//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 Introduction // Story: Stalingrad Hell on Earth // by Bronycommander //------------------------------// Chapter 2: Introductions Both men shook their heads, thinking it was just their imagination, but the filly was still here. Frank patted her. “Here, take a sip.” He gave her his canteen. “Thanks.” She said as she took a sip and enjoyed it clearly. “What should we do?” Frank asked his comrade. “Bring her to a safer place. I’m sure our friends will understand.” “Right. Trust us Ruby, you’re safe with us.” Frank wrapped her into the blanket and they walked back to their Forward HQ. “Where am I?” Ruby asked. “In Stalingrad, also known as Zarizyn, a city near the river Volga.” “Judging by your uniforms, you are soldiers, am I correct?” “Indeed but it is better if we tell you the details later, okay?” Manfred suggested which Ruby acknowledged with a nod. At the HQ, they saluted Nick. “Report obediently, everything is quiet.” “At ease. Did you found something?” He pointed to the Blanket. “Well…yes, sir.” Frank took a deep breath, showed him Ruby and told how he found her. She trembled a little bit. “Your poor child. Here.” He gave her some chocolate. “Thank you. Now Manfred, what is happening here?” she asked innocent. “Well…” He told her without going too deep into it, what the Second World War was, which year it was and why they were here. “That’s terrible. In Equestria we never had such a war, or such a battle. Mama…” she broke down. Franz took her on his arm. “Shh, don’t worry, I’m here for you. Want to tell us more about you?” She sniffed. “I was born in a small town called Ponyville. My mother is an earth pony called Berry Punch, she was a Wine Taster before she got me. I never knew my father, he died before I was born. His death hit her very hard, she is very protective of me. But she cares for me deeply, and I am really all that she has left ever since my father died. She never told me much about him. She has a friend called Minuette but I call her Colgate. She’s the Dentist of Ponyville and sometimes like a sister to me. She’s a unicorn. Apart from unicorns that can use magic, we have Pegasus ponies that can fly and manipulate the weather. Equestria is ruled by Princess Celestia and Luna. They control the sun and moon. They’re Alicorns. We ponies have Cutie Marks on our flanks which represent our special talents. I still haven’t got it.” Ruby explained. “Interesting. The Sun and moon aren’t controlled, they raise and lower on their own on Earth. You just got very bad luck to end up here.” Nick explained. “Y-yeah. I practiced a spell to make a gift for my mother and it appears I accidently casted a teleport spell and landed in that building. I found myself in that blanket after I passed out and woke up. You’re humans, I studied that in school.” She looked at Frank who had brown hair and green eyes and at Manfred who had also brown hair but blue eyes. Manfred chuckled. “What’s so funny?” “It’s just, I studied Greek mythology where Pegasus ponies are part of it and unicorns to some extent. I joked earlier about an Alicorn.” “Uh-huh.” Frank cleared his throat. “You know Manfred and me already. This is our Squad leader Nick, Klaus our MG gunner, Kevin our Marksman and Lars, also a Rifleman like me. I use the Mauser Kar98. It’s the standard issue rifle of the Wehrmacht. The Kar98 is a stripper clip-fed, five round bolt action rifle meaning I have to bolt it after each shot, which results in a slow rate of fire. But it’s very accurate, reliable and packs a punch. I carry sixty rounds, two five round clips carried in each of the six pouches on my belt.” He pointed to it. “As sidearm, I have the Mauser C96. Like my rifle, it has a stripper fed magazine. This is the M712 version with a detachable 20-round magazine. She is fully automatic and hard to control but I can handle it. I carry 5 magazines with me. Manfred is our SMG gunner and uses a MP40, our standard issue submachine gun but also used by officers like Nick. 32 round magazine. Low rate of fire but easy to control. He and the others use the Walther P38, our standard issue sidearm. Two eight round magazines are issued, one loaded and the other held in a pouch on the holster. Moderately high damage but also high recoil. Klaus our MG gunner uses the MG 34 LMG.” He smiled at Ruby and had blond hair and brown eyes. “The MG 34 LMG is a belt fed light machine gun that can lay down impressive amounts of fire. 50 rounds per belt and has 5 belts in reserves. The recoil is very low once set up. When it is fired for sustained periods of time, the barrel may overheat and burst and render the MG 34 unusable. To compensate for this, the barrel can be changed. It can be also fired in single fire for more accurate shots at longer range. Kevin uses the same rifle as me but with a telescopic scope to engage enemies at longer ranges.” Kevin had green eyes and black hair. “And Lars uses the Gewehr 41.” He had blond hair and blue eyes. “It is semi-automatic, meaning he hasn’t to bolt it after each shot but is still reloaded via stripper clips. 