Cpl. Samuel Burns and his squad had been through hell while fighting the Germans. When a chance incident transports them to a new world, they try to hang up their rifles and settle down. But, when an old enemy arrives from Earth, what will they do?
Corporal Burns and his squad had been in it since the attack on Pearl Harbor. On patrol in Germany one day during the closing months of the war, an unlucky encounter ends up taking them to a new world, populated by ponies. They try to settle down, finding close friends among the populates of their new home. But, when a familiar, ruthless enemy find themselves in the same place, the 'Four Horsemen' and their sergeant must take up the call to arms once more. Luckily, they aren't alone.
Sorry folks-Story has been cancelled for reasons in my latest blog post.
"Corporal Burns, I'd say you get up before the LT has a field day with your ass."
I opened my eyes to see the Sarge standing in front of my foxhole, a trace of a smile on his face. "Sarge, you know that I think the LT is an asshole. I replied as I hauled myself up out of my overnight sleeping arrangement. I'll be deep in the ground before I see him do a damn thing, just wait and see."
The Sarge looked unimpressed with my response and said "You can learn better ways to talk shit about brass from Brooklyn, you know?"
"I don't know how many times I got to tell ya' Sarge. I'm from the Bronx." Private Adam Sanders, a skinny guy of 23 better known to us as 'Brooklyn', tried yet again to make his point as he joined us along with Private Victor Jackson. Also from Texas, he and I were as thick as thieves.
"Morning Vic." I said as he walked up looked around.
"Samuel." he acknowledged, using my first name to try to tick me off. He was built like a bull, having been on his high school football team as the 'best linebacker in the league'. He was 24 years old, the middle-man in the squad. Sarge and I, on the other hand, were lean, but with muscle earned from years of working on a ranch; Sarge was 49, I was 28. Vic was carrying his M1919A6 machine gun over his shoulder, and was looking up at the grey sky, thinking the same thing I was.
"Rain's coming." we said in unison. We stood around, doing nothing in particular until the last member of our squad, Private Cole Smith, or 'Schmitty' showed up. He had just turned 23 yesterday, and was the youngest in the squad. He was a whiz with mechanics, but a bit overweight from working behind the scenes for a few months.
"Those were some of the best guys to have around you in a fight. No matter what, I always knew they'd have my back, and I trusted them to have mine. It didn't take long for us to get to know each other as brothers, not just squad mates."
"Panzer!" one of the new guys shouted. We all dove behind the nearest piece of cover: a fountain in the middle of an intersection. In the middle of any Algerian town, that was a death sentence of the highest order.
"Vic, set up that thirty to cover the right!" The Sarge was barking orders left and right while he fired at the nearest enemies. "Jackson, cover him! Brandt, you and Kelly take the left. The rest of you stay here!"
The panzer fired another shot that glanced off the top of the fountain, raining rubble down on us as we fired at anything that was trying to kill us. Namely, that was everything in a five-mile radius. I heard the sergeant yelling into the radio, calling for some type of support, as the panzer fired another round, this one landing in front of our position and the concussion knocking me senseless. Brooklyn grabbed my shoulder and hauled me up, handing me my rifle. "Keep firing Corporal!" the Sarge said, and we continued to hold off the panzer's escort infantry until a P-38 roared overhead, dropping its ordnance on the panzer and strafing the retreating infantry.
"Whoo-hoo!" Jackson cheered.
At the same time, Vic said "I ain't never been so happy to see those flyboys as I am now." Twenty minutes later, a halftrack came by to pick us up, and we learned we had been the last squad in the Kasserine Pass, with a shit-load of Rommel's armor headed straight for us.
"D-Day and Normandy were bloodbaths; how we survived, I don't know. We'd become famous in the division by July that year, and Vic, Brooklyn, Schmitty, and I became known as 'Sarge's Four Horsemen'. People asked how we stayed alive, and we always gave them the same answer: The other guy got it first. Hell, sometimes we didn't even get to know their names."
"I remember that time in Sicily when I fought off an entire Italian division by myself." A new guy, something like Jacob or the like, was spinning a new tale of how he had done something that we couldn't do. His brother, who we didn't even know yet, had managed to get into the same squad, and was sitting by his tent.
"You know, that story gets more ridiculous every time you say it." he commented, and Jacob looked away, miffed. Suddenly, a loud, clear shot rang out, and Jacob's brother fell to the dirt along with the rest of us. Someone shouted 'Sniper' and half the bivouac began firing at the building the shot had come from. We got up, with the exception of Jacob's brother, who lay on the ground, breathing shallowly. His brother rushed over to him as Brooklyn yelled for a medic and started trying to save him with what medical supplies he had. Before the medics arrived though, the kid stopped breathing and looked up with a blank stare. The rest of us stood back in silence as the Sarge, as hard as he could be on us, tried to console Jacob, who was breaking down.
"Then somehow, someway, we woke up one day to find ourselves in a land loaded with brightly colored, three-foot tall ponies. Equestria. It was nice enough, I suppose: No war, corruption, or threat of everyday death. But that all changed one day…
"Now, I'm an old man, writing this book out of the journals, letters, and memories of a soldier who's been to hell and back. I never stopped fighting for what I figured was right, and neither did so many of the men that I fought with or against. But now, dead to my world, and old in this one, I think it's time I settle down, have a family, and live a real life. We've all earned it.
"Old soldiers never die. They just fade away."-MacArthur
[Corporal Samuel 'Hawkeye' Burns, October 17th, 1944, Schmidt, Belgium]
"Alright, listen up." the Sarge said, walking towards the little secluded corner First Squad, along with Second and Tenth Squads, had taken up. I shook Schmitty up from his nap, causing him to jump up and look around, hand on his rifle. "We've pulled patrol on the east side of town, out near the forest." the sergeant continued, causing all of us to groan. The Hurtgen Forest was a major hotspot for the Germans, who had decided to screw up our supposed 'relaxation time' from being on the front lines.
We all got up and went out to the battalion motor pool, where two Jeeps were waiting for us to go out. Before we left, we all ate a round of K-rations, forcing down the government-issued food. Sarge had us finish in five minutes, and we loaded up on the Jeeps and headed out.
[2 km outside of Schmidt, Belgium]
The engines of the two vehicles whined as we drove along the road, looking for any suspicious activity. All around us, broken down tanks and shell craters marked the area. On orders from the major, we headed out to where an enemy armored column had been spotted earlier and attacked by aircraft.
Up ahead, the smoking wrecks of tanks and armored cars littered the road. "Eyes peeled." I said, slowly moving the mounted M2 fifty-caliber machine gun across a ridgeline, watching for any signs of movement.
"Poor bastards didn't even stand a chance." Brooklyn commented as we passed by some overturned tanks. Suddenly, a shot rang out, followed by more.
"MG42!" Schmitty yelled. "Left side!" Together, Vic and I opened up on the machine gun nest as even more infantry started surrounding us.
"It's a bushwhack! Get us the fuck outta here!"
Brooklyn floored the accelerator and the Jeep lurched forward, throwing my aim off and forcing me to hang on to the handles of the M2. Behind us, Vic was hammering an armored car that had reared its ugly head behind us, and I joined in as we continued driving down road. Out of nowhere, a panzer drove out onto the road in front of us, and, before I could register it, fired its cannon straight at us.
[Sweet Apple Acres]
"Ughh." I said intelligibly as I came to. I took in my surroundings, noting that the rest of my squad surrounded me, all passed out. We all had our weapons still, and I saw that wherever we were, it was peaceful and actually quite beautiful, something I'd been missing ever since I joined the army. "If this is heaven," I said to myself, "I like it so far."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw three pairs of eyes watching me. Upon realizing that I had seen them, the eyes appeared to blink and disappeared, followed by what sounded like running. I stumbled over to see who it was, but could see no traces of anyone.
[Third Person POV]
"What was that thing?" Sweetie Bell asked her two friends who both somehow shrugged their shoulders as the three fillies galloped towards the farmhouse.
"Ah' don't know, but it didn't seem too hostile t' us." Applebloom responded as the buildings of the Apple family's trade came into view. "Let's jus' tell my brother an' sis' an' let them handle it." With that, the Cutie Mark Crusaders ran up the hill and into the farmhouse.
[Morning After First Squad's Arrival, Sweet Apple Acres]
I woke up to find the sun slowly rising and blinding me. I turned away and listened to the birds and the breeze in the apple trees around me, something that I hadn't heard for a long time. I stood, grabbed my rifle, and walked over to the rest of the squad.
"Finally got your lazy ass up, did you?" the Sarge inquired, frowning. Ehh, who am I kidding? He's always got a frown. I realized I was the last one to get up this time. Vic was scraping the last of his rations out of the can while Schmitty and Brooklyn played cards.
"What's the plan, sir?" I asked the sergeant, who was re-tying his boots for the second time since I'd awoken.
"We're going to find out what gear we got, then where the hell we are." he responded. "As one can tell, that panzer failed to kill us. Or leave a mark even." He looked around, and the rest of us, on instinct, followed suit, seeing nothing but apple trees and grass in every direction.
After we all ate, we began the slow process of getting our gear in order and finding out what we had. It looked like everything except the Jeeps and Jerries, which still meant we had a fair amount of gear. Together, we all had 16 C- and K-Rations, one five-in-one,and five full canteens. "The way Vic eats, these won't last five days." Brooklyn joked, immediately earning a solid whack from Vic.
"Cut it out before the Sarge gets over here and tears into your asses." They obliged and we began counting out our personal effects.
When we finished we each had our pistols, each with three magazines, our combat knives, bayonets, trench shovels, medi-kits, eight grenades each, but that's where our similarities ended. Weapons-wise, the Sarge had his M1A1 Thompson, as always, with ten magazines, and his M1 Carbine with another ten magazines. Brooklyn and I both had our M1 Garands that we've had from basic, each with 12 magazines, but he had a BAR with 11 magazines whereas I had my Springfield sniper rifle with the 30 rounds that I always carried with it. Schmitty only had his M3 Grease Gun with 10 magazines, with the rest of his inventory being filled out with 10 demo charges and a few mines. Finally, Vic, being the big guy in the squad, had the squad's M1919A6 .30-caliber machine gun with 5 belts of 200 rounds and his M9 bazooka, complete with five rounds.
"Well," Schmitty said. "We can put up one hell of a fight if we need to." We all nodded in agreement, and I watched as Brooklyn attempted to grab the bazooka, only to get slapped away by Vic, who said "You want to lose your hands?" As the two began fighting, I climbed up into a nearby tree and looked around, spotting a village a few miles away, a forest a little beyond it, and what looked like a farm or ranch only about a mile away. While I was up there, I picked an apple from one of the top branches.
I went back down and observed the new shiner Vic had given Brooklyn and the dislocated wrist he had given himself. "Brooklyn, guess you really are hard-headed, aren't you?" I said as Schmitty helped fix Vic's hand. The sergeant, on the other hand, looked no worse for wear from breaking up the fight.
"There's a farm or ranch only 'bout a mile out, and a town not too far off as well." I said before biting into the apple, juice running down my face and into the dirt as I savored the first real food I'd had in months. As I began to sit back down, a loud rustle nearby made us all jump up and point whatever firearm we had nearest to us towards the noise.
[Applejack POV]
After Applebloom and her two friends dragged Big Mac and I away from the harvest into the north orchard, rambling on and on about some 'strange, two-legged creatures', we had them stay with Granny while we went out and investigated.
As we got closer to where the Cutie Mark Crusaders said to look, I thought I began hearing voices. "Ya' hear that, Mac?" I asked my brother.
"Eeyup." he said in his simple, low voice. We slowed down as the five 'creatures' came into view.
Were those…
Humans?
[Corporal Burns POV]
They were horses.
No shit, there were two, brightly colored horses looking at us, with some weird marking on their flanks. It didn't look like a brand, and even if it was, who would have three apples as a brand?
"Uhh, Sarge?" Vic said, thoroughly confused. I couldn't blame him. I was extremely perplexed as well. It's not every day you see two rainbow ponies, and this is from three Texas boys.
"That' better not be one of ma' apples." I looked around for the owner of the voice as I hid the half-eaten apple behind me. "Ah'm over here." the voice said again, and this time, I saw the orange pony's mouth move in perfect time with the words. I pointed at the pony, slightly dumbfounded, who nodded and said "What? You ain't never seen a talking pony?"
All of First Squad nodded and Vic said "Yeah, talking horses didn't pop up too frequent in Texas. Or at all, really."
"Where's Texas?" the orange pony, obviously female, asked.
"And it's ponies, mister." the big red one, which was even more obviously male, reprimanded.
"Wait a sec'." I said. "If you got that accent, but got no clue where the hell where Texas is, then where the hell are we?"
"Equestria, of course." the mare said. When we all gave her a blank look, she muttered "Looks like we got to find Twilight."
