“Your Highness, please!” an earth Royal Guard tries to convince Princess Celestia as the two hustle down the main hall. “I advise you to stay indoors until we know what fell out of the sky.”
“I understand your concern with whatever crashed into Canterlot, and partially damaged the castle,” Celestia states as she continues to walk at a speedy pace. “However, I will not ignore something my sister and I witnessed.”
“Yes, princess. But, I strongly disagree,” the guard says, but the princess ignores his plea.
The grand doors open, and Celestia flies out accompanied with four pegasi guards waiting outside, leaving the stumped earth pony guard behind. Upon reaching the crash site, she circles around to where the trail of destruction started, before settling down to the ground. The whole area is filled with Royal Guards creating formations and barricading crowds who are trying to get a glimpse of what fell from the sky. The mood changes from fear and confusion to a loud cheer once they see the princess appearing.
Celestia and her escorts find the metal entity partially buried in a dirt pile, and surrounded by unicorn and earth pony guards. The princess freezes for a moment, slightly shocked at the size of the beast. Its skin is a light grey, but covered in many dents, tears, and scratches. By the shape of it, it does not resemble a dragon or any other creature Celestia has seen in her life. A portion at the rear, to which she believes belongs to a tail, appears to be missing, as if it was completely ripped. She can barely make out of faint outlines running along the body and small probes protruding out.
“Princess Celestia,” a pegasus Royal Guard calls for Celestia from the side, throwing her out of concentration.
“Lieutenant Wind Strike,” the princess regains her posture as the pegasus lands in front of her. “I’m glad you could accompany me.”
“Of course, princess,” Wind Strike nods, and the two continue to walk towards the crash site.
“I’ve never seen something like this before,” he explains. “However, I would like to advise you, for your own safety…”
“Thank you for your concern, Lieutenant,” Celestia says. “But, I am sure it will be alright. Besides, I must see this for myself.”
Celestia proceeds forward with caution towards the metal beast. A group of earth pony guards step to the side like a gate is opening, allowing the princess and Wind Strike to enter. The first thing the princess inspects is the amputated tail. Black goo seeps out from between extremely narrow spaces and hoses.
Her snout scrunches when she catches the primitive scent of some form of fuel, a telltale sign this entity is not a living creature. Celestia takes extra precaution, walking alongside this fallen machine to find any clues about its identity. She stops almost immediately when she notices some faint texts on the body. Carefully, the princess brings herself closer until she is a few feet away, lighting up her horn to outline the text with a spell to see through the heavy scrapes and dirt smudges. NAVY, it says in large letters, and below it is HSC-6. A symbol a couple feet to the right grabs Celestia’s attention again, with a big number 2 right next to it. Casting her spell again, she manages to make out the symbol to be a large dark grey circle with a star in the middle, and two rectangles emerging horizontally outwards with a stripe in between.
Interesting. Celestia did not realize until now she has been staring at this peculiar symbol longer than she should have. She mentally shakes her head, and continues walking around the metal entity.
“Have you seen anything like this, Your Highness?” Wind Strike breaks the silence between the two, despite being surrounded by chanting and hollering civilians.
“No,” Celestia answers rather hastily, ignoring eye contact with her Lieutenant.
The princess and the Royal Guard halt after a few feet. Her eyes catch a rectangular outline covering almost half of the entity’s body, with a pair of densely cracked windows within. Below the windows is more text, but it is so heavily scratched and covered in dirt and grime when Celestia tries to use her spell again.
“I don’t think this is a creature, Your Highness,” Lieutenant Wind Strike says.
“I agree so,” Celestia replies as she straightens herself.
“Your Highness,” a unicorn guard calls for the princess. She and Wind Strike turn to see the pony standing close to the front of the entity a couple meters away. The guard tries to hide a petrified look, as if he just saw a ghost. Celestia and Wind Strike make their to the unicorn when they notice an small open window right beside.
Celestia moves in to have a closer look at what appears to be a strange device sticking out from the window; a bunch of narrow barrels welded together with thick rings, and connected to a tiny motor. She immediately regrets her decision when her heart jumps to her throat at the sight of two identical-looking beings sitting across from each other. Both are wearing large green helmets with broken black glasses that conceal at least half of their faces. Olive green colored cloth cover their entire bodies, with a darker green vest. The first one, sitting just behind the strange multi-barrel device, is leaning against the sidewall, blood trickling down its face. The second, sitting on the opposite end, is leaning forward with its head bashed into a panel of buttons and switches.
“Princess Celestia!” Lieutenant Wind Strike cries out, and the princess pulls away hurriedly. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine, Lieutenant,” she replies, trying to settle down her thumping heart at the sight. She did not get the chance to look around the rest of the interior, despite those creatures nearly causing her to scream.
“Are you sure?”
“I have seen a lot of violence and death from different species during my time as ruler. This is no different.”
Princess Celestia risks another look at the battered creatures. Her pupils slowly dilate the longer she stares and examines each being trapped in the metal wreckage.
“Your Highness,” Wind Strike says sternly.
Celestia blinks a few times after being lost in trance again. “Sorry, Lieutenant,” she says.
“Are you sure you’re alright? Perhaps is best if we—”
“No,” the princess interrupts the pegasus, her voice sounding almost as stern as the lieutenant’s. “I must see this.”
She moves up until she reaches the front of the wreckage. Here, windows cover almost every spot forward of the metal machine. Judging by its appearance, this took almost the full brunt force when it crashed. The windows are heavily cracked or shattered, some twigs and leaves are left in various places, and the metal around the glass is completely battered and twisted.
