To Steal a Secret

23.48---17th November-1014
A deer dashed through the night, bleeding on his right shoulder. Sounds of soldiers, screaming in their foreign tongues echoed through the air.

He rounds a corner only to meet a half-track stationed at the end of the street. The soldiers shouted him to stop, but he ran back.

Hoof steps can be heard from behind him as he gallops as fast as possible, but his wounds did him in. He fell hard. Trying to get up, a body slammed into him, pinning him to the ground.

Turning his head, he tried to fight back, but his injury betrayed him. The butt of a rifle hits hard on his forehead as he went out cold.

He wakes up in the garage of his house. His wife, stood outside guarded by soldiers, was restrained after trying to reach him. His blurry eyes finally came to focus on a colonel, no, general, he could tell. He stood overlooking the bodies of his comrades, who had been slain tonight. Their blood are still wet on the ground, minutes after they had expired.

Generalleutnant Erich Rhine looks at him, then his wife. He nods for them to release her, and she rushed to his side. Turning slightly, the sprucely dressed general spoke, "Your fellow soldat had fought bravely, yet where were you tonight, Kommandant?"

Her wife, turned to him and pleaded, "He's wounded, he can't speak, please, get a doctor! Please!"
"I shot the first two that went through that door," he smartly said.
Ignoring the deer's answer, he replied. "I promise meine Liebchen, he'll receive it if he is to tell me the location of the package."

Remaining silent, he could only ponders of the fatal error he had made tonight. They should not have met after a mission, that was the number one rule. Now his error lies in the past; he, to the future must face.

"Fräulein, please step away," he said. His wife refused. He nods once again towards the soldier to take her away. As they move in, their hoof held each other, only to be forcibly separated by the guards. She tried to fight them, and he tried to reach her, but to no avail.

When Erich saw it, he pulled his Lugher. Trying to force a confession by threatening the loved one of the person is effective, especially if you can back the claim with a real gun, Erich knows this from experience. He told the soldiers to restrain her, before brandishing his weapon.

"Freund, your men had fought to protect you and died. For their sacrifice, I will let you live." The couple were surprised by this declaration. "But not the Feigling." He took aim at him.

Firing, the shot landed dangerously close to his head. The sound pierced his wife's ear like needle, yet the pain was overwhelmed by relief when she sees him still alive.

"Now, listen closely. Where is the package headed? Where it will go from there? Why is it going there? I need you to answer me, and we will leave your family alone. You can trust my word." The general had a solemn look on his eye, the same look for a child wishing for a treat.

When he didn't answer, Erich told her men to release her and leave them alone. His wife, came rushing back to him, staying by her side. As the soldier exits, he told them to close the door.

When the door finally closes, Erich walked around the room. The wounded stag adjusted his position before the general spoke.

"Do know that I understand your struggle. You fight for a freedom you once had. But tell me, do you truly believe in the old rule? Under the king the people suffered-" he was cut off. "My loyalty lies to the rightful heir to the throne. I shall await the return of Queen Velvet, who will liberate us as soon as Equestria knocks down your tyrannical regime," he grits his teeth as he said that.

"Such a dream, yet you do not see yourself in that world no more now, do you? You're now in the gnade, mercy of the enemy. Think this very carefully mein Freund, I am offering you a life in the service of her majesty Queen Chrysalis with your wife. You owe the old world nothing and the new offers you peace. Offers you harmony which you so desire, as long as you help me. Live happily, with your wife, have as much Kinde as you wish. But live in a world that can exist." He took a breath, before telling them softly, "Equestria will lose. Without Canterlot they won't be able to coordinate an effective army. They are strained so much that your queen, Queen Velvet, has already fled into Griffonia, losing her faith on the war effort."

"Liar," he said slowly.

"This is true, take a look," he took out from within his jacket, a paper cutout of a newspaper. In it, The Equestria Daily reports Queen Velvet leaving to the newly formed nation of River Federation. The article reads on how Velvet has left for a more stable nation to ensure her persistence in the foreseeable future.

Within that, something broke inside him.

The changeling Jäger would leave their house soon after.

On his car towards Vaverfront, the general took out the piece of paper he had brought. Smiling, he placed it back into a black case where he had stored it. Amazing what lies Ministry of Propaganda was able to manufacture.

It does appear, that the pen is mightier than the sword.