It's Mostly Safe at Night ... Mostly

The sun was beginning to set and the carriage crew had built a fire, and a large, plush, pink and gold trimmed cushion had been set on the ground for Prince Blueblood. Just off to his right was Ditzy, still blacked out from the pain of having set the bone in her broken wing herself. Blueblood had instructed that the mare be placed there, dumbfounding the crew who thought for certain he would order her chained to the carriage like an uncouth beast. Blueblood had other plans.

His years in Canterlot had been spent surrounded by ponies who for all intents and purposes, led an easy life. That meant that Blueblood had little chance to genuinely help ponies in a manner that did not require befriending them. But as he lounged beside Ditzy, he was helping her. Alicorns were possessors of all three magics of the pony races: the unicorn's spells, the pegasi's flight and weather manipulation, and the earth pony's subtle aura that let everything around it grow and heal faster.

The swelling in Ditzy's wing had lowered somewhat. The mare had begun to stir, softly whispering, "Dinky."

When Ditzy finally gained consciousness, the first thing she noticed was that her eyes had once again gone on their wayward paths. All the same, she tried to gather where she was; she saw a fire, three earth ponies, and to her left, Prince Blueblood.

Blueblood had noticed the change in her breathing and asked, "Are you awake?".

"Yes," Ditzy responded, not looking at Blueblood and keeping her eyes shut, nor raising herself from the ground.

She's either very weak or groveling, and my magic should have made the former impossible, Blueblood thought before sighing. Royal protocol be damned, he hated being groveled over.

"You're allowed to look at me, you know. You won't go blind," Blueblood stated, figuring some humor would set the mare at ease.

Ditzy merely shook her head; she didn't like it when anypony saw her eyes like they were, it always led to ridicule and mockery.

"Very well. Then answer my question: why did you crash, and why will you not look at me when granted to do so?"

Ditzy raised herself onto her hooves, noting that the pain in her wings had subsided. No hiding it now, I’ve been asked by royalty to answer a question. She opened her eyes. Her left eye was straying to the fire while the other looked at Blueblood.

The prince flinched slightly before nodding. "Ah, I understand."

An uncomfortable silence began. Compelled to break it, Blueblood spoke. "You are heading for Stalliongrad, correct?" Ditzy nodded, closing her eyes again.

"With that wing broken, you won't be able to fly, but you may accompany us, for we are traveling to Stalliongrad, as well."

With this Ditzy's eyes snapped open. She was being permitted to travel with royalty? He probably thinks I'd make a good court jester. The grey mare's ears wilted at the thought.

~~~

"Damnable old forests, two hours and I still haven't found a sapling the right size," grumbled Old Trail, the earth pony leader of the carriage crew.

He had served as a carriage puller for the Canterlot family for twenty years. He had come to know every road in Equestria, and a few outside of it as well; it was his special talent, navigating roadways. His cutie mark was a map with a large red X planted in the left corner. Always confounded my parents with how I was able to get through the corn maze with absolutely no problems.

He looked up to the forest around him. Immense pine trees cracked the earth around him and shot up to the vaulted ceiling of Equestria itself. The sun was lowering and Luna's night was spreading across the expanse of the heavens, individual lights becoming visible as time went on.

"I better just head back, no sense trundling about in the dark like a foal. Boss is going to have my hide for this," Old Trail mumbled to himself.

Turning around, the stallion saw something that had escaped his notice before: a tree that could easily be carved by hoof into a spare axle.

"Oh, thank Celestia," Old Trail sighed.

The brown earth pony reached for the ax he had slung across his back and gripped it firmly in his mouth. He swung the ax at the tree and a satisfying thunk, accompanied by a fresh gouge in the wood, made Old Trail smile with the ax in his mouth.

Continuing to work at the tree, the brown stallion didn't notice that a few hundred feet away, barely visible through the trees, was an Ursa Major in its ghostly, ethereal state. The celestial bear sniffed at the air, noticing an unfamiliar scent. Turning its head towards the source it could make out the sound of something marking its territory, gouging out one of his trees. The Ursa prowled towards the stallion, ethereal paws making not a sound until it willed the clawed clubs to enter a corporeal state.

With a satisfied final swing, the stallion felled the sapling. The Ursa Major felled a three hundred and sixty four year old pine, toppling it towards the hapless steed just as he shifted position where he was standing to put away his ax. The tree missed by exactly one and five sixteenths of an inch.

Looking behind him, the stallion's eyes contracted to pins as millions of years of equine evolution bid him perform one action... run.

