The Daughter Doo: Honorary Cutie Mark Crusader

Chapters

1 - Sell Them for A Hundred
2 - Less Easy
3 - The Best Mushroom
4 - More Than a Paltry Kick
5 - All You Need is a Smirk
6 - Doesn't Look Like a Skiff
7 - With Our Resources
8 - Eggs on Toothpicks
9 - It Was an Aqua-Duck
10 - Are We Getting Off or Not?
11 - Way Tinier Windows
12 - Sorry, Random Pony
13 - Bad Taste in Heroes
14 - All Pretty Shook Up
15 - Some Secret Something
Epilogue

1 - Sell Them for A Hundred

Chapter One
Sell Them for A Hundred

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS TAKEN TWIN TRACKERS! YAY!”

Suspended in the air for a moment, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Dinky Doo clapped their hooves together to punctuate their cheer. The quartet landed and leapt into Scootaloo’s wagon, laughing and whooping amongst themselves.

Scootaloo aimed her scooter straight for the train station and took off as fast as her wings could buzz. Mid-jolt, Sweetie Belle caught Dinky around the middle before the littlest filly tumbled out the back.

“You’ll get used to that,” Sweetie said, plopping Dinky between herself and Apple Bloom.

Dinky giggled. “Thanks,” she said with an embarrassed smile.

“There’s an art to bein’ a crusader,” Apple Bloom said proudly, watching thatch roof houses zip past them on both sides. “You’ll catch on quick enough, I reckon.”

“I hope so.” Dinky grew serious and nodded for emphasis. “I’ll do my very best, I promise.”

“Awww!” Sweetie hugged her from the side. “I’m sure your best will be the best of all of us!”

“Only time will tell, which we don’t have a whole lot of!” Scootaloo shouted over her shoulder. “Let’s get to the train station and hurry to Manehattan.”

Dinky’s face instantly paled. “Wait… right now?”

“Well, yeah!” Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Rainbow and them left hours ago. What if they’re lost? Or they got captured by the foalnappers? Or worst! What if they already found the Cake’s twins?”

Apple Bloom’s brow lowered. “Uhhh, wouldn’t that be a good thing?”

Scootaloo snorted. “Well, yeah, of course, but… y’know, then our trip would be for nothing. If we leave right now and help them out, we’ll get an adventure and nobody will be mad at us!” She smiled at Dinky. “Isn’t that what you want?”

Dinky gulped. “I guess so…”

“Great!” Scootaloo swerved around a corner, carrying the four of them closer to the station at a drift.

When they reached the ticket window, there was no one behind the glass. Sweetie Belle squinted at a nearby schedule and read out loud: “‘Express Train to Manehattan, seven thirty five’.”

Scootaloo found a clock on the wall of the station. “That’s in thirty minutes! Perfect!”

“‘Tickets are twenty six bits per passenger’,” Sweetie Belle continued.

“Twenty six!?” Scootaloo’s eyes darted from pony to little pony in her wagon. “Dang it! That’s, like… sixty, er… something…”

“It’s a hund’rd and four bits fer all of us,” said Apple Bloom.

“A hundred and four!?” Scootaloo groaned and slid her hooves over her face. “Isn’t there some kind of child discount? Jeez!”

“Where are we gonna get that kinda money in thirty minutes?” asked Apple Bloom with a defeated stare.

Sweetie Belle tapped one hoof into the other repeatedly, mouthing something silently. Suddenly she beamed and nodded. “Yep, she’s right. It’s a hundred and four.”

“I know how to count, Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom droned. “We gotta lotta trees that need countin’.”

“I was just double checking,” Sweetie muttered.

“Shut up, shut up!” Scootaloo shut her eyes and plugged her ears. “There’s gotta be ― Do any of you have a savings account?”

“I got a few bits back home under my mattress,” said Apple Bloom, shrugging.

“I have a cute little piggy bank!” said Sweetie Belle. She frowned. “But it’s empty.”

Dinky shook her head. “Sorry.”

Scootaloo sighed heavily and slapped her hoof against one of her scooter handles. “Okay, uh… well, we can’t ask Rarity or Applejack because they’ll wanna know what it’s for… and I don’t wanna push my luck with my parents because I’m gonna ask for something awesome next Hearth’s Warming Eve… so I guess we could―”

“We ain’t gonna steal a hundred bits, Scootaloo.”

Scootaloo’s violet eyes widened. “Whaaat? Heh, wh-what made you think I was gonna say we should steal it? Pssshh!”

“You get a creepy little smile every time you suggest stealin’ somethin’.” Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes. “Freaks me out.”

Scootaloo pursed her lips. “Yeah, well, whatever. I wasn’t thinking that.” She cleared her throat and stared downward at nothing.

Sweetie Belle gasped and raised a hoof. “Ooo! Oo, I know! I know!” She grinned and said, “Why don’t we go to the field where Rarity gets all of her gems? I’m sure Spike would help us find a few, and we wouldn’t need very many to sell them for a hundred bits!”

Scootaloo glanced at the clock again. “Yeah… yeah, that’s it! That’s exactly what we’ll do.” She kicked off with a hind hoof and launched them away from the train station before anyone could say another word. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom caught Dinky together just before she bounced out of the wagon.

Dinky giggled. “Sorry,” she said again, ever smiling.

{-DD-}

“Is that you, Twilight?” Spike opened the library door. “You’re back sooner than I thought.”

“Actually it’s us, Spike,” said Apple Bloom as soon as they could see each other. “Where’s Twilight gone off to?”

“Oh, hi girls. She went to Sugarcube Corner. I don’t know when she’ll be back.”

Sweetie Belle smiled. “Actually-again, we’re here to see you!”

“Me?” Spike blinked. “Well, that’s neat. What do you need?”

Scootaloo jumped forward and clasped her hooves around Spike’s squishable face. “We need you to dig up some gems for us so we can sell them for a hundred bits!”

Spike’s eyes bulged. “Whoot?” He grabbed Scootaloo’s hooves and pushed her away. “What do you guys need a hundred bits for?”

“Crusadin’ costs.” Apple Bloom nodded succinctly.

Spike cocked an eyebrow.

“And, uh… repairs,” said Scootaloo.

Spike nodded. “Ahh, okay, that makes sense.” He sighed. “Is Rarity coming along?”

“No!” Scootaloo waved her forelegs around wildly. “We don’t want anypony else to know. We just need you to find us some gems.”

“But… but I don’t know how to find the gems,” said Spike. “Rarity does that part. I just dig them up because she doesn’t like to get dirty.”

Scootaloo groaned and slumped forward.

“How does she find the gems?”

Spike peeked over the trio and smiled. “Oh, hi, Dinky! I didn’t see you there. Uh… I don’t know, Rarity just uses her horn and, like… locates them.” He tilted forward, pointing an imaginary horn at the ground.

“Can you do that, Sweetie Belle?” asked Dinky. “Can you find gems?”

Sweetie crossed her eyes to look up at her own horn. “I don’t know! I’ve never tried!”

“Come on, girls, there’s a first time for everything!” Scootaloo swung her makeshift vehicle around and gestured for the others to join her. “Come on, hurry, hurry! The train leaves in twenty minutes!”

“Train?” A cloud of dust from Scootaloo’s acceleration blew into Spike’s face, making him cough and double over. By the time it all settled and Spike stood up straight, the Crusaders and Dinky were gone.

“What train?”

{-DD-}

“I… urgh... I ― can’t ― find ―”

“Hurry, Sweetie, hurry!” Scootaloo said, bouncing on her scooter with her hooves stuck to the handles like some kind of open air jack-in-the-box. “We’re running out of time! We don’t even have ten minutes left!”

Sweetie squinted, strained, and puffed. Sweat dripped down her forehead by the time her horn stopped glowing green. She slumped and shook her head. “It’s no use. That’s not my special talent.”

“So we came all the way out here for nothing!?” Scootaloo clenched her teeth and screaming inside her own mouth. “Okay, okay, okay, what do we do? What do we do?”

“We could just start diggin’?” Apple Bloom suggested half-heartedly. “We might get lucky.”

“When have we ever been lucky?” Scootaloo groaned. Nevertheless, she was the first to shove her hooves into the dirt beneath them and toss aside as much ground as she could grab. “Ugh… no wonder Rarity brings Spike. This is like trying to dig a hole with a wooden bat.”

“I’ll try to help…” Sweetie panted, re-igniting her horn. Clumps of dirt shot up from Scootaloo’s shallow hole and smacked her in the face.

Sweetie yelped. “Whoops! Sorry…”

Scootaloo dropped her face into the hole and sighed. “I guess that’s that, then. No rescuing foals for us.”

Dinky’s ears perked upward. She took a few trots away from the ground, staring at the hills and sparse trees all around them.

“What is it, Dinky?” Sweetie Belle asked, eyeing the little filly.

“Do you hear that?” Dinky whispered.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were quiet, pointing their raised ears in the same direction. After a few seconds, a distant whimpering reached their party.

“What is that?” asked Scootaloo, lifting her dirt-caked face from the ground.

“It sounds like… a dog…” Dinky said.

Sweetie Belle gasped. “Oh, no! It sounds hurt! Poor little puppy…”

Apple Bloom winced. “What if it’s Winona? She might be hurt!”

“Winona’s not the only dog in Equestria, you know,” Scootaloo said, shaking the dirt off her face.

“You sure?” asked Apple Bloom, squinting in her direction.

“Maybe it’s in trouble!” Sweetie Belle eeped. “Or its owner is in trouble and it’s calling for help!”

“All right, fine, come on.” Scootaloo tapped the lip of the wagon. “Get back in and we’ll check it out. If we can’t save a couple of babies, maybe we can at least save a dog tonight.”

“Yay!”

The Crusaders climbed in. The scooter didn’t move as quickly over the land’s loose dirt, but as they rode along farther and farther from Ponyville, the dog’s high-pitched whimpers grew louder by the second.

“We must be close!” said Sweetie Belle. “Oh, Dinky, you’re such a good hearer!”

Dinky smiled. “Thank you! My mommy said it’s important to listen.”

“Which would be easier for me if you’d all stop talking,” said Scootaloo. “Where’d it go?”

Her wings stopped buzzing and they rolled to a stop.

“Do you hear anything?” Scootaloo asked.

Apple Bloom shook her head. “It stopped.”

“Poor doggy…” Sweetie Belle gulped. “Do you think we’re too late?”

“What, like, you think it died?” Scootaloo grimaced. “Eugh. Maybe we should turn around. I don’t really want to see a dead dog today.”

“Nnnngggh!” Sweetie Belle pattered her front hooves on the red metal below them. “We have to find it! It needs us! I can just feel it!”

“I don’t know, Sweetie…” Dinky said, glancing over her shoulder. “I think Scootaloo’s right. Maybe we should go back.”

Sweetie stared at her with wide eyes.

Scootaloo moped. “So this was all for nothing. Figures.” She tilted to spin their vehicle around. “I swear, one of these days we’re gonna get lucky and something’s actually gonna go ―”

All four fillies yelped or gasped as Scootaloo slammed on the breaks. Just up the hill, directly in front of them, was a hulking, dark blue dog with sickly, pale spots all over his body. He was curled in on himself, shivering with a pair of massive paws covering his head.

“That’s a big dog,” Apple Bloom whispered in a choked voice.

“It looks so scared!” Sweetie Belle wrung her hooves together.

“It looks so scary!” Scootaloo adjusted her helmet. “Come on, girls, let’s get out of here.”

The dog began to whine again. Its sound struck a melancholy chord deep within the fillies, especially Sweetie Belle. Without waiting for consultation, she barreled out of the side of the wagon and trotted up the hill.

“Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo veritably hissed.

Apple Bloom’s eyes sparkled with sympathy. “Oh, come on, Scoots. It’s no Winona, but it’s clearly in pain! We oughtta help it!”

Despite Scootaloo’s wordless disapproval, Apple Bloom bounced after Sweetie Belle and approached the blue dog.

“Gosh darn it!” Scootaloo glanced behind her. “Stay in the wagon, Dinky, I’m gonna go make sure they don’t ― buh!?”

Dinky was gone. Scootaloo spun around, spotting her in between Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle on their trek up to the quaking blue dog.

“Gosh. Freaking. Darn it.” Scootaloo sighed heavily, tossed her helmet into the wagon, and followed her friends on quiet hooves. “Why do I get the feeling this is not the type of adventure I was hoping for today?”

Sweetie reached the big dog first. “Hey there, boy,” she said softly, leaning to one side in an effort to see the dog’s face beneath his oversized paws. “Are you all right? Where’s your owner?”

“Where’s your leash, that’s what I wanna know,” Scootaloo grumbled as she approached from the back. “They probably don’t even make leashes big enough.”

Apple Bloom smacked Scootaloo’s shoulder. “Don’t say that! Dogs have feelin’s, too, y’know.”

“Pssh.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Sure they do.”

“Are you lost, doggie?” Dinky asked, taking another step closer to the trembling animal.

Sweetie stayed right at her side. “We can help you get home if you ―”

The dog lifted one paw from the side of his face, revealing a long, malevolent smile around an impossible numerous set of sharp, poorly angled teeth.

“Aahh!” Dinky screamed, stumbling backward.

The dog lurched forward, grabbing Sweetie Belle in one paw and Dinky in the other. “Aaaahhh… yooneekorns!” He licked his lips and then held the filled close to his chest with a long, satisfied sigh. “I know menny customers, yes! Mehhhnny customers, willing to pay big jools for yooneekorn parts.” He held a screaming Sweetie Belle closer to his massive eyeball, staring closely at her horn. “Esspeshaly theeeese parts! Hoo hoo hoo hoo, ha ha ha!”

“Hey!” Apple Bloom bravely charged forward, spun around, and bucked the bipedal dog in his exposed kneecap. “Put them down!”

The dog didn’t even flinch. He held the unicorns above his head and bent down, grinning wickedly in Apple Bloom’s face. She could smell his breath, like warm blood and standing water, oozing through the gaps in his many jagged teeth.

“Ooooo! Moooaaar little poneeez!” He cackled, his lower eyelids tensing in delight. “It’s Bactum’s lucky daeeee! Hee hee hee, hoo hoo!” In a surprisingly swift motion, the dog lunged at Apple Bloom and caught her pink bow in his jaws.

“Noooo!” Sweetie Belle struggled in the massive dog’s grasp, struggling with her magic to loosen his grip. “Don’t eat her!”

With only another creepy laugh as a response, the dog swiveled and ran on his hind legs through fields of dirt. Scootaloo watched with her jaw hanging open at his speedy retreat. Her trance was only broken when three high pitched voices joined together in a unison shout that blew her mane back.

“SCOOTALOOOOO!”

“Oh! Right!” She shook her head vigorously and detached her scooter from the wagon. Revving her wings a few times, Scootaloo slapped her helmet back on and grinned at the dust cloud behind the fleeing dog. “Guess I’m rescuing ponies after all!”

She kicked off with a hind hoof and sped after her abducted friends.

2 - Less Easy

Chapter Two
Less Easy

Dinky’s breath was coming too quickly. The edges of her vision were turning a very dark shade of red. She suddenly realized how wide her eyes had stretched and shut them tightly. The enormous dog’s claws were not digging into her hide, but she should feel their cold smoothness against her ribcage. “Mommy…” she whimpered.

Nopony heard her, not even the dog or Apple Bloom, on account of how loudly Sweetie Belle was screaming.

“SOMEPONY HELP US!” she shrieked, thrashing her head about wildly. “PLEASE! SOMEPONY! SCOOTALOO!”

“Can it, Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom yelled at her. “There’s nopony out here. You’ll shred your voice at that rate.

Sweetie stared incredulously at Apple Bloom. “You are hanging from the jaws of a giant dog by your frilly pink bow, and you want me to stop calling for help!? What’s wrong with you, filly?”

Apple Bloom crossed her forelegs over her chest. “I just don’t think screamin’s gonna help none.”

Deflated, Sweetie Belle stopped yelling. “Sorry I called your bow frilly,” she said.

“S’fine.” Apple Bloom tapped the bow above her head, careful not to bump the sprinting dog’s chin. “I’m actually pretty surprised it’s holdin’ on so tight.”

“Yeah, seriously!” Sweetie was suddenly smiling. “What knot do you use to tie that thing?”

“I dunno. Granny Smith does it for me every morning.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah! Ain’t that sweet of her?”

“So sweet! Gosh, your family is the best.”

The dog suddenly skidded to a halt and let all three ponies go at the same time. They flew through the air over a little cliff and screamed as they plummeted down a narrow pit. The Sun gave way to night just as they started to fall, so their descent into the earth was a dark one.

Dinky and Apple Bloom stopped screaming well before Sweetie Belle did.
“Holy Hearth’s Warmin’, how deep is this thing?” Apple Bloom asked aloud.

Dinky shook in freefall. “I-I wanna go home!” she cried.

Sweetie immediately stopped screaming at that. She summoned a faint light from her horn and swam through the air to Dinky’s side. She grabbed the tiny pony in a tight hug. “Oh, Dinky! I’m so sorry this happened! But we’ll be okay. I’m sure Scootaloo is right behind us.”

“We’re still fallin’, y’all!” Apple Bloom’s voice was strained. “If there ain’t a big pile o’ straw at the bottom of this hole, there won’t be much left of us to ―”

They landed simultaneously with a loud crash, accompanied by their various “Eep!”s and “Oof!”s. After a moment of silence, however, they realized with joy that they were still alive.

“We’re okay!” Dinky yelled, tossing up her stubby hooves. “You were right, Sweetie Belle!”

Sweetie beamed. “I told you!”

“What is this stuff?” Apple Bloom asked, feeling the smelly pile around them.

“Aaaaahhh!” came from above. Dinky and two-third of the Cutie Mark Crusaders looked up to see their missing third descending with flailing hooves, accompanied by her airborne scooter some feet above her.

“And there’s Scootaloo!” Dinky laughed. “Wow, Sweetie, you were right again!”

“Uhhh… yeah!” Sweetie said unsurely while she watched Scootaloo fall.

The orange filly plopped into the same moldy pile as the rest of them, only she landed head first directly behind Sweetie Belle. Her helmeted head disappeared into the stinking fabric, and she struggled fruitlessly to escape for several seconds until Apple Bloom moved to help her.

“Whooa!” Apple Bloom nearly lost her balance, scaling the wobbly hill until she reached Scootaloo. They worked together to yank Scootaloo’s head out of the refuse, but the helmet was lost in its folds.

“Yuck!” Scootaloo ran her hooves through her mane, pushing away rotten bits of food and cloth. “What is all this?”

“I dunno, but I reckon we oughtta get off it.”

Sweetie Belle and Dinky nodded, hurrying together down the slope of the pile. Sweetie’s horn lit the way with a soft green light. They had to stop short at the bottom of the mound, blocked by a tall pile of rusty metal objects.

“Now what?” Apple Bloom asked as she and Scootaloo caught up.

“I think we’re in some sorta junk yard,” said Sweetie Belle, peering through a forest of rusty pipes stuck into the ground at haphazard angles. “An underground junk yard.”

They heard the cackle of the big blue dog and glanced all around warily.

“Where is he? Behind us?” Sweetie Belle asked, spinning around.

Suddenly, a series of electric bulbs, strung together with bare wire and hanging from hooks burrowed into the stone walls of the cavern, flickered to life. The narrow hole they had fallen through opened up into an egg-shaped cavern. Littered all over the floor of the place were heaps and heaps of junk.

Dinky gasped and pointed upward to the opposite end of the cavern. The Cutie Mark Crusaders followed her direction and spotted the blue dog on a natural ledge of stone leading into an even better lit hallway beyond him.

“Hey!” Scootaloo shouted at the leering silhouette. “Let us out of here!”

“Hee hee hee hee! Poneez are my priznerz!” the dog exclaimed. His voice echoed eerily above their heads and died in the rubble around them. “Bactum finds customer, yes! No customer? Poneez stay here ―” He swept his eyes and one large paw over the junkyard beneath him. “― where all prizes stay without a customer! Ha ha ha hooo!”

“So our lives in the paws of a salesman who’s never seen a dentist?” Scootaloo groaned. “We’re doomed.”

“Goodbye, poneez!” the dog howled, backing out of sight. “Pleez don’t die before Bactum finds customer!”

Sweetie Belle smiled. “Well, at least he said please.”

Dinky’s knees trembled below her. “Oh no! H-how do we get out of here?”

“Easy!” Scootaloo pointed. “We just have to climb up to that ledge he was on.”

The dog slammed a door in the hallway, and four foot long spikes shot out from where the only conceivable escape tunnel had been.

Scootaloo gulped. “Okay. Less easy.”

“Oohhh, what do we do?” Sweetie Belle squeaked, throwing her eyes all over the cavern. “What do we do? What do we do?”

“This is lookin’ bad, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom said. “Even by our standards.”

Staring at the ground, Scootaloo’s eyes flitted and darted. She nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, this looks bad.” Her gaze slowly raised to find Sweetie Belle’s wandering pair. “And it’s all your fault.”

Sweetie gasped. “My fault? How is this my fault? You’re the one who wanted to dig up gems for a train ride!”

“You’re the one who wanted to rescue the poor little puppy!” Scootaloo growled.

Dinky started to cry. Sweetie wrapped her in another hug, though her face betrayed her lingering terror and disgust. “Nice going, Scootaloo.”

“I… I didn’t mean to…” Scootaloo covered her own wide eyes with the flats of her hooves. “Ugh!”

“It don’t matter how we got down here, girls,” Apple Bloom said. “What matters is who’s gonna figure out how to get us back up?”

Scootaloo rubbed her forehead and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, okay, look… let’s not freak out just yet. We just have to think. What would Rainbow Dash do?”

Sweetie Belle suddenly smiled. “What would Daring Do do?”

“Heh…” Apple Bloom chuckled. “Do do.”

Dinky sniffled, but managed a small smile of her own. “What would Mommy do?”

“Yeah! Yeah, Dinky, exactly!” Scootaloo hopped closer to the tiny filly. “You’ve got explorer’s blood in you! Your mom was one of the greatest adventurers who ever lived, apparently! I bet you’ll get us out of here in no time!”

Dinky’s smile faltered immediately. “Huh? But I… I’ve never gone on an adventure before.”

“There’s a first for everything!” Scootaloo smiled wide and scooped Dinky onto her shoulders before standing on her hind hooves. “So what do you see? Anything useful?”

“Scootaloo, you’re scaring her!” Sweetie Belle scolded.

“She’ll be fine.” Scootaloo bounced up and down a few times. “Come on, Dinky! What do you see?”

Trembling, Dinky swallowed hard and looked out over the yellow-lit cavern. “Ummm… oh!” Something glittered on the farthest wall from them. “I think I see something over there!”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know,” said Dinky, “but it’s shimmering so it must be important!”

“Good eye!”

Dinky frowned. “But… it looks like there’s a lot of stuff in our way.”

Scootaloo set her down and shook her head. “Nothing gets in the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ way. It’s just that adventures occasionally have more steps to them that was initially anticipated.”

“Those are some big words, Scoot,” Apple Bloom mocked.

Scootaloo shrugged. “Eh. It’s something Sweetie Belle said once. If I have anything, it’s a decent memory.”

“Did I say that?” Sweetie asked, putting a hoof to her chin. “I like it!”

“Come on, girls!” Scootaloo crouched in preparation. “Let’s climb, crawl, and wiggle our way through this jungle of junk until we find whatever was glittering over there!”

“But what if it’s nothin’?” asked Apple Bloom.

Scootaloo shrugged. “Better to try, eh?”

The others nodded, and they began their short but arduous journey across piles of unwanted scrap.

{-DD-}

For its relatively short distance, it took Dinky and the Cutie Mark Crusaders an unreasonable number of minutes ― maybe even hours ― to traverse the messy and complex tangle of mismatched, misshapen metal and debris. After a lot of climbing, tossing, crawling, squeezing, and wiggling, however, all four of them stood victorious in front of their goal.

“It’s a mirror,” droned Apple Bloom.

“Well… it’s definitely shiny!” Sweetie Belle said. “Good job, Dinky!”

“Thanks!” she chirped.

Scootaloo sighed. “Well… not exactly what I had in mind.” She turned from the mirror and kept her head close to the ground. “Maybe there’s something else over here… like a decrepit ladder or some kinda pogo stick…”

“I’ll help,” said Apple Bloom, snooping the vicinity as well.

Dinky stared at the mirror. It was tall ― taller than a pony ― and oval. It was very dirty, and Dinky could hardly see her reflection. The thing leaned against the rock wall of the cavern, covered in dust and clearly untouched for longer than any of the fillies had been alive.

“Come on, Dinky, let’s look around!” said Sweetie Belle, spinning around. “I’m sure you led us to a great spot.”

“Yeah…” Dinky blinked. Something seemed… odd about the mirror. She approached it slowly. In her lower peripherals, she noticed the electric light from above glitter off of something else. She scurried forward and dropped her head to the ground, checking the small space between the leaning mirror and the rock wall.

Sure enough, a very old, very worn flute poked out from other scraps of garbage. Dinky gasped, grabbed the flute in her hooves, and wiped off its lip plate. Then she tucked it just below her mouth and blew forth a series of beautiful notes. Despite its age, the instrument played perfectly.

The Crusaders spun around where they stood and gawked at the sound.

“Whoa! Did you just find that, or have you had it in your mane the whole time?” asked Scootaloo.

“It was behind the mirror!” Dinky said, beaming. “It’s not as nice as the golden flute Mommy got me, but I’m glad I found it, anyway!”

“Wow, Dinky! That’s incredible!” Sweetie squeaked, bounding back her. “You really did see something over here!”

“Huh… well, that’s pretty nifty, I guess,” said Apple Bloom. “Doesn’t help us much in the way of gettin’ out, though.”

“Well, if there’s a perfectly intact flute laying around,” said Scootaloo, “there’s bound to be other randomly useful things. Come on, let’s keep looking!” She began to dig with increased vigor in the piles all around her.

Dinky sighed and hugged the flute to her chest. Even in the face of peril, the likes of which she had never experienced, something so simple gave her a great sense of peace and comfort. She glanced at the surface of the mirror, wondering at the odds of such a delightful discovery.

Her reflection smiled calmly back at her. Again, Dinky couldn’t help but feel as though something about the image was wrong. She tucked the flute behind her ear and drew closer to the glass, studying her own hazy reflection.

She gasped, for suddenly she realized what was different: her reflection didn’t have a horn.

Dinky reached up and felt her own horn. Her reflection did the same, only there was nothing on the forehead to touch. Instead, to Dinky’s amazement, her reflection spread a pair of periwinkle wings.

Dinky gaped, and her jaw only dropped further when the reflection winked at her.

“Uhhh… girls?” Dinky said.

The others couldn’t hear her, clanging about noisily in their own corners of the area. She leaned closer to the mirror, enchanted. “What are you?” she asked.

Her reflection turned around, looked at Dinky over her shoulder with an inviting smile, and galloped away into nothingness.

Watching her fade, Dinky couldn’t help but chase after her. “Wait!” she cried. “Come back!”

Sweetie Belle heard it and spun around, just in time to see the little filly pass through the looking-glass and vanish away.

“Holy buh-WHAT!?” Sweetie screamed.

Her friends jumped at the sound and gave her their full attention.

“What? What is it?”

“What did you find?” asked Scootaloo excitedly.

Sweetie Belle raised a trembling hoof toward the mirror. “D-D-D-Dinky!” she stammered.

“What about her?” Apple Bloom looked at the mirror. “Where is she?”

“The mirror!” Sweetie blinked and shook her head vigorously. “Sh-sh-she went through the mirror!”

“What are you talking about?” Scootaloo trotted to the mirror and tapped on the glass. “It’s just a-AAHH!”

Scootaloo stumbled back and fell on her haunches when her foggy reflection was replaced by a wide-eyed Dinky Doo.

“Wow!” Dinky’s eyes moved from Crusader to Crusader. “What just happened?”

“I-I don’t know!” Sweetie Belle hurried closer. “I have no idea! I just watched you run through the mirror like it wasn’t there!”

Dinky looked over her shoulder. “I was trying to…” She shook her head and smiled back at the others. “Well, hurry up and come in! You girls have got to see this!”

“See what?” asked Apple Bloom, but Dinky was already gone.

“See what!?” Sweetie Belle repeated. “Dinky? Dinky! What do we need to ―”

She rushed forward, sliding through the mirror’s surface like it was made of water.

“Well, I’ll be!” Apple Bloom smiled and walked forward slowly. “Some kinda trick mirror, huh? Must be magic!”

Scootaloo gulped. “I freaking hate magic.”

The glanced at each other, took a deep breath, and jumped through the mirror in tandem.

The electric lights in the underground junkyard flickered out.

3 - The Best Mushroom

Chapter Three
The Best Mushroom

The island may have been enormous, or it may have been miniscule. It was somehow impossible to tell. The sky, lit simultaneously by a Sun and a Moon unfamiliar to Equestria, shuddered as if constantly preparing for a storm to brew. The landscape itself was a mess of exotic topography, geology, and bathymetry, whipped together in a veritable omelet of dizzying landscape.

And yet, overlooking the nearest forests and crags from their spot on a central hill, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their honorary member noted not the bizarre amalgamation of tundras, deserts, caves, and jungles, but rather remarked on the suitably remarkable organization of the landscape into perfect squares.

“Where. Did you. Just take us?” asked Scootaloo in a particularly raspy voice.

“I didn’t do it,” said Dinky with an enormous smile. “It was just here.”

“Golly, y’all,” breathed Apple Bloom. “Is this someplace in Equestria?”

“You don’t think… this is where Discord lives,” asked Scootaloo with a gulp, “do you?”

“It’s wonky enough,” said Apple Bloom, gazing over an orchard in the distance. Instead of apples, each branch was sprouting more full-grown trees. Gravity didn’t seem to mind.

“Uh, girls?” Sweetie Belle squeaked. She was faced the other way, pointing above and behind them. “What is that?”

Directly behind the four little fillies was a floating shape, identical to the mirror they had just passed through. Beyond that empty portal, towering above the entire island, was a gigantic pedestal of sorts: its base, though massive, was much thinner than the disk it supported. The entire thing appeared to be made of marble. Strange creatures in immaculate detail were carved into the base, while the top had a stone sail poking higher from its surface.

“I think that’s one of them old ways o’ tellin’ time by where the Sun’s at in the sky,” said Apple Bloom, squinting. “A sundial, right? A ridiculously huge sundial.”

“What is it doing here?” asked Scootaloo. “What is any of this doing here? What are we doing here?”

“We’re trying to escape that diamond dog, or didja forget already?” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “Look, this is weird, I think can all agree on that. But it’s far from the craziest thing my sister’s ever seen, I guarantee it.”

“Well, then, let’s just pull Applejack through the mirror, why don’t we?” Scootaloo guffawed. “I don’t care if Twilight and her friends have seen nuttier, I’m the one stuck here right now.” She pulled a face and dove for the portal. “What if we can’t get out? What if I never see Rainbow Dash again?”

Only then did Dinky’s smile falter. “What if I never see my mommy again?”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that, Dinky!” Sweetie Belle said. She rushed toward the little filly, smacking Scootaloo upside the head on her way. She caressed Dinky’s cheek as she said, “We’ll find a way out of here. The Cutie Mark Crusaders always find a way out.” She smiled too widely at her friends. “Right, girls?”

“So far, sure!” chimed Apple Bloom.

Scootaloo groaned and slammed her hooves against the floating shape. “Well, we can’t get back through here. Not that I’d really want to, to be honest.”

“You reckon the diamond dog knows about this place?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Psshh. No way.” Scootaloo tapped the black mirror again for good measure. “If that furrball had more than twelve brain cells, he would have sold the mirror ages ago. I’m sure somepony actually knows how to use it right.”

“I don’t think it was… that mirror,” Dinky spoke up.

Sweetie Belle tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I don’t think there was anything special about that particular mirror,” said Dinky. “Maybe this place has lots of ways in and out.”

“Hmm… that’d make sense.” Apple Bloom’s eyes followed the black, spiraling stripe that coiled around the sundial’s cream-colored hill. “I mean, it had to have been made by somepony, right? Sundials and spirals don’t just grow out of the ground.”

A few yards further down the hill, three tiny sundials popped out of the ground like mushrooms.

“Aaaah!” yelled Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle together. Scootaloo immediately tried to pretend she hadn’t been involved.

Sweetie thrust a jiggling hoof at the chronological fungi. “Where did those come from?”

“They grew out of the ground because you didn’t think they could,” said a disembodied voice from somewhere down the hill.

Sweetie Belle pulled back her hoof and stared at the tiny sundials with pinprick pupils. “Ummm… did those mushrooms just talk about themselves in the third person?”

The low voice laughed merrily. “Ohh-ho-ho! What a funny idea. I’d say a guess like that either means you’re stupid or you’re a writer.”

Sweetie half-smiled. “Well, thanks, I guess!”

Apple Bloom punched her in the shoulder. “Excuse me, yoohoo! Mysterious voice? Could you please tell us where we all are, exactly?”

“I’m here, behind the tiny sundials you ushered out of the ground with your doubt.” He chuckled. “You’re there, beside your unicorn friend, who is in turn beside you. The small one is in front of you by some ways, inching toward me, and the orange one is behind you trying in vain to re-open the looking-glass.”

Scootaloo spun around, frozen in place with one hoof mid-scrape along the portal’s surface. Her face took on a tougher expression as she marched down toward the voice. “Excuse me, Mister Literal, but we just wanna go home! If you’re so sure the mirror isn’t gonna open back up, is it possible you could be helpful and tell us how to get out of here?” Her eye twitched. “And also show yourself!?”

“Oooh, a feisty pony. I like it.” The voice cleared its throat. “I’m not sure you want to see me, little friend. For all you know, I could be the diamond dog you insulted a moment ago.”

Scootaloo grit her teeth. “I’d still rather see your ugly mug than talk to empty space. It’s creeping me out.”

The voice chuckled again. “I must agree with you on one thing: dogs do have the ugliest of mugs.” A light brown cat materialized in an instant, balancing on one of the small sundials, grimacing as though he were smelling something awful. “Not to mention, their breath is atrocious.”

Sweetie Belle’s face morphed in a millisecond from nervous to madly-in-love. “Awwww! A talking kitty!”

Dinky’s beam returned as well. “Wow! I’ve never seen a cat talk before!”

“Yeah, well, I’d never seen a dragon before Spike came to town, and he’s lame!” Scootaloo trotted closer to the cat. “What’s your game, huh? You trying to scare us or something?”

“Contrariwise,” the cat began, “I’m trying to be of assistance. No, you see, if I was trying to scare you, I would have looked something like this.”

The small, brown cat bubbled and oozed, growing rapidly into a ferocious monster dripping with pus and saliva from a hundred different mouths spread over its flaking body.

All four fillies screamed and leapt together into a terrified embrace.

A moment later, the cat was innocuous again, pacing around the tiny sundials with a look of disinterest, as cats are wont to do.

“There now,” he said, shooting a mild glance at Scootaloo. “Trust me yet?”

“NO!” Scootaloo screamed. She slid forward, standing on her back two legs and spreading herself wide in an effort to shield her cowering friends from the unpredictable feline. “Get out of here, scram! Don’t you know better than to go around scaring little girls?”

“You don’t seem very scared,” the cat purred. “Anymore.”

Scootaloo blinked and glanced down at herself. With a steely face, she glared at the cat and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right! I’m not. So get out of here, furball!”

“To escape the Wabe and find your heroes, you must remove the Red King.”

Sweetie Belle peeked out from behind Scootaloo’s waist. “Huh?”

“To escape the Wabe and find your heroes,” the cat said again, fading into nothingness with a leering smile, “you must remove the Red King.”

“Who’s the Red King?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Uh, where’s the Red King?” Scootaloo shouted.

The cat’s floating face winked, and then vanished in a puff of sound.

“Bye, Mister Kitty!” Dinky said, waving down the hill. Sweetie Belle grinned and waved, too.

Scootaloo dropped to all four of her hooves and gave Apple Bloom a lethargic look. “Well, this sucks.”

“Maybe it’s still here,” Apple Bloom guessed, “but invisible again!”

She and Scootaloo began waving their hooves in front of them, searching the open air for any tufts of fur.

“Come on, girls!” Dinky bounded down the hill, passing the tiny sundials at full speed. “Let’s go find the Red King!”

“Oh, Dinky!” Sweetie hurried after her. “I don’t think you should go running off on your own around here!”

Apple Bloom squinted at Scootaloo. “Didn’t that cat say to ‘remove’ the Red King?”

“Yeah.” Scootaloo gulped. “Do you think that means, like… we have to kill him?”

Apple Bloom grimaced. “Jeez louise, I sure hope not! I swear, Scoots, you got somethin’ wrong with the part o’ yer brain that jumps to conclusions.” She trotted past Scootaloo on her way to join Dinky and Sweetie Belle at the edge of the forest below.

Scootaloo sighed. “I wish I had my freakin’ scooter…” she grumbled. Her eyes suddenly widened. “Gah! I left my scooter!”

“Huh?” Apple Bloom turned around.

Scootaloo dove for the mirror-portal one more time, smacking and scratching its surface with all her panicked might. “My scooter! It’s back there in the dog’s stupid cave! Dang it! Dang it, dang it, dang it!”

“Scootaloo, it’s okay!” said Apple Bloom. “We’ll get it back somehow, I promise.”

“Hooow?” Scootaloo spun around with a wild, red look in her eyes. “It’s gone, Apple Bloom! My scooter’s gone forever!” She wailed and dropped forward, slamming her face into the pale grass of the hill. She sat up suddenly, licking her lips. “Mmmm… butterscotch.”

“We’ll find you a new one, then,” Apple Bloom said. She beckoned with a sweeping hoof. “Come on, Scoots, we gotta get a move on. Who knows how long it’ll take to get outta here? The sooner we start, the better.”

Moaning, Scootaloo got to her hooves and trudged forward. She stopped for a moment at the sundial mushrooms. Curiously, she tried to pluck one out of the ground. It popped up in her hoof with a sound like a ticking clock. She stumbled a bit, surprised at its ease of harvest. With a meager half-smile, Scootaloo grabbed the other two mushrooms and carried them with her down the hill.

{-DD-}

“Do you even know where you’re going, Dinky?” asked Scootaloo in a harsh tone. She pushed through an overgrown fern growing next to a palm tree and shivered due to the lightly falling snow.

“Hey, be nice!” Sweetie snapped back over her shoudler. “At least she’s trying to find the Red King.”

Apple Bloom sighed loudly before they could keep fighting. “She’s got a point, though, Sweetie Belle. Dinky, do you have a plan here or are we just wanderin’ around?”

“A little bit of both,” said Dinky. Her expression balanced between embarrassed and hopeful. “I thought maybe if we walked for long enough, we’d see something red. This place seems so colorful, I thought maybe the Red King would live in a red place.”

“Awww! That’s a great idea, Dinky.” Sweetie Belle scooped her up in an impromptu hug. “See? She’s thinking this through!”

“Barely.” Scootaloo stopped in the middle of the snowy jungle and sat on her haunches. “Okay, look, I have a very-different-but-not-necessarily-better idea that I’d like to bring to everypony’s attention.”

Apple Bloom chuckled. “What’s with the formality?”

“I don’t know, I’m kinda freakin’ out here!” Scootaloo cleared her throat and presented the three sundial mushrooms she had been carrying. “These were the easiest things ever to pick out of the ground. I think maybe the cat wanted us to have them.”

“Oh, so you’re trusting the cat now?” asked Sweetie Belle.

Aside from a dirty look, Scootaloo ignored her. “Maybe they’ll help us somehow if we… I dunno, eat them.”

“Eat ‘em?” Apple Bloom cocked an eyebrow. “Scootaloo, you do know that mushrooms can be super dangerous, right?”

“Not to mention poisonous!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, her voice cracking.

“Yeah, but they can also be awesome, right?” Scootaloo smiled a little. “Like, can’t mushrooms make you grow twice your size and smash bricks over your head?”

Apple Bloom’s eyes spun. “Whaaat? What are you talkin’ about, Scootaloo?”

“I don’t know.” Scootaloo lowered the hoof holding up the mushrooms. “I think I saw that somewhere.”

“Has anypony else noticed that the snow tastes like marshmallows?” Sweetie Belle asked, sticking her tongue out at the sky.

“Really?” Apple Bloom copied her.

Scootaloo lifted the mushrooms again. “Yeah, and the grass back by the portal tasted like butterscotch! Look, girls, I know it might be dangerous, but… I’m gonna eat one of these. Maybe everything in this wacky place can be eaten.”

“No, Scootaloo, don’t!” cried Sweetie Belle.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Scoots!”

Nevertheless, Scootaloo popped one whole mushroom in her mouth, chewed for several seconds, and swallowed the strange food. She shuddered and blanched. “Whoa. That tastes weird.”

“What did it taste like?” asked Dinky, wide-eyed.

“Uhh… metal?” Scootaloo’s lips curved into a smile. “Metal and victory.”

“What the heck is victory supposed to taste li-i-i-AAAAHHH!” Apple Bloom jumped back as a bright light shone around Scootaloo.

“What’s happening?” asked Sweetie Belle. “What’s going on?”

“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom shouted into the blinding brilliance. “Scootaloo, talk to me! Are you okay in there?”

The light faded, and Dinky was the first to say, “Woooow!”

Scootaloo emerged from her transformation fully clad in glittering plates of silver armor. The left side of her shining suit was equipped with a long jousting pole attached to her body. Her face was covered by a well-fitting helmet, and she reached up to pull back the visor. A dashing smile lay beneath it, complete with a cheesy pun.

“Forsooth, ‘twas certain its consumption was the knight choice,” Scootaloo said with an aimless wink.

Apple Bloom immediately frowned. “Okay, give me one of them mushrooms.”

“Me, too!” squealed Sweetie Belle.

“Hold on, hold on!” Scootaloo shielded the fungi with her armored body. “I only have two left. Who’s not gonna get one?”

“Me,” said Dinky, holding up her hoof. She was smiling. “I just want to watch.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Apple Bloom said, “just in case, uh… somethin’ goes wrong.”

“Agreed,” said Scootaloo. “We wouldn’t wanna have to explain to Ditzy how her daughter grew a second horn.”

Sweetie Belle bent down a little. “Are you sure you don’t mind, Dinky?”

“Not at all!” she said. “I don’t really like mushrooms, anyway.”

Sweetie Belle rubbed the filly’s little head and squealed with delight. Apple Bloom snatched one of the sundial mushrooms out of Scootaloo’s armored grip, and Sweetie Belle took the last.

“Ready?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Ready!” Sweetie Belle stuffed the whole thing in her mouth.

Apple Bloom sniffed at it and took a tiny bite.

Blinding light engulfed both of them separately. Dinky shielded her eyes with a foreleg while Scootaloo lowered her visor. Within seconds, the light dissipated, and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle observed each other’s transformation.

“What the hay are you supposed to be?” asked Apple Bloom.

Sweetie Belle adjusted a tall, precariously balanced mitre on top of her head, struggling to lift her hooves high enough beneath decorated white robes. She snickered at Apple Bloom and pointed an accusing hoof. “You’re one to talk!”

Apple Bloom looked down at herself, immediately embarrassed by the brick-tower costume adorning her front half. It draped down over her front hooves and featured a small hole in the tower’s side for her face.

Scootaloo burst out laughing. “Verily, the best mushroom hath been mine!”

“What in tarnation is this even s’posed to be?” asked Apple Bloom, spinning a circle in an effort to see her tail. The fabric around her face blocked her vision and prevented her from turning her head left or right.

“I think… you’re a rook!” Dinky exclaimed.

Apple Bloom made a scrunched face, exaggerated by the confines of her costume. “Huh?”

“Oh my gosh! You’re right, Dinky!” Sweetie Belle clapped her hooves together in front of a small necklace bearing the emblem of a sun. “Apple Bloom’s a rook, Scootaloo’s a knight, and I must be a bishop!”

Apple Bloom frowned deeply. “A rook? Will somepony start talkin’ sense?”

“‘Twas fate that I should be the knight!” Scootaloo said loudly, puffing out her chest. “Therefore, each with her appointed roll, onward! For the Red King awaits a dastardly fate of his own!” She rushed forward two steps, only to suddenly flop over on her side. “Oof! Yet what is this sorcery? Good Bishop Belle! Do release whatever strange curse hath rendered me unstable!”

Sweetie Belle giggled and helped Scootaloo to her hooves. “Ahem… yes, indeedeth, fair Scootaloo! Er, Sir Scootaloo! Lady Scootaloo? She tilted her head; her mitre nearly slid off her mane.

“Didst thou not hear me? Some devilish power pulled me to the earth after nought but a short gallop!” She knelt before Sweetie Belle. “Exorcise the fiend at once, for my duties are not to be stifled by such a paltry demon!”

“Uhhh… what?” Sweetie Belle blinked. “I don’t think there’s time to exercise right now, Scootaloo.”

Apple Bloom stomped her front hooves awkwardly behind her lengthy get-up. “What is goin’ on here? Why’s Scootaloo talkin’ funny?”

A low, familiar chuckle filled the air around them. The sound gathered and concentrated on the branch of a nearby tree, followed by a voice. “My, my. It’s been too long since the Tulgey Wood had such lively inhabitants.”

“Mister Cat!” said Sweetie Belle, staring at the empty branch. “What happened to us? Were we supposed to eat those mushrooms?”

A glowing smile appeared above the branch. The floating mouth moved with the feline’s next words. “You must remove the Red King,” he said. “The details are partly up to your choices, and mostly up to the whims of the Wabe.”

“Mister Kitty?” Dinky asked, stepping closer to the trunk of the tree. “I know that some of this is funny, but… I’m scared. I really want to see my mommy and get back home.” Her eyes shone as she asked, “Could you be a bit more clear about what we have to do? Are my friends going to be all right?”

The cat’s smile softened, and pair of concerned eyes materialized above it. “Oh, dear child… you needn’t be scared. The Wabe knows your kind, and will go to great lengths to protect you.” A tail appeared and gestured to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Your friends’ new powers are evidence of that.”

“New powers?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Apple Bloom sighed heavily. “What kinda powers come with bein’ a brick tube?”

The cat’s wide smile returned in full force. “You shall see, little pony. You shall all soon see.”

And with that, the cat-pieces vanished again, and the Crusaders were left to their confused devices.

4 - More Than a Paltry Kick

Chapter Four
More Than a Paltry Kick

“Why… won’t… this… come off!?” Apple Bloom growled and thrashed around wildly, desperate to remove the brick-tower costume covering her head and upper half.

Sweetie Belle giggled. “Don’t fight it, Apple Bloom! We need to find out what powers we have. Besides, your little face looks so adorable in there!”

Apple Bloom’s cheeks reddened in a deep scowl. “Fine. What exactly are your powers, then, Miss Giant Hat?”

“Umm…” Sweetie Belle adjusted her mitre. “Well, in chess, the Bishop can only move along diagonal squares of whatever color it starts on.”

Apple Bloom rubbed her forehead. “Chess? Are you tellin’ me we’ve been transformed into a stupid game?”

“Chess is not a stupid game!” Sweetie Belle stuck out her tongue. “I’m not very good at it, but Rarity taught me the rules. Haven’t you ever played?”

“Nope!” Apple Bloom announced proudly. “What about you, Scootaloo? Ever played chess before?” She tried to turn her head, but ― as it was stuck in place by her costume ― resorted to shuffling to the left until her friend was in sight.

Scootaloo was carefully walking forward along the snowy jungle’s floor, as if balancing on a tightrope. Suddenly, she tipped over, landing with a resounding clang from her armor.

“Blast it all!” Scootaloo shouted from the ground. “A-spite my efforts to maintain sure hoofing, I fall to one side or the other after naught but several steps! Cursed be the feline who bequeathed upon me a handicap thusly frustrating!”

“The knight always moves in an L-shape,” Sweetie Belle explained. “Two squares in any direction, then one square perpendicular. That must be why Sir Scootaloo keeps falling over!”

Scootaloo leapt to her hooves. “Dear Bishop, do tell! What, pray, can I do to avoid such frequent falls?”

“Just be sure to trot in L-shapes,” Sweetie Belle said. “Like this!” She tried to walk directly toward Scootaloo, but her legs flailed under her white robes, carrying her past Scootaloo in a diagonal direction instead. “Whoops! Not like that! Oh boy…”

Apple Bloom gulped. “So what can I do, then?”

Sweetie Belle managed to stop herself and tread back along her diagonal path. “Well, rooks can move as far as they want in the cardinal directions. Like up, down, left, or right. They can’t move diagonally or change direction halfway through a move.”

