//Begin Personal Log
//
//May 8th, 2559
//
//19:22 Local Time
So my meeting with the Princesses was... not what I had expected. I was expecting to show up, talk a bit about the UNSC, try to get a better understanding of their culture, try to get them interested in pursuing further relations, and then get to know the Princesses better. Well I succeeded. Except what happened and what I wanted to happen are two very different things.
The whole meeting was less of a diplomatic meeting and more of a trip to a grief counselor. I have no idea how they did it, but they got me to talk about the Great War and how I lost my friends and family on Reach. It felt good... to just let it all out. It was far from a professional meeting. Hell, the whole thing took place in what looked like a living room. My personal conduct was appalling; given that you aren't supposed to cry rivers into the shoulder of the foreign leader you are meeting with. I can just picture countless UNSC diplomats committing mass suicide if they ever found out what happened in our meeting.
All that being said, the meeting went great. Both Princesses have agreed to let me and my crew stay in their country. They are even interested in pursuing more advanced diplomatic relations with the UNSC. I have yet to contact the Director about what happened, but will likely do so later this week.
I also learned that both Celestia and Luna will be traveling to Gryfopolis next week to meet with the gryphon emperor, so we will have to wait a week before we can have another talk. Anyway, the supply request for our engines has been approved and a ship is on the way. I wonder if they will have the same issue as us?
Also, more fun from the various science labs. Astrophysics continues to study the strange occurrences in this system. The microbiology lab continues their search for new pathogens that could potentially harm humans, nothing has been found yet. The geology department have begun looking at rock sample from around the ship. I have yet to read their full report. Meteorology continues to throw a temper tantrum over the fact that Pegasi seem to be able to make their weather in a type of cloud factory. The xenobilogy lab has been pouring over the books brought by Princess Twilight. They have reported some very interesting things in regards to pony anatomy. Specifically in regards to skeletal structures and the like.
//End Log
Both Princesses left the room with Captain Ryan as they concluded their short meeting. As the Captain turned right and left the castle through the throne room, Luna and Celestia made a right and walked to the dining room. They continued up a long spiral staircase to Celestia’s room. The two alicorns walked past a pair of guards at the doors as they silently entered. The pair then sat on a set of opulent cushions, set in front of a fireplace. Luna was the first to speak up.
“So Tia, what do you think?”
Celestia thought back on the last fifteen minutes following Daniel’s emotional collapse. She had been the one to comfort him as he talked about his family on Reach.
“I think we are looking at a new age for Equestria.”
“I mean, what do you think about Daniel?”
“He is... different, but he seems lost in his feelings. There is a lot of sadness within him, but he has managed to turn that sadness into ambition and determination. However, it isn't healthy that he repressed most of his sadness.”
Luna just stared at her sister, slightly slack-jawed. “You came up with all that in half an hour?”
“Years of practice Lulu.” Celestia looked to the fireplace and watched the flames for a moment. “What was your impression?”
Luna thought for a moment. “He seemed nice. I didn’t feel like he was trying to be deceptive or even withhold information. I kinda like him to be honest. I think he could be a great ally and a great friend.”
“I agree. However, we do need to remember to be cautious. They are a very advanced alien race. While Daniel is a nice example of his people, I want to reserve judgment until I can meet more of them. One individual does not set the standard for the masses.”
“I suppose.” Luna looked at her sister and then to the fire. “So what do you think is happening in Grifopolis?”
Celestia sighed. “I hope that the demonstrations will not interfere with our meeting with Emperor Coalfeather.”
“And if they do?”
“Then we will have to make our way out of the city as quickly as possible. We are taking two groups of guards with us. I’m sure we will be fine.”
“I suppose. Still...”
“There is no point worrying about it, Lulu. I would recommend you get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow.”
Luna nodded at her sister. “Alright. I’ll see you in the morning, Tia.” Luna got up and made her way to the door after nuzzling her sister.
“Tia?”
“Yes Luna?”
“Please give them a chance.”
“I will Luna. I certainly will.”
The Princess of the Night then walked out of her sister’s room, closing the door silently behind her.
