//------------------------------//
// Chapter 13 Cursed sands 
// Story: Blood in the sand 
// by Bronycommander 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 13: Cursed sands


Dinky, Katja and Blau Streifen stared in shock, the man who had saved them and tried to keep them alive was dead, the U-boat they had repaired to get home destroyed.

“He hasn’t deserved this….” Dinky sniffed, tears leaving her eyes, wrapping her forelegs around Fletcher, her friends hid the same.

He tried to comfort them. “Sadly, this is how it is in war times. But, he will be always alive in our hearts.” Fletcher spoke with a comforting voice, having respected Steinbach.

It took a few minutes for the children to calm down. “You’re right, in our hearts, they will be always alive.” Dinky wiped a tear out of her eye, walking over to Thomas’ body, looking for his letters. They were still intact. “Let’s send them, he had wanted it so.”

The others nodded, walking to the post office, which was undamaged by the attack.

After the letters were submitted, Blau asked, “What should we do now?”

Fray thought for a second, his injuries were mostly healed but with Quince looking for them, he couldn’t bring the kids to Equestria. Maybe, bring them back to Konrad’s wife and children but with Quince being able to rise the dead, it might be too dangerous to leave them alone.

“There you are! After I saw the allied planes I feared the worst.” To their surprise, they saw Konrad joining them.

“Konrad? What are you doing here?” Katja asked, “Shouldn’t you be in Africa?”

“Well, yes, but after I heard that Steinbach saved you out of the water, Linus said I should pick you up once you would arrive. Pity about Lars thought, I never knew him personally but he was one of the best U-boat captains in the entire navy.” He told with sympathy.

“Good to know. If you allow, I have enough magic to use the teleport spell I used to get to the train station, that way, we save time.” Fletcher offered.

“Go ahead.” The private said and the unicorn lit his horn up, the group vanished in a white light.

In a few seconds, they were at Tobruk, seeing how soldiers loaded trucks with supplies and equipment. “Here we are, end of the line.” The Eternal Knight announced.

“Just in time, I was expecting you.” Linus greeted them. “Due the defeat at El Alamein, we abandon Tobruk and retreat to our bases in Libya. My squad unfortunately got reassigned to assist the SS troops in Ras el-Hadid.” He told with displease.

“Just great.” Fletcher deadpanned, the kids nodded in fear.

“Get in, I’ll explain on the way.” Konrad said as he got into the back of the truck with Matteo and Hans, Willi drove.

“The SS troops at Ras el-Hadid are under the command of Axel Zornhauff, also known as ‘the Scorpion’, a ruthless man with no regards of safety for the locals or civilians in general, only caring for his men. As far as I know, he and his men are belonging to the SS Paranormal Division, looking for something in Ras el-Hadid. I’m sure the She-Bear of Krasnodar would love to get her hands on those guys.”

“Bear of…who?” Blau Streifen couldn’t made sense of it.

“Let me explain. The She-Bear of Krasnodar is a nickname from the soviets for one of their Colonels, her name is Katyusha Kallistrovich, a woman with good leadership and determination to drive us out of her home on the Eastern Front. But…” He paused to get the right words, “Her nickname doesn’t come from that, but from her brutality. If you’re a fought honorably, or are good-hearted, she repays the honor, sparing you. But if you’re a member of the SS, she makes your death slow and painful in the most unimaginable ways possible. I have heard the last SS officer that tried to defeat her…went home in a soup can.” He told with fear in his voice. “Her reputation is also well known here, we call her ‘Bloody Katya’. No offense.” He said to the young girl.

She waved a hand. “None taken.” Her voice was scared.

“I’m glad that I’m here and not on the Eastern front, I don’t want to encounter her and I think even you would have a bad time with her, Fletcher.”

While the stallion’s expression was neutral, his voice sounded slightly scared, “I have encountered many ponies that were like Katyusha and created stories similar to her about White Wolf in the war to scare enemies, so I’m not unfamiliar with such people. But thanks for the warning.”

“You’re welcome.”

“We are here.” Linus interrupted as they had reached the town, stepping out. It was an Egyptian village, about 30 SS-soldiers were in the village and strangely a few villagers, but some of them were armed with German guns.

“What’s going on?” Dinky wondered as the German squad led them into the village.

“Ras el-Hadid is a small Egyptian village, far enough from the Nile to be of little interest to the Allies, and Intelligence reports indicate that the they won't have enough forces in the region to mount an assault on this location. The village has an adequate water supply and the SS troops are confiscating food for the research team. A large portion of the inhabitants have fled to larger cities in the area and the small occupying force has little trouble subduing the locals, being authorized to use any means necessary to control the remaining local population. They live in fear. The armed locals are Egyptian Mercenaries, hired for their knowledge of the area, and keeping a watchful eye throughout the village, alerting the SS of any potential situations with the local community. Despite this, the SS doesn’t trust them.” The officer explained.

Now the kids saw that the SS soldiers were wearing red armbands on their right arms on their tan-colored uniforms, the only way to distinguish them from the regular soldiers. The SS men didn’t seem to pay attention to the children and Fletcher, having cold, emotionless faces, scaring the kids a bit. The locals strangely weren’t also paying attention to the 3 ponies, doing their daily tasks.

One of the villagers tripped, falling to the ground, dropping some water on a soldier. “Get up, now!” The SS-member shouted aggressive. The villager got up scared, trembling. “Do that again, and you’re dead.” The SS-soldier threatened with a cold voice, anger in his eyes, the villager nodded before leaving.

