The magical land of Equestria… A place populated by a race called ponies who live in peace and harmony. This beautiful land was ruled by two regal sisters; the elder sister named Celestia who raises the sun to bring the day and the younger named Luna, who raises the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two royal sisters continue to maintain the balance and protect their subjects from any danger. However, this would not last long as far away, a military nation called the New Lunar Republic planned a massive invasion on Equestria in order to fulfil their former leader’s plan and win a great war that had lasted for a thousand years.
The military nation divided their naval forces to invade Equestria from different directions. The combined forces of Equestria and her allies were quick to react and luckily, were able to intercept New Lunar Republic forces before they could reach Equestrian waters. Their efforts paid off as they were able to hold most of them back and prevented the invasion from doing much damage, at least for now.
It is now the fall of 2012, and the war continues to wage between the two nations, spanning far and wide, across the waters around Equestria. However, one side may have just found an opening…
The morning sun shone brightly over the great city of Canterlot, a city on a beautiful mountain that was home to many ponies. In the streets of the huge city, a male unicorn wearing golden armour bolted through a crowd of ponies, heading to the large castle of Canterlot, the home of the two Royal Sisters. In the throne room of Canterlot, a winged unicorn mare with a coat that was white as snow was sitting on her throne guarded by eight ponies, the royal guards, who were loyally protected their majesty every day and night.
Then, the large door to the throne room slams open, revealing the male unicorn, who trots to the front of the throne and bows.
“Princess Celestia, we received a report from the South Luna Ocean Base that a distress signal has been sent from a neighbouring country!”
The white winged unicorn mare known as Princess Celestia seems alarmed by the news as she gets up from the throne, choosing to stand while she listens intently to the Royal Guard’s message.
“Our neighbouring country, the Empire of Zipang, is currently under attack by naval forces of the New Lunar Republic and is now on brink of collapse. Soon they may fall to the enemy...”
The Princess was in shock and disbelief. “That’s impossible! The military forces that we are currently fighting against should be the only remaining forces that the New Lunar Republic have! How did they manage to get this close? The front lines are meant to be much further away!”
“I don’t know your Highness, all I can think of is that they must have used their huge assault as a distraction, so we would focus all of our military forces on the frontlines to the Northwest and North East of Equestria’s borders” the unicorn replied.
“Are there any military forces at the South Luna Ocean Base?” The princess asked.
The unicorn’s horn lit up and a note appeared in front of him. “There are only two battleships and two heavy cruisers stationed at the base. There is an airfield but unfortunately, most of the aircraft were sent to the front lines. There are also around 2000 soldiers posted at the nearby army barracks. However, it’s not enough to deal with the enemy’s estimated 100 ships, let alone freeing Zipang from occupation” he replied.
“Inform the South Luna Ocean Base to keep watch over the coasts for any sign of the enemy fleet. I’ll organise a meeting later on with all of our other military leaders to discuss our new situation and formulate a plan to save Zipang” Celestia commanded.
“Yes, Your Majesty I will inform them right away!” The unicorn bowed and exited the throne room.
Princess Celestia trots over to a window, looking at the scenery with a look of concern as she remembered a pony who used to live in Zipang. “Imperial Crest…. I hope your family is alive.”
At a small beautiful garden near the castle of Canterlot, a young alicorn stallion with a blue coat as bright as the blue sky, and a mane and tail as white as snow, with red tips, was sitting on a bench reading a book. His reading was interrupted by the sound of hoof steps and he turned to see a royal guard.
“Prince Imperial Crest of Zipang, Our Royal Highness Princess Celestia wants to have a word with you in her throne room.”
“Why?” Imperial Crest questions.
“I do not know, but I was informed by her that it is something important” The Royal Guard answers.
“Okay” Crest says as he follows the Royal Guard to the castle.
The Royal Guard escorts the young stallion alicorn to the throne room and as he enters, he sees Princess Celestia sitting on her throne with concerned look on her face, sparking his curiosity of what this important matter could be about. However, he brushes his thoughts aside as he approaches the throne and bows on front of her.
Imperial Crest finishes bowing and Celestia asks “Crowned Prince Imperial Crest, the reason I called you here for this important occasion is because I have some bad news, and it’s got to do with your home country Zipang. It’s under attack and it’s going to be occupied by the forces of the enemy”.
The sudden news caused Imperial Crest to feel a big shock, as if something shot him. “What?! My family is there! I don’t understand, the New Lunar Republic’s forces should all be on the frontlines your military is still fighting at!”
The Princess knew how he felt and responds. “I don’t know but the New Lunar Republic outsmarted us somehow.”
Crest looked down, unsuccessfully trying to hold in his tears and Celestia approached him, extending her left wing wrap to around Crest. “I’m so sorry about your family Crest but I hope they’re still alive and fighting hard to stop the enemy.”
He wipes his tears off and asks, “Is there anything we can do to help them, Celestia?”
Celestia shook her head. “Unfortunately, not really. Pretty much all of our naval, air force and army forces are fighting on the frontlines and our remaining small fleet based in South Luna Ocean Base aren’t enough to be of much help.”
“Is it because if you send the few naval forces we have left, they still won’t have enough time to get there before the New Lunar Republic forces have occupied my country?” He asked.
Celestia nodded. “Correct and not just that, I suspected that they are going to plan another invasion soon and the small fleet stationed at the South Luna Ocean Base won’t stand a chance against an invasion task force that may have up to 100 ships.”
After Celestia’s response, a thought popped into Crest’s head of a plan, a plan so crazy that no pony had probably ever thought of or attempted before.
“How about asking for help from another world?” Crest suggested.
“And how would you do that?” Celestia asked.
Crest cleared his throat and answers “Well, during my stay here in Canterlot I’ve secretly been experimenting with a magic mirror. This mirror can create a portal to another world and I think I can find the help we need from that world.”
