1906. A year in which the world was changed forever.
In 1906, what was supposed to be a nice vacation trip to Norway, Crown prince Friedrich Wilhelm would find himself in a totally different world, and seeks to become the first in human history to ever set foot on an alien world. While back home, with the disappearance of the Kaiser's eldest son and heir, suspicions rise and tensions rise even higher between Germany and the British Empire.
From the streets, to the shops, to the cafes. There were rumors spreading, not just in Berlin, but the Empire as a whole.
It started innocently enough, it wasn't even really a rumor, it was even talked about in the papers. The Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm was setting sail in the family owned yacht to a vacation trip to Norway, and an escort ship was provided by the Kaiser himself to make sure the trip there ran smoothly.
Yet despite the precaution, despite all odds and all the preparations for a smooth, safe and enjoyable trip. The Hohenzollern Yacht and its escort ship, without any explanation nor cause, vanished into the Helgoland Bight.
Most say it was British U-Boats that sunk the ships, but some say they got caught in a storm and simply sank.
No-one truly knew for certain what fate befell the Crown Prince, but everyone in Europe is certain with one thing. The Kaiser is pissed, and War will certainly follow.
Imperial Palace, Berlin, 1906
"How could this happen!!?" The Kaiser roared, smashing his fist into the finely made wooden desk, absolutely furious of the news given to him.
Bernhard gulped. Never before had he seen the Kaiser in such a furious state, though frequent were his outbursts, none were of such intense frequency as right now.
"We are not sure my Kaiser. All we are aware is that the flotte vanished somewhere in the Helgoland Bight." Bernhard rattled off; his eyes darting back from the report to the livid Kaiser, who is now pacing back and forth across the room.
"Wha-what about the ship that we sent to find them? Anything from them?" Wilhelm asked, his voice slightly cracking from the stress.
Bernhard felt his heart skip a few beats. For but a few moments, the room remained silent, only the Kaiser's impatient boot stomping away could be heard.
"Unfortunately, my Kaiser. The SMS Deutschland has also turned up missing."
The Kaiser's eye slightly twitches, his face completely deadpan.
Bernhard could only brace himself for the inevitable outburst that was sure to follow.
Equestria, Unity Peninsula, 1002
It was just a simple, normal day in Equestria. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and a boat was rowing ashore. A perfect day for some fishing.
….
'Wait, a boat?' Raggedy Randy thought, momentarily halting his fishing to gaze at these strangers who had just pulled into shore in a rowboat.
After gazing at these strange creatures a little more closely, Randy knew dang well that these were no ponies, nor any creatures he recognized.
They didn't walk on all fours, was the first thing Randy noticed, they only walk with two legs, the other pair of limbs, they only used to grab or hold things. Their skin-color was weird also, all of them only sporting a white like skin tone.
Their attire is strange as well; all but one wore the same thing. A red and blue dress coat, with what seems to be white pants and a pair of knee high boots and a strange metal looking hat with a spike on top. The only one with any kind of difference from each other only wore a nearly all black dress coat.
The most notable feature that Randy thought alarming however was what they carry. Most of them were carrying a seemingly long stick, with a metal like spike protruding from the end, from their waists; they also seem to carry swords with them.
Randy's thoughts ran wild, who were these strangers? Where did they come from? And the most frequent thought for Randy was. Did they seek to harm he and his friends?
Deciding then and there, Randy wasn't gonna take any chance. He had to warn his friends, for all he knew; they could be here to invade Equestria!
Without a second thought, and leaving his old fishing rod behind, Randy ran as fast as his hooves could take him.
Canterlot, Equestria, 1002
With a heave and a push, the doors to Celestia's throne room bursts open, the bangs of the doors reverberating throughout the halls.
“Ah, Twilight!” Princess Celestia exclaimed, happy to see her student “Thank goodness you’re here, this is a matter of utmost importance.”
Twilight Sparkle, with her friends in tow, bows to her mentor. “We came as soon as we heard, your highness” She then raises back from her position “What problem needs solving?”
Unknown Location, 1906
“Well, this isn’t Norway, that’s for sure.” Franz said, inspecting one of the strange fauna that surrounds this strange land that Wilhelm and his troop of guards find themselves in.
“Ja, Keine Scheisse Franz, what gave you that idea?” Hans joked, having chopped a group of bushes in his way. Franz gave him a middle finger in response.
“Enough dawdling about men!” The captain yelled “Stay focused, we do not know what lurks in these woods.” And with that, they fell into silence, slowly and surely they waded through the trees and bushes, the ambience of the thick forests keeping them company.
Ahead of them, leading this little expedition is the Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm. Saber in one hand, he cuts through the foliage with practiced ease, cutting a path for the expedition to follow through.
And at the very back, Hans and Franz begin to whisper amongst each other.
“What do you think, Hans?” Franz asked, earning him a confused look from Franz.
“Think what?” Hans questioned, nearly tripping over a root of a tree.
Franz gestures to the surroundings “All of this? Don’t you think all of this…. Is a bit suspicious?”
Hans merely looks at him, as though Franz had just grown 5 heads and had multiple eyes spawning around his skin. “Franz. What the fuck are you on about?”
“I mean, think about it.” Franz began , confusing Hans even more “We were supposed to be in Norway by now, enjoying the sights and getting laid with the ladies. Yet so far all we are met is”- Franz gestures to the forest once again –“ this..”
Hans sighed, watching as his friend’s mood soured ever lower. Moving closer, he places his hand over Franz’s shoulder. “Come now Franz, don’t be such a downer.” Franz looks back up at him In confusion, before continuing on, saying “Look, we may be on a strange land, and there may not be any pretty girls around. But I assure you, once all this blows over, I’m going to make sure you’re SURROUNDED by pretty girls.” He declared, shaking Franz’s shoulder all the while, making Franz laugh and in turn, making him laugh.
Ponyville, Equestria, 1002
“This all seems mighty fine suspicious, Twilight.” Applejack voiced out “Huge magical interference? Giant metal beasts sightings from the eastern coast? Bipedal creatures wearing strange clothing? All this has suspicious written all over it.”
“That might be so, Applejack.” Twilight hovered over a map into her pack, a compass and a few tools needed for the trip ahead. “But we just can’t ignore this, Celestia gave us the task, and it’s our job to go out and investigate.”
“I don’t know, Twilight. This might seem dangerous.” As she made for the door, Twilight turned to her long time and trusted friend.
“That may be so, Applejack, but it’s nothing we can’t handle.” Twilight smiled, and Applejack smiled back Turning to the door, she opens it and finds 4 of her friends standing outside, ready and waiting.
Rainbow dash, a confident smirk plastered on her face, her wings fluttering in the morning breeze.
Rarity, carrying with her the most finest of clothing.
Pinky Pie, bouncing in excitement and eternal joy, as usual.
And Fluttershy, nervous and quiet but ready to go along on another adventure with her beloved friends.
Twilight Sparkle smiled at each of them, as Applejack walked to her side, she turned to face the rising sun, her face now filled with determination.
“Alright everypony!” She addressed to her friends “Lets go!”
“YAAAY! ADVENTURE!!” Pinkie pie shouted joyfully into the heavens, zipping past the group as they began making their way out of Ponyville and into the unknown.
Friedrich Wilhelm had always sought new and fun experiences other than just being the heir to the throne. He sought adventure, to explore where none had gone before.
