Chapter III: Heartbreaking News

The SS officer spends some time following the trail when it comes to an end, stopping near the side of the cliff that is facing the farm behind him. Confused, he stops the motorcycle and dismounts it, briefly reaching up with one hand to remove his helmet. Wiping his forehead with a green grey sleeve in mild discomfort due to the temperature, he scratches his head in confusion until a slight shimmer catches his eye. Startling him, he pulls his MP40 from his shoulder. Holding it at the ready, he inches towards the wall and jabs the end of the barrel into it. As the barrel passes into the wall, he pulls it back to his side.

Suspicious, he grips the gun tightly and pulls the trigger. After firing a few rounds through the strange surface, he watches the ripples as the spread outward to outline something similar to a door. As curiosity strikes him, he approaches it while lifting his hand to touch it. As his hand comes into contact with the surface, his fingertips pass through feeling no pain at all and decides to investigate further.

The officer takes a deep breath and aims his weapon towards the portal, not knowing what will be before him as he starts walking towards it. As he passes through, he opens his eyes to see a light blue room with a brown door in front of him with a few bullet holes through it revealing some sort of room beyond it. He continues to examine the rest of the room, seeing strangely glowing crystals on two walls providing light. He turns around and releases his breath, seeing a shining mirror showing the image of his motorcycle parked on a green field. Hoofsteps catch his attention as he rushes to the side of the door that it hinges on to remain hidden, he stays quiet and waits to see who may enter the room.

Rose Pine walks down the hall of the castle to go have tea with her best friend Money Bags, she notices some damage on a wall to her right as well as the door to her left and sighs, "How many times do the guard ponies need to be reminded not to spar in the castle! I will need to report this to the princess's assistant Raven, then I should still be able to meet for our scheduled tea break around 1 p.m."

After hearing some female talking, he then hears hoofsteps leaving the area and moves to the other side of the door to see what is on the other side. Raising his hand to the door handle, he pushes down slowly and gently pulls on the door. Opening it slightly and without a sound, he looks through the crack and sees an empty hallway.

He opens the door wide enough to poke his head out to look around the corner, then removes his helmet to remain quiet and shifts his body around to poke his head out and peer around the corner. He watches closely as more of the hall is revealed to him, spotting a young foal making its way down the hall away from him as the rest of the corridor is seen, making him wonder, 'There is no possible way that female voice came from that foal, but if it did... Where am I?'

After a few moments of deliberation, he decides it is important to find out for sure. He pulls his head back and returns his helmet to its place and pulls the rest of the door open after checking the other side of the hallway for any enemies again, and sees that there are no soldiers in that direction. He then looks back at the foal and steps into the hallway while holding his MP40 above his hip, aimed at her back, "Halt Fraulein! Beantworte meine fragen."

She stops and turns around to face the pony that just spoke, and is surprised to see some strange creature wearing a grayish green uniform of some sort. She then sees them holding some sort of object, finally looking up to see that they have some sort of helm on their head. Seeing a tall blonde haired, two-legged creature with blue eyes looking sternly and confusedly back at her. Cocking her head to the side with a raised eyebrow, "I'm sorry, I do not understand you. Can you speak Equish?"

The non-commissioned officer's eyes widen as he sees a fabled creature only existing in myths and legends, he then shakes his head and grumbles, thinking she means English, "Stop woman. Answer my questions."

Rose Pine listens intently to their thick accent, ignoring their rudeness and smiles, "Who and what are you, and what do you wish to know?"

Sgt. Gunter Henreig straightens up and holds his gun at the ready, "I am human soldier, from Germany. What are you, and where am I?"

She smiles and looks at their uniform for a moment, then back up at their face, "I am a Pegasi pony , my name is Rose Pine. You are currently inside of Canterlot Castle, in the nation of Equestria. I have not heard of this place called Germany, is it far from Canterlot?"

The SS NCO cocks his head in confusion, "Where is the nation of Equestria located on Earth, I have never heard of such a place."

Rose Pine cocks her head to the side, confused as well, "Umm, I have not heard of the name Earth. You are on the planet called Equus, how did you get here?

Sgt. Gunter then decides he found a potentially valuable individual to turn in to be interrogated for further information on this world and its nations, "You are coming with me, my superiors would most definitely desire to know more about your world."

