Equestria 1939 - Weird World War

Equestria 1939 - Weird World War
Duplicity

“It was for Hitler to say when the war would begin, but it is not for him or his successor to say when it will end. It began when he wanted it, and it will end only when we are convinced that he has had enough.”
—Churchill’s speech to the nation, October 12, 1939

Sherbert flipped Tinkles’ lights the rest of the way off just before the radio operator in the German submarine reached down to the floor. For a moment, she thought he had spotted the Equestrian espionage operation by the light leakage, but then his fingers closed on a flattened object and he stood back up.

It was a blasted Maltie. Mane must have dropped one during his haste to get the encryption machine put back into the enclosure and the codebooks put on the desk in the same order they had been before. The only puzzling fact that Sherbert could not identify was how the German officer in a well-lit room could miss a unicorn.

Until she caught a glimpse of something hiding under the German’s desk, shimmering softly in the same way a transparent unicorn might conceal his presence.

Sherbert’s heart was pounding as if she had run up a dozen flights of stairs. There was nothing she could do from her position, and the helplessness overwhelmed her. It flooded her rational mind, weakened her knees, dried her mouth, and knotted her gut into spasms. The sensation was unlike anything she had experienced before, even when her mother had tried to acclimatize her to a pressure chamber.

The fear was for somepony other than herself, and far more powerful than any concern she could muster for her own well-being.

In a blinding flash, Sherbert realized just why her mother had sent her father away to a spouse of his own. She saw something in Father that threatened her ability to live without him, the same something that was encompassing her daughter right now. Somepony who was more important than her, somepony who she would die without.

Like Mane.

She could not excuse the emotional tidal wave sweeping over her as a ‘mere’ hormonal reaction. Every little thing she had done in his presence and his reactions to them played through her memories like a cinema reel, in full color and deafening volume. She had been blind, clueless to his reactions due to her own inexperience and bias. The motions of the German radio officer felt unimportant and distant, as if he were a thousand furlongs away. Finally, the human finished looking around the spotless submarine deck in search of another incriminating candy, turned for the door, and left.

In a brief shimmer of light, Mane rushed to the small transparent section of hull he was still holding his magic over and peered into the darkness of Tinkle’s hull. Sherbert maintained the presence of mind to flip on the dim lights so he could see his teleportation destination, but despite a look of intense concentration and several small sparks, Mane merely remained where he was.

“I’m sorry,” he barely managed to mouth to Sherbert, but she was having none of it.

Something deep inside her raised its head in rebellion over her genetic legacy. She was not her mother, following the same chain of inevitable decisions, locked into her destiny like some animal. Those chains of logic shattered under her emotional surge, letting her reach through their thready connection with her magic, through the waves of panic consuming Mane’s brilliant mind, though his uncertainty and doubt, and gave him what little magic she had left and more. For a fraction of a second, Sherbert thought it was not enough.

Then Mane was there.

He was so terrified that he could not talk, and at any moment she expected him to start screaming, so she did the only thing she could think of, and clamped her lips to his in what was supposed to be a kiss. Hopefully, she had not chipped a tooth from her inexperience, but it kept him from making a noise. Well, other than a surprised grunt.

After what seemed to be an eternity, she heard the muffled noises of the German radio operator returning to his tiny room on the other submarine, accompanied by another human.

“Captain, I am positive somebody has been in here. I thought it was one of the crew at first, but the room smells like a wet horse. Could we have a spy onboard?”

There was a clunking noise of shoes moving around before Captain Goßler responded, “I don’t smell anything, but I’m surprised we can smell at all after being deployed in a horse stable for this long.”

“Well…” The radio operator refused to go away, and added, “So perhaps a member of the crew brought over one of the dancing mares?”

“The Marinenachrichtendienst and Reichssicherheitshauptamt both cleared every member of this crew, and Heydrich personally signed off on the decisions. If there was a spy here…” The captain stopped for an exceedingly long time. “Check the encoding machine.”

Sherbert listened with her full attention, glad that the tiny transparent section of hull that let her look into the other submarine’s radio room had gone back to a dull painted steel with Mane’s return. She could hardly breathe, although it helped when she stopped locking lips with her… whatever Mane could be called.

His shaking had calmed to a low tremble, allowing Mane to lick his lips, wince slightly at a minor tooth-induced cut, and take a brief chocolate-tinged breath of his own.

