Legends of Ponyville: The Bear that Survived
by The Darling Cookie
First published
There once was a man whom was known as "the Bear that Survived" in Ponyville legend. However it seems the ponies of Ponyville have forgotten what his name actually was and who he was. The Cutie Mark Crusaders about to find out from an unlikely source
There once was a man, a man of great strength and courage whom was from a distant land long ago. From an early age, this man learned to never fear, to always be brave in order to protect his fellow people and to stand up for what was right. This man was unlike any other; despite all odds he survived every deadly situation he came across, earning him the nickname "the Bear that Survived" among the residents of Ponyville and his former kin. But who was this man really? A legendary hero of old fabled tales from another world or the legends told around Ponyville? Or was he just an ordinary man? The Cutie Mark Crusaders about to find out from an unlikely source!
Written by me The Daring Cookie, (aka Mydarkcookie) :P, artwork from a Zvezda WWII model kit.
Ch. 1 - Discovering the legend
A young filly looked out of a slightly aged window, staring out into the lush fields of the Apple farm and noticing that the Sun was starting to rise to its most glorious position. She wondered about how the day might proceed and what could possibly happen but was interrupted by the beginning of dawn. She knew from a very early age that every day the Moon and Sun fight over control of the day, while being fair at the same time, hence the reason why the two took turns. She quitely watched as she was captivated by the Sun's eventual triumph over the Moon's rule because she knew who the two really symbolized and will always continue to symbolize; the royal Princesses whom were balanced in both power and meaning. Pretty soon, little shards of light started breaking over the horizon, illuminating the filly's bright red mane and ultimately declaring the winner of the brief, yet beautiful battle. She then decided to look behind her and call out to the other two fillies who were sleeping nearby in a peaceful manner.
"Hey Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo! Wake up! We got cutie marks to get!" she called out to them, not at all careful about the volume of her voice.
Applebloom continued looking at her two friends, whom were sound asleep enjoying pleasant dreams and whom were also unaffected from her call to them. She knew that the two were heavy sleepers and knew that no matter how much shouting or yelling she did, it woud fail each and every time. So Applebloom then conceived of a particular method to wake them up. She trotted over to a pillow on a couch in the room they were in, picked it up and threw the pillow at Scootaloo's head, sastified with her immediate result from Scootaloo's disgruntled grunt.
"Hey! What the heck!?" Scootaloo angrily grunted, rubbing her eyes from her sudden awakening and glaring at Applebloom upset.
Applebloom snickered at how Scootaloo attempted to comb her messy mane because she was struggling to do so due to her uncontrollable fit of yawning that erupted.
"Yeah yeah keep laughing. I'm gonna get you back!" Scootaloo laughed to Applebloom after she managed to finish her yawning.
Applebloom giggled because she knew Scootaloo really meant it and would do anything to get even with her. Scootaloo then poked Sweetie Belle in the side softly, causing her to wake up with ease.
"Yeah? Huh?" Sweetie Belle mumbled, smiling dumbly at the other two.
"Come on Sweetie Belle, time to get some cutie marks! Duh!"
"Oh yeah. Right!"
The trio then got up, careful not to make too much noise for Applebloom's grandmother might wake up. The trio's attempts however were in vain as they heard the familiar feeble sound of Granny Smith.
"Are y'all up already? Oh golly, that was quick."
Applebloom and the other two fillies quickly jumped back into their former sleeping positions, quietly hushing to another to shut up which just resulted in more noisy giggling.
"My ears might not be what they used to be but I know a sleepless filly when I hear one. I used to be a filly too! I hear y'all giggling other there!" Granny Smith called out softly and weakly to them.
The trio all huddled together under one blanket in a final attempt to "appear" asleep, the excitement of trying to pretend to be asleep proving to be all too much for them.
"Shhhshshh! Shhshssh!" Sweetie Belle attempted to hush the other two but broke out in a fit of giggling.
"Stop! Stop gig-hahAHAHA!" Scootaloo tried saying but failed.
Applebloom smiled at them but managed to supress her giggling just enough to gesture to the other two that she was going to take a look to see if Granny Smith was there. So Applebloom, with her heart thundering, decided to slowly lower the blanket the trio was using in order to peep over and was met by a smiling Granny Smith standing across from her.
"Oh darn it! She knows we're awake!" Applebloom meeped.
"Awh man!" Scootaloo complained.
"Dang it!" Sweetie Belle whined.
Granny Smith smiled at the trio as they threw the blanket away in their shattering defeat of concealment.
"Well I see y'all are awake now. Don't be so glum. You did a good job and because of that, I'ma tell you a story. A legend as a matter of fact. This legend is called "The Bear that Survived". Now this legend is not of the faint of heart but I can see y'all are anything but the faint of heart" she finished, slightly chuckling at the eager fillies.
Now normally fillies in Ponyville, especially in a more modern Ponyville, would not even listen to what elders have to say. But in this case, Granny Smith was totally unique in this sense. If there was ever a pony exceptional at tales told by fireplaces, Granny Smith was it. The trio knew this and quickly discarded their feeling of abashment for a more appropriate feeling of excitement in the story, no legend they were going to recieve. Granny Smith continued looking at the fillies, amazed at how excited they seemed to hear the story she had.
"Oh dear, by the looks of it y'all can't wait! I was gonna wait til' after breakfast but I guess I'll dive right into it!"
"Yayyy!" the trio all exclaimed together happily, almost boucing up when they did so collectively.
The trio then all took their listening positions and gathered around Granny Smith as she sat down in her usual storytelling chair, rocking her chair and licking her lips as she said her first words of the legend.
There once was a man called "The Bear that Survived".... Granny Smith started, her memories flooding back in her mind and causing her to mentally teleport back in time, making her remember the events as if they were freshly done the day before.
Ch. 2 - The Bear is Born
December 1944
The Eastern Front, near East Prussia.
There were two men clad in heavy winter gear and one of them was standing erect while the other was kneeling by a rock. Both of them were wearing Red Army uniforms which instead of their original kaki color were now white with the light snowfall. However it seemed the two men were completely unphased by the cold due to their lack of shivering or complaining, despite the somewhat windy and frosty conditions. Both faces of the men showed beginning signs of frostbite, with the redness accumlating from the cold weather and the frosty joints of their hands yet both men showed no sign of fatigue from the cold. In fact, both men showed determination, unfaltered by the wind or snow and spoke as if there was no cold winds blowing in their faces.
"How long have we been on frontlines? Long time eh?" asked the standing soldier.
The kneeling soldier nodded his head, replying with no shivering.
"For 3 years ever since Hitler attacked us. We've been out here by ourselves for long time."
"Da comrade. But now our people are back once again. We are not alone. We have purpose again besides surviving behind enemy lines."
The standing soldier pulled out some papers out of his bag, read the papers and spoke outloud again.
"Take objective Rasna. It is a German outpost located near your vicinity. There have been reports of sniper fire."
"Pretty specific eh?"
Both soldiers laughed at the kneeling soldier's remark. However after their short laughter together, the standing soldier spoke again.
"Do you see them? Over there, over by rocks. Look at them. Playing poker yet anticipating anything. But look comrade, take second look. Now do you see it? Do you see reason why they are so anxious? They are kids comrade. Kids. Huh. Can't believe it eh? Der Führer is losing this war. Only way he can win in his own opinion- use all men, even little boys! It saddens me comrade but war is war- we must do what we must to survive. After all, it is just the two of us out here. 'Reinforcements won't come until later today' says the paper" said the standing soldier, wisps of mist flying around with each pause as he pointed to distant figures.
The soldier who just spoke looked over his shoulder to the younger and kneeling Private right next to him and shrugged.
"Cold eh Dmitri?" the standing soldier asked the Private while he put up his papers in his bag, changing the subject at hand.
"Da. Reminds me of home. But I'm not complaining" replied the private with a frosty breath.
The standing soldier chuckled a little at Dmitri and raised an eyebrow covered in ice.
"Is that so?" the standing soldier asked sarcastically.
"Da Sasha. You should know this to be true bastard!"
Sasha and Dmitri both laughed, their breaths both combining into a small cloud of mist.
"Oh comrade it has been long time since last laugh. Heh. It's good to laugh again, especially in times of war." Sasha said.
Dmitri nodded his head and looked over and up to Sasha, who was still staring at the Germans in the distance. He kept looking at Sasha, noticing how weathered his face was and the streaks of grey running through his hair on the sides of his ushanka. Dmitri knew that Sasha was older than him and of higher rank but didn't actually know his age.
"Hey Sasha" Dmitri began.
"Da?" Sasha replied.
"How old are you comrade?"
Sasha smiled without looking at Dmitri and rested his hands on his hips.
"Old enough to have served in both World Wars." he said proudly.
"Wow. That is long time comrade."
"Da Dmitri. Da, it is. I've seen plenty Dmitri but what I've never seen is so much hatred until I first came across Nazi in Stalingrad.."
Sasha paused for a second and looked at the ground in thought then resumed his staring of the Germans as he continued what he was saying.
"...It amazes me comrade how much Nazi and Hitler hate the Jews. Personally I don't like them either. But I do not kill without reason. The Nazi's are murderers- killers without reason besides what their Führer tells them what to do. That, comrade, is a hard concept to fight. How do you fight ideology? You don't. You can only fight those who practice it and if that involves children, then so be it like what happened in Stalingrad. Oh Stalingrad...how we almost lost it. Never again Dmitri. Never again. That is why we must make them pay Dmitri. For what they did to our women, our children, our people. The price? Their blood and their capital, Berlin." Sasha gloomily finished, the light snow starting to build up on his shoulders and the top of his ushanka.
Sasha exhaled and looked over to Dmitri, who looked back at him.
"Well you know what time it is comrade."
Dmitri nodded and drew his rifle, aiming in the direction of the distant Germans.
"Remember Dmitri. Make them pay." Sasha gruffed, handing Dmitri a couple of grenades and some ammunition.
Sasha grimmaced at Dmitri, gave him a slight nod and drew his Ppsh-41. He then turned around and headed down the slightly steep hill they were on slowly and carefully. Dmitri watched Sasha carefully walk down the hill and made sure he was covered. However as Dmitri was watching Sasha, a flash of white grabbed his attention as it shined in his eyes.
"Sniper....but where?" Dmitri softly said to himself.
He scanned the immediate area and could only see Sasha's now small figure and the Germans. Dmitri knew he had to kill the sniper otherwise the sniper would alert the other Germans of Sasha's presence. But if he did choose to do so, the Germans would still know of their presence. Slowly but surely Dmitri was running out of time and his decision had to be made fast, for his and Sasha's sake.
CRAAACCKKK!
CRAAACCKKK!
CRAAACCKKK!
The loud gunshot of Dmitri's rifle echoed around in the immediate area, causing the Germans at the makeshift outpost to postpone their game of poker. Dmitri had done it; he doomed the both of them.
"Get up and move! Move dammit!" a German officer yelled at the lazy soldiers in the distance.
Dmitri watched as the Germans scrambled to respond, even a couple of them tripping over one another. Dmitri almost laughed at the silly sight occurring but knew he could not do such thing, especially when his comrade's life was directly on the line.
"Come on Sasha, you can do this!"
Sasha was already down on the ground for cover, looking over to Dmitri and signaling at him.
"I'm okay. Cover me. I'm going." Sasha signaled.
Dmitri responded and signaled that he was going to go down there.
"NIET! Stay put." Sasha signaled back.
Dmitri, now frustrated at Sasha's order, exhaled and nodded, signaling that he understood. Sasha nodded his head and continued his advance on the Germans but not before he signaled one more thing.
"For Mother Russia!" he signaled, hitting his fist on his chest and smiling at Dmitri.
"You're one crazy bastard Sasha. One crazy bastard." Dmitri said to himself, chuckling and smiling back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For a long time the Bear did not tell me what happened at that exact moment. He sheltered what had happened and always stopped talking whenever it was mentioned. There was even one time where he did not talk for 8 days. 8 days! I imagine that would be too difficult for you fillies to do. *laughter from the trio*. However, with time, he finally told me what had happened that fateful day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Heh Sasha, oh Sa-"
"Right over there! Right there! There he is! Kill him!" shouted a German soldier.
Dmitri's face became wrought with horror as he saw the Germans scrambling over to Sasha's location and immediately causing him to react recklessly.
CRAACCCKKK!
A German soldier that was running slowed down, his knees buckling under him as his mouth became filled with his own blood and as a result, fell to the ground harshly.
"Sasha! SASHA!" Dmitri howled over the wind, running down the hill after him.
Sasha reacted to the Germans quickly, firing at them with courage and attempting to stand his ground. Sasha quickly mowed down any single German within 20 feet of him but eventually the Germans started overwhelming him with a superior deadly swarm of bullets, causing the snow beneath Sasha's feet to become as red as the Soviet flag. Despite being shot and injured horribly, Sasha continued to fight back, yelling with his dying screams that Mother Russia will live. Dmitri, witnessing Sasha's death and screaming with all of his might, bolted directly towards the Germans, not at all caring about his life but that of his fallen comrade.
"You BASTARDS!!! YOU'LL PAYY! ALL OF YOU!" Dmitri yelled, tears forming in his eyes and his anger fomenting.
The Germans looked over to the screaming Soviet sprinting at them and were both amazed and terrified at the same time from his courage.
"DIEE! DIIIIEEE!"
Dmitri reached Sasha's body and picked up his weapon, somehow dodging bullets and reaching the Germans that were standing in the outpost. He punched the first one whom he saw, pulled out that soldier's knife from that soldier's belt and stabbed him in his gut, all while the other Germans were shooting at Dmitri. Dmitri then ran to the next soldier, striking him in the gut with a bayonet on his rifle with a powerful charge, thrusting the man to the ground and slamming his boot down on the soldier's throat, causing it to rupture with immense bleeding.
"RRRAAAAAWWWWHHH!" Dmitri bellowed, his thundering and mighty war cry shaking the very snow the soldiers were standing on.
The few remaining Germans looked at Dmitri with such fear that they could do nothing but utter one thing.
"The Bear that Survived" they all said with their dying breaths as Dmitri killed them all with Sasha's PPsh-41, firing at their dead bodies even after they were dead until the weapon ran out of ammo.
"Die you bastard...die..." Dmitri said to himself quietly, the empty clicking noise repeating in his ears until he dropped the gun and walked over to Sasha.
