Chapter 3: The Mysterious Serpent
The ocean. Vast, deep and unexplored. The perfect place for something like the sea serpent to hide. Every sailor knows the tales. Every story told from their ancestors of mysterious sea creatures lurking thousands of feet below the surface, preying on boats like sharks on fish. And the girls have a chilling feeling tugging on the back of their minds.
The water surface bubbles hundreds of meters from the bustling city Manehattan. Rumbling appears as the water boils in one spot, and the entire city seems to halt all activity to witness the event. Everything trembles as the bubbling intensifies, the ponies preparing to flee fearing the worse.
The sea bursts like a geyser, showering everything within a hundred meters and shoving nearby boats like they are toys as it slowly turns into a whirlpool. Everyone eyeing from the city’s edges and piers flee in terror as something rises from the opening. Its lengthy body dark grey and the underside much lighter, covered from head to tail in battle scars and patches of barnacle. Its eyes are a deep sea green as large as a carriage, and glow as bright as Celestia’s sun. And below them is an massive mouth presenting several rows of abnormally shaped teeth.
The sea serpent releases a screeching roar. Ponies run as the scream blasts windows from the nearest skyscrapers. Keeping its mouth wide open, a sphere of energy forms within the serpent, growing bigger as it aims right at Manehattan. The beast fires, an intense beam of energy hitting a nearby building. The skyscraper topples over like a tree, dispersing quantities of dust and debris in its wake.
“No!!” Rarity screams in terror. Yanking on her mane and collapsing on her knees in the middle of a city park, she watches the massive dust cloud blanket part of the city.
“It’s ruined!!” she cries. “The fashion show! I’m ruined!!” She crawls under a bench in a fetal position, bawling while watching the chaos unwrap as the screams are drowned in the sea serpent’s cry.
The serpent opens its mouth again, the ball of powerful energy charging within as it aims at the city. A sudden burst of magic knocks the beast to the side, halting its attack briefly as it figures out where the blast came from.
“Now!” Twilight descends from above, her horn blazing magic and strafing the sea serpent as she swoops just over it. As the sea serpent lets out another roar and prepares to fire at the retreating alicorn, it is met with a barrage of confetti exploding around. Standing right on the bow of her boat loaded with her signature party cannons, Pinkie Pie raises her arm and points towards the sea serpent.
“Fire!” she yells. The dozens of cannons fire with a ‘boom’, confetti bursting in midair over and around the beast as it tries regain its stance. The cannons fire again, knocking it off balance once more.
Applejack appears from behind Pinkie, and launches off the boat as it nears the serpent, a rope held tightly in her hands. Like being in a rodeo, she lands on the serpent’s back, whipping her rope around the upper jaw and head. The beast cries tremendously, squirming around to get the farm pony off, but Applejack clings on. She wraps the rope around its tail before swinging around in its mouth and pulling back again. As she tightly swings the rope around many times, the more the sea serpent struggles to get free. After a moment, Applejack ties a knot, and stands victoriously on its back.
“Way da’ go, AJ!” Pinkie cheers as her boat slows to a stop as it approaches to the detained beast.
“Nice going, Applejack,” Twilight congratulates as she floats down several feet above.
“Ah, it was nothin’,” Applejack tips her Stetson. “Jus’ like ridin’ a bull.”
“Good.” Twilight turns to the city partially blanketed in dust. “First, we’ll figure out what to do with this sea serpent, then help out Fluttershy and Rarity in the city.”
Pinkie Pie hops down on the starboard side of her boat to get a closer look of the sea serpent. “Aw~” she pouts her lips as she examines the beast. “He’s not so tough when you look at him.” She pats the serpent lightly, when it suddenly growls and wiggles its body. Pinkie quickly pulls back her hand.
“Careful, Pinkie,” Twilight warns as she and Applejack regain their balance. “We still don’t know how dangerous this thing could be.”
“Pfft~ Oh, don’t worry, Twilight,” Pinkie waves her hand. “Applejack’s homemade ropes are the toughest in Equestria. Even I can’t get outta’ them.” She bends over the edge of her boat again, and flicks the rope with her finger.
‘Snap’!
Pinkie startledly opens her eyes, and looks down at the rope to see it broken in two. “Uh oh…” The serpent’s sea green eyes grow brighter than ever, nearly blinding the pink pony. It releases a menacing growl as it makes an attempt to wriggle free. Water splashes around, pushing Pinkie’s boat away while Twilight and Applejack suddenly lose balance and slip on the beast’s skin. Twilight grabs hold of Applejack, both of them lifting off in time before more of the rope breaks, and the beast frees itself with its ear-piercing roar.
With one swift move, the serpent slaps its tail right on the bow of Pinkie’s boat. Pinkie launches out like she is in a catapult with a scream, flying over and across the Manehattan Harbor until Twilight and Applejack spot a tiny ‘poof’ near the shoreline across.
Their attention quickly turns back to the sea serpent roaring back at them. Twilight struggles to stay in the air while holding the farm pony in her arms.
“Twi’!” Applejack urges to get the princess moving as the serpent swims closer. “Ya’ better move it!”
“I-I’m trying!” Twilight struggles to flap her wings with all her might to get away. The serpent screams at the two again, preparing to fire another energy orb in its mouth. Twilight readies her horn. The beast screams as it fires a powerful beam. Instantly, Twilight deploys a magic shield as soon as the beam hits. The entire sky trembles, before suddenly exploding in a teeth-shattering ‘bang’. Twilight and Applejack soar through the sky over the Manhattan Harbor, trailing smoke as they land hard on the beach with a ‘thud’.
“M-my head…” Twilight moans, attempting to get up to find herself and Applejack in a small crater. Just off to their left, they spot Pinkie Pie, with half of her upper body buried in the sand as she struggles to get out.
