Chapters Of War, Honor, and Ponies
10:00 P.M. November 25th, 1932 Dresden Infantry School, Germany
Silence. Throughout the main corridors and hallways of the Academy, silence is present. The darkness inside is somewhat mediated by the moonlight shining. However, there is one stray light coming from an office within the administrative building. Inside, a man in a uniform can be seen straightening out his uniform. Upon his uniform, many medals adorn it's front. From the outside, this man is not vertically inclined and is stocky in a sense. However inside of him, he possesses a strong will. A will to succeed, a will to be better. Already a thrice wounded combat veteran, the man intends to put his skills to good use. He has been an instructor for the past 4 years and in that time, he has thrusted himself into the work of improving his men in how they think and conduct themselves. Nothing (other than his wife and child) brought more joy to him than his job. After a few minutes, everything was ready. His uniform was perfectly fit and straightened out his medals and decorations were pristinely polished and straightened into their correct position, even his boots were polished enough to see your reflection clearly. All that he had to do next was place his officer cap on his head and leave his office for the ball. Something caught his eye on the door though, the nameplate was slightly crooked. Always one to present himself neatly, he straightened it out and was on his way walking through the dark corridors. The nameplate had only name and rank on it.Major Erwin Rommel
As soon as he was outside, Rommel could feel the cold brisk air and thought it refreshing. As he trodded his boots through the snow towards the ballroom, he began to think of his time as a Cadet at the Danzig War Academy and the balls he attended there. When he was an officer cadet, the balls hosted at the war academy were to familiarize the officer cadets with proper etiquette and social skills that an officer must possess. These balls also tended to allow the girls from the city in so that they may socialize with the cadets. Some would meet their future spouses there. Rommel had found his match at a ball when he caught the eyes of his dearest Lucie. She was not like the other girls, she was not somewhat uptight and stuff. If anything, she was a young, vibrant, outgoing girl and she made it her mission to win dance competitions across the city. Along the way in her journey, she met and fell in love with Erwin. Ever since then, only war can separate him. As Rommel looked back at it, he was still surprised Lucie stayed with him after his little incident in 1913. When he was transferred back home to Wurttemberg, Erwin fell for a young fruit seller and eventually gathered a daughter through her. Most would expect him to abandon Lucie but weirdly enough, he went back to Danzig to explain the situation and she somehow understood. Throughout the war, the all lived together quite peacefully until in 1928 after Lucie and Erwin's son Manfred was born and the mother of his daughter Gertrude died. The memory still lingers in the back of his mind but he does not count it as a regret. Lucie would be hear tonight with him while Manfred was being looked after by Gertrude and his older sister Helene. As soon as Rommel entered and found Lucie, the two began to mingle with the guests present at the ball. As per usual, Rommel played his trap card, his war stories. The way he told them was captivating for the listener but it always left him unfocused to what was happening around him. But right now, it is just a ball, nothing could happen.
*** *** ***
Major Ferdinand Schörner was always one to play practical jokes on people at these balls. All around him was a large bunch of enlisted men, officer cadets, officers, and his fellow instructors. So many victims to choose from. His choice of joke was not however. It was well known by his fellow instructors that Schörner would play practical jokes on people by somehow putting a large amount of silverware in an unsuspecting victims pocket and wait for it to fall out all over the floor so that it may look like the person was trying to steal the silverware. To his eternal amusement, the looks on his victims faces were ones of true embarrassing and confusion which gave him a good laugh. Scouting about, the Major's first target was an unsuspecting Officer Cadet in the middle of a conversation with one of the local girls. He immediately set his plan into motion and was in and out within no time. After he planted the silverware, Schörner waited a few minutes before the inevitable sound of falling silverware caught his ear. For a while he did this but began to run out of targets until one caught his eye. There he saw it, that Swabian Rommel, deep in one of his war stories. Rommel was a frequent target of Schörner as the man seemed so stiff that his confusion was unmeasurable whenever the silverware began to fall from the floor from his pocket. "This will be quite easy" he thought to himself. Once again, same routine, in and out. However, it would take time for the silverware to begin to fall out as whenever Rommel is deep into one of his stories, he could spend over an hour talking about it. Knowing this, Schörner decided to take some time and beging conversing with some of the guests.
*** *** ***
Rommel never liked noblemen. The Swabian always had a severe disdain for the nobles ever since the Great War. The nobility controlled the German High Command and their tactics saw the lives of so many of his comrades in arms be taken. Not only that, but the Dresden nobles were quite annoying and persist whenever he told stories to them. "If these fools actually got off their ass and went to the front, they would understand exactly what I mean" he thought. But he was a soldier, and a soldiers duty in peacetime is to follow his orders, always show the best of himself, whether it be in private or public, and to stay out of politics. A soldiers must not be occupied with petty political nonsense and must always be ready to defend his nation and government, regardless of political situation. Finally the story was over and Rommel was finally able to leave and go find Lucie. Suddenly, he began to feel things fall out of his pocket and then hit the floor. Silverware... everywhere.... Even before he thought to pick up the dishes, one word popped into Rommel's mind.Schörner
*** *** ***
Still snickering at the way he saw the Swabian reacted, Schörner did not pay attention to the different expression on Rommel's face until after he saw Rommel walking towards him. His normal reaction would be confusion, mild anger, and overall embarrassment but tonight was different. As Rommel walked towards him, the Bavarian could see that Rommel was not in the mood he expected him to be in. His face was stoic, almost wooden. His eyes were not exactly showing anger, but their gaze was deadly. As Rommel walked towards him, he looked as if he was marching in anger and yet the sound of his boots could not be heard stomping. Schörner did not fear Rommel but this change of manner did worry him. His thoughts ceased as soon as a stern voice with a Swabian lisp spoke to him and uttered the words, "May I speak with you in private, now." Schörner never heard Rommel speak with his native dialect. The man was known to seem more like a hard Prussian than a simple thrifty Swabian and it was apparent Rommel tried to hide his accent whenever he spoke. After about 30 seconds of walking, the two finally sat down at a table and for a minute, each stared into each others eyes. Schörner was about to speak first but before he could utter a word, Rommel beat him to the punch.
*** *** ***
Officer Cadet Hermann Manheim is enjoying the ball as he finally gets to mingle with some of the ladies. He sets his sight on one until he is pushed aside by a group of people. With curiosity getting the best of them, Manheim followed the crowd to see what was going on.
*** *** ***
By now, Rommel and Schörner were loud enough to attract the ballroom. Each insult they threw at each other was becoming worse each time. By this time, the two men are beginning to attract people to their respective sides. After what seemed like more than half an hour of arguing later, Schörner had crossed the line.
*** *** ***
11:40 P.M. November 25th, 1932 Dresden Infantry School, Germany
Within a span of 20 minutes, the guests present at the ball as well as all military personnel were present in a field in front of the Academy armory. The quartermaster came and retrieved two standard issue PO-8 Luger pistols and handed one to each duelist. Within 30 seconds, both men are back to back, ready to March their paces. Both Majors think that their counterpart will backstab them and they both prepare themselves in case that does happen. However, they walk their 10 paces, and turn to face each other with equal amounts of surprise. Soon, they take aim. And in a split second fire at each other, hate in their eyes. Suddenly, all is quiet. Nothing can be heard. It is if time has stopped. Finally, there was simply only darkness.
Author's Note
First time ever writing a fanfiction/story at all so please leave comments on how I can improve my writing skills.
The story of Schörner and silverware is actually true and Rommel did not exactly take kindly to his already arch rival at the time.
If you wish to look up more on Rommel's little incident, search up the name Gertrud Stemmer, should give you just enough.
Of War, Honor, and Ponies
8:00 A.M. November 26th, 1932 Dresden Infantry School, 10 km West of Ponyville
Light, light was shining all around the campus. As Rommel finally woke up, he noticed that he was on the ground.
*** *** ***
When Ferdinand Schörner woke up, something clearly was not right from the first moment he woke up. Collecting himself off the snowy ground, he looked up to see a woman of medium height looking down on him. Her fine features seemed to show a hint of anger in her and what Schörner would ask her seemed to make her angrier.
And as soon as he was about to chuckle the handbag once again hit him straight upside the head. "How does Erwin even deal with you." And just like that, he was lashed at by a the handbag again. Each swing seemed to increase it's force every time he made a comment. Finally Lucie let up and simply left Schörner on the ground, finally seeing that it was not worth hurting this man. As she went on her own crusade to find her husband, Schörner began to finally take in his surroundings. The entire academy was still in shape, just like the night before. However, the surroundings were different. Instead of a forested area, the academy was surrounded by plains and a few hills indicating that their new location was in a valley. Overhead, the clouds looked odd. It was as if they were pure and clear. Something definitely was not right. As Schörner began to finally move, he tried looking through his office. Somehow, the power was still functioning and Schörner turned on his light and began to gather his personal affections. As he was doing that, the camp intercom suddenly turned on and a voice commanded "Achtung alle Offiziere und Unteroffiziere, Ihre sofortige Anwesenheit wird sofort im Ballsaal angefordert." (Attention all officers and non-commissioned personnel, your immediate presence is requested in the ballroom at once.) The voice was not of the camp commandant but instead of the commander of the Reichswehr's 4th Infantry Division, Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) Curt Freiherr von Gienanth.
