Ditzy sat on the sofa in front of her fireplace, staring quietly into the dancing flames, lost in thought over yesterday’s long conversation with Spitfire. She’d barely slept; she’d kept running through the memories in her mind all night, striving to fill in the missing pieces and recall all the little details. Dinky lay on the floor in front of her, drawing a picture of what looked to be her with her new Crusader friends. Every once in a while she dropped her crayon and turned to stare wistfully out the window at the rainstorm which trapped her inside.

While her daughter may not have liked the rain, Ditzy saw it as a blessing, as it also served to keep most of the reporters away. Those few that had risked braving the storm quickly gave up and left once they realized Ditzy was adamant about refusing them entry and wholly unsympathetic to the conditions outside. As dusk fell and the temperature really started to drop, they finally stopped coming altogether.

Try as she might, she couldn’t shake the feeling of wrongness that had settled over her. She ran a slow hoof over her face for what must have been the hundredth time, marveling at how different it felt from the face she now remembered. She stopped as she realized just what she was doing and brought her hoof back down with a snort.

She heard a small gasp and retreating hooves, which broke her out of her musings. She’d been so lost in her thoughts, she hadn’t seen Dinky approach. Dinky eyed her hesitantly, slowly walking back over to her as she brought a smile to her face. “Sorry, Muffin. I didn’t mean to startle you.” She patted the seat next to her.

Dinky cocked her head at her. “Are you all right, Mommy? You’ve been acting kinda, um... weird.”

Ditzy nodded. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind. It’s been a crazy kind of week.”

“That’s for sure.”

Ditzy motioned next to her with a hoof, looking at Dinky expectantly. After a short hesitation, Dinky hopped up and snuggled up against her. They sat there for a time, staring into the fire while she idly rubbed Dinky’s back. They both jumped at a sudden knock at the door. Dinky groaned and slumped back into the couch. “Not another one!”

Ditzy sighed. Would they ever leave her alone? This must be how Spitfire felt all the time. How did she ever manage to get anything done? “Don’t worry. If we ignore them, they’ll leave. Just like all the others.”

Dinky nodded and pulled up close to her again, shooting uneasy glances at the door.

But the knocking did not go away; it returned louder and more insistent. Somepony shouted something, but the voice was muffled beyond recognition by the door and the roar of the wind outside. She sighed and pushed herself up off the couch, grumbling quietly to herself as she walked over to the door. As she got closer, she could hear the voice a bit better. It was a stallion’s voice, and it was still difficult to hear, but she could make out what he was saying.

“Ditzy! Ditzy, open up! You simply cannot leave me to freeze out here!”

She frowned. That voice... it sounded so familiar. She couldn't place it, but she felt as if she should be able to. She chuckled softly. Well, she didn't exactly have the best track record for recollecting things. She was pretty sure he wasn’t a reporter, though. At the very least, he certainly didn't sound like one.

She mulled it over for a bit, then unlocked the door and pulled it open a crack. The stallion had his back to her and was halfway down the front steps, but he turned back around as the light from inside spilled out onto the porch. "Ah, Ditzy. Excellent! I had nearly given up."

He was wearing a heavy cloak with the hood pulled up, which hid his face and covered most of his body, but she caught flashes of his grey coat underneath that gave her pause. He didn't have a camera, or at least not one that she could see; all he had was a suitcase levitating beside him, surrounded by a grey aura. But just because she couldn’t see a camera didn't mean he wasn't one of those leeches, and something about him made her feel uneasy. "What do you want?"

"Well, I heard you were here. Kind of hard not to, really; it’s been in all the papers. It’s still a bit of a shock to me; nopony knew where you went after they let you out of the hospital. I thought you’d been stashed away in Manehattan somewhere, so you can imagine my surprise when I read you were in Ponyville, of all places."

His voice was nagging at her. She was sure she knew him.

"As soon as I heard you were here I came down immediately, of course. After all, we have some unfinished business to discuss." He stepped in front of the door and the light fell across his face.

Ditzy shut her eyes and brought a hoof to her head as new memories surfaced, memories of the grey unicorn taking her to suave parties and fancy dinners. She remembered finally seeing how self-absorbed and controlling he was, and how she'd finally come to despise him. "Slate!"

