"Daddy? Where'd you go?" I heard my Little Sister call out for me. We had gotten separated again. Even after I had made sure to keep her next to me at all times, she still somehow managed to wander away from me. After what had happened to Beatrice, I didn't want to lose another one.

I let out a groan, trying to call out for my Little Sister. Ashlyn always was a smart girl, she could probably find me again. She thought of herself to be a detective, having seen a picture book about them during one of her gathering sessions. It was for that reason that she had always kept a small toy magnifying glass with her. After I called for her, there was a pause, before I heard Ashlyn giggle. "Marco!" She had decided to make this a game, and I was happy to play along. I groaned out loud, improvising 'Polo'.

"Marco!" I groaned again. I could tell she was getting closer.

"Marco!" Another groan.

"..." She didn't continue. I let out another metallic groan, this one being louder than the last few.

"..." This wasn't right. I began to run, my boots shaking the ground as I continued to yell for my little sister. There was still no response though. I cut corner after corner, seeking out my 'daughter' desperately, my rivet gun already beginning to heat itself in preparation for combat.

As I turned one last corner though, I saw that there was no need for combat. Why? There was nothing left to protect, except an empty ADAM hypo, and a bloodied magnifying glass.

********************************************

Yet again, I woke up in a cold sweat. Another nightmare, as usual. What wasn't usual though were the two ponies that were sleeping in the center of the room. I smiled, happy to see the two were resting so peacefully, especially after everything that had happened so far.

"Where is he then-" A far off splicer was cut off by the ringing sound of a turret. My eyes widened as the sound of a rocket came through the door, followed by a loud explosion, waking both Rarity and Fluttershy with a start. The universe just loved to make things difficult, didn't it?

The two ponies hid under the covers of the bed, startled by the sudden loud noise that woke them. Sighing in frustration, and mentally cursing the splicer who was stupid enough to come to Apollo Square, I stood from the couch and walked towards the two.

I kneeled down in front of the mattresses they were laying on and tapped on the two new lumps under the covers. The two peeked their muzzles out, much to my amusement, followed by the rest of their heads as they noticed that I was in the one trying to get their attention.

"...I take it that it was another splicer?" Rarity asked, rubbing one of her eyes with her forehoof. I nodded, confirming her statements as she let out a small yawn and hid back under the blanket. "I need more beauty sleep." She groaned, the blanket shifting slightly as she adjusted herself. There weren't many things that I would classify as 'cute' in Rapture, but this was definitely one of them.

Just as Fluttershy was about to do the same though, I stopped her, gesturing towards the bandaging that still was wrapped around her head. It had been there for a while now, and her injury had probably healed by now. She nodded tiredly, letting out a small yawn of her own as she stood and stretched out her limbs. I chuckled as I turned and made my way towards the apartment's bathroom, Fluttershy following close behind, though a little sluggishly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Omega led Fluttershy to the bathroom, she couldn't help but let out another yawn as her exhaustion began to overcome her again. She had been feeling much better since Omega had first given her 'aspirin', but she had also been much more drowsy.

Once Fluttershy entered the bathroom, Omega turned towards her and carefully picked her up, placing her down on a nearby counter and beginning to unwrap the bandaging that dressed her head. One by one, strips of gauze fell off of Fluttershy's head and to the floor, leaving a small pile of white, on top of the noticeable gray. Fluttershy struggled to keep her eyes open as the last strip of gauze was removed, but a pleasant petting near the top of her head made it near impossible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Little Sisters had always liked whenever you ruffled their heads a little, so I guessed that it would be the same for the two ponies. However, considering the fact that Fluttershy was likely to still be sensitive from her injury, I did it much more gently than I normally would, basically petting her, rather than ruffling her head. To my surprise though, she seemed to enjoy this light petting much more than how I had originally hoped. Not everything works the same I guess.

It was a minute or so afterwards, as I continued to pet her, that Fluttershy began to lean in her 'seat'. I caught her with one of my large gloved hands just before she could fall, her blissful breaths and closed eyes clear from behind my helmet as I held her in my arm. She had fallen back to sleep again. These two had a habit of making things cute, didn't they?

-------------------------------------

Good news, and bad news. The good news, I don't have to use that creepy clown vending machine anymore. Bad news, the reason was because I was out of loose bills. There wasn't much food left over after the last time the two had eaten, and water was running low. I glanced towards the glass walls of the square. Drinkable water, at least.

I'd have to go to the Farmers Market if I wanted to get more supplies for my charges, and that meant I had to deal with more splicers again. Originally, I had meant to go alone, shuffling to the door as quietly as I could so that I wouldn't wake the two from their slumber, but, as I said before, the universe just loves to make things difficult.

"Surely you don't think you're going anywhere without us, do you darling?" I heard Rarity call out, apparently having finished her 'beauty sleep'. I turned, seeing Fluttershy was sitting up in the mattress with her. Did they have a set sleeping period or something?

