"I cannot believe that they would go so far as to graft the organs to the inside of the suits," Celestia said with a shake of her head as she finished the section of the journal she was on, still turning green despite having read the book a number of times over the past week. "But this book gives me hope on how to fix what has been done to Bubbles."
"And what has been done to him is something that I would not wish upon any pony," Luna said with a shiver. "Could you imagine, having your very personality stripped away from you so you could become a monster?"
"With all that has been done to him both by the scientist and the splicers, I think we should be thankful that the death toll is so low," Celestia said as she flipped to the chapter where Tenebaum explained how to alleviate some of the brain washing done to Bubbles. "And that he is a protector instead of one of those splicers. They sound like a horrid bunch."
"That leaves us with a problem though," Luna said as she looked at the book over her sister’s shoulder. "We do not know what Bubbles will be like if this...plasmid is removed. Plus, how can we get him to sit down long enough so that he will allow us to relieve the plasmid? He doesn't trust us and will probably attack us even with Dinky there." Celestia flipped back to the page with all the number of plasmids and what they could do to a being if they overdosed, which seemed to be what nearly every person in Rapture had done.
"This Rapture does interest me though," Luna said after a few minutes of silence. "How did this Ryan believe that a world with no morals or leaders would work? Disaster is the only way it could have ended. But those pictures," she muttered as she looked at the bathysphere and the structure of Rapture. "It reminds me of something, but I cannot think of what."
"So then, how soon until we tell Dinky the real reason that Bubbles is loyal to her?" Celestia said, tired of avoiding the question. "Because without this plasmid that draws him to a little sister or something close enough, odds are he won't stay with her for long. He'll be different then." Luna looked out the window down at Ponyville, where the sun had once again risen over the horizon. She had grown to like Dinky in the short time she had known her and she knew that the news would hit her hard.
"When we bring him in. That way, it will be quicker," Luna said with a sigh as she turned away. "Bubble should be free though. No pony should have their very soul erased."
===K>
"Look Dinky, there's nothing wrong with me taking my daughter of sorts out every once in a while," Berry slurred as she staggered down the streets, a concerned Dinky following her with Bubbles lumbering after her. Berry had waited until Ditzy had headed off to work before she asked Dinky if she wanted to take her to school. Dinky, afraid that Berry might hurt herself if she didn't, allowed her to.
'Plus, todays a field trip and I need a guardian to go with me,' Dinky thought to herself as Berry said hello to a street sign. 'And for some reason Cheerilee doesn't want Bubbles to be alone with us despite him showing last week that he likes all the foals in my class. Why can't they just trust him?' The three arrived at the school after only a few accidents, where all the ponies were outside waiting excitedly to head out, but another pony was there with them.
"What's the princess doing here?" Berry asked as she saw Twilight looking at Mr. B.
"Don't know, let's ask," Dinky said as she walked up to Twilight, some of the foals greeting Mr. Bubbles as he passed by them. His eyes turned green briefly as he saw them, but they turned back to yellow as Twilight approached. "What's up princess, didn't expect to see you here?"
"There are reports of a creature I ran into a while back being spotted in the area," Twilight said as she looked towards the forest. "It's called a Tatzlwurm and Cadence and I had a run in with it a while back. So to ensure this groups safety, I'm going to be with you on your trip." She smiled as she said this, but Dinky's face remained unchanged.
"That's cool, though I doubt I’ll need any extra protection," Dinky said as she smiled up at Bubbles, causing Twilight to pout. Cheerilee began to round up here students and the four walked over to her.
"Alright foals, today we're going to go see the mines near Ponyville," Cheerilee said with a sigh as the foals continued to talk. "I know there was once a threat of Diamond Dogs, but they've been said to be gone for a while now. So if we could please hurry, it's a bit of a walk to get there." The foals all began to move even though some of them wanted Bubbles to carry them, but Dinky told them that he wasn't going to. Once they had left her alone, she sought out a certain foal amongst the group and ran over once she spotted him.
"Hey there Pip, how ya doing?" she asked the colt that was smaller than her, causing him to jump since she had snuck up on him.
"H-hey Dinky, what's up?" he stammered before looking up at the Big Daddy. "Um and how are you doing?" Bubbles let out a low moan that caused Pip's eyes to shrink.
"Don't worry, he won't bug you," she said with a smile. "Thanks for being brave the other day. I knew that Bubbles wouldn't hurt anypony. He's actually a big softy underneath all that armor." Pipsqueak took her word for it since he figured that armor had no soft spots and that there was nothing soft under it.
"It was no problem," he said in as manly a voice as he could muster, which came out as a squeak. Dinky giggled to herself as his face turned red. "So, think that they'll be any Diamond Dogs in the mines? I hear they snatch up unicorns."
"For their sake I hope they don't try," Dinky said as she patted the leg of Mr. Bubbles. "Hate to see what he would do to them," she said as Bubbles let out another moan. Berry was at the front of the class, talking to Cheerilee who was doing her best to put up with Berry's drunken antics.
"Why do you constantly let yourself get into this kind of shape?" Cheerilee asked her as she slumped against the teacher. "You could be setting a bad example for the kids."
"It's a long, boring story that I don't feel like telling," Berry said with a bit of heat. "And it doesn't concern you at all." Cheerilee took the hint and stopped taking about Berry's drinking, their talk drifting into stallions and how chaotic things had been as of late. Time flew and before they knew it they were at the entrance to the mines.
"So, we'll be going in there, right?" Tiara said with a scornful look at the entrance that led into the mines.
