"Big Sister is always watching. "
―Sofia Lamb
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!!! That hurts!!" Rainbow Dash's cries of pain echoed inside the crystal throne room of Twilight's castle.
"Well it wouldn't hurt as much if you would stop struggling." A very frustrated Nurse Redheart retorted as she continued to put a medical boot onto Rainbow Dash's right hind hoof.
"Well I wouldn't struggle if you didn't make it hurt so much!" Rainbow Dash yelled just as the boot was finally put on all the way.
Twilight facehoofed for the hundredth time since the poor nurse had begun treating the cyan pegasus' injuries. Rainbow Dash had overreacted the entire time as if she was hurt even worse than when she had broken her wing. Though in reality the most serious injury that Dash had received from her very one sided fight was a badly sprained and bruised hoof. "You should consider yourself lucky that you only have to wear that for a few days. It could have just as easily crushed your bones to dust, or worse. So stop complaining already." Twilight snapped at her friend, and made a mental note to pay Redheart double.
Rainbow Dash glared back in response, but remained silent. Twilight didn't let it faze her, but did add an apology to her list.
"Okay enough!" Apple Jack interrupted. "Stop yer squabblin’, there are more important things at hoof. Now can anypony tell me what in tarnation that thing we just brought back here is?"
Twilight brought her attention back to her other four friends; who, with the exception of Pinkie, were all in various stages of worry and set it upon herself to calm them down. "What we brought back is a pony." Twilight answered, trying to sound as certain as possible. "A very large pony in a full diving suit. I don't know why he or she behaves like an animal, or why he or she is refusing to leave Scootaloo's side."
Rainbow Dash nearly flung Nurse Redheart off of her as she sprang to her hooves. "Wait Scootaloo is still with that thing!?"
Twilight had to take a moment to recover from Dash's ear splitting outburst. "She didn't want to leave her 'Dad' alone, and don't worry they’re in the playroom I set up for when my niece Skyla is old enough to visit. I also had guards posted outside the door just in case something happens." Twilight smiled, feeling confident that she had covered everything.
"And I let Sweetiebelle and Applebloom in there as well so Scootaloo wouldn't get lonely." Pinkie added happily.
A stunned silence filled the room and you could almost hear Twilight's plan shatter. Just as quickly as it began that silence gave way to pandemonium as the six friends rushed out of the throne room, leaving a very confused nurse behind. Worst case scenarios played in Twilight's mind; all of them filled with wounds and destruction. She focused on getting to the playroom as quickly as possible hoping she wouldn't be too late.
While Twilight blocked out everything except reaching her goal, Rainbow Dash was berating Pinkie. "What were you thinking Pinkie!? You left Sweetiebelle and Applebloom with a monster as strong as a manticore. One that nearly killed me!?!"
Pinkie happily replied "Yup," and everypony remembered the first rule of Pinkie Pie: Never question Pinkie Pie.
Finally the group reached the playroom and two very confused guards. Twilight flung the door to the room open and the group froze at the doorway in shock. Rarity took the sight particularly badly and nearly fainted at the horror before her.
Subject Alpha carefully lifted the small teacup that was wedged between his front hooves so that the rim of the cup would tap his view port. He then lowered it back to it's place on the blanket in front of him just as the yellow and red filly in front of him took a sip of her own. Suddenly the white, purple, and pink unicorn atop his head gave his helmet a few taps. "Hey. Can you pass me some more of that ribbon please?" She pointed a hoof in front of his visor to what she wanted. With minimum effort from his telekinesis plasmid, he was able to pass the filly another piece of ribbon without accidentally flinging her off him. With that the Little Sister was satisfied and went back to whatever she was doing. Alpha wondered where these Little Sisters' Big Daddies were, but knew that it didn't really concern him. He then looked over at his own Little Sister and wondered why she didn't want to play with the others. The orange and purple filly was laying on a small bed and staring intently at the other fillies. if they had said anything he hadn’t heard it,as he was more concerned with not crushing the teacups Suddenly the door opened rapidly, and he watched the fillies reactions carefully. If they responded with fear then he would toss the Little Sister on his head off and defend them. However if they reacted with joy or with contentment then play time could continue.
"Thank Celestia you are finally here!" Scootaloo cried out in relief. Subject Alpha took another sip of imaginary tea at the confirmation that splicers weren't about to attack. "Look what they did to my Dad! It’s so wrong!"
"I don't see what's wrong Scootaloo. I ain't forcing him to play tea." The yellow filly with red hair answered first.
The unicorn on his head spoke next. "Yeah he seems okay with me putting ribbons on him."