“Oh. Well, that don’t sound so bad.” Apple Bloom lifted a hoof to take a step just as Scootaloo fell over again. Setting her hoof back down, Apple Bloom cleared her throat. “Just to be sure, I’m gonna wait til we have some kinda game plan.”

“What do you think we should do, Dinky?” asked Sweetie Belle to the only uncostumed filly.

Dinky trembled slightly. “I-I don’t know anymore! I can’t see past these trees, and the cat didn’t help at all, and now we’re all walking in different directions. How will we ever find the Red King?”

A tumultuous roar echoed through the trees. Trunks quaked along with the four little ponies upon hearing it.

“Wh-wh-what was that?” asked Dinky.

Sweetie Belle gulped. “Nothing friendly. Apple Bloom?”

The rook in question tried to crouch lower to the ground, but her costume made it impossible. She also tried to trot closer to Sweetie Belle, but her available directions were limited, as well. Finally, and with a sigh, she resorted to whispering loudly, “Didn’t sound like nothin’ I’ve ever heard in the Everfree Forest.”

“Fear not, my friends and companions in arms!” Scootaloo shouted with one hoof extended. “With my trusty javelin and the blessing of the Ancient Sun, whatever foe may come our way shall surely be vanquished! Victory is our destiny!”

As she finished her speech, a creature like an enormous warthog covered in long, violet fur smashed a nearby palm tree to pieces with no less than eighteen tusks branching out of its blistered lips. It opened its mouth, which somehow extended from just under its snout to the middle of what should have been its ribcage. A long portion of its top half rose like the lid of a trash can, revealing a rope-like tongue amidst the burly tusks, to emit a low-pitched screech aimed directly at the fillies.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Dinky all screamed, turning to run in whatever directions they could.

Scootaloo smiled wickedly beneath her visor, unlatching the pole from the side of her armor and holding it at an expert angle.

“Be ye therefore coming at me, bro!” she exclaimed.

The monster roared again and charged over waxy leaves and snow at Scootaloo’s shining body.

{-DD-}

There was no way to identify north on the island, let alone any of the other directions. The strange sky’s stationary lights didn’t help. So Sweetie Belle may have been running northeast, or she may have been running southwest. Either way, she was galloping at a precise diagonal, bound to her path by some unseen force.

She looked over her shoulder. Scootaloo and the monster were nowhere to be seen. Dinky had followed Apple Bloom, and they, too, were out of sight amidst the wintery jungle.

“Oh no!” Sweetie Belle groaned. “How am I going to find them?”

She yelped and skidded to a halt as the world around her suddenly changed. She was no longer running through a frosty rainforest, but rather found herself on a sand dune. Cacti and skittering creatures, lit by the light of stars, inhabited the ground ahead of her for at least a hundred yards, and then ― very clearly ― the world morphed again into a bubbling swamp.

“What is this place?” Sweetie Belle glanced over her shoulder and gasped: the snowy jungle was still right behind her, separated from the desert by an unnaturally straight line. She shifted back to the very edge of the desert, curiously kicking a bit of sand over the line. It landed among the dirt, leaves, and snow of the jungle and vanished just as quickly.

Sweetie Belle’s eyes were wide when she looked to the swamp on the other edge of the desert. “Is this for real?” she asked under breath.

She tried to run across the desert toward the swamp, but her predestined path forced her at a diagonal. Peering in the only direction she could go, she figured she could reach the far corner of the swamp.

“So much for the shortest distance between two parts,” she grumbled, giving a final glance at the jungle before bolting at an angle through the starlit sand.

{-DD-}

“Where’s Sweetie Belle?” asked Dinky.

“We’ll find her soon!” yelled Apple Bloom. “Keep up with me!”

“I’m trying!” Dinky panted hard. “You’re going so fast!”

“I am?” Apple Bloom tried to look behind her, but the costume prevented it. “Argh! What do you see back there, Dinky?”

Dinky dared to glance over her shoulder. Scootaloo and the great boar had fallen far behind. “Nothing,” she said. “I-I think we’re safe.”

Apple Bloom had to slow to a stop before she could turn around. She ushered Dinky to her side and looked all around them warily.

“What was that thing?” Dinky asked, pressed into her uncostumed flank.

“Looked like some kinda… pig monster.” Apple Bloom gulped. “I don’t know, Dinky. I ain’t seen nothin’ like it back home.”

“Ooohhhh…” Dinky whined, burying her face into Apple Bloom’s side. “I’m so scared. Where are Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle?”

“I don’t think Sweetie Belle could follow us,” Apple Bloom said quietly, “and as much as I hate to say it, I reckon Scootaloo stayed back to fight that thing.”

“She’s gonna die!” Dinky’s breath sped up. “We have to go back and save her, Apple Bloom! We can’t let her die!”

“Hey, calm down there, little missy.” Apple Bloom looked down at her. She wasn’t dramatically smaller than the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but in that particular moment she looked younger and more frail than ever. “They’re gonna be okay. Trust me. We three have gotten out of worse sitcheations than this.”

Dinky sniffed. “Y-you have?”

“Sure! Er, I reckon so, anyway.” She cleared her throat. “Look, I’m not all that worried. Scootaloo can more than take care of herself. Sweetie Belle’s got her moments, but she ain’t a sack o’ bricks, neither. And you and me?” She smiled. “Together, we’re as safe as can be.”

“Promise?”

Apple Bloom nodded once. “I promise. Nopony’s gonna die today.”

Dinky looked comforted, but only marginally. A few tears dripped from the corners of her eyes.

Apple Bloom read the panic and pain in her face. More than anything, it was familiar. Before she knew was she was doing, the question came:

“Have you… lost somepony, Dinky?” she asked softly.

Dinky winced.

“I mean… heh, sorry.” Apple Bloom shook her head rapidly. “This place must be gettin’ to me. That’s no kinda question to ask right now.”

“I don’t know what happened to my daddy,” Dinky answered anyway. “I don’t know if he died or… just left us. Mommy never talks about it.”

A lump grew in Apple Bloom’s throat. She tried to get rid of it with a brief cough. “Hrmmm… well, gosh. I’m sorry to hear that, Dinky.” She bit her lip. “Truth be told, I don’t rightly know what happened to my parents, neither.”

Dinky finally looked up. “Really?”

“Yeah. I never met ‘em.” She chuckled. “I mean… obviously my momma had me, er else I wouldn’t be here. But I ain’t never seen a picture, and Applejack’s never said a word about ‘em, and… I dunno, I figured it’s rude to ask.”

Dinky nodded. “Yeah. I’m scared to ask, too.”

The lump returned in her throat as something burned the bottom of Apple Bloom’s eyes. “Well… ahem. Let’s get on home as quick as we can then, huh? Maybe we can find a way to ask together.”

Gasping, Dinky asked, “Do you really mean it?”

“Sure. Why not?” Apple Bloom offered a meager smile. “Kids deserve to know what happened to their missin’ folks, don’t they?”

Dinky smiled and nuzzled Apple Bloom. “You’re such a good friend. No wonder the others love you so much.”

Apple Bloom sighed at that. “Thanks, I guess. Y’know… I’ve never talked to nopony about my parents, Dinky. I didn’t wanna burden Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo. They wouldn’t get it, anyway.”

“Thank you for telling me.” A small smile pulled at Dinky’s lips. “Now… should we go help the others find the Red King?”

“And fast.” Apple Bloom stood taller. “The sooner we get home, the better. Did you happen to see which way Sweetie Belle ran?”

Dinky pointed. “I’m pretty sure she went that way.”

Apple Bloom pointed her nose to the left. “Then let’s hope I can remember any shape-ography from school.”

Dinky giggled. “Um, do you mean geometry?”

Apple Bloom sighed and trotted forward. “This might take a while.”

{-DD-}

“What manner of beast art thou?” Scootaloo taunted, twirling the long javelin over her head with a plated hoof. “Only the fiercest of prey interest me. My blade hath bested dragons and torn regiments asunder! Therefore I ask again, by what means do you hope to defeat me?”

The giant, purple warthog’s mouth ripped upward yet again, screaming its malicious intentions as flecks of yellow spit and phlegm spattered on the ground before the little knight.

“Ha ha! That’s the spirit!” Scootaloo crouched low, aimed her polearm, and galloped forward at full speed. Her tiny wings beat against the inside of her armor. “Let us observe how thou shalt handle mine own show of fury! Raaurgh!”

The monster caught the tip of Scootaloo’s javelin between two of its gnarled tusks and threw her into the air.

She laughed maniacally as she spun, orienting herself many feet above the monster’s head. “Thou hast sown the oats of thine own destruction, great swine! I advance!” She plummeted, spear held straight downward in both of her forehooves.

The massive boar brought its head low to the ground, lifted its hind legs, and bucked at the air. Its cloven hooves collided with the javelin first, deflecting Scootaloo’s airborne attack and sending her spinning to the side.

She landed hard on all four hooves, still laughing. “Ha ha! ‘Twill take more than a paltry kick to distill the wrath of Lady Scootsalot!” She charged again with the javelin held at her side, then spun and slid backwards as the boar moved to catch the spear. Flattened and grinding over the strange jungle’s floor, Scootaloo managed to scrape below the hairy chin of the beast and poked its belly with the blunt end of her javelin.

It panicked, rearing onto its hind legs and kicking desperately at Scootaloo. She swatted its hooves out of the way with an armored hoof, jumped onto its exposed chest, and kicked off backward, effectively toppling the beast onto its back while she landed noisily near its twitching tail.

“More epic battles have been wrought with the weeds in the gardens of Canterlot!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “I take no honor in slaying you, foul creature, but the safety of my friends is my undisputed priority!” She leapt onto its upward-facing belly and prepared to bury her javelin in its heart. “Fare thee well in the realms beyond, my foe!”

The pig squealed, squirmed, and squawked. Scootaloo hesitated for a moment too long. The boar opened its hingeless mouth wide, flipping itself forward and launching Scootaloo as if from a catapult. She slammed into a nearby tree and slid down its trunk with a groan.

“What strange anatomy,” she grunted as she got to her hooves. “I shall have the royal magicians tear thee apart, for science!” She blinked. “Or… whatever similar practice came before science! Raauurgh!”

The boar was ready for her to attack head on or from below, so Scootaloo slammed her pole into the ground and used it to leap over the boar’s hulking head. She landed backwards on its hips and began to stab it mercilessly just above the tail. “Receive my pointy justice!”

The monster shrieked once again and took off through the jungle, smashing through errant trees and vines as it tried to escape its pain. Scootaloo laughed and continued to stab until ― unexpectedly ― she noticed sand kicking up from her ride’s back hooves.

“What’s this?” she asked aloud, surveying the land around her. “A wasteland beyond the jungle? Ho ho! What an exotic setting for my imminent victory!”

Just as quickly, it seemed to Scootaloo, the landscape transformed again, and the boar’s heavy hoofsteps spat up mud and standing water.

“What what!? Stop at once!” She yanked on the boar’s tail and it screeched to a halt on a strip of land between stinking pools of water. The world was suddenly dark and foggy. “A swamp? All too familiar! I don’t want it to bog down my armor.” She laughed at herself. “Bog down! Ha! Oh, that there was a nearby soul to hear and rejoice in my play on words!”

The purple warthog roared and bucked Scootaloo from her perch over its hips. She landed in the mud nearby, but her javelin sunk so deeply that she had trouble pulling it out. “Curses! Foiled by my own pun! Such is the price of my devilish wit!”

The boar spun around and snarled in her face.

She lifted her visor and frowned at the monster. “Thine breath is putrid.”

“Scootaloo!”

The knight turned her head. Emerging from the fog, a castle-costumed Apple Bloom burst into view. She splashed over a stretch of shallow water and gasped when the giant boar rose its heavy head, staring directly at her.

“Scootaloo, what the hay are you doin’ with that thing?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Vanquishing a measly foe, of course.” Her visor still up, Scootaloo flashed Apple Bloom a debonair grin. “Stand back, good rook! The battle is nearly over!”

With a low scream that shook the surface of the swamp’s water, the beast thundered around Scootaloo and charged instead at Apple Bloom. She flinched.

“No!” Dinky suddenly shouted, bounding for her friend from behind.

A strong gust of wind blew a thick patch of fog into the boar’s path. It panicked, swerving to the left and submerging its front two legs in a deep patch of bubbling mud.

Apple Bloom sighed. “Whew! That was lucky.”

Dinky flung her arms around Apple Bloom’s tower of a neck. “It sure was! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Dinky. Can you reach Scootaloo?” She wiggled in place. “I don’t got much mobility at the moment.”

“Yeah, I’ll get her!” Dinky tore away from the rook and approached the knight in a shallow puddle of sludge, helping her with several loud grunts to pull the javelin from the mud.

“Ha ha!” cried Scootaloo when the polearm slurped out of its hole. She held it above her head in triumph. “Well done, my Queen! Now the beast has lost all hope of escape!”

Dinky rose an eyebrow. “Queen?”

With a sickening pop, the purple hog yanked itself out of the swamp. Its strange mouth opened wide and its tongue flicked back and forth with rage. Dinky gasped and backed away from the freed monstrosity.

“Fear not, Your Majesty!” Scootaloo hopped forward and snapped her visor shut. “Your champion lives to protect you!”

The warthog ran at them, its many tusks carving swirly shapes through the wisps of fog in the air.

“For the Sun and Her Great Family!” yelled Scootaloo, throwing herself at the boar with no less vigor.

With a mighty swing of its multiplicitous tusks, the monster angrily batted Scootaloo aside. She sprawled onto the stretch of land amidst mud and dark ponds. Dinky gasped and ran as fast as her stubby legs could carry her to the fallen knight’s side.

“Are you okay, Scootaloo?” she asked in a tight voice.

Scootaloo coughed. “This knight has not been taken yet,” she said, rather heroically. “Be swift, my Queen, and hasten away! Take the rook with you, for she shall be… what’s this, now?”

Together, they looked back at the boar. Its eyes were on Dinky… and it was trembling. A few nervous whimpers escaped its throat.

“Ha ha! But of course, Your Majesty!” Scootaloo jumped to her hooves with renewed energy, making Dinky gasp. “Even the beasts of these ghastly woods are wary of your power. Quickly! We must end its life before it escapes and wreaks havoc upon the kingdom!”

The boar turned and ran. Scootaloo chased after it, spurting out bursts of laughter. Apple Bloom approached Dinky, who looked utterly flabbergasted.

“Kingdom? What kingdom?” She turned to Apple Bloom. “What is Scootaloo talking about?”

“I’m not sure she’s got more of a clue than we do,” Apple Bloom admitted. “Come on, Dinky, we gotta catch ‘em. Scoots shouldn’t go killin’ that thing that’s tryin’ to run away.”

“Right!” Dinky ran alongside Apple Bloom, following the sounds of Scootaloo’s manic laughter.

{-DD-}

Sweetie Belle stood at the edge of the swamp, and also at the edge of a lake.

“This makes absolutely no sense,” she murmured, turning her eyes from the foggy swamp behind her to the gorgeous sunset casting orange beams of light across the rippling water. She grinned. “But it is kinda pretty.”

From behind her, a desperate roar split the fog. She screamed and almost tripped over her robes, stumbling diagonally in an attempt to turn around. The monster exploded from the depths of the swamp with a spray of sticky mud. Sweetie Belle shielded her face and cried, “Help!”

“And help you shall receive, dear Bishop!” Scootaloo’s voice erupted from just behind the monster.

Sweetie Belle gasped and clasped her hooves together. “Sir Scootaloo! You’re okay!”

“Indeed, I am full of endurance and mirth! Ha ha!” She jumped into view and waved at Sweetie Belle from a distance.

The giant boar yelped and skidded to a stop at the straight edge of the swamp. It stared out over the lake with twitching, terrified eyes. Sweetie Belle noticed the expression and backed away from it along her diagonal path.

“It looks scared!” she yelled to Scootaloo.

“As it well should be, for fear marks the hearts of the wicked!” Scootaloo stomped closer to the beast.

Apple Bloom and Dinky emerged from the fog, panting. “Scootaloo! Don’t go killin’ the poor critter! It’s through fightin’, don’tcha see?”

“The mind of a beast is as uncertain as its composition. I shall slay it, if only so that we may no longer fear its dark influence on our grand adventures!”

“Scootaloo, snap out of it!” Sweetie Belle shouted. “We have to find the Red King, remember? Let it go back to the jungle so we can get on with this already!”

The warthog turned around, glaring at Scootaloo and growling through its many tusks.

“Look away if you must, fair Bishop, for naught shall stop me from fulfilling my knightly duties to rid this kingdom of Tartarus’ foul bile!”

“What are you gettin’ on about? Scoots, yer our friend, not some royal knight! Come on now, focus, girl!”

“For Queen and Country!” Scootaloo jumped at the monster with incredible athleticism, rising several feet off the ground. “Raaaaurrrgghhh!”

The warthog winced and cowered from Scootaloo’s approaching spear.

“No!” In an instant, Apple Bloom bolted forward in a beeline shot for the warthog. In the space of a blink, she traveled over a hundred feet, zipping underneath Scootaloo in the process, and slammed into the warthog at full speed. The creature was launched like a ping-pong ball off a brick wall, soaring through the air and disappearing beyond the lake with a cinematic twinkle. It screamed the whole way.

Apple Bloom blinked over extremely wide eyes. “Whoops.”

Scootaloo stopped short of running into her and stuck her pole into the soggy ground, laughing. “Good show, old girl! I thought not that such a performance rested within you! Ha ha!”

Sweetie Belle’s eyes watered. “Did… did you kill it?” she asked softly.

“I-I-I don’t think so…” Apple Bloom stammered. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“The Ogelsnort is far from dead,” said an all-too-familiar voice from somewhere in the nearby lake. “And even if it was, I’m sure it would come back sooner or later. We all do.”

“There’s that blasted feline!” shouted Scootaloo. “The one whose curse nearly foiled my fight with the beast! I shall skewer you with my spear of chivalry, you uncouth ― gah!” Halfway through marching to the edge of the swamp, Scootaloo tipped over and landed hard in the mud. “Oh! How I would that a companion might confirm what just occurred as fabrication!”

The disembodied voice chuckled. “What an unexpected side-effect.”

“Make her stop!” said Dinky, approaching the lake. “I want normal Scootaloo back.”

“Remove her helmet and the spell will lift,” the voice complied without hesitation.

After a moment of letting that sink in, Apple Bloom turned a sharp ninety degrees and approached Scootaloo’s head. She yanked the helmet over her face and out of the mud with some difficulty.

Scootaloo groaned and sat up on her haunches, rubbing her temples with two hooves. “What just happened?” she asked in her usual, raspy voice.

“Scootaloo!” Dinky bounded over and hugged the armored filly. “You’re back!”

Scootaloo’s eyes crossed. “I’m back? What do you mean? Did… did I die?”

“What’s with you and death, Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “No, ya didn’t die. But you haven’t exactly been yerself.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s recap later,” said Sweetie Belle, getting as near to the group as her enduring enchantment allowed. “Where’s the Red King, Mister Cat? We’re done with this nonsense and need to find him now!”

With another flighty chuckle, a large brown fish appeared just beneath the surface of the lake’s clear water. It had long, spiky tendrils blooming from around its mouth, but its eyes glistened with intelligence.

Sweetie Belle gasped. “Mister Cat…fish?”

The creature grinned and looked toward the brilliant, setting Sun. “Behold the Red King,” he said. “You ponies never give yourself enough credit, you know. Quite clever, the lot of you.”

Apple Bloom tilted her head. “The Sun is the Red King? How’re we s’posed to remove the Sun?”

The fish didn’t answer, for it was gone.

Scootaloo rubbed her eyes, groaning. “I could not possibly be more confused.”

“I think… hey, there’s something out there, girls!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, pointing toward the horizon. “There’s something in the water! It looks like a little boat!”

Apple Bloom and Dinky squinted into the Sun. “I can’t see nothin’ and that makes my eyes hurt,” Apple Bloom complained.

“Oh, right. I’m at a better angle.” Sweetie Belle giggled. “Well, there’s a rowing boat out there on the lake. Doesn’t look like anypony’s in it, but maybe it’s for us!”

Apple Bloom shrugged. “Let’s swim on over there, then. Assumin’ I don’t drown in this costume.”

“I think I’ll sink in all this metal,” Scootaloo said, trying to pull the armor from her forelegs.

“Dinky and I will go,” Sweetie Belle said, “and we’ll bring the boat to shore.”

Dinky smiled hesitantly. “Ummm… actually, Sweetie Belle, I can’t swim.”

Sweetie’s eyebrows knit together. “Oh. Okay, then. I’ll, uh… go out there by myself.” She gulped, adjusted her tall mitre, and stepped forward into the water.

Or, rather, onto the water. Her own gasp accompanied one from each of her friends as Sweetie Belle began to trot over the surface of the lake toward the boat.

“Wow! Look at me!” Sweetie Belle cheered, bouncing happily. “I can walk on water!”

“It’s probably just a fake lake,” said Scootaloo, but when she dipped her hoof beyond the edge of the swamp, the water there rippled as her armor pierced its surface. “Huh? Whoa!”

Giggling, Sweetie Belle reached the boat in no time. She peeked over its lip, gasped audibly, and waved her hooves overhead at her friends on the swampy shore. “HEY!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “YOU GIRLS HAVE GOT TO SEE THIS!”

“There’s no need to shout, Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom droned. “You’re not all that far away and sound carries over water.”

“Oh.” Sweetie Belle cleared her throat, hooked one fetlock on the small boat, and pulled it over the water to where her friends were waiting.

Inside the vessel, curled on his side, was a bright red stallion with a thick moustache and a crown upon his head. His eyes were closed and a gentle snoring passed through his muzzle every few seconds.

“Is this the Red King?” whispered Dinky.

“Quick, let’s tip the boat over!” Scootaloo yelled, grasping for a hold on its underside.

“Seems like a right heavy sleeper,” Apple Bloom said, poking the king’s flank.

Scootaloo grunted. “Hello? Is nopony gonna help me? We have to remove the Red King!”

“I think we should wake him up and ask him politely if we can use his boat,” said Sweetie Belle matter-of-factly.

“Uuugghh!” Scootaloo reached into the bottom of the vessel and shook the stallion by his shoulders. “Hey! Red Kingsley! Can you hear me? Get up!” She slapped him across the face. “We need to sail into the sunset or whatcrap!”

“Checkmate,” Dinky said under breath.

The other three looked at her. “Huh?”

Dinky smiled, looking into each of their eyes. She hopped onto a bench in the boat and pulled the king’s crown off of his head. It made a satisfying noise. “Checkmate.”

The stallion sat up with a whinny, eyes wide. He looked around and at the sky, obviously out of sorts. “Harumph! I say! What’s going on here?”

“Of course! Checkmate!” Sweetie Belle beamed. “You know how to play chess, Dinky?”

“Not really,” she said with a humble smile, “but I know how to win.”

“What what?” The Red King struggled to his hooves, swaying the boat back and forth in the process. “This is an outrage! Here I was, quite, taking a nap upon my favorite mirror, only to be interrupted by cosplaying peasants?” He snorted and hopped out of the boat, stomping angrily into the fog of the swamp. “I say, tally-ho, tea and crumpets!”

Sweetie Belle blinked. “Did he say… a mirror?”

In unison, the fillies looked at the bottom of the boat. Indeed, a large, oval mirror rested at the bottom, reflecting the rays of the shuddering sky.

“Yes!” Dinky, still standing on the boat’s wooden bench, curled herself up and cannon-balled into the mirror. Rather than shattering, the surface swallowed her whole, and Dinky once again disappeared into whatever world waited beyond the looking-glass.

{-DD-}

Dinky fell downwards, then sideways, and finally landed on her shoulder with an “Oof!” Dizzy, she got to her hooves and took in her surroundings. Her eyes went up, up, up along the buildings around her. She ogled the tops of the massive skyscrapers kissing the sky overhead. When the awe wore off, she noticed several well-dressed ponies staring at her with perplexed expressions.

She smiled at them, then turned around to see where she had emerged. A small hat shop was displaying several pieces outside its doors, and an upright oval mirror allowed potential customers to see how they looked. Dinky was standing right underneath it.

“Where in Equestria did you come from?” an employee of the hat shop asked, backed against the shop’s own windows.

“Uhhh…” Dinky looked up into the mirror. To her amazement, the periwinkle filly in its glass was ― once again ― not her. The little pegasus on the other side winked one golden eye, turned around, and flew out of sight into the mirrored streets of Manehattan. Dinky leaned closer… only to suddenly receive a faceful of pink bow.

“Gaaahh!” shouted Apple Bloom as she tumbled through the mirror.

The fillies’ onlookers stepped away, gasping.

Scootaloo barreled through next, slamming into Apple Bloom’s rear and sending all three of them tumbling to the pavement. Sweetie Belle emerged with a “Wheee!” and landed softly on top of her friend-pile.

“Wow! Did we make it to Manehattan after all?” she asked with starry eyes.

The onlookers quickly and silently dispersed.

5 - All You Need is a Smirk

Chapter Five
All You Need is a Smirk

“How did this happen?” Apple Bloom asked, checking the sky again. The Sun shone through a layer of clouds; it was the middle of the day.

“Who cares? It sucks!” Scootaloo slammed her bare hoof into a nearby garbage can. “I lost my scooter, and then I didn’t get to keep that awesome armor, and now we’re a billion miles from home in the exact city where we’re too late to help anypony!”

“How long were we in that place, anyhow?” Apple Bloom glanced behind her. The hat store and its mirror were far away by then.

“Yeah, this doesn’t make sense,” said Sweetie Belle, peering at the sunbeams breaking through the clouds. “We got caught by that diamond dog around seven, didn’t we? And we couldn’t have been in his junkyard for more than an hour or two.”

“And I reckon it didn’t take us twelve hours to run down a hill ‘n’ find a boat,” added Apple Bloom.

“All right, so what? Time moves differently out here than it did in there?” Scootaloo shook her head. “Big deal. I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“What day is it, then?” asked Sweetie Belle. Her pupils shrunk. “Have we been missing for days? Or years?”

Apple Bloom hurried to a pair of young colts selling newspapers on the curb. She peeked above the headline and gasped, frozen in place.

“What? What is it?” Scootaloo pounced on her back to look at the paper around Apple Bloom’s head. “Did we accidentally travel hundreds of years into the future? Has Rainbow Dash been memorialized by renaming the entire country Rainbowdashia? And I missed the ceremony!?”

“We’re not in the future at all,” said Apple Bloom, pointing at the date. “We’re in the past.”

Scootaloo crossed her eyes. “Buh?”

“We’re back in the day we wanted to leave. The day your mom left to get the foals, Dinky.”

Dinky held her hooves up to her face. “You mean… Mommy’s here? In Manehattan?”

“If it’s around noon, I don’t think they’ve even left Ponyville yet.” Apple Bloom blinked. She smiled. “Which means we can find the foals first!”

Scootaloo gasped in ten lungs worth of air. “Then what are we waiting for? This is the best thing that’s ever happened! We have to find those Cake twins before Rainbow Dash shows up!”

“Where do we start?” asked Sweetie Belle. “I don’t think any alley cats to give us cryptic clues in Manehattan.”

“We just have to be vigilant,” Scootaloo said, pounding one hoof into another. “Keep your eyes are ears out, girls, for anything out of place. We’re looking for… a bad guy.” She grinned. “Yeah! A bad guy hiding stolen babies.”

“In that case, this should be a cinch,” Apple Bloom droned.

“Come on!” Scootaloo galloped forward toward the center of the city. “Hurry!”

Apple Bloom growled. “Scootaloo! Wait up!”

{-DD-}

“So… are we not going to talk about the crazy world behind the mirror?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“No time!” Scootaloo barrelled around another corner, only to slam into a couple of adult unicorns holding cigarettes in their magic.

“‘Ey!” one of them yelled, stumbling back from the impact. “Watch it, li’l runt!”

Scootaloo winced and inched around them. “Sorry!” she said, keeping her eyes away from their angry faces, before suddenly whipping and around to take off ― and running into more ponies. “Ow! Gosh darn it…”

“Cool your jets, kid!” yelled one of the smoking unicorns. “If you’re gonna gallop in Longacre Square, ya better look where ya goin’!”

Sweetie Belle came up from behind and helped Scootaloo to her hooves. “Longacre Square?” Sweetie repeated, then glanced over the heads of the disgruntled ponies Scootaloo had just run into.

Apple Bloom and Dinky caught up just then, and all four fillies stared up at the ocean of glowing billboards and giant advertisements crammed into every available space in their sights. Thousands of ponies navigated the wide sidewalks alongside yellow carriages on the busy streets. The music of various performers filled the air, and the fillies were struck with a sense of smallness.

“Wooow!” they breathed together.

One of the smokers laughed, threw his cigarette on the ground, and began to trot away, but not before saying over his shoulder, “Welcome to the heart of the world, kids.”

“This is amazing!” Sweetie Belle said reverently. “I’ve never seen anything like it!”

The awe in Scootaloo’s eyes snuffed out with a snort. “Eh, it’s all right. Come on girls, we have to find those foals!”

“Now hold on just a minute.” Apple Bloom grabbed Scootaloo’s tail between two strong hooves. “What exactly is your plan here, hmm? We’ve been runnin’ around like chickens with our heads cut off, and now we’re just gonna squeeze through a million ponies goin’ about their business? How’re we s’posed to find the foals like that?”

Scootaloo grunted. “The longer you hold me here asking dumb questions, the more time the foalnapper has to escape! We gotta keep moving!”

“The only thing we gotta do is stick together,” Apple Bloom said, shaking her head. “Just how do you expect us to find you in this crowd if you run off by yerself?”

“Well, you guys need to keep up!”

“You need to remember who we got along for the ride!”

“I wasn’t the one that wanted to bring her!”

“Actually, I’m pretty sure you were! Besides, who made you Captain of the Crusaders?”

“Which of us was turned into an awesome knight?”

“Which of us is takin’ all this craziness seriously?”

“Stop fighting!” Sweetie Belle yelled, smacking Apple Bloom’s hooves away from Scootaloo’s tail. “If we wanna find the foals, shouldn’t we start asking all these nice Manehattan citizens if they’ve seen anything suspicious lately?”

Scootaloo harrumphed and crossed her forelegs over her chest.

“That’s a good idea, Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom said, brushing aside her bangs. “Come on, let’s get started. ‘Scuse me! Mister! Could you help us with somethin’?”

Over the next few minutes, very few ponies stopped to talk with the Crusaders at all, and the few that did had no idea where to start looking for foalnapped babies. After several ignored attempts, Scootaloo dropped to her haunches.

“This is no use,” she moaned. “We need to get tons of their attention at once. Augh, I wish I had my scooter!”

Dinky’s ears perked at the sound of a distant rhythm. Through momentary gaps in the ever-moving crowd, she spotted a group of street performers dancing to a quick drumbeat. Several passerby had stopped to watch and listen to the show.

Dinky reached behind her ear and her little jaw dropped. The flute she had found behind the mirror in the diamond dog’s cavern was still there. She choked on a tiny laugh, held the flute in front of her mouth, and cleared her throat. “Umm… what if we did this?”

The Crusaders turned just as soon as she started playing a whimsical tune on her flute.

“What are you doing, Dinky?” Scootaloo hissed. “We don’t have time for an impromptu concerto!”

“What talent!” said a random mare walking by. “Bravo!”

Dinky nodded humbly and continued playing.

Scootaloo blinked and glanced at Apple Bloom. “Oh. I get it.”

Apple Bloom grabbed Sweetie Belle by the shoulders. “All right, resident musician. You help Dinky get some eyes on ya, and Scootaloo and I’ll take care o’ the rest.”

Sweetie beamed and nodded quickly, standing next to Dinky and adding a harmony with her voice.

“Laaa la laaaa! Laaa la laaaa! Iiiit’s my faaaavorite sooong!” she improvised, holding an elegant hoof to her chest.

“Oh, how lovely!”

“They’re adorable!”

“Doesn’t your cousin play the flute?”

“Well, that’s somethin’ new!”

Apple Bloom grinned at Scootaloo as a crowd began to form around the little musicians. They buzzed together like hummingbirds from one onlooker to another, asking, “Have you seen anything suspicious lately?” and “Where might a pony take a couple of foalnapped children?”

“Foalnapped children?” asked one stallion with a gruff beard and an even gruffer voice. “Whatta you talkin’ about, kid?”

“We’re from a little village in central Equestria,” Apple Bloom explained. “Yesterday… I think… uh, some twin babies were foalnapped by somepony from Haissan, and we’re tryin’ t―”

“Hold up, little filly, hold up.” The stallion raised a hoof and squinted down at Apple Bloom. “Did you say Haissan?”

“Uhhh… yes.” Apple Bloom smiled weakly. “I don’t really know where that is, to be honest, but this lady back in Ponyville ― we’ve got her daughter with us ― see, she said that the foals are bein’ taken to Haissan and that we gotta catch ‘em in Manehattan.”

“Is that right?” The stallion looked around warily. “Well, then, let me tell you one little thing I know.”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo stood up straighter. “Yeah? What is it?”

The stallion bent down and whispered, “If you’re lookin’ for ponies tied to Haissan, you’re gonna wanna go to the docks out east. There’s an airship that flies across the ocean every couple o’ weeks, but I’ve heard of, ehhh… alternative methods.” He wagged his eyebrows. “Got it?”

“The docks! Of course!” Scootaloo saluted the stallion. “Thank you very much, and we’ll be on our way.”

Apple Bloom opened her mouth to speak, but Scootaloo grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back to Sweetie Belle and Dinky.

“Wrap it up, Haulin’ Oats!” she whispered to them loudly. “We’ve got our lead!”

Apple Bloom blinked. “Haulin’ Oats?”

“They’re this band my dad listens to. Whatever.” Scootaloo sighed. “Hurry it up!”

“And thaaaat was the eeend ooof ooouur soooooong!” sang Sweetie Belle. Dinky did a little trill on her flute, and the crowd applauded enthusiastically.

“Off we go!” Scootaloo planted herself behind the fillies and began to push them eastward through the middle of Longacre Square while their crowd dispersed into the throng.

{-DD-}

“It’s quiet over here,” moped Sweetie Belle. “I liked it better in the city.”

“Well, the foals weren’t in the city, so shut up,” hissed Scootaloo, climbing up a stack of large wooden boxes.

“Don’t look like the foals are out here, neither.” Apple Bloom regarded Scootaloo’s ascent with a cocked eyebrow. “You think they might be on top o’ those crates?”

“I’m trying ― to get ― a better ― view!” With one final jump, wings a-buzzing, Scootaloo hoisted herself onto the highest box and peered out over the pier.

There were dozens of docks stretching out into the ocean. A few small vessels loaded with cargo bobbed up and down in the water. Gristly ponies intermingled with tired travellers between the water and the edge of the city.

“Darn it…” Scootaloo shielded her eyes. “Everypony looks the same. How am I supposed to pick out the bad guy?” She turned her head in disappointment and noticed Dinky leaning over a rail next to the ocean. “Hey! Don’t fall in, Dinky!”

The periwinkle filly nodded up at Scootaloo with a small smile before turning back to stare into the water.

“Do you think she’s okay?” Sweetie Belle whispered to Apple Bloom.

“She’s just scared.” Apple Bloom gulped. “Makes sense. We’re used to this kinda stuff, but Dinky? Seems to me she’s been pretty sheltered.”

Sweetie Belle sighed. “I hope we’re not, like… corrupting her.”

Apple Bloom laughed and patted Sweetie on the back. “Don’t worry. Once we get on home, I doubt she’ll ever wanna leave Ponyville again.”

Dinky, meanwhile, was struggling to keep her eyes open. Her hoof rested on a short, rusted railing, and her chin rested on top of her hoof. She sighed heavily, watching her dark reflection swell and break in the ocean water just below the dock. Her mind swam with images of her mother, and the talking cat, and herself… her pegasus self.

Her reflection moved as if on cue. It darted out farther into the water. Dinky’s head popped up: though the water was choppy, she could make out a pair of wings in the reflection.

“Hey!” Dinky called out. “Wait! Who are you?”

“What was that?” Scootaloo shouted back from above.

Dinky ignored her, squinting at the blurry filly in the water. She thought she saw a smile under the pony’s golden eyes, and then ― quite clearly ― the pegasus pointed to a nearby dock. It was a long, skinny, wooden thing that stretched quite a ways into the water. Safer and more modern docks stood above the ocean beyond it, but the pegasus’ point led Dinky’s eyes directly to a pair of bearded stallions, dressed in black raincoats, pushing something along the dock. The giant object was heavy and covered by a large grey tarp.

Dinky stole a final glance at her strange reflection before yelling up to Scootaloo, “Look there! What do they have under that tarp?”

Scootaloo peered at the dock in question and watched the stallions struggle to slide their cargo to its easternmost edge. “I don’t know…. Looks too big to be a couple of foals, though.”

“They look pretty darn suspicious to me,” said Apple Bloom from the bottom of Scootaloo’s. She tilted her head. “See the way they’re lookin’ around all shifty-like?”

“I’m sure there’s a lotta shifty stuff that goes on around here,” Scootaloo grumbled, but her eyes were stuck to the stallions and their tarp.

None of the Cutie Mark Crusaders said a word for another minute while the stallions finished their job. They got the huge object to the end of the dock, glanced around, and pulled the tarp off quickly. For just a moment, the fillies caught a glimpse of the thing: a sideways rocketship with a giant fan built on the flat end. In unison, the stallions heaved the vessel over the long edge of the dock. It splashed into the water and floated there, despite being made of a dark, shiny metal.

“What the hay are they doin’?” asked Apple Bloom.

The stallions dropped to their bellies and reached over the edge with a pair of long hooks. They dragged the vessel closer to themselves through the water. Then, with much effort, they managed to tuck the thing underneath the wooden dock, effectively hiding it from any passerby. They stood up, sweating, and nodded to each other, raising the hoods of their raincoats.

“All right, fine, that’s weird.” Scootaloo hopped down from her perch and beckoned to her friends. “Come on, let’s try to catch what they’re saying.”

Apple Bloom nodded. Sweetie Belle briefly beamed and clapped her hooves together before donning a serious expression. Dinky gulped and followed their lead, crouching low and tip-hoofing closer to the wooden dock alongside piles of salty nets and molding crates.

“―and frankly, I’m just glad they paid us up front.”

As soon as one deep voice reached their ears, the fillies flattened themselves against a nearby mound of stinking seaweed.

“How many bits are Stirros worth, anyways?”

“I dunno. What do I look like, an exchange rate expert?”

“Hey, you were the one that struck the deal. I hope you didn’t screw us all over!”

“Shut up. It’s plenty of money; I know that much.”

“Are you sure that was the right dock? I mean, there are older ones down by the―”

“It’s the right dock. Now shut up and stop thinkin’ about it. Our job’s done. Those Haissanic weirdos can do whatever they want with the submarine now.”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders refrained from gasping and looked at each other with wide eyes. Scootaloo peaked around a tall barrel and waited until the raincoated stallions were out of sight before pumping a hoof.

“Yyyesss! Did you hear that? ‘Haissanic weirdos’! Haissan is that country your mom mentioned, right, Dinky?”

Dinky gulped again, but found a smile. “Yeah, I-I think it is!”

“It definitely is,” said Apple Bloom. “We’re on the right track, girls.”

“So that rocket thing was a submarine?” asked Sweetie Belle. “What for?”

“To take the foals back across the ocean!” Scootaloo wiped a brow. “Whew, this is lucky! The bad guy isn’t here yet, so we can just stake it out and wait for him to find his submarine. Then we can strike and get the foals back!” She jabbed a couple of punches at the air in front of her.

“Those stallions made it seem like there’s more than one foalnapper,” Apple Bloom said in a flat tone. “Not sure we’d stand much of a chance in an all-out brawl.”

Sweetie Belle nodded. “She’s right. We have to be sneakier than that.”

Scootaloo huffed. “Okay, fine, just shoot down all my ideas. What’s your brilliant alternative, then, Apple Bloom?”

“I’m not tryin’ to shoot yer ideas down, Scoots,” Apple Bloom said with a sneer. “I’m tryin’ to think o’ the Cakes’ twins. This is a big operation and I don’t wanna mess it up.”

“Oh, because I’m just a big screw up, is that it?”

“This ain’t about you, Scootaloo!”

“Isn’t it? I’m the leader here!”

“Excuuuse me? Who said you were the leader? I’m pretty dang sure we’re a team.”

“Yeah! A team with an awesome leader!”

“Stop it, stop it! You already argued about this!” Sweetie Belle slid both hooves down her face. “Look, I’ve never really thought about which of us is the ‘leader’ before, but it doesn’t matter. The only pony who’s luck hasn’t seemed to run dry is Dinky.” She smiled to her side at the littlest filly. “What do you think we should do?”

Scootaloo opened her mouth to argue, but a few recent memories of Dinky’s success flashed before her eyes and she sat in silence.

Dinky tapped her front hooves on the ground. “Ummm… I think we ought to hide somewhere until the foalnappers come.” She squinted hard. “Then… when we’re sure they have the foals, two of us could try to distract them while the other two get the babies back.”

Sweetie cheered. “See? Isn’t that a perfect plan?”

Scootaloo spat, “Yeah, but where are we supposed to hide around here?”

“We’re hidin’ right now, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom said, gesturing to the tall barrel in front of them.

“No, I mean… what if we get caught!?” Scootaloo peeked around the barrel again. “And what if we mistake the wrong ponies for the foalnappers?” Her pupils shrunk and she pointed to the ocean. “And what if they have some cool underwater way to get to the submarine?”

Apple Bloom sighed heavily. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it? We just escaped a nonsense island behind a mirror!!” Scootaloo yelled. “Come on, there’s only one way to do this right.” She snuck around the barrel and scurried down the wooden dock.

“Scootaloo, no!” Sweetie Belle squeaked.

“Ugghh!” Apple Bloom jerked her head. “Let’s not leave her alone.”

Dinky’s heart rate picked up as they chased Scootaloo to the end of the dock. She kept glancing over her shoulder, nervous the foalnappers might show up any second.

“What do you think yer doin’?” Apple Bloom whispered harshly as Scootaloo stood at the edge of the dock. “We don’t know how to sabotage a submarine, stupid.”

Scootaloo’s mouth formed an adorable O shape. “Sabotage! That’s a great idea! I was just thinking we’d hide inside.”

“What?” Apple Bloom’s forehead turned red. “Are you outta yer mind? I’m startin’ to think maybe you haven’t recovered from bein’ a blockhead knight yet.”

“Actually, Apple Bloom, this might be a good idea.”

Apple Bloom spun around, flustered.

Sweetie Belle shrugged with a tiny smile. “The bad guys have to come to their submarine, right? And it’ll be a good place to hide.”

“Ha! See?” Scootaloo put a leg around Sweetie Belle. “At least somepony believes in me.”

“It’s not that I don’t believe in ya, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom said, “it’s just that we’re not even positive that this submarine belongs to the same ponies that foalnapped the twins!”

“How many Haissanic ponies have you met in your lifetime, exactly?” Scootaloo asked. “It all fits together perfectly!”

“Manehattan is a very different place than Ponyville,” Apple Bloom argued.

Dinky cleared her throat. “I’m pretty sure this is the right submarine,” she said quietly. “Or that it has something to do with the Cake twins, at least.”

Apple Bloom’s jaw dropped in sync with Scootaloo’s, though only one of them was bearing a smile.

“Why do you think that, Dinky?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Umm…” Dinky shifted on her hooves. “Well… I just know it. The same way I went through the mirror the first time.”

“See? See!?” Scootaloo pointed at Dinky with two hooves, entreating Apple Bloom with wide, wide eyes.

“Oh, yeah, ‘cause you loved goin’ through that mirror so much.” Apple Bloom snorted.

Scootaloo shook her head. “Three against one. Let’s do this. Wish me luck!” She took a deep breath and dove over the side of the dock.

The other three fillies panicked immediately.

“Oh my gosh!”

“Scootaloo!”

“She’s gone plum crazy…”

Scootaloo’s matted purple mane popped up out of the water above a pained expression. “Shhwaaappadoodles! This water is c-c-cold!”

“And disgusting!” Apple Bloom growled. “Get out of there at once!”

Scootaloo smiled, winked, and dove back below the surface.

“What is she doing?” Sweetie Belle ran a hoof over her mane.

Seconds later, the submarine bobbed up to the surface of the water like an apple on Nightmare Night. Scootaloo burst up alongside it, gasping for air. Her eyes were red and her breath came quickly, but she was still smiling.

“Okay… that was pretty cool,” Apple Bloom said joylessly, “but how are we gonna get it back under when we’re in?”

“M-m-m-m-magic!” Scootaloo stuttered, clambering back onto the dock with the help of Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom’s hooves. She turned around immediately and jumped onto the top of the submarine.

“Don’t slip!” yelped Sweetie Belle.

“Hrrnngh!” Scootaloo struggled with the hatch on the top of the craft. With an extra grunt ― “Heagh!” ― a wheel turned loose, and the hatch popped open with a hiss. Laughing to herself in a mixture of delight and exhaustion, Scootaloo tumbled down into the bowels of the vessel.

“Eee! She did it!” Sweetie Belle squeaked.

“Hurry up!” Scootaloo’s voice called from within. “Jump in here!”

“Dinky first,” Sweetie Belle said, offering the filly a hoof.

Balanced between Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, Dinky hopped gingerly off the dock and dropped through the open hatch with a gasp.

“You next, Princess,” Apple Bloom said, nodding to Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie giggled and bowed. “It’s Bishop, actually,” she said, and jumped into the submarine.

Apple Bloom swept her eyes over the Manehattan docks. Nopony seemed to be paying them any mind. Confidently, she leapt directly into the hole and nearly landed on Sweetie Belle’s head.

“Jeez, it’s cozy in here!” she said, taking in the submarine’s tiny interior.

“That’s one way to put it,” Scootaloo said, her cheek smashed against a nearby wall. “Okay, Sweetie, you and Dinky get up there and pull us back under the dock.”

“What?” Sweetie guffawed. “Why us?”

“Duh!” Scootaloo flicked Sweetie’s horn.

“Ouch!”

“Oh, uh… I can’t use magic yet,” Dinky said, shrinking.

“Of course you can!” said Scootaloo. “You’re a unicorn!”

“Well, yeah, but… I don’t know how.” Dinky’s lower lip began to quiver.

Scootaloo squeezed around her friends and looked straight into Dinky’s eyes. “Look, Dinky, you’ve already done some amazing things on this adventure. I know I’ve been harsh, and I’m sorry, but I’m proud to call you an honorary Cutie Mark Crusader.” She put a hoof on Dinky’s shoulder. “Sometimes it doesn’t matter if you’ve done something before, okay? All you need is a smirk and a lot of confidence.”

Dinky sniffed. “A smirk?”

“Like this.” Scootaloo’s eyelids lowered a bit and she showed off a devilish half smile. “Think you can do that for us?”

Giggling, Dinky said, “I-I can try.”

“Good, because those bad guys could be here any second.” She grabbed Dinky and shoved her upward toward the hatch. “Go on, Sweetie Belle! Work your magic!”

“Oohhh…” Sweetie whined, climbing a short ladder until her head poked out of the circular hatch.

Dinky followed, climbing to the left of Sweetie Belle and staring at the dock. “So, um… how do we do this?” she asked quietly, inches from Sweetie’s ear.

“I have no idea,” said Sweetie, “but Scootaloo’s right about one thing.” She grinned. “A smirk usually helps.”

Dinky blinked, studied Sweetie’s face, and put on her best smirk. Together, they leered at the dock, envisioned what needed to happen, and channeled as much thought into their horns as they could.

A greenish aura flickered around the submarine, and it immediately began to sink.

“Keep going!” Scootaloo shouted. “Don’t stop yet!”

“Aaaahhh!” Sweetie and Dinky screamed together as their heads slowly approached the side of the short wooden dock.

“Okay, shut the hatch, now!” Scootaloo yelled. “But don’t stop your magic!”

Sweetie Belle wrapped her left foreleg around Dinky, grabbed the metal hatch with her right, and dropped into the belly of the submarine with her eyes shut tight. The hatch closed above her glowing horn.

Scootaloo hurdled over the unicorns and onto the ladder. She reached overhead and spun a wheel to the right, locking the hatch door in place.

Sweetie let out a pained breath and her horn stopped glowing. They heard a resounding thump from above… and all four erupted in cheers.

“We did it!” Scootaloo yelled.

“That was absolutely amazin’!” Apple Bloom bounced up and down.

