Chapter 96 - Eyesore to My Shore
Part 1: Flowering Escape
TIME: 10:56 ERST
DATE: War Day 840/24 Septimus, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Flower Island, Eyesore Islands
We could see the Canidan Frigates making full steam towards the island, they were almost here. Above them, the Naval Air Arm was providing cover. The enemy ships, that we could see, were keeping their distance. They had to know what we were up to, but I surmised, they didn't want to interdict us just yet for whatever reason.
The Frigates did 39 knots and had already been ahead of the rest of the Canidan fleet. They made excellent time. We had the prisoners chained up and ready to transfer.
Glencoe Radiopup: C> "This is RCS Glencoe to Alpha Actual. We're going to pull almost right up to the shore and transfer by raft. ETA three minutes."
K: C> "Glencoe, this is Alpha. Roger, we're ready." I nodded to Webley.
Webley: "Alright, keep the Unicorns in small groups with assigned guards." She directed.
K: "Hopefully, the enemy fleet takes the loss of three Torpedo Boats to lightly armed paratroopers to heart and backs off." I crossed my arms, seeing the Canidan frigates come to a stop and start lowering rafts.
I knew that the transfer would take a bit. The Frigates didn't have proper boats. The rafts they were using had room for eight passengers, each ship was dropping six. Three Frigates.. we'd need two trips.
K: "Last trip will be me, the girls, and Havoc's team. Webley, you go first with the Paras." I nodded.
Webley: "You got it." She readied herself to get in the raft as it got on to the sand.
Once it did, the Paras wasted no time getting the passengers abaord in an orderly fashion. The Mercenaries didn't offer any resistance, and in fact, helped a bit. The Unicorns were stubborn, and one had to be jabbed in the butt with a bayonet.
The rafts were away.. and I could see the other three Frigates pulling security. At 65 meters, they were at the absolute lowest limit of what could be called a Frigate. Anything smaller, they'd be a Corvette. I saw as two of the Security Detail quickly pulled away, as a CS-1 Hound overhead made a banking turn.
Something was up. Shells started arcing over and landing wildly around us.. BIG shells. The battleships were on the move - and I was pretty sure the Canidan fighter-bombers wouldn't be able to seriously damage them.
K: "..swim for it!" I ordered, suddenly, discarding most of my gear, and motioning for everyone to get into the water.
Twilight: "You heard him!" She tossed her gear, but took to the skies, pulling Spike with her.
Dash and Fluttershy took airborne as well, the rest of us getting into the water, and making for the Frigates. Swimming was slower than the rafts, but we managed to get in range of the slower rafts, and they threw us lines, still paddling for the ships.
Once the rafts got close enough, they were hitched with manual lines, and the rafts pulled up to the decks. We got to RCS Rodney, and they threw hand lines over the side for us. We grappled and climbed up.
LT j.g. Whiteleash: "General! The enemy fleet is heading this way!" She reached over the side and yanked me up by my collar.
K: "I guessed that! Come on, get everyone aboard and let's get out of here!" I rolled over, and reached down, grabbing Applejack's line and pulling her up - not that she needed help.
Applejack: "Thanks, Honey." She got up on the deck, and we made sure the rest of the swimmers got aboard.
I made for the Bridge.
MCPO Blacktail: "General on th' bridge!"
CDR Thunderpaw: "General! Commander Chloe Thunderpaw, welcome aboard RCS Rodney."
K: "I'm taking command, skipper." I nodded to her.
CDR Thunderpaw: "Of course!" She snapped to attention.
I moved to the Comms station and borrowed the unit.
K: C> "This is Alpha Actual. Temporary Flagship is RCS Rodney. Sea Dog Actual, how copy?"
Adm. Labrador: C> "This is Sea Dog. We read you. We stand ready for your orders, General."
K: C> "Let's get the hell out of here. Those are my orders. Frigate Force will rendezvous with the Canidan Fleet, then we rendezvous with the Roaman Fleet, and head for the Port of Mayaimi."
Adm. Labrador: C> "Aye-aye, General."
We started moving.. we needed to just get out of here. Unfortunately, the enemy had other plans..
[End of Part 1]
Part 2: Eyesore Sea Battle
TIME: 11:07 ERST
DATE: War Day 840/24 Septimus, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Eyesore Islands
CDR Thunderpaw: "General.. Elgin is reporting that the enemy fleet is trying to flank us." She moved from the comms, over to me.
I'd moved to the center of the bridge. While the Captain had a chair, I chose not to sit in it.. it's made for canids, not humans.
K: "ETA on the Roamans?" I simply asked.
CDR Thunderpaw: "The Roaman fleet is on the other side of them and coming into battleship gun range, now. Our fleet is strung out - we're still trying to regroup with the rest of the Canidan fleet. The Roamans report their Corvettes are at the front of their formation."
K: "Standard, for them." I leaned over and grabbed the mic. C> "Alpha Actual to Hercules."
Ame. Tortellini: C> "Ammiraglio Tortellini here, General! Is'a good to hear your voice!"
K: C> "Full Admiral? Nice. Congratulations. Listen, I think these guys want a fight. What's it looking like on your end?" I didn't want to, but I figured, we'd better stick some shells in them to discourage further pursuit.
Ame. Tortellini: C> "Si! And I am now Ammiraglio of the Fleet, no less. Ehh.. our enemy bears down on you, signore. They can see our Corvettes, I'm sure, but we are out of range, still. Ten minutes for guns, at current speeds."