~~~
Captain Ryan looked at his screen and sighed as he reflected on the previous night. What was supposed to be a by-the-book diplomatic meet and greet, turned into a therapy session involving him spilling emotional baggage onto the two Princesses. To his surprise, the two alicorns reacted very well to his outburst of emotion. The group had sat for a few silent minutes as Daniel emptied his eyes into Celestia’s fur. The solar Princess sat with a warm smile as she embraced the distraught human.
The three of them then talked a bit about Daniel’s family and more about the Great War. He talked a bit about his career, starting with his enlistment and ODST training. He then went on to describe some of the missions he had been a part of and the places he had been. He finished his story by telling them about his ONI commission and his first starship command.
It was then Celestia and Luna’s turn to talk. Celestia began by talking about their life with their parents. Luna remained silent during this period, claiming that she remembered little before her fall to madness. Celestia then went on to talk a bit about her time as Equestria’s leader. Captain Ryan could only sit and listen in wonder as the solar Princess covered the past fifteen hundred years of her rule. As Celestia finished, Luna recounted her difficulties of adjusting to a modern Equestria after her banishment. Daniel couldn’t help but chuckle at a few of Luna’s mishaps with modern technology. He was ultimately impressed by how quickly, and how well, she had adopted the new technologies of her world.
Eventually the night came to an end as Celestia and Luna had a trip to the gryphon capital of Grifopolis the following afternoon. Daniel said his farewells and boarded a carriage back to his ship. He left the castle feeling he had accomplished his goal and had lifted some of the emotional weight that plagued him.
His concentration was broken as the ship’s AI materialized on the corner of his desk.
“Sorry, sir. Am I interrupting something?”
“Not at all Tommy. Just thinking.”
“About your meeting last night?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you feel it went well?”
“I feel it was successful. I’m not sure I would say it went well.”
“I see. Well, I have finished transmitting your report to ONI. Director Burr has asked you to call him in two days.”
“Will do.” The Captain closed his log before turning to the AI. “Do you have any further information on our shipment?”
“I do. The frigate Grafton is leaving tomorrow morning for Equestria. Their cargo manifest has been uploaded to your email.”
“They’re sending a frigate on a delivery run?”
“It would seem so, sir.”
“Wow, I wonder who drew the short straw there?”
“It would seem Captain Daviston did.”
“Yeah, I gathered that.”
“Is there anything else you need, sir?”
“Yeah, can you tell me the distance to Grifopolis?”
“I am unsure of where that is.”
“Twilight said it was north west of Canterlot, in the high mountains.”
“One moment...” The AI seemed to stare at the wall as topographic data was processed at lightning speed. “I believe I have found the place you mentioned. Is this it?” Daniel’s computer screen lit up as it displayed a map of the region, highlighting the area in question.
“Yup, that looks like it.”
“Marking on map. The distance is nine hundred and forty four point three miles. At our top speed of three hundred and fourteen miles per hour in atmosphere, we could reach the city in three hours. May I ask why sir?”
“Just wondering. The Princesses went there this afternoon, or at least they left this afternoon, not sure how long it would take.”
“I might be able to fix that. Judging that your carriage departed at a speed of fifty six point nine miles per hour, it would take them sixteen and a half hours to reach the city.”
“Good to know.”
“Well then, is there anything else, sir?”
“No Tommy, that will be all.”
“Goodnight Captain.” The AI then disappeared from view, leaving the Captain alone once more.
With a sigh and a grunt, Daniel pulled himself up from his chair and walked to his bathroom. A hot shower would do him good. The Princesses had said they would only be gone for two days. Something about meeting with the gryphon emperor about some kind of insurrection. He hadn’t asked many questions as it was none of his business.
~~~
The next morning, Daniel woke up the same way he had the past few days. He was beginning to enjoy waking up with the sun. He then remembered that the UNSC Grafton would be leaving for Equestria today. The astrophysics lab had sent their recommendation for navigating the gravitational distortions, hopefully it would work.
Daniel then went about the rest of his morning routine, eventually ending on the bridge. There wasn’t a whole lot to do around the ship at the moment. Most personnel were carrying out preventative maintenance or running department drills. Only the science labs were really occupied. A report from the xenobiology lab was waiting for him at his console. With nothing more pressing to attend to he picked up the report and read.
