Long Roads

It was early morning, and Ditzy, Blueblood, and the earth ponies were packing up the camp they had made after walking for another hour the previous night. The earth ponies had taken turns keeping watch, all hoping that no other creatures would rise from the forest. Ditzy was trying to grab a flint and tinder box one of the earth ponies had put to the side after making the fire, but her strabismus was acting up again and she instead bit down on a dusty rock.

"Phah!" Ditzy spat out the pebble and shut her left eye and leaned down once more to pick up the tinder box. Succeeding this time, she walked over to Old Trail and deposited the Tinderbox in the bag of supplies he kept.

"Thanks," Old Trail said, eyeing a map in front of him.

Blueblood walked by and gave the map a quick once over before he spoke up. "If we leave in twenty minutes, we'll get to Edmaneton by high noon. Chop chop!"

Old Trail scrutinized the map and frowned for a moment. His eyebrows then lifted and he began to nod. "So we will..." he muttered. The stallion looked around and noted that everything else had been packed. "Alright! Let's get moving!"

The group traveled forward, Blueblood leading the way, and Ditzy taking up the rear. The sun rose and as the group moved on, the steady incline of the mountain range led them past forest-covered hills and to a large, flat plateau. Blueblood slowed his pace until he was by Old Trail's side.

"Lead the way, I grow tired setting the pace," Blueblood told the brown stallion.

Blueblood slowed more until he was beside Ditzy. "I am curious, what are you doing delivering something like sandals to a northern settlement like Stalliongrad?"

"My boss gave me the task, and now I have to do it," Ditzy answered, keeping her eyes forward.

"Must be a fashion statement in the north, it’s been a long time since I've been there," Blueblood responded.

"One and a half years, haven't been here since I..."

"Since you what?" Blueblood asked.

"Since I left my husband, or more appropriately, he left me," Ditzy responded. He was royalty, who was she to refuse his questions?

Married previously? One less point for her being a suggestion from Celestia, it's final, she's legit, Blueblood thought. He owed his auntie a big apology after doubting when she had promised. But where does that leave me? I can't rightly project the feelings I had for Constant Vigil on this mare, still...  Blueblood noticed that Ditzy's eye had wandered to look at him, she almost immediately shut it tight.

"Why are you so ashamed of that? It's nothing you can change," Blueblood asked.

"Because I get ridiculed for it, I can't see properly whenever this happens and I bump into things, drop things, if it lasts long enough I get a migraine." Ditzy's voice was trying to keep level, but a slightly irritated intonation had worked its way in.

"Sounds like something ponies in Canterlot would do," Blueblood commented.

"You disagree with it, then?" the grey pegasus asked.

"Completely, it’s simply vulgar to have to point out the flaws in others to feel good about oneself, it’s all those ministers and aristocrats ever seem to do when they're around me."

"Sounds like you don't have a taste for politics." Ditzy had started to smile, her eyes still closed. The road was straight, so she had yet to stray far from the center.

"Mostly just the sycophants and the ones who don't speak candidly; I guess I prefer to navigate in a much more literal sense," Blueblood replied, smiling and looking at the surroundings. Mountains stretched in the distance, and the road was very much flat with only a few dips in the distance.

"What do you mean?" Ditzy asked. With this, Blueblood stopped. Uh oh, asked a royal what they meant, guess that's taboo, the grey pegasus thought.

Blueblood looked behind his shoulder and used his magic to lift a corner of his jacket, a depiction of the cardinal directions was on his flank. "Always had a way for getting around things when I was younger, could find the quickest path from point A to point B without too much trouble."

"So that's your special talent?" Ditzy asked, relieved that she had not offended.

"Yes, guidance, in the most literal sense, used to be called the God of Safe Passage."

"What happen—!" Ditzy shut her mouth, realizing that her next question may well have been going too far.

"I'd... rather not talk about it right now," Blueblood answered morosely.

