Bioshock: The Bond Between Sisters

Chapter 1

The Crash

"Alright my little ponies, are we all ready to go?" chimed a young green eyed teacher as she led her class down the cracked Manehattan streets.

"Yes Ms. Cheerilee," replied the gaggle of fillies and colts in monotone unison.

Usually when the class went on field trips like this, they would incessantly gab with their friends about one thing or another, but this time the wall of sound that echoed from the blob of young ponies was less talking and more sniffling. Manehattan was a cold place to begin with, but now that it was the dead of winter and frost dusted the ground, many of the poor little fillies were coming down with colds.

Despite the slight epidemic that plagued them, most of the children in Cheerilee's class were still extremely excited to be leaving Equestria for the first time in their young lives. Unfortunately, like always, there were a couple neigh sayers buried in the group of bouncing children, waiting to ruin everypony else's fun.

"Do we have to go?" whined a gray earth pony filly. She adjusted her blue framed glasses and gave a disdainful sigh. "What are we even doing going to the Griffon Kingdom in the first place?"

"Yeah Silver Spoon is right!" cried out a pink filly with a tiara on her head. "I don't need to go visit a place full of poor uncivilized mongrels!"

"After the reformation of Griffonstone, the griffons have opened their gates back up to outsiders and have invited us to tour their kingdom as a way to make up for all their years of selfishness," replied Cheerilee, beaming at the thought of the new and strange place.

"‘Mongrels'? Diamond Tiara, what a fancy little word. Did ya learn that one from yer daddy?" asked one of the other students in a thick country accent.

"Now Apple Bloom, is that anyway to be talkin' to one of yer classmates?" scolded the large hat wearing mare trotting by her side.

"But big sis, she's a bully and you know that!" moaned Apple Bloom putting on her best pout face.

"That's no reason to go causin' trouble now is it?" Applejack lectured.

"I guess not," said Apple Bloom as she waddled over to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, her two best friends in the whole world.

"I wish those two would just go to a private school or something," grumbled Sweetie Belle.

Scootaloo laughed and hocked a loogie on the street beside them. "It's not like she couldn't afford it or anything; her dad is as greedy as one of those griffons."

"I can't believe they made us bring family all the way out to Manehattan just to give us a send off," complained Apple Bloom, hanging her head towards the pavement. "It's kind of embarrassing to have my big sis watchin' over me all the time."

"Tell me about it," groaned Sweetie Belle throwing a brief glance at her sister Rarity.

"Ha! Sucks for you guys!" cried Scootaloo, flapping her tiny wings in excitement. "I got to bring Rainbow Dash as my family member!"

Suddenly the whole class came to an abrupt stop.

"What's going on over there?" asked Scootaloo climbing Sweetie Belle like a footstool to see over the crowd.

"Heeeey get off me!" squealed Sweetie Belle squirming under the pressure of her orange friend.

"Alright fillies and colts, we've reached the dock. The boat should be here to pick us up any minute now," said Cheerilee raising her voice so everypony could hear her.

"Why do we have to take a boat?" complained Scootaloo as she trotted onto the dock. "The ocean is so boring."

"What else are we going to do? Take a train?" asked Sweetie Belle who was sitting up against one of the dock's many wooden posts.

"Alright young lady," began Applejack who was walking toward the group of friends. "I suppose it's time for me to get goin'."

"I should probably be on my way as well," added Rarity, who was following closely behind Applejack. "Dress orders to fill and all. Sweetie Belle, are you sure you're going to be okay all alone?"

"Yes, Rarity; I'm going to be fine. Don't worry so much."

"Oh, I know dear. It's just I'm so nervous this being your first time so far away from home. Just make sure you keep warm we wouldn't want you getting sick like the rest of the class." Rarity then pulled a large magenta scarf out of her saddlebag and wrapped it tightly around Sweetie Belle's neck.

"Geez big sis, what are you trying to do choke me?"

"Speaking of getting sick," continued Rarity completely ignoring her sister's last comment. "Make sure you do your best not to touch too many of your other classmates; for all you know, they could all be infected."

