Beneath a Sea of Blood

Emerald sat on the porch of his home, anxiously looking down the street towards the intersection at the end of the block. Any minute now, a taxi would turn onto their street, drive past all the old houses, and pull up to the curb. The door would open, and a familiar face would emerge, smiling at seeing Emerald again.

Grinning, Emerald almost bounced up and down in excitement, confident that the taxi was going to appear any second now. He just had to hold on a little bit longer.

But the taxi didn’t come.

Clenching his hands, Emerald tried to be patient. His parents said he needed to learn how to be patient, no matter how hard it was. But Emerald didn’t want to be patient; he needed that taxi to show up now! Not an hour from now, or by the end of the day, but now!

The distant sound of an engine caught his ear. A car was coming!

Leaping up, Emerald now began bouncing up and down, his wings giving him a boost each time he hopped. He was finally here! He was—

A car pulled into the intersection, but it wasn’t the yellow and black of a taxi, but the white, black, and red of a police car.

Emerald immediately stopped bouncing. His smile vanished. Though it was daytime, Emerald’s excellent eyesight let him see the two officers inside the car, both scanning the neighborhood, scowling as they did so. They reminded Emerald of the bullies at school who walked around the playground at lunch, searching for someone they could beat up and take their bits.

The officer in the passenger seat looked over, locking eyes with Emerald.

Stiffening, but remembering what his parents had taught him, Emerald immediately put on a friendly smile and waved. “Whenever the police show up,” his mommy told him, “wave, smile, and look as kind and non-threatening as you can. Don’t give the police any reason to stop you or suspect that you’ve done anything wrong.”

The officer watching Emerald didn’t wave back. He simply glared, probably debating whether or not Emerald was up to no good.

Emerald’s heart hammered in his chest, and he hoped the officer couldn’t see him sweating.

Shaking his head, the officer turned his attention back towards the road, waving to his partner to speed up, and the patrol car continued on.

Gasping, Emerald dropped his smile and sat back down, burying his face in his hands. With any luck, there wouldn’t be any more police cars for the rest of the day, though a sinking feeling at the back of his mind reminded him that at least three, probably more, usually drove past before the day ended. The police always came through this part of the city, even when there was nothing going on.

“Who are you waiting for?”

Emerald jumped, spinning as instinct made him leap across the porch, only to tumble and fall on his rump. But as he looked back, his panic faded; It was only Diamond.

“Sorry,” Diamond said, stretching her arms out. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s… it’s okay,” Emerald said. He got back on his hooves. “I didn’t know you were coming by.”

“Neither did I; this was a last minute thing.” Diamond looked out towards the intersection. “So, who are you waiting for?”

“I’m waiting for my daddy,” Emerald said as he sat back down.

Diamond smiled. “Oh. Where is he?”

“He’s been out at sea,” Emerald said. “He’s driving a submarine and blowing up bad guys!”

Diamond’s smile wavered.

“What’s wrong?” Emerald asked.

“Aw, nothing.” Diamond scratched the side of her mouth. “Just an itch.”

Emerald looked down the street. “You should stay here,” he said. “The police are around. If they see you walking around by yourself, they’ll stop you.”

“Why?”

Emerald sighed. “They’re mean.”

“Have they stopped you?”

Emerald nodded.

“Why?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Okay. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” She sat beside Emerald, the aged, warped deck creaking beneath her weight. “Is this your house?”

Emerald nodded. “Yeah.”

“Where’s your mom?”

A hand pointed to the door.

“And she won’t mind you talking with me?”

“Nope,” Emerald said. “She says us bats have to stick together.”

Diamond smiled. “Your mom’s right.”

The two watched the street for a while. It was late afternoon, and there was no one else out. A soft breeze carried pieces of trash and discarded, moldy newspapers across the cracked pavement.

“So,” Diamond said, breaking the stillness, “is your daddy coming home today?”

“Yeah!” Emerald said.

“Then why aren’t you and your mom down at the docks waiting for him?”

“We don’t have enough gas for the car,” Emerald admitted. “And we can’t spare the money for a taxi.”

