Kepler was very afraid.
He had come to peace with his death when the Bismarck had filled with water, dragging him into the depths after the damage overcame the mighty vessel’s ability to stay afloat. Yet here he was, being led through the very corridors that had just moments ago been filling with seawater and the bodies of his fellow sailors. Now there was nothing left other than his mysterious companion, and even then, the soft touch of what he could only describe as a tail over his shoulders sent shivers up his spine. No normal human had anything resembling such an appendage, plus the constant click of what were certainly not boots or shoes on the corridor’s floor.
Then again, the things that set the poor man on edge the most were the sensations he was feeling from his own body. He knew something was different, given that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stand up, yet the sensation of walking on his hands and knees didn’t feel strange or painful. That coupled with the weight hanging off his back, which somehow felt connected to him, only drove his nerves to even greater heights as his mind conjured horrible images of what they could mean.
His mind was so preoccupied with all the strange happenings inside and out, that he almost missed the moment they stepped onto the main deck. The moon shone down onto the plating, providing his tired eyes with enough reflected light to clearly see around himself for the first time since he awoke. However, his relief quickly changed to a gasp of fear and shock as he truly beheld his companion for the first time.
She wasn’t like anything he had seen before, although as he took time to examine her form, he began to pick up things that were at least somewhat familiar. Her lower half was jet black like a panther, while the feathers and clawed forelimbs of her front resembled that of a golden eagle. Yet most familiar of all, were the piercing blue eyes which looked back at him over an armored shoulder, their intelligence forcing the young man to believe that this was the young woman, or rather, gryphon, who had spoken to him back in the wrecked storage room where he had awoken. Her beak was bright yellow, and he noticed the corners were curled down in a slight frown as the gryphon removed her tail from his shoulders and turned to face him.
“What are you staring at me like that for?” Her voice was young, at least to his ears, maybe only a year or two older than himself if there was any correlation between species. “Never seen a gryphon before?”
“Only in myths long forgotten in the past.” His lips replied before he could even comprehend the fact that the strange creature had spoken in perfect German.
One eye ridge rose slightly to disappear under her polished helm, “Must be pretty far removed wherever it is you came from. Every race on Equis has heard about the Gryphon Empire, at least from secondary sources.”
“Equis?” The word was unfamiliar to Kepler, and it seemed his companion wasn’t sure what to make of his tone either, as the other eye ridge joined the first.
“The name of the planet?” Her tone had taken on a pitch that reminded Kepler of his mother when he asked a stupid question, “Seriously, you must really have lived under a rock to not know that.” Her gaze traveled around the decking, her surprise morphing into confusion, “But then how did a ship as crazy as this end up on our shores with only you on it?”
The pieces started to fall together in Kepler’s mind, and his own eyes widened as he finally understood, “I’m not on Earth anymore, am I?”
The hen’s eyes locked back onto him in a split second, her shock evident on her face as she took a step back, “What do you mean by that? Your ship ran aground on our shores, so you are technically on earth right now.”
“No, you don’t understand.” It was Kepler’s turn to use that age-old tone with his companion, “The Earth that I am referring to is my world, the place that I was supposed to die at before, something transported my ship here.” He took a step forward, noticing not for the first time how natural his strange posture felt, though that wasn’t important right now, “Our ship was attacked by an Allied fleet, and we were forced to sink her to prevent any military secrets from falling into enemy hands. The last thing I remember was that storage room filling with water as the ship sank, and a bright flash of light that I thought was the main boilers detonating.” He looked around at the relatively intact hull and weapon emplacements, “Evidently not.”
The situation finally seemed to make sense to the gryphon as well, her eyes traveling around them before returning to Kepler, “So you’re saying that you and your ship were somehow transported from your world to our shores, leaving the rest of your crew to die?”
“It would seem that way, for I cannot come up with any other explanation that makes any sort of sense,” Kepler replied, although as he finally looked down, he yelped in surprise as he beheld what he had thought were his arms, “What happened to my hands?”
The gryphon’s expression morphed into confusion once again, “What do you mean? Weren’t you always a pony? Albeit a strange-looking one, but from what I can tell you more or less resemble the average Equestrian.”
