Even as she walked. Twilight continued to pester anyone within range with a torrent of questions. Princess Celestia had sent her with Sergeant Stalber to the British camp, to learn more of their race and culture.

"Why will you not explain to me what 'bollocks' means." She asked, a hint of frustration in her voice.

"Because, yer Majesty, yer a bit too young fer' that jabber." Replied the Sergeant matter-of-factly.

"I am not too young! And please, call me Twilight."

"Of course, Princess Twilight." Twilight couldn't see his grin, as he was in front of her.

"Hey-". Twilight paused as she realized they had arrived. The Princess had generously vacated a section of the royal guard barracks for use by the humans. They had quickly occupied it and had turned it into a small fortress. Two sentries were present at every door. She could see soldiers doing various things through the many glass windows as they passed the side of the large stone structure. Reading, exercising, or cleaning their 'weapons', long metal and wooden combinations that seemed to be a more refined version of cannon projectile technology.

"Alright, I have things to attend to, so I'm going to pair you up with a fine lad that'll answer your questions and show you what's what." He motioned at a young soldier sitting outside the building, clearly absorbed in some kind of novel. The soldier had fine blond hair and dark green eyes. He finally noticed the two beings standing near over top him.

"Top o' the mornin' Sarge! Fancy a read a this? These tiny horses use the same English language known teh' you and me, ain't it maddening!" He seemed to not notice Twilight in any way. The Sergeant groaned.

"Corporal, I've talked to you about addressing your chain of command properly, but now you're ignoring royalty, that carries a heavy penalty." He warned.

"What are ye talkin' about Sarg- oh!" He finally noticed the lavender pony standing there. He sprang to his feet and came to attention. The Sergeant smiled and looked over to Twilight.

"This here is Corporal James Walton, he'll be your guide round' the barracks. Till next time, Princess." He came to attention and then walked away. Twilight remembered what the Captain had said about rank, and how their country had a royal family which was treated with reverence. She cleared her throat.

"Uh, a-at ease." Corporal Walton shifted and visibly relaxed. He looked directly at Twilight and smiled.

"And who might you be, miss?"

"Please, call me Twilight, I'm in charge of research of human culture. Ooh! This is so exciting!" The Corporal smiled.

"Well, good day to yeh', Prin- er... Twilight! I'd be happy to show ya round' the barracks yer Princess o' the Sun has kindly lent us." He said as he set off towards the door. Twilight followed him, an enthusiastic grin reaching her face as she reverted to 'science mode'. She was in her element.

They walked inside the building and Twilight observed they had separated the building into three sections, one for their equipment, one for the so-called enlisted men and another for their officers. She asked him about the difference.

"Well... enlisted men work for a livin! Ha! I'm just pullin' yer leg. Us enlisted folks either volunteered when the war broke out er' we were conscripted to fight fer' King and country." He seemed uncomfortable and refused to meet her questioning gaze as he began fiddling with his watch.

"Conscripted? You mean you were forced to become a soldier?" Twilight asked, confused at the prospect, the guard was completely voluntary, although, Equestria had never been forced to engage in a war so cataclysmic as the one described to her by the Captain.

"O' course, one o' the perks of livin' in a free civilization is teh' fight fer it." He grinned sarcastically.

"What about officers?" He momentarily frowned, then resumed his childish grin.

"Aye, the good officers are born fer their roles, or at least that's what we're told. The noble Captain has kept us safe so far though, so they might be on teh' somethin'." He motioned to a locked door. As Twilight approached, she took notice to the soldiers hanging around the room, some were on the ever-present bunkbeds, fiddling with their uniforms and bags, while others stood around and chatted amongst friends, she thought she saw a few individuals playing a card game of some sort too.

"All right, I suppose I should answer some of yer' more... military-centric questions and get em' outta the way." He nodded at a soldier sitting in a chair beside the locked door. The man tossed him a loop with several keys attached. The Corporal started trying the keys on the door, cursing under his breath as key after key failed to open it.

