Bioshock: The Bond Between Sisters

Chapter 4

The Radio

The floor was sticky. That was the first thing the ponies noticed as they abandoned the safety of their bubble. Viscous fluid pooled around their hooves, but the room was once again too dark to see what was in front of them. The only light source available was a massive window at the other side of wherever they were. Despite its size, it illuminated very little of the room. It was almost as if the light was being muted by some unknown force.

Applejack swallowed hard. She refused to go any further before she knew what she was stepping in. She dipped her muzzle down, bringing it as close to the liquid as she could without getting wetter. She took a deep breath, and a recognizable metallic scent filled her nostrils. She couldn't place exactly what it was, but it was a pungent odor.

When her head was down Applejack also picked up a faint sound. It was a raspy gurgle, the kind of sound a sick pony makes before his final breath. At first, she thought it must have been one of her friends, so she called out,

“Uh, girls are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Rarity squeaked.

“Yeah, what would be wrong with us?" asked Rainbow Dash.

“It's nuthin’... I was just hearin’ some weird sounds that's all.”

Suddenly there was a heavy wet coughing.

“WHO’S THERE?!” Rarity shrieked.

“I-it’s me…” came the deep voice of the stallion that the girls had heard through the glass. “Are y-you Applejack and c-company?”

“I reckon you could call us that. Why?”

The stallion took in another quivering breath and then ejected a few puffs of air from his nostrils. “I was supposed to come here to give you a radio, but the damn splicers…” he trailed off.

“Are you hurt darling?” croaked Rarity.

The stallion laughed. “See for yourself.” Suddenly there was a soft whirring noise and a small ray of orange light came from the mystery pony’s horn. As the light grew, more and more of his body became visible. At first it was just his horn, but soon his face was illuminated and then his everything. The light was weak and flickering, but that didn't keep the ponies from seeing the rest of his body, or lack thereof. The wetness beneath them was beginning to make a gruesome sort of scene.

Every year or so applejack would have to repaint her family barn. She always enjoyed it; it made her feel like one those fancy artists from Manehattan. Splattering can after can of candy apple paint was oddly satisfying. But sometimes she would make a mistake and knock the can over. Watching the flood of vibrant red slop wash over the land incited a strange visceral reaction; her heart would always skip a beat. Seeing that same sticky mess spilled on the floor made her finally realize what had bothered her so much.

“That bitch got me right in the belly!” He gestured to his torso. Just under his ribs, where a healthy stomach once rested, was a long incision going from side to side.

Rainbow gaged. “I think I'm gonna be sick!”

Sometimes when Rarity was in a hurry she would drop her bag. This was fine if it was zipped; she would just pick it up and go on her merry way. But sometimes, if she left it open, all of her expensive trinkets would fall out. Everything from her false lashes to her compact would tumble onto the ground. That's what Rarity always imagined surgery to be like. You must be careful when unzipping a pony; you don't want to lose what's on the inside.

“Oh sweet Celestia!” Rarity shrieked. “We must find you a doctor this instant!”

The stallion released a bloody cackle. “There's no time for that. What I need is for you to listen.”

The three ponies nodded.

“I was sent here by Silver River. He has a message about your three sisters.”

Applejack snapped to attention. “You know where Applebloom is!?”

“No… I'm sorry; I'm just the messenger.” He frowned and took a few more shallow breaths. “I was supposed to give you a radio.” He tried to turn his head and look around but gave up after a few pained moments. “I think that splicer might have taken it.”

“Do you know where it went?” asked Rainbow. “We can get that radio back!”

“It went up the stairs behind me. I assume it's trying to get back to the city center. That's where all those fucking splicers hang around.”

“Alright!” Rainbow shouted as she stomped her hoof against the ground. “I'm ready!”

“Hold on there Rainbow!” Applejack grabbed her friend’s rainbow tail between her teeth and held her back. “We don't have anythin’ right now! No weapons, no protection, no map. We don't even know where we are! Runnin’ in blind is just suicide and you know it!”