Alpha clicked the tea cup against his visor again.
"But he's my Dad, Sweetie Belle. Dad's don't wear ribbons on their heads!"
'Yes dads do not wear ribbons on their heads only the best Big Daddies do.' Alpha agreed. Suddenly a bright pink mare sat beside him.
"Can I join?" She asked happily. Seeing that she didn't mean any harm, and because he was in a particularly good mood he levitated a spare teacup and saucer. She then proceeded to pour herself hot chocolate from a kettle that he was pretty sure wasn't there a second ago, and call out to someone to his left. "I told you it would be okey dokey."
Subject Alpha slowly turned his head to look at the someone, and found himself staring at five mares and two stallions of various colors staring at him in shock. Coincidentally, there was a small foal sized mirror near the door; which allowed him to see the rainbow of colors tied in perfect bows on every jutting piece of his helmet. He looked from the mirror to the ponies staring at him and took another sip, content with everything that was happening.
As the day passed into night Subject Alpha laid beside the small bed as his little sister worked on removing every colorful ribbon. He didn't care that the mares had talked with the Little Sisters, that the other two had to leave, or what his Little Sister was saying. Something about how dads were boys, and there couldn't be a girl dad; it didn't make sense to him. The only thing he cared about was that he was with his Little Sister. A burning feeling in his lungs brought the Big Daddy out of his thoughts as another wave of coughing set in. He was dying, none of the little sisters were producing pheromones, and there was nothing he could do. He had been unable to find an Adam slug to restart her pheromones. He could only last as long as possible, but he wiuld continue to protect her the best he could.
"You okay Dad?" Scootaloo asked.
He nodded still tasting iron in his mouth. It was best not to concern her, she couldn't do anything either. He could maybe last one more day, but it was more than likely he would not wake up tomorrow. Instead he would drift into a coma, and his body would destroy itself. He had already accepted his fate; at least he would spend one last night with his Little Sister.
With the last ribbon removed Scootaloo got off the bed and climbed on top of his back.
"Good night Dad. Don't let the parasprites bite." With one last yawn she rolled up into a ball and drifted to sleep. For the first time in many years Alpha felt that tug of sleep as well, and he was ready.
Subject Alpha 9-2 dreamt of lighthouses, millions of them, of every shape and size, sitting on an infinite ocean. There were boardwalks that connected all the lighthouses together and he could even see figures walk across them. Some ran, some walked, some had two legs, others four, but they all came from one lighthouse and exited another. Everyone except him. He was stuck in the water between. Every time he tried to swim for a lighthouse or a boardwalk the current would pull him away. Eventually he gave up and let the current take him, and his mind wandered. At one point he entertained the thought that each of those lighthouses was in fact an entire universe, and that the lighthouses that looked the same were the same universes but with different outcomes. Then he realized how silly that all sounded and thought of just how bad someone had to be at planning to place so many lighthouses together in the middle of the sea.
Then something happened. Something he couldn't explain. He heard a voice.
"Wake up Subject Alpha. Wake up."
Alpha opened his eyes to find a bright blue unicorn with well kept red hair, golden eyes, and a hourglass on his flank. The stallion spoke with a polished deep Buckingham accent that was very calming. "Not that you of all ponies don't deserve a rest, but I do fear you would not be able to wake up. Now Subject Alpha, I do believe that you have forgotten something." The Big Daddy was feeling very confused, and wondered if he was still dreaming. The odd stallion however did not care, and continued speaking. "When you first came to this world you saw something so common to you that you didn't give it a second glance, nor realize its value. Perhaps you didn’t realize that Adam is not the only thing that can restart the secretion of pheromones."
Alpha had no idea what the pony was talking about, and was frankly a little freaked out. An awkward moment of silence passed and the blue stallion realized that nothing he was saying was ringing any bells in the Big Daddy's head.
With a roll of his eyes and a sigh the unicorn gave a final hint. "It's blue."
Suddenly the image of a syringe of Eve glowing blue half buried in the mud from where he first arrived came to the front of his mind. His eyes widened in realization and he sprang to his hooves. Unfortunately Scootaloo had still been sleeping on him and was flung across the room. Alpha rushed over to the dazed and confused filly and placed her back on his shoulder, but when he turned back towards the odd stallion he was gone. Deciding to put the odd experience into the back of his mind Alpha ran as fast as he could towards the forest. He didn't bother opening doors he had no time for that, and instead smashed through them with the shoulder that currently didn't have a filly on it. As he rushed into the night with half a dozen armored guards in pursuit he kept thinking a single sentence over and over. 'I still have time!'
