The Ocean Above Us

“As long as I’m with my brother... everything will be okay...”- Rosalind Lutece

Nimbus readied a green Hypnotize polyp in his hoof, holding it close for the approaching Big Sister. If he was lucky, this wouldn’t have to be a fight.

“Nimbus!” Twilight called to him over the next burst of screeching, “This is the same Big Sister that we saw before, in Hephaestus! She’s got-”

Twilight was interrupted by the sound of metal separating concrete above her, and Nimbus jumping to keep the debris from crushing her. He caught her just in time, and adjusted himself so his heavy armor wouldn’t crush her as they tumbled across the ground. The source of the new hole in the ceiling was indeed a Big Sister, but as Nimbus scanned her over, he witnessed something terribly wrong with her needle. It wasn’t a needle. Where the ADAM gathering device would normally be secured to her foreleg was a massive, cone shaped drill.

“You have got to be kidding me.” Nimbus mumbled, picking himself up. This was just plain ridiculous. To add to the trouble, he dropped his polyp when he jumped to protect Twilight. “I have had just about enough of this!”

The Big Sister looked at him, preparing to block an attack. Nimbus galloped forward and unexpectedly rammed her, head first, causing her to be thrown back. She landed on her hooves, and looked up to focus on Nimbus again.

“There was a hole in that ceiling already!” Nimbus shouted, thrusting his drill into her. She growled in pain as the metal scratched and tore at her suit. The Big Sister returned by slamming her drill into Nimbus’s side, launching him towards the entrance to the testing wing.

“Don’t just stand there...” Nimbus coughed, looking up at Rainbow and Applejack as he rolled onto his side, “Help me up!”

Applejack moved in first, but got slowed down by her launcher’s weight. She fired a rocket at the ceiling, with the apparent intention of bringing more of the ceiling down on the Big Sister. The Big Sister jumped back reflexively, not expecting her free-willed counterpart to catch the projectile with Telekinesis before it hit ceiling, and redirect it at her. Her armor took the hit head on, throwing her back into the wall next to Nimbus. The downed stallion reached out with his Plasmid hoof, stretching out the stalk of the Green Hoof within him and ensnaring the Big Sister in it. Rainbow Dash charged her, but she had already activated her drill and tore through the Nimbus’s plant, causing him to recoil in pain, and shoved the spinning weapon into Rainbow’s back.

Her armor prevented any bodily damage, but the impact took the wind out of Rainbow Dash. The Big Sister jumped over her and threw herself at Applejack, who was taking aim to fire another rocket. In a single, swift motion, the rocket exited the launcher and curved over the Big Sister as she threw it into the ceiling with a Telekinesis of her own. She then threw all of her weight into the drill, hitting Applejack hard enough to break chunks of out the concrete wall she was sent into.

Twilight took a defensive stance, challenging the Big Sister she knew she couldn’t beat.

“Twilight...” Fluttershy tapped her shoulder, “Let me...”

“Fluttershy? No!” Twilight pushed her back, “She’ll run right through you!”

The Big Sister slowly approached the two mares, looking between them as if contemplating which to kill first. A projectile suddenly shot through the air and hit the Sister in her oxygen tank, causing it to begin leaking into the air around them. She turned, howling in rage, letting Twilight and Fluttershy get a look at the damage on her tank. As she rushed for Nimbus, Fluttershy ran out into the middle of the room as well.

“Fluttershy, wait!”

“I’m done being a damsel in distress! I’m gonna do my part too!”

Nimbus lifted his crossbow to block the Sister’s drill. It’s frame bent, and snapped in half with another hit. The weapon now useless, he dropped the two halves in defeat. He shifted himself to face the red glow of the Sister’s helmet as she held the drill over him and prepared to strike. A smile formed on his face as he noticed Fluttershy behind her. The Big Sister burst into flames without warning, and fell over dead. Beyond her corpse was Fluttershy, operating the Ion Laser carried by the first Big Daddy they encountered. She had the heavy weapon propped up on a piece of rubble, still connected to it's former owner's foreleg. Fluttershy ran over to Nimbus.

“Thanks...” Nimbus said, “I owe you one...”

“No, that was for saving my life all of those times...”

Nimbus got up, very weary from being thrown around, and looked at the fried Big Sister before him.

“How'd you think to light up the tank on her back?” Nimbus asked weakly. It wasn’t in Fluttershy’s nature to be so... violent.

