Blame

   Dinky was woken by light.  Rays from the morning sun stretched out and fell on the room, some falling on her face.  Groaning, she turned and pulled the covers over her head, but it was no use.  She wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep.

   She pulled the quilt from her head and lifted her head from the pillow, body still waking from its restless slumber.  Indeed, sleep had not come easy, and when it had, it was fitful and hard to keep.  The snatches of dreams that had entered her mind were full of flames.

   Dinky wasn’t stupid.  She knew that she couldn’t just close her eyes and wish all the bad things away.  To just close her eyes and be with her mother again, like always.  Life didn’t work that way.

   All she could do was wait.

   With a frustrated groan, she kicked her covers off and onto the floor at the foot of the bed.  Stretching, she extended a hind leg to the carpeted floor, and eased herself down from the mattress.  Setting all four hooves on the floor, she yawned and walked over to her bedroom door.

   Through the doorway, down the stairs.  Her movements were mechanical, automatic things made by a distracted mind.  She was preoccupied with other thoughts, macabre and grim.

   Her hooves clacked on the kitchen tile.  Dinky lifted her head to find her sister leaning over the stove.

   “Mornin’, Dinks,” Sparkler called over her shoulder.  Although her words were cheery, her tone wasn’t.  It lacked her usual pep, replaced by something Dinky couldn’t place.  “How’d you sleep?”

   “Not so good.”  She made her way over to the counter and climbed up onto the stool.  “You?”

   “Meh.”  Sparkler stepped away from the stove, and levitated a pan from its top.  “I made us some scrambled eggs.  You hungry?”

   “Not really.”

   Her sister’s face fell.  “Well, you still need to eat.  You have school today.”

   Dinky grumbled.  “Do I have to go?”

   “Yes.  Now eat up.”

   With a sigh, Dinky watched in resignation as Sparkler placed a plate in front of her and scooped some eggs onto it.  She picked up her fork in her magic and took a bite from the pile.  As good as Sparkler was at cooking, today breakfast tasted bland.

   “Do you want some juice or anything?” Sparkler asked, her hoof on the door of the fridge.

   “I’m good.”

   She dropped her hoof and walked over to the table, setting up her own plate.

   They ate in silence, until Sparkler said, “Are you feeling okay, Dinky?”

   “Fine.”

   “Are you sure?  If you need to talk to somepony, I’m always here, okay?”

   “I’ll keep that in mind.”

   A few minutes later, they finished their plates and Sparkler took them over to the sink.  “Do you want me to walk you to school?”

   “Yeah, I guess.”

   “Okay.  Go upstairs and get ready.  We’ll leave in a minute.”

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   Soon, they stood at the entrance to the schoolyard.  Most of the foals had already arrived, and were walking through the door to the schoolhouse.

   “Here we are.  You ready?” Sparkler asked, glancing down at her sister.

   “No.”

   The older unicorn frowned.  “Well, just try your best.  It’s only a few hours.”

   They walked over to the schoolhouse, the sun shining brightly.  Cheerilee, who’d been standing at the door, waved to them and gave a look of concern.  Dinky looked up to her sister, who met her gaze.  “See ya later, Dinks.”

   “Okay, Sparky.”

   Sparkler smiled a bit at that, and turned around.  She walked out of the courtyard and out of sight.  Dinky turned and brushed past her teacher without acknowledging her.

   The classroom’s chatter died down a bit as she walked through the room.  Glances revealed various looks on her classmates’ faces, ranging from pity to worry to reassurance.  She sat at a desk near the back, and didn’t say a word.

   “Alright, class!” Miss Cheerilee announced.  “Today, we’re going to be focusing on History.  Please open your textbooks to page 219, and we will begin a lesson on...”

   Dinky barely heard her, merely following the instructions and wishing for the day to be over.

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   “Okay, everypony, make sure you study for the test on Friday.  Class dismissed!”

   The foals all packed up their things and took off to the door.  As Dinky walked through the door, she felt Miss Cheerilee’s eyes on her, and increased her speed.

   She didn’t make it far.  “Hey, Dinky!”

   The call came from her right.  She stopped and turned towards its source, a trio of fillies.  The Cutie Mark Crusaders.

   “How are you feeling?” Sweetie Belle questioned nervously.

   “Okay, I guess,” Dinky replied.  Her voice was flat, not revealing her emotions.

   “That’s good.  Umm...” Apple Bloom trailed off, apparently at a loss for words.

