The little Knights

by Bronycommander

Chapter 6 Investigation and Special Forces

Chapter 6: Investigation and Special Forces

At first, Jens couldn’t believe what his friend had just heard “M-Murdered?” He asked, to make sure he got this right.

“Yes, James personally is leading the investigation. He wants us both to assist him.”

“O-okay, I’ll be there shortly.” He replied, still a bit in shock.

“What’s wrong?” Midnight asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

Taking a deep breath, the man told him, “That was Leo, he told me that one of your comrades had a car accident and got…murdered in the hospital.”

“Murdered?! In the hospital?!” The bat pony sounded shocked and disgusted.

“That’s…that’s horrible!” Fray exclaimed.

“And gutless,” Wolf added with a hiss.

“Yes. The General is personally investigating it, he wants me and Leo to assist him.” Meier said.

“Can we go with you? We could help with the investigation.” Midnight offered.

The young man thought for a moment, the Eternal Knights could be helpful with their skills, but would James allow this?

It’s worth a try.

“If you want. I guess there will be a lot of police cars, so we go on foot.”

The Eternal Knights agreed, it took them and their caretaker only a few minutes to get to the hospital, seeing a lot of police forces present.

As Jens was near the entrance, a policeman stopped him. “Sorry sir, this is a crime scene.”

“It’s okay, I ordered them here to assist me.” James came from the entrance, the police officer nodded and stepped aside.

“Sir, it is true that…” Jens asked him, hoping it was not true.

With an expression of grief, the veteran replied, “Yes, sadly. The victim is a new recruit, a girl to be exact.” He led them to a hospital room, the foals and young man saw that Leo, Patch and Wagensroll were already there.

On the bed was said woman, her head was mostly bandaged and bloodied, leaving only her mouth and green eyes visible.

“What happened?” Meier asked.

“Her name is Birgit Zimmermann, 19 years old. Five days ago, she had a traffic accident with hit and run. The doctor said apart from paraplegia, she would make good progress.”

“She got a second chance.”

“And somebody thought she doesn’t deserve this chance,” Leo concluded.

“Indeed. Collect the evidence, get me a list of everybody who was in contact with her in the last five days and the EKG recordings.” James ordered and the two mercenaries saluted.

“Yes, sir!”

Jessie then turned to the foals. “You are free to help of course.”

“We will help in any way we can.” Midnight assured with a determined expression.

“Glad to hear it.” The officer then walked over to a weeping woman, which the men and ponies assured was the mother of the girl. “Ms. Zimmerman, my deepest condolences.” He told with sympathy in his voice.

“Who would do that?” She asked, staring up at him with streaming eyes.

“Ms. Zimmermann, everything you tell us about your daughter will help us to find the guilty.”

Jens and Leo brought the body away, while the ponies carried the evidence, consisting of a plastic bag, a teddy bear and the pillow of the bed, noticing that James was talking with the chief doctor. “The dead girl in the intensive care unit. You don’t think one of my own people is responsible for this?” The doctor asked.

“The dead girl had a name, Birgit Zimmermann.” James reminded him.

“Günther, you are an excellent surgeon and doctor, but you have more pity than necessary, and that’s your weakness.” The doctor countered with a neutral voice.

“Sir, I need to talk with all your staff that was present at the unit at the time of death.”

“You can’t be serious.” The doctor said surprised.

“Yes. According to the medical record, every four hours she should get H-2blocker, but the last dose was skipped.”

“What do you want to imply?”

“Maybe somebody has Birgit’s medications discontinued, as the stomach bleeding didn’t kill her, he resorted to more drastic measures.”

“You mean euthanasia? You’re crazy.” The doctor replied in disbelief.

“Did one of your people recommend not reviving her?” James asked.

“This is a normal conversation or do you interrogate me now?”

“Just answer my question.”

“No. Such a procedure was never conceived.”

“And in a private conversation, has somebody thought out loud that the death would be better for Birgit?”

“Of course not, what comes to your mind to imply such a thing to my coworkers?” The doctor asked in disgust, slightly angered.

“Birgit Zimmermann lay in this facility on the ICU unit and only authorized personnel had access. If we find out that one of your workers was the one who killed the woman, and you hold back information, not only this person will be punished but you too.” James countered in a slightly threating tone before he walked away.

“Sir?” A male voice asked and the ponies saw four mercenaries standing at the entrance. The first was a man, wearing a grey officer uniform with a trenchcoat, having a muscular build, short black hair and blue eyes.

Next to him was a woman in paratrooper uniform, having also blue eyes and brown hair, with a man in a camouflaged uniform, the same build as the first man, featuring blond hair and blue eyes. They all appeared to be in their early thirties.

Behind them was another man, he was also dressed in an officer uniform but had a gas mask over his head, making it impossible to see his eye color or hair.

“We are ready to prepare a search for the suspect.” The first man reported.

“It will be a pleasure to make him pay. Command, and your will shall be done.” The gas mask mercenary said very eagerly.

“As soon as we find out who he is, you can do as you like. Dismissed.” James ordered and the four saluted.

The body and evidence got brought to a lab in the local base, it wasn’t surprising for the foals that this PMC had its own labs and research facilities.