“But look at what that thing did to him!” Rainbow Dash pointed at the waterfall of gore protruding from the poor stallion. “I'm not going to sit around knowing that a monster like that is keeping us from getting our sisters back!”

“Do ya wanna to end up like him?” Applejack raised a blood soaked hoof. “This could be us next, coverin’ somepony else’s horseshoes.”

“Silver River contacted you for a reason,” whispered the stallion. “ He knows that you have the power to clean up Rapture and save your three sisters. You've come this far, why not go all the way?”

Applejack sighed. “I guess there ain't no turnin’ around anymore. You two.” Rainbow Dash and Rarity turned. “Are ya ready? Do ya think you can handle what might be ahead?”

“I think we've got this!” cried Rainbow as she shadowboxed the air.

“Rarity?”

The white mare hung her head low, her baggy eyes pointed at the thin layer of red liquid coating the floor. Rarity looked at her reflection. The last few days had been hard on her. She hadn't had the time for the demanding level of hygiene required to look the way she normally did. In that respect at least, the face she saw below her was unfamiliar.

“For Sweetie Belle I would battle Chrysalis’ army one thousand times over.”

“Well then,” Applejack cracked her neck. “since we're all in agreement I reckon we ought to get movin’” She turned herself around to face the void, and the rest of her group followed suit. After a few blind stumbled Rainbow Dash turned her head to look at the fading stallion.

“Hey,” she said, her stone face melting. “When we find the monster that did this to you, I will make sure to throw a punch in your name.”

The stallion’s eyes were no more open than the width of a thread, and his breath was a crackling whisper. That, however, did not stop him from laughing at Rainbow’s promise. “The name is Johnny.”

“Alright, Johnny, we won't forget you.”

The corners of Johnny’s eyes filled with crystal pools of acceptance. This was the end of his story. “Thanks kid.”

The rattled adventurers marched on into an ocean of foggy uncertainty. Each step from then on was in the realm of Yarn, a tangled ball of mystery deep inside the cradle of the sea.

It was a long trot down the silent corridor. Rarity had remembered that she was in fact a unicorn and could light their way. With the new aid of vision, they trotted down the red strip of carpet that cleaved the hallway in two. Scattered across the floor were a myriad of curious picket signs. All of them had similar statements of protest scrawled across them.

“You can't keep us here!” They said.

“Free us!”

“Red tape will never stop our escape!”

All around were the remnants of a long past struggle, overturned benches, lamp posts shattered into glass razor blades, even abandoned scraps of clothing soaked red with life.

“What happened here?” Rainbow asked, her mouth a desert.

“Looks like the ponies wanted out. I'm guessin’ That Yarn Quark feller said no.” Applejack spat on the floor beside them.

“Yes, but why did they want to be let out?”

No pony had an answer to Rarity’s question, so they turned and went back to moving forward.

On the ponies’ left side with the windows that they had seen from the inside of their chamber. Now that they were up close, they could see the ocean beyond them. Huge corporate structures jutted from the rocky wasteland of the sea floor and extended into the murky water that surrounded everything. It was all beautiful in a way, but it was also cracked. Small dribbles of water seeped through the walls of a broken dream.

They soon reached the set of stairs that Johnny had told them about. They were a steep mountain of steel, and each one had a deposit of viscous yellow slime making them slick to the hoof.

“AH!” Rarity howled as she slipped and slammed her knee against against the dull metal.

“Rarity!” Rainbow flew back down the stairs to help her comrade. “Let me see it.”

Fire ignited in Rarity’s leg as she lifted it in front of her friend’s eyes. Rainbow leaned in close and watched as a wet strip the color of the carpet began to weep from a crack in her partner.

“I'll be fine!” Rarity croaked. “I've dealt with worse!”

“Okay, but we've at least got to get something around that… Ah! I've got an idea!” She rocketed from the stair she was on and snatched the hat off Applejack’s head.

“Hey! Give that back!”

“Sorry AJ.” Rainbow grabbed the brim with her teeth and pulled with all her might. Soon she was able to tear off a thick strip of the brown fabric and toss what was left of the hat back to its owner.

“Horsefeathers Rainbow!”

