Bioshock: Forgotten Elementsby BarrobroadcasterChaptersVacationSOSChanging with the tideUnder the SeaPressureVacationJanuary 2nd, 1969 Atlantic ocean floor, city of Rapture, Saturn Estates community, disused service tunnel "Daddy, can we please slow down?" Paul's son asked him as his father held his hand and guided him quickly down the service tunnel. "No Alan, we have to keep moving." he told his son, eyes darting from corner to corner as the pair hurried down the service tunnel. They had to keep moving; any number of things could happen. The compartment could depressurize and flood with all the damage the city's taken, they could be mistaken by the automated security as a threat or worse, they could come across other people. Of course, what passed for 'people' in Rapture became a looser term every day. The lights in the service tunnel flickered overhead. "Daddy I'm scared...", Alan said, his voice drenched in the sorrowful tone of innocet fear that came with being in place unknown and not understanding. Paul turned around to Alan and saw tears in his eyes. This was a lot for an eight-year old to take in. This morning, after Paul's preperations had been complete he'd told Alan they were going on vacation. It had been easier to explain than trying to tell his son that the home they lived in was no longer safe. "It's going to be okay Alan. Come here.", Paul knelt down and hugged his son. "You know daddy wouldn't let anything bad happen to you right?" Paul felt his son nod into his shoulder as tears dropped onto his wrinkled shirt. Paul looked down and was just slightly surprised to find himself crying too. He was probably more scared than his son, scared for their safety. But he had to keep them both moving. Rapture, the city that Paul Kurtis and his family had called home for all these years was dying. What once had been a paradise of free enterprise had become a nightmare of psychotic, drug-fueled violence and biomechanical destruction. Rapture had been the shared dream of Andrew Ryan and those like him that felt government on the surface interferred too much into business. People looking for opportunities of all kinds came to Rapture and they found plenty, including ADAM, the mysterious gene-altering substance that allowed people to harness abilities that could only be described as god-like. But the price they payed for such abilities had been heavy; it had cost them their humanity. When ADAM had first been discovered, it had been called a miracle. Found as a chemical that existed only in sea slugs found on the ocean floor, ADAM allowed the citizens of Rapture to manipulate their DNA in almost unthinkable ways. Producing fire with a snap of your fingers, hurling lightning bolts or summoning blizzards were only some of the powers ADAM granted people. Two major corporations that would later become key players in the civil war that would follow created gene tonics, plasmids and other products that allowed anyone access to the amazing power of ADAM for the right price. People sank their entire fortunes into these products, the demand for ADAM grew and soon new methods were needed to produce more ADAM for the population. Paul prayed that he and his son would not run into one of those methods as their escape to the last known bathysphere in Saturn Estates. Paul and his son had not given into to temptation and used ADAM. He and his family had been happy to live their lives the way they were, unfortunately they were the minority. The majority of Rapture had used ADAM freely using the substance as a substitute for excercise, cosmetic surgery or just to liven up their social lives. Far too many had become addicted to ADAM, craving the substance like a drug. Splicing one's DNA so many times had consequences though; individuals that did so suffered from mental and physical deterioration to the point that they became deformed and psychotic. "Splicers", as they were called, roamed the streets and killed anyone and anything they came across for any ADAM they may have had on them and they were everywhere. But Splicers were not the only reason Paul wanted to get his son out of Rapture. Paul and Alan continued down the narrow passageway. Occassional steam hissed out of the pipeworks overhead and the air grew hot and humid. They shaft turned up ahead. Paul slowed down and took a quick glance beyond the corner. The bathysphere bay was just up ahead, an emergency access port for maintenance crews not that maintenance was performed on the city any more. They rounded the corner carefully and headed towards the door. The intercom system crackled overhead. A loud beep was heard and a voice cleared its throat. Paul cursed, not loud enough for his son to hear. He recognized the soft-spoken voice immediately. It was that of the current overseer of Rapture, Trent Arnold, one of the only lawyers that had been allowed in Rapture. Quite possibly the only one left now. "Paul, you know we can't allow you to leave with him.", Trent said. As Paul and his son approached the door, two men rounded the other corner across the corridor from them. Niether of them had guns or weapons of any kind. Paul knew the men wouldn't need them. Paul positioned his son directly behind him and stood his ground. "Mr. Kurtis, how nice of you to join us.", one of the men addressed him. They walked towards Paul and Alan, ducking down to avoid some low hanging pipes. They stopped right in front of Paul like they were about to have a pleasant conversation, despite the fact he'd never met the two men in his life. "Why are you trying to do this now Paul? You know your son is necessary to the future of Rapture. Why turn your back on your own work?", Trent said again over the intercom. "It's for the good of the city Mr. Kurtis. Now please...", the first man spoke and the other cracked his knuckles. As he did, a spark of electricity flared out of either one of his hands. "...make this easy on all of us", he finished. Splicers, while not crazed yet, they were clearly on Trent Arnold's payroll, which means they weren't going to stop splicing any time soon. It also meant there was no chance of trying to take them in a fight or run for that matter. But Paul wasn't going to give up his son. "Look, there's room in the bathysphere for all of us. You can come with us. We can get out of here together." Paul tried to reason with the men or distract them, whichever worked. He reached out to the door control and pressed the access button opening the door. The hatch swung open, temoprarily seperating Paul and his son from the two men by a heavy metal airlock door. Paul rushed himself and his son inside the bathysphere and tried to close the door. He pulled on the handle and the door swung back. Just as it was about to close shut, a hand stuck itself in the crack between and stopped the door from moving. The hand sparked with electricity. "Why do you insist on making things difficult Paul?", the voice asked and groaned. The door swung backwards. The second man yanked Alan out of the bathysphere with his right arm. Alan screamed for his father, Paul reached out after him only to be blocked by the man's left arm. With a single push, the man shoved Paul to the floor the bathysphere. "Daddy! Daddy!!!", his son screamed and cried, kicking the attacker. "Alan!! Damn it give me back my son!!!", Paul shouted at the men. The other man closed the door on Paul, trapping him inside the bathysphere. Paul got up and grab the door handle, trying to push. The other man looked at him through the access port window. "Paul, this is for the good of all of Rapture." the man said to him calmly. "I don't care about Rapture you spliced-up bastards give me back my son!!!", Paul yelled with the rage of an animal and pounded the door. "I think you need a little vacation Paul. Some time off to see what makes Rapture the place that it is. New perspective.", Trent Arnold said over the radio in the bathysphere. A mechanical grind reverberated through the bathysphere. Another door slid down between the hatch and the access port. The bathsyphere shook. Paul looked through the two porthole windows to the man standing beyond. He held up his son in one arm. The man grabbed Alan's left hand and made him wave 'good-bye' as he sobbed. The man then looked up and smiled. Tears streamed down Paul's face as the bathysphere shook again and began to rise up the access bay. He fell onto his hands and knees and sobbed, pounding his fist on the floor. The lights on the bathysphere turned off. Paul cried alone in the dark as he rose to the surface. SOSTen years later... "Shut it off! Just shut it off!", Claire yelled, her hands over her ears. The whirring of the machine filled the air around them. "NO! This is our last chance! It has to work!!", Albert shouted back. Claire saw that he was covering his own ears though and his eyes were filled with uncertainty and fear. Claire thought she probably looked the same though. The generator was a prototype designed to replace the one in the Hephaestus core that was shutting down. If it worked, Rapture would have a new power source. Claire checked the power gauge again. It needed to reach a certain mark before the safeties kicked in, otherwise it would hit critical. The needle was shaking just before the green, it needed to get into the green without hitting the red. "It needs just a bit more!", Claire said, her own voice uncertain. "It needs a little boost! I know just how to get it.", Albert said. Claire saw Albert reach into his lab coat pocket and pull out a flask full of glowing red-orange liquid. ADAM. He was about to drink a plasmid. "No, it's too dangerous!", Claire yelled and ran to stop Albert. Albert unscrewed the top and was about to drink when Claire grabbed his hand and twisted in, trying to wrench the flask free. "What are you doing?! It needs it now!", Albert said. Albert fell backwards as Claire turned into him and yanked the flask free, unfortunately she now held the flask upside down. As she hit the ground, the contents of the flask poured onto her face and a small amount leaked into her mouth. A drop touched her toungue and went down her throat. She started to gag. "What have you done?! Do you know how much that stuff is worth?!", Albert shouted. He ran over to the machine. "We have to stop it now!", Albert shouted. 'Wait...", Claire said. She got up on her hands and knees. With one hand she reached out to Albert. From that hand, a bolt of lightning shot out and arced past Albert. It struck the generator head on. Claire looked back at her hand, electricity crackling between her fingers. The generator's whirr grew higher and higher, the noise became almost unbearable. Electricity surged around the machine and Albert stepped back. A bright flash of light erupted from the machine blinding them. For a moment, Claire felt weightless and she thought she heard Albert scream. Claire got up from the floor and looked around, her eyes taking a moment to adjust. Her ears stopped ringing and she noticed the room had become silent. She smelled harsh smoke in the air. "Al... Albert?", she called as got on her feet. She looked over to the machine. Black scorch marks streaked the floor around it in an ashen circle, spreaking outward. She saw Albert lying in front of it, not moving. Black smoke rose from his body and he wasn't moving. His eyes were open and locked on the cieling. She covered her mouth and quickly left the room. She walked outside in one of the dimly lit corridors of Rapture. She sighed to herself heavily. From her coat pocket, she withdrew a small flask full of green liquid, the antidote to ADAM. She took a sip of it. She didn't have an official name for the substance yet but she'd taken to just calling it CURE. It counter-acted what ADAM did to one's DNA, reversing the effects. They had been so close. She and Albert had been hoping to distribute CURE to the population of Rapture, returning the Splicers to normal and ending their addiction to ADAM. In order to produce that much CURE they needed to get power back to the city first, so they'd made deals with the city's current 'mayor' Trent Arnold to build a new generator for Rapture in exchange for resources they'd need to produce and distribute CURE. But Trent had goals of his own in mind for the generator and both Claire and Trent's goals had just gone up in smoke, quite literally along with poor Albert. Hopefully when Trent's goons found the generator they'd think both Claire and Albert died in the explosion. She looked through the windows into the sea beyond. She looked up to the surface. Odd, she could see light coming from above. Rapture was too deep for sunlight to reach it, how was this possible? A figure appeared in front of the