The Forgotten Enterprise

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Prologue

12 March, 1942
Java Sea, Bridge of the H.M.S. Enterprise
0900 hours

Captain Ellery Winchester paced the bridge of his beloved cruiser, he was angry, the War had been going sorely for the Allies and he thought his leaders were a lot of incompetent fools. He had been in the Battle of the Java Sea and saw the acts of valour of both the Royal Navy and the US Navy in their lopsided fight against the Japanese. He saw the brave crew of the destroyer H.M.S. Electra distract Japanese cruisers from the H.M.S. Exeter after the ship was badly damaged. The Electra fought well and saved the Exeter in the battle, but she was destroyed in the process, the Japanese even had the nerve to fire on the lifeboats! His rage boiled in him, he wanted to make the Japanese suffer.

The ageing Emerald class cruiser that he called home may have been considered an antique, and probably would’ve been scrapped by now if it weren’t for the War, but it was his home, the Enterprise was a proud ship and he was glad to be in command of her. She had her battle scares and causalities from the encounters with the Japanese, but they only served to strengthen the crews’ resolve to keep fighting harder, for their fallen friends and shipmates. They would never surrender to the Japanese; they would keep fighting with every last ounce of their being. While currently alone, the Enterprise and her crew were on a hunt, they did not care what they found, whether it was a tanker or a humble fishing boat, they wanted revenge.

Their last encounter with a Japanese heavy cruiser left the ship’s crew mourning the loss of the Navigation Officer Sub-Lieutenant Jack Coyt. Jack had the whole crew under a bond so strong they all thought of him as a brother, and when he took an 8” shell to the chest many of the crew lost a part of their soul. The Enterprise had barely managed to escape the massive Tone class heavy cruiser; the Japanese ship was larger, faster, and deadlier. They only managed to get away when an American Clemson class destroyer had answered their SOS and shoved a volley of torpedoes into the side of the massive ship. The destroyer was badly damaged by the vengeful cruiser and retired from the fight limping along, the Enterprise covering the vessel from Japanese reinforcements, which, to everyone’s surprise, never came.

They made port at Ceylon shortly after the fight with the Japanese, the ABDA (American-British-Dutch-Australian) forces were in ruins after the Battle of the Java Sea, Enterprise had no destroyer escort at all when she reached port, the American destroyer heading to Perth shortly after repairs were made to her hull and propulsion systems. Jack Coyt wasn’t the only death, the cruiser had taken a beating from the Japanese and had 56 dead with another 73 wounded, at Ceylon repairs were made, the crew was filled out with new hands to replace the fallen and the wounded too badly mangled to continue to serve. With her bunkers filled with fuel oil and the magazine loaded the Enterprise was sent to do patrols around the islands of Java, this was where the crew would take their revenge for their friend and fellow sailor, where they would slaughter a Japanese crew.

“Surface contact! Bearing three-five-two!” shouted the lookout, a young man named Ellis Patterson as he stood in the crows’ nest, binoculars glued to his face.

Winchester had his own binoculars up to his eyes now; sure enough there was the distant shape of a ship, little more than a blur even with the binoculars. He knew the lookout had a better vantage point and could see the vessel better, but according to his information there shouldn’t be a friendly vessel at this part of the Java Sea.

“Sound the general alarm.” He stated calmly while he thought to himself, ‘This may be the chance to give those bloody murders hell’. He hoped it wasn’t something they couldn’t handle, like a heavy cruiser, or worse. While he wanted the Japanese to pay, he wasn’t going to get his crew killed in a lost cause; he still has his duty to them as the Captain. He had the helmsman bring the ship on an intercept course and ordered ahead Flank to be rung up on the brass telegraph. The old cruiser lurched forward as the turbines wound up and the screws bit deep, piling on speed towards a possible enemy.

After a few minutes of steaming straight at the vessel it became clear as to what they were facing: a lone Japanese destroyer. A predatory smile spread across Captain Winchester; this was his chance for revenge, there was no way he would let that ship escape. As the Enterprise sped towards her prey details of the ship started to emerge, she was a Minekaze class, old and dated, she was the perfect target. The destroyer had obviously spotted the fast approaching cruiser because she had practically turned around and was steaming full speed, but by the time the Japanese ship spotted the fast approaching cruiser she was already in range of the Enterprise's 6 inch main battery at 21,500 yards. Her guns roared to life at 18,500 yards, close enough to be more accurate while far enough to remain out of the Japanese destroyer's 4.7 inch battery's range. 6 inch High Explosive rounds tore through the skies with a shrill shriek, the first salvo fell short, the High Explosive rounds detonating in the water creating massive pillars of spume. The gunnery officer adjusted the gun directors and another salvo rang out, finding its mark with an explosion strong enough to feel on the Enterprise. The High Explosive rounds had struck the magazine and the ship's bow rose from the sea as the force of the blast lifted it upwards, the bow came crashing back down, the Japanese destroyer's speed bleeding off rapidly. The crew watched as the ship became engulfed in flames from leaking fuel oil, the flames climbing and reaching the bridge.

The Enterprise’s crew cheered with joy, it was easy and they had not taken a single causality, they watched as the enemy vessel got closer, they were going to take prisoners and if anyone asked about the bruises, it was from them hitting their heads against the hull when the rounds impacted. What they found when they got to the burning wreck wasn’t what they had expected or hoped for, and it would affect them for the rest of their lives…

Author's Note

The prologue is kind of meh, I wanted to make it vague to make it seem like a memory that the crew is trying to bury. I think I went with too little description though, oh well the actual chapters will be a lot more descriptive and feature more dialogue.

Thanks to flyingfox for his criticism that lead to the minor changes, remember it is criticism that improves a story. (And being my first attempt at anything even like a story I may need it.)

Chapter 1

13 April, 1003 Celestia's Reign
Manehatten Port, Equestria.
7:00am

The day was clear and warm, the sounds of ponies attending their business and hooves clopping on the cobblestone roadways of the large city filled Octavia's ears as she took in the sites. Tall buildings extending for miles, the gas road lamps creating small glows in areas where the sun hadn't yet reached over the tall skyscrapers, stage coaches and wagons lining the streets. Octavia walked down a bustling road, carrying her cello and other necessities for her trip to Trottingham. She was going to meet her family for her mother's birthday like she did every year, she was happy, it was calm in Trottingham and she wouldn't have any performances to practice for. She watched ponies dart to and fro, from their homes to shops or workplaces even in this large city, things were relatively calm. Well as calm as a city of 900,000 ponies can be, she had to duck left and right a few times to avoid hitting another pony or some object as she made her way to the P.S. Equestria.

Octavia looked at the ship she would be taking the two week journey on; it was one of the largest ships built by the Equestrian Limited Shipbuilding Co. The P.S. Equestria was 420 hooves long; she boasted 40 hoof diameter paddle wheels driven by two Correster & Co 564 pony power side lever steam engines.

The wooden-hulled paddle steamer also had a brig sail plan, like conventional brig sail plans, the ship had two square rigged masts located aft and forward of amidships. The mainmast is located behind the foremast; both the fore and main masts have three sails; the mainsail at the bottom, topsail above and topgallant even further above. The brig sail plan also has fore-and-aft sails, the aft sail is gaff rigged onto the mainmast, the foresails are jibs connected to the foremast from the bowsprit with yards, and all the yards are controlled by a complicated arrangement of cordage named the running rigging. The running rigging allows the yards and thus the sails to be adjusted for better efficiency depending on the wind, where standing rigging is fixed, and keeps mast and other objects rigid.