But, Celestia freezes again when she can make out two more beings through the fractured windows. Both of them are sitting on either side, looking worse than the first two.
“By the Great Faust,” Lieutenant Wind Strike moves next to the princess, his voice trembling. “What are these creatures?”
Celestia refuses to answer. Her throat feels quenched. All she can do is stare at these two beings trapped in this hunk of metal and machine.
“I see something moving!” an earth pony guard shouts standing from the left side of the wreckage. Without a second thought, Celestia rushes over to the side, almost shoving the guard away to have a look. She can barely make out the being moving an inch through the densely cracked side window. She looks down at what she thinks is a door that blocks between her and the being. She envelops it with her magic, and gives it a tug.
“Your Highness!” the earth guard steps in to intervene when he notices the metal straining as Celestia repeatedly jerks the crippled door.
“Princess, what are you doing?!” Wind Strike says.
“Stand back!” the princess orders, earning a shocked look from the guards.
Celestia jerks her body back, and tears out the door with a cringing sound. The whole crowd bursts with a moderate cheer mixed with ‘oohs,’ wanting to get a look at what the princess has done. The earth guard steps back in wonder as the broken door drops in front of him. It takes a few seconds for him to turn his eyes from the piece of metal held in Celestia’s magic back to her, standing and staring at the being trapped inside.
“Princess!” Wind Strike gallops to Celestia’s aid. However, he his eyes turn to the creature after stopping next to her.
The being inside has a piece of metal jutting out from its vest, with blood leaking almost everywhere. Its legs are trapped under the twisted metal at uncomfortable angles. To Celestia’s surprise, it is still alive… barely. She notices it struggling to breathe from its rising and falling chest under that heavy cloth, and its blood-covered forelimb slowly crawling to metal object stuck in its body. The princess quickly turns to the earth guard she nearly bumped away earlier.
“Get the medical team, now!” she orders. The earth pony guard is taken aback, quite shocked and uncertain from him to hear the command.
“Your Highness, I must protest!” Lieutenant Wind Strike steps in front of the princess before the earth guard can reply.
“This is no time to dispute, Lieutenant,” the princess argues.
“We do not know what this thing is!”
“From what I see, this being is in grave condition and is in need of immediate medical treatment. I do not wish for something like this die while we watch!”
“We don’t know if it uses the same medication as we do! Let alone, don’t know if it’s hostile!”
“That does not matter!” Celestia bends down over Wind Strike, who in turn tries to stand his ground. “We must try. This being is in no condition to do anything. Use whatever means to keep it alive. Now go.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” the Lieutenant answers in regular tone after a long second pause, and the princess finally pulls back. He turns around back to the earth pony guard still standing completely muddled.
“Get the medical team, now!” he orders. The guard stammers a ‘yes sir,’ before dashing back to the castle with the lieutenant following suit.
Princess Celestia stays behind, staring back at the being still gasping for air with its forelimb pressed closely to its fatal wound. Her head fills with so many questions. As she inspects the being, she notices a badge on its upper forelimb. It is rectangular, with stripes running horizontally, and a smaller figure of the same shape on the top left corner.
LCpl. Kevin Brooke
2nd Battalion 1st Marines
Unknown Location, Unknown Date Day 1 Unknown Time
Michaels, Pelayo and I watch from the USS Anchorage’s starboard bridge wing, as the last bit of the sliced destroyer, the USS Howard, slowly slips beneath the waves. Practically leaning almost half of myself over the railing, and letting my arms dangle, I stiffly turn my head over to view the USS Michael Murphy still attached to the LPD. Sailors onboard the destroyer hauls in the remaining survivors from the severed Howard, while some others make attempts to free the Michael Murphy from the Anchorage. Staff Sergeant Alcatraz, Corporal West and a couple other Marines from second platoon are probably over there assisting the rescue operation. Or, to my thoughts, are still trying to find their way through the pitch-dark corridors and hallways.
“Well,” Michaels begins, “that’s a few million dollars out of our pockets.”
“Make it over a billion,” I correct him, standing back up to stretch my back. Pelayo ignores our short conversation, staring at the USS Spruance floating rather close to both ships. Her port side stern has several dents, though not looking serious. However, the Michael Murphy has more than just a few dents and scratches on her hull, same with the Anchorage. I can still see the USS Princeton at a decent distance away. From here, she basically looks fine.
Though my legs do feel better, and my adrenaline rush has finally subsided, I can still feel my stomach still churning as the three of us slide down and sit against the guardrail. I look my watch, only to find out that it is not working since we exited the portal.
During the agonizing long time, while most crewmen were out rescuing the survivors, we had the opportunity to clear away the empty bullet cases on the decks, as well as pick away the dead giant insects. Even now, I still see some of the cyan and green goo on the walls and deck. As far as I know, the sailors took the insects away. I pray to God they threw them overboard.
“What do we do now?” Pelayo breaks the silence, cradling his head in his arms to settle his seasick stomach.
“What’d you mean?” I mumble, not even bothering to speak clearly since I still feel a little nauseous.
Pelayo lifts his head again, and lazily gestures his arm presenting the chaos that is happening in front. “I mean, no power. We’re dead in the sea. No contact from the fleet. And… and look, the portal’s gone.”
“God knows where we are…” I reply with a groan, rubbing my eyes to ease the queasiness in my head.
“M-maybe we’ve gone back in time,” Michaels says as he shakily reaches into one of his pouches and pulls out a box of cigarettes.
“What?” I ask, turning my head to him.
“Ever seen The Final Countdown?”
“No,” Pelayo shakes his head. “What’s it about?”