The Prince began trotting back to the head of the group and walking beside Old Trail. It had been a while since Blueblood had thought about his past. Now he realized that tangentially, marginally, he had something in common with the stallion beside him. He looked out to the steppes all around and the wide sky fringed by snowcapped mountains far away. Wind blew over the flat plains and cast a waving pattern in the grass like waves on the ocean.

"Sweet Celestia, this place is flat!" called out a colt from behind. "Do the ponies here know what up and down are?"

"Head Start, pipe down, no complaining about the job," Old Trail called back.

"It ain't the job, it's the scenery! It's worse than Manehattan! Sure, it had buildings everywhere, but at least it had that park in the middle of it!" the young colt responded.

Old Trail opened his mouth to protest when Blueblood lifted a hoof to his shoulder. "No need, he'll pipe down once Edmaneton is in sight, then, it’s a train ride to Stalliongrad."

"What about your clothes, sir? The ones in the bags we left?"

"I can always buy more at Stalliongrad, pick up the ones we left on the way back," Blueblood responded.

"Sir, permission to speak freely?"

Blueblood lifted his eyebrow before nodding. "Granted."

"I've never seen you act so... relaxed before." Old Trail hesitated. When Blueblood gave him an inquisitive, but understanding look, the earth pony continued. "It’s just that, with everything that's happened, I thought you would be fuming."

Blueblood chuckled at this. "I guess I was craving a little excitement, and it's been granted."

"Excitement, eh? Well, that sounds more like the prince we know and love."

Blueblood turned his head away. I'm letting ponies get close to me! I can't do that! What if I lose them?! What if I can't get them all to Stalliongrad and back... His thoughts turned to his cousin, Princess Cadence, she had been going through similar thoughts. She was worried that when her husband Shining Armour died, she'd begin to doubt that the love she felt was worth it. A few months after that, with a distended belly full of the next addition to the Royal Family, she had told him something.

"It will be painful, yes, but the joy is worth it in the end," Blueblood muttered under his breath.

"Hey, hey! Look over there!" the colt Head Start yelled.

