Britannia
England
London Nautica
Royal Hanger
6:00am
Emperor Theo slowly entered the observation room that was directly connected to the Royal Hanger. He was wearing his decorated royal blue uniform with gold epaulettes on either shoulder; his chest bore a number of medals. A 1914 Star, a Britanian War Medal, an Arctic Star, numerous war medals, a Victoria Cross, a George Cross, an order or merit, just to name a few. On the other side of his chest was a golden aiguillette that was perfectly braided with no fringe. His fur drastically contrasted the uniform, it was pure snow white with no blemishes or tangles.
The observation room was fairly large and filled with a number of control panels covered with flickering lights, switches, and even a few levers. The room was currently dark, due to the heavy metal retractable shutters on the windows. In the center of the observation room was a tea table set up with a fresh sterling silver pot of tea, a bowl of sugar, and a plate of pastries. He slowly sat down at the small cherry table in the rich brown chair.
His pointed ears twitch as he heard the opposite door as it open, revealing Helene Von Zeppelin. She was a lovely German Pinscher who wore a beautiful long fur coat made from polar bear furthat was as white as he was, with a mink fur scarf. One could only just see her ankles and her high heels as she entered and sat down. Her eyes centered on him, and her lips curled into a soft smile.
"Greetings my Emperor. I pray that your trip to the London Nautica from the Citadel was enjoyable." She says as she pours him a cup of tea before pouring herself some as well.
"It was as enjoyable as it could be, I suppose... You told me that you have been working on a new design?" He asks, looking at the metal shutters.
"Yes my Emperor. I thank your for allowing me to continue my father's work." She said, with some sadness.
"Your father was truly a gifted engineer... His designs allowed us to have mobile bases deep in dragon territory. What can you tell me about your new design?" He asks, hoping to change the subject. He proceeds to take a sip of his tea.
"Well I can't take complete credit for it. It was based on one of my father's designs, I just improved and updated it using the computation devices here in the Nautica. I had to incorporate new firing controls into the design along with having to extend its length to allow the incorporation of the latest computation devices for navigation, targeting, and general computation. For the more general computation I used the upgraded Z2 computer. It was a gift from the Führer himself." She says as she gets up and slowly makes her way to the control panel.
Theo's eyes wide upon hearing that. "More then one computation device? Isn't that excessive? How could an airship hold such a large device?! Surely it would ground the ship!" He says, pondering how to fit such a large device onto an airship.
"Well I had to redesign the casing for the Z2 so I could fit it more efficiently into the ship. I couldn't remove any of the hardware so I had to increase the amount of lifting gas to compensate for it." She said as she started to adjust some of the switches and dials.
"Just how big of an airship did you build?" Theo curses himself for not looking over the budget allocated to the development department.
She smiles proudly as she flips a switch on the metal control panels and the shutters raise. It takes Theo a few moments to figure out just what he is looking at. "T-that ship... Its...". It was covered in a fresh coat of silver white paint and was heavily armed with a countless number of QF 2-pounder guns bristling the sides of it. It looked more like a massive wall, but as upon looking down Theo saw a slight curve. The small size of the windows in comparison to the Zepplin made it hard to see all of it.