She tried to shut the door, but she was still disoriented, and Slate was too fast. He forced the door open and barreled into her as Dinky screamed behind her. Ditzy was knocked on her back and found Slate's hoof pressing down on her chest when she tried to get up. She strained against him and pulled a hoof back to strike at him.

"Ah, ah, ah." She froze at the frightened cry from over by the couch and turned to look toward the fireplace in alarm. She saw Dinky, standing very still and whimpering fearfully, trying to shy away from the dagger held against her throat by Slate’s magic. “We wouldn’t want anything... untoward to happen, now would we?”

Ditzy lowered her hoof, staring helplessly at her daughter. She turned back to Slate, who was grinning madly. “But you’re—I thought you were in prison!”

His smile faded and he struck her in the face with his free hoof. She grunted from the heavy impact. “Yes, I was, no thanks to your friend. But I got paroled. Good behavior, don’t you know.” He tweaked her nose roughly. “Well, I suppose you didn’t.”

He hit her again and again as his eyes sparked with a fevered light. “My life was ruined because of you! Father wrote me out of the family, out of the will! All he wanted was to be a grandfather. I could have been his primary beneficiary, his favorite son! All that money, wasted, because YOU WERE SO SELFISH!” He reared up and slammed both hooves down on her ribcage. Her pained moaning broke into a raw scream.

He shook his head slowly, sneering down at her. “And you seemed like such a perfect choice.” He took a ragged breath and collected himself a bit as his eyes flicked to Dinky. “So, since you took my family away from me, I thought I’d take your family away from you.” His horn glowed, and Dinky floated over in front of him. The knife pressed closer to her throat, drawing a trickle of blood.

Dinky flinched and cried out, tears running down her cheeks. “Mommy!” She struggled briefly as the magic aura around her intensified. Her struggles ceased and she froze in midair, screaming as the dagger pulled back.

Ditzy’s stomach clenched as she desperately tried to throw Slate off of her. “Stop it! Don’t hurt her! DON’T HURT MY DAUGHTER!” But she was held firm.

He chuckled grimly. “Ironic, isn’t it, that I’d be the one to kill her while you try to save her.”

Even as she fought, Ditzy felt the needles in her head, but more than that, she felt a new fear as her mind screamed at her not to remember. She knew that this memory was one she didn’t want back. She tried to beat it away, but it returned unbidden.

Slate’s china cup floated down and settled gently in its saucer on the gilded table in front of him. “Ditzy, dear, please! This is my foal too! Don’t I have a say in this?”

She slammed her own cup down with significantly less grace. “This is not a discussion, Slate! This is my body, and my life, and there’s no room in it for a dinky little kid!”

He stood up, staring at her indignantly. “Now see here, you have to listen to me. I—”

“No, I don’t have to listen to you. You don’t seem to understand; it isn’t your foal, because it is not a foal. It will never be a foal!”

She got up and tromped toward the double-doors, nodding to the butler as he pulled them open for her. She turned in the doorway to look back at Slate. “I’m going to the tryouts tomorrow. Then I’m going to the clinic to get rid of it. If you can’t accept that... well, that’s just too bad.” She walked out and kicked the door shut behind her, taking off from the magnificent front lawn and leaving the Hooves’s manor behind.

As the memory faded, Ditzy realized she was screaming. “NOOOO!” She didn’t know if she was screaming because Slate was trying to kill Dinky, or if she was refusing to accept that she had tried to do so herself. In a blind rage she sank her teeth into Slate’s leg and bit down hard.

He yelped and tried to jump back, impeded somewhat by the pony clinging to his leg. Her mouth wrenched, but she just sunk her teeth in deeper and hung on. The knife wavered and Dinky dropped to the ground as his magic flickered. He beat at Ditzy with his hooves before finally wrenching her off and sending her sprawling with his magic. She tried to get back up, but Slate charged at her, slamming into her with a snarl and sending her back to the floor. He stood on top of her again and sent the knife streaking toward her face with a furious roar.

Ditzy squeezed her eyes shut, but the blow never came. She cracked her good eye open, then opened them both wide in shock.

