//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: The Panzer Lehr // by Celestial Knight //------------------------------// Twilight thundered into the Palace courtyard and up the main street into the festival, causing the few Germans who had remained there to look over. “Where is Krous?” She called to them. Most of them just shrugged and resumed checking their weapons and distributing ammunition. “Over here.” Called a voice. Twilight looked over and saw one of the Germans on the other side of the courtyard waving his cap at her. She ran over. “You are Lieutenant Krous, correct?” She asked. “Yes.” He responded. “How can I help you.” “Colonel Schlesinger sent me, I require one of your men.” Said Twilight. Krous nodded. He looked over to the men who were standing around the square and picked out one. “Private Kohler.” One of the men carrying an STG assault rifle shouldered his weapon, ran over and gave a crisp salute. “Sir.” “Go with miss Sparkle, follow her orders and protect her at all costs.” Kohler saluted again and turned to Twilight. “Your orders?” He asked. “I’m looking for a heart shaped Crystal that is the fair centerpiece.” Said Twilight. “It’s of utmost importance that it is found.” She glanced around the courtyard. Her eyes caught on a gleam of sunlight reflecting off the palace. She smiled broadly and began to trot towards it with Kohler beside her when a voice stopped them. “Twilight, take me with you.” Spike ran up to the pair. “No Spike.” Said Twilight. “I need to find the Crystal Heart myself, the rules of Princess Celestia’s test say so.” “But what about him?” Spike asked, pointing at Kohler. Twilight was about to argue that he was there to protect her but realized that she didn’t have time. She turned sideways. “As long as you promise not to lift a claw to help, hop on.” Spike gave a very cheesy smile and jumped on Twilights back. She took off at a full gallop towards the castle, Kohler following close behind. She didn’t slow for the stairs, but took them at full speed, racing up into the throne room. By the time Kohler caught up, Twilight was already tearing around the room, searching every corner for any hiding places. Kohler looked up, straightened his helmet, adjusted his rifle and spoke. “Why would it be here? Its the most obvious place.” Twilight looked up from her search. “The crystal ponies wouldn’t have dared come in here while Sombra was around, its the most logical place. Only problem is, it doesn’t seem to be here.” Spike looked around. “Maybe we’re going about this wrong. Sombra was a unicorn, maybe he used magic to hide it?” “No Spike.” Said Twilight. “If there was any dark magic here I would have detected.....it.” Her eyes had caught on a large crystal structure situated just behind the throne. “What’cha looking at Twi?” Asked Spike. Twilight turned. “This place has changed since Sombra controlled it.” “And?” Asked Kohler. “Watch.” She turned and pointed her horn at the crystal structure. She closed her eyes and her horn began to glow a sickly green. Her eyes snapped open and they too were green with black smoke flowing like a bad mascara. She released a single blast of dark energy before letting the spell fade. The shot hit the crystal, which immediately turned black and began shedding a shadow across the floor, revealing a hidden stairway. Twilight smiled. “Both of you stay here. I’ll call if I need help.” Kohler nodded and unslung his STG, pulling back the cocking lever. Twilight trotted off down the stairs. About a minute later she called up. “I think I found it.” From that point on there was not a peep from the hole for over 5 minutes. “Do you think she’s alright?” Asked Spike. Kohler shrugged. “She said she would call if she needed help.” They sat for another few minutes. Spike stood up. “It’s been too long. I’m going down there.” Spike took off down the stairs. “Hey, wait a....Oh fine.” Kohler set off after him, being carful not to trip down the narrow stairwell. By the time he reached the bottom Twilight was hugging Spike close. “What happened?” He asked. Twilight pointed to a door in the corner. “That door has a dark magic spell on it. Anyone who opens it will be shown their worst fear.” Twilight mumbled. “But i’ve fixed it so it should be safe to go through. She pushed the door open and trotted through. “What’s out there Twilight.” Spike asked. She sighed and turned back. “Stairs, lots and lots of stairs.” Kohler looked out and up at the never ending staircase. One word came into his head. “Scheise.” On the surface things were beginning to get desperate. Cadence’s