The funnel was located just aft of the half-moon paddle boxes with wisps of black coal smoke curling out into the wind. The hull was painted a glossy black, polished to the point of being able to see your reflection in the wood, with a thin white bar down the centre, the top of the paddle boxes were white, along with the top of the hull that extends above the deck to act as a railing of sorts. The paddle wheels where a dark royal blue that would match the night sea perfectly, only being visible by the froth that they kicked up propelling the vessel at 10 knots.

Octavia was looking at the ship when she heard someone calling her name; she turned to find Vinyl Scratch trying to push her way over to Octavia. The smile that the beautiful ship had brought faded quickly when Vinyl finally made her way over.

"Heya Tavi!" Vinyl yelled with a large exuberant grin. The grin made Octavia suspicious, 'She's up to something, I know it.' she thought to herself before blurting out the first thing to come to her lips.

"I've told you not to call me that Miss Scratch, my name is Octavia. Now what is it you could possibly want, I must be going." She said with a less than enthusiastic tone. It's not that she hated the rambunctious DJ, but she disagreed with her more often than naught, and she really didn't like that name.

"Yeah whatever Tavi, I was just wondering since you're going to Trottingham and all if you'd mind giving one of my friends this." She pulled out a record in its case and gave it to Octavia, who looked at it doubtfully.

"More of your 'wub' music Vinyl?" Octavia dead panned. She'd much rather hear the screech of train brakes for an hour than listen to Vinyl's so called "music".

"You betcha." Vinyl replied, oblivious to the annoyance of the other mare. Octavia sighed before replying, she wanted to end this conversation quickly and get going.

"And who is your friend and where may he or she live?" Her voice was monotonous.

"Huh? Oh yeah, yeah, right, his name is Golden Leaf, he'll meet you at port." She said distractedly, something had caught her attention but Octavia didn't care what it was. Nor did she care to ask about Vinyl's friend, only the things she needed to.

"And what would this Mr. Leaf happen to look like?" She noticed most of the other ponies were gone, already aboard the ship; she needed to be going, now.

"Oh you can't miss him; he's got a neon mane and wears a lot of large necklaces." Vinyl was definitely looking at something and Octavia risked a glance...it was a food cart serving hay fries, she mentally face hoofed.

"Now if there is nothing else I must be going, good day Miss Scratch."

"Cya Tavi!" And with that Vinyl went to the food cart while Octavia went up the gangway and boarded the Equestria, throwing Vinyl's record into her saddle bags where she would hopefully never see it again until she gave it to this Mr. Leaf.

The crew of the Equestria wore white Dixie cup caps and a white uniform that covered their torso, their rank insignias were simple: around the sleeve cuff were red stripes; the more stripes the higher the rank of the sailor. The Captain's rank was the only one that differed from this system; it was a blue anchor. The ranking system for Officers starts with midshippony with a single stripe, Sub-Lieutenant with two stripes and so on, Lieutenants with three, Lieutenant Commanders with four, and Commanders with five.

When Octavia reached the deck she completely forgot about her little brush with Vinyl, she saw all sorts of high class ponies from Canterlot visiting Trottingham for any number of reasons, she saw the crew checking the ship and its rigging, preparing for their departure, and checking ponies for their boarding passes. Octavia walked to over to have her pass checked over by a young midshippony. The stallion escorted her to her quarters in first class and then told Octavia she was cute, causing her to blush slightly before she kindly turned him down and complementing him afterwards to make him feel better by saying that she's sure he'll meet the right mare in time. With that the sailor left back to escort more ponies to their quarters, and possibly flirt some more with the mares.

Octavia looked around her room; there was luxury everywhere her eyes checked, the bed was large and soft, with only the highest quality silk sheets and over fluffed pillows, a carafe with expensive wine and glasses sat on a polished silver tray on the right side nightstand, the carafe and wine glasses both had wide bottoms to resist falling over with the slight chop of the sea. The walls were of the finest Teak again smoothened and polished to perfection, the bathroom had fine granite floors and sinks with gold fittings, the handles capped with a ruby for hot water and a tanzanite gemstone for cold. The bath was equally gold and gem happy, with the white granite being topped off with a ring of gold filled with oval emeralds, again with the hot and cold valves having their respective ruby and tanzanite caps.

Octavia only barely managed to keep her jaw from hitting the floor, she had never seen such luxury on a ship before, the Equestria was still very new, this would only be her second voyage; the first voyage received great reviews from all the ponies to take the ship, now she knew why. She went over to one of the chifforobes and unpacked her things; she paid her cello extra care making sure it would not fall over even in the roughest of storms. She left the record in her saddle bags, which she hung on one of the chifforobes hooks.

She looked at the bell clock on the wall, it said 7:26, the ship was set to leave at 7:30 so Octavia decided to go to the dining area and get tea and a nice breakfast. On her way she looked at the paintings of pony Captains on the walls, the light from magically powered lamps keeping the windowless corridor brightly lit. She opened the double doors into the dining area, and she was again met with the upmost luxury; ponies sat at tables with crisp white tablecloths and waiters with fancy tuxedos and bow ties. She was brought to a table and given a menu giving it a quick browse, although by now she had expected only the best and wasn't filled with surprise at the expensive dishes. She ordered her tea and a daffodil salad; the waiter left and took her menu, she looked around to see if there was anypony she knew. Before she got the chance to really look there was loud activity coming from the deck above her, she could hear shouted commands and the whistle blow, and the mooring lines being taken back aboard and rolled up; the ship was being cast off. After the ship drifted away from the pier the paddle wheels started thrashing at the sea and the Equestria was underway.

Octavia watched Manehatten out of the porthole by her table get smaller and smaller as the ship steamed away. She quickly went back to looking for anypony she knew though, and she smiled when she saw Roseluck. Sure Octavia wasn't the best of friends with Rose but they were good friends, the times Octavia would go to Ponyville they would talk and take in the peacefulness of the town before she would have to go back to Canterlot. Now Rose was sitting a half dozen tables away enjoying her breakfast, Octavia made a mental note to speak with her after breakfast to catch up on all the adventures the Elements had from the last time Octavia had been down in Ponyville. She was also going to ask Rose why she was here, as long as Octavia could remember Rose always stayed in Ponyville, the few times she would leave were for large events and that meant normally only going as far as Canterlot. Now she was taking a two week trip across sea, Octavia was quite curios about what her friend had planned, but her food arrived before she had time to speculate.

"Your daffodil salad and tea ma'am." The waiter spoke with an experienced and refined voice.

"Thank you sir." Octavia replied with a polite smile as she took a sip from her tea. She savoured the flavour, it was the best tea she ever had, and she had the feeling that the salad would be equally good before she even picked up a fork. When she did she was still surprised, it tasted better than good, better than great, 'The Sunard Line must've hired the best cook in all of Equestria!' she thought as the flavour of the salad and the dressing coating it flooded her sense of taste. She took her time enjoying her meal before finishing, taking a napkin to her muzzle to wipe off any of the dressing that might've gotten on her fur before getting up and walking out the doors. Roseluck had left a couple minutes before her and she figured her friend would be on the deck, taking in the fresh sea air.