*** *** ***
Almost immediately after he made his announcement, Von Gienanth saw a large amount of men pile into the ballroom at once. This was the Reichswehr, small but efficient in every way. He could immediately see who was apart of his division and then those that were apart of the Infantry School's staff. Those that were in his division were a mix of young and old while the School staff were mid age but highly experienced. To even have the privilege of serving in the Infantry Academy meant that it's instructors were some of the best. Scanning the room, he saw all of his men gather inside the room and finally was able to begin.
Immediately he began "My fellow German Soldiers, I am so glad to see all of you inside safe and resolute as always. I am aware of last night's incident but for now, we must not look back at that and we must move forwards. Currently, our situation, to simply put it... is unidentifiable... if that is the right word for it. We currently do not know where we are or even WHEN we are. Our surroundings are not familiar and as soldiers we must stand idle but act to secure the area. Therefore, we must go on the offensive and attempt to find any sort of civilization so that we may get a clear grasp of our situation and hopefully, find a way to revert our live back to normal. Are there any questions gentlemen?" Unexpectedly, no one had a question. Even though they were in a new world, the men still remained calm and professional. "I cannot imagine what these men may be going through but they make me proud due to their professionalism" he thought. Finally he spoke once again. "Then you are all dismissed, however I want all officers ranked above and including Major to come meet me in the main camp meeting room. The rest of you are to gather your equipment and await further orders." Immediately, men began to file out and the officers he had ordered to stay began to file into the School's meeting room. Work finally was starting to get done around here.
*** *** ***
Rommel had found Lucie just before the general announcement was made to meet in the ballroom so he had some time to grasp his wife and cherish the fact that his family was safe. However, now work had to be done. As he and the other officers began to pile into the meeting room, he took notice of Schörner, who's face was bruised up from some sort of square object from hitting him. He had an idea on who hit Schörner but he was gonna save that question for a less hectic time. As all the officers were seated, Von Gienanth began his address. "My fellow officers, it is good to see you all present and ready. To skip the formalities, I will be direct. In order to get a feel for the area, I will be sending the 12th Infantry Regiment out to scout out the area. The officer in-charge of the Regiment is more or less green (inexperienced) so I would like a veteran officer to volunteer to lead the patrol." Looking around, Rommel noticed no volunteers, even the combat experienced officers did not wish to volunteer. Finally, he decided to get up. "Lieutenant General, I volunteer to lead this patrol." Short and simple, no grand explanation was needed for a Swabian to volunteer. Von Gienanth nodded and said "Well then Major..."
"Major Rommel Sir."
"Well then Major Rommel, I want you to go over to the 12th and begin making preparations to march to the east, seeing as it is on of the only areas of the valley that is not blocked by hills. The rest of you will go back to your regiments and companies and prepare to garrison the area surround the field. Food should not be a problem for a while if we enable military rationing."
For a few seconds, every officer in that room expected more orders but the General shooed them out to get back down to business regarding the civilian population that was whisked with the military forces. As efficiently as they composed themselves, they went back to doing their jobs.
*** *** ***
3:30 P.M. November 26th, 1932 Skies above Equestria, 10 km West of Ponyville
Today was a normal day on the job for Derpy Hooves. The mail pony was busy doing her mail routes throughout the day and she was currently headed towards Ponyville to finish the days mail route. The skies were slightly cloudy but clear and beautiful as always. As she flew through the valley, she began to notice something very odd. She was seeing smoke, and it was not just one plume, but multiple plumes of smoke. Thinking that a fire had started in the field, she decided to dive below the clouds to pinpoint the area. When she finally was below the cloud cover, what she saw shocked her.
What she saw was a large compound filled with large buildings, a courtyard, it's own large field, and an iron fence. In the field, she saw where the fires had come from. From what she saw, they almost looked like campfires considering that all around the fires there were tents. "Looks like a large camp sight" she thought. She decided to investigate further but before she could do so, she saw a large bipedal creature get out of a tent and stare at her. The creature did that for a while before an alarm was sounded and more of the creatures came outside. One word went through Derpy's mind...
"Shit."
As she attempted to fly away, the creatures began to somehow fire metal objects from wooden sticks at her. One nearly hit her as she almost made it to the cloud cover. When she finally made it to the cover of the clouds, Derpy made the decision to rush to Ponyville and warn Twilight Sparkle about these creatures and the weapons they possessed. "She would know what to do. If not she would certainly send for Celestia." she thought. Still, the thought of what would happen if these creatures began to move out of their complex made her shudder. However, her fears were made reality when she was nearing Ponyville. Right below her, what looked like a hundreds of creatures marching towards Sweet Apple Acres and Ponyville. "Twilight will have to wait, I gotta warn Applejack" she thought and immediately dived to get to Sweet Apple Acres before the creatures got there first.
Author's Note
Second Chapter finally. Had a lot of writer's block tbh but got through it and finally added in things that reference the MLP universe. That was my mistake from the first chapter but trust me, that will not happen again.
For the character in charge of the 4th Reichswehr Division, he is completely real and led the division at the time in which this story was set in (on Earth obviously). It was actually quite hard to research the Reichswehr so I had to go onto the German sites and they have pretty good amounts of information. My recommendation/warning is though, stay away from the Wehraboo shit. But also stay away from the Über revisionist crap as well. Both annoy but it is always fun to poke around with Wehraboo nonsense, Not cheap revision.
Okay, better stop now before I go in too deep, see you all next chapter.
Of War, Honor, and Ponies
4:30 P.M. November 26th, 1932 Sweet Apple Acres
Applejack was sitting on her porch after a long days work maintaining the farm. Her day would have been less tiring if it weren't for the smoke plumes popping up out from the west in the nearby valley. In case of a large scale fire, she prepared Sweet Apple Acres for any possible fire that could break out. However, Applejack did not prepare to look up and see the Mail-Pony Derpy Hooves flying frantically towards her. As she got closer, Applejack could see her face stricken with fear and terror as if she saw Nightmare Moon return right before her eyes. Finally, Derpy landed in-front of the porch and began yelling and panting at the same time, "CREATURES... THEY.... MARCHING.... PONYVILLE.... DANGER!" Applejack was trying to make sense of it and quickly got a glass of water for Derpy to drink and finally said "Alright Derpy, use your words now. What in tarnation are you even trying to say. No pony can understand you if you are too busy panting and wheezing." Finally, Derpy was able to use her words and began to explain.
"There were these weird bipedal creatures and a large compound of sorts, they came out of nowhere in the valley west of here. When I went to investigate their camp, they had strange wooden sticks and fired them against me. I barely made it out only to find maybe a hundred.... no.... HUNDREDS of them marching towards Ponyville. We have to warn everypony Applejack!"
Taken back by what she just heard from Derpy, Applejack took a moment to think and finally yelled "Big Mac! Go get Applebloom and Granny Smith! We are leaving now!" She then turned back to Derpy and said "We have to get to Twilight, she might know what to do about this." Derpy nodded her still shocked head in agreement. Within a couple of minutes, they were off to go warn the rest of Ponyville and get Twilight's help.
*** *** ***
3:30 P.M. November 26th, 1932 Dresden Infantry School, 10 km West of Ponyville
Schörner still could not believe his eyes, he had just seen an actual pegasus, just like all the other men had. A thought drifted into the back of his head... "Am I in Heaven?" But then again, he remembered the lashing that Lucie Rommel had given him and then thought "After that Swabian's bitch, I must be in hell." But reality finally struck him. He was here, just like all the other men and women (and even some children). He gave himself a few more moments before getting back to helping organize the Infantry School Cadets into proper soldiers. "I wonder how that Swabian is fairing, hopefully he gets something stuck up his arrogant ass" he cheerfully thought.
*** *** ***
5:00 P.M. November 26th, 1932 Sweet Apple Acres
As the 12th Regiment advanced through the snowy fields, they finally cam across a large Apple Orchard titled "Sweet Apple Acres". Seeing as the men were showing signs of slight fatigue, Rommel decided that it would be best to have the Regiment garrison the area and finally rest. However, he would have to check the farm for any occupants as even though they were in a foreign land, one must remember that they were soldiers still representing their nation and army with pride and had to show that they were not barbarians stealing someone's property. Taking two men by the names of Private Friedhelm and Lance Corporal Ritter, they proceeded to what seemed to be the orchard owner's home. Once they finally reached the door, they realized that everything was slightly out of proportion in this world, well.... mainly the buildings. Rommel was 5ft 6in and he nearly reached the top of the door itself while the two men beside him were taller than the door itself. For a brief second, the three men looked at each other and then finally knocked on the door.
"Hm, no answer" thought Rommel. Just to be sure, he would knock again. "Still no answer." Then it became clear to him that the occupants had left. Even more surprisingly, the door was unlocked. As the three men walked inside, it was clear that the home's former inhabitants left in a hurry as the food in the dining room table was still somewhat warm. Even the fire was still burning brightly. Once again, the proportions were very much off inside the home. Everything looked like what you would expect to see in an western movie that the Americans make, except it was scaled down for children. Finally after the farm had been secured, the 12th Regiment garrisoned the area and rested. This would be short lived once they got the radio working.
