This continues the series of Battleships are Magic and Connection.

June, 1994

Norfolk, Virginia

The reporter was barely successful in maintaining her stoic professionalism. She was excited to meet a heroic figure like Admiral John Mittal. She spoke into her microphone, introducing him.

Mittal was “the man who discovered the other world,” she explained, looking at the camera. He looked a little stressed at her words, seemingly unused to the spotlight, but maintained his composure.

“We’re meeting with him here at the USS Wisconsin museum in Norfolk. This is the ship where it all happened, right Admiral?”

“That’s right. The ship was already destined to be put on public display after retirement, but with the discovery of another dimension, I think Wisconsin is assured a place in history.” The camera panned over the foredeck, pausing on the battleship’s massive guns.

On the other end of the TV, Kevin Daniels changed the channel. He knew that the 60 Minutes reporter wasn’t going to reveal anything that he didn’t already know.

Daniels lived in Norfolk, only a few blocks from where the ship was docked. He’d worked with the Admiral before. He’d also been one of the very first people to go through the doorway to the other world. A television show about it did not interest him.

It had been almost four years since the Navy ship had slipped through a strange anomaly and ended up making contact with a country populated by magical talking ponies. Due to operational security concerns, the information was not made public until early 1992, when a dedicated link between the worlds was established. In the time since, people had grown relatively accustomed to sentient animals living almost next door.

There wasn't much to do on a Sunday night. Daniels got up and went to check on his seven-year-old daughter. It was getting near her bedtime. Sure enough, he found her in her bedroom. Her hair was still damp from the shower.

“Are you getting ready to go to sleep, sweetie?”

“Yes.” She climbed into bed. He sat on the edge.

“Did you have a good day?”

“It was fun.” After church, she’d gone to play with her cousins over in Virginia Beach.

“That’s good.”

The phone rang. It sounded like his wife picked it up. After a moment, she called his name.

“Is that work, daddy?” His little girl had learned what late phone calls usually meant.

“Maybe.” He smiled. “Go to sleep.”

She returned his smile and closed her eyes. He got up and turned off the light on his way out of the room.

Down the hallway, his wife waited with her hand over the receiver.

“It’s Applejack,” she said.

Daniels took the phone. “Hello?”

“We got a situation,” said an accented female voice. “We caught a man usin’ an unauthorized doorway in the Everfree Forest.”

“Really? How did that happen?”

“I don’t rightly know. He jumped back through and deactivated it before we could find out.” She paused for a moment. “This doorway was round, ‘stead of rectangular. Maybe it’s a different design.”

The original doorway had been, well, a doorway. A rectangle just made more sense. This new doorway was very worrying. Who could be running it?

“Thanks Applejack. I’ll work on it from here.” They said goodbye and hung up. It had been a while since the doorways had first been opened, yet it still seemed slightly strange to think that he’d had a call from a pony.

“Are you leaving?” asked his wife. She’d endured more than a few late phone calls.

“Not right now. I’m sure the RIS contacted my office. If they want me, I’ll find out in the morning.” Applejack worked for the Royal Intelligence Service of Equestria. They coordinated with several human agencies including the US Navy’s intelligence service, where Daniels worked. Her call to him at home had been a courtesy, so he would be prepared.

The possibility of someone else having their own doorway virtually guaranteed that Daniels would get the nod to investigate. He was probably the most knowledgeable in the area, and was on especially good terms with the ponies.

In the morning, Daniels drove to the office. It was west, the opposite direction from where he used to work at the Little Creek Amphibious Base. Before joining Naval Intelligence as a civilian employee, he’d been a SEAL. Now, he had more time at home and was shot at less often.

There was an all-hands briefing early in the morning. The RIS had sent all the information they had. There were more details available now.

A pony had reported suspicious activity in the Everfree Forest. When Equestrian law enforcement had approached, a human male had fled back through a doorway, which subsequently turned off.

The dimensional links, nicknamed doorways, were powered from Earth. The appeared as a frameless portal in the other world, and would vanish when the power was shut down.

The unusual design of the rogue doorway was commented on. It was known that the programming for energy management was easier with a uniform shape. The rectangular design was favored because it was more practical.

“Questions?”

Daniels raised his hand. “Who could be behind this?”

The man with the information shrugged. “Too early to tell. The technology was obviously leaked. We’re running down where it went.”

There were a few other questions from the group. When the brief was over, everyone was given tasks to carry out. Just as Daniels thought, he was told to go to Equestria.

The nearest doorway was at the Navy base. They had begun springing up at government facilities all over the country. Travel was still somewhat restricted, as the doorways were too small to get vehicles through. Equestria didn’t have the road system to support them, either. Most of the human traffic going through were day trippers. There were fewer of them on the weekdays. Daniels didn’t have to wait very long in line.

His government credentials and passport got him through with no trouble. He stepped out in Ponyville, a small town in central Equestria. A building had been built to house the incoming doorways. A pony stamped his passport and he went on his way.

The telephone system had been something new for ponies. It made communication easy, but getting the equipment to transfer signals through the doorways had been a challenge. Daniels stepped around a few phone workers who were doing something to the transmission cables and walked out into the sun.

He’d called ahead and Applejack should be on her way to meet him. The RIS had assigned her to the Ponyville area. Daniels knew she’d grown up on an apple farm somewhere nearby. Since the doorways had opened, business for them had picked up. With the extra money, Applejack could hire someone to work the farm in her place. As the Element of Honesty, she was good at getting the truth, something that made her valuable to the RIS.

The Elements of Harmony were still largely a mystery to the humans. The ponies didn’t like to talk about them, except to say that they were a powerful force for good. That was probably a good idea, otherwise some human would likely try to weaponize them.