Octavia made her way to the deck climbing through the companionway and taking in the sea air. It was cool and refreshing, with a gentle breeze which the Equestria's sails were making full use of, as the ship was now free-wheeling, or the ship has shut down its engine and disconnected it from the paddle wheels, allowing them to turn freely and reduce drag when not in use. Like she thought, Octavia spotted Roseluck at the side of the ship looking out at the city they left 23 minutes ago, the Equestria was making around 9 knots and the city was still clearly visible, but shrinking quickly. Octavia joined Rose at the rail, Rose didn't notice however and when Octavia spoke up she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Hello Rose, how's it been going for you, anything interesting happen from last time we spoke?" Octavia asked as she suppressed a chuckle.

"Octavia don't sneak up on me like that! Of all ponies you should know better, and no surprisingly nothing quite interesting happened at Ponyville since the last time we spoke a couple weeks ago. How's life been going for you at the Royal Canterlot Symphony?" Rose replied calming down from the startle her friend gave her.

"Okay, next time I'll make sure to stomp my hooves loudly on the deck for you." She said with a small smile. "Also it's been going great, not to brag but I'm the best cellist in Canterlot and I get hired for many performances not just part of the Royal Symphony, I enjoy playing with smaller, private crowds; less pressure and a much more enjoyable experience. You should come sometime, I'll pay for your entry I'm sure you'll love it, classical music is very calming." Octavia was thinking back to her performances of the last couple weeks and the fun she had, in private performances with only a couple dozen ponies the musicians are actually paid attention to rather than just there to provide background music for the main event.

"Oh Octavia I couldn't possibly let you pay for me, you're much too kind, I'm sure I can get the bits to spare another way." Rose replied with her own smile as she pictured Octavia romping around making sure she could hear her next time.

"I insist my dear, it's not a bother for me in any way; I make more than enough bits to spare on my friend. You simply must come I know you'll enjoy it, besides it's my gift to you, who denies a gift?" Octavia put on the best persuading smile she could to overcome her friend's modesty.

Rose tried to ignore the face of her friend but she couldn't. "Oh all right, but I'll have to do something to make it up to you afterwards." Octavia smiled and Rose learned it was infectious when she started smiling too.

As the two mares caught up on events that happened from last time they spoke the Equestria continued sailing unto the open sea, continued sailing towards the storm.

Author's Note

2 hooves = 1 foot, so anything in Equestrian Standard (As I'm herby calling it) is half the size of our Imperial system of measurement.

I am most definitely not a sail fan, lots and lots of diffented parts and each and every one of them has a complicated name and function. I bet I made some mistakes with the sail plan, so if their are any sailors out there who want to correct me, please do so.

I really don't know what I was thinking with "midshippony" but I don't think I could've used midshipman either. :P

I will test your mental power by trying to find the referances of human companies and such I put in. (I'll give you a huge hint, the Correster & Co engine company has only a one letter difference from the real life steam engine company of the 19th century.)

Ships bell clock:

Chapter 2

17 April, 1003 Celestia’s Reign
North Equestrian Sea, P.S. Equestria
1:30pm

Four days into the voyage, it's been clear skies and smooth sailing for the crew of the Equestria and Captain Calm Seas was enjoying his new vessel quite a bit. Captain Seas was an experienced Captain and the Equestria wasn't his first command, but it was his finest. Seas was 8 hooves tall, he had a light brown coat and a blonde mane, his cutie mark was a ship's wheel and compass, he was young for a Captain at age 27 but he spent his whole life sailing and joined the Sunard Lines at 13 as a midshippony, slowly working his way through the ranks. Seas was a good Captain, always vigilant, and never taking risks that could endanger his ship, crew or passengers. Today was no different; he stood on the bridge, located amidships between the paddle boxes, watching for any possible dangers but so far today was a peaceful, sunny day. The Equestria was making 12 knots with the stiff tailwind pushing the vessel along, the ship currently had 240 hands in total, 90 crew and 150 passengers, most of which were on deck enjoying the mild Spring day.

The trip had been going great for Seas, although he had to talk to a certain midshippony Sea Breeze for complaints by some mares that he was flirting with them. Seas had to smile at the young stallion's schemes, he would always manage to get into trouble somehow, flirting was one of the lesser evil's Breeze was known for; his most common being fights whenever they made port and he was unsupervised with alcohol consumption. Seas let the Boatswain deal with young Breeze, being that the Boatswain was far more intimidating than he was; and being that Breeze was part of the deck crew, under the Boatswain's command. The Boatswain was a stallion named Able Strong in his late forties, he was the oldest and most experienced crew member on the ship, the stallion was burly, and stood 9.5 hooves high, his brown mane showing the slight streaks of grey from age. Not that he showed any signs of slowing down, the stallion was a powerhouse, he could best anypony on the ship in hoof to hoof fighting and did wonders with a spear, he was also sharp and a natural leader; most of the crew looked up to him for support and guidance. His cutie mark was an anchor.

"Requesting permission to enter the bridge Captain." The voice came from the Chief Engineer Lieutenant Strong Iron. The Lieutenant's grey coat was matted with oil and grease in areas and his face was nearly black, his green eyes stuck out from behind the equally oil matted dark brown mane with a shocking sharpness. The pony knew more about the workings of a steam plant than anypony else Seas knew, he could make a working engine out of a few pie tins and bobby pins if he had enough time. The current look he had on didn't spike confidence in the Captain however.

"Permission granted, what seems to be bothering you Iron?" Seas asked the Lieutenant with a barely noticeable touch of concern for his ship's inner workings.

"One of the piston rings on the number two engine had a defect and the ring failed before we shut down the engines and I came to inform you that if you need engine power that you'll only have the one until we can replace the ring. It should be no longer than a few hours, and what's the worst that can happen in that time span?" The Chief Engineer stated with a confident smile knowing he had some of the best engineers the Sunard Line had to offer: this was the Line's flagship after all. Replacing a piston ring wasn't complicated, but it meant taking the cylinder apart, and when the cylinders are large enough to walk two ponies side by side, it's a pretty big undertaking.

"I trust you and the other engineers can get it done in a timely fashion, anything else you care to share while you're here?" Seas questioned making sure there was nothing else that could hinder his vessel's abilities, having only one engine didn't make him feel as comfortable as he'd liked, but as long as the sea was calm and the skies stayed clear he shouldn't need the extra power.

"No sir, everything else is working fine; the ship is the finest I've served on and I'm sure she can handle anything we may encounter on the North Sea, large storms aren't a given for this area, as you well know." Lieutenant Iron stated, with more than a hint of cockiness. Seas was believing that being on one of the most advanced ships in service was going to the Lieutenant's head, but he did have a point: the ship was sturdy and the North Equestrian Sea tended to remain calm most of the year.

"Well Lieutenant I'd have to agree with you; the Equestria is a fine ship indeed. As to handling anything, that depends on how imaginative you can get with the word 'anything'." He smiled knowing that the Lieutenant was going to mull over that statement for a good hour or so trying to think of every possible situation they could encounter.

"I'd better be going, they may need me in engineering, and it certainly couldn't hurt to make sure they don't break anything taking the cylinder apart on number two." Iron said with a thoughtful expression, pondering the problems the ship might be trapped in with only a single engine, and how far the crew has gotten in terms of removing the connecting rods from the piston rods on the number two engine. 'Maybe they already have the cylinder head off...' he thought to himself as he started to head back down to the engine room.