Slate and the knife were surrounded by a pale, purple-grey glow, the knife held motionless mere inches from her face. At first, she thought it was Slate’s magic, but she quickly recognized it as—She looked back around to see Dinky slowly pick herself up off the ground, her horn lit up with the same purple glow. Ditzy’s jaw dropped in disbelief before she recalled the more pressing situation and began to twist and strain furiously under Slate’s frozen hoof.

Slate’s horn pulsed with magic, the grey glow pushing against the surrounding purple. Dinky grunted, shaking her head as her magic was forced outward, retreating from Slate’s body. “You think you can hold me, little filly?” His horn pulsed again and Dinky cried out in pain as she stumbled backward. “You’re nothing, just like her. You have no chance. You’re only making things worse for yourself.” The grey aura flooded outward, the purple shell cracking and thinning around him. Dinky sank to her forelegs, her horn sparking and sputtering. “I’ll kill her, and then—”

“SHUT UP!” Dinky shot back to her feet, raising her head defiantly. The glow around her horn solidified, then intensified, and Slate’s grey aura was rapidly swallowed by purple, his body now barely free of Dinky’s hold. Dinky took a step toward him. She was bleeding from her nose and around the corners of her eyes, but she didn’t seem to notice. She was fixated on Slate.

“Everypony is always mean to my mommy! Everypony teases her, makes her cry.”

Slate’s horn pulsed rapidly, desperately, but the grey aura was now barely creeping outward. “No, this is impossible!”

Dinky’s bleeding intensified with Slate’s struggles. She took another step, standing before him with a dark glower. “Everypony tries to hurt her. Well, now nopony is going to hurt my mommy EVER AGAIN!” There was a burst of light and the glow around her horn expanded outward. The trickles of blood turned to small streams and droplets dripped to the ground beneath her.

Slate’s breathing intensified as his aura’s spread slowed to a halt. His eyes darted about madly as his aura started to crawl back toward him, Dinky’s aura creeping ever closer. His gaze finally fixed on Ditzy, who had freed herself and was standing next to him. Rather, he fixated on her rear hoof, which was tapping against his face. She tapped out a small circle, made sure she had her bearings, then let out a forceful grunt and bucked him square in the face.

He crumpled, his magic fading out as he lost consciousness. Dinky’s aura cut off shortly after. She turned to face Ditzy, mumbled something incoherent, and slumped to the floor.

Ditzy rushed to her daughter and pressed her head against her chest. She still had a strong heartbeat, thank Celestia, but her face was a mess of blood, and she was still bleeding. She darted into the kitchen and returned with a towel, holding it to Dinky’s nose. She looked back and forth between Slate and Dinky rapidly. What was she going to do? She had to get Dinky some help; she had no idea how serious her injuries were. But she couldn’t just leave her daughter here alone, bleeding like she was, and she certainly couldn’t leave Slate here; there was no telling when he’d wake up and what he’d do when he did. She was in pretty rough shape, and Dinky was out of commission. There was no way they’d be able to stand up to him a second time. She had to do something to keep him from attacking again.

She caught a flash of something out of the corner of her eye. She let go of the towel and walked over to the fireplace, where Slate’s far-flung dagger lay glinting wickedly in the light. She reached down and took it up in her mouth, walking back over to where the unconscious Slate lay.

Ditzy pulled her cloak tighter, bracing herself against one of the storm’s more intense gusts of wind. The bundle on her back slid slightly, the edges of the cloak it was wrapped in flapping violently. Ditzy grunted, reshouldering the weight of Slate’s limp body as she took another step on the road to Ponyville. The makeshift chest sling she wore swung as she walked, hitting her ribs every once in a while and electing a wince; the bedsheets did little to cushion the impacts, and her chest still ached from Slate’s beating.

Normally, carrying a pony on her back and a filly in a sling wouldn’t be too much of a problem for any pegasus. Heck, she’d flown with heavier loads before. But in the middle of a rainstorm, with a possible cracked rib or two... she didn’t even want to think about flying. Simply breathing hurt, and she felt constantly winded. Maybe I could stop, she thought. Just for a moment. Just to catch my breath.

She gritted her teeth and pushed herself to keep moving. No, she couldn’t stop. She wanted to kick herself for even considering it. She tried to push herself faster, but it was all she could to just plod along. “Hold on, Dinky. Just hold on.”

