Starting Over

This war had been going on for some time now, and with any luck, it would be over & the boys in my squad & I would be home in time for Christmas. At least that was the hope. But things rarely ever go the way we hope. I guess before I tell my story, I should explain who I am. My name is Sargent Arthur D. Wahl of the16th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, affectionately called the "Stonewall Brigade". I'd stand at attention & salute, but that's a good way to get killed. Especially since when you're a soldier behind enemy lines. Anyway, I'm just farm boy from Iowa who got drafted into the Army & shipped off to the European Theater to send the fascist regime of the Axis Powers & their war machine back to the fiery pit where they belong.

At the moment we were slogging through the heavy downpour on our way to liberate a fortified position from a platoon of Germans. It was rumored that they were all that stood between us & the Anti-Aircraft gun the Nazis had set up at the Departement du Finistère & were using to take down any Allied aircraft in the area that tried to fly over. We needed to turn things in our favor, because we're going to need those aircraft, if we're going win this war.

"Hey Sarge,"

Turning my head slightly to the left, I saw one of the other guys looking my direction, a cigarette dangling between his lips.

"Yeah, Coleman?"

"Ya think there's any chance we can talk them into surrendering without a fight?" he asked

Coleman was our medic, so he believed in valuing all life, even the life of an enemy. He was a good guy though & obnoxiously optimistic.

"Nah. There's better chances of Art here getting elected President," I heard from my right side.

I just rolled my eyes. Baer never could take any situation seriously, even if it was life, or death, but that's why I liked him & Coleman. They helped keep morale up when everyone was feeling miserable.

I quickened my pace to catch up with our squad leader, Lieutenant Brinkman to talk to him. He was staring forward a hardened expression on his face as he marched, leading us to what could either be victory, or an early grave. He'd lost all three of his brothers in this war. One at Pearl Harbor, another in Belgium & the other in the Philippines. If he could have, he would have walked right up to Hitler & blown the Dictator's brains (what few the psychopath had, anyway) right out.

"Sir?" I asked.

"What is it Sargent?"

"Mind if we stop for a few? I know we've still got a ways to go yet, but some of the men look like they're about to literally burst."

He nodded & signaled for everyone to stop.

"Do what you have to do, but make it quick. Groups of two." Brinkman told us. "You have ten minutes."

Everyone seemed glad for that & quickly went off to answer nature's call.

The reason we went off in pairs like that, is so that there would always be someone watching or backs, because as a soldier, you never knew if, or when the enemy would ambush you, or from where.

I went off with Coleman & he stood watch for me, his M-1 at the ready. When I had finished, I stood watch while he took his turn.

Suddenly, I heard a low rumbling sound.

"Hey, Chad, you hear that?" I asked.

"What, the sound of me taking a leak? Yeah."

"No," I whispered. "It was more like the sound of an idling motor."

"There aren't any vehicles nearby," Coleman replied. "At least none that are still operational. Otherwise the L.T. would have had us commandeer one."

"Considering what happened to his brothers, I think he'd rather walk until his feet literally wore down to bloody stumps than ride in a German vehicle," I said.

"True, but does he have to torment us by making us walk too?" asked Coleman.

"Suck it up mama's boy," Brinkman said, walking passed our position.

"Open mouth, insert foot," I muttered only to be smacked upside the head by Coleman.

I just grinned at him & walked forward a few paces only to stop when heard the rumbling sound again, but this time it was closer. I raised my rifle, and glanced around, watching in almost every direction. There was a mountain of rubble from one of the destroyed buildings at the end of a nearby alley & that's where I'd heard the rumbling coming from.

"What're you doing?" he hissed.

I waved him back & crouched low, my M-1 in my hands. I could see light through the various openings in the rubble, which meant that I would have been able to see who, or what was on the other side. I looked through one of the holes only to see the front end of a Tiger Tank turning its turret toward where Coleman & I were & move forward.

It crested the rubble in a matter of seconds & Coleman & I ran like we'd never ran before.

"TAAAAAAANK!!! I shouted to the rest of my squad.

They all came running to see why I'd yelled, but quickly lit out of there. Coleman & I took a sharp right out of the alley, quickly followed by the Tiger, which blocked the road we'd been traveling down The turret turned again & I heard Lieutenant Brinkman give what was to be his final order.

"GET TO COVER!!!"

I quickly dove through a window that had long since been broken out, leaving only the frame. It wasn't much, but it was all I had. Crawling across the floor, I went behind a counter where I saw I was down to my last clip & had no grenades.

"This stinks," I said. "How am I supposed to stop that tank without any grenades, explosives, a rocket launcher, or even ammo."

I stuck my head out far enough to where I could see what was going on, but the Germans who were in the tank wouldn't be able to see me. When the tank went rolling by, I heard gunfire, most of which bounced harmlessly off of the Tiger tank's armor. The turret gun fired with a sound so loud it made my ears literally ring like Church bells on Sunday morning. Screams of American soldiers who had been hit by the artillery round & dispatched from this life into the sweet hereafter. Then...a chilling eerie silence. Ducking behind the counter, I bowed my head & said a quick prayer for those brave men who had just perished & for their loved ones back in the states. It was a few minutes more before I saw the tank go out of sight & another ten before I couldn't hear it anymore.

