Chapter 1 Must be the heat
Chapter 1: Must be the heat
Konrad Escher, an infantryman of the German Afrika Korps at the age of 31 and father of a daughter and son, was stationed at a small camp near Tobruk, a Libyan seaport on the Mediterranean. The Second World War was going well for Germany.
France was defeated in 1940, thanks to superior tactics and equipment, only England was left as the only allied force that fought against Germany. What England lacked in good equipment, they recouped that with an unbroken fighting spirit that could not be broken with anything, Konrad respected the British for that.
He himself was a veteran of the battle of France, well experienced.
After the battle of France, Germany’s ally, Italy, was determined to defeat the reaming British troops in North Africa, where both sides had colonies.
The Italian troops fought with little success against the allied troops, so Germany saw himself forced to support Italy by sending troops out to Africa. This was the birth of the Afrika Korps under the command of Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel, one of Germany’s most capable commanders. Back in France, he led his tanks with much success, despite having no practical experience in the management of armored units. The unpredictability and speed of his operations irritated not only his opponents, but also the German high command. It brought its division the nickname "Ghost Division", as neither the enemy nor friend knew where Rommel’s division really was or showed up where it was least expected.
This also got Rommel much respect, from foe and friendly alike. Konrad respected him very much, unlike Hitler. Like many others, he believed in a swift victory but never believed in Hitler’s messages, he only followed orders to protect his family.
The task of the German troops in Africa was to support Italy in Africa. While not having an important meaning in the strategic planning of the German command, the front in Africa had only a subordinate meaning, yet, the Suez canal was connecting Britain with its Empire and Middle Eastern oil, making the war in North Africa crucial for the allies. So, capturing it would be a major blow for the allies.
The British and Axis Armies faced each other across the Libyan-Egypt border, the frontline swinged like a pendulum across the Western desert, a harsh unforgiving strip of land between the Mediterranean and the Sahara. Mechanized Warfare had come of age. Here, tanks were king.
Because Britain was dominating the Mediterranean Sea by the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, its adversaries were constantly faced with the problem of securing their supply over the Mediterranean. As such, the Axis troops suffered of a lack of supplies.
Tobruk could solve this problem, as the Germans and Italians could improve their supply runs, while cutting the British from their supplies.
Rommel tried to siege the city back in 1941 but the Allies managed to defeat him during their counterattack called Operation Crusader, forcing him to retreat.
But now in June 42, the Axis forces were once again sweeping across the Western Desert. Their goal: Capture Tobruk.
The camp Konrad was stationed, had the task to bombard the allied defenses with Nebelwerfer artillery, that’s why it was secretly made on a hill overlooking the city. The attack would start tomorrow. It was a ramshackle site, mountains of sandbags huddled in droves the base's equipment, built into the rock and ruins. It was built in haste and wasn't expected to do much in the long run but it would serve for now, as long as they kept a watchful eye.
Konrad helped his grandfather often on his farm, so he was used to the heat in the desert. The nights were cold but he loved the view of the stars at night.
Like any other soldier, he was wearing a tan colored uniform. His preference was rolled up sleeves and a cap as protection from the sun. As Primary weapon, he used the K98 bolt action rifle. While the P38 was the actual standard sidearm of the German Army, and should replace the pistol 08, also known as Luger, as it was expensive and complicated in manufacturing, the P38 could never fully replace the Luger, so the unit Konrad was in, used completely Lugers as sidearms.
The Luger pistol he used belonged to his grandfather, who fought in the Great War, so it was very special for him.
Right now, Konrad was at a part of the cliff where he had a good view of the city, overlooking it with binoculars.
“Hey Konrad, found anything yet?” A friendly voice in English with an Italian accent asked him.
“Not really, Matteo.” Matteo Conti, was a veteran of the Italian invasion of Egypt, he served here since the beginning of the invasion. Like Konrad, he was father of two kids. Also, he never believed in the messages of the Duce and disliked the Blackshirts, which were the paramilitary militias of Italy, who were known for their brutality. He and Konrad got to know each other when the Germans first arrived in North Africa and were best friends ever since. Matteo could English as he learned it in case he would get captured, Konrad could speak and understand English as he befriended a Brite during the Berlin Olympics in 1936. They also spoke sometimes in Italian or German to each other.
Like other Italian troops, Matteo used the Carcano M91/41 bolt action rifle. The Carcano rifles were considered to be less reliable and not particularly accurate. The Carcano used weak caliber that was outdated but nevertheless a strong weapon if used correctly.