This upset Fletcher but he knew if he would try to interfere, he would be gunned down the moment he tried.

While the children got scared by that, Dinky asked, “Is there anything else?”

“Yes. There are ruins in close to the west end of the village, and a distant airfield lies beyond the rocky terrain of the ruins. Supplies can be ferried into the village by an access road leading from the airfield. The ruins area leads to a labyrinth of tombs, which remain largely untouched due to superstitions held by the locals, the research team is looking there for something as far as I know.” Linus explained.

He led them to a small tent, where Rommel was apparently taunting a bald SS officer with pale blue eyes that were bloodshot and had a prominent set of scars across his cheek. “You'd better take care, old friend. The Fuhrer doesn't like it when his beloved Schutzstaffel fall short of his 'ideal'. You know what'll happen then, don't you, Axel. You'll be sent to Krasnodar. Against the She-Bear.” The Field Marshal warned.

“Tch! What...Wh-what have I to fear from that ridiculous Slavic woman?” Axel countered, slightly afraid, failing to hide it.

Rommel smiled, “Quite a bit, old friend, quite a bit. And before I forget, the children are under my protection, if you or one of your men harms them, you will regret it. And the Green Knight is not to be harmed, as he is their friend, you got me?” He asked, now sounding very serious after spotting them.

“Yes, my old friend.” Axel replied in a defeated and annoyed tone.

“Gentlemen, ladies.” Rommel smiled as his soldiers, the Green Knight and children as he walked past, leaving.

The SS-Sturmbannführer turned to them, his expression neutral. “Okay, Sergeant, you and your men assist the research team in the tombs, your…friends can help too if they want, just make sure they won’t get it my way.” The man left for the tombs.

Willi chuckled. “Serves him right.”

A loud engine sound got the kids’ attention, seeing a German tank driving behind Rommel’s Halftrack, at first they thought it was a Panzer IV due the front being the same but then noticed it was far larger and the barrel longer.

“What is that?” Blau asked in awe.

“That’s the Panzer VI, called ‘Tiger’. It got designed to battle the heavy soviet tanks on the Eastern Front. Armed with the same 88mm gun we use for Anti-aircraft fire, it can destroy any allied tank and with heavy armor, their anti-tank weapons can’t damage it. I have heard that it strikes fear into the allies wherever it appears, being a true legend.” Escher explained.

The colt whistled. “It’s design alone looks frightening and deadly.”

“Indeed. Now let’s get to the tombs.” Linus said and they moved out.

The ruins were quite fascinating, seeming to be built in the time of Ancient Egypt, the walls having hieroglyphics on the walls.

It was narrow in the upper tombs, so the Rifleman switched to their sidearms, while Fletcher switched to his bow, making sure the MP40 and P08 were loaded, something told him that something bad rested down there, as the air got colder the more they advanced.

They came to a lift, seeing Axel talking to a scientist. “And, what have you found?”

“I just finished translating thehieroglyphics we discovered yesterday. I think we have located the tablets.” The scientist replied.

“And why we’re still here?” Zornhauff demanded to know, being impatient.

“It must be careful, not to disturb the tombs.” The scientist replied scared.

“The Reich doesn’t care about the tombs!”

“These writings, that they are protected by a terrible curse, only-“

“I can assure you that keeping Himmler waiting will be more terrible than any curse. Hurry, I have a plane waiting to get me back to Castle Wolfenstein.”

“As you wish.”

As they all took the lift down, the Wehrmacht soldiers, children and Eternal Knight looked at each other. A curse, could it be true what the locals had said?

In the lower tombs, they helped to carry supplies, while the scientist and SS-officer went to one of the tombs. “Open it up at once!” Axel ordered.

“But-“

“Open it!” the Scientist did as told, trembling. Inside was a skeleton, holding said tables. “Ah, Herr Himmler will be very pleased.” He attempted to grab them.

“No, you mustn’t!”



The Children were admiring the beauty of the Ancient Egypt, as the tombs started to rumble, causing them to cover their heads. “W-what just happened?” Katja asked scared.

“I don’t know.” Fletcher replied, looking around with the Germans for trouble as a terrifying scream echoed through the tombs.

“That doesn’t sound good. Let’s get out of here.” Linus suggested scared, the others nodded, slightly trembling.

They made their way back to the lift, noticing a dead SS-soldier, his body torn apart, meeting 3 other SS soldiers. “It's like a slaughter house in hier!” One of them said to his comrades.

“I know! These things are EVERYWHERE!” One of them exclaimed.

“....What are they? Where do they all come from?!” The third soldier asked.

“Don’t ask me, no one ever tells me anything!” The first one replied before more screams could be heard.

“Mein gott! Did you hear that?” One of the other SS soldiers asked.

“Ja, and I wish I hadn't!!”

“We have to get out of here, follow me back to the lift!” The second soldier said, the group followed them, only to find the lift destroyed.

“What? The lift, it’s destroyed!” Konrad couldn’t believe what he saw.

“They’re sealed us in here!” Matteo realized, not liking it as more screams echoed through the tombs.

The SS-soldiers took defensive positions, Fletcher and the Wehrmacht soldiers too, placing the scared kids behind them.

One SS soldier cocked his MP40. “Get ready! They’re coming!” It made the children wonder what he meant.

The answer was terrifying as they head a moan. 4 skeletons came from the hallway the ponies and humans had taken, in a slow, stumbling walk, having mottled, burnt-looking flesh with sickly, noxious tones, 2 of them had glowing green eyes, wearing suits of armor, armed with swords and shields, the last one was a bandaged corpse.