We walked along the dirt road, following the orange pony, Applejack. Her brother, Big Mac, said he had to go back and finish harvesting the north orchard. Meanwhile, we were headed to the village, apparently called Ponyville.
"So, Miss Applejack," I began, being cut off before I could continue.
"Please, jus' Applejack." she said. "Ah ain't one fer all that fancy speak."
"Sorry ma'am, but you'll be getting that from all of us. The military tends to do that to you." I countered. "Well, maybe not Vic."
Vic shrugged his shoulders in response, causing Brooklyn to look at me in mock anger. "How come he doesn't hit you?" he complained.
"'Cause Texas boys don't fight unless drunk or really pissed off." the Sarge answered. "Anyway ma'am, where are you takin' us?' he asked Applejack.
"Oh, ma' friend Twilight Sparkle." I heard a snort from Brooklyn at the back of our group. "She migh' be able to help ya'll out." I stayed silent as we passed a large sign labeled 'Ponyville City Limits: Population: 2104'. Out of nowhere, a pink blur raced out of the town, rocketing towards us. Applejack, the sergeant, Vic, Schmitty and I all dove out of the way as Brooklyn, bringing up the rear, was left to be bowled over by said blur.
With that, the pink pony that had materialized from the blur ran off, leaving Brooklyn on the ground. "What the hell just happened?" he said drowsily, propping himself up on his elbows as the rest of us got up.
Schmitty helped him up as Applejack said "That was Pinkie Pie. She can't let anypony new into town without throwing a party for them."
"Can't or won't?" Brooklyn asked, rubbing his head in pain.
"Can't." Applejack answered, giving him a look that said 'believe me'.
Walking into town, everyone was staring at us or shutting up their houses and businesses. "What's everyone's problem?" the sergeant asked. "Accordin' to the ol' tales, you humans are a violent bunch." Applejack responded. "But those are just a bunch of ol' mare's tales. Ya'll ain't even supposed to exist, yet here you are."
"Hate to break it to you ma'am, but there's a lot of violent humans where we're from." The Sarge said. "It's better not to go into it."
We walked up to a huge tree in the center area of town. The sign over the door said'Golden Oaks Library'. "You're kind of place, right Schmitty?" I said as we walked in. Schmitty nodded slowly as he looked around at the mass amount of volumes. Somehow, the inside of the tree was larger than the outside. We walked into a side room, where four ponies were gathered around a circle, one of them saying "Applejack said she wanted to see us…"
"Actually Twi, ah jus' wanted to talk to you, but it's fine the others are here." A purple…unicorn?... walked up to us, followed by a pen and paper, which scribbled down notes as she muttered under her breath, encased in a purple light, as was her horn. Magic?
"Umm," I started, about to comment on that, before I was suddenly slammed to the floor with the unicorn on top of me. "You can talk too?" she asked as I felt the same pain Brooklyn must have in the back of my head.
She ran off towards a book section marked 'Fiction/Myths', then ran back into our midst before realizing that everyone was staring at her. "Jeez, Twilight, you could at least ask their names first." A cyan blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail said.
"Name's Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria and future Wonderbolt." the pegasus said, flying around each of us and looking us over. "What ARE you guys?"
"Rainbow Dash! Manners!" another unicorn, this one with a white coat and purple mane and tail, said in a high-class tone. It, no she, stepped forward and introduced herself. "I'm Rarity, owner of the local fashion boutique. You must come by sometime; Olive is so out of fashion this season."
"Rarity." Twilight said condescendingly.
"What?" Rarity said innocently. "I'm simply trying to make them look their best."
The other pegasus stepped forward quietly and said "I'm Fluttershy.", only after we asked about three times to speak up. She hid behind the sergeant, who looked surprised for a moment before he returned to his normal stony expression.
Finally, Twilight said "My name, as you heard, is Twilight Sparkle. I am the personal protégé of Princess Celestia."
"Princess?" Vic asked. The rest of us looked at Twilight, who seemed to realize that we wouldn't know her. "I'll write to her today. Besides, I have a friendship report due to her by tomorrow. So, what are your names?"
The Sarge took the stand to answer the question. "Sergeant Jake Adams, First Squad, Fox Company, Sixteenth Infantry Regiment, First Division. I'm the leader of this group of men." Pointing to each of us in turn, he introduced each of us in turn. "That's Corporal Samuel Burns, known to us as Hawkeye, then Private Victor 'Vic' Jackson, Private Adam "Brooklyn' Sanders, and Private Cole 'Schmitty' Smith."
"Are you all related? You certainly seem to act like it, according to Applejack." Twilight asked.
"No ma'am." Sarge replied. "Though, we've been fighting together for so long, we're pretty much family. We've been through hell together."
She kept asking the Sarge questions as the rest of us interacted with the ponies. Rainbow Dash left to go to some 'Cloudsdale' for a meeting, and Rarity also left to go 'complete a shipment order'. That left Applejack, Fluttershy (who was still virtually attached to the sergeant). After some time, Twilight Sparkle finished and we were allowed to leave to find something to eat. As we followed Applejack to some 'Sugarcube Corner', we received a lot of stares from the town's citizens.
"You'd think they'd be nice enough not to stare." I commented dryly, as I watched a pony shield her children from seeing us.
"Welcome to my world." Sarge said.
"Pinkie, you realize that Twilight's probably asleep right?" The Sarge tried once again to tell Pinkie that because the lights were out, there was no one there.
She simply grinned even wider and said "Don't be silly! It's only seven o'clock!" I checked my watch to see that it was indeed, seven. We had all reset our watches when we passed by the clock tower earlier that day. Apparently, the day and month were the same here, but the year here was 1002. We walked into the library behind Pinkie, who suddenly disappeared into the dark. Brooklyn, being dumb as he was, decided to shut the door and throw us into complete darkness.
"Ow!" he exclaimed as the sound of a fist hitting its target sounded. "Why'd you do that?"
"Lock it up you two." I said, feeling the wall for some lights. Not finding any, I started walking forward when about 80 ponies jumped out and yelled 'Surprise!' as the lights flicked on.
"Son of a-" We all went for our weapons, only to remember that we had left them at Applejack's farm.
Pinkie popped up from behind a table in the center of the room. "Were you surprised?" she asked, still with the massive grin on her face.
"We were…surprised." the Sarge managed to say. With that, a full-blown party started and we were thrown into the middle of it. There was plenty of food, drink, and fun, and everyone we had met so far was there, as well as some others, such as Colgate, the town dentist, Ditzy Doo or 'Derpy Hooves', the mailmare, Lyra Heartstrings, who kept following each of us around (Applejack said she has some fascination about humans), and the Cutie Mark Crusaders Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle. Some loud music was playing, and I found it to be Vinyl Scratch, the 'DJ', whatever that was. The music was good, despite being different from what I was used to.
As the party wrapped up and everyone began to leave, we began helping to clean up. Brooklyn was asleep, until Vic poured the rest of the water on him and he sputtered awake. Twilight looked on disapprovingly and used her magic to clean up the mess. In no time at all, we had cleaned up all traces of the party.
"That was the most fun I've had in years." Vic said as we gathered around Twilight, who had an envelope suspended in front of her.
"Who's that from?" Schmitty asked, looking over Twilight's shoulder.
"Princess Celestia." She replied, opening it and reading it. "Dear Twilight Sparkle, I have received your letter about the arrival of the humans in Equestria. Thank you for notifying me of this. As this year's Grand Galloping Gala is just around the corner, I believe it would be a wonderful idea to meet them that night. I have already enclosed eleven tickets within, and I look forward to seeing you in Canterlot in two weeks. Princess Celestia."
"We get to go to the Galloping Gala again? Oh, my." Rarity had arrived at some point in the party and had just fainted onto a couch that she had pulled from… nowhere? Pinkie began bouncing up and down repeatedly, completely defying the physics that I knew. Fluttershy muttered a little 'Yay!' before hiding back behind Sarge as Applejack started cheering with Pinkie.
"Galloping Gala?" the Sarge asked.
"It's the most prestigious event in Equestria, where the Princesses host ponies from all over the kingdom in Canterlot, the royal city." Twilight said. "I hope you have something nice to wear."
I turned over on the Apple Family couch, doing my best to not fall off.
Of all the guys in the squad, I had to be elected to find us some type of suit. And I had to have it done in two weeks. AJ had suggested asking Rarity, but I didn't know if she would be able to do what I had in mind in the time period we had. She said that she had no orders and that she would gladly help me 'get out of those raggedy old articles', along with the rest of our squad, but I was still nervous.
Unable to sleep, I stood up and went out onto the porch, where I was overlooking the entire Apple family orchard. I heard the howling of timberwolves, as Granny Smith had called them, from the Everfree forest. The moon was high in the sky, illuminating the apple trees with an eerie kind of light. Had it been a bit more desert-like, it would have reminded me of the ranch back home.
I heard a creak behind me and turned to see Big Mac watching me. "Good night, isn't it?" I said, earning his trademark 'Eeyup'. "What're you doing out here so late?" I asked him as he sat down on the porch bench.
"Ah' might ask the same of you." he countered. Fair enough.
"Just coming out here to think." I said. "The quiet atmosphere usually helps with that."
"Same here." Mac said. He took a deep breath, then said "You know, ma' sister's taken a likin' to ya'."
"Copy that, Mac." I said. "Your sister and your family are a good people. Heck, you're almost like a brother to me."
"That ah don' mind," he replied, "but if you go off and break her heart or pull funny business, know ah'll be comin' fer you." I nodded in understanding, then went inside and went to sleep. It was going to be a long week.
"No sign of First Squad sir. Just the two Jeep wrecks we managed to salvage."
The major nodded and said, "Call it off. I'm not losing any more men. They had to die sometime, we just didn't expect it to be here. Not in this war. They were the 'Four Horsemen', after all, right captain?" The captain showed a small grin as the major sat down and began writing a letter.
Date: November 30th, 1944
To the Parents of Corporal Samuel J. Burns, ID10131647
The Department of the Army is deeply regretful to inform you that Corporal Samuel Burns, along with his squad, after multiple weeks of searching, is reported MIA after his squad was ambushed by German forces while on a routine patrol outside of Schmidt, Belgium. If he is found, I will make sure that you know of the development as soon as possible. For now, the Department expresses our deepest sympathies towards you in this time of loss.
Signed Most Sincerely,
Major General Clarence R. Huebner
Department of the Army
I watched as my parents opened the same letter the major had just been writing in front of a Christmas tree, reading it as my kid brother opened up gifts in the background.
Of all the days to receive that letter...
I watched as my mother started crying into my father's chest as he hugged her and looked up, as if silently praying for me to be found. I wanted to tell them that I was alright, to tell them all the things I hadn't been able to since I left on that ship to North Africa, but I couldn't speak or move.
So I simply watched.
Despite my midnight walk around, I woke up before any of the other Apple family did and left a note saying where I had gone. With the dream still fresh in my mind, I left for Carousel Boutique to get the squad's uniforms.
As I walked into town, I received less stares than normal, if any at all. Some of the ponies even waved at me before going about their business. Finding Carousel Boutique not too far from the outside limits of town, I walked in to a silent room. In the next room over, I heard the sound of water and clanging metal. Walking in, I saw Rarity doing dishes and cleaning up a total mess of what looked like breakfast gone wrong. I cleared my throat, causing Rarity to jump and a pot to splash into the sink.
"Mr. Burns, you should know better than to startle a lady like that." Rarity reprimanded, turning to face me. "Is there anything you need?"
I excused myself and asked "Would you like help with those?" while motioning towards the dishes.
"Oh no, please don't exert yourself." Rarity said as she levitated the remaining dishes into the sink. "Sweetie Belle just took the opportunity to make breakfast this morning, but…she isn't the best." She smiled a bit before shooing me out of the kitchen and shutting the door behind her. "I can finish that later." she stated. "So, I presume you wish to give me that design of yours."
I nodded and pulled out a few drawings that I had Schmitty make, then made some pointers on what went where, giving her the exact way it should be. She agreed and tried to make me not pay for it, but I knew that Sarge would knock my ass into the dirt if I came back with money and no drawings. When Rarity went upstairs with the drawings and I heard a door slam, I left a stack of bits AJ'd loaned me on her table before leaving.
[Evening of the Gala]
"So, Hawk," the Sarge asked. "Do you have our suits?"
"Even better, sir." I replied as I brought out the US Army Service Uniforms, complete with dress shoes from the local cobbler and our garrison caps. Rarity had managed to make the uniforms the exact way our original uniforms were, and I even managed to have our few service medals and ribbons made.
"This explains why you wanted those measurements from us last week." Vic commented as he received his uniform. We all found a private place to change and re-emerged in our new dress uniforms, whereupon, accompanied by Twilight and her friends, we left for Canterlot by way of the train.