   “We heard about what happened with your mom.  Sorry about that,” Scootaloo added, receiving an elbow to the side from Sweetie.  “Ow!  What?  I am!”

   Before an argument could break out, Dinky intervened.  “Look, I’m fine.  There’s no need to worry.  Everything’s gonna be fine.”  She couldn’t figure out whether she was assuring them or herself.

   “But what about-”

   “Well, look what we have here.”

Oh, great.  Dinky turned around, as the Crusaders stepped up next to her.  Sure enough, the sneering voice had come from a pink filly, wearing a scowl on her face and a tiara on her head.  Behind her stood a gray filly with glasses, who looked less sure of herself than her companion.

   “Looks like the Dork Club just got a new member,” the pink one said, a mocking tone heavy in her voice.

   “What do you want, Diamond?” Scootaloo challenged, a fierce look on her face.

   “Oh, nothing.  Just wondering why anypony would be stupid enough to join your little clique, but now it’s obvious.  She’s a blank-flank.”

   Apple Bloom stepped forward.  “Diamond, I know it ain’t easy for ya, but could ya please can it for once?”

   “Well, why would I do that?  You losers are just asking for it.”

   Dinky started to walk away, figuring it wasn’t worth the effort to argue, but a certain filly stepped in her path.  “Where do you think you’re going, blank-flank?”

   “Home.  Get out of my way.”

   “You can’t wait to go home to cry to your momma, huh?”

   Dinky’s blood ran cold.

   “Oh, wait,” Diamond continued, smiling maliciously.  “You can’t, can you?”

   “Shut up.”

   “Your mommy’s at the hospital, isn’t she?”

   “Shut.  Up.”  The tone in Dinky’s voice was unyielding, heavy with anger.

   “Uh, Diamond?” Silver Spoon piped up.  “Maybe you shouldn’t...”

   She was ignored.  “Oh, did I hit a nerve?” Diamond smirked.

   “I said, shut up.  Now.”

   “And if I don’t?”

   “I’ll knock your teeth out.”

   “Ha!” Diamond mocked.  “You couldn’t hit me if you tried.  You’re just as stupid as your mom.  A family of screw-ups.”

   Dinky’s horn lit up.  Diamond noticed.  “Oh, are you gonna shoot me?  Touch a single hair on my head and my daddy will-”

CLANG!

   Diamond’s head jerked forward as her tiara flew off.  It fell to the ground and slid over to Dinky.  A rock rolled away from where it landed, a crack marking where it had hit the metal.

   “Darn.  I missed.”  Dinky’s voice was cold, unfeeling, as she made eye contact with Diamond again.  Her eyes held a blank stare, contributing to the other filly’s shock.  Shock which quickly turned to anger.

   “You could’ve hit me with that!” she said in indignation, voice cracking slightly.

   “That was the point.  And you say I’m the stupid one.”

   “Give me my tiara!”

   “Oh, this?” Dinky questioned sarcastically.  She didn’t let Diamond answer.  “You don’t deserve this.”

   She continued on, cutting off Diamond as she opened her mouth.  “You don’t deserve to be rich.  You don’t deserve respect.  And you definitely don’t deserve a daddy who gives you anything you want.”

   Dinky placed a forehoof on top of the tiara.  “You are the most selfish, arrogant, unthankful, brattish, snobby, and disgusting pony I’ve ever met.  What you deserve is a taste of your own medicine.  You deserve to get your fat flank kicked.  And you deserve this.”

   With that, she lifted her hoof up high, and brought it crashing down.  It hit the tiara at the top, and smashed it down in on itself.  The thin metal it was made of bent easily, turning the delicate patterns into an undistinguished mess of broken frame.

   Everypony stared at it in shock, until Dinky kicked it over to Diamond Tiara.  “There.  Keep it.  Now get out of here.”

   Her voice did not beckon any questions, and none were asked.  Diamond simply spluttered for a second, unsure of what to do, before gripping her tiara in her teeth and running.  Silver Spoon, visibly shaken, followed after a brief hesitation.

   The remaining ponies were silent, except for Scootaloo.  “Whoa...” she said, awestruck.  “Dinky, that was incredible!”

   Dinky’s ears pricked up, and she turned her head.  She’d forgotten that the Crusaders were still there.  “Yeah, whatever.  She got what she deserved.”

   Apple Bloom spoke next.  “That was pretty cool.  Still, though, it seemed kind of...”

   Dinky glared at her.  “‘Kind of’ what?”

