Shining Armor awoke with a jolt. How long had he been out? When did he pass out? He couldn’t remember. He was lying on his side. He wasn’t physically restrained in any way. He looked around. He was in a sterile white room that seemed to shine in the white light. There were no windows, and there were only bare necessities, such as a sink and a toilet. He stretched. His armor had been removed. He attempted to use his magic to turn on the sink. He found that he could not, no matter how much he strained. He raised a hoof to his horn, and found that it was covered by a strange object. He tried to remove it, and was answered with bouts of agony as the object sent bolts of electricity into his head. He twitched slightly.

The door burst open. Two of his gas-masked guards came in, their weapons pointed squarely at his head. The approached him. Shining Armor wondered if they were simply going to shoot where he stood. Did it really matter? Equestria was lost anyways. His death would change nothing, although he supposed that Cadence would wonder what happened to him. No one knew where he was.

“The Fuhrer will see you now, general. Do not attempt to resist, or escape. They will be met with extreme violence...towards your entire family.” The guard spoke almost in monotone.

Shining Armor blinked at the last statement. What was that about his family? The guards escorted him along the halls. There were still no windows, and he was almost blinded by the harsh, artificial light. They reached the end of the corridor. He saw a door leading out to a grey street populated by grey ponies, surrounded by grey buildings. How monotonous. He realized that he must have been taken to the Germaney. If the Fuhrer was going to meet him, this would have to be Marelin. Shining Armor still didn’t know which facility he was in however. He felt a blindfold being slipped over his eyes. He was led for several minutes through, what he assumed were bustling streets, based on the noise. He heard engines roaring as vehicles sped by. Whether they were military or civilian vehicles, Shining Armor did not know. Presently he felt himself ascending stairs with his escorts. The noise was swallowed up. After a couple of minutes, he felt himself pushed into a chair. The blindfold was removed, and he saw cold blue eyes appraising him.

“General,” Dieter smiled with cold amusement, “Long time no see.”

Dieter observed as emotion flashed over Shining Armor’s face. Anger, hatred, surprise; He obviously hadn’t learnt to bury his emotions since the last time they met. Dieter knew that Shining Armor had expected to be shot. That would explain his surprise. Dieter, however was a man of his word. Dieter remained staring at Shining Armor quite some time, his indifferent eyes daring him to speak.

“You bastard,” Shining Armor growled.

Dieter responded with mirth, “Always cutting to the chase, eh? Do you remember what happened last time?” Dieters eyes shared nothing of the joy his mouth did. They were cold and calculating.

Shining Armor simply glared, letting his hatred wash over him.

Dieter continued, the death glare affecting him not. “You are a very unimaginative commander. Entrenchment is not an effective way to wage war, if the Great War taught us anything. You however, could be better. Join the Reich, General, you can have a position of power. Do not, however, think that this is a sign of mercy. I have none. I would kill you without a second’s thought. You are simply more useful this way.”

Shining Armor glared, “I will never side with you. No amount of torture could ever convince me to do that.”

Dieter grinned coldly, his eyes showing great indifference, he leaned forward.

“I’m not going to torture you.” Said Dieter.

The doors were thrown open, and a pink alicorn was led in. Shining Armor’s eyes widened as he recognized his wife. She looked so very tired. She glanced around worriedly, before her eyes settled upon him. Her eyes widened as well, and she gasped.

“Shiny? What are you doing here?” She asked, her voice breaking.

Dieter was no longer smiling. His face was a mask of immense coldness. He was capable of anything. He suddenly stood. He unsheathed his infamous combat knife and strode towards the couple. He gave Shining Armor a look of sheer boredom before speaking.

“You fool! Did you think that I would not station infiltrators in the Crystal Empire? The pathetic weakling there never expected to wake up one morning with their ‘Crystal Princess’ gone. I may not be able to torture you personally, but I can strike at your one weakness: your family.”

Shining Armor seethed, “You son of a bitch!” He hissed, charging at Dieter.

Dieter side-stepped his charge. Dieter suddenly brought his foot up, and Shining Armor screamed as his leg was suddenly broken. Dieter went around to his other side, kicking him in muzzle as he did so. Blood leaked out of Shining Armor’s shattered nose. Dieter placed a knee on Shining Armor’s throat, and began to choke him. Dieter’s eyes registered no emotion.

“I am just as capable now as I was three years ago, fool.” The words were spoken without a sign of emotion. It was chilling.

Dieter released Shining Armor’s throat, leaving him gasping for air. He spun on Cadence, who had backed away from the violence unfolding before her. Dieter gestured, and the guards began to drag her away. Dieter picked Shining Armor off the ground. Yanking on his mane, Dieter lifted his head.

“Listen.”

The screaming started. It was obviously Cadence’s voice. Shining Armor screwed his eyes shut. It was the last thing he wanted to hear. The screaming intensified, and he heard tears in his wife’s voice. Dieter simply stood, indifferent to the horrible noises emanating from the next room. He had lived with screams almost all his life. He simply didn’t care anymore.

“All right!” Shining Armor screamed, “I submit! I submit!”

Dieter nodded. Picking up the communicator on his desk, he spoke a few words into the mouth piece. The screaming stopped, and was replaced by sobbing.