So imagine his surprise, when a vacation trip to Norway ends in him being mysteriously teleported to another world all together! It must be! The flora is nothing like he had seen before, and he had read on all sorts of trees, bushes, and all other sorts of flora and fauna that the earth inhabited in the library just out of pure boredom. And none of them describes the surroundings he and his men find themselves in.
For instance, one of his men, Franz, had stumbled upon and nearly tripped over a frog with what seemed to have six eyes, nearly scaring the poor boy out of his wits, much to the amusement of Hans. Another instance was what had once been thought of as normal vines, had suddenly come alive and had nearly dragged one of his men into the darkness of the forest.
By that point, the entirety of the expedition went into full alert. The forest itself had more than proven that it wasn't entirely friendly, and there could be other, more bigger and deadlier creatures stalking them amongst the darkness of the trees.
More minutes of silence goes by, before it is interrupted when the captain of the guard comes up to the Crown Prince.
"My Prince. Are you certain that this little... Expedition of yours is worth it?" The captain questioned, turning back to the rest if the men, their bodies tense, their rifles at the ready.
Wilhelm turns to the captain, before turning back to the expanse of the forest in front of him.
"We are possibly one of the first in human history to ever set foot on alien soil, Captain." Wilhelm slices off a vine with his saber out of the way, before continuing on "If we ever get back to Germany, we'll at least already know what awaits us in this new world."
The Captain takes the Prince's words, for a few moments, before nodding in understanding, with that, silence reigns once more, as the German expedition treks ever deeper into the forest.
Strange things have been going on in the east coast recently.
Anypony with any affinity to magic, felt a huge surge of magical energy off to the eastern oceans of Equestria.
And coincidentally, earlier in the morning, ships patrolling off the coast of Baltimare had spotted what had seemed to be strange, metal like ships off the distance. Equestrian ships tried to pursue, but immediately lost sight of said ships. After which, the entire Equestrian navy went into high alert, fearing of a possible invasion from the Changelings or some other new foe.
A few hours after the sighting, Randy, one of the residents of a quiet and small village a few miles off the coast. Had come running in a panic, wide eyes and rambling about bipedal creatures coming to invade all of Equestria.
Like the rest of the ponies in town, Lyra Heartstrings dismissed his claims, thinking that he is simply going mad, and it wouldn't be far off either. Randy wasn't the most stable of ponies, and most of things he says is just simply coo-coo.
Although, come to think of it. It had seemed an all too coincidence, a mysterious surge of magical energy off the east coast? Along with metal ships appearing, and now bipedal, pink skinned creatures wearing strange clothing and weaponry.
No, something real fishy was going on. And it definitely wasn't Randy, smelly of fish he may be.
It was official, Wilhelm had gone completely insane. He must be.
About two hours had passed since they stepped foot onto this alien soil, so far they were surrounded by trees, bushes, and the occasional sentient vines. Thankfully, they had been given respite when they came across a clearing in the distance.
But it appears that Wilhelm had inhaled something from one of the plants, cause he is pretty sure he isn't seeing things right.
Just to make sure, he turned to the Captain, staring into the same direction of the village.
"Captain, you see this right?" Wilhelm questioned, gesturing his right hand to the village ahead.
"My Prince, with all due respect. You are not the only one." The Captain replied, fully confirming the Crown Prince's suspicions and completely throwing him off course.
Hiding within the forests, the Prince and his troops are staring down a village fully populated with sentient ponies, acting and wearing clothes like a human being would.
Did he expect to find intelligent life? Yes.
Did he expect them to look human? Maybe.
Was he expecting sentient, civilized ponies? Absolutely not.
For what must've felt like hours, but was just actually minutes. The Crown Prince crouched there, slack jawed and completely dumbfounded from the sight before him. What he sees before him implies very clearly, that somewhere out here, there are cities that contains more of their kind. Maybe an entire nation!
"My Prince?" The Captain waved a hand over the slack jawed Prince, completely oblivious "My Prince are you there?" This time, the Captain snapped his fingers together, this time it broke the spell that had seemed to been cast over the Prince.
Inhaling and exhaling, willing his body into calmness, Wilhelm contemplated a course of action.
"Captain" He called out, the Captain turning to face the Crown Prince, his eyebrow raised in question.
"Get the men into a firing position behind the tree line. Cover us." Wilhelm then turned to his men, and called out to two of them in particular "Franz, Hans. Back me up." The pair in question, looked to each other in bewilderment, before complying with the Crown Prince's orders.
Before Wilhelm could break out of the tree line, the Captain grabbed on to his shoulder "My Prince, are you sure this is wise?" The Prince, looked back towards the village, still unaware of their presence, then turned back to the Captain, his eyes resolute.
"If the worst comes to pass, we always got guns." With that, he beckoned the pair by his sides and with a deep breath, he stepped out of the tree line and towards the village, the duo following suit. His guards remain behind him, their rifles raised incase the worst comes to pass.
After Raggedy Randy's mad fueled rant about bipedal like creatures, the rest of the town just went back to business as per usual. Randy almost always often go into these crazed fueled rants, always talking nonsense like 'Something is in the mist!' or 'There are skinwalkers among us!'.
Though for many years, the people of this old little town had wanted to get rid of the old kook, but he had practically embedded himself within this town, so usually everypony in town would just pay him no mind.
But this time. This time was different. And Lyra had a feeling the town was going to owe old Raggedy Randy an apology.
In the distance, behind the trees that lead to one of many old forests of Equestria, 3 tall figures emerged from the bushes.
No-one noticed it at first, until they were about halfway towards the village. By then, nearly all the town were balking at these bipedal creatures that Randy had ranted madly about.
What they wear and hold also eerily match his description. Two of them were wearing a blue and red dress coat, with what seemed to be a helmet, with a spike protruding from the crown. While the one in the middle wore an all black attire. What they carry, is a strange wooden-like spear, with a metal spike protruding at the top, only one of them didn't have one, though he did carry what seemed to be a sword on his hip.
"SEE! SEE!! I TOLD YOU!!" Randy shouted into the heavens, his voice frantic. "RUN! EVERYPONY RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!! THEY'VE COME TO DESTROY US ALL!!!" Randy ran with all the strength his hooves could take him, and ran straight back into his house.
The ponies are worried now, many murmur amongst themselves, weary of these strange, visitors.
Taking a deep breath, Lyra made her way to the front of the ever increasing crowd.
"Calm down, everypony!" she raised a hoof, silencing the crowd and focusing their eyes on her "Whoever they are, I am sure they aren't what Randy claims them to be."
"What if its true?" One pony voices out.
"If they're real, then what are the chances that they are here to hurt us?" As one, a group of ponies yell out their agreements, much to Lyra's chagrin.
"Alright, alright, look." Lyra waved a hoof to the concerned crowd "If they wanted to harm us they would've done so by now."
Looking over her shoulder, she could see the three creatures stand in one place, a good distance from the village. They seem to be arguing amongst themselves, possibly talking about what to do next.
Taking a deep breath, Lyra turns to the bipedal creatures, she turns back to the villagers one more time, and is met with concerned stares.
"If anything happens, we'll be here to back you up." One of the ponies said, the others in the crow agreeing in murmurs.
"Thanks guys." Lyra Heartstrings smile at the villagers one last time, before turning to the three creatures, who now has spotted Lyra.
Swallowing a lump in her throat, Lyra raises her head high, and as much confidence she could muster, she marches up to the creatures.
