The Night Of Days

by Poodicus

Chapter 5: The End

Chapter 5: The End

A few days had passed since the battle for Ponyville had taken place. The Americans and Germans had called a truce as the Americans released the prisoners as a part of the truce. They did so because both sides didn’t want to be at war anymore, and decided since they were in a new world, to stop fighting.

In Ponyville, the ready and able on both sides helped to restore the town to its former glory with the help of their new found pony friends, while the wounded continued to heal up.

During one of his breaks, Capps was smoking a cigarette with Henderson next to him. “Never thought we’d be working with the Germans.” Capps commented as he let out a cloud of smoke.

“Yeah, you can say that again.”

Suddenly, the two heard a voice from behind them. “Don’t get too comfortable men, as we won’t be staying for much longer.”

The two looked to see who it was behind them and saw it was one of their superior officers. “Sir?” Capps asked as he got up to salute.

The officer saluted back. “We just word from the Princess that she’s found a way to return us to Earth. She’s suppose to be coming here later this evening to tell us all about it.”

“What does that mean for the ponies sir?” Henderson asked.

“It means that we won’t be around for much longer to bother them anymore.” The officer replied.

“I see….”

“Now come on you two, we still have work that needs to be done.” The officer told the two men as he saluted them and began to walk towards the town to help out, with the other two right behind him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, both the Americans and Germans had gathered in front of the town hall to hear what the pony princess wanted to tell them. Most of them hadn’t a clue what she was about to tell them, while others just kept their mouths shut.

Finally, after minutes of making them wait, Princess Celestia of Equestria took the stage. She coughed a bit to get the attention of the soldiers. “Ahem. I’d like to thank you all today for coming out this evening. As some of you know already, I have come here to tell you all that I have found a way for you all to go back home.”

As soon as she said that, some of the people inside the crowd began to grown and even boo.

“We don’t want to go back!”

“Piss off!”

“Why we gotta go back?!”

But the cries of protest soon ceased. “That’s enough! All of you!” One of the superior officers yelled as he stepped up on stage. “You all know we don’t belong here! Besides, what about your loved ones back home? What about them?”

The crowd began to settle down after the officer made his point. Celestia simply smiled uncomfortably and thanked him. “Thank you Mr…”

“Johnson.” The officer replied.

“Yes, Mr. Johnson. Thank you, but I think I can handle it from here.” She said as she took his spot at the podium and began to talk to the crowd once more. “Ahem, as I was saying, I have found a way for all of you to go back to your own world, however, there are some problems with it.”

The crowd began to murmur in uncertainty as Princess Celestia spoke. “What do you mean there are problems?” One soldier yelled out.

“Well, to put it simply… I’ll be able to send all of you back to a few hours before the first of you got here. In other words, you’ll all go back in time and go back to the day before the night you came here.” One soldier raised his hand. “Err, yes?”

The soldier stood up and spoke. “If that’s the problem, what’ll happen then? Will we continue that day as if nothing happened?”

Princess Celestia nodded. “As I said, you’ll go back to before you all came here, and while doing so, you’ll end up losing your memories of this world and everything you’ve done here.” The crowd began to become wild again as they began to yell in protest. “B-But! Your superiors have agreed to let you stay here one more day here, as it’ll take a full day to get the spell ready!” Celestia yelled towards the crowd, which got them settled down.

The officer named Johnson took Celestia’s spot at the podium. “You heard her boys. Both Americans and Germans are going to be sent back home on the morning two days from now. Sleep while you can boys, as tomorrow will be your last day in this world.” He then saluted the men. “Dismissed.”

Before they went though, another soldier raised his hand. “Yes?” Celestia asked the soldier.

“What about the ones who’ve died here?” The soldier asked. The crowd began to agree with him. “What’ll happen to them?”

Celestia nodded as she understood the question. “I suppose that would be a very good question. To tell you the truth, the reason why the spell will have to take a day is because our mages are going have to seclude the area of which all of you were in, meaning the Everfree Forest, Ponyville, and the fields to the east where your ‘planes’ landed, and essentially draw a circle in that area. After that is done, that circle that will be drawn will allow me to focus my energy on all foreign objects that don’t belong in this world, both dead and living. So long as there is the smallest part of them here, they will exist back in your world alive and well. Does that answer your question?” She asked the soldier with a smile. The soldier nodded and sat back down. “Good! Now, I hope you all can rest well, as Johnson here has said, tomorrow will be your last day here. I’m sorry you couldn’t stay longer, but it’s best for both our worlds if you all went back as soon as possible.”

The crowd began to groan and mumble as they began to split off and go to the houses they were assigned to sleep in. “One day huh?” Capps said out loud as he looked towards the podium, completely absent-minded.

“Eh, whatever, don’t get why we gotta spend one more day here if we’re just gonna forget about it the day afterwards.” Henderson added as he got up from his chair and began to walk away, patting Capps on the shoulder. “You coming Cap’n?”

