Titanic

by Imperator Chiashi Zane

Meeting Rose

Jack rolled back onto a bench on the deck, flipping his wingtip up over his face to shade his eyes. Inside his saddlebag was a tattered, leather-bound sketch-pad, his only truly valuable possession. He drew it out and leaned it against a raised knee, eyes panning across the deck. A charcoal pencil appeared in his other wingtip, and he set to work sketching, barely glancing at the page.
Against the rail, an older stallion, and Earth Pony, stood with his fore-hooves on the top rail, reining in his young daughter, who was standing up on the rail, her mane waving in the wind as she leaned back into him, watching seagulls. On the page, the image comes to life, Jack’s special talent showing itself in the delicate lines, rubbed smooth by his wingtip and hoof.
Honor, lying on his belly on the next deck-chair over, glanced at the drawing, then at the scene in it, nodding. He had known Jack to be an incredible artist when the two had met seven years ago, when his friend had been doing portraits of couples on the street for bread and water. Honor had been with his girl at the time, though the two were no-longer together. Honor had left her the portrait, as he no longer needed it after the mare had left.
Over on the deck, another Third class-passenger scowled as a porter walked past, tugging on three leashes attached to three of the most hideous dogs the peasant had ever seen, “Typical. First class dogs come down here to take a shit.”
Jack glanced away from the father and daughter for a moment, “That’s so we know where we rank in the grand scheme of things.”
“Like we could forget.”
Jack almost replied, but his eyes caught something at the aft end of the promenade. A beautiful golden mare, or filly, he couldn’t really tell from here, cherry colored mane bobbing in the wind underneath a broad hat that matched her brilliant yellow dress. His jaw slid open as his eyes locked on her. About twenty meters apart, the two were on opposite sides of the well deck. She stood on the promontory above, he lay on his lower one. She was staring down at the water.
He watched in rapt awe as she unpinned her huge hat from her head and removed it, the broad disk floating on a cloud of yellow magic. She glanced down at the frilly weight in her grasp, then flung it over the rail like an absurd Frisbee. It sailed away, out of sight of Jack, as it settled to the ocean below. The tiny spot of yellow in the vast ocean floated away. He was riveted to the scent carried on the wind, to the light carried over on rays of sunshine. She was like a figure in one of those romantic novels Fierce Honor always claimed to not have hidden under his pillow. Sad, Isolated. Alone.
Honor tapped the other passenger, and they both looked at Jack, snickering under their breath as he gazed with abandon at Rose. Devious grins crossed their faces, and they moved forward, only to be caught in the same spell as Jack when she turned. Hooves mere spans from Jack’s mop of hair froze as Rose’ blue eyes met Jack’s own. She realizes he is staring, but he doesn’t look away, neither does she. Not for a long moment. Their eyes met across the long deck, across a gulf between two worlds.
A stallion strutted up behind Rose, and grabbed her arm. She jerked away, and the two started arguing. Though Jack could not hear the words said, he recognized the postures. He had seen it too many times, most recently with Fierce Honor and his girl. It was one of the reasons the Earth pony kept those romance books, in the hopes that he would find love again, a girl not as easily swayed by money.
She stormed away from the stallion, and Jack raised a hoof, like he could possible interfere, save her, as the stallion pursued her out of sight. Up towards the A-deck promenade. He stared after her, hoof slowly falling to his side.
“Forget it boyo, you’re as likely to have Alicorns fly outta yer arse as get next to the likes of her,” the other passenger scoffed.
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Rose sat, surrounded by ponies in animated, heated conversation. Across the table, Kale and Truth laughed about something, she didn’t care. Lady Duff near the end, was in a heated argument about the dining requirements of some sort of dog. All of it was inaudible to Rose as she sat, staring blankly at her plate. Occasionally the odd bit of babble got through, but she was quick to ignore it.