"So... what exactly is this war you've been fighting about, I hadn't really taken too much time to think about it until now," Twilight asked.

"This war is purely defensive, so our noble leaders say, the Jerries, that's the Germans, mind you, decided to march up through a tiny land named Belgium. Us British promised em protection should they ever be attacked."

"Why would the Germans ever want to attack Belgium?" Corporal Walton cursed as another key failed him.

"To attack the nation of France, of course."

"What? Why?!" The Corporal ceased searching through the keys for a moment.

"Well, the way I see it, it happened like this; the Serbians shot an Austrian noble, so the Austrians invade em, Russia vows to protect the Serbs, Germany vows to protect the Austrians, and France, being an ally of Russia, vows to fight with em', should it come to blows. Germany, needing to defeat France, invades through Belgium to gain an edge, forgetting that we British had an agreement with em'. Finally!" He exclaims, finding the correct key.

"That seems... needlessly complicated, couldn't the Austrians and the Serbians have come to a compromise?" Opening the door, the Corporal looked back at Twilight.

"If we had more kind-hearted fellows in government such as yourself, maybe we would have, but that was all a few years ago, now nobody knows how to end the damn thing. Anyway, enough o' me ramblings', let us show ya our stockpiles." They stepped into a vast room, all the bunks had been removed, the walls were stacked high with large wooden boxes. several large frames attached to tubular devices also lay around.

"Wow." Said Twilight flabbergasted.

"Tis' quite a sight, I heard the quartermaster said we had some fifty thousand rounds of ammunition in here. Good thing the rifles an machine guns use the same cartridge."

"The Captain did mention you would give a demonstration of your... weapons, when do you think you could you do this?" He glanced down at his watch.

"Hmmm, perhaps ye could give me an hour er so, your guard has an arrow range round back, I'll recruit some lads and get some guns set up for a show, go on and invite yer' other Princess, will ya? Best to show her our technological might!" He said as he checked several objects in the room. Twilight nodded to him in affirmative and set off to fly back to the tower to inform Princess Celestia.

==========

An hour later, the Equestrian diarchy and Twilight approached the archery range. It was still a few hours until dusk, but Celestia had insisted that her younger sister be reintroduced to military affairs. She had been their chief general before her fall. As nearly the entire Equestrian royalty approached the range, Twilight took note of their surroundings. The range was a simple flat rectangular plot of land, the massive mountain wall served as a backstop for projectiles, the farthest target was placed at five-hundred meters, which was considered a difficult distance for even the most proficient mages to place accurate spells on the target. As they got closer, Twilight took notice of Corporal Walton, who had a small body of men behind him, presumably to provide the demonstration. The soldiers went to attention as they approached. Celestia gave them a soft smile.

"At ease." She spoke, her tone gentle and motherly. Twilight figured that, as the diarchy were sometimes viewed as Goddesses by the common ponies of Equestria, people of another world might hold the same opinion of them, if not being even more enthusiastic. Corporal Walton returned his signature grin, clearly excited about the upcoming demonstration.

"Good-evenin' yer Majesties. I take it young Princess Twilight has informed you o' the details."

"Oh yes, we," glancing to her lunar sister, "find it most critical that we were all present to view your demonstration." Luna, her ethereal mane flowing with the same otherworldliness of her sister's, nodded. Twilight saw that the Corporal had noticed the Princess' had forgone their usual attired in place of their armors. Celestia wore golden armor ornate with images of light and sun-rays, while Luna's was shimmering with constellations and different phases of the moon.

"Yes, yes. Well met fair soldier. We must insist that thou proceed with the demonstration post haste." Luna seemed to revert back to her ancient language whenever she was agitated or excited, Twilight could clearly tell it was the latter, as Luna had been overjoyed to come and watch the proceedings.

"O' course yer' Majesties, right this way." Said the Corporal, motioning the royalty to advance closer to the firing line. A large white cloth tarp had been rolled out and present upon it were various objects of different sizes. One, in particular, seemed to be the type of weapon the average human soldier carried, a long and complicated combination of wood and metal.