"The new airship I have built is much larger then anything we currently have in our fleet, and far more heavily armed. It can also carry an entire Squadron of military aircraft along with two cargo and or transport planes. It is double hulled to allow the construction of an airstrip on the upper hull; it still has its extendable trapeze system to capture flying aircraft and a new launching system that can be used at higher altitudes by basically dropping aircraft and allowing them to use gravity to assist their take off. As for its armaments, despite what you may think only a few of the auto cannons are QF 2-pounders. A number of them are actually a new upscaled model we hope to field in Zebrica to help defend the boarders; we call them QF 12-pounders. It also has a number of Vickers Machineguns that can be retracted into the hull to help stream line it to help act as close quarters defense ontop of the flack shield. Heaver weapons include solid propellant rockets that can be used on both air targets and on targets on the ground. The last piece took time to figure out since it is still in the early stages of development but we have managed to create a large cannon weapon that uses the recoilless principle to allow the use of heavy artillery for siege operations. It's size is comparable the the 18 inch Mark I with twin barrels that can be retracted into the ship when not in use. Sadly its angle of fire has to take into account the use of a back blast to avoid the ship being drastically thrown off course, making its target angle fairly narrow, but it's meant for sieges anyway. We have also managed to to incorporate the latest in Radar to allow the detection of targets, helping it fill the role of a command vessel on top of the normal passive detection equipment. Besides the repair bay the ship also has its own machine shop to allow the repair of existing parts and in a pinch it could be used to make new parts, though slowly. For the crew it has a medical bay with the equipment needed for both major and minor surgery. It holds a crew of 430 not including the air squadron and medical personnel. The Fiberglass hull is about 20% thicker then what is normally used in combat Zeppelins. Finally, I have made sure that your personal living quarters are as lavish as your palace with a hot water bath, golden sink, private restroom, a study, a radio, full sized bed, and even a protector for your entertainment!" She takes a deep breath and gives a weak smile, waiting for Theo's response.
"Just how much did this behemoth cost the Empire...?" Theo slowly asks, taking the sight of the behmoth in.
"Since this Zeppelin is about the size of..." She quickly does some caluclations. "...12 Hindenburg class airships, and taking into account the unique materials and equipment needed to take on such a venture... arrrround 50 million pounds. Not including labor, of course." She said blushing a bit at the number. Theo nearly has a stroke; that could pay for an entire fleet!
"W-while I thank you for making such a weapon possible let alone as my private cruiser... Do you not think this is excessive?!" Theo fails to clam himself down, shocked at the outrageousness of it all.
"Of course not my emperor. You are the glory and spirit of the Empire personified. Only the greatest ship is worthy to transport you!" A nearby telephone built into one of the consoles start's ringing, and she gets up. "One moment, my Emperor." She lifts up the phone to her ear, before looking back to Theo. "The ship has finished loading it's supplies and crew. It is ready to transport you to Equestria."
Theo's blood runs cold as he remembers his reason for coming to the London Nautica in the first place. "Yes. Would you please lead me..." He said, barely repressing the rage he felt in his chest when he thought of his niece.
Britania
Province of Germany
Isenstadt
12:13pm
General Lutz sat in his private chauffeured vehicle as they drove down a secluded road. On either side of the road the thick forest seemed almost ominous, despite it being mid day. The forest was the source of many old and unsavory folk tales that were used across the province of Germany to scare little misbehaving pups into acting with good behavior. However, the forest was the reason he was here. They continued to drive down the road, a small military base coming into view ahead of them. It had a number of plain buildings, all mostly made of concrete or brick. There was little in the way of design as all seven of the the buildings were little more then ugly blocks in the middle of the dense forest. However one was in the center of the other six buildings and was fairly large in comparison, looking like a hanger or warehouse.
As they pulled up the the gate his driver pulled out his credentials and showed them to the the armed soldiers. The gates infront of them opened up, and they were waved through. They continued to drive forward as they opened the large hanger doors, allowing them to drive right into the brick building onto a steel platform in the center. They slowly closed the door behind them, leaving them with nothing to listen to but the sounds of the running car. As he, waited general Lutz tried to keep himself entertained by counting the numerous wooden crates around his car before the metal platform shook and began to slowly lower into the ground, taking them with it.
As the lift moved downwards, he let his eyes wander to the metal guides on either side of the elevator where the large metal gears that moved the elevator connected with the walls. As the platform was lowered he watched as they passed the foundation, constructed of mortar and large stones. The walls then changed to concrete as they continued descending. Eventually the walls fell away, revealing their end destination to be a massive cavern. The four guides for the gears below the platform remained as they continued to be lowered until they reached the stone floor.
Lutz sighed; it had been years since he had last been here. Too many bad memories made during the war that he would rather forge. Just remembering the faces of the cultists as they were forced into the labs made him shiver.
