Once Celestia had stopped her steady stream of tears, Schlesinger crouched down in front of her. “I need a way to get back to Ponyville quickly.” He said. “I need to deliver orders to my men and pick a squad for the raid to rescue your sister.”
“I’ll send for a carriage.” Celestia said, summoning a piece of paper and a quill, scribbling something and then making it vanish again. “It will be in the main courtyard in 5 minutes.”
Schlesinger nodded. “Captain Schmitt, Lieutenant Krous. Remain here and monitor the situation. If the griffons make any kind of offensive movement, report it immediately.” He headed for the door and looked back at Celestia. “I suggest we keep this to ourselves, rumors of an oncoming war will frighten the population. Everyone in this room must be sworn to silence. You should also call a meeting with the leaders of any allied powers in the region, so they are present when we reveal the griffon treachery.”
“Yes.” Celestia said. “I shall. I shall also order Equestria’s military to move north and entrench itself just behind the border. If nothing else, it may act as a deterrent for griffon military incursions.”
Schlesinger nodded. “I will take my leave now, ma’am.” He headed for the door.
“I must go and comfort my student.” Celestia said, also standing. “Seeing me like that must have been hard for her.”
Once outside, Flash Sentry met him at the door. “Is it true sir? Are we really going to war?”
“No.” Schlesinger said. “At least not yet. Keep it to yourself, the last thing we need is spies finding out. Are you to take me to my carriage.”
“Yes sir.” Flash said. “It’s waiting in the courtyard.”
“Lead on then.”
As Flash lead Schlesinger out of the castle a door opened and a tall white unicorn stepped out and walked straight into Schlesinger, then dramatically fell on his rump.
“How dare you walk into me you filthy...” The unicorn started, then Schlesinger slammed the door in his face.
“Don’t have time for that.” He said, hearing the unicorn continue his tirade behind the door. “Lead on Flash.”
Flash winced. “You probably shouldn’t have done that, as much as most ponies will approve.”
“Why? Who was he?” Schelsinger asked.
“Prince Blueblood.” Flash said. “He’s petty and annoying and can cause you no end of trouble if he wants to.”
“Please, I’m a soldier. Petty politicians don’t bother me.” Schlesinger said.
“Very well sir.” Flash lead Schlesinger down into the castle forecourt where a carriage pulled by two Pegasi was already waiting. Schlesinger climbed into the back while Flash stood aside.
“Inform the Princess I will be returning with troops and will need another carriage.” He said to Flash.
“Yes sir.” Said Flash, who then turned and headed back into the castle.
“Please hold on sir.” Said one of the Pegasi pulling the carriage. “We’ve been instructed to get you to Ponyville post haste.”
“Very well.” Schlesinger grabbed one of the side railings and held on. The two pegasi started to trot before breaking into gallop and spreading their wings. The carriage slowly lifted off the ground and up over the castle ramparts.
The carriage thundered over Ponyville about half an hour later where it was met by Rainbow Dash. “Most of your soldiers are at Sweet Apple Acres.” She called over, before drop kicking a cloud almost straight up.
One of the pegasi pulling the carriage nodded to her and turned it towards a patchwork of fields on the southern edge of town. Upon close inspection, the fields turned out to be trees, apple trees if the red fruit was anything to go by, then again, with a name like “Sweet Apple Acres”, that was hardly surprising.
The carriage skimmed over the tops of the trees before setting down in an open area containing a farmhouse and a large barn. Several men who were meandering around the area looked up as the carriage descended and landed near the farmhouse. As Schlesinger climbed out, Sergeant Braun came out of the house and saluted. He was still in uniform, but lacking his M40 tunic and wearing a cap rather than his stahlhelm (helmet).
“Sir.” He said. “You’re back.”
“Yes.” Said Schlesinger, looking around. He noted the tip of the Tiger’s 88mm sticking out from the inside of the barn. “Something bad has come up, I need you to gather the 10 most experienced soldiers in the company.”
