Equestria 1939 - Weird World War

Equestria 1939 - Weird World War
Declarations of War and Love

“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”
— Winston Churchill, Speech to Parliament, June 21, 1940

It had been said since time immemorial that there were only three things a wise pony should fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle mare. Tonight, the night was calm, quiet as the grave, and the Manehattan harbor reflected the full moon like a mirror.

Sherbert Lemon was not gentle.

She was angry, but not furious that Princess Celestia had decided that she and one other should be present at this boring site for no apparent rational reason. Still, alicorns ordered and mortals obeyed. Even when those orders came from a rather frazzled Royal Guard, who dropped off Sherbert’s mother-in-law at the lab with an extremely short note defining just when and where the two of them should wait this evening for… something.

Banana Pudding was not happy, not cleared for Sherbert’s lab, and not willing to be a chatty conversationalist to her inadvertent daughter-in-law, despite this being the first time they had actually met in the flesh, so to say. This left a rather cranky ‘Mamma Nanna’ to be hustled off to Apartment Lemon for a few hours until their mysterious Royal appointment was due. Sherbert could not even pass the task off to her errant husband, because he was off on another secret-secret mission with his father and what seemed to be most of the adult males inside Q-branch.

Cowards, both of them.

There had been little feminine bonding in Sherbert’s evening with her mother-in-law. The tension was nearly palatable during their shared takeout dinner, some consultation about the foal’s room redecorating, and a great deal not said about Mane’s absence or their relationship to the current point. It was unfair, really. Sherbert had invited Mane’s mother to the wedding with a very well-written letter, two pages, detailing the time and reason for the event, or at least the unclassified portion, once Security had finished redacting the final draft. And she had been very careful to write bi-weekly ever since, even if the letters were censored to bare social bones.

After a mostly silent evening in the apartment, Nanna had been a little skittish about walking through the supposedly crime-filled night to the Manehattan harbor, but there were supposedly answers waiting for them there, and neither mare said much until they reached their standing spot a good distance from the water…

And nothing happened for a while.

“Notice anything unusual?” asked Banana Pudding again, her yellow mane looking nearly white in the moonlight as she kept up a constant scan of the surroundings for muggers or thieves.

“No, Mamma Nanna.” Sherbert took a deep breath and considered the tiny foal shifting positions under her ribs. “Heartbeat and movements within normal parameters. Discomfort which is normal for this point in my pregnancy. You did not have to travel here from Canterlot. There are still several months before the birth. Please, be patient. Mane will be back from his assignment soon. With his father,” she could not help but add.

“The coward.” Nanna took a deep breath as well, still scanning the harbor. “And I didn’t have the option. Celestia ordered me here. Flat-out, no warning, right after her student went to Ponyville to arrange for the Summer Sun ceremony.”

It was a bit of a surprise to Sherbert. She did not like surprises, but the mere fact that Banana Pudding was actually talking to her for a change was a good sign that needed to be encouraged like Mane had taught her.

“Did she specify a reason?” asked Sherbert, her curiosity piqued by the fact that two unusual events in the same time frame had a fair chance of being related, and she was wondering why Mane and his father had to take off on a secret mission also. Gathering a few data points was a natural urge, and getting her reluctant mother-in-law to engage in conversation was a bonus.

“Does she ever?” Nana shifted positions with the clunk of steel shoes on the wooden walkway above the docks. “The only thing she told me very specifically was to make sure Twilight Sparkle got this particular book this morning. Oh, and make it look accidental. I’m not a spy, after all,” she practically spat.

“Like your son.” Sherbert took a deep breath of humid salty air. “He still resents what you did. The longer I carry his foal, the more I understand the reasoning for your flight from Germany. The fear for another life, so defenseless.”

“I know. I should never have left him behind.” Banana Pudding paced slowly on the dock, much like her son did when he was tense. She also had the same nervous habit of speaking in a long chain of unbroken words, but with the added trait of holding a pack of American cigarettes with one sticking out, vacillating constantly between lighting it and putting the pack away. “My friends from the university were supposed to get him out. Some friends. By the time I got to Italy, it was too late to go back. Then when I reached Equestria, Prime met me at the dock. Said he had gotten away to the Netherlands. Tried his best to watch over him. I was too upset to care. I just kept running, right until Celestia caught me.”

As confessions went, it was quite sincere. As information sources, it was promising enough to keep inquiring, but with a subtlety that came from living with Mane for several months.

“I know of nothing that Celestia does without reason,” she stated, wincing slightly at the grammar. “Her plans have plans with grey hair. To be given such a command directly relating to her newest promising student... I suspect she originally recruited you in Canterlot for this important task, even as trivial as it appears, and years afterward. What was the book?”