window before her, some kind of creature. It bobbed in front of the glass, almost like it was looking inside... at her. Two more creatures appeared right next to them, each about the size of a small person. They all looked in at her now. One in the middle was green, one on the left was yellow and one on the right was a pale blue. "It's Canterlantis! It's got to be!", the yellow one spoke. Claire's jaw dropped as she saw the mouth of one of the creatures, which resembled sea horses only much, much larger, open and hear the words that it seemed to... speak. "Echo, Canterlantis is just an old sea pony's tale.", the pale blue one said in a feminine voice. Claire looked at the flask she was holding again. Had she mixed something else into the formula by mistake? Something hallucinogenic? "We don't know what this is yet Marina." the green one said. "Well what the kelp is it if it's not Canterlantis?", the yellow one asked. "Why don't we just ask?", the green one suggested gesturing towards Claire with the side of his head. "Good idea." the yellow one swam closer to the glass. "Hey! What is this place?" the creature asked Claire. "This... this is Rapture." Claire said to them through the glass. She didn't know why; there was no way those things could hear her though the glass. There was no way she could hear them. There was no way this was possible and she was clearly hallucinating. "You see? I told you it's not Canterlantis." the blue one said to the yellow one. Claire blinked. She stared at the creatures with her mouth agape slightly. They had heard her, they were speaking to her. How is this possible? "What's a "Rapture"? the yellow one asked. "Excuse me but... what are you?" Claire decided to ask. "Well, I don't know about these two but I'm a sea pony. Name's Slipstream.", the green one identified himself. He had a red-orange mane and examined the city as he spoke. "Do you mean like sea 'horses'?" Claire asked, trying to gather some clarity. "No, sea horses are those little things with the noses that float around." the blue one said. Claire shook her head and started walking down the corridor again, ignoring whatever it was she just had a covnersation with. "Wait! Where are you going? Tell us more about this 'Rapture!' How long has it been here?! Do you know where Canterlantis is?!", the yellow one shouted at her as she walked through the door at the end of the hallway and entered the Haphaestus core. She walked into the room and looked up at the ceiling for security cameras. She turned around a corner and the spotlamp of a security camera turned to face her. She had a few seconds to run, she took them, running towards the camera and hiding directly under it. Its spotlamp tracked her but it had all security cameras had a blindspot underneath them. Claire used this to her advantage, pressing herself into the corner. The intercom crackled. The voice of her boss, Trent Arnold boomed over the intercom. He cleared his throat while the intercom was on ensuring his throat noises were heard throughout Rapture, a habit of his. Whether he was unaware of this or not, Claire didn't know. "Ms. Grace? You're not authorized to be in that part of the Haphaestus core my dear." Trent said over the intercom. Claire cursed under her breath. "Now don't make this difficult Ms. Grace." Trent warned. Claire pulled out the flask of CURE again. She threw the bottle in the direction of the door she came in and ran around the corner. She sprinted towards the door again cursing under her breath. That one bottle had taken her months to concoct, now contents of the flask had splattered all over the floor just to buy her some time. Claire ran through another door and into another corridor with glass walls. The hallway was long and lead to another building, part of the core. She ran to the other door, not bothering to look back. As she got closer, it felt like the ground beneath her feet began to shake. She started to slow down but kept moving towards the door. The shaking transformed into a rythmic thump-thump-thump and the door opened. Claire's heart hit the floor. "I think this may be a tad premature but I think it's time for you to disappear Ms. Grace. Don't bother coming back to Titan Towers and consider your contract terminated. It's been a pleasure Claire.", Trent said over the intercom. Claire knew what happened to people that Trent Arnold 'fired'. She knew she was in danger now. She was almost to the end of the hallway when the door opened. Standing in front of her in the doorway was what she feared: one of the biomechanical gaurdians of Rapture. A monster in the mock shape of a man standing at almost eight feet tall, its entire body covered in an armored diving suit. Two drills were on either side of its enormous hands and a single octogonal light shined on its head. One of the drills bloomed outward like a flower and folded back revealing a large black hand. Electricity sparked between its massive fingers and it stepped towards, two giant legs dripping with water like it had come from outside. She knew what they were called: Step Daddies. The city's need for ADAM had driven the population to barbaric methods of production. ADAM could only be found in sea slugs but scientists found that the slugs could be implanted into young girls and then the girls could gather ADAM from the dead. The girls, dubbed "Little Sisters", harvested ADAM from dead bodies, drank the substance and then it was withdrawn from their bodies by special automated facilities throughout Rapture. ADAM was then transported to vending machines with preset programs that created plasmids and tonics of all sorts that anyone could buy as easily as one bought a soda. Splicers found it much easier to just kill the Little Sisters and take the ADAM for themselvs and so they needed protection while they performed their grim deed. The solution was the Big Daddy. Big Daddies, like the one in front of Claire now were brainwashed men in armored diving suits that had been grafted to their bodies. Heavily armored, they followed the Little Sisters around as they gathered ADAM and gaurded them. The Little Sisters were all gone now, rescured by heroic individuals considered legends in Rapture. The remaining Big Daddies were now under the control of Trent Arnold and served as the enforcers of his will. Now called Step Daddies, it was unknown how exactly he got them under his command. And that made Trent Arnold a man to be feared. The Step Daddy walked forward slowly, the floor underneath them vibrated with its immense weight. Claire now regretted taking a dose of CURE early; she could've used lightning to stun the beast, maybe escape. Maybe she could side step the beast, get past it that way. They did turn slowly. It was a long shot but she had to try something. She balled her fist and prepared to make her move. She faked left and lunged right, hoping to get under the creature's left arm. The beast anticipated this and grab her with its left arm and in one motion pinned her to the wall. Her back slammed into the glass. The Step Daddy brought up its right arm. The drill on it spun filling the air with a droning whirr like the one the generator had made. Claire stared into the porthole of the monster that held her. A lightning bolt struck the side of the Step Daddy and the light from the porthole turned red. The creature released its grip as electricity surged around its armor. Claire turned to see Albert standing in the hallway, his hand crackling with sparks. "What are you standing there for?! Run!", he shouted at her. The beast recovered too quickly though and brought its drill up again. It was just a second too slow and Claire was able to duck around it this time. The Step Daddy's drill slammed into the glass wall behind them. Claire ran to Albert who was already running back in the direction they had came. Claire spared a glance behind her and turned her head just in time to see the Step Daddy withdraw its drill from the glass, causing it to shatter. The door ahead of them's emergency measures kicked in and it slid down in front of them. Water quickly flooded the chamber they were in. Claire and Albert pounded on the door. As seawater continued pouring in, they turned to see the Step Deady lumbering towards them, its two drills spinning and its eye glowing red. Author's Note I debated whether or not to use "Canterlantis" as a sea-Canterlot equivalent but the lost city concept fits better I think than there just being an undersea version of everything on the surface of Equestria. Of course, the sea ponies do require their own kingdom but I'm unsure of what to call it. I've heard that "Aquastria" is going to be used in future MLP literature and I don't know whether to use that directly without further details of its makeup or to just create my own. Regardless of what I make, confusion is the last thing I want to create. Perhaps 'Seaquestria' will suffice for now. Changing with the tideTwo Days Later Canterlot Castle Throne room Princess Celestia paced back and fourth in her own throne room. She looked to the stained glass windows that lined the grand hall. They inspired her but she knew each one also held a profecy, knowledge of future events not yet transpired. In a way, they were windows to the future. She examined each one in detail whenever a crisis took place in the chance that the light of truth shone through these windows that could provide some clue as to what was happening. She sighed as she examined the last one; it seemed she'd find no illumination in this glass today. The doors to her throne room opened abruptly. Her student Twilight Sparkle galloped in along with her friends from Ponyville. She'd relied on Twilight and her friends before in sitiuations like this and she was confident she could count on them again today. She only wished she could do more for them. "Your Highness! We came as soon as we could!", Twilight said, sounding almost breathless as she and her five friends skidded to a halt before the princess. Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity stopped alongside Twilight. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy remained flying, ready for whatever was about to take place. Spike had been riding on Twilight's back and dismounted his friend, taking his place at her side. It was just easier for him this way; he wasn't able to run as fast as them on only two legs. "My most faithful student Twilight, there is a situation developing that requires immediate attention.", Celestia said. She used her magic and a globe rose from the center of the room. Twilight and her friends gathered around it. Each of them pondered the sphere before finally realizing what it was they were looking at. "Is that Equestria?", Spike asked, scratching his chin. "Yes, this is Equestria, our world. Recently, we've had reports of strange seismic disturbances coming from the surface of Equestria around this area.", Princess Celestia explained. She highlighted an area of the globe with a glow from her horn. The others gathered around and examined the globe. "Wait, these seismic disturbances are coming from the ocean?", Twilight asked her teacher. "The seafloor around this area. As you know, the ocean's ecosystem is very delicate. We need you to investigate this seismic activity and ensure that it's not a danger to Equestria.", the princess said. "How are we supposed to get to the ocean floor? The sky I got, the sea, not so much.", Rainbow Dash commented. "For that, we're going to have to use a form of magic that is a tad unorthodox. The seafloor is only accessable at this time by sea ponies. In order for surface ponies to reach the depths, you will need a special kind of magic", Celestia explained. They all exchanged glances in the throne room, looks of concern on each of their faces. "What kind of magic?", Twilight asked. "A very complicated and difficult spell but one you must learn and learn quickly.", Celestia said. She levitated a book to Twilight, an old tome with a hardback that seemed partially made of coral with pages of a light seafoam green. It was as if the book itself had come from the sea. It even smelled of brine. "I've arranged for an escort to meet you at Horseshoe Shores. They will take you where you need to go. You must depart quickly my little ponies.", Celestia finished. "Don't worry Princess. We'll find out whatever this problem is and make sure Equestria is safe.", Twilight declared. She turned around and dashed out of the throne room, her friends following close behind her. Spike carried the book and hopped on Twilight's back. Princess Celestia watched them go. Not for the first time, she regretted relying on her student and her friends so much, not being able to provide them with more help, more information. Not being able to go with them herself. As the door to her throne room closed, she looked again to the stained glass windows. She turned away from them quickly. It was time to stop looking for answers out of the window. 