"And they lived happily ever after... Well that's just ridiculous."

I was back at the apartment with my two charges, reading a small children's book, which must have seemed hilarious, by the title of 'The Ugly Duckling'. Honestly, I think fate was playing a joke on me. Besides, the book in of itself was idiotic, at best! For a duckling to end up turning into a swan, despite the difference in appearance between the two, I just didn't get it! Then again, since when am I a critic? I just started reading the other day for fuck's sake!

... I'm taking this too seriously. Putting down the book to my side, I looked to my two charges, who were currently... Um... doing something with each other's manes. I think that they called it 'braiding'?

"A-are you sure of this Rarity?" Fluttershy asked her friend, unable to look behind her as Rarity continued to 'braid' her mane. The white pony smiled at her companion, crossing yet another collection of the winged pony's pink hair with the other.

"Of course, darling! The two of us have been so stressed as of late, and nothing is quite as relaxing to a mare as haircare. Well, at least in my opinion." Were it not for the fact that it would probably sound offensive, I would have chuckled. They'd been at it for some time, and by now, Fluttershy's long pink mane had ended up wrapped into an odd collection of spins and ties. "Annnnd weee'rrreee done!" Rarity said as she took a few steps back, marveling at her work.

"Oh, darling, you look simply gorgeous!" Rolling my eyes at Rarity's usual overdramatizing nature, I looked to Fluttershy and... Huh. Wow, maybe there was something to this hair braiding thing. If anything, Fluttershy looked, at the very least, adorable.

At the very most, I guess that I'd have to agree with Rarity after all.

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Fluttershy's cheeks were flushed with red as her two companions looked to her intently, taking in the sight of her and her new hairstyling. Not used to being the center of attention though, Fluttershy reached for the mattress covers and quickly concealed herself within them, hiding in her own 'fortress of solitude'. Rarity's smile quickly fell, changing her expression to one of concern. Omega also rose a brow at this behavior, unsure of what exactly had just occurred.

"Fluttershy, dear, come out from under there. There's no need to be embarrassed." Fluttershy didn't respond, instead letting out a squeak as she further hid herself under the bed coverings. Rarity sighed, not really sure of what to do at this point. Fluttershy was an amazing friend and all, but her seemingly constant lack of self-esteem always saddened her. Rarity could never seem to get Fluttershy to realize that she had no reason to shy away from others, especially from her own friends.

Suddenly, Omega stood from his seat and made his way over to the two, shuffling to keep his noise at a minimum. Kneeling down next to a confused Rarity, Omega reached for the blanket that was currently housing one of his two charges, and slowly pulled the closest part of the sheet up, revealing a shocked and tomato red Fluttershy.

Rarity watched as Omega reached his other hand into the blanket towards her and was shocked to see that, rather than move further away from his large gloved appendage, Fluttershy kept herself still as he reached for her head and began to pet her.

Fluttershy's reaction was instantaneous, as she closed her eyes and let out a small content sigh, the blush on her face disappearing and once again returning her to her usual shade of yellow. Omega looked towards Rarity and gestured to Fluttershy with a sidewards bob of his head. At first, she didn't understand, seeing his bobs as momentary twitches and nothing else. After about a dozen attempts at trying to communicate with her though, not losing contact with Fluttershy as he did so, Rarity finally seemed to understand, her eyes widening as she realized that Omega was giving her an opportunity to speak.

"Fluttershy, please come out from under there. There's nothing for you to worry about dear. If anything, the both of us really do think you look great! Isn't that right darling?" Rarity asked Omega, lightly nudging his side. Omega responded with his usual brand of a groan, nodding his head in agreement as he did so. Fluttershy, ever the unsure pony, looked towards the two of them with a shy, and slightly fearful, expression.

"A-are you sure?" Rarity and Omega both nodded again, bringing a small smile to Fluttershy as she uncovered herself from below the blankets.