[Canterlot Castle Courtyard, 1800 hours]
We walked through the front gates into the castle proper, where the human members of our party, myself included, looked up at the sheer size of the castle before us. AJ, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie all dispersed into the crowd as Twilight led us into the castle itself, navigating us through the corridors. Along the way, there were multiple white and grey pegasi roaming the halls or standing guard.
"They're just like the guards at Buckingham Palace." Brooklyn said. I thought back to the time where we had visited London while training for D-Day, and Brooklyn had tried everything short of striking one of the guards to get a reaction. We came to a massive set of twin double doors, on which Twilight knocked and received an 'Enter' from inside.
We walked into the throne room of the castle, walking towards the two figures at the far end. They looked to both be ponies, but with flowing manes and tails, and with wings and a horn. We walked up to the throne, where Twilight knelt while the rest of us simply snapped to attention and observed the two ponies while they reciprocated.
"Twilight Sparkle." the larger of the two ponies said with a small smile. Twilight got off her forelegs and ran to the said pony.
"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, it's been so long!" she said excitedly. I saw Vic and the smaller princess, I suppose Luna, were having a minor staring contest, and I leaned over and slapped him.
"Snap out of it." I said.
"Jake, this is Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria and princess of the sun." Twilight said as the pony I supposed was Celestia walked around the Sarge, who remained standing at rapt attention. "And this is Princess Luna, other ruler of Equestria and princess of the moon and night."
"Are these the alicorn sisters you told me about Twilight?" Schmitty asked. He really has been spending too much time with Twilight in that library.
"Yes, young human." Celestia replied, still holding a small smile. "We are the alicorn sisters of legend." She took the Sarge into the back room with Twilight while the rest of us waited with Princess Luna, who began talking to Vic, and a few of the royal guards. I started analyzing the uniforms Rarity had created, trying to find anything off, which I didn't. I made a mental note to give her some more bits next time around. After all, we'd need repairs sometime, right?
As the night grew old, our 'dates' came in from the party and joined us, telling us about their experiences. Finally, the sergeant came back out, followed by Twilight and the Princess, and we gathered to hear her verdict.
"I have asked your 'Sergeant' the questions needed." Celestia stated. "Is it true that your world is in total conflict with each other now?" We all nodded firmly. "And is it true that you were part of that war in order to protect what you thought what was right?" We all nodded again, but the Sarge spoke up.
"In war, everything thinks that what they do is right. It just depends on who wins." Celestia nodded understandingly before asking one last question.
"I understand you all have a sense of right and wrong, and that your weapons have come with you. While I will not be confiscating said weapons, will you swear not to harm anypony, as long as you are here?" We all nodded once more before Celestia motioned for us to leave. We headed towards the train station and caught the last train to Ponyville.
On the train, we started getting on Vic's case about him and Luna. "So Vic, you finally find your special someone?" the Sarge asked.
"More like special somepony, Sarge." Brooklyn said, actually earning a smile from Vic.
"For once Brooklyn, that thick skull of yours said something intelligent." Vic said. "Besides, I know about you and Pinkie, the Sarge and Fluttershy, Schmitty and Twilight, and Hawkeye and AJ." Said ponies were in the sleeper car behind us, so they couldn't join in on this subject.
"The Sarge and Fluttershy are old news, Vic." I said. "Remember the way she was clinging to him our second day here?" He nodded and replied with a small chuckle.
"It don't help that we've all been crashing at their houses. And last time I checked, Fluttershy only has one bed." We all looked towards the Sarge, who was looking outside of the train.
"I take the couch, dumbasses." he said. We continued our banter as the train made its way towards Ponyville as the moon shined in the night.
I woke up early in the morning, long before Celestia's sun showed itself over the horizon. I went upstairs and listened through Fluttershy's door, hearing her soft snoring, then returned downstairs and got dressed. I left a note, stating where I was going and what time I might be back. I knew it was better for me to go without her, because she still tended to still latch onto me whenever she was startled (Which was pretty much all the time, but I'd been trying).
All of the squad, for that matter, had gotten close to whoever they'd been staying with; me to Fluttershy, Samuel with Applejack, Adam and Pinkie, and so on. Hell, even Luna would be seen from time to time with Victor around town, or he'd disappear for a few days on 'official business'. Tying on my boots, I walked out of Fluttershy's cottage and headed towards town.
As I walked into town, I was greeted by some of the ponies that I've personally met and made friends with. I saw Derpy doing her mail run, the sofa clerk selling his quills to a white earth pony, and Rose setting up her stand for the day. I walked into the town hall and looked for the mayor, who Fluttershy said came to usually came to work early. I found her office and knocked, hearing an "Enter." from Mayor Mare's weary voice.
I walked into the surprisingly small office to see the mayor sitting at her desk, looking through the veritable mountain of paper upon it. "Ahh, Mr. Adams." she said, looking up. "Is there something I can help you with?"
I nodded and said "Yes ma'am. I was hoping that you might have a business that I could possibly buy, or at least one to lease. My men and I need a more permanent place to stay and hopefully make some income in order to stop living off our hosts. We have quite a debt from making those uniforms."
She nodded and stood, walking over to another desk, opening drawers and pulling out a single sheet of paper. "The only place I have available is an out-of-business convenience store." she said. "It's pretty well run-down, but if you want it and you think you can fix it up, then it's yours for free."
I gave her a surprised look at the offer, to which she replied "It was being scheduled for demolition anyway, so it's free. Nopony had the time to fix it up, and that group of three fillies tried to do it. Thankfully, they weren't hurt in the process."
I showed a small smile at the thought of Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo attempting to rebuild the establishment, then said "I'll take it."
"Say what Sarge?" Brooklyn exclaimed as we stood in front of a decrepit, old building that looked about ready to collapse.
"I said, we're going to be fixing this place up and turning it into a bar." the sergeant replied. "I've been wanting a nice drink of liquor since we got here, but all they've got is cider."
"They make hard cider too, Sarge." I said, remembering the drink Granny Smith had given Big Mac and I while we took a short break from applebucking, or in my case, harvesting. It wasn't whiskey, but it was still pretty good.
"Be that as it may, this will get us a place to sleep and, hopefully, a source of income." the Sarge countered before handing out tools and pointing to a pile of lumber. "Let's get working. We don't have all day."
[Twelve days later]
"Get me one more nail!" Vic hollered from the rooftop. I grabbed one and passed it on to Schmitty, who threw it up to the sergeant, who gave it to Vic. Brooklyn held down the last board as Vic nailed it in, completing the newly-built structure.
We got down from the roof and looked at our new home. We had added a second story to the original structure in order to make room for us, and Vic, the Sarge, and I had worked outside while Schmitty and Brooklyn rebuilt the inside, adding a bar and cleaning up whatever mess we made.
"She looks pretty good, doesn't she?" the Sarge asked, earning a nod from all of us. We had worked all past week, barely stopping to rest. I pulled a few splinters out of my throbbing hand and rinsed them off with water from my canteen.
"Is that it?" a voice behind us called. We turned around to see Twilight and her friends, along with a few curious ponies, standing behind us and inspecting the structure.
"Yep." Schmitty answered as he flopped onto the ground, the rest of us following soon after. Vic hit the ground with a heavier thud, which made sense. There was a reason why he carried the machine gun.
Immediately, Fluttershy rushed over to us and asked "Are you okay? You all look so tired." Before she could continue, the sergeant waved her off, telling her we were fine. We all sat their along with our better halves as the last of the sun disappeared over the horizon and the moon rose to take its place.
[One week after the opening of Ponyville Bar]
I pulled out another drink from the counter and poured it into a small glass before handing it to Big Mac, who had already become a regular at the quiet bar. I poured one for myself and sat down next to him, watching as Schmitty studied a book with Twilight. "How's life at the farm?" I questioned the red stallion.
Big Mac sighed and said "Its fine. With Applebuck Season comin' up soon and all, there's a whole lot o' work to do, 'specially if we want a full harvest."
I nodded and asked him "How's the family?"
"They're doin' well." he responded, taking a small sip from his glass before going on. "Applebloom got into another argument with Diamond Tiara an' now she's in a spot of trouble with Applejack." Looking at me pointedly, he said "She misses havin' you 'round, you know."
"I've been meaning to run by there sometime," I replied. "But with Vic on his monthly Canterlot trip and the Sarge helping Fluttershy with the animals, Brooklyn, Schmitty, and I got our work cut out for us. Not to mention that I'm the one cleaning up Brooklyn and Pinkie's messes from their pranks."
Big Mac smiled knowingly before finishing his drink and getting up. "I'd best be getting' back to the farm. I'll tell AJ you said hi." I thanked him and walked upstairs into the loft we had made for ourselves, entering my room. Both of my rifles leaned against the far wall, covered in a fine layer of dust. I picked up the M1 and turned it in my grip, dusting it off and inspecting it. I cleared the breech and looked at the loaded magazine, the top two .30-06 rounds catching the dying light from the sun. I put the rifle down and sighed. I hoped I'd never need to use it again.
[One year after First Squad's Arrival in Ponyville]
Schmitty and I ran into the bar looking for the Sarge. Rainbow Dash had rounded up the squad, telling us that something important was happening. I found the sergeant, along with the rest of the squad, holding a rolled up piece of paper.
"Is that a letter from Celestia?" Schmitty asked, causing the Sarge to nod. "It's for our eyes only. Not even the Elements can see this." he said, opening the letter and reading it.
Sergeant Jake Adams,
This letter is only to be read among the members of your squad. It and the information it contains are not to be passed on in any way to anypony, including the Elements of Harmony.
As part of a normal diplomatic visit, the political leaders of the nearby pony nation of Germanniegh arrived in Canterlot this morning. However, the chancellor, an old earth pony, had been replaced by a human like you. He and his fellow comrades wore a different uniform from yours and demanded that we give them territory, among other things. We have managed to delay their requests and are requesting that you come to Canterlot immediately. We need your help as my sister and I believe that our normal diplomacy has already failed.
Signed,
Princess Celestia
The Sarge rolled up the scroll and picked up our bags, handing them to each of us. "We've got somewhere to be. Don't ask anything, 'cause I think we already know what's going on. Just grab your shit and let's go."
"All of us, who are members of the Germanic peoples, can be happy and thankful that once in thousands of years fate has given us, from among the Germanic peoples, such a genius, a leader, our Fuhrer Adolf Hitler, and you should be happy to be allowed to work with us."-Heinrich Himmler
[Canterlot Castle]
As soon as we arrived at the Canterlot train station, an escort of both Luna's and Celestia's guards led us to the castle without going through the main thoroughfare. We had brought our pistols with us as some sort of insurance, as Celestia had sent another letter saying that we weren't allowed to come as if we were going to battle. Probably a good thing too, if what we were thinking was true. When we arrived at the castle, Luna was standing in the entrance hall, waiting for us.
"Good, thou art here. Our sister is waiting. We wish not to leave her alone." she said swiftly, nodding at Vic as he looked at her.
"Language, Luna." he stated.
"We are sorry, but now is not the time to fuss over the way I speak. We need your immediate assistance." As we turned down yet another hallway, we began to hear yelling, which became increasingly clearer and familiar as we approached a set of doors.
"Ich verlange, dass Sie uns freie Hand geben, um Germanniegh Grenzen zu erweiten!" a voice yelled through the door, obviously German.
"What're they saying, Schmitty?" the Sarge asked.
Schmitty listened to the shouting for a moment before answering "No clue. They're speaking too fast for me."
When we reached the door, Luna opened it and we walked in, seeing Celestia and two royal guards facing off against three men with their backs turned to us, who I assumed were the Germane dignitaries. Celestia looked up, a small smile gracing her tired face as she saw us. "Ahh, these are my friends from Ponyville. Mr. Adams, it's good to see you."
"Likewise, ma'am." the sergeant replied. The figure facing Celestia turned around and observed us as we immediately pulled out our pistols and aimed it at the all-too-familiar face.
"Adolf mother-fucking-Hitler." Vic said as the insane dictator smiled, something that would probably give me nightmares. This was a man responsible for millions of deaths, and facing down the barrels of five American Colts, and he had the tenacity to smile?
"Americans, hmm? It would do you well not to shoot me." he said, his smile continuing to grow. "Sit, we must exchange stories." His two guards, SS by the uniform, had trained their submachine guns on us, looking as emotionless as the royal guards usually did. The air was silent and tense as both parties stood off, and we finally holstered our weapons and went to stand with Celestia and Luna on the other side of the table.
"So, I must ask how it is that you are here, mien dear sergeant." The sergeant remained stony as Hitler asked the question, refusing to dignify it with an answer.
Celestia took the hint and sighed before saying "Chancellor…" She was immediately cut off as Hitler said firmly "Fuhrer, Princess. There is a difference."