~~~

Ditzy was fading off to peaceful slumber when a yell sounded in the distance. It was yelling for help and Ditzy raised her head, ears swiveling to pinpoint the sound. Prince Blueblood had done the same seconds earlier; he looked into the forest and saw Old Trail running towards them.

The stallion reached the camp and started taking huge gasps of air.

"What happened?" Blueblood demanded. "What is it?"

Old Trail tried to explain between breaths, adrenaline still coursing through his veins and screaming that he keep running "It's a... It's a..."

"Calm down, and then speak," Blueblood instructed. Just then, a thundering sound became audible.

"URSA MAJOR!" the stallion screamed when the sound reached his ears.

The cosmic Ursa crested the top of a hill, knocking over a tree and roared. It charged toward the road and sunk out of sight again. The carriage crew and Ditzy were running about, not sure which direction to take. The earth ponies ran up the road, but Ditzy ran to the carriage and hid underneath.

Blueblood stood his ground, waiting for the Ursa to appear again. The Ursa entered Blueblood's sight to his left and the alicorn began charging his magic. The Ursa looked at the carriage and saw Ditzy huddled underneath. Taking a tentative step, the Ursa lifted a paw to swipe the carriage away, or it would have, had a bolt of magic not collided with the limb, bending it back till bones snapped.

The predacious creature turned to Blueblood, horn glowing as he set up another spell. This one struck it squarely in the jaw; the monstrosity could see stars, and not the ones in the sky or on its body either. Stumbling about the creature shook its head. When it saw it was facing away from its hoofed assailant, it began running away as fast as it could, a pitiful pace with its near severed limb.

Ditzy had her eyes shut the whole time, terrified of the end. She only opened them when she heard a voice speak, “It’s gone."

The mare opened her eyes and saw Blueblood looking at her. She scuttled out from underneath the carriage and looked at the white stallion. "Thank you."

"It was nothing," Blueblood said quickly. "Now, lets find those blasted drivers."

Ditzy grabbed her saddlebag in her mouth and they set off down the road. Soon, they saw the earth ponies gathered on the next hill. Blueblood and Ditzy trotted to them and Old Trail and the others bowed.

"Your Majesty, please forgive us, had we known you weren't behind us—"

"Stop," Blueblood commanded, his voice leaving little room for any other interpretation. "It’s obvious that fixing the axle is out of the question with Ursa Majors and Celestia knows what else prowling about. We walk."

"But, sir, I found a tree that would—!" Old Trail was cut off by the distant sound of a wounded animal and a pained snarl echoing in the distance. Old Trail turned to the others and gave out his own instructions. "Get the Prince's bags, when we get to Edmaneton, we can arrange for the carriage to be salvaged and take a train to Stalliongrad."

The four earth ponies went back to the carriage, and Blueblood called out, "The two green ones can stay behind." With that, he looked to Ditzy, who was simply looking at him. Same coat color, same mane, eye color, even that, just like Constant Vigil.

Ditzy spoke, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have stopped, I should have run."

Blueblood shook his head, realizing he had begun to stare. "You're right, you should have."

