MLP:World War

Chapter 4 - A Brighter Day In A Darker Place.

The Siege Of Cloudsdale.

January 1943

It was now a cold and long winter as the allies settled in. December past and the 1943 new offensive began. They had reached Cloudsdale, but the relentless bombing and artillery from the Germane forces had cost them many casualties. They ultimately could not take Cloudsdale and settled in for a tough fall of enemy attacks and skirmishes. Before anyone knew it, winter had hit. Equestria froze over as The Allies set up camp below Cloudsdale and waited for a miracle.

"Do you see something"? Captain Pinkie Pie asked . "Aircraft...Stukas maybe" Applejack replied looking through her binoculars. "We may need tah move out….they're coming this way". "Everyone, let's move out!" Pinkie shouted. "We got enemy planes headed this way". The marines quickly stood up from the snowy ground and quickly grabbed their gear. Rainbow Dash stood there and stared at Cloudsdale. The last time she had seen it, the city was a inferno of flames. "Hey, come on we gotta move" said Spike nudging Rainbow's shoulder. "Yeah….ok...sorry" Rainbow said snapping out of her daze.

The frozen tundra surrounded them as the marines trotted through the snow-covered valley and they walked through the dead branches. In the distance….through the snowy mist….Cloudsdale could be seen in detail in the sky. The intense distant booming of the Germanes Schwerer Gustav made their ears ache. It was a humongous cannon the Germanes had assembled at Cloudsdale. It had them fleeing constantly to avoid detection and an aerial bombardment. Every attempt made to fly over the city and destroy the cannon was thwarted by the Luftwaffe and anti-aircraft fire.

February

Now, as the war came to an abrupt halt, Captain Pinkie and her troops were using a run and gun tactic to hide across the snowy plains. A group of soldiers from the Equestrian Resistance in Cloudsdale had been leaking information to them for the past few weeks, giving them an strategic advantage and an early alert on incoming enemy attacks. Whether they were caught or not, it didn't matter because the broadcasts quit coming in on Allied radios and they failed to contact them. The had no warning anymore and could only guess what the enemy's next counter attack would be. Something had to be done, and soon.

March

"I need somepony to go in with no promises" Pinkie said crossing her arms. Pinkie was in front of her command tent as stood in front of her entire company amongst the snow. The marines shivered and chattered their teeth as they grimaced at the bitter cold all around them.

"I can't guarantee you won't come out of this operation unscathed...but it will have to be done if we're going to take back this city" Captain Pinkie continued, her own cheeks getting red and rosy from the icy wind. "Do we have any….ANY….Volunteers?" she said looking around.

"I'll do it" Rainbow Dash said abruptly as she stepped away from the huddled mass of stallions. "This was my city and i know it like the back of my hoof"

"I've got your back" Applejack said stepping forth boldly.

Immediately, several other ponies stepped forward and raised their hands, Derpy simply stood next to Rainbow quietly as a show of union.

Pinkie smiled slightly as she looked at the dozen marines who had just volunteered. "The mission is tonight, come inside so we can look at the plan"

March 12,1943

Midnight.

Rainbow and the rest of her squad strapped themselves in and readied their parachutes as the Douglas C-47 transport rocked back and forth as the pilots did their best to avoid anti-aircraft fire. "We've Got Me 109 fighters on radar….it's now or never!" yelled the flight mechanic. Rainbow Dash gulped as the plane's door slide open and the swift gush of the air nearly made her fall out. Below, she could see every light,turret, and building glowing as the plane was being fired at. Derpy pushed her out of the way because she was having second thoughts, and quickly leapt out of the plane. The rest of the group followed with Rainbow being last. She jumped and used her wings to quickly and effectively glide down towards the city, before pulling her chute at the last minute. Above her, Rainbow Dash saw the burning transport plane free falling out of the sky towards the earth. As she she floated,Rainbow spotted several other marines get shredded to bits as their parachutes were shot up. Rainbow dropped the ground and yank off her chute before cocking her rifle and sprinting after the others.

She looked through her scope and began sniping each Germane soldier that was manning or shooting the anti-aircraft guns. Derpy opened fire with her M1 Garand as more enemy soldiers were alerted of their presence. "At this rate, will be overrun!" Rainbow thought to herself. She lead the troops across the streets as Rainbow looked up and spotted the massive weapon that had caused the allies so much trouble. The Schwerer Gustav Cannon. In one swift motion she raised her flare gun and fired into into the air so the Great Ponyland fighter pilots could see it.

