A romanticised tale
It had been two days now, the crew had encountered very little after the giant worm incident, and everyone was very relaxed. The ponies continued studying, Harold was tutoring them, Gelde and Jill were closer together than usual, Albert... Was still driving and Nina was asleep, her head leaning against the edges of the hatch.
They had expected far more, a large battle, a looting party, natural disasters or perhaps a hostile army. But nothing. It was extremely underwhelming, as they thought of themselves as heroes when they left... Except for Albert, and they expected a fight against the 'vast' and 'dangerous' unknowns. But 'vast' doesn't fit well with danger, as it just means everything is spread out, which meant the tank and the crew encountered nothing. But at least morale was kept high by the two ponies, as they continued drawing, unfortunately without paint as they had ditched them as it ran out.
"End me..." Albert sighed, his arms and legs tired from the constant driving. He signed up to be a driver to pull off cool stunts and moves, but his time as a driver thought him otherwise as it wilted him down to an unresponsive 'downer'.
Gelde and Jill were meanwhile enjoying each other's company, leaning against each other in the cramped turret space, sleeping quietly with claws held. At first, they flaunted their relationship, but after Little told them they like her 'Mommy and Daddy', they quickly stopped, not sure if they wanted to take the next step for their relationship.
Nina was no narcoleptic, but the sheer boredom of the situation had devolved her into one, as she was dozing off, not bothered to scan the horizon for more grass.
Harold was having a great time, however, as his father was a professor and his mother a politician, which gave him the knowledge and speech skills to teach the ponies about the rich history, artworks and culture of the German Empire, making sure to leave out any topics of sciences as per protocol. In his effort, the ponies were both entertained and immersed in the topic, constantly asking questions that would branch off to another topic to talk about.
"Stop the lesson Harold, it's sleeping time." Albert impatiently ordered, having already stopped the tank and covered himself with a blanket.
"You heard him ponies, sleeping time," Nina said from above, closing the hatch to lay in the cramped tank.
Harold shrugged at the ponies and grabbed his blankets to sleep. The ponies cuddled between Harold and Nina to keep themselves warm, stealing a bit of the blanket to cover themselves.
Soon enough, they fell asleep.
Tick... Tick...
Thunk... Thunk...
Ting...
Alberts' eyes shot open immediately, "Someone is outside..." He thought, and slithered quietly away from his blanket, revealing an mp-40 with an integrated silencer holstered in his claws.
"Here's my chance... I'll show those sheep from the barracks why everyone should carry a sub-machine gun with them in their sleep..." Albert sinisterly thought, clicking off his safety and grinning maniacally.
"You go dig hole and sink wagon, we catch all inside." A faint voice ordered, which made Albert hold his breath in concentration to hear any more.
"This big wagon! Look fancy as well!" Another voice was heard, complimenting the art on the 'wagon'.
It took a second for Alberts' eyes to adjust in the dark, but once it did he could make out the voices outside. At first, they were silhouettes of bipedal creatures, but now their features were clear, and their faces depicted a dogs' one, except more grotesque and contorted.
Their paws were covered with dirt as if they had been mining or digging their way here, and by the talks of digging holes, Albert guessed that it was the case. They held nets and surprisingly good spears and armour, however, they haven't refined them and looked like they had just picked up the raw iron ores and carved them to use as weapons or plate for armour. Albert could make out at least 5 in front of him, and the leader was surprisingly the least armoured and carried a shoddy bag over its shoulder which hung on its front torso, and inside he could make out bottles of smokey liquid.
"Could be gas weapons." Albert thought and quickly fastened his gas masks to prevent such attacks. He thought of waking the rest up, but he feared that it could alert the bipedal dogs outside, so he didn't. Albert quietly stepped over Harold and Nina and began climbing the hatch ladders.
"Boss, we can't dig." A fearful voice stated, the tone of which did not want to suffer the wrath from whatever it was speaking to.
"What?! Why?!" The leader barked back.
"Wagon too heavy. Dirt gets crushed. Too hard to push." the fearful voice replied.
Albert turned the hatch quietly, his gun beside him to fire immediately upon exiting.
"How we going to trap them then?" a third voice asked, unsure as to what to do.
Albert slowly pushed the hatch open, making sure not to let go as to make it drop against the tanks' hull.
"We get in another way then. Maybe we wait 'till day." The leader pondered, which made the dogs nearby nod in agreement.
Albert scanned the surrounding and found 5 more dogs at the back, 4 of them scratching their heads in their failed attempt to dig the 'wagon into a hole, the last one looking directly at him.
Albert thought fast, slinging his gun to his shoulder, whilst the dog raised its arms to point at the griffon on top of the wagon.
"GRIFFO-!" The dogs' words were cut off, as he was pummeled with bullets, the silenced but loud sound of the gun alerting every dog nearby and waking the crew inside.
Albert quickly turned his gun at the four other dogs, who were all too preoccupied at the death of their comrade by the griffons' iron stick to hide behind a non-existent cover. They were all mowed down quickly.
"GET MASKED GRIFFON!" The leader shouted, grabbing a potion from his bag whilst the four dogs beside him charged at the griffon atop the 'wagon'.
"EAT LEAD YOU INBRED PUPS!" Albert shouted maniacally, shooting down the dogs which charged him, who didn't even get close to the tank, as they were quickly dispatched by Alberts' gun.
The leader threw a potion at Albert, which exploded into a cloud of gas and glass as the liquid turned immediately into gas upon shattering. The glass had little effect on Albert, and the gas even less so, and thankfully none of the gas leaked inside the tank, sparing the crew inside it. Albert could make out a relieved grin from the leader, but as the smoke cleared and he was still visibly standing, the leaders' expressions turned to horror.