Over in the distance, Blueblood could make out the outline of their waypoint. Edmaneton, sometimes called the gateway to the north, was a distinctive town, surprisingly cosmopolitan despite being so far from Canterlot. From it, extended a series of rail lines travelling east and west. Blueblood gave a satisfied sigh. Perhaps he could let himself appreciate some leisure, looking back at Ditzy again, he noted that her eyes were open, guiding her properly.

~~~

Twilight was sitting at the top of a hill. In the valley below, she could see the Ponyville Schoolhouse; the neat red building was quiet for the moment, and Twilight was content to read her book. Glancing up occasionally, the unicorn took in the scenery: beside her was a tree, its verdant green leaves soaking up the sun and leaving Twilight in a comfortable shade. In the distance, the Whitetail Woods were visible in one direction. In another direction, she could see Sweet Apple Acres' barn. The blue cloudless sky oversaw a quiet pristine landscape.

The quiet, however, was disturbed when the younger foals started trotting out the school door for a recess period. The purple unicorn looked around and saw Dinky step outside with a book gripped in her magic. She sat next to a sandbox and opened the book. Twilight observed the grey filly from a distance, looking down at her own book occasionally.

Soon, Cheerilee appeared in the school doorway and called out that recess was over. Twilight noted that Dinky was the first inside with an eager smile on her face. With her observation finished, the unicorn devoted herself entirely to reading until a soft grumble emanated from her stomach. Twilight took her body's cue to tend to it and levitated a daisy-and-dandelion sandwich out from her saddle bag. She took a bite out of it and smiled at the bittersweet taste. Next, she brought out an apple, and bit into it. The purple unicorn smiled at the prospect that Dinky was very likely inside the school eating her own lunch.

When Twilight had finished eating, she began reading again. She was fascinated to learn that the Dragonguard Mountains, by comparison to those near Ponyville, were largely devoid of gemstone deposits near the surface.

"I'm sure that would make life hard for Rarity." Twilight chuckled before she noticed the door to the school open again and all the school children flood out.

School was out for the day, but many ponies gathered with their groups of friends and talked for a time. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo went off for Sweet Apple Acres. Snips and Snails went off to the Whitetail Woods. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were walking off, heads held high and stomping towards Ponyville. Pipsqueak and Rumble were doing Celestia knows what, bucking at imagined foes and fantasizing about treasure, no doubt.

Then there was Dinky; she had trotted out of the door last and looked around the playground. She then started galloping towards Ponyville. Twilight stood up, gathered her things and went down the hill to Dinky.

Dinky had slowed to a canter when Twilight reached her; the grey filly beamed at the purple unicorn.

"Thank you for being here to walk me back to the library, Twilight," Dinky said happily.

"You're welcome, Dinky. Did you learn anything new in school today?" Twilight asked.

"We practiced a lot of different types of math today: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division. It was fun!" The blonde maned unicorn's eyes almost seemed to glimmer in the afternoon sun. "Did you learn anything new today, Twilight?"

"As a matter of fact, I did," Twilight responded. "You know where your mother is traveling to right now? I learned all about the mountains near it."

"Neat!"

Twilight gave a contented sigh, glad she didn't have to intervene in anything on today... but still, something bothered her.

"Dinky," Twilight began.

"Yes?"

"You told me the other day that you don't have any friends. Wouldn't you like to have friends?" Twilight asked, lowering her head slightly.

"It'd be nice, but whenever I talk to anypony they get angry at me, or I get angry at them."

Twilight's ears flicked up of their own accord to listen intently. "Give me an example, if you can think of any."

"Well, a few weeks ago I was talking to, uuuuhhh..." The grey filly winced, "White coat, unicorn, purple and pink mane, blank flank..."

"Sweetie Belle?" Twilight offered.

"Yeah! She was talking about how much she liked singing, then I told her that I didn't really like music ‘cause it was annoying and distracting. We got in an argument about how you should just keep mean thoughts to yourself," the grey filly concluded.

Sounds like the kind of bluntness Applejack would display, Twilight thought to herself.

"And then just a few days ago, I was talking to... Scootaloo, I think. Orange coat, purple mane, goes around in a scooter all the time?" Twilight nodded to the grey unicorn foal before Dinky continued. "I was talking about the math test I got a high score on, sixteen out of seventeen questions, she asked me if I was cheating and I yelled at her; she said she was just joking. I know she really was just joking, but at the time, I just..."

Twilight was running over all the things she knew about Dinky. Bullied at school, unpleasant experiences with her father, studious in school to the point of self isolation, highly selective memory, bed-wetting, minimal social skills, intriguingly high level of magical ability. Ditzy wasn't kidding when she said her daughter had special needs. The two unicorns reached the library and Twilight let Dinky and herself inside.

The purple unicorn prepared an afternoon snack for Dinky and then sat on her couch in thought. How to help her... well, she definitely needs help making friends.

Twilight chuckled as she voiced her next thought. "Hopefully helping Dinky with that doesn't involve sending my brother to the moon."

She looked to a calendar and noted that tomorrow was the day for Rarity's tea party and get-together with the rest of the girls. Maybe I can talk to Rarity and Applejack to convince their sisters to give Dinky a chance?

Dinky stepped out of the kitchen and let out a small burp. "Excuse me," Dinky said, looking down to the floor.

Twilight laughed. "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Spike normally can't stand my cooking, though it doesn't help that my oven doesn't have a 'priceless gem' setting."

This teased a giggle out of the foal. "Thank you, Twilight. What are we going to do tomorrow?"

"Well, I was considering letting you and Spike do what you two wanted to do. I'm having friends over and I'd like to talk with them tomorrow."

"Okay!" Dinky said, rather compliant to spending time with the dragon.

Most ponies experienced a bit of trepidation when first meeting Spike. A warranted reaction given the somewhat greedy and violent tendencies adult dragons had been recorded showing. What confused Twilight, however, was that despite two occasions where Spike had caused Dinky to cry, the filly was willing to forgive.

The purple mare set to her work of organizing the A-D section of the library. Spike's gift to Dinky, one of the diamonds he had intended to eat, must have had the right impact.