"There we go. See? You look divine darling. I'm sure that any stallion in his right mind would simply love to go out with a mare like you." Fluttershy blushed slightly, but smiled nonetheless. Omega, though, didn't seem to be too happy at the thought of a stallion being with Fluttershy, as his eye turned a light shade of yellow and he made his way to the white board.

Rarity and Fluttershy watched as his scribbles slowly took form into a coherent sentence. By the time it did, the two felt ready to laugh for a good moment or so. On the board, Omega had written, 'ONLY AS LONG AS I GET TO MEET THEM FIRST', before crossing his arms and standing next to the board, his helmet continuing to expel a soft shade of yellow. Giggling, Fluttershy excused herself to the bathroom, telling the two that she wanted to see how she looked for herself, and leaving the room to Rarity and Omega.

Turning to Omega, Rarity snickered behind her hoof as she glanced to the message on the board again. "I suppose that's why you're called a 'Big Daddy', isn't it? You're just as overprotective." She smirked while Omega felt himself blush underneath his helmet, once again giving his silent thanks for having it on.

A sudden beeping from outside the apartment door caught the two off guard as Omega took one last glance towards Rarity and made his way to the door. Carefully pulling the door open, Omega was immediately met by his robotic 'pet', he may as well have been, Winston.

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"Where did Omega go?" Fluttershy asked as she made her way back into the central room of the apartment, her hair now back to its original style. It had been nice and all, but Fluttershy much rather preferred her natural hair.

Rarity looked to Fluttershy in slight surprise, taking her eyes off of the stubborn spot that she was trying to rub off of the wall.

"Oh, hello darling. He just went out. That odd little friend of his came by and began to beep as if it was nopony's business. He left a 'note' on the board." Just like that, Rarity turned back to the spot and continued on with her stain removing rampage. "Oh, would you just come off already!"

Fluttershy giggled at her friend's antics. Looking to the white board stationed in the room, Fluttershy quickly noticed the large, crooked writing that had recently become Omega's. 'WINSTON NEEDS HELP WITH SOMETHING. NOT SURE WHAT. BE BACK SOON. STAY HERE PLEASE.'

As she read the message, slightly confused to who 'Winston' may be, she couldn't help but smile. Omega had been there for the both of them since they had arrived. Even earlier that day, when her timidity had once again gotten the best of her, he helped her feel better. To her, Omega was more than just a guardian. To her, Omega was a friend, and to Rarity, he was the same.

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It's amazing how different the city seems now that I could read. Granted, it was still the creepiest hell hole that I had, or probably will ever have seen, but hey, at least now I could actually read the messages that splicers left out of blood... They didn't like me very much. 'Go FUCK yourself, metal feline!' Isn't exactly the best thing for my self-confidence, but personally I don't give a damn.

Nonetheless, as Winston led me down the paths of Apollo Square, I couldn't really stop myself. Suddenly, Winston stopped dead in front of me, nearly causing me to smash into him. From inside of my helmet, I raised an eyebrow and let out a groan, basically asking him why he had stopped. He didn't seem to answer though, as I heard his gun let out a cocking sound. Before I could react, he tilted himself upwards and let out a barrage of bullets, launching it to the cieling.

"Arggghhhhh!" I heard a splicer yell as he fell from the ceiling he had been trying to sneak over us along, riddled with bullet holes and... fire?!? Winston had incindeary rounds? What the hell, how!?!

Glancing back to Winston, I noticed him stare at the charcoal of a splicer before him, before letting off a single beep and flying off, beeping for me to follow again. If I didn't know better, I'd say Winston had just flipped him off. Then again, crazier things have happened.

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Another minute or so of following that flying bucket of bolts later, I was surprised to see that he had led me to the 'richer' part of Apollo Square. Originally, the only times I would come here were to make sure there weren't any surviving splicers that had managed to get past the security system. I'm not sure why, but they seemed to think of the place as a safe zone from all the other machines, even though I'd end up killing them afterwards. I'd once heard that insanity was basically 'repeating the same thing over and over again and expecting different results'. If that was true, then splicers were the epitome of insanity.