“Woo~!” she inhales after popping out of the sand. “Wow! Didn’t expect that…” She turns her sand-covered head to the two mares giving her a frightening glare.
“S-sorry about that,” she whimpers with a nervous laugh and a scratch behind her head.
“Great, now what?” Twilight turns her attention to the sea serpent in the distance, and helps Applejack stand back up.
The sea creature bellows again. More windows shatter and the walls crack from its awe powerful voice as the ponies escape to safety. Rarity, still hiding under the park bench through the thick dust cloud, continues to jabber under her breath of the fashion show ruined by the beast.
“U-um… excuse me?” The serpent halts its scream when the quiet voice of Fluttershy enters its ears from behind. As it turns around, its glowing eyes meet the timid pegasus floating several meters away. Her pink hair covers majority of her face; the only features visible are left her eye and a glimpse of her snout. The serpent snarls, earning a silent yelp from Fluttershy.
“U-um…” Fluttershy hesitantly begins. She cannot let go of her gaze at the many scars and barnacle that don the sea serpent. “I-if you, uh, don’t mind… um, I understand you might be cranky after a long sleep. Um, if it’s alright… maybe I can clean you up, make you feel better with some lovely—”
The beast interrupts her with a deafening howl. Fluttershy floats still as a statue as the screaming continues for a terrifyingly five seconds. Her eyes unwittingly examine the crooked teeth as it sprays out bits of ocean remains. Its breath reeks of nothing but rotten bits.
Fluttershy floats still in midair. Her eyes are the size of large bowls, and her pupils are dots. In a split second, her entire body turns pure white, and she dashes away at breakneck speeds to the opposite end of the harbor where Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie watch.
“Never again, never again, never again, never again…” she murmurs rapidly as she hides behind a startled Applejack.
“Great…” Twilight groans under her breath. “Where’s Rainbow Dash when we need her?”
A loud ‘boom’ interrupts them all. When the girls look to the sky, they notice a rainbow streaking from above the city heading straight down towards the sea serpent.
Rainbow Dash descends rapidly after a quick performance of her Sonic Rainboom, her outstretched arms aiming right at the sea serpent.
“Hi’ya!!” she hollers. She slams a fist right against the beast’s body, sending it flying a few meters away with a painful cry until splashing down. The beast roars back and immediately fires a beam. Rainbow dashes to the side, the beam missing her by mere feet. As she recovers and prepares to make another strike, her body is suddenly met with a horrific force that sends her flying close to one of the piers at the city.
“O-oh… that… is… it!” She clenches her teeth full of rage. With a strong flap of her wings, Rainbow Dash shoots into the air, climbing at an impressive one hundred meters in a matter of seconds. She hovers in the air, looking down at the roaring beast preparing to fire its energy beam once more.
“Bring it,” she mutters with a smile. She dives with another strong beat of her wings. Gaining speed until she can barely hear the sound, and her eyes narrowing down to the faint glowing dot of the serpent about to release its awesome power. With an ear-piercing howl, the serpent unleashes its power. Rainbow Dash concentrates as she continues to dive right at the incoming beam. At the last second, she dodges to the right. The beam whizzes passes her by mere feet. She can feel the intense energy, like she is in a hurricane. But, it doesn’t slow her down. She keeps diving down, building up speed until her ears cannot catch anything except for the rushing wind.
Rainbow Dash comes down like a meteorite. She can barely hear herself let out her triumphant war cry as she stares right at the bright eyes of a worried sea serpent. She can imagine the thing whimpering at the last second. Everything violently shakes like an earthquake as Rainbow Dash clashes with the serpent with an epic ‘boom’. The air bursts, shattering almost all the windows within Manehattan, as Rainbow’s signature Sonic Rainboom erupts in the harbor.
Everything falls eerily silent as the colorful clouds are whisked away by the wind. Everyone cautiously returns to the edges and piers from hiding, holding their breaths to see if the battle is truly over. The thick clouds and debris are finally cleared. Destroyed boats are strewn around in the Manehattan Harbor. Right in the middle, Rainbow Dash stands with her arms crossed and showing a triumphant grin on top of the defeated sea serpent.
Silence immediately turns into cheers, as all the citizens cry out and blow whistles. Boats suddenly appear, launching confetti around the victorious pegasus.
“That was awesome Applejack!” Rainbow Dash turns to see Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie and Fluttershy standing on a boat. “You saved the city!” Twilight congratulates.
“Eh, it was no big deal,” Rainbow shrugs.
“That was the best thing ever!” Pinkie springs in the air.
“Yep,” Applejack nods. “Couldn’t said better.”
“Oh really?” Rainbow raises an eyebrow, glancing at the farmpony.
“Fine.” Applejack rolls her eyes. “What you did was awesome, ‘n was better than me.”
Rainbow crossed her arms again with a smirk. “Oh yeah, I was.”
“Hey, Rainbow Dash,” a familiar voice enters the pegasus’ ears through the deafening cheering. As Rainbow whips her head to the left, her eyes meet Daring Do hovering just feet from her.
“D-D-Da… Da-” she stumbles on her words as her idol floats towards her.
“That was some stuff you showed, girl,” Daring compliments. “Didn’t know you had it in ya’.”
“O-oh… oh!” Rainbow continues to stutter. “O-of course! I… I always do it for Equestria!”
Daring nods. “Hey, I’ve been thinking…” Rainbow’s ears twitch. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, since you really got that skill, how about you join me. You can be my sidekick in my next stories.”
Rainbow’s cheeks flushed bright red. This is the moment she has been waiting to hear all along! Without hesitating a second, she wraps her arm around Daring Do, and pulls her in close as if the two were about to dance. The crowd woos at the same time.
“Oh, do I ever,” Rainbow coos. She twirls the adventurer around her, letting her ears once again listen to the many citizens cheering and chanting her name. When she opens her eyes to see her idol, her heart stops the moment she looks down at a certain dark blue mare.