Tears started falling down Dmitri's face, landing in the snow surrounding his fallen comrade and causing Dmitri's nose to become congested as he started sniffling. Sasha's body layed in the snow in front of him, his blood in the snow still fresh and his body still warm. Dmitri dropped to his knees slowly and kneeled in front of Sasha's body, grabbing Sasha's right hand and raising it up to his chest.
"You were like second father to me Sasha. If I have kid, I will name him after you. No one will forget your name, I promise. You will be remembered my friend, my comrade. Rest in peace comrade, rest in peace."
Dmitri then softly lowered Sasha's hand back down and passed his hand over Sasha's eyes, closing them in a sign of respect. He then reached into his bag and pulled out his towel. This towel wasn't any normal towel; it was one Dmitri's mother made for him when he was a child. It was a beautiful towel and had the colors of the Mexican flag on it, as well as traditional illustrations of skulls from the Day of the Dead.
"Here comrade. My mother made it for me when I was very young. May you use it wherever you are now comrade."
Dmitri then rested the towel over Sasha's head, the Mexican eagle safeguarding Sasha's body as Dmitri chanted a saying in Spanish commemorating the memory and legacy of his fallen comrade. Dmitri gave one more respectful nod to Sasha then got up, retrieving Sasha's orders and putting Sasha's gun on the snow next to him with his helmet on top of it as well.
"Goodbye my friend." Dmitri said to Sasha, turning around and walking away, towards the next objective.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Bear that Survived was perhaps the strongest man that ever lived. When I first met him I was astonished at how peaceful and sound he was. I didn't know he was the kind of man that I just described- how could I? Those are things that only experienced and wise ponies could tell and when I first met the Bear, I was just a young mare who wasn't either experienced or wise. What I just told y'all was only the beginning of how he became the Bear on Earth. But what's dinner if dessert has been eaten first? I suppose we should save the best for last, right? *There are murmurs of agreement* Oh alrighty then I should tell y'all about the day I met the Bear. It was quite some time ago, way before any of you young ones were around. Oh golly, that was so long ago. It all started when I met this young famous adventurous mare named Daring Do...
Ch. 3 - Oh, How Dare You!
There was a khaki colored young pony standing in a grassy field with the sun as her shoulders and a wide grin on her face. She appeared to be clothed in a scruffy manner; her shirt was covered in grime and her mane caked in dirt. What was worse was the helmet she was adorning; she had the nerve to wear it slanted. Out of all possible ways one could wear a helmet, this mare chose to wear it slanted. Oh may the Princesses spare this mare but even the Princesses would have to admit she did look good. After all, in her opinion, she thought wearing the hat in a slanted manner made a fashion statement, even if it was a controversial one.
"How dare me" she softly said to herself, chuckling as she did so.
She started trotting with a steady pace through the field with no particular designation in mind, because that's what adventerous explorers do. Right? Right?? Her focus started drifting away towards the sky and then....
BAMM!!!
"Ow, watch where yer goin'!" a female voice yelled at her.
It was like lighting hit our young and adventerous and dashing and magnific...
"Hey, I'm talkin' to you!" the same voice said once again.
The young and bashful mare looked over to the stern voice calling out to her, slightly upset she dared to interupt...
"Hey! I know you can hear me! Hello! Heeelllllloooo!!" called out the voice once again.
Well as much as our young and courageous hero would like to continue to self-narrate, it looks like fate had anoth-
"Oh come on, are you gonna say somethin' or what? How dare you not speak. Your momma should've taught you better!" the young and...rather...exquist mare in front of her started to tell her, her voice gradually gaining volumne.
Our adventerous hero found herself at a lost of words for she was distracted by the dashingly beautiful mare in front of her and was completely in disbelief that the voice floating around belonged to her. As a result, our hero only managed to utter this weirdly mumbled sentence.
"I...uh..heh..uh..umm..."
The mare in front of her raised an eyebrow, clearly upset at her lack of words.
"Well I can't say that you didn't say nuthin'. Well let's start with this. What's yer name?"
Our young hero, with her cheeks ablaze with a lovely shade of red, managed to state what her name was.
"Daring Do!' she said rather too fast, earning a chuckle from the young mare in front of her.
"Well nice to meet ya' Daring Doo. I'm Anabelle Apple Smith or Annie for shorts. You can call me what you'd like to."
Anabelle Apple Smith smiled at the blushing Daring Doo and gave her a curt nod while slightly bowing in courtesy at the same time.
"I'm uh..sorry about bumping into you..it's just I was, you know, exploring." Daring Doo said, emphasizing exploring with her eyes.
"It's okay hun, no harm done. Just next time be mindful where you trot. So Daring Doo, if you don't mind me askin', what brings you to Ponyville?"
Daring Doo smiled, for she was super excited and couldn't wait to tell a fellow explorer what it was she sought.
"The Eye of Maxon! Legend has it that it is located in a grand field, near apples of magical properties. It's so awesome trust me! I gotta find it! No, we gotta find it! Yeah!" Daring Doo said, bounding in glee when she did.
Annie raised an eyebrow not in suspicion but in curiosity however to Daring Doo she could not tell due to the ambiguity of Annie's face.
"So you think it's here in my ma's and pa's land?"
"Exactly! It's gotta be here, I know it!"
Daring Doo then took off her backpack and proceeded to open it up, spilling out its contents without care until a certain crusty old piece of paper fell out. Daring Doo bended over to pick up the old piece of paper and opened it up, revealing a map of all of Equestria. Immediately Annie could see a huge red mark over a empty patch of paper, right in the vicinity of where Ponyville is now.
"Right there Annie! Right there! So that means.." Daring Doo said, starting to trail off.
Annie followed the robust adventurer, amazed at how certain Daring Doo was. She also looked behind the two of them, a little worried at how careless Daring Doo was of her possessions that were now several meters behind them.
"Hey umm Mrs, you left some stuff back there."
"That's fine. It's irrelevant. We're about to find something more awesome then just 'some stuff'. Just watch!"
Daring Doo smiled grandly at Annie, her beautiful teeth almost blinding Annie as she pointed at the ground where the Eye of Maxon was.
"You are somethin', I'll give you that Daring Doo. I suppose ponies don't call you that for fun."
"Yeah. It's because I'm a explorer. Hey you're not that much different than me Annie. You're a pioneer. So ispo facto, we're the same haha!"
"What's ispo facto?"
But before Annie's question could be answered, the ground started shaking and the earth beneath their hoofs cracked open, revealing a secret cave. Almost immediately Annie retaliated, angered at what Daring Doo did to her family's land. But Daring Doo raised a hoof, pausing Annie's remarks and went into the newly formed cave. Annie reluctantly followed and the two of them explored the somewhat small cave, noticing at how cool it was despite the hot summer day above them.
"So the Eye of Maxon is somewhere in this cave and it is said that upon discovering it you will be confronted by a legendary bear who will protect it. Huh. That's weird right Annie?"
Click!
The duo stopped in their tracks as they heard what sounded like a metallic click. To what the click belonged to the duo did not know.
"That's far enough. You stop there, no more." grunted a male voice, although this voice did not sounded like it belonged to Ponyville or even Equestria at all. The voice was accented but with what accent was not known to the duo.
"Daring Doo, is that the Bear that your..uh..fancy map tells you about?"
Daring Doo looked to where Annie was pointing and was surprised to see something standing at the other side of the cave. Behind the thing, there was the fabled Eye of Maxon, in all of its shining glory.
"Ohhh...awesome!" Daring Doo said to herself softly.
However Annie broke the silence amongst the three of them.
"It's strange Daring Doo, he don't look like a bear to me. Looks like one of them humans those old crazy stories used to talk about."
"But howdidya-how-what!? How did you get the Eye of Maxon?" Daring Doo asked the human.
The human, his stance still strong and his eyes fierce, spitted out his answer.
"From a dead German. Looks like he doesn't need it anymore."
The human then pointed to a, what was presumed by the duo, a dead human right next to him.
"Oh boy, I didn't see this coming. Well Mister, it's been nice talking to you but I came here for adventure and that my friend is totally in spirit. We're not gonna try to steal it from you or anything. I mean, she just came along for the ride." Daring Doo said, pointing at Annie when she finished.
The human just continued staring at them, the weirdly pointy metallic object in his hands still pointed towards them. However after what seemed like forever he finally spoke back to them.
"Where am I?" he grunted in question.
Daring Doo looked over to Annie and Annie stepped forward a little, causing the human to react right away.
"I said far enough! This is it; any further and you die. Got that?" the human angrily said to the duo.
However despite how intimating the human was, Annie was not scared. After all, her and her family had been through more terrifying experiences then this one and with confidence, she knew this human meant no harm.
"Ponyville Mister. You're in Equestria, the land of the Ponies" she said proudly, smiling when she finished and slightly sticking her chest out as well.
"Ponyville eh? Equestria, land of Ponies?" the human said back, seemingly unaffected by the new information he received.
"I suppose you're not from here, right? Where are you from Mister? We're friendly ponies, we want to help everypony we can and we mean no harm."
The human, now his face becoming more friendly, pointed to a red star on what appeared to be his hat.
"Soviet Union. It is like your Ponyville, except much larger. It is part of bigger planet, and that planet is called Earth. I am surprised you speak same language as I comrade." the man said, heartily laughing as he did so and lowering the object in his hands.
Annie smiled at the human, surprised at how different he could be from his unexpected friendliness now and quite relieved as well. Daring Doo then trotted right next to Annie and asked a question.
"So what's your name Mister?" Daring Doo asked, smiling at the man.
"Dmitri Durchenko, a name given to me by my father Mikhail Durchenko. What is your name comrades?"
"Daring Doo! I'm a explorer and this is my friend Anabelle Apple or Annie for short who is a pioneer. So yeah we're like both explorers."
"Explorers eh? That is most good comrades, it takes much courage to be explorer. Okay well time to tell you what I am. I am soldier of Red Army. This here," he said pointing at the dead German, "is a soldier from German Army. Where I come from, there is great war." he finished, looking at the ground solemnly and back at the ponies in front of him.
Dmitri then put up his rifle and found a rock in the cave to sit on. He then opened his backpack, taking out a ration and opened it with his knife. Daring Doo and Annie approached him slowly, keeping their distance but were both intrigued by this soldier.
"I've done plenty comrades, perhaps too much to say. I could sit here and tell story but I will not. Instead, I will eat ration because I am most hungry and tired. Then after that, you show me town. Maybe we all end up happy. Perhaps I even find drink! Sound like plan?"
Daring Doo and Annie nodded at Dmitri and Dmitri smiled at them.
"You act like you never met human before. Then again, I have never met talking ponies before. I guess we are not so much different, are we?" Dmitri said, chuckling with his deep laugh.
"Oh umm Dee-me-tree, is it?" Annie asked Dmitri, who smiled at her good attempt at pronouncing his name.
"Da Comrade. Very good pronunciation. I like accent."
Annie smiled at Dmitri, flattered that he said that because most ponies, especially Canterlot ponies did not see her accent in the same way.
"Well I like your's too Dmitri. Anyways I know you're gonna love Ponyville. Besides, I make some mean zap applesauce!" Annie said to Dmitri, who raised an eyebrow in response to hearing applesauce.
"Oh boy, I sense something in this cave! Hehe" Daring Doo said, causing Annie to blush a little.
However little did Daring Doo know that what she sensed was not necessarily the blushing of Annie but the impending fire coming from down deeper in the cave.
"Comrades, is it me or is it hot?" Dmitri asked, looking behind him.
"Oh golly, what in Celestia is that? I know that ain't no pony with a lamp." Annie said, watching the light far down the cave starting to gradually get bigger.
"That's fire. Yep that's fire. Awesome!"
Both Dmitri and Annie looked at Daring Doo and all she managed to say back was,
"What? Was it something I said?"
Dmitri chuckled at Daring Doo and Annie smirked.
"Come comrades, let's move. We will make it out, trust me."
Dmitri then grabbed his things and the Eye of Maxon as well. Annie and Daring Doo galloped towards the exit, with Dmitri behind them sprinting. Daring Doo was the first up out of the cave, and looked back at Annie, whom was starting to go up the exit.
"Annie you got this! Dmitri and I are here!"
"Oh, I ain't so good with climbin'! I don't know if I can make it!"
"You will comrade, trust yourself! You'll make it!" Dmitri called out behind her.
"See? You will, trust us." Daring Doo said with a smile.
Annie smiled back and grabbed Daring Doo's extended hoof. But before Annie could make it to the ground, she slipped on the mud and almost fell, if it weren't for Dmitri's lucky catch.
"Gotcha. Come on, up we go!"
Surprisingly Dmitri was able to get up the cave on his own, even with Annie in his arms and all of the equipment he was carrying. He quickly and proficiently climbed up out of the cave's steep exit, jumping out and landing on his boots. He then put Annie down, whom in thanks slightly bowed to him.
"How were you able to do that? That was AMAZING!" Daring Doo exclaimed.
"Oh well back home in Soviet, I learned to do that quickly. I had to, if I wanted to go home to Father, who lived in mountains."
"Well thank you, that was mighty kind of you Dmitri. Well I suppose you'll be needing a place to stay and get yourself gathered, right?."
"Well yes, that would be great comrade. But only for short time. This right here," Dmitri said, pointing at the Eye of Maxon,"will get me home. My true home, Mother Russia."
"Oh yeah, I totally forgot the Eye of Maxon has the ability to send the user through time and space." Daring Doo said plainly, as if there were no large significance to the words she just uttered and smiled dumbly when she did so.
Annie looked over to Daring Doo with a surprised look on her face and back to Dmitri.
"Your friend is not wrong, except for name. Where did you get such funny name? Haha no comrade, it is not called Eye of Maxon. It is called the-"
Daring Doo at that moment realized the real reason why she had even came to Ponyville in the first place. It was to warn the new town of the dragon underneath its grounds and she thought that she could be the pony to defeat it. She knew that the dragon loved to gathered treasure and the Eye of Maxon was a valuable piece of treasure thought to be lost long ago which also drew in dragons like sharks to blood. That's why she said fire earlier! Oh Daring, how dare you!
"There's a dragon guys! A dragon!"
Dmitri and Annie gave Daring Doo a baffled look but the ground underneath them shaking again confirmed what Daring Doo had said.
"A dragon?" Dmitri asked, not receiving an answer.
The ground erupted underneath them, ripping apart as a large metallic body slithered out from underneath the ground. Giant scaly wings unfolded, taking up half of the sky and effectively blocked the sun, casting a cold shadow on the three of them. Dmitri drew his weapon and aimed it towards the unfolding dragon who only seemed to get bigger and bigger. Eventually the massive beast finished growing in size, towering well above Dmitri and his companions.