“A ship going back in time.” Michaels puts a cigarette in his mouth.
“Yeah, I think that movie’s shit,” I say rolling my eyes. There is an awkward pause between us before Pelayo opens his mouth.
“You think… that happened to us?” he asks. Michaels and I turn to him.
“Wha’?” Michaels asks with the cigarette in his mouth.
“About the, uh, going back in time thing. You think what we encountered, brought us back in time?”
Michaels and I look at each other. Pondering for a moment, I am starting to think Pelayo maybe pointing out something. For all we know, we could be sent back in time, or worse, another world. Yet, a thought tugs my mind why we are sent back like the clichéd movie Michaels briefly explained. But, we were not tossed around in a storm. A giant crystal attacked us.
“Perhaps,” Michaels replies as he unclips his helmet, but keeps it on. “We won’t know for sure.”
The train whistles loudly as it steams down the railways. Twilight Sparkle and her friends stare out of their own windows at the magnificent scenery of open fields, patchy forests, and distant mountains pass by.
“Woo, woo!!” Pinkie mimics the whistling. Half of her body is hanging out the window, letting the wind brush her tangled pink mane.
“Pinkie, darling, do be careful when you’re hanging out like that,” Rarity says slightly worriedly to the pink mare behind. When Pinkie pops back inside, her hair looks like it has been pushed back from an explosion.
“It’s so much fun to go out and explore rather than being cooped in your houses,” she says. Taking in a huge breath, the pink pony blows into her hoof, and her hair poofs back to its original formality before continuing. “Especially if it’s camping.”
Rarity blinks a few times with a shocked look. “Camping? Who said anything about camping? I didn’t even bring my camping gear!”
“Oh, lighten up, Rarity,” Rainbow Dash waves a hoof, sitting next to Twilight across from the fashionista, and chilling out with her hooves behind her head. “We’ll only be camping on the beach throughout our vacation.”
“W-well, I figured…” Rarity pauses and turns towards Spike sitting next to her, staring out the window with awe. “Though I do admit, the countryside is marvelous.” Though not realizing, Applejack, sitting across the aisle with Fluttershy, snickers a little under Stetson after Rarity’s usual and over-the-top complaint.
The girls can feel the train begin to slow down when they hear another whistle. Looking out of the nearest windows, the train evenly comes to a halt in front of a station.
“Is this our stop?” Rainbow asks, hovering just above Twilight’s head.
“No, the next stop will be in a couple hours,” Twilight replies. “When we get there, we’ll be able to reach the beach just around sundown.”
“That sure is mighty nice to do that,” Applejack comments under her Stetson, earning a glance from Twilight.
“What is?” Twilight asks.
“Campin’ right on the beach. Watchin’ the waves go by. Sittin’ on the sand an’ havin’ fun.” The farm pony takes a slow deep breath. “I’ve never been to the beach before.”
“What?!” Pinkie shoots to Applejack, startling her. “You never ever been to the beach?!”
“Well, that’s why we’re going there today,” Twilight says from her book.
The train finally departs again from the station after resting for almost a half hour, and continues its journey through the natural environment. Applejack stretches herself, settling her fore hooves behind her head as she leans back with her Stetson covering her eyes.
“Ya’ know,” she begins. “It’s nice to take a few days off. Get away from schedules and all that what’s-it.”
“I’m excited we’re going to the beach!” Pinkie chants from the seat behind Rarity. “And this is Applejack’s first time!” She pulls out a camera from behind and snaps a few pictures of the outside and the girls.
“This is gonna be awesome!” she sings, earning a giggle from the rest of the friends.
After almost three hours on the rails once more, the train finally comes to a rest at the ponies’ determined stop, Whitetail Woods Station. It is late afternoon as soon as the girls step out of the coach, each carrying a backpack with them. As for Pinkie Pie, she walks out carrying the Celestia-sized sack on top of her head like a street performer. Rarity and Rainbow Dash still ponder of how she is able to do that without showing signs of struggling.
Alright,” Twilight says as the group exits the station, stopping at a fork in the path. The first leads straight ahead with trees hanging overhead like a tunnel, while the second off to their left is slightly narrower and more open.
“After this, we should be able to reach the beach by sundown.” Twilight pulls out a map and a compass with her magic.
“Well, let’s get to it,” Applejack replies.
“Onward!” Pinkie announces like a general, and proceeds to march straight.
“Um, Pinkie,” Twilight stops the pink pony after a few steps. “It’s the other path.”
“Oh, right.” Pinkie twirls around, the cheeky smile still plastered on her face, and marches to the correct path with the rest following behind.
The hot summer air starts to cool as Celestia’s sun begins to set. The group continues to walk forth to their destination throughout almost the rest of the day. The wind starts to pick when they exit the woods.
“Does everypony smell that?” Rarity says. The rest of the friends sniff the air, catching the faint scent of the ocean.
“Oh, yeah,” Rainbow Dash says.
“Smells salty,” Applejack says.
“That’s the ocean, silly!” Pinkie bounces next to the farmpony. “We’re close!”
Still following the dirt road, the girls dash through a wide open field with all their might. The ocean scent grows stronger, the wind picks up, and the cries of seagulls fill the sky as they draw nearer.
“I hear it over the hill!” Pinkie cries pointing over to a hill just ahead of them.
Celestia’s sun is just dipping over the horizon. With their last strength, the group runs over and up the hill. When they reach the top, their mouths drop open, gazing at the crystal blue water and pearl white sand lying just below the foot of the hill.
“It’s so...” Rarity stumbles on her words, too amazed at the scenery.