magic was faltering and some of Sombra’s magic had infiltrated the shield. The buildings on the outskirts were slowly being turned to black crystal. The crystal ponies had begun to notice the changes and were flocking to the castle court yard. High above on the castle balcony, Schlesinger watched as the protective shield began to flicker in and out of existence. He turned to Shining Armor. “That shield isn’t going to hold much longer. With your permission, I would like to start setting up defensive positions.” “What exactly are you planning?” Asked Shining. “A machine gun pillbox on this balcony, a sniper higher up the castle, another machine gun in the courtyard and vehicles and infantry hidden in the side streets. They can jump out and give Sombra a nice surprise.” Although Shining didn’t understand half of this he understood the tactical deployment. He nodded. “Do what ever you deem necessary to defend the Empire.” Schlesinger nodded. There were several loud gasps from below and he looked over the railing. The covering had fallen off the crystal heart, revealing it to be a fake. Shining looked over behind him. “What happened?” He asked. Schlesinger looked over at him. “Trouble happened.” He mumbled. Many floors up.... Spike gasped for breath as he stumbled up the stairs. He finally stopped and looked up. Directly above him was Twilight, still climbing, slightly behind her was Kohler who was also slowing down. “This could be another of Sombra’s tricks. I mean, he makes a door, that leads to your worst nightmare, how about a staircase that doesn’t end.” Spike grumbled. “This is getting rather pointless.” Kohler mumbled. “And your not carrying 60 pounds of gear.” Twilight looked up at the never ending staircase, then back down at how far they had come. She thought for a moment and then an idea snapped into her head, she teleported back down to Spike and Kohler walked down a few stairs. “Hold onto me.” She said. Spike wrapped his arms around her neck and Kohler rested a hand on her shoulder. Twilight cast a spell and it slowly traveled down her body and onto the others. They all began to hover, then flipped over and dropped onto the flat underside of the upper stairwell. “What happened?” Shouted Kohler as they began to slide. “Gravity reversal spell.” Twilight called back. “I was prepared for this.” The group slid for a few minutes before emerging into a chamber, the spell faded and they all dropped to the floor. Kohler was up first, running to retrieve his assault rifle which had slid across the floor and sweeping the room for hostiles. Finding none, he lowered it. “Is this it?” He asked. Twilight was staring towards the center of the room where a crystal in the shape of a heart was suspended in thin air. “This is it.” She whispered, taking a step towards it. The tile below her hoof began to glow black and suddenly a ring of black appeared around the heart. Twilight looked down and made a dive for the heart, only to just knick it. At the same time a wall of black crystal burst from the floor around her and the heart ricocheted out of her reach. Spike watched on from nearby. “Twilight, you ok?” He called. “Yes, i’m fine. Hang on.” She tried to teleport out but a strand of dark energy seized her and threw her back into the prison. “How could I have been so foolish.” She said to herself as she tried to find a manual way out, to no avail. “You have to find a way out. If you don’t deliver the heart, you’ll fail Celestia’s test.” Spike said as he stepped back to avoid some shards of dark crystal sprouting from the floor. Kohler turned his assault rifle around and give the crystal prison a hard whack. A piece broke loose and fell to the floor only for another to replace it. Outside, there was a loud howl and snow began to fall. The shield gave one last defiant flicker, before giving out for good. Sombra began to move in. Twilight looked through a gap in the prison and her expression hardened. “You need to take the heart to the fair.” “But Twilight, you...” Spike began. “Go!” shouted Twilight. Kohler picked up Spike with one arm, the Crystal heart with the other and stepped out the window onto the narrow ledge outside. Panic began to spread among the Crystal ponies as Sombra began his advance, most huddled together in a fearful knot under the protection of the Palace, others were running about in fear. Schlesinger ran to his Tiger, which was parked in a side street. He put on his headset and switch to an open frequency. “All units engage, engage, engage.” He shouted over the noise of the howling wind and screaming ponies. With