The Ocean Above Us

“The ponies here need my help. Even if I helped start all of this.” -Twilight Sparkle, about the Rapture Civil War.

“Hey, you there?” Nimbus said, as he gathered enough energy to hit the door of Sparkle Simplicities with Electro Bolt. The Plasmid use was really tiring him out. Maybe he should take a break from it for a while. In the upper floor of the building, he found Twilight Sparkle studying some paper with her dragon assistant close by.

“Oh, you’re back,” she said, “Did you get what I needed from Rarity?”

“Yeah, and she says she forgives you.” Nimbus said accusingly, producing Rarity’s genetic key and tossing it to Twilight. She caught it with her magic.

“Oh, that’s good to hear. I knew she wouldn’t be mad at me forever.”

“Twilight, tell me about your connection with the Little Sisters.”

The words made her drop the genetic key from her magical grip. She bit her lip, not wanting to tell the pegasus about what she had done.

“Well... As you know, I was brought here to study ADAM, and we needed more of it... So the Gatherer program was started, and we... well,” Twilight swallowed a lump in her throat, “I didn’t do it to her, but I couldn't stop the rest of them from turning Sweetie Belle into a..." Twilight bit her lip again, "a Little Sister. When they did it, it warped her perception. She was afraid, and didn’t know what was going on... I tried to help her, but then Rarity came along, and saw me with her, and she...”

“She thought it was your fault...” Nimbus sighed. It was all just a big misunderstanding, but that’s the way ponies were sometimes.

“Why do you ask?”

“She brought it up... after I saved her little sister.”

“Sweetie Belle was there? And you saved her? That’s great!”

“Yeah, but... Rarity didn’t want me to do it at first...”

“Huh?” Twilight tilted her head quizzically, “What do you mean?”

“She told me that Sweetie Belle was a monster and had to be...” Nimbus trailed off, “She wanted me to... end her suffering. Even after I saved her she thought she was still a monster... but I think she’ll be okay now. She seemed to realize that she was still her sister, no matter what.” He looked around, not seeing Fluttershy or the Little Sister anywhere. “Where are the others?”

“Oh, they’re resting. I let them use the bed in my room for now.”

“Oh yeah? What did you find out about that Little Sister?”

“Well, I’ve dealt with and studied so many before, but this is the first one that I’ve seen make a bond with another pony before. She’s calling you ‘Brother’, now.”

“Brother? Heh.”

“Also, her ADAM exposure has really progressed my research, but I need a different specimen, one that’s more matured... That’s where Rarity’s key comes in.” Twilight seemed to ponder this for an answer, as if her problem could be solved just by looking at the chip, but then got another idea in her head, “Which reminds me, I think I know somepony who can help you find your sister.”

“Who’s that?”

“I’ve heard about a certain stallion who arrived in Rapture a while back, he found it all on his own. His name is-” Twilight was cut off as the blinded window that normally overlooked the Artemis Central suddenly shattered, sending glass shards everywhere.

“Get down!” Nimbus commanded, and looked to see what had caused the damage. A mare jumped through with incredible agility. It's armor reminded Nimbus of the Big Daddy, but it wasn’t bulky, it was sleek. It had an oxygen tank on the back of it, and on it's head was a round helmet, with a glowing red visor. She saw Nimbus, and raised one of her hooves. A long, deadly looking needle extended, and it was quickly thrust his way.

“What’s a Big Sister doing here?” Twilight asked, as she watched Nimbus dodge the attack. Nimbus couldn’t answer, for he was too busy reaching for his pipe and parrying the Sister’s strikes. Noticing that the playing field and been leveled, the Big Sister lifted a hoof and shot a jet of flame from it. Nimbus backed away, narrowly avoiding the singeing heat.

“Get Fluttershy and the Sister out of here!” Nimbus said, glancing at Twilight for a split second.

“Right,” Twilight nodded, and ran off. The Sister noticed her leave, and took off after her.

“Oh no you don’t!” Nimbus yelled, causing the Sister to look back for a split second. With his wings fully outstretched, he gathered up as much energy as he could and hit the Big Sister with an Electro Bolt. She was stunned, but Nimbus had nearly collapsed from the amount of energy it had taken to use the Plasmid. He was still trying to steady himself when the Big Sister recovered and launched him out the window with a flick of her head. Nimbus hit the ground hard, the impact crushing his mechanical wing, and the shards of it digging into his back. Opening his eyes, he saw the Big Sister leap from the window and land right on top of him.

