Equestria: World War II (1939-1941)

14TH SEPTEMBER 1940

-----------------------------------------------------------------CANTERLOT CASTLE------------------------------------------------------------------
It was now 7:00am at Canterlot Castle, where being awake at this hour, and the castle being filled with so much activity this early in the morning was now a usual sight. It had been just 5 days since the Italians had made their next move in Africa, attempting to invade Britain's other colony there, in Egypt. However, unlike their invasion of Somaliland, the British had prepared for a surprise ambush, and was holding back against the invading armies of Mussolini. They had put up a strong defense, and so far, despite fatalities on both sides, the Allied troops were holding the Italians at bay, and that had been helped by Equestrian and Crystal Empirean reinforcements.

They still had a bit to go before the Italians were driven out of Egypt entirely, but so far, all was going on well on that side of the battlefield. Meanwhile, the hunt for the Destroyer of Discord had finally had something good happen, as the hunters, who had reached Peru, had gotten a legitimate clue as to where the second piece of the Destroyer could be located, and were heading there now, and this time, there was a chance that they would find it. The Princesses were also keeping in touch with Twilight Sparkle, ever since she had left to join the British cryptologists at Bletchley Park. The last they had heard, she was working on an advanced method to break the codes of the German ciphers.

The hunt for the HNA was also starting to finally turn up some clues. They had a motive as to why Slick Shady had turned against his country and joined the HNA. As it turned out, Shady's twin brother, the only family he had, as they were orphans, had joined the Royal Equestrian Army, and had been deployed in Denmark, during which he had gone missing, and had been presumed killed in action. Shady had been very attached to his brother, and his presumed death was probably what had made him what he had become.

The CBI had also temporarily figured out a location where Shady could be. His twin brother used to have a vacation house near the Neigh Horseleans swamps. However, he had sold it some years previously, around two years before Equestria and the Crystal Empire were transported to Earth by Faust, and the last update on the property, around a year previously, had confirmed that the house was abandoned and that no one was staying there. Although some people were still suspicious about this location, the CBI had ruled it off their list, even though the mysterious reading on the magic detectors had been noted somewhere near here, writing it off as nothing more than a mere coincidence.

However, the December date for the 'Grand Finale' of the HNA's plan was approaching, and they were running out of time. The hunt for Shady had stepped up in intensity, and the CBI had finally caught one of the higher-ups in the HNA. He wasn't that high up, but he wasn't street trash either. His interrogation hadn't revealed much to their location, but it had revealed to them more about the HNA's ideology. It wasn't helping them find Shady and the others, though.

Another issue was Discord. They were still trying to figure out what Discord had done to some of the German soldiers. They had heard multiple stories, and even seen pictures, of some German soldiers literally ripping Allied soldiers in half. They hadn't even managed to kill any of these soldiers on the battlefield, as whenever they shot these soldiers, the bullets wouldn't kill them. It would just wound them, and it only seemed to make them charge more brutally at Allied soldiers, as if getting shot had triggered an 'aggressive mode'.

That, and they were still working on a way to counter the disguised German Bf109s. They hadn't really popped up much lately, but some had been used during the bombings on British ports. Apart from that, they still hadn't gotten any new intel on Discord's location, apart from the fact that he had not left Germany even once since their arrival on Earth. As the Princesses got ready to attend a court hearing regarding a proposed new law relating to amateur radio in Equestria, little did they knew that soon, they would get the intel that they had been wanting for sometime soon.

--------------------------------------------SOMEWHERE IN THE NEIGH HORSELEANS FORESTS------------------------------------------
In the forests of Neigh Horseleans, at the dilapidated house that had formerly belonged to Slick Shady's twin brother, the scientists were suffering even more than ever. They were now on a tight deadline to complete the Rift Gate, as Slick Shady wanted it to be done by December. He was busy working on the first contact plan for the inhabitants of Equis, as he had calculated that when they returned to Equis, at least 250 years would have passed since the two countries had left that planet.

So far, nobody knew anything about what Shady was planning to say when they returned to Equis, as he had locked himself up in his room for the last few days, working on the first contact plan. He had also heard rumours that a few HNA members had been arrested, which was another reason why he had forced Spark and his friends to speed up the work on the Rift Gate. They wondered what Shady was working on in that room.

In that particular room, which happened to be his late brother's room, Shady was busy throwing another crumpled paper, his 42nd one to be precise, into the fireplace. He was having a lot of trouble trying to figure out his 'Welcome Back to Equis' speech for the HNA and Equis' inhabitants. It was as if despite the fact that he had so many things to say, he couldn't figure out how to say it. No matter what. Whenever he tried to do something in this room, it just never worked out well. That wasn't surprising, considering that this was his brother's room. Shady remembered the final time he had seen his brother alive, shortly before he was deployed. He remembered that final meeting.

"Hey, little bro, are you okay?" Shady had asked.

"Yes, Slick. I'm more than ready to head to Britain. I want to serve my country. You don't have to be so protective of me." said Clumsy Honest, Shady's twin. Despite the fact that there wasn't much family resemblance, they were twins, and hence were very protective of each other. Honest had been drafted to go to Britain to fight in the war.

"You do realise the Princesses might be crazy, to send you to fight in a new world entirely?"

"I agree, their plan to send us to fight on the human battlefields does sound crazy at first, but now I understand why. We're being tasked with spreading friendship on the battlefields, to stop the war. That's what we're going there to do. I'm willing to do it, brother."

"Okay, but please come back alive, alright? I don't want to lose you. Not after Mom and Dad."

"I promise, Slick. I promise." Honest had said. That had been the last time Shady had seen his brother in person, as he had left a few hours later for Britain. They had talked a few times over the telephone, but that was about it. A few months later, Shady had received word that Honest had gone missing fighting in Denmark, and was presumed dead. Shady had fallen into depression then. He had lost the only remaining family he had.

The Princesses had done this. They killed his brother, by sending him and many other ponies to fight on those battlefields, not suited for the ponies' way of life. They had also murdered innocent ponies, by sending them to their deaths. They would pay for this. He would not stop until the Princesses paid for the deaths of Clumsy Honest and all of the other ponies who had died. They would pay.