"Oh golly...oh golly.." Annie stuttered, backing up with the other two.
The now unearthed dragon lowered its long and vine-like neck to the trio's eye level, its' eyes consisting of a warm amber color.
I believe one of you has what I want. The Eye of Maxon. Where is it? a voice said in all of their minds.
The dragon's eyes darted back and forth over the three, pausing for a little moment on each of them.
Oh look. It's Daring Doo. Who are your companions this time? It does not matter. They will fail and I will acquire what I desire. But you know the game. Answer my riddles and perhaps you may succeed. Fail and you shall end up with a fiery demise.
Daring Doo stepped closer to the dragon, lifting her head highly and speaking strongly.
"Oh Axtral, the 'cunning' one. Doesn't matter 'cause I'll beat you like last time!" she said defiantly.
How dare you Daring Doo to mock my title. Your insolence-
"So what? Are we playing stupid game or what?" Dmitri interrupted.
A witty pet human. It has been a while since a human last challenged me. How pathetic they are and how weak. No magic, no strength, no flight. Only one blow and they are broken. This should be fun. Okay, we will play pathetic human. But you must take turns. It has to be fair, does it not? Who is first?
Daring Doo grinned and stepped forward once again. The dragon seemingly laughed with its eyes at Daring Doo before starting the 'game'.
What grows and follows the sun but never moves?
"A tree Axtral. ANY pony knows that!"
Clever, very clever Daring Doo but you will be mine one day. One day...who is next?
Dmitri stepped forward, his weapon still drawn and his fierce gaze fixed on the dragon's huge eyes.
What flies around the world but never touches the ground?
Dmitri stood there in thought, looked to his side and the sky before returning his gaze on the dragon.
"The moon." he grunted.
The dragon then snorted with dislike, smoke floating out of its nostrils from its apparent annoyance.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Pathetic human. Looks like you are next, Earth Pony.
Annie stepped forward, her fear apparent but her courage not lacking.
You're scared, aren't you? Never seen a dragon? Oh don't worry, I won't kill you....yet.
The dragon slowly crawled closer to Annie and Annie could feel its hot breaths on her face and mane, causing her to squirm from the uncomfortable situation.
"That's close enough!" Both Daring Doo and Dmitri yelled at the dragon.
Alright, let's continue the game. What is round like a apple, deep like a cup but all the king's horses and men could not pull it up?
Annie thought long and hard about the answer, searching through her memories for the answer. Alas, she found it from when she was a little filly, her memories floating back several years ago.
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"Hey Pa, how was life way back then? Like way back then?"
"What did ya' have in mind there, Annie?"
Papa Acorn smiled at his daughter Anabelle, whom looked back at him with a smile and a pleading look. It looked like he was forced to answer from Annie's innocent yet charming look.
"Oh alright then you! A long, long time ago there was a ancient land with horses and men. Yes men! And in that land, they had wells, much like us. Except for some reason they liked to talk in riddles in everyday talk. So instead of them folks talkin' like us, they would talk in riddles."
"Riddles? So they even had a riddle for a well?"
"They sure did Little Annie. Wanna hear it?"
Annie eagerly nodded her head to her Pa, whom chuckled in response.
"Well I ain't one of those folk from long ago but I imagine this is how it would go. What is round like an apple, deep like a cup but all the king's horses n' men could not pull it up?"
Annie gave a look of confusion to her Pa, whom noticed this and asked what she was confused about.
"Well I dunno Pa. I don't get how that's for a well."
Papa Acorn smiled again at his daughter and put his arm around her, which gave a clue to Annie that her Pa was about to amaze her.
"Well darlin', for starters, a well is round like an apple. You ought to know that Ms. Anabelle Apple Smith! It's also deep like a cup 'cause it's in the ground and since it's in the ground, it's almost impossible to pull it out."
And just as she knew, her Pa amazed her again and she was caught in a feeling of amazement, delightfully watching the countryside as they continued slowly trotting by.
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"A well." Annie said confidently, her stance still strong.
Very good for a country pony. Looks like only one of you three can answer this last one, if you can at all that is. What is hot as the desert, bright as a star and is man's first discovery.
The three of them stood there unwavering until Dmitri spoke aloud.
"Fire. It is fire." he said strongly.
Very good for a pathetic human. Too bad I don't play fair.
The dragon then rose it's head back up and grinned at the trio, noticing their fear. However despite his companions slowly backing away from him, Dmitri stood his ground, still aiming at the dragon.
Why when in the face of death do you remain here Dmitri? That is your name, is it not?
"Da. Because if I don't, no one else will."
Oh how noble of you Dmitri..If only your whore of a mother were here to see how her 'courageous' her awful mutt was being...
"Let's see how courageous you are when I spill your guts, kill you and crush your head you stupid dragon suka!!" Dmitri yelled, running towards the dragon.
The dragon replied with a mighty strike however missed due to underestimating Dmitri's nimbleness.
"RAAAAWWAARRAAAA!!!" Dmitri bellowed, shaking the ground and the grass and his companions nearby
The dragon shuffled in order to find the Soviet soldier and once it did, it breathed fire hotter than the suns of hell yet Dmitri revealed himself to be unscathed, causing Axtral to panic as the Soviet came closer and closer to his one weak spot. In a last ditch effort to win the battle, Axtral beated his mighty wings but even that was not enough to stop Dmitri.
"You. Are. Not. Going. ANYWHERE!"
Dmitri fired upon Axtral's soft underside, large pools of blood and matter started to explode on the ground under him. Axtral bellowed in pain and continued to try to flee but Dmitri's relentlessness firing caused Axtral to fall back down. Axtral landed with a huge thud, causing a minor earthquake, which still did not stop Dmitri. Dmitri sprinted all the way up to Axtral's head, drew his bayonet and his pistol.
"Pathetic human? More like pathetic dragon. I never liked dragon anyways."
Dmitri then fired at the dragon's eyes, causing the dragon to roar in pain. He shoved the bayonet into the side of the dragon's head, ending its misery and forcing the bayonet in until the screams of the dragon ceased to continue.
"Dragon suka. May you rest in piece, you piece of shit."
Daring Doo stood gaped, astonished that Dmitri, a newcomer, managed to kill Axtral the cunning one, a dragon who had plagued Equestria for hundreds of years with unsolvable riddles, as if it were no chore to him.
"Annie?" Daring Doo asked Annie, who was looking at Dmitri.
"What?"
"Didn't you say he was a bear?"
"Yes I did. Why?"
"Well I mean he did something pretty freakin' awesome! How did that bear even survive-"
Daring Doo and Annie both looked at each other in an epiphany, the both of them thinking of the same thing.
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And it was in that moment that the Legend of the Bear that Survived was born into Ponyville, survived by Daring Doo and her companion Anabelle Apple Smith who created the legend based on the man that stood before them that day. Well I guess you could say it was based on real events, such as the next series of events I'm about to tell y'all.
Ch. 4 - The Great Battle of Ponyville
"Oh man this is awesome! Awesome! Awesome awesome awesome awesomeeeee! Are we gonna be like a group now? We're soo amazing together!" Daring Doo exclaimed happily.
"Comrade you are most funny. Unfortunately my stay here is short. I still have mission to carry out and mission does not include you comrades. No fear though, we can still all be comrades. So Annie, where is place I can stay? Killing dragon made me hungry and tired again."
"Well my pa's house ain't far from here Dee-mee-tree. It's right down this field, in the direction of the dragon's head."
Sure enough, there was a little wooden house in that direction. The house itself was not very large but one could tell it was built with much care, despite its homemade look. The trio walked and trotted over to the house and talked with one another, learning more about each other and bonding a little bit more. It did not take long for the trio to get over to the house and when the trio did, they all sat down by the door outside and waited for somepony to answer the door as Annie knocked on the door.
"Look comrades how beautiful this place is. Reminds me of home..before the war. Oh the war...how I remember it so.."
Dmitri looked down at the ground in solemness, setting his bag on the floor and cleaning his rifle, which to the other two just resembled an oddly-shaped stick. He then looked up to the other two in front of him, whom were lying in the green grass and looking at him.
"The wind..it's like the wind back home..Sasha would like it here...he always told me one day he would visit a beautiful farm after war was over. I don't know why. Sasha..heh..Sasha always said silly thing like that, all the time! Such a clown, heh! If only you were here comrade, if only you were here.." he finished, looking over to his side to the distant rolling hills.
Dmitri smiled at his finishing words and closed his eyes, exhaling at the same time with relief that his comrade would be remembered.
"Was Sasha a friend of yours Dmitri?" asked Daring Doo, carefully making sure she didn't come across as arrogant when doing so.
"Da. You could say that. He was good man but the war changed him, as it did everyone else. The Sasha I remember was a nice man, who would do anything for his kids. The Nazi's took his kids and Sasha was never the same again. He did things that no human should ever do. That is what war does comrades, it changes you. I just hope war doesn't come here. It would be shame to see Ponyville become nothing but ash and rubble."
Daring Doo and Annie looked at Dmitri with sympathy, even though the two of them haven't experienced anything close to war. Despite this, they tried to make Dmitri feel better. Daring Doo even went as far as hugging Dmitri and telling him "thanks buddy".
"So kind heh heh." Dmitri said with that deep, familiar hearty laugh of his while hugging her back.
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Daring Doo noticed right away that Dmitri's hug was rather strong but not overwhelming. In fact, it reminded her of hugs that her grandfather used to give. The funny part in all of this was her grandfather and Dmitri even shared the same weird smell of trees combined with alcohol. Daring Doo smiled at the coincidence; "maybe humans aren't so different after all" she thought to herself. She smiled at Dmitri and he smiled back at her and for a second, there seemed to be unfiltered trust and possibly something else between the two. But as quick as it appeared, it returned to a look of friendship and the two stopped hugging one another.
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Annie smiled as well, for the both of them were able to raise Dmitri's feelings up. She then proceeded to knock on the door of her Papa's house once more, hoping he or at least her Grandmama would answer.
"Whose knockin' on the door all mad like?" gruffed a voice from behind the front door.
Annie recognized the voice as her Papa and answered right away.
"Me Papa. It's Annie. We've got guests Papa!"
"Guests? Well then, let 'em come on in! What are you waiting Annie?" Papa Acorn said, muffled by the small wooden front door of the house.
"Well I guess Papa says it's okay. Let's go inside possy!" Annie said eagerly.
Dmitri gathered his things and so did Daring Doo but not without asking Annie a question first.
"Possy? What's that?" Daring Doo asked, clearly confused and raising one eyebrow.
Annie was slightly shocked and looked at Daring Doo then to Dmitri for assistance to describe the word but Dmitri was just as confused, if not more so than Daring Doo.
"Possy? What is that comrade?" Dmitri asked, one eyebrow raised in a similar fashion as Daring Doo and repeating Daring Doo's question.
"Well umm..how do I explain it to y'all...It's...uhmm...a group. Kinda like a group, like a gang of friends. And well that's what I think we are at least." she said, smiling at the other two who both then nodded with acknowledgement.
Daring Doo started grinning rather excitedly and her ears reflected that excitement by standing at attention.
"A POSSY!? A GROUP!?? OOOHHH CELESTIA, THIS SOUNDS..."
"Awesome?" Dmitri guessed, finishing Daring Doo's sentence.
Daring Doo swung her head around to Dmitri and nodded excitedly, almost jumping in place.
"EXACTLY DMITRI!!"
"You are silly Daring heh." Dmitri chuckling, causing Daring Doo to chuckle as well.
Daring Doo and Dmitri finished chuckling and got up from sitting. The duo then followed Annie and entered her Papa's house and were met with the smell of apples and a feeling of hospitality.
"Howdy folks, welcome to Apple Farm, named after my little sugar cube, Annie!" gruffed a deep voice that was as smooth as silk but as strong as iron.
Dmitri and Daring Doo looked over to where the voice was coming from and saw it belonged to a middle aged stallion who was smiling at them. His face was quite weathered but his eyes still retained the vibrancy of his youth days, being the same color as an acorn. He was dressed in a ordinary settler outfit and his mane matched his dirty and plain outfit-dusty brown.
"Thanks for the welcome sir! This here is Dmitri. He's a human." Daring Doo said in a ascending tone like a child.
Papa Acorn gave a slight nod to Dmitri and spoke.
"It is a mighty pleasure to meet a human. I hope you enjoy what we got to offer here at Ponyville. My daughter makes some mean zap applesauce, don't you Annie? Maybe we ought to try some!"
Papa Acorn looked over to his daughter, who slightly blushed from her abashment. Annie folded one hoof over the other as she looked down at the floor shyly.
"I suppose so. It's alright . Some of the city folk like it but..well..I guess y'all will like it too." she said with such nervousness.
Papa Acorn was about to comfort his daughter but the room started filling up with beeping sounds, interrupting his thoughts.
"What in tardation is that?" Papa Acorn thought to himself.
He noticed he wasn't he only one wondering that; the trio standing before him noticed it too and all of them looked around for the sound, hoping they would find the source. Annie temporarily forgot about her embarrassment and started trotting around the house, even going as far as the bedrooms in the far backside of the house. However, she started realizing the beeping sound was not all around the house but rather in the room they were in. She headed back to the room, searched for the source of the sound and found it. The sound was coming from Dmitri and from the looks of it, he was completely unaware he was responsible for it.
"Uhm, Dee-mee-tree...the sound's comin' from ya'." Annie told him.
Dmitri looked at Annie in question but looked on his person and found the source. It was the Eye of Maxon that was beeping and it caused both Dmitri and Daring Doo to gain faces of worry.
"Oh niet...this is not good. They know I'm here..they know I'm here.." Dmitri started mumbling, looking at the device in his hands with disbelief.
"Who Dmitri, who is coming?" Daring Doo asked pleadingly.
"The one who comes for as all comrade. Death."
All the ponies gasped in shock at what Dmitri said.
"We must...we must get ready! The Germans will be here soon!"
Dmitri swung open the door and ran outside, his boots crunching on the fresh summer grass. He looked towards the sky and just as he expected, the dramatic shift of the sky started occurring. The sun was obscured as ominous grey clouds materialized out of nowhere, feeding off of the sun's warm light and leaving none for the fields below. Flashes of light rippled throughout the clouds, accompanied with thunderous roars so deafening, Dmitri had to cover his ears with his hands. Then, as soon as it had appeared, the storm dissipated, allowing the sun to take over the day again. But, the storm did not leave without dropping something off first in the field with Dmitri. That "something" was the largest tank division Dmitri has ever seen in his life, and the shiny metal from the dozens upon dozens of tanks blinded him with such brightness.