Her head moved frantically, scanning his body. Lifting her hoof, she brought her needle down into Nimbus’s stomach. Nimbus became tired as he felt a slight suction coming from the needle. His body was limp, and he saw a small clear container on the Big Sister’s foreleg that was filling up with some glowing red liquid. It was his blood, and the golden ADAM it contained was slowly pushing the blood out of the jar and onto the floor.

Nimbus had plenty of ideas of what death was like; a beautiful mare that knocked on your door and told you it was time, a skeletal stallion who wore a cloak and carried a scythe, and some just said that you saw a light. He never thought that it was be deafening, like thunder. The needle was pulled out of him, and the Big Sister stumbled backwards. There was another call to the afterlife, and the Big Sister screeched out in pain.

That’s when he realized that he wasn’t dying, but he was being rescued.

“Stay with me, kid!” It was Athena, but Nimbus couldn’t open his eyes to see her. He knew her voice, though. He heard the sound of something metal clattering to the ground.

“How..” Nimbus coughed, “How did you know?”

“I got eyes everywhere. Plus,” Athena paused for a split second, as if she didn’t want to admit, “Rarity told me that she saw a Big Sister chasin’ after ya.”

"Yeah... yeah..." Nimbus felt hooves on his wound, and then something dragging his mind into sleep.

When he awoke, Nimbus was laying in a bed. It was soft, and the blanket covering him was warm. He remembered being stabbed by the Big Sister, and then Athena saving him. He sat up, expecting to be in immense pain, but felt nothing. He lifted a hoof, examining it, then felt his stomach, ensuring there were no holes in it. Around him was a completely alien environment. Lots of bookshelves were lining the walls, and a small bedside table held a lamp next to him.

Unlike the rest of the city, the light actually illuminated it’s immediate area. The room actually looked halfway decent, unlike the rest of the wreck he saw earlier. Laying on the ground next near a bookshelf, reading a book, was a familiar lavender unicorn: Twilight Sparkle.

“Twilight?” He said, with unexpected strength to his voice.

Twilight looked up from her book. “Oh, you’re awake.”

“Where’s Athena?”

“She gave you to me after I came back for you. You were unconscious, and she told me you had your ADAM drained. I told her I’d use a recovery spell on you and get you back to my backup home, here in the Ravine. How do you feel?”

“Surprisingly normal... Are the others okay?”

“Yes, in fact, I made sure that they got to the Bathysphere safely before teleporting back there to help you. I’m glad Athena took care of that Big Sister, or we would’ve been done for.”

Nimbus nodded. “Thank you. Now, before we were attacked, what was it that you wanted to tell me? It was about somepony who could help me-”

“Oh yes! They call him Johnny Topside. He’s somewhat of a heroic-roguish type, but he’s on the run from Andrew Ryan right now.”

“What did he do?”

“Nopony knows. Everypony says that he was minding his own business, but was attracting a lot of attention from the media. Maybe Ryan was just jealous.”

Nimbus contemplated on this. Wasn’t this Topside considered a criminal? Then again, Andrew Ryan obviously couldn’t keep a hoof on his own city.

“Where is he now?”

“Everypony thinks that he’s holed up somewhere in Arcadia, the forested area of Rapture-”

“Hold on,” Nimbus interjected, “There’s a forest down here?”

“Yes, there is. Where do you think all of the oxygen comes from? At the highest point of Rapture, there’s a forest that turns what sunlight that passes through the water into energy. Carbon based creatures like ourselves breathe out carbon dioxide, and plants use that to make oxygen.”

“Interesting," Nimbus deadpanned, focusing on the mission, "How do I get there?”

“There’s only a few Bathyspheres that can take you directly to Arcadia. The closest one is in the Sunhoof Performance Hall, which is right off of the Ravine here.”

Nimbus stood up as if he had never been injured at all. The only problem he had was the short nub on his side where his mechanical wing used to be. He looked at it in concern.

“Sorry about that...” Twilight said, standing up and returning her book to it’s shelf. “Your wing was cutting into your back... and it got quite messy.”

“It’s fine,” Nimbus sighed, exercising the control of his other wing. He had to be careful, this was the last real wing he had. “Thanks for that healing spell, by the way, I feel great.”

“It’s not a problem. Your gear is downstairs, waiting for you with Fluttershy and Oceana.”

