Dinky wasn't much of a fan of heights, but that didn't stop her from enjoying the ride as she sat on the head of Mr. Bubbles while he moved through the forest. Her mother had told her multiple times to stay out of the Everfree Forest, but she figured that with Mr. Bubbles there she'd be safe enough.
"You just want to stay on the path for now," she said to him as he walked, occasionally moving to the side to look into the woods. He didn't like this place, it felt dangerous. And while the Big Daddy felt no regards for his own life, he was always thinking about the precious cargo on his back--and if anything were trying to get to her. He was used to his Little Sister leading him into dangerous places, but that didn't mean he liked it. He came to a stop when the path branched off in different directions as he awaited orders from Dinky, but she looked at the path in confusion as well.
"Um, maybe we should try the left?" she suggested, which made Mr. Bubbles turn towards the left. "Wait, right actually looks safer. Let's go there." Mr. Bubbles then turned his body to the right, but Dinky made him hesitate once again. "Actually left. No right. Argh! I can't decide." He stood there patiently while she decided, but he roared in rage when he heard a voice in his ears.
'So this is where you have gotten to. I wondered if you had killed anypony yet, but it seems you make home in the forests of monsters.' He roared and spun around, causing Dinky to scream as she held onto his helmet. 'And is that a filly you have with you? I hope that you have not forgotten my warning,' she said through his radio with a hint of a threat.
"Mr. Bubbles, what's the matter?" Dinky asked as his eyes went yellow, looking around for the voice.
'She calls you by a name? Does she not fear you?' the silver mare asked through the radio, only getting another roar as response. Dinky let out another yell and Mr. Bubbles eyes went back to green as he let out an apologetic moan. 'And you care for her for some reason? I cannot read you beast, but know that I am watching. Tenebaum said that there was more to you than the rage and the killing, but I have yet to see it. But it is for her that I am willing to give you a chance.' Bubbles groaned in response as he turned and went down the left path, planning on blocking her out if she tried to talk to him again.
"Care to tell me what that was all about?" Dinky asked him as he walked through the forest, getting frustrated when he gave her no response. "Hey, are you listening?" she asked as she banged on his helmet. "I don't get you. Do you listen to me or not?" Bubbles came to a stop and slightly moved his head up, Dinky figuring that he was trying to show her that he was listening. "I wanted to know why you got mad all of a sudden?...Right, you can't talk. Was there something there?" She got the moan that she figured meant yes, so she looked behind her but saw nothing.
"Okay, maybe you can see things I can't," she said with a shrug as she looked down off the top of his head. "You do have eight eyes after-" Dinky's words died in her throat as she heard a sound that all who entered the forest dreaded to hear. It was the sound of howling, and since there was only one kind of creature that howled in the Everfree Forest, it only took her a second to begin panicking. "Mr. Bubbles, we need to get out of here right now!" she yelled at him as she looked at the open area in which they found themselves. Bubbles slightly tilted his body before he began to continue moving forward.
"Didn't you hear what I said?!" she half yelled at him before she heard the sound of dogs snarling all around her. She lifted her head so that she could see, with horrified eyes, the wooden wolves that began to emerge from the underbrush, circling the two of them as they sniffed the air. "Mr. Bubbles," she whispered to him with her eyes on the dogs. "You need to run. Now." But instead of running, Mr. Bubbles looked at the Timberwolves that were encircling him, before he let loose a loud roar to the sky and slammed his drill into the ground, knocking all the wolves off their feet.
"Mr. Bubbles?" Dinky asked as he slowly lifted his drill out of the ground, deliberately beginning to spin it until its power vibrated through his body. His eyes changed to yellow once again and he stuck his drill out at the dogs, letting out a low roar in warning. Dinky crouched down as far as she could on Mr. Bubble's head as she looked at the dogs, expecting one of them to start the fight. But much to her surprise, one of the dogs barked to the others and slowly backed away, the others following its lead as they all vanished back into the brush.