   Apple Bloom shrank a little under the unicorn’s gaze.  “It just seemed a bit... severe.”

   “I warned her.  It was her fault, not mine.”

   “Yeah, but-”

   “Would you leave me alone?” Dinky exclaimed, spinning around.

   “Whoa, Dinky, chill!” Scootaloo said, leaning back a bit.

   “I don’t want to chill!” Dinky yelled.  Realizing her volume, she lowered it to conversational level, but still loud.  “I just want to be left alone.  Is that so much to ask?”

   Sweetie pitched in.  “Of course not!  We’ll give you some space, right, Scootaloo?”

   “Hmmph!  Yeah, I guess so.”

   “Good.”  Dinky turned on the spot, stamping away.  She needed to find somewhere quiet.

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   Dinky had taken a sharp turn when she’d left the yard, and found a clearing in some trees not far from the school.  There was a tree stump, which she plopped down on and thought.

Stupid Diamond, stupid Crusaders, stupid tiara, URGH!  Angry thoughts ripped through her head, none lingering long enough to examine but all holding the same level of malice.  She just wanted to break something.

   At some point, the rational part of her brain spoke up.  Okay, just calm down, Dinky.  Deep breaths.  Distract yourself.

   “Hi there.”

   “AHHH!”

   Dinky leapt a foot into the air at the voice from behind her.  She landed on the ground in a heap, groaning.  “Oh!  I’m sorry.  Didn’t mean to scare you,” the voice said, worriedly.

   Dinky picked herself up and stretched, before turning around.  The voice had come from a small, pink filly.  It wasn’t Diamond Tiara, luckily.  This pony seemed familiar, but she couldn’t quite place her hoof on it.

   She had a smooth, pink mane, stopping at her shoulders like Dinky’s, that turned into sharp points at the back.  Her coat was pink as well, but a lighter shade that reminded her of fruit punch.  A small horn stuck out of her hair above her eyes, which were green, and shining with curiosity.  “I’m Ruby.  Ruby Pinch.”

   Dinky walked towards the tree stump as Ruby came around it.  They met in the middle, Ruby leaning against it while Dinky sat on the dirt.  “I’m Dinky.”

   “So I heard.”  Ruby looked her up and down.  “I saw that little exchange earlier.”

   For reasons she couldn’t explain, a small blush came to Dinky’s cheeks.  “Oh, you did?”

   “Yep.  It was pretty cool, you standing up to Diamond like that.”

   “I guess so.”

   “And I’m sorry about your mom.”  Before Dinky could grit her teeth and state that everything was fine, Ruby continued.  “My mom does stupid stuff all the time.  I come here whenever I need to just get away from it all.”

   “Huh.”

   A short silence passed.  “So, you wanna... talk about something?” Ruby suggested.

   Dinky was going to decline, but she realized that the alternative was to do nothing, and changed her mind.  “Yeah, sure.”

   “Okay.  Um... what’s your favorite color?”

   “Green.”

   “That’s nice...”

   It was apparent that Ruby wasn’t used to things like this, so Dinky stepped in.  “What’s your mom like?”

   Ruby’s face fell.  She turned away slightly, eyes downcast.  “Well... she’s my mom.  And I love her, but she’s made some really bad choices.”

   Dinky listened intently as Ruby continued.  “She tries, she really does, but she really needs help.  Alcohol doesn’t solve everything.  I don’t know if she’s figured that out yet.”

   Ruby shook her head, and gestured to Dinky.  “What about your mom?  What’s she like?”

   Dinky thought for a moment.  “Well... she gets a lot of attention.  Not really good attention.”  She lowered her head.  “She’s klutzy, and she messes things up, but she’s a really good pony.  Most ponies just don’t see that.  But she’s a really great mommy, and I love her a lot.”

   “Do you have a father?”

   Dinky’s head shot up.  Ruby was looking at her with sad, solemn eyes.  “I’ve never met my father, so I just wondered... sorry...”

   “No, no, it’s fine,” Dinky assured her.  She looked down again.  “Mommy told me that he’s a great pony.  I really wish I could meet him someday.”

   “Oh.”

   The silence returned.  It was a few minutes before Ruby spoke up.  “I should probably go home.  My mom’s probably wondering where I am.”

   “I should too.”  They both stood up.

   “Oh, and Dinky?”

   The gray filly looked at her.

   “Just stay strong.  Your mom will get better, I promise.”

   “Thanks.  Good luck.”

   “You too.”

   With that, they left the clearing.  And Dinky found a new friend.