"There, that one is issued to thy common soldiery, show us its workings," Luna said, as she motioned towards the weapon with one hoof. The Corporal walked over and picked it up. He held it out side-on towards the ponies.

"This thing's technical name is a Short Magazine Lee Enfield, named after its inventor and such, o' course the type of weapon tis' a firearm, specifically a 'rifle'."

"This... rifle, what does it do, exactly?" Queried Celestia. Somehow, Corporal Walton's grin got even wider.

"This weapon be the mainstay o' our forces yer' Majesty. It uses a concoction of chemicals to propel a small metal projectile at astronomically high speeds towards a target. I'll demonstrate for yeh'." He produced several conical shaped objects from a pouch on his person. He worked a bolt at the top of the rifle and placed several of the objects inside. He then explained that he had 'chambered' a 'round' when he pushed the bolt closed again.

"How accurately can this weapon be aimed, warrior?" Asked Luna.

"We have some crack shots who could hit a small coin at several hundred meters, I'm not a crack shot. I'll be aiming for the target at three hundred, yonder painted hay bale." He said, motioning towards the target at that distance. He placed himself on the line, then, hunched forward slightly, and assumed a 'firing position', as he called it. He placed the rifle to his shoulder and aimed.

"Oh yeah, yer' Majesties, yeh' might want ta' cover yer' ears, the sounds are a bit startlin' at first." The Princess of the night snickered.

"Oh, come now, I have faced innumerable evils, seen the nine screeching hells of Tartarus, escaped harpies crying for my blood, surely it is not so lou-"

Crack.

Luna and Twilight both jumped at the sound. Princess Celestia seemed surprised but hadn't flinched. The hay bale at three hundred meters exploded, showering its vicinity with its remains. Corporal Walton turned to face the ponies, a cheeky grin adorned his face.

"I tried teh' warn yeh'." Princess Luna regained her composure and cleared her throat.

"Yes, indeed, tis a powerful tool in the hands of common soldiers. You seem to be able to operate it with grace by yourself, we wonder why thou hast brought these extra hands with you?" She spoke, motioning towards the small group of soldiers to their right. Just past them, there was an object hidden away by another white sheet.

"Oh, I'll require them for the grand finale, yer' Majesties, to see the finest weapon offered to us poor bloody infantry."

"We are intrigued, show us this weapon." Walton shrugged.

"As ye' wish. Boys! Bring the gun to bear on the five hundred meter target!" The small group of soldiers sprang into action, the sheet was pulled off the gun to reveal the same device Twilight had seen in the barracks storage, it was a cylindrical device atop a large tripod. Luna smiled at the craftsmanship and authority the device seemed to command around the soldiers. She spoke.

"What is it?" For once, Walton's grin faltered, his face wore a grim expression.

"This is what's called a Vickers Machine Gun, it fires at up to five hundred rounds a minute and is effective up to eight hundred meters."

"Not even our best mages could make such a precise shot! Surely you jest?" Luna stated, completely serious.

"I make no jokes yer Majesty, if one of these targets were at that distance I would prove it to yeh'." Replied the Corporal.

"So be it." Said, Luna, as her horn glowed. A blue aura surrounded the farthest target, it levitated off the ground. The British soldiers were watching with wide eyes, still not used to such blatant contradictions of science. The hay bale target was dropped some distance from its original position. The lunar Princess turned to face the Corporal, a smirk on her face.

"Whenever thy weapon is ready, warrior." She said. Her confidence waned slightly when the Corporal gained a savage grin. He motioned to the now fully prepped crew of the gun. One behind the trigger, one by the ammunition box, and one spotting with a pair of binoculars.

"Alright gents, give the target a proper hosing down!" The gunner clicked off the safety and cocked the weapon. A second passed, and the gunner pressed on the trigger.

A pause.

"...Uh, Corporal, gun's jammed." Stated the loader matter-of-factly.

