The Mane 6, and Spike, were still looking all around the upper deck of the Texas in awe. They had seen a few warships before, but never this close, and none of them were even remotely close to how large and powerful Texas was. All of them were looking around on the upper deck at everything there was to see, and asking many questions to the various Texas sailors, all of whom were happy to answer their questions, or if they couldn't, then they'd direct the Pony who asked the question to someone who could.

"I know about the main guns, but what're these smaller guns on the deck for?" Applejack asked. "And why'd they got 4 barrels?"

"Oh, those are the quad Bofors 40mm Anti-Air guns." A sailor told her. "They were used during WW2 to knock down any incoming enemy aircraft. Texas has 10 of these mounts in total."

"They were used for attackin' aircraft? Like yer scout-plane thing?"

"Eh...kind of. The Japanese, who were the enemies in the Pacific Theater in WW2, had various fighter aircraft, as well as bombers, and torpedo planes, all of which were used to attack US Navy ships, which required them to have a very large amount of AA guns. Texas alone has 64 AA guns; 10 x quad Bofors 40mm guns, 10 x 3in guns, and 44 x Oerlikon 20mm cannons, which look like large machine guns."

"You mean those things?" Applejack pointed to the deck nearby where 2 machine guns stood, surrounded by a metal wall.

"Yep, those are 2 of the 44 Oerlikon 20mm cannons."

At this same time, Twilight was examining the 2 forward main gun turrets. "Now that I'm seeing them here, David, they're even more impressive up close. Can you tell me a bit more about them?"

I nodded. "Certainly. These are Turret 1, and Turret 2, which contain 4 of Texas's 10 x 14in guns; her main battery. These guns were capable of firing a 1,400lb shell up to 23,000 yards. The guns themselves could be elevated up to 15 degrees, and they move as a pair; they cannot elevate individually. And interestingly enough, the US Navy modernized 4 out of the 6 ships that had these types of 14in guns in the 1930's, enabling them to shoot larger 1,500lb shells up to 34,300 yards, at an elevation of 30 degrees, but alas, Texas, and her sister-ship, USS New York BB-34, the first ships to be fitted with 14in guns, were the 2 ships left unmodernized."

Twilight was surprised. "And why was that, David?"

I sighed. "Because the shell hoists on Texas and New York weren't strong enough to lift these new shells which would have enabled them to shoot farther, and it wasn't economically viable to build all new turrets for them, which is what it would have taken to fully modernize them, as they were of a different, older design of 14in gun turrets; the Mark 1 to be exact. However, these 2 ships weren't left totally in the dark, and their guns were given some upgrades to make firing easier, and prolonged the lives of the gun barrels, and they were given smaller variants of the new Armor-Piercing, and High-Explosive shells, but because of the shells's smaller sizes, which were similar to what Texas and New York originally fired, they still lacked the range of the 4 modernized ships. But make no mistake, Texas's guns still packed a VERY serious punch, as she demonstrated at Normandy, Iwo-Jima, and Okinawa."

Twilight was writing all of this down. "You may be upset about Texas never really having her guns upgraded, but in the Equestrian Navy, we don't have any guns more powerful than a 12in gun, and they can only shoot up to about 21,000 yards, with an effective firing range of about 12,000 yards. And unlike the guns on the Texas, they're not radar-guided, and instead rely on optical rangefinders, making them inaccurate at times, especially in high seas."

I was just about to ask Twilight a bit more about what kind of guns the Equestrian Navy used on their warships, when I noticed Spike walking around Turret 1.

"Hey, how do the turret gunners get inside these things, David? From below decks?"

"No, there's a small ladder underneath the very back of the turret leading up to a hatch. All of the gunners get inside the turrets through that hatch."

"Hatch?" Spike looked up at the underside of the back of Turret 1, and he finally noticed the small ladder, and the hatch.

"Ok, now how did I miss that?" He muttered. I then watched him climb up the ladder, and try to open the hatch.

"Should he be doing that, David?"

"He can. I mean, I'm not gonna say anything, but the guys inside the turret might."

Suddenly, the hatch popped open, and Spike found himself looking up into the turret's dark interior, as well as at least 4 pairs of eyes looking back at him!

"Hello." Came a raspy whisper from one of the pairs of eyes.

