Far Away

CHAPTER XXV

Meanwhile in Manehattan…

The sun was setting slowly, sinking into the dark blue ocean, that reflected the orange sun’s rays. The foamy seawater lapped onto the golden shores slowly, but constantly. A grey pegasus glided over the bustling city, around tall buildings that touched the heavens and under massive archways for a maglev track that carried commuters around the city efficiently. He flew over to the outer reaches of the city, back towards the sunset and landed softly at the Wonderbolts barracks in Manehattan.

He walked pass the security guard, presenting his worn identification card to him. He slipped into the barracks and trotted through the long hallways until he reached a room with a large door and an iron sign that read, ‘Command Room.’ He slipped inside quietly, not wanting to draw any attention.

“Good evening, commander. What brings you here so early?” asked an orange and white pegasus, dressed smartly in his flight suit with a badge that proudly boasted his rank of Lieutenant.

“Good evening, Fire Streak. Any news of the Drakes?” asked the grey commander.

“I was about to get a message to you about it. Their infantry has advanced ten miles further into our lands, plundering what was valuable in their path and burning the rest. Their giant destroyers and ironclads have advanced twenty nautical miles. Our MADAR has detected them only twenty nautical miles away from Manehattan port. It is easily in range of their large 468mm naval guns. I think we should prepare to defend ourselves Iron Skies,” reported Fire Streak like he was reading out of a textbook.

“Damn,” the commander cursed under his breath, “They must be conducting a night strike.”

“So, what’s the plan cap?” asked Fire Streak anxiously.

“Hmmm… Move EQS Belfast, Manehattan, Minotaur and Independence from the Manehattan port and resituate them at Portsmouth; ten nautical miles south of Manehattan port,” Iron Skies said thoughtfully while looking at the large map of the area on the wall, scratching his chin, “We can send EQS Fillydelphia to patrol the area with EQS Canterlot. EQS Equestria can stay at port and defend if they do make a large strike tonight. Prepare the harbour guns.”

Back in the royal dining hall at dinner…

Celestia wore a worried look on her face. She clutched a letter tightly with her magic, showing everypony at the dining table how stressed she was. Jack sat uncomfortably at the table, looking at Celestia. He knew what might have happened.

“Is everything alright?” asked Spitfire, “And where is Iron?”

“No… We might be under attack this night. The Drake forces are moving further down south,” said Celestia in a hushed voice.

“Well… What are we waiting here, of all places, for?” asked Jack, “Let us be there and assess the situation!”

The castle rumbled slightly as a deep sounding explosion rippled through the ambient air. Jack stood up and trotted out of the dining hall, without any resistance. He was plotting to himself what would happen as he trotted out of the castle towards the train station. The streets were completely empty, the grand houses and shops were all shut. No window was lit and the only illumination was brought about by the large castle standing at the back of Canterlot.

Jack suddenly heard a whoosh of wind and a hoof grabbing him roughly.

“I thought we talked about this!” shouted Daring.

Jack calmly brushed her off and galloped off into one of the side alleys. He was hoping that this want a dead end. He swerved around a corner and turned back into one of the main streets. Daring was in hot pursuit, right on his heels. The grand train station was only across the road. He could make it. Jack really didn’t know what had gotten into him. Yes, he did talk about it. Did he agree? Jack couldn’t remember. Jack slowed, wanting to turn around. Daring rammed into him, the impact causing Jack to topple over.

“Why?” Daring asked in a demanding tone, “Why do you do this?”

“I have already told you Daring,” said Jack coldly, “and you can’t stop me.”

“Oh, really?” asked Daring with a smirk as she picked Jack up by his waist and attempted to fly. The thrashing stallion could do no nothing against it. All Jack felt in that moment was rage. Unquenchable rage.

“I am trying to fight for Equestria and you tug me away from it! I demand an answer!” yelled Jack as he gave up all resistance.

On-board the EQS Equestria…

Iron Skies saw the enemy ironclads and destroyers near on the horizon. A single shot is yet to be fired. The clouds were blocking the moon from sight, and the thing that gave away the enemy’s position were their shiny metal crafts reflecting the city lights of Manehattan. Fillydelphia and Canterlot were sailing in a tight formation, all guns pointed at the arriving enemy fleet. All was silent in the night. Waves lapped onto Equestria’s shiny armour plating, causing the large ship to bob up and down in the waves and sway side to side like a rubber duck in a bathtub.

All was so silent, and that was when all hell broke loose. The enemy were turning their broadsides to the two patrolling light cruisers. Large turrets swerved and pointed in the direction of Fillydelphia and Canterlot. Iron heard the engines of the friendly ships roar louder as they started performing evasive manoeuvres. Equestria pulled slowly out of port, turning its broadside to the enemy. Turrets swerved with creaks of metal against metal. The clop of hooves on deck and the metallic sound of the large fifteen inch shells being hauled and loaded into the guns made Iron’s fur stand on end.

