Chapter 2: Frontline
Both men looked at each other, thinking it was just their imagination.
But blinking and shaking heads had no effect, the colt was still there, waiting patiently for an answer. For Thomas, there was only one reply.
“Of course we will help you.” Odd at the situation was, the colt couldn't just be left alone for any other hunter, man or beast.
The pony started to smile, hugging the German’s leg. “Thank you.”
“No need. Thomas is my name and this is my friend Otto.” He patted the foal’s mane.
“I’m Pipsqueak. But my friends all call me Pip.” The pony replied.
While both men could already tell that this pony wasn’t from Earth, the name was kinda nice. “Nice name, kinda suits you.” Thomas smiled, Pip somehow reminded him of his son.
“Uh, Thomas, what should we do with…him?” Otto asked clueless.
“Wat we supposed to do, report it in.”
“Are you sure? You know what our orders regarding-“
“I do and I don’t care, I have nothing to lose. Besides, our commanding officer is non-supportive of this order.” König reminded him with an annoyed tone.
“Sorry, I just don’t want to be executed, that’s all.” The SMG gunner replied ashamed.
“Orders?” Pip asked confused before starting to tremble slightly.
“I tell you that later.” The Rifleman gently took the colt in his arm and wrapped him into his coat to keep him warm from the cold weather as they made their way back to the camp.
The young boy admired the endless snowscape, for him, snow was always a beautiful thing.
After a short walk, the camp was in sight, Pip’s eyes went wide at the big machines he saw, looking threatening, yet somehow majestic.
“There you are. What took you so long?” A new voice tore him out, seeing a middle-aged man in officer uniform, having dark black hair and blue eyes, also wearing a few awards on the chest in form of black crosses, his face rather round.
“Well, we have something to report…” Thomas said with uneasy, making Pip look up to him, making it possible to get a closer look on his face, which was broad.
Thomas had dark brown hair and light green eyes, Otto light black hair and light brown eyes and a long face. All three had an average build, comparable to a normal stallion like Dinky’s father, the officer, however, had a scar across his left cheek. It looked very old but appeared not to be deep.
As the officer saw Pip, his eyes and those of the other soldiers went wide in confusion. “Uhh, do I see that right?”
“Yes, they saved me from a hungry wolf.” The boy explained, earning shocked expressions.
“It can talk?!” The officer exclaimed.
“Uh, yes, everypony can where I’m from.”
The officer started for a moment before shrugging. “Oh well, I have seen a lot of crazy things at the front, let’s hear it.”
“Well, for start, my name is Pipsqueak but Pip is just fine. The world I am from is called Equestria I’m an Earth pony, there are also Pegasus ponies that can control the weather and fly, and there are also unicorns, which can use magic. All three races also have Cutie Marks on the flank, which represents their special talents.
I haven’t got my Cutie Mark yet, but it doesn’t bother me. And our rulers are Princess Celestia and Luna who controlling the sun and moon.”
Thomas looked at the colt on awe. “Fascinating. But shouldn’t you be afraid of us?” Otto pointed out.
“Oh, that…Well, Humans used to be only a myth, but after some incidents in the past, foals were separated from their families and landed in different universes were human took care of them until they returned home. Those humans then lived as part of the foals’ family since then. As such, I’m familiar with humans.” The colt explained in his cute accent.
The soldiers looked at each other, not sure what to say for a moment.
“Well, that definitely sounds interesting, Pip. Where do you live exactly?” Thomas asked curiously.
“Ponyville, a small town. Before that, I lived in Trottingham.”
“I see. I imagine this is the furthest you've ever been from home, Pip.” König replied, and told him where he was exactly and which year it was.
It took the young pony to process everything. “Well, bad luck to be landed here but it could have been worse, like on a planet filled with monsters trapped in a crevice. Wait…” The colt’s breath quickened, his tiny hooves shaking. “I-I-I have to get home! M-My mum! Everypony…”
“Calm down! Calm down!” Thomas gently picked him up as colt gasped for air rapidly before slowing down, crying.
