Fancy Pants groaned in pain as his head struck the deck as the Kraken rammed the ship once more. Blood trickled from the wound. Fancy snarled to himself as he picked himself up off the deck and wiped away the blood from the side of his head. He could worry about injuries later. Right now, there were more important matters, like the safety of his crew to worry about.
“Cock! If that thing hits us again, we might just burst wide open. I’m already getting reports from multiple decks of internal flooding. We’ve sealed them off, but I don’t know how long she can hold together…” He mused mentally as he thought over his next move. He had to give the Kraken respect. It was a mighty beast, and deserved that kind of respect even if it had been the terror of the seas for centuries, rendering many a ship asunder. He could see the many tendrils of the creature, writhing and squirming outside the bridge’s main window as they reached for various parts of the ship and tried to break through its defenses.
Right now, the Kraken had latched onto the ship and had grabbed it in a hold and was trying to crush it. It had tried this several times before, but each time, Fancy had managed to put up the Moby’s defensive shielding. He thanked Faust for both Wild Fire’s and Silver Spanner’s ingenuity in diverting whatever power they could find to the shields to get multiple negative charges out of them to keep the Kraken off.
“Gallants, get this thing off my ship!” Fancy shouted even as the alarms blared and multiple warning signals flashed on every console in Fancy’s line of view.
“Again!” Gallants shouted, and once more the Moby’s runes glowed green and the Kraken was thrown soundly off. Fancy snarled as he adjusted his monocle. Suddenly, he heard a groaning and then the sound of metal tearing as Silver Spanner radioed in over the intercoms.
“Fancy, we’ve just lost one of our thrusters! That bleedin’ creature just ripped the whole damn thing off! We lose another one of those, and we’re dead meat, right for that thing’s fancy dinner plate!” She shouted. Fancy Pants made a quick choice.
“Divert all reserve power to the remaining thrusters. We need to be ready to get the Tartarus out of here if we can’t kill the Kraken!” Fancy ordered, but in his heart he knew running, or at least making a tactical retreat was the best option. He hadn’t survived the muck and the squalor of the Great War by charging headlong into battle against the overwhelming odds of the Kaiser. He was a commander of a flight squadron back in the RAF, so he knew when it was best to turn tail and run for it in a dignified tactical retreat.
Fancy flashed back to when he was back in the RAF, fighting in the skies above the Prench fields of Verdun. Down in the trenches, it was a losing battle. Every time the Belgians and Prench thought they had a opening, the Germanes just brought out bigger artillery. It was like they were one step ahead of them the whole time. Morale was dropping by the minute, just like it constantly was aboard the Moby Dick. The soldiers in Verdun even had a name for the road leading to battle. “The Road to Tartarus.” they called it. Honestly, the journey to Neighlantis was just like that at times. Fancy remembered a quote from the Germane General Erich Georg Anton von Falkenhayn. “The string in Prance has reached breaking point. A mass breakthrough—which in any case is beyond our means—is unnecessary. Within our reach there are objectives for the retention of which the Prench General Staff would be compelled to throw in every man they have. If they do so the forces of Prance will bleed to death.”
Fancy had even heard rumors of a Neighmerican mare faking her identity and going into battle as a Belgian, but he honestly didn’t know what to make of those rumors. Still, if they were true, she was a brave mare.
“Faust above, I’m lost in my reveries when I should be focusing on the battle right now, The one against the Kraken and the Moby Dick.” Fancy chastised himself as another slam against the bulkheads sent him crashing back to reality.
In the end, the battle in the skies turned against Fancy and his squadron was forced to pull out. And honestly, in the present time against the Kraken that was the best play he could make right now. He could feel the Kraken’s tendrils just squeezing the Moby Dick, and the metal groaning under the strain. Another ram was felt, and the bulkheads shuddered.
“Alright, you beast. I’m stallion enough to admit you have us outgunned, but not outsmarted,” Fancy muttered. He knew from the maps of the surrounding areas Twilight had provided that there was a small area nearby that the Moby Dick could squeeze through. Hopefully, that passage would get small enough for the creature to be simply too large to fit through.
Hopefully…
After all, it was a Captain’s duty to see his ship and crew to safety.
One Hour Ago: Sudoku’s Office...
Spent Thrift put his hooves into his face and sighed heavily to himself. Where could he begin? It was hard enough letting Twilight see him at his most vulnerable moment, but talking about it again to somepony else was another matter altogether. Sudoku laid a reassuring hoof on his shoulder.
“Just speak whenever you feel comfortable. You can take your time.” He said softly.