“Dost thou have an assignment to complete?” Princess Luna says in a monotone voice.
“What the fu—?!”
‘Wham’!
“D’ah!!” Rainbow Dash yelps when Applejack’s hand smacks against a book, springing out of her comfy chair before collapsing on the hardwood floor with a ‘thud’. As she makes an attempt to figure out what happened, a book hits her on the head.
“Nice dream?” Applejack remarks as she stands over the waking pegasus. Rainbow Dash rubs her head to ease the pain. The first thing she does is snapping her head upward to the cowpony towering over her with her arms crossed.
“Seriously?!” Rainbow’s wings flare and she jumps back up to her hooves. “A simple tap or a ‘wake up’ would’ve been nice!”
“Ya’ always keep wakin’ me up with ya’ thundercloud, so I’m gettin’ ya’ back,” Applejack back talks. “Now, ya’ can help out by sortin’ these papers.” She bends down behind her to lift a stack of papers and shove it in Rainbow’s arms before proceeding back to the rest of the girls in the middle of the library.
Twilight Sparkle is standing off to the right examining a section of an immense whiteboard hanging on the wall with Commander Cirrus. Rarity is close to the middle of the library around a large round table cluttered with papers and folders from the chest, looking through what Rainbow thinks to be are photos in a small pile. Pinkie Pie is, according to Rainbow, being Pinkie. She is sitting on the opposite end from Rarity making paper airplanes from blank pieces sheets.
Rainbow grumbles under her own breath, and shuffles her hooves to her friends. When she reaches the center of the room, she drops the stack of papers on the table on purpose, hoping she can grab some attention. Unfortunately, none of the girls or that Special Ops guard paid any attention, except for a certain ‘eep’ coming from the far end of the library, obviously Fluttershy. Rainbow pulls out a chair and plops down before slouching until her chin is resting on the table. Again, she looks around to see if anyone paid has grabbed her attention. She sighs out loud, and stares at Rarity sitting across from her. The unicorn is wearing her working glasses while looking over at a photograph with a tea set just by her side.
Rainbow averts her eyes back to the stack of papers that tower over her head, the dread returning to her mind. She grabs the top page, and pulls it to her face. The moment her eyes lay on the page, she immediately regrets it. Tiny printed words are all she can see that cover the entire paper. Dates, analysis, reports and complicated reports. Rainbow looks back up to the stack next to her. There are hundreds of papers just like the one she is holding in her hand, and she has to go through all of them!
Everything around Rainbow, except for Twilight’s constant chatter with Commander Cirrus, feels incredibly quiet. It burrows in her mind how dead her surroundings are, and it annoys her. She looks down at the piece of document almost crumpled in her hand, then back at Rarity writing on the back of the same photograph with a quill. She’s curious as to what she is writing. Before Rainbow can speak a word, Rarity interrupts her.
“Not now, dear.”
Rainbow closes her hand into a fist, and takes a deep breath. “What? You didn’t know what I was gonna say,” she asks as if she has no idea what Rarity is talking about.
“I know you want to talk to me to distract yourself instead of doing your part,” Rarity says without looking up.
Rainbow drops her arms on the tabletop, her expression switches to irritate. Without hesitating, she groans loudly and pulls on her hair.
“Ugh! This is annoying!” she yells, finally catching the attention of everyone. “I’m sick of doing these type of things!”
“Calm down, Rainbow,” Twilight says. “We’re almost done figuring this out.”
“You’ve been saying that for the past two days!” the pegasus snaps. “And we’ve been here for almost a week! A week!” Rainbow pulls on her hair again. “You’re lucky I haven’t gone insane from this!”
“Uh huh, sure,” Applejack deadpans while checking on one of the documents from the chest. “ ‘N we’ve been doin’ all the work while ya’ sittin’ on your flank secretly readin’ Darin’ Do books.”
“Th-that was when we were on break!”
“Says the mare who sleeps on a cloud all day, everyday.” A vein appears on Rainbow’s forehead. She stammers a little trying to get back at Applejack, but can barely make up anything in her head. Instead, she groans again and stomps towards the door.
“Where are you going now?” Twilight asks.
“The bathroom, of course!” the pegasus snaps, and marches out of the library.
The door slams as soon as Rainbow Dash exits, leaving everyone staring at it for quite a while.
“She ain’t goin’ to the bathroom,” Applejack snickers, and returns to looking over at the documents.
“Is she always like that?” Commander Cirrus asks curiously to the princess.
“Unfortunately,” Twilight replies.
The commander giggles for a bit. “Heh, and I heard many great stories about the Bearers.”
“Let her blow off some steam,” Rarity adds. “She’s always brash and energetic. She can’t even stay still for a minute. Literally.”
Commander Cirrus shakes his head, unable to contain his giggling. He always thought the bearers of the Elements of Harmony would be stern and fearless. Instead, it feels as though he is babysitting a bunch of teenagers, one of them a princess.
“Okay, let’s get back to where we were,” Twilight announces with a deep breath. Commander Cirrus returns to looking back at the large white board. On the right side is an entire section of photographs of the sea serpent taken from almost every angle and distance. Close to the center of the board is a map of the entire eastern seaboard of Equestria. Four pins are placed each with small sticky notes, indicating the dates where the sea serpent has been spotted: one off the coast, one in Manehattan, two in Fillydelphia and one in the Horseshoe Bay close to Baltimare. A set of strings is attached to each pin to track the serpent’s movement.
“The latest sighting we got was last week on a Friday many miles southeast out of Fillydelphia,” Commander Cirrus explains, and grabs a photograph to hand over to Twilight. “My team and I managed to snap this just before it dove under.” Twilight takes a brief look at the photograph. The image is blurry, but she can clearly make out the serpent’s two back fins with Celestia’s sunrays in the background. A pin and a sticky note surrounded in her magic floats next to her, and she writes the date before placing it on the map where Cirrus explained the location. A string flows by in Twilight’s aura, and ties between the newly placed pin and another marked with second most recent date.
