A German column running from the Russians gets stuck in Equestria. They get tangled up in a war between Equestria and the Gryphon Empire. Can they turn the tide?
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A German Panzer column during world war 2 gets pulled into Equestria where they stumble upon the crystal empire. Meanwhile, Equestria's hostile northern neighbour, The Gryphon Empire, is gearing up for war. Will the Germans be able to turn the odds in Equestria's favour?
Snow fell quietly across the vast snow fields of the Russian steppe, the silence only broken by the occasional howl as the wind whipped across the frozen landscape. It seemed as if nothing would disturb the tranquil scene. Then the ground began to shake with the guttural roar of several diesel engines. An armor plated beast burst through a snowbank, scattering the white powder into a fine mist.
A German tiger tank emerged from the cloud, its huge, blocky fuselage and camouflage paint more suited for southern Europe stood out easily against the snowfields. A hatch opened on top of the vehicle and an officer poked his head out. Colonel Wilhelm Schlesinger stood up in the turret of his tank and looked back at the column which trailed it.
Directly behind the tank was a “Puma” armored car. Armed with a 50mm anti tank gun and 30mm of armor on all sides it was effectively impenetrable for most small arms weapons, making it a perfect addition to the small task force. Although unable to counter tanks it would serve its purpose against enemy troop concentrations and bunkers, if they stumbled across any that was.
Behind it was an Opel Blitz truck carrying two squads of grenadiers. The squads were composed of 10 infantry a piece, a squad commander, 5 riflemen and 4 more men to man and protect the squads light machine gun.
Behind that was a supply truck. Loaded with munitions, food and medical supplies, enough to last roughly a month in the open steppe.
Last came a halftrack. An SdKfz 251 model. On board were four combat engineers and two 3 man squads to man the companies two heavy machine guns.
The company was in fairly good condition, seeing what they had been through. After the disaster during Operation Citadel (the battle of Kursk), German units had scattered all across the Russian front. Schlesinger’s tank regiment had fallen behind enemy lines when they were set upon by waves of T-34’s and other assorted Russian vehicles. By the end of the pitched firefight, the only tank left operational was Schlesinger’s.
Alerted by the sound of the battle, two squads from the 9th Grenadier battalion stumbled across the remaining Tiger. The two groups joined forces in order to attempt to break back behind their own lines. A day later they found the armored car in a heated argument with a T-34. A point blank shot from the Tigers 88mm gun ended the dispute and the car had joined their motley column. With Russian armor closing in they were forced to turn east and head back into Russia to slip around the enemy forces.
Now they were in the middle of nowhere attempting to blaze a trail south west into Ukraine. Schlesinger lowered himself back down and closed the hatch, he rubbed his hands together in an attempt to keep warm. It was not yet winter but the weather was already beginning to turn against them. Many of the troops had fought either in or around the city of Stalingrad and were no strangers to the dangers that the cold presented. If they didn’t find friends soon they would freeze in this frozen wasteland.
The drivers voice through his earpiece shook Schlesinger from his thoughts. “Sir, something ahead.”
Schlesinger lifted his mouth piece. “Can you identify?” He asked.
“Negative.” The driver replied. “All I can see is a bright light.”
The gunner put his eye to the gunsight. “Same here sir, bright light dead ahead.”
Schlesinger didn’t dare open that hatch for a peek. The light may have been the reflection off a Soviet gunsight. He changed his headset frequency to the radio operators. “Send a message to all vehicles, unknown contact ahead, prepare for imminent engagement.”
The column came to a halt as the orders were passed around. The infantry dismounted from the trucks, some climbed aboard the Tiger, perching on the back to defend its vulnerable sides and rear, the others taking positions alongside it. The crew of the halftrack stood up in the vehicle, two of them manning the heavy machine guns at the front and rear, the others raising their rifles, SMGs and STG assault rifles. The halftrack the moved up to the third space in the column.
Seeing that all was in order, Schlesinger called to his driver. “Move out.” The tank started forward, the infantry walking alongside and the other vehicles following behind. As they got close, the light began to intensify, everyone shielded their eyes from the intense glare. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared it had gone. Schlesinger threw open the hatched and looked behind them. The light was no longer visible, just the column of vehicles. He turned around and his mouth dropped open. In front of them was an enormous pink dome, it glowed with a healthy pink aurora and inside the dome, was a city.
“Are you seeing what i’m seeing sir?” Came the voice of the Puma commander, Captain Schmitt.
“I’m seeing it, but I don’t know what i’m seeing.” Said Schlesinger, raising his officers cap slightly to wipe his brow.
“Russians sir?” asked Schmitt.
“I don’t think so.” Said Schlesinger. “I doubt the Russians have the technological advancement to create something like this. Lets go check it out.”
The tiger began to roll again, within minutes they were at the edge of the dome. The tiger slowed to a crawl as the barrel of its massive gun penetrated the barrier. Noting that there were no i’ll effects Schlesinger ordered the column to advance into the city.
In the castle at the center of the city, a pink alicorn princess looked up from her tired stupor in surprise and alarm. Something huge had penetrated her shield. She felt it again another 4 times as several slightly smaller objects pushed their way through. It was not King Sombra, she would have sensed his presence long before he tried to push through the shield, this was something else. Possibly a demon of some sort created by Sombra to bring down her Empires defenses.
With her husband away, it was up to her to defend her kingdom. She gave a weak cry and two guards in crystal armor raced into the throne room. “How may we serve your highness.” They both said at the same time and bowed.
“Something has entered the Empire from the north, rally the Crystal guard. We must confront whatever this is and determine its intentions.” The two guards bowed and raced out of the room.
Princess Cadence walked over to her balcony and raised her wings, she leapt over the edge and fluttered quickly to the ground where she was joined by a platoon of 30 ponies in crystal armor. “Something has invaded our Empire.” She said to them. “We are to barricade off the north road and determine their intentions.”
The tiger tank slowly made its way down the main street of the city. The troops on the back of the tank and around it gazed in wonder at the cities beauty. The buildings looked to be carved from gems and sparkled just as much. Everywhere was clean and tidy, not a speck of dirt anywhere.
Schlesinger peered down the road through his binoculars, his eyes widened at what he saw. Around 30 brightly colored equine creatures were overturning a wagon in the path of the tank. Several soldiers around the tank had also caught sight of the creatures and had raised their weapons into firing position. Schlesinger gave an order to halt and the tank slowly stopped. “All vehicles, targets spotted, hold fire until ordered.”
"Sir, what the fuck am I looking at?" The driver asked, looking through his view slit.
Schlesinger looked through his own sight at the equine creatures building their barricade. "I don't know." He said finally, then reached for his radio. "Anyone have any idea what we're looking at here?" The commander of the armoured car, Schmitt, responded in the negative, though judging from the sound of his voice, he was obviously confused.
The infantry commander, Lieutenant Krous, climbed up on the side of the tank, then tapped on the hatch. "What should we do Sir?" Schlesinger opened the hatch. He could hear the distant sound of voices, presumably coming from the creatures. He began to climb out of the tank.
“I'm going to try and parley with these creatures.” He responded, reaching back down into the turret and pulling out an MP-40 submachine gun. “Judging from what we can see around us they are a sentient species and, as such, may be open to reasoning.” He climbed down from the side of the tank and straightened his Iron cross. “If anything happens to me, Captain Schmitt to assume command.” Schmitt, who was leaning out of the turret of the armoured car, nodded and saluted.
Schlesinger began to walk towards the make shift barricade, several of the Equines saw him coming and shouted to each other. Surprisingly, Schlesinger found that he could understand them. A large pink horse bearing a horn on its forehead and wings on its back stood atop the wagon, its horn was ablaze with Pink light.
“Stop where you are and identify yourself.” She called.
Schlesinger found himself reaching for the MP-40, but quickly left it alone and cleared his throat. “Colonel Wilhelm Schlesinger, 3rd Panzer army. Wehrmacht.” (Ver-mah-ct). “I must speak with whoever is in charge immediately.”
“You are a soldier?” Asked Cadence. “Of what nation.”
“I serve the 3rd Reich.” Upon realizing that they wouldn’t know what that meant he added. “Germany. As do all my men. Could you please tell me what country we are in? I have never seen a species such as yourself.”
Cadence looked past him at the halted column some way back up the road. “Right now, you are in the Crystal Empire, a pony kingdom within the realm of Equestria. How many soldiers do you have?” She asked.
Schlesinger did a quick number crunch. “I’d say about 45 or so. Who is in charge here?”
“That would be me.” Said Cadence with a smile. “I am Princess Cadence, caretaker of the Crystal Empire.”
Schlesinger almost rolled his eyes. “That explains a lot.” He said. “My men and I need a place to stay. We don’t have the equipment to camp out and we have equipment in need of repair.”
“Of course.” Said Cadence. At the end of the statement her voice faltered and the pink aurora around her horn flickered slightly. The shield above them shimmered in response. An evil sounding laugh echoed through the city.
“What was that?” Asked Schlesinger, pulling the MP-40 off his back and cocking it.
Two crystal guards helped Cadence to stand up straight. “Bring your troops, I’ll explain everything once we get back to the palace.”
Schlesinger raised and arm and gave a hand signal to the waiting vehicles. The column began moving again, this time at speed, the troops leaping into the back of the Opel. They stopped just short of Schlesinger who leapt up the front of the tank and sat on the turret. He reached inside and grabbed his radio. "We've been offered sanctuary here, I'm not exactly sure what to expect so keep every gun loaded for the time being."
Cadence looked up at the imposing war machine, her eyes wide. “Follow me.” She said. She raised her wings and took off flying back towards a large building in the center of the city. To Schlesinger, it resembled the Eiffel tower in Paris, only made of Crystal. She lead them under the massive legs of the tower before landing. The vehicles pulled up in a line, side by side, behind her.
“Company, parade formation!” Shouted Schlesinger. Hatches and doors on all the vehicles opened and troops, gunners and drivers all disembarked and stood at attention in front of their respective vehicle.
Schlesinger looked at his assembled men. “Infantry will spread out and form a perimeter around our armor. The natives will no doubt be curious and we can’t have them getting in the way. All officers not needed here will follow me. Dismissed.”
The troops saluted simultaneously, then turned and set about their assigned tasks. The infantry spread out around the vehicles, except for a few who set about unloading the machine guns from the half track. 2 other officers from various units came forward, including Schmitt.
Cadence looked on with a small contingent of her guards. “Your men show impressive discipline.” She said.
Schlesinger looked back at her. “I would expect nothing less from the greatest fighting force the world has ever seen. You said you would explain whats going on.”
“Yes, of course.” Cadence turned. “Will you kindly accompany me to the throne room.” The throne room was located in the thickest part of the tower with an entrance concealed within one of the supporting columns. A large throne made entirely of crystal sat at the far end of the room. Cadence took her place upon the throne and turned to the group of officers.
“I believe I should introduce myself properly.” Said Cadence. “I am Princess Cadence, niece of the Princesses Celestia and Luna, Rulers of the nation of Equestria.” It was an impressive title.
“As I said before, I am Colonel Wilhelm Schlesinger, 3rd Panzer army. Wehrmacht.” Said Schlesinger.
“I am Captain Wolfgang Schmitt, 1st armored reconnaissance battalion, Whermacht.” Said Schmitt.
The tall officer bearing lieutenants stripes stepped forward. “Lieutenant Hans Krous, 9th Grenadiers battalion, Wehrmacht.”
Cadence bowed to each in turn. “I guess I should explain the story from the beginning.” She began. “1000 years ago, the Crystal Empire thrived, the people were happy and the happiness radiated across Equestria. Then, the king, a powerful unicorn by the name of Sombra decided to declare martial law and enslave the population. He was confronted by my aunts Celestia and Luna, turned to smoke and banished into the wastelands of the arctic north. But not before he did two things, the first was to put a curse on the Empire, causing it to vanish without trace, the other, he corrupted Luna’s mind and forced Celestia to banish her to the moon.”
“In the madness that followed, Discord, a creature of pure chaos, arose from the depths of Tartarus and seized Equestria for himself, igniting a bloody 200 year civil war. Celestia won in the end and Discord was turned to stone, but the damage had already been done. It took ten generations to rebuild and without the Crystal Empire radiating harmony, there was always the looming threat of another war.”
Schlesinger nodded his head. “I see.” He said. “But how are we in the Crystal Empire if it vanished 1000 years ago, how are we even here at all!”
“I believe I can explain that.” Cadence continued. “Recently, the Empire suddenly reappeared, unfortunately, so did Sombra, and now he wants to reclaim it for his own. The only thing keeping him out is the shell of my magic. As for why you are here. I am not a scientist but I suspect that bringing the Crystal Empire back here took a lot of power or energy. That energy could have been so concentrated it tore a gash in the fabric of space itself, allowing you access.”
“So we can go back whenever we want?” Asked Schmitt.
Cadences smile faltered. “I’m afraid not. I suspect that the portal closed shortly after you came through and the power needed to recreate it would be immense, not even Celestia has that kind of raw power.”
The officers looked at each other. Schlesinger opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by shouting outside. “What is that?” He asked, walking over to a window to look out. Suddenly, there were two cracks of rifle fire, several screams and a small burst of machine gun fire.
“Oh Scheiße.” Schmitt cursed turning and running for the exit, drawing a luger as he went. Schlesinger ran to, followed by Krous and Cadence. He hoped that none of his soldiers had accidentally killed any natives, that would not look good.
He came to the bottom of the stairs and skidded to a halt next to Schmitt. A large white unicorn was laying on its side with blood dribbling from an obvious bullet wound in its foreleg, a rifle barrel to the side of its head. Another 6 brightly colored ponies and a small reptilian creature were standing in a tight circle, surrounded by German infantry. 3 of them, a light blue Pegasus with an amazing looking rainbow colored mane, an orange pony with an American west style stetson hat and a purple unicorn whose gaze shifted from the fallen unicorn to the barrel of the assault rifle pointed at her head, a look of silent fury across her face, faced the guns defiantly.
The others were in various states, a smaller white unicorn had passed out and the reptilian creature was attempting to wake her up. A pink pony with a mane like cotton candy was attempting to peer up the barrel of a rifle, and a light yellow pegasus was whimpering and crying quietly on the ground.
“Stand down!” Shouted Schlesinger. “What in gods name happened here?”
An infantry sergeant ran up to him and saluted. “Sir, these ponies charged us. We yelled at them to halt but they refused, when they got too close, we fired a warning shot. They ignored it so we shot their leader in the leg.”
“Shiny!” Cadence ran to the fallen unicorns side and fell to her knees. He had passed out, whether from pain, shock or blood loss no one knew. “What have you done to him?” She shouted.
“Medic.” Called Schlesinger. One of the combat engineers ran back to the half track and returned with a first aid kit. “He’s been shot.” He explained to Cadence. “We need to treat the wound before he bleeds out.”
The medic made to move towards Shining Armor, but a blur of purple stopped him. The purple unicorn had broken from the encirclement and was now standing over the white unicorn, her horn lit with purple energy and pointed at the medic. “You will not hurt my brother!” She shouted. A dozen guns, including the heavy machine gun mounted on the turret of the Tiger, were pointed at her but Schlesinger raised a hand and gestured for them to lower their weapons. He then knelt down so he was on the unicorns level.
“Please, your brother needs help and we are the only ones who can administer it.”
“Likely story.” The purple unicorn growled, not giving an inch.
“Look at him.” Schlesinger gestured to the steadily growing pool of blood. “He’s lost a lot of blood already, if we don’t help he will die.”
“Twilight, let them help.” Said Cadence softly.
The purple unicorn known as Twilight sighed and stepped back. “Fine.” She grumbled. “But if I see any signs of treachery I will end you all personally.”
Schlesinger nodded and the medic began to inspect the wound. He lifted Shining’s leg and looked at the other side. “No exit wound.” he mumbled. “He reached into the first aid kit and pulled out a set of tweezers. “I have to remove the bullet. Would a few of you mind holding him down, if he wakes up he may panic.”
The orange pony and the blue pegasus moved from the circle of troops and each took a position, the orange pony holding the unicorns rear legs, the pegasus holding down his body. Twilight held his forelegs and Cadence sat by his head. “Ready?” Asked the medic. They all nodded in the affirmative. The medic began to push the tweezers into the wound. Shining was awake in an instant. He began to struggle violently.
Everyone held firm and Cadence began whispering softly in his ear, slowly he began to calm down, though he still jerked occasionally whenever the medic hit a nerve. The medic found what he was looking for, tightened the tweezers and slowly pulled back. Shining jerked his head back and gave a cry through gritted teeth.
The medic finally removed the tweezers from the wound and held up an almost intact Kar-98k bullet. He then began to bandage the wound. “He was lucky, an inch higher and that bullet may have hit an artery, or worse, ricocheted of his leg bone and up into his chest.”
Cadence carefully helped Shining to his hooves. “Who are these creature?” He asked, stumbling slightly on his injured leg as he tried to move out of the pool of blood.
Schlesinger looked at Cadence. “Back to the throne room?”
The second set of introductions went by quickly. It turned out that the unicorn that had been shot was Shining Armor, Captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard and Cadence's husband. The other six began to introduce themselves.
The orange pony stepped forward. “Mah names Applejack, bearer of the element of Honesty.”
“Element of honesty?” Asked Schmitt.
Cadence spoke up. “Each of these young mares represents one of the six elements of harmony, powerful magic artifacts of friendship.” Schlesinger nodded.
The next to step up was the small white unicorn who had fainted. “My name is Rarity.” She said in a voice that sounded very posh and with an English sounding accent. “Bearer of the element of generosity.” Schlesinger gave a curt bow to her.
Next came the blue pegasus with the technicolored mane. “I’m Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in Equestria, and bearer of the element of Loyalty.” She held her head high with pride as she hovered a few inches off the ground.
Suddenly, Schlesinger felt a weight on his head, he looked up into an upside down pink face with huge light blue eyes. “Hi!” Said a high pitched voice. Schlesinger gave a small shout and stumbled back. The pink pony who he hadn’t noticed was missing jumped off his head, still wearing his officers cap. “I’m Pinkie Pie, i’m the element of laughter. Do you like cupcakes I LOVE cupcakes, i’ll have to make sure I have plenty at your party, of so much planning, I have to....” The accelerated speech was cut off as Applejack jammed a hoof in Pinkies mouth.
“Sorry Pardner.” She said. “Pinkie here gets excited around new ponies, or humans I guess.”
“So it seems.” Said Schlesinger, retrieving his cap from Pinkies head and putting it back on. Behind him Schmitt and Krous were still snickering.
The yellow pegasus stepped forward slowly. “My names Fluttershy” She said quietly.
Schlesinger put a hand to his ear. “Sorry, I didn’t catch that. Sitting next to an enormous cannon does things to your ears.”
“My name is Flutter.......” He voice petered out again.
“Sorry, didn’t catch that.” Said Schmitt.
All that came out next was an adorable whimper. Rarity stepped forward. “Her name is Fluttershy, she’s a little, well, shy.” She said. “She’s the bearer of the element of kindness.”
Schlesinger nodded. “A very pretty name.” He said. Fluttershy turned beetroot reed and hid behind Applejack.
The purple unicorn slowly stepped forward. She obviously hadn’t forgiven them about the incident with her brother. “Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic. Personal student to Princess Celestia.”
“Pleasure.” Said Schlesinger. He noticed the reptile creature standing behind the group. “Who’s he?” He asked, pointing.
“The creature stepped forward. “I’m Spike, a baby dragon, and Twilights number 1 assistant.”
Schlesinger looked at the other officers, then at Cadence. “There are dragons here too?” He asked.
“Yes, though not as common as Ponies, in these parts anyway.” Said Cadence.
“Well, this place keeps getting weirder and weirder.” Said Schlesinger. “First talking ponies, now talking Dragons, what next?”
“I just thought of something.” Said Schmitt. Everyone turned to look at him. “How come you ponies speak German.”
The ponies looked at each other, confused. Cadence spoke. “We’re not speaking this language you call “German”. We, and you, are speaking Equestrian.”
“That cannot be right.” Said Schlesinger before realizing that the words he was speaking did not sound German, the syllables were wrong, yet it felt so natural.
Cadence though for a moment. “It may be a side effect of you sudden arrival here.” She said. “I shall have to look into it.”
Schlesinger just nodded. It wasn’t to much of a bother. “So what now?” He asked.
“Well, as we all know, the Crystal Empire is under threat.” Cadence turned to the elements. “It’s up to you six to find a way to protect it. Try talking to the citizens, they may know something.”
Twilight paused for a minutes then started smiling. “A research paper. That must be the test Celestia wants me to accomplish.”
Schlesinger looked at the other officers who just shrugged. “What will we do?” He asked Cadence.
“I see no harm in you helping the elements.” Said Cadence. “The more eyes and ears we have searching the better.”
