Horror Beneath the Sea

A Bioshock inspired Vogonverse Story

Chapter 1: First Days

The large charcoal gray Earth Pony put the digital recorder on the workbench in front of him. His body armor had taken a direct hit, and while it saved him, he knew that repairing it was out of the question. In a way, it didn't matter. It wasn't really meant for the horrors he'd seen down here. This was worse than the Changelings, worse than when he had to help divert an Ursa Minor from a small town, this… This was insanity. But Pri… No, she was still Princess Celestia to him. Perhaps other ponies called her by her new title, but he joined as a royal guard under Princess Celestia, Princess Celestia had personally awarded him a medal for bravery before. She was his Princess, and he would serve her every decision. He pressed the button on the digital recorder, turned it to face him, and looked at the now unblinking camera.

"Sergeant Ironhoof, third battalion, ballistics expert, recording my report for my direct superiors, and for my commander in chief. New Rapture holds advancements we simply do not have above the waves, and while several, including myself, believe there are still some of the original inhabitants alive, somewhere, most of what we've discovered have been a mixture of some kind of guardian drone, and beasts, beasts that would take a Manticore, rip its tail off, and sodomize it with its tail," he shook his head, "I ask that my superiors please ignore that last comment, however true and relevant it may be, the comment was out of line. Regardless, we have been inside of New Rapture for less than twenty-four hours and already two members of my team are badly wounded. Mr. Phillips, our medical expert, and Tarte Sucrée our technology expert were both caught in some kind of odd crossfire. It seems that one of those beasts has the ability to create and discharge electricity."

He laughed for a moment, "If I hadn't seen it myself I would have believed somepony was telling me stories. But it's the truth. This creature could create lightning, but it seemed to take quite a bit out of it when it did. It's not magic, I know that, I understand that, but it is most certainly something that I've never come across before."

The door opened, and he looked toward it before looking back, "For now, this is Sergeant Ironhoof, signing off."

The navy blue coated, royal blue maned, Pegasus stallion walked into the room and gave a sheepish grin. There was a sack in his hand, and he lifted it up to the workbench. Instantly, from the sounds of it, Ironhoof knew that it was nothing they had brought.

"What is it?"

"Souvenirs," he said before he opened it.

The mess of golden coins that looked like bits came spilling out. Ironhoof touched one, feeling the smoothness of it, with the exception of the number one being printed on one side. He looked to see something else that Fast Hooves was holding. It was an older model, obviously a lever action, but it was the parts to a rifle.

"Anymore weapons?"

Fast Hooves shook his head, "Nope, just this. Well, this and all those bits."

Ironhoof looked at the glowing machine in the corner. He'd barely paid it any attention before, but now he walked toward it. Taking a single coin he put it into the machine and suddenly the top of it lit up showing a brilliant, and radiant, red heart. Down the sides of the machine miniature crosses appeared until it finally reached the bottom.

"Welcome friends to Jack Sneed's All in One Medical Shop! Everything is treated, including enhancements! Step Right up, don't be shy, try our Ironman to be a popular guy! Maybe you need some pep! Just select some Zepp, drink it, and enjoy boundless energy!"

The stallion raised an eyebrow at the mysterious machine. For one, he never heard of a Jack Sneed; two: because a coin operated medical shop didn't exactly seem like a sound practice to him. Though, no one knew what happened this far down into the sea, so anything was possible. He had to learn that the hard way, but not as hard as his two teammates.

Climbing out of his thoughts, Ironhoof noticed a coin in Fast's hand. He didn't take a rocket scientist to know what that pegasus had in mind and Ironhoof wouldn't have any of it.

"Soldier! What in Celestia's name are you doing?" Iron question, stepping forward and snatching the coin away, "After what we've been through, you think it's a good idea to go messing with these contraptions?"

"Well, in my defense, I am thirsty and parched. Some Zepp sounds wonderful at the moment." Fast replied.