"Oh BILEETT!!!" Dmitri screamed at the top of his lungs, rushing on over back to Papa Acorn's house.
The others heard his scream and opened the door, only to see a sprinting Dmitri in the distance bolting for the door.
"Comrades! Comrades! They are here! We must hurry!" Dmitri yelled across the field to the others, waving his hands in the air wildly.
He continued to run as fast as he could, his heart beating fast and his breaths quick. He could only think about what he was going to say to the others' the real truth as to why he was in Equestria in the fist place. He had hoped he was wrong and since he had thought he was so he was going to leave after a night's rest back to Earth. But the Germans showed up much earlier than he expected, causing him to wonder the reason why. He pushed the questions in his mind aside because he knew the others had questions of their own as he finally reached the house.
"You okay there Sonny? Why, you're as pale as a ghost!" Papa Acorn exclaimed, helping the tired Dmitri inside and setting him on the couch.
Dmitri was still gathering his breath as he started talking, letting the other three know why he was shouting earlier.
"Comrades..there are..troops outside..they are not...friendly..and they are here to find me.." he exasperated
"Why do they want to find you?" Annie asked innocently.
"To kill..me.." He said, still catching his breath.
The others looked at him with shock at the weight of his words.
"But...that's not it. The Germans..the Germans..have plans to steal Equestria's magic power..they think..it will help win war..against my people..but they are insane! Lunatics! The Nazi..are not to be trusted! They will experiment..on all of you and when..they find out how to tap..into power..then they will kill you all...there is no point in reasoning..with them..they are not human..devoid of emotion...except hatred..of anyone and anything that is not them.." Dmitri finished, still huffing from exhaustion.
Papa Acorn trotted forward in front of Dmitri and grimaced solemnly, speaking with such tranquility.
"There has to be a way Dmitri. Maybe I can talk to them. I'm sure war is somethin' they don't want."
"You don't understand! None of you do! War, war is all they have left! They have lost families, they have lost their home Germany, they have lost everything comrades, except themselves. War is only shelter for Nazi now. Their leader, Der Führer, is a mad men who wants to see worlds burn and both of our worlds are in his sights."
"But we can make a deal with 'em. I can do this Dmitri, how do you think this humble town was founded? I had to unite ponies who thought they were different than us but I did it without conflict. I'll speak on Equestria's behalf and I'll talk of peace with 'em. You have shown us humans can be good. They are humans too Dmitri."
"But Pa! What about the Princesses??" Annie asked.
"Sometimes peace has to be made by those who know what struggle is, who knows what if feels to have nothing. These folks aren't much different then us. You remember what it was to always move around with no sense of home, don't you little Annie? I..I don't want anypony else to feel that feeling ever again." Papa Acorn said, his voice now slightly trembling as he looked at his daughter.
He then continued talking, resuming his earlier state of tranquility and looked over to Dmitri and back to his daughter.
"This is why I think I should speak to them instead of the Princesses." he finished.
"Niet, I can't let you do that." Dmitri interrupted, shaking his head at Papa Acorn.
"I know I can do this Dmitri. I appreciate your concern but if conflict can be avoided, it should."
Dmitri stood up and drew his pistol, aiming it at Papa Acorn much to Annie's and Daring Doo's surprise.
"You don't understand comrade. They will kill you. I can't let you go outside. I can't let you die for this war."
Papa Acorn stared at the pistol's barrel and back to Dmitri. He then trotted by Dmitri and opened the door as Dmitri lowered his weapon. Dmitri silently cursed to himself, kicking the side of the wall in frustration as he holstered his weapon.
"Comrades, this is not going to end well no matter what happens. I need your help Daring Doo."
Both Daring Doo and Annie were still flabbergasted by Dmitri drawing his weapon earlier but finally understood why he did so as he led them outside and showed them the Germans in the distance.
"Oh rattlesnakes, that's a lot of them." Daring Doo said while gulping.
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Papa Acorn looked to the sky, admiring its beauty and ignoring the shining sun stinging his eyes. He looked back down to the ground, slightly startled by the immense size of the troops gathered before him but continued to trot towards them. As he got closer, he could hear them shouting to one another in a language that sounded like his own but wasn't quite like his. However, he did recognize one word and that word was shouted towards him.
"Stop!" shouted a gruff voice.
As if to emphasize the stopping action, all of the troops with their metal beasts trotted forwards, the horrendous clinking noise of the metal gears of the beasts' metallic hooves thundering in his ears. Papa Acorn did stop, attempting to show the troops that he meant no harm. The troops stared at him with such lifelessness he had never experienced before in another living being yet he decided to speak to them while forcing a friendly smile.
"Hello! I'm Papa Acorn. On behalf of Equ-"
But before Papa Acorn could finish, he was interrupted by the voice of one of the troops.
"English huh? How interesting.." said the voice with such a strange accent, differing greatly from Dmitri's.
Papa Acorn searched for the source and realized it came from up-top a metal beast. However this trooper was different in appearance then those around him; he wore a dignified uniform made of exquisite threading and bore a hat with a visor as black as the night sky. Papa Acorn also noticed the trooper had beautiful patches upon his shoulders, perhaps signifying his higher rank among his fellow soldiers and also noticed a symbol on the front of the helmet of what appeared to be death. The man up-top the metal beast smiled at Papa Acorn, looking down at the rather smaller Papa Acorn as he dismounted from his metal beast. Papa Acorn was slightly hesitant at the man in front of him who approached him in a predatory manner but stood his ground. The man, walking with his hand behind his back, stopped short of 3 ft from Papa Acorn and planted his feet firmly on the ground. He smiled once more, cleared his throat and spoke again with eyes and voice both full of such coldness.
"Tell me where the Soviet is and we shall not kill you or your family." he demanded in a most polite way.
Papa Acorn knew if he told the truth, his guest would die. As much as Papa Acorn wanted to make sure his family would be safe, he could not compel himself to sacrifice a life to save his own. And so Papa Acorn decided to lie because Dmitri's life was worth as much as the life of one of his own.
"I don't know what you mean mister. I'd hate to ask but what's a Soviet?" Papa Acorn said, half-telling the truth.
The false smile and kindness washed away in the man's face as anger and frustration took over.
"Where is the Soviet!?" the man asked again, almost screaming this time and grinding his teeth.
"I don't know mister I-"
"You are lying! You know where the Soviet scum is! You're probably sheltering him, aren't you? Oh I can see the look of fear in your eyes, like a Jewish rat before extermination! Well if you won't tell me, I have no use for you!!" the man yelled at Papa Acorn, causing him to tremble a little.
Papa Acorn gulped but remained silent, still in belief that he could reason with this man. The man crushed his beliefs by drawing his weapon and aiming it right at Papa Acorn's head.
"Maple, I'll be there soon." Papa Acorn silently whispered to himself, looking up to the sun & sky.
Papa Acorn closed his eyes and thought of his daughter, wishing he could say good bye in his last moments. He gulped and waited for the man to shoot him, becoming ready for his time.
"Comrade run! Run!" yelled Dmitri in the distance, interrupting his thinking and shocking him.
Papa Acorn immediately opened his eyes and wished he hadn't right away.
CRACK!
Blood splattered everywhere as the man's head exploded fatally, causing his body to buckle over and fall down to the ground. Papa Acorn's face and eyes became soaked in blood and he hyperventilated at the traumatic experience that had just occurred. He looked up to the soldiers that were left, whom looked back at him defiantly, causing him to gallop away as fast as he could.
"Kill him! Kill that bastard!" yelled a soldier out loud.
Papa Acorn galloped as fast as he could despite his eyes an face heavily stained with blood.
BOOM!
TATATATATATATA!!
"Oh golly! OH GOLLY!" Papa Acorn screamed as explosions erupted all around him, kicking up dirt into the air.
He kept galloping and galloping, hoping he would make it to his house in time to warn his daughter and Daring Doo.
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"HEY! GERMAN SUKA'S! OVER HERE!" Dmitri hollered at the top of his lungs towards the Germans.
He slinged the still-hot rifle over his shoulder and started sprinting towards the tank division in front of him with complete and total focus. He took out his device from his right side and turned on the oddly diamond shaped device, flipping a couple of switches until he heard a beep. Once he did, he drew out his pistol in his free hand and swinged his arms back and forth as he continued to sprint towards the tank division. However in his extreme focus, he failed to notice a flying Daring Doo right next to him.
"Hey Dmitri!" Daring Doo yelled over to him.
Dmitri looked to his left and was baffled not only at the fact that Daring Doo could actually fly but was right next to him so quickly.
"Daring Doo! What are you doing?"
"What I do best! Defeating all odds!"
She grinned at her answer and took off, flying rapidly towards the Germans.
"Over here! Over here!" Daring Doo yelled out to the Germans, teasing them in a childish way.
The Germans retaliated, firing towards her direction but failing to hit the elusive Daring Doo.
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Papa Acorn looked back over his shoulder and saw Daring Doo flying by the soldiers. She succeeded in drawing their attention from him just enough for him to change course from fleeing to going back towards his house. On his way over, he saw Dmitri running in the field with his weapon and device in hand and realize what Dmitri and Daring Doo were doing; she was distracting them long enough for him to do something. Papa Acorn grimaced wishing he could help but knew he wouldn't be much help and decided to enter the house. He found his daughter right away, watching everything from the window with such curiosity. She turned around and smiled at her pa with tears rushing down her face, hugging him right away.
"Oh Papa..I thought you died!" She sobbed into his loving embrace.
Papa Acorn kissed her on the head and softly ran his hoof over her mane.
"It's gonna be a-okay little Annie, it's going to be a-okay." he told her, comforting her in the best way he could.
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"Haha can't get me! Can't get me!" Daring Doo continued teasing the Germans, nearly gaining the entire attention of the tank division.
However there were a couple of soldiers on top on a tank whom did not pay attention to Daring Doo due to the sprinting Soviet soldier heading towards them.
"Over there, there is-ugh!"
The soldier failed to finish his sentence as Dmitri fired his pistol several times, killing both men by hitting their chests and heads. Dmitri slowed down to a stop by the tank and took a look around, watching to see if any other tank crews had spotted him killing their comrades. However, the rest of the tank division did not realize he had done so, thanks to the immense gunfire covering the dead soldiers' screaming and Dmitri's gunshots.
"Stupid Nazi" Dmitri mocked to himself, jumping on top of the tank.
He then headed over to the main hatch on top of the tank, pried the hatch open and shot the startled tank driver that was inside the tank a couple of times until the tank driver finally stop squirming. He proceeded to jump down from the open hatch into the tank, closed the hatch above him and shoved the tank driver's body aside so he could man the seat.
"It has been long time since I have driven Panzer. Well, sober anyway" Dmitri slightly joked to himself.
He looked around inside the tank for the ignition, found it and turned on the tank. The tank roared to life, lurching forward as Dmitri manipulated the controls of the tank to head towards the center of the tank division. He found it to be quite difficult to navigate the tank around until he cleaned the blood from the tank's optic visor, enabling him to cleanly cut his way through the division. Pretty soon, Dmitri started hearing radio chatter from inside the tank yelling and cursing at him in German to stay in formation. Dmitri found the radio receiver and brought it to his mouth, transmitting a message to the rest of the Germans.
"It's okay, I'm just getting a better shot. Don't worry comrades" he said to them over the radio chatter in Russian.
Silence took over the radio chatter as the Germans realized who had said that. He then heard shouts and yells from the radio, ordering the others to fire upon Dmitri's hijacked Panzer. But the Germans were too late; Dmitri had already fired way before they could.
"Dasvidaniya." he said over the radio to the horrified Germans.
Dmitri slammed a button on the Eye of Maxon, causing it to tremble and malfunction as it spat out colors, emanating from it in rings of rainbows.
"Here I come Sasha." Dmitri said to himself as he watched the rainbow rings spread from the Eye of Maxon to his wrist, elbow and eventually his entire arm and body before he passed out.
The rings of rainbow continued spreading from Dmitri, encasing the inside of the tank in rainbow and eventually permeated through the hijacked Panzer, spreading towards all of the tanks around him. Daring Doo looked won at the Germans, wondering why they had stopped firing and quickly realized why. She watched in both fear and amazement as the beautiful rings rippled out from the center of a sea of grey. She saw dozens upon dozens of Germans abandoning their vehicles and running away from in fear, as the rainbow rings seeped into every and anything in its path.
"Dmitri!" she said to herself, suddenly realizing the peril he was in and descended towards his location in response.
As she descended towards Dmitri, she did not notice that the rainbow rings had already touched her from when she was observing the phenomenon earlier and as a result, the rainbow rings were already slowly seeping through her skin and mane.
"Daring Doo! Daring Doo!!" yelled Annie's voice from down below.
Daring Doo looked over her shoulder and saw Annie pointing at her, which caused Daring Doo to take a quick look at herself. She saw both of her hoofs covered in rainbow and gasped in shock but shook off her fear, still set on saving Dmitri. She landed on top of the tank, found Dmitri passed out inside and attempted to drag him out of the tank. The pulses from the Eye of Maxon proved to be quite strong as each and every pulse pushed against her to the point where she fell off the tank.
"I can..do..this!" Daring Doo yelled with all of her might, drowned in the now louder sounds of the Eye of Maxon.
She gritted her teeth and used all of her might to pull one hoof in front of the other until she got on top of the tank again and finally reached Dmitri, grabbing him by her teeth and dragging him out of the tank.
ZOOT TANG PAWOH!
"What the-?" Daring Doo began, unable to finish her sentence.
An explosion so immense and powerful commenced, interrupting her sentence and engulfing Daring Doo, Dmitri and the entire tank division around them in a ball of rainbow. Then as suddenly as the explosion came, it dissipated, leaving only wisps of rainbow silently diffusing into the background of the field.
"Daring!? DMITRI!?? Where..where are y'all!??" Annie called out, rushing over to where Daring Doo and Dmitri were last at.
Papa Acorn followed his daughter out onto the field and noticed that not a single trace of them was left on the field.
"Papa, where did they go?" Annie asked her father, still looking around hoping to find the other two.
Papa Acorn looked at his daughter with solemness and shook his head, grimacing. Annie refused to accept what her father was hinting at and galloped away from the fields, trying to escape the truth she knew to be true.