The Eternal Knights helped James, Anne and Anna to cut the bandages so they could take a closer look. The bat pony examined the deceased woman’s oxygen content before her death.

“Lack of oxygen in the brain.”

“So she was suffocated,” Fray concluded.

“So we now know how she was murdered. Let’s check if Patch and Wagensroll have found something.” Jessie said before they all walked to it.

Upon arriving at the lap, they saw Jens, Leo and the two Earth ponies looked at diagrams of Zimmermann’s Pulse. “I don’t get it. In the struggling, the pulse was supposed to increase to alerting levels but the entire time it stayed at 110 before the heart failure.” The Brit was clueless.

“It’s strange, yes, but I examined the plastic bag by putting it into the oven. The pillow wasn’t the towel of murder, but the bag, the steam revealed her face on it.” Patch explained with pride in his voice.

“So the bag her mother used to transport the teddy bear as gift was the weapon. Cruel.” Jens was disgusted.

“Yes, but that’s not all. I took notice that there were four electrons but the EKG had only three connections. That means the murder has swapped her pulse with his to avoid that the alert gets sounded.”

“So that’s why the pulse was steady. A smart idea, I gave him that.” Günther commented with a grin.

“Now, we only need to find DNA and if it is in the police database.” Midnight finished, confident they would find whoever the murderer was.

“Yes,” James replied and looked at the ponies. “You all did great work today.”

“Glad to hear it, we help in any way we can.” Midnight smiled, ready to continue.

The General waved a hand. “You already did enough, go home and rest, you have earned it.”

“Okay, it was a pleasure and honor, James.”

Jens and Leo walked to the locker room to change to their normal clothes, they and their guests took notice that James was sitting on a bench, appearing to be deep in thought. “Everything okay?” Wagensroll asked as he climbed on it, sitting down next to him.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” The veteran quickly replied.

“You look tensed since we left the hospital.”

The officer sighed, patting the colt, who smiled in affection. “In my long service time in both World Wars I learned something. Sometimes, it’s just your time. Against that, even the most advanced medicine is helpless. I saw soldiers as young as sixteen die before my eyes.”

“It’s hard to take, we all three learned the same in the civil war. You've seen your fair share of war. Me, Wolf and Fletcher...we've seen more than enough. Enough to last a lifetime...or several. We've already been through way too much...And yet for some reason, we always keep looking for more. But you’re doing a great job, leading your soldiers and caring for them.” Midnight replied.

“I know. Birgit still had her whole life ahead of her and I could tell she would make a fine member of the Harmonious Guard. She deserves that her murder is brought to justice.” The man sounded determined.

“Indeed.” The bat pony replied before they headed home with their caretakers.

Jens and the Knights walked through the park as Wolf asked, “Do you know who the four mercenaries were James talked to?”

“Oh, those? Those four are also part of his closest confidants. Unlike the six women, who work in public, nobody really knows in what military parts those four work. I only know their names.

Their leader is called Karl Gottlieb, the officer that spoke to him, he had a relative who was a high-ranking officer in the Franco-Prussian War I think. The woman is called Stella Wolf and the man in the camouflaged uniform is called Klaus with first name, being a relative of James. And the man with the gas mask, he is kinda an unofficial or indirect member, having his own unit.

As far as I know, he is the adoptive son of Günther. When he was still a child he lost his home and parents in a house fire caused by neo-Nazis. His name is Hans.”

“I see. Poor Hans, must have been traumatizing.”

“Yeah, I guess it’s his way to repaying James.” Fletcher suspected as the filly took a shortcut over a grass hill and started to shriek as she slipped, sliding down it.

Jens, Fletcher and Midnight ran over to check her as she held her right hind leg with a painful expression, struggling not to cry before a tear left her eye.

“Let me take a look,” Fray said in a calming voice as he used his horn to scan her leg, smiling slightly after being done. “Nothing broken, you just seem to overstretch your leg.”

“Okay.” The Pegasus, assisted by Midnight stood up, trying to walk but could only limp.

“Do you mind if I carry you?” Meier asked.

“Thank you, but I got wings,” Wolf replied and tried to flap her wings, only to hiss in pain. “Oh, come on! Did I also overstretch them?” She complained and looked at Jens, grumbling, “Fine.”

The man just nodded, picking her gently up, holding her like a cat and she let out a moan of discomfort at this before glaring at her two friends. “One word and you’re a pair of burlap sacks!” They just made the zipper gesture in response.

Upon arriving at home, Jens took notice that the blue pony was also a bit dirty from her slide. “I should give you a bath.”

Wolf waved a hoof. “Thanks for the offer but I do this myself.”

And with that, she limped into the bathroom and took a shower, letting out a sigh of relief with a happy and satisfied expression as the warm water washed away the sweat and dirt, being in a world of bliss.

But still, a thought of worry entered her mind.

I hope Wolf Cub, Fletcher Junior and Mid-Mite are doing well.

After being done with her shower, Fletcher cleaned himself, followed by Midnight, then Jens. As the ponies had a moment for themselves, Wolf said, “It’s actually good that our parents aren’t here to see this.” She shivered “…Baby pictures.”

The grey colt wrapped a hoof around her. “I think you worry too much. First, you were found as filly, and second, they hadn’t any cameras around back then. Me, I lost contact with my parents as time passed.”