Celestia was surprised when he mentions the ‘Magic Mirror'. “How did you do that?”
“To be honest, I went into one of the classified areas of your castle’s library and found research on a crystal mirror that brings you to another world. This got me interested, so I ended up building the magic mirror and experimenting with it for months to get it to function the same as the original one” Crest explained.
After Crest further told Celestia about his Magic Mirror Experiment, she nodded. “So, this Magic Mirror you’ve replicated from the original one, does it still work and is it safe?”
“Yes Celestia, it still works and it’s safe to use” Crest replied.
“That’s good. In that case, since you’re currently a resident of Canterlot and a student of my school, I’m giving you a mission. Your mission is to go to this other world, to find the we need in order to save your home country and prevent the New Lunar Republic from invading Equestria” Celestia said.
Crest bows respectfully “I won’t let you down.”
“l suggest that you find a friend to help you on your mission” Celestia added.
“How about your sister Luna?” Crest suggested.
“Luna eh? She told me that you’re her first friend ever since she came back and helped her cope with things. I would like thank you for being friends with her” Celestia said as she smiled.
Crest replied, “Your welcome Celestia. Does that mean...”
Celestia nods. “Yes, Imperial Crest my sister will come with you but before that I’ll speak to her to make sure, so wait here please.”
“Okay Celestia and many thanks” Crest smiles as he bows, and she smiles back as she opens her wings and flies through throne room, exiting through the doors and leaving the young alicorn stallion to wait for her return.
Several minutes after she left, Imperial Crest trots towards the glass window and looks at the beautiful scenery of the towns of Canterlot, the vast skies, the great valley and he can even see a little town far in the distance called Ponyville. At that moment, he started to remember the day when he first met Luna, after she came back. Then the throne room doors opened, and Crest turned around to see Princess Celestia and a young winged unicorn mare with a coat as blue as the night sky, also known as his first friend, Princess Luna.
“Luna!” Crest smiled.
“My sister told me that you want me to go with you on this mission of yours, to seek help in order to save your home country. I have decided that I will come with you and help guide you since thou befriended me” Princess Luna declared.
“Thanks Luna, I appreciate it very much. Now, let’s focus on my mission to save my country. We don’t have much time to spare” Crest said, and Luna nodded.
Celestia announces. “Now go, Imperial Crest and my sister Luna, to this other world to find help in saving Zipang from the enemy and stop their invasion of Equestria! Good luck and please, stay safe.”
After Princess Celestia’s request, Imperial Crest thanked her and both he and Luna left the throne room. They headed to his house to prepare for the mission to save his home country and his family. After a few minutes of trotting from the castle, Crest and Luna arrived at a medium-sized luxury house that belongs to Crest, located in an isolated part of the city.
As the duo entered the house, they headed to the living room, as Crest uses his magic to close and lock the door behind them, and to close the windows and blinds.
“I’m just taking precautions in-case somepony is spying on us because I don’t want my Prototype Magic Mirror to be discovered by anypony” Crest added, and Luna nodded in agreement.
After all the doors and blinds are closed, Crest opens a door to another room. Then Crest and Luna enters the room, revealing a big bedroom with a pile of notes on a study table, chalkboards showing a rough sketch of the Prototype Magic Mirror and a nice medium-sized window, showing a beautiful view of the valley. In the centre of the room is a prince size bed.
Luna was amazed by the look of Crest’s room. “Nice room you got here”.
“Thanks Luna, I was lucky that your sister was able to offer me this house ever since I moved here, thanks to my parents” Crest said. “And now, let’s get started!”
Crest then trots to the corner of the room and pulls out a luxury mirror, using his magic along with other items; wires, small machinery parts and other components as he starts assembling the parts together to make the Magic Mirror work.
Luna asked. “How long did you work on this?”
“Well, roughly around the past 8 months, just during my spare time” Crest answers whilst setting up the Magic Mirror.
“That long?!”
“Yeah, getting the resources was the easy bit but the experimenting and testing was the hard part. That includes attempting portal related spells, which gave me some bad side effects” Crest continues his answer.
Luna felt worried. “What side effects?”
“Let’s just say, tiredness and fatigue. But it’s just part of the commitment and hard work I put into making the Prototype Magic Mirror” Crest explains as he finishes connecting some last components and brings out a notepad and a spell book.
“I think that should be ready, but I need your help” Crest asks Luna and he shows her the notepad.
“See, the spell I wrote will activate the Magic Mirror but if we perform the spell together, I believe it will reduce the side effects.”
“Alright Crest” Luna nods and she reads the spell along with Crest, both lighting their horns and shooting their magic beam towards the mirror. A big flash instantly occurs and after their eye sight clears, they see that the mirror is glowing with a blue vortex, showing a little glimpse of the other world which looks very different to Equestria. Luna was surprised and fascinated that Crest’s Magic Mirror Prototype actually worked.
“It worked!” Luna was stunned, and Crest nodded.
“Well, this is going to be both a great adventure and a dangerous mission at the same time” Crest said.
Luna agrees and said. “This is it, the mission to save your country has begun"
“Indeed, it has. Well let’s get going, shall we?” Crest asks Luna and they hold hooves as they approach the Magic Mirror portal, both closing their eyes before entered the portal. As they enter, there is a huge flash before they disappear into the other world.
After the duo exit the portal, they open their eyes and ask each other if they are okay. After they do so, they look around to see where they are and find themselves in what seems to be a quiet alleyway, in a town with different architecture compared to the ones back in Equestria. At the side of a fence next to them, they see an old mirror glowing.
“I guessing this is the way back to Equestria” Crest said as he touches the mirror with his hoof, creating a ripple effect.
“But with that aside, it worked! Your invention worked!” Luna congratulates him.
“Thank you, looks like all of my hard work payed off” Crest said with relief.
