(( AUTHORS NOTE:
For people who see this as something important and don’t want to have their time wasted.

The portrait of Ditzy Doo that I shaped here is quite different to this commonly accepted by the fandom, to summarize it without any large spoilers.
- Ditzy is suffering from a disorder that prevents her eyes from focusing correctly (the usual), but because of it she undergo constant bullying which has reflected on her personality.
- She is not moronic, quite the opposite in fact.
- Dinky is her little sister, following the pattern of Rarity and Applejack. ))

The skies were covered in dark clouds, roaring with thunder every once a while to alert the people in area about what is going to happen. The farmers ordered this rain, maybe without lighting but these weather pegasus always overdone themselves. Everypony had to bear with it, the fruits and vegetables needed the rain, without them they would all starve.

That was the last package, now I just need to get to home, Dinky is probably worried sick.. staring outside the window ring now and waiting to see her big sister coming back from the route. Ditzy thought while speeding above Everfree forest.

Everypony was already barricaded in their homes, waiting for the storm to pass.. She groaned tired of fighting the strong wind.

All except me of course-.. what is that pony doing out here, cant he see that its unwise to travel like that? A frown shrouded Ditzy’s face upon seeing a small dot below on the clearing inside the forest, she was able to notice it only because of the lightning that flashed in the distance. No. I should stay focused I need to get back home. But what if he or she is in trouble..?

Ditzy paid the price as her focus was briefly shifted to the small dot below, the strong wind pushed her down, between the trees. No, no, no, not at this speed! She cried in her mind, hitting the small branches while trying to dodge the large ones, she was going down no matter what she tried. The gray pegasus closed her eyes, seeing the rocky surface that she was closing to at great speed. Her forelegs covered her head as she braced for impact.

Am I dead? A thought came after a short moment of silence, before she opened one eye, the rocks she saw were right in front of her, close enough that she could even smell the moss covering them. In the moment of confusion she opened another eye, looking around, it didn’t look like afterlife, it still looked like Everfree Forest.

"Are you alright?" the male voice asked behind her. Ditzy could feel being lowered down, it was then when she understood that she was floating inside a gray magical aura. He caught her before she met the ground.

C-calm down, just calm down, you are alright girl.. The mailmare nodded nervously, still in shock from near death experience.. and turning around didn’t quite help her state. The pair of two shining, pale white eyes stared at her, joined by the lightning that struck in the background. It was too much for one day.

“Miss..?” The stallion blinked seeing the mare fall yet again, at least this time not from sky high. With a quiet sight he looked up in the sky. The wind was increasing on power by the moment, they shouldn’t stay here that's for sure. The stranger gently lifted the fainted mare onto his back.

The storm was getting stronger, the heavy raindrops battered down on the stallion as the marched towards cottage at the far edge of Ponyville.

“H-hush now.. I-I know the sound is terrible but we have to wait it over.. its for the good of the plants.” Fluttershy smiled nervously at her furry companions, trying to convince them that its nothing to be worried about.

With the sound of next thunder she yelped, disappeared inside pillow fort, peeking through small opening together with her animal herd.

“I-it’s a-alright..” she tried to smile, unable to convince anyone, including herself. “..j-just a thunder..”

In the brief moment of silence between thunders she could pick up a knock on the door, her eyes widening in fear at the thought of all the monstrosities that would decide travel during such weather.

Angel, the bravest bunny around, hopped over to the window as the knocking repeated. After critical examination of the commotion outside he waved at Fluttershy to come over.

“I-I am not s-sure, Angel..” the yellow pegasus whined.

“Hello?” the voice sounded from behind the door. “If anyone is in there, please open the door.. we need help.”

Fluttershy pulled up from the pillow fort, scolding herself for the silly thoughts. Of course if there was someone out in that weather they needed help.

“P-please wait.. I will unlock the door..” the mare gulped audibly, unable to push away the thoughts of evil monstrosities. She slightly opened the door to peek through.

Judging by the attire the stallion was a traveler, his light gray coat was covered with white stripes in some places, making for rather odd composition. Pale blue mane was soaking wet.. just like Ditzy on his back.

The stranger lifted his head towards the yellow pegasus, his eyes partially opened showing the pale iris.

“Oh my.. is she alright? P-please come in!” Fluttershy yelped, opening the door before him. The stranger, like pretty much anything, was intimidating to her but seeing a friend in such state, she had to act.

