The Battle for Vanhoover Harbor
The cockpit of the airplane rumbled, yet not even the propeller could keep up with the speed of which Fanx was shaking.
This was wrong. It was wrong and he could do nothing about it.
He wouldn't dare voice these concerns to his officer, not even to his fellow pilots who flew through the same, gloomy clouds as he did over the tides of the ocean. Did they have similar thoughts? Treasonous, traitorous thoughts? Fanx would never know.
But attacking Equestria on Hearth's Warming Eve struck something inside the Changeling that he didn't understand.
Perhaps he never would, because he kept flying all the way to Vanhoover harbor.
In the crew quarters of the ERNS Canterlot cruiser, Autumn lay resting on her small bunk bed.
Conversations among her fellow sailors ranged from all sorts of topics. The Princesses, Hearth’s warming Eve celebrations, family back home. It all blended into muffled happiness in her half-asleep state.
“Hey, you know they’re having some ‘Family Day’ on the Rockhoof, right?”
“That aint fair! They get visitors and we don't?”
She thought of her own family back home. The letters were not as comforting, but their words did suffice to bring some form of home with her. How proud she made her mom and dad, how excited her little brother would be to see her again.
With thoughts of the countryside of Yonderhill, her home in her mind, she would have drifted off to sleep again.
As she closed her eyes, she heard a small tap. Something that vibrated through the water and into the walls of the ship. Nopony around seemed to pay it any mind. She shrugged it off, closing her eyes once more.
Then a knock.
Now she focused in her half-awake state, as the knocks were almost in a symphony. Knock. Knock, knock. Knock. The water shrouded the sound, but something was certainly hitting on metal.
The sounds became louder and louder, as if someone was dropping a hammer gently on her head. She opened her eyes slightly looking around to see if anypony else heard it.
Then an explosion.
The whole ship sounded off like a bomb, jolting her to sit upright. She snapped her head around, the other ponies in the quarters just as confused as she was. Stumbling to their feet, they were sent to the ground by another.
“Hey, what in Tartarus is going on?!” A bat pony asked, looking around frantically. No other sailor had the answer as they collected themselves.
Each sailor had confusion in their eyes, as the world around them spun.
Another explosion, this one much louder, and the screaming of their commanding officer from the hallway.
“MOVE IT DAMMIT, MOVE IT! GET TO THE DECK NOW!”
Bright, red lights flared up on the walls, spinning in haste.
Alarms all around began to sound, as ponies frantically rushed to their hooves and out the door. Autumn jolted out of her bunk bed as the boat was rocked once more by torpedoes, and the alarm ringing continued in her ears.
She hastily tightened her uniform and ran out of the barracks into the hallway. Into complete, utter chaos.
Two ponies had crowbars in their hands, jamming against a sealed door. She heard what came from the other side.
“I-I CANT BREATHE IN THIS THING!”
She ran down the hallway of the ship, as the intercom screamed with as much panic as everypony else around her.
Some lay on the floor, bleeding from their heads. Some with fire extinguishers rushing to parts of the ship unknown. Some being dragged, unmoving.
GET UP TO THE DECK, AT YOUR BATTLESTATIONS, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!
The intercom mixed in with the remnants of the traditional music of Hearth’s warming eve, as sounds of electric sparks and fire raged. It was getting hotter by the minute.
Black smoke began to settle in the hallways, as Autumn tried to help whoever couldn't help themselves. She was almost run over by a pony pulling open the hatch to her left.
“It’s only dust!” He yelled. “Follow me Marine, we need to get topside right now!”
The music continued in the surroundings, alarms entering and passing her mind as they ran up one of the many stairwells, before finding it blocked by debris. They quickly turned into the upper floor, where the bombs had made their mark.
A blue pony, one Autumn thought she recognized, was down to her knees with her hooves covered in blood, her uniform drenched with seawater. “They’re all over the place!” She screamed. “They’re all over the place!”
Fire raged everywhere, pieces of molten steel dripping down onto the floor.
She heard a new voice.
“Ah dammit, the Hatch!”
Another Pony rushed over to close one of the ship's doors on an entire wall of burning flames, pushed back by the heat. Autumn quickly rushed over, pushing it closed.
“I can hold it here, Get topside!” The Pony said, coughing through the smoke. “Give ‘em steel!”
She turned and ran down along the side of the ship with an entire column of sailors rushing past and with her, clueless as to where to go.
