//------------------------------// // Welcome Aboard // Story: On a Sea of Glass.... And Ponies // by JustAnotherHistoryBuff //------------------------------// April 18th, 1912 Manehattan A long time ago, somepony made out the 5 stages of whatever. Whether it be grief, suffering, anger, disgust... Whatever it is, you name it. But the catch is, it all ended the same way. Acceptance. Of course, like any experienced, hard working pony, Rusty Chain knew that it was all nonsense. Or well, he thought it was nonsense until he had to simultaneously deal with the Manehattan Police Department, the Manehattan Royal Guard Regiment, Press Reporters, the Diarchy of Equestria, and now the largest ship that ever sailed into his harbor that was not even of Equestrian origin. When everything was finally set, he had dismissed his secretary and pulled out the medicinals. By medicinals, it was some of the finest Manehattan Alcohol his money could buy. And boy, it was some strong stuff. Normally he would settle on the cheap stuff at a local dive bar or whatever was in the harbor mess hall but that night, he thought it was necessary. So fast forward to nearly 4:00 in the morning. Getting up from his bed, he went up to his apartment window to open up the curtains. He knew he would have to wait to see the sunrise, but there was something always beautiful about Manehattan at night. Whether it be in the early hours before morning or the early hours of the night, Manehattan was always beautiful with it's skyscrapers and floodlights lighting up the night sky with such beauty that even the other Equestrian metropolis's could not rival. After his typical morning shower and coffee routine was complete, his gaze turned back to the city. The city was waking up again and more lights across the city began to turn on as the ponies of the city began to wake up and get ready for work. It was always something nice to look at before he made his way back to the office. However, before he walked away to head to work, he glanced over at his harbor's newest arrival. His apartment gave him a good view of the harbor and an even better view of the Titanic. For some reason, there was something eerie about looking at the large behemoth at night. He had seen the night time pictures that the Manehattan Police ponies brought to him and he had seen the ship once it.... landed in the pier. But still, there was just something different about the way the ship looked right now. Most of the cabin lights were out across the lower half of the ship's black hull, save for a rather large assortment of lights coming out of portholes which looked like they were stacked on top of each other. The promenade and deck lights were blazing brightly as the clearly outdated lighting fixtures would allow them to do so. The sight that really struck him though were the floodlights that lit up the orange and black funnels. There was some sort of majesty that seemed to accompany it all. For a moment, he felt good about himself until he remembered all that he had to deal with when he got to work. Little did he know how hectic things were going to be just in the morning. *** *** *** Working as the personal secretary to the Manehattan Harbormaster was supposed to be a quiet job. Or at least, it used to be a quiet job for Golden Dawn. Now, she found herself in the midst of a near war in the office between the diarchs of Equestria, the Manehattan Police Department, the Royal Guard and Naval high command, and soon her employer, Rusty Chain. She had known Rusty for quite a few years, way back to when Rusty first got the position as Harbormaster. From the outlook, he seemed like any other normal dockhoof, gruff, lack of diplomacy, and a taste for alcohol. However, he was different. He was kind, respectful, and above all else, he never did try to woo Golden Dawn and flirt with her. Of course, he was fond of the drink at times and had a foul mouth, but he abstained mostly and always tried to keep a good face... at least whenever she was around. For that, their working relationship was friendly, albeit business friendly. But anyways, it had gotten to the point where the shouting was beginning to become to much too bear that Golden Dawn decided to rush out of the room to get some fresh air. Inside though, a war was nearly about to break out. *** *** *** "You incompetent fool! You could've gotten all of my soldiers killed!" Yelled the Captain Gilded Spear. "Maybe if you had kept in CONSTANT communication with the mainland, we would not be in this situation right now you hot-tailed fool!" Came a reply from Iron Hoof. "You are going to talk about constant communication to me? Do you have a carrot stuck up your flank you old Stallion? You are the fool that didn't intercept the ship while you had the perfect chance!" The Captain spat out. He wasn't half wrong. The old Admiral was supposed to intercept the ship but opted to instead tail the ship. However, the