The HMS Thunder Child was a warship built in the final years of an "eternal" peace. This meant that when war broke out, she'd already been in service for eighteen years.
It was thought that a ship this old and designed with peace in mind would not be ideally suited to the rigors of modern war. These notions were left absolutely shattered when the warship performed her duties with exception, becoming known as one of the most effective vessels in the entire Equestrian navy.
However, the warship faced her greatest challenge, when she and her task force encountered a combined fleet of Changeling and Olenian vessels near Vanhoover. A fleet which held the potential of severing the fragile supply lines the Thunder Child was tasked to defend.
This story follows the point of view of three separate figures involved in this fateful skirmish; an admiral unsure of his command, a captain in desire of glory, and a mechanic disillusioned with his life in the navy.
Proofread by the fantastic Tempus
Third place winner of the Equestria at War contest.
As a H.G. Wells fan, I so approve of this. And as a writer, I also approve, seriously, everyone was on point and you felt for the characters and your heart started pumping with every word. That's the sign of a good story right there.
I have to ask why type of ship is the thunder child is she a heavy cruiser, light cruiser or battleship
Never mind I found my answer
8832467
The HMS Thundrchild was a fictional, ironclad torpedo ram from the book War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. The picture used is actually that of the USS Indianapolis, CA-35, though the armament description more closely matches that of the USS Pensacola, CA-31, both World War II heavy cruisers built under the Washington Naval Treaty specifications.
“We’re turning,” Golden said.
“Probably invasive maneuvers.”
I think you meant evasive maneuvers. Unless you intended to include a command to all the ponies on the ship to run around in a panic. (?) :)
Good story but incorrect as the thunderchild went down in the martian war 30 years ago facing 3 martian fighting machines... There WAS no changeling war as all races across the planet were setting aside diferences to help before the armies of mars exterminated us all(i met chrysalis near the end of the war and promptly fell in love with her, we got married after the war ended) Or maybe that only happened in the timeline i came from
8832442
Aww thank you very much. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
8832502
Didn't know the picture was of the Indianapolis but yeah I did base the ship's design upon the Pensacola class and I did take the name and premise of the story from that of the Thunder Child from War of the Worlds.
Also correction has been made, thanks for finding it.
8832467
Heavy Cruiser.
8832502
Huh interesting I would have thought since it was named after a fictional ship of the British Royal Navy it would have been either a York or County class heavy cruiser
As soon as the swordfish came in this song played in my head
8832872
When it came down to the wire I was actually debating between the York-class and the Pensacola-class. I picked the Penascola because it had this more rugged look that I loved.
8832906
Lol you could have made it a Des Moines class with it’s eight Inch auto loaders
What is the ship used for cover art?
Dreadnought
8832905
The song is historically inaccurate. The Bismarck was neither the fastest nor the most heavily armed. And it was more than 10 hours away during the final engagement.
Dreadnought
8832934
Huh, haven't heard of this one before. It looks like a neat ship but a little too advanced for what I was going for (an Interwar Heavy Cruiser).
8832937
According to Radical Gopher it is the Indianapolis class.
8832948
It's just so hard to be sure from this angle and such a small picture.
Dreadnought
8832948
The Des Moines were built from 1948 onward and were the last all gun cruiser built by any navy. On a side note they are the final tier cruiser for the U.S. Navy in world of warships being the best cruiser for the u.s tech trees
Gud stuff
I don't know if you deliberately based this on the story of the USS Samuel B. Roberts, or accidentally told the same story. Now that was a hell of a ship, even if it barely qualified as more than a boat.
8833628
Hey, she qualified not as a ship, but as a BATTLEship!
There needs to be more naval stories like this on this site!
Also, that ending.....continuation of some sort?
8833628
The story was actually inspired by the story of the HMS Thunder Child from the book War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells.
8834348
If I may, here's the bit about the Thunderchild from Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of War of the Worlds
8834488 That is always the way I think of the Thunderchild (link expanded into a Youtube display box)
Now this is a fine story! Intense, well-written, and unbelievably gripping. I enjoyed every minute of reading it. Well done!
8834740
I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for the kind words.
8835567
You're welcome. The praise is well-deserved. Good luck in the contest!
8834071
She was a tin can rush job crewed by washouts and reservists. This only makes her last hurrah more impressive.
Meh, at least Thunderlane doesn't need to worry about his burned hoof anymore (?).
The premise and the ship's name might not be exactly original, but this was a great read nonetheless. Well written, very well paced, and with a great balance between description and action, so you could imagine every scene in your mind, what is happening and what every character is going through, yet not be overwhelmed by a text wall of description, as some fics (and even many professionally written books!) do.
And yeah, the mod's freaking awesome. Definitely one of the best I've played for HoI4, ponies regardless. Next time I play as Equestria, I'm naming my next Heavy Cruiser "Thunder Child".
8832942
When the song was written Bismarck was bar none the fastest and most powerful Battleship in Europe afloat.
8946835
Naval History did an analysis of this very topic. I'll see if I can dig it up.
Dreadnought
8947690
Yeah by comparing Bismarck against other Fast Battleships, but compared to the British. The only ship that could hope to match her was HMS Hood and we all know how well that went.
This is a brilliant fanfiction.
Now, one question only.
The changelings are allied with the goddamn DEER PEOPLE.
that can't be a stable alliance.
caaaan I write a spinoff of said alliance breaking up and the war splintering into several?
9134556
If you'd like, you can write a spinoff.
Also the deers aren't so much "allied" to the Changelings, but are more like subjugated vassals coerced into Chrysalis' schemes.
9135068
The plot thickens!
Thank you.
This was really good! You did an excellent job of painting this bleak situation.
This was good. Very well-written.
Is it weird that I probably feel the most sorry for poor Derpy?
Ominous ending
9135068
They only puppeted them?
What, they need ponypower so bad they were willing to sacrifice factories and resources?
Amateurs
so you just took the name of the ship from WAr of the Worlds?
3.bp.blogspot.com/-0fzF4ajS1Hc/TrmQtSrsVrI/AAAAAAAABBs/l0I7OyjXik0/s1600/Correa-Martians_vs._Thunder_Child.jpg
8947690
Idk if the question has been answered but she looks like Indianapolis to me
Also shouldn't 'Thunder Child' be italicized