2 hours later Horseshoe Shores public beach Twilight Sparkle looked over the spell again. She'd been concentrating on the book, trying to learn everything about this spell she could before she had to cast it. Her friends had noticed she'd stopped talking to them during the train ride over. She'd discovered exactly what the spell would do, how they would get to the bottom of the ocean. She wasn't one to question her teacher's methods or the resolve of her friends but the details of the magic she had to admit were a tad... unorthodox. That more than anything else was the reason for her silence. The train ride over had been quick and easy and she'd wondered why they'd never gone to the beach before. They'd arrived at the beach just as the sun was setting and made their way down to the shore. The sand was comfortable and warm on Twilight's hooves as she and her friends approached the water's edge. Twilight and her friends looked around. The beach was empty apart from them. The sound of the waves and the gentle breeze was the only thing that broke the silence until Rainbow Dash spoke. "So where is this escort that's supposed to take us to the seafloor?", Applejack asked. Twilight looked up and down the beach. Maybe their escort was late? "I don't know. Maybe I have to cast the spell first.", Twilight opened the book of magic again and turned to the spell she needed to perform. "Twilight darling, about this magic you need to cast? What exactly does this spell entail?", Rarity asked. "It's uh, well... a little different than what I'm used to working with but I should be able to manage. But we're going to have to get in the water for it to work. And I'm going to have to cast it on one pony at a time. So... who wants to go first?", Twilight asked, some forced confidence and enthusiasm in her voice. "What's this spell going to do Twilight? Make it so we can breathe underwater?", Rainbow Dash asked. "Yeah... kind of.", Twilight said, evading answering directly. "How is it going to let us reach the seafloor?", Fluttershy asked. "Haha, only sea ponies can get to the seafloor.", a voice behind them said. They turned to see a grey head poking out of the top of the water a few feet away from them. It had a blonde mane and familiar eyes. "Derpy? Is that you? What are you doing here?", Rainbow Dash asked. "Oh I'm not Derpy. I'm her cousin, Drippy! Drippy Fins, premier mail sea pony of Seaquestria!", she explained. "You're Derpy's... cousin?", Twilight asked, confused. Derpy Hooves is a pegasus... and her cousin is a sea pony. Twilight shook her head; this was not the time to start questioning things like this. "Yep! I'm supposed to take you guys to the ocean floor where the sequake happened. I've never seen surface ponies before. It's nice to meet you all! My cousin's told me all about you!", Drippy said with a smile. "It's nice to meet you too Drippy.", Twilight said, trying to break the awkwardness of the moment. "So when are you guys supposed to transform?", Drippy asked. "Transform?", Rarity asked, a bit in shock. "Yeah. Only sea ponies can get to the bottom of the ocean.", Drippy explained. "We're going to have to turn into... sea ponies?", Rainbow Dash asked, looking to Twilight. Twilight nodded. "We'll be able to change back right?", Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight with hopeful eyes. "Yes. We should be able to transform back when we get on dry land.", Twilight said. "Okay... so there's no problem.", Rainbow Dash said, trying to shake off her nervousness. "I guess we should start now. We'll have to get into the water first.", Twilight walked into the waves up to her neck. The water was cool and she kept her hooves planted on the ground. Her heart began to race. Spike watched them as they entered the surf. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to join them. The spell only worked on ponies. "Oh, this is soo exciting! We're going to go an undersea adventure!", Pinkie Pie said as she merrily trotted into the waves. The others looked less than excited about this opportunity than she did. "Okay... here goes nothing.", Twilight said. Her horn glowed with a bright magenta aura. The aura pulsed and expanded, the sea around them began to glow a bright yellow. Twilight felt her hooves lift off othe sand, she felt the water swirl around her. She felt her body change as she adjusted to the form of a sea pony. Her tail disappeared and her body elongated, she felt her front hooves recede into her, flatten out and become fins. She closed her eyes; there was no pain but the feeling was strange. The feeling stopped abruptly, her horn and the water around them stopped glowing and she opened her eyes, looking at the sand underwater beneath her. The sea water didn't sting her eyes. She popped her head above the surface. Spike stood before them with his mouth hanging open. Twilight looked around, her friends had all surfaced too and were beginning to try out their new bodies. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's wings had become a second set of wing-like fins on their backs. Rarity and Twilight still had their horns. Pinkie Pie was swimming backwards in the waves around them and Applejack's hat now had a tye underneath it. "Wow. You guys make great sea ponies!", Drippy said. Spike rubbed his chin with his right claw. "Okay, so now we got Flutterdive, Rarisea, Aquajack, Rainbow Splash, Sinkie Pie and...", Spike thought for a moment before snapping his claws in triumph. "Twilight Sprinkle!", he announced. Twilight rolled her eyes. "Spike, are you going to be okay here by yourself?", she asked the baby dragon. "Ah, no sweat. Princess Celestia got me a room at the Horseshoe Hotel. While you guys are gone, I'm going to be on vacation!", Spike pulled out a pair of shades and put them on. "Fantastic.", Twilight said again. Apparently, her mentor had the foresight to book her assitant a room at an expensive local lodge while they were investigating. "Well, have fun Spike. We'll try to be back soon", Twilight said. "Good luck you guys! And take your time! I'm planning on learning how to surf while I'm here!", Spike called as he walked off the beach. Twilight's friends and Drippy bid Spike farewell and then dove their heads into the water, disappearing from sight as the sun went down. Author's Note The name "Flutterdive" was an idea given to me by a friend of mine a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Under the SeaSaturn Tower, main office What exactly had happened? Trent Arnold didn't have an answer to that question as he stared out the window of his office in the top floor of Saturn Tower. The last couple days had been very strange indeed. While Albert and Claire had apparently succeeded in developing a new generator for Rapture, he would've preferred if both of them had lived. Rapture was short on capable or even remotely functioning citizens as of late and losing two more lucid subordinates was more than a small inconvenience. He turned his back away from the oddly bright sunlight filtering down from the surface, the light that shouldn't have made him caste a shadow in his office. Trent sat back at his desk. Not a tall man, the lawyer was originally invited to the city of Rapture decades ago by Andrew Ryan himself. Ryan's dream of a perfect economy required as little law as possible but with similar representation on the surface if only for appearance's sake. Enter Trent Arnold, failed attourney. Arnold's career in practicing law looked promising at first until he actually put what he learned into practice. In school, he'd been at the top of his class, an excellent student. In the courtroom, his lack of presence, shallow mannerisms and tendancy to overlook details led him to lose many cases both as prosecution and defense. Like many, Rapture had been a second chance for Trent arnold. Rapture, as Ryan envisoned it had been entirely led by the captains of its industries. Business owners made the rules, apart from that it was almost martial law in the streets. Lack of a justice system meant Trent wouldn't find work easily and so, until the city descended into anarchy, Trent had enjoyed the rarest of privelages in Rapture: he didn't have to work. Ryan had kept Trent Arnold as his personal judicial advisor, a position which required nothing at all. Technically still under Ryan's employ, he happily collected a paycheck and looked over the occaisional claim that came to his office. That is, until the civil war happened. Trent tapped the intercom switch at his desk and picked up the speaker. "Attention my fellow citizens. I'm pleased to inform you that the new generator is up and running. Adequate power will be supplied to all your homes and repairs to our fair city will commence shortly. Do not be alarmed at the subtle changes in environment, everything is under control." he set the microphone down and flipped a switch on his desk. A row of monitors descended from the cieling by way of a motorized arm. Each one displayed the live feed from a security camera somewhere in the city. Some of the screens showed only static, their cameras being destroyed. Automated security drones would repair them in time, until then he had to settle with the display he had. One of the security cameras showed a creature hovering outside a hallway. Trent examined the feed for a moment. It appeared to be a seahorse only larger. Strange, perhaps an ADAM-related mutation? This might be something he'd have to look into. It could explain why their environment seemed to be abnormal. Trent had survived the civil war in Rapture, the vendetta between Fontaine and Ryan and the city's occupation by Dr. Lamb. He'd done so by being cautious and having a plan ahead of time. Now, he was in control of the city's security systems essentially making him the ruler of Rapture. He had plans for the city, big plans and to accomplish them he needed things to hold together a little longer. This meant more ADAM and more materials. Hopefully, his latest project would help him accomplish both those goals. He closed the blinds on his office with a little telekinetic ability of his own. The room became dark and Trent Arnold sat there alone, watching the monitors. "Albert... Albert..." the voice called out. Claire's voice, Albert just barely recognized her. His head was fuzzy, he felt groggy and cold, like he'd been damp recently and dried off too quickly. He struggled to open his eyes as he lay on his back, trying to remember what happened. "Albert, wake up." Claire said again. He opened his eyes and saw Claire standing over him. "Always wanted to wake up to you... not exactly like this though." he said with a grin. She scoffed. "You're disgusting. Get up, you've seriously got to see this." Claire helped him to his feet. The ground beneath him felt cool, almost unstable. What greeted him when he finally stood made him think he was still dreaming. "What... what is this? Where are we?" he asked. "This is Seaquestria." Claire answered. Before them was an enormous valley, an oceanic trench but with something different about it. It didn't stretch high enough, in fact they could see clearly over it and the seafloor was illuminated. The walls of the trench were multi-colored with spaces in between them at different intervals, almost like buildings. All throughout the ravine were brightly-colored creatures that appeared to be giant seahorses. They swam at all levels of the trench and darted in and around the buildings. Luminescent algae, sponges and shells adorned the buildings in a decorative fashion. "We both nearly drowned when the Stepdaddy brought down that tunnel. The Seaponies rescued us and brought us here. We're in a special pressurized air-pocket they made for us." Albert was baffled as he watched the creatures. Even from a distance, they seemed to interact with each other in ways that shouldn't be possible. "Sea... ponies?" he asked. "Yes, this is their city, a few miles from Rapture. I think... I think that our work with the new generator might've accidentally teleported us here, the whole city." As Claire explained, a green seapony descended from above the bubble in front of them. "Ah, I see your friend's awake. Welcome to Sequestria! Nice place huh?" the seapony greeted him. Albert, still baffled, nodded slowly. "Yes... very nice." "You'll have to excuse us Slipstream, we're not used to seeing... well, anything like this." Slipstream chuckled. "I can tell. You two are a pretty rare