The Horrors Of War

Several Vickers E tanks rolled over some plants, approaching a large shiny hole filled mountain. The rumbling shook the mountain, causing some rocks to fall.

Two multicolored quadrupedal creatures stood in front of the tanks stopped talking to each other, before looking up at the tall machine. Its two high caliber machine guns gleamed against the sun.

The two creatures looked nervously at each other, before looking up at the tank. "H-halt. What brings you to the Changeling Empire?", one asked in a shaky voice.

The hatch on the front tank opened, and a man wearing a blue hat and a blue military uniform stepped out. He held a Suomi KP/31 in his hands.

"Mitä?", he asked.

"Why are you in the C-Changeling Empire?", a Changeling asked, still frightened.

The man smiled, before stepping forward. "Apologies. I am Tank Commander Ahti. We are the 2nd Tank Company of Finland.", he said.

The two Changelings grinned a little, relieved that the new arrivals were friendly. "What's Finland?", a Changeling asked.

"Excuse me!"

Thorax, leader of the Changeling Kingdom, trotted forward to meet the human armored commander.

"Hi, I'm Thorax. What brings you here?", Thorax asked. He held out his hoof, which Ahti shook.

"I'm Ahti. We appear to be lost. Tell me, are we in the Eastern Front or the Western Front? Our compass seems to be broken.", Ahti said.

Thorax blinked. "I'm sorry, but this is Equestria.", he said.

"Equestria?", Ahti asked. "Actually, I can ask later. What is the Changeling Kingdom?"

Thorax smiled. "I can explain. Would you like the long version or the short version?"

Somewhere else

Rainbow Dash shot past a Stuka, as its bomb dropped onto Cloudsdale. The giant explosion sent her spiraling, before she recovered.

She looked around, and saw Spitfire being chased by a BF-109. Its 7.9 mm were blazing, bullets shooting past the panicking Wonderbolt captain.

Rainbow Dash quickly flew over and caught up to the 109, which didn't notice her, until Rainbow Dash kicked out its tail wing.

The back wing flew off, and the fighter spiraled out of control, before exploding through Cloudsdale. A plume of fire and smoke rising out from over and under the cloud city.

Rainbow Dash caught up to Spitfire. "Captain! What's happening?!", she called.

The fiery maned Pegasus panted as she flew. "These things just attack Cloudsdale! There are dead everywhere! S-Soarin...", Spitfire hyperventilated.

Rainbow Dash felt her heart sink. "Please tell me he's OK!", she said.

"He was hit! His hoof has a hole in it!", Spitfire cried.

Rainbow Dash gulped, as she tried to imagine the scene. SHe shook her head and forced Spitfire on a cloud before she shook her forcefully.

"Captain! We need your head in the game!!", Rainbow Dash cried. "What do we do?!"

Spitfire seemed to shake herself back to reality, and stood up. "We need to rally up all the Wonderbolts and evacuate Cloudsdale.", she said.

"Yes, ma'am!", Rainbow Dash said, as she took off and flew towards a Stuka chasing two Wonderbolts.

The dive bomber fired its MG-17 wing cannons, chasing Fleetfoot and Blaze through the clouds. Cover wasn't an option, for when the two Pegasus ponies tried to hide, bullets would rip through like nothing.

Then Rainbow Dash flew behind the Stuka, planning on taking out the tail like she did so with the other fighter.

She didn't see the gunner facing backwards on the cockpit. The MG-15 Light Machine Gun Turret fired back at Rainbow Dash, a bullet clipping her wing.

That alone was enough to send her spinning into the Stuka's tail. She grabbed the tail before she could fall off, and hung on for dear life.

She looked to see the rear gunner aiming at her. At this angle, she wasn't able to move without falling off.

She closed her eyes, as she expected to hear the "rat-tat-tat" of gunfire before her life ended.

Instead, heard the pounding "BOOM" of lightning.

She opened her eyes, to see the rear gunner's exploded body in the shattered cockpit, the MG-15 leaning lifelessly on the side. She looked up to see three Wonderbolts with some sort of contraption tied to their backs.

She felt a pair of hooves wrap around her, and saw Fire Streak pulling her away from the Stuka.

The three Wonderbolts, High Winds, Misty Fly, and Surprise, shot towards the Stuka, and the strange contraptions on their backs fired bolts of lightning.

One bolt of lightning took out the MG-17 guns, igniting all the ammunition in the wing. The whole gull wing exploded, before the explosion reached the engine. The whole dive bomber exploded in a magnificent torrent of fire and smoke.

Fire Streak set Rainbow Dash on a cloud, before the other three Wonderbolts landed on the cloud with them.

"Hey, Crash. You OK?", Misty Fly asked.

Rainbow Dash smiled. "Dizzy? Hoof-In-Mouth? Slowpoke?", she asked, using their nicknames.

"Heh...", Surprise said. "Not too slow now, huh?"

"What are those?", Rainbow "Crash" asked.

"New lightning cannons. We're gonna zap those things out of the sky!", High Winds said.

An explosion rippled through the sky, shaking all the clouds, and making everything fall silent.

"What now?!", Fire Streak groaned, flexing his wings for takeoff.

"Over there!", Misty Fly said, pointing her hoof at the burning city of Cloudsdale.

Several large planes were flying over the city, and even more explosions and fire were shooting out of the city. These planes were double engine designed, and a stepless cockpit, a MG-42 sticking out the nose.

The formation of Heinkel He 111 bombers dropped their payload, as the gunners fired their MGs at any nearby Pegasi and clouds. Some FW-190s and BF-109s were flying alongside the group of medium bombers.

"Cloudsdale...", Surprise said. "It's...it's done for."

Rainbow Dash growled, as she got up and tried to take off, but her clipped wing made it harder.