As the pony begins to make its way over to Wilhelm and his guardsmen, one of them, Hans, made to raise his rifle. Seeing the gesture, the pony immediately reels back, and the others behind it tense up in anticipation.
Wilhelm raises an arm towards Hans, gesturing to him to lower his rifle. Hans looks to him, perplexed, but a stare by the Crown Prince makes him comply to the silent order.
Seeing him lower the weapon, the pony sighed in relief, and so with the others behind it. With newfound confidence, it advances further towards the trio.
Upon seeing this, Wilhelm slowly begins to walk towards the pony, his guards follow suit, and in a few moments, they and the pony have met halfway. Sizing the other up, whilst also finding what words to use for this historic first contact.
"Ummmmm... Guten Tag?" The Crown Prince greeted, visibly startling the pony off guard. Much to the amusement to the people behind him, if their silent but audible snickers were anything to go by.
The pony stood there for a moment, their eyes wide and their mouth agape and visibly shook, possibly a reaction to what he said. Which is understandable, its most likely that it's just in shock from meeting a totally different-
"Uhhhhhhh.. h-hello to you too?" The pony spoke. Surprisingly having recovered quickly from its shock..
......................................................... W A I T W H A T ? ? ?
It was the Crown Prince's turn now to be shocked. His eyes widened in surprise, his mouth practically having reached the floor. what stood before him now, was an equine creature, as civilized as a human, as smart as a human.
And can talk like a human.
He swore to God. That pony just SPOKE to him. So taken aback were they that Franz had nearly tripped in his own boots, to the confusion of the pony before them and much to the amusement of Hans, who simply held him by the sleeve to prevent his fall.
Remembering his manners though, Wilhelm coughed back whatever sense of professionalism he had. And gazed at the small equine before him.
Once he actually got close to one of them, Wilhelm noticed how. Colorful they seem to look. The pony in front of him sported a light blue skin tone, with their mane being a combination of blue and white, with her eyes being that of black and brown.
Nonetheless, Wilhelm has made first contact with an alien, and therefore the first human to meet an extraterrestrial. And as heir to the German Empire and her people, Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of the house of Hohenzollern shall and will be the representative of the Kaiserreich of this new world.
Straightening his back, the Crown Prince raises a hand towards the pony.
"I am Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Hohenzollern and the representative of the German Empire and her people." The pony tilts its head at the Crown Prince, then looked towards the raised hand. For a moment, Wilhelm thought that something had been missed in translation-
"Nice to meet you, uhhhh, Wilhelm." The pony raises a hoof and grabs ahold of his hand (how is she doing that?) and firmly shakes it.
"I'm uhh, Lyra Heartstrings." The pony introduced, having finished the handshake, she raised a hoof towards the crowd behind her "And, welcome to our little town."
Seeing how the introductions are going along smoothly than Wilhelm thought, Wilhelm allowed himself a small smile to form on his lips.
"So uhhh. What brings a royal like you to our humble abode?" The pony asked, her head in a tilt. In response Wilhelm frowned, remembering how he got here in the first place.
He thought back to his father, who by now must be very furious of his sudden disappearance and is maybe stirring up tensions in Europe again. He never really was the diplomatic type, his father is.
"You see Lyra," Wilhelm began "I was suppose to be on vacation. But somehow we've been transported to somewhere else entirely." Lyra tilted her head again, not entirely sure what he refers to.
"If you could not tell, we are from a completely different world. We do not belong in this place." He explained, that had seemed to click something within Lyra, as her face lit up in realization.
"Wait, did you all arrive on a ship?" Wilhelm, looked to her, perplexed to how she'd figure that out. Did his yacht and its escort ship get spotted? that would not be possible, they would've seen something watching them while they were at sea.
"That's correct, how did you know?"
"I'm not sure if your aware of this, Crown Prince. But thanks to your ships, the entirety of Equestria is in a near state of panic." Wilhelm nodded along, interested in this 'Equestria' she is referring to, perhaps the name of the nation they are currently in? or maybe a continent altogether? "Many believed that it was going to be another changeling invasion altogether when the ponies of Baltimare saw these metal ships off the city's coast."
Changeling. Wilhelm noted that word, perhaps another species? If so that would mean there are different species at the same intellect of the ponies.
"I see, I apologize for the unrest that may have caused."
"Nah, no problem at all. Now that we're actually talking, you don't seem all that bad." The pony smiled at him, relief visible within her body. Wilhelm nodded in thanks, before gazing up at the village before him.
"If it is no trouble at all, Lyra." Wilhelm looked back down at the pony, who is now looking aback at him with her tension considerably reduced "Would you and your, uhhm, ponies mind if me and my men could rest here for awhile? Our journey here was long and exhausting, and we are tired and very weary from our journey."
With a warm smile, the pony walked back towards the village, beckoning Wilhelm and his men with her hoof "Of course, no problem at all, honestly I'm kinda surprised you guys managed to get here through that forest unharmed."
His worry about that forest elevated tenfold, and Wilhelm thanked the Lord that he and his men were lucky that they didn't meet anything more, dangerous during their trek here.
The pony turned and saw that apparently the weren't following, concerned she called out to them "Is something wrong?"
"Oh, nothing, give me a second." Wilhelm turned back to the forest and whistled through his fingers.
The Captain, hearing the whistle peaks his head from a bush he was using as cover. Farther away, he could see the Crown Prince, waving at he and his men to come out, signaling to him that it is now completely safe.
Lyra turns to the Crown Prince, confused by what he was doing, before her eyes widened like dinner plates.
Out of the forest, nine more these strangers appear from the bushes, all wearing identical clothing to the other two accompanying the Crown Prince, all of them wielding those same strange looking spears.
The Crown Prince turns back to her, sporting a sheepish smile.
Recovering from her shock, Lyra nervously smiles. "Could uhh, you and your guards wait a moment? We kinda need time to set up a lodging to house you all."
Wilhelm nods in understanding "Take your time, Lyra. I'm sure they won't mind."
Smiling in gratitude. Lyra made a one-eighty and walked back to the bewildered crowd before her.
For a few hours, Lyra and the residents had been hard at work, building the appropriate quarters needed to house the Crown Prince and his entourage. While Lyra herself and a few of the other residents, got to planning and making the food needed for upcoming celebration of their first ever friendly interactions with an intelligent species from another planet.
When all the preparations were all completed, Lyra called out to the Crown Prince, inviting in he and his men towards the town square, where the celebration would be held.
Before the event began proper, Lyra tapped a spoon into a glass, catching the attention of both human and pony.
"My friends, today we are gathered here today to celebrate a momentous occasion." Turning to the guests of honor, Lyra raised a glass. "Today marks the first time, in the history of Equestria, that we greet these strangers from another world. As friends."
"Cheers, to our new friends!" She raises a glass high into the air, the ponies and their new alien friends raised there's, thus beginning the celebration proper.
As Lyra watches the guests of honor enjoy the meals thoroughly made for them and the other residents, a she could finally let her thoughts wander.
In her many years of life, Lyra never had a day as eventful as today. Meeting an entirely different species, throwing a party for said aliens, and watching them mingle and make friends amongst her fellow ponies. If she had told her past self that she'd meet aliens, she would've called her crazy.
Speaking of crazy, she could see Randy, amongst the other ponies, and one of the aliens, or 'Germans' as they are apparantly called. All of them gathered to either apologize or hear more of his, now possibly true, tales of his youth and his other exploits.