“Anyways, let’s take a look at what the inhabitants of this world looks like….” Crest says as he and Luna trot though the alleyway.
Luna suggests “I think we should find cover to keep hidden because I’m not sure what would happen if the inhabitants of this world see us, since we are strangers to them.”
Crest nods and they trot to a large bush near the exit of the alleyway. As they peek through the bushes, they are surprised and intrigued by the appearance of the inhabitants of this world. They seemed to have differently shaped faces and weird looking hooves, on which they walked on only two legs. Their clothing style was very different compared to the ones in Equestria and they mostly spoke in a different language, however, some seemed to speak in a similar language to the one the ponies spoke.
“The inhabitants of this world are unique” Crest commented quietly.
“I agree, I’ve never seen these creatures before back in Equestria, but how are we going to communicate to them? It sounds like they are speaking in a different language” Luna asks Crest.
“Good question. I don’t know” Crest answered.
Crest along with Luna trots back to the alleyway near the mirror, trying to think of a plan when suddenly, the backdoor of a house connected the alleyway opened revealing a figure, one of the local inhabitants. It seemed to be a male, wearing some sort of casual clothing. As he exits, he sees Crest and Luna looking at him and felt surprised but intrigued as he had never seen ponies that colourful before, let alone a unicorn.
“Hello, I’ve never seen colourful winged unicorns before” he asked, not expecting a response.
“Uh, hello” Crest said leaving, the two-legged creature standing silent.
“Y…you spoke?” The creature said in shock, not believing what he heard and he suddenly faints to the ground, leaving Crest and Luna surprised that the creature understood them.
Crest and Luna decide to take a closer look at the fainted creature. It appeared around adult age; its skin was a tinge of yellow and it had light brown hair of shortish neck length.
“Should we wake him up?” Luna asked.
“Just leave him, he’ll wake up eventually” Crest answered as he enters the creature’s home.
The duo starts to tour the resident of the fainted male creature. They were trying to find any useful information about this world and ways to ask these creatures to help them with their mission. After exploring the house, Crest and Luna stumble across a photo of the male creature together with other similar male creatures but all wearing what seemed to be military uniforms and a ship in the background. They both guess that they could ask the fainted male creature about it.
After a few minutes, the male creature woke up from his fainting and he looked around to see Crest and Luna staring back at him from inside the house. He was still surprised and was trying not to faint for the second time.
“Who are you and where did you talking ponies come from?” He asks, coming back into the house, quickly closing the door behind him as backs to the corner of the room, still shaking a bit.
“Hello, my name is Imperial Crest” Crest said as the male creature listens.
“I’m Princess Luna and we are from another world called Equestria” Luna says.
“Hi, I’m Osamu Yamanami and its pleasure to meet you” The creature who calls himself Osamu Yamanami spoke back.
“I know you’re still freaking out but can you please clam down? We mean you no harm. We just want to ask you some questions about your world” Crest pleads. Osamu nods and sits on a chair and the duo sit in front of him.
“I want to ask you Mr Yamanami, what kind of species are you?” Luna asks him.
“I’m a human, but my race is called Japanese and there’s other humans out in this world that are different races” Yamanami answers. He explains to the duo a brief description of the human race, a bit of their history, their wars and his Japanese culture and language. He tells them that this world is called Earth and the country they are in is called Japan. He further tells them about his background, how he can speak and understand both his own Japanese language and English, and he also mentions his career in a military organisation called the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force as a petty officer. The duo was intrigued by Yamanami’s brief description of Earth, his background and Japan. After he finishes, he questions the duo about what brings them into Earth.
“You see, the reason why we’re here is to seek help from your species. My home country called Zipang is under invasion of a military nation called the New Lunar Republic. Equestria’s military won’t be able to help because most of their naval forces are fighting on the other side of Equestria, dealing with the overwhelming force of the enemy fleet.” Crest answered. “And the New Lunar Republic forces used the opportunity to sneak several handfuls of ships through to the other side of Equestria, invading multiple islands, my country included, on their way to reach Equestria in order to overtake it and win the war between the two nations.”
“Are there ways that we can convince your military forces to help us?” Luna asks Yamanami.
“Well I’m sorry, I don’t think I can help with that because convincing my military leaders would be difficult and may cause harm to you. My leaders would probably not believe me if I told them and I could get into trouble, however, even if you showed yourself to them, the government would probably be alerted and you may be taken away to be questioned or worse, experimented on as they would be curious about your presence in our world. I wish there were other options, but I can’t think of any” Yamanami answered leaving the duo shocked.
“I understand Yamanami and thank you for answering” Crest said.
Then Crest looked around, trying to think of any other options when something caught his attention on a shelf nearby… an old photo depicting a large warship sailing in the ocean.
He asks Yamanami. “What warship is that? It looks interesting.”
“Ah, that’s an old Japanese battleship called the Yamato” Yamanami answered.
“Yamato?” Crest asks Yamanami.
Yamanami nodded as he gets up, grabbing the old photo and showing it to the two ponies. “In Japanese, Yamato literally means ‘Great Harmony’.”
“The design of the ship is fascinating” Crest commented.
“Our naval forces have a similar design but with enhanced technology with the use of magic” Luna commented.
As the two alicorns were looking at the photo, Crest suddenly felt something unusual and then he heard a voice in his mind- a female voice echoing to him, saying ‘Go to the Yamato…...bring the old battleship back…’
Yamanami and Luna noticed Crest spacing out and Yamanami said. “Um, Crest are you okay? Hello?”
After few repetitive words from Yamanami, Crest snapped back to reality and looks around, noticing Luna and Yamanami looking worried about him.
“Huh? Oh, sorry I thought I heard some voice talking to me, but never mind” Crest answered Yamanami which made Luna a bit curious.