Kepler fell onto his backside, his arms, no, forelegs rising up as he examined them in shock. He ignored the gryphon for a moment as he turned his legs back and forth, taking note of the hooves that ended each of them and the dark grey fur that ran all the way up each limb. Looking over his shoulder, Kepler was once again floored by what he saw, because instead of just a regular pony body as he had expected, he beheld a pair of leathery bat wings that were attached to his upper body just behind the shoulders. He gently poked one with a hoof and nearly fell over from shock when he felt his limb running over the soft, supple membrane that formed the flight surface between the long bones. Ignoring the fact that he had wings for the time being, as excited as that made him, Kepler turned his attention to his tail and what little of his mane he could see from the corner of his vision. Both were a bright gold with a streak of red running through the middle, contrasting with the dark grey of his body rather nicely.
A clawed hand placed upon his shoulder drew him from his inspection, turning back to the gryphon that was now looking at him with a concerned expression, “Are you alright? You kind of spaced out there for a bit.”
Kepler shook his head, putting his curiosity about his, apparently, new body aside for the moment so he could focus on the matter at hand, err, hoof, “Apologies, I wasn’t expecting to find out that I had somehow been changed from my original species on top of being transported to a different world. Forgive me for worrying you, Fraulein?”
This seemed to take the gryphon back for a moment, although it seemed that she too put aside her thoughts for more important things, “Oh, I haven’t introduced myself.” She held out a clawed hand to him, “My name is Vizefeldwebel Gloria Sage Windcutter, but you can call me Gloria if you want. The rank and full name are only really needed in formal settings.”
“And I am Leutnant zur See Kepler Hans Wolff.” he replied, “Call me Kepler if you wouldn’t mind.” He was momentarily surprised by Gloria’s rank, as well as the fact that the same terms seemed to apply to both this land and his own. The fact that the gryphon was only an enlisted soldier, a sergeant first class to be exact, and not an officer at her age, made it clear they were not at war, or at least not to the point that they had to draft youngsters into the military yet.
Gloria’s eyes widened and she snapped into what he presumed was a salute, her right foreleg crossed over her chest with her claws closed into a fist while her head was tilted up and to the side, exposing her neck. She seemed to realize what she had done a second later, her cheek feathers shifting to a slightly darker shade of reddish-gold as she lowered her limb back to the decking.
“Sorry, force of habit.” Kepler chose to ignore the rather prominent blush that had come over her face as she cleared her throat into her fist, “Can’t tell you how many times an officer nearly pounded me into the dirt for not getting my salutes right back in basic.”
“Pay it no mind.” Kepler figured it would be best to move on to more important questions, “So, do you have anything you need to do now that you’ve seen my ship? I know she’s not much to look at, at the moment, but I have a feeling you came aboard for more than simple exploration.”
This seemed to snap Gloria out of her musings, her eyes locking with his once again as her expression turned serious, “Well, yes, you are correct. As a member of the Grenzschutze, it is my duty to make sure that nothing sneaks past our military to try and attack our homeland. I wasn’t expecting to find you or your ship on my rounds, but that doesn’t matter anymore. I need to report to my superiors about this, and I can’t just leave you alone to do as you please with this kind of hardware at your disposal.” Her wings flared wide and with a mighty flap, she took to the air, hovering over the decking for a second before swooping over Kepler’s head.
“Sorry about this,” her voice caused his ear to rotate as she spoke from behind and above him, “but protocol dictates I can’t let you fly on your own, so forgive me.”
“What do you mean flyyyyyaaaaaiiiihhhhhiiiiiii?!” Kepler’s legs flailed about for several seconds as he suddenly felt his body leave the security of the decking, a tight pressure holding him around his middle as he rose higher and higher into the air.
“Quite squirming if you don’t want me to drop you!” Gloria’s voice managed to pierce his panic-addled mind enough to reassert his rational thought, although that didn’t help much as they rose higher and higher above the ship.
Kepler realized Gloria had picked him up and was currently carrying him with his back pressed against her chest, her forelegs holding him tightly against her armor as they began moving horizontally instead of vertically. Looking down, the massive wreck he had come to know so well was little more than a toy in his vision.
“You alright down there? Most fliers don’t get this nervous, even if they aren’t the one doing the work.” Gloria’s voice was hard to pick up over the wind that their passage had created, but Kepler found that by turning his new ears towards her, it made it a little easier to make her words out.
Gloria’s head turned down to meet his gaze as he lifted his head, hoping that by not looking at the ground he wouldn’t get sick, “Easy for you to say!” He had to raise his volume a bit to make himself understood, “You know how to fly, I don’t unless it happens to be inside a plane!”