“Err, no offense princess, but ah don’t think that the Crystal ponies will like it if several huge bipedal things show up on their doorstep demanding information.” Said Applejack.
“Well, we could send out patrols to search the city for anything useful.” Said Schlesinger.
“That could work.” Said Cadence. “Ok, but make haste. I don’t know how much longer I can maintain this spell.”
“We’ll get right on it Princess.” Said Twilight.
Schlesinger turned to Krous. “Tell the infantry to spilt into two man patrols and spread out across the city, meet back at the vehicles in an hour.”
Krous saluted and ran to give the orders.
1 Hour later
Twilight was the first to return from the scavenger hunt. Next to arrive was Fluttershy, who turned out to be Pinkie Pie in disguise. Schlesinger had shaken his head an laughed quietly at her antics.
Applejack, Rainbow dash, and 3 of the German patrols all came in at once, followed by the real Fluttershy, who was rather startled to find a fabric version of herself lying on the ground, and two more squads. Rarity arrived last, talking incessantly about how beautiful she would look as a Crystal pony to the other 5 German squads, who looked exhausted.
Twilight began her debriefing. “Did anypony find anything?” She asked. Almost everyone reported in the negative, with the exception of one patrol who had stumbled across a small armory. Schlesinger took due note of this.
“This is hopeless.” Said Applejack tiredly. “All I could get outta them was something about a library.” You could almost see the spark in twilights eyes as she said this.
“We saw that too.” Said one of the patrols. “South road, second side street.”
“Why didn’t you say so?” Twilight asked. “That’s the perfect place to search.”
Schlesinger turned to her. “This library could be huge.” He said. “We’ll need everyone we’ve got if we’re going to search it.”
Twilight nodded. “Yes, bring your soldiers.” She said.
Schlesinger nodded and turned to his men. “Company, parade formation.” He shouted. The infantry who were already dismounted jumped into formation, shouldering their weapons. The vehicle crews who had been lounging inside their assorted machines, opened door and hatches and stood at attention in front of their vehicles. Before long, the whole 45 man company was assembled.
“Men, I hope you brought your reading glasses because we’re going to the library. Our objective will be to find any information regarding the history of the Crystal Empire. This intel could prove vital if it comes down to defending the Empire.” He stepped back, putting Twilight slightly in front of him. “Once there, you will be taking orders from Miss Twilight here.”
Twilight, who had only been vaguely listening, spun around. “What!” She demanded. “I can’t lead these soldiers, i’ve never really lead anything before.”
Schlesinger smiled. “Relax. It’s easy. Once we get there just tell them what to do and they’ll do it.”
“But...I...” Twilight stammered.
“Move out men!” Shouted Schlesinger.
The Library was a huge 4 story structure on near the middle of the city, exactly where the patrol had reported it. Getting 6 ponies and all 45 men into the building was a challenge but eventually they all gathered in the foyer, gazing up at the absolute mountain of books ahead of them.
“Ah, that’s going to take a while.” Said Schlesinger. Twilight meanwhile was chatting with an elderly mare who appeared to be the librarian. If she was surprised to see them she didn’t show it. When she wandered away, Twilight turned to Schlesinger.
“That was fruitless.” She said. “We’ll have to search the library manually.”
“That’s why we brought all this manpower.” Said Schlesinger. He moved over to stand next to his tank crew. “At your orders Miss Twilight.”
Twilight turned and looked at the men who gazed at her expectantly. “um, well.” She began. Her mind began to divide them into groups. When she had sorted them she spoke. “Alright, all of you in the black,” she was of course addressing the crews of the tank and armored car as they were wearing German armored corp black rather than the standard infantry grey, “will search the top floor.”
“You in the white.” She was addressing the truck drivers as they were wearing white snow camouflage uniforms. “And the 8 beside you.” The halftrack driver, co driver and machine gun crews. “Will search the 3rd floor.”
The two infantry squads were standing separate from each other. “The squad on my left will take the 2nd floor and the squad on my right will take the basement level. My friends and I will search the ground floor.”
The men saluted and set about their assigned tasks, taking books of shelves and checking the title.
Schlesinger walked up. “Well done Miss Sparkle.” He said. “You’ve mastered basic command.” He picked up a book from a nearby shelf. “Now lets get started.”
1 hour of searching later.
Applejack looked up from her 78th book. “Anypony else think this is a lost cause?” She asked.
Schlesinger picked up his 94th book. “How can this library have nothing at all on history?” He demanded to no one in particular. Technically this question was not true, there was plenty of history books, just nothing useful to them. Many of the Germans on the upper and lower floors had resorted to removing entire sections from shelves and scanning the covers before leaving them there.
Twilight had a magic conveyer belt running before her eyes, dragging books of shelves and allowing her to read the cover before dumping them unceremoniously in an ever growing pile, which now contained over 200 books.
“No, no, no, no, YES!” She suddenly shouted. She seized a purple book from the conveyer belt and allowed the others to drop. The men on the floors above looked over their balconies while those below looked up.
The other ponies, Schlesinger, Schmitt and Krous gathered around. The cover read, “A history of the Crystal Empire.” and was decorated with finely drawn crystals. Twilight opened the book and quickly scanned the pages. “This is exactly what we need. Lets get back to the Palace.”
Schlesinger called out to his men. “We’re falling back to the Palace.” He looked around at the mess they had made and leant over to Twilight. “Should we clean this up?” He asked.
Twilight looked very tempted to try and re-sort the books but shook her head. “No, we can fix that later. Princess Cadence doesn’t have much time.”
Schlesinger nodded and the company began to file out of the library.
Back at the Palace
Cadence and Shining Armor sat on the throne at the end of the throne room. Cadence looked a lot more tired than when they had last seen her. She now had bags under her eyes and appeared to be straining to keep her magic going.
Directly before them stood Spike, holding up the heavy history book for Twilight to read from. Behind them stood Schlesinger, Schmitt and Krous, all listening intently to Twilight’s, plan.
“The Crystal fair was an event established by the first Queen and was a ceremony used to rejuvenate the ponies happiness and thus protect the Empire.” She looked up from the book. “My friends and I could put this together.”
Shining Armor smiled. “Its worth a shot.” He said. Cadence gave a grimace and the shield above them flickered slightly.
Twilight turned and stepped down from the throne. “C’mon Spike, we have a crystal fair to put together.” The German officers followed the pair out of the throne room and into an adjoining room that would have served as the dining hall. The rest of the elements were standing around a round table in the middle of the room. She placed the book down and for no apparent reason began to sing.
“Princess Cadence needs our help.” “Her magic will not last forever.” “I think we can do it” “But we need to work together.”
Krous looked at Schlesinger who just shrugged and watched. “We have to get this right” “Yes we have to make them see” “We can save the Crystal ponies with their history.”
Rainbow Dash took a quick glance at the book before walking out of the room and taking up the song.
“It says that they liked jousting,”
She re-emerged wearing a set of crystal armor similar to the type that the guards wore.
Rarity now sang as she produced several strips of fabric from what seemed like thin air.
“They flew a flag of many hues.”
Applejack too a look in the book.
“Made sweets of Crystal berries.”
Fluttershy took a peek.
“They had a petting zoo with tiny ewes.”
The Germans nodded their heads in time with the song.
“Oh we have to get this right” “Yes we have to make them see” “We can save the Crystal ponies with their history.”
Pinkie Pie produced a crystal horn and blew loudly, deafening everyone in the room.
“There was a crystal flugel horn. That everypony liked to play.”
Twilight flipped the page.
“And a Crystal Kingdom anthem. Can you learn it in a day.”
They all proceeded out the door and into the main courtyard, still singing. Pinkie Pie produced several tons of party supplies from thin air (literally thin air) and before long the entire central plaza was covered in streamers and balloons.The Germans hung colored lanterns and streamers all over their vehicles, some began to sing along with the ponies, adding a deeper bass note to the higher pony voices.
“Oh we have to get this right” “Yes we have to make them see” “We can save the Crystal ponies with their history.”
They all gathered around to survey their handy work. “It looks amazing.” Said Twilight looking around in wonder. “I don’t know how I could have done this without you.” She began to walk around the plaza, levitating the book in front of her. “One last check to make sure everything is in order.”
“Whats this thing for?” Asked Applejack.
Schlesinger turned around and looked. It the center of the plaza was a rather ugly looking carving of a heart, made out of crystal.
“The last page of the book mentioned a crystal heart as the fair centerpiece. So I carved one out of a crystal block.” Said Twilight.
“Well then. I guess the festivities can begin.” Said Schlesinger.
“Yes, you and your men can wait here.” Said Twilight. “I’ll announce the fair.”
A few minutes later there was a deafening horn blast from one of the castles upper balconies. Twilight appeared over the railing. “Hear ye, hear...” The horn sounded again.
Twilight glared back at whoever blew it and looked out again. “hear ye, hear ye. Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor do cordially invite you to attend the Crystal fair.” A steadily growing crowd of ponies began to file into the plaza, no longer the grey shadows that they had once been.
The Germans spread out from the vehicles and began to explore the fair ground. Some of the Crystal ponies who had never seen them before shied away. Others who had began to make polite conversation, although their hesitations and lack of interesting topics was clear.
Schlesinger was sitting atop the Tiger, leaning against the barrel of its massive gun, watching the festivities when Rainbow Dash flew in leaving a rainbow condensation trail in her wake and dropped a Crystal Empire flag over the carved Crystal Heart. “What are you doing?” Demanded Twilight.
“We have a major problem.” Said Rainbow in alarm.
Schlesinger slid down the side of the tank and walked over. “What kind of problem.”
“I just heard from the librarian, the Crystal Heart is a relic, hundreds of years old.” Said Rainbow.
Twilights eyes shrank to pin pricks. “Oh no, oh no, oh no.” She began pacing frantically. “How will we find the real one?”
“The book.” Said Schlesinger. “Maybe that has a clue.”
“It’s on the balcony upstairs.” Said Twilight, turning and running full tilt into the palace.
Schlesinger noticed Krous nearby eating what appeared to be a corn cob on a stick. He called him over. “Assemble the men.” He mumbled. “All weapons loaded, safeties off. Don’t make it too obvious we’re mobilizing, we don’t want to spark panic.”
Krous nodded and began to distribute word amongst the troops. Schlesinger made his way back into the palace and up to the balcony. There he found Twilight flicking frantically through the book while Princess Cadence and Shining Armor looked on. She came to the very end.
“There’s a page missing.” She groaned. “How could I have missed that.”
Cadence stumbled forward a step. “Its ok Twilight.” Her eyes then rolled back into her head and she passed out into Shining Armors waiting hooves. Her magic flickered and went out. A loud haunting howl echoed through the city. The protection shield faded out of existence, snow began to fall and a huge black fog began to encroach on the Empires borders. A huge, black unicorn with a glowing red horn began to materialize from the fog.
An engine roared to life and the Puma armored car began to roll through the fair towards the edge of the city, accompanied by several infantrymen. It stopped just outside the outskirts of the Plaza, raised its main gun a few inches and fired. The high explosive shell fell just short of the manifesting figure, scattering the mist with its shockwave. The explosion jarred Cadence from unconsciousness.
She looked at the mist slowly swallowing the Empire and gritted her teeth in concentration. Slowly, her horn began to glow again and the shield began to reform. The shadowy figure made a desperate attempt to bypass the shield but this only resulted in snapping a piece of its horn off. The dome resealed and everything returned to normal.
Shining Armor gently held his wife. “I need to find the Crystal Heart.” He said with determination.
“No.” Said Twilight. “Cadence needs you. I’ll find the Crystal Heart.”
Shining Armor nodded and Schlesinger spoke up. “Twilight, requisition one of my men from Krous, you may need some extra protection.” Twilight nodded and raced away.
Schlesinger looked out over the fair and beyond it the shield, flickering slightly. “Hurry Twilight.” He mumbled.
Twilight thundered into the Palace courtyard and up the main street into the festival, causing the few Germans who had remained there to look over. “Where is Krous?” She called to them. Most of them just shrugged and resumed checking their weapons and distributing ammunition.
“Over here.” Called a voice. Twilight looked over and saw one of the Germans on the other side of the courtyard waving his cap at her. She ran over.
“You are Lieutenant Krous, correct?” She asked.
“Yes.” He responded. “How can I help you.”
“Colonel Schlesinger sent me, I require one of your men.” Said Twilight.
Krous nodded. He looked over to the men who were standing around the square and picked out one. “Private Kohler.”
One of the men carrying an STG assault rifle shouldered his weapon, ran over and gave a crisp salute. “Sir.”
“Go with miss Sparkle, follow her orders and protect her at all costs.”
Kohler saluted again and turned to Twilight.
“Your orders?” He asked.
“I’m looking for a heart shaped Crystal that is the fair centerpiece.” Said Twilight. “It’s of utmost importance that it is found.” She glanced around the courtyard. Her eyes caught on a gleam of sunlight reflecting off the palace. She smiled broadly and began to trot towards it with Kohler beside her when a voice stopped them.
“Twilight, take me with you.” Spike ran up to the pair.
“No Spike.” Said Twilight. “I need to find the Crystal Heart myself, the rules of Princess Celestia’s test say so.”
“But what about him?” Spike asked, pointing at Kohler. Twilight was about to argue that he was there to protect her but realized that she didn’t have time. She turned sideways. “As long as you promise not to lift a claw to help, hop on.”
Spike gave a very cheesy smile and jumped on Twilights back. She took off at a full gallop towards the castle, Kohler following close behind. She didn’t slow for the stairs, but took them at full speed, racing up into the throne room. By the time Kohler caught up, Twilight was already tearing around the room, searching every corner for any hiding places.
Kohler looked up, straightened his helmet, adjusted his rifle and spoke. “Why would it be here? Its the most obvious place.”
Twilight looked up from her search. “The crystal ponies wouldn’t have dared come in here while Sombra was around, its the most logical place. Only problem is, it doesn’t seem to be here.”
Spike looked around. “Maybe we’re going about this wrong. Sombra was a unicorn, maybe he used magic to hide it?”
“No Spike.” Said Twilight. “If there was any dark magic here I would have detected.....it.” Her eyes had caught on a large crystal structure situated just behind the throne.
“What’cha looking at Twi?” Asked Spike.
Twilight turned. “This place has changed since Sombra controlled it.”
“And?” Asked Kohler.
“Watch.” She turned and pointed her horn at the crystal structure. She closed her eyes and her horn began to glow a sickly green. Her eyes snapped open and they too were green with black smoke flowing like a bad mascara. She released a single blast of dark energy before letting the spell fade. The shot hit the crystal, which immediately turned black and began shedding a shadow across the floor, revealing a hidden stairway.
Twilight smiled. “Both of you stay here. I’ll call if I need help.” Kohler nodded and unslung his STG, pulling back the cocking lever.
Twilight trotted off down the stairs. About a minute later she called up. “I think I found it.” From that point on there was not a peep from the hole for over 5 minutes.
“Do you think she’s alright?” Asked Spike.
Kohler shrugged. “She said she would call if she needed help.” They sat for another few minutes.
Spike stood up. “It’s been too long. I’m going down there.” Spike took off down the stairs.
“Hey, wait a....Oh fine.” Kohler set off after him, being carful not to trip down the narrow stairwell. By the time he reached the bottom Twilight was hugging Spike close. “What happened?” He asked.
Twilight pointed to a door in the corner. “That door has a dark magic spell on it. Anyone who opens it will be shown their worst fear.” Twilight mumbled. “But i’ve fixed it so it should be safe to go through. She pushed the door open and trotted through.
“What’s out there Twilight.” Spike asked.
She sighed and turned back. “Stairs, lots and lots of stairs.”
Kohler looked out and up at the never ending staircase. One word came into his head. “Scheise.”
On the surface things were beginning to get desperate. Cadence’s magic was faltering and some of Sombra’s magic had infiltrated the shield. The buildings on the outskirts were slowly being turned to black crystal. The crystal ponies had begun to notice the changes and were flocking to the castle court yard.
High above on the castle balcony, Schlesinger watched as the protective shield began to flicker in and out of existence. He turned to Shining Armor. “That shield isn’t going to hold much longer. With your permission, I would like to start setting up defensive positions.”
“What exactly are you planning?” Asked Shining.
“A machine gun pillbox on this balcony, a sniper higher up the castle, another machine gun in the courtyard and vehicles and infantry hidden in the side streets. They can jump out and give Sombra a nice surprise.”
Although Shining didn’t understand half of this he understood the tactical deployment. He nodded. “Do what ever you deem necessary to defend the Empire.”
Schlesinger nodded. There were several loud gasps from below and he looked over the railing. The covering had fallen off the crystal heart, revealing it to be a fake. Shining looked over behind him. “What happened?” He asked.
Schlesinger looked over at him. “Trouble happened.” He mumbled.
Many floors up....
Spike gasped for breath as he stumbled up the stairs. He finally stopped and looked up. Directly above him was Twilight, still climbing, slightly behind her was Kohler who was also slowing down.
“This could be another of Sombra’s tricks. I mean, he makes a door, that leads to your worst nightmare, how about a staircase that doesn’t end.” Spike grumbled.
“This is getting rather pointless.” Kohler mumbled. “And your not carrying 60 pounds of gear.”
Twilight looked up at the never ending staircase, then back down at how far they had come. She thought for a moment and then an idea snapped into her head, she teleported back down to Spike and Kohler walked down a few stairs. “Hold onto me.” She said.
Spike wrapped his arms around her neck and Kohler rested a hand on her shoulder. Twilight cast a spell and it slowly traveled down her body and onto the others. They all began to hover, then flipped over and dropped onto the flat underside of the upper stairwell.
“What happened?” Shouted Kohler as they began to slide.
“Gravity reversal spell.” Twilight called back. “I was prepared for this.” The group slid for a few minutes before emerging into a chamber, the spell faded and they all dropped to the floor. Kohler was up first, running to retrieve his assault rifle which had slid across the floor and sweeping the room for hostiles.
Finding none, he lowered it. “Is this it?” He asked.
Twilight was staring towards the center of the room where a crystal in the shape of a heart was suspended in thin air. “This is it.” She whispered, taking a step towards it. The tile below her hoof began to glow black and suddenly a ring of black appeared around the heart. Twilight looked down and made a dive for the heart, only to just knick it. At the same time a wall of black crystal burst from the floor around her and the heart ricocheted out of her reach.
Spike watched on from nearby. “Twilight, you ok?” He called.
“Yes, i’m fine. Hang on.” She tried to teleport out but a strand of dark energy seized her and threw her back into the prison. “How could I have been so foolish.” She said to herself as she tried to find a manual way out, to no avail.
“You have to find a way out. If you don’t deliver the heart, you’ll fail Celestia’s test.” Spike said as he stepped back to avoid some shards of dark crystal sprouting from the floor. Kohler turned his assault rifle around and give the crystal prison a hard whack. A piece broke loose and fell to the floor only for another to replace it. Outside, there was a loud howl and snow began to fall. The shield gave one last defiant flicker, before giving out for good. Sombra began to move in.
Twilight looked through a gap in the prison and her expression hardened. “You need to take the heart to the fair.”
“But Twilight, you...” Spike began.
“Go!” shouted Twilight.
Kohler picked up Spike with one arm, the Crystal heart with the other and stepped out the window onto the narrow ledge outside.
Panic began to spread among the Crystal ponies as Sombra began his advance, most huddled together in a fearful knot under the protection of the Palace, others were running about in fear. Schlesinger ran to his Tiger, which was parked in a side street. He put on his headset and switch to an open frequency. “All units engage, engage, engage.” He shouted over the noise of the howling wind and screaming ponies.
With a loud roar the Tiger’s engine came to life and the tank jerked forward into the main street. Schlesinger glared down the road towards Sombra, who was slowly walking towards the palace. “Turn turret 90 degrees, elevation 22.3, load H,E.” There was a loud clank as the 88mm shell was loaded into the breach.
“Gun loaded sir.” Said the loader.
At the other end of the street, Sombra began to laugh. “You think your metal wall can stop me, I could cast it aside like....”
“Fire!” Shouted Schlesinger. The gunner pulled the trigger. There was silence for a moment, then an almighty blast as 3.5 inches of steel left the barrel of the Tiger’s gun in excess of 300 miles per hour. It slammed into the ground just in front of Sombra and blasted him back.
“Hit.” Shouted Schlesinger. What he wasn’t ready for however, was Sombra standing up after the blast, magic sealing his wounds.
“You fools.” He roared. “I will destroy you all.” He pointed his horn at the Tiger and began charging a spell.
“Reverse.” Shouted Schlesinger. Sombra released the spell just as the huge vehicle began to back up. It slammed into the forward armour of the tank, but ricocheted off and turned a nearby vendors stand into cinders.
Sombra looked slightly taken aback. There were 3 loud cracks of rifle fire, followed by a staccato burst of sub-machine gun fire from the opposite side of the street. Several soldiers had taken position there and were firing at Sombra.