“Thank you.. the wind must have pushed her off the course.” the colt said stepping inside, leaving watery path behind him.

“She didn’t crash into anything.. did she?” she looked up at the mailmare, fortunately there were no signs of any damage.

“Few branches perhaps.” the stallion respond, turning his head towards the white bunny who stared at him critically, rubbing its chin.

“Could you um.. put her on the couch..?” Fluttershy asked quietly holding the towels.

The cloud was a muffin, every cloud, not just the one she was sitting on. The gray pegasus cheered happily at the new discovery. How could she have missed that, all the time in the clouds and she didn’t even try to eat one.. they were made of muffins! With a smile on her face she jumped between them so full of her favorite meal, now it was all hers.. she just had to tell Dinky about it.

Her confused look wandered around, there was no ground, only clouds and the abyss below them. Where is Dinky? Where I am..? She asked herself with a slight frown crossing her face, stopped by sudden realization of something important, her wings were missing. She began to fall..

The mailmare shoot bolt upright, her heart was pounding. She hit the ground, or was at least about to.. it felt so real.

The soft sunbeams and chirping of the birds welcomed her to the reality, calming down the wild emotion caused by the images that just flashed in her head. It was all just a dream..

“Ditzy!” Fluttershy beamed and hugged her gently, relieved that her friend is alright.

“Fluttershy?” the mailmare blinked, she didn’t quite remember getting here.

“Oh my.. it wasn’t my singing that woke you up, was it..? I’m such a loudmouth, Im sorry..” she looked down at her hooves.

I spent entire night at Fluttershy’s and I couldn’t remember a thing.. Ditzy took a moment to verbalize her thoughts, it was always a problem in her condition but it was still easier for her to talk around Fluttershy. “How did I got here..?”

“Oh you poor dear, you don’t remember?” the yellow mare looked up at her with concern. “You were flying over Everfree forest when that –awful- storm has began.. you were pushed down into the trees.”

Ditzy blinked, recalling the flight and what happened after she fell. There was someone down there.

“..a traveling pony, Keeper, has found you and brought here. I was really scared of him at first but he has a good heart..” Fluttershy finished the tale.

“Keeper..?” the mailmare remembered only the scary figure from the night before.

“Yes, he left some time ago..” the yellow mare nodded.

“Do you know where he went?”

“Um..” she paused for a moment. “..he said he came all the way here to see Twilight. You want to catch him, Ditzy?”

The gray pegasus nodded.

“Are you sure that’s wise, you have been through a lot.. maybe I could get him while you rest here?”

“I will be okay..” Ditzy smiled at her pulling up from the bed, allowing herself to hug Fluttershy before leaving. “Thank you.”

The skies were crystal clear now, looking nothing like the storm the other day, making it a whole lot easier to fly and scout what is below. Her first stop will be home, her little sister was probably worried sick when she disappeared for a whole night without any warning.

The lightning rod saved the village library more than once already, leaving it undamaged after the storm. The interior was fairly clean, that is if not for the piles of books that Spike was rearranging yet again, it was magic in itself how it always gets messed up when he isn’t looking. A knock on the door brought him back from the thoughts.

“I’ll get it!” the dragon announced out of habit heading for the door, taking a brief moment to recall that Twilight left on some royal business. “Oh yeah.. I swear this place wouldn’t last a day if it wasn’t for me-.. oh, hi Applejack.”

“Howdy Spike.” the orange mare stepped inside. “Twilight still aint back?”

“Nope.. some important stuff is holding her in Canterlot, it will take longer than she thought at first. So, what can I help you with?”

“Ah was on the way to the food stand and decided to drop by, hand some of them books back, Big Mac done readin’ them.” Applejack says, reaching into her saddlebags.

“Aww.. I will have to rearrange the books again..” Spike groaned seeing the new-old titles.

“He he, sorry for gettin’ more work on your back little fella.” the mare patted his back. “Tell you what, when you done sortin’ come visit me at the stand, Ah will store a snack for you.”

“Thanks Applejack..” the dragon smiled, frown appeared on his face upon hearing another knock on the door. “Maybe its Twilight.” he spoke his thoughts before opening.

The visitor however didn’t quite match his expectations. The stallion with white stripes on his light gray coat was looking at least odd, the short pale blue mane was messy from long travels. He looked up at them, revealing the strange white eyes.

“Uh..” Spike blinked.

“Greetings, is this the library?” the stranger asked.