“Wait until I tell Twilight!” Sweetie Belle said, her voice cracking.

Dinky giggled uncontrollably, leaning into Sweetie Belle’s unbroken embrace.

“This is the best adventure we’ve ever had!” cried Scootaloo triumphantly.

{-DD-}

“Okay, this is getting boring,” Scootaloo droned, lying on her back, flicking a section of her mane that hadn’t dried yet. “What’s taking so long?”

“Just focus, Scootaloo, and remember the plan,” Apple Bloom said. “As soon as we feel the submarine move, we all have a hidin’ place, right?”

Sweetie Belle poked her head out of an empty garbage can. “Right!” she said, diving back down.

“Right!” squeaked Dinky’s voice from a closed cabinet overhead.

Scootaloo sighed and bumped a tiny bunk bed with her hoof. “Right.”

“Then me and you’ll make a run for it, distractin’ the foalnappers outside,” said Apple Bloom, “while Sweetie Belle and Dinky rescue the foals.”

“And hopefully we don’t accidentally hit the ‘speed off toward Haissan’ button,” Sweetie Belle’s muffled voice said through her hiding spot.

Apple Bloom covered her eyes with a foreleg. “Don’t… don’t even joke about that, Sweetie Belle.”

Scootaloo sat up with a gasp. “Oh! Sabotage!” She got to her hooves and hurried toward the front of the ship. “I bet I can figure out how to make sure this thing goes nowhere, even if our plan goes to crap.”

“Consarn it, Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom growled. “Be careful up there!”

“Yeah, no problem!” Scootaloo hurried along a narrow corridor and found the controls. “I’m good with this kind of stuff.”

Just then, the entire submarine shook under Apple Bloom’s hooves. She paled, and her eyes magnetized to the hatch overhead. “Scootaloo!” she hissed.

“Hold on, hold on!” Scootaloo’s hooves were a blur up ahead. “I can do this!”

“Scootaloo! Get back here! Now!”

“I’m scared!” said Dinky.

“I’m almost done! I just have to―”

The hatch opened. Apple Bloom dove under the bunk bed. Scootaloo froze, threw her eyes every which way, and eventually just curled into a ball under the submarine’s control panel.

Two tall stallions crawled into the submarine. Apple Bloom could only see their hooves ― and one of them only had three. They spoke to each other in quick, quiet words that she didn’t understand. Suddenly, they set a basket down right in front of Apple Bloom. She could hear the quiet whines of infants within.

Before she even had a chance to yell for Scootaloo, she heard the hatch close and felt the submarine descend. Her heart sunk into her abdomen as the foreign words grew louder, shouting over a hum that shook the submarine from behind. Suddenly, the craft rocketed forward, and Apple Bloom slammed her head against one of the bunkbed’s metal legs. She stifled a scream and pressed her hooves over the forming bruise.

Sweetie Belle was hyperventilating. Dinky shivered in her cabinet. The Haissanic ponies breathed a sigh of relief and said some strange words to each other in a comforted tone.

“Hey, bozos!”

Scootaloo’s voice boomed through the tiny submarine like cannonfire. The foalnappers turned to see her standing on top of the controls, holding a long wire in her hooves.

“Going up!” she shouted, and bit the wire in two.

6 - Doesn't Look Like a Skiff

Chapter Six
Doesn’t Look Like a Skiff

The submarine took a nosedive deeper into the ocean.

“Or down. Crap!” shouted Scootaloo as gravity took its toll, pulling her hind hooves onto the craft’s thick front window. She scrambled over the control panel, looking for something else to break.

The basket began to slide downward, as did Apple Bloom under the bunkbed. She stuck a yellow hoof out and grabbed the basket’s handle, using the bolted bunkbed’s base to stop herself and the foals from dropping any further.

Sweetie Belle and the Haissanic pegasi were not so lucky. Sweetie screamed as her garbage can tipped over, spilling its only content into the narrow hallway. The Haissanic stallions, shouting in their own language, tried to grab her, but fell too quickly toward Scootaloo.

“Aaaahh!” Scootaloo screamed, slamming her hoof into a bright green lever on the console.

The submarine leveled out, but also began to spin. The roar of the engine behind the craft grew louder, and Scootaloo lost her balance, sprawling out beneath the controls.

“Darn it, Scootaloo, make it stop!” Apple Bloom yelled at the top of her lungs, sliding out from under the bed and holding the whole basket close to her body.

The cabinet doors opened and Dinky tumbled forward as the craft twirled in the water. She landed next to Apple Bloom, gasped, and pointed at the basket. “Are these the foals?”

“Uhhh… I think so!” Apple Bloom dared to open the lid of the basket for less than a second. Pound and Pumpkin Cake wailed in her face. She slammed the basket shut and gulped. “Yup! These are them!”

“What do we do? What do we do?” Sweetie Belle cried, rolling over herself from wall to ceiling as the submarine continued to spin. “Heh-heh-heeelp!”

“Give me just a second, jeez!” Scootaloo raked her hooves over the controls. “Urrghh ― there!”

The craft stopped spinning and stabilized… upside down. Somehow, they sped up even more, careening blindly into the massive ocean.

“Submarines are the worst!” Scootaloo moaned, staring at the console suspended over her head. She jumped several times, flapping her little wings in an attempt to reach the buttons. “Come on! Come onnn!”

A long hoof grabbed her from behind and tossed her back through the hallway. Screaming, Scootaloo landed directly on Dinky’s face.

“Ow!”

“Sorry! And also, ow!”

The stallion with all four of his legs reached up to adjust the controls. The submarine began to turn upright, while the blue pegasus limped toward the fillies using one wing as a crutch.

“What do we dooo?” Scootaloo shrieked, her wings buzzing erratically.

“That’s what I want to know!” Sweetie Belle shouted, sliding toward the wall.

“We’re in for it now, girls!” Apple Bloom cried.

“Aaaahhh-chooooo!”

Dinky sneezed on account of her nose being tickled by Scootaloo’s twitching feathers.

The entire craft lurched, tilted, and ― according to the small view allowed by the front window ― shot upward out of the water. They were going so fast that the submarine practically flew, rocketing toward the clouds. Every individual pony on board found themselves screaming.

“This is not good! This is not what I wanted to happen!” Scootaloo shrieked, her voice an octave above its normal pitch.

“So much for sabotage!” Apple Bloom moaned.

Sweetie paused her screaming to say, “Actually, if we’re talking strictly sabotage, this worked out pretty well!” And then immediately resumed her blood-curdling screech of fear.

Thinking fast, the blue Haissanic pegasus crawled forward, grabbed the hatch’s wheel with the end of one wing, and tore the little door open. With a shout to his cohort, both pegasi spread their large wings and scooped the fillies toward the circular hatch.

“No!” Apple Bloom yelled, holding the basket of foals tight to her chest. “You can’t do this! Stop it!”

“Raaurgh!” Scootaloo punched and bit at the large wings around her, but to no avail.

“Aaaaahhhhhh!” Sweetie and Dinky fell through the hole first, plummeting a hundred feet into the cold ocean below.

Scootaloo struggled and squirmed at the exit, but one swift kick from behind launched her into open air; spinning and screaming, she fell out of sight.

“No!” Apple Bloom leapt for the exit with the basket in her hooves, but one of the foalnappers caught her tail in his teeth. She yelped and thrashed wildly as the submarine’s momentum finally came to a peak, tilting forward like an arching arrow and speeding back toward the ocean.

Desperate, the stallions latched onto the basket and swatted Apple Bloom repeatedly with their wings. She grunted and tried to hold onto its handle, but the strength of two pegasi was simply too much and her hooves slipped at the last moment. She called out to no one, tumbling through the hatch, and watched in slow-motion as the submarine’s hatch sealed shut with the foals still trapped inside. The long craft pierced the water and shot off with a spray of purple magic before Apple Bloom’s back smashed into the ocean.

{-DD-}

“Dinky!” Sweetie Belle yelled over and over again. “Dinky Doo! Where are you?”

“Jee, thanks for making sure we’re all accounted for there, Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo grumbled, tossing her newly soaked mane out of her face.

“She can’t swim!” Sweetie’s voice was shrill, panicked. “Dinky can’t swim! We have to find her!”

“Shoot…” Scootaloo scanned the sloshing water all around them. “Where’s Apple Bloom?”

“Dinkyyyy!” Sweetie took a deep breath and dunked her head under the water.

“Whoa.” Scootaloo watched the horizon. A purple glow of energy propelled the distant submarine farther away and deeper into the water until she could see no trace of it. “If it moves that fast… that must mean…” She nervously looked in the opposite direction. Manehattan’s famous skyline was nothing more than a few pencil-thick lines on the horizon. “Garbage cakes.”

Sweetie’s face popped up for a breath. “I can’t see her, Scootaloo!” she wailed, eyes red from tears and saltwater. “Where is Dinky?”

“Uhhh… I’ll find her!” Scootaloo dove, using her wings along with her limbs to push herself deeper into the ocean.

The water below stretched on in every direction as far as could be imagined. Scootaloo nearly choked on a sudden pang of fear, but shook her head clear and scanned the emptiness for any sign of Dinky. She swam deeper and looked toward the surface: she saw Sweetie’s body right above her, Apple Bloom’s yellow sheen some ways off… but no Dinky.

She emerged with a splash and a noisy breath. “I don’t see her anywhere, Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo panted. “She’s, like… gone!”

“Noooo!” Sweetie slapped the water with her hooves. “No, no, no! Dinky! Dinkyyyy!”

“Whoa, calm down, Sweetie!” Scootaloo waded closer to her. “You’ve gotta conserve your energy. Who knows how long we’ll be out here?”

Sweetie Belle smacked Scootaloo in the face.

“Oof!” Scootaloo blinked heavily and rubbed her cheek. “Holy horseapples! What was that for?”

“You killed Dinky!” Sweetie Belle shrieked, lunging for Scootaloo’s neck.

“Eep!” Scootaloo swam backward out of Sweetie’s manic grasp. “What is wrong with you? Calm down!”

“All your stupid ideas and your stupid selfish ― blyeh!”

“My blyeh?”

“I can’t believe you!” Sweetie sobbed into the ocean, floating lethargically with her muzzle nearly in the water. “You killed Dinky, Scootaloo… it’s all your fault…”

“Okay, hold up! It is not all my fault!” Scootaloo held her hooves out to her sides. “What did you want me to do? I was trying to save the foals! And besides, Dinky probably isn’t dead. Jeez! What do you think this is, grimdark? We’re on a freakin’ adventure!”

“Heeey!” Apple Bloom’s voice carried over the swelling ocean as she swam toward her friends. “They got the foals! I-I couldn’t stop ‘em!”

“It’s okay, Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo yelled back. “Let’s just focus on finding Dinky and staying alive out here!”

“Findin’ Dinky? What happened to her?”

“Uhhh…”

“Scootaloo killed heeeeerr!” Sweetie Belle wailed.

Scootaloo slapped her own forehead. “Oh, jeez…”

{-DD-}

Dinky was sinking. Fast.

She held her breath, squirming in the water. Her eyes had never been wider, nor burned more painfully. She watched the light of the surface dwindle in her vision, and she couldn’t tell if she was losing consciousness or if the ocean was just that deep.

She couldn’t help it. She screamed. The bubbles of her final breath rushed for the surface, as if they wanted nothing to do with her. She choked, trying to stop her lungs from taking in any water. Her hooves began to shake. She threw her eyes around, searching for something ― anything ― that could save her.

A sense of calm washed over her as soon as she saw the flute. It had slipped loose from behind her ear and was gently floating away, sinking faster than even she. Without a conscious thought, Dinky reached out for it.

Suddenly, and only for a moment, the world turned upside down. The surface of the water was right in front of her. A mare with golden eyes bent down to catch Dinky’s outstretched hoof. As soon as their hooves made contact…

The flute was in Dinky’s grasp. Automatically, she gasped at the strangeness of the moment. Panic settled in and she reached for her throat… only to find that there was no water in her mouth.

Dinky took a deep breath of fresh, dry air. She tried to touch her mouth, but her hooves stopped at a bubble around her head. Her mouth hung open in the darkness. She continued to sink.

There was no light now. No sense of up or down. Only the flute in her hoof, the magical air around her head, and a slowly growing feeling that everything would be all right…

And then there was a figure. He was far away. A pair of great wings at his sides kept him steady in the depths. He was looking right at Dinky, though she couldn’t see his eyes. He held something in front of him, something as balanced as he was in the water. Dinky blinked away the last of the ocean from her eyes and watched the figure move without a sound.

He waved. Dinky swallowed hard, but waved back. He pointed to whatever he was holding. On a whim, she pointed to her flute.

The figure’s horn began to glow, and Dinky gasped again. The object in front of him was a harp, huge and golden, with strings made of tiny bubbles. She thought of her mother.

Four long, beautiful notes resonated through the liquid around them as the figure strummed his magical instrument. The simple music filled Dinky with warmth, as real as hot chocolate on a winter’s afternoon. She smiled there, suspended in the ocean, momentarily delighted by the strangeness of it all.

There was a long silence, and then the figure played his notes again. Something clicked in Dinky’s head. Fumbling, she brought the flute up to her mouth ― the bubble of air around her head morphed to keep the flute dry, too ― and she echoed the notes in a single breath.

The figure looped backward in an underwater flip. His wings beat slowly in the distilled light of the ocean. A glow engulfed his horn and instrument, and a new series of notes trembled through the water.

Dinky copied the music again, noticing at some point that the harpist had joined in with a harmony. She giggled, more from nerves than anything, and the sharp breaths interrupted her music. She flinched, nervous that the figure might be angry.

Instead, with a few swift beats of his wings, the Alicorn swam close enough for Dinky to see his smile. His coat was green, like fresh seaweed, and his long mane shone like copper. His eyes were narrow, but kind, and he drew so near that Dinky could see their violet color.

He played the song again, this time with a very specific melody of several notes. Before Dinky could repeat it, the ocean beneath them came alive with billions of swarming bubbles. The capsuled air rushed around them, blinding Dinky from anything happening further than an inch from her face. Her heart hammered and she was about to scream, when something solid touched upon the bottoms of her hooves and carried her body gently toward the surface.

{-DD-}

Scootaloo spat out a mouthful of water. “Well if you hadn’t trusted her so much, maybe she wouldn’t have come with us in the first place!”

“If you’d just stuck to the plan, Dinky wouldn’t be deeeead!” Sweetie Belle still sobbed.

“Aren’t you the one tellin’ us to stop fightin’ all the time?” Apple Bloom asked.

“This is different!” Sweetie shrieked.

“Whoa, what the heck is that?” Scootaloo suddenly yelled, pointing as best she could at a large circle of bubbles behind Sweetie Belle.

“It’s gettin’ bigger!” Apple Bloom tried to swim backward.

“Help me!” Sweetie Belle’s voice was giving out, and yet she tried to scream. “Help! It’s a shark! It’s gonna eat me!”

“Sharks don’t blow bubbles…” Scootaloo said, wide-eyed.

“What does?”

The bubbles came closer and closer until they surrounded the Cutie Mark Crusaders. It was as if they were sitting in a large jacuzzi embedded in the middle of the ocean. All three of them drew closer together, screaming or crying or saying goodbye, and they closed their eyes in unison before some strange creature swallowed them whole.

Instead, between the fillies and Manehattan in the distance, a large, curved wall broke through the water first. It was smooth and pearly, like the inside of a clam ― because, as the fillies soon realized, it was the inside of a giant clam.

“Do clams eat ponies!?” asked Sweetie Belle.

A scratchy voice let out a fluttering laugh, the likes of which none of the ponies had heard before. Yet there was something truly jovial about it, so much so that the Crusaders felt instantly at ease.

“Who’s there?” asked Scootaloo.

“Oh, do forgive me! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! That really tickled me for some reason. Do clams eat ponies... ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

As there was suddenly something solid beneath the Crusaders’ hooves, they turned around as a group and stared up at a green equine grinning at them over the back of a pearly throne. The impressive chair stood where a pearl would be in a normal clam, though the ground was not fleshy or squishy at all. The noise of the bubbles ceased, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders found themselves standing in a giant, open clam floating in the middle of the ocean.

“Uhhh… what just happened?” asked Scootaloo.

“Wait! First, allow me to reintroduce a friend of yours.” The stallion dropped out of sight for a moment, only to swivel the throne a hundred and eighty degrees to face the ponies. Instead of a large green stallion, a familiar periwinkle unicorn sat ― surprised ― in the regal chair.

“Dinky!” Sweetie nearly shouted her lungs out, throwing herself around the filly and hugging her tightly.

“I freaking told you!” said Scootaloo.

“How sweet!” said the green stallion, lowering his head between Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. He dabbed at his eye with a hoof. “Aren’t reunions lovely?”

“Gah!” Apple Bloom jumped away. “How’d you get back there?”

The stallion stood and smiled widely. “This is my skiff and I can do whatever I want! Welcome aboard!”

“Your skiff?” Scootaloo peaked over the edge of the clam skeptically. “Doesn’t look like a skiff to me.”

“Few things do.” The stallion laughed at himself. “Do forgive me, little ponies, I haven’t introduced myself. I am Calupan!” He spread his magnificent wings with a spray of glittering droplets. “Alicorn of the Sea!”

“A-A-Alicorn?” Sweetie Belle asked, gawking at Calupan’s smooth wings and undulating horn. “You’re an Alicorn like the Princesses?”

“Indeed! You may call me Prince Calupan, in fact, if you’d like.” He tittered and held a proud hoof to his chest. “Though I would never require it. In fact, out here, I prefer a different name.” In a flash, he sped to the front of the clam and stared intently at the eastern horizon. “Captain Calupan, at your service.”

“Captain Calupan?”

“Yes?” The Alicorn turned his head with an excited smile.

Apple Bloom blinked. “Uhhh… hi. Where in Equestria did you come from?”

“The Wabe, originally,” Calupan said. “Ah, but that was a long time ago.”

“The Wabe?” Scootaloo tapped her chin. “Haven’t I heard that somewhere before?”

“We were just in the Wabe!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, still cuddling Dinky under her chin.

“Were you, now?” Calupan lifted a hoof to his mouth. “Well, that is a surprise.”

“That’s what the talking cat called it, remember?” Sweetie said to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. “‘To escape the Wabe and find your heroes, you must remove the Red King’.”

“Ha-ha-ha-ha! That sounds like the old hairball, all right!” Calupan slapped one hoof against the clam in delight. “Good to know he’s still alive and vanishing.”

“You really are from the Wabe?” asked Apple Bloom, reeling. “What’re the odds o’ that?”

The Alicorn took on a deep, western accent to say, “Much greater than you think, little missy.” He scooped one hoof over the edge of the clam, conjuring a Stetson hat out of water. He dropped it on his own head and made a squinting leer. “The Wabe’s nothin’ if not self-attracted. Tends to work like a lasso, within, without, and beside itself.”

Apple Bloom’s eyebrows scrunched up. “Huh?”

Calupan lifted his hat and set it on Apple Bloom’s head, where it remained for a few seconds before dissolving back into water, drenching the poor filly’s already soaking mane. Scootaloo snorted a laugh.

“Shall we play another song?” Calupan asked. He plopped to his belly and regarded the four fillies with happy, shining eyes before turning fully to Dinky. “It’s been a good long time since I heard anyone play the flute!”

“Okay, slow down,” Scootaloo stepped forward, stifling a grin. “Where the heck did you come from, guy? Are we just supposed to trust an Alicorn that bubbles up out of the water and saves our necks?”

“Did I save your necks?” Calupan let out a little gasp. “Well, good for me! And even better for you, I imagine. Now, see if you can play along to this.”

Scootaloo’s smile was gone. She put a hoof up. “But―!”

Calupan’s harp materialized out of thin air. Strings of water dribbled from the curving top of the harp to its base, making beautiful music before the thing was even completely there.

“Wooow!” Sweetie Belle’s smile stretched across her face.

“This one has words,” teased Calupan with a wink, “if anypony wants to sing along.”

“Ooo! Oooh, I do! I do!” Sweetie Belle lifted a hoof over her head.

Scootaloo turned to Apple Bloom. “Is this really happening?”

“I’ve got no idea,” she answered flatly with red mane in her eyes. “I actually reckon we might be dead.”

Calupan began to play his harp. Bubbling instruments formed in the water around the floating clam, adding layers of bouncy accompaniment to his sudden song.

"Shoop-bee-doo!
Shoop-shoop-bee-doo!

Calupan the sea pony,
What a happy guy!
Clever as can be pony,
No one knows the reason why!

If you find you’re past the drift and haven’t got an oar
Count upon the sea pony, he’ll see you to shore!

Shoop-bee-doo!
Shoop-shoop-bee-doo!

That’s the bit where I could really use some help,” he whispered in an aside to Sweetie Belle. “It’ll come around again.”

Sweetie beamed and nodded quickly.

“Call upon the sea pony,
When you’re in distress.
Helpful as can be pony.
Simply signal S-O-S!

If your rudder mixes with the bowsprit yet again
Calupan can help, your favorite, funny, floating friend!”

“Shoop-bee-doo! Shoop-shoop-bee doo!” Calupan and Sweetie Belle sang together.

“Take it away, kids!”

Grinning, Dinky brought her flute up to her lips and began to play along with the melody, improvising fun little trills when she felt most confident. Meanwhile, Sweetie belted words at the top of her lungs, whether they were right or not.

“Calupan the sea pony,
Big green Alicorn!
Thought he was a big phony
Til he conjured water horns!”

Calupan laughed heartily while the trumpets rising from the ocean gave a tight blast of approval.

“If some ponies from Haissan just took your bakers’ twins,
Count upon the sea pony, he can help you win!”

“Shoop-bee-doo, shoop-shoop-bee―what?” Calupan’s smile dropped and his eyes turned ghostly serious. The liquid band around them dropped into the water with an ineffectual splash. His harp clattered to the bottom of the clam.

Calupan fixed on Sweetie’s surprised expression. “What did you say?” he asked.

“Uhhh… I was just improvising.” She blushed. “Sorry if it was bad.”

Calupan shook his head and stepped closer to the throne. “No no, not bad at all. Actually your rhythm was impeccable. I only meant, what do you mean some ponies from Haissan took your baker’s twins?”

“That’s why we’re out here,” Apple Bloom spoke up, slicking her mane back. “We’re from a little village near Canterlot. A couple o’ pegasi from Haissan came and foalnapped baby twins. Now we’re tryin’ to help get ‘em back.”

Calupan lifted his muzzle. “Ah. I see.” There was still plenty of light in his eyes, but it was accompanied by something weaker. “Well, then, children, it was a pleasure meeting you, but I do believe it’s time to get you home.”

“What?”

“No!”

“Wait, Mister Alicorn!”

An ethereal glow built around Calupan’s horn. “Do forgive me, little ones. I wish you many safe years to come.”

“We can’t go home!” Dinky suddenly exclaimed.

Calupan’s magic paused. One corner of his mouth lifted. “So that’s what you sound like. Lovely.”

Dinky gulped. “We can’t go home yet. Not until we’ve found the foals.” She lowered her head. “We were so close to getting them back, but we messed up. We have to find them, a-and go home all together… or not at all.”

Scootaloo smiled. “Yeah! What she said!”

Calupan lifted one brow over his purple eyes. “And what benefit have you to glean from this, young adventuress?”

Scootaloo licked her lips. “When we find the foals, we’ll be saving Rainbow Dash and Dinky’s mom a ton of trouble. Then she ― er ― they’ll be proud of us, and finally think we’re awesome!”

“Hmmm…” Calupan smiled gently. “My little pony, the right sort of attention is gained only through clear communication. Wasting effort is always more painful than swallowing pride.”

The words turned over several times in Scootaloo’s mind before she snorted. “Pff. Whatever. You don’t know Rainbow Dash.”

“Hmmm.” His eyes narrowed even more than their resting squint. “Might she bear the Element of Loyalty, perchance?”

The fillies all gaped at him.

“You know about the Elements of Harmony?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“My dear little singer, of course I do!” Calupan threw back his bright brown mane and smiled widely. “After all, where I live, I sea everything!” He dipped his hand over the side of the clam and splashed a bit of water at Sweetie Belle. “Get it? Sea?”

Sweetie Belle cracked up. Dinky couldn’t help but giggle along.

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were considerably less amused.

{-DD-}

The first thing Sweetie Belle saw when she woke was the brilliant full Moon, several hours above the horizon. Eyes fluttering, she next saw her friends, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, cuddled together against the upright half of Calupan’s open clam.

Sitting up, she looked around the strange platform. Dinky was fast asleep as well, curled up on the seat of the pearly throne. Calupan sat on his haunches near her, watching the tiny filly sleep.

“You were all exhausted,” Calupan said quietly. He didn’t look at Sweetie Belle, though she knew he was talking to her. “I’ve never seen anypony drift away so quickly.”

Sweetie rubbed her eyes and yawned. “When… when did I fall asleep?”

“Around Sunset,” he said, offering her a small smile. “We’ve been sailing since then.”

“Sailing?” Sweetie Belle’s ears picked up the steady slosh of water as their craft moved swiftly forward. “Sailing where?”

“To Stirrope,” Calupan answered. “I can take you to the shores of Caballos. The journey to Haissan isn’t short, by any means, but at least dry land is… traversable.”

Sweetie smiled. “So… you’re not taking us home?”

“No.” His soft eyes fell again on Dinky. “No, I don’t think that’s my place. There is something… very special going on here, little pony. I don’t know if you can feel it.”

“Hmm… I think I can. Kinda.” Sweetie yawned again. “How are we sailing? I thought there was no wind on the way to Stirrope.”

Calupan looked surprised. “And how did you know that?”

“My sister Rarity complains about it all the time.”

To refrain from laughing out loud, Calupan shoved both hooves over his mouth. His eyes bulged briefly, drawing a long giggle from Sweetie Belle.

Dinky stirred, and Sweetie shut herself up instantly. The little filly shifted a bit, but continued to sleep unperturbed.

“You care for her, don’t you?” Calupan remarked.

Sweetie nodded. “She’s just so cute. She’s really smart, but knows when to be quiet. I don’t know, I think Dinky’s perfect.” Her eyes took on a slight sadness. “I’d love to have a little sister like her.”

“Hmmm… in a way, you already do.” Calupan closed his eyes and smiled. “Continue to care for her, as you have so naturally. She needs a sister like you.”

A line of tears filled Sweetie’s eyes. “R-really? Wow… that was the sweetest thing to say.”

“I’ve said sweeter.” Calupan smirked.

Dinky stirred again. This time her golden eyes fluttered open, locking on the Moon like Sweetie’s had.

“Hi, Dinky,” Sweetie whispered, waving minutely. “Are you awake?”

Dinky smiled. “A little bit.”

“If you’ll let me,” Calupan said, “I’d like to tell you about one of the trials you’ll surely face on your way to the foals.”

Dinky sat up with bleary eyes, focusing slowly on Calupan’s face.

“Around the palace of the Sultan, there stands the Wailing Gate,” he began.

“The palace of the Sultan?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Did the Sultan of Haissan take the Cake twins?”

“I… believe so.” Calupan cleared his throat. “If not, I wish you the best of luck in finding the foals wherever they may be. But if, as I suspect, the foals lie beyond the Wailing Gate, you should be warned of its danger.”

Dinky simply nodded.

“The Wailing Gate holds a powerful magic, embedded by the Sultan himself,” said Calupan. “Those who dare approach the wall without invitation are subject to howling winds that strive to push intruders back. There is more than one way into the palace, each more perilous than the last, and each protected by the Wailing Gate’s impenetrable winds.”

“Is there any way past it?”

“There are rumors of powerful keys,” said Calupan, “though I’m not inclined to believe they exist. The Sultan of Haissan is… careful.”

“Do you know him?” asked Dinky. “Why would he take the foals?”

Calupan took a deep breath through his nostrils. “I knew him once. Now? I have no idea why he might do such a thing.” His eyes darted rhythmically between Dinky’s. “No idea at all.”

{-DD-}

The others woke up before the Sun rose, and the journey soon resumed a light-hearted tone. Sweetie sang along to Calupan’s song while Scootaloo watched the Moonlit Stirropean shore grow closer. Dinky enjoyed the music, and Apple Bloom found herself humming along, too.

“Wow! We made it so fast!” Scootaloo exclaimed as more and more land filled up the eastern horizon. “Do you think we beat the submarine?”

“Not likely,” admitted Calupan. “Transoceanic submarines are powered by strong magic. My beloved skiff would shatter if I tried to push it along so quickly. These ponies you’re chasing probably traveled all through the night, and it’s possible they took the rivers all the way back to Haissan.”

“There are rivers that go to Haissan?” asked Scootaloo. “Why didn’t you say so? Can you take us all the way?”

“I’m afraid not, little pony,” Calupan said.

Scootaloo guffawed. “Why not!?”

“Scootaloo, please,” Sweetie Belle said. “Show a little gratitude.”

“I can’t use the rivers for the same reason those foalnappers used a submarine.” Calupan smiled despite his disappointing words. “I can’t allow myself to be seen! We don’t want the Stiroppeans, bless their hearts, to go scouring the oceans for an underwater Alicorn, now, do we?”

“Why not?” asked Apple Bloom.

Calupan sighed. “It is the nature of… most of us to stay out of the limelight,” he explained. “At least since… recent events.”

Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes.

“Well, I’ll tell everypony about you if you don’t take us to Haissan!”

“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle stared incredulously at her friend. “Are you really trying to threaten him?”

Calupan only smiled wider. “It would be in all of your interests, I think, not to talk much about what you’ve seen. The Wabe, my skiff ― it’s all for you. Other ponies wouldn’t understand, and may even become hostile.” He leaned closer to Scootaloo. “But do remember, please, that if you’re ever in distress, you can ask for my help.”

“Pssh. Yeah. Like I’m supposed to believe that now that you’re abandoning us.” Scootaloo crossed her forelegs and stared at the approaching shore.

In an instant, like it had never been there, the giant clam disappeared. Five bodies fell into the dark water, and four broke the surface for breath.

“As if on freaking cue!” shouted Scootaloo.

“Why does this stuff keep happenin’?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Dinky!” Sweetie Belle said, swimming to her side. “It’s okay, Dinky. I’ve got you. I’ll make sure you―”

“Ohhhh poopsicles!” Scootaloo screamed as the Moon was blocked behind them. They turned around just in time to see an enormous wave above to crash over their heads.

They screamed as one and scrambled for the shore, but the wave overtook them before they had paddled for three whole seconds. Gravity was gone, as well as air, and their colorful bodies tumbled over one another in the mass of cold water. After a few long seconds, however, the fillies could all breathe, and they found themselves safe in a bit of shallow water on the largest, most beautiful beach they’d ever seen.

Scootaloo was the first to her hooves. “Thanks a lot, Captain!” she shouted at the ocean.

“Yeah!” said Sweetie in a much different tone. “Thank you!”

“Golly, it’s gorgeous out here,” Apple Bloom said under her breath. “Look how smooth the sand is.”

“The Moon is casting my shadow!” said Sweetie Belle. “Wow, look at that! It’s so pretty!”

A familiar melody of seven short notes echoed over the surface of the water. Sweetie Belle beamed and waved a hoof overhead. “Bye, Calupan! I’ll remember! Don’t worry!”

A faint trill of laughter faded deeper into the sea, and then there was silence as the first rays of Sunlight kissed the Stirropean landscape.

“Well, girls,” said Apple Bloom, looking toward a tiny village further up the beach, “bee-en-vuh-nee-doh to Caballos.”

7 - With Our Resources

Chapter Seven
With Our Resources

“Whoa… you speak Caballish?”

Apple Bloom sighed. “No, Sweetie Belle.”

“Oh.” Sweetie kicked a hoof at the sand. “Too bad. That would have been useful.”

“Eh, it won’t matter. Somepony in that town over there must speak Equestrian,” Scootaloo said. “Come on! Let’s go crash a Caballish party.”

“It’s gotta be something’ like five in the mornin’, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom reminded her. “I don’t think anypony’s awake, let alone partyin’.”

“Hey, look!” said Sweetie Belle. “A party!”

“Huh?”

The village was comprised of many quaint houses built among tall trees. Though the Cutie Mark Crusaders were at least a thousand feet away, they could see a very short stone wall ― more for decoration than protection ― bordering the village, facing the sea. Several colorful faces were gathering just inside the wall, staring at the four fillies washed up on the shore.

“Do you think they can see us?” Sweetie Belle whispered loudly.

Dinky waved. Some of the villagers waved back.

“Yup.” Apple Bloom trotted over the beach. “Come on. Feels good to be back on dry land.”

“Yeugh… sorta dry,” said Scootaloo, shaking wet clumps of sand from the bottoms of her hooves.

Moving quickly, the Cutie Mark Crusaders approached the village in a bouncy cluster. A small group of teenaged stallions and mares vaulted over the short stone wall and galloped down the beach to close the gap. The ponies reached each other in the sand several hundred feet from the village.

“¿Está todo bien?” asked a handsome young stallion.

Sweetie Belle instantly blushed. “What did he say?” she whispered to Apple Bloom out of the corner of her mouth.

“I don’t know, Sweetie Belle! I toldja, I don’t speak Caballish.”

“Equestrianas!” a mare with a long mane said. She cleared her throat. “Huh-loh!” she said with a smile, offering a tiny wave.

Sweetie Belle brightened immediately. “Do you speak Equestrian?”

The mare winced and glanced at her company for support. They all shrugged.

Scootaloo sighed heavily. “Hold on. I got this.” Her face screwed up in thought as she stepped to the front of her group. “Uhh… donday esta Haissan?”

A few of the older ponies giggled amongst themselves, but none of them seemed to really understand what Scootaloo had asked.

“Wow! You speak Caballish, too?” Sweetie stared at Scootaloo, bewildered.

“Uh, clearly not!” Scootaloo shot back at her.

“And I don’t speak it neither, Sweetie Belle!”

Sweetie glanced hopefully. “Dinky?”

Dinky simply shook her head.

A few of the young villagers spouted foreign questions that none of the Crusaders could understand.

“¿De dondé vienes?”

“¿Que pasó?”

“¿Donde está el barco?”

“Awwww…” Sweetie’s ears drooped in time with her bottom lip. “I wish I spoke Caballish. I have no idea what’s going on.”

Eyeing her expression with sympathy, many of the ponies beckoned them onward with encouraging tones in their voices. Hesitantly, the fillies joined them in a long trot back to the village.

Dinky watched them carefully. Their hooves were dirty, but not from sand. When they reached the wall of the village and entered through a narrow gate along the side facing the ocean, she saw large plots of dirt filled with carefully spaced sprouts and greenery. Some elderly ponies stood on the soil, though their eyes were fixed to the Crusaders.

Scootaloo gulped. “What’s the plan here, Apple Bloom?”

“Oh, so now I’m the leader, huh?”

“You have better ideas than me!”

“Aw, thanks, Scootaloo. That was nice.”

“How are we gonna get to Haissan?”

Sweetie Belle chimed in, “Let’s try to find somepony around here that speaks Equestrian.”

“Pretty sure that ship has sailed,” said Apple Bloom. “I reckon these folks don’t get out much.”

“It’s beautiful,” said Dinky as they entered the cobblestone streets of the village with their gentle, teenage escorts.

Scootaloo briefly glanced around at the reds and yellows of the city’s curving streets. “Yeah, it’s fine. So should we just make a run for it? I bet we could find a bigger city on the other side of these trees. Somepony’s gotta speak Equestrian somewhere in this country, right?”

“Who knows how far we’ll have to go?” Apple Bloom sighed. “Why didn’t the mirror just spit us out in Haissan?”

“Because the foals were in Manehattan,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Not in the future, they weren’t!” argued Scootaloo.

“Ustedes tienen hambre?” asked the long-maned mare, lowering her neck toward the fillies and rubbing her own belly.

“We want to go Hai-ssan!” Scootaloo said, loudly and slowly. “Do you ponies know how to get to Haaai-ssaaaan?”

“Here-a they call it Jassaino.”

The voice was charming, smooth, and distinctly accented; if the color of chestnuts had a sound, this voice was laced with it. The fillies looked past their teenaged guides, for the voice belonged to somepony who had seen the world.

The villagers, too, reacted to the voice. The handsome young stallion looked ahead and rattled off something like, “Encontramos estas potras por el agua. ¿Sabes hablar equestriano también?”

The chestnut voice spoke again, this time in Caballish. “Sí, sí, yo sé equestriano. Espera un momento. Ahem.” He cleared his throat, brushed the white stallion aside, and smiled down at the fillies. “Welcome-a to Sillín Montar, little friends. You are many far away from home, no?”

The stallion was quite tall. Lean, prominent muscles flexed under a dark grey coat, shining with occasional silver hairs. His violet mane was dark, short, and wavy. It spilled over his forehead and nearly reached his clear, peach-colored eyes. Wrinkles around them, together with the veins in his legs, showed signs of age, but the stallion positively glowed with liveliness.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders tilted in unison for a look at his Cutie Mark. It appeared to be a sliver of the Moon, turned on its side like a bowl so that its pointy ends faced upward.

“My name is-a Zoccolo Leggero,” he said, bowing briefly with a wry smile. “Or simply Zoccolo, if you prefer. What’s-a this I hear about Haissan?”

“We’re trying to get there!” Scootaloo blurted. “Please, Mister Zoccolo, can you just tell us how to get there? We don’t have much time.”

“Are you Caballish?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“No, little friend, I’m-a not.” With animated hooves, Zoccolo gestured to the village and then pointed eastward over the farthest buildings. “Infatti, I’m-a far from home myself. I come from the beautiful Icodalia, or as you call it, Itaily, a peninsula beyond il Mare Ballafieno!”

“Itaily!” Sweetie Belle gasped. “Wow! I’ve seen pictures of Itaily. It looks so beautiful!”

“And it is! It is!” Zoccolo laughed. “I am a traveller, you see. I want the whole world to hide no secrets from me. I’ve-a been here in Sillín for many time, and I was-a ready to leave when eccovi!” Zoccolo opened his forelegs toward the Crusaders. “Le sorprese non finiscono! Surprises never end.”

Sweetie Belle’s jaw nearly hit the cobblestone. “You speak Itailian, too?”

Scootaloo smacked herself in the forehead.

“Where were ya headed, Mister Zoccolo?” asked Apple Bloom.

Scootaloo sat up. “Yeah! Any chance you could take us to Haissan?”

Apple Bloom shot her a dirty look.

“Hmmm… an interesting idea,” Zoccolo said, rubbing the stubble on his chin. “Infatti, I do need to make-a my way to Haissan for a… business opportunity.”

“Perfect!” Scootaloo shouted, tossing up her hooves. “We’ll just tag along, then. We won’t get in your way, swear.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom muttered under her breath.

“But alas, purtroppo, I must-a return home,” he said, draping a hoof over his forehead. “My sweet niece, Nipota, has taken-a very ill. She rests now at the hospital di Pelola, a little city in northern Itaily… just south of Haissan.”

Scootaloo’s eyebrows rose. “Just south of Haissan…”

“Indeed. To follow the River Pon northeast takes us to the Wailing Gate just outside the Sultan’s palazzo.”

“The River Pone?” repeated Sweetie Belle.

“One of the longest in Icodalia!” Zoccolo sighed heavily. “Yet its beauty will go unnoticed to me, as I shall feel nothing but-a sorrow for the fading health of my sweet Nipota!”

“Awwww!” Sweetie Belle’s eyes brimmed with tears. “That’s so sad!”

Apple Bloom merely squinted.

“Allora!” Zoccolo composed himself and stood up straighter. “Piacere to meet you, little friends. Perhaps we shall meet again, or perhaps not! I may soon die of a broken heart.” He moved to turn around, but dramatically froze in place. “Unless…”

“Unless what?” asked Dinky.

“Hmmm…” Zoccolo rubbed his chin again. “My sweet Nipota has always wanted to visit Equestria, the land of the Sun Goddess! Che bella meraviglia, la principessa del sole!” He brought his forehooves together at his chest and waved them back and forth. When the gesture was over, he leaned closer to the fillies and asked in a quieter voice, “Tell me… have any of you seen-a the Princess with your own eyes?”

Dinky’s face lit up. “Yes! Princess Celestia comes to Ponyville all the time!”

“I really don’t think we oughtta be―” Apple Bloom tried to say.

“Ponyville, hmm? What a cute-a name!” Zoccolo chuckled to himself. “If a little on the muzzle.”

“Look, I-I think we oughtta get goin’, y’all,” Apple Bloom said to her friends. “It was nice to meetcha, Mister Zoccolo, but we’re on a mission here. We don’t got time fer distractions.”

“Hold up! What’s that!?” Scootaloo pointed at a purple lump crawling out of Zoccolo’s mane.

Apple Bloom gaped while Sweetie leapt backward, guarding Dinky with her body.

Zoccolo glanced upward and smiled. “Ah! Zuka!” He held a leg straight out from his body. The thing crawled down his neck, over his chest, and scurried to the end of his hoof. Its color changed from purple to gray as it moved over his coat.

“Whoa!” Sweetie Belle leaned forward. “Is that what I think it is?”

The little animal sat on its scaley haunches. As its tail swung back and forth behind its head, its body took on a rich orange color, interrupted only by enormous green eyes.

“Little friends, meet my littlest friend!” Zoccolo laughed at himself. “This is-a Zuka, my, ehh… how do you say? Chameleon.”

“Woooow!” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle said together. “Awesome!”

Apple Bloom momentarily eyed the critter with interest, but soon shook her head. “All right, girls, hop to it. We gotta head east.”

“Northeast,” Zoccolo corrected her with a smile. “But simply ‘heading east’ won’t-a help you. A single direction isn’t much of a goal, true?”

“We know where we need to go,” Apple Bloom said, “and it ain’t Itaily.”

“Ma dai!” Zoccolo brought the hoof holding Zuka to his chest. “It is, how do you say… a match made in heaven! I am a seasoned traveler, and I know the safest ways to get from anywhere to anywhere. I will take you to Pelola, you can tell stories of the Princess to Nipota and lift her sinking spirits, and then-a the journey to Haissan is as easy as finding a boat-a!”

“I love it!” Sweetie cheered. “We get to help so many ponies at once!”

Apple Bloom waved her forelegs. “This is a bad idea!”

“I’m in,” said Scootaloo.

“Scootaloooo!” Apple Bloom whined in her face.

“Come on, Bloom, he seems cool! And seriously, with our resources, this is probably the fastest way to Haissan.”

“Grrr!” Apple Bloom turned. “Dinky, how do you feel about this?”

Dinky’s eyes shifted from Zoccolo’s dark purple mane to his expectant smile. “You’re… familiar,” she said to him.

“I am? Eh, that is-a disappointing.” Zoccolo shrugged. “I like-a to think of myself as unico.”

A tiny smile lifted one half of Dinky’s mouth. She looked at Apple Bloom with an almost apologetic expression. “I think we should go with him.”

Apple Bloom glared daggers at Zoccolo. “Are you gonna drug us and sell us into slavery?”

Zoccolo’s eyes bulged and he took a step back. “Porca vacca! Why would you think that, little friend?”

“Yeah, Bloom. Holy crap.” Scootaloo gave Apple Bloom a wary glance. “Was paranoia a side effect of your mushroom?”

“I’m just tryin’ to be careful!” Apple Bloom snapped. “Bad things’ve happened to ponies in Stirrope, y’know.”

Zoccolo, eyes still wide, shook his head with a pale face. “I make-a the most promise, I would not dream of such a terrible thing.” He bowed sincerely. “I will not harm a hair of your tails, little friends. You have-a my word. My only thoughts are for my Nipota. You would do wonders for her.”

Apple Bloom took a deep breath through her nose and snorted it out. “Fine. We’ll come with you to wherever and take the River Pon up to Haissan.”

“After we meet Nipota, of course,” Sweetie Belle added with a smile.

“Perfetto!” Zoccolo clapped his hooves together, and Zuka climbed onto his back. “Allow me to retrieve-a my things, and we’ll be off.” He looked at the sky, still orange from the slow Sunrise. “How do you say? Bright and early!”

He turned to the patient group of Caballish teenagers and rattled off several sentences of explanation. Though she couldn’t understand them, it was clear to Apple Bloom that their escorts were sad to see Zoccolo go. She chewed on her lower lip and tentatively followed the group to a quaint hotel on a corner.

The crowd said their goodbyes to the fillies and went back to their gardens.

“What did you tell them?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“That I’ve been waiting for you,” said Zoccolo, “and it’s time for us-a to go.”

Apple Bloom frowned. “That ain’t true! You just met us.”

“They had-a much questions about you, little friends,” Zoccolo said. “I did not-a want to frighten them.”

“What kinda questions?”

“How you crossed-a the ocean without an airship. I told them you arrived-a last night, and were only playing in the water this morning.”

“So you’re a liar!” Apple Bloom threw at accusing hoof at him while they entered the hotel.

“No,” said Zoccolo with a playful smile. “I am a peacemaker.”

“Calm down, Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said while Zoccolo climbed a tiny staircase. The Crusaders stayed in the dim, cozy lobby. “I think he’s a pretty cool guy!”

“And he doesn’t afraid of anything!” Sweetie Belle said. “Er… isn’t afraid of anything. Sorry. I’m tired.” She yawned.

“Y’all don’t know the first thing about him. And I find the way he’s actin’ more than a mite fishy.” She turned her head to Dinky. “Whadju mean back there, that he looks familiar?”

“Well… he doesn’t really look familiar,” Dinky said. “He just is familiar. I think I’ve met him before.”

“Really? Where?” asked Scootaloo.

“I don’t know.” Dinky scratched her head. “I’ll try to remember.”

“Gracias, gracias,” Zoccolo said to a maid as he and she descended the stairs side by side. “Yo tuve una noche estupenda también.”

The maid giggled and scuttled off down an adjacent hallway. Zoccolo adjusted a dark brown saddlebag hanging on only one side of his back.

“That looks uncomfortable,” said Sweetie Belle. “Doesn’t it get unbalanced?”

“Hmm? Oh, mia borsa!” He patted the flat bag against his ribcage. “No, it’s-a many secure. How do you sayyy… strapped down here.” His hoof tapped near his belly. “Very comfortable.”

“Neat!” said Sweetie.

“Bene, little friends, thank you for your patience. Let’s-a go!” He paused by a small table lit by a lamp and stooped to get a better look at a glass sculpture of a fat blue bird in its light. “Che bello! I think this was made in Mulerano! Beautiful craftmanship, no?”

“Yeah, real pretty.” Apple Bloom headed for the door. “Come on, then, if we’re gonna go.”

“Brava! She understands the urgency.” Zoccolo trotted after her. “Andiamo, little friends! That means ‘let’s-a go’!”

“On the ommo!” repeated Sweetie Belle, trotting shoulder to shoulder with Dinky as the group left the hotel and headed for the eastern edge of the city. The ocean vanished behind buildings.

Zoccolo trotted to a small stable on the narrow roadside leading out of the village and retrieved a decently sized wooden cart, the likes of which Apple Bloom had often seen her siblings take to Ponyville to sell apples.

Zoccolo harnessed his grey body into the front of the cart and rolled it out of the covered stable. He stopped in the middle of the dirt road and smiled at the fillies. “Come on now, little friends! How do you say? Hop it!” He frowned. “No… uh… hop in!”

“You’re gonna cart us to Itaily?” asked Apple Bloom skeptically.

Zoccolo laughed. “No, no! We go like this to the next-a big city, and then we take-a the train to Pelola.”

“I love train rides!” said Sweetie Belle. “This is gonna be so fun!” She jumped into the cart and sat back, sighing as if she’d just slipped into a hot tub. “That’s nice. My hooves hurt.”

“Surely you are much tired. It was a long swim from Equestria, no?” Zoccolo chuckled to himself.

Apple Bloom took a step back. “Sweetie, are you sure about this? I mean, think rationally for a second.”

Sweetie Belle responded with snoring. Zoccolo glanced back at her and put a hoof over his mouth. “Che carina!” he cooed, then gestured quietly for the others to join her in the back.

Scootaloo helped Dinky into the cart, then leapt in herself. Apple Bloom groaned, clambered up a wheel, squeezed herself into a corner, and stared unblinkingly at Zoccolo. “I ain’t fallin’ asleep, just so you know,” she hissed. “If you try to pull any funny business, I’ll get the lot of us outta here.”

“You are wise to be wary, little friend,” Zoccolo whispered. “But I promise you, I am no enemy. I will help you get to Haissan. This, I promise.” He nodded once, then looked straight onward, carrying the cart and its passengers eastward across Caballos.

“You better,” said Apple Bloom with a deep frown. “But I ain’t takin’ any chances.”