"YIKES!!!" Spike then lost his grip on the ladder, and fell maybe 2 1/2 feet to the deck of the Texas, landing on his ass.

Suddenly, some lights came on in the turret, and Spike looked up to see that the 4 pairs of eyes belonged to 4 of the gunners inside of Turret 2.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to scare you that badly, Spike." One of them called down. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Spike got back up, and rubbed his butt a bit, as well as his tail. "Can I see inside the turret?"

They nodded. "Sure. Though it's a bit cramped up here." They then got back from the hatch, and Spike climbed up enough to climb inside the turret.

"Whoa!" He said as he looked around. "This isn't quite as big as I thought that it was going to be."

"Yeah", One of the gunners replied, "Most of the space in here is taken up by the guns themselves, as well as the hoists for the shells and the powder bags, and the controls for moving the guns, and the turret itself. The lights in here are poor, and ventilation is even worse. Can you imagine being in here during the heat of battle in the Pacific, with 100+ degree temperatures, and no air conditioning, and poor ventilation? Not to mention all of the noise and vibration every time the turret's guns fired?"

Spike shook his head. "No, I can't imagine it. It must have been absolutely brutal."

"I've heard stories from some of the family members of guys who did serve on Texas during WW2, firing these main guns, and it was most definitely brutal, especially in the tropical heat of the Pacific."

"And did the ship have any kind of cooling, or air conditioning?"

"Nope, I'm afraid not, Spike. Air conditioning on warships didn't really become widespread until the late 50's, early 60's, and even then, it didn't work so well until improvements could be made. Granted, the ship does have fans and blowers to provide ventilation, which does help, but even today, when Texas was being prepped for her overhaul, we had several air conditioning units onboard, as well as ventilation fans, but even so, the heat inside was sometimes miserable."

Spike had to think about that one, while down below on the main deck, Twilight and I were still talking, and she was taking notes.

Meanwhile, one of the Texas crewmen had a question for Rainbow Dash.

"Miss Rainbow? How come ya didn't just fly up onto the Texas? Why'd ya use the 'boarding ramp' like everyone else?"

Rainbow Dash laughed a bit. "You can just call me 'Rainbow', 'Dash', or even just 'RD'; no 'Miss'. And to answer your question, I wanted a challenge, so just flying up would be too easy. I wanted to test myself by climbing up, so I did!"

"Oh, I see."

A bit aft of where they were standing, Pinkie was looking towards the stern of the Texas. "Hey, Anypony? Why's there just a single turret in the middle of the ship? It looks so lonely there all by itself!"

"I can answer that, Miss Pinkie." Captain Bob replied. "Back in the early days of battleships, or to be more specific, during the Pre-Dreadnought, and early Dreadnought-Eras, battleships, and other warships with heavy guns didn't have radar to guide their main guns, as it hadn't been invented yet. Because of this, gunnery accuracy was often rather poor, even in the best circumstances. To try and remedy this, British American, and especially French warship designers often gave battleships as many main guns as possible, so as to increase the chances of hitting a target. Believe it or not, there was a class of warship similar to Texas that had 12 main guns, situated in 6 main turrets, with there being 2 turrets amidships rather than just one."

Pinkie's eyes went wide. "Really, Captain Hogan?"

"Oh yes. They were called the Wyoming-Class Battleships. There were 2 of them, USS Wyoming BB-32, and USS Arkansas BB-33; USS New York BB-34, and USS Texas BB-35's immediate predecessors. However, these 2 ships had 12 x 12in guns in 6 main turrets, while Texas and New York had 10 x 14in guns in 5 turrets. And Arkansas was the last battleship ever built with 6 turrets, and the last ever built with 12in guns, while Texas was the last battleship ever built with 5 turrets like this. Every American battleship after her had either 8 x 14in guns in 4 turrets, 12 x 14in guns in 4 turrets, or even 9 x 16in guns in 3 turrets. And do you want to know one more fun fact?"

"Sure."

"These types of battleships like the Texas that had multiple turrets were called 'Turret Farms'. Texas was the last of the 'Turret Farm' Battleships."

Pinkie was still in awe. "So why did the battleships need fewer turrets? Is this when that radar-thingy was invented?"

