In The Deep

I could finally open my eyes. My vision was blurry, and my body unresponsive, but I could at least see. The problem was, the thing that I saw in front of me were two splicers, both with lead pipes on their backs. One of them, the one who I attacked before, bent down in front of my face and said, "Well, well, well… looks like the little fishy had his cherry popped! Hopefully he still has some ADAM on him…" My vision went dark for a moment. It was then that I heard a long, deep wail coming from somewhere else in Rapture. As my sight returned, I saw the second splicer leave my field of vision as he said, "You hear that? Let's bugger off!" The splicer I could still see turned to his friend and yelled, "Weak! You're a weak little splicer, I don't know how you survived!"

"This little fishy isn't worth tangling with a Big Daddy! That's how I survived!" argued the unseen splicer. I heard him run off as the first one said, "Yellow! Always have been and always will!" He then turned to me and said, "You're no better off with a metal daddy. See you floating around, fishy…" As the splicer ran off, my vision went again. When it came back, I heard a loud, rhythmic THOOM! of hoofsteps coming closer, as if the pony walking was wearing some sort of gear. Eventually, a monster beyond my greatest nightmares entered my view.

The pony (if I could call it one) was at least three times bigger than any normal stallion. It wore a large helmet with eight portholes, all shining a bright yellow. It stopped halfway across the room and brought up its right front leg, the bottom half of it ending in a stumped drill. A hole opened up in the bottom of the drill, and the top half quickly popped out. It then looked around the room just as another pony walked into view. She was a yellow filly who wore a pink bow and a periwinkle dress with white frills, the dress being stained with blood. Her eyes slightly glowed a sickly green-yellow, and she held a giant needle in a bare mechanism attached to her leg. The mechanism has a tube going from the needle to a vial that held a pure red substance.

The filly bent down to my level and said in a childish whisper, "Look, Mr. Bubbles, an angel! There's a ligh' comin' from his belly…" I took a deep breath and held it, keeping my eyes trained on the needle. The yellow filly stood back up and said, "Wait a sec… he's breathin'. Aw well. Don' worry, Mr. Bubbles, I know he'll be an angel soon…" The beast known as Mr. Bubbles gave a low growl as my vision faded into black and I slipped back into unconsciousness.

When I came to, I could finally move my whole body, and my vision was clearer. The radio on the belt I "borrowed" from the splicer gave a whine, and I heard Cadence say, "Are you alright? The first plasmid is always as strong as a buck from an apple farmer, but it's worth it. Nothing's better than a hoof of lightning!"

"A hoof of lightning?" I asked as I looked at the hoof I injected the hypodermic into. Sure enough, blue electricity ran up and down it. I picked the radio up and said, "How the hell do I work this thing?" There was another whine as Cadence told me, "Just aim at your target and will the bolt out of your hoof. Basically, think about firing it, and it will be fired. Now, would you kindly try firing at that switch on the wall." I looked back up and saw the broken control switch next to the door. I rose my hoof up, aiming as best as I could, and thought of the word fire. Instantly, my leg lit up and a bolt of electricity shot out. Sadly, I missed. I tried again and again, missing both times. However, on my fourth try, nothing happened. I looked back at my hoof to find that it had returned to normal.

"Hey Cadence, where'd the stuff go?" I shouted, hoping my voice would reach the radio. Luckily, it did, as my friend called back, "Alright, do you have any EVE hypos?" I cocked my head. EVE hypo? Cadence took my silence as confusion, for she said, "It's a large blue vial with a hypodermic needle." I perked up and yelled, "Oh! Yeah, I have one of those! What do I do?"

"First, stop yelling, I can hear you fine." said Cadence. "Alright, using an EVE hypo is simple. Stab it in and inject it." I was hoping that wasn't the answer. Yeah, I might have jabbed myself with the hypo (as they seem to be called) earlier, but that was different. Somehow. Nevertheless, I did what I was supposed to do. Truth be told, it wasn't that painful.

