The Storm

David decided he’d start the conversation this time. He signaled that they should go to the city and investigate, which the Japanese pilot agreed upon.

The Hellcat and Zero adjusted and flew straight for the city.

Nishizawa became even more confused and surprised as he and the American flew over the city. Far below in the streets, he could see what appeared to be... miniature horses, or ponies, were milling around freely.  “Have the farmers lost their minds? Doesn’t anyone here notice that the livestock has come loose? Now that I think about it, those are strange horses...”

David was just as puzzled. “Signs of civilization: check, people... none,” he said. “That’s odd, where is everybody?” He signaled the Japanese pilot that he couldn’t see any people, and the Japanese pilot signaled back the same thing. “That’s not good... No, they have to be here... maybe they’re... all indoors?” thought David. As hard as he tried, his mind came up blank. No logical answer could explain why there were no humans present. “Wait... that palace... maybe it could have some answers?” David signaled his idea to the Japanese pilot, who gave him an uncomfortable look, but slowly nodded in agreement.

The two planes then flew over to the palace, and began circling around and looking for a place to land.

Meanwhile...

It was very late, and Princess Luna knew that in a few hours, the human Twilight found, John, would be coming to Canterlot. She had conferred with Celestia and they both agreed that it should be a quiet affair, strictly kept private within the walls of the palace. She sighed, knowing that the coming morning would be dragging a long day behind it. Deciding that a step outside might help her relax, Luna made straight for the gardens. The cool night breeze was wonderful, gently ruffling her fur as she walked past the pretentiously maintained gardens. All manner of flowers, trees, bushes and shrubs were blooming, though their rainbows of blooms were faded by the darkness. Luna’s footfalls were silent and slow. She took her time, trying to pace away all the troubles and concerns she had. Then, she stopped. Luna looked up at the moon, which was shining brightly. What many may have considered beautiful, Luna hated. Even though it was her duty to raise and lower the moon every night, things always seemed to go downhill for her after the incident. Everyone hated her just after she came back, and even Celestia seemed to have forgotten her a little. “This isn’t the time to be sentimental and worry,” thought Luna, scorning herself. “Surely nothing else can go wrong...”

That’s when she heard it. Luna paused, confused. It was a tiny buzzing sound, but it was distinct. It seemed to be like a loud bug, buzzing around in a circle. No, there were two loud noises. Luna now became intrigued, and watched the night sky intently. Her efforts were rewarded when she spotted two large bird-like shapes fly across the moon for a few seconds. The shapes drew closer with every loop, and the buzzing grew louder until she saw the extend they weren’t birds. They were, according to the letter they had received from Twilight, planes! Luna then pieced together that they were going to land, and in the palace, nonetheless! She followed, galloping at full speed, noting how some of the sleeping Guards had woken up and were following her. Already she could hear that the buzzing had stopped, and that shouts were ringing across the courtyard. Luna finally arrived at where the planes landed and was amazed. There were two, parked closely together. One was large and a dark blue color, and also had more square and blunt angled wings. It also had strange markings, consisting of a single white star in a circle, and short, thick white bar running behind the star on the body of the craft; the marking was also on the wing. When Luna squinted, she could read text spelling out the words Minsi III on a higher part of the body. Below it were a series of indistinguishable markings. The second was smaller and had more rounded wings. Its markings were simpler, with a thin yellow line on the front edge of its wings and a white square with a red circle on the body of the plane, which were also on the wings.

David knew things were getting to insanity levels when ponies with gold armor, yelling things in English, somehow brandishing swords and spears began surrounding Minsi III and the Zero. David then decided that if he was getting a hostile reception, that he might as well be prepared. He hesitantly inserted a clip into his M1911A1, hoping no bullets would have to be fired. He then opened the canopy and stepped out. This was met with an intense lash out by the armored ponies.

“Surrender!” one yelled.

“Stop in the name of the Princesses!” another yelled.

“God, this just feels so wrong... on many levels... and... princesses? No time for debate, I have to do something,” he thought. David did a quick headcount and counted twelve ponies in armor. Regretting the decision already, he then drew his pistol and shouted, “STAND DOWN! This is Cmdr. David McCampbell of the United States Navy! If you do not comply, I will use lethal force!”

The guards didn’t seem to buy it.

“They had to make it this way, didn’t they?” he thought as he turned off the safety. He carefully took aim, and fired.

BANG!

“MY HOOF, OH BUCK, MY HOOF.... the pain!” an armored pony yelled and sobbed. It was now on the ground, his hoof suffering from the .45 caliber bullet that had pierced it. It was cracked severely and bleeding very hard.

This only served to upset the guards more rather than deter them. One then charged forward, spear in hoof.

David aimed and was about to fire again, but then a loud female voice off to his left rang out, “HALT! Enough of this mindless violence!”

He and the pony turned and saw a much taller pony, dark blue with a strange lighter blue mane and tail, flowing in an invisible wind, with what appeared to be... stars in them. It also had large black horn, and, a set of wings folded up against its sides. It slowly walked forward, until it had reached the wingtip of Minsi III.

“Guards! You not to threaten the guests, is that understood?” said the larger pony.

“Yes, your majesty. But, how could these be...” but the guard was cut short.

“Leave us... now!” said the larger pony.

The guards left reluctantly, some directing evil glances to David.

“David, why did you feel it was necessary to inflict pain without cause?” said the larger pony.

“Without cause?!?!” David yelled, trying to get past the fact he was talking to what Mickey Mouse might keep in his stable, and that she was royalty. After a moment, he calmed down and said,  “Highness, I thought that I was being treated as a hostile and so I intended to defend myself and my life as such. There was a reason why I told them to stand down. If I had chosen, I could’ve killed five ponies before you could blink.”

