This is a sequel to Battleships are Magic

February, 1993

Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center

The wind had blown hard the night before, distributing the fallen snow in uneven piles around the base. The Indiana winters were often unpredictable. This week, it was cold.

Located in the southern part of the state, Crane was mostly sheltered from severe weather. The wind was the worst part. East of the Rocky Mountains, there was nothing but flat land to let the weather systems accelerate into the midwest.

Admiral John Mittal stepped out of the staff car, bracing against the bitter wind. He had only recently been promoted up from Captain, and had finally been let in to a clandestine development the Navy was working on at the base.

It had been a thorn in his side that he’d practically started the project, but been locked out because he wasn’t important enough.

About two and a half years previously, Iraq had invaded neighboring Kuwait. In response, the United States had deployed warships, including a few old battleships that had been reconditioned. Officially, USS Wisconsin had encountered mechanical trouble and returned to port early. Mittal had been in command of the ship, and knew the truth was a different story.

An event that had been nicknamed the Anomaly had mysteriously transported the ship to a different dimension where the dominant life forms were sentient animals. With the help of magical ponies, the ship had managed to return home. The details of the event were so difficult to believe, that burying it in a high security classification almost seemed unnecessary. Not all of the crew had kept their promised silence, but there were few enough of them that not many people took them seriously.

Since then, scientists working for the Navy had been trying to figure out what exactly the Anomaly was and how to control it. Helped by notes given to them by the ponies before the ship was sent back, significant progress had been made. They’d even started to understand some of the details of magic. It appeared to be simply an organic method of delicately controlling energy.

Breakthroughs in the nature of the space-time interface and the discovery of magic were groundbreaking developments that the public didn’t need to know about just yet. A secure location from which to conduct the research had been needed, and Crane had been selected. After all, not many people realized that the Navy’s third largest base was landlocked in Indiana. Fewer knew the details of the secret projects carried out there.

A place to house the research had been quickly constructed and innocuously designated Building D6. Belowground levels had been considered, but it would require too much blasting and drilling to displace the bedrock that lay close to the surface in much of the area. Anchors to solidify the construction were drilled into the limestone, though.

A breakthrough was what had brought Mittal to the project building that morning. Armed guards closely checked him before he was allowed to enter the front door. To access the rest of the building, he had to enter a memorized code and pass another set of guards.

The next room was considerably larger. A rectangular steel frame surrounded by wires and instruments stood behind a bank of computers and equipment. Thick cables and power lines snaked across the floor.

A couple of people were busy adjusting things before the scheduled test. The project lead engineer was a man named Tim Oswald. He had a doctorate in something Admiral Mittal couldn’t spell. Under Oswald’s guidance, the research was advancing at a rapid pace.

“Good morning Admiral,” called Dr. Oswald. “We should have everything ready to go in just a few minutes. Don’t go near the doorway while we calibrate.”

The doorway in question was the empty frame behind the scientists. There were many power inputs and instrument outputs radiating from the exterior. Mittal thought it looked like a square spider web.

“This is going to work, right?” he said.

“It should. The simulation did.” Oswald began activating switches. The cooling system for the electronics came to life, a slight hum filling the air. Lights on the control panel where he worked came on to indicate that every switch he flipped was functioning correctly. He barked orders to the rest of the team and slowly the doorway was made ready.

Oswald stepped back, running a checklist to make sure everything had been set correctly. He nodded. “We’re ready.”

The power transmission lines came to life and the edge of the doorway began to heat up, glowing a dull orange. Oswald carefully turned a knob to make the transition from useless heat to directed energy. Slowly, a wispy blue light began to reach from the edges of the frame towards the center.

There was a sudden shower of sparks from one side of the doorway and Oswald slapped the emergency stop button.

“What happened?” asked Mittal. Dr. Oswald didn’t answer as he strode up to the frame, inspecting the power input. He cursed under his breath.

After a few minutes of inspection, Oswald went back to the bank of equipment and examined a few readouts. He finally made his diagnoses.

“The irregular shape of the doorway is difficult to compensate for. As the energy built up, it distorted slightly and threw our calculations off. I’m starting to think we should have gone with the circular doorway that was originally proposed.”

“Can you fix it?” asked Mittal.

“Yes. It shouldn’t take too long.”

“Good. The President gets here in two days.”

“What? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“I didn’t want to distract you, but now it looks like you need the motivation.”

