Chapter 21: Tying Tides (Part 3 – All Seas are Navigable) + A/N
September 2nd, Day 1
This is Twilight Sparkle reporting in for Day One in one of the most amazing and advance ships built by an intelligent race we know as “humans”. This ship, the USS Bonhomme Richard, is just one of three ships my friends and I will be staying in, and journeying with. The other two, according to Commander Gaines, is the USS Fitzgerald and USS Lassen, or what he calls them “destroyers”.
The ship Princess Cadance, my friends and I are staying in is vast. Much bigger than I anticipated by many numbers I cannot calculate. Commander Gaines gave us a quick tour around it since we left Manehattan. He showed us the main deck first, known as the “flight deck” of what the commander said. There are so many “aircraft” (to what they are called according to my information), most of them the Ospreys, a few the one that crashed in Sweet Apple Acres, and others that are small and thin.
After that, we headed to the cafeteria; also the humans call it the “mess hall”. From my reports with Mister Brooke after the humans were introduced to Ponyville, they eat both meat and vegetables. Except, the food here is terrible. Even Rarity complained so much at both the quality and taste of it. As a fashionista and lady-like mare herself, she has to know that this ship is for “military purposes”, much to Commander Gaines explanation. However, we received a lot of glances by the humans, so much it made poor Fluttershy want to run away. Luckily, we have a couple Royal Guards onboard, but I think—
“Attention all crew, prepare for night operations. I repeat, prepare for night operations.”
“Ugh!” Rarity whines from her bunk. “Have these humans ever heard of a mare trying to get her beauty sleep in a horrific place like this?!”
“Hey, it ain’t that bad,” Applejack says, lying in hers just under the white unicorn. Twilight immediately stops writing in her journal to see both of her friends just across from her. Applejack in the bottom bunk, Rarity in the middle, and Fluttershy in the top fast asleep.
“Applejack,” Rarity continues. “Do you even ‘see’ the conditions they live in? It’s atrocious. Their food is worse than that hay burger joint in Ponyville! I can’t even have a decent salad!”
“Oh, calm down, sugarcube. Sometimes ya’ gotta’ sacrifice a bit for something like this. Besides, they don’t even have those fancy-shmancy things from Canterlot.”
“I think this is awesome,” Spike butts in, sitting in the top bunk above Twilight. The baby dragon slides to the edge to let his tiny legs dangle. “Besides, this ship is ‘huge’! It’s like a maze around here, but more awesome!”
“Well, I guess,” Applejack ponders a little. “Ya’ can get easily lost in here. Where’s Cadance, anyway?”
“Applejack!” Rarity shouts. “You mustn’t refer to the Crystal Princess as ‘just’ Cadance.”
Applejack grumbles a little. “I’m just askin’ where she is.”
“She’s with Commander Gaines,” Twilight answers for the first time in the group. “She should be back pretty soon.”
“Well, as long she is with him, it should be fine,” Rarity says. “But being surrounded and stared at by… them, might be very nerve-whacking for her.”
“It tired poor Flutters out,” Applejack points out. Twilight looks up to the top bunk to see the butter Pegasus wrapped up in one of the cheap blankets the sailors offered them, her head mostly covered by her pink mane, and her body slowly rising and falling with every breath. To the unicorn’s thoughts, today’s event really took out Fluttershy. In fact, it took them all out, even Twilight herself. Being so excited and non-stop looking around the massive ship Commander Gaines was showing them earlier today, she never felt like this since she was accepted as Princess Celestia’s faithful student.
“Well, we better get some rest,” Applejack says, tucking herself in a blanket. “We got a few days ahead of us, right Twi?”
Twilight quickly shakes her head out of her thoughts, and rummages through her notes. “U-uh, I think so. It should take a few days to go around Equestria… if we don’t head south for too long.”
Applejack looks at her quizzically. “I thought ya’ll had a map of what’s even below Equestria. Like, past the Badlands or somethin’.”
Twilight shakes her head. “No, nopony ever journeyed farther south from the maps. According to some documents by the princesses, there are reports of just mountain ranges, some plains, and rumors of pirates roaming some areas.”
“P-p-pirates?” Spike stammers.
“Well, those are just rumors and some reports.”
“Well, I for one wouldn’t mind if there were something more comfortable than this,” Rarity complains, putting on her typical disgusted look as she twists her neck around the bunk she is in, despite it decorated with a few gems and sprayed with perfume.
“Look, girls,” Twilight intervenes before another argument breaks out. “We’ll be on this ship for a few days, and after that, you can all go home. This is for us to present and welcome them to Equestria under the princesses.”
“Well, it seems they are not too fond of it,” Rarity turns her head not amused. “Have you seen how they reacted when we introduced ourselves?”
“Yes, but they are not used to something like that. Now please, we can all do this if we keep ourselves collected.”
“Whatever you say, Twi,” Applejack says. “We’re still a little skeptical about them.”
“Don’t worry, Applejack,” Twilight says. “You girls can stay here if you want while Cadance and I help the ship’s captain. Besides, I don’t want anything bad happening to you while we’re here. Well, while ‘they’ are here.”
“Twilight, darling,” Rarity says, her voice changed to worrisome. “We’ll be there for you no matter what. Despite how… uh, they live in something so atrocious and… bland… ugly…”
“We get it, Rarity,” Applejack interrupts the fashion mare, who in return receives a death glare from above.
“Anyway, no matter what, we’ll always be there. Just like how you are there for us.”
“No two ways ‘bout it, sugarcube.”
Twilight smiles once again, knowing her friends will always be there, knowing that they are in some territory that is unknown to them. She always knew her friends would be there for her; from the defeat of Nightmare Moon where she first met them, to the draconequus Discord, despite his disharmony spell they sealed him in stone no matter what. Even during the reign of King Sombra and the Crystal Kingdom, Twilight and her friends worked together, with the help of Princess Cadance’s love, managed to destroy the stallion. It feels as though all of these adventures were just yesterday, how far Twilight and her friends have come and their bond closer than ever. But right now she needs all of their support. Because all the adventures they had in the past are nothing compared to where they are. This is something beyond to what they know. Something entirely different, yet, incredible.
“Alright, ya’ll,” Applejack yawns. “Let’s catch some Z’s. Don’t wanna oversleep for tomorrow.”
“I’m pretty sure we won’t under this noise,” Rarity mumbles, and buries her face in the small thin pillow.
“Goodnight, everypony,” Twilight announces, closing her journal with her magic and sliding it to the corner. All three ponies and the dragon lay down their heads, and fall asleep. The only sound they hear is the low hum of the ship’s engines still running, and the occasional clicks and clacks of some of the humans walking down hallways.