I saw my whole life as if I’d already lived it. An endless parade of parties and cotillions, yachts and polo matches. Always the same narrow ponies, the same mindless chatter. I felt like I was standing at a precipice over a bottomless cavern. Nopony to pull me back. Nopony who cared. Nopony who even noticed.
Beneath the table, held firmly in her magic, the glow un-noticed amidst the glows of everypony else’s silverware holding magic, was a sharp salad fork, pressed to the back of her arm. Slowly, the fork drove itself deeper, pushing past her thin fur, into her skin. Harder and harder she pressed, until the tines started to draw blood. She glanced down at the droplets forming on the silver tines, then up at the others. A glare at the animated Kale, and she spoke, “I am not feeling well. I think I will retire to my cabin for the night.” Nopony responded, nor did they pause in their conversation as she stood and slipped out the door. She moved down the corridor, not-quite galloping, and only slowing for moments at a time to fool the stewards that she was alright. A nod here, a smile there. She was acting perfectly composed. Inside, she was in turmoil.
The door to her room hit the wall with a crash, and she flinched before realizing nopony would have heard that. They were all at dinner. She stared at herself in the mirror. Dignified, composed, beautiful. Everything except her blue eyes. She reached out with her magic, tearing a fine pearl necklace from her throat and scattering the tiny white spheres across the floor. She tore at her dress, her shoes, her hair. As she threw the fabric across the room, she felt a weight lifting. Finally, a hand-mirror slammed into the wall, cracking. Her rage spent, Rose ran out of the room.
She cried, hot tears pouring down her cheeks as she galloped down the B deck promenade. Her mane and tail were flying all over, tattered and out of order. Her rage had given way to distilled anger, hatred of everything she was being forced into. Of letting it get this bad. Of desperation. She barely noticed a couple strolling along the deck, though they noticed her, and were taken aback at the shocking display of emotion in public, and her tattered clothing.
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Jack gazed up at the stars above, his wings stretched out across two extra deck-chairs, soaking up Luna’s glorious moon. He smiled up at the dark outline of the black Alicorn on the white surface, and smoked a cigarette. As he finished thanking the dark mare for the night, though he knew it was Celestia who raised the sun and moon now, it had been Luna who had created it, he found himself distracted from his cigarette by the mare from earlier galloping up the stairs. With the exception of Quartermaster Rote, whom Jack had had a nice conversation with earlier, the deck was deserted but for the two of them. The broad-winged Griffon didn’t even look as the mare ran past him, knowing there was no-where for her to run to, and whatever she was running from might still be coming. Tactical analysis told him to prepare for the arrival of a threat.
Rose charged across the fan-tail of the ship, breath catching with the occasional suppressed sob. Rose slammed into the base of the stern flagpole, wrapping herself around it and sobbing wildly as she tried to catch her breath. She stared out at the black water below.
Several moments passed, allowing Jack to get closer, in a somewhat misguided attempt to help, mostly out of desire to get closer to the angel he saw before.
She released the pole with one hoof and started slowly climbing up the rail, like she was using it as a ladder, at least, at first. Then she started climbing up it with her rear hooves, and Jack started forward, moving faster and kicking off his boots. They would only make it harder to grab her if she fell. Moving methodically, she crawled over the rail, dragging the tattered fabric over the steel rail, then her tail, still mostly in its stylized curl. Twenty meters below, the propellers churned up the ocean into white foam, leaving a ghostly wake trailing into the darkness. Jack could see much better than she could, and he knew just how far that trail of bubbles went. She stood there, hooves pressed to the wrong side of the railing, leaning out over the waves. Her dress, mane, and tail fluttered in time with the Equestrian flag, just above the massive letterhead proclaiming TITANIC.