{-DD-}

Dinky woke with a start when the cart hit a bump in the rode. Their path was bright: gorgeous fields of swaying, yellow grass splashed outward from the dirt road like a bleeding stroke of paint. Zoccolo whistled a soft tune up ahead; checking her group, Dinky saw that Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were fast asleep. Apple Bloom’s head had fallen limply into Sweetie Belle’s lap, as the latter had been resting on her back. With her head propped up against a wall of the cart, Sweetie Belle was playing with Apple Bloom’s bow, smiling sleepily.

“You awake?” Dinky asked her softly.

“Mmm hmm,” said Sweetie Belle. “Isn’t this nice?”

Dinky took another look at the dry, rolling scenery. Strange red plants, like skinny crimson pine trees, poked out of the ground in clumps of twos and threes in random spots across the countryside.

“Yeah,” said Dinky, smiling. “It’s pretty.”

“Look at the mountains over there,” Sweetie said, pointing behind her.

Dinky turned around and gasped at a long, blue mountain range topped with sparkling snow in the distance. “Wooow!”

Sweetie Belle giggled. “I knew you’d like that. You’re so cute, Dinky.”

Before turning back to Sweetie Belle, Dinky stole a long glance at Zoccolo. His wavy purple mane and charcoal grey coat shone cleanly in the Sunlight.

She plopped onto her haunches and leaned closer to Sweetie Belle over Apple Bloom’s sleeping head. “I think she might be right, Sweetie,” Dinky whispered, pointing down. “I don’t know if Zoccolo is a good guy.”

“Me neither,” said Sweetie Belle, “but everything’s been working out for us so far, right? I think we need to get as close to Haissan as we can if we wanna find those foals. And if a weird Itailian stallion is fate’s way of getting us there, then, well…” She shrugged, smiling. “I’m okay with that.”

“I hope you’re right,” said Dinky with a hesitant smile of her own.

“Hey ― don’t you worry, Dinky. I’m on your side.” Sweetie’s facial features somehow softened even more than usual. “Calupan said something really nice to me out on the ocean. He said that… that you and I are kind of like sisters.” She sighed. “My big sister, Rarity, is really smart and pretty, and even sometimes fun! But… she’s a lot older than me and we don’t get to spend much time together.” She looked to the side. “And sometimes we don’t get along.”

“I’m sorry,” said Dinky.

“It’s okay. It really is.” Sweetie Belle grinned while she added, “Because I’ve always wanted to try my hoof at being an older sister, and this is the closest I’ve ever gotten.”

Dinky blushed. “You’re so nice to me, Sweetie Belle.”

“It’s easy to be nice to you. You’re… just so cute!” Sweetie tilted her head in a sincere smile. “I’m glad you came along. You’re the best Honorary Cutie Mark Crusader ever.”

Dinky scrunched up her face in thought. “What if… hey. I have an idea. What if you and I become honorary sisters?”

Sweetie Belle’s jaw dropped. “Do you mean it?”

“Yeah!” She glanced at the two sleeping ponies. “We could make a promise, right now. It’ll be a secret. You and I, honorary sisters, for the rest of the adventure.”

Sweetie Belle beamed. “For the rest of forever! All right, Dinky.” She pointed her snout higher in regal seriousness. “I, Sweetie Belle, promise to be your sister, and to protect you as best I can.”

Dinky nodded firmly. “And I, Dinky Doo, promise to be your sister, and to learn from what you teach me.”

“Perfect!” Sweetie Belle slowly extended a hoof, so as not to wake Apple Bloom in her lap. “Shake my hoof to seal it!”

Dinky grabbed Sweetie Belle’s hoof in both of hers and wiggled it gently. They both laughed, and happily watched the yellow countryside blend into the feet of the great, dark mountains beyond.

“Yeesh…” Sweetie Belle mumbled after a while. “Our trip really has been exhausting.”

“Mommy used to tell me travel was the hardest part of traveling,” Dinky remembered.

Sweetie Belle laughed, snorted, and suddenly fell asleep again.

Alone, warm, and happy, Dinky followed suit.

{-DD-}

A tall metal fence.

Dinky trots forward in somepony’s shadow. She is scared.

A row of grey towers.

Why are they here? Who are they coming to see?

A shimmer in the distance.

They made this place too pretty. It ought to be sad.

A name.

Dinky gallops down the hill. Her eyes are blurred with tears.

The shimmer swallows her, and she can’t breathe.

A broken beam of light above.

Dinky reaches to the surface for help. A pair of golden eyes phase into view beyond the warping water. Their hooves inch closer, but time slows down, and Dinky has to breathe ―

{-DD-}

Dinky sat up, gasping for air.

“All is well, little friend?” Zoccolo asked.

The Sun still shone in the clear Caballish sky. The cart was stopped on the side of the road in a small, wooded valley between two steep hills; Zoccolo was eating a granola bar nearby, unhitched from his harness. He looked tired and his mane was damp with sweat, but he bore a calm smile as he gazed at Dinky.

She spun around in the empty cart. Panic lingered from her dream. “Where are my friends?” She screamed so loudly that her voice cracked.

A warm wind swept through the valley, shaking the branches of the nearest trees and tossing Dinky’s mane about wildly.

Zoccolo lifted his eyebrows. “Cavoli, ragazza…” He swallowed a bite of granola and pointed into the woods. “They needed a bath-a break.”

Shivering slightly, Dinky took a deep breath and composed herself. “Bath break?” she repeated.

“Er…” Zoccolo squinted hard. “Bath… bathroom! Bathroom break.” He smiled successfully and took another bite. “You need-a some food? Or water?”

Dinky licked her dry lips. “Umm… water would be nice.” She looked at the line of trees to her right. “But I want to see my friends first.”

“Of course! Go, go; they should not-a be far.” Zoccolo closed his eyes and tilted his face toward the glow of the Sun.

Dinky jumped out of the cart, cast a furtive glance at Zoccolo, and galloped as fast as her stubby legs could carry her into the shady woods.

“Sweetie Belle!” she called out when she could no longer see the cart through the trees behind her. “Sweetie Belle! Apple Bloom!”

“Dinky?” Sweetie Belle’s voice was nearby. “Dinky, oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!” Her head poked out from behind a thick tree nearby. “I-I didn’t think you’d wake up! You must have been so scared. I’m sorry!”

Dinky breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m just glad you’re all safe.”

“Whoops. Sorry ‘bout that, Dinky. We needed a potty break,” Apple Bloom said, approaching from another angle. “And Zoccolo said he needed to rest. He looked dang tired, so I wasn’t scared of him runnin’ off with ya.”

Sweetie winced. “I didn’t even think of that. I really had to go. I’m so sorry!”

Dinky finally managed a smile. The fear of her dream was subsiding. “It’s okay. I wasn’t scared. I had a bad dream, that’s all.”

“About Zoccolo?” Apple Bloom asked.

Sweetie shook her head. “No. It was… just random.”

Apple Bloom stretched her back. “Figured out how you know him yet?”

“Mm-mm,” Dinky hummed in the negative. “Sorry.”

“Ah, don’t be. I don’t mean to put pressure on ya.” Apple Bloom yawned and glanced around. “Where’s Scootaloo? You see her, Sweetie?”

“Um… no.” Sweetie Belle smiled weakly. “And I’ll, uh… I’ll still be a minute.” Her head vanished behind the tree.

Apple Bloom chuckled. “Well, Dinky. Zoccolo says we’re about halfway to Maredrid. That’s where the train is. You doin’ all right?”

“Yeah.” Dinky rubbed one eye with her hoof. “I miss my mommy.” The words came out of her mouth before she even thought them.

Apple Bloom’s mouth curved sympathetically. “I’m sure ya do. And we got secrets to solve, remember? Soon as we find the foals, we’ll all be hurryin’ on home. I promise.”

“How?” asked Dinky. “How will we cross the ocean again?”

“Uh…” Apple Bloom smiled and tapped the flute behind Dinky’s ear. “We’ll call upon the sea pony, o’ course.”

Dinky giggled. “Oh, yeah. That’s lucky.”

“Very lucky.” Apple Bloom gave Dinky a curious once over. “Usually our luck is pretty rotten, to be honest. Maybe you’re a good luck charm.”

Dinky beamed. “As long as I can help.”

“Done!” Sweetie leapt out from her hiding spot and posed. “And I feel amaaaaziiiing!”

“Ugh.” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “You really don’t need t’announce that, Sweetie Belle.”

“Darn it!” Scootaloo’s voice came from deeper in the grove.

Apple Bloom took off immediately. “What’s up, Scootaloo?”

The others followed her in between trees until they found the orange filly in a tiny clearing, surrounded by organized sticks and vines. A stream of light pierced the canopy of leaves overhead, falling directly on her resourceful creation.

“Whoa, Scootaloo…” Sweetie Belle gasped. “Are you building a new scooter?”

“Pff. At least you can tell what it is,” Scootaloo grumbled, poking at the wooden thing. A straight branch made up the steering shaft while several sheets of thick bark, bound together with sap and vines, comprised the board on the bottom. The handles were made of long pine cones, but wheels were entirely missing.

“That’s really somethin’, Scoots,” Apple Bloom said, patting her on the back. “Good work.”

“It’s good for nothing without wheels,” Scootaloo said, gesturing to the scraps around her, “and I can’t figure out what the heck around here will spin.”

“Have you tried acorns?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Too small,” said Scootaloo, slumping. After a moment of silence, a devilish smile slithered over her face. “You know… we could always―”

“We’re not stealin’ the wheels off Zoccolo’s cart, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom droned.

Scootaloo slumped lower.

“Speaking of Zoccolo, we should probably go back,” Sweetie Belle said to the group. “The sooner we get on a train, the better.”

“You can bring your scooter along, if ya want,” Apple Bloom said to Scootaloo.

“Nahhh. It’s too flimsy, anyway.” Scootaloo gave the handles a hard turn, and the entire scooter collapsed into its woodland pieces. “Let’s just go. I’ll try again later.”

Saddened by Scootaloo’s resignation, the Cutie Mark Crusaders emerged from the woods with frowns across the board.

Zoccolo, already reattached to the cart, grimaced. “Hmm… that-a bad, huh? What is the bathroom like in Equestria?”

“It’s not that,” said Sweetie Belle. “It’s just… we’ve come a long way and… lost a whole lot.”

“I just hope it’s worth it,” Scootaloo grumbled.

“You want to rescue infants, no?” Zoccolo smiled as he stood up, leveling the cart with him. “It is a noble desire. I’m-a sure you will succeed.”

Dinky smiled. “Thanks, Zoccolo,” she said as Apple Bloom helped her into the cart.

“Good to see you happy again, little friend,” Zoccolo said over his shoulder. “Next-a stop, Maredrid!” He began to whistle, and the cart bumped onto the dirt road once again with all four fillies in the back.

Sweetie Belle suddenly screamed. “There’s something in here!” she shouted, pouncing sideways into another corner.

A wood-brown shape raised its head, turned orange, and glowered at Sweetie Belle, whose terrified face switched instantly to a smile.

“Awww… it’s Zuka!” She bent down to see the small chameleon better. “Hi, little guy!”

The animal’s tiny claw slapped Sweetie Belle on the cheek and scurried along the edge of the cart to Zoccolo’s flank.

“Ha ha!” Zoccolo laughed merrily. “Zuka is a girl, little friend. And easily offended, at-a that.”

Zuka flicked her long tongue in Sweetie Belle’s direction and disappeared into Zoccolo’s dark purple mane.

“Whoops.” Sweetie’s one cheek turned red and she rubbed it, frowning. “Duly noted.”

Apple Bloom and Dinky couldn’t help but giggle. Scootaloo didn’t notice a thing, staring back at the woods in defeat.

{-DD-}

“How much longer?”

“We’re almost-a there.”

“I’m hungry!”

“We’ll have a nice meal in the city.”

“This is so boring…”

“Look-a for pretty birds!”

“Does Zuka live in your mane?”

“Often, yes.”

“Nyeugh… doesn’t that feel super gross?”

“I’m-a ― rrghh ― used to it.”

“Golly, this is a steep hill. You gonna be okay?”

“Yes, little friend. Thank you for ― hnngh ― asking-a!”

“My name’s Apple Bloom.”

“Aaahhh…” Zoccolo breathed a sigh relief at the top of the hill. “I was-a wondering when you’d tell me. Piacere, Apple Bloom.”

“I’m Sweetie Belle!” The unicorn’s eyes grew wide. “Hey Zoccolo, how do you say ‘Sweetie Belle’ in Itailian?”

“Errr… hm.” Zoccolo stopped at the hill’s highest point and breathed deeply. “It is-a not easy to translate-a the names. But a close translation would-a be, ‘Dolcina Campanella’.”

“Dull-chee-na Compa-nella,” Sweetie Belle repeated in an exaggerated cadence. “I love it! Apple Bloom, call me Dolcina Campanella from now on.”

“No.” Apple Bloom looked at Zoccolo with a hopeful tilt in her brow. “Uh… how would you say Apple Bloom?”

Zoccolo smiled. “Fiore di Mela,” he said with a richness in his voice. “Bienvenute a Maredrid.”

“Wow, that’s even longer than mine!” said Sweetie Belle.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes.

Zoccolo chuckled and pointed down the hill. “‘Fiore di Mela’ means Apple Bloom, yes, but the rest means: Welcome to Maredrid.”

The fillies peeked together over the edge of the cart, and even Scootaloo’s eyes glistened as the Sun set over the sprawling Stirropean city below.

8 - Eggs on Toothpicks

Chapter Eight
Eggs on Toothpicks

The group passed through an enormous wall comprised of tall, side-by-side arches topped with shorter arches. It stretched perpendicular to a small valley within the city, and height changes in the base arches kept the top of the structure perfectly level, unaffected by the natural slopes below. Dinky eyed its gigantic bricks, some of them larger than her entire body, as Zoccolo led the cart through the centermost arch.

“Who built this thing?” Scootaloo asked, bending her head back to keep an eye on the archways.

“It is-a very old,” Zoccolo said, “as is all of Maredrid. A beautiful city, no?”

“What is it?” Apple Bloom cocked an eyebrow. “Not much of a wall with all these holes.”

Zoccolo laughed. “Very true! No, that is a, uhh… how do you say… acquedotto?”

“Aqueduct?” said Sweetie Belle.

“Sì! Brava ragazza.” Zoccolo smiled. “The aqueduct brings water from the mountains. Ponies do amazing things!”

They entered a wide road beyond the arches; as they walked deeper into the city, the Cutie Mark Crusaders noticed how unique the wide road was. Most offshoots were extremely narrow. It reminded Dinky of Canterlot, where she had been only once.

“The train to Pelola leaves in some hours,” Zoccolo said. “We are all hungry, no? I will-a buy you a good-a meal for your kindness to helping my sweet Nipota.”

“Thanks, Mister Zoccolo!” Sweetie Belle chirped. “That’s nice of you. I’m starving!”

“Is Caballish food any good?” asked Scootaloo with a grimace.

“Buonissimo!” Zoccolo lifted a hoof and pressed it into his cheek. “It is-a very good-a food. Not as good as Itailian food, of course, but-a very good!” He gasped and pointed down an adjacent street. “Guarda! A market! Let’s-a see what they are selling, no? If nothing pleases you, we go to a lovely ristorante!”

Down the street, in a large clearing between buildings, dozens of small booths were set up in snaking rows. Vendors of all shapes, sizes, and colors smiled and shouted at passing ponies, displaying their various wares. As Zoccolo carried the fillies closer, they saw that while several of the booths were selling fruits, rice dishes, chilled soups, and potatoes, others were selling things like scarves, umbrellas, knick-knacks, and jewelry. The marketplace was positively buzzing with activity, though nopony seemed to be in a hurry.

“This is so cool!” Sweetie Belle said. “Is this what markets look like in big cities? I’ve never seen one anywhere but Ponyville, and it’s never like this.”

“That’s ‘cause the same ponies come by every day,” Apple Bloom added. “Is this market always here?”

“I doubt so!” Zoccolo said. He had to raise his voice as the noise of the market engulfed them. “In Itaily, at least, markets like-a this are set up one or two time each month!”

“I don’t like it.” Scootaloo frowned and leaned over the edge of the cart as they passed a stand selling plates of yellow rice. “Don’t they have, like, peanuts or something?”

A foreign voice suddenly cut through the rest, yelling something at Zoccolo. The stallion turned to see a short mare dressed in a fitted blue vest and a blue cap yelling at him in Caballish.

“What is she saying?” Sweetie Belle asked nervously.

“Claro, claro,” Zoccolo said over and over again. “Lo siento. Sí, sí, claro, gracias.” He nodded several times, backing away slowly.

“Hey, what gives?” Scootaloo shouted. “Are we getting food or not?”

“The gentle officer here does not-a want my cart in the market,” Zoccolo said over his shoulder, smiling calmly. “There is no problem. We go on hoof now, little friends.” He backed out of the marketplace, careful not to run into any stands or perusers, and unhitched himself from the cart near a chain that hung around the perimeter of the square. “All is well! Let’s-a find you some food, friend of Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “My name is Scootaloo. Bet that doesn’t translate easy, does it?”

Zoccolo chuckled. “Indeed-a not. Adesso andiamo! Stay close to me, ragazzine.”

Leaving the cart behind, the fillies followed Zoccolo into the crowds of the bustling market. From their lower vantage point, the booths were suddenly hard to see past legs and manes and bodies, and the fillies put most of their attention into staying behind their guide. Zoccolo marched swiftly onward toward the opposite end of the square.

From an adjacent row of merchants, a gaggle of four or five very young fillies ― close in age to the Crusaders ― shuffled pathetically through the crowd. Though Dinky couldn’t understand their mumbled words, their dirty demeanors and desperate faces struck a chord within her.

“What are they doing?” she asked Sweetie Belle loudly.

Sweetie winced at the colts and fillies. “Ehh… begging for food, I think.”

“Hurry up, girls!” called Apple Bloom. “You wanna eat or not?”

Sweetie touched Dinky’s shoulder. “Come on, Dinky, let’s go!”

Dinky’s sad eyes watched the young ponies get shooed away by patron after patron. None of the adults even looked down or listened to their plight.

“Come on!” Sweetie Belle tugged Dinky away from the scene.

When they caught up with Zoccolo, he had stopped at a large stand selling what looked liked thick yellow pancakes. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were on their hind legs, leaned against a pane of glass to stare at the various available food.

“What’re you gonna get?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Psh, I don’t know! I’ve never had Caballish stuff before. I’m picky!” Scootaloo’s brow furrowed.

“It is-a very good, this,” Zoccolo said, purchasing one tall yellow cake from a mare behind the food. “Eggs, potatoes, onions. That’s it-a!”

“Sounds real good, actually,” Apple Bloom mumbled. “I’ll have one.”

“Buon appetito,” Zoccolo said, offering her the plate he’d just purchased.

Apple Bloom blinked. “Really? Oh… thank you.” She sat on her haunches and took the plate in both hooves, nibbling at one edge of the circle. “Mmmm… that is good!”

“Okay, fine, gimme one!” Scootaloo threw her forehooves in the air.

Zoccolo laughed and he gave the vendor a few more silver coins.

“Ooo! Stirros!” Sweetie Belle said, watching the coins exchange hooves. “Can I see one?”

“What are stirros?” asked Dinky.

“They’re like… the bits of Stirrope!”

Zoccolo pulled one coin from his sidebag and tossed it to Sweetie Belle with a grin. “Keep it!” he said.

Sweetie Belle beamed and examined the coin with interest. “Wooow… it’s so cool!”

A low voice spoke behind them all with a mild Caballish accent. “Leave it to an Equestrian to throw his money away to children,” it said in a snobbish tone.

Zoccolo and the four fillies turned around. There stood a handsome stallion in a suit. His otherwise perfect mane was frizzing at his hairline due to a line of sweat building in the heat. He regarded Sweetie Belle with disgust before eyeing Zoccolo with half-closed eyelids.

Zoccolo blinked once and managed a tight smile. “If you must-a know, good sir,” he said, bowing slightly, “I am not Equestrian, but come from the beautiful land of Icodalia.”

“Hrm. Then I am even more surprised at you.” The stallion squinted. “A fellow Stirropean should know to treat his money with care. We do not live in the land of the Blessed Sun, you and I. These children ―” He waved his hoof at them as though they were flies. “― have known nothing but plenty and luxury. They do not deserve our coin.”

“You speak Equestrian well, good sir,” Zoccolo said, taking a step forward. “And this suit! Stupendo!” He brushed the stallion’s shoulder with a lean, grey hoof. “You must-a be some businesspony, no?”

“Indeed.” The stallion backed away from Zoccolo and adjusted his open collar. “And I have learned where not to put my money.” With a lasting sneer, the stallion trotted away.

“Jeez.” Scootaloo watched until the stallion had vanished in the crowd. “What’s his problem?”

“The market draws to it all types!” Zoccolo said with an exaggerated shrug. “Ha! Now, who else wants a tortilla caballana?”

In few minutes, they all left the stand with an egg-potato-onion cake, happily gobbling their respective meals.

“All right, fine, you were right,” Scootaloo said, finally smiling. “This thing is dang good.”

“One of-a my favorites,” Zoccolo said. “Now, to the train sta―ooooh!” Zoccolo dove to one side, perusing a well-shaded stand with eyes that sparkled like a foal’s in a candy store. “How very interesting!”

“What?” asked Sweetie Belle, weaving through some passing ponies with Dinky. “What’s interesting?”

“This is-a my kind of store!” He glanced over his shoulder with a grin. “That is the saying, yes?”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo gazed at its wares skeptically. Several elaborate rugs were most noticeable along the back wall. On top of several small tables and wooden stools in the tent-like booth were dozens or maybe hundreds of small items: decorations, mostly, like paperweights, collectibles, and candlesticks.

“Uhhh… okay?” said Apple Bloom. She turned to Scootaloo with one raised eyebrow. “Does this guy ever stop gettin’ weirder?”

“Whooaaa…” A devilish smile stretched across Scootaloo’s face.

Surprised, Apple Bloom followed her gaze. Zoccolo was conversing with a hooded merchant in the booth. He dipped into his sidebag and produced a round, glass bird that he flashed before the merchant with finesse.

“No way…” Apple Bloom’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. “That’s the glass bird from that hotel back by the beach.”

“He’s a thief…” breathed Scootaloo, smiling.

“He’s a thief!” Apple Bloom shouted. She lurched forward and punched Zoccolo as hard as she could in the crescent Moon Cutie Mark. “Ye’r a thief, ya no good lyin’ rascal!”

Zoccolo’s clear, peach-colored eyes turned to the filly assaulting his rear. His expression was more intrigued that irritated. “Excuse me?”

“You stole that bird!” Apple Bloom shouted angrily, glaring daggers at the object in Zoccolo’s hoof. “Didja think I wouldn’t notice? You even pointed it out in the hotel, ya mongrel!”

He chuckled. “I pointed out the bird in the hotel because I own-a this one.” He shook the bird like a rattle. “How do you think I knew where it-a came from?”

Apple Bloom stopped punching, but her face remained just as sour. “Tell the truth, Zoccolo. Are you a thief or not?”

The stallion smirked. “I am not a thief. I am a peacemaker.” He turned back to the merchant and continued his deal.

Apple Bloom growled and stormed out of the small stand. Sweetie Belle and Dinky came to her side.

“Do you really think he stole it?” squeaked Sweetie Belle.

“Definitely,” Apple Bloom said with a firm nod. “He’s a crook, and we trusted him. I knew we should’t’ve trusted him!”

“Maybe he’s telling the truth?” Dinky suggested meekly.

“I mean, maybe, yeah.” Apple Bloom sighed heavily. “But I’m tellin’ y’all, I had a bad feelin’ about this from the start, and this bird business ain’t makin’ me feel any better, I tell you what.”

Zoccolo joined them with a stack of silver coins in his hoof. “Ready to go?” he asked nonchalantly. Scootaloo stood at his side, staring up at his face with shining eyes.

“You ready to tell the truth?” Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes. “Did you steal that bird from the hotel?”

“No.” Zoccolo smiled calmly. “The train station is-a this way. Follow me!”

He trotted back into the throngs with Scootaloo hot on his tail. The other three looked at each other before Apple Bloom joined the chain.

“This is ridiculous…” Apple Bloom muttered. She glanced at her hooves, looked up ahead, and sprinted to catch up with Zoccolo in the lead.

Sweetie Belle yelped at her sudden speed and ushered little Dinky along.

Apple Bloom caught up with Zoccolo and immediately burst. “I don’t think you understand the level of my concern here. You haven’t struck me as particularly honest since we metcha, and believe me, I know a thing’r two about honesty. So fer the safety o’ my friends and the babies we’re after, lemme just ask ya one more time: have you stolen anything?”

Zoccolo looked down his snout at her. Though his face was momentarily serious, a familiar smile soon brushed over his dark grey features. “Yes,” he finally said.

Apple Bloom thrust up an accusatory hoof. “Ah ha! I knew it! That’s it, Mister Liar, deal’s off. We’ll find our own way to Haissian, thanks very much.”

“I took-a the money purse of that stronzo businesspony,” Zoccolo continued, pulling a small, shiny, jet-black purse out of his sidebag.

“Whoa!” Scootaloo yelled. Her wings buzzed quickly enough to draw out her excited hop. “That is so awesome!”

“It ain’t awesome, Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom yelled incredulously. “We’ve been travelin’ with a grade-A criminal!”

“Eh, grazie.” Zoccolo shook out his violet mane.

“Urrrgh!” Apple Bloom smacked her own forehead. “We gotta get outta here, girls.”

Sweetie Belle convulsed. “But… but what about Nipota?”

“Yes, Fiore di Mela, what about my sweet Nipota?” Zoccolo’s bottom lip stuck out. “You wouldn’t hurt a sick child because of her uncle’s alternative philanthropy, would you?”

“Altern-what what?” Apple Bloom reeled.

“Alternative philanthropy,” Sweetie Belle repeated thoughtfully. “What do you mean?”

“You are Equestrians. Have-a you ever heard the tale of-a Robbing Hood?”

Sweetie grinned. “Yeah! Oh, I love Robbing Hood! He’s so cool!”

“Hey, I know that one!” Scootaloo said, nodding excitedly. “Steals from the rich and gives to the poor, right?”

“Alternative philanthropy.” Sweetie Belle’s face caught between a smile and a grimace.

“Oh, right. Right, of course.” Apple Bloom sighed heavily. “So you expect me to the believe that you only stole that coin purse so you could―”

“Wait-a one moment.” Zoccolo put one hoof over her mouth, spun around dramatically, and stopped face to face with the gaggle of dirty foals Dinky had noticed earlier.

Dinky gasped at their gaunt faces and wide eyes. Without a word, they looked as one at Zoccolo’s soft smile. He bent to their level and extended a hoof, offering the children the dark purse full of coins.

“There are those who believe,” he said in a smooth voice as a small colt took the bag, “as the previous owner of this coin, that giving without reward is equal to throwing away.”

The colt opened the coin purse. Its contents cast a white light onto his gasping face. The other children crowded around, gave one long look at the money, and then turned back to Zoccolo with tears in their eyes.

Zoccolo nodded once, stood up, and turned to Apple Bloom. “I believe,” he said boldly, “that the children of this world hold many more promise than any amount of money.”

Voicing their thanks in Caballish, the colts and fillies tore away as one, rushing back into the thick of the market with new resources.

Apple Bloom watched them go, stunned into silence. “Ahh… I-I… uhhh…”

“I will not hurt you, children,” Zoccolo said, closing his eyes. “Never. I want-a what’s best for you, and for-a my sweet Nipota.”

With that, Zoccolo left the edge of the market and headed for another narrow street. Apple Bloom was speechless. Sweetie Belle was twitching. Dinky’s face was pale and flat.

Scootaloo, on the contrary, was positively glowing. “Cooooool!” she said, and chased after Zoccolo on imaginary clouds.

{-DD-}

As they approached the ticket window in a line, there were four employees behind the glass. Zoccolo squinted at a nearby schedule and translated out loud: “Passenger Train to Venezampa, five thirty five’.”

Scootaloo found a clock on the wall of the station. “That’s in thirty minutes! Perfect!”

“Deja vu,” Apple Bloom mumbled to herself.

Sweetie Belle gasped. “Apple Bloom! You speak Chevallian?”

“I swear, Sweetie Belle, I’m gonna hitcha in the mouth one o’ these days,” Apple Bloom suddenly growled. “I’ll feel real bad and it won’t be yer fault, but I’m gonna hitcha in the mouth.”

Sweetie blinked. She gulped, and took a long step away from the bitter farmpony.

“Where’s Venezampa?” Dinky asked.

“At the far coast of Icodalia,” Zoccolo explained, “past Pelola. We get off before the end of the line-a.”

“Is Venezampa closer to Haissan?” Apple Bloom asked harshly.

Zoccolo tilted his head left and right. “Yes, insomma. However, it is farther from the River Po, which will take you right to the Sultan’s-a palace.”

Dinky narrowed her eyes. “How did you know we’re going to the Sultan’s palace?”

Apple Bloom’s venomous look at Zoccolo doubled its dose of poison.

Zoccolo looked down at Dinky in surprise. “Is that-a your goal? Che fortuna! It is the Sultan with whom I have a business opportunity.”

“Then why’dja use it to convince us not to go to Venezuppa or whatever?”

Zoccolo sighed as the ticket line moved forward. He shuffled a bit, sat on his haunches, and raised his forehooves defensively. “Look. I’m-a sorry, Apple Bloom. I know you don’t-a trust me, and my blabbering doesn’t-a help. I’m-a very tired, and I’m mixing up ideas. Please forgive me and let-a me take you to see my Nipota. Then you can go to Venezampa if you’d like, though I promise it’s-a faster to go up-a the river.”

“Yeah, quit picking on Mister Z, Bloom!” Scootaloo said loudly. “He’s just trying to be a good guy and help out some kids, jeez.”

“Good guys don’t steal, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom hissed back.

“Oh, yeah?” Scootaloo jerked her head at Zoccolo. “You wanna bet?”

“This. Is. Dangerous,” Apple Bloom said, casting her eyes back and forth between Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. “I don’t rightly know how much clearer I can put it. Y’all seem to be missin’ somethin’ mighty obvious to me.” She shoved her hooves at Dinky. “We’ve got three foals to save, all things considered.”

“As if I don’t know that?” Sweetie Belle guffawed. “I’ve been concerned with Dinky almost exclusively this entire trip.”

“And that’s part of the problem,” Scootaloo jabbed.

“Besides,” Sweetie Belle continued at Apple Bloom, ignoring Scootaloo entirely, “I’m with you on this. We shouldn’t be associating with a thief. But, if he’s gonna take us that close to Haissan…” Her eyes grew sad. “What choice do we have?”

“A bajillion choices!” Apple Bloom erupted. “Come on, Sweetie Belle, are you serious? We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders! We can find another way!”

“Please girls, please,” Zoccolo whispered, glancing nervously toward the large train station’s entrance. “You can fight-a later. Just… stay quiet a moment.”

Chilled by his shift in mood, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their honorary member slowly and discreetly twisted their necks to lay eyes on the entrance.

Past the growing line behind them, three large figures stood in between the station and the city outside, silhouetted by the light of Maredrid. As one, the huge specimens lumbered inside.

As their eyes adjusted, the Crusaders saw three black-coated bulls with giant horns wearing fitted, dapper suits that exaggerated the enormity of their bodies compared to the slenderness of their legs.

Scootaloo laughed. “Wow, what flattering suits. Think they know they look like eggs on toothpicks?”

“Ts-ts-ts-ts!” Zoccolo hissed. He grabbed Scootaloo between the ears and spun her like a top so that she faced away from the bulls. “Don’t-a stare. Let’s just pretend we’re-a not here.”

“What? Hey, let go of me!” Scootaloo threw his hoof aside.

Apple Bloom glanced back and forth between the bulls and a nervous Zoccolo. “Hmmm…” She stood up a little straighter and took in a deep breath before yelling, “But Uncle Zoccolo, we wanna go back to the marketplaaaace!”

Most of the ponies in line, along with all three bulls at the entrance, focused on their little party. One of the bulls whispered something over his shoulder, and the tough-looking trio marched straight for them.

Zoccolo glared down at Apple Bloom with eyes like slits. “Bravissima,” he coldly breathed.

“Zoccolo Leggero. We meet again,” said the bull at the front of the trio in a gruff Caballish accent.

Other ponies in line around the Cutie Mark Crusaders wilted away from the bulls, pressing into each other in order to give them space. Apple Bloom gulped and began to question her decision.

Zoccolo laughed shrilly and smiled up at the speaker. Though Zoccolo was a tall stallion, his thinness next to the hulking bull made him appear weak and very small. “Cierro! So good-a to see you, my friend. How’s-a the family?”

Cierro’s lip curled. He snorted steam through his giant nostrils. “We gotta tip you shown your face here, little pony. Very brave? Or very stupid.”

Zoccolo bowed slightly. “I like-a to think of myself as adventurous.”

The huge bull jutted forward while Zoccolo was bowed, slamming his jet-black forehead into Zoccolo’s. To the fillies’ surprise, it was the bull and not Zoccolo that stepped away clutching his head in pain.

“Ay!” Cierro pressed a cloven hoof above his eyes. “Ostras… whaddid you do?”

Zoccolo suppressed a smile. “I believe it was-a you who tried to hurt me, good sir. Do not-a blame the brick wall for its strength, amico.”

“I’ll smear you against a brick wall, little pony!” Cierro barked, frightening everyone in earshot but Zoccolo himself. “Do not pretend that you donno why we’re here.”

“Oooo, forgive me, Cierro!” Zoccolo grimaced and reached down, covering Sweetie Belle’s ears with his hooves. “I have a strict-a policy not to talk about work around-a my family.”

Cierro, still wincing in pain, cocked one heavy brow. “Family?”

“These are my nieces,” Zoccolo said, smiling. “Meet Fiore di Mela, Campanella Dolcina, Vesparè, and their dear friend, Graziosa.” He patted little Dinky’s mane at the end.

Cierro frowned deeply. “You have a… diverse family, Zoccolo.”

“Indeed! Much siblings with much children.” Zoccolo sighed. “I am a very proud uncle.”

Slowly, Cierro nodded his enormous head. “We understand family, Zoccolo. We don’t wanna… upset your nieces.” He scowled. “But you are not leaving this city until we come to an agreement, okay?”

“Agreement? On-a what?” Zoccolo smiled.

“Don’t pretend to be estupido. You know what you did to us.” The bull narrowed his beady eyes.

Zoccolo pointed at the fillies. “No. I. Don’t.” He winked.

The muscles in Cierro’s cheeks began to twitch.

Apple Bloom gulped and, against her better judgment, shouted, “We ain’t his nieces! And he’s a thief! I know it!”

The line of ponies waiting for train tickets didn’t understand her, but they were plenty surprised by her outburst. The bulls, too, zoned in on the little yellow filly.

“You are Equestrian?” Cierro asked.

“Stai zitta, Fiore,” Zoccolo hissed in a panic.

“We’re just tryin’ to get to Haissan!” Apple Bloom said. “Please, if you can help us, he’s all yers.”

“Apple Bloom, what are you doing?” Scootaloo asked.

“I don’t think this is a better plan, Bloom!” Sweetie Belle squeaked without looking away from the towering bulls.

“Bene, that’s enough for-a me,” said Zoccolo, saluting the bulls. “I think it’s-a time to go, girls.”

“You’re not leaving so fast, little ― gaaaah!” Cierro tried to reach out and grab Zoccolo by the throat, but a tiny creature scurried up his leg in a blur of violet. By the time Zuka reached the bull’s face, she was as black as his coat, and she dug her little claws into one of Cierro’s eyes while whipping the other with her tail.

“Follow me, little friends!” Zoccolo whispered, crouching low to cut through the thick of the ticket line.

Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Dinky ducked after him immediately. Apple Bloom stole a bewildered glance at the shrieking bull scraping at his own face, flanked by his shocked cohorts, before diving after her friends with panic in her eyes.

“What did you do to them, Zoccolo?” Scootaloo asked excitedly when the group burst from the far end of the long line.

“Nothing-a!” Zoccolo replied with a wide smile. “They must have me confused with another stallion! ‘Zoccolo’ is not an uncommon-a name in Icodalia.”

“Riiight, gotcha!” Scootaloo said with a devilish smirk. As they galloped out of the train station, she inched closer to his side and asked, “But really, what’d’ya do? Steal their prized nosering? Burn down their tailor shop? Kill their head honcho?”

“I’m-a not a murderer, little friend,” Zoccolo replied. “I am a peacemaker.”

Before Scootaloo had a chance to goad him on, the sound of smashing glass accompanied a rumbling roar behind them. “Zoccoloooo!”

Scootaloo checked over her shoulder. Sweetie Belle, Dinky, and Apple Bloom were sprinting right behind her. Beyond them, bursting through a window of the train station, she saw all three bulls chasing after them. “Whoa! Cool!” She beamed at Zoccolo. “Your name sounds awesome when it’s screamed like that!”

“Grazie!”

They followed the swift grey stallion back into to the open market. With the nimble energy of one much younger than himself, Zoccolo wove and slid between its many attendants, with the Cutie Mark Crusaders hot on his tail. “Scusate, scusateci!” he shouted in Itailian, too focused to translate into Caballish.

“Look out! Move it!” Scootaloo added at the top of her voice.

Some ponies began to make a path, startled by their shouts, but the noise of the market was too much for the message to get very far. What’s more, the market’s curious customers closed their own gaps as soon as Zoccolo and fillies passed by, watching them scramble onward with varying expressions of interest.

“Oh, and watch out for the bulls!” Sweetie Belle yelled at the sky.

At the far end of the market, Cierro and his hulking companions stormed into the fray, violently tossing ponies aside between their menacing horns.

“Oh no!” Sweetie squeaked as she watched one unlucky stallion flip over himself several feet in the air and smash into a nearby necklace stand.

“What?” Dinky panted, twisting her neck.

Sweetie Belle dove directly behind her, blocking the sight. “Oh, nothing! Just… it looks dense up there! Let’s keep weaving!”

Dinky nodded and followed Apple Bloom’s lead in sliding under the belly of a skinny mare. She followed Zoccolo’s wavy purple mane, bobbing up ahead above panicking patrons, and ignored the sharpness in her lungs.

The bustling square filled with screams as the bulls smashed through its ranks, smashing food and trinkets alike. “Zoccolo!” Cierro shouted again. “You won’t get away, you dirty thief!”

“I freakin’ told y’all!” Apple Bloom shouted at her friends. “Peacemaker my flank!”

“This way, girls!” Zoccolo said as the five of them exited the other end of the market. He leapt over his own cart parked under a tree and headed for an alleyway.

“Nuh uh!” Apple Bloom shouted, grinding to a halt. “That’s it for us. We’re headed our own way.”

“What!?” Scootaloo half-stopped, half-continued to follow Zoccolo on bouncing hooves. “But this trip is finally awesome!”

“I’m scared!” Dinky confessed, shivering as Sweetie Belle kept her from looking back.

“We have to do something quick, Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle said. “The bulls are right there!”

“Then let’s go thatta way,” Apple Bloom said sharply, pointing in the opposite direction from Zoccolo’s path. “We’ll leave the varmint to his rat-catchers and find our own way to Haissan.”

“Uggh! You never wanna do anything the fun way, do you, Apple Bloom?” Scootaloo growled. “Well, go ahead, then! I’ll meet you in Haissan with the Cake foals cradled in my hooves!” She resumed her energized chase after Zoccolo.

“But Scootaloooo!” Apple Bloom whined. “We gotta stick together!”

“I’m sorry, Apple Bloom, but I stick with what I’ve said,” Sweetie Belle babbled off quickly, ushering Dinky along in the same direction. “We’ve been hoofed a free ticket, and I’d never leave in the middle of a performance!”

“Grrrrrr!” Apple Bloom raked her hooves down her own cheeks. “Gall darn it! I hate Stirrope!” And just as the three bulls burst through the last wave of casual shoppers, Apple Bloom took up the rear of her party.

“¡La amarilla!” Cierro bellowed, pointing a cloven hoof after Apple Bloom’s yellow body.

At the other end of the ally, Zoccolo threw a smug smile at the fillies nearest him. “You know, you little ponies are-a much lucky!” he said as Apple Bloom caught up. “Many come to Caballos from all over the world to see the running of the bulls!”

He laughed at himself while the fillies shared confused glances.

“No?” Zoccolo shrugged. “Eh, chi se ne frega?” He looked over the fillies’ heads with wide eyes, grimaced, and bolted out of the alleyway.

Without looking behind them, the fillies followed suit. Zoccolo ran in a diagonal, crossing a rather busy street while putting more distance between them and the alleyway. Suddenly, he took a hard left and bolted up an almost empty steep street.

Panting hard, the fillies managed to follow him. By the time the bulls rounded the same corner, Zoccolo and the Crusaders were halfway up the hill. The slope proved even harder for the bulls to climb, given their weight.

“Yeah! Good plan!” Scootaloo shouted.

“Don’t stop-a now, girls! Into the mountain we go!”

“Huh?” Sweetie Belle looked up. The street ended up ahead in a T, with the perpendicular road dotted with tall buildings. Behind them was nothing but nature at the very top of the hill; rocks and trees alone awaited them.

“What’s the plan up there, exactly?” asked Apple Bloom. “Hide?”

“Like you’re one to ask about the details of a plan, Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo shouted back at her. “What were you trying to do, recruit the Caballish mafia into rescuing the Cake twins?”

“The bulls are-a much worse than the mafia,” Zoccolo chimed in.

“I’m just tryin’ to keep us safe, Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom seethed as they ran. “How many times do I gotta say it? I don’t trust Zoccolo!”

They funneled between two apartment buildings and continued straight, vaulting a short stone barrier into steeper, rockier territory.

“You do have a plan, though, right, Mister Zoccolo?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Because they’re still chasing us!”

“Believe me, little friends,” Zoccolo called out, slipping between two trees and ducking under low branches, “you will love what-a comes next!”

“I hiiiiighly doubt that,” Apple Bloom crowed, mostly to herself.

9 - It Was an Aqua-Duck

Chapter Nine
It Was an Aqua-Duck

If Apple Bloom was the most angered by Zoccolo’s chase through the streets of Maredrid, Dinky Doo was the most frightened. She threw glance after terrified glance behind them, watching the three charging bulls gain ground. Soon enough they had climbed the paved hill and vaulted the barrier into wilderness, following the Cutie Mark Crusaders into the sparse treeline of a rocky hilltop.

“They’re gonna catch us!” Dinky shouted, throwing her wide eyes forward. “Wh-wh-what are we gonna do?”

Zoccolo paused at the very top of the hill and scanned the land beyond. With a victorious pose, he grinned at Dinky. “Do not-a be afraid yourself, little friend. I found our escape, if you don’t-a mind getting your-a hooves wet!”

Scootaloo, panting, tilted her head to one side. “Huh?”

“Forza, andiamo!” And Zoccolo sped away down the other side of the hill, disappearing for a moment between more densely stationed trees.

Exasperated, Apple Bloom took one look at the approaching bulls before following Zoccolo with a groan. “This better be good!”

“I don’t mind getting my hooves wet,” Sweetie Belle said as an aside, “or even muddy! Good thing Rarity’s not here or she’d be toast.”

The four fillies burst into a rocky clearing and gasped in tandem. Directly below them, built into the side of the hill was a wide, shallow trough flowing with clear water. Zoccolo was already standing in the flow; the water splashed around his hooves.

“Whoa… is this…?” Apple Bloom’s eyes dragged over the flowing water until she was staring to her right. The canal continued in a straight line well beyond the hill, held up by many tall arches to maintain its altitude, extending all the way into the city below.

“It’s the aqueduct!” said Sweetie Belle. “Whoa! Cool!”

“We’ll take it back into the heart of the city and lose these creeps! Right?” Scootaloo jumped into the ponymade stream and geared up to sprint in the direction of its flow.

“Anzi, no.” Zoccolo reached out a hoof with a grin and spun Scootaloo around by the top of her head. “We’re-a going the other way. Still need to catch-a the train, do we not?”

“Whoa…” Scootaloo tilted to look behind Zoccolo where the aqueduct stretched in the opposite direction, elevated by miles of arches upon arches in a practically straight line. It balanced, brave and alone over the countryside, barely three feet wide despite how tall it stood over the valley’s lowest points. In the distance, a great grey mountain loomed, doubtless the source of the high canal’s water.

Sweetie Belle gulped. “Ummm… I hope I don’t get it.”

“Quick, little friends!” Zoccolo said. Any panic that they’d seen in his face was gone, replaced by a foalish euphoria. “Here-a they come!”

He immediately broke into a gallop, speeding against the aqueduct’s flow and away from the heart of Maredrid. It took him less than ten steps to clear the part of the trough skimming the side of the hill. Soon there was nothing but a five foot ― ten foot ― twenty foot fall on either side of him.

The fillies gaped at his bravery/insanity. Sweetie Belle suddenly yelped, startling her friends, as something small and pumpkin-orange skittered over the ground between her legs, mounting the edge of the aqueduct and scurrying after Zoccolo at blurry speeds.

“Well, if Zuka can do it…” Scootaloo mumbled, and joined the chameleon on the perilous path behind Zoccolo’s haphazard sprint.

“Zuka’s got little sticky claws, though!” Apple Bloom called after her. “She’s safer than all of us!”

A tree exploded behind her from the butt of a furious bull. “Zoccolooo!” Cierro screamed again.

“Crabapples!” Apple Bloom squeaked as bark and sawdust scattered around her.

Sweetie Belle and Dinky screamed in tandem.

“Where he go?” Cierro bellowed down at them, eyes red and spit flying. “Where he go, little pony?” Cierro’s cloven hoof reached out to grab at Apple Bloom’s bow.

“Nope nope nope!” Apple Bloom shouted, jumping backward into the aqueduct. “Come on, Dinky! Sweetie Belle, run!”

One of the other bulls dove forward to grab Dinky, but Sweetie yanked her out of reach and didn’t let go as they joined Apple Bloom in the canal.

“Is now a bad time to admit I’m afraid of heights?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” Apple Bloom ushered the others along. She kept her eyes trained on Scootaloo far ahead, careful not to look down as the ground sloped away. Soon enough, there was nothing beneath the aqueduct but air, and nothing behind them but screaming bulls.

“What are they saying?” Sweetie Belle asked Apple Bloom loudly.

“For the last time, Sweetie! I. Do. Not. Speak. Caballish!”

Up ahead, they heard Scootaloo’s warbling voice: “Whoooa-oa-oa!”

“You okay, Scoots?” Apple Bloom yelled.

Scootaloo suddenly stopped running, wobbling in place instead. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Dinky swiftly caught up.

“D-don’t look down,” Scootaloo stammered. Her neck was stiffly in place. “It’s too late for me, but if I have any adv-v-vice for you, it’s don’t frickin’ look down.”

“Scootaloo, you have to keep moving!” Sweetie Belle whined, splashing her hooves in the water.

“Why!?” Frozen in place, Scootaloo didn’t turn around, but the muscles in her neck twitched visibly. “Are the bulls chasing us?”

“Uhh…” Sweetie turned around. Cierro and one of his henchbulls has disappeared, while the third was taking cautious, narrow steps along the aqueduct. He hadn’t even cleared the hill yet. “Well, kinda,” Sweetie continued. “But the point is we need to keep up with Zoccolo, and you’re kinda blocking the way!”

“Just gimme a second,” Scootaloo hissed, breathing deeply. “I’m fine. I’m a pegasus, for peat’s sake. I can do this.” She shook out her wings, threw back her mane, and plowed forward, resuming her determined gallop.

“Hey, good job, Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom said, grinning. “That was real brave.”

“GO, Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle shouted in her ear from right behind her.

“Oh, right!” The little farmpony picked up the pace, making space between her and the two unicorns in the rear.

Dinky was shaking her head viciously. “I can’t. I can’t do this, Sweetie Belle. I’m so scared!” Her golden eyes met Sweetie’s concerned pair. “I-I’ll fall!”

“We’re not gonna fall, Dinky.”

“What are we doing, then? Are we just…” Dinky took a long stare at the distant mountain as its water broke around her little hooves. “Are we gonna run all the way over it? To wherever it starts?”

“Ummmm…” Sweetie Belle blinked several times. “I’m gonna say no, but more as a hope than an actual guess.” She cleared her throat. “But don’t worry, Dinky. I’ve got you. Neither of us are going to fall. Let’s catch up to Zoccolo. I bet he has a plan!”