"Are you insane?!"

"On the contrary, I would call him a genius. At least a dude who has a decent head on his shoulders," spoke a female with a spanish accent, "Aren't we down here to collect information amongst other things. This is part of the mission. Besides, if I heard right, the voice said "medical shop". Seeing as our doctor is in bad shape. We have to do this."

Iron let out a huff of air from his snout as he examined the woman who now had her long-range rifle on her back and a hand on her hip. Her name is Jessica Johnson. The team's sharpshooter. He didn't know much about her past. What he did know was that she was a hitman who liked to stay far away from her target. Though, she was known to get personal from time to time. He also knew that when she was finally caught, her record was expunged since the military has use for her. Plus, he guessed she managed to sweet talk her way out of multiple life sentences.

Thinking on her words, he knew she was somewhat right. If not for the gathering information, for the medical issues at hand. He had some medical training, but not enough to treat what was going on. To think, he had to rely on a vending machine for help.

"Okay, we will do this...I will do this."

Iron looked at the machine, the various in stock merchandise was currently being illuminated, each one had a number beside it, and there was a simple looking keypad located under the coin collector. He studied the various elixirs, until his eyes found one that looked promising. It was a promised restorative, and it seemed to be indicating that it could, and would, heal everything from a simple scratch to a near fatal wound. He checked it again, and then he saw the rest of the promise.

"Dr. Feelgood's Restorative Tonic, completely restores, and then improves. Thanks to the power of Nanotechnology, Dr. Feelgood's Tonic increases vitality, strengthens muscle and bone, making a body far more durable than what the body was before," he read.

He closed his eyes, cursing softly that there wasn't a choice, and slipped the coin into the slot. He punched in the number.

"Sorry Pal, that one costs one hundred! Come on back when you've got more money!"

He looked at Fast Hooves who began bringing over more of the coins. Once a hundred of the coins, or bits as both Ironhoof and Fast Hooves were calling them, Iron retried the number for the restorative tonic and after a moment a bottle of softly glowing blue liquid tumbled down into the bottom of the machine.

"Thanks for the purchase Pal! Be sure to come on back, and next time, try some Pep!"

Ironhoof carried the bottle over to Dr. Phillips. He didn't want to use this unknown medicine on either member of his team, but there was little choice in the matter. He removed the sealed lid and the smell of fresh blueberries filled the air. He helped Dr. Phillips to sit up, hearing him suck in a pained breath through his teeth, and then lifted the bottle to his lips.

Dr. Phillips took a drink, then drank half of the bottle quickly enough. Ironhoof was about to pull it away, but his human teammate grabbed the bottle and finished it. In the next few moments several things happened all at once. The first was that Dr. Phillips screamed out as his eyes opened. His eyes, which seemed perfectly normal before now glowed a brilliant blue. Before his very eyes Ironhoof watched as the Doctor's leg, which had been broken, suddenly mended itself.

Cuts, deep wounds caused by shrapnel, were disappearing as if they never existed in the first place. The screaming stopped, and the doctor began to breathe normally. His eyes frantically looked around, and his clothes, which had fit comfortably, now seemed tighter as if he had gained more muscle mass.

"I… I thought that I was dead. I felt near dead! What happened?!"

"Fast Hooves, we need another bottle."

The light blue Unicorn was in nearly the same shape as his human teammate had been. He silently hoped that there would be no issues with giving this to her, and a moment later she was doing much the same as Dr. Phillips had. She screamed, her legs kicked into the air, her horn ignited and a surge of magic exploded out from her causing the wall behind them to change colors. Ironhoof watched as a metallic gray wall became a bright pink. She opened her eyes, and much like his human teammate's her eyes had turned a brilliant blue as well. She breathed out, her breaths no longer pained and short, but long and relaxed. Much like Dr. Phillips her clothes seemed to have gotten tighter, and around her bust one button had already popped off.