Minutes later, the four earth ponies returned with bags in tow and the six set off down the trail.

~~~

Twilight lifted her hoof to the door of Cheerilee's home. She needed to talk to the teacher pony about her intended course of action. What if I'm going too far? I mean, watching over Dinky while she has recess? She took a deep breath: that was what she was here for, and Spike had seemed accepting of the idea once she had explained it. Still, a third opinion wouldn't hurt. Images of Twilight’s incident with the ‘Want it, Need it’ spell ran through her mind. Don’t want to end up with something like that again. The purple mare shuddered before knocking on the door.

Cheerilee's singsong voice came out, "Coming!" The door opened and the dark magenta earth pony was standing there. "Oh, hello, Twilight! Did you want to talk about Spike's education?"

"No, Miss Cheerilee, I came here to talk to you about one of your students," Twilight replied. Cheerilee nodded, stood to one side, and let the lavender mare into her abode.

The living room was painted a soft sky blue and several lounge chairs were arranged around a central table. To the right, an open door led to the small kitchen, and to the left, a hallway that Twilight guessed would terminate in a bathroom or a bedroom.

The two mares sat on two of the chairs and Twilight began, "It's about Dinky Hooves, Ditzy Doo's daughter."

Cheerilee nodded at this. "She's been bullied again, hasn't she? I try to keep an eye out for all my students, but... I have to teach every grade in Ponyville and..."

It was now Twilight's turn to nod and the purple mare interrupted, "I understand, which is why, with your permission, I'd like to come to the school playground tomorrow and keep an eye out on Dinky, and everypony else."

Cheerilee lifted her head at this. "You'd do that? What about your studies?"

"I can bring some of my books from the library. There's one more thing." Twilight levitated a camera out of a saddle bag. "I tried talking to the bully's father, but he didn't listen to me. If I see anypony bullying Ditzy, I'll take a picture and show it to the parent." The element of magic lowered her head and cast a glance at Cheerilee. "That doesn't seem excessive to you, does it?"

Cheerilee brought her hoof around Twilight's shoulder. "It might anger some ponies, but if this is what's needed for Dinky, and others, to learn in a safe environment, I can accept that. I couldn't think of a pony to trust more with such a weighty issue, just..." Cheerilee thought for a moment.

"Try and be discreet." Twilight nodded after she finished Cheerilee's thought.

~~~

It was night time. Twilight had returned home to the library and explained her plan to Dinky. The grey filly had at first been worried about what bullies might try to do if they found out Dinky now had a watchful guardian if she was ever left alone, but she had accepted Twilight's offer.

Now Dinky was in bed, breathing quietly. On the nightstand, the diamond Spike had given her caught small amounts of moonlight. The light refracted within the gem and cast a pattern reminiscent of the night sky around the room. The scene was tranquil, but inside Dinky's mind, all was unsound.

"Derpy! I'm home!" A blue coated earth pony walked into the house and stumbled. He eyed Dinky, who was sitting on the carpeted floor of the living room. "Heya darling, where's yer mother?"

"I'm right here." In the hallway, Ditzy was standing there, staring at the stallion.

The blue earth pony sidled over to Ditzy and began rubbing her chin. "Hello there, my sweet little darling, show me your pretty lil' eyes."

"You're drunk, and you know my strabismus doesn't work like that," Ditzy stated.

"Now Derpy, I've been working hard today and I thought I'd have a special treat." The stallion breathed the moist scent of alcohol onto the pegasus mare. "I think you should work me hard now."

He reached a hoof over Ditzy's flank and brought it down hard. Ditzy gave an indignant cry before scowling. "Not in front of our daughter!"

The stallion turned to Dinky and ordered flatly, "Stay."

The two adult ponies left Dinky to her studies. She had hardly noticed the exchange, reading a book about the jungles of Zebrica. When she closed the book at the end of the chapter, she walked to her parent's room and knocked.

"Mommy, I'm hungry, can you make me something?" Dinky called out.

There was a brief pause before Ditzy's voice hissed. "Not now, Happy Hour, our daughter comes first!"

"Oh, no, the brat can wait, you look starved yourself, c'mere, I got something for ya."

Dinky called through the door, "If mommy's hungry she can make something for herself, too. Do you want anything dad?"

At this, a curse word sounded from the door and the sound of four hooves stomping came towards the door. When it opened Happy Hour, Ditzy's husband, Dinky's father, and enraged earth pony came out with his backside covered in a fuschia quilt. Dinky laughed at the sight despite herself, her daddy was wearing pink!

"You think it's funny what you're doing?” the blue stallion’s voice raised slightly and he glared at his daughter.

Dinky cowed her head and started shaking it. Soon a tremor formed over her body as her father continued to stare down at her. "Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" Happy Hour pressed.

"I don't know," Dinky replied.

"How can you not know!?"

Tears started forming at the edges of Dinky's eyes. "Please don't yell, daddy."

The blue stallion took a deep breath and whispered. "This isn't yelling. THIS IS YELLING!!!"