“And as you know I lost everything except for a portrait of my parents when I was a baby in Armbrust Castle,” Fletcher added.

“Yeah…But Patch and Wagensroll aren’t so lucky in that regard.” The blue pony commented.

They all had salad with potatoes as dinner before going to bed.

In the next morning, James had news for them. “We managed to identify the murderer. Arnold Dietrich.” He showed them a police photo.

He was a man with blue eyes, shaved head, wearing combat boots and a combat jacket, his build avenge. His face was broad and had a scar over his left eye, probably from resisting arrest the ponies assumed.

“He’s the leader of a radical neo-Nazi group, having made trouble in the past, until the police with our help managed to arrest him. Battery, Arson, illegal procession of firearms, just to call a few. He got a Life Sentence but broke out of prison and went into hiding. We found him once, we will find him again.” James sounded confident of it.

“I hope so, the longer he’s out, the more dangerous it becomes for our citizens,” Leo said with worry.

“Indeed. We must find him as fast as possible.”

---

The Eternal Knights passed the time to play tag with the three girls, while Wagensroll and Patch went with Leo to the library to read.

The green pony was reading a book about tanks, while Patch was reading about British history. “Ah...I get the distinct impression you're not here to renew.” Patch commented as he looked up.

“Still haven't gotten your fill of the witty one-liners in the face of danger, huh?” The Farman colt countered.

I'm a Trottingham pony. That's kind of what we do.” Patch replied, kinda feeling if they were watched.

“Are you hungry? I know a good bakery just down the street.” Leo asked and they nodded.

The Trottingham pony mumbled in thought, “If the Harmonious Guard helped to arrest him, it’s highly likely that he wants revenge.”

“Yes, but not to worry, Patch, I’m sure they find and arrest him soon.” Wagensroll smiled, trusting Günther.

“Me too, we have a very well organized recon and secret service team, led by Lilly and Karl, they will have found him in no time,” Leo added as suddenly, something hard hit his head and he blacked out.

“Come with us.” A new voice ordered cold and the two colts turned around, seeing several men with similar appearances as Dietrich, one of them aiming a pistol at them.

They both knew they couldn’t run or call out for help, the librarian was nowhere to be seen. “'After you then.” Patch said without fear before they got led way.

“I told you we should have used the internet,” Wagensroll commented at their situation.

“You try typing with hooves!” Patch countered before both got put sacks over their heads.

---

Jens just brought the foals some pretzels from the bakery as out of nowhere, James stopped with his car in front of his house, looking surprised.

Something told the man and Knights that his visit wasn’t a good sign, given the worried expression.

It made them wonder what the reason for his visit was, yet hoped it wasn’t anything too worse.

Commander?” Meier saluted.

“At ease. We got a situation. Dietrich’s men kidnapped Wagensroll and Patch!”

“What?” Jens asked in shock.

“I don’t lie, I just got a call from Leo, somebody knocked him out as he was on his way home with them.”

Fletcher, upon hearing this exclaimed in anger, “Mess with my family, you mess with me!”

Wolf hissed. “Which body part would cause the most pain if severed?”

Midnight just bared his fangs slightly, trying to get up with a plan to save the two ponies and make the kidnappers pay.

“Come with me, we already found out where they are held,” Jessie said and they got to the local base.

“Okay, our scouts have found them in an abandoned court in the woods, far from the city.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Fletcher asked, eager to go.

“Hold up. We can’t endanger their lives, plus without your signature weapons and in this state, you won’t be able to do much.” James pointed out.

The unicorn gave a defeated sigh. “I guess you have a point, but I can’t leave him!”

“I know, Fletcher, but not to worry. My specialists will take care of that.” To Günther’s words, Karl, Stella, Klaus and Hans stood next to him.

“They will pay for that, I assure you, Fletcher.” The man with Gas mask promised him.

“But you still could assist us. As Scouts.” Gottlieb suggested, earning nods as reply.

“Good idea.” Midnight liked it.

“I’d love to come with you, but I have to ensure everything is covered,” James told them with regrets.

The foals got equipped with helmets and lightweight vests, they didn’t mind it, happy to have some protection as they got into a truck with the others, Jens and Leo were also in the team, the latter having his head lowered with a guilty expression.

“I’m sorry, I should have prevented this from happening.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Leo, they took you by surprise,” Fray replied, not blaming him for this.

The truck arrived at a hill overlooking the court, several guards were patrolling around.

“We got several guards outside, we need to take them out first, before storming the house. Klaus, you stay here with Fletcher and give sniper support. Midnight, you go with me, Wolf with Stella.” Karl ordered, they all nodded in response.

“And I’ll get my soldiers for the aftermath. Jens and Leo, you spot targets for them.” Hans suggested and left.

“Oh, almost forgot.” The woman whistled and a short, quiet bark entered the foals’ ears, seeing a grey wolf with yellow eyes. “Let’s do this, Dexter.”

The dog barked in response before going down with his owner and the filly, Karl and Midnight.

As Fletcher looked at Günther, he took notice that his rifle had no scope and that he switched it for a bow. “Aren’t you a sniper?”

