The bright light of Celestia's sun shined through the clear blue sky over the seaside town of Mareseilles. Everywhere you could see, ponies were seen conducting their normal day routines of shopping in the markets or eating at one of the many restaurants that this town had to offer. Inside one of these restaurants sat two unicorns in a corner booth near a window. One of them who had dark green fur was busy happily munching away on a plate full of pancakes. The other one, with bright red fur, seemed content with just reading a newspaper while occasionally taking a sip from his mug of apple cider.

"So Steel...." Port Side said after swallowing what he had in his mouth. "You think we'll be getting out of here today?"

"To be honest. I'm not sure," Steel replied after a sigh while still reading the paper. "We've been docked here for three days now and that shipment of new suits of armor hasn't shown up yet. Correct me if I'm wrong, Port. But didn't we get told that those things would be ready to go by the time we got here?"

"We did get told that before leaving Manehattan," Port replied. "But hey! Look on the bright side. At least we've had good weather while we've been here. Not even a cloud in the sky today."

"I suppose so," Steel replied. "Almost seems like we're on vacation." This made Port chuckle a little.

"I'm sure my brother would love to be here instead of back in Manehattan," he said while leaning back in his chair. "Back when we were young, Broadside and I always enjoyed being outside on days like these. You know who I'm talking about, right?"

"Admiral Broadside?" Steel asked. "Yeah. I've spoken to him maybe once or twice before. Kinda seems a bit too uptight if you ask me."

"Yeah," Port said while nodding. "He always was one that liked doing things 'by the book' as he would say. But he's also the reason why I joined the Merchant Marine in the first place." This made Steel set the paper down so he could listen to what his friend had to say. "When he got out of school, he left to go join the Navy right away. My parents were so proud of him even though they missed him very much." He then used his magic to lift his mug of cider to his mouth for a quick sip before continuing. "I tried enlisting in the Navy myself so I could be with him again, but I didn't last very long in there."

"Why's that?" Steel asked. "You've certainly got the talent. I've never seen any pony rise through the ranks of the academy as quickly as you."

"Thanks, Cap," Port replied. "But I just didn't have the physical stats that Broadside has. I couldn't keep up with the other recruits in boot camp. So I had to either go back home or join the Merchant Marine." He then finished up his breakfast before looking out one of the windows of the small building. Just a few blocks away, the four funnels of the ship they arrived on could be seen over the rooftops of a few buildings. "I'm glad I chose the latter. Otherwise I probably never would've gotten the opportunity to serve on such a beautiful looking ship."

"Indeed. Plus I wouldn't have an amazing First Officer," Steel replied before looking up at the clock on the wall. "Well. This has been an enjoyable time." He said before getting off of his seat. "But it's time to head back and see if we can head out for Manehattan today." Port nodded before getting off of his seat as well. Steel then levitated a few bits out of his coat pocket and left them on the table as payment for the meal along with a tip for the waitress.

Stepping outside, the two set off for the docks in hope of finally being able to depart. "Thanks for the breakfast, Cap." Port said as the two walked down a sidewalk. "You didn't have to do that, you know."

"What are friends for?" Steel asked. "Besides. Though I love my ship very much, even I need to go ashore every once in a while."

"You do seem to spend a lot of time on the ship," the green unicorn replied as the harbor came into view. "Almost like she's your actual home." As the two ponies neared the docks, the sounds of seagulls, cranes, and steam whistles filled the air. Carts loaded with various crates passed by as they came up to the security checkpoint booth.

"Identification, please," the guard pony said as he leaned against his counter inside the booth. Steel presented him with his identification and E.M.M. badge. Port did the same as well. The guard pony looked at each item for a minute or so before returning them to their respective owners and proceeded to wave them through. Once inside, the two ponies immediately set their sights on their docked ship, the flagship of the Red Apple Line, the EMS Mareitania. You wouldn't be able to miss her even if you weren't paying attention because from the view of standing on the wharf. She looked like a floating eleven story building.

"Port," Steel said as the two walked toward their ship. "I want you to take charge of the bunkering. It should already be getting started by the time you get aboard. If we are able to leave today, I don't want anything to delay us even further. Once I'm done with my meeting with Star, I'll meet you up on the bridge."

"Yes sir," Port replied before saluting. Steel responded with a salute of his own and watched as the green unicorn quickly rushed off toward the ship. Once he couldn't see him any longer, he turned to walk over to a small building located just a few yards away from the dock.