She shakes her head, showing that she is not willing to go with him, "No thank you, I have somewhere I must be. Have a good day sir." She then turns around and starts to walk back down the hall, looking forward to get to her friend to enjoy some tea.

He raises his MP40 to his shoulder, "Stop there, I am ordering you to come with me. There is nothing you can do to avoid going with me to my superiors. I will take you to talk to them either injured, sick, or healthy."

Rose Pine stops and turns around with annoyance on her face, "You have no authority over me sir, only the nobles, Captain Flash Sentry, and the princesses can give me orders. Now leave me be and go about your day, farewell." She then returns to her path down the hall, hearing hoofsteps hastily approaching her shortly after. She turns to look behind her when she feels something hard strike her on the back of the skull, knocking her out and sending her to the floor.

Sgt Gunter approaches the downed pony when he hears something behind him coming down the hall, he turns to look behind him and sees two ponies coming his way. Reacting in a hostile manner to keep his prisoner, he aims the MP40 at them and pulls the trigger.

As the gun fires off several rounds at the two ponies, he watches as the pony in gold armor falls to the ground. He then watches as a bullet strikes one of the wings on the other pony's body as well as their left front leg, causing them to turn and run away limping while dragging their injured wing. He then releases the trigger and quiets the weapon. He looks at the tan pony with a blue mane and tail, wearing purple armor as they flee from him, leaving a trail of blood down the hall. He turns back around to the unconscious pony, shouldering his MP40 before picking her up and placing her over his shoulder. He then turns around and quickly makes his way down the hall towards the door he came out of, opens it and then heads for the strange mirror.

Moments later with the princesses

Princess Celestia sighs in annoyance at how Dork fish grabbed the wrong film, shaking her head until the door opens and the pony in question races into the room, "Well, was the correct film there Dork Fish?"

Dork Fish sweats nervously as he shakes his head no, "I'm sorry Your Majesty, but it was gone as well as Pinkie Pie. I looked around the room, but I could not locate her anywhere in the room."

She facehooves herself and groans as the important film has gone missing, she is startled by the door being roughly shoved open, "What is the matter Captain Sentry, are you okay? What has happened to you? Why are you limping and dragging your wing?"

Flash Sentry then recounts what happened to the Princesses after closing the door he barged through, "My apologies for interrupting, Your Highness, but I was with a guard walking down one of the halls when I came upon a strange two-legged creature wearing a grayish green outfit. It was standing beside a downed pony when it heard us and turned towards us, it then attacked us with a loud weapon that killed the guard beside me and caused the injuries you see. I was not able to continue fighting, therefore I deemed it urgent to inform you about it."

Celestia's eyes widen at hearing that as her heart rate gets a little faster, "You were right to come here immediately Captain Sentry, show us where this took place." She then narrows her eyes angrily at Dorkfish, "As for you Dork FIsh, go and double check to be completely sure that it is not there... we will discuss it later." She and her sister Luna follow Flash Sentry down the hall to where ever the creature was spotted.

Dork Fish takes off towards where Pinkie Pie was with Big Dip right behind him, "I sure hope that we find that film, it would be very bad if others saw what is on it."

As they arrive at the scene, Luna notices several guards patrolling the area, "Sister, something must have happened here due to the amount of guards in the area."

She reaches where it happened and takes in the scene, seeing strange cylindrical metal objects littering the floor as a little bit of blood is spattered on the ground. A tear emerges and makes its way from the corner of her eye down to her chin, it then falls off to land on the floor, taking on a reddish tint as it mixes with a bit of the blood. She then looks at the pock-mark riddled wall, then the door across from it riddled with holes. She then sighs as she hopes that nopony was taken, "Luna, we need to check the other side to see if the creature is there and if it is wounded."

Luna nods her head and follows after her sister, "Lead the way sister, I am right behind you. Captain Flash Sentry, please go to the Medical ward at once and get those wounds treated immediately, thank you for your courageous act by informing us about this incident so quickly. You shall be rewarded with time off to recover and spend it with your loved ones and family."

Flash Sentry bows his head, feeling grateful for their generosity, "Thank you very much Your Majesties, it is much appreciated."