The report was a detailed comparison of the ponies of Equestria to the less evolved equines of Earth. There were many similarities and even more differences. The most notable difference was their contrasting body sizes. The other notable difference was the more developed brain of Equestrian ponies. Daniel then skimmed over some of the information that he already knew. To his surprise, the biology lab had already assigned a classification to the ponies of Equestria; Equus Nobilis. It was a stark contrast to the Equus Ferus Caballus of Earth.
He then began reading the next portion of the report. The medical books borrowed from Twilight revealed that the ponies of Equestria had a similar reproductive cycle to that of horses from Earth, being that every female would experience a single estrous cycle during the spring months. The only difference was that the Equestrian ponies only had a single three week cycle, whereas Earth horses had multiple cycles during the spring and summer months. It was an interesting fact, one that the Captain promptly pushed to the back of his mind.
It wasn’t long before the communications officer spoke up.
“Captain! Incoming transmission from the UNSC Grafton.”
“Thank you Chief. Put it through to my station.”
“Aye sir. Patching through.”
The screen in front of the Captain lit up as the Captain of the Grafton appeared.
“Captain Ryan, glad to see you guys are okay. How’s your world of magical talking ponies?” Dovaston asked with a chuckle.
“It’s really neat. I think I’ll take my next leave here.”
“Sounds nice from the reports I have read.”
“They don’t so the place enough justice.”
“So, you need some spare parts?”
“Yup. I’m wondering though, why did they send you on a delivery run?”
“ONI wanted to make absolute sure that you received the shipment. Guess that translates to sending a warship to make the drop. Speaking of which, where are we dropping this?”
“As close to my ship without hitting it.”
“Alright, I’ll have the crate sent to your front door.”
“Thanks Dovaston.”
“Don’t mention it. We’re also putting some satellites in orbit, part of a request from ONI.”
“Any idea what for?”
“Eh, a few navigation satellites, a communications one, a navigation beacon, and two observation satellites.”
“So basic orbital infrastructure?”
“Pretty much.”
“Neat. Are you guys heading home right away, or are you sticking around for a few?”
“I was planning on sticking around for a few days, make sure all the equipment works.”
There was a thunderous boom as the supply pod impacted the ground in front of the Tuscany.
“Oh would you look at that, my box is here. It’s like Christmas came early”
“Well damn, they might as well start calling me Santa Claus. Ho ho ho motherfuckers.”
Daniel couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll put a request in with the Director. See if we can make that permanent.”
“You do that. Now I expect you boys at ONI aren’t causing too much trouble on alien worlds.”
“Trouble? Me? Never.”
“Yeah, I’m convinced.”
The two men shared a brief laugh. “Well I gotta go Daniel. I’ll talk to you when we are heading out.”
“Alright, good hearing from ya Dovaston.”
The line then went black. Engineers had already gone out to collect the cargo pod, eager to complete the engine repair.
~~~
It was five hours later that Andrew had finally given the all clear on the engines. Captain Ryan was in his quarters when he received the news. While he was pleased that the engines were finally repaired, he secretly wished that something would happen. He contemplated running the crew through a nuclear launch drill or maybe a damage control drill. This train of thought was interrupted as a scroll seemed to flash into existence and drop onto his desk. Daniel was perplexed as to how the scroll had just popped into existence in his cabin. Deciding it wasn’t all that important he picked it up and broke the seal holding it closed.
It was a letter from Twilight. She explained to Daniel that a letter from Celestia was received that morning, stating that the situation in Grifopolis had become dire as the insurrectionist movement began to consume the city. While the Princesses had a guard escort, it wasn’t nearly sufficient to hold off an army of angry gryphons. Twilight then went on to state that she wanted to send a contingent of guards to assist the Princesses, but was worried that they wouldn’t make it in time. Daniel thought about this, it would take the guards sixteen hours to reach the city. By then they might be too late. He, however, had a craft capable of reaching the city in only three hours. What better way to relieve boredom than to rescue two Princesses. He then went to open his computer to call Twilight when it hit him; he had no way of directly contacting her.
With no time to spare, the Captain grabbed his comm unit. “Commander Dior, Commander Zerom, please meet me on the bridge.”
The Captain then briskly made his way to the bridge. Once there, he noticed both commanders waiting at the display table.
“So Captain, what’s this about?” Zerom asked.
“We have a developing situation in the gryphon capital. Reports say that insurrectionist forces have stormed the city and have completely blocked it off to all means of escape. We don’t have any information past that.”