From other side, she could see the other two Germans, Hans and Franz, she recalled. The Crown Prince did introduce her to his entourage before the party began, each one of them had unique set of names, once more showing their alien origins. One of the pair, Hans, grabbed one of the cupcake, made from the most talented baker in town. He had seemed to adopt a skeptical look, one Lyra found to be a bad sign.
"Das sieht dem meiner Oma unheimlich ähnlich." Hans spoke, in the very same language that she had heard the other Germans converse spoke in. Such a strange yet unique language as well. Does their world speak the same? Or do they have different languages as well?
Hans lifted the cupcake up to his face, and appear to sniff the cupcake. Did it smell weird as well? Lyra's concern rose ever higher as the German took an inquisitive bite, his friend beside him slightly leaning in to see what happens.
"Mmmmm" Hans hummed in what seemed to be approval, before taking a bigger bite. He turns to Franz, smiling. "Das ist wirklich gut, Sie sollten einige ausprobieren."
Releasing a breath she wasn't aware she had been holding, she watched as the pair of Germans began to happily consume the pastries, their faces alit with joy.
She can't wait to tell Cherry the good news. She would've loved to see her cooking be loved by even aliens from another world.
So far, it had all gone smoothingly well, and everyone had been getting along rather nicely. Lyra was confident, that nothing would ever ruin this perfect day.
It was feint, only noticeable if one were to pay attention. Seeing the water within the glass slightly shake, with the table itself not being disturbed. Wilhelm felt like something was wrong.
Something was very, very wrong.
Than a deafening roar sounded throughout the village, stopping everyone in their tracks and springing he and his fellow Germans into alert.
Unslinging his rifle, the Captain turned to the Crown Prince, worry etched in his face, "What in God's name was that?"
Wilhelm shook his head in response, opting to unsheathed the saber from its scabbard.
Than it came, feint, slight tremors were felt across the town, than it slowly rose into intensity, practically consuming the town in an earthquake. And then it roared again.
It was truly deafening now, the sheer volume of it shaking the very foundations of the buildings itself.
"MANTICORE!!!!!" Someone screamed into the heavens, immediately panic ensued, the ponies around him scatter away in panic, their screams consuming the once lively and peaceful party. Than just as sudden as it came, there came a large crash, someone's poor house crumbles into dust, debris falling from all directions, and without prompt, his men scrambled to help their pony friends away from the falling debris.
But then, atop of the fallen structure, emerged a lion, but bigger and stranger than the ones that Wilhelm had seen before. Horns protruded from its skull, whilst sporting huge wings along it's back, nearly the size of a human, it's tail being replaced with a scorpions stinger.
The lion roared once more, shaking Wilhelm and his men to the core.
"What are you standing around for?! Open fire!!" The Captain shouted amongst the cacophony, his rifle now unslung, he took aim at the creature, Hans and Franz followed suit, raising their own rifles and steadying their aims.
As one, both the captain and the pair fired their rifles at the beast, the report of their guns echoing across the village, and instantly it yelped out in pain, it's blood now seeping out from the wounds the guns had made.
Now injured, and seemingly more angrier than before, the beast spread it's wings, and flapped them into the building, Immediately taking flight and destroying more of the already destroyed roof.
Cocking back their rifles, they shot at the now airborne beast, large of a target it may be, it still manages to dodge their bullets.
Regaining their balance, the rest of Wilhelm's men contribute to the fight in the form of bullets, and soon the sky was being riddled with bullets, yet somehow, with all that firepower and the beast's large frame, it was agile enough to dodge them all, then suddenly it spun in the air and began to descend towards he and his men at alarming speed.
"Disperse! Everyone disperse!!" Wilhelm shouted, his men immediately complied with the order, running the opposite directions as the beast began to descend upon them.
By either sheer bad luck, or fate. The beast had sunk it's claw into one of his men, the poor soul was immediately lifted into the air, his rifle crackled to the floor as he screamed bloody murder. Blood now profusely seeping from his shoulders, where the lion had dug it's claws.
Wilhelm, his men, and the ponies, all of them watched in horror as the lion threw the poor soul higher into the air, before quickly swooping in time to catch his head into its jaws, before snapping it shut, abruptly silencing his screams.
The lion snapped it's jaws once more, completely squishing his head like a watermelon, before letting the now decapitated body fall into the ground below. Where it landed into the cobblestone right next to Franz, scaring him out of his wits and forcing him to drop the stripper clip he held in his hand.
Letting out a roar once more, the beast descended to the ground again, this time aiming for Franz.
The gunfire resumed as the beast made its descent, diving straight towards Franz.
"Franz! Get the fuck out of there, now!!!" Hans called out, hastily slamming in a clip into his rifle.
Franz, stricken with terror drops his rifle and ran with every fiber of his being. Desperately he screams at the beast, pleading mercy as he tries to outrun it.
But the lion cares not, it maintains it's pursuit, steadily catching up to the terrified German.
"No! No, no, no, nononononono PLEA-" His pleas are cut short, the lion pounces on his back, and instantly feasts upon Franz's neck.
"Franz!!! NIIIIEEEEEN!!!!" Cocking the bolt, Hans frantically fired at the beast, screaming in a mad rage.
The beast roars back, as more bullets riddle it's furred skin, and before anyone could really stop him. Hans charged the beast with a roar, bayonet poised to strike at it's hide.
The lion is having none of it, the beast whips it's tail at Hans, smacking the rifle right of his hands, and without skipping a heartbeat it plunges the stinger into Hans' chest.
As time seemed to still for Hans, he stared into the stinger that now embeds itself within his chest, he could feel something protruding from his back and he could now see blood oozing from the gaping wound.
He gurgled in surprise, more blood spews out from his mouth as he grasps at the embedded stinger, trying in vein to dislodge it from his torso.
The beast, more annoyed than anything, shakes it's tail from side to side. After a few more attempts, Hans' body flails off of the tail and Flung towards a building, destroying it's wall in the process and rendering Hans into a broken pile of blood, meat and bones, scarring the ponies cowering within.
As Wilhelm watched Hans' broken body be flung forwards. The beast let's out another roar, shaking the very foundations of the buildings once more.
While the beast busied itself in it's feast, Wilhelm and his men hid behind the buildings that still stood, so did the rest of the remaining ponies, now thoroughly terrified.
Silence reigned throughout the whole town, only broken with the beast biting into and feeding onto the bodies of it's victims.
With the beast now seemingly having lost interest, Wilhelm turned to the captain peaking out the window of the shop they hid themselves in, his rifle at the ready.
Before Wilhelm could properly communicate to his captain, a loud crash sounded from afar. Startling he and his captain and alerting the lion to the noise.
With a shout and a scream, a fellow German fires his rifle as the ponies with him began running in the opposite directions. Angered once more, it let's out a cry and charges the German.
Without thinking, Wilhelm dashed out of the store, saber in hand, he charges at the beast, intent on preventing more of his men from being killed.
To the Captain's credit, he did not question Wilhelm's recklessness, instead he called out the rest of the men still in hiding "Cover the Prince!!" Aiming his rifle, he begins to lay down rifle fire on the beast, the remaining men follows suit as well.
A round smashes into the beast's wing, it slams to the cobblestone floor with a loud thud, the ground beneath it being deformed in it's wake.
Seeing his chance, Wilhelm sprinted across the street, intent on reaching the downed beast before it recovered.
