Whitecap, a proud Earth Pony captain of the Royal Equestrian Navy, couldn’t help but smile as she stared off at the horizon from the bow of her ship, a frigate by the name of Wavecutter, crested a particularly large swell. The spray of salt water misting across her face refreshingly. It was a beautiful day to be out at sea, the Princesses’ sun was shining brightly overhead, they had an excellent wind blowing directly into their sails, and had seen neither hide nor hair of any pirate ship, ornery creature from the deep, or even a wayward Pegasus attempting to fly across the sea who needed a place to rest.
And with no pressing issues to deal with, Whitecap was free to enjoy the afternoon, the sound of the waves drawing her down memory lane. It was a day like this, years ago, when her parents had taken her to see the sea when they had visited Manehattan for a week, specifically on a day when her parents had decided to take her to see the ocean. Standing on a pier just underneath a lighthouse, she had been so entranced by the sights and sounds of the sea that she had almost forgotten to breath. The blue waves sparkling like jewels, the local weather pegasi and birds all enjoying themselves in the ocean breeze, and even the shear force of sound that accompanied a wave breaking against the stone under her hooves. It had been simply awe inspiring. Which was why, deep down, she wasn’t shocked when she was enveloped in a warm white light and lifted into the air. Her cutie mark, a wave cresting, appearing immediately afterwards. Yes, she was always meant for the sea, and while the R.E.N wasn’t the most glamorous of posts to be assigned to, Whitecap was still proud beyond measure to have received the honor of captaining one of Equestria’s finest ships…at least as far as she was concerned.
Her crew moved about the ship quickly and efficiently, as there was always something to take care of on a ship such as theirs. They were three days into their weeklong assignment to protect the eastern trade route to Griffonstone. A route that, while normally quite peaceful, did occasionally attract a rouge pirate ship looking for a quick snatch and grab. While they were technically only responsible for the western half of the trade route, Whitecap had heard that the nation of Griffons had fallen on hard times recently and therefore it was entirely possible that the R.E.N would see an increase in piracy over the next few years. That or they would risk an international incident by being forced to patrol the entirety of the route in order to protect Equestrian lives.
Whitecap’s mood fell slightly as she thought about the poor griffons that had chosen to resort to stealing in order to feed themselves and their families instead of simply asking for help from Pony-kind. Was their pride truly so great that they couldn’t simply ask for aid? Or was it simply their predatory instincts that made them want to take from those that they considered weaker than themselves?
But no matter how much she stared out at the sea, no answer presented itself to her. So, with a heavy sigh, Whitecap turned away for the railing to see her first mate waiting at attention.
“Mr. Squall, anything to report?” Whitecap asked as the two ponies started to make their way from the bow of Wavecutter to the helm.
“Nothing of any note ma’am. Our Pegasi patrols have all reported no sightings of any vessels within our A.O. We are currently still on schedule for the second half of our patrol if the weather remains in our favor and we do not need to resort to Pegasi created wind. And we only have one stallion down with seasickness at the moment.” Squall reported as they trotted towards the aft of the ship, Whitecap nodding in reply to each pony they passed that stopped to salute her.
“Very good. Inform Jade Wing and Sundance that they’re on deck for the next patrol. I want them airborne within the hour.” Whitecap ordered as she placed a hoof on the door leading below decks. “If there’s nothing else, I will retire to my cabin for a time. Squall, you have the conn.” The mare continued, Squall saluting in response.
“Yes ma’am! I have the-.”
“C-Captain! Y-you're gonna wanna come up here!” A voice interrupted from up above them, the two ponies exchanging a surprised look before both galloped up the stairs to the helm. Both ponies skidding to a halt next to a thoroughly shocked looking unicorn on the starboard side of the ship.
“Report! What is it?” Whitecap ordered loudly, hoping that the sternness in her voice would knock the sailor out of their stupor. Unfortunately, the unicorn’s jaw remained lowered as they turned to stare wide-eyed at the captain.
“I…I’m not sure Capitan. I-I think its best you see it for yourself.” The unicorn, Frozen Hoof if memory served, admitted as she hoofed over her spyglass, the ponies who had gathered to see what was happening murmuring in unease as Whitecap took the offered spyglass. “I-Its at about three o’clock ma’am. Moving northward.”