"Annie come back!" Papa Acorn called out to her as he watched her gallop away.
However she continued to gallop away, not at all listening to her father.
"No they can't be gone! No! No! NO!!" She cried to herself, tears flying behind her.
She then found a tree to lay next to and stopped galloping, taking refuge in the tree's cool shade. She wiped her tears and inhaled, looking at the fields where her friends were just at moments ago. She then exhaled, trying to catch her breath. When she did, she spoke out loud, not at all worried of who could have heard her.
"I'll wait for you guys, I promise." she sniffled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So Granny, did you wait? Did you wait??"
Applebloom smiled at her grandmother, curious to see what her answer would be. Granny Smith smiled at her granddaughter and her friends, a little surprised that she managed to make the connection.
"I did child. I waited days, months and years for them to come back. But it wasn't well into my later years that they finally did show up again. Oh I remember how young they both were. I had grown older with hairs of white while the two of them didn't age a single day from after that great battle. We then talked and talked with one another and I eventually learned what had happened to them after the explosion. But if y'all want to know, y'all gotta eat breakfast first! Come on children, I'ma whip up some breakfast right now! How do pancakes sound?"
"Awh okay Granny!" the trio all said collectively.
The trio then all squealed with excitement, chanting "Pancakes! Pancakes! Pancakes!" over and over again as they followed Granny Smith into the kitchen.
Ch. 5 - Germania
Somewhere east of Berlin
April 30th, 1945
"Dmitri? Dmitri? Hey Dmitri, are you okay?"
Daring Doo called out to the static Dmitri while shaking him and realizing that he was still unconscious from the blast. She noticed that he was still griping on the Eye of Maxon within his hands and a thought floated into her mind that she could take the prized possession. But she decided against it and silently cursed herself for thinking such a thought. Daring Doo decided to take a look around at where the two of them were at and from what she could understand of their surroundings, it appeared the two of them were in a dark apartment room. The walls surrounding them were a deep grey, even more so than her own mane and stained with what looked like years of neglect and erosion combined with the elements.
"Depressing.." Daring Doo mumbled to herself and grimacing at the sad sight of despair in the room, noticing as well that there wasn't much of a roof.
She also noticed that the room they were in had to be elevated, for once she came across a window inside the room she was able to see the street below them and what look like soldiers in grey clothes marching on that street. But as soon as she started to watch the grey soldiers, she heard a distressed voice yell out loud:
"Die Russen sind hier! Die Russen sind hier! Weglaufen! WEGLAUFE-ARAH!"
But the soldier's voice was cut off as Daring Doo heard many explosions echoing in the small street, and watched the grey soldiers below her start to fall down as she saw flashes of yellow hit their bodies.
"Rückzug! Rückzug!" yelled out one of the few grey soldiers that still remained however his voice was silenced when a yellow flash sliced through his head, fatally killing the grey soldier and causing him to fall down lifelessly.
Daring Doo gasped at the atrocity she had witnessed and started backing up from the window, shocked to see such a brutal sight. She didn't want to believe what she had just saw and dismissed it as her imagination. However Daring Doo failed to notice a conscious Dmitri standing behind her and as a result she backed up right into him. Daring Doo turned around quickly, and assumed a fighting stance until she realized who it was standing in front of her. Dmitri gave Daring Doo a somber look and rested one hand on her shoulder.
"Now do you see why I did not want you or any of your people to be part of war? My war. Not yours." he told her.
"Dmitri? Are we going to make it?" Daring Doo innocently asked Dmitri while she pleaded with her eyes.
Dmitri did not respond at first and instead grimaced at her. But eventually, as she continued staring at him for an answer, he finally gave her one.
"All I know is that I don't know comrade" Dmitri said softly to her.
She then hugged Dmitri and embraced him rather strongly and did not let go for a while while Dmitri did the same back to her. It was in this moment that Dmitri told Daring Doo the most crucial advice she had ever heard in her whole life and kept dear to her heart for years to come.
"I may not be afraid of death, but does not mean I am not afraid at all." he told her gravely, to which she could only gulp at.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Daring Doo for a long time would be haunted and at the same time amazed at the weight of these words that were spoken to her and knew that was what real courage was; to face one's fears directly. And she would, granted with time, come to learn of Dmitri's struggles and of his life in general, and would learn that Dmitri's greatest adversary was himself. She cried for him, knowing of all the pain he had endured to make sure she made it alive and the sacrifices he made to make sure Equestria was fine as well. For a long time Daring Doo carried a pin he had given to her shortly after the battle of Berlin which beared the symbol of his people's greatest struggle; the hammer and sickle of the common man prevailing over the corrupt few.
"I'll never forget Dmitri..I never will.." she whispered to herself.
She put the pin on her right shirt sleeve and smiled, remembering Dmitri Durchenko, the bravest man she had ever known.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay comrade this is the time I need you to be brave. The war here is coming to an end. But that does not mean end is already here. The Nazi know that the war is lost so they will do anything they can to make sure they make it last as long as possible. This is why I was sent on mission. These are old orders, given to my comrade Sasha shortly before his death. The Nazi are planning on using their wonder weapon to win war however what they don't realize is weapon will kill us all. That's where you and I come in comrade. We need to make sure this reality never happens. Trust me comrade, I've seen what this weapon can do. It is not pretty."
Dmitri kneeled to one knee and lowered himself to Daring's height and looked her in the eyes with such sincerity. He rested both of his arms on his knee in a disciplined fashion and locked his hands together as well.
"Do you think you can do this Daring?" he asked her.
Daring Doo did not answer with words but she answered with her eyes, which were telling him that she didn't think she could do this.
"Yes you can comrade. You can do this. You know how I know? Because we have this-"
Dmitri held up the Eye of Maxon to her eye level and continued talking.
"-and we have this." he said, pointing at both of their hearts and setting back down the Eye of Maxon.
"But I'm scared, I'm-"
"I'm scared too comrade but we have to be brave. We have to conquer our fears, no matter how great we think they are. Fear is strong Daring, this is most true. But fear will never have the one thing we have. Courage. Fear fears courage. So let's make fear fear eh? Heh heh that's the look! See? Not so hard right?" Dmitri chuckled, softly patting Daring Doo's back.
Daring Doo smiled a little at Dmitri and shook her head yes.
"Okay now that you are in better spirit, time to tell plan. Okay. So right now my people are fighting below and killing what is left of German army. We have to get through this street somehow, without my people or the Germans seeing us."
Daring Doo's ears raised a little and she cocked her heads when Dmitri said that.
"Why though?" she asked with curiosity.
"Because we have time-traveled Daring. You see, both you and I don't exist in this timeline. We are out of timeline. The soldiers below us, they belong in timeline. Think about it like this comrade. The timeline is like huge spider web. This means all of time is one great huge spiderweb right? You follow? Da? Good. So soldiers below us, they are like flies in spiderweb. They are stuck. They cannot move at all. But what about us, you ask. Well my friend, we are like spiders. We must be like the spider who is careful and treads on own spiderweb carefully. But one little wrong touch and spiderweb is ripped to shreds. This is what Nazi want to do. They want to rip spiderweb. But Daring, what Nazi does not know is this is our spiderweb. It has been for a long time comrade. So let's go get Nazi spider off our spiderweb. What do you say eh?"
"Let's do it!" Daring Doo, with her question answered and her spirits lifted even more excitedly shouted.
"Haha comrade, that is most like it. Okay, follow me closely and be quiet. I have been through here before. So we should be good, eh?"
Dmitri took out a knife that was hidden in his right boot and crouched, beckoning at Daring to say low as well. He slowly led her out of the blasted living room of the apartment room they were in, down a dark and destroyed hallway and into the stairwell nearby, which was just as equally destroyed.
"Okay Daring, nice and easy. Down the stairs we go comrade."
But as Dmitri led the way down the stairs, he failed to noticed a flying rifle butt heading towards his head from a nearby apartment door.
"Dmitri!" was all Daring was able to shout out in warning.
Dmitri glanced up quickly and managed to avoid the rifle butt and even grabbed the incoming closed fist that came after but dropped his knife as a result.
"Daring! Don't panic! I got this!" Dmitri yelled to Daring as he struggled with the unknown soldier.
Dmitri continued struggling with the soldier and tried to see into the dark room the soldier was in but failed to actually see him. However finally Dmitri overpowered the solider and tossed him into the stairwell, which caused him to drop his weapon and reveal his identity.
"Stigel?" Dmitri said to the soldier on the ground.
The soldier on the ground turned around to face Dmitri and responded.
"Dmitri? Is that you? Oh, it has been long time. I thought you were one of..zthem.." Stigel said, as he looked around frantically to see if anyone heard him say that.
Dmitri walked over to Stigel and extended a hand out towards him and Stigel grabbed it. Dmitri then helped Stigel up to his feet and picked up his rifle and handed it back to him.
"Them?" Dmitri questioned Stigel.
Stigel nodded and dusted off his grey uniform.
"Ja. Lots has happened friend since the last time you have been here. Let me give you a quick run through. Hmm let's see..Der Führer has pretty much DESTROYED DESUTCHLAND! He is crazy! I am glad I joined you guys. Oh, I would not stay a day longer in Nazi Germany if I can help it. Oh yes, Der Führer has already initiated his program. Operation Unlimited is in full effect. I imagine that that should be quite a shock to you."
Dmitri responded with only a shocked look, as Stigel had predicted.
"It's ok my Russian friend, we'll make it out of here alive. But only if we stick together. Ja?" Stigel smirked at Dmitri.
Stigel then noticed that there was another on the stairs behind Dmitri and initially was shocked at Daring's appearance but managed to muster something to say.
"Quite a lovely umm friend you have there Dmitri." Stigel said while smiling at Daring Doo.
However Daring Doo did not smile back for she was bothered by not only his appearance but the way he spoke.
"Daring, it's okay. You can trust him. He is one of us. It's gonna take more than a rifle to kill me heh. Stigel, you crazy bastard heh heh!" Dmitri chuckled while patting Stigel's back roughly.
Daring Doo still did not think so and gave him a look of skepticism.
"Oh Daring, don't look like that! You see, Stigel is most trustful comrade. He always has back. Don't worry, with Stigel we are surely to make it. Unfortunately, because of what Stigel has told us, plans have changed little. And when I say little, I mean a lot."
"Okay but what the heck do you mean a lot?" Daring Doo asked him right away.
Dmitri hesitantly looked at Stigel for an answer, who gave him a similar look. Dmitri looked back at the anxious Daring Doo and gulped, replying as quickly as he could.
"Well Operation Infinity was a plan Der Führer would only use at last resort. It seems last resort is here. So that means there is infinite German soldiers. This is good for Nazi but at same time it is most bad. Because these infinite soldiers are actually dead and will eat anything alive. Der Führer must be that crazy to think that will end war. It will only prolong it, but not a war of man against man but man against the undead."
Daring Doo's eyes became very large as she was speechless at first.
"Un-undead?" Daring Doo stuttered in disbelief.
"Yes, like zombie. Heh. Nazi zombie. What a piece of-"
"Hey!" Stigel protested at Dmitri, who then in turn laughed at his reaction.
"It is only joke of course Stigel. You aren't one of them. You are comrade, like Daring, like me. Da?"
"Ja" Stigel replied in his native language while shaking his head at disapproval at Dmitri and slightly chuckling.
After Stigel and Dmitri traded a few chuckles, the both of them made sure Daring was okay, which she was and the trio then continued to head down the decrepit stairs.
"So Stigel, right?" Daring Doo asked Stigel.
Stigel looked behind him to Daring Doo and smiled while nodding his head.
"So are you like the grey soldiers I've been seeing a lot of recently?" she probed him.
"It depends friend. Are these grey soldiers alive or dead?" He said sarcastically to her.
"Alive." Daring Doo replied with a monotone while rolling her eyes.
Stigel gave her a look of pure thought, stopped walking for a second and looked at the ground for a moment. He stuck out his jaw while he was in thought and then looked back up to Daring.
"Ja, I guess I am like zthem. Except I am friend of Dmitri. Dmitri..both him and I go back a long time ago. Ja. Before this war."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh we were friends in school together. Long long time ago. I was student visiting the Soviet Union and well I happened to-" Stigel droned on, however was cut short of his recount of his childhood.
BWWWWAAAAAHHHH! BWWWWAAAAAHHHHHH! BWWWWWAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!
"Get down friends! Get down!" Stigel barked at the other two.
Dmitri, along with Daring Doo who was in front of him, quickly got down and took cover as best as they could.
"Wha-what's happening?" Daring Doo asked, to which she did not get a reply save for a finger rested on Dmitri's mouth.
Daring Doo remained paralyzed as she heard the loud sirens blasting, shaking the apartment complex they were in. Then she quickly found out why they weren't panicking and remaining silent.
"Oh my Celestia, oh my Celestia this can't be!" she thought to herself.
The trio had almost made it out of the exit of the stairs, to the ground floor but did not quite make it all the way to the door. Instead, the trio were close to base of the stairs and from this vantage point Daring Doo could see the street ahead of them from where she was. She was amazed at how destroyed the street and the surrounding buildings were and she could barely hear the screams of humans in the distance, both young and old, both male and female. But there was something else that she saw. Rather, something horrendous that she saw. The streets were filled with those "things" that Stigel was talking of. Below the sounds of the alarms she could hear the relentless screams and groans of the undead outside and it chilled her to the bone. She shivered slightly from the thought of it and wished that she could just stay on the stairs that she was on. But she knew she had to help Dmitri and Stigel. But how exactly she could help them and what they were really doing, she did not know.
"Hey friend it's going to be okay. These 'things' are pretty stupid. We'll be able to make it through." Stigel whispered over to Daring, attempting to reassure her.
Daring gulped and looked to Dmitri for reassurance, who then whispered to her.
"He's right comrade, it will be okay." He responded while smiling at her.
He then continued whispering as he looked at both Stigel and Daring.
"Okay our goal is to make it across city. We have to get to a bunker named DE-47. There, we will find machine that is doing this to the city. We shut down Operation Infinity and we stop Der Führer from killing world. And if we stop Der Führer from killing this world, then we stop him killing your world Daring. Sounds like good plan eh comrades?"
Stigel looked at Daring, who looked back at him and the both of them nodded their heads at Dmitri.
"Good. Okay DE-47 is not far from here. Stigel knows where it is don't you comrade?"
"Ja of course friend. I can lead you there."
"Great comrade. Okay, if you both are ready then let's go!"