Flying over to a nearby door, Winston started beeping wildly as his built-in lights shined on the golden nameplate stationed over the apartment entrance. I walked to the door, Winston barely seeming to acknowledge my presence as I looked to the nameplate. 'Suchong'. The very creator of Big Daddies and little sisters, along with one of Fontaine's proudest 'descendants', Jack. I glanced to Winston in confusion. Why had he taken me here of all places?

I put my hand on the door and slid it open, the creaking of rust and metal echoing through the mostly silent remains of the square. Winston flew in before me, letting out another pair of beeps as he began to fly around the room. Taking a step inside myself, my jaw dropped as I noticed the several halls of bookshelves that surrounded the room. My first thought wasn't on what I would read out of all these, not at my current reading level. It was on how annoying it would actually be to find whatever Winston was trying to show me.

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"I'm pretty sure that two hours is enough time for you to leave me guessing, Winston!"

Seriously though, what the actual fuck?!? He leads me through Apollo Square, scares the crap out of me on the way, and then randomly leads me into Suchong's old room, only to have me search the labyrinth of a place on my own! I was getting tired of this, and I was sure that the girls back at the apartment were getting worried, so I looked to Winston, who was currently spinning wildly around the room, and let out a groan. Winston stopped his spinning, much to my surprise, and looked towards me.

He stared at me for a moment or two, not really doing particularly anything but just floating there, before turning and letting out a loud beep, his lights seeming to intensify as he pointed to the top shelf of one of the bookshelves. Of course.

Sighing, I made my way over to the bookshelf and began to test the boards that the many books rested, seeing if they could take my weight. Needless to say though, as I stepped onto the first shelf, it didn't. The shelf broke in two, the neatly placed books falling into disorder before me and creating an awkward pile, causing me to groan in frustration. It was then though, that I had an idea. One so simple, yet so complex, that it had to work!

... I pushed over the bookshelf. The loud clanging and crashing sounds that resounded through the room were immeasurable, as hundreds upon hundreds of books fell over from their positions, followed by the wood that held it, smashing into pieces upon impact. I flinched as I saw this, and I swore that I saw Winston do the same. Somewhere in the universe, a librarian was probably cringing as well.

Winston didn't make a noise as he slowly brought his light over to me, as if saying, 'are you kidding me'? I ignored his gaze, making my way over to the pile and beginning to push books away from the mess, clearing it out so that I could find... whatever I was finding.

After about three dozen books though, I stopped, seeing an odd piece of metal sticking out over the colored hard covers of literature. I felt a brow raise as I dug my hand further into the pile, grabbing onto the metal box and carefully pulling it out, displacing even more books as I did so. Winston began to beep wildly again, leading me to believe that I had found what he was trying to show me. A tape recorder, with a single tape placed inside of its slot.

I hadn't seen many of these, since several splicers and survivors would collect these before I could, doing god knows what with them. Standing from the miniature mountain of books, I looked over the tape recorder. Aside from a single tag that had been attached to the back of the recorder, reading 'Suchong', it didn't have anything unique to it. I shrugged my shoulders and hit play on the recorder. The first thing I heard was the sound of glass breaking, and the tumbling of several heavy objects.

"Sir, it would be wise for you to calm down." I heard someone from the recording say, eerily calm despite the chaos that was happening before him. The sound of crashing stopped, if only for a moment, as footsteps could be heard coming to the speaker.

"What was that, Dr.Suchong? 'Calm down'? Tell me, good doctor, just how am I supposed to be calm when Fontaine HAS MY DNA BECAUSE OF THAT WHORE OF A WOMAN!" I recognized this voice. Everyone who had ever lived in Rapture did. It was the voice of Rapture's founder and creator, Andrew Ryan.

Suchong didn't speak for a moment, letting out a chuckle rather than an immediate response. "Because, Mr. Ryan, I feel as though I may have a solution." There was a momentary pause of silence, as I rose an eyebrow in interest. Something to stop Jack? Whatever it was, it didn't seem to work very well, did it?