"Please let us finally be able to leave," he thought to himself before he stopped at the door. "Even though this is a nice town, I don't want to be here any longer than I need to." Using his magic to turn the knob, Steel slowly opened the door and stepped inside. Closing the door behind him, he found himself looking at a light blue unicorn mare who was sitting behind a desk, filling out some paperwork. "Umm... excuse me," he said in an attempt to gain her attention. It did the job as her gold colored eyes looked up at him.

"Good morning sir." The mare said as she moved the paper she was writing on to the side of her desk. "My name is Gale Wind. How may I help you today?"

"Hello Gale," Steel replied. "My name is Steel Blade. I have an appointment with Star Board to see if the shipment I'm waiting for is due to arrive today."

"Ah. Captain Blade," Gale replied before bringing up a clipboard in her gold colored aura of magic. "Star is expecting you. Her door is just down the hall, second door on the right."

"Thank you," he said before looking where Gale had said to go. "Have a good day now." Gale simply smiled before she went back to her paperwork, leaving Steel to walk down the small hallway until he came up to a door that had the words 'Harbor Master' nailed on it. He then softly knocked on it before waiting a little bit for a response.

"Come in," a mare's voice on the other side said before Steel began to open the door. Inside the room sat a light red pegasus mare behind a large wooden desk who was stamping a few papers. The emotion she was displaying on her face could easily be determined as her wanting to be anywhere else than where she was.

"Good morning Star." Steel said, instantly gaining the other pony's attention. "How are you doing today?"

"I'm doing well, I suppose," she replied. "I've just been swamped by all this paperwork." She then pushed the papers to the side of her desk as Steel sat down in a chair in front of the desk. As he did this, she proceeded to rest her head on her hoof before she looked at Steel. "If I had known that being Harbor Master of this place meant filling out almost 100 papers a day, I don't think I'd have taken this job." This made Steel chuckle a little as the pegasus grabbed a clipboard out of one of her drawers. "I suppose you're here wondering about that late shipment. Am I right?"

"Absolutely," Steel replied. "I don't mean to be a bother to you. But these supplies that are already aboard are really needed back in Manehattan so they can be distributed to the various towns and outposts in Equestria under our control. If that shipment isn't here today, Mareitania may have to leave without it."

"Yes," Star replied. "I've been hearing so many things about this war that's been going on. Makes me glad things are nice and calm over on this side of the sea." After saying that, she flipped through a few papers on the clipboard before looking at Steel again. "Well. I'm sure you'll be relieved to hear that your armor shipment is here and is currently being loaded onto your ship as we speak."

"Really?"

"Yeppers," she said in a cheerful tone. "I have a document confirming the arrival of your armor shipment right here." She then slid the clipboard across the desk to him. "Everything is there for you. Cargo manifest, departure schedule, and clearance papers. Also, my bunkering crew will be finished loading your ship in an hour or so."

"That's great to hear," he replied in an impressed tone as he looked at her. "I've never seen a ship fully coaled up in that short amount of time."

"About that," she continued as the tone in her voice lowered while her ears flattened. "Your liner isn't getting as much coal as we've given in the past. Our coal reserves have been running out. I'm afraid what you'll be getting is the last we have until our next supply comes in from the mines."

"What do you mean?" he asked. "How long would that take?"

"A few more days," she answered. "At least a week to get the reserves fully resupplied." Hearing that, Steel just sighed as he weighed his options. He knew that the supplies on board his ship was desperately needed back in Equestria. Especially the suits of armor.

"What would you advise we do then?" he asked. "Manehattan's at least four days worth at our top speed."

"What we've given you should get you there, Captain," she replied. "I won't make any promises though. You're more than welcome to wait here a few days longer. And as soon as the train arrives with the coal, Mareitania will have first priority when it comes to bunkering."

"I appreciate that," he said. "But these supplies are needed back in Equestria. My hooves are tied."

"Understood," she replied. "I'll let the crews of our tugs know that you'll be departing today."

"Alright," he said as he glanced at the cargo manifest. "Well. Besides the shipment of armor. It looks like everything else that I already know of is on here."

"Are you sure about that?" she asked. "Look at the very bottom of the list." Raising an eyebrow in confusion, the stallion did as the mare suggested and looked. As soon as his eyes saw the very last thing on the list, he gasped in shock at what was listed.

"One hundred crates... of high explosive gunpowder?!" he read out loud. "Why are those on my ship?!"

"Admiral Broadside sent us a request to have them loaded on your ship," she answered before producing a paper for the Captain to see. "He said that the reserves of them were dwindling in Manehattan. So he wanted more sent over on your liner."

Looking at the message, Steel couldn't believe what he was reading. But everything looked official as far as seals and signatures were concerned.

