Chapter 30

The calm of the day disintegrated when Ocean Mist suddenly screamed from her position by the window. “Raid!”

Celestia and the others barely had a chance to think before the front door was kicked open. A squad of diamond dogs scurried into the building,trailed by an bulky minotaur officer. The dogs immediately set to tearing apart the house, searching, as the officer approached Flo.

“I’m deeply sorry for our intrusion,” he greeted Flo kindly. “But we need to search your house for weapons or any other forms of contraband. Remain seated and calm and we will be out of your hair shortly.”

“Be my guest,” Flo replied through clenched teeth.

Celestia sat at the kitchen table while Morning Mist sat beside her eating oats. Grains were the only food easily accessible to ponies due to the occupying forces claiming most of the food for themselves.
Celestia was shocked when the minotaur enter the room and sit across from them. He glanced at the Princess and smiled.

“Cute calf you have, pony,” he stated.

Flo smiled. “Thank you. She’s such a good girl.”

“I too have a daughter.” The minotaur leaned back and sat thoughtfully. “Oh, and sorry about your door. Scrabbler, one of the diamond dogs, thought knocking was overrated. I’ll send over a team to fix it when we’re done here. That is, if we don’t find anything.”

“Oh, we don’t have anything.” Flo pulled a loaf of bread from the cupboard. “Would you like something to eat while you wait?”

“Oh, thank you very much, miss. But no. I just had a nice meal at the barracks not that long ago.”

Cobalt and Tipple trotted into the kitchen, eyeing the minotaur anxiously. Celestia knew there was weaponry somewhere in the house and she guessed that the two stallions had been busy hiding it after Ocean Mist gave her warning.

“Good evening,” Cobalt greeted sharply.

“Likewise,” the minotaur replied with a smile.

A diamond dog appeared in the doorway. “Nothing was found, sir.”

“Good, very good.” The minotaur stood and faced Flo one last time. “As I promised earlier a crew will be out to fix your door.”

The minotaur gave a polite nod of the head to his hosts and left. Morning Mist, who had been sitting quietly the entire time chimed up, “He seems very nice!”

“Indeed he did,” Flo replied flatly. “Cobalt, where did you two hide the tools?”

“Under the attic floorboards.”

The mare nodded. “Keep them there. We don’t know how frequent these raids are going to be.”

“Sister!” Ocean Mist trotted in. “It’s your turn to be on watch.”

There was a rapping on the back door and everypony’s breath seemed to stop. They glanced at each other pensively.

“Who do you think that is?” Morning Mist whispered.

Before anyone could reply a stallion’s stern face appeared in the window. Celestia instantly recognised him as a bat pony. His yellow eyes stared at them questioningly.

“Are you going to let me in?” his muffled voice hissed through the window.

“I’ll be right there,” Cobalt called as he hurried out of the room.

“I hope he has some good news,” Flo sighed.

“Hi Shadow!” the two mist sisters chorused when the stallion returned with his bat winged friend.

“Hello.” Shadow said giving them both hugs.

Tipple watched the bat pony with a dark expression. Celestia on the other hoof sat gazing at Luna’s retired guard.

“Captain Shadow Breeze?” the princess exclaimed.

“That’s me.” He looked over at Celestia and tilted his head in confusion. “Who are you, little one?”

“I’m Dawn.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” He approached the table and sat down. “I have some important information for you.”

The others crowded around his as he pulled papers from a bag at his side. Celestia leaned forward to take a look as well but Flo stopped her.

“Why don’t you go to and play in the other room?”

Celestia opened her mouth to protest but quickly shut it and sulked out of the room. But the Princess remained close to the door in an attempt to listen in on the conversation.

“The first bit of news comes from Van Hoover and the battle over there. So far our forces are holding their own but an evacuation seems unlikely.”

“That’s old news,” Tipple said dismissively.

“Very well then.” The bat pony coughed and there was the sound of papers shuffling. “Admiral Turbulent Waters was spotted up by the palace and my source tells me that he is handing over important information and almost half of our warships to the enemy.”

“What!” Flo screamed.

“That traitor will pay,” growled Cobalt.

“Arrange an assassination on your own time.” There was a sound of rustling papers then Shadow spoke again. “I have some good news out of that though. A large percentage of our soldiers and civilians escaped on the largest warships and nearly all of our airships remained loyal too. All Blandire got was a bunch of crewless frigates, brigs and merchantmen. Though he did get most of the cannons and weaponry from all the ships.”

“But the ships of the line got away?” Cobalt asked hopefully.