Dmitri went by the door, peeked out of it to make sure there weren't any undead right next to it and slowly sneaked outside, hiding behind what used to be a car. He looked back at the stairwell entrance and signaled for Stigel to come. Stigel nodded, checked his sides first and told Daring to quickly follow him. Both him and Daring quickly rushed over to where Dmitri was and took cover behind him.
"Okay Stigel, it's your show now."
Stigel nodded at Dmitri and went in front of Dmitri. He peeked over the car, surveyed the area while determining a route for them to go and then took cover again.
"Looks like we can't avoid zthem. Hmm..what can we do. Oh ja, we can take the back roads. I used to take them all the time when I would steal bread from local baker. Hmm. I miss those days..he could never catch me heh."
Stigel looked at the other two and smiled, to which he received half-smiles back.
"So serious both of you. Don't worry friends I know what I'm doing" he tried reassuring them.
He then looked over the car again to make sure the path was clear, which it was, and he started darting across the street as the other two followed right behind him. He came upon a store of some sort and continued passing it, going into the road that went behind it. However the trio weren't the only ones on this back-road; the road itself was so densely populated with the undead it seemed like the road itself was alive.
"Shize. Well that is not going to work" was all Stigel said once he saw the debacle in front of him and even stood there with his hands on his hips and a smirk on his face, completely disregarding the danger he was in.
But luck was on Stigel's side for he noticed a manhole on the ground nearby and he told the others to follow him into the sewer once he got the idea. At first Dmitri was hesitant as well as Daring but the undead relentlessly heading towards their direction convinced them to go into the sewer finally. Once Daring Doo finally got into the sewer, she closed the manhole above her just in time as the undead on the surface began pounding on the cover, causing a sickening sound of hand and nail against metal.
"It's kinda like music isn't it friends? Really strange music. I thought Amerikans were weird with music. Ha!" Stigel joked.
The trio, with the only source of light being the covered manhole above them, stayed gathered underneath it until Stigel pulled out a flashlight from his satchel and turned it on, casting a bright white light onto the dark sewer walls.
"Who would've known sewers were nasty?" Stigel sarcastically joked, which earned him a slight chuckle here and there.
Stigel then looked behind him to the other two while being careful not to shine the bright light in their eyes.
"Friends, you sure are tough to entertain. Heh."
He then turned around again and starting walking forward, shining the light in front of him.
"Okay friends, the sewer goes right under the bunker. So we should get there pretty soon. What do you think Dmitri?" Stigel said, his voice echoing in the dark tunnels.
"I think you're right comrade. I don't think we're very far right now."
Dmitri then looked behind him to Daring, and noticed that she was looking at the floor. Stigel saw Dmitri doing this and continued walking forward.
"Daring, what's wrong?" Dmitri sincerly asked Daring.
Daring turned her head slightly away from Dmitri and stopped trotting. Both Dmitri and Stigel stopped walking and looked at her, although Stigel still remained cautious of where they were.
"It's just..I don't.." Daring Doo began as she continued staring at the floor sadly.
Dmitri walked over to her and was careful not to splash water on her due to his boots and lowered himself to her height. He then gave her a loving embrace, one to which she responded likewise. Daring Doo then started sobbing into his arms and he comforted her, stroking his hand down her mane and shooing her.
"It's alright Daring, we're gonna make it. It's alright" Dmitri told her while hugging her a little tighter.
"Hey friends, we got company down here!" Stigel interrupted.
Daring Doo and Dmitri looked up to Stigel, who was pointing ahead of them with his flashlight at a few bodies in the distance. However as time passed, it became apparent that the 'few' bodies they saw was actually a lot of bodies both on the walkway they were on and the water nearby.
"Bilet" Dmitri said.
"Shize" Stigel said right after him.
"Oh my Celestia" Daring Doo said last but not least of course.
The undead saw the trio and immediately started heading towards their direction. Dmitri looked at the undead and then looked back at Daring Doo, who was looking at him with such fear. At this moment, he had never noticed how beautiful her eyes were and even though she was scared out of her mind right now, he started to fall in love with her. Dmitri could hear the screams of the undead get louder with each and every passing second but despite the impending danger heading their way, he continued staring at Daring. And to Dmitri, it seemed that Daring felt the same way, for she kept intensely staring at his eyes as well.
"Tick tock, we're about to get fucked!" Stigel shouted at the other two.
Whatever spell was happening between Daring Doo and Dmitri was dissolved as reality came back and the screams became even more louder than before.
"Get ready comrades, they are about to be on us!" Dmitri shouted to Stigel and Daring as he pulled out his rifle while letting her go.
"Ja I know! Hey Daring, get behind Dmitri and me. You'll be just fine." Stigel replied to the both of them as he pulled out his machine gun.
Stigel remained on point where he was and stuck to his right side, right next to the wall as Dmitri assumed a stance right next to him in the small amount of space they had on the walkway. Dmitri crouched down to get a better aim while Stigel remained in a standing up position as he aimed.
"Okay, I got three on our left right here!" Dmitri shouted.
"I see that. I got 6 in front of us. Engaging!" Stigel replied back.
TATATATATATATAT! TATATA! TATATA! TATATATATA! TATATATATATATATA!
CRACK! CRACK!
"Friend, there's too many. Too many!" Stigel yelled out loud.
He continued firing at the undead, killing as many as he could but despite his efforts and those of Dmitri, the undead kept coming and coming.
"Reloading!" Stigel yelled out to Dmitri.
Dmitri continued firing as fast as he could, dropping a zombie here and there but could not kill all of them. He then pulled out his pistol and started firing rapidly, trying to kill the zombies heading towards Stigel first then those heading towards himself and Daring.
"Okay I'm good friend. Reload if you need too, I cover!" Stigel yelled again.
Dmitri nodded and proceeded to reload his rifle and then his pistol.
"DIE! DIEE!" Stigel shouted at the undead, mercilessly killing any undead who step too close to the trio. However Stigel failed to notice a zombie get through which was stumbling towards a distracted Stigel.
"Stigel watch out!" Daring Doo shouted out to Stigel.
Stigel was then attacked by the stumbling zombie and struggled with it until Dmitri blasted it's head off, causing quite a relief to Stigel.
"Thanks friend" Stigel said to Dmitri.
Dmitri nodded and got up, walking slowly towards the undead. Stigel did as well and the trio slowly advanced towards the undead. Once Dmitri and Stigel got close enough, the both of them engaged the undead in close quarter combat and killed the undead without mercy. At one point, Dmitri even grabbed a zombie and smashed its head violently on the hard cement ground below. Pretty soon, and with a miracle, the two of them managed to kill all the undead that were standing in their way, but at a great cost.
"Friend, those zthings sure can bite nasty" Stigel softly said to himself.
He then slid down to the ground and observed his wounds, which were too great for recovery. Dmitri and Daring looked at Stigel with despair, for they knew he wasn't going to make it.
"Oh just say it friends. I know I won't make it" Stigel said outloud, reading their minds.
Dmitri and Daring grimaced at Stigel and said nothing until Stigel did once again.
"Good news is, we're here friends. Take me up. You'll need me to stop machine."
"You're going to be okay comrade. I know it. Okay, let's go." Dmitri told Stigel.
Dmitri then picked up Stigel and put him on his back and walked a couple of paces forward until he came across a ladder. He climbed the ladder as fast as he could and with Daring's help, opened the sealed door above him and crawled into the bunker's floor. Once he did, he set Stigel down on a nearby wall and helped Daring up onto the bunker's floor and then shut the door afterwards.
"We're here friends. Right next to you. The one thing responsible for all of this shize we just went through." Stigel said, coughing a little from the effort of him speaking.
Dmitri looked around on his sides and saw what Stigel was talking about; whatever this machine was, it certainly appeared to be complex. There were rows upon rows of buttons and lights engraved into the walls and to Dmitri, it seemed impossible to decipher what was what. However it was Daring Doo who spoke again and not Stigel like how Dmitri expected.
iph
"Hey Dmitri, I think this is the off button or whatever."
Sure enough, Daring Doo happened to find the off switch which was located on the side of the wall where she was at.
"Yes friend, you found out how to shut it off. But it can't work unless there are two hands. Both of you need to stand right here. You can't both be there." Stigel said, pointing first to his left to a strange box looking object and then to where they were standing.
"Niet, you're not saying what I think you're saying.." Dmitri began.
"Oh it's exactly like that friend and you know it." Stigel replied, chuckling and coughing.
Dmitri grimaced at Stigel and walked over to where he was and he kneeled down in front of him.
"I can't leave you comrade. I will not allow it!"
"Well it's not your decision is it friend? We've had a good run Dmitri but all things come to an end. However, it isn't your time just yet friend. And how about this. Maybe we'll see each other in the next world? I think so, ja? Ja So take me to switch." Stigel insisted.
"Dammit comrade, why must you make me do this!" Dmitri said, slightly sad, slightly amused.
Stigel smirked at him and coughed a little.
"Because you wouldn't be my friend if you didn't. Besides, remember when I saved you from Lucas the bully?"
"Comrade I thought we agreed to let that go. You are really bringing that back up again eh comrade?"
"Hey, just saying you still owe me." Stigel chuckled.
"You bastard heh heh heh..I'm going to miss you comrade." Dmitri replied with a chuckle.
"I'll miss you too friend. I really will."
Stigel and Dmitri then shared one last embrace before Dmitri picked him up again and set him down in front of the controls. Dmitri, along with Daring Doo, walked and trotted over to the strange box and stood on top of it.
"Okay, get ready friends. Here goes everything!" Stigel called out to them, pulling the switch down.
The bunker itself started shaking with such an intensity it vibrated the walls rather rapidly.The three of them could hear a loud noise overhead, accompanied with a sharp blast as a loud sound slowly descended in pitch and volume above them. Dmitri and Daring Doo then gave Stigel one final bye as the machine made one more loud noise.
FU TANG WHOOP BEEP!
But as soon as it did, the bunker's door bursted opened and a horde of undead piled into the bunker, heading towards the downed Stigel in the control room.
"STIGEL!" both Daring Doo and Dmitri called out.
But it was too late. After the loud noise, the two of them disappeared in a puff of rainbows as the undead overpowered the hurt Stigel and his desperate attempts to stop them as his dying screams echoed in the bunker's cold walls.
Ch. 6 - Seinen Kampf...
July 1944
Hamburg, Germany
On a local street near a bakery
"Achtung! Achtung! All German citizens, Der Führer is making a speech! Der Führer speaks!" cried out a voice.
The local people of Hamburg diverted their attention towards the voice, noticing it belonged to a rather young boy dressed in a Hitler Youth uniform. The boy smiled from the attention he received and turned around, pointing to a motorcade behind him. Lo behold, the Father of the Fatherland himself was present in the motorcade, presenting himself in a most strong position. Der Führer held his head high and looked over the crowd, raising an eyebrow as if he was expecting something from the crowd. The crowd realized this and saluted him, to which he smiled and laughed at.
"Friends, citizens and fellow siblings! It is I, your leader, your Führer! Today is a beautiful day but with it I carry grave news. As you know, the Americans have already landed in the West and the Soviets continue to gain ground in the East. But I assure you that the fight is far from over! We are a strong people! We are a united people! Divided we are weak but united we are indestructible. We shall continue the fight for as long as we can, until every man has given his last breath to the struggle! This is because we, the German people, are a superior people. Nothing will stop us. Nothing will destroy us. Nothing will prevent us from prevailing! The Third Reich will continue to live as long as I live! The Third Reich will continue to live as long as you all live! The Third Reich will continue to live long after we all have lived!"
Der Führer held his hands high and held his words as he took several breaths. He looked over the now cheering crowd, and could see the hope and prosperity in their eyes. When he saw this hope and prosperity, Der Führer thought about all he had done for the German people. He had made Germany a world power, and he had unified their efforts against the Soviets and Americans! But there was a sinking feeling in his heart and at that moment he thought of all the Jews that he personally ordered to be executed. He thought about the guilt of what he had allowed to happen and in that moment of realization, he revealed to himself the real secret he tried to hide from himself. Germany was no longer his anymore. Germany belonged to the Nazi party and just like Germany, he was ensnared by the Nazi trap. Tears almost formed in Der Führer's eyes, for he knew that what he was doing was an absolute horror, an atrocity that will never be forgotten.
"I really tried helping them! I am a good guy! I am!" he pleaded to himself.
But Der Führer, no matter how hard he tried convincing himself, knew that he was the bad guy, that he was the evil in the world. There was so much that Der Führer had envisioned that would help the German people and humanity overall. There was so much he could have fixed in the world with his power! So much potential, so many opportunities to help the human race. But Der Führer, slowly with time, became consumed by the Nazi Party, a party he had created and became absorbed into the greater Nazi agenda.
"Never forget who you really are" he told himself, knowing that the other him would not listen.
And just like how he had predicted, the other him continued speaking, swaying the crowd in front of him in his favor.
"They are my minions. They are here to do my bidding. They are here to do what I want" his other side said to himself.
Deep down inside, Der Führer was still the young artist who set out to paint the world and show the world its wonders. The artist who, despite the struggles of life maintained a positive and energetic vigor and who set out to help others despite his own conditions. The world was tough to the artist but that was good; it made the artist tough. The world deprived the artist of friends. But that made the artist sociable. The world gave the artist fear. But what the artist made out of it was unexpected from the world; the artist made courage.
"Yes courage! It takes courage to do anything in this world! You know this more than anyone else!" the artist begged the other side, the cold dictator.
But the dictator did not respond. The dictator ignored the artist and left the artist in the darkness inside.
"No you can't! You can't do this to them! You can't! I won't let you!" the artist yelled at the dictator, his voice now fading into the background.
The dictator had already done it though. The people were already swayed in his favor. The people were at his bidding, and his only. The dictator, now present in front of the people gathered in front of the bakery, smiled and saluted the crowd, to which he received an uproar of support. Hate boiled in the dictator's eyes and anger embraced his devious smile; the world belonged to him and him only. There was nothing that anyone in the entire world could do..
Of course, not on Earth anyways.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unknown year
Near last departure zone, Ponyville, Equestria
"STIGGGGEELL!!!" yelled two voices, however both voices stopped as soon as they had started.
The voices belonged to two lifeforms; one a human and the other a pony. The human looked to be of Soviet origins and was dressed in a Red Army uniform while the pony herself was in an explorer outfit, complete with a dirty green shirt and pith helmet. The two of them looked at one another in shock, for they did not expect their arrival at this specific designation, at this specific time. As to add to their confusion, a equally confused voice called out to them.