“What about the bus?”

Emerald shook his head. “Mommy says it’s too dangerous.”

“Why?”

“Because of all the bad ponies.”

Diamond mulled over his words. “They harass you, don’t they?” she asked.

Emerald nodded.

“That’s not very nice of them.”

Emerald nodded again. Diamond was right about that.

“It’s not right, you know,” Diamond said. “We have as much a right to live in peace like they do.”

“That’s what Mommy says.”

“And what about your father? What does he say about that?”

“The same.”

“Does he get harassed, too?”

Emerald nodded.

“Despite being in the navy?”

“Yeah.”

“And he still serves Equestria?”

Emerald nodded again.

“Why?”

“Daddy says we have to be better than the ponies who hate us,” Emerald said. “And that they don’t hate us; not really.”

Diamond scoffed. “I find that hard to believe.”

“He said that they’re scared,” Emerald said. “They’re scared of Nightmare Moon and what she may do to us if she wins the war, so they take that anger out on us.” Emerald looked at Diamond. “He says that if there was no Nightmare Moon, we’d probably all get along just fine.”

Emerald could see that Diamond was surprised at that answer. Maybe no one had ever told her that before. But then again, maybe she didn’t have a daddy like he did who could tell her these things. “What does your daddy say?” he asked.

“I don’t have a daddy.”

“You don’t?”

Diamond shook her head. “He died when I was really young. So did my mom.”

“You don’t have a mommy or a daddy?”

“No.”

Emerald got up and hugged Diamond, stretching up as far as he could, just barely managing to wrap his arms around her neck. “I’m sorry. Everyone should have a mommy or a daddy.”

It was a few moments before Diamond got over her surprise at the unexpected hug. “Well, I’ve managed so far.” She gently disentangled herself. “But thanks.”

A thought came to Emerald. “Maybe Mommy and Daddy could adopt you!”

Diamond chuckled. “I don’t know about—”

“Yeah, you’re old, but they’d—”

“Old? I’m only twenty five.”

Emerald shrugged. “Okay, you’re not super-old like Grandma was, but still old!”

“And how old are you?”

With a big grin, Emerald held up both hands and six fingers.

“Wow, six. That’s so young!” Diamond smiled, ruffling Emerald’s hair. “You’re very lucky to have a mommy and a daddy who love you.”

“They do! Especially daddy!”

“I bet.”

Reaching into her jacket, Diamond brought out a small toy submarine. “Is this the kind of submarine your daddy drives?”

“Pilots.”

“Oh, right. Pilots. But is it like this one?”

“Yeah!”

“Hmm… Hey, Emerald, why don’t we play a game to pass the time?”

“Sure!”

“Great! First, you take this.” She handed Emerald the submarine, which he happily took. “Now, I want you to pretend that he’s on a mission, but not just any mission: a very special, very secret mission. Can you do that for me?”

“Yeah!”

“Good! Now, close your eyes, and imagine him onboard that sub there.”

Emerald did so. This was fun! He was going to be a captain like Daddy! He’d be so proud of him!

“Now, here’s the mission,” Diamond said. “A very important, very powerful admiral has been kidnapped, and your father has to go rescue him on a remote island that’s far, far away. How do you think he would do that?”

Emerald’s smile faltered.

“Emerald? You okay?”

Emerald didn’t feel okay; in fact, his tummy felt queasy, like something was wrong. His mommy had called it a… uh, oh yeah: a gut feeling. She said that he always needed to pay attention to it, because even though it didn’t feel nice, it was important: his body was trying to warn him about nearby danger.

“Emerald?”

“I… I don’t want to play this game,” Emerald said.

“But it’s important! Your daddy can’t abandon the admiral; he has to save him! I want to know how he’d do it.”

Emerald opened his eyes and looked at Diamond; she was smiling, but he instantly realized that it wasn’t a real smile: it was a fake smile, the kind he put on whenever the police came by.

His gut felt worse and worse.

“What is he going to do, Emerald?” Diamond asked. “How are you going to rescue the admiral?”

“Me?”