“I hope you put everything back correctly,” whispered Sherbert.

“I’m very good at what I do.” Mane took several short breaths and added, “I hope.”

The distorted voice of the German radio officer confirmed that claim. “Nothing out of place, Kapitän. The safe appears unopened and all code pads are accounted for. Shall I write this up in the reports for Berlin?”

“Nein. The candy probably stuck to a shoe. Far too much of the horse-people’s items have worked their way back aboard.” The captain heaved a deep sigh as another musical number began on the barge above Sherbert’s head, making it so she could just barely make out his next words. “Lock it up after you have transmitted this message. We might as well put on an appearance at the Blueblood party in coordination with our horse-allies. None of the projects are close to fruition, after all. Dismissed.”

Sherbert continued holding onto Mane while listening to the radio operator make clunking and rattling noises in his tiny cubicle. It did not seem an appropriate time for any inadvertent noises from either of them, so she applied her lips to his again, and maintained that embrace until the noises died out and the radio room door thumped closed again.

“Why did you quit?” whispered Mane when Sherbert backed away a short distance.

“I didn’t think—” Any thinking she had been doing went away when Mane returned to kissing her, only with far greater skill. It was… educational, to say the least. It could not last forever, though. After a substantial amount of time, it was her turn to back away slightly and hold a hoof over his nose to keep him from following.

“Better?” asked Mane, and nuzzled the sensitive spot on the bottom of her hoof that made it itch.

“Yes.” It was the only word that filled her otherwise empty head.

Mane appeared to be unwilling to speak any more, even in quiet whispers, and showed no more interest in kissing while the trembling in his coat ebbed and flowed like the tide. He did not release her, thankfully. She had never been held like this before, and did not want it to stop. Her embrace in return was a clumsy, awkward thing, undoubtedly pinching him in uncomfortable places in ways that his normal feminine companionship—human or pony—would consider inept.

They were odd things, emotions that Sherbert had never permitted within her mind, and they seemed to be quite unwilling to return to their prison. It was only fair. She had no real reason to lock them up again, and one very important reason to leave them free reign. A reason that she appreciated in ways that she had never dared before.

It would be educational to see how this played out. Turning down an educational opportunity like this was not scientific, after all. And it promised to be rewarding in the future.

“I’m still afraid,” admitted Mane. He held her a little closer. “All I could think of was what the Germans would do to you when they found me. It frightened me to the core.”

“And now?” asked Sherbert, feeling a little more like herself and willing to go beyond one-word questions.

“Still afraid. Different things. I suppose…” He let his breath out slowly. “Abandonment issues suck.”

“Both of us,” admitted Sherbert. “My mother was so controlling. I swear I thought she planned on dying, just to test my reactions again. But then she was gone and I… had nothing.”

“Except a father and a brother.”

“True.” Sherbert rested her forehead against Mane’s unlit horn. It was painful to talk, but even more painful to hold the memories inside with him so close. “I pushed them away. Or at least I tried. They don’t push well, as you might guess. I didn’t want them around. If they died too—”

“You needed them so much you drove them away. Story of my early life, too. Everytime I got comfortable, from the Dutch doctor’s house to being a spy, I found some reason to run away from comfort and into danger. Caught between trying to get myself killed and surviving.” Mane leaned back against her head until his horn touched hers. “I don’t want to fall for you, Sherbert J. Lemon. I’m afraid I’ll run away again, and leave you alone.”

“Mane,” cautioned Sherbert. “Shut up.”

There was more kissing, gentler and with less dental damage. Sherbert had always been a quick study, and this was a very enticing lesson from a good teacher. Unfortunately, words began to build up in her head, and she had to stop— that is briefly pause for a few moments before they spilled out on their own.

“I’m not sure what I did to assist you in the other submarine,” said Sherbert almost silently. “Whatever it is, it could have killed us both.”

Mane took in the news with only a slight widening on his eyes, barely visible in the minimal glow of Tinkle’s instrument lights. “Interesting.”

“It bears additional research, yes.” Sherbert looked deep into Mane’s teal eyes. “I thought I just wanted a foal. Now, I’m fairly certain I want several of them, and it would be foolish to cast aside such a good genetic specimen in search of something better.”

