//------------------------------// // Chapter IX: Invasion of Equestria // Story: World War Equestria // by brony at war //------------------------------// Chapter IX: The Invasion of Equestria [Appleloosa Army Camp, 2143 hours] August 5, 1003 Appleloosa, Equestria We arrived yesterday in the small farming town of Appleloosa, about 120 miles south of Ponyville. The first thing we noticed was that the area looked exactly like Africa. Sand and dirt everywhere, and not a natural-growing tree in sight. The 27th Armored Infantry Battalion was there too. They had brought a few tanks and halftracks along, so we felt pretty safe. For now. The first thing the new division commander, some Captain Ryan, had us do was constructing defenses. That meant digging. A lot of fucking digging. We dug foxholes, trenches, anti-tank ditches, emplacements, and more. The engineers laid mines and wire to the south and the west, and they started building a field HQ in town. I headed out to Braeburn's farm after we finished the day's work and told him his cousins said hi. He seemed to be a bit queer, but was altogether a cool guy. His farm had one hell of a view of the wasteland south of us, appropriately called the Badlands. I sent my letter out to AJ earlier today. I can't believe how much I'm already missing Ponyville. [From the journal of Corporal Burns] I set my journal and pen aside, looking around the five-man foxhole we now called home. The Sarge was on his back, eyes shut under his helmet. Vic was cleaning his machine gun, Schmitty was reading by the fire, and Brooklyn was out getting us our dinner. All around the lights of Appleloosa, small fires flared and lit up the cool night. As I began to lie down to get some sleep, I heard Brooklyn's voice break the relative silent night. He climbed down into our trench, holding five trays of food on his arms. "We got some hot chow tonight, guys." he said with a grin, passing the trays around. "What we got this time?" I asked as I received my own tray. "The townsfolk gave us some fresh fruit, salad, and dessert." he replied, pulling a box out of his pack. He opened it to find a fairly large pie sitting inside, still steaming. "What's this?" We all looked over to Schmitty, who was holding up some brown slop that was on all our trays. "Eh, some half-cooked meat the cooks threw in there." Brooklyn replied. The sergeant was already eating, along with Vic. I joined them and tried the meat, having my first bite of real protein in a year. The camp became quiet save for the sound of our forks scraping against the metal trays and the fire crackling as it burnt. Finally, Schmitty broke the silence. "Hey Sarge, what did they give you in the last war to keep you from getting it on?" We all looked at the Sarge, who had served in the final years of WWI. He took another bite and then looked up into the distance. "The same stuff you're chowing down on now. It's got saltpeter in it." At that, Brooklyn and Schmitty both stopped eating, setting down their trays. I started picking through the meat to see if I could find anything, and Vic hesitated, shrugged, and continued stuffing his face. The Sarge just kept eating at the same leisurely pace he always did. "Sergeant Adams, sir!" We looked up in the direction of the voice to see a green-looking private standing at attention. "At ease." the Sarge said. "What is it son?" "I'm a runner for the captain. Major Huebner's reinstating the blackout order for all forces. No more lights at night, sir." "Thanks for the info. Carry on." The private ran off into the night as the Sarge kicked dirt onto the fire, smothering it out and leaving us in the soft glow of Luna's moon, shining through the camo net we had over our heads. "Man, I was about to light a smoke." Vic said, returning to cleaning his rifle in the moonlight. "Life is tough, private. Get used to it." The sergeant laid back down and rolled over. "Get some sleep. I got a feeling we'll need it soon." We all took a piece of pie, leaving some for the Sarge for tomorrow, then went to sleep to the winds howling over the sands. [Las Pegasus Coastal Defensive Line, 0058 hours, August 6, 1003] "Good night for it, ain't it?" one of the guards on watch in the underground bunker said, taking a sip of coffee. "Yeah." his companion said, taking a quick look through his binoculars, failing to see the dark masses that slowly approached the shoreline. "Too bad the clouds are covering the moon, otherwise it would be a hell of a night." His buddy nodded in agreement and bent over to the radio, scanning through the stations. A distant boom made him stop and look up through the observation window. "You hear that?" "Yeah." They both put their binoculars to their eyes and scanned the water furiously, not seeing anything until… "INCOMING!" [Aboard the KMS Tirpitz] "Turn all main turrets to bearing 270, load high explosive." "Aye, Captain. Turning