Glaring at him for the interruption, she continued rather forced. "My sister and I cannot accept those terms. Germanniegh has already received as much financial help as we could give, and our few dragon and griffin allies assisted in that. We also cannot allow you to forcefully expand your borders, and that is final."
Hitler grunted, muttered something under his breath, and smiled once more. I heard Brooklyn gag behind me, nearly causing me to miss the next part of the conversation. "Are you very sure? Princess, it would do you well to help us."
"Is that a threat?!" Luna asked dangerously.
"Nien. Only a precaution. Why ever would I threaten such a wunderbar place as yours?" Hitler winked at us, nearly making me hit him.
"Well, then, just realize that we are not helping any more than we already have." Luna said, calmer but obviously not happy.
"Then this talk is over. It was nice doing business with you, but I must be returning to Germanniegh immediately." He and his two SS guards walked out of the room without another word, escorted by multiple royal guards to show the way.
[Four hours later]
"Tia, you should not have put up with that human's disrespect!" Luna was currently arguing with Celestia as they led us to a more private area.
"I understand that Luna, but he came under a protected visit." Celestia said. "What could I have done?"
"I'm sorry, Princess, but I have to agree with Princess Luna on this." Vic said, and the rest of us nodded. "Why is that? Do you know him?" she asked, looking back at us.
"Personally, before today? No." the Sarge responded. "But this man is a ruthless dictator that cares little for anyone he sees as inferior, and has had millions of executions carried out against those people, started a war that has so far killed millions more, and now he's here. It all adds up to a massive shitstorm, excuse the language."
Both Princesses' eyes were wide, and they had stopped. Even the guards in the area were looking at us with faces of mixed surprise and horror. Celestia quickly led us into a side room, shooing out the startled pony inside.
"Art thou-sorry. Are you sure of this?" Luna asked.
We all nodded, before Brooklyn asked "What's that 'Germanniegh' they were talking about? Because that sounds way too much like Germany."
Celestia promptly had us sit down as she launched into a history lesson. Great. Now we know where Twilight gets it.
"Germanniegh was founded by an Earth pony called Chancellor Puddinghead, who migrated here to the land that was to become Equestria and helped form the government." With her magic, she conjured up a silent movie that played behind her as she continued.
"When he had settled down along with the other two founders, Commander Hurricane of the pegasi and Princess Platinum of the unicorns, he returned to Germanniegh temporarily to hand over the title of Chancellor. It was given to his juvenile son, who reigned for some time in peace and prosperity, as we do now."
"However, over time, discontent grew within the Germane group of ponies, which grew when they industrialized their nation."
"Industrialized?" Schmitty asked. "How'd they manage that?"
"They found that they sit upon a large deposit of numerous resources such as coal, iron, and oil, as well as much more." Luna provided. "They built factories by the hundreds, and began to produce new objects to export, and began to grow. However, the wealth and power was shared by a select group of ponies, while the lower classes starved. Many of them disagreed with the industrialization anyway, and a civil war erupted."
I noticed Brooklyn had nodded off, and slapped him upside the head, causing him to look around wildly. "Pay attention, Sleeping Beauty." He glared at me before turning back to the lesson.
"It lasted for three years, ending just before your arrival here in Equestria." Celestia continued. "The results were horrible: thousands were dead, the economy shattered, and entire cities ruined. It was agreed that the newest chancellor could stay in power as long as he helped his subjects, and he did. But shortly after, they ran out of money and we, along with the griffins and even the dragons, helped relieve some pressure, but the government became corrupt and it started again."
I began realizing how similar this sounded to the history of Germany, and I could see some of the squad making the same connections.
"About six months ago, we received word that the government was overthrown and a new one set up, but we did not take action until this day." Celestia took a huge breath and sat down rather heavily.
"That sounds almost exactly like the Germany from home." Schmitty said.
"Yup." Vic replied simply. Seeing her sister was disabled at the moment, Luna asked "So what shall we do?"
"Nothing, I guess.' the sergeant replied. "Hope that they don't pull anything that we don't like." "He would do it anyway Sarge." Brooklyn said. We all went silent, thinking about that.
"I think that our business here is done." Celestia said, breaking the silence. "We will call on you should another problem arise. Until that time, you should return to Ponyville." We all nodded, and together, with Luna following us for a visit, we made our way down to the train station and got on.
"We are determined that before the sun sets on this terrible struggle, our flag will be recognized throughout the world as a symbol of freedom on one hand, of overwhelming power on the other."
-Chief Of Staff George C. Marshall
[Seven days after the conference in Canterlot]
"Nice day, ain't it?" Applejack and I were sitting on her porch, drinking some of her fresh cider. We had finished harvesting all of the apples today, and so were relaxing in the warm sunlight. I was trying to, at least. There were only a few clouds in sight, and I could see the weather teams as they made their rounds. Big Mac had gone into town with Granny, and it was pretty much a normal day. Even so, I couldn't shake the feeling of uneasiness that I had.
"It is." I said, taking another sip of cider. I used to think that the hardest think I've done was go on a cattle drive without half of the team showing up, during a thunderstorm no less, but this definitely surpassed it. There were simply way too many apples to pick.
"When the harvest is done and them apples are all stored, what're yer plans?"
I sighed and said "I'll probably work at the club until next season comes around, or if you need help before then." AJ nodded and looked to be thinking about something as I noticed something in the air, too high to be a pegasus. The outline was familiar, but I couldn't place it immediately.
"Sam," AJ said. "There's been somethin' I've been wanting to tell you…" I cut her off as a low roar became noticeable as the object in the air turned towards the farm, an all-too familiar roundel on the side. Thank God for sniper eyes.
"AJ, not now." I said, standing up faster than Celestia did at the mention of cake. I saw more black specks appear in the distance, all on course for the town. Looking at her, I said "You need to get to town now. Get Applebloom and tell everypony to get underground or out of town." She stood and trotted over to see what I was looking at as I quickly put on my gear I had brought with.
"What in the hay has got you so worked up?" she yelled as I began to run towards town.
"Just go!" I yelled back. "And tell Twilight and Luna to help!" I ran towards the bar, where I knew the sergeant, Brooklyn, and Schmitty were. I took one last look at the approaching aircraft as I full-out sprinted to my destination.
I burst in through the doors, spotting the squad playing a game of cards with Luna. They all looked at me, the Sarge amused, Luna startled, and the rest simply surprised. "What in God's good name in your problem?" Vic asked as I bent over to catch my breath.
"Outside…bombers…German." I managed, throwing the squad into a frenzy. They ran outside and I followed, listening to their statements of disbelief as they observed the oncoming horde of aircraft.
As I still recovered, the sergeant took control of the situation. "Luna, we need you to help Applejack, Twilight, and us with evacuating Ponyville or getting everyone underground."
"What is the matter?" she asked, clearly confused.
"It'll take too long to explain." the sergeant told her. "Just get everyone out of town or into their basements if they have one." She nodded understandingly, and left as the rest of us went and grabbed all the gear we had come with. Running upstairs, I grabbed my rifles, brushing the dust off of them and blowing into the breeches on both, clouds of dust filling the air as I thought about that day so long ago when I'd put them up.
"Let's go! Move!" I yelled as the bombers grew steadily closer. I thanked God for giving the weather teams the intuition to have such a clear day, but it wouldn't matter if we didn't get everypony where they were needed. As it was, the general panic among the ponies as we tried to get them out was making it a lot harder.
"Samuel!" Schmitty called, running towards me, radio in hand.
"Why do we still have that thing?" I asked as I helped a filly carry her saddlebags. "It's a useless piece of crap, unless you want to throw it at those bombers."
"Not right now. There's someone on the other end." he said, handing me the radio.
Looking at him, unconvinced, I traded the bags for the phone and listened as a scratchy voice cut through the radio waves.
"Anyone on this net, this is Baker How, please respond, over."
"Get the Sarge." I said, and Schmitty ran off, the little filly looking bewildered at what was happening.
"Anyone on this net, respond, over." the voice repeated, and this time I responded.
"This is Corporal Hawkeye, identify yourself, over."
"Hawkeye, huh?" the man responded. "Good to hear a friendly. You're speaking to the flight leader of the 354th Fighter Group, Baker How group."
I silently thanked God for the miracle and replied "If you're in fighters, we could sure as hell use some help. We've got German bombers closing on our location. What's yours, over?"
"Like to know the same. We're looking at a small town about a mile out, has a nearby forest and possible farm." I looked around wildly, then spotted a group of seven or eight shining aircraft approaching.
"I have a visual on you." I said. "Go straight and you'll run straight into the target. We're evacuating the civilian population, keep them away from the town, over."
"Understood. Baker How, out."
I hung up the radio and watched as Schmitty and the Sarge ran up to me. "We've got support." I said simply, handing the Sarge the radio. We all looked up as eight silver P-51s flew overhead, the lead one doing the familiar Allied wing waggle. The ponies in the streets looked up in shock at the Mustangs flew over.
"Go get them!" Schmitty yelled as they met the bomber group only about two miles from town. They dove down on them and we watched as the bombers began falling like rain, listening to the familiar sound of machine guns firing. Slowly, the bombers decided it would be in their best interests to turn around, and they fled as quickly as they had appeared. The fighters gave chase for some ways, before finally turning back.
"Good job, boys." the Sarge said into the radio. The pilots circled around the town as we looked for a place for them to land, finding an open, flat field that would work. Brooklyn popped some red smoke and we watched as the squadron of fighters landed, along with a few ponies. Schmitty and Brooklyn left to give the all clear to the town as the pilots jumped out of their aircraft and strode over to us.
"Captain Jack Williams, US Army Air Corps." The sergeant shook his outstretched hand and introduced himself.
"Sergeant Jake Adams, US Army, Infantry. You sure as hell have some good timing. Mind telling us how you got here?"
"I'd like to know the same." the captain replied. "We were just on a routine flight when we all blacked out and woke up here. Speaking of which, where is 'here'?"
The squad just shared looks among ourselves, and right on cue, Schmitty and Brooklyn showed up, followed by Luna and Twilight. "Well, captain." Sarge replied. "This may be hard to swallow, but you're not even on Earth. Welcome to Equestria."
After the captain and his men had gone through the whole 'Welcome to Equestria' process we did a year ago, Luna took us to Canterlot, where we met with Celestia again. We left Brooklyn and Vic behind to explain things, and the airmen wanted to clean up their new airstrip.
"WHAT!?" Celestia roared, earning a look from all of us. We had never heard her use the Royal Canterlot Voice yet, but it was much more powerful than Luna's. She had us give her the details of the attack, defense, the arrival of more humans, and so on. "I can't believe that man would do something like this." Celestia said, more to herself. "How did he even get the technology to reach Ponyville?"
"Ma'am." the sergeant said. "I don't know if we've told you this, but humans have a bad habit of getting into war. Even the 'war to end all war' didn't stop us from trying to tear each other into bits."
"War to end all wars?" She was obviously about to ask something else when a royal guard nervously walked into the room, handed Celestia a package, and left wordlessly.
She opened it and pulled out what looked like a movie reel from home and an official-looking piece of paper. She read it silently, and her jaw dropped as she said out loud "…hereby declare war on the nation of Equestria and its people? That insolent…" she noticed that we were watching her again and put down the letter.
"Why would he do this, sister?" Luna asked, attempting to comfort her angry/confused sister. "I don't… I don't understand." Celestia replied. "We haven't done anything but talk to him, and that was only a week ago."
"We're here." I stated bluntly, causing everyone to look at me. "We're American soldiers, he's a Nazi dictator leading a country and army. That's like fire and water."
"That doesn't give him right to attack and declare war, especially in that order." Celestia argued.
"He did that to two countries, ma'am." Sarge said. "Like it or not, he's a sick, twisted dictator who thinks that the world should be his."
She shook her head and turned her attention to the film, putting it in a small player I hadn't previously noticed, and watched as it began to play.
A familiar image of a tank rolling in front of many others caught my eye, and I saw the immense number of them. Panzers, Panthers, even Tigers. I nearly dismissed it as propaganda from Earth, but a strange flag in the back caught my attention. "That's the Germane banner." Celestia noted as a song began to play in the background of the footage.
Die Fahne hoch! Die Reihen fest geschlossen!
SA marschiert mit ruhig festem Schritt.
Kam'raden, die Rotfront und Reaktion erschossen,
Marschier'n im Geist in unser'n Reihen mit.
Kam'raden, die Rotfront und Reaktion erschossen,
Marschier'n im Geist in unser'n Reihen mit.
The scene switched to the image of thousands of troops marching past through a Nuremberg Square look-alike, again with the Germane seal on a flag, but it was underneath a massive flag with the swastika on it. There were ponies too; mainly grey unicorns and earth ponies, cheering on the massed troops as the song went into its second verse.
Zum letzten Mal wird Sturmalarm geblasen!