During his service, Konrad deployed a hate for the Waffen-SS, the brutal elite force of the German Military, also known to be especially reckless when in battle. Fortunately for him, Rommel refused the SS in his Afrika Korps.
The young German head black hair and blue eyes, while his comrade had green eyes and black hair.
Matteo let out a sigh. “It’s so boring being the only Italian around here.”
“Hey, you have me. And we’re the only ones who use rifles, all other soldiers in this camp use MP40s.”
“True. How are your wife and kids?”
Konrad smiled. “Doing well. I can’t wait to see them again. You?”
“Same here. I’m a little bit excited about tomorrow.” The Italian was slightly nervous.
“I’m pretty sure will be conquer Tobruk this time.” Konrad gave Matteo a convinced smile
“If you say so. I just want it to be over, so I can get home.”
“Me too. Let’s go back to the others.”
“Sure.”
As they walked back to the middle of a camp, they came across a cave. Konrad stopped and Matteo could swear he saw a yellow circle above Konrad’s head.
“What’s wrong?” Matteo asked confused.
“I could swear I heard crying, coming from that cave.” He pointed to it.
“You probably imagine from the heat.”
“No, I do not. Listen.”
Now, Matteo heard it too. Three voices of children, two female, one male, scared, calling out for their parents as far as he could tell.
"Mommy?! Can you hear us?!” The male in unison with the female voice called out.
"Daddy?! Where are you?!”
“Strange. I can hear it too but are you sure, we aren’t only imagining it?”
Konrad shouldered his rifle. “There is only one way to find out.” He walked into the cave, Conti close behind.
It was dark, but they could still see a little bit, following the voices until they saw 3 silhouettes, one appeared to be a human girl, while the other two seemed to be ponies, one had a horn.
Both soldiers looked at each other, unsure if they saw that right but gave each other a nod, ready to face what they saw.
Once they could fully see what the silhouettes were, they became shocked, shaking their heads in disbelief.
A human girl, a young colt and a young filly. The girl had yellow and orange striped hair, blue eyes and was wearing a simply white t-shirt and skirt on the same color as her hair, she and the colt that had a brown mane, yellow eyes and a grey coat, hugging each other. The filly had a horn on its head, Periwinkle-grey coat, blonde mane and yellow eyes, curled up in the corner. They all were trembling, scared and apparently shocked from something.
Both soldiers shook their heads to get a clear picture. Impossible! Must be the heat! They thought in disbelief but what they saw, seemed not to be their imagination.
“P-please can you help me? I’m lost.” The filly whimpered scared, tearing them out of their shock.
“C-can you help me and my sister to find our mommy?” The colt asked terrified.
“Y-yes, we’re lost.” The girl added.
Due being fathers themselves, the men had sympathy for them, they slowly approached the scared children.
Konrad knelled down to the filly, Matteo to the colt and girl. “It’s okay, my dear, we won’t harm you. Here.” The German reached for his canteen.
“Thank you.” What happened next fascinated both. The filly’s horn lightened up in a yellow color, the canteen too, and it got levitated from Konrad’s hand to the filly’s mouth and she took a sip.
Konrad and Matteo were surprised and fascinated as they saw that. That’s…incredible!
The Italian give his canteen to the siblings, the girl took it, taking a sip, then the colt. They and the filly relaxed, weakly smiling. “Thank you.”
“Where am I?” The unicorn asked confused.
Konrad took a deep breath, realizing they could not be from here or Earth at all. “North Africa. Libya.” He told them with concern, unsure how they would take that information.
The eyes of the unicorn’s eyes went wide. “A-Africa?” It asked confused.
“I'm very sorry. It gives me no joy to tell you this but, as far as we can tell...you are a long...long way from home.”
The kids stayed quiet for a moment, trying to process the information. The unicorn sniffed, trying to hold back a sob, while the colt and girl huddled together as they realized how far away from home they were.
Again, the soldiers looked at other and nodded. Konrad took the filly on his arm and patted her back, while Matteo hugged the girl and colt.
“Shh, calm down.” Both men spoke in unison, gently patting their backs, even rocking back and forth until the lost kids stopped crying, slowly calming down.
“Thank you.” The unicorn smiled.
Konrad gave her a smile. “You’re welcome. What’s your name?”
“Dinky. Dinky Hooves.”
“I’m Blau Streifen and this is my sister Katja.” The young colt introduced himself and his sister.
While Blau Streifen was a strange name for a pony, Konrad replied, “Nice names you have.” Not to offend them it sounded nice, especially for a young girl, like Katja was.
“Thank you. Who are you?” She asked him in return.
“My name is Konrad Escher and this is my friend Matteo Conti.”
