Equestria: World War II

by The Unseen

Chapter 29

Author's Note:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2024, everyone!

18TH SEPTEMBER 1939

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It was now around 10:00am in Equestria and the Crystal Empire. Celestia and Luna were about to leave to meet up with Rockmond and Wood at Manehattan. They were making advancements on the modernisation of Equestria and the Crystal Empire. Cadance would also join them at Manehattan. They would check on the progress of the modernisation plans, and the ponies' military training. They would also begin plans to find where Discord would probably be hiding.

Celestia and Luna teleported, and three seconds later, they were at Manehattan, at the docks. At this point, the sailors had gotten used to the teleporting, so it wasn't as surprising as the first time they saw it happen. As they walked nearer to the ships, they could see Rockmond and Wood waiting for them, outside the USS Colorado. "Ah, your majesties. Great to see you again. There have been major updates since our last check." said Rockmond, holding a large folder.

"Ah, I see. Shall we begin then?" asked Celestia.

"Yes, let's." said Rockmond, as he and Wood, along with the two princesses and some escorting soldiers, from the US Navy, Royal Navy, and the Equestrian Royal Guards, began to leave the docks. Just then, Cadance arrived.

"Sorry I'm late, everyone. Are we already leaving to check on the progress of construction?" asked Cadance.

"Yes, we are." said Celestia.

"Alright, no point wasting time then. Let's go!" said Cadance, as they began walking out of the city, towards the airbase, which would also be used as a civilian airport. The squadron of Hurricanes they had observed there the last time they had visited was still there. The airbase infrastructure had also been changed a little. Some temporary hangars had been constructed, in which the Hurricanes were parked.

Some large tanks, that stored the Hurricanes' fuel, had also been set up. The tanks had been shipped in by another Royal Navy destroyer, and with the help of multiple human technicians, and some ponies, they had been built. They were to be supplied by a large ship, an oil tanker. It would start coming from next week.

As they approached the airfield, they could hear the roar of engines in the distance. The sound grew louder as they drew nearer, and soon they saw two Hurricanes taking off into the sky. The princesses and their companions watched in awe as the planes soared into the clouds, their wings glinting in the sunlight.

Cadance turned to Celestia and Luna. "Do you think we'll ever see a day when Equestria and the Crystal Empire have their own air forces?" she asked.

Celestia smiled. "It's certainly a possibility. We've already begun modernizing our military, and who knows what advancements will be made in the future? But for now, we must focus on training our ponies and working alongside our human allies, so we are able to defeat Discord once and for all."

As they walked by the airbase, they could see the construction was also progressing. The foundations for the permanent hangars were being built, and the ground for a paved runway and taxiways was being cleared by some large earthmovers, that had been shipped in on a British cargo ship the day before. They paused for a moment, and the ponies watched the huge machines easily digging up the ground, admiring how good the technology humans had made was. The three princesses hoped they could get their hooves on such technologies for their own nations.

As the ponies walked by the main runway, they watched as two Hurricanes came in to land. At first, Celestia thought these were the ones that had departed just a few minutes prior, but then she realized that those Hurricanes had different numbers on the tail. The Hurricanes were apparently being used for aerial patrol over Equestria and the Crystal Empire, each pair operating two-hour flights, so as to not deplete the airbase's fuel supply.

As they were doing this, Rockmond spoke up. "Your highnesses, uh, now, for one of the other major updates we have to show you. We received this letter from the Equestrian head of our combined expedition team, which has a location spell on it. They didn't write much in the letter, though. They want us there personally." said Rockmond, as he showed a wrapped-up scroll to the princesses. Cadance took the letter from Rockmond.

"Huh, they really want us there. Let's find out what this is about." said Cadance, as she activated the location spell, and the whole group was teleported. Once the teleportation was over, the three princesses, their escorts, and the humans took a while to figure out where they were. That was when Celestia realized their location.

"We're in the Ponkan mountains!" said Celestia, recognizing the place. "This is where two of the Ponkan kingdoms used to be, before the wars that wiped them out!" Rockmond and the humans, who had seen the history of Equestria and the Crystal Empire, at the Manehattan Museum, instantly knew what Celestia had been talking about. The place where the Ponkan Wars, similar to the wars in the Balkans that had led to the Great War. That was where they where. It was now 11:50am.

As they looked around, looking for any sign of where to go, that was when a human, accompanied by a brown-yellow pegasus wearing a hat and a military green vest, came towards him. "Ah, your highnesses! It's me, Daring Do!" said the pegasus.

"Ah, Daring. Good to see you again. You're the pony leader of the expedition team?" asked Celestia.