“I wanna’ go home...”
“Shh, it’s okay…” König rocked the little colt back and forth, having already sympathy for him.
It took a few minutes until Pipsqueak calmed down.
“Don’t worry, kid, I’m sure your friends and family will look for you. Until then, we’ll take care of you.” The officer said in a comforting voice to cheer him up.
Pip wiped a tear out of his eye. “Thank you, mister…”
“Sergeant Walter Gerber, at your service. But you can call me Walter.”
“Okay. Is this a…tank? I read once about them but never saw one before.” Pip pointed to the big machine he had first seen at the camp, it was 3 meters high and 10 meters long, having a 6.24 meter long barrel.
“You are correct. This model is the Tiger II, nicknamed ‘King Tiger’ by the allies, is one of our most armored and deadliest tanks, able to deal effortlessly with the heaviest Allied tanks. It’s the replacement of the Tiger 1, which was a legend to the enemy and the King Tiger does carry on the legend but consumes a lot of fuel.” König explained.
Pip let out a whistle. “Sounds impressive, I wouldn’t want to fight such a thing. And you are soldiers, right?”
“Yes, we are Volksgrenadiers.”
“Does that mean you are Volks and you have grenades or you use the grenades on the Volks?” Pipsqueak asked confused.
“Well, it’s intended to build morale, appealing at once to nationalism and Germany's older military traditions. The German Military took heavy losses during the invasion of the Normandy, the Volksgrenadiers were created, economized on personnel and emphasized defensive strength over offensive strength. They are reformed from hardened veterans, recovering wounded and new recruits. Older men who would have been considered too old or too unfit for the peacetime army and teenagers are also a common sight.”
“I see. For such a unit, you look very well equipped.” The boy commented upon seeing König’s weapon.
“Yes, we are, having a higher proportion of submachineguns and light automatic weapons and thus rely more on short-range firepower than in standard German Army infantry units. And the StG 44 or MP 44 as some use to call it, is really perfect for this. Compact as an SMG but with the stopping power of a rifle.”
“Uh-huh.” The colt replied before having to yawn as it was getting late.
“You should get some sleep, it was an exhausting day for you after all,” Gerber said.
“Yeah, I should.” The young colt ate some bread for dinner, happy to have something in his stomach, then got brought to the tent of Thomas and Otto, falling instantly asleep on the cot.
“Poor boy.” The Rifleman gently ruffled Pip’s mane.
“Yes, and I’ll do anything I can to keep him out of harm’s way.” Gerber sounded honest as he smiled at the sleeping colt. He and Thomas had served in the same squad since the beginning of the war, being the only original members left, all others had been either been killed or captured.
Thomas couldn’t remember where Gerber got his scar, but was a father to those under his command, showing compassion and loyalty to them above all else, always put the lives of others over the missions, doing what was right rather than focus on the mission. He knew he could trust his sergeant.
“And so will we.” A new voice greeted them as they turned around, seeing three men at the entrance.
The first one was a muscular man in a Fallschirmjäger uniform with an FG42, brown hair and matching eyes on a square-shaped face, the second also a man with a muscular build, armed with an MG42, having blond hair and dark blue eyes. His face pinched and the third man was a sniper, armed with a scoped K98. He had an average build, his face mostly covered by a face cloth, making only his dark green eyes visible.
The paratrooper was Keller, a veteran of the invasion of Crete, having been deployed in France after that, now serving together with Gerber, Otto and Thomas. Like many other members of the Fallschirmjäger, he was giving every effort unwaveringly when in battle, but still caring towards his comrades and civilians.
The MG gunner had the name Huber, a rather calm soldier in battle, always ready to give covering fire when needed.
The Sniper was only known by the name Fischer, he never talked much, being a quiet man but his skills were unmatched.
“Thank you, I appreciate it.” Thomas replied, grateful he could count on them.