“Are we going to be fighting again Sir?” Braun asked.
“Perhaps.” Schlesinger said, quietly. “Keep it quiet. This is top secret. There are more carriages on the way to collect the ones chosen.”
“Yes sir.” Braun said. “I’ll find the men.”
“Howdy partner.” A voice shouted from across the yard. They both looked to see Applejack standing by the house. She walked over. “Didn’t expect to see you back here so soon.” Braun took his leave and walked away to find the men.
Schlesinger looked at Applejack. “The princess wanted to meet a few of my men, so I came to collect them.” He wasn’t a great lier, but it seemed to satisfy Applejack.
“So I take it you won’t be staying long?” She asked.
“Unfortunately no.” He replied. “I have to return to Canterlot with my men as soon as possible.”
“Sounds mighty fast for a social visit.” Applejack cocked her head at him.
Schlesinger looked towards Canterlot and noticed several specks closing in the distance. “Looks like our rides are coming.”
Braun returned with 10 men in tow. Two engineers, four riflemen, two machine gunners, the sniper and the medic. Most were slinging on their uniforms, buttoning up tunics or straightening their helmets and caps. They had bags with ammunition and weapons. The two machine gunners carried the heavy weapons over their shoulders and the engineers held the ammunition boxes.
They formed into a 2x5 formation. Braun saluted. “Sir, men reporting.”
“Very good.” Schlesinger said, looking over the men. Most of them were the older men, over 30, but there were a few young men among them. “Men. The princess wants to meet you, so fix your uniforms, weapons clean, helmets straight.” At that moment, 4 carriages came over the treeline of the farm and landed in the yard. “I suggest you hold on. Our rides are here.”
“We’re going to...fly sir?” One of the men asked.
“Yes.” Said Schlesinger. “Is that a problem?”
“No sir.” The man said, then mumbled. “I hate flying. I’m infantry, not fallschirmjäger.”
Schlesinger headed over to the chariots. “Alright, 3 men to a chariot. You too Sergeant.”
Braun looked up. “Me?”
“Yes.” Schlesinger said. “Lieutenant Krous needs a second in command.” The men piled into the chariots. Schlesinger, Braun and the sniper climbed into one carriage.
“Thank you for your hospitality Miss Applejack.” Schlesinger said. “But now I must take my leave.” The carriages took off and headed towards Canterlot.
“Come back soon!” Applejack waved and shouted after them. “I’ll have an apple pie waiting.”
Once they were out of sight of the farm, Braun looked to Schlesinger. “What exactly are we dealing with?”
“Invasion.” Schlesinger replied, the wind carrying away most of the sound. “A northern empire has kidnapped a member of Royalty. Its our job to rescue her.”
Braun nodded. “Why exactly are we getting involved in this? We do not belong to this nation.”
“I know.” Schlesinger said. “But from what I’ve seen of the Equestrian military, they’ll need all the help they can get, and the invaders may not be as kind to us as the Equestrians have been.”
Braun nodded. “I assume we’ll get our tactical analysis when we arrive sir?”
“We are not yet certain of the location of the royalty.” Schlesinger said. “Intelligence is being gathered as we speak.”
The rest of the journey was relatively quiet, most of the men looking down and enjoying the view. Celestia was waiting for them at the base of castle steps as the chariots descended and landed.
Schlesinger was the first to dismount. “Company, parade formation!” The men leapt from the chariots and formed into a single row in front of the Princess. The carriages left.
Celestia walked over and looked at the men from next to Schlesinger. “With your permission, I would address your men.” She said. Schlesinger nodded and stepped aside slightly.
Celestia looked at the men. “Soldiers, friends.” She began. “I have called you here, because I have heard that you are the best at what you do.” She took a deep breath. “What I am going to ask of you, I have no right to, but I ask you anyway. My sister has been kidnapped by a foreign power, and she now faces torture, and death. I ask...I beg you, rescue her. She has suffered enough. 1000 years in exile...” Her voice faded away, so Schlesinger took over.