Captain Seas went back to watching for any possible threat to his vessel and enjoying the mild day. The wind cooling the fur around his face, it was a very pleasant day. He took a closer look at his crew and passengers on the deck; the crew was mostly making minor trim adjustments to the sails to make sure they caught as much wind as possible, and the passengers either talked amongst themselves or would crowd around one of the more well-known Canterlot ponies. He noticed the same two mares he saw on deck when they left port; the grey mare was on the left and the cream coloured mare to her right, they were both on the forecastle talking animatedly to each other and having an overall good time. 'I could go for a nice wine and salad about now...' he thought, but he couldn't overdo it with the wine; he had to remain professional. His expression remained stoic while he focused on his duty and after another half hour he retired to his quarters going to take a quick rest and fill out a log entry for the afternoon.

Octavia and Rose were both on the forecastle watching the prow cut through the smooth seas speaking about Twilight becoming an alicorn Princess. Octavia was keen in observing the occasional dolphin pace the ship and break the surface in a long arc-like movement blowing water from their spouts. They'd been on the forecastle for about an hour now; the sounds of the waves against the hull and the dolphin's clicking were soothing and the day was as peaceful as ever. The Equestria's bulwark was painted a clean white and the gunwale was a crisp golden yellow to complement the black hull paint.

Some days Octavia and a few other musicians on board would get together on the deck and play a few songs to the enjoyment of the crew and passengers; the bits they'd get didn't hurt the practice either. She saw that midshippony again; he was watching her play and gave her a generous amount of bits after she finished before complimenting her performance and talent. She returned the compliment with a soft smile before packing up her cello and returning it to its chifforobe, after every performance she'd have a small glass of wine as her own little "job well done" gift to herself. Rose would come down often after she played to tell her how much she enjoyed her playing and her company on this long trip. Even with Octavia's gentle probing she never got Rose to tell her why exactly she was taking this trip in the first place, it was always "It's just something I needed to do." and then she'd change the subject. Octavia wasn't going to press her friend too much, but she really did want to know what it could be that warranted the secrecy.

Octavia had noticed that it was growing darker rapidly, looking up her eyes widened with surprise; a truly massive storm cloud was forming overhead seemingly out of nowhere. She nudged Rose to get her to look up as well, Rose stood with her mouth slightly agape; this was not a normal storm. The cloud covered the entire horizon and it was growing darker by the second; then the rain came, a little at first but in less than a minute it was a downpour. As the wind picked up so did the waves and the ship started to roll and pitch with the sea.

"Octavia we need to get below decks now!" Rose shouted over the ever increasing wind to her friend, but Octavia was frozen in shock at the unnatural storm radiating an aurora of danger. Thinking quickly she grabbed her friend's tail in her mouth and dragged her full gallop to the companionway, about a third the way there Octavia finally snapped to and started her own mad dash to safety. The two burst through the companionway at full stride and nearly ploughed over a seapony on his way to secure the deck and furl the sails before the turbulent winds damaged them and their masts.

The two mares were dripping water as they went to Octavia's quarters, being the closest, and stared out the porthole, fear starting to creep into their minds. The storm was massive, the waves were at least 30 hooves high and it was getting worse, the clouds seemed to have no end as the whole sky was a dark grey blob being lit by the occasional lightning bolt. The ship started to roll violently and they had to clutch anything secured to the floor to keep from being thrown around the cabin, the sound the hull was making wasn't the most reassuring sound in the world as the wood creaked and groaned its protest to the sudden stress.

"Octavia I-I'm scared." Rose sputtered, fear taking control over her.

"I am too Rose...I am too." Octavia was trying to keep calm but even she couldn't keep the fear from her voice and facial features. The storm was bad, really bad, they thought they were going to die; that there was no way the ship could survive. Then they heard the loud crack of something large and made of wood breaking, shortly after there was a groan and thud followed by shouted commands and panicked screams...

3:28pm

"Full steam ahead! If we lose the engines we lose the ship! We need ponies clearing the debris of the mainmast before it capsizes the ship!" Captain Seas was shouting to his frightened crew desperately trying to save the Equestria. The mainmast had snapped from the combination of roll and wind, if he couldn't get the crew to cut it free and roll it over the side of the side it could mean the end of everypony's life he was in charge of. He would not let that happen, not as long as he was in command of this vessel. The sound of axes and stallions working the fouled rigging trying to cut the debris lose and get the ship to ride properly met his ears, the once beautiful paddle steamer resembled a disaster zone, yards, lanyards, blocks and other debris that once held a purpose scattered throughout the entirety of the deck. The bulwarks were splintered from where the mainmast crashed upon them and lanyards were ripped from the wood. The ship had a very noticeable list to port as the weight of the mainmast threatened to capsize the vessel and the uneven thrust this caused the paddle wheels made keeping steerageway very difficult. Captain Seas replaced the helmspony knowing that his experience was needed at the wheel to keep the bow straight unto the waves; if the ship were to lose its bow on approach and heave to the side the waves would capsize the vessel quickly. He had no choice but to continue in a straight line and hope for the best. 'Celestia save us.' he thought as the storm took its toll on the Equestria.

The ship still only had the use of one engine and if Seas couldn't break through the storm soon the ship and all hands will be lost; the storm wouldn't allow the lifeboats to be deployed. But just as the ship started to lose speed and steerageway something happened; a bright greenish glow erupted directly in front of the vessel, the glow spread outward and engulfed the Equestria. Captain Seas shielded his eyes against the light, but it dissipated as fast as it appeared and when he opened his eyes he was still in the storm; like nothing happened. Then the storm started to clear, rapidly; the rain stopped, the winds slowed and the sea started to calm down, soon it was quiet; the only sound the paddles thrashing against the suddenly sedate sea. The crew had stopped what they were doing to stare in utter awe at the light and the sudden clear skies, but the ship was still listing from the weight of the fallen mast. They were safe...at least they thought they were.

Author's Note

Oh god, I never want to name another OC pony in my life, it's a lot harder than you may think. Humans are much easier.
I think I need to take the walk of shame for the Equestria's Chief Engineer's awful name.

There may or may not have been some minor Murphy provoking by said engineer...

Also before anyone decides to yell out shipping comments, notice the lack of a romance tag. You're thinking of the wrong ships for this story mates.

If you're wondering why the pony crew have military ranks even though it's a commerical vessel, well it's simple: Equestria doesn't have an active Navy and in the event of war the commerical vessels and their crews become said Navy.

Next chapter is where it'll get interesting and there may be some Vera Lynn. (If you know who that is you get an internet cookie.)

Chapter 3

17 April, 1003 Celestia’s Reign
Location: Unknown, P.S. Equestria
3:52pm

"Get back to chopping free the mast! We still run the risk of capsizing until it's free and clear of the vessel, that's an order!" Seas shouted, snapping the crew from their daze as they went back to work; but in a much better mood: they were safe. The sound of axes and mauls and lines being parted resonated throughout the ship as the debris was cleared. By 4:12 the sound of rigging snapping like musket fire filled the air as the mainmast fell over the side of the ship through the cheers of the crew; as soon as the weight was lifted the Equestria righted herself and the Captain managed to breathe a sigh of relief: his ship was safe. He noticed midshippony Sea Breeze walk up towards the bridge carrying a clipboard.