"A good leader always knows their opponent." Albert cooler remarked and proceeded to turn the leaders' face into a ruined lasagne with a hail of bullets.
"Real clever Albert, totally not stolen from Bismarck" Nina tiredly groaned at him, angered at him for waking her up.
"Everything at this point is stolen by the emperors, can't help not using a good quote here and there." Albert defended, replacing his empty magazine.
"*Gasp*!" A dog desperately attempted to breathe, but its lungs were punctured thoroughly by bullets which led to it coughing up pieces of it alongside blood.
"Holy shit, how're you not dead?" Albert casually asked, flying over to it and stashing away his gas mask to speak to it properly. "Who are you dogs anyways?" Albert asked the dying dog.
"*Cough* We ruby dogs... *cough*" the dog was now turning blue, as his lungs were filling with blood, effectively making him suffocate in himself.
"Ruby dogs? You don't look like rubies to me," Albert asked sceptically, gently nudging the dying dog with a kick.
"... We faction... We fight against many... Biggest be diamond..." The dogs' eyes slowly shut, and it ceased breathing which made Albert frown.
"My God Albert! you massacred these dogs!" Nina could not believe the sheer brutality that her driver had conducted.
"They had a name." Albert snapped back.
"What?! Are you sympathetic now?!" Nina couldn't believe her drivers' actions.
"They were ruby dogs. They are fighting each other as we did..." Albert stated solemnly, kneeling beside the dead ruby dogs.
Nina was lost for words, they had all been born during the warlord era, but they were too young to experience it in full. However, their parents had and told them stories of the brutality, suffering and death that was rampant during civil wars and chaos. They had all shivered and feared once hearing the stories, as they thought the same would happen to them, so they had followed the emperors' order unconditionally and without questions, which had to lead them to prosperity and peace. Order and stability was the new principal of the day, and the griffon race was expected to embrace it, and ditch any other culture, tradition or ethic they locally followed. Their sacrifice had given them all of this, but these 'ruby dogs' we're still suffering. Nina nodded at Alberts' compassion.
Albert began to tear, and fell on all fours crying, Nina approached him to calm him.
"WHY?! WHY?!" Albert screamed, "WHY ARE YOU SUCH FUCKING MORONS FIGHTING EACH OTHER YOU IDIOTS!" Albert kicked the ruby dogs' head, popping out its eyeballs due to the force of the kick.
Nina recoiled in shock, as Albert began kicking the corpses of the ruby dogs. She then shook her head in disappointment. "Better this than a road rage..." Nina reasoned, as she remembered how Albert would sometimes 'accidentally' bump another squads' tank, crushing its commander's wings with the turrets. Albert was acquitted due to there being no motive, but Nina knew why. "He's a bloody psychopath..." Nina concluded, she wasn't sure until now, but this seemed like the hard evidence to prove his psychopathic condition. But hesitated, as she remembered how some drivers were worse than him. "Is every driver just a psychopath?" Nina hypothesised, thinking of the criminally high rates of taxies back home.
Day 4:
After some cleanups and damaging Littles' childhood with terrible role models and language later, they soundly slept to immediately begin driving again once morning came.
Everyone returned to yesterdays' state as if Alberts' previous episode had never happened, the only meanwhile event occurring that day was when the ponies asked to play around with Alberts gun. Everyone except Albert that day disagreed.
Day 5: (sorry for the lack of dialogues, but the ponies would've already told Nina about how they ended up here, and it would be repetitive to retell the story especially with Nina already having told his crew about the ponies' predicament)
The ponies had spotted a faint landmark from the nearby river, and they demanded to stop to check it out. The crew reluctantly acquiesced, leaving behind Albert and Harold to take care of their tank whilst Nina, Gelde and Jill accompanied Green and Little to the landmark.
There, they saw pieces of wood lodged into the ground, so firmly to the point that the rising river and flow couldn't dislodge them and dislocate them somewhere else. The sight brought Little into tears, which made Green hug her in conciliation. But their mood was lifted when they saw a carving on the nearby incline on the river, which they had planned to use to wait out the storm. They quickly rushed over to confirm their suspicions.
What the ponies saw was an arrow, pointing towards the northeast and a carving of a crude sun alongside it, which was a religious symbol for Solaris, the ponys' religion that was thought to bring luck. Green and Little knew what this meant, their parents were alive! But probably extremely worried about their disappearance. So they quickly returned to the tank, and they finally had a direction to travel. It wouldn't be far...
Another day had passed and it was now morning. They had travelled northeast for an entire day, yet they still haven't arrived at their destination. They had travelled approximate 600km, of which 100km northeast, and could not believe how far away a pony settlement could be.
"I guess we're just like vehicles, I mean, we carry wagons and stuff around by ourselves," Green explained to the disgruntled griffons, who were all bored out of their minds. Except for Harold, who continued to teach the ponies every day, and each time with renewed vigour.
"Urgh... Kill... M- Oh hey! A forest!" Albert announced, as he finally saw something that wasn't a plain, or a hill, or some trees or some small critters, etc, etc, etc.
"Yes! Finally something different!" Nina jumped up from her hatch and looked forward to a giant forest that seemed to stretch infinitely across horizontally in the distance. "There are some smaller trees ahead though, so be careful." Nina wanted, as several leaves blew past her, prompting her to close the hatch.
Albert wished to just trample the trees, but he feared it might damage the tank and its painting so he begrudgingly avoided the trees, until they were deeper inside the forests, which made Albert ditch subtlety and begin driving over dead trees and fallen branches and logs.
From over the sounds of breaking trees and branches though, the ponies were extremely optimistic, as they could sense try good days to come, even though they would leave the griffons, they would much prefer staying with their family even if it meant death.