The car slowly drove off the metal platform switching on its lights. Despite the numerous street lamps on the road the darkness in the cavern still threatened to swallow anything that strayed too far from the path. Down the road was something that could only be described as a massive military complex, built on the ruins of a long forgotten castle that had sunken into the caverns long ago. While much of the castle had been repaired to its old glory it also had a number of oddities that reflected the current era, such as the massive iron and steel walls, electric fencing, searchlights, artillery, and even trenches around the castle's perimeter. The castle's size was mind boggling; it was almost as large as the Citadel!
But the strangest thing? The entrenched soldiers weren't looking outwards for intruders... Nom they were looking directly at the castle. Their true purpose was not to stop intruders but to act as containment. That was the most unnerving part of this place.
As they continued to drive to the strange castle the drawbridge and gates slowly opened, welcoming him in. They passed large stone columns and countless disturbing stone statues, ranging from gargoyles to monstrosities that could only be out of the works of the reclusive H. P. Lovecraft. The car slowly came to a stop inside a courtyard where a young officer seemed to be waiting for him.
The chauffeur killed the engine, and then walked outside to open Lutz's door . General Lutz slowly turned and got out of his car, nodding as the officer in the dark uniform saluted him. "Welcome to the Farm, General. The doctor is waiting for you in the observation room; he has a meal prepared for you." The young German shepherd motions for him to follow. The two entered the castle and passed a number of different paintings and twisted works of art before stepping into an elevator, which slowly moved to the lower levels of the base. It was a short ride to the old dungeons that had been converted into labs. Lutz and his guide got out, quickly walking past a number of old empty cells that gave way to reinforced glass.
He stopped for a few moments to look inside one of the containment rooms and paled. This one held a German Pincer (but could he really be called that anymore?). His body was horribly mutilated from what he could only believe was the doctor's experiments. Much of his fur was removed and had little in the way of clothing, only a cloth around his lower body that was likely made from his tattered bedsheets. As he looked closer he saw a number of surgical scars on his body.
"Ah! My good friend, it has been so long since we have last seen each other..." Lutz heard the voice from directly behind him and paled, before slowly turning to see an elderly German Shepard in a blood stained labcoat.
"Totenkopf... It has hasn't it... Why is there a young soldier in one of your containment rooms?" He asks evenly. The doctor's face splits into a wicked, animal like smile.
"Ah, you must mean young Otto... Such a resilient specimen. Its amazing what a young soldier will do it you offer them something they want. Even through all the pain of my work he has never given up. After all, he knows all to well that what I do is necessary. After the Führer was humiliated at the Great Exhibition when the Z1 computation devise not only failed to function but caught fire right in the Emperor he is pushing for a breakthrough in military technology. As long as I have written permission he cares not what I do as long as I get results." He smiled as he looked through the glass. "I have recently acquired a very interesting specimen that I feel that you will be most... Interested in."
He motions for the the general to follow him. Lutz takes one last look at the young soldier before following, whispering "Poor bastard."
They passed by a number of containment cells, seeing some of the Doctor's twisted experiments and latest specimens from the west, ranging from the vicious timber wolves of the Everfree forest, to manticores, cockatrices, and even a sedated hydra.
"As you know I have taken an interest in some of the strange creatures of the west... Even as we speak our army is working to secure me an Ursa Major. But my latest specimen has not only intrigued me but has fully captured captured my interest." He slowly opens a bulk head door that leads to a room with a table. The table had a full spread of food, ranging from fresh made sausage, while chicken, collared greens, potatoes, and even beer. The doctor sat down on the far side of the table motioning for the general to sit in the chair closest to the door.
The bulkhead promptly closed shut with a bang as Lutz started to serve himself some of the food after watching the doctor enjoy some of the sausage and greens. "So what new specimen could have possibly captured your interest?" Lutz asked as the doctor chuckled.