"Clear it then you bloody git!" Shouted the Corporal. He turned to the Princess'. "Sorry about that, yer' Majesties, the guns often jammed after unpacking, what with the humid atmosphere in storage an' all."

"We are glad to see personal prowess is not totally gone from the battlefield, perhaps We shall show thee how to hit a target at such a range." Luna stepped towards the line and charged her horn. She focused on her target, channeling her energy towards a single pinprick sized point.

"Jam cleared, Corporal!"

"Then fire, dammit!"

Luna's concentration was shattered by the ratatat as the gun opened up. It sounded like the roar of a waterfall from where she was standing, a few feet from the muzzle. She quickly stepped back and observed the target, or rather, what had once been a target. The hay bale was torn to pieces, some of which were on fire. At such range, it seemed the gun simply saturated the entire area, it's lethal rounds meaning death to any unfortunate enough to be in its arc of fire.

"As yeh' can see, t'isnt necessarily an accurate weapon, but it gets teh' job done quite well if I do say so myself," Walton said, still grinning ear to ear.

Twilight was stunned. These weapons would wreak havoc on any enemy that dared oppose the British, how had a terrible war started when all who participated would surely die at the hands of such destructive weapons as this? She opened her mouth to ask the Corporal when behind them came a Royal Guard at full gallop. He tried to come to a halt but found himself sliding along the dirt towards the three Princess'. He put his forelegs out in front of him in a futile attempt to slow himself down as he continued to skid towards the Princesses. Thankfully, Celestia's horn worked its magic as she caught the pony in its warm glow, slowing him down. He recovered his composure and bowed.

"Stout Resolve, you should be more careful, I won't always be around to save you." Celestia jested, though the guard in question looked mortified. Twilight still found it touching that the Princess had learned the names of every one of the Royal Guard, it certainly had aided in their undying loyalty towards her well being, however, they still hadn't forgiven themselves for the debacle of Princess Cadence's wedding.

"My Princess, I bring word from the city watch commander, Stone Wall, more humans have arrived outside the castle perimeter, requesting a parley."

Who could they be, Twilight wondered. The British had said they had only seen themselves on their journey here, except...

"The Germans!" Gasped Twilight.

"Indeed," Spoke the newly arrived Captain Williams, "I had received the news some time ago, but thought it would be prudent to warn our gracious hosts before trying to commit to any negotiations." Celestia nodded approvingly.

"I thank you for that, let us go and meet these 'Germans', perhaps they will listen to reason and cease this nonsense." She said as the party journeyed towards the city gates. No one took notice of the Corporal, silently cursing about not being able to show off the hand grenades, and other assorted weapons of war he had brought.

========

Strasser groaned in frustration as he checked his watch. He had been standing at the gate of the castle of more than twenty minutes now. He carried a stick with a white cloth tied to it, hoping to parley and convince the British to see the futility of their situation. He hoped for a bloodless victory, though he knew it wasn't likely to go that way. Looking away from his watch, he took the time to examine the gate in detail. The guard on the battlements had called it the 'Sun gate' when he approached. It was barred by large metal frames. He looked more closely and saw the metal bars were bolted together. How did these ponies have bolts, he wondered. His brother had been right, the town was clearly occupied and protected by small horse creatures, who called themselves ponies. The guard he had talked to had said they would send for the 'Princesses', no doubt the rulers of this land.

His attention was seized by the sound of the metal gate rising up into the battlements gatehouse. He observed in interest as three creatures and one human walked out. The human was clearly a British officer, perhaps the commander of their forces. There beside him was a small pony who had both wings and horn, her coat lavender and her eyes eager. Beside those two were very different creatures. One of pure white and one of dark blue. The dark blue one had azure eyes and a stunning mane, it flowed like the wind was constantly pushing through it and had copies of constellations sewn throughout. The white one had large magenta eyes and a stern face. Her mane was home to several colours and had the same ethereal effect of dark-colored pony. Those two were clearly the Princesses and rulers of the land, the white one was also larger than the other two ponies, and her eyes were level with the Majors.