“Ah reckon, they don’t stack all them books here for fireplace material.” the orange mare raised an eyebrow.

The stranger chuckled softly hearing her response. “Forgive me, miss. I understand that this question had to sound silly for you.. but I cannot relay on the sense of sight anymore, that is why I asked.” he added to make sure that the message gets through.

“Oh.. um, t’was mighty dumb of me, Ah’m really sorry mister..” Applejack blushed at the gaffe.

“Its quite alright.” the stallion smiled and turned his head towards the baby dragon. “You must be Spike then?”

“..do I know you?” the dragon frowned at him.

“You do, but I am not certain if you remember, you were very young when we met.” he nodded, leaving it a mystery for now. “My name is Keeper, is Twilight Sparkle here per chance?”

“No, she is at Canterlot right now.. but you can leave a message if you want?” Spike blinked, who was this guy?

“Do not trouble yourself with it, I will take my time and wait for her return.” the stallion bowed down his head respectfully before leaving.

“Well, that was strange..” the dragon scratched his head.

Applejack nodded with a slight frown. “Ah better be goin’ too, got to get the stand open already. See ya later Spike.” the orange mare trotted away.

“Bye!” Spike waved and closed the door, finally ready to take the fight back to the books.

Ditzy moved her crossed sight over the town watching it cautiously from a cloud, he was right there, not looking quite as scary as the other night but it didn’t seem make her any less nervous.

Nerves always took better of her when she had to make a conversation with strangers. They bullied her all the way from kindergarten to the flight school, simply for being different, with her eyes not focusing properly and words getting stuck in her throat. It all left a mark, making her scared of the contact with others.

She did have friends of course, but she always thought they treat her better than the others just out of pity.. except for Fluttershy, she was kind for everypony.

The stallion she observed was heading for the park, perhaps there she could catch him one on one, it would be easier to talk for her without a crowd watching, to at least thank him properly-..

“What’s up Ditzy?”

“D-derp!” The gray pegasus yelped alarmed, losing her verbal ability for a moment.

“Chill out, its just me.” Rainbow Dash chuckled and peeked over her shoulder, to see what she is staring at down below. “What are you doing?”

“N-nothing..”

“Oh please.. what the hay? Who is that?”

Ditzy followed her gaze, which unfortunately rested on the stranger stallion. And not only they stared right now, everyone did, albino zebra has came to town after all.

“Zecora’s family came to visit, huh?” the blue pegasus pondered. “..or maybe he is a spy, working for the zebras.”

“Oh, no, no.. he is not a spy, Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy spoke up, joining her friends on the cloud.

“Well how do you know?”

“Um.. I spoke with him..”

“..that’s exactly what a spy wants you to think, he just fooled you to trust him, Fluttershy.”

“Oh my.. he did?”

“Yeah! And when the time is right, he will have an army to build a bunker under your house so he can lead an attack against Canterlot from here!”

“..b-but what about the mole family..?” she whimpered.

“They will be eaten by hungry zebras..! ..and then.. they will eat all the ponies they can catch!” Rainbow Dash looked them in the eye and laughed maniacally.

The two yelped loudly in panic, making both ‘eep’ and ‘derp’ to be heard in the village below.

“What in tarnation is going on in here?” Applejack glared at the two shivering flanks sticking out from under her stand. “Rainbow Dash and her pranks again, aint it?” she sighed taking a guess, confirmed by the outburst of laughter on the cloud above.

“Ah told you not to believe what she says..” the orange mare bit one of the tails dragging the owner out from under her stand, then moved to another. “What is it about this time, anyway?”

“D-do z-zebras e-eat ponies..?” the yellow pegasus asked.

“What? Sugarcube, that’s the dumbest idea Ah have heard yet.. we got through this one already before haven’t we? Zecora eats the same things like we do and last time Ah checked there were no other ponies on that list.”

Fluttershy covered under her mane in shame, while Ditzy stared at her hooves, both blushing deeply.

“Now how ‘bout you tell me where did that come from?”

“Well.. there is this strange pony that came into Ponyville recently.. he said his name is Keeper and he wanted to visit-..” she whimpered interrupted.

“More like Creeper to me! These vile stripes! The evil look in the eyes!” Pinkie Pie cut in jumping between them, bouncing in place.

“Stop right there, Pinkie.” Applejack frowned at her, the pink mare stopped mid air as ordered, taking a while to drop down when laws of physic finally caught up with her. “Ah don’t want to hear another word like that, that stallion traveled a long way to speak with Twilight and all yer can do is spread silly gossip.”