Sombra stumbled as he took the bullets, then turned his horn to face them. The soldiers dove behind their building just as Sombra released the spell. It obliterated the front of a store but no one was injured.
The halftrack stuck its nose out from behind a house a block behind Sombra. He didn’t even have time to turn before the forward gunner drilled a five second burst from his MG-42 into his back and the halftrack reversed clear.
Sombra whirled around just in time to see the Puma fly past at full speed, its main gun spat a single shot before it was out of sight again. The shot missed and hit one of the houses near Sombra, sending a blast of shrapnel outwards.
Soldiers in various positions up and down the street began to alternate fire on Sombra, first a squad of 5 near the end of the road opened fire with rifles, then one of the MG34 teams fired from an upstairs window of a town house. The front window display of a large store was obliterated as Sombra exchanged a flurry of bullets and magic blast with two soldiers armed with MP-40s hidden behind the shop counter. They quickly scurried out a back door.
Sombra continued to gain ground no matter what the Germans threw at him. Even a surprise roadblock caused by a chimney falling into the street didn’t stop him as he thrust the rubble aside with a flick of his horn.
In the Tiger, Schlesinger was throwing a shell casing out the hatch in the turret when Schmitt’s voice came through his headset. “We can’t hurt him sir. Everything we throw at him bounces or does no damage.”
“All units fall back to the palace. We’ll buy you some time to reorganize.” Schlesinger replied.
“What are you going to do sir?” Asked Schmitt.
Schlesinger gave a small smirk. “We’re going to bring the house down.” He smacked the turret of the Tiger twice. “Forward, gunner, traverse turret 98 degrees left. Load H.E.”
Sombra watched the Tiger roll to a halt. “You cannot defeat me, I am eternal.” He began charging his horn.
“Fire!” Shouted Schlesinger. The great gun spoke again, this time finding its mark in the ground level of a taller building to Sombra’s left. The entire structure swayed before collapsing into the street and burying him under a pile of crystal rubble.
“That’s got him.” Schlesinger said triumphantly as the tank began to drive back towards the main plaza. He lifted his microphone and spoke. “Tiger to Puma, come in.”
“Puma here.” Came Schmitt’s reply.
“Is the sniper in position?” Asked Schlesinger.
“Yes sir.” Said Schmitt. “We found a scoped Gewher 43 in one of the trucks.”
“Good. Tell him to aim for Sombra’s horn, that will stuff him up for a bit. We’re coming into the plaza now.” The massive tank thundered into the square and took up position next to the Puma. The infantry had spread out around the square to protect the crystal ponies, who huddled in groups under the legs of the palace.
There was a loud roar and shards of crystal flew into the air. Sombra marched angrily into the plaza. “You have meddled in my affairs for the last time creatures. He lowered his horn, pointing it at the Tiger. There was a single loud crack from high above and Sombra gave a loud howl of pain. His horn had shattered with the impact of the bullet fired from a Gewher 43.
“Hey up here!” Came a call from above. Everyone looked up to see Spike and Kohler standing on a precarious ledge formed out of black crystal. “I have the crystal heart!”
Sombra recovered at the sound of this. “That is mine!” He roared, lunging upwards and forming a tower of crystal below him as he gained altitude. Spike began to run down a path formed by the black crystal as the troops below him opened fire. Sombra ignored the bullets, keeping his attention on the heart in the dragon's grasp.
Then it all went wrong. Spike stumbled, lost his grip on the heart and tumbled over the edge. Sombra smirked and prepared to shatter the heart. On the balcony of the palace, Shining Armor hoisted up Cadence. A small flash from the heart reflected in her eyes as she spread her wings. Then, much to the bewilderment of most of the soldiers on the ground, Shining hurled her upwards towards Spike.
She caught the Crystal Heart in her magic and Spike landed on her back leaving Sombra wondering what had happened to his prize. Cadence landed, smashing the fake heart which had been discarded on the ground. “The Crystal Heart has returned, use the power and love within you to ensure that king Sombra does not.” She tossed the Crystal Heart into the center of the plaza where it came to hover between two shards of crystal.
One by one, the Crystal ponies bowed low to the ground and the street below their hooves began to glow. “No, stop!” Shouted Sombra from above, but it was too late. A shockwave blasted outwards from the Crystal Heart, turning all that it touched to crystal and expelling Sombra’s influence from the Empire.
“NO!” Sombra shouted as his body disintegrated and he was blasted out of the Empire. Cadence took flight once again and landed on the balcony where she was embraced by Shining Armor. Spike looked up to where he had left Twilight and Kohler. Kohler tossed him a thumbs up while pulling himself through a window. Even higher above, Twilight gave a relieved sigh.
“Good job Spike.”
Amid the cheering ponies and soldiers, Schlesinger raised his cap and wiped his brow. “That was too close.” He muttered. He climbed down from the Tiger then up to the balcony where Cadence and some of the other ponies stood.
Shining Armor turned to face him. “On behalf of the Crystal Empire, I would like to extend our deepest gratitude. without the efforts of you and your men, Sombra would have over run the Empire long before the heart was discovered.”
Schlesinger bowed his head. “A pleasure to be of service.”
Cadence still stood at the balcony, waving to her subjects as the cheered their victory. Little did she know that in a dark corner of the courtyard, something dark was lurking, and was very angry.
A small shard of dark crystal emerged from the ground. Very sharp and about the length of a spear head. It angled itself towards the balcony where Cadence stood. “If I am to die, then you will come with me.” Growled Sombra. The crystal lurched forward at high speed.
There was a quiet ‘schick’, then the sound of something shattering. “What was that?” Asked Schlesinger and Shining Armor at the same time. Schlesinger leant back into the corridor of the castle.
“Probably just a crystal breaking.” He said, then leaned back onto the balcony.
There was a scream. Rarity, who was also standing on the balcony was pointing at the floor. Schlesinger followed her pointing hoof and saw a river of blood flowing across the balcony. He followed it to his source. Two thick rivulets of blood were flowing from Cadence's sides, she was hunched over, blood flowing from her mouth. She began to fall back.
“Oh my God.” Schlesinger lunged forward and caught her. He looked at the locations of her wounds. “Double lung puncture, get a surgeon up here!” He shouted.
Shining armor crouched by her, wrapping her neck in his hooves and holding her close to him. “Don’t go my love, we can save you. We can fix you up.” Tears were flowing from his eyes.
Cadence tried to say something but all that came out was a spray of blood. She weakly raised a hoof and caressed Shining’s face. She gave a rasping cough and her body fell limp in their arms. Her crystal tiara fell from her mane and shattered against the ground.
“No!” Shining gave a long, drawn out wail before collapsing and sobbing holding her close to him. “Please don’t go, please don’t leave me! Come back, please come back!” He sobbed.
Schlesinger kept his arms to her sides, trying to keep as much blood in as possible.
Muffled sounds, total darkness and a dull beeping. That was all Cadence could hear and feel.
“What happened? where am I?” She though to herself. “I was on the balcony, waving, then...Did I die?”
The dull beeping began to get steadily faster, there were a few more louder muffled noises and something sharp was jabbed into her foreleg. Her thoughts slowly faded and she passed out completely again.
Cadence opened her eyes. And immediately shut them again as an intense white light blinded her. She tried again, this time opening them slowly. A room slowly faded into view, a pure white room with drab green curtains surrounding her.
“Where am I?” She tried to ask, but all that came out was a quiet wheeze. The curtain was suddenly flung back and two ponies in white lab coats burst in. Cadence would have jumped at this sudden intrusion if a pain in her chest hadn’t made itself apparent at the same moment.
She groaned in pain and leant back against a pillow. A white light shone in her left eye and she blinked, it then switched to her right eye. “Visual functions seem ok, check auditory functions.” There was a tapping behind the left side of her head and one of her ears instinctively flicked back to listen. It happened again on the other side of her head.
“Seems ok.” Said another voice. “How are you feeling your majesty?” Cadence finally got a good look at the two ponies. Both were crystal ponies, one was a very pale silver, almost the colour of diamonds, her cutie mark was a pair of crossed syringes, the other, a brownish stallion, had a cutie mark of a surgeons mask.
She tried to speak, but still no words came out. Just a garbled mess. A glass was lifted to her lips. “Drink this slowly.” Said the mare. Cadence did so, reveling in the feeling of cool water rushing down her parched throat. The glass was quickly drained and lifted away.
“What happened?” Asked Cadence, although her voice was still quite hoarse.
“You had a very near death experience.” Said the stallion. “You suffered a double lung puncture. We were wondering if you’d ever wake up.”
“How...long was I asleep?” Cadence asked, almost dreading the answer. She began to panic as he looked over to a calendar mounted on the wall.
“Four days.” The stallion replied. “You can thank Twilight Sparkle and your husband that you lasted that long. They fed oxygen into your body with their magic for four days without eating or sleeping.” He pulled back the curtain around the bed a bit more and revealed Twilight and Shining Armor lying on beds next to her, both passed out. “They’re suffering from stress, lack of sleep and severe exhaustion. They’ll be ok though.”
“So what happened while I was asleep?” Cadence asked, trying to ignore the pain in her chest, but not quite stifling a grunt of discomfort. The stallion nodded at the mare, who quickly left the room. “Not much, your majesty. When they brought you in you were in really bad shape. We had no means of treating you, none of our surgeons had been trained in the kind of operation you required. So a bunch of those human things went down to the library and tore it apart for medical journals and other things that could be useful.”
The mare returned with a syringe and jabbed it into Cadence’s foreleg. Cadence drew in a sharp breath, but the pain in her chest began to fade. The stallion continued. “So we used the knowledge we could get from the journals to patch you up as best we could. You’ve only been out of surgery 8 hours.”
“You have my thanks for your efforts Mr....” Cadence suddenly realized she did not know the stallion’s name.
“Patch, your majesty. Quick Patch. Doctor and head surgeon of the Empire hospital. My assistant is Ms Sunny Days.” Said the stallion, bowing. The mare did the same.
Cadence almost laughed. “Sunny Days” had been an avatar created by Celestia so that she could escape the palace after some of the harder days of work. “I thank you for your services.” She said. “I will ensure you are payed handsomely.”
“The honor was ours your highness.” Said Patch. “I suspect there are some visitors waiting outside to see you. Should I show them in?”
“Please do.” Said Cadence. “I should enjoy some company after four days of sleep.”
The doctor nodded and walked out the door. He came back a few moments later leading a ragtag group of ponies and humans. It consisted of the mane 6 minus Twilight, Schlesinger, Schmitt and Krous. Cadence was immediately barraged with concerned, joyful and congratulatory expressions.
“We didn’t think you’d pull through.” Said Schlesinger. “I’ve never seen anyone survive a wound that serious before.”
Cadence smiled at him. “I wouldn’t have if you and your soldiers hadn’t gone and found those medical journals.” She said.
“I’m only sorry it took us 3 days.” Said Krous, rubbing the back of his head. “I dare say the librarian will not be happy. We unorganized everything, it’ll take months to sort out.”
Twilight’s ears perked up at the sound of “unorganized” and as soon as the word “sort” left Krous’s mouth she was awake and bolted upright in bed. “Sorting? What needs sorting?”
“Twilight, you’re ok!” Pinkie squealed and crossed the room in one bound to wrap her hooves around Twilight’s neck.
“Argh....Pinkie...choking!” She gasped out.
“Heh, sorry.” Said Pinkie, climbing down off the bed. Schlesinger looked over towards Shining Armor.
“How long will he be out?” He asked. The doctor walked across the room to Shining’s bedside.
“He should come around pretty soon.” Said the doctor. It was at that moment that Shining Armor’s eyes snapped open. The problem with waking up after a drug induced coma is that the brain is usually confused and disoriented. This came into play when Shining leapt from his lying position to his hooves in one swift movement. The doctor looked impressed, that is until Shining started trying to strangle him with a stethoscope, at which point he stopped being impressed, and got busy choking.
It took him about five seconds to remember where he was. “Oh, oops.” He let the doctor drop to the floor. “Sorry about that.”
The doctor coughed a few times then looked up. “It’s no problem, I should have expected this.” They both suddenly became aware of a room full of laughter. They could help but chuckle as well, Shining’s antics had been rather hilarious.
When the laughter died down, Schlesinger spoke up. “What are we to do now?”
Twilight answered. “When you arrived and explained your presence I sent a message to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. I got a response asking me to bring you to the palace, they would like to discuss certain things with you.”
Schmitt looked over to her. “No postal system in the world works that fast. How did you get a response in less that a day?”
Twilight looked over to him. “My assistant Spike has the ability to send and receive letters via magic. By the way, where is he?” She asked, looking around and not spotting her best friend.
“The gravity of the situation got to him darling.” Said Rarity. “So we sent him home to Ponyville.”
“That was probably for the best.” Said Twilight. “He saw everything that happened on the balcony when Cadence was struck.”
Schlesinger began to speak again. “How are we supposed to get to the Palace?” He asked.
“We’ll take the train of course.” Said Rainbow Dash, as if it were the most obvious thing int the world.
Schlesinger looked up at her. “With respect, that little chuff chuff we saw couldn’t pull 150 tonnes of steel.” He addressed all of them. “We can’t leave any of our equipment behind, if it were to fall into the wrong...hooves...the results could be disastrous.”
Cadence coughed. “I may be of use here. Doctor, how long must I stay in this bed.”
The doctor addressed her. “Well, your injuries appear to be healing at a rapid rate, which i’m attributing to the fact that you are an Alicorn your majesty. I should say, mid afternoon.”
“That is good.” She said. “All of you meet me at the railway station at the aforementioned time.” Everyone nodded their consent.
A few hours later, everyone was gathered at the Empire railway station. “What is it you wish to show us?” Asked Schlesinger.
“Something that can help you get your weapons to Canterlot Colonel.” Said Cadence. “Please follow me.” She began to walk along side the railway track, following a siding that had been previously buried by snow. As the rounded a now grassy hill a large building came into view. It was the size of a small aircraft hanger and had obviously seen better days. The windows were broken, there were several large holes in the roof and many of the walls were rotting. A large double sliding door was sealed with a rusty steel Padlock.
“Twilight, if you would...” Said Cadence. Twilight nodded and lowered her head, putting her horn close to the lock. There was a bright purple spark and the lock dropped open.
“Why do you bother with locks if you have magic?” Asked Schlesinger, putting a shoulder to one of the doors and giving a heave.
“The Crystal Empire is an earth pony kingdom.” Cadence explained, stepping back. “Their locks are not enchanted to resist spells.”
With much grunting and no small amount of effort the two double doors slid open, their wheels screaming in protest at the movement. As the doors opened, a rather primitive lighting system sparked into life on the roof, revealing a large shape covered in a tarpaulin.
“What is that?” Asked Schlesinger, stepping inside.
Cadence followed. “A means of getting 150 tonnes of steel to Canterlot.” She seized a corner of the tarpaulin and pulled. The tarp fell, revealing an engine. A huge train engine, complete with tender full of coal.
“That’s impressive.” Said Schlesinger. Schmitt climber the front of the engine and wiped away a layer of dust from the front of the boiler revealing a name in bronze letters. “Celestial”.
“The Celestial.” Twilight breathed. “This train disappeared 1000 years ago with the Empire. It was the peak of Equestrian engineering at the time. This line of engines was discontinued after the Discordian war, too expensive to build an run. That's why we reverted to the smaller engines you see now. Older technology, granted, but still reliable.” Along with the train there were 5 flatbed carriages on a separate siding within the hanger, along 5 boxcars and three passenger cars.
“This train was built for one purpose. Haul freight.” Said Cadence. “It should get you back to Canterlot with all your equipment.”
Schlesinger looked the boiler of the train over, observing a few rust spots. “It may need some work before we can use it.” He said. “How long could it take to fix.”
Cadence thought for a moment. “If I get a crew working on it immediately, maybe tomorrow, by midday.”
“Ok, sounds good.” Said Schlesinger. “I’ll get our engineers to come and assist them. In the mean time, we should all relax for a while. We’ve been running around for four days, well most of us at any rate.”
Twilight’s stomach suddenly rumbled, she looked down and blushed. “I could use something to eat.” She said. “I haven’t eaten anything in 4 days, except the essential vitamins that the doctor gave me when I came to.”
"I shall have a feast prepared at the Palace, come. I'm sure Twilight has many questions." Said Cadence.
Twilight looked up and here eyes widened. "Goodness yes you're right. I haven't asked you anything about your culture or people or..."
Rainbow leant over to Schlesinger. "You have no idea what you're in for."
300 miles north west.
Griffon City of Talonon.
Gateway to the Griffon Kingdoms.
“I must say that I am glad that you could join us at such short notice, your highness.” Said the Baron of the region, a thin but well groomed griffon named Whitefeather.
“We are glad that you could accommodate us at such short notice.” Princess Luna leant forward a little towards the table. “Likewise we are glad that our sister saw fit that we could come to ensure a lasting relationship between our two great nations.”
Technically, the Griffon Kingdoms was not a nation. Rather a loose coalition of city states ruled by a single king. In spite of this there was still the occasional infighting between different city states.
Baron Whitefeather chuckled quietly. “Of course your highness. But diplomatic talk can wait. For now let us drink to a healthy relationship between our two nations.” He snapped his talons and a servant stepped forward with two glasses. He placed one at each end of the table and carefully filled it with wine. He bowed and stepped back.
“This is a vintage wine, Ridgegrape 1033. Cured to perfection by our master brewers.” Said Whitefeather, lifting his glass. “I propose a toast. To a healthy relationship between our two nations.”
Luna raised her own glass. “Hear hear.” Both of them drank, quickly draining each glass. Luna put a hoof to the end of her muzzle. “My, that...was strong.” She shook her head to clear a small lightheaded feeling, but it persisted.
“Only the finest for royalty.” Said Whitefeather. “Are you feeling ok your highness.”
“Yes.” Luna put a hoof to her forehead. “What...what was in...what was....what...” She slumped back in her chair, then slid sideways and fell to the floor. She was unconscious before she hit.
Whitefeather sat back smirking. “Even gods can be laid low by simple means.” He said before snapping his talons again. Another griffon, this one a burley and heavily feathered griffon walked in and scooped up Luna’s unconscious body. “You remember what to do correct?” Asked Whitefeather.
“Remove, send to the embassy in Canterlot along with the message.” The Griffon replied.
“Good.” Said Whitefeather. “On your way then.”
As the griffon left Whitefeather called over the one who had served them the wine. “Good job with that knockout powder.” He said. Knockout powder was the griffon slang for a thin powder that was created by mixing certain plants found in the remote northern regions of the kingdoms. It did not technically knock out the victim. It simply paralyzed them for a certain period of time. In other words, they couldn’t move, speak or see, but they could hear and feel everything going on around them. It was the perfect abduction weapon, odourless and almost colourless.
“It was easy sir.” Said the Griffon. “Should I send word to the king.”
“Yes.” Said Whitefeather. “Tell him that phase one is complete. Phase two may commence.”
380 miles north.
Griffon city of Gryphus
De facto capital of the Griffon Kingdoms/Empire
In a hidden room, deep beneath the fortress capital of the Griffon Empire, a debate was raging.
The Imperial Senate of the Griffon Kingdoms, composed of the lords of all the various factions, had been called to order. The subject. War.
"The Equestrians are the weakest of the great nations." A burly looking griffon with a heavily plumed helmet resting on his head shouted. All in the room turned to listen. "They have the smallest standing army, and the poorest combat reputation, yet they hold total monopoly over the grain and mineral trade. Their impossibly high taxes are driving our people to starvation. I say, we take what we rightfully deserve. We are the strong, and the strong shall rule the weak!" Cheers erupted from all corners of the room.
Another griffon, this one thin with greying feathers stood to speak. "I would advise caution. The Equestrians may be the source of our nations ills, but they are crafty. What is to say their Princess Celestia will not simply vaporise us?"
"She would not dare." Another griffon spoke up. "It would be an abuse of her power, and would bring about condemnation from her allies, which she could ill afford in times of war."
At the far end of the table there was a raised pedestal, partially concealed in shadow. On it was perched an ornate throne of oak and in it, sat the King. He idly tapped a talon on the armrest of his throne while he listened to the debate. It had little meaning to him anyway, his plan was already in motion. The guard on his left leant over and whispered something. He raised a talon and all noise in the room suddenly ceased, all eyes turning to him.
"My friends." He began. "I have good tidings. Your debates about whether a war with the Equestrians is necessary or not is no longer required, for I have seen the suffering of our people, and I have chosen to act." What he failed to mention was that the reason the griffons were suffering was because of him. In reality, there was plenty of grain, and the economy could afford to pay the reasonable tariffs, but the King had been siphoning off large sums of it to supply the growing griffon army.