I aimed at the panel once more and fired, hitting it this time. Electricity sparked around the switch, and the door opened into a glass tube. I trotted into the tunnel, looking around at the amazing sea life around me. However, there was one thing that looked eerily familiar…

"Oh my Celestia, it's the airship…" I said aloud, and Cadence screamed back at me, "Would you kindly get out of there! The ship's going to crash into the tunnel!" I didn't need for her to speak twice. I ran as fast as I could down the tunnel, but the blimp was faster. It crashed right in front of me, letting the water pour in from the gaping hole. The water level started to rise as I took a deep breath and dived under the water. I swam through the cockpit of the blimp and came up gasping for air on the other side.

"Damnit!" I yelled as I swam through the water, realizing my radio had now short circuited and was useless. However, the radio was the least of my problems. One of the doors exiting the tube made a loud BANG! as the rushing water beat against it. My only way out was the door in front of me. Using all the energy I had left, I swam hard to the door, making it inside the building just before the whole tube collapsed.

"Well, I'm not going out that way…" I said to myself. Surprisingly, I heard Cadence say, "No, you aren't. Now, would you kindly pick up the radio to your left? You'll be needing it." I looked to the wall at my left and, sure enough, found a shortwave radio. At least I got my radio back.

THUNK! A searing pain came from the back of my head as I felt cold steel connect with my skin. A splicer had managed to sneak up behind me and whack me with his pipe. I spun around as best I could and started to swing my wrench at him, missing each time. Cadence's voice yelled at me, "Zap him! Give him a one two punch! Zap him, then smack him!"

I quickly raised my hoof up and screamed "Fire!" in my head. The electricity arced out and, at the moment of contact, it jumped all around the splicer's body. Not wasting a moment, I fluidly picked up his pipe and smacked him across the face with it. I cringed as his head flew off and his blood splattered everywhere. I had just killed a pony for the first time in my life. I dropped the pipe and said out loud, "Oh Celestia, what have I done…"

My thoughts were ruined by the pain going all throughout my body and my vision dimming, the edges tiring fuzzy. I was dying. Looking to my right, I saw a few bottles of Applejack Daniel's. I grabbed them and chugged them all down. It made me feel better, but not by much. I grabbed one of the health packs on me and jabbed it into me. My world became brighter and sharper. I even heard a splicer yell out in the next room over, "Tell Sparkle… tell her that I'm sorry!" A flaming elevator suddenly dropped from the top of its shaft and crashed into the ground. What is it with things being on fire in here? I had no time to think about it. The same splicer that I heard from before had ran from the elevator room, on fire, straight at me.

"You crazy fuck!" I yelled as I brought my hoof up again, aiming it at the fiery foe. I willed the lightning out of me, and… nothing happened. What the hell? It wasn't working!

Time was up to think. The splicer jumped at me with his pipe, and I dodged out of the way just in time. I threw a volley of hits at him, landing each one of them. I have to admit, these splicers are tough when not stunned. He drew back from my last hit and charged again. I readied my wrench, but before he could reach me, the splicer crumpled to the ground. He had burned to death. The radio that was at my side whined, "Would you kindly take the elevator, Sharp Shot." I silently replied and trotted into the elevator, clicking the button with my hoof. The doors closed and the machine moved up to the shaft. I gave a sigh and slid to the floor, taking an EVE hypo and jabbing it in my leg.

"Why are you helping me, Cadence? I mean, really. Where are you sending me?" I asked aloud. Cadence sighed and said, "I have a family. I really need to get them out of Rapture, but the splicers won't let me. I'm too weak on my own. They're in Neptune's Bounty. If you could reach them…" I sighed again. "Goddamnit, I knew you were using me for something…"

"Listen," started my companion, "I know you feel like the unluckiest pony in Equestria, but you're the only hope of me being able to see my family. Please help me… just… please…" Great, now she made me feel guilty. I huffed as the elevator doors opened and said, "Fine. But, as soon as I help you get your family back, I want to get out of here." Cadence gave a cheer and said, "Deal! Now, head over to your right and kill that splicer." I stepped out and turned to my right to see a pink mare with a pink braided mane singing a lullaby to a carriage next to her. She had a foal! I couldn't kill her! I trotted closer and said, "Erm… excuse me, are you alright? It's really dangerous…" The mare turned to me to show the crazed expression in her scarlet eyes. I looked down to her carriage to see her hoof slide over a gun, which she quickly picked up and fired at me.