“Don’t need to say it, sugarcube,” Applejack says.
“It’s amazing.” Twilight softly exclaims, her eyes widening as a wave crashes into the sand.
“Well, let’s not stand here,” Pinkie says jumping excitedly with the large bag still balancing on her back. “Time to have fun!!” The pink mare dashes first, leaving a cloud of dust in her shape behind for a brief second before dissipating. The group chuckles lightly as they watch Pinkie drop her giant bag in the sand, and dives head first into the sea.
“How ‘bout we set up camp, first?” Applejack suggests, preparing to walk down the hill. The rest nod their heads in agreement, and follow downhill. All except for Twilight, who gazes at the sun touching the horizon with its bright orange glow painted across the ocean. She closes her eyes, feeling the last bit of the radiating sunrays and the strong cool wind for a brief moment, before trotting down the hill to meet her friends. Her vacation is waiting.
The last bit of sunlight vanishes over the horizon, leaving nothing but a dark blue and violet sky spotted with blinking stars that are now just appearing. Leaning on the railing, resting my head in my shoulders, I finishing counting the minutes to occupy my bored mind. Eight and a half minutes, I add up. That is how long it takes for the sun to completely set. But it is strange; a typical sunset lasts longer, especially during the summer. I look down at the progress of the Michael Murphy. So far, the crewmen have managed to separate the destroyer from the Anchorage by a few meters, as well as some of ours doing the assisting. Veering my eyes off to the left, I stare at the crew on the bow of the Spruance frantically working like ants by launching ropes to the straying Princeton in order to keep the four ships close.
“You okay, Kev’?” Michaels asks from behind. I stand back up to stretch my sore back, and turn around to see both him and Pelayo sitting around a tiny pile of glow sticks.
“Yeah,” I manage to say.
“Sure got dark pretty quick,” Michaels comments looking up at the sky.
“Mmhmm,” Pelayo nods with a mouthful of his MRE. Looking at his meal makes my stomach growl. I have not eaten anything since we exited the portal. My head was nauseas and my adrenaline was pumping I did not fully stop for a moment to rest. Now that everything has subsided, I am fighting to keep my eyes open.
I pick up my M16A4 leaning against the railing right next to me, and rest it in my arms. To keep my mind busy, I play around with the switches on the laser designator attached to the barrel, but nothing works. I check the Trijicon ACOG scope, which shows the same result.
“Shit,” I sigh in frustration, and place my rifle back where I picked it up.
As the three of us sit in complete silence, contemplating the events early today, something catches my attention off to the far left. I veer my eyes to a small radome some meters where the bridge wing ends. Something small is sparkling within the angular stand the radome is sitting on. I unwittingly proceed to it, catching Michaels’ and Pelayo’s attention.
“Brooke?” Pelayo asks. Both he and Michaels glance at each other as I head over to the bulbous dome at a brisk pace.
“Kev’, where you going?” Michaels calls out.
“Hold on,” I point my finger out. “I see something.” I approach the stand holding the radar several feet above. I check one of its sides (facing starboard) to find black smudge and an indent like a round hit it. Almost smack in the middle, I found a glowing piece lodged in the metal.
After a few tugs, I pull the glowing piece free. Surprisingly, I thought it would take more effort to pry it. I look down at my hand to see what I have as I make my way back, but immediately slowly down to a standstill once I recognize it. It is at least the size of my combat knife, feels as light as a small stick, and pulsates a green glow. A tiny warm feeling radiates through my glove as I inspect the crystal shard more. Mesmerized in its glow, I can see something swarming within the shard, like it is begging to be released.
Then, a voice whispers into my ear.
“Kevin.” I remember this voice. It sounds almost like a woman. All of a sudden, my eyes are blinded by the brightening green glow, but I can’t seem to look away. My head begins to spin as more voices whisper into my head. They are all inaudible, except for the female still speaking softly.
“It’s time to wake up. Wake up, Kevin.”
“Kevin!” Michaels violently shakes my shoulders. I blink several times, and all the whispers have ceased instantly. My vision has returned as soon as I’m pulled out of my trance. My breathing has become more heavy than usual, and my heart is pounding in my chest. Slowly, I try to open my stiff hand to release the crystal shard from my grip.
“Kev’, can you hear me?” Michaels says again as he waves a hand in front of my face. “Pelayo, help me out.” A startled Pelayo rushes in to assist, and both Marines pry the crystal shard from my clutch. As soon as the piece slides free, my body has suddenly turned soft, and I collapse.
“Brooke!” Pelayo shouts. He and Michaels quick take hold and lower me slowly to the floor.
“Kevin, look at me,” Michaels kneels down. I want to say something, but my throat feels dry all of a sudden. I unconsciously look down at the crystal shard just a few feet away, faintly flickering as if it is calling to me. Pelayo, with a squeamish look on his face, takes the shard with his two fingers, and tosses it overboard.
“Jesus,” he heaves. “Let’s… let’s not do that, ever again.”
“Yeah, I agree,” Michaels replies.
It seems like an hour as I take many deep breaths until my breathing and heart rate finally settles. My body feels as though every bone and nerve has been taken out. The only thing that is running through my mind is that voice. Without a doubt, she is the voice earlier today. But, who is she? How does she know my name?
“You feeling okay?” Michaels comforts me.
“Y-yeah… a bit,” I finally answer, taking a deep breath. “I’m good.”
“You sure?” Pelayo asks.
I nod my head. “Yeah.” I am not sure how I feel about that answer. My head still feels dizzy, and I can feel a bead of sweat forming on my forehead.