"It's probably going to the Departement du Finistère," I thought aloud. "I'd better get moving to meet up with the rest of the squad, or we'll never take that German fortification & stop the AA gun."

Quickly & quietly, I sneaked out of my hiding spot & started running down the street.

I was at the plaza across from the target when I felt a gun pressed to the back of my head, so I raised my hands, thinking I'd just fallen into the greasy hands of the Nazis.

"If you're going to shoot a man Fritz, shoot them while you're facing them," I said. "Only a dishonorable coward shoots someone in the back."

"Oh, is that so, farm boy?" replied a familiar sounding voice with the absolute worst German accent I've ever heard.

I sighed & hung my head, knowing I'd just been had. Turning around, I saw Private Phil Herman, another one of my long-time friends standing there with a stupid grin on his face. Next to him were Coleman & Baer.

"Gotcha," Herman said.

I felt like punching him right then & there. I'd thought I was about to be captured, tortured for information & then killed by the Gestapo. He was another prankster in our squad & he, Baer & Coleman were like the United States Army's equivalent of the Three Stooges. The fact that they were all really bad at poker & each still owed me twenty bucks from last week's game was the only reason that I wasn't going to strangle any of them in the foreseeable future.

"So what's the plan, sir?" Herman asked, getting serious.

"You don't have to call me that when it's just us guys."

"Like fun, I don't," said Herman. "L.T. didn't make it, so you're CO until someone higher up on the chain shows up."

I looked at him & gave him a look that told him not to mess around when it came to things like that. His steel-grey eyes told me that he wasn't joking.

"Coleman? Baer?"

" 'fraid so, Sarge," stated Baer

"How many are left?" I asked.

"You're looking at it," Coleman said.

Now I've always thought of myself as being a man who had a strong sense of right & wrong & a set of morals that would be expected of a Christian man, which meant that I didn't drink, smoke, use chewing tobacco, sleep around, or even cuss, but by this point, I was so annoyed by everything that had happened that day that I had to say something. So I did.

"Well, shit."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," Baer said. "The four of us against a whole platoon of Nazis, plus they've got half-tracks & tanks patrolling around."

"They probably have snipers all over the place too," added Coleman.

"There's no doubt about it, sir," Herman said sadly. "No matter what we try to do, we'll all die before we have a chance to do it."

I nodded. The situation was looking quite grim.

"If any of you chuckle heads got any brilliant ideas, now's the time to pull them out of your butts."

The three of them shook their heads apologetically. It was up to me to save our skins as usual. Now I just needed to come up with a plan.

" We need to find out of there's a basement to that place that has connecting tunnels," said Baer If it does, we can sneak in that way. The only problem there, is that in order to find out, we'll need to get inside first, which we can't do."

"Right," I said. "But that could be something that we could utilize at some point."

"What we really need is a miracle," stated Coleman.

"Art, you're the super religious one of this group, so can't you ask for some divine intervention?" asked Herman.

"If it's supposed to happen, it'll happen," I told them. "I think I've already taxed my 'asking The Lord for things' card beyond its limits by asking for patience in putting up with you three."

They tried to look hurt & indignant, but it didn't work. I did get a free chuckle out of it, so it wasn't all for nothing.

"So then what's the plan?" Herman asked.

"Honestly? I don't have one," I confessed. "If we tried to attack, it'd be suicide & I highly doubt they'd willingly let us surrender. Not that any of us would."

"I've got nothing," Herman said.

"Same here," said Coleman.

"Zilch," Baer said.

"So none of us have any ideas then?"

The three of them shook their heads.

"You're right, Chad, we really do need a miracle," I said

Just then, there was a loud roar of a low flying plane over our heads.

"'Ask & ye shall receive'," I muttered watching the German Stuka Bomber nose dive right toward the building.

The Germans were all in a panic running away from the building. At the very last minute, the plane pulled up & flew onward toward the west, dipping it's right wing as it went on. I smiled, knowing that an Allied pilot had been flying that plane. With most of the Germans gone from the exterior of the building that we were on, I nodded to the other guys & we advanced forward quickly, staying low to avoid any possible snipers from neighboring windows. When we reached the closest door, we went in to find things running about as smoothly as a building being occupied by a bunch of fascist goons could.

"Hey, where are all the fraulines at?" I said loudly to get the attention of the Germans in the foyer.

They turned, taken by surprise & pointed their weapons at us. The Nazis opened fire & Herman threw a whole string of unpinned pineapples their way. The explosion took out a few who had been caught in the blast. We returned fire as best we could, but there were more waves of Germans pouring from other rooms all armed to the teeth. As I passed by a window, automatic gunfire echoed rang out from across the plaza. I felt several of the rounds pierce my body & collapsed to the floor. I had let my guard down. Since we hadn't been shot at when were were running across the plaza, I had thought that there weren't any snipers. How wrong I was! The last thing that I heard before everything went black was the voice of Baer.