"There must be a settlement within this forest right? It seemed secluded enough for no hostiles, water is everywhere and vegetation rampant." Nina evaluated, but a slither of a snake made her forget about the 'no hostile' bit.
"I don't know why, but I got a bad feeling about this..." Gelde said as he began to feel an unsettling presence and feel in the air around them.
"Yeah... How big the settlement anyway?" Jill asked the two ponies, who only shrugged in reply.
"Maybe they're all dead." Albert bluntly replied, making both ponies shake with fear.
"Cut that out Albert, I'm sure they will be fine. Don't worry ponies, you will see your parents again!" Harold scolded Albert for being such a negative influence, but also due to his cynicism.
"...Masks on people..." Albert ordered, putting his one immediately. The other quickly followed without question, as per protocol. Harold fastened two other smaller gas masks on the ponies, who were quickly becoming confused.
"What is it?" Nina asked, peaking at her closed hatch.
"From what I heard from you, zebras. They have also already surrounded us..." Albert grabbed his mp-40, Harold wheeled around to mount the machine gun, Nina prepared several of her grenades, whilst Gelde and Jill reloaded the turret with a high explosive shell.
"Careful not to let your mask falls off, they got gas bottle" Albert warned, tightening his gas mask.
"Should we try to talk with them?" Nina appealed to Albert but failed.
"They don't look too peaceful with their stubby spears and gas weapons aimed at us." Albert Said, lodging his gun on the gap from the flap to fire.
"... They got ponies captured..." Harold spotted, as he saw several nets held by the zebras that had unconscious ponies in them. "Hold your fire, We might accidentally kill the pony captives."
Green and Little tried to peek outside, but Harold promptly sat them down, gesturing them to stay still.
"Are they going to do anything?" Nina asked, looking around and spotting several unmistakable black and white stripes, their makeshift camouflage being useless against their superior eyes. "Do they know that we see them?"
"They probably do, 'cause I stopped for no reason in front of them." Albert guessed, and saw a single zebra emerge from the bushes, except it was wearing pieces of gold. "How exotic." Albert thought, "Must be their leader."
The emerging zebra was followed up by the rest of their party emerging from their cover, further surrounding the 'wagon'. Then, the zebra donning gold began to speak,
"You are surrounded! Surrender peacefully or face slaughter!" It threatened, gesturing a few to advance with their spears forward. The zebra free companies didn't know what they were looking at, but the exotic painting on its surface suggested it was a wagon from an eccentric noble. This made their leader chuckle inward, as it meant they could also ransom the passengers, and normally all nobles would surrender immediately at a threat.
However, the leaders' face would turn into a frown as the 'wagon' remained silent, even as his soldiers drew closer to it. Only when they were 10 seconds away, the passengers spoke up,
"Where did the ponies in your nets come from?" Nina asked, but poorly, as the tanks and the mask muffled her.
"Ah! Those are our prize! They were wise to surrender, those who resist are killed!" The leader triumphantly replied, "But do not worry! As nobles, you will surely be able to leave unscathed... After paying your ransoms that is..."
"So where?" Nina asked again, still very muffled.
"Why, the villager to the northeast of course! We had been monitoring it for quite a while, as we planned to attack immediately, but the ponies kept coming! So we waited for a bigger spoil!" The leader explained to their soon-to-be captives, as he loved to brag about his leadership which had kept the soldiers docile in the face of loot, and had convinced them to wait for more ponies to come.
The ponies inside the tank were shaking with worry. They knew they would win, but feared that their parents were dead, as there could only be one village this remote in Equis, and they knew that their parents were brave and resilient. But currently, they wished they weren't and hoped that they were cowardice in the face of death, so had surrendered.
"We need something that can kill them immediately, but not hit the ponies behind them," Harold suggested, "If some runs away, they could hold the pony captives hostage." He finished, scanning the area for more pony captives.
"We need them closer then, Nina! Draw them in!" Albert ordered, which made Nina hesitant on what to do.
"W-what?! What am I supposed to do?!" Nina desperately asked, facing away from the hatch to prevent the zebras outside from hearing them.
"So what's it going to be?! Don't be a hero ponies!" The leader warned, and assumed the passengers were ponies, as he could now properly make out what the painting was on the 'wagon'.
"COME AND GET US BARBARIANS!" Albert screamed, which made everyone in the tank flinch in surprise whilst making the zebras outside tilt their heads in confusion.
The leader was dumbfounded, but quickly shook his head and recovered his train of thought. "So be it ponies, soldiers, get them." The leader gestured but gave them all the signal to keep them alive. "The ransom is too precious to give up... They are probably unarmed anyways..." he thought, as the soldiers began to climb the 'wagon' but could not get their way in.
"Leader! The wagon is coated with iron!" A soldier said as he chinked his spear against the tanks' hull, snapping off its tip. "We can't get through!"
The leader stared in bewilderment as his soldiers began to pile on top of the tank to attempt to get into the 'wagon', which only yielded snipped spears and sore hooves.
The crew inside the tank had shut all their flaps and gaps to see through, hearing noises of snapping iron and striking hooves against the steel hull.
The leader meanwhile groaned in annoyance and began approaching the 'wagon' and grabbed a vial from a pouch on his back. Once in front of the 'wagon', he stood in front of its barrel, assuming it was a chimney exhaust hole.
"Ponies! Come out now or I'll be forced to use this poison gas!" The leader spoke through the hole, his voice echoing back to the zebras outside, he shaked the vial in his hoof to display the green liquid. "What are you planning to do?! Stay in your wagon forever?! You'll starve to death!" He reasoned.
"This asshole is staring straight down the turret..." Gelde announced to his crew, which got a few laughs. "I mean... It's not a rifle right?"