After a few minutes, Twilight peeks open one eye. The red light is still shining brightly from the hallway, and she hears the same noises in the distance. She takes a few deep breaths, and removes the thin itchy blanket off of her. With her magic, the unicorn reopens her journal, and begins resuming her writing.
I am glad I have friends like Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. No matter the situation, no matter if the princess or I ask the impossible, no matter what happens, our friendship will never break. Even when we meet an entirely new species, which are far more intelligent than we are. They will always be with me, and I will always be with them.
Tomorrow, Commander Gaines will be showing a little more of the ship to us, and Cadance and I will help the captain guide through the Equestrian waters. We should pass the Hayseed Swamps by tomorrow as well, and the following day the dragon territory. Let’s hope there won’t be any trouble around that area.
Note to Self: I really have to stop mentioning the humans as an “entirely new intelligent species” in my reports.
Twilight closes the journal after finishing her report. From now on, similar to writing friendship reports, she will be writing entries of her journey on board the USS Bonhomme Richard, except these reports are for herself. If she is going to be here, she might as well write a diary of her travels in a ship that is alien to her.
Again, she mentioned them as ‘aliens’. The unicorn face hoofs in the forehead for using such a word. She knows they are called humans; the only problem is the words ‘alien’ or ‘new species’ keeps on replacing that term in her mind, and it is already starting to get annoying.
Twilight shakes her head again, when a thought strikes her. She could send a friendship report to Princess Celestia, after realizing she just written about it in her journal. She hasn’t sent one in a couple of months. But, she also doesn’t want to disturb the sun princess at night. She could be sleeping, or still having a conversation with the commanders back at the other ships. Another problem is Spike is already fast asleep, so there is no way Twilight could send a letter to the princess.
The unicorn finishes a quick friendship report, and places it next to her journal located at the corner of her bunk. As she finally rests her head on the somewhat small and itchy pillow, her mind is still racing of the events that lead to this day. From when they first encountered the humans at White Tail Beach, to now her and her friends being on their ship, she wonders how it all turned out from sudden enemies to allies in a clap of their hooves. With the humming sound of the ship preventing her from further thinking, and the bright red lights in the hallway forcing her to stay awake, Twilight can do nothing but stare at the chipped-paint ceiling that is resting three feet from her face. At least, not until she hears some yelling in the distance by a couple humans.
“Where the hell’s Ken?! He’s supposed to be in the well deck fixin’ L-CAC Seven-four!”
“He’s on vehicle bay level two! I keep tellin’ you man, the kid’s…!”
As soon as Twilight wants to hear more, the conversation soon dies the further the two men, to her thought, walk away from their room. She sighs heavily, thinking of what tomorrow will be like. She wonders if it’s the right thing for her friends to be here as well. From what she recalls, when they were introduced to the humans, they didn’t expect to receive a lot of stares and awkward silences from them, especially in the mess hall during dinner break. It made Twilight and her friends feel the upmost uncomfortable, especially being surrounded by almost six-foot tall humans wearing almost the same clothing. Despite them looking cool, even Rarity was shuddering that they almost all look the same.
Twilight rubs her tired eyes furiously. She is thinking too hard again. “I really gotta’ get myself focused here,” she mumbles to herself. She shifts her body around in the somewhat soft bed until she is in a comfortable position, and waits to go to sleep. Tomorrow is a big day. In fact, up until they meet Princess Luna with one of the commanders, everyday will be a big busy day for her and her friends.
*****
Commander Gaines stands next to the helmsman, waiting for Captain Conolly to return from his office while monitoring the crew in the bridge of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship. Tiredness is starting to settle in his eyes, but one quick rub takes it away for a moment. He turns his head to look out into the night; the only natural light sources are the stars and a big moon shining like a non-blinding spotlight. The moonlight shimmers along the calm waves of the ocean as the three navy ships glide through the waters at twenty plus knots.
The commander looks down on to the flight deck, scanning at the bright green lights shining on the asphalt that spread evenly along the edges of the LHD deck, down to the aircrafts neatly lined up on the starboard side with their signature navigation lights blinking like the stars. Eight MV-22 Ospreys locked into place at the very bow, with five more crammed together along the port side by rows of two. Moving closer to the island, are four AH-1Z Vipers, an upgraded version of the attack helicopter AH-1W Super Cobra, and one UH-1Y Venom, also an upgraded utility helicopter from the UH-1N Huey. Two other Venoms are stationed just in front of the five Ospreys port side.
Commander Gaines doesn’t know the complete complement on the USS Bonhomme Richard, given that the captain didn’t notify him of it. However, being on an amphibious assault ship reminds him of the old days, where he served back on the older Tarawa-class ships before moving on to LSDs Whidbey Island-class and Harpers Ferry-class ships, and finally commanding one of the latest San Antonio-class ships. From what he sees, almost the entire flight deck is jammed packed with all aircraft when they had to make room in the hangar facility for three F/A-18s that crashed landed, according to Captain Conolly’s reports.
“Commander,” Chief Petty Officer 'Knight’ reports and stands at attention a few feet from the distracted commander, nearly jumping the 28-year-old out of his boots. Gaines turns to the Navy SEAL waiting for a reply.
“At ease, Chief,” he says. “You brought the princess back to the proper room?”
“Aye. Honeydew, Cutup and York are guarding the doorways just as ordered. Has the captain returned?”
“Not yet. He’s getting the files from his office about the night they encountered that crystal thing from Yokosuka.” Knight merely nods and takes off his ballistic helmet, revealing short brown hair, and joins the commander in looking at the view.
“You think we can trust them, commander?”
“They’re our only help, and maybe… yeah, just our only help.” The SEAL turns with a puzzled look on his face. What did he mean, ‘maybe’ before he stopped?
“Commander, requesting permission to speak freely?” he asks.
“Granted.”
“What did you mean, ‘maybe’?” There is a long pause between the two men.
“Well… I just have a feeling.”
“Sorry, sir?”
“I have a feeling that they may not bring us home.”
“Wh-what?”
“It’s just a feeling, son. Maybe I’m wrong.” Commander Gaines turns to the Navy SEAL. “Now get some shut-eye. We have a few big days ahead of us. And I want you and your men to be escorting the horses around. Hopefully, Conolly won’t mind.”
“A-aye, sir.” Knight stammers a little before saluting and later exiting the bridge.
The commander takes a deep breath, and returns to the captain’s chair. Again, he watches out the window at the churning seas glistening under the moonlight. Off to his left, at approximately his ten o’clock, he spots one of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers sailing ahead of the Bonhomme Richard. The guided missile destroyer pierces through the calm waters, with nothing but its navigation lights placed from the tip of the large radar system antenna down to the sleek hull. Commander Gaines rubs his head from mild frustration, figuring out what to do next when they rendezvous with the Michael Murphy. In fact, what will they do when they arrive on the west coast with the rest of the ships? What will they do when Princess Celestia is finding a way to bring them home? Just wait until they get an answer, or will they find the culprit who sent them to this strange world? Gaines shakes his head again. Now is not the time to be thinking ahead. The time is to find a way around this land called Equestria, and pray to God they can make it before they run out of fuel.
