Act I - 03 - Recruitment Office
Act I:
“Smoke on the Horizon”
Chapter Three:
“Recruitment Office”
Applejack made her way towards the large, rather garishly painted sign with the words ‘RECRUITMENT CENTER’ emblazoned on it. She was surprised to see that the line for recruitment was almost completely empty. She could hear somepony babbling about transistors in the background, his voice magically amplified to carry across the fairground. Almost ninety percent of the ponies that Applejack could see were all either unicorns or pegasi, with the unicorns standing out amongst the crowd with their opulent outfits and, in the case of the mares especially, utterly ridiculous hats. If Applejack hadn’t known better, she would have sworn it was the Canterlot Derby, and she felt everyone was ridiculously overdressed. She glanced up at the sun to get a baring of the time. It seemed to be only around ten in the morning, and Applejack could already feel the beginnings of the muggy, sticky noontime temperatures so characteristic of a Ponyville summer coming along.
She looked back towards the recruitment center, mentally preparing herself for the expected series of physical tests she was most likely going to be subject to. She took a deep breath to gather her courage, and after releasing it with a gentle exhale, she began her trot towards the center.
///////////////////////////
“Name?” The dark blue pegasus asked, pushing his black-rimmed glasses up his nose and looking at Applejack with an expression that could best be described as pedantic boredom, all the while chewing what seemed to be gum.
“Mah name is Applejack Apple.” she stated simply, consciously straightening out her posture and adopting an official sounding tone.
The pegasus nodded slightly, and jotted down the information on his clipboard, before looking back up at Applejack with the same pedantic expression.
“Birthday?”
“December 20th 1916 sir.” she replied, tipping her head slightly.
The pegasus once again nodded and jotted down the information.
“Alrighty then…” he sighed, handing the paper to a somewhat heavy set light brown unicorn stallion who took it in his magic and motioned towards her.
“This way…” he said, beckoning towards her to follow him.
Applejack nodded, feeling a bit of weight coming off her since things seemed to be going rather well. The unicorn lead her into a rather dull looking white tent that was marked with a big, red cross. Applejack assumed it was the doctors tent, which made sense, since she knew one had to undergo several physical tests before being allowed into the military. The two entered the tent and the unicorn pointed her towards a closed off area of the tent.
“Walk over there, and wait for the physician to see you, okay?” he said dully.
Applejack nodded with a nervous smile.
“Thank ya kindly...” she said, and the unicorn simply grunted, making her nervous smile fade.
“Yeah whatever…” he muttered, turning to head back out of the tent.
Applejack took that as her cue to enter the closed off area and stepped inside. It was surprisingly well furnished for a tent, with several various machines and gizmos that Applejack assumed was for medical purposes. There was the sound of talking outside the blocked off area, and then a lanky unicorn stepped in.
“Hello there, I’m Dr. Flatline. I will be your physician for this morning. ” he said, reaching for a box on the shelf and pulling out what looked like latex medical gloves.
Applejack wondered why a stallion was doing the inspection, and was about ready to demand a mare take his place. However, too much of her courage ran off when the doctor turned around with a massive grin on his face, pulling the glove tight with his magic with a sharp snap.
“Now, let’s get down to business shall we?” he chirped, his excitement way too much to be routine.
Applejack swallowed and took a step back. This was probably going to be much, much more intrusive than she had imagined.
///////////////////////////
Applejack sat in the walled off area, shaking off the last bits of the awkwardness that seemed to cling to her after the physician's physical. After each step of the physical, the doctor would jot down some information on the notepad, and then move onto the next step. After finishing what seemed to be every step of the physical, he had stepped out of the tent, leaving her behind with the notepad. She was tempted to read what he had written on the notepad, but a quick glance at his elegant, refined and incredibly difficult to read cursive foiled her attempts to see if she was eligible. She tapped her hoof, hoping he would return so that she would be allowed to continue. The temperature had climbed significantly since she had arrived, and It felt as if she were in a sauna with the mugginess of the summer air, forcing her to continuously wipe away sweat that dripped from her forehead and into her field of vision. Outside she could have sworn she heard rather...lecherous giggling and snorting, from what sounded like a stallion and a mare.