Blau Streifen’s eyes went wide. “Konrad? Like our father! Could you be related to our daddy? He has the same name!” He asked with hope, Katja also had a hopeful expression.
Taking another deep breath, knowing it would disappoint them.
“I’m sorry to say this but I’m not related to him, that’s what I suspect, unless you can tell me more about him.”
The colt’s eyes sparkled as if he was proud of his father. “Well, our daddy’s the best dad ever! He’s awesome! The best father in the world!” He exclaimed before his sister cleared her throat.
“I know you look up to our father, brother, but this Konrad is definitely not related to him, I can tell.” She pointed out.
The young colt blushed in embarrassment. “Right…Sorry, sometimes, I get very proud of him.”
Konrad smiled. “It’s fine. I and Matteo are father’s ourselves and you remind me of my son, he’s similar to you.”
“Really?” Blau Streifen asked curious.
Dinky, who had watched this with a light smile, spoke up, “Can we please go to a more comfortable place than this cave?”
“Sure.” Konrad gently set her down.
Matteo had doubts. “What about the other soldiers? They will probably freak out when they see them.”
The German private realized the problem. “I admit I hadn’t thought of that. I guess we have to risk it.”
“I guess you have a point. Follow us, kids. Don’t worry, our comrades will not harm you. And cover your eyes from the sun when we reach the exit of this cave.”
The children nodded and followed them outside. The warm sun of the desert caused them to cover their eyes, compared to the cool cave, the heat hit them instantly.
“It’s hot out here.” Dinky remarked as the warm wind brushed against her fur.
“That’s Africa. The day’s hot and the night’s cold like in the fridge.” Matteo commented.
During the short walk, the children quickly took notice of the sandbags, supplies and tents that made out the camp, as well as some kind of cylinders on wheels, that got pushed or drawn by soldiers into positions at the far ends of the camp, by holding long trails, that severed as stabilization, where they had a good view of a city in the distance. They appeared to be made of metal in tan color and were striped smaller than an average adult human.
The other soldiers were busy, not noticing the children as they carried supplies, patrolled, chatted or wrote in notepads as they checked if they needed more supplies or how much was left.
The two fathers led their guest into the shadow in the middle of the camp where a radio was, they sat down on some chairs.
By this time, the other soldiers had done their tasks and noticed the children.
They stared at the kids, shaking their heads. “Do I see that right?” A soldier wearing a pith helmet, jacket and trousers asked confused.
“You do see right, Willi. Could you please stop staring at them and give them some space, they’re still a little bit shaken.”
Konrad’s comrades nodded and did as told. Now, Dinky, Katja and Blau Streifen noticed how different the attire of each soldier was. Some of them wore a cap like Konrad, others a pith helmet like Willi, while others were wearing a normal helmet. Some soldiers also were wearing shorts instead of normal trousers.
“So, where are we?” Katja asked.
“As we told you before, North Africa, Libya.” As Katja was a human girl, Konrad suspected where she, her brother and Dinky came from, humans would also live there. Despite this, he told them where they were exactly, which year it was, that he and the others were soldiers and what the Second World War was, without going too deep into.
Dinky was surprised and horrified. “That’s terrible. Where I am from, there was only one war that was 1000 years ago. And humans are only a myth.”
“And where we’re from, our daddy is the only human. He never told us much about humanity. But there was something in the books about a World War, also called the Great War and a Second World War. Our world is called Equestria.” Katja explained.
Dinky‘s perked up. “Equestria? That’s my home world too!”
“For real?!” Blau Streifen blinked confused.
“Yes. Now that you mention it, I can’t remember that I ever saw you two before.”
“Neither did we ever see you before.” Blau Streifen added.
Willi cleared his throat. “I think I have an explanation. You come from two different Equestrias. Parallel universes as the theory says. Can you follow me?” The kids slowly nodded.
“I studied that before the war. For me, it would be interesting if there are other universes of Earth. Like if the war never happened or ended sooner.”
“Enough, Einstein, don’t break their minds with your theories. Do you want to tell us more about Equestria? Konrad asked, hoping it would not make them sadder.
“Who should tell first?” Katja asked into the round.
Dinky gave her and her brother a smile. “After you.”
“Okay. In Equestria, ponies live together in Harmony. There are Earth ponies like my brother, Pegasus ponies and Unicorns like Dinky. As you have seen with her, unicorns can use magic, while Pegasus can manipulate the weather. The Special Talent of a pony is represented by a Cutie Mark on the flank, which my brother hasn’t got it.”
“Me either. Can you have a Cutie Mark?” Dinky asked curious.