The little filly nodded mutely and joined her honorary sister in a single-file trot along the towering aqueduct. They stayed very close together, with Sweetie Belle’s chin hovering over Dinky’s swishing tail.

Up ahead, Zoccolo finally stopped, a grey and purple dot along an enduring line of chiseled stone. Scootaloo caught up with him first, and Sweetie Belle watched nervously as she and Zoccolo leaned over the edge of the canal.

“What are they doing?” Dinky squeaked.

“Looking for something,” Sweetie answered. She glanced toward the ground, but fear brought her eyes back to Zoccolo before she could take in any details.

Apple Bloom was trotting steadily and joined Scootaloo with several splashes. “What exactly is the goal here?” she asked defiantly as she approached. “We can’t rightly go back the way we came, and that mountain’s still miles away. One of us’ll fall fer sure!”

“Now we wait, Fiore,” Zoccolo replied with a calm smile. “You are brave fillies, and our escape should-a be a simple one.”

“Escape?” Apple Bloom looked over her shoulder at the distant hill where they had started. “Escape from what? The bulls? Lookee there, Zoccolo. There’s just one left, and he ain’t lookin’ so confident where I’m standin’.”

Indeed, the one bull in the distance was inching along the aqueduct, wobbling noticeably even from their distance.

“We have a train to catch-a, little friend,” Zoccolo said. “And thanks to you, the stazione centrale is-a no longer an option.”

“Yeah, way to blow our cover, Bloom,” Scootaloo said, sneering.

Apple Bloom’s jaw dropped. “Jeez, ‘scuse me fer tryin’ to be the honest pony ‘round here! I admit things didn’t go as I mighta hoped―” She glanced nervously at the edge of the aqueduct. “―but that don’t mean I done the wrong thing in exposing this criminal for what he is.” She pointing sharply at Zoccolo without breaking eye contact with Scootaloo.

Scootaloo frowned. “He’s trying to help us! What don’t you get about that?”

Apple Bloom opened her mouth to retort, but a scraping sound from far behind made her flinch. She spun around and joined Zoccolo and Scootaloo in gaping at the sight down the aqueduct, underscored by the colors of Maredrid in the distance.

“Ahhhh!” screamed Sweetie Belle. “Go, Dinky, go go go!”

“What is it?” Dinky asked shrilly. “I-I can’t run any faster, Sweetie Belle!”

“Come here, Dinky!” Apple Bloom said, holding out a hoof. The filly was ten trots off and hurried to Apple Bloom’s steady support. Only when the group was all together did Dinky dare look back, all the while terrified by the noisy grinding sound in the air.

The bulls were back, all three of them, and were straddling the fallen trunk of a tree. Using their hooves as makeshift oars, as it were, they pushed the log against the flow of the aqueduct and barreled toward the ponies. There wasn’t enough water to keep their log afloat, and its bark slid noisily over the stone of the canal. The front end of the trunk displaced enough water to send small waves splashing over the sides of the aqueduct, raining on the valley below.

“We gotchu now, Zoccolo!” Cierro shouted. “You can’t escape!”

“Run! Run!” Apple Bloom shouted, turning to Zoccolo and splashing water at him. “What’re ya waitin’ for? Go! They’re gonna ram us!”

Zoccolo bit his lip and cast his eyes over the edge once more. His face lit up and he smiled at Apple Bloom. “No need! Arriva il treno!”

Sweetie whispered in Apple Bloom’s ear, “What did he say?”

Before Apple Bloom could smack Sweetie Belle, Zoccolo wrapped a hoof around her shoulder and directed her gaze downward.

“Our train is arriving,” he said smoothly, pointing down.

Only then, forced to take in the landscape, did Apple Bloom notice train tracks running through an arch of the aqueduct. She gasped at the sight of an approaching train; its whistle was barely audible over the screeching of the bull’s accelerating log.

“Oh, look, Dinky!” Sweetie Belle smiled and pointed at the train. “Is that the train to Pelola, Mister Zoccolo?”

“It is indeed, Dolcina!” Zoccolo said with a laugh. “All aboard!”

Sweetie face twisted up. “Wait, what?”

As the train passed beneath them, Zoccolo spread his long forelegs and scooped all three fillies over the edge with him. They fell ― screaming ― for the span of an entire second before landing hard on the wide roof of a passenger car. They rolled with “oofs!” and passed beneath the shadow of the aqueduct before finding their bearings.

Zoccolo was the first to his hooves, flashing a victorious smile up at three gaping bulls in the aqueduct. “Arrivederci!” he shouted, waving one hoof above his head. From somwhere in his mane, Zuka quickly climbed to the end of his hoof and stuck her long tongue out in the bulls’ direction.

Scootaloo watched the scene transpire, then dropped onto her back and cackled at the sky. “Wow! Wow wow wow wow wow!” She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and beamed. “I wish Rainbow Dash was here to see this.”

“You. Monster!” Apple Bloom shrieked, throwing herself at Zoccolo in an attempt to knock him off the train.

“Whoa, hey!” Scootaloo snapped to attention, moving to restrain her friend. “What are you trying to do, kill him?”

“He just nearly killed us!” Apple Bloom shouted over the whipping winds of the moving train. “There was a very good chance of one or all of us dyin’ right there, Scootaloo! Ain’t that enough for you to hate this creep?”

“We’re all fine!” Scootaloo argued, gesturing first to herself and then to Sweetie Belle and Dinky, holding each other close a few feet away. “It was an awesome plan that totally worked! We’re on the train now ― for free, at that ― and we’re headed straight for Haissan!” She glanced up at Zoccolo. “Err… right?”

Zoccolo pointed to the Sun, sliding down to the western horizon, and then rotated like a weathervane with his hoof held straight out. “East,” he finally said when he aligned with the train’s momentum. “East to Itaily, east to Nipota, and east to the orphan foals.”

“They ain’t orphans,” Apple Bloom grumbled. “They’re the local bakers’.”

“Right.” Zoccolo cleared his throat and set his hoof beneath him. “Less-a dramatic, but still true. We are on our way to Pelola, little friends. We are safe.”

“That was… so… scary…” Dinky whimpered in Sweetie Belle’s embrace.

Instantly, a look of supreme sympathy washed over Zoccolo’s face. He took swift steps forward and knelt in front of the shivering duo. “Oh, piccolina... come, let’s-a get inside.”

He touched Dinky’s shoulder; she flinched.

Zoccolo sighed slowly. “I am-a sorry for not warn you, piccolina. I knew none of you would-a jump with me, but it was-a the only way.” He stroked the back of her mane. “I promise, no more surprises like-a that. I don’t want to scare you. I am on-a your side.”

Sweetie Belle’s eyes narrowed for a moment, but she helped Dinky to her hooves. “Thanks, Mister Zoccolo,” Sweetie Belle said. “I think we should get inside now, if we can. Right, Dinky?”

Dinky sniffed once and nodded. “Yeah. Okay.” She looked up into Zoccolo’s clear, peach colored eyes. “Thank you.”

Apple Bloom dropped to her haunches. “Are you… what the… but I…” She shook her head vigorously. “Why’re y’all thankin’ him? He just pushed us off a bridge!”

“Uhh, it was an aqua-duck, Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes. “Weren’t you paying attention?”

“I saved us from a very bad-a bull,” Zoccolo said quietly as they approached a corner of the train where a ladder curved down along the side of the car. “I understand your-a feelings, Fiore. You have-a no reason to trust me. But know that falling onto a train was-a better than falling into their hooves.” He gave Apple Bloom a long, steady glance, then hopped over the edge of the train car and scaled down its ladder.

Apple Bloom watched incredulously as Sweetie Belle helped Dinky follow Zoccolo’s lead.

“Seriously, Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said as she trotted toward the ladder. “You need to chill out. Zoccolo’s not a new member of the team. He’s just helping us get to point B.” She smirked. “The sooner you figure that out, the sooner you’ll appreciate how awesome he is and maybe even have a little fun.”

Scootaloo followed Sweetie Belle down the ladder, and Apple Bloom was left alone on top of the train. Her bow slapped against her mane in the wind and she looked ahead, gaping, at the empty countryside to come.

“But… this ain’t supposed to be fun,” she said under her breath. With heavy hooves and a scrunched up brow, she made her way to the ladder as well.

{-DD-}

The interior of the Stirropean train was remarkably different than Ponyville’s. Instead of decorative walls or well spaced, plush benches, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were greeted with dirty blues and even dirtier greys. Long light bulbs on the ceiling flickered uselessly, while ponies from all walks of life chattered too loudly or brooded too quietly in nearly every available seat.

“Come on, little friends,” Zoccolo said once all five of them were standing safely in the narrow central aisle. “Follow me, we find-a seats somewhere else.”

He trotted briskly down the length of the aisle, but each Crusader had a hard time following him. Safe at last, their youthful adrenaline was wearing off, and into its place flooded exhaustion, jitters, and the pulse of aching hooves.

“Unnnghh…” Scootaloo moaned, for even she found herself wobbling. “I don’t feel so good, Zoccolo.”

The stallion turned around with surprised eyes. “Cavoli! Are-a you not fine?”

“I feel dizzy,” Scootaloo said. “Aaaand I think I might have broken something in my hoof.” She lifted her right forehoof gingerly.

“I’m tired, Mister Zoccolo,” Sweetie Belle said, her head teetering left and right. “Is there anywhere on this train to sleep?”

“Hey!” a deep voice said in a quick breath from farther down the aisle.

Zoccolo spun around with wide eyes, but relaxed as soon as he saw the source of the voice: a zebra stallion, one of two seated together near the far end of the passenger car.

“Hey, come hea! Come hea!” The zebra waved them closer.

Zoccolo beamed, winked at the fillies, and approached the zebra confidently. “Heeey! How far, my-a brother?” he asked.

A gleam shone in both striped stallions’ eyes at once. “Ohhh! You speak pidgin?”

“Only a little bit,” Zoccolo admitted with a tilted grin. “Are-a you fine-a gentlecolts from Braynin City, by chance?”

The zebras gaped at him. “Waaa!” one of them exclaimed with dark green eyes the size of saucers. “Ah you from Neighgeria?”

Zoccolo glanced down at himself and stifled a laugh. “Uhhh… no. I’m-a from Icodalia. I’m-a headed home with my nieces right-a now.” He gestured to the unsteady fillies behind him.

“Whea you come from?” the zebra with green eyes ask. He pointed to the roof. “I hear a big boom, then you come in from the side. You come from roof?” He jabbed his hoof several times overhead, incredulous.

Zoccolo grinned. “We climbed onto the roof from a different-a car. We don’t-a have the tickets, you see.” He opened his sidebag and pretended to fish around in it for a moment, then shrugged. In a low voice, he added, “Don’t-a tell anypony.”

The zebras laughed low together. “It’s okay, it’s okay.” He cast his green eyes down the aisle before whispering, “We don’t have ticket eitha!”

Zoccolo joined in their laughter, and then gestured to the empty seats nearer the window. “May we sit-a with you today, friends?”

Both zebras nodded and voiced their approval, standing up to allow Zoccolo and the fillies to enter the pair of dark blue benches facing each other. It was a tight fit, but with Zoccolo and Scootaloo on one side while Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Dinky took the other, the zebras sat back down with nothing but friendly smiles.

“My name is-a Zoccolo,” said the grey stallion with a deep nod. “And who are-a you?”

The zebra with dark green eyes pointed to himself. “I am Agility,” he said, putting emphasis on every syllable.

The other stallion, much stockier than Agility, lifted his chin at the group. “I am Egbobo.”

“Egbobo?” Scootaloo repeated with a snort. “That’s awesome!”

A small, restricted smile grew on Egbobo’s face. “Thank you,” he said quickly.

Zoccolo began asking the zebras more questions while Sweetie and Apple Bloom whispered to each other under the radar.

“Why ain’t they rhymin’?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I think that might be a racist question,” Sweetie whispered back.

“Zecora’s the only zebra I ever met,” Apple Bloom said with a grimace. “She’s all I know. I don’t wanna offend these guys.”

“They seem really easy going,” Sweetie Belle said, “but that’s not what I wanted to whisper about.” Staring sternly into her eyes, Sweetie continued, “Apple Bloom, you were right.”

“Huh?”

Sweetie jerked her head across the way at Zoccolo. “You were right. This guy’s nuts, and if he’s willing to shove us off an aqueduct onto a train without warning ― especially our poor little Dinky!” She glanced around Apple Bloom for just a moment where Dinky was staring out the window, shivering. “I was wrong. I don’t want him anywhere near Dinky. We gotta get out of here.”

Apple Bloom visibly melted. “Gah, I’m sooo glad you said that, Sweetie Belle.” She smiled. “I was beginning to think y’all had lost yer minds.”

“You are-a headed to Icodalia, then?” Zoccolo asked in a particularly loud tone.

“By the grace of goddess,” Agility said, nodding. “We hear it is very beautiful.”

“More-a beautiful than you can imagine!” Zoccolo affirmed, patting Agility’s striped shoulder. “Bravi, you are-a making a good decision. Icodalia will be lucky to have you.”

“Thank you, thank you,” Agility said with a big smile. “Very kind.”

“So where are you guys from, exactly?” Scootaloo blurted.

“Neighgeria,” said Agility. “It is very south from here.”

Scootaloo blinked once. She cleared her throat. “Why aren’t you guys rhyming?”

“Scootaloo!” snapped Sweetie Belle.

But Agility only smiled wider. “Rhyme we can with eager ease, if this the little ponies please.”

“Whoa!” Apple Bloom reeled. “What the heck?”

“Do not be surprised,” Egbobo said with a furrowed brow. “There ah many languages in Neighgeria. Many many!” He crossed his forelegs.

“What my brother means to say is that we speak in many ways,” Agility continued. “Verse-speak is the tongue of learned, who have in them a spiral burned.”

“Hey, no more,” Egbobo grunted, turning away. “You ah not a priest.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes sparkled, but she said nothing.

Agility shrugged. “It is true. I did not follow the path of priest to its end.”

“What-a did you follow, then?”

Agility looked at the ground between them and shook his head slightly. “I do not know. Not yet.”

Scootaloo chuckled. “Join the club,” she said. “We’re called the Cutie Mark Crusaders. We’re on a quest to find out who we are.”

Egbobo glanced at Zoccolo’s crescent Moon-shaped Mark, then swept his eyes over the blank flanks of the fillies. “Ponies ah strange,” he muttered. “Very strange.”

Agility opened his mouth to say something, but Egbobo suddenly gasped and stared down the train car’s long aisle. Agility twisted where he sat, sharing Egbobo’s panic as a fat stallion in a uniform vest and cap strolled from bench to bench. “Biglietti,” he said to everypony he passed, holding out a hoof expectantly. “Biglietti. Boletos. Tickets, please.”

“Ah, he’s Itailian,” Zoccolo whispered to Scootaloo at his side. “This will be easy.”

Scootaloo raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “What will be easy?”

After a wink, Zoccolo put on a panicked face and turned to the zebras. “Time to go, don’t-a you think?”

They zebras both nodded and jumped off their benches, opening a nearby door to pass from one passenger car to the next.

“Hey!” said the vested stallion, waddling heavily down the aisle in a vain attempt to stop them. “Stop-a!”

Within seconds, the zebras were gone from sight. The fat stallion stopped at the door and frowned through the windows into the next car. Even then, he saw no sign of stripes.

“Merda...” he swore under his breath.

“Stai attento, signore,” Zoccolo said suavely. The stallion jumped and looked down at him. “Ci sono dei bambini.”

The stallion winced apologetically. “Mi scusi, signore. Dove andate oggi?”

“Pelola,” Zoccolo answered. “Visitiamo mia nipote. Queste sono le sue amiche equestriane.”

“What are they saying?” Sweetie Belle asked Apple Bloom while the adults blathered on.

Though she sighed heavily through her nose, Apple Bloom actually answered. “I think Zoccolo’s tellin’ him where we’re off to.”

“That’s a bad idea, isn’t it?” Sweetie Belle wrung her forehooves together. “We don’t have tickets!”

“Allora, posso vedere i vostri biglietti?” asked the fat stallion.

“Bill yeti!” Sweetie Belle squeaked. “I think that means tickets!”

Zoccolo nodded jovially. “Ma certo! Aspetta un attimo...” He reached into his sidebag, and for every second his hoof swished around the expression on his face fell into something terrified. “Dea del Sole! Me li hanno rubato!”

The fat stallion’s jaw dropped. “Chi t’hanno rubato?”

“Quei zebri.” Zoccolo scowled. “I zebri hanno preso i nostri biglietti!”

“He sounds mad,” Sweetie Belle whimpered. “Why’s he mad?”

The vested stallion clenched his teeth and spun to face the door. “Ladri sporchissimi!” he shouted, charging out of the car and into the next as the train rattled on.

Zoccolo’s face calmed and he sat back, smirking. “How do you say?” he asked. “Nailed it?”

Scootaloo was on the edge of her seat. “What did you just do?” she asked.

“I nailed it,” he repeated, chuckling. “We’re safe now. They won’t-a find the zebras and they won’t-a need our tickets.” He tucked his hooves behind his head. “Enjoy the ride, little friends. Pelola is yet-a far away.”

“Didju just…” Apple Bloom’s eyes twitched. “Did you just tell him those zebras stole our tickets?”

“What?” Sweetie Belle gasped. “Apple Bloom, you said you didn’t speak Itailian!”

With great effort, Apple Bloom ignored her, training her angry eyes on Zoccolo. “They were a couple o’ stand up stallions! And you go’n throw ‘em under the train like they’re nothin’ but tools to yer thievin’?”

“I assure you, our new friends will be perfectly safe-a,” Zoccolo said, unflinching. “Cavoli, one of them was named Agility! Ha! They’ll make it wherever they need-a to go.”

“That’s the last straw,” Apple Bloom grunted. She dropped out of her seat and stormed down the aisle, away from her friends.

“Fiore!” Zoccolo called out. “Wait, Fiore, don’t go alone!” When Apple Bloom didn’t turn around, Zoccolo hummed low in his throat. “Where does it-a come from?” he asked Scootaloo while sliding into Egbobo’s old spot.

Scootaloo hadn’t taken her shining eyes off him. “Where does what come from?” she asked breathily.

He pointed down the aisle. “Her attitude. This… unshakable morality.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s-a not helpful.”

“You’re telling me!” Scootaloo chirped. “Say, how’d you learn so many languages?”

“Travel, Vesparé,” he said. “Much, much travel.”

Sweetie Belle gulped, standing up on the bench and turning to watch Apple Bloom storm away. “I feel like…” She turned to Dinky. “Should we go talk to her?”

But Dinky’s head was pressed against the glass between herself and the Caballish valleys beyond. Her tiny mouth hung open, and her shivers had ceased in her sleep.

Sweetie let out a short “D’awww!” before stealing another glance at Apple Bloom. The yellow filly opened a sliding door on the far end of the train and trotted into a different passenger car altogether. Sweetie Bit her lip but, with a lasting groan, finally dropped off the bench to follow her at a bouncing gallop.

“And there goes Dolcina Campanella,” Zoccolo said, scratching behind his own ear. “You ought-a to follow them, Vesparé. I think they will-a need you soon.”

Scootaloo sighed. “I don’t get it. I mean, I know they’re scared: we’re far from home, traveling with a stranger, running from rampaging bulls and leaping onto the tops of trains… but it’s not like we’ve never done anything like it.” She shook her head. “We’ve befriended tons of weird ponies and done lots of stupid stuff together. What’s different this time?”

“Magari I’m the weirdest of all?” Zoccolo guessed.

“Huh? Oh, no, I didn’t mean―” Scootaloo winced. “Sorry. You’re by far the coolest pony we’ve met on our adventures, if you ask me.”

“Grazie.” Zoccolo leaned down to her and pointed across the benches. “And if-a you ask me, what’s different this time is quite obvious.” He smiled. “She is precious. Something to save, not something to find.” He patted the top of Scootaloo’s head. “Go help-a your friends. I will watch over the principessa.”

Scootaloo’s thoughts were too muffled for her to question that. “Yeah. Okay.” She hopped down from the bench and, brow scrunched in thought, made her way along the aisle to find her angry friends.

{-DD-}

The Sun set, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders did not return. The trans-Stirropean train chugged on, and the Moon cast few shadows in the valley streaking by.

When Dinky woke, before she opened her eyes, she heard the rattle of the train… and nothing else. No voices, no arguing, no laughter. A ray of light painted red the insides of her eyelids, and she sat up slowly, blinking blurriness away.

The train was angled toward the south so that the eastern light shone directly into the train. The first rays of the Sun had spilled over the horizon; she had slept through the entire night. Dinky looked away from the searing brightness, and her eyes fell directly on Zoccolo.

He was turned in his bench to face the horizon, though his eyes were serenely closed. His head was slightly bowed, and he held his forelegs straight out from his body. As Dinky watched, his hooves began to tremble, and he lifted them higher along with his muzzle.

The Sun broke over the horizon and bathed the valley in golden light. Dinky gasped.

Zoccolo opened one eye. Without lowering his hooves, he smiled at her, then closed the eye again. With a deep breath, he wiggled his hooves and lifted his straight forelegs even closer to the ceiling.

The Sun continued its first steps into the lengths of the sky.

Another slow breath, and Zoccolo lowered his hooves. He opened his eyes to Dinky staring at his forehead in awe.

Zoccolo glanced up. On the top of his head, in front of his ears, sat Zuka in her truest, orange form. She reached down with two small claws and parted his wavy bangs like a purple waterfall. There, high above his eyes, was the short, jagged remnant of a unicorn horn.

Dinky’s eyes swelled even more.

He cleared his throat, then reached up and gently swatted Zuka away. The chameleon vanished between his ears while Zoccolo fixed his bangs to cover the stub.

“You’re a…” Dinky stammered, glancing to the east.

Zoccolo raised a hoof to his own lips. “Shhh! Can it stay our-a secret?” he asked softly.

Dinky swallowed, but ultimately nodded her head. “Where… where are my friends?” she asked timidly.

Zoccolo pointed down the aisle. “They chased Apple Bloom down the train last-a night. Perhaps you and Zuka should go looking-a for them now.” He gestured to many limp heads in the passenger car. “While many are sleeping.”

Zuka responded immediately, scurrying down Zoccolo’s body, across the ground between them, and leaping onto the bench next to Dinky.

“Eep!” Dinky flinched, but smoothed down her own blonde mane and nodded. “Okay. Let’s go, Zuka.”

The chameleon waited to hop on Dinky’s back until she had climbed down from the blue bench. Bleary-eyed, the tiny pony yawned and began her search while Zoccolo watched on with a curious smile.

10 - Are We Getting Off or Not?

Chapter Ten
Are We Getting Off or Not?

The train was lengthy, and over the course of the night many passengers had found new seats or else reached their destinations. Two cars down from where Zoccolo waited, Dinky tread quietly through the central aisle, casting wary glances at the various sleeping ponies curled up like cats on booth benches. The windows on both sides were draped, though the eastmost glowed with the rising Sun.

Zuka’s tiny body balanced on Dinky’s little haunches. She kept an extra pair of eyes peeled for Dinky’s safety. She scurried up Dinky’s spine, swam through her mane, and leaned off Dinky’s forehead with one claw wrapped around Dinky’s horn while the other shaded her eyes.

Dinky giggled. “See them yet, Zuka?” she asked in a whisper so as not to disturb any sleepers.

Zuka looked straight down into Dinky’s eyes and shook her head before diving back into her mane and surveying the train car from her hindquarters again.

Dinky’s smile soon vanished under the weight of worry. As her eyes darted from pony to slumbering pony on both sides of the aisle, it was as if each of them bore some similarity to her mother: similar manestyles, grey coat hairs, a stern look of disappointment…

Dinky gasped and did a double take. Alas, there were no golden eyes peering down at her in shame… in fact, there were no eyes at all. She was staring at an empty booth.

Whimpering, Dinky briskly resumed her search. The Cutie Mark Crusaders weren’t in that car at all, so she carefully passed between railcars again and began her trot anew. There were even fewer passengers here than ever before. Nearly two-thirds of the seats were entirely empty. Dinky’s eyes wandered up the walls and across the ceiling, wondering if something in that car made it unpopular.

Zuka screeched and tugged on Dinky’s tail. The pony gasped and craned her neck to see the chameleon pointing back. In one of the booths they had passed, a single snow-white filly snored and shivered, brow furrowed in a fitful sleep.

Dinky spun around and clip-clopped back to the bench. She leapt up and snuggled Sweetie Belle immediately, stroking her bright, fluffy mane. “It’s okay, Sweetie Belle,” she whispered into the shaking pony’s ear. “Everypony’s okay.”

“N-no,” Sweetie mumbled without opening her eyes. “Not th-the foals… I can’t find the foals…”

“We’ll find them together,” Dinky said, briefly glancing around for help. “Wake up, Sweetie. You’re just having a bad dream.”

Sweetie Belle clenched her teeth for a moment. “They’re right… they’re both right…”

“Who?” Dinky blinked. “Apple Bloom and Scootaloo?”

“We can’t trust him,” Sweetie slurred. “He’s a bad guy. But he’s so cooool… and he can help us.” Her lower lip quivered. “I just wanna find the foals…”

“Oh, Sweetie Belle! Wake up!” Dinky shook the pony’s shoulders. “Wake up, you’re having a bad dream.”

“Wha!” Sweetie suddenly sat upright, bumping Dinky away. She gasped and blinked rapidly as her glossy green eyes swiveled to focus on Dinky. “Wha… Dinky? Oh my gosh!” She blearily wrapped her forelegs around her little friend and laid most of her weight into the periwinkle body. “You’re okay! I had this terrible dream… we were all lost and tangled in Apple Bloom’s bow and about to get crushed by Scootaloo’s new scooter scraps!”

“Huh?” Dinky wheezed.

Sweetie sat up and wiped her forehead. “Whew! What a relief. What time is it?” She looked across the train car at the golden-glowing windows. “Did I sleep all night? Yeesh, it feels like all I’ve done for the last three days is sleep.”

“And get chased by bulls,” Dinky added.

Sweetie’s eyes narrowed, then she gasped and sat up straighter. “Oh my gosh! That really happened?” She flung her eyes around. “Are we gonna get crushed!?”

“No, Sweetie, no!” Dinky couldn’t help but laugh a little. “You dreamed that part. We’re in a train going to Pelola to see Zoccolo’s niece in the hospital.”

Sweetie nodded… then nodded again. “Okay, yeah. Okay. I remember.” She stretched with a long yawn. “And then we’re taking a boat to Haissan or something?”

“I think so.” Dinky sighed. “I hope so.”

Sweetie Belle licked and smacked her lips. “Where are Apple Bloom and Scootaloo?” she asked.

“I was hoping you knew,” Dinky admitted. “I fell asleep before you left, but Zoccolo said you and Scootaloo chased after Apple Bloom and never came back.”

“Oh yeah…” Sweetie Belle winced. “Sorry for leaving you all the time. I guess I’m not a very good honorary sister.”

Dinky smiled and shook her head. “No, it’s okay. You’re a good sister because you care about me.”

“Awww!”

“And at least we learned that we can trust Zoccolo.”

Sweetie raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

Dinky shrugged. “He’s had two chances to foalnap me, but instead he’s been really nice and helpful. Besides, he lent me Zuka!” Dinky gestured behind her, where Zuka clung to her rump.

“Yay!” Sweetie Belle clapped her hooves. “Hey there, Zuka! Who’s a pretty little girl chameleon?”

Zuka lashed out her tongue so far that it frightened Sweetie Belle into leaning away. Dinky giggled again.

Sweetie Belle composed herself, then smiled. “So you trust Zoccolo? That’s pretty great, actually.” She made a slanted face. “Did you learn something secret about him while we were all away?”

Dinky blanched. “What? No! Why?”

Sweetie shrugged and smiled. “I dunno! Just kinda hoping you’d remember where you know him from.”

“I’ve already told you, it’s not really that I remember him,” Dinky said with a frown. “It’s just that… something about him is familiar.”

“Well, here’s hoping you figure it out soon,” Sweetie said, hopping down from the bench. “The sooner we have empirical evidence that Zoccolo is on our side, the sooner we’ll stop fighting amongst ourselves, and the sooner we can work together to find the foals and go home and take a bath.”

Several questions ran through Dinky Doo’s mind, but the one that came out was, “Do you know where Apple Bloom and Scootaloo are?”

“Somewhere close, I’d guess. We, uh… well, things got pretty heated last night. They were yelling at each other and… I didn’t hear much of what they said because I was yelling at them to stop yelling. Guess that wasn’t helping very much.”

Dinky opened her mouth to say something, when suddenly the train car was filled with a loud voice that startled almost everypony awake.

“Prossima fermata, next-a stope-a, Pelola!” A stout stallion shuffled through the aisle, shouting in a scratchy baritone. “Prossima fermata, next-a stope-a, Pelola!”

“Next stop Pelola?” Sweetie Belle repeated with wide eyes. “Oh no! Come on, Dinky, we gotta find the others!” Limbs flailing, she bounded into the aisle and followed the shouting stallion, scanning around grumbling passengers for any sign of her friends.

Dinky and Zuka gave each other one panicked look before following Sweetie’s lead.

{-DD-}

All the way down, in the very last car of the slowing train, there were very few ponies still seated. On opposite ends of the oblong car, and on opposite sides of the aisle, sat Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, as far from one another as they could be without being totally alone.

Neither of them were sleeping. Neither of them had slept much at all. The other’s angry words still bounced in both of their heads, and they wondered what might happen next and when they might go home.

When a stallion in a uniform burst in from Scootaloo’s side of the car, she jumped like a wet cat and backed up to the window.

“Prossima fermata, next-a stope-a!” shouted the stallion in a loud, if bored, voice. “Pelola!”

With that, he glanced over the nearly empty car, sighed to himself with a breath of finality, and spun about, marching back to the front of the train. Sweetie Belle squeezed around him to enter the car, followed closely by Dinky and Zuka. Soon the conductor was gone, and they were alone with Scootaloo.

Sweetie Belle guffawed as soon as she saw the little pegasus. “Scootaloo! What are you doing all the way down here? We’re almost to Pelola already and we need to stick together!”

Scootaloo clenched her jaw and hung her head where she stood on the nearest bench. “Nah. Let’s just stay on the train until we get to Vene-whatever. We’re better off without Zoccolo.”

Gaping, Sweetie Belle tilted her head. “What are you talking about? We’re right here! Zoccolo knows where to take us!”

“We’ll be fine on our own,” Scootaloo mumbled. “This is supposed to be about the missing foals, not us.”

“Did…” Sweetie blinked. “Where’s Apple Bloom?”

Scootaloo pointed down the length of the train car without looking up.

“APPLE BLOOM!” Sweetie Belle suddenly shouted, startling Scootaloo again. “This is Pelola! Are we getting off or not?”

“Since when am I the leader of this here group!?” Apple Bloom’s voice came thundering back. “Just ask Scootaloo what she wants to do!”

“I wanna do what’s best for the foals!” Scootaloo joined the yelling party. “And if that means leaving Zoccolo behind, then let’s do it!”

“Ye’r just sayin’ that ‘cause I don’t trust him!” said Apple Bloom’s distant voice. “It don’t matter, he clearly knows his way around these parts. We oughtta take all the help we can get!”

“What the heck happened to you two?” yelled Sweetie Belle. “Did you hit your heads really hard and switch bodies or something? Come on! The train’s slowing down, we have to make a decision!”

Indeed, the train’s brakes had kicked in, and a lasting squeak joined the volume of their voices.

Dinky Doo didn’t like the pressure. Her hooves wiggled uncomfortably in the aisle, and she looked from Scootaloo to Sweetie Belle to the other end where Apple Bloom’s voice was coming from.

“Hello!?” Sweetie Belle shouted. “All I know is that I’m certainly not the leader, so somepony needs to make a decision!”

“Do it together!” Dinky yelled. Even at its loudest, her voice did not match the volume of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Nevertheless, she did her best, aiming her head skyward to shout what she needed to say. “On the count of three, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, just say what you think we should do right now! One! Two! Three!”

Apple Bloom’s head popped up from behind a bench far away. Scootaloo stood on her hind legs as well, looking Apple Bloom directly in the eyes. Their voices matched up perfectly as both of them said:

“We gotta get off this train!”

All five pairs of eyes (including Zuka’s) blinked in unison. At that very moment, the train came to a jolting stop, and the ponies caught themselves before they fell over. Then, in a wordless scramble, they hurried to the train’s nearest exit and threw themselves onto Pelola’s singular platform.

“Ah, eccovi qua!” said a smooth voice nearby. “I was-a wondering where you ran off, little friends. Good-a to see you safe!”

Zuka scurried down Dinky’s hind leg and skittered across a few feet of the platform. With just as much speed, she climbed the long, grey leg the Zoccolo offered to her and disappeared in the thick purple waves of his mane. “Grazie for taking care of Zuka, Graziosa,” Zoccolo said, winking one peach-colored eye at Dinky.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo briefly glanced at each other, only to swiftly look away. “Right,” said Apple Bloom. “We’re here in Pelola, ain’t we? Let’s say hi to yer niece so we can get goin’ to Haissan.”

“Which way is the river?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“The River Pon is-a north of the city,” Zoccolo answered, pointing a hoof accordingly. He sniffed through his snout and grimaced. “Come then, little friends. Let’s-a get away from the station. There is a stink here, no?”

Scootaloo took a deep whiff and blanched. “Eugh! Is that pee?”

“Probably!” Zoccolo said, trotting happily away from the train. “Follow me to Pelola!”

“I thought we were already in Pelola,” Sweetie Belle whispered to Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom scanned the train station. It was small and mostly out in the open, although a long building surrounded by dense trees on both ends blocked their view of what waited beyond. It was into this building that Zoccolo trotted without looking over his shoulder.

“I reckon the city’s just yonder,” she said, gesturing after Zoccolo with a flick of her chin. “And if we’re really in Itaily, I’m hopin’ it gets prettier’n this.”

They trotted after Zoccolo on eager hooves, passing a few joyful reunions, several busy travelers, and ― unexpectedly ― dozens of zebras. The Itailian ponies seemed to stay far away from the zebras, though they were clearly friendly: a simple smile from Scootaloo encouraged happy shouts and enthusiastic waves.

“I didn’t know there were so many zebras in Itaily,” Scootaloo said out of the corner of her mouth. “I always imagined a bunch of chubby ponies with chef’s hats.”

“I’m surprised you imagined anything at all,” Apple Bloom admitted. “I’ve never given Itaily a second thought. They’re all about pastas and… blech... tomatoes.”

“You don’t like tomatoes?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Not at all.” Apple Bloom shook her head in quick, choppy motions. “And I’d thank ya kindly not to bring it up no more. Those things gimme the willies.”

Sweetie giggled, but didn’t press the issue.

The fillies passed through the surprisingly busy train station and emerged on the other side in the bright light of a Pelolan morning. They froze in a line on the top step of the station’s small staircase and looked over the city with sparkling, swelling eyes.

“Whoooaaaa…” the four fillies said in unison.

Pelola was breathtaking. Its widest road zigzagged downward from the steps of the station, surrounded on both sides by bizarrely steep, lusciously green hills. Built into the feet of both hills, descending with the valley and yet somehow climbing up the slopes, were intricate mazes of tall, colorful buildings. Cobblestone streets ran like rivers between the structures, and earlybird ponies trotted them confidently. Far below, where the valley leveled off, a red-stone castle stood bravely in the midst of a small moat. A column of smoke rose from one of its towers, joining much smaller streams of light-colored smoke from all over the city.

“This… is amazing,” Scootaloo said. “I don’t even care about pretty stuff, and this is freakin’ amazing.”

“I’m really glad we got off that train,” Apple Bloom mumbled.

Zoccolo wasn’t far from them, standing at the bottom of the short staircase. He lifted his long head and breathed deeply through his nostrils, smiling with his eyes closed. “Ahhh! L’aria pulita dell’Icodalia!” He opened his eyes, moist and focused. “I’m home-a.”

Sweetie Belle took in a deep breath, too. “Wow! It smells amazing! Like… like fresh bread and satin!”

“That’s a weird combo,” Apple Bloom said with a raised eyebrow, “but I’d be lyin’ if I said you were wrong. Smells dang good.”

“What’s that castle down there?” asked Dinky, eyes locked on the marvel.

“Hmm?” Zoccolo followed her gaze. “Ah! That’s-a the hospital! We’re going there to see Nipota!”

“Eeee!” Sweetie Belle clapped. “I love castles!”

A consistent, low buzzing noise reached the group and Scootaloo’s ears perked adorably. “Hey… what’s that sound?”

“Kinda sounds like yer wings when ye’r cartin’ us around town,” Apple Bloom noted.

Zoccolo beamed. “Ah! You speak of your Itailian-a namesake, yes?” He pointed down the slope where a teenaged stallion zipped across the main road on a bright blue vehicle with two wheels. “Ecco la Vespa!”

“Echo la what?” Apple Bloom muttered.

Scootaloo stared in awe until the motor scooter vanished into another cobblestone sidestreet. “Vespa…” She bounded down the steps and stood next to Zoccolo. “Is that why you call me Vesparay?”

“Yes, esatto! The Vespa is a popular type of-a scooter here in Icodalia. Your name sounds a lot-a like ‘scooter’ with a little added on the end, so I did-a the same with-a Vesparé.”

Scootaloo grinned. “Heh. Awesome.” Unbeknownst to Apple Bloom, a wicked smile curled across her face.

{-DD-}

A bell rang overhead when Zoccolo opened the bakery door. “Buongiorno,” he said casually while entering.

“Buongiorno a voi!” said a thin stallion with a swept-back mane and small eyes. “E presto, pure! Cosa volete stamattina?”

Sweetie Belle stole a quick glance at Apple Bloom, but refrained from asking anything.

The door shut behind them with another jingle and Zoccolo smiled down at the four wide-eyed fillies. “Welcome-a to my favorite panificio. Tell-a me what you want, and I buy the breakfast!”

“Shouldn’t we be seein’ Nipota fir―” Apple Bloom’s words were cut off by her own growling stomach. “Yeah, okay, breakfast first.”

“Oooo!” Sweetie Belle approached the counter in the tiny, natural-lit bakery and stood on her hind legs, planting two hooves on a pane of glass that separated her from rectangular baskets of fresh baked bread. “Wow! It looks amazing!”

The baker behind the counter looked nervous. “Parlate icodaliano?” he asked.

“Io, sì,” said Zoccolo, gesturing to himself with a hoof. “Aspetto che queste scelgano la colazione.”

“Is something wrong?” asked Scootaloo with a grimace.

But the baker only smiled. “Bene! Fammi sapere quando siete tutti pronti.”

“Grazie.” Zoccolo smiled expectantly at Scootaloo. “Go on, then, choose-a your bread!”

“Oh!” She nodded, then joined Sweetie Belle in observing the many options. Some were golden slices with crumbly exteriors, others were dark rolls pocked with bits of fruit.

“Do they got any apples?” Apple Bloom asked with a cocked eyebrow.

“Or muffins?” Dinky asked with a squeak.

“Hmmm…” Zoccolo rubbed his chin and rattled off something in Itailian to the baker. After a smile and a bit of scrambling, the baker returned with two white paper sacks which he hoofed to Zoccolo over the counter.

“What’s that?” Dinky asked.

“Una torta di mela for Fiore,” Zoccolo said, offering one sack to Apple Bloom, “and il pane all’uvetta for Graziosa.” The other bag went to Dinky.

Dinky peeked at her breakfast. It was one of the rolls, infused with dark bits of wrinkled fruit. She squinted. “Um… are these… raisins?”

“Yes!” Zoccolo’s expression fell. “Do you not like-a the raisins?”

Dinky winced and shook her head slowly.

With a soft smile, Zoccolo said, “You do not-a need to eat it, little friend. But it comes-a highly raccomandato.” He winked.

Dinky lifted the roll out of the bag and held it close to her snout. She sniffed. “Hmm… I guess it’s kinda like a muffin…” With a brave nod, she bit into the roll and chewed. Her eyes widened as a flood of sweet flavor splashed across her tongue, boldly accompanied by the robust, honest flavor of the bread itself. She nearly gasped and ended up swallowing before she had chewed even five times. “Oh my gosh…”

“It’s-a good, eehhh?” Zoccolo encouraged her, smiling widely.

Dinky ripped off another bite and nodded up at him. “It is! It’s so good!”

“One of my favorites,” Zoccolo said proudly. “Itailians know how to raisin the grape.”

Dinky giggled and continued munching into her breakfast.

The others picked delicious choices as well, grinning delightedly at each other as they ate in the tiny parlor of the store while Zoccolo dropped a few silver coins into the baker’s hoof.

“Nn I fot Shugnkyu Kohna wush gud!” Sweetie Belle said with her mouth full to bursting.

“Holy crap, Itaily is awesome!” Scootaloo shouted. “I had no idea!”

“All right-a, come now, little friends,” Zoccolo said, holding the front door open for them. “Bring-a your food. Nipota she waits!”

Happy, giggling, and of one accord, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their honorary member marched out the bakery with shouts of “Thank you!” to the skinny baker. They pranced shoulder to shoulder down the angled stretches of Pelola’s main street. Zoccolo trotted behind them, drinking in their glee. By the time they reached the castle-hospital’s moat, their breakfasts were gone and their spirits were high.

“The moat’s not as big as it looked from the train station,” Scootaloo said.

Apple Bloom took a better look at the water. There were short rows of stone circling both sides of the moat to discourage a misstep: the water itself was low, several feet below the pavement, though the trench itself was quite deep. Its width was uneven, as there was something like a pond to the left of the castle while an athletic pony might be able to jump over its narrowest parts. Still, the message was clear, and a narrow wooden drawbridge was standing straight up against the castle’s gate.

Apple Bloom squinted at the raised bridge. “How do we get in?”

“Hmm?” Zoccolo frowned at the drawbridge. “Che strano... it’s usually open at this hour!” He looked to the east; the rising Sun hadn’t lifted enough to shine over Pelola’s hills, though the sky was bright and blue as a morning could be. Zoccolo peered curiously back at the castle. “I wonder if something is wrong…”

“What do you mean?” asked Dinky.

Zoccolo snorted through his nostrils as his eyes darkened. “Signore Cricciero…”

“Seen-your-eh Creech-arrow?” Sweetie Belle repeated, syllable by syllable. “What does that mean?”

“He is the lord of this-a land-a,” Zoccolo said in a low voice. “That is, his-a family was once in great power here. Icodalia is different now, but some-a refuse to accept that.” With a heavy sigh, Zoccolo sat on his haunches and rubbed around his eyes. “Signore Cricciero is a very bad stallion. Worse even than Fiore thinks of me.”

Apple Bloom listened, ears drooping.

Zoccolo’s voice took on a quaver of emotion. “The castle once belonged to his-a family, but his good-a father gave it to the city to use as a central ospedale. I have not been to Pelola in many years, little friends, and I fear that ― in the time I was-a gone ― Cricciero may have closed-a the hospital.”

Sweetie Belle’s jaw dropped. “What!? That’s horrible! Why would he do that?”

“Power?” Zoccolo said, shrugging. “He feels it is-a his birthright? Who knows?” He shook his head. “Where could my sweet Nipota be?”

“Ain’t there another hospital?” Apple Bloom asked. “Where’re ponies s’posed to go if they get banged up?”

“Yeah!” said Scootaloo. “You can’t let ponies ride around on m-m-motorized scooters…” She shuddered with a smile before continuing, “And not have someplace for them to crash after they’ve… well, crashed!”

“There are local dottori, I suppose,” Zoccolo said. “Housewives and medicine mares. But my Nipota? With her-a disease?” His head drooped slowly. “I do not-a know.”

“Well, can’t we find her parents?” Apple Bloom asked. “You know where they live, right?”

Zoccolo perked up. “Yes! Yes, of course! Let’s-a find my sister, quickly!” He galloped around the moat, leading the fillies deeper into the city of Pelola.

But the apartment building where they arrived was abandoned. Zoccolo trembled on his hooves, staring at the dark, dirty windows and unkempt trees around it, their branches scraping into graffiti-covered brick. “Non ci credo...” he murmured at the sight. “Sorella… dove sei andata?”

“Uh oh, he’s talking to himself,” Sweetie Belle whispered to Apple Bloom. “This is bad, right?”

But Apple Bloom was focused. “This is where they lived?” she asked, eyeing the old building with concern in her eyes.

“For years and years,” Zoccolo answered, nodding. “What happened?”

“Somethin’ weird’s goin’ on here. I can feel it.” She heard sniffling behind her and turned to see Dinky in tears.

“I’m so sorry, Zoccolo,” Dinky said in a breaking voice. “This is terrible.”

Zoccolo hurried to her side and lifted Dinky’s chin. “No, little friend! Shhh! Don’t-a cry.” He caressed her cheek and smiled. “We know nothing-a yet. Perhaps all is well in another city! They may have-a gone to Pondova or Ancornia! I will find them.” His eyes lingered on her beading tears. “And you will find-a your foals, and any other souls you seek.”

Dinky burst into tears, leaning into Zoccolo’s hoof while she sobbed.

Sweetie Belle watched on, dabbing at her own eyes while her lower lip trembled.

Scootaloo leaned toward Apple Bloom and whispered, “I don’t get it.”

“Dinky misses her momma, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom said in a tight voice. She sniffled. “This ain’t fair. We gotta help out.”

Scootaloo beamed. “Really?”

Apple Bloom nodded and blinked several times. “Yeah. Let’s, uh… let’s ask around, help Zoccolo find out as much as he can about what happened here and where his family’s gone. Then he’ll go get ‘em and we’ll find the foals in Haissan.” Zoccolo looked at her, and she managed a smile while she said, “Maybe we can even meet up back here on our way home to make sure everypony’s okay.”

“Fiore…” Zoccolo said with an earnest look in his eyes. “Grazie. Why the sudden change of heart, little friend?”

“Yeah, Bloom! Holy crap!” Scootaloo laughed. “I mean, I’m thrilled, believe me, but… what happened to doom-and-gloom Apple Bloom?”

“Fightin’ like we did on the train really got to me,” Apple Bloom said. “I realized that if we can’t stick together as a team, we ain’t good fer nothin’ out here.” Timidly, she looked into Zoccolo’s eyes. “And while I can’t rightly approve of your methods, Mister Zoccolo… you’ve been nothin’ but good to us. Least we can do is help ya figure out what’s goin’ on.”

Zoccolo clapped his hooves together at his chest and briefly smiled at the sky. “Benedetta Dea, grazie infinite.” He rose to his hooves and gazed proudly upon Apple Bloom. “Thank you, Fiore. It means-a very much to me.” He looked behind them, back toward the hospital. “The first-a thing we must-a do is ask Signore Cricciero, like honorable ponies. We must-a give him a chance to tell us what-a happened.”

Apple Bloom nodded resolutely. “Right. So… how do we get in and see him?”

Zoccolo smirked. “Perhaps… honorable wasn’t the right-a word.”

11 - Way Tinier Windows

Chapter Eleven
Way Tinier Windows

“I yuto! I yuto may!” Sweetie Belle bellowed at the drawbridge.

“Pretty sure he said it’s just aiuto,” Apple Bloom whispered in Sweetie’s ear.

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. “Yeah, for ‘help’. So ‘I yuto may’ means ‘help me’, see? Psh.” She shook her head and adjusted Dinky’s limp body under her foreleg. “And here I thought you spoke Itailian.”

Apple Bloom frowned. “I don’t think that’s how it works, Sweetie Belle.”

“I yuto maaay!” Sweetie shouted again.

“Avete bisogno?” a mare asked from behind them.

Sweetie turned around and shoo’d the mare off with a wild hind hoof before turning back to face the closed castle.

“HEY! Creature-o!”

“It’s Creech-arrow.”

“Would you either help for real or stop correcting me?” Sweetie Belle hissed. She cleared her throat and shifted Dinky’s body again. “How’s it going, Dinky?”

“I’m fine,” she whispered without opening her eyes, “but I don’t think this is working.”

“Yeah, ye’r tellin’ me,” Apple Bloom grumbled.

“CREATURE-O! I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE!” Sweetie Belle yelled at the top of her voice, setting Apple Bloom’s teeth on edge. “And I bet you know enough Equestrian to understand me! Look, I’ve got a sick filly here who needs help, and this place used to be a hospital! So you either let us in or let this filly die in front of everypony!” She awkwardly flopped Dinky’s body at her side so that her hooves plodded on the cobblestone.