*** *** ***
5:15 P.M. November 26th, 1932 Dresden Infantry School, 10km West of Ponyville
"Major Rommel, come in. This is Colonel Meckleburg. I repeat, Major Rommel, report." Colonel Augustus Meckleburg was urgently waiting a response. The sight of that damned pegasus had everyone on edge and now everyone was wondering about the safety of the 12th Regiment. It might had been just about merely 3 hours since they left the compound but everyone was on edge. Soldiers were posted round the clock now and the rest of the division was being readied to move out and support the 12th if needed.
Suddenly, the radio began to crackle and a voice with a Swabian lisp came from the earpiece. "This is Major Rommel, reporting Colonel."
"Finally, an answer" the Colonel thought. Immediately, the got down to business. "Good to hear you Major, what is there to report?"
"We have come across what seems to be a farm, mind you that it seems that the beings here are of lesser size than normal human beings. Are there any new developments that I should be aware of Colonel?"
"Yes, but first, tell me... have you by any chance... seen a gray pegasus flying around?"
The mic would not reply for a few seconds. "I think Rommel believes me to have gone near mad" Meckleburg thought. "Can't say I blame him."
Finally, it came. "No Colonel, neither me nor my men have seen any sort of pegasus flying around. What had happened while we were gone?"
"Do not worry about that Major, just worry about the task at hand. I want you to send a scout group... no I want you to move the entire regiment further east once the rest of the division gets to your position. We do not know what we are facing so we will not take any chances. Is that understood Major?"
"Yes, Colonel." the radio crackled. "This is Major Rommel, signing off and awaiting your arrival."
Meckleburg put the radio microphone down and began to think. "What if we are in over our heads." he thought. But then reality once again struck. Himself, and thousands of men, some women, and even some children, are currently trapped in a strange new world. They had the shelter of an entire military infantry school but with as many people as there were, food would have to be heavily rationed until a stable food source could be found, and electricity would be used only for important military functions. The generator could run on coal but given their current circumstances, everything needed to be rationed before it became scarce. "I hope we may find civilization." Finally, after clearing his thoughts, the Colonel went back to work in helping get the division to Rommel's location.
*** *** ***
15 Minutes Earlier
5:00 P.M. November 26th, 1932 Ponyville Library
Twilight Sparkle was in her library organizing a few books shelves when she saw her door nearly break in half as the Apple family and Derpy Hooves rushed inside in a frenzy with large tracks of snow following behind them. They looked like they had seen a great terror but before she could go straight to conclusions, she had to ask questions. "Is everypony alright? Why do you all seem like you have just witnessed Nightmare Moon be reborn right before your eyes?" She asked. As soon as she asked her question, all of the ponies present had answered all at once and there was so much being spewed out of their mouths, she could not even hear herself think. Finally, she yelled "Alright, one pony at a time now!" The sudden outburst made everyone silent for a few seconds before Applejack spoke up. "Twi, we got a problem."
For the next 30 minutes, Applejack and Derpy explained what they had seen. Strange bipedal creatures that seemed to be wearing grayish black uniforms with what seemed to be metal helmets marched in from the valley from the west. Apparently, they had an entire building complex from what Derpy. Before she could get a closer look, the creatures raised a bunch of wooden sticks and fired small metal objects at a pretty fast speed towards her. When she was flying back to Ponyville, she flew over what she believed to be hundreds of the creatures marching in a formation towards Ponyville. That is how she was able to warn Applejack and she and her family evacuated in time before the creatures came to the farm.
"Celestia must know of this right this instant. Spike! We must write a letter to Celestia, immediately!" Within 30 seconds, Spike came downstairs with quill and paper ready and began to right everything that Twilight had him right now. And by everything, she meant everything. All the details, that the witnesses had given them, the location of the creatures, and their size in numbers was crammed onto that small piece of paper. By the time it was done, the handwriting was almost small enough to require a magnifying glass.
"You got it all Spike?"
Clenching his wrist after all that writing, "Yeah, I got it all."
"Well then what are you waiting for? Time is of the essence. Send it!"
And just like that, the letter was sent, and now, the fun of waiting began.
*** *** ***
4 Hours Later
9:00 P.M. November 26th, 1932 Sweet Apple Acres, 4th Reichwehr Divisional Headquarters
It took 3 hours for the rest of the 4th Reichswehr Division to march from wherever the Infantry Academy and Division encampment was to the farm. All in all, 3 infantry regiments, an artillery regiment, an engineering, signals, medical and transportation battalion had arrived and gathered at the farm. From what some advance scouts saw, there was a village... full of horses... just about a few kilometers east of the farm. While the officers waited, some enlisted men were quite tempted to feast upon the apples that were in the farm. However, every-time they attempted to pick even one apple from a tree, they were given a look by their Sergeant that shook them to the core. The General Von Gienanth had ordered that property was not to be plundered. They were not invaders but rather lost soldiers. His men understood that but there were some who could not hold back their temptation. Therefore the NCOs were tasked with maintaining the General's orders.
By the time the officers were done planning, night had fallen and the entire orchard turned into a large divisional encampment with tents and cooking stations all around the area. The plan was simple, march the 12th into the Village and attempt to make contact with any sort of civilization. If they could even so much as make contact with a regional leader, their orders were to stay put and wait for a formal presentation from said leader and they would lead them back to the divisional leadership to discuss their current situation. It was simple enough, but most of these men had never been to war before and the officers knew that. Once again, Von Gienanth would place Rommel incharge of the 12th seeing that he seemed to understand peacetime conduct and would probably not start a war. They would move out in the morning but for now, they all had to rest. Supplies at the Academy were already running low and coal was needed to fix the power situation.
"Forget us as individual soldiers men, we must not remember the women and children back at the camp. I expect... no... I REQUIRE that you all conduct yourselves honorably and show this world that we are not invaders or barbarians, but civilized honorable soldiers." he told his men. Seeing how they conducted themselves ever since their arrival, he knew he could count on them.
*** *** ***
10:00 P.M. November 26th, 1932 Ponyville Library
Night had fallen and Twilight paced around waiting for an answer. "Every hour we wait, those bipedal creatures have more time to make their move" she thought. Finally, she heard Spike coughing and when she looked towards him, it looked like he was near choking. Twilight wrapped her hooves around Spike and prepared to do the Heimlich maneuver when he suddenly coughed up the large letter. Immediately, they dove right into reading it.
"To my faithful student Twilight Sparkle, I have read your previous letter and all I can say is for you to gather the rest of the elements in Ponyville. A Royal Guards Regiment is being sent from Canterlot to Ponyville at the time you are receiving this letter. It should take about 3-4 hours though as the entire regiment must be organized and equipped. Be patient my little pony, if these creatures are willing to communicate, then maybe we can come to an agreement with them. Until then, do not provoke them and do not cause any quarrel with them. I have faith in you and the other elements, always remember that. Signed, Her Royal Majesty Celestia."
Applejack and Twilight under Princess Celestia's handwritten letter and saw below troop estimates and what they should expect coming from the Royal Guards Regiment. It was fairly large, 3 earth-pony companies, 2 unicorn companies, and 1 pegasus company, complete with medical support and a full blown military police company. Such a formation was unheard of in Equestria for some time now and the fact that they were all coming to Ponyville to meet or possibly battle these creatures shows the importance of what might happen in the coming days. Now, though, they had to get the others.
*** *** ***
12:15 A.M. November 27th, 1932 Library Ponyville
Nearly a quarter past midnight, the Elements of Harmony gathered around Twilight's fireplace. The news to them all was shocking at most. For a few minutes, silence dominated the room as the snow outside began to fall again. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Fluttershy spoke. "What do the creatures want with us?" she said, her voice more fearful than usual. Nobody could answer that question. Once again, silence dominated the room. The Applejack spoke up, "I don't know y'all. But me and mah family just lost our home to them creatures. Ah don't know if they mean us any harm, but ah sure don't want them to on mah family's property."
Before anypony else spoke, a knock came from the door. Stricken with fear that the creatures had invaded Ponyville, nopony answered the door until Rainbow Dash finally got up and flew to the door. Closing her eyes in fear as she slowly opened it, they were all relieved to see Twilight's big brother, Shining Armor, at the door. "Shining!" Twilight yelled as she galloped towards her brother. As he entered the library, all of them took notice that he was in full combat armor and had 2 men stationed outside.
"I thought you would not be here for another 2 hours!" Twilight exclaimed as she gave her brother a big hug.
"The Regiment has already been organized, we are just transporting the Regiment now. It should not take a little more than 2 hours before everypony is here." her brother said as he hugged her back.
Immediately, everypony in the room sighed in relief until Shining explained, "However, before the rest of the Regiment gets here, I need everypony's help in the beginning of the town's evacuation and to build barricades. With the information that you gave us on the enemy's size, we need every hoof we can get."
