Dieter awoke gasping. How that was possible he did not know. After all, he had been shot. Was he dead? He wasn’t sure. The pain hit him. He was quite sure that the dead felt no pain. Of course, the pain could simply mean that he was in hell. He inhaled. The air was fresh, and scented of flowers. He was laying on grass. He opened his eyes. The sun’s golden rays shone through the trees. He decided that it was too pleasant to be hell. It must have meant that he was alive. There was supposed to be no pain in heaven, and he was not hell.

Dieter got up. He found that the crater that had been in his chest was no longer there. He checked his arm. The puncture wound had also mysteriously healed. However, his uniform was caked in blood and dust, and he still had his weapons. Dieter took in his surroundings. He seemed to be in forest. He was confused. How did he get there? He distinctly remembered being shot in the ruins of Berlin. Dieter randomly picked a direction and began to walk.

Dieter had been walking for about twenty minutes when he heard what sounded like hoof steps. He unstrapped his MP-40 and cautiously advanced towards the noise. It could have been a Russian patrol. Dieter crouched low, aiming over foliage. He made sure that he had a clear line of site, so he could return fire if necessary. Dieter was a hardened veteran of the Eastern Front. It was almost impossible to surprise him. What he saw did surprise him.

Twilight Sparkle disliked making trips to the Everfree forest. It was dark and spooky, and full of ravening, rabid monsters. She always made a point bringing somepony along with her, even on mundane trips such as visiting Zecora for a recipe. Fluttershy was the logical choice. After all, she seemed to have an almost mystical connection with animals. Fluttershy was timid at the best of times, despite her ability to calm the angriest of creatures. Fluttershy was at ease at the moment, but things changed quickly.

As the two ponies cantered past a group of bushes, there was a sudden rustling. Twilight’s head pivoted, and she found herself looking at a strange bipedal creature. It wore strange clothing that reminded Twilight of the military uniforms that her brother, Shining Armor wore. As Twilight looked closer, she noticed that the clothes were caked in blood. In the creatures hooves (Hands, Twilight corrected herself.) was a strange boxy implement, made of dark metal. Twilight noticed that the creature had a similar, smaller one on its belt. With a shudder, Twilight noticed a knife hanging beside it on the belt. The creature had a hard, angular face, and blue eyes, like those of a baby. It wore a hat, that Twilight noticed with a start had a skull insignia marked upon it. Beneath the hat was blonde fur. The fur did not extend past the top of the head. Fluttershy whimpered, hiding behind Twilight. Twilight couldn’t blame her. The creature appeared terrifying.

Twilight swallowed her fear and spoke anyway, “Hi, my name is Twilight Sparkle. What is your name?”

The creature blinked, “You speak English?”

Dieter was surprised. Standing right here before him were two garishly colored equines. Moreover, they seemed sentient, and could speak. At least, the purple one could. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the one that identified itself as Twilight Sparkle had a purple horn protruding from its head. Dieter saw that its mane and tail were styled much in the same way a human female would style her hair. Indeed, the creature’s voice sounded as though it was a female’s voice. The main was a darker colour than the rest of the unicorn’s body, with a streak of crimson running through it. It also had dark purple eyes that appeared disturbingly human, although slightly larger. Dieter found it extremely disconcerting that they appeared sapient. The light betrayed a presence of mind that any normal animal would lack.

The second equine was a buttery yellow colour. It cowered behind the unicorn (Twilight Sparkle, Dieter reminded himself.). It had a pink mane and tail, and green eyes. The pupils, Dieter noticed, had contracted. The creature obviously found him intimidating. Dieter noted that this one had wings. Dieter knew he had seen something similar in a book during his childhood. He searched for a name. He found it. The creature was called a pegasus. These creatures were like those out of a fairy tale!

Twilight Sparkle, the purple equine frowned. That too was frightening. These creatures could make facial expressions, despite the fact that they had snouts. Dieter held out his hand to placate the two…ponies? They did not seem dangerous. Dieter had no idea why he was even attempting to communicate with them. They were after all, abominations, animals with human minds.

“You speak English?” Dieter asked again.

Twilight’s frown deepened, “You speak Equestrian.” It was a statement, not a question.

“What are you?” Dieter queried.

Twilight blinked, obviously confused. “We are ponies. What are you?”

Dieter’s response was cut short by a roar. It sounded like an enraged animal, a lion perhaps. What leaped out of the bushes was not, in fact a lion. It was a horrid amalgamation of several animals. He had the body and head of a lion, but also had a scorpions tale, and bat wings. Dieter recognized it as a manticore. He snapped around to face it, with his MP-40. The manticore charged. Both ponies screamed and backed away. Dieter pulled the trigger.

Twilight was afraid. First this odd creature appeared, obviously sentient, and obviously a soldier. Next, they had come under attack from a manticore. It was shaping up to be an absolutely nerve-wracking day. Fluttershy looked absolutely terrified, and was breathing heavily.

“Run, Fluttersh-!” Twilight was cutoff by three explosions in quick succession. She saw flames leaping out of the creature’s weapon. The weapon was devastating. The manticore’s right eye was blown out of its socket. Next, its ear was torn off by some great force. Finally, a bright crimson hole opened up in the manticore’s throat. The manticore fell and ceased breathing. Fluttershy nearly fainted at this casual display of violence, and Twilight nearly retched. Worse was yet to come.

A second manticore charged out of the bush. The creature did not show any surprise, it took it all in stride. It simply pivoted to face the second attacker. There was another succession of explosions, and the second manticore’s face was blown open, brain matter spattering the ground behind it. This time, Twilight did vomit. There was faint rustling in the bushes. The creature parted the leaves. There were five manticore cubs, hidden within. Twilight gasped as the creature calmly killed all five of them, blowing their heads off. There was no emotion in his eyes, his breathing didn't change. It was almost as if the killing did not compute with him. This grisly display had taken thirty seconds. Twilight paled. The creature replaced his weapon. It closed its eyes, and breathed deeply. It smiled. It was not a smile of mirth, of joy, or even of victory. It was the smile of a predator, cold and vicious.

Fluttershy was silent for some time, shocked by the violence so indifferently inflicted. She suddenly shouted, “How dare you! How dare you! How could you just kill them like that? They were a family! You can’t do that!”

The creature glanced at her and shrugged.

Fluttershy persisted, “You big meanie! You don’t even care!”

Again, the creature shrugged.

Fluttershy looked the creature in the eye, and stared. Her anger overriding all thought of self-preservation. Her eyes widened, and she gritted her teeth, her fury making itself clear. The creature stared back. Fluttershy suddenly felt an overpowering fear. This creature had killed seven manticores without a second’s thought. When it looked back at her, she felt the boredom in its eyes, the cold indifference. It really didn't care. The creature could easily kill her if it wanted to. Fluttershy deflated.

The creature turned to Twilight. It spoke.

“ I am Oberführer Dieter Heinrich of the Waffen- Schutzstaffel of the Third Reich, and I am a human.”

Author's Note

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