“Knock it off, Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom said with a frown. “This was a stupid plan. We ain’t gettin’ into the―”

The drawbridge shifted, creaked, and slowly began to lower with the clinking of chains and grinding of old gears. Apple Bloom watched slack-jawed as the long wooden platform neared them, bridging the moat with a final thud followed by exaggerated silence.

In the bright light of the morning, several curious citizens of Pelola stopped to stare at the fillies in front of the castle. They didn’t seem especially surprised that the drawbridge had lowered, but rather gazed inquisitively at the little, noisy Equestrians.

“Okay, great!” said Sweetie Belle. “Here, Apple Bloom, help me hoist Dinky onto my back and we’ll go inside.”

“I… but… it… buh?” Apple Bloom shook her head vigorously and stared wide-eyed at the castle. “That actually worked!?”

A lanky, violet earth pony stallion with a thin moustache and a black vest appeared at the other end of the moat. He trotted to the fillies with rigid posture and quick, mechanical movements. When he reached the three little ponies, he looked down at them without lowering his snout and spoke with a bit of a sneer. “What is the meaning of-a this?” he asked with a slight Itailian accent.

“Hi!” said Sweetie Belle, smiling. “Are you Creature-o?”

The stallion blinked. “I am Trotto Verde, the butler of this-a household. Signore Cricciero is unavailable.” He eyed Dinky’s limp body. “Where do you come from?”

“Equestria,” Sweetie Belle answered. “We’re on a cross-Stirropean adventure of sorts. Our friend here has fallen very, very sick on account of… foreign… contaminants.” She cleared her throat. “We got off the train and asked around, and somepony said this castle used to be a hospital?”

Trotto Verde sighed through his nose. “I’m-a sorry, but this pony was mistaken. This has been the home of the Cricciero family for hundreds of-a years.” He gestured dramatically to the castle behind him. “It-a never was a hospital.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes narrowed. “Is that so?”

Trotto’s sneer angled sharper. “Indeed, it is so. This is an old structure, and we would be poorly equipped to treat the ill.”

“Then what am I supposed to do with Dinky here, huh?” Sweetie Belle suddenly growled. “Drop her in the moat and let her drown!?”

Trotto stepped back with high eyebrows. “Goodness, no. Why would you do that-a?”

“Because I’m desperate!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

“If your friend is really in such dire need,” Trotto said, “the local hospital is further down the valley, just beyond the statue of Saponyrola.”

“There’s a hospital here?” Apple Bloom asked. “For real?”

Trotto blinked. “Yes. We may not live with the gods, but we are far from savage.”

“I didn’t think… it’s just, we were told that…” Apple Bloom’s pupils shrunk to pinpricks. “I think we need to get inside yer castle.”

“I beg-a your pardon.”

“What she means is, we don’t have time to go all the way down to the hospital!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “Don’t you see? Our friend is comatose! She could be dying! Don’t you have, like, a fancy medic on call or something?”

Trotto Verde’s brow furrowed. “Dottore Attuno is usually available, but he has a strict-a contract with the Cricciero family―”

“Call him!” Sweetie bawled, wrenching her face into an outrageously pitiable one. “She needs help! Don’t let her diiiiie!”

{-DD-}

Several minutes earlier, on the west side of the castle where the moat was thinnest, Zoccolo took up Scootaloo in his forelegs and threw her over the water.

“Hrrrrnnnn-oof!” she said while she buzzed through the air and then when she sprawled out on the thin strip of land under the castle’s brown-brick wall. “Yes! Great throw!”

“Shhh!” Zoccolo put a hoof over his mouth, though he winked with a knowing smile.

The surface of the moat’s water was several feet below ground level, like a miniature cliff falling into the eternal bend of a miniature river. If Scootaloo had fallen in, she would have had a hard time climbing back out, and the noise of her struggle would certainly have attracted attention.

The day was still beginning, and very few ponies had taken to the streets. Zoccolo glanced around for any wandering citizens and took note of somepony faced away from a castle window above Scootaloo. Then, backing up, Zoccolo took a running leap over the stone barrier and across the entire moat.

He landed near Scootaloo, but his hind hooves slipped and scraped along the inner wall of the moat. They splashed in a bit of shallow water. As fast as he could, Zoccolo pulled himself onto the strip of land and spun around for he and Scootaloo to flatten themselves against the castle wall.

“C’é qualcosa laggiú?” asked a voice from a narrow, open window overhead.

Zoccolo flashed a nervous look at Scootaloo. They stayed frozen and silent, thinking flat thoughts, for several long seconds. Suddenly, Zuka skittered down from Zoccolo’s mane and dove into the moat below, splashing loudly and backstroking toward the other end.

“Ah, lo vedo. É qualche animale,” said the voice above in a relaxed tone. Its next words were more distant, no longer at the window.

Zoccolo and Scootaloo sighed, then grinned at each other.

“Do you think my friends have distracted them yet?” Scootaloo whispered.

From north of the castle, the ponies heard somepony shout “CREATURE-O! I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE!”

“They’re-a working on it, at least,” Zoccolo said with a grin. “Let’s-a hurry. The faster we find Cricciero, the faster we find my Nipota.”

Scootaloo nodded. Zoccolo balanced on his hind legs, steadied by his dark purple tail, and clamped his forehooves together as a platform for Scootaloo to mount. She did so, leaning into the brick wall with her own forehooves while standing precariously on Zoccolo’s. He lifted her high above his head; her wings twitched alternately while her hooves ground against the brick. Soon she was just inches from the narrow, glassless window.

“Can-a you fit through?” asked Zoccolo.

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Scootaloo said back, reaching for the window ledge. “I’ve mashed myself through way tinier windows than this.” She bounced on Zoccolo’s outstretched hooves and flapped her wings as hard as she could. Their slight lift was all she needed, and Scootaloo latched herself onto the window.

“Bravissima!” said Zoccolo as he dropped to all fours, smiling up at the filly. “Are you all right?”

“Peachy!” Scootaloo grunted, then hoisted herself up into the window. With another buzz of her wings, she pushed herself into the castle and tumbled onto the ground. Nervous, she dove under a nearby table and listened carefully… to nothing. Whoever had heard the splash was long gone.

Scootaloo emerged from under the table, leapt up to the same window, and tilted her head into open air. “Okay, we’re golden!” she whispered loudly to Zoccolo with a wave.

“Eccellente! Now, go downstairs and look-a for a small, blue statue of an alicorn.”

Scootaloo’s eyes crossed. “Bwuh? Why?”

“This castle is-a very old,” Zoccolo answered, “and holds-a many secrets. I happen to have… heard of a few.” One side of his mouth curled up in a smile. “Open the wings of the alicorn, and I will-a find you there.”

With mouth agape, Scootaloo nodded. “Okay. Okay, yeah.” She slid back into the castle and stood stock still beneath the window for a moment. “This.” She twitched. “Is.” She gasped. “Awesome!” She held in a squeal of delight, then slunk through the hallway in search of the closest staircase down.

{-DD-}

Dinky Doo crossed the drawbridge, limp over Sweetie Belle’s back. She was surprised at the little unicorn’s strength and confidence, but showed none of it on her face. In fact, she kept her face so calm and still that she may as well have been asleep.

But she wasn’t. With one eye barely cracked open, Dinky watched Trotto Verde lead the fillies into a small courtyard. Apple Bloom followed briskly behind as they entered an empty doorway and trotted down a long hall, finally entering a small room to the side with almost nothing in it.

“The doctor will-a meet you here,” Trotto said flatly. “When your friend is treated, you will leave.”

“And how do we know this isn’t just a ploy to foalnap us, huh?” Sweetie Belle blurted.

Dinky could hear the eye-roll in Apple Bloom’s voice saying, “Come on, Sweetie. Knock it off.”

Trotto sighed heavily. “I’m-a not sure who informed you of this castle, but they seem to have-a planted some false ideas.” He frowned at Apple Bloom. “Stay here until the dottore arrives. Then-a you go.” He turned to leave the room. “I am a busy stallion, but I will-a check on you shortly.” And he left.

Apple Bloom rubbed her forehead with the flat of a hoof. “Somethin’s not right here, girls. I reckon Mister Vare-day’s tellin’ the truth. This place was never a hospital.”

“But… why would Zoccolo lie to us?” Sweetie Belle asked as Dinky lifted her head. They gazed worriedly at Apple Bloom in tandem. “He just wants to find his niece!”

“Hmm…” Apple Bloom’s jaw offset. “As much as I hate to say it… maybe he hasn’t got a niece to begin with.”

Dinky gasped.

“Are you… are you saying…” Sweetie Belle gulped loudly. “Are you meaning to tell me…? Is it your intention to inform me…? Am I meant to understand here that…?” She growled. “Ugh, Apple Bloom, I don’t get it! Just tell me what you mean!”

“She means there is no Nipota,” Dinky whispered. Her brow furrowed. “But why would―”

“Buongiorno!” said a lively voice as a tall stallion walked into the room.

Dinky dropped her head limply across Sweetie Belle’s side while the older filly spun around and smiled at the newcomer. “Hhhheeey!” she said. “Are you the doctor? Do you speak Equestrian?”

The stallion was tall, thin, and wore a white lab coat over his back and forelegs. His eyes were the color of crystallized peaches, his body was charcoal grey, and his mane was a rich violet color that matched… his… beard?

Apple Bloom gaped. “Zoccolo?”

The stallion smiled. “I’m-a sorry? No, my name is-a Doctor Attuno! I’m here to check up on the little unicorn, yes?” His accent was ridiculously thick and bouncy. He turned to Sweetie Belle with wide eyes. “Let-a me see what’s-a wrong with your-a friend, va bene?”

“What the hay are you doin’?” Apple Bloom asked. “Ye’r not foolin’ us, Zoccolo! We’ve spent, like, two days with you!”

Sweetie Belle looked the doctor up and down, frowning below narrowed eyes. “Hmmm… if you’re really Doctor A-tune-o and not Zoccolo, then why are you wearing a lab coat?”

‘Dottore Attuno’ blinked. “Becaaaauuse… I am a doctor! It’s-a sanitary!”

Sweetie Belle took another glance at the coat, conveniently covering the stallion’s Cutie Mark. Her eyes squinted even more… then she shrugged with a small smile. “Makes sense to me! Sorry for doubting you, Mister Doctor.”

“Uuuggh!” Apple Bloom jumped up and grabbed the doctor’s purple beard in her teeth. It ripped off easily; she cast it aside, then ripped the lab coat off Zoccolo’s body with her powerful hooves, exposing his tilted crescent moon Cutie Mark. “And to think I’d just started trustin’ you!”

Sweetie Belle gasped and shuffled backward, almost dropping Dinky. “Zoccolo! You liar!”

Zuka popped up out of Zoccolo’s mane and smacked herself in the forehead with a tiny claw.

Zoccolo rolled his eyes and snatched up his fake beard, reapplying it to his face. “Please, Fiore, let-a me explain myself. I’m trying to stay in character in case-a that horseshoe licking Trotto Verde comes back at a notice moment.”

“You mean a moment’s notice?” Apple Bloom asked, unimpressed. “That was the last straw. I ain’t givin’ no more benefits o’ doubts. Ye’r a manipulative little thief, and me and my friends are outta here.” She glared daggers at the stallion and then nodded once to Sweetie Belle. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Ah, Dottore Attuno,” said Trotto Verde, reentering the tiny side-room. “Thank you for responding so quickly. I’m-a sorry for this strange-a requ―”

Zoccolo spun around with bulging eyes and grabbed Trotto Verde by the shoulders. “Ascoltami bene!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. “This-a little filly is-a dying!”

Trotto Verde and Apple Bloom blinked at the same time. “Bwuh?”

{-DD-}

Scootaloo couldn’t find any stairs.

“Gosh darn it!” she grumbled to herself, slinking against the long walls of hallway after brown-stone hallways. “How am I supposed to find the alicorn statue if I can’t even get downstairs?”

She stooped under a wooden cabinet with just enough space above the floor for her to crawl. Just then, the tell-tale sound of many hoofsteps clopped around a corner. Scootaloo froze in her fortuitous hiding spot, holding her breath while the ponies passed.

Two voices, both female, spoke in hushed tones. Scootaloo stretched her ears outward to listen.

“…non devi ascoltare neanche una parola, cara. È un mostro, lui, davvero!” The voice sounded anxious and sympathetic.

The other was practically in tears. “M-m-ma perché? Perché mi tratta così?”

“Tratta tutti così, piccola mia,” said the first voice. “Non è colpa tua. Non ti preoccupare, cara. Ci sono io. Ci sono io…”

Despite not understanding a word, Scootaloo could hear the pain and anger in their voices. She frowned and waited several seconds for their hoofsteps to fade away. When she finally crawled out from under the cabinet, it was with a perplexed expression.

“What was that all about?” she asked herself, staring down the hall in the direction the mares had gone.

“Ei! Tu!” shouted a decidedly stallionier voice.

Scootaloo winced and turned around slowly. A stout stallion dressed in meager armor, a uniform worn for principle more than protection, glared at her from the end of the hallway.

“Chi sei, ragazza?” asked the guard in a biting tone.

“Uhhhh…” Scootaloo gulped and racked her brain. “Come on Cheerilee, don’t fail me now…”

“Ei?” The stallion took a step closer without lowering his voice. “Che dici, aranciona? Da dove vieni?”

Scootaloo steeled herself and blurted back, “¿Donde está el baño?”

The guard’s head shook slightly in surprise. “Cabaii? Ma… che fai qui, piccolina?”

Reacting to his softer tone, Scootaloo gulped and danced on her hooves. “¿El bañoooo?”

“Aa, scusa!” The guard snapped out of it, nodding. “Sì, sì, certo. Il bagno più vicino e… quaggiù!” With a victorious shout, he pointed down the adjacent hallway from whence he came.

Scootaloo bounded down the rest of the hall and slid around the corner. Very nearby, flanked by marble railings, was a very wide staircase of polished wood.

“Il bagno è giù e alla sinistra.” The guard moved his hooves as if providing Scootaloo with directions.

“¡Gracias!” Scootaloo exclaimed as she tore down the stairs.

“Ei, aspetta!” the guard called after her. “Chi sei?” He moved as if to grab her―

But Scootaloo jumped onto the marble railing, sliding out of reach and galloping deeper into the labyrinthine castle before the guard could even gasp.

{-DD-}

“Please, Signore Verde,” said ‘Doctor Attuno’ in an exasperated tone, “you have-a to listen to me!” He threw a hoof dramatically in limp Dinky’s direction. “This-a little filly is suffering from what the equestriani call hypersolaria! Being so far from her Sun Goddess, her body has begun to generate it’s own-a heat! She’s burning up!” He reached over and touched her horn, pulling his hoof back with an exaggerated, “Gaaaiie!”

Trotto’s face paled. “W-w-we must get her to the ospedale!”

“Fool!” Zoccolo slapped Verde across the muzzle. “Have you not heard me shout? She is-a dying! We must get her somewhere cooler right-a now!”

Sweetie Belle was breathing hard, panicking. “We could throw her in the moat!” she suggested, breathless.

“Nonsense!” said Trotto Verde. “There are alligators in there!”

Zoccolo’s eyebrows briefly rose and his jaw went slack under his fake beard. “There are?” He glanced up into his mane where a small creature was invisibly smacking his scalp in anger.

“I-I can’t think of anything!” Trotto Verde stammered.

“You had-a better think better, then!” Zoccolo said, grabbing Trotto’s pallid cheeks between his hooves. “Or do you want a foreign filly to die in your castle? Under your very watch?”

Trotto squeaked and trembled. Suddenly, his eyes brightened. “Oh! The cellar! I-I can take her to the cellar! It is-a very cool down there.”

“Perfetto!” Zoccolo lifted Dinky off of Sweetie Belle’s body (“Hey!”) and draped her over his own back. “Quickly, lead the way! I have-a never been to the basement before.”

Trotto gulped. “It is-a… very off limits.”

“Ahh!” Zoccolo hunched and seethed through his teeth. “Her body! It-a buurrns!”

“Follow me!” Trotto spun around and cantered across the courtyard.

Zoccolo beamed and followed at an eager pace.

“Is Dinky gonna be okay?” Sweetie Belle asked, shivering.

“Huurrrrgh!” Apple Bloom ground her hooves into the floor. “There ain’t nothin’ wrong with Dinky, Sweetie Belle! Zoccolo’s been nonstop lyin’! Whatever’s goin’ on here, I have a bad feelin’ he’s gettin’ his way while nopony else is.”

Sweetie flicked herself in the horn. “Guh! I’m so stupid! I keep forgetting he’s a liar!”

“Come on, we gotta follow ‘em!” Apple Bloom said, rushing out of the little room.

“Right!” Sweetie Belle galloped at Apple Bloom’s tail. “Say, if Zoccolo is here with us… where’s Scootaloo?”

{-DD-}

“Alicorn, alicorn, alicorn, alicorn…” Scootaloo muttered to herself, throwing her eyes back and forth as she tore through one narrow hallway after another. Both walls of every hall were lined with dressers, cabinets, decorative desks, tall lamps, bookshelves, and busts. The sheer amount of knick-knacks made Scootaloo’s head spin as she searched for one thing and one thing alone.

“A little blue alicorn statue?” she said to herself in a critical voice. “What, like, a Princess Luna action figure or something? What am I looking for here?”

From behind her, Scootaloo heard shouts, hurried trots, and the jangle of decorative armor. She gasped, looked all around for an escape, and dove through the nearest open doorway. It brought her into a surprisingly large room: a sort of bonus dining room, she guessed, with a long central table and twin benches to match, but no sign of near past or near future use. The table was empty and even a bit dusty, while the chandeliers overhead were devoid of candles, unlit or otherwise.

Ignoring the room’s finer details, Scootaloo hid under the long table, concealing herself from the doorway. She peeked out into the hall from her vantage point, however, and watched as three guards ― including the one from upstairs ― marched together past the dining room, sweeping the perimeter for signs of the foreign pegasus.

Scootaloo gulped and wiped sweat from her brow. She climbed onto the long bench furthest from the door and turned around. Built into the outer wall of the dining room were tall windows to Pelola proper. She recognized nothing beyond the moat and realized how far from her starting point she had already gone.

A curious sight caught her eye through one window, and Scootaloo squinted its way. A young stallion with a slick jacket pulled over on a cobblestone road and parked a silver motorscooter with a swift buck to its kickstand. With a grin, the stallion entered a nearby apartment. Scootaloo thought she could see the glitter of forgotten keys in the morning sunlight.

She gulped and turned away from the window. With a deep breath, she shook her head vigorously and resumed her search, crawling back into the hallway with another level of stealth entirely.

“All right, Scootaloo,” she said to herself. “Time to hurry up and find this statue. What would Rainbow Dash do?”

{-DD-}

In one of the castle’s southern hallways, Trotto Verde pulled a ring of brass keys from inside his vest. With a sour expression, he used three very rusty keys to open a multi-bolted door comprised of bricks and molding that blended in with the wall around it.

“Under normal circumstances,” Trotto Verde said in a low tone, “we do not-a let strangers into the cellar.” He glanced back at Dinky with fear in his eyes. “However… I will accompany you until the filly is-a stable. Then I must ask-a that you take her elsewhere, good doctor.”

Zoccolo nodded, his fake beard flouncing in the wake of his enthusiasm. “Ma certo. I don’t-a want to be the un-convenience-a!” He shivered. “But we must-a save-a this filly…”

With her jaw nigh-permanently pushed the side, Apple Bloom asked Trotto, “So you actually know this… doctor?”

“Oh, yes, of course,” Trotto said, nodding as he unlatched the last of the locks and steadied himself to open the cellar door. “Dottore Attuno has served the Cricciero family for many years.”

Apple Bloom gawked at Zoccolo, who winked down at her. Seething, Apple Bloom nevertheless stayed quiet, more from fuming curiosity than anything.

Trotto Verde pulled open the door. A rush of air tossed all their manes as the warmth of the hall and the wet, frigid air of the basement tried to balance.

“Inside, quickly,” Trotto said, waving the ponies onward. “There are precious commodities down there that need-a the cold air.”

As Zoccolo passed, he paused indignantly to stare Trotto in the eyes. “What commodity is more-a precious than-a the life of a child?” he asked in a breathy tone, continuing to milk his accent for all it was worth.

Trotto squeaked as Zoccolo continued, descending a dark staircase into the world below. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes and followed behind him, Sweetie Belle, and a convincingly floppy Dinky. Trotto took up the rear, shutting the cellar door tight behind them, and plunging the cellar into near total darkness.

“Yeesh… creepy down here,” said Apple Bloom’s voice. Her hooves reached the bottom of the staircase and she stepped onto a brick floor smoothed by a fine layer of moisture.

“Hnnghh…” Sweetie Belle willed her horn into use, shining a pale green glow over the party. “Voila! Or, sorry… that’s Chevallian.”

“Grazie, little unicorn,” said Trotto Verde, using the magical light to find a lever on the wall. “This-a should help as well.”

He pulled the lever, and with a whir of hidden gears, several slots opened up along the tops of the surrounding walls, revealing little cubbies in which enchanted candles burned.

“Whoa!” Sweetie Belle said, extinguishing her horn in the presence of brighter light. “That was cool! I wish Scootaloo was here.”

“Yeah, gee,” said Apple Bloom, throwing an accusatory glance at Zoccolo. “I wonder where on Equus she could be.”

Zoccolo’s eyes were sparkling in the elevated candlelight. He turned in slow circles, eyeing every corner of the cellar’s chilly foyer. “Oh,” he said airily, as if in a daze, “believe me: she is right where she ought-a to be.”

{-DD-}

“Whoa…” Scootaloo smirked. “Hello there, blue alicorn friend.”

The statue was beautifully crafted from dark blue stone, and polished to shine like the sky during an eclipse. It was bigger than Scootaloo had expected, about as tall as her foreleg, and stood in the halls on a white, chalky pedestal so that she had to stand on her hind legs to reach it.

“A dude alicorn, huh?” Scootaloo said to herself, studying the chiseled muzzle and spiraling horn of the statue. “Heh. Weird.”

Its wings were open, but tilted toward the ground so that they almost touched the top of the pedestal where its regal hooves were fastened.

“Hmm…” Scootaloo rubbed her chin. “So all I gotta do is… this?” Balancing on her back legs, Scootaloo tucked her hooves under each of the wings and carefully lifted upward. Stubborn as the stone it was, the statue didn’t react.

“Ugh… fine.” Scootaloo cracked her neck and prepared to lift harder. “Hope this doesn’t break. Looks freakin’ expensive.”

She grit her teeth, grunted twice, and strained to lift the statue’s wings. Finally, with a dual snap, the wings rotated at the little alicorn’s joints and pointed upward, poised for flight.

Scootaloo chuckled to herself. “Rad.” She looked over her shoulder. “So… where’s that secret entrance Zoccolo’s supposed to come through?”

{-DD-}

In the cellar, there was suddenly a loud clunk and a hiss. Every open eye swiveled to a square in the wall that was slowly falling open, like a larger and more guarded version of the candle nooks overhead.

Trotto’s right eye twitched as his pupils shrank to pinpricks. “Dea carissima...”

With a maniacal grin, Zoccolo reared onto his hind legs, connected his forehooves over his head, and brought them down hard on the back of Trotto’s skull. The vested pony didn’t make a noise as he crumpled unconscious to the ground.

“Aaaaah!” Sweetie Belle screamed, but dove forward, catching Dinky’s limp body as she tumbled off Zoccolo’s back.

The tiny unicorn’s eyes finally opened as she gasped in Sweetie Belle’s grasp. “What happened?”

“What the hay was that for?” Apple Bloom shouted at Zoccolo.

“All part of the plan,” Zoccolo said. His smile never left his face as he approached the exposed vault grinding to a halt. Inside the wall were a number of small and clearly valuable objects, but one of them stood out from the rest, hanging on an embroidered plaque on the very back of the safe.

“Is that… a horseshoe?” Apple Bloom asked.

“L’oro mitico di cavallo,” Zoccolo said between unsteady breaths. “The Golden Horseshoe. Finalmente.”

“That’s what all this is about?” Apple Bloom asked. “All the lies, the perpetrations, the runnin’ and the distractin’ and the… the… alternative philanthropy!?” She seethed where she stood, several yards behind Zoccolo. “A lousy horseshoe?”

Zoccolo reached reverently into the safe and plucked the golden horseshoe from its plaque. With a prolonged sigh of relief, he brought the prize to his chest and nuzzled it like a foal. Eventually he turned around and gave Apple Bloom a knowing smile. “I am-a delighted by your low opinion. It simply means the Golden Horseshoe is all mine.”

Apple Bloom stomped her hoof so hard that the moisture on the ground splashed in a wide circle. “What about the foals, huh!? The kidnapped foals in Haissan!? Remember?”

“What about Nipota?” asked Sweetie Belle, trembling.

“Raaaugh!” Apple Bloom’s throat tore from her scream. “There is no Nipota, Sweetie Belle! There never was!” She pointed a shaking hoof at Zoccolo. “This was his plan all along! He infiltrated this place years ago and just needed to find somepony stupid enough to help him break into the basement!”

Zoccolo raised his brow with an amused smile. “Bravissima, Fiore. I must-a say, your intelligence continues to astound me.”

“Clearly I ain’t very intelligent,” Apple Bloom said, gesturing to the golden horsehoe in his grasp. “But I know the gull durn truth when it’s stinkin’ right under my snout.”

“No… Nipota…?” Sweetie Belle whimpered, staring at a blank spot on the ground beyond Dinky’s head.

Dinky climbed out of Sweetie’s grip and looked up at Zoccolo, gaping. “You mean she’s right? This was your plan all along? For us to help you break in and… steal a horseshoe?”

Zoccolo’s smile softened and he gently patted Dinky’s yellow mane. “The less you know the better, little friend. For now, this is-a where we part.” He slid the horseshoe into his sidebag and galloped back to the basement stairs. The fillies all stood in place, too shocked to chase him.

Still, Zoccolo paused halfway up the staircase and turned back to the fillies. With a smirk and a salute, he said, “Grazie mille, little friends. I couldn’t have-a done it without you.” With a wink, he escaped. “Arrivederci!”

Apple Bloom blinked at the open vault. Both of her eyes were twitching now.

Sweetie Belle’s lower lip quivered as she struggled to hold in tears.

Dinky dropped onto her little haunches.

Dinky stared at the flickering ceiling.

Dinky’s brow pressed into her eyes from above.

Dinky took a deep breath that made her teeth tingle.

And Dinky Doo screamed.

“RrrrraaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

12 - Sorry, Random Pony

Chapter 12
Sorry, Random Pony

As soon as the Sun rose over the mountains surrounding his city, Cricciero, Lord of Pelola, opened his dull green eyes.

A sliver of sunlight cut through a gap in the curtains to the noble’s right. It seared across his tired retinae and pulled him from his slumber. His first movement of the morning was a subtle clench of the jaw. Moments later, he sat up in bed, removing his eyes from the obstinate path of the Sun’s tiny gleam.

Cricciero pushed down his shiny, black mane and scratched the stubble on his wide, sharp jaw. He sighed, a deep and strangled sound, then turned and rang a silver bell that rested on his bedside table.

Moments later, the doors to his bedroom opened. There stood a timid maid, who curtseyed once before speaking in quick Itailian.

“You rang, Master?” Her voice was quiet, high pitched, and as annoying as the sunlight.

Cricciero cleared his throat. Still, his voice was low and gravelly. “Which servant prepared my chambers yesternight?” he asked in immaculate Itailian.

The maid blinked. Beneath her ribcage, she felt a shiver. “I did, my lord,” she managed to squeak.

Cricciero nodded. He smoothed down his black mane and nodded some more. Then he beckoned to the little maid and closed his weary eyes. “Come closer," he said darkly. “Come closer to my bed.”

The maid swallowed and hesitantly obeyed. She stopped at the lowest corner of his mattress. Without opening his eyes, Cricciero beckoned again, calling her even closer. Shaking on her hooves, the maid took three short steps.

Cricciero opened one green eye and studied her face in the room’s dim shadows. “You have not worked here for long, correct?” he asked.

The maid shook her head.

Pouting, Cricciero nodded his head. Then, in a single swift motion, he threw off his covers, grabbed the mare behind her neck ― eliciting a shriek ― and dragged himself off the opposite side of the bed, pulling her onto the mattress. She screamed and thrashed while he grabbed her neck, forcing her onto his pillow.

“Do you see that?” he growled above her ear.

“Wh-what?” she whimpered. “What?”

He pointed behind his head, glaring at her with bloodshot eyes. “Il maladetto Sole! The cursed Sun! Do you see its light?”

The maid’s panicked breath slowed as her eyes squinted toward the curtains. A tiny sliver of light grazed directly over both of her eyes. She gulped. “Yes…?”

“I was woken by that putrid light,” Cricciero spat. “It interrupted my sleep, my beautiful dreams. I might have slept for hours more were it not for its intrusion!” He snarled in her face. “What, tell me, prevented you from properly closing the curtains last night!? I hope it was a monster, else my patience will be short!”

Shivering on her back, eyes twitching madly, the maid shook her head in small, quick movements. “Mi dispiace!” she squeaked. “Please, excuse me! I’m so sorry!”

A lingering sneer stretched across the lord’s wide features. He released his grip around the maid neck, only to strike her cheek with the same hoof. The blow was so hard that she tumbled across the mattress and fell to the floor on the side of the bed from which she had approached.

On its opposite side, Cricciero took a deep breath, rubbing his stubble once again. “Vai. Go now,” he said flatly. “And if you cannot properly arrange my room at night, assign someone more experienced.” He ground his teeth. “I do not tolerate impropriety.”

The maid clambered to her hooves and made a beeline for the door. She shut it softly behind her, but Cricciero heard her wails and heavy hoofsteps as she galloped far from his chambers.

He sighed again. Seconds passed as he composed himself, then he turned around and threw the curtains open. Pelola’s sunlit streets lie nearly empty down below, and he kept his eyes wide open until they adjusted to the morning’s glow.

“Buongiorno, strade mie,” he said under his breath, then proceeded to the washroom where he carefully shaved his stubble away.

His breakfast was brought to him in his chambers by two older maids who said nothing upon its delivery. He, in turn, said nothing to them, and ate his food in silence while they hurried away. Chewing slowly, Cricciero tried to remember what he had been dreaming about when the sunlight stirred him awake.

From deep within the bowels of his castle, Cricciero heard an echoing scream ― “RrrrraaaaaAAAAAAHHH!!!”

He paused while lifting a piece of toast to his muzzle and lifted his ears. The reverberations of the scream lingered in his walls.

“Hmmm…”

Cricciero left his breakfast on a desk and opened the double doors to his room. A young maid, different than the one he had scolded, gasped when he emerged into the hallway.

“S-s-signore!” the maid stuttered.

“Ho sentito qualcosa,” he said. “I heard something.”

The maid nodded. “A scream downstairs. I heard it, too.”

“Hmmm…” Cricciero ignored the mare completely, walking down the narrow hallway that led only to his chambers and descending a widening flight of stairs to the third story of his castle. He peeked over the balustrade of a lofty platform into the central courtyard below. Racing for the open drawbridge was a lanky, charcoal stallion with a wavy violet mane.

“Dottore Attuno?” Cricciero asked under his breath.

A tiny filly ― and a unicorn at that ― burst into the courtyard from two stories directly below Cricciero. Eyebrows raised, he leaned against the balustrade and watched the ensuing confrontation with great interest.

{-DD-}

“Zoccolo!” shouted Dinky Doo. “Stop!”

“I am-a very sorry, little friend,” the stallion said over his shoulder with a smile, barreling toward the castle’s exit, “but I cannot-a! Say goodbye for me to Vesparè!”

Dinky skidded to a stop, spread her tiny legs out, and screamed once more. “GAAAHH!” Her horn flickered above tightly shut eyes.

Zoccolo looked ahead and gasped. Down the sloping central street of Pelola, between himself and the train station far ahead and above, a gust of wind tore down the valley. Zoccolo watched it topple lampposts, rip store signs from their hinges, and trip several ponies to their knees. He braced himself for the gale, but it never reached his frame. Instead, the wind caught on the lip of the lowered drawbridge, and its brute force lifted the entire plank of wood and slammed it shut.

Zoccolo stumbled from the thunderous impact of the closing gate. Mouth agape, he slowly smiled. Then, hiding the expression, he turned with wide eyes to face Dinky.

The little pony shook where he stood, legs wide and firmly planted. Her eyes were still closed, but she breathed hard between clenched teeth, trembling so badly that her mane flounced around her stubby horn.

Behind her, standing in a doorway, was Sweetie Belle, gawking across the entire courtyard where the drawbridge stayed stubbornly closed. “Wow…” she breathed.

Apple Bloom ran up from behind her. “What?” she asked. “What happened?”

“Uhhhh…” Sweetie Belle blinked. “They closed the drawbridge.”

Apple Bloom looked past Dinky at Zoccolo, shuffling on his hooves. She frowned. “Good. We can’t let him get away, not after all he’s done.” She started marching forward―

“Wait,” said Sweetie Belle, holding a pale hoof to Apple Bloom’s chest. “I think… this is important.”

“Huh?” Apple Bloom stared into the courtyard with a sudden softness in her eyes.

Zoccolo sighed through his nose. A small smile persisted on his face, though it was a tentative one at best. “Graziosa…” he began.

“My name is Dinky Doo,” said the little filly. She steadied herself and opened her golden eyes. “And I’m just trying to do what my mommy would do if she was here.”

A look of pride flashed across Zoccolo’s eyes. “Che brava. You are a special filly, Dinky. Do you know it?”

“This is not about me,” Dinky growled.

“Oh, but it is.” Zoccolo nodded slowly. “This is all about you, Dinky. You do know it, don’t you? You can feel it.”

Dinky gulped down a lump in her throat, but the righteous anger in her face didn’t falter at all. “Why are you doing this? Why did you lie to my friends?” She pointed a shaking hoof to the castle around them. “Why take us all the way here… just to leave us?”

Zoccolo patted his sidebag. “This is-a very important, Dinky. More than you realize.” He winked. “And so are you.”

“Stop with… don’t do that!” Dinky slammed her hoof down. “I don’t want to hear your… nice things! Do you hate us or something?” Tears built up at the bottom of her eyes. “You’re being so mean!”

Finally, Zoccolo’s smile disappeared. He took a single step closer to Dinky, though quite a distance yet divided them. “I do not-a hate you, Graziosa. Far from it. I wish you the very best on-a your adventure, and I believe deeply―” He touched his chest with the edge of a hoof. “―that the foals you seek will-a be safe. This-a journey is no longer mine.” He lowered his head in a prolonged nod, then turned and galloped to the upright drawbridge.

Dinky felt dizzy. Her jaw hurt from clenching so hard, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t loosen it. With tears burning in her eyes, she snarled and kicked at the ground, but did not give chase. In fact, her knees were barely strong enough to stay standing.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle hurried to her sides. Sweetie draped a tender hoof over Dinky’s arched back. “It’s gonna be okay…” she said half-heartedly.

“Hey!” Apple Bloom yelled after Zoccolo. “I’m happier’n a pig in mud thatcher finally gettin’ out of our manes, but don’t just leave us in the dark! What the hay’d you want that golden horsehoe for, anyhow?”

Zoccolo ignored her. He grounded himself less than a foot from the base of the tall drawbridge. Even from their distance, the fillies present could see a wave of effort seize in his body. The muscles in his shoulders pulled them back, while his hind hooves dug into the stony ground. To their surprise, sparks shot errantly from Zoccolo’s forehead with a repeating hiss, like water hitting hot metal.

“What in Equestria…?” Apple Bloom muttered.

“Does he have a horn?” Sweetie Belle wheezed.

Dinky gulped. “Just a broken one…”

Sweetie glared at her. “You already knew? And you didn’t tell us?”

“It didn’t seem important!” Dinky said in a tight voice. “I-I didn’t even think broken horns could work!”

“Well, they can’t, but that’s not the―” Sweetie Belle was cut off…

…by a veritable explosion of magic. Up ahead, like a cannon shooting out thousands of tiny metal pellets, Zoccolo aimed a blast of sparks from his horn at the closed drawbridge. It wasn’t closed for long. As quickly as it had slammed shut, the wooden bridge crashed down. It slammed so hard into the earth across the moat that even the fillies in the middle of the courtyard were knocked off their hooves, tumbling over each other like dominoes.

Dinky sat up first, gawking at the stallion. He turned around for just long enough to wink at her before galloping away.

Before even a single tear ― warm with anger and confusion ― could drop from Dinky’s shining eyes, she and the other girls were startled by a tremendously loud roar directly behind them. They screamed in unison and spun around in the courtyard.

“What was that?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Did that pig monster follow us from the mirror place?”

The roar persisted, though quieter, in a constant blend of a deep bass hum and rapid thuding.

“It almost sounds… like a machine?” Apple Bloom guessed aloud.

With the scraping of stone-against-stone, a secret platform slid away, revealing a hole several yards away from where the frightened fillies held each other. Within seconds, something emerged from the hole: some kind of shiny, metal carriage, but without the proper apparatus to attach a pony up front. The foreign growling was definitely coming from inside its metal shell.

Above the noise, seated behind an upright pane of glass, was a dizzy-looking Trotto Verde. He rubbed the back of his head and scowled. “Dov’è andato quel cazzo dottore!?” he yelled.

Sweetie Belle elbowed Apple Bloom over the top of Dinky. “That’s your cue, AB,” Sweetie whispered.

At that moment, a burly stallion with a jet black mane and tired green eyes descended a nearby staircase into the castle’s central plaza. Apple Bloom noticed him first and got the other fillies’ attention by clearing her throat louder than the metal carriage’s hum. “Ya reckon that’s who I think it is?” she asked out of the corner of her mouth.

Sweetie gasped. “Elvis Pranceley!?” she squealed.

“What?” Apple Bloom rattled her head as if to shake out the stupid. “No! I bet that’s Cricciero, the guy who owns this whole castle!”

Sweetie gasped again. “You mean the one who kicked out all those poor ponies from the hospital?”

Before Apple Bloom could smack her upside the head, Sweetie Belle winced and said, “Oh, wait. That was a lie, huh? I keep forgetting.”

Cricciero angrily stomped up to the side of the metal carriage and shouted at Trotto Verde in Itailian. They had a brief and loud conversation, and all the while Cricciero only got more angry. Soon enough, Trotto pointed at the fillies, and Cricciero’s swollen eyes swiveled to glare at them.

The fillies took a uniform step back, but froze in place as Cricciero stormed toward them. In broken Equestrian, he shouted while he approached, “Who is-a doctor true?”

Apple Bloom blinked. “Huh?”

“Who is-a doctor true?” Cricciero yelled again, coming to a halt only feet from the fillies.

“His name is Zoccolo!” Sweetie Belle answered. “He tricked us, too!”

Cricciero squinted. “Zoccolo... doctor no true at-a childs?”

Apple Bloom blinked, and glanced at Sweetie Belle again.

Sure enough, the filly responded, “Yes! He told us this place used to be a hospital! He used us to steal the horseshoe!”

“Gold-a shoe is my!” Cricciero boomed, leaning over the fillies with a threatening glare. “I get! You get!” He hurried back to the noisy carriage and was about to climb in when he shot the fillies an exasperated glance. He beckoned them closer with a wild hoof. “Venite! Venite!”

“I don’t get it…” Apple Bloom said. “He wants us to go with him?”

“Guess so!” Sweetie Belle trotted forward gaily.

“Are you kiddin’ me!?” Apple Bloom yelled. “Ain’t you learned yer lesson yet, girl?”

“Maybe if we help him, he’ll take us to Haissan!” Sweetie Belle chirped. “I like to think everything happens for a reason.”

“That’s stupid!” Apple Bloom grabbed Dinky and headed for the open drawbridge. “We gotta get outta here! Itailian ponies are crazy!”

Sweetie Belle deflated. “But… look at his cool carriage!”

“It’s hardly a carriage, Sweetie Belle. It don’t even got a place for―”

Trotto Verde pulled on a lever to his left, and the carriage shot forward. Cricciero, hanging halfway out of the open seats, grabbed Sweetie Belle around the neck as he passed her. She made a strangled choking sound as he scooped her into the carriage, which ― by motor alone ― tore out of the castle, across the moat, and chased Zoccolo up Pelola’s steep valley.

“Oh my gosh!” Dinky screamed. “Sweetie Belle!”

“I hate Itaily!” Apple Bloom spat. “Come on, Dinky, we gotta hurry!”

“Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh…”

And the fillies chased the car chasing the thief.

{-DD-}

From a first story window, Scootaloo watched Zoccolo gallop toward the train station… alone.

“What the…” Scootaloo squinted. “I don’t get it. Where’s he going?”

A mechanical rumble shook the desk she was standing on to peek out the window. “Whooa!” Stabilizing herself, Scootaloo listened closely to the new whirr in the air. “Huh… sounds like an engine.” She blinked. “I have no idea what’s going on here.”

Watching Zoccolo get smaller and smaller as he hurried up the valley’s slope, Scootaloo racked her brain. “Now what do I do?” she said to herself. “I thought he was gonna meet up with me in here!” She looked over her shoulder. “Where are the girls?”

The unseen engine revved. Scootaloo threw her gaze forward just in time to see a metal carriage launch from the open drawbridge, clearly giving chase to Zoccolo.

Scootaloo’s jaw fell open. “He… he stole something without me?” She guffawed, rubbing her temple hard with the flat of a hoof. “What a jerk!”

Frowning, Scootaloo slumped down to her haunches, sitting still on the desktop for several long seconds. Though the sound of the engine grew fainter, a similar buzz persisted in Scootaloo’s ears. She rubbed them, but the noise didn’t go away. Eyes widening, Scootaloo hopped down from the desk and hurried to another window. From it, she could see into an adjacent alleyway… and noticed for the first time that the silver Vespa parked in its shadows was still running.

An all-too-familiar, decidedly creepy smile slithered over Scootaloo’s face.

{-DD-}

The metal carriage zoomed up the street, honking an obnoxious horn. Several Pelolan ponies dove out of its way before it could smash them into the cobblestone. As it sped past a certain alley, a pair of stallions in blue shirts and small black hats emerged with angry faces. They were both hitched to a small cart that trailed behind them, and one of the stallions reached behind to flip a switch on the cart. Immediately, a flashing blue light swiveled in place on top of their cart, accompanied by a soaring whine that filled the morning air.

Nodding once to each other, the stallions rushed into the main street and galloped after the motor carriage… but not before a pair of sweating fillies approached from behind, grabbing onto the small police cart before it took off up the hill.

“Whew!” Apple Bloom panted, balancing on a step on the back of the flashing cart with one forehoof clinging to a small latch while the other steadied Dinky at her side. “That was lucky!”

“I’m scared, Apple Bloom! Is Sweetie Belle gonna be okay!?” Dinky said over the whine of the police siren. The cart was picking up speed, bouncing slightly over worn cobblestone.

Apple Bloom nodded, partly out of reassurance and partly from the bumps in the road. “Absolutely! You’ve seen fer yerself, Dinky: if the Cutie Mark Crusaders are good at anything, it’s gettin’ ourselves outta trouble!” She smirked.

Dinky studied the expression and, with some effort, managed to mirror it. The fillies held on tight, and the chase continued.

{-DD-}

Sweetie Belle coughed daintily. “Khe khe! Excuse me.” She cleared her throat, composed herself… then screamed at the top of her lungs. “AAAHHHHHHH!”

Cricciero glared down her her, his foreleg still firmly anchoring her body to his side. “Stai zitta, piccola puledra. È chiaro che questo Zoccolo ti vuole bene. Sarai utile nel accordo con questo ladro schifissimo.”

Sweetie Belle sniffed once. Tears gathered in her eyes in the moments before she wailed, “I don’t speak Itailiaaaaaaan! Waaaahaahaahaaaaaa!”

Disgusted, Cricciero whacked Sweetie Belle on the top of her head.

She gasped. Her lip trembled. Ultimately, she only cried harder.

“Wheeeaaaaaaaaaaaiiii! Y-y-you… you hit me! Bwwaaaahaaahaaaahaahahaaaaaa!”

“Silenzio, puledra! Silenzio!” Cricciero’s eyes twitched.

“Wh-wh-why… w-would… y-you… h-h-h-hit… a little… giiirrrl?” Sweetie bawled.

“Graaaa!” Cricciero smacked his own forehead instead.

“You… y-you really are a b-b-bad guy! Waaahaaaaaa!”

{-DD-}

Zoccolo was a very fast stallion.

In avoiding Cricciero’s motor carriage, it was fortunate that Pelola’s main street was more suited for the quick of hoof than the strong of wheel. With pounding hooves and a lasting grin, Zoccolo outran the metal carriage by guiding its path into restaurant tables and over fallen lampposts. “She is-a more powerful than I thought,” he said under his breath while vaulting over one of the latter.

Finally he reached the train station, but he did not go inside. Instead, he aimed his gallop left and passed through the thick trees surrounding the station. Without looking for oncoming trains ― since he’d already planned the escape to a T ― he dropped off the platform and crossed over two sets of rails before leaping up on the other side. But he didn’t stop there, hurrying well beyond the platforms and weaving through more forest. Before too long, his tall ears caught the sound of churning water, and he smiled knowing the River Pon was only a bit farther north.

With a triumphant “Ha!”, Zoccolo burst through the last line of trees and surveyed the majestic river. It was enormous: a bridge not far from where he stood stretched at least two hundred feet over the water. The river itself was far below, having carved a winding path over thousands of years. Zoccolo took a deep breath, inhaling the smell of the river, and sighed confidently. Tossing back his purple mane to reveal the stub of a horn on his head, Zoccolo trotted straight for the bridge.

“Ce l’abbiamo fatto, Zuka,” he said to the chameleon crawling circles on his back. He gave a loving glance to his sidebag. “We finally did it. Il tappeto è nostro alla fine.”

Zuka clapped her little claws while Zoccolo took his first few steps onto the bridge. It was of solid construction, but had no rails, and Zoccolo’s rapid heartbeat didn’t slow the entire way across.

This was especially true because, about halfway across the bridge, he heard the hums and thuds of the motorcar… coming from the other side of the river.

Zoccolo stopped, peach eyes widening. “No…” he said. “No… it cannot-a be.”

From a path in the woods across the River Pon, Cricciero’s metal carriage roared into view. The vehicle stopped in front of the bridge and Cricciero himself jumped out with Sweetie Belle squeezed under his foreleg.

“Aaahhh!” Sweetie yelled. “No, please! Gaaaahh! Let me go!”

Zoccolo gasped. “Dolcetta...”

“The chase has finished, Zoccolo,” Cricciero’s gravelly Itailian shouted over the rush of the river. He held out a meaty hoof. “Give the golden horseshoe to me, and the filly will be safe.”

Zoccolo scowled and spun around… only to see two police officers holding Apple Bloom and Dinky Doo in their grips.

“Lemme go!” Apple Bloom grunted, thrashing against her captor.

Dinky only whimpered, her lower lip quivering as she stared directly at Zoccolo with enormous, glittering eyes.

Zoccolo gulped. “Ch’è successo?” he asked. “What-a happened?”

“These creeps are workin’ fer Cricciero!” Apple Bloom shouted. “The whole dang town’s prob’ly shoved in his pocket! I hate Itaily!”

The policestallions looked at each other with equally baffled expressions and shrugged.

Cricciero laughed across the river. Zoccolo slowly turned to face him, glaring from beneath his brow.

“Ah, so you are angry now?” Cricciero asked in scathing Itailian. “You know nothing of anger. I will not hesitate to throw her over the bridge.” He jerked Sweetie Belle’s tiny body toward the empty edge of the narrow bridge.

Sweetie shrieked. “Aahh! What is he doing? What is he saying?” She looked at Zoccolo with shrunken pupils. “Help me! Please, Mister Zoccolo, help meee!”

Zoccolo took a step forward, his face awash with fear. “Ma… come?” He looked upward at the sky with incredulity in his eyes. “How did this-a happen?”

With a skeptical glance skyward, Cricciero shook his head. “It is far too late to pray now. Return the horseshoe, and only you will die. I will let the fillies go home.”

Zoccolo gulped and took several steps back.

“Stop moving!” Cricciero shoved Sweetie Belle even closer to the edge. One of her hooves slipped over the side.

With shaking hooves, Zoccolo reached into his sidebag and produced the Golden Horseshoe. It sparkled in the sunlight as Zoccolo’s sad eyes scanned its every feature.

“Give it to the constables,” Cricciero demanded through clenched teeth.

