battle of Stalingrad

Cold.

An icy coldness was the first thing that Applejack felt as her fur hit the cold, hard ground.

The shock of the frigid cobblestone beneath the cowpony prompted her to yelp loudly, jumping up to separate herself as far as she could from the spiteful ground. Shivering from the stinging wind nipping at her body, Applejack surveyed her surroundings. She was standing in the center of a mangled street, craters dotting it's entirety.

"Where in tarnation am I?" She asked herself worriedly.

A frown formed at Applejack's face when she examined the destroyed shops and apartment buildings lining the street and the intersection beyond it. Debris from various structures lay all around as she stared at the burnt and battered homes. Aside from a crow picking at a dark lump some thirty feet away, there was little movement within the rubble.

Everything was just so utterly annihilated.

"I don't like this . . . I don't like this one bit. I'd best find mah' element and high-tail it outta here before something gets outta hoof." She said to herself in an unsure tone.

Aside from the demolished buildings plaguing her sight, the weather had begun to take it's toll on her body, the feeling in the tips of Applejack's hooves quickly beginning to numb. It was definitely Winter, but apparently not cold enough to be snowing. Her eyes had begun to tear from the driving wind, the wetness on her cheeks stinging her as the freezing temperatures hit the tears themselves.

"Shelter . . . g-gotta find shelter . . " Applejack stuttered to herself as the cold overwhelmed her senses.

The orange cowpony trotted down the destroyed avenue, stepping over building chunks, charred metal, and dropped luggage. The denizens that lived here were obviously trying to get out of here fast, but to no avail. A poster glided in the air as the cold wind blew it, landing roughly on the ground a few feet away from Applejack. The piece of paper snagged on a piece of glass and lay taut for a moment, displaying it's picture to the mare shivering in front of it. It was a portrait of some kind, depicting a creature with an unruly amount of facial hair below what appeared to be it's nose. The lettering was bright red, worded in what appeared to be some kind of foreign language chock full of odd scribbles and backwards R's.

"That's an odd lookin' fella right there." She mumbled to herself through the howl of the wind.

Applejack continued trotting down the road, trying to ignore the sheer obliteration around her. She stepped over a broken window pane and around a funny looking carriage. The crow was still hopping about the darkened lump; another distraction she wished to tune out of her head. Her hoof made contact with something plush, prompting Applejack to look down at the culprit. A small gasp escaped the orange mare's mouth as she gazed upon a ragged, torn teddy bear lying on the unforgiving cobblestone. It looked just like the one Applebloom kept on her dresser. The ears had nearly rotted off and a large slit in it's stomach could be easily identified, whatever remaining of the stuffing spilled out on the ground.

"Poor little thing. Ah bet whoever owned ya is probably lookin' fer you." Applejack spoke somberly.

She bent down to examine it further when an odd rumbling shook the ground lightly around her. The pebbles and glass near the stuffed animal vibrated as a low whir sounded down the street from whence she came. Applejack whirled around on the tips of her hooves and stared down the deserted boulevard. The rumbling grew louder and louder until an odd shape protruded from around the corner of a building. First came a long tube, then the platform it was mounted on. It rolled toward her on giant caterpillars, looking more machine than organic as they tumbled over everything in it's metallic path.

"What in the name o' Celestia . . ."

It was then that Applejack realized that the huge metal beast wasn't going to stop. The black crow flew away as the rumbling beast crushed the darkened lump that had kept the bird's attention for so long. It followed a steady path down the road as Applejack turned and galloped into the cover of some badly destroyed ruins, it's wooden supports singed black. The mechanical monster stalked by, rolling directly over the remains of the teddy bear.

"Better get outta here and find mah element unless ah wanna get that thing's attention."

She was about to flee into the cover of another destroyed building when she caught sight of something that piqued her interest. Movement from a dark alleyway near the beast startled the orange pony, but intrigued her at the same time. Something was fumbling around in the shadowy corner, it's mind set on something complicated. Then, in a flash, two figures burst from the alley and rushed the monster.

"Just what the hay are they doin'?" Applejack questioned in a hushed voice.