“A-Alright…” Spent replied softly. “It began around the time I married Greta, the Sharptooth’s captain. But you’ll need some backstory for this. As you probably know, the Sharptooth was sent on an expedition to find Neighlantis, just like what we’re doing now. Though it really was just some publicity stunt gone wrong. The expedition was just a sham being used to placate all the second class citizens, the griffins, zebras and the like. Show them that they could be heroes and earn the respect they wanted. Problem was, the Sharptooth was crap. It was an old decommissioned prototype sub that probably would have fallen apart mid-expedition if it weren’t for the chief mechanic.” Spent paused to sigh.
“Do you wish to have a moment?” Sudoku offered.
“Nah, just remembering the past. Anyway, I was assigned to the Sharptooth as first officer, or number one as Greta called me.” Spent said sadly before he continued, “Gilda, Greta’s best friend and long time first mate, wasn’t happy that I took her place. There was a big argument but we eventually agreed on a compromise where she’d be second officer, or second mate as she called it. The expedition started without issue and we searched for an underwater passage somewhere along the area of the sea known as the Lonely Mountain that would have led us to Neighlantis. Months passed and we were no closer to finding it than when we started. Morale was dropping fast.” Spent continued, tears beginning to form in his eyes as old memories were brought up.
“Did you ever find this passageway?” Sudoku inquired.
“Yeah… well, more like we stumbled on it while replenishing our food stores. But we were low on fuel and if we had gone down that passage, we would have been dead in the water. We had to turn back. But one thing neither me nor Greta counted on was greed. Everyone wanted to get to Neighlantis and the treasures they thought were in it. The bastards probably thought they could use it to get themselves better lives amongst the upper classes and show them that they were worth something too. It was inevitable really what happened next. I had begun to pick up rumors amongst the crew of Gilda starting a mutiny. If… If I had put a stop to this sooner, what happened next might not be on my head.” Spent continued, the tears now streaming down his face.
“If you don’t want to continue, that’s okay. I can tell this is really difficult for you to talk about.” Sudoku said.
“No… No, I have to. I have to get this out of my system. The mutiny happened. Gilda took control of the crew and turned them against me and Greta. They killed all the navy personnel and those that refused to join them. I somehow escaped and tried to get to Greta… but I was too late.” Spent said as he kept crying.
Sudoku stayed silent as he listened to the broken stallion cry for his wife.
“I… I was forced to watch as they shot her in the back three times and then they saw me. I ran, I took down as many of those bastards as I could as I headed for the pods. I ejected as many as I could, letting those traitorous rats get what was coming to them, but I got into the last one and just ran. I eventually made it to an island and made it back to civilization.”
“Then how come the government didn’t tell the public what happened on the Sharptooth?” Sudoku inquired.
“There was a damn cover up. Tensions among the population were high. The government didn’t want the cause of the expedition’s failure to get out and create havoc and ruin whatever reputation they had left. They even paid me to keep my silence.” Spent said as he took out the bag of coins he always carried with him.
“I finally found love but I lost it...for this?” Spent said as he looked at the bag before tossing it away. “If I had just warned Greta sooner, this wouldn’t have happened and she would still be alive!” Spent snarled as he reached into his jacket and took out a small steel flask which he opened and started drinking from. Sudoku frowned and wrenched the flask out of Spent's hoof. "Hey! That's mine!"
Sudoku held Spent at bay as he held the flask close to his chest but nearly gagged at how strong the liquor inside smelled. "Stop this Spent! You can't drown your sorrows like this! You won't find peace at the bottom of this flask!"
"Whether I drink or not is none of your Celestia damn business. Now give that back!" Spent shouted as he made another lunge for the flask.
"What if Greta could see you now, blaming yourself like this...what would she think?" Sudoku asked.
"She'd think I was right! I could have saved her! If I had just been faster, I could have saved her!" Spent said tearfully before Sudoku pulled Spent into his arms and as soon as he did, Spent broke down as he sobbed into Sudoku's tan fur. "I'm sorry Greta, it was my fault. It was my fault!"
Sudoku didn't say anything as he just patted Spent's back comfortingly and let him cry his heart out. Eventually, Spent's tears stopped flowing, so he got up. His face was a mess as his eyes were red from the crying and his muzzle was smeared with tears. Sudoku gave Spent a towel he kept for these kinds of situations and waited patiently as Spent cleaned himself up.
"Thanks...I needed that." Spent said.
"Everyone needs a good cry once in a while, even us stallions." Sudoku said before Spent passed the towel back to him. "Er, you can keep that."
"Oh, right..." Spent said when he noticed how damp the towel was before he let out a laugh, "You know, this is the first thing I ever got from another guy that wasn't a punch to the face for flirting with his girl. Er, sorry about trying to seduce your wife. I didn't know she was married."
