(A/N This has been revised and rewritten, do enjoy and inform of persisting mistakes.)
November 14, 1942
Savo Island, Pacific
TF 64, USS South Dakota
Captain Halford Norman
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The firing subsided as the last ship slipped off radar. “Captain! Enemy is fleeing!” An officer informed of the obvious. The black figure of Savo Island of only a shadow in the dark morning. The four Japanese ships that had been struck earlier in the fighting were slowly burning in the distance, no longer moving.
Suddenly, a bright light illuminated the USS South Dakota from starboard side. In the following seconds, several shells came in from the four IJN ships that had flanked. “Kill those damn lights!” Captain Norman ordered.
“Aye sir!” The four twin five inch cannons on starboard side simultaneously turned, and began hailing on the source of the lights. The three turrets containing the three each nine inch cannons turned as well, railing out their freight car loads on the hostile ships. Another ship showed up off the stern of the South Dakota, and turret three was brought onto them.
The large turret fired, raking over the ship’s own aircraft and shredding them apart. The target was struck, and began billowing smoke as it stopped firing. Turret three was brought back on the starboard targets while the USS Washington and the two’s support destroyers, The USS Preston, Walke, Benham, and Gwin, joined their fire.
Fighting between the two, the Preston moved along to a better vantage point, crossing between the South Dakota and attacking ships. The Preston was struck, taking a heavy caliber round for the South Dakota, and she began to sink. The South Dakota’s crew watched helplessly as the Preston disappeared into the black depths of the Pacific.
The South Dakota continued firing until, after a few grueling hours, the four offending IJN ships sank. The U.S. Forces lost the Preston, and the Walke. The South Dakota sat there, and the bridge crew sighed a breath of relief as they had survived another hard fight with the IJN. Just then, the lights on the bridge went out.
Captain Norman looked around at the black bridge. “God damnit! Someone get down to the switchboard and find out why we’re dark!”
“Aye sir!” An officer ran out of the bridge.
“Helmsman, head for the predestinated point for rendezvous with the Washington. We’re no help in a fight if tracking is offline.”
“Aye sir. Heading out.” The massive ship lurched forward as it began off the side of Savo Island. A sudden shell railed the stern of the ship, causing everyone in the bridge to stumble.
“What the hell was that?” Norman demanded. He ran to the viewing balcony, and took up field glasses. He could make out the outline of an IJN Destroyer. Another shell was fired, and connected with the plating on turret three. Norman rushed back in, ordering. “Full ahead helmsman! And get three firing on that son of a bitch!”
“Aye sir!” Came multiple confirmations. The South Dakota lurched again as full speed was reached, and it trembled while turret three returned fire on their IJN pursuer. In the confusion and darkness, they failed to notice a massive whirlpool forming. A loud thundering sound echoed out as the IJN destroyer’s main five inch gun on the front was struck and destroyed.
The ship lurched again, but this time violently as the bridge crew was thrown to one side, the bow of the South Dakota finding its way into the whirlpool. The ship began sliding in, bow down and stern rising, crew being thrown forward now. “Brace yourselves!” Was all that Captain Norman could yell as the thundering roar of water engulfed them.
The IJN ship followed the South Dakota, not having time to veer off and avoid the whirlpool. It soon met a similar fate.
* * * * *
Present Day
Canterlot, Equestria
Canterlot Castle
Princess Celestia
//////////
Princess Celestia slouched in her throne. Another bright, happy, sunny day. Another day of boredom for the sun goddess. She sighed, looking at the massive, empty room. The door was flung open as a guard approached her. His trot, and his facial expression could only mean one thing. Excitement. “Your highness. A strange whirlpool has begun to form in the South Seas.”
“A whirlpool? That can’t be all.” Celestia sat up.
“It's not all. The whirlpool seems to be bringing two very large boats with it.”
“Boats? Are there any settlements in that area?”
“No Your Highness. Only woodlands.”
“Alright. Go and gather the Elements of Harmony, then take them with a guard escort out there. I will go ahead and see for myself what we’re dealing with.”