“When it comes to stealth, I prefer a bow. Here.” The man gave him also a bow.

“Thanks.”

“Two guards up ahead,” Jens reported as he looked through his binoculars, seeing two guards chattering.

The two archers gave each other a nod, firing at the same time, the neo-Nazis stumbled from the hits before falling over. “Good shot!” Klaus complimented the colt.

“You too.”

On the ground, Midnight and Gottlieb sneaked behind two guards having their back to them, the officer made a sign for the bat pony to take the left guard out.

Midnight quickly charged at the German, knocking him to the ground and stabbed him into the heart with a blade, Klaus charged with his STG-44 at the other, ramming the bayonet onto the other neo-Nazi’s chest, the German grabbed it in shock before dying, as blood spluttered from the wound.

“Hey!” A third guard called out, coming from the side, the officer quickly drew a silenced Luger and shot the hostile in the head, falling dead to the ground in a puddle of blood.

Wolf and Stella saw four guards in front of them, not being noticed as the guards split up.

The woman whistled and pointed to the guard on the far left, Wolf nodded in response, preparing to slice him with a knife as Dexter ran up to him.

“Hey!” The man yelled as the wolf grabbed his gun and ran away, flinching before falling to the ground as the filly had sliced his throat in a flash.

The woman then pointed at two guards chatting and whistled again, throwing a knife into the sky.

“What’s that in the sky?” One of the guards asked before the knife landed between his eyes, causing to other to startle.

“What the?” He wondered, not able to react as the dog tackled him to the ground. “Anyone! Help!” The neo-Nazi yelled, struggling in vain as the wolf went for his throat.

“Damn it!” The last remaining guard yelled in frustration, grabbing his radio to sound the alarm.

He briefly looked up as he saw something in the sky, but it was too late.

The Pegasus dived on him, tackling him to the ground and stabbed him to the throat, killing him.

Dexter walked up to his owner, licking her face. “Good dog.”

Then he did the same with Wolf, already liking her. She chuckled. “I like you too, Dexter.”

“All guards eliminated, good. Now, let’s take care of Arnold.” Gottlieb sounded satisfied on the radio as they regrouped.

Patch and Wagensroll couldn’t tell how long the ride had been as the sacks were removed, gasping for air, looking around.

They found themselves in a dilapidated court, restrained on chairs. “Well, look what we have here.” A male voice said cold and they saw a man coming out of the shadow, looking identical to the one on the police photo. But they noticed that the Letter sequence nsdap was written on his jacket and several tattoos on his arms.

His right arm had the numbers 88 and 18, his left arm had letter sequences, saying JOG and ZOG. Most noticeable was that he was wearing an iron cross on his chest with the swastika on it.

“I'll only give you my name, mobile number, a few bars of 'Jerusalem' and my Robotnik impression.” Patch said emotionless.

“Ah, yes, the Geneva Conventions, but they won’t help you here. Now, tell me something useful.” The neo-Nazi’s voice was cold.

“Okay, how's this...I'll answer your questions if you answer mine. It's very easy.”

Dietrich raised an eyebrow. “...what is it then?”

“How do you make a Nazi Cross?”

“What?” The man looked at Wagensroll in confusion.

“I don't know, how do you make a Nazi Cross?” He asked his friend who grinned.

“You kick him in the bollocks!” Patch then kicked Dietrich into the groin with his free handlers.

The man fell to the ground with a cry of pain, holding his groin. After a few minutes, he managed to recover and stood up, grabbing a compact, retractable baton and hit the purple colt in the chest several times with an angry expression.

Patch cred in pain, yet managed to smile. “Ugh...worth it...”

“The kick?” His friend asked.

“No, the joke.”

“You have quite some humor, I give you that. But it won’t help you. It will be a pleasure for me to send those clowns from the Harmonious Guard a message they won’t forget.” Arnold said in a sadistic tone.

“I'd advise against this, sir. I mean, imagine the headlines! British citizen abducted from a German library and beaten to death by Neo-Nazis! The Daily Mail will have a field day!” Patch warned.

“Why? Why did you kill this young woman?!” Wagensroll demanded to know.

“Woman? Ah, yes, I remember. She was the one who got me into prison in the first place, ratting me out. She deserved it.”

A knock interrupted him. “Sorry to interrupt, but we got some guests.” Another neo-Nazi said as he led a woman and a girl in, both looked scared as their eyes were filled with fear, their hands tied up.

“Another good hunt. Those refuges ruin our country, day by day. I would love to get my revenge.” He drew a knife, walking close to the child who trembled in fear.

“Please…we didn’t do anything…” The mother pleaded.

“Lie!” Arnold yelled, “You pretend you need help as you were forced to leave your country, but in reality, you just want to use Germany’s hospitality as you see fit. If our corrupt government won’t do anything against it, I will.”

“Stop!” Wagensroll yelled, “Don’t you dare!”

Dietrich smirked. “Why? Maybe I should start with you, instead.” He held the knife close to the colt’s throat. “I will enjoy this, you little…

Tick, tack, tick, tack….

“What’s that sound?” He asked confused before an explosion occurred, knocking him and his comrade over, the hostages closed their eyes from the flash.

As Arnold’s vision and hearing cleared, he heard a voice saying, “Did you really think you could escape us for long?”

