April 15th, 1912
Screams, all throughout the middle of the night screams could be heard. From a distance, one could see a large object with its lights still blazing slipping into the see. As seconds became minutes... one by one, towering funnels collapsed as water lapped at the base, plunging into the ocean. Two of them fall to this fate until finally, the power goes out. A death shrieking sound can be heard through the night as metal twists, bends, and breaks. Suddenly, the emergency generators kick in albeit it is still hard to see anything, one can still see the emergency lights dot the objects rear in a faint, but hellish red glow. No one however can see the terror unfolding onboard as people cling the object's rear in a final attempt to stay away from the water. Within less than a couple of minutes, the behemoth sinks into the calm sea with it's final words going down with it.
Titanic
Liverpool
It takes no more than thirty minutes for the screams to finally die down as the vessels lifeboats finally begin to gather with one another. For a moment, there is a sad calm on the sea until an odd mist appears out over the horizon. No one takes it for anything as they had already been through a tragedy of their own as the mist engulfs the area. Once inside the mist, nobody saw what was happening and for a moment, there was simply nothing but darkness and silence. Then, there was light.
*** *** ***
Edward John Smith woke up as if he had been awoken from the grave. He nearly expected to be in heaven, but after he looked around, he merely saw that he was in his Captain's Quarters. The finely furnished room was lit by the sunlight peering out of the window.
Sunlight, is this heaven? Or was is a dream. he thought as he began to dress himself.
Though he decided to play off what he thought had happened the night before as a dream, it was oddly quite from what he could hear outside of his Quarters. Normally the bridge and officer quarters would be full of activity, especially at this time of the morning. Today though, all that remained was complete and utter silence.
Dressing himself in a quick manner, his first thought was to go to the bridge. Upon finding no one at their station, he noticed that the engines were all set to full stop. Taking a quick aft of the bridge on the port side, he saw no smoke coming out of the funnels as there usually was. His stomach churned in a slight manner as he decided that a trip to the wireless room was needed.
Taking the short walk to it (as it was still in the officer's quarters), Smith opened the door to see both operators, Harold Bride and Jack Phillips, asleep at their posts. The only source of light within the room came from the skylight above and when Smith flipped the light switch, nothing happened. There was obviously no more power throughout the ship at this point. Smith began to wonder if the others were in the state as they were all in so Smith decided to take a gamble. He reached over and began to pat the two men up but as soon as his hand touched their shoulders, both men woke up in a sort of panic. Taking their time to get a hold of their surroundings, Bride and Phillips turned to Smith with faces of relief on them.
"You look like you boys have seen a nightmare" Smith said thinking back to his own.
"I believe we both did sir. It was like the ship really did sink Sir." Phillips said with a little quiver in his voice.
"Aye, I nearly expected to find myself aboard that blasted overturned lifeboat with Lightoller." Bride said, obviously relieved. From the look of the two men, it looked like they had been through hell together.
"Gentlemen, as far as I am concerned... nothing has happened and we are all still here. Speaking of Lightoller however, I know you aren't exactly employees of the White Star Line and technically fall under the order of the Marconi Company, but I do need your help getting the officers awake so that we can all get along. Could you do that for me gentlemen?"
"Captain, I think it is safe to say that me and Bride would do anything to get the ship in Port after what we might had just experienced." Phillips' voice had a tone of true eagerness and this was truly made genuine with Bride's tone when he said "Aye Captain".
"Well gentlemen, we have work to do. Also, the power does not seem to be present at the moment so we may have to get Mr Andrews to go find Mr Bell so that we might fix this situation."
With that, the men walked out of the powerless Marconi room to awaken the officers.
*** *** ***
Canterlot
Luna, Princess of the Moon and Co-Ruler in Equestria awoke to see her sister beside her bed.
"I heard screaming from your room and came as quickly as I could." Celestia said. Her voice was soothing with concern for her sister's safety. "Now, what had happened to cause you of all people to scream?"
"Spare me the reference sister. What I just saw was indescribable. Tell me, have you ever seen tragedy and despair happen to those who for the first time seem to feel at ease and assured with themselves? What I just witnessed, was something just like that. But it was not from one pony.... It was like it was from thousands of souls all at once. I can even still see some of those dreams."
"What do you mean, thousands at once sister."