“Your highness?”
“I said go. I will expect them there within the hour.” Celestia stood, stretching her wings slightly as she began out of the throne room, the guard now in tow.
“Yes Your Highness.” He hurried off, and Celestia made her way to the gardens. Standing in the open air, she spread her wings and took flight for the southern woodlands. She was craving this little excitement, but she did not realize how much excitement this would bring.
* * * * *
Southern Equestrian Seas
USS South Dakota
Captain Halford Norman
//////////
Norman slowly stood. He had to shield his eyes against the bright sunlight pouring in the bridge viewports. Wait, sunlight? How long had he been out? He noticed the rest of his crew getting to their feet as well, grabbing paneling for support. “Is everyone alright?” He called. His crew confirmed in several pained voices.
Norman stumbled out to the viewing balcony, and was blinded by the full on sun. Shielding his eyes once more, they adjusted to the light, and a large landmass became visible to him. All he saw on the land was a short beach, then nothing but trees up to some very large mountains. Beyond that, he could not make anything out, but this was not right.
Radar Officer Kans Jose approached form behind. “Captain? What happened? Where the hell are we?”
Norman turned to face the officer and close friend. “We swam down a whirlpool Jose. As for where we are, you tell me. Recognize anything?”
“No sir. I’ve never seen any land like this. East coast, west coast, or any of the Pacific Islands. This looks like we found new land.” Kans stepped up to the railing. The two began leaning on it. “Any idea on what to do sir?”
“No. We need to assess damage first.” They grew very quiet as a semi-familiar sight began to drift in front of the bow. There, perpendicular to them, sat the IJN destroyer that had been chasing them. The two ran in and Norman bellowed, “Are the guns up?”
“No idea sir!”
“How about the boilers?” He turned red in the face.
“They’re firing sir!”
“Helmsman! All ahead!”
“All ahead, aye sir!”
* * * * *
Southern Equestria
Thick woodlands
Princess Twilight Sparkle
//////////
“Are we there yet?” A distressed Rarity whined out.
“Almost. Just a bit more.” Twilight answered. Their group of Elements and their six guard escort walked through the forest while Twilight read the map.
“Thank heavens… This humidity is terrible for my hair…” Rarity continued to whine.
“Oh, stuff it you prune.” Applejack huffed.
“Alright, settle down you two. We’re here.” Twilight informed them as they pushed their way onto a beach. They stopped cold in their tracks as they were confronted with the sight of a massive metal ship, and a slightly smaller one sitting in front of it. “What in the name of Celestia are those?”
On que, Celestia landed next to them, earning a bow from her subjects. “The large one is called a ‘Battleship’, and the smaller one is a ‘Destroyer’.”
“Why do they have those names though? They sound like things that would fight.” Twilight asked. Her question received its unintentional answer as the large ‘Battleship’ began forward, heading right at the ‘Destroyer’. “Wait, what is it doing?”
The ‘Battleship’ rammed hard into the side of the ‘Destroyer’, tearing the smaller ship into pieces. The smaller ship started into fires on the water, billowing smoke into the air. “Oh my!” Came the collected cry of shock. A small boat emerged from the wreckage of the ‘Destroyer’, and made its way to the beach. It landed about six hundred yards down the beach.
The ‘Battleship’ stopped moving, and one of the three large machines on top of it began to turn towards the small boat. The boats occupants scrambled around to get out of the boat, as a loud crack sounded, the huge puff of smoke popping from the machine. The very soon bang sounded as the boat exploded violently, annihilating its occupants.
The group stood in shock and terror. The ‘Battleship’ had just destroyed two things that, with no doubt, were carrying living creatures. The smoke billowed out from the former ‘Destroyer’ and the puffs drifted from the boat and machine. The machine slowly turned back to face forward.
* * * * *
USS South Dakota
Captain Halford Norman
////////////
“Captain. Jap PT boat successfully destroyed”
“Good. Now send one of the Marine squads ashore to search for any survivors, and to see if they can figure out where we are.” Norman smiled. His quick acting had surely just saved wherever they were from the hated Japanese. “And drop anchor. We’ll hold down here for now.”