Zum Kampfe steh'n wir alle schon bereit!
Schon flattern Hitlerfahnen über allen Straßen.
Die Knechtschaft dauert nur noch kurze Zeit!
Schon flattern Hitlerfahnen über allen Straßen.
Die Knechtschaft dauert nur noch kurze Zeit!
The scene changed again, to show two battleships at sea, surrounded by destroyers and firing their massive cannons. It also showed U-boats at sea, cruisers, and the like. It changed once more to show aerial footage of fighters and bombers making practice runs as the song went into its third and final verse.
Die Fahne hoch! Die Reihen fest geschlossen!
SA marschiert mit ruhig festem Schritt.
Kam'raden, die Rotfront und Reaktion erschossen,
Marschier'n im Geist in unser'n Reihen mit.
Kam'raden, die Rotfront und Reaktion erschossen,
Marschier'n im Geist in unser'n Reihen mit.
The song and video ended with another shot of panzers on a training ground, and the screen went black as the Sarge, Schmitty, and I gave each other the 'shit' look.
"What was the purpose of that?" Luna asked. Celestia shrugged (could ponies do that?) and looked towards us.
"They want you to know their strength. Which, unless you have a few armored divisions and some battleships hidden in those manes of yours, is a metric shit-load more than yours." Sarge said, turning to Celestia. "It's up to you whether or not to accept their declaration."
"I don't seem to have a choice." she replied, looking hopeless. "He has already declared war and attacked us."
A loud explosion at that moment interrupted our conversation. "That sounded like Dash just did a Rainboom." Brooklyn noted. We looked outside for the cause of the noise, but despite searching everywhere, we couldn't find the source until a scroll, trailing green flames, entered into the room through a window and dropped at Schmitty's feet. He picked it up and opened it, reading it aloud.
Schmitty,
You are needed in Ponyville. Large numbers of more humans showed up.
Twilight
"Way to be brief, Twilight." he said with a small smile. We left the princesses to discuss the new problems as we rushed to the train station to catch the next train out.
[Ponyville Outskirts, near the airstrip]
Twilight met us at the train station, and immediately began telling us of the events that had transpired in the six or so hours we were gone.
"There was a loud noise and a lot of smoke, and when it cleared up, me and the rest of the Elements went to investigate, and found a lot of humans." she said as she cantered. That clears things right up. I thought as we jogged to keep up with Twilight. She seemed to be somewhat unhinged, and the look in her eyes would have been funny had the situation not been so serious.
As we walked through town, I noticed almost nopony was out. Doors were shut, as were windows. The marketplace was a ghost town. "Where did they all go?" I asked.
"They're hiding." she replied. "Most of them were scared of the mass amount of humans that showed up."
"When you say 'mass amount', what do you mean?" Schmitty asked as we left town and began to crest a hill.
"Ohh, maybe…fifteen thousand?' she said seriously. I was about to ask her if she was joking when we crested the hill and…
There were hundreds of tanks, vehicles and whatnot lying around, and even more infantry, most of which I saw had the First Infantry Division patch. The airfield had received new aircraft in the shape of more P-51s and some P-47s. The sheer amount of men made me speechless. "How the…?" I said.
"Baltimare and Las Pegasus are reporting that they have ships and more men, respectively." Twilight said.
A voice behind us said "The Navy and a detachment of the 101st." Vic came up behind us with Brooklyn, who had our radio.
"How the hell did they get here?" Schmitty asked.
"No clue, but I ain't one to complain about it." Brooklyn said, walking down the hill. We followed him and looked around for anyone in charge, meeting a lot of old friends.
[Ponyville Theatre area, two days after reinforcement of American forces in Equestria]
The mass amount of both people and ponies in front of the stage was amazing, stretching back as far as the eye could see. I watched as the sergeant went out on stage with the new-found commander of the forces in Equestria and former leader of the First Infantry, Major General Clarence Huebner. After careful communication, we had learned that the equivalent of nearly two infantry divisions and most of the 9th Armored had arrived, along with half of the 101st Airborne, bombers and fighters from the Army Air Corps, and 20-30 ships.
"Hell of a turnout, isn't it?" I asked Vic, who stood next to me. He nodded his head and everyone in the crowd fell silent as the Major began to speak.
"Men, I'm sure that none of us ever expected to wind up in a world full of rainbow ponies. As most of you should now know, we now currently reside in the nation of Equestria, which was first discovered by the first squad of the First Infantry about a year ago, when they got screwed over by Jerry in the Hurtgen."
As per usual, the major tried to lighten things up with humor before giving us the bad news. No one, however, made any response as he continued.
"I wrote these men's families the letters telling them that I would let them know as soon as their status was found, and now it is, but it seems now I can't write that letter." I grew a faint grin at the irony. "Anyway, the reason I believe we have been brought here is to stop that force we have been fighting for years, The Nazis have found their way here now, and have attacked and declared war upon this nation. This will be their first war in over two thousand years."
The crowd of ponies gasped in disbelief, as I predicted. I was with them; I had hoped I could hang up my rifle, settle down, maybe live a peaceful life with AJ, but as always, the Nazis screwed that up. Typical.
"So, it is with a sad heart that I must ask us to ready for war. For, on this day, August 21, 1003, Princesses Celestia and Luna have given the go-ahead for a full declaration of war against the Nazis. May the Lord be with us in our endeavor, may he strengthen us as we push on to eliminate Nazi tyranny, and may he welcome the fallen into his kingdom." At the end of the Major's impromptu prayer, the collected humans muttered 'Amen', and we went off to prepare for war.
I woke up early the next morning and immediately started getting ready. Our orders had already come in, and the regiment was moving out and heading southeast to a city by the name of Appleloosa. I put on my uniform and laced up my combat boots, thinking over the month's events.
"Do you want any help?"
I looked over to the staircase, where Fluttershy was standing, watching as I got ready. "It's alright." I told her. "I'm pretty much done anyway." She walked the rest of the way down the stairs, trying to avoid looking at me. "Are you ok?" I asked.
"Oh, I'm fine." she responded quickly. "I'll go make some breakfast." I followed her into the kitchen, knowing she wasn't fine. She started whistling along with some of her birds outside the window as she made a breakfast salad (again).
"What's the matter, Fluttershy?" I asked, causing her to pause for a moment before continuing her work.
"Nothing, really." she responded nervously. Still not believing her, I walked over and stood next to her, taking the salad and mixing it for her. After setting aside a portion for Angel Bunny, demon of the household (I honestly didn't understand why she liked him so much), I put the salad down and crouched down to look Fluttershy in the eye.
"I would really like to know what the matter is." I said overly seriously. She tried to prevent the small smile that overcame her, then finally stopped fighting to avoid the question.
"I'm just wondering why you have to leave. And if you'll ever come back." she answered, looking at me. I could see some tears forming in her eyes when she finished.
Pulling her into a hug, I said "I wouldn't leave you if they offered me the world. And you know why I'm leaving." I pulled away from the hug and looked into her blue eyes. "Just know that I'm coming back, I promise that."
She nodded and opened her mouth to say something when a knock on the door interrupted her. I opened the door to find a lieutenant standing there. "Sergeant Adams?" he asked.
"That's me."
"It's time for the Sixteenth to leave. Get your squad together and meet up at the staging point. I'm leaving a halftrack for you to use."
"Yes, sir." I responded. "May I have a moment?" He nodded and I walked back into the kitchen, where Fluttershy was standing.
"Got to leave now." I told her, and she again nodded. Picking up my weapons, I walked outside with her at my side. When we reached the halftrack, I stopped and gave Fluttershy one last hug. She responded in kind and nearly crushed my ribs in doing so.
"Remember that promise I made, okay?" I said. "I will." she said quietly. I climbed into the halftrack and we immediately began moving. I turned around and waved to Fluttershy, who was quickly shrinking into the distance.
[Private Adam 'Brooklyn' Sanders POV]
I looked at myself in the mirror, confirming that my uniform was correctly worn. I did not want nor need the Sarge on my ass this early in the morning if he saw me. I turned around to see Pinkie walk into the room, not really acknowledging my presence.
"Just because you can't throw a party for all the new guys doesn't mean you can't be happy." I said with a smile, walking over to her. As would have been expected, she tried throwing a massive party for all of the new troops that had shown up, and was stopped by Twilight and Co. when she asked them for help.
"I know." Pinkie said unhappily flopping down onto the bed, face first. I walked over to her and tried to think of a way to get her spirits up. "How about when none of us are busy, we throw the biggest party Equestria will ever see. We can make it go down in history." She looked up at that and smiled.
"Really?"
"Why not? We can get Vinyl Scratch to play some REALLY loud music and have tons of games and food…"
Before I could finish, she jumped out of bed and started jumping around, incoherently talking about all the things we could have there. I smiled at her antics, watching as she narrowly missed breaking a lamp.
"You want to calm down?"
Pinkie stopped and looked at me, blinking twice. "Sure." she said, still smiling. She walked downstairs with me, finding Mrs. Cake attending to the shop.
"Good morning Adam."
"Morning, ma'am." I replied, grabbing a pastry from the plate behind the counter. Pinkie bounced around as I ate, watching Ponyville slowly wake up. I saw a halftrack stop in front of the shop and watched as a familiar face jumped out of the back and walked up to the door.
The jingling of the bell over the door heralded the Sarge's arrival. I heard Mrs. Cake ask him if he wanted anything, then boots walking over to my seat.
"We're heading out."
I looked up at his face, which denied showing any emotions as he gave me the same blank, emotionless stare he gave everyone.
"Give me a minute, sir. I'll go grab my stuff." I stood up and ran back upstairs, grabbing my rifle and pack. I turned to find Pinkie standing in the doorway, the smile on her face gone.
"You're leaving me, aren't you?"
I looked at her dumbfounded, wondering if she meant that she thought I was leaving her, not just leaving. The expression she had told me it was the former. "Why in hell would I do that?" I asked. "You're one of the best ponies I know. Not to mention that you're the only one that can help me pull off really big pranks."
"If you're not going away, then why are you leaving?" she pressed, starting to confuse me.
"Remember that job I told you I used to have?"
"You never really went into it."
"For good reason. But I've got to go do that now. Besides, I have to go with my squad. They'll keep me from trouble."
"When will you be back?" she asked, getting up and walking closer.
"As soon as I can. And I'll write to you everyday until then. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." I responded, making the motions with Pinkie as I made the promise. She smiled again, and jumped up onto me, giving me a hug. I returned the favor, and we stayed that way until the Sarge yelled from downstairs.
"Get your ass down here Sanders! We ain't got all day."
Pinkie jumped down, a small smile on her face still. "You should go." she said.
I took a deep breath, looking around the room for the last time. "Goodbye Pinkie." I said.
"Remember the promise!" she called as I went downstairs. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were both standing at the doorway, watching me as I came down the stairs. The sergeant was just beyond the doorstep, looking at me impatiently.
"Well, this is it." I said, addressing the Cakes. "Thank you both for taking me in when I needed it and for letting me stay with Pinkie."
They both nodded in response. "We couldn't refuse when we saw the way she felt about you." Mr. Cake said.
"All the same, thanks." I said, shaking Mr. Cake's hoof and tipping my hat to Mrs. Cake. I walked out the door and followed the Sarge into the halftrack. As I looked around, a sudden headslap made me cringe.
"What the…?" I turned to see the sergeant pulling his hand away as I rubbed the back of my head.
"Don't ever tip your helmet OR hat. You'll get a swift kick from anyone from Texas. Just 'cause Hollywood does it don't mean we do." I looked away as the halftrack started moving, getting a last look at Sugarcube Corner before it disappeared.
[Private Cole 'Schmitty' Smith POV]
A splash of cold water brought me out of my sleep to find Vic standing over me, a grin on his face.
"Get the hell up. We're moving out." he said, turning away. He walked into the small kitchen as Spike came over and handed me a towel. "Thanks man."
"No problem." he said as I dried off. "What was that about?"
"Eh, Vic will be Vic." I said, wiping off the water on the floor. We walked over to the kitchen to find Twilight and Luna cooking breakfast, Luna looking a little bit lost on how to do much other than watch as Twilight sped around. Spike and I joined Vic at the table and we watched as the two mares did their thing.
"I should go help them." Spike said, moving to get up.
"You kidding?" Vic said, pulling him back down. "This is the best part." We watched as Luna picked up an open carton of milk with magic and accidentally spilled it all over Twilight, who promptly jumped in surprise and dropped the bowl of pancake batter she was holding with her own magic.
We watched for a few more minutes before the three of us silently agreed to go help, and we sat the two girls down and made a simple salad. We ate in relative silence on the library balcony, watching as soldiers, jeeps, and ponies all went around the town.