Pelayo lets out a sigh of relief, like he has been holding his breath since I grabbed that shard.
“That was a dumb move, you pulled,” Michaels pats my helmet before standing back up. “I’ll try and get someone up here.” With that said, the Marine walks towards the bridge, leaving Pelayo and I alone.
Pelayo sighs as he leans over the railing, pressing his face in his hands. All I can do is sit motionless and listen to the many chats all around.
With Luna’s moon high in the cool night, and nothing but the night critters chatting and the waves crashing, the ponies sit around a campfire while gazing at the moon’s reflection painted on the sea.
“Wow,” Pinkie exclaims quietly. “You know, being quiet isn’t that bad after all.”
“It really is beautiful,” Rarity compliments while holding a cup of tea in her magic. “As much as I want a business in a city, I really wish I could live by the ocean. I would never miss a day without looking at a view like this.”
“It really is,” Twilight agrees. “Studying maybe my thing, but this is something I could easily get used to.”
“Now ya’ talking, Twi’,” Rainbow Dash chants, lightly tapping Twilight’s shoulder. “You see, taking time off from studying and saving Equestria is well worth it.”
Spike, who has been leaning beside Twilight, stretches his arms followed by a yawn. “I think I’m ready to hit the hay…”
“Looks like someone is a little tired,” Twilight giggles.
“Wh-what? Did I say that?” the dazed dragon twists his head around.
“I think we’re all a little tired from the trip,” Rarity adds.
With each of them saying a quick goodnight, the girls return to their respective tents that surround the ongoing campfire. Slowly, they fall asleep as the fire dims. All except for Twilight can barely keep her eyes closed. Aside from the crashing waves that are keeping her awake, the unicorn can hardly contain her excitement. This is perhaps one of the first times she and her friends get to go out for a proper vacation, to a place recommended by Princess Celestia. Normally, after many missions to save Equestria from danger, the princess would award the girls for their bravery. The mission to free the Crystal Kingdom was perhaps one of the greatest challenges they ever faced since Nightmare Moon, Discord, or even the Changelings.
Twilight takes a deep breath, and pulls out a book from her bag with her magic. As she turns to a page and begins to read, a loud burp and a flash of green flames interrupts her. Spike wakes up with the usual drowsy eyes, both of them noticing a letter lying on the dragon’s belly. The unicorn lifts up the letter with her magical aurora and unwraps it.
“The princess?” Twilight asks herself. She turns to Spike but finds him fast asleep rather quickly. She turns back to the letter, and opens it.
My dearest student Twilight,
I greatly apologize in disturbing you and your friends on your vacation at this time, but I am afraid there have been several disturbances around Equestria. As of last night, my sister and I sensed a magic signature far off to the east coast, possibly close to Manehattan. I have sent Royal Guards to assess the situation, and will report by tomorrow morning.
Just this morning, two objects fell from the sky; one near my castle while the other crashed in Sweet Apple Acres. Fear not, the Apple family is safe and unharmed. At the same time, my sister and I felt another magic signature off to the west coast. Tell your friends about the situation, and keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.
Once again, I am deeply sorry to send you this urgent message during your vacation. But, this is to warn you, and I don’t want anything to happen to my student or your friends. If by chance you do see something strange, send an emergency letter to my sister. I will be heading to Manehattan tomorrow. I wish you and your friends the safest and most fun on your vacation.
Your mentor,
Princess Celestia
Twilight’s eyes widen nearly covering her face. Metal objects falling from the sky? In Canterlot and Sweet Apple Acres? Magic signatures the princesses sensed on both the east and west coast? What are they? Why did they come, and how? Are they threat to Equestria? What do they look like?
Her head slowly aches as she asks herself more questions. She never sensed anything throughout the entire day, unless that is only a princess trait. Twilight reads and rereads the letter to make sure she did not skip a word. All she got was two metal objects falling from the sky, and an unknown source of magic coming from the both coasts. It puzzles Twilight that Princess Celestia did not mention whether these things are a threat or not. Do the princesses have no idea what these are?
“Ugh, thanks princess,” Twilight mutters to herself, stepping out of her tent for fresh air. “That just pretty much ruins the vacation.” As she walks away from the camp, she sits a few meters from the sea, staring at the star-filled sky. She turns around when she hears something behind, and spots the white rabbit hopping to her from Fluttershy’s tent.
“Hey, Angel,” Twilight says quietly. Angel hops over beside the unicorn, and points to the letter underneath her hoof.
“Yeah,” she huffs. “Even when we’re on vacation, the princess sends me letters related to studying or emergencies.” The little rabbit whistles softly before hopping away into a forest patch tens of meters away to the right. Alone again, Twilight lets out another sigh to get the emergency message out of her head.
“I guess I’ll have to tell the girls first thing tomorrow.”
I continue to look up at the calm beautiful night sky, unable to think of a different topic to talk about. The only thing that can come to my mind is the stars and moon. The longer I stare at the moon, the more I become mesmerized by its bright shine. It is larger than usual, and shows little craters on its surface. It has come to my conclusion for a while we are not on Earth, or, we have bumped back in time. If we are on another planet, where? If not, how far in time did we go back?
A sudden bright flash and an ongoing ‘hiss’ nearly blinds me as Michaels ignites a flare.
“Really?” I tell him while shielding my eyes.
“Glow sticks were about dead anyway,” Michaels replies, tossing the flare down the bridge wing a few meters. I rub my tired eyes to stay awake. Who knows what time it is now.