“Okay that’s strange, anyways just to let you know, I don’t know that much about ship or its history. All I know is that the Yamato is one of Japan’s largest battleships ever to be put to sea during the Second World War and armed with the biggest guns ever mounted on a warship at the time. It also has a unique design compared to some foreign ships in my opinion” Yamanami said.
“Fair enough, but do you know any places where we can find more information about the Yamato? I have a feeling that doing so may help us on our mission” Crest asks him.
“Well, if you’re interested and wanting to learn more about the Yamato and Japan’s old navy, there’s a naval museum nearby. I can take you there, but I reckon you and Luna need some sort of disguise so the people won’t see you” Yamanami replied to his question.
Both Crest and Luna nodded, and Crest said, “Good idea, we’ll use an invisibility spell.”
“Perhaps this might be the opportunity for you to learn more about the Yamato” Luna commented.
Yamanami nodded as he is about to go to his room to change. “I forgot you guys could use magic, in this world no one can use magic, it’s just a myth. Anyway, I’ll be right back to change into my uniform just in case” goes into his room and closes the door.
After Yamanami finishes he exits his room, wearing his black naval uniform and the duo were surprised.
“You look neat” Crest commented.
“Thanks.”
Both Crest and Luna nodded and they walked towards each other, touching their horns together. Crest asks Yamanami to touch their horns with the tip of his finger and the duo light up their horns, performing the magic invisibility spell. This made the duo’s bodies fade until they could not be seen by anyone. Right after the spell, Yamanami can still see them and puzzled, asks.
“Did it work? I can still see both of you.”
“Yes, it did work, only you can see us whilst other humans can’t see us” Crest said.
“That’s good news” Yamanami added.
“Shall we go see this museum now?” Luna asks Crest and he replies with a nod.
Then the duo left the house, along with their first human friend, to continue Crest’s mission by visiting the local naval museum. Right before the trio leaves, Crest gets an old blanket nearby to cover the old mirror so no one finds out about it. They arrive at the museum and just as they were about to enter, Yamanami read the large text on top of the building and pointed out to the two alicorns that this museum is called The Yamato Museum. When the trio entered the museum, they noticed that there weren’t many people around, only a few touring the place, and as they pass by, they only saw Yamanami not the two alicorns.
After a few steps through the corridors, the trio entered a huge room and stumbled across a huge diecast model of a battleship and they can tell it’s the Yamato by its unique design, pagoda style bridge mast, the main guns and its secondary weapons. However, they notice that its different to Yamanami’s old photo.
“Just to point some things out, the Yamato from my photo is when it was commissioned in 1941. Later in 1945, it was modified to have more of those Anti-Aircraft machine guns that are mounted all around the Yamato, including more Anti-Aircraft artillery” Yamanami replied. He was explaining to them while whispering and pretending to hold his phone to make people think he’s talking to someone on the phone.
“It looks nice, the 1945 version” Crest comments.
The trio walks around the huge room that displays the model of the Yamato, taking a nice look from every angle. Luna pointed out to Crest and Yamanami the small sized human figures displayed on the decks of the Yamato model and Yamanami mentions that it’s to show how big the Yamato was. Crest was surprised that the warship was so huge and pictured himself standing on the decks of the ship.
As the trio walked around the display of the model Yamato, they saw another path to another room displaying old relics; large bullets, a plane and many other relics, all recovered from the Pacific War. Crest and Luna see a column of large bullets with different sizes on display.
Yamanami reads the small info card that is in Japanese on the display quietly whilst the two alicorns are listening.
“The large projectile shell replicas are from the Yamato class battleships and the ones a bit smaller are from the Nagato Class Battleships.”
Luna sees a green coloured plane and she trots over it to take a closer look, Crest and Yamanami following behind her.
Yamanami reads the display text. “This plane is called the Zero Fighter.”
“The Zero Fighter? It looks nice. Our military has fighter planes but they have different designs to this one” Luna commented quietly.
“Let’s get going” Crest whispered to Luna and Yamanami.
Luna and Yamanami agreed and the trio continue to tour the place to learn about Yamato and the history of the Japanese Navy. As they entered another room, it led to a gallery displaying old World War II photos, small display models of all the ships of the old Japanese Navy and recovered relics. Crest and Luna, with the help of Yamanami translating, look at the gallery of the model warships and are intrigued by the design, specifications and histories of each ship such, as the Nagato Class Battleship Takao, Class Heavy Cruisers and more including hybrids like the Ise Class battleships, which had a carrier deck on the rear decks. After going through the gallery, they found another room which shows more history and information of the Yamato.
After several minutes, Crest and Luna learned more history of the Yamato thanks to Yamanami translating the Japanese writing of each exhibitions. They learned about the Yamato, from its birth, how it was the flagship of the old Japanese navy, its part in Operation Ten Go that took place on the 7th of April, 1945, its resting place and its place in Japanese popular culture. Crest was fascinated by the history and Luna was also intrigued. They both had deep respect for the lives lost on the ship, including all of the soldiers who fought hard and didn’t make it home to their families.
Then Crest remembers what the voices had said to him back at Yamanami’s residence and asks him. “Hey, Yamanami, is it possible for you take us to the place where the Yamato sank? I think it will be able to help us complete our mission.”
“Well, asking my captain to use his ship is probably not the best idea… I guess we will probably have to borrow someone’s boat” Yamanami answered.
“I think that’s a safe option, but we need a boat that is able to take us to the Yamato’s resting place, it’s quite far away from here” Luna said.
Crest nodded and asks, “Do you know where we could get a boat that can take us to the Yamato?”
“From what I can tell on the map, Kagoshima is the closest place that has boats that can take us to the Yamato” Yamanami answers as he looks at the map displayed on the Yamato Exhibition.
“Well let’s get going” Crest said, and Luna nodded.