"We really should go get ready before the Sarge comes back and busts both of our asses." Vic said. I nodded and we quickly cleaned up and left to go get the few things we actually owned. Twilight came in with a checklist and started magiking stuff over to my pack, which included (but was not limited to) a week's supply of books, food to feed the squad for a month, my submachine gun and explosives (which she still did not know about), and maybe 200 sheets of paper.
"What's all this for?" I asked, walking over to the pile and picking up a book entitled The Lone Stallion, which showed a stallion that looked disturbingly like Big Macintosh with saddlebags and a rope riding off into the sunset.
"So you won't get bored." she said matter-of-factly. I shook my head as she consulted her checklist. "I got you the books, the food to keep you healthy, whatever that stuff is, papers for letters, and a few quills. Hay! I forgot the ink." She turned to fetch said ink before I grabbed her, picked her up easily, and set her down in front of me.
"I appreciate the gesture, but I can get all this from the supply depot. Though I may have to grab a few of those books to read while I'm gone." Twilight gave a small smile but looked down at the floor in between her forelegs.
"Sorry. I just wanted to help." she said.
I walked over to her and kneeled down. "I get that, and again, thanks. Besides, the thing I'm going to miss the most ain't all the books and food."
"What are you going to miss, then?"
I nearly facepalmed. Apparently, she didn't get out too often if she didn't just pick that hint up. "I'm going to miss you the most, Twi."
As she had picked her jaw up off the floor and started muttering under her breath, trying to analyze a situation she never would be able to, I looked upstairs to see Vic and Luna talking quietly. Then what happened next shocked me.
He fucking bent over and kissed her.
In front of everyone else.
Which meant Twilight saw it too, so she looked at me expectantly.
"What?" I said.
"Can I get one of those?"
"I'm not quite sure I know your meaning." I said, trying to make it to the door. Sadly, I was picked up and dragged back to an amused Twilight with a glowing horn.
"You don't just run off after saying something like that! It's not in any of my books!"
"Can I go? You're cheating, so I should get a head start."
"Just one. Please?" The look she gave me was really hard to resist. Have you ever tried to resist a sad pony's face? Don't try it, because you will lose. I figured I owed her one anyways for what I had said. I picked her up and pulled her into a hug, then kissed her on the top of her forehead, avoiding her extremely pointy horn. When I put her down, she looked thoroughly and smugly satisfied.
"See, that wasn't so hard. Now you should go." I nodded and picked up my gear, watching as Vic did the same, coming down the staircase. We all went outside in time to see the Sarge's halftrack turn into the circle that the library was the center of. Vic and I said our goodbyes to Twilight, Luna, and Spike, then hopped into the halftrack before heading out to Sweet Apple Acres.
We looked at each other in silent agreement and decided to not mention what had happened in the library.
[Corporal Samuel 'Hawkeye' Burns POV]
I grunted as I lifted my pack to my shoulders, putting the forgotten yet familiar weight back onto my shoulders after months. I shouldered my weapons and shut the Ponyville Bar's double doors, locking them and putting up a sign saying 'Closed until further notice'. I hitched a ride over to AJ's farm and observed the field headquarters that was currently bustling with activity.
Upon reaching Sweet Apple Acres, I immediately saw that there was a M3 sitting in front of the farmhouse, with the rest of my squad in it.
"Something told me you'd be here." the sergeant remarked as I walked up. "Seems I was right about that."
"Just give me ten minutes." I said. "I've got to go give Big Mac the keys to the bar." I walked up onto the porch to see Granny sitting in her rocking chair, passed out. I skirted by her and knocked on the door, which was quickly answered by Applebloom.
"Hey Samuel. Whaddya need?" she asked, looking up at me with her big, dark orange eyes.
"Is Big Mac around?" I asked the filly, who had stepped aside to let me in.
"Yep. He an' Applejack're both in the kitchen." She led me through the house and I walked into the kitchen to see the aforementioned siblings sitting at the table eating apple fritters.
"Howdy, Sam. What brings ya' here today?" Applejack asked. I walked over to the table and dropped the bar keys in front of Big Mac, who looked at me in confusion.
"Those are the keys to the bar." I explained, making both his and Applejack's eyes widen. "We decided to give you them since you're a regular and you don't have too much to do in the off season."
"Why, that's pretty kind of y'all and such, but ya sure 'bout this?" Big Mac said in his low voice. I think that was the most I've heard him speak at once outside of the bar.
I nodded in response. "There isn't anyone else to watch it that we trust as much."
"Well, Ah'll do ma' best to keep it kept an' whatnot." Big Mac said, picking the keys up in his teeth and walking off, leaving AJ and I to sit in silence.
"So Ah' take it yer leavin' too?"
"Yep." I responded. "Headed down south, probably to Appleloosa. I'll say hi to Braeburn for you."
"Oh, that would be mighty nice of ya." AJ responded as I took a fritter from the plate in front of me, leaving fifty more.
"You know," I said." "You should really stop cooking enough for the entire Apple family all the time. I don't see how none of it goes bad."
She smiled, still seemingly interested in the table. "Old habit, ah guess. Besides, we usually give the leftovers out to everypony else."
I nodded in understanding. I saw Big Mac walk past the door behind her, stop, and look at me in his way that made even the Sarge uncomfortable. I guess he wanted me to talk to AJ about the things I had been unintentionally avoiding.
"So, AJ, you were going to tell me something the other day, before all that stuff happened. What was it?"
She immediately turned beet-red and pulled her hat over her face. "Nuthin' that is important right now. Ye' should get going before long." As soon as she said that, I knew this was going to probably take a while.
"I have until noon." I said. She pushed the hat off her face and looked at me with a resigned look. "Ah really shouldn't talk 'bout it."
"Why's that?"
"Somethin' bad happens everytime I do."
"There is an entire army outside your door. I think we're safe."
"Ah also got to go check on the cider cellar and go into town."
"Ah can do that, AJ." Big Mac called from the next room. At that moment, Granny hobbled in, the look on her face saying she knew what we were talking about. I suppose it helps when you've got a few thousand years of experience.
"Is she givin' ya' a hard time, Samuel?" Granny asked, squinting over at us.
"A man could say that, yes." I replied, earning a glare from AJ and a smile from Granny.
"Well, give me a minute." she said, turning to Applejack. "Missy, why can't you just tell him you got feelin's fer him?"
"Granny!"
I just watched the next few exchanges as Applejack tried to avoid the onslaught of information that Granny was inadvertently giving me. By the time she walked off, I was on the floor and AJ was trying to glare at me while being the same color as her cutie mark.
"Well, now that that's over, you wanted to say something?" I asked, sitting next to AJ and putting my arm over her.
"Ah reckon ye know by now, from all that gossip that she gave you." AJ responded. "Ah don't blame ya if you don' return the feelin's…" I stopped her there by putting my hand over her mouth.
"If it makes you feel better, I do return those feelings."
She looked slightly shocked by that information and was about to respond when the Sarge walked in.
"Convoy's leaving in five minutes. Wrap it up."
He walked back outside, and I stood up, grabbing my gear and putting on my helmet. "I gotta go now. I hope to see you sooner rather than later."
"Noon huh? Well, you better do your best to write me every week." AJ said as she stood on her hind legs and hugged my stomach. I got on my knees so we were face to face and reciprocated the gesture, feeling something wet on my shoulder. I pulled back to see that AJ was tearing up a bit.
"What's the matter? Don't trust me to come back without a herd of mares hanging off of me? I thought you knew me better than that."
She smiled a bit before saying "Well, it's just that…well…Granny always told us that my dad was killed fighting in some border skirmish with the griffins, an' now yer goin' off to do the same thing he did."
"I promise I'll be back, Applejack. Herd of mares or not, you'll see me on that porch soon enough." I gave her one last hug and whispered into her ear "Love you." She didn't verbally respond, but I felt a slight increase in the pressure of the hug she gave me before she released me and I walked out the door, jumping into the halftrack. As we rumbled down the dirt road, I turned back and waved at AJ, Applebloom, Granny, and Big Mac before they disappeared over the ridges leading away from the farm.
[Horseshoe Bay, off the coast of Baltimare, 3rd Person POV]
"Anchors are secured and all lines are cast off, sir!"
"Captain, engine room reports that we are ready to go, sir." the chief engineer said from his post.
"Very well." the captain responded. "Radio the Enterprise and tell her we will join up shortly. Chief engineer, all ahead standard. Navigator, plot a course to meet with the Enterprise." A ringing sounded as the order was passed from the bridge to the engine room, shouting filling the space.
The captain walked out onto the observation deck and looked towards the bow as the Missouri slowly began to move, her engines audible even from where he stood. He waved at the mass of sailors below him as they pulled away from dock and headed towards the silhouette of an aircraft carrier surrounded by destroyers, and breathed in the salty air of the ocean breeze whistling across the deck. The watch officer and two of the bridge crew joined him as the great battleship slid out of her moorings and headed towards the open ocean.
"Mark time and date in the ship's log. 'Embarked on first patrol into the North Germane Sea, headed northeast.'" An affirmative answer was heard as a wave washed over the bow of the Missouri.
We arrived yesterday in the small farming town of Appleloosa, about 120 miles south of Ponyville. The first thing we noticed was that the area looked exactly like Africa. Sand and dirt everywhere, and not a natural-growing tree in sight. The 27th Armored Infantry Battalion was there too. They had brought a few tanks and halftracks along, so we felt pretty safe. For now.
The first thing the new division commander, some Captain Ryan, had us do was constructing defenses. That meant digging.
A lot of fucking digging. We dug foxholes, trenches, anti-tank ditches, emplacements, and more. The engineers laid mines and wire to the south and the west, and they started building a field HQ in town.
I headed out to Braeburn's farm after we finished the day's work and told him his cousins said hi. He seemed to be a bit queer, but was altogether a cool guy. His farm had one hell of a view of the wasteland south of us, appropriately called the Badlands.
I sent my letter out to AJ earlier today. I can't believe how much I'm already missing Ponyville.
[From the journal of Corporal Burns]
I set my journal and pen aside, looking around the five-man foxhole we now called home. The Sarge was on his back, eyes shut under his helmet. Vic was cleaning his machine gun, Schmitty was reading by the fire, and Brooklyn was out getting us our dinner. All around the lights of Appleloosa, small fires flared and lit up the cool night.
As I began to lie down to get some sleep, I heard Brooklyn's voice break the relative silent night. He climbed down into our trench, holding five trays of food on his arms.
"We got some hot chow tonight, guys." he said with a grin, passing the trays around.
"What we got this time?" I asked as I received my own tray.
"The townsfolk gave us some fresh fruit, salad, and dessert." he replied, pulling a box out of his pack. He opened it to find a fairly large pie sitting inside, still steaming.
"What's this?" We all looked over to Schmitty, who was holding up some brown slop that was on all our trays.
"Eh, some half-cooked meat the cooks threw in there." Brooklyn replied. The sergeant was already eating, along with Vic. I joined them and tried the meat, having my first bite of real protein in a year. The camp became quiet save for the sound of our forks scraping against the metal trays and the fire crackling as it burnt.
Finally, Schmitty broke the silence. "Hey Sarge, what did they give you in the last war to keep you from getting it on?" We all looked at the Sarge, who had served in the final years of WWI. He took another bite and then looked up into the distance.
"The same stuff you're chowing down on now. It's got saltpeter in it."
At that, Brooklyn and Schmitty both stopped eating, setting down their trays. I started picking through the meat to see if I could find anything, and Vic hesitated, shrugged, and continued stuffing his face. The Sarge just kept eating at the same leisurely pace he always did.
"Sergeant Adams, sir!"
We looked up in the direction of the voice to see a green-looking private standing at attention.
"At ease." the Sarge said. "What is it son?"
"I'm a runner for the captain. Major Huebner's reinstating the blackout order for all forces. No more lights at night, sir."
"Thanks for the info. Carry on." The private ran off into the night as the Sarge kicked dirt onto the fire, smothering it out and leaving us in the soft glow of Luna's moon, shining through the camo net we had over our heads.
"Man, I was about to light a smoke." Vic said, returning to cleaning his rifle in the moonlight.
"Life is tough, private. Get used to it." The sergeant laid back down and rolled over. "Get some sleep. I got a feeling we'll need it soon." We all took a piece of pie, leaving some for the Sarge for tomorrow, then went to sleep to the winds howling over the sands.
[Las Pegasus Coastal Defensive Line, 0058 hours, August 6, 1003]
"Good night for it, ain't it?" one of the guards on watch in the underground bunker said, taking a sip of coffee.
"Yeah." his companion said, taking a quick look through his binoculars, failing to see the dark masses that slowly approached the shoreline. "Too bad the clouds are covering the moon, otherwise it would be a hell of a night."
His buddy nodded in agreement and bent over to the radio, scanning through the stations. A distant boom made him stop and look up through the observation window.
"You hear that?"
"Yeah."