"Yes, but one of the ponies that works down there was supposed to meet us here," Cheerilee said as she pushed Berry off of her. "Wonder where he went?"
"I should probably go in first," Twilight said as she looked into the dark entrance. "I have a bad feeling about this." She walked into the mines with her horn glowing, shining the light all around as she walked deeper in. Bubbles was looking around as she did this and his eight eyes fell upon a workers hat that was left discarded off to the side.
"RRRRRRRRR!" he roared as his eyes burned with a crimson red. All of the ponies turned towards him as he did this before the ground began to shake and a massive worm burst out of the ground, collapsing the entrance to the tunnel on top of Twilight. She vanished under an avalanche of stone as the worm looked down at the group, who were all staring at it with fear. It roared and charged towards them, only to be tackled in the side by the tin daddy.
"Mr. Bubbles!" Dinky cried out as the worm swatted him away, roaring again and slithering towards him. Bubbles rolled as he hit the ground and came charging back towards the worm, firing shots of electricity and fire from his left hand into the creatures head. The Tatzlwurm diverted from its path as the plasmid's burned it's skin, causing it to dig into the earth. Dinky tried to run to Mr. Bubble’s side, but he held out a hand to tell her to stay where she was. His eyes were scanning the ground, waiting for any sign of...
"Behind you!" Bubbles roared as the worm burst out of the ground and caught Bubbles in its maw, trying to crush him with its three jaws. Bubbles started up his drill, but one of the tongues wrapped around his drill and caused it to spark as it tried to move. The worm dove back into the ground head first, driving Bubbles through multiple layers of rock and stone, cracking his armor as he was used as a drill. The worm then burst out of the ground and threw Bubbles against a wall, causing him to collapse to the ground.
"Mr. Bubbles!" Dinky cried out as she tried to run to his side, but once again he held out a hand to stop her as he got back to his feet, barely acknowledging the pain that coursed through him. He roared again and tried to start up his drill, but quickly found out that the gears had been broken by the worm. He turned in time to see the creature barreling towards him, maw spread wide as it charged. He planted both feet into the ground and waited, grabbing onto the worms face as it slammed into him. His boots dug into the ground as he was pushed back, but with the worm now in his grasp he allowed the plasmids to flood through his left hand. He grabbed the worm's tongue with his fists of fire, causing it to shriek as it tried to get away from him. The worm tossed him off eventually and slammed its tail into his head, breaking a number of the ports on his head.
"Mr. Bubbles isn't doing so well, is he?" Pipsqueak said nervously as Dinky watched the battle with a horrified expression.
"He can't lose. He's a Big Daddy," she whispered to herself. But despite his enhanced strength and durability, Bubbles was struggling to keep the worm from overwhelming him. Every time it seemed like he had the upper hand, the worm would dive into the ground to retreat, only to attack moments later. He had just gotten back to his feet after other attack when the worm burst out of the ground from behind him, charging towards him with a shriek. He raised his drill to intercept, only to realize a second later that some form of magic was holding the worm in place.
"Now Mr. Bubbles! Hit it while I halt its movements!" Twilight yelled out from the skies above them, using her magic to lasso the worm and pin it to the ground. Bubbles looked at her for a moment before he let a roar loose to the skies, charging his left fist with ice. He growled at the worm before unleashing the flurry of ice into its head, freezing it over until the worm stopped moving. Then Bubbles looked down at his drill and willed it to move again, causing it to spin with sparks and smoke shooting from it. He roared once more before charging into the creature, slamming his drill into its head. The drill shattered the worm's skull, which resulted in the rest of it falling over as blood began to seep out.
"RRRRRRRRR!" Bubbles roared to the sky before a cracking was heard and he fell to one knee, looking out of his remaining ports at his covered leg, seeing the red that was seeping through his suit.
"MR. BUBBLES!" Dinky cried as she ran over to him, the rest of the ponies following suit as he tried to get up again before another cracking could be heard and he fell to one knee again. "Oh my gosh, you're hurt," she whispered as she looked at his blood stained leg and his broken eyes. Small flames were coming from his drill and a gas was slowly seeping out of his helmet, but his eyes still turned green at Dinky's approach.
"What do we do Twilight?" Dinky asked Twilight, who was looking at the scene with as much shock as Dinky was.
"I...I don't know," she said.
"Then it is fortunate that we do." The ponies all turned to see the two princesses landing next to them, Luna looking from the wounded Big Daddy to the dead Tatzlwurm, making the connection. "But from what we have found out about Mr. Bubbles, we need to get to Canterlot immediately. He is in danger."
"What do we need to do?" Twilight asked them.
"Dinky, would you please tell Bubbles to allow him to pick us up?" Celestia asked her. Once she had done so and was resting on his head to comfort him, Celestia placed a barrier of magic around the Big Daddy and slowly lifted him off the ground. He growled only once before Dinky patted him on the head, comforting him to the point where he allowed it.
"Hold on, if you're taking my niece of sorts, then you have to take me as well," Berry said to the princess. The three looked at each other before Luna erected a barrier around Berry and picked her up.
"Twilight, inform Ditzy and the other Elements of what has happened," Luna said to Twilight as the two princesses turned to leave. Twilight nodded and opened her wings to fly away, leaving the two princess to say farewell to the class before taking the wounded father back to their home. "I hope we know what we are doing sister," she said to Celestia.
"For all their sakes, I hope so to," Celestia replied as she looked at Dinky. "I just hope one day she can forgive us."