"Yes and no. As time went on, optical rangefinder technology improved, negating the need for so many main guns, and then finally in the 1930's, radar-guidance for the guns began to be introduced, but it was piss-poor at first. However, by the end of WW2, it got scary how accurate these kinds of radar-guided main guns, radar-guided secondary guns, and even radar-guided AA guns could be. A 16in, 1,000lb shell could be plopped onto a target from 23 miles away in rough seas, fog, and while the ship is being tossed around, and land within 30 feet of the projected target area."

Pinkie's eyes got as big as saucers, and her jaw hung low. Even Rainbow Dash, who had been overhearing this conversation couldn't believe what Captain Bob had just said. No Equestrian warship was that accurate with its gunfire, but then again, Texas was more advanced than anything Equestria had, and from what she'd overheard me say earlier, Texas was obsolete even by the standards of WW2. So if Texas was already accurate with her radar guided guns, what kind of damage could these other battleships, which Captain Bob called "North Carolina-Class", "South Dakota-Class", and "Iowa-Class" Battleships possibly do? She wasn't so sure if she wanted to find out.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy and Rarity were standing on Texas's bridge, talking with Ted and Dennis.

"I recall David saying earlier that the current dark blue uniforms that most of you are wearing right now were not the standard uniform for when Texas was serving in the Pacific, though what did these uniforms actually look like?"

Dennis thought for a second. "Well, Miss Rarity, they consisted of a lighter-blue button-up shirt, navy-blue pants, a leather belt, brown shoes, and the same white sailor hats we're all wearing right now. Or if it was really hot, a thin white t-shirt, or no shirt at all, white shorts, sometimes shoes, sometimes not, and the same white sailor hats."

Rarity looked appalled that the crew of the Texas back in WW2 went about their duties half-naked at times, but once she thought about the tropical heat of the South Pacific in the Summertime, and the lack of any air conditioning, it all made sense.

"But it's still so ghastly." She thought to herself. Out loud, she said, "So I take it that at some point, all of you will be switching from your current uniforms, to the first one you talked about?"

Dennis shrugged. "Possibly, it all depends on the weather. If it gets warmer, then yes, but if not, we'll stick with what we've got on. However, I have a feeling that the weather might get warmer, so we'll see."

While Rarity was still talking with Dennis about the uniforms, Fluttershy was looking around the bridge itself.

"Wow, it's not very large in here. I find it hard to believe that you and Ensign Dennis, were in here, alongside Ensign David, Lt. Adam, and Captain Hogan, and in a storm too."

Ted nodded quietly. "Yeah, it was a bit cramped, especially during the storm, but yet, all of us had to be here, and we all had our jobs."

"Which were what again?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, I operated the engine-order telegraph, David and Dennis were the helmsmen, also known as wheelmen, though only one stood at the wheel at any one time, while the other served as a bridge lookout. During the storm though, both David and Dennis had to hold the wheel steady to keep Texas on course. And of course, Captain Bob is the ship's captain, while Adam was the bridge navigator."

"And is this where he worked?" Rarity asked, pointing to the table near the back of the bridge, where various maps, charts, and other navigation tools were spread out.

"Yep, that's it, Miss Rarity. Though as you can see from those maps, they're of the US's Gulf Coast, and are not accurate to Equestrian waters."

"Oh, I see." Rarity then looked at the maps, and she saw where Adam had been using a black marker to keep track of the Texas's position, but then he used a red marker. "Why did Adam suddenly switch to a red marker?"

Dennis then spoke up. "That's when the storm started getting really bad, and we unknowingly wound up in the Celestial Sea. We were unsure of our position, so Adam used a red marker to indicate that it was his best guess. And as you can see, the red marks end at Galveston Island on the map, which is NOT where we were in Real Life, but we were unaware of this, until we noticed that Fillydelphia didn't look like Galveston at all, or anywhere along the Texas Coast for that matter."

Rarity pondered that, and then looked at the maps again. "And speaking of Lt. Adam, where is he now?"

Dennis shrugged. "I don't know. Most likely down on the main deck with the others."

At this same time, Fluttershy looked at the bridge's radar scope, and then took a closer look at the Texas's bridge engine-order telegraph.

"So how does this thing work, Ted?" She asked quietly.