“Well that’s sketchy.” The SPARTAN commander added.
“I agree, but it would take a better part of the day for Equestrian reinforcements to reach the city. We can make it there in a few hours.”
“So you want to attempt a rescue?” Zerom asked, slightly astonished at how quickly the situation had deteriorated.
“Yes.”
“Correct me if I am wrong, but we are on a diplomatic mission, not a combat one.” Dior said with concern.
“I understand that, Commander, but diplomacy is difficult if the person you are trying to conduct diplomacy with is dead.”
“Alright, so then what’s the plan?”
“Well I need to confirm this with Princess Twilight. Unfortunately she doesn’t have any way for us to contact her. So I was going to grab a pelican and just fly to the castle.”
“Won’t that raise some questions among the population?”
“Their bound to find out about us eventually.”
“Still...”
“Look, this is what’s happening. We are going to confirm the report with Twilight and then we are going to Grifopolis to evac the Princesses. Okay?”
“Aye sir.” Zerom and Dior said in unison.
“Dior, with me.”
Captain Ryan and Commander Dior headed to the armory for their armor and sidearms. Dior was always wearing her armor, so she needed only a weapon. Eventually the two made their way to the lower launch bay where a pelican drop ship was waiting. The two officers quickly boarded the craft and signaled the pilot to take off.
~~~
The flight to Canterlot lasted only fifteen minutes as the pelican roared through the sky. Neither Ryan nor Dior said a word as they flew. Eventually the aircraft touched down in the same courtyard that Daniel’s carriage had used the day prior. The SPARTAN and Captain both quickly disembarked, leaving every guard in the area to wonder what was happening, none of them tried to stop the two humans.
Daniel was the first to enter the throne room, followed shortly by the Commander. Twilight sat atop the throne usually occupied by Celestia, her face furrowed into a frown as she read multiple scrolls about the recent incident in Grifopolis. She lowered the scrolls as both humans entered the room.
“Captain Ryan! I take it you got my message?”
“I did. Twilight, this is Commander Dior, she is in charge of our SPARTAN team on the Tuscany. Commander, this is Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
“It’s a pleasure ma’am.” The SPARTAN said with a salute.
“Please Commander, call me Twilight. So Daniel, why didn’t you just write back? You didn’t have to come here in person.”
“Well I don’t exactly have a speedy way of getting in contact with you.”
“Oh... right... I didn’t think of that. Sorry.”
“No worries. Now, what do you plan on doing?”
“I am planning on sending a group of guards to the gryphon capital to aid the Princesses.”
“Okay, then why contact me? You seem to already have a plan.”
“Well... I figured you might have some expertise in this kind of situation. I wanted to see what you thought.”
“I think you are going to be too late. It’s a sixteen hour flight to the gryphon capital. A lot can happen in that time.”
“Do you have a better suggestion?” Twilight asked with interest and concern.
“Send me. My ship can make it there in only three hours. Plus we have the firepower to easily overwhelm any resistance.”
“You have a good point. Alright, do it.”
The Captain nodded before turning and nearly sprinting out of the throne room. The sound of metal boots resonated through the hall as the ODST and SPARTAN made their way back to the pelican.
Another short fifteen minute flight later, both officers were back aboard the Tuscany. Daniel ran to the nearest console and summoned the AI.
“Tommy, get the ship ready for take off and set course for Grifopolis.”
“Aye sir.”
The Captain and Commander made their way back to the bridge as the sounds of the engines coming to life filled the ship.The bridge was a scene of controlled chaos as everyone got their stations ready for flight. In a matter of minutes, the hull of the Tuscany lifted off the ground for the first time since landing in Equestria. For the first part of the flight, the ship would operate with it’s optical cloak powered on. There was a loud mechanical sound as the landing gear locked in place. The ship then banked to the left and quickly gained speed as it flew over the Everfree Forest.
“Tommy, time to destination?”
“Two hours and fifty one minutes, Captain.”
“See if you can shave that down a bit.”
“Aye sir. I’ll see what we can do.”
“Commander Dior, I want your team ready to go. If we have to fight our way through the city then I want a team ready to drop as soon as we get there.”
“Aye sir.” The SPARTAN did an about face as she quickly left to gather her SPARTANs.
