Equestria '16
A/N: This is something that popped into my head a week back, I'm not yet decided on whether the main story takes place before NightMare Moon returns or after so the first two chapters will be a prologue until I decide.
MLP: FiM belongs to Hasbro. If you recognise it, it isn't mine.
Chapter 1:
Sterling's POV
The shelling hadn't stopped, it had been going on for days with sporadic counter fire, but now the time had come, we were going over the top.
I looked to my left, counting my section, Pvt's Hagen, McCullen, Weston and Baron, LCpl Allan and Pvt Tory carried a Lewis gun each, a look to my right showed Lt Duncan Mallory strutting around behind 2 Section.
"Sergeant Armure?"
"Yes Sir," I gritted my teeth as most of the men for fifty yards either way tensed up, I forced my hatred down, even if I would win twenty quid in the pool for killing the Bastard.
"I expect your men to keep up with the Advance, none of the Bolshie cowardice I've come to expect," Mallory sneered.
"No, Sir," the 'Cowardice' he meant was having the sense to take cover after a machine gun opened up on the platoon during a dawn attack ordered by Mallory in a vain attempt to gain glory. Mallory himself had been found as they fell back cowering in a crater using his trousers as a latrine.
Of course an Officer's word held more weight than a Sergeant's so his section, the only survivors, were branded cowards, despite the fact there were four Military Medal holders there and Armure himself had also earned the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal when he turned back to assist wounded men after a failed attack and blunted a German counter attack using the Lewis gun two of the wounded men had been carrying, being wounded twice himself in the process, Mallory resented that an ordinary soldier was recognised above him.
Some suspected he'd arranged the following botched attack to eliminate Armure.
Mallory opened his mouth to speak but Capt Blackadder stepped out, "all right lads, the Tanks are coming up, you're to use them as cover…"
"Sir, must we use such cowardly tactics?" Mallory complained, I and everyone else glared at him.
"Enough Mallory," Blackadder barked as Lieutenant George Colthurst and stepped out.
"Your lads ready Sergeant?" Lt Colthurst greeted, the glint in his eyes showed his amusement at Mallory's displeasure at being ignored.
"As we will be, sir," I replied, "just hope we see the end, I heard a rumour the Germans may have chlorine gas."
Colthurst grimaced; he'd seen the effects on French troops the year before, before he could speak further Lt Col Forrest called the men to assemble.
I stepped aside for the companies likeable Lieutenant and he smiled gratefully, I took position by Hagen.
"Company, One Pace Forward!"
We stepped up to the ladders, "Stand Ready!" we gripped the ladders and readied to climb, I looked around as the ground started shaking, "On The Signal, Company Will Advance!"
"Good luck, everyone," myself and Colthurst were among the few who heard the Captain as a roar erupted over our heads and a metal monster rolled over our heads.
"What is THAT!" Mallory screamed in panic.
I didn't have time to savour Mallory sounding like a little girl, my own heart was racing, I felt a tension in my chest lift as the monster rolled over the trench and I saw clear sky again.
I didn't hear the order but I was aware of Colthurst climbing beside and I followed him up, bayonet fixed and ready for Battle.
At first it was very different, it was quiet besides the noise of the tanks, trails of smoke curled into the heavens behind the German lines.
"Keep low and stay behind a tank," I ordered, "they won't be stunned for long."
I briefly heard Mallory sneer before Hell broke loose, I ducked into a crater, Colthurst, Baron and Hagen dived in behind me, McCullen, Weston, Allan and Tory took cover in another to my left.
"Hello there sweetheart, you come here often?" Baron joked, earning a laugh as I banged on his tin hat.
"Look alive and you might… BLOODY HELL!" I felt the others press against me as 7.92 mill rounds scythed over our heads.
"Mallory's Bought It!" someone shouted, just after a tank fired.
"Alright, who won the pool?" Hagen asked Baron, the Chatham native dug through his pocket for a notebook.
I fired rapidly at German muzzle flashes as Colthurst shook his head, "I really shouldn't let this slide."
"It's you sir," Baron blurted incredulously.
"In that case, carry on," he answered smugly, leaning over the crater rim and firing three rounds from his revolver, making a German helmet disappear in a cloud of blood and two others dive away.
I lowered myself back into the crater and rubbed a spot on my head, just under the brim of my helmet.
"You alright?" Colthurst asked.