“Over here!” A voice called out. “I found the exit!”
Autumn began to run with the other ponies, who hastily brought out an assortment of firearms and weapons as they ran.
A distant sound was heard, increasing louder and louder. Then, an explosion.
Autumn was sent to the floor, almost slammed into the jagged metal of the wall. Looking up, flames encompassed a few sailors, who were trying to be helped by the remaining few that survived the bombing.
Turning left, ignoring the ringing in her ears caused by the explosion or the alarms, she caught sight of a large gash in the side of the ship.
And complete and utter war past it.
The entire fleet, stationed in Vanhoover harbor, was under attack. Planes circled in the skies, as yellow streaks of gunfire speared the night sky.
They were under attack.
Autumn rushed to what remained of the wall, ripping a fire extinguisher off the side and dousing the ponies on fire. Bruised, burned, but alive.
She ran into the kitchen, where the ship’s cook battled raging flames with a bucket of water. The cook turned, before yelling. “Gimme that thing!”
Autumn turned back, before racing to the stairwell, where she could see the light of battle. Her hooves stomping up the steps, she quickly entered sight of the hatch.
A pony, no older than her, lay bloodied near the entrance. Still, unmoving as the rifle in their hand. The gunfire almost deafened her, as she slogged her way onto the steps into the fresh air of Gunpowder.
Immediately, she saw the flaming inferno around her.
The deck was smitten with wounded and shaken ponies, firing into the air. An airplane, turning too late and riddled with holes, crashed into the lifeboats in a deafening explosion.
Staggering, Autumn could hardly keep her balance. All around her, ships of the Equestrian fleet were firing into the sky, as Changeling aircraft brought wrath upon them.
The crashing of waves up upon the deck rocked the boat immensely. It was near impossible to stand.
A ringing in her ears subsided, and Autumn ran forward to the pony from before. He wore nothing but a white t-shirt and jeans, and two guns in his arms.
He shoved a rifle into Autumn’s hooves, initially screaming something she couldn't understand.
Through all the explosions and crashing waves around her, she yelled out. “WHAT?!”
His voice became clear, “Marine, snap out of it!”
He shoved the rifle once more into her hooves, nearly pushing her to the ground to force her awake. “Snap out of it!”
They both turned, firing into the air. Gunfire from planes lit up the night, as clouds of thick black smoke were torched yellow and illuminated by the fires that burned around. Torpedoes shot across the waters toward the ships, dropped from the skies.
Autumn was in Tartarus.
She quickly slung her rifle, running down the deck to the side and tossing the dead body of a sailor just like her onto the floor, removing it from a machine gun on the side. The sound of a plane above diving had her hasten her approach.
Magazine in, slide back, gun up. Any slower and she would be dead. She held down the trigger of the gun, firing endlessly into the night sky, as immense pillars of water shot up and covered the deck from torpedoes slamming into the boat.
Her bullets traced through the night, along with the others, and caught a changeling plane, sending it crashing down into the black water.
She turned to the side, before seeing four planes above the Canterlot. With bombs falling.
“OVER THE SIDE, NOW!” Someone screamed.
Autumn jumped over the railing of the ship, as the planes diverged across the skies, and a terrible force pushed her into the dark water.
Autumn sank deep into the cold, dark water. The freezing temperature sank into her body, with the little air she had left turning cold.
Her eyes shook under the water, the surroundings almost dark, endless chasm. Below her lay what seemed to be the bottomless ocean to swallow her whole.
Whether she swam up or sank below, it felt like the odds of survival were the same.
As her eyes strained against the seawater, she could see blurs moving around. Ponies. Frantically swimming to the top, desperate for air.
She could hear rumbling through the water, the chaos above muffled. She heard the torpedoes whizzing through, explosions at deafening levels. Calls for help.
Bullets strafed into the water, some into the blurs which froze still in response. If Autumn stayed, she was going to die here.
Kicking with all her might, she swam up and up to the surface. All focused on her home, and if she just got through this one, terrible day, she could go there, and hopefully forget whatever was happening.
When she surfaced, the thought of forgetting wasn't possible.
It didn't even seem like night anymore. Clouds of black smoke replaced the skies, tinted orange with fire. She saw nothing but endless, unstopping planes across the sky, everywhere she looked.
One plane was heading her way.
Autumn immediately dove right down into the water, shutting her eyes for the inevitable. She couldn't die here. She didn't want to die here, or anywhere else. She just wanted to go home.