They walked on two feet, just like a diamond dog, and used their forward appendages just as Spike did. They wore ragged cloths that were dirty and stained. One of them wore a green helmet while the other donned a torn cap. They climbed the hard layers of the beast and reached the top where a small cap sat. One of the creatures readied some kind of object in it's hand while the other tinkered with the piece of metal, as if it was trying to pry it open. Applejack watched intensely as the animal pulled open some sort of hatch in the machine and backed up, making room for it's counterpart. The thing held up the object in it's hand, a dirty bottle filled with a golden liquid plugged up by a cloth, and threw it inside the porthole.

The cloth was on fire.

"За Родину!" It yelled in a hoarse voice.

The two beings leaped from the top of the machine as a distinct crashing noise emanated from the bowels of the beast followed by bumps, bangs, and . . . shouts? Applejack could hear panicked screaming as she watched a black smoke column billow from the top of the monster. Then a very peculiar thing happened. From the top of the burning thing shot out an appendage that was shockingly familiar.

A claw-like body part.

Only it wasn't a claw at all. It looked a lot like what the other creature's had on their forelimbs, except this one was burnt a sickening red and black. A guttural shrieking came from the owner of this body part as the rest of the figure emerged from the top of the now unmoving beast. Applejack flinched in shock as she watched the charred thing scream bloody murder, flailing about as it's clothing caught aflame.

"What . . the . . ." Was all Applejack could utter.

It was trying to squeeze itself out, but was obviously losing strength as the constant flame burned away at it's flesh. Tears flooded from the orange mare's eyes as she watched this creature suffer terribly. Then, with one final twitch, the animal slumped over, apparently dead. Applejack looked on in horror at the deceased figure, hearing the fat pop on it's boiled skin as the flame continued to eat away at the corpse. She was now numb to the cold, the only feeling within her being a deep sorrow and pity for the murdered creature.

Then came the fear.

"This . . . this is horrible! Ah've gotta get outta here!" She spoke in a frantic voice as moist tears streamed down her cheeks, the relentless wind still freezing them as they left her tear ducts.

Applejack tripped and stumbled her way through the back lot of the destroyed building, the tears creating a thin trail in the air behind her as they fell. The image of the grilled creature flashed through her mind as she fell into a cold ditch, patches of frozen water surrounding her. Applejack laid there for a long time, contemplating what she should do next. The horrific events that had unfolded recently clouded her mind, not to mention the frigid air freezing her body. She hardly had the strength to move let alone move around and search for her element.

"Дмитрий! Закрепите это здание."

The sudden voice startled the orange pony, but of course, she couldn't do anything about it. Applejack could hear rustling and steps being taken inches from her position, but obviously whatever was moving around couldn't see her or hear her pathetic, shallow breaths.

"Да, товарищ командир."

The shambling got closer and closer until the voice was right on top of her. It breathed quick, sharp breaths as it scanned it's surroundings. Applejack peeked her eyes up and noticed that it looked a lot like one of the creatures back there did. It certainly was dressed for the season. The creature was bundled in rags and cloths of varying density but a cold fog could still be seen from it's mouth as it drew breath. As she examined the animal in front of her, Applejack's concentration was interrupted by a tingling in her throat. Due to all the phlegm she had swallowed from her constant sniffling earlier, her throat found it necessary to clear itself.

Cough!

The cough was loud and hoarse, noticeable enough to attract the attention of the thing above her.

"Что это, черт возьми?

The creature looked awfully surprised as it recoiled from the sight of the orange mare lying prone on the ground in front of it. Applejack stared intently at the animal, and at the short mane that spurted out from underneath it's cap. Her vision blurred as she became weaker and weaker from the cold overwhelming her body.

Suddenly she became extremely lightheaded, and darkness stole her from the world.

"Вы знаете, вы действительно должны избавиться от этой вещи.

Applejack could hear voices in the back of her mind as she slowly came to.

"Почему? Он выглядел так же, как страшно, как мы. Зачем это отрицать право на жизнь?"

She could feel a thick leather blanket around her, just like the one that Granny Smith used to cover her with when she fell asleep on the couch in her younger days. She could no longer feel the fierce wind blowing on her fur so she assumed that she was inside some kind of shelter. She opened her eyelids slowly, allowing the muscles in her eyes time to contort and adjust to the lack of light in the small room she was in.

"Посмотрите, это приходит в себя."

"Ugh . . say what now?" Applejack grumbled, still in a groggy state.

