01 - A New Dawn
Week 1, Sunday
He was done with tears. His arms burned as he and an ensign he didn’t know hauled another sheet-wrapped body to the aft main deck, where hundreds of others had already been laid. Reaching an open spot, they gently set it down and started to make their way back when the ensign stopped by one of the Super Hornets. She slammed a fist against the fuselage and hung her head, shoulders shaking with a series of fresh sobs. Not knowing anything more to say, he put his hand on her shoulder for a moment, then turned as a voice called out.
“Captain Avery! You’re needed on the flight deck.”
Turning from the sobbing ensign, Captain Eric Avery ran a hand through his sweat-soaked hair as he looked to see who was calling his name. Shaking the sweat off as he saw it was Major Jeffries; he threw his hand up in a weary salute.
“Sir yes Sir Connor.” Jeffries waved off the salute.
“I think given the circumstances we can relax protocol somewhat. Come on Slip, time’s a wasting and the admiral wants some eyes on that anomaly.” Conner, also known by his callsign ‘Bear’, looked every bit as exhausted as Eric did, but he still managed to radiate that air of authority and confidence that made him such a skilled officer.
Turning back to the ensign, Eric realized his hand was still on her shoulder and he let it drop to his side. Nodding her thanks, the ensign headed off towards the door into the bowels of the ship to fetch another body.
“C’mon Eric, she’ll be fine, we’ll all be fine.” Connor spoke the last part almost as if he needed to reaffirm it for himself. Eric thumped his friend on the shoulder as they walked to the stairs that led to the flight deck.
“So they got the tow hook set up for the Eagle?”
“Yea and your ass got the short straw. So you’ll get to fly over and take a look at whatever the fuck that thing is. And stay sharp while you’re up there, right now that Eagle’s worth more than everyone on this ship put together.”
With a partially forced laugh they opened the hatch that led onto the flight deck. Normally a bustle of activity, it seemed almost abandoned now. A lone fighter sat on Catapult Three, with a few people milling around getting it ready to take off. Crossing the vast expanse of metal, Eric looked out to the southwest, where a bright white glow could be seen. He still felt a little shaky, and looked down at his left hand, where the skin was still tinged black. With a shudder, he remembered the screaming horror of waking up in agony, listening to the howls of dying men echoing through the ship. Wiping his hand on the sleeve of his flight suit he forced himself to put those thoughts away, though he could still hear them in the back of his head.
Looking up as he reached the plane, he walked a slow inspection of the F-15 Eagle. He really regretted not having more experience with them, but given that it was the only plane with a fly-by-cable system he didn’t have much of a choice. Finishing the inspection, he accepted his helmet and climbed up the ladder into the cockpit. Settling himself into the seat, he secured his harness and pulled shut the canopy, muting the sounds of the deck activity around him. Starting the ignition sequence, he was pleased to see that for once something seemed to be going right on this hellish morning. Feeling a steady hum that soon escalated into a roar as the engines fired up, he flashed a thumbs up to the flight officer. He was then pushed back into the seat as the catapult engaged, throwing the fighter down the deck and off into the sky.
Throttling the engines up, he smoothly pulled the nose up, letting his view be filled by the calm sky, the eastern horizon shining gold with the light of the rising sun.
“Just another day in paradise.” He muttered to himself, knowing that no one on the deck could hear him. Finally deciding to just get the job over with, he rolled onto his left side and curved around, seeing the source of the strange light below him.
It looked for all the world like a small dome, only a quarter mile across by his best estimate. Crewmen looking at it from the deck of the carrier figured it only stood about ten feet or so above the surface of the water, but oddly enough the water seemed to almost be repelled by it, waves that should have splashed over it simply parted around it. When it had first appeared, it gave off so much light that most of the men on deck looking that direction had been blinded. Eric supposed that it didn’t matter much, since a few seconds after the light hit them, men started dropping like flies, patches of black growing rapidly on their skin and nausea doubling them over. Not even men below had been spared, the strange radiation not slowed in the slightest by the steel bulkheads. He’d heard from scuttlebutt that even engineers on the other side of the reactors had been affected, which by all rights shouldn’t have happened. The worst of it was that all the planes that had been in the air had simply tumbled into the ocean, as if their pilots had simply flipped a switch. They’d looked for parachutes, but either no one had been able to reach the lever or the system had failed outright. They’d ended up having to write them off as lost, and his eyes clouded as he remembered all the faces he’d never see again.
