• Published 9th Dec 2012
  • 10,431 Views, 1,125 Comments

Hot Heads, Cold Hearts and Nerves of Steel - Trinary



AU Dashverse: The Crystal Empire has returned and the foals of Equestria have gone missing!

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Chapter 5

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“Momma! Are we there yet?” Dinky’s voice echoed oddly as she walked alongside her mother. They were in a weird white place that wasn’t inside and wasn’t outside either. There wasn’t any floor nor any real way to mark their location. In the far, far distance was a tiny black square. They’d been walking towards it for a really long time but they never seemed to get any closer.

Ditzy was silent, so Dinky piped up again. “I don’t wanna complain cuz you said that complaining isn’t nice, but we’ve been walking for a really long time and my hooves are starting to hurt and can’t we just stop for a little bit, please and where are we going anyway?”

“Someplace special. Now come along…everypony is waiting for you,” Ditzy’s voice lacked her typical maternal warmth or her bubbly enthusiasm. Dinky frowned. Something was wrong with Momma, but she sure looked like momma. A little voice in her head whispered something she couldn’t quite hear. She forgot about her doubts and started bouncing around her mother excitedly.

“Who’ll be there, Momma? Oooh! Is Sparkler gonna be there? Will Miss Cloud Kicker and Rainbow Dash? And Gramma and Grampa and Alula and Pipsqueak and…?”

“Yes,” Ditzy replied blandly, blinking slowly. “Now come.”

Excited, Dinky raced ahead as fast as she could. She couldn’t wait to see all her family and friends--maybe they were all coming for a big party for Hearth’s Warming Eve! That’d be the best thing ever! They would all sing carols and exchange gifts and play and...

The unicorn filly frowned. That dumb door wasn’t getting any closer! Maybe it was magic. Dinky’s eyes lit up. Well, if that’s how that stupid door was gonna be, fine! She had magic too!

Scrunching her eyes shut, Dinky concentrated as hard as she could. Her horn faintly glimmered and sparked. “C’mon…c’mon….”

“Stop.” Ditzy walked over. “That’s enough.”

Dinky pouted. “Aww, but Mom…” Her brow furrowed. “Wait...a minute.” Something was wrong. Her horn always told her when her mom was near. But it wasn’t telling her that now. But if her eyes said it was her Momma, but her horn said it wasn’t...Dinky frowned. “Do you love me?”

Ditzy blinked slowly. “Yes.” Her voice was lifeless, with none of the love and joy that typically filled it. Her eyes were the right color…but where was the life behind them?

“…you’re not Momma!” Dinky proclaimed. “Where’s my Momma? Tell me now!” She lowered her head, waving her horn around. “If you won’t tell me, I’ll make you tell me!” Dinky took a deep breath and poured all her magic into her horn, gritting her teeth as she ground out: “Where’s. My. MOOOM?!”

The fake-Ditzy shattered like that time she dropped Miss Rarity’s mirror. Then the white stuff all around started to tremble and crack too. Dinky screamed…

And then woke up. “Huh?!” Scared and panting, Dinky sat up and looked around. “Mommy? I had a…scary dream?” She wasn’t in her bedroom…or even in her house. Instead she was in a mining cart…she knew it was a mining cart because Miss Cheerilee showed a picture of one in class when they were learning about Appleloosa. There was some hay and straw on the bottom so it wasn’t too cold…but that also might have been because she wasn’t alone. “Alula? Pipsqueak?”

Her two friends were curled up next to her, their sides rising and falling as they slept. Dinky looked up to see that they weren’t in Ponyville anymore…it looked like they were in a cave or a tunnel. It was scary and dark, but there were crystals in the wall that glowed so she could still see. There was a sad-looking pony hitched to the cart who was dragging it forward on a track. There were a lot of carts and ponies, all being taken the same way.

This wasn’t fair! She pouted. Once you woke up from a bad dream everything was supposed to be all right. Not get all weirder! “’Lula! Pip! Wake up!” She nudged the tiny colt with her head as she reached out with her hoof to shake Alula’s shoulder. “Something weird’s going on! Come on, waaake up!”