Luna was a bit disturbed at the last remark, but she hesitantly ignored it. “Well, your arrival was unexpected. But please, put down your weapon so that we may talk in a more peaceful manner.”

David reluctantly holstered is pistol and said, “Princess, I...” He was interrupted when he saw the Japanese pilot suddenly walk in.

The pilot turned to the princess and bowed, then the pilot turned to David and said, “I apologize for waiting. It was dishonorable, I should have fought with you, instead of hiding like a coward.”

“Wait... when did you learn English?” said David.

“Just now... I cannot explain,” said the pilot.

“Okay okay... if I may, let’s take this from the top,” said David, raising hand to make a halting gesture. He turned to the pilot and said, “You’re...”

“Ensign Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, Tainan Air Group, Imperial Japanese Navy,” said the Japanese pilot.

“And I am Princess Luna, I rule this land alongside my sister, Princess Celestia,” said the pony.

“Wait, did that horse just speak English?!” said Nishizawa.

“Two things: one, in case you didn’t hear, I’m David McCampbell, Commander, USN, Air Group 15. Two: Ensign, I’m just as clueless as you are,” said David.

“I am afraid that I have no time to answer your questions in detail, surely we will be able to continue this discussion later,” said Princess Luna. “Please, follow me, I believe there are some guest rooms available. There will be another of your kind arriving soon, and I must be off to see him.”

“What? Are you saying there’s another human here?” said David.

“Yes...” said Princess Luna simply.

David was a bit confused about why the Princess was so uptight and hesitant about the matter. But he also knew that if two ponies had stumbled onto the White House Lawn, he figured they would have gotten a very similar reception.

The two pilots were led to their rooms, and both were glad they had a chance to rest.

Meanwhile...

John was still very groggy, and he said, “I hope the plane’s already on the train. I don’t want to push it all the way to the station.” The train was composed of a steam engine and tender, to sleeper cars, a flat-bed car, a passenger car, and a caboose. The strange thing about it was the whole thing was painted in black with white moon symbols surrounded by little patches of purple night sky. John suspected the passenger car was filled with guards or soldiers, and the flat-bed car is where John assumed the plane was supposed to be put. He sighed, knowing he’d have to roll the plane to the car, somehow get it onto the car, and secure it.

However, this was not the case as the Hawker Typhoon suddenly appeared on the car, the magical pinkish glow of Twilight’s magic encasing it for a second. Next to him, Twilight almost passed out. He pushed her up again as a group of creatures that looked like the offspring of a pony and a bat that attempted to pursue a much deeper relationship and succeeding began tying down the plane. John found them somewhat… unnerving to say the least. Attempting to wash away the mental image of a bat and pony trying to reproduce, he and Twilight just climbed into a sleeper car and closed the door behind them. After dropping their bags they both took to the nearest bed. John found that the bed fit him well, much to his delight. He soon had curled up and fell asleep as the chugs of the train and the clacking of the wheels lulled him into sleep again, the lush pillows and covers making him feel like 1000 kg. of lead. For some reason, he thought of another song that he had heard a while ago. It was fittingly about a train, and he began murmuring lyrics.

“What?” asked Twilight. No response from John, except more mumbles and garbled humming. She tried to make sense of them. There was something about a train, track 29, and a word that kept getting kept getting repeated was Chattanooga, which sounded like some kind of onomatopoeia word.

About four hours later, John was awoken by Twilight tapping on his shoulder.

“We’re here,” said Twilight. “It’s five in the morning, so nopony’s going to be out to see you.”

John got up, stretched, gathered all of their bags, and stepped out onto a large platform. It was still dark out, but John could see hundreds of houses and shops, some with lights in the windows. He could also hear the roar of a waterfall in the distance, which made him think that it was a riverside city.

“Are there any rivers nearby? I hear a waterfall, so I assume there’s…” said John.

“No, this is Canterlot. It’s a mountainside city, about 100 feet above sea level,” said Twilight.

“That’s why the air is so much thinner here,” said John, actually noticing the thin air for the first time.

Suddenly, a fancy and very ornate carriage pulled up, painted in a similar fashion to the train. A small door swung open, and, a nearby pony/bat hybrid said, “You are expected by her highness. I advise you do not keep her waiting.”

“Of course,” said John. He wished he’d changed on the train, but he chose to sleep instead.

He and Twilight walked over to the carriage and got in. The door closed and the carriage slowly went down the street. Inside, sitting across from John and Twilight, was Princess Luna herself.

John bowed his head and said in a very respectful and polite tone, “Your majesty,” as Twilight did the same.

Luna turned to John and said, “Thou needn't not to humble oneself. You and Twilight are to be me and my sister’s guest.”

John noticed two things about the Princess. One, she really liked Ye Olde English, and number two, she was… well… John struggled to keep his thoughts clean as he took in the beauty of the moon Princess. He was really considering seeing a psychologist when he got back to Earth.

“We were informed of thou arrival when sister Celestia received Twilight’s letter. Since she would be sleeping, she doth told me to greetest thou and Twilight,” said Luna.

“With all due respect, mum, could you drop the Shakespeare?” said John.

Luna looked somewhat annoyed, but she switched and said, “Is this better?”

John nodded and said, “Where are we going? The palace?”

“You are correct. You will see my sister, and ruler of Equestria, tomorrow,” said Luna.

“Oh, joy…” mumbled John.

“What?” asked Luna.

“Nothing,” responded John. He could tell that tomorrow was going to be a long day...