“Aye sir!” The sound of rattling chains sounded for a brief moment, before they landed and the USS South Dakota was prepared to lock down the area and keep an eye out for any other Japanese.
* * * * *
Higgins Boat #26
Sergeant Jensen Malantraze
//////////
“Sarge? What’s our orders?” Asked one of Jensen’s squad.
“Alright, Cappin’s ordering our asses out to that beach to check for any nip survivors from that PT boat. Secondary orders are to try to locate the local population and figure out where in the fuck we are.” Jensen informed them. He clutched his Tommy gun, while most of his squad carried M1s. One man had a BAR.
The boat hit the shore, and opened its ramp. “Alright, Move! Move! Move! Get your asses to that boat and search it!”
* * * * *
Southern Equestrian Woodlands
Princess Twilight Sparkle
//////////
Twilight and the others had retreated into the forest once they had seen the second boat come off the ‘Battleship’. They saw several creatures run out of it once it made it to shore, all of them dressed in some olive green attire. Each one clutched a wood and steel thing in their claws, and they ran around on two legs. This was both intriguing, and frightening.
They ran to the burning boat, looking around it. They drug a struggling creature from the boat and down the beach. This creature was blackened with burns, and was yelling in another language, thrashing around as the six olive creatures drug it. They threw it down, and began yelling at it, but in a language that was understandable to them.
“You fucking Nip! Think ya can come at us like that! Look at your fucking pathetic piece of shit ship now!” The one who was yelling kicked the struggling one. He then brought his wood and steel contraption up and pointed it at the one lying on the ground. A burst of fire spurted from the tip of the contraption, and the creature lying on the beach stopped moving, a red mist briefly rising from his torso.
“Oh my stars… What did they do?” Whispered a terrified element. Their voice was incoherent, but the question was clear. And so was the answer as the creature’s blood pooled up around the body. The group stood in shock, but soon realized that they were no longer unnoticed. The olive creatures were staring right at them. Wood and steel contraptions now pointed at them.
* * * * *
Southern Equestrian Beach
Sergeant Jensen Malantraze
//////////
After Malantraze had shot and killed the Japanese soldier, he heard a whisper. Obviously his squad had as well, beings as they were looking around. That was when he noticed it. Not it, them. The horses. Multi colored horses. With wings and horns. Two with both. Instinctively, Malantraze pointed this out, and the others brought their rifles to bear.
Not sure what to expect from multi colored horses, Malantraze did the only thing he knew to do with animals. He whistled at them, and moved his hand in a motion to shoo them away. “Hey! Scat! Shoo! Get outtalk here you dumb horses!”
It was true that he didn’t know what to expect. And he sure wasn’t expecting a response. “Hey, we’re not dumb!” Malantraze blinked, and looked at the purple one, who he was more than sure he just heard talk. He took notice of a, crown? The large white one had a crown as well.
Malantraze motioned for the lowering of his squad’s weapons. He then stepped forward towards the horses hiding in the brush. “What the fuck? Did you just…”
The group of horses stepped from the brush, making Malantraze back up. Most of them wore necklaces, the two had crowns, and several others were dressed in suits of armor. "Um. Hello there. I am Princess Celestia." The white one spoke.
Malantraze motioned for the field radio, and then began into it, “Captain, this is Sergeant Malantraze from the beach. Sir, I think we found the local population. And you ain't gonna believe what they are..."
(A/N Been Revised. Do enjoy, and little FYI, I'll write crap chapters first, just mainly to see the reaction and have a decent line to follow for plot.)
Southern Equestrian Seas
USS South Dakota
Captain Halford Norman
//////////
“I don’t copy sergeant. Come again.” Norman spoke in the radio. He had to clear his ears when he thought he heard the sergeant report horses as the local populace.
“Sir. I said we found a group of multicolored horses. They wish to speak to you.”
“Well, by all means. Let me speak to the horses” Norman laughed. He quickly lost his laugh as a feminine voice came back.
“Hello? Captain?”