"With the aid of a traitor within the Equestrian High Council, we have lured Princess Luna, the co-ruler of the Equestrian state, to her doom. Baron Whitefeather of Talonon was successfully able to capture and subdue her. She will now be the Equestrians undoing. Celestia will not risk her sister's safety over anything, even the sovereignty of Equestria. She will surrender, and then they shall both be detained, and put to death." The King took a step forward slightly into the light. "Today begins a new age, an age not decided by the whims of a pair of pony Princesses, but an age decided by the steel of Griffon forges, by the stone of Griffon walls, and by the iron of Griffon hearts. Today, we cast aside our petty rivalries as we reform the great Empire of our forefathers. Today begins our destiny!"
“So let me get this straight.” Twilight muttered as she scribbled madly on a sheet of parchment. “Your country has been in two world wars? And you were in the middle of fighting the second one when you came here?”
The group was waiting at the Empire station for their newly restored train.
“Unfortunately yes.” Said Schlesinger. “The first war was more or less unintentional. An overly complex alliance system sparked a world wide conflict. Naturally, because we lost, we copped the blame for the war. The second war was our leaders fault. He ordered us to attack a neutral country. Britain and France, the two nations I told you about before, took offense and declared war on us. We crushed France, but Britain managed to cling on.” He shook his head.
“Then our leader made an even bigger mistake. He ordered us to attack an empire. The Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, USSR. We had some early success, then winter came. We could fight the Soviet troops, but we weren't equipped to fight the cold. We suffered two disastrous defeats. That’s about when me and my men arrived here.”
Twilight quickly wrote this down. “How do you think your war would end?”
“That war was a losing effort.” Schmitt interjected from a little further up the platform. “First Moscow, then Stalingrad, then Kursk. The fighting around Prokarovka showed us the scale of the Soviet reserves. We just didn’t have the manpower.”
As Twilight wrote what he said he glanced back down the line. “Where’s the train? It was supposed to be here 10 minutes ago, fully loaded too.”
“They reported they were having trouble with the boiler.” Said Cadence, who was standing a short distance away with her husband beside her. “I’m sure it will be here soon.”
As if on cue there was a distant whooshing sound of steam being released, followed by a high pitched whistle. The huge engine slowly chugged into sight, black smoke billowing from it’s funnel. Behind it were the flatbeds, each loaded with one of the German vehicles covered in a tarpaulin, followed by the box cars and the two passenger cars. With a loud screech of metal against metal the engine stopped in the station, the rest of the train sticking out down the line behind it.
The crew, which consisted of the four German engineers and a few crystal ponies, climbed down from the engine and onto the platform. “The train is ready sir.” One of them addressed Schlesinger. “We even found time to renovate the passenger cars. The coal tender is full, as is the water tank, all vehicles are secured on board.”
Schelsinger nodded and turned to Krous. “Get your men into the box cars. I want to see all the ponies who are coming with us in the rear passenger car for a briefing.”
Krous nodded and moved to pass the order on to his men. Schlesinger looked to Cadence and gave a curt bow. “I thank you on behalf of my men for your hospitality.”
Cadence smiled at him. “On the contrary, I should be thanking you. If it weren’t for your men, the empire would have fallen long before the Crystal Heart was recovered.”
“Then on that note, I bid you farewell.” Schlesinger gave another bow to Cadence, a sharp salute to Shining armor and then walked off the platform.
He walked along the train, pausing half way along to look up at the Tiger under it’s tarpaulin, before climbing up to the passenger cars. He pushed open the door of the rear car and gave a low whistle. The carriage had obviously been first class in its time and although much of the finery had gone, it was still evident that some emphasis had been placed on it’s building.
He sat down on one of the reupholstered seats and waited for his comrades to arrive. The doors at both ends of the carriage opened. From one end came Schmitt and Krous, from the other, the bearers of the elements of harmony. “We are ready to leave sir.” Schmitt reported. Schlesinger nodded and Schmitt leant out a window and waved down the length of the train.
Someone in the engine gave a blast on the whistle and the train slowly began to chug forwards. A small crowd that had gathered at the station cheered and waved as the train pulled away.
“Right.” Schelsinger said as the train began to gather speed. “What exactly is our plan here.”
Twilight spoke up. “I received a letter from Princess Celestia this morning. She has commanded that the line between here and Ponyville be cleared of traffic until we arrive and that a siding will be cleared for this train. When we arrive, your men will be given temporary accommodation whilst you and your officers will accompany me aboard the regular train to Canterlot where you will be granted an audience with the Princesses. They will be able to answer your questions better than I can.”
The Germans nodded. “How long will it take us to reach Ponyville?” Asked Krous.
“On a normal train, roughly 5 hours.” Said Twilight. “In this train, maybe three.”
“Good.” Said Schlesinger, pulling his officers cap down over his eyes. “Because I need a rest. The next person to disturb me will be shot.”
The ponies exchanged nervous glances while the other German’s chuckled and moved to other areas of the carriage.
Schlesinger was awoke by a sharp jolt and a sudden pain as his arm struck the windowsill of the train carriage. He immediately drew his luger. “Alright, who am I shooting.” He growled from under his cap.
“No one sir.” Came Schmitt’s voice. “We’re here.”
Schlesinger put his luger away, raised his cap, gave his eyes a quick rub and glanced out a nearby window. A large crowd of ponies were gathering around the massive train, peering curiously at it.
“You’d best let me talk to them first.” Said Twilight. “We don’t want to cause mass panic.”
“Agreed.” Said Schlesinger, standing. Twilight exited the carriage and climbed down to the ground. She talked with the assembled crowd for a few minutes before leaning back up to the carriage.
“Ok, you can come out now.” She said. Schlesinger nodded and stepped into the doorway. All talk in the crowd ceased as he appeared and an almost dead silence ensued. He sighed and quickly descended the ladder to the ground. Some of the more fainthearted ponies backed away slightly as he turned to face them. Further up the train, the box cars opened and the infantry poured out and took up parade formation in double lines. The vehicle crews ran along the train and began removing the tarpaulins from their respective vehicles in preparation for disembarking.
All the while, the crowd watched in silence. “Twilight...” Said Schlesinger. “The longer we stand here, the more awkward it gets. When can we head to Canterlot and clear this up?”
Twilight was about to respond when a voice shattered the silence. “They’re real! I told you they’re real!” A mint green pony was practically bouncing up and down in the crowd, pointing a shaking hoof at Schlesinger.
“Who is that?” Asked Schlesinger.
Twilight peered closely. “That’s Lyra Heartstrings I think. We all thought she was a bit loopy with this humans stuff she goes on about, apparently not. But to answer your original question, we can leave immediately. The train was chartered so we can leave whenever you’re ready.” She pointed to a small purple engine sitting in Ponyville railway station, “Friendship Express” printed on the side of the cabin.
“I would like to see to the accommodation of my men.” Said Schlesinger. “Where will they be staying?” “Well. Applejack has the largest property in town so she’s offered to shelter your equipment in her barn, since it’s not Apple bucking season.”
“Apple...Bucking?” Said Schlesinger, cocking his head slightly.
“Yes, Apple Bucking. Anyway, I can accommodate about 10 of your soldiers in my basement, the loft in Applejack’s barn can hold another 20. She also offered a spare room that can fit 6 or so. Pinkie Pie can take two, Rarity can take two and Fluttershy can take the rest.”
“What about Rainbow Dash?” Asked Schlesinger.
“It would be difficult for her and for you because her house is a cloud.” Said Twilight, noting the confused look on Schlesinger’s face when she finished. “You explained how your weather works to me in the Crystal Empire, our weather is controlled by the Pegasi. They can manipulate clouds so to speak, and usually make their homes out of them.”
Schlesinger nodded, even though he only understood about half of what she said.
“Dang right.” Said Applejack, climbing down from the train followed by the rest of the mane 6. “We’ll keep you housed until you get places of your own.”
“I’m sure the men will be grateful.” Said Schlesinger. “Months of sleeping in the open is not good for a man.” There was a sudden galloping noise from within the watching crowd and some voices shouted. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS MONSTER CATCHERS!”
Schlesinger just had time to turn towards the noise as three shapes hurtled from the crowd and crashed into his legs. He looked down to see three small fillies attempting to drag him to the ground, even though none of them were taller than his knees. “What’s this?” He asked.
“Applebloom! What do you think you’re doing.” Applejack stepped forward and pulled the yellow filly off Schlesinger’s leg. Rarity did the same with the small white unicorn and Dash grabbed the orange pegasus.
“We’re stopping the monsters!” Shouted the white one, struggling in Rarity’s grasp.
“Monsters?” Applejack asked. “What in tarnation ya’ll talking about.”
“The monsters that are attacking the town of course.” Said the yellow one, pointing at Schlesinger. Applejack’e eyes followed the direction of her point.
“Monsters. They ain’t no monsters. They’re our new friends.” She said, in a scolding tone.
“Friends?” Said the yellow one. “But how? Who are they? What are they?”
Twilight interjected. “Before I explain anything to you I believe that you owe Mr Schlesinger an apology for calling him a monster and attacking him.”
“I agree.” Said Rarity with a huff. “That was very unbecoming of you Sweetie Belle.”
All three fillies lowered their heads. “We’re sorry.” They said, almost in unison.
“Apology accepted.” Said Schlesinger.
Applejack nodded. “Why don’t ya’ll go back to crusadin’ or something.”
All three of them jerked their heads up. “Yeah, we’re wasting time.” Said Sweetie Belle.
“We gotta get going.” Said Scootaloo. “We’re already late for our next plan.” The three of them raced off into the crowd.
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS! YAY!”
Everyone watched them leave. “What was that?” Asked Schmitt.
“That was mah sister Applebloom, Rarity’s sister Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.” Said Applejack.
“Who’s Scootaloo related to?” Asked Krous.
“None of us.” Said Twilight. “Her father is in the Royal Guard in Canterlot, so she lives here with her grandmother.”
“Very well.” Schlesinger said, looking to the mane 6. “Can you clear this crowd away, I need to address my men concerning our ability to go home.”
Twilight looked over to him. “Of course, come talk to me when you’re ready to leave for Canterlot.”
Schlesinger nodded and walked up the train to where the majority of the men were milling about. They noticed him coming and jumped into parade formation. “At ease.” Said Schlesinger. “I have some potentially bad news.”
“We may never be able to return to the fatherland.” Their reaction was as expected, none of them moved, but he could see questioning, annoyance, fear and anger in their eyes. “I am yet to confirm the details, but it seems we have no means of getting home. Until I confirm this however, you will be accommodated here in this town by the local inhabitance.”
He turned to a man standing separate from the others. “Sergeant Braun. You are the highest ranking officer, you are in charge until the officers return from the capital, understood?”
“Yes, Sir.” Said the man.
“Good.” Schlesinger turned back to the rest of the men. “You will be accommodated here by the six ponies who accompanied us here. I expect everyone to be on their best behavior. We are their guests, as well as the ambassadors of our race.”
“Yes, Sir.” Said all the men in unison.
“Good.” Said Schlesinger. “I leave you in the command of Sergeant Braun.”
He turned and walked back to Twilight. “I guess we can leave now, unless you have anything you need to attend to.”
“No.” Said Twilight. “My friends have their instructions, we can leave now. Please follow me.”
Schlesinger, Schmitt and Krous followed Twilight over towards the smaller engine. She flashed something at a pony wearing gold armor who was standing in the doorway, and he allowed them access to the first class carriage.
It was definitely a step up, even from the carriages aboard the Celestial. The ceiling was high and vaulted with gold inlay. Wood carvings adorned every column. The carriage itself was divided into four smaller rooms for seating. The seats were long, about the length of a bed, and there were four in each compartment. A table filled the center, adorned with cutlery for an in transit meal.
Schlesinger looked around. “This is a damn sight better than the troop train we had to take to the front.” He sat down on one of the beds. “Damn thing smelled like Volksgrenadiers.”
“What are Voks grenadiers?” Twilight asked.
Schlesinger shook his head nonchalantly. “Volksgrenadiers. They’re just infantry given a few weeks training, handed a weapon and used to replace battle hardened units.”
“So, like a militia?” Twilight asked.
“No, more like a stopgap to buy time for more experienced units to rush over and fix the problem.” Said Schmitt. “They’re practically useless anyway.”
“Hey!” Krous interjected. “If you Panzer commanders would do your job better, then us infantry commanders wouldn’t need to be dragging around regiments of Volksgrenadiers.”
There was a jerk as the train began to pull away. “What happens to these Volksgrenadiers?” Twilight asked, although from the way they had been talked about, she dreaded the answer.
“Either they manage to cling on until a panzer company arrives to beat back the enemy or they get overrun in the first five minutes and by the time reinforcements arrive, they’re all dead.” Schlesinger said.
“And you allow this to happen.” Twilight said, a bit coldly.
“No.” Said Schlesinger. “I don’t command the Volksgrenadiers. I command the Panzergruppen that has to usually rush 20 miles to their aid.“
“What would you describe your men as?” She asked.
“My men are Grenadiers.” Said Krous. “But since we’ve formed a single company now, I guess that makes them Panzer Grenadiers.”
“How long will it take us to get to the capital?” Schmitt asked.
“It should take about an hour.” Twilight said.
“Good. Where’s the bathroom?” Schlesinger asked.
Twilight giggled. “Out and down the rear of the carriage.”
He opened the door, walked down the carriage and into the bathroom, only to find that the toilet was rather elongated. “This will be awkward.” After about five minutes of looking and trying to figure out what to do he decided that just crouching over it was his best course of action. He was half way through removing his belt when suddenly, the there was the sound of metal grinding on metal and the train jerked to a halt.
“Schise.” Schlesinger grabbed the sink to stop himself from falling. He heard the sound of a door being flung open,and the sound of hooves walking into the carriage. Three sets of hooves. He quickly pulled up his pants and retied his belt. He peeked through the keyhole of the bathroom door and noted that a couple of ponies in gold armour were standing just outside, he could make out the shape of crossbows in their hooves.
“Alright, we’re looking for Twilight Sparkle, hand her over and no one gets hurt.” There was a twang and the sound of a crossbow bolt hitting wood. The passengers were all herded into one of the compartments. Schlesinger cursed quietly and drew his luger. He turned the handle of the bathroom door so that it would swing open and took a few steps back. He charged, slamming the door with his shoulder and hurling one of the armored ponies across the carriage. He turned and pointed his luger at the other two who were further up the carriage.
“Drop your weapons!” He shouted. One of the ponies turned and fired. The shot however was poorly aimed and missed, Schlesinger didn’t. BANG BANG. He squeezed the trigger twice and two holes the size of bit coins appeared in the front of the ponies armor. He collapsed onto his knees, then fell on his side. The other pony didn’t shoot, he lunged for the nearest window and dove out of the carriage, smashing it. Schlesinger followed, along with Krous, who had drawn a Walther P38.
The two of them aimed through the broken window and fired at the fleeing pony. Small puffs of dust marked near misses, but neither scored a direct hit. The pony disappeared behind a rock and out of sight. Schlesinger looked at his Luger, noting the weapon was empty. “Missed.” He grumbled, removing the empty magazine a replacing it with a full one.
The two of them looked back into the other compartment where Schmitt was trying to calm the ponies who were traveling with them in first class. Krous went to look at the pony Schlesinger had shot. He was dead. “Bandits?” He asked.
“I don’t know.” Said Schlesinger walking over. “Look at the armor, it’s not even strapped on properly.” He noted a few straps that weren’t connected to anything. He bent down and removed the chest plate to reveal a rather torn looking coat underneath. He reached into one of the pockets and pulled out a small bag that jingled with coins. He looked in and pulled one out. “This doesn’t look like local currency.” He says. “Look at the symbols.”
He passed the coin to Krous. On one side of the coin was an eagle head, on the other, a crown. He resumed searching the body. In another pocket he found a crumpled up piece of paper. Upon unfolding it he found it was two pictures, one inside the other. The larger one was an image of the train they were on, the other, was a picture of Twilight Sparkle, scribbled on the back was a list of abilities and habits. “I don’t think this was a train robbery.” Schlesinger said.
Krous looked at the images. “This whole event reeks of an assassination attempt.” They both looked up the carriage at the false guard that Schlesinger had crushed against the wall. His neck was bent at an odd angle.
“He’s dead.” Said Krous, bluntly. “I’ll bet we’ll find similar stuff on him as well.”
Schmitt appeared in the doorway of the compartment with the passengers inside. “Twilight sent an emergency message. We should be expecting help at any second.”
“What kind of...” Schlesinger didn’t even get to finish the sentence as there was a flash at one end of the carriage. Two unicorns in Guards armor appeared as the light faded. There was a similar flash at the other end of the carriage and two pegasi guards appeared.
Then there was an enormous blast of golden light. Everyone threw up their arms or forelegs to cover their eyes from the brightness. As it began to fade, a figure emerged. Schlesinger, using his hand to keep the fading light away, watched as the figure took shape.
First he saw wings. “A pegasus?” He thought, then noticed the horn. “No, pegasi don’t have horns. Do they?” The winged unicorn had a mane of several bright colours that shimmered brightly. The odd thing about it was that it moved in a similar manner to a flag in a soft breeze, but there was no breeze in the carriage. Her presence seemed to fill the area with a sense of security, but the look on her face told another story.
“Twilight Sparkle.” She said, in a commanding, but gentle tone.
Twilight quickly emerged from the compartment. “Princess.” She ran over and knelt before the winged unicorn.
The Princess gently wrapped Twilight in a hug. “I’m so glad you’re safe.” She looked up at Schlesinger, Schmitt and Krous, who had emerged from the compartment. “And who are these gentle...colts.”
Realizing that the pony before him held some significant authority, Schlesinger snapped to attention and gave a sharp salute. “Colonel Schlesinger, at your service.” The others quickly introduced themselves as well.
The winged unicorn nodded to them. “I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of the nation of Equestria and goddess of the Sun. You have my undying gratitude for saving my faithful student.” Her horn quickly lit and pulled a table cloth from one of the train compartments and covered the bodies of the two dead assailants. “Although I wish your methods had been a bit less....violent.”
“I apologize your majesty.” Schlesinger said. “But we had to defend ourselves and the other passengers.”
Celestia nodded and turned to the two unicorn guards. She said something to them, then they walked over to the bodies, absorbed them in their magic aura, and the vanished. “Short range teleportation.” Celestia said, noting the puzzled look on Schlesinger’s face. “We call it winking. They’ll be in the medical bay in Canterlot now.” She looked over at Twilight. “We should be leaving, the engineer will get the train moving again.” She turned back to the humans. “Do you have any objection to be teleported to my throne room.”
“Will it be painful your majesty?” Asked Krous.
“It shouldn’t.” Said Twilight, preempting her teacher. “You may feel dizzy or nauseous, but that’s natural for a first time teleport.”
Schlesinger looked at his comrades, who shrugged, then looked back at Celestia. “Do what is necessary your highness.”
Celestia nodded. “Prepare yourselves.” He horn glowed and gently absorbed them all on a vibrant yellow glow, then, in a flash they were gone. It was an odd sensation, like being crushed into nothing and at the same time, expanded to fill the whole universe. Then it was over. Schlesinger opened his eyes to find the world spinning. He reached out and grabbed the nearest object so he could rub his eyes. Once the world settled back into a reasonable degree, he looked at what he had grabbed, to find it was Celestia’s shoulder.
He immediately withdrew his hand. “Apologies your majesty.”
Celestia gave a quiet giggle. “It is nothing.” She walked up to a gold throne on the right side of the room and sat. “But I am sure you have had a long and hectic trip, so please, I will have a guard escort you to your rooms where you can rest, and we can discuss other matters over dinner.”
Schlesinger bowed. “Thank you your majesty, but might I speak with you in private.”
“Of course.” Celestia said. “Guard!” The door opened and a Guard rushed up to the throne.
“At your orders your majesty.”
“Please escort my faithful student and the visiting diplomats to the prepared rooms. I would speak with this one alone, no disturbances unless I call, understood?”
“Yes your majesty. Follow me please.” The Guard lead Twilight, Schmitt and Krous out of the room. Once the door shut, Celestia looked at Schlesinger.
“Now, what did you want to talk to me about?”
“I believe that the assailants that attacked us on the train were not mere train robbers.” Said Schlesinger.
Celestia’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?” She asked.
Schlesinger reached into an inside pocket of his coat and pulled out the papers and coin purse they had taken from the corpses on the train. “We found these on the body of one of the attackers.” He said.
She took the items with her magic and levitated them close to her face. She inspected the purse first. “This is leather.” She said, a slightly disgusted look on her face. “Not Equestrian made, this is foreign.” She opened it and pulled out a coin. “Griffon currency.” She said. “Quite literally worth it’s weight in gold.”
Her frown deepened significantly when she looked at the photographs. “This is troubling.” She said.
“Yes.” Said Schlesinger. “I feel that someone wanted your faithful student either captured, or dead, and whoever it was, paid in Griffon gold.”
“I shall talk with the Griffon embassy.” Said Celestia. “They will launch an investigation into this alongside our own. I thank you for recovering this evidence for us. If you will forgive me, I have royal duties to attend to. I will call a guard to escort you to your room until tonight. Guard!”
