//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 New friends // Story: The little Knights // by Bronycommander //------------------------------// Chapter 3: New friends Jens awoke as his alarm clock ringed in the morning, turning it off, stretching himself as he got up and walked into the kitchen for breakfast. The news had nothing of interest for him as he watched TV, enjoying his toast and coffee. Without any warning, a yawn came from behind, seeing Wolf and Fletcher walking in. “Good morning, you two. Up so early?” He asked surprised. “Yeah, we are early risers.” The filly replied. “Uh-huh. Where’s Midnight?” He asked as the bat pony wasn’t with them. “He was gone when we woke up, I guess he’s in the bathroom,” Fray suggested. “Okay.” Little Meier knew about his following surprise as he went to his wardrobe. As he opened, he saw the colt sleeping upside down in it, groaning and using his wings to cover his eyes as the sun shined on him. Jens cleared his throat, causing Midnight to uncover himself, blushing like a tomato. “Uhh…I can explain?” The man just pointed to the door, “Hop, out.” The grey pony did as told, hearing him mumble, “Should have bought a perch.” This caused Fray and Wolf to chuckle, making Midnight more embarrassed, lowering his head. Despite this, Jens wasn’t actually bothered by it as he got his uniform on. “I have to go to work, I can let you stay here alone, right?” “Of course.” White Wolf replied before pretending to strangle Fletcher. “I kill you!” The mercenary just chuckled at this before his phone got a message. Morning, my friend. I got a little surprise that might interest you. And I’m sorry to say that one of your guys having double shift got sick, so you have to replace him. Leo. Jens sighed. “Well, that’s just great.” “What’s wrong?” Fletcher asked. “One of my comrades who has double shift today got sick, so I have to be his replacement. Will take the whole day. So, would you mind coming with me?” The unicorn waved a hoof. “I don’t mind that.” “Me neither,” Wolf added. “Well, it might be able to help us in finding a way to fix this all.” Midnight commented before they went to Jens’ car, a Volkswagen Passat (B8). After putting on the seatbelts, he drove to the outskirts of town to his workplace. The eyes of the three ponies went wide in awe as they saw it was a reused barrack or depot of the Wehrmacht, the guard at the gate greeting friendly as Meier entered, parking his car on the parking lot. They also saw several pioneers working on military vehicles like tanks and armored cars, all having what seemed to be some kind of miniature, portable, Terminal-like device on the left or right arm. “Welcome at my workplace,” Jens said as he got out of his car. “Looks very…interesting,” Fray commented. “Nice to see you again.” A new voice with a British accent made them turn around seeing a man with an average build, brown hair and green eyes, his face being long, not surprised as he saw the three foals. They noticed he was wearing glasses and a scar over his left eye. “Morning, Leo.” Jens greeted him. As far as he knew, Leo’s father had fought in the Falklands War, having immigrated to Germany after it was over to find some peace and quiet, probably suffering from PTSD. As Jens joined the PMC, he and Leo became best friends ever since. “You didn’t tell you would bring company. Who are you?” The Brite asked the Eternal Knights with a smile. “I’m Midnight Blade and those are my friends Fletcher Fray and White Wolf.” The grey pony introduced himself and his friends. “Pleasure, my name is Leo Wood.” He turned to his friend. “How did you found them?” “It’s kind of a long story. You did say you had a little surprise.” “Indeed. It’s in the mess hall but first, get your gear.” “Of course.” Walking to the armory, the young man got his rifle, an updated STG 44 and a Walther P.38 and his personal Terminal-like device. The MP40, Gewehr 43 and K98 were also still in use, the latter mostly by snipers, but also by regular mercenaries, the SMG was used by vehicle crews but some squad leaders preferred it over the Assault Rifle. Arriving at the mess hall, Jens told his friend how he found the three ponies. With an expression of sympathy, the Brite replied, “Sorry to hear what happened to you. Sounds like we are in the same boat, Jens.” “What do you mean?” Jens asked confused. In return, Leo pointed to a table, where an earth pony colt with bespectacled purple and white patch-patterned coat, a long messy mane of indigo and silver streaks and matching eyes, was eating some toast, his cutie mark hidden by a dark blue cloak with a rising golden sun. “Patch?” Midnight asked and the colt turned around, smiling as he saw them. “Guys! You’re okay!” He said relieved, happy to see them. “Glad to see you are alright too. Where’s Wagensroll?” Fletcher asked. With an expression of sadness, Patch replied, “I don’t know. We got separated as this accident happened.” Before anyone could reply, a voice called out, “Fletcher!” The unicorn turned towards the entrance, seeing another Earth pony colt, having a green coat, blue eyes and a short blond mane, a history book with a black Alicorn, wings spread, with a golden mane on a yellow background with a red borderas as Cutie Mark, running towards him with a happy smile. “Wagensroll!” Fray exclaimed and the two hugged each other. Jens and Leo just smiled. “I guess you are friends?” Jens suspected. “Relatives actually, me and Wagensroll. Patch is his friend.” Fletcher explained. “I see. I guess Patch was the surprise you meant, Leo?” “Yes, I found him and took care of him.” “Okay. And