• Published 15th Feb 2012
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Battleships are Magic - totallynotabrony

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Chapter 2

Ponyville

Twilight Sparkle was deep in a Political Science textbook. There had been talk all over Equestria about a possible war, and it had sparked her curiosity about politics and world affairs.

The purple unicorn knew that war was a terrible thing, and most of her interest in the looming conflict was vested in trying to prevent it.

Her young dragon assistant, Spike, rolled his eyes as he watched her read. It was her third book of the day.

Twilight’s friend Rainbow Dash flew in through the open window. “Hey Twilight, I saw something strange beyond the Everfree Forest.”

“You mean the Equestrian Sea? What was it, Rainbow?”

“It was a giant ship!” Dash gestured with her hooves. “It sailed out of a storm. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Whose ship was it?” asked Twilight.

Dash shrugged. “I didn’t see anypony on board. I was going to get closer, but it sent out this flying machine.”

“A flying machine?”

“Right. It made this buzzing noise and flew over the forest for a while. It wasn’t very fast, at least not compared to me.” She gave a self-satisfied nod.

“So it just flew over the forest?” asked Twilight. “It didn’t do anything else?”

“Yeah,” said Dash, scratching her head. “It flew for a while and then went back to the ship. Maybe it was scouting the land?”

“Scouting?” said Spike. His eyes went wide. “Are we being invaded?”

That possibility hadn’t occurred to Twilight until then. Although Rainbow didn’t seem too concerned, she decided that Princess Celestia should know about this.

“Take a letter, Spike.”

USS Wisconsin

There had been whispers going around the ship since the storm had ended. Captain Mittal knew that it was only a matter of time before word got around to the whole crew that they were lost. He also knew that too long without information would begin to create false rumors.

He picked up the microphone for the 1MC, the main address system for the ship. “This is your Commanding Officer speaking. As many of you have already heard, we’re having navigation difficulties.” There was a low murmur heard throughout the ship. Mittal thought he heard someone say, That’s putting it mildly.

“As many of you are also aware, we’ve encountered unusual wildlife.” There was another hum of voices, somewhat louder this time.

“We’re going to keep working to make contact with society and figure out what happened. In the meantime, remember that you men are professionals, and together we’ll get through this.”

That wasn’t as strong a finish to his speech as Mittal had wanted, but it would do for now. He hung up the microphone. The sun was beginning to set, so he went to his cabin to get some rest. He left orders with the Officer of the deck to wake him for any reason.

Canterlot

Princess Luna had finally convinced her sister to go to sleep. Celestia had lowered the sun earlier, but had been still fretting out the situation in Zebrica. The dragons had ignored another peace offering, and the United Lands were one step closer to war.

Luna stood taking in the moonlight. It was a rather quiet night, and the stars were clear. A letter suddenly arrived in a swirl of magic. It was addressed to Celestia. Luna briefly debated whether to open it or give it to her in the morning. Deciding that it might be urgent, she unrolled the scroll.

It was from Twilight Sparkle, Celestia’s student. A friend of hers had spotted an enormous ship sailing in the Equestrian Sea. As Luna read further, her brows knit in concern. She didn’t think Equestria was about to come under attack, but they couldn’t afford to make that assumption.

Luna asked herself what Celestia would do. She would want to know more. Deciding to let her sister sleep, she wrote back to Twilight, asking her to investigate.

Sweet Apple Acres

An orange pony awoke to a tapping on her window.

“Hey Applejack!” called Rainbow Dash.

“What in tarnation…” muttered Applejack, slipping out of bed. She opened the window.

“Twilight wants us all to meet at the library. Princess Luna wants us to go check out this ship that’s sailing just off the coast.”

“It’s the middle of tha’ night, Rainbow!”

Dash got in her friend’s face. “Well excuse me! I just don’t want to have to tell the Princess that we didn’t go because somepony wouldn’t get out of bed!”

“All right,” grumbled Applejack, “I’m comin’.”

As quick as she could, Applejack got ready to go, leaving a note for her family. She ran to Ponyville, arriving ahead of everyone except Twilight and Rainbow.

The two of them filled her in on the situation. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie arrived, followed by Rarity, who complained about missed beauty sleep.

“It’ll be just like a sleepover!” said Pinky. “Except we’ll be walking instead of sleeping, which I guess would make it a walkover. This is going to be so exciting, I’ve never been to a walkover before! I brought cupcakes.” She punctuated her last sentence by flourishing a tray of baked goods.

“All right girls,” said Twilight. “We’ve got to track down that ship and see who it belongs to. Rainbow, didn’t you say it was headed north?”