"It's fine, I'm more sorry for what Target did to you." Sudoku said as he thought back to the scene and winced from what he witnessed back then. Just then, something rocked the bulkhead and alarms began to blare.
“What was that?” Sudoku asked.
“Trouble.” Spent replied grimly.
45 minutes ago: The Bridge…
“NO! NO! NO! It can’t be him!” Was the general train of thought going through Captain Rainbow Blaze’s head at that very moment, as he stared down and peered into the sightless demonically bloody red eyes of the Kraken, which seemed to stare right back at him, unblinking and unrelenting. Every detail from five years ago was the same, right down to the glowing green tendrils and the blinded eye from the Barracuda’s Tartarus-Piercer.
“...We’re going to need a bigger sub.” Twilight squeaked to herself, her father’s diary falling right out of her hooves and landing on the metallic floor below with a soft thudding sound.
“Bloody Tartarusfire.” Fancy whispered as he rubbed his monocle with a handkerchief to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. “I… I never thought he was real!” Old age is always wakeful, as it seemed to Fancy as if, the longer one was linked with life, the less man ought with that looks like the maws of his death. Perhaps now this was the meaning of death of which Herman Melville spoke.
“...You gotta be kidding me.” Mister Gallants said, completely astounded.
“Ah knew this here scenario would happen, Ah knew it. Ah just knew it.” Grape muttered to himself, curled up in a corner, whispering these words to himself, almost as a mantra.
“Celestia above in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name, save us from this monstrosity, this beast from not just the abyss, but the fires of Tartarus below.” Twilight said to herself, as she took out a small emblem of the sun and began to recite a prayer. Rainbow’s head whirled around to face the Blast Sisters.
“Get those explosives ready! We’re about to blow this damn thing back to it’s maker, Tirek below!” He roared, and as if he was Captain Ahab reborn, he snarled as he got up off his chair and his cutie mark of twin harpoons crossed never looked so potent and so fitting at that moment in time. He was a stallion possessed, and both Grape Vine and Fancy Pants knew it.
At that very moment, Fancy remembered a quote from Moby Dick, the novel which gave the great ship her name and was becoming more and more true by the hour. “I have no objection to any pony’s religion, be it what it may, so long as that pony does not kill or insult any other pony, because that other pony don’t believe it also. But when a man’s religion becomes really frantic; when it is a positive torment to him; and, in fine, makes this Equus of ours an uncomfortable inn to lodge in; then I think it high time to take that individual aside and argue the point with him.”
That was what Fancy was thinking of his Captain as he became more and more frantic in his quest to kill the great black squid of death, the Devil Fish, the Kraken.
“Fire one!” Rainbow ordered, and the first of the torpedos fired even as the tendrils closed in on the tiny sub. And it was tiny, at least in comparison to the truly gigantic mass of the squid which had beset itself upon it. Fancy could only imagine the size of the squid compared to a small fishing craft like the late Barracuda. There was a great explosion and silt from the ocean floor was stirred up obscuring the vision of the crew outside the window.
“We’re going to live!” Somepony, from the sound of their voice the crewmember probably being Ender Knight shouted.
But then, as the smoke cleared, to their horror, the Kraken was completely intact.
“...Nope, we’re all going to die.” Silverspeed deadpanned.
“Fire two!” Rainbow shouted yet again, and the second torpedo was fired but like before, not a single scratch mark was laid upon the Kraken.
“So… That’s what it’s come to eh?” Rainbow snarled. “Ram him! Let’s show this creature the power of this sub! All forward shielding to maximum!”
"Sir, maybe it's best we retreat?" Gallants suggested, but was soundly ignored.
"NO! I'm going to kill this creature if it's the last thing I do! Now ram him again!" Rainbow roared, a stallion possessed.
"It may very well be the last thing any of us do if the Captain doesn't see sense..." Gallants mused to himself but carried out his orders anyways. And so, with a great show of force, the Moby Dick headbutted the Kraken on the beak, all forward shields at maximum power and the entire forefront of the submarine glowing as green as the Kraken itself, it slammed itself into the monster from the depth’s of Discord’s wildest nightmares. The Kraken’s beak shattered! At last, a blow! And from this, Rainbow Blaze crowed in triumph.
“Now how’s that feel, you bastard? That was for my crew, and so is this! Fire the Tartarus-Piercer, Mark 2! We’ll get this creature in it’s very brain, we’ll see how it’ll manage to fight back with a lobotomy done to it!”
And so, with great clanking and whirring sounds, great gears grinding and steam valves hissing, the very top of the Moby Dick opened and a great harpoon cannon with a silver tip painted red in a crimson shade like blood was revealed, and launched its payload right where the Kraken’s brain would have been. But to everypony’s shock, it shattered upon impact.