The trio starts to leave the exhibition and as they about to leave, Crest stares at the Yamato model for a few seconds, seeing it one more time before exiting along with Yamanami and Luna back to Yamanami’s house in the alley. After they got back, the two alicorns lit up their horns and stopped their invisibility spell, their bodies fading back into visibility.
“Before we go, we have to write a message and ask a request to your sister about the mission” Crest tells Luna.
Luna agreed and Crest uncovers the cloth that is covering the old glass mirror- the portal back to Equestria. Before the two alicorns enter the portal, Crest asks Yamanami to take the mirror into his home after they leave and to then wait for them.
“We won’t be long Yamanami” Crest said as he and Luna entered the portal and disappeared, returning to Equestria. After the duo went into the portal, Yamanami carries the old mirror into his home and waits for his two new friends to return.
Back at Crest’s huge room, he and Luna appeared out of his prototype. Crest uses his magic to grab a scroll and quill to write down a message to Princess Celestia.
“So, what’s the plan and what are you writing to my sister?” Luna asks.
“I’m letting Celestia know that we couldn’t find any help, but I believe there’s one solution that will be enough to save my home” Crest answered.
“What solution is that?” Luna asks him.
“Remember when I spaced out back at Yamanami’s house?” Crest replies to Luna.
“Yeah, something about you hearing somepony’s voice” Luna answered.
“Yeah, apparently the voice spoke to me saying “Go to the Yamato…. bring the old battleship back” from what I remember” Crest continues. “It feels like an entity or something is calling me to do that and that’s why I suddenly got interested in the Yamato. It’s why I want to go to the place where it was sunk… to resurrect the old battleship”.
“I see, that explains a lot. So, wait, are you planning to...resurrect that sunken battleship?” Luna pauses and feeling worried on Crest is planning to do.
Crest nodded. “Yes, I know it’s risky for a ship that huge but if I can try, I’m sure it will work.”
After he finishes writing a message on the scroll it, wraps itself and when Crest lights his horn the scroll disappears, sending his message to Princess Celestia. Then the duo entered the portal to go back to the human world, to continue their mission with the help of their new human friend.
At the throne of Canterlot, Princess Celestia is sitting, waiting for any news from Crest and her sister when a scroll magically appeared in front of her and her horn lights up to open it and she starts reading its message. It contains an update of Crest’s mission and a request for Celestia to borrow his Magic Mirror Prototype. After a few minutes have passed, Celestia finishes reading the message. She nods and puts down the scroll as she sees Commander Shining Armor trotting towards her throne.
He bows and she asks, “Commander Shining Armor, what’s the update on the enemy?”
“Your Majesty, a friendly scout plane reported that the New Lunar Republic Naval Forces have already occupied Zipang and it looks like they have started to prepare for the invasion” Commander Shinning Armor answered.
Celestia was shocked by the news, but asks, “Commander Shining Armor, is the elemental project still around?”
Shining Armor nodded. “Yes, Your Highness, the elemental project is still around, and the device is stored in the underground chambers of Canterlot”.
Celestia nods and orders Shining Armor. “Very good, get the device ready to be transported to the South Luna Ocean Naval Base and gather your troops to escort the transport”.
Commander Shining Armor responded with a salute.
“Yes, Your Highness!”
The white unicorn left the throne to prepare for the cargo transport. Princess Celestia then gathered her royal guards to head to Crest home to borrow the Magic Mirror Prototype. When Celestia saw Crest’s Magic Mirror Prototype she was intrigued by the hard work the young alicorn put into it and how he had gotten it to work successfully in the end. A small note suddenly appeared out of the portal and Celestia reads it. The note explains that she can turn it off as they have left to continue their mission and describes how to turn it off. She follows the instructions, recanting the spell with the help of her Royal Guards and they manage to turn the portal off. Celestia’s Royal Guards then use their magic to lift the Mirror out of the Crest’s house and loading it on a wagon and concealing it the entire time to keep it hidden. They meet up with Commander Shinning Armor before continuing their travel towards the South Luna Ocean Naval Base as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile at Earth, the trio of Imperial Crest, Princess Luna and their first human friend Osamu Yamanami are travelling to the town coast of Kagoshima bay to borrow a boat that will take them to the place where the Yamato was sunk. At the town of Kagoshima Bay, a vehicle stopped at one of the carparks and the back doors opened, revealing Yamanami exiting the vehicle followed by the two alicorns Crest and Luna, both using the invisibility spell again. Then Yamanami grabs the old mirror from the car boot and pays the driver, thanking him. Right after the vehicle leaves, the trio walk towards the nearby boating dock.
“So, this is Kogashima Bay” Crest said.
“I wonder how we going to borrow a boat from one of the humans?” Luna questions Yamanami.
“Let’s see if I can ask a few fisherman” Yamanami responded.
As they arrived the boating docks Yamanami saw an old man who is a fisherman and a young boy collecting some things from a boat nearby. Yamanami approaches the old fisherman and the young boy and they both bow respectfully. They start to have a conversation in their own language of Japanese. A few minutes pass and the old man gives a nod to Yamanami and they both shake hands and bow again. The old man salutes Yamanami with a smile and he saluted back. Then the old fisherman with his young assistant leave the boating docks and the trio hop onto the old boat. The two alicorns stop using their invisibility spell.
“What did the old human say?” Crest questioned Yamanami.
“The old man who calls himself Mr Katsumi said that we could borrow his boat because he doesn’t need it anymore” Yamanami answered.
“Why?” Luna questioned Yamanami.
“He’s retiring and heading back to his hometown and his assistant found a new job, that’s all I know” Yamanami said.
“I wonder why he saluted at you and smiled” Crest asks him as he puts the old mirror in the small bridge.
“I don’t know, but I’m guessing Mr Katsumi has some sort of huge respect for the navy or he might know someone from the navy” Yamanami answered.
Crest nodded. “Ok then, let’s get going!”