"Oh, let me show you, Fluttershy." He then reached it, and put his hand on the lever, but then paused. "Eh, I probably should alert CE Dalton, and the rest of the engine room staff first." He then grabbed the bridge's intercom. "Bridge to Engine Room, please respond."

After a minute or so, a reply came. "Engine Room to Bridge, go ahead."

"Engine Room, this is Ensign Ted Walker. I just wanted to let you know that I was going to be performing a brief demonstration of the bridge engine order telegraph for our VIP's, and to ignore what the engine room engine order telegraph says."

"Ok, copy that Bridge. Engine Room Out."

"Copy that." Ted then put down the bridge intercom, and walked back over to the telegraph. "Ok, now I can show you how it works, Fluttershy. It's very simple." He then reached out, and grabbed the telegraph's main lever. "This device is called an engine order telegraph. It's used so that those on the bridge can communicate with the engine room, and tell them how fast the engines need to go, and in which direction."

"You mean....the Texas could move forwards or backwards?"

Ted nodded. "Oh yes. Not very fast in reverse, but she definitely can."

Fluttershy was very surprised. "Oh. And what do these words mean?" She asked, pointing to the different words on the side of the telegraph.

"Oh, those are how we indicate to the engine room how fast we want the ship to go. As you can see, there's 'Standby Engines', 'Dead Slow', 'Slow', 'Half', 'Full', and 'Flank' in the forward direction, or 'Ahead', and 'Finished With Engines', 'Dead Slow', 'Slow', 'Half', and 'Full' in the reverse direction, or 'Astern', and of course, there's the all-important 'Stop' in between them, which is where the telegraph is set to now."

"And does 'Stop' mean stop the engines?"

"Yes, it does. And here's how it works." He then grabbed the right handle of the telegraph. "Let's say for example that we were just pulling out of port. I'd take the handle, move it back a bit, and then move it to 'Dead Slow' in the 'Ahead' position. Ted then did what he said, and a bell could be heard ringing from the telegraph, before the handle stopped at "Dead Slow".

"Why did you move the telegraph back a bit, and then to its current position, Darling?" Rarity asked. "And what does that bell ringing mean?"

"Good questions, Miss Rarity." He then pointed to the telegraph handles. "Whenever the telegraph handles are moved here on the bridge, they also move the Engine Order Telegraphs in the ship's engine rooms, thanks to various control cables. However, it's very noisy there in the engine room, which can make the bells on the telegraph hard to hear. Because of this, whenever the telegraphs need to be moved, we always move them more than what's needed, so that the bells in the engine room telegraphs will ring longer, thus enabling someone down there to either hear the bells, or see the indicator needle move, which itself is accompanied by another bell."

"Indicator needle?" Rarity asked.

Ted then pointed to a second needle on the telegraph's face. "This. Whenever we move the telegraph on the bridge, down in the engine room, this indicator needle on the telegraph there moves to wherever the bridge telegraph was moved to, to show the engineers how fast the engines need to go. They then move their telegraph into the same position that the bridge wants, which rings a bell down there, and this indicator needle moves into the position as the telegraph's indicator handles, and then a bell rings up here, which indicates to us on the bridge that the engine room acknowledged our request."

"Oh, I see. This is all very complicated, and....mechanical I suppose would be the right word? I really don't understand it very well, but thank you for explaining it, Darling."

"I have one more question."

"Oh, yes Fluttersy?" Ted asked.

"Why did only one telegraph handle move when you pulled it? Are they not connected?"

Ted shook his head. "No, they're actually not. This is because Texas has 2 engines, located in 2 separate engine rooms. Because of this, both handles of the bridge telegraph must be capable of moving independently, because in some cases, the engines may need to be ran at different speeds, which can be used as an emergency turning measure if the rudder was knocked out for example. But for the most part, the engines are run together at the same speed, though because of this, I always have to make sure I move both handles at the same time, or one handle quickly after the other, so as to not cause confusion in the engine rooms."

"Oh, that's very interesting, Ensign Ted."

Ted then explained a bit more about how engine order telegraphs worked, and their history, though while he was doing that, unknown to those of us out on the Texas, the Princess's train had just pulled into Fillydelphia, and Princess Celestia was just finishing writing a letter to Twilight to let her know that they had arrived in Fillydelphia, and were about to make their way over to the Naval Yard.