Her chest burned and her whole body ached by the time she staggered into Ponyville. She sobbed in relief as the first house came into view ahead of her. “We made it!” she croaked. Then she remembered the mare she needed lived next to the town square. She groaned as her elation melted away. “Well, nearly.” One hoof in front of the other. It’s just a little bit further. Celestia, were the street blocks always this long?

The streets were completely abandoned as she made her way through town; nopony was crazy enough to go out in the storm. She double-checked Slate to make sure he was hidden by his cloak; it wouldn’t do for somepony to look out the window and get the wrong impression.

Finally, she saw the large, hollowed-out library tree through the haze of rain around her. Though they were murderous, she managed to take the last few steps and collapsed against the door, gasping in relief. Slate slid off of her back and she didn’t even try to catch him, letting him land unceremoniously on the front step with a wet thud. Fighting to catch her breath, she blearily lifted a hoof and rapped on the door with what little strength she had left. “Twi—” her voice cracked and petered out. She took a couple deep breaths, then knocked again. “Twilight! I need help! Please!” That was a bit better. She pushed herself off the door and summoned the energy to slam her hoof against it. “Twilight! Open up! I—” The door was thrown open and she stumbled as her hoof met empty air.

Twilight was standing in the doorway, a candle lamp floating next to her and flickering feebly against the wind. “Who’s there? What’s...” Her brow furrowed as Ditzy threw back her hood. “Ditzy? What’s going on?”

She shook her head, tossing her head at Slate. “Inside. Help me with him.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at her. “Huh?” She took a closer look at the bundle, then her eyes shot wide and she took a step back. “‘Him?’ Is there a pony in there?”

She let out an exasperated sigh. “Just help me!”

Twilight took up the bundle with her magic and sent it floating inside as she moved out of the doorway to let Ditzy into the library. She followed the bundle in, levitating piles of books and scrolls off a table in the middle of the room. “Was he out in the storm? He didn’t get hit by lightning or something, did he? While I supposed it’s possible, there are very few recorded incidents of lightning striking ponies.”

Just getting out of the rain helped the weary pegasus feel better. She trudged over to a nearby desk and carefully removed the sling, wincing at the pain it caused. “No, it’s nothing like that. He—”

Twilight gasped. She had undone the cloak and found Slate. He was tied up with bedsheets, binding his forelegs behind his back and his hind legs tightly together. He had had a scarf tied over his eyes, though it must have come undone sometime during her walk over seeing as it was now around his neck, but the other restraints had held up well. Twilight blushed, and carefully avoided looking in Ditzy’s direction. “Ummm...”

Ditzy stomped a hoof in frustration. “Listen, he attacked us, okay? He forced his way into my house with a knife! He said he was gonna murder me, and he almost killed Dinky! It’s not like I had a whole bunch of rope just lying around, or I’d have tied him up with that! Now could you come and help me with my daughter?”

She took her filly in her arms and pulled back her blanket wrap, turning her so that Twilight could see her face. There were dried trails of blood from her injuries, but the bleeding itself had stopped. “Dinky did... something, I don’t know what, and they used magic on each other, and I got free and I kicked him, but then Dinky was bleeding and Slate could’ve woken up at any time and...” She realized she was babbling and took a deep breath. “I thought that, since you know all about magic and stuff, maybe you could help her. Or at least help me deal with Slate.”

Twilight frowned, pacing back and forth as she thought. Finally, she stopped and focused her gaze on Dinky, walking over to the unconscious filly and her mother. “Spike!” There was a startled cry and a bang from the top of the staircase, followed shortly by the baby dragon himself.

“Right here, Twilight! Listen, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop or anything, but you guys were talking so loudly, it was kind of hard not to, and...” he stopped at the bottom of the stairs, shooting a quizzical look at Twilight and jerking a thumb at the still unconscious Slate. “What’s with this guy?”

Twilight didn’t even look over her shoulder at him, motioning Ditzy to lay Dinky down on the desk. “Not now, Spike! I need books! Could you get me the Guide to Equestrian Procedural Law? Oh, and First Aid for Unicorns, please.” She took a closer look at Dinky, checked her breathing and her heartbeat.

“Well, the first aid book is on the shelf next to you. Equestrian law... hmm, that’s a bit harder.” He began to search the shelves, shooting the occasional confused glance at Slate.