One hour later, at Twilight's crystal castle Library in Ponyville

Twilight hears a knocking on the door and goes over to answer it, "I'm coming, just give me a moment." She opens the door and then sees her friend Pinkie Pie standing at the door, "Hi Pinkie, come on inside. What brings you to Ponyville, don't you have some party to organize?"

Pinkie Pie walks into Twilight's home, then looks around to see that the other girls are there as well, "Hi girls, I'm glad that you all are here as well. That means we get to watch a film I found together!" She then turns her attention back to Twilight to answer her first, "Hi Twilight, I do have an Anniversary to finish setting up, but I found something strange and curious on a film that was in a case with some kind of writing on it. I was hoping that you would be able to tell me what is on the film?"

The Princess of Friendship looks at her with excitement and curiosity, "You found something new to look at and examine, that is wonderful Pinkie! Let's bring out the projector and see what is on this film you found." She then makes her way to the group of friends and looks around for her assistant, "Spike, can you please bring out the projector so we can watch a film that Pinkie Pie found?"

Spike then nods his head and goes off to get the projector when he remembers hearing that Pinkie was the one who found it, "Oh brother, I won't be getting any sleep at all if Pinkie found it..."

Applejack watches and listens as Pinkie tells Twilight how Dork Fish crashed into her table and accidentally mixed up the films, then watched it and has a lot of questions. With her curiosity piqued, she shifts her eyes to Pinkie, "What did you see on this film buttercup, it's not a grown up pony film is it?"

The party pony's eyes dart to Applejack, "I am very sorry for the discomfort I put you all through when we watched 'Two girls and a cup', this film is nothing like that I assure you."

Twilight taps the tips of her hooves together, feeling anxious about the new film with new creatures on it, "Oh I am so excited to learn something new, hurry up and get it ready Spike!"

The young dragon finishes setting the projector in place and then looks to Pinkie, "Okay Pinkie, it is ready for the film to be loaded."

Rainbow looks over to Twilight and laughs, "Oh Twilight, you are such an egghead when it comes to learning new things."

She looks at her laughing friend and shakes her head chuckling, "There is nothing wrong with enjoying expanding your brain Rainbow."

A half hour later, on the other side of the portal

Celestia looks around cautiously for any clues as to whoever came through the portal and killed one of her guards, not seeing anything at all and walking a few more feet to check a new spot. Looking around a different area, she spots a glint shining in the tall grass near a feather from a Pegasi's wing. She makes her way to it and picks it up, seeing a strange set of two letters in a vague SS. Her ethereal mane stops flowing in the air and falls flat against her neck as she recognizes the symbols being a sign of the SS branch of the German Nazi Party. She then hangs her head and sighs deeply, "Oh no, what have I done..."

Luna then goes over to her sister, seeing her mane lying flat against her neck and becoming concerned, "Sister, did you find something that upsets you?"

She levitates the item over towards her sister, "Yes Lulu, it is something most upsetting. The one that came over to our world through the portal...was a Nazi SS member. What makes it so much worse...is that they have one of our servants as a prisoner." She then sniffles as a tear makes its way from the corner of her eye, and down off the tip of her chin, "I...I have...failed to protect our little ponies Lulu, I am a terrible ruler."

Her sister walks up in front of her and embraces her in a hug, "You are not a terrible ruler, we both shall endeavor to return them to Equestria. At any cost, if necessary."

Celestia trembles and sobs in her sister's embrace as tears fall from her face, "We can't fight them Lulu, we do not stand on equal ground with their technology. Yes we do have magic and the ability to fly, but magic does eventually exhaust a pony after constant use. We just are not powerful enough to face them as a armed force. Even if we joined the battle, our magic would wane as well and would result in us becoming prisoners or being killed. Caution must be taken to recover our missing citizen."

Luna sighs and nods her head, "I agree with that notion, for it is wise. Perhaps the two who failed to wait until the portal closed before rushing to find us to deliver the report may make amends by taking that task?"

She backs away out of the embrace as she starts to calm down, her mane starts to regain its flowing nature, "That is a smart thing to suggest dear sister, let us return to Canterlot before the portal closes so we can inform those two of their new orders." She then starts to head towards the portal, looking around at the destroyed farm with a cliff rising above the farm on the west side of it. She watches the portal shimmering as it sits on the face of the cliff, just above the ground between a large jagged rock and a destroyed piece of equipment called a tractor, "Let's get going Lulu, we should not remain here much longer."

