Dinky Doo liked facts. She liked the pure simplicity of them. She liked the way that the word sounded: sharp, unyielding and final. Her favorite thing about the word, though, was that there was no way that the word could humiliate you.
Not that that would be possible, due to the genetic improbability, she thought to herself, smiling slightly. She turned another page in her book and glanced at the hourglass in the middle of the Canterlot Royal Library. Her time was almost up. She sighed and glanced at the page again, frowning. The Legend of Nightmare Moon. Strange—she'd never heard of it before, and there was rarely a story that she hadn't heard of.
"Hey, Spike?" she called. The tiny purple dragon poked his head out from behind a bookshelf, his arms full of books.
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever heard of this fairy tale?" She levitated the book over to him, the pink glow of magic making the book look ethereal.
He took a brief glance at it. "Nope," he said, suppressing a yawn. "C'mon, Dinky, let's get going. Princess Celestia said that she likes you to be at the castle by five P.M., remember?"
"Of course I remember." She sighed and took a final glance at the book. Being the personal student of a demigoddess might have its advantages, but it had its disadvantages as well, the major issue being that the Princess happened to be a stickler for getting back to the castle on time. Although Dinky was a full-grown mare, Celestia still insisted that she checked in with her before each went off to their own private suites.
"Come on, Dinky," whined Spike, his green scales flopping down. "When you get in trouble, I get in trouble. And you don't want to get sent back to magic kindergarten, right?"
Dinky half-laughed, absentmindedly turning the page in her book. "That's not possible, Spike. Although it's possible to be held back a grade, the possibility that Princess Celestia would send me back to magic kindergarten, even though I'm finished with schooling, is almost—"
"It was a joke, Dinky," said Spike flatly. "Let's get going, okay? Oh, for the love of—" He marched over to the desk and crossed his arms. "You're getting into a book coma again, aren't you?"
It took Dinky a few moments to register her assistant's words. "Spike, have you ever heard anything about Nightmare Moon?"
He snickered. "Dinky, are you really getting preoccupied by a legend about Nightmare Night? Ooh, does it say something spoooooooky about how she stole some pony's candy?" He collapsed on the floor with laughter, a tear pooling at the corner of his eye.
Dinky scowled but didn't allow herself to be distracted. "It's just that there's this legend about her," she said. "It says that Princess Celestia imprisoned her in the moon, but on the thousandth anniversary of her imprisonment, she will escape from the prison and bring eternal night to all of Equestria." She turned to Spike, her eyes wide. "And you know what day the anniversary of her imprisonment is, right?"
Spike stared at her blankly. "Uh . . ."
Dinky groaned. "The Summer Sun Celebration, Spike! Do you ever listen? I did a thirty-page essay on the history of the SSC last year!" She cleared her throat. "Anyway, the thousandth anniversary of the Summer Sun Celebration is in less than a week! Do you understand what this means?"
A smirk traced Spike's face. "That Nightmare Moon's going to steal everypony's candy?"
Dinky took this opportunity to hurl the book of legends at Spike. He caught it gracefully and added it to the pile of books next to him. Dinky sighed and finally heaved herself out of the chair. She levitated half of the stack of books and let Spike take the rest.
"There's something fishy about this whole thing," said Dinky slowly. "Spike? Could you take a letter?"
Spike groaned and tossed the books on the floor. "Ugh! Fine!" He pulled a quill out from behind his ear and held his claw out for one of Dinky's ever-present sheets of parchment. He scrawled wildly while Dinky dictated.
"Okay, Spike, write this: Dear Princess Celestia, it has come to my attention that the Summer Sun Celebration is coming up. Unfortunately, this wonderful celebration will be destroyed if we do not take action! The destruction of all of Ponyville is imminent. Nightmare Moon, the pony that you banished to the moon all those years ago, is going to break out of her prison in the moon and cause nightfall to last forever. I advise you to do something about this immediately. Your faithful student, Dinky Doo."
Spike blew on the ink to dry it and rolled it up. "Seems kind of . . . blunt, doesn't it?" he said, glancing at Dinky. She looked down at him blankly.