“Well, I don’t know, but I I’m good at inspecting gems. As we told you before, our father is a human. He also never told us how he got to Equestria. Our mother is an Earth pony named Ruby. We live in a small town named Sunny Town. The town leader is an Earth pony Stallion named Grey Hoof. Almost forgot, our grandmother Mitta, lives with us. We never knew our grandfather, he died when our mother was a foal herself.” The girl explained as her brother continued for her.
“Equestria is ruled by Princess Celestia and Luna. They’re Alicorns and control the sun and moon.”
“Interesting. Here, sun and moon raise and lower on their own. How about you, Dinky?” Matteo asked.
“Well, I was born in Ponyville, a village in Equestria. My parents are a pegasus pony called Derpy Hooves and an Earth Pony named Time Turner, some ponies call him Doctor Hooves. I also have two sisters, both are unicorns, Tootsie Flute and her big sister Sparkler. Sparkler is also the reason how I got here. She was sick and I visited her. Whenever a unicorn or an Alicorn gets sick, there’s no telling what their magic will do, especially when they sneeze. Their magic can get totally random.
So, as I wished her a speedy recovery, she had to sneeze and a blast of magic hit me and I passed out. After I wake up, I found myself in this cave. What about you two?” She asked the siblings.
The young colt spoke up, “Well, one of our classmates, a unicorn named Blissley, got sick and we visited her to make her feel better. She’s a polite and friendly filly, our best friend. As we brought her some sweets to cheer her up, she sneezed and a blast of magic hit us too.”
Dinky had sympathy. “Sorry to hear that. How does she look like?”
Blau Streifen grinned. “Now that you ask, she has the same coat color like you but blue eyes and a black mane. A friend anypony could ask for!”
The filly smiled. “I see.”
“Yes, she always has a friendly chat with us on our lunch break.” Katja added with glee.
This caused the German soldier to smile, they all three reminded him of his children. “What’s that on your back?” Blau Streifen asked curious, pointing with a hoof to his rifle.
“That’s the Mauser Karabiner 98k, the standard issue rifle of the German Army. Bolt action, 5 rounds, loaded with a stripper clip. Due the bolt-action, it has a slow rate of fire, but very reliable, accurate and quite packs a punch.
Matteo uses the Carcano M91/41. It’s the standard issue rifle of the Royal Italian Army, having a 6 round magazine and is like my rifle, very powerful but uses weak caliber that is outdated and the Carcano is considered to be less reliable and not particularly accurate.
“This,” He pointed to his holster, “This the pistol 08, called Luger. Magazine of 8 rounds and high rate of fire. It was the standard sidearm for German soldiers in the Great War and is reliable and accurate. Sidearm of choice for our officers. This one was used by my grandfather in the Great War, that’s why I use it. The P38 is our actual standard sidearm, originally meant to replace the Luger, which is expensive and complicated in manufacturing. The P38 could never replace the Luger, so some units like this one, still uses the Luger as standard sidearm.
My comrades use our standard submachine gun, the MP40. 32 round magazine, low recoil, easy to control and very popular with the soldiers. As Germany and Italy are allies, many Italians also use it. It’s also the weapon of choice as Primary weapon for our officers.”
“Cool!” The colt’s eyes sparkled.
He’s really like my son, being fascinated by it. Given that his father is the only human in Equestria, it makes sense.
“Interesting. I’m hungry, I haven’t eaten since breakfast.” Katja’s stomach growled.
“How about broads and potatoes?” Konrad suggested, knowing that ponies were vegetarians.
“Sounds good to me. You, brother?”
“Count me in.”
“Me too.” Dinky added.
“Okay, follow me.” Konrad leaded them to the dining tent that was right next to the tents the soldiers used for resting. The children enjoyed their meal.
While they ate, Matteo asked him. “We should make them something to protect their heads, not that they get a heatstroke or something.”
“Right. Hans, can you take care of that?” Konrad asked him as Hans used to be a tailor before the war, he was wearing the same uniform as Konrad but with a cap instead of a helmet.
“Sure thing." Hans took out a measuring tape. After a few moments of measuring the kids he said, “I’ve gotten all your measurements down, and it shouldn’t take me long to make this.”
“Why?” Blau Streifen asked confused.
“You need something against the sun.”
“Ah, I understand.”
Dinky started to watch the sunset “A sunset always looks beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Indeed.” Katja replied her brother nodded with a smile, enjoying it too.
Konrad smiled. “I think it is time for you to hit the hay.”
“But I’m not *yawns* tired.” the young earth pony protested.
Matteo smiled, finding it cute. “Only with rest, a soldier can fight.”