Using the opportunity the gray pegasus slip out of the group, heading after the stranger.

The park was almost always occupied, a place ideal for ponies to rest and have fun, something that the school trip was enjoying right now, little fillies and colts playing their games on fresh air, laughing cheerfully. Cheerilee followed them around with her watchful gaze, making sure they are safe.

Ditzy sneaked through using the clouds as cover, finally finding the stallion sleeping on the bench just next to the fountain. She descended down on the walkway, trying to be as quiet as possible.

She was still trying to find the words to thank him properly, but what could she say.. and -if- she could say anything to the stranger. Her heart was pounding, nervous as always when meeting a new person.

That’s why she favored working as mailmare, she would just leave the letters and disappear right after, there was no need for a contact with strangers. But this, this thing was important for her..

Ditzy took a step back seeing him shift in his sleep, the cape slide away from his back revealing a colorful cutiemark on his flank, a book. So he was a pony after all.. then why did he look like this? The mailmare wondered. Fluttershy said that he was blind because of some accident.. She froze in place seeing him opening his eyes a bit.

“Forgive me.. I was just a bit tired, I will move along now.” he said pulling up, taking her for a peacekeeper.

The mailmare watched him slowly wander away, towards forest where he wouldn’t bother anyone. Do something, girl! Say something! Anything! She scolded herself.

“D-.. derp..” Ditzy blushed deeply staring at her hooves, she always had to make a fool of herself, in front of everyone she met. She waited to see him point at her and laugh, just like everyone else did.. yet that didn’t happened.

“Are you alright, miss?” the stranger asked with worry in his voice, turning around and approaching her slowly.

Ditzy took a step back, her wings at ready to run.

“..I’m sorry, I didn’t want to scare you.” he added quickly and stopped in place. “You are that unfortunate mailmare I meet during the storm? Ditzy?”

She blinked, how could he recognize her if he cannot see. The mare nodded slowly, soon after scolding herself for the stupid idea, he wouldn’t see that gesture.

“Its nice to meet you under different circumstances. Allow me to introduce myself.. I’m Keeper.”

“I-.. I know..” she respond quietly, a bit proud of saying what she meant this time. “I.. wanted to.. thank you..”

“You are welcome, miss Ditzy. We need to help each other after all.” the stallion smiled softly.

A thought struck her when she stared at him like that, his mane, short and unkempt. There was no horn, he was an earth pony.. but back in the forest, she was caught into magical field.

“Haha! Look at that, two love birds herp and derp.” the brown pegasus laughed out loud together with his friends, hovering not far above them.

Ditzy whimpered and hung her head low, the bullies found her, ready to mock some more. It was hard to forget the group of colts from Cloudsdale, they always were after her and Fluttershy. And now, because of her they will bully him as well..

Keeper looked up into the sky towards the source of the sound, his ‘gaze’ following them all the way down as they landed nearby.

“Hey, look at this one, he is all kinds of messed up-..” the colt paused when they finally descended, the stallion was about half a head taller and approaching them.

“Imagine..” Keeper said calmly, when his hoof stomped down on the walkway. The web of cracks appeared on the stone slab, spreading from the point of the impact over the neighboring tiles. “..that this was your skull right here.”

Even Ditzy backed up when she felt the impact through the ground. The group of colts took off just as fast as they appeared. With the sound of panicked flaps of the wings the fountain area was clear once again.

“Forgive me for that display, Ditzy.” the stallion sighed quietly.

The mailmare smiled at the sight before her.. it was wrong but it still felt good to see them ran away like that, so far only Rainbow Dash managed to intimidate these bullies.

“I will leave you be.”

“Keeper.. w-wait..”

“Yes?”

“A-are.. are you.. hungry?”

“..I don’t want to be a bother, miss Ditzy.” the stallion paused.

“N-no.. I insist..” she stepped up closer, blocking his way at this point.

“..very well then.” he smiled softly and nodded.

Ditzy owned a small house at the edge of Ponyville, living there with her little sister, Dinky, and a roommate, Carrot Top, who helped pay the bills.

They offered him to stay as long as he had to, presented some of the local dishes made of apples and carrots. After long diet on grass and berries it felt like heaven. Spending time on cheerful talk the day quickly passed by for them.