As the two head back through the portal before it closes, Celestia sees Dork Fish and Big Dip standing before her with grim faces. With a sigh of disappointment, "What is it now you two?"

Dork Fish bows and then takes a nervous gulp, "We have good news and bad news Your Highness, the good news is that we found the lost film. The bad news is that Pinkie Pie has it and seen what was on it, we read the note and she is taking it to a friend in Ponyville."

Her eyes snap onto Dork Fish as her eyes widen, then snaps her eyes over to her sister, "She must be taking the film to Twilight, we can't let them learn of that other place just yet. Come with me sister, let's teleport there!"

Meanwhile, at Twilight's castle in Ponyville

Twilight is in the process of writing a letter to Princess Celestia when she notices a flash of light and a pop, looking up to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna standing before her with looks of worry on their faces, "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, what a surprise! I was just writing a letter to ask you if you knew what the strange things on a film that Pinkie showed us was, do you know what those strange creatures standing on two legs are?"

Celestia sighs regretfully, realizing that it is too late and the girls have seen the film, "Those things on two legs are called Humans, the ones in the film are from a nation called Germany. They are called Germans and the ones you saw in the film are it's military, can we watch the film over and we can explain everything after?"

Her eyes sparkle with excitement as she claps her hooves together, "YES, I mean, of course we can Princess. Do you mind watching it over again girls?" She watches as her friends all shake their heads no, then looks to Pinkie Pie, "Can you rewind the film so we can watch it again?

Starlight Glimmer makes her way back into the room, shocked to see Princesses Celestia and Luna in the room and bows, "W-What is going on? And why are you both here right now with worried looks on your faces? Is there some sort of danger that is threatening Equestria?"

Luna slightly smiles and looks at Starlight, "No, Starlight. There is no danger today that threatens Equestria, but let's watch the film with you."

Pinkie smiles and starts to rewind the film, "Oki doki!" After rewinding the film, she then starts the film and darkens the lights once more, "Here we go."

An hour passes as Celestia's eyes water as she mourns for the citizens of Paris, "I feel sorry for those that live in Paris right now, it was such a lovely and peaceful capital in France before the Germans came. Now I shall take some time to explain everything to you from the beginning..." She then proceeds to tell them how it all began with Cadence and her necklace, leaving out the more gruesome parts due to Spike being there.

Another hour passes by when Twilight looks to the wall for a brief moment, then turns back to Celestia, "That explains why you seemed slightly different the last few years, but why would you send ponies over to gather information through secrecy? Surely you could have been more straight forward about it and just approached the human races?"

Applejack looks at Twilight and clears her throat, "Sorry Twilight, but ah agree with the degree of caution that was taken. As she told us, tensions were high. Ah don't know about any of y'all but ah wouldn't like it if their war came to this world, ah like how beautiful our world is without them humans destroying it with their war machines."

Rarity then nods her head and looks between Applejack and Twilight, "Oh indeed darling, imagine how terrible it would be if any of us saw what that field looked like when they first arrived. Though I am curious as to what the fashions are like over there. However, I would not even consider visiting at this time with this second world war going on."

Fluttershy hides behind her mane a little, "I wouldn't mind trying to help them make peace with each other, it is no fun at all when there is anger and conflict. Especially when the fighting goes on, it hurts so many and causes such misery. I wish there was something we could do to help the United States recover faster, I am sure that it must be difficult to provide for your family or even yourself."

Celestia looks to Twilight and smiles softly, "I would have preferred to, but as Applejack said. With tensions so high in Europe, the decision was either to collect information the less honest way, or wait until tensions eased. She then looks to Fluttershy and smiles lovingly at her, "I share your desire to help them find peace, but with how things are between the different nations... It may be a while before an opportunity arises for us to make our presence known and aid them in finding peace, I have a feeling that this new world war will cause a lot of misery before it is over." Noticing Spike is nearby, she turns her eyes to Spike briefly and looks to everyone else in the room with a serious look in her eyes, "I don't know about any of you, but I am quite hungry. Who would like to get lunch, it is my treat to you all today?" She watches as everypony thanks her and accepts the offer, looking back to Spike, "Spike, can you please write down what everypony wants and then go to the restaurant in town to get it?"