"Like I said, it was as if thousands of souls were having this exact dream all at once and at the same time. Like they were all linked together."
"Luna, why don't you just rest for the moment and think over what you saw. I am probably going to need to get Twilight for this."
*** *** ***
One moment, he was at sea on a lifeboat, the next moment, he saw Harold Bride shaking him awake from his bed. It took a few grunts and an "Alright alright, I am awake kid." With that, Bride simply told him Smith wanted all the officers at the bridge for an urgent meeting and then left the room.
Getting up from his bed, 2nd Officer Charles Lightoller went to go turn on the lights but all he got was nothing. "Great, powers out... No wonder why the Captain wants us up." Looking at his watch, it took him a few minutes to get his uniform and as he walked up to the bridge, the dream.... or possible memory came back to him. The lifeboats lowering, the bow going under, the funnel collapsing, that drunken chef, and the mist. After the mist, there was nothing. The thought lingered in the back of his mind as he got up to the bridge.
When he got up to the bridge, he saw that Wilde, Murdoch, Boxhall, Lowe, Pitman, Moody, Smith... And surprisingly his employer, Mr. Ismay. From the latter's outward appearance, Ismay looked as if he was half dead and weighed down by something. His normally professional look and demeanor was now replaced by a tired, depressed man in wrinkled pajamas. The only man missing was Mr Andrews. Wouldn't have surprised him if Andrews dozed off into his blueprints. Finally, Smith began to speak.
"Alright gentlemen, I am glad that you all found the strength in you all to get up this morning after last night." Looking around Lightoller shuddered at the thought... "Was last night real? Or did we all suffer some sort of the same dream." He almost thought his memory was beginning to betray him early but his thoughts were shut up by Smith speaking again.
"I, like you all, would not like to possibly make last night's nightmare a reality. So now, here is what we must do. As you all probably have noticed by now, the power has gone out. From what our wonderful wireless operators have told me, most of the staff has already woken up as well as some of the passengers. Therefore, I need you all to keep order while we sort out the power situation. Then we may continue onto New York. Is that clear?"
All the men said in Union "Aye Sir" and as they turned to head towards the Grand Staircase, Captain Smith said one more thing. "Oh gentlemen. No pistols please, we have already dealt with one nightmare today." Immediately Lightoller had a sick feeling in his stomach and he remembered when he nearly caused a terror firing his weapon to keep crowds away from the lifeboat. They soon all turned back and headed towards the Staircase and as he was just about to head inside the officers quarters hallway, Lightoller overheard Smith request that Ismay follow him so that they could set some thing straight, whatever that was.
*** *** ***
Harold Bride and Jack Phillips stood in front of cabin A-36. This was the cabin of Thomas Andrews, the essential designer of the Titanic. By now the ship was beginning to "wake up" per say but they still needed to get the engines running so that power could be provided throughout the ship. Phillips, taking the lead, opened the door expecting Andrews to be asleep in a chair. Rather to his surprise, he saw the nearly six foot tall man standing amoungst the clutter of blueprints and papers in his room infront of a mirror, straightening his tie.
"Ah, gentlemen... I must say I was expecting to be fetched sooner or even simply awoken from my slumber." Andrews said. His voice was oddly calm and the cheeriness he was known for was quite present.
Somewhat shocked... Phillips uttered the words "Uh... yes... Mr Andrews. Well, see..."
"Does the Captain need me on the bridge?"
"N..no Mr Andrews, he actually needs you to head to the engine room and wake up Mr Bell so that uh... We may fix the electricity issue."
"Ah, well I assume you need me to go and lead you down there..... Well... Best not keep the ship dead in the water."
With that, Andrews immediately walked out and gestured the two wireless operators to follow him. He was quick on his way down the aft Grand Staircase but it was clear to both Phillips and Bride that something was holding Andrews down. His steps were quick yet quiet and careful. As they walked through the hallways down into second and then Third Class, they could see the strain on Andrews' face and his hands were kept tucked away in his pockets.
"Something happened to him, whether real or in a dream." Phillips thought as they made their way through Scotland road down to boiler room 1.