Twilight turned to the shelf, scanning it rapidly. “Okay, Ditzy, why don’t you just calm down a bit and tell me as much as you can about what happened to Dinky.”

Ditzy nodded, carefully wiping at her daughter’s face with the edge of the blanket as she spoke. “Right. Well, I’d just bit Slate, to keep him from... from stabbing Dinky.” She shuddered, but continued to speak. “Then he came back at me with the knife. I thought it was all over, but then he froze. I looked and saw Dinky standing there, and her magic had him held.”

Twilight frowned, pulling the first aid book off of the shelf with her magic. “Has she ever done anything like that before?”

Ditzy shook her head. “No, she told me she was just starting to levitate multiple objects. I’m pretty sure she’d have told me if she could do something like that. Anyway, so then Slate’s magic starts to... push out? I don’t know, it sort of... forced her magic away.”

Twilight nodded, flipping through the book.

“But then there was this flash of light and Dinky’s magic just rushed back towards him; that’s when she started bleeding. He sounded really worried there near the end, when I managed to get free from him and I kicked him. He collapsed, then Dinky collapsed, so I bundled them up and I... I made my way here.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at her. “Ditzy, that doesn’t make much sense. A filly just learning multi-levitation? There’s no way she could magically overpower a fully grown unicorn!” She looked Dinky over again, pulling the blanket wrap all the way off. She gave a knowing nod and let out an “Ah ha,” then turned back to Ditzy, settling the blanket back over Dinky. “Unless, of course, she experienced a magic surge, which is a common side-effect when—”

Slate groaned on the center table, flopping his head to the side. Ditzy moved to stand in front of Dinky, looking from Slate to Twilight helplessly. “He’s waking up! Do something!”

Twilight closed her eyes and her horn glowed as Slate was surrounded by a pink aura.

Slate’s eyes flashed open. He lifted his head to look at Ditzy as he writhed about on the table. “DITZY!”

Spike jumped at the sudden shout from right behind him and ran back over to Twilight, clutching at his chest.

Slate’s horn glowed grey inside the field of pink energy. Ditzy looked to Twilight nervously, but Twilight just shook her head with a confident smirk. “Don’t worry. He isn’t even close to breaking free.”

Slate’s horn stopped glowing, sweat pouring down his face. He snorted at them angrily. “You think a insolent mare can hold me? Nothing can stop me, Ditzy! You and your friend are dead! AND SO’S YOUR LITTLE—” Slate was cut short as the glow around Twilight’s horn increased and his mouth transformed into a zipper and zipped closed.

Ditzy slowly walked up to the table and loomed in front of Slate. She stared down at him, forcing her eyes to focus on his. She didn’t shout at him. She spoke very coldly and deliberately. “No, Slate. You are going to go away for a very long time.” For all the anger she felt, she also felt an odd sense of calm. She leaned in closer, her face still disturbingly impassive. “And if you ever even think of threatening my daughter again, I don’t care where they send you. I will go there, I will get to you wherever they hide you away, and I will kick you until you stop breathing.”

She turned back around to Twilight, who was just standing and staring at her incredulously. She walked back over to Dinky, looking down at her and pointedly ignoring Slate’s muffled shouts.

Twilight coughed and turned back to her. “Well, I...” She looked around nervously, fixating on Spike, who was staring at Ditzy uneasily. “Spike! Did you ever find that other book?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Right before that Slate guy nearly gave me a heart attack.” He walked back across the library, edging carefully around Slate’s table and returning with a thick, dusty tome.

“Thank you, Spike.” Twilight took it up with her magic, flipping through the pages. “Ditzy, you should probably... what are you doing?”

Ditz kept rummaging in her raincloak, pulling the dagger out and laying it on the desk in front of her. “Here.” She said simply. “It’s his.”

Twilight looked it over, grimacing and turning away as she saw the bloodstains on the blade. “I suppose that might help. Look, I’ll send a message to the Princess about this, and I’ll keep an eye on him until they can send somepony out here for him, okay? In the meantime, you should probably get Dinky to the hospital.”

“Why? Is it—”

She cut off as Twilight held up a hoof. “I doubt it’s serious, but I’m not a doctor, and besides, it’s best to be safe, right? I’d teleport you there, but that takes a lot of focus and energy, and I don’t think I should risk it.” She nodded toward the magic aura surrounding Slate.