“I mean... I mean your father.” Biting her lip, Diamond immediately brought back her fake smile. “How is he going to rescue the admiral?”

“I…” Emerald scooted away. “I don’t want to play anymore.”

“Come on, Emerald. I’m your friend. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Mom?” Emerald called out.

“No, no, there’s no need to call your—”

“Mom!”

“Stop that!” Diamond shouted.

“Mom!”

“Tell me, Emerald!” Diamond yelled. She shot up, towering over Emerald. “What are you going to do to save the admiral?!”

Tripping, Emerald fell backwards, screaming…

… and then he wasn’t falling. He was shooting upwards, still screaming as he wildly flailed, hands trying to grab something, anything to defend himself. He touched something thick, grabbed hold, and threw it.

The book flew across the cabin, hit a wall, and tumbled to the floor.

Gasping, Emerald looked around. Diamond was gone. The porch was gone. The street, the old trees, the old homes… all of it was gone. The only things before him were the steel walls of his cabin, the wood of his small locker, and the faint glow from the red light in the ceiling.

A bang and a spin made Emerald jump again as the door was yanked open and Steel Wheel ran in, two commandos at his side. “Sir!?”

Rubbing his face, Emerald wiped away the sweat from his brow. A nightmare… that’s all it was.

“Sir?”

“I’m fine,” Emerald said. “Just a nightmare. That’s all.”

Silver and the guards hesitated.

“I’m fine,” Emerald said again, gesturing with a hand that the three didn’t need to worry. To further reassure them, he decided to change the focus of the discussion. “What time is it?”

“Zero six hundred hours,” Steel said.

Six AM… not the answer that Emerald wanted to hear. He didn’t need to get up for a few more hours, and getting some more sleep was what he wanted more than anything right now… but he knew it was wishful thinking. His heart was still pounding, and it’d be a long while before all the adrenaline pumped itself out of his system. Plus, trying to sleep in sheets drenched with sweat was a disgusting proposition.

Sighing, Emerald pulled off his blankets and sat up.

“Sir,” Silver said, “you—”

“I’m not going to get any more sleep,” Emerald said. “Might as well do my rounds.”

***

Two weeks had passed since the Nautilus had set sail, and the crew had settled into a normal routine. As the sub sailed beneath the surface at flank speed, they would dutifully carry out their daily tasks: checking the torpedoes, monitoring the engines, sleeping, reading, and generally keeping themselves occupied. For the first few days the knowledge of where they were going and the importance of the mission kept everyone on edge, but it wasn’t long before monotony and boredom settled in.

Emerald, knowing that this would happen, had figured that walking through the various departments, checking in and chatting with everyone was a good course of action. This served two purposes: to show the crew that he cared about their welfare, and, more importantly, to build up a rapport with them. He wanted to show his crew that he wasn’t secretly an agent of Nightmare Moon sailing them to her kingdom, but a captain who didn’t hold up inside his cabin or the bridge and only talk to his sailors when something was wrong

For those Emerald had trained with, the process was easy: they knew him well enough from their shared studies back at the academy, and even those who only knew him casually quickly got the idea that he wasn’t someone looking to stab them in the back.

For those crew members who never knew Emerald at the academy, though, the process was harder. Despite engaging in conversation, sharing meals, and doing what he could to make their work easier, Emerald sensed that they still distrusted him and were wary of his intentions. From the way they looked at him when he entered the cramped mess hall, to how Emerald heard them whispering behind his back whenever he left a compartment, he realized that it would take a lot of work to get through to them.

That was, he worried, if he even could.

Leaving his cabin, Emerald tucked his coat tighter around him and pulled his well-worn cap down further onto his head. All was quiet at this early hour, save for the distant hum of the engines, as he turned left and headed down the narrow hallway through officer’s country—the area of the sub reserved for her executive officers. There were a few signs of life, though: the click-clack of typewriter keys being pressed could be heard from the Yeoman’s office as reports were typed up and filed away, and a faint snore emerged from one of the cabins. Passing by the wardroom, Emerald peered inside and found it to be empty. He made a mental note that the dark green cushions could use a bit of cleaning, and continued on.

