> The origins of Ditzy Doo > by Joshua PickleSmith > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The origin of an origin > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1: The origin of an origin “Ditzy, come and get your breakfast, you'll be late,” shouted an aggravated Mum ready to positively explode from anticipation of the upcoming day. I won't shout ag- “I'm here” interrupted the young filly. “Hurry up and finish your food Ditz- oh my, I'm late as well,” said the frantic mum, who glanced at the clock for a fraction of a second and as if instinct, grabbed her daughter by the mane and mantled her on top of her., then set off out the door and into the fresh air.“Hey... Mom... I... Didn't... Finish my.... Grass” said Ditzy as her Mother rode through the winding tracks and rocky roads of FillyDelphia. “There's no time, you'll be late, and more importantly, I'll be late.” Both Ditzy and her Mother had inherently got a bad sense of time, which was made even more worrying when Ditzy's father passed away. He was always on time, you could say that the relationship between Ditzy's mum and Dad was a case of opposites attracting. But after he had passed away, things went all loco in the coco as a matter of speaking. "You know you can put me down now, I'm a big pony you know, I can gallop just as fast as you." Ditzy said with a slight hint of over confidence. "No no no, I beg to differ my little pony, if it wasn't for me you would still be eating your wheat's," snarled the Mare. "anyway my legs are longer than yours, this is much faster." Though Ditzy hated to admit it she knew her mother was right, she was always trying to compensate for the loss of a certain family member, Ditzy only wished she could be more helpful, as if coming to a resolution Ditzy vowed to always be on time from now on. That resolution was quickly broken again, again, and again. Ditzy's mother came to an abrupt halt almost hurtling Ditzy in the process, Ditzie's Mom lowered so Ditzy could set her hooves on solid ground. Ditzy quickly hopped to the school grounds and started mingling with her friends almost immediately. "I'll be here at the end of the day sweetheart" shouted the mare. Ditzy in reply gave a shy smile and a quick wave with her hoof and continued talking with her friends. "They grow up so fast" Mrs Doo turned her back on the school and headed towards her own appointment she was already running out of time for. > Lesson Cutie Mark > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2: Lesson Cutie Mark "So why was your mother carrying you anyway?" said one of her friends as soon as the Ditzie's Mom had set off in the opposite direction. "oh that, well" *Ring* *Ring.* "ahh fiddle sticks" said an unknown pony in the crowded playground. "I'll tell ya later" said Ditzy between her teeth, when in reality she had no intention of telling her friends, or for that matter anyone, she didn't want people thinking she was a baby. One by one the ponies entered the building to their respectable classrooms and sat down in their given seats. "Hellooooo" said the overly cheerful Sharley. Today is a very special lesson, so everyone get out your pencils. Sharley seemed to be never upset or angry, it's as if her only emotion, her only reason for living... Was to laugh and be happy. Even when punishing disobedient pupils she always was subtle and was always as optimistic as ever. "Today we will be learning a very special lesson, we will be learning about..." Sharley paused for a few seconds as she got out her chalk and pressed against the black board. As she spoke as she wrote out each letter as if she was teaching a class for exceptionally slow fillies. "C-U-T-I-E M-A-R-K-S, ah there we go, Cutie marks! Now let start off by asking everypony to put up your hooves if you have a cutie mark. Ditzy was amazed at how many had already got their cutie marks. At least 15 out of the 20 students had already got their cutie marks. "I hadn't even noticed before" Ditzy said to herself, quiet enough for no one to hear. "oh what a great turn out," Shardy giggled to herself. "Now I know there is no need to tell you what a cutie mark is since you have no doubt already asked any family members of friends what that mark is on their thigh so there is no need." You can say that again, I've had enough lessons on cutie marks to last a lifetime said Ditzy in her head, this must be the 3rd lesson on cutie marks this year, what else is their to learn? and it only gives the show-offs a chance to show-off their "special" talents, I mean, what kind of a cutie mark is a fork anyway? what could that possibly mean as a cutie mark? "Ditzy" said the ever joyous teacher, what are you good at?" Ditzy had unknown to her been daydreaming for quite some time so when she came back to consciousness was at the peak of confusion. "uhh, I, dunno" uncertainly replied the confused Pegasus. "Ahh come on Ditzy what are you better at than everyone else here?" Ditzy was surprised at the question, the pause in her reply caused the