“All except Turbulent Water’s flagship, yes.”

Celestia knew that Equestria had five ships of the line. They were old, slow and obsolete compared to more modern warships of other nations, but they were the backbone of the Equestrian Navy. One of them was already safe in the other fleet as Luna’s flagship, the Fortress. The three that got away were The Castle, The Barbican, and Celestia’s old flagship The Keep. Turbulent Waters’ flagship had been The Bastion.

“Not much good they will be, though,” Tipple moaned. “If all of their weaponry have been taken.”

“Tripple,” one of the Mist sisters replied. They sounded so much alike that Celestia didn’t know which one was talking. “Take whatever good news you can! Stop being such a downer.”

Tripple laughed. “You might think that I’m being a downer but in truth I’m just being practical.”

“‘In truth I’m just being practical’,” one of the Mist twins said in a mocking voice.

“Childish,” Tipple grunted.

Shadow cut in before any arguments could begin. “That’s not all of the news I bring. I snuck into the nearby minotaur camp with my brethren and snagged a few barrels of black powder. They're hidden a mile outside of town in some old farmer’s barn.”

“Is said farmer on our side?” Cobalt asked.

“Of course.”

There was a sound of a hoof patting Shadow on the back and Cobalt’s voice rang out. “I knew I could rely on you! And you doubted him, Tipple.”

All Tipple did was grunt.

“I’ll start spreading word to the others that our plans are being pushed to tomorrow night.” Flo walked out of the room with the others lagging behind. They gave Celestia no heed as they passed her. Flo continued, “How many bridges do you think we can blow with the explosives?”

“Three at the maximum.” Shadow peered uneasily out of the window before joining the others at their seats. “But I would only knock out two to make sure they go down. There’s only so much black powder a few ponies can smuggle out of a camp.”

“This is going to be so exciting!” Morning Mist clapped her hooves together. “I love fireworks!”

*

“I’m sorry but the Princess and the Generals are busy,” the royal guard stated. “You’ll have to come back la-”

He was cut short as Jeff shoved him and his partner aside. They left Zeus to guard the ponies as the Texan threw open the doors, followed by Bill.

“What is the meaning of this?” Patton demanded as he shot up from his desk.

“Sorry General, but we demand long overdue answers,” Jeff replied sharply. “As long as the Princess gives us the truth there will be no problems.”

Luna stared at him blandly. “Are you threatening me?”

Jeff shook his head. “No ma’am, I’m not threatening you. I’m threatening to withhold any help you receive from me and my crewmates.”

Patton growled, his hands resting on his revolvers. “Mutiny is punishable by death. Don’t make me put you down.”

Jeff decided to take a gamble. “You wouldn’t do that, sir. You are equally interested as us to learn the truth. If we are truly fighting on the right side.”

“Of fucking course I know what side I am fighting for!”

“But do you know why we are fighting?” Jeff glanced at Patton’s revolvers, knowing full well that the General probably wouldn't hesitate to shoot him if he crossed the line. “Why must we risk our lives?”

Patton didn’t answer, he just glared murderously at Jeff.

Lee, who had been quietly watching the engagement from a seat in the corner, stood. “Luna, it’s unwise to withhold information from subordinates.”

The Princess sighed. “It is true we have been withholding information, but only because we were afraid to reveal our past. To create the Elements of harmony, an entire nation of lives had to be sacrificed. It was the only way to defeat an ancient power and repair all of the damages he had done. We also didn’t want Twilight and her friends to learn that they hold what is essentially thousands of trapped souls within them.”

Jeff and Bill glanced at each other uneasily as Luna continued. “Blandire was away on a mission for the King when the Elements were created. His family, which we knew personally, were all consumed. What Blandire refuses to believe is that they willingly gave up their lives and now he views us as murderers.”

“You just sacrificed an entire nation to stop one person?” Jeff replied. “How does someone just do that? How could you just freely commit genocide?”

“This is why me and my sister were hesitant to tell you!” Luna’s voice caused the room to shake and Jeff knew he had hit a nerve. “You wouldn’t understand the position we were in, the decision we had to make! Discord was not the simple enemy that you think that he is. We had exhausted every other means!”

“But you just can’t throw away people’s lives! Will you throw away our lives that easily too?”

The Princess ground her teeth in frustration. “Why don’t you understand? You’re making the same mistake as Blandire! We didn’t take their lives, they gave their souls freely!”

Patton broke in. “The princesses already explained this to me. They described the nearly limitlessness and unpredictability of Discords power. I agree that it was their last hope.”