sight yourself but then again, trouble is usually easy to see no matter what form its in so I'm happy we were able to help you both out." "Oh, Slipstream, this is Albert. Albert, Slipstream and his friends rescued us." "Thank you..." Albert said, still trying to comprehend the idea of talking undersea life "No problem. So, you two are from that new complex that showed up past the Everflow Forest?" Slipstream asked. "Yes, we call it Rapture. It's a city of sorts." Claire explained. "A city built on the seabed for creatures that filter oxygen from the air? Seems kind of silly to me. How long did it take you to build it?" "We didn't exactly build it there... it was built on the seafloor of another world, another planet, Earth." Slipstream quirked an eyebrow. "Another planet? That's amazing. Are there more 'Raptures' out there?" Albert shook his head. "I really hope not." he said mourfully, thinking back to everything that had happened in Rapture. Claire quickly picked up his answer. "What he means is, our city is special. It's the only one of its kind." "I see... my friends and I thought it could be Canterlantis when we first saw it but something told me it was something different. We don't get much contact from the surface dwellers so we figured it could be anything." Slipstream said, looking out into the distance. There was a long pause. Slipstream seemed to consider something, at least it looked like that to Albert "Well, I suppose you two will want to be getting back now to Rapture?" he finally said. Claire approached the bubble's edge. "No! No, we don't want to go back." Albert was shocked to hear her say that. "Claire, what are you talking about? We have to go back." "Albert, this is our chance to escape Rapture! We can start over right here in Sequestria! Or better yet, the surface of a new world! What if there are people on the surface, a whole new civilization?" Claire asked as she ran over to Albert. Slipstream got to the edge of the bubble himself. "Not to interrupt but I'm pretty sure nothing like you guys is up on the surface. Not that I'm there all too often but from what we've seen... whatever you guys are, you're kind of exclusive to your 'Rapture' on this world." Albet held Claire in his arms. "We're humans and we have to get back to our city. Claire, what about saving Rapture? All those people, all those years of research? We can't let it all go down the drain." he said as she looked up at him. "What about Trent?" she asked. "Trent doesn't know we're alive. We can get back to the lab, get more CURE made up and get it distributed using the new reactor's power. We stay the course." Albert said. "Okay. You're right, we have to get back." Claire nodded. "I was right; you two are in deep trouble. I knew that when I saw that dark-looking monster after you." Slipstream said, looking back at them both. "The Stepdaddy." Claire said. "Well, I spread the word about our 'new guests' while you were both out cold. I guess some ponies will be disappointed it's not Canterlantis but I'm sure they'll be interested in your Rapture just the same. There's even some ponies from the surface that are on their way to check it out. We'll get you both back to your city, don't you worry." Slipstream told them, smiling as he did so. Author's Note I like the name Everflow Forest, good seapony-equivalent to the Everfree. Possibly made out of large stalks of coral, something pretty. Sequestria itself I imagine as a large, starfish-shaped city with trench-like city roads and buildings of coral leading up to a center with larger structures in the middle. Right now I'm just trying to think of ideas that will do the seaponies justice. I think Derpy's cousin Drippy Fins is a start. PressureDrippy led Twilight and her friends through the current. Twilight's sea pony body was sensitive to the feel of the ocean, her ears had a sonar-like reception and her eyes could see clearly through the murk. Her friends had adapted quite well to being sea ponies too it seemed. Rainbow Dash had been eager to see how fast she could swim, Pinkie Pie was enjoying doing sommersaults, Applejack and Rarity were asking Drippy about life under the sea and Fluttershy had made friends with several schools of fish that had swam by. "Well, Princess Tidellia has ruled for at least a thousand years. I don't know where we would be without her." Drippy said, answering Applejack's question. "We have some contact with surface ponies but mostly Seaquestria's stayed the same as long as I've been a mail carrier." "Twilight?" Rarity asked. "Do you think we could visit Seaquestria while we're down here?" "We're not here to do any sight seein'. In case you forgot, there's some emergency we've got to fix first." Applejack said, trying to focus her friend on the task at hand. The group swam onward under the waves, heading deeper into the ocean depths. Twilight looked over her shoulder. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were behind her, chatting amongst themselves. The shoreline behind them disappeared into the darkness of the sea. "The floor quakes started about a week ago but they were over pretty quickly," Drippy said. "Are the floor quakes the problem? Have they caused much damage?" Twilight asked. "No, they did stir a few things up but the occaisonal quake is nothing out of the ordinary. Prince Slipstream and his friends found something on the edge of the Everflow Forest that's caused all the commotion." "What did they find?" Rarity asked. Drippy had to stop and think. "It's... ummm, well at first we thought it was Canterlantis, a mythical lost city where sea ponies and the other tribes all lived together. But this city's... it's different." "Different how?" Twilight asked. "If Canterlantis is a myth, how do you know this place you've found isn't it?" "Umm, you just kinda have to see for yourself. We even found two creatures who were living in it. They called it Rapture and said it was from the surface." Twilight thought. "I've never heard of a city called Rapture on the surface of Equestria." "Oh!" Drippy remembered. "They said it was from the surface of ANOTHER world." "Another world?" Applejack repeated. "You mean another Equestria?" "Well, to be honest, I only know what I've heard. They just told me to go get you guys so I don't really know that much." A city from another world? Drippy's story seemed more science-fiction than anything else. But considering Twilight and her friends were currently sea ponies swimming through ocean, she had to believe it was at least possible. The seven sea mares continued their progress through the ocean passing over coral reefs, trenches and a few other unremarkable undersea landmarks on the ocean floor. A few larger sea creatures passed them as they continued on, a couple whales that dwarfed Twilight Sparkle's balloon swam by them. Fluttershy tried to talk to them as well but it seemed they had some place to be too. Finally, Drippy led them to the edge of the ravine. Twilight thought they were close to the surface at first because she saw light peaking over the Cliffside in the distance. Getting closer though, she realized that the light was coming from the sea floor. "Well, here it is. Rapture," Drippy announced. "Oh... my word, it's beautiful," Rarity said, enamored. The city of Rapture occupied all the visible ocean floor before them. It was massive, buildings of all shapes and sizes connected by tubes spread out in tightly packed rows. Twilight actually thought a few of the structures resembled buildings she'd seen in Equestria, pictures of Manehattan. Submerged skyscrapers towered in the center of the city, lights on the buildings illuminating the sea and space around them. Two other sea ponies swam into view carrying with them some kind of bubble. They sat down the clear sphere right next to where the other sea ponies arrived. "Drippy!" one of them asked. "Those our friends from the surface?" "Yep! All six of them," Drippy said as they approached. Twilight had heard about sea pony magic. They had the ability to manipulate pockets of air into bubbles that could sustain oxygen-breathing life forms underwater. Twilight saw two life forms she'd never encountered before inside the bubble in front of them. "Great, maybe they can help us out here. All right, thanks for your help Drippy. I think Tide Turner's waiting for you back at the shop," one of them said to Drippy. "Okie dokie. Best of luck you guys!" Drippy said, swimming off. "Twilight Sparkle? From Canterlot?" one of the ponies asked. Twilight nodded. "Yes, I'm Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy." "I'm Slipstream and these two in the bubble are Albert and Claire. Rapture is there home." "Doctor Claire Grace and my partner, engineer Albert Harmon," one of the creatures said in a female voice. "And Rapture is a very dangerous place. But it is also our home... and we very much want to save it," the male said. Slipstream nodded. "Rapture is apparently the source of the floor quakes recently." "Yes, Princess Celestia sent us here to investigate some kind of disturbance," Twilight explained. "Well, you're looking at the disturbance right in front of ye," the other sea pony said as he moved out from behind the bubble. Twilight was surprised again; it was a sea pony wearing some kind of diving suit. "My name's Ebbin McFlow and I am a sea pony," he said in a thick Irish accent. Ebbin appeared to be a green sea pony with a white mane and small beard. He wore a diving suit with four hooves and a bubble helmet. Twilight couldn't imagine walking on the sea floor but here was another pony, a sea pony simply walking over to them. "Ye'll 'ave to forgive the apparatus I'm wearin, special model. We've been tryin' to investigate whataver this thing is fer the pahst couple of dehys nouw," Ebbin explained. "Wait a minute," Rainbow Dash stopped him. "If you have these diving suits, why did we have to turn into sea ponies to get down here?" "Well, as Ebbin pointed out, his 'apparatus' is a special model, meaning he's the only one with one. He built it himself a couple years ago and he's actually been on the surface with it," Slipstream explained. "What's the matter Rainbow? Missing your wings already?" Pinkie teased, doing a backflip. "Listen to me," Albert said to the ponies. "Rapture is a very dangerous place. There are people in there that have... changed. There's chemicals in the city that turn people into monsters. There's violent weapons, security systems and traps." Claire stepped forward. "Albert and I were attacked. The city right now is under the control of one man, Trent Arnold, our boss. We were contracted by him..." Claire trailed off at that as if thinking back. Albert stepped in. "He recruited us to cure the city's addiction to ADAM, the substance that's destroying the inhabitants. We created a cure of sorts, something that neutralizes ADAM's effects but that's not all Trent wanted us to do. He wants us to add a chemical to the cure when it's distributed, an agent that will make the people obey him without question." "He's pretending to do the right thing, claiming to help when really all he wants is control," Claire added. For a moment, both the bipeds stood in the bubble and said nothing, their twin gazes looked out somewhere over the city as if seeing a future over the aquatic horizon. "So... y'all want us to save your town?" Applejack asked. "I can't ask any of my kingdom's own citizens to do this. Seaquestria has always relied on our ability to manipulate the ocean to protect us but our powers our useless without water. Inside that city, even in a diving suit, we would be defenseless against the perils within," Slipstream said. "So you called us for help," Twilight filled in the gap. Slipstream nodded. "New neighbors move in and they've brought all their troubles with them. Nothing new, really," Ebbin summarized the situation. "But... Twilight's spell. We could be stuck as sea ponies," Rainbow Dash sounded worried. "To be honest, I don't know the full details of the spell," Twilight explained. "There's a chance that if we're just outside of water, we'll change back." "Well... isn't that convenient," Rarity said, grinning nervously. Truth be told, they were all a little more than afraid of remaining sea ponies on a permanent basis. The safety of Equestria came first though, they knew this as the Elements of Harmony. Sometimes the cost was high... they just hoped it was never too high. "The only way we'll find out is if we get going," Twilight said. "Right then. I'll lead you into the city. Follow closely, formerly legged ones," Ebbin said. The six sea mares followed the walking sea pony, a stranger set of circumstances they never found themselves in as they headed into the glow of the city in front of them.