"FUCK!" I shouted, dodging out of the way. I took my hoof and expertly fired a few bolts at her. Each one of them landed, sending her into serious convulsions. Eventually, the amount of electricity running through her shut her heart down, and she fell to the ground. I quietly trotted over to her, picking up the pistol and seeing it had six chambers for six rounds, all of the chambers filled. I looked back at my electric hoof and said, "Cadence, what more can you tell me about the plasmids?"

"They changed everything." she said, "We couldn't handle the power, it destroyed us both physically and mentally. Best friends turned on one another. Foals were butchered in their cribs. Rapture went to hell." I looked back at my hoof. Was I going to turn corrupt as well? Nevertheless, I continued on my way.

I had entered what seemed to be a restaurant of some sorts. To my left was a large sign that read, "Happy New Year 1959!" I ignored it and continued on, coming to a bathroom. There were two ways to go: Either the little colt's room or the little filly's room. I was about to head to the colt's room when my vision started to go staticky. A mare's voice from the filly's room whimpered, "I'm too spliced up… too spliced up… nopony wants me…" I headed over to the voice and saw the unbelievable.

A ghost of a mare stood not even five feet from me, bending over the very real sink. She had no color, and her body was transparent. This couldn't be real. Then again, I've also seen a huge pony with a drill for a leg and my own hoof shoot lightning.

As she faded away, I noticed a blinking red light. I walked over to it and saw a recording device just sitting there. My radio turned on and said, "If you give me some time, I can tell you who made it and what it's about, then play the message."

"Alright, do your magic…" I joked, and Cadence set off on her work. It was a good five minutes before she said, "Aha! Got it!" I stood up quickly and said, "Well, play it!" My friend gave a little hum, and the radio gave a click.

"This audio diary was made by a stallion named Concerto. It is entitled, 'Hole in the Bathroom Wall'. Message follows: 'Hey, Cherry Berry! You care to tell me why you've had a hole in the wall the size of a manticore coming out of your crapper going on three weeks now? Now, I ain't saying I'm Neighspeare, but I'm trying to run a respectable theater. I got working folk coming in from Port Neptune trying to catch a little diversion... and all they can think about is the stink coming out your shitter. Get it fixed.' Message end."

"Hmmmm…" said Cadence, "maybe you should go check that out." I agreed and walked over to the other bathroom. Lo and behold, there was a giant hole where one of the toilets should have been. I climbed through it and found myself on top of a theater. Below was the yellow filly I had seen before. She was taking the needle on her leg and stabbing it into a corpse as the vial filled with red fluid. Cadence's voice, full of caution, whispered from the radio, "Would you kindly put away your pistol?" I did as I was told and argued, "But it's just a filly!"

"You think that's a filly down there?" said Cadence, "Don't get tricked, she's a Little Sister. Somepony turned a sweet filly into a monster. Whatever you thought about right and wrong from home… it doesn't matter in this hellhole. The Little Sisters carry ADAM, which is that red stuff. It's the genetic material that pretty much runs this city. Everypony needs it, and everypony wants it…"

Cadence was cut off by the door to the theater bursting open. A splicer stood there, a pistol in his mouth. He advanced onto the sister and was about to pistol whip her when she let out an ear piercing shriek. Cadence chuckled and said, "Daddy's coming home…"

A low but menacing roar echoed throughout the room as the monster I had seen earlier, Mr. Bubbles, jumped down to the theater floor. However, the portholes on his helmet glowed a blood red. He took a desk and threw it at the splicer, who dodged it and returned fire, hitting Mr. Bubbles with a few bullets. It wasn't enough to stop him, however, as he charged at the splicer and grabbed him with his normal hoof, slamming him into the wall. He then lifted up his drill hoof, which was already fully extended, and drilled into the splicer's stomach. The splicer gave a shout as his innards twisted and turned until he was too weak to do anything but barely live. Mr. Bubbles then took the splicer and started smashing him against the glass, punching through it on the third hit.

As the Little Sister and Mr. Bubbles walked away, Cadence said, "That right there is a Big Daddy. He protects her as she collects the ADAM from the dead bodies. I had just stared at the dead splicer and quietly said, "Holy shit, that was scary…"