Zoccolo hung his head. Then, with sluggish movements, he turned around, set the horseshoe on the surface of the bridge, and expertly slid it in an arrow-straight line to policestallion holding Apple Bloom. The officer reached a forehoof down and caught the sliding horseshoe―

―giving Apple Bloom the opportunity to shake a hoof loose and punch him right in the snout. The constable grunted and, without taking his hoof off the horseshoe, instinctively reached for his face. Apple Bloom jumped out of his grasp and swiveled to buck the other officer in his ribcage. Wheezing, he let go of Dinky for long enough for Apple Bloom to grab her.

The first officer angrily swung at Apple Bloom, causing her to stumble back with Dinky in her grasp. The two fillies toppled to the ground, directly in the center of the bridge. The flute, ever tucked behind Dinky’s ear, finally came loose, rolling to the center of the bridge where it stopped against Zoccolo’s hoof.

Eyes glued to the flute, Dinky scrambled away from the officers alongside Apple Bloom. The older filly stood up, dragging Dinky away from the police and toward the center of the bridge. She helped Dinky to her hooves and they hurried together to stand at Zoccolo’s side.

“We gotta help Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom said immediately.

Zoccolo swallowed his surprise and stared daggers at Cricciero. “I gave it to them!” he shouted in Itailian. “Now give us the filly!”

Cricciero squinted toward the other end of the bridge. “Do you have the horseshoe?” he yelled over the river.

The constable rubbing his snout raised the golden object over his head. It twinkled beautifully.

Cricciero grinned. “Bene.” He shoved Sweetie Belle forward.

She gasped and stumbled, but caught herself before teetering toward either edge of the bridge. With chattering teeth, she galloped to join Zoccolo and her friends in the center.

Cricciero’s grin hardened and took on a poisonous curve. “Uccideteli tutti,” he said, loud and low.

The constables paled and glanced at each other.

Zoccolo scowled. “That-a wasn’t the deal!” he shouted at Cricciero. “Let-a them go!”

Laughing, Cricciero puffed out his chest to occupy as much of their exit as he could.

“What’s goin’ on?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Zoccolo?” Sweetie Belle asked over Cricciero’s doubling laughter. “What do we do?”

One of Zoccolo’s eyes twitched nonstop. He craned his neck and nervously stared at the constables.

The one hadn’t lowered the horseshoe, holding it above his aching head as he rubbed the last lingering pains from his snout. There, aloft and glowing, the Golden Horseshoe taunted Zoccolo with how easy it would be to just―

The horseshoe was suddenly snatched from the constable’s extended limb. Both stallions gasped as they toppled in two directions, landing hard on the ground just in front of the bridge. Meanwhile, with thunderous buzzing, Scootaloo drove a silver Vespa over the narrow bridge with a devilish smirk across her face and the Golden Horseshoe held tight in one hoof.

“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle cheered.

Apple Bloom pumped a hoof in the air. “Yeeehaaw! There’s our knight in shinin’ armor!”

Dinky beamed at first, but her smile quickly faded as Scootaloo approached fast… without slowing down. “Uhhh… girls?”

“Jump!” Scootaloo yelled at them. “Jump high!”

“AAAAHHH!” Zoccolo, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Dinky Doo all screamed together and leapt as high as they could.

With expert timing, Scootaloo squeezed the brakes and turned the handles hard to the left. The scooter fell and, without its driver who rolled to a stop by her friends, slid under their airborne bodies and sped to the other edge of the bridge where Cricciero watched in awe.

The ponies landed as Scootaloo cackled. “Ha HAAA! Take that, ya grabby melon fudge!”

Cricciero bared his teeth, steeled himself, and headbutted the silver Vespa just as it reached him. The vehicle flipped and spun like a tossed coin, launching over everypony’s head and dropping ineffectually into the river below.

Scootaloo gulped. “Whoops,” she said. “Sorry, random pony from whom I stole that scooter.”

Apple Bloom gaped. “Scootaloo!”

A grimacey smile froze on Scootaloo’s face. “I said ‘whoops’, didn’t I?”

Fuming, and burdened with heavy breaths, Cricciero looked up from his epic headbutt and glared directly at Zoccolo. His green eyes looked brighter than before, if only because the white around them was suddenly veiny and red.

“Cavoli...” Zoccolo said under his breath.

Without a word, Cricciero charged the group, keeping his lead low with intent to strike.

The two police officers recovered from their fall and joined in the advance, rushing the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their resident thief with the grace of two caffeinated mules.

Zoccolo reached his forelegs out and held the four fillies close in a last ditch effort to protect them. “Mi dispiace, amichette,” he whispered above their heads. “I’m so sorry, little friends.”

As Dinky backed into Zoccolo’s embrace, her hoof nicked something cold and slender. She glanced down, and saw the old flute from the diamond dog’s cavern rolling slowly away toward the surging waters below.

Dinky blinked, then her soft golden eyes slowly narrowed. With a determined look, she scooped the flute off the bridge and brought it to her mouth.

“Dinky?” asked Sweetie Belle.

The tiny unicorn took a deep breath, and began to play a song.

Sweetie Belle smiled as the tune carried on. She stole a quick glance at the river below, then beamed in Cricciero’s direction.

“Perché sorridi, leet-ahl poh-nee?” Cricciero huffed in his final sprint.

Sweetie Belle giggled and pointed at the water. “Sea pony,” she said.

The melody on Dinky’s little flute was interrupted by a rising, rumbling sound from below.

The constables threw out their hooves and came to a screeching stop several feet from the fillies.

Cricciero didn’t slow down, but he did cast his eyes over the western edge of the bridge, where ― for but a brief moment ― he saw a great swell build up in the water, licking and lashing the sides of the river as the wave grew taller and taller, until it became a veritable tsunami of magically accelerated river.

“Porca vacca...” Cricciero swore.

Then the mountainous wave hit the bridge.

The entire structure shuddered on impact. Cracks formed along its surface as bits of wood and stone were swept up in the water. A tremendous CRASH echoed in the forest on both sides of the river, and then the risen water dropped back into the riverbed east of the bridge with an even louder SLAP. After several short seconds, the wave was gone; the bridge yet stood, and the echoes died among the trees.

In the center of the long, cracked bridge, five ponies and a chameleon crouched close together, holding one another tightly. They opened their eyes to find themselves alone, standing in an inexplicably dry section of the structure, with no uniformed constables or raging lords in sight.

And in Scootaloo’s shaking hooves, the Golden Horseshoe gleamed.

13 - Bad Taste in Heroes

Chapter Thirteen
Bad Taste in Heroes

“And how, esattamente, did-a you do that?”

Dinky Doo took deep breaths. Standing on the south side of the River Pon, staring down into its naturally flowing waters, she held her flute close to her chest and simply breathed.

“Well, you see,” Sweetie Belle answered instead, standing between Apple Bloom and Scootaloo in a protective line between Dinky and Zoccolo, “while we were crossing the ocean, we met a―”

Apple Bloom smacked a hoof over Sweetie Belle’s mouth and continued to stare at Zoccolo with a dull, expectant expression.

Scootaloo stared at the ground beneath her hooves.

Zoccolo rolled his eyes. “Very well. There are strange-a magics in Equestria, I suppose.”

“Yeah, and also, what the heck?” Sweetie Belle said, standing on her hind legs to escape Apple Bloom’s hoof. “You’re a unicorn? Why didn’t you tell us?”

Zoccolo poked the shattered stub of a horn over his eyes. “I didn’t think it-a mattered,” he mumbled.

“Get outta here,” Apple Bloom said. She grabbed the Golden Horseshoe off the ground and tossed it forward so that it perfectly landed around the base of Zoccolo’s broken horn. “And take yer stupid prize ya worked so dang hard for.”

Zoccolo’s eyes crossed to get a better look at the artifact. He plucked it off his head, stared at it in his own hoof, and finally closed his eyes. He tucked it into his sidebag without looking. “I… grazie, ragazze.”

Dinky listened, but did not turn around, watching lines of white bubbles form around rocks in the river.

“All right, then. You got watcha came for.” Apple Bloom jerked her head toward the forest and Pelola beyond. “Go on, then. Git. We’re through with you.”

The muscles all around Zoccolo’s eyes tightened. “But Fiore…”

“It’s Apple Bloom!” she shouted. “And I said git!”

Zoccolo sighed. He pointed east along the river. “The Pon flows into Haissan. If-a you follow the river east, you will arrive at the wall that surrounds-a the grand palace.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’ve said this before.”

“Be very careful,” Zoccolo continued. “There is… a powerful force that will―”

“We get it, Zoccolo!” Apple Bloom yelled, marching forward. “Do I have buck you in the flank myself? Get outta here! We don’t want you around no more!”

Zoccolo stole a glance at Dinky, then tried to get Scootaloo’s attention. “Vesparè…”

Scootaloo flinched.

“That’s it, if ye’r not leavin’, we are.” Apple Bloom spun around and trudged east along the cliff-like bank of the river. “Come on, girls. Let’s go.”

Scootaloo fidgeted, but soon stood up and followed Apple Bloom.

Sweetie Belle touched Dinky’s back, startling the littlest filly. Together, the unicorns walked side by side and took up the rear of the their trek. Dinky was the only pony to look over her shoulder, though she didn’t make eye contact with Zoccolo. Quietly, dimly, the Cutie Mark Crusaders left.

Zoccolo watched them leave, frozen where he stood. His eyes darted between Dinky’s little horn and Scootaloo’s little wings. He sighed and dropped his head a bit, glancing straight up at Zuka leaning off his broken horn. “Is this how it’s supposed to go, cara Zuka?”

The orange chameleon didn’t answer, watching the fillies leave with sad eyes.

Zoccolo scuffed a hoof against the ground. “Non capisco. I thought… I thought it-a would be… different.” He turned around and went back into the woods, trotting sullenly back to Pelola.

{-DD-}

The Cutie Mark Crusaders trotted single file along the elevated edge of the River Pon. At first they heard the intermittent sounds of passing trains beyond the strip of forest to the south, but as the forest got wider and the river bent north, the train noises grew too faint.

Apple Bloom was in the lead. At first she often glanced over her shoulder to check on her friends, but after an hour or so of their trek she glared straight ahead, fuming in the wake of wasted time.

Scootaloo was next. Her head hung low and her eyes scanned the ground without interest.

Sweetie Belle looked to be on the brink of tears, sniffling every once in a while as she dutifully marched behind her fellow founding Crusaders.

Dinky Doo took up the rear. Her little hooves sometimes stumbled while she stared over the cliff-like edge of the bank at the river below. She pondered on the power of the Alicorns and the origins of Calupan. How had he heard her song? Could he control all the water in the world?

After at least an hour of trotting east, Dinky cleared her throat. It felt dry and sore; her cheeks burned slightly as she remembered how much she had screamed at Zoccolo’s betrayal. Her mother had always protected her from conniving ponies and all sorts of heartbreak, which only made Zoccolo’s actions all the more painful. Dinky shuddered, remembering the way he smiled at her, and how strangely familiar he had always seemed…

“Ugh, fine! If nopony’s gotta voice ‘round here, I guess I’ll just break the silence!” She huffed and tossed her mane back. Her big pink bow was coming loose. “We’re gonna be fine, y’hear? That no good stallion set us back a bit, sure, but we’re on the right track now. We’ll get to Haissan, find the foals, and get home ‘fore anypony worries about us too much.”

Sweetie Belle choked on her breath. “Are you kidding me, Apple Bloom? Our families must be freaking out right now! We’ve been gone for days. I bet Rarity and Applejack are bawling their eyes out!”

“Applejack doesn’t cry,” mumbled Apple Bloom.

“Besides,” Sweetie continued, kicking at the ground, “I bet Rainbow Dash and Dinky’s mom have already helped Daring Do find the foals by now. We might as well just turn around and go home.”

“I think ye’r fergettin’ that we traveled back in time and got an Alicorn to carry us across the ocean in one night,” Apple Bloom retorted, shouting without glancing behind her. “We’re still way ahead of ‘em. Just think o’ how proud Rainbow Dash’ll be, Scootaloo!”

Scootaloo whimpered. “Whatever. Obviously I have bad taste in heroes.”

“Ugh!” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes at the grand Itailian sky. “Zoccolo wasn’t yer hero, Scootaloo. He was nothin’ but a crafty actor with no moral compass.” She shook her head and kept marching ahead. “Honestly, you’ll get over him. Just focus on helpin’ Rainbow Dash.”

Scootaloo sighed, but otherwise did not respond, staring at the earthy ground.

Sweetie Belle hummed pathetically. “Poor Rarity… I’m so sorry. What were we thinking?”

“Don’tchu start that now!” Apple Bloom snapped. “We’re gonna find those foals and get home lickety split! You’ll see!” She tripped and stumbled, but got herself and kept trudging east. “Just gotta get up this river, is all.”

Dinky glanced down at the water. “Think it’d be easier with a boat?” she asked quietly, so that only Sweetie heard.

“HEY!” Sweetie Belle yelled to the others ahead. “Do ya think this would be easier if we had a boat!?”

“My hooves hurt,” Scootaloo grumbled.

“Y’all are a bunch o’ sissies!” Apple Bloom said. “We’ll be fine! Just keep trottin’!”

“The river’s flowing east,” Sweetie said, giving the water below a good look. “It’d be pretty easy if we just had, like… a little raft or…”

“And-a what about a canoe, little friends?”

Zoccolo’s voice came from the treeline to their right, and all four fillies yelped and froze where they were. As the tall, grey stallion emerged with a bright smile, Apple Bloom kicked up a clump of dirt.

“Oh, come on!” she yelled. “Didn’t we tell you to get outta here, like, an hour ago!?”

“Yeah!” Even Sweetie Belle’s face was turning pink with anger. “You’re not welcome here! Go away!”

Scootaloo didn’t look up.

Zoccolo cleared his throat and waved a dismissive hoof. “Don’t-a worry, I will not-a stay for long. It is simply that I remembered something!” He stepped aside and gestured into the forest, where a long, wooden canoe complete with several oars laid in wait. “Eccola! A canoe just for you!”

Apple Bloom squinted hard. “Didju just steal that from Pelola?”

“You’re-a very welcome,” Zoccolo said, grabbing the lip of the canoe and dragging it closer to the fillies. “With this, it should take no more than two days to reach-a the palace.”

“Two days?” Sweetie Belle shouted. “Are you kidding me? We’re never gonna get home!”

“Perhaps, with the, ehhh… help of a certain-a flute,” Zoccolo said, grinning, “you could-a make the trip faster.”

Dinky gently touched the instrument behind her ear. “I’m… um… n-not sure it works like that.”

Sweetie shrugged. “But maybe, yeah.”

“Stop talkin’ to him!” Apple Bloom hissed. “Scootaloo’s got the only good sense among us. Let’s just keep goin’, girls. He’ll leave us alone eventually.”

“Wait, Fiore!” Zoccolo winced and quickly corrected himself. “Apple Bloom. There is-a something else.” From his sidebag, Zoccolo produced the glimmering Golden Horseshoe. He tossed it so that it landed with a thud in front of sullen Scootaloo. “I want-a you to have this.”

The fillies all stared at the object.

Apple Bloom finally spoke. “Uhh… you want us to just take the thing you’ve been tryin’ to steal for Celestia knows how long?”

Zoccolo swallowed hard. “It is-a true, Apple Bloom. I am a thief; not for necessity, but-a for fun. It took-a me many years to find a way into that-a basement and open the Signore’s safe…” He smirked. “And though you do not approve, I am-a very proud of my work!”

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes again.

Zoccolo’s smile drifted away on a sigh. “And-a yet, it is not-a the horseshoe itself that I want. So take it. It is-a yours now.” He shrugged. “Chi lo sa? Who knows-a? Perhaps it will be of-a use to you in your avventura.”

“What, y’mean, like,” Apple Bloom asked, “we could use it to… barter for the foals?”

Zoccolo’s shrug doubled. “Something like-a that.”

Frowning, Apple Bloom nevertheless trotted to Scootaloo’s side and swiped up the Golden Horseshoe. “Fine. We’ll take it. If only to make things even.” She sneered. “You ruined what we were tryin’ to do by takin’ all our time. It’s only fair we take somethin’ you were after, too.”

Zoccolo nodded. “Esatto.”

Apple Bloom balanced the horseshoe around her tail and faced east. “Come on, girls. We still got a ways to go.”

“I wanna take the canoe,” Scootaloo blurted.

“Huh?” Apple Bloom turned around, one eyebrow raised.

Scootaloo pointed at the wooden thing. “I wanna take the canoe. My hooves freakin’ hurt. I’m used to using a vehicle.”

“I second that!” Sweetie Belle chirped, raising her hoof. “I miss the wagon.”

Dinky just nodded.

Apple Bloom huffed. Eyes half closed, she turned to Zoccolo. “We’ll take the dang canoe, too.”

Zoccolo leaned forward with an expectant smile.

Apple Bloom only glared harder. “I ain’t sayin’ thank you! Ya varmint!”

Chuckling slightly, Zoccolo took a step back. “Capito, little friend. Well then.” He patted the top of his own head. “Zuka and I will take our-a leave. Buon viaggio, in bocca al lupo!”

“Crepi,” said Dinky. Her eyes grew wide as all faces turned to look at her.

Zoccolo, most of all, was beaming. “How did-a you know the response to in bocca al lupo, Graziosa?”

Dinky shuddered. “I-I-I don’t know!” she bumbled. “It just came to me!”

“Oh my gosh, Dinky…” Sweetie Belle whispered, eyes huge and glistening. “Do you speak Itailian?”

“All right, that’s it!” Apple Bloom rushed forward, grabbed the end of the canoe, and heaved with all her earth pony might. The boat slid over the dirt and plunged over the edge of the river’s cliff-like bank. “Last pony in’s a rotten apple!”

The canoe splashed perfectly into the River Pon. Its swift waters began to pull the canoe away. Apple Bloom boldly leapt off the high ground, landing with an “Oof!” in the canoe far below.

The other Cutie Mark Crusaders shot each other nervous looks, then immediately followed her lead.

Scootaloo jumped second; her landing rocked the canoe. “Whooaoa!”

Sweetie Belle grabbed Dinky, took a galloping start, and leapt off the edge. Dinky took a final glance at Zoccolo over her shoulder before the two unicorn fillies fell. Sweetie briefly screamed and used a pulse of her green magic to assure that Dinky landed in the canoe. Sweetie herself, however, splashed into the water nearby.

“Gah! It’s cold!” Sweetie gargled.

Scootaloo snatched up an oar and used it to slow down the boat while Apple Bloom reached over the edge, pulling Sweetie Belle into the little vessel. It comfortably fit the four of them, but with no extra room to speak of. As Apple Bloom helped Sweetie settle and Scootaloo guided the craft eastward, Dinky looked up the tall walls of the riverbank in search of Zoccolo… but the stallion was nowhere to be seen.

Dinky gulped. “Crepi,” she said again under her breath as the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ new canoe flowed on.

{-DD-}

Silence reigned as the boat moved east.

“That was a pretty stupid thing you did back there, Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo grumbled after what felt like hours.

Apple Bloom choked. “Excuuuse me? Stupider than stealin’ some poor pony’s scooter and drivin’ it straight at yer friends?”

“That worked out, didn’t it?” Scootaloo growled.

“So did this!” Apple Bloom said, pointing down at the canoe with both hooves.

“Stop fighting!” Sweetie yelled.

“Shut up!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo yelled together.

They kept finding things to yell and argue about for the better part of the afternoon. Dinky just stared over the edge of the canoe, watching the water ripple and flow in a million places at once. She sighed several times, but it was such a quiet thing that the Crusaders didn’t notice.

At some point, the fighting stopped, and the quiet came back like a weight over their party. The Sun sank behind them at the same pace as their spirits. When night finally fell, they were miles and miles away from Pelola, and the gorge-like walls of the River had shrunken down to even shore on both sides. Scootaloo guided the canoe to the southern, sandy shore where their boat came to a steady stop. Apple Bloom wordlessly hopped out of the canoe and pulled it farther from the water. By the light of the rising Moon, the fillies found plenty of driftwood in the sand and, between Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, they started a little fire to sleep around that night.

“Wow,” Dinky breathed when the first flames came to life. “Where did you learn to do that?”

“Where’d you learn to speak Itailian?” Scootaloo mumbled in response.

Dinky’s face scrunched. “I… I don’t speak Itailian. I’ve j-just heard that phrase before.”

“Where?” Sweetie Belle asked in a much kinder tone.

“Ummm…” Dinky hung her head. “I can’t remember.”

“Figures,” said Scootaloo.

Apple Bloom sighed. “We’ve gone campin’ as a group a couple o’ times,” Apple Bloom explained. “Applejack taught me to make a fire long ago.”

Dinky nodded. “Maybe my mommy taught me that phrase. In bocca al lupo.”

“What does it mean?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“In the mouth of the wolf,” Dinky answered.

The fillies all stared at her.

“And, uh…” Apple Bloom sniffed. “What does the second part mean? The bit you said in response.”

“Crepi,” Dinky answered. The reflection of the fire danced in her eyes. “It means ‘kill it’.”

The fillies were silent for a long time.

Scootaloo cleared her throat. “Cooooool,” she finally said in an airy, awkward tone.

“Ugh. Let’s just get some sleep,” Apple Bloom said, flopping onto her belly in the sand near the fire. “Quit pickin’ on Dinky, Scootaloo.”

“Quit picking on me,” Scootaloo said back, lying down and closing her eyes on the opposite side of the camp.

Sweetie Belle offered Dinky a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry,” she said. “This is all… pretty crazy.”

Dinky nodded. “I know.” She offered a weak smile. “Good night, Sweetie Belle.”

Sweetie lowered herself into the sand with a sigh. “Good night…” She closed her big green eyes with a frown, but after mere seconds her face relaxed and her breaths became slow and regular.

Dinky giggled to herself. She’d never met a pony who fell asleep as fast as Sweetie Belle.

Dinky laid on her back and stared at the sky. The Moon seemed to be speeding away from the horizon, and the stars sparkled high, high above. She didn’t recognize any of the constellations. Amazed, she tried to imagine just how far away from home she really was, tracing an imaginary map among the stars. This went on for longer than she realized, and suddenly she was struck with a wave of chills. Sitting up on her haunches, Dinky realized that the fire had died out; the other Cutie Mark Crusaders were sleeping soundly, and the bubbling sounds of the River Pon hummed peacefully down the bank.

Shivering slightly, Dinky quietly got to her hooves and trotted along the narrow shore in search of more dry driftwood. She saw what looked like a small piece in the distance and waddled across the sand toward it. As she approached, however, the driftwood shifted. Dinky froze, and for just a moment she spotted a pair of bright green eyes.

“Zuka?” she asked under her breath.

The chameleon, still many feet ahead of Dinky, abandoned its camouflage for its natural orange color and scurried over the sand, spraying little waves of granules in all directions. Dinky watched Zuka head up the shore, away from the water, and climb a grassy hill not far from where the sand blended with earth.

Dinky took a quick glance over her shoulder at the sleeping Crusaders. Bathed in pale Moonlight, Dinky followed the chameleon, bounding off the shore and up the grassy hill as quickly as her tiny legs could carry her.

At the top of the hill, Dinky gasped at the beautiful landscape laid out before her. Long grass covered a veritable ocean of tiny rolling hills that stretched as far as her eyes could see in the darkness. She caught an orange glimpse of reptile scuttling away, luring her deeper into the hillscapes. Without a second thought, Dinky put on a brave smirk and sprinted in the same direction. The sloping motion of the land and the cool grass brushing her legs and ribcage were exhilarating. In an instant, her childlike energy returned, and she felt as though she could gallop forever.

The Moon balanced in the sky directly over Dinky’s head. Zuka’s orange blur curved left and right around hills, and Dinky followed with boundless enthusiasm, her teeth gleaming in the night’s soft glow. Her tired mind darted through a series of memories: she was flying kites with her mother in the park, then she was rushing through the Sisterhooves Social obstacle course with her babysitter, then she was in the Outbuck playing tag with her uncle―

Dinky opened her eyes with a gasp. She slammed her forehooves down and came to a grinding stop on a grassy hill. She looked up, but the Moon was nowhere to be seen. After a quick glance at her faded shadow, she spun around. There hung the glorious Moon, dropping toward the western horizon, toward Pelola, toward Caballos, toward Manehattan, toward Ponyville…

“How long have I been…?” Dinky spun in slow circles, seeing nothing but green, rolling hills in every direction. She gulped. “Uh oh.”

Dinky bounded down one hill, only to clamber up another. “Zuka?” she called out. Down and up, she may as well have been standing still for how much her surroundings changed. “Zoccolo?” Dinky broke into a full gallop, panting as her ears searched for the sound of a rushing river. “Sweetie Belle? Where are you!?”

At the crest of the next hill, Dinky Doo came to a stop. A few slopes ahead of her, like a silhouette against the green, Zoccolo sat on his haunches with his forelegs outstretched. Dinky approached him on quick hoofsteps. By the time she reached the base of the hill where he sat, the entire face of world began to change around them.

Dinky watched ― again ― as Zoccolo waved the hooves at the end of his extended legs. He gradually lifted them above his peaceful head in perfect time with the great, glowing orb that revealed itself in the east, splashing an infinite swath of golden light over the undulating fields. As Zoccolo raised the Sun, Dinky cantered up his hill, coming to a stop right behind him. She plopped onto her hindquarters and gazed upon the Sunrise with a concerned and thoroughly melancholy expression.

When the morning was certain and the whole Sun kissed the sky, Zoccolo breathed out and brought his hooves ― pointed straight above his head ― gently to the ground. His peach eyes opened calmly and he turned to look at Dinky. His smile was serene. “Buongiorno,” he said.

Dinky’s brow scrunched up. “I know you’re not raising the Sun,” she said.

Zoccolo winked. “So do I,” he whispered. He twisted his back until it popped, then stood up and faced the little filly, blocking her eyes from the searing light with his own shadow. “Your friends will be worried about you.”

“Did you follow us?” Dinky asked.

Zoccolo tilted his head left and right. “Not-a really,” he said. “We happen to be headed in the same-a direction.”

A light gust of wind blew between them, pushing down the long blades of emerald grass in a fluid wave.

“We don’t like you, Zoccolo,” Dinky said. She tried to keep her voice steady. “You really hurt our feelings.”

“Then why did you come find me?” the stallion asked. His voice was steady.

Dinky’s blinks were rapid. “I know you,” she blurted. She leaned forward slightly as she said it. “I know you already.”

Zoccolo’s lower eyelids tensed, but he did not stop smiling. “In a way,” he said softly.

“How?” Dinky rapped on her own skull with a hoof. “I can’t remember. How do I know you?”

“You don’t, child,” Zoccolo said, shaking his head. “We have never truly met.”

“You’re him, aren’t you?” Dinky was shouting now. Her voice died among the hills.

Zoccolo barely tilted his head. “Who?”

“You’re my dad!”

Zoccolo’s smile dropped and he took a step back.

Dinky was crying now, shaking. “You’re my dad! You… you left us!” She dropped onto her little knees. “You left my mommy and… a-and me, and… and…” She wailed. She threw her head back and sobbed, then collapsed completely like a dead bird in the open field.

Zoccolo rushed in and scooped little Dinky Doo into his long forelegs. Zuka skittered over Zoccolo’s body and onto Dinky’s, cuddling up under her tear-speckled chin. Zoccolo held her close to his chest and rocked the little filly as she cried, staining the dark fuzz of his chest with shiny splotches from her eyes.

“Shhhh, piccolina,” Zoccolo said. The bass of his voice rumbled in his chest, sending vibrations through Dinky’s gasping frame. “I am-a not your father.”

“You are!” Dinky sobbed. “Y-you’re a unicorn! And your mane is purple like m-m-me!” Her voice cracked and faded away to the sound of more harsh cries.

Zoccolo was quiet for a long time, holding Dinky close. When the tiny unicorn’s breaths finally evened out, interrupted now and then by an errant hiccup, he finally spoke toward her folded ears.

“I am-a not your father, Dinky Doo,” Zoccolo said tenderly, “and I am so, so sorry that I led you to believe it. That was-a never my intention.” He stroked her soft, blonde mane. “I am a messenger, principessa. A humble stallion chosen by powers he does-a not understand. I know who you are, Dinky Doo. And so, I believe, it has sense that you know me as well, though we have never met before.” He tucked a hoof behind her neck and pulled her into the nape of his own to calm her lasting shivers. “I wish I had-a more answers, my sweet little friend. All I know is that-a you must go to Haissan. You have to meet the Sultan.”

“The S-Sultan?” Dinky stammered, wiping under her eyes with the back of a hoof. “Wh-why?”

Zoccolo took a deep breath. “You are… a powerful unicorn, Dinky.”

As he consoled her, his eyes were locked on three enormous cyclones ripping up grass amidst the hills in the distance. They grew weaker and weaker as Dinky calmed down.

“Very powerful,” he continued. “You have many mysteries left to uncover of-a your family. I understand your pain. I do.” He lifted her slightly and looked into her vulnerable eyes. “But listen to me, Dinky Doo. As strong as you are, there are forces even greater than you can imagine watching over you. The very gods and goddesses of this world know your name, and want for you the best.” He smiled. “I do not-a know why they do it how they do it, but you are meant to find-a your family, and I am nothing but another step to help-a you get there.”

Dinky sniffed. Her eyes traced the curve of his smile, and she found one of her own.

“Bellissima,” Zoccolo said, stroking the filly’s cheek. “I believe… this is-a the last time you will see me, Dinky Doo.”

Dinky wilted in his embrace. “R-really?”

“Davvero,” Zoccolo said, nodding. “But-a now you have everything you need.”

He set her down and faced east with her. Bending low, he pointed as though she could see something beyond the rolling hills.

“There is a great magic protecting the palace,” Zoccolo said.

“The Wailing Gate.”

Zoccolo looked at her with surprise. “You know of it?”

“Kind of.” Dinky rubbed her eyes again. “A, um… a seapony told me about it.”

Zoccolo glanced at the flute behind her ear and smiled. “Ah. Ma certo.” Refocusing on the Sunrise, Zoccolo continued. “The winds of the Wailing Gate are fierce. Fiercer even than-a your friend, Apple Bloom.”

Dinky giggled.

“You can open the gate, principessa,” Zoccolo said. “You have everything you need. The Wailing Gate is a frightening place, but you do not-a need to be scared.” He put a foreleg around her and hugged her from the side. “This is happening as it was meant-a to happen.”

Dinky gulped and nodded. “Okay.”

“Good-a response!” Zoccolo laughed. “I know it is much, and very confusing. I wish I could tell-a you more.”

“No, it’s… it’s okay.” Dinky smiled. “I’m sorry for… thinking you were my dad.”

Zoccolo ran a hoof between her ears. “You do not-a need to be. You will-a find your family, Dinky Doo. This is a long time coming.” He looked up at the sky. “They all must-a find each other. They have to be reminded of-a the harmony they brought to this world.”

“Or it will never end,” Dinky said under her breath.

Zoccolo looked down at her with a question in his eyes, but in the end he simply clenched his jaw and nodded. “Yes. O non finisca mai.”

“I know this.” Dinky touched her own chest. “I just… I already know this.”

“Good.” Zoccolo smiled. “Then she has-a talked to you, too.”

Dinky looked up. “Who has? The little pegasus?” She sniffed. “The p-pegasus that looks like me?”

Zoccolo shook his head. “No. To me, she looks an angel.”

He held out a hoof, and Dinky gasped as Zuka leapt off her periwinkle body and sat upright on its edge, gazing at her intently.

“An angel with-a bright green eyes.”

14 - All Pretty Shook Up

Chapter Fourteen
All Pretty Shook Up

“Dinkyyyy!” Sweetie Belle shouted on the shore. “Dinkyyyyyyyyyy! Oh, where did she go?” She bounced on her front hooves, pounding little craters into the sand.

Apple Bloom cast a wary glance at the rising Sun, then at their grounded canoe. “Ya don’t reckon she went swimmin’, do ya?”

“She can’t swim!” Sweetie Belle growled.

“That’s my point.” Apple Bloom gulped, staring along the river’s steady flow.

“This is stupid,” Scootaloo grumbled under her breath, drawing lines in the sand by the empty firepit. “It’s all so frickin’ stupid.”

Apple Bloom shook her head. “Oh, now ya finally figure it out, huh? Where was thinkin’-Scootaloo when we was jumpin’ off an aqueduct with a certified madpony?”

“Yurasirtafymaponi,” Scootaloo mumbled, lowering her head.

“What was that?” Apple Bloom leaned closer, squinting.

“You’re a certified madpony!” Scootaloo’s crackly voice suddenly yelled.

Gaping, Apple Bloom stepped back and brought a hoof to her chest. “Excuuuse me? Uh, forgive me if I’m rememberin’ somethin’ wrong here, but ain’t I the one who tried to get us to leave Zoccolo the whole time?”

“Why’s this gotta be about Zoccolo, huh?” Scootaloo shouted. “Why can’t this be about you always having to be in charge and me always having to save your hide?”

“What!?”

“I didn’t have to chase that diamond dog, you know! I didn’t have to grab that stupid horseshoe and save your blank flanks!” She pointed to the golden thing, stabbed into the sand nearby.

“Blank flanks?” Apple Bloom shot a scathing look at Scootaloo’s own haunches. “Yeah, nice one, Scootaloo. Really hits me where it hurts.”

“Well, it should!” Scootaloo stood up and marched toward Apple Bloom. “Isn’t that what this is supposed to be about, huh? The Cutie Mark Crusaders? Sure, we’re helping Rainbow Dash, and yeah, the Cake foals need our help, but we’re doing this together to find out who we are, and all I see looking at you is a prissy know-it-all who can’t stop complaining for the five seconds it would take to help another pony!”

“How dare you?”

Apple Bloom stood her ground, even as Scootaloo brought her fuming face closer and closer.

“I’ll have you know that I’ve been worried about Dinky this whole time, Scootaloo!” said Apple Bloom.

“Then where is she, huh?” Scootaloo stomped right up and smacked her forehead against Apple Bloom’s so that their bulging eyes were almost touching. “Drowning? Running home? Foalnapped, too? You wanna be this great leader, but you can’t even take a hint! We’re supposed to be a team here!”

“This has nothin’ to do with me wantin’ to be a leader, Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom pushed back into her forehead until both their necks were shaking. “You’re the one that’s always tryin’ to be the hero! You ain’t nopony’s Rainbow Dash, y’know!”

“And you’re about as far from Applejack as we literally are right now!”

“KNOCK IT OFF!”

Sweetie Belle rushed between them, shoving both fillies into the sand. She heaved and glared from left to right, boring into her quarreling friends with harsh green eyes.

“Dinky is missing! She could be anywhere! And you two are just fighting about who’s more like their siser?”

“Rainbow Dash ain’t her sister,” Apple Bloom said, rising to her hooves and brushing off sand. “As much as she pretends otherwise, she ain’t got no family.”

“Why, you ― !” Scootaloo dove to attack Apple Bloom.

“Whoa!” Sweetie Belle managed to blast Scootaloo aside with her magic, then turned and gave Apple Bloom a telekinetic slap as well.

“Hey!”

“Why would you say something like that?” Sweetie Belle asked shrilly. Then, glaring at Scootaloo, she said, “And why would you let it get to you? You know how many ponies in Ponyville love you, Scootaloo.”

“Oh, shut up!” Scootaloo spat. “You’re one to talk, you spoiled―”

“STOP IT!” Sweetie Belle kicked sand at the grounded pegasus. “Stop it, both of you! This doesn’t matter! We have to find―”

“Uh, is everything okay?” asked Dinky Doo as she approached the campsite from the greener hills beyond the beach.

Sweetie Belle stared at her. A smile flickered across her muzzle. She glanced at her friends on either side of her… and that smile gave way to a fiery scowl. With burning light behind her eyes, Sweetie Belle took a thunderous step forward and bellowed at Dinky, “WHERE WERE YOU?”

Dinky froze with a hoof in the air and blinked. “Wha-what?”

“Where were you?” Sweetie Belle asked again, taking more heavy steps forward. “You can’t go running off like that in the middle of the night, Dinky! I was terrified! And they won’t stop fighting! And if we can’t work together and find those foals, how are we ever gonna get home?” She took a deep breath and shouted, “If you’re gonna run off and have your own adventures all the time, why did we even bring you along!?”

Dinky’s lip quivered… and soon enough, so did Sweetie Belle’s. The older unicorn dropped to her knees and hid her face near the sand, crying loudly while Dinky sat down further up the shore and stared at the ground.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo shot a worrisome glance at each other, then quickly remembered that they were feuding, too, and turned away.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders and their honorary member stayed like that for several minutes, separate and despondent, until Apple Bloom trotted directly to the canoe. As she struggled to push it back to the river, Scootaloo gave her a wary glance.

“What are you doing?” Scootaloo asked hoarsely.

“Tryin’ ta… save… some foals,” Apple Bloom huffed as she pushed.

With a cranky sigh, Scootaloo got to her hooves and, standing on the other side of the vessel, helped guide it back to the river. Without looking anypony in the eye, Sweetie Belle ― sniffling and hiccuping nonstop ― shuffled to the boat as well and clambered inside. Dinky was hesitant, but eventually joined, and when all four fillies were in the canoe, Scootaloo used an oar to slide them into the river’s current to continue on their journey.

The fillies sat in single file, all faced forward to the east. Scootaloo was in the back, holding the oar steady over one side. Sweetie Belle was in front of her, slumped and crying quietly. Dinky took the next space up, watching the water with glassy eyes. Apple Bloom took the very front, watching for any obstructions in the river.

Nopony said a word for hours.

{-DD-}

The River Pon flowed quickly, and the scenery around it changed. From the cliffs of Pelola to the sandy shores by the great green field, and then onward past wastelands and through small, dirty port towns, the day careened as each young filly found something to marvel at on the shores they swiftly passed. It became clear that they had left fair Itaily and entered what must have been Haissan, though nopony put it into words.

At some point, Scootaloo gave up on the oar. She tucked it into the side of the canoe’s long cavity and steered instead with her wings. It was a welcome and familiar feeling, flapping her orange feathers one way or another to push the boat in the right direction. Pushing from the back of a vessel rather than pulling from the front presented a new challenge, but it was nothing Scootaloo couldn’t adapt to.

Apple Bloom wracked her brain for some kind of plan, but she just didn’t have enough information. What waited now between them and the foals? Too many variables led to too many guesses, and she resorted to chewing on her bottom lip as the canoe floated faithfully forward. At least the river’s flow was predictable.

Sweetie Belle had very few thoughts behind her dull green eyes, glued solemnly to the floor of the canoe.

And Dinky…

Dinky kept seeing a hoof reach down to grab her from the water. Bright eyes above the surface were blurred by ripples and splashes. She always thought they were golden… like her mother’s sweet, easing eyes…

“What the hay is that?” asked Apple Bloom.

As the first words spoken for hours on end, her question startled the other three ponies squatting in the boat behind her.

“Is that the palace?” Apple Bloom asked, squinting at the river’s distant vanishing point.

The landscape, arid and stony, sloped upward from the riverbeds. Too many crags and rough, grey patches made the shores impossible foundations; there was no life and no settlement in sight. Dinky couldn’t remember the last fishing town they’d passed.

“I don’t see anything,” Scootaloo said, stretching her neck to peer past the canoe.

“I think that’s the palace!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Girls, we made it! That looks like the palace!”

“What are y―? Whoa…” Scootaloo’s eyes finally focused on the spires rising past the end of the river. Towers topped with pointed bulbs glinted in the light of the late afternoon, but remained hazy like a mirage due to the distance yet to go.

“You think the foals’re in there?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Psh. They freakin’ better be,” Scootaloo grumbled. She flapped her little wings even faster to give the canoe a steady boost.

Dinky watched the tiny palace grow on the horizon. A tall frame of grey stone grew much faster around it. She realized that a rocky hill eroded through the middle stood between them and the palace. The closer their little boat drifted to the hill, the clearer its details became: two tall, jagged spikes stood straight on both sides of the river, with several smaller (yet still enormous) columns of pale rock leaning toward them. To Dinky’s surprise, she noticed when they were within a thousand feet of the structure that the two grand spikes were still connected by a strip of stone high overhead, forming an angular archway that the river passed directly beneath.

“The palace is right there!” Apple Bloom whooped, leaning forward over the edge of the canoe. “I can see a little door at the base! No guards! Looks like the river bends around thataway, like a big moat.” She swung her forelegs in a leftward curve, imitating the river. “We just gotta steer straight once we pass under this arch!”

A low whistling sound, like a moan from a bottomless lung, swept around and over the fillies and tossed their tangled manes.

Apple Bloom slapped a hoof over her bow when the wind picked up. “What the…?”

The canoe lurched as a strong wind picked up its front end, tossing the four fillies backward. With shouts of surprise, Apple Bloom hit Dinky Doo who slammed into Sweetie Belle and squished little Scootaloo.

“Oof! Whoa-oa-oowaaa!” Scootaloo desperately waved her wings and forelegs, struggling to balance the four of their bodies.

Mercifully, the wind parted slightly and the canoe splashed down. The fillies had mere seconds to untangle themselves before another gust slammed into the side of the long craft. It spun on the surface of the water, and the little fillies tumbled and bumped into oars and skulls and polished canoe.

“What’s happening?” Scootaloo crackled.

“The Wailing Gate!” cried Dinky Doo as the strongest wind yet roared toward them. “Hold on!”

The fillies grabbed whatever they could… except for each other. The strong wind hit them broadside, and the entire canoe lifted into the air, spinning like a drill as it soared away from the grand stone arch.

“Aaaaahhh!”

Everypony screamed as, one by one, they were thrown from the rotating canoe. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo landed near each other in the water. Apple Bloom splashed far away and scrambled for the surface, breaking for a massive breath just in time to see Dinky’s tiny body flip toward the sharp, rocky shore.

“Dinky!” Apple Bloom screamed, swimming through the river as fast as the could.

Dinky gasped, closed her eyes, and prepared for a painful impact. Instead, another swirl whooshed in from below, catching Dinky in all the right places and carrying her gently to a small spot of smoother stone.

Apple Bloom froze in the water, gaping. “Whoa…”

“Did you see that?” Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle downriver.

Though the unicorn’s eyes were wide and fixed to the spot where Dinky stood, she did not answer with words.

“Maybe it doesn’t wanna hurt us?” Scootaloo guessed, paddling until she turned around to face the arch again. “Like, maybe some unicorn is pushing us away, but it doesn’t actually wanna―”

CRASH! Scootaloo flinched as something behind her shattered. Sweetie Belle gasped loudly.

“Was that the c-canoe?” Scootaloo tread water and dared look over her shoulder to where their boat had finally landed… and shattered into splintery pieces on a stretch of jagged shore. “Ho boy.”

“The r-r-river!” Sweetie stuttered, smacking the surface of the water. “It’s p-pulling us b-back to the wind!”

“Huh?” Scootaloo watched the shore nearest them, finally noticing how quickly the river’s flow was guiding them eastward to the arch. “Crap! Uhhh, uhhhh… swim to shore, Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo planted a hoof on Sweetie Belle’s back and pushed her toward the rocky bank. “I’m gonna see if I can swim under the wind!”

“What? S-S-Scootaloo, don’t!” Sweetie grabbed her hoof and tried to pull her along. “Th-that’s the Wailing Gate! It’s made to stop us from p-p-passing!”

“What’s with the stutter all of a sudden?” Scootaloo asked, yanking her hoof away.

Sweetie choked on a sob. “I’m just s-s-scared!”

“And what the heck is the Wailing Gate?” Scootaloo blinked and lowered her brow. “Did you know this was coming?”

“I forgot about it!” Sweetie Belle squeaked. “Calupan told us back on the ocean.”

“I feel like I would remember that!”

“No, I mean he told Dinky and me!”

“What? Why didn’t you tell the rest of us?”

“I’m pretty sure Z-Z-Zoccolo mentioned it at s-some point…”

“Sweetie Belle! You knew about this? We just lost our canoe! We should have pulled off the shore and found another way in!”

“Calpuan says the wind is everywhere! All around the p-palace!”

“Then what the heck are we even doing here!?”

“We’ll find a way! We have to s-save the-eeehh-aaaahh-AAAHH!” Like an enormous spoon, the wind scooped up Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo together from the surface of the water as they neared the natural gate. It looped them around in the air like a poorly thrown paper airplane and then launched them separately away from the palace.

“GAAAAIIEEEE!” Sweetie Belle headed skyward, flipping and spinning wildly.

Scootaloo was thrown straight outward and skipped over the river like a stone. “Ah! Oof! Guh! Ow! Neg! Hup! Haw!” She bounced off the water entirely and rolled like a ragdoll over a couple of large boulders on the opposite side of the river to where Dinky stood.

“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom shouted just as she reached Dinky’s steady rock. She climbed out of the water and stood next to Dinky, frozen in shock. “How’d you do that, Dinky?” Apple Bloom asked.

Dinky’s head shook minutely. “I don’t know…”

“Well, can ya do it again!?” Apple Bloom pointed straight up at Sweetie Belle’s rapidly falling body.

“AAAAAHHHHH!” The unicorn was still screaming.

Dinky gasped, snapped out of her stupor, and pointed her horn at the airborne filly. As her tiny horn sparkled with golden energy, a swirling stream of wind swept in from the north, catching Sweetie Belle in its wake and guiding her like an autumn leaf to the shore where Scootaloo lay moaning.

“Wowee!” Apple Bloom hollered as soon as Sweetie Belle’s hooves touched dry ground across the river. “Where’d ya learn to do that, Dinks?”

Again, Dinky’s head could only quiver. “I-I-I don’t know, Apple Bloom.” Her horn stopped glowing and she touched it gently with her own hoof. “It’s so… easy.”

“That’s amazin’!” Apple Bloom ruffled her mane. “Any chance you can use that fancy new magic to carry us across the river, too? I gotta check on Scootaloo!”

“Yeah… yeah, Scootaloo.” Dinky’s breath became heavy, but she nodded and focused on her friends across the noisy river. “Okay, here we go!” She concentrated, but her horn didn’t glow, and the only wind they felt was left over from the Wailing Gate.

“Huh…” Apple Bloom frowned, but shrugged at the same time. “Well, I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it. You stay here, okay? I’m swimmin’ over!” Apple Bloom jumped off the rocks into the water and swam with all her might across the river.

Dinky hyperventilated. Her mind rattled with questions and memories. Dizzy, she watched Apple Bloom arrive at the opposite shore, galloping on dripping legs to Scootaloo’s motionless body. She watched Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom kneel around their limp, bruised friend, and felt tears jump to her eyes.

Sweetie Belle was right. Dinky Doo was not a Cutie Mark Crusader. She was not the child of a thief, nor was she a sudden master of wind magic.

So what was she?

Dinky looked down at the rushing water and gulped. Stepping away from the edge, she sat on her haunches and stared downriver at the Wailing Gate. It looked so peaceful and still, but she could hear the whipping winds that constantly tore through the arch.

Zoccolo had said she could get through the gate. She had everything she needed.

“I need my mommy,” Dinky said under her breath.

She wiped away a tear and grit her teeth. Glaring forward at the open air, Dinky stood up and took a galloping leap off the edge. She shut her eyes… and felt the wind whip through her mane from behind. Like surfing a wave of air on an invisible board, she stayed upright and soared directly across the river in a straight line. By the time she opened her eyes, her hooves were only inches from the shore. With a shriek, she slammed into the rocks, bouncing and rolling until her body stopped against the largest chunk of their shattered canoe.

She was unconscious before she slid to the ground.

{-DD-}

Dinky’s eyes fluttered open to a bright light and a bad headache. “Unnngghh…” she moaned.

“Dinky!” It was Apple Bloom’s voice, though Dinky’s eyes couldn’t see her yet.

“Ugh…” Dinky sniffed. “What happened?”

“You jumped across the river!” Scootaloo said next. “It was awesome!”

“Scootaloo?” Dinky sniffed again. Something smelled like metal. “Are you okay?”

Scootaloo laughed. “Me? Yeah, I’m fine. A few huge bruises on my flanks, but I can move around fine. You, on the other hand… heheh. Let’s just say you took quite a tumble.”

“Yeah… I can feel that.” Dinky touched her snout; something crusty broke under her hoof. “Am I bleeding?”

“You were,” Apple Bloom said. “I think ya mighta broke yer nose.”

“Oh…” Dinky’s eyes were finally focusing. She saw a fire in front of her, lighting up the night using the smallest shards of the canoe. She was still sitting up against the bulk of the crashed vessel, lying upside-down on a flat stretch of grey stone. White stars twinkled around a gigantic, glowing Moon. Dinky blinked. “Um… how long was I asleep?”