Her eyes widened, although whatever she planned on saying was cut off as a sharp cry echoed from the area in front of them. Kepler followed her gaze as Gloria turned her attention forward, his eyes picking up two forms similar in size and build to his companion, against the growing light of dawn. It only took a moment to realize that they were gryphons like Gloria, and by their unhappy expressions, he had a feeling that they weren’t here to have a casual conversation.
The duo came to a stop within easy speaking distance, the fliers hovering in place as Gloria called out, “Sorry for not saluting, sir, but as you can see my claws are a bit occupied at the moment!”
The gryphon on the left nodded, his white feathers practically glowing in the rising sunlight while his silver and black-spotted hind end hung beneath his broad wings, “You are forgiven, Vizefeldwebel. We were worried something had happened to you when you didn’t report in from your patrol.” His bright amber eyes locked onto Kepler, making the former human feel even smaller when compared to the large predators, “Given the rather odd cargo you have with you, I’d say it was for a good reason?”
Gloria glanced down and met Kepler’s gaze for a second, “You could say that. I would love to give you all the details right here and now, but my wings are getting tired and I would rather tell Oberst Talonedge what I found before we do anything else.”
The white officer turned to his second, the brown and tan female nodding her agreement as she cast a meaningful glance in Kepler’s direction, her strange violet eyes a marked contrast to the familiar hues Kepler had seen so far.
Both gryphons exchanged silent words for a moment longer before turning back to Gloria, “Very well,” the white male replied, “but make sure to keep your friend there under control. We wouldn’t want the Equestrians catching wind of any mistreatment of their citizens.”
“Just so we all understand one another,” Kepler added, causing both of the newcomers to stare at him with wide eyes, “I am not an Equestrian, or whoever you think I am. I am, or was, a German sailor with the rank of Leutnant zur See while serving in the Kriegsmarine. Therefore, I would appreciate being treated with at least the respect of a fellow soldier while in your land.”
He made a note that whatever these Equestrians were, they apparently didn’t speak the same language these gryphons did, if the surprised looks he was getting from the two were anything to go by. They were professional enough to hide their thoughts after a moment, their calm military bearing returning as the apparent leader of the two spoke to Gloria once again.
“Vizefeldwebel,” his tone held an air of command that Kepler was all too familiar with, “as soon as we return to base, you will report to the Oberst with all haste while we secure our guest. If what he says is true, then I suspect he will be summoned to speak for himself before the commanders shortly thereafter. And you,” Kepler shrunk against his better judgement as those hard, amber orbs locked onto him once again, “I don’t know how you learned our language or how you know our command structure, but I do know this. You are a foreigner who has trespassed in our land, and as such will be given all the respect due to such interlopers. If you wish to keep your head attached to your neck, I suggest you stay quiet and do as you are told, and don’t cause any trouble.”
Knowing well when patience overtook the part of valor, Kepler simply nodded, remaining still in Gloria’s grip as the others formed up above and behind the smaller female on either side.
The formation continued further inland for several minutes before Kepler spotted the distinct shape of an artificial structure, the base’s general design reminding him of the buildings and layout from back home in more ways than one. As they descended, Kepler noticed that the outer walls of the fort were made of stone and mortar, rising roughly three stories above the rough and rocky terrain. The tops of said walls were dotted with observation towers and weapon emplacements, although there seemed to be a lack of any advanced weaponry that was more modern than breech-loading cannons. Gryphon sentries were posted on the walls at regular intervals, their armor shining in the sunlight like flares, as they flew overhead and into the base proper, forcing Kepler to squint for several seconds before his eyes could adjust.
Within the square that protected the interior of the base, there were several buildings, also made of stone, although these seemed to be more modern in their construction when compared to the walls which surrounded them. The structures were smooth and set with what looked like concrete, raising Kepler’s opinion of these creatures by a few marks as they came in for a landing. If these beings had figured out how to make cement, then perhaps there was more to them than what simple observation could provide.
The buildings were clustered against the northern and eastern sides of the fortification, leaving the south-west sector bare for what Kepler presumed were drills and base-wide announcements, as well as an informal landing strip, given the dozens of gryphons flying in an out of the base while going about their duties. Gloria set him down before landing at his side, her gaze locking with his for a moment before she ran off into the buildings on their left, leaving Kepler with the other two as he was guided towards what he assumed was a form of detention.