K: C> "Get your Corvettes to do a quick Torpedo run on them. See if you can draw their attention. Those Battleships are real tubs - slow and thick. I don't think either one of us can penetrate them. The Cruisers and Torpedo Boats? Easy pickings."
Ame. Tortellini: C> "Si, K. Si. Ehhh.. five minutes to torpedo launch."
K: C> "Excellent. We'll pop a few shots at them and withdraw north. Just enough to give them the idea they're outclassed."
Ame. Tortellini: C> "Si, K. Si. We will cover your with'adrawl!"
Applejack: "Shore is nice havin' such good friends.." She smiled a bit, wringing her hair out as best she could.
I smirked inwardly, knowing Rarity was probably having a major fashion freak-out over salt water in her mane.. ahh, Rarity. My friends.
K: "Have the Frigate Force get ready to do a blind drop. Half the torpedo compliment. Just enough to get their attention. We can outrun those things, but if they cut us off, we're in trouble."
CDR Thunderpaw: "Aye-aye." She moved to the radio set to relay my instructions.
I watched as the frigates that had been pulling security, moved to the outer edge of the formation, and prepared to drop torpedoes. The enemy torpedo boats were moving faster than the cruisers and the battleships, they'd be on us about the same time we were ready to do the bi-directional torpedo attack.
K: "Main guns. Fire when they get in rage." I ordered.
CDR Thunderpaw: "Aye-Aye." She relayed this.
LCDR Flitting Whiskers: "Main guns, tracking, zero one three degrees. Range, one two seven zero zero. Prepare to fire." He ordered the gunnery station.
MCPO Blacktail: "Main guns tracking. Maximum range, five minutes."
K: "Steady as she goes." I held on to the chair, seeing a few huge shell splashes come among the formation - the battleships were firing ranging shots.
CDR Thunderpaw: "Sir, Yakutat reports they're down to one strike's worth of anti-ship ordnance, and it has no effect on the battleships." She looked up from the radio set.
K: "Have them load for anti-surface, and attack the battleships superstructures and gun turrets. Shake them up, if nothing else." I directed.
CDR Thunderpaw: "Aye-aye!" She relayed this.
MCPO Blacktail: "Main guns, bearing two-one degrees.. entering maximum range." He plotted this on the manual gunnery chart.
K: "Hold for ten seconds, then open fire." I was also doing head math.
CDR Thunderpaw: "We're ready to launch torpedoes." She reported.
K: "Simultanious fire - torpedoes and main guns! Pepper them like steaks!" I pointed in the direction of the enemy, as the CFA-1's came overhead from the Carrier.
CDR Thunderpaw: "Aye-aye!" She relayed this.
LCDR Whiskers: "Main guns - fire! Torpedoes - FIRE!" He ordered the weapon station.
MCPO Blacktail: "Firing all main guns, and launching torpedoes!" He noted.
I felt the ship jerk with the firing of the guns. The Canidan guns were semi-automatic, and auto-ejected spent shell casings. This made them fire quickly, and I could see the shells arc over, and score a few chastizing hits on the cruisers. Two came to a dead stop, one with smoke from the water line, one with a burning fire on their bridge.
MCPO Blacktail: "Torpedo impact in five.. four.. three.. two... one!" He counted down.
I watched as gouts of spray shot up from seven ships at once, some hit twice. The enemy formation was hit hard. The Roaman Corvettes' torpedoes were behind ours, and impacted at almost the same time, scoring ten more hits.
Over half of the enemy's smaller vessels were hit hard, or took shell fire. Only a few were still moving. The cruisers closed into gun range, and tried to hit us with their smaller caliber guns.
K: "Rodney and Elgin, take that lead cruiser with main guns." I ordered.
CDR Thunderpaw: "Elgin, move alongside, prepare to broadside the lead cruiser. Fall in behind us." She relayed.
LCDR Whiskers: "Main guns, correction to four-five degrees, reload and prepare for rapid fire." He ordered.
MCPO Blacktail: "Main guns report ready." He stated.
CDR Thunderpaw: "Yakutat reports three of the battleships are on fire, but no significant damage. They are ceasing their attack." She looked up, with a grin.
K: "FIRE!" That didn't change my mind about that cruiser.
Rodney and Elgin fired at almost the same moment, and the dogs worked those guns hard, pumping out shells at a high rate, pounding the cruiser hard, and making fat five-inch entry holes along her armor belt, superstructure, blowing off the forward gun mount, detonating the torpedo magazine, and finally, putting a shell in her engine room, causing her to detonate from the center, throwing chunks of ship all over the sea.
K: "I think they got the message. Canidan fleet, retire to the north at maximum speed." I heaved a sigh. "Once we're sure they're not following, stand down General Quarters."
Applejack: "Huh.. guess they didn't have it." She smirked.
CDR Thunderpaw: "Have what, ma'am?" She tilted her head.
Applejack: "Mah husband's stuff 'n th' brains t'use it." She slid a foreleg around my hip.
K: "They had some of it, but they sure DIDN'T know how to use it right." I shrugged, looking at the Canidan ship. "Unlike our friends, who adapted and evolved it."
The sea battle was over, for the moment.. now, we could evaluate our position.
[End of Part 2]
Part 3: Sea Dogs
TIME: 11:49 ERST
DATE: War Day 840/24 Septimus, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Aboard RCS Manitou, Eyesore Islands
K: C> "Attention all forces. NEIGHTO Supreme Allied Commander is making Flag aboard RCS Manitou." I smirked - not that anyone but Gio would answer.