Scootaloo was having difficulty understanding what exactly was going on. She had just been dreaming about flying alongside Rainbow Dash when suddenly her dad had thrown her across the room, and smashed through every door in Princess Twilight's castle. "What are you doing!?" She yelled at the metal giant, but he just kept running as if Chrysalis and Tirek were chasing after him. All she could do was hold on and ride out his crazy rampage. After what felt like hours, he finally came to a stop at a muddy swamp. She knocked on his helmet hoping that he would finally listen to her. "Hey! What in Tartarus was that all about! Everything was great, we were sleeping in a palace for crying out loud! Now why are we in a giant mud pit in the middle of the Everfree!?!"
Instead of giving her an answer the metal horse lifted her off his shoulder, placed her on a rock, and dove into the mud. She facehoofed on her little rock and stared at her Big Daddy in disbelief. "You came all this way, left a castle in ruins so you could have a mud bath!?! That has to be the dumbest thing I've ev-"
Subject Alpha cut off Scootaloo's rant with a triumphant roar and made his way back to her carrying a glowing blue square. He then sat down beside her and began cleaning mud off of it by wiping it on himself. Things were getting to Pinkie Pie levels of weird. "What are you holding?" She asked, trying to get a good look at whatever it was from several feet away.
When he finally considered it clean enough he held it out in his right hoof letting Scootaloo get a good look. It was a square bottle full of a glowing blue fluid and a metal prong sticking out where the cap should be. Her Big Daddy then lifted up his left hoof, a small jet of flame burst from the tip, and began to burn the metal prong with it. Now she was completely confused. "What are you doing?! First off what is that thing? Second, fire doesn't catch on fire, so what are you trying to?!" Scootaloo was just about to walk away from his craziness when something big and heavy pushed her down sideways onto the rock. It was Subject Alpha.
Her Big Daddy was pinning her by pressing his front left hoof against her shoulder, and she couldn't move. No matter how hard she tried to squirm and kick. She had a better chance moving the sun then getting him off her. "Why are you doing this!? I can't breath, and you're hurting me!" She yelled at him, as loud as she could, but he didn't even look at her. Instead he raised the square blue bottle with his right hoof gripped tightly around it. The metal prong pointing down. It was a needle. Scootaloo's pupils shrunk into tiny points as her worst fear was realized. Her dad was going to stab her with the mother of all syringes.
Scootaloo struggled with all her might and with tears streaming down her eyes pleaded. "NO PLEASE NO! STOP! IMSORRYIFIDIDANYTHINGTOMAKEYOUANGRYBUTPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEDONTDOIT!!!" But still he raised the needle up like the blade of a guillotine being raised for an execution. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain that would surely co-
THUD!
"Welcome to the circus of value!!"
Scootaloo opened her eyes to see a strange box like thing half buried in the mud a few feet away with the most terrifying creature she had ever seen painted on it. The whole situation had gone beyond Pinkie Pie levels of weird and Scootaloo was on the verge of a mental breakdown. Fortunately though Subject Alpha was just as confused about the arrival of the scary box and released her. Trembling Scootaloo backed away from everything, unsure of what to trust, or whether this whole thing was a messed up dream.
Looking between the box and the tan and metal giant, Scootaloo's mind filled with questions. 'Why did he suddenly attack me? How long is he going to be distracted by that weird box, and where did it even come from.' The answer to the latter of those questions came to her when she noticed that Subject Alpha was no longer looking at the box, but something in the sky. When she followed his gaze she saw what looked like a tear in the night sky. Almost as if someone had tried to erase something and went too fast and hard.
Scootaloo gave the only response possible for the situation. "What the Bu-!"
Suddenly the tear exploded with a giant ball of salt water and silenced the little filly. Wet, scared, and confused the little filly wiped hair and water out of her eyes and looked up to see the tear gone, and that something came out with the water.
It wore a tan and rubber suit similar to her Big Daddy, but that is where the similarities ended. It had a pony shape to its body but its legs and body were thin and stretched out unnaturally. Each leg had a metal brace and it had a sphere for a head with a single glowing red eye. With a distorted metallic voice it screeched out into the night, and stared at her metal giant. Her Big Daddy suddenly stabbed himself with the blue glowing needle and tossed it aside. He then stepped between Scootaloo and the new thing and span his drill threateningly. In response the langly pony lifted up its left hoof, and a massive needle extended.
Slowly Subject Alpha looked over his shoulder to Scootaloo and said a single word.
"Rhun!"