VacationJanuary 2nd, 1969 Atlantic ocean floor, city of Rapture, Saturn Estates community, disused service tunnel "Daddy, can we please slow down?" Paul's son asked him as his father held his hand and guided him quickly down the service tunnel. "No Alan, we have to keep moving." he told his son, eyes darting from corner to corner as the pair hurried down the service tunnel. They had to keep moving; any number of things could happen. The compartment could depressurize and flood with all the damage the city's taken, they could be mistaken by the automated security as a threat or worse, they could come across other people. Of course, what passed for 'people' in Rapture became a looser term every day. The lights in the service tunnel flickered overhead. "Daddy I'm scared...", Alan said, his voice drenched in the sorrowful tone of innocet fear that came with being in place unknown and not understanding. Paul turned around to Alan and saw tears in his eyes. This was a lot for an eight-year old to take in. This morning, after Paul's preperations had been complete he'd told Alan they were going on vacation. It had been easier to explain than trying to tell his son that the home they lived in was no longer safe. "It's going to be okay Alan. Come here.", Paul knelt down and hugged his son. "You know daddy wouldn't let anything bad happen to you right?" Paul felt his son nod into his shoulder as tears dropped onto his wrinkled shirt. Paul looked down and was just slightly surprised to find himself crying too. He was probably more scared than his son, scared for their safety. But he had to keep them both moving. Rapture, the city that Paul Kurtis and his family had called home for all these years was dying. What once had been a paradise of free enterprise had become a nightmare of psychotic, drug-fueled violence and biomechanical destruction. Rapture had been the shared dream of Andrew Ryan and those like him that felt government on the surface interferred too much into business. People looking for opportunities of all kinds came to Rapture and they found plenty, including ADAM, the mysterious gene-altering substance that allowed people to harness abilities that could only be described as god-like. But the price they payed for such abilities had been heavy; it had cost them their humanity. When ADAM had first been discovered, it had been called a miracle. Found as a chemical that existed only in sea slugs found on the ocean floor, ADAM allowed the citizens of Rapture to manipulate their DNA in almost unthinkable ways. Producing fire with a snap of your fingers, hurling lightning bolts or summoning blizzards were only some of the powers ADAM granted people. Two major corporations that would later become key players in the civil war that would follow created gene tonics, plasmids and other products that allowed anyone access to the amazing power of ADAM for the right price. People sank their entire fortunes into these products, the demand for ADAM grew and soon new methods were needed to produce more ADAM for the population. Paul prayed that he and his son would not run into one of those methods as their escape to the last known bathysphere in Saturn Estates. Paul and his son had not given into to temptation and used ADAM. He and his family had been happy to live their lives the way they were, unfortunately they were the minority. The majority of Rapture had used ADAM freely using the substance as a substitute for excercise, cosmetic surgery or just to liven up their social lives. Far too many had become addicted to ADAM, craving the substance like a drug. Splicing one's DNA so many times had consequences though; individuals that did so suffered from mental and physical deterioration to the point that they became deformed and psychotic. "Splicers", as they were called, roamed the streets and killed anyone and anything they came across for any ADAM they may have had on them and they were everywhere. But Splicers were not the only reason Paul wanted to get his son out of Rapture. Paul and Alan continued down the narrow passageway. Occassional steam hissed out of the pipeworks overhead and the air grew hot and humid. They shaft turned up ahead. Paul slowed down and took a quick glance beyond the corner. The bathysphere bay was just up ahead, an emergency access port for maintenance crews not that maintenance was performed on the city any more. They rounded the corner carefully and headed towards the door. The intercom system crackled overhead. A loud beep was heard and a voice cleared its throat. Paul cursed, not loud enough for his son to hear. He recognized the soft-spoken voice immediately. It was that of the current overseer of Rapture, Trent Arnold, one of the only lawyers that had been allowed in Rapture. Quite possibly the only one left now. "Paul, you know we can't allow you to leave with him.", Trent said. As Paul and his son approached the door, two men rounded the other corner across the corridor from them. Niether of them had guns or weapons of any kind. Paul knew the men wouldn't need them. Paul positioned his son directly behind him and stood his ground. "Mr. Kurtis, how nice of you to join us.", one of the men addressed him. They walked towards Paul and Alan, ducking down to avoid some low hanging pipes. They stopped right in front of Paul like they were about to have a pleasant conversation, despite the fact he'd never met the two men in his life. "Why are you trying to do this now Paul? You know your son is necessary to the future of Rapture. Why turn your back on your own work?", Trent said again over the intercom. "It's for the good of the city Mr. Kurtis. Now please...", the first man spoke and the other cracked his knuckles. As he did, a spark of electricity flared out of either one of his hands. "...make this easy on all of us", he finished. Splicers, while not crazed yet, they were clearly on Trent Arnold's payroll, which means they weren't going to stop splicing any time soon. It also meant there was no chance of trying to take them in a fight or run for that matter. But Paul wasn't going to give up his son. "Look, there's room in the bathysphere for all of us. You can come with us. We can get out of here together." Paul tried to reason with the men or distract them, whichever worked. He reached out to the door control and pressed the access button opening the door. The hatch swung open, temoprarily seperating Paul and his son from the two men by a heavy metal airlock door. Paul rushed himself and his son inside the bathysphere and tried to close the door. He pulled on the handle and the door swung back. Just as it was about to close shut, a hand stuck itself in the crack between and stopped the door from moving. The hand sparked with electricity. "Why do you insist on making things difficult Paul?", the voice asked and groaned. The door swung backwards. The second man yanked Alan out of the bathysphere with his right arm. Alan screamed for his father, Paul reached out after him only to be blocked by the man's left arm. With a single push, the man shoved Paul to the floor the bathysphere. "Daddy! Daddy!!!", his son screamed and cried, kicking the attacker. "Alan!! Damn it give me back my son!!!", Paul shouted at the men. The other man closed the door on Paul, trapping him inside the bathysphere. Paul got up and grab the door handle, trying to push. The other man looked at him through the access port window. "Paul, this is for the good of all of Rapture." the man said to him calmly. "I don't care about Rapture you spliced-up bastards give me back my son!!!", Paul yelled with the rage of an animal and pounded the door. "I think you need a little vacation Paul. Some time off to see what makes Rapture the place that it is. New perspective.", Trent Arnold said over the radio in the bathysphere. A mechanical grind reverberated through the bathysphere. Another door slid down between the hatch and the access port. The bathsyphere shook. Paul looked through the two porthole windows to the man standing beyond. He held up his son in one arm. The man grabbed Alan's left hand and made him wave 'good-bye' as he sobbed. The man then looked up and smiled. Tears streamed down Paul's face as the bathysphere shook again and began to rise up the access bay. He fell onto his hands and knees and sobbed, pounding his fist on the floor. The lights on the bathysphere turned off. Paul cried alone in the dark as he rose to the surface.
SOSTen years later... "Shut it off! Just shut it off!", Claire yelled, her hands over her ears. The whirring of the machine filled the air around them. "NO! This is our last chance! It has to work!!", Albert shouted back. Claire saw that he was covering his own ears though and his eyes were filled with uncertainty and fear. Claire thought she probably looked the same though. The generator was a prototype designed to replace the one in the Hephaestus core that was shutting down. If it worked, Rapture would have a new power source. Claire checked the power gauge again. It needed to reach a certain mark before the safeties kicked in, otherwise it would hit critical. The needle was shaking just before the green, it needed to get into the green without hitting the red. "It needs just a bit more!", Claire said, her own voice uncertain. "It needs a little boost! I know just how to get it.", Albert said. Claire saw Albert reach into his lab coat pocket and pull out a flask full of glowing red-orange liquid. ADAM. He was about to drink a plasmid. "No, it's too dangerous!", Claire yelled and ran to stop Albert. Albert unscrewed the top and was about to drink when Claire grabbed his hand and twisted in, trying to wrench the flask free. "What are you doing?! It needs it now!", Albert said. Albert fell backwards as Claire turned into him and yanked the flask free, unfortunately she now held the flask upside down. As she hit the ground, the contents of the flask poured onto her face and a small amount leaked into her mouth. A drop touched her toungue and went down her throat. She started to gag. "What have you done?! Do you know how much that stuff is worth?!", Albert shouted. He ran over to the machine. "We have to stop it now!", Albert shouted. 'Wait...", Claire said. She got up on her hands and knees. With one hand she reached out to Albert. From that hand, a bolt of lightning shot out and arced past Albert. It struck the generator head on. Claire looked back at her hand, electricity crackling between her fingers. The generator's whirr grew higher and higher, the noise became almost unbearable. Electricity surged around the machine and Albert stepped back. A bright flash of light erupted from the machine blinding them. For a moment, Claire felt weightless and she thought she heard Albert scream. Claire got up from the floor and looked around, her eyes taking a moment to adjust. Her ears stopped ringing and she noticed the room had become silent. She smelled harsh smoke in the air. "Al... Albert?", she called as got on her feet. She looked over to the machine. Black scorch marks streaked the floor around it in an ashen circle, spreaking outward. She saw Albert lying in front of it, not moving. Black smoke rose from his body and he wasn't moving. His eyes were open and locked on the cieling. She covered her mouth and quickly left the room. She walked outside in one of the dimly lit corridors of Rapture. She sighed to herself heavily. From her coat pocket, she withdrew a small flask full of green liquid, the antidote to ADAM. She took a sip of it. She didn't have an official name for the substance yet but she'd taken to just calling it CURE. It counter-acted what ADAM did to one's DNA, reversing the effects. They had been so close. She and Albert had been hoping to distribute CURE to the population of Rapture, returning the Splicers to normal and ending their addiction to ADAM. In order to produce that much CURE they needed to get power back to the city first, so they'd made deals with the city's current 'mayor' Trent Arnold to build a new generator for Rapture in exchange for resources they'd need to produce and distribute CURE. But Trent had goals of his own in mind for the generator and both Claire and Trent's goals had just gone up in smoke, quite literally along with poor Albert. Hopefully when Trent's goons found the generator they'd think both Claire and Albert died in the explosion. She looked through the windows into the sea beyond. She looked up to the surface. Odd, she could see light coming from above. Rapture was too deep for sunlight to reach it, how was this possible? A figure appeared in front of the window before her, some kind of creature. It bobbed in