“Any man who is willing to accept this mission, step forwards.”
There was a pregnant pause as the men looked from the distraught princess, then back at Schlesinger. Then, one man stepped forward. It was Braun. “I will not see innocents harmed for the sake of politics. War is one thing, but treachery is another.” The sniper, at the end of the row, stepped forward, followed by the two engineers, a machine gunner, and then the rest of the squad.
Schlesinger nodded. “Lieutenant Krous will be leading you on this mission. He is the ranking infantry commander. Now, go inside. You will find food and rooms are prepared for you. You are not to say a word of your purpose here. This is a top secret operation.”
Braun lead a salute, before taking the men into the castle, giving the princess a respectful girth. Schlesinger looked at her. “Do we have our source of intel?”
“We do.” Celestia said. “The guards caught them just north of Canterlot. There was a brief fight, but they were all brought in, alive.”
“Do we know who delivered the package?”
“Yes.” Celestia replied. “They gave him up to save their own feathered hides, but he won’t talk, and Equestrian law forbids us to torture him.”
Schlesinger thought. “Your highness, permission to be left alone with the prisoner.”
“What for?” Celestia asked. “His beak is locked shut.”
“Your highness, I am not an Equestrian citizen, and I’m technically not a soldier in your army. As such, I am technically not subject to your laws.”
Celestia caught on. “I can’t allow it.” She said. “It goes against everything Equestria is.”
Schlesinger looked at her. “Your highness, the only way we will get this information is if I beat it out of him. Otherwise your sister will die.”
Celestia looked away, thinking. “If anyone asks, I knew nothing about it.” She said, finally. “Dungeon corridor B, cell 6.” She slowly walked away.
Schlesinger made his way down to the dungeon, it smelled of damp and mould, exactly how he expected it to smell. It was dark, with the exception of torches on the walls. Almost all the cells were empty, but some were inhabited, the shades of ponies hiding in the darkest corners of their cells.
He followed the passage until he reached a door marked 6. There were two guards posted there. “Leave.” He said. “I would see the prisoner.” The two guards looked at each other, then realized that he would be there if the Princess hadn’t let him. One of them, a unicorn, lit his horn and section of bars vanished from the front of the cell.
“He won’t talk sir.” Said one of the guard as he turned to leave.
Schlesinger stepped into the cell and the bars rematerialised behind him. “We’ll see about that.”
“Just call when you want out.” The unicorn said. The two guards walked down the corridor and around the corner. Schlesinger faced the griffon. All four legs were chained, strapping it to the wall. It eyed him with a mocking glare.
“Is this all the Equestria can send.” The griffon mocked. “Are you going to chat me to death? Hug me into submission?” He chuckled quietly.
Schlesinger moved closer and made a show of slowly removing his right glove. He looked down at his hand, then slowly curled it into a fist. Before the griffon knew what had happened, that same fist had clubbed him across the face. The griffons head whipped sideways and his eyes rolled slightly, but quickly settled again on the soldier.
“You can’t do that.” He said, shakily. “Equestrian law forbids it.”
Schlesinger grabbed the griffon just under the chin with his left hand and dragged its head down slightly to look it in they eyes. “I’m not Equestrian.” Then he struck, four times in quick succession his fist connected with the griffon’s face. When he pulled back, the griffon spat a globule of blood on the floor and smirked. “You’ll have to do better than that.”
Schlesinger pulled his Luger, pointed it at the griffon’s left hind leg, and fired. The bullet shattered the griffon’s knee, and the weight of the griffon’s body threatened to snap the leg completely. The griffon howled in pain, unable to do anything about it. He partially lifted the broken leg to take the weight off it, now putting his full weight on his right hind leg.
Schlesinger pointed the gun at the griffon’s right paw and looked him dead in the eyes. “If I shoot you there, your right leg will give out and your left will snap.” He said, coldly. “Unless you tell me what I want to know.”
The griffon shuddered, tears dribbling from his eyes, but nodded.