The soldiers opened fire, the 2 unarmed walking corpses quickly collapsed from the concentrated fire, the armed corpses ducked behind their shields, reflecting some bullets, killing one SS soldier as the bullets hit his head, blood splattered from it as he fell dead to the ground.

Realizing that bullets wouldn’t help as long as those undead warriors used their shields, Fletcher charged at them with his spear, striking them with it several times until they collapsed too.

One SS-soldier inspected the corpses. “The undead…” He then turned back to the others. “If we team up, we might have a better chance to get out of here.”

“Agreed.” Hans replied.

Suddenly Dinky shouted, Watch out!” but her warning came too late. The 2 unarmed undead stood up, one of them hit the soldier with its fist at the neck, killing him instantly as blood sprayed from it, the mummy was lunching ghostly skulls at the other 2 SS soldiers before they could react, they twitched before falling lifeless to the ground after the skulls reached them.

Konrad quickly rushed to the mummy, kicking it, causing it to disintegrate and return it to the dust from whence it came from, Fletcher hit the other undead with his spear, destroying it for good.

“Okay, kicking and attacking them with melee attacks works perfect against them, now let’s move!” Fray took the lead.

They walked past a closed gate to their left, hearing shots, seeing how a SS-member was running backwards, firing his SMG until it made only clicking sounds. “Damnit!” He screamed scared as he ran out of their view, two undead after him, then a horrible scream after they were out of view too. Willy had sympathy, the SS soldiers may be aggressive and sadistic, but even they didn’t deserve something like this.

The group walked down some stairs, deeper into the tombs, seeing an undead feasting on a dead Mercenary. Hans threw a grenade at him, destroying it.

In the moment, Matteo was about to move, the wall next to him collapsing, a zombie came through, the Italian quickly reacted with a kick, disintegrating it. “They really can come from anywhere. Watch your backs.”

Up ahead, shots followed by screams echoed through the hallways, meaning that the other trapped soldiers and mercenaries hadn’t a chance against the undead.

For some reason, Fray couldn’t help but like the MP40 due it’s easy handling, making it perfect to use down here and ammo wasn’t a problem as they moved on.

Another undead warrior broke through a wall, Fletcher took care of it, coming to what seemed to a bridge. It started to crumble as they made their way across, causing them to run making it but Dinky tripped. “Hurry, you can make it!” Blau yelled but it was too late.

The bridge collapsed, the filly screamed as it fell down. “Dinky!” Fletcher yelled down.

The young unicorn landed with a hard thud and a cry of pain on the cold stone ground. Lucky, nothing was broken, despite her body aching. “Dinky? Dinky! Please, say something!” She heard Fray calling down to her in a worried voice, meaning she hadn’t feel fallen so deep.

“I’m okay, Fletcher!” She replied.

“Thank Luna! Hang on, we-“

Another terrible groan interrupted him and shots were the last thing she heard from above.

She was scared, yet knew she had to stay calm if she wanted to be out of here alive. I must be brave. Like daddy.

The tombs she walked through weren’t any different than the tombs above. “Stand and fight, you cowards! You fear dead men?! You're a disgrace to the Aryan ra...” Zornhauff’s voice echoed through the corridors. “Oh god...Get out of my way!”

What scared the little foal the most was that one of those terrifying creatures would jump out and eat her at any moment, seeing the dead bodies, some of them, half eaten.

The way led to 2 gates, the left one was a dead end, the other one had an undead feasting on a corpse. Scared, Dinky walked backwards into the other gate, tripping over something, the corpse of a SS-officer, his luger next to him.

This had alerted the zombie, he looked in her direction, standing up, slowly stumbling towards her.

She knew she had to defend herself but she disliked killing, but there was no other choice if she didn’t wanted to end up as zombie meal. Trembling, she picked the pistol up with her magic, aiming at the zombie. She remembered seeing how it was used at El Alamein, making the same actions, then pulled the trigger.

She missed, the bullet flew past to the right of the undead, another shot flew past to his left. Then she managed to aim at his head but couldn’t bring herself to pull the trigger this time. She never wanted to kill, her father was just like her, but if she wouldn’t, she would die, so she closed her eyes, pulling the trigger.

Click.

Realizing the Luger was out of ammo, she dropped the pistol, covering her head. She was going to die, never seeing her parents and friends again. P-please remember me.

Bang!

A loud shot made her flinch, hearing how the zombie was falling into pieces. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw that Matteo had shot the undead with his rifle, the barrel smoking. “You’re okay?” He asked concerned.

“I’m- f-fine…” She replied shaken, then noticed a wet feeling between her hind legs, looking down. “I wet myself…I wet myself…”

“It’s alright. You're not the only one. That happens also to us.” The Italian replied in a try to calm her down.

“Where are the others?” She asked worried.

“Well, as you could hear, we got ambushed by a group of those things, getting separated through this labyrinth of tombs. I heard that there is another entrance at the airfield, we should go there, I’m sure the others will go there too.” He suggested.

“Okay.” She was scared, hoping the others were alright and still alive.



In another part of the tomb, Katja hoped she wouldn’t get ambushed by more of those horrible creatures. After barely escaping the group of undead with the others, she got to another corridor that collapsed, separating her from the group.

She could defend herself but knew she wouldn’t have a chance against the undead, not wanting to end up as food for them.

