Word of Queen Celestia’s crimes in Bern proved to be a wake up call in Europe. Some had tried to make contact with her, begging her to stop the madness. But she didn’t respond to requests from the politicians of Europe, or any other nations worldwide, meeting pleas for mercy with either wet with stony silence or platitudes that this was for their own good. As the first reports about attacks on other towns near the borders around Switzerland streamed out, it became clear that the whole of Europe was under attack.

The military began to plan defensive lines and tactics, helping the police to protect the civilian population.

But as ever, no plan survives first contact with the enemy.

In close proximity to Lüneburg, Germany. 2019 CE

Leutnant Stephan Bauer was sat in an old CH-53 chopper as he watched outside through a window. Clear blue afternoon skies and green meadows made for a typically beautiful scene, the kind which made you think that nothing bad could be happening in the world. He was sure that his mother would have liked to sketch a picture of this.

Stephan was a man of average height and a bearish build, but his face, despite a small scar over his right eyebrow, made him look younger than twenty-five years. Some people would call him ‘little bear’, thinking it an insult, yet others would say it was because he was like a giant teddy with its heart in the right place. Regardless of how someone may twist or turn it, he happened to be a well-trained and respected officer who did what was necessary to ensure the success of a mission and the survival of his men, without the loss of innocent life. The man had became an officer in record time, he stood at the top of his class as he had already done some missions with the KSK and SEK-M with his EGB-313. unit. Sometimes even in the company of spec-ops forces from another nation.

As the transport helicopter was nearing the little city Lüneburg, he saw how thousands of cars were driving north towards the evacuation center. Here and there were people on foot. He wondered if the cities in south Germany, like Stuttgart and München, had enough time to evacuate. Especially with the HLF going around shooting indiscriminately in what felt like a repeat of the Three Weeks of Blood - truly, word had spread that there were some very bad people in that group...

His heart tightened as he realized that most of these people wouldn’t make it in time. He shut his eyes and shook his head, before glancing through the cargo hold of the chopper. Thirty-one soldiers were waiting to finally jump into action. Almost half of them were veterans who already knew war, and kept silent while the younger ones were talking, almost screaming over the engines, about the mission.

“Scheisse, can you believe it? Never thought that I’d go to war against some colorful ponies!”

“Ja, krass oder? Did you saw what they did to the reporters?”

“Hab ich! Damn, they just turned them into ponies like it was daily business! Please, do me a favor and shoot me if they ever try to do the same with me!”

Stephan chose this moment to throw himself into the discussion . “No one’s going to be shooting anyone else! have you got any idea how much paperwork I’d need to fill in if someone got the bright idea to kill his comrades?”

“Nein, Herr Leutnant!” both of them shouted.

“Enough for half a year! And in that time, I’ll be sure to make the surviving one clean the toilets with a toothbrush, you understand? Every, single, day! Now, focus on the mission!” He leaned back to let the other soldiers hear his last sentence, “We have to help the police and the Wachbataillon to get the civilians and politicians out of Berlin before it’s too late! Is that CLEAR?!”

All the soldiers sat up straight and shouted, “JAWOHL, HERR LEUTNANT!”

The paratroopers of EGB 313 were still part of a young unit, not older than ten years. Their job was similar to the US Army Rangers. But now they’d just entered a whole new level of war, and he was worried that they weren’t ready for this.

… That he wasn’t ready for this.

He flinched a bit as he felt a hand on his shoulder. “Geht’s?”

It was Hauptfeldwebel Peter Diesberg, his second-in-command and leader of Fireteam Two. He was nearly fifty, pushing retirement age already prior to the war, one head taller than Stephan. His shining grey hair, aged masculine face and blue eyes lent him an air of authority only veterans could possess. Stephan respected and trusted him, and was always listening when the old man expressed his thoughts, born of years in combat, into a mission briefing. Diesberg, on the other hand, always had a open ear for Stephan when he needed someone to talk, especially after missions. It was sometimes better to talk with someone who’d gone through the same shit than talk to some shrink.

Stephan gave a long sigh and shook his head. “Ja, it’s okay. I’m just... a bit tense. Never thought that I’d face the day our home was under attack by... well, extraterrestrials.”

Diesberg nodded and gave him a light push on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. It’s only a simple rescue and evacuation mission.”

Stephan gave him a raised eyebrow. “You really think so?”

“I know that those... Equestrians are capable of things we only can imagine. But if there is one man who can stand against them, it’s you, Leutnant. You have proven yourself more than once already, and I doubt this mission will fail under your command.” He took his hand from Stephan’s shoulder and leaned his back against the armoured wall of the chopper.

An edge of Stephan’s lip moved up a bit. “I only managed to come this far with your help, old man.”

