A Great Endeavor

by Rune Soldier Dan

Author's Afterword

First off: Thank you for making it through this project with me. It has eaten up many hours of my life, and – for all its flaws – I am extremely proud of it. It is my tendency to affectionately refer to my writings as “scribbles.” Not so with this work, into which has gone significant research and emotion.

I hope to have entertained, first and foremost. Such is the purpose of fiction. I hope to have provided a few historical insights too, though this is in no way intended to replace actual educational literature (READ A BOOK!). And I quite enthusiastically hope to have made at least one person reading this pause and THINK. All those involved in the war were human, like you and me. Humans do not wake in the morning and randomly decide to be heroes, or send their soldiers to pointless death, or commit mad atrocities. They are brought to such decisions by human motivations and reasoning.

I believe that trying to understand these motivations brings with it a kind of humbling wisdom. But for chance of birth, that Nazi man committing murder may have been us. And you or I may have been him.

If you’ll indulge me a soap-box, that is why we must act with tolerance towards our fellow man. Everyone believes that “I” am a reasonable, basically-good person. No one believes themselves to be evil. “Evil” is not an intention. It is an action, one almost certainly committed by a person who believes themself to be doing right. If you want to know if what you do is right, don’t ask yourself. Of course you’re “right.” Instead, look at what effect it’s having on your fellow human beings. Resist the urge to act, speak, and vote with the intention to silence dissent and ostracize groups. No matter how extreme you find another’s ideals, you must not infringe on his right to speak it. Otherwise…

…Well, liberal philosophy aside, we’re all enthusiastic adult fans of a show for little girls. The hypocrisy is doubled when it’s us doing the ostracizing and judging.

Alright, I’m done. On to my sources of inspiration, all of which come highly recommended.

-If You Survive (book) by George Wilson, a first-person account of his own experience as an American infantryman in the European Theater. It strikes me as a quintessential infantry memoir: Tactics, facts, and feelings are all covered from the grunt soldier’s perspective, giving a good picture of their struggles without becoming mired in drama or details. The “Bitter Woods” chapter was heavily inspired by his description of an artillery bombardment, and it is not the only time Wilson shows men die in utter waste. It is not all “War is Hell,” though, as he also takes pains to convey the grim sense of duty to see the job done. Thus, a good balance is struck between peaceful and patriotic instincts in the writing.

-Killer Angels (book) by Michael Shaara, a fictional account of the Battle of Gettysburg. Not a WWII novel, but one with a brilliant writing style that I could fanboy on about. One or two word sentences abound in it, conveying emotion and action rather than proper sentence structure. The result feels very close to human feeling: simple and sharp. It also means that much is conveyed with few words, allowing the story to proceed at a rapid pace with no lost tension. I find it to be an excellent, accessible style, and recommend it for anyone interested in writing military fiction with an emphasis on the ‘human’ aspect of war. It also gave us an excellent monologue from Buster Kilrain, one of the characters:

“The truth is, Colonel, that there's no divine spark [in Humanity]…There's many a man alive of no more value than a dead dog. Believe me, when you've seen them hang each other. Equality? Christ in Heaven. What I'm fighting for is the right to prove I'm a better man than many. Where have you seen this divine spark in operation, Colonel? Where have you noted this magnificent equality? The Great White Joker in the Sky dooms us all to stupidity or poverty from birth. No two things on Earth are equal or have an equal chance, not a leaf nor a tree. There's many a man worse than me, and some better. But I don't think race or country matters a damn. What matters is justice. 'Tis why I'm here. I'll be treated as I deserve, not as my father deserved. I'm Kilrain! And I God Damn all gentlemen. I don't know who me father was and I don't give a damn…”

“…The strange and marvelous thing about you, Colonel darlin', is that you believe in mankind, even preachers. Whereas when you've got my great experience of the world you will have learned that good men are rare, much rarer than you think.”