"And here I am!" came the voice of the doctor, and he burst into the tent rather theatrically, tipping his head towards Applejack.
Applejack backpedaled with a surprised yell from his sudden appearance, but once she settled she could immediately tell that his lab coat was rather disheveled,
"Howdy Doc. Can I go now? I've gotta pick up mah sister from school soon," she said in a rather unimpressed voice, tilting her head towards the exit.
Dr. Flatline raised an eyebrow.
"Really?" he asked, and he hastily glanced down at his watch. "By Celestia you are correct I seem to have gotten distracted." he laughed, but it was a guilty laugh, as if he knew she had heard him and whomever it was he had been philandering with outside. "I do apologize, but these field nurses tend to get rather...clingy."
Applejack said nothing, simply staring at Dr. Flatline. He seemed to sense her lack of enthusiasm at his actions as he cleared his throat awkwardly and handed her the clipboard.
"Here you go Ms. Apple, your evaluation. Just take it to the front there and he'll see if you're fit for service."
Applejack nodded, taking the clipboard and making her way to the exit, only to stop when she heard the doctor call after her.
"Just don't get your hopes up Ms. Apple...I don't really think you'll be needed, since we have enough secretaries as it is...that is what you were volunteering for right? Secretary duty?"
Applejack said nothing, instead turning and walking out with a dirty look on her face.
///////////////////////////
Shining Armor now made his way towards the front recruitment desk, still dressed in his fancy suit despite the somewhat sweaty temperature. Taking an empty seat, he nodded towards the unicorn mare next him.
“Good morning,” he said with a nervous smile, hoping to at least strike up a conversation with the other unicorn.
The unicorn simply grunted in response, seemingly having only just woken up if the bags under her eyes were any indication. Shining decided it would probably be best to focus his attention elsewhere, because if his sister’s morning mood were any indication, this mare would most likely be quite snappy.
Shining then leaned back slightly, and tried his best to catch a nap. The sheer mugginess of the heat seemed to suck one’s energy out of them like a vacuum cleaner. The sound of someone ringing the small bell on the mare’s desk however caught his attention and he looked to see an orange earth pony mare with a blonde mane standing there at the front of the line. She was built like a scarecrow, and had a large, weathered stetson on her head. The unicorn mare next to Shining let out a bored sigh and took the clipboard that the earth pony held in its mouth away from her, being sure to wipe it off with a rag.
The unicorn seemed to lazily scan the clipboard which Shining assumed was the skinny earth pony’s application for military service. The earth pony watched the other unicorn expectantly, seemingly eager to join inspite of her obvious disadvantage.
After a long pause, the unicorn finally put the clipboard down and sighed again.
“I’m sorry ma’am, but I just can’t accept your application.” The unicorn said, her voice a dull drone as she slammed the stamp onto her application, covering her picture with the word “4F” in bright red ink.
the earth pony’s hopeful expression dropped like a stone.
"But why ma’am?" she asked, hoping that she could possibly get an explanation instead of just outright rejection.
The unicorn let out a grumbling sigh, pushing his glasses up her nose, dabbing some sweat from her forehead and leaning forward slightly.
"Well, Miss," her eyes drifting down to the application at a snails pace, "Apple, asides from your asthma, you're about twenty pounds below the minimum weight requirement, no muscle mass to speak of and," she glanced back down at the application. "Another twenty various ailments that I'd rather not bore myself with telling you."
The smaller mare, who Shining assumed was Miss Apple, simply nodded, her head hung low in embarrassment. She honestly looked like her dreams had been squashed. The unicorn mare meanwhile, seemed completely unfazed by the earth pony’s embarrassment as she closed the folder the application was held in and levitated it back to the earth pony, with Miss Apple taking it in hoof and placing it in her bag humbly.