My eyes slowly begin to close. With tiredness starting to settle in, I take a glance towards the bridge, expecting it to be filled with more glow sticks and sailors trying to restore power. Then, something catches my eyes. A flash? I blink a few times to make sure I am not hallucinating.
“Brooke. You okay?” Pelayo asks next to me. He turns towards the bridge, when another light quickly flickers by. A few seconds later, the lights and monitors start glimmering.
“We got power!” a sailor screams happily. “We got power!! Power’s restoring!!”
The whole bridge returns to life. The navigation lights turns on, and the radars start spinning. Cries of joy can be heard from inside and around. Michaels, Pelayo and I look around, filled with relief and excitement. There is a jolt from the Anchorage, and we can all feel the ship’s engines revering. Michaels screams in rejoice, repeating the phrase ‘holy shit’.
“Holy shit!” Pelayo shouts the phrase as well, suddenly embracing me in a hug. “Finally!” I can’t help but feel the same way. I’m jumping with joy to finally see power coming back. When Pelayo releases me, I turn around to see the rest of the ships. The Michael Murphy, Spruance and Princeton have their navigation lights brightly shining.
The clapping and applause continues inside the bridge, including Commander Gaines who watches all the computer screens comes back on. To him, it is like a birth of a child when he sees his own ship come back to life.
“Alright! Listen up!” he orders, and everyone in the room falls silent. “I know we finally got power on. But, there’s no time for celebrating.” He glances at his crew who can barely contain their excitement.
“I want search radars set to maximum range. Radio channels open. Locate the nearest shore to see where we are. Understood?”
“Aye, sir!” the bridge chants.
With barely a couple feet from the Anchorage, the Michael Murphy trudges at a sluggish speed until she is free, and takes the lead. The Spruance separates from the cruiser Princeton after being stuck since we arrived, and circles around Anchorage to port side as the LPD trails behind Michael Murphy. Princeton soon sails alongside starboard.
“Radar systems seem to be in check, commander,” Operations Specialist Grant announces behind his station.
“Engine room has a green light,” a technician says.
“Maintain heading east at seventeen knots. I want eyes open for anything,” Commander Gaines orders.
“Aye, sir.” The commander gazes out of the shattered windows over at the Michael Murphy steaming ahead. Finally relieved that the first priority is cleared off his list, another thing suddenly pops in his memory.
“Gallin, watch the bridge,” he orders to his officer. “Jackson, come with me.”
“Aye,” Gallin turns around from the helm. “Where are you going, sir?”
“I’ll be down in sick bay. Inform me when there’s anything.”
Commander Gaines navigates down several levels through tight narrow stairways and corridors blocked off by sailors and Marines doing repairs with Petty Officer Jackson behind. Burned out flares and glow sticks are still scattered across the floors, with some areas being cleaned up.
“Any idea why we are heading to the sick bay, sir?” Jackson asks.
“I need to see Spence,” Gaines answers quickly.
“Him?” Jackson has a bewildered look on his face, when his memory reminds him what happened to the seaman when they encountered the crystal.
As the two men near the infirmary, Gaines can hear some faint cries from behind the doors. Swinging them open, the commander’s eyes are immediately focused on the room filled with wounded sailors and some Marines. Majority of sailors are from the USS Howard. Packets and containers of medicine and instruments lie all over the floor as corpsmen race to clean up the mess, and help out the injured as best as possible, the critical ones mostly. Though shocked to see this amount of wounded, the commander restrains himself from showing any fear, and enters.
“Commander,” a doctor walks up to the two men.
“Lieutenant Ewing,” Gaines says. “I’m here to see Seaman James Spence.”
The doctor rubs her tired eyes, and turns around to see the chaos before thinking for a moment.
“Yeah. He’s here,” she finally says, and motions the two men to follow. Gaines and Jackson scan each of the wounded sailors and Marines that fill up the medical room as they pass by.
“Geez,” Jackson mutters quietly.
“How many?” the commander asks.
Ewing sighs. “Can’t get an exact number. From the Howard and our guys combined, I say more than a hundred. Don’t know how many the ships brought onboard after we flew out. God. Never thought something like this would happen. Glad we got power back, though.”
“What about Spence?” Jackson asks. “How was he when he came here?”
The doctor shakes her head. “Can’t say for sure. Chief Bekkens and Petty Officer Roland brought him here. Poor kid was a mess.”
The three continue to walk towards the back of the room to a set of enclosed cubicle curtains. Next to one of them is Petty Officer Roland sitting on a chair, but Chief Petty Officer Bekkens is nowhere to be seen.
“Thank you Lieutenant,” Commander Gaines says to the doctor. She silently nods her head, and returns to her work.
“Sir.” Roland shoots himself at attention the moment he lays eyes on the two men standing in front.
“At ease,” the commander says. “Where’s Bekkens?”
“He went down to C-I-C. Told me to stay put,” the sailor answers.
“Where’s Spence?”
“Just behind here.” Jackson points to the curtain. “Docs told me to wait while they manage to calm him down. Took them almost all day after we went into some roller coaster ride. Was fuckin’ terrifying in the dark.”
Roland pulls back the curtains, revealing a bed with the young sailor Spence sitting on the head in fetal position. He shaking uncontrollably like he is suffering from a cold.
“Jesus Christ,” Jackson whispers, shocked at the sight. Commander Gaines walks in first, and lowers down right beside the terrified kid.
“Spence,” Gaines says softly, slowly waving his head in front of Spence. “Spence, can you hear me?” The seaman moves his bloodshot eyes to the commander.
“S-si-sir?” he stutters.
Gaines nods. “It’s me, Spence.” Spence veers his eyes to Jackson and Roland peering from outside.