“I just don’t-” Jeff was cut short by Bill putting his arm on the younger man’s shoulder.

“We understand,” the Virginia stated uneasily.

Jeff sighed and nodded, finally allowing himself to try and understand Luna’s reasoning. “May I just ask, your highness, that we be better informed in the future?”

Luna nodded. “We didn’t want to keep secrets from you and your crewmates. My sister and I were just afraid of losing the only hope we had.”

“Speaking of your sister, and I beg your pardon,” Jeff added. “Since she is gone will we still be able to be sent home?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” The Texan nodded, a slight improvement in his mood was evident. He turned to Patton and saluted. “Sir, I apologise for my actions.”

“It’s fine,” the general huffed. “But don’t make a habit out of it. Now get out of here before I decide to add some form of punishment for your insubordination.”

Both humans saluted and left the room. Zeus was still outside with the two ponies when they exited. By the looks of it, the gunner had given both guards cigarettes and the trio was now smoking in a circle yet still eying each other, and Zeus’ gun, uneasily.

“Got the answers we need and surprisingly didn’t get shot,” Jeff said as they walked past. “Now to go apologize to Mother.”

“Oh fuck!” Bill gasped. “Ian’s probably a mess after we turned against him like that.”

Zeus hurried to catch up. “So I take it we are still fighting for the Ponies?”

“Yep,” Bill replied.

“That’s good.”

The shed that housed both tanks was never visited by the ponies. A fine place to get drunk.

Frederic held up his glass of schnapps to give another toast and Ian did likewise. “To all, as you Americans say, FUBAR moments that haven't killed us yet!”

Ian cheered. “Couldn’t has said bertter meself!”

They knocked back the drink and poured another round. Both commanders had been drinking for the last hour and the German crewmates and Matt stared at the pair with uneasy expressions. They too had been drinking but not near as much as Frederic and Ian.

“Uh, a toars- a toast to everyone that we love back home!” Ian nearly fell out of his seat as he raised his glass.

“Ve already toasted to that, my friend.” Frederic laughed. “But ve can toast to it again!”

Ian struggled to pour another glass. “Do yi ever get the-the feeling that you were never meant to be a leader?”

“On occasion, ja.”

“I’ve had two men die, er, under me command and now I fear I mught lose the rest.” The Lieutenant finally filled his glass and sipped it absentmindedly. “When blid things get so fucked up?”

“Probably being transported here is the first place to look,” Matt chimed from his place upon the Sherman. “That’s my guess.”

“Shert up, Shelly.” Ian hiccuped. “I hasn’t asking you but yes I berlieve that could be where the bull began.”

“There they are,” Bill said as he opened the door followed closely by Jeff and Zeus. “Looks like they're having a party.”

Matt waved at them. “Hi guys.”

“Hey lads! Tharnk the Holy Mary that Patton didn’t shoot you!” Ian stood, stumbled and gave the three of his men hugs. He caressed each one's face drunkenly like an overbearing mother. “I lerve ya boys and I is worried fer you!”

“You might not have noticed,” Matt laughed. “But mommy is drunk.”

“Mommy is very drunk.” Ian spun on his heels and stuck his middle finger up at the loader. “Fuck ye, Shelly!”

Matt laughed and took a swig from his own beverage.

Zeus shook his head in disbelief. “Well, Mother’s baby boys are back and very sorry for turning on him.”

“It’s all wa-water under the bridge, lads.” The lieutenant took another swig of alcohol. “Wha derd you find from Luna.”

Bill opened his mouth to reply but Ian cut him off. “Whit, don’t tell me. I don't remember any of it after tonight. So ernstead, lets drink!”

Day 28

Patton watched from the ship’s railings as the sun slowly creep over the water catching the still distant sails of Luna’s navy. The chugging of the airship’s steam engines growled in the foggy clouds above and the General looked up just in time to see a few of them drop down to their moorings on the hills.

“I never see sights like that back home.” Lee stated as he approached and stood next to the younger General. “At least in my time. Perhaps you see things like this in the 1900’s.”

Patton nodded. “There are things equally and even more awe inspiring.”

A pegasus darted overhead and before either of them could see who it was she entered Luna’s cabin. Moments later the pegasus exited along with an exhausted Luna.

“Generals, come with me,” the Princess shot before dragging them through a teleportation spell.

The trio appeared on a crowded wharf as the first ships were docking. Only a few ponies noticed their arrival due to the others being busy with the arriving navy. The decks of the ships were filled with ecstatic sailors and soldiers who wanted nothing more to be safe on dry land.