Closing her left eye Whitecap peered through the telescope in order to try and find just what exactly had so badly startled the poor mare, the seasoned captain's vision adjusting to the view easily. And after a few seconds of staring out to sea, she found it. her own jaw falling just as wide as Frozen Hoof’s.
“Squee squee squee. Squee squee squee squee.” Yamato’s XO reported from somewhere within her hull, the human turned horse boat nodding her head in confirmation.
“Understood. We will continue along our present course until we detect a landmass or any other vessel. Also, I want a message sent to my quartermaster that I want an accurate count of all supplies currently aboard and his estimation on how long we can continue on at this pace without the risk of our supplies running out. And that he has my permission to institute rationing if he feels it is necessary.” Yamato ordered as she leapt over a particularly large wave and continued to trot across the water with relative ease. “I also want all crewmen to continue to familiarize themselves with their assigned stations. Until proven otherwise, we will assume we are in hostile waters and we will not be caught unaware. However, they are not to fire unless I explicitly order them to engage. Dismissed.” Yamato finished, the shipmare somehow instinctively understanding that her XO had left her bridge to carry out her orders.
It had been little over a day since Yamato had started her journey across this unknown sea. Although a good portion of that time was used for her to relearn how to walk. A task that was not helped by the fact that she had to teach herself to move like the animal she now was while the ground kept swelling and falling beneath her hooves. Which, while by no means easy, was a task that a ship as impressive as herself, the great Yamato, could not fail at.
Fortunately, the act of walking across the water wasn’t too different than walking across solid ground…at least she hoped, she would have to test that theory when she arrived at the nearest shore. And after a few hours of experimenting, she managed to get her changed limbs to cooperate. Of course, it also helped that she had an entire battleship worth of crew to bounce ideas off of and to observe what she had been doing wrong in order to correct her mistakes, which definitely helped her figure out how to move her all four limbs without twisting them together. Although she was still trying to get used to the fact that she had tiny horses talking to her inside her head. After all, it was hard to shake years of mental conditioning that taught her to assume that the moment she started to hear voices, she had already lost her grasp on her sanity.
And at this point the act of walking, or trotting more specifically, had become practically second nature. It was a truly novel feeling, the feeling of being both a ship and a pony at the same time. One the one hoof, she could feel the coldness of the water underneath her hooves despite the fact that she remained almost completely dry. She could feel her muscles clench and pull as she moved her legs one after another in order to move forward. But at the same time, she could also feel her turbines humming within her hull giving her life, she could hear her screws churning up the water beneath her and propelling her forward with more faster than she had ever moved in her human life. She was acutely aware of her crew moving about within her, keeping her functioning and readying themselves for whatever was thrown at her . All of which almost made her feel nostalgic for her last sail, Ten-Go.
She was now a being of both flesh and metal. A living horse and a mechanical warship with the soul of a human. And having to learn to comprehend all the new sensations that came with the three sides of her new reality had been yet another challenge to overcome. One that she was more than willing to rise to. Although her willingness to meet this challenge did not mean that she hadn't been constantly attempting to consider all angles of just how and why she was here, her lack of answers leaving her more than a little despondent.
But all her thinking did have one positive impact on Yamato, she finally realized just what she was, or at least what half of her was. It had been years since she thought about it, but back when she was a teenager, she had been absolutely in love with an anime called Kancolle-or was it Kantai collection? She could never quite remember which one was the actual name. - a show about world war two warships that had returned to fight for humanity in the form of young women against Cthulhu-looking evil Shipgirls. Sure, the show hadn't been groundbreaking or anything, but from what she remembered of her time as a human, Yamato had always loved the concept of massive steel warships duking it out on the high seas. And the fact that this show made them into cute women was only the icing on the cake to her teenage self.
Of course, assuming that Kancolle really had become reality, that raised the uncomfortable question that if she was indeed a shipgirl, or in this case a shipmare, then was it possible that , the Abyssals would be sailing these seas as well? And it was because of the possible answer to this question that she had decided to assume she was currently in hostile waters, and had her crew at a general state of alert just in case they came under attack. Yamato secretly praying that if there were in fact enemies set against her, they would be in the form of surface ships. She had already had a close encounter with evil from under the waves, and she was in no rush to face off against a submarine or other such evil creatures.
