//------------------------------// // chapter 5 // Story: Midnight Hooves in Ponyville // by Paradise Oasis //------------------------------// 2nd year, 140th day- Our honeymoon having come to an end, Ditzy and I have come back to our regular lives. She has returned to her duties as a mail-mare, and I to my dig in the everfree forest. I have moved into Ditzy's house- a modest, two story structure on the outskirts of town. It is far more spacious than my accommodations at the library, and there was even a vacant room that I was able to convert into a study. I truly believe that I am going to like it here. Ditzy has settled back into her job, but the other ponies are tormenting her even worse than before. But now, they have taken her old nickname of Derpy, and combine it with her married name she received from me, to create a cruel new taunt. "Hey, Derpy Hooves! Why don't you watch where you're going?" "Derpy Hooves! You dropped another package, you cross-eyed freak!" "Derpy Hooves! Derpy Hooves! Eyes so crossed, she can't see straight!" I'd love to use my magic to pay these arrogant ponies back for their cruel taunts, but Breezy warned me against it. He says it'd be stooping to their level... and I suppose he's right. Besides, the Equestrian board of magic would have my head if I started turning ponies into rats and scorpions. Sky Runner stayed behind in ponyville to help me, with my excavations at the dig site. He got himself all excited ,when he found a tablet telling the story of the four golden horseshoes- an ancient set of artifacts the penna forged, and gave to the first unicorn who ever came to Equestria. Sky believes that these horseshoes tapped the positive primal energies of world, much like how the flashstone taps the negative energies. He has rushed back to Canterlot, to write an essay about his theories to present to the board. Sky Runner believes that the positive energies he could tap with a 'rainbow of light', created from the same magic that forged the golden horseshoes, could be greater than the negative power that could be tapped from the flashstone. Knowing what I do about the selfish and self-centered nature of Ponykind, I seriously doubt he is correct. 2nd year, 160th day- Great Celestia... I have finally went and done it! I finally lashed out in anger at one of the ponies in this town, for their cruelty towards my Ditzy Doo. Now, I can only hope my misuse of magic goes undetected by the board. Her name was Goldie Glitter, the spoiled niece of Mayor Mare, who was used to getting away with anything in this town without getting into trouble. She was following Ditzy along on her mail route, taunting and teasing her to try and get a reaction. When Ditzy Doo simply ignored her, Goldie knocked her mailbag off of her hoof, and scattered her letters on the ground. When Ditzy then tried to gather the letters up, Goldie pushed my wife's face down into the mud. When Big Mac told me, I was furious. How dare she treat my Ditzy like that! Ditzy may have just taken the whole thing with a shrug, but that didn't mean I would. When I went to confront Goldie about her actions, she told me that "a pony like Ditzy desreved to be treated like that!". When I threatened to tell her aunt about her shameful actions, she warned me that it would be unfortunate if a "retarded" pony like Ditzy had to be taken away to a special place for ponies like her. That... that was too much. I don't care who her aunt is- this arrogant mare had insulted, humiliated, and threatened my beloved wife. This foul-mouthed mare is even worse than my nasty tempered sister. Reacting in anger, my horn began to glow, as I cast the spell that would prevent her from hurting Ditzy Doo ever again... Everpony loved the new statue that I donated, to sit atop the new fountain in Ponyville square. A few ponies even commented how much the statue looked like Goldie. The mayor and Goldie's family merely assumed she had run off with a Stallion she had been messing around with, and they doubted they would ever see her again. The petrifaction spell I cast made it so Goldie can still see and hear what's going on around her. I wonder how she likes her new position as the centerpiece of town? 2nd year, 220th day Great Celestia, I cannot believe it... I just cannot believe it. I am going to be a father. Ditzy collapsed today while on her mail route, and we rushed her to the local clinic. I was worried that she had fallen terribly ill, so imagine my shock when the nurse told me my wife was pregnant! That revelation hit me like a ton of bricks, and for several minutes I as stunned into utter silence. After I got over my initial shock, all sorts of doubts and fears began to creep into my mind. Would the child be born a Pegasus, or a unicorn? Was I ready to be a father? And what kind of father would I be? I had tried to raise my younger sister on my own, after our parents had died... and that ended in disaster. How could I keep the same problems from happening again? But as I look down at my wife, she smiled up at me. All of my doubts and fears melted away like a gentle snowfall in the spring time. Together, we would overcome any obstacles, and raise our child with affection and care. Be it colt or filly, unicorn or Pegasus, a large foal or a Dinky little thing... I swear this child will only know love.