Pipsqueak’s eyelids fluttered as he was stirred awake. “Hnnng wha?” He rubbed his eyes. “Wha—” A massive yawn cut him off. “What's going on...” He tried again. “Dinky? What're you doing here?”

Alula mumbled sleepily. “I dunwanna do wing blade training mo—” She shook her head as she started waking up. “Huh? What's...this isn't home?”

Dinky covered their mouths with her hooves. “Ssh! Sumthin' weird's going on.”

“Hmmph?” Pip asked, eyes wide, around a mouthful of hoof.

Alula tensed, as she pulled away. Then she quietly whispered. “Weird how?”

Dinky looked over her shoulder. “Ida know...Momma's not here, we're not...home.”

“Where are we?” Pip looked up at the ceiling. “It looks like a cave...”

“Somthin's wrong.” Alula frowned. “We gotta ... get a repsit or somethin'. Reconeroterie.”

“It's kinda like Miss Cloud Kicker's closet.” Dinky mused. There was a beat as Pip and Alula looked at her incredulously. “It's gotta lotta whips and long, glowy things.”

Pipsqueak, not really knowing Cloud Kicker, just blinked in confusion. Alula however, nodded, getting it. “Cloudy has weird stuff in there, but Mom says I shouldn't look around.” The pegasus filly looked around. “So ...uh ... we're in a minecart. Why are we in a minecart?”

The sole colt shrugged, scratching his head adorably in thought. “I dunno…maybe somepony wants us to mine for buried treasure?” Pip suggested.

“Why are we here? Where are we?” Dinky tried to think. “How....I was asleep, how'd we get here?” She trembled slightly. “Where's Rainbow Dash?”

“I dunno Dinky.” Alula rested a wing against her friend. “Dunworry though. Momma always says Kickers keep other ponies safe.” She paused to think. “Okay, so...I say we should get outta the cart.” Alula, stood up and peeked over the edge of the cart; Pipsqueak being too small to see over the side and Dinky being too scared.

The lavender-gray unicorn filly hunkered down, “Waddaya see?”

Alula looked around. “’Kay ... we got some weird lookin' ponies pulling the carts, and a lotta tracks. There's other carts with the other kids in 'em.”

“D'you see a grown-up? Somepony that's not a stranger?”

“Uh-uh, just those weird-lookin' ponies pulling us away.”

“Nopony we know? Rainbow Dash? Your sister?” Dinky gulped. “Momma?”

Pip piped up with his own question. “Which way is Ponyville?”

Alula furrowed her little face in thought. “Um ...if all the kids from Ponyville are here, they're probably taking us away from Ponyville, right? And there're tracks...so maybe we just follow them back?”

“Maybe..?” Dinky hesitantly agreed.

“S-so, we should get out of here before it takes us further away from home, right?” Pip suggested.

“I don't see any adults. So I guess we gotta...” Alula thought back to what her Mom told her. “Yeah. We gotta stay calm, and go find an adult to help us.”

“Maybe we should ask one of the adults pulling the cart?” Dinky suggested helpfully as she hopped up besides Alula and turned to the pony pulling them. Pipsqueak used Dinky as a step stool so he could peek out over the side too.

Alula tried to grab Dinky. “No!” She hissed quietly, but it was too late.

“Hey! Um, d'you know how to get back home?” The little filly asked hopefully.

“Dinky! These ponies are taking us away from our parents! They're bad ponies!” Alula hissed.

The pony pulling the cart didn’t even give a start or slow down. Then she slowly turned her head back to the trio of foals. Her eyes were glassy and vacant. Almost like she was in a trance or a....

“Zombie pony!” Pipsqueak shouted. Dinky gave a shriek and fell back into the cart, taking Pipsqueak down with her. Alula ducked down too as panic soon infected all three of them.

Alula shuddered. “Probably wanna...gobble us up or something!” She exclaimed in horror.

Dinky was shuddering as well. “I was gonna be a zombie pony for Nightmare Night...I didn't really wanna be one!”