Norman had to swallow a few times. He felt his throat dry. “Yes. Who am I speaking with?”
“This is Princess Celestia of Equestria.”
“Equestria? Where the hell is that? Europe? Asia? Africa?”
“It is simply Equestria. Captain, may we board your ship? I wish to speak face to face, and not over this strange technology.”
“Oh sure!” Now he was being sarcastic. “I’ll send a boat out to get you now.”
“I’m sorry, but our time is short, we will simply fly. We will land on the rear of your ship.” The voice cut away with the sound of flapping wings. Norma looked to the beach and saw them on approach in the air.
“Sir! Airborne targets spotted closing in! Do we engage?” Called an officer.
“No. Not yet… I want to see where this goes. We’ll decide our actions at a later time.” Norman informed him. He then walked out of the bridge, beginning off for the stern.
* * * * *
USS South Dakota
Princess Twilight Sparkle
//////////
Twilight set down easily, letting go of the guards she was carrying. She observed the deck of this ship right away. The deck itself was wooded, but scorched. The area they landed had black and twisted steel and wood everywhere. She then noticed the massive contraption they had set down in front of. It was exactly like the one they saw fire earlier, but it was unmoving. Up close, this thing looked as if it could fit a fully grown mare in its tubes.
She next noticed the crew of the ship. They wore blue, and some had white hats while other blue. They eyed the ponies with curiosity, others with disgust, and some more with no care at all. But most of all, she noticed the sheer size of the ship when sitting on it. It was massive! This thing could very well serve as a floating village!
The crew of the ship stopped moving. They all froze and looked very professional all of a sudden. This was all Twilight needed to notice what she presumed to be the captain. This one wore tan, and a large hat. Silver bars sat shining on his hat and top. He stopped in front of the group. This one seemed uneasy. Uneasy, or just… Just what?
“Good day. I am Captain Halford Norman of the USS South Dakota. Welcome aboard my ship, and I ask, how I may assist you?”
Princess Celestia stepped forward. “Hello Captain. We have been introduced now, so I must ask, what are you and your ship doing here?”
“Your Highness. We do not know. We took some damage in a recent battle, and were retreating in order to regroup with our fellow ship the USS Washington, when we hit a whirlpool, and woke up here.” He smiled.
“Ok. Why did your attack and kill that other ship?”
“Simple ma’am. That was an IJN ship.”
“IJN?”
“Imperial Japanese Navy? We are at war with them.”
Twilight had drifted off from the conversation. She was visually exploring this man and the ship. The thing that brought her back was, “We are a peaceful land, and do not want your war here!” Celestia’s harshness brought Twilight to her senses. She looked at her mentor and friend. She wore an irritated look.
“Ma’am. Whether you like it or not, war is here. If there was one IJN ship, there are bound to be more. And this could mean there are more friendly ships… More battleships.” The captain scratched his chin. The group was interrupted as a loud humming sound began growing louder. A crew member came running to the captain.
“Sir! Japanese Zero spotted closing in!”
“Zero? Well, shoot it down!”
“Sir! It’s chasing something. It looks like a few flying horses in armor.”
The spectacle came into view. Three flying ponies which Twilight recognized as royal guards tried desperately to escape a quickly closing metal object. A thundering sound roared from the plane as it opened up on one of the guards, killing him and sending him splashing to the water. Twilight gasped. She saw another turn and fire an ineffective crossbow at the object. He died soon after.
The last guard was hit in his wing, and began spinning down, yelling the whole way. Large machines on the ship they were on roared loudly as they sent bright streaks flying to the sky, right at the offending metal object. It spun in the air, and began making a terrible whining noise as it began directly at them.
“Kamikaze!” Yelled the captain as the plane closed in fast. It was struck by fire from the ship, but did not slow as it burst to flames, still coursed on them. Right as it was about to hit, a golden shield covered the group. A loud thundering noise sounded as the object smashed against the shield.