At around this same time, Twilight, Spike and I were still up near the bow of the ship, discussing various aspects of the Texas, when all of a sudden, Spike burped out some green fire, and a letter appeared.

"Oh, who's that letter from?" I ask. "Is it from the Princesses?"

"Let me see." Twilight then took the message from Spike, and read it.

"Well, Twilight?" Spike asked. "Who's it from?"

"It's from Celestia and Luna. They said that their train has just arrived in Fillydelphia, and they're getting ready to make their way over to the Naval Yard."

My eyes went a bit wide. "Oh, that's pretty important news. We'd better go inform Captain Bob about this immediately."

Twilight agreed, and then she and Spike followed me as I briskly made my way back to amidships where Captain Bob. When we arrived there, he was still talking to Pinkie Pie, though Rainbow Dash and Applejack had joined them too.

"Captain Bob!" I called when I was close enough.

"Yes, Ensign Gardner?" He asked.

"A very important message just arrived from Princess Celestia! She just announced that she and Princess Luna have arrived in Fillydelphia, and are making their way over to the Naval Yard as we speak. We must prepare to bring the Texas into port immediately upon their arrival."

Now it was Captain Bob's turn for his eyes to go wide. "The Princesses are in Fillydelphia?! Oh my, I hope that we've been able to get everything ready! Have all the crew changed into fresh clean uniforms, and scrubbed and polished the ship as best they can?" Captain Bob asked one of the other officers.

"Yes, we've done everything you requested of us to do to prepare for the Princesses's arrival, Captain." He replied.

"Good. Now then, someone needs to get to the Texas's radio room, and have Lt. Dayton radio Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, and see if we have permission to dock at the Fillydelphia Naval Yard."

"Yes, Sir!" Someone then went running to Texas's radio room.

When they returned a few minutes later, they said that there was good news, and bad news.

"What news?" Captain Bob asked.

"Well, the good news is that yes, the Read-Admiral says that we have his permission to come to the Fillydelphia Naval Yard, however, when we get close, we'll have to stop to allow Equestrian tugs to bring us in, as well as have a harbor pilot come on board, as we're unfamiliar with these waters close to shore."

"And was that the bad news?"

"No, Sir. The bad news is that since our ship is so large, larger than any warship in the Equestrian Fleet, we may have difficulty docking, as there isn't a dock large enough for us to moor next to. In light of this, they're shuffling a few ships around so that we can dock at Docks 4 and 6, which together are long enough to moor the Texas to. Oh, and our 3 tugboats can dock at the Tug Dock on the other side of the Naval Yard, in Berths 1, 2, and 3."

"Excellent! Tell the Rear-Admiral that we'll be making all haste to get to Fillydelphia, and to have the Equestrian tugs, as well as the harbor pilot standing by to receive us at the mouth of the harbor."

"Yes, Sir!"

Captain Bob then went over to the closest intercom panel, and after picking up the receiver told the crew that the time had come for them to head into Fillydelphia Harbor, as the Princesses had arrived to receive them. All of the crew then scrambled to get back to their posts, while Captain Bob and I made our way back to the bridge. Dennis and Ted were already there, and Adam would meet us there.

"And where can we be, Captain Hogan?" Twilight asked.

"You can come up to the bridge with us if you wish. There's enough room for you to stand in there, and out on the bridge wings."

Twilight then checked with Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack, as Rarity and Fluttershy were already up on the bridge with Ted and Dennis. All of them agreed to Captain Bob's proposal.

"We're all in agreement, Captain Hogan. Lead the way to the bridge."

"Excellent, Princess Twilight." He then led the way up to the bridge.

Once we were all up there, Twilight and her friends were standing on the bridge wings, while Spike stayed inside the bridge, and Captain Bob and I were also out on the bridge wings. Ted took his place at the engine order telegraphs, Adam was at his map table, and Dennis was at the wheel. Once he had confirmation that everyone was at their posts, Captain Bob radioed down to the engine room.

"Bridge to Engine Room. Come in please."

"Bridge, this is the Engine Room, CE Dalton here."

"Is everything ready down there?"

"Affirmative, Captain."

"Ok then. Ensign Walker?"

Ted looked up. "Yes, Sir?"