Suddenly, Rarity asked Shining, "How do you know that these creatures are enemies? They have not provoked us yet and they do not seem hostile. In-fact, from what I have been told, they do seem to possess some taste in fashion." She was obviously interested in the grey uniforms that the creatures wore.
"Wrong, as Derpy already explained, they fired their weapons upon her and they have already taken over Sweet Apple Acres, until we can even so much as establish a line of communication with the creatures, we must consider them hostile."
Finally, no more questions were asked. For the next 6 hours, the Royal Guard Regiment, the Mane 6, and the citizens of Ponyville prepared for the possible battle to come. As soon as daybreak hit, all they could do was wait.
*** *** ***
8:00 A.M. November 27th, 1932 Sweet Apple Acres, 4th Reichswehr Divisional Headquarters
As quick as night had fell, daylight had risen and the snowy fields and orchards of Sweet Apple Acres suddenly came to life. The 4th Reichswehr Division woke up in unison and prepared for the following day's possible incursion. As General Von Gienanth inspected the ranks, he noticed one Private who was sweating. As he came closer he noticed that the Private was shaking slightly as well. He walked over and asked him, "Private, how can you sweat so profusely in this cold?"
"My General, I must admit to you that I am very nervous." The Private exclaimed.
"Nervous about what Private, you may tell me for I am listening." Von Gienanth replied in a more father-like manner.
"Well, I am nervous as I have never seen battle before my General, and I wonder.... will we ever return home to Germany?" The Private replied. Von Gienanth could tell that the Private was very nervous just from the tremble in his voice.
"Private, I can personally promise not just you, but all of you that we shall find a way to return to Germany. Whatever it shall take." Von Gienanth replied. Almost immediately, the Private seemed to have regained his spirits as he could tell the general's words were sincere. After the inspection and a short speech, the 4th Division watched the 12th Regiment march off east into the village in hopes of finding civilization.
Of War, Honor, and Ponies
9:00 A.M. November 27th, 1932 Outskirts of Ponyville
Private Walter Mueller was marching along side with the rest of his squad into new grounds. After their short break at that apple orchard, him, his squad, and the whole 12th Regiment resumed their trek east to find civilization. It had not taken them a little more than 15 minutes to find their goal.
In-front of him stood a rustic, medieval looking, town... or village. It's buildings reminded him of the pictures in the story books his mother used to read to him as a kid, almost reminding him of the Legend of King Arthur and his Knights at the Round Table. But as he looked around, all he could see were the cottages.
As Mueller's squad moved into the town with the rest of the Regiment, combat training had kicked in. His squad leader, Sergeant Schultz, signaled his squad to assume a breach position around one of the buildings. As soon as the rest of the squad was ready, the order was given to breach.
What Mueller and his squad saw was essentially a scaled down version of a somewhat regular home. "Just like at the barn." Walter thought.
Suddenly, yelling could be heard and when Mueller and his squad rushed out of the building, they saw much of their fellow compatriots doing the same and running towards the area where the shouting was coming from.
"This is going to be interesting" Mueller thought as he and the others rushed towards the seen.
*** *** ***
9:20 A.M. November 27th, 1932 Ponyville Town Hall
"Have I nearly lost my mind?" Rommel thought as he stared into what looked like an army of horses. Each horse had a very distinct, different color and they wall wore what looked like armor that the ancient Roman Centurions wore. Each horse looked like they were armed with a sword or a crossbow.
"God help me if I must fight these beings." he muttered. Rommel knew that once the rest of his men got to the scene and if an attack from either side would cause a full blown slaughter, and his men would be the butchers.
For a few minutes, there seemed to be shouting from both sides. Rommel could understand what his men were saying as they were speaking in German. They were trying to get the horses to lower their weapons. Their pleas fell on deaf ears as the horses returned by yelling in what vaguely sounded like English.
"If only Lucie were here, she studied English at Danzig." thought Rommel. But Lucie was still at the academy and there really was no way of getting her here quickly without using fuel that was reserved to keep the generators running through the cold winter nights. Well, I guess I will have to see if luck is on my side.
Rommel got out in-front and turned to them to yell "If anyone understands or speaks English, would you please step forward!" It took a few seconds but soon there was one Junior Lieutenant right in-front of him.
"Jawohl Major" the lieutenant said as he stood at attention in-front of his superior.
"What is your name Lieutenant."
"Weber, my name is Lieutenant Albrecht Weber Major."
"Good Lieutenant Weber, now... how good is your english?"
"Sub-par at most Sir, what do you need said though?"
"Tell the horses that we are going to get a translator."
"Who would that be Major?"
"My wife Lieutenant, my wife."
*** *** ***
Shining Armor and his Stallions stood firm. The advance of the bipedal creatures had been halted now but there is no telling what may happen next. Among him were his brave royal guardsponies, their swords ready at their hilts. The Pegasi flying above have their arrows ready to raid down a barrage on the creatures if the confrontation were to turn hot. His men were shouting to the creatures for them to surrender, but nothing happened. "Do these creatures even speak a language?" he thought. Suddenly, the creatures lowered their weapon as two creatures that wore different uniforms walked past them and up to the ponies. "These must be their leaders he thought." Shining decided to go on his gut and walk over to the two bipedal creatures. Immediately when they stopped right in-front of him, they did something that Shining never expected. The two creatures crisply saluted Shining and knowing his training, he was obliged to salute him back. As soon as the formalities were finished, Shining was about to request that the creatures drop their weapons, but one of the creatures spoke first.
"Good day, my name is Lieutenant Weber, the man beside me is my commanding officer, Major Rommel. We regret to inform you that official lines of communication may not be established until a proper translator can be brought from our side. We hope you understand."
The creature spoke somewhat fluent Equestrian but with a heavy accent but they both seemed courteous and respectful. Shining really did have no choice but to oblige and reply as respectfully as he could.
"Of course, we may wait."
With that, the creatures saluted Shining and clicked the heels of their boots and returned to their lines as did Shining. "Maybe these creatures are not as bad as they seem." Shining thought. But then again, they nearly killed the mailpony Derpy Hooves just a day ago. But, like Twilight's friends always say, never judge a book... or in this case creature... by its cover.
*** *** ***
9:40 A.M. November 27th, 1932 Outskirts of Ponyville
Schörner was quite pissed. No, not quite.... he was ROYALLY pissed. First he is slapped about by the woman sitting next to him and now he has to help escort her to the damn front for some reason. "Keep calm Schörner, this will all just blow away shortly." he thought as he tried to console himself.
When the call came in from the 4th Division Headquarters, Schörner was in the middle of making sure that the men under his command in the western part of the Academy did not act up. When he got the call, he simply sent two of his men to get Frau Rommel from her and her husband's home on the academy grounds. After recieving permission to use what little fuel that available to be rationed up to fill the staff car, they were off. The ride was quiet for the most part as the two did not even so much as look at each other or exchange glances in regards to what happened the day before.
It took about 15 minutes to get to the "front" as the staff car was more suited towards paved or dirt gravvle roads instead of snowy fields. FInally, they passed what seemed to be an farm that was now turned into the 4th Reichswehr Division Headquarters and entered a rustic town. The snow covered roofs and streets gave a sense of tranquility until the car stopped near what seemed to be the town square which was filled to the brim with soldiers.
When both exited the vehicle, they were escorted by a Sergeant to what looked like the townhall (which seemed very out of place in terms of design to Schörner in the midst of the rustic looking town) and there they saw what was going on. Schörner could see what looked like nearly hundreds of horses in armor with spears and swords drawn. "Now I really must be loosing my mind" he thought as he tried to prevent himself from fainting. "No time to collapse, work now had to be done."
*** *** ***
10:30 A.M. November 27th, 1932 Ponyville Town Hall
It was nearly an hour since the creatures informed him that they were bringing a translator and Shining Armor was beginning to become impatient. He was about to give the creatures another 10 minutes until one of his Privates called him over back to the front. As Shining stepped out infront of his men, he was greeted by the same 2 officers he had met with nearly an however ago and another creature was standing next to them. It wore an a black overcoat and a wide brimmed hat with a scarf around what seemed to be its neck. Its facial features were sharp yet softer than the other creatures so he assumed that this creature was female. Soon, the commander said something to the female and the female began to translate back in heavily accented Equestrian.
"Good Morning, my name is Lucie Maria Mollin Rommel. I presume you have already met my husband, Erwin Rommel." she said gesturing towards the officer next to her.
"Yes, we have already met Ma'am. My name is Shining Armor, Captain of their Royal Highness' Princess Celestia and Luna Royal Guard. It is a pleasure to be of your aquaintence Ma'am." he said trying to be as respectful as he could. The female creature name Lucie simply nodded and turned to her husband and the two conversed for a few seconds before responding.
"To start things off, my husband would like to inform you that he and his men mean no harm. Our conditions right now are very grave and he asks if we may go inside of this building to have official talks."
