Chrysalis smirked confidently as she watched Dotted lay helplessly on the couch. The sight of seeing him in this state pleased her. She knew that her plan was a risky one. A single misstep is all it would take for it to all come apart. But there was no way she was going to back down. It took a lot of skill and luck to get where she was. Several weeks of scheming, scouting, and training all led up to this point. But now with the unexpected addition of a key pony in her custody, she felt things would progress easier. Especially with that pony being the owner of the very ship they were on.

"Now what should we do with you?" she asked in a rhetorical tone. "Obviously we can't trust you to remain here by yourself. Even with your magic being blocked."

Dotted just silently glanced up at his goo coated horn in response. The green slime felt weird yet warm on it. Whatever it was made of certainly proved to be too much for him to overcome on his own. He sighed as his eyes drifted back to look toward Chrysalis.

"Can't we just throw him overboard and be done with him?" One of the other changelings in the room asked.

"No," Chrysalis replied. "If we do that, there's a chance he'll get rescued and reveal us."

"What should we do then?"

Chrysalis rubbed her chin as she looked back and forth between Dotted and the rest of her soldiers. "One of you will remain here and make sure that he doesn't go anywhere," she said before pointing over at a door that led into a small closet. "And just to make it easier, we'll put him in there."

"Of course," the changeling replied before the small group swarmed around the captured stallion and lifted him up before taking him over to the closet. With one of them opening the door, the rest tossed him into the small area. Dotted grunted as he landed on the floor with a thud before the door was slammed shut behind him. Soon after, he heard the sound of furniture being moved, presumably in order to block the door from being opened again.

Dotted just laid quietly on the floor and glanced around at his surroundings. The only source of light in the room was from the keyhole just beneath the knob. A tear slowly formed in his eye as he repeated what Chrysalis had said over and over again in his mind.

"What do I do?" he thought before getting up into a sitting position. "I need to get out of here and warn Steel. But how?" As he thought about various ideas, his eyes glanced up at his goo-coated horn. "First things first though. Let's try and get this cleaned off. Hopefully my magic will be usable once this stuff is removed." With that decision made, Dotted began feeling around the small area, hoping to find something to help get the goo off of his horn.

---

As this was happening, Steel stood on the starboard bridge wing. He smiled as he looked ahead, seeing nothing but calm blue water. This made him feel confident in his ability to command. Everything as far as he knew was under control and going smoothly.

"Just a few more days before we'll reach Mareseilles," he said to himself before the sound of hoofsteps approaching him. Turning to look at the source of the sound, he found Port coming toward him with a small paper in his magical grip. "What you got there, Port?"

"Ice warning, sir," he replied before giving it to Steel. Once he had it, he took a look.

"It's from the Cadenza," he said as he began reading. "Says they've spotted a few icebergs well south of where they usually are." Once he took a look at the coordinates that were mentioned, Steel folded the paper and placed it in his pocket. "If anypony needs me, I'll be in the chart room."

"Yes sir," Port replied before Steel started walking toward the bridge. As he walked, he was hoping that the location of the bergs weren't going to pose any hazard to his ship. Upon entering the bridge, Steel gave a quick salute to the helmspony before entering the chart room which was located right next to his quarters.

"Alright..." he said to himself while bringing up a chart for the Equestrian Ocean. He then took the message out of his pocket in order to find the location of the reported bergs. After a few minutes, he found that the supposed location of the bergs were close enough to the route they were on to pose a risk. "Looks like we'll have to divert course," he thought before turning to walk out of the chart room and back onto the bridge.

"Everything alright, Cap?" Port asked from outside.

"Just need to adjust our course. That's all," Steel replied before looking at the helmspony. "Turn to heading 110 and proceed on that course until I say otherwise."

"Aye aye, sir," the stallion replied before he started turning the wheel to the right, making the ship list a few degrees to port. Once on the new course, Steel looked at the clock that was mounted on a nearby wall before making note of the time.

"We'll take a bit of a southeastern detour," Steel said as he walked back out on the wing to join Port. "That should hopefully keep us away from any stray icebergs."

"Good thinking," Port said as the two of them looked out ahead of the liner. During the day, icebergs would pose no risk to the ship due to them being as visible as a cloud in a clear blue sky. It was during the night that concerned the young Captain. If there was no moon or waves, icebergs would be nearly invisible until it was too late to avoid colliding with them. With the new course, Steel was hoping to avoid that problem.

As the minutes passed by, another thought came to his mind.

"Have you seen Dotted anywhere?" he asked before looking toward his friend. "He's usually somewhere around here, but I haven't seen him in a while. Figured he'd be up here asking why I turned the ship or something by now."

