Chapter 2: A New Blue, New Allies
June 6th 1944, 0700 hours
“Our only hope is fight our way down the beach. Big Ben you said we were the far right of the Allied force landing here, correct” I asked Big Ben. More rounds from Kar-98s and MG-42s flew around us. The air so thick with lead that looking at the battlefield would give you lead poisoning.
“Yes we are, but we have no supplies!” Big Ben yelled back in a heavy British accent. I looked out over the edge of the tank trap, seeing the Germane solders setting up a mortar.
“We need to move now!” I yelled back at him, trying to get control of the situation. “For two reasons. The first is that we have no supplies to defend with ether. The second is that there is a mortar getting set up over there. Now we are going to fight out of here!” I gathered my men and Fluttershy and said “Were fighting out of here. When I give the signal, throw grenades into the nests. Even if it doesn’t kill them it’ill damage the gun.” Everypony grabbed one of the few grenades we had left and lobbed them in the direction of a bunker. The fire stopped immediately as Germane solders ran from their cover, at the same time we did.
The sand on the beach was hard-packed from months, if not years of it being undisturbed by ponies. One blast from behind us. The then another, and so until all the lobbed grenade had detonated. By this point my squad was about a hundred yards down the beach from the Germane bunkers. I estimate because the shit storm that followed the grenade attack was incredibly intense. It felt like a whole machine gun platoon was firing on us. Sand was kicking up the beach in every direction. ‘Soon we’ll be out of range’ I thought.
We made it out of range of the bunkers and the Germane solder inside, but we still had the problem of making it to the next transport down the beach. We continued on our south-ward trek, on the watch for patrols. Oddly enough we only found a single one. It appeared over a sand dune and my ponies immediately took cover behind yet another beach obstacle. I waited for the rifle fire, which would spell our doom, trapping use between two hostile forces. We waited ten minutes and the fire never came. I peered out, over the cover, and saw they were looking at a damaged obstacle, about fifty yards from us.
I looked at my troops and said “When I give the signal we fire on them. Do you ponies understand?” They all nodded affirmative. I turned to Fluttershy and the asked “If anypony is hurt can you treat them?”
She looked back at me with her big blue eye and said “Yes sir.” quietly, but more confidant then before. Something had changed in her time with Ben’s detachment. I just couldn’t figure it out.
I then looked back at my troops. “Get ready.” I said, them shouldering their respective firearms, everypony having a M1 rifle except Big Mac, who had a Browning Automatic Rifle.
Then in a moment of clarity, time once more stopped. I was this point wondering if it would continue to do this when I fired on another pony. This time though, the world became unnaturally clear and sharp as well. The five solderers stood out in sharp contrast to the beach, cliffs, and landing obstacles.
“Fire!” I then hollered, and the rifles made their sharp cracks, shattering the quasi-silence that existed on the stretch of beach. The only sounds before the fire erupted was supplied the waves of the Channel and the fire of the guns onward. The small patrol, rather mercifully, didn’t have time to turn around. The patrol keeled over in pain and they dropped dead and wounded.
Moments later I ordered my troops. “Move now! Somepony probably heard that!” After less then a second, to confirm my suspicions, a pair of MG42s opened up from on top of the bluff at the beach. We were pinned down with no hope of escape. Again. For the second time in two hours we were pinned down by Gremane machine guns.
This time I had no plan. We were low on ammo and had no more grenades. The last daring escape used up the last of those supplies. At the same time my squad looked to me. To be fair, they had reason to. I had shown that I knew military strategy during training camp. That’s why they gave me my own squad. And they knew that. They saw me blank.
They knew that one of them was going to need to come up with a plan. Eight ponies wracked their brains for answers to the problem of getting out from behind the tank trap. Then Blueblood happened to glance at pilings that the Germane commander, General Field Marshal Erwin Rammel, a sheep, had sunk in to the beach with anti-tank mines on top to sink landing craft coming in at high tide.
“Big Ben, do you know any levitation magic?” asked the white unicorn.
“A little, why?” responded the second unicorn.
“Look at all the anti-tank mines there.” said the first unicorn, motioning at the pilings. “If we rip them off the pilings and hurl them at the Germanes we should break there bunkers.” he elaborated.
“Sounds like a good plan.” I chimed in. I figured we were about three miles from our lines, and we would need to hurry. Anymore skirmishes like this could end up using up the last of our ammo. By the time I looked back there were several AT mines around us. I looked at Blueblood and asked “Are you sure this will work?”
He nodded and said “If it doesn’t you can court marshal me.” He then turned to Ben and asked “Are you ready?” A sharp motion said he was. “Then let’s give them a lesson in artillery, unicorn style.” Then several mines began to glow gold and dark grey, and float off the ground. After a couple of seconds like that the mines were hurled at the MG nests, blasting holes it the concrete, and damaging the guns.
“Now run!” I hollered, the silence of the MG music to my ears. We once again took off down the beach, the sounds of the battle getting louder as we neared it. The cliffs had become much smaller now, little more then a small ridge now. We were about a half mile from the lines, off in the distance we saw artillery, aimed at our beachhead.
KABOOOM!
We all looked towards an artillery peace that was about two hundred yards from us and further inland. It was not there, replaced by a column of smoke. “Were going there!” I yelled to my troops. “The Germanes must be in retreat there!” We then diverted our course to the demolished gun.
It took moments to arrive at the gun, still a smoldering wreck. And instead of Amareican solders there were two mares running about the blown artillery. They looked at us as we walked into the clearing. Both were unicorns. One had a purple coat, and a long deep purple mane with both a pink and a lighter purple stripe in it. The second had a white coat with a long blue curly mane and similar tail. The purple one grabbed a revolver, a Smith and Wesson 200, from her belt and pointed it at us yelling “Stopp legen Sie Ihre Hände auf!” in what was clearly not a Germane accent.
The white one next to her said “Twilight, look their Amareicans.” as she pushed down the revolver.
“Sorry.” said Twilight, reholstering her revolver. “I didn’t know that anypony else was operating behind the lines.” She then walked up to us and said “But you don’t look like paratroopers. So what are you?”
“We are an Amareican infantry squad. Our LC was destroyed and and the only pony on the craft to survive not in my squad was Fluttershy here.” I said as I motioned to where she was standing.
“There’s nopony there.” responded the still nameless white unicorn. I looked where I was motioning to. She wasn't there. I looked around, worried that we lost her in the fighting. Then I saw her hiding behind Rainbow Blitz.
“She’s back there.” I then responded. “Now I have a question. What are you doing here?”
“We snuck in from Spain about six months ago. Since then we have been working with the Resistance. When they heard of the landings they dispatched us here to help.” responded Twilight.
“Well we need it. Can you come with us were going to try to bust through to the other side of the lines.” I then asked.
“I don’t see why not.” was her response.