front of the glass, almost like it was looking inside... at her. Two more creatures appeared right next to them, each about the size of a small person. They all looked in at her now. One in the middle was green, one on the left was yellow and one on the right was a pale blue. "It's Canterlantis! It's got to be!", the yellow one spoke. Claire's jaw dropped as she saw the mouth of one of the creatures, which resembled sea horses only much, much larger, open and hear the words that it seemed to... speak. "Echo, Canterlantis is just an old sea pony's tale.", the pale blue one said in a feminine voice. Claire looked at the flask she was holding again. Had she mixed something else into the formula by mistake? Something hallucinogenic? "We don't know what this is yet Marina." the green one said. "Well what the kelp is it if it's not Canterlantis?", the yellow one asked. "Why don't we just ask?", the green one suggested gesturing towards Claire with the side of his head. "Good idea." the yellow one swam closer to the glass. "Hey! What is this place?" the creature asked Claire. "This... this is Rapture." Claire said to them through the glass. She didn't know why; there was no way those things could hear her though the glass. There was no way she could hear them. There was no way this was possible and she was clearly hallucinating. "You see? I told you it's not Canterlantis." the blue one said to the yellow one. Claire blinked. She stared at the creatures with her mouth agape slightly. They had heard her, they were speaking to her. How is this possible? "What's a "Rapture"? the yellow one asked. "Excuse me but... what are you?" Claire decided to ask. "Well, I don't know about these two but I'm a sea pony. Name's Slipstream.", the green one identified himself. He had a red-orange mane and examined the city as he spoke. "Do you mean like sea 'horses'?" Claire asked, trying to gather some clarity. "No, sea horses are those little things with the noses that float around." the blue one said. Claire shook her head and started walking down the corridor again, ignoring whatever it was she just had a covnersation with. "Wait! Where are you going? Tell us more about this 'Rapture!' How long has it been here?! Do you know where Canterlantis is?!", the yellow one shouted at her as she walked through the door at the end of the hallway and entered the Haphaestus core. She walked into the room and looked up at the ceiling for security cameras. She turned around a corner and the spotlamp of a security camera turned to face her. She had a few seconds to run, she took them, running towards the camera and hiding directly under it. Its spotlamp tracked her but it had all security cameras had a blindspot underneath them. Claire used this to her advantage, pressing herself into the corner. The intercom crackled. The voice of her boss, Trent Arnold boomed over the intercom. He cleared his throat while the intercom was on ensuring his throat noises were heard throughout Rapture, a habit of his. Whether he was unaware of this or not, Claire didn't know. "Ms. Grace? You're not authorized to be in that part of the Haphaestus core my dear." Trent said over the intercom. Claire cursed under her breath. "Now don't make this difficult Ms. Grace." Trent warned. Claire pulled out the flask of CURE again. She threw the bottle in the direction of the door she came in and ran around the corner. She sprinted towards the door again cursing under her breath. That one bottle had taken her months to concoct, now contents of the flask had splattered all over the floor just to buy her some time. Claire ran through another door and into another corridor with glass walls. The hallway was long and lead to another building, part of the core. She ran to the other door, not bothering to look back. As she got closer, it felt like the ground beneath her feet began to shake. She started to slow down but kept moving towards the door. The shaking transformed into a rythmic thump-thump-thump and the door opened. Claire's heart hit the floor. "I think this may be a tad premature but I think it's time for you to disappear Ms. Grace. Don't bother coming back to Titan Towers and consider your contract terminated. It's been a pleasure Claire.", Trent said over the intercom. Claire knew what happened to people that Trent Arnold 'fired'. She knew she was in danger now. She was almost to the end of the hallway when the door opened. Standing in front of her in the doorway was what she feared: one of the biomechanical gaurdians of Rapture. A monster in the mock shape of a man standing at almost eight feet tall, its entire body covered in an armored diving suit. Two drills were on either side of its enormous hands and a single octogonal light shined on its head. One of the drills bloomed outward like a flower and folded back revealing a large black hand. Electricity sparked between its massive fingers and it stepped towards, two giant legs dripping with water like it had come from outside. She knew what they were called: Step Daddies. The city's need for ADAM had driven the population to barbaric methods of production. ADAM could only be found in sea slugs but scientists found that the slugs could be implanted into young girls and then the girls could gather ADAM from the dead. The girls, dubbed "Little Sisters", harvested ADAM from dead bodies, drank the substance and then it was withdrawn from their bodies by special automated facilities throughout Rapture. ADAM was then transported to vending machines with preset programs that created plasmids and tonics of all sorts that anyone could buy as easily as one bought a soda. Splicers found it much easier to just kill the Little Sisters and take the ADAM for themselvs and so they needed protection while they performed their grim deed. The solution was the Big Daddy. Big Daddies, like the one in front of Claire now were brainwashed men in armored diving suits that had been grafted to their bodies. Heavily armored, they followed the Little Sisters around as they gathered ADAM and gaurded them. The Little Sisters were all gone now, rescured by heroic individuals considered legends in Rapture. The remaining Big Daddies were now under the control of Trent Arnold and served as the enforcers of his will. Now called Step Daddies, it was unknown how exactly he got them under his command. And that made Trent Arnold a man to be feared. The Step Daddy walked forward slowly, the floor underneath them vibrated with its immense weight. Claire now regretted taking a dose of CURE early; she could've used lightning to stun the beast, maybe escape. Maybe she could side step the beast, get past it that way. They did turn slowly. It was a long shot but she had to try something. She balled her fist and prepared to make her move. She faked left and lunged right, hoping to get under the creature's left arm. The beast anticipated this and grab her with its left arm and in one motion pinned her to the wall. Her back slammed into the glass. The Step Daddy brought up its right arm. The drill on it spun filling the air with a droning whirr like the one the generator had made. Claire stared into the porthole of the monster that held her. A lightning bolt struck the side of the Step Daddy and the light from the porthole turned red. The creature released its grip as electricity surged around its armor. Claire turned to see Albert standing in the hallway, his hand crackling with sparks. "What are you standing there for?! Run!", he shouted at her. The beast recovered too quickly though and brought its drill up again. It was just a second too slow and Claire was able to duck around it this time. The Step Daddy's drill slammed into the glass wall behind them. Claire ran to Albert who was already running back in the direction they had came. Claire spared a glance behind her and turned her head just in time to see the Step Daddy withdraw its drill from the glass, causing it to shatter. The door ahead of them's emergency measures kicked in and it slid down in front of them. Water quickly flooded the chamber they were in. Claire and Albert pounded on the door. As seawater continued pouring in, they turned to see the Step Deady lumbering towards them, its two drills spinning and its eye glowing red. Author's Note I debated whether or not to use "Canterlantis" as a sea-Canterlot equivalent but the lost city concept fits better I think than there just being an undersea version of everything on the surface of Equestria. Of course, the sea ponies do require their own kingdom but I'm unsure of what to call it. I've heard that "Aquastria" is going to be used in future MLP literature and I don't know whether to use that directly without further details of its makeup or to just create my own. Regardless of what I make, confusion is the last thing I want to create. Perhaps 'Seaquestria' will suffice for now.
Changing with the tideTwo Days Later Canterlot Castle Throne room Princess Celestia paced back and fourth in her own throne room. She looked to the stained glass windows that lined the grand hall. They inspired her but she knew each one also held a profecy, knowledge of future events not yet transpired. In a way, they were windows to the future. She examined each one in detail whenever a crisis took place in the chance that the light of truth shone through these windows that could provide some clue as to what was happening. She sighed as she examined the last one; it seemed she'd find no illumination in this glass today. The doors to her throne room opened abruptly. Her student Twilight Sparkle galloped in along with her friends from Ponyville. She'd relied on Twilight and her friends before in sitiuations like this and she was confident she could count on them again today. She only wished she could do more for them. "Your Highness! We came as soon as we could!", Twilight said, sounding almost breathless as she and her five friends skidded to a halt before the princess. Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity stopped alongside Twilight. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy remained flying, ready for whatever was about to take place. Spike had been riding on Twilight's back and dismounted his friend, taking his place at her side. It was just easier for him this way; he wasn't able to run as fast as them on only two legs. "My most faithful student Twilight, there is a situation developing that requires immediate attention.", Celestia said. She used her magic and a globe rose from the center of the room. Twilight and her friends gathered around it. Each of them pondered the sphere before finally realizing what it was they were looking at. "Is that Equestria?", Spike asked, scratching his chin. "Yes, this is Equestria, our world. Recently, we've had reports of strange seismic disturbances coming from the surface of Equestria around this area.", Princess Celestia explained. She highlighted an area of the globe with a glow from her horn. The others gathered around and examined the globe. "Wait, these seismic disturbances are coming from the ocean?", Twilight asked her teacher. "The seafloor around this area. As you know, the ocean's ecosystem is very delicate. We need you to investigate this seismic activity and ensure that it's not a danger to Equestria.", the princess said. "How are we supposed to get to the ocean floor? The sky I got, the sea, not so much.", Rainbow Dash commented. "For that, we're going to have to use a form of magic that is a tad unorthodox. The seafloor is only accessable at this time by sea ponies. In order for surface ponies to reach the depths, you will need a special kind of magic", Celestia explained. They all exchanged glances in the throne room, looks of concern on each of their faces. "What kind of magic?", Twilight asked. "A very complicated and difficult spell but one you must learn and learn quickly.", Celestia said. She levitated a book to Twilight, an old tome with a hardback that seemed partially made of coral with pages of a light seafoam green. It was as if the book itself had come from the sea. It even smelled of brine. "I've arranged for an escort to meet you at Horseshoe Shores. They will take you where you need to go. You must depart quickly my little ponies.", Celestia finished. "Don't worry Princess. We'll find out whatever this problem is and make sure Equestria is safe.", Twilight declared. She turned around and dashed out of the throne room, her friends following close behind her. Spike carried the book and hopped on Twilight's back. Princess Celestia watched them go. Not for the first time, she regretted relying on her student and her friends so much, not being able to provide them with more help, more information. Not being able to go with them herself. As the door to her throne room closed, she looked again to the stained glass windows. She turned away from them quickly. It was time to stop looking for answers out of the window. 