As the beast attempted to stand, Wilhelm came from behind and stomped on it's tail, pinning it to the floor, roaring in defiance the beast tries to sting at the Crown Prince, but the Prince's boot remains firm, in retaliation the Prince raises his saber and swings it down upon the beast's tale.
With a swift and powerful swing, the tail is severed from its body, it's venom and blood spewing from the newly severed limb. As the Crown Prince turns to the wings and attempts to cut them off as well, the beast let's out a ear deafening wail.
It sounded desperate, in pain and akin to that of a train loudly screeching to a halt. Wilhelm, for a moment had been stunned, his ears ringing thanks to being right next to it, but it was enough for the lion.
In an instant, the beast spun around and lunged at the Crown Prince, though momentarily having lost his hearing, he could still see and Wilhelm tried to leap out of the way.
Unfortunately, the lion proved quicker, it pinned the Prince to the ground, it sunk it's claws deeper into his flesh, Wilhelm let out a scream, pain flaring all over throughout his body. The lion roars back, furious at Wilhelm for cutting of it's tail.
In desperation, the Prince stabbed the beast with his saber still in hand. As though it were being stung by mosquito, it merely swats the blade aside, scratching Wilhelm's hand in the process.
As it opened it's jaw wide and prepared to crush the Crown Prince's skull. Wilhelm saw something blue zipped past over in the sky above them. And then in the next few seconds, just before he was to meet the maker, he saw a blue blur fly right of the edge of his vision, then suddenly the lion's head had been kicked hard to the side by a pair of blue hind legs.
The beast's body is thrown to the side as the blur fly pasts once again. And without wasting any time, Wilhelm grasped at his discarded saber, and just before the lion recovered, Wilhelm plunged the blade deep into the beast's neck.
It wails once more, it's wings fluttering uselessly and its legs kicking nothing but air. Wilhelm grabs the handle with two of his hands and twists the blade deeper into its neck, silencing it's cry but not it's movement, and with a final yell the Crown Prince rams the saber so deep into it's neck it pierces through the other side.
Finally, the beast goes limp, its wings fluttering one last time before going limp and draping itself onto it's body.
"Sheesh, talk about overkill." The blue pony besides him comments, before then promptly passing out, his injuries having finally caught up to the Prince.
Scoffing, Edward threw the paper into his desk, and continued to sip on his wine "The Kaiser's much more immature than a child, let me tell you."
His advisors though, didn't see it that way. It was understandable for the Kaiser of Germany to assume Britain was responsible for his son's disappearance, after all they'd been at each other's throats since the naval arms race.
"But, your majesty what about his-"
"Yeah, yeah. His eldest son and heir going missing blah, blah, blah." Edward rattled off, pouring another drink of wine into his glass, before taking a sip. "To be honest, I don't care what that twat thinks. As far as anyone is concerned, he drowned in some storm or whatever."
His advisors gazed at each other, unnerved by their king's nonchalance to a potential crisis that could potentially spark a war between the British Empire and the young nation of Germany.
"Aight, just send back a letter, convince that arrogant sob that we had nothing to do with it." Edward took a shot from his glass, before gazing at his advisors, who is clearly not buggering off and leaving him be with his drink.
"Well? What the bloody hell are you waiting for?!"
Quickly, they scurried off, closing the door behind them as they left. Finally leaving the king of Britain alone with his thoughts.
As Rainbow Dash watches the Germans finish burying their dead comrades, they removed their funny looking metal hats and placed them on their chests, seemingly in respect to them.
She'll admit, the fight was pretty cool, whoever they were, these 'Germans' (Weird name, but she won't judge.. sorta) they could certainly hold themselves in a fight at least, except for the other three.
As she continued to watch the Germans in silence, one of them, who was wearing a fancy black dress coat, though not very fancy now, given its in tatters and his upper chest were covered in bandages, limped up beside her, having to use his sword to help him walk, given he was still weak from that scrap he had with that manticore.
"Sup." Rainbow greeted, slightly surprising the German with her nonchalance.
Regaining his composure, the German let out a sigh, then turned back to the Pegasus "I'd like to thank you, for saving me back there."
"Nah, it was nothing." Rainbow waved her hoof nonchalantly. She intended to end it just there, but he decided to continue further.
"I do not jest, if it weren't for you, I would've met the maker right then and there." Rainbow looked back at him, now sporting a thankful smile.
Not knowing what else to say, Rainbow stood there for a moment, awkwardly shuffling her hooves, before just going with a "Your welcome, I guess."
Nodding his head, the German turned to the three makeshift graves, their rifles piercing the mounds of dirt with the deceased's helmets having been laid to rest on the butts of them.
"I am Wilhelm, by the way." He suddenly greeted, catching the Pegasus off guard.
"Oh ummm" Given that she didn't really ask for his name, she felt kinda awkward, but decided to return the greeting in kind "Rainbow Dash, pleasure to meet ya Wilhelm." She raised a hoof to shake his hand, to which Wilhelm grabbed and shook.
"Rainbow!! we've been looking all over for you!" Exclaimed Twilight Sparkle, who had just entered the noticeablely damaged town.
Rainbow, who was suppose to be their scout. Stands there dumbly, her face in confusion.
"In what part of 'scouting' do you not understand?" She chastised, approaching Rainbow with her friends in tow.
Holding up her hooves, she stammers out her excuses "I, look I was a bit caught up, ok? I kinda forgot that's was what I was suppose to be doing."
"And what exactly, was so important for you to-" Twilight interrupted herself as she turned to see exactly what she is standing next to.
A bipedal like creature stands next to Twilight, appearing wounded, what with the bandages on it's chest and it leaning from a saber.
"Uhhh, Dash, who is this?" Rainbow Dash turns to the tall creature, in response it turns it's head on her and nods it's head.
"This is what I was caught up about." She raised a hoof at the strange creature "Friends, this is Wilhelm, a human from another world, or so I've been told."
.... P A R D O N ?
Human? Another world? How is that possible? In fact, it shouldn't be, for all of this world's magical properties, traveling from one world to another is simply ridiculous.
She must know more.
"Now hol' up a sec. Another world? Dash, you must be going coo coo." Applejack comes up behind Twilight, suspicion written all on her face.
"Nein, what frau Dash speaks of is the truth." The human said, catching the pony off guard and startling Fluttershy into hiding behind Applejack.
"I-i-it speaks!" Fluttershy squeaked out, much to the amusement of both Dash and the human.
"This, thing, is actually a he, Fluttershy, and don't worry about him hurting any of us. He's pretty chill." Dash turns to the human, a friendly smile gracing her face.
"I am Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm von Hohenzollern, I come from a land not from this world." The Prince greeted, slightly bowing in greeting towards the ponies.
Well, not only is he intelligent, but is also a royal! Now the question remains-
"What's a royal like you doin all the way out here by yourself?" Applejack questioned, but before Friedrich could really answer that, Pinkie bounced up behind the Prince.
"Oooo, a new friend!!" She exclaimed, startling the Crown Prince, making him stumble and losing his balance, he would've landed face first into the dirt if it weren't for the help of Rainbow Dash.
"Pinkie Pie! Stop popping up unannounced behind people's backs!" Twilight scolded, but whether the bouncing Pinkie heard her or not, she didn't care, instead opting to bombard the poor Prince with unrelated and seemingly random questions.
"Do you like jazz? And honey, do you like honey as well?" The pony bouncingly questioned, unceasingly, confusing and possibly terrifying the poor human with her sheer unpredictability.