"Well then, what is it!?!" Andrew yelled, impatience ticking at the back of his throat. Honestly, considering how he sounded over the recording, if I had ever met him personally, I probably would have punched him in the face.

"Fontaine believes that he could make a successful artificial life form, does he not? Then what, exactly, is stopping us from doing the same?" The recording stopped, the sound of the ongoing tape halting and suddenly drowning the room in silence once again. Confusion couldn't even begin to describe how I felt right now. Since when did Suchong make another artificial life, and why had I never seen it? Pushing the thought off for later, I took the recorder with me, thinking that it would be useful for the future.

Fluttershy and Rarity were going to get a kick out of this... if they didn't lecture me for taking so long that is.

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The train chugged along at it's usual speed, it's several passengers conversing amongst themselves as they peacefully awaited for the train to take them to their intended destination. Canterlot. Nearby the back of the train though, inside one of its many resting cars for its passengers, a certain purple unicorn cringed as a particularly strong headache reached her, disappearing just as quickly as it arrived.

"Everything alright Sugarcube?" An orange earth pony wearing a stetson asked, raising a brow as she did so. Next to her were two other ponies. An earth pony, with pink fur, an equally pink yet incredibly curly mane accompanying it, and a pegasus with light blue cyan fur, and a unique rainbow-colored mane.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just got a wierd headache is all." The purple pony dismissed, rubbing her head slightly as she did so. The three ponies in front of her didn't seem convinced however, looking amongst each other in worry.

"Maybe you should get some sleep Twilight. We still have a few more hours until we reach Canterlot." The rainbow maned pegasus suggested, gesturing to one of the train car's window to further emphasize her point. The purple pony just shook her head however, smiling as she looked to the three.

"I'm fine girls. Besides, I need to stay as awake as possible. If Princess Celestia really found out where Rarity and Fluttershy went, then we need to be ready to help however we can." Suddenly, the door to the car slid open, revealing a small white filly unicorn, her mane a collection of different gentle shades of purple, much like a certain other pony. She was currently licking a large swirling lollipop, hanging onto the stick with one of her forehooves while she made her way into the room and took a seat next to the purple mare.

"Hey SweetieBelle! How are you doing?" The pink pony asked in an extremely peppy manner, glancing to the large piece of candy that the filly held from time to time. The filly ceased her licking for a moment and smiled at the mare.

"I'm fine Pinkie." She returned just as cheerily, as the other mares in the room look towards her with similar smiles. Truthfully, they were extremely worried about both Rarity and Fluttershy, but they knew that it was best that they didn't show it, lest they worry the filly.

"Are you excited to see your sister again SweetieBelle?" Twilight asked. SweetieBelle nodded her head, having distracted herself with the candy yet again and making herself unable to answer.

"We should have a party after we see them! Like, a surprise 'where have you been, we've missed you, please don't do that again' party!" The three mares in the room rolled their eyes, smiling at their friends behavior, while SweetieBelle giggled. "But first, something that's super duper important!" Pinkie Pie said suddenly, her expression shifting to one of utter seriousness.

All the ponies in the room leaned in closer, ever so slightly. They didn't normally see their pink friend seem this serious, so they had to be sure that they heard her. A moment of tense silence came upon the room, as everypony awaited for the party pony to say what she needed to.

Suddenly, she dropped her serious expression, popping up in from of SweetieBelle with a smile as she stared dreamily at the lollipop she was holding. "Where did you get that lollipop?"

Author's Notes:

Sorry this chapter took so long everyone! I had to make the introductory set for another story of mine before I could get to work on this chapter, but I think that it came together well in the end.

As you can tell, the recorder is basically a permanent part of Omega's apartment now. Whenever he finds another tape, he'll hold onto them until he can play them back at the apartment. Oh, and yes, I decided to include SweetieBelle into this story. I figure that, if anypony is going to be concerned about Rarity, her sister, and Fluttershy, her 'most favorite' babysitter, it would be her. The next chapter may take some time to upload, considering I plan on alternating between my stories, but it shouldn't take too long. Patience is a virtue after all. ^~^