Spike fetches a quill and a clipboard and prepares to start writing, "Certainly Your Highness, what will you be having today?"

She smiles at him and orders her food, "I will have a deluxe flower and grass salad with a large carrot cupcake and some Earl Grey mint tea." She then hands him a large bag of bits to pay for the food, "Oh and please don't tell anypony else what you have learned here today, this war does not involve us at this time."

Spike goes around to the girls to get each of their orders, "Okay, I have eight orders not including myself, but I will order when I get there. I will see you all when I return with the food, see you in about a half hour or so." He then exits the library and makes his way to the restaurant, hoping they have new gem recipes for him to try.

Celestia then sighs and then hangs her head a little, "Now I shall tell you what I left out..."

Luna then looks to the other girls and sees them crying at hearing how gruesome things are on Earth, with Rarity bawling like a baby at the marenapping of her friend Rose Pine. She makes her way over to her, pulling her into a tight embrace, "We will do what we can to get her back Rarity, we must be cautious with our actions because of how strong the German military is. We shall make our move when the opportunity arises."

It takes some time before Rarity quiets down as Celestia looks somberly at Twilight, "Twilight, it pains me to tell you that your friend Flash Sentry was injured while patrolling the halls when he came across one of the German soldiers. Worry not, he will be alright. He has a wounded foreleg and his wing was damaged, but he will be able to fly again. His parents will be notified shortly."

Twilight's world shatters at hearing of her friend's injuries, feeling her anger rising at how reckless Princess Celestia was with her decision making. She approaches her in silent rage, stopping before her and raises her hoof, then strikes her across the cheek, "How could you be so BUCKING STUPID, making a portal that remains open for two whole hours?! That is just like turning a few parasprites loose on Sweet Apple Acres and trusting them not to multiply rapidly! Was anypony else besides Flash Sentry hurt by the soldier?"

Celestia sighs and looks down for a brief moment before looking back at Twilight, "One other guard was killed by the soldier, they were an Earth pony stallion called Strong Seed. I am sorry for your family's loss Applejack, just ask if there is anything that you or your family needs."

Applejack catches the name and quickly looks up at Celestia, "Wait...yer tellin' me that Babs second cousin is...gone?" Seconds pass by as Applejack starts to cry and wail at the Apple Family's loss.

A couple hours earlier, somewhere along the road near an abandoned farmhouse between Paris and Brussels

Rose Pine groggily comes to with a splitting headache and opens her eyes after hearing a loud noise coming from somewhere close by, seeing the same German soldier that she fought to get away from before. She tries to get to her feet and jumps out of the cart she is stuffed in, shakily landing on her hooves as she then flies a few feet into the air in the opposite direction they are heading, 'Where am I, I do not recognize anything around me...'

The SS NCO is disoriented by the movement and jerks the handlebars to the right, crashing on the side of the road and angers him. He struggles out from under the machine and looks around for his prisoner, seeing her flying through the air in the opposite direction and rights his motorcycle to chase her down.

She sees the machine race past her from below and skid to a stop, with the soldier getting off and aiming the weapon at her in anger. Drifting to a stop to hover in the air, she hears him order her to stop. Tears fill her eyes as she sobs for a few seconds trying to find her voice, "Please let me go, I have a friend waiting for me!"

Sgt. Gunter is annoyed with her struggles and aims at the wing on her left side, pulls the trigger and shoots it, eliciting a pained scream. He watches as she tumbles to the ground landing in a bush roughly, ending her struggle to get away, "You can't escape, the Führer will be curious when he sees you." He then shoulders his weapon and approaches the downed prisoner to return to his journey to Paris to find the Führer.

Rose Pine screams in pain as her wing is injured in two spots when she crashes into the bush, she is then roughly lifted and dumped into the cart again, crying in agony as the soldier ignores her cries and returns to their journey, "Oh Princess, where are you and your guards..."

Presently, somewhere in Paris

Adolf is standing over a table looking at a map detailing the city of Paris when he hears a knock at the door, looking up at it in annoyance, "Eingeben! (Enter)"

Sgt Gunter enters the room carrying a large gunny sack with two soldiers escorting him, then stands in attention and salutes his leader, "Sieg Heil Meine Führer! (Hail victory, my leader!)"