turrets to bearing 270, loading HE." The captain of the German battleship went out onto the observation deck on the port side of the ship, looking at the amassed fleet of German warships and the Germane transport ships. The coastline showed no sign of alarm yet, and the operation was about to continue. He saw that the cruisers nearby had readied their turrets, and two kilometers out to sea, the KMS Graf Zeppelin lie in wait for daybreak so she could launch her aircraft. "Captain, it is 0100 hours." The captain looked back at the weapons officer, who stood with the ship's radio to the gun turrets in hand. "Commence firing sequence." The massive 14-inch cannons on the battleship fired immediately, screaming their way to the target. As if in response, the cruisers joined in the firing, and the captain watched as the first shells hit the shoreline, throwing dirt into the air. "Transports, begin moving to land. Offshore bombardment will continue for another twenty minutes. Sight any muzzle flashes that appear." The invasion of Equestria was underway. [Las Pegasus Coastal Defensive Line, 0126 hours] "Ughh…" Corporal Hartmann shook himself awake. The bunker around him was in chaos, with flickering lights and rubble falling from the ceiling. He stood up and walked to a spot where the shell that had knocked him out had exploded. "Jesus Christ." The entire beach was crawling with German soldiers, who were easily making their way up the heavily cratered hills. "Fourteenth Infantry, fall back to secondary line!" The major's voice cut through the noise like a knife, and Hartmann began running from the thousands of Germans approaching the destroyed defenses. Up ahead, he saw movement. "Hey! I need a medic!" The shadows began to move towards him, then coalesced into a German soldier, who raised his rifle to his shoulder right before Hartmann unloaded his Colt's magazine into the guy's chest. He heard more movement in the bushes behind him, and turned to find an entire squad of Germans behind him. "Well shit." he said as the lead soldier fired his rifle. [Appleloosa Army Camp, 0512 hours] "Wake up Corporal! Get your sorry ass up!" I looked up to see the Sarge's face in mine. He yanked me up by the collar and handed me my rifle. I saw Schmitty shoving his boots onto his feet and Vic was wrapping as many belts of thirty-caliber ammunition as he could carry around himself. "Leave your shit. No one's going to take it." The sergeant jumped out of the trench and into a jeep, and the rest of us crammed in behind him. "What's going on, sir?" Schmitty asked as we high-tailed it to the defenses. "Can't say. No one really knows. We were just told to expect an attack from the Fourteenth in Las Pegasus. We don't have the equipment to get a message to Canterlot, so we sent the fastest pegasus in town." As he said that, we flew down the main street in town, bypassing Stuarts, M3s, and guys running on foot. The ponies were making themselves scarce, with only the mayor and the sheriff being the notable ones out. There was also a massive buffalo wearing some kind of Native American headdress. All were talking to the captain, not even glancing at us as we went by, racing to the defensive lines. "It's too quiet." I said, scanning the horizon. We were at the southern defenses, sitting in a HMG emplacement. Beside and behind us, the rest of Fox Company, augmented by some element of the 27th Armored Infantry, were waiting in the light of the slowly rising sun. There was a ridge about half a mile away that Jerry would have to crest if he attacked. "Steady men." The lieutenant had actually come out of his hole and was joining us in the battle, leading me to believe that he may not be an asshole like all other officers I knew. "We can hold them here, just be ready." "Brooklyn, get on that fifty." the Sarge said. "Vic, set your thirty up to cover the right flank. Hawkeye, get to those buildings and set up there with your rifle if you can." I nodded my head and fell back to the small group of abandoned, decrepit, buildings, looking for a good spot to set up. Finding one, I settled down in it and swapped my M1 for my Springfield, dialing in the scope. Not a second later, the first German soldier crested the ridge and opened fire. The immediate reaction for the poor guy was to be shot by every man in the trenches. Right behind him, thirty or so more appeared and took some cover behind the ridgeline. I put my crosshairs on one, then adjusted for the distance. I fired the rifle, which landed right next to the guy's head. The gunfire began swelling as even more German troops joined those already on the ridge. As I was about to shoot again, I heard an all-to-familiar noise, and the shout that followed it confirmed my fears. "PANZERS!" Three German Panzer IVs crested the ridge, accompanied by two armored cars. The Stuarts and M3s began firing from