Dinky was now crying and sobbing. Ditzy appeared in the doorway behind her husband. "Honey, there's no need to do that, you scared her!"

Happy Hour slammed the door shut leaving Dinky to bawl outside her parent's bedroom. Inside Ditzy's cries of protest could be heard. After that night, Dinky had learned to always keep on the tip of her tongue two little words she thought would placate her father.

"I'm sorry."

Dinky's eyes snapped open and she shifted her position in bed. Immediately, the small draft felt much too cold. Sniffing, Dinky wretched at the smell, and at her body's incontinence.

~~~

Twilight awoke to the sound of a sink running. That's strange, Twilight thought as she sat up in her bed. She got up from bed and carefully plodded to her door, careful not to wake Spike, and walked to the bathroom where the sound was coming from. The lavender mare opened the door and there sat Dinky in front of the sink. Filling a bucket with steaming water, behind her a pile of sheets was cast in a pile. Part of a slightly yellow stain showing on a corner.

"Dinky," Twilight called softly.

The grey unicorn flinched, looking over and turning the tap off quickly. "I'm sorry!"

"It's okay. Did you have a nightmare?" Twilight smiled warmly at the filly, noticing Dinky had gathered some detergent and soap before hoof.

Dinky nodded her head gently, avoiding eye contact and rolling back and forth on her haunches.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Dinky shook her head. When Twilight got close she sniffed. Dinky was a little ripe. "Let's get you cleaned up first."

Twilight went over to her tub and turned on the water. She put a few inches of the lukewarm liquid into the tub before bidding Dinky to enter. The young unicorn obliged and Twilight levitated a cup into the bathtub. She took a scoop of water and poured it over Dinky slowly, careful not to get any in the filly's eyes.

"Dinky, if I tell you something secret, will you tell me about your nightmare?" Twilight asked..

Dinky squinted her eyes in concentration, then said, "Okay."

"When I was fifteen, I was really nervous about failing a test I was going to take; I studied so much, I was so tired the night before the test I drank three cups of coffee to try and stay up so I could study some more. When I fell asleep, I dreamed I had failed the test. Do you know what happened then?" Twilight grinned at the filly, she had only ever told Fluttershy about this before.

Dinky shook her head.

"I was so scared that I wet the bed! At fifteen! Hahaha!" Twilight chuckled and took a breath. "So you see, Dinky, you don't have to be sorry, your body will stop doing things like this, you just have to be patient."

Dinky smiled. The thought of Twilight as some panicked teenager struck a chord with the filly, as if it was the easiest thing in the world to imagine.

"So, can you tell me what you dreamed about now?" Twilight asked.

"I dreamt about my dad."

Twilight lifted her head. Dinky's night terrors are about her dad? "What happened in the dream?"

"He yelled at me." Dinky started rocking in the tub as Twilight squirted some shampoo into Dinky's mane.

"Why?"

"I don't know, he was angry, but he never told me why." Tears were forming again in the young filly's eyes.

Twilight turned on the shower head and started rinsing Dinky, not pressing the matter any further. Tears mixed with soapy water and washed down the drain. Left in the tub was a clean filly that stood up. Twilight levitated a towel over and dried Dinky. Soon, the grey unicorn was outside the tub and her horn glowed, the bucket in the sink lifted up and settled on the floor.

"It's okay, Dinky, I can wash those in the morning, let's get your bed made with some fresh sheets," Twilight said, nudging the filly with her muzzle.

Twilight and Dinky stepped into the guest room where they saw Spike tugging at the last corner of a sheet. He turned around and saw the two unicorns looking at him.

"Oh, uh, hey guys," Spike said, shifting nervously.

"And here I thought you were the heavy sleeper," Twilight giggled.

"Well, it's pretty hard to sleep with a waterfall going on the next room over," Spike deadpanned, tilting his head and shrugging.

Twilight chuckled for a few seconds. Dinky simply smiled until Spike looked at her; the grey filly stopped and mouthed 'I'm sorry' to Spike.

"It's alright." Spike smiled and stepped back into the hallway. The purple dragon yawned and stepped to his bed once more. At least I get the library to myself tomorrow.

Dinky hopped onto the bed and Twilight tucked her into bed. "Good night, Dinky."

"Good night, Miss Sparkle."