“Predictions and Prophecy.” A touch of concern swept most of the other emotions from Nana’s face, and Sherbert could see the same mental maneuvering that Mane exhibited when he was leaping from a hypothetical theory to a forgone conclusion without any of the intermediate steps that lesser minds worked through over the course of hours or days. “It has been around a thousand years,” she mused. “Nightmare Moon?”

“The return of a myth would be accompanied by a complete blackout of the sky,” said Sherbert, although she slowed as she thought also. “There were unusual thick clouds earlier, and they were swept away abruptly.”

“The Nightmare is a literary myth with no reflections in reality,” stated Banana Pudding, although she returned to observing the quiet Manehattan harbor. “It is a story for foals. What are they doing at the German submarine?”

“Unsure.” Sherbert considered the scene for a while since it was the only activity going on at the moment, and counted sailors being loaded back into the infernal contraption. “Knowing Mane, his absence and this activity are linked. As is the extraordinary quiet which seems to cover the harbor. Many of the ships are anchored without running lights, and I see nohuman on their decks.”

“The lab building looked abandoned when we left,” said Nanna. “Prime wasn’t in his office, and I think he sleeps in there. No guards, no researchers younger than fossilization age. Where did they all go?”

The faintest of breezes touched Sherbert’s neck, and the immense bulk of Princess Celestia landed light as a feather to one side of them. It was an expected-unexpected event since vast unseen forces seemed to be on the move in places that Sherbert could not directly observe, and only one alicorn had that kind of unmatched power. Still, being directly in her presence was a humbling feeling which she had not felt since the funeral for her mother and the complex emotions she was going through at the time.

It did not help Sherbert’s state of mind that there were two alicorns settling down upon the creaking dock timbers, and the other was most certainly not the bright and fluffy Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

Celestia nodded at each of them, as did the dark alicorn just a moment afterward as if she were unaccustomed to the motion. Since the sky had cleared a few hours ago, revealing the changed thaumic constant of the moon and a shifted pattern of lunar maria, combined with the quarter-moon symbol on the newcomer’s cloth petryal… It gave Sherbert a very short and quite unexpected chain of logical suppositions to follow, ending in an impossible conclusion that stripped her of the ability to speak.

“Beg pardon, Sherbert. Banana. Your husbands are… otherwise engaged. I will not say they are perfectly safe, because that would be a lie.” Celestia swept one wing to the side and motioned to the dark alicorn. “I would introduce my sister, Princess Luna, whom has recently been—”

The ancient alicorn stopped, looking for a word, and Banana Pudding spoke where Sherbert dared not. “Freed from imprisonment on the moon? Was Nightmare Moon involved? I remember your student was far too enthused about the book of foal’s tales she borrowed from the Archives this morning. That was right before everything started going crazy. Well, crazier than Twilight’s activity normally is.”

Sherbert still had no words so she settled down on one knee and bowed, only to have Celestia lift her back up with the tip of one wing.

“An accurate evaluation, as far as it goes.” Celestia shook her head, looking somehow both impossibly tired and renewed with a sense of vigor that shone through Sherbert’s heart at the same time. Her glowing mane was putting out very little light, and she cast a sharp look at the German submarine in the harbor like it was responsible for her fatigue.

“Perhaps, an executive summary,” managed Sherbert, since her curiosity bump was itching more than ever. Little bits of recent events fell around her mind like snowflakes, and her gaze could not decide which of the princesses she wanted to watch while thinking. Celestia had no such issue, and thankfully fixed her personal archivist with her full attention instead of Sherbert.

“Nanna, you of all ponies deserve to hear the whole reasoning for my actions, because I used you as the trigger for my desperate gamble, much like Sherbert’s role…for reasons which are best kept from you. Suffice it to say, the Germans tempted me with the opportunity to free my sister through their technological advances in space travel, and instead prepared to use that weakness to drag my precious little ponies into their bloody conflict. Were it not for your brilliant son and daughter-in-law providing insight into their actions… things could have become far worse. And the situation is terrible enough as is. Hundreds of my little ponies are held hostage across Europe, trapped into a situation that I should never have allowed.”

“But… how can we retrieve them?” asked Banana Pudding. “Fleeing was a nightmare—” she twitched, giving a short glance at the newest dark princess “—many years ago.”

“Thine enemies hath created a situation where they shall be hoist by their own petard,” said the dark princess. “They gathered our citizens into ten enclaves, all the better to be guarded and used as hostages. This shall be their downfall. My sister hath sent a force of dragons and Equestrians — together with a great number of humans from this city — to free them and bring them home, after laying waste to their terrible weapons of slaughter.”

