Equestria: World War II (1939-1941)

24TH DECEMBER 1940

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It was Hearth's Warming Eve in Equestria and the Crystal Empire, the second they were celebrating since their arrival on Earth. This festival, while some ponies on the battlefield were celebrating it as Christmas, most considered as Hearth's Warming. The gifts to be dispatched to all the soldiers on the battlefield had been sent out, and a few had already arrived on the frontlines for the soldiers, so that their morale would be increased. The time was now 7:00pm, and the festival would start in another five hours.

However, despite that, it would still be a sad festive season, due to the war, with the amount of soldiers dying everyday on the battlefield, the toll had now reached 12 million. The Second China-Japan war was still raging, and had spread into Korea, which was Japanese territory.

The Blitz was still raging over Britain, and multiple civilians were losing their lives everyday due to incessant German bombing, and due to this, the Americans were starting to get more involved in helping their British friends, especially after the fall of France. In fact, the Princesses had felt that the Americans were soon going to enter the war, despite the fact that they had agreed not to fight until they were attacked by the Axis countries first. In fact, they had already sold the British some of their destroyers in exchange for British bases, and American aircraft were being moved to these bases.

The Greco-Italian War was still raging, but Greece still had the upper hand against Italy, so the current estimation was that the Italians would fully pull out of Greece by February, and meanwhile, in Africa, the British, the Equestrian, and Crystal Empirean forces had jointly begun Operation Compass, which would finally drive the Italians out of their territories in Egypt and Somaliland. It had first begun with decimating the remaining Italian forces in Egypt, and it had been brutal, enough that Celestia would consider some of the things the ponies and humans had done to Italian forces as crimes.

An incident had occurred during a raid of one of the Italian positions, that had been praised by people and ponies from the Allies, but condemned by some. During the raid, some of the human soldiers who had lost family due to German and Italian bombing raids had teamed up with some pony soldiers, and when they had captured some Italian soldiers, they had brutally tortured the captured soldiers, stabbing them, covering them in excreta, even sodomizing them, before killing them.

They had taken cheerful pictures with cameras, showing the horrific torture, and the worst part was that they had been laughing at the plight of the soldiers. Yes, the Italians were the enemy in this case, but they didn't deserve that painful of a death. When the bodies of the Italians had been examined by Equestrian coroners, they had seen the horrific damage done to them by their own soldiers. One of the Italians had been stabbed over a hundred times, and another had been sodomized more than six times.

In fact, the second the news had come out, despite the protests from people and ponies around the world, asking him to keep those soldiers in the military so they could do similar things to German and Japanese soldiers as well, General Shining Armor, the head of the Equestrian and Crystal Empirean militaries, had removed those soldiers from duty, and while they would not be removed from the military, for now, they would be restricted to domestic assignments only. As for the British soldiers, last they had heard, they would also be placed on domestic duty for now. All would face disciplinary action, but for now, they would be on restricted duty.

Also, Equestria had almost come close to disaster, 12 days earlier. Some remote coastal towns had felt a small earthquake, which was not surprising, considering that part of the country lied on the border between two major tectonic plates. However, there had been no reports of any seismic activity during that time period, which had made some ponies, including the Princesses, suspicious. The search for Shady and the HNA still hadn't turned up anything, but this small earthquake had helped shorten the search area. However, it was still decently large, so they would be searching for some time. They knew that the Rift Gate had probably been completed, but they hadn't found any trace of Aetherium emissions yet.

As they thought about this, wondering where Shady and the HNA were, little did they know, that soon, their plan was soon to begin its final stage.

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At the HNA's cave, Shady was happy, tears in his eyes. Today was their final day on Earth. Tonight, they would activate the Rift Gate for the final time, and transport Equestria and the Crystal Empire back home to Equis. When the Rift Gate opened, on this small beach in the south of Equestria, it would expand and create a giant Rift, that would slowly suck Equestria and the Crystal Empire into it, and the second the last part of both countries went through, the Rift Gate would deliberately explode, and the Aetherium would explode, and it would create a black hole that would swallow the Earth and the rest of the system where the Earth was located.