The blurred creatures shot up from their relaxed positions, recoiling from the orange pony's sudden outburst. They began chattering amongst themselves, speaking in high-pitched, nervous voices.

"Разве что вещи просто поговорить?"

"Это плохая примета!"

Applejack glanced at each of the blurry groups of creatures, trying to make out how many there were and what they might look like. Her eyesight cleared, and she could now clearly make out several shady figures wrapped in cloths and ragged fabric. The one in the center was wearing a cap, just like the one at the . . .

Applejack's memory came back to her, and she began to cry.

Her sniffles and whimpering was obviously heard over the chattering creatures as they had drawn their attention down to the orange mare sobbing in front of them. One of them, an older thing with creases running down it's aged and withered cheeks approached Applejack.

"Володя, нет! Не слишком близко!"

The elderly creature looked back and spoke in a nonchalant tone.

"Что он собирается делать, да? Меня укусить?"

Applejack shivered in fright as the animal drew closer and closer, until it was inches away from her frail body. It's claw like appendages reached for her, and she cringed as they made contact. But it was odd. This wasn't the touch of something trying to hurt somepony, more so the feeling of something trying to soothe and comfort. The creature brought Applejack close and warmed her with it's body heat as it gently stroked her mane. It spoke with a calm voice, almost fatherly.

"Там, там маленький, нет необходимости плакать."

Although she couldn't understand it, Applejack felt safer than ever in this world of destruction and killing. Looking up, she could see all the other creatures calm down as they eyed their comrade with astonished looks. Then, something odd happened that Applejack couldn't quite process in her head.

The creature holding her started to sing.

It was a hoarse tone of voice, but as melodic and tranquil as any singer could ever aspire to be. The others in the room relaxed back down as they listened to the thing's beautiful tune. Despite the current conditions, Applejack felt right at home, lounging by the fireplace as her father sung her a lullaby.

BOOM!

A deafening crash sounded off outside the small room, and the other creatures shot to their feet. They picked up wooden sticks with metal that capped the ends. A round bolt could be seen at the side near the rear as Applejack watched them all pull it forward, load in some kind of cylinder, and pull back the mechanism. The elderly creature followed suit, as he gently put Applejack down and picked up his own stick. He motioned for her to stay put as he and his friends bolted out the door, shouting frantically all the way through.

"Немецкие солдаты!"

"Не тратьте ни одной пули!"

"Мы должны остановить их от входа в завод!"

Applejack wrapped the cloth around her body as she peeked out the doorway. She gasped as she gazed upon the floor below her. She was in some kind of industrial workplace, the likes of which she had never seen. There were chains and riggings everywhere, probably used to hoist large pieces of metal onto the assembly lines that lined the entire factory. The unusual creatures had each picked various positions by a window as they stuck the barrel of each stick through the smashed panes. The elderly one and one of it's acquaintances fumbled with a longer stick, one that had two smaller stems bracing the pole up against a shelf. It had a circular metallic piece attached to the top.

"Загрузите его! Загрузите его прямо сейчас!" One of them shouted.

Applejack couldn't understand why, but all the bipedal animals had become tense, gazing eagerly at different places surrounding their building. She chanced a glance outside and gasped. Sitting in a muddy crater was a glinting piece of metal. One which was embedded with gems so shiny, not even the dirt and debris could block out it's shine.

Her element.

"There it is! If ah can just-"

Distant pops could be heard, effectively cutting Applejack off as several holes pocked the walls in front of her, small gusts of air tearing her Stetson from her head. She hit the ground and looked forward at the source of the interruption and saw one of the creatures she was in company with earlier writhing on the ground, grasping it's neck as a crimson fluid flowed from the rupture in it's skin. Seconds later, it's jaw went slack as blood flowed freely from it's mouth and open neck wound.

"N-no . . no . . ." Applejack stuttered as she watched an innocent creature die painfully in front of her.

Simultaneous popping erupted from the long pole that the elderly animal used, a plethora of smaller canisters falling from the side of the stick as they were clumsily ejected. She could here indistinct shouting in the distance, frantic and full of panic. Gathering her senses, Applejack leaned back and reached for her Stetson. She picked it up and examined it closely. Three steaming holes had been punched clean through the thick felt.