I nodded as an answer to Rarity's question, causing her to raise an eye, though I noticed a glint of mischief behind it. The two had already been in danger three times these past couple of days, yet they still wanted to come with me when there was probably more? I was not going to lose this argument.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You're a reaaaall pushover, you know that?"

I had lost the argument, somehow. Truthfully, the entire conversation was a blur to me. It started off with Rarity asking small questions and me just nodding or shaking my head in response. Then, Rarity started making these double edged questions that, every time I answered, I would damage my own side of the argument, rather than hers. Couple that with Fluttershy's adorableness, I didn't stand a chance.

"Yeah, I'm a pushover."

-------------------------------------

The Farmer's Market was, as the name implied, a market for the farmers of Rapture. This was where the lower wage earning classes of Rapture would come to buy, and sell things such as food, drinks, and even a few random services here and there. Another reason so many people had come here back when it was so successful were the gardens that the market was connected to. One of the few places that hadn't been affected by Rapture's downfall, the gardens stood tall and proud, granting a beautiful touch of green to this city of gray and black. That, and it provided oxygen for most of Rapture.

The three of us continually watched our surroundings as we walked through the passageway that lead to the market, making sure there weren't any splicers that would cause us trouble while we were here. We wouldn't have to do this for long, but while we were in that hallway, it was more of a necessity than a recommendation.

The door to the market soon came to be right in front of us, squeaking slightly as it opened itself up, revealing the market that we had been looking for. I breathed a sigh of relief as a green light surveyed over us, before slowly turning itself away and looking elsewhere. I gestured to the girls as best as I could, trying to tell them that they could calm down while we were here. I had hacked into most of the security systems here during my last visit, so splicers had become a much more minimal threat while we were here. Nonetheless though, I knew that if the alarm to the camera began to blare we were better off leaving than staying to fight.

The two nodded in understanding, no longer surveying the area as they each began to search the stands scattered around the room, looking for anything they thought to be edible. Then again, I caught one of the two eating daisies from a flower pot earlier, so I would probably be better off going with them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just as soon as Omega gave the two the signal, Fluttershy and Rarity quickly began to search the market and its various stands. Food was plentiful, but not all of it was edible. Years of age and rot had turned the fruits and vegetables into nothing more than rotten masses, and bread had turned into a molded mesh, much to the disgust of the two ponies. It wasn't until Omega began to assist them in their search that they had begun to make progress. In a matter of moments, they had found enough drinks and preservatives to last the two over a week, and they hadn't even gotten past the first two stands.

Having found a sack originally used for holding the now molded bread of one of the nearby stands, Omega had begun to stuff the provisions that the three of them had found into the piece of burlap, making the amount of supplies that they had gathered seem much more pronounced. Rarity, believing that they had gathered more than enough supplies, began to look around market. Granted, she wasn't going especially far from Omega, or her friend Fluttershy, but it was far enough away that she could explore.

Most of the stands were covered in dust and grime, much to the discomfort of Rarity, containing old and inedible products like most of the other stands. As she searched though, she found an odd booth among the stands. It was labeled, "Lamb's Little Sister Daycare".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I placed the last of the cans into the sack, Fluttershy having been floating back and forth between the supplies and placing her own amount in, I heard Rarity call out for us. "Fluttershy, Omega, could you two come here for a moment?"

Fluttershy and I glanced towards one another, before I pulled the bag over my shoulder and began to make my way over to Rarity. She was only about three stands over, but as I glanced to where she was looking, I became confused. The last time I had come to do repairs on the market was over 7 years ago, before Sofia Lamb had ever taken over, but I had no idea that her influence had even reached upper Rapture. I saw an image of Lamb on the sign, holding onto a Little Sister and smiling as she did so.

"... What's a 'Little Sister'?" Fluttershy asked, earning a shrug from her friend. The two looked towards me, faces filled with confusion and curiosity.

"They do realize I can't exactly answer, right?"

There was a moment of silence as Rarity looked towards the booth once again, putting a hoof up to her chin in thought.

"Perhaps... there is something of use inside?" She passed the booth, opening a door that had been placed along the back walls and walking inside of the actual daycare itself. Fluttershy followed after her, and I came soon after.

I was delayed by the door, on account of the fact that it was about half my size, but after a bit of maneuvering, some careful consideration, and a couple of holes I knocked into the walls, the door was more than large enough for me to get through. After my... renovations, my two charges looked to me with skeptical, yet amused expressions, before splitting off and looking around the room for anything they thought to be useful.

The room itself was different than most of Rapture. It was colorful, using all kinds of reds, blues, and greens to keep a cheery and playful atmosphere. I could see posters on the wall, seemingly placed in a pattern, each with images of little sisters, or the needles they carried with them. Fluttershy was flying near one of the sides, looking over the small butterflies that had been painted into the wall. Funny how the pony with butterflies on her side is so interested by the paintings of butterflies.