As he and Otto climbed into their cots, Pip started to hug him in his sleep, causing the former father to smile.
“Hey, Thomas, you don’t have an excuse to play lone soldier anymore.”
“Why do you say that?”
Otto pointed at Pipsqueak before pointing back at him. He hadn’t to say anything to make Thomas understand. König now had something to fight and live for again, protecting the little colt at all costs.
The Rifleman nodded in response, earning a smile from Otto before he said “good night.”
Before König fell asleep, he took notice how adorable Pip was curled up next to him.
He didn’t want to count how many hours of sleep she had before a noise woke him.
Sleepy, the soldier opened his eyes, using the dim light to look around.
A small sniffle.
He only needed a few seconds to realize it was Pip. He was tossing and turning frantically in his sleep.
“No…Please… No!” The boy yelled in a fearful voice before waking up with a gasp, trembling. “S-s-sorry...” He mumbled, feeling guilty for waking Thomas up.
“It’s okay, it was just a bad dream.” Thomas gave him a gentle hug and the colt rested his head on the pillow again, falling asleep with a sigh.
In the next morning, Thomas awoke, seeing that Pip was still asleep, his chest rising and lowering before he stirred and yawned. “Good morning.” He smiled.
“Morning, Pip.”
They then breakfasted, Keller, Huber and Fischer introduced themselves to the little foal, the MG gunner also took Pip’s measures down. “Why do you need them?” The boy asked confused.
“It’s cold out here and we can’t let you freeze out here, can we?”
“Righto,” Pip replied, understanding what Huber meant.
After a few minutes, he came back with a white coat and brown winter cap, letting Pip try it on. “Suits perfectly, thank you.” He smiled at the soldiers.
“You’re welcome.”
There was a whistle I the distance, making Pip's ear twitch before it turned into an explosion, making him jump into the air in surprise, followed by several more whistles and explosions as everyone turned into the direction it came from.
“What’s going on?” Pipsqueak asked in alert.
“Artillery fire, to weaken the Allied defenses,” Gerber explained as the tank crews manned the three King Tigers, the engines roaring to life as the officer briefed his men.
“We’re engaging in a surprise attack to break through the frontline, deep into enemy territory. But we must move quickly or the enemy will destroy the last two bridges and trap our forces. Escort our tanks and break through the front line towards the bridge. Thomas, Otto. You escort Anton. Keller, you and I escort Berta. Fischer and Huber, you escort Caesar. Pip, you stay here until it’s safe.”
“Okay.” He replied while the soldiers saluted and moved out.
Thomas took position to the left of the tank, Otto behind it. The Allies were still trying to organize a defense, so the two Germans barely encountered any resistance through the logging road.
One enemy Rifleman tried to flank them from the right but Otto was faster, firing a short burst, the American stumbled backward as blood splatted from his chest and hit the ground.
Shortly before the Allied encampment, a hedgehog was in the tank’s way, forcing it to stop.
In a blink of an eye, a loud echoing sound invaded their ears and the head of the gunner of the mounted MG on the tank snapped violently back, blood splattered and he fell into the tank. “Sniper!” Otto yelled as he spotted a scope glance in a trench ahead, an MG emplacement pinning them down.
Thomas threw himself upon the ground, ducking out of view from wherever the bullets were coming from, crawling towards the hedgehog and planted TNT on it, setting the time to 5 seconds.
In the moment the barricade exploded, the tank blasted the MG emplacement to pieces, killing the sniper too.
Behind the trench was the camp, meaning Anton’s escort was successful. Shortly after, the officer and paratrooper joined up with Berta, together with the Sniper and MG gunner. “Caesar’s engine broke down,” Huber reported to the Sergeant.
“Damn it. But we’ve broken through the front line! Keep moving towards the bridge!” He ordered, reloading his MP40.
König saw Pip coming behind a group of other soldiers, trembling slightly but had a brave expression. The former father could tell the boy was scared but tried to stay brave. Frankly, Thomas hoped Pipsqueak would survive all this.