From there, they descended down the ladders into the surprisingly active Boiler room. The stockers were hard at work feeding coal in the ship's boilers and without the fans, the enclosed space was so hot that the 3 men proceeded to take off their jackets and ties. Making their way through the chaos, they finally made it to the Engine Room to find nearly every engineer still asleep at their stations. Each man they passed, they proceeded to wake up up until they got to the main breakers. There, they saw Chief Engineer Joseph Bell on the metal floor, sleeping.
Andrews reached over to try and shake Bell up but before his hand touched the sleeping man, Bell suddenly woke up and yelled "Get up top, we've done all we can!" Before standing up and nearly headbutting Andrews in the chin.
Bride and Phillips looked at each other as they saw Andrews and Bell speak to each other in rather quiet voices. Before long, they both collected themselves and bell walked over to the two wireless operators saying "Alright gents, do me a favor and go help the lads start flipping the breakers up while I go get the other lot to get the engines back up. Good thing that the stockers woke up, otherwise we would have spent a few hours building up steam just to get the engines running at quarter speed."
Flipping the breakers was pretty easy and no sooner than when power was restored to the ship that the engine telegraph signaled full ahead from the Bridge. With that, Phillips and Bride returned to the wireless room while Andrews stayed down with Bell to have a "private conversation" with them. Even though the power was back on however, the ship (especially in the lower decks) was still quite humid and the recent influx of passengers waking up from their slumber only added to the musky atmosphere. But then again, it was better than being down in the boiler rooms. While making their way down Scotland Road towards the E-Deck entrance on the main Grand Staircase, Bride was quite uneasy and finally asked Phillips the question on both their minds.
"Phillips, do you.... I know you know what I saw in my dream.... do you think it was real? Last night? The iceberg, the lifeboats, the.... the sinking?"
With that comment, Phillips pulled his younger colleague aside in an empty hallway away from the first class crowds and they began to confer in private. "Harold, listen to me... I wish to speak of nothing of last night, real or fantasy. At this point, all I would like to do is get the telegraph system working, get to New York, and take a break. You with me on that Harold?"
"Aye, but I feel like that stuff ain't gonna leave me for a while... Hell, did you see how Andrews was? You could tell something shook that man to his core."
"I did, and I am a bit worried about him... I would not be surprised if for the rest of his voyage he pours over his designs and the good doctor O'Loughlin will have to be summoned to get that man to even eat. But lets just focus on the task at hand now..."
"Aye, alright mate... besides, any second longer down here and I may suffocate."
*** *** ***
Canterlot
After the morning's fuss up, Luna agreed to talk with Celestia about the dream she had had over the night. So there they were now... sitting across from each other on loveseats. By now it was midday and Celestia decided that a warm tea would be needed... after a few seconds of silence, Celestia said "Luna, whenever you are ready... we may talk about it."
Luna was not exactly quick to respond but she soon did uttering the words "It was a ship... a rather large one...." As she said this, she used her magic to teleport to her a piece of paper and pencil.
"Was this ship any of ours?"
"No, in fact it is substantially larger than ours." As Luna said this, she began to draw out the ship. "It had four large smoke stacks and two masts yet no sails or paddles." She said drawing out what looked like the upper decks.
"What of the passengers?"
"They were odd creatures, I have never seen them before. They were bipedal, they did not have fur coats and only manes on the top of their heads. They did wear clothing though... clothing somewhat similar to what I have seen Twilight's friend Rarity design."
"What is it that she would say? At least these creatures have a sense of fashion." With that comment both sisters had a good laugh but now it was back to the topic.
"The ship sank Celestia..."
"..."
"It sank, it looked like it took about 3 hours but it sank, just after hitting an iceberg. And I could see it all... families being torn apart, loved ones drowning or freezing to death in the water, creatures being trapped below decks without having a chance to get to a lifeboat.... and even those within the lifeboats... watching in terror as it sank with it's lights blazing on until the end.... and even the creatures working below to keep the ships lights on... I saw all of it."
Celestia went silent... clearly shocked by what Luna said. They would not speak for a few minutes before Celestia asked if she saw anything else...
"After I saw the ship go down, all I could see were the creatures in lifeboats... trying to get together and wait for rescue. Suddenly, all I saw was the ship... it was floating silently... no smoke coming out of its stacks and no wake behind it. That was when I felt all of those nightmares.... thousands of them... all at once and all seemingly in sync. They have died down now but I can still feel the thoughts of the creatures effected by it..."