Shaking his head and blinking his eyes clear, he could see the little dome coming up, and rolling the fighter upside down, he craned his head up to look down at it as he flew right over it. He only got a few seconds to look, but what he saw in those few seconds made no sense. His eyes traced over the small forms of what could only be buildings, shining white in the light of a morning sun. He could make out an enormous river, flowing into what must be a waterfall.
“What in God’s name?” He rolled the fighter right side up and began a long turn, coming down lower to get a better look.
---Half an hour earlier---
Star Dancer still couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It was as if his dream had decided disturbing his sleep wasn’t enough, and torn its way free from his head to appear in front of everypony. Looking around the throne room he could see ponies running back and forth, most with panic written across their muzzles, but an island of calm existed where Celestia, Luna and the Bearers stood in deep conversation with several bureauponies. He could see another a short distance away, this one composed solely of gold-armored bodies. His father stood in the middle barking out orders to pegasi and unicorns alike, ignoring the glare that the other pegasus general was giving him. He turned his cyan eyes back to the disk in the sky, feeling again that sense of something pulling at his wings.
“Star Dancer? Is something the matter?” He jumped at the voice, turning to see his mother looking at him oddly.
“N-no. Just trying to wrap my head around all this.” Star finished weakly, shooting another nervous glance out the window.
“Don’t worry son. The Princesses and your father won’t rest until a solution is found to this.” Morning Sun smiled, laying a wing across her son’s back in an attempt to quell the unease he was obviously feeling.
“Hey Mom, I’m going to go stretch my wings for a bit, maybe go take a nap back at my place. I’ll be home in time for lunch.” Star gently lifted his mother’s wing and turned to leave.
“Are you sure sweetheart? You could just use your bedroom back at the house; I kept it ready for you in case you ever needed it.”
“It’s not a problem; the Princesses are letting Cloudsdale stay over the city for a while longer. Try to make sure Dad doesn’t overdo it.” Star replied with a laugh as he turned and trotted out the door. Morning Sun watched him go and then turned to look back out the window again at the second sun in the sky.
…
Star Dancer trotted through the palace halls expecting somepony to challenge him or otherwise try and stop him, but the outer corridors seemed deserted. Finally reaching the main entrance he spread his wings and took flight, looping lazily over the city. Looking down, he could see ponies hurrying to and from the different buildings or simply looking up in wonder at the strange phenomenon that had interrupted their lives. The pulling at his wings only got worse until he finally turned upward, flapping his wings steadily as he flew towards the disk. As he drew near he could dimly hear wind, which made him feel less suicidal about what he was contemplating doing.
Suddenly the absurdity of actually trying to see if the strange disk would actually lead to somewhere else overtook his mind, causing him to slow his flapping and sink back down away towards Canterlot. But as his brain waged war with itself, his heart stepped in, and with a deep breath Star Dancer closed his eyes, held his breath, and flew into the disk. His forelegs pressed into it, briefly encountering resistance before sliding through. He swore it almost felt like flying through a giant soap bubble, though as he continued upwards he felt a peculiar sense of… otherness, almost like there was some sliver of something around him far greater than anypony before or after him could describe in words. Then he was abruptly through, his nose filling with the smell of salt air, almost intoxicating in its aroma. Letting out the breath he’d been holding, Star took a deep breath and opened his eyes. Looking around, his jaw dropped at what he beheld.
Water. Water stretching as far as he could see in all directions. Turning in place as he continued to climb, he could see a peculiar looking island close by with a lot of smaller islands around it. All of them were the same grey color, with strange white and yellow markings on the largest one. He leveled out and started to fly closer, his ears swiveling as the hair on the back of his neck stood up. All he could hear was the roar of the wind as it grew louder… in sudden fear, he realized that the sound wasn’t just the wind, and turned in time to see a monstrous grey creature bearing down on him at incredible speed. Trying to dive out of the way, he saw the creature pull up and away, missing him by a few dozen ponylengths. But the wind from its passage knocked him head over hooves, his wings trying madly to stabilize himself. With a sickening pop he felt his right wing dislocate, and the pain nearly knocked him out cold. He was finally able to stop the tumble with his left wing, and saw that he was close enough to the strange grey island to land on it. Struggling to stay aloft with only one working wing, Star spiraled downward towards the island, the pain growing steadily worse as he instinctively tried to use his right wing. As he neared the island’s surface, he saw the edges of his vision going black and as he fell awkwardly into unconsciousness, he could swear that he saw a gathering of strange creatures looking up at him. One of them started to run forwards with its arms outstretched as if to try and catch him, but any further speculation ended as the darkness claimed him.