Dash nodded. “If it kept the same speed, I bet I know where it is now. It shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

“Are they friendly?” asked Fluttershy quietly.

“We don’t know,” said Twilight. “That’s something else we have to find out. The Princess is counting on us. Let’s go!”

USS Wisconsin

Apparently, nothing interesting happened all night. Mittal was almost disappointed. The battleship had sailed slowly on, hugging the coast and watching for signs of life.

“How’s the weather?” Mittal asked the current Officer of the deck, a different man than it had been the day before.

“Clear as a bell,” answered the OOD. In a different tone, he added, “I didn’t recognize any star constellations last night.”

Even the night sky was different. Mittal didn’t want to admit it, but it appeared that Wisconsin and her crew were no longer in the Atlantic, and maybe not even on planet Earth.

With that somewhat terrifying thought, he went to get some breakfast. Several minutes later, he was almost finished when a young officer came to find him with news from the bridge.

“Sir, we’ve spotted some more wildlife.”

Mittal dropped his fork and followed the messenger. Upon his arrival on the bridge, he grabbed a pair of high-powered binoculars and gazed out at the distant coast. His eyes found six small multicolored spots. Upon closer inspection, they appeared to be vaguely horselike. The sky-blue one may even be the same animal that teased the Pioneer the day before.

“Make us stationary and drop anchor,” Mittal ordered. “Get a landing party ready to go.”

Canterlot

After Celestia had finished raising the sun, Luna told her sister about the letter from Twilight Sparkle.

Celestia nodded. “You did the right thing, sister.” She smiled. “I appreciate you letting me sleep. I have a full day ahead. First, I’m meeting with Chief Thunderhooves, and later I have to compose a letter to Queen Beak.”

Luna nodded, knowing communication with the various countries in the United Lands was important. Chief Thunderhooves, leader of the Buffalo Nation, and Queen Beak, the ruler of the Griffon Kingdom, were important supporters of the UL’s quest to get the dragons out of Zebrica.

“If Twilight writes again, I trust you to answer if I’m not here,” said Celestia. “I should be going now.” She made ready to leave.

With the moon down, Luna’s duties for the day were over. She decided to stay awake a while longer in case Twilight and her friends found what they were looking for.

Shores of the Equestrian Sea

Based on Rainbow Dash’s description of the ship’s course, Twilight gathered her magic and teleported the six of them to a spot Rainbow suggested. There was nothing to be seen but Luna’s moon setting over empty water.

“Maybe I overestimated,” said Dash, sheepishly.

Nopony had a good idea of how to find the ship, so they decided to walk south and keep their eyes open. The moon slowly disappeared and the sun took its place. Twilight realized that she’d spent so much time in the library in the past few days, that it had been a while since she’d been able to appreciate a sunrise.

It was Pinky that spotted it first, a low grey shape on the horizon. Rainbow flew ahead and confirmed that it was the same ship that she’d encountered before. It was coming closer.

As the ship drew near, Twilight realized just how big it was. Perhaps Rainbow hadn’t exaggerated enough. The bow was sharp and trim, with the number 64 painted in white. Above the hull, the bridge and other structure was blocky and utilitarian. The decks were crowded with long tubes. Cannons? Twilight wondered. Was it a warship?

The ship seemed to be slowing down, and soon stopped near where the ponies watched. An anchor on a chain slipped from its chock and dropped into the sea.

A few more minutes passed. Twilight thought she could see some kind of creatures moving along the decks of the ship, but it was too far away to be sure. She noticed a small boat being lowered over the side.

While the ship lay at anchor, the boat sliced through the small waves and headed for shore. As it came closer, Twilight made out several figures inside. All of them seemed to be wearing the same blotchy, earth-toned clothing.

The boat pulled up on the beach a short distance away. Fluttershy made a small noise.

USS Wisconsin

Mittal put the binoculars back to his eyes. They were heavy, and he was getting tired of holding them. The boat with a small group of Marines aboard seemed to have made it to shore.

Shortly, the radio crackled to life.

“Wisconsin?” The speaker sounded a little shaken, and had forgotten proper radio procedure.

Mittal picked up the microphone. “Captain Mittal here. Go ahead.”

“You’re not going to believe this sir, but…they speak English.”


Author note:
Thanks for the kind words. FIM Fiction sure knows how to make a person feel welcome.

I'm still looking for editors/prereaders

For all you fighters instead of lovers, fret not. Wisconsin will get a chance to deliver some ordnance before the end of the story.