Reaching the hatch that went into the forward torpedo room, Emerald ducked as he went through, instinctively flattening his wings against his back, the claw-tips going low so as to not catch the frame. As no torpedoes had been fired during the voyage thus far, the forward torpedo room was filled with the underwater missiles, jammed together against the walls, with bunks squeezed in between them. A few sailors were currently on duty, with the rest lying down and reading to occupy their free time. But as Emerald entered, everyone immediately came to attention, only to relax when Emerald waved his hand, signaling for them to carry on.

Looking things over, Emerald saw nothing out of place or anything that needed tending to. But as his father had once told him, a good captain always listens to the sailors when it came to identifying things that needed attention. Looking over the sailors, Emerald focused on Crystal Beau, who was currently going over one of the new guided torpedoes the ship had been given for this mission. Crystal was one of the ponies who hadn’t trained with Emerald at the academy, and conversations with him throughout the voyage had revealed him to be the nervous type, especially around authority figures.

Going over, Emerald addressed him. “Anything wrong with the torpedo?”

Gulping, Crystal shook his head. “No, sir. I’m just doing some routine maintenance.”

“And trying to pass the time?”

A chuckle. “That, too.”

“Found anything?”

Crystal shook his head. “Everything seems to be okay.”

“It seems okay, or it is okay?”

Another gulp. “It is, sir.”

“Good.” Emerald looked around. “And the rest of the compartment?”

“Tubes are loaded and ready to fire,” Crystal said. His nervousness was on full display, perhaps thinking he was being tested. “All the other machinery is in working order, and there’s nothing that needs to be fixed.” He gave an awkward smile. “If there was anything wrong, we’d let you know.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Emerald said. “Well, I’ll leave everything to you and the others. Carry on.”

Crystal nodded, relieved that the talk was over, and doubly so that he hadn’t been reprimanded or otherwise done anything wrong.

WIth his inspection complete, Emerald turned and left the compartment, passing by the shower and ducking once again through the hatch, then heading down the corridor back through officer’s country and into the control room. Everything was quiet there; all the crew present were focused on their tasks, keeping a watchful eye on their gauges and readouts, though Emerald could see a few telltale signs of fatigue. Over at the radio station, Beauty Brass rubbed her eyes as she adjusted her headphones and turned a dial. At the sonar station, Vinyl Scratch was diligently watching her screen, but her eyes were growing heavy, and she was struggling to keep them up. And at the main console, Steel Wheel was doing his absolute best to remain alert and focused. He was doing a good job of it, too, though Emerald could still make out a few twitches around his eyes as he continuously fought against building fatigue.

Going over to Vinyl, Emerald tapped her on the shoulder and asked, “Anything showing up?”

“No sir,” Vinyl said, adjusting her headset. “Everything’s quiet. Not a ship or sub in sight.” She grinned. “Got the whole ocean all to ourselves.”

“If only… you think you can stay awake until the shift change?”

“Yeah, no problem.”

“You sure?” Emerald asked.

“If I don’t, and we get a destroyer bearing down on us, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Chuckling, Emerald turned to the radio station. “Anything on the airwaves?”

Beauty Brass didn’t hear him.

Going over, Emerald tapped his radio operator on the shoulder. She stiffened and immediately turned, yanking off her headphones. “Sorry, sir.”

“As I was asking,” Emerald said, “Was there anything over the radio?”

Beauty sighed. “Just some more of Opaline’s propaganda.”

Everyone in the control room turned and scowled. Even Steel Wheel forgot about his fatigue long enough to frown.

Gesturing for the headphones, Emerald took hold and brought them up, listening to the tiny voice coming through.

“… a moment to consider if this war is worth fighting. Celestia claims to work for all ponykind, but ask yourself why she’s lying. If she is as benevolent as she says she is, why did she imprison her own sister in the Moon if Luna simply wanted more ponies to appreciate her beautiful night? Was Celestia really so benevolent when she entombed her own flesh and blood in the moon? No! Your leader is a tyrant who tolerates no dissent, and only cares about her own power, silencing anyone who refuses to bow down and worship her!