His eyes went wide in shock as he saw three mercenaries of the Harmonious Guard, the most elite of it, aiming their weapons at him.

Despite this, he managed to grab the green colt, using him as shield. “Stay back, or I’ll blast his brain out!”

“Do that, and you’ll regret it.” The woman replied colt.

“What you gonna do with our old guns? My P8 Combat is way better than yours! Made for Special Forces, featuring only a release lever to ensure fast shot readiness, Instead of the combined safety and release lever. Deadly in the right hands.” He taunted.

Bang!

Dietrich screamed in pain as the woman had shot his gun out of his hand.

Then a Wolf pinned him down, growling at him.

“Bigmouth. If you can hit your target, pretty much any gun will do the trick.” She countered as her comrades freed the hostages, with Klaus comforting the mother and child as he led them away.

“That won’t stop me!” He yelled, throwing the dog off him and threw a smoke bomb, also quickly grabbing his pistol and fired to suppress them, hearing a young cry of pain.

The man managed to get outside as suddenly, he felt great pain in his right leg and fell over, Grunting in pain, he noticed that an arrow was stuck in his leg.

Out of the smoke, a green unicorn colt walked up to him, his eyes filled with rage, grabbing him by the throat and punched him. “This is for Brigit!” Then a stronger punch. “And this is for Wagensroll!”

Two more mercenaries joined, also looking not very happy. “This is for hurting Patch!” One of them said with a British accent and kicked him.

The other one grabbed him by the collar. “You disgust me.” And spit him into the face, followed by a punch.

“We are finished here,” Gottlieb said and they all turned to leave, he carried Patch n his arms, Stela carried Wagensroll. The purple colt had difficulty breathing, his friend was bleeding from his left foreleg.

It left Dietrich wondering why they left him like this, before he spotted several more mercenaries moving in. But they looked different.

They all were wearing gas masks and had flamethrowers attacked to their STGs. They piled up the bodies, but two of them, one of them looking like a stallion with dark brown fur and with a grey mane, strangely having a counting frame on his flank, moved towards him.

The human knelled down to the Neo-Nazi. “Do you remember us?”

“Why should I?” Arnold countered.

“I thought you would remember whose lives you ruined, like the one of a well-known tax agent.” The stallion said and Dietrich’s eyes went wide as he recognized the voices.

“Y-you?!” He asked in shock.

“Yes. We should thank you, as you made us realize something: The country must be cleansed. To keep our citizens safe, we must burn away this mind-breaking disease that instills such sick ideals in others. Our light is a beacon of justice. One that brings sanctuary to the good and punishment to the evil. Like you.” The human explained as his flamethrower come to life with a hissing sound.

At this moment, the neo-Nazi saw that the others burned the piles of bodies before he was burned himself, screaming in pain.

The mercenaries took the mother and child to the hospital, they both smiled at them. “Thank you.” The woman said with a grateful smile, Dexter poked the girl playfully, giving a happy bark.

They then reported back to base, bringing the injured ponies to the infirmary. “Another successful mission, great work. Patch has suffered a few broken rips and Wagensroll a graze shot to the leg but they will be fine.” James reported to them.

“I’m relieved to hear this, James. Though, what was the point of killing everyone instead of capturing them?” Fletcher asked him.

The veteran sighed. “He had been a too great threat to be left alive. I’m law-abiding, but sometimes, you have to go against the law to do something good. The public can’t know, so Han’s unit, called the Preachers, or nicknamed by my confidants, the cleaners, make sure no evidence is left.

His unit consists of men and women, who have lost everything to neo-Nazis or any kind of criminal or terrorists, convinced that the only way to keep others safe, is to burn those threats.

In this line of work, sometimes you have to do things you're not prepared to do. So it helps to command someone who is.” He sighed. “If you think less of me for it...I understand. Just know that you have nothing to fear from me...or from him.”

“I…understand.”

The foals with their caretakers then walked over to the infirmary, seeing the three soldiers, together with Hans and one other soldier outside, chatting.

Midnight got a little curious. “If I may ask, why did you join this PMC?”

Karl spoke up first, “As you know, I had a relative fighting in the Franco-Prussian War as a high-ranking officer and my family took pride in that. As I tried to join the Bundeswehr to maintain that pride, I got harassed for my family’s past by right-wing extremists, one of them was my superior, never letting me become an officer, so I quitted. When James had the idea of the PMC, we all helped it to found it. Here, nobody treats you differently based on your country or color. It’s open-minded and he personally overviews recruits with us to make sure the bigots have no chance here. Here, its the skill that counts. Skill and dedication.”

“As for me, I grew up in an orphanage, never knowing my family. Most of the children had lost their families to such guys like Dietrich or war. I wanted to help prevent this from happening, but the Bundeswehr doesn’t allow women to be frontline soldiers, only to be medical personnel. With James, I made my dream come true.” Stella explained,

“And I’m with James as I saw it as family honor to serve with him.” Klaus said to the foals.

“Sounds like you have good reasons. Hans, I don’t want to wake bad memories, but are the rumors true?” Fletcher asked him, feeling a bit guilty about it.