"Hello, I am Major Konrad Strasser, 542nd Sturmbataillon, Prussian Guards Corps." He said as he came to attention, clicking his heels and saluting. The Captain returned his salute.

"Good day, I am Captain Alfred Williams, A company, 45th London Division." He only has a company worth of soldiers? The Major thought, perhaps a peaceful end was possible.

"I am Princess Celestia, herald of the sun, and co-ruler of Equestria." Celestia, try as she might to sound stern and diplomatic, her voice was soft and motherly. Strasser smiled, finally having a name for the land in which they were present, though Princess Celestia remained stoic and stern-faced.

"Greetings, We-I am Princess Luna, herald of the moon, co-ruler of Equestria, along with my sister." Though Luna did not share her sister's stoicism at first, her demeanor changed as she announced herself, her eyes were cold and her face unreadable. Strasser ceased smiling, he'd have to watch himself around her.

"It's startling to see a German speaking better English than some of my own troops, Major." Said Captain Williams.

"I studied at Oxford before the war." He said before clearing his throat. "Your Majesties, Captain, I am here to demand the surrender of all British forces within the city, you have my word they will be treated honourably and fairly according to the articles of war." Princess Celestia spoke first.

"Major, I will not have fighting on my nation's soil, we are a peaceful land. I have invited the Captain and his men to stay inside my keep not because I'm choosing sides, but because I am hospitable. Perhaps I could invite you to dine with us and we could come to a compromise."

"Major Strasser, I will not surrender my men to you in a foreign land with little hope of returning to the frontlines in any reasonable amount of time." The Captain said.

"I have my duty to my country as much as you do Captain, acquiesce to my demands or I'll have no choice but to lay siege to the city."

"Please Major! I am currently searching magical archives for a way to return both your people's home, why can't you just accept peace for now?" Celestia said, raising her voice in distress. The Major noticed her wings fluttered as she spoke, an interesting genetic trait, he thought. He badly wished to agree, to end the madness, but he had sworn an oath to his men and his Kaiser, he would fight. Besides, how could he give up now, after so many men were lost chasing the British down.

"You have three hours to raise a white flag over the battlements and lay down your arms before I order my soldiers to lay siege to the city," He said, turning to walk away, "good day." As he began to walk back down the large cobble road to where the initial camp had been laid. He stopped as he heard a faint glowing.

"Thou art an insignificant cur! How dare thee attempt to walk away from this parley! To threaten this city, the very heart of Equestria!" He turned, just in time to see a shining blue beam launch from Princess Luna's horn. It struck him in the chest and he was thrown from his feet, landing on his back a few feet away.

"Sister! Cease this, he came here under parley!" Groaning, Strasser rolled over and pushed himself to his feet.

"I do not understand, dear sister. I cast a freezing spell, I wished to halt him, not hurt him!" While coughing, Strasser turned towards the party. The Captain seemed stunned and indecisive. Good, thought Strasser, if storming the fortress was required that could be exploited. The small purple pony was equally flabbergasted, her eyes darting between Luna's horn and the Major's now smoking chest. He looked down, his uniform was slightly charred where the beam connected. The two Princesses were facing each other, arguing back and forth. Suddenly, the purple pony shook her head and regained her thoughts.

"Magic doesn't affect them." The sisters ceased arguing. Celestia spoke next.

"What do you mean, Twilight?" Major Strasser was also curious.

"He was only affected by the physical nature of the spell, the force applied to reach the target was all that affected him, he didn't absorb the spell, his body rejected it outright!" The Major smiled, this meant that the one wildcard in British hands was essentially nullified. If a beam fired by their Princess couldn't overtly damage him. He grimaced, his left ankle tingled and was probably mildly sprained. The ponies now understood they couldn't resist his men.

"Are you rethinking your previous statement, Captain?" Strasser couldn't help but grin smugly. The Captain shook his head.

"No, I will not surrender to the likes of you, German," Strasser noted the Captain ended the sentence with a particularly venomous tone.

