//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: Welcome to The Stable // Story: Bioshock: Equestria // by BroSteve //------------------------------// Chapter Two: The Stable “With the sweat of your brow, The Stable can become your city, as well.” By: BroSteve (Steven Rodriquez) Twilight's eyes slowly opened a little while later. She lay on the stone slab jutting out from the monolithic structure before her. She rose to her hooves and shook some of the water off herself. The moon was directly overhead at this point, giving off it's soft glow along with the quickly fading fire behind her. It was then she remembered what had just happened. Slowly, almost not wanting to, she turned to face the disaster that took place just behind her. There was almost nothing left but the floating corpses of dead ponies leaving her heart aching. She was horrified at the sight, turned to the edge of the platform and vomited. She'd never seen anything like this before. For a while, the mare just laid there staring out at the once thought to be majestic ocean. Now it only seemed like a horrible and dangerous place. Her breathing was finally back to normal as she rose from where she had been. "How.. did I survive.." She was talking aloud as if somepony was listening, though no one was left alive. It was then she really started to feel the cold ocean air wrap itself around her drenched coat sending shivers throughout her entire body. She decided to have a look at the building in front of her. There was nothing left for her out here. She hobbled over toward the large decaying stone staircase that lead to what she assumed was the front of the building. The stairs didn't look safe with no hand railing and their condition. Nevertheless, she started to slowly make her way up. The smell of salt water was now becoming more apparent around her. The crashing of the waves against the sides of the foundation sprayed the water into the air, leaving a mist. This just made Twilight even more cold. As she was about halfway up the stairs, she placed a hoof down on an extra decrepit looking step. Crack! The step had given way under the weight of the mare on top of it, sending her sliding down about twenty jagged stone steps. She caught herself and stopped from sliding down anymore. She lay there, in pain. Some of the steps cut her stomach and legs leaving small blood stains on the sharp rocks. "Ow.." she whispered to herself as she winced in pain. Stumbling back to her feet, she pressed on towards the building. Finally, she reached her goal only, it wasn't what she had thought. The top of the staircase was the home of.. nothing. There was no door into the giant building, just it's large obsidian black wall towering over her. Twilight, now defeated, walked up to the wall and started to beat on it with her hooves as tears began to well up in her eyes. "Why.. is this happening.. to me.. I just wanted to get away! I wanted to start fresh! Oh, Celestia damn this building!" She collapsed against the wall as she cursed it. She closed her eyes as she sat there, hoping she just would wake up. This had to be a dream, just a bad dream. She was really still on the plane, on her way to start her new life, not stuck in the middle of the ocean. There was then silence, as the tears streamed down her face. "I just want.. to go home.." Suddenly, the sound of metal clashing against metal ripped through the silence. Gears began turning separating a small hole in the obsidian tower behind her. Startled, Twilight fell backward onto the floor as the doors screeched to a halt. Twilight was suddenly blinded by the strong beam of light from a spotlight overhead. She threw a hoof over her eyes and she stood herself up and peered into the large room before her. As her eyes slowly started to adjust, she saw a once rich red carpet, now dilapidated and more of a blood red, cover the room. The walls were lined with paintings of what appeared to be rich high class ponies in prestigious poses. The walls were a putrid dark green with faded golden stripes from ceiling to floor. The only thing that appeared to be in the room was a large bronze statue of Equestria with lightning bolts crossing it and a semi circle desk. The statue looked very beat up, dented, and splotched with.. no. It couldn't be blood. Twilight took a step into the room, as soon as her hoof set down on the floor another spotlight popped and threw it's beam of light onto her. Pop! Bzzt! A voice hidden by static began to speak loudly and echo through the room. "Hey! You! Quickly! Get in here you silly pony!" The voice, though covered in static, had a thick Fancy Pants like accent. Twilight just sat there, not quite sure what to do or what to say.. or who was talking to her. "Come on now love, walk in!" with that, the huge black doors began to close behind her forcing her to trot into the wide open room. Twilight spoke out, in a puzzling tone "Wh-who are you?" The static still poured through the intercom even with no talking, leaving an eerie tone hang in the air of the empty room. The silence was quickly broken by the voice yet again "I don't know HOW you survived that plane crash out there, but I'm just glad at least someone lived through that horrific.. accident." The voice cut off, and the intercom popped again. There was silence now. Twilight began to slowly walk forward, confused by what was happening. In front of her was a large half circle desk that looked like it was outlined in gold while it held a lamp and some old torn up papers. She approached it and looked over and saw nothing except some empty cans strewn about. Pop! Bzzt! The unknown voice started to speak once more "Sorry about that love, sometimes I lose control of the speaker systems and have to rewire some.. ah nevahmind it's all techy mumbo-jumbo anyway. To answer your question, my name is..uh.. call me Doctor Blue. Or just Blue for short. Either is okay really." This voice was so strange and so mysterious. Twilight wondered how he even knew she was there. She didn't see any cameras or anything. She then spoke again, needing to find some answers. "What is this place? I don't ever remember reading about it or ever hearing about a giant structure like this in the middle of the ocean." She was starting to regain her wit as she grew weary of the desolate room around her. While she waited for an answer, she walked behind the desk and looked at the bronze model of Equestria that lingered over her. To her disappointment, what she had thought was blood.. was blood. She cringed as she got closer to it. The voice cracked a laugh and said "Not many people have heard of it! It's kind of a hush hush thing yah know?" Twilight didn't look amused. "Okay, okay, I think it'd be best if ah just showed yah." As the words emanated from the speakers, another series of spotlights came on that looped behind the giant model. Twilight quickly turned her head to face towards the newly discovered portion of the room she hadn't seen before. "If yah would be a doll and step back here, ah can show where yah are." Twilight cautiously trotted over toward the other side of the wall. A big staircase on either side led down to a large metal looking ball that sat several feet below where she was. "Go on now. Go down there, I promise you, one pony to another, it's safe." Twilight didn't really take comfort in the disembodied voice attempting to calm her. She began to walk down the stairs until the front of the metal ball came into view. It was hollow, a door leading into it. She immediately recognized the design. She quickly spoke out "Isn't this a submarine?!" The voice echoed from the speakers "Yes, love. It's a bathysphere. Go on and step inside. I won't be able to talk to yah once you're in there, but you'll be met by another who will tell yah everythin yah need to know." As she stepped into the pod like submarine it quickly closed behind her, and sealed tightly. Her heart began to race as she realized she was trapped in there. The copper lining of the ship was covered in various knobs, wheels, levers, and dials. She could start to see the lights outside of the submarine start to fade, and plunge the room into darkness once more. What appeared to be a small window shade dropped down in front of the door. Suddenly it was illuminated by a small projector behind her. The dirty projector screen came to life as an elder stallion spoke. "I am John Colt, and I am here to ask you a question. Is a stallion not entitled to the sweat of his brow? 'No,' says the stallion in Canterlot, 'it belongs to the poor.' 'No,' says the stallion who follows Celestia, 'it belongs to Her.' 'No,' says the stallion in Stalliongard, 'it belongs to everyone.' I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose... The Stable." As those last words came out, the screen retracted uncovering the small windowed hole in the door. Twilight’s eyes popped open as she was plunging deep into the ocean where an enormous city lay. She was in complete shock that something like this could even exist. She'd never read anything like this before. "A city where the artist would not fear the censor, where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality, where the great would not be constrained by the small. And with the sweat of your brow, The Stable can become your city, as well."