Luna and Yamanami nodded as they untie the ropes that attach the boat to the dock. Yamanami enters the small bridge and turns on the engine and its starts running. They were surprised that the old boat was still working despite of it being so old.
“Let’s head to the place where Yamato is located” Yamanami said as he puts the boat on reverse slowly whilst holding the steering wheel, turning the boat around to point at the sea.
“Let’s set sail! Yamato here we come!” Crest exclaims.
Yamanami puts the fishing boat in full speed and the two alicorns hold onto the seats, feeling the boat going fast. After several minutes they had already exited the coast of Kagoshima, heading to the coordinates of the old battleship.
Later in the morning, around nine o clock in the ocean of the East China Sea, the trio were still traveling at top speed to where the old battleship was sunk, the old fishing boat still working fine. During the long-distance sailing, Yamanami checks his phone to see if they are nearly to the place where the ship’s resting place, while he talks to the two of his new talking wing horned pony friends.
“So Princess Luna, what do you do other than raising the moon?” Yamanami asked.
“I go into the dream realm where I can watch everypony’s dreams and visit them whenever they have nightmares to help them overcome their nightmares” Luna answered.
“That’s interesting, basically a spiritual guide but through dreams” Yamanami said.
Both Crest and Luna start yawning and Yamanami notices.
“I guess using the invisibility spell twice in one day is making us tired” Crest said.
Yamanami nodded. “I’ll wake you two up when we are nearly there.”
“Thank you, Yamanami” Luna said as her and Crest go into the interior of the fishing boat and see two small beds, close together due to the limited space. Crest gets in the left bed whilst Luna gets in the right bed.
As the two were about to sleep, Luna noticed that Crest was staring at a blank space. He was thinking about the whole mission and what their plan was, once they get to the Yamato’s resting place.
“You can do it Crest” Luna smiled.
Crest turns around. “Thanks Luna, I appreciate it.”
“I’ll help you with the restoration spell” Luna said, and Crest nodded.
“Thank you, Luna.”
Then, as Crest yawns one more time, the two alicorns started sleeping to gain back their energy.
Two hours pass and at the bridge, Yamanami checks his phone for the coordinates and he is surprised. “We’re here! We made it!” he exclaims. As he closes his phone, he notices the two alicorns have not responded and he walks to the interior of the boat. He sees Crest and Luna sleeping. With a grin on his face, Yamanami and shouts, “Wake up you two!”
Crest and Luna slowly wake up and get out of their beds.
“Are we here?” Luna asked. Yamanami nodded.
“It looks like you two had a good rest” Yamanami said and Crest agrees and thanked him.
“So, we’re finally here” Crest said as he goes outside on the deck along with Luna and Yamanami.
“Crest and Luna, since we are here, what are you two going to do?” Yamanami asked and the two alicorns both nodded to each other.
“Wait a second, since you two have magic, are you two trying to go down there and restore the old battleship?!” Yamanami asked, shocked.
“We are indeed. Don’t worry Yamanami, we can both use a spell that creates a protective shield around us. It will protect us from anything and let us breath while inside” Crest explains as he trots to the side of the boat along with Luna.
“Alright be careful you two” Yamanami warns.
“We’ll be fine, Yamanami” Crest reassures him.
Crest and Luna light up their horns and their magic aura creates a shield bubble around the two and the two alicorns opened their wings, taking off and soaring into the air at an incredible speed, suddenly diving down very fast in the air until they hit the surface of the ocean, causing a big splashes as they dive deep down in order to reach the ocean floor as quickly as possible. Yamanami was left back on the boat, surprised and in awe of the little performance.
Yamanami looks speechless and says to himself, “Hmmm, pretty magnificent performance indeed.”
Meanwhile, in the deep depth of the ocean, the two alicorns continue to swim deeper towards the ocean floor. With their protective shield around them, they are able to breathe just fine. A few minutes later, they manage to land on the seafloor. Crest and Luna look around and notice that it is very dark, so Crest lights his horn so they can see in the darkness and try to find the wreck.
As they trot around the seafloor, they both see a big structure on their right. Crest brightens up his horn to see better, and he and Luna recognized the bow section of a wreck. It looks all rusted and coral has formed on some parts of the hull. They look up and recognize the Golden Seal, covered in rust but still intact. Both Crest and Luna were amazed by the size of the wreck and as they continued to trot by the bow section, they saw another large structure on the right. There is a large hull with a hole on it and they both remember that the ship was blown in two when it was sunk. As the two continue to approach the wreck, they notice lots of debris around the area.
Then the two alicorns suddenly felt something and then they heard a female voice talking to them through their minds, “Bring the old battleship back…”. After a few seconds their minds come back into reality.
“Crest did you hear that? I heard a voice and its calling us to bring back this battleship!” Luna exclaimed, and Crest nodded.
“I heard it too, it seems like you got to hear the voice that I heard before” Crest answered back.
“Shall we do the restoration spell now?” Luna asked.
“Yes, let’s bring back the Yamato to save my country!” Crest declared. “I’m sorry soldiers who have perished on the Yamato, please let us borrow your ship.”
“Alright my friend, let’s do this” Luna said, and Crest nodded. Then the two alicorns prepared the restoration spell.
As both of their horns light up to perform the restoration spell, Crest’s magic aura starts to go out of control and suddenly his eyes start to glow very bright, his wings open wide and he starts to hover off the seafloor. This causes the protection bubble to be separated in two, leaving Luna surprised about what’s occurring. Meanwhile at the surface, Yamanami noticed a huge light in the water and, suspecting that something is going to happen, goes to the small bridge and activates the engine. Taking the wheel, he moves the boat away from the area where the bright light is glowing from.