…
Conner skidded to a stop as the creature fell into his arms, knocking him flat on his ass and the wind from his lungs. Cursing as he sat up, he rolled the tan and grey-haired body onto the deck beside him. Taking a few deep breaths, he took a better look at what had decided to pay them a visit. His eyes widened as he traced over the short muzzle, the four hoofed legs and the two wings growing from its back. Further inspection brought his eyes to its hind leg, which bore some kind of brand, a trio of stars with little honest to God speed lines making it look like they were spinning around each other. Finally, he dredged up the word from his high school days.
“A goddamned pegasus. That’s it, I’ve fuckin’ snapped, and I’ll be stuck in the loony bin for the rest of my life.” Heaving himself to his feet, he looked around at the other crewmen who’d gathered around and were all looking at the pegasus with glassy eyes and open mouths. Shaking his head, he looked back down and realized that the right wing looked to be in bad shape. He nudged it with his boot and the reaction was instant, the creature twitching violently.
“Alright then, you, Simmons, grab a stretcher.” The man in question jumped slightly.
“Sir?”
“You heard me Petty Officer! Get your ass in gear and get me a fucking stretcher! Since you all seem to be seeing this thing too, that means it’s real. And that means we’ve just become the first goddamned men to meet something from somewhere else. And frankly, I’d rather not piss off any friends that might come lookin’ for it.” Properly chastised, Simmons ran off across the deck.
“’Sides, thing like this will sell for a shitload of money to some zoo.” One of the other men muttered, eyes lit as he realized the possibilities in front of them.
“Hell, you want to swim to Hawaii and tell them what we found, its four hundred miles that way. In the meantime, we’re gonna take care of this thing like it’s the fucking Holy Grail. Any man who thinks otherwise is going to be in for a rude surprise when I kick his ass.” Connor shot an angry glare around at the others, who decided that it wasn’t worth it to press the issue. Looking over as Simmons came back with the stretcher, Connor helped him spread it out and heave the pegasus onto it. It didn’t fit so well, and its wings hung limply off the sides, but they’d be able to get it down to the infirmary.
…
“So what the hell do you expect me to do with this?” The ship’s doctor shouted angrily, the infirmary filled with the sounds of the men worst hit by the strange growths.
“Look Sam, the damn thing flew up out of that strange dome on the water. Slip hit it with his jet wash by accident and it landed on the deck. Not asking for much, just to fix its damn wing.”
“Alright, but I’m not treating it in here with all my patients. Bring it over here.” Lieutenant Sam Molino, now the ranking medical officer on the ship, waved a nurse over and told her he was stepping out for a moment and to not talk about what she saw on the stretcher. After she got her staring out of the way and went back to work, he led the two men into an empty room across the hall. Laying the stretcher down on the floor, he looked the pegasus over and shook his head in awe.
“Just when I think I’ve seen everything. Alright, let’s get a look here; you said it had a reaction to your touching the right wing?” Gently prodding the limb with his fingers, he nodded as the tan body shuddered in response.
“Yea, wasn’t sure if it was broken or not, but figured to get it down here to get looked at and out of sight of everyone wantin’ to take a peek.”
“Well, I’m not a vet, but it looks like its just dislocated, give me just a second…” Sam poked around where the limb joined the body, and nodding, took hold of the wing with both hands. “I need you two to hold down its legs and other wing while I put it back into its socket. Without anesthetic, this is going to hurt like hell.” Nodding, Connor and Simmons took up position and braced themselves. Sam nodded and then twisted the wing to mimic the position of the other with a loud pop. The pegasus jolted awake with a scream, thrashing violently under Simmons and Conner, the two men nearly thrown off despite being braced.