"Dmitri? Daring Doo? Where did y'all go?" a mare called out to them and by the sound of it she was on the breaking point of crying.
Dmitri and Daring Doo turned their heads in shock to the voice and found it belonged to a mare with a braided mane and tail, and who was dressed in a pioneer outfit.
"A-annie? Is that you?" Daring Doo hesitantly asked, the sun shining in her eyes as she tried squinting at the mare in front of them.
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Ch. 7 - Occupation
I continued squinting at the mare in front of us and I got closer to her. Once I had decided to do so, I saw that it was indeed Annie. But there was something off about Annie that I didn't realize until she spoke again. Oh boy. We were gone a long time, weren't we?
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"Annie! That is you!" Daring Doo exclaimed, laughing in joy.
However once she got closer to Annie to give her a hug, her laughter of joy ceased and instead was replaced by a frown. Daring Doo couldn't believe what she was seeing- Annie was a lot older than the last time she had seen her. Her face remained somewhat youthful but was weathered with unmeasured time and the hairs on her mane were turning grey. Daring Doo also saw the wrinkles that framed Annie's face and the tiredness behind her eyes and still could not believe what she was seeing.
"Annie.." Daring Doo began, raising a hoof to her own face in shock.
Annie smiled at Daring Doo and hugged her, kissing her on the cheek and crying a little.
"It's good to see you too hun" Annie said to Daring while a tear ran down her face, to which she received a heart-felt hug back and a smile.
Annie then looked over to Daring's right and greeted Dmitri.
"Hi Dmitri! Look, I can say your name right! All this time wasn't so bad after all, right?"
"Niet comrade. At least you have learned how to say my name right. Heh heh good to see you again comrade!"
Dmitri chuckled and gave Annie a strong hug. As he was doing so, Daring Doo caught herself staring at Annie, and couldn't help to notice that even with age, Annie was still beautiful.
It'll never work. What are you thinking?
Daring Doo shrugged off the thoughts only to be bothered by new ones arising from Dmitri's proximity to her body. She was confused at the emotions raging in her and couldn't bare looking at both of her friends, for she had feelings for them both. Dmitri and Annie continued talking to one another but Daring Doo did not; instead she stood there in silence as she ignored their conversation until she finally decided she could not take it anymore. Suddenly, she took off, flying away from the two of them.
"Daring? Where are you going?" Both Dmitri and Annie called out to her but without success.
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This can't be happening, this can't be happening..oh boy..oh boy! I'm..I'm..in the future...oh boy oh boy...oh..get it together! You're strong. You're tough. You can do this. You're Daring Doo after all! But I don't know. I don't know if I can do this. I wanted adventure..but not like this. This is just..too surreal. It can't be real. It can't be.
Daring Doo continued to fly off into the distance, talking to herself while doing so. She was shocked at how instantaneous time travel could be and just tried to convince herself it wasn't real. However as she flew into the brilliant white clouds above, she failed to notice what was happening down below...
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"She'll come back comrade. I'm sure of it" Dmitri said to Annie, to which Annie smirked at.
"If you say so Dmitri. Well I suppose she can come later on then. Dinner will be ready soon."
"Dinner you said comrade? Oh most good. Let's eat, da?"
Annie smiled and started to trot in front of Dmitri.
"Da. Alright, follow me over-"
PA PA PA!
Dmitri ducked his head just in time as three bullets whizzed over his head, causing him to draw his pistol immediately. He was able to tell from holes in the ground that the bullets were coming from behind. He turned around quickly and saw the perpetrator: it was a masked figure with a pistol as well. Dmitri fired back at it and killed it, causing the figure to fall down in a low groan.
"Hmm, perhaps we weren't the only ones who came back." Dmitri said out loud in thought.
"DROP THE WEAPON NOW RUSSIAN!" a voice boomed over a megaphone.
Dmitri, with a look of defiance, looked around to find the voice. He found it belonged to another masked figure except this figure was on top of a truck, bearing the symbol of the Wehrmacht.
"Make me bastard!" Dmitri yelled in protest to the figure.
He fired at the figure, whom gurgled and fell over in reaction. However almost immediately, several masked men seemingly appeared out of nowhere and rushed Dmitri and Annie. Dmitri fired at the rushing masked figures but could only stop so many; his pistol eventually ran out of ammunition. As they got closer, Dmitri instinctively protected Annie by using his knife and fists but it was to no avail; there was simply too many of them. They eventually overpowered Dmitri, who continued to struggle with them despite the number of them holding on to him.
"Annie! ANNIE! I WILL COME FOR YOU!!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, as he was separated from her by the mysterious masked men.
The masked men continued to drag Dmitri away from Annie, taking him to the back of another truck. As the men attempted to load him onto the truck, Dmitri freed himself of their grasp and ran away, running towards Annie. As he did so, he heard screams telling him to stop and heard bullets firing at his feet but he continued to run. He started to catch up to Annie and could see her in his sights until a flying rifle butt that he did not see came out of a bush on his side and knocked him down. He fell down hard, dazed and confused as his head exploded with pain and he saw what looked like his friend kneeling over him.
"Hey Dmitri, it's Stigel..all will be okay, okay?" his friend said to him, his face blurry yet smiling an ever so friendly smile.
"You're not Stigel.." Dmitri managed to utter as his vision slowly faded away as he was smacked two more times in the head.
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"So, you're the Ruski bastard who's given us so much trouble. Never thought it would be a dirty half Russian like yourself. Vhat was your bitch of a mother? Mexican right? Traitors. They could have helped us in zthe first Vorld Var but nein, they felt obliged to serve their master like a hound. Is that what you are, half-Ruski? A dog serving the people? No matter, you will feel pain the same as any other. You will also die like any other. Full Russian, half Russian, death does not discriminate. He takes all that he can take." A voice echoed in Dmitri's ears.
Dmitri groaned with pain and flinched as a bright light was shined on his face.
"Ahh, look. Zthe half-Ruski bastard is awake! Velcomen back die Sau."
Dmitri noticed he couldn't move due to his hands being restrained to the chair he was sitting in. Despite this, he stood up and attempted to get out of his binding.
"Ja, it looks like you're stuck. Don't worry, cooperate with us and ve vill make zthis as painless as possible." a man with a grey uniform and a similarly grey hat bearing a skull and bones said with a devilish smile.
He then clicked his tongue and two masked guards in the room manhandled Dmitri, forcing him to sit back down until he fought them and slammed them both into the wall behind him, causing both guards to be knocked out and his restraints to be broken.
"Unfortunately for you comrade, it is you that is the one who is stuck." Dmitri said back to him, glaring at him with his eyes.
"Ve vill see about zthat." the officer said to him, smiling with the same devilish smile from before and chuckling slightly.
Dmitri walked towards him and didn't stop when the officer pulled out a pistol, pointing it at his chest. Dmitri roared and smacked the gun out of his hand, grabbing the officer's throat and holding him up in the air with one hand. He started applying pressuring, exerting unholy strength on the officer's throat, squeezing so hard the officer gasped for air with his hands.
"Tell me suka where my friend is and I might let you live. Choice is yours comrade."
However the officer did not budge and remained silent besides his gasps for air. Dmitri continued to glare at him, his mind becoming clouded with hate and anger. It was in this moment that Dmitri realized that perhaps what he was doing wasn't the right thing. He knew the officer he was choking wasn't a good person but he thought about how that would make him.
"I was already damned in first place" he thought to himself.
Dmitri continued strangling the officer as the officer fought for his life, his legs kicking all over the place and his hands clawing at Dmitri's face. But Dmitri remained unmoved and continued choking him until the officer's limbs went still and his eyes became cold. Dmitri then tossed him to the side and spitted at his dead body.
"German suka." he said to himself.
He then searched the officer's body and found a pair of keys, along with the pistol he was using earlier to threaten him and some ammunition for it. He proceed to make sure the weapon was loaded and holstered it.
"Time to save Annie. Time to find out where she is." Dmitri said to himself.
Dmitri then busted the door open, surprising the guards guarding it and ruthlessly killed all four of them swiftly, not missing a single shot.
"I'm coming comrade." he thought to himself as he marched onward.
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"Maybe I should've stayed. Maybe. It..was wrong of me to leave suddenly. They're probably wondering where I am." Daring Doo said to herself.
She continued thinking about how she left suddenly and decided landing somewhere would be best to collect her thoughts. She found a cave on the slide of a cliff and landed there, laying down and placing her head between her front forelegs.
"It's just..I'm in the future..I just can't..how do I..how do I explain that to others? That I'm from the past? I..I must..no..I can't..I can't..oh boy..this is big, really big. Woah." she continued to say to herself.
However in her thoughts she failed to notice eagle-shaped objects flying in the distance until she heard a loud noise.
"Huh?" she asked, looking up.
She gasped as she saw several odd eagle-shaped objects flying towards Canterlot, noticing how similar they looked to..
"Oh boy, it's them isn't it?" she asked herself again, answering her own question in a instant.
She knew she had to tell Dmitri right away about the Germans coming back again but wondered how to go about it. She knew obviously not to fly in the same direction they were but wasn't quite sure how to reach Dmitri and Annie and the rest of the population to warn them.
"No wait, that is the way!" she said to herself.
She grinned, taking off right away, flying straight towards one of the eagle-shaped objects. She knew what she was thinking was crazy and possibly insane but definitely fun.
"HAHAAHAHAHAHAA!" She insanely laughed outloud, smiling widely as she landed on top of one of the eagle-shaped objects.
She noticed that she startled the human inside, who immediately tried to shake her off. Instead, Daring Doo held on, laughing loudly and grinning. She could tell the human inside was shouting back at her and even pulled out a weapon to shoot her.
"Not today buddy" she laughed to herself.
The human shot at her as she took off, causing himself to start to gasp for air and subsequently dive down towards the ground.
"I'm coming Equestria! I'm coming!" she grinned to herself, clinging onto the next available eagle-shaped object.
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"Excellent Annie, your participation is valued greatly by the Third Reich. Tell me, vhat do you know about zthe Ruski?"
"I ain't tellin' you nothin"
"Bitte, for your own sake, participate. If you truly value your home, zthen zthis must happen. Do you understand? Ja?
"There's no way in tardation I'm helpin' y'all."
The German officer questioning Annie smirked slightly, even laughing a little.
"Ve can do zthis zthe easy way or the hard way. You see Annie, Ponyville belongs to us now. It belongs to the Third Reich. As I speak, several regiments and brigades are securing Ponyville under our control. You all will obey us. You all will assimilate into the greater Third Reich. Why such a sad face? Nein, this isn't something to be sad about. Ve are simply enlightening your inferior race. Cleansing can only happen on a greater scale, not a minimal one. Like Jewish rats, pony mice must be maintained and controlled. They must be made to listen to order and be categorized. Excellent organization is vhat ve are good at. Ve simply aren't the bad guys. Nein, ve are the ones who aren't afraid to do vhat everyone else won't . You see, der Führer is our vessel into evolution; it is him that vill lead us to greatness in the future! It is him that is our future!" he said to Annie, standing up and emphasizing his points before smiling and reclining back down in his chair.
"You're mad. You're crazy. Y'all aren't the good guys. I've seen what y'all can do. I've seen y'all before. Plenty of years ago. I know y'all don't mean well. Y'all only want us to die. Y'all only want what we have - magic. I can tell by your silence that's what cha' want. Ain't it? Yeah it is. As for your 'dare fooyear' he ain't what he says he is. Y'all mustn't be able to see into it but he sounds kinda like a smooth talker. "
The officer immediately changed his expression to that of anger and slammed his fist down on the table dividing the two of them.
"How DARE you say zthis about der Führer? You vill be shot for this!"
He stood up, drawing his pistol quickly and glared down at Annie before setting one finger on the trigger and-
BAM!
Annie's eyes were closed but she didn't know what happened. She questioned if she died at first and was afraid to open her eyes but she did anyways. The officer's eyes rolled to the back of his head as blood poured out of his mouth until his knees buckled and he fell forward, slamming onto the table as the gun fell out of his hand as well. Lo behold, there was a man standing there, covered in blood and anger. He stood there, pistol still smoking from shooting the officer yet he wasn't finished. The officer was still alive and grunting for life until the man in blood shot him again in the back. The man in blood then looked over to Annie and said one thing:
"Hello comrade" he said with such a grand smile, lowering his pistol and holstering it.
"Hey Dmitri, that was..surprising. A good one though." she slightly chuckled, realizing how disturbed she actually might be.
Dmitri smiled with a bloody grin and nodded his head, beckoning her to follow him.
"We must go comrade. The Germans have quickly taken control. They will know what I have done. It is me they are looking for, but this time they take town. They will make sure town suffer. I will not make this so."
"But Dmitri, there's a lot of them."
"Unfortunately for them, there is a lot of me as well. One of me is too much comrade." he chuckled to himself.
"You sure are sure of yerself. If ya' say so, then alright. Lead the way, comrade!"
"The Germans will not prevail. Soon, their time will come."
Dmitri opened the door and led the two of them out, taking cover as a German patrol passed by.
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"Der Führer, Ponyville is effectively under our control. What are your orders?" a German officer in grey asked a man dressed in khaki next to him in German.
"Excellent Generalmajor,ensure that Ponyville stays under our control. As for orders, demand surrender of Equestria and if denied, you are to take all regions. All regions of Equestria. Be relentless. Be cruel. Do not go soft. We are the superior race; they will be taught this."
The Generalmajor nodded his head a little and respectfully bowed his head before standing at attention and staring at Der Führer.
"Sieg Heil!" the officer said, clicking his shoes together before he left the room.
"Sieg Heil!" Der Führer responded, nodding his head and turning away as the Major General left.
Der Führer then walked up to his observation window, smiling with pride at how he knew he would get his way.
"Soon, this Zauber will be mine. With this power of the gods, I shall be more powerful than any other man. That Soviet Sau will bow before me. That American verkrüppelt will plead for mercy on his knees. And finally, the world will be mine. But not just Earth. This world shall be mine too. I shall make Deutschland the greatest nation the world has-no, both worlds have seen! Nothing will stop the Third Reich. Nothing will stop the Nazi party. Nothing will stop the German people from becoming the most superior race both worlds have seen! We will become almighty. We will become invincible. We will become gods." he said to himself, smiling wickedly as he folded both arms behind his back and assumed a wide stance.