When they retired to sleep, the stallion was still up, sitting in front of the fireplace. Should his eyes still work he would stare into the fire, allowing himself to wander back in time through his memories.. this place brought him some peace..

How many years it was, he asked himself in thought.. still returning with his memories to that unfortunate day. The ritual was ready, everything calculated with cold precision. It took him years to get where he was now, to learn all that knowledge, to acquire necessary materials.. to make this possible for one and for all.

“Twilight, dear. Do you remember about that project I told you I was working on?” he asked trotting through the Royal Academy library, Celestia’s student at his side.

“The new spell? Yes, yes I do.. did you finish it?” she asked with a smile, accompanying the librarian.

“I think so, I need to check it first, but as you know its supposed to be a surprise for the princess. So I need help from my number one assistant.” Keeper stopped before the room where he had prepared the ritual.

“Yes, sir!” Twilight beamed.

Keeper chuckled softly seeing her eagerness and moved on inside the ritual room. The student looked around curiously, it was the first time she got the chance to see this place from the inside, knowing better than to interrupt her friend’s important work.

The room was separated by a curtain in the middle, preventing her from seeing what is on the other side. After all it was meant to be a surprise, or at least that’s what she thought.

“I will need you to read this incantation Twilight, its part of the new spell and only unicorn can do it. Its very important component.” the stallion nodded at her, leading towards a podium with a scroll on top of it.

Twilight nodded eagerly, taking her job very seriously, after all they could be on mage-nific breakthrough here. With no delay she approached the podium, looking up the incantation; it was the weirdest thing she had to recite yet.

“Can you do it?”

“Yes.” the lavender unicorn nodded with determination on her face, feeling the excitement of taking a part in something important.

“Lets get it started, I will set everything on the other side and tell you when to start.” Keeper spoke up disappearing behind the curtain for a longer moment. “Alright, do it.. now.” he added when everything was ready.

If she had knew what was on the other side, she would never do it, she would name him a monster, everyone would.. but to abandon such chance, he was too stubborn. The grinded bone dust from dead unicorn’s horns, his own blood as binding spilled between the carved runes, it all made for a gruesome image behind the curtains.. all of it was carefully prepared so he could receive the gift of magic, as the first non-unicron pony in the world. A magical breakthrough that would benefit them all.

As predicted, through agonizing pain the dust fused into his skin, turning his coat into mosaic of rune shapes. That was within margin of the calculations, the effect on the outside however.. was not. The magical force released during the ritual destroyed the whole room, the curtains torn apart, walls and floor shattered by the impact.

He didn’t bother to see the effects on himself, his heart almost stopped at the thought of what might have happened, he rushed through the rubble to find the lavender mare buried somewhere in there. She was alright, the podium made for a shelter when the conjunction became unstable. But the radiation still could get to her..

The guards, alerted by the explosion rushed through library, trying to find out what happened and stop him in all this chaos.. but nothing could stop him right now, not when her life was on the line.

That memory was blurred, unclear, the adrenaline was fading, but his target was clear – get Twilight to safety. The raving earth pony shoved away the guards who happened to be in his way, thrown back by the frenzied strength or pushed aside by the new force he just acquired, he had to reach the medical wing with her on his back..

The medics focused on their work rather than ask any questions, she was going to be alright, at least that’s what they told him. It allowed him to catch a breath, to stop and rethink what was happening. The guards were already after him and he could feel something else, the immense power that was nearing. There could be no mistake to who that was.. Princess Celestia was alerted as well, what was he to tell her, what was he to do?

“Forgive me Twilight..” he whispered towards the flame, reliving the memory in his mind.

That was the last thing he said towards her, looking at the lavender mare in the hospital bed.. his mind then shifted focus to run. No, not on hooves. He made use of the newly gained power, but never specified where he wanted to run.. the wild magic decided it for him.

Keeper sighed quietly, it took him years to return to Equestria, bolstering the courage to face what might come upon his return. He used his hooves rather than magic, the bitter price he paid in the first place made him use it only when it was truly necessary.

Even beyond the borders he could hear the tales of the six mares from Ponyville, of Twilight Sparkle and her friends.. it warmed his heart, to know that she is more than just alright, that she became someone that everyone knew she will be. A hero.

When he started this journey each time he imagined the day of his return, fear paralyzed him. But with every step towards his homeland, the worry died out preparing him to accept the fate, accept whatever judgment they will pass onto him.

There was only one thing he was truly afraid of - what was to be and would be said when they meet again.