//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: France // Story: TCB: A World At War // by mcb893 //------------------------------// December 29, 1939 The Royal Castle Canterlot, Equestria Celestia enveloped the doorknob with her golden magic, turning it and opening the door quickly. “Attention!” A general shouted. They all snapped to attention. Celestia looked around the room and smiled. “At ease,” she said. The officers visibly relaxed. “Princess Celestia,” one of the stallions said. He was wearing the traditional bright golden armor of the Equestrian Royal Guard. “The barrier is about to consume the entirety of Ireland, and the humans situated there have retreated. On the whole, the majority of the civilian population has been converted.” “Very good,” Celestia said, still smiling. “Prepare to invade the mainland.” The stallions looked at each other uncomfortably. “Princess,” one of them started, “All due respect, we’re taking far too many casualties as it is. And the forces we have been fighting are mainly militia, untrained. The mainland is occupied by regular troops, with far better equipment and training.” Celestia frowned. “And what do you suggest?” “Princess, if we retreat into the barrier, we can let it expand and take the land without losing a single pony.” “No.” “Princess-” “By letting the barrier expand, we are sentencing the humans to death. I’m uncomfortable with killing human soldiers as it is, but killing every single human without giving them a chance to surrender? That would be cruel.” The guard was looking more and more upset. “Princess, we’re looking at thousands of guards dead! That’s what’s cruel!” Celestia glared at the pony. “Captain Armor. I know you care for your soldiers, but these humans are also my subjects. Deluded subjects who must be guided onto the right path, but still subjects. I love them as such, and if it were to be necessary, I would sacrifice a thousand guards to save millions of humans. That is my final order. Invade the mainland.” Turning, she left the room. In another part of the castle, Constellation was approaching the main guest wing. It had been nearly a month since she had helped to rescue those humans from the HX-1 convoy, and she had finally been allowed to visit. She had been informed that of the four, three had died of complications, but her friend Greg was still alive. The infamous ponification potion had been used on him, and he had complied with the administration, unlike the barbarous humans being fought elsewhere on the planet. Approaching his door, she knocked slowly on it. “Come in!” A voice echoed from inside. Turning the doorknob, she stepped inside, only to find a toothpaste white earth pony. “Greg?” she asked in astonishment. The pony smiled. “Well, I’ve been told that was my name - but it’s Ocean Breeze now.” Constellation widened her eyes slightly. “Wow. Gre- um..Ocean Breeze. So, uh, how are you doing?” “Well, they say I’m doing well - I should be ready to integrate into pony society soon. I’m sorry, but I’m not sure who you are - I don’t remember much of my previous life.” The pegasus looked down slightly. “Well, I’m Constellation. I pulled you out of the shipwreck. You were a sailor on board a warship, I think.” Ocean looked surprised. “I worked on a warship? Oh my - I hate war. It’s so violent, and so meaningless. Plus, I can’t stand the loud cannons.” A puzzled expression came upon Constellation’s face. “Last time we talked, you said there was nothing more satisfying than hearing a ‘6 inch gun’ firing - whatever that means.” A serene smile came upon Ocean’s face. “I’m better now than I was then. I’m a pony now - not a barbarous human. I no longer have violent tendencies.” The following thirty minutes were the most confusing thirty minutes of Constellation’s life. As she was walking out, her brain was whirling at a mile a minute. Celestia said the potion would only change the physical form - but Greg seems like a totally different pon- person! He’s not my friend anymore, he’s like some creepy zombie!! As she left the building and entered the city of Canterlot, doubts began to plague her mind. Is there more Celestia is lying about? She thought to herself, After all, Greg was a pretty good pon- person. What’s going on here? Heading back to the inn where she was staying the night, Constellation resolved to do some digging, to find out what she could about the war currently being fought. 