The Hauptfeldwebel smiled at him. “But you were the one who got us in and out. And sometimes under the worst circumstances imaginable. So, stop worrying about it, and focus on what you can do best.”

‘He is right. Focus, Stephan. Okay, what to do? First, after landing, secure the perimeter. Second, get the politicians out of the Bundestag. Third, but only secondary, helping other military, or if necessary, police forces. Damn, this shall be a long day.’

“How long do you think until the Equestrians get into Berlin anyways?” asked a young Hauptgefreiter named Marco. “I mean, they’re mere kilometers away. Isn’t it almost half a day’s journey from Switzerland?”

“I guess so,” replied an older Oberstabsgefreiter called Basti. “I was once in Switzerland. Nice country, but ich sags dir, the traffic during summertime sucked. They won’t get far if they’re travelling that road.”

This was the moment where the chopper jumped a bit. Stephan looked out of the window and saw that they were moving faster. He grabbed the microphone on his side to contact the pilot. “What happened?”

“Emergency call from Berlin, Herr Leutnant! The city is under attack by an unknown number of enemies!”

Stephan could feel the color drain from his face. He gave Marco and Basti a short stare and looked up at Diesberg, who smiled at him in a manner like he already knew what just happened. Stephan placed his hands on his face and whispered, “Oh, I hate Murphy's law.”

Berlin, Germany. 2019 CE

“Geht in Deckung, oder wie das heißt!”

Oberstabsfeldwebel Daniel Johannsen of the Wachbataillon let himself fall on the ground as a bright flash of magic flew over his head. After the short moment of shock, he jumped up and aimed at the unicorn who’d tried to hit him with that beam of pure energy. A short burst of his HK121 made the guardspony drop to the ground, practically headless. He scanned the area to make sure that no other ponies were close by, he turned around and gave the rest of the group the ‘all clear’ signal.

Daniel and his squad had a mission to get the party members of the Bundestag out to the helicopters while other units secured the perimeter. But the sudden appearance of Equestrian forces had invalidated their planning. Some politicians were already ponified, most of them killed by the very soldiers sent to protect them,

“It’s like a freaking zombie invasion here,” one of the soldiers moaned, covering the Bundeskanzlerin with his body. The old woman was shivering and tears ran down her cheeks. Another, younger woman, her secretary, moved in and held her tight, whispering something into her ear.

Daniel gave the soldier a stern look which said ‘just talk when it is important’ and stood up, his machine gun pointed forward.

‘A simple in and out mission they said. Am Arsch!’

“Okay, vorwärts.” The small group began to move again, while the young woman was still holding the federal chancellor. Daniel hoped that her old heart wouldn’t give up yet after all the things she had to see.

They didn’t even walked ten meters as a door swung open slowly, only a puddle jump away in front of Daniel. Maybe more survivors?

He was quite disappointed as a pony head appeared. Daniel didn’t let him any time to see the group and ran to the door and kicked it. The little pony body got easily crushed between the heavy door and doorframe. Daniel heard how some of his ribs broke and along with the air being pushed out of his lungs. The pony was now unconscious, but still alive.

Now he noticed that the pony wore a tattersall shirt. Another Newfoal. Maybe another politician, or an office employee. Or just the janitor. With a family, waiting at home for his return.

‘No time for that.’ He banished those thoughts out of his head, pushed the pony behind the door after making sure the room was empty and he kept walking on to the exit. There was no time to check every room, so they moved as quickly as they could, giving each room only the most cursory of searches. Daniel and one another comrade were watching the front, while the rest was covering the sides and back. He heard gunshots outside. The battle for Berlin was already ongoing, and it didn’t looked good for the humans.

But he will be damned if he let Berlin fall to those colourful, little monsters that easily. He heard that tank battalions are already on their way, but it will take time until they arrive because of the millions of panicking people who tried to get out of the city. He also heard that his old buddy Stephan is on his way with the 313. paratroopers. The last time he saw him was last winter, as everyone of the old gang got together to tell their stories, drinking beer and playing online games. He wondered what they will tell each other for stories after this is over.

Finally, he saw the exit. The giant glass doors was the only thing between him and outside where the rest of his unit awaited him. Hopefully, the reinforcements are already there with the choppers. Only a few more meters...

Something was wrong. There were hundreds of people in the Bundestag. Most of them had been ponified, so they had to be somewhere around. He slowed down until he came to a full stop to held up a fist. The rest of his men understood immediately, forming a tight circle around the survivors. Daniel made the first step forward and the rest followed him. It was only a few meters before ponies jumped out of their hiding spots, some of them wearing the armor of the royal guards. They tossed their little potion bombs at Daniel and the others. Some missed the humans, while others hit the waterproof battle dresses of the soldiers who were still shielding the politicians.