Breeze entered the bridge and saluted the Captain, who nodded towards the clipboard giving the young officer permission to speak. "Damage report Captain." Breeze said with a grimace, Captain Seas looked beyond him to the debris field that was once a fine ship; he grimaced too.

"Well let's get on with it, what's the damage midshippony?" Seas wasn't looking foward to what the clipboard would have written on it.

Breeze took in a breath and started to list off the damage: "The mainmast is a complete loss, as you well know, the foremast is mostly intact but the lanyards are too tangled to deploy the sails, engine two is still down, although the repairs were mostly complete before we entered the storm and it should be up and running within the hour. Engineering also reports minor leaks but the pumps can easily keep up with it, they're being sealed as we speak, four of the ten lifeboats were destroyed and another two damaged, the carpenter is looking at them now and says they can be salvaged with the remains of the destroyed boats." The Captain was contemplating the information heavily as the officer kept listing off the damages. "Hmmm also the chief steward reports over 70% of china and glassware were destroyed." Breeze smiled at the steward's priorities, followed by the Captain as he shook his head. It looked like they'll be able to continue on and make Trottingham only about a week late, but he had one thing still on his mind.

"Casualties?" he said with a slight grimace at the possibility of losing some ponies.

"No confirmed deaths, although two seaponies are missing and presumed washed overboard, other than that nothing beyond a few broken bones, cuts and bruises. Everypony is expected to live according to Doctor Lightheart." Breeze was shaken up about the thought of the two stallions who probably met their fate in the cruel sea and how close he came to joining them.

Captain Seas was also a bit unnerved that he may have lost two brave stallions but was relieved that the casualties didn't extend further. "I want one of the undamaged boats in the water and sear-" he was interrupted by one of the lookouts.

"Possible ship spotted bearing one-five-seven relative!" The lookout shouted down to the Captain from his point on the foremast. The Captain brought his telescope to the portside stern of the vessel and peered through it. What met his eyes was the strangest ship he had ever seen, it was coming towards them and in the Equestria's current state he would welcome any help these strangers may have to offer. If they intended to help, if they didn't, they would not have the Equestria without a fight.

17 April, 1942
Timor Sea, H.M.S. Enterprise
15:20

This was it; the Enterprise was finally heading out of the war with the Japanese, finally going home, even if it was to continue the war with Germany and Italy. The crew were happy, they couldn't wait to get out of the shithole the Dutch East Indies had become, almost everything was under Japanese control and the longer they stayed the higher the chance they wouldn't be leaving alive. Captain Winchester allowed the crew to play music through the intercom with the wind up gramophone Petty Officer James Stephenson had brought, currently playing was "The White Cliffs of Dover".

The Captain was outside walking the length of his ship, enjoying the sunny day and ignoring the heat, along with most of the crew. As he paced the 570 foot vessel he took in her details, such as the twin 6 inch gun turret on the bow, the turret was part of an experiment to see how effective it was, the twin mount had proven successful and added to later classes. He walked past the bridge nodding at the gunners on the quad mount Vickers AA guns.

Pausing just forward of amidships to look at the two funnels forward of the amidships deckhouse, he glanced in front of the smaller forward funnel at the tri-pod supported crows' nest and the lookout scanning the area for any potential dangers. He continued aft past the amidships gun turrets; forward the search light tower and the two single mount 3 pounder pom-pom AA guns. He went by the aft mast above the quad mount 21 inch torpedo tubes and the aft-most funnel, behind the funnel was one of the single mount 6 inch turrets and the Hawker's catapult.

He stopped; looking at the plane and going over its performance in his mind: 'Hawker Osprey IV, two seater reconnaissance aircraft; has a top speed of 168mph, stall speed of 45mph, a forward firing .303 Vickers, and a Scarff ring mounted .303 Lewis Gun, range of 374 nautical miles, service ceiling of 22,000 feet and the option of two 500 pound wing mounted bombs. Too bad the biplane would get shot down easily if it tried to attack a Japanese ship, and with the Japanese controlling the skies it can't do much reconnaissance either...' he let that thought trail off as he looked at the rarely used aircraft.

The flight crew kept the floatplane in top notch condition and it still looked new, they had enough replacement parts for it to nearly make a second plane as well, two spare engines, four spare props, a set of floats, multiples of control surfaces, and some other odds and ends, they also had enough aviation spirit to last them a few months of weekly patrols. Past the aircraft's crane and the other quad 21 inch torpedo mount was another 6 inch turret and the other two 3 pounder pom-pom AA guns on the aft deckhouse; at the stern was the final 6 inch turret below the other on the fantail.

Reaching the end of his ship Winchester gave the White Ensign a salute before walking towards the bow again, this time listening to the sounds of the Enterprise. The roar of the turbines and blowers at 20 knots was enough to keep landlubbers awake at night, while the crew whom was accustomed to the noise would be more likely to wake if there wasn't the comforting sound of their vessel's heart as she steamed through the seas. The four turbines could kick up quite a rooster tail at 33 knots, arcing high over the fantail. A distinguishing feature of the Enterprise and the Emerald class in general was that her aft boiler room was actually abaft of the forward engine room, which led to the third funnel being located quite a bit aft of the centre funnel.

The boiler rooms were pressurized to keep the eight boiler's oil fires stable, any crew who were entering or leaving the boiler rooms had to pass through an airlock or the sudden change in pressure could cause the fires to blow out. The ship was old being launched in 1919 and commissioned in 1926, but her crew kept her machinery running well and they rarely had breakdowns, but even with the constant work of the chippers and painters her steel hull had still lost about a fifth of its thickness to rust. At 32 knots the ship had a range of 1,300 nautical miles and 8,000 nautical miles at 15knots, her speed made sure the Enterprise wasn't by any means useless, she was still the fastest cruiser in the Royal Navy when war began and her weapons were sufficient to deal with most threats a light cruiser may encounter.

Although she wasn't the most manoeuvrable vessel due to her size; length of 570 feet, beam of 54 feet 6 inches, and draught of 16 feet 6 inches, she could still out manoeuvre heavy cruisers with ease. The Enterprise's armour was thickest at amidships at 3 inches and thinnest at the bow at 1.5 inches, the deck had 1 inch armour plate as protection from aircraft strafing runs.

Winchester was not only in charge of the ship but all 572 crew members, himself included, and he was thankful he had such a competent crew, hardworking and reliable. The crew of the Enterprise were a fairly friendly bunch and they protected each other to the very end, they also heavily believed in the ship's motto "Spes aspera levat" Latin for "Hope lightens difficulties", to this end the crew was always hopeful. Although that hope can sometimes but put to extreme tests.

15:28

Captain Winchester watched as a storm began to dominate the skies, it seemingly came from nowhere and he wasn't sure if he was seeing a real storm or if his was mind playing games on him. A glance at his crew, who were also watching the clouds build up, told him this wasn't his mind and he ran off toward the bridge. As he entered the bridge the men stood at attention and his Executive Officer, Commander Edwin O'Roddy, gave him a sharp salute; "Captain on deck!" he announced with a slight Scottish accent.

"As you were," Winchester said and the crew went back to their positions, while Winchester continued. "I have the deck and the conn."