Admiral still didn't know what the ship was. "What was I supposed to do? What if this ship were a warship? What if it was sailing to invade Manehattan with thousands of troops?" The Admiral retorted. "Really, are you that stupid? Why didn't you have your wireless operators at least ASK the ship about what it was?" Gilded Spear asked. He knew he had the admiral trapped now as the old stallion's mouth remained shut and his eyes looked down at the table with rage brewing inside of them. "Oh... it never occurred to you to even ask for a designation. Face it old man, you're too old to command anymore." Gilded snorted out. And just like that, the admiral's eyes shot up and stared at Gilded's own eyes. "Well, you wish to talk about command then eh? Alright then. Lets bucking talk about command. What type of bucking Royal Guard Captain sends his soldiers STRAIGHT at a target eh? Really... you want to talk to me about command and yet you had your soldiers go straight into battle, no plan of attack... no true coordination... heck, you didn't even at least surround the ship. It was moving about 26 knots for Celestia's sake." The admiral snapped back. Now he was not wrong either, and they both knew it... but still, it burned Gilded Spear inside to hear that. "You don't know what me and this regiment have accomplished in all the years you have held that rank you currently have." He spat out. "Oh really... and what is that? Helping the Manehattan Police Department because they can't keep themselves out of trouble when dealing with even petty criminals eh?" The admiral said, glaring at the Manehattan Police Chief. "Hey, you better watch your flank... someponies wouldn't take to kind to insulting their department." Police Chief Lawful Strike warned, insulted that a navypony of all ponies would outright insult probably the most prestigious police department in all of Equestria. "Oh really.... you and what army eh?" The admiral dared. Little did they know what they were all in for. *** *** *** It had been 15 minutes and still the yelling and screaming at the conference room and yet still, what surprised Golden Dawn was that neither of the Princesses snapped, especially Princess Luna. She half expected to hear the Royal Canterlot Voice by now but still heard the voices of Stallions in command acting like little arguing colts. Even Captain Shining Armor hadn't stepped in yet from what she could hear so she had a feeling something was coming. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her hoof and turned to see Rusty Chain looking at her. His face clearly showed strains of some probable "medicinal alcohol" he had stashed around his office but he seemed alright. "So, what is the situation inside?" He asked, turning his head towards the room. "Oh nothing... just the typical inter-service rivalry and ranging insults, that's all." She said with a hint of sarcasm. Rusty chuckled slightly under his breath before turning back to her. "So... anything I should be warned about before I enter into battle?" He asked, glaring back at the conference room. "Keep an eye out for the Princesses and Shining Armor, I have a feeling they are waiting for the right moment to break silence." She warned. Taking in the warning, Rusty simply nodded and made his way into the room. *** *** *** Luna at this point was on her last nerve. Never so much had she wanted to use every single word of profanity in one rant alone. All that was keeping her from using the Royal Canterlot Voice was her sister's somewhat calming words of patience. Celestia kept telling her to wait for the right moment before lashing out like she knew her sister wanted to do. And then came in the harbormaster.... Rusty Chain. He gave the customary bow to the Princesses and sat in his chair nonchalantly while the shouting amongst the Police, Royal Guard, and Navy officers continued. This time, even their subordinate were joining in. It probably would've gotten louder if Rusty hadn't suddenly picked up the metal cup that was beside him and suddenly threw it at the wall, immediately shutting everypony up. "Alright... I seem to have everypony's attention." He said. "Who in the name of Tartarus are you?" The old Admiral asked. Immediately, the Manehattan Police Chief began to try and signal to the Admiral to drop the question but it was already too late. "Oh... me? Well, I happen to be the master of this harbor that you are all currently gathering in and what YOU three..." he said pointing to Gilded Spear, Admiral Ironhoof, and Police Chief, "are currently desecrating with your very presence." He spat out. The 3 that he pointed out looked like they wanted to say something but he shut them up as he continuted. "You 3 idiots have single handedly muddled up a simple situation that is not only effecting your own subordinates and my dockhooves but the entire bucking Equestrian economy. Now... to start off, lets look at what you have done