"You have 10 seconds ponies!" The leader shouted, his head inside the barrel to amplify his voice into the 'wagon'.
"You heard the man, get ready boys," Nina said, bracing herself on the hatch ladders.
"10!"
"... And girls," Jill corrected, popping her head out of the turrets' sight.
"9!"
Harold raised the flap slightly, subtly enough to prevent the zebras above from noticing its incline.
"8!"
"Shame," Albert said, placing a bullet in his MP-40s' bolt.
"7!"
Green and Little placed their hooves on their ears. "This is going to be loud..." They both thought.
"6!"
Jill was ready to decapitate the leaders' face, hopefully not going through to hit any of the pony captives. "Eh, probably not..." Jill assured herself.
"5!"
Gelde left Jills' side, deeming firing the turret again unnecessary and probably ineffective, so he stood at the back flaps to fire at the zebras behind them.
"4!"
The few zebras still hiding emerged from their cover, preparing to carry the wagon in case the ponies still didn't come out.
"3!"
"NOW!" Nina shouted, all the flaps in the tank being pushed open with either barrels or claws to begin aiming. The zebras all on top of the tank hesitated as they saw the eyes of the griffons through the flaps, which they expected to be a ponys'. The commotion made the leader pop his head out of the turret, but had his torso against it.
Green and Little shut their eyes.
The zebras behind the leader were suddenly covered with guts and blood, a sudden ear-ringing roar having deafened them which made them shut their eyes and cringe at the pain. The soldiers around and on top of him turned their attentions to their leader, who was now looking down at his torso. He saw the ground through it.
"FIRE!" Albert and Nina cried, and as they did, all the barrels protruding outside the tank began to rattle with yellow sparks, throwing the zebras off the tank in a splatter of blood. The zebras seemed to float, as they were riddled with bullets so fast to the point their bodies remained still standing, the force of the hits keeping them upright. The floating zebras would protect their comrades behind them, but they were frozen with shock, as blood splattered all of them, until they were hit as well dooming the entire zebra party.
The guns only fell silent when no zebra were left on their hooves, the only sound being the groans of pain from the downed zebras. The gas had been a fluke, as the gas coated the area, but had no effect on the zebras on the ground.
"That's how it's done!" Albert flew out triumphantly, pushing Nina out of the tank and sprawling onto the hood of the tank.
"Argh! Jerk!" Nina groaned as she stood up rubbing her head, angry at Alberts' behaviour.
Albert ignored Nina, and instead flew past her to land next to a breathing zebra, its chest rising and falling weakly and its fur soaked with blood.
"Huh... Deja vu..." Albert pondered for a second, his claws under his beak. But then he shrugged and pulled out a bayonet to stab the zebras' exposed neck.
"Hrgk! Grghhhh..." The zebra whimpered, his neck being torn apart to reveal a river of blood that flowed down to the grass below.
"HEY STOP THAT! WE NEED TO ASK QUESTIONS!" Nina panicked but did not approach Albert for fear of being stabbed.
Albert shrugged and wiped his bloodied hands on the 'clean' side of the zebra, and dusted himself off. He then pointed at the dead zebra, "That wasn't me."
Nina face-clawed, but quickly recovered to begin searching for any survivors, Harold soon joined her in the search, whilst Jill and Gelde searched the edges of the brush to find any captured ponies.
"Goddammit Albert! Why'd you kill the last zebra?!" Nina furiously asked the indifferent griffon, who was currently leaning against a tree playing with his knife. "That was the last survivor!"
Albert shrugged once more, "Eh, what are you gonna do about it?"
This was the final straw. Nina quickly approached Albert and grabbed him by his collar and raised him against the tree. This made him drop his knife in surprise. "What has gotten into you?! Why are you like this?!" Nina demanded.
Alberts' surprised gaze became a bored one, looking down at Nina with a tired expression. "You forgot my coffee." He looked away and crossed his arms, Nina simply blinked at him.
"What?" Ninas' brain began to malfunction.
"I told you a million times to bring the coffee. You forgot." Albert looked back at Nina, but now frowning.
"That-..." Ninas' brain decided it couldn't take the heat and went on a vacation.
"SIX FUCKING DAYS! ALL-DAY DRIVING! NO COFFEE! REEEEEEEEE!" Albert frailed wildly in Ninas' grasp, but her joints were frozen solid by her shock. Just as quickly Albert shook, he fell asleep with a mighty snore, this finally broke Ninas' bewilderment.
"Uhhh... You alright there Nina?" Harold worryingly asked, placing a claw on Ninas' raised shoulders.
"...Yes..." Nina said through blinks, her hold on Albert ceasing, which made him plummet to the floor uncomfortably. "We need a stimulant for Albert," Nina concluded loudly, which made Harold raise his brows in confusion.
Jacobin Francais or commonly known by the villagers as 'Jaco' sat near the elder, Copper Trail. They were both tied up, covered with a spiny net atop a splintery wagon, the elder was unconscious with a deep gash on his head which had dried to a standstill, whilst Jaco was looking down distraught at his failures.
He had promised victory against the zebras and had gathered the ponies to defend against the raiders. However, he severely overestimated his forces and underestimated the zebras, as they committed horrifying acts that demoralised and routed his own without a fight. The pony's who remained with him held up a good fight, but their makeshift tools stood no chance against the iron spears of the zebras. They only surrendered when their leader had threatened them with suffocation by revealing a vial of green liquid. The zebras were infamous for using gaseous weapons and alchemy, which made even the bravest pony lay down their weapons and surrender.