"The Captain has the deck and the conn." Commander O'Roddy stated as the tension that was building in the crew started to ebb once they knew the most experienced man on the ship was taking control. O'Roddy continued quietly so the rest of the bridge crew couldn't hear; "Sir, do you have any idea what is going on with the weather? This storm came out of bloody nowhere and it's getting worse rapidly!" The officer was clearly nervous and hoped the Captain might know something he didn't about meteorology that could explain this storm's sudden appearance and rapid growth.

The Captain was outwardly calm; inwardly he was also a little nervous, but his reply showed no hint of it; "I don't know what could cause a storm this large to appear so suddenly out of a clear, sunny day; squalls are one thing, but this?" He shook his head, "This isn't normal and I have the strangest feeling that we should be doing everything in our power to get away from it...I don't know, it's like it's radiating danger."

O'Roddy nodded at those words, "I feel it too Cap'n', I don't like this one bit, we should turn around and get out of this wrongful storm as quickly as we can." The Commander's nervousness caused his accent to become slightly more profound, Winchester was a good friend with the man and could tell he was becoming more unnerved than being in a fight with the Japanese.

Still keeping his outward calm Winchester began to plan the quickest way out of the storm, but when he walked to the port bridge wing his heart skipped a beat; the storm seemed endless in every direction. It wouldn't matter which way they set their heading. Winchester turned back to his second in command and friend; "I don't think we are avoiding this, we're just going to have to ride it out and hope for the best." O'Roddy frowned but nodded; he didn't like the idea but knew there was nothing to be done about it. "Sound the General Alarm, all men to Action Stations." He announced to the bridge crew before turning back to O'Roddy; "Have the crew secure the deck and the Osprey, and make sure anyone caught on deck has a safety line; we don't need anyone getting washed overboard." O'Roddy nodded and started handing out orders to the deck division; Winchester turned to the bridge crew and started his own set of orders. He turned to Leading Telegraphist 2nd Class Curt Willwright, "Send a message to Port Darwin stating we have entered a large storm and may be delayed on our arrival."

"Aye sir." The man said before the clacking of the wireless telegraph was resounded throughout the bridge as the coded message was sent.

As the crew watched the storm grew in intensity, the swells had grown to 15ft and continued to rise, the Captain ordered the helmsman to ring up Ahead Flank and steer the ship into the swells. The roll on the Enterprise wasn't so bad due to her speed, but the pitch was nearly unbearable as the clinometer needle jumped from side to side, and the bow broke the swells with massive water sprays. In the sudden chaos the storm caused aboard the ship the gramophone was left on right when they changed the record, and the sounds of "We'll Meet Again" contested with the waves and thunder of the storm.

Aside from the crew on deck becoming soaked and loose objects being washed away the Enterprise was handling the storm well, although Winchester wasn't so sure the Osprey would come out okay, if it wasn't a total loss it would surely be easier to replace than to rebuild. The bridge windows were getting hammered with the rain and spray, the wind howled through the open bridge wing ports as the temperature started to decrease rapidly. Winchester was standing to the left of the helmsman; making sure he could take control of the ship should anything happen, he also had a great view of the storm... well if it wasn't just a dark grey horizon with no end in sight. Then he noticed something, it was dim at first but grew in intensity; a small greenish light started to form directly in the Enterprise's path, soon Winchester had to shield his eyes. A sudden lump formed in his throat as he realised it was a spotlight and the ship was on a collision course; thinking quickly he grabbed the helm out from the stunned seaman's grip and turned the ship hard to port. The Enterprise groaned in protest but the bow started to come around, although before the ship could've cleared the collision the light expanded and enveloped the Enterprise and a crisp crack was heard before the light faded away without a trace. Winchester didn't think much of it, there would be time later to ponder the fate of the unknown vessel, right now he had to bring the bow back into the swells; the roll was already noticeably greater. As the Enterprise started to brace the swells head-on again the storm abruptly ceased, all was quiet, only the roar of the blowers and the whine of the turbines could be heard. The crew stopped and just stared with open awe at the suddenly benevolent sea, the Enterprise started to gain speed as the swells flattened out and soon she was steaming at 30 knots.

"Captain, I think the storm damaged something, I'm not picking up anything at all on the wireless; no distress calls, no military transmissions, not even the civilian frequencies, nothing. It just went quiet; do you want me to try and raise Darwin?" Willwright asked, not worried about the radio, it was old and it was probably just a loose connection; but they may still be able to transmit ahead to update Darwin, to tell them they would probably need minor repairs.

Captain Winchester was still focussing on the sky as he replied, "Yes, I would think Darwin should know we can't receive wireless for now, if we can, in fact, transmit. As soon as you send the message I want you and your men checking for any damage, I should not need to remind you how important communication is." He replied calmly, calculatingly, before walking over to the intercom and asking for damage reports. Slowly the reports came back, a few plates were loosened and they had minor leaks but they weren't large enough to give a second's notice, on deck they had some AA ammunition washed overboard but other than that the ship came out without a hint of damage. Somehow the flight crew even managed to secure the Osprey and it could be flight ready in around 30 minutes. With a sigh Winchester relaxed and looked out the bridge, the soaked deck shined in the sunlight, the sky was a brilliant blue without a cloud in sight. He glanced at the clock, it had only been ten minutes, odd, he thought it had been at the very least twice that although he would get that same feeling during and after battles; something about taking in so much information than normal makes your brain believe it was much longer. He pondered to himself. Winchester had the feeling he was forgetting something, something important... 'ah yes'. "Helm bring us to a heading of one-one-four, Ahead Standard."

"Heading one-one-four, standard, aye sir." The helmsman replied before turning the ship to it's new heading and ringing the engine room, the Enterprise's speed bled off as she took on a more leisurely pace towards Port Darwin.

The crew remained at Action Stations in case another storm was to appear out of the blue, and in case any Japanese ships or aircraft managed to trace the brief transmissions of the Enterprise. So far Willwright and his men hadn't managed to find anything wrong with the radio, the Captain had ordered to have the flight crew try to pick up anything on the Osprey's radio; it too was quiet. The crew was puzzled by the lack of radio traffic, both radios were working properly but there was nothing to listen to, it was unnerving. Winchester remained on the bridge, he was thumbing his 1873 Colt Peacemaker, the gun was a gift to him from one of his American friends; Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy who was a fellow captain being in command of the Wickes class destroyer U.S.S. Walker DD-163. When Walker disappeared in a storm shortly after the H.M.S. Exeter was destroyed by the IJN, Winchester had suspected that his friend met his demise to their ever more hated foe. His only consolation being that reports seemed to indicate Walker and Mahan, DD-102, managed to bring the Japanese battlecruiser Amagi with them; Winchester had to shake his head at that, he knew that Reddy was capable in a fight and he could see how the suicidal act took place, mostly likely out of pure revenge for U.S.S. Pope, H.M.S. Encounter and H.M.S. Exeter. There were a couple shouts before the lookout's voice was heard through the speaking tubes; Winchester cocked an eyebrow at what was sure to be something either really good or really bad.

"Smoke on the horizon, bearing oh-two-seven! I can't see the vessel currently but it's definitely burning coal, and a lot of it. Looks like they're really pouring it on." The lookout replied, his voice had a certain... excitement to it, whoever was up there would hear from Winchester about remaining professional, but for now the Captain brought up his binoculars and sure enough; there was a small column of thick black smoke on the horizon. The lookout was right, the ship was really laying on the coal, the column was quite heavy and if he had to take a guess Winchester would say that ship was running from something.