"They...left?" she asked in confusion as Mr. Bubbles stopped his drill, his eyes remaining yellow as he kept alert, waiting for the attack. "Were they really that afraid of you?" Mr. Bubbles didn't respond, but began to move forward again. Dinky never saw his head move, but she was aware that he was keeping one of his eyes out for the wolves. "Hold on, I think I recognize this area. Yeah, Zecora should be around here somewhere. There!" As she said this, she pointed to a hut that wasn't too far away before asking Mr. Bubbles to put her down, running ahead of him up to the door, knocking against it. After a moment, the door creaked open to reveal a zebra.
"Well, if it isn't one of the fillies from the town," Zecora said with a smile as she looked at Dinky. "What are you doing in my...GET DOWN!" Zecora pushed Dinky behind her as she said this and grabbed her staff, eyes locked onto the giant metal beast that stood outside her hut. The moment that she laid her hooves on Dinky, however, Mr. Bubbles let out a terrifying roar and revved his drill to full speed, his eyes turning red as he charged right towards her. Zecora threw herself out of the way as his drill splintered her front door, rolling to her hooves as she struck at the back of his knees with her staff. The fortified wood shattered against his leg, causing her to gasp in surprise, before she was grabbed with a speed she wouldn't associate with a creature like him. He lifted her up as he brought his drill back before Dinky tackled his leg.
"NO! PUT HER DOWN!" Mr. Bubbles looked down at her--and the rage in her face--looking back to the struggling zebra before trying to impale her again, but this time Dinky threw herself onto his drill arm to stop him. "I said put her down!" she yelled again. Mr. Bubbles looked into her eyes for a moment before, very angrily, he dropped Zecora to the ground, his eyes going back to yellow. Dinky tried to run to her, but Mr. Bubbles scooped her up in his other arm before she could reach her.
"I am so sorry about this, Zecora," Dinky said from atop his head as she slowly got to her hooves. She rubbed her throat as she looked up at the monster before her, gazing into its eight yellow eyes with fear. "I just wanted to know if you could tell me what he is. I didn't think that he would attack you like that."
"So, you have seen this creature before it attacked me?" she asked as she backed away from it, not knowing if it would strike again. "Yet it is not bothered by you, is...he?"
"No, I thought that he was friendly," she said before she banged on his helmet with her hoof. "Bad Mr. Bubbles, trying to hurt Zecora like that. Bad." Mr. Bubbles let out a moan before he looked back to the zebra, his eyes briefly flicking to red before changing back to yellow. "I know I shouldn't ask, but I wanted to know if you had a book that could tell me what he is. I've never seen anything like him."
"It is not your fault, and you did save me from his wrath," she said as she very slowly walked back to her house, knowing that its eyes were on her the entire time. "I'll see if there is a book that speaks of his past." She walked through what remained of her door, leaving Dinky to start scolding Mr. Bubbles while she was gone.
"That was very rude of you. We don't attack friends like that," she scolded, but she was also now a bit more afraid of him than she had been previously. She wasn't certain why he had attacked Zecora, but at least she knew that he would listen to her if she got angry enough. Zecora emerged from her hut a moment later, looking more interested in the metal behemoth than she was afraid of it.
"While there are no records of this beast in my books, I can't help but be amazed by its looks," she mused as she looked upon him from afar. "A suit of metal that covers him completely, but a weapon that can be used most dangerously. Yet he only engaged me when I attacked him, so could there be something I am missing?"
"Like I said Zecora, I'm really sorry about that," Dinky said as she banged on his helmet again, getting a moan out of him. "But maybe you're right. We ran into a pack of Timberwolves on the way over and he didn't attack them despite being dangerous." Zecora pondered what the filly said, thinking that he might have just been protecting himself. But then an idea came to her.
"I must ask you to get off of him. There is something that I must begin." Dinky did as she asked, although she had to fight with Mr. Bubbles for a moment before he let her off. Zecora then took in a deep breath and slowly began to walk towards the monster, waiting for any sign of movement. But to her confusion, he made no effort to show he was interested in her. She thought about it for a moment before another idea came to her and she turned and started to walk towards Dinky.