Jacob looked back to where he came from, only to be met by the thick forest. He did not know where the zebras were taking them to, but he guessed that they would be sold into slavery, as no pony had the prospects of paying a ransom. After all, they were escaped serfs and peasants at best. His tears rolled down his cheek, as he closed his eyes to shut out the pain.
"When is our leader coming back? It's kinda getting hard pushing these wagons on our own..." A zebra in front asked another beside him.
"We're still towing the same wagon, what are you talking about? He left us behind 'cause we were so far behind." The other zebra scolded the unattentive zebra.
"At this point, we are going to overtake the front row..." The first zebra worried as he could see the first wagon in front of them. "Didn't he say it was an easy job?"
"Guess they-*BANG*have some delay... Nothing to worry about." The other zebra assured as he could also see that they were going to pass the front wagons. "I guess we will have to stop at the front to wait for them." He concluded.
Jaco looked wide-eyed at the first zebra who now had a hole through his eyes and the other zebra none the wiser at his friends' demise. "WHAT WAS THAT?!" Jaco screamed internally, quickly correlating the sharp 'bang' had something to do with the zebras' death.
"Buddy? You the-" the other zebra turned to look at his now-dead friend. He recoiled in shock. "WHO-!"*BANG* Jaco stared at the final zebra falling with a hole that exploded into his face.
"All too easy!" A distant voice from above called out, which made Jaco stare upwards.
Jaco quickly located two clouds approaching quickly to his position. He began to speculate who they were. "Pegasi? Did they save us? What are they doing so far away from their airzone? Will they punish us for running away? Did they get the leader?" Jacos' mind raced, his fear quickly switching from the zebras to the approaching pegasi.
"This is one long convoy..." A stallion from above said,
"Yeah, sure is. There's got to be at least 100 ponies down there!" A mare said,
"How were they supposed to feed them during the trip?" The stallion said again,
"They probably weren't, also running away here seems suicide." The mare said.
Jaco still couldn't make out who they were, as they were still floating on their clouds. He hoped that they were at least the Equestrian pegasi, as he knew there were 'free' pegasi squads who were known to be worse than raiders.
"Urghh... We are going to have to babysit them aren't we?" The stallion groaned,
"It won't be that bad... Just a few more Littles' and Greens'..." The mare said assuring her partner, but their conversation was heard by another pair below.
"OUR CHILDREN!" Two ponies from wagons behind Jacos' suddenly screamed out, breaking the silence which the rest tried to sustain, as they didn't want to suffer the pegasus' wrath. Several shushes were directed at them, trying to shut them up, but they wiggled in their ropes and shifted the nets, bruising their skin under the weight and pressure of their struggle, but it paid off as they were able to fall to the ground next to the wagon. "PLEASE! WHERE'RE OUR CHILDREN!" They pleaded desperately, looking up at the clouds.
"Ah! Those must be Graze and Opal!" The stallion and mare concurred, their clouds quickly descending next to them. Nopony expected who were riding them.
Two griffons, both immaculately dressed in grey with several foreign tools attached to them jumped off the cloud and began approaching the pair. Everypony stared at them wide-eyed, a few in confusion, but most in horror. Jaco thought both, as he was confused as to why griffons would save them, but horrified of what they would do to them.
"Uh... Why are we being stared at?" Gelde asked no one in particular but still felt the piercing gaze from the surrounding ponies.
"I think Green and Little left out a major point..." Jill concluded as the ponies were staring at them as if they were monsters. "You!" Jill pointed at a terrified pony, who shrank and shivered even more in Jills' attention. "Who are we to you ponies?" Jill asked, to confirm her suspicions.
The questioned pony didn't answer, too busy to shiver in fear to answer Jills' question, but a pony at the far back muttered for the terrified pony.
"M-m-m-monsters..." it shakily said, trying not to sound harsh.
"...and why is that?" Gelde asked suspiciously, "Are they racists or something?" Gelde speculated.
C-c-carnivores... the pony muttered again, which made the two Griffin's hum in thought.
"Well shit... We fed Little and Green meat without them knowing..." Gelde and Jill thought, feeling slightly guilty. "Should we... Tell them?" They both thought, as they slowly looked at each other in deep thought.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO OUR CHILDREN?!" Graze and Opal demanded, growling murderously at the two griffons.
"Well, first of all, they are both safe with us," Gelde explained, which made the pair slightly calm down, but Gelde could tell they thought he was lying. "But... We might have fed your kids meat..." Gelde finished.
Opal and Graze blinked. Then they looked at each other. Then they fainted.
"Real smooth Gelde..." Jill placed her claw on Geldes' shoulder and shook her head.
"Dang..." Gelde muttered.
At first, the ponies were terrified, but when the griffons began cutting the ponies loose, they began to calm down for every ponies freed, until they were completely docile. But many still feared what the griffons might do, even as most of them were freed, and the griffons turned their backs on the ponies, trusting them to not attack them. This show of trust made some ponies assist the griffons, cutting the ropes and nets off their fellow ponies using sharp rocks and teeth, the latter not working properly. Soon, everypony was freed.
"Alright, so anyone wants to tell me what happened?" Jill asked, sheathing her bayonet.
"You mean anypony?" A pony corrected, which made Jill roll her eyes.
Copper, who had finally woken up began to speak, "We are poor farmers and escaped serfs who have run for a better life, plans ruined due to barbarism and raids. You have no use for us, we have no ransom, no information, no food. So leave us be fair griffons."
"We only want one thing, and y'all have it," Gelde asked, approaching the aging elder.
"...and what might that be?" The elder asked, undeterred by Geldes' towering frame, but the ponies around him bracing due to the tension.
Gelde leaned to the elders' face until he was only a beak away from touching his snout. "Is this all of you?"
"...yes?" The elder hesitated by the question, "What kind of question was that?" Copper thought, as he finally began retreating from the griffons' advance.