“Here, this should stop the bleeding.” Rainbow Dash moped up as much of the blood that was trickling down Rarity’s leg as she could. She then tied the fabric around the laceration in a tight cocoon. “That should do for now.”

“I would say brown isn't really my color, but I suppose there isn't much option,” Rarity joked.

Rainbow Dash snickered and shook her head. “You're welcome!”

“Thank you.”

Rainbow then scooped Rarity into her arms and flew her to the summit.

At the top of the stairs there was a large room. Enormous pieces of the crumbling ceiling lay in the middle of the room, blocking their path. Rarity was about to extend her spell so they could see the whole enclosure. But just before she mustered up the energy a few dim lights fizzled on with an electric zapping. Beyond the garbage that obscured their way was a doorway arch which was covered with concrete rubble.

“ I don't think I like what's been goin’ on around here,” muttered Applejack as she bounded over a frayed electric cable.

“How are we going to get through that door?" asked Rainbow Dash as she darted over to the crushed entrance.

“No big deal,” Applejack assured. “I think I saw crowbar or something laying around down here.”

“There's a wrench.” Rarity bent down and tried to hoist to the metal tool up in her mouth, but her leg wouldn't allow it. “Ah!” She grabbed her knee. At this point the makeshift bandage was already starting to soak through.

“Calm down Rarity. Don't you go over assertin’ yourself.” Applejack trotted over and took The wrench for herself. It was heavy and mottled with rust. It made it taste like there was blood in her mouth, but Applejack knew that, at least for now, her insides were undamaged. “Alrighty girls I'll get this door open in a jiffy.” She moved to break the rock, but suddenly there was a swift whistling sound from above. “What was that.”

There was a hiss and everypony’s bones turned to ice. “ I'm going to cover you with a sheet.” It was the same gravelly gurgle from outside the pod.

“Take cover!” Rainbow cried as the splicer dropped from the ceiling.

Rarity tried to move away but she wasn't quite fast enough to avoid the beast. It was mere hoof steps away from her by the time Applejack intervened.

"Take that ya varmint!”

The monster howled as the wrench was buried in the back of its head. It turned towards its attacker shaking its wild mouth froth all onto the floor. “ how dare you strike me!” it screeched as it reached out an abnormally extended foreleg to grab its prey. Just in the nick of time, Applejack was able to duck under the sweeping leg and only lose her tattered hat in the process.

“I'll save you AJ!” Rainbow was a bullet as she split through the air. There was a crash and another howl as she smashed her back hooves into the splicer. Rainbow landed on the ground in front of the creature to check if it was still alive, but as she drew near, it grabbed her and rolled on top of her body.

Applejack raced over and started hammering on the splicer’s back with the wrench. Pieces of skin tore off and showered the orange pony with flecks of rotting flesh, but the splicer held fast. It held Rainbow Dash's legs down and lowered its head to her neck. In one swift mighty chomp it tore through her fur and ripped out her throat. Rainbow made a spittle-filled choking noise, and her eyes rolled back into her skull. A fountain of liquid sprayed from her neck and rained down to the floor.

“Oh Celestia! RAINBOW!” hollered Applejack who could do nothing but speed up her whacking.

The creature stood up, a blood soaked tube of meat still hanging from its mouth. It once again turned its attention to Applejack. But right as it was about to pounce on her, a screaming siren sound came blaring into the room. Everypony, even the monster looked up to see a bulky helicopter robot hovering in from an air tube near the ceiling. It had flashing yellow lights all over it and a strange metal device hanging from the bottom. The splicer tried to run from the machine, but it wasn't able to get away from the hanging tube device. In a cacophony of cracks and bangs, a belt of pointed cylinders fed into the robot and shot out the long tube. The strange projectiles pelted the beast, ripping bloody holes all through its body. The splicer once more let out its brain-rattling call and then slunk away into the ceiling hole from which it came. The robotic helicopter then shined a spotlight down onto a rectangular object.

“Is this thing on?” crackled a voice.

The three ponies looked at each other.

“Hello? If you're there, will you pick up the damn radio?”