"Right, better stay low." She mumbled to herself as she positioned her hat back onto her head.

Applejack crawled low through the building, ducking and diving her way into cover every time she heard that familiar popping sound. One of the creatures standing on a catwalk above her activated the mechanism on it's stick as fire erupted from the opposite end. She could hear a resounding cry not far off. Seconds later, the wall in front of the animal erupted in holes as the creature was riddled with some kind of invisible jackhammer. It slumped over as blood flowed from the new punctures in it's chest and head.

The sanguine fluids running through the holes in the catwalk and directly onto the orange mare below.

Applejack winced as the gallon of liquid doused her mane and fur, darkening her a thick red. The erratic popping continued from the elderly creature's pole. It's comrade, a younger being with smoother features, screamed in shock as it pitched backwards. A small hole had torn it's way through the creature's arm, the writhing animal clutching it like a robin's egg. Another creature, one dressed in a darker outfit donning a distinguished cap, yelled in fear.

"Они имеют броню! Ложись!"

An explosion ripped an enormous hole in the wall in front of Applejack as the orange pony ducked low, the debris showering her with shards of glass and metal. She stared off in the distance and noticed that the culprit had been one of the armored beasts she had the displeasure of seeing earlier, it's smoking barrel aimed directly at the building housing her and the others. She could also see numerous figures advancing on their position, shouting and swearing in their own language. The barrel on the rolling monster lit up as a dark object flew out of the cannon at lightening speeds, the orange mare tracing it's path as it slammed headlong into the factory.

Directly into the elderly creatures window.

Applejack gasped as the kindly animal's position went up in smoke, all that remained in it's place being some bloody ragged pieces of cloth. A single tear ran down her cheek as she stared on in shock. The only bit of warmth she knew in this cold world was gone now, but she still had a job to do. One of the figures stepped over her, not seeming to notice the orange pony, and headed toward a window. Right in that instant, the wooden door in front of them broke off of it's hinges and another figure rushed in. This one was wearing a dark robe and a mask so intimidating that it rivaled Nightmare Moon's visage on Nightmare Night.

"умру, ты фашистская сволочь!"

The two rushed each other and began swinging their sticks clumsily, both seeming to hate one another with a deep passion as they fought. The darker creature's gun was knocked out of it's hand, who proceeded to strafe it's still-armed counterpart. The darker one rushed the other, and ducked low as it's opponent swung it's weapon high. They rammed into each other and wrestled around on the ground until they found each other struggling in place, the darker one's claw-like appendages wrapped around the other's neck.

"Warum wird nicht einfach schon sterben?"

Applejack slipped by the two out the broken down door, only one goal on her mind.

She crawled through the debris and the bodies that lay outside the building, the popping and shouting still swirling around her in a shrieking mass of noise. She stopped her crawl only for a moment to retch after she came upon the mangled body of one of the creature's who had reached an untimely demise. It's lower abdomen had been slit open, revealing most of it's innards and vital organs. Applejack found herself crawling around the dead body and into a ditch, yards away from the crater that held her beloved element.

"Almost there . . . just a little further." She strained.

Two dark-clothed beings dropped into the crater and began emitting flames from there weapons until they saw Applejack, which was when they had stopped firing to gaze at the queer sight displayed in front of them. Applejack could only stare back. This went on for another thirty seconds until all three heard a peculiar 'clinking' noise. Applejack looked down and noticed something in the crater that hadn't been there a moment before. A small, metal stick.

It looked kind of like some kind of iron baby rattle.

Applejack knew something was wrong when she noticed that the two creatures had gone bug-eyed at the sight of this small, seemingly harmless object.

"Granate!" One of them yelled as they rolled out of the crater.

Applejack reacted accordingly as fast as she could, but she was too late. A resounding explosion blew the small pony out of the crater, bringing her inches away from her prize.

"Agh! Mah Leg!" Applejack winced.

She cringed when she felt her leg with a hoof, a sharp pain reverberating through her lower limbs. They were bleeding profusely, but Applejack no longer paid any notice. She was too concentrated on the rolling beast about to crush her element and damn her to a futile existence in such an inhospitable world. The mechanical monster was rumbling over the landscape, getting ever closer to the factory. A lone crater stood in it's path, but the machine would have no problem passing over it. The only problem was that Applejack's one chance of getting back to her friends sat in that dismal hole in the ground, and she had to get to it before the metallic beast's caterpillars did.