Ame. Tortellini: C> "Roaman Flag Ammiraglio! We receive and acknowledge! Ehh... you want'a some better Cappuchino, you come aboard the Caesar, eh?"
K: "Hahhaha.. gotta love that stallion's gusto." I grinned to myself. C> "Roger that, Caesar."
Adm. Labrador: "We're glad to have you here, General K." She thumped her tail. "I.. admit that I'm not confident in my skills as a fighting admiral. Before the war, I was a Coast Guard station commander. The only real experience I have is finding lost pups at sea."
K: "This war brings changes." I patted her shoulder. "Havoc told me you have more seagoing experience than a lot of other dogs."
She was, indeed, a Labrador. Jet black, with a bit of grey at the muzzle. She was 44 years old, and according to Havoc, had spent almost her entire life on the water in some way, shape, or form.
Adm. Labrador: "Misty, please, General." She bowed a little.
K: "Only if you call me K." I smirked.
CDR Bowingsay: "Admiral, General, the enemy commander is signaling." She handed me the Mic again.
K: C> "This is General-Field Marshal K---- K---, Supreme Allied Commander of the North Equus International Group of Herds Treaty Organization, and Knight of the Crystal Realm. To whom do I have the honor of speaking?"
Bey Kerim: C> "This is Bey Kerim of Antatolia, Amiral of the Sultan's Fleet. I have been waiting for your terms of surrender, General-Field Marshal."
K: C> "I offer none. I give you leave to withdraw - I think our point has been proven, Amiral Kerim."
Bey Kerim: C> "..withdraw?"
K: C> "Yes. Your light forces are in shambles.. I see two Corvettes and one Cruiser remaining afloat and undamaged. Three of your battleships have sustained serious superstructure damage. The Canidan Forces Navy can send two Frigates to recover survivors. If you wish, they can be deposited on a neutral island for your recovery. We've significantly damaged your fleet, Amiral, and within a few hours, additional NEIGHTO reinforcements will arrive, including several superior battleships to yours. I give you leave to recover survivors and withdraw. I wish no further battle from you. Our forces have proved their superiority."
Bey Kerim: C> "..I see." There was a pause. "You.. do realize I was asking you to surrender, yes?"
K: C> "You stand in no position to make such a request, Amiral."
Bey Kerim: C> "I still have two undamaged battleships, and you have not proven that you have the ability to sink them. My own reinforcements are en route as well."
K: C> "Amiral, we have outclassed your fleet at every turn. We possess superior technology, and numbers. When the rest of the NEIGHTO fleet arrives, you will be completely overmatched. I could, of course, elect to withdraw, myself. My fleet is faster than yours."
Bey Kerim: C> "Yes, I suppose I could allow you to retreat."
Every dog on the bridge started laughing. The girls were trying to hold it in, still.
K: "Quiet down! Quiet down! Don't insult the poor man." I made hand gestures. C> "Then, by your leave, Amiral. NEIGHTO shall return, and we have many questions for your Sultan."
Bey Kerim: C> "YES! Yes.. you have my leave. Retreat! We shall cross swords another day."
K: "Admiral, get us out of here, huh? Before he changes his mind and we're in actual danger? Those battleships could probably actually hurt us." I shrugged. C> "You are most gracious and wise, effendi. Thank you."
Bey Kerim: C> "Until our next match!"
Adm. Labrador: "Is he serious?!" She couldn't stop chuckling to herself.
K: "As I said, those battleships are real tubs of lard. Thick armor, big guns. Neither of our fleets has a gun really capable of overmatching them. We might be able to wear them down with Ceasar and Rex, but that's two battleships versus five. Your airborne torpedoes can't penetrate their belts. The bombs and rockets can barely damage the upper works. If we had to close with them, I don't think we'd come out with just a bloody nose.. not until the Ambleon or Prench fleets get here." I shrugged.
Adm. Labrador: "Yes.. Canida isn't really fit to construct a Battleship-sized vessel. We don't have any docks really big enough for that." She shrugged.
Applejack: "Y'all're still good with what'cha got!" She beamed.
Rarity: "..yes, now, darling. I.. NEED a place to wash my hair." She was trying to brush it, but there was a lot of salt water in it.
Adm. Labrador: "OH! Goodness. Ah. The VIP State Rooms are two decks down."
Rarity: "Sold!" She dragged Applejack with her.
K: "I'll need a shower soon, myself. Admiral, set course for Mayaimi, Apalachee." I nodded to her, and the bridge crew.
Adm. Labrador: "Yes, General." She nodded back, and stepped into the center of the bridge.
I.. followed loosely behind the girls. Havoc and his team were below, in the main sailor's quarters, likely getting showered off themselves. Salt water in the fur is a bad thing, after all.
When I got down there, the girls were getting themselves prepared for their.. well, I surmised a group shower, with Rarity going full Beauty Treatment for them. Me? I went to the other VIP cabin and caught a shower alone, letting the girls have their time together.
My only real issue was a lack of spare clothes. I packed one extra combat uniform, and it was soaked in salt water. So, I had to have it and my other uniform sent to the ship's laundry. That left me sitting in a towel that I bound up like knickers. Gotta have something to cover the ol' monkey bits.
This gave me time to strip our team's weapons and clean them thoroughly. Salt water doesn't go well with steel weapons, either. Each rifle was cleaned, oiled, and each round was carefully wiped down and dried.