"Ma'am, your husband marched into this here town with a bunch of armed creatures without any authorization. You are quite lucky that we have not considered you all as hostile threats to the Equestrian nation and people. So I suggest you tell your husband to turn his army back around to where it came from before we shall enter any sort of negotiations." Shining had layed down the law. He was not going to immediately enter negotiations with a bunch of creatures who suddenly appeared and demand to negotiate. Lucie once again turned to her husband and as she explained the situation to him, Shining noticed that the husband's facial expression never changed. As soon as the two were done conversing, they both stepped forward infront of Shining, the male giving Shining a stare he would never forget.
"Sir, we have a young son at home..." as Lucie began. "We do not know how we got into this world or even why. We were merely transported here, just like all of the other men that join us here today. Please, we pleed with you as parents to at least hear us out. If not, may you forever live with the fact that you let a young boy almost 4 years old starve and die in the cold along with his family, and every other human being that was transported to your world without a choice."
As soon as Lucie had finished her statement, she never shed a tear. Like her husband, she nearly stared into Shining's eyes. Of all the foes he had fought, he had never been intimidated by a mere couple staring at him. "These two people can command without words." he thought. Guilt now was getting to Shining. "A child starving... I will not let that happen, even if it means I have to hear these creature's demands." he thought. Finally after what seemed like hours, Shining spoke.
"I understand... please, if you would follow me into the town hall and we may begin negotiations for your current situation." The two spoke to each other, and then Lucie spoke again.
"Thank you... erm... Shining Armor... however, could you please wait as my husband must give immediate notice to his superior officers." she said.
"Superior Officers?" Shining thought. "There are more of these creatures..." he thought as he tried to comprehend how large this army he was about to enter negotiations with was.
"Of course, we can wait." he finally said. Then, Shining turned around to his officers and debriefed them of the situation for a few minutes before finally ordering his men to stand in parade formation, just like his current opposition was standing in.
*** *** ***
11:00 A.M. November 27th, 1932 Ponyville Townhall
Von Gienanth and his officers were quite anxious 30 minutes before as they were busy waiting for Rommel and his men to radio back. One of his Lieutenants nearly fainted as they listened to the radio to learn that they were up against HORSES of all creatures. Let alone, these horses were actually sentient and quite intelligent but lacking in technological advancement. As soon as the news came of negotiations, every officer crammed into whatever fueled transport they could find and rushed their way into the town appearently called "Ponyville". As soon as they arrived at their destination, they arrived at a quite surprising sight. The town was not ransacted but rather neat. None of his men were roaming around but rather stood at rigid parade formation and saluted in near sinc as soon as the General got out of his vehicle. But that was to his left. To his right, he was shocked to see the horse... pony soldiers (as he had been corrected by Major Rommel) standing in the same formation. Compared to his units in their standard field gray uniforms, the ponies stood in regal Roman Legionare like armor. What was even more surprising is that they even saluted him and his officers as they left the vehicles and entered the building. "This is going to be quite interesting" the General thought as entered the conference room.
Author's Note
For those who do not know what Lucie Rommel looked like, Lucie Rommel is the woman 2nd to the right and Manfred Rommel is to the right of her sitting on the ground. In real life, Lucie lived a quiet life after Erwin died (well, she attended events in memory of her husband and the Afrika Korps and even christened a ship that was named after him) and Manfred went onto become the Mayor of Stuttgart.
Of War, Honor, and Ponies
11:05 A.M. November 27th, 1932 Ponyville Town Hall
Mueller and his squad stood at rigid attention like their pony counterparts as the last of the officers walked into the odd looking town hall. As soon as the Sergeant incharge was about to dismiss them, a large carriage that was being pulled by what looked like Pegasi landed where the General's staff car was just a few minutes earlier. It looked like a Roman Charriot than a true mode of transportation but their pony counterparts kneeled as two larger ponies came out of the carriage... charriot.... "Whatever that thing even is" he thought to himself. Immidiately Mueller realized that these ponies were quiet different, for one they were significantly taller than the others he had seen, two they had both horns and wings and wore crowns on their heads. One was the tallest of the two, with a rainbow colored mane and pure white fur while the shorter one had a dark blue mane and almost midnight blue fur. "This must be the leaders of this odd nation." Mueller thought to himself as the formation once again snapped to attention and gave another sharp salute to the presumed heads of state. As the two ponies walked between both formations, from the pony's side came six smaller looking ponies all differently colored. There was a purple and white unicorn, a cyan and yellow pegasus, and what seemed to be two normal pink and orange colored ponies. All had looks of worry on their faces, other than the cyan pegasus. That one looked like she had a bone to pick with the entire regiment as she had gave them all a shitty look. Soon, all of them entered the town hall and the formalities ended. The 12th Regiment turned and began to march back towards the 4th Division FOB (Forward Operating Base) leaving only a couple squads (including Mueller's) as the remaining armed german forces inside the town. "Great, now we get to play Honor Guard." Mueller thought as he mentally groaned to the fact of more standing at attention. His only saving grace was that one of the squads set up a sort of field kitchen and lunch was going to be served while negotiations were taking place.
*** *** ***
11:10 A.M. November 27th, 1932 Ponyville Town Hall Conference Hall
Celestia, her sister Luna, and the Main 6 walked through the silent halls of the Ponyville townhall in complete silence. This was especially odd as they even had Pinkie Pie with them whom which was notoriously energetic and the mere fact that she stayed quiet and held a face of worry was astounding. The humans so far had done nothing provocative but their presence and weaponry were worrying enough. Silently, Celestia thought to herself "Would our forces be able to match the humans in terms of military strength?"
Suddenly, her thoughts were interupted by the voice of her sister. "Do not worry sister, if the humans understand logic, they would not attempt to provoke a fight, especially in their current situation as far as we know."
"That is true sister. Ironic isn't it, you telling me not to worry or possibly act rash while I am usually the one to do so to you."
"I guess we could use a little irony at this moment."
"Indeed sister."
Finally, the group of ponies made it to the conference hall door. At its front stood 2 guards, one human, the other a pony. Celestia admired that as both stood at perfect rigid attention and did not seem to hold any hostilities to each other and they opened the conference hall doors in unison to let the ponies in. Once inside the room, Celestia saw that her officers and the human officers had taken seats on their respective sides and once they had entered, they each stood at attention, the ponies bowing while the humans saluted. The room itself was sparcely decorated with really only two large flags set in place, one being the Equestrian flag while the other was the Human flag. With formalities set aside, they all took their seats and the formal negotiations began. Immediately, the human party began introduced themselves. What appeared to be their translator stood up with their leader and began to speak.
"Good Morning everyone, my name is Lucie Maria Mollin Rommel and I will be acting as a translator for my party towrads yours. The gentlemen who is standing next to me is General Curt Lurdwig von Gienanth, commanding officer of the 4th Reichswehr Divsion." The General clicked his heals and saluted briskly before sending instructions to the translator Lucie.
"To now begin negotiations, the General would first like know if you all have any questions regarding us," With that, the room fell silent before Twilight asked the first on many questions.
"Yes. Where do you crea... humans come from to start off."
"Well, we come from a world called Earth. If you wish for specifics, our home country is called Germany, a nation in the center of a continent called Europe. That is why almost all of us here do not speak your language as in Germany, we speak German."
"Fascinating, wait... if you say that you all speak German, how are you able to speak Equestrian Ms. Lucie?"
"I do not know what Equestrian is but I presume you mean English. Well, to make a long story short, in my more youthful days, I studied multiple foreign languages, English being one of them, in order to become a language teacher. Those dreams however could not be fufilled due to what was the largest global conflict at the time but I would rather not get into that."
It looked like Twilight was about to ask another question before Celestia decided to interject. "Well, pardon me for interupting bit I believe that we may be able to solve the issue of translating."
The humans once they got the translation simply nodded in order to get an explanation to the translation issue. With that, Celestia produced a translation spell which nearly blinded everyone in the room but allowed for the human officers to speak Equestrian. A few of the human officers looked at each other in shock from what they saw. There was no doubt this was their first experience with magic. After a few seconds, one of them finally spoke.
"What... was... that..." as soon as he spoke he coughed and scratched his throat, obviously amazed at what he had just scene and of course what had happened to his voice. After that the humans began to converse with each other, no doubt still surprised at what had become of their voices. The translator Lucie grinned at another officer as he began to speak in what sounded like a mix of Applejack's accent and a proper Canterlot accent. All in all, it took a few minutes before the human officers settled down and took their seats and proper negotiations were able to resume.
*** *** ***
For the next hour or so, the Germans explained their situation... appearently near the middle of the night during a military ball, a duel of honor was about to ensue before an entire military academy and everyone in it (including an entire Infantry division that was stationed there for wargames) was transported to a valley some 10 kilometers west of Ponyville. Their military complex's situation is near collapse as they lack food supplies, and fuel for their "electrical generators". Their generators can run of coal or some sort of processed oil and produced a electircal energy which could actually power light. Celestia looked as Twilight was ferociously taking notes and nearly ran out of paper in her notebook as soon as everything was done.