"Pinkie, would you stop-"
"Oh! Here comes more!" Just like that, she zips past the Prince and towards another set of humans, bouncing along in her eternal joy and happiness.
"You'll get used to her shenanigans. Eventually." Rainbow explained, watching along with the bewildered Prince as Pinkie Pie barrages the Prince's likely entourage with more of her random babbling.
"So anyway, about your question, umm." Friedrich turns around, fully facing Twilight and her other friends.
"Applejack." She stated, in response to his silent question.
"Right, Applejack." The Prince turns to the sky, seemingly trying to think of something to say, before turning back down again. "You see, my visit here, wasn't really intentional."
"How so?" Twilight tilted her head, curiosity getting the better of her, and so with the rest of her friends, even Fluttershy seemed to be interested as she stopped hiding behind Applejack.
"Well, you see, I was set for a vacation to a place in my world, called Norway. And if I recall, my yacht didn't make it past the Heligoland Bight before we were somewhere else entirely."
"Soo, you were on vacation when you just suddenly-" Applejack made a what seemed like popping motion '-popped out of the Equestrian east coast?"
"Precisely." The Crown Prince confirmed. "We barely noticed any sign that we transported worlds, until we came across a city, eerily similar to the ones from our world."
"Liiike, Baltimare?" Twilight guessed, slightly confusing the Prince, before adding "It's a city in the east coast." At that, the Prince nodded his head in recognition.
"Ja, I heard about it from one the locals." The Crown Prince said, before then continuing on with his story. "After that realization, my yacht and the ship escorting it decided to anchor far from the city and into the wilderness to explore what this strange world had to offer. After that, the rest was history."
Twilight nodded in fascination. She was listening to practically an alien recall it's tales on how it got to Equestria, like something out of a fantasy from her books.
How exciting! Being one of the first pony to ever meet and talk with an alien was far from her mind, but now that such a thing has become a reality, she cannot wait to see what his world is like too.
But something didn't add up to Applejack, her expression was one of suspicion, and it seemed she didn't quite trust the royal.
"Since y'all just, teleported on the eastern sea, why can't y'all just turn back the way you came?"
It was at that question, Friedrich frowned, he lowered and shook his head, his expression one of slight sadness. "We tried that, but no matter what we did, we just couldn't seem to teleport back."
He then looked to the sky once more, his expression now that of melancholy. "So for the time being, I guess we're just stuck here."
Seeing his mood turning sour, Twilight just remembered the reason why she was here in the first place. If she could just bring them to Celestia and explain to her the situation, maybe she could have the solution to the Crown Prince's problem.
"Maybe we could help you get home?" At the mention of a potential option of returning home, the Prince's mood changed drastically, he looks to Twilight in anticipation.
"Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria and the one sent us here in the first place, could have a solution for the predicament you and your fellow humans are having." She explained to the Crown Prince, his eyes lighting up pure relief.
"That is a huge relief, though I question how a Princess could help us in our predicament." The Prince was sceptical, and didn't react much, a raised eyebrow at most, with the mention of Celestia, cementing his alien origins as nearly every nation and creature in the world knew of her existence and her millennium long reign, further cementing their alien origins
"Well, trust me, she's the one with the most experience in matters like these." Twilight assured,
For but a few moments, Friedrich stood there, his eyebrows scrunched up in thought. Seemingly weighing in his options.
Eventually though, he looked to Twilight, sighed and spoke once again "So far in my visit here, I have been met with nothing but kindness and honesty. So I trust your judgement that this, Princess Celestia might help me in getting home."
"Of course, Crown Prince, I'm sure she won't disappoint." With that agreed upon, it seemed the Crown Prince made up his mind, and turned to go and fetch his entourage
But before he could, he was interrupted by someone. She had remained silent throughout the whole conversation, and never said anything much of a word, only now did she decide to speak her mind.
"No offense to you, Crown Prince." Rarity inhaled and exhaled "But that outfit is simply so atrociously plain, for someone with a status such as royalty, I am just utterly baffled by your poor choice of clothing."
Friedrich, Twilight, Rainbow Dash and pretty much everyone present stared at Rarity with a bewildered expression, wondering why she decided to comment that just now.
"You and my father will get along just fine." Wilhelm said, to no one in particular.
"This is outrageous!” The Kaiser yelled out, tearing the piece of paper in half and throwing them to the side. "What does that Edward think he is!? My son is missing, so as my prized ships and he has the audacity to speak to me of the unfortunates of life!?!"
"With all due respect, my Kaiser, there is a possibility that a-" Bernhard tried reasoning the Kaiser, but the Kaiser interrupted him before he could say more.
"No storm could've sunk those ships! None!" The Kaiser continues on, pacing back and forth, his cane angrily smacking the wooden floor of the office.
"Even if it did, the SMS Deutschland wouldn't just, turned up missing exactly where they disappeared!"
Wilhelm was right, only a truly terrible storm could've sunk the two ships, and also does not explain the disappearance of the Deutschland. Still, he was making a big mistake, and if Bernhard could not quell his Kaiser's rage. Germany, and possibly all of Europe could be dragged into a devastating war.
"We still can't be sure if it was the British-"
"NO! I refuse to let that scheming Brit's lies be!" Wilhelm made his way to his desk, grabbing a piece of paper and grasping a pen, he sat on the finely made chair and began writing his will. "If those fools on that damned island want war, then I will give them war!!"
Bernhard gulped, witnessing the Kaiser make the biggest mistake he could ever make.
If one were to ask Wilhelm what he thought was the most prestigious and beautiful of all the capitals in Europe, he would reply with Berlin. Not only does it reign supreme as one of the biggest capitals in Europe, it also serves as the seat of power for the most powerful Empire in all of the known world.
From Fredrick the Great, all the way till his father. Berlin had become something of a symbol to Germany, a symbol of triumph and pride for the Kaiserreich and her people.
Yet, when he gazes upon the ancient city, he cannot help but be enraptured in its beauty and its absolutely ingenious emplacement. Canterlot is built upon the side of a mountain, the only ways in were the steep and narrow roadway leading into it, which opens to a wide field. With the modern ingenuity of the Kaiserreich and add that with the walls already protecting the city proper, it could easily become an impenetrable fortress capable of withstanding any siege that is thrown against it.
As Wilhelm and his troop moved closer to the city walls, he could see that the walls itself shone brightly against the rising sun. Further cementing the city's eternal beauty.
"Mein Gott." His captain muttered in amazement, absolutely stunned with the scale of its walls and towers.
"If you've already been enraptured by its walls, just wait until you get in the city proper." Twilight giggle onto her hoof, watching in pride and amusement as the humans before her were amazed at the mere sight of Canterlot's walls.
With that, the bewildered Prince and his band of royal guards made their way towards the gate, wonder and excitement bubbling within them never before felt since childhood.
Celestia will admit, when she first received the letter, she didn't expect its first words to be 'made contact with alien species'. for a millennium she had seen all sorts of species, participated in all types of cultures, some more interesting then the last. So by the time she had settled down and founded Canterlot, Celestia thought she had seen it all.
But due to recent events, and confirmation that life indeed exists somewhere in the universe. Life it seemed, was not done with showing the Alicorn all it had to offer.
Luna, her younger sister and co-ruler of Equestria turned to her, worry etched within her expression. When they first heard of Twilight's report, Luna had been suspicious of these newcomers of another world. Memories of Chrysalis and her invasion was still fresh within her mind, and had advised Celestia to be cautious with these newcomers.