"Perfect! Then stay here and tend to the wounded!" Gelde leaned back suddenly, making the elder fall backwards in surprise. Gelde then gestured to Jill to bring the others, which made Jill playfully salute him and fly away. Gelde meanwhile flew upwards to look over the ponies.
"What is he doing?" A pony whispered, not liking the glare which Gelde were giving them.
"I bet they want to eat us! The other one left to get the others!" A pony fear mongered, causing several of the children to squeak in fear.
"Hang on... Then why did they free us?" A sceptical pony asked, which made the children calm down, as the logic made sense.
"Don't you see? That's what they want us to think! What other reasons are there to save us then treat us like livestock!" the mongerer affirmed, which made the children shrink again. "Come on Jaco! Back me up here!"
Jaco however, did not answer, still depressed by what he had done during the fight. "I led them to their death... Jaco thought, remembering the faces which he would never see again due to his overconfidence.
"Jaco? You alright there bud?" The mongerer asked, placing a hoof on Jacos' fallen form.
"... I failed them..." Jaco muttered, "I killed them..." Jaco raised his head to meet the mongerers', "How can I ever forgive myself Forest?" He asked Forest Fire, one of his closest friend.
"Jaco... Buddy, you didn't fail them... Our ponies just ran away!.. This wouldn't have even happened if it wasn't for those damn unicorns and pegasus! This ain't your fault!" Forest assured Jaco, jolting him lightly.
"But... I told them to fight back..." Jaco held himself down by grabbing Forests' hooves and stopping them.
"Do you think they would just imprison all of us if we didn't fight? No. They imprisoned us because they saw how we could fight! They knew it wasn't worth it. You showed that it wasn't worth fighting. You saved lives, Jaco!" Forest explained. The logic behind his argument invalid, but hoping it would stick.
"That makes no sense..." A pony said from behind, which got many nods and murmurs from the ponies around him.
"They're right. I failed everypony. I should just leave and never come back..." Jaco shut his eyes and began to rise to walk away, but was stopped by a foreign hoof.
"By the way y'all fought, we would've won if we stuck behind Jaco," The blocking pony said.
"Yeah! Don't blame yourself, Jaco! We're the ones to blame!" Another pony concurred.
"We shouldn't have run!" Another pony agreed.
"We could've fought!" Several ponies added. Several murmurs of missed victory circulated throughout the gathered ponies, them citing that they should've stuck with Jaco and fought against the zebras.
"But they had the vials remember? We stood no chance." A pony suddenly announced, breaking the conversations around him. "Sure, they might not have enough to knock all of us out, but they sure had enough to incapacitate our toughest fighters." He appealed. Jaco immediately recognised the pony as Fast Tail, who had been the first to run as the zebras approached, which prompted the rest to follow.
"You! You were the first to run away!" Forest accused first, cutting Jaco off before he said anything.
"Yes, but we had no choice! They had better weapons and the battles were a slaughter! Imagine if they used the vials and approached us with their weapons! You and Jaco would've died if you didn't surrender!" Fast defended himself, smirking to himself when the ponies around him began agreeing with him.
"You ponies talking about the gas?" Gelde suddenly chimed in from above, his head sticking out of the cloud which was now looming over everypony.
"Agh-! How are you so silent?!" Fast jumped in surprise and looked wide-eyed at the upside-down griffon.
"Torturous training. Anyways, the vials were fake." Gelde stated boredly. "It shattered and didn't even knock out the zebras hanging by a thread."
"Hah!" Forest shouted, "See?! We could've won!"
"...You're expecting us to believe this griffon, even after you accused them of conspiring to eat us?" Fast shrewdly remarked, making the griffon raise a brow in annoyance and Forest shrink in fear.
"Hang on... I got something!" Gelde said, reaching something in his pouch whilst still having his head popping out of the cloud. "Got it!" Gelde then presented a green vial, an identical one which he found from the leaders' pouch. Luckily it hadn't shattered like the rest after the shell blew off his torso, alongside most of his pouch.
"Is that..?" Jaco asked, immediately recognising the vial which the zebra leader used to threaten them.
"Yup! Straight from his pouch! Wanna smell?" Gelde maniacally smiled and threw the vial onto the ground, which created a cloud of green smoke that enveloped Everypony. "See? Nothing!" Gelde assured, but grew concerned as the ponies began to run around panicking about being 'gassed'.
"AHHHH!- wait a minute! We're fine!" The running ponies stopped and inspected themselves, and the gas. They took a deep breath and exhaled, and realised that it did not affect them. "WE GOT TRICKED!" They all shouted angrily, mad at the zebras for using such despicable tactics.
"Well... My point still stands... They had iron weapons for crying out loud!" Fast attempted to persuade the crowd but had smaller success.
"They were BAD iron weapons Fast! We could've won if we fought!" Forest concluded, many ponies agreeing with his evaluation. The surrounding ponies then began cheering Jaco for his bravery and apologising for their cowardice, which reinvigorated him.
"Thank you everypony! And I forgive you all!" Jaco replied with tears, them all getting into a giant group hug, only excluding Fast who was promptly thrown aside from the crowd.
Gelde lied back down on his cloud, happy that he could help correct their mistakes. "After all, cowardice shouldn't be rewarded, instead bravery reverred! Those kids need to be taught that!" Gelde thought, mildly annoyed that he was now copying what a textbook said during school.
Then suddenly, sounds of trees cracking and falling were heard in the distance, which stopped the group hug from continuing, and they began to panic from the noise until they could hear weird sounds accompanying it. At first, they thought it was a manticore, rushing towards their position, mowing down any trees on their way, until they heard bizarre clinking and clicking noises getting louder as they approached. They all looked towards the griffon for explanations, but he was simply smirking.