"Omega? Isn't that you?" I turned to Rarity, seeing that she was looking at another of the posters. It showed a cartoon image of a Big Daddy holding hands with his Little Sister and leading her forward.

"Always stay close to a friend?" Rarity read.

Fluttershy let out an 'eep!', causing both Rarity and I turn just in time to see a small sheet of paper fall to the floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy was shocked, to say the least, when one of the many butterflies on the wall pressed in, sending out a small slip of paper from seemingly nowhere. It fluttered around for a moment or two before soon landing before Omega. Omega kneeled down and picked up the paper, the green light from his porthole creating a square shadow as the slip covered a small part of it.

"...W-what does it say?" Fluttershy asked, immediately regretting her question as she remembered that Omega wouldn't be able to answer. For a moment or two, Omega didn't move, continuing to inspect the paper. Then, to her and Rarity's confusion, he shrugged, before gesturing for Fluttershy to take it.

"He doesn't know? Is there something wrong with the writing?" Rarity wondered as Fluttershy took the paper within her hooves. Fluttershy looked over the paper for a moment, utter confusion in her eyes. Not from the message itself, but from how easily she read it, despite Omega's cluelessness.

"Sofia, all Little Sisters have been moved to the orphanage." That was all it read. As Fluttershy read it aloud though, Rarity looked towards Omega, who just looked back to her through his helmet's porthole.

"...Darling, why did you say you didn't know what it said?" Rarity could understand that he couldn't answer them, per se, as to what was written on the paper, but she didn't know why he had shrugged, as if he didn't know. Omega paused, a slight groan emanating from him as he seemed to be in thought. He glanced around the room for a moment, walking off towards a small desk that sat upon a pink carpet, and picking up an odd red card.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I remembered this card from before, and it was probably all I would find that could even remotely explain this to the two, even if it would take some guessing on their part. I handed it to Rarity, and watched as she and Fluttershy opened it in curiosity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"A, B, D, E, F, G~" The moment the card opened, the sound of a young boy singing rang through the air. Rarity and Fluttershy were... surprised, as they heard the boy begin to sing the alphabet song. Truthfully, they had no idea as to why Omega had given this to them. It was only when Fluttershy read the text, however, that she managed to think up a guess towards what her and Rarity's guardian may have meant.

"Rapture Prepratory School for Boys... Omega," she began, "did you ever go to school?" Rarity looked towards her friend questionably, before looking back towards Omega. She had never thought about it, but Omega didn't truly seem to be the kind to have obtained an education throughout his life. Of course, she meant no offense.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I shook my head left and right. No, I had never gone to school. At least, I don't remember having done it. If anything, the only reason I know what I know about today is from my Big Daddy programming, and from overhearing the citizens of Rapture over the years.

"Then... does that mean you can't read?" The two were looking at me with faces of sadness, to my confusion. Had I done something wrong? As I was about to answer, the sound of resounding beeping came from outside of the room. A 60 second timer appeared in the inside of my helmet, slowly counting down as the sound of security bots soon filled the air.

It was time to go, before any other splicers came. Adjusting the sack of supplies on my shoulders, I gestured for the two to follow me as I swiftly made my way out of the room, and into the market.

-------------------------------------

... I don't particularly like it when people talk behind my back, or in this case, ponies. The moment we had gotten back into the bathysphere, Rarity and Fluttershy wouldn't stop whispering. I wasn't sure if they were making fun of me, or something else, but it was definitely getting on my nerves. I pushed it aside as I stepped out of the bathysphere, my two charges following close behind.

As we reached the split that lead to the apartment though, Rarity spoke up.

"Omega." I turned my head to face her, readjusting the sack into a better position on my shoulder. "Would you mind taking the supplies back to the apartment on your own? Just this once? I think we left something back on the... Bathysphere, was it?" I continued to look towards her, not moving an inch from my earlier position. She rolled her eyes before looking towards me with a smile.

"Please?"

...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy and Rarity watched as Omega walked away from the two, lugging the large sack of supplies back to their shared 'home'. When they believed he was out of earshot, they quickly took action.

-------------------------------------

"Do you see anything up there dear?" Rarity asked her friend, who was currently flying near the glass roof as she scoured the area from above. As she awaited a response she continued her search of the ground floor, albeit a slower and cleaner search, as she didn't want to ruin her mane or coat, but she was searching nonetheless.

"Not yet." Fluttershy replied. She had to have looked over the area over a dozen times, but she couldn't seem to find what she or Rarity were looking for. Just as the two were about to call it a day, Rarity noticed something sticking out of the built up junk of Apollo Square. Ignoring her fur, if just for a moment, she called for Fluttershy to come down and assist her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You left them alone!?!"