Another Guard ran into the room and up to the throne. “At your orders, your majesty.”
“Please escort Colonel Schlesinger to his room.”
“Yes your highness.” The guard bowed low to the floor. “Follow me please sir.”
Schlesinger quickly saluted Celestia, who bowed back, before turning and following the guard out of the throne room. As the door closed he looked over at the guard. “What’s your name?” He asked.
The Guard looked over. “Private Flash Sentry. 1st Royal Guards.”
“Are you a soldier Flash?” Schlesinger asks. The guard smiled.
“We like to think of ourselves that way, but we are merely guards. There hasn’t been a war in Equestria for 800 years. We’re not an active unit so to speak, but we are Equestria’s elite troops in times of crisis.”
Schlesinger nodded. “This world must be peaceful then.” He said. The pony shook his head.
“Not exactly sir. The Griffon kingdoms is a militarized power. They’re not really a nation, just a loose coalition of city states and small kingdoms that happen to fall under one banner. There was usually infighting between the groups, but it’s been quiet for the last 7 years, since King Ragnar seized the throne and executed King Taalon.”
“Hmmmm.” Schlesinger thought. A nation with a long history of internal conflict suddenly going silent seemed odd.
“Princess Luna is there on a diplomatic visit as we speak.” Continued Flash. “That is why you only met Princess Celestia today.” Schlesinger was too busy thinking about something else to listen.
“Does Equestria have a military?” He asked.
“Yes.” Replied Flash. “But it’s only small. 800 Royal Guards, 6 artillery batteries, 6 companies of line infantry, 2 airborne lancer corps, a mage company, a light infantry battalion, a field hospital and that’s about it. We do have a reasonably powerful navy but most of our larger vessels are in dry dock.”
Schlesinger nodded. “I might talk to Princess Celestia about that later.” He said.
“Here is your room, Sir.” Flash walked over to a large ornate set of double doors and pushed them open. Inside was the largest bedroom that Schlesinger had ever seen. The walls were a dark blue and climbed several meters up to a vaulted ceiling that was decorated with stars. A large four poster bed sat against a wall in one corner and a desk with an ornate chair sat in the other corner. A large fireplace was already lit and crackling in the wall across from the bed.
“This is immaculate.” Schlesinger said.
“Of course, Sir.” Flash said. “This room belonged to Princess Luna. However, when she decided to move into the Lunar tower at the other end of the hallway, this room was turned into an ambassador suite. You’re actually kind of lucky sir, this room is usually reserved for visiting royalty.”
“I can see why.” Schlesinger said, resting a hand on the chair near the desk. “This will do I think.”
“I must return to my post now Sir.” Flash said. “I will return for you when the evening meal is served. In the meantime, feel free to make use of the facilities in this room.” He quickly saluted, then closed the door, leaving Schlesinger alone.
Schlesinger removed his greatcoat and cap, placing them on the desk and running a hand through his slightly greasy silvering hair. “I should clean up first.” He muttered heading for the en suite. After finding a light switch, which for some reason lit candles in every corner of the room, he gawked at the size of the bathroom. The bath itself was easily the size of a small swimming pool and was already full of steaming water, a large cabinet full of different types of soap was hung against the wall beside a full body mirror. The sink was set into a marble bench top with a smaller mirror near the bath and the toilet was a room all its own, with its own separate door.
Schlesinger walked back over to the main door of the bathroom, shut it and locked it. “I guess I should wash.” He stripped off his uniform and piled it in a neat pile on the bench top. Then he walked to the cabinet and selected a bar of soap and something called “manecare shampoo” before slipping into the bath/pool. The water was slightly warmer than he was used to, but still comfortable. He dunked himself, before lathering up and scrubbing half a months worth of dirt from his skin and hair. When he was sufficiently clean, he floated for a little while, before climbing out and drying himself with an oversized towel.
Once he was dry, he put on his undershirt and trousers, making sure the suspenders were tight. Then he checked his reflection in the sink mirror. He had developed a light stubble over the last month of combat but he liked the way it made him look. Like a veteran with several years of fighting under his belt, which wasn’t far from the truth. Next he put on his socks, boots and uniform over shirt. He ran his hand over the badges on the sleeves, indicating his rank, unit and nationality, to ensure that none of the stitching was coming loose. None was. Finally he picked up his iron cross and attached it to his top button.
Satisfied that his uniform was as neat as he could make it, he unlocked the bathroom door and walked back into the bedroom. Noting slivers of light coming into the room, he walked to one of the large windows, which turned out to be a door onto a balcony. He opened the door and stepped out onto the balcony. There was a deckchair and table in one corner and a view of most of the city before him. He leaned on the balcony and looked out over the city, the white stone of the castle shone with a sun like radiance in the mid evening light.
A red/yellow sunset graced the western horizon and a small squadron of Pegasi pushed a cloud overhead.
There was a knock at the door and he turned. “Yes?” He asked.
The door opened and Flash Sentry stepped in. “Sir, the evening meal is almost ready to be served. I am to escort you to the dining room.” Schlesinger nodded and walked over to the door, picking up his cap and putting it on as he went. “Lead the way.”
Flash Sentry lead him down the corridor, up two flights of stair and down a narrower corridor which lead to an ornamental looking door, inscribed with images of ponies in various poses.
“This is the private dining room of the Princesses.” Flash said, opening the door and standing aside to allow Schlesinger entry. Schlesinger nodded and stepped into the room. “I will be outside if you require anything.”
“Thank you.” Said Schlesinger. Flash saluted and closed the door.
He turned to look at the room. A long table occupied much of the center of the room. The walls were painted with various scenes, illuminated by candles and a large hole was open in the roof at the far end of the room, with an impulvium full of clear water below it.
“Colonel Schlesinger, please join us.” The other German officers were already seated at the table along with Celestia. It was she who had spoken and gestured to a seat next to her with a wing. Schlesinger nodded and saluted before walking over to the chair and taking a seat.
Celestia tapped a hoof twice on the table and immediately a set of doors opened at the end of the room. Several ponies wheeled in trolleys full of food. Pasta dishes, plates of salad and surprisingly, two plates of cooked fish and what appeared to be a cooked chicken, the pony wheeling this cart looked rather uneasy, but maintained his poseur and placed the meal on the table, before bowing and leaving the room with the others.
Twilight stared at the steaming chicken, then glanced at Celestia. “Is that a...a...” Her voice faded away.
“I haven’t had a cooked chicken in more than 10 months.” Krous was practically drooling.
“Hold on. I though horses, and by extension ponies, were herbivores.” Said Schmitt. “Where did this meat come from, your highness, and how did you know we could eat it.”
“Canterlot is a hub for many ambassadors from other nations.” Celestia explained. “The Griffons do not take well to greenery and vegetables. As such they are prolific meat eaters. We have a small stock of meat for the ambassadors at all times. As for knowing you could eat it. I saw your teeth. The canines indicated to me that you had a partially meat based diet, so I ordered this made for you.”
Schlesinger nodded. “My thanks, your highness. I was told you may have some answers as to our ability to return home.”
“Yes.” Said Celestia. “But you may not like what i’m going to tell you. Back when my sister and I defeated Sombra, he placed a spell on the Crystal Empire. A time warping spell, causing it to freeze in time for 1000 years, and effectively drop out of existence. Basically, he locked the empire in a bubble of time warping energy for 1000 years. The Crystal Empire radiates a powerful magical aura, which continued to build inside this bubble of time. After 1000 years, the energy reached critical mass, and the bubble burst, releasing a powerful wave of energy and causing the Empire to reappear.”
Schlesinger nodded. “But what does this have to do with our ability to return home?”
“When the energy escaped, it was so powerful it literally cracked the fabric of reality.” Celestia explained. “The result was a sort of doorway between your dimension and ours. You just happened to be in the right place at the right time and you walked through one of these doorways. Unfortunately, this is where the problem starts. Your crossing destabilized the doorway, causing it to collapse behind you. The sheer force of the blast of magical energy that opened that doorway cannot be replicated by any means that I know of. These doorways only existed in theory until the event proved their existence.”
Schlesinger sat back and shook his head. “The men are not going to like this. I’m 68, I’m an old man. Many of them are in their mid 20s and 30s. They still had their whole lives ahead of them back home. Well, assuming the Russians didn’t cut it short.” He shook his head. “Are we stuck here for good.”
“I’m afraid so.” Celestia said solemnly. “However, if you wish to remain in your profession, I would gladly induct you into the Equestrian army.”
Schlesinger thought about the offer. “What would it entail?” Asked Schmitt.
“And what benefits would it provide us?” Krous added.
“You would be recognized as soldiers of Equestria and be granted citizenship and all the rights that come with it.”
“It sounds promising.” Said Schlesinger. “But I would first need to talk to my men, some of them might not be willing to fight anymore.”
“If that is their choice, then it is theirs to make.” Celestia said. “I would gladly induct any who are willing to serve into our military forces, but I will not force those who do not wish to serve.” She paused to take a bite of her own food. “Is there anything else you would like to know?”
“Yes, what exactly are the Elements of Harmony we keep being told about?” Schmitt asked. “All we know is that six of the ponies we have met are the bearers or something.”
Celestia smiled softly. “The original story of the Elements of Harmony is legendary. But I can tell you that it is true. Back before time began, our mother, the great overgod created 6 beings to rule over this world, each to control an element of the world. Light, Darkness, Chaos, Harmony, Life and Death. Four sisters and two brothers. We often quarreled as siblings do, then, one day, the god of Chaos, Discord, argued with Harmony. Their quarrel grew so great that they fought and Discord accidentally killed Harmony. Then he went mad and disappeared. The rest of us buried her beneath what is now the Everfree forest, and from her body sprouted a tree, The tree of Harmony. That tree produced 6 seeds, each a piece of Harmony’s soul, magic, honesty, laughter, generosity, kindness and loyalty. The 6 elements of harmony.”
“So the old legend is true.” Twilight breathed. “So when I channel my element, I am channeling the energy of your sister.”
“That is correct Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia smiled. “Only a few know this legend to be true, but I would like the sacrifice of my sister to be know. Most of the records that contained the story were destroyed by Discord during the Chaos war 800 years ago.”
“On the topic of military.” Schlesinger said. “I was told about the Griffon Kingdoms, and their military prowess.”
“Yes, the Griffons.” Celestia said. “The history between Equestria and the Griffon kingdoms has not been smooth in the past. 4000 years ago, the Griffon’s were a powerful empire, the largest the world has ever seen. No longer.”
“What happened to them.” Schmitt asked.
Celestia sighed. “3700 years ago, there was a war. Well, war had broken out many times before. The griffons had tried to invade fertile plains of Equestria through the northern mountains time and time again, luck was never on their side though, determined resistance ensured their victories were short lived. They just couldn’t accept times had changed. Facing defeats against many foes, losing territory and watching their nation dwindle, their built up their industrial strength to unprecedented heights, and used it to wage one final battle against the world. They fought ferociously, but were utterly defeated. In the years after the war, the shattered empire broke apart, forming a few dozen rival kingdoms. Today they remain in an unsteady peace, with each other at any rate.”
Schlesinger nodded. “So the Empire collapsed on itself.” He looked at the others. “What of the king?”
“Well.” Celestia began. “The old king, King Taalon, was a good ruler. He kept the kingdoms in check while letting them maintain their autonomy. Then he was caught up in a military coup, and summarily executed. His younger son was murdered, the elder, imprisoned. The new ruler is King Ragnar. He keeps the kingdoms in line with a grip of steel. I’ve been noticing that the griffon leadership has been quiet lately, so I sent my sister to discuss diplomatic issues with their council.”
There was a quiet knock at the door. “Come in.” Celestia said, glancing over.
A guard stepped inside, carrying a long box under his foreleg. “Your highness, the Griffon embassy to Canterlot has been recalled.”
“What? Why?” Celestia asked.
Schlesinger looked up as well. “That isn’t good.” He mumbled.
“Ambassador Tradar sends his apologies that he cannot be here in pony.” The guard continued. “He asked me to present you with this on behalf of the Griffon king.” He held the box out to her.
“Thank you good sir, you are dismissed.” Celestia said, taking the box from his grasp. It was long and thin, wrapped with a light blue ribbon.
“The recalling of an embassy can only mean two things.” Schmitt said.
“Yes.” Said Krous. “Either they’re being replaced...”
“Or its wa.....” Schlesinger started before he was interrupted by an ear shattering scream. Everyone was on their feet in an instant, weapons drawn. The door flew open and half a dozen guards poured in. All eyes turned to Celestia, who had just opened the box.
Nestled at the top among tufts of blue feather and paper, was a long, midnight blue, cylindrical object. One of the guards threw up, another two passed out on the spot.
“What...is that?” Schlesinger asked slowly.
“They cut off her horn.” Celestia growled. “THOSE EVIL FILTH CUT OFF MY SISTER’S HORN!” She roared, loud enough to shatter the stain glass windows of the room. A piece of paper drifted down onto the table.
Schlesinger picked it up. “If you wish to see your sister alive, I expect the capitulation of Equestria and your resignation as Princess on my desk in five days. If you refuse, you sister will be executed, and your nation will burn.” He read aloud. “Signed Emperor Ragnar.”
Celestia quietened as he read, her eyes slowly widening with fear for her sister. She quickly summoned a scroll and quill and started writing.
“What are you doing your highness.” Schlesinger asked, rounding the table to see what she was writing.
“I’m getting my sister back.” Celestia said in a quavering voice. “I will comply.”
“No.” Said Schlesinger, seizing the scroll from the air. Celestia rounded on him, backing him towards a wall.
“Give, me, that.” She growled.
“No.” Schlesinger said. “I will not allow such treachery to be tolerated.” Celestia pinned him to the wall with her magic.
“You would condemn my sister!” She screamed at him, reminding him slightly of the sound of a Katyusha rocked battery.
“No, I would save your sister.” Schlesinger said.
“How?” Celestia shouted at him. “We have no idea where she is.”
“No, but. Notify your border patrols to intercept the Griffon ambassadors and bring them back here. They’re bound to have the one who delivered this with them, and odds are he would be in on the plan. So we ring information on your sister out of him, then I will take my men and rescue your sister.”
Celestia glared it him. “If this does not work I will hold you personally responsible.” She growled.
“I’ll most likely be dead if this fails.” Schlesinger said. “Send word to your troops to capture the ambassadors. Do you have a means of spreading word across Equestria quickly.”
Celestia nodded. “We have a basic radio system for emergency communications with towns. Why?”
“When we rescue your sister, we will bring her back and expose the treachery of the Griffons to Equestria and the rest of the world. Does Equestria have any allies?”
“Yes, but the Zebra nation and Saddle Arabia will need solid proof of the Griffons guilt before they will join us in any action.” Celestia said. “What are you getting at?”
“When we rescue your sister, the Griffons will more than likely cross the northern border and attack Equestria.” Schlesinger said. “I was told Equestria had only some 6000 standing troops, that will not be enough to fight the coming war. You will need to call all of Equestria to arms, start raising militias. Are there any plans in place for such an event?”
“Of course.” Celestia said. “The mayor of every town has a secret set of documents locked in a safe, detailing the plans of action for different scenarios, including invasion.”
Schlesinger thought for a moment. "This explains why they hit the train today looking for Twilight. They either wanted to kill her to hurt you, or capture her to use as a bargaining chip. That would also explain the griffon currency we found on the body."
The weight of the situation suddenly hit Celestia and she slumped back in her chair, holding the box containing her sister’s horn close. “War.” She whispered. “I tried so hard to prevent another, and now my only remaining family, my dear sister will be taken from me.” She started to sob quietly.
Schlesinger rested a hand on her shoulder. “Easy.” He said. “We’ll get her back.” He looked over at Twilight who was still rock solid in her seat, her eyes locked on the wall with tears streaming from the edges at seeing her teacher in such distress.
“Schmitt, take Twilight to her room, she looks like she’s got shell shock.” Schelsinger said quietly. Schmitt gently scooped Twilight over his shoulder and carried her out of the room, her tears gently staining his black uniform.
Once Celestia had stopped her steady stream of tears, Schlesinger crouched down in front of her. “I need a way to get back to Ponyville quickly.” He said. “I need to deliver orders to my men and pick a squad for the raid to rescue your sister.”
“I’ll send for a carriage.” Celestia said, summoning a piece of paper and a quill, scribbling something and then making it vanish again. “It will be in the main courtyard in 5 minutes.”
Schlesinger nodded. “Captain Schmitt, Lieutenant Krous. Remain here and monitor the situation. If the griffons make any kind of offensive movement, report it immediately.” He headed for the door and looked back at Celestia. “I suggest we keep this to ourselves, rumors of an oncoming war will frighten the population. Everyone in this room must be sworn to silence. You should also call a meeting with the leaders of any allied powers in the region, so they are present when we reveal the griffon treachery.”
“Yes.” Celestia said. “I shall. I shall also order Equestria’s military to move north and entrench itself just behind the border. If nothing else, it may act as a deterrent for griffon military incursions.”
Schlesinger nodded. “I will take my leave now, ma’am.” He headed for the door.
“I must go and comfort my student.” Celestia said, also standing. “Seeing me like that must have been hard for her.”
Once outside, Flash Sentry met him at the door. “Is it true sir? Are we really going to war?”
“No.” Schlesinger said. “At least not yet. Keep it to yourself, the last thing we need is spies finding out. Are you to take me to my carriage.”
“Yes sir.” Flash said. “It’s waiting in the courtyard.”
“Lead on then.”
As Flash lead Schlesinger out of the castle a door opened and a tall white unicorn stepped out and walked straight into Schlesinger, then dramatically fell on his rump.
“How dare you walk into me you filthy...” The unicorn started, then Schlesinger slammed the door in his face.
“Don’t have time for that.” He said, hearing the unicorn continue his tirade behind the door. “Lead on Flash.”
Flash winced. “You probably shouldn’t have done that, as much as most ponies will approve.”
“Why? Who was he?” Schelsinger asked.
“Prince Blueblood.” Flash said. “He’s petty and annoying and can cause you no end of trouble if he wants to.”
“Very well sir.” Flash lead Schlesinger down into the castle forecourt where a carriage pulled by two Pegasi was already waiting. Schlesinger climbed into the back while Flash stood aside.
“Inform the Princess I will be returning with troops and will need another carriage.” He said to Flash.
“Yes sir.” Said Flash, who then turned and headed back into the castle.
“Please hold on sir.” Said one of the Pegasi pulling the carriage. “We’ve been instructed to get you to Ponyville post haste.”
“Very well.” Schlesinger grabbed one of the side railings and held on. The two pegasi started to trot before breaking into gallop and spreading their wings. The carriage slowly lifted off the ground and up over the castle ramparts.
The carriage thundered over Ponyville about half an hour later where it was met by Rainbow Dash. “Most of your soldiers are at Sweet Apple Acres.” She called over, before drop kicking a cloud almost straight up.
One of the pegasi pulling the carriage nodded to her and turned it towards a patchwork of fields on the southern edge of town. Upon close inspection, the fields turned out to be trees, apple trees if the red fruit was anything to go by, then again, with a name like “Sweet Apple Acres”, that was hardly surprising.
The carriage skimmed over the tops of the trees before setting down in an open area containing a farmhouse and a large barn. Several men who were meandering around the area looked up as the carriage descended and landed near the farmhouse. As Schlesinger climbed out, Sergeant Braun came out of the house and saluted. He was still in uniform, but lacking his M40 tunic and wearing a cap rather than his stahlhelm (helmet).
“Sir.” He said. “You’re back.”
“Yes.” Said Schlesinger, looking around. He noted the tip of the Tiger’s 88mm sticking out from the inside of the barn. “Something bad has come up, I need you to gather the 10 most experienced soldiers in the company.”
“Are we going to be fighting again Sir?” Braun asked.
“Perhaps.” Schlesinger said, quietly. “Keep it quiet. This is top secret. There are more carriages on the way to collect the ones chosen.”
“Yes sir.” Braun said. “I’ll find the men.”
“Howdy partner.” A voice shouted from across the yard. They both looked to see Applejack standing by the house. She walked over. “Didn’t expect to see you back here so soon.” Braun took his leave and walked away to find the men.
Schlesinger looked at Applejack. “The princess wanted to meet a few of my men, so I came to collect them.” He wasn’t a great lier, but it seemed to satisfy Applejack.
“So I take it you won’t be staying long?” She asked.
“Unfortunately no.” He replied. “I have to return to Canterlot with my men as soon as possible.”
“Sounds mighty fast for a social visit.” Applejack cocked her head at him.
Schlesinger looked towards Canterlot and noticed several specks closing in the distance. “Looks like our rides are coming.”