She leaned out further, hypnotized by the pounding propellers below, the churning vortex trailing behind the ship. The only sound she heard was the whip-crack of the towering flag above her. Then Jack’s smooth voice broke the monotonous sound, “Don’t do it.”
Her head whipped around, giving her a mouthful of mane as the wind blasted it back. A few moments later, she managed to magic enough of it out of the way to get a good look at Jack, “Stay back. Don’t come any closer!” Tears ran down her muzzle, shining in the light of the moon and the ship’s lights.
“Take my hoof, I’ll pull you back in.”
“No! Stay where you are! I mean it! I’ll let go!”
“No you won’t.”
“What do you mean, no I won’t? Don’t you presume to tell me what I will or won’t do! You don’t know me. Nopony does!”
“You would have done it already. Now come on, take my hoof.”
Rose stared at him, brushing tears away with the back of her hoof, and almost losing her balance, “You’re distracting me. Go away!”
“I can’t,” he moved forward slightly more, wings loose at his sides, “I’m involved now. If you let go, I’ll have to jump in after you.”
“Don’t be absurd. You’ll be killed.”
He fluffed his broad leathery wings onto the deck, low for streamlining, “I’m a good swimmer.”
“The fall alone would kill you!” Too blinded by tears to see the dark surface of his wings in the poor lighting of the deck.
Now he raised them into the air, prepared to launch forward off the edge, “It would hurt. I’m not saying it wouldn’t. To be honest, I’m a lot more concerned about how cold the water is.”
She glanced down at the waves below and gulped, the reality of the situation sinking in, “How cold?”
“Freezing. Maybe a couple degrees over. And, I’d have to get there first anyway, make sure you don’t hit the propeller on the way in.” His saddlebags dropped to the deck behind him, whip-like tail snapping free of the harness, “Ever been to Wisconsin?”
Her eyebrow rose, “No? What?”
“Well they have some of the coldest winters around. I grew up there, near Chippewa Falls. Once when I was a foal, my father took me Ice-fishing on Lake Wissota…Ice-fishing’s where you go out and chop a hole in the…”
“I know what ice fishing is!” She pointedly turned away, back to the ocean below.
He smiled, “Sorry, you just looked like an indoor type of filly. Anyway, I went through thin ice. This was before my instincts were quite as good, so I dropped right in. I tell you, water that cold…like that down there…It hits you like a thousand knives all over your body. Chills you right to the bone. You can’t breathe, can’t think…’Cept about the pain,” his wings curled forward, ready to be slammed back in a charge, “Which is why I’m not looking forward to jumping in after you. But like I said, I really don’t have a choice. I guess I’m kinda hoping you’ll come back over the rail and let me off the hook here.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Everyone says that. All due respect, though, ma’am, I’m not the one hanging off the back of a ship,” his hooves scooted along the deck, moving closer to her, “Come on now, you don’t really want to do this. Give me your hoof.”
Rose stared at the tensed up Thestral as he presented his side of madness to her. His eyes were all she saw, filling her mind and her universe, briefly, “Alright,” she reached for his outstretched hoof, and his wings lowered to the deck, still alert, but not primed. He reaches out and grabs at her hoof, firmly gripping it.
“Ratchet Jack Darkson.”
“Pleasure to meet you Mr. Darkson,” her voice shook as she began to turn around. Now the height she had thought might not be enough, was suddenly terrifying. She glanced back, vertigo blurring her vision as she shifted her stance. One hoof caught on the tattered edge of her dress, and her hoof slipped back. She dropped away, her other two hooves unable to maintain a grip on the slick rail. She dropped, letting out a piercing shriek.
Jack felt himself losing his grip as she fell, and he slammed his powerful wings down, lunging over the railing. Her hoof just missed the lowest rung as his hooves wrapped around her armpits, upside down. Flying upside down wasn’t impossible, but it certainly wasn’t easy, and her horn was poking him in the belly, painfully, as her tail whipped his face. He tucked his arms tight to his chest, pinning her as close as he felt was possible, ignoring the itch of her glowing horn shoving into his gut as he flapped backwards, hoping to get back over the rail.

Author's Note:

Error...Wrong chapter posted...Fixed now.
Jack met Rose