“Let's get out of here!” Pip yelped as he tried to climb up and out of the cart in a panic. But unlike the two fillies he wasn't tall enough to climb out on his own. Alula had to help him out by giving him a nudge.

“We got stay quiet, get outta here, and get back home.” She whispered to her fellows as they made their escape. “Or at least find an adult who can help.”

Dinky was next. She clambered up and banged her back hooves on the cart as she fell, letting out a pained yelp. “Ow!”

Dusting himself off, Pipsqueak ran over to Dinky as Alula made her own, less uncoordinated, exit. “A-are you okay?”

The injured filly sucked on her knee for moment. “Mm-hmm. Just hit it funny. Owie....” She shook it off. “'kay, let's get outta here!”

Alula trotted over to join them, warning with a hissed whisper. “We gotta stay quiet, or the zombie ponies will get us!”

Wide-eyed with fear the two other foals nodded. “R-right.” Pipsqueak whispered softly.

“Sorry.” Dinky tucked her head down and walked over to a crevice, hidden in the shadow of a glowing crystal. Pipsqueak trotted after her. Alula took a second to give a hesitant glance at other carts. She considered trying to wake up other ponies, but decided the risk of getting caught is too great. So she followed Dinky and Pip into hiding.

“So...now we wait for the zombie ponies to go past, then we go the other way?” The little piebald colt asked.

“Yeah,” Alula breathed softly. “We just gotta follow the tracks, and we'll get back home.”

Dinky thought, then nodded. “We gotta get outta here and find Momma. Or somepony else who can help.”

“We’ll need to find somepony really brave and strong.” Pip thought aloud, tapping a hoof against his muzzle. “Like Captain Pip Sparrow, fiercest pirate captain on the seas! Arrr!” He winked roguishly at Dinky, making her giggle.

Alula rolled her eyes. “Stop being silly! This isn’t playtime, we need a real pony!” she argued. “Like Cloudy or Mom or Dad or Rainbow Dash or...”

Dinky nodded. “Or Momma or Uncle Cirrus.”

“Or a Princess?” Pipsqueak suggested, not wanting to be left out.

“'Kay. So we keep going until we find one of them, or anypony in the Guard.” Alula confirmed, taking charge.

Dinky nodded again and looked back at the way the carts were coming from. “It's dark that way...um, I don't think we can take this with us.” She nodded her head up to the large crystal.

“Well...” Alula thought. “As long as we stay on the tracks, we won't get lost.”

“But it's dark.” Dinky let out a mild whimper.

“ Maybe...” The pegasus filly reached up and smacked the crystal with a hoof. The results were not encouraging. “Oww ...” Alula winced and waved her hoof. “No wonder mom wears metal shoes...”

Looking around, Pip saw a chunk of crystal lying on the ground near the wall. “Look!” He pointed out before trotting out to get it. However he found that picking it up with his teeth wasn’t going to be possible as the crystal was rather heavy. Not that he didn’t try. He grunted and pulled.

Dinky shook her head knowingly. “Momma always says to lift with your legs, Pippy.” Then she went out and tried only to overbalance and almost fall over the instant she tried to pick it up. She stomped her hoof and let out some angry foal-curse words. “That's heavy!” She tried again, managing to lift the crystal a bit before having to let go. “Stoopid heavy thing!”

For his part, the diminuitive Pip was trying to show the fillies that he was a big and strong pony by trying to lift the crystal up himself. “I gaff it!!” He grunted, digging his hooves into the ground and strains, trying to lift it…and failing. “Gah!”

Alula scratched her head. “Dinky? What about your telek—telkin—magic?”

“I'll try, Sparky's been teachin' me some stuff...” Dinky puffed out her cheeks, her horn sputtering sparks as the crystal rolls on the ground a bit, but that was all.

“Okay ... well maybe if all three of us carry it together?” Alula suggested. Pip nodded glumly.

But Dinky shook her head, grumbling. “Lemme try somthin'...stoopid magic....” her cheeks puffed out again and her eyes crossed in concentration as her horn glowed very slightly.