"Where.... where did you sense these dreams were Luna?"
"I could feel them all in the North Equestrian Sea... but now there is nothing... I can feel the thoughts though, and it seems they are moving west."
"Do you think that these creatures are somehow here now?"
"I do not know sister, and I would rather not think about it..."
"Please, get some rest Luna, I will handle your nightcourt until we can settle things. I have a feeling something is very off..."
With that, Celestia left Luna in the library and went over towards her personal telephone in her room.
"Yes... Operator, may you please get me Manehattan Port Authority and Admiral Iron Hoof.... Yes... Thank You... Admiral, good to hear from you.... I need you to assemble the Equestrian Sea Fleet... No, no battleships required, just get the Cruisers.... When can you get them ready.... Tomorrow. Good, I need you to patrol the North Eastern Sector for a ship... I will send you the drawing of what we think it is.... Good, I look forward to what you find."
After another phone call with the Manehattan Port Authority, Celestia made her way to the Throne Room for daycourt and to await any further updates.
Author's Note
Welcome all to the redux of the story that I tanked with my own immaturity with writing. As time has sufficiently passed, and my own writing style has matured (as well as of course, my thought process and rationality after the wonderful year of COVID), I feel it best to try and redo one of my better stories that I cancelled out of self embarrassment.
As I always said before, comments and criticism is very much welcome... lord knows I need it.
Pride of the White Star Line
Tick... tick... tick... tick...
All around him, the sounds of men and machinery chipped away at his focus ever so slightly. Just a simple wrong sounding noise could make him turn his head away from focusing on his pocket watch as he counted the seconds.
It could... if that were two decades ago.
The year was no longer 1891, and Joseph Bell was no longer the fresh faces newly promoted Chief Mechanical Engineer within the ranks of the White Star Line. Two whole decades of time allowed him to temper himself, to hone is experience and expand his expertise. No longer was his the Chief Engineer of some small cargo ship, no. He was the man in charge of keeping the world's largest moving object in motion... a duty which he would ensure he would commit towards with the utmost attention.
Around him, he was surrounded by the best of the best which the Line could provide. Of course, some new men had signed up, but they all had potential within them. And it was that potential which allowed for the fires of devotion and duty to be stoked.
Rallied around their Chief they had done, all to ensure that everything was running well. And though they all had some thoughts about their previous night, once again, it was that devotion towards duty that saw them rally around their Chief once again, towards the point they were currently at now.
So when Second Senior Engineer Edward Farquharson called out that the ship had built up enough steam, Bell made note of the time, and sent the word to the bridge. Within only a few seconds, the telegraph ordered Full Ahead, and soon Titanic's engines roared to life once again, ready to begin the journey once more.
*** *** ***
The ship shuddered as it's engines began to churn the wake that it was beginning to leave behind. Clear blue skies met the White Star Liner with open arms as it began to effortlessly plow through the waves of the ocean. Soon, fresh sea air began to make its way through the upper deck ventilation ports, and the once stifling and crowded 3rd Class Areas began to be cooled once more.
Further up above, as breakfast began to be served, only the most stifled of conversations were being held, even by the most charismatic of any of the passengers. Some simply sat in silence, others wore a mask of shock and grief. Many chose not to even attend breakfast, and rather opted for the Promenade Decks above. And some, simply sat in their cabins, either alone or with close company to keep them and their thoughts occupied.
In the largest of such cabins, sat Joseph Bruce Ismay, his normally towering 6'4 figure sitting slumped in one of the luxurious chairs that were set up around the cabin's sitting room. He had sent both his Valet, Richard Fry, and Personal Secretary, William Harrison, away when they inquired about his own well being. The thoughts of the previous night stung very deeply within his mind.
The men had very much clearly intended to try and help their employer out, and Ismay understood it, for it had been near close to a decade for which he had worked with them mutually. His inner thoughts however tormented him to the point in which he could not look either of the men within the eye.
His conversation with Captain Smith on the bridge had not left him in a better mood either, for even though no words of beratement were said (though they dared not to speak of it, Smith commended Ismay's actions for what possibly happened in the night), the realization of what might have happened, sank in heavily. And with it, the guilt for his own decisions came to haunt his mind.