September 4th Day 3 12:17:09 PM
Fluttershy rests quietly in her bunk, being her usual self as the butter Pegasus stares up at the blank ceiling that is two feet from her face. She wonders if choosing to go with Twilight on this unknown metal ship is the right thing to do. Then again, she did have no other choice but agreeing with Applejack and Rarity when she knew she had many open windows just to say ‘no’. Even if she did, she would never forgive herself to abandon her friends.
Once again, Fluttershy’s mind takes her back to the humans. They are violent like a dragon, unpredictable like Pinkie Pie, but smart like Twilight, maybe more. She can still remember Twilight nonstop talking about them last night, after one of the Navy SEALs gave them a small tour around their ship. She forgot his name, though. In fact, she forgot almost all the humans’ names she first met, except for that one, ‘Penny’? ‘Pelao’? She knows his name starts with a ‘P’, but can’t fully put her hoof on it. That particular name has been stuck in her head since that soldier came to her hut just for the blankets, or, was it ‘marina’? She remembers the human leader referring to that word while giving them a secondary tour around the ship yesterday, but completely forgot. The young human told her they don’t like being called soldiers, despite him telling her they do resemble them in their world. However, besides the humans being violent, there is something about that young human to Fluttershy. She had seen him being gentle to one of her pets, and is a very quiet creature. She can still remember the features of him, curly hair, almost foal-faced, probably the shortest out of all the humans when they visited Ponyville.
“Fluttershy,” the familiar southern-accented voice of Applejack calls out into Fluttershy’s ears, her heart skipping a beat from the suddenness. Her hearing, once filled with silence and her thoughts, is now listening to the echoing commotions out of their small room, and the hums of the large ship’s engines they are in.
She nearly forgot, again, that Rarity and Applejack are right under there. With Twilight, Spike and Princess Cadance gone to help the captain of the ship they are in, the mares can do nothing but sit and wait until a human they know comes by to give them a third tour around the ship, or be their escort for something. And today is no different.
“U-uh… wh-wha—?” the Pegasus stumbles on her words, before looking downward to see Applejack and Rarity below her looking back up.
“Everything okay there, darling?” the gentle voice of Rarity comes up from the center bed just below the Pegasus. “You seem to be quiet the entire time.”
“O-oh, u-uh, y-yes,” Fluttershy replies after a bit of struggling with her words.
“Ya’ hungry, Flutters?” Applejack asks. “Knight should be comin’ soon to take us to the cafeteria for lunch.”
“Oh, ‘that’ place,” Rarity frowns. “In all my life, that is… the… worst… food I have ever had… in my life! They don’t even have a decent leaf salad!”
“Well, excuse me, ‘ma’am’ for this ain’t one of them fancy restaurants in Canterlot.”
“Please! The last thing I would want is to go near that stuff they call ‘food’! Dear Celestia knows what they put in those things! They don’t even look like what we eat!”
Applejack sighs, slightly irritated. “Yes, I have. I believe it’s called meat. Twilight told us earlier they eat meat and vegetables.”
Rarity sticks her tongue out with disgust. “When was the last time have you seen something that looks inedible?” Applejack merely shakes her head and returns to lying back with her hind legs kicked up. She figures the fashionista might say that. Though, she does have a point. The food on this ship is terrible, even the fruit. Like, they have a different and almost bland taste.
Fluttershy, still hanging her head over the two mares, watches them continue the arguing over the layout of this ship, most of the topics are meaningless.
“If I were them, I would at least put a little color and ‘more’ comfort in this metal bucket,” Rarity says. “Seriously, this looks very old compared to today. They need to lighten things up around here.”
“How old are ya’ talkin’ about?” Applejack asks in a blank tone.
“More like sixteen years old, or, something. Even looking at it, they should have at least changed a few things.”
“All hands of E Company Three-one-two Marines, and C-L-B Three-one, please report to vehicle bay level one.”
“And could they at least fix whoever is talking from the ceiling?!” Rarity shouts annoyingly.
“Sure,” Applejack rolls her eyes. “Like, you can go to the captain ‘n tell him that.” Rarity feels an urge developing, like she wants to yell back at the cowpony. Instead, she huffs loudly and slumps back into her pillow.
“Well, at least I do have some things that will entertain me,” she says, her horn lighting up to her bag and dragging it close to her. That’s when a knock emerges along the doorway.
“U-uh, come in,” Applejack answers. Navy SEAL ‘Papa’ enters the room, all with his gear intact except for his helmet, which he is holding on his side.
“How are you three doing?” he asks comfortingly, and the three mares respond with a nod. “Sorry for being a little late. Had a last-minute meeting with the crew. You fellas hungry?”
“Well, we were thinkin’ about it,” Applejack says. Rarity immediately scrunches her nose by the sound of that. And Fluttershy remains silent as always.
“Alright then,” the Navy SEAL says, stepping to the side. “Let’s get going then.” With nothing else to do, the three ponies hop off their beds, and follow the human out into the hallway. Same routine as the past two days.
“Um, pardon us,” Applejack says, “but, we’ll be havin’ another tour, right?”
“Not necessarily,” Papa says. Both Rarity and Fluttershy look at each other confused briefly for a moment. “The captain offered for you three to come to the bridge to have a look. Besides, we already have royalty up there and your closest friend. If you don’t mind, that is.”
“Oh, certainly not, sir,” Rarity replies with a flattered tone. “We would like to see how you, uh, work… in this… uh…” Papa chuckles a little before Rarity could finishes her sentence. Even she clamps her mouth shut, fearing she just offended them and their property, and Applejack giving her another glare.
“Yeah, I get ya’. This ship is old. It’s a rust bucket. Probably at least sixteen years old, she is. But, we have others in our fleet that are much older.” The fashionista chuckles nervously back, a bead of sweat forming on her forehead. Luckily, the human agrees with her.
*****
“According to our radar scans, we should be about twenty nautical miles from a strait, probably ten miles through. After that, it’s about another fifty-plus nautical miles to a secondary peninsula, much smaller,” Commander Harbort explains to Princess Luna and Rainbow Dash standing off to his left.
“Well, at least our land is a peninsula,” Luna lets out a breath of relief. “It should be easy to locate your friends from great distances, correct?”
“Yeah. The only thing is the secondary peninsula. We don’t know how large it is, and it will be a little harder to locate our ships with all the mountains in the way. Let alone without satellites.”