"Helm come about, two-seven degrees starboard, Ahead Full." Winchester wasn't concerned about what he was about to stumble upon; if it was burning coal it most likely wasn't a warship, if it was it certainly wasn't a modern one. The ship came into view range shortly; it was small although it was still too far to make out any detail Winchester noticed something strange: it had sails. From their current distance the mast was little more than a toothpick, but the square sails were hard to miss, taking a double and triple check still yielded the same result: a square rigged steamer, but with only a single mast. The Enterprise continued towards the antique ship, rumours spread through the crew like wildfire; the possibility that they could have somehow been transported back in time would explain the lack of radio traffic, but Winchester knew better than to believe such a thing, knowing full well that time travel just isn't possible. 'Maybe it was a rich historian's personal plaything?' He quickly dismissed that thought, who would dare conn a century old ship through hostile waters?

As they got closer Winchester saw another ship chasing the steamer, this one looked even more antiquated, while the steamer looked like an British or American frigate the other ship was sail only and wasn't dissimilar to a Viking Longship; oars and all. Closer and closer the cruiser approached, apparently unnoticed, Winchester now saw why the steamer had only a single mast, the stump of another mast could be seen aft of the funnel, most likely lost in the storm. He also saw that the ship was a paddle steamer, but what really caught his eye was its flag; it had what appeared to be two horses, and what he guessed to be a sun and moon. It was hard to tell as they were still fairly far away, but what he did notice was the longship glinted with polished metal, it took him a bit before he realised they were swords, bloody swords! He was at a loss for what was going on, for once in his life Captain Winchester didn't know what his next move were to be, or even what had happened and was currently happening to them. He just stood there, binoculars glued to his face, mouth slightly agape, and a small twitch in his left eye.

As if fate couldn't screw with his mind more, Winchester took notice of the creatures upon both vessels, the longship had some sort of reptilian creatures, large teeth and snouts, greenish grey scales, and thick tails; and then there were the creatures on the steamer... 'Horses, bloody horses, brightly coloured horses... ha, haha, hahahaha I've finally lost my bloody fucking mind, I-I must be dreaming, yeah dreaming and I would love to wake up about now.' Winchester pulled out his Colt, but before he would shoot himself he had to make sure he was in a dream; he turned the weapon around and gripped it by the barrel, put his hand on the telegraph post and brought the handle down with force. What he expected was to feel nothing, what actually happened was immense pain shot up his hand and he pulled it back, shaking it violently to try and numb it, to little effect. His crew watched him, wide eyed; he looked at Willwright and asked him the most important question in his life: "Petty Officer, do you happen to see a paddle steamer full of brightly coloured horses being chased by a longship with lizards?" He managed to remain calm while he asked the question, Willwright was unsure what to do, he thought his Captain had lost it, he did the only rational thing; he answered truthfully.

"Yes sir, I do sir." He replied with a wince and a step away from Winchester. Winchester did something completely unexpected by the bridge crew from what they'd seen so far; he pulled himself together, holstered his sidearm and stood up straight and tall with a look of determination in his eye.

"Well, right then, bring the ship about, All Stop." He ordered before walking to the speaking tube for fire control, "Chief, I want you to put a round across the bow of the longship; hopefully they'll get the idea and heave to. In case they don't keep the guns trained on them, it's clear they're the aggressors here."

"Aye Captain." Came the reply from the Chief Gunners Mate Patrick O'Henry; shortly after a single HE round fired from the C turret on the starboard amidships gun platform. The round landed 100 yards past the bow of the longship, the spume drenching the reptiles; who recoiled away from the bow and collapsed on the oarsmen. Although the round had far from the intended effect, rather than heaving to, the reptiles got back up and started to come at them. Winchester was shocked, how could they possibly believe they can take on the Enterprise? Even if they never saw a gun before, which he seriously doubted they did, they just saw what the warning shot did; how can they think they have a chance? While Winchester didn't want to take sides, or get caught in a war he knew nothing about, it was clear these creatures weren't willing to parley; they came straight at the cruiser, bashing swords against shields as an act of intimidation.

Winchester wasn't intimidated however, and he would not let a bunch of hostile reptiles near his ship, to hell with the consequences. "O'Henry, you have permission to destroy that ship, try to do it in a single shot, I have a feeling we may not be able to get resupplied any time soon.

"Aye Captain, we'll show those bloody lizards the might of the British Empire!" O'Henry was known to get a "little" happy when he had the chance to blow something up, and he was great at it, being able to guess ranges and speeds to within 10% or less. The C mount rang out another shell, it impacted straight through the bow of the enemy vessel, the round detonated and the longship was reduced to splinters sending the reptiles into the water. It appeared they couldn't swim because as he watched Winchester saw them flail their arms about and slip beneath the sea, he oddly didn't feel much remorse; they attacked his ship and he would not pity the vile beasts.

He turned his attention to the paddle steamer now that the reptiles were dealt with he hoped they could talk to the... horses. How absurd the situation was struck him like a freight train; he, a captain in the British Royal Navy, was going to talk to horses. He looked at the ship through his binoculars and was greeted with what he assumed to be the captain looking back at him with a telescope. The uniform he was wearing was similar to the American uniforms, although the braided rank on the cuffs was closer to what the Royal Navy used, still neither being a perfect match. While he studied the horse, it studied him back, even from this distance Winchester could tell he was experienced and intelligent; having that same calm calculating stare that he would use when sizing up a threat. Winchester waved at the horse captain and it returned the gesture; a smile crept onto Winchester's face: it was going to be one hell of a day.

Author's Note

For all those who got the Destroyermen reference: you get a cookie. For those who don't know of the Destroyermen series novels by Taylor Anderson: go read them! They are the best.

And for those who thought ponies in WWII Pacific: nope. The description had a spoiler in it after all, it said "not a HiE or PoE" it's humans and ponies trapped on a completely alien world, with quite hostile life. I was particularly tired while I proof read this so any errors I would love to see pointed out so I can fix them.

Chapter 4

17 April, 1003 Celestia’s Reign
Location: Unknown, P.S. Equestria
4:25pm

Octavia and Rose were still shaken up from the storm, both mares were trying to calm down and enjoy their tea. Octavia looked around her room; there was shattered glass around her nightstand and red wine staining her bed, but she didn't care, she and Rose had survived the most violent storm they had ever encountered with only a few bruises. They both listened intently to the sound of the crew working on the deck above them, clearing debris and trying to unfurl the foremast's sails. Shortly after they left the storm a member of the crew had asked if everything was okay, and with a quick explanation he was on his way to check on the other passengers.

Octavia finished her tea and looked up to Rose. "Hey. I'm going to go up on deck and see if I can help with anything, do you care to join me?" She said as gently as she could.

Rose stared blankly into her cup before matching Octavia's gaze. "Yeah, I think we should do everything we can." She smiled. "I feel like doing something other than moping around in your cabin, something helpful."

Octavia smiled back. "Well, in that case, I think we should start helping. Come on, we may not be in top physical shape, but I'm sure they can give us something." With that said Octavia turned and headed out of the door, followed by Rose.

Upon reaching the deck the two mares took pause to notice the chaos around them. The crew were all actively engaged in clearing the debris and salvage anything they could; Octavia noticed a pony with a clipboard who seemed to be overseeing the rest of the crew. She trotted up to him and asked if she and Rose could be of any help, he closed his eyes and opened his mouth to speak when a lookout above them started to speak. "Possible ship spotted bearing one-five-seven relative!" He shouted towards where the Captain was standing.