“Yeah, be right there Henderson.” Capps said as he continued to sit in the chair, thinking what it’d be like had he never come to Equestria in the first place. An hour later he finally went to bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the day that was to be the humans’ last day in Equestria, Capps spent it mostly walking around town, looking at the various buildings that had gotten rebuilt. While he was walking on one of the dirt roads that went through town, he heard his name be called out. “Capps! Capps!”

Capps turned around to see a certain purple unicorn pony running up to him. “Hey Twilight, what’s up?”

“Capps, I heard what’s going to happen tomorrow! Are you really going to leave?” She asked in a sad tone.

Capps shrugged his shoulders. “Orders are orders Twilight, nothing we can do about it.”

“But do you want to? I mean, after what I saw yesterday…. How could you live like that?”

Capps took in a deep breath through his nose and let it out through his mouth before answering. “If I didn’t do it, then some poor kid who has his entire life ahead of him will have to take my place. Besides, I chose to do this, so it’s my burden to handle.” Capps then placed his hand on Twilight’s head and began to rub it as he patted her. “You’re a good kid Twilight, and I’m sorry about what you saw, but that’s life on my world. It seems that our country tends to get into war after war, but somebody’s gotta fight it, right?”

“But I’ll miss you.” Twilight complained, beginning to tear up.

Capps smirked and began to chuckle. “Well, didn’t know you had those types of feelings towards me.” He then sighed. He could see just how devastating it was for her to see him go. “Tell you what-“ He began, then put his hands behind his neck and took off his dogtags, holding them in his hand in front of Twilight. “I know I really shouldn’t be doing this, but… if you’ll miss me that much, then I’ll give you this to remember me by…. How does that sound?”

Twilight sniffed a bit and wiped away her tears before grabbing a hold of the dogtags and levitating them with her magic, putting them in her satchel that she wore on her back. “T-Thank you.” She said meekly.

Capps smirked once more and nodded. “No problem….”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning had come, and everyone was rounded up in the center of town. Celestia was there as she began to cast the spell to bring the men back to their own world. Slowly, but surely, everything that had involved the Americans or Germans began to slowly disappear from the world.

Nearly an hour later, everything returned to what it once was. All but one set of dogtags that was now in the ownership of a certain purple unicorn.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was the very early morning of June 5th, 1944. An American Sergeant Major, wearing his uniform, was walking down to the mess hall when he heard someone call out for him.

“Cap’n! Hey Cap’n.” The Sergeant turned around to face the person who was calling his name out.

“Danny, you know I’m not a Captain, I’m a Sergeant Major.” The Sergeant called out to the man only three years younger than him.

“Sorry sir.” The private known as Danny apologized as he came running up to the Sergeant Major. “But it’s just easy to call ya Cap’n cause of your name and all.”

“You mean you want to call me Captain Capps?” The Sergeant named Capps said while smirking.

“Well, it’s easier to remember than Sergeant Major.” Capps began to chuckle.

“You boys sure do love to mess with me, don’t ya?” Capps gave the private a smirk.

“Well, we’re brothers aren’t we?”

“We haven’t gone into battle yet Danny.” Capps responded to the young man.

“But we will tonight, right?”

“Don’t get too enthusiastic about jumping Danny. War is hell, remember that. As for if we’re jumping tonight, we’ll have to see if the higher-ups think it’s okay. For now, just go over your equipment, as well as the plan, it’s never bad to be too prepared.”

“Alright Cap’n will do.” Capps could only laugh at the boy’s enthusiasm.

“Come on, let’s go get breakfast while it’s still hot.” Capps wrapped his arm around Danny and the two began to walk to the mess hall together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, Capps and the others had gotten the order that they were to jump. For over five hours they sat in that plane, waiting for the signal to turn green. Finally, it had turned not green yet, but red, signaling the men to get ready. Capps stood up and began to use hand movements to address his man. “Get ready! Stand up!” The men did as they were told and stood up, standing in a single line. “Hook up!” All at the same time, the men hooked their parachutes to the rail above them. “Equipment check!” Capps yelled out as he tapped his shoulders. “Sound off for equipment check!” And his men did so.

“10 okay!”

“9 okay!”

“8 okay!”

“7 okay!”

“6 okay!”

“5 okay!”

“4 okay!”

“3 okay!”

“2 okay!”

Finally it was Capps’ turn. “1 okay!”

As they finally sounded off, the plane began to meet heavy resistance from German Anti-Air. Planes all around them began to go down.

A plane that was to the left of them to see a C-47 get blown in half as a flak shell hit it in the middle, causing the tail to fall off while the nose of the plane began to dive into the forest below.

On the other side of their plane, another C-47 had gotten hit in one of its engines by a 20mm. The plane began to lose altitude as the engine failed to respond; the pilot was going to make a crash landing into the forest, hopefully without any casualties.

“Jesus Christ let’s go! Let’s go!” Henderson yelled out in fear.

