//------------------------------// // A World Found Only In Nightmares // Story: The Red Sun Rises: Voyages // by The Atlantean //------------------------------// Celestia stood not two feet from Crimson Dawn. He looked different, some species she had never seen before. Now to think of it, so did she. The princess had two legs, limbs that connected right below her head, and feet. She wore apparel obviously specific to her gender and species, along with the colonel. He walked forwards to the creature holding a young girl hostage. After a few steps, the creature called out, “Hold it right there, Dawn, or your daughter dies.” Crimson stopped. A pistol hung in his hand, which he swung up and pulled the trigger. The perfectly aimed shot hit the creature in the face, and he fell to the ground, dead. The girl raced into her father’s arms, and stayed there, tears of relief streaking down her face. Suddenly, the earth shook as a large explosion sent equipment flying as the scene changed. Celestia decided to look around, trying to find the source. Then she found it. A smoking crater in the central deck blocked all view to the rear of the ship - wait, ship? She glanced to the starboard side to see a large steel structure with many antennae and rotating domes. One of the same kind of creatures from the last setting stood on a balcony-looking thing, coordinating emergency efforts and staring at the flaming hole as if it were the worst thing that could happen. Turning her head more, Celestia could see many other steel ships, all badly damaged. Black smoke like that from her own ship spiraled out of the city-like tops, some were filling with water and going under the surface with little to no lifeboats, and all looked like their armaments were spent. “Who are you?” asked a sailor. Celestia turned to her adressor. When she did, she asked him one thing. “Am I dreaming?” “Pinch yourself to find out. If it hurts, it ain’t a fucking dream. Now tell me who the hell you are and how you got on Reagan during the middle of a battle?” Celestia pinched herself with the appendages on the ends of her limbs. It gave her a sharp pain. “Well, my name is Celestia. I am a princess of Equestria, and I have no idea how I got here. “Come with me. Standard procedure is to put stowaways in the brig until we know exactly what to do with you.” “The brig? What’s that?” “Think of it as the ship’s jail. Come on, they’re probably gonna try auto-landing the planes soon, and you don’t want to be hit by a 66,000-pound decelerating aircraft.” Celestia complied. The two hurried to the starboard side and turned to the steel structure standing above the flat deck. Just as they reached halfway, the first jet, an F/A-18 Super Hornet, emerged from the black spiral of smoke, touching down just after the leading edge of the hole and coming to a stop four feet from the end. It turned and headed to an elevator for transport to a lower deck. As soon as it had turned, another Hornet did the same automated landing, and so on until all fighters had landed. The sailor opened a steel oval in the wall to reveal the interior. There were wires and equipment lining the walls, and a ladder-esque stairwell leading to other decks. “Come on,” he ordered, gesturing her to follow him to a lower deck. She did, and soon found herself in Reagan’s brig. It wasn’t a very comfortable cell, just the basic requirements for keeping prisoners alive. A few hours later, a sailor sent by the captain strode in. He saluted and asked for Celestia. The bar door opened, and she followed him to a questioning room. There, she found yet another creature sitting in a chair. Across the table in front of him, there sat a simple seat. Celestia inferred that she was to sit in the empty chair, so she did. “Well, isn’t this interesting,” he said. “How long have you been out of the sunlight, miss?” Celestia had a very important question to ask. “What do I call your species?” “We’re humans, miss.” he replied. “Why didn’t you know? After all, you are one, too.” “Where I come from, there are no humans.” He raised an eyebrow. “First things first. Your name is Celestia, as said by the sailor who first saw you on the forward deck, is it not?” “It is.” “Where do you come from, Miss Celestia?” “I am an alicorn princess of Equestria, on the west coast of the Celestial Sea. To the north is the Crystal Empire, and to the east is Griffonstone. There are no neighboring countries to the south and west.” “I see.” His eyebrow, having gone back down, had raised again in question to her answer. “So, Miss Celestia, how did you get on Reagan?” “I - I don’t know. First, I was traversing the Whispering Mountain Pass to reach Atlantis, then I had to rest for the night. I dreamt of my commander of the Equestrian army rescuing his daughter, then the scene changed and I was standing on the deck of your ship.” It was her turn to ask something. “What is Reagan and who owns it?” “I ask the questions here, miss.” “I’m not answering any more until you tell me.” She held her stern expression. “Fine.” Her interrogator folded his arms on the table and sighed. “Honestly, I thought you were just insane with the whole ‘Equestria’ thing. But since you don’t seem to know where you are, I’ll tell you. “The USS Ronald Reagan is a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier in service of the United States Navy. She is called by most countries a supercarrier. One of ten carriers in service today - well, nine now. Reagan is part of the Pacific Fleet, operating to the west of the continental U.S. This is unfortunately not the best time to show a visitor the ship, since