"Rarity."

"Oh and when you're in the Griffon kingdom make sure to be careful; you don't want any of those ruffians to foalnap you."

"Rarity!"

“I just don't know what I would do if they tried to hold you for ransom! I suppose I'd have the money to pay for it, but what if they didn't give you back and—"

"RARITY!" screamed Sweetie Belle interrupting her sister.

"Oh my, I'm sorry Sweetie Belle I suppose I went a little overboard for a minute there," said Rarity a slight blush creeping into her cheeks.

"A little?" teased Rainbow Dash as she too arrived to say her goodbyes.

"Rarity does have a point though," added Applejack. "It can get a little dangerous out there sometimes."

"Eh, they'll be fine," replied Rainbow Dash dismissively. "They're old enough to handle themselves."

"Yeah Rainbow Dash is right! If anybody tries to hurt us we'll take 'em out!" shouted Scootaloo, showing off her best karate moves.

"Scootaloo, we ain't gonna to be fightin' nopony," said Apple Bloom, giving her friend a hearty jab in the side. "Anyhow we'll keep safe big sis; I promise."

Applejack smiled and opened her mouth to reply however just before she could speak and earsplitting noise blasted through the air. The group of six ponies then whirled around to see a huge boat pulling up to the dock. Once again the massive ship let out a thunderous blast from its horn and all the fillies and Colts on the dock jumped back in surprise.

"Well looks like your ride is here," said Rainbow Dash who was now hovering in the air. "I guess that's our queue to scram."

"Take care yourself and remember to brush yer teeth and do all yer homework and all that stuff," said Applejack.

"Yeah, yeah I love you big sis."

"I love you too sugarcube." Applejack then leaned in and gave her younger sister a light kiss on the forehead.

"Sweetie Belle, I'm going to miss you so much," moaned Rarity as she engulfed her sister in a crushing bear hug.

"Rarity, please don't cry... It's sorta embarrassing," wheezed Sweetie Belle as she wriggled to escape the embrace.

"Yes I'm sorry; I must be going now!" she replied releasing her sister from her death grip.

"Bye bye sugarcube," cried Applejack as she began to trot away.

"Bye bye," said Applebloom waving furiously at her older sister.

"Oh yeah, bye Rainbow Dash!" cried Scootaloo waving at the flying pegasus.

"Yeah, stay cool kid," she replied before dashing away.

The three friends then rejoined their class and slowly filled on to the mighty ship. As they climbed the old wooden gangplank The Cutie Mark Crusaders marveled at the towering smoke stacks and cold metal exterior of the vessel.

"Why is it so big?" asked Applebloom. "I mean we're only one class.

"Good question Applebloom!" replied Miss Cheerilee as she moved toward the bow of the ship. "We're not the only class that's taking this field trip. Children from all over Equestria are coming; in fact this isn't even the only ship making the trip."

"Wow, that's so interesting," droned Diamond Tiara.

"In any event we should go and unpack," continued the teacher. "You all have your room assignments correct?"

"Yes Miss Cheerilee," parroted the tired flock.

"Well then, go and get some rest! If you have any questions feel free to ask."

The students then nodded their sleepy heads and dispersed toward their respective cabins.

"Finally some rest!" groaned Scootaloo. "I think I was about to pass out!"

Applebloom sat down on the deck, opened up her saggy saddlebags and started sifting through the mountains of things her sister had stuffed into them.

"Daggum big sis! Where is it?"

"Where's what?" questioned Sweetie Belle a twinge of anxiety in her squeaky voice.

"Our room assignment! It's gotta be in here!"

"Wait!" cried Scootaloo.

"What!?" shouted the other two.

"I think I remember you leaving it in the clubhouse before you left."

"Well that's just great! Now how are we supposed to find our room!?"

"Have no fear; Scootaloo is here!"

"Do you have it!?" said Apple Bloom, her ears perking up like little flags.