"Oceana?"

“That’s the name of the Little Sister you saved. From what I can tell, you’re filling the void that her old Big Daddy had once held. It’s in a different way, but... she was so worried when I brought you in unconscious.”

“Right... where are we, exactly?”

“This is the Ravine. It’s a part of Rapture that was reserved for the important figures working for Andrew Ryan to live before the war. He relocated most of them to someplace else, but I stayed here.”

“Why’d you stay here?”

“Well... I like books, if you can’t tell,” she grinned, and looked at the collection of books that she had behind her. “I just couldn't bring them all with me...” She gazed at the books in some sort of trance for a moment, but then snapped back to reality. “You can go when you’re ready. If you want something to eat, there’s food downstairs as well.”

“Alright, I could eat.”

“Are you okay?” Oceana jumped from her seat on a ruined couch in excitement when she saw Nimbus come down the stairs. Fluttershy, who was laying on the couch next to her, looked up at him as well.

“Oh, Nimbus, I’m so sorry all of this happened to you...” Fluttershy said as he sat down next to her, letting Oceana onto his lap.

“It’s okay, Fluttershy, it’s not your fault. I’m just glad we’re all still okay.”

“Me too...” She replied, laying her head on the cushion near her.

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Twilight said, “But why are you sitting like that?”

“Like what?” Nimbus asked, looking at himself.

“Like... with your legs all hanging down...”

“I don’t know, it’s just more comfortable for me. Why, is it creeping you out?”

Twilight’s previous description of ‘food’ was barely accurate. Sure, the old canned bread and beans were edible, and they served their purpose in Nimbus’s stomach, but it didn’t stop them from tasting like the back end of a cow.

“Hey Twilight, you’ve studied ADAM and Plasmids and stuff, right?”

“Why yes,” she replied from her place at a desk, turning from her studies to face the question, “I do take pride in my work.”

“Do you think you can make sense of this?” Nimbus produced the card he had found among his gear, given to him by the mysterious tan stallion. Twilight trotted from her place to inspect the object in question, taking it from him with her magic and squinting at the scribbles.

“Oh my... Where did you find this?” she said, hurrying back over to her desk.

Nimbus rose, putting the blue filly on the ground, and followed Twilight to see what the deal was about.

“You’d be surprised at what happens out there,” he replied. It wasn’t a lie, it just wasn’t very specific. Twilight looked at the notecard, and then at a few papers on her desk, as if comparing the two.

“This doesn’t make sense... I lost this notecard a long time ago, for an idea that I had to help protect Little Sisters better...” Twilight studied it some more, as if she wasn’t convinced it was real. “It’s written in my magiscript, the words match up perfectly, but... my signature... it’s not mine...”

“You got it back though, and that’s what’s important, right?”

“That’s not the problem, see, if I would’ve had this one card, I would’ve sparked a whole new research track, but if this ‘Dusk Shine’ got it somehow, and finished it for me, then why didn’t he start the project himself?”

“Hmm...” Nimbus could only agree. Anypony with a bright enough mind to finish Twilight’s work surely would’ve done something with it. Nimbus looked back to Fluttershy and Oceana, who were playing some sort of game that involved clopping their hooves against each other in rhythm.

“I’ll let you look over it. I’m going to go to Arcadia and find this Johnny Topside.” Nimbus turned and walked towards his gear, sighing as he picked up his empty machine gun. He would need to find some ammo for this thing. Fluttershy’s ears perked up at the mention of Nimbus leaving.

“I want to come with you,” she said, “I don’t want you to get hurt like that again...”

“Me too!” Oceana happily added, “I can find angels for you, Big Brother!”

Nimbus smiled at her name for him, Big Brother. He liked the sound of it. The other term, however, eluded him.

“Angels?”

“She means bodies with ADAM in them,” Twilight explained, passing the little filly a needle not unlike the one she had before, and continuing. “She can still search out bodies, and collect ADAM for you. Just be careful, Splicers might come out and try to grab her if they see she’s collecting ADAM.”

“Won’t she be in danger?” Nimbus asked, a bit concerned for the enthusiastic filly.

“Not with her Big Brother with her, she won’t,” Twilight told him with a sly smile.

The walk through the Ravine was quiet, and surprisingly peaceful. It had very little light though, causing Nimbus and the mares he traveled with to stay close to him. The blue filly rode atop his back, her needle in her mouth. Fluttershy did her best not to panic, even though she was jumping at every little noise and flicker of light in the dark.