“But Nightmare Moon is different. She knows Celestia’s tyranny first hand, and she knows what it’s like to lose everything for taking a stand against oppression. But she has returned to free you all from Celestia’s yoke. To anyone listening to my words, heed me: Join Nightmare Moon and help overthrow a tyrant! Anyone who defects to any of our ships, our soldiers, or our forces, will be welcomed as an equal and given all the training and equipment they need to help—”

Emerald pulled the headphones away, and the confident, arrogant, and prideful voice became a barely audible squeak.

“The same shit?” Vinyl asked.

“Afraid so. Just on a different day.” As Nightmare Moon’s fleet admiral, Opaline was in charge of the tyrant’s fleets, but she also doubled as the voice of her propaganda program. The admiral certainly had the charisma for it, Emerald had to admit. The arrogance and pride, too; she was so convinced that Moon’s victory was inevitable and that she’d be well-rewarded for her part in making it happen.

Emerald, like all submarine captains who had come before him, hoped that one day he’d get the chance to fire a few torpedoes into her flagship and send the self-righteous prick to the bottom of the sea. With any luck, the gods would grant him his chance.

Emerald handed the headphones back to Beauty Brass. “As much as it hurts, Beauty, I want you to listen to her. See if she gives any hint about any superweapons or an ace up Nightmare Moon’s sleeve.”

Resigned to having to listen to auditory garbage, Beauty put her headphones back on, trying to contain her disgust as the message continued.

Satisfied that everything in the control room was well in hand, Emerald headed aft, going through the galley. It was quiet at the moment, with the cook working hard preparing breakfast for the shift change in an hour. The chef glanced at him and offered some coffee, which Emerald accepted. The drink tasted like mass-produced, barely-flavored water, but it was better than nothing, helping Emerald perk up a bit.

Heading further back into the crew quarters, Emerald found the bunks filled with sleeping sailors, with only a few lying awake and reading, studying, or doing any number of other activities to try and relax; one sailor was carving a small model of a submarine out of a hunk of wood. He had been working on it ever since the Nautilus had left port, and it had gone from a solid block to something that, given another week, would be good enough to display in a museum somewhere.

A few sailors noticed Emerald, but he gestured for them to remain where they were; there was no need to interrupt their precious free time, and Emerald didn’t want to wake those who were still asleep with whispered chitchat, no matter how quiet it may be, so he continued on through to the engine rooms.

Emerald was pleased to find that the engines were running smooth, humming from the power crystals contained within. While the other submarines in Equestria’s fleet ran on diesel and reserved all magic crystals for use as shields, the Nautilus had state-of-the-art engines that could run smoothly and continuously without turning the compartments into a hellish inferno of heat and noise. The crew back here were hard at work on their assigned tasks, but appeared to be in a good mood, which meant there were no problems to report. At the far end of the chamber, their leader, Copper Cog, currently busied himself looking inside an open hatch on one of the giant engines. As the chief engineer, it was his job to make sure the Nautilus’ engines remained functional at all times. While Emerald was the ship’s brains, Copper was its heart, and without him and his crew, the ship would quickly grind to a halt.

Turning a wrench with his enormous, well-muscled arms, Copper glanced over and spotted Emerald. Closing the hatch, he wiped his hands on his permanently-greased jumpsuit and headed over. He didn’t bother saluting or snapping to attention at the arrival of a superior officer, one of the few onboard who could do so and get away with it.

“What brings you to my neck of the woods, captain?”

“Just checking on how things are going,” Emerald said.

“Well, you’ve got nothing to worry about here.” Copper slapped one of the engines, instinctively keeping his fingers clear of the pistons. “Everything’s in tip-top shape, the gears are greased, and we’ve got enough fuel in the tanks to get us to this island of yours and back.”

“And no problems with the engines?”

“These things are a dream,” Copper said. “Fewer moving parts, almost no noise, and so much easier to maintain; I might be the first engineer in the family not to go stone deaf by age 50.”

“And there’s nothing else to report?”

