Tendrils Of War

THREE WEEKS EARLIER

The sunny ocean sun shone upon the Equestrian naval base of Jewel Harbour, it was a normal sunday, the naval officers relaxed in the sun, some hanged out with the local mares and some just felt like residing on their ships. The weather ponies working at the Cloudsdale weather factory said there were no storms lined up. Everything was normal, or so they thought.

100 km east, a small fleet of Japarian vessels was approaching, the bombers were lined up, their engines running and props spinning. Germania was busy destroying Griffonia and Equestria was distracted. Perfect.

At 9:35 in the morning, the bombers and their escorts took off the carrier decks and headed for Jewel Harbour, Equestria was unaware an enemy attack force was heading for them.

Stationed at Jewel Harbour was a young unicorn named Shield. He was a stallion and his mane was black but his body was white. Coming from an aristocratic family, his father was an old Equestrian admiral.That inspired him to join the Equestrian Royal Army. He was already a lieutenant. He sat in the warm sand, his friends sat on their backs taking a nap. Shield stared out at the bay, the sun shining off the water. His watch beeped as it hit 9:25.

He got up and brushed the sand off his flank.

"Where are you going?" Asked his friend, Camo.

"Gonna take a walk"

"See ya at the bar, drinks on me" Camo responded and sat back down.

Shield trotted down the street, everything was so calm and peaceful. There was a gentle breeze in the air.

After a quick walk he arrived at his favorite track through the forest, he enjoyed the fresh air and the chirps of birds. After a couple of minutes he arrived at the small secluded beach he called Shield's Nest.

Before he moved to sit down he heard a faint rumble, at first he though it was a Pegusai patrol, but as it got louder the sound changed. Propellers.

Indeed, in the distance a cloud of objects was approaching, the small dots turned to specks then to blobs then to winged contraptions. It was a main force of bombers escorted by fighters. Shield swore and galloped through the now quiet forest. The rumbling got louder. He galloped through the street shouting "ENEMY BOMBERS!"

The other ponies looked at each other before the rumbling caught up. The air raid siren began to sound, it's rising and lowering tone shook the whole island. The Pegusai scrambled to the runways to gear up while the AA gunners rushed to their weapons.

Explosions suddenly shook the ground, the civilians screamed and ran to cover. Suddenly a dive bomber nose dived toward where Shield was standing and opened fire at him, he jumped out of the way as the screaming plane roared over him, the red circle was visible on it's wings and tail.

Japaran!

There was a series of loud thumps as the AA guns opened fire, yellow lines raced toward the bombers above. He ran out from his cover, an explosion down the street alarmed him. A whole building exploded and collapsed into flames. The sound of dive bombers and explosions was deafening. After making sure the coast was clear, he galloped from his cover. It was obvious the Japarians wanted to blow up the Equestrian Battleships, there were four of them docked at Jewel Harbour. Shield was stationed aboard the E.S.S Celestial Light.

It was one of 12 Equestrian Battleships ever built by the Equestrian Royal Navy and stood a chance against the superior Japarian forces.

The path to the harbour was devestated, burning ponies littered the ground while the heavy machine guns set up to defend the entrance were in pieces. The Celestia Light came into view, its four mega cannons shone in the sun.

"Shield! Get your bucking flank here right now" Yelled one of his fellow crew members.Shield obeyed and galloped toward an AA cannon, a smoking crater next to it along with the remains of a stallion.

"Get on the cannon, protect the ship!" Yelled the ammo loader. Shield once again obeyed and clambered onto the rough seat. Putting his hooves on the steering wheel, he opened fire and immediately blew the wing off a dive bomber, it spun to the ground and exploded. Alas it was too late. The bombers above turned toward the ship, suddenly there was a whoosh.

The handful of Pegusai defenders were in the air, they opened fire at the incoming group of bombers. One of the planes fell to the ground as it's engine exploded. The remaining aircraft shortly followed. But the pegusai's celebration was short lived as a squadron of fighters turned toward them with guns blazing. The pegusai were outnumbered 3 to 1 and were cut down. The fighters roared over Shield's head.

"Keep firing! They mustn't sink the ship" The soldier's voice was burning with fear. More bombers turned toward them. Shield   kept on firing until his hooves shook from the vibrations. Shield and the AA gun crew watched as a whole payload of bombs turned the Celestial Light into scrap metal. The ship erupted into smoke and fire. Remarkably the ship didn't list or sink. It's crew jumped off the decks, many of them on fire.

Shield jumped off the AA gun and shouted at the AA crew.

"Help the survivors, I'll go to the other battleships"  The crew just nodded and manned the cannon.

Shield, now covered in sweat and dirt galloped as fast as his hooves could take him toward the remaining ships. He passed another burning warship. But as he reached the third berth, the ship there was unharmed.

Several dive bombers were burning on the ground.

