//------------------------------// // 11 - Way Tinier Windows // Story: The Daughter Doo: Honorary Cutie Mark Crusader // by Ponky //------------------------------// Chapter Eleven Way Tinier Windows “I yuto! I yuto may!” Sweetie Belle bellowed at the drawbridge. “Pretty sure he said it’s just aiuto,” Apple Bloom whispered in Sweetie’s ear. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. “Yeah, for ‘help’. So ‘I yuto may’ means ‘help me’, see? Psh.” She shook her head and adjusted Dinky’s limp body under her foreleg. “And here I thought you spoke Itailian.” Apple Bloom frowned. “I don’t think that’s how it works, Sweetie Belle.” “I yuto maaay!” Sweetie shouted again. “Avete bisogno?” a mare asked from behind them. Sweetie turned around and shoo’d the mare off with a wild hind hoof before turning back to face the closed castle. “HEY! Creature-o!” “It’s Creech-arrow.” “Would you either help for real or stop correcting me?” Sweetie Belle hissed. She cleared her throat and shifted Dinky’s body again. “How’s it going, Dinky?” “I’m fine,” she whispered without opening her eyes, “but I don’t think this is working.” “Yeah, ye’r tellin’ me,” Apple Bloom grumbled. “CREATURE-O! I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE!” Sweetie Belle yelled at the top of her voice, setting Apple Bloom’s teeth on edge. “And I bet you know enough Equestrian to understand me! Look, I’ve got a sick filly here who needs help, and this place used to be a hospital! So you either let us in or let this filly die in front of everypony!” She awkwardly flopped Dinky’s body at her side so that her hooves plodded on the cobblestone. “Knock it off, Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom said with a frown. “This was a stupid plan. We ain’t gettin’ into the―” The drawbridge shifted, creaked, and slowly began to lower with the clinking of chains and grinding of old gears. Apple Bloom watched slack-jawed as the long wooden platform neared them, bridging the moat with a final thud followed by exaggerated silence. In the bright light of the morning, several curious citizens of Pelola stopped to stare at the fillies in front of the castle. They didn’t seem especially surprised that the drawbridge had lowered, but rather gazed inquisitively at the little, noisy Equestrians. “Okay, great!” said Sweetie Belle. “Here, Apple Bloom, help me hoist Dinky onto my back and we’ll go inside.” “I… but… it… buh?” Apple Bloom shook her head vigorously and stared wide-eyed at the castle. “That actually worked!?” A lanky, violet earth pony stallion with a thin moustache and a black vest appeared at the other end of the moat. He trotted to the fillies with rigid posture and quick, mechanical movements. When he reached the three little ponies, he looked down at them without lowering his snout and spoke with a bit of a sneer. “What is the meaning of-a this?” he asked with a slight Itailian accent. “Hi!” said Sweetie Belle, smiling. “Are you Creature-o?” The stallion blinked. “I am Trotto Verde, the butler of this-a household. Signore Cricciero is unavailable.” He eyed Dinky’s limp body. “Where do you come from?” “Equestria,” Sweetie Belle answered. “We’re on a cross-Stirropean adventure of sorts. Our friend here has fallen very, very sick on account of… foreign… contaminants.” She cleared her throat. “We got off the train and asked around, and somepony said this castle used to be a hospital?” Trotto Verde sighed through his nose. “I’m-a sorry, but this pony was mistaken. This has been the home of the Cricciero family for hundreds of-a years.” He gestured dramatically to the castle behind him. “It-a never was a hospital.” Apple Bloom’s eyes narrowed. “Is that so?” Trotto’s sneer angled sharper. “Indeed, it is so. This is an old structure, and we would be poorly equipped to treat the ill.” “Then what am I supposed to do with Dinky here, huh?” Sweetie Belle suddenly growled. “Drop her in the moat and let her drown!?” Trotto stepped back with high eyebrows. “Goodness, no. Why would you do that-a?” “Because I’m desperate!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “If your friend is really in such dire need,” Trotto said, “the local hospital is further down the valley, just beyond the statue of Saponyrola.” “There’s a hospital here?” Apple Bloom asked. “For real?” Trotto blinked. “Yes. We may not live with the gods, but we are far from savage.” “I didn’t think… it’s just, we were told that…” Apple Bloom’s pupils shrunk to pinpricks. “I think we need to get inside yer castle.” “I beg-a your pardon.” “What she means is, we don’t have time to go all the way down to the hospital!