"Nope, I'm not the leader, just the second-in-command. "The main leader of the expedition team is actually John here." said Daring Do, pointing to the man with her.

He was around the same age as Wood and Rockmond, who were in their forties. He seemed rather fit for his age, and was wearing hiking gear. "Hi, I'm John Price. I'm the leader of our combined expedition team." said the man. "We've got a pretty amazing discovery to show you all. Come on." said Price, as he walked back towards the direction from where he and Daring had come, with the combined entourage following.

As they continued walking, they reached the crater of a once-active volcano, that had gone extinct close to 300 years ago. As they reached the crater, they could see multiple humans and ponies around the volcano, studying it with scientific equipment the humans had brought with them. "Um.... why are you all camped out the crater of an extinct volcano?" asked Celestia.

"Well, your highness, we have actually discovered rich mineral deposits, of a mineral we have not seen before. Take a look." said Price, as he urged the princesses and some of the humans to follow him. They followed him down to one of the tents, where they had kept samples of the mineral. However, it had been kept isolated, in a large lead box.

"Why have you kept this mineral in a lead box like that?" asked Celestia.

"Well, your highnesses, this mineral is radioactive. We had brought a Geiger counter, to measure the radioactivity, in case we found something like that, and we have. We do not have a name for this mineral yet, but it is highly radioactive. Lead is the only material that can stop the radioactivity, so we have encased it in a lead box. However, we do have some pictures of it taken before we stuck it in the box. Take a look." said Price, as he showed them some pictures, showing a glowing green rock, being placed into the lead box, by a human wearing what seemed to be a protective suit and gloves.

"What kind of properties does it have?" asked Celestia, knowing that Twilight would love to study this mineral.

"Right now, we don't much about it, apart from the fact that it is highly radioactive. We haven't even named it yet, so we are simply calling it Material Z. Radioactive materials are relatively new to us. They are mainly used in medical applications. We have a technology called X-ray, which uses radioactive materials, to see inside the human body, mainly the bones. It helps us to locate fractures, breaks, and study the human body. We are also experimenting with it to check industrial parts for cracks, and in to reveal hidden things." said Price.

"I have heard of your X-ray technology, but I didn't know it used such materials. We have had radioactive materials on our world as well. However, occurrence of such materials as a mineral was extremely rare, and we rarely found any traces of radioactivity on our world." said Celestia.

"We have also found something else. Material Z does not get affected by magic in any way, and I fear that it could be used for bad purposes, turned into a Material Z weapon. One that cannot be stopped by magic, one that could probably destroy a whole city, especially now that we have discovered nuclear fission." said Price. "For now, this discovery will be confined to our small group, and some of the higher-ups in our countries' governments, so that does not happen."

"Don't worry, Price. You have our word. We will keep the news of Material Z confined. Any other updates?" said Celestia.

"Well, we have also discovered high-grade coal deposits, around 50 kilometers south of Ponyville. A smaller deposit, containing more medium-grade coal, has been found 100 kilometers west of Fillydelphia. We have also found medium-grade iron ore deposits, south of the Crystal Empire. These deposits will help begin the modernisation and industrialisation of your country." said Price.

"Thanks for the update, Price. We have to get going now. See you next time we meet." said Celestia, as the princesses, the two ambassadors, and their soldiers began leaving. They left the tent, and then teleported back to Manehattan. It was now 1:00pm. The discovery of Material Z had changed things. This could help them build a weapon that could end the war, and the threat of Discord. Hopefully, it would.

Comments

[shining paladin]

"now i become death the destroyer of worlds i suppose we thought that one way or another"-Julius Robert Oppenheimer awesome chapter mate keep it up cant wait for the next chapter

[The Unseen]

11782022
we may actually see Oppenheimer, later in the story, probably around 1942-1944

[SonicDJM]

"We have also found something else. Material Z does not get affected by magic in any way, and I fear that it could be used for bad purposes, turned into a Material Z weapon. One that cannot be stopped by magic, one that could probably destroy a whole city, especially now that we have discovered nuclear fusion."

Just want to point out that I believe you meant nuclear fission, not fusion. Nuclear fission is the process by which atomic bombs use to make such big explosions, and was originally discovered in 1938. Nuclear fusion has only just been accomplished by humans just a few years ago and only for a few milliseconds at a time. Just a fact I felt was important to mention, as nuclear fusion and nuclear fission are two very different processes. Nuclear fission is when atoms are split apart and Nuclear fusion is when atoms are merged together, in case you were unaware of that. Otherwise, this was a great update, and hope to see you in the next chapter.
SonicDJM

[The Unseen]

11785190
I was meaning to write fission, but I didn't have much time to check it before I published it. Thanks for pointing that out!