//------------------------------// // Chapter VI: A New Reich // Story: World War Equestria // by brony at war //------------------------------// Chapter VI: A New Reich "All of us, who are members of the Germanic peoples, can be happy and thankful that once in thousands of years fate has given us, from among the Germanic peoples, such a genius, a leader, our Fuhrer Adolf Hitler, and you should be happy to be allowed to work with us."-Heinrich Himmler [Canterlot Castle] As soon as we arrived at the Canterlot train station, an escort of both Luna's and Celestia's guards led us to the castle without going through the main thoroughfare. We had brought our pistols with us as some sort of insurance, as Celestia had sent another letter saying that we weren't allowed to come as if we were going to battle. Probably a good thing too, if what we were thinking was true. When we arrived at the castle, Luna was standing in the entrance hall, waiting for us. "Good, thou art here. Our sister is waiting. We wish not to leave her alone." she said swiftly, nodding at Vic as he looked at her. "Language, Luna." he stated. "We are sorry, but now is not the time to fuss over the way I speak. We need your immediate assistance." As we turned down yet another hallway, we began to hear yelling, which became increasingly clearer and familiar as we approached a set of doors. "Ich verlange, dass Sie uns freie Hand geben, um Germanniegh Grenzen zu erweiten!" a voice yelled through the door, obviously German. "What're they saying, Schmitty?" the Sarge asked. Schmitty listened to the shouting for a moment before answering "No clue. They're speaking too fast for me." When we reached the door, Luna opened it and we walked in, seeing Celestia and two royal guards facing off against three men with their backs turned to us, who I assumed were the Germane dignitaries. Celestia looked up, a small smile gracing her tired face as she saw us. "Ahh, these are my friends from Ponyville. Mr. Adams, it's good to see you." "Likewise, ma'am." the sergeant replied. The figure facing Celestia turned around and observed us as we immediately pulled out our pistols and aimed it at the all-too-familiar face. "Adolf mother-fucking-Hitler." Vic said as the insane dictator smiled, something that would probably give me nightmares. This was a man responsible for millions of deaths, and facing down the barrels of five American Colts, and he had the tenacity to smile? "Americans, hmm? It would do you well not to shoot me." he said, his smile continuing to grow. "Sit, we must exchange stories." His two guards, SS by the uniform, had trained their submachine guns on us, looking as emotionless as the royal guards usually did. The air was silent and tense as both parties stood off, and we finally holstered our weapons and went to stand with Celestia and Luna on the other side of the table. "So, I must ask how it is that you are here, mien dear sergeant." The sergeant remained stony as Hitler asked the question, refusing to dignify it with an answer. Celestia took the hint and sighed before saying "Chancellor…" She was immediately cut off as Hitler said firmly "Fuhrer, Princess. There is a difference." Glaring at him for the interruption, she continued rather forced. "My sister and I cannot accept those terms. Germanniegh has already received as much financial help as we could give, and our few dragon and griffin allies assisted in that. We also cannot allow you to forcefully expand your borders, and that is final." Hitler grunted, muttered something under his breath, and smiled once more. I heard Brooklyn gag behind me, nearly causing me to miss the next part of the conversation. "Are you very sure? Princess, it would do you well to help us." "Is that a threat?!" Luna asked dangerously. "Nien. Only a precaution. Why ever would I threaten such a wunderbar place as yours?" Hitler winked at us, nearly making me hit him. "Well, then, just realize that we are not helping any more than we already have." Luna said, calmer but obviously not happy. "Then this talk is over. It was nice doing business with you, but I must be returning to Germanniegh immediately." He and his two SS guards walked out of the room without another word, escorted by multiple royal guards to show the way. [Four hours later] "Tia, you should not have put up with that human's disrespect!" Luna was currently arguing with Celestia as they led us to a more private area. "I understand that Luna, but he came under a protected visit." Celestia said. "What could I have done?" "I'm sorry, Princess, but I have to agree with Princess Luna on this." Vic said, and the rest of us nodded. "Why is that? Do you know him?" she asked, looking back at us. "Personally, before today? No." the Sarge responded. "But this man is a ruthless dictator that cares little for anyone he sees as inferior, and has had millions of executions carried out against those people, started a war that has so far killed millions more, and now he's here. It all adds up to a massive shitstorm, excuse the language." Both Princesses' eyes were wide, and they had stopped. Even the guards in the area were looking at us with faces of mixed surprise and horror. Celestia quickly led us into a side room, shooing out the startled pony inside. "Art thou-sorry. Are you sure of this?" Luna asked. We all nodded, before Brooklyn asked "What's that 'Germanniegh' they were talking about? Because that sounds way too much like Germany." Celestia promptly had us sit down as she launched into a history lesson. Great. Now we know where Twilight gets it. "Germanniegh was founded by an Earth pony called Chancellor Puddinghead, who migrated here to the land that was to become Equestria and helped form the government." With her magic, she conjured up a silent movie that played behind her as she continued. "When he had settled down along with the other two founders, Commander Hurricane of the pegasi and Princess Platinum of the unicorns, he returned to Germanniegh temporarily to hand over the title of Chancellor. It was given to his juvenile son, who reigned for some time in peace and prosperity, as we do now." "However, over time, discontent grew within the Germane group of ponies, which grew when they industrialized their nation." "Industrialized?" Schmitty asked. "How'd they manage that?" "They found that they sit upon a large deposit of numerous resources such as coal, iron, and oil, as well as much more." Luna provided. "They built factories by the hundreds, and began to produce new objects to export, and began to grow. However, the wealth and power was shared by a select group of ponies, while the lower classes starved. Many of them disagreed with the industrialization anyway, and a civil war erupted." I noticed Brooklyn had nodded off, and slapped him upside the head, causing him to look around wildly. "Pay attention, Sleeping Beauty." He glared at me before turning back to the lesson. "It lasted for three years, ending just before your arrival here in Equestria." Celestia continued. "The results were horrible: thousands were dead, the economy shattered, and entire cities ruined. It was agreed that the newest chancellor could stay in power as long as he helped his subjects, and he did. But shortly after, they ran out of money and we, along with the griffins and even the dragons, helped relieve some pressure, but the government became corrupt and it started again." I began realizing how similar this sounded to the history of Germany, and I could see some of the squad making the same connections. "About six months ago, we received word that the government was overthrown and a new one set up, but we did not take action until this day." Celestia took a huge breath and sat down rather heavily. "That sounds almost exactly like the Germany from home." Schmitty said. "Yup." Vic replied simply. Seeing her sister was disabled at the moment, Luna asked "So what shall we do?" "Nothing, I guess.' the sergeant replied. "Hope that they don't pull anything that we don't like." "He would do it anyway Sarge." Brooklyn said. We all went silent, thinking about that. "I think that our business here is done." Celestia said, breaking the silence. "We will call on you should another problem arise. Until that time, you should return to Ponyville." We all nodded, and together, with Luna following us for a visit, we made our way down to the train station and got on.