"Augh…..i'm taking fire!" yelled Twilight Sparkle. The Cloud Rangers flew over the landing site and did their best to cover the marines as they ran to take out the anti-aircraft turrets. The four Spitfires began dogfighting against the Germane 109's. "Captn….i got all whole row of enemy fighters on a runway preparin to take off from the city" Big Macintosh said as he flew over the enemy's airfield. "Take them out!" Twilight yelled on the radio as she dodged an enemy fighter attack. "I'm busy!"

"We'll cover you!" Spitfire said over the radio as her and the Wonderbolts flew their P-51 Mustangs over the city and began shooting at Stukas.

"When they'd get here?!" Gilda exclaimed.

"Doesn't matter! We'll hold off these planes while you take out that cannon!" Spitfire replied on the radio.

One Ju-87 flew behind her and opened fire, grazing her plane.

Soarin flew by in the nick of time and gunned down the enemy jet as it burst into flames and started falling.

"Thanks, Soarin!" Spitfire shouted back.

"Don't mention it captain!" Soarin replied as he spun his plane to cover Surprise.

The Wonderbolts were an an elite group of fighter pilots from the U.S.M Air Force. Some were from Equestria but all were the stuff of legend, and knew how put up a good fight.

"Alright, Rangers...follow me!" Twilight yelled as she dove her Submarine Spitfire towards the Gustav. The rest of her squadron followed behind

"Blimey, look at the size of that thing!" Rarity shouted as the group approached the cannon.

"Eeyup, but nothing we can't handle!" Big Mac replied flying alongside his wingmates.

In one single strike the whole entire cannon exploded into debris as the Cloud Rangers dropped their payload of bombs.

Part 2:

March 15, 1943

The sun set peacefully over Equestria. The struggle had finally come to an end. The Allied soldiers watched tearfully over the ruins of the once great city and at the land below. Yes, they had won. A ferocious 14 hour battle against the Germanes had finally liberated Cloudsdale. As Rainbow Dash gazed out into the sky, tears slowly began streaming down her face. "It's..finally over…...they didn't die for nothing…..t-thank you.." she thought in her mind. The Mareican marines hadn't began celebrating as they combed every inch of the city, looking for any lurking enemy forces. Germane Heer (Army) soldier after soldier surrendered with their hooves up as they were lead to the edge of the city to be put on a prisoner sundown hit, the city was infected with an unusual quietness it hadn't had in quite some time. Then, slowly but surely….the lights came on. Pinkie Pie and her entire company threw their helmets in the air as the celebrated the priceless victory. Fireworks lit the sky as all of Equestria looked toward Cloudsdale that night, including the distant enemy. The soldiers danced and sang as the now free city was sure to help them in taking Equestria by air. "Geez, what's the big deal?" Downie complained. "We only took one major city back today…...and everyone's celebratin?!" he said to another stallion. "I'll dance we we retake MY home city" he added. He felt a tap on his soldier as he looked around to see Applejack glaring at him. He winced at the thought of her smacking him for mouthing off just now, but she didn't. She clearly had had too much ale and was slightly wobbling in a drunken state. Applejack's face looked queasy and she struggled to get her words out. "Uh….look Sarge….i'm sorry, i jus-" Frank's speech was interrupted by a sudden kiss from the young mare. She leaned and gave him a deep smooch before pulling away and lazily slouched against his chest. "You're *hick*...not such a bad...guy *hick* after all" Applejack stammered. He stood there in complete shock as she rubbed her muzzle underneath his chin. "I...uh...w-well...gee...t-thanks..I" he stuttered as Frank stood there flustered. He managed to look back at the other stallion in their presence. His face was also in a state of utter disbelief. "Sergeant Applejack...what in tarnation do you think you're doing!?" yelled a mare's voice from behind. Applejack slowly raised her head to look at the blurred figure making it's way towards her. "Captain...Pinkie….i'm….just fine" Applejack murmured as she fell to the ground. Frank and Pinkie leaned down and helped pick her up. "As an officer in the marines, i'd expect you to be taking better care of yourself" Pinkie said angrily. "I…..don't...care…..I...don't deserve...anything" replied Applejack moaning. Pinkie was about to snap back at her then she remembered why she had probably been drinking. Applebloom. No word had come yet of her recovery in the hospital. Applejack was making a mess of herself worrying about her sister. "I'll take it from here Private" Pinkie told Frank as she escorted Applejack back to the barracks with her arm over her back. Elsewhere, Rainbow Dash hugged a teary Fluttershy as they triumphantly stood on their city. Their race now had it's home back. Rainbow began walking around the cloud city oblivious to the party all around her as she took a swig of ale and looked up at the stars. She watched as the fireworks ignited the sky in a spectacular display of light. A single wave of Allied planes swooped over the city, sheltering it under their wings. "Thanks guys" Rainbow said smiling at the sky. "We couldn't have done it without you"

She continued walking until she was alone. Rainbow looked out it the darkness and saw a single figure looking out at the sky.