Rainbow looks at the commander confused. “Sa- what?”
“Some technology we have in our world.”
“O-oh… right.”
“I would like to point out about that ‘secondary peninsula’,” Luna says. “We know for a fact that is dragon territory.” Harbort freezes for a moment, and turns to the night princess with a serious look. It feels as though the whole bridge on the USS Michael Murphy has fallen silent just from the princess’ words.
“Dragons?” he repeats the word the princess just said.
“Indeed. You do not have them in your world?”
“Actually, they’re myths in our books.”
Luna pulls back a little. “Hmm, it seems you have a lot of creatures we have that are myths in your world.”
“Yeah, we do.”
Commander Harbort returns to looking out at the vast ocean for any signs of the USS Bonhomme Richard and the two destroyers through his binoculars. Just off to his right, at least his eleven o’clock, he notices a range of mountains. They stretch across the coastline for just a few miles, though something does seem off about them. Compared to regular mountains, these are jagged, sharp at the top, like the deadly spines of that giant dinosaur in a movie he seen a while ago, and they look similar to where a villain’s lair would be in some movie.
“What are those?” the commander asks to the night princess, pointing to the odd-shaped mountains. Luna takes a good look without the use of the binoculars, studying them intently like a person, or in this case a pony, inspecting a good artwork piece.
“I do not know,” she replies. “I haven’t visited anything beyond our southern borders in a long time. In fact, I do not remember being a strait that cuts through the continent.” Rainbow Dash opens her mouth to say something, but quickly shuts it.
“Alright, let’s keep a good distance from it,” Harbort says.
“Sir,” a voice from one of his chief officers calls from behind, catching his and the two ponies’ attentions. “C-I-C is requesting your presence below.”
“I’ll be right there.” The commander turns back to Princess Luna and Rainbow Dash. “I’m sorry, but I have some things to do below.”
“I understand completely,” the princess says.
“My chief officer will stay in charge until I come back. Feel free to ask him for help.”
“U-uh, can I ask you ‘one’ thing?” Rainbow raises a hoof before Commander Harbort makes his way to the heavy door. “Can we see this, uh, ‘C-I-C’?”
“Sorry, but that’s for authorities only,” the commander says, and makes his way to the door. The cyan Pegasus pouts her lips, frustrated once more. Again, the commander of the ship denies her request because she is of not of this so-called authority. The least she could do is stand and watch, and standing still is the most difficult thing to do.
“Attention, all hands. Report to your stations. Prepare to rendezvous with the U-S-S Bonhomme Richard in about one hour,” the PA announces throughout the bridge. “Be on high alert, and prep for U-A-V launch.”
Rainbow Dash twists her head around, noticing most of the humans putting on helmets, face covers and thick gloves. Luna cannot help but feel a sense of panic in her. The whole bridge is rushing around like Royal Guard recruits scrambling around the barracks to get ready for training. But, she knows this is no training session. This is something real, and they are standing right in the middle of some organized chaos, with shouts, commands and prepping for what’s to come.
*****
“Anything from the Michael Murphy?” Commander Gaines asks to one of the sailors sitting behind a monitor.
“Negative, sir,” she replies. “It’s difficult to send our signals through all these mountain ranges. Besides, there aren’t any satellites. Unless we toss a U-A-V in the sky, then it should give us little trouble than we have now.”
“How long until we rendezvous with the Michael Murphy?”
“Should be about… an hour or so.”
“Alright. I’ll inform the captain. Keep sending those signals.”
“Aye, commander.”
Commander Gaines exits the communications room, rubbing his forehead to relieve a bit of stress. This is more difficult than he could have thought. Going through this hundred-plus mile long by twenty-plus mile wide strait with no satellite communication and can’t even send a simple signal through rugged mountain ranges is a lot more straining than trying to sail through a storm with jammed radars, similar to what he did a day before encountering that giant crystal.
The commander makes his way through the hallways, thinking to himself while ignoring the crewmen that step to the side and salute he passes by. He wonders how the three ponies and that tiny lizard are doing with Navy SEALs Senior Chief Petty Officer ‘Papa’ and First Class Petty Officer ‘Cutup’. They should be finished with lunch and be on their way to the bridge, where that other unicorn, Twilight Sparkle and Princess Cadance are with Captain Conolly. Hopefully, he is handling them well according to his expectations.
“All hands, prepare for rendezvous with the U-S-S Michael Murphy in twenty-five mike.” The commander sighs heavily. Why do they have to make an announcement like that? They don’t even know the Michael Murphy’s current position right now.
“Excuse me, commander,” a voice calls from behind. Gaines’ mind quickly returns back to reality, and the commander turns around to a different female officer standing behind him just a few feet away. “Captain Conolly wanted me to inform you that the rest of the, uh… horses… are on the bridge.” Judging by her face when she pronounced the word ‘horses’, the commander knows she is still getting used to the fact that there are talking animals on an amphibious assault ship.
“Thank you,” Gaines replies. “I’m just on my way there.”
“Aye, sir.” The two part their ways as if they were just passing each other before, the commander returning to his thinking.
After climbing a couple flights of narrow stairs, Gaines reaches up to the double doors that lead to the bridge of LHD-6. The moment he enters, his eyes are first laid on the three ponies and small lizard standing off to the far right by a corner with Navy SEALs Papa and Cutup. Just a couple meters to the left at the front are Twilight Sparkle and Princess Cadance with Captain Conolly and another sailor. The four are surrounding a small table with a map on it.
“Commander on deck!” a different sailor shouts, and all crewmen stop what they are doing and stand at attention. The ponies are the only ones that flinch in surprise when the whole bridge stands up at once.
“At ease,” Gaines replies loudly, and the men and women return to their stations. The commander approaches the small group, where Princess Cadance steps to the side to allow him to join.
“Commander,” Captain Conolly says. “What do we have from the communications area?”
“We are receiving some signals from the Michael Murphy, possibly about eighty or so nautical miles from our position. We can’t send any signals back due to the jagged mountain ranges, and it’s more difficult without any satellite communications. Our best bet is to toss up a ScanEagle.”
“I understand that commander, but I hate to risk an expensive piece of equipment through a strait we can barely send radio signals to one of our own.” Gaines slightly frowns after the captain’s rejection. Before he knows it, he notices Twilight writing down something with a notepad and a feather quill floating in a hot-pink aura.
“Well, I can send a letter to them,” the unicorn suggests. “But… I don’t think my assistant has ever sent a letter to a moving object before.”
“Yeah, also, I don’t feel comfortable how your friends will react to a letter magically appearing in front of them,” Spike adds in from behind the group.
“Spike!” Rarity says scornfully.