"Looks like we might need to find a clothing store," the former hitwoman said from where she was standing.

Ironhoof took in what he had seen, and considered it. That tonic had effectively done what only a highly trained medical unicorn could have done, and it even went a step further in making their muscle mass greater, but at the same time he wondered what the drawbacks would be. Could this comeback to bite them at some point? He was frightened to even think about it.

Dr. Phillips studied the bottle of the tonic and then looked at the machine, "We need to purchase a few more of these."

Everyone looked at him, and he got up, he seemed surprised, but didn't speak over it, "Think about it. It seems obvious that we will end up needing medical care again, perhaps more than I could give with my medical training. This tonic," he said as he made quotation marks, "brought us back from the brink of death. It did it in seconds, not months, weeks, days, or even hours, but seconds. Besides that we're going to need to take evidence of what we've found. If this can be reproduced up top think of the millions of people, Equestrians, and other beings we could save with it."

Ironhoof nodded, "Ten more, no more than that. We need to save some of the bits Fast Hooves found for other situations that we might run into."

Watching them go over to the vending machine Ironhoof thought back to the beginning of this mission, and how things took a turn for the worse.

Port Of Los Angeles - three days ago

President Celestia smiled warmly at her fellow citizens. It had been a change to not refer to them as subjects, after all she had been a Princess far longer than she had been a President, but regardless of the minor differences the position was still the same. Ensure the safety of those under her, promote peace and prosperity, and ensure that all had a chance to truly live a life secure in a world without war.

Getting there had been difficult, but she had learned, and now, now she was about to solve another problem. A city that was built below the waves of the very ocean before them had been out of contact with the mainland for over fifteen years. It hurt her so badly to know that there was individuals under the waves that possibly needed their assistance, and yet no attempt had been made to aid them.

So, she looked now at the response, rescue, and research team before her. Ironhoof, one of her top guards from Equestria, and now a Marine that she would trust her very life with. Tarte Sucrée, an Unicorn, formerly of Canterlot Nobility, who was a technical genius, and seemingly one of the first Unicorns, besides Twilight Sparkle, that had learned to combine technology with magic. From her understanding after their visitor from an alternate universe, one where Equestria had went to war and suffered devastating losses, Tarte Sucrée had created a wrist worn device that allowed a ponies' Digital Assistant to monitor their health, activate targeting sensory for those who needed it, and allowed even non medically trained individuals to examine and see if a pony, human, or other being was hurt, would be hurt, or could be hurt in any specific place.

It truly was an advancement that worked wonders. She then looked at Dr. J'onn Phillips. A human that had studied medicine all of his life, and he wasn't limited to humans as patients. She had learned that he knew the ins and outs of every sapient being on the planet. That left the other two. She had to be convinced that this was a good idea. It wasn't that she didn't believe in second chances, but she wasn't sure it was the brightest idea to send two former criminals into an unknown world where they may face too much temptation.

The human mare, a bronzed skinned, dark haired, and green eyed woman that had seen much trouble in her life. Celestia had personally looked over her file. Ms. Jessica Johnson had come from an abusive home. Her father was a bully and a fiend. She learned that Jessica's father was the sheriff of a dying rural town. One of the lasts to exist before her Pegasi began to bring them back to life with the much needed rain.

Ms. Johnson's father had often physically abused her, and her mother, until her mother hung herself. After her mother's death… Celestia had balked at what she learned. Her father, the stallion that should have taken care of her, seen to her protection, her happiness, her joy and life, had began to sexually abuse her. Psychological profiles and reports indicated that it began when she was thirteen and continued until she was seventeen.

She freely admitted that her time with her father taught her something, something valuable that she doubted she'd ever learn anywhere else. It taught her to disassociate herself from her surroundings. She was able to wait, in the freezing cold, in the freezing rain, with a rifle while her father stepped outside to call for her. She was able to wait until he he drunkenly stepped into the clearing, and then she was able to end his life.