"You know the badlands in the west are full of fascinating creatures, many that were either thought to be extinct or mythical... but as I started to send my dogs to investigate we found something. Something I believe we can turn into a weapon that will finally give the Führer the recognition he craves so much." He smiled as he cut into his sausage and brought a chunk of it to his maw. "Imagine if you could have the perfect spies and assassins that wouldn't even know what they are until they are triggered? Yes, yes, we have had the concept for a long time but I found an organism that uses it actively. An entire army hidden in the populous in plain sight but blending in seamlessly. Sadly their... Leader did not know how to effectively use such an impressive weapon." He smiled as he slowly got up from the table and moved to a panel next to a large pitch black window.
The general swallows nervously, watching the doctor move. " What did you find...?"
The doctor once again smiled that horrible smile of his, before flipping a few switches as the lights were turned on in the containment chamber. It was nearly entirely empty with only a sort of operating table in the center. He couldn't see what was on it since it was covered with a white sheet but the doctor turned a dial and the table slowly lifted tilting forwards to the window allowing the sheet to slide off the form.
"When we found her her remaining drones could just barely keep her alive... Damaged but repairable with the proper authorization" the doctor said as he let the general take in just was he was seeing.
Strapped to the table was what could only be described as a quadriplegic pony. All four of its limbs were little more then stumps with fresh scabs and scar tissue on them. The..... mare he supposed looking down at her nethers lacked the soft coats of normal Equestrians instead having a dark smooth chitin. She also seems to have a mane that was Dark cerulean and seemed to some how have holes in it. But the eyes were the thing that captured his attention the most; even with the light they seemed to glow a sickly green color, yet they seemed empty and devoid of intelligence.
"General Lutz, I would like to introduce you to my latest subject, former Queen Chrysalis." Totenkopf looked to the dumbfounded general, his grin somehow growing wider.
Zebrica
New Timbuktu
New Prosost Prison
Medical ward
9:43pm
Rainbow smiles as she flew through the skies of Ponyville pushing the clouds back into place for the latest rainstorm. She rested on the soft puffy cloud looking down at the small town, sighing as she watched countless townspeople going about their business, buying fresh fruits and vegetables from the local farmers.
"Rainbow!" She hears a familiar voice and quickly looks to it's source, spotting the orange coat of her number one fan.
"Squirt!" She smiles, getting up and stretching her wings. With a 'whumpf' she flapped into the air, before gliding over to Scootalo. "Came here for your flying lesson?" She asks, giving the juvenile pegasus a playfully noogie on her purple mane.
"Ya!" She squees, enjoying the attention of her role model.
"Well squirt, today I'm going to take you up with me so I can show you how to glide." She says as she lifts the small pegasus onto her back letting her hang onto her neck.
"Awwwwww; but I thought you did you were going to teach me how to fly?" She asks, before hugging Rainbow's neck. Rainbow proceeds to take a running start, before with a flap of her wings she was in the air.
"Scoot, you have to learn how to glide before you can fly, so you can get a hang of turning and a feel for the air under your wings" she says as she starts to climb into the sky.
"Why would I have to know that? Don't I just have to flap my wings really fast?" She asks, watching the ground below them get farther and farther away.
"Scoot, the problem isn't that your flapping too little, it's that your not flapping correctly. If you try flapping like you normally do on your scooter you will burn yourself out, if you even manage to get off the ground at all." She says, seeing a cloud and landing on it while taking Scootaloo off her back. She sets Scootalo down, and steps back a few hoof lengths. "Ok, now stretch out your wings"
Scootaloo nods as she slowly stretches out her wings. Rainbow carefully looks them over, before clucking her tongue. "Scoot, have you been preening your wings like I taught you?" She gives her a knowing stare.
"Mostly...?" She awkwardly says, looking up into the eyes of her adopted big sister.
Rainbow sighs as she starts to preen her wings gently taking her time to work out the few out of place feathers. "We have been over this countless times Scoot; I know you don't like it but preening your wings is necessary if you want to fly" she says as she pulls out a feather making Scootaloo wince. "There... Are you ready?" She asks looking down at her.
"Ya!" She smiles as she jumps excitedly.