"Finally! They're here!" Gelde rose and stretched on his cloud, trying not to think how painful it would be to organise the displaced ponies.
The tank emerged from the dense trees and emerged on the side of the road. It climbed a slight incline to get onto the road, trampling the brittle wagons on its way into an explosion of wood and splinters.
"WHAT IS THAT?!" Forest shouted, pointing a good at the steel behemoth.
"Magnificent isn't it?" Gelde said dreamily, as he flew next to Forest and placed a claw around his shoulder as if to pitch the tank to him.
"It's... Beautiful..." Copper muttered as the painting on the tank seemed lifelike; it bringing back the triumphant memories of defeating the windigos.
"We're here!" Nina appeared from the hatch, looking around at the gathered and amazed ponies. "Great crowd." She muttered.
"WHERE ARE THEY?!" Suddenly, Green and Little appeared beside Nina, squeezing themselves out the hatch to talk to the gathered ponies, which made them all slacked-jawed in surprise. They were harbouring two fillies! They all thought, as the information sinking in made them drop their jaws to the ground. Literally.
"How're you all doing that?" Nina asked concerned, as she feared she might've dislocated all the ponies' jaws due to shock.
"GREEN! LITTLE!" Graze and Opal suddenly woke up from hearing their fillies' voices and jumped up to their feet to look around wildly to locate the sound.
"MOMMY! DADDY!" Little joyfully cried out, lunging into the air to run towards them, but being held by Green to prevent her fall. However, her legs still frailed in the air erratically as Green held her high.
Opal and Graze ran up to their fillies, stopping mid-way next to the tank as Nina safely carried both Green and Little towards their parents. They all hugged with tears rolling down their cheeks, the parents combing their mane with their hooves and the fillies tightening their grasps.
"Awww..." The crew cooed, who at this point had exited the tank except for Albert, who was still asleep, which meant Harold had to drive. Even though he was trained to be the reserve driver, he did not have the experience Albert had, and so had hit several trees in the way, scratching some of the paint off the tank in the process.
"Y-you saved those fillies?" Copper asked, disbelief in his voice, as he could not believe that a griffon could be generous.
"Actually, that was our entire mission." Nina corrected, which made the ponies around them sink their jaws deeper into the ground.
"YOU RISKED YOUR LIVES TO SAVE A PONY?!" Several ponies shouted in disbelief, "GRIFFONS SAVING PONIES?! WHAT'S NEXT?! A DAMN METEORITE?!" They all mentally screamed as everything they knew about griffons was being dismantled before their eyes.
"We would risk our lives saving anyones' lives, after all, we're soldiers," Harold stated, puffing out his chest in pride. "Also, it's two ponies."
"What did you do to the zebras?" Forest asked, recovering from his shock.
"We killed them. Like good soldiers." Gelde flew down and joined Jill, standing beside her with his gun displayed.
"What are the things you're holding called?" Jaco asked, guessing it was the ones that killed the two zebras earlier. "You were able to kill the zebras quickly with it."
"Ah, these," Gelde held his gun up high, for all the ponies to see. They all 'ooooo'ed' like children upon seeing its slick design. "These bad boys are called sub-machine guns! This particular one being the mp-40!" Gelde inspected his gun, showing every angle of the gun to the ponies in the process.
"The what-in the what-what-in the what now?" Jaco asked confusedly, also not knowing what 'bad boy' meant.
Gelde rolled his eyes, "All you ponies need to know is it can kill stuff." He explained. "Like this!” Gelde shot at a dying branch on a tree, which he quickly located with his superior eyes. It cracked and fell, demonstrating the guns' power.
"..." The ponies were again in silence. Not sure how to react. They felt like cave ponies or ferals compared to these griffons, especially with their clean attire and superior technology, as for once they felt like the barbarians.
"Anyways... Is there any other village we can escort you all to? We promised to return Green and Little in safety, but this place isn't giving me any hopes." Nina said, looking around and seeing nothing.
"No... There is none. This is the only village in this area, for how remote this place is." Copper explained, shaking his head in defeat.
"Can't you just start again?" Gelde suggested, which made all the ponies around him shake their heads.
"They know we're here. It's too dangerous to stay." Copper denied, not wanting to risk any more deaths.
"Then just move somewhere else?" Gelde suggested once more but was met with the same gesture.
"We have already tried, but a villages' a village, you can't hide something that big with a blanket." Copper denied once more, sinking further into the ground due to his memories of what had happened during travel.
"Well? Is there anywhere you can go? Anywhere prosperous?" Nina asked, which made everypony think.
"Equestria..." Jaco muttered, which made everypony, including Forest to look at him as if he was mad.
"EQUESTRIA?! ARE YOU MAD?! THEY WILL KILL US!" A few former serfs called out.
"THEY WILL ENSLAVE US!" A few farmers spoke out.
"No. We will fight." Jaco stood up, head held up high to attract attention. He then began to climb on top of the tank to get a better platform to speak.
"FIGHT?! ARE YOU MAD?! THEY HAVE AN ARMY!" Fast furiously slammed, thinking Jaco has become insane.
"We have these griffons and we have the hearts and minds of the earth ponies." Jaco continued, "Would you help us find Little and Green a safe home griffons?" Jaco questioned, slightly hurt that he was effectively guilt-tripping their saviours into helping them more.
The crew shrugged, and replied, "An oaths' an oath I suppose. I guess we will help you then."
"...Wait... Just like that?" Forest asked in bewilderment, as the griffons were figuratively signing their death warrant. "What do you want from us in return?"
"Maybe a thank-you and a heart-warming goodbye after we're done." Nina joked but had a serious expression.