She waited and waited for the bullets to pierce the water, and as the engine of the plane could be heard…
It was cut off by thunder.
It shook her heartbeat, vibrating the water around her, as the plane became a blur of yellow flames and crashed into the water.
She was suddenly yanked by her uniform up out of the water, heaving for the air she desperately needed.
It was the pony from before, pulling her by her soaked uniform onto the small PT boat. Almost 20 ponies, most injured, were being held here.
One young sailor pointed to the sky. “Gunny, planes inbound!”
The white t-shirt pony looked at the sky, then down to Autumn. He pointed to the front of the boat, where two barrels stuck out from a gun.
“Get in that turret, Marine!” He said. “Get back in the fight!”
Autumn sprang to her feet, as the sounds of the plane’s engines rumbled into view. Cries from injured ponies around her spoke of death and despair. Autumn kept running.
She nearly slammed into the gun, spinning it around as the two planes leveled with the horizon, lined up to riddle the boat with holes.
Autumn shot first.
The gun nearly exploded with percussion, the air around shaken by the sheer force of the gun. It sent yellow beams of lead into the night, with bullets the size of her arm. The planes were eviscerated, sent crashing into the water below.
Of the fires that ranged around, it felt like the fire of those two planes were the brightest.
The ponies on the boat, many bandaged and laying down, bracing for the attack, peeked over the side, and then to Autumn.
With the skies of the night clouded by thick, black smoke tinged with red fire raging on the ships of Equestria, there stood Autumn. Boats filled with survivors of the ships were all around, looking to the boat that shot back.
Autumn held onto the gun, the barrels smoking. In a harbor of despair, she saw the small tinge of hope she created.
Planes circled all around, towards where the front of the boat pointed. The few remaining guns on the ships fired all around. It looked hopeless.
Autumn turned the gun forward. She had a job to do.
The most able ponies began to stand up, walking around the PT boat to fill the roles left empty by those severely wounded. A Bat pony, whose hoof lay in a sling, stood at the radio, and more began to pick up rifles.
Gunny walked to the helm, “Is that radio up, Sky?”
The pony nodded. “Radios are good, engines are good.”
He nodded, “Alright, then see what this old gal can do.” He said, pointing around to ships filled with survivors. “We gotta protect whoever's left!”
Bullets began to pierce the water from the left, splashing near one of the remaining destroyers. Autumn retaliated.
The boat lurched forward, as the planes began to turn their sights on the turret. Bullets went back and forth, with the cannons of the planes missing the boat by a hair.
The planes flew overhead, with Autumn spinning the turret around to fire and chase them away. The wing of when was shattered, spinning out into obscurity.
As the boat began to pick up speed forward, a destroyer ahead was rocked with a torpedo that shot water a hundred meters into the sky, as it keeled on its side.
Another detonated near the PT boat.
Autumn was thrown off the gun momentarily, as it halted to a stop. Smoke began to seep from the engines behind.
“Pressure in the turrets dropping!” One pony said, rushing to Autumn’s gun. She turned, looking back as a pony hastily worked to get the engines back up.
Gunny anxiously watched the sky. “Alright ponies, lets get her up and running again…”
A loud screech was heard, and the Bat Pony at the radio threw off his headset, “Ow, Damnit, the radios gone haywire!”
It was scrambled and disfigured, but speech could almost be heard.
Gunny ran over, “Hey, fix that a sec!”
Hrrzzzzzz….Dive...Hrrzzzzzzz
“Get rid of that Static!”
The Bat Pony fiddled with the radio, “I’m trying!”
Hrzzzzz....Dive Dive Dive!
The two ponies fiddled with the radio, before a screech in the sky could be heard, the sound of what had to be dozens of bombs falling at once.
The black cloud of ash and smoke obscured their vision, and the only illumination came from fires around. Following the sound had many ponies climb to the bow of the ship, only to behold…
The ERNS Rockhoof.
The bombs became visible now, speeding down from the heavens and sinking into the ship all at once. A brief moment of silence.
BOOM!
The explosions shot all along the ship, as fires sprouted, increasingly moving further and further to the bow.
Then, the second explosion sounded.
Autumn would never be able to truly describe what it felt like. In one brief moment, the entirety of the ship split in two, the bow cascading into the air would a wall of flame, as the visible shock wave came across the water and nearly capsized the PT boat.