Admiral. You are most likely the damned cause of this entire situation because YOU STOOD BY AND DID NOTHING." He nearly screamed. "Now, how about you and your "elite guards". Thanks to your damned idiocy, I now have half the entire port converted into a hospital because you decided to get geared up ready to fight a war without even proper planning! Now I have half the port out of action and trade coming from the Gryphons has nearly halted because my dock workers cannot even navigate the sea of bodies your hottailedness caused." He said, making the Guard Captain nearly shrink in his seat. "And now you... Lawful Strike... you have always been a nuisance in port activities. I understand the whole bucking contraband shit and what not but..." He got up on top of the table and began to bang his hoof on top of it with each word he uttered. "DO... NOT... SEND... YOUR... DAMN... OFFICERS... IN... HERE... TO... TELL... ME... MY... DAMNED... BUSINESS!" He screamed, then picking up a nearby coffee cup and smashing it right in front of the Police Chief who was too scared to even flinch. Luna was quite amused at the whole rant and looked to her sister to see if now was the time. When Celestia nodded back. Luna, for the first time in the hour that she had sat in the conference room, stood up and spoke while Rusty Chain sat back down, downing a pill in the process. "Thank you for that... presentation, Harbormaster Chain. Now... for today's business, I want these people to stay in the room." She began, with a hint of near evil in her voice as she read out the names. "Gilded Spear, Ironhoof, Lawful Strike, and Samuel Hoof." She said. Immediately, everyone else in the room began to file out, someponies even nearly trampling each other as they made their way through the small exit. When everyone finally exited, then it began... *** *** *** It had been almost 5 hours since he had to wake up in the middle of the night to find his officers in a drunken mess on the Dining Room floor and Smith was not in the mood to really get up... considering the entire situation he was currently in. However, the near ear-deafening sound of a female voice berating someone woke him, and most likely all the other passengers, up early in the morning. After getting dressed and having his morning tea made, Smith made his way to the bridge to find the rest of his officers up and sober (thankfully). It was still nighttime and the city's lights were still burning brightly but the berating went on for a few more minutes, much to the annoyance of the bridge officers. When the screaming finally stopped, Smith could finally get down to business. "Good morning gentlemen... I hope you all slept well last night." He began. The statement made Moody and Murdoch cringe but they kept their faces straight as Smith continued. "Duties for today will be rather light, considering our situation. Mr Murdoch, Mr Wilde, Mr Moody, and Mr Pitman, I want all you men of passenger control. Mr Boxhall, please get me the ship's current inventory, we may need to ration when we get low. Mr Lightoller and Mr Lowe, go get the pistols... I want you guarding that gangway door. If any passenger gets within 6 ft of it, please... direct them away. I want to know if any messages come for us and brought to me immediately as well. Is that clear gentlemen?" All of the officers nodded. "Alright, let us get to work then. I will be up here if anybody needs me." Smith said. When all was said and done, the officers left for their duties while Smith returned to his cabin for at least one more hour of sleep. *** *** *** The door... it just would not stop tapping. When he was making his rounds to the bakery in the early hours of the morning, Charles Joughin stopped as the tapping sound began near the gangway door. For a while, he thought it was nothing and continued onto the bakery, regardless of the current situation. However, when he returned, he found numerous stewards gathered around the door as the tapping continued. Then he began to worry. Every now and then, the tapping stopped but no Steward dared move toward the door. For a time unknown to him, they all just stood there, staring at the door, waiting for something to happen. Their attention only seemed to be drawn away from the door as soon of Officers Lightoller and Lowe appeared descending down the stairs, the grips of their pistols showing from their coat pockets. "Joughin, what the bloody hell is going on? Why is everyone just staring at the door?" He asked, somewhat curious himself. "Sir, the door... it won't stop tapping." Joughin said. "Tapping? What the bloody hell do you mean tapping? Have you been drinking Mr Joughin?" Lightoller asked suspiciously. "I have not had a drink since... that night... thank you very much Mr Lightoller. If anything, you and Mr Lowe look like you both had a near keg of ail by the looks of it." Before Lightoller could answer, Lowe stepped in. "That is beside the