“Oh,” said Mane, who had stopped moving or blinking.

“You said you didn’t want to just impregnate me and leave earlier, correct?”

Still quite obviously thinking, Mane nodded once.

“I will give you the option of remaining afterward, with one caution,” added Sherbert. “Before you decide, I must warn you that I am a very headstrong mare. I have particular ways of doing things. I have opinions on social activities which I consider impractical or counter-productive. On the other hoof, I am able to restrain my urges when the stakes are sufficiently large. For example, you know something about Root Stock, something that most likely is a Crown secret, and therefore something related to the German location where she conducted her most recent research project. Your speech patterns and mannerisms made that obvious. Someday, you will tell me. That is not a prediction. That is a fact. It will wait. You need not ask about it, or indicate in any way that I have made this assumption. You would not withhold such information without good cause.”

“I can’t say anything about that.” Mane huddled closer without attempting to resume kissing. “I’m not going to say anything about it. Maybe not ever.”

It did not seem to be the time for another kiss. She did not know what to do, so she did nothing, which seemed to be the correct decision as she felt him begin to relax against her in small steps. It was so fascinating that it took her a very long time to recognize something quite obvious.

“I’m not afraid.”

“I am,” said Mane almost immediately. He remained still for a while, breathing against her coat in slower breaths before adding, “I think I’m more afraid than when I was trapped in the other submarine.”

“But are you afraid of being in the submarine,” said Sherbert quietly.

There was a long silence, broken only by thoughtful breathing. It answered Sherbert’s question quite well.

“All creatures are afraid of the unknown,” she continued. “Hide in the dark and it will remain unknown forever, but bring it out, expose it to the light of day…”

“With help?” asked Mane.

“Of course. I don’t know enough about relationships to be afraid of them,” admitted Sherbert. “But I’m willing to learn. They seem to have certain advantages. Other than sex.”

Mane nodded much slower, then took a deeper breath. “This is not what I expected from a first date.”

“Me neither.” Sherbert thought for a time, an activity that she found quite difficult in such close proximity to his masculine scent, which incidentally had almost gotten them both captured and killed. “Wait. Was that an attempt at humor?”

“A lighthearted quip designed to lower stress levels in a tense situation and divert attention away from something I should not or do not want to talk about,” said Mane almost immediately, with the tiny hint of a familiar smile beginning to emerge from the corner of his lips. “It was part of our training.”

“The mind boggles. Did Princess Mi Amore Cadenza conduct… Of course she did.”

“I was a very good student. Top of the class,” said Mane.

A tiny bubble of levity rose in Sherbert’s chest, and she touched her nose to his. “Does that mean I should investigate the rest of your classmates first before making a decision?”

Mane kissed her gently on the nearby nose as she had wanted. “No. I think I shall keep you a secret from them. Disreputable lot, all of them. Spies, you know.”

“You have high recommendations. Mother approved of you,” said Sherbert. “So did the Princess of Love.”

“I just got a kiss for her approval. On the cheek, of course.”

“Because Shining Armor was in the room,” continued Sherbert, “and you wished to keep all of your teeth. Correct?”

Mane licked his lips. “You are your mother’s daughter.”

“I am myself,” said Sherbert. “For good or ill, I bear my mother’s genes as well as my father’s.”

It seemed like a good spot for more holding and kissing, since the party on the barge’s deck was going to go on for a long time, and she was not quite ready to initiate intimacy. It would break this precious moment they were sharing, and they had time.

Years, hopefully.

“My father, my real father was a cook,” said Mane abruptly in the middle of several kisses. “He fled before I was born. My mother left me. And now… I’m afraid you’ll leave me too.”

“Why?” Sherbert leaned forward and practiced her lesson again. There was still the awkward question of where to put her horn when they moved, but it did not seem as much of a problem as it was an educational experience. It did seem to be an odd confession, though. When she had a brief break, some time later, she indulged in her curiosity.

“Your father was a cook?” she asked.

“Well… Yes.”

They still had time. There were secrets best talked out of him in the future. Still, the admission bothered her enough to ask, “Why is that important?”

Mane reluctantly reached behind a nearby console and hesitantly brought out a package. “You know. A loaf of bread. A jug of wine. And thou. I don’t like cooking. It reminds me of… him. Still, the way to a mare’s heart is through her stomach, and since we can’t leave until the party’s over, we might as well have something to eat,” he finished in one long burst of words.