-Stalingrad (1993 Movie), about a German “band of brothers” during the Battle of Stalingrad. Made by a German director, it is a brutal ride through every single horror war could ever conceive. What really distinguishes it from Insert any war drama here is the stark humanity and realism. No one mans up and saves the day, spits death in the face, or even goes down in a blaze of glory. Their wills are crushed, their best efforts are pointless, and their deaths achieve nothing. It is a movie of friendly fire, of starvation and atrocity. It is a horror movie far more terrifying than anything I could ever put on paper.

-Sabaton (music), a Swedish Heavy Metal band that – no fooling – creates its songs around historical battles and events, mostly in the WWII era. I basically recommend their everything, but “Rise of Evil” in particular sends chills down my spine (and was running through my head during the Prologue and Kristallnacht chapters), and “40 to 1” (focusing on the Battle of Wizna, the “Polish Thermopylae”) always gets the blood pounding.

And that’s that for that. I was tempted to jabber on about scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor, but I think I’ll call it here. Thanks for coming along with me on this very rocky ride through a very different war.

Author's Note:

So there miiiiight be an extra chapter coming out, concerning a sub-plot in the late war that occurred to me early in the writings. No promises, though, so for all purposes this is the end.

Comments

[WIL_I_ZIN]

I enjoyed the ride that this fic gave. It was a very entertaining read, and well written in my opinion too.

Great work. Just, great, work.

[Lightoller]

I second WIL_I_ZIN's post. Bravo, good sir. Bravo.

Nice to see another person here interested in Sabaton. Screaming Eagles, Ghost Division, Wolfpack, The Final Solution and Aces in Exile are among my favorites.

[TrackingTarget]

I think I said some of this before but I'll say it again, just to be sure.

Discovering this story (through TV Tropes, if you're curious) was one of those moments where it's like, "this might suck but I'll read it anyway". Combining ponies with anything dark is a really mixed bag; there's some great stuff out there but there's a lot of really weak crap to hide it. I was very pleasantly surprised this time. The ponies are in-character throughout (I especially liked Rarity and her interactions with Stern Glare), the historical figures are believable. There's an impressive amount of thought given to what it must have been like being on the German side, and a degree of sympathy that seems very appropriate for a ponyfic. I could probably say more but I'm at risk of gushing mindlessly as it is, so I'll just thank you for writing this, and thank you again for making it so good.

3633529
Sabaton is awesome. Am I the only one that finds it almost awkward how much I love Final Solution? I know the band stopped playing it live because the contrast between the screaming crowd and the subject matter was just a little too weird, but it's such a good song.

[Rune Soldier Dan]

Thanks, all.

3633897

I have a tropes page?

That's kind of rad. I've never even been there before. Thanks for sharing.

Final Solution is a really good song...but given the touchy subject matter, I can definitely understand why they stopped doing it live.

[TrackingTarget]

2918665
The Spitfire was probably the one they used in propaganda posters, which means it has the most famous name. Since infantry only care about planes as far as "it's bombing us/them" or "it's shooting down planes that would otherwise bomb us/them", they probably just picked the most iconic plane from a given nation and used that name for any plane from that nation, like calling all Germans "Gerry", the Russians "Ivan", and so on (the Stuka may have been an exception, since the sirens make it abundantly clear whether or not it's a Stuka).

I confess in advance that none of this post was researched.

[Lightoller]

Feeling inspired by this fic, I made a little something:
img809.imageshack.us/img809/4987/5huv.png

[Rune Soldier Dan]

3659946

[dinoscool3]

Amazing read! Great thing while I was experiencing jetlag. I was strong until the last 2-3 chapters, then it all let out and I started crying!

[Minalkra]

I recently found this fic from Glory. I liked your portrayal of Blueblood there and just had to check this fic out.

My god, it's full of stars ...

One of the things I was hoping you'd address was Albert Speer. While by no means innocent of the crimes of Nazism, he was a far sight more level-headed than the average Party man and actively (though by his own admission - supported by some evidence but, well anyway) helped to shield the slave-workers under his auspices as best he could. He didn't do 'enough' but some is better than none.

I could envision a conversation between him and some of the Horn Harvester groups where he argues that with half a dozen unicorns, he can produce twenty tanks a week (then month, then bi-monthly) but if they take all his 'trained workforce' he'll produce four at best.