a loud roar the Tiger’s engine came to life and the tank jerked forward into the main street. Schlesinger glared down the road towards Sombra, who was slowly walking towards the palace. “Turn turret 90 degrees, elevation 22.3, load H,E.” There was a loud clank as the 88mm shell was loaded into the breach. “Gun loaded sir.” Said the loader. At the other end of the street, Sombra began to laugh. “You think your metal wall can stop me, I could cast it aside like....” “Fire!” Shouted Schlesinger. The gunner pulled the trigger. There was silence for a moment, then an almighty blast as 3.5 inches of steel left the barrel of the Tiger’s gun in excess of 300 miles per hour. It slammed into the ground just in front of Sombra and blasted him back. “Hit.” Shouted Schlesinger. What he wasn’t ready for however, was Sombra standing up after the blast, magic sealing his wounds. “You fools.” He roared. “I will destroy you all.” He pointed his horn at the Tiger and began charging a spell. “Reverse.” Shouted Schlesinger. Sombra released the spell just as the huge vehicle began to back up. It slammed into the forward armour of the tank, but ricocheted off and turned a nearby vendors stand into cinders. Sombra looked slightly taken aback. There were 3 loud cracks of rifle fire, followed by a staccato burst of sub-machine gun fire from the opposite side of the street. Several soldiers had taken position there and were firing at Sombra. Sombra stumbled as he took the bullets, then turned his horn to face them. The soldiers dove behind their building just as Sombra released the spell. It obliterated the front of a store but no one was injured. The halftrack stuck its nose out from behind a house a block behind Sombra. He didn’t even have time to turn before the forward gunner drilled a five second burst from his MG-42 into his back and the halftrack reversed clear. Sombra whirled around just in time to see the Puma fly past at full speed, its main gun spat a single shot before it was out of sight again. The shot missed and hit one of the houses near Sombra, sending a blast of shrapnel outwards. Soldiers in various positions up and down the street began to alternate fire on Sombra, first a squad of 5 near the end of the road opened fire with rifles, then one of the MG34 teams fired from an upstairs window of a town house. The front window display of a large store was obliterated as Sombra exchanged a flurry of bullets and magic blast with two soldiers armed with MP-40s hidden behind the shop counter. They quickly scurried out a back door. Sombra continued to gain ground no matter what the Germans threw at him. Even a surprise roadblock caused by a chimney falling into the street didn’t stop him as he thrust the rubble aside with a flick of his horn. In the Tiger, Schlesinger was throwing a shell casing out the hatch in the turret when Schmitt’s voice came through his headset. “We can’t hurt him sir. Everything we throw at him bounces or does no damage.” “All units fall back to the palace. We’ll buy you some time to reorganize.” Schlesinger replied. “What are you going to do sir?” Asked Schmitt. Schlesinger gave a small smirk. “We’re going to bring the house down.” He smacked the turret of the Tiger twice. “Forward, gunner, traverse turret 98 degrees left. Load H.E.” Sombra watched the Tiger roll to a halt. “You cannot defeat me, I am eternal.” He began charging his horn. “Fire!” Shouted Schlesinger. The great gun spoke again, this time finding its mark in the ground level of a taller building to Sombra’s left. The entire structure swayed before collapsing into the street and burying him under a pile of crystal rubble. “That’s got him.” Schlesinger said triumphantly as the tank began to drive back towards the main plaza. He lifted his microphone and spoke. “Tiger to Puma, come in.” “Puma here.” Came Schmitt’s reply. “Is the sniper in position?” Asked Schlesinger. “Yes sir.” Said Schmitt. “We found a scoped Gewher 43 in one of the trucks.” “Good. Tell him to aim for Sombra’s horn, that will stuff him up for a bit. We’re coming into the plaza now.” The massive tank thundered into the square and took up position next to the Puma. The infantry had spread out around the square to protect the crystal ponies, who huddled in groups under the legs of the palace. There was a loud roar and shards of crystal flew into the air. Sombra marched angrily into the plaza. “You have meddled in my affairs for the last time creatures. He lowered his horn, pointing it at the Tiger. There was a single loud crack from high above and Sombra gave a loud howl of