//------------------------------// // Two hundred years // Story: Dinky and the Blanks // by GrassAndClouds2 //------------------------------// Dinky yelled something inarticulate as Grey Hoof raced through the woods. The kelpie had easily outdistanced the Elements of Harmony, but he didn’t even slow down. He just kept thundering along. Still, despite that, he found the breath to laugh. “Now you’ll pay for it. You’ll pay for ruining everything. This is all your fault!” “I didn’t make you hurt Ruby!” “Not that! That was the right thing to do! But you spread doubt in my town! You made my ponies doubt my words and wisdom. You questioned my decisions!” Grey Hoof snarled. “And now you pay for it!” Dinky looked around, but she couldn’t see any way out. It was like when Corona had captured her and all the others and taken them away. There wasn’t anything she could do. She’d been able to talk to the other ponies, but Grey Hoof wouldn’t listen, and Dinky didn’t have the strength or magic that the Elements did. Grey Hoof skidded to a halt. “Perfect! We’re here!” Dinky recognized the deadfall, and wondered if Grey Hoof was going to try climbing over it. “Where? What – what are you doing?” She was finding it difficult to keep her teeth from chattering. She’d seen how many teeth Grey Hoof had when he had charged at her. He could probably chew her up and swallow her in one bite if she wanted. “I’m going to prove I was right to get rid of Ruby. I’m going to prove that, in certain circumstances, there’s nothing wrong or evil about getting rid of a foal that’s going to bring destruction upon one’s community.” Grey Hoof began to push through the trees. “I’ll prove it to every single pony in the whole town. Then they’ll return to me, we’ll deal with your companions, and we can get on with our idyllic life.” He chuckled. “Don’t worry. Once you’re… converted… we’ll forgive you.” “My friends will stop you! And Momma!” “They can’t hurt me. Even if they could, they aren’t here. They don’t have a chance.” Grey Hoof shook his head. “You should have taken me up on my offer to live in Moonville, Dinky. Then you’d have a nice, long, blissful life, and your friends wouldn’t have to suffer for it.” He thought. “You know, that might still be an option.” “I don’t wanna live like you!” Grey Hoof brayed laughter, but didn’t respond to Dinky. He began to shove his way through the trees, Branches snapped back into Dinky’s face, but Grey Hoof ignored this. “Let’s see, I know that old watering hole’s around here somewhere… hmm…” Dinky knew that talking was useless, but she had to try. “Mr. Hoof, can’t you just admit that you made a mistake? Ruby misses you too, honest!” “I don’t make mistakes. I made no mistake,” Grey Hoof snarled. “Trying to make me soft? Trying to be all, ‘oh, I want to help you even though you’re trying to hurt me?’ I won’t fall for that, Dinky. I’m too smart.” He repeated it, more to himself than to Dinky. “I’m too smart to make a mistake about something like that. I did not screw up!” Dinky understood. “You’re scared too. You’re scared you’re wrong—“ “I AM NOT WRONG!” Grey Hoof snapped his head around to stare at her. His red eyes seemed to bore into her soul. “I did NOT send a foal off to die for no reason! I made the correct choice, the only choice, and as the stars and moon are my witness, I am going to PROVE IT!” Dinky shivered. She was terrified, more scared now than she’d ever been since Corona had foalnapped her. Grey Hoof wanted to hurt her, and he wasn’t going to listen to any kind of reason. But she could tell that he wasn’t even acting out of hate. He probably thought he was, but he was just scared. Just like the rest of them. Scared, and dreading what would happen if he admitted that he’d done something evil. Scared, like he’d been two hundred years ago. “Grey Hoof,” whispered Dinky. “Please. Don’t hurt me. You can still break the curse and—“ “No curse. There is no curse. Only blessings. We have eternal life. It is so obvious that I refuse to consider any other possibility” Grey Hoof recited it almost mechanically, like he was trying to convince himself. “We have eternal peace. No hunger. No poor. Everything any sane pony could want. We did the right thing. The Alicorns above blessed us.” Maybe Corona, Dinky thought. Corona might enjoy setting up some