entire class to look at her awaiting a response. She had to say something and fast "uhh uhh" Ditzy said the first thing that came to her head, which was unfortunately. "Muffins." > Out of sync > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 3: Out of sync Ditzy had at that distinct point in time, closed her eyes and kept them shut, she didn't want to see the shocked faces of the students or the surprised face of Miss Sharley. Oh who am I kidding, she won't be surprised she will be as forgiving and nice as ever. Ditzy opened one eye after a few seconds to see the classes faces only to find that all the occupants of the room were grouped together at the window. "What the?" "What is that?" "It looks so pretty" said members of her class. Ditzy could only imagine the faces she was imagining in her head of the other fillies was now stuck on her face, what were they looking at? Ditzy tried looking through the window but it was blocked by all the other ponies. Sure she was glad no one noticed her critical error. But she had to find out what everypony was making a fuss about. "Wow it's incredible" another pony said again. "That's it! I'm going to see what is happening" and at that moment she opened the door to the classroom and hurried out of the building. As she opened the door with a thud she saw a rainbow of different colours almost flying towards her. the colours impacted her with unrelenting force and pushed her back against a wall. "My head, where am I" said the confused Pegasus, just as soon as she asked she remembered the answer. "I'm in school, uh what happened, something happened, something about muffins, oww my head" Ditzy slowly and steadily got herself up off the ground and placed herself on damp floor. "actually on second though, I'm gonna sit somewhere else" she proceeded to get up and sit somewhere which wasn't wet but she soon realized that the whole floor was wet, heck all the doors were open, a few windows were smashed. "It's like a tornado was in here," she said with a hint of confusion. "What is happening and what time is it" shouted Ditzy to the empty space of the corridor. "There you are Ditzy, I have been worried sick, are you OK." Ditzy recognized the voice as Miss Sharley, she sounded the same even though what she was saying was supposed to be said in a worried tone, nevertheless, Ditzy was glad to see somepony. "Oh my what happened here, please come up to the classroom quick!" Ditzy and Sharley entered the first floor classroom which was covered in flowers, butterflies and other happy stuff. The other students had hid themselves under their tables, as if expecting an explosion. "what is wrong with everypony?" said Ditzy. "You should get under your table as well Ditzy, who knows if it will happen again... wait a second what happened to your eye" "My eye?" "is there something wrong with it?" "Nice eye Derpy derp" shouted one of the more obnoxious members of the class. "What is wrong with my eye!" said Ditzy slowly becoming more paranoid. "Oh, hehe nothing is wrong" Said Sharley with the worst poker face imaginable Ditzy without saying anything set out of the classroom and into the Filly toilets. "Ditzy Doo come back here at once" said Sharley surprisingly out of character, but even despite the surprising outburst from the ever loving pony, curiosity got the better of her and she looked into the mirror hanged above the taps. With a short pause Ditzy took a deep breath and said "OK, I think I see the problem.... but does the problem see me." > A different profession > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4: A different Profession After what happened I had to be sent to the emergency room to see what is wrong with my eye. Unfortunately the Doctor looking after me is the self proclaimed king of not listening to anything I say! "Now tell me little pony, how did this all happen?" "There was a rainbow and it blew everything away" I said to the "Professional." "Now now little pony, a rainbow can't just attack people." "I'm telling the truth" I said while the annoyance levels were rising in my blood stream. "There were all these different colours and boom, I hit the floor and my eyes must have been hit on the impact." "Now hitting the floor doing this, yes I can believe that, but a rainbow physically pushing you with such force is simply impossible." We had being at this for a good hour, and his over confidence hadn't been undermined once during the argument. Isn't the doctor supposed to take what you say and make an examination from what you say, not reflect what you say at right back at you. "Look, lets just say that you hit your head, and somehow this caused you pupils to come.. in a unprofessional term, out of place." "OK" I said with an annoyance bar of over 9000 "Well I don't see how I can possibly help you, but I will recommend you to one Zoruck." "Is he a Doctor?" "Well, no he isn't, lets just say he leads in an entirely different profession, from where I'm standing I can't do anything about this injury apart from giving