“Christ he’s strong! Alright, let him go!” All three men jumped back as the pegasus tried to leap into the air, only to have its right wing give out and crash into the wall. It jumped to its hooves and backed into the furthest corner, eyes rolling in fear and its left wing extended.
...
Cloudhammer watched the pegasus leave with yet another message, this time bound for Fillydelphia to recall the guards stationed there. Taking a sip of water to relieve the ache in his throat from shouting so many orders, he turned to General Gold Arrow.
“Alright, that takes care of that. I need to go get something to eat, think you can handle it without me?” He asked wryly. Arrow sniffed disdainfully.
“I’ve been doing this for a lot longer than you, General. I believe I can keep this situation well in hand.” Gold Arrow seethed inwardly at having this relic put on the same level as him. Cloudhammer’s views were outdated, and needed to be cut out. Yes the Royal Guard was still needed, but there were simply better uses that they could be put to. Equestria was in an era of peace, it was time for the soldiers like Cloudhammer to see that they were the minority and needed to be phased out. The barest trace of a smile crossed his muzzle as he started to figure out how just to accomplish that.
Trotting through the palace halls, Cloudhammer was glad to see that the panic which had gripped the castle staff seemed to be replaced by a tense order. Reaching the gate, he nodded to the unicorn guard posted there.
“You going for a flight too sir?”
“Just going to take a short break, get some food with my wife and son. What do you mean by ‘too’?” Cloudhammer asked curiously.
“Your son came by here about a half hour ago, something seemed to be bothering him, but seemed to be in a better mood once he got airborne.”
“I see. Well, if you happen to see him, let him know I went back home.” The guard saluted as Cloudhammer spread his wings and took off. Deciding to head straight home and see if Star was simply there with Morning Sun. The city beyond the castle seemed to be calming down as well, the nobleponies deciding that the novelty of the disk of light in the sky was gone. Shaking his head, he swooped down to his front door and nosed it open.
“Is that you Star? Oh, welcome home dear.” Morning Sun trotted from the kitchen and nuzzled her mate.
“I take it Star’s not back yet?” Cloudhammer started to get a slight twinge of a bad feeling on the back of his neck.
“No, he told me he was going back home to his apartment in Cloudsdale, try to get some sleep. He’s still got some time before he’d be running late. Come on and eat, you’ll see him when he gets here.” But it was too late; Cloudhammer was already trotting out the door, spreading his wings and leaping into the air. Shaking her head in resignation at her silly husband, Morning trotted back to the table where her lunch was waiting.
…
Cloudhammer was now more than concerned. After asking around for Star in Cloudsdale, he had learned that his son had never come home. Nopony had seen him since he left the castle. Landing in a market near the center of town, he was trotting past a group of conversing nobleponies when he overheard something that made him freeze in place.
“… and then, if you can believe it, the poor dear just flies right up into the disk and vanishes!” The other assembled ponies gasped, then gasped again as the speaker found herself spun around to see a pair of ice blue eyes boring into hers.
“Who are you talking about, describe them to me now.” The voice was as hard and unyielding as a diamond, and the pony gulped before speaking in a stammering rush.
“H-he was a tan pegasus, I think, with a lighter grey mane and tail. But I can’t be sure…” She never finished speaking, as in a rush of wind Cloudhammer was gone, racing toward the castle.
“What in the name of Equestria was that all about?” The nobleponies wondered briefly about it, but shrugged and continued their conversation about just what the latest fashion trends would be.
Flying dangerously low over the rooftops, Cloudhammer resembled a golden missile as he arrowed into the Guard training area and landed at the supply room. Marching in past the guard with barely a curt nod, he started gathering a day’s worth of food supplies, and some basic medical gear. He was so focused on his search that he didn’t even notice the unicorn that trotted up behind him.
“So, mind telling me what’s going on that has you in such a hurry?” Captain Flare asked as he trotted into the storeroom. Cloudhammer didn’t answer, securing the last of the supplies in a bag which he shoved under his armor. Flare was about to ask again when Cloudhammer paused and looked back at his friend.
“It’s Star Dancer; I think he flew into the disk. I’m going to find him and bring him back”
Flare was stunned, his jaw hanging open for a few seconds before he clacked it shut. Nodding sharply, he moved up beside Cloudhammer and started packing his own bag. Cloudhammer looked at him in confusion before comprehension dawned.