Ditzy nodded as she re-wrapped Dinky in the blankets and settled her into the sling. She threw the sling back over her shoulder and headed for the door. “Thanks, Twilight. I don’t know what we’d have done if you weren't here.” She opened the door and walked back out into the rain, shutting the thick door behind her and cutting off Spike as he asked Twilight to remind him “never to piss off that mailmare.”

The walk to the hospital was merely incredibly painful, rather than agonizing, given her lessened burden and the shorter distance to travel. The emergency room was rather empty; the desk clerk summoned doctors for them straightaway as a nurse showed them into an exam room. She tried to stay next Dinky, but the nurses kept trying to pull her out of the room, kept asking to let another doctor take a look at her.

After the fourth time she refused to leave her daughter the doctor told the nurse to let her stay. He was an amber unicorn with a stylish brown mane, and he spoke to her as he worked, flitting an otoscope over and looking in Dinky’s ears. “Well, Ms. Doo, there doesn’t appear to be any serious damage, which makes the unconsciousness somewhat unusual. I remember you saying Twilight believed it was the result of a magic surge?”

Ditzy nodded before she remembered the doctor couldn’t see her. “Yes.”

He set the otoscope down and levitated a chart and pencil over, scribbling rapidly. “That can happen when a young unicorn foal experiences such a surge, especially if they’re already pushing their magic to the limits. The extreme exertion leads to sheer exhaustion and unconsciousness.” He gave her a comforting smile. “I don’t think it’s anything to worry about; she just needs to rest and recover.” A nurse leaned over and whispered something in his ear. “Ah, we’re moving her to a recovery room now, Ms. Doo. So why don’t you just come with me so we can check you out—.”

“No, I have to stay with Dinky.” She pulled close to the gurney as orderlies swarmed up to it. They looked to the doctor.

“Please, Ms. Doo. I promise, we’ll make sure you end up in the same room, but right now, you need medical attention of your own. You won’t do her any good if you don’t let us help you.

She knew he was right, but she was still worried. She knew it didn’t make any sense; he said she’d be fine, that her injuries weren't serious or anything, and she was in a hospital besides. But it was harder for her to nod slowly at the doctor and let him lead her away than the entire rest of her journey had been.

Laying down on her own gurney brought a fresh lance of pain, but after all she’d been through, she barely noticed it. They kept the back of the gurney at an angle, which helped to lessen the pain when she breathed. Then the doctor gave her an IV that really helped with the pain. He poked at her, asked her a bunch of questions as he bandaged her chest, but she was only half-listening to him. All she could think about was Dinky. Finally, the orderlies came in and he told them to wheel her into “recovery room five.” Dinky’s gurney was already there waiting for her. Dinky herself was still asleep, but she’d been cleaned up since she’d been taken away. She looked so peaceful, lying there. Save for their surroundings, she looked like she’d fallen asleep as normal.

She tried to get up, but the doctor gently held her down. “You need to stay in bed, Ms. Doo. Please, try not to aggravate your injuries any more than you already have. Give your ribs some time to heal.”

“But, doctor—”

“Ah! Stay. In. Bed.”

She quit trying to get up and he removed his hoof. The orderlies wheeled her gurney next to the window and left. The doctor scribbled on her chart and gave her some pills. “These will help you sleep, Ms. Doo. I’ll have somepony check on you both in a little while.” He gave her a little cup of water and with a straw. She swallowed them down, draining the cup greedily. “Good night then, Ms. Doo.” He took up the glass and left, shutting the door softly behind him.

As soon as the doctor left, Ditzy pulled herself up out of the bed, dragging a nearby chair over to Dinky’s gurney. Fortunately, her IV stand had wheels on it. The leads for her heart monitor popped off, but she really didn’t need it anyway. She needed to be with Dinky.

Ditzy sat by the gurney, stroking Dinky’s mane softly, as not to wake her. She leaned in and kissed her on the forehead, like she’d always done after she tucked her in. “I love you, Dinky,” she whispered. “You have to believe me. Please, please believe me.”

Ditzy lay her head down on the gurney, her foreleg still resting against Dinky’s mane. Exhausted, she soon drifted off next to her sleeping daughter, comforted by the steady beating of her Little Muffin’s heart.