“Hmm,” Twilight taps her chin as she and Cirrus examine the updated map. “No doubt the sea serpent has turned around after it reached the Horseshoe Bay. Any theories on why?”
“I’m not sure, Your Highness,” the commander shakes his head. “Perhaps it’s heading back to where it came from?”
“I was thinking of that also… but, I have a feeling that’s not it.” She further examines at the map and the path the sea serpent is heading. Commander Cirrus might be right; the serpent could be turning back. But, she has a feeling it’s not the answer. There is a reason Princess Celestia specifically assigned them for this task. And almost a week of research did not go in vain just to find out the creature decided to turn tail and run.
“Twilight?” the soft voice of Fluttershy grabs Twilight’s attention, and she turns her head to see the pegasus hovering with a few books in her arms. “Um, I looked through every book I could find about marine life. I couldn’t find anything related to the sea serpent…”
Twilight swears she just felt an eye twitch. “Seriously?!” she almost yelps, startling Fluttershy. Never would she thought something like this would happen. The Royal Library has all the knowledge about Equestria and everything Twilight knew since she was Princess Celestia’s student. Or, at least she thought until now. She hurries back to the large table, with Fluttershy and Commander Cirrus following suit, and digs through the remains of the chest. She pulls out the last remains of documents while Fluttershy lays the books in place.
“That’s impossible,” she denies. “I visited this library my whole life. How come they don’t have anything about sea serpents?”
“W-well…” Fluttershy slides to the side a few feet from Commander Cirrus. “I, uh… I did find some references.” Twilight steps over to see what Fluttershy obtained. As she looks at each book, the more her face becomes frustrated.
“Ugh, these are folktales!” she grinds her teeth, and shakes the papers by her head. “I need facts!”
Commander Cirrus looks down at one of the books, and examines it closely.
“I’m not so sure,” he intervenes. “My grandfather told me a lot of stories passed down from generations. This was actually one of them.” He turns a page, revealing a picture of a giant eel attacking a merchant ship. Its black body coils around the ship, and reveals an open mouth of razor sharp teeth like a snake’s. Fluttershy squeaks and pulls herself behind Twilight who stood still as a statue.
My great-great-great-grandfather was one of the first ponies to seal a trade route with the Griffon Kingdom,” Cirrus tells. “I still remember even the way my father explained it. On their way back to Equestria, they were attacked. Eyes that glow like a Changeling. Teeth so sharp it can cut through the strongest armor. Hide so tough a cannon ball cannot breach through. Fins were as large as sails, and could slice a boat in half.” The pegasus looks up, noticing all the girls stopped what they were doing and stare at him while he was telling his story. He turns back to Twilight, ignoring Fluttershy behind gnawing her fingernails and shivering as if she just caught a cold.
“That is why trade routes on the Middle Sea is becoming scarce,” he concludes with a serious look on his face. “Nopony refuses to go out at sea without getting eaten by a giant sea monster.”
“And with the sea serpent out there, almost all seaports have been shut down,” Twilight adds in as she looks down at several cut out newspaper articles about the sea serpent.
The room has suddenly become silent after Commander Cirrus’ story. Twilight has studied a lot about Equestria’s history, including the first trade route with the Griffon Kingdom. What Cirrus said was true; hundreds of stories and reports were told about giant sea monsters attacking ships, that nopony wanted to go out at sea anymore. However, Twilight could have sworn she studied about marine life, even in today’s time.
“Have you ever been out to sea?” Rarity asks curiously from across the table.
The commander shakes his head with a smirk. “No, ma’am. My grandpa told me so many stories about these things, I even got scared going into a pond.” He chuckles a little.
“I heard today the sailors get good pay,” Applejack comments across the room. “Jus’ one trade ‘n they get somethin’ like a thousand bits. Now I know why…” She returns to reading the few reports in her hands before muttering, “Glad I’m a farmer…”
Twilight turns around back at the large whiteboard, staring at the map and columns of photos each with a short description. She can feel a headache coming up the longer she stares at the organized mess they made. She rubs her sore eyes in frustration as she makes her way back to the board.
“Twilight, maybe you should take some shut-eye,” Rarity insists. “We’ve been at it for a while. And, unfortunately I have to say, Rainbow Dash might be right. Every time we make a theory on what this thing is we seem to hit a wall.”
“Yeah,” Pinkie in the background tiredly agrees. “Reading all these papers with big words and no pictures isn’t doing my brain anything good…”
Twilight continues to stare at the photos for a while, before finally making up her mind and takes a deep breath. “Alright. Let’s take a quick break.”
Before the girls can finally drop on what they’re doing, the door knocks three times.
“Come in!” Twilight calls. The door quickly opens, and enters one of Commander Cirrus’ troops.
“Commander,” the trooper, surprisingly a mare unicorn, salutes.
“Sergeant Aegis,” the commander stands at attention. “What is it?”
Aegis pulls out a wrapped up newspaper from behind, and hands it to Cirrus. “Morning newspaper came in. Think you guys need to look at it.”
“Thank you, sergeant,” he says as he takes the newspaper and unfolds it. Twilight quickly slides in to read the title.
TERROR IN FILLYDELPHIA!
The mysterious sea serpent has once again struck awe and terror into the hearts of citizens in the early morning of September 25 just off of Fillydelphia. Pegasi and boats quickly took to the sea the moment the serpent was spotted to capture the sheer beautiness of sea creature. Unfortunately, as per usual, the sea monster quickly dove under the water and vanished almost half an hour after citizens managed to snap a few pictures.