2 hours later Horseshoe Shores public beach Twilight Sparkle looked over the spell again. She'd been concentrating on the book, trying to learn everything about this spell she could before she had to cast it. Her friends had noticed she'd stopped talking to them during the train ride over. She'd discovered exactly what the spell would do, how they would get to the bottom of the ocean. She wasn't one to question her teacher's methods or the resolve of her friends but the details of the magic she had to admit were a tad... unorthodox. That more than anything else was the reason for her silence. The train ride over had been quick and easy and she'd wondered why they'd never gone to the beach before. They'd arrived at the beach just as the sun was setting and made their way down to the shore. The sand was comfortable and warm on Twilight's hooves as she and her friends approached the water's edge. Twilight and her friends looked around. The beach was empty apart from them. The sound of the waves and the gentle breeze was the only thing that broke the silence until Rainbow Dash spoke. "So where is this escort that's supposed to take us to the seafloor?", Applejack asked. Twilight looked up and down the beach. Maybe their escort was late? "I don't know. Maybe I have to cast the spell first.", Twilight opened the book of magic again and turned to the spell she needed to perform. "Twilight darling, about this magic you need to cast? What exactly does this spell entail?", Rarity asked. "It's uh, well... a little different than what I'm used to working with but I should be able to manage. But we're going to have to get in the water for it to work. And I'm going to have to cast it on one pony at a time. So... who wants to go first?", Twilight asked, some forced confidence and enthusiasm in her voice. "What's this spell going to do Twilight? Make it so we can breathe underwater?", Rainbow Dash asked. "Yeah... kind of.", Twilight said, evading answering directly. "How is it going to let us reach the seafloor?", Fluttershy asked. "Haha, only sea ponies can get to the seafloor.", a voice behind them said. They turned to see a grey head poking out of the top of the water a few feet away from them. It had a blonde mane and familiar eyes. "Derpy? Is that you? What are you doing here?", Rainbow Dash asked. "Oh I'm not Derpy. I'm her cousin, Drippy! Drippy Fins, premier mail sea pony of Seaquestria!", she explained. "You're Derpy's... cousin?", Twilight asked, confused. Derpy Hooves is a pegasus... and her cousin is a sea pony. Twilight shook her head; this was not the time to start questioning things like this. "Yep! I'm supposed to take you guys to the ocean floor where the sequake happened. I've never seen surface ponies before. It's nice to meet you all! My cousin's told me all about you!", Drippy said with a smile. "It's nice to meet you too Drippy.", Twilight said, trying to break the awkwardness of the moment. "So when are you guys supposed to transform?", Drippy asked. "Transform?", Rarity asked, a bit in shock. "Yeah. Only sea ponies can get to the bottom of the ocean.", Drippy explained. "We're going to have to turn into... sea ponies?", Rainbow Dash asked, looking to Twilight. Twilight nodded. "We'll be able to change back right?", Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight with hopeful eyes. "Yes. We should be able to transform back when we get on dry land.", Twilight said. "Okay... so there's no problem.", Rainbow Dash said, trying to shake off her nervousness. "I guess we should start now. We'll have to get into the water first.", Twilight walked into the waves up to her neck. The water was cool and she kept her hooves planted on the ground. Her heart began to race. Spike watched them as they entered the surf. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to join them. The spell only worked on ponies. "Oh, this is soo exciting! We're going to go an undersea adventure!", Pinkie Pie said as she merrily trotted into the waves. The others looked less than excited about this opportunity than she did. "Okay... here goes nothing.", Twilight said. Her horn glowed with a bright magenta aura. The aura pulsed and expanded, the sea around them began to glow a bright yellow. Twilight felt her hooves lift off othe sand, she felt the water swirl around her. She felt her body change as she adjusted to the form of a sea pony. Her tail disappeared and her body elongated, she felt her front hooves recede into her, flatten out and become fins. She closed her eyes; there was no pain but the feeling was strange. The feeling stopped abruptly, her horn and the water around them stopped glowing and she opened her eyes, looking at the sand underwater beneath her. The sea water didn't sting her eyes. She popped her head above the surface. Spike stood before them with his mouth hanging open. Twilight looked around, her friends had all surfaced too and were beginning to try out their new bodies. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's wings had become a second set of wing-like fins on their backs. Rarity and Twilight still had their horns. Pinkie Pie was swimming backwards in the waves around them and Applejack's hat now had a tye underneath it. "Wow. You guys make great sea ponies!", Drippy said. Spike rubbed his chin with his right claw. "Okay, so now we got Flutterdive, Rarisea, Aquajack, Rainbow Splash, Sinkie Pie and...", Spike thought for a moment before snapping his claws in triumph. "Twilight Sprinkle!", he announced. Twilight rolled her eyes. "Spike, are you going to be okay here by yourself?", she asked the baby dragon. "Ah, no sweat. Princess Celestia got me a room at the Horseshoe Hotel. While you guys are gone, I'm going to be on vacation!", Spike pulled out a pair of shades and put them on. "Fantastic.", Twilight said again. Apparently, her mentor had the foresight to book her assitant a room at an expensive local lodge while they were investigating. "Well, have fun Spike. We'll try to be back soon", Twilight said. "Good luck you guys! And take your time! I'm planning on learning how to surf while I'm here!", Spike called as he walked off the beach. Twilight's friends and Drippy bid Spike farewell and then dove their heads into the water, disappearing from sight as the sun went down. Author's Note The name "Flutterdive" was an idea given to me by a friend of mine a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.
Under the SeaSaturn Tower, main office What exactly had happened? Trent Arnold didn't have an answer to that question as he stared out the window of his office in the top floor of Saturn Tower. The last couple days had been very strange indeed. While Albert and Claire had apparently succeeded in developing a new generator for Rapture, he would've preferred if both of them had lived. Rapture was short on capable or even remotely functioning citizens as of late and losing two more lucid subordinates was more than a small inconvenience. He turned his back away from the oddly bright sunlight filtering down from the surface, the light that shouldn't have made him caste a shadow in his office. Trent sat back at his desk. Not a tall man, the lawyer was originally invited to the city of Rapture decades ago by Andrew Ryan himself. Ryan's dream of a perfect economy required as little law as possible but with similar representation on the surface if only for appearance's sake. Enter Trent Arnold, failed attourney. Arnold's career in practicing law looked promising at first until he actually put what he learned into practice. In school, he'd been at the top of his class, an excellent student. In the courtroom, his lack of presence, shallow mannerisms and tendancy to overlook details led him to lose many cases both as prosecution and defense. Like many, Rapture had been a second chance for Trent arnold. Rapture, as Ryan envisoned it had been entirely led by the captains of its industries. Business owners made the rules, apart from that it was almost martial law in the streets. Lack of a justice system meant Trent wouldn't find work easily and so, until the city descended into anarchy, Trent had enjoyed the rarest of privelages in Rapture: he didn't have to work. Ryan had kept Trent Arnold as his personal judicial advisor, a position which required nothing at all. Technically still under Ryan's employ, he happily collected a paycheck and looked over the occaisional claim that came to his office. That is, until the civil war happened. Trent tapped the intercom switch at his desk and picked up the speaker. "Attention my fellow citizens. I'm pleased to inform you that the new generator is up and running. Adequate power will be supplied to all your homes and repairs to our fair city will commence shortly. Do not be alarmed at the subtle changes in environment, everything is under control." he set the microphone down and flipped a switch on his desk. A row of monitors descended from the cieling by way of a motorized arm. Each one displayed the live feed from a security camera somewhere in the city. Some of the screens showed only static, their cameras being destroyed. Automated security drones would repair them in time, until then he had to settle with the display he had. One of the security cameras showed a creature hovering outside a hallway. Trent examined the feed for a moment. It appeared to be a seahorse only larger. Strange, perhaps an ADAM-related mutation? This might be something he'd have to look into. It could explain why their environment seemed to be abnormal. Trent had survived the civil war in Rapture, the vendetta between Fontaine and Ryan and the city's occupation by Dr. Lamb. He'd done so by being cautious and having a plan ahead of time. Now, he was in control of the city's security systems essentially making him the ruler of Rapture. He had plans for the city, big plans and to accomplish them he needed things to hold together a little longer. This meant more ADAM and more materials. Hopefully, his latest project would help him accomplish both those goals. He closed the blinds on his office with a little telekinetic ability of his own. The room became dark and Trent Arnold sat there alone, watching the monitors. "Albert... Albert..." the voice called out. Claire's voice, Albert just barely recognized her. His head was fuzzy, he felt groggy and cold, like he'd been damp recently and dried off too quickly. He struggled to open his eyes as he lay on his back, trying to remember what happened. "Albert, wake up." Claire said again. He opened his eyes and saw Claire standing over him. "Always wanted to wake up to you... not exactly like this though." he said with a grin. She scoffed. "You're disgusting. Get up, you've seriously got to see this." Claire helped him to his feet. The ground beneath him felt cool, almost unstable. What greeted him when he finally stood made him think he was still dreaming. "What... what is this? Where are we?" he asked. "This is Seaquestria." Claire answered. Before them was an enormous valley, an oceanic trench but with something different about it. It didn't stretch high enough, in fact they could see clearly over it and the seafloor was illuminated. The walls of the trench were multi-colored with spaces in between them at different intervals, almost like buildings. All throughout the ravine were brightly-colored creatures that appeared to be giant seahorses. They swam at all levels of the trench and darted in and around the buildings. Luminescent algae, sponges and shells adorned the buildings in a decorative fashion. "We both nearly drowned when the Stepdaddy brought down that tunnel. The Seaponies rescued us and brought us here. We're in a special pressurized air-pocket they made for us." Albert was baffled as he watched the creatures. Even from a distance, they seemed to interact with each other in ways that shouldn't be possible. "Sea... ponies?" he asked. "Yes, this is their city, a few miles from Rapture. I think... I think that our work with the new generator might've accidentally teleported us here, the whole city." As Claire explained, a green seapony descended from above the bubble in front of them. "Ah, I see your friend's awake. Welcome to Sequestria! Nice place huh?" the seapony greeted him. Albert, still baffled, nodded slowly. "Yes... very nice." "You'll have to excuse us Slipstream, we're not used to seeing... well, anything like this." Slipstream chuckled. "I can tell. You two are a pretty rare sight yourself but then again, trouble is usually