Dusty: "K?" She came in, and sat next to me on the.. well, it's a bed made for dogs, but they clearly sized it with me in mind as the VIP.
K: "Yeah, Dusty?" I put an arm around her.
Dusty: "What happened.. I wasn't there." She looked down a bit.
K: "It's okay. You can't be there for everything. We had this silly notion that something like that could never happen, and we were relaxing. There's nothing wrong with that - we can't perfectly predict each attack." I pet her (cleaned and styled) mane.
Dusty: "I still feel bad. I was.. heh.. looking at stuff for your house. Decorations, you know." She smiled a little.
K: "Don't feel guilty. I know, dumb thing to say, and very hypocritical of me. But, I mean it. If I can't predict something like that is going to happen-"
Dusty: "No, I mean, I feel like.. I shouldn't be leaving you or AJ's side. Or the kids. Like.. if I'm not there.." She clung to me.
Remember what I said a while ago about her not having confidence in me to come back alive? And while AJ might be the one to say something, she knows I'll survive, no matter what, and Dusty doesn't? Yeah, this is that.
K: "You feel that if you can't SEE us being safe, we're somehow NOT safe." I hugged her tightly. "I get it. I'm guessing that's happened before."
Dusty: "My dad.. he.. had a bit of a gambling problem. More than a bit. He.. ah.. one time, when I was 15, he wanted me to hang around him while he did some stuff in the garage. I wanted to go to the mall, so, I just went and blew him off. He.. got his knees broken, even though he had the payment. I learned later, he probably wouldn't've gotten busted up if I'd been there. So, you know, there's no witnesses to that sort of thing." She nuzzled me. "I.. ever since then, I can't stand to NOT be around the people I care about."
K: "He kick his addiction?" I asked, plainly, giving her a kiss on the snout.
Dusty: "Eventually. He hasn't made a wager since I became a cop." She gave a small grin. "Which I have you to thank for."
K: "I suppose you do." I pulled her into my lap.. bit my lip a bit.. and looked at her.
Dusty: "AJ already knows I'm here. She's spending time with the girls." She glanced towards the door. "I'm not for fashion." She shrugged a bit. "Besides.." She pushed me down (more like, I let her). "..I want a little fun."
MAN, my relationships are complicated!
TIME: 13:42 ERST
DATE: War Day 847/1 Octavius, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Aboard RCS Manitou, Approaching Mayaimi
Adm. Labrador: "Sir. The royal palace reports that Princess Celesita will be meeting the fleet when they arrive in port." She paced up to me, tail wagging.
K: "Good." I nodded. "The prisoners have to finish their trial."
Adm. Labrador: "Mind if our fleet stops at port for a while?" She practically gave me puppy eyes.
K: "Of course you can!" I grinned broadly. "Enjoy Mayaimi, Admiral. It's not our premier naval port, but there's fun to be had." I gestured to the comms station. "Let the NEIGHTO fleet know they can all get some shore leave. We welcome our friends."
CDR Houndstooth: "Aye, sir." He grinned.
It wouldn't be long before the fleet sailed into port in victory. Seven enemy ships confirmed sunk by the Canidan and Roaman fleets, three by the Paratroopers. There were ponies at the dockside cheering for us, and a literal party being thrown all over the beaches.
Manitou took the place of honor - the primary shipping dock at the Port of Mayaimi - and we disembarked. Celestia was, indeed, waiting for us, but not directly at the dock. We ended up having to travel a bit, to Homestead Air Force Base.
[End of Part 3]
Part 4 - Home Stead
TIME: 14:52 ERST
DATE: War Day 847/1 Octavius, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Homestead Air Force Base, Apalachee
Despite the party going on outside, the mood was more serious once we got to the base. The Mercenaries were separated from the Unicorns on my insistance, and housed seperately, to be processed as Prisoners of War.
Celestia: "Did you learn anything important?" She finally asked, as we sat down to a late lunch.
K: "The Sultan of.. I'm not quite sure which nation.. has acquired our technology, but a much older form of it, and tried to make a working navy out of it. Most especially, they have torpedoes. And they like them. So much so, that their cruiser's guns are best suited to chase off smaller craft, and can't hold a candle to even a good Frigate." I shrugged.
Twilight: "The prisoners were adamant that they'd more or less failed their objectives and would be executed for it." She sighed.
Sunset: "My father wasn't very forthcoming. I think burning mom to a crisp kinda pissed him off." She smirked, then frowned. "I shouldn't have done that."
Celestia: "We were all incredibly angry.. and you had every reason to do something about what they did to you. Why DID you incinerate her like that?" She finally asked.
Sunset: "Because she told me I'd be the perfect mate for Tirek and I should have kept his offspring." She teared up. "I felt bad enough getting an abortion, and she said I should KEEP it because it could be the next RULER of the world! LIKE MY WOMB ISN'T ANYTHING BUT A RENTED ROOM!" She started crying, and Dusty hugged her.
Celestia: "..ah. I.. can see why that would.." She lowered her head.
K: "Oh, words like that? I would have torn her horn off and stabbed her to death with it. Don't feel bad, Sunset." I rubbed her back a bit.
Applejack: "Ah'm powerful sorry ya drew such horrible parents, Sunset." She gave a worried whinny.
Sunset: "Eh.." She raised her head up, forced herself to stop crying, and rubbed her face. "..we need to focus on the war. I'll cry when it's over."
Toola: "Oh, that's not healthy at all!" She snorted. "You need to let it out, Sunset. Negative emotions just feed Tirek."