But the shipmare’s thoughts were interrupted when a member of her crew began to speak from inside her bridge in the form of a series of "Squee"'s. A report that turned out to be from her lookouts.
“It hasn’t moved in the last three hours? That is indeed troubling.” Yamato muttered as she turned her attention skyward, to the object she had ordered her crew to observe for the time being, the sun. Yesterday, after finally starting to recover from her sudden relocation and loss of identity, Yamato had nearly gone to general quarters when, seemingly out of nowhere, the sun sunk beneath the horizon and was replaced by the moon in a matter of minutes. This rapid celestial movment...it was simply not possible according to both her ship and human memories, yet the gently glowing full moon overhead not being accompanied by a titanic tidal wave clearly showed that it was indeed possible wherever she now was. She had sailed through the night staring upwards at the, admittedly beautiful, moon in unease. Half afraid it would fall upon her head if she stopped paying attention to it. It was simply a matter of fact that the two major celestial bodies that were visible from earth did not move so quickly. At least not without causing destruction on an apocalyptic scale. Yet contrary to her understanding of natural laws, when her internal clock struck six in the morning the two celestial bodies switched position just as quickly as they had before.
While under normal circumstances Yamato would been fascinated by this phenomenon, with everything else that had happened to her recently it only served to further grow her unease. If the sun and moon could move with such speeds here, then that implied that these were not the same sun and moon that she had been born/constructed under. A fact that implied that she was no long sailing upon the oceans of Earth, but upon the seas of an entirely different reality altogether. A conclusion which was only strengthened by the fact that she had a new, seemingly equine form.
Which was why she had ordered her crew to observe this possibly new sun. to determine if it was indeed a new world she was sailing across, or if something had happened to the sun in her time beneath the waves. Of course, she was well aware that having the members of the crew who were normally responsible for spotting ships or planes instead focus on staring into the sun wasn’t exactly the smartest thing to do. There was a reason mothers warned their children against it after all. Which was why she had made sure to have crewmembers manning each of her three radars in case something tried to approach. She would not be leaving herself defenseless on these possibly hostile waters, no sir.
“Ummm…miss? Are you ok?” And it was because she had entrusted her defense to her spotters and therefore was not paying attention to her surroundings, that when Yamato hear a voice, a voice not coming from her bridge, she nearly fell through the sea in shock.
In the span of a heartbeat Yamato ordered her crew into general quarters, her crew rushing to get to their battle stations and secure what they could before the coming battle. She leapt away from where she had been trotting and turned in midair in order to spoil the Abyssal’s targeting solutions while also unshadowing the turrets on her bow. Her fairies, the term for her crew from Kancolle, jumped into her type 89 naval guns ready to fire on whatever aircraft were on attack runs while others took to their stations at her main batteries fire control systems so that Yamato could return fire herself. Even if the enemy had the element of surprise, Yamato would not sink this day without a fight, and it would be a glorious fight at that.
Which was why she was somewhat disappointed when she finished her turn only to find two Pegasi staring at her, the two winged horses hovering just above the waves. Not to say that she wasn’t shocked by the sight of two flying equines, far from it, but the fact remained that they were hardly very threatening looking now that she could see them for herself.
Both were far smaller than she was, both in regards to her size as a ship or as a horse. Had they been standing side by side with her, they would have barely reached the top of her barrel and that was not even taking into account the various ship parts resting upon her back, most of which were now aimed in their direction. Both lacked the sunken, decayed, look of a traditional Abyssal, and were colored the exact opposite of her reanimated foes.
The lead Pegasus had an impossibly bright green coat with a light blue mane and tail and large yellow eyes. And while Yamato was no expert in equine genders, based off of it's slim, lithe frame she assumed that it was a female. While the other, likely a stallion based of his bulk, was practically neon orange with a dark red mane but had a deep purple color to his irises.
All in all, they looked like ponies that had had a run in with an ill-tempered painter as opposed to anything that could pose an actual threat. A fact caused Yamato to order her fairies to stand down, as it was very unlikely at this point that they were in fact here to attack her looking like that. Though she did make sure that one of her bridge fairies took down a note for her to have a talk with those fairies who were manning her radars. They should not have been able to get this close to her without someone noticing, orders to stare at the sun notwithstanding.