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “Don’t you see? Our friend is comatose! She could be dying! Don’t you have, like, a fancy medic on call or something?” Trotto Verde’s brow furrowed. “Dottore Attuno is usually available, but he has a strict-a contract with the Cricciero family―” “Call him!” Sweetie bawled, wrenching her face into an outrageously pitiable one. “She needs help! Don’t let her diiiiie!” {-DD-} Several minutes earlier, on the west side of the castle where the moat was thinnest, Zoccolo took up Scootaloo in his forelegs and threw her over the water. “Hrrrrnnnn-oof!” she said while she buzzed through the air and then when she sprawled out on the thin strip of land under the castle’s brown-brick wall. “Yes! Great throw!” “Shhh!” Zoccolo put a hoof over his mouth, though he winked with a knowing smile. The surface of the moat’s water was several feet below ground level, like a miniature cliff falling into the eternal bend of a miniature river. If Scootaloo had fallen in, she would have had a hard time climbing back out, and the noise of her struggle would certainly have attracted attention. The day was still beginning, and very few ponies had taken to the streets. Zoccolo glanced around for any wandering citizens and took note of somepony faced away from a castle window above Scootaloo. Then, backing up, Zoccolo took a running leap over the stone barrier and across the entire moat. He landed near Scootaloo, but his hind hooves slipped and scraped along the inner wall of the moat. They splashed in a bit of shallow water. As fast as he could, Zoccolo pulled himself onto the strip of land and spun around for he and Scootaloo to flatten themselves against the castle wall. “C’é qualcosa laggiú?” asked a voice from a narrow, open window overhead. Zoccolo flashed a nervous look at Scootaloo. They stayed frozen and silent, thinking flat thoughts, for several long seconds. Suddenly, Zuka skittered down from Zoccolo’s mane and dove into the moat below, splashing loudly and backstroking toward the other end. “Ah, lo vedo. É qualche animale,” said the voice above in a relaxed tone. Its next words were more distant, no longer at the window. Zoccolo and Scootaloo sighed, then grinned at each other. “Do you think my friends have distracted them yet?” Scootaloo whispered. From north of the castle, the ponies heard somepony shout “CREATURE-O! I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE!” “They’re-a working on it, at least,” Zoccolo said with a grin. “Let’s-a hurry. The faster we find Cricciero, the faster we find my Nipota.” Scootaloo nodded. Zoccolo balanced on his hind legs, steadied by his dark purple tail, and clamped his forehooves together as a platform for Scootaloo to mount. She did so, leaning into the brick wall with her own forehooves while standing precariously on Zoccolo’s. He lifted her high above his head; her wings twitched alternately while her hooves ground against the brick. Soon she was just inches from the narrow, glassless window. “Can-a you fit through?” asked Zoccolo. “Oh yeah, for sure,” Scootaloo said back, reaching for the window ledge. “I’ve mashed myself through way tinier windows than this.” She bounced on Zoccolo’s outstretched hooves and flapped her wings as hard as she could. Their slight lift was all she needed, and Scootaloo latched herself onto the window. “Bravissima!” said Zoccolo as he dropped to all fours, smiling up at the filly. “Are you all right?” “Peachy!” Scootaloo grunted, then hoisted herself up into the window. With another buzz of her wings, she pushed herself into the castle and tumbled onto the ground. Nervous, she dove under a nearby table and listened carefully… to nothing. Whoever had heard the splash was long gone. Scootaloo emerged from under the table, leapt up to the same window, and tilted her head into open air. “Okay, we’re golden!” she whispered loudly to Zoccolo with a wave. “Eccellente! Now, go downstairs and look-a for a small, blue statue of an alicorn.” Scootaloo’s eyes crossed. “Bwuh? Why?” “This castle is-a very old,” Zoccolo answered, “and holds-a many secrets. I happen to have… heard of a few.” One side of his mouth curled up in a smile. “Open the wings of the alicorn, and I will-a find you there.” With mouth agape, Scootaloo nodded. “Okay. Okay, yeah.” She