kind of crazy curse like this… Wait. Something about Corona. There was something very important. Dinky groaned, trying to remember. “Aha!” Grey Hoof pushed through a set of trees and gestured at what lay beyond – the water pit where Ruby had died. “Alright, Dinky. Very last chance.” Dinky tuned him out. What was it? What was she missing? “Your friends can’t help your. Your mother can’t help you. If you want to live beyond the next two minutes, you’ll do what I say! You at last will understand that I’m right, and that your foolish impudence was…” Dinky’s eyes widened. She remembered. Corona had also threatened to kill them; she’d also said that no other pony could save them. Corona had been wrong, though. The Elements of Harmony had beaten her. And they’d beaten her because they’d never given up hope and kept trying even when things seemed impossible. Moreover, they’d beaten an alicorn, a pony who ruled the sun and the day. Grey Hoof was a party planner with a few special magic powers. Surely, if she just maintained hope, her friends and her mother would save her too. Of course they would. They were great friends and they had the Elements. And her mother was the greatest mother in the world, with the best Element, Kindness. She wouldn’t let a pony like Grey Hoof who cared only about being right and about himself hurt her. Even if it looked impossible, even if they were far away, her mother and the others would find some way to rescue her. Grey Hoof was just trying to trick her again, by carrying her away, but it didn’t matter. Dinky knew the truth. “You can either drown, or you promise me, right now, that when I take you back to town, you’ll tell all the other ponies that you were wrong. That they’re fine the way they are. That you understand now that Moonville is the best village anywhere in Equestria. And you tell your friends and your mother that you’re staying here, with me, to be one of us. If they resist, we’ll kill or convert them.” Dinky still felt scared, but it was a more distant feeling. She shook her head. “No. I don’t believe you. You won’t hurt me.” “You think I’ll have a change of heart?” Grey Hoof laughed. “Dinky, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I can be a little stubborn sometimes.” “I don’t know. But my friends and my Momma won’t let you. Because they care about me, and they have the Magic of Friendship.” Dinky smiled. “Friendship? We could be your friends, Dinky. A hundred great, eternal friends.” Dinky realized something. She hadn’t thought of it before – she’d been too scared – but she suddenly felt like she really understood Grey Hoof. “You’re not friends with any of the other ponies in Moonville. You don’t care about them. If you did, you’d help them break the curse if they wanted it, even if you thought the curse was good! You’d help make them happy!” There was terrible silence for one moment. “It’s not about them,” Grey Hoof hissed, And then, almost shouting, “It’s not ABOUT them! I am in charge. I lead this town! It’s their jobs to do what I want! How dare you try to rile up dissent! Even if they’re too stupid now to know it, they have a better life, and I don’t care what I have to do, I’m going to maintain it!” “Not about them? But you keep saying you lead them—“ “SHUT UP! I gave up too much, worked too hard, to let you go and take my followers away from me. I don’t care if they’re suddenly having second thoughts! They are mine, they joined me willingly, we are in this together, and I will not let you have them! If they can’t see the grandeur of my vision, can’t see how we’re blessed above all other ponies by this so-called ‘curse’, then I’ll do what I have to do to string them along until they get it! Final chance, Dinky. Join us or die!” And then Trixie’s voice seemed to come from everywhere. “Wow. Cliché too.” And the trees, the rocks, the water pit vanished, and Dinky realized that they were back in town. The Elements were standing before them. The Moonville ponies were behind them. And each and every pony was glaring at Grey Hoof. “Put her down,” said Ditzy, stepping forwards. “Now.” She was sweating heavily, like she’d been flying for hours, but her steps were steady and firm. “But—“ began Grey Hoof. “We heard everything. Put her down, or we’ll drag you down and sit on you until you do,” hissed