Octavia, Rose, and the rest of the crew turned to look in the direction the lookout had stated, but without a telescope they couldn't see anything. If one were to look closely the only thing they may see would be a vague shape on the horizon. "Do you think it's an Equestrian ship?" Rose asked Octavia, her voice filled with mild curiosity.

"It is possible, Equestria has a large ship building industry and nearly controls the sea based trade with other nations." Octavia replied with little curiosity, but maybe a small touch of relief.

"Well it would certainly be of great help and luck that they were nearby; Celestia knows we need luck about now." Rose said with a small smile.

The ship had gotten considerably closer now and Octavia was able to make out more detail. It was fairly small, only maybe 200 hooves in length, it had a single square sail and about two dozen oars on each side. Also mounted on the sides were circular shields with polished iron spikes in the centre, and the most unnerving thing she had ever seen; skulls. There were skulls of creatures she had never seen on the tops of the shields, and she would get a chill every time she looked at them. Octavia had to steel herself from losing her lunch at the ghastly sight, she was watching the ship closely and the creatures on board it made her shudder. They were a greenish grey with rows of razor sharp teeth; they had thick muscular tails and sharp clawed feet. The feet reminded her of that of a hawk, and combined with the equally sharp claws on their hands the creatures absolutely terrified her.

The creatures looked like they had no intention of help at all, in fact, they looked more like they wanted to eat and rip apart anything that was on the Equestria. Shortly after they got close enough to see the monsters the Captain had the ship steam into the wind at full speed. Even without the help of their sail the ship was able to keep up with the Equestria using their oars. Octavia had contemplated the strength it would require to keep up with the steamer at 10 knots and was impressed, although she then thought about what that strength may do to a pony should they gain access to the ship. It was not a pleasant picture and she had to force down another shudder.

The whole time they had been running from the ship Rose sat quietly with wide eyes, fixated on the vessel chasing them. She would occasionally whisper a prayer to Celestia that they would leave them alone, with no such luck. She would watch when the vile creatures would pull out a piece of raw meat and rip it apart; exposing white bone and waving the disgusting thing tauntingly at them. She couldn't take it anymore and closed her eyes, starting to shake. Octavia saw this and walked over to Rose, taking her in a tight embrace to calm her down. Rose buried her face in Octavia's neck, using all her will power to keep the tears from welling up.

"Rose, Rose you need to calm down. Everything will be okay, do you understand me? They can't get us and they'll tire and give up, understand?" Octavia said soothingly; Rose nodded and her shaking became less violent. "I know they are vile, wretched beasts, but we are safe here and to let them get to you will serve only to drive them on. Just... try not to think about what they're doing, what they're eating and how they're doing it." She finished, tightening her embrace for a second before letting Rose go and looking into her eyes.

Octavia could see that she was much calmer now, but she was still scared. Her friend didn't seem to be able to control her emotions as well as she could; during the storm Octavia could see that Rose was having a hard time containing her fear but she managed. Now however, Rose was on the verge of tears and Octavia needed to be strong and act as an emotional crutch to keep her friend from breaking down. Octavia could understand why she was upset and scared; they had just survived a massive storm and now they were being chased by creatures from Tartarus itself. Even she had to admit that she was afraid and would like nothing more than to go home, where she was safe. Rose looked back at the ship before turning to speak to Octavia.

"Why us, why are they chasing us? The Princesses would've told us about such creatures, wouldn't they?" Rose asked, she was calming down but her voice was still laced with fear.

"I don't know why they're chasing us; the only thing I can think of is that they are truly evil and would like nothing more than to kill. While the Princesses know a great deal, I do not believe they know everything, or they chose to withhold some things do to the impact it could have on Equestria. Think back Rose, she never told us about Nightmare Moon and she didn't know who the Changelings were until it was too late." Octavia replied with a thoughtful tone; 'what else may the Princesses be hiding from Equestrians?' She thought to herself; 'or maybe they had no idea about these creatures or even where they come from.'

Octavia was interrupted from her thoughts when the lookout had started to yell to the Captain again. "Sir, another ship, bearing oh-two-five, closing fast!" The lookout cried in alarm.

Octavia turned to see another ship approaching at a speed she wouldn't have thought possible. Due to the crew paying almost full attention to the first ship this vessel was quite close by the time it was spotted. It was quite clearly different even from this distance; it was large, larger than the Equestria and it was a steamer, a dedicated steamer. It had tubes mounted in large box-like housings, they almost looked like cannons, but of the likes Octavia had never seen, or even heard of.

The ship continued its rapid approach and more details came into view. The one that interested Octavia the most was the crew; they appeared bipedal like the reptiles but they were clearly a different species. They wore dark blue uniforms and had very little fur from what she could see, they appeared to be mammal. Unlike the reptiles chasing them, these creatures didn't strike fear into her at sight alone, but they did possess an intimidation factor that demanded respect. Octavia watched as the vessel took a sharp swing to port and stopped, revealing its broadside. Shortly a thunderous roar rang out from one of the tubes impacted near the front of the reptilian ship. 'So they are cannons, and that was clearly a warning shot, maybe they intend to scare off the other creatures through intimidation.' As she thought this however, the reptilian ship turned towards the other ship, the creatures banging their swords against their shields. Octavia could only watch in shock at what transpired next.

Captain Seas watched with interest as this new ship had annihilated the ship chasing them and now steamed parallel with them. He could see their crew staring with open curiosity, much as his crew was doing; but he could see what he assumed was their Captain staring at him in particular. It was clear to Seas that he was sizing him up, and Seas was doing the same to him. He watched the creature extend his foreleg and wave to him; he returned the gesture and watched the creature smile. He smiled back, his curiosity getting the better of him; after all, how often does one get to discover a whole new species and culture?

He looked over the ship; it was large, being more than three times the length of his own and, if the small rust streaks were a sign, iron hulled. He took note of the cost of such a ship, how well armed it was, and the dreary colours of dim yellow, grey, and blue, and came to the conclusion that it was a ship of war. He wondered what race would need a warship of that size and power, but for now he was just happy that they seemed friendly to the Equestria. He took note of their uniforms, dark blue with a white undershirt and gold buttons. He saw the gold lace around the cuffs on some and the red designs on their shoulders; 'rank and position' he thought to himself. What took him the most however was their lack of colours and distinction like ponies had, they appeared to have mostly the same skin colour and their mane colour only seemed to vary a little.

He yawned, and turned to head to his quarters; today's stress had finally overcome him and he needed a rest. His many questions could wait until morning when he was well rested and prepared. He took one last look at the ship before heading down into the Equestria and his bed.

Author's Note

Wow was this hard due to this cold. Turns out a fever makes it quite hard to think properly, and the dreams I've been having are just so weird. I hate being sick.

Yea it's fairly short, and yes it is quite late. I lost track of time and lack of focus are the reasona for both, well and this fever. I'm not sure how well this chapter turned out being I can't quite think straight, but hopefully it's still enjoyable. The next chapter will be longer and will have human/pony interaction, and hopefully won't take as long to write. (I got this done with 3 min to spare, lol.)

Please excuse the comment section of this chapter, it seems I have a rather odd choice in friends.