slid back into the castle and stood stock still beneath the window for a moment. “This.” She twitched. “Is.” She gasped. “Awesome!” She held in a squeal of delight, then slunk through the hallway in search of the closest staircase down. {-DD-} Dinky Doo crossed the drawbridge, limp over Sweetie Belle’s back. She was surprised at the little unicorn’s strength and confidence, but showed none of it on her face. In fact, she kept her face so calm and still that she may as well have been asleep. But she wasn’t. With one eye barely cracked open, Dinky watched Trotto Verde lead the fillies into a small courtyard. Apple Bloom followed briskly behind as they entered an empty doorway and trotted down a long hall, finally entering a small room to the side with almost nothing in it. “The doctor will-a meet you here,” Trotto said flatly. “When your friend is treated, you will leave.” “And how do we know this isn’t just a ploy to foalnap us, huh?” Sweetie Belle blurted. Dinky could hear the eye-roll in Apple Bloom’s voice saying, “Come on, Sweetie. Knock it off.” Trotto sighed heavily. “I’m-a not sure who informed you of this castle, but they seem to have-a planted some false ideas.” He frowned at Apple Bloom. “Stay here until the dottore arrives. Then-a you go.” He turned to leave the room. “I am a busy stallion, but I will-a check on you shortly.” And he left. Apple Bloom rubbed her forehead with the flat of a hoof. “Somethin’s not right here, girls. I reckon Mister Vare-day’s tellin’ the truth. This place was never a hospital.” “But… why would Zoccolo lie to us?” Sweetie Belle asked as Dinky lifted her head. They gazed worriedly at Apple Bloom in tandem. “He just wants to find his niece!” “Hmm…” Apple Bloom’s jaw offset. “As much as I hate to say it… maybe he hasn’t got a niece to begin with.” Dinky gasped. “Are you… are you saying…” Sweetie Belle gulped loudly. “Are you meaning to tell me…? Is it your intention to inform me…? Am I meant to understand here that…?” She growled. “Ugh, Apple Bloom, I don’t get it! Just tell me what you mean!” “She means there is no Nipota,” Dinky whispered. Her brow furrowed. “But why would―” “Buongiorno!” said a lively voice as a tall stallion walked into the room. Dinky dropped her head limply across Sweetie Belle’s side while the older filly spun around and smiled at the newcomer. “Hhhheeey!” she said. “Are you the doctor? Do you speak Equestrian?” The stallion was tall, thin, and wore a white lab coat over his back and forelegs. His eyes were the color of crystallized peaches, his body was charcoal grey, and his mane was a rich violet color that matched… his… beard? Apple Bloom gaped. “Zoccolo?” The stallion smiled. “I’m-a sorry? No, my name is-a Doctor Attuno! I’m here to check up on the little unicorn, yes?” His accent was ridiculously thick and bouncy. He turned to Sweetie Belle with wide eyes. “Let-a me see what’s-a wrong with your-a friend, va bene?” “What the hay are you doin’?” Apple Bloom asked. “Ye’r not foolin’ us, Zoccolo! We’ve spent, like, two days with you!” Sweetie Belle looked the doctor up and down, frowning below narrowed eyes. “Hmmm… if you’re really Doctor A-tune-o and not Zoccolo, then why are you wearing a lab coat?” ‘Dottore Attuno’ blinked. “Becaaaauuse… I am a doctor! It’s-a sanitary!” Sweetie Belle took another glance at the coat, conveniently covering the stallion’s Cutie Mark. Her eyes squinted even more… then she shrugged with a small smile. “Makes sense to me! Sorry for doubting you, Mister Doctor.” “Uuuggh!” Apple Bloom jumped up and grabbed the doctor’s purple beard in her teeth. It ripped off easily; she cast it aside, then ripped the lab coat off Zoccolo’s body with her powerful hooves, exposing his tilted crescent moon Cutie Mark. “And to think I’d just started trustin’ you!” Sweetie Belle gasped and shuffled backward, almost dropping Dinky. “Zoccolo! You liar!” Zuka popped up out of Zoccolo’s mane and smacked herself in the forehead with a tiny claw. Zoccolo rolled his eyes and snatched up his fake beard, reapplying it to his face. “Please, Fiore, let-a me explain myself. I’m trying to stay in character in case-a that horseshoe licking Trotto Verde comes back at a notice moment.” “You mean a moment’s notice?” Apple Bloom asked, unimpressed. “That was the last straw. I ain’t givin’ no more benefits o’ doubts. Ye’r a manipulative little thief, and me and my friends are outta here.” She glared daggers at the stallion and then nodded once to Sweetie Belle. “Come on, let’s go.” “Ah, Dottore Attuno,” said Trotto Verde, reentering the tiny side-room. “Thank you for responding so quickly. I’m-a sorry for this strange-a requ―” Zoccolo spun around with bulging eyes and grabbed Trotto Verde by the shoulders. “Ascoltami bene!