• Published 5th Apr 2014
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Titan of the Depths - Blackdragn18



What do you do when your crew leaves you to die? What do you do when the news keeps getting worse and you're now a monster in a mysterious world?

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Left to Die

“When lost in utter darkness, there is nothing left but forward.”
-Nautilus


“What do you think we’ll find?” A young man in a sailor suit watched as the gentle ocean waves lapped at the side of the Nautilus. The warm ocean breeze blew across his face as the ship moved through the vast blue ocean.

“Who knows?” Another man came to stand next to him. “We’re exploring uncharted seas. There could be anything.”

“Maybe we’ll find a giant kraken!” The first sailor smiled. “That would be so cool.”

“Yeah, I’d take that overgrown squid and serve us some calamari.” The second man stroked his beard.

“Those are some tough words. Let’s hope you can back them up.” The two sailors turned to follow the voice. Behind them there was an older man, wrinkles filled his face from age, a reasonable white beard covered his lower jaw, his uniform was crisp and clean, and his white hat was carefully placed and centered on his head, the gold trim glistening in the sunlight.

“Captain!” The two men stood up straighter.

“Calm down boys.” The aged man waved his hand. “I just happened to hear you talking. I’m expecting that courage to show if anything threatens us.”

“You can count on us captain.” The sailors nodded.

“Excellent.” The captain nodded before turning. “Enjoy this calm ride, hopefully it won’t stay like this for too long.” He then walked across the wooden deck, heading for the bridge.

“He kind of creeps me out.” The first sailor whispered as the captain exited view.

“Yeah.” The two turned to look over the railing again. “Why did the Institute of War even send us out here? Who cares what’s in the Guardian’s Sea?”

“I don’t know.” The younger man shrugged. “I try not to think about what goes through their heads. What do you think?” The sailor asked a larger crew mate as he passed.

“I believe this is a great opportunity for adventure," said the larger sailor as he turned to look at his crew mates. “We are going to see things nobody in the world has. Why question such a chance?”

“I guess.” The young sailor nodded. “Hopefully something will happen soon.”

“No need to rush it.” The large man came to stand next to the others. “There is plenty of time for discovery.”

“Captain! There’s something strange in the water!” A voice shouted from the crow’s nest.

Looking to the top of the wooden column, the three sailors were able to see a man on top with a telescope, pointing towards the east. Following the finger the three saw it. In the distance the water suddenly went from a rich blue to a murky black.

“What is that?” Another sailor asked as he came to stand next to the others.

“I’m not sure what it is, but we’re going to find out.” The captain said as he came to stand behind the crew.

“You can’t be serious.” The bearded sailor said in shock. “We have no idea what that stuff is. For all we know it could be dangerous.”

“What happened to that tough talk from earlier?” The captain raised an eyebrow. “We’re here to explore, and that’s what we will do.” He then pointed a wrinkled finger towards the black liquid. “I thought this ship was full of men, not little girls afraid of some black goo. We’re going in.”

The ship then began to veer towards the black ooze. After a few seconds they reached it, stopping the ship just a few feet away. When they had neared it, the strange substance seemed to move towards the ship.

“What is that stuff?” One sailor asked in fear. “It almost looks alive.”

“We’ll never know unless somebody goes in closer.” The captain said, reaching into a nearby closet and pulling out a large diving suit. “So who is brave enough?” The entire crew backed away. “Cowards.” The captain shook his head.

“I’ll do it.” The large sailor stepped forward.

“At least there’s one man here.” The captain handed the suit to the larger man. “Put this on.” He nodded, taking the hulking suit and slowly putting it on. After his body was covered in the brown suit the captain handed him the helmet. Putting it over his head, he sealed the suit. “Good luck.”

“I don’t need it.” The sailor said, his voice muffled inside the suit.

Turning, he slowly moved to the edge of the ship. Climbing over the rail, he prepared to lower himself in, but suddenly some of the ooze shot out of the water and wrapped around his ankle. It then began to yank, hoping to pull him into the water.

“Aagh!” He tried to pull his leg away. In response the ooze pulled harder, the entire ship now shaking. “Get it off!”

“At this rate the ship is going to capsize!” One sailor yelled.

“What are we supposed to do?” Another asked.

“Maybe if we give it what it wants the stuff will go away.” The captain said grimly.

“Captain, you don’t mean-” The crew looked at him in shock.

“Get him off the ship!” The captain ordered. “Give the ooze what it wants!”

“Yes sir.” A few sailors turned and walked towards their dangling crew-mate. He was now gripping the ship’s rail for dear life.

“What are you doing?” Their fellow sailor looked at them in shock.

“We need to think of ourselves.” One man said before he began to pry at the terrified sailor's fingers.

“Stop! Just help me get out!” The dangling sailor begged as his grip left the rail. “Don’t do this.” He pleaded as they began to yank his other hand off.