I waited in the apartment patiently, the sack of supplies having been emptied and organized into piles. I was waiting on the couch yet again. Whatever the two had left behind, it must have been heavy. Otherwise, why would they be taking so long.

"Are you kidding me? If they had left something behind, don't you think you would have noticed!?"

Yeah. Just waiting here... patiently. There was a knocking at the door. Oh thank god, I hate waiting.

"Omega, could you give us a hoof darling? This isn't exactly 'lightweight', and we can't really seem to open the door right now."

Sighing in relief, I made my way over to the door and pushed it open. On the other side, was Rarity and Fluttershy, holding what seemed to be... a large white board?

The two pushed the board into the apartment, struggling slightly as they did so, eventually managing to lean it against one of the apartment's empty walls. The two were panting from exertion, so they didn't really say anything right away. "Ick, sweat." Except that.

After a moment or two of recovering, the two managed to look towards me with smiles on their faces. I shimmied back slightly, unsure of why they had seemed so smiley. Fluttershy craned her neck and reached behind her pink mane, pulling out a familiar pink card with her mouth.

... No. No. No! Hell no! I am not doing this! No way!

-------------------------------------

"See? Here's the letter 'A'." Fluttershy said softly, Rarity using the marker in her mouth to write out 'A' against the white board.

I just can't win today! This was embarrassing. A fully grown man, though I don't really know my own age, in a suit of metal and weaponry of all sorts, learning how to read from two ponies. Sander Cohen was probably spinning in his grave right now.

Then again, I can't say they're doing this for free. They had 'offered', more like forced actually, to teach me to read and write so long as I taught them more about Rapture. It was a fair deal, but something did throw me off about it.

The first thing they wanted to learn about were Little Sisters, and what I, or Big Daddies in general, had to do with them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Canterlot castle was currently a place of chaos, and not because Discord had been wreaking havoc as of late, but because it had now been three days since the disappearance of Rarity and Fluttershy, the elements of Generosity and Kindness.

The princesses were both currently in their throne room, looking over paper after paper of reports on the progress that their research team had made in finding the two missing elements. So far, they hadn't made a lot of progress. Try as they might, they couldn't figure out where the two had gone. One moment, they were here, the next, they had simply disappeared. Princess Celestia sighed as she heard a knock at the throne room doors, rubbing her head with her hoof in frustration.

"You may enter!" Yelled Princess Luna, slipping back into her royal Canterlot voice from stress. The pony behind the two doors flinched for a moment, slightly offset by the loud tone the princess had responded with, before entering the throne room in a sprint.

As the mare sprinted into the room, the two princesses of night and day lowered the papers in their magical grip and looked towards her. "Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!" She yelled as she quickly bowed to the two.

"Has something come up?" Princess Celestia asked, hoping for even the slightest of theories as to where the two missing ponies could have gone. The mare nodded rapidly, causing Princess Luna to lift an eyebrow in curiosity, though her sister simply kept the same controlled expression.

"Yes. Princesses, this is only a theory," she began, already not boding well for the high hopes of the Princesses, "but hadn't you lead a peace mission recently?"

The princess stayed silent for a moment, raising an eyebrow while still seeming to be calm and collective. "Yes. We have indeed recently gone on a peace mission, but it was deemed a failure. Is there any reason you are asking me this?" She questioned.

Confidence grew on the mare's face as she faced the princesses and simply answered, "When was this mission exactly?"

The princesses eyes widened as they realized what the mare meant. Princess Celestia's calm and collected expression no longer remained, being replaced by one of anger and confidence. "Gather the archmage and any other unicorn guards that you can muster! We are going to need as large an amount of magical energy as possible."

Author's Notes:

Things are picking up now!

"Comment about the main plot point. Check. Now for the chapter in its entirety."

Now some of you may be may be wondering/ completely clueless as to where the whole 'Omega can't read' thing came from. Truthfully though, I'm kinda surprised nobody noticed, or at least didn't show it. Throughout the story, I've given small hints as to this. One example being in the earlier chapters of this story, where Omega mentions how 'the buttons had labels, but...'.
Other examples were when he saw posters and the like, but never mentioned the text written on it. Even in the latest chapter, before the two manage to piece this together, there's a hint to this when Omega saw the sign for the little sister daycare, but only paid attention to the image of Sofia Lamb, so this concept didn't really come out of the blue. (I am already waiting for someone to mention, 'How did I not notice that!?!' Or something of that regard.)

On a side note, anyone else notice how easily Omega uses an argument with one word? Consider this to be here for three reasons. 1. To further show that Omega is still human, so he isn't unstoppable, even in an argument. 2. A tribute to 'would you kindly', though its not really gonna control Omega like it did Jack from bioshock 1 3. Honestly, who can resist two adorable ponies saying 'please'? Omega never stood a chance.