"Oh Celestia no . ." She spoke as she dragged herself across the frigid ground.

The monstrosity got closer and the pain grew stronger yet Applejack persevered as she and the beast raced each other in some demented contest for a prize that could only benefit one contender. She was now inches away from the necklace, and the treads from the monster were staring her down menacingly just a few feet away.

"Just . . gotta . . . touch it." She stammered as she rolled herself into the crater.

Her body bounced down into the rocky hole as she came to a stop right before the piece of jewelry. She slapped a hoof over it and brought it close, holding the necklace like a mother would a child. The whirring of the treads became louder and louder as Applejack's body was engulfed in a flash of bright lights.

The mare was gone just as the treads hit the bottom of the crater.

Author's Note:

After breaking the pact of peace that Germany had signed between Russia in the early 1940's, Hitler invaded Russia's borders during operation Barbarossa, catching the Soviets completely off-guard. Like the Blitzkrieg (Lightening War) in the west, Hitler reenacted a fine example on the eastern front, defeating Russian defenses and capturing many strategic cities and landforms. Then, in 1941, when the Germans reached the borders of Moscow, Joseph Stalin managed to rally the Soviets in a fierce counterattack. These attacks beat the Germans back across the Volga river and many other areas that they had previously taken from Russia. It was at the city of Stalingrad that the German 6th army would battle the Russians for control of the vital industrial position. For the Soviets, it was a matter of national pride and honor, holding the city named for their great comrade Stalin. For the Germans it was a matter of cutting off Soviet supply routes and ending the war on the eastern front quickly and decisively. The ensuing evacuation of the city was hastened and sloppy, resulting in many civilian casualties. Then there was the matter of getting the soldiers to the city to defend it. Being on the German side of the river, the Soviets had to move their troops across in boatloads, easy targets for German dive-bombers like the Junkers-Ju 87 or 'Stuka'. Once there, the distribution of the supplies mirrored many of the procedures taken for the battle; Sloppy and half-assed. As Call of Duty: Finest Hour so accurately puts it:

"The first man in line gets a rifle; the second, ammunition. When the first is killed, the second takes the rifle and shoots!"

This was a common phrase yelled by Russian commissars to their troops upon landing, another characteristic of the brutal fighting that took place in Stalingrad. To add to all that, there was Stalin's "Not one step back!" Policy. On many occurrences, more notably the charges at Red Square, Soviet commanders would order any retreating men shot. Once inside the city, soldiers on both sides would face shootouts between enemy squads, armor, and the infamous sniper. Deadly games of cat and mouse would be played between two rival snipers, one lying in wait while coaxing the other to reveal his/her position. The fighting was extremely close range. Both sides would occupy the same building and not even know the other was there until they stumbled upon each other, resulting in ferocious hand-to-hand combat. Some of the most notable battles however, took place near the tank and tractor factories. One of these factories, the 'Red October' factory canteen, saw some of the worst fighting during the battle. Applejack landed in a residential district not far from here, where she collapsed and was taken in by a Russian squad. They took her to the factory, where they awaited the next German counterattack. Sometimes, during the fighting, the tank crews and the factory workers would be tinkering and fixing tanks even as the battle raged around them. The average German tank used during the battle of Stalingrad was the Panzerkampfwagen IV, or simply, the Panzer IV. This tank harassed Applejack and the Russians defending the factory until it was destroyed, probably by a Teller mine (mine designed to be set off when a certain amount of pressure was applied meaning they could only destroy vehicles) or a PTRS-41 (Russian Anti-tank rifle)

By the end of the battle, the German 6th army was surrounded, and without supplies, was forced to surrender to the Russians. All in all, the battle amounted to 1.7-2 million Axis and Soviet casualties.

Fun Fact: Soviet Sniper Vasili Zaitzev was made famous for killing 400 German soldiers during the battle of Stalingrad, including 11 enemy snipers. (The movie based on his actions is called 'Enemy at the Gates'.)

(For an amazing account of the battle, copy/paste the link I've provided below)
http://ww2today.com/8th-october-1942-the-battle-for-the-red-october-factory-canteen

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