Twilight: "Indirectly, but.. yeah.. they do." She sighed and sank into her chair. "I still can't believe my father was in on it, too. I mean.." She looked at Sunset. "..they probably put us together to see who'd be the better.." She swallowed hard. "..victim."
Sunset: "No kidding!" She sneered. "If I'd known us being rivals was going to bring THIS!?" She clomped her right forehoof on the table. "I would have been working together with you from the start! And.. maybe.. you know.." She looked away a bit. "..maybe I wouldn't have let you drink so much of that one potion. I thought it'd be funny, that you'd make a fool of yourself.. but.. you got violated, too." She looked at Spike. "But, you.. you're not a mistake, you're not.. oh, Spike, you're the best thing that could've happened, and I'm actually.. kinda jealous."
Spike: "Awwwww!" He blushed. "Thanks.." He looked down a bit. "..I mean, ever since I found out, I never once felt like that. But, thanks for saying that."
Celestia: "Chemical Lens and the Gendarmes have determined there's no more of them in the Northeast. She's taken an investigative team to start looking into other areas of Equestria." She shrugged her wings.
K: "That's good, at least." I frowned a bit. "I have no idea how far things spread, but I have a feeling, we're safe from any more Cultists of THAT kind." I made a small hand gesture. "They were too centralized and there were no letters or other things in their possessions that hinted they were in a network. I think all the Cultists just.. moved to Erie to be a part of things."
Celestia: "Oh, indeed. That's not all, either. The public is aware of what happened, and they are.. to say the least.. very angry that anyone could try to divide our kingdom like that. There's no racial tension, thankfully, but there is a sense of betrayal, and.. rejection of their ideals." She gave a small grin.
Spitfire: "Ah, here you all are!" She came in, with Soarin. "Well.. I have some other news." She sat across from me. "The Pegasi from Cloudsdale are largely going to settle in Ponyville or Canterlot. But.. we may not be without a city for TOO long. There are other Pegasi Cloud Cities around North Equus.. Germaneigh has the largest one, Wolkenstadt. They're volunteering to donate clouds to us."
K: "Ahhh.. okay, non-magic-person, here. How does that work?" I cocked a brow.
Spitfire: "Simple enough. They wrangle the clouds and fly them here. It'll be a long relay, but it can be done. So long as the cloud cities are assembled, they can regenerate any donated cloud bits within a few months. It has something to do with how the clouds are attracted to and fused with each other. Kinda like a magnet." She gestured with a hoof.
Soarin: "We still have 11 missing ponies.." He lowered his head - I knew from that look that Braeburn was among them.
K: "I'm so sorry, Soarin." I leaned over the table and held his hoof.
Soarin: "Thanks, K." He lowered his head almost to the table.
The lads all came in about then, and one by one, gave Soarin' a big hug.
Norfy: "If you need anything, Soarin, please, ask." He nodded.
Campanula: "Si, you're family, to us." She smiled, and nodded to me..
I noted the BIG FREAKIN' BELLY on her, looked at Norfy, and just kinda open-arm shrugged like 'Really, Bro!? You didn't say anything!?'
He kinda smiled, blushed, and shrugged.
Radio Active: "General. You'll be pleased to know the Royal Southern Grand Court has agreed to finish the trial begun in Canterlot." She placed a folder in front of me, from the Ministry of Justice.
Lyra: "'Tis in Ossachite. Up north here'a ways." She sat down near the girls, over by Sunset. "Lyra Heartstrings."
Gaze: "Me best girl." He grinned.
Bon-Bon: "Bon-Bon Sweetdrops. She's my girl, too." She giggled. "It's complicated."
Sunset: "Oh.. I remember this." She shrugged. "Gaze told you about me?"
Kiwi Spritz: "The boys sure did." She sat next to Bon-Bon. "Gunnery Sergeant Kiwi Spritz."
Cosmic: "MY girl." He sat next to her.
Forest Spirit: "So, K. What's our next move?" He came in with Blinda.
K: "The Weather Rock. We need to restore weather control." I shrugged. "But, with the library destroyed.."
Blinda: "Sky Admiral Emerald suggested going to the Crystal Kingdom and looking through their information." She sat across from Applejack.
Celestia: "And this will delay us getting to the Rainbow of Light.." She sighed. "..I wonder if that was the point?"
K: "It may be among his secondary goals." I shrugged, and gestured to the large map in front of us. "But it wasn't the main one."
Blinda: "Whatever you decide on, K." She shrugged.
Forest Spirit: "We'll hold the line as long as we have to." He nodded.
K: "Well.. the enemy didn't give us much to go on. The fleet commander was under the orders of a Sultan, and they do seem to grasp the concept of warships. We hit them with aircraft, so, next time around, I expect they'll have anit-air defenses on those ships. I'm not sure what, but I expect them. For that matter, I expect Tirek will have his own aircraft for us to deal with, sooner or later." I looked at them all. "And submarines. That's why I brought all that stuff back."
Forest Spirit: "The information on how to create Radar, Sonar, and Depth Charges.. and submarines themselves." He nodded. "We're already hard at work distributing the Technical Data Packages and constructing prototypes. Bright Eyes has been invaluable - once we handed her those laptops, she got right to work. The 'New Fleet' should be ready with those modifications in about three and a half to four months."
Blinda: "The Ambelonians and our other European allies are also adapting their fleets and constructing ground stations for Radar. Really, the information you brought back.." She shook her head. "..I remember when we trained on Shermans."