8:14 PM HMS Hood (51) 5 Miles East of the Barrier, off the coast of France The HMS Hood was one of the proudest ships in the entire British fleet. With a massive armament of a variety of cannons and guns, and armor thick enough to take dozens of hits before cracking, it was a pure monster in terms of offensive and defensive power. As such, the Hood, and her 15 inch guns, had been selected to bombard the Equestrian barrier. Captain Irvine Glennie smiled in grim satisfaction as the eight 381-mm guns slowly turned broadside. Let the Equestrian bastards withstand this shit. Generally, it was difficult to aim the Mk. 1 turrets outside visible range, but since the target was so large, accuracy was not an issue. Fire Control would be firing explosive shells rather than the conventional armour piercing ones to pack an extra punch. “Con, Fire Control, ready to fire.” the report came. The captain smirked. “Let’s give ‘em hell, boys,” he said. “Fire!” He ordered. A twenty foot fireball erupted from one of the cannons, sending a shell hurtling toward the barrier at twice the speed of sound. Another cannon fired about three seconds later, producing the same effect. The guns alternated fire, and about twelve seconds later, the rounds started making impact. Even at such a distance, the explosions were clearly visible. Glennie didn’t know how much damage the rounds were doing, but he knew that no matter how strong that barrier was, it wouldn’t stand up to this battery for long. About ten minutes later, the bombardment was in full swing, when the Captain got a call. “Con, Radar,” the radio squawked. The Captain frowned and picked it up. “Go ahead?” “Haze of targets inbound from the barrier, sir.” The Captain started. “Pegasi?” “Probably. The problem is, the cloud is huge, sir. I’m estimating at least a thousand.” At that, Glennie’s jaw dropped. Hanging up the radio, he turned to his XO. “Prepare for aerial defence - and unlock the small arms. They may try to board.” The first officer nodded and started to issue orders. Down in the armoury, the security force was unlocking their infantry weapons, consisting mainly of the Pattern 14 Lee Enfield and the Thompson M1928A1 submachine gun. Nonessential crew were locking down in various compartments. The ponies that got past the anti-air and machine guns would be engaged by the security force. The Captain grabbed his binoculars and scanned the skies. It was dark, but it was a full moon - he should be able to see the incoming flock. Suddenly, a shadow appeared against a distant explosion. An Illumination flare went up, rendering the approaching army clearly visible. It was enormous “Engage!” The order went out. The 4 inch AA guns started to open fire, shells exploding in mid air, knocking some pegasi out of the sky and merely singeing others. Unlike previous engagements, however, the army didn’t rout or retreat. They just kept on coming. As illumination flares continued to stream into the sky, the 2 inch Pounders, commonly known as “Pom-Poms”, opened up. These guns, though they fired smaller shells, had a fire rate of nearly two per second, far faster than their more powerful counterparts. Black clouds started to appear in the sky, thinning out pegasus numbers. As the flock approached the ship, the .50 Vickers machine guns opened fire, tracers following the bullets to the targets. It wasn’t enough. As ponies began to land on deck, the 30 man security force attempted to engage whatever targets they could, but there were simply too many to shoot. One by one, the men went down, and the air defence guns fell silent. In the bridge, the command level officers watched the scene unfold in horror. All of a sudden, a pegasus appeared at the window. He slammed his hooves down onto it multiple times, and cracks started spreading across it. BANG. The pegasus’ head exploded, and officers’ heads whirled to the source. A Webley Mk. 4 revolver sat smoking in Glennie’s hand. There was no time to react, however. More pegasi started to crowd the windows, and the captain cocked the weapon again. BANG. BANG. The window shattered, but the captain kept firing. BANG. BANG. BANG. He was out of ammunition, and the captain didn’t carry any spares. His crew was backing away from the approaching group of ponies, while looking for anything to use as a weapon. The Captain grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and prepared to whack a pony’s brains out. He knew he was going to lose, but he sure as hell wasn’t surrendering. As the Royal guards charged, he swung. The weapon slammed into the guard's helmet, producing a loud "Oof!" The momentum of the swing, however, caused the captain to lose his balance and fall onto his side.. A hoof slammed into his head, and he fell