who found you, Wagensroll?” The colt grinned. “The founder of this PMC. And he told me a lot of fascinating things, like how he was able to get this up updated, how he managed to get all this equipment…” Fletcher chuckled. “Your parents always said you were so fascinated about such things.” “And I guess he’s not alone.” A male voice commented as everyone saw a young man with blond hair, blue eyes, having a round face and narrow chin, with a slightly muscular build entered, wearing a general uniform notable by the peaked cap, which had gold colored Lugs, drawstring and buttons, his Insignia was bright-red. The Oak leaves wreath and national insignia were also golden, his trousers had Crimson leg strips. “Sir.” Jens and Leo saluted him, he was the commander of the Harmonious Guard, named Jessie Günther, although many called him by his nickname James. “At ease. When Wagensroll told me about his relative and friends, I already suspected they would be nearby. So why don’t you introduce your friends and relative to me, Wagensroll?” He asked the colt with a friendly smile. “With pleasure. My friend Purple Patch, my relative Fletcher Fray and his friends White Wolf and Midnight Blade.” The colt pointed to them. “Hello.” They all greeted the man, which surprisingly appeared to be in his early twenties, way too young to be the founder if it was founded in the late 1980s. “Pleasure to meet you all. Wagensroll told me this all happened because of an accident?” “Uh, yes.” Midnight took the word and explained where they were and how this all happened. “Sorry to hear that. But you have nothing to fear from me.” The General told with sympathy. “If I may ask, how did you manage to create all this? And, if the Harmonious Guard was founded in the late 1980s, aren’t you too young for this? No offense.” Fray asked curiously. “Well, Fletcher, it’s actually a long story. You see, I was born 1895, so I’m technically 123 years old but biologically in my early twenties.” The ponies had their mouths wide open in disbelief. “That’s…fascinating but kinda impossible.” Fray said in awe. “It was at first too for me. I fought in the Great War, where I had an accident with poison gas. For some reason, it made me ageless and more resistant against injuries. As for how this PMC came to be, During the Second World War, I heard rumors about a secret warehouse with secret technologies of the Wehrmacht. After the war was over, I decided to investigate if those rumors were true. And to my surprise, they were. And it would have been a waste to let those unused. Another reason, the Bundeswehr was once as strong as 495,000 soldiers in 1985, now it’s barely 200,000. And It’s equipment has been…suffered some difficult problems in the last years, lowering the reputation. And everyone wants security, but, how is a military with few men and equipment with technical problems supposed to ensure this?” He asked them, pausing. “Also, the technology progress of today makes us very vulnerable. One does simply have to use an EMP or any other way to shut down electronics. The Modern armies are then helpless, relying on their electronics. I saw this weakness and created this PMC. Sure, it’s modernized to today’s standards, but still has the mechanical optics of back then, still working after an EMP would disable the modernized parts.” “Makes sense.” Midnight commented. “What are your services?” “Oh, while being a PMC, doing common business, like to perform military tasks in war or crisis areas, we are also providing security of various types and transport of all sorts of items. Even government official hire us for security. For example, the German police forces are understaffed, so we are often assisting them.” “I see. Sounds like you doing honest business. What’s that device almost every one of your employees on the arm?” He pointed to the one James was wearing on his right arm. “Oh, that? It’s basically a portable radio, which is also able to display the wearer's stats and ammo. But scientific research in the recent years gave this thing another use.” James explained. “And that is?” The bat pony wondered, causing the commander to grin. “Watch.” He pressed a few buttons on his “radio” and a blue-purple light engulfed him, causing everyone to cover their eyes. As the light was gone, the ponies gasped in shock. Instead of a human, a grey bat pony stallion in the same general uniform stood in front of them, looking identical to Midnight. “Wow…” The grey pony was speechless, causing James to grin. “True or false?” Even his voice sounded identical to Midnight before turning back. “Fascinating. What’s the reason behind this?” Wagensroll asked impressed. “Well, it was originally thought to help recon teams blend in with locals and to help agents impersonate others if necessary. But as My little pony: Friendship is magic appeared, many bronies used this feature to look like they favorite ponies or their own OCs. They only look like this to others without this device, still seeing each other normally for easy identification. We call it Ponyfication.” Before anyone could reply, a knock on the door interrupted them. “General?” A female voice asked. The five foals turned towards the door, seeing six women saluting James, all appearing to be Lieutenant General in rank, judged by their insignia. The first woman, standing in front of the others, had brown hair and green eyes, wearing a camouflaged uniform. The woman to her right had blond hair and brown eyes, wearing an officer uniform of the Luftwaffe. Behind her was a woman with the same hair but green eyes, having freckles, wearing