Pipsqueak took a hesitant step back. “Um, are you okay Dinky? Your eyes are starting to look like your mum's....”

She nodded, focusing her derped gaze on her horn. “Sparky said I gotta think about it a lot...so I gotta watch an' make sure it's still glowing.”

“Dinky?” Alula bit her lip as the crystal began to shake. “Be careful...”

“Of what?” Dinky asked, right before she tripped on a flat surface. “Owie...so that's why Momma's always crashing.”

Pip rushed over. “Are you okay?” He gave her a comforting nuzzle before looking over to the crystal. “Look!” He pointed. Dinky hadn’t managed to lift the crystal up but the next best thing happened. It cracked and broke off a piece, forming a smaller, lighter and easier to carry shard. “You made the crystal break!”

Alula nodded. “Yeah! Good work Dinky!” She rushed over to give her an impulsive hug.

Dinky rubbed her head, but hugged them both back. “M'okay.” She looked at the shard. “'lula, can you carry that under your wing?”

Pip frowned. “Why can't I carry it?” He walked over and picked the smaller crystal up with his teeth…but its additional weight caused his body to overbalance and he ended up faceplanting into the ground, his rump in the air. “Awww....” he pouted as he spat out the crystal and sat on the ground. “Dumb rock.”

Alula just rolled her eyes as she answered his earlier question. “'Cause you're a boy, stupid.” She picked up the crystal and tucked it under her wing.

Dinky came over to pat his head sympathetically. “You'll get it later. You just need an awesome pony to show you how.”

Sulking, Pip grumbled as they started walking back along the tracks. “M'not stupid…and I am an awesome pony.”

“'kay ... so I guess I go first since I've got the light.” Alula stated. “Then Dinky, then Pip. We gotta go single file, 'cause…” She thought and drew a blank. “I forget, but it's important.”

“Ponies gotta go single file to hide their numbers....and we scare easy, but come back in bigger numbers.” Dinky suggested. Then she shrugged. “'least that's what Miss Pinkie says.”

‘Lula’s eyes brightened. “Yeah, that sounds right Dinky!” The unicorn filly beamed proudly.

“W-why do I have to be last?” Pip bit down on his trembling lip as he remembered that in the comics, the pony at the end of the line always gets grabbed without anypony noticing.

“'Cause you're a colt.” Dinky explained. “Cooties'll scare off anypony coming from behind.”

“But I don’t have cooties!” Pip protested, but in vain.

“Everypony knows colts have cooties.” Alula stated matter-of-factly.

Pip shook his head as he marshaled his arguments. “Nuh-uh! It's fillies that have cooties!”

“You got cooties.” Dinky said bluntly. “S'okay, Miss Cloud Kicker says condos help keep them away.” She paused, thinking. “I dunno what a condo is, though she was talkin' to Sparky when she said that.”

“Cloud Kicker's kinda weird.” Pip scratched his head. ”My Da said she's easy...makes it sound like she's a game or something.”

“Cloudy says lotsa weird stuff sometimes.” Alula agreed. “Mom says it’s not important.” Then she glared at Pip. “She's still the coolest big sister ever!” She towered over the tiny colt.

Feeling sorry for him, Dinky piped up. “Nuh-uh, Sparky's the coolest!”

“Cloudy could beat up Sparky.” Alula argued as she started walking, Dinky and Pip falling in behind her.

That made Dinky huff. “Nuh-uh! Sparky's got magic!”

“Cloudy's got Guard training and Krav Pega and wing blades and stuff. Sparky's just got magic. So Cloudy's, like, three times as good!” Countered the little pegasus.

“What's Krav Pega?” Pipsqueak asked.

“It's this really cool thing we learn that let's us go all wham! Boom! Pow!” ‘lula mimed punches with forehooves.

“Ssh!” Dinky hushed her intently.

Alula bristled defensively. “I was bein' quiet!”

“Yer being loud!”

“Am not!” ‘lula whispered harshly. Dinky responded with a loud hushing noise.