“We’re sorry.” One of them apologized as he pried the other hand free.

“No!” He shouted before he was dragged into the murk.

“I feel terrible.” One of the sailors hung his head.

“We had to. It was him or us.” Then the Nautilus violently shook again.

“What was that?” The crew ran to look over the side. A leather hand was gripping part of the anchor’s chain.

“That fool.” The captain growled. “He’s going to get us all killed.”

“What do we do captain?”

“Cut the chain.”

If I can just hold on I’ll make it. The diver told himself as he clung to the anchor. What are they going to do? Remove the anchor? Then there was the sound of something breaking and he began to sink. No!

The ooze felt the give and began to tug again. He watched as the ship grew smaller both from him sinking and it sailing away. The sailor made futile tugs as the black substance began to move up his body, covering more and more of him until it reached his face plate. He saw tendrils move over it before everything went black.

Where am I? The sailor opened his eyes. It was almost pitch black. A faint light barely pierced the ocean, though it was enough for the sailor to look at himself. What am I?

His hands were large and appeared to be some kind of fabric. Looking at his body he found that most of it was covered in brown metal. There wasn’t much detail he could see thanks to the darkness. He tried to remember anything about himself but nothing clear came, the only clear memory was the image of the ship slowly sailing away.
They left me. He clenched a fist. Alone, to die. They will pay.

The former sailor took a step before bumping into something. Reaching forward he felt it, it was large and metal. Feeling a chain he finally recognized it as an anchor. The anchor of the men who condemned him. Grabbing it, he hoisted it over his shoulder. I need answers. He began to walk forward. I will not rest until I find them. He continued to walk, aimlessly moving forward.

How long have I been moving? The former sailor had been walking for what felt like days, but he had found nothing. There had been an incident with a shark but one anchor to the skull handled it. Then something caught his eyes. Light. The water seemed to be getting lighter ahead. Continuing his slow march he moved towards the light, as he got closer it became apparent that the ground moved up as well. He had found a shore.

“Last one to the water is a rotten egg!” A young colt challenged his friend as they walked onto the beach. It was a beautiful day, the water was a wonderful blue, the sky clear of all clouds, and some seagulls flew in the sky. The beach was packed with ponies, all taking advantage of the great weather.

“You’re on!” The two children then rushed towards the sea, simultaneously diving into the salty water.

“I won!” The first colt shot his hooves up in victory.

“As if! I totally reached it first.”

“Did not.” He splashed some water into his friend's face.

“Did too.” The other colt returned the shot.

“Did not.” Another splash. The two then began to aimlessly splash water at each other, trying to get the other to submit. Then they noticed something move nearby.

“What was that?”

“Let’s find out.” The young ponies slowly swam towards the moving figure, all they could see was that it was big. “Maybe it’s a sea monster.”

“Sea monsters aren’t real. It’s probably just somepony diving.” The two watched as the figure got closer to the shore.

They screamed as a large brown head burst from the water. As the monster moved further forward more of it came out. It was huge, the body was some freaky combination of fabric and armor. Most of the body was covered in the brown metal, though the joints and hands were a brown fabric. On its back there was a large tank. It had a large ship anchor resting on its shoulder as it trudged onto the shore. Everypony on the beach began to scream and run. It looked around before spotting the children.

“You.” Its voice boomed, it was deep and echoing. “Where am I?”

“Run!” The colt told his friend, they both then charged out of the water running away.

“Stop!” It shouted.

“Keep running!” The two children continued their sprint. Looking back one of them saw the creature following them, it was only walking but the greater stride meant it was not too far behind.

“Agh!” A deep cry came from the monster. Looking back the colts saw it holding its face, then another bolt of magic smashed into it. The creature stumbled back from the impact.

“Halt!” The colts watched as three unicorn guards came into view. The monster groaned as it shook its head, recovering from the attack. “What is your business here?”

“I need answers.” The creature began to trudge towards them. He was blasted by another magic bolt. Stumbling back again.

“I told you to halt.” The guard said. “I will ask again, what is your business here?”

“Stop with the attacks.” The monster growled before throwing its anchor at the ponies. Two of the guards were able to dodge but the third took the metal weight head on and was crushed. The monster then pulled at the chain and the anchor flew back to him.

“That’s it.” The original guard growled before charging at the creature. Using some magic he increased his speed. As he neared it however, a leather fist smashed him in the face, easily killing him. The monster looked to the last unicorn.

“This is not good.” The guard said with wide eyes. Then his horn glowed. “I need to warn the princesses.” Then he was gone.

“Argh!” The monster slammed his anchor into the ground. After a few seconds he sighed and lifted it again, returning it to its place on his shoulder. “I will just have to find others.” The creature then began to walk away, leaving two dead guards, and two traumatized children.