“No, Flare. You’re not coming with me, this is too dangerous.”
“And going on your own is any better? You’re my friend and I’ll see an earth pony fly before I let you go off on a hare-brained rescue mission alone. Now, I’m coming with you or I’ll tell Celestia on you.” Flare looked at his friend as finished packing, his brown eyes carrying as much determination as Cloudhammer’s blue ones. With a sigh, Cloudhammer shook his head.
“Let’s go find a chariot.”
…
Star Dancer was terrified. He remembered falling towards the ground of some strange island, and seeing some creature running forwards to catch him before blacking out. Then he woke to a searing pain in his right wing and found himself held by three of the strange creatures. Thrashing violently, he had felt them release him and he tried to fly away, only for his wing to fold in with a flash of pain and his head hit a solid wall. Getting to his hooves, he backed into a corner, his left wing flared and trying to appear imposing as the three creatures looked at him.
“Who are you? Where am I?” He shouted, only for them to look shocked, or he thought it looked like shock, and take a step back. He tilted his head and decided to try not shouting this time.
“Do you speak Equestrian? My name is Star Dancer.”
“Do you know what the hell it’s saying Sam?” Connor started as the pegasus made more noises, they sounded almost musical, and he could swear that they sounded just like the foreign languages he’d learned in middle school.
“Fuck if I know, but it’s definitely talkin bout something, almost like it’s asking us a question.” Sam was just as flabbergasted as the rest of them, and honestly despite himself, he swore the pegasus was looking at them with those blue-green eyes and trying to understand what they were saying.
Suddenly, the door swung open and another of the air crew ran in, breathing hard.
“Major Jeffries sir, you need to come topside now. Slip just landed the Eagle, and says that something else is coming out of that dome, another flying one pulling something.” Connor looked at Sam, then to the pegasus, and made up his mind. Holding up his hands as non-threateningly as possible, he approached the pegasus slowly.
“Hey, we’re going to take you up topside, okay? Do you understand me?” Feeling somewhat silly, he pointed to everyone in the room and then to the pegasus, then up at the ceiling. Those blue-green eyes followed him carefully and then seemed to weigh its options. He was taken aback by how expressive the thing’s face was, how it furrowed it’s eyebrows in hesitation before nodding slowly. Connor smiled a little and turned to the others.
“Okay, this is how it goes. We take this thing topside now; try to show the other ones that are coming that we didn’t hurt it. Then hopefully this already fucked up day doesn’t get any worse.” Sam and Simmons looked at each other uneasily, before Sam sighed.
“Well, we’ll need to bandage that wing first, I’ll be right back.” Walking out the door, Sam soon came back with a roll of bandages held in one hand. Approaching the pegasus, he held it out so that it could see it and smell it. After sniffing intently at both it and his hand, the pegasus seemed to understand what Sam as getting at and turned to present it’s right side. Smiling, Sam moved over and quickly wrapped the bandages around its torso, making sure to avoid the left wing. After the first pass the pegasus got the hint and extended its left wing, and Sam finished the rest of the wrap.
“Well, that’s another question answered. This pegasus of yours is a male.” Connor tilted his head in surprise.
“How’d ya figure that Sam?” Sam looked up, a deadpan expression on his face. Connor threw his hands up and laughed.
“Alright you laughing idiot, let’s just get this over with. And I hope to God you’re right about this.”
…
Cloudhammer looked around, his eyes wide as he tried to figure out where he was. Behind him in the one-pony chariot, Flare was just as dumbstruck.
“Where in the name of the Sun are we?”
“I don’t know Flare, but I’m pretty sure we’re not in Equestria anymore. I see something off to the right, looks like the only land around. If Star came through, I think that’s where he’d be.” Banking smoothly, Cloudhammer angled in to land on the largest of the strange islands. As they approached they heard a dull roar, watching in undisguised awe as a large, grey bird-like creature landed on the other end of the island. Peering closer, Cloudhammer saw the creature’s head open up and a smaller creature climb out, jumping to the ground and running across the deck to join a gathering crowd of similar creatures.
“Are you sure about this Cloudhammer? You know I’ve got your flank covered, but there are a lot of them down there.” Cloudhammer shot a glance back and simply increased his angle, flaring his wings and landing on the ground with a clatter of hooves. Coming to a stop, Cloudhammer looked curiously at the ground, stamping a hoof on it tentatively.