"All Ahead Slow."

"All Ahead Slow, Sir." He then moved the telegraphs to the "Slow Ahead" position.

Soon afterwards, we felt the Texas shudder as her engines came to life again, and slowly began to move the ship through the water.

"Ensign Weaver?"

Dennis looked over. "Yes, Sir?"

"Hard to starboard. We need to turn the ship towards Fillydelphia Harbor."

"Yes, Sir." He then began to turn the wheel, and Texas slowly began to turn.

Eventually, it was pointed towards the harbor. Once it was, Captain Bob ordered half-speed from the engines, so as to get to the harbor a bit faster, and he also radioed the captains of the 3 tug boats to return to the Texas, and to fall in line behind her. He also explained to them where they would be docking once they reached Fillydelphia.

"Very good, Captain Hogan." The Captain of the North Star replied. The tugboats had to run their engines at full speed to cover the few miles distance between them and the Texas quickly, but they were soon where they needed to be, and the North Star, Pelican, and Jupiter all fell in line behind the Texas.

As we got the Texas moving again, Twilight marveled as she watched us work, and took a lot of notes.

"This is all so amazing." She was muttering to herself. "I've never gotten to be on a warship while it was moving like this before."

"I think it's really nice." Fluttershy agreed. "The breeze blowing through our manes, the smell of the salt water, the seagulls flying around." One of them then landed on the bridge wing near her for a few moments before taking off again.

"What would it be like to be on this bridge during combat?" Spike asked.

I turned to him. "I'm not sure, as in combat, this bridge wouldn't be used, but instead the bridge staff would be a bit lower down in the armored conning tower in the Battle-Bridge. All of the controls are the same, but it doesn't have any bridge wings, and only tiny little slits to see out of at the front. It's dark, hot, and cramped, but it protects the bridge crew during combat. I mean, I guess technically the crew could stay on this bridge during combat, which I believe is what was done while Texas was shelling the beaches of Normandy, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, but what happened at the Battle of Cherbourg is a pretty good indicator of why this is a bad idea."

"What happened at the Battle of Cherbourg?"

"June 25th, 1944, Texas, the battleships USS Arkansas BB-33 and USS Nevada BB-36, along with 4 cruisers and 11 destroyers were tasked with helping the Allies secure the vital French port of Cherbourg by providing fire support, and during this battle, Texas had 26 near-misses, but was struck by 2 shells fired from German shore batteries. The second shell hit the bow, and punched a hole into the wardroom, and thankfully failed to explode, but the first shell struck the conning tower, detonating just below the bridge. 11 sailors were wounded, and one of them died, becoming Texas's sole fatality during her career. The bridge was completely wrecked, and required extensive repairs."

Spike's eyes went wide. "Yikes! At least there was only 1 fatality, and the bridge was able to be repaired. And what happened to that shell that struck the Texas, but failed to explode?"

"It was rendered inert, and up until Texas's overhaul it was displayed on the ship in an exterior display, but now it's sitting inside the ship, in the hallway outside the wardroom where it struck, but unlike the other shells on the ship, it's still inert. And no one knows how it got there either, but we've given up questioning it."

Spike was still trying to picture the Texas during the Battle of Cherbourg, and I was happy to answer all of his questions about it.

Some time later, we were being hailed by the Fillydelphia harbor tugs.

"USS Texas, USS Texas. This is the captain of the tugboat ENS Seagull. Do you copy?"

"ENS Seagull, this is Captain Hogan of the USS Texas, I read you loud and clear, over."

"Very good, Captain Hogan. Your ship is about a mile from the entrance to the harbor, so we request that you stop your engines now, and then we can throw up our lines to tow you into port, and the harbor pilot shall come onboard as well."

"Copy that, Seagull."

Captain Bob then ordered Ted to set the engine order telegraphs to "Stop", and soon the Texas glided to a stop, where the Seagull, and another tugboat came alongside, and the sailors onboard tossed up the lines to the Texas sailors gathered near the bow, who then attached the lines to the ship's bow bollards. Then, after lowering one of the cargo nets, the Fillydelphia Harbor Pilot, a Unicorn stallion named Compass climbed onboard, and was quickly ushered up to the bridge, where he took Dennis's place at the wheel. Then, once Ted was given the signal, he moved the telegraphs to "Dead Slow Ahead", and Texas began to make the final leg of her trip into Fillydelphia Harbor being guided by the 2 Equestrian tugs, followed closely by our own tugboats Jupiter, Pelican, and North Star. By this time, a number of the crew had gathered on the decks, and watched in awe as the Texas came into sight of the harbor, and they took in the sight of it, the city, and the naval base.