Daniels made his way to Sugarcube Corner, a bakery and sweet shop. It was a good place to meet. The building looked like a giant decorated cake on the outside. The inside used bright colors. Memorabilia and recommendations from local celebrities occupied one wall. There was also a signed picture of the President of the United States. Pinkie Pie, a former employee of Sugarcube Corner, now worked in the White House kitchen.

A blue and pink pony greeted him as he walked in. “Good morning, Mr. Daniels.”

“Hello, Mrs. Cake.” She and her husband owned the place.

“What will you be having today, dearie?”

Daniels studied the menu. “Cherry pie.”

“Coffee?”

“Please. Oh, and Applejack should be stopping by soon.”

Mrs. Cake nodded. “I’ll leave the pot.” She went to get his pie. Daniels sat down at a small table near the window. The town outside was busy. Merchants had set up in the town square. There were a few humans among them, shopping.

The door opened and Applejack came in. She was mostly colored orange, with a straight yellow mane and tail. Her eyes were large and green. She pushed her hat back and smiled. “Howdy. It’s been a while.”

Daniels nodded. “Someday I hope we could meet when there wasn’t a crisis.”

Applejack sat down. “The day they stop makin’ calamities is the day we’re both outta work.” There was a lot of wisdom in that pony.

Mrs. Cake came back and asked if she wanted anything. Applejack said that just drinking coffee was fine. It had actually been working with Daniels that had gotten her into the habit.

Daniels took a forkful of pie. It was great, as always. “So what did you manage to learn since you called?”

“Not much. We blocked off the scene, ‘cause ah thought you might want a look.”

“Thanks.” She waited while he finished the pie. Both of them drained their coffee and Daniels paid. He was running low on Equestrian money, and made a mental note to change some at the next opportunity.

The two of them left Sugarcube Corner and headed for the Forest. It was a reasonable walk from town. A Ponyville police officer was on duty at the scene where the mysterious doorway had appeared. Applejack said hello to him.

Daniels studied the ground. There were plenty of footsteps, both horseshoes and human shoes. He asked if they were related.

“I reckon so,” said Applejack. “All of them prints were there we we got here.”

“So we’ve got ponies working with humans to operate an unauthorized doorway. What do you think they’re doing?”

“Most of the crime comes from your world. No offense.”

Daniels shrugged. “It's the truth.”

“We found one of those cig-whatchmacallits over here,” said Applejack, walking a few steps away.

“Cigarette,” said Daniels, looking at the object she indicated. The early morning dew had fallen on it, but he was still able to read the printing on the band.

“Russian?” he said quietly. The Soviet Union hadn’t been dissolved for that long. He wasn’t sure if they had the ability or organization to produce their own doorway.

Daniels looked around for several more minutes, but didn’t find anything more interesting than the cigarette butt. He carefully scooped it into a small plastic bag that he’d brought along in case he found something.

“If there’s ponies involved in this,” he said as they walked back, “we’ve both got something to work on.”

Applejack nodded. “Ah got a few ideas about who to talk to.”

“All right. I’ll check things out on my end. If you find out anything interesting, let me know.”

They said goodbye and parted ways. Daniels stopped back at Sugarcube Corner to pick up a box of muffins to take back. They were popular at the office.

Fillydelphia

Constant Clock sat in the pub. His brown mane and off-white coat did not draw any stares. That was the way he liked it.

The unicorn had worked for the RIS for several years. Ponies who saw his pocket watch cutie mark were often surprised to find out what he actually did. His relatives sold timepieces, and maybe Constant would eventually take over the family business. For now, he worked in surveillance. More specifically, watching two ponies across the room.

His collegue, Applejack, had wanted to be there, but she had a history with the two of them. Not only was it a conflict of interest, but they would recognize her. Constant kept them in his peripheral vision, never looking directly in their direction.

What were they called again? Oh yeah, the Flim Flam Brothers. Constant wondered what they had done to get the name, or was it their real name? It didn't matter. The RIS wasn't interested in them for what they were called.

From what he could hear, it sounded like they were trying to sell the barpony something. Constant sipped his carrot juice slowly. He knew that he might be there all night, waiting for the brothers to do something interesting.

The pub was crowded, but not too noisy. A group of humans on vacation seemed to be the loudest. All of them looked young and carefree. Constant had never been to Earth, and didn't know if he cared to.

After forty-three minutes, the Flim Flam Brothers got up. The length of time didn't matter, exactly, but time was something Constant Clock was always aware of. The brothers tipped their hats to the barpony. He had either consented to buy something, or perhaps given them a free drink so they would leave. As they neared the exit, Constant downed the rest of his juice and left a few bits on the table.

He paused at the door, checking to see which way they had gone. He crossed the street and followed in the same direction. They had perhaps a block and a half lead.

The two of them rounded a corner up ahead. Constant quickened his pace, hobbling slightly to minimze the sound of his hooves. He reached the corner and took a careful glance around it. The two ponies were still walking.

He followed them carefully for a while, ending up at at an apartment building. He couldn't exactly rememeber their address, but it was in the right part of town, so he figured it was theirs. The brothers went in.

Constant walked over to the door, noting their apartment number from the list that was posted. After a moment, he walked inside.

Upstairs, he located their place. He was pleased to see that it was right next to the elevator. Pausing for a moment, he put his ear to the door. There was no significant sound from inside.

Straightening up, Constant heard somepony coming up the stairs. It sounded...two legged? Hmm. None of the names on the list out front indicated that a human lived in the building. He retreated back into the elevator. The doors closed, but he stayed to listen.

Author note:
Thanks to Scully and Brony1Delta for their help. If anyone else would like to help me edit, send a message.