“I think this whole island’s made of metal Flare. This much metal would make armor for easily ten times the number of Guards we have today.” Cloudhammer looked up when Flare didn’t answer, and noticed that the crowd of creatures had now surrounded them in a loose arc. There were four of them with strange objects in their hands, though they held them at their sides. The two ponies slowly moved to stand shoulder to shoulder, giving the strange creatures a closer look. They stood in a similar pose to Diamond Dogs, but more upright. They didn’t have fur, but wore what could only be clothes, and after looking at how many of them had similar outfits Cloudhammer decided that they were uniforms.
“I am General Cloudhammer of the Equestrian Royal Guard. My companion is Captain Flare. We have come here in the belief that my son…” Cloudhammer trailed off as he realized that none of the strange creatures seemed to understand a word he was saying. Giving a sidelong glance to Flare, he muttered, “I suppose it makes perfect sense that nopony here speaks proper Equest…”
“DAD!” Cloudhammer froze, his eyes widening as he turned towards a commotion in the crowd. Three more of the creatures were pushing their way through the crowd, and coming with them was a tan form, shouldering its way through until it stood in front of him, white bandages wrapped around its torso and right wing.
“Star?” Cloudhammer crashed into his son, wrapping his neck around Star’s, and heard a few sighed sounds from the surrounding creatures. Looking up, he could see one of the new ones standing there, a roll of bandages held in one of its paws. Giving it a long glare, he turned his attention back to Star Dancer.
“Dad, that one helped me. I dislocated my wing and he reset it and bandaged it and I’m so sorry I flew through the disk I don’t know what came over me but I just felt I had to and…” Star Dancer’s rambling was silenced as Cloudhammer moved past him to stand in front of the creature, looking up into its eyes with his best Guard stare.
…
“I totally think those two are related, I remember acting just like that when my dad caught me doing something I shouldn’t have.” Sam muttered to Connor, before realizing the gold-armored one was now standing in front of him. His brown eyes met the blue ones and he had to fight the urge not to cringe or take a half step back. The bladed helmet it was wearing didn’t help either, especially since its height put the blade at a most uncomfortable level. He held its stare for a few more seconds before he awkwardly laughed and stuck out his free hand.
“Ummm, glad I was able to help, it was nothing.” He felt so stupid talking to a four foot flying horse… was it a horse? The damn thing was short enough to be a pony. He realized that the pegasus was staring at his hand oddly, then lifted one of its legs and placed its hoof into his hand. Still trying not to laugh at the awkwardness of the situation, he gave the hoof a firm shake and then released it. The pegasus lowered its hoof and turned it sideways, almost like it were a normal hand. Giving it a tentative sniff, it tossed its head and turned towards the other one, which Sam recognized quicker as a unicorn. They started conversing with each other in whatever language they spoke, the tan one interrupting every so often. Sam watched them until he heard a commotion behind him. He started to turn, but then stopped and looked up as he saw something moving out of the corner of his eye. Everyone else looked up too, and joined him in gaping at the sight they saw.
…
“In any case Star, I’ll be taking you back first. Then I can bring the chariot back for Flare.” Cloudhammer looked pointedly at the unicorn, who only sighed in long-suffering resignation.
“The things I do for my friends. Alright then, let’s get the chariot ready and…” Flare suddenly realized that nopony else was paying attention, and were instead all looking up in the sky with a mixture of shock and awe. “What’s everypony looking at anyway?” Turning his head, Flare’s jaw dropped and he slumped to his haunches as he beheld the figure descending towards them. “Oh, horseapples.”
A moment later, a quartet of gold-shod hooves landed on the deck causing the metal to ring like a bell. The note was somehow deep and ominous, yet sweet and gentle at the same time. Celestia looked over the crowd of gathered creatures for a few long seconds, her multicolored mane blowing gently against the breeze. She eventually turned her gaze to the three ponies who were scraping their chins on the deck.
“Cloudhammer, please rise.” Lifting his chin from the metal ground, Cloudhammer still couldn’t bring his head all the way up to meet her gaze.