On the large seafloor, many different bits of debris started to float with a light blue aura around them. The two large hulls started to lift from the seabed and lots of the debris starts to turn into white glowing dust and begin to flow towards the two large hulls and into the battered areas of the ship. Princess Luna was amazed about this unexpected power that Crest was experiencing and she can see the missing parts of the ship had been fixed. As she continues to witness the restoration spell in front of her eyes, she sees the whole hull of the Yamato being fixed, including the superstructure. Then two medium-sized debris, which were the secondary guns, hover around the hull and are placed back onto their mountings. Then the secondary barbettes were put in place, one on the bow in front of the bridge and one at the stern. Then, the three large debris, which were the three main guns, start to hover above the ship and float down to the hull, being placed back onto its mountings as well- two of them at the bow section and one at the stern area. Other armaments float back to their mountings, such as the anti-aircraft machine guns and artillery. Right before the restoration of the ship is completed, all the missing hull pieces of the ship float back to their original places and all the holes from the hull are fully fixed. After the ship is fully restored, it moves until the bow is pointing upwards, ready to surface. Imperial Crest hovers to the front deck of the ship and looks up at the surface.
“Luna, hop on and hold onto something, this may be a rough ride” Crest said. Luna nods, and she hops onto the front deck of the ship, holding onto one of the railings. Then Crest put both of his forehooves on the deck and created a huge wave of magic blue aura around the Yamato and the giant battleship started to move fast from the seafloor to the surface.
‘Incredible, after we performed the restoration spell, Crest's magic started to increase as if something powerful is happening’ Luna thought as she holds onto the railings tightly.
At the surface, a patrol helicopter flew over high in the sky, and Yamanami noticed it.
“I hope Crest and Luna are aware that there are some naval ships patrolling around these waters because that’s a patrol helicopter from their of their ships. I suspect they picked up the large energy flow from the ocean floor and assumed it’s a tectonic plate shifting or something” Yamanami thought to himself as he continues to wait and hope that they don’t get spotted by the patrol helicopter.
High in the sky, the helicopter pilot looks down at the ocean, seeing a bright light from the water and then flies away.
‘They better hurry up because the navy is going to arrive here at any moment’ Yamanami thought as he looked towards the direction of where the helicopter left, and he spots three naval boats in the distance.
Yamanami then notices a huge shadow in the water, a few metres away from him, when a huge splash occurs, a gigantic ship surfacing out of the water, bow first, like how a submarine would surface. It revealed that Imperial Crest was standing on the front deck of the Yamato, with wings opened and eyes glowing bright. His flank starts to shine brightly for a few seconds then stopping, revealing an emblem shape. He also sees Princess Luna holding onto one of the railings of the ship. After the front half of the giant battleship had risen out of the water, it then falls back down, landing on the water bow first and creating a huge splash. At the same time, the rest of the ship comes to the surface, revealing the true size of the ship, from the bow to stern. As the blue aura around the ship disappears, Yamanami clears his eyes of water that had splashed on his face. When he opens his eyes again, he is shocked and amazed when he sees the giant battleship, the Yamato, right in front of him. The ship starts glow with blue aura again as all the rust and coral start to disappear away like dust. When the ship stops shining, it reveals the ship to appear good as new. At the same time, the three naval ships had arrived and were now only a few miles from the area, with a bunch of helicopters flying around the Yamato. Crest’s eyes stop glowing and he lowers his wings to look at Yamanami’s look of surprise and awe, still aboard the small fishing boat. Luna lets go of the railings and she stopped using her protection spell as she trots towards Crest. Looking around the ship, Luna felt proud of Crest and what he had just accomplished.
“Yooo!” Yamanami shouted and waved at Crest.
At that moment, Yamanami felt the old fishing boat start to rumble as it is levitated up out of the water. Crest was using a levitation spell on the boat and moves it towards at the rear deck, landed it gently onto the rear deck of the ship. Then Yamanami grabs the old mirror, gets off the fishing boat and starts running towards the front deck.
‘Man, running on the deck of a warship surely reminds me of my training days back in the naval academy’ Yamanami thought to himself, a big smile forming on his face as continues running towards the front deck, the old mirror firmly grasped in his arms.
Crest looks at Luna, feeling surprised, and laughs in disbelief, “I can’t believe we did it!”
Luna starts to smile, “I know but most of the credit goes to you. Your magic went out of control but you’ve ended up restoring the ship all by yourself!”
“Yeah, it was very unexpected for me as well” Crest replied.
As they both looked at the superstructure of the giant battleship, Luna asked “So, this is the mighty battleship that we saw at the museum, the Yamato eh? This is the battleship you’re going to use to save your country?”
Crest smiled and said, “Yes, Luna, but were doing this together.”
They both heard panting nearby, turning to see that it was Yamanami, looking a bit tired and holding the old mirror. “Hey guys, did I miss anything…” Yamanami starts to ask but pauses, noticing something on Crest’s flank, an emblem that looks familiar. “Um Crest, look at your flank.”
“Huh?” Crest turns around to look at his flank and he see a golden flower emblem. Luna starts to look as well. “My cutie mark? I got my cutie mark!” He then starts smiling and jumping in excitement, pointing one of his hooves up in the air.
“I’m so proud of you Crest, you’ve finally earned your cutie mark” Luna said as she is immensely proud of her friend.
“Congratulations Crest, your cutie mark almost resembles the imperial seal of Japan, the Japanese Chrysanthemum Emblem”, Yamanami points out.
“Wow, it looks awesome, but I wonder what it represents.” Crest asked.
Luna was also wondering about his cutie mark. “I have no idea but let’s discuss this later, since we are on a mission and-”
“-We’re about to get caught by the Japan Defence Force if we just stand around here talking” Yamanami interrupts her.
“Right, let’s get going!” Crest yells as he points his hoof to the bridge. “We must head to the bridge!”