Rainbow walked closer before recognizing who it was.

"Private…..umm…..what's the matter?" she asked.

Rainbow walked up to Derpy before placing her hoof on her shoulder and turning her around.

"Are you oka-..." Rainbow started.

Derpy was crying.

August 23,1942.

Stalliongrad,Soviet Reign Union.

(translated from Russian)

Private Kaleo arrived on the boat that crossed the Volga river and stepped off into as the bustling,war torn city of Stalliongrad. He carried a bag over his shoulder and nothing else but the clothes on his back. As he waited in line, he spotted a propaganda poster with a saluting Joshoof Stallion on the ruins of a wall.

"Fight for the motherland" it had inscribed at the bottom. In the far distance, he could hear the booming of artillery shells exploding on the ground and loud gunfire.

"Kaleo!...Kaleo!" yelled a voice from behind him.

He spun around to see who the familiar voice was.

"Funny seeing you here, old friend" Kaleo said as he patted his friend Dmitri on the shoulder. "Was your dad's workshop not big enough?"

"I would have left that ass's shop along time ago...if it had not been for my mother being threatened by him with a beating" Dmitri scoffed.

They both chuckled a little before Kaleo spoke up. "So…..why did you leave?" he asked.

"My mother is sick, my old man could care less and rather drown himself in drink than help her" Dmitri said staring at the ground. "I was hoping to send anything i earn in the Soviet Army her way so she can get better"

"You're doing the right thing my friend" Kaleo said sadly as he shook his head.

The two former friends stood in a massive line of men waiting to be added to the Soviet infantry. As soon as the Germanes had crossed Soviet borders, Kaleo took off from home and left for the front lines.

Adolf, the kraut leader, had chose to rather attack Stalliongrad, the country's most industrial resourceful city, than invade the capital Moscow and cripple the nation. Soon Kaleo was next in line and handed the instructor his papers. "Kaleo Markoff…..age 20…...yes….yes" The stallion read aloud as he nodded and cleared Kaleo to continue for recruitment.

After half an hour, he was moved around again and again until a soldier handed him his assigned unit number. He walked over and stood with other stallions as an officer at the front caught his attention. "I am Captain Nikolai!" You will be under my command and follow all orders given...UNDERSTAND!?"

"Yes,sir!" yelled the entire unit.

"You will all be given an assigned duty…...whether it be, rifleman,spotter,sniper, or scout..you WILL accept it!" Nikolai continued.

After receiving his job, Kaleo looked over and saw a young mare cleaning and maintaining her Mosin-Nagant sniper rifle. She had blue eyes,peach colored skin and bright fiery red hair

"Uh….hello..." Kaleo said walking up to her nervously. "Are you a sharpshooter?"

The mare continued looking down at her rifle before meeting his eyes and huffing slightly.

"Hello,comrade." "My name is Sasha Solntse Shimmers…...and yes, I like to think that I am" the mare said as she continued to polish her gun.

"Why was I put here again?" Kaleo said looking down at his papers

"Because you're my spotter" she said looking up and smiling.

Bonus Scene:

Germane POW Camp, Somewhere in Equestria. November 1939.

The Germane guards stood quietly outside the building.
"Hey, why has General Sombra not shipped this pegasus off to the camps yet?"
"I think she knows something important that he wants. Something about the elements of Harmony."
"The elements of harmony?!"
"You know them?"
"I've heard of them before."
"Bah! Guard duty is so boring. Why are we stuck here when there is a war going on out there?"
"You're bored eh? I think I've got a pretty good way to have a little fun." said the guard smiling evilly.
"What's that?"
"That pegasus prisoner, perhaps she could entertain us for a while."
"Are you sure that's okay?"
"It'll be fine, Sombra won't care WHAT happens to her as long as she can still talk." replied the other guard

The two guards chuckled and went inside the small prison room. Across the room there was a single cage with the blue mare still asleep in chains.
"Looks like she's still asleep."
"Indeed, why don't we wake her up." the guard said cracking his hooves.
They quietly unlocked the cage door and walked in.