we were hit by a surface-to-surface missile that could’ve set the magazine off. If we hadn’t stopped the fire from spreading, Reagan would’ve sunk. Powered by nuclear energy, we can stay out at sea for conceivably a full year before heading back, but I doubt something like that will ever happen.” Celestia nodded, satisfied to know what she was on. He continued to question her for a while, but only got stuff about Equestria. Not what he wanted. She was released to the brig again, and the captain walked in. “So, how’d it go?” “I’m convinced that she isn’t insane, sir. But she keeps talking about some Equestria place as if she lived there. And she claims to be a princess of this Equestria.” “Understood. What’s her name?” “Celestia, sir.” “You know, this reminds me of before we went on deployment two months ago. My five-year-old daughter liked - and probably still likes - this kids’ show. Pastel-colored ponies living in a land called Equestria. I only know because I watched it with her, since I really like spending time with her. She’s a beacon in the fog of life in the Navy. Anyway, this show was called My Little Pony. Ring any bells?” “You should talk to the Air Boss. She watches that show on her laptop during free time. Downloaded prior to deployment, obviously.” He saluted. The captain returned the salute and dismissed the sailor. He moved on to the Air Boss’s quarters, a deck or two up. He knocked on the steel submarine door before entering. The Air Boss instantly paused the video she was watching and stood straight, facing the senior officer. “At ease, Commander.” She stood with her arms behind her back. “What can I do for you, sir?” she asked. “I hear you’re familiar with the children’s show known as My Little Pony, and we may have a problem dealing with someone from it.” “With all due respect, that’s impossible, sir. You’d need a powerful magic to send a pony to a different dimension, especially if you’re making that dimension at the same time. The only alternate world to Equestria is that of Canterlot High, and even then they have to rely on a portal. They cannot reach us, and we them.” He was right. She does know a lot. “Commander, this character I speak of claims to be Celestia. I was hoping you could get more information out of her than I did.” “I can try, sir. Do I need to go to her, or will she come to me?” “I’ll send her to you. Just wait here.” She saluted. “Aye, Captain.” About half an hour later, Celestia stood in the doorway of the Air Boss’s quarters. She looked quite tired, not being able to sleep on the constantly rolling carrier. “Please, sit down,” the Air Boss said, gesturing to a comfortable seat. The white-skinned woman complied silently. “So, I hear your name is Celestia, and you are the Princess of Equestria, correct?” “Yes,” Celestia answered simply. She looked to the floor, twiddling her thumbs. That was the one thing she really knew how to do with them. “I am Commander Amber Hamilton, the Air Boss on Reagan.” She extended her hand in greeting. Celestia took it, not sure if that was right. Suddenly, Amber shook hard, catching the princess by surprise. Then she remembered something. “Oh, where are my manners? Would you like something to drink?” “Yes, thank you.” Celestia nodded. “What’ll it be? Coffee, tea, water, or milk?” “Water will do, thank you.” Amber nodded to one of the sailors outside the door. He left to the mess hall to get Celestia a cup of water. “So, Admiral Robinson told me to get information out of you. Honestly, I see that as a waste of time unless you tell me in detail about this Equestria.” “Admiral Robinson?” “James Robinson, ranked Rear Admiral in the Navy. Senior officer in charge of Reagan’s strike group, though we’re in the process of supplementing with Vinson’s right now.” “May I ask why that is?” “Sure. The USS Carl Vinson was hit by several missiles yesterday that rendered the deck useless, and penetrated to punch holes below the waterline. She sank within hours. Her fighters automatically flew to us, but we almost lost both ours and them. According to the logs, you showed up right as the missile hit us. So I don’t doubt that you saw the first planes land. Anyway, what was left of her escort immediately came to join ours, since we were hit pretty hard as well.” “How many does it take to crew a ship the size of Vinson?” “Approximately five thousand men and women. Not many lifeboats came out of her, so we can assume they’re all dead.” Celestia gasped. “Five thousand on a single ship? The largest Equestrian naval vessel has a crew of four hundred!” “Ma’am, an aircraft carrier is literally a floating military city. We have three shifts of aircraft piloting and maintenance, commanding, power, meals, you name it. There’s even a post office on board, if you can believe it, along with a ship store, and don’t forget storage for practically everything.” “I didn’t know a ship could have that many on it.” “Welcome the the world of the twenty-first century. Though I’d like to get you back to your world if we can, because they’re going to need you.” The sailor came back with the water for Celestia. She accepted it awkwardly, and took a small sip. It was cold, with ice cubes floating at the surface and dew condensing on the side, but the taste was great. Cold water always tasted better. Celestia continued to talk to Amber, eventually delving into the tale of Equestria’s war with the Crystal Empire, Sombra’s weapon, and Crimson Dawn volunteering to lead Manehattan’s defense until reinforcements arrived. But she snagged on what the coming force consisted of as she realized he never told her.