*** *** ***
For another 30 minutes, negotiations were finished and everything was somewhat agreed upon. The germans would get their fuel and food supplies whilst they would be able to build their own permanent housing around the area of their military complex to provide housing for all those that were displaced (which accounted for over 11,000 soldiers and a little over 1000 civilians) and would be granted full Equestrian citizenship with and will be compensated for their economic losses. In return... the Germans would sign a mutual defense pact as rather an ally of Equestria rather than a puppet or protectorate, they would provide technical advice for the Equestrian army and civilian industry, and serve as advisors to the Royal Guard in terms of training, combat, and tactics. All in all it seemed lopsided towards the German party but for what the Equestrians would see in return, both sides seemed willing to agree to the terms. The ending ceremony was nothing special but the Germans had brought in a Private with a camera and decided to take a picture to commemorate the event. Even though it was in black and white, Celestia made a mental note to colorize, preserve, and copy the picture for future use. With that the negotiations ended and everyone present began to file out of the room. Oddly enough, before the German general walked out, Luna called over to him.
"General, I would like to have a quick word."
Von Gienanth simply nodded and walked over to hear her. "What can I do for you Princess Luna?"
"If possible, I believe me and my sister would like to tour your military complex."
The general stood there for a second pondering the request before answering. "I believe that could be arranged, how about in about 3 hours. That could allow us to remove the last of our troops from Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres and prepare the Academy for a proper welcome."
"Of course, that would be very kind of you."
"We Germans always try to show ourselves at our best."
"I will hold you to that General."
"I have no doubt you will."
With that, they finally filed out of the town hall and entered the square. The human soldiers had already left the area and all that was remaining of the human presence were the horseless carriages or "Cars" as they were called. One by one the human officers filed in and then drove away with haste.
Celestia then spoke to her sister telepathically and said "Luna, I will be honest, I did not expect peace to be made today. They had every advantage and yet they chose not to strike."
"Sister, you act like there is a lot less good left on Equis."
"You have no idea Luna."
"I guess not, but let us prepare the escort for our arrival at the human complex."
With that, they walked back to the Royal Guard.
*** *** ***
1:00 P.M. November 27th, 1932 Ponyville Library
"Guys, I almost thought things would turn sour there" Twilight said as she and the rest of the Elements of Harmony walked into the Library.
"I was surprised they said they would leave mah farm as soon as possible" Applejack exclaimed. "I will hold 'em humans to their word though. If so much as one apple is picked from one them trees I swea..."
"Applejack, why would they destroy your own property. They said they kept their hands off of everything... despite their own situation." Twilight said trying to reassure Applejack.
"I don't know Twilight, something seems fishy about those humans." Rainbow Dash said wearing a face of suspicion.
"You might think that they are untrustworthy but the least we could do was help them. Look at their clothes especially. It's quite ghastly really, all of that grey. So much potential for a beautiful uniform gone down the drain for.... grey. It really sickens me." Rarity said.
"Did you hear though? 12,000 people! I really need to start preparing their Welcome to Ponyville party.... just all the cakes and sw....." Pinkie Pie was cut off by Twilight.
"Pinkie, right now I think our best course of action would be to let them adjust at first, then we can possibly throw them a party. Would you agree?"
"Hmmmm.... Yeah, I guess your right. But I am still making those cakes just in case!"
With that Pinkie left in a rush to Sugarcube Corner to plan her party which might never happen. The rest were left to think of what just transpired during the day.
Author's Note
For those who will give me flak for not giving fluttershy a single line this chapter, believe me... the next chapter will give her more.
It was quite hard to actually find the composition of Reichswehr Divisions as almost every source simply states that the Reichswehr was a forces 100,000 men strong while the Reichsmarine was 15,000 man strong. So hard infact that I had to go onto Feldgrau.com and the Military Discussion.com forums just to get something conclusive. Ironic, the less vague sources are the online forum and 3rd party websites. Anyways... should I maybe introduce the Reichsmarine in later chapters? Leave a comment below.
Of War, Honor, and Ponies
Legacy of the Kaiserreich
3:00 P.M. November 27th, 1932 Dresden Infantry Academy
After the surprisingly short negotiations with the dual leaders of the nation called "Equestria", Schörner wanted nothing more than to at least take a nap and rest after all he had been through. He had a terrible headache from his little encounter with Rommel's wife. When he got back to the academy a couple hours earlier, he had that time albiet a very short amount of time. Now he had to prepare himself for a military parade which was to be hosted in an hour.
After he returned to his office from his nap, Schörner got out a razor, his medals, and a cloth. For the next half hour, he was shaving the stuble that had begun to grow on his face, wiped his glasses until they were as clean as could be, and made sure to pin every medal he had ever been awarded in a meticulous fashion. In a way, he was almost turning into Rommel whenever Rommel prepared himself for a formal occasion. The thought of that sickened him. But then again, if he is going to have to present himself to a head of state, he best look his best and represent himself and the Reichswehr to the highest. Seeing that his appearence was straightened up, he went outside to the main compound field to see the tent city taken down and almost all of the 4th Division personel and nearly half of the students and staff of the academy gathering into a large parade formation. Walking up to the rest of the officers from the academy, he began to take his place. All there was now to do was simply wait.
*** *** ***
General Von Gienanth stood almost in an old storage unit. Beside him were a few of his officers and enlisted aids, all carrying boxes long enough to fit a flagpoll in them. Before them all, in this old storage unit, was a collection of flags from an old era that ended recently. The pride of that era still had not died but instead lived on. On a certain few sets of shelves, open cabinets, and hangers, were nearly a hundred of old flags from the days of the Kaiserreich. Their beautiful black eagles only slightly dusted for the amount of time they had been locked away in the storage compartment. It had been 2 and a half decades since the Kaiserreich fell into disarray, and was picked off piece by piece by the Entente, and was thrown into debt. To make matters worse, the new government imposed was fractured and failing. Democracy in the Weimar Republic was nearly non-existent, especially now with the rise of the communists and national socialists. The Weimar flag if anything was a disgrace to the old Germany and it's memory. Given a few moments to reminisce, Von Gienanth turned to his men and simply nodded. Before long, they had all packed the flags into the crates and began to walk out back to the field. Before he shut the gate, the plain old black, white, and red flag without the eagle caught Von Gienanth's eyes and he decided to take it with him.
Traversing through the empty hallways of the war academy, he held his flag with great care. His steps were careful yet still fierce like a marching soldier. His boots clicked down hard each step as he made his way towards the roof. Once on top of the roof, he found his way over to the main flag pool and glanced up. Up above him fluttered the flag of the failed Weimar Republic. Without hesitation, he began to lower it down and replaced it with the flag poll. Raising the flag of the Kaiserreich back up, he finally began to make his way back down to the ground and out to the formation.
*** *** ***
3:30 P.M. November 27th, 1932 5km East of Ponyville
Within the beautiful valley was a caravan... no.... a convoy. What that convoy contained brought life. Throughout the large convoy of carriages was food and supplies for Equestria's new allies. As quick as the historic meeting ended, Celestia and Luna had sent out a command to food producers across all of Equestria to help pitch in with food supplies. If Equestria was to keep their allies, they would have to help feed them before they could become self sufficient. Though for the 2 and a half hours that the order had been sent out, already supplies were rolling in from the areas around Ponyville and Canterlot, most notably and surprisingly.... Sweet Apple Acres. From what Twilight had heard, the Apple family was completely surprised to see not an apple picked off the tree. Though the farm bared the marks of heavy equipment being moved throughout the fields, it was surprisingly well kept for the time that it was under German control. As a gesture of good will, the Apples decided to donate a heafty load of food that they produced on their farm to the Germans. Pinkie Pie would have shown up there as well if she was not busy baking her brains out even though everyone told her to wait. So there they were. Rarity, Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash walking amongst a convoy of good will. In the lead were Princesses Celestia and Luna, both leading the March with their Royal Guard escort. There was not much talking other then when the girls were checking Applejack's inventory and helping pull the carts to their destination.
After what seemed like an eternity of pulling (at least from Rarity's point of view), they finally saw the compound come into view. The main building looked almost like a mountain hotel in Northern Equestria with paved roads, statues, and carefully placed trees all over it. The snow blanketed the sides all around it and it almost looked like a resort of some sort. The gates were left wide open as the caravan entered the grounds. Immediately, what looked like two human soldiers marching up of of nowhere and began to issue orders. The only problem was, they were in their human language called German. Immediately Celestia casted her translation spell and after the usual moment of surprise from anypo.... person..... the humans got their act straight and began to order the caravan to a nearby field. As the Caravan entered the Field, the sheer size of what was infront of them was aw inspiring.
Right in front of everypony's eyes stood what looked like thousands of humans, all lined up in perfect cubed formations, standing at complete attention. All around in a neat order, there were specific humans holding what looked like a hundred flags. They were different though, not like what Twilight had seen at Ponyville Townhall. When she thought of it... when they entered the compound, a different flag flew over the main building unlike what Derpy had described. Looking around, she saw everypony had an expression of shock, even some of the Royal guards. Rarity was the only one not looking at the display in front of her but instead writing down notes and drawing designs for what seemed to be human uniforms. "Typical" Twilight thought as the convoy began to proceed once again through the perfect line of soldiers.