The Führer looks at the SS NCO and returns the salute with a wave, "Was bringt dich hierher, Soldat, warum störst du mich? Ich bin beschäftigt! (What brings you here, soldier, why are you bothering me? I'm busy!)" while slamming a fist onto the table with an angry glare directed towards the NCO.

The NCO stands at attention nervously after bringing his arm down from the salute, "Vergib mir meine Unwissenheit, meine Führer, ich habe dir etwas zu zeigen. (Forgive me for my ignorance my leader, I have something to show you.)

Adolf stands up straight, raising an eyebrow in curiosity, "Was hast du, zeig es mir. (What do you have? Show me.)"

Sgt Gunter pulls the gunny sack off his shoulder, then dumps the contents onto the floor. Hearing the pony yelp in pain after landing on the floor on her good wing, he lowers his voice and looks at the Führer, "Meine Führer, ich habe einen Filmdieb gejagt, als ich etwas seltsames entdeckte. Ich untersuchte es und fand eine seltsame struktur. Dort habe ich diese stute gefunden, sie spricht nur Englisch. (My leader, I was chasing a movie thief when I discovered something strange. I examined it and found a strange structure. That's where I found this mare, she is only able to speak English.)"

The Führer stands up straight and walks around the desk, wondering what sort of creature they have. He stops at the side of the table as his eyes widen in surprise and curiosity, "Nun, das ist ein interessanter fund... Wie glücklich für dich, dass ich dich nicht töten werde, weil du Englisch kannst. Herzlichen glückwunsch, sie wurden gerade zu Haupt schar Führer für diesen fund befördert. (Well that's an interesting find... How lucky for you that I won't kill you because you know English. Congratulations, you have just been promoted to Master Sergeant for this find.)"

Rose Pine whimpers in pain and fear at the smile worming its way across the other human's face, not liking the way he is staring at her, "I want to go home."

Adolf listens to the translation given by Master Sergeant Gunter, chuckling while the smile widens on his face, "Keine Frau, du wirst für eine Weile nirgendwo hingehen. Es gibt so viele Dinge, die wir über Sie wissen müssen und woher Sie kommen (No woman, you won't be going anywhere for a while. There are so many things we need to know about you and where you are from.)" He then looks to the soldier, "Ich werde heute nach unserem Verhör einen Brief schreiben, um Ihnen die richtigen Insignien zu geben. Nicht trödeln, JETZT BEWEGEN! (I will write a letter later today after our interrogation to give you the correct insignia. Don't dally, MOVE NOW!) He then orders him to assemble a heavily armed detail of soldiers with four Panzer IV's and accompany him back to a hidden room under his headquarters in Berlin for the interrogation, after first taking the creature to a medical expert for animals to get her wing treated or removed if it can't be repaired.

Gunter salutes the Führer and stuffs the pony back into the sack despite her weak attempts to fight going back inside it, leaving the room with the two guards following on his heels to pass along his orders to a superior officer to form a heavy detail for the Führer's return to headquarters immediately. After completing his first task, he then makes his way to locate a skillful veterinarian regarding the prisoner's injuries.

Later that day just before sunset in Canterlot

Celestia sees Big Dip and Dork Fish bow before her in the empty throne room, "My sister and I have thought about a suitable punishment for your blunder, you both shall go forth and learn wherever Rose Pine has been taken and rescue her."

The two nod and then make their way out of the room, hurrying down the halls to get through the portal to begin their search. On the other side of the portal, they wait for the shimmering portal to close before moving on to begin their search as Big Dip looks at her partner and shakes her head, "Way to go partner, you managed to get us into very hot water with the princesses."

Dork Fish looks back at her and sighs, "I'm sorry, I didn't want this to happen! We were both in a hurry to get that SS off of our trail, perhaps we should have just taken him out?"

The Pegasi narrows her eyes at him, "I don't know about you, but I could not live with myself for taking a life. Even if it was some other creature that was trying to take mine, I would do everything to get away from them."

He nods his head in agreement, "I am the same, taking a life just to survive makes me feel selfish somehow. Anyway, where do you suggest we start our search Biggy?"

Big thinks for a moment, "Well, since we got that film in Paris, how about we go back there and sniff about?"

Dork smiles and nods his head, "I think that is a great idea, and if we don't find anything in a week, we will report to the princesses and head back out immediately."