The Pegasi flew backwards at her jump as they eyed her anti-air sweet with trepidation, though Yamato could not tell if this was due to them understanding just how close they had come to being shot out of the sky, or if it was simply an instinct of theirs to be wary of things being pointed in their direction they didn’t understand.
But after realizing that the mare had asked her a question, in a language she could understand no less, Yamato stood up straight and bowed her head slightly in apology. “I apologize for my aggressive actions, as you caught me unaware and I was certain I was under attack, and as such I failed to hear your words. Could you please repeat your question?” She asked, trying to project the dignity and strength that an embodiment of Yamato should have.
Thankfully, it seemed to work. As the two Pegasi shuddered at her words and snapped their gazes away from her anti-air cannons to her face. Though this action seemed to have its own issues considering that the moment they met her gaze, both ponies seemed to freeze up for a second, with even their wings ceasing to beat for a second before the mare once again started speaking.
“Aua…ummm…ahhh…” Or at least tried to.
But Yamato was nothing if not elegant. So instead of drawing attention to the mare’s slipup she simply smiled and tilted her head to the side as she waited for the Pegasus to continue. “Yes?”
“…I’m sorry about that Ma'am. Our captain sent us out here to see if you needed any assistance. Our ship is just back that way if you would like to come with us..” The mare finally continued, the fur around her muzzle and cheeks turning a shade of red for a moment before she seemed to get herself under control and gestured back the way Yamato had come from.
“I see, I thank you for your consideration.” Yamato replied quickly. “And while I am in no physical danger. I am afraid I do not know exactly where my current heading will take me. Do you, perchance, have a chart of the local waters that I may view?”
“Um, well, not on me no. but there’s one back on the ship! Um, that is, if you’d like to come back with us? Not that I’m trying to force you or anything but I just thought that maybe you’d like to rest-.” The mare continued to speak but Yamato had inadvertently tuned out the rest of her words as she processed just what the mare had said all while maintaining her smile. They had a carrier in the vicinity? And it had managed to both spot her and send these two to meet with her without her crew even realizing it?!
Oh yes, she was going to have a very long, exhaustive, conversation with those who had been stationed on her radars after she figured out just what was going on here.
Whitecap tried to keep her nerves from showing as she waited, along with nearly the entire crew of the Wavecutter, as four unicorns magically lowered the gangplank into the water and kept it steady so that they could bring the anomalous pony on board. Sundance had returned mere moments ago, looking more awestruck than a foal at their first summer sun celebration, and reported that Jade had managed to convince the unknown mare to return to the ship with her and that they should begin preparing for her to embark. Whitecap nodding in shock at the Pegasus’s words and issuing orders to those effects within a few seconds despite how surreal the situation was.
Indeed, surreal was the only word she could think to use to describe the current situation. It was simply completely outside the realm of common sense to see a mare trotting across the waves with such ease that one would think she was simply out for a nice peaceful trot through a meadow. But that was exactly what Whitecap witnessed when she peered through the spyglass that the startled sailor had hoofed over to her, nearly dropping the precious tool once her brain finally caught up with what she had seen. She had immediately ordered Jade Wing and Sundance to take to the air and see if the pony needed aid, as at the time she had thought that it might have been a unicorn trying to get back to land after being shipwrecked and in need of aid. But Sundance had been worryingly tight lipped on just who the mysterious mare was, as he was apparently too shell-shocked to really form complete thoughts at the moment. Whitecap had ordered the ships doctor to take the poor Pegasus below deck for now and see if he could help him before ordering the ship to reduce their speed and to prepare to take on a likely traumatized pony
And from the look of strain on the unicorn’s faces and the fact that Jade had just flown over one of the nearby railings, looking almost identical to Sundance save for the red tint to her muzzle, Whitecap could only assume that their guest had arrived.
But instead of rushing up the ramp to safety like Whitecap expected, the mystery mare slowly made her way up the gangplank. Her steps somehow echoing across the ship far louder than they should have. Slowly but surely the mare made her way up to the top of the ramp, stopping just shy of the ship itself.