Only one of his men was unlucky enough for some of the potion to spill on his face. He reacted faster than Daniel had ever seen anyone, running to the pony who hit him, a grenade ready while he still had hands and jumping onto the equine creature. Both vanished in the explosion while the other ponies around them were knocked to their sides by the blast wave.

“Get another bucking bomb ready!” a Royal Guard pony screamed, but Daniel and the rest of his team were faster, quickly gunning down the ponies in a hail of bullets with their HK416s. After a few seconds, the room fell silent again.

“Cover me!” Daniel walked over to the spot where his comrade took the pony with him. There wasn’t much left and the penetrating smell of burning flesh got into his nose and he needed to breath through his mouth. He searched for the dog tag which was still around the neck of the soldier, save under the ballistic vest. Stabsunteroffizier Patrick Niemann. 34 years old.

He snapped it into two pieces and tuck one half into his pocket. He gave the signal to move on. Two soldiers opened the doors and everyone walked outside. Daniel stopped to breath for a second as he saw the scene outside.

Hundreds, nay, thousands of ponies were attacking the city. Native Equestrians of the royal guard and Newfoals alike attacked everyone in sight with the potion, changing man, woman and children into new ponies. The police and the military fought as if hell itself was about to swallow them up, desperate to get the remaining civilians away from the city. They’d used even police riding teams and K-9 dogs to hold off the earthponies and unicorns at a distance. But with little armor, they were useless against the pegasi who simply flew in and dropped the vials of potion on the humans.

The soaked below humans screamed in denial and agony as their bodies twisted and cracked as they transformed into ponies, only to get back up again to tackle the nearest human to the ground. Many of the former humans could be heard screaming ‘Embrace Celestia’s light!‘. Or, in rarer cases, begging for death.

Daniel saw some of the pegasi get shot down before they got too close, but there were just too many of them to shoot all down. Most officers wore full body armor which protected them quite well against the potion, but everyone who didn’t had one would be changed into a pony immediately. He saw how one officer got hit by a potion and changed in pain into a pony. A policewoman nearby saw it too, and aimed with her MP at him. The Newfoal who was once her partner attacked her and wrestled her down on the ground. Another policeman kicked the pony and shot him in the head with a 12 gauge, splattering his skull against the ground.

Daniel tried not to look at it.

“Alright?” he asked, helping the woman up, and ran with her to the next checkpoint where the military set up a defensive line to cover the evacuation routes.

‘This is a living nightmare.’ He looked around and tried to find the helicopter. But there was none. He swore and looked over his shoulder.

“Listen up! We have to get those people to safety! Watch the ground AND air!”

“But wouldn’t it be safer inside?” asked one of the civilians.

Daniel shook his head. “No, we would be sitting ducks inside. We have a better chance outside with the other forces.” He pointed over to a army truck where several soldiers fought the attacking ponies off. “We regroup with the rest and hold that position as long as we can! Move it!”

Everyone was running while Daniel and his team covered each side. One soldier opened fire as two Newfoals charged at them. Both felt to the ground, the potion still in their muzzles. They reached the truck in a short time and Daniel kneeled at the side of a radio operator who was shouting into the microphone. He was not older than twenty years, guessed Daniel.

“Ja, habe verstanden! Ich geb’s weiter, aber wir haben nicht genug Leute um... ja... jawohl Herr Major! Ende!” He looked at Daniel who could see his fear in the face of the young man. “The helicopters are still on their way,Herr Oberstabsfeldwebel! Too many pegasi are flying... along with chariot or what ever are in the air!”

“Damn! What about some anti air support?”

“The Mantis carriers are on their way, together with some tanks! But have to drive carefully!”

“Too many people on the streets, I guess?”

“Yes.”

That complicated his mission a lot. The armored vehicles are not enough to hold the ponies off. He had to plan his next step carefully. To go on foot was too dangerous and the vehicles are too big to drive between the civilians who are running for their lives. And the air is controlled by flying ponies. The only option was to hold the position until help arrived.

“Air assault!”

Daniel jumped up and looked at the direction that one of his soldier pointed. His eyes opened wide as he saw dozens of pegasi and chariots flying directly towards them. Now he was sure that this was a well coordinated attack on the leaders of Germany. He wondered if the other countries have to deal with the same problem.

“EVERYONE! DEFEND THE KANZLERIN!”

Two soldiers brought the Bundeskanzlerin and the others into the armored vehicles while the rest took positions behind sandbags. The remote controlled machine guns twisted towards the incoming ponies and greeted them with a wall of lead made of .50 and 7.62 NATO bullets. Many ponies were killed, but they seem to have a endless supply of them as another pegasi took the places of the dead ones. To Daniels horror, it seemed that the chariots are protected by some kind of energy shield and the bullets clashed against it without doing much damage.

