The Pinto of Ardennes

by Bronycommander

Chapter 3 Moving on

Chapter 3: Moving on

Trembling.

All Pip could do was trembling.

That man had been cold and emotionless. He would get to him eventually, Pip could already tell that.

“Who…who was that man?” The young colt managed to say in a scared voice.

“Gestapo Agent Heinrich Schmertz, others say his real name is Rudolf Bauer. But you have my word, Pip, we keep you safe.” Walter ruffled his mane, earning a weak smile.

“Thank you, I know to appreciate that.”

“Well, I suggest you should rest now, it’s getting late,” Thomas said as the sun went down.

The colt yawned, wondering if time had really passed so fast. “Okay.” Pip ate some bread for dinner and went to bed, sleeping peacefully.

“I don’t know how the Gestapo knew so fast about him, but I will not let them take him.” König looked at the child with determination.

“With me by your side, they won’t get far.” Walter placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I know. Maybe I worry too much.” With that, they all went to bed.

---

Pip stirred in his sleep, noticing it was still night. Strangely, the tent was empty save for him. “Where is everyone?” He wondered, walking outside.

To his surprise, he saw two ponies in golden armor standing at a campfire. “I wonder how long it takes until the Grand General finds the little present I left him.” One of the guards said eagerly.

“For Celestia’s sake, Hardy! You’re gonna get both of us killed.” The other pony scolded.

“Palisade is such a jerk. He’ve had this coming for a long time.”

“He’s a very dangerous jerk. He’ll send us on another suicide mission. And this time we won’t get so lucky.”

“Oh. The look on his face when we came back was priceless.”

“I’m sure he already has plans how to get us killed.”

“I know for a fact he does. I broke into his desk drawer and in there was a little notebook.”

“What the hay? What did he write?”

“He’s got a sick mind. Fantasizing about all sorts of twisted things. You don’t wanna know.”

Suddenly there was a strange noise. “Hey, over here, I heard something.” The pony known as Hardy said and the two ponies walked into the dark. “Stop! Over here!” He yelled, pointing to something.

“What?! Sir Ashfrost said they were locked up!” Pip heard the other guard yell in shock before gunshots and screams followed. “Get help! Run!”

Something told the little colt that this was bad, gulping.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a human looking silhouette, stumbling around.

Pip wanted to run, but he was frozen on the spot as the human came into the light of the campfire.

He had a very mangled appearance, as he had dislocated jaws, jagged teeth, milky white eyes, wearing a torn German uniform

He was occasionally growling or yelling out in a heavily distorted German voice, hinting that his brain was still active enough for basic intelligence.

The colt was terrified, shaking heavily, slowly walking backwards until he tripped over a root.

The former human got alerted by this, starting to run towards him.

Pip screamed in fear, covering his eyes at his imminent death.

There was the sound of slashing and flesh getting impaled.

“That soldier! He... he should not be alive.” A female voice greeted his ears, causing him to slowly open his eyes.

The soldier was lying dead on the ground, his head detached. Standing over the body was a blue Pegasus mare with matching eyes and flowing silver mane, wearing a Fallschirmjäger uniform, an MP40 on her back and a knife in her right forehoof.

“Are you alright?” She asked him with a worried voice, tearing him out.

“I’m f-fine.”

“Good. Climb on.” She lowered herself and he wasted no time.

“Thank you for saving my life.”

“No need, my dear. I’m White Wolf but you can call me Wolf.” The mare replied as he moved through the woods.

“Okay. What happened?” He asked in confusion.

“Hay If I knew that. I was talking with my friends as suddenly, we got knocked down by a strong force. I awoke alone, hearing those poor soldiers being killed by those…undead.”

The young foal didn’t reply, trying to process everything.

The undead. Zombies. He had heard stories but never thought they could be true.

After a while, they came to what seemed to be a drop pod. “Good to see you, Wolf. I already thought we had lost you.” A grey bat pony with pure white eyes, wearing a German officer uniform, armed with a STG44 with a blade as bayonet, said relieved to her.

Next to him was a green unicorn with completely light blue eyes, having no pupils and fluctuating like water, wearing a sniper uniform, having a scoped rifle and bow on his back.

“Likewise. On my way to you, I found this lost colt. What’s your name again?”

“P-Pipsqueak. But Pip is also fine.” The colt stuttered in surprise and awe.

“Don’t worry, we protect you. My name is Midnight and this is Fletcher.” The bat pony introduced his friend.

The pinto colt couldn’t tell why, but something told him he could trust them as they entered the pod. It took them to what looked like a lab.

“You! It cannot be! You survived?” A male voice yelled in shock on an intercom before a wave of undead came from both sides.

Pip trembled, not wanting to end up as meal for them, yelping as Wolf used her wings to rapidly fly through the zombies, slicing them or shooting them with her MP40, having high accuracy despite being moving.