“Your highness!” General Shining Armor pushed through the masses. He looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion and seasickness. “What are my orders?”

“Go find your wife and get some rest.” Luna replied. “I won’t be asking anything of you for a while. Not until after we rebuild your army.”

Shining smiled wearily and saluted. “Yes, your highness.”

He quickly trotted away, a great weight obviously lifted from his shoulders. Ponies were starting to notice Luna and were starting to cheer.

“Why are they cheering me?” the Princess asked her human companions. “I have done nothing but help send them to their deaths.”

“Because they can see you, ma’am, and that gives them hope,” Patton replied. “Seeing you reassures them and lets them know that you actually care for them.”

Luna glanced at Patton with an uncertain expression before turning to Lee. The man in grey nodded his head. Luna’s mood lightened and she started to wave back to her ponies. Patton watched for a few moments before turning to Lee.

“I am going to go check up on my men and see how they are doing after our...engagement yesterday. Would you like to join me for proper introductions?”

“Yes General,” Lee adjusted his hat. “I would very much like to meet your men.”

“Very good,” Patton beamed. “But I must warn you they are a rowdy group.”

The older man smiled. “General Patton, I beg your pardon, but I have plenty of experience with rowdy soldiers.”

“Princess,” Patton nudged Luna to get her attention. “I am going to go see how my men are doing and I will be bringing General Lee with me.”

The Princess nodded. “That is fine, General.”

Patton saluted and turned away. “Follow me, General. It might take a while to find them if I am wrong but I bet they are in the tank shed.”

There was a knock on the door and Felix sat up with a start. He had been sprawled out across his beloved 8.8 cm fast asleep. He tried to nudge Udo awake but with limited success. The German loader looked around the room at the other humans still sleeping in strange positions on the ground and across their tanks.

Another knock.

Felix sighed, slid off of the Tiger and made his way to the door, stepping on Benjamin’s arm in the the process. The other German cursed sleepily but immediately slid back into unconsciousness. Felix opened the door and stared blearily at the two American generals looking back at him.

“Good morning. Uh, Felix, right?” Patton greeted.

“Ja.”

“Could you wake up the others?”

Felix looked at the others still sleeping behind him and shrugged. “Ja.”

The German walked to Frederic and politely roused him. The Tiger’s commander sat up and nodded towards the Generals. Felix then retrieved a large wrench from the side of their tank and started rapidly hitting the front hull armor. The loud clanging echoed through the shed and soon was joined by the curses and moans of the other men.

“Fucking hell!” Bill jumped to his feet and was about to make a beeline to Felix who was raising the wrench to defend himself. “I swear to god I’m gonna- General Patton, sir, and General Lee!”

The others, save for the Germans, shot up and stood at attention.

“At ease men.” Patton leaned against the Sherman and sighed. “I just came by to see how you are doing.”

“Quite well, sir,” Ian replied, his eyes bloodshot and tired from the hangover. “I hope my men didn’t give you too much trouble yesterday.

“Not at all.” Patton gave a glance at the three men that had confronted Luna. “I’m actually proud to have gutsy bastards like your crew here with me in Equestria. If I had pansy little whelps that were too afraid to stand up to a pony princess I would have probably shot them myself.”

“Hello General Lee.” Bill couldn't contain himself anymore and stuck out his hand for the Confederate to shake. “It’s an honor to meet my lifelong hero.”

Lee took it and gave the driver a strong shake. “I take it that you’re Bill Harper. Patton has told me about you, along with the rest of you of course. You’re a Virginian, correct?”

“Yes sir.” Bill’s eyes shined with excitement. “Born and raised.”

“Is my country still as beautiful as it was during my time?”

The tanker nodded. “Still as beautiful as ever.”

Lee nodded and seemed to fall into thought. Bill and the others watched him for a moment before Zeus chimed up.

“If you don’t mind me asking, sir, but how were you brought to Equestria?”

Lee took a deep breath and stared up at the ceiling. “It was July 14th, 1863 and I stood on the shores of the Potomac watching my army retreat back into Virginia after our worst defeat yet.”

“Gettysburg,” Bill muttered.

“Yes, Gettysburg. I will never forget the name of that small town.” The grey general nodded. “After a while I started to feel light and uneasy. It was as if some fatal illness was about to take me. I climbed off of Traveller and sought to rest myself upon a nearby stone wall. I had no sooner set foot upon the ground when Walter Taylor rushed to my side. He helped me to the wall all the while fretting over my health, God bless him. I sent Taylor to fetch me water and the moment he departed a dark flame wrapped itself around me and I believed myself to be dead. But instead I awoke in this land.”

