The cold grey skies looked heavy and dense, pressing down on the world like thick blankets. The black ocean below was unyielding, as inhospitable and impenetrable as obsidian.
A breeze ruffled Fluttershy’s pink mane as she stood in the bridge station atop the submarine’s sail. She peeked over the edge at the dark water streaming by below. The cylindrical hull of the vessel was mostly underwater, only a thin wake marking its passage towards the open ocean.
Two other mares stood with Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. All three were outfitted with heavy winter coats to withstand the frigid winds blowing across the water. The standard-issue Navy caps were also present as part of the uniform.
The mares carried binoculars, scanning the horizon to ensure the submarine would not run afoul of anything while it proceeded on the surface. Fortunately, that time was coming to an end.
“Skipper, we have four hundred feet of water below the keel!” sang a bubbly voice from the intercom.
Fluttershy pressed the button. “Thank you Ms. Pie. We’ll be down shortly.”
The mare took one last look around the bridge, glancing at the uninviting sky. Even as a pegasus, Fluttershy had never been at home in the air. She’d always preferred to spend her time at sea level. She smiled. Or below it.
“Clear the bridge and make preparations for dive, girls,” said Fluttershy.
“Aye, Captain,” chorused the other two ponies. They made their way below. Fluttershy descended the ladder after them, checking the watertight hatch. Once it was secured, she dropped down into the control room.
The compartment was rather cramped, as most accommodations aboard submarines tended to be. A periscope took up the center of the room, with the helm and a sonar station along the bulkheads. A pink mare sat at her helm position, steering and plane controls close at hoof. She grinned at the three new arrivals. A white unicorn primly sat with the sonar headphones over her ears, pausing in her task to nod a greeting.
Rainbow went forward through a watertight door to enter the torpedo compartment. Twilight took up station next to the submarine’s vital systems board. Fluttershy popped her head aft to check the engine room. “Hello, how are things?”
An orange earth pony raised her head from a set of complicated controls. “Everything’s just fine, Captain. The reactor’s runnin’ as smooth as can be.”
Fluttershy smiled, pleased at Applejack’s engineering skills. “Glad to hear it.”
Coming back to the control center, Fluttershy noted that Twilight had already begun preparing for dive. She looked up, waiting for Fluttershy's orders.
“Bottom’s dropping,” reported Pinkie. “The water is now seven hundred feet and increasing.”
“Ms. Sparkle, make our depth four hundred feet, please,” said Fluttershy. Twilight nodded and began flipping switches. Bubbles of air foamed around the steel hull as ballast tanks began to suck in water to make the submarine heavier.
A few seconds passed. Fluttershy glanced at the water level indicator, seeing that the bridge she’d just left had almost slipped beneath the waves. “Could we have ahead two-thirds power, please?”
“Sure thing, Captain!” called Applejack, edging the throttle forward.
“Ms. Pie, please give us ten degrees down on the fairwater planes and hold steady course.”
“Aye aye, ma’am!” called Pinkie, setting the submarine’s diving planes to push the hull down through the depths. As the angle down increased, Fluttershy felt the deck beneath her hooves begin to take a slant. Once the decent was set, however, Pinkie eased off and began making ready to find the designated depth.
“Nothing to report so far, Captain,” said Rarity, listening carefully to her sonar equipment. “Some biological contacts, but nothing big enough to be concerned about.”
Fluttershy nodded seriously. Fish could get clear of the submarine, but it certainly wouldn’t do to run into a whale.
“Approaching depth,” reported Twilight as the sub leveled off at four hundred feet below the surface. On the way down, the hull had creaked and groaned under the stress of water pressure, but that was normal. It was designed to withstand much more before failing.
Fluttershy adjusted her cap and stepped to the center of the control room. “All right girls, we have an important mission ahead of us. We all know how dangerous Sea Ponies can be. They used to be our allies, but it’s too bad they betrayed us. I want everypony to give your best effort, if that’s okay with you.”
The rest of the crew murmured in agreement, with the exception of Rainbow who whooped in joy. “Finally! I’ve been waiting to use these new torpedoes forever!”
Fluttershy did not like the more grim aspects of her duty, but recognized the need for it. It helped to think of enemy subs as merely machines that did not contain other ponies. Then again, they probably thought the same thing about her, and—
“Captain, we might have a new contact, approximate bearing twenty degrees off the port bow,” announced Rarity. “I assess that it is submerged, six hundred fifty feet below the surface, plus or minus thirty.”
That was not a perfectly exact location, but amazing for merely listening to headphones. Rarity was really very precise at her job. Fluttershy asked Applejack to ease the throttle to one-third and advised the rest to keep as silent as possible.