Both tanks made some strange noises as they entered the camp, Gerber could tell why. “Our tank is running low on fuel. Steal fuel from the enemy or our attack will stall.”
The leading tank pushed a truck parked on the road out of the way but a Sherman tank parked on the side of the road managed to hit the track, disabling it but was unable to target the second before getting destroyed, leaving a burning wreck.
“An enemy tank disabled one of our tanks! We only have one tank left!” Walter yelled, “We’ve destroyed their ambush, but our last tank is almost out of fuel. Steal fuel of the enemy!” He manned the mounted gun of said tank, Pip went to cover behind a stone wall next to it.
The Rifleman and SMG gunner assaulted the fuel depot to the left of the camp, the former planted TNT on the wall to get in. Disoriented by the explosion, the defenders got quickly overwhelmed by them.
König shouldered his rifle and grabbed a fuel canister and made his way back, having his Luger drawn, covered by Otto.
Upon reaching the tank and refueling it, Huber and Fischer returned with another canister from the other depot.
As the second canister was delivered, they took defensive positions around the tank as the defenders came from all sides.
Pip covered his ears from the loud gunfire, hoping it would be over soon.
As he dared to peek over the wall, he saw a young soldier, not older than 18, carrying a third canister towards the tank.
“I got it! I got-“
He stopped abruptly, flinching before blood flow down his head, struggling to stand before falling backward.
The colt stared, not able to look away. A young life had been taken before his eyes, the others were pinned down, not able to do anything.
Pipsqueak tried to process what had just happened, trying to calm down. He knew the Germans needed the fuel but this wasn’t his war. But, if they would fail, he would be trapped too at the mercy of the Allied troops. Sure, he knew from Tootsie’s father who had served as Marine in the Pacific due to a magic incident, that the Americans weren’t bad people, but the thought of ending up in a lab refused to get out of Pip’s head.
Taking a deep breath, he knew what he had to do.
The young boy made a dash for the fuel through the gunfire, picking it up and brought it to the tank, bullets missing him by inches.
He may be smaller than an avenge foal but was still as strong as a normal earth pony foal.
“We have stolen enough fuel. Our tank can advance and capture that bridge!” Walter yelled as the tank started to move out and the defenders retreated.
“Move fast and escort our last tank across before the enemy can destroy the bridge!” The officer ordered his soldiers as the Tiger II moved out.
Thomas noticed how the little colt was shaking, trying to catch his breath. “I…I…”
“It was very brave from you, but please don’t do that again, for your own safety. Stay behind us.” The soldier said in a comforting tone, the boy nodded in response.
The German troops encountered barely Allied troops on the way to the bridge, making them realize the Allies were focusing their defense on the bridge.
Pip saw another bridge in the distance, it exploded into pieces, he looked at it in awe and shock.
“They detonated one of the bridges! There’s only one bridge left now. We have to move quickly before the enemy destroys it.” Gerber yelled as said bridge was in sight in the distance.
As the tank was getting closer to it, the remaining defenders opened fire with all they had left, forcing the Germans to use the tank as cover.
“Fischer, do you have a clear shot?” Otto yelled as a US soldier was manning the mounted MG on a parked Sherman tank on the side of the bridge.
“Yes!” He peeked out of cover, aimed down the scope and fired, blood splattered from the American’s head as he jolted backward and fell into the tank.
Realizing it was too hot, Otto threw a smoke grenade on the bridge, then used with Thomas and Keller a scaffolding on the left of the bridge to flank the defenders, taking them by surprise, allowing the tank to move forward.
“We’ve won! The bridge is ours! Now our forces can advance and destroy the enemy!” The officer exclaimed as the tank had reached the bridge and the defenders surrendered.
“It is over?” The colt asked as he uncovered his ears.
“Yes. For now.” Thomas patted him to calm him down.