Celestia nodded quietly. “It is a dangerous gambit, and I only accepted those who volunteered knowing the risks. And yes, that included your former husband—” she nodded at Nanna “—and Herr Guttman.”

Sherbert was floored beyond anything before. The sheer audacity of the project was beyond her conception. Ten groups of dragons, a notoriously aloof and antisocial race, would have been sheer insanity to bring together. And entrusting humans into the attack… Well, humans were rather fractious and disorganized bunch, but they had a terrifying ability to operate as a unified force when threatened. It still left one question unasked, and Sherbert was unsure how to approach it other than directly.

“These terrible weapons of slaughter. They were not creations of my mother, were they?”

“No.” Celestia’s immense head lowered until she was looking at the dirty wood of the docks, but she said nothing more.

“Root Stock,” said Sherbert as the cold sense of familiarity began to soak in. “She was working for the Germans when we lost contact. She’s dead, isn’t she?”

Celestia nodded ever so slowly.

“They killed her, didn’t they?” Sherbert looked out across the quiet harbor where the last of the German submarine crew and various other humans were being loaded. In all odds, they were the spies and saboteurs that Mane had mentioned before, neatly packaged up for shipment back to Germany where they belonged. “I didn’t want to admit it, but her work in organophosphate insect poisons was revolutionary. What kills one can kill another, and they…”

“Killed her with her own experiment,” finished Celestia. “As they would have killed thousands of my own if I had opposed them openly.”

Sherbert swallowed as the red haze began to rise in her vision. Root Stock had been as close to a friend as she had in the lab. Then she had cheerfully headed out to her German assignment, lured by promising words in the letters that important German scientists had sent. Now all Sherbert could think of was seeing those liars all burn, torn apart, and fed to the sharks, but Banana Pudding moved up beside her and whispered, “Bert. Calm down. Think of the foal.”

“I am,” she muttered from between clenched teeth. “As long as one of those… creatures survives, my family is endangered. They deserve to burn, burn until nothing is left but ashes, and the ashes burned again.”

Sherbert twitched with the feeling of a wing brushing against her back, and to her shock, it was from the dark princess who had moved close on her other side. “Do not contaminate thy soul with thoughts of vengeance, young one. We shall bear that burden in your place. Anger distorts your inner self, turning light into a darkness which cannot be purged easily. Know that the ones who hath slain thy friend will not escape justice, pure justice, untainted by revenge or malice.” Dark lips curled up, exposing bright white teeth. “And they shall die. I have already discussed this with my sister, and you have nothing to fear. Their fate is inevitable.”

“Thank you, Princess… Luna,” managed Sherbert through unaccustomed tears.

She stood there for a time, sheltered by the warm wing and her husband’s mother while observing the crew of the U-49. Mamma Nanna was first to move away, toward Celestia while glancing back and forth up the empty docks before removing a small package from her bags and extracting a cigarette. She lit the end with a regulated burst of magic, then quietly floated it over to Princess Celestia, who practically inhaled it in a single breath. One large cloud of tobacco smoke later, the Sun Princess deposited the expended cigarette butt into a nearby stone receptacle and smiled ever so slightly, waving one wing so the smoke drifted away from Sherbert.

“At one time, you were adamant about Equestria remaining neutral,” said Celestia quietly once the smoke had cleared. “Now, we are at war, or at least we will be when our declaration is given to the German government.”

“You’re going to give it to Captain Goßler of the U-49?” asked Sherbert, once she had blown her nose on a kerchief floated over from her mother-in-law. “Why not simply send it by wireless? It could take several weeks for the submarine to make it back to German waters, if it is not sunk in the process. With the fall of France, all of the humans are shooting at all the other humans.”

“A full discussion will wait until later. For now, our next actions must wait until the young lad with the boat returns.”

Sherbert had not really given the young human on the harborboat much attention, even though he appeared to be the same child who had transported her on their first visit to the U-49. It took more than a few impatient minutes until he moored the craft at its proper location, then looked up at their mismatched group and waved.

“It is time.” Celestia turned to her sister. “You read the declaration. Do you want to write or hold?”

“I should hold,” said the dark alicorn with reluctance. “Changes in the German language over the centuries could result in misunderstandings.”

“Oh, I think the German chancellor will understand our message quite well. And I see the young human lad is getting his camera out. Shall we begin?”

“One moment, Celly.” Luna lit her horn with a dark and cold light. “Several of the humans are still outside of their clever vessel. Allow me.”

A searing beam of darkness lashed through the night, slicing through the submarine’s radio antenna like butter and leaving the coil of steel wire lashing in the Manehattan harbor. Several more bolts of alicorn magic severed other interesting bits of the submarine, and the last of the crew vanished inside just before the hatch was melted into immobility behind them.