The corridor seemed endless as she walked through it, scared that at any moment, an undead would attack her out of nowhere, the corpses were hinting that this could happen.

Her way led to another gate, to the left was a dead end and to the right a tomb. “Guess I have to go through here, I hope it won’t be a dead end.” She spoke to herself.

Just as she had said this, a cracking noise sounded, at first faintly, then increasing, becoming louder, making her wonder of the celling would come down, covering her head as it got louder and stronger, like something was about to collapse.

The tomb next to her broke apart, a mummy came up, causing the girl to scream in fear, falling on her back, crawling backwards until she was trapped against the wall, seeing the corpse of a SS soldier next to her.

The girl never wanted to kill but knew it was now the only option to defend herself from becoming a zombie snack, grabbing the pistol in the soldier’s holster, cocking it as she had seen at El Alamein, taking aim at the mummy with a shaking hand.

The first shot missed completely, the next shot went past the mummy’s head to the left.

As Katja aimed at the Mummy’s head, she closed her eyes, not able to see what she would do now.

Click.

As the pistol was out of ammo, the girl dropped it, covering her head, making a final prayer for her parents as her life was about to end. Please don’t forget me…

Bang!

A third pistol shot startled her, hearing how the mummy fell apart into pieces, Slowly uncovering herself, she saw her brother was the one who had fired the shot, holding a Luger pistol in his mouth, his eyes filled with terror, trembling, a small yellow puddle under him. Blau Streifen took the pistol in his hoof, staring at it.

Most of the time, ponies held things with her mouths, but the magic allowed them to grab things like with hands if they wanted to. Both never understood how that worked.

The young colt dropped the weapon, running with tears into his sister’s arms, she patted his back.

Then both noticed 2 shadows at the walls, coming slowly closer, causing them to tremble, holding each other for dear life. “I don’t wanna die, sis.” Blau Streifen said in a shaken voice. They both closed their eyes, waiting for the inevitable to happen.

“Thank god, you’re alive!” A German voice exclaimed relieved. Before them stood no undead, but Konrad and Fletcher.

Seeing the fear in their eyes, the unicorn said in a comforting voice, “Let’s get out of here. Don’t worry, we’re protect you, Hans has found another exit at the airfield.”

The siblings just nodded, not able to say anything, they just wanted to get out of here.



Linus, Hans and Willi waited at the exit they had found, blocked by a door with no visible switch or anything to open it, hoping that Konrad and Fletcher would come back soon after they left to investigate a scream. They was a loud noise in the distance, they couldn’t hear what it was exactly, it sounded like a undead had broken through a wall, stones crumbled as echoes down the hallway.

“What was that?” Willi asked startled.

“I don’t know, but I’m not gonna check it out.” Hans replied scared.

“I’m not either! I think we should find some cover!” The officer suggested.

“Ja, agreed.” Willi took cover next to the wall with Hans to the left of the corridor, Linus to the right, preparing themselves for whatever would come down the hallway.

Several steps came closer, followed by shadows, the soldier’s fingers went slowly for the triggers, about to make their final stand.

“Don’t shoot, It’s me and Fletcher!” Escher called out, coming into view with Matteo and the children.

His friends lowered their weapons, relieved. “Can’t say how glad I am that you’re alright, children. Now, we have to get this door open somehow.” Linus explained.

The celling started to crumble, making all pray it wouldn’t collapse on them. They couldn’t die now, not after being almost out of here.

2 small holes got created as the celling collapsed, 2 undead fell out, Willi and Hans quickly kicked them, turning them into dust.

“Okay, let’s see…” The Eternal Knight mumbled, inspecting the wall next to the door, noticed a brick poking out of the wall. Pressing it, the wall on the other side of the room removed, revealing two levers. “That must be it, pull the lever, Dinky.”

The filly pulled the left lever, what happened next surprised everybody.

“Wrong lever!!!” The stallion screamed as a trapdoor under him opened, causing him to fall. The filly’s eyes widened with dread, fearing she might had killed him.

There was the sound of splashing water, a few seconds later, he came back through the same hallway, wet soaked. “Why would the Egyptians even have that lever?!” He asked, shaking himself like a dog to get dry.

“Sorry, Sorry, Sorry!” Dinky exclaimed, filled with guilt, fearing he might be mad at her.

Fray…smiled. “It's okay. In fact, that reminds me of something. Once, Midnight wanted me to pull the lever that led to his lab and the same happened, he wondered why he even had that lever.”

“Did he and you found out?”

“...Nope.”

This lighted up everyone’s mood for a moment as Escher pulled the other lever, causing the door to open. “Let’s go.”

The corridor led to some stairs going up, gunfire could be heard in the distance.

The now reunited group came to a large room where several columns were at the other end of the room, a small campfire between the columns, and a door at the other end, a SS officer closed it, the other gates closed too, trapping them.

In that moment, terrifying groans came strangely out of the walls to their left and right, they broke apart, 3 undead came out of them, Linus kicked the 2 on the right, creating bills of bones, Hans kicked the one of the left, noticing a lever in the wall the undead had come out after it was no more. “That must be the lever to open the gates.” He suspected.

“B-b-big pr-problem!” Blau Streifen pointed to the camp fire, it became larger and larger, like something was about to came out of it, taking the form of a burning skeleton as it emerged from the fire.

The creature let out a terrifying moan, spewing fire at them. “Get back! Get back!” Linus yelled to avoid the flames.

Fletcher fired his MP40 on the flaming undead, the bullets seemed not to harm it as it slowly advanced towards them.