“It’s okay and yes, it’s true, when I was still a child, Arnold burned my house down, as I had a Jewish relative fighting in the Great War. My parents died, I survived with much luck but it was James who saved me.

He was near it when it happened, and brought me out of the house, adopting me after this. He saved my life and I owe it to him.”

“And I, I was the stallion you saw earlier, call me Fritz. I used to be an accountant and tax agent, being well respected. I grew up in Munich before I moved to Volkach, as I got married, helping many residents and local businesses in town with the taxes, James included. I also was going to be a father.” He paused with a sigh.

“But, one day my house caught fire. My wife and I managed to get out but she died in the hospital from smoke inhalation. Along with our unborn child. But that wasn’t enough for Dietrich.

He made it look like I had killed my wife for money. I spent two and a half year in prison before a friend of mine proved my innocence. All because one of my relatives was a Jew. That was where Hans came to me and offered to join the Preachers. As I had lost my family and home, I took did, helping to prevent that others have the same fate as I had.”

“Makes sense.” Midnight replied in a neutral voice as the mercenaries walked away. “It may sound strange, but Gottlieb, Stella and Klaus kinda remind me of us. And as much as I hate to say it, Hans reminds me of somepony I knew in the Civil War. Somepony who really wasn't fond of us.” He shivered.

“Yeah, they do have similarities,” Wolf added before they walked in, seeing the two earth ponies on hospital beds.

“How are you doing?” The unicorn asked his relative, who smiled.

“Apart from my wound, good. I should be out soon, same goes for Patch.”

Before anyone could reply, happy barking sounded from behind, as Dexter ran in, happy to see the Pegasus filly. Wolf started to pet him. “Good boy! Who's a good boy? You're a good boy, yes you are, yes you are!” She kissed his nose, “I just wuv you...” then scowled at the colts. “What are you lookin' at?!”

“Nothing.” Midnight replied.

“Ah, there you are,” Fuchs said as she walked in. “I thought I make a present for all the trouble you had.” She stepped aside, revealing a strawberry cake on a plate. “I hope you like strawberry.”

The Farman colts grinned. “And how!” they both exclaimed in unison, taking a piece of it each and ate it happily, the others enjoyed it too.

“Apart from Apple pie, Strawberry cake was my favorite as child.” The unicorn commented with glee.

“Me too,” Wagensroll added.

The two earth ponies recovered within a few days, just in time as James had news for them.

“You remember when I said I may be able to help you?”

“Yes, why?” The bat pony asked.

“Well, it is ready,” James replied and reached for something in his pocket, revealing a small necklace that looked like the Elements of harmony.

“That’s a Heximal Pendant! Where did you get that?” Midnight asked in surprise, causing the commander to chuckle.

“You’ll see. Jens, Leo, would you go with us?”

The two men looked at each other and hesitated but said, “Yes, sir.”

“Good. Linda, you’re in charge with the others until I’m back.“ The woman saluted in response.

“Now, cover your eyes.” He said as he pressed a button and the neckless started to glow in a white light.

As the two friends were uncovering their eyes, they stared in shock, unable to believe what they saw.

They were on a Meadow and a castle carved into the side of the mountain was visible in the distance.

Both men were unable to speak, trying to process this before a cry of pain tore them out.

Somehow, Midnight and Fletcher had landed on Wolf, unintentionally pinning her down. “You have strong bones, you know that?” The filly asked.

“Sorry.” The colts said as they got off her.

“Is this…Equestria?” Leo asked in disbelief.

“Yes, it is. Come, we have somepony to meet.” James said as he walked ahead, the others followed him.

The short walk led them towards what the mercenaries assumed was Ponyville, seeing a purple Alicorn looking at the officer with a smile. “Welcome back, James!” She hugged him, he returned it.

“Likewise, Twily. May I introduce: Jens Meier and Leo Wood, two of my men, they found our guests.”

The mare stretched her hoof out. “Pleasure to meet you, I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle but you don’t have to address me with my title.”

Both humans couldn’t believe to see the princess of friendship in front of them, yet did a respectful bow. “It is an honor to meet you,” Jens said, being a bit nervous.

“So it is for me,” Twilight replied and turned to the foals. “You are the ponies he told me about, Midnight, Wolf, Fletcher, Wagensroll and Patch, right?”

“Uhh, yes, Twilight.” Midnight bowed with the others out of habit, feeling awkward as he knew that was a different Equestria.

“Well then, follow me, Princess Celestia and Luna would like to meet you.”

They all followed to the throne room of Canterlot, the princesses smiled upon seeing them. “Welcome. I was looking forward to meeting you all after James told me about you. It is true?” The princess of the moon asked friendly.

Taking a deep breath, the bat pony replied, “Yes.” He then told with his friends what had happened in their universe

We are sorry to hear that. We will do everything we can to get you back to your Equestria and to reverse the side effect of the spell.” Celestia said with sympathy.

“Thank you, your highness.” The foals spoke in unison, being grateful.

“Until then, we hope you enjoy your stay,” Luna added as they walked out.

“So, how did you get that Heximal Pendant?” Wolf asked with curiosity.

“It’s a long story.” Jessie led them to a table and sat down. “As you know, I lost my family in the war. I went into deep depression for 15 years. But in summer 1960, this changed.” He smiled. “That was when I met Twilight Sparkle.”