Commander Zerom looked at the holographic display table before looking to Daniel.
“So Captain, do we have a plan?”
“I’m thinking shock and awe. See if we can use our presence alone to scare them into retreating.”
“And if that fails?”
“Well then we motivate them to vacate the area.”
“And by motivate you really mean a display of superior force?”
“Exactly. We have two mass drivers capable of launching thirty ton projectiles at thirty thousand meters per second. I’m sure those will have quite the impact.” Daniel laughed at his own sentence. Zerom just shook his head. “Well Commander, if you need me, I will be in my quarters for the next two hours. Notify me when we get close.
“Aye sir.”
~~~
The next two hours passed quickly. Daniel was actually down in the armory getting into his armor when a call came over the intercom.
“Captain, we are ten minutes from our target. Orders?”
“Stand by, I’m on my way up.” He grabbed his helmet from the rack and ran back up to the bridge. Commander Dior and Zerom were already waiting for him at the display table. “Alright Tommy, show me the goods.”
The table shimmered as the image transformed into a topographical representation of the mountain city. Six red dots appeared in the air around the city, and seemed to be moving in slow circles.
“Captain, I am tracking six unknown radar contacts. Each of them are a bit smaller than our ship, but seem to be moving at a very leisurely pace.” The AI reported.
“Alright, good to know. How long until visual range?”
“Six minutes sir.”
“Very good. Sound battle stations. Bring all weapons online.”
“Does this include nuclear ordnance sir?”
“Yes, arm missiles one and two.”
“Aye sir.” Alarms began to blare across the ship, signalling the crew that it was time to fight. Not four minutes later, the crew were ready. All stations had reported ready status and two nuclear missiles had been armed. Each Shiva class nuclear missile had a payload of three hundred megatons. Daniel prayed that he would not need such destructive weapons, but was glad he had them just in case.
Soon the city was beginning to come into view. The bridge crew was soon able to see plumes of smoke rising from various sections of the city, as well as what looked like six airships circling overhead.
“Helm, bring us in at one third.”
“Aye sir, ahead on third.”
Daniel was soon able to make out features of the airships. They all looked like normal wooden sailing ships except they were suspended from a large balloon. They also seemed to hold a number of air to ground weapons as all six were bombing what looked like a palace.
“Tommy, mark targets as hostile and make ready to fire.”
“Aye sir. Targets marked.”
“Weapons control, bring the forward mass drivers online and prep Archer missiles.”
“Yes sir! Archer pods ready, mass drivers are charging.”
“Very good. Standby for orders. Commander Dior, is your team in position in the launch bay?”
“Yes sir. Medical teams are standing by down here as well.”
“Excellent. Tommy, prepare to drop cloak. Weapons, prepare to fire on my mark. Target the two closest airships with the mass drivers and split the Archers among the remaining four.”
“Aye sir.” The weapons officer replied.
“Ahead slow!”
“Ahead slow, aye sir.” Lieutenant Vezina replied.
“Tommy, drop cloak.”
“Aye sir. Cloak is offline.”
This was it. He was about to open fire on an alien world. He out-teched his opponent by easily a millenium. While they seemed to rely on rudimentary cannons, he had access to the most powerful coil guns and nuclear missiles. He almost felt bad.
“Open fire.”
~~~
Celestia and Luna stood with their guards in the emperors office. Emperor Coalfeather himself stood with his two personal bodyguards, the sounds of battle were getting closer as the insurrectionists fought their way through his fortress. Both alicorns looked at him, expecting him to do something.
“So this is it?! We’re just going to stay here until they come to slaughter us!?” Luna asked with fury in her voice.
“They have the entire palace surrounded and the air covered. There is no way out. All we can do now is make a final stand.” The emperor replied.
“This is absurd. Tia, we need to do something!” Celestia looked to her sister and sighed.
“Quite frankly, I do not wish to stay here and fight. However, if we can make a hole in their aerial defences then we may be able to escape that way.”
“Alright, lets do it then. All we have to do is fight our way past six airships.” Luna the turned and glanced out the large windows. The airships were in plain view as their cannons continued to bombard the fortress.
“Perhaps we can-” Luna was cut off as the world seemed to stop in front of her.
