Equestria: World War II (1939-1941)

9TH NOVEMBER 1940

----------------------------------------------------------WESTMINSTER ABBEY, LONDON-------------------------------------------------------
It was 9:00am here, and it a cold gloomy morning in the city of London today, with winter fast approaching. The city of London was on high alert, with German planes attacking more frequently, in what was now being termed as the Blitz, the anti-aircraft units stationed all around the country were on higher alert than ever. Already, more than 10,000 people had already died around the country due to the indiscriminate German bombing of residential areas, for the deaths of only 500 German airmen.

Today was also a sad day for the country, but one that also required more security. Today was the funeral of the former Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, following his death a few days prior. Tensions were also at a high between the Allied powers and Spain, which had signed a pact with Germany the same day to join the Axis. As part of this, Spain had taken over the French African territory of French Cameroon, renaming it as Spanish Cameroon. Following this, the freedom struggle in Cameroon had kicked into high gear, and it had led to fierce rioting and protests that had quickly been suppressed by the new Spanish government. Soon, they were intending to merge with their other colony, Guinea, to create a new Spanish territory in Africa.

Today, the state funeral of Neville Chamberlain would have three special guests in attendance, the Princesses of Equestria and the Crystal Empire. They had all been good friends with Chamberlain, and they had been invited to the funeral, as it was because of Chamberlain that Equestria and the Crystal Empire were having a good relationship with other countries, and starting to get industries in, as well as a decently powerful military.

The Princesses were just now arriving at the church where Chamberlain's funeral would be held, the famous Westminster Abbey, located in the City of Westminster district of London. This church had been built almost 900 years earlier, and had been standing since then. More than 2,000 people had been buried at this church, majority of them rather prominent figures in the country's history, including some of the former British Prime Ministers, and some of the monarchs of England.

As their car pulled up outside Westminster Abbey after the ride from RAF Gatwick, where their plane had landed, the Princesses recounted some of the sights they had seen. Multiple houses had been badly damaged and destroyed due to incessant German bombing. During the ride over, they had taken a diversion as the roads were being cleared from debris from destroyed buildings and crashed planes. They had even passed the crash site of a British fighter that had gone down in a battle a few days prior. The whole city seemed quiet, since it was on high alert, and most residents were either inside their houses or underground them in the bomb shelters.

As the Princesses got out of the cars and walked into the old church, they knew what they had to do. They had read a bit about the funeral traditions of humans, particularly those of the Christian religion, and they knew what would happen. The funeral wouldn't be too long, probably only around an hour or so, so after the funeral, they would head to Downing Street for some time, and then go back to Equestria and the Crystal Empire the next day. As they entered, they saw that Chamberlain's secretary was the usher, who helped them out to their seats.

The funeral wasn't too long, and the Princesses found that Churchill and Edward Wood, the Earl of Halifax, were the pallbearers there. After the funeral, the Princesses left for the Treasury building, followed by Churchill, who would arrive around thirty minutes later. The Princesses arrived first, again, taking longer than it usually would have, due to road damage from German bombing.

As they walked into the Cabinet War Rooms, which were going to be the new residence of the Prime Minister during the war, they were also given directions to a large underground bunker that had been built below the house, designed to protect the occupants during an air raid. If they had to, they would run into the bunker if needed. Thankfully, there was low chance of a German air raid today, especially with the increased aerial defences around the city due to the Princesses' state visit.

As they waited for Churchill, they looked at some revised figures. The total death toll of the war was now around 10 million, and the total pony toll in the war was now more than 6,000. At least one pony soldier was dying every day on the battlefield, and a few of the ponies who had emigrated from Equestria to London had also been killed in the Blitz by German bombing. With the rest of Europe having fallen to the Axis, Britain, Equestria, and the Crystal Empire now pretty much stood alone in their fight. The Battle of the Atlantic was also taking a toll on shipping, both civilian and military. Britain was getting starved of supplies.

Equestrian and Crystal Empirean industries were still not producing enough to supply Britain, as they had only just finished being set up, and were currently trying to keep the Equestrian and Crystal Empirean troops supplied, as well as keeping up with the market there. Currently, the British were being supplied by the Americans, despite the fact that the Americans hadn't entered the war yet. Their had a massive industrial capacity, since it was one of the largest countries on Earth, so they would be able to supply not just their own markets, but also the British market, at the same time. They were sending multiple ships to Britain everyday, and the empty ones that had survived the voyage there were heading back to pick up more goods.

Soon, around thirty minutes later, at 11:00am, Churchill arrived at the house. "Ah, sorry to keep you waiting, your Highnesses, I wanted to pay my final respects to Neville before I arrived. Couldn't leave without a final goodbye."

"I understand, Mr. Churchill. Anyways, shall we get down to business? There are some things between our nations that we would like to discuss." said Celestia. "Such as the hunt for the Destroyer of Discord."

"Ah, yes, your Highnesses. We are waiting for updates, but we should be receiving an update from them any second now. I scheduled a call with them, and that phone will ring any second now." said Churchill. They didn't have to wait more than a minute, before the phone rang. Churchill's secretary picked up the call and said, "Sir? Its the search team. They want to talk to you and the Princesses."

"Alright, connect them." said Churchill, and a second later, the call was connected through a speaker mounted in the room for this very purpose. The voice of Jonathan Thompson, the expedition leader came in.

"Prime Minister, are you there, Sir?"

"Yes, Mr. Thompson, I'm here, and so are the Princesses. Did you find what you're looking for?" asked Churchill.

"Yes, we did, Sir. We found the second piece of the Destroyer of Discord, here in Peru. We found it, and it's not a false claim this time. It is with us right now, and we will be bringing it back to Equestria. It matches the same magic signature that was detected from the first piece. It's definitely an actual piece, as the tribe we took it gave us a timeline for when it appeared in their care, and it matches around the time that Equestrian history tells us. We'll be in Equestria in a couple of weeks to deliver it, so be ready." replied Thompson.

"Oh, good. We'll need the other pieces, though, if we want to fight Discord. Are there any leads as to where the other pieces could be?" asked Luna.

"No, your Highnesses. We don't have the strength right now, to find the other pieces. My men are tired, and its been a long few months searching for this piece alone. We will take a short break after our return, and then, we embark on our search again. Anyways, we have to leave now, our ship departs in an hour. We shall see you in Equestria." said Thompson, signing off, and disconnecting the call.

"Well, that was brief, and it was some good news in these times. Anyways, lets get to discussing the next thing on our minds, the..." began Churchill, but he was interrupted by the air raid sirens going off. That only meant one thing. The Germans were about to start another bombing run on the city. The Princesses knew that the Germans had been using their brand-new Heinkel He 111 bombers on the city of London. These bombers had not been seen much in action before the Battle of Britain and the Blitz, but they had been seen in use as transports in the European countries that Germany had taken over.

"Quick! To the bunker! Our countries need us to survive!" said Churchill, as they ran towards the underground bunker. They ran through the staircase, and into the bunker, followed by multiple soldiers. The heavy steel door closed behind them, and now, they would be sealed off. They could hear the sirens still going off, somewhere above their heads, and they knew that they would probably survive, but they prepared for the worst scenario.