That was what it would do, and Shady had personally made sure that Riftweaver Spark and his fellow scientists had not purposely sabotage the Gate in any way, or else they would be left behind on Earth, and would die along with the planet. Shady and the other HNA members were all holding a small party to celebrate the end of their days on Earth, and by this time tomorrow, they would be celebrating Hearth's Warming together, all back on Equis. The plan for now would be to have Equestria and the Crystal Empire suspended above the planet, as the area where it had once been would have probably been occupied by now.

As they drank and ate merrily, celebrating the end of their life on this awful planet that the Princesses had brought them to, Shady thought about what his brother would say, on seeing this. In fact, he had decided to write one final message to his brother, before the big plan began. He quickly excused himself, went back into the cave, turned on the lantern, and tears began to flow down his eyes, as he opened the diary one last time, and began to write down the final message. Dear Honest, began Shady, as the tears continued to flow.

The time of our reckoning is almost upon us. In just a few hours from now, we shall liberate Equestria and the Crystal Empire, and take us all back home, back to our beautiful world of friendship, peace, and harmony. I wish you were here to see it. These days, I have severe migraines and headaches that cause me to black out. I do not know why, and I do not understand them. Whenever one of those headaches is finished, I wake up, and multiple things seemed to have happened during the time when I was blacked out. Whatever this is, it hasn't stopped me from finishing my goal. We will send our nations home, tonight. I just wish you were still here to see it. Thank you, for the last time, your brother.

As Shady began to cry once more, he decided to cry now, so that his emotions wouldn't leak out in front of the HNA. He couldn't afford to lose face like that, by showing his emotions. That was when he had another headache, and the tears instantly stopped and dried up. He wasn't Shady any more. He was something else. He decided to sit it out in the cave, until the time had come for the Grand Finale of the HNA's plan, which would start just three hours from now on.

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It was now almost 10:00pm in Canterlot. The city was almost asleep, but the important business districts and the government buildings were still busy, even at this late hour, as the government never stopped functioning, and the ponies who worked the night shifts would be busy. Celestia and Luna were in the main Throne Room of the castle, as Celestia was about to go to bed, and Luna would stay awake for some more time till she went to sleep well past one in the morning.

As they were about to head to their rooms for the night, suddenly, they felt the ground begin to shake, as if an earthquake was occurring. That was odd. Equestria and the Crystal Empire were on the border of two tectonic plates, yes, but no seismic activity had been recorded. Was this a sudden earthquake? As if on cue, the air raid sirens, which could also be used as sirens to warn of an incoming natural disaster, also began blaring. That was not good. That was one when of the soldiers came running into the room.

"Your Majesties! Come to the balcony, quick! You have to see this!" said the soldier. The two Princesses instantly ran to the castle's balcony, and they were treated to quite a sight. Despite the shaking, it was quite amazing and horrifying to see. As the cacophony of the sirens blared behind them, and citizens ran amok with panic on the streets of Canterlot, all else was forgotten, as everyone was pausing to look at one thing. A large blue pillar of light, far away from Canterlot, but so large that it was if it was just a quick drive from the city, was visible.

This pillar of light, with the shaking, could only mean one thing. Shady and the HNA had activated the Rift Gate. All they had to do was fly in the direction of this, and they would find them. They had to get there as fast as they could, or else they would not stop the Earth from being destroyed. "Your Majesties, I think this is it. This is the end. They've activated it." said the soldier, in fear, realizing what would happen soon.

"Not if we can help it." said Celestia and Luna, in unison. They were ready to fight Shady personally, and they knew he wouldn't go down without a fight. "We will stop him. Even if we have to give up our own lives in the process." said Luna, as they got ready to make one of the fastest flights they had ever made in their lives.

As they primed their wings one last time, knowing that the fate of an entire planet depended upon them, the two sisters launched off the balcony of Canterlot Castle, and after a quick dive to gain speed, began flying towards the pillar of light. They couldn't teleport there, as they wanted to conserve their magic for when they had to fight, and they didn't know the exact location of where this light was coming from. Despite how blinding it was, they continued their flight. The magic of friendship, peace, and harmony burned in their hearts, as they flew towards the dark blue light of evil and destruction.

As they flew towards the HNA that fateful night, this would be the last time the Princesses would be seen for an entire day. As they continued flying over Equestria, the two sisters exchanged smiles, knowing that this could be the last time one might see the the other alive.