Braun returned with 10 men in tow. Two engineers, four riflemen, two machine gunners, the sniper and the medic. Most were slinging on their uniforms, buttoning up tunics or straightening their helmets and caps. They had bags with ammunition and weapons. The two machine gunners carried the heavy weapons over their shoulders and the engineers held the ammunition boxes.
They formed into a 2x5 formation. Braun saluted. “Sir, men reporting.”
“Very good.” Schlesinger said, looking over the men. Most of them were the older men, over 30, but there were a few young men among them. “Men. The princess wants to meet you, so fix your uniforms, weapons clean, helmets straight.” At that moment, 4 carriages came over the treeline of the farm and landed in the yard. “I suggest you hold on. Our rides are here.”
“We’re going to...fly sir?” One of the men asked.
“Yes.” Said Schlesinger. “Is that a problem?”
“No sir.” The man said, then mumbled. “I hate flying. I’m infantry, not fallschirmjäger.”
Schlesinger headed over to the chariots. “Alright, 3 men to a chariot. You too Sergeant.”
Braun looked up. “Me?”
“Yes.” Schlesinger said. “Lieutenant Krous needs a second in command.” The men piled into the chariots. Schlesinger, Braun and the sniper climbed into one carriage.
“Thank you for your hospitality Miss Applejack.” Schlesinger said. “But now I must take my leave.” The carriages took off and headed towards Canterlot.
“Come back soon!” Applejack waved and shouted after them. “I’ll have an apple pie waiting.”
Once they were out of sight of the farm, Braun looked to Schlesinger. “What exactly are we dealing with?”
“Invasion.” Schlesinger replied, the wind carrying away most of the sound. “A northern empire has kidnapped a member of Royalty. Its our job to rescue her.”
Braun nodded. “Why exactly are we getting involved in this? We do not belong to this nation.”
“I know.” Schlesinger said. “But from what I’ve seen of the Equestrian military, they’ll need all the help they can get, and the invaders may not be as kind to us as the Equestrians have been.”
Braun nodded. “I assume we’ll get our tactical analysis when we arrive sir?”
“We are not yet certain of the location of the royalty.” Schlesinger said. “Intelligence is being gathered as we speak.”
The rest of the journey was relatively quiet, most of the men looking down and enjoying the view. Celestia was waiting for them at the base of castle steps as the chariots descended and landed.
Schlesinger was the first to dismount. “Company, parade formation!” The men leapt from the chariots and formed into a single row in front of the Princess. The carriages left.
Celestia walked over and looked at the men from next to Schlesinger. “With your permission, I would address your men.” She said. Schlesinger nodded and stepped aside slightly.
Celestia looked at the men. “Soldiers, friends.” She began. “I have called you here, because I have heard that you are the best at what you do.” She took a deep breath. “What I am going to ask of you, I have no right to, but I ask you anyway. My sister has been kidnapped by a foreign power, and she now faces torture, and death. I ask...I beg you, rescue her. She has suffered enough. 1000 years in exile...” Her voice faded away, so Schlesinger took over.
“Any man who is willing to accept this mission, step forwards.”
There was a pregnant pause as the men looked from the distraught princess, then back at Schlesinger. Then, one man stepped forward. It was Braun. “I will not see innocents harmed for the sake of politics. War is one thing, but treachery is another.” The sniper, at the end of the row, stepped forward, followed by the two engineers, a machine gunner, and then the rest of the squad.
Schlesinger nodded. “Lieutenant Krous will be leading you on this mission. He is the ranking infantry commander. Now, go inside. You will find food and rooms are prepared for you. You are not to say a word of your purpose here. This is a top secret operation.”
Braun lead a salute, before taking the men into the castle, giving the princess a respectful girth. Schlesinger looked at her. “Do we have our source of intel?”
“We do.” Celestia said. “The guards caught them just north of Canterlot. There was a brief fight, but they were all brought in, alive.”
“Do we know who delivered the package?”
“Yes.” Celestia replied. “They gave him up to save their own feathered hides, but he won’t talk, and Equestrian law forbids us to torture him.”
Schlesinger thought. “Your highness, permission to be left alone with the prisoner.”
“What for?” Celestia asked. “His beak is locked shut.”
“Your highness, I am not an Equestrian citizen, and I’m technically not a soldier in your army. As such, I am technically not subject to your laws.”
Celestia caught on. “I can’t allow it.” She said. “It goes against everything Equestria is.”
Schlesinger looked at her. “Your highness, the only way we will get this information is if I beat it out of him. Otherwise your sister will die.”
Celestia looked away, thinking. “If anyone asks, I knew nothing about it.” She said, finally. “Dungeon corridor B, cell 6.” She slowly walked away.
Schlesinger made his way down to the dungeon, it smelled of damp and mould, exactly how he expected it to smell. It was dark, with the exception of torches on the walls. Almost all the cells were empty, but some were inhabited, the shades of ponies hiding in the darkest corners of their cells.
He followed the passage until he reached a door marked 6. There were two guards posted there. “Leave.” He said. “I would see the prisoner.” The two guards looked at each other, then realized that he would be there if the Princess hadn’t let him. One of them, a unicorn, lit his horn and section of bars vanished from the front of the cell.
“He won’t talk sir.” Said one of the guard as he turned to leave.
Schlesinger stepped into the cell and the bars rematerialised behind him. “We’ll see about that.”
“Just call when you want out.” The unicorn said. The two guards walked down the corridor and around the corner. Schlesinger faced the griffon. All four legs were chained, strapping it to the wall. It eyed him with a mocking glare.
“Is this all the Equestria can send.” The griffon mocked. “Are you going to chat me to death? Hug me into submission?” He chuckled quietly.
Schlesinger moved closer and made a show of slowly removing his right glove. He looked down at his hand, then slowly curled it into a fist. Before the griffon knew what had happened, that same fist had clubbed him across the face. The griffons head whipped sideways and his eyes rolled slightly, but quickly settled again on the soldier.
“You can’t do that.” He said, shakily. “Equestrian law forbids it.”
Schlesinger grabbed the griffon just under the chin with his left hand and dragged its head down slightly to look it in they eyes. “I’m not Equestrian.” Then he struck, four times in quick succession his fist connected with the griffon’s face. When he pulled back, the griffon spat a globule of blood on the floor and smirked. “You’ll have to do better than that.”
Schlesinger pulled his Luger, pointed it at the griffon’s left hind leg, and fired. The bullet shattered the griffon’s knee, and the weight of the griffon’s body threatened to snap the leg completely. The griffon howled in pain, unable to do anything about it. He partially lifted the broken leg to take the weight off it, now putting his full weight on his right hind leg.
Schlesinger pointed the gun at the griffon’s right paw and looked him dead in the eyes. “If I shoot you there, your right leg will give out and your left will snap.” He said, coldly. “Unless you tell me what I want to know.”
The griffon shuddered, tears dribbling from his eyes, but nodded.
“Where is Princess Luna.” Schlesinger demanded.
The griffon hesitated. “Please, I can’t. They’ll kill me.”
“I’ll kill you!” Schlesinger shouted, he raised the gun and put it to the griffon’s head. “I’m giving you 5 seconds to start talking or I’ll paint that wall behind you with your brains.”
“She’s in Gryphus, she’s in Gryphus!” The griffon shouted. “Transferred, yesterday to await execution.”
Schlesinger pushed the gun a little harder into the side of the griffons head. “Where in Gryphus?”
“The palace.” The griffon gasped. “She was to be punished for her impudence, and to show that our Emperor is a real god.” Schlesinger drew back, then pistol whipped the griffon once.
“You’re lucky I’m in a good mood.” He turned to leave, and saw Celestia standing outside the cell, her face impassive.
“Your highness.” Schlesinger said. “I was not expecting you.”
“Yes, well.” Celestia said, looking at the wounded griffon. “I must say you did a good job, even if I do not agree with your methods. She lit her horn and the cell door materialized to let him out.
Just as Schlesinger stepped out of the cell, the griffon found a hidden reserve of courage. “That whorse will die, as will you, false god! Long live the Emperor!” He shouted at Celestia.
Celestia’s horn began to glow brighter, but Schlesinger beat her to it. He raised the Luger and fired. The bullet struck the griffons right ankle, breaking the bone and causing the leg to give out. The griffons cry of pain became a scream of agony as his already broken left leg was snapped and twisted roughly. The cell door reappeared, muting any of his cries.
“Sound proof spell.” Celestia said.
“You better find him a medic.” Schlesinger said. “We have what we need.”
“Yes.” Celestia said. “But now we have a whole new problem.”
“What is it?” Schlesinger asked.
“Gryphus is the capital of the Griffon Empire, and the King’s seat of power.”
Schlesinger thought as they left the dungeon and Celestia told the guards to find a medic for the prisoner. “This is going to take some planning. The odds are pretty heavily against us though, in a manner of roughly 1000 to one. We can take 50 to 1, maybe even 100 to 1 with a little intel and support. But this is going to take some very careful planning.”
“Do you have a plan?” Celestia asked.
“The beginnings of one.” Schlesinger said. “Do you have a private room we can gather in to discuss?”
“My private library.” Celestia said. “Soundproof and intruder proof. It should be perfect.”
“Very well.” Schlesinger said. “Can you have someone send word to Krous, Schmitt and Braun to meet there?”
Celestia conjured a piece of paper and a quill, wrote something on it, then magicked it away again. “I have send them directions. They should meet us there.”
“I don’t know.” Krous said, looking at a map of Gryphus that Celestia had produced. “The men aren’t really trained for this.”
“A ground assault won’t work.” Schlesinger said. “We don’t have the numbers to attempt one anyway, its the only choice we’ve got.”
“Does Equestria even have the assets we need to conduct this operation.” Schmitt asked.
“Yes.” Celestia said. “And if it doesn’t, I will have them made.”
“So lets go over the details again.” Schlesinger said. “We take a zeppelin, load it with troops, and, using a mix of magic and natural weather conditions, sneak through the enemy lines to their capital. From there, the men jump and parachute down to the palace, landing on the roof. From there, you move through the palace, killing every dumb bastard stupid enough to stand in your path. Kill any targets of opportunity, gather any intel you can find, and rescue the princess. Then return to the roof where the zeppelin will be waiting for pickup.”
“A lot of things can go wrong.” Braun said, looking at the map. “But if we deploy right, we shouldn’t have too much trouble.”
“Then its settled.” Schlesinger said. “The infantry under Lieutenant Krous leaves as soon as we are prepared. Please find us a zeppelin your highness.”
“It will be done.” Celestia said. “You will have the best pilot and the best equipment Equestria can provide. I will buy you time by initiating diplomatic meetings with our allies.”
Schlesinger nodded and looked to his men. “Prepare yourselves, this is going to be a long fight.”
Prince Blueblood stepped back, furious that he had been halted mid sentence by the door slamming in his face. He had half the mind to throw it open and continue his tirade, but decided against it. The last thing he needed to do was draw unwanted attention to himself. He headed back into his room, making sure the door was locked and sealed, then walked behind his desk.
An ornate looking letter sat on his desk, sealed with a wax stamp bearing a long forgotten seal. He produced a small knife from a cupboard and sliced open the end of the letter, producing a slightly aged paper. To any other pony, the writing would look like unintelligible gibberish, but to Blueblood it had a meaning. He gave a sardonic smirk. Everything was unfolding precisely as planned.
There was a knock at his door. Blueblood quickly scrunched the letter and tossed it in a nearby fireplace. “Yes?” He said.
“Princess Celestia has called a meeting of the High Council Sir.” Came a voice of one of the palace Guards.
Blueblood frowned. The High Council was only called to an emergency meeting for just that, an emergency. His frowned deepened as he realized that the time frame of his operation had just been kicked forwards a few weeks. This could cause unforeseen complications, but it could also work in his favor. He suddenly had a fair amount of ammunition to toss around.
“Very good.” He replied to the Guard. Most of the high council were gullible idiots or petty nobles, it wouldn’t take too much to sway them. But the core nobles would be a problem. He would have to do something about that.
((A while later))
Schlesinger took a moment to straighten his cap and dust down his jacket as she stood next to Celestia at a set of large, ornate, double doors. “I must address the high council.” Celestia said. “Although overall command of the Equestrian military falls to me, its deployment falls to them. I must plead my case for full mobilization without letting them know we face invasion.”
“Are you sure I am allowed to attend, your Highness?” He asked Celestia.
“Of course.” Celestia said. “This meeting is secret, but as my military advisor, I will allow you entry, and even the right to speak on my behalf if necessary.”
Schlesinged nodded. The doors swung open to reveal a horseshoe shaped room. Banks of seats filled the sides of the room, coming together to form an archway over the entrance. At the head of the room was a slightly raised pedestal where the speaker of the high council would sit, and behind it, a higher pedestal with three thrones, obviously reserved for the royalty. The room was filled with hundreds of ponies, there appeared to be roughly 300 in all. All stood and fell silent as Celestia and Schlesinger entered.
Schlesinger caught more than a few glances as he accompanied the Princess up to the high pedestal. “You may stand by my side.” She said as she quietly took her seat, the rest of the council following suit. Schlesinger stood alongside the throne.
The speaker, a blue pony wearing a black robe addressed the assembly. “This emergency meeting of the high council is now in session. Princess Celestia, as you are the one who called this meeting, please address the council.”
Celestia stood and faced the crowd. “Thank you Mr speaker. I have called this meeting to address an emergency issue, which could not wait until our monthly meeting.” She had to pick her words carefully. “Over the last few months, intelligence reports have indicated large numbers of griffon troops moving towards the Equestrian-Griffon border.” There were sounds of concern from some areas of the room. “While this may amount to nothing, I propose to trot on the side of caution, and to immediately deploy the Equestrian armed forced northwards to deter any griffon intentions of hostile action.” There was a small chorus of “Heer heer” from some ponies. “I move that a vote be called on this issue.” She slowly sat down again.
The speaker stood. “Princess Celestia moves for a vote on the deployment of Equestrian armed forced to our northern border to deter griffon aggression. Are there any here who oppose this.” One hoof shot straight up. “The council recognizes Prince Blueblood.”
Schlesinger frowned, this one was trouble. He could tell.
Blueblood stood up. “My fellow councillors. I believe that the deployment of the Equestrian army will be both a costly and foolish move.” He began. “Firstly, as many of our esteemed councillors will remember, her Royal Highness Princess Celestia has failed to provide our army with a proper supply setup. As any who have had military units training in their constituencies will remember, the presence of these ponies caused severe damage to local infrastructure and food shortages in various communities, due to the soldiers need to forage for supplies. The army will have to mobilize and move through 32 of your constituencies in order to reach the northern border. The food needed to sustain the entire military could drive various constituencies into starvation.”
Celestia frowned. She hadn’t expected Blueblood to resist such a move as to deploy the army. He was outright defying her. Some kind of power play maybe.
Blueblood continued. “Secondly, the mobilization of the Equestrian army may cause the griffons to think that we are intending to attack them. This may cause them to launch a preemptive strike. Shall we risk war over a foolish move such as this?” He suddenly changed the subject. “On these, intelligence reports. Why was the high council not informed of these griffon movements? Surely Princess Celestia knew that this information would be of concern to us, yet it was hidden away. For what purpose? I demand answers!” Another chorus of ‘heer heer’s went around the room.
“Slimy bastard.” Schlesinger muttered as Celestia stood to answer Blueblood’s claims.
“The reason why the griffon military reports were not presented before the council is due to the fact that until now, my sister and I deemed that they were not of great concern. The griffons move troops up to the border and away again often. However, it was not until recently that the number of troops being deployed there began to grow exponentially. That is why I deemed it necessary to send my sister to the Griffon court and to bring this issue before you now.”
“So you admit that information that was essential to the safety of our lands was kept from us.” A pony to the left of the room demanded.
“The council does not recognize councillor Neighdon.” The speaker said, only for the room to erupt into shouting. Some ponies backed Celestia’s move, other’s Blueblood’s. “Order! Order!” The speaker banged his gravel on his desk. The room slowly quietened.
A pony in the front rank of seats slightly down from Celestia raised a hoof. “The Council recognizes army minster, General Slate.”
The General stood, his face was slightly scarred from action. He was one of Equestria’s finest generals, even though he had never commanded his own army in combat. He had acted as a military advisor to the Zebrican tribes in their struggle for independence from the Minatore Confederacy, and as an observer during the second Griffo-Draconic war. Due to this he held the respect of many in the room, and would normally be supported by a large number of councillors who would otherwise remain neutral.
“I will stand by the Princess and her decision.” The General said. “The Griffon’s have been trying our patience for too long with their fancy military parades and soldiers marching around the borders. I second the notion to vote on the issue of deployment.”
Blueblood frowned, and quickly changed the subject. “On an unrelated issue. Why is that hairless primate in here?” He pointed a hoof at Schlesinger. “I believe that there is a rule against pets in the council chambers.” There was a little bit of jeering in the room.
Schlesinger gave Blueblood an unimpressed look. Celestia gave him a small nudge. “My name is Wilhelm Schle...”
“It speaks!” Blueblood acted as if shocked. There was some soft laughter from around the room.
“Order.” The speaker said. “Prince Blueblood, please refrain from remarking while others speak.”
Schlesinger continued. “My name is Wilhelm Schlesinger. Colonel in the German army and currently military advisor to Princess Celestia. Appointed due to my experience with warfare to overview the Equestrian military.”
“Well then, Colonel.” Blueblood said in a mocking manner. “What is your opinion on this matter, for what little it counts for.”
“Based on my extensive military experience, I believe that an invasion is a possibility, if a remote one.” For the sake of his secret operation, he had to feign ignorance that the griffons were more than likely going to invade anyway. “The Equestrian army would advance to the border and entrench themselves. The griffons are a highly regimented military force, from what I have heard. They will understand that an army building defenses has no intention to go forwards.”
General Slate nodded approvingly and Celestia gave a small nod of gratitude. “I call for a vote.” She said.
“Seconded.” Said Slate.
“Princess Celestia forwards the notion to move the Equestrian army to our northern border to deter griffon aggression. Those in favor please stand.” A large number of ponies stood. The Speakers horn glowed for a moment, then faded. “Those against.” The pattern was repeated.
The Speaker stood. “The ayes have it, 214 to 86. The motion is passed. Princess Celestia, with this councils blessing, you may move the Equestrian army north to the border. This meeting is now adjourned.”
Celestia sighed and sat back slightly. “Thank you, Colonel Schlesinger.” She said softly as the council members filed out.
Schlesinger gave his thin beard a rub as he watched the councillors file out. “That Blueblood character is a bit of an annoyance. Is he always like that?”
Celestia thought for a moment. “He is usually uppity and pompous, but this is the first time I have seen him actively try to shut down a motion I have put forwards. I may need to investigate this further.” She leant forward and stood. “But come. It will take time for the army to be mustered, and I have organized what you asked for earlier.”
She bade a quick fairwell to the few ponies who had remained in the room, who returned this with a bow, before leading Schlesinger out onto one of the large platforms that stuck out from the side of Canterlot castle. Several human soldiers were present, loading weapons and supplies onto a moderately sized airship. Several more were leaping from the edge of the platform, dropping for several seconds, then opening parachutes made of a dark purple and black material and gliding down to a courtyard below. The parachutes were then repacked by unicorns and the soldiers were carried back up to repeat the process.
Lieutenant Braun approached and saluted. Schlesinger returned the salute. “How goes Lieutenant?”
“Very well sir.” Braun replied. “We have almost all the supplies loaded, although I do wish that we had more time to practice with the parachutes.”
“Its time we don’t have lieutenant.” Schlesinger said. “What of the pilot.”
Braun turned and looked back at the ship. “Cruiser!”
A rather battered looking pegasus popped his head up from behind one of the vessels railings. “Aye Lieutenant?”
“Come here for a moment, I want you to meet my commanding officer.” Braun said.
The pegasus nodded and trotted to the docking ramp of the ship, as he came down the ramp Schlesinger finally got a decent look at the pony. What he had originally had thought to be an earth pony was actually a pegasus. However, where his wings would have been was a pair of stumps. His body was marked with scars of various sizes and ages. He trotted up to the two humans and Princess and saluted. “Sirs, and ma’am.”
Schlesinger returned the salute, while the Princess just nodded politely. “It is good to see you again Sky Cruiser.” She said. “I could think of no one better to carry out this mission.”
The pegasus gave a cocky smile. “Don’t worry your highness, we’ll make the bastards pay. Please excuse me, but I must ensure the ballast is properly set.” He about faced and walked back onto the airship.
Celestia nodded as he left. “He is one of the best airship pilots in Equestria. He will succeed.”
Krous and Schlesinger watched as he walked away. “With respect your highness, what happened to him?”
Celestia shook her head. “A sad story. He was once a great flyer, a captain in the Royal Guard, but he was captured in a border skirmish with a rogue faction of Changelings. To cut a long story short, they removed his wings when he refused to talk. We managed to rescue him, but it was too late to save them. He was unable to continue his duties due to his injuries, and was given a discharge with full honors. He was deeply depressed until he found a new passion for airships.” She gave a soft smile. “He is one of the bravest ponies I have ever had the privilege of knowing. He will serve this mission well.”