"No, but I think I remember what room it was." Scootaloo rubbed her temples for a few moments, a strained expression baked into her face. "I'm pretty sure it was cabin A... Room one hundred... Thirteen."

"You sure?" asked Sweetie Belle tentatively.

"Uh... Yes. I'm positive!" Scootaloo then scampered off in the direction of their room, her head held confidently high.

"I don't think she's sure," whispered Sweetie Belle as her and Apple Bloom followed their enthusiastic friend.

***

Several hours later, the titanic ship was just beginning its long journey atop the calm waters of the Manehattan harbor. Thankfully the waves were very gentle that night and the great metal ship barely made a sound as it drifted off towards the horizon.

Most of the children in Cheerilee's class had already gone to sleep long ago, but for some reason slumber seemed to evade the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They remained wide awake in their cramped cabin, busy chatting about their days to come.

"What do you think Griffonstone is going to look like?" asked Sweetie Belle, her head hanging limply off the side of her bunk bed.

"Heck if I know," said Applebloom shrugging her shoulders and rolling over on her bed. "We should just go to sleep."

"But I'm not sleepy!" cried Scootaloo who was forcefully pounding a pillow. "I'm just bored."

"Well if you went to sleep you wouldn't be bored any more," replied Applebloom.

"I've got an idea!" shouted Scootaloo ignoring her friend.

"Quiet down; we were supposed to be asleep hours ago," whispered Sweetie Belle. "You don't want to get us in trouble do you?"

"Sorry, I just got the best idea! How about we sneak out!"

"No! We ain't doin' nuthin' of the sort!" said Apple Bloom sitting up in the bed. "I ain't gonna get a detention on the first day."

"Suit yourself," said Scootaloo standing up from the metal floor and stretching her legs. "‘Cause I'm outta here."

"Wait! Don't go!" cried Sweetie Belle.

"Sorry, I gotta get out of here." Scootaloo slowly opened the door and began to slide out. "Don't have too much fun without me." She then winked and closed the thick iron hatch.

"Well that's just great! Now we're gonna have to go lookin' for her!" grumbled Apple Bloom who was now lightly smacking her head against the wall.

"I mean, we don't have to," peeped Sweetie Belle who was now looking down at the ground. "She'll probably be safe, we could just wait."

"Sweetie Belle I know you're scared but—"

"I am not scared! I... I'm just tired okay!"

"Now you're tired?" asked Apple Bloom skeptically.

Sweetie Belle looked up from the floor and gave a nervous nodding.

"Alright we can stay."

Sweetie Belle breathed a sigh of relief and fell onto her back.

"But if she ain't back in a couple hours I'm lookin' for her. Whether you come with me or not."

***

Scootaloo made sure to be extremely careful as she made her way down the main hallway of level A. She was sure that somepony had to be keeping guard, so she tried to move as slowly and silently as possible. After a few minutes that felt like years, she finally made her way up the stairs and out onto the main deck. "Ah! Fresh air at last!" Scootaloo took a deep breath and trotted to the edge of the ship. "Wow, I had no idea the ocean was this big."

It was a perfect night to look out on the water. Though it was very cold the beauty of the night sky made up for it. The moon was almost entirely full and stars littered the darkness above. The little bits of white light that emanated from the blackness shone down on the deep blue water and caused it to sparkle like one big crystal. "Amazing," whispered the little orange pegasus under her breath.

"It is; isn't it?" called the familiar voice of Miss Cheerilee.

"Aw man!" shouted Scootaloo, hanging her head in defeat.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid you're busted."

***

In the cold and lonely cabin, time seemed to crawl by at an almost unnoticeable pace. The only thing that even told the two fillies that seconds were passing at all was the slow ticking of a small alarm clock on the corner desk. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom mostly remained silent after their friend left, so even though they were together, there was an intense loneliness that permeated the room. Eventually hours did pass, and Apple Bloom had started to pace the floor frantically.

Where is that filly?! She thought as she compulsively bit her lower lip. "Hey, Sweetie Belle, I think I'm gonna go looking for Scootaloo. It's been a long time and I'm startin' to get worried."