“Magical exhaustion is a serious matter. A snack would be medically well-advised.” She nosed open the package instead of using her magic, which was just barely starting to feel tingly again. “Tarts for a tart?”

“Fruit tarts,and some other pastries I baked yesterday,” corrected Mane. “And non-alcoholic cider, because I did not want to get you drunk.”

Lacking magic for the moment, Sherbert emerged from the package with a cookie in her teeth, which she tried to share with Mane and broke into a giggling fit when the cookie broke also, sending crumbs in all directions. They each tended to their own snacking after that, although Sherbert found herself at a dead end when she tried to get the lid off the coffee thermos.

“Mix always makes this look easy,” she grumbled, getting a better grip on the cylindrical steel and the screw-off top with a bent fetlock.

“There’s a trick to it. Here,” said Mane. He put the bottom of the thermos against the deck, then dropped his mouth onto the ‘cork’ and gave a sharp twist. In a few moments, Sherbert was holding a cup of steaming coffee between her forehooves and taking a few small sips.

“Mother was a firm believer in others facing their fears.” Sherbert took a long drink, then passed the cup over to Mane. “I don’t think she planned our situation. Even at her best, she never could have been this convoluted.”

“Celestia, maybe.” Mane finished off the coffee and sat the empty cup to one side. “I tried to outsmart her once. It was educational. Her plans go back years. Decades, even. I better stop there.”

“Cadence was worried about her,” said Sherbert, although she cut off abruptly at the sound of the German radio room door opening. It seemed easier to remain silent and engage in an alternate activity while the officer worked at the tools of his trade, although the German was certainly not having as enjoyable an evening as Sherbert. When the submarine door operated again and nothing but silence could be heard from their incidental hull-to-hull contact, she broke off their kiss and added quietly, “She said something dark was coming. Something worse than war.”

“It would be futile to worry overly much about whatever it is.” Mane picked up the empty coffee cup from where it had rolled when they were kissing. “We do what we are asked, and leave the rest to the powers atop Mount Olympus. It’s the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keeps the darkness at bay, and we are very small folk indeed.”

Mane paused for a moment. “It’s from The Hobbit.”

“Ah,” said Sherbert. “Fiction.”

“Most historical texts contain only bits and pieces of the truth,” countered Mane. “True history seldom rhymes. Well, human history. I shall have to introduce you to my oldest friends. Liars one and all, but tiny shards of the truth can be found if one looks carefully between the pages. It’s very much like spying.”

They continued to eat in relative silence, with the wild sounds of partying going on above and the occasional mysterious thumping noises from the German submarine. Sherbert was far more used to smaller meals, mostly brought to her in paper bags or served by a cafeteria worker in a manenet. This was… nice. Well, it would be nicer in a different environment. It was still nice in a way that she never wanted to change.

“I’m still afraid in a different way,” she volunteered once the last crumb had been dealt with. “No matter how much I want to go screaming out of this repurposed sewer pipe… I have you. That made the urge tolerable. I was afraid you’d want to stay with me earlier. Now I’m afraid you’ll leave. You know. Since you seduce mares for a living.”

“You think this is easy for me?” Mane carefully wiped his lips with a paper towel, which he stuffed back into the package with the rest of their discarded snack materials. “I was just going to buy you flowers, but that’s what I always did. Then I almost went into a bakery, and had a panic fit at the thought that my father might have been working inside. You are an unexplored wilderness to me, filled with bears and tigers. I finally met a mare who can see through me like a window, and I don’t know how to deal with it.”

“You can start by contacting your parents,” said Sherbert bluntly. “We work for the Equestrian intelligence service, after all, and most foreign Equestrians have been recalled, so they should be somewhere nearby. Or if you do not want to meet with them, I can act in your stead.”

“Hello, I’m pregnant by your son and wanted to know your favorite choice for foals names?” A series of conflicted emotions flowed across the stallion’s face, ending with, “I’ll go with you, provided you lead with that.”

“Agreed.” Sherbert put the last of her leftover paper wrappings back into the empty food parcel, then looked back up at him. “Now, I believe there is some sort of seduction you are supposed to engage in before that can occur, correct?”

It was a very educational night for both of them.