//------------------------------// // The Beast Know as Bubbles // Story: Me and Mr. B // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Once the Elements had arrived back in Ponyville, Celestia took a moment to explain to them what had happened while they had been riding on train back. Fluttershy had immediately run off to check on her animals while Applejack went to check on her family. The other four followed Celestia to the back of the woods, where Mr. Bubbles had taken Dinky for the time being. "It's...amazing," Twilight muttered with awe when her eyes rested upon the Big Daddy. "What kind of armor is it wearing? And why is it bipedal?" Twilight smiled as she said this and would have walked right up to it if Celestia had not stopped her with one of her wings. "I would not recommend approaching it, Twilight," Celestia said in a very serious voice, glaring at the metal monster that in turn glared at her. Dinky had been resting on top of its head and she tried to hop off, but Bubbles caught her and gently lowered her to the ground. "Hi Twilight, hi Rainbow!" she said with a smile at the two Elements she recognized before smiling at Pinkie and Rarity, who were both looking at the Big Daddy with a similar look that Celestia had given it. "Mom and Luna will be back in a minute," Luna said she wanted to talk to mom in private before you guys arrived." "And they just left you alone with this...thing?" Rainbow asked in disbelief as she looked up at Bubble, who let out a moan that caused the ponies to jump back as he walked in front of Dinky, his eyes a yellow color as he looked at all of them. "Why would she do that? This thing looks like it could rip apart a manticore and she just-" "Actually Rainbow Dash, that is one of the topics we have brought you and the others here to talk about," a voice said from the darkness, causing the Big Daddy to groan as he place himself between the voice and Dinky. When the voice was revealed to be Luna, the ponies sighed in relief but the metal monster didn't move. Ditzy also followed Luna out of the darkness and she immediately tried to run over to her daughter, but once again Mr. Bubbles placed himself between her and the mare. "What is it doing?" Twilight said as she slipped by Celestia with a notebook in her hoof, starting to take down notes as she examined the Big Daddy. It let out a groan and tried to grab her with its left hand causing her to 'eep' as she teleported herself back. "Well, it certainly doesn't seem to have any manners. I wonder if-" "I wonder if it likes cupcakes!" Pinkie exclaimed as she tried to run over to the beast as well, but Celestia put up a barrier around all three of them to keep them from moving closer to the creature. "Hey, why'd you do that princess? I want to see if he likes parties," Pinkie said with a frown. "Alright, let me tell all of you this right now," Celestia said in her most serious tone. "This creature does not want to be friends nor does it have any interest in parties. My sister and I know very little about this creature, but here is what we do know. If you get close to it or try to get close to Dinky, it will kill you...just like it did three Pegasi in the town market." All of the excitement that was in Twilight and Pinkie's eyes vanished at those words and they looked at the metal creature with fear and anger. He paid them no mind as he went back to seeing how Dinky was doing. She was looking at her mother nervously, wanting to go over to her but was afraid of what Mr. Bubbles might do if she did. "Alright Dinky, now that most of us are here, can you tell us everything that you know about...Mr. Bubbles?" Luna said with a sigh, not taking her eyes off the creature. "Well...I don't know where he came from, but all I know was yesterday before class he showed up when I was playing by myself and helped me to get my ball out of a tree," she began as all eyes were on her. "I was scared of him at first, but after a while it seemed like he didn't want to hurt me, so I played with him a bit. Then it was time for class, so I went to the school and he followed me, but after a few tries I finally got him to listen to me." "Hold on a minute," Celestia interrupted. "You said that he listened to you? Does he take orders from you?" Dinky went to answer before placing a hoof on her chin to think about it. "Yes...and a little no," she eventually responded. "He will listen to me if I get serious enough and most the times he will do what I ask, but there are times when he won't listen to me completely." "And what are those time?" "Well, those times were when Zecora accidently threw me out of the way when she saw Mr. Bubbles for the first time and he tried to kill her. It took a few yells before he stopped. Then the other one was getting him to stay in one place so I could go to school." Celestia and Luna looked at each other with worry as she said this, both of them thinking along the same lines. "Do you know why...he...wouldn't listen to you in those situations?" Luna asked. "Um, Zecora said something about him wanting to protect me," she said. "She tried this thing where she got close to Bubbles and he didn't do anything, but when she got close to me he got between us. I don't know why he's so protective of me, but it's getting to be annoying." The princesses looked at each other again with a look of worry before Twilight stepped forward with a smile. "Well that answers simple," she said as her horn started to glow. "He won't let any of us get close, so all we have to do is grab Dinky with magic. Bubbles will think that she's moving on her own and won't react." Twilight pointed her horn at Dinky as she said this, but in a blink Bubbles was between the two and fired a bolt of ice out of his hand, freezing her horn solid. Twilight screamed as she tried to thaw her horn while Dinky tried to calm Bubbles down. "I say we just take this thing down," Rainbow Dash said once Twilight was fine and Mr. Bubble’s eyes had gone from red to yellow. "He's a monster that's already killed some of the ponies and is stopping Derpy from getting to her foal. That should be easy enough." "It should be, but the problem is that we cannot do that Rainbow," Celestia said with a sigh. When the others looked at her in confusion, she motioned to Bubbles. "That creature is only malevolent whenever a pony threatens it or Dinky, meaning that it is generally harmless the other times. Plus, it is the only one of its species that I have ever seen before, meaning that it is probably endangered." "And that's your reason for why we can't just beat this sucker into the dirt?" Dash asked in disbelief. Celestia pulled out a book as Rainbow said this, a book that Dinky recognized from the