"Is he nuts?!" he screamed internally. "My liner isn't built to carry that kind of cargo!"

"Are you alright, Steel?" Star asked, noticing that his eyes were fixated on the paper. "Do you need a glass of water or something?"

"Huh?" he replied, looking up at her. "N-No. I'm fine. I... just wasn't expecting to have such a... delicate cargo loaded on board." He then sighed heavily before signing the papers. As much as he wanted to have those crates taken off, he couldn't overrule the Admiral's decision. "Guess we'll... just have to be extra careful," he continued.

"Definitely," she replied. "So. Around 2:00 is when we should have all of the tugs needed for your ship." Hearing that, he looked up at the clock mounted on her wall.

"Two hours," he said as the clock showed it being noon. "That should be plenty of time for me to get things ready to go." With that said, he got out of the chair before taking his copies of the papers with his magic. "Thank you very much, Star," he said while walking over to the door. "Try not to have too much fun with those papers now."

"Oh you don't have to worry about that," she replied. "Have a safe journey back."

"Will do," he said before closing the door behind him. "Well," he thought while walking down the hallway towards the main door. "I hope I made the right choice. I know I should just wait here for more coal. But we can't sit here any longer than we've already been. I'm sure Broadside must be furious over the fact that we haven't left yet."

---

As Steel began to make his way over to his docked liner, little did he know how true his thought really was. Even though Celestia's sun was just peeking up over the horizon in Manehattan, Admiral Broadside was already sitting at his desk as he began his morning by crossing off the previous date on his calendar.

"Three days," he said to himself as he looked at the three red X's on the paper. "That ship has been there for three days and they haven't left yet? How in the name of Tartarus are we supposed to defend this city against Sombra and his forces if we don't have those new suits of armor?" Setting down the red marker with his magic, he turned his chair to look out the window. From his office, he was able to look out at the Equestrian Ocean as the bright rays of morning light began streaking across the water. "I just hope that they get here soon." Literally seconds after finishing his thought, the silence that surrounded him was destroyed by the sound of a pony knocking on his door.

"Admiral?" a voice asked from the other side. "Are you in here?"

"Enter," Broadside replied before his door slowly swung open. He then proceeded to swing his chair around to see who it was. "Ah," he said upon setting his gaze on the light blue pegasus mare. "Sgt. Rainbow Dash. What brings you by here so early? If I remember right, you aren't really one for mornings."

"Well. I was on my way to grab something to eat from the mess hall," Rainbow replied. "But your secretary wanted me to bring this to you since I had to go by here." She then grabbed a envelope that was tucked under her good wing with her mouth before the Admiral used his magic to take a hold of it. "She said it was pretty important."

"I see," he replied as the item floated over to him. "Also, how are you feeling? I know you must still have some pain from losing your wing."

Rainbow looked at her mechanical wing as the paper floated down on to his desk. "Yeah. It does still hurt from time to time," she said. "But the doctors say I should be ready to get back into the fight in a couple of weeks."

"That is great to hear." The Admiral replied before he opened the envelope and began to read the paper that was within.

From the desk of Harbor Master Star Board of Mareseilles

To: Admiral Broadside of the Manehattan Fleet

Dear Admiral,
We have just received the shipment of new armor that has been ordered by the Equestrian Royal Guard and are currently loading it aboard the Mareitania. Captain Blade is due to be meeting with me this afternoon to discuss a potential departure. Everything else that has been requested is already aboard.

I would like to apologize for the delay. Things are currently chaotic around here at the moment. But we'll get your ship out of here as soon as we can. Hopefully today.

Best of luck in your fight against the Crystal Empire.
- Star Board

"Fantastic!" he thought as he set the paper down on his desk before turning his attention back to the rainbow maned pegasus in front of him.

"So what's so important?" Rainbow asked. "You look pretty happy now after reading that."

"Just a message about a ship that is carrying vital supplies leaving from Prance later on this afternoon," he replied. "Though they are six hours ahead of us so maybe they're leaving as we speak."

"Vital supplies?" she asked. "You mean those new armor things that are supposed to protect against crystal shards?" The stallion nodded his head as a response, making the pegasus mare gain a big smile on her face. "Awesome!" she exclaimed before briefly taking to the air only for the pain to bring her back to the floor. "That'll really help us out a lot."

"Indeed," he replied before his stomach began to growl. "Well..." he said before getting off of his chair. "How about we go celebrate this by grabbing some breakfast."

"Yes sir," Rainbow happily said before saluting the Admiral, who returned the favor. After that, the two ponies exited the little office to begin making their way towards the mess hall.

Next Chapter: Chapter Two Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 35 Minutes