"Well then, I thank you, Princess Luna, you have saved me three hours of waiting. Ponies will be allowed to pass through the blockade, after an inspection, humans will not, good day." Major Strasser turned and began to walk away a second time. He very quickly realized his fall had twisted his ankle. He began limping slightly, gritting his teeth, he refused to show weakness to his adversary.

As the Major walked away the remnants of the negotiators formed a small circle.

"I apologize for all this, your Majesties. Give me an hour and I'll march my men out the moon gate and your people will no longer be in any danger." The Captain spoke with a grim resolve. Princess Celestia, initially stunned, resumed her stoic facial expression and spoke.

"Never, I said Equestria was a land of peace and hospitality and I meant what I said. Even if the Germans decided to bar ponies from entering the city, Canterlot has emergency provisions to be self-sufficient for many years. After a few weeks, we will bring this Major Strasser back the negotiating table and a compromise will be established. Luna, I'm going to work doubly hard to find a way to send our friends home, in order to avert a confrontation, I need you to take over some of my daily duties for the foreseeable future." Princess Luna nodded, a warm smile on her face.

"Of course, dear sister, we must all pitch in to help in this crisis." Celestia turned to Twilight.

"Twilight, I need you to work on discovering why our magic affects humans so little, perhaps there are ways of bypassing this immunity." Twilight nodded enthusiastically, eager to show her worth to her beloved tutor.

"Absolutely Princess! I'll head over to their barracks right now!"

========

Twilight was seldom seen for the next three days, and when she was, she was always accompanied by Corporal Walton, who was assigned to be her "test subject" of sorts. He had responded well to the constant probing in his good-natured way, actively joking and conversing. She had started with the basic forms of magical manipulation. She found that she could levitate him for a short few seconds before her magic simply fizzled out and gravity took control, Twilight was cautious about performing more advanced spells as she didn't want to actually hurt the Corporal. Based on the interaction, or rather, lack thereof, between her magic and Walton, it seemed to be that the human body simply rejected and dispelled magic after it came into contact with the skin. Her theory was that, seeing as the humans were not of this world, it was possible that there simply was no magic on the human world, and magic simply could not manifest itself on their bodies.
"Corporal?"

"Yes, yer Maj- Twilight?" After being tossed around repeatedly the Corporal had once more ceased using her title of Princess, Twilight preferred this as it allowed them to connect on a more personal level. During her experiments, Corporal Walton had shown himself to be quite proficient in scientific matters, he had explained that he had been preparing to study at a prestigious university when the war broke out and he volunteered to fight.

"Why do British soldiers have such different accents?" The question had irked her for a while, Walton, the Captain, and the Sergeant all had such varied accents.

"Heh," He replied, smiling, "well, it on account o' the different places we come from, fer' instance, I come from an island named Ireland, the Captains accent comes from his aristocratic London birth and the Sergeant is from Wessex." Twilight badly wished to learn about all these lands, but one question came out above all others.

"How did all your lands unite?" Twilight hoped for an answer akin to Heartswarming Eve, though from what little she knew of the human world she knew it wouldn't be as simple. Corporal Walton lost his smile.

"Well, ya see, we uh," He glanced around nervously as if checking for some unseen eavesdroppers, "what I mean to say is, the lovin' King-"

"You were conquered, weren't you." She interrupted.

"Yes, that we were," He adopted a grim smile, "It's a bit more complicated than that, but the land of Ireland was once sovereign over its' own people."

"Why would you fight for your conquerors?"

"Some might say time is a factor, I say bollocks teh' that, I joined the army to learn how to fight, so that one day I could come home to defend me' own lands fer' a change."

"And then the war dragged on." Twilight knew how this part of the story went.

"Aye, on and on, four years past, then I finally had acquired a leave pass to see my family. However, while I had been off fighting England's wars there was fightin' in me hometown o' Dublin. As I walked past the smoking ruins o' the government buildings, demolished by British artillery, I was shunned by me' brothers and sisters, for serving that is, I was practically an Englishman to them, and I felt it too. My mother and father were sitting in our small home when an artillery shell had pulverized it, I spent the last days of my leave in a pub on Palcry street, drowning my sorrows. I did meet a nice lass though."