“I… I don’t believe it! The damn thing’s head is armored!” Gallants squawked in disbelief. It wasn’t really surprising really, if one thought about it. The brain is the most important organ in the body, aside from the heart so it makes sense a highly evolved creature would have created armor to protect itself from damage to it’s most sensitive areas.
“Ram him again!” Rainbow roared, but suddenly he heard a clicking sound from behind him. The sound of a Colt Revolver cocking. He whirled his head around to see Grape Vine with a gun pointed right at him. Grape Vine knew what he had to do. His captain, his father had gone mad in his quest to exterminate the Kraken and avenge his crew, but in doing so he was putting the rest of ship and its crew in danger. Now it had all come full circle. Now Grape Vine understood what one of those visions meant and when it was supposed to come to pass. That time was now.
"F-From T-Tartarus's Heart I stab at thee." Grape Vine whispered in sorrow and fired, hitting Rainbow several times in the chest and sending him sprawling to the floor, blood gushing from his wounds, and rapidly forming a puddle on the deck. Grape rushed over to his adoptive father and began whispering “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” over and over again. Rainbow, using some of the last of his strength he had left, grabbed him by the chest and stared him straight down.
“No… No, I’m sorry. I led you on this quest, not to find some damn long lost treasure, but to find this beast, and I found it, and in doing so put you, one of the ponies I care about most in danger. That’s not what a father should ever do. Now you listen to me, and listen hard. There’s three things I want you to do for me.” Rainbow said, coughing up blood. “One, stop blaming yourself for every little thing that goes wrong. Two, when you get back to Manehatten, marry that girl of yours. She’s the one for you, I know it. I’ve seen you two together, you’re absolutely perfect for each other. Finally… Do me a favor and I want you to promise me this… When you and Trixie do get married, don't go after the Kraken like I did, just take care of my little girl..."
And then as Grape held his father’s hoof, Rainbow breathed his last. The great sea captain was dead.
“I… I promise.” He whispered.
Right Freaking Now!
Fancy snarled as he made his choice. The crew, despite the loss of Rainbow Blaze had adapted quickly to the change in captaincy. They did not have time to mourn, did not have time to grieve. What was more important right now was staying alive. The loss of a great individual, flawed as he was, could be dealt with later. Right now the crew’s only focus was on outrunning the great beast that which pursued them.
“Mister Gallants, divert all power to the remaining thrusters! We’re getting out of here!” Fancy boomed over the chaos and din of the Kraken’s repeated shrieking sounds as it roared in anger as it’s prey tried to elude it.
“Don’t have to ask me twice sir!” The griffin shouted back before taking one last look at what used to be his best friend and crossing himself.
“May you find peace in the skies and seas above us of which we can never know on this mortal plane.” Gallants mused.
“Silver Spanner, what’s the damage report? How soon can you get the aft shields up?” Fancy asked over the comms. In the engine room, lights were flashing red everywhere and water was pouring in from every direction. Both Wild Fire and Silver Spanner made a dash for the nearest door and sealed off that section of the boiler room just as it flooded.
“Well, I’ve got good news, and bad news. Actually, that’s a bleedin’ lie. It’s all bad news down here.” Silver Spanner reported. “We just lost one of out main boilers. Been completely flooded, it has. Aft shields, completely fried from Rainbow’s repeated use of them to ram the Tartarus out of that beastie out there. ‘Ey, speaking of which, where’s Rainbow Blaze? I’m used to him shouting my ears off, I am.”
“He’s…” Fancy trailed off, unable to speak. Both Silver Spanner and Wild Fire shared a look.
“Dear Faust…” Wild Fire whispered as Silver Spanner crossed herself with a hoof, a single tear slipping from her eye before her normal demeanor resumed itself.
“Well, isn’t that just damn great! Now we’ve gone from an actual sea captain who knows his way round a ship to a ‘effing rich berk who just rolls in money while the rest of us try to make due with what little we have!” She snapped, and Fancy’s temper finally flayed.
“NOW LISTEN HERE! I AM A FORMER COMMANDER OF THE RAF, SO I THINK I KNOW HOW TO LEAD PONIES AND WORK MY WAY AROUND A DAMN CRISIS, SO CLAM UP YOUR MUZZLE AND DO GET US SOME GOOD NEWS!” Fancy roared, and thoroughly quayed, Silver Spanner growled and held up a wrench before tossing it to Wild Fire and pulled out another wrench of her own.
“Y-Yes sir.” She stammered out before muttering to herself “Alright Spanner, time to work one of your famous miracles…”
It was Silver Spanner’s time to shine, and she knew if she didn’t think of something fast, they were as good as dead…
(To Be Continued…)