“As I said yesterday, and the day before that, nope.” Copper smiled. “If anything needs your attention, captain, rest assured I’ll let you know immediately.” Shaking his head with an amused chuckle, Copper said, “I know you’re trying to keep everyone in good spirits, captain, but there is such a thing as being too pushy, you know.”

Emerald considered Copper’s words. “How about every other day?” he asked.

Now it was Copper who thought things over. “I can see that working. Let’s go with that.”

“Then every other day, it is.” With a nod to Copper, and then another to the other sailors, Emerald left.

There were no issues or problems in the maneuvering room, and the rear torpedo room was the same as its forward counterpart: torpedoes loaded in the tubes, the others crammed against the walls with bunks built around them, and a crew who were keeping everything running smoothly. Thus, satisfied that his ship was in tip-top shape, Emerald made his way back to the control room, where Steel Wheel stood at the main control panel. Still on duty, he, too, was growing tired from a long night. Still, as Emerald approached, he perked up.

“Everything good, captain?”

“Well, we’re not going to sink,” Emerald said. He went over to the map table and studied the long, red line that had been slowly growing throughout the course of the mission. “This been updated?”

“It will be at noon.”

A glance at the clock showed that it was seven AM. The change in shifts would be starting, the halls soon filled with tired ponies either just waking up, or who wanted to climb into still-warm bunks after a long shift to sleep.

“I think we can get our position a bit early,” Emerald said. “What’s our depth?”

The dive plane operator, Sans Smirk, looked over. “Two zero zero feet, captain.”

Emerald then turned his attention to Vinyl. “Sonar, any contacts?”

Vinyl listened. “None, sir.”

“Good. Dive control, take us up to periscope death.”

Sans nodded as he turned his wheel. “Aye, captain. Ascending to six zero feet.”

A few minutes later, the Nautilus leveled off. As the slow, upwards movement came to a stop, Emerald headed to the periscope. “Down periscope.” It descended, and he took a look through the lens: the ocean was calm, giving him near-unlimited visibility as he scanned the area, wanting to ensure there were no ships on the horizon or any planes in the sky.

“Well, sir?” Steel asked.

“Nobody in sight,” Emerald said. “I think we can give everyone a bit of fresh air.” He stepped back and snapped the handles back into place. “Up scope. Helm, surface the ship.”

“Surfacing, aye.”

As the ship started up once more, Emerald took the microphone. “Attention all hands, this is the captain speaking: We’re going to take advantage of the good weather to give everyone a chance to enjoy some fresh air. If they so desire, every shift can go up on deck for thirty minutes each. That is all.”

Once more, the Nautilus leveled out. Tucking his coat around him, Steel headed up the ladder through the conning tower. Frigid sea water came down the ladder a few moments later and splashed onto the polished green floor, accompanied by the brutally cold morning air. Compared to the stuffy odor of muggy recycled air, it was a welcome reprieve.

“We all clear up there, Steel?” Emerald called up.

“All clear, sir.”

Nodding, Emerald looked back and saw a group of sailors standing outside the hatchway leading to the control room. One of them, the seemingly self-appointed ambassador to the group, stuck his head inside. “Permission to enter, Captain?”

“Permission granted.” Emerald stepped back, gesturing to the ladder. “Come on up.”

Pleased, the group hurried in, each sailor ascending the ladder as quickly as they could, knowing that they only had a short time to enjoy the fresh air. When the last sailor had climbed up, Emerald tightened his own coat around himself, pulled on his insulated gloves, and started up the ladder.

After spending so much time sealed inside the Nautilus breathing the scrubbed air, Emerald had almost forgotten what it was like to breathe fresh air. As it hit his face, and he inhaled the deepest lungful he could, before choking in a coughing fit as the icy wind agitated his lungs. But while it was painful, it also felt good.

Closing his eyes, Emerald took in another deep breath, pushing past the sting, and smiled.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this,” Silver said as he walked up to Emerald. “Dad said he never did,” Emerald said.