Autumn and the rest of the ponies plugged their ears, before opening their eyes to see what was left of the Rockhoof.
One Pony on the bow was frozen.“..Oh my god...We...We lost the Rockhoof!”
Another was visibly shaken holding a rifle in fear. “This…” They looked around the entire harbor in flames. “This can't be happening!”
The PT boat sat in complete silence with the other lifeboats, as the planes turned around. Autumn could see small blurs in the water, as the rafts sailed toward the burning wreckage.
The boat gently rocked with the water disturbed from the shock waves, as deafening silence filled the harbor.
This is the Mistmane calling any ships available!
The radio spurred to life once again.
We have survivors from the Canterlot and Sorcery! The Mistmane calling any ships available, we need an escort! I say again, we need an escort!
Gunny stared at the radio, before turning to Autumn who was back on the gun.
The Engines roared to life, as he ran back to the helm. “That's us!”
Autumn immediately opened fire onto the sky once more, chasing the planes who did the Rockhoof into their watery graves.
The Radio came to life with hope.
This is the Star Swirl sallying forth!
This is the Magnus sailing ahead!
All stations this is the Pegasopolis. Armed and Ready.
The Bat Pony turned up the radio so the whole PT boat came alive with the Navy. Survivors all around were being pulled into the hundreds of liferafts around.
The planes took notice, diving down to their level. Not if Autumn had anything to say about it.
They’re coming right for us, you need to cover our departure!
Gunny yelled, firing into the air with a pistol. “Autumn, shoot those Dive bombers down, we need to help the Mistmane!”
Two columns of what remained of the Equestrian navy powered towards the Mistmane, as Autumn spun the gun around to fire at the Changeling planes behind. Now, the deafening sound of Autumn's gun nearly took the nerve endings right out of her hooves, as it sounded with a chorus of the Equestrian Navy.
The planes were so low to the sea she could nearly touch them. The two barrels of her gun, pounding back and forth burned red-hot, as the night sky turned into a fiery day.
Engines roared all around, as the PT boat sped in between the two lines of the surviving Battleships and Cruisers that could take the fires and survive. The air above became a hot exchange of lead on all sides, with Changeling planes catching fire and slamming into the sides of the ships.
It felt as if Autumn’s gun commanded all those that fired into the sky, as she became one with it. She didn't think of home anymore, she only thought of how much ammo she had left.
The powerful warships that survived sped past the life rafts and PT boats filled with survivors, sending themselves into the wings of terror to secure their escape. They rocked and nearly capsized with every bomb and torpedo, yet kept firing and taking the fight further down the harbor.
The Mistmane sped towards land surrounded with lifeboats out of harm's way. The PT Boat floated alongside the ships, firing into the air.
The planes began to turn back.
The Equestrian Navy showed no mercy, as Anti Air pierced the clouds the cowards hid in, sending fireballs of aircraft down to the water.
All Stations, this is the Pegasopolis. The Enemy is on the retreat.
This is the Mistmane. Thank you for the Escort. Over.
The PT Boat halted with the Navy, as the few remaining Changeling aircraft disappeared into the rising sun over the horizon.
“...We won?” One of the ponies asked.
The water was still now, as the relief of safety finally washed over the ponies. Many sank into the boat, covering their faces with their hooves.
Autumn stepped back from the gun, the barrel nearly melted, and her hooves tingling and unable to feel.
Gunny had a thousand yard stare.
“Sir?” She asked.
The harbor was a terrible sight. Sunken ships turned on their side, fires raging and hopeless attempts to put them out. Lifeboats were scattered and headed to the coast, as the battle could be seen from Vanhoover.
Gunny turned, holding his now empty pistol.
Autumn spoke again with shaking uncertainty, desperate for hope. “Did we win?”
Gunny looked down to his gun, then around. The deafening sounds of the battle left a terrible silence.
“You listen up, Marine.” He said, with a quiet voice. He raised his hoof to point around. “You take a good long look.”
Vanhoover harbor was filled with oil from leaking ships, and blurs in the water.
“You’re never going to see a day like this again.” He spoke.
It looked as if the sky itself was on fire.
“Nobody’s ever gonna know what it's like. Only the ones who lived through it.”
Gunny turned, looking at Autumn with sad eyes. His hoof shook with his pistol, which he had to holster.
“You just be damn sure you don't forget the ones who didn't.”