“Princess, I want to apologize for my poor conduct in coming here. I accept all blame for this, Star Dancer and Captain Flare are innocent…” Flare rose from his bow and moved to stand beside Cloudhammer.
“Innocent my flank! Celestia, I hold as much responsibility for coming as General Cloudhammer, and refuse to allow him to take all the punishment for this.”
Celestia looked from one pony to the other, her eyes unreadable for a moment. She then smiled softly and looked to Cloudhammer.
“You could have at least told me. I wouldn’t have tried to stop you, you know.” Cloudhammer blushed under the armor’s enchantment and dug a hoof at the ground. Celestia looked like she had more to say, but a new creature pushed its way through the crowd to stand next to the one holding bandages. Looking over his clothing, which bore much more gold and silver across its shoulders than the others did, she assumed that he was the one in charge.
“And I would assume that this one is the leader of this island?” The creatures all looked at each in confusion again.
“It appears that they do not speak our language Princess, nor do I recognize theirs.” Celestia frowned as she pondered what to do about this problem. Pulling up and discarding two dozen spells, she remembered that there was an old one that would do the job nicely. She walked slowly forward, stopping before the creature that appeared to be in charge before her horn lit, the gold aura reaching forward towards his head.
…
“Admiral Holt sir, I think this is a bad idea. We have no idea what this thing could do to you.” Andrew St. Clair wasn’t happy with this whole situation. He and the other surviving masters at arms had a good plan when the strange creatures had started coming out of the dome. Jerome, being the best marksman after Chris bit the big one was posted on the island, and could put a round into any of these pony things without missing a beat. He squeezed the grip on his sidearm tightly as the gold light reached out and enveloped the admiral’s head.
“Now son, I understand your concern, which is why I’ve got you right here beside me. I got a feelin that this might help us get some answers, so we’ll give it a shot and…” Bill Holt’s voice trailed off as he actually felt the light seeping into his head, simultaneously burning like liquid fire, yet oddly fuzzy like warm dryer lint. He could feel it as it flowed across and through his brain for what seemed an eternity, yet could have only been a few seconds. As it began to withdraw he began to feel the return of the headache that had exploded in the first minutes after the burst of light a few hours ago. Finally the gold light withdrew and returned to the tall winged unicorn. Holt staggered slightly at the release of the sensation and heard the MAAs snap their side arms up, along with a peculiar rasp of steel on steel as the gold-armored pegasus snapped its wings out.
“Everyone stand down. There’s been enough death today already. Andrew, signal your man in the island to stand down as well.” Andrew and the other MAAs hesitated a moment, but then holstered their weapons. Andrew then turned towards the carrier’s island and waved his arms while shaking his head.
The winged unicorn was standing where it had done whatever it did, her eyes rolling and twitching underneath its eyelids for a few seconds. Finally opening them its muzzle worked itself into various shapes, before in a soft, melodious voice she spoke.
“There, I do think this will make things much easier.” The gathered crewmen were simply dumbstruck; those who had been holding tools dropped them to the deck. The winged unicorn laughed lightly, sounding something akin to the ringing of a glass harp, before turning her magenta eyes towards Holt.
“Now, before my manners desert me further, my name is Princess Celestia of Equestria, you have already met General Cloudhammer, Captain Flare, and Star Dancer, who is Cloudhammer’s son. We apologize if our arrival on your island violated your sovereignty. May I ask your name?”
“I’m Rear Admiral Lower Half William Holt, of the United States Navy. Though I have to ask, if you could pull how to speak English out of my head like a rabbit from a hat, why didn’t you get my name too?” Celestia tilted her head quizzically.
“Because not asking would certainly be rude, would it not?”
Bill stood there flabbergasted for a moment before bursting into laughter at both her comment and the sheer absurdity of the situation.
“I guess you have a point there Princess.”
With a soft smile, Celestia then turned to Star Dancer. The young pegasus instantly fell into another deep bow. Celestia only lowered her horn and touched it lightly to the bandaged wing, the binding falling to the deck in a shower of dust. Star experimentally extended the wing and flapped it energetically as the pain was gone.
“Thank you very much Princess.” Celestia laughed again as she raised her head.
“Think nothing of it my dear, though perhaps next time staying away from mysterious disks in the sky would be more advisable.” All the ponies laughed at this, prompting a few forced chuckles from the crewmen, who still had no idea what was being said.