"MP-42!!!"

My eyes flew open & I bolted upright into a sitting position, breathing heavily. Looking down, I saw that I was still injured & bleeding profusely. Glancing around, I noticed that there was a black void all around me. Then from out of the darkness, I heard a female voice.

"Arthur David Wahl. Born 19 June, 1917, Fenton, Kossuth County, Iowa, United States Of America. Died 27 August 1944, Departement du Finistère, Bretagne, France, aged twenty-seven years. Sergent, United States Military 116th Infantry, 29th Infantry Division Division "Stonewall Brigade".

"And you are?" I asked, my voice echoing.

An azure light appeared out of thin air & slowly got closer to me. When it was close enough, I could see a white horse with a multi colored mane & tail. She had a crown on her head & was clad in the kind of armor that you would expect a horse belonging to Royalty to have. The weird thing about it, was that it not only had a giant horn jutting out out of hits head, but wings. I looked to my left & saw my rifle was laying there, so I picked it up & got to my feet.

"My name is Princess Celestia. "I've been watching & waiting for the correct time to reveal myself to you."

I jumped back at the sound of this horse speaking.

"How do you know who I am & all those things about me?" I asked. "Why me of all people?"

"All in good time. For now, you've had a long & painful journey & are in need of healing & rest."

"How can a horse heal me?"

"Not horse, pony," she corrected slowly cantering away back into the void, her horn lighting her way.

Deciding that I had nothing to lose at this point, I followed the weird pony Princess. That's when I noticed the tattoo of a sun on her flanks.

There was a flash of light & I was suddenly I found myself in what appeared to be a large throne room.

Celestia cantered over to the dais, ascending the steps & sitting on one of the two thrones.

"So what happens now?" I asked.

The azure light from her horn surrounded me & I found myself being lifted off of my feet & brought over to the foot of the dais. Her eyes closed briefly & I felt a warmth surge through me.

"That will take care of those pesky wounds & prevent you from bleeding all over my marble floor."

I looked down & saw that my wounds had indeed healed & that my uniform was as it had been just prior to me being turned into Swiss cheese by German gunfire.

"Thank you, Your Highness," I said bowing to her out of respect for the fact that she was Royalty, but also for what she had done to help me.

The Pony Princess smiled.

"Welcome to Equestria, Sergent Wahl," Celestia said. "May the remainder of your days here be pleasant.

"Remainder of my days here?"

The expression on her face became one of pity.

"I'm sorry, but you died in your world & can not return." the Princess told me.

My heart just about sank into my combat boots when I heard that & I hung my head in sorrow.

What about Coleman, Baer & Herman?" I asked. "Or my family & friends back in Iowa?"

"They will mourn you, but they will endure, as you must."

I nodded sadly, but quickly raised my head to look at Celestia again. I knew that I had been given a second chance at life & should make the most of it, so I decided that that's exactly what I would do.

"I have questions," I said."

"I know," said the Princess. "Please feel free to ask."

"I'm not trying to sound ungrateful for all that you've done for me, but why me? I'm just a simple farm kid from a rural town in the mid western U.S."

"I sensed there was something special about you, though I'm not exactly certain what it is," Celestia said. "Perhaps I'm just getting senile in my old age."

"It isn't just a river in Egypt, you know." I retorted.

Celestia giggled & stuck her tongue out at me.

"What was that you used to heal me?"

"The power of the magic of friendship," she said . "That's what our society is based upon. Peace, love, friendship & tolerance."

I could feel a smile crossing my face. That sounded so much better than the world that I came from where being of a different nationality, skin color, religion, or political affiliation can get a person beat up, jailed, or even killed.

"So there aren't any wars here?"

She shook her head gently.

"There hasn't been a war in Equestria for over a thousand years," Celestia told me. "Not since my sister, Luna became consumed by the nightmare & she & I battled each other."

I blinked, making a mental note to ask about that at a later time.

"One last question," I said.

"Yes?"

"What do I do now?"

"You're free to go anywhere in Equestria that you like," Celestia told me. "Or if you wish, you may stay here in Canterlot."

"Canterlot?" I asked.

She nodded.

"That's the name of Equestria's Capitol City."

"Ah," I said in realization. "Well, I would like to explore a bit. Especially if I'm going to be living here from now on."

"Please do," said Celestia.

I bowed to her again & turned to walk out, slinging the strap of my rifle over my right shoulder as I walked away from the dais.

"Arthur," Celestia called out.

I turned & Celestia's horn lit up with the same azure glow it had before when she had healed me. Suddenly a purple velvet bag the circumference of my palm appeared in my right hand.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Bits for expenses during your travels."

"Huh?" I asked.

"Bits. That's what Equestria's currency is called."

"Thank you, Your Highness." I said. "I'll work whatever jobs that I need to in order to pay you back."

"That's not necessary." the Princess said. "We're friends now, so I'm more than happy to give you money."

Celestia smiled & I left to begin my life anew in Equestria.