“ABC ATTACK!” shouted Daniel as he got on the ground while he took out a plastic sheet out of his ABC bag and pulled it over his body. The rest of the soldiers did the same and just in time as the first potion bombs hit the ground, covering everything with the pink liquid. He carefully pulled the sheet off him after he was sure the chariots are away. He heard a scream and looked at the source. It was the young radio operator. He probably hadn’t heard him and got hit by the potion. His body began to change, hands and foot turned into hooves while his face became longer and looked more like a pony with every second. Daniel stood up and watched the transformation until it was over. Like a rising undead living corpse the new pony stumbled onto his new hooves, a bit uneasy on its hooves but he managed to stand. Then it opened it’s eyes and looked straight at Daniel. And it smiled.

“Sehn sie nur, Herr Oberstabsfeldwebel! It isn‘t that bad at all!” He jumped a bit around and showed his new body with pride to everyone. “It‘s wonderful! And you need just...” he put his hoof into the rest of the potion on the ground and pointed it at Daniel, “...just a little bit of that magic.”

“Bleib da.” Daniel almost whispered. His hands tight around his machine gun as the pony stepped closer “I said, stay back!”

But the pony walked ever closer, his hooves make squishy noises on the wet ground. “Don’t worry, it hurts just for a moment.” The pony jumped at him, out of the blue with this front hooves pointed at Daniel. He was already on it to lift his weapon and strike the Newfoal down, but someone else was faster. A short burst of an assault rifle hit the pony and it landed dead at Daniel’s feet. The eyes grew lifeless, but remained wide open and still fixed on Daniel. He just stared back before someone pulled on his jacket.

“Herr Vorgesetzter? Daniel? We still have a job to do.” It was a female voice and Daniel knew the person to whom it belonged. Alicia, a young woman, who joined alongside Daniel into the Wachbataillon. She was a beautiful woman, even in combat gear. Her dark brown hair was hidden under the helmet, bound to a pigtail. She was as tall as Daniel, as almost everyone in the Wachbataillon, a must for everyone who wants to get into the unit.

He just nodded and looked at his soldiers. Everyone was tired, hurt but ready to do their duty. “GET READY! THEY WILL BE BACK! WATCH OUT THAT YOU DON‘T GET ANY OF THAT POISON ON YOUR SKIN, UNDERSTOOD?”

A short “JAWOHL!” and the soldier moved back into position. Alicia smiled at him and ran to the others.

Daniel checked his weapon and made sure that the extra barrel was ready just in case it overheated. He looked up at the horizon and spotted the next wave of ponies and chariots.

“Come on, then!” He yelled, lifting the heavy gun and making sure to have easy access to his grenades. ‘I might not get out of this mess,’ he thought. ‘But I’ll take as many ponies with me as I can. Even if it includes me.’

He took a deep breath and shouted “FÜR VOLK UND VATERLAND!”

“FOR PEOPLE AND FATHERLAND!” was the echo, and the thunder of their weapons as they welcomed the ponies.

Hamburg, Germany. 2019 CE

Stephan stood in front of the big lake called the Elbe in Hamburg and looked down on the body bags before him, glad he couldn’t see what was left in there. Anger, rage and deep mourning filled his head. But he showed no emotions. He knew that people died in war and no matter what you try, what orders you give... it was never enough. Someday, you would make a wrong decision, a wrong move and someone would have to pay the price.

“The Helicopter is almost ready, Herr Leutnant!” Stephan peered over his shoulder and saw how the Hauptgefreiter was standing behind him. He gave him a quick salute.

“Understood, just... one minute.” He responded dryly.

The soldier nodded and peeked at the bags for a moment before he turned around and walked quickly to the helicopter. Stephan saw how he stroke with one finger first under one eye, then under the other one. Stephan gazed back at the dead bodies for just a few seconds before he put his helmet back on and turned around to leave.

Berlin was lost, but some people were still fighting bitterly to the death in the city. It was only a matter of time before the last resistance would fall. Hamburg was almost lost too, the only reason why it didn’t fall into the hooves of the Solar Tyrant was because of the ships of the German Navy who did their best to keep the pegasi and chariots out of the harbor. All three frigate fleets had been ordered to hold open a path for the civilian ships to get as many people out as they can. Even containerships have to load the fleeing population instead the cargo they wanted to load. Between them are smaller boats, sailors or with the engines of those who have their own means of transport out of the city.

It was the final order: Retread and take as many with you as you can. Germany, his home will fall. The giant dome of energy will swallow it, bit by bit. And there is nothing he can do against it.

He was almost in the chopper as he heard a female voice screaming, “WAIT! PLEASE, TAKE ME WITH YOU!”

Could it be? Another survivor? He turned, and what he saw stunned him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------