They both put their binoculars to their eyes and scanned the water furiously, not seeing anything until…
"INCOMING!"
[Aboard the KMS Tirpitz]
"Turn all main turrets to bearing 270, load high explosive."
"Aye, Captain. Turning turrets to bearing 270, loading HE."
The captain of the German battleship went out onto the observation deck on the port side of the ship, looking at the amassed fleet of German warships and the Germane transport ships. The coastline showed no sign of alarm yet, and the operation was about to continue. He saw that the cruisers nearby had readied their turrets, and two kilometers out to sea, the KMS Graf Zeppelin lie in wait for daybreak so she could launch her aircraft.
"Captain, it is 0100 hours."
The captain looked back at the weapons officer, who stood with the ship's radio to the gun turrets in hand.
"Commence firing sequence."
The massive 14-inch cannons on the battleship fired immediately, screaming their way to the target. As if in response, the cruisers joined in the firing, and the captain watched as the first shells hit the shoreline, throwing dirt into the air.
"Transports, begin moving to land. Offshore bombardment will continue for another twenty minutes. Sight any muzzle flashes that appear."
The invasion of Equestria was underway.
[Las Pegasus Coastal Defensive Line, 0126 hours]
"Ughh…" Corporal Hartmann shook himself awake. The bunker around him was in chaos, with flickering lights and rubble falling from the ceiling. He stood up and walked to a spot where the shell that had knocked him out had exploded.
"Jesus Christ."
The entire beach was crawling with German soldiers, who were easily making their way up the heavily cratered hills.
"Fourteenth Infantry, fall back to secondary line!"
The major's voice cut through the noise like a knife, and Hartmann began running from the thousands of Germans approaching the destroyed defenses. Up ahead, he saw movement. "Hey! I need a medic!"
The shadows began to move towards him, then coalesced into a German soldier, who raised his rifle to his shoulder right before Hartmann unloaded his Colt's magazine into the guy's chest. He heard more movement in the bushes behind him, and turned to find an entire squad of Germans behind him.
"Well shit." he said as the lead soldier fired his rifle.
[Appleloosa Army Camp, 0512 hours]
"Wake up Corporal! Get your sorry ass up!" I looked up to see the Sarge's face in mine. He yanked me up by the collar and handed me my rifle. I saw Schmitty shoving his boots onto his feet and Vic was wrapping as many belts of thirty-caliber ammunition as he could carry around himself.
"Leave your shit. No one's going to take it." The sergeant jumped out of the trench and into a jeep, and the rest of us crammed in behind him.
"What's going on, sir?" Schmitty asked as we high-tailed it to the defenses.
"Can't say. No one really knows. We were just told to expect an attack from the Fourteenth in Las Pegasus. We don't have the equipment to get a message to Canterlot, so we sent the fastest pegasus in town."
As he said that, we flew down the main street in town, bypassing Stuarts, M3s, and guys running on foot. The ponies were making themselves scarce, with only the mayor and the sheriff being the notable ones out. There was also a massive buffalo wearing some kind of Native American headdress. All were talking to the captain, not even glancing at us as we went by, racing to the defensive lines.
"It's too quiet." I said, scanning the horizon. We were at the southern defenses, sitting in a HMG emplacement. Beside and behind us, the rest of Fox Company, augmented by some element of the 27th Armored Infantry, were waiting in the light of the slowly rising sun. There was a ridge about half a mile away that Jerry would have to crest if he attacked.
"Steady men." The lieutenant had actually come out of his hole and was joining us in the battle, leading me to believe that he may not be an asshole like all other officers I knew. "We can hold them here, just be ready."
"Brooklyn, get on that fifty." the Sarge said. "Vic, set your thirty up to cover the right flank. Hawkeye, get to those buildings and set up there with your rifle if you can."
I nodded my head and fell back to the small group of abandoned, decrepit, buildings, looking for a good spot to set up. Finding one, I settled down in it and swapped my M1 for my Springfield, dialing in the scope. Not a second later, the first German soldier crested the ridge and opened fire.
The immediate reaction for the poor guy was to be shot by every man in the trenches. Right behind him, thirty or so more appeared and took some cover behind the ridgeline. I put my crosshairs on one, then adjusted for the distance. I fired the rifle, which landed right next to the guy's head. The gunfire began swelling as even more German troops joined those already on the ridge. As I was about to shoot again, I heard an all-to-familiar noise, and the shout that followed it confirmed my fears.
"PANZERS!"
Three German Panzer IVs crested the ridge, accompanied by two armored cars. The Stuarts and M3s began firing from their emplacements, exchanging fire with the German tanks. I watched as a German infantryman ran up to one of them and pointed in my general direction. The turret of the tank slowly moved to face me, and I ran out of the buildings just before it fired, getting thrown to the ground by the force of the explosion and losing my helmet. I picked it up and ran back to where the squad was doing our normal routine of killing every goddamn thing in sight.
Jumping into the trench, I immediately attracted the attention of the Sarge. "What the hell are you doing here? Get back to the fucking buildings."
"No can do sir." I yelled over the firefight, jerking my thumb back the way I came. He looked back at the smoking wreck that had been my hiding spot, then nodded his head. "Well shit. Take over the fifty for Brooklyn. He's going to go make an ammo run. Schmitty, go with him." The two of them nodded and Brooklyn swiveled the fifty-caliber machine gun over to me. I took the handles and pressed down on the trigger button.
"I haven't had this much fun since that last party we had!" I yelled out, spraying the ridgeline with rounds. While taking many of the enemy down, it had the problem of getting us noticed by one of the armored cars, which began taking potshots at us. It pulled itself so it was perpendicular to us, allowing Vic to put a shot right into its side with the bazooka. The Stuarts took care of one of the Panzers at the same time. The rest of the small enemy force started running, and our flyboys from the nearby airstrip gave them a good sendoff, taking care of the remaining tanks.
"Fox Company, hold your fire!" The gunfire died down, leaving the sound of men groaning in pain and the roar of burning fires. Looking behind us, I saw that two halftracks and three Stuarts had been hit, and there were guys laying all around. We clambered out of the trench as the medic battalion came in to collect the wounded and dead, followed soon after by the arrival of Able Company to relieve us.
"That was the 21st Panzergrenadiers, I think." I said, opening the can of K-rations that we had received for the day. "That was their emblem on the side of those support tanks."
"Who cares?" Brooklyn stated, opening his own can. "We kicked their sorry asses back to the hole they came from. That's what matters."
"Don't be so sure of that." the Sarge commented, eyes shut. "I doubt that's their only push. Now get to bed."
We lay in silence before Brooklyn spoke up. "You think Bedcheck Charlie's going to come wake us up, Sarge?" We all snorted at Brooklyn's remark before the Sarge answered.
"Eh, not tonight. But, give it a few days, some shelling, then yeah, he'll come by." I smiled at that, and shut my eyes, closing out the daylight.
[Headquarters for the Armed Forces of Equestria (HAFE)/OSS Headquarters, 0642 hours]
"Sir, we have a pegasus with a message for you from Appleloosa." Major Clarence Huebner looked up from his desk to see a lieutenant standing at his door.
"Bring him in." he said, taking a break from the paperwork. He was working on promoting everyone nessecary into a more appropriate role, including himself. He needed the break and was curious as to what this pegasus would want. He wouldn't be surprised if it was another reporter.
However, the pegasus that came in was gasping for air and looked about to collapse. The Major immediately pulled up a chair and offered the pony a glass of water. As strange as he still found the new place he and a good portion of the army had been thrown into, he was growing accustomed to the fact that there were talking, colored ponies in this world. The pegasus slowly began to recover, and stood up to talk.
"Sorry sir. I just came from Appleloosa nonstop."
"No worries. It must have been important, though, so what is it?"
The pegasus pulled out a piece of parchment with something scribbled on it. He tossed it to the Major, who deftly caught it with his hand and opened it.
Major Huebner,
As of around 0530 hours this morning, elements of the 21st Panzergrenadier Regiment made a push on the defenses surrounding Appleloosa. Earlier, at around 0300 hours, a radio transmission from Las Pegasus was received, upon which we had found that German forces had landed there and were quickly pushing back the allied forces stationed there. It was also reported that they had no more long-range radio equipment, hence the reason this message is being received in this way.
We request that additional armored forces be sent to Appleloosa if available, as well as more food, fuel, and ammunition.
Captain Jay Ryan
First Infantry Division, Sixteenth Infantry Regiment
As the major finished reading, he put on his uniform jacket and yelled for the lieutenant, who promptly appeared. "Yes sir?"
"I want you to take this gentleman to the barracks, and see that he is well taken care of until he is recovered and able to return home. When you finish that, inform the nearest Royal Guard that Princess Celestia's presence is requested in the operations room. Dismissed." The lieutenant saluted and left with the pegasus in tow, and the major followed close behind.
The major observed the map in front of him, looking at the reported positions that he had received from the captain of the Sixteenth. Around him, his fellow commanders were arguing amongst themselves on what to do. Admiral William Halsey had already agreed to dispatch the fastest ships to the western seaboard, soon to be followed by the larger ones. Already, two submarines and three destroyers were out on patrol, with the Equestrian Admiral having sent out their own small, but useful fleet to look for native Germane ships. So far, no pony forces had been spotted, but he wasn't about to assume.
That's what had caused Pearl Harbor after all.
As he brooded over what to do, he heard a voice behind him say "You wanted to see me, Major?" He turned to see Celestia, escorted by two royal guards, waiting outside of the room.
"Yes ma'am. A…situation has come up." The major extended a hand to his right as a sign for the princess to enter, which she did. She was one of the larger ponies, standing nearly eye level with the major. With her horn included, she was taller. "It seems that the Germans have successfully landed forces at Las Pegasus and are pushing inland. An attack was also made on Appleloosa, but the forces there managed to fend it off. We're sending reinforcements to both groups now."
The princess looked about ready to incinerate the map in front of her, but calmed down and asked "Do you know how many?"
"We believe it is safe to assume that at least a division has landed at Las Pegasus, so they are our first priority. As for Appleloosa, we believe that it is only a few regiments, which the Sixteenth can take care of for sure." The major pointed out the different lines on the map showing troop movements and such.
"What of other places?" Celestia asked as she looked over to the eastern side of the map, where Baltimare, Manehattan, and Fillydelphia lied.
Admiral Halsey responded first, saying "As you know, we have set Horseshoe Bay up as our primary naval base. We still have two of our light cruisers, some six destroyers, and a single submarine, as well as our battleship Missouri and carrier Enterprise, both of which should be returning from sea trials shortly."
The admiral paused to walk around to the other side of the table, where he pointed out the route that the western fleet ships were taking. 'We already have two submarines and three destroyers operating in the west, soon to be joined by five more destroyers, a light cruiser, and a heavy cruiser. We will have a small battle group of three destroyers working in the sea between us and Germaniegh."
"As that is, ma'am, we need an western port to keep our ships supplied with fuel, food, and ammunition, as well as repairs." The major pointed out. Celestia nodded and looked over the map at the coastline.
"Vanhoover should be adequate, if you wish. It is far enough north to possibly render the range of your enemy's ships useless, and it's approaches are easily defendable. It is about 25 meters or so in depth, so I imagine that most of your vessels will work." She paused for a moment before a look of recognition dawned upon her face and she facehoofed.
"Is something the matter?" the major asked.
"No, I just happened to realize something. Something that could negate the range of the enemy, and possibly your own ships, should you accept." She looked up at the gathered commanders, all of which were looking at her. "Some time ago, a spell was made by Germane unicorns to eliminate the pollution caused by their factories. This spell also made their machines able to run on the infinite amount of magic in the atmosphere, which is turned into a liquid form upon the spell's usage. If you would allow, we can place this spell upon your ships and vehicles that use such mechanics, and this would allow you to go much longer without refueling, or even indefinitely, provide you have a unicorn nearby."
"What would that take? For all the vehicles that we have like that, I remember it is something like…" The lieutenant commander consulted the list of units, slowly adding up the number of vehicles. "Over five and a half thousand vehicles."
"Its quite a simple spell, really." Celestia countered. "The hardest part is simply learning it. Besides, my sister and I should be able to do it. If not, well, we can wait until out magic recharges, or get some of the more powerful unicorns to help."
"That will be extremely helpful. Thank you for your help." The major saluted the Princess, who nodded her head in response. She then turned and walked out of the room, leaving the major to think over what to do. He sighed in defeat, then returned to his office. It was going to be a long week.
PFC Frank Johnson United States Marine Corps USS Missouri September 1, 1003 0832 hours
"When you guy's think we'll be going home?"
"Ahh, probably when we finish kicking Hitler's ass." I responded to the sailor, keeping my eyes shut as I remained prone on my bunk.
"We're used to fighting Japs though, not Krauts." he commented. "Wonder how different it'll be."