"Getting headaches the past few nights," I explained, "waking from weird dreams… They're not very clear."
"Look Out!" someone bellowed and we looked up in time to see an RFC two seater heading for our section of the line, it came down fairly intact and both crew scrambled out, heading for a crater to my right where Blackadder was taking cover.
"What's that?" I looked forward and the bottom dropped out of my stomach.
An ominous cloud was drifting towards us, the tank in front of us and the infantry that had stayed with it were trying to escape.
"Oh God!" Hagen whispered.
"Any last words, chaps?" Colthurst asked with forced calm.
"How many bullets you have left?" I muttered as the tank was engulfed, it was terrifying, the battlefield seemed silent as the cloud approached, swallowing man and machine.
"Not enough I fear," Colthurst replied, his voice wavering, "It was an honour, chaps."
"Honour was ours, sir," Baron replied solemnly.
"Here it Comes!" someone shouted.
I braced from the pain but it didn't come, instead my head felt heavy.
"Wha… waz zit doin…" I heard Hagen slur.
My body felt heavy, the headache was getting worse and an itching spread across my skin.
I fell on my back and saw blue sky for a brief moment before the cloud swept over me, quickly followed by darkness.
Celestia POV
She sighed internally as he droned on, she couldn't go a week without that uptight prat of a too many times Great Nephew making a fuss about something where everypony else would just shrug and move on.
Today it was something about… What was THAT!
She turned her head in the vague direction of the Event, shocking her nephew.
"Auntie! Are you even listening to me?" Prince Blueblood demanded.
"Court is over," she ordered, "Clear the Room!"
"But, I…" the prat shrunk away at her glare.
"COURT IS OVER, LEAVE ME, NOW!" she ordered in the Royal Canterlot Voice
The prat and the rest of the nobles scattered, emptying the Throne Room in record time.
Once the door slammed shut, she took a breath to calm herself, reaching out with her magic to try and identify the massive surge just beyond the border.
She had just managed to identify both a closing rift and some impressive transformation magics when a pony entered the room; she tensed then relaxed as she recognised the elderly stallion's aura.
"Colonel, you felt it?" she said in greeting.
"I did," the aged Pegasus replied, stepping over. The stallion wore the armour of the old Lunar Guard, also known as Bat-ponies, the unit was officially disbanded with Nightmare Moon's imprisonment but she secretly kept the unit active though at greatly reduced strength, "the signature is familiar but I can't place it."
"Neither can I," she admitted, carefully watching as the last transformations completed, "I almost thought…"
"As did I," the stallion agreed, "I confess I am divided as to whether I would be glad or worried if she returned early, alas it seems not."
"That leaves the matter of the cause of this… rift," she continued.
"It seemed to spike near Ponyville, I can have some of my ponies investigate," the stallion offered.
She smiled, "Thank you, Dark Wing, that would be most helpful."
The last member of the original Lunar Guard left to carry out his duty, she had extended his life with her magic in order so not only was there a familiar face for her sister when she returned but someone who still had actual combat experience in the Royal Guard, the centuries of peace had not been kind to the military.
As the Colonel left she looked to the sky through a nearby window, wondering if her sister, or NightMare Moon, had a hand in this.
Sterling POV
I came to after… I don't know how long, first thing I noticed was how clean the air is, opening my eyes showed a beautiful blue sky through a forest canopy…
Forest!
"Sound Off!" I ordered, trying to stand up when I noticed something odd. I missed my men call back as I noticed my feet were…
"Bloody Hell Sarge, You're a Unicorn!"
I looked up from my hooves to Baron, then put a hand to my head… yup, a horn.
A flash of brown distracts me and I look left, "I'm not the only one."
"Seems not," Lt Colthurst is now a chestnut coloured stallion with a black mane, a white muzzle and feathering on his hooves, he was inspecting his new three fingered hands, then came the most important test, yep he could still use his Webley.
"All right, I want a headcount and a list of supplies that came with us," I ordered, lowering my skewed helmet off my head, a glance around shows nearly half the men in sight are, well… ponyfied.
Not only that but a tank, the Sopwith Strutter and four teams of Royal Artillery, two field and two anti-aircraft guns had been caught by… whatever that was.
4 hours later, about ten o'clock by my watch, Capt Blackadder called a staff meeting.