"But... You will be killed! What of your families?!" Fast interjected, extremely bewildered by the griffons' reply.
Nina looked at Fast boredly. Jill simply leaned closer to Gelde, which made him lean as well. Harold seemed to be the only one worried about their family.
"They wouldn't care," Nina said,
"They're dead to me," Jill said,
"My parents would be proud." Gelde puffed,
"They would be worried..." Harold said, thinking of how his parents would react to his missing. "But I know they would understand." He finished.
"You must want something! If not from us, from the unicorns! Or the Pegasus!" Fast rambled, trying to discover the griffons' motives.
"Why? How much do the unicorns and pegasus have?" Gelde asked, the prospects of loot intriguing him.
"The unicorns and pegasus have mountains of gems and gold." Forest explained, "All from the backs of us earth ponies as well..." Forest growled.
"Gold you say..?" Gelde began to imagine a vault of gold, "Sweet... Sweet... Shiny gold!" He brooded until he was cut off by a bonk from Jill.
"Don't get greedy." Jill scolded, Gelde pouting in response.
"Yes... And we will be willing to give you the gold if you assist us..." Forest weakly proposed as they would need the gold themselves to rebuild.
"...and what? Put it in our cramped tank? Pshhh... No thanks." Nina dismissed, which made the ponies raise their brows immensely.
"..." Forest stood frozen, wide-mouthed but quickly shut it to respond, "I see... So you don't want anything?"
The crew gathered up in a circle to discuss what they wanted, as it seemed that the ponies wouldn't be at peace until they knew what their goals were. Nina first proposed to take some relics or tokens, but the group disagreed due to uselessness. Geldes' idea of taking 'some' gold was shot down. Jill wanted to bring back paintings and artworks, but they deemed them too big to fit in the tank. So they chose Harolds' idea, which was to get their books, so they could learn more about the wider Equis continent.
"Alright, we've decided what we want." Nina turned around to face Forest, who and every other pony were worrying about what the griffons wanted.
"Which is..?" Forest hesitantly asked, regretting himself for pushing the issue.
"Books." Nina relayed, claws held together as if in an interview.
"...books?" Forest repeated, not sure if he was hearing it right.
"Books. Lots of them." Nina confirmed.
The ponies all looked at each other in confusion, "Books? The one's we can't even read? By all means!" They all thought.
"You got yourself a deal griffons." Forest nodded, sighing internally in relief.
Nina flew in front of Forest and raised a claw at him, which made Forest stare at it in confusion. "Oh! Sorry!" Nina retracted her claw, "That was supposed to be a claw-shake, a gesture to accept a deal." Nina explained, which cleared up Forests' confusion. Nina then tried again, raising a claw. Forest follows up with his hoof.
"Ewww... There's dirt all over his hoof..." Nina cringed but held the ponys' hoof firmly. The ponies around saw the gesture, which made some of the fillies emulate the gesture with themselves.
"Then it's decided then! Everypony! Onwards to Equestria!" Jaco rallied, which made all the ponies jump in triumph, but instead of cheering, they shouted 'yay' which made the griffons cringe due to their childishness.
The ponies began to March down the dirt path, carrying any too injured to walk on wagons with incredible speed and organisation. Their speed and number caused a massive amount of dirt to kick upwards, which blinded the griffons behind them and left them coughing uncontrollably.
"Damn! They're fast!" Gelde said impressed, wiping the dirt from his eyes.
"Then what are we doing?! Let's roll!" Nina ordered, landing near the hatch and gesturing her crew to follow. They quickly dived in and manned their station, moving the tank forward.
Albert was still asleep.
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The most underrated Fiction i have ever seen, a truly masterpiece
It would be a big slap in the face for Equestria (what's left of it) if Earth Ponies decide to migrate Eastward into Griffon lands in search for better lives away from exploitation by Unicorns and Pegasi.
I wouldn't say that this would be a quick process, most ponies are down right terrified of Griffons, but give it a hundred years (just in time for Luna and Celestia to take the thrones) you could have a genuine secession crisis.
Imagine the look on Celestia's face when a third of "Her Little Ponies" are leaving due to mistreatment, shattering the notion of Harmony™.
lovely! nice job! Say, ever thought about a german pony?
10812990
Outside of the common pony names that are in English/Equish we now have French names to add to the mix (Jacobin Francais) though they do seem to follow the same Adjective plus a Noun pattern.
For a German Pony, you could see ponies with names like Stahl Helm, Blitz Krieg, Morgen Rot, etc. (Steel Helmet, Lightning War, Red Dawn)
But who knows how this would develop.
Some German ponies could end up with last names, the descendents of Stahl Helm could end with the last name Helmut, those of Blitz Krieg would be Krieger, and those of Morgen Rot as Rotesonne.
(Health, Warrior, and Red Sun respectively).
They would still be descriptive, but would work within a German model.
10813073
of course, i just wondered if the griffons and bismarck could have a pony who understands them and such.
10813076
Probably no German speaking ponies, though this is Centrist's story and they can do what they want.
Language is weird even in the show. Every sentient creature is capable of speaking Equish and there are ponies with accents (French, German, various kinds of British and American), but no one is known to speak said languages, and there are locations named in different languages (with an appropriate horse pun) like Puerto Caballo.
I think that Equish (English) was described as being the "universal language" by Mauser in a previous chapter, so that's why Bismark agreed to keep Equish as the primary language instead of implementing another Kulturkampf of Germanization.
Edit:
My head cannon is that there used to be many pony languages, English, Spanish, French, German, etc, but Equestria's hegemony won in the end and all that's left are accents and locations.
10813107
exactly, thus me asking
10812442
Thanks Franco
Letss goo they have a mp40
German engineering is superior