"Now, if you would please step out of the line, I've got a long day ahead of me, and I honestly need the energy," the unicorn droned, motioning towards the clock on her desk and pouring herself another cup of steaming jet black coffee, obviously not a morning pony even though it was already at least 11:30.
“Um how ‘bout a secretary job? I can read an’ write iffin that’s what yer worried ‘bout.” Ms. Apple asked, watching as the unicorn mare gulped down her coffee, all the while eyeing Ms. Apple with the same dull expression.
The unicorn put down her coffee cup, swallowing the last of it and quietly dabbing away any coffee that might have still dripped from her muzzle.
“Well…” the mare beckoned for the application again and took it from Ms. Apple’s extended hoof. She looked over it briefly before closing the folder and handing it back to Ms. Apple. “I’m sorry but no. Unless you’re able to type one hundred and fifty words per minute, I would say your chances are next to nothing.” she droned, sipping her coffee again. “Now please, I need you to step aside. There’s a line in case you don’t know.”
"Alrighty then ma’am, thank ya anyways," Ms. Apple said, stepping out of the line and ignoring the several dozen snickers from the various ponies all at least twice her size, as the line had grown while the unicorn had been reading Ms. Apple’s application.
Shining couldn’t help but feel sorry for the mare, as she seemed to have her heart set on joining the army. It kind of made him feel guilty, since he had gotten in almost entirely because of his family name and their position in Canterlot Society. They had been given the absolute best in education and learning, and now had a free pass to some of the most elite echelons of the Equestrian Military. On the flipside, this mare had seemed to have only her battered old hat to her name, but had still come to try and make a go at it.
Meanwhile, Applejack hung her head in sadness. She had thought that, even with a mere desk job, she could at least make sure that the rent was paid and the family could keep the farm, but her expectations had been crushed right in front of her with the simple falling of a stamp.
"Too bad squirt," a large, burly stallion nearby snickered, and he sharply kicked up a small cloud of dust up into her face.
Almost instantly she felt her airways tighten shut, cutting off all her air. The following few minutes passed in an panic, with her stumbling to the ground face first, all the while gasping for air, her breaths now a series of wheezing gasps. She barely noticed how everyone around her started to back away awkwardly, all looking towards each other with a mix of guilt and confusion. A magenta glow of magic suddenly poured over her field of vision and she felt herself being flipped over so that she was lying on her back. Of course, this did little to nothing to affect her breathing, and she continued to wheeze and gasp. A shadow appeared over her and it was revealed to be the white stallion she had seen from before. In his magic he carried an olive green box with a red drawing of two snakes intertwined on a winged staff.
“Okay, Miss Apple I’m going to start administering some medicine okay?” he asked, sounding deeply concerned. Applejack simply nodded weakly, still too distracted by her lack of air to really verbalize.
She felt a mask being strapped over her face and magic surrounding her throat.
“All I want you to do is take long, slow and deep breaths okay Ms. Apple?” the stallion said, looking Applejack in the eye.
Applejack nodded, doing her best to slow her breathing to a more manageable rate. The magic and whatever medicine was being administered to her through the mask seemed to work, as she felt her airways open up and she was finally able to breath again. she let out a sigh of relief and smiled gratefully towards the blue maned unicorn stallion.
“You okay now?” he asked, propping her up so that she could have a slightly better chance at breathing. She nodded tiredly.
“Yeah...I’ma okay…” she caught sight of the clock on the desk and her eyes widened. “Oh nelly I’mma gonna be late!” she said, trying to stand up only to have the stallion hold her down.
“Whoa you can’t just leave you need rest. And what do you mean late? Late for what?” he asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.
“I’ve gotta pick up Apple Bloom from school.” Applejack insisted as she tried, but failed, to push past the stallion.
The stallion nodded in understanding, but gently forced her down.
“Okay, but you still need to rest,” he said as his horn glowed softly.
“But mah sister..” said Applejack worryingly, her eyes now going heavy and her foreleg draped on the unicorn’s shoulder, trying desperately to keep herself up.