point, now... what do you mean by tapping?" Lowe asked. "What do you mean by tapping? There is tapping coming from the door... I don't know bloody Morse code by I sure as hell will not touch that damned door." Joughin said. For a minute, Lowe and Lightoller looked for each other, each pondering what to do until they broke their silence. "Alright then Joughin, you stay here with Mr Lowe while I'll go get the Captain." Lightoller said, before dashing up, and nearly slipping on, the Grand Staircase. *** *** *** Of all ponies, they had to pick him. After when they last tried to open that cursed gangway door, Private Swift Sword vowed to never go near it again. But being the low ranking Private that he was, he could not disobey an order, especially considering the current situation that he now found himself in. When he had first woken up, he was greeted to what only could be the infamous "Royal Canterlot Voice" that Princess Luna had possessed. This was followed by his commanding Sergeant bursting into the barracks asking for a messenger volunteer. Since nopony answered, fate decided upon that hour that the Sergeant would pick him of all ponies to deliver a message to the creatures that nearly threatened to "blow his brains out". His ever generous Sergeant though elected to send at least 2 Manehattan Policeponies to provide whatever support they could provide. So here they all stood, knocking on the door for over 30 minutes to deliver the letter. By now, the morning dawn was beginning to show and light began to pour from the sky. After 15 minutes of waiting, one of the police ponies pulled out a deck of cards and the 3 ponies sat around the gangway to play a game of poker. He was actually winning and scored himself a few bits until the gangway door began to creek and slowly open. Immediately, the 3 of the stuffed the cards away and waited for the door to open. However, the door did not move any further and only a faintly similar voice from the previous day came from the other side. "Who the hell is there?" It said. Not knowing what to say... they all stood silent until one of the policeponies spoke up. "We... we have a letter to deliver to whoever is the captain of this ship." He said. For a moment, the voice did not speak, probably pondering what to say. Finally though, the voice did speak. "Alright then, hand the bloody letter over. We'll send the response through this door so don't bloody go anywhere." The voice said before sticking an appendage similar to claws out of the door so that it may take the letter. Once the exchange was made, the door slammed shut and was locked leaving the 3 ponies to sit back down and wait. *** *** *** "They request an audience with me?" Smith said, looking over the regal looking letter. "So that's what it said." Lightoller whispered into Lowe's ear. "Do you need anything else Sir?" Lowe asked as Smith looked over the letter once again. "Yes, please get me Purser McElroy, Mr Bell, Mr Ismay, Mr Wilde, and Mr Andrews. I must speak with them at once. Without another word, Smith gestured for the two officers to leave as he turned away and looked over the letter again. *** *** *** Passengers are many things: delightful, painful, annoying, or disgusting. However, this was something new... a near stampede. As soon as the loud screaming had stopped, a lot of first class passengers got dressed and began to demand that they have their personal belongings returned from the Cargo Hold and could've nearly broken into the Purser's officer if Officers Wilde and Murdoch had not arrived to keep the peace. However, that did not stop the passengers from still being rude and disrespectful. As much as he wanted to return their insults, McElroy still had to keep up a good face for the sake of his own reputation as well as the company's as well. His only saving grace was when Officer Lowe came to tell him that he was needed by the Captain. *** *** *** The chaos that always seemed to happen in any engine room of a ship is always orderly... well... unless your ship is forcibly lifted out of the sea and into a dock by some sort of force of divine providence. But if there is anything an engine room is, it is efficient. So when Officer Lightoller came down to fetch Joseph Bell, the man of jokes found the chief engineer fast asleep after the previous day's ordeal. It took a little shaking but the Bell finally did wake up, albeit in a groggy early morning state. *** *** *** When everyone finally arrived, Smith had led them into the ship's chart room on the bridge so that they could converse privately. When the door was shut, Smith silently handed the letter over to Ismay so that it could be passed around to everyone on the ship. When all was said an done, Smith was handed back the letter and the conversation soon began. "So... they wish to have an audience and a tour of the ship? I find that a bit lacking diplomatically, especially if this were to come from a head