She explained how she had made casts that fit a frame bigger than herself, added weight to make it seem like somepony else had been waiting, and even carried the extra weight on her back in a backpack to make it look like someone with more bulk had walked out to do this deed. She had went through the immense trouble of ensuring her father's demise, and she had done so in order to not be caught.

In the end it became something of a moot point. She had been captured, but not for her father's murder. Had they lived in Equestria, had she had found out about her father's actions through various channels, the dungeons would have gained a new addition. She didn't want to believe that death was the best possible solution, but at the same time she wasn't sure she was the right pony to judge Ms. Jessica Johnson.

Next on her list was, Fast Hooves: a pegasus thief. Or rather "Cat burglar" has he liked being called. Celestia had heard rumors and reports of his deeds back in Equestria. Unfortunately, no matter what the local enforcement did, they were unable to apprehend him. Even when she would send her own royal investigators, they would ultimately fail to lay a hoof on that pony. All they could bring back would be last moment photos, loose feathers from his wings, or finding his calling card instead of the precious items he'd stolen.

She had once see him with her own eyes since he found his way into the castle. Ironically, he didn't take once thing. Which she found weird because everything in the castle walls was worth a truckload of bits. It seemed the thrill of entering the castle just to see if he could was enough to satisfy the former thief.

Of course, this concerned Celestia. What if he turned his back on his team for something that caught his? Trick them for his own gains? Worry began to chill her, but she was quick to realize that Fast was hired as a Security Expert for the Vanguard and has proven to focus on the job till completion...despite his carefree attitude. Worry released its grasp on her, and she nodded to herself. She shouldn't have much to worry about. Discord managed to turn a new leaf, so why not this stallion.

Standing from her desk and walking to the nearest window, Celestia stared off to the horizon. She had no doubt the team was capable of doing the task that had been handed to them. Their skills reassured that. It was just she had a feeling that beneath the depth...a place she didn't know much about...a place her influence couldn't reach...horrors awaited the team and she was powerless to help.

New Rapture- Present Time

The sight of the clothing store was oddly welcoming. Ironhoof wasn't going to sit and say that he was completely for the idea of finding new clothing for Dr. Phillips and Tarte Sucrée, but being that Tarte's blouse was practically ruined as per her own words, and since Dr. Phillip's movements were indeed hindered by the way his clothes hung on him it only made sense to find different clothing.

"It appears that this shop specialized in period clothing. I believe that most of this is replicas of the types of clothing from the twentieth century, right around the 1960s," Dr. Phillip said as he examined a white shirt, black slacks, and smoking jacket, "These look a might bigger than my old clothes, I'll find a place to try them on."

"Cocktail dresses? Seriously?"

Ironhoof looked toward Tarte Sucrée to see her eyeing a few of the dresses that didn't have bullet holes, tears, or were lying in a puddle of Celestia only knew what.

"This is so humiliating."

"Find something quickly."

She glared at him, but Ironhoof didn't budge on his suggestion, "Find something. We don't know if there will be another… creature in this area or not."

She nodded, apparently deciding that it would be best to at least find something, and that something came in the form of a little black dress. It meant going braless, but she'd survive. She grabbed the dress, and looked toward the broken doors to the fitting rooms. She was stuck changing in front of her teammates, and that bothered her. It felt wrong to even consider changing in front of other ponies.

"Jessica, would you mind ever so much to perhaps go with me to another room so I can change away from… possible prying eyes?"

"Of course, "Jessica replied, pulling her attention from a discount rack and following Tarte, " Could you males turn around a watch the door? You know, defend us ladies from any approaching harm...and no peeking."

"We are highly trained agents. We don't peek," Iron replied, turning around and preparing for anything.