“You…meet her?” Patch asked confused.

“Yes. She was still a filly back then, I found her during a walk in an alleyway. Taking care of her, helping me to get over my depression and also earned the gratitude of her family and Celestia. As years passed here, foals in Ponyville, like Dinky, Ruby, Tootsie and Noi had similar accidents as her, with their human caretakers staying in Equestria. This reminded Twilight of me, starting to miss me. So, Celestia and Luna gave me this Heximal Pendant so I can visit Twily regularly. It’s specially modified.

Normally, if a human travels to Equestria, time on earth passes a quarter of a length as long in their absence. But this one allows me to come back around the same time I left or with only a few minutes passed on Earth, in case there’s an emergency.”

The ponies and mercenaries were speechless for what seemed like hours, before Jens broke it. “Sir…I’m honored to be with you today. Your actions back then honor you.”

“I’m too,” Leo added with pride in his voice.

“Thank you, soldiers. And we actually met before, Fletcher.”

“You did?” Fray asked in confusion but had a different question. “If I may ask, what did the foals experience?” The unicorn wanted to know.

“If you like, we can show you, but it won’t be pretty,” Twilight warned as she cast a memory spell. Engulfing everyone in a white light, showing the experience of the foals in their stays on Earth, the five ponies watched in shock at the experiences of Dinky, Tootsie, Noi and Scootaloo.

“Can…can we have some time for ourselves to process this all?” Wolf asked after it was over, breathing heavily.

“Sure, take as long as you need.” The mare replied and left with the humans.

Fletcher took a deep breath. “Dear Luna…words cannot express how glad I am that I got Dinky home in time in Africa, and that she did not suffer a fate like her counterpart, or got burned like Tootsie or suffered PTSD like Noi.”

The grey colt wrapped an arm around him. “Thanks to your quick actions, it never came that far, Fletch, you can be proud of that. And frankly, if Luna and Celestia had suffered the same accident as Twilight, I think I and Gusty had also been grateful to James and respected him.”

“I’m frankly surprised that…Balthazar changed and accepted his mistakes, I mean he never looked like he could change.”

“Well, that would not be impossible,” Patch added.

The next days, they all got introduced to the humans and the foals, although the Knights, Patch and Wagensroll knew the latter all from their universe.

It was strange for the two bronies but they were happily welcomed and frankly, they kinda enjoyed it.

The two humans and the foals rested with James at Twilight’s castle during the night, but the Eternal Knights couldn’t sleep.

They wondered if Luna’s banishment had also triggered a civil war here or if they did exist in this universe.

“We should stop thinking about this. I mean, if it did, we probably already had met…ourselves here.” Fletcher whispered.

“Yeah…”Wolf mumbled before falling asleep.

In the morning, they breakfasted together, enjoyed it as Wolf asked her friends, “Can you believe humans living in Equestria? I mean, they are supposed to be only a myth.”

“It fascinating though. And interesting how they get along, despite being from different timelines and cultures.” Patch replied as he ate his toast with a cup of tea.

“Yes, it’s quite interesting,” Wagensroll added.

“I, in particular, find it interesting that they have an Imperial Star Destroyer with its entire fighter and ground troops complement at their disposal for defense. That’s a lot of firepower. Imagine if we had this, we could stop any invader with this.” Midnight pointed out, sounding very fascinated about this.

“Twilight! Message from Princess Celestia!” Spike yelled as he ran in with a scroll in his hand.

“Thank you, Spike.” She took it and read it, grinning.

“Good news! Celestia has found a way to bring you back, we shall get to Canterlot as soon as possible.”

“Okay then, let’s go,” James said, confident that Celestia could help them.

As the group arrived at the castle, Celestia smiled. “Hello. Luna picked up a faint magical aura, she believes is it from her counterpart of your home.

“That’s good to hear.” Midnight smiled.

“Twilight, could you help me and my sister to increase it? That way, we may be able to open a portal to them or at the very least, some way of communicating with the other versions of us.” The white Alicorn asked.

“Sure thing.”

The 3 Alicorns lit up their horns and a bright light blinded everyone, then a humming sound greeted their ears. “Did it work?” Twilight’s voice asked. “I can't tell.”

“What?!” a perfect copy of Twilight's voice said. "That wasn't me! Who's there? Show yourself!”

As the light faded, the group gasped in shock. Before them was a room of Canterlot with the three princesses, the other princes of the moon looked very relieved at Midnight. “Midnight? This that really you?”

“Yes, Luna. As you can see…we are in an alternate Equestria.” He explained a bit embarrassed.

“Then, let me try something.” The purple Alicorn from his universe said as she cast a spell with the others, reinforcing the portal. “Now you should be able to cross it.”

The bat pony slowly stretched his hoof out, hoping it wouldn’t be cut off as it came closer to the portal.

It summed stronger as he touched it, slowly moving it to the other side. Then the rest of his body moved through without incident.

Relived he didn’t die, he made a sign for the other to get through, which they did.

It was a bit awkward for all of them to be with two princesses/ their counterparts, but Luna managed to ask, “So, Midnight, would you be so kind and tell me what happened?”