“I remembered how you dealt with the fire back in Arcadia,” she began, her voice uncertain, “and how the fire needed oxygen, so if I fired the laser at the tank on her back then... I...”

“Clever...” Nimbus said, watching as Twilight ran up from behind her and gave her a hug.

"I was so worried, give me more notice when you're gonna do something like that again, okay?"

Fluttershy nodded, looking up at Nimbus over Twilight's shoulder.

"Thanks," he said.

It was time to deal with that Big Sister. He removed the helmet, looking at the mare underneath. Her coat was a dull pinkish-purple, complemented by a wavy purple mane. She had no horn, so it was easier for Nimbus to place his hoof over her forehead and drain out her ADAM. When the absorption was complete, he dropped the body and turned back to the others. Rainbow was up, but Applejack still hadn’t moved.

Twilight was over her, pulling her helmet off and checking for any head injuries. Her horn lit up, and she scanned the rest of her friend’s body with magic. Her little sister just clung silently to her shoulder, her eyes clenched shut, not wanting to lose another family member.

“Since I can’t remove your suit...” Twilight reported, “This magical scan may not be completely accurate, but you’re fine underneath your suit. Your head, however...” She cast her detection spell over Applejack’s head, and continued, “I believe that last hit against the wall gave you a concussion.”

“What? That’s it?” Applejack chuckled softly, still trying to regain her breath. “I’ve had worse than a little concussion, Twilight...”

“No, you don’t understand. I know your body has been modified to resist physical impacts, and the suit aids that, but your brain doesn’t have the properties that the rest of your body does. I can heal you... but I need time. I don’t want you passing out during a fight.”

“Alright, Twilight, I trust you...”

Twilight looked back at Nimbus. “I’m sorry, Nimbus, but it’ll just have to be you and Rainbow.”

“Hold on,” Rainbow said, “What if another low life comes along and tries to mess with you? No, I’m staying right here.”

“Rainbow's right." Nimbus said, "I can handle myself, and whatever happens up there, but she's your protection right now. I'll go it alone."

“No, brother!” Oceana scrambled to get in front of him in order to capture his attention. “I want to come with you!”

“I can’t, Oceana... I’m sorry, I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“But you’ll keep me safe, right?”

“Actually, Nimbus,” Twilight said, hearing his conversation with his sister. “She might be able to find ADAM up there for you. It’s important for our survival. If you’re going to go on your own, you better have means of gathering it.”

“Yeah!” Oceana produced her needle, and tried to hop onto Nimbus’s back.

“No, Twilight,” Nimbus protested, “She’s a filly, she’s my sister! She’s not a tool to exploit for my own benefit.”

“Nimbus, Rapture is dangerous, you know that better than anypony else. If she doesn’t gather ADAM, were not going to make it out of here.”

Nimbus wanted to say something, but he knew that Twilight was right. Without Oceana, he had little chance of evening the playing field with Altos.

“Alright.” He said, lifting Oceana onto his back. “But,” he added, addressing the blue filly, “If things get too rough up there, I’m gonna bring you back down here.”

Oceana nodded.

He stepped into the elevator and pressed the button to send him up. The doors at the bottom had opened, but were too badly damaged to shut. The door at the peak of the shaft led them into a dark hallway, only lit by the glow from Nimbus’s helmet. Another door was at the end of the hallway, with a screen displaying one of Pinkamena’s videos on it.

“Hello again, you’ve reached the entrance to my chambers...” She sighed, looking away from the camera for a moment. “Go in and... deal with me. Hopefully, I’ve exhausted all of my defenses on you already, so I shouldn’t be too much of a challenge. I’ve quarantined part of the room off; the part of the room with the controls to the various devices here. I’m afraid you’ll have to... weaken me first, in order to kill me. There’s a biotoxin release at the far end of the room that should release an incapacitating agent into my chamber that should keep me from... well, attacking you the moment you enter the quarantine. Also, the door leading into my quarantine has been electrified to prevent me from escaping. You’ll want to flip the switch next to the door before you enter. Good luck.”

This was it. The screen turned off, and Nimbus pressed the button on the side of the door. It slid open, giving light to a large room with tiled floors, and a short metal staircase leading up to a reinforced glass wall on the right, with a frightening pink mare staring at him from behind it. Instead of straight, like it was in the recording, her mane was curled and standing on end. Her face was cut up and deformed, and looked as if it were stuck in a smile...