"Blunt? Huh? These are just facts, Spike."
Spike sighed and hunched his shoulders. "Yeah, okay, Dinky. Whatever." He opened his mouth and let a stream of green fire pour out. The letter to the princess disappeared in a puff of smoke. "You know, Princess Celestia might not want to answer you immediately. You know how busy she is."
Dinky sighed. "Of course I know how busy she is. But I'm important to her, so she'll answer my question immediately, with utmost respect and thanks." She lifted her chin up in the air and smiled, enjoying basking in her own glory for a moment. Then she dropped her self-righteous pose and rubbed Spike's scales. "Of course, I've also got a special dragon sending my letters. I've got him to thank for getting all my letters to her on time in a way that nopony else can send their letters."
Spike chuckled and ducked away from beneath her lavender hoof. "Yes, yes, it's all so true. So—" He cut himself off and held out a hoof. He breathed fire again, but this time, a letter popped out. Dinky smiled when she recognized the princess' signature red ribbon and gold seal.
"See, Spike?" she said, smiling and crossing one hoof over the other. "I told you that she'd answer my letter immediately."
"Yeah, yeah." Spike unrolled the letter and cleared his throat. Dinky smiled and closed her eyes, waiting to hear the praise of her mentor.
"To my most faithful student, Dinky Doo," Spike began. "I have received your information about the Summer Sun Celebration. I thank you for studying this famous holiday and the history behind it, and I hope that I will see you at the upcoming one."
Dinky smiled and nodded to herself, basking in the praise. Spike glanced at her, a small smile on his face. He continued to read in a slightly louder voice.
"However, I'm afraid that what you read is little more than an old mare's tale. Fortunately, this letter of yours has brought something to my attention: You are spending far too much time reading those old books!"
Dinky's eyes snapped open. "What?" she blurted out, her heart pounding. "What does she mean, I'm spending too much time reading 'those old books?' I wouldn't be her personal student if I didn't spend so much time reading books! What is she talking about?"
Spike regarded her with amusement. "Done yet?"
"Yes." She sulked and glared at the floor while Spike continued to read the rest of the letter.
"In an attempt to get you out of that library and stop performing silly old spells, I have arranged for you to stay in Ponyville for the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration. You will be in charge of making sure that everything is perfectly arranged, which I know you have experience. I suggest trying to make friends with the ponies of Ponyville! Your teacher and mentor, Princess Celestia." Spike looked up at Dinky expectantly. "Uh, Dinky? You okay?"
"Ponyville?" said Dinky, feeling her voice squeak and crack. "P-Ponyville?"
"Uh, yeah." Spike looked at her askance. "What's wrong with—oh, wait." He half-smiled. "It's the place where—"
"DON'T SAY IT!" Dinky's voice seemed to echo around the enormous library. Spike stared at her. She blushed. Being soft-spoken had its issues, the main issue being that whenever you raised your voice, everypony stared at you like you had killed somepony.
"Okay, then," muttered Spike, glancing up at Dinky. "You are going to do it, right?"
Dinky let out a slow hiss of air. "The princess has instructed me to, and I must obey her," she said, picking up the books again and slowly walking out the door. "I can't tell her that I'm not going to do it."
Spike picked up his pile of books and jogged after her. "Even the part about meeting new ponies?" he asked, tucking the letter away into one of the books. Dinky shot a harsh glare at him.
"Princess Celestia can force me to go to Ponyville, and she can force me to not worry about Nightmare Moon," she replied. "But there are some things that she can't force me to do, and being friendly to other ponies is one of them." She lengthened her strides and kept her chin high, praying that Spike couldn't see the panic in her eyes.
Spike sighed and followed her. "Uh-huh. Sure, Dinky," he said. Dinky's tail flicked in irritation. Why did everypony always act like her not wanting to be social and go to Ponyville was such a bad thing? The truth was that she had problems with Ponyville that she'd rather not think about. She'd never enjoy herself in such a simplistic town like Ponyville. And that was a fact.