“Spence,” Gaines slowly begins, and the sailor turns back to him. “You have to listen to me.” Spence stares at the commander for a few seconds, before giving him a trembling nod.
“What happened, when we encountered the crystal?” Gaines asks.
“C-crys-stal,” Spence slowly repeats.
“Yeah,” the commander responds nodding. “What happened when we encountered the crystal?”
“V-voices,” the officer whispers. “Sh-she s-spoke to me. Ch-ch-changelings.”
“What are changelings buddy?” Jackson asks before Gaines raises a hand to stop him.
“T-they’re uns-topp-able. S-swarms. Sh-she c-can hear me. Us. S-she w-watched over us. Y-years. F-for the t-test.”
“What test, Spence?” Commander Gaines asks.
“Wh-what am I, s-sir?” Spence says suddenly, putting a puzzled look on Roland and Jackson.
“Come on, Spence. Stay focused,” Gaines says. “What do you mean, test?”
“F-for us… th-they’re coming… they’re coming for us.”
Commander Gaines sits still for a moment before rising back up. Roland and Jackson remain silent as they step to the side to let the commander out, and close the curtain.
“Lieutenant,” Gaines briskly approaches to Lieutenant Ewing who is checking on a patient. “I want someone on station by Spence, and keep an eye on him until further orders.”
“Of course, sir,” the doctor almost stumbles on her words, and the commander heads towards the exit with Roland and Jackson following suit.
Gaines hastily exits the infirmary and hurries back to the bridge in a fast walk pace. Deep in thought, he repeats the few sentences in his head from Spence, while being almost completely oblivious he nearly bumps into several people.
“Commander.” Roland speaks up as the two sailors catch up to Gaines.
“Jackson, inform Lieutenant Bowes in Command and Control to have all stations on standby, then meet us in the bridge with Bekkens,” the commander orders.
“Uh, aye sir.” Jackson replies, and turns in the opposite direction.
“Sir,” Roland says again. “What are we going to do with Spence?”
“From what he told me, we may be in something a lot bigger,” Gaines says, as the two climb up a flight of stairs.
“Since you mentioned that, sir, I have a feeling we’ll be staying up all night again?” Roland asks.
“I’m afraid so.”
Barely catching any sleep from last night, Twilight Sparkle opens her dreary eyes, only to be blinded by the morning light entering through her tent. Rubbing her eyes, she crawls out of her comfort zone like a bear waking up from hibernation, only to be greeted by a familiar cheery voice.
“Morning, sleepy head!” Pinkie bounces in front of the unicorn.
“Y-yeah, sure. Morning Pinkie,” Twilight lazily replies followed by a yawn.
Pinkie stops her bouncing. “Boy, you look like you pulled an all-nighter writing a twenty-page essay with four cups of coffee… have you?”
“Uh, wha’?” Twilight yawns again, cracking open one eye.
“Um, make that a thirty-page essay,” the pink pony corrects.
Twilight shakes her head again until her eyes finally adjust to the daylight. “I, I haven’t been working on any essay, Pinkie.”
“Then, what’s that on your head?” Pinkie points. Sure enough, Twilight feels something light on her head. As she looks up, she grabs the piece of paper with her magic before it is blown away by the wind.
“Ooh, a letter from the princess!” Pinkie’s grin returns. “Is she wishing us the best fun in our trip? I’ll send her a postcard.” Twilight glances at the letter, which practically kept her awake almost all night.
“Actually, I got it last night,” she answers slowly.
Pinkie tilts her head to the side. “Huh? Why would she send you a letter in the middle of the night?” Twilight tries to find the correct words in her head, but anything she can think of feels too complex. Who knows how her friends will react to these strange anomalies that happened yesterday, especially Applejack. She would have a heart attack if she finds out what occurred in Sweet Apple Acres.
“Hey, Pinkie,” Twilight says after taking a deep breath. “Are the girls awake?”
“Almost,” the pony nods. “Is, everything okay?”
“Yeah. I’ll, explain everything once everypony is awake.”
It’s now or never. Pinkie Pie manages to get everyone awake with a toot of her trumpet, something Twilight kind of expects. When they gather around, Twilight swallows her nervousness, explains the situation, and rereads the letter word by word. As soon as she is finished, she holds her breath and braces for anything her friends might have to say. Like she assumed, they are left speechless.
“Well, at least my family is safe,” Applejack says unexpectedly. A wave of relief courses through Twilight. “I’m glad the princess sent some help.”
“I agree,” Rarity states. “But still, it sounds rather, well, perplexing for something to fall out of the sky, and then two magical signatures appearing on both coasts of Equestria.”
“Did, um, did the princess say what they were?” Fluttershy asks.
“No,” Twilight shakes her head looking over the letter. Even she is surprised that Princess Celestia never mentioned what the two objects that fell look like. “She just said two large metal objects.”
“Well, I’m pretty sure they’re not dangerous. Otherwise, the princess would have called for help,” Rarity says, earning a couple nods from the group.
“But, what about those, magical-things the princesses sensed?” Rainbow Dash asks with her child-like vocabulary.
“What the princesses have that I don’t is a detection spell set around Equestria,” Twilight explains. “Obviously, it is used to detect large quantities of magic. For instance, a teleportation spell on big objects.”
“Like what the princesses discovered on the coasts,” Rarity takes a guess, and Twilight nods.
“For all we know, we could suddenly run into who, or what, caused that magical signature.”
“Well, if we do, we can always give them a good buckin’ or two,” Rainbow says punching her two hooves together.