It turned out that his instincts were correct, given the first thing he saw as he was directed into one of the shorter structures were rows of barred cells. As he had been instructed, Kepler stayed quiet as he was walked into the first cell on the left, his captors closing the solid metal door behind him and locking it. They left without a word, leaving Kepler with little to do except think about what was going on, and what he could do about it.
The cell was simple enough, a short wall providing a modicum of privacy around a low toilet in the far-right corner, and a simple wooden board secured to the wall with two chains acting as a bed. There were no sheets, no mattress or anything of the sort, and only a small opening no larger than his head in the far wall near the ceiling to act as a window. A closer look showed that the opening was also barred with metal, meaning even if he could fit through the opening, he would first have to cut away the steel in his way.
With nothing else to do, Kepler sat down on the stone floor and waited, knowing sooner or later, someone would come and either feed him or take him to whoever was in charge of this base. Gloria had mentioned an Oberst when speaking with her superiors, and if the translation was still accurate compared to his homeland, he would be speaking with a colonel very shortly. Talonedge, if his memory served him, was the name of the officer, although that did him little in the way of knowing what to expect other than perhaps knowing their sex.
Kepler was pulled from his musings as the click of claws echoed through the hall, his gaze lifting to meet the amber and violet gazes that had already become familiar as a key was turned in the lock.
The door swung open and it was the female that spoke this time as they fell in on either side of him, “Do not speak unless spoken to, and do not even think about trying to fly away. Every gryphon in this base has been notified of your presence and will cut you down if you so much as flap a wing out of turn. Answer all of Oberst Talonedge’s questions honestly and you might make it out of this in one piece.”
Kepler stayed quiet as he walked out of the detention center, his neck prickling with the gazes of dozens of gryphons as he was directed to one of the only two-story buildings in the base. A flagpole was stationed on its roof, depicting a standard similar and yet different to that of his homeland, although he wasn’t able to see much detail before he was escorted through the front doors. Another pair of gryphons, this time in full plate armor instead of the half-plate he had seen so far, fell in alongside the others. Kepler could see strange symbols carved onto the metal in various places but was unable to think about it for very long before he was marched up to a door at the back of the first floor.
The white officer knocked twice, a muffled response sounding off from within as he turned the brass knob and ushered Kepler through. The others followed behind him before closing the entryway, effectively blocking his only exit as his gaze fell upon the imposing figure sitting behind a large desk before him.
Oddly enough, the huge gryphon who supposedly commanded the base wasn’t wearing armor, although that did little to calm Kepler’s nerves as he beheld the massive broadsword across his back, between his wing bases. Kepler also spotted something he hadn’t seen so far, and it raised his estimation of his captor’s technological level once again. The item in question appeared to be a crude rifle resting on a stand in the rear left corner of the room. However, his attention was once again drawn to the commander as his dark brown eyes fell upon the nervous stallion.
“So, you are the one that has caused such a stir as of late.” His voice was deep and possessed a moderate accent the others Kepler had met lacked, “I must say it is rare to see an Equestrian so far from home. But then again, you aren’t an ordinary Equestrian, now are you?”
The Oberst walked around his desk, revealing that his lion-like body wasn’t restricted to his lower half. His dark brown feathers fluffed out around his shoulders like a mane, although it was his jet-black talons which caused Kepler to sweat as the officer approached him. One swipe would cut him to ribbons, of that he was sure, and so Kepler did the only thing he could think of at the time.
Kepler folded his foreleg over his chest as he had seen Gloria do before, bemoaning the loss of his fingers as he couldn’t form a fist even if he wanted too. He did make sure to tilt his head back and reveal his neck, although doing so made the sweat running down his face double as the massive gryphon lowered his head to eye level.
“You do a passable salute, for a pony.” Was that a hint of respect in his voice? Kepler couldn’t tell. “However, that doesn’t answer my questions, nor does it explain the wild story that one of my soldiers swore was the truth, even as she spouted nonsense that would have had her court-martialed at any other time. So, little pony,” Kepler could practically feel his interrogator’s breath as he struggled to maintain his salute, “care to enlighten me as to what you are doing here and why I suddenly have a massive warship on my shores which wasn’t there yesterday?”
Feeling like it had served its purpose, Kepler dropped his salute, swallowing to try and calm his frayed nerves before speaking, “Well, I’m not sure how else to say this, but I’m not from this world. I am, or was, a human from Earth before I somehow ended up here and in this body.” The Oberst said nothing and did not move, save for lifting an eye ridge, so Kepler took that as an invitation to continue, “I was serving on the ship that your subordinate found and was just as surprised as she was to find myself as I was.”