Oswald grumbled. “How did he even find out? He hasn’t been in office that long.”

Mittal shrugged. “The point is, it would be a good idea to have this thing actually working when he gets here.”

“Fine. Come back tomorrow.” Oswald turned to his team and began firing instructions.

Mittal had met the previous President shortly after his ship had returned to Earth. It was the kind of unusual circumstance that required executive consideration.

The President, himself a former Navy man, had given the Office of Naval Research the go-ahead to examine the pony notes and come up with a way to make travel between the dimensions convenient. They had been invited back, after all. ONR had been busy ever since.

The last election had produced a new President. He had apparently been let in on the secret rather quickly. Mittal had been coordinating with the Secret Service to bring him to Crane. Three fire teams of SEALs had also been brought in to handle security. The twelve men were battle-hardened veterans and more than capable of protection duty.

Mittal arrived back at Building D6 in the morning. Dr. Oswald looked like he had spent all night working, and perhaps he had. He told Mittal that they were almost ready to start again.

The procedure to open the doorway began. The notes had directed the scientists to program the dimensional link to appear in the nation of Equestria, the ponies’ homeland. The doorway had been built specifically with this destination in mind and to go elsewhere would require significant reconstruction. Oswald dreamed that maybe in the future the link could appear in different places simply with the push of a button. The same premise could potentially be used for fast travel – teleportation – on Earth. The technology did not yet exist, but the implications were staggering.

First things first, though. Before they could invent any of that, the scientists had to prove that the doorway worked. The energy feeding into it slowly began to build.

The blue membrane began to grow inwards from the frame. When it made contact in the center, there was a sudden burst of light and the doorway was open.

Mittal found himself staring at a room. It was supposed to be the headquarters of Equestria’s military leader, Field Marshall Twilight Sparkle. He had met her before, but did not see her through the doorway.

One of the scientists approached with an instrument package mounted on a pole. He slowly passed it through the doorway. A cable ran from the sensors back to the computers.

“It looks good,” said Oswald. “There’s no energy spike at the divide. I think it’s safe. Careful of the edges, they’re probably hot.”

Mittal put his hand forward towards the center of the doorway. Feeling nothing but air, he took a step forward onto the wood floor of the room. It felt like stepping through a regular doorway.

The room was a library, with bookshelves all around. All the surfaces were wood and had organic shapes. It seemed like it the room had been carved out of the inside of a tree. A staircase led up to a loft overlooking the floor.

There was not a single creature to be seen. “Hello?” Mittal called. He got no response. Walking over to the window, he looked outside. According to the notes, the town was called Ponyville.

The street outside was devoid of life. Everything looked well maintained, but strangely deserted. Had something happened? Mittal looked at the library door, considering going outside, but decided to play it safe. He walked back through the doorway to Crane.

“Shut it down. Get the SEALs in here right now.”

Oswald hit the stop button. “What’s wrong?”

“The town looks abandoned. I’ve got a bad feeling.”

In only a few minutes, the group of operators arrived. They had already geared up and were ready to go. Mittal told them what he knew about the situation and the world on the other side of the doorway.

Lieutenant Daniels was in charge. He had been briefed on the transdimensional experiments when he had arrived at Crane, just in case. The SEALs were all highly trained both physically and mentally, and there was probably no better group in the world to send into an unknown, potentially dangerous situation.

Daniels quickly made contingency plans with his men as the doorway was being repowered. They watched in quiet amazement as the blue glow gave way to a view of the library. Mittal wished them luck as they went through.

The library’s front door swung open silently. The town was still. It gave Daniels the creeps, but he didn’t show it.

The first objective was to check the town and determine if it truly was abandoned. Daniels split his forces into thirds. They all carried radios to communicate if any of them made a discovery.

Daniels and the three men with him checked the town south of the library. The architecture was strange, almost fantastic. The library had indeed been built out of a tree, which appeared to still be alive, judging by the green leaves.

One of the fire teams reported a building that appeared to be some kind of town hall or meeting place. The front door was slightly ajar.

No other discoveries had been made, so Daniels ordered his forces to converge on the building. He passed by a square with a flowing fountain on the way to the place. Other than the fact that there was no life to be found, the town looked very appealing, almost idyllic.

The SEALs regrouped. “What makes you so sure this is important?” Daniels asked the man who had reported the building.