Braun nodded. “We expect to leave within an hour or so, discretely. With respect you highness, you being here may draw more attention to our departure.”
Celestia nodded. “I understand. Colonel Schlesinger and I will be attending a military parade. I pray for your success, and that you may return my sister to me.”
Braun saluted. “We shall your highness.”
Schlesinger nodded as Braun walked back to the airship. "He'll make a fine officer eventually." He said to Celestia. "I'd swear he had a little Prussian blood in him." Celestia cocked and eyebrow.
"It means he has a lot of fighting spirit." Schlesinger said. He about faced and headed back towards the doorway. "We have a parade to attend yes?"
Celestia nodded. "Yes. Let us go."
((Approximately an hour later.))
Schlesinger stood on a balcony overlooking a large courtyard within the grounds of Canterlot castle. Alongside him was Celestia, and a number of pony military officials. In front of them stood the fully marshaled Equestrian army, some 6000 ponies in all. Most wore a combination of grey and silver armour and were crowded behind their standards in tight box formations. These were the line infantry, the center force of the Equestrian army forming 8 regiments in total.
To the left were the lightly armored pegasus dragoons, three companies in total. They were equipped with crossbows. Behind them were two companies pegasus lancers, their long spears forming a small forest in the rear of the formation. On the right was the battlemage company. Formed solely of unicorns, they provided the magic firepower of the army. In the rear was the artillery. Four old muzzle loading guns that appeared to be in the 6 pounder or so range, and another six much larger guns. These were breach loading, 105s if Schlesinger had to guess.
At the head of the army there was a small contingent consisting of the officers of the regiments, each with a regimental colour. In the middle was the Equestrian national flag, as well as the flag of the army itself, a blue flag with a silver star and moon. On either side of them was the army band, consisting of the drummers and fifers of each regiment.
A pegasus, dressed in the attire of a general, stepped forward from the front rank of the assembled army. “Your highness, I bring you the salute of the Equestrian military.” As one, the army raised one of their fore hooves to their heads in salute. Celestia returned the gesture. The general dropped his salute and turned to the army. “Parade, shun!” The ponies all snapped to attention. “Parade will form close column on the first regiment of hoof. By the left, quick march!”
The band began to play a marching tune as they and their colour bearers moved to rejoin their regiments. Then, in a well rehearsed maneuver, the first four regiments took eight steps forward to align themselves with the exits to the courtyard, turned on their hind legs, then marched in time out of the courtyard. As soon as the first four were clear, the second four moved forwards and followed them out, then the lancers and dragoons, then finally the artillery.
Celestia looked to Schlesinger as the army filed out. “What do you think?”
Schlesinger watched the troops file out. “They’re disciplined in parade, but battle is a whole new book.” He shook his head. “I do not think there are enough of them. Where are they headed?”
“They are headed to the city of Stalliongrad.” Celestia said. The name was far too familiar to Schlesinger and he gave a small shudder. “My generals inform me that they could hold the griffon forces in a defensive line to the north west of the city.”
“That is correct, your highness.” Said one of the officers standing behind them. “Assuming the griffons do resort to violence, we will defeat them.” He sounded confident, or cocky, Schlesinger wasn’t sure.
“For now we must put our faith in diplomacy.” Celestia said, she hadn’t informed anyone about her sister for fear of creating panic. “I am calling together ambassadors from all nations to work out our differences.” Schlesinger knew what she really meant to do was expose what the griffons had done to her sister to the world, and encourage their allies to join them in battle. “The dispatching of the army is merely a precaution.”
The stallion nodded. “We would take our leave your highness.” He said. “We must rejoin our commands.”
Celestia nodded to him. “Dismissed, General Steel Hoof. I wish you luck.”
“We’re Equestrian’s your highness.” The general replied. “We create our own luck.” He and his staff took their leave.
Schlesinger sighed as the sound of military music faded and walked back into the room that adjoined the balcony. It was one of the side halls. “Now, we wait, and prepare.”
Far to the north of the city, a small black smudge disappeared into some low cloud cover. The mission to rescue Princess Luna was on.
The sun had long since set below the horizon and darkness had consumed the border region between Equestria and the Griffon kingdoms. The border was marked by a mountain range that ran across the length of the continent from the Shining Sea in the west to the Jewel Sea in the east.
Lieutenant Krous stood on the deck of the small airship and leant against the side rail, listening to the soft thrum of the engines below deck and watching his breath turn into fog before his face. It was bitter cold at this altitude, and he was glad that he and his troops had been equipped for winter combat. His greatcoat was definitely seeing its share of work. Behind him on a slightly raised area stood Cruiser, reading a map and occasionally adjusting their course using a large wheel.
“So, how exactly will this plan work?” Cruiser asked. “I wasn’t exactly given the full details before we left.”
Krous turned to face him. “The plan is simple. When we reach the griffon capital you will set the airship to hover high above the citadel. My men and I will then jump and use the parachutes to land on the roof of the citadel. We will deal with any guards, and then move into the castle itself. We will locate the Princess and bring her to the roof. We will then send a signal to you, you will fly the airship down and we will evacuate, hopefully before anyone notices.”
Cruiser considered the plan. “It’s risky.” He said. “Remember, this thing isn’t a battleship, it’s an air balloon. We take too many arrows or one hit from an artillery piece and our mission is over.”
“If our luck holds they won’t detect us until we’re already out of artillery range, and we have enough firepower to deal with any who try to give chase.” Krous said. Cruiser shrugged and went back to reading his map.
Krous looked down over the edge of the airship’s carrying section and saw that they were starting to leave the mountains behind. Below were rolling foothills, stretching out to a plain in the distance. A large cluster of lights off to one side caught his attention. It looked like a large town nestled amongst the foothills. “What town is that?” He asked.
“Town?” Cruiser moved away from the wheel and over to the rail to look. “There’s no towns in this area…” And yet the lights were clearly visible. He frowned and headed back to his map to check their position.
Krous took a set of field binoculars from a holder on his side and looked out at the lights. With the increased magnification he was able to make out more details, in particular that what he had first thought was a very well lit road leading into the town was actually a large number of individual lights, and they were moving. “That isn’t a town.” He said. “It’s a military encampment.”
Chaser came back to the rail with a spyglass and looked in the same direction. “That’s enormous...” He said with a hint of disbelief.
“Based on what I can see, I’d say that camp is big enough to hold somewhere between 60 000 and 80 000 soldiers.” Krous lowered the binoculars. “They’ll sweep the Equestrian army aside like toys. A literal wave of steel.”
“How can we expect to stop that?” Cruiser asked. “The Equestrian military is only 6000 ponies strong, less than a 10th of that at best.”
“We won’t be able to win a war of attrition.” Krous said. “Can we send a message to Canterlot, let them know what’s coming?”
Cruiser shook his head. “No. The teleport spell on magic scrolls has a limited range. From here we’d be lucky to get one as far as Stalliongrad let alone Canterlot.”
Krous sighed explosively. “Then we proceed with our mission. Douse all lights so we don’t risk getting spotted by patrols.”
A band of dark cloud loomed ahead of them. “Rain squalls.” Said Cruiser. “They’ll give us good cover, for a while at any rate.”
Krous nodded. “Very well, make best speed for Gryphus.”
CANTERLOT
A secondary dining room underneath the eastern wing of Canterlot castle had been rapidly transformed in the last few hours. The usual long table and chairs were gone, replaced with a single table with a large map in the center. Smaller desks were being set up along the walls for communications unicorns to sit at, and space was being cleared for a set of small sleeping quarters for those staff who would be spending many long nights here.
Schlesinger stood at the map table alongside 3 pony generals, looking down at the northern half of Equestria. The generals were all newly minted as the highest ranking officer in the Equestrian military in peacetime was a Captain. Even so, Equestria’s high command was seriously lacking in qualified officers.
General Iron Heart, former Captain of the Pegasus lancer corps, looked down and studied the map. “It makes the most sense that they will attack through Pellew pass. He pointed down at a place on the map between two mountain chains marked by a fortress image. “It’s the only land route into Equestria from the north without risking the mountain passes, and it’s heavily fortified so they’ll have no fear of ambush.”
“Why don’t they just fly over?” Schlesinger asked. “They’re griffons, they have wings don’t they?”
“They do.” Said General Steel Sing, former Captain of the artillery corp. “But they won’t fly over for three reasons. The first is that the griffons have a very over inflated sense of honor. They have to prove their valor in combat and charging over open ground is a lot more honorable than dropping down out of the sky. Second is tactics. They only allow designated flying units to fly during battle. If every griffon was airborne it would just be a mess of feathers and fur. They wouldn’t be able to maneuver easily and unit cohesion would be lost. Third is anti air artillery. Basically cannon loaded with a type of shell that explodes and sprays shrapnel. It can kill a whole airborne platoon, and a battery of them could completely destroy an airborne army.”
Schlesinger nodded. “How many troops can we expect them to have?”
The third general, head of the intelligence corps, Blank Slate, tapped the map. “Our best estimates suggest no more than seven to ten thousand troops. Artillery should be minimal.” He said. “The Griffon Kingdoms are a fractious lot at the best of times, and with a new High King on the throne it’s unlikely that they would be eager to cooperate with each other.”
“That means we’ll be outnumbered by at least 1000 troops. What reserves do we have?” Schlesinger asked.
“Two companies of Royal Guard shock troops comprised of 300 ponies, and the naval infantry corps, which is another 400, give or take.” Steel Sing said.
“6700 against 7 to 10 000.” Schlesinger said, rubbing his chin and thinking. “This won’t be easy.”
“What of the weapons you brought with you?” Iron Heart asked. “Surely if they hold the power that you claim, no army can stand against us.”
“True.” Said Schlesinger, moving over to a window and looking out at the night sky. “But our weapons require significant amounts of ammunition, and we only brought a limited supply. Our vehicles also have very limited fuel, so they will have to be used sparingly until we can find a way to produce some, if we actually can.”
The doors at the end of the room opened silently and Princess Celestia appeared, causing all the ponies to pause what they were doing and bow to her before continuing with their work. She looked gaunter than the last time Schlesinger had seen her. The normal bounce in her gait was gone, and her gentle smile had been replaced with a look of stern determination. She slowly trotted up to the map table and faced the three generals.
“How go the preparations?” She asked, looking down at the table and noting the current lack of any figurines to represent troop movements.
Blank Slate bowed. “Your highness, the regular army is in position and building defenses and the Guard is mobilizing in reserve. The naval infantry will also be available to us until the fleet can be put to sea, at which point they will be needed elsewhere. Our intelligence suggests that the enemy may outnumber us by at least 1000 troops, so I would suggest sending out word to the town and city mayors to start organizing militia forces to form our strategic reserve.”
Celestia straightened at the mention of militia. “What you suggest is most extreme general.” She said. “A volunteer militia would not stand much of a chance against the battle hardened Griffon army. I fear what you suggest may result in simple slaughter.”
“But we do not have a great deal of choice.” Schlesinger said, stepping away from the window and moving back to the table. “If the regular army is defeated, then we will have only a token force protecting the rest of the nation. A militia would give us a fighting chance at the very least. In the best case scenario, the regular army will win and we won’t need them. Worse case, they’ll have to fight, just like the rest of us.”
Celestia sighed. “Very well. When the declaration arrives I shall include a call to arms in my address to my ponies. I leave it to you to determine the best way to organize, train and equip them.”
“That is another concern.” Schlesinger said. “The shortage of weapons. Equestria has a grand total of 8 artillery pieces, nowhere near enough, and there appears to be a massive shortage of armour and hand… er, hoof held weapons. The reserve is barely enough to equip a company, let alone the numbers of troops we will need. Why is there so little surplus?”
Celestia shook her head. “The industries that produce such equipment are few indeed. You must understand that Equestria has not seen a war in more than 700 years. We only produce enough to maintain what forces we have. I am working on a plan to convert various industries to aid the war effort, but it will take time to retool them to create weapons. For now we’ll just have to spread around what we have and make do.”
Schlesinger sighed and leant against the table. “Short on supplies, outnumbered and outgunned. It’s like Kursk all over again.” He stood up. “Any news from the covert team?”
Celestia shook her head again. “No. They’re out of contact range for message scrolls. I am concerned that the griffons may try to spin this as an unprovoked act of aggression though.”
Schlesinger shook his head. “They won’t. They’ve already given us too much evidence to the contrary.” He glanced out the window again. “With any luck, they’ll slip in unnoticed and get out again without causing too much trouble.”
GRYPHUS: Capital of the Griffon Empire
A steady rain drizzled down from the sky, spattering against the frame of the airship and tinkling softly against the stahlhelms of the men standing on deck. Their dark grey uniforms blended in against the background clouds, the only noticeable sign of them being their breath, which billowed white in the frigid air. Each man wore a backpack containing his parachute.
Far below lay the sprawling capital of the Griffon Empire. Built against a towering mountain range and encircled by a high wall the suburbs of the major city stretched out from the interior for several miles to the south, east, and west. Further in was the inner city, divided from the suburbs by a second wall to mark the border between the aristocrats and the regular citizens.
The castle at the city’s ‘center’ was an imposing structure. Built atop a low rise it bristled with watch towers and heavy guns aimed out towards the city. Small specks of light moving about marked the locations of sentries doing their rounds. So far, the airship had remained unspotted, concealed in the cloud layer directly above the keep. How long that would last was anybody’s guess.
Krous approached, wearing a chute backpack of his own and with his usual cloth hat replaced by a helmet. “Alright.” He said. “When we jump, aim for the keep. We will land on the main roof and remove any sentries, preferably quietly. Four men will remain on the roof to secure it as a landing zone for the airship. When we rescue the Princess we will fall back to the roof and make a fast exit. Stick to knives and entrenching tools only, no bullets or explosives unless they raise the alarm, in which case weapons free.”
He stepped up to the rail and glanced back at Cruiser. “You know the signal for pickup.”
“The flare.” Cruiser replied, holding the airship steady. “Good luck down there.”
Krous nodded and looked down at the massive drop below him and at the citadel far below. “This is why I signed up for the panzers.” He muttered, pulling a set of goggles down over his eyes. “Let’s go.” He let himself fall forwards and suddenly the air around him turned into a hurricane, ripping at his clothing and weapons. Around him, the dark shapes of the rest of his platoon fell alongside him, heading aiming for the castle.
A few hundred meters above the roof he yanked the cord on his pack and the fabric rushed out, unfurling with a solid sounding ‘whump’ and slowing his descent from a rush to a crawl. He could just about see the chutes of the rest of his squad, but didn’t have time to count them, the roof was coming up fast. He bent his legs and prepared for impact.
On the roof below, the griffon Private Light Feather shook some rainwater out of his fur and shivered softly. Being a guard in the royal castle was supposed to be a prestigious job, but he always seemed to draw the short straw, being assigned the worst duties like guarding the castle lavatories or emptying the barracks laundry basket, or in this case, standing about in the freezing rain.
There was a loud thud from behind him and he jumped, spinning around and grabbing his spear, almost knocking over his patrol lantern in the process. Something had landed on the roof and appeared to be struggling beneath a mass of fabric. He began to approach cautiously, wondering whether or not he should raise the alarm. He wouldn’t get to make the decision.
Something lunged at him from the darkness and he barely had time to give a small squawk of surprise before a metal object smashed into the side of his head and he hit the floor like a rock, unconscious and badly concussed.
Krous struggled out from under his chute and noted that Private Brandt had landed slightly before him and had already pounced on a sentry with a shovel. On the other side of the roof, a second sentry lay bleeding from a gash across the front of his neck, his body twitched as his life drained away. The squad of humans regrouped in the middle of the roof and began to check their weapons. Most of the men had rifles, but there was also two STG-44s, an MG-34, a scoped Gewher 43 and Krous’s MP-40.
He pointed to two rifleman, the sniper and the machine gunner. “You four, hold the roof and scope out any artillery positions that have a clear line of fire to the roof. If they raise the alarm, try to neutralize the crews so the airship can land.” The four men murmured acknowledgements and moved off to different corners of the roof.
“The rest of you, with me. Let’s move.” Krous lead them over to a small raised doorway that lead into the keep itself. He had his men stack up on either side of the doorway and cracked it open slightly to peer inside. He could make out a staircase heading down to another door below and no sign of any guards or sentries. He pulled the door open fully and the men filed in, the door closing silently behind them. Beyond the door at the bottom of the stairs was a carpeted hallway lined with artwork. Torches burned in braziers spaced evenly along the walls, lighting the way forwards.
Krous paused and had his men seek shelter in small alcoves along the walls that contained various busts of griffon leaders. He fished a slightly damp piece of paper out of his pocket and opened it. It was a copy of a map that showed the layout of the castle. The only problem was that the original copy had been pilfered almost 200 years earlier, and the castle had been modified over time, so it wasn’t exactly accurate.
The Princess was likely being held in the castle dungeon, but unlike a normal castle where the dungeon would be underneath the citadel, this one had the dungeon buried deep inside the mountain to which the castle was built against. According to the map, they would have to go along this corridor, drop down two stories and then down a long staircase to get to it. He put the map away and signaled for his men to move, quietly.
The squad proceeded forwards, scanning left and right with their weapons and pausing to listen at each door they passed. At some they heard nothing, others there was muffled talking and laughing. The griffons obviously weren’t expecting an infiltration into the heart of their capital, which also explained the lack of sentries inside the walls. They reached the end of the hall undisturbed and located a spiral stairwell that lead downwards for several stories. They dropped two floors and paused at another door. They could hear voices on the other side, at a constant level which meant they weren’t moving closer or getting further away. Sentries.
That complicated things. Krous signaled his men to remain silent and pushed the door open a crack to peer through. He could see a griffon’s hindquarters just to the right of the door, and from the way it was facing, he was talking to someone to his left. He inched the door shut again. A grenade could sort this problem easily. The only problem was that it would bring every guard in the castle down on them as well. They would have to do this the old fashioned way, close quarters and quietly. He indicated two of his men and made a stabbing motion. They nodded and produced bayonets from their belts, attaching them to their rifles. One took position to the side of the door, the other on the far side of the stairwell.
Krous counted down on his fingers, 3, 2, 1. The man across the corridor charged and slammed into the slightly ajar door, smashing it open and crushing the guard on the right against the wall. Before the second guard could realize what was happening the second man stepped into the doorway and jammed his rifle into the griffon’s neck. He gave it a sharp twist, and then yanked it out, leaving the griffon to collapse and convulse on the floor. He pivoted to deal with the second griffon, but it was clear he was already gone. The impact from the door slamming open had crushed him into the wall and bent his neck at an odd angle. Even if he was still alive, he was in no position to sound an alarm.
Two more men pivoted into the hallway and scanned along its length with their rifles, but there was no one else in sight. “Move.” Krous said quietly, urging his squad into the corridor. They quickly dragged the bodies of the two sentries into an alcove before quick marching down the hallway to its end. Here the hallway ended at an underground chasm with a single stairway leading across to another door some distance below. Water could be heard flowing at the bottom of the chasm, but its source was lost somewhere in the darkness.
Each step echoed softly as the mean moved down the stairs in double file, keeping close to the rails and well-spaced out in case of an ambush, but there was no sign of any further sentries and they made it to the lower door unseen. The hallway beyond smelled heavily of damp stone, but there was also the clear smell of urine and other bodily fluids. The air was heavy and still. The walls were lined with heavy wooden doors equipped with sliding grate peepholes. “Spread out.” Krous said. “Move along and check each cell.” Some of the men produced small flashlights and began to move along the walls, sliding open the peep holes and peering inside. The majority of the cells were empty, but…
One of the men gave a small whistle and signaled that he had located something in a cell halfway down the left side wall. Krous moved over and peered through the peephole. In the light of the flashlight he could just about make out the shape of an equine, lying on the floor and attempting to shy away from the door. “Open it up.” He said.
The man with the light pulled the locking pin out of the heavy steel lock and pulled the large handle towards him. There was a clank and the door swung outwards silently. Now with the extra light they could make out what was inside. It was a pony, but it wasn’t the one they were looking for. The earth pony mare dragged herself across the floor into a corner of the cell, squinting and looking away as she was blinded by the sudden light after having spent so long in darkness. “Please, don’t hurt me, anymore.” From the way her voice cracked at the end of the sentence it was clear she had broken into tears. “No more, no more.”
Krous quickly moved into the cell, shining his light a little lower to stop blinding the poor mare but so that he could still see her. “We’re not here to hurt you.” He said, crouching down slightly so he would be on her level if she had been standing. “We’re here to rescue you, Princess Celestia sent us.” The mare’s head snapped around and her large eyes snapped open. Then in an instant she was in motion. She had stumbled to her hooves and crossed the distance between them in a second, wrapping her forelegs around Krous’s midsection and burying her head in his greatcoat, sobbing. Krous froze for a moment, unsure how to react, then he started to softly stroke her back.
