//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Battleships are Magic // by totallynotabrony //------------------------------// August, 1990 Atlantic Ocean USS Wisconsin The storm had blown up seemingly from nowhere. It had only been a few hours since departing from Norfolk, but the waves had risen and the wind howled around the ship. Captain John Mittal watched the rain moodily from behind the bridge windows. His ship had been late leaving port, and was running behind schedule. The storm would only make things worse. Wisconsin was the centerpiece of a powerful battle group sailing from the east coast of the United States towards the Middle East. Less than a week before, Iraq had invaded Kuwait, prompting the President to order the military to higher state of alert. They were calling it Operation Desert Shield. The waves were getting rougher, some of them able to shake Wisconsin’s 45,000 ton bulk, albeit slightly. Mittal wanted to catch up to the rest of the battle group, but with the visibility near zero it seemed prudent to just ride out the storm. Sadam Hussein could wait. The Officer of the deck came over to where Mittal was standing. “The navigation’s gone screwy,” he said. “I think something must have come loose in the storm. The battle group’s dropped off radar, too.” “Keep an eye on it,” said Mittal. “How’s the helicopter?” Wisconsin did not normally carry a helicopter of her own. The pilots had been heading for one of the frigates in the battle group when the storm hit, and had wisely decided to wait it out tied down to the battleship’s rear deck. “We’ll have to check it out before it’s ready to fly again, but I haven’t heard any reports of damage.” Mittal nodded and the OOD went back to his post. The storm continued at full strength for another hour. Worryingly, more and more navigation equipment went offline. Apprehension was written on the faces of the bridge crew. As the wind began to die, the tension appeared to die with it. Mittal ordered a work crew to inspect the communications mast for signs of damage. The sun began to break through the clouds and the rain dried up. There was a clear reflection of a coastline returned by the radar. Unless they had somehow gotten turned around in the storm, there was no way the ship should have been that close to land. Raising his binoculars, Mittal spotted the shoreline low on the horizon. It was miles away, but it shouldn’t have been there at all. When asked for answers, the OOD gave a helpless shrug. All the navigation aids appeared to be functioning normally, but none gave the sailors results that made sense. The inspection crew reported that all the antennas and radar dishes were intact. Despite the assurance that everything should work, radio calls went unanswered and there was nothing to see but the open ocean and the distant coastline. Ponyville Rainbow Dash grumbled to herself. Storms were supposed to stick to a tight schedule. Weather Ponies like herself put a lot of effort into making sure the climate was predictable. Occasionally, though, a difficult summer thunderstorm would come along that seemed to almost have a mind of its own. “I was hoping for a nap this afternoon!” said the sky-blue pegasus as she kicked at the storm clouds. They weren’t moving fast enough for her. “At least Ponyville won’t need rain for a while.” Dash looked briefly over her shoulder before pushing on the clouds again. The town below had gotten a good soaking from the storm. With a little more effort, the storm cloud began to move off towards the Everfree Forest. It joined a line of thunderstorms that had swept down over Equestria. Rainbow Dash had not spent much time flying over Everfree Forest. She’d ventured there with her friends a few times before, but had never explored the area. She gave the storm from Ponyville one last push and flew a little higher, making sure the line of clouds kept moving and wouldn’t threaten to turn back. Many miles away, the other side of the forest ended at the shores of the ocean. Dash had never been interested in water, and so had never gone to the seashore. As she looked down from where she hovered, a slice of blue sea between clouds glittered in the sun. Her sharp eyes caught a strange grey shape slip out of the storm. It seemed to be some kind of ship. Canterlot The Royal Guards sensed something troubling their Princess and did not disturb her. Celestia had been sending and receiving letters all day, and her mood seemed to darken with each one. She looked up from her work at the sound of a light hoofstep. “How is the situation in Zebrica?” asked her sister, Princess Luna, as she came into the room. “I am beginning to doubt that there can be a peaceful resolution,” said Celestia. Some of the lighthearted wave seemed to have gone out of her mane in the past few days. “Don’t give up hope. We have many friends, and surely something can be worked out.” Celestia shook her head. “Ever since the dragons began pushing into Zebrica, we have tried to get them to leave. Nothing has worked, not even getting the United Lands to threaten them with war.” “I cannot imagine what they must be thinking,” said Luna. “They’re faced with the combined might of Equestria, the Griffin Kingdom, the Buffalo Nation, and all the rest.” “It is difficult to imagine the ego of someone who thinks they can fight the whole United Lands,” said Celestia. “However, I think that may be what we have in Terrorvane.” Luna nodded. “What will happen to him if we are forced to defeat the dragons in war?” “There is talk about bringing him in front of the U.L. courts to stand trial for crimes against life. More than a few zebra died in unprovoked attacks.” Another letter arrived in a swirl of magic dust. Luna left her sister alone to read it. As she walked back to her quarters, she thought hard about a way to peacefully get the dragons to withdraw. If they were willing to go to war, Terrorvane obviously thought they could win. Perhaps there was a way to get him to change his opinion without actually resorting to conflict. USS Wisconsin Using depth measurements, the navigation department had determined that it was safe for the battleship to approach within half a mile of land. A team of Marines from the onboard detachment had boarded a small boat and gone to investigate the shore. Mittal watched them through his binoculars. The men landed on the heavily wooded coastline. They investigated the trees briefly and began searching along the surf. After a few minutes, their findings were radioed back. “No sign of human presence. Not even any trash washed up on shore.” Mittal sighed. “Get the Pioneer up.” Sailors began to prepare the small radio controlled airplane. The RQ-2 Pioneer was state of the art observation technology. It was a safe, efficient way to do reconnaissance. After it was launched, Mittal went down to the Combat Information Center to watch the video feed. A Second Class Petty Officer named Lemoore sat at the controls of the Pioneer with the video screen in front of him. Currently, there was nothing to see but trees. The forest beyond the coast must have been massive. Suddenly, a flash of color passed across the screen. Some kind of brightly colored animal, Mittal thought. It looked pretty large. The creature blurred by the Pioneer’s camera again. “See if you can track that,” said Mittal. Lemoore rolled the aircraft, attempting to keep up with the fast moving target. It suddenly stopped, hovering beside the Pioneer. It was a blue pegasus with rainbow-colored mane and tail. There was a collective intake of breath from a crowd of sailors that had gathered around to watch the video. Mittal couldn’t believe his eyes. It didn’t look like a horse should be able to fly with such short wings. Actually, it didn’t look right for a horse to be flying at all. “Um, orders, sir?” asked Lemoore. Mittal took a second to calm his voice. He had to remain in control. “Keep heading inland until the fuel gets low. And keep an eye on that…thing.” Everfree Forest The ship Rainbow Dash had spotted turned out to be the largest she had ever seen. In fact, it was probably larger than most buildings in Equestria. She had flown closer and noted its unusual design. A small object separated from the ship and flew towards the forest. Dash circled closer, wondering about the buzzing noise it made. It had flat wings and a spinning propeller. She flew in a pattern around the machine, giving it a closer look. It suddenly rolled in the air, showing unexpected agility. Dash backed off for a moment and watched. The machine returned to level flight and spent a while traveling in a straight line. She wasn't able to get another rise out of it. Eventually, it turned around and headed back towards the ship. Dash was tempted to follow it, but knew that she really should tell someone what she had seen. She turned back towards Ponyville. Author note: Can you edit? Can you preread? I'm new to FIMFiction, and I can use all the help I can get. Thanks for reading, and criticize like you mean it.