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And soon, Equestria fell into an age of darkness never seen before, mostly because it could not be seen at first. The princesses, following their philosophies of good heartiness and belief believed the Germans could and would negotiate, but they were wrong. Der Führer grabbed what he wanted. He grabbed what he thought was necessary. He promised Equestria freedom, and he promised them a splendid future. He managed to sway many on his side with his charisma and superior persuasion skills. Soon he was able to force the princesses in submission after a thwarted attempt by royal forces to stop the advancing German forces. Magic and royal armor and weapons were no match for automatic weapons, artillery, tanks, superior training and superior air support. It was a catastrophic day; many died for what was left of the Royal government. Many died for the old life, for the old ways. Many died fighting to stop this threat, to stop this mad man. But despite their efforts, he prevailed, ushering in a new age of "evolution", an age of absolute "superiority" and tyranny. And so Equestria became part of the Greater German Reich, and was promised a new age of "evolution" and an empire that would last thousands and thousands of years in harmony.
But, unfortunately for Der Führer, there was one man who did not sway to his persuasion.
That one man was still alive, despite being previously thought to be dead.
And that one man was very upset. Very angry. Very rebellious.
That one man was the one man Der Führer feared the most; he had heard rumors of this superior soldier capable of eliminating anything in his path and his uncanny ability to survive the most unlikely of situations.
The Bear that Survived.
And there was the Bear, walking towards occupied Ponyville with nothing but his bare hands and his grin.
"I'm coming for you Hitler" he smiled, continuing to march towards Ponyville.
Ch. 8 - Burns in Time
"There is something I must put down. Time. That is what I must put down. Time is not correct. It has been altered. Of course this much is known, don't be silly comrade. But because of this, events run different course. What do I mean? It means there are burns within time. Much like how one can get burned from a hot pan, time can be burned. Time is very fragile; like spiderweb remember? But this time, time has been burned. Things from the past have been burned permanently in certain point in time, as things from the future. Time is on the verge of being set on fire. What does that mean? I do not know comrade. I do not know. It is not good, that much I know. Let us hope we survive these burns." -Dmitri Durchenko
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"Der Führer! Sieg Heil mein Führer, but I have important news!"
"What is your news? What demands my current attention? I must remained focused on the continuing domination of this planet of horses that have magical properties that I must harness. What could possibly warrant my undivided attention?"
"With respect Der Führer but our experiments are causing an undesirable side effect. There are certain ramifications that cannot be overlooked Der Führer."
"How so Herr Korring?"
"Mein Führer, we cannot continue these experiments for our own safety. With great respect mein Führer, I must implore options that we must take."
"Spit them out. Do not stand there hesitant like a Jewish dog."
"Ja, mein Führer. I can explain this as simple as this; with such high risk, these experiments are not, simply of course, worth the risk."
Der Fuhrer slowly turned his head to his left, slowly building up anticipation and fear into Herr Korring's heart until Der Führer's dark eyes locked onto his. He then spoke with a grave tone, Herr Korring's spine twitched.
"You will continue these experiments. We must obtain this power. We must obtain this power of the gods. And you are to do everything it takes to do so, no matter the cost, no matter the harm. Do you understand Herr Korring? Or do I have to make sure you do by gathering your family for an experiment of my own?"
Herr Korring, with sweat beading up at the back of his neck swallowed, managing to maintain eye contact with the deathly dark eyes in front of him.
"Ja, of course mein Führer. How silly and incompetent of me. I will see to it that this is done."
"Excellent. I want results this time Herr Korring, not like that mess-up in Berlin. Because of your actions we will never get Berlin back. But I am merciful. I have given you a second chance. Do not mess this up for your own sake. You will regret it if you do." Der Führer said sternly and gravely to Herr Korring.
Herr Korring nodded his head and gulped.
"Ja, mein Führer. Sieg heil!"
"Sieg Heil!"
Both Der Führer and Herr Korring clicked their shoes together as they saluted before Herr Korring gave one more respectful nod and left, the sound of his boots echoing in the grand halls of the royal castle.
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"What are they doin'? Momma? What are they doin'?" asked a young tan filly to an much older green mare as she watched soldiers in grey uniforms barking orders to ponies.
"I don't know sugar. I reckon they're hauling off them poor folk to the Lab."
"What's the Lab momma?"
"Somewhere you n' I don't wanna go. Folks don't come back once they go. Come on sugar, momma's got you."
The older green mare picked up her young daughter and set her on her back, trotting from behind a house over to another, where a man was kneeling down, covered in blood that wasn't his.
"Dmitri. Dmitri." she whispered to the man.
The man turned around, almost attacking the two of them before realizing who they were.
"Oh hey comrades. Thought you were Nazi at first. Sorry about mess. Sit down sit down." He whispered back, encouraging them to sit down next to him by patting the somewhat still wet ground.
Reluctantly, the green mare decided to sit down and told her child to be quiet.
"So Annie" began Dmitri, "where's other comrada?"
"Daring? I thought you knew where she was Dmitri!"
Dmitri looked up to the sky, bit his lip, licked his right index finger and pointed to the sky before withdrawing it and looking back down to Annie and her child.
"Just as I have thought. She is up there."
"But wait how do you even know that? How did that-?"
But before Annie could finish her question, bursts of anti-air fire erupted, lighting up the sky in an explosion of metallic yellow and orange.
"That is how comrade. I'm sure she will be fine. She is Daring Doo of course." Dmitri said lightly, even going as far as smiling.
"So Dmitri, what are we gonna do? Dare Fooyear has everything under lock-down."
"Unfortunately comrade, that is least of worry. I would sit and explain but we must move fast. Der Führer will have to wait. Come, I know place to go. Fortunately for us, place I know is place you might remember."
Dmitri then led Annie and her child through a couple of neighborhoods, careful to avoid patrolling Nazis and Supporters, the ponies that became corrupted by Der Führer's ideologies.
"Soon, we will be there. Place will be safe enough. There, I can explain what problem is now."
"Okay Dmitri." replied Annie.
Dmitri grabbed one of her hoofs and continued leading her through Ponyville as the loudspeakers started booming the daily chants of Nazi propaganda for the afternoon.
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"Here we are comrade. See? I know you would remember. It is place where we met. Long ago, da."
True to his word, Dmitri pointed to a very familar looking hole in the ground, surrounded by what looked like Annie's-
"Hey, isn't this where you fought the dragon n' stuff?" Annie asked, remembering the scene vividly.
"Da comrade. Come, we must go below. Then I can tell problem."
Dmitri urged Annie to follow him and he went in first, Annie following right behind. Both of them landed on the ground below fairly well despite the height and waited until their eyes adjusted to the darkness. Annie made sure her child was okay and when her child giggled back in return, she knew it was alright. Dmitri walked over to a very familiar looking side hole which still contained markings of previous habitation, except it was charred black from the dragon's breath long ago. Dmitri picked up what was left of a brick and dusted it off, setting it down on the ground and sitting on it. Annie found a suitable area not too badly burnt to sit down and proceed to do so. Her child lay in her mother's lap and fell asleep, to which Annie gave a motherly kiss.
"Okay comrade. Nazi has messed up time. Nazi has caused burns. These burns are not good comrade. These burns mean different people from different time come to this time. Is like this comrade. Imagine magnet in middle of circle. Now imagine different people all around that circle at different point all being opposite magnet. Then all of the sudden, magnet in middle start drawing all of them in. Once that happens comrade, it is big boom as all magnet crash together. Except this isn't magnets comrade. This is time displacement. Not good at all. Not good at all comrade."
"Time displacement? Huh? Now hold on. What does that really mean? How bad is it gonna be?"
"I do not know comrade. All I know is it is not good. That is why I am telling you. We must stop this. We must stop Nazi experimentation. They do not realize they will cause end of this place. I must stop Nazi but before I can, I must stop this from happening. So, will you help comrade?"
"Not sure I'll be much help Dmitri considerin' I got little Appleorchard with me. But you know I'll be willin' to help. Ya' always known that Dmitri" Annie replied to Dmitri's question and smiled.
Dmitri smiled back and gave her a slight nod. He softly clasped his hands together and got up.
"Good. Most good. Okay, at any moment, time burns should happen. We should be safe here comrade. This place is protected due to my arrival here long ago. But it is possible for burn to happen on hole. Who knows."
Dmitri walked over to the only source of light, the hole, and looked up. As he did, suddenly something massive landed on him, causing him to fall down and whatever landed on him to do so as well. But that something grunted, and quickly Annie was able to tell that something was a man in what appeared to be a white tunic..with a red cross?
"Ah! The hell was that?" The man in the white tunic grunted as he started to recover.
Dmitri was already on his feet, urging Annie to hide. Annie complied and managed to sneak herself and Appleorchard to safety.
"Huh? What was that?" The man asked, his head darting back and forth as he used his knees to get up.
When he finally did, it seemed the ground beneath them shaked due to the man's massive size. As he took steps to turn around to look at his surroundings, Annie could hear the distinctive chinks and clinks of the man's armor, surprised that the man was able to wear so much of it. However she silently gasped when the man in the white tunic stopped turning around due to Dmitri's presence. Dmitri was now acknowledged and he slightly tilted his head upwards, anticipating the man's movements with his eyes.
"And who the hell might you be?" the man in white snarled at Dmitri.
Almost immediately the man in the white tunic reached for the massive sword on his side and swung it out, amazingly not hitting the side of the confined cave. He also unhooked an equally massive shield bearing a similar symbol to that of his tunic and strided a few feet towards Dmitri then stopping.
"Not your enemy" Dmitri grunted, his eyes staring down to the barely visible glint between the slit in the man's flat-toped helmet.
"Hmm, I beg to differ. You seem a little..arabic. Perhaps a good cutting down in the Lord's name shall be due."
As the man in the white tunic suddenly lunged forward, Dmitri drew a knife from his side and engaged the large man. Dmitri was surprised that the man whom was two heads taller than he was was able to move so quickly. As the man in the white tunic lunged forward, Dmitri side-stepped and banged the man's helmet with the hilt of his knife, causing a small dent and dazing the man. The man in the white tunic retaliated, swinging his sword towards Dmitri, to which Dmitri somehow glanced off with his knife and causing a bright spark and a louder ring. The man in the white tunic, now stunned, attempted to shield bash Dmitri, to which Dmitri quickly turned around and ripped the shield off the man's hand and kicked the man's right leg at the knee. The man in the white tunic, now angered and in pain, swinged his sword once again and Dmitri glanced it off once again, now with his own shield and caused the sword to go flying.
BAM!
"Ahh!" the man in the white tunic gasped, his metallic voice grunting with heavy breaths as he landed on the ground rather harshly.
Dmitri now gained ground towards the grounded man and swing the shield towards him, to which the man kicked. The move earned the man in the white tunic a chance to get up when Dmitri staggered back a little and when he did, he attempted to grapple Dmitri. When he did, the two of them struggled, both of them grunting and straining to overpower the other. But despite the man in the white tunic being not only taller but heavier than Dmitri, his strength started faltering as Dmitri started to overpower him.
"What is this? The work of the devil? Or of witchcraft? No man your size should be so strong!" The man protested to Dmitri.
As the man's arms started shaking due to his failing strength, Dmitri finally found an opportunity to strike him with the shield and with a great roar, he striked the man in the white tunic with all of his strength behind the metal shield.
BIIIIINNNNG!
The man in the white tunic flew several feet away, landing with a loud thud along. He groaned in pain and squirmed a little before Dmitri walked up to him and dropped the shield next to him. The man in the white tunic looked up to Dmitri and gasped,
"What are you?"
Dmitri smiled and kneeled down to the still recovering man, sparing his life.
"Dmitri. Dmitri Durchenko. So, what do you say comrade. Let's be friends, da?" he replied, holding out a hand and smiling a little.
The man in the white tunic, now with his helmet removed, reached out to Dmitri's hand and grasped it. Dmitri then helped the taller man back to his feet as he nodded his head in thanks and agreement.
"'Tis was a good fight. I am grateful for your mercy. What be your kingdom or king strangely dressed young knight? Defeating me in a duel is worthy of your house's recognition." he asked Dmitri, still gathering his breath.
"No king or kingdom. I used to fight for Soviet. Now I fight for Equestria."
"Equestria? A land of horses you say? What an odd-"
"Excuse me!" Annie protested.
"Oh! What a sight. Tis be an Equestrian?" the man in the white tunic asked.
"Da." Dmitri replied.
The man in the white tunic walked up to Annie and curtsied to her.
"Well I think a proper greeting is needed. I am Sir Rocon, first of my name and knight to the Templar order. I serve no king other than the true Lord himself. I have been acquainted with you sire but not of this lady. Might I ask what is your name Lady?"
"Annie. You can call me Annie."
"Excellent. I shall name you Lady Annie. Well, if I might ask you again sire, what is this place?"
"Equestria comrade."
"Oh. Yes. Hmm. One second I was in the fields of the Holy Land and the next, I find myself falling in darkness and encountering you Sir Durchenko. Interesting this is. Was this the work of witchcraft Sir Durchenko?" the knight now asked Dmitri again.
"Niet. The work of Nazi."
"Nazi you say? What is that? An Arabic cult? Satanic worshipers?"
"Something like that comrade."
"Hmm. Well I suppose in the Lord's name, I shall help you defeat these 'Nazi' satanic worshipers. Any and all threats to Christianity must be eliminated. I now pledge my sword to thee, noble Sir Durchenko. Not only have you defeated me in combat but you have earned my allegiance. I am now in debt to you Sir Durchenko for your gracious mercy. I swear to St. George I will uphold my codes in utmost-" the knight started, even kneeling down on the ground and holding out his sword to Dmitri before Dmitri interrupted him.
"I get it comrade. It's okay. You can get back up. No need to say all that."
"Yes, as you command sire." Sir Rocon replied, nodding his head and getting back up.
Sir Rocon then grabbed his helmet and sword and shield and dusted off some dust that had gathered on his broad shoulders after he had put on his equipment.
"So sire, what now?" Sir Rocon asked.
"We wait. You're not only one who came Rocon. Other comrades like you will show up."
"Then I shall help defend the Lady and yourself and her child. There may be others who show up who do not see the Lord's ways and may be hostile." the knight replied, brandishing his sword and shield.
As if on cue, a sudden flash appeared above the hole and sure enough, another body materialized out of nowhere, which then hit the ground with a loud grunt.
"Gah! What is this? A French trick?" a man brandishing similar clothing and armor to Sir Rocon now said, slightly groaning from the impact.