It was only due to her many years of service in the R.E.N that Whitecap did not lose her composure the moment the mare was revealed in all her glory, and considering the number of shocked gasps she heard behind her most of her crew did not fare as well as she did. The mare was beautiful, ethereally so, which was likely the reason for her Pegasi's shocked countenance. She stood as tall as Princess Celestial herself, a comparison she could make as Whitecap had been fortunate enough to meet their most esteemed monarch herself when she received her commission for the Wavecutter, if not a little taller. Her grey coat, despite being a color most mares would consider a hideous hue to be cursed with, seemed to shine under Celestial’s sun far more than it should, even considering the droplets of seawater that clung to her coat. Her mane, a deep brown color like the earth itself offset by the beautiful pink flowers that adorned it, flowed in a similar manner to the Diarchs who ruled Equestria. Though it felt more like she was looking down on the ocean’s waves flowing through her mane as opposed to it being blown by an imperceptible wind, although the fact that her magic was potent enough to animate her mane in any way showed just how powerful this pony was.
And while none would deny the mare’s beauty, it was not just her looks that made Whitecap lose herself in the moment. No, that honor belonged to the strange saddlebags -At least Whitecap could only assume they were some form of saddlebag, they were so different than anything she had seen before the definition didn't seem to fit them.- the mare was carrying along with what she was wearing upon her barrel, hooves, and head.
The first thing the captain of the Wavecutter noticed was the absolutely massive metal constructs that hung from the mare’s sides and rested on her back. Three metal blocks each the color of her fur that had three large cylinders sticking out of them. Each of these massive constructs, objects that she could tell would crush a normal pony flat if they tried to lift, was embroidered in what appeared to be smaller versions of the blocks, strange bulbus shapes that also had a metal poles pointing outwards from them, their purpose unclear but Whitecap could feel a sense of trepidation as she stared at them.
But the most shocking aspect of all, was the pony’s regalia, adornments that served to reinforce the mare's imposing stature. Upon the mare’s chest was a metal circlet very similar to the ones worn by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, with the top half being colored similarly to her coat while the bottom half was a deep red color. But in the center of the metal was a golden emblem that was either a flower the likes of which Whitecap had never seen or an artistic representation of the sun, Whitecap couldn’t quite tell, but considering its prominent position on her barrel it wasn't hard to connect the dots and determine it was a symbol of a nation. A notion that was only reinforced by the strange gray crown she wore upon her head that, instead of resting upon the top of her head, extended perpendicular to her head, a crown of simple make yet only added to her majesty.
And almost as if to mock Whitecap’s earlier conclusion that it was a unicorn stuck out at sea, the captain couldn't see any sign of either a horn or wings on the mare. Only adding to the mystery of how exactly she had been trotting across the sea.
The otherworldly mare's golden eyes slowly scanned the gathered ponies, Whitecap noticing each pony who fell under her gaze tensing up as she took their measure, before finally settling on Whitecap herself, the mare standing up even straighter under the weight of the mystery mare's gaze. “…Permission to come aboard?” She eventually requested, her voice causing the ponies behind Whitecap to shudder slightly. Her voice carried a hidden strength to it that nearly caused Whitecap to bend the knee in reverence. Yet the tone of her voice was no different than what sompony would use in casual conversation. It was the voice of somepony who had been in authority their entire life, who wielded authority as easily as they breathed, and who had likely earned said authority and expected it to be respected.
“…Permission granted.” Whitecap eventually declared after getting herself under control. The mare nodded as she stepped aboard and caused yet another shocked gasp to escape from the crewponies of the Wavecutter. The moment the mare took her step forward, the strange metallic objects hanging like saddlebags began to shine with a bright white light before disintegrating until the mare was left with nothing but her regalia.
M-Magic? B-but she’s not a unicorn! So how exactly did she cast a spell? Not to mention that it didn't look like any spell I've ever heard of. Wh-who exactly is this?!? Whitecap couldn’t help but think in a panic as the mare placed her front two hooves together and bowed her head.
“My greetings to you, Captain of this vessel. I am Yamato, and I thank you for your hospitality.” The now named Yamato continued, seemingly not noticing or not caring about Whitecap’s shock. Whitecap taking far to long to bow her own head in respect.