“Don’t worry, I’ll pick her up myself, in the meantime you need to rest, okay?”
“But... okay…” she slurred, quickly falling unconscious into the stallion’s forelegs.
Without saying a word, Shining gently levitated the earth pony up and slung her over his shoulders and made his way towards one of the cots across the large tent. The restorative slumber he had put her in would probably only last a half-hour or so, plenty of time for him to get her a spare cot and find this ‘Apple Bloom’ she mentioned.
As he walked, he was greeted by quizzical looks from the various unicorns all standing around.
“What?” he asked incredulously. “Were you all just going to let her lie there? Because if that’s what I think was going to happen, then none of you deserve to be in the army.” he said darkly, making his way towards the blocked areas where the cots where.
He entered the blocked area and waved towards one of the nurses. The nurse turned and smiled, taking notice of Ms. Apple draped across his shoudlers.
“What’s wrong with her?” the nurse asked, her voice concerned.
“Well, she was trying to enlist and had an asthma attack.” he said, and the nurse gasped.
“Oh dear. Is she alright?”
Shining Armor nodded, “Yeah she’s okay, I cast a quick healing spell and administered some oxygen.”
“And let me guess? You gave her a sleep spell so she can have rest?” the nurse asked, gently lifting Ms. Apple off his shoudlers and towards an empty cot. She gently tucked the sleeping pony in and turned back towards Shining. Shining meanwhile nodded slightly.
“Yeah…” he said, rubbing the back of his neck slightly.
“You did a good thing, then…” said the nurse with a smile, her eyes darted towards his slightly-askew name tag on his now somewhat ruffled uniform. “...Sparkle.” Her face then lit up in recognition. “Oh! You’re Captain Sparkle’s colt?”
Shining nodded. “Yeah…”
“Well what are you doing here?” she asked. “I thought you’re father was giving a conference today? Why aren’t you there?”
“Oh...got bored. Not really one for technobabble.” Shining said somewhat shyly. The nurse raised an eyebrow.
“‘Technobabble’? Why anything your father says I’d listen to! He’s just so handsome and…” she halted, seemingly noticing herself getting wrapped up in her fangirling.
Shining simply smiled rather thinly. He had become used to various mares freaking out over his father, since, according to Canterlot Mare he was Handsomest Stallion three years running. Apparently, everyone said that Shining had inherited his father’s good looks, but never seemed to have much luck with the mares. Maybe it was his personality.
Where his father was extroverted and gregarious, Shining tended to be noticeably quieter and introverted, preferring the company of a pulp novel or a comic over the company of a mare.
“Um...sorry, I kind of got ahead of myself,” the mare said. “But you must get that alot.”
He shrugged. “Oh...I’ve gotten used to it I guess…” he paused, glancing at a clock nearby. His eyes widened slightly. 3 o’clock?
“Um listen, I’ve gotta go okay? So can you just make sure that Ms. Apple there gets some rest?” he asked, already making his way towards the exit.
The nurse nodded, a kind smile on her face.
“Of course, sugar, now take care now you hear?”
Shining nodded. “Sure thing, bye!”
And with that, he quickly made off to the schoolhouse.
///////////////////////////
The blood red earth pony stood atop the pedestal, holding the severed head of the temple dripping blood over his hooves.
“Ah….” the stallion droned out, breathing in the last vestiges of the life energy of the mighty temple guardian. “....I can feel him inside me….” he croaked, letting the head fall to the ground and licking off the blood that coated his hoof. He let out a satisfied sigh, leaning down to pick up The Twin Golden Balls of Celestia’s Girdle. A demonic smile crossed his blood red hairless muzzle and he looked towards South Dakota Smith.
“Now that I have The Balls….” the Scarlet Skull cackled, giving South Dakota Smith a roguish grin as he stalked towards him and he picked up the Golden Staff of Luna’s Strength and expertly placed the Twin Golden Balls of Celestia’s Girdle on the wide end of the Golden Staff of Luna’s Strength. “...I shall have the full power and strength of the Twin Golden Balls of Celestia’s Girdle and the Golden Staff of Luna’s Strength!”