Dieter turned to Shining Armor, no emotion written in his body language. “Your wife has not been harmed physically. The pain was confined to her mind. It was nothing but an illusion. If you resist in the future, it may be physical damage the next time.”

Shells fell on Ponyville. The whistling screech of mortars were punctuated by quaking explosions, and the crash of collapsing buildings. The attack had started six hours ago, when Germanean artillery pieces came within range of the village. Frightened villagers ran to and fro, unsure of what to do. Royal Guard ran to man strategic positions along the village. Several shells struck the central Ponyville tower. It collapsed in an expulsion of smoke and flames. Carousel Boutique was obliterated by a fifteen centimeter shell. Pieces of wood and shrapnel flew everywhere. There was one casualty, Rarity’s sister, Sweetie Belle.

Applejack and the rest of her family defended the farm with everything they had. Big Macintosh wielded a pitchfork, Granny Smith held onto a spade. She expected manticores, despite the fact that the Everfree forest had been burnt down years ago. Applejack herself, held onto a bottle of tomato paste. She knew that they would likely stand no chance. They took cover behind a table.

Unbeknownst to the Apple Family, the farm was a primary target for the Germanean advance, due to the fact that it had huge stores of food. A majority of the forces committed to the battle would center on Sweet Apple Acres. The Apples would stand no chance.

Hundreds of soldiers poured towards the farm. Big Macintosh suddenly mounted the table, and charged the oncoming Germanean forces with his pitchfork. Applejack watched in horror as her big brother was mercilessly gunned down, his head snapping back as a bullet passed through his skull. Another bullet burst his heart, and yet another punched through his jugular. The red stallion collapsed to the ground in a heap, his blood staining the ground as red as his coat.

Applejack ducked behind the table, mortified by the death of her brother. Hundreds of rounds impacted the table, shredding it in half. Applejack barely had time to register that she was dead. She simply fell in half, her eyes glazing over as her organs failed.

Nearby, Rainbow Dash suddenly came to a halt as she felt her friend’s death scream over the harmonic connection. She charged into the air, attempting to ascertain whether or not what she felt was true. She did a fly by over Sweet Apple Acres, her wings pumping frantically. What she saw would stay with her for the rest of her life, which as it turned out, would not be very long. She saw a strange tank with a three barreled turret suddenly stop. The gun swiveled upwards, and Rainbow Dash barely had time to think before she was shredded by a hail of rapid fire, explosive flak rounds. She fell to the ground, her head punched cleanly from her shoulders by shrapnel.

Pinkie Pie was in sugar cube corner, bombarding Germanean forces with a steady stream of cake. They hadn’t open fire yet, too busy laughing at the novelty of someone trying to hurt them through hurling cake at them. Finally a sergeant approached, levelling his weapon.

“Come out,” he called, “unarmed.”

Pinkie Pie responded by hurling more cakes.

“WHY?” She screamed, “ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE CAKE?”

The sergeant sighed. He removed a grenade from his belt. Kicking open the door, he hurled the grenade into the building. There was an earth shattering explosion. Pinkie Pie was thrown against the wall of Sugar Cube Corner by the force of the blast. Multiple pieces of shrapnel impacted against her, lacerating organs and opening arteries. Pinkie bled out, alone. Her eyes glazed as the river of blood grew.

Fluttershy whimpered as she hid in her hut. The screaming was unbearable. How could ponies inflict such harm? She heard trudging feet outside. She made herself as small as possible. There was sudden gunfire. Fluttershy almost shrieked. The animals that she had been harboring cried in fear and pain as they were butchered.

“I imagine,” she heard one of the soldiers say, “That these animals will be tasty.”

Fluttershy was suddenly overcome with rage. She burst through the front door of her hut, eyes streaming with angry tears. She charged headfirst at the nearest soldier she saw, intending to hurt him. She realized her mistake when the first shot hit her in the side. She fell two the ground with a scream, heaving as she felt the bullet lodged in between her ribs. Another shot resounded. This bullet passed through Fluttershy’s head, killing her instantly as it passed through her brain, shattering her skull.

Twilight stared in horror at the space Rarity had occupied. The shell had been a direct hit. There was nothing left of the white unicorn, save for a large pool of blood and some pieces of flesh. Twilight trembled with the shock. Such violence, with such ease! Her organized, calm demeanor vaporized as the horror of the situation struck her. Her friends were all dead. She could feel it. Their pinprick light of their harmonic connections faded. It was over, she realized. It was all over. She hung her head.

She looked up to see two Germanean soldiers staring intently at her. She struggled back, until she bumped rather painfully against a wall. The two soldiers approached her. One of them pulled out a piece of paper, and began to study her. They nodded and leveled their guns at her.

“Twilight Sparkle,” said one, “You are to come with us. Do not attempt to resist.”

It took one day to capture Ponyville. After heavy fighting, the village was taken. The flag of Germaney hung from the tallest building, the Ponyville library. The Royal Guard Garrison refused to surrender and was massacred to a pony. The Elements of Harmony, Equestria’s super weapons were terminated, save for their leader, Twilight Sparkle. Equestria’s last hope was dead. At the same time, the Germaneans laid siege to Horsescow, killing millions in the first day of heavy fighting. The end was nigh.

Author's Note

Thanks to Nuggetmanu2 for proofreading and ideas. Thanks to the readers for support. Please feel free to comment.