“This is becoming a serious situation for the coastline, and must be dealt with,” Mayor Nutter says during a speech. “This creature is stalking the eastern seaboard, possibly threatening the lives of not only local cities, but to all of Equestria.”
“Um, well?” Fluttershy leans in. “I-if that’s alright… what does it say?” Twilight rushes back to the board without hesitation, uses her magic to add another pin to the map with a written sticky note, and ties a string to map out its course in one stroke.
“Uh, Twi?” Applejack calls for her, slightly surprised at Twilight’s quick work. Twilight is unable to reply as she picks up several documents and mumbles to herself for a while. Her friends, Commander Cirrus and Sergeant Aegis stand and watch with a perplexed and concerned looks.
“She okay?” Aegis whispers to the commander, who nods in reply.
“It’s no doubt,” the alicorn finally answers. Her friends look at each other funnily.
“Um, we’re not following, dear,” Rarity shrugs.
“See the pattern?” Twilight points to the map. “It’s circling back. First showing up in Manhattan, heading south into Horseshoe Bay before turning around and heading back up north. Now that it’s been spotted in Fillydelphia, I have a feeling it’s next stop will be Manehattan.”
“But, it’s a theory,” Applejack says. “It could be what Captain Cirrus said earlier. Jus’ turn tailin’ and runnin’ back where it first appeared.”
“It’s Commander,” Cirrus corrects, before clearing his throat. “But with all do respect, Miss Applejack. Princess Twilight Sparkle may have a point.”
“I know, I know. It’s jus’ it doesn’t make a lick of sense. Why a sea serpent wanna go up ‘n down the east coast?”
“That’s the point,” Twilight says, stepping forward. “For all we know, it maybe just an animal wandering around… or worse, something as bad as Discord, or King Sombra. Something spying on Equestria, waiting for the right time to attack. We can’t take any chances. It’s probably why Princess Celestia wants us to investigate.”
“Don’t know if you fellas saw it in the files, but we noticed some strange behavior in it,” Sergeant Aegis adds as she crosses her arms.
“Yeah, we got it,” Applejack says with a hint of sass in her voice. “All we got was the same ol’ stuff.” Aegis turns around, making eye contact with the farmpony.
“We did,” Twilight interrupts the two. “The reports we got was that it appears at nighttime, and disappears when morning comes.”
“The perfect time for anything to happen,” Aegis says. “You may never know what’s going to happen in the dark.” Applejack squints her eyes at the trooper in annoyance.
“Okay, so, if we kind of know where the sea serpent will be heading,” Rarity rocks her head to the side. “How are we going to do it? Like, are we going to ask it and leave? We have no idea what this thing does, except, stalk the waters.”
“Honestly, I really don’t know,” Twilight rests her chin on her hand, feeling stumped. She turns her head to the map. “We can camp out at a cliff where we have a good view of the Manehattan Harbor and the sea.”
“ ‘N how are we gonna spot it at night?” Applejack asks.
“Leave that to us, vaquera,” Sergeant Aegis replies with a quick wink. Applejack’s cheeks suddenly fluster.
“What’d ya’ call me?!” the farmpony bursts.
“We have special training in nighttime operations,” the trooper explains while ignoring Applejack. “So spotting a giant sea snake shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Alright,” Twilight nods. “Pinkie Pie, go get Rainbow Dash. We’re leaving as soon as possible.”
The door behind them bursts with a crash, startling everyone in the room. As they turn around to the source, they spot Rainbow Dash wheezing with a partially crumpled newspaper in her hands.
“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asks.
“G-guys…” the pegasus heaves. “Need… see… th-this…” She shakily raises her sweaty arm with the same newspaper Sergeant Aegis brought in not too long ago.
“Sorry, Sugarcube,” Applejack says. “We already figured it out.” Rainbow raises her head to see Commander Cirrus with the paper in his hands.
“Ugh, are you kidding me?!” she drops her head and newspaper. “I flew all the way from the newspaper stand for nothing?!”
“The castle receives newspapers daily,” Aegis informs. Rainbow straightens herself, staring at the trooper.
“Well, it’s good that you’re back,” Twilight smiles as she steps forward and pats Rainbow on the shoulder. “We’re heading to Manehattan.”
“Woah, really?!” Rainbow’s attention quickly changes.
“Everypony, get some camping equipment,” Twilight announces.
“We’ll escort you, Your Highness,” Commander Cirrus steps up. “We’ll get a carriage ready for you.”
“Don’t worry.” Twilight waves a hand. “We’ll take the train. That way, it won’t create a commotion when we get to where we’re needed. Besides, I think having a Royal Special Task Force would have a similar result. You can hang back while we do a little searching.”
“I insist, Your Highness,” Commander Cirrus. “It is also our duty to protect you, as instructed by Princess Celestia.”
Twilight arches back a little. “Wait, what? Did… did Princess Celestia order you guys to guard us? Why?”
“It was under her orders, Your Highness.” Why would Princess Celestia task guards to protect her and her friends. Twilight has dealt with many missions that are at least, or more dangerous than the one they are currently taking by her mentor. Is there more to this sea serpent?
“Hey! Captain Cloud!” Rainbow Dash wings twitch as she stomps towards the commander before Twilight can stop her. “We can take care of ourselves! What’s the big deal, anyway?! Got something hiding?!”
“Watch it, chica,” Sergeant Aegis steps forward in front of the commander. “You don’t wanna mess with the likes of us.”
“Sergeant, stand down,” Cirrus sternly orders. The mare shoots a rapid glare at him, before stepping back next to him. He looks at Twilight. “Alright, Your Highness. We'll do it your way. But, allow us to closely tail behind.”
“That will be fine,” Twilight agrees, and crosses her arms.
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I wonder what nation the Sub belongs to.
Or if it has nuclear tipped missiles.
I was expecting it to be an Ekranoplan, a Soviet Ground Effect Vehicle that was known as the Caspian Sea Monster.