The sounds of a commotion down on the forward deck made Emerald open his eyes; many of the crew were excitedly stretching and jumping up and down, revelling in the cold ocean air washing over them like a shower as they stretched and moved in ways the cramped interior of a submarine wouldn’t allow. Others instead basked in the sight of the sun rising into the sky, casting a warm orange glow over the waters and sky.

“Glad to see they’re enjoying themselves,” Steel said.

“They deserve it,” Emerald said, “after being cooped up like they have.”

“Are you still worried they won’t accept you?”

“What do you think?” Emerald asked, hoping Steel had a good answer.

“Some of them still have doubts,” Steel said, “but they see you trying to earn their trust, and I think they appreciate that. But the real test will be when we get into battle. They’ll want someone who won’t defect to the enemy at the first opportunity.

Below, the crew quieted down, now content to just watch the sunrise.

“Are you feeling any better, captain?” Steel asked.

“Well, after what you told me, yes.”

“I wasn’t referring to that, sir.”

Emerald barely managed to suppress a groan when he realized what Steel was referring to. “You mean that nightmare.”

“Yeah.”

Emerald wanted to just enjoy the sunrise, but knew that his XO was only following his training; as second in command, it was his job to make sure his captain wasn’t compromised or at risk of becoming so.

“I’m better,” he said.

“Care to say what it was about?” Steel asked. “And don’t bother saying it was nothing; everyone in the control room heard you shout.”

Emerald considered how much to reveal. “I was a little kid again,” he said. “I’m at home, sitting on our porch, waiting for my dad to come back from his latest patrol. And then Diamond comes up. I didn’t think anything of it, or find it strange that she was an adult and I was still a child. She’s friendly at first, talkative… but then she asks how my father would save an admiral who had been kidnapped and taken to a hidden base.”

Any enjoyment Steel had at being out in the open evaporated.

“When she realized I wasn’t going to tell her, she got angry,” Emerald said. “I think I realized, subconsciously, that something was wrong. I got scared, and then I woke up.”

Steel mulled over what Emerald said. “Doesn’t sound like any regular nightmare to me,” he said. “Sounds like she was really there, in your mind.”

Emerald reluctantly nodded. He had guessed the same thing when doing his rounds belowdecks, but had pushed the thought aside to focus on his crew. But now that his second in command had come to the same conclusion, the awful implications were becoming more clear to both of them.

“I’ve read about this happening before,” Steel said. “Nightmare Moon using her powers to infiltrate the minds of her enemies when they’re at their most vulnerable… Sir, that means…”

“That Nightmare Moon knows what we’re doing,” Emerald said.

The two didn’t speak for a moment. Below, the crew continued to enjoy the fresh air, unaware of the discussion taking place above them.

“Nightmare Moon must have allowed Diamond to infiltrate my dreams,” Emerald said. “Send in someone I’m familiar with and try to convince me to lower my guard without realizing it.”

“We’ll have Doc Top use a zebra potion on you,” Steel said. “Ensure that you don’t have any dreams from this point on. I’ll have him give me one, and the other senior staff.”

“Zebra potions won’t work against Alicorn magic,” Emerald said.

“But it might slow her down,” Steel pointed out. “Give you more time to realize something’s wrong and fight back.”

Emerald couldn’t argue with that. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that; Diamond had gotten dangerously close to tricking him into revealing their plans. Knowing that she had failed would make Diamond try for a more subtle approach the next time she tried, and in the dream realm, she would have all the advantages, and Emerald would have none. Even when his dream had turned into a nightmare, he still hadn’t realized he had been dreaming.

“Captain,” Steel said, his voice quiet and hard to hear above the hum of the engines, “You know what this means… The enemy’s going to be ready for us”

“I know.”

“That’ll make rescuing the Admiral that much harder.”

Emerald looked out to the horizon. “Yes… but we still have an advantage. They don’t know when we’re coming, or what we plan to do. If we can get to that island without being detected, we have a chance.”

“A small chance.”

“But still a chance.”

Steel sighed as he, too, looked out towards the sun. “You really think we can pull this off?”

Tightening his cap on his head, Emerald nodded. “We have to.”