Twilight was frantically writing this all down when a strange drone filled her ears. Clearly, others had noticed it as well, she peered out a side window of the barracks and saw a large huddle of British soldiers shouting and pointing at the sky.

"Do you hear that James? Your fellow soldiers are outside, pointing at the sky?" Walton stood up from his crouched position and walked over to the window, he glanced outside and Twilight saw a flash of surprise in his eyes before he adopted his stoic expression once more.

"That there is an aeroplane, we better see if it's one of ours or theirs." They left the building and made their way over to the mass of British soldiers, Corporal Walton forced them to move aside for Twilight. They soon realized the soldiers had been huddled around Sergeant Stalber, he was currently fixated on a distant dot, which was most likely the so-called "aeroplane" Walton spoke of. He was looking through a pair of binoculars, and once more Twilight was caught up in the similarities between her world and theirs. He cursed.

"It's one of theirs." There was no question to who "they" were, Twilight could feel the emotion drain out of the soldiers around her, now they were watching morbidly, unable to look away. The plane was much closer now, Twilight could make out its shape and brownish colour. Walton quickly explained its basic characteristics, once more Twilight was surprised by the amazing technical successes achieved by a race without magic.

Suddenly the ground shook violently, so much so that Twilight struggled to not lose her footing. The shaking was immediately followed by an impossibly loud roar, a few dozen meters away, a massive fountain of earth erupted from the ground. In a few seconds, the massive formation of soldiers and separated across the drill square. Twilight felt a hand on her back firmly push her to the ground. It was Corporal Walton.

"The basterds' are shellin' us! Stay as low as possible an' ye'll be ok!" Similarly, he threw himself to the ground.

"I-I don't understand, they said they wouldn't attack ponies, we would they try and blow up a part of the palace." Twilight had to yell to be heard over the second explosion, dirt showered her, a testament to how close the explosion had been.

"They're only bombing our barracks, that damned plane is spotting for their artillery!" Sergeant Stalber shouted over the din. Twilight noticed that a distinct whistling sound announced the incoming shells. She briefly wondered whether she'd die today, and teared up at the thought of never seeing her friends again. They were barred from passing the German blockade, as the Germans had heard of the elements through discourse with other ponies trying to pass through, and decided to prevent them from passing as a precaution, Spike had sent the letter informing her himself. Rainbow Dash had considered flying the gap, but the warning shots from German sentries had dissuaded her, try as she might, she could not outrun a bullet.

Knowing that any moment could be her last Twilight pawed futilely at the ground as if to dig herself a hole to hide in. She heard the whistling sound, only this time it sounded louder than before, then it stopped abruptly, and no explosion followed, nervously, Twilight glanced up.

FK16 7.7 cm Schale
TNT 0.19 Kg
Seriennummer K00230533

Confused, Twilight realized she was staring at a larger version of the bullets shown to her by Walton, this was undoubtedly an artillery shell. She had been reading what appeared to be the production stamp. A light blue magical aura encompassed the shell, as it was hovering a few feet above her. A loud thud behind Twilight broke her fixation on the metal object. She turned and saw Princess Luna, complete in her regal armour, walking toward her.

"Good morn' to you Princess Twilight," she spoke in a jovial tone completely disregarding the bomb floating above their heads, "what exactly hast transpired here?"

"The Germans are shelling us, the swine are using a spotter aircraft to direct their fire!" Sergeant Stalber shouted. Princess Luna stretched her wings.

"Thank you, good Sergeant, we will fly out and kindly inform this scoundrel about the imminent reprisals they suffer should they not cease this attack." Just as she was about to take off, the ground shook once more and an explosion followed soon after. Dust and dirt shrouded the area. Luna quickly cast a wind spell, vacating the area of the dust. Twilight cleared her throat.