“Where is Princess Luna.” Schlesinger demanded.
The griffon hesitated. “Please, I can’t. They’ll kill me.”
“I’ll kill you!” Schlesinger shouted, he raised the gun and put it to the griffon’s head. “I’m giving you 5 seconds to start talking or I’ll paint that wall behind you with your brains.”
“She’s in Gryphus, she’s in Gryphus!” The griffon shouted. “Transferred, yesterday to await execution.”
Schlesinger pushed the gun a little harder into the side of the griffons head. “Where in Gryphus?”
“The palace.” The griffon gasped. “She was to be punished for her impudence, and to show that our Emperor is a real god.” Schlesinger drew back, then pistol whipped the griffon once.
“You’re lucky I’m in a good mood.” He turned to leave, and saw Celestia standing outside the cell, her face impassive.
“Your highness.” Schlesinger said. “I was not expecting you.”
“Yes, well.” Celestia said, looking at the wounded griffon. “I must say you did a good job, even if I do not agree with your methods. She lit her horn and the cell door materialized to let him out.
Just as Schlesinger stepped out of the cell, the griffon found a hidden reserve of courage. “That whorse will die, as will you, false god! Long live the Emperor!” He shouted at Celestia.
Celestia’s horn began to glow brighter, but Schlesinger beat her to it. He raised the Luger and fired. The bullet struck the griffons right ankle, breaking the bone and causing the leg to give out. The griffons cry of pain became a scream of agony as his already broken left leg was snapped and twisted roughly. The cell door reappeared, muting any of his cries.
“Sound proof spell.” Celestia said.
“You better find him a medic.” Schlesinger said. “We have what we need.”
“Yes.” Celestia said. “But now we have a whole new problem.”
“What is it?” Schlesinger asked.
“Gryphus is the capital of the Griffon Empire, and the King’s seat of power.”
Schlesinger thought as they left the dungeon and Celestia told the guards to find a medic for the prisoner. “This is going to take some planning. The odds are pretty heavily against us though, in a manner of roughly 1000 to one. We can take 50 to 1, maybe even 100 to 1 with a little intel and support. But this is going to take some very careful planning.”
“Do you have a plan?” Celestia asked.
“The beginnings of one.” Schlesinger said. “Do you have a private room we can gather in to discuss?”
“My private library.” Celestia said. “Soundproof and intruder proof. It should be perfect.”
“Very well.” Schlesinger said. “Can you have someone send word to Krous, Schmitt and Braun to meet there?”
Celestia conjured a piece of paper and a quill, wrote something on it, then magicked it away again. “I have send them directions. They should meet us there.”
“I don’t know.” Krous said, looking at a map of Gryphus that Celestia had produced. “The men aren’t really trained for this.”
“A ground assault won’t work.” Schlesinger said. “We don’t have the numbers to attempt one anyway, its the only choice we’ve got.”
“Does Equestria even have the assets we need to conduct this operation.” Schmitt asked.
“Yes.” Celestia said. “And if it doesn’t, I will have them made.”
“So lets go over the details again.” Schlesinger said. “We take a zeppelin, load it with troops, and, using a mix of magic and natural weather conditions, sneak through the enemy lines to their capital. From there, the men jump and parachute down to the palace, landing on the roof. From there, you move through the palace, killing every dumb bastard stupid enough to stand in your path. Kill any targets of opportunity, gather any intel you can find, and rescue the princess. Then return to the roof where the zeppelin will be waiting for pickup.”
“A lot of things can go wrong.” Braun said, looking at the map. “But if we deploy right, we shouldn’t have too much trouble.”
“Then its settled.” Schlesinger said. “The infantry under Lieutenant Krous leaves as soon as we are prepared. Please find us a zeppelin your highness.”
“It will be done.” Celestia said. “You will have the best pilot and the best equipment Equestria can provide. I will buy you time by initiating diplomatic meetings with our allies.”
Schlesinger nodded and looked to his men. “Prepare yourselves, this is going to be a long fight.”