"That is what I thought," she muttered as he let out a groan and pushed her back, stepping between her and Dinky. "It is for you that he fought. When I pushed you behind me to keep you safe, that was when he wanted to rip off my face."
"So, he did that because he thought I was in danger?" she asked as she looked up at Bubbles, who refused to step to the side.
"That is what I believe, but if it happened again things might go differently. He came at me ready to kill, so what would happen in Ponyville?" she asked Dinky. "You must tell the Elements at once, for only death can come from silence."
"I will tell them, tomorrow," Dinky said as she looked up at the setting sun, getting worried about going back home. "The Elements will return from Canterlot along with the princesses, so it should be the best time. The other ponies might try to drive him out by force and then he'll attack them. Remember how they were when they first met you?" Zecora couldn't deny her point, although she wasn't too fond of this plan. Dinky, on the other hoof, still had to think of how to get Mr. Bubbles back into the town without being seen. Now that she knew he could be dangerous, she had to keep him away from others until the princesses could be there to keep them safe.
"While I do not like this plan, it will have to suffice," Zecora muttered before looking back to the Big Daddy. "And if I tried to force you, my life would be the price. Return to your home and get some rest, but keeping him hidden will be a test."
"I know, Zecora, and thank you for everything," Dinky said as she told Mr. Bubbles to pick her up onto his head. "Maybe tomorrow you can come to see how everything goes." Dinky then told Mr. Bubbles to leave the forest, causing him to turn and walk away. Zecora watched both of them go before resting against the side of her house, breathing heavily.
'I cannot believe such a being is real,' she thought as she placed a hoof at her throat. 'But this wound will take time to heal. I wish I had a way to talk to Twilight, but where they are has been locked up airtight. Hopefully nothing happens before they get back, because I fear for anypony that makes that beast attack.'
===k>
Dinky's house was on the edge of town, where few ponies came unless they had to. But that didn't stop her from scouting the area out completely before she allowed Mr. Bubbles to get close to town. The sun had set completely and darkness had been cast over them, but that didn't help her since his eight eyes glowed.
"Okay Mr. B, I've thought about it and I think that you can sleep here for tonight," she whispered to him in the darkness as she brought him over to a large stack of broken objects that rested against the side of her house, ranging from small pictures to wardrobes and bed frames. "Since mommy has a habit of breaking things, the garbage ponies always come here first. So other ponies asked if they could dump the big stuff here to make the trip for the garbage ponies easier...and get their destroyed things away from their houses." She said as she motioned for him to come into the pile, which he did so without hesitation. "Okay, can you sit down please?" He did that as well and she began to move some of the items around until he was almost completely covered by trash.
"Perfect!" she exclaimed with a smile as she took a step back, thinking that ponies that glanced at the trash wouldn't notice his rusty armor amongst the trash. "Now just stay there for tonight, I'm going to go to the house." She backed away as she said this, keeping her eyes on him the entire time. Every time he tried to get up, she would order him to stop until he eventually stopped standing up. Once she was certain that he wasn't going to move, she ran to the front door and unlocked it, noticing that the lights weren't on as she closed the door behind her. She flipped on the lights to see a note on the table for her.
"You're going to be late again?" she muttered to herself as she read the note from her mom. She sighed as she placed the note back on the table and got a chair to reach the candy she wasn't supposed to have. Once she had placed everything back the way it was supposed to be, she ran up to her room and opened her window, looking down at the trash pile. "Hey Mr. Bubbles!" She saw the eight eyes turn towards her, but she had to yell at him to stop when he tried to get up.
"You're so lucky Mr. Bubbles. Tomorrow you get to go talk to royalty," she said to him before she whispered him goodnight and laid down on her bed, already having figured out how she was going to introduce him to the princesses. She would warn them about getting near her of course, but then she'd tell them all the good he had done for her. She fell asleep with a small smile on her face, while Mr. Bubbles remained awake, constantly looking up at her window. He hated being this far from her, but she had said to stay and he didn't want to upset her. So he sat there the entire night, ever diligent in case she called out for him, like a good father would.