“I don’t know if you can call that asleep,” Scootaloo said. “More like out cold. It’s been, like, four hours, at least.”

“Four… hours?” Dinky fought a lump in her throat. “I’m sorry, guys… that was stupid.”

Apple Bloom stepped forward and put a hoof on her cheek. “No, no, don’t say that! It’s okay, Dinky!”

“Yeah, it’s fine! It was seriously awesome!” Scootaloo was beaming. “First you saved Sweetie Belle, then you got across the river all on your own…. Seriously, I don’t know how we would have gotten you over here if you didn’t make the jump yourself.”

“Sweetie Belle…” Dinky looked around. Her neck ached even from such small movements. “Where is Sweetie Belle?”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo gave each other an unsure glance.

“She’s right over there,” Scootaloo answered, pointing to a spot on the other side of the campfire. “She’s… pretty shook up.”

“I think she feels real bad for yellin’ atcha,” Apple Bloom added in a whisper.

Dinky nodded. “Yeah. I know.” She rubbed her eyes. “I’m sorry I ran off last night.”

“Hey, it’s fine. Seriously.” Scootaloo sighed. “We’re just… all pretty shook up, to be honest.”

“This ain’t the trip we were expectin’.”

Dinky snorted. “You can say that again.”

Scootaloo’s head fell. “Look, Dinky… I’m sorry about all this.”

“Me, too,” said Apple Bloom.

“Would you shut up for a second?” Scootaloo suddenly spat. “I’m trying to talk to Dinky here!”

“Yeah, well, so am I!”

“Wait your turn!”

Dinky sighed as the fillies kept arguing. She blinked away a film of tears and turned her head to the left. Something glittered in the firelight under a chunk of the canoe. She touched it with her hoof, recognizing the cold curve of the golden horseshoe.

“Hey, girls?” Dinky said sharply, interrupting Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. “Thanks for staying up to make sure I’m okay, but… it’s late.” She looked at the rising Moon. “And you two are tired. Just stop fighting and go to sleep. We’ll find another way into the palace tomorrow.”

With another glance at each other, somewhat embarrassed and sad, the two older fillies had more to say.

“Well, actually… about that.” Apple Bloom cleared her throat.

“We had a look around,” said Scootaloo. She gestured to a stack of boulders nearby. “Climbed up there. The whole palace is surrounded by a wall. There’s, like, a little city kinda thing to the south, but we saw guards with cool curved swords all over the place.”

“The point is,” Apple Bloom interjected, “and Sweetie Belle says that ocean alicorn told y’all the same thing, but… I reckon this ‘Wailin’ Gate’ is our only way through.” She bit her lip. “I think… after tonight, if we can’t find a way through… we’ll just have to go home.”

“What?” Dinky sat up, wincing at a pain in her haunches. “No! We can’t go back without the foals! We’ve come so far!” She stomped down a forehoof. “It’s all of us or none of us, remember?”

“Well, yeah, that sounds nice and heroic, Dinky,” Apple Bloom said, “but… I mean, just look at what’s happened so far!”

“Maybe we’re just not meant to find the foals.” Scootaloo shrugged. “I’m sure your mom and… R-Rainbow Dash will do fine with Daring Do whenever they get here. They’ve got experience and stuff. We’re just kids.” Scootaloo sighed heavily and her head fell even more. “Just stupid little kids who bit off more than they could chew.”

Dinky scowled. “Just go to sleep. We’ll try again tomorrow.”

Apple Bloom laughed through her snout. “Okay, Dinky. Whatever you say.” She turned around and laid by the fire to Dinky’s right.

Scootaloo eyed Dinky up and down, then finally let out a chuckle of her own. “Ya know, you’re a lot different than I thought you were.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. You’re cool, Dinky.” Scootaloo smirked. “Whatever happens tomorrow… I’m glad we got to know you better.” She found a spot by the fire to Dinky’s left and fell asleep as well.

Many minutes passed. Maybe even an hour. Scootaloo’s words rang like a bell in Dinky’s head.

“You’re glad you got to know me better?” she repeated under breath. “Even though I tore your best friendships apart?” She sniffled and painfully got to her hooves. With a sigh, she quietly trotted around the sleeping Apple Bloom and headed for a little white unicorn lying on a rock up ahead.

Dinky laid on her belly right behind Sweetie Belle, close to her head. She watched her ribcage rise and fall as Sweetie soundly slept.

“I promised to be your sister,” Dinky whispered near sleeping Sweetie’s ear. “I guess I didn’t act like one.”

Sweetie didn’t respond.

Dinky sighed. “You were right, Sweetie. I shouldn’t go off by myself. We don’t know what we’re doing out here. We’re alone and… Scootaloo’s right, too. We’re just kids.” Her lower lip trembled. “I wanted to be more like my mommy. I always knew she was brave, even before I found out she used to go on adventures with Daring Do. She’s always been alone, so… I guess it feels like I should be alone, too.”

Sweetie Belle stirred slightly, but her steady breath did not change.

“But I guess… in a way… Mommy hasn’t been alone.” Dinky looked up at the stars. “She has me. And I haven’t been alone, either. Never. I don’t quite know how to explain this, but… hmph.” She tucked a lock of her mane behind her ear, realizing for the first time that the flute she’d found in the Diamond Dog’s cave was gone. She wondered when it had slipped away.

She sighed again. “I talked with Zoccolo last night. Or, this morning, I guess. Right before you… yelled at me.” She shifted her weight. “Something big is happening here, Dinky. Calupan thought so… I could tell. Zoccolo thinks so, too. And I can feel it. Something…” She looked up at the Moon. “Something really bad has been happening for a long time. And somehow, I’m part of it. I don’t know. It sounds crazy. But… something’s been watching me. And leading me. I’ve always felt it, but on this trip, I’ve seen it. In the mirror… in the water…”

She blinked. The world around her was absolutely silent…

“The water?”

Dinky stood up and trotted away from Sweetie Belle. Within a few trots, she was at the edge of the river. Several feet below her, where the waters had rushed and swelled just hours before, there was a remarkable calm, as though the river had stopped flowing. She glanced westward, and noticed a divide in the river that hadn’t been there before. The water sparkled in the light of the Moon, veering aside at an unnatural angle to enter a different riverbed.

“How…?”

Dinky looked back at the water beneath her. It was extremely shallow in several places, almost like a spider-web of earth rising from deeper waters. A criss-crossing path was visible just below the surface. It continued as far as she could see toward the Wailing Gate.

“Oh my gosh…”

Dinky quickly did three things. First, she made a decision. Second, she trotted on quiet hooves to the fireplace where she snatched the golden horseshoe and looped it around the back of her neck. Lastly, she scurried back to Sweetie Belle and whispered near her ear:

“I want to be a good sister to you, Sweetie Belle, just like I promised. I don’t want us to fight like Daring and my mommy. I like being your friend, and I don’t want you to be mad at me. But… there’s something I have to do. I think it’s the reason we came here. I’m going on another adventure… by myself, so you three don’t get hurt again. But I just really want you to know that you’ve been a great sister to me. You cared about me and kept me safe. Thank you.” She gave Sweetie Belle a little kiss on the back of the head, and stood up. “I’ll see you soon,” she whispered quickly, and galloped off the edge of their campsite.

She fell for less than a second and landed with a splash on a strip of ground just inches below the surface of the eerily still water. She looked up, trying to follow the web-like paths that approached the Wailing Gate and the palace beyond. Her heart began to hammer in her chest as her eyes lingered on the deep pools of water in between the skinny pathways. Ultimately, with her eyes focused dead ahead, Dinky simply smirked and trotted forward.

{-DD-}

Sweetie Belle awoke with a start. The sound of a splash lingered in her ears, but she couldn’t decide if it was real or from a dream.

Still, the one feeling that was certainly real was peace. She felt better than she had all day. The Moon shone brightly overhead, and her green eyes soaked it in. She sighed, allowing the moment to drown out all other worrisome thoughts.

A sudden rumble startled her… and then, in the distance, a colossal plume of fire erupted from the earth, burning like a column of angry orange magic. From her place near the riverbed, Sweetie couldn’t see where the column came from or if there were ponies involved, but a wave of heat washed over her from nearly a mile away.

Naturally, she screamed.

“AAAAAAAHHH!”

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both woke in a panic, leaping to their hooves on opposite sides of the campfire. “What? What?”

“Look!” Sweetie shouted, pointing at the plume.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both gaped at the tall, blazing fire for just a moment, for suddenly it was gone.

“What the hay was that!?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Where’s Dinky?” shouted Scootaloo, running a quick circle around the broken hull of their canoe.

Apple Bloom’s face scrunched up. “Consarn it, that little―!”

“No, don’t!” Sweetie Belle said, hurrying to her friend’s side and putting a hoof on her shoulder. “It’s fine. Believe me… it’s not worth that.” Sweetie gently rubbed the back of her own head, then turned to where the fire had been. “Do you think she had anything to do with that?”

“Doesn’t look like it!” Scootaloo said, leaning over the edge of their landing. “Check it out! She’s right there!”

“In the water!?” Apple Bloom barked. “But she can’t swim!”

“No, look, come here!” Scootaloo waved at them even as the fillies trotted hurriedly to join her. “The water’s, like… gone! She’s headed for the archway!”

“And she’s got the golden horseshoe!” Apple Bloom added.

“She does?” Scootaloo squinted in the darkness. “Oh yeah, look at that! Uh… why?”

“I got no idea!” Apple Bloom looked to Sweetie Belle with an imploring expression. “You know anything about this, Sweetie?”

Staring after her fellow unicorn, Sweetie Belle found herself smiling. “No, but… I trust her.” Her smile widened and she raised a hoof in the air. “I mean, just look at her go! GO, DINKY! You can do it!”

“Do what?” whispered Scootaloo.

Apple Bloom shrugged, but raised a hoof of her own. “Yeah, woohoo! You can do it, Dinky!”

Scootaloo blinked, but soon cupped her hooves around her mouth. “Uhhh, yeah! Go, Dinkster, go! Do the… thing!”

“Woohoo!”

“Yeah!”

15 - Some Secret Something

Chapter Fifteen
Some Secret Something

Dinky could hear the Cutie Mark Crusaders cheering for her from behind. As the web-like pathways of barely-submerged earth became narrower and narrower, she didn’t dare look over her shoulder, though the excitement in their voices bolstered her resolve.

Dinky trotted and leapt and balanced for all that she was worth. She made great time, trotting from stretch to earthen stretch and ignoring the dark blue pools of water threatening to swallow her from every angle. The ends of her hooves tingled and her breath came in unnatural rhythms, but she ignored everything for the task at hoof.

The golden horseshoe felt cold around her neck. She was grateful for the Moonlight shining in the water, showing her more clearly where the next thin pathway was. But the closer she got to the Wailing Gate, the louder the wind whipped in her ears, and the harder it was to keep her balance on the strangely angled paths.

A sudden gust of wind hit her hard. She stopped in place and wobbled. She heard Sweetie Belle’s gasp from far behind. Somehow it comforted her, and she crouched low to maintain her spot on the strip of land. It was becoming so narrow that she had to trot in a single-file pattern with her hooves; her eyes felt dry and twitchy as the wind picked up around her.

One hind hoof slipped as she moved forward, but again she managed to keep herself still. The wind blew her mane around her face and threatened to tear off the golden horseshoe, but her neck was just the right size to keep it snugly on her person. She looked up at the stone archway, still far away from her, and noticed choppy ripples in the water up ahead. Steeling herself with a tiny grunt, Dinky hurried forward, crouched low and paying attention to every little thing.

{-DD-}

“Do you think we should help her?” asked Sweetie Belle in a squeaky tone.

Scootaloo glanced at a growing bruise on her side. “I’m pretty sure she’ll have better luck with that wind than any of us.”

“Yeah, good point…”

“What d’ya suppose is happenin’ to her?” Apple Bloom asked. “I mean, how in the world did she suddenly learn how to whip around the wind like that?”

Sweetie Belle gulped. “I think… she could always do it. Like, remember back in Pelola when the moat bridge slammed shut?”

“Oh, yeah!” Apple Bloom gaped. “Do you reckon that was her doin’?”

“I think so, even if she didn’t do it on purpose.” Sweetie’s eyes softened. “There’s something really special about her.”

“Speaking of which,” Scootaloo yelled with a wide smile, “look at that!”

{-DD-}

The winds were too strong for Dinky’s little body. They pushed her and pushed her and tried to drown her, and with any other filly they would have had success.

Dinky’s horn was glowing brighter every second. She marched boldly forward on zig-zagging paths, pushing back at the Wailing Gate with strong winds of her own. Small tornadoes that kicked up water were born and died in seconds all around her as the harsh winds from the east battled Dinky’s from the west. Diverting and pushing and slashing each other in a tumultuous, invisible war, the worst of the winds stayed away from Dinky’s little body.

The cheers of her friends intensified with the light of her horn. Dinky caught herself smiling, and picked up the pace in the splashing waters. The cold air swirled and the river shook, but Dinky’s eyes were glued to the archway towering just ahead.

She suddenly stopped in her tracks with a gasp, teetering on the edge of nothing. The skinny walkways stopped abruptly, though the Wailing Gate stood at least a hundred feet in front of her, blocked by what appeared to be a stretch of bottomless water.

How would she reach it? It was all she could do to keep the winds of the Gate from pushing her over, let alone using her wind magic to carry her over the stagnant river. She began to shiver as her eyes darted this way and that, searching for another path of barely-sunken earth to follow. There was nothing, and Dinky was stuck.

Her breath came faster. She tried to look over her shoulder. Twisters turned into mini-hurricanes all around her, and the water they sucked up blew into her face. She sputtered and shut her eyes, taking a step back. An errant gust of wind hit her hard in the cheek, and Dinky fell ― spiraling ― into a deep, dark pool.

She held her breath and thrashed, but began to drop immediately. She could no longer hear the wind above, or the shouts of her Ponyville friends. All she heard was a low, constant droll, a fearful sound that seized her muscles and caused her horn to stop glowing.

She sank.

Dinky’s golden eyes were wide, stinging in the water. She wanted desperately to breathe in, but forced herself to wait. She tried to stay calm, but without the ability to breathe, it proved difficult.

Sinking and sinking, Dinky looked up. The Moon was a hazy blur, and its light could barely reach her.

She remembered the last time she had been sinking: the arrival of Calupan, the song she played on her flute. But she didn’t have her flute anymore to summon that powerful friend, nor did she have another magical bubble which had let her breathe there. She had nothing, in fact, but a slowly fading world.

It was more than just the darkness of the pool’s strange depth. Dinky was losing her vision. In her effort to hold her breath, Dinky’s brain was slowing… shutting down. She no longer saw the Moon. Instead she saw…

She saw…

A tall metal fence.

Dinky trots forward in her mother’s shadow. She is scared and presses her body into Ditzy Doo’s. Ditzy looks down with a sad but loving smile. They walk through a gate in the fence.

A row of grey towers.

The headstones look so big to Dinky. She recognizes that words are etched into their stone, but she’s too young to know what they say. She knows what they mean, though: they’re names.

Why are they here? Who are they coming to see?

A shimmer in the distance, down the slope. The cemetery is built on top of a hill. A long stretch of glass leads to a pretty garden below, but Dinky’s eyes are on the pond touching the foot of the hill. It sparkles in the light of evening.

There are benches and paths in the garden below, and even up here on the hill. Blooming trees and glowing lanterns give it all a heavenly look. They made this place too pretty. It ought to be sad.

“Here we are, Dinky,” says her mother, stopping in front of a tiny grave.

A name.

Ditzy sniffles. “I don’t really know what to say, darling,” she manages. “You’re still so little. You can barely understand me. You won’t even remember this.” She smiles down at Dinky. “But… some part of me can’t keep the secret. Not from you. Not forever.”

She sighs and gazes longingly back at the tiny, flat headstone in front of their hooves.

Dinky tilts her little horned head. The name on the headstone is surrounded by a pair of etched wings.

“This…” Ditzy Doo’s voice cracks. She clears her throat, and continues through a dry, dry voice. “This is your sister, Dinky,” she says. “This is Dauntless Doo.” A tear drips from her muzzle onto the small, clean grave. “She was a pegasus.”

Dinky takes a step back. She’s so tiny that her mother hardly notices.

It’s too much for little Dinky. She doesn’t want to understand. She turns around and runs.

“Dinky!” calls her mother. “Dinky, wait!”

Dinky gallops over a little curve and starts down the hill. It’s too steep for her legs. She slips, careening down the slope much faster than she wanted. She doesn’t have time to scream. The shimmering water of the pond swallows her, and she can’t breathe.

She thrashes and searches in the water for some ground. There is none. As she sinks, she looks up at a brilliant light above the surface. What is it? The Sun? The Moon? A cemetery lantern? She can’t tell. She’s so scared.

The beam of light above is broken. Someone has stood in its way.

Dinky reaches to the surface for help. A pair of eyes phase into view beyond the warping water. Dinky thinks they’re golden; she thinks her mother’s hoof is inching closer. Dinky has to breathe…

But the eyes are green.

Dinky opened her eyes. She was closer to the surface of the pool than she had realized. And suddenly, the water above was remarkably still.

Dinky floated in place. She was terrified, but the memory of the cemetery had awoken something in her. She looked up.

Instead of the Moon, a brighter light shone up above. She couldn’t tell what it was, but it made a silhouette of the figure hovering even closer.

Dauntless, Dinky thought.

The outline of a little pegasus flapped its wings. It looked happy.

Dinky reached up toward the surface, toward her twin. She didn’t expect to be saved, but she wanted Dauntless to know she was there.

The image of the little pegasus faded away, and the light itself drew nearer. As Dinky’s eyes adjusted to its brilliance, she saw an alicorn in the light, smiling as clearly as if there was no water in between them.

Her coat was periwinkle, identical to Dinky’s. Her billowing mane was a brilliant white, and from it shone most of her light. Her eyes ― a shocking, lively shade of green ― glowed as well, speaking more to Dinky’s heart than any words ever could.

Dinky stretched her hoof up farther.

The angel reached down. Her hoof made no ripples as it entered the water, but Dinky caught a hold of it as she would any real thing. The alicorn felt warm and cool at once, like a living heartbeat.

Dinky was lifted out of the water. She sputtered, choked, and raggedly breathed as she clambered back onto the last thin stretch of earth. She trembled in place, breathing hard and staying balanced. Her horn was glowing again, pushing strong winds outward, and the howling gusts from the Wailing Gate did not touch her.

Dinky’s legs gave out, and she dropped to her little knees with a splash. She took a moment to look all around her, but just as she expected, the alicorn was nowhere to be seen. Lowering her head, Dinky’s face tightened in a painful grimace. Before her breath had completely returned to her, the vision overwhelmed her and the unicorn began to cry. While she sobbed in the humblest of poses, great tears squeezed from her tightly shut eyes and joined the inch of rippling water in which she weakly knelt.

“Dauntless…” she said between sobs. “Dauntless, I’m so sorry…”

She heaved there, trembling with her entire body. As small as she was, the sorrow was real, and Dinky let it out.

“Thank you, Dauntless,” she said in a whisper. “And thank you, too. Thank you for finding Zoccolo. Thank you for saving me.” She opened her eyes; the smallest of smiles graced her lips. “Thank you, Mommy. Thank you, Daddy, wherever you are. I forgive you.” She sniffed. “I forgive both of you.”

A lick of wind, barely enough to tousle her mane, swept over the back of her neck. It hit the golden horseshoe just so, and the object twisted off Dinky’s neck. It plopped into the water, making Dinky gasp.

She stood up on trembling legs and grabbed the horseshoe in one hoof. To her surprise, it was no longer golden. Her fall into the water had cleansed it of any disguise. Instead, it was made of smooth, grey stone, decorated with images of swirls and wavy lines.

Dinky blinked. With a furrowed brow, she swiveled her eyes to study the Wailing Gate. Her gaze followed its arch from the left, around to the top, and down to where it met the river on the right. It made a perfect curve.

Squinting, Dinky slowly raised the horseshoe until it lined up perfectly with the shape of the Gate ahead. The grade of their curves was remarkably similar.

And just like that, as soon as the stone in her hooves matched up with the stone of the Wailing Gate, the wicked winds around her ceased to blow.

In total silence, Dinky stood perfectly still. Through the twin arches in her vision, she saw an unguarded door on the side of the palace.

Slowly, tearfully, Dinky smiled.

{-DD-}

“SHE DID IT!” screamed Sweetie Belle, leaping three feet into the air. “She did it, she did it, she did it!”

“Yeeehaaww!” Apple Bloom reached for a hat to toss into the air. Finding none, she resorted to proudly crossing her forelegs. “Well, I’ll be! She really had me goin’ there for a second!”

Scootaloo’s teeth stopped chattering long enough for her to say, “I thought she was gonna die down there!”

“How’d she get out o’ that pool?” Apple Bloom asked. “I thought she couldn’t swim!”

“She can’t!” Sweetie shrugged, grinning ear to ear. “Maybe she used her wind magic!”

“Awesome!” Haplessly, Scootaloo jumped off the edge, landing among the web-like paths. “Come on, let’s go, let’s go! We gotta get through the arch before the winds start up again!”

“Right!” Apple Bloom followed suit.

“Eeep!” Sweetie squeaked excitedly, dropping off the edge and keeping her eyes trained on the motionless figure of Dinky Doo.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders trotted, floundered, and swam through the strangely still river bathed in Moonlight. When they caught up with Dinky, she spoke before they could.

“Go on through,” she said in a calm voice. “I’ll meet you by the door.”

Wordless and obedient, the three little fillies pressed ahead, swimming under the Wailing Gate as quickly as they could. The river bent left, but the fillies went straight, climbing onto dry ground void of grey stone or jagged edges.

Apple Bloom dug her hooves into the dirt there, smiling. “Now that’s more like it!”

Scootaloo spun in place, wings a-buzzing, and clicked her hind hooves. “We made it, girls! We made it!”

Sweetie Belle looked back at Dinky. While the tiny filly was calm, Sweetie’s expression was tense and nervous.

In a single motion, Dinky dropped the horseshoe into the open water in front of her ― plop ― and tossed her mane back with a bright glow of her horn. With a jolt, she soared forward on a gust of wind that carried her to shore. Sweetie Belle rushed forward to catch the little unicorn before she could crash again.

As soon as Dinky was through it, the Wailing Gate came back to life, blowing fierce winds away from the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“Wow, Dinky!” Apple Bloom crooned. “I mean… just wowee! That was unbelievable!”

“You are so awesome!” Scootaloo wheezed at the end of her breath, shaking Dinky by the shoulders. “How did you know how to do that?”

Dinky smiled softly; there was more thought than joy behind it. “Zoccolo told me I had everything I needed to pass the Wailing Gate,” she said. “Something just… clicked, I guess.”

“Darn tootin’ it clicked!” Apple Bloom’s smile suddenly faded and she dropped to her plot with a thud. “Golly… I guess it’s a good thing we went with Zoccolo to Pelola then, huh?” She played with a tangle of red mane falling over her forehead. “Heh… if we had things my way and missed the golden horseshoe, we might never’ve been able to get past the wind.”

“How did he know?” Scootaloo asked in a breathy voice. “And why did he give it to us? It seems, like… I dunno, too lucky to be an accident.”

“I don’t think it was an accident at all,” said Sweetie Belle. She turned her head. “Was it, Dinky?”

Dinky looked into Sweetie Belle’s eyes. They were so green… a different, softer green than the alicorn’s she’d seen in the water. But there was a kindness in Sweetie Belle’s eyes very reminiscent of that in the glowing angel’s.

Dinky’s smile broadened. She confidently shook her head. “No. It was no accident. Something was guiding me. Guiding all three of us.” She shared her smile with the others. “I don’t think Calupan was the only special pony helping us out here.”

“Why?” Scootaloo asked with a puzzled tilt to her brow. “Like, that’s awesome, but… what do secret alicorns have to do with a couple of twins?”

Dinky’s lip began to quiver again, but she fought it with a genuine smile. “I don’t know, Scootaloo. But I’m happy I didn’t h-have to do this alone.”

“Awwww!” Sweetie Belle threw herself around Dinky, and the tiny unicorn melted into her embrace. “You were never alone, Dinky! I’m so sorry I yelled at you! I shouldn’t never, ever, ever have! You and I were supposed to be the sane ones on this trip.” She cleared her throat without letting go of Dinky. “No offense, girls.”

“None taken,” said Apple Bloom, rubbing one of her forelegs sheepishly. “Heh… goll, I feel plain rotten. I’ve been treatin’ everypony like I knew best, when really I was the furthest from the straight ’n’ narrow all along.” She lifted heavy eyes to the pegasus at her side. “‘Specially you, Scoots. I’m sorry. I said some right nasty things back on the beach.”

“Ehh, it’s fine,” Scootaloo said quietly. “I’m sorry, too. If I’d trusted you more and been nicer to everypony, maybe you wouldn’t have snapped.”

“I had no right to snap, nohow,” said Apple Bloom. “What I said wasn’t right. You do have a family in Ponyville, and we followed ya all the way here.” With tears in her eyes, Apple Bloom smiled. “I love ya, Scoots.”

“Ugh.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes, but ultimately grinned and held out her hooves. “I love you, too, Apple Bloom.”

The fillies hugged and nuzzled each other dearly.

Sweetie Belle laughed, watching them with her foreleg wrapped tightly around Dinky from the side. “Honestly, though! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you two fight so much.”

“I was just trying too hard,” said Scootaloo as their hug ended. “Or something. I don’t know.”

“It don’t matter now,” said Apple Bloom. “We made it, girls! After all that, we’re finally here.”

“So what do we do now?” Sweetie Belle asked, staring at the door to the palace.

The fillies all rotated, staring in tandem at the tall, wooden door that led to their goal.

“I guess we just… try’n find the foals in there,” said Apple Bloom.

“With lots of sneaking,” said Scootaloo. “I’ll take the lead. I’ve had practice.”

“And what if they’re not in there?” Sweetie Belle asked. “I mean, I hate to be a downer after it feels like a victory… but, like, we don’t actually know if the Cake twins are even here.” She winced. “What do we do if we’re in the wrong place?”

“We’re not,” said Dinky, and all eyes turned to her. She blinked and shrugged. “This is the right place. That’s what I know. So what would the Cutie Mark Crusaders do?”

Apple Bloom chuckled and pushed her shoulder. “You tell us, Dinks. You’re one of us now.”

Dinky glanced at Sweetie Belle and shook her head. “No. I’m not a Cutie Mark Crusader.”

Sweetie looked sad. “Dinky…”

“I’m something else to you girls now,” she said, smiling up at them. “Like Apple Bloom said. We’re something that makes an even stronger bond than being Crusaders.”

“Oh, yeah?” Scootaloo smirked. “And what’s that?”

Dinky’s smile pushed up her cheeks. “We’re sisters!”

“D’awwwww!” All three Crusaders, even Scootaloo, dove in for a group nuzzle. Giggling, confident, and reinvigorated, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their sister, Dinky Doo, opened the tall wooden door to the palace and snuck inside one by one.

Dinky took up the rear. Once inside a dark hallway, she turned around to pull the door shut behind them. For just a moment, she thought she saw a scaley orange shape skitter behind a rock. Suppressing a grin, Dinky left the door slightly open and followed the Cutie Mark Crusaders into the shadows.

{-DD-}

There were very few Haissanic guards patrolling where they tread, and thanks to their small frames and Scootaloo’s guidance, they managed to completely avoid each one. Minutes passed in silence, and the fillies snuck through dark hallways and under vaulted ceilings. Nearly every column, wall, and arch was decorated with the same swirling etches, like wind carved into stone.

Dinky and Sweetie Belle stayed a bit behind the others, partly out of fear and partly to have a private conversation.

“Hey, Dinky?” Sweetie Belle whispered.

“Yeah?”

“Why did you say you think more than one ‘special pony’ is helping us out here?”

Dinky slicked back some of her dripping mane. “Um… I… saw somepony,” she said. “Back there by the Wailing Gate, when I slipped into the water. I saw an alicorn. I think I’ve seen her before.” She smiled. “She has green eyes.”

“Wow!” Sweetie pushed her lips to one side and whispered, “I wonder how many alicorns there are. I always thought it was just Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.”

“Me, too.”

Sweetie glanced at Dinky’s horn. “Hey. You wanna know what I think?”

“What?”

She leaned closer and whispered in Dinky ear, “I think your dad is an alicorn, too.”

“Huh?” Dinky’s eyes crossed, and she briefly resembled her mother. “Wh-why do you think that?”

“Because… I don’t know!” Sweetie gestured to the filly’s horn. “You’ve got crazy wind magic! Where else would something like that come from? I bet your mom met an alicorn on her adventures and they fell in love!”

Dinky’s eyes searched the shadows on the ground. “But… if that’s true, why didn’t she ever tell me? And where is he now?”

“Ohh, Dinky…” Sweetie Belle nuzzled her. “I don’t know. I’m sorry if I made you sad. Talking about your dad is probably out of place. Rarity says I get ‘out of place’ a lot.”

“It’s okay,” Dinky said, shaking her head. “I’m not mad. It does make sense.” She smiled. “I guess we’ll just wait and see.”

“Hey, uh…” Apple Bloom said from ahead. “Not to be eavesdroppin’ or anything, Dinky, but… remember that little conversation we had back when Scootaloo was a knight? In the world behind the mirror?”

Dinky giggled. “Yeah, I remember.”

“Well, then, there ain’t no waitin’ and seein’ about it.” Apple Bloom nodded succinctly. “Next time you see yer momma, you ask her then and there what happened to yer daddy. And I reckon she’ll tell ya, since you’ll be a hero who saved the Cakes’ foals and all.”

Dinky smiled. “Okay, Apple Bloom. I will.”

“I know it’s weird,” said Sweetie Belle, “but I’m super excited for you! It’s kind of like a mystery. Your dad could be anypony!”

They turned a corner and suddenly entered an enormous chamber flanked with imposing statues. The largest of them all was a regal, male alicorn with gigantic wings and a spiraling horn.

“Yeah…” Dinky said, staring up at the statue. “Anypony.”

“Hey, I’ve seen that before!” Scootaloo whispered to the group. “That big alicorn there! A tiny version of that same statue was in Pelola. Zoccolo had me turn up its wings to, like… I dunno, open some secret something. Nothing happened, though.”

Apple Bloom frowned. “Actually, I reckon somethin’ did happen. When we were in the basement, a safe opened up on the wall without us doin’ nothin’. That’s where Zoccolo got the horseshoe.” She gaped. “I reckon this really is all connected, y’all.”

“Okay, so, left or right?” Scootaloo swung her head in each direction down the intersecting hallway. “This place is frickin’ huge. How are we gonna find the foals?”

“Easy,” said Apple Bloom. “We listen fer cryin’. If I was a foal stuck in here, I’d be wailin’ somethin’ fierce. Come on! And keep yer ears high.”

She and Scootaloo turned right and led the way side by side while Dinky and Sweetie Belle stayed close together, eyeing the strange statues that stared at them from every side. Perhaps it was those eerie, lifeless glares, or the haunting light of the Moon that poured through open windows near the ceiling, but before another minute passed there had grown among them a sense of unease.

“What if we’re just trotting around all night?” Sweetie Belle asked. “A-and then the Sun comes up, and there’s nowhere to hide anymore?

“I just wish there was some way we could see through walls or something!” Scootaloo mumbled. “Just to know if the foals are even here or not.”

“I’m tellin’ ya, keep yer ears open.” Apple Bloom gulped. “I get a funny feelin’ we’re not alone in here.”

“Well, duh!” said Scootaloo. “I’ve seen, like, fifteen guards!”

“No, I mean―” Apple Bloom’s ears twitched up. “Wait. You girls hear that?”

They all stopped in their tracks. From a little further down the hall, a chorus of hushed and angry voices with a curiously familiar lilt emanated from inside a very small and sparsely decorated door.

“Is it the foals?” Sweetie Belle asked eagerly.

“Looks like some kinda closet,” Scootaloo whispered, stepping forward.

“No, wait!” Apple Bloom grabbed Scootaloo’s tail in her teeth and pulled her back. “Don’t just go marchin’ up to it! That’s creepy as all get out!”

Dinky took slow steps past the bickering duo. “That sounds a lot like…”

The small door swung open. The Cutie Mark Crusaders flinched, only to lay eyes on a light grey pegasus with a messy, blonde mane, wearing a dull green canvas shirt. Its pocket was open, its collar wrinkled, and its sleeves were rolled up and buttoned in place. The mare’s misaligned, golden eyes swiveled above a pursed pair of lips. She was frozen in place, staring at the four fillies who leaned away in equal shock.

Dinky spoke first. “Mommy?” she whimpered.

“Dinky!” Ditzy cried.

Scootaloo jumped forward as a sky-blue mare emerged next from the sideroom. “Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow’s head shook so hard that the colors in her mane blurred together. “Scootaloo?”

Hanging off of Rainbow’s side was a thoroughly battered pegasus with a goldenrod coat, wrapped in not one but two green canvas shirts that featured a prominent bloodstain on her back.

“Daring Do!” gasped Sweetie Belle.

“Sup, kid,” Daring said in a scratchy voice.

Dinky and Scootaloo both dove forward, with Scootaloo clamping around one of Rainbow Dash’s legs while Ditzy scooped her daughter up in a desperate, loving hug.

“Dinky!” Even in the tenderness of the moment, Ditzy’s voice was harsh. “What are you doing here?”

Dinky didn’t quite know what to say, so she just opened her mouth and blurted whatever was there. “Adventuring!” she chirped. “Just like you!”

Rainbow Dash stared in bewilderment at the pegasus on her leg. “How did you get here?”

“It’s a long story,” said Scootaloo. She glanced nervously at Apple Bloom before looking Rainbow in the eye. “We’re trying to find the foals for you!”

Ditzy’s voice bore into Scootaloo’s skull with even more force than her glare. “How dare you pull my daughter into your half-brained, dangerous—”

Seeing the look of terror on Scootaloo’s face, Rainbow Dash interrupted. “It’s okay, Ditzy! It was stupid of them, yeah, but what can we do now? At least they’re alive.” She glanced at all four fillies, dirty and somewhat damp. “... Somehow. And at least we found them before anypony else.”

Ditzy nodded and relaxed her shoulders. “You’re right, of course. I’m sorry, Scootaloo.”

The filly gulped and tried to sink into the ground. “It’s okay, Miss Derpy.”

“Ditzy,” Sweetie corrected.

Scootaloo blinked. “Ditzy. I didn’t think you’d be mad at us.”

Daring Do seemed nothing but amused. “Your parents let you travel halfway across the globe by yourselves?” she asked with a smirk.

Ditzy guffawed. “Of course they didn’t, Daring.”

“Applejack must be freaking out!” said Rainbow Dash. “Do you guys know how long you’ve been gone?”

“Just a couple of days!” yelped Scootaloo. “After the foalnappers got away, we thought it was gonna take years to cross the ocean, but—”

Sweetie Belle kicked her in the side.

“Oof! Uhhh… but it didn't! Isn’t that cool?”

As her mother held her close, Dinky could feel warm tears anointing the top of her head. Worried, she asked, “Mommy, what’s wrong?”

Ditzy sighed and set her daughter down. “Honey,” she said, doing her best to look Dinky in the eye, “it’s very unsafe for you to be here.”

“It is?” asked Dinky. She narrowed her eyes. “Why?”

“I can’t explain it right now, but you need to get back to Equestria as soon as possible.” There was a grimace on her face. “Rainbow Dash, I need you to take Dinky back to the coast right now. Keep her hidden, and find a way home.”

“But why, Mommy?”

“You three are going to stick very close to Daring and I,” Ditzy said to the rest. “We’ll get you home safely… somehow.”

Daring perked up. “What about my wing and the carpet?”

Sweetie Belle stole a glance on the bloody spot on Daring’s back.

Dinky wasn’t satisfied. “Mommy, I—”

“You need to go with Rainbow Dash, darling.” Ditzy urged her toward Rainbow Dash.

Dinky’s breath was quickening. She looked to Sweetie Belle, and then to Apple Bloom. Both fillies nodded, and with a steely expression, Dinky slammed down her hooves. Her horn briefly flickered as she exclaimed, “No!”

Ditzy reeled back in surprise.

Dinky stood as tall as she could. “I’m a big girl, Mommy. I’m smart and I’m strong, and I want to know the truth. Why do I have to go back to Equestria? Why can’t I help you find the Cakes' twins?”

Rainbow Dash, in an effort to help, made everything much worse with a few simple words: “The Cakes are safe, kid. Daring took them back home.”

“What?” Scootaloo barked. Her face paled and she nearly fell over, but a wave of anger swiftly brought the blood back to her brain. “Aaahhh, come on!” She spun around on her hind hooves and marched back to where Apple Bloom stood, apart from the rest. “Every time I try to help, I’m too late, or I do it wrong, or I just freakin’ suck!”

Wincing, Dinky nevertheless said, “Well, that’s good. But I still want to know why you think it’s so dangerous for me, Mommy. Look how far I’ve already come!” She thought about the graveyard, and tears sprung to her eyes. “I’m not a little pony anymore. I-I’ll get my Cutie Mark soon, and I’m old enough to know you’ve been keeping lots of secrets.”

Pale, Ditzy began to turn away.

But Dinky lifted her hooves to her mother’s chest and kept her in the moment. “I’m not mad at you, Mommy. I understand you can’t tell me everything right away. But at least tell me why I’m not allowed to stay with you!”

Ditzy could only frown. “Dinky, darling, I wish I could say, but there’s just so much you wouldn’t—”

“I’ll understand! You’re always telling me how smart I am and how quick I pick up on things. I promise I’ll listen very close, and if there are parts I don’t understand, I’ll ask about them when we get home.” She dug her hooves into her mother’s soft body and leaned in close. “Please, Mommy? Please, I really need to know.”

There was a very long pause as Dinky kept her eyes shut tight.

Finally, Dinky felt her mother fidget as Ditzy said, “All right. All right, here it is. The honest truth.”

Ditzy knelt down. Gazing up at her, Dinky held her breath.

“This is all about your father, Dinky.”

Ditzy’s ears filled with pressure.

“I met him eight years ago right here in this palace. He’s the ruler of this country, Dinky, and he’s a very powerful pony.”

“He’s an alicorn, isn’t he?” Sweetie Belle asked from the side where she stood.

Ditzy looked shocked. “Yes, he’s an alicorn.”

“That is so cool!” Scootaloo said, having partially recovered.

Ditzy frowned. “No, Scootaloo, it’s not.”

“It’s not?”

“No.” Ditzy stroked Dinky’s cheek. “Your father, Alula…” She hesitated. In the end, she blurted everything out at once: “… is planning to break open the gates of Tartarus and let all of the scary monsters out so that he can defeat Celestia while she tries to save her subjects.”

All four fillies gasped.

“He’s aimin’ to kill the princess?” Apple Bloom asked.

Ditzy’s hooves held her daughter firmly. “He wants to dethrone her and rule Equestria. I know this must be very hard for you, Dinky, but the only reason he hasn’t attacked yet is because he’s been looking for you.”

Dinky’s eyes widened. “Me?”

“Yes,” said Ditzy, nodding slowly. “He doesn’t want you to be there when he lets the monsters out. If he finds you here, he will not hesitate to begin his plan, so you must get back as soon as possible.”

Dinky thought of Calupan. She thought of the alicorn in the water and everything Zoccolo had told her. “Why does he want to do that?” she eventually asked.

“Do what, darling?”

“Why does he want to dethrone Celestia?”

Ditzy hesitated. “Because… well, because he doesn’t like her.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not sure, Dinky. He never told me.”

Dinky had no way of knowing if her mother was telling the truth. But, she realized in that moment, it didn’t really matter. As wonderful as she was, Ditzy Doo was just a piece of a much grander puzzle at play. And somehow, perhaps at the hooves of more alicorns than she realized, she had arrived just in time to stop one from doing something bad.

And that was enough for her.

Dinky pulled away from her mother and sprinted down the hallway past the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“Dinky!” Ditzy cried. “Dinky, stop right now!”

She didn’t look back. She didn’t even consider it. “We have to know, Mommy!” Her voice echoed in the hallway.

“Dinky, you stop right now! You don’t have to know everything to be—”

“It’s not for me!” Dinky bravely interrupted. “We all have to know, or it will never end!”

Her mother didn’t answer, but she didn’t slow down. Dinky barrelled around a corner and galloped as fast as she could.

“Zuka,” she whispered into the open hallway before her. The marble floors shone and the flanking statues leered. “Zuka, if you’re still here… take me to the next alicorn.” She swallowed hard. “Take me to my daddy.”

An orange streak skittered down from the wall on her left and cut across the hallway. Dinky gasped with a smile and followed it behind a statue. There, expertly hidden from view, she found an open vent that she crawled in as fast as she could. Up ahead, a brilliant orange color darted around in the darkness. Swallowing the last of her fear, Dinky smirked and chased the chameleon through the walls of the palace.

“Thank you, Dauntless. For getting me this far,” she whispered to herself, alone. “Now it’s my turn. Dauntless, this will be for you.”

Epilogue

Epilogue
Usually Way More Careful

“So I found my dad and tried to talk him out of taking over Equestria, but he got mad and used his wind magic to try and hurt my mommy. So then I used my own wind magic to stop him, and even though we accidentally destroyed the palace, everything turned out okay.” Dinky beamed. “And then this appeared on my flank!”

She turned to the side and showed off a golden flute with three wavy lines drifting beside it like a gentle breeze.

The class Ooo’d and Ahh’d, both at the beautiful Mark as well as the filly’s story.

Cheerilee cleared her throat from her desk. “Well, Dinky, that was certainly an… imaginative retelling of how you got your Cutie Mark.” She glanced at a paper on her desk. “In this note from your mother, it says that you ‘played the flute for your grandmother whom you hadn’t seen in years’?”

“Oh.” Dinky blushed and smiled. “Yeah! Th-that’s what I meant.” She shot a sideways glance at the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Right, girls? You were there, after all!”

The fillies’ smiles were all far too big.

“Yeeeeaah!” said Scootaloo.

“Totally! Old Granny Doo! Hee hee!” Sweetie Belle slapped her own desk.

“Darn tootin’!” Apple Bloom’s eye twitched.

Cheerilee frowned, but soon shrugged and stood up from her desk. “Well, it’s a wonderful Cutie Mark, regardless. Let’s give Dinky a hoof, everypony!”

The students clattered their hooves on their desks while a smiling Dinky took her seat. She winked at the Crusaders, who all waved back as the rest of the day’s lesson began.

{-DD-}

Many weeks later, at the crack of dawn, Dinky Doo stood on the balcony attached to her small bedroom.

Smiling, she closed her eyes. Wiggling her hooves at the ends of outstretched forelegs, Dinky slowly raised them up above her head and watched the Sun break over the horizon, shedding its light on her peaceful hometown. She sighed happily and set her hooves down, resting her head to one side as the glorious orb took its place in the sky.

“You raisin’ the Sun now, Little Miss Halficorn?” asked a voice from below.

Dinky leaned over the railing of her balcony and smiled at Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle below. “Hi, girls!” she said. “You’re up early.”

“Wouldn’t a ‘halficorn’ just be half-unicorn?” Sweetie asked, stroking her chin.

“Er… I meant half-alicorn,” said Apple Bloom. “You knew what I meant. Come on.”

“Halficorn,” Scootaloo said with a snort. “That’s stupid.”

Dinky looked around. When she didn’t see anyone else on the street, she jumped off the balcony and summoned a gust of wind to carry her gently to the ground.

“Yeesh!” said Sweetie Belle, holding a hoof over her heart. “That scares me every time!”

Dinky giggled. “Sorry. I don’t wanna wake Aunt Daring.”

“Daring Do’s in there?” Sweetie asked with sparkling eyes.

“Yeah, but… don’t tell my mom.” Dinky laughed again and whispered, “Aunt Daring’s been living here for a whole week, but Mom hasn’t found out yet. Aunt Daring thinks she’ll get mad.”

“Baaha!” Scootaloo threw her head back. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Some hero, Rainbow Dash.” She stuck her tongue out at a random cloud in the sky.

“Be nice, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom said, smacking her friend upside the head.

“Ouch! I gotta get a new helmet…” Scootaloo grumbled.

“Did you need something?” Dinky asked them.

All three of the Crusaders’ expressions fell at once.

“Well… we were just thinking…” Scootaloo said.

Apple Bloom’s eyes scanned the ground. “We’re really happy for ya, o’ course, Dinky. Looks like things worked great out for ya, all-in-all.”

“And we’re super jealous of your Cutie Mark,” Sweetie Belle added frankly. She leaned forward. “Like, super jealous.”

Scootaloo harrumphed in agreement.

“But… we can’t help but feel like we gotta apologize,” Apple Bloom finally said.

“Again?” Dinky laughed. “Girls, you’ve already apologized. A lot.”

“I know, but… it was just so stupid!” Apple Bloom flicked at the bow on her head. “What were we thinkin’? We took you halfway around the world and almost got the lot of us killed!” She sighed heavily. “You must think we’re idiots.”

“I don’t,” said Dinky, smiling softly. “But I do hope you’re more careful.”

“Right,” said Sweetie Belle, pointing at Dinky. “That’s exactly what we mean.”

“We wanna show you that we’re usually way more careful than that,” said Scootaloo. “So you actually know what it’s like to be a Cutie Mark Crusader.”

“Yeah. It’s not about runnin’ away from bulls and stealin’ horseshoes and sneakin’ through palaces.” Apple Bloom winked.

“It’s about finding our Cutie Marks,” Sweetie Belle lamented. “So, in a big way, you’re more of a Cutie Mark Crusader than we’ve ever been.”

They sighed in unison.

Dinky shuddered with a prolonged giggle. “Don’t be like that, girls! I don’t think you’re dumb, or that the Cutie Mark Crusaders are bad at what they do.” She bowed slightly. “I’m proud that I was an honorary member.”

“Oh, why, thank you muchly, your majesty,” Sweetie Belle said in an exaggerated voice, bowing as well.

Apple Bloom smiled. “Look, Dinky. We’re just wonderin’, do you wanna go on another adventure with us sometime?”

“It’s been weird without you.” Scootaloo scratched her neck. “Like, bizarrely boring.”

“We know you got your Cutie Mark already, but… maybe you can help us find ours?” Sweetie blinked rapidly.

“‘Cause, I mean, honestly,” Apple Bloom added, “you really are half-alicorn! I-I bet you’ve got all kindsa magic powers you don’t know about yet!”

“Maybe our special talent,” said Sweetie Belle with bulging eyes, “is helping young alicorns discover theirs!”

“But I’m not an alicorn,” Dinky said, pointing at her lack of wings.

Scootaloo blinked. “Well, yeah, but still!” She smiled wide. “It could be fun!”

With a lasting smile on her face, Dinky simply nodded. “Of course, everypony. I would love to go on more adventures with you.”

“Yay!” the Cutie Mark Crusaders called out.

“On one condition!”

The Crusaders froze in their various poses of joy.

Dinky smirked. “Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom. Scootaloo. I would like to officially induct you into the Doo family as honorary sisters.” She held out her hoof. “What do you say?”

The fillies beamed.

“Oh, come on, Dinky!” Scootaloo scoffed, brushing her hoof aside. “You know that’s not how we hoofbump!”

Dinky laughed and reared up on her hind legs. The others did the same, pulling back their hooves to crack all four together in the middle.

At the last moment, Dinky used a burst of wind magic to push the four fillies several feet into the air as they chanted: “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS HONORARY SISTERS! YAY!”

Their hooves smacked thunderously, and they landed in fits of laughter and rolled on the grass in front of the Doo household.

High above them ― much higher than anypony would think to look ― a meticulously embroidered carpet hovered in midair. Balanced on top of it, leaning over the edge with childlike glee in his peach-colored eyes, a dark grey stallion with a broken horn sighed into the winds.

“Eccoli, Zuka,” he said, letting one hoof dangle down to point at the Crusaders. “Look-a how happy they are. Especially la piccola principessa.”

The orange chameleon glanced over the edge and found a smile of her own.

“Va bene.” Zoccolo sat up and nodded once, stroking the fringe of the carpet. “I suppose, alla fine, we all got what-a we wanted.” He glanced upward. “Eh, Beatrix?”

There was no response from the sky.

Zoccolo smiled nonetheless. With a final glance at the giggling fillies below, Zoccolo cracked his neck. “Alla prossima, Dinky Doo.”

And with that, the carpet took off in a stream of shimmering magic, vanishing over the southern horizon before anypony in Equestria knew it was there.