A Lighthouse is Waiting for Me
Princess Celestia
I don't think I'll ever forget that day, the day we met her. Young as we were, seeing that city for the first time, meeting the one who became our big sister, that kind of thing never leaves you. I understand why she left, with Luna's... exile, not to mention the doctor's passing, she needed some space. Of course locking herself away in that city of hers was a bit overkill in my opinion, but she just smiled that annoying smile of hers, the 'I know something you don't' smile. I swear, I am going to learn how to do that smile myself. Anyway, there's been talk of starting a new trade port, and I can't say I disagree too much with the location.
After all, Eleanor already supplied the lighthouse.
Twilight grinned as she saw the Cutie Marks of her and her friends floating above the map. It had been too long since she had gotten to go, the time that Starlight had been summoned still baffled her. But now it was her turn, yay!
"So, watchya rekin the map called all of us for?" asked Applejack.
"I have no idea," Pinkie Pie said cheerfully.
"Shush," Twilight said as the marks started moving. Rarity's eyes sparkled as it moved in the direction of Manehatten, but it moved past to a spot off the coast.
"So, is the problem underwater or what?" asked Rainbow.
"Give me a second," said Twilight, "Pinkie."
"Here you go," Pinkie said as she pulled a magnifying glass out of her mane and handed it to her.
Twilight studied the map with it for a few seconds before squealing in glee. "The map's calling us to the old Manehatten Lighthouse. It's said to predate the city itself, and nopony has ever ventured inside."
"I've heard about it," said Rarity, "there are several artists who've taken inspiration from it. Not to mention all the mystery around it, all that time without a lighthouse keeper and yet the light still shines every night."
"Maybe it's haunted," said Rainbow.
"Haunted?" Fluttershy shuddered, "you know maybe I'll stay here this time."
"I'll see you all at the station for the 8:15 express," Twilight said, not listening.
Twilight and the others, including a shivering Fluttershy, stood in front of the doors of the lighthouse.
"Ooh this is so exciting, we're going to be the first ponies to enter since it's construction," said Twilight.
"About that sugarcube, how are we going to get in?" asked Applejack.
"Let's try knocking," said Pinkie. Walking up, she rapped loudly on the door, with no answer. "Maybe we need to knock harder." Before anyone could stop her, she pulled a massive war hammer out of nowhere and smashed it into the door. To their surprise, the door didn't have so much as a scratch. "Huh, guess no one's home."
Rainbow whistled, "Guess that's why nopony could get in."
Fluttershy looked at the door, "Um, Twilight, what does this say?"
"Oh that's just one of the many mysteries of the Lighthouse, not what it says, it an old language that not a lot of ponies use anymore, but it's been translated," Twilight explained, "the meaning and why it's there are the mystery. 'All good things on this earth flow into the city'."
"Manehatten's a trade city, no real mystery there," said Applejack.
"True, unless you take into account the fact that the Lighthouse predates the city,†Twilight countered. “What city could it be referring to?"
All of a sudden, the door suddenly clicked and swung open slightly, causing everypony to swing their heads in its direction.
Twilight squeed as she pushed it open and trotted through, the rest following behind. "Give me your secrets."
"I must say, the décor is much more modern then I thought it would be," said Rarity as she eyed their surroundings. The interior was styled in brass, with an art deco theme.
As they descended the stairs, they saw a banner that read 'Utopia starts with us'. Underneath it was a metal sphere with a glass door and a lever in the middle. Twilight quickly stepped in, her friends close behind.
"It looks like an elevator of some sort," said Twilight, "I wonder where it leads?"
"Let's find out," said Rainbow before pulling the lever. As soon as it hit the bottom, the door closed on its own, locking them inside, before the whole chamber descended. Before long it entered the water.
"I wonder how deep it goes?"asked Fluttershy as depth markers passed by the window. 5 fathoms, 10, 15. After passing 20 fathoms a projector screen passed over the window. An advertisement for something called a Vita-Chamber was displayed before being replaced by an image of a triangular symbol as a female voice emanated from unseen speakers.
"Welcome. A long time ago I came to Equestria, a place quite unlike my old home. I met two young fillies that I adopted as my younger sisters, you may have heard of them, their names were Celestia and Luna. They sought to make Equestria a place where all are equal, but sadly there were more obstacles than they could overcome. Old prejudices, nobles believing in their superiority, nothing that could be fixed just by them taking the throne. So, I decided to create a place of my own, a place based on my old home, a place called, Rapture."
The screen retracted to reveal a massive city underneath the waves, causing them all to gasp in awe as the voice continued.
"A place where a pony's past and status is left at the gate. A place where the only respected currency is the sweat of your brow. And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can be a place for you as well."
The sphere they were in cruised along allowing them a panoramic view of Rapture, as well as the various marine life that swam among the buildings. After a few minutes they approached a tunnel of metal girders, each strut lighting up with a line of the same words that were on the door of the lighthouse, except in a more modern language. The sphere locked into a cradle that lifted it into a dry chamber where it opened.
"Looks like we're here," said Twilight.
Into the City, All Good Things Flow
Dr Tennenbaum
Alternate Realities
The idea of alternate realities is not new to me, the work of the Lucile twins already proved their existence. This dimension however has more variables than most, the dominant sentient species are equines capable of using magic. Of course there are constants as well, the fact that they speak English being at the top of the list. I must admit that these ‘ponies’ have me hearkening back to my childhood, although what little girl hasn’t wished for a pony of their very own? The little ones are of course enthralled.