Pipsqueak took a big breath as he tried to think of what his Da would tell him to do. He’d say to keep a stiff upper lip and all that…what the ‘all that’ was, Pip never found out. Still, Pip decided that this could be just like one of his adventure books. The brave stallion who led the scared fillies out of the deep dark cave and rescues them. He beamed at the thought. He’d be a hero! His overactive imagination started picturing all kinds of scenarios: monsters and sword fights and treasure!

Then…a stray drop of icy cold moisture dripped down from the ceiling and landed right down on his rump. So lost in his own thoughts, the startled colt let out a fillyish shriek “EEEEEEK!!!” The sudden noise made Dinky shriek and jump as Pip’s wild imagination went into overdrive. “AAAH! Zombie pony drool! They’re gobbling my backside!” He wailed.

Alula jumped in front of the two of them and flared her wings protectively. “You try and hurt my friends and I'm gonna getcha!” She shouted in a tone that she would insist definitely did not make her sound even a little bit scared. At all. Dinky huddled behind her and Pip behind Dinky, clinging closely to each other.

There was an utter silence, broken only by the occasional shiver, knocking of knees and the dripping of water. Drip....drip....drip...

Dinky breathed heavily, then giggled. “'S water you dolt-colt,” she nudged Pip.

The tough pegasus turned around and scowled, trying to keep her voice from shaking. “I ...” she frowned, using her wing to swat the back of Pip’s head. “Dummy! You sca—you startled me!”

Pip rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Ow! Well, I thought it was drool from a zombie pony!” He defended himself.

“And you got cooties all on me!” Dinky added.

“I did not!” Pip protested. “You got cooties on me!” In the distance there was the faint sound of water dripping again. He squealed and hugged Dinky again.

“Maybe we should keep goin' an'—” Alula growled in annoyance, swatting Pip again. “Stop bein' a fraidypony, Pip!”

Dinky rolled her eyes and went to shove him off again when she heard something else in the distance.

Drip...clip-clop....drip...clip-clop.....drip-clip-clop.....

Pip froze. “W-what's that? Do we run or hide?”

In a very light whisper, Alula murmured. “Hide first.”

In a tense and quiet tone, Dinky whispered. “'lula, hide your crystal.” She tucked it beneath her wing, hiding its light completely. Dinky pulled both of them into a tight crevice, covering Pip’s mouth. The scared colt trembled, huddling against the girls as something approached.

A pony like one of the cart-pullers approached and looked around, its eyesight distorted by the crystal held in its mouth to guide itself. It looked around at knee-level, clearly not searching for an adult.

Alula gulped and covered her mouth. Dinky went wide-eyed and held her friends in a panicked chokehold as Pip trembled. Thinking quickly, Alula carefully grabbed a loose chunk of rock, and threw it back down the way they came from. The pony made an animalistic grunt and turned to follow the source of the sound, passing within feet of the three of them.

Once the pony had gone past, Alula whispered quietly. “Quick!” She started to run as quietly as possible. Dinky bolted as well, chomping onto Alula's tail to keep from getting separated as Pip, in turn chomped on Dinky’s tail and ended up getting pulled along, his hooves not even touching the ground as they ran.

The foals kept running and running until Dinky started to tire and slow. She wasn’t as in-shape as Alula, and Pip barely ran as much as he was pulled…and as blasphemous as it might be to say in the Doo household, muffins don’t make for a healthy, well balanced diet (Ditzy had attempted to introduce ‘healthy’ broccoli and asparagus muffins but those didn’t turn out so well).

Seeing Dinky slow made Alula reduce speed as well, until all three of them finally came to a complete halt. Pip spat Dinky’s tail out of his mouth. “Ugh....I think I got your tail hair in my mouth...”

Poor Dinky, more worn out than either of them, panted in gasps. “Got....colt-slobber....in my tail.”

Alula was looking winded as she regarded her own tail, now Dinky-free. “Dinky-spit. At least it doesn't have cooties.”

Shakily, Dinky lied down for a breather. “Nuh...nuh-uh.”