A pity you didn't mention the production side of things in this. Regardless, this was one of the better fics I've read that forced the ponies to grapple with war and the atrocities inherent in modern conflict. I daresay that this has made my top five fics list (if I truly kept a record of those). Thank you for taking the immense amount of time and effort to produce such a well-thought out, even-keeled fic.

And I have no idea why this is rated so damn low ... maybe because the hell the ponies went through? I would have stuck a Dark tag up there for the gratuitous horn-cutting and general Holocaust situations. It was one of the darkest periods of recent human history after all.

[TheMainManeMaineBrony]

3782994 I agree, I think part of the reason it's so dang low in ratings is because it's dark, but isn't tagged dark. Wish I could rate multiple times.

[TheMainManeMaineBrony]

3782994 I agree, I think part of the reason it's so dang low in ratings is because it's dark, but isn't tagged dark. Wish I could rate multiple times.

[holmesiv]

Great work on this fic. I just read your Blueblood fic that was featured, and figured I would give something else you wrote a shot. Very much worth the time. On a note relating to this last chapter of yours, I would recommend "The Good War" by Studs Terkel (if you haven't already read it) It is essentially a collection of oral stories of WWII in one neat little package. A functional comparison would be calling it a non-fiction WWZ. I would say that this fic reminded me of it slightly as well.

Back from my little rant, I really liked this fic. The characters were believable, and things fit in well together. This is an awesome example of how to do things right when mixing Earth and Equestria. Keep up the good work.

[Rune Soldier Dan]

3782994

I think it's the subject matter. People like WWII, but their interest rarely goes beyond red-blooded US/CW soldiers fightin' the good fight against the evil Nazis. I think I lost some people when the badassery proved absent, and the Germans (hey, I can be honest with myself) were generally portrayed as the underdogs.

The bigger thing, though, I think is the atrocities. Any discussion of the Holocaust is going to leave some people feeling it was "disrespectful." Somber music, respectful movies, and even a callous analysis of the facts will rankle some into (mistakenly) believing they are spitting on the graves. Adding cartoon ponies into the mix will not meet with better reception.

My take, obviously, differs. Art can depict serious issues seriously, fiction is a form of art, and fanfiction is just fiction without a publisher. I could go on, but (unless I BADLY misunderstand you), I'd be preaching to the choir.

I do agree that Speer was an interesting character, and could easily see your hypothetical argument happening. Thus said, Germany's internal politics and industry were really well outside the scope of this fic.

Classy and historically-educated people such as myself, however, would find the discussion fascinating.

[Minalkra]

3786993
Nazi-era politics are outside the scope of rationality, much less any fictional take on them.

Still - to play a bit of the devil's advocate here - Speer could very well have rescued a hundred unicorns from the 'Bloody Harvest' until Germany was really strapped for weapons. Even his influence wouldn't shield them when the Allies crossed the boarders. And actually, I can see that making it worse.

"Make them work anyway. I do not care if the pain of using magic hornless causes them to pass in two weeks - we'll cut their horns off and then work them to death regardless."

Ugh. And of course, there's some question as to how much he actually knew and how much he actually did ... not a very good historian myself though, just amateurishly interested in the time period.

[Rune Soldier Dan]

3787495

He did publish his memoirs, under the title (IIRC) "Inside the Third Reich." Fair warning, the man was an engineer, and his writing is as technical and thick as you'd expect from one. Also, it was his side of the story written after the fact, so it's not going to go out of his way to condemn the man.

Speer seems to have been a worshiper of practicality: Saw the holocaust as a horrible waste of men, labor, and material, with "life" placing a solid fourth. He certainly had no problem using slave labor to fuel production, which, in fairness, is a thing few nations are entirely innocent from.

I am not familiar with any incident involving him protecting workers, but it fits with what I know of the man. If he preserved life, then he preserved life. Whether or not humanitarian ideals ever entered the equation is less of a concern.