a pioneer uniform. Behind them was a woman with blue eyes and a stylish black hair, dressed in a black trench coat and fedora. The last two women were both wearing medic uniforms, the first having blue eyes and brown hair, the other had the same blue color but black hair instead. They had had neutral expressions, having an avenge build and height, except for the second and third, who were slightly muscular. “At ease. May I introduce our guests to you?” The first woman waved a hand. “That won’t be necessary, sir, we overheard your conversation when we were about to report to you.” “Okay, that saves us a long explanation. “My guests, those are my closest confidants. Linda König,” The woman in camouflaged uniform smiled at them. “Anna Walter,” The Luftwaffe officer gave a quick salute. “Ava Günther.” “Howdy.” The woman said with a Southern accent in German. “Lily Marchand.” The woman tipped her fedora, saying, “Bonjour.” “And members of my best medics, Stella Becker and Anne Fuchs.” “Hello,” The brown haired medic greeted with happiness. “He-Hello,” Anna said shy. “Greetings.” The ponies replied in unison. For some reason, the six women reminded them of the Elements wearers. The shy medic slowly started to smile, looking at Wolf. “Aren’t they all cute?” She stretched a hand out, petting the Pegasus before the filly could react. “Who's a sweepy widdle Wolfie?” You are! Yes, you are!” Wolf started to grin, then broke out in laughter as she was a bit ticklish. After she managed to catch her breath, she warned with a slight growl, “Touch me again and I'll break every bone in your body!” “You have to excuse her, she’s sensitive towards that.” Midnight quickly intervened. “Okay. Sorry, Wolf, but you’re just so adorable.” “I am not adorable, understand?! I am a blooded and battle-hardened Wolfsong Warrior and Lunar Knight!” The filly hissed. “Dooly nodded.” The woman replied calmly. The commander then looked on the watch. “Already noon? Time passes fast.” “Indeed. If you don’t mind, sir, we should use the time to figure out how to get-“ Midnight tried to say before having to yawn, stumbling a bit, falling on his back. Linda smiled. “Awww, wook at that. He's so sweepy, he can't even keep his wittle bawance!” Midnight in response crossed his forelegs with a groan. “Don’t you worry about that, Midnight, I should be able to help you with that, but it could take a few days. Now, what about a tour?” James suggested. “Sounds good to me,” Wagensroll replied, the others agreed too to get to know the place. It was quite fascinating, seeing the barracks and garages for the trucks and armored vehicles, the pioneers repairing and maintaining them, greeted the foals friendly, all having their “radio” turned off to avoid confusion. It mostly was amazing for them how it was possible for so old equipment to be upgraded to today’s standards. But it made them also wonder James was able to get this all approved, or how he recruited all those men and women. The tour had lasted until evening. “Well, it was quite fascinating,” Wagensroll commented, having to yawn. “Yes, it was. Pity we have to leave, I really don’t want to be separated from you.” Patch added with a hint of sadness. “Who said that?” The commander asked with a grin. “You could have a sleepover.” The ponies started to smile. ”Great idea.” Fletcher liked it. While being surprised, Jens replied, “That won’t be a problem, I have some sleeping bags at home.” “Always prepared, I like that,” James said with pride before turning to his confidants. “You’re in charge while I’m gone.” They saluted. “Yes, sir.” As the group arrived at Meier’s home, he made a vegetable pan for dinner, the five ponies enjoyed it as Fletcher looked at James with a curious expression. “If I may ask General, how were you able to recruit all those mercenaries?” “It has several reasons. In the very beginning, many joined for the high earnings or adventures. As the Bundeswehr got reduced in manpower, many who got discharged still had the desire to defend their home or help others. So they joined the Harmonious Guard.” “Like me,” Jens continued, “After the death of my family, I had lost my job, not knowing how to continue. James then came to me and offered a job. Since then, I serve here, to prevent that others have the same fate as I had. But also because many are bronies and can share their hobby, free from haters.” “Sounds like a just cause,” Fletcher replied as he finished his meal. “And way better than our experiences with PMCs.” Midnight commented. “I believe you that. Reminds, me, I will inspect a base in Hamburg tomorrow, if you want, you could go with me and Jens.” James suggested. “I wouldn’t mind that.” Wagensroll accepted. “Me either,” Patch added. The Eternal Knight thought for a moment, they rather would try to find out how they could go home, but if James said he could help them, it could save some hard work and time. “Well, it might be better than being the entire time inside.” Midnight spoke for his friends, also accepting. “Okay then. Now, let’s get some rest, it will be a big day tomorrow.” Jens said and the ponies left to get ready for bed. “I don’t know why, but they kinda make me feel happy again, like with my wife and son.” He added as they looked after him. “And you do already a good job, Jens. Stay that way.” His commander gave him a pat on the shoulder, sounding proud. “Goodnight, Fletcher.” Wagensroll got comfortable in his sleeping bag. “Night. Night, Patch.” “Night, you three.” They all fell asleep fast, looking forward to tomorrow, yet wondered how James was supposes to help them getting home.