Pipsqueak mumbled something about girls and cooties that even he forgot about when he lifted his head up and looked ahead. “....uh-oh.”

The fillies looked up too, Dinky going wide-eyed as they saw the main tunnel suddenly splitting off into five or six branches...each one with a rail running into it. There was no way of telling which one led back to Ponyville. And though they didn’t realize it, the main tunnel itself had not been a straight line either, but had twisted and turned any number of times during their trek.

They were well and truly lost.

Realizing this, Alula used a couple words she heard at the Kicker training yards once. Still panting, Dinky looked at her. “Whadda those mean?”

Her friend just shrugged. “I dunno. They just seem like mad words.”

Dinky nodded, scrunching her face up in thought. “....I'll ask Momma when I get home.”

“...which way do we go to get home?” Pip asked.

Licking her lips as she tried not to panic, Dinky tried to think of an answer. “Um.....”

“Uh ...” Alula started pointing at random and quietly muttering under breath. “Eeny meeny miney moe...”

“Catch a griffin by the toe...” Dinky continued when she was cut off by a sudden, low growl. “…ifhehollerslethimgo!”

“That one looks good!” Alula yelped as she jumped in surprise and ran down the third tunnel on the left, Dinky hot on her hooves.

Pip hesitated for a second then chased after them. “But—Uh, guys?”

As she ran, ‘lula looked back at him. “What?”

“Um, that was just me.” Pipsqueak admitted.

Alula stopped running and shot an annoyed look at Pip. “That was your tummy, wasn't it?”

Sheepishly, Pip nodded. “A huh. I’m hungry.”

“Tell it to shush.” Dinky asked doing her best to totally sound not scared.

“I can't help it!” Pip bit his lip. “I'm really hungry...”

Alula swatted the back of his head again. “Dummy.”

He sulked for a moment, then proceeded to giggle. “You were both scared of my tummy.”

Alula drew herself up proudly. “Was not!”

“Was too!”

“Was not!”

“Too!”

“Not!”

“Too!”

“Not, cootie-face!”

“Too, featherbrain!”

Dinky put her hooves over her ears and pouted. “Quiddit guys, 'm thinking.” Alula and Pip stopped and looked to their friend. Alula sat down quietly waiting for Dinky to think.

“'bout what?” Pip asked curiously.

Dinky went derp-eyed. “Tryin'ta remember what Miss Pinkie taught me.....itchy neck means somepony's watching you....” she started walking in a random direction. “…creaky knee says which way to go....” she sped up excitedly. WHAM! “Oh yeah. And a wall to the face means you've found the wall.” She groaned as she pulled her face away from the rock.

Pip winced sympathetically. “Um, does that even work for ponies who aren't Pinkie Pie?”

“You okay, Dinky?” Alula asked.

Dinky reached up and rubbed her now bloody nose. “Owie.....”

Pipsqueak trotted over to give her a get-better-hug, as Alula hastily joined them to clean up the blood.

“A-are you okay Dinky?” Pip asked in concern, patting her back.

“Ogay....dat didud hurd.” Dinky groaned.

Pip tried to think of what his Mum would say if she were here. He tightened his hug and patted her back again. “Um...there, there?” He had no idea what that even meant, but if the grown ups did it, it must work, right?

“'posedta what, 'ere 'ere?” Dinky blinked in confusion.

“…I 'unno” Pip admitted sheepishly. “It’s supposed t’make you feel better.”

Dinky snerked and accepted the hug. “'kay.”

Alula meanwhile was trying to think of what her Mom would do. “It's not that bad.” She said at last. “We gotta keep moving.”

“But she's hurt!” Pip protested, looking up from his hug. “And we don't know where we're going!”

“Crying's not gonna make her not hurt.” Alula huffed impatiently.

“Well what if she gets even more hurt? Maybe we could, um...make a stretcher!” The colt suggested.

That prompted another eye roll from Alula. “Her legs are fine, dummy.”

“Stop calling me dumb!” Pip stomped his hoof, getting upset. “Who put you in charge anyway?”