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. “This-a little filly is-a dying!” Trotto Verde and Apple Bloom blinked at the same time. “Bwuh?” {-DD-} Scootaloo couldn’t find any stairs. “Gosh darn it!” she grumbled to herself, slinking against the long walls of hallway after brown-stone hallways. “How am I supposed to find the alicorn statue if I can’t even get downstairs?” She stooped under a wooden cabinet with just enough space above the floor for her to crawl. Just then, the tell-tale sound of many hoofsteps clopped around a corner. Scootaloo froze in her fortuitous hiding spot, holding her breath while the ponies passed. Two voices, both female, spoke in hushed tones. Scootaloo stretched her ears outward to listen. “…non devi ascoltare neanche una parola, cara. È un mostro, lui, davvero!” The voice sounded anxious and sympathetic. The other was practically in tears. “M-m-ma perché? Perché mi tratta così?” “Tratta tutti così, piccola mia,” said the first voice. “Non è colpa tua. Non ti preoccupare, cara. Ci sono io. Ci sono io…” Despite not understanding a word, Scootaloo could hear the pain and anger in their voices. She frowned and waited several seconds for their hoofsteps to fade away. When she finally crawled out from under the cabinet, it was with a perplexed expression. “What was that all about?” she asked herself, staring down the hall in the direction the mares had gone. “Ei! Tu!” shouted a decidedly stallionier voice. Scootaloo winced and turned around slowly. A stout stallion dressed in meager armor, a uniform worn for principle more than protection, glared at her from the end of the hallway. “Chi sei, ragazza?” asked the guard in a biting tone. “Uhhhh…” Scootaloo gulped and racked her brain. “Come on Cheerilee, don’t fail me now…” “Ei?” The stallion took a step closer without lowering his voice. “Che dici, aranciona? Da dove vieni?” Scootaloo steeled herself and blurted back, “¿Donde está el baño?” The guard’s head shook slightly in surprise. “Cabaii? Ma… che fai qui, piccolina?” Reacting to his softer tone, Scootaloo gulped and danced on her hooves. “¿El bañoooo?” “Aa, scusa!” The guard snapped out of it, nodding. “Sì, sì, certo. Il bagno più vicino e… quaggiù!” With a victorious shout, he pointed down the adjacent hallway from whence he came. Scootaloo bounded down the rest of the hall and slid around the corner. Very nearby, flanked by marble railings, was a very wide staircase of polished wood. “Il bagno è giù e alla sinistra.” The guard moved his hooves as if providing Scootaloo with directions. “¡Gracias!” Scootaloo exclaimed as she tore down the stairs. “Ei, aspetta!” the guard called after her. “Chi sei?” He moved as if to grab her― But Scootaloo jumped onto the marble railing, sliding out of reach and galloping deeper into the labyrinthine castle before the guard could even gasp. {-DD-} “Please, Signore Verde,” said ‘Doctor Attuno’ in an exasperated tone, “you have-a to listen to me!” He threw a hoof dramatically in limp Dinky’s direction. “This-a little filly is suffering from what the equestriani call hypersolaria! Being so far from her Sun Goddess, her body has begun to generate it’s own-a heat! She’s burning up!” He reached over and touched her horn, pulling his hoof back with an exaggerated, “Gaaaiie!” Trotto’s face paled. “W-w-we must get her to the ospedale!” “Fool!” Zoccolo slapped Verde across the muzzle. “Have you not heard me shout? She is-a dying! We must get her somewhere cooler right-a now!” Sweetie Belle was breathing hard, panicking. “We could throw her in the moat!” she suggested, breathless. “Nonsense!” said Trotto Verde. “There are alligators in there!” Zoccolo’s eyebrows briefly rose and his jaw went slack under his fake beard. “There are?” He glanced up into his mane where a small creature was invisibly smacking his scalp in anger. “I-I can’t think of anything!” Trotto Verde stammered. “You had-a better think better, then!” Zoccolo said, grabbing Trotto’s pallid cheeks between his hooves. “Or do you want a foreign filly to die in your castle? Under your very watch?” Trotto squeaked and trembled. Suddenly, his eyes brightened. “Oh! The cellar! I-I can take her to the