Twilight took in her surroundings, eyes sparkling. They appeared to be in some sort of train station, swapping out the trains with submersibles of course. There were several docks, most of them empty. A majority were for little bathyspheres like the one that had brought them there, while a few by a far wall were quite larger. There were several benches scattered around, as well as a large mechanical arrivals/departures sign lay dormant on the far wall.
“This is amazing!” Twilight said, “an entire city at the bottom of the sea, and we’ve never heard of it.”
“Oh good, that means we can go home now right?” asked Fluttershy.
“We still need to find the reason the map sent us here,” said Twilight as she studied a map labelled ‘Rapture Metro’, “now where to start looking.”
“Fort Frolic sounds fun, let’s go there,” interjected Pinkie Pie.
“Sounds like as good a place to start as any, now where... dock L7.”
As they walked towards the local transit docks, they passed a vending machine with a clown face on it. “Would anypony like something?” asked Rarity, “my treat.”
“You sure the stuff in there’s still good?” asked Rainbow.
“It appears well maintained, I’m sure that they’ve restocked it recently,” said Rarity as she approached it, causing a mechanical voice to play as a panel opened on the front, revealing a selection panel.
“Welcome to the Circus of Value!”
“I say, look at all the options, they even have wine,” Rarity said as she placed a few coins in the slot and pressed the button for Arcadia Merlot.
“Come back when you’ve got some money, buddy!”
“Wha...?” Rarity looked to see that all of her coins were in the coin return slot.
Twilight chuckled, “Today’s Bits aren’t the same as the ones used a thousand years ago.”
“Think these’ll work?” asked Applejack as she held up a few coins she found lying on a bench.
“Worth a shot,” said Twilight as she floated them into the slot. These were accepted and she used them to buy candy bars for all of them. As she left the machine closed up as it shot them a parting remark.
“No refunds, no returns!”
“Looks like the metro’s free,” said Rainbow, chuckling slightly.
“Hmph, at least I offered.”
“I don’t know about you but these are the tastiest candy bars I’ve ever had,” said Pinkie, a dozen candy bars in hoof and several empty wrappers at her hooves.
“Where’d you get those?” asked Twilight.
“I bought them.”
“Where’d you find the money?”
“In a trash can.”
“Who throws away money?”
“I dunno.”
Twilight sighed, for once Pinkie was being reasonable and somepony else was the weird one. As they arrived at the dock they found it empty, but a sign stated that they could summon a bathysphere by pulling a lever, which they did. As they sat down to wait, they heard a voice over what they assumed was a public address system.
“The Big Daddies are here to ensure your safety, do not antagonize the Big Daddies.”
“What’s a Big Daddy?” asked Rainbow.
“I hope they’re friendly,” said Fluttershy.
Any further discussion was put on hold as the bathysphere bobbed up into the dock. However, before the door opened all the lights suddenly went out.
“Oh come on,” Rarity moaned.
Just then they heard a crackling from the ticket booth, before it was replaced by a voice.
“Get into cover, hurry!”
“Who’s that?” asked Twilight.
“There’s no time, he’s awake, the splicers are coming, hide now!”
Still unsure, they ducked into the ticket booth. “So, now what?” asked Rainbow.
“Stay quiet, if the splicers find you you’re dead. A Big Daddy is on the way, so sit tight.”
“What’s a splicer?” asked Applejack. As if in response, they heard the sound of footsteps approaching. They decided to take a peek, but almost instantly regretted it.
There was a group of five figures approaching, but they were unlike anything they had ever seen. They were bipedal, and covered in strange scars. They all had masks on that covered their faces, and were carrying a variety of blunt objects, and from their stances they weren’t going to use that wrench to fix anything.
“Boss says we’ve got some visitors,” said one of them.
“Probably riffraff, no one we want to have around the place.”
Fluttershy whimpered. It was quiet, as she usually was, but thanks to some dark joke the universe decided to pull, the splicers heard her. They turned towards the ticket booth, and the hand of one of them flickered with flames before he snapped his fingers, causing the front of the booth to ignite. Twilight and the others ran out, causing the splicers to give chase. The hand of another one sparked before shooting out a bolt of lightning. Twilight conjured a shield which barely deflected it.
“Come on Twi, blast ‘em,” said Rainbow.
“I can’t” Twilight replied, “something’s interfering with my magic, that shield took everything I had.”
Just then, Fluttershy tripped, allowing the splicers to catch up. One of them used the blunt pipe she wielded to break one of her forelegs. She raised it up again, focusing on her head, when she was interrupted by an unearthly that moan echoed through the area.
Fluttershy and the others turned to the source, and what they saw was even more terrifying than the splicers. It was bipedal like the splicers, but much bigger and encased in a diving suit, and it’s right arm was replaced by a drill.
“Big Daddy,” said one of the splicers, “not good.”
“No Little Sisters around,” said another, “we don’t bother him he’ll leave us alone.”
The Big Daddy turned it’s head towards Fluttershy, its yellow view ports looking into her scared eyes. The ports turned red, and it gave a mighty roar before charging at the splicer looming over her. It swung its drill and crushed the splicer’s like a grape, bits of brain splattering all over the place.
“Daddy’s mad,” said one of the splicers.
Before he could say anything else, the Daddy revved up its drill and charged at him, ramming its drill through his stomach. As he removed the drill, tangled with the intestines of his victim, the other splicers ran. The Daddy made to pursue, but his attention was caught by the pained whimpers of Fluttershy. The Daddy marched towards her, causing Fluttershy to shut her eyes, but the feeling of something gentle on her head made her open them. The Daddy was softly patting her head, its ports now shining a friendly green.
Twilight looked at the spectacle with awe and confusion, “What is this place?”
