USS Babylon

Lieutenant Kevin Hughes laughed at his men's absurdity. Private Thalmer had a banana peel hanging on each ear and kept saying he was an elephant. Kevin had thought only children played with their food.

He stood up and left the mess hall. A troop slid a latch and opened a door for him. He felt the sea air on his face and heard the clank of his boots on metal. He started to make his way up a side staircase when the ship rocked. He fell sideways and braced himself against the metal wall.

"Jesus Wernstrom, what the fuck are you doing up there?" He whispered to himself. He continued up the stairs.

He made it to the pilot's deck. Opening the latch, he saw Wernstrom, the ship's pilot, hitting switches and turning the wheel.

"Wernstrom, do you even fucking know where we are?" Kevin asked him.

"No. The GPS is down. Not receiving a thing from the satellites." He said. "I think we're somewhere near the Bermuda Triangle, but I'm not entirely sure."

"Don't drive into it." Kevin joked.

"Wait, what the hell is that?" Wernstrom pointed to a spot on the waves. It was glowing light blue.

"I have no idea. Maybe a rising sub?" Kevin said. "Full stop, I want to see what it is."

"I'm not stopping." Wernstrom replied.

"I am your superior, and you will stop." Kevin said, slightly angry.

"I can't anyway." Wernstrom told him. "The ship won't stop in time."

Kevin grabbed for the controls. For all he knew, this thing could be a rising submarine, and in that case, it could pierce the hull. Wernstrom lifted his hands in defense, thinking Kevin was attacking him for control of the ship, and accidentally spun the steering wheel. The ship rocked and Kevin heard screams and loud splashes as men and unsecured jets fell into the water and were consumed by the waves. The ship suddenly flooded with water, and Kevin was slammed into the wall. Before falling into unconsciousness, he heard explosions.

                                                                        *                *                 *

Rainbow Dash led the evening cloud patrol through the quickly darkening skies. She went full speed towards a white cloud and sent her rear hooves out in front of her. She kicked the cloud into nothingness and did a backflip - like motion back into flying position.

That's when she saw it.

It was a big rectangular metallic object deep into the woods. It was dragging through the woods, burning and taking out everything it came across. The other pegasi saw it too.

"Alright everyone, you know what to do. We need to tell Celestia." The squad of pegasi flew off in the direction of Canterlot.

* * *

Kevin rose up from the dirt. He was still inside the ship's piloting room, but it had detached from the ship itself. He immediately searched for a point of exit. The bottom was free, but covered in wires. The chance of electrocution was too great.

Kevin looked to the windows. They were filled with jagged glass, and Wernstrom's body was tangled in the frame. Looking up, Kevin saw the door. The whole detached room was lopsided. He jumped up and grabbed the latch, and heard the groan of weak metal, and the door snapped from its hinges.

Again, he found himself slammed into the ground. He pushed the door off him and exited the room.

Standing on the metal box, he could see the surviving members of the crew - mostly the marines that were on board - dragging and placing the retrievable dead in a neat line.

Kevin jumped down and headed towards the crew. He heard a marine say: "I wish we could bury them." and the groans of wounded soldiers.

He found his second in command, Seargent Mayer, looking at the weapons and food they had retrieved from the ship.

"Where is the captain?" Kevin asked him.

"No one knows." Mayer said. "He's MIA... but I think he's dead."

"These men need a leader. Who takes over after his death?" Kevin asked.

"You're the only living high - ranking officer. You're in charge, Hughes."

* * *

Princess Celestia stood. A pegasus from Ponyville had delivered unnerving news. New creatures with new machines. In the woods. She had to act, and so she would send a scout. He would be quiet. He would find out what they were and why they wanted to destroy her woodlands.

"Guards!" She called. Two brown unicorns in guard armor stepped through the door. "Fetch Camofur."

The guards came back with a forest green Earth Pony.

"Camofur, there are creatures in the woods not native to Equestria. They aren't ponies, but they are intelligent enough to build machines. I have no idea as to whether or not they are a threat, and I do not want a war between creatures who may have technology we can reverse engineer." She told him.

"What would you have me do, my Princess?" He asked.

"You are perhaps the sneakiest pony in all of Canterlot. You were pardoned from prison for your theivery, and owe me a service in return. You will use your skills and your fur color to hide in the trees and find out anything you can about these... things. You must report back in two days or less, or you will be declared dead."

"Yes Princess Celestia. I will do your bidding for your past kindness." He said. He left the royal palace and set off for the   woods.

"I hope we don't have another war after so many centuries of peace." She said to herself.

* * *

Kevin and Mayer sat around a fire with about twenty - five other men. They were all tired, hungry, and hurt. They needed to relax, and Kevin decided that he would give them some time to relax so he could think about what to do next.

He heard a twig snap behind him. Mayer sensed it too. They both grasped their sidearms and took aim. Another snap from behind a bush. They fired once, twice, thrice, and then lost count. They stopped firing and stepped up to the bush.

It was a horse, except, it wasn't normal.

Besides twenty plus bullet holes in its side, it was dyed green, and had some kind of tribal war paint on its rear.

"This is a horse. That means people. People with medicine. Help for our men." Mayer said with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"We just killed their horse." Kevin told him. "They aren't going to be happy with us. We should stay here, at least for tonight."

Kevin sat by the fire that night, thinking about the horse. Something wasn't right about this island they were marooned on. It had pine trees, no sight of water, and that horse... it was green. The fur wasn't dyed, that was natural. He could tell. And the marking... it was part of the creature's skin. He began to wonder: what if the Bermuda Triangle... is a teleporter to another world?