* * * * *
USS South Dakota
Captain Halford Norman
//////////
Norman opened his eyes. Smoke surrounded him. What? He was alive? The golden energy shield surrounding him and the horses dissipated, revealing a smoldering Zero wreckage. There was minimal damage to the deck, and fire crews were already dealing with the flames that were dying. Normal looked to the white leader as her horn stopped its golden glow.
“That. Was impressive.” He said. She smiled, but it was short lived as two sailors brought a bleeding horse with wings to him. The horse was slightly bandaged.
“Sir. We were able to rescue this one from the water”
“Alright. Leave him with the others, I’m sure they’ll be glad to have him back.” The sailors nodded and set the armored winged horse with the others.
It opened its eyes, and said in a raspy voice. “Y-your highness… Baltimare… They… They came from nowhere… So many… Slaughtered civilians… Big ships… Flying machines… Too many…”
The white princess lowered her head to him, nuzzling the obviously dying creature. “Shh… It’ll be ok. You did your duty, and can rest now.” The wounded one closed his eyes slowly as it stopped its panting. “We need to get to Baltimare now. Captain, I am asking of you, please assist us in this. We need to protect the innocents there.”
“By all means ma’am, if we can get on your good side by avenging this and killing more IJN ships, then we’ll be all too happy to help. We’ll set sail right away. Just lead us there.” Norman told her. He beckoned to her. “I’ll take you to the bridge. We’ll make way now.” Norman turned, and began off back to the bridge.
He separated the ponies, telling them only the leaders could come on the bridge. The rest were sent to the ship’s cafeteria. Now Norman had the white princess, and a smaller purple princess. He led them into the bridge, taking his station with them nearby. “Alright, let’s get moving!”
The ship was brought underway once the anchor was up, and was now led in the proper direction by these horses. After an uneventfully short trip, they spotted the burning city, and a whole god damned IJN fleet! Norman saw three or four Destroyers, an Aircraft Carrier, and two IJN Battleships! Numerous aircraft zipped around the sky, attacking the city. He knew they were doomed as soon as the fleet saw them.
“Captain, we see how badly outnumbered you are, and may be able to offer you an advantage.”
“What is that? Anything we can use is helpful.”
“Myself and Twilight here can cast a powerful magical shield over your ship to protect it, and the other unicorns with us can enhance your shells, making them far more powerful.”
Norman blinked. Were they messing with him? He had to take the chance. “Alright. Order your unicorns to do their thing, and shield us up. We’ll be taking heavy fire from that fleet, and anything to quicken the battle and give us less damage helps.”
“We will do so Captain. We will be with the others, safely hidden away, providing those for you. We will let you know when we are ready.” With that, the two horses rushed off the bridge. Norman looked to an officer.
“Go with them and take a radio. Inform me on their condition, and relay any orders.”
“Aye aye sir!” The officer jumped from his station and took off after the horses.
“Alright you all. Prepare for battle!” Norman ordered the bridge crew.
* * * * *
USS South Dakota, Cafeteria
Princess Celestia
//////////
Celestia returned to the rest of her ponies, along with their escort. “The captain sent me to relay any orders to you and to inform him on how you are.” The human said. He was a young man, and eager to help out. Celestia nodded and looked to her ponies.
“Alright. We are going into battle to save Baltimare. I have promised the captain we will do what we can to protect this ship and help with the battle. Myself and Twilight will be producing a powerful shield to absorb anything that hits this ship. The rest of you unicorns, I need you to charge powerful enhancing spells on any shells fired from the main weapons.”
“But princess, that kind of magic will be exhausting, and we do not think we can do that for long.”
“Do it as long as you can, we need to save the city. Think of all the families already slaughtered by those monsters. We need to do this, to prevent any more from dying.”
“Yes princess.” The group of unicorns, including Rarity, which was a surprise, circled up and began charging a powerful spell, which glowed red. Celestia took Twilight to a corner, and sat with her. The two put their horns together, and focused hard. The ship was massive, and they were sure every shell they absorbed would hurt. But they had to do it to survive now.
Celestia’s mind focused on the exterior of the ship. She began producing a shield, allowing things out, but not in.