YE-E-E-E-ES-S-S-S!!
Hope to see the next chapter soon!
I like Aegis interaction with RD and AJ.
Yaaaaaayyyyy the story is back!!!!!!!!
6578432
Considering the spoiler in the description and the name of the story, the sub is a US Navy Submarine (Nuclear). That's what SSN stands for in Navy terminology IIRC.
I hope the Navy Submarine does a Emergency Blow. if don't know what is a Emergency Blow.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_main_ballast_tank_blow
5281737 You're complaining of reponies in your comments' section because you wrote a horsefic about a show that was built on the bleached white puns of long-dead ponies beaten into the ground...?
Quit horsing around
God, I wish it was just the Mane 6. These OCs are getting annoying. Why were Aegis and Applejack fighting? There was nothing leading up to that moment. It just came out of nowhere and did nothing but bring the pace to a halt.
And why did Rainbow Dash get so angry near the end? Honestly, there were several points in this chapter that just felt really OOC.
Is it a Boomer ( Ballistic Missile Sub) or an Attacker ( Attack Class )?
5267302 why write them as anthro though? Is it important they be anthro for the story?
More!
Aren't these two different cities? Why terror in Fillydelphia if the sub appeared in Manehattan?
6578754
I think it is supposed to be the USS Asheville which is a fast attack sub.
6578987 would be interesting if it was Boomer lol. Ponies vs ICBMS. who will win?
6579253
Problem is, the target could only really be line of sight, and I don't think they would have codes to change the target location of the missiles. Though I am not sure how those inertial navigation systems are setup. To hit anything over the horizon they would need new maps and a way to translate those coordinates into numbers the internal systems of the missiles would be able to interpret.
But a nuke into Canterlot would just be mean. The city might just go on and slide into the valley.
6579377 yes it would be.
6578663 LOL that would be epic and i'm sure that'll scare them shitless
6579458
Don't whales also rise up suddenly, only to crash back down on the surface, spraying water everywhere?
Rainbow would probably say her awesomeness "scared" the sea serpent out of the ocean too, but she's too modest to actually voice that.
the extra chapter is more than enough of an apology for your long hiatus. WELCOME BACK!!!!!!!
While the second part of the chapter was certainly interesting, the same cannot be said at all about the first half. As soon as I saw that the "sea serpent" wasn't described as a submarine, I knew it was an imagine spot, and I just skimmed over it when I saw that it was unnecessarily long. Keep to the plot, author.
And your "Aegis" (whom being a unicorn female isn't surprising at all) is an obnoxious shithead with some stupid attitude complex. She's a constant annoyance to read, so tone her down if you please, because you're not endearing readers to your OC's.
Otherwise, cool, it's The Hunt for the Red October all over again... except the land chars have even less of an idea about what they're trying to hunt down.
6578724 Especially that Aegis chick, who's an asshole for the sake of being an asshole.
This line doesn't make sense. No one refuses to go out to sea unless they get eaten? So all sailors want to get eaten? That's what this sentence is saying.
6578932
Yeah, besides the simple fact that the author wants to write an anthro story (which is a completely legitimate reason). Celestia, for example, wouldn't be able to fit on a sub if she was a pony. No pony would be able to. They are too big (specifically wide) to be able to fit in such a confined space. Largest pathway would be between one and a half shoulder widths and two shoulder widths wide. Just passing by another person in a sub requires one to either duck into a nearby hatch, or they both have to grab wall.
6579377
Targets for ICBMs are programmed at the launch site, so the sub does have codes to change the ICBM's target. The method of how the ICBMs are guided to the target (the specifics of which are classified) cannot be changed without completely stripping out the current guidance system and building a new one, as well as reprogramming the targeting computers. Those ICBMs are all but worthless without a completely new guidance system, which means that you can't just fire them by using line of sight. Within visual range and beyond the horizon are both treated the exact same by the targeting computer.
6579494 with the size 4 to 5 times that of the biggest sea creature and and hundred times more displacement i think they'll run
6579606
Yeah, the dream sequence was entirely unnecessary. The pacing for this story is already slow enough, and parts like that don't do it any favors. I mean, think about it; a good portion of the chapter was nothing but an obvious dream sequence which was promptly forgotten the moment Rainbow woke up.
That entire part could be thrown out and replaced with something like, "Noticing that Rainbow had once again fallen asleep on the job, Twilight dropped a book right next to her head, startling her awake." There, I just reduced a large bit of filler with a single sentence. And absolutely nothing in the story changes.
6579743 Minor correction: it was Applejack that woke RD up, not Twilight.
6580027
Either way, my point stands. I've found that, in certain situations, less is more. Sure it doesn't describe the dream in great detail, but if the dream has nothing to do with the story itself, then nothing is really lost by cutting it short.
6579631
If targets are programmed at the launch site (some hypothetical boomer), then wouldn't ICBMs be functional to some degree. That is unless all the list of targets are preprogrammed and cannot be changed, in which case the missiles would still be functional just require the sub to be in an analogous area.
The more I think about this, the more it looks like the missiles wouldn't be totally useless. It just relies upon the assumption that the planet will have certain characteristics, such as gravity and curvature. This is just so the inertial navigation systems don't get confused since I am not sure how they would deal with changes in certain variables. We have to assume that the subs can launch from any location in the ocean and accurately hit a target or else it would defeat their purpose. From here it really depends on if targets are preprogrammed or not and if so, can the sub's own navigational system be fooled.
Then come the other factors of getting close enough coordinates. Which is why I mentioned line of sight targets or getting a good map. At this point everything just comes down to math unless there is something I am overlooking, a highly likely scenario.
6580172 I'm not disagreeing with you (quite the opposite), just mentioning that it was a different character that performed the deed. Nothing else.