you this lollipop." "I don't need no lollipop, is my Mom going to pick me up or what" I said with both arms crossed. As if me saying these words out loud were magical she slammed through the door and immediately proceeded to embrace me. "I was so worried Ditzy are you OK, I brought your favourite food, cupcakes, oh my your eye, oh it doesn't matter the doctor will help." As if I needed to be reminded about cupcakes, sheesh. "I am afraid I cannot do anything about this injury Mrs Doo, but I can recommend you to someone who can." "Oh that would be fantastic doctor" Mrs Doo said with relief. "Where should I go to find this doctor?" "I wouldn't call him a doctor... I think, anyway he lives in the spherical forest, you know where that is right?" At the instant of hearing the spherical forest my eyes lit up in a fiery blaze. "Really and truthful, the Spherical forest oh wow." Upon saying this I jumped out my mothers arms and started imagining me, an explorer searching for this elusive pony. "Oh no you are simply too young, the spherical forest is far too dangerous" Retorted my mother "He lives on the outside of the forest so you wont have much trouble" quickly replied the aging doctor. And he also has a daughter so it must be safe. "Please please please please" I said in quick succession. I guess you are wondering what is so great about this forest, well I was told many stories about the forest by my Dad, he would always tell them to me on days like nightmare night. He always told them with such enthusiasm, i can almost visibly remember his expressions and his was of telling a terrifying story. "The spherical forest... The spherical forest is nowhere safe for any pony like you my dear" He would always start, "there are trolls and even night stalkers." To this day I still do not know what a night stalker is, and to be honest, I kinda wanna know, they sound awesome. "But aren't you scared Ditzy?" > Preparation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 5: Preperation Since leaving the hospital, me and my Mother had set off to our house to get some extra blankets and some food, the journey wouldn't take long but it was quite cold at this time and it would be almost night when we got back. My mother had been awfully quiet ever since hearing about the forest, almost like she dreaded going. "Why don't we hold off going Ditzy?" The instant I heard these words I was surprised as can be, I didn't even muster any words. "We can go another time, maybe we could have a day off school tomorrow and just spend time together" Spending time... together? have a day off school, something wasn't right here. I had to keep the pressure on though, I had to get my eyes "fixed." "But what about my eyes?" "Oh please it isn't even noticeable.. if anything it makes you seem cuter than ever." Upon hearing that string of words I was holding back from saying I beg to differ. But instead I decided to take a different approach. "But everypony will make fun of meeeeee!" "No no, people are much nicer than that." "Oh I am sure they wont make fun of me... while I'm around that is, but when I am out of hearing range I will be the towns favourite conversation starter." "My mother always told me that any publicity is good publicity" she said, you could tell she was running out of things to say, I had to keep the pressure on. "Why don't you want to go Mom?" "I.. I... I want to go for you Ditzy, I just think it would be best to spend some Mother, daughter time together." "I call coco beans on that Mom, something is wrong, are you scared, I can go on my own you know." "You most certainly are not, I am going with you, and that is final." The instant she said this a smile appeared around my face "Great, I'll get my stuff from the house and we will set off in a few minutes" After saying this I started galloping towards our house which was within an arm length away. I could only imagine the face of my mothers was that of confusion and regret of what she said. ______________________________________________________________________ "Come on Mom, it's almost time." "Right, uh would you rather we set of tomorrow it will be awfully dark soon" "At 4:00 in summer?" "Oh, hehe, silly me, well... uhh, off we go..." Something is clearly wrong with her, but what? As I thought this I picked up my extra blanket and threw it on my back along with a few snacks, I kicked the door shut to the house and we both set in the direction of the Spherical forest. Luckily for us, or should I say me the forest is pretty much in our back garden, not far at all. We had gone around 5 minutes when we both approached the outside of the forest. "Ditzy, I have to tell you something." Finally, I knew something was wrong, and now she's going to tell me, I'm not bragging or anything, it was pretty easy to tell something was wrong. Ooops, I forgot to listen. "And that is why I am scared to go in the forest." "Oops, sorry I was daydreaming, can you please tell me again." I said with a hint of embarrassment "You really must listen more