“That’s pretty much the way we were brought here. With purple flames.” Bill pointed to the other men in the shed and lingered on the Tiger crew. “Cept they were trying to kill us the entire time.”

Frederic gave a passive wave before standing up. The German commander pulled out a pocket watch before motioning for his men to join him.

“It was a pleasure to meet you, General Lee,” Frederic said, shaking the older man’s hand. “But me and my men are going to get some food. Ve are on the line making cannons and ve vill need our strength.”

“Men,” Ian sighed. “I guess we need to get to work too. Frederic, would ya kindly save us a table at the mess hall?”

The German nodded before leaving. Both generals watched the Sherman crew get their things together before taking their leave as well.

“I still can’t believe I am able to speak to you!” Bill exclaimed before saluting both Generals.

Lee saluted in return. “Perhaps we can sit and talk about Virginia during a time when you aren't busy?”

“I would love that, sir.”

“Come on Bill!” Shelly’s voice called from outside and Bill gave another hasty salute to Lee before rushing out of the door.
Patton shook his head but an idea formed quickly in his mind.

“How would you like a tour of a U.S. Army tank?”

*

Twilight rushed through the crowded dirt streets of the makeshift city searching for any sign of her brother. The mare knew that she would most likely find him wherever Cadence was but the ever-changing city made it nearly impossible to remember the location of any one building. She passed long columns of soldiers heading to their new camps with their tattered flags fluttering in the ocean wind. One column in particular though caught her eye. No flag they carried above them, only the bodies of the wounded and dying.

Cadence was head nurse so Twilight reasoned that they were heading to the nearest hospital where she would hopefully find both her sister in law and brother. She fell in beside them and tried not to let her eyes linger on the festering wounds or the moaning ponies.

She found Shining standing outside of hospital 3 watching the wounded file past him. An officer stood next to him but the General didn’t seem to be listening.

“Hey Twi!” Shining exclaimed when he saw his sister running up to give him a strong hug. “How are you, sis?”

“I’m fine.” Twilight looked him over and was startled to see how weary and beaten down he looked. “How are you?”

“Better now that I am somewhere safe.” He looked over his shoulder into the hospital. “I was given leave to spend time with Cadence but when my fighting ended her’s began. So I’ve gone back to work.”

“Sir, can we discus this one last thing? Then I will let you be,” the officer Shinning had been talking too interjected.

Shining nodded. “Yes, of course. Twi, one moment.”

“Sir,” the officer continued. “What shall we do with the battered regiments and brigades, primarily the Charger brigade and the 12th? Stone Tower and Luna are thinking about consolidating the regiments into different brigade’s regiments?

“No, no,” Shining shot. “I will not dissolve the Charger Brigade. I won’t have such good fighting ponies be separated. Consolidate the remnants of the 12th into the 7th and find me two more regiments to supplement the brigade. Preferably regiments that are showing promise and are well disciplined.”

“Yes, sir. I will see what I can scrounge up.” The officer saluted. “I will speak to you latter, sir.”

Shining saluted in return and turned back to Twilight. “Lets find somewhere quieter to talk.”

“Not very many places are quiet right now,” Twilight said before entering a state of thought. “But I might know a place that is relatively calm.”

Twilight pushed open the shed door and peered around. At first she was relieved that the humans weren't inside but there was a noise by the American’s tank and she looked over to see Patton and Lee staring back at her from a small table in front of the machine. A field stripped M1919 between them. The Confederate General had an expression of simple interest while the younger man beamed like a child showing a new friend all of his amazing toys.

“Oh sorry,” Twilight backed away. “I shall go somewhere else.”

She closed the door behind her and sat down in the grass. Shining joined her and leaned up against the shed wall.

“It’s fairly quiet out here,” he stated.

Twilight nodded but remained silent for a while. Eventually she spoke. “When do you go back into the war?”

“Don’t know yet.” Shining watched an airship loiter overhead. “Whenever the army is ready for me to lead it again and whenever Luna has a place for me to take it.”

“How long do you think that will take?”

Shining shrugged. “At least not until after winter.”

Twilight sat up and looked hopefully at her brother. “So you won’t be doing anything until after winter?”

“Winter is a time of preparation before spring. I’ll still be busy though.”

Twilight smiled. “That’s okay. At least you won’t be in danger.”

Author's Notes:

Sorry it took me so long to post this.