“You have a point.”
The two friends leaded their guests to a tent that was right next to theirs. They were set up right next to the carpool they had used to get here, consisting of Opel Blitz trucks, the main transport vehicle of the German troops.
“We only have two cots, do you mind sharing one?” Konrad asked.
“We have our own rooms back home but we don’t mind it.” Katja climbed onto the cot on the left, helping her brother in, Dinky took the right.
“Goodnight. Our tent is to the left if you need us.” Konrad closed the flap and headed with Matteo to his own cot.
“Goodnight you two.” Dinky wished a goodnight.
“Goodnight, Dinky.” The siblings replied. All kids fell asleep with a weak sigh, as they missed their parents and friends already.
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Erwin Rommel id my favorite General
8334858
Mine too.
good story
8335374
Glad to hear it
8334858
Agreed.
8335498
He was a magnificent bastard indeed. As for you.
8335516
Unlike other generals in the German army, he didn't shoot P.O.Ws and protected his family from death
8335554
Yes, he died with honor
8335568
Agreed.
8335556
May he rest in peace(Meant to spell it right)
Before I read this, what is the Gore and Dark tag for ?
And how bad does it get ?
8336999
Very Bad and There isn't a Horror Tag
8337058
Dark
8337186
Its okay. Everyone makes mistakes
You're going to need to link my story Family of the Blanks and Battle of the Blanks. People aren't going to understand you're using my two OCs. It helps them understand who they are. If you also need to know how they were created from a Pony mare and Human Male, PM me.
8338233
Sure Thing. I Hope you like the Friend i gave them
Okay, good overall a bit of a few things.
1. How they got there.
I see you went with the sneeze option. Personally, it would have been better if they had found a portal. For example, Kajta trying to find things liker her mom Ruby but found something she shouldn't have. Thus, Blau Strifen and her would be transported. As for Dinky, would have been better for a a science experiment with Doctor Hooves gone wrong. That really would have been much better. Also, unless one of the soldiers was enrolled in theoretical physics, it's a bit ridiculous for him to just piece it all together. But hey, no need to get upset over.
2. Soldiers reactions.
Most of the soldiers reactions have been mellow upon discovering the children. If I was a soldier in a war and I found two ponies and girl with strange colored hair, I would be shocked as hell at the sight. Konrad and Matteo should be worried and shocked with incredulity. Also, the rest of the soldiers at camp would surround them with interest and a officer in charge of either country demanding to know what is going on or at least taking great interest in them.
I would have recommended an officer assign them to security detail of the two until the conclusion of the theater campaign they were participation with reporting to higher command. This would have got the kids some extra care or food or something because it would be a major scientific discovery of the century, aside from space exploration and the atomic weapons age.
2. The gun descriptions.
I did this when I first made Battle of the Blanks. Many people do not care for the descriptions of the guns, and I've learned that sometimes just saying the names of the guns is enough as people will often look up the guns themselves. Also, the Carcano is described as powerful then weak following on. The Carcano's biggest flaw was the fact the ammunition wasn't updated with a newer projectile as the wounds would be needle sized and wouldn't destabilize when hitting it's target. Otherwise the Carcano was very accurate and easy to use plus an extra round to use too. Italy tried to update the gun with the 7,35mm I believe but picked the worst time to do it. This was similar to Japan with it's own 6,5mm
Fun fact Italy made Carcanos for the Japanese Navy chambered in 6,5 Japanese using Arisaka styled sights and stock called the Type 1. They are decent guns, but weird design. If Italy chose this rifle in their own 6,5 but with an updated Spitzer round (like the 7,92) it probably would have been a much better weapon. Mediocrity is sadly a trend in the Italian Army when honestly a lot of potential is wasted.
Also surprised you didn't have him mention that Blau Strifen's dad had some, which would explain why he's not alien to the concept of guns.
8344143
It's okay, I take any help I can get to improve. How they got here and the reactions of the soldiers was the best I could think of. Willi had theoretical physics in school, thast's why he came up with that so fast. The guns, old habit from me, thought I could stretch out the chapter that way and I totallagree with the Carcano. I informed myself about everything before writing it. About their father's weapons, I hadn't thought of that but I see what I can do.
Interesting that you went with those characters, I wonder where it will go.
9262537
Read and you will find out
10110379
Of course, I just went by that, as it mostly called that way in games and such. And if you're wondering, Sniper Elite 3, like it's predecessor, uses the Luger as German sidearm, thus me putting up that explanation why they all have Lugers
10110392
Really, I found it written like that when I made the story
I'm enjoying this so far.
11566167
glad to hear it