“An’ how are we gonna do that when we don’t know what they look like?” Applejack looks up to the pegasus, before turning back to Twilight. “Listen, Twi’, don’t get too worked up. We’re on vacation, and we’re gonna keep it that way. Right, gals?”
“Well, duh!” Pinkie says. “What isn’t a vacation when we’re not enjoying ourselves?” The rest of the girls nod in agreement.
“And if we do see something suspicious, we’ll let the princess know,” Rarity adds.
“Alright.” Twilight smiles as she puts away the letter in her tent.
“Then it’s settled!” Pinkie cries. “Time to start our vacation!” The pink pony dashes off to the water, already donned with an inflatable tube and a snorkel.
The rest of the girls giggle as Pinkie cannonballs into the sea, and race back to their tents to get their things. Twilight remains standing where she is, unable to let go of her smile. Her friends are right; they are on vacation, and it needs to be treated like one.
The summer sun is shining without a cloud for miles, and the mares begin their vacation, at least according to Pinkie who initially announces it with a photo of all of them. And throughout the few hours is nothing but the cheerful pony running around snapping a picture while the rest of her friends are enjoying themselves.
There is a quick snapshot of Rarity sunbathing with an umbrella. A few pictures of Spike teaching Applejack scuba diving. A photo set (possibly the most amount Pinkie has taken) of Rainbow Dash posing, showing off flying moves, and performing stunts into the ocean like an athlete. There are a few shots of Twilight reading under a tree wearing a cheap one-piece swimsuit, until she catches Pinkie with a look of shock and embarrassment. And then there is Fluttershy with a face redder than sunburn when she finds out Pinkie has been taking photos, and makes attempts to flee.
“Ooh, ooh! How about one more of all of us?!” Pinkie calls while dancing on her hind legs like she is standing on a bed of hot coal. Applejack (wearing almost a ridiculous amount of floaties), Rainbow and Spike step out of the ocean, and shake the excess water off.
“Geez, Pinkie.” Rainbow comments as she pounds the side of her head to get any water out of her ears. “You been taking photos since this morning.”
“You should join us. The water’s amazing,” Spike adds.
“Just one more photo, please?” the pink pony pleads. “I want to have an afterwards photo too.”
“How ‘bout we do that after we eat,” Applejack suggests.
“Yeah, I’m starting to get hungry.” Twilight says approaching from their left.
“You didn’t even do anything, Twi’,” Rainbow snorts when she notices Twilight’s swimsuit.
“Well, I brought all your favorite cupcakes,” Pinkie says. “If we have one more photo, I’ll let you have some.”
With a quick look at each other, Pinkie knows she has them convinced. In a short time, everyone huddles close together a few meters from the camera stand with Pinkie behind.
“Ready?” she asks with a final adjustment to the camera.
“Ready!” the group chants. Pinkie hits the time, and hurries behind her friends.
“Say ‘best beach vacation’!”
“Best beach vacation!” The camera flashes, and out pops the photograph. Twilight grabs it first with her magic, and waves it before the group separates.
“How is it? How is it?” Pinkie eagerly waits for the picture to appear. The girls gather around Twilight to have a look. They all have a giggle when they see themselves looking goofy in the picture. Applejack, Rainbow and Spike still soaking wet, Twilight in her cheap swimsuit, Rarity looking like a model with her custom swimwear, sunhat and sunglasses, Fluttershy standing with a few new animal friends she made, and Pinkie Pie looking like a tourist pulling the group together.
“That is awesome!” Rainbow compliments.
“Hey, uh, what is that?” Spike asks once everyone’s laughter finally subsides.
“What is what, Spike?” Twilight says, wiping away a tear.
“That. In the top right corner.” The dragon points to the ocean in the background, where there is a tiny grey smudge close to the edge.
“Eh, could be from the flash,” Applejack waves a hoof. The girls suddenly fall silent as Rarity takes the photograph in her magic, and examines it with her trained eyes.
“I don’t know,” she says. “It doesn’t look like a flash.”
“I’m not running out of ink,” Pinkie says checking her camera.
“It’s not,” Fluttershy utters. The mares turn to the pegasus who is staring towards the ocean, looking like she just witnessed something horrifying.
A gut-wrenching feeling swirls in Twilight. For some reason, the letter from Princess Celestia is crawling back to her mind, reminding her of the strange magical anomalies on both coasts. Slowly, she and her friends turn their heads one by one in the direction Fluttershy is gazing. Twilight’s heart nearly comes to a halt the moment her eyes lay on some grey structures floating close to the horizon some miles away.
“What the hay are those?” Rainbow Dash questions softly, squinting her eyes.
“Are those weird lookin’ whales or something?” Applejack asks with a baffled look.
“They’re not whales,” Fluttershy replies.
“Then, are those…?” Rarity speaks, but pauses before she can finish. Twilight lights up her horn, and quickly disappears in a flash. A second later, she reappears with a telescope grasped in her magic, and hurriedly sets it up.
“Come on. Come on. Come on.” She repeats under her breath, and peers through the eyeglass to have a closer look. It is as though she can only hear her pounding heart in her eardrums once she aims at the grey structures in the distance. To her sense of knowledge and years of studying, Twilight has no clue how to describe what she sees. She can make out four floaters; one is larger than the rest with two cones, two smaller ones looking almost identical, and the last is relatively a medium size compared to the rest.
“Twilight?” Spike lightly taps on the unicorn’s shoulder. “Do you think…?”
“I, I don’t know Spike,” Twilight responds, pulling away from the telescope. “But if it is, let’s hope the princesses have a plan.”