Equestria: World War II (1939-1941)

30TH NOVEMBER 1940

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It was a cold winter morning at the Canterlot Castle. As the snow had begun to fall, the new municipal corporations that had been set up in all cities across Equestria and the Crystal Empire were getting ready to send out snowplows to remove snow from the roads and pavements, and the power plants were at full capacity to keep the country running, especially once it got colder, and if blizzards occurred, that would be a problem.

Despite the fact that it was now 7:00am, thanks to the cloudy and snowy weather, it was not sunny at all, and the weather felt extremely gloomy, not helped by the fact that the war was still raging, and the toll was getting higher daily. The current death toll was now estimated to have passed 10 million, but it was now relatively stagnant, thanks to the fact that the number of battles going on had reduced heavily, the only three raging now being the China-Japan war, the Battle of the Atlantic, and the Italian invasion of Greece, which was being held back by the Greeks, along with Allied support.

However, the pony toll in the war had gone up, from 6,000 to almost 8,000, following the destruction of a Royal Navy frigate that had temporarily been wet-leased to the new Royal Equestrian Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic following it being hit by a torpedo from a German U-boat, and the deaths of multiple ponies in the Italy-Greece war. That had been a sad day for the whole nation, as close to 1,100 ponies had died in the initial shelling alone, and another 500 had died while the ship had sunk, awaiting rescue.

Apart from that, the hunt was still for the HNA, and it was getting more intense, with December starting the next day, and this month would be when Shady planned to activate the Rift Gate and destroy Earth. They had to find him, fast. The pressure on them was so high that the other day, the Princesses themselves had gone to the destroyed remains of the old HNA compound, which had been cordoned off ever since the failed raid that day. They had attempted to try and find any clues that could help them figure out where Slick Shady had taken the Rift Gate and the scientists to.

However, despite spending more than three hours looking through the remains of the compound, they hadn't been able to find anything. The maximum they could find was a partly-burned book containing the HNA's manifesto, rules, and way of life. It gave them some insight into the HNA's way of life and what Shady had been doing here, but not enough to tell them where they had disappeared off to.

This had led to a loss of morale among everyone in Equestria and the Crystal Empire, enough that the Princesses were planning an initiative to give Christmas or Hearth's Warming gifts to all the Allied soldiers who were fighting in the war, just to boost morale among the Allies, which for now consisted only of the British, Equestrian, and Crystal Empirean forces. The gifts would be small things, such as books, mugs, and even things gifted to them directly from their families.

As they thought about how they would find the HNA, they knew that they would have to use rather unconventional methods to find their location. They hadn't found any trace of Aetherium emissions across the entire continent, but they knew he wouldn't leave Equestria or the Crystal Empire either, due to his immense hate for the human countries, so they were looking in some of the more remote regions of the country, as if the HNA compound hadn't been remote enough already. They knew the place would not be populated, as Shady would not want anyone to know where his location was.

The problem was that many of these places were so remote that it would take days to reach these places, and by the time they arrived, Shady might have begun his plan already. They had to be discreet about this, and they had to do it quick, so as to swiftly and efficiently take down the HNA for good. Once that was done, Shady would be arrested, and probably given the death sentence for the crimes he had committed, and the Rift Gate would probably be disassembled, and the Aetherium would probably be kept in the vaults of the most secure military facility in the country.

That was the current intention of the Princesses, and they would make sure it was done, even if they had to be the ones to fight Shady. Their new security experts had stated that it was too big a risk for the nation to have both the Princesses fight a threat like Shady, but they had essentially told him that they would be fine, considering that both of them had fought worse threats than that when they were still on Equis, such as Discord, and the Changelings, for instance. They could easily handle Shady, but fighting Discord would be harder.

As the Princesses thought about when the HNA would most likely begin to put their plan into action, little did they know that the Rift Gate was almost complete, and soon, it would be ready to put the grand finale of the HNA's sinister plan into action.

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As this discussion was going on inside Canterlot Castle, Slick Shady was inside his cave, with only a solitary lantern keeping him company in this dark corner. Despite the fact that it was early in the morning, in the darkest reaches of this cave, there was no natural light, and currently, only this one lantern was active, and it would help Shady read his diary. After the death of his brother, Clumsy Honest, Shady had made a diary where he would write messages to his brother, as if he was still alive, just to try and keep the memories of Clumsy Honest alive.

As he began reading his latest entry, he smiled sadly. Dear Clumsy, we have escaped the wrath of the tyrannical Equestrian agency known as the CBI, lead by the traitor who leads the Equestrian military and is also the Prince of the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor. He tried to get the CBI's so called 'Tactical Squad' to arrest me. However, I outthought them, and I unleashed the fires of liberation upon the oppressors, and seriously injured, if not killed, most of them.

However, many of our members had to sadly voluntarily sacrifice themselves for our cause, giving themselves up to the fires of liberation, and their deaths shall not to go in vain. We will activate the Rift Gate, and we will make sure that the Princesses pay dearly for sending us to this cursed planet. We will bring this land back home to Equis, and we will destroy the barbaric people that the humans are promise. I promise.

That was all that this entry wrote. Shady began crying tears of nostalgia and gritting his teeth, as he was now fully devoted to the cause. He had accomplished all of his other goals, such as getting revenge on the pony who had killed his parents, taking over the HNA from Neighsay, and getting rid of Neighsay. Now, it was his final goal, to send Equestria and the Crystal Empire back to Equis, and destroy this barbaric planet, Earth, for good.