“Either way, Commander Harbort says he has a ScanEagle with him,” Commander Gaines says.
“What is this ‘ScanEagle’?” Princess Cadance asks curiously.
“It’s a small aircraft, but can be piloted from miles away instead of in the aircraft and can stay operational for hours.”
Twilight’s eyes widen in surprise. First a massive metal ship with flying machines, and now a machine that is probably tinier can fly without the use of humans. She wonders if there are other things these humans do not have, besides magic.
“Alright, we’re getting off topic here,” Captain Conolly pipes up, the tone in his voice sounding a little annoyed. “Right now, we have other problems to deal with. A few minutes ago, our radars found three unidentified objects about twenty nautical miles from our position.”
“W-wait, what?” Commander Gaines says, slightly shocked.
“I was about to brief you on that when you came in, commander. I already put the Fitz and Lassen on high alert.”
“How come we weren’t able to discover it sooner?”
“These waves are a little different compared our own, let’s put it that way. The objects we discovered are nothing more than fishing crafts.”
“I wouldn’t say that for sure,” Twilight speaks out. “According to our records, there have been reports that these waters are infested with pirates.”
“Pirates?!” Fluttershy screams and dives behind Applejack, causing the whole bridge to fall silent. Captain Conolly looks around at all eyes turned to them and the ponies.
“Back to your stations!” he orders sternly, followed by a loud ‘aye aye’ from the crew. The captain turns back to the unicorn, now beginning to feel uncomfortable by the looks of it. “Now, what were you saying before?”
“U-uh,” Twilight stammers a little, and looks through her notes. “Um, according to my research, these waters are filled with pirates… well, according to reports.” Twilight mentally smacks herself for sounding like a broken record, for probably the thousandth time in front of a human.
“Well, at least we’re on high alert,” Commander Gaines reassures.
“Sir! Contacts spotted!” a sailor shouts just to the left of the group, holding a pair of binoculars while looking out through the window. “Four miles out!”
“Ready all hands! General quarters!” Conolly orders. “Blake, Riley! Keep the animals secure!”
“Aye aye, captain!” Navy SEAL Papa responds and motions his hand to Princess Cadance and Twilight.
In a split second, all crewmen are rushing about. An alarm goes off, followed by an announcement. “General quarters. General quarters. All hands to stations. Repeat, all hands to stations.”
“What in Equestria is going on?” Rarity panics, slowly moving with her friends to a small section of the bridge, where it protrudes out from the starboard side about a couple meters, giving the ponies a clear view of the front, right and behind without any monitors or other humans staying in the way. It is almost similar to a viewing point. Cadance and Twilight make it to the group, with Commander Gaines being close to them.
“This is probably a one-time experience for you,” he says looking at a slightly panicking Cadance.
“I-I see,” the princess says, looking out the window to find any signs of the ‘unidentified contacts’, but can barely find any.
“Let’s move it! Move it!”
“Get your gear on!” Twilight can barely handle of what’s going on. It’s as if Discord is raining terror all over again. Almost all crewmen put on helmets, masks and thick gloves. A few of them run outside to a balcony she didn’t know was there in the first place. The commotion is exhilarating, but terrifying. Is this how they work in such dire situations? Well, they are of military, so of course. Almost any situation is serious.
“Contacts are three miles out, captain!”
“Helmsman! Change ship’s speed to dead slow!”
“Aye aye, sir!” Twilight looks up to see Commander Gaines standing next to Princess Cadance with a pair of binoculars close to his eyes, staring out through the window for a long moment as the commotion begins to settle down.
“Contacts spotted!” he shouts. As the curiosity rises in Twilight until she cannot contain it, the unicorn hops to her hind legs, and leans her fore hooves on a slanted armrest stretching around the small viewing point. Like a filly or a colt wanting to have a look on a train, she can just manage to poke her head to look out the dirty window. Cadance, however, has no trouble at all, since she is a princess and stands almost twice the height of normal ponies. Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy do the same, standing on their hind legs and stretching themselves to have a look outside. Fluttershy uses her wings for a little more height. Spike, on the other hand, climbs on to Cadance’s back and watches from there.
“Hey, I think I see it,” Rarity says, squinting her eyes. All ponies concentrate to the horizon, except for Twilight, who has been staring at the packed flight deck and another section of the ship’s bridge, assuming that it is. The roof of it has two weird polygon-shaped objects sitting on hinges, with railings running around it. Twilight veers her eyes right to left, spotting the guided missile destroyers slightly ahead of the ship. She can’t even tell which ship is which, as if they both almost look alike. Except the one on the right has two enclosed spaces on the stern, while the other on the left does not.
The amphibious assault ship suddenly slows down even further. Twilight can feel the engines revering down as she focuses her attention to the front. She doesn’t know how far, but she can spot three boats lined up, at least twenty to thirty meters apart side by side.
“Kill engines!” Captain Conolly shouts. “Morse code to the Fitz and Lassen to hold fire!”
“Aye aye, sir!” The engines are lowered even more until there is nothing but a soothing hum. The USS Bonhomme Richard gradually grinds to a halt, with the USS Fitzgerald and the USS Lassen still in the same position as Twilight is seeing them now. She turns back to the three boats ahead, now they seem closer than ever.
“I want a Seahawk prepped and launched immediately,” the captain says out loud again.
“Contacts are one mile and are still closing in,” a sailor says.
The whole bridge falls silent. Twilight can hear nothing but the beating of her heart pounding in her chest, feeling as though she is holding her breath for a long time. She doesn’t even know what her friends are thinking of this. They too are completely silent. When she turns to look at them, she isn’t wrong about them looking out the window, but she is surprised of how they are focusing almost intensely of what is about to happen next.
Looking through the binoculars, Commander Gaines continues to follow the three boats that are still closing in. From what he sees, there is a large grey steamboat with a catapult-like contraption attached to the bow of the main deck. The other two beside it are regular sailing boats.
“Contacts at a thousand hundred meters!” the same sailor calls out. Gaines begins to tense up the closer the three boats are. He takes quick glances left and right to the Fitzgerald and the Lassen, both are stopped and guns aiming at the three boats.
“Hold your fire. Hold your fire,” a radio goes off somewhere in the room, probably from one of the destroyers.
“Contacts have halted, sir!” the sailor announces. “Nine hundred meters!”
“Where’s that Seahawk, boys?!” Captain Conolly shouts with a hint of change in his tone like he is singing.
*****
Commander Hill, captain of the USS Lassen, observes the three boats from the portside gunner’s nest with three other sailors manning an M2 heavy machine gun turret.
“What the hell? Are those pirate ships?” one of them asks, sounding quite shocked at the sight.
“Seems like it, Willy,” the other says almost sarcastically.