The convoy had made its way through the line quietly before without warning, a voice in the crowd yelled some odd command in the human language. As the soldiers met the command with a stiff return to attention, a band began to play some sort of march. With that, the human soliders saluted the flag at the parade deck as the march went on. It went on for about two minutes before the human general called Von Gienanth spoke to his soldiers. After the rather short speech finished, Von Gienanth gestured Celestia and Luna to come forward to the parade deck. Slightly hesitant after the tremendous display of pure militarism, the both moved forwards up the deck to where the Germans were.
Once up on the deck, Von Gienanth whispered to Celestia "You may now cast the translation spell princess, they know already."
With that Celestia cast her spell and after the usual few seconds of astonishment from the German troops, they went back into attention. When it seemed they were ready, Celestia began her speech. "Soldiers of the Reichswehr, my name is Celestia, Princess of the Sun and Equestria. Beside me is my wonderful sister Luna, Princess of the Moon and also Equestria. It is our Honor to welcome you all to our humble nation. I understand that you have all persay are here against your will... but trust us for we shall find a way to send you back to your home. In the mean time, you will all be thoroughly compensated and will be welcomed with full honors in Equestria. Housing will also be provided to you all as well as food and fuel supplies. It may not seem like much but we shall not let new friends go silently into the cold without food or warmth. With that I welcome you all and wish for you all to prosper!"
With that, the proud surprisingly began to cheer even though the speech was very much improvised entirely. After about half a minute of cheering, the military band began to play another song and this time, the soldiers sang with it. It was in their native language though, but never had Celestia heard such singing with pride. It reminded her of her Royal guards when they sang the Equestrian Anthem. As they made their way back through the singing soldiers and waving flags, lyrics could be made out...
Heil dir im Siegerkranz, Herrscher des Vaterlands! Heil, Kaiser, dir! Fühl' in des Thrones Glanz Die hohe Wonne ganz, Liebling des Volks zu sein! Heil Kaiser, dir!
With that, the singing continued until the song ended and the soldiers marched without war on their eyes, but hope and joy.
Author's Note
This chapter was a pain in my ass I will be honest. It probably seems subpar, very sorry. I experienced a whole load of writer's block and was just not very willing to write this chapter even though I wanted to include some good old Imperial German marches. Definitely will complete this story though. Next chapter should focus a bit more on a little shopping excursion for Rommel in Ponyville with little Manfred......... Just stay with me heh...
Of War, Honor, and Ponies
Toddlers, Groceries, and Pinkie Pie
8:00 A.M. December 14th, 1932 Dresden Infantry Academy
Erwin Rommel woke up surprisingly later than he usually would. From what Lucie could tell, it was if he was finally relaxed to a certain degree. Nearly 2 weeks after the incident, the ponies of the nation that they landed in were surprisingly helpful and already it seemed like the humans and ponies would get along rather nicely. All around the Infantry School grounds, buildings were being constructed by both man and pony engineers so that the civilian and military population could be properly housed. Other than that noise, life was quiet for the Rommel household. Gertrude took little Manfred out nearly everyday to play in the snow with him while Lucie and Erwin took time to settle from Erwin's usual lifestyle and of course, convert their German currency to the pony currency. What surprised Lucie even more was that Erwin began to speak with his native Swabian accent more often now... which to it's own degree was amusing and confusing. It was like nobody could ever understand that German dialect.
The morning was going rather smoothly until Lucie opened up the pantry to see that food was once again beginning to run low. Immediately she called out to Erwin "Erwin! Could you go into town today and get some food!"
Almost immediately a response came "Sure... you know what... I will take Manfred with me... I will be downstairs in a bit!"
"Oh, and one more thing honey!"
"Yes, Lu?"
"Please, try not to be cheap again... its not like this is Germany anymore!"
It took a second for the rather dry "Yes Dear" to come from upstairs. If Lucie made one mistake in her life, it was not learning the habits of Swabians. Swabians were rather down to earth but at the same time very cheap and careful with their money. Erwin's cheapness did have its benefits though, especially when the global stock market crashed and once again, hyperinflation hit. But then again, his cheapness even before that led to a somewhat bare house.
It took no more than five minutes for Erwin to come downstairs dressed in one of the suits he rarely ever used anymore unless he was hunting or when he and Lucie would go out while he was a Captain in Stuttgart and a large overcoat and one of his homberg hats. Making sure that he had all his money in his wallet, he walked over and kissed Lucie on the forehead saying "Don't worry, I will be back soon."
"You said that in 1914 and you sure took your time."
"At least I came back." With that, both had a good laugh and waved at each other while Erwin walked out to collect Manfred from Gertrude. With that, Lucie walked back in and began to clean up the house from the snow that came in through the door.
*** *** ***
8:30 A.M. December 14th, 1932 Dresden Infantry School Train Station
When the two Rommels arrived at the train station, they were both nearly ran down by the crowds of men and ponies offloading materials and the amount of passengers disembarking. Making their way over to the ticket counter, Rommel saw that it was manned by a pony clerk and pulled out his wallet with the bits in it.
"Two tickets to Ponyville please." He said in his more official voice.
"May I get a name Sir?"
"My name is Erwin Rommel, my young one's name is Manfred."
Within a minute the tickets were out and given to Rommel.
"Nice to meet you and your little one Mr Rommel. Have a safe trip... oh, if we ever meet again by any chance, the name is Silver Booth."
"The pleasure is mine Mr Booth. You have a good day as well."
With that, the two Rommels made their way to the train and immidiately, Manfred began to ask questions.
"Papa, is this the train?"
"Yes, Manfred, this is the train."
"Are all trains like this Papa?"
"There are different ones in Germany Manfred... when we ever get back, the first thing I will show you are the trains in Germany."
"Taking their seats in one of the cars, Rommel settled in and took his hat off while Manfred was still a bit restless.
"Save your energy Manfred, it won't be long until we get into town."
"Alright papa" came a slightly grumpy reply.
After a few minutes, the last all aboard was called out and before long, they were on their way to Ponyville. The train ride into the town passed through the valley Rommel marched through. In his previous endevor, he never took the time to take in the beauty... but now, as he looked closely, it reminded him of his own young days in Swabia. The hills, the nature (even though it was snow covered)... everything looked so much like home.
Taken away by the beauty, he failed to notice the train stop when it reached Ponyville station and only woke up from his trance when Manfred began to tug his father's coat.
"Papa.... Papa, we are here."
"Oh... uh... sorry Manfred, I guess for once I was staring out into space. Come on, lets hurry up and go before your mother yells are us."
"Alright Papa!"
Immediately, Manfred began to run through the train to the exit and when Rommel came out of the train, he lost Manfred in the croud.
"Manfred! Manfred, where did you go now?"
No response came from Manfred or if there was one, it was lost in the crowd of ponies and a few humans. Wandering around the area, Erwin searched everywhere yet to no avail. "Lucie is going to truly kill me" he thought as he searched the area around the station.
When he came back around to the front steps leading up to the station, Rommel was about to sit down on a bench and contemplate what to do next when a snowball hit him square in the back of the head. Immediately, Rommel turned around to find the culprit but behind him was nothing but the streets and ponies of Ponyville. About to turn back around, another snowball hit him square in the face sending him falling down onto the snow. Suddenly out of nowhere, Manfred pounced down on Rommel laughing. Just as he was about to either laugh or berate his son, Rommel heard another more feminine high pitched voice laughing. Looking around, he saw a pink pony in winter gear running towards both Rommels in a laughing fit.
"What was that about." Rommel said in his sternest voice.
"Silly! We were only trying to mess with you!"
"Papa, you should had seen yourself" Manfred said, still laughing like he was going to die.
"Manfred, you know better than to run away especially in a crowd like this."
"Oh c'mon, you don't need to be serious all the time Mr Rommel!"
Turning to face the pony speaking to him, he asked "And who might you be, conspiring with my own son to take me down with snowballs. Wait..... have I..."
"Its me! Pinkie Pie!" the pony said with a giggle.
"Yes, yes, I remember you... from the negotiations... how did you even meet my so...."
Another snowball hit Rommel back in the head. For a moment, it looked like he was about to explode but Rommel decided that now, he would have some fun. Putting on a mischievous grin, Rommel slowly turned around and said "Well, if it is a snowball fight you wish to have... so be it."
Immediately, Rommel bent over to pick up a large amount of snow, made it into a ball... and threw it into Pinkie Pie's face. He was about to through another one when he saw the look of shock on her face as he thought he nearly hurt her... little did he know, he just let his guard down.
"I am very sorry Ma'am, are you..."
His nearly complete question was answered by a snowball to the face. Pinkie Pie had acted so quickly that the old soldier could not even see her make a snowball and throw it into his face.
"SNOWBALL FIGHT!" She yelled.
For the next 10 minutes, the area was filled with laughter and and snowballs being thrown in the air. At one point, some of the younger ponies joined in and ganged up with Pinkie and Manfred against Rommel. It only ended when they nearly drowned Rommel in a mound of snow. For Pinkie, it was especially strange to see the human that she thought was so stern and almost like a rock laugh so hard that he looked like he had a heart attack.