"Last I heard he was gonna go talk to Celestia about the incident during dinner last night," Port replied. "But that was hours ago." He then rubbed his muzzle in thought for a few seconds before looking back at Steel. "I'll go see if I can find him. Want me to send him up here if I do?"

"Sure," Steel replied. "I've been meaning to ask him about what to do once we get to Mareseilles." Port silently nodded before proceeding toward the stairs leading down to the boat deck.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, Cap," he said before descending the stairs.

---

Scythe walked down a corridor filled with ponies conversing about random topics. Some of them would stop and smile or wave at him, prompting him to quickly wave back before moving on as quick as he could. Being disguised as a pony was much better than a little dragon, but this one was difficult. He had no idea how to act or behave like the stallion he was pretending to be.

After several minutes of walking, he found a door leading out on the boat deck. Once outside, he breathed in the fresh air and looked up to find himself near the third funnel which was just spewing out black smoke. He then turned his head and looked out toward the open ocean and breathed deeply, trying to calm his nerves.

"Just play it cool, Scythe," he thought while looking out at the sea around the ship. "No reason to panic."

"Oh hey there, Dotty," a stallion's voice said from behind, causing the disguised changeling to freeze up. "How was your meeting with Princess Celestia?"

Scythe slowly turned around to see a green unicorn stallion in a black Officer's uniform in front of him.

"Are... you talking to me?" he asked in Dotted's tone.

"No. I'm just talking to somepony else while looking at you," the stallion replied in a sarcastic tone. "Of course I'm talking to you."

"Oh... right. My mistake."

"Anyways," the stallion continued. "Cap wants to see you up on the bridge."

"Cap?" Scythe asked while looking confused. The green unicorn tilted his head slightly. This made the disguised changeling begin to panic in his mind. "Crap! He's on to me!"

"You alright, sir?" the stallion asked. "I mean I get that you're under a lot of pressure right now. But you seem.... a bit off."

"I'm.... fine," Scythe replied. "Now uh... I'll just be going now to see... Cap." With that said, Scythe began to move away from the stallion as quick as he could.

"Other way, Dotty!" he heard the stallion call out before looking back to see him pointing in the opposite direction from where he was going.

"I know that. I was just uh... wanting to take the scenic route."

"Uhh... alright," the stallion replied. "I guess I'll see you up there then." After he said that, the stallion turned and walked away, leaving the disguised changeling alone. Once he was sure that he was in the clear, Scythe breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. After an experience like that, maybe pretending to be a little dragon wasn't so bad after all.

---

Back on the bridge, Steel kept looking at the clock mounted on the wall behind the helm, keeping track of how long they were on the new course. He had decided to keep on the course for at least an hour before turning back to Mareseilles. Soon, he heard hoofsteps on the steps leading up to the wing. Turning his head toward the sound, he saw Port had returned but without Dotted.

"Where's the boss?" Steel asked while looking behind Port for any sign of Dotted.

"He's coming," Port replied. "I bumped into him on the boat deck near the third funnel. He seemed.... a little off though. Not sure if it was because of his talk with Princess Celestia or just stressed because of this voyage."

"Is he usually stressed from voyages?"

"No. He's always had a calm attitude on crossings," he said. "Maybe it's because of the 'important guests' onboard."

"That's possible," Steel replied as he kept looking between Port and the deck below. "Where is he now?"

"He said he was gonna take the scenic route here," Port replied. "So I'm guessing he's gonna come around on the other side."

"Well. If he isn't here in the next 15 minutes. I guess I'll go out and find him myself. I really would like to know what all is needed to be done once we arrive in Mareseilles."

---

After circling around the boat deck to the other side, Scythe eventually made his way toward the steps leading up to the port side bridge wing. During the journey to this point, he realized that he'd soon be face to face with the pony that was the target for their mission. But he'd be doing so disguised as a pony he has no idea how to behave like.

"Well.... Here goes nothing," he thought to himself before beginning the climb up the stairs. Once on the wing, he looked out ahead at the water in front of the ship.

"Ah. There you are," a voice said, making the changeling freeze up before he turned to where the voice was coming from. Standing just inside the doorway leading into the bridge was the pony that his Queen had so much interest in. "I was beginning to think I'd have to come find you myself."

"Well. Here I am," Scythe replied in Dotted's tone. "What uh.. was it that you wanted to talk about?"

"Follow me," the unicorn replied before motioning for him to follow. "I just want to talk about what all needs to be done once we arrive in Mareseilles."

"Crap...." Scythe thought while nodding with a sheepish smile before following the pony inside. As he stepped onto the bridge, the changeling looked around at all the stuff in the room as he followed the unicorn through a doorway leading into what he could only assume to be the pony's personal room.