Distant flashes of white followed by black smoke set all alarms off on board the ship. The distant cracks of enemy guns being fired rang through the air, shaking the deck. The shots were on mark, hitting Fillydelphia and Canterlot hard on the deck, causing fires and explosions of ammunition racks that were situated behind the turrets. White streaks of bubbling water headed towards the two cruisers. Torpedos. The ships were not faring too well, directing all crew efforts to keeping the fires on check. They did nothing to evade the torpedos. Iron wanted to shout, but his voice wouldn’t carry over the din of the chaos on board those ships.

“Fire!” called the captain of the Equestria.

Deafening bangs of the majestic fifteen-inch Royal Ordinance guns rang in the air. The guns blazed one by one, covering the ship in a screen of thick black smoke and causing the ship to lurch to the other side. The yellow coloured tracers flew through the air like meteors and hit one of the ironclads right amidships. The ironclad stopped and an explosion rang through the air, the pressure waves of the giant sound rippled through the air, pushing Iron back slightly from his firm stance. They had hit the ammunition racks in the citadel of the ship. Iron Skies flew back to shore, where ranks of Wonderbolts and Equestrian Air Force (EAF), carrying small fifty pound bombs.

“Launch!” commanded Iron as the ranks flew one by one, forming many flights of delta formations. The one thousand military personnel blackened the sky. They were mere dots after several minutes, soaring through the sky towards the enemy warships. They knew how to avoid anti-air fire, but it wasn’t guaranteed that they would survive a close by shell detonation. From the EQS Equestria, Iron saw the enemy anti-air defences open up, in a constant flash of yellow. The sky was dotted in black smoke, from the anti-air defences. Every few seconds, a bang would silence a ship, caused by the allies successfully dropping bombs down the funnel of the enemy ships.

The battle raged on. The enemy ships were now also firing their main batteries at Canterlot, the only remaining patrol. EQS Fillydelphia slowly broke in half and sank slowly. The lights on it flickered, then cut out, the fires blooming on deck being put out by the waters of the ocean as the deck submerged. The ocean floor was not deep enough, casing the main mast to stick out of the ocean awkwardly. Deafening bangs of Equestria’s guns sounded again, a deep rumble resonating in the decks. Canterlot fired back also, after her situation was solved.

It appeared that the enemy only had around twenty ships in their convoy on the MADAR but now, the MADAR detected over one hundred ships, consisting of small torpedo boats up to mighty battleships armed with high calibre guns that were completely capable to wipe out any other ship, daring enough to challenge it with on well-placed shot, but that was the problem with high calibre guns. They were dreadfully inaccurate at the extremities of its range. That is what makes naval engagements last for hours on end.

The first flights of pegasi were returning after their long, dangerous mission to the enemy lines. The extra anti-air fire had caused many more casualties than Iron had expected. Only around half of the total force arrived back home. There was no time to count every personnel. They were dismissed back to the barracks where they could get rest, or arrive at the infirmary with their ailments. It was lucky that Iron could see all his closest friends in the ‘bolts arrive back.

“Commander Iron Skies, we have a message from Princess Celestia. You are to retreat your forces immediately. Do not attempt to engage anymore. We must relocate EQS Equestria and Canterlot to Portsmouth immediately,” reported the rear admiral from the bridge.

“Alright. We have completed our strike already. Do we need to evacuate civilians from Manehattan?” asked Iron.

“Don’t worry about that. The Department of Foreign Affairs hub in Manehattan has already got onto that,” came a voice from the bridge.

“Ok, Bismarck,” said Iron, trotting into the superstructure and entering the ‘War Room’ after twisting and turning through a maze of halls and passages.

“Hello Iron!” called Fire Streak.

“Set our course for Portsmouth immediately,” he commanded.

“Of course,” answered Fire Streak while drawing on a map, plotting the course, “I will tell cap immediately.”

Back in Canterlot Castle, in the throne room…

Celestia paced the room, muttering under her breath. The rest of the ponies observed her fearfully, not knowing what she should do. She had too much on her mind; first it was Luna, who was brought into the Everfree but her location is now unknown, now there was a war raging on.

“I think at least you should go, Spitfire,” said Jack, “They need a morale boost. You being there would signify that their leader would be willing to fight among their ranks.”

Spitfire nodded thoughtfully, considering what Jack had set. She trotted over to Jack, who was still uncomfortable with her presence, especially so close to him.

“If you go, I will go,” said Spitfire.

“Deal!” said Jack triumphantly. He did not want to hurt Daring mentally but it was something he wanted to do so badly. Being in the centre of action was what Jack liked, right on the front lines.

“Fine! Then I’m coming with you as well!” fumed Daring as she trudged over to Jack and slapped him in the face, “Wake up!”

“Well go as well with our captain,” said a voice from behind Jack, who found Soarin towering over him.

“Well, I think we are all going then?”

“Yep!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next chapter will be 80% naval combat! It will be so awesome! I cannot wait to write it! Everything is awesome!

Note: I am basing these ships on World War II British Navy and US ships. This situation is also somewhat based on the events of the Tirpitz but with a twist at the end.