They came upon the Sunhoof Performance Hall before long, without any conflict on the way there. The double doors that provided entry to the audience seating were shut, locked from the inside. A poster on a wall next to the door read “Feeling weak? Power up with EVE Plasmid Boosters!”, and showed an earth pony mare holding a syringe filled with a strange blue liquid in one hoof.

“Oh... The door’s locked,” Fluttershy said, watching Nimbus push against the door, “Maybe we should just go back to Twilight-”

“No,” Nimbus said, waving a hoof to a set of stairs, “Those look like they lead into the theatre’s upper seats.”

He was correct, as the stairs led to another pair of double doors that were open. There wasn’t a way down to the floor level, though, where the door to the other bathysphere was. Nimbus noticed a blue hoof in the corner of his eye, and felt Oceana gently tugging on his mane.

“Brother, look! There’s an angel down there!” Oceana was pointing to the body of a mare on the floor in the aisle. She had an orange mane, and a yellow coat. On her flank, Nimbus could make out a cutie mark of three carrots. There was also another Little Sister with her Big Daddy below them, walking around on the stage. Nimbus could also see the chains and lock holding the doors together. If only he had some bullets in his weapon...

“Thanks, do you see anything I can break that lock down there with?”

“Here,” Fluttershy said, “Take this...” Nimbus turned to face her, and found that she was holding a crossbow in her outstretched hooves.

“Where’d you find that?” Nimbus asked, taking the weapon.

“Well... I found it...” she whispered.

“Thanks.” He said, “Try to keep finding things like that around here.”

“I’ll... I’ll do what I can...”

The crossbow had been loaded, but there weren’t any other bolts around anywhere. He only had one shot. Taking a deep breath, he aimed the weapon at the lock on the door. His hoof wrapped around the trigger, and the tension from the string propelled the bolt forward. It struck the lock, the iron bolt breaking it clean in half. They exited back down the stairs they came up.

Nimbus gave the doors a good push, and they swung open, revealing the performance hall. It was completely empty, save the Big Daddy and her Little Sister on the stage. The three of them began to walk down the main aisle, and came to the body.

“Look, there’s the angel!” Oceana pointed, and Nimbus sat her down on the body. She looked around, took the needle, and began to harvest. Fluttershy took a step back as she watched the filly stab the body with her needle, draining it of it’s ADAM. She sang a happy tune as she worked, causing Fluttershy to cringe in disgust. Nimbus pulled out his radio, and tried to contact Athena.

“Hey, Athena, are you there?”

After a moment, the reply came, “Yeah, whatcha need?”

“Thanks for saving me back there.”

“Oh, Twilight told ya what happened? Yeah, I didn’t finish off that Big Sister though, so watch out: she might want to go another round with ya. Where’re ya at now?”

“I’m in the Sunhoof Performance Hall, about to head to the bathysphere to Arcadia.”

Athena chuckled, “Lookin’ for that old Topside, are ya? He’s a real charmer.”

“What do you know about his situation with Ryan?”

“Nopony knows,” she said, “Even someone like me doesn’t know that much.”

“So I uhh...” Nimbus paused for a moment, “I picked up a Little Sister.”

“So I’ve heard. Looks like you’re her new Big Daddy?”

“She calls me Brother.”

“Big Brother, eh? Kinda has a ring to it.”

“Yeah well,” Nimbus began, “You know.”

Their conversation continued. The gathering was short, and didn’t seem to draw much attention. Then again, there weren’t very many ponies around. Nimbus picked up the girl, and put her on his back, and they continued their journey. A single door opened to reveal a hallway to another bathysphere.

“So what do you know about Topside?” Nimbus asked.

“He’s an explorer of sorts. Found this place by accident. Some say he-” her signal suddenly cut out.

“Athena?”

“What’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked him.

As they approached, a gate suddenly swung down in front of the bathysphere, blocking them off. Another voice was heard, but it didn’t come from the radio.

“The spy comes along, and steals a Little Sister...” The ominous stallion said, causing Fluttershy to shrink back in fright.

“Oh... who was that?” She whispered, her voice trembling.

“And now...” The disembodied voice said, “He goes to help our other spy, Johnny Topside...”

Nimbus knew that voice. He had heard it someplace before. Thinking back to when he first arrived, it clicked. It was the same voice on the film clip.

It was Andrew Ryan.