"Rise and shine!" the guard yelled striking her across the face. Rainbow Dash woke up screaming. She spotted the two and rushed towards them, only to be yanked back by her chains. The guards laughed as she struggled to move, only a foot out of reach.

"Maybe it'll work if you try harder." one of them mocked.
"Idiot, she doesn't understand Germane."
"Oh right. Hmm, now that I'm up close she's not that bad looking."
"You're right, maybe there's other ways we can have fun."

The two laughed evilly while Rainbow, furiously pushed forward to the point where the chains were choking her.
"Ha ha, she still thinks she can -"
The guard stopped when he heard the door open behind them. They didn't expect anyone else to come by.
"Listen buddy we're a little busy right..."

The guards breath stopped. A tan colored stallion had just walked in and was giving them a cold stare. The room was quiet, the only sound that was heard were the chains faintly rattling from Rainbow Dash struggling, finally the officer spoke.

"You have five seconds to leave before I put you on scouting duty.."
The guards didn't bother responding, they immediately made a rush for the door and didn't look back. He looked at Rainbow still struggling with her chains and glaring at him with hate in her eyes.

"Guter Gott." the stallion sighed after looking at her. She looked ready to bite his head off. "I am an officer in the army"
He walked towards her, Rainbow struggled even more fiercely after she saw him coming. He stood a foot away from her and held up a key. She stopped for a second, confused.

The officer slowly leaned forward and unlocked the brace to one of her hooves. The second he did Rainbow Dash lifted her free hoof and savagely punched him across the face with it.

He fell back and the key clattered to the ground just out of the mare's reach. The stallion was furious after tasting blood in his mouth but calmed down and stood, picking up the key.

"That Hurt."He walked out of the cage and shut horn glowed as he levitated the key and unlocked the other chains off her body. Rainbow Dash dropped to the ground and snatched the floating key. She ran over to the cell door and put the key in, struggling to unlock the door with no success.
"WHY ISN'T THIS STUPID KEY WORKING?!" she yelled.
"That key only unlocks the chains, not the door."
Rainbow Dash stared at him in surprise.
"You speak English?"
"Yes."

"And those guards would have done more than choke you if i hadn't intervened"
He said as he walked across the room and sat on the only chair in the cell, quietly looking at some notes he brought.

He glanced at her, then levitated a tray under the space in her cage.
"Here's your food."
The mare snorted. "You probably poisoned it."
"You're in a cage, if they wanted you dead they would've done it by now."
"Then...it's probably got some truth serum or something!"
"If such a thing existed the soldiers would've force fed it to you a while ago."

Rainbow sat there silently ignoring the food. She picked up the knife and tried to saw the bars, making an annoying grating sound.
"Could you keep it down? I'm working on something over here."
"Oh I'm sorry, am I making it hard to PLAN MORE SLAUGHTERING?!"
"I'm working on a crossword puzzle. Incidentally, do you know a seven letter word for evil?"
"GERMANE!"
"Don't be ridicu..." He stopped and looked at the puzzle. "Now that can't be right...it fits..."

Rainbow Dash burst into laughter, the first time since she was captured.
"Ha ha! See?! Even the puzzle agrees!"
He chuckled and then notices her tray untouched.
"Aren't you hungry?"
"Look at this stuff!" Rainbow Dash said scooping up some of it and plopping it down. "It's cold mush! Can't you get me something better to eat?"
The young stallion hesitated a bit.

"I don't think I could manage that all the time but...I guess I could bring something decent every so often."
"Wait seriously?"
Rainbow Dash was just complaining, she didn't think he'd actually do something about it.
"Sure, why not."
"I'm not telling you where the Element of Harmony are if that's what you're hoping."
"That's fine, I'm not going to interrogate you….yet" he said.
Rainbow groaned and slumped against the wall.
"You're not here to get anything from me, then why ARE you here?" Rainbow asked.
"I wonder." he said smiling mysteriously.

The officer continued to work quietly while Rainbow sat against the wall. The other Germanes didn't speak English so they just ignored her. If she spoke too much they'd throw water at her and yell at her.
"Alright." He finally said yawning. "Time for me to go."
"Are you...coming back later?"
HE smiled. "Yes."
"It's not like I care." Rainbow said quietly.
He got his stuff together and left, leaving her alone.
"What an odd Kraut..." said the Rainbow Dash thoughtfully. "Maybe….I could trust him"

It had been a week since the officer said he would come by again and Rainbow Dash was going crazy. She wasn't the kind of person who liked to sit still. She needed to be out doing something but here she was stuck in a cage eating cold mush.
The door opened, and a familiar officer walked in.