"Ok first spread your wings like I do..." Rainbow slowly unfurls her wings letting them open up at nearly their full length, with just a bit of curve. She waits a few moments to let Scootaloo copy her. "No, not all the way. Just leave them a bit bent to help catch the wind" she watches Scootaloo correct herself, and nods. "Ok, I'm going to be right behind. Just take a running start and try to keep yourself level. I will be right behind you if something goes wrong, ok?" She says, trying to ease her upon noticing her fear of being so high in the sky. Scootalo then goes ahead with Rainbow's instruction, jumping off the cloud with Rainbow close behind.
"You're doing great! Just try to stay level!" She smiles as she flew next to the gliding filly, who, despite being a bit shaky, was doing well for her first flight.
"I'm flying I'm flying!" She shouted happily. Rainbow didn't bother to correct her, not wanting to ruin the moment.
They continued to fly together as she showed the young Pegasus how to bank and dive before pulling her back up to allow her to enjoy the feeling of the air run over her feathers just a little bit longer. Rainbow smiled as she watched Scootaloo glide next to her, getting the first feel for her wings in the air. But as they continued to fly Rainbow's ears twitched, hearing something like a shout. She didn't think much of it before a loud crack fills her ears and a horrible stabbing pain engulfs her wings as she started to lose altitude rapidly.
"Rainbow!" Scootaloo looks at her in horror, but she wasn't looking at her face; she was looking at her wings.
Rainbow slowly turns her head to looked at her wings. All the blood left her face upon the sight; there were only two stumps were there should be wings. As the ground rapidly approached her, she started to scream.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" She closes her eyes, preparing for the impact, but opens them when she feels nothing. She comes face to face with the cruel warden of her new "home".
"Well, well, well! It's good to see our newest inmate was sleeping well, since it will likely be your last good sleep for a every long time." He gives her a crooked smile. "I have some good news! You're going into the pit! I'm sure you will be very popular down there; most female inmates don't last too long!" He says as she starts to feel her bed move. She was being pushed down a concrete hallway. The walls lacked any decor, and the only sight was concrete.
They passed through a number of heavy steel doors that were opened by a guard, safely hidden behind about a foot of concrete and iron bars operating the door with a push button. Finally she arrived at a wide hallway with metal chain link fencing on either side that was under a meter away from either wall with a number of machineguns barrels pointing towards them behind the concrete wall. "What do you think? Even if the inmates some how got out of the pit they will only find a wall of lead on either side of them! I remember when I humored a few of the inmates, letting a few of the braver ones try to run though... they didn't even make it a quarter way, and that's including when they slid on the smooth floor It was beautiful, it was almost like it was all happening in slow motion. Those inmates learned really quick that there is no escape from here, though when the population gets a little to crowded I offer to let some of the fool hearty ones try." He stops the bed motioning to the two orderlies that were pushing her bed just out of her sight to unlock her from the bed. He draws a Webley Revolver, and brandishes it around. " Now now don't try anything; it would be shame to kill your blue ass before you got to meet the other inmates." He said as he took another long swig from his flask as the two orderlies pushed her to the end of the hall way where the floor just dropped out.
The hallway can to what could only be called an open air stone chamber that seemed to be roughly cylindrical. If one looked up they could see the blue sky and the sun, but if they looked down they could only see darkness and the soft chatter of what could only be bats.
"W-what...?" Rainbow could only shudder as she was pushed closer to the edge.
The warden just smiled pulling out a hunk of bloody meat before dropping it into the pit. As it fell the chittering got louder and suddenly countless large black shapes started to attack the meat, coming from holes in the chamber. The fluttering of bat wings got louder as the countless flying rodents attacked it, tearing the meat to pieces right before her eyes before only a bone was left to fall down into the darkness.