* * * * *
USS South Dakota
Captain Halford Norman
//////////
Norman watched in amazement as a purple/gold shielding began coating the ship. He couldn’t believe it. They were actually doing it. He then saw the barrels of Turret’s one and two start glowing red, signaling whatever they fired would be powerful. Norman took up the radio. “Tell the horses we’re going in. Full force.”
“Aye aye sir!” Came the reply from the radio.
“All hands! Man your battle stations! Engage IJN Battleships first! Then hit the Carrier, then mop up the rest!” Multiple confirmations sounded and the ship lurched forward. “Fire at will!” One and Two opened as soon as the order was given. The glowing red shells sped out, colliding with the first Battleship. To Norman’s amazement, they exploded with terrifying force, splitting the first ship in half instantly.
“Sir, the unicorns say they can’t do many more shots like that! They say make them count!” One and Two fired again on the second ship, an overused amount of force shredding the ship to pieces. The rest of the fleet was alerted, and began returning fire on the ship. Another Kamikaze hit the bow, but merely exploded and bounced off. Norman smiled. They were invincible and overpowered as long as they had the magic on their side.
“Ok. Main guns slow your fire. That charge will not last, so conserve your shots. Two shells demolished the Battleships, so now only fire one at a time on the rest.” Confirmations came back as they slowed their fire, and both turrets fired one shell on the Carrier. The carrier sunk instantly, no match for such powerful shells.
Norman saw the red glow on the turrets fade away, and he knew they had to work now to kill. “Tell the unicorns to rest. We can handle the others now normally.”
“Aye sir!”
“Gunners, charge is out, now open all you have on the remaining ships!” The two turrets wasted no time focusing on two of the three destroyers. But Norman saw something. These ships began to glow with a green magical shield. “What the fuck! The IJN ships are shielded as well! Hard port! Get three in this fight! All guns focus fire on the nearest ship! We need to break those shields!”
Norman stumbled slightly as the ship turned, allowing Three the view to attack now. The ship shuddered as all turrets opened up, their shells causing the shield on the first IJN destroyer to waver and fall. The ship stood no chance as the second volley tore it apart, and sunk it. The two remaining Destroyers realized they were doomed, and begun for the entrance of the bay, trying to flee.
“Ram those sons o’ bitches!” Norman yelled. The ship spun around rather quickly, picking up the speed to intercept the fleeing ships. “Get the princesses to focus shields to the bow! We’re ramming!”
“Aye sir!” Norman soon saw the shielding slide along the ship, thickening at the bow. They closed in on the fleeing ships, 300 feet. 200. 100. 50. They struck the leading Destroyer’s bow, spinning it into its fellow ship. The two capsized. “Fire on their exposed bellies!”
The order was followed as three turned to behind them and hit the two ships in their weakly armored hulls. They exploded violently. All grew silent as the fleet was sunk, and the planes had been shot down. The South Dakota sailed into the bay and near the burning city. “Tell the horses we won the battle. And get them to the bow.”
“Aye sir!”
Norman left the bridge, walking to the bow to survey the damage to the city.
* * * * *
USS South Dakota
Princess Twilight Sparkle.
/////////
Twilight huffed and panted. That ramming had hurt bad, and left her exhausted. Celestia did not fare much better. They weakly stood, while their observer said, “The captain says we won! He is waiting on the bow for you.” The group nodded and followed him. Celestia and Twilight had to be supported the whole way out, the two barely able to stand.
They got to the deck, the air full of smoke and fumes. But it was refreshing. They made their way to the captain, and he smiled to them. “I thank you, that effort really turned the tide of the battle for us. But, they had their own shielding. Some kind of green shield.”
“A green shield? But how?” Celestia asked. Twilight could not take her eyes off the burning city of Baltimare. It was in shambles, many building rubble. But they saw several ponies starting to wander, feeling the threat was over when they saw the new ship not attacking, and saw their beloved princess on the ship.
“Princess. I am sorry for your city. But we have a problem. The IJN is here. We don’t know how many, and we don’t know who is helping them. But I assure you. We will do what we can to help protect your lands from them.