Dinky rubbed her sore snout as she looked at her friends. “Quiddit! We gotta go, 'kay?” She sniffed as her nose stopped bleeding.

“Yeah….” Alula shot a last annoyed look at Pip, then cleaned the rest of the blood off of Dinky's nose. The little colt snorted, deliberately turning away from her.

The little unicorn sat still as she let Alula clean her. “You too. Bein' mean's mean.” She paused for a beat. “And, uh, not okay down here.”

“But he keeps being a dummy!” Alula exclaimed defensively, throwing her hooves up.

Pipsqueak sniffled.

Dinky rolled her eyes, then looked to the side. “You're bein' mean, 'lula.”

The rebuke from her friend made Alula give a guilty flinch. “But...”

Pip meanwhile wasn’t paying attention. He was rubbing a hoof across his face as thought back to his Mum and Da. Big colts don't cry...that's what his Da told him. Big colts don't...cry…a drop of water ran down his muzzle and plunked onto the ground.

Dinky meanwhile pulled head away from ‘lula. “You're. Being. Mean. And a bigger dummy.”

Then it was Alula’s turn to sniffle. “'Mnot mean.” Dinky said nothing, she just motioned her head to Pip as the little colt’s whole body seemed to shake as he sobbed softly. Alula hung her head and very quietly mumbled. “Not a meanie...”

Grumbling at her friend being stubborn, Dinky got up and gave Pip a get-better hug. He immediately latched onto Dinky and started crying in earnest. This wasn’t like the adventure stories! “I--I wanna go home!”

She shushed, trying to get him to be quiet, even as she was trying not to tear up herself. “Me too.”

As much as she tried to stop it, the tears started to come for Alula too. She raised her voice angrily. “I wanna go home too, but crying and being dummies isn't gonna help!” This wasn’t fair! She was just doing what her Mom did when Alula was hurt or scared. I can't cry like a baby, she thought to herself. I gotta be tough and brave! She was, after all, a Kicker. She was from a long-line of royal guards ponies—as her mother was always fond of reminding her. Her mom was a guard, her dad was a guard…even if she wasn’t a guard yet, it was up to Alula to be brave and strong for other ponies 'cuz that’s what Kickers did.

She frowned grumpily. Stupid Pip. Him being scared made it harder for her to deny that she was too! And she couldn’t let herself be scared! Then as quick as her anger came, it left just as fast. She let out a soft sniffle. “We gotta be strong an' tough and stuff. Like soldiers, 'kay?” She pleaded for them to understand.

Dinky nodded. She went over from Pipsqueak to give Alula a get-better-hug as well. “'kay. Let's go, I wanna go home.”

Pip nodded, wiping his eyes as went over to join them. “M-me too...I miss my Mum and Da.”

Alula held onto Dinky and very quietly whispered to herself. “Shouldn't be crying. Dumb me. Gotta be tough.”

Dinky pulled them both close, nuzzling Alula. “'m scared too.” Pip hugged both of them.

After wiping her eyes on Dinky's shoulder, Alula sniffed back her tears. “You dunhafta be scared Dinky, 'Cause I'm a Kicker, and Kickers keep other ponies safe.” She gave a half-smile at Pip. “Even dummy colts with cooties.”

The little colt didn’t seem to mind this, as he continued to hug them both tightly. “We all got cooties now.”

“Maybe Miss Cloud Kicker can give us a condo to help when we get back?” Dinky suggested.

“Yeah, sis'll do that.” Alula nodded. “And we'll get back safe. I'll keep you both safe, 'cause it's my duty.” Dinky and Pip looked at each other and then back to the super-serious Alula. They both snorted and started to giggle. “What?”

The pressure of the situation and the ensuing emotional rollercoaster had taken their toll on the normally more mature Dinky and Pipsqueak as they burst out together: “You said doodie!” Then they fell against each other and began giggling madly. Alula blinked incredulously, but then she started giggling too.

At that, despite the seriousness of their situation, all three foals cracked up and started laughing and hugging, creating one bright spark of hope that seemed to drown out all the dark and gloom around them.

& & &