What would be said of it all when they arrived in port. Was it a case of mass hysteria? Or was this god's way of tormenting him... his soul already languishing in hell for his greatest sin... getting into that lifeboat.
All throughout that night, he was labored within his nightclothes with a simple overcoat on, helping to set up and lower any boat he was near. He tried to put anyone and everyone near into a boat along with the rest of the crew, dragging one passenger by the arm to the boat deck at one point too. But still, more remained... hundreds more.
He knew that, and he still got in. He should've stayed on the ship, and let someone else get in on his spot. There were most certainly more qualified persons to do so... but then again, hardly any deckhands who could row were left.
The thoughts and reasons he tried to give himself gave way to more torment. So much so in fact, that when a steward had entered to attempt to notify Ismay that breakfast was nearly over, the Steward was greeted with the sight of a man, sitting deathly still, with tears running down his almost lifeless looking eyes
Met with nothing but silence, the Steward silently departed, leaving Joseph Bruce Ismay alone once again, with nothing but shame in his being.
*** *** ***
Charles Joughin had baked him another loaf of bread. The man was always kind and thoughtful, even though Andrews had merely helped fix a small issue within the kitchen.
That was only a few hours ago. Now, the freshly baked soda bread say neatly on its plate, untouched by a man absorbed within his work. The gears within his mind were turning at an endless speed, his stateroom more of a mess than it usually was.
Just a few minutes earlier, the Guarantee Group had met within the small stateroom. Their eyes met each others, and though no one dared to speak a word of it all, their minds were equally clouded.
Suggestions were thrown at a breakneck pace. Notes were jotted down at random and thrown about in disorganized stacks and piles.
A stain was imprinted on the very blueprints they cherished. A stain so deep that it affected their very souls.
And while Thomas Andrews worked his heart away, the stain of dishonored clinged to his every fiber and being. We must do better... he repeated to himself. All the while, his bread was going stale, and his hunger only got worse.
*** *** ***
Afternoon came, and with it, a reprieve from duty. Stepping out of the bridge and onto the Officer's Promenade, William Murdoch was a man deep in contemplation. For a man who was touted as being one of the most levelheaded officers in the line, he currently found himself in a mental frenzy.
His mind could not shift away from the previous night's events. Real or not, he was shaken to his core, and he could tell others were too.
Speaking of one of them, his old friend Charles Lightoller had silently walked up beside Will, his face missing it's normally mischievous facade. When a man like Lightoller kept his mouth shut, then he took was traumatized from it all.
And so they walked... Making their rounds about an open deck devoid of passengers. Not a word was spoken between them, for they both knew there was so much to speak about.
For 30 minutes, they did this before having a late lunch in silence. It had been said, that sometimes in the wake of tragedy, only the truest of friends would be someone's only solace. But even then, as they both ate in silence, Murdoch wished that for once in his life, Lightoller would open his mouth and let everything flow out, for he himself wanted to do so too.
Canterlot
"I can see it."
Celestia looked up from her lunch. "Hm?"
"I can see it, the ship. I can see it sailing right now." Luna said, her eyes still staring down at her food.
"How does she look?" Celestia asked.
Luna still started at her food, silence taking reign over the conversation. Only after a minute, did she speak.
"Astounding... Absolutely astounding. But there is so much darkness around it. I've never seen it before." Luna's eyes looked up.
"Why?"
"It's like a mass nightmare, but instead of one, there are thousands..."
*** *** ***
Whoever pony was hailing for "Cape Race" had an extremely powerful transmitter. Many Moose Code transmissions that had been sent out throughout the day were drowned out by one of the most powerful sparks anypony had ever heard.
All across the sea, it was as if the entire wireless network had been taken over by a single spark. It had become such a problem that the Gryphon's had lodged a complaint, and now even the navy had swarmed the main Equestrian telegram office in Manehattan.
The whole situation was awesome as it was somewhat frightening. Never had the Equestrian Navy had to mobilize a taskforce before under any circumstances. Typically such issues were handled through diplomacy, but the fact that Canterlot had sent the direct order out to mobilize a fleet taskforce was shocking.
And so while the Manehattan watched in awe as the fleet assembled, the ponies in the telegraph hall listened with worry, as "MGY" kept on blasting away over the air.
Author's Note
I'm not dead.