“As a pony?” Talonedge prompted.
“Alive.” Kepler corrected, causing the Oberst’s other eye ridge to join the first, “The last thing I remember before waking up on your shores was the ship sinking beneath the waves, trapped in a storage room that was flooding with seawater after we were forced to scuttle the vessel.”
“And why would you do that?” He asked, genuine interest in his tone as he lifted his head to its normal height, “From what Windcutter told me, your ship seems to be far more advanced than what we have available to us at this time. What could possibly force you to scuttle it?”
“We were overwhelmed by an enemy fleet.” Kepler replied, hanging his head in shame as he remembered his captain’s final words, “Our ship was damaged to the point that we could not escape, nor could we overcome the power we faced with what little we had left to fight. We sank our own ship to keep it from falling into enemy hands, although it would seem that things did not go as we originally intended.”
“Let us assume I believe anything you say is true,” Talonedge walked back behind his desk and sat down. His gaze locked with Kepler’s as he pinned the stallion in place with a hard glare, “What reason do I have to help you in any way? After all, you are a pony in body, even if you say it is not your original form. As such, why should I not ship you off to Equestria so you can live out your days with the rest of those pacifist herbivores?”
“Because I can be of service to you.” Kepler stated, having made up his mind about what he hoped would be the best course of action, “I was an engineer while I served on the Bismarck. I know how she works, and I can teach you how to make your own versions of her if you let me.” The gryphons as a whole seemed unconvinced, although he picked up some murmurs of interest from the officers behind him, “Your enlisted soldier mentioned something about guarding your borders against enemies. I take it you are currently at war with someone?”
That brought all conversation to a grinding halt as Talonedge fixed Kepler with a narrowed gaze, “Choose your next words carefully, pony, or you’ll find yourself in a cell for the foreseeable future.”
Kepler swallowed, taking a moment to try and still his racing heart, “What if I could provide more than technology? I held the rank of officer in my nation’s navy. As such I know a fair bit about tactics. I could share that knowledge with you while also providing your military with a large boost in combat ability. From what I’ve seen so far, your hardware is at least a half-century, maybe a hundred years behind the technology of my homeland. Think of what you could accomplish if your enemies suddenly didn’t even understand what they were fighting against, let alone know how to counter new and improved battle strategies.”
That got the officers talking again, and this time Kepler could hear the approval in their voices as the Oberst nodded, “You do make a sound argument. However, I have yet to see this supposed technology for myself, and I know that words are only worth the air that spawned them until proven otherwise. I will send a team with Vizefeldwebel Windcutter to substantiate your claims, but until I say otherwise, you will be detained as a foreign entity and will be killed if you so much as breathe in the wrong direction. Am I understood?”
Kepler snapped off another salute, causing the Oberst to crack a small smile as he replied, “Yes, sir!”
Talonedge waved him off with a claw, “Then I expect you to be on your best behavior. If all goes well, then we will speak again in the morning.” He turned his attention to the white-feathered officer, “Hauptmann!”
“Sir!” The now-dubbed captain replied with a salute.
“See to it that our guest is secured in a cell but provide him with a blanket and some food while you’re at it.” Talonedge’s tone brokered no argument, “If what he says is true, then he will need his strength for what will likely come next. However, if there is any trouble, you have my authorization to use any means, up to and including lethal force to keep this base secure.”
“Understood, sir!” Kepler was beginning to see a rather familiar dynamic between these gryphons and what he remembered from back home. Only speak when spoken to and use prefabricated answers unless otherwise ordered. Yup, just like home.
“Dismissed.” Talonedge turned around and began running his talons across the labels of various files stacked neatly against the wall, although Kepler wasn’t able to get a good look before he was ushered from the room and out of the building.
Moments later, Kepler was once again locked in the same cell he had been in before, although the Hauptmann had provided a blanket as ordered, with a plate of green leaves and a few vegetable slices being slid through a slot at the bottom of the door before he departed. The smell reminded Kepler’s stomach that he hadn’t eaten in at least a day, and it was with great gusto that he devoured the food given to him in seemingly no time at all. Once he had his fill, the stress of the day managed to catch up with him, giving the exhausted stallion just enough time to climb onto the wooden plank and drag the blanket over his back with his teeth before promptly passing out.
Little did he know, this was only the beginning of an adventure that would shape the future of the very world in the coming years.