"You're back!" she standing up.
Normally she wouldn't care so much, but she'd been cooped, beating her head against the bars, trying to find something to do.
"Yup, I'm back."
"You bring what you promised?"
He chuckled.

"That the first thing on your mind? Yeah, here it is." He levitated a tray over to her cell. "Fresh from the officer's hall."
The mare dove into the food immediately. Tears began to swell up her eyes as she stuffed her face with the warm food.
The scent of food filled her nose.

It had been so long since she had decent food, she almost cried out loud about how much better this tasted then the salted mush. The colonel sat in his chair and got to his work. Rainbow finished her food and spoke up.
"So, I've been wondering, where'd you learn English?"

"I learned English at Burnhorn University. I chose it because I thought it might come in handy one day." he smiled. "Looks like I was right. Anyway, I went there with a rival of mine and we were constantly butting heads and having competitions with each other, ha ha. I was always just slightly one step ahead, it was always exciting." replied the officer.
"What kinda competitions?"

"Oh, grades, valedictorian, you wouldn't be interested in that sort of stuff. But, there was this time we set our sites on the same mare and things really heated up." he chuckled. "Wanna hear it?"
"Sure, I ain't going anywhere soon."

The stallion talked with Rainbow Dash about his rivalry with another male named Ludwig, about how they clashed to impress her, how he dumped eggs on him and eventually winning in the ends she laughed a few times.

"What about you? Anything you're good at?"
"Yeah I'm..." Rainbow Dash hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to talk about it, but she decided it was okay and continued.

"I'm the fastest flier in all of Ponyville! Probably all of Equestria!"
"Hah. That's quite a bold claim." he grinned
"It's true! I took down a plane single-hoofedly with a spear!"
"Then that would make you Rainbow Dash"

"You know me?"
"Hah! There aren't many soldiers who HAVEN'T heard about what you did. Taking down a plane with just a spear, you actually scared quite a bit of people. They're wondering if all pegasi are as scary." the Colonel explained.

Rainbow stopped and looked at him with a frown.
"What is it?"
"Why are you a soldier? I mean, you're not such a terrible person."
"Ah." The Lieutenant Colonel sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, I get that. I joined the military before the war.
Burnhorn's a military academy, and i graduated last year. I certainly didn't expect for the fight to begin right after I joined. I guess no one ever does."
He looked at her and smiled.

"As you've probably already guessed, I don't despise pegasi or think of them as inferior lower life forms like most others. I had a few pegasi friends back at Burnhorn."

"Wait….how old are you?" Rainbow asked him

He laughed a little before replying. "21"
"Oh..." The room was quiet for a little as she thought about this but then broke the silence again. "Ya got anything to do?"
"Well...I might get scolded if anyone notices but...you've been sitting here in silence for a week right?" he asked
"YES!"

"Alright but don't tell anyone or they'll have my ass" he said reaching into his pocket.
"Alright, I suppose we could play a game of cards. That is, if you promise not to take another swing at me." he chuckled.
Rainbow Dash blushed a little.

"Y-yeah, sorry about that."
The two began playing cards, The stallion won every time and Rainbow Dash couldn't figure out why. "Hey, I'll see you again right?"

"Yes, i've been instructed to watch over you" he said
"I'm not gonna have to wait another week am I?"
"No, I'll get here sooner from now on. I promise." he said smiling a little.
"Alright..." said the mare reluctantly.

The officer bowed his head and turned for the door.

"Hold on…" said Rainbow Dash. "I never got your name"
"Ethan…..Ethan Mueller" he said clearing his throat.

"That's a nice name" said Rainbow Dash managing to smile.
The charming stallion left after saying goodbye, Rainbow smiled.

"Please let this not be a trick" she thought to herself.

Not long after these events….An Allied air raid took place over Ponyville and the Prison camp Rainbow Dash was being held was mistaken for Wehrmacht camp and was bombed. A gaping hole stood between Rainbow and freedom as the dust cleared.

She leapt from the building and sprinted as fast she could for the forest. The air raid alarms echoed into the night as searchlights soon sweep the treeline looking for prisoners. Rainbow looked back once more at the camp she'd been at for three months.

"Thank you, Ethan…..wherever you are" she said as she turned away and continued to run into the woods through the night.

Author's Note

(This bonus scene chapter is credited to a friend)