“Keep full eyes on it,” the commander says, entering back into the bridge where his crewmen are awaiting orders. “Helmsman, let’s say ‘hi’ to them. Give them a good horn.”
“Aye aye, sir,” the young sailor behind the helm replies, reaching for the string just above his head, and pulls down.
*****
Like the roar of a dragon erupting from a mountain, the foghorn of the USS Lassen catches everyone’s attention as it hollers. The wailing lasts for a full five seconds, before abruptly stopping.
“Captain!!” a scrawny orange stallion screams across the deck of the ironclad boat, dashing through the dirty bodies of pirates until he reaches the door that is the captain’s. With three quick knocks, the wooden door bursts open, slamming the poor stallion into a wall. Stepping out is a black-bearded stallion, with three earrings on each ear, a rose-colored coat with a feather hat the same color, a belt with a large curved sword around his waist, and a peg on his left hind leg.
“Argh, what do we have here?” he coughs, looking through a telescope attached to the wooden railing of the ship.
“Aye, cap’,” a bulkier stallion says with a deep voice. “These things are in our waters. One of them try roarin’ at us.”
“Argh. These be nice lookin’ boats,” the captain compliments as he looks at the giant box-shaped one, with unusual objects on it.
“They do not look like any ordinary boats we seen, captain,” the bulky stallion says.
“Aye, they do not. But, they be in our territory.”
“Aye.” Still looking through the telescope, the captain spots something rising from the main deck behind the objects.
“Ah, what do we have here?”
“It’s a giant bird comin’ out of it, captain!” a pirate shouts.
“Neigh! It be a dragon!” another objects.
“You two be thunderin’ idiots! It does not look like a dragon! It’s a—!”
“Silence, stallions!!” the captain bellows out, tipping over one of his crew members to the ground from the sheer power of his voice. “Prepare for battle! To ye’ stations!!” All stallions cheer with a holler, and race to their needed stations. Most dive below deck where the main cannons are while other prep up a boulder into the catapult located on the bow.
“Ready the catapult! Let them know who controls thee waters!” the captain screams once more, raising his precious sword in the grasp of his hoof. He watches as his crew pours oil over the boulder, one of them holding a torch in his mouth.
“Prepare for launch!”
*****
“This is Seagull Two-three, approaching the contacts at four hundred meters.” An MH-60 Seahawk, call sign Seagull 2-3, steadies its speed as it comes closer to the three ships that are blocking the small fleet’s path.
“Solid copy, Two-three,” the communicator of the Bonhomme Richard responds back statically. The two pilots slow down the helicopter, the captain pressing a few buttons to put it in position.
“Ready to make some noise?” the co-pilot turns around to a crew chief behind a speaker, who gives him a thumb’s up.
“The shit we get into,” the captain mumbles under the ‘whup-whup’ sound of the spinning rotors.
“The hell?” the co-pilot mutters out, looking out to the dark-colored boat in the center. The captain does the same, his eyes looking at something on fire close to the bow.
“L-H-D Six, we have visual on a—” He suddenly stops the moment his eyes readjust at the center boat. The fireball launching into the air by a catapult, a thin trail of fire and smoke as it rapidly sails right towards the MH-60.
“Incoming!!” Without any hesitation, the co-pilot yanks the joystick to the left with all his might. The Seahawk steers hard left, putting a heavy amount of G-force into the pilots and crew chief as the incoming fireball comes in, missing the tail rotors by feet, and continues aiming strait for the Bonhomme Richard.
*****
Twilight points to the incoming fireball. “Look out!!” In an instant breath, Fluttershy shrieks to the top of her lungs, and scurries to the corner where Navy SEAL Papa is standing, now gripping to a rail bracing for impact. Applejack and Rarity duck below the windows, not wanting to see how this will end but still have their hooves on the counter. Spike, yelps loudly and hugs tightly to Princess Cadance’s neck, while she too closes her eyes. And Twilight is the only pony remaining, a face full of fright and shock as she follows the Seahawk drive to an incredible boundary to avoid a collision with a fireball, now heading straight to them. Like in almost any dire or sudden events Twilight and her friends are put in, it feels as though time has just slowed down for the unicorn as her head is lowered, like she just activated some time-reducing spell, but she still keeps her eyes glued to the window.
“Incoming! Incoming!” a sailor shouts, and almost immediately, the entire bridge goes into a state of somewhat orderly chaos, according to Twilight.
“Get down! Get down!” Cutup shouts, forcing Twilight to duck under and not witness this extraordinary but frightening event of how the humans will react to this.
Through the shouting orders of the humans, the first thing that engulfs everyone’s ears is a loud booming buzz that lasts for a split five seconds, nearly an eternity of a painful sound to the ponies. Twilight quickly pokes her head, the curiosity eating her up intensely, no longer wondering what could happen next and must see it almost at the last second. Her eyes meet a stray of thin orange flames flying at incredible speeds from something, probably located on the roof just above their heads. The fireball explodes in a sheer eruption of fire like Twilight has witnessed from the dragon’s land, and the loud buzzing ceases immediately.
“All hands, engage! Engage now!” Captain Conolly shouts.
“Fitzgerald, you are cleared to engage. Center ship. Lassen engage on wooden craft on your twelve.” Once again, the room explodes in a dozen chatters and weird statics from what Twilight knows are radios. Commands and orders are shouted into black devices wrapped around their heads or held in their hands.
“Solid copy, solid copy. Firing Mark Forty-five. Air burst shot.”
*****
“What in Tartarus?!” the captain of the pirates shockingly shouts, stabbing his sword through the wooden deck, after witnessing the most incredible and frightening stunt he has seen with his still-working eyes. The center large ship just knocked out their fireball in midair, with tiny streaks of fire, or like lightning.
“Captain! What do we do?!” the orange scrawny-looking stallion screams, his voice trembling like his thin legs after seeing such a sight. “Th-they just took out the fireball in midair!” The captain remains silent. The weapons these boats carry are incredible, and he could use something like that.
“Battle stations! We go full-head!” he orders, stomping his hoof on the ground.
“Look out!!” a faint cry enters the pirates’ ears. In a split second, all crew hear a loud ‘boom’. Then, a deafening explosion rips through the ship’s iron hull in the stern. All crew are thrown around as the boat is tossed about like a toy. The captain cringes, covering his ears from this high-pitched sound after the explosion. His vision becomes blurry for a few seconds, before coming to his senses and looking at the destruction behind. The stern where his quarters are is devastated by a thousand tiny holes in the hull, with small plumes of fire and smoke erupting from inside and on deck.
“C-captain!” The captain tries to stand up as he looks around, seeing his stallions on the ground groaning. Turning left, his eyes meet the wooden boat about twenty meters from him, already charging at full speed to the ship ahead of them on the same side.