"Gentlemen, I won't beat about the bush, we are in trouble," he surveyed his men, five lieutenants and the three senior sergeants, plus Flashheart.
Lieutenants Colthurst, Barnes, Welsh, Cowlairs and Devon, Sergeants Armure, Took and Newman and Captain (formerly Major) Flashheart.
Technically Flashheart was the ranking officer but he deferred to Blackadder, he freely admitted the sky was his domain not the Earth below, so for the duration was accepting a demotion to avoid taking charge of ground pounders.
"We are in an unknown land, with unknown locals, with no intelligence," Blackadder paused as most of his men snorted at the thought of Army intelligence, "we have limited supplies, ammunition and a third of our men cannot eat their rations," he then looked over each of them, "we have many problems and need solutions, any suggestions?"
"Well, we are on a hill," Cowlairs pointed out, "first things first, I say we dig in and fortify the hill."
"It'll keep the men busy with familiar work and give us an edge if we need to defend ourselves," Took chipped in.
"We should also send out a team or two to check out the area," Barnes added.
"Pretty sure I saw a village through the trees earlier," I put in, "Hagen, Weston and I have civvies from leave in Dunkirk, if one of the officers has a set and two revolvers were donated we could check it out."
"I have some, I volunteer," Colthurst replied.
"I can spare my revolver for a day," Welsh offered, Barnes nodding in agreement.
"Any objections?" Blackadder looked over us but none were voiced, "Right, Colthurst, Armure, get changed and find Weston and Hagen, then head into that village, find out where we are and what the locals are like."
I nodded and rose, heading for the tent my section were quartered.
"Weston, Hagen, get in your civvies, we're going to take a look at that village," I announced as I entered, both men jumped up and dug into the footlockers that, like most of the assault force, they'd carried with them, I myself quickly dug into my own.
Soon enough I was dressed in a white cotton shirt, brown woollen trousers and a black jacket, it felt odd not wearing boots however my hooves not only prevented it but didn't seem to be suffering for it. On my belt was a holster for my S&W .455 Triple Lock revolver.
Weston and Hagen were similarly attired, though Hagen wore jeans and a brown coat while Weston had a wool jumper and a blue knit cap.
"Still fit?" Hagen asked as he got ready to leave.
"Tight around the crotch," I muttered, adjusting the twin bulges so they weren't quite so squashed, I wasn't small before but now I'm literally hung like a horse, Thank whatever God cares Army uniforms are made in all sizes, I really needed to get new clothes.
As we stepped out, Lt Colthurst approached, looking quite the gentleman in a black riding coat and white breeches, and holding two holsters on belts, "here you are chaps," he greeted, "do you know how to use a Webley?"
"Aye, sarge took the time to teach us after that mess in '15," Weston replied, taking one belt and putting it on.
I shrugged as Colthurst looked at me curiously, "rifles were pretty unwieldy inside our own trenches so afterward I told the lads to scavenge any revolvers they could find and with most of our officers dying that day…"
"I see," he mused as Hagen looped the other belt around him, "and yours?"
"Smith and Wesson Triple Lock in .455," I replied, "got in from a quartermaster last I had leave, say what you will, the yanks make good guns."
Colthurst nodded then looked at the other two, "Ready chaps?" both men nodded, "let's go."
The village is something else. With the stone houses and thatched roofs it's almost like someone scooped up a rural English village and dumped it here, except it was filled with ponyfied people, or were they ponies in the first place?.
"Anyone else freaked out by how much this looks like home?" Weston asked, looking around warily.
"Yup," Hagen agreed, keeping an eye on a large red pony that was watching him.
"Focus, we need to find out where we are," Colthurst replied, watching as several ponies suddenly ran indoors and locked the doors.
"We should ask one of the shopkeepers," I suggested, noting how half the ponies stood and stared while the rest ran and hid, I pointed to an unusual looking shop with several mannequins in the windows, "look, that one's still open."
"Looks like a merry go round," Weston blinked.
"Come on," I followed the Lt almost to the door, but he stopped, holding up a hand, I listened.
"…please sir, I have no debts that I know of, please leave and let us be!"
"... give me the money or I'll take it from your pretty body, maybe that horn of yours, or perhaps I'll take it from this little thing."
My blood turned to fire, I barely registered as the woman pleaded hysterically or the Lt signalling us to go round the back of the building and make a noise once we were inside, my focus returned as Weston tried the back door.