In truth, the Princess of light knew to be cautious, she did not yet know of their true intentions, and there's a high possibility that this so called Prince and his lost fleet of ships have come to Equestria with less than savory intentions. Last time she let her guard down, she had been subsequently defeated and Equestria almost conquered if it weren't for the mane six.
Still, she could not simply ignore a plea for help, whether they have good or bad intentions, as benevolent ruler of Equestria, it was her duty to help those within her realm, alien or otherwise.
"Sister, are you certain in inviting these 'humans' into the royal palace itself?" Luna asked, scepticism and concern laced within her voice.
Celestia sighed, "Luna, I can't just simply ignore their cries for help. Besides, what if they're genuine about their problem?"
"They might be just good liars." Luna countered.
"That may be so-" Celestia looked beyond the huge doors leading out of the throne room, "-but that does not mean I cannot ignore it entirely."
Luna, seeing her older sister's resolute expression, nods in understanding, then returns to her side as before, facing the door and patiently awaits the newcomers.
When he went on a trip across all of Germany, Friedrich Wilhelm had seen many a castles, palaces, and cities that the Kaiserreich possess. Most of them, were a thing of beauty, an example of Germany's superior engineering and architecture.
But when he walked through the streets of Canterlot, he saw for himself the architecture and culture of these strange ponies for himself.
For one, they were far more different than the modern architecture the Prince were more used to. Unlike the simple and sturdy structures he had come to know, it had seemed the ponies of this world had gone for a more colorful and medieval like structures, the buildings took on a seemingly odd whitish grey and purple like paint scheme.
but atop all this unique infrastructure, rising higher than the rest. Lies their destination.
It stood higher than the rest of city, its towers spiraling so high it might as well be touching the heavens itself. The Palace of Canterlot stood like the shining beacon that it is, showing to all who truly ruled these lands.
For the first time in all his years of living. The Crown Prince developed jealousy for another Monarch's palace.
His jealousy only grew when they had entered and passed through the palace gates. Even the palace gardens nearly overshadows those in Berlin, many well trimmed plants and bushes dots the gardens, every plant in here were as beautiful as was how strange they were to the Crown Prince. If the botanists from back home could see the sight that the Crown Prince bears witness to, they'd all have a field day cataloguing each and everyone of these.
After the gardens, came the interior, to the surprise of the Crown Prince, it was what one would usually see in any palace. Well made paintings dotting the walls here and there, relics and other things that a monarch would want to display for all to see.
Though it wasn't those that caught the eyes of the Germans. Their attention were focused on the guards.
From what he has seen during the trip here, it seemed that this Equestria was at least kind of on par with the other nations of earth. They at least had a railway network connecting all across the nation, allowing Wilhelm, his men and the mane six (He was well aware of the pun, he just didn't want to show it out of respect.) to swiftly cross from the peninsula to Canterlot in a day.
Yet for reasons that escaped him, it looks as though the guards themselves had come from Ancient Greece. They wore armor similar to that of a Greek hoplite, crested helmet and armor alike.
Their weaponry even reflects their medieval like appearance, a xiphos sword strapped to a scabbard on their side and a spear as their main armament.
If this was the best that Equestria had to offer in terms of military power. If they were to ever enter earth's world stage, they'd be picked off like vultures by the other European powers.
His captain had the same thought as well, as he leaned in to the Crown Prince, taking care to speak in their native language so as to not be understood.
"These guards look as though they had just come from antiquity." The Captain glanced at the Equestrian Royal Guards a second time, sort've in disbelief. It's another to be in an alien world filled with magic and talking ponies, but it is an entirely different manner to see said ponies be wielding and wearing the arms and armor of armies from earth's antiquity.
"They have a railway network, so clearly they are at least on par with our industry, yet they still use armor and spears like the medieval ages." The Crown Prince said, agreeing with the captain's observation.
"Maybe they're not as advanced as we thought, my Prince."
"We can't be sure of that, Hauptmann." The Crown Prince turned to the mane six, leading the way to meet with this Princess. "We have not seen what this world really has to offer yet."
The Captain nodded, trusting in his Prince's judgement.
Out of all the Mane six, Applejack had been the most suspicious of these Germans.
"Ya'll think that this human Germane 'noble' would come here with his fancy ships for no reason?" She voiced out, during the train ride to Canterlot.
"Applejack, if they were here with any ill intentions, why just bring two ships? One of them is a yacht for Celestia's sake." Rainbow Dash countered.
"It could be likely just a scouting party. To get a feel for their future foe." Twilight attested to Applejack's point, also suspicious but severely less so then Applejack.
"If it was a scouting party, why involve their Crown Prince? The heir to this 'German Empire' that these strange folks come from?" Rainbow Dash refuted, not believing the theory one bit.
"I,-i second Dash's opinion." Fluttershy, the shyest of the mane six, spoke up, much to the surprise of everypony present.
"What makes you think that, Fluttershy?" Twilight questioned, curious as to the shy pony's opinion of the humans.
"W-well, you all heard of what they did back in that village, right?" The ponies nodded, Dash especially, she was the first of the six to witness it first hand after all.
"Well, if they did have any, less than kind intentions, they wouldn't have gone out of their way to let themselves get hurt like that to protect strangers they barely know." Fluttershy frowned, the graves of the Germans who lost their lives pops into her mind, remembering the sadness in the human's expressions.
"Fluttershy is right, heck, even the Prince himself got hurt protecting the ponies of that town." Dash said, further adding more evidence to the good intentions of the Germans.
Applejack looked back at the Germans, despite displaying their good intentions, seeing them whisper in their strange language had made her even more suspicious of them. Who knows what they're planning, or why they are here, for all she knew, they could be conquerors seeking a nation such as Equestria to invade.
Then again, maybe they were also here by mistake, after all, like Dash said it wouldn't make sense to send your heir to a scouting missions, they could've just send a diplomat instead.
For now, she'd keep an eye on him, only time will truly tell of their intentions. She just hopes that she is wrong.
After a considerable amount of time navigating the halls of the Canterlot Palace, Wilhelm and his guard arrived in front of a large double door, two guards on either side stood guard, deterring any possible intruders.
Twilight approached the duo, and with a swift nod, the guards push open the door, allowing the mane six and Wilhelm and his Troop to enter the throne room within.
The sight the Prince was first greeted with was a pair of horses, they were biggest of all the other ponies Wilhelm had seen so far. The tallest of the pair sported a skin tone as white as ceramic, with their mane being that the color of the rainbow itself, the other, being the shortest of the two, has a skin akin to that of midnight, and indeed even her mane was like that of the stars in a clear night sky. Like Twilight they sported a horn on their foreheads but longer.
As he and his troop got closer to the duo monarchs, he could start feeling a strange aura surround he and his men, it was the first time he ever felt it, and it seemed to get more intense as he approached the two monarchs, the closest the Crown Prince would describe this feeling would be a sense of awe, an aura of beauty and grace, like one would feel when meeting something like God himself.
When Twilight reached about ten meters from the thrones, she reared back her front hooves and leaned her head close to the ground, in an almost bowing like gesture. The rest of her pony friends followed suit, with only Wilhelm and his men, remaining where they were.
"Twilight, my student." The white Monarch exclaimed, a hint of happiness laced in her voice. "I am glad you have returned safely."