“It’s a long story.” He replied and told with the others how they found themselves on Earth, how Jens. Leo and James found them and how the Equestria they came from was different.

Luna smiled with pride at the humans. “For taking care of my loyal knights, I’m eternally grateful.”

“We did only our duty, your highness, what was right to do,” James replied.

“May I ask if anypony knows why we were turned into foals?” Wolf asked, causing Twilight to chuckle nervously.

“Well…Turns out, the spell went wrong as somepony had messed with it so it would kill you or mutate you into mindless abominations that would turn on us. Fortunately, we managed to reverse it with the elements, turning you into foals was a side effect. So you see, it could have been a lot worse.”

The foals stared in shock as Midnight exclaimed, “What...worse than standing barely a meter?!”

“Hey, after all, better than being turned into babies.” Fletcher pointed out.

“I guess you have a point. You can turn us back, right?”

“Of course,” Celestia replied and looked at the humans. “You’re welcome to stay until it’s done.”

“It would be a pleasure.” Jens felt honored, Leo nodded with James.

“By the way, how are Dinky and her friends doing?” Fletcher asked the princesses.

“They are on a school trip but we will let them know once they return. Also, three deer of Wolfsong are with them. They are exchange students, we thought it might help to show Equestria’s good relationship with the deer tribes.” Celestia explained.

The sisters lit up their horns and engulfed the foals in a white light, causing the others to shield their eyes until it faded, hearing Midnight’s voice, “I think it’s working.” But it was still too bright to tell.

The light slowly got weaker and the men were able to faintly see silhouettes, looking like adult ponies.

“Ugh…I feel like after a surgery with a too strong anesthesia…” Wolf’s voice sounded weak.

As the light finally was gone, they all saw five fully grown ponies lying on the ground, looking very exhausted, trying to catch their breaths, Patch’s dark blue cloak was apparently also changed back to his normal size.

Wagensroll tried to get up, his hooves were shaking as he struggled and collapsed again.

“A side effect of the spell, but you should recover soon.” The white mare helped Fletcher in a bed, her sister helped Midnight, Twilight helped Wolf, while Patch and Wagensroll were assisted by Leo and James to the beds.

Then, Jens noticed something. “Fletcher, you told me and you and Wagensroll are relatives, which kind of relatives are you?”

That question caught both Farmans by surprise. “Umm…Uncle and nephew.” Fletcher quickly replied, as explaining that he was ageless would make it be too difficult to understand his relationship with Wagensroll.

They chatted with the mercenaries for some time until a voice yelled happy, “Patchy! You’re okay!” The humans saw two Earth ponies entering the room, hugging Patch. They assumed that were his parents.

“My little Wagensroll! I was so worried about you!” Another mare came in, hugging him with tears of joy.

And that must be Wagensroll’s parents. Jens and Leo thought.

“Nancy must have been worried sick for you. The way she enjoyed the dance with you at the gala, she really likes you.” Patch’s mother commented.

“And that Deer, Dawnwind, she really suits to you.” The Farman mare told her son.

“Mom!” Both stallions exclaimed in embarrassment, blushing, Fletcher and Wolf had their heads lowered in embarrassment.

“Now I have to think back when your parents thought…” He whispered.

“DON’T remind me of that.” She whispered back.

The sound of someone clearing his throat interrupted them, seeing several deer standing at the door, one male and female wearing crowns, and another female was wearing a cloak, having her head lowered, growling slightly.

“We will never speak of this again.” The male deer said in a strict tone and the parents nodded in response with embarrassment expressions.

“White Wolf, I can’t say how happy I am to see you’re okay.” Her mother gave her a hug, followed by her entire family.

“I missed you, too. But without them, I wouldn’t be here, right now.” The Pegasus pointed to the humans.

Her father smiled. “You must be the humans Princess Luna and Celestia told me about. I’m Runningwind, the Chieftain of the Wolfsong tribe. This is my wife Fallingleaf and our children Sharphorn, Wintermist and Lightfoot. And Wolf’s Aunt, Dawnwind.” He pointed to her, she had her head still lowered, giving just a wave.

“In the name of the Wolfsong tribe, you have my thanks for helping my precious daughter.”

The mercenaries bowered respectfully in response. “We are honored, your highness,” James said and turned to his men. “Time to go.”

“Yes, sir. It was an honor, we enjoyed our time with you.” Jens said to the five ponies.

“So did we.” The grey stallion replied with a smile.

The humans then moved to the portal, feeling half sad, half happy that the Eternal Knights, Patch and Wagensroll are finally back home.

A loud smashing sound echoed through the room, like somebody had violently opened a door, making them stop and turning around.

“Your Highness!” A Royal Guard ran in, completely out of breath. “News about Cheerilee’s class…” He tried to catch his breath.

“What is it?” Luna asked.

“They went…”

“Went what?”

The guard coughed and cleared his throat.

“Missing.”

Author's Note:

Raptormon132, I hope you like the cameo of your OC

Comments

[Raptormon132]

So Fritz makes his first appearance here. Awesome!
And that bastard Neo-Nazi got what was coming to him.

Raptormon132, I hope you like the cameo of your OC

Oh, me do like!

[Bronycommander]

9318789
Glad to hear it.