“That should do it, Luna.” Celestia looked at where the young human was taking photographs, then nodded as if she was measuring a safe zone. “Try to hold it steady. The vessel is heavier than it looks.”

Once engulfed by the dark aura of alicorn magic, the U-49 lifted up out of the water a few feet at a time until it was just barely touching the surface. Water streamed from the scuppers and bilge, and several harbor waterfowl scurried for cover as if they knew what was coming next.

Then Celestia lit her horn, and the entire harbor was illuminated as if it were noon.

One word at a time, the Equestrian declaration of war appeared in bubbled steel and blistered paint, easily read by the red glowing letters left behind. It was straightforward, direct, and pulled no punches, although Sherbert would never have thought about carving it into the steel sides of a submarine.

“Sister,” cautioned Luna.

“Almost there,” said Celestia, although fatigue was obvious in her voice as well. “And… NOW!”

The etched submarine dropped and kept dropping even when a silver portal popped into existence around it. In moments, the steel vessel had vanished totally from view, taking several thousand gallons of Equestrian harbor water with it, then the portal abruptly quit as rapidly as it had formed. In a matter of minutes, the harbor was calm again without a single sign there had ever been a German submarine there, other than the awestruck young human child at the boat dock who was applauding and making celebratory whooping noises.

Both alicorns were panting like dogs and dripping with sweat, but Celestia had a dark grim smile of vicious triumph that scared Sherbert just a little.

“Where did it go?” asked Banana Pudding, her eyes still wide with astonishment.

“Front steps of the Reichstag,” said Sherbert. “I could see it through the portal. The words ‘dem deutschen Volke’ are written on the frieze. My mother took me there when we visited.”

“Gott in Himmel,” murmured Banana Pudding before giggling, sounding a little like she was not going to stop. “Must I at length the Sword of Justice draw? Oh curst effects of necessary law! How ill my fear they by my mercy scan, beware the fury of a patient man.” She fumbled out another cigarette, taking two attempts to light it before puffing away, still staring at the empty space in the harbor where the submarine had recently been.

“It’s by Dryden,” said Sherbert, casting a quick look at Princess Luna’s perplexed expression. “Something you missed during your… exile. Shall we adjourn to the Institute for now? Your Highness… Highnesses look like you need to sit down for a while and rest. And my mother will certainly want to meet with you.”

To Banana Pudding’s credit, she only screamed a little when ACACD introduced herself. Thankfully, there had been enough recent drama to dampen her mother-in-law’s reactions. Well, Guttman’s Scotch that Sherbert poured for her guests probably helped.

It took the whole bottle. Plus a second that Mane had saved back for Prime’s birthday.

The alicorns had much to talk about, and Mamma Nanna was quizzed extensively about Celestia’s young student who had apparently been pivotal in saving Princess Luna from the darkness of Nightmare Moon. When packets of paper sent by dragonfire magic from the European strike teams began materializing out of the ether in front of Celestia, Sherbert took it upon herself to stack them to one side so they would not interrupt the conversation. It would have been unscientific not to peek at their contents during the sorting, mostly to make sure the piles were roughly related to each other, but partially out of curiosity. Several of the more pertinent notes she placed on ACACD’s scanning device so her mother could read them, and quite a few went into the ‘special’ pile for later alicorn examination.

It occupied Sherbert’s time while waiting, continuing to work on the task while her overstressed mother-in-law curled up on the lab cot and went to sleep, and even later while the two alicorn sisters moved together into a huddle of sorts with just enough space for incoming dragon-mail to be snatched by Sherbert’s magic and placed where needed.

As research projects went, it kept her body busy and her mind occupied making a little list of German scientist names as various bits of their research passed by. Eventually, their time would come. None of them would threaten the foal that she held securely beneath her ribs, moving occasionally as Sherbert tried to keep calm and rational.

It was a long evening, and the flow of magical mail slowed to a trickle as dawn approached, leaving Sherbert in the middle of a sea of folders, notes, books, and other written materials which had appeared in bursts of dragonfire over the last few hours. Undoubtedly, there were dozens of intelligence specialists who would be poring over each page for years, but Sherbert was pleased enough to have gotten the first look. Then just as dawn began to light the sky outside, one last sheet of paper coalesced from smoke and fluttered down from above Celestia’s long horn.

She read it, of course, and smiled.

Being a scientist and a mother had some downsides.

The upsides were worth it.

To: Sherbert J. Lemon
Urgent:

Mission successful. All are well. Will be home soon.

Love,
Mane