"Can't be that different." Gunnery Sergeant Mike Ransom said, walking into the quarters and hanging his rifle on his bunk. "A human's a human. All ya got to do is point a gun at them and shoot."
"Morning Gunny." I said from my position, finally opening my eyes and turning my head to see him lying down on his own bunk.
"Enterprise and Tuscaloosa went out last night." he said. "We'll be headed out on patrol with the Cleveland and Denver tomorrow." He opened up a magazine and started flipping through it, looking for God-knows-what. "You going to get breakfast?"
"Nah." one of the sailors replied. "I'm headed down to the gedunk for something sweet."
"Well, I'm going to the mess." I said, standing up. Almost immediately, I was thrown to the deck by a large, nearby explosion.
"What the hell?"
"What the fuck was that?"
"Shit that hurt."
The last one was me as I picked myself up off the deck, clutching my head where it had hit the metal bedpost. Over the intercom, the general quarters alarm began to blare in unison with air raid sirens from shore.
General quarters, general quarters! All hands, man battle stations! This is not a drill! General quarters!
"Not this shit again."
I burst out of the ship's belly onto the deck, wearing nothing but my t-shirt and underwear, like almost everyone else on board. Belowdecks had been hell getting through, with flames and water blocking the easiest routes up. Now that I was on deck, though, I got a good look at the reason for the commotion.
Everywhere, Nazi aircraft roared overhead, bombs screamed, machine guns fired, and explosions boomed. I rushed over to a blazing fire next to one of the five-inch guns and grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher, smothering the fire before it could ignite anything else.
"Johnson, get on that gun!" I ran over to the gun that Mike was pointing at, sliding into the restraints and cocking back the bolt. I saw a torpedo-armed Stuka making for the ship and set my sights on it. As I prepared to fire, another explosion knocked me to the deck and I looked up to see another Stuka speeding away.
"Where the fuck these guys come from!?" someone yelled, panicking as he struggled to get up. I opened fire on a wing of German planes diving down on the ship, bringing one down before they dropped their loads.
"Incoming!"
Bu-booom!
A bomb hit the starboard side of the ship, out of sight, but the deck still shook violently as I helped the sailor up. "Come on man, hop to it!"
"Jesus Christ man, we're gonna die! We're gonna fucking die!" He ran belowdecks through a nearby hatch, unable to take the strain. I reloaded the gun as another wing of torpedo bombers went for the nearby Cleveland, which was already listing to port as every single one of her guns blazed away.
As I watched, the five torpedo bombers dropped their payloads and peeled off. The area was silent for a moment, then a massive fireball erupted from below the Cleveland's bow, tearing the ship open and sending heat and debris over the Missouri, even from this distance.
"My God, they've sunk the Cleveland!" someone yelled. I watched in horror as the light cruiser's hull slowly went down, flames pouring from her mangled bow gun battery. Sailors in orange Mae Wests were jumping from the ship and swimming frantically away only to be shot up by German fighters. I finally noticed that we were still under attack, and opened up again on another wing of bombers in the air. Men were yelling in pain everywhere, but no one dared stop fighting to help them. The Cleveland's fate seemed to have re-energized us, putting more fight into our tired and shocked bodies.
The deck began to tremble, not so much violently as it was steady and familiar. A low hum began to permeate the air as the battleship slowly began to move, her bow turning towards the exit of the bay. "Yes!" a nearby sailor hooted, the rest following suit. We slowly picked up speed, a destroyer escort off our side as the German aircraft continued to bombard us, though the combined firepower of the battleship and the destroyer put a heavy blanket of protection over us.
As we neared the harbor exit, the German aircraft began to disperse, headed out to sea. I could imagine the captain was pleading with command to go after the enemy fleet that had to be out there, but the ship couldn't take straight-up combat in her condition. As the last of the German craft fled, Gunny came over to stand by me, looking towards the wrecked ships in the harbor.
"That's twice that's happened to us." I said, disgruntled.
"We weren't expecting them to have a carrier, I guess." Gunny replied, wiping his brow. "C'mon. We've got wounded." I nodded and the two of us started to go around and administer aid to the injured men on deck.
Veirville-de-sur-Mare, Occupied Prance
Francois Baguette stayed silent as he heard the humans stomp around upstairs. The baker had heard the stories, which accounted for the disappearance of many of the village's pegasi like himself. He heard shouting and was able to tell what the soldiers were saying, thanks to his study of Germane.
"Hans, bring me that crowbar! There is a door here!"
Too late, he realized just which door the man was talking about as he was suddenly bathed in light.
"There's one. Get him!"
Francois was dragged out of the cellar and was put in some type of restraint that held his wings to his side and kept him from flying away. He saw a human come up to him with a deathhead on his collar and bared his teeth at him before something hit his head and all went black.
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”
-Albert Camus
Lieutenant A. H. Bateman
United States Navy
USS S-44 (SS-155)
178 kilometers SSW of Vanhoover Naval Harbor
September 6, 1003
0032 hours
I opened up the hatch of the S-44, allowing myself and the rest of the watch crew out onto the conning tower. The cool ocean breeze blew across the deck of the submarine as the water rolled off the gun deck.
“We’re clear.” I said, putting down my binoculars for a moment. I watched as the rest of the men came up on deck, while hatches down on the gun deck opened up to air out the sub. The torpedo room crew came up and started moving the reserve torpedoes into the torpedo rooms.
The submarine sailed on through the night as the torpedoes were reloaded. The S-44 was headed north, having had a fairly successful patrol so far as they went home; approximately twelve thousand tons of Germane shipping lay on the bottom of the Equestrian Channel, along with two Germane-made destroyers. The crew was excited, but the fatigue of the patrol was starting to get to them.
About thirty minutes after the torpedoes had finished being moved, one of the men, Lieutenant Bryan Green, called out “Vessel sighted off the port bow!”
I whipped my sight over to the port bow, looking against the darkened horizon. “I see it. Small rubber raft, about nine or ten ponies in it.” I pulled my eyes away from the binoculars and shouted down into the hatch. “Kyle, get your ass up here with the machine gun. All stations, make ready to dive.”
There was an increase in noise as the submarine was made readied to dive. Seaman Kyle Williams got up with the .30-caliber machine gun and set it up facing the raft. “Sir, it looks like they’re hailing us.”
“Come again?” I said as I observed the raft again through my optics. Indeed, one of the occupants appeared to be waving, and I faintly heard a call reach my ears. “Very well. Port rudder five degrees for ten seconds, bring it down to ahead one-third.”
“Aye-aye, sir!” The commands were carried out and the S-44 turned onto an approximate intercept course for the raft. As she did, I got on the signal lamp and made a few quick acknowledgement flashes in the direction of the vessel.
“What do you think it is, sir?” Bryan asked as he shifted his position on the conn, allowing a group of crewmen to get by him. They headed down to the gun deck, where they would help tie on and welcome the raft’s occupants.
“What? That?” I stated, dipping my head towards the raft, which was about a hundred metres away by now. “I don’t know. Spies. Survivors from a ship sinking. Maybe a group of refugees.” I shrugged my shoulders as the raft got closer and I figured it was close enough to be heard. “Ahoy!”
"Ahoy! Aidez nous s'il vous plaît!" I stopped for a second, not understanding any of what was said. There was silence as the boat got closer to the submarine, and the men on the gun deck cast out the line to help pull the raft alongside.
“Engines stop.” I called. The hum of the diesels and the vibrating of the deck ceased as the engine room crew shut down the engines. The air was suddenly eerily quiet, save for the sound of the waves and wind. Looking to the watch crew, I said “Anyone know what the Frenchie said?”
They all shook their heads or otherwise stated that they didn’t as the raft bumped up against the S-44’s hull. From below, the pony at the head of the raft stood up and removed his hood. “Permission to come aboard?”
“Who are you?” I asked, not moving from my position on the conn. Looking in the raft, I saw about ten to twelve pegasi looking up at us with a mixture of hope and fear. “Kyle, relax. I don’t think they’re here to hurt us.” The young man nodded and pulled away from the machine gun, though he still kept it trained loosely on the raft.
“I am a member of the Prench Resistance.” the pony, obviously a unicorn, replied in accented English. “These are refugees from the war that I am trying to get to Equestria. Also, I was sent by my superiors to meet with Princesses Celestia and Luna.”
I raised my eyebrows at the pony’s response and contemplated what he had said. It made sense, but I wasn’t jumping at the idea of having potential saboteurs aboard my boat. “Why should we trust you?”
The pony floated a note over to me with his magic, waiting until I had caught it out of the air. ‘Fucking magic.’ I thought as I opened the letter. Inside was a signature from both princesses as well as a brief statement allowing the holder passage into Equestria. While it didn’t completely shake all my doubts, it looked legitimate enough to allow him on. “Bring them on.”
The men on the gun deck proceeded to move aside and allow the passage of the ponies onto the deck. One by one, they hopped the distance between their raft and the S-44, then were escorted below decks swiftly. All the while, I kept a sharp eye out along with the rest for the watch crew for any enemy ships.
Just as the last pegasus was being taken below and the unicorn had jumped on, one of the men near the AA cannon shouted “Multiple ships sighted off the starboard stern!” As we all looked in the direction of his cry, he continued. “German cruisers and destroyers!”
“Captain!”
“Crash dive!” I yelled down into the hatch. “All crew, get your asses below! Ahead flank, maximum dive! Set depth for two hundred feet!” The watch crew and everyone else on deck crammed into the nearest hatch and secured them as the S-44 came alive. Shouts were exchanged throughout the passages as water rushed over the hull. The engines, minutes ago quiet, now hummed with power as the electric motors kicked in. I stood in the control room, watching the depth gauge count off every five feet. Beside me, the unicorn stood out of the way, watching the proceedings.
The S-44 quieted down as the crew awaited signs they’d been spotted. “Make speed two knots.”
“Making speed two knots, aye sir.” The submarine went almost dead as the engines slowed. The engines quiet, the hydrophone operator spoke up.
“Hard right rudder on my mark.” I said, pulling out my stopwatch. The command was repeated in hushed tones as I waited. The hull of the S-44 creaked against the pressure, causing the unicorn to look up uneasily, prompting soft laughter from those who noticed.
“First time on a sub?” Rene Mills, the Weapons Officer asked. The pony nodded as the creaking subsided. Down the passageway, a few hushed whispers were being exchanged between men in the bow quarters.
“Relax.” I said, wearing a small grin. “These S-boats are antiques. She may be old, but she’ll hold.” As I said that, a pipe that had been busted earlier in the patrol started spraying water from a valve. Immediately, someone put a pipe patch on it and sealed it. “Mark.”
“Mark!”
The S-44 shifted course as the rudder went hard over. After ten seconds, I finished the turn and she straightened out. “Go slient.” I ordered.
The submarine went deathly quiet as all noise-making equipment was turned off. The engines were shut down, and the crew went to breathing thtough their mouths and not making any moves. With luck, the S-44 would be undetectable by anything but sonar pings.
“All clear!” I alerted, snapping the handholds on the periscope up. “Lowering scope. Surface the ship.”
“Aye-aye sir!” The S-44 rose up out of the water again as the hatches were opened again, venting out the bad air.
“Navigator, put us back on course. Watch crew, get up top.” The orders were followed through with as the last of the water rolled off the hull. I looked to the French unicorn and motioned for him to follow me. I led him to the officer’s mess; a booth crammed into the side of the hull about the size of your average restaurant booth. He sat as I poured a cup of coffee, checking to see if he wanted any.
“Non, mon ami” he said. “Thank you though.” I sat down heavily, taking a sip of the lukewarm drink.
“So, who are you?” I asked, curious and not exactly too happy about the extra passengers.
The pony smiled, though it was humorless. “The Resistance calls me Le Roach, due to the...difficulty...the Germanes have had finding and disposing of me.” He removed his cloak, revealing large patches of burnt skin on his midsection and flanks. In addition, there was a scar on his chest. “They've tried twice: once with a bullet, and the second time by trapping me in a burning building.”
“Lovely.” I said. “However you did it, well done. Moving on, however..." I took another sip of the coffee. “What were you doing so far out to sea?”
“These pegasi are refugees from the war and the terrible things the Germanes are doing to them. I am their guide and a special envoy to the princesses to make a plea to your commanders.” Le Roach said. He replaced his cloak and looked up at me. “Please, for the sake of my friends, family, and nation: get me to Equestria.”
"We can do that." I replied. From the control room, I heard someone call for my presence, prompting me to stand. "Provided all goes well, we'll be in Vanhoover by tomorrow evening." I put my cover on as I placed my coffee cup in the sink. "I don't know what it is that you need to tell them, but we can get you there, trust me."
"Too much has happened for me to trust a human." Le Roach said, removing himself from the booth. "I can believe you, but not completely trust you."