[Minalkra]

3787740
Yeah, I own 'Inside' as well as Toland's first volume 'Adolf Hitler' (and borrowed the second from the library a few times). And some miscellany on Hitler and such. Fun fact: I was preparing to write a comic book-esque noir piece that starts with the fire in Wewelsburg Castle (the planned-but-never-finished "Reich SS Leadership School") north Tower etc. etc. Cue mystical Nazi nonsense a la Hellboy and some other silliness.

I think I was subconsciously combining Schindler and Speer for some bizarre reason when I referenced his 'attempts to save life.' And while it may have been an act to receive a lighter sentence, his admission of guilt over his part in the crimes does stand out. Not an apologist, but it does show that even these monsters were purely human - which makes their fall all the more grotesque horrifying in my eye.

[Rune Soldier Dan]

3791546

"Plans are useless, but planning is essential."

-Dwight Eisenhower

[Rune Soldier Dan]

3872393

I think you can get it by clicking the picture, and not the source button.

I'm sure it's floating around derpibooru, too.

Anyway, glad you likey.

[kuruku]

This story really needs more love. It got me thinking (such a dangerous thing) and that is probably the best that can ever be said of any work of art.

Thanks.

[kuruku]

3872733

and I meant the picture in the snapshot "Yalta: A broken peace". You can reach it by right-clicking and going to the url, that redirects you to the picture itself.

So basically, use the direct link the image, instead of a redirect.

[Rune Soldier Dan]

3874906

I see, said the blind man. Fixed.

[Otterbee]

It doesn't surprise me that this has as many down votes as it does. I think those people have a point. But this is also the most thoughtful portrayal of war in ponyficdom I've come across, and there's something to be said for that too.

I think you deserve every one of your upvotes. Take mine too.

[Fireheart 1945]

I believe Kilrain to be wrong. There is and has always been more good in the world than evil. Naturally, military men, who have seen the worst of humanity, would be inclined to disagree with me but I stand by what I said before.

I do not require anyone to agree with me, but I will not change this opinion even if the world were offered me on a silver platter.

[FanOfMostEverything]

This... I...

Wow. Just wow. Alternate history is one of my favorite genres, and this...

I really just have no words (the rest of the review notwithstanding.) You captured the horror of war, and yet you managed to include a sense of hope, dignity, and yes, friendship that makes the ponies feel like ponies and the humans feel like humans. This is a masterpiece, and I am honestly shamed that my tastes are so indiscriminate that it has to share company in my favorites with tales that are frankly dreck in comparison. This was...

Just wow. You even made use of best pony and added a beautiful story to her adoption of Sparkler. You even realized an aspect of Friendship is Witchcraft without breaking tone. (Though that may be a coincidence.) The only thing I could possibly dislikeabout this is that the Mane Six would all be old mares by the time I was born. Except Twilight, of course. I am in awe.

Also, "the White Ostrich has returned her head to the sand" is so perfectly Churchillian I could hear his jowls rustle.

Thank you for this. Thank you a million times over.

[Rune Soldier Dan]

4026148

Thank you for your kind words. I am very pleased to have pleased.

In answer to the sorta-query, I have never seen Friendship is Witchcraft and know nothing about it. So I guarantee the reference to be a coincidence, though I admit that you've evoked my curiosity...

[FanOfMostEverything]

4052824
In one scene, Sweetie Belle shouts "Incoming mortar!" and jumps into a mud puddle, triggering a flashback in Rarity. It's a rather uncanny coincidence.

[TrackingTarget]

4052824
4054060
That and Applejack being relatively unaffected by her experiences. In FiW, it's played for laughs. I believe the implication was that Applejack had to leave Rarity behind, and the battle for survival was so traumatizing that Rarity spends Veteran's Day sobbing behind the couch or something along those lines. Been a while since I saw it, relevant episode is "Neigh, Soul Sister" if you're curious.

[The Harvester]

A story I reget not reading sooner. You captured the horrors of war perfectly as well as the effects of it does to those after. You combined both human and ponies views on it so well. The last chapter, the little shout out to Anon who is without a doubt the most famous Human in pony fanfiction, is what made me tear up.