“The pleasure is all mine Miss. I am Captain Whitecap. And this vessel is the Wavecutter of the Royal Equestrian Navy. I apologize if this is too forward of me, but may I ask, did something happen to strand you out on the ocean? And if not, just where exactly you are headed? And if my crew and I could possibly assist you if you require it?” Whitecap asked, silently cursing herself for not taking more classes on how to properly speak to foreign dignitaries. As it was quite clear that whomever Yamato was, she was a pony worthy of the highest respect just based off the way she carried herself, not to mention her strange magic.
Yamato smiled at Whitecap, said pony feeling the blood rushing to her cheeks at the fact that such a beautiful mare was smiling at her. “I would be happy to answer you, Captain Whitecap. For your first question, I have not fully grasped what has occurred to me, and as such I do not wish to make any conjectures as of yet as to why I was stranded out at sea. I also lack a specific destination at this time, as it has been quite awhile since I have sailed the seas, but traveling across the waves is of no issue to one such as I. It was my intention to seek out the nearest shore in order to ascertain my situation. Which is why it is quite fortuitous that Miss Jade here-” Yamato explained as she gestured with her head to the green Pegasus, who smiled shyly back. “-informed me that you have charts on board that I could see in order to determine my position. At which time I will return to the sea and continue on my way. With your permission, of course.”
Whitecap’s mind worked harder than if ever had before as she considered just what Yamato said, and what she should do now. It could be risky, especially if it inadvertently angered the mare, but she wouldn’t be doing her duty to Ponykind if she didn’t offer to aid when she could, regardless of the fact that if Yamato agreed, it would be a great boom for Equestria. “Actually ma’am, if I may be so bold, would you like to accompany us so we could escort you back to Equestria once our patrols are finished? As our homeland is one of the closest nations at this time and we would be more than happy to offer you safe passage.” Whitecap offered, the mare forcing down the butterflies in her stomach as Yamato stared at her curiously before continuing on. “It is our duty to protect all of Ponykind after all. And as captain I could not, in good conscious, send out a single mare to face the sea all by herself.”
“May I ask just when you intend to return to this “Equestria”?” Yamato questioned curiously, not an outright refusal but Whitecap could hear the hesitation in her voice.
“In about four days assuming the winds continue to favor us.” Whitecap answered quickly in an attempt to assure the mare's concerns, Yamato closing her eyes for a moment, apparently in thought.
“I see…Then with your permission, I Yamato, will accept your offer with my thanks. I apologize for any trouble that this may cause.” Yamato answered after a moment, Whitecap giving an internal sigh of relief at her agreement.
“Oh, it’s no trouble at all! We’re happy to help! After all, it is what our Princesses would expect of us. Lieutenant Squall?” Whitecap denied before turning to her first mate, said pony standing ridged at the mention of his name. “Please escort our guest to one of our empty quarters and ensure she has whatever she needs for a comfortable trip.”
“Yes ma’am!” Squall shouted as he half-galloped forward only to realize just who he was galloping up to and managing to reign himself in. “Right this way Miss Yamato.”
“Of course, and thank you again captain Whitecap. Your generosity does your nation proud.” Yamato replied before moving to follow Squall, Whitecap sending a silent prayer in his direction for him to maintain his composure in Yamato’s presence.
The moment Yamato disappeared into the bowls of the ship, the entire crew, Whitecap included, seemed to slump as the tension drained out of them. For a brief moment no one spoke, each pony simply dueling against their own minds, before Whitecap finally turned to address the crew.
“Everypony. I’m sure you’ve got questions and concerns about what just happened. But for now, I ask that you burry those questions until we return home. I do not know where she has come from, or how she performed those feats of magic, but just as it is clear to me, it must be also clear to each one of you. The Wavecutter is currently housing a royal pony, and we will do our darndest to see her home safe.” Whitecap declared, a look of determination filling the eyes of every pony present, which in turn filled Whitecap with pride. “Everypony, return to your stations! Let us show Miss. Yamato just how the R.E.N performs its duties!” She shouted, her crew cheering in response before galloping across the deck with renewed purpose.