Another ‘boom’, this time, the captain spots to puff of smoke fired from said ship. He watches one of his boats get blanketed by an explosion of smoke and another deafening ‘bang’ before he could blink. Covered in multiple tiny holes, he can only watch helplessly as the wooden ship begins to take in water.
“What in Tartarus is this?!” one of his stallions cries out.
A third ‘bang’ off to the right. The moment the captain turns around, the next pirate ship explodes in a mix of fire and black smoke. Less than a second later, two more explosions rip the boat apart, toppling down the two masts before it splits in half, and sending burning debris flying in all directions.
“Oh Celestia,” the captain murmurs.
“Captain! Behind ye’!” his sailor screams. With his ship disabled, and his crew scattered around still groaning, the captain quickly limps to the starboard side, spotting another boat the same as the two, except farther, heading straight towards them. The captain can only do nothing but stare full of fear, something he has not experienced in a long time. He closes his eyes, waiting for his boat to be next. But nothing comes, nothing but the rapid ‘thud-thud’ of the giant beast hovering over them. The captain opens his eyes to see the sleek flying beast standing still in midair, at least thirty meters from his damaged ironclad ship.
The flying beast doesn’t resemble any type of dragon, nor other flying creature the pirates encountered. It doesn’t have wings, except for some spinning rotor thing on its back and a smaller one on the tail. It has no mouth, no eyes and no feet, hooves, or claws. What is it?
“This is the speaker of the U-S-S Bonhomme Richard,” the beast speaks over the loud rapid beating sounds. Even though it does not have a moving mouth, the voice sounds fuzzy. “Under jurisdiction of the United States Navy, you are to throw down your weapons and surrender immediately. This is your final warning, or we will take necessary action.”
*****
Twilight Sparkle holds her breath, wondering if the pirates will negotiate. But, after witnessing the damage the humans caused to them, her doubts of any of the ponies are still standing. She turns to Princess Cadance with Spike still sitting on her back, now standing next to Commander Gaines and Captain Conolly, her eyes full of worry and fright. It was a good thing the princess convinced the captain to halt their fire, and instead show some mercy. The unicorn knew that the humans possess such strength in arms, but on a scale like this, it’s almost hard to believe they can disable an entire boat with just one shot of their cannons. It’s scary, it’s exhilarating, it’s rushing, and it’s almost too much for Twilight’s head to comprehend. She doesn’t know whether to feel terrible for the pirates, horrified at the damage the humans can cause, or amazed at the action. This is something more than just going on an adventure through the Everfree Forest, or defeating King Sombra in the Crystal Kingdom.
But, what do her friends think of this? The unicorn has never heard a squeak or a word from Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Spike. In fact, she nearly forgot they are right next to her, probably thinking of the same thing she is. When Twilight twists her head to see, again, she is both correct and wrong. Rarity and Applejack have their eyes so wide, their pupils shrunk to dots, gawking at the sight. They are still as statues, like they just experienced another one of Rainbow Dash’s lightning bolt scares on Nightmare Night. As for Fluttershy, she is cowering under the counter, curled up in a ball, hiding herself in her mane, and trembling so much like she is an earthquake herself.
“Visual on white flag. Repeat, visual on white flag,” the radio goes off somewhere in the bridge.
The whole room, as quiet as ever that Twilight did not know, feels as though they all let out a heavy sigh of relief. The MH-60 flies back to the Bonhomme Richard, disappearing as it passes the bridge. Out of three pirate ships, only one is still functional, despite smoke still coming from the stern. The second wooden boat is heavily damaged on the bow. The unicorn watches as the ironclad pirate boat slowly turns around, almost like Granny Smith.
“Roger that, Two-three. Give them the supplies,” the operator responds back through a mike attached to a set of large headphones similar to what DJ-Pon3 has. Nearly a minute has passed, and Twilight can still hear the thundering sounds of the helicopter somewhere around the ship. Then, she sees it, flying out to the defeated pirates, but with a medium-sized crate under its belly. The ponies watch in awe as the Seahawk hovers directly above the boat, lowering the crate on to the deck before detaching its cable and swooping back to the LHD.
“Drop-off complete, captain,” the operator says.
Twilight’s eyes then veer off into the distance, gazing at the other ship appearing and making its way closer. Is that it? Is it the other destroyer that they are supposed to meet up with?
“Hey, look!” Spike calls out almost excitedly, pointing out the window. “There’s another boat!” Twilight wonders if her number one assistant just notices the boat, even though the whole bridge knows it as well.
“Roger that, we see it,” Commander Gaines says in a positive manner. “Nice spotting, kid.”
“Captain,” another sailor, a female by the sound of her voice, calls. “Michael Murphy is contacting us. Says they want to speak to, uh… Cadance?”
“That would be me,” the Princess of Love responds, letting Spike hop off of her and making way to the sailor. Twilight could swear she just saw the human pull back and give the princess a skeptical look before holding a banana-shaped device towards her. Commander Gaines and Captain Conolly approach her as well.
“This is Princess Cadance,” she says.
“Boy, did you see that?!” a familiar voice of a mare Twilight and her friends can never forget. “It was all like, ‘boom’, ‘boom’!”
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight exclaims, she and her friends racing to Cadance.
“Well, holy hayseed!” Applejack says in her usual country language. “Looks like she ‘n Pinkie made it.”
“And Princess Luna.”
“R-Rainbow Dash, how are you?” Cadance says, almost surprised to hear Rainbow’s voice instead of Princess Luna or the captain of the USS Michael Murphy.
“’How am I’? Wow, this really works! Mane, if you were with us during with those pirates, it’s awesome! Just…!”
“Th-thank you, kindly, loyal Rainbow Dash,” another female voice comes in interrupting the Pegasus.
“B-but, but…”
“Princess Cadance, this is Princess Luna. I do not know, um… how, uh… this… works…”
“I can hear you fine, Your Highness,” Cadance responds into the communication device.
“O-oh! U-uh, I, uh, I see. Um… can you… do it…?” Once again, the radio falls silent, and the princess turns to Captain Conolly with a skeptical look.
“Let me take it,” Commander Gaines says, taking the device from the sailor’s hand and putting it close to his ear. “Michael Murphy, this is Bonhomme Richard, do you copy?”
“Bonhomme Richard, this is Commander Harbort. Glad to hear your voice again.”
“Same to you. Looks like luck is catching up to us.”
“Aye. I just radioed to Lassen and Fitzgerald. It’ll be a two-day trip back to the Anchorage’s current position. If you have enough fuel, that is.”
“We got plenty. Let’s get back to our fleet.” Gaines hands the communication device back to the female sailor, and turns to the ponies. “You know, without your help, we would’ve been lost for days. Thank you for your support. All of you.”