[Rune Soldier Dan]

4767680

No rush. As it happens, I have hit a bit of writer's block, so there hasn't been much forward progress for the last few weeks.

Anyway, hope you likey. This is definitely rougher than what I send you... re-reading chapters, I can definitely see my own progress as a writer.

[Lt Rainbow Slash]

3084408 touché

[Rune Soldier Dan]

4931529

Regarding the epilogues: I ended up not writing them for 'civilians who went on to do normal civilian-y kinds of things.' There just wouldn't be much to say. Sparkler and Fritz would live on, in their own quiet lives.

Regarding the Sten... whelp, it wouldn't be the first time I screwed up the facts a bit (the Polish history was a gross oversimplification in hindsight, but it'd be silly to go back and edit now).

Anyway, thanks for the vibes. Glad you likey.

[Rune Soldier Dan]

4934196

Never saw BoB, so: Maybe.

[Rune Soldier Dan]

5036207

Thanks for the vibes. Too much "America, Fuck Yea!" in the genre, too few hard looks at the men on the other side.

[Harry_Jones]

5037454 This is six weeks old, but anyway:

I have to agree with you there. Some stories make it seem like ONLY Americans suffered.

We have to remember that the Allies consisted of 26 nations and client states (27 counting Equestria) and the Axis Powers consisted of 19 nations and client states and that not all Axis soldiers were heartless bastards.

This is the very reason why this fic drew me in so much. I'm reading it for the third time now and will probably read it again in future. I'm just sad it's over...

[Rune Soldier Dan]

5230692

You know, the adventures of the "minor" powers were always of far greater interest for me. The successful Polish cavalry charges of the early war and the heroic actions of Brazilian volunteers, and then the determined actions of Spanish and Belgian Axis volunteers in Russia, and the desperate diplomacy of the Balkan Axis as they chose one devil over the other in their bid to survive.

(Probably part of the reason I focused on the Poles so much)

[Seether00]

Just shotgunned this whole thing so I need to gather my thoughts...

This was just brilliant. It very much felt like the alternate history novels I've read in the past. Mostly, it felt similar to Harry Turtledove. I am surprised we never got an account of Celestia fighting directly, but was okay.

Excellent choice leaving Fluttershy and Pinkie out of it. To shoehorn them in would have made things cluttered.

One thing I wonder about is if Luna could use her dreamwalking spell to help ponies with their PTSD. I wouldn't be surprised if she helps Celestia with her trauma. And I don't think she would have agreed to letting the Jews settle in the middle east. She'd likely foresee the problems that would cause. Probably offer a place in Equestria.

No mention of Shining Armor or Princess Cadence. I was expecting Shining to show up instead of Blueblood. And what exactly did the US expect Celestia to do? She's the Princess of Ponies. Her job is to look after them first.

[Rune Soldier Dan]

5385609

Shining Armor was always in reserve... an extra 'officer-type character' who I never ended up needing.

And I'm pretty okay with that. I find him boring, but have no interest in using him as a punching bag.

[Super Trampoline]

Whenever I come across a great story that I doubt I'll ever read (http://www.fimfiction.net/story/169257/the-incandescent-brilliance for example), I instead read the comments to vicariously experience how your writing effects people. All Quiet On The Western Front depressed me for a week, and I've never purposely killed anything larger than a mosquito, and I'm a pacifist by nature, so I do not believe this story is for me. But I would like to commend you on a job extremely well done.

[paladinwolf]

Just found this story, and was forced to read it straight through. Amazingly well done. Thank you for sharing it with us all.

[Iron Comet]

Found this story last night and read it all over the course of eight hours. It was a very good story. Thank you for it.

[Night Star the Scholar]

Love your story. Fantastic and sad...

[Robin Of Loxley]

5301641 when I was reading the philosophy about evil paragraph, one thing popped into my mind.

'the road to Hell Is Paved with good intentions.'

Beyond that, I believe this deserves way more views than it has. It is very well written, the characters seem like they could (and did!) Exist, and the only thing I found lacking was that there was no history regarding the Pacific theatre.