“Leave that to me” Luna said as her horn starts to light up, a big, bright light appearing all around the three, teleporting them to the bridge. They all noticed they were now on the bridge of the Yamato. Luna looked around the bridge as Yamanami puts down the old mirror in the corner.
“So, what’s the plan now? Are we trying to escape from them?” Yamanami questioned Crest.
“Yes, we are but first we have to get the ship started. You stay here, I’ll be right back” Crest said as lights up his horn and teleports into a huge interior room which seems to be the boiler room. Everything appears to be as good as new, thanks to his restoration spell, and he starts up all the boilers, putting coal in them individually. When all the boilers become activated, he teleports to the engine room to activate the propellers, teleporting back to the boiler room again to give the boilers more coal. This increased power a bit more.
Back at the bridge, Luna and Yamanami feel the ship start to move and as they go to the back of the bridge, they see that the angle funnel is blowing with smoke, giving the indication that Crest has already finished activating the boilers and the four propellers. Seconds later, they feel the speed of the ship increasing and the funnel begins blasting even more black smoke as Crest teleports back to the bridge.
“I’m back, I just activated its engine. We are finally moving, but now we need to try and escape these other ships while we wait for Celestia to do her part” Crest said as he grabs the wheel and turns the ship hard right, trying to get away from the three JDF ships.
Luna notices the ship is going in its top speed and comments “Seems pretty fast for a battleship this big.”
“Yeah, not bad for a ship this size. It’s going at about 27 knots, however back during our naval research tour in the Yamato Museum, I read that a United States battleship called the Iowa is way faster than this one. It was meant to compete against Japan’s fast battleships such as the Kongou Class” Crest replied.
“It seems like you’re really into the naval history, eh Crest?” Yamanami commented.
“Thanks, I find your naval history very interesting” Crest answered.
Luna began to notice that the three warships following behind them were using some sort of light signal and directing it at the Yamato. She turned to look at Crest. “Um, Crest, are those guys signalling to us?”
“Just ignore them for now. If Princess Celestia has followed my instructions, she should have borrowed my magic portal and should now be at the South Luna Ocean, making a huge version of the portal and activating it for us” Crest replied while steering the ship.
“Oh, so that’s why you’re bringing that old mirror along” Yamanami realises, surprised at the plan.
Crest sees the old mirror in the corner and takes it. “I’m going to the front bow to prepare the magic portal” Crest said as he exits the bridge and flies towards the front bow, leaving Yamanami to steer the Yamato.
Crest lands at the bow of the ship and he places the old mirror in front of the bow’s flagpole facing the ocean, waiting for a magic portal to appear on the mirror- the signal for him to use the spell to create a huge portal for the Yamato. As the Yamato continued to advance at maximum speed, Crest saw that the magic portal had appeared on the old mirror, implying that Princess Celestia has activated his Prototype Magic Mirror. As he chants the spell, his horn starts to light up and then shoots a magic beam at the mirror, causing ripples of magic energy waves to swirl around him. The mirror then shoots a magic beam a distance in front of the Yamato and it creates a huge magic portal.
“It looks like my sister did it, which means we can escape!” Luna sighed in relief. Then she suddenly realised something. “Wait! what about you Yamanami?”
Yamanami smiled. “I wish I could stay but if they found out I helped you, my defence force leader will suspect me and I’ll be in big trouble. So, I guess there’s no turning back now.”
This made Luna feel a bit worried. “I see, but what about your family and home?’
“Don’t worry, I will come back and visit my home and family one day. For now, let’s just focus on you and friend’s mission. I’m looking forward to visiting your world and being one of the first humans to enter another world. Also, with my experience in the navy, I can give you guys advice in the battles to come” Yamanami said as he continues steering the ship into the huge portal.
Luna nodded. “I understand and thank you. I’m glad that we got to meet a nice human like you.”
After Luna’s compliment, Yamanami blushes and he shyly responds “I’m flattered and your very welcome.”
As the giant battleship sails towards the huge magic portal, Luna notices that the three warships are still chasing them at full speed. Mustering up enough energy, she lights up her horn and shoots a blue magic beam towards the three warships, hitting them. Seemingly no damage was done, but the three warships suddenly slowed right down, their engines shutting off. Even the helicopters were affected and the squad of helicopters started to fall out of the sky, forcing them to make emergency landings on the water. None of the pilots were injured. Crest watches as Luna’s magic spell stops the three pursuing JDF ships without hurting the other humans before quickly noticing that the Yamato is about to enter magic portal. He flies back onto the bridge, joining Luna and Yamanami and gets ready for another portal jump.
“Thank you for steering the ship Yamanami” Crest said.
“No problem my friend, it’s my first time steering a ship” Yamanami replied to Crest.
“And Luna, thank you for distracting the JDF guys” Crest said, and Luna smiled with a nod.
“No worries, we had to slow them down somehow” Luna smiled, and the trio looked at the portal they are entering.
“Here we go, into another portal,” Luna commented. “Yamanami, I hope you’re ready because it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”
“Ready!” Yamanami answered as he tightens his grip on the wheel. “Alright,3….2….1…Warp!”
After Yamanami’s countdown, the Yamato entered the portal into a space void and the ship started to travel amazingly fast, heading to the other side of the portal which lead to Equestria. Whilst that was happening, the trio were all holding onto something as the travel was starting to get quite bumpy. Meanwhile, back in the water of the South China Sea, the sailors and officers of the three JMSDF warships, including the surviving pilots of the helicopters, caught a glimpse of the giant battleship as got away, disappearing through the magic portal. They were intrigued and curious about the abnormal occurrences of magic portals and the Yamato’s sudden reappearance.
As the Yamato continues travelling through the magic portal, the two alicorn’s new human friend Osamu Yamanami becomes increasingly curious and excited to see the world of Equestria and all its wonders. However, most importantly, the trio are continuing their mission to save Crest’s home country Zipang and to stop the invasion of Equestria!