easy to see no matter what form its in so I'm happy we were able to help you both out." "Oh, Slipstream, this is Albert. Albert, Slipstream and his friends rescued us." "Thank you..." Albert said, still trying to comprehend the idea of talking undersea life "No problem. So, you two are from that new complex that showed up past the Everflow Forest?" Slipstream asked. "Yes, we call it Rapture. It's a city of sorts." Claire explained. "A city built on the seabed for creatures that filter oxygen from the air? Seems kind of silly to me. How long did it take you to build it?" "We didn't exactly build it there... it was built on the seafloor of another world, another planet, Earth." Slipstream quirked an eyebrow. "Another planet? That's amazing. Are there more 'Raptures' out there?" Albert shook his head. "I really hope not." he said mourfully, thinking back to everything that had happened in Rapture. Claire quickly picked up his answer. "What he means is, our city is special. It's the only one of its kind." "I see... my friends and I thought it could be Canterlantis when we first saw it but something told me it was something different. We don't get much contact from the surface dwellers so we figured it could be anything." Slipstream said, looking out into the distance. There was a long pause. Slipstream seemed to consider something, at least it looked like that to Albert "Well, I suppose you two will want to be getting back now to Rapture?" he finally said. Claire approached the bubble's edge. "No! No, we don't want to go back." Albert was shocked to hear her say that. "Claire, what are you talking about? We have to go back." "Albert, this is our chance to escape Rapture! We can start over right here in Sequestria! Or better yet, the surface of a new world! What if there are people on the surface, a whole new civilization?" Claire asked as she ran over to Albert. Slipstream got to the edge of the bubble himself. "Not to interrupt but I'm pretty sure nothing like you guys is up on the surface. Not that I'm there all too often but from what we've seen... whatever you guys are, you're kind of exclusive to your 'Rapture' on this world." Albet held Claire in his arms. "We're humans and we have to get back to our city. Claire, what about saving Rapture? All those people, all those years of research? We can't let it all go down the drain." he said as she looked up at him. "What about Trent?" she asked. "Trent doesn't know we're alive. We can get back to the lab, get more CURE made up and get it distributed using the new reactor's power. We stay the course." Albert said. "Okay. You're right, we have to get back." Claire nodded. "I was right; you two are in deep trouble. I knew that when I saw that dark-looking monster after you." Slipstream said, looking back at them both. "The Stepdaddy." Claire said. "Well, I spread the word about our 'new guests' while you were both out cold. I guess some ponies will be disappointed it's not Canterlantis but I'm sure they'll be interested in your Rapture just the same. There's even some ponies from the surface that are on their way to check it out. We'll get you both back to your city, don't you worry." Slipstream told them, smiling as he did so. Author's Note I like the name Everflow Forest, good seapony-equivalent to the Everfree. Possibly made out of large stalks of coral, something pretty. Sequestria itself I imagine as a large, starfish-shaped city with trench-like city roads and buildings of coral leading up to a center with larger structures in the middle. Right now I'm just trying to think of ideas that will do the seaponies justice. I think Derpy's cousin Drippy Fins is a start.
PressureDrippy led Twilight and her friends through the current. Twilight's sea pony body was sensitive to the feel of the ocean, her ears had a sonar-like reception and her eyes could see clearly through the murk. Her friends had adapted quite well to being sea ponies too it seemed. Rainbow Dash had been eager to see how fast she could swim, Pinkie Pie was enjoying doing sommersaults, Applejack and Rarity were asking Drippy about life under the sea and Fluttershy had made friends with several schools of fish that had swam by. "Well, Princess Tidellia has ruled for at least a thousand years. I don't know where we would be without her." Drippy said, answering Applejack's question. "We have some contact with surface ponies but mostly Seaquestria's stayed the same as long as I've been a mail carrier." "Twilight?" Rarity asked. "Do you think we could visit Seaquestria while we're down here?" "We're not here to do any sight seein'. In case you forgot, there's some emergency we've got to fix first." Applejack said, trying to focus her friend on the task at hand. The group swam onward under the waves, heading deeper into the ocean depths. Twilight looked over her shoulder. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were behind her, chatting amongst themselves. The shoreline behind them disappeared into the darkness of the sea. "The floor quakes started about a week ago but they were over pretty quickly," Drippy said. "Are the floor quakes the problem? Have they caused much damage?" Twilight asked. "No, they did stir a few things up but the occaisonal quake is nothing out of the ordinary. Prince Slipstream and his friends found something on the edge of the Everflow Forest that's caused all the commotion." "What did they find?" Rarity asked. Drippy had to stop and think. "It's... ummm, well at first we thought it was Canterlantis, a mythical lost city where sea ponies and the other tribes all lived together. But this city's... it's different." "Different how?" Twilight asked. "If Canterlantis is a myth, how do you know this place you've found isn't it?" "Umm, you just kinda have to see for yourself. We even found two creatures who were living in it. They called it Rapture and said it was from the surface." Twilight thought. "I've never heard of a city called Rapture on the surface of Equestria." "Oh!" Drippy remembered. "They said it was from the surface of ANOTHER world." "Another world?" Applejack repeated. "You mean another Equestria?" "Well, to be honest, I only know what I've heard. They just told me to go get you guys so I don't really know that much." A city from another world? Drippy's story seemed more science-fiction than anything else. But considering Twilight and her friends were currently sea ponies swimming through ocean, she had to believe it was at least possible. The seven sea mares continued their progress through the ocean passing over coral reefs, trenches and a few other unremarkable undersea landmarks on the ocean floor. A few larger sea creatures passed them as they continued on, a couple whales that dwarfed Twilight Sparkle's balloon swam by them. Fluttershy tried to talk to them as well but it seemed they had some place to be too. Finally, Drippy led them to the edge of the ravine. Twilight thought they were close to the surface at first because she saw light peaking over the Cliffside in the distance. Getting closer though, she realized that the light was coming from the sea floor. "Well, here it is. Rapture," Drippy announced. "Oh... my word, it's beautiful," Rarity said, enamored. The city of Rapture occupied all the visible ocean floor before them. It was massive, buildings of all shapes and sizes connected by tubes spread out in tightly packed rows. Twilight actually thought a few of the structures resembled buildings she'd seen in Equestria, pictures of Manehattan. Submerged skyscrapers towered in the center of the city, lights on the buildings illuminating the sea and space around them. Two other sea ponies swam into view carrying with them some kind of bubble. They sat down the clear sphere right next to where the other sea ponies arrived. "Drippy!" one of them asked. "Those our friends from the surface?" "Yep! All six of them," Drippy said as they approached. Twilight had heard about sea pony magic. They had the ability to manipulate pockets of air into bubbles that could sustain oxygen-breathing life forms underwater. Twilight saw two life forms she'd never encountered before inside the bubble in front of them. "Great, maybe they can help us out here. All right, thanks for your help Drippy. I think Tide Turner's waiting for you back at the shop," one of them said to Drippy. "Okie dokie. Best of luck you guys!" Drippy said, swimming off. "Twilight Sparkle? From Canterlot?" one of the ponies asked. Twilight nodded. "Yes, I'm Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy." "I'm Slipstream and these two in the bubble are Albert and Claire. Rapture is there home." "Doctor Claire Grace and my partner, engineer Albert Harmon," one of the creatures said in a female voice. "And Rapture is a very dangerous place. But it is also our home... and we very much want to save it," the male said. Slipstream nodded. "Rapture is apparently the source of the floor quakes recently." "Yes, Princess Celestia sent us here to investigate some kind of disturbance," Twilight explained. "Well, you're looking at the disturbance right in front of ye," the other sea pony said as he moved out from behind the bubble. Twilight was surprised again; it was a sea pony wearing some kind of diving suit. "My name's Ebbin McFlow and I am a sea pony," he said in a thick Irish accent. Ebbin appeared to be a green sea pony with a white mane and small beard. He wore a diving suit with four hooves and a bubble helmet. Twilight couldn't imagine walking on the sea floor but here was another pony, a sea pony simply walking over to them. "Ye'll 'ave to forgive the apparatus I'm wearin, special model. We've been tryin' to investigate whataver this thing is fer the pahst couple of dehys nouw," Ebbin explained. "Wait a minute," Rainbow Dash stopped him. "If you have these diving suits, why did we have to turn into sea ponies to get down here?" "Well, as Ebbin pointed out, his 'apparatus' is a special model, meaning he's the only one with one. He built it himself a couple years ago and he's actually been on the surface with it," Slipstream explained. "What's the matter Rainbow? Missing your wings already?" Pinkie teased, doing a backflip. "Listen to me," Albert said to the ponies. "Rapture is a very dangerous place. There are people in there that have... changed. There's chemicals in the city that turn people into monsters. There's violent weapons, security systems and traps." Claire stepped forward. "Albert and I were attacked. The city right now is under the control of one man, Trent Arnold, our boss. We were contracted by him..." Claire trailed off at that as if thinking back. Albert stepped in. "He recruited us to cure the city's addiction to ADAM, the substance that's destroying the inhabitants. We created a cure of sorts, something that neutralizes ADAM's effects but that's not all Trent wanted us to do. He wants us to add a chemical to the cure when it's distributed, an agent that will make the people obey him without question." "He's pretending to do the right thing, claiming to help when really all he wants is control," Claire added. For a moment, both the bipeds stood in the bubble and said nothing, their twin gazes looked out somewhere over the city as if seeing a future over the aquatic horizon. "So... y'all want us to save your town?" Applejack asked. "I can't ask any of my kingdom's own citizens to do this. Seaquestria has always relied on our ability to manipulate the ocean to protect us but our powers our useless without water. Inside that city, even in a diving suit, we would be defenseless against the perils within," Slipstream said. "So you called us for help," Twilight filled in the gap. Slipstream nodded. "New neighbors move in and they've brought all their troubles with them. Nothing new, really," Ebbin summarized the situation. "But... Twilight's spell. We could be stuck as sea ponies," Rainbow Dash sounded worried. "To be honest, I don't know the full details of the spell," Twilight explained. "There's a chance that if we're just outside of water, we'll change back." "Well... isn't that convenient," Rarity said, grinning nervously. Truth be told, they were all a little more than afraid of remaining sea ponies on a permanent basis. The safety of Equestria came first though, they knew this as the Elements of Harmony. Sometimes the cost was high... they just hoped it was never too high. "The only way we'll find out is if we get going," Twilight said. "Right then. I'll lead you into the city. Follow closely, formerly legged ones," Ebbin said. The six sea mares followed the walking sea pony, a stranger set of circumstances they never found themselves in as they headed into the glow of the city in front of them.