To stop myself from ranting on, ill limit my statement to this: personally, I am more interested in the Pacific theatre than the European theatre.

I look forward to reading more of your work, and hope you come out with a sequel, but I won't hold my breath.

[West]

I... Ah... I don't comment on stories. I just don't. I never do, really. However, for this time, and, I suspect, this time only, I find myself unable to resist.

Thank you.

That is all.

~West

[James Koach]

For a while I meant to read this story, although I must admit I didn't have much faith in it. Now, after reading it all in one go, I have to say one thing:

I cried.

I never cry. I can't even remember the last time I did.

I must congratulate you, for many things. First, and I think this is the most important thing of all, you didn't demonise anyone. There's good and evil, yes, but you made it clear that, at the end of the day, it's people. Just people, doing what, either deluded by blind fanaticism and/or sheer will to uphold their duty, deemed necessary while in a stressful situation. And you know what's great about it all? You never justified or denied anything, or even attempted to. The characters have their own misgivings, hatreds and prejudices, but you remained objective, and didn't shy away from controversial topics.

In my own personal experience, it takes a lot of skill to write up characters like Fritz without falling into biases. Especially considering the controversy behind him and Obscura Korps. I'm attempting something similar with my own writing project, but with a main character and completely unrelated to MLP. I'm still plagued with uncertainties regarding what to do with him, but reading this helped me a lot.

If you could, perhaps, advise me a bit, I'd be really thankful.

Another thing I congratulate you for is the excellent theoretical framework and state of the art research you made before writing this. While I can't say it's rare to find people who do this, when it comes to fan fiction, it's definitely something to be proud of. I guess I'm too used to reading WW2-based fics that are only written with Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Fury and Saving Private Ryan as background information.

And lastly, I guess I congratulate you for making me cry. For not shying away from things that must be said, and saying them in a way that shakes you to the core, as it should be. For making every character's story relatable, be it pony, American or German, and for not adding or removing blames for the sake of making someone likeable. The villagers close to the concentration camp, for example. I love them as characters because you pictured them exactly as they should be, as most Germans at the time were. Fritz, too.

On a lighter note, I must admit I fail to not see a bunch of Warlocks gathered in a room, drawing lines of horn powder on a table and snorting them like cocaine, getting high before floating into battle to fry some Russians.

Anyway. Great work. Best hours of reading I had all week.

[Rune Soldier Dan]

6678930

Thank you very much for your kind words. Regarding the request for advice, I am not certain how helpful my opinions would be, but I am at your disposal.

[Imrix]

6690210 And there is always a better way.

[Harry_Jones]

And that's that for my umpteenth read-through of this story.

I'm kinda wondering about that little sub-plot you mentioned at the end of this chapter. Might be interesting. Oh, well...

Ya know, I've been thinking: You probably get the occasional individual that leaves a comment/or sends a PM that tells you how you are 'disrespecting the history' or some such nonsense. I see no such disrespect and would like to thank you for making an honest and respectful 'what if' fic for WWII. They are extremely rare.

[Rune Soldier Dan]

6728085

For what it's worth: the planned chapter was "Operation Regicide," following a late-war effort by Otto Skorzeny (an eccentric and highly skilled German commando) to assassinate Celestia and make off with her horn, hoping to unlock deific powers. He successfully injures her, but is shot dead by Bradley. The old general sees the blood running down Celestia's wings and asks worriedly, "what if he had succeeded?" to which Celestia responds, "I'm certain I don't know."

Ended up on the cutting room floor because it never fit: a pulp action sequence would've distracted from the grim themes of the late war chapters. And once the fic was finished, I found myself with zero motivation to add in extras.

I have gotten some hate over this fic, but such events were rare, and outweighed by the encouragement. Like yours, so thanks for the good vibes.

[Harry_Jones]

6735474 Would have love to read that, but probably won't happen at this point.

Good vibes! Good vibes for everyone!

[Harry_Jones]

6787261 Pay no attention to the fool. The only one they're fooling is themselves.