unconscious. The ponies, now unopposed, started to beat down the hatches, successfully opening them one by one. Ten minutes later, the main gun fired one final round toward the Equestrian barrier, then fell silent. New Years Day, 1940 Cherbourg, France Even during times of war, New Years was celebrated by all of the world’s nations. Although there was no official pact of non aggression or any signed treaty, the day was generally taken as time to relax from the stresses of war. This, coupled with the fact that the military port was very unlikely to come under attack, meant that the entire French land garrison at Cherbourg Naval Base was on holiday leave except for the tiny squad that had volunteered to remain behind. Sous-Lieutenant Aguillard put down his book and sighed, looking out of his window. He had volunteered to stay behind, jumping at the chance to command his own men for a change, but was now regretting the decision. Only four men in his squad had stayed behind, and they were now sitting at a table a little ways from him playing a game of cards. Adding insult to injury, standing regulations on contact between officers and enlisted men prevented him from joining in. Standing up, Aguillard stretched, joints cracking as he did so. Might as well check the other stations, the Lieutenant thought to himself. Leaving the room, he headed down the hallway to radio ops. Although communications was a different regiment and therefore under a different chain of command, only one man had stayed behind, and Aguillard had been left in charge of him as well. Peeking his head into the room, the Lieutenant caught sight of the operator snoozing in his chair, oblivious to the incoming chatter. The inexperienced officer hesitated in waking the man up - he knew that the unit had been undergoing some pretty rigorous training pending deployment to the Maginot line, and that he probably hadn’t gotten much sleep. Then again, what if some important transmission came in, and the man wasn’t awake to hear it? “Caporel,” he said in a low voice. The man snorted in his sleep. “Caporel! Corporal! Wake up!” The young radioman jolted awake. Realising where he was, he sprang from his chair to the position of attention. “Sous-Lieutenant!” he shouted, “I’m sorry for falling asleep, sir!” The officer nodded. “At ease,” he said, “I don’t see any reason to report this. Just don’t let it happen again.” The man relaxed back into his chair. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” he said. The officer turned to leave. Unbeknownst to both men, an urgent all stations message had been missed by almost half an hour. Aguillard headed back toward the enlisted common room. Although officers had their own designated area, it was decidedly lonely in there, and the Lieutenant had decided to join the enlisted men instead. Before he could reach his destination, however, a loud alarm began to blare from the mounted loudspeakers. An attack alarm? Now? The Lieutenant started to panic as his four men rushed out of the common room. “Lieutenant!” One of them shouted, “What’s the alarm?” The officer shook his head - better safe than sorry. “Get to the armoury! Full armament.” His men nodded and rushed off. Aguillard drew his personal Modèle 1935 pistol from his hip holster, holding it in front of him protectively. There was no time to get a more powerful weapon - his first priority was to get to the sentry towers and locate the source of the alarm. Exiting the headquarters building, Aguillard cringed as the frigid winter air slammed into him full force. Hurrying down the path, he scanned the perimeter for the source of the alarm. Coming up to the moderately tall tower facing the land, the Lieutenant opened the door and ran full force up the stairs. Coming to the top, he paused and looked around confusedly. Where was everybody? Looking out over the base, he caught sight of the shipyard and gasped. Swarms of pegasi had descended on the rows of ships, dive bombing the decks with mysterious balls of energy as the crew scrambled around like ants. Movement caught his eye, and the officer looked down to see his squad cornered by about a dozen pegasi. Apparently they hadn’t made it to the armoury, and were consequently unarmed. The Lieutenant had never felt so useless in his life. He had to do something, but what could he do? He glanced around for a weapon, and his eyes landed on the rifle lying against the wall. Rushing over to it, he picked up the MAS-36 rifle and aimed carefully down the iron sights. Catching sight of a teal pegasus with a needle in hoof, he took a deep breath. Calming