"Whoa. One of those shore batteries must be the one that fired that warning shot at us." Dennis said as he looked through a pair of binoculars at the shoreline.

"Yes, I think you're right, Ensign Weaver." Captain Bob replied, looking through his own binoculars.

I then looked back at Adam, who was still looking over his maps. "You might want to leave your maps for a bit, as you're missing the sights of Texas being guided into port."

Adam looked up. "I would, but with our VIP's here on the bridge, I can't really see much." Nevertheless, he still got up, and walked over to try and see what he could see from amid the Mane 6, Spike, Captain Bob, Dennis, Ted and I.

Pretty soon, Texas was entering Fillydelphia Harbor, and we blew the ship's whistle in a greeting, while the Equestrian tugs blew their own whistles to indicate that they were entering the harbor, and our own 3 tugs also blew their whistles in greeting. For the first time since 1946, Texas was making a port of call in a foreign port, and for the first time ever this port was in another world, and as far as we could see, various Ponies were lined up along the harbor-front, many with their cameras, and some were even in small boats inside the harbor proper. Many of them were cheering for us, and the crew on the bow were waving to them. Things were equally exciting once we finally pulled into the Fillydelphia Naval Yard, where Texas dwarfed every ship around her, even the other battleships. Seagull and the other tug then began to guide Texas over to Docks 4 and 6 where she would be moored, and I noted a light cruiser moored next to us in Dock 5, and a heavy cruiser moored in Dock 7. Many Equestrian sailors and other navy personnel were gathered at the docks waiting for us, and once Texas was in place, ropes were tossed up to us so that we could moor the Texas in place, gangplanks were raised up to the ship's deck, and the Texas's engines were idled, and most the fires in her boilers were put out, with the ship's power and ventilation now being provided by shore-based facilities. Meanwhile, our 3 tugboats arrived at the Tug Dock, and were soon moored into Docks 1-3.

"Is everything all set down there, CE?" Captain Bob asked.

"Yes, everything's all good down here, Captain." Dalton replied. "A few engineers will remain below, but I'm coming up to the main deck now."

"Excellent."

He and I, as well as Adam, Dennis, Ted, the Mane 6 and Spike all then left the bridge, and regrouped on the main deck. Just as we were figuring out what to do next, a large carriage suddenly pulled up onto the dock near where the Texas was moored, with the symbols of Equestria on it, and surrounded by Ponies wearing golden armor.

"Oh good, the Princesses are here!" Twilight called out to the rest of us.

Our eyes all went very wide when we saw the carriage, and Captain Bob quickly gave orders.

"That's the Princesses! Ok, look alive everyone, the Princesses are here!"

Quick as a flash, all of the Texas's sailors who were on deck quickly got into formation, and stood in picture-perfect rows, while Captain Bob stood near the top of the gangplank, and I stood next to him. The Mane 6 and Spike also gathered near the gangplank, though they seemed much more relaxed than we were; all of us were almost sweating we were so nervous. The doors to the carriages then opened, and several Ponies that we guessed were servants then moved next to them, and helped the 2 Princesses down, and they were then escorted by their Royal Guards, as well as several Equestrian Naval officers over to the Texas's gangplank, and as they walked up it, those of us on the Texas laid eyes on the Rulers of Equestria for the very first time.

I saw that Princess Celestia had white fur, magenta eyes, a long, flowing tri-colored mane and tail, a long white horn on her forehead, and a pair of white wings. She was dressed in a regal white dress with golden shoes on her hooves, and a golden tiara on her head. Next to her, her sister, Princess Luna had dark blue fur, blue eyes, a long flowing blue mane and tail that appeared to have star patterns on it, as well as a blue horn on her forehead, and a pair of blue wings. She was dressed in a regal blue and black dress, with silver shoes on her hooves, and a black tiara on her head. Princess Celestia had a soft smile on her face, while Princess Luna had a more neutral expression, but I could tell that she was interested in us, and our ship. Once the Princesses were fully on the ship, all of us Texas sailors saluted them, and Captain Bob spoke up.