10 rounds.” “URA!” echoed suddenly in the distance. “The Russians! Schnell, get her to the bunker!” Frank simply nodded and picked Ruby up who trembled in fear. He brought her to the bunker where the battalion commander usually had radio contact with the recon planes of the Luftwaffe and the division artillery. But the commander was busy somewhere else at the moment. “I don’t want to die!” Ruby cried. “Stay here, you will be safe here.” Frank said in a comforting tone before he leaved outside. Taking a look over his shoulder, he saw how Ruby had curled up into a ball, crying and trembling. It pained him to see her like this. She reminded him of his daughter. His squad mates and other comrades already fired on the advancing Russians. Klaus managed to mow many of them down but for every killed Russian, 4 others took his place. Even worse, apart from normal Conscripts armed with Mosin-Nagant rifles, also Shock Troops equipped with light body armor and PPSh-41 SMGs attacked, making them deadly at close range. Frank and the others had learned to go for headshots to kill them quickly. As the MG34 overheated and Klaus changed the barrel, a soldier next to Frank got hit. He screamed loudly in pain before he died. Another got hit. “Jesus Maria! I’m cold!” A third soldier was hit, blood sprayed like a fountain from his head as he fell to the ground. Russians that made it through were engaged in brutal melee attacks with Germans. Frank either hit them with the butt of his rifle or with his Shovel. The German managed to fend off this attack with heavily losses. Some soldiers had trembling and crying. PTSD. Frank had seen this way too often. His family kept him sane. As he was about to help the wounded and collect the dog tags from the dead, Nick just said, “We got this, you better look after Ruby.” “Thanks.” All 6 had deployed a good friend and –comradeship after they met. As Frank reached the bunker, his heart broke. While the bunker was intact, Ruby was crying, eyes closed, hooves over her ears. She was also covered in dusk. “Ruby?” He knelled down. She looked up shaking. “F-Frank? I-s that you?” “Yes.” He took her in his arm and rocked her. “I-I was so scared…that you would…die…” She cried her heart out. “Shh, I’ still alive, shh…” It took a few minutes. As this bloody and brutal battle could even bring the toughest soldier to tears, Frank didn’t want to know what this could do to her young mind. If she gets PTSD then… “The screams, the explosions and gunshots…that was too much…” she sobbed. “Calm down, it’s over for now.” He carried her to the beds and set her down. “You know, you remind me of my daughter.” He sat down next to her. “You have a daughter? What’s she like?” the unicorn asked curious as a child could be. The soldier showed her the family photo. “Great. She and my wife are what keep me sane and going. You know as it is November and Christmas comes closer, I already thought about my daughter’s Christmas present. She likes Ponies and plushies, so I thought that would be good. She also likes Unicorns and Pegasus ponies but I can’t decide what I should give her. That’s why Manfred came up with the Alicorn.” The filly giggled. “She would love to have me as friend, I’m sure of that! How old is she?” “7.” Frank let out a sigh. “This war against the soviets was meant to be a fight to stop Communism. They want to defend their home, I can’t blame them. So many of us thought this war would be our rite of passage, our great adventure. That we would be seen as heroes. Let me tell you, it was no adventure. We fought for months, losing many men and no progress so far. Everything just for a lousy city. We call Stalingrad the ‘hell of Earth.’” “War is always terrible, no matter why it’s fought.” “Yeah it is.” They ate some bread for Dinner then went to bed as it was getting late. While Ruby fell asleep with a yawn, Frank stayed awake to talk with his buddies. “We take the night guard, you earned some rest.” Nick ordered in a friendly tone. “Keep her safe.” Manfred said. “I will.” They all smiled at him. The young filly was asleep, looking like an angel. Frank couldn’t help but smile as he putted the safety on, and putted his weapons aside and putted an arm around her, as he fell asleep too.