"Vampyrum spectrum, or the spectral bat. They're such a fascinating species, normally about 90 centimeters but this little subspecies has grown to about 150 centimeters. Also, unlike their close cousins they prefer preying on the local residents over small birds. I find that they are a very effective countermeasure for stopping escapees. Thank the ancestors that the top of the chamber is covered with chain link fencing. Wouldn't want these little bastards to escape now would we?" Rainbow was staring at him wide eyed. "Ah, don't give me that look. We feed them...most of the time. Just keep your cell door closed at night." He said putting his flask away into his snow white suit as a sort of cage is lowered by a crane in front of them over the dark abyss. It was fairly large, with enough to fit at least 20 ponies and still having some space to spare. The top had a sort of platform with four guards armed with Stens. The four Zebras seemed to be all nearly identical since their tan uniforms covered most of their bodies. They seemed to be operating searchlights on the four corners. Rainbow was forced into the cage with the door being shut behind her.
The cage was lowered so the warden could get on the upper platform before the crane slowly swings out to the center of the pit and slowly starts to lower them down into the abyss. As the cage is lowered into the darkness the guards switched on the searchlights as some of the bats started to peek outside of there dens In the walls. They stared at Rainbow with eerie expressions, following her all the way down. There eyes glowed white from the bright lights, and Rainbow couldn't help but shudder at their stare. The ride seemed to last forever; even with the searchlights it seemed like the darkness swallowed everything, but then as she strained her eyes she started to see faint lights.
As the cage continued to be lowered the lights started to become more and more noticeable. They were lantern lights, just cutting though the darkness, lighting up stone dwellings cut right into the rock. The cage continued to be lowered until it rested in the center of the stone floor; already a number of inmates looked outside of their cells at her, their bodies shrouded in darkness. Like the bats, the spotlights gave them glowing white eyes. As she looked around she saw that the cells were arranged in a spiral pattern slowly climbing the walls beyond her line of sight. As she tried to take this all in the warden lifted a metal megaphone to his lips.
"Hello my forsaken! My abominations! My monsters! It is I, your beloved warden, with a gift! Straight from Equestria! One of Celestia's beloved lap dogs! I'm sure you will love her!" He cackles, looking down at Rainbow as the cage door swings open. "Get out; I'm sure you wouldn't want to disappoint your new friends!" He motions for his guards to give a warning shot.
The crack of the gun forces the traumatized pony to scramble out. She opens her mouth but the cage is already being lifted back up into the darkness, leaving her alone in the center of one of the most notorious prisons in Zebrica.
She heard someone slowly approaching her from the back and slowly turned herself around coming face to beak with a massive Gryphon. "Hmmm" he looks her over, slowly walking around in circles. As he does this she looks him over as well he was a dark Raven headed gryphon with dark black feathers that nearly made him disappear in the darkness. He was much larger then her and his muscles bulged showing a lifetime of struggle. "You will do..." He smiled in a way that made Rainbows skin crawl.
"H-hey get back creep!" She backs away as she instinctively pushes out her chest and growls.
"Heh..... Fight in you still? This will be fun" he cracks his neck and stretched out his large wings as he started to circle her.
Rainbow didn't wait and charged at him, making the first move. "I said back off!!" She screamed, charging at him before he moved over and tripped her letting her roll across the ground. This knocked over one of the lanterns and blew it out, putting the two in complete darkness. She continued to put on a brave face as she was left in the darkness, but old instincts started to kick in.
"What's wrong pony? Have you strayed too far from Celestia's light? You ponies spend so much time in it that when faced with the darkness even the bravest of you turn to mewling foals." The voice seemed to be all around her as she turned her head, trying to find where it was coming from.
"Stay back!" Despite her attempts to sound brave, fear continued to grow in her as the she could just hear his steps in the darkness around her.
She felt something pierce her flank making her yowl in pain before grabbing a stone and blindly swinging it in the darkness, connecting with what she could only hope was the head of the Gryphon.
"Ack! Heh...ha...hahaha...hahahahahahah!!!!! Not bad for a pony!" He continued to laugh as he retreated away from her. She could hear him stumble around, hearing the faint drip of what she hoped was water. "But, sadly, not nearly good enough!" She heard a loud flap and something connected with her head causing her to stumble and collapse in the darkness. None of the inmates could see but they could hear the sound of something heavy being dragged.