Knowing that they would be dead should it reach them, Fray lit up his horn, concentrating, it became brighter and brighter, a powerful beam made the undead bust into pieces, causing the Eternal Knight to breathe heavily, he huddled in his cloak, sitting down with a blank-eyed stare.

Dinky waved a hoof in front of his eyes. “Fletcher, what’s wrong?” She asked worried as he did not react.

“Huh?” He blinked. “Oh, it’s just, large fires remind me of the bad things in the war.” He replied with a shaken voice. “Anyway, let’s get out of here.” He used his magic to open the door, light greeted them.

They all covered their eyes from the shining light, being relieved that this was the way out, seeing that it was still day.

“It would've been nice to know there'd be zombies!” Konrad commented out of breath.

“Indeed. That was... unexpected.” The stallion replied calm.

“I’m a coward…” the young unicorn started to sob. “I wet myself in there, like a baby…”

Fray didn’t liked it that the young unicorn was blaming herself, having been in a similar situation once, trying to calm her down. „You're not a baby, Dinky. You were scared. Anyone would be in their first taste of battle. I certainly was and I and several others needed a change of armor after the Battle of Dewdown Pass when the firebombers flew down and rained smoke and flame from the sky down upon our rapidly failing shields.”

Dinky looked up, sniffing. “Okay...How old were you?”

Fletcher thought, hoping his memory was right, he said,” ...Twenty-One.”

For some reason, the kids couldn’t help but to giggle, suppressing it.

“Oh you think it's funny, huh? Well, I'd like to see you, or anyone for that matter, come out dry after the ground quite literally caught fire beneath your hooves! 'Putting out the flames' they called it in the mess hall. Sweet Luna, Domino never let me hear the end of it.” Fray replied irritated and embarrassed.

“Hey, you’re not the only one. When the order to attack Poland came, we’re also wet ourselves in fear of being killed, as we were inexperienced back then. If you don’t mind, who’s Domino?” Linus asked.

“Domino used to be an Eternal Knight, just like me, being a very…adventurous mare. She went missing during the war if I remember correctly.” Fray explained.

“Sorry to hear that. Say, was there a moment where Wolf and Midnight wet themselves?” The grey colt wanted to know.

“Not that I knew of. And if they did, Midnight would kill me for saying so and Wolf would do something far worse.” Fletcher shivered at the thought.

“I’m sorry to interrupt this moment but we got a problem!” Hans pointed you to the inner city of the village, Zornhauff along with 4 SS-soldiers were rounding up the villagers, looking very angry.

“Not on my watch.” The Eternal Knight said in a very dark tone, trotting towards them.

“Should we help him?” Konrad asked his officer.

“No, something’s telling me he can handle this alone.” Linus replied.

“For trying to seal us in with the undead, you will pay with your blood!” Axel exclaimed at the villagers, children and woman along them.

“Sir! Look!” One of his men pointed to something in the distance. “It’s…”

“…The Green Knight.” The officer finished, seeing the unicorn trotting into the village, looking not too pleased, the SS-members stared in shock and fear at him.

The stallion grabbed his MP40 with his magic as he stopped at the Fountain. “Luna mit mir.”

Just in that moment, the officer drew his sidearm, opening fire with his men, Fletcher dived behind the fountain for cover. 2 soldiers had SMG’s, the other 2 rifles.

Spotting a grenade on one belt of a SMG wielding soldier, Fletcher aimed down sights of his rifle, exhaled and fired, the explosion killed both, Axel gasped in shock upon seeing this.

Bullets flew past the unicorn or hit the stone cover, then a click sound invaded his ears, knowing that one rifleman had to reload, using this to emerge from cover, firing a short burst from his MP40, scored a headshot, running dry himself. “What are you doing?!” The officer couldn’t believe his eyes.

The other rifleman used this to charge at him with a bayonet, Fray quickly drew his Luger, shooting his enemy into the head, making him fall over into the fountain. “You’re all useless!” Axel exclaimed in disbelief.

A shot missed him by inches, noticing a sniper glint on a balcony. The stallion switched to his rifle, aiming down the scope, exhaled, pulling the trigger, his shot went right through the sniper’s scope.

“Die, you mongrel filth!” Axel screamed in anger, lunging with a dagger at Fray, which turned out to be a fatal mistake.

The unicorn quickly swinged his spear, impaling the SS-officer right through the heart, the Scorpion flinched for a moment, before becoming limp, the dagger fell to the ground, his face an empty stare.

The villagers cheered on Fletcher, he blushed not only from the applause and praise but also as it remembered him of something. “Just like when I earned my Cutie Mark…”

“Didn’t you say you earned your Cutie Mark in a championship in archery?” Dinky asked, catching him off guard.

Knowing there was now no point in lying to then, he took a deep breath. “No, that was a lie, out of fear it would shock you too much. When I was a colt, Equestria and its surrounding neighbors were dangerous countries with creatures out of your nightmares. At the age of eleven, I saved orphans from such creatures with my bow, that’s how I actually earned my cutie mark. I can still remember how all foals cheered my name as I left.” He explained a bit embarrassed about it, looking to the ground.

That awoke a memory in Dinky. The history books she read barely mentioned the Eternal Knights but when they did, it was said that the Eternal Knight were bad ponies, serving Nightmare Moon to unleash the Eternal night. Fletcher was one of the Eternal Knights, but he wasn’t a bad pony, on the contrary, he helped those in need as good as he could.