"Locked," he muttered, I held him back as he went to kick it in.
"Let me try something," he nodded and I stepped forward, some of my dreams took place in a town like this and were more vivid, I could remember a distinct feeling that occurred before I did what I could only call magic.
The horn on my head thrummed to life, pulsing with energy in a way a dream could not recreate, I concentrated on that feeling and held out my hand, imagining that energy wrapped around the bolts locking the door, I curled my fingers imagining the bolts retracting and to my amazement the door clicked and I lost focus.
Weston stared in disbelief as I tried the handle, the door opening easily, "come on," I said, carefully entering.
"How'd you do that, sarge?" he asked quietly as we move through a store/sewing room.
"Something I saw in a dream, the town seemed weirdly familiar to the same one, so I took a chance," I explained then waved him back as I saw a woman standing in the doorway ahead, she was shaking, I noted an old mannequin that was already leaning heavily and nudged it over.
The woman screamed but calmed down on seeing the old mannequin, but her attention was drawn back by a pained yelp.
"What're you smiling at you little…"
"She's smiling at me," I could almost imagine the guy giving himself whiplash as the Lt stepped up, "now, let the child go!"
"Who do you think you are?" the thug yelled, I heard him shift and peeked out, he was facing the Lt who had Hagen and that big red pony on either side of him.
"Lieutenant The Honourable George Colthurst, British Royal Army," he replied in all his blue blooded glory.
"Never heard of it," the woman moved to one side as the thug tried to move toward the opening in the countertop to escape through the back.
"You'll be familiar soon enough," I caught the Lt's nod and charged in, I pried the thug's left arm of the girl and pinned him to the counter as Weston did the same for the right. He struggled in our grip as the girl ran to the woman, I stared in shock as his knife went from a toothpick to a seven inch lethal weapon in a white glow, the thug capitalised on my shock and wrenched his arm free, punching Weston and scrambled up.
I vaulted the counter as he swung at Hagen, the Lt's fist connected soundly with his skull and I grabbed him, sending him headfirst into the wall, he recovered enough to sink his knife into the side of the red pony but let go when a goods train of a punch from his victim slammed into his ribs.
Both reeled and fell away, I took the opportunity to kick him in the back, something breaking as my hoof connected, he shot upright in agony and the Lt decked him in a solid hit to the jaw, he didn't get up.
I went to check on the red pony and stopped him from pulling out the knife as I checked him, "Don't! it's in your lung, if you pull it out blood'll rush in and you'll drown."
He looked at me in disbelief but nodded when he saw I was serious.
"Rarity, did you hear about… What the Buck happened?" we looked up to see a cyan pony woman with wings coming out her back hovering (literally) in the doorway.
"Don't just stand there," I barked, "get a doctor and Law Enforcement, MOVE!"
The woman saluted and dashed off, I turned to Weston and Hagen, "Tie that filth up!"
Weston collected a rope from the back room and the thug was quickly hogtied on the floor while the Lt comforted the two females.
The red pony, or stallion I suppose, grimaced several times as the blade shifted subtly in his body while we waited. Eventually a pony in a white and gold uniform arrived.
"Miss Rarity?"
"I'm here Sheriff," the woman, Rarity, replied, standing up and walking over to him.
"What in the Hay happened?" a younger stallion asked, looking around.
"That can wait 'til this guy is seen to," I argued.
"Quite right, Doc it's safe," the older stallion called out.
A bespectacled caramel coated pony in a white coat stuck his head around the door then entered, followed by a white coated mare in a white uniform.
"What do we have here?" the doctor asked.
"Asshole over there stabbed him," I explained, indicating the still unconscious thug, "I left the blade in as from the angle and blade length it'll be deep in his lung, I figured if I or he removed it the blood would pool in his lung."
"Quite right," the doctor smiled grimly, "you've probably saved his life, help me get him onto the stretcher."
I helped move the stallion onto the stretcher, he was face down so not to aggravate the knife, he looked me in the eye as the Doctor and nurse lifted the stretcher, "Thank you."
"Any time," I replied as they carried him out.
"I'm gonna have to ask yah to come with me, I need to collect yer statements and Miss Rarity needs to rest," the older armoured pony declared, the woman sent him a grateful look.
"Very well," the Lt agreed, "Chaps?"
"Lead the way," I replied, following the Lt out.