"Is everypony okay?" She glanced around, and for a brief second, it seemed no one was injured by the shell.

"I-I-I n-need..." She spun rapidly towards the voice and saw Sergeant Stalber, cuts on his face were oozing blood, and his hands were covering a wound over his chest. He staggered towards her and reached out with his right hand as if to touch her. Through moving his hand, he revealed his grisly wound to Twilight. There was a hole the size of her hoof through the left side of his chest, she could see an assortment of organs and what appeared to be his lungs, blood flowed like milk out of the wound. She gasped, horrified.

Sergeant Stalber took notice and glanced down at his horrible wound. His eyes no longer showed fear, his body ceased shaking and he took a deep breath, as his chest expanded even more blood poured from the wound. He would never exhale, he began coughing violently, blood spitting out of his mouth. He fell to his knees and stared off past Twilight. She followed his eyes and turned, almost without a thought. Her eyes fell upon Princess Luna, she stood there, mouth open in surprise, staring back at the Sergeant. Finally, his eyes glazed over and slumped to the ground, lying face down in the dirt.

Breaking eye contact brought both Princesses back into reality. Twilight gasped again and tears began flowing from her eyes at the sheer horror. She looked over to Luna and nearly recoiled from the sheer anger radiating off the Princess of the Night. Twilight followed her eyes. Luna glanced between Sergeant Stalber and the aeroplane, still lazily drifting in the distance, uncaring to the anguish it was causing. She then brought her eyes over to the artillery shell still in her aura, she squinted her eyes as she directed her horn toward the plane. Twilight's eyes widened in realization.

Wait. She had wanted to say, but it had been too late.

The shell flew in a straight line towards the plane, a streak of blue trailing behind it, it whistled as it traveled through the air, though it was difficult to hear above the scream of anguish and rage Luna emitted as she launched the object. It flew at astronomical speeds and was clearly on a collision course with the aircraft. The plane had only just noticed the strange object, and its evasive maneuvers were sloppily done, clearly affected by panic. Luna had merely grunted in frustration as she guided her magic missile towards its target. The shell slammed into the bottom of the left wing of the aircraft, causing it to immediately flip over, onto its belly. The plane began spinning, clearly out of the pilot's control. It descended rapidly and fell out of view, blocked by the thick walls of Canterlot. The walls did not block the sounds, and a tremendous crash rang out, metal no doubt slamming into the cold hard ground. It was immediately followed by an explosion, most likely the shell detonating against the earth. A huge plume of smoke rose over Canterlot, marking the death pyre of the aircraft.

Luna walked over to the Sergeant, turned his body over to see his face, and wept.

========

Major Strasser poured another glass of schnapps.

It's all your fault, you killed him.

Shut up. He thought as he drank.

You told him the Ponies wouldn't retaliate so long as the shells were only hitting the British, you might as well have signed his execution order.

I made a mistake, mistakes happen in war, I loved him, he was my brother!

Nevertheless, you've destroyed him, what will you tell Mother? He drank another shot.

The voice in the Major's head, currently prodding at his sanity, was interrupted by the sound of Sergeant Uller entering his tent.

"Sir, the pioneers have put out the fire, and uh... they possess... the remains."

"Preserve them and put them in our storage, I'll not bury my own brother in this foreign land."

"Yes, Sir." The Sergeant clicked his heels together and saluted, he was about to turn when he spoke again. "Sir, I've just been informed, the pioneers have also primed the necessary explosives to breach the gates." Major Strasser smiled grimly.

"Good, tomorrow we attack at dawn, it's high time we end this facade." Instinctively, the Majors hand rested itself on his pistol holster. His other hand on the Prussian cavalry saber that lay on the table. Given to him by his father after he had graduated from officer school. It had been passed down through generations since the Napoleonic wars. It was a symbol of everything he stood for, pride, professionalism, unbending loyalty, and war. Tomorrow I will have vengeance. He thought morbidly.

Author's Note

And so it continues.