Gladstone. Ditzy kept walking towards Grey Hoof, who tried to shrink back, only to be confronted by a wall of kelpies. “You – don’t come any closer.” “Put my daughter down,” repeated Ditzy. Her voice was stern and unyielding. “Immediately.” Grey Hoof paused, but didn’t seem to see any other options. He lowered his head. His skin changed back to a gel-like texture, and Dinky hopped off. “MOMMA!” “DINKY!” The two ran and embraced. Ditzy was crying. “Dear, I wanted to tell you as soon as Trixie cast that illusion but we were so afraid that if we did he’d notice and hurt you or bite you or something. We had to lure him back to town and every moment I was so anxious. Your Momma is so sorry that she—“ Dinky hugged her. “I knew you’d save me, Momma.” “I’m sorry, I’m so—“ “Momma,” and Dinky smiled. “I wasn’t even that scared. I knew he couldn’t hurt me. You’re the Element of Kindness and the most awesome pony ever and he couldn’t do anything you didn’t want him to do.” Trixie was on the ground, breathing hard. “Hey. I helped,” she complained. “Sure, you kept up with him, but I was the one casting the illusion. And it had to be good enough so it would fool that lunatic. That was the most perfect set of trees and grass blades you've ever seen--” Raindrops rolled her eyes. “Yes, Trixie. We know.” She smiled a little. “They both know what you did. Trust me.” “You carried Trixie through the woods and kept up with Grey Hoof? So she could cast the illusion that we weren’t making a big loop?” asked Dinky. Her mother was strong, but a full-grown pony would be taxing for any Pegasus, and Raindrops would have been too slow to help. That sounded really hard… Ditzy nodded, still embracing her daughter. Though she was clearly out of breath -- clearly exhausted -- she still found the strength to stand and maintain the hug. “I was right. You’re the most awesome Momma ever.” And then they were both crying, and Dinky didn’t even notice anything else that was happening. When they were done, finally, Dinky looked out at the other ponies. Grey Hoof was by himself, standing awkwardly and glancing about frantically. The other kelpies surrounded him, and blocked any efforts by him to leave the circle. Eventually, Mitta stepped forwards, towards the Elements “What do you want?” the mare asked. She sounded wiped out. “Why did you come here? To mock us? To show us how wretched we really are? To show that even our strongest is as depraved and weak as the rest of us?” “To help you,” said Ditzy. She got up. “My daughter wanted us to help you. That’s all.” “Help us? How? What we did is beyond forgiveness. Beyond redemption.” Dinky shook her head. “No. Ruby told me that isn’t true! You just have to admit what you did was wrong, and be willing to accept it.” “I admitted that two hundred years ago.” Dinky said, “But you kept saying how you wanted to be here because you thought you deserved it.” “I do!” “But your daughter wants you to be with her! She doesn’t want you here!” “My daughter never wants to see me again. No pony in that position—“ “Excuse me.” Ditzy walked towards Mitta. “As you might have noticed, I have a foal of my own. And it’s my… my worst nightmare that I hurt her in some way. Or let her be hurt.” She looked down for a moment before continuing. “Just like I know she would hate it if she did something that hurt me or allowed me to be hurt. But even if we hurt each other, we still love each other.” “Because we’re family.” Dinky grinned. “This isn’t some childish scare or scrape! I killed her!” “Just try asking her. Just like you’d tell her to ask for forgiveness from a friend she hurt.” Ditzy smiled a little. “From one mother to another. You’d be surprising how forgiving family can be.” “But I…” Mitta looked around. “That’s not…” “Please?” asked Dinky. “Ruby’s been begging me to try to get you to talk to her and be with her. Can’t you try it for her?” Mitta hesitated. “You don’t understand. I couldn’t be so, so presumptuous as to beg for her forgiveness.