“You crashed my party...” she said, pressing her face against the glass, her voice carrying over the room’s speakers. “Congratulations! Mister Sparks has your goodie bag!” The smile twisted into an ugly scowl. Nimbus heard a sharp clicking, and streak of lightning darted past his face. Oceana squeaked in terror as Nimbus pulled back. To the left of Nimbus was a open space, lit only with a single light hanging from the center ceiling. That was also where the source of the electricity came from, a large stallion, covered head to tail in a suit of heavy metal. It was a Big Daddy. His helmet was similar in design to the Lancer’s, having a large piece with slits in it coming down over the face. One notable difference though, was the device on his back. Instead of the usual oxygen tank that went with the deep sea diver theme, there was a large cylindrical device, with a ball on a metal pole sticking a few feet out of the top.

The only other difference was what the device attached to. At the end of a cable that spanned the length of the Big Daddy’s shoulders was a modified version of the Ion Laser. The cable connected where the ammunition capsule would.

“See him out, Mister Sparks!” Pinkie shouted, as the weapon’s tip began to crackle with electricity. Nimbus leapt out of the way as a bolt of lightning raced towards him. As his hooves hit the ground to stop his descent, Oceana lost her grip on his back. She slid off of him, but Nimbus didn’t have time to pick her back up. The Big Daddy was firing his weapon, but if he moved it meant Oceana taking the hit. Electricity coursed through his body, causing his muscles to spaz out of control for a few moments.

“Get him, Brother!” Oceana called, watching Nimbus steady himself and charge at the Big Daddy. Since his enemy only had a gun, he shouldn’t be able to fight well in close combat. Nimbus brought his drill down on him, but received an unpleasant jolt of electricity for doing so. The Big Daddy had been hurt, but Nimbus had taken damage too.

“Heehee!” Pinkie giggled, watching Nimbus unknowingly electrocute himself. “Mister Sparks loves that joke!”

Mister Sparks was now on his back legs, preparing to throw the butt of his weapon down on the recovering Nimbus’s head. On the ground, Nimbus looked up briefly, and used his Overgrowth to pull the Big Daddy’s back legs out from under him, sending him crashing into the ground. Nimbus stood up took a look at the room before Mister Sparks got back up. He spotted the biotoxin release on the far wall, directly across from Pinkie’s chamber. The raised portion of the room which held the crazed scientist wasn’t large, so it should fill up fairly quickly. Pipes ran along the ceiling, leading to the exit of the room. One pipe that caught his attention was marked ‘water’. If he could break that pipe open, he could fry that Big Daddy. He’d have to be careful not to kill himself or Oceana though.

Nimbus’s thinking was cut short as the Big Daddy grabbed him by the shoulders and rammed his helmet against Nimbus’s. Although dazed, Nimbus glared and headbutted him back, forgetting the consequences of doing so. The shock emitted pushed him back, but surprisingly seemed to push the Big Daddy back as well. An idea crossed Nimbus’s mind, and he went with it. Nimbus fired his Electro Bolt at the beast, as he saw the weapon charging up. It went dark for a moment, but resumed charging again.

“What’s that Mister Sparks?” Pinkie pretended that the Big Daddy has said something, “Your gun likes lightning? That’s wonderful!”

The charge seemed to build up, and it was released as a powerful blast that Nimbus just barely dodged. He looked behind him and saw that the shot left a mark on the grey metal wall behind him, leaving it warped and charred. His gaze went up to the water pipe on the ceiling again. The Big Daddy charged his weapon again, but Nimbus had already tackled him, pushing back against the electricity flowing against him. Nimbus wrestled the Big Daddy to the ground, holding himself steady as each time he struck the other stallion he was violently jolted. His gun was still charging when Nimbus deployed his drill, aiming for his head, but he pushed out against the weapon with the side of his gun and thrust the barrel into his foe.

Nimbus rolled out of the way, armor rattling as the shot from the Big Daddy’s weapon blasted into ceiling, rupturing the pipe Nimbus has set him up to be directly beneath. Water began to flow into the room, making the weapon and backpack of the Big Daddy crackle and become silent as Mister Sparks roared in anger. Spotting Oceana hiding in the corner, he ran to her and quickly scooped her up before the Big Daddy’s gear exploded, throwing the wielder into the ground with lethal force. Nimbus was also thrown, and he curled himself protectively around Oceana to cushion her fall. His armor did just that, and the frightened, screaming filly landed safely on her big brother’s chest.