The turbines driving the sub’s bronze propeller slowed, easing off the speed. Applejack, sensing a conflict ahead, began turning down nonessential equipment but kept the reactor’s output up in case a burst of power was required. The nuclear fission inside its protected pressure container was much more a science than an art, but somehow the farm pony had become an expert. Fluttershy was still not sure how, and while she trusted Applejack’s word that their bodily radiation intake was actually lower than being exposed to sunlight, she was not completely okay with being aboard a small vessel with fission going on. She also wondered about potential ramifications involved with accusing Princess Celestia of causing cancer.
As the speed fell off, Rarity asked if it would be okay to bring the submarine to a new course to take proper advantage of its sonar hydrophone array. Fluttershy couldn’t say no, and ordered Pinkie to bring the wheel around.
“Captain, I recommend diving to six hundred fifty feet to check for a thermocline,” said Twilight. It was a good idea. Layers of different temperatures in the water could cause strange reactions with sonar.
The decent was slow and careful. Hull creaking now could make them a noisy target, as any enemy submarine would undoubtedly be listening to their own sonar. Twilight continually monitored the external temperature gauge. She pointed out a few readings to Rarity to help with the sonar efforts.
Regardless of the exact temperature, the water was chilly. Fluttershy bundled her coat a little tighter. Not only did the cold seep through the submarine’s steel hull, but the climate control didn’t help. The air conditioning was nuclear-powered, after all.
Rarity spoke quietly. “Positive contact, designate Sierra One. Bearing zero-zero-eight, range estimated at twenty thousand yards.”
Twilight began a chart to plot the contact. She marked a point eight degrees to the right of the sub’s bow and waited patiently for more information to update the track.
Minutes passed, and Fluttershy ordered another reduction in speed. By this point, the possibility of enemy action kept them all at bated breath. That was good—it made them even quieter.
Rarity finally gave a determination. “Contact Sierra One is probable Sea Pony submarine traveling at approximately six knots. Range is eighteen thousand yards and closing.”
“What’s the closest point of approach?” asked Fluttershy as Twilight hurriedly updated the chart.
After doing a few calculations, Twilight gave the answer. “They will pass within twenty-five hundred yards of this point if we stop now.”
Fluttershy nodded. “All stop. Helm, bring us to starboard to line up on an attack vector. Everypony please be quiet.”
The sub coasted to a stop, its bow pointed roughly where the enemy contact was expected to be. Rainbow actuated the controls that eased open the external doors on one of the torpedo tubes. The torpedo inside was busy warming up and getting ready to run.
All six of them stayed as still as possible, imitating a hole in the water. Fluttershy had much experience with silence. It was practically her second special talent.
The only sound was Rarity’s quiet whisper. Twilight kept updating the chart with sonar information. The data was relayed to Rainbow, who set up the torpedo with a targeting package.
The minutes ticked down. The torpedo could guide itself, but it was most efficient to launch it as straight as possible. As the moment approached, Rainbow slid her hoof over to the launching button.
“Fire!” squeaked Fluttershy.
A whoosh of air expelled the torpedo and its motors drove it through the sea. From such a short range the enemy submarine couldn’t help but detect its sound. Rarity reported the sub was turning away to run, but the torpedo was twice as fast. A loud explosion echoed through the ocean, loud enough to hear through the hull.
Fluttershy smiled. The Sea Ponies had paid for their treachery. “Yay.”
“I think she’s waking up.”
“No thanks to you.”
“Hey, how was I to know their silly foreign food would cause that?”
“I told you not to eat anything the Sea Ponies gave you.”
“But I thought it was just a little indigestion!”
The voices were strangely distorted. Fluttershy blinked, staring curiously up at the circle of faces around her. Each of them wore a gas mask. “Um, what happened? All I remember is a strange smell.”
Her friends looked at each other. “Maybe you’d like some fresh air,” suggested Twilight. “You passed out for a few minutes.”
They helped Fluttershy to get off the deck and showed her up the ladder to the bridge. The submarine was tied to the dock opposite a Sea Pony vessel that was visiting Equestria for a friendly diplomatic mission.
“Are we doing combined service chemical weapon drills?” called one of the Sea Ponies.
“Er, no!” answered Twilight, unstrapping her gas mask. “Just testing the equipment for fun.”
“Sounds great! We can come over and make it a party with another pot of our ten-bean chili.”
The six ponies aboard the Equestrian sub respectfully declined.
Author's Note
This is one of those stories that was inspired by the cover art. We couldn't get Sean Connery to play Fluttershy's part in order to make this a serious fic, so it went in a completely different direction.