Twilight rises from her position, a smile on her face as she meets eyes with the Monarch. "Likewise Princess Celestia." Twilight then raises a hoof towards the Crown Prince and his entourage, the former slightly bowing his head in respect to a fellow Monarch.
"My Princess" The young Alicorn began, "I present to you the Crown Prince of a foreign land known as Germany. Friedrich Wilhelm von Hohenzollern."
The Monarch laid her gaze on Wilhelm and his troop, and that aura from before begins to flare ever brighter, almost consuming the Prince with it's light. Fortunately for the Prince, he regained his composure and bowed his head lower in greeting.
"It is an honor to meet you, Princess Celestia, I have heard many things about you." The Crown Prince greeted.
"Likewise, Crown Prince." The Monarch responded "I am Princess Celestia-" she then gestures towards the other Monarch on her side "-and this is my sister, Princess Luna."
The Crown Prince turned to the Co-Monarch, noting how shorter she was to her fellow sister. Said sister turned to him in turn, giving him a smile of her own.
"So, Crown Prince Wilhelm." The White Monarch began "Let us start with how you got here."
To the casual observer, everything seemed normal. People were casually going on about their day, enjoying the beautiful sunny morning, enjoying their meals and beverages with friends, purchasing items for their daily needs. Indeed, all seemed well in the land of Germany.
"Extra! Extra! Germany mobilizes against Britain!"
Well, if one were to ignore the gossip, papers, and the telltale sign of of a nation preparing for war.
All across the German Empire, the Imperial Army mobilizes for war, the Imperial Navy deploys its ships and patrols the waters of the Empire, preparing for any pesky British ships that dare to cross their waters.
Of course, unsurprisingly, France mobilizes their armies, readying to invade the Germans as soon as the first shots are fired, though the east is a different story.
Nicholas II, cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm II, has been communicating with each other for the past few hours, telegraphers having to work around the clock to get the messages of two leaders quickly received and delivered. For most of their time, Nicholas had tried to appeal to his cousin, pleading with him to not declare war on Britain, warning Wilhelm of a disastrous war that could engulf the entirety of Europe.
Wilhelm had not responded for the past few hours, instead he is busy with his generals, who are now currently planning an invasion of Britain itself.
"If we use our ships to surround the island, we could starve out the Brits through blockade."
"No, Britain has the largest fleet in the world, they'd easily overwhelm us with their ships and their better experience."
"We have the second largest navy in the world!"
"We've been dominating the battlefields of Europe since the Napoleonic Wars!"
"ENOUGH, ALL OF YOU!!" Moltke the younger roared, the room in an instant went into a deep silence, everyone, even the Kaiser himself, is now looking at him.
Taking a second to calm himself, Moltke takes a deep breath, and takes stock of the room before him. Most, if not all of Germany's brightest military minds are gathered, even some of them was there when Germany was born in the glorious year that is 1871. Yet, so far, he is not seeing the same united spirit that his father and the other generals of that glorious war against France had, all he was seeing was disunity, indecision, defeatism.
"Gentlemen." Moltke began. "War might very well be at our doorstep, and what are we doing?" A moment of silence reigned.
"Our fathers and comrades before us did not win the war of 1870 through argument and indecision. But through unity, swiftness and discipline." Moltke could see Mackensen, a veteran of the Franco-Prussian war, nod in approval.
"Gentlemen, let us prove the fact, Germany united, has never been defeated in this upcoming war. Let us prove to the world that we Germans are worthy of our place in the sun!"
The room exploded in cheers, even the Kaiser joined in on the revelry, clapping politely while the rest cheer with enthusiasm.
"But that still does not solve the problem." Mackensen stated, instantly returning the room back into its serious atmosphere. "How are we to beat the British, who still rules the seas?" The other officers in the room nodded, their sense of discipline returning to them now.
"Moreover, there's a chance that the French might join in on behalf of the Brits. Even Russia might join in as well. What with all that alliance they have going with France." Another general voiced out, concern written in his features.
"We still have the Schlieffen plan." Moltke reminded. "If we can quickly defeat the French just as quickly as we did in 1870, then beat the Russians into submission. Then surely the British will surrender in fear of our might."
"Agreed. With such overwhelming display of German might, the pesky British will be cowed into signing a peace with us!" Mackensen boasted.
"But first, let us make sure that happens."
So thus, for two hours, Germany's finest generals came up with plans, backup plans, counter plans, strategies and counter strategies, all to prepare for all out war against most likely the world itself.
Fortunately for them, after many hours had passed, they did not need to use them. For in the middle of running one of many hypothetical scenarios, the door leading to the war room bursted open, a courier, covered in sweat and with guards on his tail, waved a piece of parchment.
"I HAVE A MESSAGE!" The courier shouted as the guards tried to restrain him, the courier waved the letter all the while as they did. "IT IS URGENT THAT I SEE THE KAISER!"
More confused then angry, the Kaiser ordered the courier be released, and with a wave of his hand, be dismissed.
"What importance do you have to so boldly barge in here? Do you realize what could happen for such course of action?"
The courier bowed. "My apologies your grace, but I was told to deliver this with haste." The courier then presented a letter, meant for the Kaiser.
Moltke, being the closest to the Courier, took the letter and past it over to each of the generals, before landing in Mackensen's hand before he too passed it to the Kaiser himself. Curiously, Wilhelm took a quick read at who sent it, wondering who it was that was so important to have it be-
Everything had seemed to slow to a crawl, time itself ceased to be as the Wilhelm took in the words that greeted him. His generals around him looked concerned for their Kaiser.
The Kaiser ignored the concerned looks his generals gave him, opting to open the letter with haste, discarding the letter and gripping upon the parchment itself, Wilhelm read, with baited breath.
A few, tense, silent moments passed by, The Kaiser's generals watched as the Kaiser, explored the letter frantically, his expression seeming desperate.
Suddenly, Wilhelm laughed, his desperation being replaced with pure and utter relief as he gripped the strands of his hair as his mind began to comprehend the words before him.
"My Kaiser, is something the matter?" Mackensen asked hesitantly, worried over the Kaiser's perceived delirium.
The Kaiser, smiling now, looked at Mackensen with such a relieved look in his eyes it looked as though he had slightly aged backwards.
"Call off the navy. D-De-mobilize the army." Wilhelm said, slightly stuttering in relief, his smile never leaving his face.
The concern that had washed over the generals were now replaced with utter confusion. What had possessed the Kaiser so for him to suddenly reverse the effort he and his generals made to get the German army and navy into full alert.
When they were deemed to be taking far too long to respond for the Kaiser's liking, he dropped his smile to adopt a fierce scowl.
"Damn your ears! I said call off the navy and de-mobilize the army!" The generals were then in sudden motion, hastily exiting the room as they made to obey the Kaiser's orders, only Moltke and Mackensen remained to see the Kaiser's smile return, his eyes scanning over the letter again before clutching it to his chest.
"Oh, thank God!" Wilhelm cracked, relief in his voice as he continued to hug the letter close tom him. Much to the concern of the two remaining generals.
To my father, Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Father, I pray to God that the courier I entrusted this letter to finds you in time. I write to tell you that I am alive and well, the Hohenzollern yacht is safe and sound, along with the escort ship and another vessel that had come in search for me. Currently we surf through the high seas in haste as I write this.
I ask of you Father, as your son, to cease hostilities with Britain, Once I arrive to shore, I will explain everything, I swear it to God the Almighty.
I remain, as your eldest and loving son, Wilhelm III von Hohenzollern.