"Shield!" A familiar voice shouted out. It was Captain Wave's voice.

The Stallion trotted up to him, his uniform ripped and dirty. The captain was Shield's mentor and role model.

"Captain Wave! Why aren't you on the Light?

"You saw what happened to it, hell. The Navy has no hindsight at all"

The two stallions cracked up into laughter. In the background the sound of the enemy bombers dissapeared.

"Come with me, I was put in charge of the Dawn of the Sun. This ain't over one bit"

Shield followed as they boarded the battleship. All the crew were running around repairing the minor damage sustained to the vessel. They finally arrived to the ship's war room. An enormous map of the Northern Ocean was on a large table. A small pin with a red circle was stuck onto the map.

"This is the situation, there is a small Japarian fleet which managed to bypass our defenses, this is where they are currently situated according to our scouts" Wave pointed his hoof at the small pin with the circle.

"Are any more bombers coming?" Shield asked

Wave just shifted uncomfortably and shrugged. Shield understood and excused himself. He trotted through the open decks of the battleship, columns of smoke rising from parts of the island.

He stepped off the ship and bumped into Camo, his friend.

"Yo man! I was looking everywhere for you" They laughed and shook hooves.

"I'm glad you're alright" Shield replied and smiled

"Come, we're gonna study one of the crashed planes"

They approached the most intact dive bomber, it's fuselage penetrated with bullet holes and left wing snapped. Shield lifted the snapped wing off to reveal the cockpit, the glass was smashed.

Inside was a Japarian, fully intact but dead. Camo pulled it's body out and lay it on the floor, the other stallions laughed at it. While Shield's friends were making fun of the body, Shield reached into the cockpit and pulled out some papers, it was written in Japarian but seemed important.

Shield went back to Wave who was discussing something with the bridge crew. He handed the captain the papers with his magic.

Wave read it over.

"Where did you get this?" He asked

"One of the crashed planes outside" Shield responded. Wave nodded and gave the papers to a crew member.

As the sun went down, the temperature also dropped and was now at 2 degrees Celsius. No more enemy aircraft was seen in the area but the Japarian fleet remained. Shield was trotting through the dock, the ghostly wreckage of the Celestial Light sat where it did during the day. Sadness crept through the stallion, fighting did not accomplish anything.

Then the sound of propellers filled the air. But this time the Anti air defences were prepared, massive spotlights turned on to reveal the familar planes.

The screaming sounds of the dive bombers filled the air and explosions erupted into the air like flowers. The anti air opened fire and filled the air with yellow lines. More explosions.

Shield rushed back to the Dawn just in time. Many AA cannons were erected around the dock but they were not used a lot. The enemy's target was not the battleship.

Something about this attack was off, the dive bombers hit useless targets and shot at shadows, the bombers above were the same story. The attack only lasted 10 minutes.

TWO DAYS LATER

The Dawn of the Light left Jewel Harbour early morning, it has been two days since the last attack from the Japarians. Shield watched as the water frothed up as the battleship passed through it.

They were heading toward Port Hoovesdam. two of the four battleships stationed at Jewel Harbour were sunk. The last two sustained minor damage.

A defense fleet of Canine vessels promised Equestria that they hold back the Japarian fleet. Canines and Equestrians did get along very well.

Shield was taking a walk on the deck when he spotted something floating on the water. It slowly grew closer. He galloped to the bridge.

"Captain" Shield saluted.

"Dismissed, Shield" Wave said and beckoned the stallion to get to the point.

"There's something on the water" Shield shook his foot at the window.

"It's only a civilian freighter, don't worry" Wave responded laughing.

Shield picked up a pair of binoculars and looked at the ship. It was a civilian freighter, waving the Equestrian flag. He could see small figures standing on the decks, But then he spotted something rather peculiar, on the bow and stern of the ship were two large boxes. Four rods sticking out of them.

"It's a freighter in disguise" Shield began to shout.

"Calm down. You're being paranoid" Wave said and continued looking at the battle plans.

The boxes on the freighter turned toward the ship. The flag was raised down and a new one was lifted. The Swastika was clearly defined.

The enemy vessel opened fire, one of the shots smashed into the battleship. Wave looked at Shield and barked out orders. The four massive cannons on the battleship swiveled toward the Germanian vessel. The entire ship rocked as the cannons opened fire with such precise aim that only one of the shots missed splashing the water. The enemy vessel erupted into a ball of flame as the high-strength bullets sliced the armor. The ship shot back missing all of it's shots. The Dawn's cannons opened fire and finished off the ship.

Five minutes later, the damage report came in. The only shot that hit the Dawn hit the main radar installation. The battleship sped away.

Two days later the Dawn of the Sun reached Port Hoovesdam.

Shield found his way off the ship and stepped onto Equestria for the first time in seven months. He and his division was to head south toward Germania, the war in Equestria was about to begin.