Twilight feels her heart lift up, even after one of the most terrifying experience she had. She feels delighted, honored, and above all, achieved.
“Y-you… are welcome,” Twilight bows her head.
“I-it was… a-a… pleasure,” Applejack replies hesitantly, her cheeks blushing and scratching the back of her head.
“It is an honor to help you,” Princess Cadance says. “It was, quite in all, exciting for us.”
The foghorn goes off on the USS Lassen as the two remaining pirate ships clear their path. Twiligth Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Princess Cadance and Spike all stand on the main flight deck, watching the Arleigh Burke-class USS Michael Murphy perform a sharp but clean U-turn before rejoining the group, sailing next to the USS Fitzgerald. It amazes Twilight by its performance. She has seen many boats before, but never in a way she sees them now. A giant warship, so sleek and so advanced beyond the capabilities of ponykind. She wonders what it would be like to drive those ships.
“Now that was somethin’,” Applejack comments.
“What?” Rarity asks, turning to the cowpony. “The thrilling part about the pirates, or, how… well, their stuff operates?”
“Both, really,” Rainbow Dash’s voice comes in, as she swoops down from the air, and stops just in front of the ponies, nearly taking them by surprise.
“Now, howdy there, Rainbow,” Applejack greets the young Pegasus. “How was the trip with the other one?”
“Boy, was it awesome! But the best part was when Commander Harbort fired that ‘giant’ cannon on the boat when we saw you guys with the pirates! It was all like, ‘boom’, ‘boom’!”
“Yeah, yeah, hot rod. Just remember what we’re here for.”
“Take it easy, Applejack. It’s all cool. But, mane! That explosion!”
Twilight rolls her eyes and begins to turn around to head back to the ship’s center while Rainbow Dash continues to blurt out the experiences she had like the show-off she is. From repeating the ‘boom, boom’ sequence of the ship's main gun to when the one pirate ship blew up. Then, it hits her. It hits her harder than the piano or the anvil falling on her head from Derpy’s moving carriage. ‘Warships’. Ships designed for war. She knew what she saw, the destruction they can cause. And the ship they are currently standing on, the USS Bonhomme Richard. Larger, can carry more. Was she really just thinking about the amazing things the humans have in their control, instead of knowing the consequences she just witnessed not even ten minutes ago?
*****
September 4th, Day 3
This is Twilight Sparkle reporting in for Day Three in one of the most advanced “warships”. Today was heavy. Princess Cadance and I helped out Captain Conolly, the captain of this ship, “Bonhomme Richard”, through the unknown territories of Equestria barely anypony has gone through.
Until mid afternoon, with my friends joining us, we encountered three pirate ships. They attacked us first with a catapult-launched fireball, nearly hitting one of their “aircraft”, and we the humans responded with force. The Lassen and the Fitzgerald fired their “weapons”, completely annihilating one and devastated the remaining two. Even the Michael Murphy, the ship Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Princess Luna were on, supported the cause.
But, Princess Cadance stepped in and persuaded the captain to show mercy. And so he did. He gave them aiding supplies and we spared them.
Now, Princess Luna, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie are onboard with us. With Pinkie Pie being seasick, Fluttershy and I are keeping an eye on her while the others go and have dinner.
Twilight stops writing in her journal, the thought still lingering in her head. How long has it been since? A few hours, maybe more? She doesn’t know. A lot has happened today. Much more than first meeting them, discovering what they are capable of, and one of the first to step in their ships. But, there is something else that makes her sick to her empty stomach. Is it the destruction they are capable of? The death she just saw from those pirates? But, they attacked first. So, it is true that the U.S. Navy had to retaliate.
Again, another thought hits her head. A realization. Now she knows. The first time they ever saw the humans; White Tail Beach. What Princess Luna had to go through. Her guards accidentally struck first, and the humans retaliated. And yet, she was so oblivious to what they mean back in Canterlot Castle. Just a few hours ago, the pirates attacked first to the humans, except she and her friends were on the receiving end like them. She now knows how it feels like, to what the humans did, and why they did it. She knew perfectly it was for defense, but she never had the full experience, the details. And hopefully, she won’t have to go through it ever again.
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Well looks like the pirates learned why it isn't a very good idea to try and take on a US Navy ship, anyways great chapter again
Is Twilight's little 'acquisition' ever going to come to light? I kinda want her to pay for that.
This chapter....gave me goosebumps.
Oh sure the Destroyers and frigates are nice and all but until they see the capabilities of a Nimitz class carrier they won't know the true meaning of might.
dailyinterweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/uss-nimitz.jpg
- The massive destructive power of 85 jet fighter aircraft means that a single Nimitz class carrier is able to wage a war against a whole country and win. A lone Nimitz class just showing up in a region is often enough to deter aggressors and influence global politics. I would imagine if Equestria was to dare say witness the awesomeness of this bloody thing they would all sh** their collective metaphorical pants
So, they thought that a fireball would damage a steel ship....BWAHAHAHAHHA, WHAT A LOAD OF FUCKING IDIOTS! These pirates amuse me. Continue, good sir!
I agree with ShadowMere25 bring in the U.S Navy's biggest and most powerful ship the Nimitz class aircraft carrier.
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Don't forget this bad boy here that will soon be in service in a couple years. And don't worry. I have plans for a Nimitz-class carrier later in the story
Finally, firepower!
Are there any other US Navy Ships added in the story? Or any other Navies(like the Royal Navy, the *Kriegsmerine* and others)?
4535740
There will be later in the story, but I don't want to spoil anything.
4535766 Ah okay. DOn't want to spoil teh surprise anyway.
*See's SCP-173*
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
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s2.quickmeme.com/img/f4/f480867c06d59dc099c74ebc2fcdfba78617149528c2447964b1c86830b3dc8a.jpg
Do you know why only two US ships have ever been captured by pirates in the last two hundred years?
Because the first time it happened, we sent the Marines to burn everything. Does "the shores of Tripoli" ring a bell?
5376986 and that you never fuck with a seaman? Ever heard of the Endurance. Never. Fuck. With. A. Seaman.
Any chance this will be continued
*Pirate engages American destroyer* American captain replies FIRE.....plays song "America tuck yeah"
When are they gonna right/meet/whatever the changelings
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Not for a while sadly :( The remake chapters are still underway, and I just came back from a well-needed semester break. Hopefully this semester is less intense and I have more time~
I swear to God, the more I read it, the more I'm starting to dislike Rarity for her constant complaining of things that are not good looking for her standards
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Are you going to continue ?
If Twilight thinks a 5 inch naval cannon can do much destruction just imagine how destructive a tomahawk missile would do