Ditzy, now as I said, it has something to do with your father." Oh boy I shouldn't have asked. "He always used to go in the forest, he went in on a daily basis going on little adventures, he always used to say he would bring you when you were old enough, one day *laughing* he even tried smuggling you into his bag without me noticing. "He sounded just like me" I said with my head pointing towards the ground "And that is why I don't want you to go in" she said with her confidence coming back to her. So that is why she doesn't want me to go in... wait a second. "Mom, what happened to Dad" I said looking straight into my Mom's eyes, her eyes had the same orange hint as mine, as I looked into her eyes she tried to not look back into mine. "I.. lets go into the forest, it's going to be dark soon." > The Spherical Forest > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As we entered the forest we felt the sun slowly fade away in between the high branches that had grown as high as you can imagine. As we stepped further my Mom had to use her magic to light the way for us, as a unicorn she had that ability, sometimes I wish I was a unicorn, but instead I have these wings. These wings would be good and all, if only I wasn't scared of heights, actually that isn't accurate, I am not scared of heights, I am scared of falling and well, splat. Sometimes I wish I wasn't as smart as I am, maybe if I was dumb I wouldn't be so scared of hitting the ground hard. "Are you OK back there" I heard from directly in front of me, from where I was walking all I could see was the outlines of the grass and trees and the faint light creeping along my Mom's back. "I'm fine, are we nearly there yet." "I think so Ditzy" she said trying to hide her uncertainty. As we were walking I kept spying something from the corner of my eye, I knew it was nothing and probably just me being scared of a small animal such as a rabbit. "I think I see the house Ditzy" My mother said slightly louder than usual, you could tell she was relieved, and to be honest, I was as well, this place wasn't as exiting as I thought. I don't know how my Dad did it. "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE." The instant I heard this I jumped to the floor and covered my head in my hooves. The voice came from all around us. "Ditzy cover your eyes" I heard my mother say, to this I didn't object. I didn't know what my Mom would do but the only thing I could do was trust her. "Oww my eyes, oww what are you doing." I didn't know what my Mom was doing but from what I could hear, it was obviously working. "You can open your eyes now Ditzy" I heard my mother say softly into my ear. I opened my none broken eye to find a ball of light flying slowly and being hidden above the high branches, I could see much more of the forest now, the forest was less scary than I thought. I could see small critters and plants along the ground which were earlier invisible due to the looming darkness. It was actually a nice place when it was lighter. "Show yourself" my mother said with her arms around my head, she sounded confident and controlling. "Very well, very well I will appear, just don't be surprised if I disappear" the mysterious intruder said. Talking in rhymes? since when was that cool? After she said this I could see a pony unlike any pony i have ever seen. She was covered in black and white stripes and she had a larger nose than other pony's. "Are you Zoruck's daughter?" "Yes I am I must admit, but you are someone a hit or miss." "Stop talking in rhymes and such, why'd you scare us like that?" I heard myself saying out loud "I was telling you stop you see, in front of you was a poison plant times three." she then pointed at what looked like a plant. After she said this I looked at the ground in front of us and I saw the plant she was talking about" "Thank you very much for helping us, can you lead us to your Father please," my mother said trying to act polite forgetting what just happened. "Of course I will guide you on your way, follow me and don't go astray." Me and my Mom looked at each other for a second but we decided to go along with her and see where she will be taking us. "Hey Mom" I whispered "Yes Ditzy" "Should we talk in rhymes as well? I don't want to seem rude." > Arrival at salvation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As I had suspected, we had in fact being going in the completely wrong way, if the weird looking pony hadn't helped us out we would still be looking for a house on the other side of the Spherical forest. "What is your name little girl" My mother asked, trying to act as formal as possible. "My name is a question, too much to be ignored, I have no objection my name is Zecora." I thought about pointing out that question and Zecora didn't rhyme, but I didn't want to act impolite so instead I asked. "You are one weird looking pony Zecora." Much better. "A pony I am not you must see, a Zebra I am and I must decree." Decree? who says decree anymore? "You can see the hut from here can