other day. "The Iron Golems. Beings made of metal that are normally two to three times the size of ponies and are known for being very strong fighters that will protect all they hold dear to the death. Said to have been rumored to exist in the time of humans, if they exist at all, but vanished along with them," Celestia read to the others. "I know of that legend, but I thought that it was just that. A legend," Twilight said. "Yes, but it seems that this legend is true," Celestia said with a frown as she looked at Bubble once again, who was trying to get Dinky to climb onto his hand with no success. "And it mentions that they will protect all they hold dear to the death. So I assume that this golem holds Dinky dear for a reason. But until we know why it cares for her and how we can split them apart, I think it best that we don't do anything to anger the golem, for our own safety." Rainbow growled at this before she walked over to Derpy to comfort her, her friend looking at her daughter with tear filled eyes. "Please tell me that we aren't leaving that beast alone with Dinky," Rarity eventually said, having trouble processing what they had just been told. "No. With the night coming soon, I will stay in Ponyville to watch over the filly and the monster," Luna said with conviction. "I will monitor them until morning where my sister can take over. Twilight, I know that we would normally give this task to you, but we are dealing with a creature with a hair trigger. I want you to keep as many ponies away from it as you can." Twilight nodded somberly while Pinkie frowned at the creature, trying once again to sneak close to it before Rainbow stopped her. "Alright then ponies, that is our plan for now," Celestia began before looking to Dinky. "Dinky, you have the most important role of all. You have to keep Mr. Bubbles from getting angry or trying to attack other ponies around him. If he only reacts to you being in danger, then please try to avoid dangerous situations at all cost." Dinky nodded nervously as she told Mr. Bubbles to get up, which he did without complaint. Luna waited until the two of them had walked away a bit before she nodded to her sister and followed after them. Ditzy said goodbye to the other ponies as well and ran after them, staying close to Luna. "Celestia, is there something that you're not telling us?" Twilight asked Celestia, knowing the look she had on her face. "...I am worried," she said eventually. "If a creature like the golem is back, then what other creatures from the past may come back to the land of the living?" "You mean...like the humans?" Rarity asked. Celestia thought about it for a moment before she shook her head at the others with a calm smile. "No, I am certain that the humans are gone for good," she eventually said before heading to the exit of the small forest, the four Elements looking at her in confusion before following her out. ===k> Ditzy did her best to focus on the meal she was making, but her mind kept moving back to her daughter and the fact that she was being kept by that monster. Even though princess Luna was sitting across the table from the monster and the creature had shown no hostility to her daughter, it was almost too much for her to handle. Not to mention Mr. Bubbles had torn the door and the door frame off the front of her house when he had entered, adding to her financial woes. He had sat in her house silently for hours, not letting anypony near her daughter and not letting Dinky more than a few feet from him. "Um, I apologize princess if this isn't the best of meals," she said nervously as she moved the food from the pan to Luna's plate, wishing that she had bought better food when she had went out. "We've been a little short on money lately so we can't afford the best. I'm really sorry..." "There is no need to apologize, you are doing the best you can under these conditions," Luna said with a warm smile, before looking back to the Big Daddy, who was sitting next to Dinky with his eyes all yellow. Luna had figured out that green meant Bubbles was happy, yellow meant he was precautious and red meant he was in kill mode. So as long as his eyes were green or yellow they were safe. "And considering what has happened to your family today, I admire your strength of will." Ditzy smiled at these words and went to serve food to Dinky, but got a growl from Bubbles. "Bubbles, stop it," Dinky said as she took the meal from her mom, sighing as Bubbles watched her the entire time. "So Dinky, you have been around Bubbles the longest. What do you think of him?" Dinky looked down at her food and took a few bites for a minute before she offered a bit to Bubbles, who looked at the food wordlessly. "I don't know what to think of him. He's really kind to me and he protects me, but what makes me afraid is when others are around me," she said nervously. "I mean I've jumped on his head and he did nothing but if a pony looks at me the wrong way he'll attack them." Luna thought about what she said for a minute before an idea came to her. She had been considering sending the creature away from the land, but come back from the brink of death protect Dinky she wasn't certain if any spell could stop it. But if it listened to Dinky completely... "Dinky, I may have an idea on how to stop Bubbles from attacking everypony," Luna began. Ditzy and Dinky both looked to her and she also noticed that Mr. Bubbles looked at her as well. "If you're the only one he will listen to, maybe you can teach him not to attack on assumptions alone. I cannot say that I’m mad at him for attacking whatever would attack a filly, but he has to learn how to tell friend from foe and I think that you could teach him that." "And you think I can do it?" she asked. Luna nodded with a smile that caused Dinky to smile before she let out a yawn and placed her head on the table, letting off some soft snores a moment later. Ditzy tried to get to her, but Mr. Bubbles scooped her up into his arm and walked with her into a corner of the room, sitting down in a way so that he could see everything in the room. "And I can't even kiss my daughter good night," Ditzy said sadly as she looked up at Luna. "You can have my bed if you want and I'm sorry that I have nothing nicer for you." "What you have is fine, but I will not be sleeping tonight," Luna said as she looked at Mr. Bubbles in the corner. "Because tonight I find out what he is." Ditzy nodded and with one last longing look at her sleeping daughter before she headed upstairs, leaving Luna alone to glare at the beast that glared at her. "Alright Mr. Bubbles, let us see what you are," she muttered before activating her magic, allowing herself to see inside the Big Daddy's mind.