Apple Bloom blinked after deciding to end that story early, an eye twitching as she stared at the cheaply printed paperback in her hooves.
“What. The. Hay?!” she shouted, shaking her head in anger and tossing the pulp novel away. “I can’t believe I up an’ paid ten cents fer this!!!!!” She stomped a hoof on the book, grinding it into the dirt in anger. She was so focused on destroying the printed abomination that she barely noticed the white, blue maned unicorn stallion standing behind her.
“Um...excuse me, are you Apple Bloom?” he asked, and Apple Bloom whipped her head around.
“Whose askin’?” she asked, still angry over the book. Once she noticed that he was a unicorn however, and dressed in an incredibly well kept Equestrian Military Uniform, she consciously changed her tone to something a little more humble. “Um...I mean, how can I help ya sir?”
The unicorn however, seemed more focused on the book on the ground, as he had a knowing smile on his face. “Let me guess….a Fantasy Fantastic Fantasy Tales? Yeah I didn’t like the ending of that one either. I set mine on fire.”
Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. “Set it on fire? Really ya can do that?!” she asked, her mind now populated by wonderful images of her cackling maniacally with glee as the accursed book burned away.
The unicorn nodded. “Yeah, but I wouldn’t recommend it. The ink they use tends to spark a lot. Nearly set my room on fire when I burned mine. I take it you’re Apple Bloom, then?”
Apple Bloom nodded, now slightly taken aback by the unicorn’s inquisitiveness.
“Uh...mah sister told me not ta talk ta strangers.” she said defensively, rubbing her right foreleg slightly.
The unicorn, however, smiled kindly.
“That makes a lot of sense,” he said. “Would your sister happen to be a scarecrow thin orange earth pony with a blonde mane and an old cowpony hat?” he asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.
Apple Bloom nodded, stumped by his insanely accurate description of her older sister.
“Um...yeah...whyja ask?”
The unicorn shrugged. “Well, she told me I had to pick you up from school...so here I am.”
Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. “Oh….but what happen’d ta mah sister? Whay can’t she pick me up?”
The unicorn shifted on his hooves slightly, “Well she had a bit of an asthma attack, so she’s back at the recruitment office resting.”
“Recruitment office? Whyja she’d go there?” Apple Bloom asked.
The unicorn shrugged.
“Recruitment I guess. Do you wanna see her?” he asked, looking down at Apple Bloom expectantly.
Apple Bloom nodded, a worried expression on her face.
“Yeah, I wanna know iffin she’s okay.” she said.
“Alright then, come on then.” he beckoned with a reassuring smile. Apple Bloom trotted up next to him and clambered up onto his shoulders.
“Thank you, mister…” she said, pausing for a moment. “...um, mister? What's yer name?”
“Shining Armor.” he answered, smiling as he trotted down the street.
“Well then thank ya, Mista Armor.” she said, settling on his shoudlers as Shining made his way back to the recruitment center.
“Um, Mista Armor, since you know ‘bout that there book I was wondering iffin ya like Mare-Do-Well comics?” Apple Bloom asked.
Her curiosity had been piqued by the fact that this unicorn knew about pulp magazines. She always imagined that only earth ponies like her cared about that kind of stuff.
Shining Armor nodded, a small chuckle escaping his lips. “Oh yeah I do! Now where to begin…”
///////////////////////////
Hoch Spitze, Southern Griffin Empire:
A young griffin flew down the halls of the Reichschachteln, his messenger bag barely staying on his back as he barreled down hallways at breakneck speed. He was quick to shout an apology to the other griffins he nearly slammed into as he flew, but he had a message to deliver. And the recipient of the message was possible the single most important person in the entire Süden Reich.