their emplacements, exchanging fire with the German tanks. I watched as a German infantryman ran up to one of them and pointed in my general direction. The turret of the tank slowly moved to face me, and I ran out of the buildings just before it fired, getting thrown to the ground by the force of the explosion and losing my helmet. I picked it up and ran back to where the squad was doing our normal routine of killing every goddamn thing in sight. Jumping into the trench, I immediately attracted the attention of the Sarge. "What the hell are you doing here? Get back to the fucking buildings." "No can do sir." I yelled over the firefight, jerking my thumb back the way I came. He looked back at the smoking wreck that had been my hiding spot, then nodded his head. "Well shit. Take over the fifty for Brooklyn. He's going to go make an ammo run. Schmitty, go with him." The two of them nodded and Brooklyn swiveled the fifty-caliber machine gun over to me. I took the handles and pressed down on the trigger button. "I haven't had this much fun since that last party we had!" I yelled out, spraying the ridgeline with rounds. While taking many of the enemy down, it had the problem of getting us noticed by one of the armored cars, which began taking potshots at us. It pulled itself so it was perpendicular to us, allowing Vic to put a shot right into its side with the bazooka. The Stuarts took care of one of the Panzers at the same time. The rest of the small enemy force started running, and our flyboys from the nearby airstrip gave them a good sendoff, taking care of the remaining tanks. "Fox Company, hold your fire!" The gunfire died down, leaving the sound of men groaning in pain and the roar of burning fires. Looking behind us, I saw that two halftracks and three Stuarts had been hit, and there were guys laying all around. We clambered out of the trench as the medic battalion came in to collect the wounded and dead, followed soon after by the arrival of Able Company to relieve us. "That was the 21st Panzergrenadiers, I think." I said, opening the can of K-rations that we had received for the day. "That was their emblem on the side of those support tanks." "Who cares?" Brooklyn stated, opening his own can. "We kicked their sorry asses back to the hole they came from. That's what matters." "Don't be so sure of that." the Sarge commented, eyes shut. "I doubt that's their only push. Now get to bed." We lay in silence before Brooklyn spoke up. "You think Bedcheck Charlie's going to come wake us up, Sarge?" We all snorted at Brooklyn's remark before the Sarge answered. "Eh, not tonight. But, give it a few days, some shelling, then yeah, he'll come by." I smiled at that, and shut my eyes, closing out the daylight. [Headquarters for the Armed Forces of Equestria (HAFE)/OSS Headquarters, 0642 hours] "Sir, we have a pegasus with a message for you from Appleloosa." Major Clarence Huebner looked up from his desk to see a lieutenant standing at his door. "Bring him in." he said, taking a break from the paperwork. He was working on promoting everyone nessecary into a more appropriate role, including himself. He needed the break and was curious as to what this pegasus would want. He wouldn't be surprised if it was another reporter. However, the pegasus that came in was gasping for air and looked about to collapse. The Major immediately pulled up a chair and offered the pony a glass of water. As strange as he still found the new place he and a good portion of the army had been thrown into, he was growing accustomed to the fact that there were talking, colored ponies in this world. The pegasus slowly began to recover, and stood up to talk. "Sorry sir. I just came from Appleloosa nonstop." "No worries. It must have been important, though, so what is it?" The pegasus pulled out a piece of parchment with something scribbled on it. He tossed it to the Major, who deftly caught it with his hand and opened it. Major Huebner, As of around 0530 hours this morning, elements of the 21st Panzergrenadier Regiment made a push on the defenses surrounding Appleloosa. Earlier, at around 0300 hours, a radio transmission from Las Pegasus was received, upon which we had found that German forces had landed there and were quickly pushing back the allied forces stationed there. It was also reported that they had no more long-range radio equipment, hence the reason this message is being received in this way. We request that additional armored forces be sent to Appleloosa if available, as well as more food, fuel, and ammunition. Captain Jay Ryan First Infantry Division, Sixteenth Infantry Regiment As the major finished reading, he put on his uniform jacket and yelled for the lieutenant, who promptly appeared. "Yes sir?" "I want you to take this gentleman to the barracks, and see that he is well taken care of until he is recovered and able to return home. When you