K: "Seems like forever ago I was thinking in terms of late 19th century, and here, we're going to jump Tirek's technology to the mid-1950's or so." I paused, looked down at the table, then back up. "I know the knock-on effect is going to be very disruptive to Pony society, but every day that passes, I'm more convinced we're literally fighting the next great Cataclysm. I don't know if we can win, I'll be honest, I have never once seen evidence that this is even possible in this world. The Coltonville Society was equivalent to my 1980's, and THEY failed. I think it has to do with the fact that at each Cataclysm, something happens, and not all of the needed pieces are available. With the Coltonville Society, they'd grown too complacent, and would not try to resist the Avegir properly. It wasn't until the Hero Ponies came along during the Cataclysm that they managed to defeat it, at incredible cost.." I shrugged.
Teddy: "..he's right." He paced in with Sweetheart. "Our society collapsed from that, even though we won. That what you're worried about, K?"
K: "More or less." I shrugged a tiny bit. "It's more that I'm worried about losing. As in, A Hero's Loss. We lose, Tirek begins a reign of darkness lasting a thousand years, but some ponies are born at the fringes of society that rise up and destroy him.. and inherit a broken world that they then rebuild into a new society. We have proof stretching back ten thousand years that this sort of thing happens regularly. We don't know exactly what happened to The Old Ones, but we do know that they migrated to Coltonville and that society rose from their ashes. That society was the first time we saw various pony nations, including the Herdiets. That was eight thousand years ago. Then, there was the Empire of Harmony. They collapsed for unknown reasons about five thousand years ago. Ponies migrated down here. Equestria.. or, rather, its precursor, was formed about three thousand years ago. A thousand years ago, there was almost another Cataclysm, and only by Celestia more or less becoming a total Despot, did we really avoid it. Here we stand, roughly five thousand years from the last major Catacylsm, and three thousand years from the events that created Equestria in its modern form."
Applejack: "We's overdue. If the Winter of Hard Feelin's wasn't s'posed to be it, that is." She caught on fast.
Twilight: "If that's the case.. then.. there's still quite a gap from the end of the Empire of Harmony and the rise of Modern Equestria. What if there was another Cataclysm..? Say.. 2,500 years ago? It would fit well with the time line." She stretched her wings, and tapped her chin.
K: "It would. It would mean that within the time frame of five thousand to twenty-five hundred years ago, another society rose and was destroyed.. and THOSE survivors founded modern Equestria. Since that was also almost the exact time Celestia and Luna underwent a reformation.." I looked at Celestia.
Celestia: "All I remember is, I more or less came to power about two thousand years ago. As time went on, I saw my ponies become more and more distant.. angry.. then, there was war. The rest, we know." She shrugged her wings. "As you all know, my Renewal does.. take away many of my memories, save those I find most important." She gave me a small glance, and a tiny blush.
I had a feeling that, no matter what, my "plundering of the Special Royal Treasury" was eternally engraved on her mind like craters on the moon. Moving along!
K: "Five centuries is plenty of time to put down roots and start a new civilization." I gestured.
Twilight: "The question is.. where?" She sighed.
K: "Could be anywhere. Anywhere south of Byrnta. It might even be within the Crystal Kingdom's borders, or the Demilitarized Zone." I tapped the map.
Havoc: "Could be in Canida, too, ya know." He shrugged. "A large chunk of Manitou overlaps some of the ancient lands, so does Skandario. I'm even willing to wager northern Skandario is where the original Pony Land is. Coltonville is a few hundred miles from it." He nodded.
K: "These Cataclysms can't all be Tirek. Some of them, yes, Somnambula even said he helped take down the Empire of Harmony.. we SUSPECT he was behind the Avegir giant monster attack, but we haven't any proof." I shook my head a bit. "Unfortunately, he's far too smart a villain to fall for the ol' Reporter Trick. The man has no overbearing ego to feed.. which is a common failing of most cartoon villains. I have a feeling he's had all the 'Good Guy Tricks That Take Advantage of Bad Guy Personality Failings' done on him before."
Cosmic: "Maybe we don't have to ask him." He looked up. "Maybe we can ask the Harmonians?"
Twilight: "Great idea, Cosmic." She smiled. "We should take a trip up there on our way to get the Rainbow of Light, and ask them."
K: "Our first objective has to be recovering The Weather Rock, or food insecurity is going to be a massive issue. I'm willing to wager, that was Tirek's big goal - eliminating me and the Elements a close second, and racial division being a near third. If he can disrupt this year's harvest enough, we'll be on lean means unless we can import food from allied nations, which itself will draw resources away from the war effort." I tapped the map. "We're going to the Crystal Kingdom anyway. Give it a week before we leave for the Weather Rock, we do need to stop off at Ponyville and at least check in."
Dash: "Funny to think that just one city like Cloudsdale helps keep the weather perfect for a whole country." She smirked.
K: "Yes, and if we get massive rains in different parts of the country during the harvest, the grain could rot before it gets processed, or the harvesting could get delayed." I tapped the table. "You all seem to work on a pretty tight schedule to maximize yields and permit year-round crop planting of some kind."
Applejack: "S'true, we kinda do." She shrugged a bit. "Even in winter, some parts'll plant certain things that'll grow durin' the winter, so's they has extra food come Spring."
K: "And continual weather disruption could bring massive blizzards, hurricanes, all kinds of nasty weather disasters that will disrupt planting and harvesting." I shrugged.