you not," she asked, for once not in rhymes. I started to wonder if her father speaks in rhymes too, that would be plain weird. "Yes we can see it, it looks very... homely." My mom said interrupting the silence. I could barely make out the outlines of the hut, from where I was looking at it it appeared as if it was a giant shoe in the middle of the forest, like those old nursery rhymes. Oh no I don't want to be reminded about rhymes again. "The hut is nice from a distance yes, but get closer and you shan't have to guess." We approached the hut one by one, with Zecora in front, then my Mom, then me. I could much clearly see the hut now, it was in fact not a shoe like I initially thought but the design of the house looked as if they fashioned it from an old Turf 90. Zecora was the first to arrive at the door to the hut so she opened it for the two of us to enter, we each said thank you for opening the door and we entered. First thing first, the Doctor was right in saying that this Zoruck lead in an entirely different profession. The profession of voodoo more like. The more I looked around the hut the more I thought that whoever owned this place must be a night stalker whatever one of those were, I can't imagine anyone living in this place. The walls were stacked in all things weird, there were potions with weird symbols on them, there were cauldrons bubbling the pure essence of evil, that or just their lunch. Either way it was just an unexpected sight to see. "Ah, you have returned Zecora, and you have brought guests." The voice was very distinguished and seemed very educated. Much like a doctor.. but wasn't a doctor? "These 2 were wandering around in circles in the forest, they say they are looking for you." After she said this I couldn't help but realize she had stopped talking in rhymes. "Please Zecora, don't be so formal, we have guests, now you were looking for me yes. What is it you seek?" Though even though he asked, I think he had a feeling what we needed, I had kept my left eye closed all the way here, I just couldn't face anyone seeing it, even when I was in the dark. I felt so ashamed even though I couldn't help it. "My daughters eye, something has happened to her eye, she fell and now her eye has gone... A little out of place." My mother said, trying to sound as nice as possible. I slowly opened my left eye showing the pupil staring in the opposite direction of my other pupil. "That, that is going to be a challenge I fear" He said to my dismay. "But not impossible." this string of words immediately brought my spirits back just as fast as they were taken away. "What I need you to do is no easy task, but it will all be worth it for an almighty flask." He then picked up what seemed to be an empty flask, he shook the bottle around for a while and poured in some of the substance that was in the cauldron I mentioned earlier. "What do you need us to do?" I found myself saying "Not now not now it is far too late, wait till the morning and await your fate." I had only just noticed he was speaking in rhymes again. Was that good or bad? > A frog and a small adventure > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the eventful night we just had, we were told to go straight to bed... But who can sleep at a time like this? Me and my Mom were told to share a bedroom, we each had a small bed each, barely big enough for a filly like me. I don't know how my Mom even went to sleep that night, though if you would have seen her the following day it looked like she didn't. The walls in our bedroom was lined in strange symbols each more distinguished than the last, the more you stared at them the more it appeared that they were moving, as if the walls themselves were breathing in and out heavily ready to blow. At first I was scared to go to sleep in case I was carried away in the night but in the end I let go of my horrifying imagination and drifted off to sleep. Once I woke up I realized just how uncomfortable the bed really was, it was lumpy and my back ached, but still I managed to get myself up off my bed. I looked towards my Mom's bed but she wasn't there, it looked like she already got up. "What time is it?" I wondered out loud, the light of the sun seemed to be blocked by something at the window, probably a tree, and I thought it was dark last night but thinking back, it must have been whatever was blocking the window. I headed downstairs via the wooden stairs, even the wood seemed to have some kind of magical property in it, the entire house seemed to be alive, so if you think about it, I just slept in a house which was alive. "Yo dawg, that's messed up" I thought in my head. Each step of the staircase made a loud creaking sound, almost like a frog was rampant in the hut, I thought it sounded like that anyway. Unfortunately when I got downstairs I was met with the horrifying sight of seeing a frog being chased around the house by my Mom and Zecora. "What's going on here?" My mom turned to look at me but it didn't take long for the frog to catch her