He came in for a landing in front of an imposing door deep within the bowels of the building. He took a deep breath, both to recover from his sprint and to prepare himself for what came next. He reached into his messanger bag and pulled out a folder with the words: “Geordnet” printed on the cover in bold red ink. With a shaking talon, he knocked on the oaken door twice.
“Herein!” Barked a commanding voice from behind the door. The griffin swallowed again. He’d heard stories about how the person on the other side of the door looked, how he looked like some sort of monster. Stories abounded in the ranks of how he was able to crush a griffin’s skull with his own hooves and snap necks without so much as a thought. More often than not, these types of punishment would befall any who failed him in any way. The messenger swallowed again, nervously opened the door, stepping inside. The figure at the other side of the room sat so that his face was obscured by shadow. A thick cloud of cigar smoke swirled around his head, giving him the appearance of some sort of demonic dragon from legend.
“Ja Alois? Bringst du mir etwas?” he asked, his voice low and carrying a distinct Equestrian accent.
Alois nodded, saluting rather tightly, still incredibly nervous. “Mein Herr, die neuesten Berichte von unserer Northern Suchtrupps. Kapitän Litz sagte ein besonderes Augenmerk auf der Nordic-Datei zu zahlen.”
“Kapitän Litz?” the figure asked and Alois nodded. “Nun, was hat die Geheimnisse guter Kapitän nun zu finden?” The figure said as he reached out a gloved hoof and beckoned for the documents under Alois’ shoulder. “Gib sie mir.”
With a nod, Alois placed the folder on the table, and the figure took them There was a pause as Alois awaited another order. He could see the other figure’s eyes staring at him through shadow and the figure waved a hoof.
“Du kannst gehen, Alois. Ich möchte dieses Dokument in Ruhe lesen” he ordered and Alois nodded rapidly.
“Jawohl.” he said, spinning on his heels and quickly walking out of the room.
The figure waited patiently until the door was closed and locked before he opened the file. The glossy paper within caught the light from the celing lamp and reflected it back onto the crimson scarred face of the pony reading the documents. As he read the contents, a small, yet confident smile slowly spread across his face.
“Ja, alles wird genau nach plan.” he said quietly to no one in particular, closing the file and leaning back in his chair slightly, drawing a puff from his cigar and slowly letting it out, allowing the cloud of smoke to swirl around him again.
“Es scheint, dass Kapitän Litz hat sein Versprechen…” he murmured, his eyes focusing on the large, and well detailed map hanging on the wall across from him. “es scheint, dass ich bald ein neues Juwel in meiner Sammlung zu haben ...”
HUZZAH! A NEW CHAPTER!
Also, give a hand to thevampman24 for also coming on over to help co-write this!
Also the weird random sequence with the Scarlet Skull is meant to be a send up to all those crappy pulp horror novels and comics from the 40s and 50s. So yeah. Random for the sake of Random.
And in the case of the ending scene, I'm totally not going to tell you what they are saying. You'll just have to google that yourselves 
And lookie! Shining's a geek here! I blame new MLP comic previews. Also AJ barely survived an asthma attack. SHE'LL MAKE A GREAT CANDIDATE!
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She may have asthma, but she's strong and brave, here to save the Equestrian way...
This chapter.
I like it.
ANOTHER!!!
But Google translate sucks!
Oh well. I'll take what I can get. Good work on this chapter.
3259323 Why thank you.
And I wouldn't be a true evil author if I didn't make my readers suffer as well
(I kid I'll make a translation when I have the time)
I really hope the German isn't going to become a big part of this story because no offense, it's pointless. Just seems like a bad reason to make the readers do more/work than is actually necessary. Other than that great chapter. I did see the word 'person' pop a few times in that last scene.
3259817 well trust me I'll add a translation to the German tomorrow and also, it won't be showing up again. I did it in order to keep things vauge so that the audence doesn't know what I have in mind.
As for the use of 'person', thats because its from the POV of a griffin, so I haven't figured out what griffins call each other yet. So I used 'person' since its rather middle of the road and vauge enough for my needs.