Midnight either shot the undead or rammed his blade into them, switching between targets in seconds, like he was teleporting.

Fletcher used his rifle at long range, never missing a shot, piercing through as many as four targets at a time. If a zombie came close, he used his bow, scoring one shot kills with them as easy as he did with his rifle.

They quickly defeated the horde, the colt breathed heavily after it was over.

“Oh, do you really think that was all? I have an old friend of yours waiting for you.” The voice taunted on the intercom.

Before anypony could react, a wave of flames appeared on an upper platform, followed by a distorted growl.

Pipsqueak looked up on the platform, his eyes went wide in fear.

On it stood a zombie, armed with a flamethrower and a fuel tank on his back.

But that wasn’t what scared Pip.

This Zombie used to be a unicorn, it’s face covered by a golden mask of a tranquil, cherubic young steed. The rest of the body had bolts, tubing and metal plates attached to it, the eyes having a blue glow.

He fired the flamethrower into the air, swinging it around, then jumped down.

Wolf flew high into the air to avoid that Pip would get hurt, the former unicorn was surprisingly agile, despite its heavy weapon, easily catching up to Fletcher and Midnight who barely evaded the flames.

The green unicorn charged his bow, firing an arrow at the fuel tank.

The fuel tank exploded from the hit, engulfing the undead unicorn into flames, stumbling around, the foal noticed that a part of the inner body was exposed, blazing like there was a flame inside.

Midnight rammed his blade into it, the unicorn flinched before its eyes ceased to glow and let out a growl that sounded like “Thank you” as it collapsed on the ground.

“While I can’t say he was a good pony, he hasn’t deserved something like this.” Fletcher commented as they moved on.

“This must be fate. Our destinies are intertwined…and now I fully understand why: finally, I get to witness your demise.” The voice taunted as the group came to another lab.

Pip saw a pony in a lab coat in the foreclosed lab, working on a zombie restrained on a table. This zombie also looked like a unicorn, but its legs were at odd angles, the skin pallid, the place where it Cutie Mark should be was skinned and burned, exposing muscle, having green glowing eyes. A metal mask covered the muzzle.

“Hey, we can reroute the power with these consoles!” The bat pony pointed to a console. “We take out Ashfrost now, while’s he vulnerable, or everything is lost.”

As the Eternal Knights went to work, Pip noticed that Wolf was coughing a bit. “Are you alright?” He asked with concern.

“There's an itch in my throat.” She replied as the power was rerouted, Ashfrost looked around in shock.

“What? This isn’t possible! This is not possible!” To his horror, the unicorn started to stand up from the table, no longer restrained, growling.

“Stay away from me! Do you hear me!? I created you! No! No! No!” Ashfrost screamed in pain as the undead unicorn cornered and slaughtered him to death, Pip looked away.

“Destroyed by your own creation, doctor.” Midnight commented emotionless.

After the horrible sounds stopped, the colt opened his eyes, seeing that what seemed to be a metal gate in front of the windows, sparing him the horrible sight.

He then looked at the three ponies, noticed something odd. “You look pale, are you alright?”

Midnight looked slowly up, his expression terrified. “...run.”

The boy climbed down from Wolf, taking a step back in confusion. “Wh...f-f-from what?”

“Us! Run! Now!” Midnight yelled and the colt wasted no time, running towards the pod.

They all had become infected somehow, possible turning within minutes or even seconds.

In the moment he reached the pod, a white light blended him.

Pip awoke with a gasp, panting and looking around, seeing the others sleeping peacefully. With a sigh, he fell asleep again, relieved it had been just a dream.

In the next morning, Pip asked Walter, “If you don’t mind, how did you get your scar?”

“Oh, that? Well, Pip, back in August, I was a communications officer in the German headquarter in Paris. As the Allies attacked, I managed to retreat but a Grace shot hit me.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay, it’s in the past. Reminds me, Paris was also where I met Schmertz. Back then, someone stole explosives from the munitions room. As such, I got questioned by him, as apparently, due to my clearance level access to munitions storage room, someone fitting my description based on eyewitness reports, and my name was written in the checkout log munitions without proper authorization. I asserted I was in the communications department all day and said there were other people besides me, who had a Clearance level to access the room. As he was about to arrest me, I noticed my commanding officer, who also had clearance to it. As I pointed him out, they left me alone.”

“Is Schmertz really that scary?”

“Yes. I have seen plenty of Gestapo interrogations but he…he makes the rest of the Gestapo look like nuns. The things he did to prisoners…” The officer paused for a moment. “I can still hear the screams in my nightmares.”

The foal shivered at the thought. “Sounds horrible.”

“Don’t worry, he has to get past me if you wants to question you.” Gerber patted him.

The sound of engines reached Pip’s ears, seeing what appeared to be an American convoy heading towards their direction. Strangely, the tanks had their turrets pointed in the nine o'clock position and the soldiers had their helmets removed.