attention again, she tried lunging after the frog but in the process barged into Zecora and they both went hurtling into Zoruck who had being surveying the scene from beneath the stairs. "Catch that frog, it is important you see, without it your daughter will be sad guarantee." Even I thought that rhyme was a bit of a stretch. it appeared Zoruck hadn't stopped rhyming since last night, I really should ask him about that. "Ditzy! catch that frog" said my mother who had only just got herself off of the wooden floor of the hut already jumping after the frog again. I didn't ask any questions, things had already gotten weird so i just went along with it. It also had something to do with my eye so that was an incentive. I launched myself off of the last step onto the carpet of the living room, then I slowly creeped along the edges as to make as little noise as possible. So far so good. I was taking an obviously different technique to my mother who was still running around Zoruck's and Zecora's home knocking over furniture and kitchen utensils. The frog hadn't seen me yet so all was good, I dodged some of the debris left behind from earlier attempts of simply hopping after the green skinned bugger. My mother now had realized what I was doing so she stepped back and took a seat next to the two residents off this home. I was so close to the frog, I was almost within an arms reach, I was going to catch this frog. I lifted both my hooves to cup the frog as if carrying a small rodent. I slammed both my hooves down on top of the frog. I could feel his slimy skin on my hooves, it was almost making me wretch. Zoruck, noticing I had captured the frog, approached me and signaled me too hand the frog over. I did as he said, as I handed the thing over, I immediately got a feeling of relief. Zoruck placed the frog into a cooking pot and covered it with a lid, I certainly hope that was for storage purposes cause I never saw that frog again. "You did well little Ditzy" Zoruck now said, turning his attention to me, his eyes were much wider and his eyes seemed to have changed from purple to light blue since last night, maybe that was just because I have a good chance to look at him now in bright light. He didn't give me a chance to reply though, he went on to say. "I have been informed about what happened to you, how a mysterious light had formed and how it pushed you with massive force. She also told me how your doctor didn't believe me." He obviously had been informed about everything by my mother while I was asleep. I didn't know if he wanted me to reply or not so I just nodded my head and he carried on. "Well I believe you Ditzy, unfortunately one tree fell down during the event and took out my supply shed, all of my materials had been destroyed. That's why my daughter was out last night... Despite me telling her not too. He darted his eyes over to Zecora who was now cowering on the floor. It seemed Zecora wasn't as brave as she made her herself seem last night, she had lost her flaring fire that she had the night she found us--but it seemed they had a decent father daughter relationship yesterday? But yet I was more interested in why we needed a frog to fix my eye, so I asked Zoruck just that. He didn't respond at first, he was pre-occupied with a book he was lurking over in the corner of the room that connected into what I thought was the kitchen. The book looked old and was riddled in creases and burn marks, steriotypical voodoo stuff, but still interesting non the less. "Ditzy, you say you want something to help your eye yes?" I was puzzled by the sudden question but I nodded my head anyway. "Good, there is a puddle of water in this forest, around about 2 hours from here, unfortunately me and your mother are far too small to get there... you see where this is going right." "A puddle of water?" I need a frog, and a puddle of water? what kind of messed up cure was this? Then it dawned on me what Zoruck had just said. "You want me to go on my own?" "Oh heavens no, my daughter will be going with you. She knows the way better that I myself." "OK, I kinda get it, but why can't you or my mother come with us?" I didn't mind Zecora, she seemed nice but I don't know how to talk to someone that only rhymes. "Simple, the way connected is blocked with small caverns and crevices only wide enough for young filly's such as yourselves to get too. if I were to attempt it would take far-far too long." Zoruck took out small sack full of food which I could already tell, I wouldn't be eating. Zoruck then quickly hurried to the door and signaled us to exit, he seemed to be in a hurry. "You don't have much time left" He looked at Zecora with narrowed eyes and nodded. She in favour returned the nod. They were hiding something from me. Zoruck handed me a bag of supplies and I exited the door along with Zecora. I looked behind me to wave goodbye to my Mom but the door slammed behind us. "We will go on a journey it seems, better than those in your dreams." I sighed. What is with her and her rhymes?