There was no response.

"Sweetie Belle?" Apple Bloom turned to look at her white companion. "Sweetie Belle!" she shouted, realizing her fellow Cutie Mark Crusader had fallen fast asleep. "Oh well, I was probably gonna have to do it myself anyhow."

Apple Bloom then troted over to the door and stared it down. "Alright, you can do this," she said, taking a deep breath and cracking open the door.

Apple Bloom was far less careful as she made her way to the main deck. She was not concerned with keeping quiet; The only thing on her mind was finding Scootaloo. What if she had fallen of the boat! She thought continuing her lip biting. She can't fly... Oh no what if she can't swim. I shoulda asked her if she could swim!

As she came out the door to the deck Apple Bloom was shocked to see it was blanketed in thick mist. "Dang it! Now how the heck am I gonna find her!"

She tried to find her way around the ship, but due to the mist and the ice it was almost impossible to move five feet without falling on her rump. After five or ten minutes of hopeless wondering, Apple Bloom decided to call it quits and go back to the cabin ,but just as she turned to go back the way she came, she was violently thrown backwards. Then came the loudest crashing sound Apple Bloom had ever heard in her young life from the front of the ship.

***

"Well, young lady, what do you have to say for yourself?" asked Miss Cheerilee, turning a bit in her swivel chair to face Scootaloo.

"I'm so sorry, Ma'am! I was just so bored, and I couldn't sleep!" replied Scootaloo, shaking her back leg furiously.

"That's no excuse for breaking the rules; you know that as well as I do."

"But I—" Scootaloo started, but before the pegasus got a chance to explain herself a burly earth pony burst through the door to the teacher's cabin. He was desperately gasping for breath and perspiration ran down his body like a waterfall.

"There is an emergency!" He took a deep breath. "We've spotted ice! The mist was too thick; we couldn't see it until it was too late! You have to get your students and—"

Suddenly, all three of the ponies were sent flying to the wall in a massive jolt.

***

Sweetie Belle had no idea what hit her. One moment she was talking with her friend Apple Bloom; the next moment she was peeling herself off the wall of her cabin and trying to alleviate the pain in her ears. "What the hay is going on around here," she said as trotted drunkenly to the door. She pressed her left ear up to the cold metal hatch in an effort to delineate what had made the earth shattering sound and caused her to have an arrangement with the wallpaper.

To her utter shock what she heard with the screaming voices of other ponies. Her first thought was that Scootaloo head pulled a prank on the other ship residence, but as she listened more closely she could hear the panic in their voices and their frantic efforts to escape their doomed vessel. Only then did Sweetie Belle start to understand what was really happening.

After a few moments of building up the courage, she swung the door open and prepared to make a run for it. To her dismay, when she stepped out of the cabin, instead of having a clear path to the exit, she was instead caught up in a stampeding mob of fillies and colts. "Ow! Stop that!" she screamed as she was shoved around in a flurry of panicking ponies. "What the heck is going on around here!?"

"Run!" one of them yelled as she careened past Sweetie Belle at breakneck speed.

Through the combined efforts of herself and all the ponies who were thoughtlessly shoving her, Sweetie Belle was eventually able to be unceremoniously knocked onto the cold slippery deck of the ship.

After taking a brief moment to rub the bump on her head, she looked around to see if she could find Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. However, it was practically impossible due to the flood of students that had preceded her in the chaotic line of escape. As she stood trying to figure out what to do some of the teachers had arrived and were trying to maintain some sort of order. As the ship slowly began to tip forward the shaky adults tried to stuff as many of the children into lifeboats as they possibly could.

Sweetie Belle strained her eyes to see if she recognized anypony in the cramped escape crafts and she quickly did a double take when she noticed a red maned filly towards the starboard side of the ship. However when the lifeboat dropped, the red head of hair disappeared as quickly as it had been seen.

Was it really her friend? Or was it just her imagination? Sweetie Belle wasn't sure, but she decided it was worth a shot. She made her way down the slippery slope that was the sinking ship all the way down to where she had seen her fellow crusader. She pulled herself up to the railing to see if she could see who was in the boats, but all she could see was the thick blanket of mist.