of state." Ismay said. "I would have to agree with you there Mr Ismay, but what position in terms of bargaining do we have? As far as we know, we nearly barged in like the Americans did in Japan." Officer Wilde said. "Well, we did not come in demanding trade. If anything, they could've at least provided an escort instead of nearly attacking us." McElroy pointed out. "You make a valid point McElroy. But what can we do? We may have some coal left but it won't get us very far for one. Hell, they weren't even topped off because of the coal strike! We had to siphon a bunch off some ships in Southampton. Secondly, if we do managed to bugger off from this port, what makes you think those horses won't send their fleet after us with a somewhat more competent officer this time?" Bell said. "What makes you say that their commanding officer was incompetent Mr Bell?" Smith asked, slightly curious. "No competent officer would fall for a Morse message if the ship clearly isn't slowing down." Bell said, leaning back in the chair he was sitting on. "And how do you know that happened Mr Bell?" Andrews said, now intrigued himself. "Simple, those two young wireless lads have big mouths." Bell chuckled. "Well, that is beside the point but thank you for that... insight Mr Bell. But back to the question at hand... do we give them an audience or not gentlemen." Smith reiterated causing the room to fall silent. Nobody spoke for a few minutes as they all pondered the question. Finally, and surprisingly, Andrews was the first to speak. "I honestly say we at least give them the audience, but don't give them the tour." He began to state. "If anything, an audience would be well enough so that we may explain ourselves to these Equines and our current situation. I would not give them the tour for the sake of the passengers if anything." With that, the men in the room nodded in agreement. "That sounds alright to me but my question is, where will we even put them?" Wilde asked. "Well, we could simply put them in the dining room. I am sure that they may fit inside if we simply move about the tables. However, we would have to ask them to bring their own furniture since well... they are horses after all." Andrews stated. "Do you think they can fit through the gangway doors though? That is my main question." McElroy asked. "How tall are you Mr Ismay?" Andrews asked turning towards Ismay. "6 feet and 4 inches. Ismay said. "There is your answer Mr Bell." *** *** *** Luck had finally run out for Swift Sword. He still had some winnings from the Poker game but he eventually lost his streak and ended up loosing 36 bits. He had a feeling one of the policeponies was crab-eyeing him but before he could even asked, the gangway door to the ship opened and the same voice spoke. "Oi, you lot still there?" It asked. "Do you have a response for us?" Replied Swift Sword. "Yeah, here... take the bloody letter and piss off. I'm pretty sure you lot won't need to be waiting at this damned door after that letter gets read by your leader." It said, swiftly tossing the letter on the gangway before closing the door and locking it up again leaving the 3 ponies to gather their things and present the letter. *** *** *** 4 Hours Later "Be careful with that... I have already had to go through enough tongue-lashings today." said Ironhoof as he watched his men carry the furniture up the gangway. "Don't single yourself out... we all had to go through it, remember that." Gilded Spear said. "Oh be quiet you hottailed..." "Be quiet you two... you know very well that another tongue-lashing will not end well for all of us." Lawful Strike said in a lowered voice. Up ahead of them, the two diarchs of Equestria snickered between themselves as they listened to the 3 ponies try not to argue amongst themselves. Granted, the tongue-lashing was needed... but who said nopony could laugh at the display of fear currently? When they finally made it to the door, Twilight (who was trailing behind them with the rest of the elements of harmony) came up to ask the Princesses a question. "Forgive me Princess but... what happened with those 3 Stallions back there?" She asked. "Twilight, how did you wake up this morning?" Celestia asked. "Well, I woke up when I heard scr-... is that why they are like that?" "Yes, Twilight." "It was that bad?" "It could've been worse Twilight. Needless to say, their punishments have not even begun and I do sense a few demotions in the future, would you agree sister?" Luna said. "Yes... I think it would be very much well needed." Celestia responded. With that, all those on the gangway went silent as guardsponies, navyponies, and policeponies stood at the edge of the docks and in the air around the entrance to the gangway... waiting for anything to happen once the gangway doors were opened. One swift knock later, and the party of royalty, military high command, and the elements of harmony, made their way inside the Titanic.