Equestria: World War II (1939-1941)

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It was now 11:00am in Equestria. The plane of the two sisters had just landed at the Fillydelphia Airport. The city was in a state of shock, following the bombing just a couple of hours ago. A lockdown had been declared, and everyone had been asked to stay inside their homes, and not venture out unless it was absolutely essential, such as going to the hospital. Only essential personnel, such as doctors, police, and government officials were allowed to come out of their homes, and no one else could.

The sisters hopped into the vehicle that had been sent for them, a sky blue Rolls-Royce Phantom III, and drove towards the main city. They would be heading directly to the site of the bombing, to meet with the officials and survivors. They would also be checking in on the intel, to find Neighsay, since he was assumed to be the one behind the bombing. They were shocked that the HNA would do something like this on their home land, the land they claimed to be defending from the humans.

As they drove into the city, they could see the amount of desolation, and the only ponies visible were those watching the Princesses' convoy from the balconies of their homes. Soon, the Princesses arrived at the site of the bombing. Earlier, a large three-storey shop known as 'Nightlights' Shoppe', used to be here. Now, the whole shop had been burned down, with only a few of the outside walls remaining, scorched by soot. The bomb had apparently caused an explosion inside, which had led to a fire. The site was still smoking and smouldering, but majority of the fire had been extinguished.

As the Princesses were cleared through the cordon around the shop, where even press could not access, they could see the horrifying state of the devastation. A large tent had been set up outside, where all the first responders, policemen, and medical staff were gathering for shelter, body identification, first aid, etc. In the body identification zone, there were twelve bodies, all covered by tarpaulins. Of these, four were human, since they were too large and bipedal to be ponies. But the remaining eight bodies were of ponies, Celestia could tell.

This was horrifying. The humans had probably been the target of the bombing, and the ponies were all collateral damage. All were probably innocent, murdered for Neighsay's crazed ideology, for no fault of their own, thought Celestia, as she walked over to the police chief to talk to her. "Ah, your Highnesses." said the police chief, bowing to the Princesses. "I assume you have come to see the aftermath of this tragedy?"

"Yes. Were there any survivors and witnesses who saw exactly who planted the bomb?" asked Celestia.

"There is one human survivor, your Highness. He and his four friends here were reporters, making articles on culture in Equestria. They were just visiting, when the bomb went off. However, you cannot talk to him right now. He was transported to a hospital with major injuries, and is currently in critical condition. He has been stabilised, but due to a brain injury, he is currently unconscious, so you won't be able to talk to him for a while. However, some of the pony survivors did witness it, so you should be able to talk to them. We are still looking inside the building, so the death toll may soon rise."

"I see. I'll go to talk to them." said Celestia, heading towards the place where the few witnesses had been kept. They would talk to them, and while the police would figure out who the bomber was, the Princesses decided to see if they could get some more information out of them.

They walked over to the witnesses, who despite being injured and a little traumatised, still tried to bow down to the Princesses, despite some of their injuries. "Sit down, my little ponies. In your current state, you do not need to bow down to us." said Luna.

"Your Highnesses, we saw the bomber. We couldn't see his face, as he was wearing a hat. We are still trying to get over the sight of ponies who we knew were dying before our eyes. We saw him leave a suitcase in the store, and then leave. When he checked his watch outside, he began running away from the store. At first, we thought he might have forgotten the suitcase, and felt he would realise he had left it at the store. We felt he would come back and grab it. After five minutes, we realised he wasn't coming back to get it, and we were going to take it to the lost and found area, when..." the witness paused. This was the moment the bomb had gone off, realised the Princesses and the ponies.

"I saw that pony running from the shop. While he was running, his hat came off, and I recognised him as former Chancellor Neighsay. However, I didn't report him, as I didn't think he was doing anything that illegal. Now I wish I had." said another witness, breaking down in tears on saying the last sentence. The Princesses could understand, considering he may have stopped the bombing had he done so. As they continued talking to some of the other witnesses, the police chief came up to them.

"Your Highnesses, we have analysed the main bombing site, and we have found some evidence of what the bomb was made of." said the chief, rather gravely.

"You did? What was it made of?" asked Celestia.

"Well, it wasn't made using any Equestrian explosives. Those are relatively weak to cause such damage. This was made with a human explosive. Some sort of plastic explosive, by the looks of it. It could probably be Nobel-808. I'm surprised they even got this stuff here."

"What is plastic explosive, and how do you know so much about it?" asked Luna, surprised at this.

"Oh, as part of the diplomatic exchanges between Equestria, the Crystal Empire, and the human countries, we went to America for a police training seminar, and I also took some sessions with some military officers as well. As for plastic explosive, it is a form of explosive material, but it is soft and moldable, like modelling clay. It enables a user to shape the charge into anything they want, using how much they want."

"I see. But what is so dangerous about Nobel-808?"

"Nobel-808 is an extremely powerful explosive. It's quite a simple chemical compound, but it's also quite volatile. It looks harmless at first. It looks like green modelling clay, with a distinctive smell of almonds. Due to its volatility, the British are using it in the war, and they are also working on using it for anti-tank weapons and grenades. It is also extremely hard to get. Only militaries have legal access to it."

"So, does this mean the HNA somehow now has military-grade explosives?" asked a horrified Luna.

"Yes, somehow. There are two options as to how they have Nobel-808. One, the HNA got it illegally, on the black market."

"And the other option?" asked Celestia, dreading what it could be.

"There is an HNA mole among those ponies who have been sent to train and are fighting with the Royal Army. That seems a very unlikely option, so it's most likely they somehow got it on the black market. However, I would recommend checking all of the military ponies, just in case." said the police chief.

"I see. We shall do that, just in case that is what it is." said Celestia. "We should also start implementing stricter security checks at such large shops, in case someone is hiding a weapon or anything like that on their bodies."

"That is being worked on, your Highnesses. We are trying our best to make sure an attack like this does not happen again. Also, the Royal Equestrian Army and the police have now begun a hunt to catch Neighsay and the other HNA members. We will find them, no matter what." said the police chief, her expression now stern and determined. As she was saying this, four more bodies were brought. These were those of ponies, but smaller than adult ones. These were fillies. The toll was now 16, including 4 fillies. The sight of the bodies of the dead fillies being brought out shocked the Princesses.

"We shall send agents from S.M.I.L.E. as well, to hunt down the HNA, and bring Neighsay to justice." said Celestia, determined to stop them after seeing that horrible sight. As the day went on, the death toll rose to a total of 18. This only made the Princesses more determined, to find Neighsay's location, and bring him and the HNA to justice for this.