She and her 2 friends gave him a hug. “Fletcher, no matter what other ponies say about you, for us, you are a good pony, and one of the bravest and friendliest we’re met.” Dinky told with him an honest smile.

“It pleases me to hear this.” He replied, touched at what they thought of him.

“HQ to research team, what’s going on? Over.” The radio in the tent buzzed.

Knowing that alarm would be raised, would there be no response, making things worse for the villagers, Fletcher answered it. “Uh... we had a slight... weapons malfunction, but uh... everything's perfectly alright now. Situation normal.”

“Copy that, just make sure that won’t happen again. Out.”

“You should get out of here, we take care of the bodies.” One of the villagers said to them.

“Yeah, we should. We could travel to the Siwa Oasis, a supply outpost, it isn’t far from here.” Fischer suggested.

“Sounds good to me. Farewell.” Fletcher and the others got into the truck they had used to get here, the kids closed their eyes to rest a bit, Fray smiled at them, they had earned it after what they went through at the village.

He, Hans, Matteo and Willi also closed their eyes, trying to get some rest.



Around noon, they arrived at Siwa, it reminded of a medieval castle the way the town was designed, some walls and buildings at seen better days, but it was still a nice sight as they had lunch in the town, enjoying it, Fletcher used this to tell the Germans about his encounter with Quince and how he and the kids ended up on Lars’ U-boat.

“You were very lucky back then. It’s really sad about William, he was a very good friend.” Konrad let a tear escape his eye. “But I will do anything I can to keep you save from this Quince, children, you have my word.” He added with determination.

“So do we.” His comrades added.

Another officer joined them. “Nice to see you safe and sound after what happened at Ras el-Hadid. I won’t miss the Scorpion but I have heard that his superior,Commander Marwald Metzburk, shall take his place instead.”

That shocked the German Squad. “Marwald Metzburk? God help us, and just when we were done with the Scorpion. That man's completely off his head, even his colleagues in the SS think so! When we took France, he rounded up the prisoners from the French Colonies in Africa along with their families. The SS and their 'theorists' have quite some unpleasant feelings for the African people and Metzburk made those feelings known. He did things to those poor men I can't even talk about and worse things to the women and children!” Linus exclaimed disgusted.

“These butchers cannot be Germany's future...otherwise I don't know what we're fighting for.” Konrad added, shocked of hearing those news.

“I do, and you'd best remember. Focus, men! I need your minds on the war at hand. And don't bother yourselves worrying about the SS or their future. Monsters only last so long...before they meet the monster-slayer.” To everyone’s surprise, Field marshal Rommel walked in, rather calmly, hinting to Axel’s fate.

“Of course, sir.” Linus saluted with his men.

“That’s the sprit! I’d to stay for a chat, but I’m needed elsewhere, I wish you a pleasant day, children. And Fletcher, you’re doing a great job.” He smiled at them before he left.

“I guess your reputation got you Rommel’s respect.” Willi suspected.

“I guess so. Anything planned for today?” The unicorn asked.

“No, everything’s quiet. I suggest you take a walk through the town with your friends, get to know the place.” Fischer replied, Dinky smiled.

“Sounds like a good idea. What do you think?” She asked her friends.

“Count me in.” Blau Streifen replied.

“Me too.” His sister replied.

“I don’t mind it.” Fray added and they took a look around, Matteo, Hans and Willi leaved too to do their tasks.

As Escher was about to walk away too, Linus stopped him. “Wait. I have to tell you something.

“What is it?”

“Me and 2 other officers aren’t happy about Vahlen’s activities, we fear he might overthrow Rommel. We have arranged a meeting for later to see where of us is going to Berlin tonight to give the Führer Vahlen’s notebook as proof. If I should be the one, you shall be in command of the squad.” Linus told him.

“Thank you. I won’t disappoint you.” Konrad was honored, while he, Willi and Hans were all equally experienced, Linus trusted Konrad the most with being second in command, knowing he would make an excellent officer.

“I know you won’t.”

The children and Fletcher explored the town, there were fountains scattered through it, German soldiers patrolled around, greeting them, 3 AA guns were keeping Spitfire planes at bay.

The young unicorn found a letter lying in the sand in a small tower, near one AA gun. “Looks like someone lost it.”

Missives from home

Dear Ernst,

It is with sad heart that I write you today. Oma Elsa died in an air raid last night. If only she had agreed to live with us, but she was always so stubborn. We heard twenty to thirty bombs fall about a mile or so away and prayed she had gone to the shelter.

Your loving father.

It filled the 4 with sadness, realizing the soldier named Ernst may have had thrown the letter into the sand after having read it in sadness or even anger. “That’s sad to hear.” Katja commented with pity, looking to the ground.

“Yes, I know from experience that losing a family member is never easy.” Fletcher spoke to them in a sad tone, knowing it only too well.

On a balcony in the distance, a Sniper was watching the area for trouble, the kids couldn’t help but waving at him, which he returned with a playfully salute.

The group then decided to explore the other side of the town, finding a letter in a small storage room.

Axis war story: Assassination attempt

I can’t believe how brazen the enemy has become. A group of commandos turned up behind our lines in an attempt on Rommel’s life! They must have run nearly 20 kilometers to get to Beda Littoria from the shoreline undetected. One was killed, but the rest are being held securely. It’s lucky we prevented them from doing too much damage, though perhaps doubly fortunate that Rommel was in Italy at the time.

“W-would the allies really do this to an enemy that is highly respected by them?” The young colt asked in shock.