“Everything else is perfect, sir. Strange as it sounds, this door not being completely closed is the only thing in the entire town that seems out of place.”

Daniels nodded. “All right, get ready to go in. Fire Team Two, go around back for security. One and Three, on me.”

Some of the men spread out, surrounding the building. The rest stealthily approached the door.

One of the men put his hand on the doorknob. Daniels readied his Colt Commando and nodded. The door flew open and the SEALs charged in.

“SURPRISE!” shouted a group of multicolored ponies hiding inside.

Daniels lowered his weapon, dumbfounded. The room was decorated for a party and there was cake and punch. There were dozens of ponies present. Some had wings, and some had horns. Nearly all had a unique mark on their flanks. Mittal had told him about the ponies, but Daniels hadn’t believed him until that moment.

“Hi!” said a pink pony, bouncing up to him. She had a picture of balloons on her hindquarters. “Were you surprised? You look surprised. My Pinkie Sense was tingling and I knew we were going to have visitors so I threw a party! Do you like parties? Of course you do, who doesn’t like parties? I’m Pinkie Pie, nice to meet you!”

“Sorry about that,” said a purple pony stepping up beside her. Daniels did a double take. The newcomer was a unicorn. “Pinkie gets a little excited sometimes. I don’t believe we’ve met before. I’m Twilight Sparkle.” This was the pony the Admiral was expecting.

“Lieutenant Kevin Daniels, United States Navy.”

She nodded. “Oh, the Navy. Is Mittal around here somewhere?”

“He’s waiting. He wanted to talk to you.”

“That’s right, the portal was supposed to open in the library. I’ll walk back with you.”

“You can’t leave, the party just started!” said Pinkie.

“Sorry, but we really have to,” explained Twilight. “But you have all of the other guests to entertain.” The rest of the ponies seemed to be enjoying themselves.

“At least take some cake!” The pink pony shoved several plates and forks at the men.

Daniels slung his Commando and took one to be polite. Twilight ushered the SEALs out. “We didn’t mean to scare you,” she said. “I didn’t expect you to bring so many guns.”

Daniels shrugged. “It’s better to be prepared.”

Twilight made her way back to the library escorted by a dozen SEALs. The doorway was still open, and Mittal stood on the other side.

“It was a surprise party,” Daniels explained. Mittal eyed the piece of cake he carried, but didn’t ask.

The men filed back through the doorway. Seeing no resistance to their passage, Twilight stepped through.

“It’s good to see you again,” she said, addressing Mittal.

He nodded. “It’s been a while.” He introduced her to Dr. Oswald and the rest of the people who had worked on the project. Oswald looked overjoyed.

While they talked, Daniels dug into the cake. It was delicious. He mentally counted the extra calories he would have to burn in his daily workout and decided that it was worth it.

“The President of the United States is going to be here tomorrow,” said Mittal. “Can we set up a meeting with Princess Celestia?” Celestia and her younger sister Luna ran Equestria together.

Twilight nodded. “I’m sure she would be happy to meet.”

Oswald wanted to turn off the doorway for a while to perform maintenance and make sure everything would be ready for the next day. Mittal told Twilight when the doorway would be reactivated for the President’s visit. There was some issue with the time, as Equestria had neither time zones nor daylight savings. Eventually, he just gave her his watch to use. It was a good thing it wasn’t digital, because a readout in military time would probably confuse the issue even further.

The unicorn trotted back through the doorway and said goodbye. Oswald waved and pressed the shutdown button. The link was broken and the doorway was nothing but an empty frame once more.

Mittal left to prepare for the event. Air Force One, the President’s airplane, would fly to Indianapolis. From there, Marine One, the President’s helicopter, would carry him to Crane. Secret Service agents were already prowling around and making sure everything was ready to go. The trip to Indiana was disguised as a routine goodwill tour, and the President would be meeting a few local dignitaries, including the governor. The trip to Crane was public knowledge, but once the helicopter landed, communication would go dark. The press was not going to be allowed inside, and access would be tightly controlled.

Once the leaders of the two nations had had a chance to talk, it would be decided how to reveal to the public the news of the ponies’ existence.

Author note:

I know, I know, I said I would take a few days off. Darn workaholism. I’m still not planning to update at the stupid-fast pace of the last story, though.

Next chapter: Celestia meets Bill Clinton ;-)