"Ah... I have not hada good laugh like this in years!" Rommel exclaimed. By now, he decided to switch into his native accent (which translated into English/Equestrian sounded like Applejack's accent.) Manfred looked at his father with joy and for the first time saw his father show joy without his usual seriousness. It looked like he was truly a child again.
"Thank you for that laugh, but I am afraid we really must get going. I must go get groceries before my wife k.... gets angry with me."
"Aw, could we play a bit just one more time Papa?"
Looking into his son's face, Erwin Rommel saw himself in it. It reminded him of when his father moved the family to the city of Aalen. For Erwin, it was a massive change from his home town of Herrlingen. There was no nature in Aalen, his father was a became more strict and Erwin hated schooling. It was not until the very end where he surprised everyone by passing. But now, he had Lucie... And as he has learned over the nearly two decades of Marriage, a happy wife leads to a happy life.
"I am sorry Manfred but we really must go..."
"I can look over Manfred if you want!" Pinkie interjected. "I have tons of experience babysitting for the Cakes! He can stay with me while you go shop!"
For a moment, Rommel thought over it. Would he leave his only chi... only son with this pony he hardly knew of just so he could run errands without a restless child with him. He looked at Pinkie who had a toothy smile on here face and then he looked over at Manfred, smiling playfully at his father.
"Oh blast it... What harm could it do... Pinkie Pie, I am entrusting you with the care of Manfred while I am gone... Tell me though, where may I find you when I am done?"
"I work/live at Sugarcube Corner! That's where you can find me!"
Rommel have her the eyebrow of "Where the heck is that?"
"Oh, uh... follow me and I will show you. It's not too far from the grocery store so you probably won't have to walk far."
"Lead the way then."
"After about 10 minutes walking through the streets of Ponyville (and encountering a few looks from it's citizens), they made it to SugarCube Corner. The building itself surprised Rommel as it looked like it was made of... Gingerbread. When he walked inside, his sense of smell kicked into smells he had never smelled before. Right before was a beautiful arrangement of sweets and cakes. It had been so long since he had tasted one of those that he started to salivate. Biting his lip to get back into his senses, he looked back at Pinkie and Manfred.
"I trust to come back to see my son and not some... some cake replica of him."
"Silly, I only do that for birthdays!"
With that, Rommel chuckled. "Ironic, Manfred's birthday is in 10 days on Christmas Eve."
"Christmas Eve, what's that? In 10 days we celebrate Heartswarming Eve."
"Okay, I am getting the picture now.... Alright, think of Christmas Eve as your Heartswarming Eve."
"Thats... so... COOL! CAN I BAKE MANFRED A CAKE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE?"
After being attacked by more pleases he could count, Rommel gave in.
"Alright, you may."
"YAY! OH JUST WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE IT IT WILL BE..."
"Sorry but I really must get going. Tell you what, you and anyone you would like to invite may come over to my home to celebrate that day."
"Okiie Dokey Lokie!"
With that, Rommel respectfully bid farewell to the two and walked out towards the grocery store. After what he just endured, he would need some quiet and made a mental note to ask Pinkie's friends about her.... mental state. But right now, his wife needed groceries and he was to deliver on that order.
10:00 A.M. December 14th, 1932 Golden Oaks Library
Twilight had just finished her morning's work in the library. Finally after an oddly hectic morning of people (namely humans) coming to check out books, the entire catalog needed to be updated and that took quite a while. Most of the humans came in their military uniforms and overcoats (minus the helmets) and when Rarity came into the Library to speak with Twilight on the matter of Sweety Bell's history education, she was so shocked to see the humans without clothes that she nearly forced a few humans to come with her to be fitted for clothes so they did not have to wear their military uniforms all the time. It was rather amusing but it increased the time it took for the humans to check out their books. Finally done, Twilight decided to take a trip to Pinkie Pie's to see how she was dealing with the chaos of the holiday season. Putting on her winter gear and telling Spike she was heading out, Twilight stepped out into the streets of Ponyville.
The Heartswarming Holiday Season was in full swing. All around, the streets were alive with joy. Walking through the streets, she could hear joyous Heartswarming music being played from some record players and saw ponies getting their gift shopping done in mass. She even saw some of the humans walking about enjoying themselves. Even though they were speaking their native language, the conversation was obviously joyful as they began laughing everytime one of them seemed to crack a joke. Carolers were sinking in the town square and it seemed like a few even joined them. Somehow, even though these creatures nearly invaded the town, it seemed like everything seemed to be going well.
When Twilight got to Sugarcube corner, there surprisingly was no line, compared to what she experienced at the library. When she walked in, the shop seemed to be all quiet.
"Pinkie? It's me, Twilight! Are you in here?"
Almost immediately, her response came in the form of two voices laughing from the kitchen. When she walked in, what she saw surprised her.
Pinkie was there doing one of her silly tricks... But what she was entertaining... It was what looked like a human child, sitting on the floor, laughing with his mouth full of frosting.
"Pinkie... mind explaining this?"
Pinkie turned around startled at her friend. "Twilight, didn't see you there. Well, remember that serious looking officer we met when we were almost nearly invaded and whiped off the face of Equis?"
"Don't tell me..."
"Well.... Meet his little son, Manfred!"
The young child smiled back at Twilight, frosting still full in his mouth.
"This may be a long day..." Twilight thought to herself in her head.
10:30 A.M. December 14th, 1932 Ponyville Grocery Store
Erwin Rommel looked at the shelf and at his shopping cart. He nearly had everything he needed... veggie wise. Though he found a bit of seafood, there was still no meat in the grocery store and he made a mental note to take a trip to Canterlot after he dropped Manfred off at home or if he got permission from Lucie to take him with him. Looking back at his groceries, he realized he was being cheap again. It was not like he bought the cheapest things but rather he was being minimalistic. One trait you get from being Swabian. Immediately turning back, Erwin looked in his wallet and decided spending a big more would not hurt a bit. After stocking up on more food, he went to the register and checked out all of his items. "I can spare spending more this time, especially after how much I saved through the years." He thought to himself as he walked with out with the groceries in hand.
Outside, the air was brisk and cold. All around him the town was alive with joy. He was about to turn back to Sugarcube Corner when he remembered what Pinkie Pie said about Heartswarming Eve. His mind drifted back to both Lucie and Gertrude and he decided to go get their gifts.
Walking through the streets, he asked a nearby pony, "Pardon me but uh... Where might I find a dress shop or boutique?"
Looking at Erwin for a good five seconds, the pony answered "I believe you would want the Carousel Boutique Sir, I could show you where it is if you'd like."
"That would be much appreciated, thank you very much."
"No problem, it's always nice to help newcomers."
After a few more minutes traversing the streets of Ponyville, Erwin and his guide stopped.
"Here you are sir, Carousel Boutique. Hope you find what you are looking for?"
"Th... Thank you."
Infront of Rommel stood an odd looking building. It surely looked like a carousel but if looked like it was inspired by French design. Then again, Rommel thought back to the Gingerbread house he saw earlier and decided to think nothing of it. What he did see when he walked inside did surprised him very much.
What Rommel saw was too good to be true in his mind. Right before his eyes were five soldiers, each being fitted for what looked like a casual suit and tie. Immediately, one of them yelled, "Achtung, the Major is present!"
Immediately all of the men saluted and one of them ripped the seems of the suit he was being tailored for while the other knocked over the pony that was working on his suit.
Normally, Rommel would conceal his amusement but after what he had been through today, he let it all out. As he was laughing, the men looked down at themselves in embarrassment while being berated by the pony working on them. Before long, the pony's attention came towards Rommel and she looks like she was about to give him hell.
"Pardon me but LOOK AT WHAT YOU MADE ME DO! ALL MY WORK WITH THOSE SUITS ARE NOW TURNED INTO A TRAVESTY, A TRAVESTY I TELL YOU!"
As Rommel's composure came back go him, he would be in for one of the best treats of today, Rarity's anger.
1:00 P.M. December 14th, 1932 Ponyville Town Square
It took nearly 3 hours for Rommel to get out of the mess at Rarity's boutique. He was lucky that she was generous enough to forgive him and take an appointment with his wife and daughter to be measured out. Carrying the groceries in his now tired arms, he made his way back to Sugarcube Corner. He had never felt this tired before... but come to think of it, he had never dealt with this much crazy before... And he went through the Weltkrieg. Before long, he finally made his way back to Sugarcube Corner. As he opened the door, he heard laughter and then suddenly "LOOK OUT!" Lifting his tired face up, he saw his son in the air coming towards his face... He was not being thrown.... He was.... Flying? As soon as he was about to say something, Manfred Rommel collided with his father's face and Erwin Rommel, for the first time in decades, finally was knocks out cold.
Author's Note
Fun fact, Manfred Rommel was born on Christmas Eve 1928. I originally intended on posting this before Christmas of 2019 but uh... Yeah... Chapter 6.... That pissed me off and drove me to write my other, more successful story. Can't say how much your support means to me guys. I hope you all like the happier tone of this chapter. It should be a welcome change from the seriousness of the previous chapters.
(P.S. I actually did this chapter in one day so expect the next update to be on my Titanic story.)