Fluttershy: "Uhm.. how do.. your farmers deal with it, K?" She tilted her head in curiosity.
K: "They just deal. We have something called the Farmer's Almanac that gives traditional farmers a guideline on planting. As for food production, mega corporations do most of it with gen-engineered crops and petroleum-based fertilizers and pest control methods. While it does massively increase yield, it slowly erodes the soils, so, they have to manage that as well. Problem is, there's quite a few people saying these wonder chemicals leaching into the water table are causing health problems. I'm pretty sure that's at least partly true.. so.. I don't advise we move over to something like that." I shook my head.
Fluttershy: "Oohh.. that sounds terrible.." She sank into her chair just a bit, flexing her wings, partly in annoyance that my world seemed to care so little for itself.
K: "Which is why we need to get to the Weather Rock. Everyone, take today off, get some R and R. Tomorrow, we'll head to Ossachite and handle the trial." I gestured to everyone. "Dismissed."
Me? I got up, and as Celestia was departing, I came up behind her once everyone was gone, and drape-hugged her.
K: "One disaster after another. We hit him, he hits us. It's a real Gangland War, as we'd say in my world. I'm sorry." I gave her a friendly kiss on the snout.
Celestia: "..thank you." She sat, and worked her wing around me, in a return hug. "You and Luna both worry about me.. It makes me feel like I can be forgiven. Like.. maybe one day I can forgive myself."
K: "I forgive you. You did things you felt you had to do. I can't judge, any more. Maybe I never had a right to." I sat on the floor, and cuddled her to me. "I'm the one who should apologize. I was ready to kill you at one point, because I wasn't sure if you were secretly worse than him."
Celestia: "I'm glad you didn't. I'm also glad that you and I have grown close.. I know I did some things in the past that weren't exactly in the best interest of ponykind, but.. yes, I felt I had no choice. Perhaps I did avert a Cataclysm somehow.. and now I'm paying the price." She rest her head against mine.
Consoling Celestia at her weakest was more like a Father consoling a Mother. The "co-Parent bond" only grew stronger between us. I knew that even without the erotic adventure, she would never forget me.
And now to fix the damage. The Weather Rock awaits.
[End of Part 4]
Part 5 - Mayaimi Shores
TIME: 14:47 ERST
DATE: War Day 847/1 Octavius, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Mayaimi Beach, Apalachee, Equestria
I watched as the dogs from RCS Manitou played volleyball against the ponies from RNS Caesar. They were having fun. Most of my senior staff had joined me at Homestead AFB, and then dispersed to the beaches and malls around Greater Mayaimi. A city just as bustling as my Earth counterpart, Miami, the population was lower, but the sprawl was the same.
I had never been to Miami. I'd never been to Paris or Berlin, either, for that matter. Yet, here, I was getting to visit major world cities all the time. In between getting shot, stabbed, magic'd, and impaled.
I didn't have a spare change of clothes other than another combat uniform, so, I was relaxing in my A-Frame and uniform pants. Applejack was.. well.. nude. Nudity wasn't a bad thing around here, after all, since fur and tails covered the naughty bits more often than not. AJ was.. rather aware of nudity being bad for humans, and considered it such a naughty act, I was banned from casual nudity outside the bedroom.
Dex: "Hey, dude." He plopped into the sand next to me.
K: "Hey, Dex.. how's Scratch?" I pet his mane, idly.
Dex: "She's worried. I mean, Braeburn was one of us - a Ranger. And we can't find him. I mean, dude deserves a proper send-off." He snorted a bit. "I'm glad ya caught 'em."
K: "Me, too." I stared at the sea.
Dex: "How's you holding up, dude?" He patted my back.
K: "I'm still in shock. My home of four years just got blown to pieces. I worked hard on that Barn, turning it into a home. My kids.. my babies.. I nearly lost everything." I sighed, and laid back.
Dex: "It's cool, dude. I get it. Don't bottle it up, though, yeah? That's a total drag. It'll come around to haunt you, and that'll totally bite." He was insightful, if full of vernacular.
K: "You're right. I haven't let off steam in ages." I looked over at him. "What club are you and Scratch going to headline tonight?"
Dex: "Ahh." He grinned, and lowered his shades a bit. "West Underground. Come by my hotel room about six, I'll take 'ya there."
K: "Sounds great." I said, looking over to Applejack as she brought back drinks and snacks - a cucumber-bun for her, a hot dog for me.
I snatched the hot dog, and gave it a bite, looking her right in the eye. I didn't realize Dex was looking, when Applejack proceeded to open her mouth, stick 3/4ths of the cucumber - bun and all - into her mouth, gently make herself gag on it, then slowly bite down.
Dex: *AHEM!* "Aw, geeze! L-Look at the time.. gotta run!" And off he went.
K: "Yeah, bye, Dex." I was still staring into her eyes. "Changing tent's over there." I nodded slightly.
Applejack: "Pier's over that'a way.." She cocked a brow.
Toola: "HEY!" She plopped down between us, apparently unaware of what we were doing to each other. "What's up, K? AJ?"
K: "Well.." I smirked. "Pier it is." I looked at Toola. "Come on, let's go.. party."
Toola: "What kind of party?" She asked, following us, not really aware of the erotic looks we were giving each other.
See, Toola and AJ hadn't ever been with each other, even though Toola had been with me more than once. As I said before, unless AJ gets a little booze in her, she prefers having a third, or she ends up completely exhausted (exceptions made when we're at home - then she can AFFORD to sleep it off for 10 hours!).