Fast laughed going to a nearby mannequin and said, "Speak for yourself…"

Tarte Sucrée sighed, relieved that at least there was no pony watching her, and she shed her blouse, bra, boots - which Jessica noted that boots made for an Equestrian were odd at best - and her pants. Jessica had lived her life in a way that meant being free. Sometimes that meant doing things, questionable things, in order to get by. Having a very open mind when it came to sexuality helped in that arena, and right now she was looking at a very attractive mare.

Tarte wasn't the most beautiful woman, or mare, she'd ever seen. No, that title went to President Celestia. She'd seen the President's husband, and honestly all she could think was that the man was blessed. He'd obviously seen that goddess nude before , and that had to be a sight to behold. Tarte wasn't a slouch though. She wasn't buff, her body bordering more on those cute girls that were thin simply because they were active enough to be thin, but inactive enough to keep that cute little belly.

Her hips had certainly widened, and she noticed how she had filled out after drinking the potion. It wasn't like she suddenly went from stick figure to bombshell, but she had easily grown a cup size, and her hips had widened a bit. She almost laughed to herself, the princess had basically wanted to be protected from prying eyes, and here she was checking out all the goods that she had to offer.

Tarte hadn't noticed her prying eyes. Even if she did, Jessica wouldn't have stopped looking. She abandoned her shame long ago and wasn't afraid to do or get what she wanted. Besides, any punishment was worth looking at this mare for just a moment or longer if she wanted.

Deciding to give Tarte just a moment away from her eyes, Jessica turned away to survey the room. Nothing seemed off about the room. Well, except Fast climbing on the counter for a look and the Doctor using a well placed mirror to take a look too. The only one not looking would be stiff-neck Ironhoof whose eyes were focused straight towards the door they entered and not above him.

Before Jessica could say a word, Fast shushed her in a low blow of air. He too noticed a pair of eyes looking down towards the marine. He also its unblinking eyes and how they clinged to a target. He knew anyone,especially Ironhoof would move suddenly, it would attack.

Fast then whispered, "Iron, I'm going to need you to slowly and nonchalantly move from where you are. No sudden movements and for the love of Celestia, no questions. Just do it."

Giving Fast a sideways glance the Marine turned, began walking inward, and that's when the screech came. It was loud, angry, full of hunger, and directly behind Ironhoof. He turned and saw what was before him. At one time the creature might have been a human, but that would have been long ago. No, what stood there was a deformed creature that had human like skin covering a more insect looking face. Its mouth opened to reveal not sharp teeth, but rather two mandibles and a long needle like tongue. It lunged toward Ironhoof who grabbed a metal rack and slammed it as hard as he could against the creature knocking it toward the wall. If it was hurt it showed no signs of it.

Instead it screamed again, jumping up its clawed fingers dug easily into the false wood that made up the walls, and seemed to head directly for the ceiling. Ironhoof held a piece of the rack that was left, little more than a long piece of aluminum tubing that had a jagged end to it. It growled at them, and then dropped toward Tarte Sucrée. It was obvious that the creature was looking for an easy meal, that it wanted something that wouldn't fight back, and at the same time be able to get away quickly.

Apparently the creature didn't know about Unicorns and magic. As it dropped Tarte screamed in fear, her horn ignited in a pink aura right before the same color aura covered the creature and threw it away from her. It landed, obviously confused, but not confused enough to realize that all of the prey in this room was potentially dangerous. It hissed at them, and it was the sound of a rifle erupting that caught everyone's attention.

The lever action 30-30 Fast Hooves had found spat a shell out toward the creature, and even with his less than stellar aiming skills he managed to hit its shoulder. The creature howled in pain, it seemed to grab something from it's belly, and Fast Hooves watched as the something looked like a white cord. It threw it, and he ducked only to see it sticking to the wall behind him. The creature pulled it, causing some of the plaster to fall, hitting him, trapping him, and then it howled in anger again before jumping up to the ceiling and disappearing into a hole that seemed to turn dark.

"Everypony, check in," Ironhoof said.

"Not a pony, but I'm alive," Dr. Phillips said as he got up, "I dare say that we've found another warm welcome."

