The Son of Earth

Broken clouds drifted over Canterlot as the sun slowly began to rise. Small dots streaming white contrails slowly circled overhead, piercing the blues, oranges, and greys of the early morning sky. The gleaming hulls of the Ryuuhou, Arcadia, and Gloria hung in the sky, sleeping giants waiting to be awoken. The various wooden dirigibles of the Equestrian Airfleet flew between the massive human vessels, the silver of their engines shining against the brown of their hulls. In the middle of this, the massive spires of the city and castle stood, white poles reaching into the aether.

It was here, on the Eighteenth of Woodfall C.E. 1003, that it began. It could not have come in more unfortunately fortunate circumstances; the entirety of the fleet was docked in Canterlot, only seven hundred kilometers from the front, due to a problem with the power system on the Ryuuhou. While the problem had quickly been fixed, minor issues had kept cropping up, preventing the fleet from moving to its northward destination. So when the declaration of war finally came, they were quite prepared.

The Katyusha was a ship like any other. Finished and christened only four months after the Human Arrival, it was named after a song from one of the supposed "great nations" before Earth's planetary unification. It was more or less destroyer-sized, about eighty meters long and lined with swiveling six-inch cannons on each side. They fired explosive shells, although their ammunition was severely lacking since relations with the Gryphons had gone from trade partners to bitter enemies. While the human fleet was doing all it could using its internal production systems to provide fuel and ammunition, there was unfortunately only enough capacity to supply themselves and the larger ships in the fleet. That meant that the forty guns only had about thirty rounds of ammunition each, and almost a quarter of those were either only partially filled or empty of explosives.

Captain Steel Wind sighed. The young greyish-blue pegasus looked from the stern over the rest of her ship, watching as the various crew walked to and from their stations, tying everything loose down and loading their weapons. The engines purred as they came online, belching black smoke and shaking in their fastenings. The helmsman raised his hoof to signal that everything was going well, and Steel Wind nodded in acknowledgement. She watched the raising of the Equestrian Standard; the flag, dominated by a picture of a circle made up of half sun and half moon, fluttered in the breeze as it rose up the pole on the aft end of the stern. Once it had reached the top of the pole, she went into her cabin below the helm, along with her first mate and radio operator.

"Equestrian Battlegroup 1-1, this is Arcadia command, do you read?" a deep voice came through the radio console as Steel Wind opened a bottle of wine. She poured a glass for herself and for her first mate, a unicorn named Iron Cross. The two of them sat in relative silence while the radio operator conversed with the fleet's new command.

"So, let me get this straight. You want battlegroups 1-1 and 2-1 to fly recon, while battlegroups 1-2 and 1-4 stay back to guard Canterlot and the rest form up on you?" the radio operator said, a hint of concern in his voice.

"Yes." came the quick, harsh answer.

"That's suicide!"

"Our fighters have performed overflights of their fleet. You can outmaneuver and outrun them, if you push your engines. If worst comes to worst, we can send out some flights of gunships to take care of them."

The radio operator swallowed. "I'll... relay your message to the captain."

"No need," Steel Wind said. "I heard it all." She carefully put her wineglass on the small table before giving a wink to her first mate, who responded with a smile. "So, essentially you want us to charge straight into their lines?"

"Well... if you put it that way, yes."

"Sounds fun." was all she said before she climbed out onto the deck.

The wind of seventy knots pushed against her face, blowing through her golden locks and causing them to wave in the wind behind her. She stood next to the helmsman, and brought up a voice-enhancement crystal. Putting it in a socket on a small gold band on her wrist, she cleared her throat and began to speak.

"Fillies and gentlecolts," she began, commanding the attention of the various crew who were working on the deck. "We have our orders. We are to form up with the rest of our battlegroup, and perform recon and harassment on the enemy fleet. We may not make it home after this. But know that, if we die on this mission, we will die heroes' deaths. We will die true warriors, loyal to Equestria to the last. But we will not die. No, we will win; we will drive back the Gryphons. We will keep them from slaughtering our Buffalo allies and raping their land in the name of honour. We will defend from the onslaught against Equestria they surely will launch, and we will prevail!"

Cheers and applause rose from the deck as the Katyusha, followed by nearly two dozen other ships, peeled off from the main formation and headed southwest. Soon, however, the ship quieted down again, the loud talking replaced by quiet chatter. Satisfied with her work, Steel Wind returned to her cabin, drink, and mate once more.

"Ah! Mr. Wilhelm!" Luna said, feigning excitement at the human's entrance into her quarters on board the ship. The room, which had originally been one of many auxiliary observation bays, had been finely decorated over the past months. The once-dull steel walls had been given a coat of midnight blue paint, that matched the pony inside. Heavy blue curtains shielded the inside against the blinding fury of the sun, and the only light in the room came from two dim arcane lamps. A finely decorated bed took up most of the center of the room, surrounded with various tables, desks, chairs, and equipment. A suit of immaculate armor, coloured black like the night sky, stood on a rack against a wall. Next to it was a human equivalent, designed to fit the Night Princess' massive equine form.

"Good morning, Princess," David said, bowing quickly before standing upright. "I hope you are enjoying your accommodations," he said, gesturing to the lavish room around him.

"Indeed; they are of the highest quality," she said as she levitated a banana from off the table. "I must say, these are some very interesting fruit. Are you sure they're safe to eat?" she said as she took a small bite.

"Besides being very slightly radioactive, yes, they are safe." he said as he took a seat on a large chair that was covered in black velvet.

Luna's expression went from amusement to horror. "You mean you are feeding your people radioactive material?"

"Relax," David said calmly. "These bananas carry less radiation than you're going to get from space during this flight."

"Is that supposed to be comforting?"

"If you want it to be."

Luna faked a cough. "Anyway, I suppose I should tell you why I summoned you here."

"Do tell." David said, leaning inwards towards the princess. His elbow instinctively went down to the top of his knee, and his fist went up under his chin as a support.

"Strange things are happening."

"Oh? They haven't already?" David said, his expression motionless. He stared into the blue eyes of the Princess, awaiting a response.

She looked away and sighed as she began to speak. "What's happened so far is only the beginning. My ma - someone who I trust very much has foretold dire consequences of this war," she said, still looking away from the human. "Particularly for your people."

"Alright, Princess. Spill the beans. What's going to blow up?"

"I... I can't tell you. If I did, then things would not be the way they are meant to be. All I can say is; be watchful in the south, and do not disregard anything your men tell you. Now go; I must return to solitude, lest this someone I trust believe that I have betrayed them."

David nodded his head in contemplation. "Alright. Just be careful; I don't want a dead princess added to the list of stuff I have to deal with."

"Duly noted."

As soon as David left the room, he heard its automatic metal door close near-instantly. Turning to look at the door's control panel, he saw that it had been locked. Shrugging his shoulders at the behavior, he walked off into the depths of the ship, mostly oblivious to what the future held.