…
President Tyler Foster rubbed his eyes again, wishing once again that someone would have told him the truth about this office before he got into it. Sure, being the leader of one of the most powerful nations on the planet was cool and all, but he still felt like there were bars hidden in the bulletproof windows of the People’s House.
“Sir, we were finally able to get a functional satellite overhead to get pictures of the target area. I think you’ll be interested in this one in particular.” The aide set down a grainy photograph, showing very clearly two pegasi, a unicorn, and a much taller winged unicorn standing in the center of a cluster of men, Admiral Bill Holt visible among them.
President Foster stared hard at the picture for a few long seconds, before coming to a decision.
“Get Air Force One prepared for immediate departure. I’ll be going there myself.”
“Right away Mr. President.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.06 seconds
Total duration
1,094 users online
1,607,263 hits today, 1,822,946 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
DUN DUN DUUUN and the plot starts
Oh my god you did do one... *squeee* now to favorite, track and thumbs it up. Ill read it later but grazts bro.
A solid start. I can't wait to see where you take this.
...now this is something new
i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb317/Lord_of_Change/ScreenHunter_01Feb280642.jpg
^mfw I wake up and see 16 notifications, all to do with people tracking or commenting or favoriting. I love you guys so much
Good... Now keep on writing. Oh and we all love you back!
A plausible and realistic meeting between the two races. Hopefully, everything will go well. (The only problem is that this is in the Conversion series, which means that Celestia is going to put a boundary between the worlds so humans can't come hers but ponies can go to theirs. (The real Princess Celestia wouldn't do that.) While also dooming the human race to extinction if they don't convert. (Just nitpicking the series as a while. Your work is astounding. Keep up the god work.))
270521 Oh don't worry, I have plans in place to both differentiate from everypony else's interpretation and mine, stay tuned
Wow! This was simply wonderful! i can't wait for the next chapter! omigodomigod! :D
Tracked!
Good story, plausible introduction and compelling characters ... But two tiny points you might want to address:
F-15s aren't carrier-capable and never have been, and the image of the carrier you've got in your story is the future Queen Elizabeth Class carrier to be operated by the Royal Navy. (Unless this story is focusing on them, but it seems more American?)
Keep up the good work.
271678 Well, after looking it over, me and my advisory team decided that it would be possible for an F-15 to make a landing on the carrier deck with it's emergency tow hook, and then by cannibalizing a tow hook from one of the inoperable fighters it'd be more capable of making repeated landings. Was a case of the crew working with what they had. As for the carrier, to me it's more about the idea of a carrier, which the artist spot on the money.
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFuck yes.
AMIGO.
YOU'VE DONE IT AGAIN!
...I can help ya with proofreading again, if need be.
excellent beginning, can't wait for moar!
are the ponies 3D, or are the humans 2D?
I am going to sound like a winy bitch about this... a F-15can not be on a carrier. all navy planes are bulked up in order to survive the catapult. all of your other facts seem to be on but a F-15 cannot be carrier based. your story is still by far better that anything i have or probably will ever write so i don't want to sound hypocritical. Besides that no complaints. keep the good work.
There, I read the first chapter and it was pretty good.
271880
Your advisors are incorrect. Making a fighter carrier-capable is not just a matter of bolting on an arrestor hook. The entire airframe has to be much tougher on a carrier-based plane to withstand the force catapult launches and arrestor landings. Also, the hook needs to be attached to the plane's hydraulic system so it can extend and retract, which would not be a jury-rig sort of job.
If you just change your aircraft references from F-15 Eagle to F-18 Super Hornet, the problem will be solved.
*mad cackling carries over from previous comment on the prequel*
Ah yes, this has been an excellent chapter. More to the point, I simply cannot say how much I approve of the reactions of the US Sailors to the situation, despite what happened down below. I sense that things shall get interesting very very quickly.
I'm so glad your interpretation of the army isn't 'shot it now, work it out later'. I know it's a fun believe, and very useful for fueling paranoia on a protagonists side, but intelligent thinking leaders in troops is far better for 'reality'. As in the actual soldiers, rather than the fictional ones people fear.
People's house? You mean the white house?
Yeah the white House has been known by many presidents as the big white jail
8848618
Lol