pain. His horn had shattered with the impact of the bullet fired from a Gewher 43. “Hey up here!” Came a call from above. Everyone looked up to see Spike and Kohler standing on a precarious ledge formed out of black crystal. “I have the crystal heart!” Sombra recovered at the sound of this. “That is mine!” He roared, lunging upwards and forming a tower of crystal below him as he gained altitude. Spike began to run down a path formed by the black crystal as the troops below him opened fire. Sombra ignored the bullets, keeping his attention on the heart in the dragon's grasp. Then it all went wrong. Spike stumbled, lost his grip on the heart and tumbled over the edge. Sombra smirked and prepared to shatter the heart. On the balcony of the palace, Shining Armor hoisted up Cadence. A small flash from the heart reflected in her eyes as she spread her wings. Then, much to the bewilderment of most of the soldiers on the ground, Shining hurled her upwards towards Spike. She caught the Crystal Heart in her magic and Spike landed on her back leaving Sombra wondering what had happened to his prize. Cadence landed, smashing the fake heart which had been discarded on the ground. “The Crystal Heart has returned, use the power and love within you to ensure that king Sombra does not.” She tossed the Crystal Heart into the center of the plaza where it came to hover between two shards of crystal. One by one, the Crystal ponies bowed low to the ground and the street below their hooves began to glow. “No, stop!” Shouted Sombra from above, but it was too late. A shockwave blasted outwards from the Crystal Heart, turning all that it touched to crystal and expelling Sombra’s influence from the Empire. “NO!” Sombra shouted as his body disintegrated and he was blasted out of the Empire. Cadence took flight once again and landed on the balcony where she was embraced by Shining Armor. Spike looked up to where he had left Twilight and Kohler. Kohler tossed him a thumbs up while pulling himself through a window. Even higher above, Twilight gave a relieved sigh. “Good job Spike.” Amid the cheering ponies and soldiers, Schlesinger raised his cap and wiped his brow. “That was too close.” He muttered. He climbed down from the Tiger then up to the balcony where Cadence and some of the other ponies stood. Shining Armor turned to face him. “On behalf of the Crystal Empire, I would like to extend our deepest gratitude. without the efforts of you and your men, Sombra would have over run the Empire long before the heart was discovered.” Schlesinger bowed his head. “A pleasure to be of service.” Cadence still stood at the balcony, waving to her subjects as the cheered their victory. Little did she know that in a dark corner of the courtyard, something dark was lurking, and was very angry. A small shard of dark crystal emerged from the ground. Very sharp and about the length of a spear head. It angled itself towards the balcony where Cadence stood. “If I am to die, then you will come with me.” Growled Sombra. The crystal lurched forward at high speed. There was a quiet ‘schick’, then the sound of something shattering. “What was that?” Asked Schlesinger and Shining Armor at the same time. Schlesinger leant back into the corridor of the castle. “Probably just a crystal breaking.” He said, then leaned back onto the balcony. There was a scream. Rarity, who was also standing on the balcony was pointing at the floor. Schlesinger followed her pointing hoof and saw a river of blood flowing across the balcony. He followed it to his source. Two thick rivulets of blood were flowing from Cadence's sides, she was hunched over, blood flowing from her mouth. She began to fall back. “Oh my God.” Schlesinger lunged forward and caught her. He looked at the locations of her wounds. “Double lung puncture, get a surgeon up here!” He shouted. Shining armor crouched by her, wrapping her neck in his hooves and holding her close to him. “Don’t go my love, we can save you. We can fix you up.” Tears were flowing from his eyes. Cadence tried to say something but all that came out was a spray of blood. She weakly raised a hoof and caressed Shining’s face. She gave a rasping cough and her body fell limp in their arms. Her crystal tiara fell from her mane and shattered against the ground. “No!” Shining gave a long, drawn out wail before collapsing and sobbing holding her close to him. “Please don’t go, please don’t leave me! Come back, please come back!” He sobbed. Schlesinger kept his arms to her sides, trying to keep as much blood in as possible. “Where the hell’s that fucking surgeon!”