Tarte Sucrée gave him a glare before clearing her throat, "I am quite alive thank you, and I believe that I have stressed this before, but we really should have brought an entire league of guards, or soldiers, or whatever you brutes call yourselves here."

"I'm fine, but I could use a drink." Jessica replied.

"I need a little help," Fast Hooves replied from behind the counter.

Ironhoof walked over and saw the Pegasus pinned under a thick section of plaster. He grasped it, pulled up, and felt the weight of it shifting. He knew that without a doubt it was going to break apart at any moment.

"Move soldier, right now!"

Fast Hooves shot forward, and barely missed a section of the plaster falling back down where it had been. Ironhoof dropped the section he was holding, and then he noticed the safe below the counter.

"Fast Hooves, check in this area for anything useful, bits, weapons, ammunition, anything that may be of some use to us," he then looked at Dr. Phillips, "Doctor, what can you tell us about that creature?"

Dr. Phillips gave him a slight glare, "Anything I can say is little more than speculation until I can find some documents or files over what has happened, but if I was to hazard a guess I would say we witnessed a genetically spliced individual. The webbing indicates that he, or it rather, was spliced with spider D.N.A. I suppose we could call it a Spider Splicer for the lack of a better term.

"Yeah, that going in the official report?" Jessica asked.

Dr. Phillips looked toward her, "For now, yes it is," he deadpanned, "Until I can find the actual term given by whoever did the splicing. In fact, as a general term we could just say Splicer."

Ironhoof nodded, "Fine, we do not split up unless there is no other choice. Everything we do has to be done together."

"Yeah, look, I really don't think that I want to have you guys in the next stall over when I'm taking care of business," Jessica replied.

"Get over it. This is a military operation, you are working under the guidelines of Her… Of the President's orders, and you will follow them."

Jessica glared at him. She trusted Ironhoof, she really did. He was one of the few ponies that had proven he will do exactly what he said he would do. She knew he could be an asshole, but regardless she knew she could trust him. If he said they would be doing everything together then he meant it.

Her eyes went to the two obviously weakest links in their chain. Dr. Phillips and Tarte Sucrée were neither trained military, or came from criminal elements. Dr. Phillips was one of those bleeding hearts that believed he could help the entire world. She knew the type, and while she was certain he was a good man there was little doubt that he would end up causing them some kind of trouble.

Tarte Sucrée on the other hand was the average Pretty Little Princess. She laughed to herself as she thought about it. Every horror movie had at least one of them. It was almost a standard to have that kind of girl in the classic horror movies, and this was shaping up to be a horror movie. Which meant that at some point Tarte was going to knock boots with another member of their group, or a resident of this place, and shortly after something was going to kill or infect her. Surprisingly she found the thought a little more off putting than she wanted to believe she would.

It wasn't like her to feel connected to any individuals, and maybe, just maybe, it was because they had helped to protect her earlier. If that was the case then she simply had to ensure that she helped clear that ledger. She needed to ensure there was no red in her personal ledger, and once it was clear, then, then she could easily let them to their own devices.

"Yo, Ironhoof," Fast Hooves called out, "I found the motherload."

The group as a whole converged on Fast Hooves and the bounty that he found. It wasn't Ironhoof who saw the safe; the cat burglaring Pegasus saw it, too and had picked the combination in a thrice. And, form the looks of the mess behind the counter where the plaster had fallen, there was a hidden cache there, too.

"Haha," Fast Hooves giggled, "we got ammo, some syringes of that orange stuff from before, plenty of them coins but in larger denominations. Bet you ain't seen a 100 bit coin before, huh? Got more than enough of those to go around for each of us evenly, there was a pistol and this shotgun looking thing… And a key."

"A key?" Ironhoof asked, "What's it for?"

"Oh, don't play dumb with me, IH," Fast Hooves, "it's for unlocking locks, duh!"