“I suspect that the attempt was a lie by the commandos to hide their actual goal I suppose but there is no way to tell the truth.” Fray replied, having learned from experience that such messages are often ruses but still, Rommel was a great threat to the allies, so it was understandable if they tried to assassinate him.

“It’s very hot today, let’s find a shady place.” Katja suggested, wiping the sweat of her forehead, then took a sip of her canteen.

The others agreed, entering the room they had used for lunch, seeing a letter on the table.

Axis Account: Missing in action

No one dares to criticize Vahlen openly now. In the mess the other day, Wilhelm loudly cursed the General, despite my protestations. His outburst attracted hostile stares from certain quarters and now I haven’t seen him in over a week. Re-assigned, they say. I fear for his life. The General will not tolerate a piece of grit in his well-oiled machine.

“That doesn’t sound good. Konrad and the others should be careful.” Dinky commented with a hint of fear, not wanting to lose any of her friends.

“I’m sure they are careful as they can be, Dinky.” Fletcher replied in a convinced tone.

“I hope you’re right.” Blau Streifen was doubtful, yet hoped for the best.

“Schwarz, Weiss & Who?” Matteo’s voice sounded outside, getting their attention, seeing how he and Konrad chatted.

“Fischer. Schwarz, Weiss & Fischer.” The German soldier explained.

“Oh. ‘The three musketeers?’”

“Yes, them. Turns out they aren't happy with Vahlen's portraits everywhere, or his grand base on the Mountains. One of them is off to Berlin tonight with Vahlen's precious notebook.”

“Which one is going?”

“Ich weiß nicht. I overheard them arranging a meeting later. Perhaps to decide who gets to present the notebook as proof to the Führer.” Escher replied as they walked out of sight.

“It might sound risky, but by doing that, Vahlen’s doing may be end, saving some lives.” The Eternal Knight suspected.

“I guess we can only wait and hope for the best.” The young girl figured out.

The group then continued to look around, noticing another letter in the sand.

Axis Account: Desert Ghost

As usual, the Allies nip at our heels from the deep desert, but there is a new rumor, one of an allied sniper. Men say he’s like the desert sand – he gets everywhere. Wüstengeist they call him, the Desert Ghost. Some fear him more than General Vahlen, myself included.

“Well, I don’t want to encounter this guy.” Blau Streifen commented with a hint of fear.

“If we do, I’ll protect you, children, promise.” Fletcher assured them.

“Maybe, we should ask Konrad if he knows anything about this…Desert Ghost.” The filly suggested.

“Sounds reasonable.” Fletcher turned to Matteo who was patrolling near them. “Have you seen Konrad?”

“Yes, in one of the supply depots I believe.” The Italian replied.

“Thank you.”

Before they could move on, they saw how Linus had his meeting with the other 2 officers, having his left hand bandaged.

“Are the preparations complete?” He asked the other officers.

“Yes. Which one of us goes?” The second officer asked.

“I'll do it.” Fischer replied.

“Will you tell the Führer that we did this together?” The third officer asked him.

“Of course. We'll all share the glory of ending Vahlen's treachery.”

“Then get going. You'll find his journal where we agreed.” The second officer said before they walked away in different directions.

They moved to the depots, their friend wasn’t in the first one, so they looked in the second depot for him, finding large shells stored in it, the stallion recognized them. "Naval ammunition? What’s this doing this far from the sea?”

“Good question.” Escher’s voice came from behind, startling them. “Sorry for the scare. I think it has something to do with this project Vahlen is working on.”

“Uh-huh. Say, have you heard of the Desert Ghost?” Dinky asked him.

His eyes went wide. “The Desert Ghost? Of course I have heard of him. His sniping skills earned him his nickname, he was the one who destroyed our Nebelwerfers at Tobruk, infiltrated the Gaberoun oasis, destroyed our Flak 88s in the Halfaya Pass, and even managed to free a prisoner in one of our POW camps in Africa. I suspect he might be equal to you, Fletcher.”

“Most likely.” Fray said as there had been only few ponies that had been close to his archery skills in the civil war.

This made the children realize that the man that had knocked them out at the camp had been the Desert Ghost and they had been very lucky back then.

An explosion in the distance startled everyone. ”What was that?” Katja asked in surprise and fear.

“I don’t know, let’s check that!” The private reached for his rifle, the green unicorn followed him with the kids close behind.

As they arrived, they were shocked at the sight. They saw a burning truck in a small dead end, Linus was lying in the sand, his body bloodied and covered in splinters, probably from an explosion. “I knew this would happen!” Konrad exclaimed in shock before checking the officer, hoping, praying he wasn’t dead.

There was no pulse.

The private held his head, then let his arm hang loose in shock and sadness. “No way...no way…”

“No…” Blau Streifen started to sob, his sister and friend did too, hugging Fletcher for comfort.

“We heard an explosion is-“ Matteo asked concerned as he arrived with the others, cutting himself off upon seeing Linus dead. “Oh god…”

In rage, Escher slammed a fist into the sand. “Damn it! I told them to not put those explosives into the blazing sun! But did they listen?!”

His 3 friends had rarely seen him in such rage, knowing they had to calm him down. “Konrad, please, calm down, it was an accident. No one could have seen this coming.” Willi said in a calming voice to him.

“Yeah. It’s just…he and I were best friends since school, knowing each other for so long, he hadn’t deserved something like this. But at least, he’s in a better place now.” The Private let out a sad sigh. “May you rest in peace, my friend.”