"So since this is my first crossing as a Captain," the pony said before sitting down at a small table beside a window looking out at the boat deck. On the table were some folders with different labels on them. "I just wanted to be aware of anything that needed to be done once we arrive." As he was talking, he was also looking through some of the folders that were on the table. Scythe just stayed next to the door, trying not to be visibly freaking out while mentally panicking on the inside.

Steel looked up from the folders to see his boss still standing near the door. As he looked, he couldn't help but notice that something was indeed off about the chairpony, just like Port had stated earlier.

"You can take a seat if you want, sir," Steel said before gesturing for the other pony to sit down.

"Na-na-nah. I'm fine right here," Scythe quickly replied.

Steel just raised an eyebrow in response while tilting his head. Something was definitely wrong here. But he wasn't quite sure what.

"Are you alright, Dotted?" he asked. "You seem like you're about ready to have a panic attack."

"You have no idea how right you are," Scythe thought before clearing his throat. "I'm... fine," he replied. "Just uhh... got other things on my mind right now."

"Well. Can you at least answer some questions for me?"

"Uh... Sure. I... guess."

"So..." Steel said before looking through a folder. "How many tugboats do you think we'll need at Mareseilles? Just so I can get a message out before we arrive."

"Uhh...." Scythe replied while his heartbeat increased. He had no idea about anything involving ships. "I don't know?" This answer made the unicorn look up from the folder and look directly at him.

"Oh...kay?" Steel replied before looking back down at the folder. "I guess I'll try and figure that out myself then." He then looked at the report about the amount of coal in the bunkers. "Who would I need to talk to for getting more coal once we start getting ready for the return trip?"

"I uhh.... don't know?" Scythe replied while slightly shaking. That's two questions that he's sure the pony he was impersonating would've had answers for.

"I see," Steel replied. By this point, he was beginning to think that something was very wrong here. The two questions he had asked were something that Dotted should have known the answers to instantly considering the amount of times he had been to Mareseilles. A possible explanation was starting to form in his head, but he wasn't sure if that really was the reason.

"Is this really Dotted?" Steel thought while looking at the other pony in the room. He looked like Dotted. He sounded like Dotted. But the way he was standing mere inches from the door instead of sitting at the table like he did yesterday was sending a signal of something not so pleasant to think about. On top of that, he didn't seem to know anything about what to do about when they arrive at their destination. As he kept looking at what seemed to be his boss, an idea came into his mind. He'd ask one more question. But this one was going to be so easy for Dotted to answer that if he didn't say the correct response, he'd know for sure.

"Alright boss. I have one more question to ask," he said. "But first, I need to show you something."

"Like.... what?"

"Well come over here and I'll show you."

Scythe nodded quickly before he started to make his way over to the table. Once there, he slowly sat down in the chair on the other side. Once he was seated, he watched as the unicorn's horn lit up in a bluish glow before hearing the door that he was nearby close. The sound of the latch on the door made his pupils shrink before the unicorn made something long and black with a brown colored handle float over to them in a blue aura of magic. The changeling's heart began to pound as he watched what soon was revealed to be a sword floating in the unicorn's magic.

"I just wanted to show you how clean my sword is," Steel said while holding up the blade in the light of the sun. "It's so clean, you could see your reflection in it." Scythe sheepishly smiled as he indeed saw the reflection of his disguise in the polished steel of the sword. "So anyway. Last question, Dotty," Steel said while looking directly into his eyes. "What is.... this ship's name?"

Scythe immediately froze up in the chair upon hearing that question. He couldn't understand why he'd ask a question like that. Unless he figured out that the pony he was speaking to wasn't the pony he thought he was. It was at this moment that the disguised changeling knew he was cornered. He had no way out of this situation. If he answered wrong, the jig was for sure to be up. But if he answered right, then maybe he'd be able to escape and quickly make himself scarce.

"I'm waiting, Dotty."

"Umm...." Scythe replied, trying desperately to think of the name of the ship. "Boaty...McBoatface?"

"Boaty.... McBoatface," Steel said before chuckling. "Well. That's quite an interesting name." His facial expression then turned to a more serious one before looking directly at the pony in front of him. "Too bad that it just isn't the name of this ship." Immediately after saying that, Steel used his magic to grab 'Dotted' by the neck and squeeze tightly. Scythe immediately grabbed at his neck in desperation before he was hurled against the wall behind him. Still trying desperately to breathe, he could only watch as the unicorn got out of his chair and come up to him before placing the blade of his sword gently against his throat. This sudden shock was enough for Scythe to lose focus and drop his disguise, revealing himself before the stallion in front of him.

"Well would you look at that," Steel said as he was now looking at a changeling being held by the neck in his magical grip. "Now I've got two more questions for you. First. Who are you? And second. Where... is... Dotted Line?"

Next Chapter: Chapter Seven Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 27 Minutes