The lunar Princess watched as a black craft seemed to shimmer into existence where only clouds seemed to exist just moments before. Before she could say anything there were two massive bangs as two streaks of light seemed to shoot from the craft, impacting the nearest airships. Both craft instantly exploded in a shower of flaming wood debris, the balloons floating away as the weight below them was removed. Now all eyes were on the strange craft as it pulled into a wide turn over the city. Dozens of glowing smoke trails seemed to leave the craft at incredible speed as they shot toward the remaining four airships. The sky was soon filled with flashes of light followed by an equal number of explosions.
The airspace over the city was soon filled with the burning wreckage of four airships, each taking only seconds to plummet to the ground below.Soon the sky became clear, save for the single black craft. On the side of the craft, painted in white block letter and accompanied by a familiar insignia, were the words UNSC Tuscany.
“Huh, well how about that.” Luna said with a slight chuckle.
~~~
Captain Ryan watched as all six airships were promptly demolished, leaving him to rule the skies over Grifopolis. He ordered the ship to come to a hover just above the burning palace and to open the ship’s lower docking bay. Hopefully the Princesses and their escorts were alright.
“Sir, I have an update. Scans are showing large numbers of enemy combatants retreating from the area. It seems your shock and awe plan is working.” The AI reported.
“Well I’m glad to hear that. Any word on our Princesses?”
“Negative sir, I’ll keep looking.”
Daniel didn’t have to wait long for an answer. “Captain, targets found. They are on the uppermost tower to our port side. They seem to also have a single gryphon with them.”
“Good find Tommy. Vezina, bring us in slowly.”
“You got it Captain.” The pilot replied with a cheerful voice.
The ship slowly moved toward the tower that the alicorn sisters were standing on. The smoke from the burning city occasionally obstructing their view.
“Sir, I am tracking multiple contacts heading for us. Recommend bringing point defence online.” Tommy said with concern.
“Agreed.”
A series of mechanical sounds announced the activation of the dozen or so point defence turrets onboard the Tuscany. Each turret was capable of firing seventy rounds per second, making for a lethal wall of lead. The only part that had the captain worried was the open bay doors. While there was a fully armed SPARTAN team down below, he still worried for his other crew members. Still, he had a mission to complete.
Down below in the launch bay, Commander Dior and her SPARTANs were standing on the edge of the lowered ramp, weapons at the ready. The Princesses and gryphon were not more than fifty feet away on the nearby tower balcony. Dior was beckoning them to fly across to her. Princess Luna was the first to take to the sky. She began flying furiously through thick smoke as countless gryphons began to close in on either side. Her hearing was soon overwhelmed as the loud buzzing of ten Gatling cannons filled the air. Only seconds later she was caught by Commander Dior, helping her slow down and avoid crashing into the bulkhead. The SPARTAN then moved back to the ramp’s edge as she waited for the others.
Fueled by Luna’s success, Celestia and both contingent of pegasus guards lept into the air and flew quickly to the open bay. The point defence cannons were keeping a majority of the advancing gryphons at bay. Unfortunately a handful were making it through and were trying to intercept Celestia. The SPARTANs, however, were ready. The sounds of automatic rifle fire soon joined the chorus of cannon fire as more lead was flung into the air. Celestia and the guards were able to touch down with a bit more precision and grace than Luna had managed.
All that was left were the gryphon emperor and his two guards. The three shared worried looks before taking to the sky. All three flew as quickly as possible and hordes of angry fighters tried to reach the escaping emperor. All were promptly shot down by the ships cannons or the SPARTANs rifles. Even with this covering fire, the gryphon emperor flew as fast as possible to the ship. So fast in fact, that before he knew it he had already flown right over the SPARTANs and into the bay. Unfortunately, the launch bay of the Tuscany was only one hundred and twenty feet long. This did not provide ample room for the gryphon to stop in time as he barreled toward a suspended catwalk and the lone sailor standing at his console in the middle.
~~~
Petty Officer Jung was excited. He had been ordered by Commander Dior to man the launch bay door controls. She had also brought an entire SPARTAN team into the bay. He had seen both Princesses and their guards fly into the launch bay. The sounds of cannon fire heightened his adrenaline fueled state. He knew something big was coming. Jung never thought that something big would literally be coming for him in the form of an out of control gryphon.
He audibly gulped. This was going to really suck.