Sweetie Belle let out a defeated sighed and turned around. What she saw next was a blur. She remembers a scream and a flash of something big and metal. A spike of pain surged through her, and she felt herself being thrown into the air. After that she was falling. Then she was wet.

***

Apple Bloom didn't know what to do. She was caught up in a sea of hysterical ponies on a sinking ship that she was told was safe, and was unceremoniously separated from her two best friends. And now she was packed like a frozen sardine in a cold tiny lifeboat with children she didn't even know. How could things have gone so wrong?

The silence was unbearable and Apple Bloom hated it, so she asked the question she knew all of the others were thinking. "Who do you think is gonna pick us up?" The other ponies turned to face Apple Bloom their eyes wide with fear.

They remained silent.

"Well? Are you gonna say somethin'?"

"Oh give it a rest blank flank!" shouted a very unhappy pink filly. "Nobody cares about what you have to say."

"Shut your trap Diamond Tiara!"

"How dare you!? Do you even know who I am?!"

"I know exactly who you are, and I know there ain't no buyin' your way outta this one."

"Excuse me!?" moaned the tiaraless Diamond Tiara as she shoved her way through her fellow students in an effort to get at Apple Bloom.

"You know what, I'm sick of dealin' with you!" growled the frustrated farm pony.

"Ditto! I think it's time I show you who's boss here." Diamond Tiara then gave Apple Bloom a violent shove, but instead of rustling her up like she had intended, Apple Bloom completely lost her balance and went toppling out of the lifeboat and into the water.

In an instant Applebloom's entire body was engulfed in freezing cold. It was so cold, in fact, that her body would not let her swim for a few moments. It was like all of her muscles had locked up.

When she finally got her head above the surface and began treading water, the lifeboat had already drifted far away. "Are you tryin' to kill me!?" Apple Bloom screamed at the drifting vessel.

"No!" screamed Diamond Tiara in a panic. "I didn't mean to; I swear!"

"Turn around then!"

"I don't know how!"

"It's okay, I'll try to swim to you!" replied Apple Bloom as she began her best pony paddle in the direction she thought the boat had gone.

Apple Bloom quickly realized she had gone the wrong way, but because of the mist, she wasn't even sure which direction she had come much less where the boat was. The only thing she could think to do at that point was to swim some more, swim until she found something she could latch onto.

After an unknowably long stretch of time, the shivering pony saw something unexpected. A bright beam of yellow light piercing through the mist. A light house? Could it be?

***

Cheerilee's cabin was on the bottom of the ship, so safely making her way to the main deck was an impossible feat for Scootaloo especially considering the water. A massive hole had been torn in the hull of the boat, and the ocean was gushing in at an alarming rate.

Thankfully Scootaloo wasn't alone. She had an entourage of two adult ponies who could help her through the mass of youngsters.

Normally Scootaloo would be embarrassed by having to ride on the sweaty sailor pony's back, but when it came down to it she was just happy to be alive. The downside to having teacher help was that Cheerilee had to make sure all the other ponies had safely gotten into lifeboats before she could worry about herself, so when it came time for the last few teachers to secure a boat of their own, there were none left for them. Scootaloo had not thought about this when she decided to stay behind with her teacher, but now that the ship had almost completely gone down, she was beginning to regret that decision.

"Do you have any ideas!?" cried Scootaloo who was desperately clinging to the boat's cold metal railing. "Because it's starting to look like we don't have much time left!"

"I think I have one," called out the sailor from before. "But you two are going to have to trust me because it's a little dangerous."

"Let's hear it!" responded Cheerilee.

"Do you see that debris down there?" The sailors then pointed to the water which, because of the slant of the sinking ship, was now beneath them. "Most of those big chunks are wood from the deck. That means that if we slide down and grab onto one of those, we should be able to climb on top of it and use it like a life raft."

"I don't know…" said Cheerilee nervously. "Scootaloo what do you think?"