“Can you tell me who you are?” He asked. “Why you’re here?”
The mare’s large bloodshot eyes slowly looked up at him. “My name, is Silver Lining. Ambassador to the Griffon Kingdoms.” Her voice broke and she coughed. She sounded parched.
“Get me a canteen.” Krous hissed back at his men, still holding the mare close. Her position explained why she was here in the cells. A canteen was quickly passed forwards and he uncapped it, lowering it to the mare’s mouth. She took it and drank greedily, obviously savoring the taste. Once she had completely drained it she took a moment to compose herself before speaking again.
“They attacked the Embassy. The guards and the rest of the staff were taken to a work camp somewhere, but I was brought here. They wanted information, information that I, I didn’t have.” He voice quivered but she managed to keep herself together. “They beat me, and then they left me here to starve.” She looked him up and down slowly. “W, what are you exactly?”
Krous shook his head. “There isn’t much time. I’ll explain once we get you out of here. Can you walk properly?” The mare nodded. There was another soft whistle from somewhere further up the row of cells. “Stay here.” He said, backing out of the cell and headed further down the row to another cell that looked much more heavily fortified than the others. The door was solid, no bars and no windows. There wasn’t even a food slot.
“Is this it?” He asked, looking at the door and then up and down the rows of cells to see if there were any others like it. There weren’t.
“It has to be, sir.” Said the man who had located the door. “This is a high security cell, and there aren’t any other ones in this area.”
Krous nodded. “Open it.” The man reached over and pulled out two locking pins, then turned the massive locking mechanism a full 360 degrees. There was a loud clank as it disabled. The door slowly swung open, letting light into the pitch black cell. At first he thought it was empty, and then he saw something move slightly in the darkness near one of the walls, black on black. A flashlight beam shone into the cell and they got their first proper look.
Princess Luna lay on her side in the corner on a thin layer of foul smelling hay. Her fur was streaked with dirt and small bloody streaks from many small cuts. One foreleg was bent at an odd angle, and she had a chain around her neck that was secured to one wall. “She’s here.” Krous said. “Find something to use as a stretcher.”
He stepped into the cell, concerned at the fact that she hadn’t moved when the door had opened or light had been shone on her. “Princess Luna?” He asked softly, moving slightly closer to her.
She didn’t move, but her voice came from the darkness. “I will tell you nothing.” Her voice stumbled and cracked a few times just in that small sentence. She was clearly parched, beaten and bloodied, but they hadn’t broken her mind quite yet it seemed.
“We’re not griffons.” Krous said. “We’re here to get you out.”
Luna’s head slowly turned around to look to look and Krous got his first proper look at her. Her face was streaked with dirt and marks, some bruises. Blood had dribbled down from a cut above her right eye and formed a nasty streak down the side of her face. She had obviously been wearing some kind of makeup at some point, as her eyeliner had streaked down her face in strange patterns, either from tears or sweat. Her horn was a stump, but it appeared to be slowly starting to regrow. “You are not ponies.” She said, trying to swallow and coughing.
Krous quickly took a canteen and carried it over to her. “Drink.” He said, putting it to her lips. “Your sister Celestia sent us. We’re… mercenaries I guess.”
Luna finished drinking and looked at Krous. “But the griffons. They said they were going to invade, after they… executed me.”
“Equestria is ready to fight.” Krous said. “And I doubt her allies are going to stand idly by while this atrocity occurs. Kidnapping and torturing a visiting dignitary, it’s disgusting.” Two men came back into the cell, carrying with them a door that they had ripped from a storage room cupboard. It was long and wide enough for a pony to lie on, but narrow enough that it would fit up the stairs and through the hallways of the castle.
“Alright, we’re leaving.” Krous said. “Can you get onto the door?”
Luna shifted herself, wincing as her bent leg was disturbed. “My leg is broken, but I can move.” She said. She wiggled herself across the floor and rolled onto the stretcher/door. The two men bent and lifted it, testing the weight and making sure they could hold her. They nodded at Krous when they could.
Krous nodded. “Let’s go.” He gave a short whistle and his men filtered back from along the row of cells, one bringing along Silver Lining. He did a quick head count and nodded when all were present. “Now we…”
A griffon prison guard stepped around the corner of the cell block from a stairwell that no one had seen in the shadows, a steaming mug of something in one claw. He froze as he caught sight of all the beings in the cell row and they all saw him. There was a moment of confused silence, then the griffon opened his beak and gave a shrill cry, dropping the mug and reaching for a weapon at his side.
Two rifles cracked. A bullet pinged off the wall next to the griffon, showering shards of stone all over him. The second bullet struck him in the chest region, cutting off the shriek as the griffon found that he suddenly couldn’t breathe. He dropped to the floor.
For a moment the only sounds were the ringing of the cry and the two gunshots. Then there was another shriek from further away, followed by another. The alarm had been raised. “Schisse.” Krous cursed. “We’ve been discovered. Time to go loud. Move fast, kill anything that gets in our way. Go!”
All of the men broke into a run, jogging to back to the main entrance of the prison and the stairs over the ravine. By the time they reached it a pair of guards was already hurrying towards them from the opposite end, spears at the ready. Krous raised his machine gun and fired a quick burst, dispatching one of them while the heavier burst from an STG behind him finished the second. Both bodies tumbled off the stairs and down into the ravine.
As they burst back into the castle corridors they came face to face with a wall of griffons armed with crossbows filling the hallway, preparing for line fire. “Cover!” Krous shouted, diving into the cover of a doorway. His men followed suit, the ones carrying Luna staying behind the archway the lead onto the prison stairs. Silver cowered behind them.
“Grenades!” Krous shouted as a wall of crossbow bolts raced down the corridor and pinged off stone and wood. Two men near the front produced grenades and primed them, pulling the fuse wire and pivoting around their cover to hurl them towards the enemy. “Down!” Everyone ducked back. There was about a second of silence before the grenades detonated with a roar. “Go!”
Everyone broke from cover and moved forwards, those in the lead firing as they went. The few griffons who had survived the grenades were cut down in a storm of bullets. With the corridor now cleared, the rescuers moved onto the rounded stairwell and up two stories. The upper corridor was empty, the guards not having locked it down yet, after all, what kind of prisoner would try to escape to the roof. Common sense indicated the front door.
As they moved along towards the final stairwell back up to the roof, a door opened and an older griffon stepped out, almost bumping into Krous they were so close. He was too close to shoot, so Krous did the next best thing. He brought his weapon up and smashed it into the griffon’s beak. The MP-40 was a light weapon, but it was still made of metal and still hurt when it hit someone. The griffon clutched his beak and stumbled back, falling on his rump. It was then that Krous noticed that he was wearing some kind of uniform and had a chest covered in various medals.
Not that that made much different for what happened next. Krous charged forwards and drove a knee into the griffon’s face, knocking him back and onto the floor, out cold. He was in some kind of study with bookshelves lining the walls and a large table in the middle. Papers were scattered all over it, maps, diagrams, notes. He quickly put two and two together. A military officer, plus maps and notes equaled invasion plans. He quickly stepped up to the table and seized as much of it as he could, jamming it into the pockets of his great coat. This might come in handy.
By the time he got up to the roof the rest of the men were already there. One had lit the flare and tossed it into the center of the roof, its glow lighting up the surrounding area. Above, he could hear the thrumming of airship engines. But there was trouble all around. Lights were appearing all over the walls of the citadel as griffon troops rushed to their stations and artillery crews moved to man their guns. They knew they were under attack now.
His men had lined themselves up along the parapet and were firing down onto the lower ramparts, taking out the artillery crews before they could get their guns ready to open fire. A row of tracers shot down from the MG and cut down a squad of crossbowmen who were trying to lob arrows up onto the main roof. The airship finally dropped out of the cloud layer and rapidly descended down to the castle roof, landing with a solid thud of wood on stone. “Come on, move it!” Cruiser shouted from the deck. “They know we’re here now.”
The men carrying Luna were the first to board, followed by Silver Lining. Then the men along the parapet began to fall back one by one, climbing the airship’s makeshift boarding ramp and taking up positions on the deck. The last few men dashed from their positions and ran for the airship just as the roof access hatch burst open and dozens of griffon guards began to pour out, storming towards the airship. “Open fire!” Krous shouted, and the oncoming horde was met was a hail of bullets. He stepped backwards onto the ramp, firing his SMG as he went. “Up Cruiser, up! We’re all on!”
Crossbow bolts peppered the hull of the airship as Cruiser slammed the throttle to full and the airship lifted off the deck, quickly starting to ascend towards the cloud layer. A few griffons took flight to give chase, but they were cut down by rifle fire a few seconds later. The city was in chaos. Lights began to flare up across all the districts as the noise and shouting awoke griffons across the city. Guards scrambled to get from the outer walls to the keep while officers tried to organize a cohesive response.
In the chaos, the airship quickly ascended into the heavy clouds and turned south west, heading away from the city at maximum speed. Mission accomplished. It was still a long flight back to Equestria, but they had done what they came for. They had rescued Princess Luna.
A heavy morning fog hung over the northern reaches of Equestrian territory, rolling down from the mountains that marked the frontier and washing over the walls of the Equestrian army’s main encampment. The army had made camp several miles outside the walls of the old fortress city of Stalliongrad on the bank of the Flower River, laying down their neat rows of tents and building fortifications on the outer perimeter. They weren’t expecting any action, or if they were, they were expecting it to be targeted towards the city itself and not at them.
It was still at least an hour before a bugler would sound the reveille to awaken the camp, but the first signs of activity were already stirring. The camp cooks were hard at work preparing the morning meals for the 6000 soldiers, and sentries were doing their rounds up and down the rows of tents and along the perimeter.
The camp’s outer defenses consisted of a makeshift palisade wall with a trench on the outside. It wouldn’t stand up to any serious attack, but it would make a crossing more difficult and would buy the army time to form up in case of a surprise. Two Equestrian privates walked slowly along the inside of the wall, their armor glistening with the first drops of morning dew as they trotted along the same patrol route they had been following for most of the night.
“So, do you really think they’ll attack us?” One, Silver Dawn, said shuffling his crossbow from one shoulder to another.
“Nah.” The second one, Line Breaker, said. “It’s all just bluster and politics. We’ll be here for a week or so then ordered back home.” The two stallions had known each other since their first days in the military academy. They had trained together, been shouted at by drill instructors together, and had served together in different units for quite some time. They were practically inseperable.
A soft thud from somewhere outside the walls caused them both to stop and glance at each other. They listened carefully, but all they could hear was the usual night sounds of insects and the soft burbling of the Flower River nearby. Silver nodded his head towards the wall and Line nodded back, slowly starting to move towards it with his spear in hoof. He slowly made his way up the dirt mound on the inside of the wall to peer over while his comrade covered him with the bow.
He peeked over the top of the wall and downwards into the ditch below. “There’s nothing…” He didn’t get to finish the sentence. An armoured paw slammed down on the top of his helmet, pushing his head downwards straight onto one of the spiked points of the palisade. It penetrated up through his chin and went straight into his brain. He was dead instantly and slumped in place, dropping his spear. Silver tried to open his mouth to both raise the alarm and cry out in fear and anguish at the sudden and brutal loss of his close friend but he was suddenly grabbed from behind. His mouth was covered by a claw and something sharp drove into his side, just below his foreleg and rupturing his heart before twisting roughly. He twitched and squirmed for a few moments, giving muffled sounds as he felt blood fill his throat, then his vision finally faded to black and he fell still.
The griffon who had just murdered the sentry let him fall and clicked his beak twice. Five more griffons ascended over the wall on silent wings and landed nearby. The two bodies were quickly dumped over the wall to hide them and the griffons separated in pairs to conduct their missions. Two headed towards the artillery batteries, two towards the rows of tents, and two more towards the command tents near the middle of the camp.
The two that headed for the artillery found the guns divided into two batteries, each guarded by two sentries and containing five guns. Three heavy 105s, and two of the lighter muzzle loading six pounders. The ammunition was stored in crates underneath tarpaulins a short distance away. Rather than target the guns themselves, which would be tricky, the griffons headed for the ammunition storage, easily slipping past the sentries as they marched back and forth. They targeted the crates of six pounder ammunition, especially those that contained the volatile powder used to load them, laying small explosive charges between the crates and rigging them to a rudimentary timing device. It would only take one to detonate to set off a chain reaction.
The two griffons that had been dispatched towards the command sector of the camp quickly found that their task would be the most difficult. The number of sentries increased exponentially as they crept deeper, forcing them to stay in the shadows, darting between the rows of tents and quickly concealing themselves whenever the light from a sentry’s lantern came towards them. But still they persisted. Getting near the commanders tents was almost impossible due to the number of guards, but the officer’s tents would suffice. They moved quickly from tent to tent, laying their traps.
The two remaining griffons had an easier task as sentries were fewer in the outer reaches of the camp. They moved through the tents, one laying devices, the other unfurling something behind them as they worked their way back to their initial entry point.
The six griffons regrouped on the edge of the camp and the leader nodded. He crouched down to the end of the fuse he had just laid and carefully lit it, sending it sizzling out across the camp. In one of the rows of tents, a sentry paused as he saw what looked like a small fizzling light coming towards him along the ground. He cocked his head as he watched it get closer. It almost looked like… And then it whizzed between his hooves and past him. He looked backwards through his legs and saw it separate into dozens of smaller sparkling lights that headed in every direction, headed for the tents. It was a fuse!
The fuse wire had been linked to dozens of small incendiary explosives that had been carefully laid outside each tent. Small popping sounds echoed across the camp, and suddenly, dozens of tents were on fire, quickly spreading through the encampment. The sentry cried out a warning along with a shout of fire, but it was already being taken up by dozen of voices. Ponies began to rush out of the burning tents, some with smoldering fur and without any armour or weapons. A roar went up from the edge of the camp, overwhelming even the crackling of the fire and suddenly dozens of shapes came pouring over the walls. It was a full scale attack.
The alarm was sounded again, this time even more frantically as soldiers across the camp realized that they were under attack. Ponies poured out of their tents, most struggling to get their armour on and work out where to form up with their companies. There were screams and shouting from the officers tent area as pony officers armed and attempted to get to their companies only to find that their tent flaps had been sealed together, trapping them inside as fire continued to consume that area of the camp. Some managed to cut themselves free, their fur on fire as they flailed and rolled about on the ground while other ponies fought to put them out.
Artillery crews rushed to man their guns. There was a deafening explosion and a shock wave that flattened tents and threw many ponies to the ground. The artillery positions had exploded, raining fire and shrapnel down across the camp. 105 shells began to cook off inside their boxes and explode, creating a deafening roll of continuous thunder that echoed across the camp.
By this point some elements of the army had already started to flee, leaping over the rear walls of the camp and galloping back towards Stalliongrad where the alarm had also been sounded. Griffon shock troops were pouring through the camp, slaughtering half armoured ponies as they tried to get into their gear or flee, but a few courageous pony officers had managed to rally a few hundred ponies and form a disorganized but workable line of defense. Soldiers from all six line companies and a few unicorns from the mage company had pulled together and formed a phalanx of spears while crossbow ponies rallied behind them and began to pour arrows over the wall and into the approaching griffons. But strangely, the griffons seemed content to hold their positions on the edge of the camp, killing off any stragglers who hadn’t managed to get organized and pouring fire back at the pony phalanx. That wasn’t like griffons. The griffons were natural melee fighters and the fact that they were keeping their distance rather than closing and using their superior size and strength was concerning to any officer worth their salt.
Then the rain started. Artillery shells began to pour into the camp from positions several miles away. Griffon artillery had set themselves up in the foothills below the mountains and were now raining shells into the camp. Body parts were sent flying as shells crashed into the pony lines, tearing ragged holes that no one was willing to attempt to refill. The line broke and a bugler somewhere sounded the retreat.
The sun rose on a disaster. Hundreds of ponies streamed out of the camp back towards Stalliongrad as thick black smoke rose into the sky from hundreds of burning tents. Artillery rounds continued to explode inside the camp, mostly pony 105s cooking off in the heat from the fires. Blood ran in rivers between the lines of burning tents and bodies, pooling in shell holes and flowing into the Flower River, so much so that for years after the battle it was said that the water tasted metallic.
On a distant hilltop the griffon general Crownbeak looked down on the scene with a spyglass with the rest of his command. “These Equestrians are weak. We shall be in Canterlot within the month, thought I doubt it will be an honorable victory.” He pointed towards the camp. “Have the camp searched for survivors. The mud ponies and flyers are to be sent to the camps. The unicorns go to the capital.”
On a cloud high above the battle the Pegasus lancer corp had been watching the destruction below. They had fully mobilized, but were unable to intervene before the line had broken, so rather than commit to a lost battle, they held back, watching as the remnants of their army fled. Their commander looked back towards a messenger. “Send word to Canterlot. We have been attacked. The army has been routed and is falling back towards Stalliongrad. Pegasus lancers will return to Canterlot.” The messenger nodded and shot off the cloud, racing southwards as the rising smoke cast a dull yellow glow from the rising sun across the scene of destruction.
Krous was awakened from a quiet sleep by a familiar sound. The dull thuds of heavy guns firing and the crack of explosions in the distance. It was a sound that all of the humans were more than familiar with. Already they were scrambling to get up on deck. Krous swung himself out of his bunk in the airship’s officer’s quarters and began to pull on his boots.
On the other side of the room, Princess Luna had also been awakened. “What is that?” She asked. She made an attempt to roll off her bunk but hissed as she irritated her bandaged broken leg.
“It’s artillery.” Krous said. “I’m going to find out what is going on now. Remain here your highness.” He finished lacing up his boots and stood, jogging down the airship’s central corridor and climbing a set of stairs to the main deck. The rest of the squad had already crowded the rail and were looking off into the distance. Krous moved to join them and produced his binoculars to scan the horizon. He couldn’t make out anything in detail, only that a large area in the distance seemed to be on fire, and large black smoke cloud was rising into the sky, illuminated by the first rays of the early morning sun.
He looked up towards the helm where Cruiser stood. He was also looking in the direction of the smoke and checking his map. “What’s over there?” He called up.
Cruiser took a moment to answer. “Stalliongrad.” He said. “Does this mean what I think it means?”
Krous nodded. “Yes, the griffons have made the opening move.” He stepped back from the rail. “Can we get a message to Canterlot from here?”
Cruiser checked the map again. “Yes, just.” He stepped away from the helm and came back with a scroll. “What do you want to send?” He opened it and took a quill from the corner of his chart table.
“Sir! Over there!” Someone called out, pointing towards the sky in the distance.
Krous looked and saw a formation of dots coming towards them. A lot of dots. “What is that?” He asked.
Cruiser picked up a spyglass and peered over towards the approaching formation, looking at it for a few moments before responding. “They’re ours. Pegasi. I’d say a full regiments worth. They’re coming this way.”
The formation spread into a wide arc and moved in to surround the airship on all sides, many aiming crossbows and other weapons at the ship and crew. From amongst their ranks a single Pegasus flapped forwards to within speaking distance. “I am Captain Wind Feather of the Equestrian Army. I order you to identify yourself.”
Cruiser picked up a bullhorn from beneath his control console and pointed it over at him. “This is the Equestrian airship Celestial Dawn. We are carrying Princess Luna on board. Stand down.”
Wind Feather flapped closer before setting down on the deck. “Forgive me if I am unconvinced.” He said.
“It is quite true.” A voice came from towards the bow of the airship. Princess Luna had managed to hobble her way up onto the deck. She was a mess. Her horn was only just starting to regrow, bruises showed on her body and although they had made an attempt to clean her properly she was still quite dirty, but there was no mistaking Princess Luna. “At ease Captain Wind Feather. What news from the army?”
Wind Feather, who had immediately snapped to attention on seeing the princess quickly stood at ease. “Your highness.” He said. “Poor news I fear. The griffons attacked before dawn this morning. They stormed our defenses and caught most of the army asleep. It was a massacre. Most of the remaining military was falling back towards Stalliongrad. I estimate they have less than 55% combat strength left.”
“And what of your unit?” Luna asked. “You seem to have not taken many casualties.”
Feather nodded. “Yes your highness. As per standard protocol, the Pegasi lancers were encamped in the clouds above the main encampment. The battle was over in less than five minutes, and committing my ponies would have been a waste of lives that are better used elsewhere.”
Luna nodded, seeming to accept the explanation, but the situation was grim. An army of almost 100 000 griffons was moving into Equestria and the only organized military force in their way had been smashed in less than five minutes. “We must return to Canterlot, immediately.” She said. “I must confer with my sister. Drastic action will need to be taken if we are to hold Equestria.” She looked to Feather. “Will you escort us back to the Capital?”
Feather nodded. “Yes your highness. We will create a wind to carry us there even more swiftly.” He saluted and took off to rearrange his company.