"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, it is my absolute privilege and honor to welcome you both onboard the USS Texas BB-35, the finest battleship in the US Navy. I am Captain Robert Hogan, at your service." He then bowed lightly.

Celestia spoke first. "The honor is all ours, Captain Hogan. It's our pleasure to be here, and to meet with the crew of the battleship who've come here from another world. I'm very glad that we were able to have this meeting today, and that a major crisis was averted."

"As am I, Princess Celestia. It was thanks to Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, Captain Hammer, as well as Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike the Dragon, as well as my own crew who were able to meet in the middle, and find enough common ground to defuse a tense situation. I'm glad that it all worked out in the end, and no one got hurt."

"Yes, this was a very close call, Captain Hogan, but I have full confidence that we will be able to forge a strong relationship between the Equestrians, and the crew of the Texas."

While Celestia and Captain Bob were still talking, Luna then suddenly turned, and looked directly at me. "And who might you be, Young Sailor?"

For a few moments, I completely froze up, but a nudge from behind from Chief Engineer Dalton quickly brought me back to reality. I then saluted. "Princess Luna, I am Ensign David Gardner, the Texas's Executive Officer, her second in command under Captain Hogan. It's a pleasure to meet you." I then bowed lightly.

"Such a young officer to be selected as a battleship's XO, but yet such a polite one too. I think that you'll go very far in your career, Ensign Gardner."

I smiled. "Thank you, Princess. Though you may call me 'David' if you prefer."

"Very well, David. I think I'll be watching you with great interest.......watching your career, that is." Luna then looked away, seemingly embarrassed.

I was surprised at what I'd just seen. It seemed that Princess Luna slipped up in what she meant to say, but I wasn't sure of what to make of it at the time. I then pushed it out of my mind, as Captain Bob and Chief Engineer Dalton were also introduced to Rear-Admiral Sky Seas, and Captain Hammer for the first time.

"It's an honor to finally meet you in person, Captain Hogan."

"The honor is mine, Rear-Admiral. I'm just thankful that we're having this meeting now, rather than picking up the pieces after a war began."

"Indeed, Captain."

Chief Engineer Dalton then looked over at Captain Hammer. "And you must be Captain Hammer. From what I've heard, you're the officer in charge of the shore batteries, are you not?"

Captain Hammer nodded. "Yes, Sir, I am. I was right there alongside the Rear-Admiral when the first, and only, warning shot was fired towards the Texas when it first arrived."

"That was a very fine shot, Captain. You've trained your gunners well."

"Thank you, Chief Engineer Dalton."

Captain Bob then turned towards the Princesses. "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna? If you're ready, then I'd like to begin the tour of our vessel."

Princess Celestia nodded. "Certainly, Captain Hogan. Lead the way."

He saluted. "Yes, Ma'am."

Captain Bob then began to walk down the deck, and the large group of Ponies and Humans followed him; the Texas crew returning to their duty stations, the officers, including myself being a part of the tour, and the Equestrians all eager to see the wonders of the USS Texas BB-35, which we were happy to show them.

Author's Note

And, that was Chapter 6 Part 1

I'm so, SO sorry that this took almost 2 1/2 years to get out. It was a combination of Real Life, writer's block, and a bit of burnout. I plan on getting Chapter 6 Part 2 out faster, though I'd like to thank those of you who kept asking about Chapter 6, and when it was coming out, as you all kept me on track somewhat, and reminded me that you were waiting for this. I thank you very much for your patience, and your persistence, and I hope that you enjoyed Part 1 of Chapter 6. So now the Texas is docked in Fillydelphia, and the crew have met the Princesses. What're they going to think of the tour of the Texas? Will the Texas continue to remain at Fillydelphia, or will it be moved somewhere else? Why did Luna suddenly slip up when talking to David? And what about the Black Baron? When will he make an appearance in the story? And what's going to happen next? Well, you all know the drill, stay tuned and I'll tell you

In the meantime though, as always, comments, questions, feedback, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in Chapter 6 Part 2!

ScarFox out for now!