Scootaloo swallowed hard and opened her chattering teeth. "I think it's worth a shot."

"Alright, I guess I'll do it too then," added Cheerilee her voice shaking like a leaf in the wind.

"I'm going to count to three and then we're all going to drop together, OK?" said the sailor in a calm soothing voice. The others nodded. "Alright," he cleared his throat. "One."

Cheerilee let out a small whimpering sound.

"Two."

Scootaloo took at deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Three!"

They all let go.

Scootaloo kept her eyes closed the whole time so she didn't see anything, but what she felt was herself tumbling down a cold, slippery, wooden deck like some kind of torturous slip and slide. Her heart was beating a million times a minute and her ears were being filled with the blood curdling screams of Miss Cheerilee. But it all stopped in an instant when she splashed beneath the frigid sea water. The surface tension of the water itself led to a full body slap of pain to course through her. Scootaloo was in shock, but she knew she had to get out of the water before the cold killed her.

After a few blood pumping moments of flailing limbs and splashing, Scootaloo finally resurfaced and took a big healthy gulp of air.

"Oh thank heavens!" moaned Cheerilee from on top of a nearby piece of wood flooring. "For a moment I was sure you wouldn't make it!"

"No I'm okay," Scootaloo assured as she made her way to another piece of floating debris. With a loud grunt she then pulled herself up on the wooden platform and flopped onto her back.

Slowly her raft started to drift away. Though Scootaloo could hear miss Cheerilee and the sailor pony trying to talk to her, for some reason she was incapable of listening. Her mind was so overcome with exhaustion that she closed her eyes and before she knew, had fallen fast asleep.

She was so tired out, she didn't wake back up until her small craft crashed on the shore of a mysterious island, with an even more mysterious lighthouse.

***

Sweetie Belle was not a happy camper. She was not a very good swimmer to begin with, but now that she had sustained a mild injury from being knocked off the ship, things were getting even more difficult for her. I wish I had taken those lessons that Rarity told me about. She thought as she felt a strange numbness begin to set in. They would have really come in handy right about now.

The more Sweetie Belle swam the more the monotony of the ocean began to get to her. After a while, her thoughts began to dull, and her brain just started going on autopilot. There was a seemingly endless stretch of water in front of her, and the only thing behind her was the wreckage of the unreliable boat that had taken her here. Sweetie Belle knew it was probably a better idea to stay behind and wait for help, but she couldn't. At least this way she could pretend there was no crash and instead it was all just a very strange vacation.

Finally, right when Sweetie Belle's resolve and brainpower were almost completely drained, she too saw the glimmering light of hope that shined from the edge of her vision. Almost as if it were a primal instinct, Sweetie Belle found herself being drawn to the light like a moth to a flame.

As she got closer, it felt like it was calling her, like she needed to go there. When she did get to the island with the towering lighthouse, she felt a strange wave of satisfaction flow over her as she pulled her body onto the rocky shore.

It felt like it was meant to be.

***

Apple Bloom tried to shake the water from her fur her as she made her way up to the lighthouse. It wasn't the normal sort of lighthouse that she was used to seeing. It was a strange slightly tapered rectangle that seemed to resemble a prison tower more than it did a lighthouse. She knew going inside was her best bet at survival, speaking that it was the only pony-made thing she could see for miles, but for some reason the closer she got to it the more uneasy she felt.

Everything about the building screamed bad news.

"You can do this Apple Bloom!" she said, trying to muster up enough courage to climb the marble steps leading to the tower. "There ain't nuthin to be afraid of!" Apple Bloom was aware that that statement was very untrue, but she thought that maybe if she said it enough she might start to believe it.

Eventually the shivering young pony did find it inside herself to drag her way up the stairs, and what she found was a large brass double door, one of which was wide-open. Unfortunately, this only furthered Apple Bloom's suspicions that she was not alone. "Hello? Is anypony in there?" she called out.

There was no reply except the echo of her own voice.

"Alright, well if there's anypony in here I'm gonna be comin' in, so don't be surprised."