Today, I painted a mural for Toola, and AJ helped.
What? I told you sickos I wasn't going to get into much detail any more. What do you think this is? Poorly disguised smut?
..okay, well, maybe.
TIME: 17:54 ERST
Clean uniform, for lack of other clothes. Applejack was dressed by Scratch herself, since she'd never been to THIS kind of a club before. Rarity came with, too, and when she showed up at our hotel room, she - it was clear - had done this before and simply bought new clothes.
She also commented that since my clothes had all been blown away in the Twister, I could prance around her room at the palace in the nude, all I wanted. Applejack made a comment about being around when that happened, and Rarity said something about that being expected and invited.
I'd been distracted with reading patrol reports and other military stuff while they flirted. Toola was asleep on one of our beds (the hotel room came with two pony-scale Queen-sized beds) the whole time. At least, I WAS distracted until Rarity and Applejack both grabbed me and dragged me away.
For security purposes, we were all at different hotels in clusters, all rooms together on the same floor, and those floors guarded by the Apalachee State Gendarmes or Mayaimi Militia Rangers. After all, we'd JUST had an assassination attempt.
We got to Dex's room, and knocked.
He opened up, dressed.. well.. with a very 1980's flair. Very flashy Letterman-style jacket, neon pink polo, slightly ripped, acid-washed jeans, high tops on his rear hooves, ONE hoofcap (which, I note, is a Michael Jackson thing, but they didn't have a musical artist like that here, so I had no idea where that came from), flared mane, and sunglasses.
Scratch was dressed similarly, save, she was wearing a T-Shirt with a record on it and an "eighth note" with pink vinyl paint stripes instead of a jacket, and no hoofcap. She also had a large, pink "belt-shawl" around her waist, secured with a neon green-and-blue oversized half-moon clasp.
K: "You two look VERY nice." I smiled. "I wish I had some matching clothes." I shrugged. "I lost almost all my clothes in the Twister. I went to a professional tailor here in Mayaimi, but they said the custom order will take a couple days."
Dex: "Rarity, you're cool with that?" He tilted his head, grabbing his backpack with his stuff in it.
Rarity: "There IS a war on, darling." She smirked. "A lady has to make accomodations. They can get it done faster than I can."
Scratch: "You get a whole wardrobe done?" She grabbed her satchel.
I noted that she had her Morgan pistol tucked in her front waistband, and Dex was wearing his in an underarm (under-leg technically) rig.
K: "Yeah, I need it. Rarity'll get me some custom stuff when her Boutique gets rebuilt." I gestured a bit. "Shall we?"
We departed for the Club. West Underground. It was actually.. well, technically mainstream. It's hard to put into words. Unlike most of the clubs both Dex and Scratch used to frequent before the war, it had a fixed location. It operated as just an open space, so it didn't have licenses, and didn't try to get them. It was mainstream in the sense that most anyone that was into those things, knew about it and where to find it. The Gendarmes knew, too, but left it alone unless called to it. So, there was not the risk there that there had been with the true underground clubs from their early days.
They were headlining. It came to mind that I hadn't heard that much "popular music" since I got here, so this was a change. Scratch and Dex played off each other expertly, combining a sort of 80's synthwave with newer "wubs."
Rarity made me dance with her. I didn't mind. I didn't know how, but it REALLY didn't matter - I was human, after all. They wouldn't know my horrible flailings were bad dancing. I just kinda.. flowed with the music. Applejack took the floor with me as well, and we just kinda rolled with it. It wasn't her preferred music, but she was doing this to unwind, so, she didn't care, either.
After a few songs, I found a booth and slid in. I was sweaty and all worked up. I'd never done anything like this before. Jackie sat next to me, and leaned into me. The music was so loud, it was hard to hold a conversation, so, we didn't bother.
I noted that there were at least a few crewmembers from the RNS Caesar and other Roaman ships here, and Scratch caught sight of them. I watched her and Dex slide into a very recognizable EuroBeat/"Italo-Disco" set, which sure cheered them up. It wasn't bad music, and I sometimes listened to a bit of that sort of thing myself.
We got some drinks from a pop-up bar. Bottled stuff only - Rarity had reminded us of the "safety rules" for places like this. Never accept open drinks from anyone - they must be sealed when handed to you. For extra safety, cross-order your drinks, so if they have some Mickey Finns in counterfeit bottles, they don't score their intended target.
Not that we had to worry.. everything here was quite safe. The drinks were some kind of soda from Mulexico. Tamarind, I think.
Three hours into the event, Dex and Scratch yielded the stage to a pair of local artists, and came over to sit with us during the intermission.
Dex: "Man, that was a blast." He flopped down.
Scratch: "I'm out of practice." She slid next to him.
K: "I thought it was great." I smirked.
Applejack: "Me, too." She beamed.
K: "Slipping in that Eurobeat stuff.. what do you call it here, Roma-Disco?" I asked Scratch.
Scratch: "Yeah. Let me guess, they HAVE something like that in your world?" She grinned a bit.
K: "Italo-Disco, yes. Remember, to me, it's Italy, not Roam." I shrugged.
Dex: "..hey, dude? You seen Rarity?" He looked around.
K: "Jackie?" I looked at her.
Applejack: "I dun see her." She frowned and got up.
We all did.
And started searching. Something felt wrong.
It didn't take us long to find her.. she was in the women's wash room.. and being dragged out the window.
{End of Chapter 96}