“ “Mitta.” Ditzy’s voice was stern and implacable… yet still somehow kind. “Your daughter needs her mother. It isn’t about your feelings or your guilt. Go be with her.” The kelpie hesitated, then bowed her head. “Ruby. Daughter… if you’re there… your mother did a terrible thing,” Mitta began. “And she knows it. She loved you, but she let her fear get the best of her. But she… she still loves you, and she’s missed you so much these two hundred years, and if you can find it in your heart to just, just to let me see you… to let me be with you for one minute… it’s more than I deserve, but please, your mother—“ “Mitta!” cried Three Leaf. “Look at you!” Mitta looked down at herself. She was glowing. “What?” And then shadows seemed to be leaking off her body. Her pony form began to show through the black, rippling kelpie skin. “What’s going on? What is – Ruby! Sweet Luna, Ruby!” Dinky turned to see that Ruby was standing at the edge of town, just beyond the fences. “Mommy! You can see me!” “Ruby!” Mitta ran, shadows dropping off of her as she did so. The shadows dissolved as they left her, leaving only a faint residue that Dinky was pretty sure only she could see. “Ruby, Ruby, my daughter! You’re here! You forgave me!” She swept out her front hooves and embraced her. “RUBY!” Ruby grinned and nuzzled her mother. “I love you, Mommy.” Mitta looked down to see that she was sticking partway through the fence. “I… I’m here. At last.” She embraced her daughter. “With you at last.” “Wait!” cried Three Leaf, looking around. “Ruby, wait! I’m sorry too! Mitta, where are you?” The others began to chime in. “We all are!” “We did a horrible thing!” “Forgive us!” Dinky grinned. They were getting it! Even now, she could see the shadows leaving some of them. As they faded into ghosts, their eyes fell on Ruby. “Oh my…” managed Three Leaf, when she saw the filly. “Ruby? Is it really you?” “Miss Three Leaf!” “You… you forgive us!” “Yep! I’ve missed all of you so much!” “You idiots! STOP! “cried Grey Hoof, but he was ignored. More and more of the kelpies were shaking and casting off their bodies, fading into ghosts that ran to embrace Ruby. Ruby was jumping to and fro, happily nuzzling against and saying hi to every one of them. “Mr. Gladstone! Miss Starlet! Miss—“ The ground began to shake violently. Dinky gulped as she stumbled against her mother. “Momma, help!” Ditzy grabbed Dinky and nestled her tightly. “Hold on!” There was what sounded like an explosion, and then Dinky was staring at a town of ghosts. Most of them were just looking at themselves or each other with amazement. A few took a few cautious steps, then cheered. “We escaped! We’re free!” “HORRAY!” cried a few of the younger-looking ones. Ruby was still running from pony to pony, saying hello and looking overjoyed. “Mr. Wibbles! Hi! Miss Floral!” She nuzzled another pony. “Scooter!” “Uh, Dinky? What’s going on?” asked Trixie. Dinky looked back to the other Elements to see them staring blankly through the clearing. “You don’t see them?” Cherilee shook her head. “They all vanished.” “They’re all ghosts now, and Ruby’s saying hi to them.” Dinky grinned. “And she’s got all her friends back.” “Dinky!” Ruby ran over to Dinky. “Dinky, Dinky, thank you! Thank you and all your friends! Dinky, you’re the greatest ever! You saved all the ponies in town!” Dinky blushed. “They did most of the magic and stuff—“ “But you got them here. You believed in me – and in the Moonville ponies. You’re the best, Dinky.” Ruby smiled. “I just wish that we could have been friends longer.” “I do too, but… now you’ve got all your old friends back. Aren’t you happy?” “Yes. I really am.” Ruby nodded. “You’re the best, Dinky.” Mitta, looking far younger and happier than she looked a few moments ago, picked up Ruby and put her on her back. “Dinky Doo, we are forever in your debt.” She was crying, but Dinky could tell she was happy. “You are amazing. Tell your mother that she’s lucky to have such a foal as yourself.” “Momma, Miss Mitta says that you’re lucky to have a foal like me,” repeated Dinky. Mitta laughed, as did Ditzy. “I already knew that, dear.” She nuzzled her daughter. The ghosts began to fade before Dinky’s eyes. “Bye!” said Dinky to Ruby. “Have fun.” “I’ll never forget you!” There was a flash, and they were gone. Another flash, and suddenly, it was the right time again; early evening, with the sun just beginning to set. Dinky looked up at the sky. “Wow!” “That was awesome!” Trixie managed. “We kicked monster butt!” Cherilee was laughing. “I have to say, Dinky, you get us involved in the most interesting of adventures.” Ditzy smiled. “That’s one way to put it.”