Still no answer.

After about a minute of standing frozen in front of the large brass door, Apple Bloom swallowed hard, closed her eyes, and trotted inside.

Suddenly just as she had gotten her entire body through the doorway, it slammed shut with a cacophonous crashing.

Apple Bloom was in the dark.

"Hello!?" she squealed. "Please turn the lights back on!"

The room remained pitch black.

"Whoever's doing this, it ain't funny!"

Right as Apple Bloom finished her sentence the darkness suddenly exploded into retina burning light. "Ah!" She flinched and instinctively lifted her hooves to cover her eyes. "What the hay do you think you're doin'!? You coulda warned me first!" Apple Bloom squinted her eyes and looked up at the room around her. It was an unexpectedly well decorated and fancy looking entrance hallway that contained two sets of stairs and a railing looking over the lower level of the lighthouse. The floors were covered with expensive tile that formed simple Art Deco designs, and the walls were adorned with large green and yellow disc-like objects that seemed to serve as artistic flourishes. Nothing appeared to be to run down, but everything was covered in a thin layer of dust. Obviously nopony had been there in a long time.

As Apple Bloom trotted down the stairs, she stopped to admire a large stone mural that clearly depicted some fish riding a pair of massive waves that were about to crash around a shining yellow sun. However just as she found herself beginning to lose herself to thought, she heard the sound of a door creaking open.

"Who’s there!" she cried out.

There were a few seconds of silence, but this time Apple Bloom was greeted by familiar voice.

"Apple Bloom! Is that you!?"

"Scootaloo!?"

"You bet."

Apple Bloom's wet shivering face turned from a deep frown into a warm smile as she galloped over to greet her friend. She too appeared to be soaking and exhausted, but unlike Apple Bloom, Scootaloo had something on her back.

"Is that... Sweetie Belle!?"

"Yeah, but don't worry she's fine, just taking a nap... I think." Scootaloo then proceeded to light set the white filly on the floor and check her heartbeat. "Yeah I'm pretty sure she's okay."

"What happened to her?" questioned Apple Bloom in a concerned motherly tone.

"I have no idea. I just found her outside nearly collapsed from exhaustion. She was only able to say a few words to me before she fell on the ground and passed out."

"Wow I sure hope she doesn't get sick or anythin'."

"Don't worry about it; we should focus on getting help," reminded Scootaloo.

"Yeah I was just about to go exploring down here when you came in."

"Alright then, let's see what's up."

The two then made their way down to the very bottom level of the lighthouse where they found a strange round chamber covered in seemingly advanced pieces of machinery.

"What the hay do ya think this thing is for?" asked Apple Bloom as she trotted up to it's thick glass door.

"I don't know it looks like you're supposed to sit in it," Scootaloo pointed out as she confidently trotted inside the giant brass golf ball.

"Scootaloo be careful in there! You don't know what it does!" cautioned Apple Bloom.

"Ah, it's fine! Don't worry so much." Scootaloo then lightly set Sweetie Belle down onto one of the pod's velvety benches. "Come on in. These seats are actually really comfortable!"

"Okay, but don't go touchin' nothin'." Apple Bloom sighed and cautiously made her way inside the device. She then sat down next to Scootaloo and frowned. "Okay so what now? It don't seem like there's anypony here."

"There's a lever," replied Scootaloo, mischief in her eyes.

"Oh no you don't! You don't know what any of this is for!"

"Come on, it's not like we have any other options."

"No."

"Please!?"

"I told you NO!"

"Aren't you just a little curious?"

"No I ain't!"

"Hey guys what's going on?" came the voice of Sweetie Belle who now seemed to be about half awake.

"We're talking about pulling that lever over there," replied Scootaloo a smug grin on her face.

"Lever?" asked Sweetie Belle drunkenly. "I can pull a lever."

"NO WAIT!" screamed Apple Bloom as she lunged to stop her not fully aware friend.

It was too late.

With one small motion, the stick was pulled and the door was shut.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders then began their descent into the unknown.