“Peace…I don’t think he will have this in hell.” A new voice sounded, causing them to turn around, seeing a thin man in SS uniform, limping hunched with blonde hair standing on end, wide-sunken blue eyes, hinting she was very old, escorted by several other SS-soldiers.

The Wehrmacht soldiers recognized the SS-commander, it was Marwald Metzburk. “What do you want?” Escher asked suspicious.

The elderly man opened his mouth to speak, revealing dirty, grey teeth that were constantly grinding. “General Vahlen sent me to overlook things here and to report any sign of betrayal. While the death of Sergeant Fischer is tragic, he was suspected to be part of a betrayal towards Vahlen.”

The soldiers and children realized what he meant, Linus had taken Vahlen’s notebook, it was seen as betrayal, knowing that this was very bad. “Do you have evidence?” Willi asked in return, as there could be no court-martial without enough evidence.

“Private...Escher, is it? A word of advice for later times...When a member of the Schutzstaffel graces your camp to deliver the Fuhrer's justice upon traitors and undesirables...You never, ever ask for evidence. Anyone that are or were in contact with the suspected betrayers are ordered to report at the General’s HQ for questioning.” Marwald replied cold, not showing any emotions.

Konrad, Matteo, Willi and Hans knew they had no other choice to keep the children and Fletcher safe from Vahlen’s methods of revenge, even if it meant their own lives. “We understand, we move out at once.” Escher said before Dinky hugged him tightly.

“Be careful.” She feared for his safety, her 3 friends nodded.

He stroked her hair. “I’m always careful.” He assured her then took the driver seat.

Fletcher and the kids watched after the truck until it was out of sight.

Fray noticed how the SS soldiers looked at them with interest, causing the children to step behind him in fear, trembling a bit. “Before you ask, we have nothing to do with this.” He said calmly, yet slightly threatening.

“The General begs to differ.” The commander replied cold before the Eternal Knight felt something hard hit his head, causing him to fall on the ground with a headache but still awake.

“Stay back!” Blau Streifen yelled as one soldier attempted to grab him, struggling, the man was too strong for him, his sister and Dinky tried to resist too before the SS-members hit them with the butts of their weapons, knocking them out.

As Fletcher recovered, he heard the engine of a truck, seeing how the unconscious children got brought away on the truck. “Oh bick!” He cursed, bick was the equivalent of the word buck in his mother language.

In the moment he was about to reach the gate leading outside, several sniper shots hit the ground next to him, forcing him to take cover behind some sandbags, noticing that a man with blue eyes and short brown hair, armed with a sniper rifle too, also taking cover next to him.

They looked at each other with neutral expressions, then nodded, peeking around the corner to find the snipers, not able to see anybody, suspecting the enemy snipers might be wearing Ghillie Suits to blend in with their surroundings.

Suddenly, a truck broke reversing through the gate, causing both to aim at it in surprise, only to see it were British soldiers coming to their aid, one of them was manning the MG on the back of the truck while the driver and co-driver jumped out, their Sten SMGs ready.

The unicorn quickly found at the location of a German sniper, seeing the scope glint in the distance, aiming down the scope of his rifle, exhaled, and pulled the trigger, the bullet went right through the scope, his temporary ally took a second sniper out.

The 3 British soldiers concentrated their fire in a third sniper as they saw the glint, it took only a few seconds before a body fell out of a building.

“I’d say that makes us even old chap, don’t you?” The MG gunner asked the sniper.

“If you say so.” He replied as Fletcher noticed that the co-driver was Duffy while the driver was someone he never thought would see again.

“William, you’re alive!” Fray was very glad and relieved.

“Yeah, an allied ship was nearby, getting me out of the water, I thought you and the children were gone until I heard about your actions at Ras el-Hadid. You surely have a lot to tell, hop in.” He offered, Fray wasted no time, knowing he had to find the children before it was too late, telling what happened as the Captain drove to the next British Base, thinking restless what about to do next, he knew, the allies may be his only possibility to find the children, becoming worried about them, hoping they wouldn’t be executed on the spot.

At the base, they got out of the truck, William used this to talk with Fletcher as they rested.

“Sorry to hear that, Chap but I promise we will find them. This is intelligence officer Brauer.” He pointed at the man who had manned the MG as they arrived, having brown hair with matching hear and short beard, he seemed eager to see the stallion.

“Pleasure. I’m honored to meet the Green Knight in person.” Brauer shook his hoof with a smile.

“Likewise.” Fray replied, able to tell that Brauer was upbeat, and quite sarcastic.

“And this is Karl Fairburne, American OSS agent, also known as the Desert Ghost by the Axis troops.” Willian pointed to the other men.

“Thank you for the help back there.” Fray held up his hoof for a hand/hoof shake, Karl just folded his arms with a neutral expression, the unicorn could tell by this that Fairburne was a bit of a loner, and not very sociable, very dedicated to his missions. It reminded Fletcher a bit of himself, Wolf and Midnight. He also noticed Karl’s clothing. A yellow short sleeved shirt, brown cargo pants and brown combat boots. He also was wearing a pair of goggles around a scarf and had bandages wrapped around his hands, having a muscular build.

“We have no time for introductions right now. I have stop Vahlen. You can help me, or either get out of my way.” The Desert Ghost said with a neutral voice. Fletcher’s answer was clear.

“I’ll help you.” Fletcher replied, not for the allies but to save the children from Vahlen’s grasp. If the reports and rumors about him were true, he didn’t want to imagine what he would do to them should they be “found” guilty.