6580203
Yeah, there is a lot you're overlooking, and it has nothing to do with math. It's the system that's used to input the targeting information. These are not regular computers that run on windows and have some special program that is being run. They are computers that are designed with one specific purpose, and so are closed off from any other forms of inputs (much like a microwave is a computer designed with only one purpose and can't be reprogramed).
This is where things start getting classified Top Secret. Specifics on how nukes are operated is about as classified as it gets (for obvious reasons). My father had done some work with them as an Intel officer in the Navy, and almost got shot because the guy that was checking him in hadn't completely finished the check in process (he hadn't clicked the "okay" button yet kind of "not finished"). While civilians (and almost 95% [if not more] members of the military) are not allowed this kind of information, but there are some very basic assumptions that can be made if you've done any research into how fire support (artillery and the like) is directed and how other missile weapon systems are operated. No fire support system accepts just any input. It has to be a certain set of inputs for it to work. From my own experience as US Army infantry, we used map coordinates to drop mortars/artillery shells on our targets and then used "mils" to adjust the fire, or just painted the target with a designator and let the fly boys earn their keep. The mils, as far as nukes are concerned, are pointless (we're talking adjustments of between five and fifty meters, a nuke won't need that fine of an adjustment), and the rest, other than the map coordinates, require access to a communication network that is not available in Equestria. The maps need to be so highly accurate and precise to such a high degree that Equestria doesn't have the technology to accomplish it yet. We're talking to such a high degree, that dot on the map made by a pencil can cover a five meter square area. And that's for non-CBRN (mil-speak for WMDs; Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear) fire support. Those, I can only assume, will be even more accurate due to their destructive potential.
No, you can't just punch in "fly twenty miles in this direction" as the targeting computer would very likely not accept that input, and since we're talking nukes, using a laser designator is straight up suicide (plus there are no sats in orbit to transmit the designator's information). It's closer to the missile flying to an input set of GPS coordinates than that (the military uses it's own coordinate system that civilians don't use, nor have access to). Again, while I don't know the specifics, I do know that the procedure for firing a nuclear weapon requires at least four people to perform it, and the pairs of people must be in sync with each other, or the weapon does not fire, and two of the people have very specific and lengthy codes that they have memorized (one person memorizes one code that they are required to die before revealing to anyone or be charged with treason) and must input them in a specific order. As a note, some of these assumptions do come from the process of how to fire a weapon like a cruise missile, and so may actually be incorrect, but they are more than likely to not be strict enough, than too strict.
So yes, the ICBMs, without some major reworking to the targeting systems (both physical and programing), are useless in regards to weaponry, save for scuttling the ship.
6580339
I am assuming the computers are purpose built and run a specific task (though not nearly as simple as a microwave, microcontrollers are easy and probably don't have the oomph the military would want). I am not sure what system is used to verify the subs location to check the internal navigation systems but that is moot since it won't exist. However, with how I am picturing things, there just needs to be a relative position between the two which should correspond with planet rotation (if there is any).
I am assuming the computers work purely with latitude and longitude coordinates, probably some altitude tossed in there for good measure. Basically all the good stuff from a raw data dumb from a GPS system; I did some work for PG&E that involved knowing exactly where something was (±5 meters). Knowing that the internal navigation needs to be reset ever so often on a sub, that means there is a way to input data for the sub's current location. This data could be false since I am assuming the missile computer wants to know its present location and the targets location, from there the inertial navigation system does the heavy lifting to keep everything on course.
So we can give the sub some position vector and velocity vector starting from some location (middle of Horseshoe Bay). From there, the internal systems would keep track of the submarine's position relative to its former location in the middle of the bay. Not sure if the military systems use degree.decimal minutes or degree, minutes, seconds but I do not think that is terribly important since this is just a hypothetical, but I digress. With the sub having its relative position, coordinates could be input to launch something back at the starting position. Expanding further on that, if there is a laser range finder on board locations within line of sight would be noted. This would just have to use cylindrical coordinates to get the distance from the sub and the degrees off its current heading.
Putting this altogether, the sub would know its "position" and the crew would know a targets location so a firing solution should be easily calculable. However, I am completely ignoring all safety checks and systems since I do not know those procedures and if they would need to be circumvented in such a case. I am just thinking of a way that computers wanting coordinate input for a target along with coordinate input for a present location could be given that in a situation such as this.
Barring the number of keys turning and codes, could you see that working?
This is terrible. All dialogue and no description.
That really throws off your pacing.
A whole chapter at the beginning which is essentially useless flavor text and entirely setup the following two.
The surprise Spanish from out of nowhere is useless and the same effect you were looking for could have been accomplished by using English.
...At least the story is moving.
2.5/5
6580643
Just used the microwave as an example, as I'm not sure how much experience/understanding of computer science/engineering you have. That's all
I could see that as a jury-rigged "fix" for them (which I think would result in an increased risk at using the weapons, if needed, to the ship, but depending on the situation, that's a risk some commanders would be willing to take), my only major concerns are the range on the designator, and if a sub would have the necessary equipment and materials to create the fix. My experience is mostly with civilian-grade laser range finders, and the range of those is nowhere near what is needed to survive a nuclear blast and resulting fallout.
Nonetheless, the question is, can the author figure out a way to get the sub to make the fix in a logical way, and if the fix would even be needed.
6580841
Replace the targeting computer with a smartphone.
...Completely legit solution...
6580841
I am a mechanical engineer that likes to build computers and screw around with microcontrollers, so that's my background.
The point of setting the relative position is so the sub can move away. The laser rangefinder is just to move things inland as far as the range finder can work. Assume the submarine is near the coast and uses the rangefinder to get the distance and angle relative to the sub's movement of an object inland. This would now be a marked location that the sub can move away from but still know the position of the target days later due to tracking its own movement with its inertial navigation system. This way something could be launched days later at a target once the sub is a safe distance away.