his heart rate, his arm steadied and he focused himself on that one pony. The world slowed down as he pulled the trigger. The rifle slammed back into his shoulder as a dash of red appeared across the pony’s back. Blood spurted from the wound, and by the time the pony was on the ground Aguillard was already searching for another target. All of a sudden, he caught sight of one of the pegasi pointing a hoof toward his location. Half the group took off towards him. Crap. Hastily, the officer fired a shot at the lead pony, missing him by inches. Chambering another round, he tried to take aim again, only to find that the equine was zipping in and out of his visible range. Before he knew it, a blue ball of energy was flying over the balcony of the sentry tower. A soundless shockwave caused Aguillard to instantly collapse to the ground, his ears pounding heavily. As he tried to get up, his weapon was ripped from his grasp and he was violently turned onto his back. A green hoof slammed into his left arm, and the human screamed as a painful CRACK resonated from the wound. The face of a pony livid with rage shoved itself into Aguillard’s field of vision. “Did that hurt, human?!” The pony shouted, incomprehensible anger glowing from the pegasus’ eyes. “No? Well, how about this?” The pegasus gripped the broken arm and twisted it one hundred and eighty degrees. The human screamed even more. “You don’t like that so much, do you?!” “Thunder!” Another pony said sternly. “Release that human, now!” “He killed my bucking brother! He doesn’t deserve-” “Shut up, you stupid conscript! First law of war - you never harm a prisoner! Now release him before I have you arrested!” For a moment, the pony glowered at his superior. Reluctantly, he stepped back, still staring hatefully at the human on the ground next to him. Aguillard started to chuckle slowly. Looks like these ponies aren’t such saints after all, he thought to himself. Thunder, however, was infuriated by the laughter. “You think that’s funny?!?” He screamed, throwing himself at the prisoner before him. Two guards in golden armor grabbed him and pulled him back. “Restrain him,” the leader ordered, “and get that human converted.” A large guard approached the French officer, and the last thing he felt was the needle entering his neck. January 3, 1940 “The Copenhagen Conference” Copenhagen, Denmark “The Equestrians made a single, gigantic thrust into France along our Northwest coast - and we couldn’t stop them until they hit Paris. Our forces were simply overwhelmed by the Equestrian attack,” Prime Minister Daladier said, “And because of the nature of their attack, our enemy grows stronger as we grow weaker. We need help, gentlemen. The French can not do this alone.” For a moment, there was silence. The British Prime Minister spoke up. “Well, we’ll help out wherever we can - but the barrier has closed the gap between Ireland and England. We need to focus on securing our coast.” Daladier nodded. The German leader spoke up for the first time since they had gathered there. “Well, as tense as our relations have been, we’re willing to put that aside for now. After all, Germany is threatened,” Hitler said with an ugly look, “and we will crush the false ‘princess’. I have Panzer divisions and 3 companies of SS stationed at the border.” Daladier frowned slightly, but then sighed in resignation. “Hitler, as much as I hate to admit it, you’re right. If we are to survive this with our humanity intact we must band together against this foe. I will allow the passage of your forces into France, but not without full information on your troop movements.” Hitler nodded. “Than the full support of the Reich is now with you in this conflict, Prime Minister Daladier,” he said. “The US Navy is also prepared to mobilize and provide naval support,” Roosevelt said, joining the conversation, “We’re mobilizing the Atlantic fleet, and they’ll assist Britain in the bombardment of the barrier.” The newly appointed Prime Minister of Britain, Winston Churchill, nodded in agreement. After the devastating loss of the HMS Hood in an attack ordered by Chamberlain, the former Prime Minister had taken full responsibility and resigned. “And you?” Churchill asked the man next to him. The silent man spoke for the first time. “I... am not sure. I will have to consult with my government once I return,” Stalin said in a deep voice. Daladier nodded. “Right, gentlemen. I have the utmost confidence in these new alliances, and I thank you for being here.” He said. Nodding, the world leaders stood, shook hands, and took their leave.