"We have...we have to fight!", she said. "Those guys are taking our homes! We can't do nothing!"

Misty Fly glared up at the fleet of flying machines. "We have to fight.", she said.

"For Cloudsdale!", High Winds said.

"For Equestria!!", Surprise yelled.

The three took off, as several other Wonderbolts rallied by Spitfire flew with them, all armed with lightning cannons.

Rainbow Dash could only watch as the fighters broke formation to engage the Pegasus air force.

Two FW-190s chased a group of Wonderbolts, before the cockpits were sniped by High Winds and another Pegasus. Then High Winds's wingpony was blown to shreds by a Stuka bomb, sending her falling.

Spitfire and Misty Fly landed her on a cloud, before chasing the Junker dive bomber. Theie two lightning cannons fired at the fighter/bomber, with the rear gunner emptying its turret into the Pegasi.

Luckily, none of the bullets hit, and Spitfire managed to zap the Stuka's unused bomb, the fighter exploding. Spitfire and Misty Fly hoof-bumped, before a Heinkel flew by.

A pair of Heinkels flew in close, its MG weaponry firing in all directions. Pegasi started dropping out of the sky, and the Wonderbolts quickly changed formation.

"Cover me!", Blaze yelled. Spitfire and Misty Fly nodded and banked hard, as Blaze and Fire Streak shot straight at the Heinkels.

"Eingehend!!", one of the Heinkel's nose gunners said, and the cramped MG-42 mount started firing. The other Heinkel opened fire as well.

Blaze and Fire Streak dodged as many bullets as possible, banking, flipping, and spinning. Soon, they were meters away from flying into the Heinkels.

"Now!", Blaze yelled. The two fired their lightning cannons, and they struck one of the Heinkel's nose gunners. The windows shattered, and the MG exploded. Soon, the front of the medium bomber was destroyed, but the cockpit was still intact, and the wounded pilots were still flying.

Two crew members grabbed spare MG-42s, and started firing out the open space. The other untouched Heinkel fired as well, and Blaze and Fire Streak broke off.

"Wo sind sie hin?", the untouched Heinkel pilot asked, as the rear gunners looked around.

The ventral gunner looked down. "Von unten!!", he yelled, before firing.

Spitfire and Misty Fly were flying from below, firing their lightning cannons. The two belly gunners of the bomber opened fire, bullets blazing down violently.

Misty Fly's lightning cannon was hit, and it began to rattle. Misty Fly gasped and quickly unstrapped the burning weapon.

"Throw it!!", Spitfire cried, before breaking off. Misty Fly flew faster, the smoke trailing weapon heating up faster and faster.

Misty Fly quickly flew off, out of turning view of the rear gunner.

She flew in the big hole in the Heinkel, startling all the crew members. "Have a nice fall!!", she yelled, throwing the lightning cannon at the pilots.

It detonated on impact of the two Germans, and the whole craft shook violently. The hull of the Heinkel stayed intact, but the dark green color of the craft heated up to a bright scalding golden color.

Fires began to break out in the bomber, and lightning zapped all over the hull, electrocuting other bombers and their escorts.

Bombers and fighter planes started exploding and dropping out of the sky, spreading like the domino effect. A burning Heinkel landed in Cloudsdale, exploding.

Misty Fly was about to fly out the blasted open space, before she was tackled by a German crew member.

"Oh nein, das tust du nicht!!", the German growled. Misty Fly struggled to get free, but the man's grip was made of iron.

"Lemme go!!", she cried in panic. She could see the bomber falling, smoke billowing behind her, and the MG-42 stuck in front of her.

She grabbed the machine gun with her free hooves, and swung it at the crew member, who fell back, falling into the bomb bay.

She tried to get up, but instead knocked a satchel into the fire. On the satchel were the words "Granaten" on it. The satchel lit on fire, before it tumbled into the bomb bay with the crew member.

Misty Fly quickly flew out of the plummeting Heinkel, before flying back up. Not one minute after she flew out, the satchel ignited the bomb bay, detonating everything in the craft.

Misty Fly could feel the force of the explosion, as she was hurled through a cloud, spinning uncontrollably.

Then she felt hooves grab her, and she opened her eyes. Fire Streak and Surprise were holding on to her, looks of concern and worry on their faces.

Burning pieces of Heinkels, Stukas, FW-190s, and BF-109s rained down from the sky, as the three Pegasi made their way up to Cloudsdale.

Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, Blaze, Fleetfoot, High Winds, and the remaining surviving Wonderbolts were on a large cloud, watching the burning craft disappear under the clouds.

Spitfire turned around to see Misty Fly and the other two Wonderbolts landing on the cloud. She quickly trotted over to the three.

"Hey, you good?", Spitfire asked. "That looked like it was rough down there."

"I'm good.", Misty Fly said. "I have never been in anything more intense."

"Come on, we need to help Cloudsdale recover.", Rainbow Dash said, as the Wonderbolts helped each other fly up to the burning, but surviving, city.

On the ground

A pilot climbed out of a wrecked Stuka, a Luger in his hand.

"Hurensohn...", he groaned, before a footstep caught his attention.

He whirled around with his Luger, but then a shot rang out. The pilot fell to the ground, blood streaming out the arrow between his eyes.

A female Pegasus pony with a white coat trotted forward. She had a multicolored mane and tail, all colors being various shades of red. Her right eye was red, and her left eye was a light shade of blue. She wore a red bandanna around her neck, and she had a black strip of cloth tied around her back right hoof. Her cutie mark was a set of crosshairs aimed at the skull of a pony.

She held a crossbow in her hoof, and she had a sultry, yet evil smirk on her face. She slung her crossbow over her back and pried the goggles of the deceased pilot's head.

"What do we have here?", she said.