finish that, inform the nearest Royal Guard that Princess Celestia's presence is requested in the operations room. Dismissed." The lieutenant saluted and left with the pegasus in tow, and the major followed close behind. The major observed the map in front of him, looking at the reported positions that he had received from the captain of the Sixteenth. Around him, his fellow commanders were arguing amongst themselves on what to do. Admiral William Halsey had already agreed to dispatch the fastest ships to the western seaboard, soon to be followed by the larger ones. Already, two submarines and three destroyers were out on patrol, with the Equestrian Admiral having sent out their own small, but useful fleet to look for native Germane ships. So far, no pony forces had been spotted, but he wasn't about to assume. That's what had caused Pearl Harbor after all. As he brooded over what to do, he heard a voice behind him say "You wanted to see me, Major?" He turned to see Celestia, escorted by two royal guards, waiting outside of the room. "Yes ma'am. A…situation has come up." The major extended a hand to his right as a sign for the princess to enter, which she did. She was one of the larger ponies, standing nearly eye level with the major. With her horn included, she was taller. "It seems that the Germans have successfully landed forces at Las Pegasus and are pushing inland. An attack was also made on Appleloosa, but the forces there managed to fend it off. We're sending reinforcements to both groups now." The princess looked about ready to incinerate the map in front of her, but calmed down and asked "Do you know how many?" "We believe it is safe to assume that at least a division has landed at Las Pegasus, so they are our first priority. As for Appleloosa, we believe that it is only a few regiments, which the Sixteenth can take care of for sure." The major pointed out the different lines on the map showing troop movements and such. "What of other places?" Celestia asked as she looked over to the eastern side of the map, where Baltimare, Manehattan, and Fillydelphia lied. Admiral Halsey responded first, saying "As you know, we have set Horseshoe Bay up as our primary naval base. We still have two of our light cruisers, some six destroyers, and a single submarine, as well as our battleship Missouri and carrier Enterprise, both of which should be returning from sea trials shortly." The admiral paused to walk around to the other side of the table, where he pointed out the route that the western fleet ships were taking. 'We already have two submarines and three destroyers operating in the west, soon to be joined by five more destroyers, a light cruiser, and a heavy cruiser. We will have a small battle group of three destroyers working in the sea between us and Germaniegh." "As that is, ma'am, we need an western port to keep our ships supplied with fuel, food, and ammunition, as well as repairs." The major pointed out. Celestia nodded and looked over the map at the coastline. "Vanhoover should be adequate, if you wish. It is far enough north to possibly render the range of your enemy's ships useless, and it's approaches are easily defendable. It is about 25 meters or so in depth, so I imagine that most of your vessels will work." She paused for a moment before a look of recognition dawned upon her face and she facehoofed. "Is something the matter?" the major asked. "No, I just happened to realize something. Something that could negate the range of the enemy, and possibly your own ships, should you accept." She looked up at the gathered commanders, all of which were looking at her. "Some time ago, a spell was made by Germane unicorns to eliminate the pollution caused by their factories. This spell also made their machines able to run on the infinite amount of magic in the atmosphere, which is turned into a liquid form upon the spell's usage. If you would allow, we can place this spell upon your ships and vehicles that use such mechanics, and this would allow you to go much longer without refueling, or even indefinitely, provide you have a unicorn nearby." "What would that take? For all the vehicles that we have like that, I remember it is something like…" The lieutenant commander consulted the list of units, slowly adding up the number of vehicles. "Over five and a half thousand vehicles." "Its quite a simple spell, really." Celestia countered. "The hardest part is simply learning it. Besides, my sister and I should be able to do it. If not, well, we can wait until out magic recharges, or get some of the more powerful unicorns to help." "That will be extremely helpful. Thank you for your help." The major saluted the Princess, who nodded her head in response. She then turned and walked out of the room, leaving the major to think over what to do. He sighed in defeat, then returned to his office. It was going to be a long week.