6581281
I've got a minor in CompSci (BA in business, one focus on Marketing and a second focus on Entrepreneurship), so while I can't actually do most of the tricks most CS people can, I've got all of the basics down and the "theoretical knowledge" that one should have. That and my other major focus is in kicking down doors and turning bad guys into bad memories, but the job requiring that has passed.
Anyway, that all sounds theoretically feasible to me. Congrats author, you've just got a jury-rigged system that could theoretically launch an ICBM from a sub without any sat-based guidance. Now the question is, can you find a way to implement it with destroying our suspension of disbelief.
6581178
Possibly (and I am serious about that, as I don't know the specs needed by a targeting computer), but to crank out all of the necessary number crunching to get the ICBM in the air (and this is assuming you could actually create a program on the phone to be able to take in the proper inputs and do all of the necessary math... Talk about "we've got an app for that" joke) might take a few hours, if not just straight up crash the phone resulting in just wasted time.
...Still, I wonder what the Navy would think if someone was able to create a phone app to be able to do all of the number crunching required to fire an ICBM... My guess it would either be hysterical laughter or a combination of a facepalm and headdesk.
6581428
Targeting computers don't require all that much resources. The targeting computer for the minuteman 3 was built in 1970, but only got replaced by 2000. I think that a smartphone has more processing power than the D37D.
The real problem is attempting to dead reckon the flight path, especially with the crippled consumer-grade sensors that you would find in a smartphone.
6581471
Sounds like you know more about them than me. My knowledge of rockets and missiles ends at how to aim and fire an AT-4 from multiple stances.
6581579
Not really, all I know is that ballistic firing solutions for stationary targets are deceptively easy, dead reckoning is the work of the devil, and consumer grade electronics are purposely crippled to prevent exactly this scenario (consumer GPS modules are designed to shut down at over 40,000 feet or 1,000 mph)
6581428
I thought about going into the military but the job list shrunk pretty quick when they realized I don't do so good with green and red.
While we might have thought of a way to get a ICBM onto a target, the author seemed to have suggested this is the USS Asheville a Los Angles-class submarine. These are attack subs with Tomahawks in tubes. These seem to rely on GPS data and I can't think of a way to possibly work around it at the moment.
About targeting computers, we hit the moon with 3 men in a small capsule with computers that were not as powerful as scientific calculators now. A lot of what goes into that stuff isn't too difficult and the math is just tedious for a human. Hell, given the right variables I think a graphing calculator could do it with something made in BASIC. I am just not sure how the calculations for the rotation of the Earth will be handled. Would need more reading on that. It gets more difficult when the flight path changes latitude a lot.
6581614
That sucks. The military is a great career path and/or career starter, but unfortunately it requires both physical and mental abilities that are just a slight cut above the rest. Still, you're one of the few that even considered it, even if you did find that you are physically unable to meet the requirements. I know too many people that never even considered it for either trivial reasons or propaganda BS that is still floating around.
I do know that cruise missiles are definitely GPS/sat-guided, and so the general principle could be applied, but the exact method of swapping the targeting systems would change. Although I could have sworn I looked up the Asheville was nuclear capable (along with the rest of the LA-class subs), but that was a long while ago, so I could be misremembering.
Yeah, it's amazing to think about how stubborn humanity can be when we really want something. We put three men on a central body thousands of miles away with computers that have processors that are slower than my watch (then again, that's not too surprising given that I wear a smart watch) and somehow were able to bring them back safely. Still wondering if they will ever issue the titanium balls those the astronauts were equipped with for general use
I have this gut feeling that there is some sierra hotel (Air Force slang, feel free to look it up
) programmer that is working on it right now. Probably working for the DOD or a weapons manufacturer. Or someone who is just doing it for kicks (but probably not for missiles and rockets, as the FBI, NSA, Homeland, ATF, or some other alphabet soup agency would be all over him).
6581600
Again, better than me. I was just a simple leg (slang for basic infantry). Ballistics calculations are for the arty boys and snipers. I just focused on being able to pop targets in the head at 300-500 meters with iron sights on my M4, which doesn't require ballistic tables but seriously needs a steady hand.
6581707
The only physical reason was the colorblindness, past that I did soccer, XC, and track and had 20/20 vision. I just didn't like the much shorter list of jobs. Same reason I didn't go to a maritime academy; couldn't get licensed to work on a ship.
THe Los Angles-class could be nuclear capable due to nuclear warheads on Tomahawks. I don't know the diameter of their launch tubes but I do not feel they would be large enough to fit an ICBM. They are stuffed into the bow of the vessel. Changing the targeting information would be difficult since the Tomahawks seem to rely on an external source of navigation. I know the original cruise missiles had inertial navigation systems but I think those have been replaced to work with GPS satellites. There is terrain mapping, but from what I have read, it is compared with a stored topographical map of the area so it can correct its flight path.
I think a good springboard program would be a simple ballistic calculator. Those have all the base equations needed and could be added upon to further its capabilities. Though the math maybe complex, it is not like there is a shortage of examples and equations that can be found. NASA probably has a lot of published data that can be reused. Hell, I think the game Kerbal Space Program has even more of the equations needed or the mods do.
I have grown to like the iron sights on the M1A, I was surprised by how accurate the clicks for 200 yards and up were. I wouldn't trust myself with my AR-15 at 300+ yards though.
Sweet! I'm very happy to see that his story has not been abandoned! :D
Writing in the present tense is always a little disorienting, lots of telling without hardly any showing, incoherent plot. Downvote, moving on.
6681708 WATER you DOCKING about? I DROUGHT I will.
6682868 Oh, we're starting this again, huh?
When is the next chapter coming out?
Hey for my first fanfic, could I do my own version of this story. Could I use some ideas like the sea monster submarine?
any more chapters coming
Is there a chance of an anniversary update?
This story still updating?