“Oceana...” Nimbus managed, looking to ensure she was alright. He was on his back, utterly exhausted from the combat, but he still had work to do. The floor was wet, and the room was filling with water. Taking Oceana on his back once more, he trotted to the biotoxin release. Nimbus couldn’t see her from his place in the lowered portion of the room. He wouldn’t know if the biotoxin worked until he went in.

“You should be fine now, Applejack.” Twilight stepped away from her now healed companion. “The healing spell might make you feel a bit dizzy, so take it easy for a few minutes.”

Applejack gave her thanks as Rainbow came up next to Twilight.

“Twilight?” She called her friend’s name.

“Yes Rainbow?” Twilight responded with a half-smile.

“What are we going to do when we’re done here?”

“I don’t know... we can’t stay in Rapture, that’s for sure. We’ll have to go to the surface, and start a new life,” Twilight said, looking up at the ceiling.

“Where will we go?” Rainbow asked, “We’re not going to be able to go back home. Not after what’s happened to us.”

“No, the Princess wouldn’t be happy if she knew that I had stopped sending her reports voluntarily.”

“And Big Macintosh,” Applejack added, adjusting her helmet, “Nopony’s gonna understand what happened to him...”

Fluttershy quietly waited in a dark corner, unsure of how to feel, because she wouldn’t be able to see Ponyville, the place she called home, ever again. At the same time, almost all of her friends were there with her. She wanted to take heart in the fact that she was at home among her friends, but in the gloomy atmosphere of Rapture, she just couldn’t.

“And without Pinkie...” Twilight continued, “Nothing will be the same...”

The sealed door of Pinkie’s quarantine hissed as it opened. He waited for the green mist that had eventually formed in her chamber to disperse as the new air came in, blowing through Oceana’s mane as he took a step back. He waited for a moment as the mist dispersed. Now, sure that he would not fall victim to the agent, Nimbus walked through the door, and indeed saw the pink mare collapsed just behind a table in the middle of the floor. It was decorated with a pink and white tablecloth, and had several teacups set up on each end. Nimbus was startled when he noticed blood dripping from the spout of a teapot that occupied the center of the table.

A voice from Pinkie’s control panel was heard. “If you’re hearing this, you’ve successfully gotten into my chamber. I’m... The gas will only leave me in an unconscious or near unconscious state, so you’ll have to finish the job. I’ve implanted a... a neural shock emitter into my brain. A button on this panel will activate it, sending a lethal amount of electricity through my body. If you’re unsure about killing me, think of it like this: I died long before I became what you see, so no matter what I may say in my barely conscious form, please, end my suffering. Thank you. Oh, and make sure to take the print out of my genetic key located at this panel after you’re through.”

Nimbus walked over to the panel as the recording played, looking at the large glass-cased button. It was no doubt the one she spoke of. He looked back at the table, and saw her pink hooves slowly reach out and pull her limp body over the table. There was a look of disparity and genuine fear in her eye.

“No!” She screamed, “Don’t... I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’ll do anything! I’ll do whatever you want, just... please! Don’t kill me!”

Her eyes began to tear up, and Nimbus sighed. He knew what he had to do, so why did it seem so hard? Just press the damn button and be done with it. Nimbus walked over to the mare, and her ears perked up.

“You’re not gonna kill me, are you? You don’t have to, I promise! Pinkie Pie promise!” She pleaded, lazily making some silly motion with her hooves. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”

Nimbus walked back over to the panel, looking at the button. This mare had tried to kill him. She was asking for an apology now? He shook his head, pulling the genetic key from the machine. She wanted her to kill him, but that was under the assumption that she couldn't be saved. Now, there were more options. Twilight could probably cure her, as smart as she was. He had to make the choice, though, and if he chose not to kill her now, the room would flood and destroy the console. That left them with having to deal with her if she got out of hoof.

“I’m not going to kill you.” He finally said.

“You- you’re not?” She stammered, unable to believe what she was hearing. “Th-Thank you!” In an instant, she had bounded over the table and wrapped him in a ferocious hug. “But... you killed all of my friends...”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Wha... what?”

“Your friends, your real friends, are with me. Come on.”

Pinkie had already collapsed onto the floor, the toxin and her sudden show of affection draining her energy.

"Or... not."