“Does that light look green to you?!” Another soldier called out.

“Fuck the light! I don’t want to die up here!” Henderson yelled back.

“Where the hell is the DZ?!” Danny called out.

Planes were continuing to get hit all around them as they were going down into the forest below them. Finally, they had reached far enough that the pilots turned on the green light. “Alright! Let’s go!” Capps called out to his men. One by one they began to jump out of the plane, their parachutes deploying right after they jumped out.

However, most of them had missed their drop zones completely, and instead, unfortunately, landed right into Sainte Mere-Eglise, a town that was held by German troops. They were easy targets as they came down, getting killed before they even hit the ground, as the Germans saw them in the clear, illuminated sky. He didn’t know why, but Capps thought of something he thought he had completely forgot about before being killed by the Germans. ‘Twilight.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And there it is, the end of ‘The Night of Days’. Sorry for the cop-out ending, but compared to the other ending I was going to go with, this one probably makes a lot more sense and is better.

For those wondering, yes, believe it or not, sections of two planeloads of parachutists actually landed in a small town in France called Sainte Mere-Eglise, and most of them were killed before hitting the ground, as the Germans could see them clearly due to a fire that had started in a barn nearby, lighting up the night sky. Probably the most famous part of it is that a soldier by the name of John Steele actually survived the drop by being caught on the spire of the church in town, and played dead before being captured by German forces two hours later. He then later escaped the Germans and rejoined his division when US troops of the 3rd battalion, 505 Infantry Parachute Regiment attacked the village.

Because of this, every year around June 6th, the townspeople put up a fake paratrooper on top of the church, celebrating the liberation of Nazi Germany by Allied forces.

Another cool little tidbit of information, the church ended up putting in two stained-glass windows in honor of the paratroops, one representing the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus (I think, can’t really tell from the pictures) hovering above the town, with two paratroopers next to them landing into town. The other is of Saint Michael dressed as a French warrior in medieval times, surrounded by the various insignias of the paratroopers.

Comments

[Poodicus]

Change very last line since I too was 50/50 on it since I didn't explain it very well. Just deleted it instead.

[Itsasecrettome]

Hmm nice ending indeed. Though had to ruin the fun by bringing in shermans :< .

[kararnos]

so sad for capp's

[Dan The Man]

I think this whole thing about the two sides forging a truce and acrually cooperating was way too rushed.
You packed material for four chapters into a single one, which I think is a bit of a shame.

Anyway, it was still okay though.

[Poodicus]

458392

meh, I sort of wanted to get this chapter done and such so I could focus on my other projects.

[Risec]

this story looks interesting

Good job Pooticus

[thewookie1]

Sad ending... why so sad!

I was really hoping Capps would get to stay and live.

[Red Qilin]

... Emm, did the German commanding officer not only rejected Nightmare Moon's offer, but pulled out his sidearm and gunned down an EVIL PHYSICAL GODDESS OF THE NIGHT?

Always hated the Nazis, but damn, that was awesome.

[williamcll]

Congrats, you got mentioned on tvtropes (reality ensures)

[Poodicus]

2000121

I did?

[Dat Merc]

Normandy Equestria: First Rendezvous With Destiny

[xErickKingx]

Soldier-"So, what you are telling me us that I f I kill my self right now...I would be alive when you cast the spell in my world
Celestia-"Well, yes but I think...
The soldier grabs his small GBB WE and pointed to his head
Soldier-"I going to kill my self and see if I appeared were I was. I going to call this action respawn....See ya in a day
He took then shot him self and landed dead on the dirt
Celestia-"Wow...that is a pretty awesome idea that he got there...

[The Commandant]

[The Commandant]

[Calex Winteridge]

1182246 Nooooooooooooooo you shall not live to see the light of day!!! Winters was an amazing soldier!

[Another_Dead_Account1109]

Capps thought of something he thought he had completely forgot about before being killed by the Germans. ‘Twilight.’

That one hit me hard... it's sad!

[Poodicus]

3589712

When I wrote it I believe thats what was going through my head, but it's been about two years since I wrote it and finished it. Been saying that I desperately need to re-write it for historical inaccuracies, misconceptions, misspellings, grammar mistakes, and of course let's all not forget me basically insulting the lives of the people who fought on D-Day by writing such a shitty fic in the first place.

[Sarged]

Celestia is a BITCH she sent them back to there world to die while they were living perfectly in Equestria.

[Safhell]

3813841 she had to send them back because it would have screwed every thing up in the world's timeline

[Poodicus]

3913046

That, and lazy writing... very, very lazy writing...

[Safhell]

3913129 i agree and i know this because my great grandpa served in the Airborne and i asked him this question at one point

[Poodicus]

3913447

I know, I'm ashamed to call myself a WW2 enthusiast... I would rewrite it (like I've promised myself over and over), but I'm lazy now more than ever.

[Poodicus]

4474657

*Sigh*, yeah, I know, I need to re-write this terribly, but me lazy.