3260142 I'd think one griffon would call another a griffon unless it's a long in which case they would say pony.
3260142 No need. I know German.
Here are the translations:
"Ja Alois? Bringst du mir etwas?"
Yes, Alois, Can you get me something?
"Mein Herr, die neuesten Berichte von unserer Northern Suchtrupps. Kapitän Litz sagte ein besonderes Augenmerk auf der Nordic-Datei.”
My Sir, the newest report of our Northern Troops. Captain Litz said to pay special attention to the Nordic file.
“Kapitän Litz? Nun, was hat die Geheimnisse guter Kapitän nun zu finden? Gib sie mir.”
Captain Litz? Now, what good secrets has the Captain found now? Give it to me.
"Du kannst gehen, Alois. Ich möchte dieses Dokument in Ruhe lesen".
You can go, Alois. I would like these Documents to read in silence.
"Ja, alles wird genau nach plan".
Yes, all is exactly to plan.
“Es scheint, dass Kapitän Litz hat sein Versprechen…”
It seems that Captain Litz has his promise...
"Es scheint, dass ich bald ein neues Juwel in meiner Sammlung."
It seems that I will soon have a new Jewel in my Collection.
Loving it, the writing is brilliant.
3261012 wow thank you so much!
3260893 and your correct!
Not that I speak German, I just know what I wanted them to say...
3261273
Well, you did a good job.
3261305 thanks to google translate
Well... now I kind of wish I was taking German instead of Latin... eh, who am I kidding; Latin's awesome.
Nice chapter, by the way
3261480 LATIN FOR THE WIN.
I await more tropes! (And more Justice League Equestria
)
Hooray! I actually understand the German! However, I did find one mistake: "... nach plan." Plan should be capitalized, and/or use another word, because in German all nouns are capitalized.
3262787 oh I didn't know that! I'll say that I probably won't pull a stunt like this again, mostly because not everyone speaks German (heck I don't speak German
) but if I do have anymore German, I'll be sure to contact you
3262801
I'm not so sure about that, I was surprised because I've only taken some classes in High School, and the thing about nouns is basic grammar.
Poor AJ, but figured they wouldnt let her join. So im guessing Shinning Armor helps her somehow. Cant wait to see how he helps. Also waiting for the family's reaction to her trying and joining
....I can feel him inside me….“Now that I have The Balls….” Celestia’s Girdle...Golden Staff of Luna’s Strength!”
I now ship Apple/Armor.
The end of Captain Equestria should be much happier than the original movie.
Applejack:...I had a dance.
Shining: Get a rain check?
Applejack: Shining! Its you! Your here!
Shining: Yes. Now we will be together forever, my love.
they kiss.
Twilight: (To spike) Told ya so.
Spike: (Hand Twilight ten bits)
….ponies wear gloves? What?
Good job burning bad comics, Shining. Or pulp novels, their spiritual ancestor. Linkara would be proud. 
Also, I know they're not called penny dreadfuls for nothing, but sheesh! Talk about overt!
However, I should note that the Red Skull usually avoids killing underlings. As he once told Adolf Hitler, "A dead man is of no use, while a living one can be retrained."
3259171 …she vows to fight like a mare for what's right, night and day…
Funny... I had German back when I was fourteen, and I barely remember how to say my name, or write it... yet, I can partially read German? Felt kind cool understanding some of it and then piecing together what I could into reasonable sentences.
I've always felt that one should know about three languages: One's mother tongue, some international language (i.e. English) and then something of personal choice. "Variety is the spice of life." Then again, "should" has nothing to do with "must", and not everyone has the opportunity.
Anyway, kind of slid off topic! Liking it so far, read and favorited the three other stories so far, now I just gotta catch up on this awesome story! Five out of Five!
/ 
My eyes flicked ahead for a sec, and the first thing I saw was "Now that I have The Balls" and I laughed my head off
I'm sorry, but the fact that the germans are portrayed as griffins is kinda offensive to me. I know they are supposed to represent the Nazis (all of them shall go to Tartarus). But still, kinda offended