Before the colt could say something, Gerber said, “No need to worry, those are our men.” He saluted the leading officer, much to the colt’s confusion.

“Hello, Sergeant, I’m pleased to report that we misled a US tank Regiment and an infantry company was encouraged by false information to retreat.” The German in US uniform sounded proudly.

“Good to hear. Carry on.”

“Yes, sir.”

As Pip watched the convoy, consisting of a Sherman tank, a few M10 Wolverines, M8 Greyhounds and M3 Halftracks, moving on, he asked, “What’s this all about?”

“These men are commando units with the task to cause confusion in the rear of the Allied lines as far as I know.” Gerber explained.

“But isn’t that against the rules of war?” Pip asked, being aware of the law of war and Conventions due to the human residents back home.

“Yes, as such, all those men are volunteers. I have doubt it will be successful, as I have heard they have a lack allied of vehicles and uniforms. We had even to convert some Panther tanks into Wolverines to compensate for this.”

“I see. Sound risky.”

“Yes, it is.”

The following days were quiet as the Allied troops were still struggling to get up a defense and organize themselves.

On 19^th December, Gerber informed his men about new orders. “Listen up! We got orders to meet up with German forces nearby for the attack on Bastogne. As every major road in the Ardennes converges there, its important that we capture this town.”

As the soldiers prepared for this battle, Pip helped to carry supplies around, overhearing a Volksgrenadier.

“They mock us, the other units. They say we are the infirm and weak. Well, let us prove them wrong. Reports pour in from everywhere. The battle is ours. Daily we push further and further into their lines. They will be pushed into the sea. Victory will be ours.”

“Count your luck, kameraden. We are on the cusp of a great moment in history. We are witnessing the rebirth of the military. Only victory lies in front of us. I thank my luck that I have an opportunity to fight. They told me I was too old at the beginning of the war, now they need me. This is my chance to make my nation proud.” An elderly soldier added with pride.

As Pip dropped the supplies where they were needed, he took notice of a group of young soldiers, one of them looked similar to the man who had taken care of Princess Twilight when she was a foal and had landed on earth by accident. If he remembered correctly, they called him James.

Not wanting to disturb the space time continuum or create a paradox, Pip kept this distance as he overheard their chat. “How can be seen as right not to take prisoners? What reason do we have to fear unarmed men?” James asked his comrades.

“I know but orders are orders. But I respect your mercy to prisoners. It is also an Honor to have a Knight’s cross holder in our Squad,” One comrade replied with pride.

“I know.”

“Squad, listen up!” An officer joined them.

“Sir.” The soldiers said as the officer saluted James first.

“At ease. We have order to assist the troops at Bastogne. Let’s move out. Oh before I forgot, Armed resistance will be shown no mercy. But in the weather and with the delivery routes at risk, bullets are precious. Don't shoot unarmed men, else you'll find yourself short when it matters most.”

“Yes, sir!” His men replied and James let out a sigh of relief.

“Relieved, Private?” The officer asked him.

“Yes, Sir. It is just, I don’t like to do such cruel things. I’m not a coldblooded bastard as the Waffen SS are.”

“Me neither. That’s why I decided not to kill surrendering soldiers.” He explained before they all entered a Halftrack.

“Hey, Pip, are you ready? We move out. Just stay behind us and you should be fine.” Thomas said to him.

“Okay.”

As they moved on, a few Panther tanks, together with some StuG III and a Panzer IV joined them, moving towards the town.

Pip was nervous, trembling slightly.

“We outnumber them, they don’t stand a chance!” A soldier commented, confident of victory.

As the town was in sight, there was no US soldier to be seen. It was quiet. Too quiet.

“Watch for ambushes.” Gerber warned.

The young colt also looked around, trying to find anything suspicious as they came closer and closer.

He spotted an odd looking barrel at the edge of the town, covered by snow. But as he realized what is was, it was too late. “Watch out!”

The barrel turned out to be the turret of a camouflaged M10 tank destroyer, firing at the rear of the Tiger tank.

The explosion knocked Pip backwards. To his horror, the tank startled to roll backwards towards him, he crawled backwards, yelling “No! No! No!”

Then another explosion, knocking Pip backwards again, landing in a ditch.

His hearing was muffed and his vision blurry, seeing barely that the tank destroyer had disabled the King Tiger by destroyed the right track, indirectly saving the young colt before getting destroyed by one of the Panther tanks.

Shell-shocked, Pipsqueak watched as Thomas and the others took cover behind the disabled tank, unable to move forward.

He tried to call out to him, raise his right foreleg, noticed that blood was tripping from it.

Shrapnel from the explosions had hit him.

Crying in pain, the pinto colt tried to get up but collapsed, his vision slowly becoming black.

“Mommy…help…me…”