A grunt of pain reached Pipsqueak’s ears, seeing a captured allied soldier, wearing a bowl-shaped helmet got knocked down by a German, crawling backwards and got up as other German soldiers escorted other captured soldiers away and a convoy of several trucks crossed the bridge behind the tank.
“They are lucky, given our orders,” Huber commented as they moved on, it reminded Pip of the orders Thomas and Otto had mentioned before.
“What do you mean?” The pinto colt asked with innocence.
König took a deep breath, trying to get up how to explain this. “Well, Pip, we actually got order to only take prisoners when the ‘tactical situation’ allows it. Otherwise, no quarter is to be granted, no prisoners taken, and no pity shown towards Belgian civilians. That was also why Otto was against helping you at first.
The foal’s eyes fell in fear. “That’s horrible.”
“I know but we don’t follow that order. You will be safe with us, promise.” The soldiers gave him honest smiles.
“I appreciate it.” Pip returned a smile.
“Hop on.” The soldiers helped the colt on the tank and they left the bridge behind, Pip, couldn’t help but enjoy the ride through the snowy landscape.
“Man, I’d love to be home and eat a Bratwurst.” The tank commander mumbled as he watched for trouble ahead, spotting smoke in the distance.
Pip’s eyes went wide as they drove past a bomb crater with dead Americans and a destroyed halftrack and jeep, still smoking. “They never stood a chance,” Fischer commented on it.
“I'm guessing ‘no’ to the open casket,” Huber added.
“That's somebody's son.” Thomas pointed out, showing that he had respect for the enemy.
“Naw, it's a Yankee!” The tank commander replied, showing little sympathy for the US soldiers.
“König is right. They’re not all bad.” Otto countered.
“They did give us Acheson, Goodman…” Gerber counted up.
“And don’t forget about their inventions. You got the Teabags, Mickey Mouse…” Huber continued.
“Cola.” Otto raised a fist.
“You guys are killing me.” The Tank commander replied annoyed.
After a while, the convoy stopped to rest, building up a camp. “So, Pip, how did you end up here? You don’t have to tell if you don’t want to.” Thomas told him.
“No, no, it’s alright. I was playing with Dinky, Pinch and Tootsie as for some reason, a dark portal appeared. Dinky was almost pulled in and I rushed to her aid and somehow…got pulled in instead.” Pipsqueak replied with a sad sigh.
“Sorry to hear that but it was a brave act from you, a real gentleman.”
Before the colt could reply, a loud speech from Otto got their attention.
“Many say we have no hope. Well, I say let us show them what we are made of. We’re farmers, bakers, schoolboys and masters, let them show what the people can do when they are united.”
“That was a good moral speech, Otto.” The pinto colt complimented with, kinda enjoyed it.
“And kinda treacherous.” A new voice said in a neutral tone as they turned around, seeing a man wearing glasses, a fedora and a black trench coat, having blonde hair and blue eyes.
Behind him were two soldiers, having the words “Feldgendarmerie” on the cuffs and “Feldjägerkorps” on the gorgets.
A Gestapo agent and members of Military Police Units of the Germany Army.
With a neutral voice and expression the agent spoke, “Well, Sergeant Gerber, long time no see.”
“Yes, and I like it to stay that way.”
“And…what is that?” The agent pointed to Pip who was hiding behind Thomas but tried to stay brave.
“Our new mascot, nothing against the rules.” The officer replied flatly.
“I heard your men found it in the woods.”
“Yes, sir, it’s mother was killed by a wolf as my men were on patrol yesterday.”
The Agent looked at the colt. “And yet, just a moment ago, it appeared to be talking. Or did one of you suddenly lose their testicles?” The men looked to each other nervously as he chuckled, “It seems my journey here will not be wasted after all. Good luck in the coming battles, gentlemen. Make your Fuhrer proud.” They left.
The colt was shaking at the squad looked at him with sympathy.
That was just the beginning and it looked bad for the foal.