cellar! It is-a very cool down there.” “Perfetto!” Zoccolo lifted Dinky off of Sweetie Belle’s body (“Hey!”) and draped her over his own back. “Quickly, lead the way! I have-a never been to the basement before.” Trotto gulped. “It is-a… very off limits.” “Ahh!” Zoccolo hunched and seethed through his teeth. “Her body! It-a buurrns!” “Follow me!” Trotto spun around and cantered across the courtyard. Zoccolo beamed and followed at an eager pace. “Is Dinky gonna be okay?” Sweetie Belle asked, shivering. “Huurrrrgh!” Apple Bloom ground her hooves into the floor. “There ain’t nothin’ wrong with Dinky, Sweetie Belle! Zoccolo’s been nonstop lyin’! Whatever’s goin’ on here, I have a bad feelin’ he’s gettin’ his way while nopony else is.” Sweetie flicked herself in the horn. “Guh! I’m so stupid! I keep forgetting he’s a liar!” “Come on, we gotta follow ‘em!” Apple Bloom said, rushing out of the little room. “Right!” Sweetie Belle galloped at Apple Bloom’s tail. “Say, if Zoccolo is here with us… where’s Scootaloo?” {-DD-} “Alicorn, alicorn, alicorn, alicorn…” Scootaloo muttered to herself, throwing her eyes back and forth as she tore through one narrow hallway after another. Both walls of every hall were lined with dressers, cabinets, decorative desks, tall lamps, bookshelves, and busts. The sheer amount of knick-knacks made Scootaloo’s head spin as she searched for one thing and one thing alone. “A little blue alicorn statue?” she said to herself in a critical voice. “What, like, a Princess Luna action figure or something? What am I looking for here?” From behind her, Scootaloo heard shouts, hurried trots, and the jangle of decorative armor. She gasped, looked all around for an escape, and dove through the nearest open doorway. It brought her into a surprisingly large room: a sort of bonus dining room, she guessed, with a long central table and twin benches to match, but no sign of near past or near future use. The table was empty and even a bit dusty, while the chandeliers overhead were devoid of candles, unlit or otherwise. Ignoring the room’s finer details, Scootaloo hid under the long table, concealing herself from the doorway. She peeked out into the hall from her vantage point, however, and watched as three guards ― including the one from upstairs ― marched together past the dining room, sweeping the perimeter for signs of the foreign pegasus. Scootaloo gulped and wiped sweat from her brow. She climbed onto the long bench furthest from the door and turned around. Built into the outer wall of the dining room were tall windows to Pelola proper. She recognized nothing beyond the moat and realized how far from her starting point she had already gone. A curious sight caught her eye through one window, and Scootaloo squinted its way. A young stallion with a slick jacket pulled over on a cobblestone road and parked a silver motorscooter with a swift buck to its kickstand. With a grin, the stallion entered a nearby apartment. Scootaloo thought she could see the glitter of forgotten keys in the morning sunlight. She gulped and turned away from the window. With a deep breath, she shook her head vigorously and resumed her search, crawling back into the hallway with another level of stealth entirely. “All right, Scootaloo,” she said to herself. “Time to hurry up and find this statue. What would Rainbow Dash do?” {-DD-} In one of the castle’s southern hallways, Trotto Verde pulled a ring of brass keys from inside his vest. With a sour expression, he used three very rusty keys to open a multi-bolted door comprised of bricks and molding that blended in with the wall around it. “Under normal circumstances,” Trotto Verde said in a low tone, “we do not-a let strangers into the cellar.” He glanced back at Dinky with fear in his eyes. “However… I will accompany you until the filly is-a stable. Then I must ask-a that you take her elsewhere, good doctor.” Zoccolo nodded, his fake beard flouncing in the wake of his enthusiasm. “Ma certo. I don’t-a want to be the un-convenience-a!” He shivered. “But we must-a save-a this filly…” With her jaw nigh-permanently pushed the side, Apple Bloom asked Trotto, “So you actually know this… doctor?” “Oh, yes, of course,” Trotto said, nodding as he unlatched the last of the locks and steadied himself to open the cellar door. “Dottore Attuno has served the Cricciero family for many years.” Apple Bloom gawked at Zoccolo, who winked down at her. Seething, Apple Bloom nevertheless stayed quiet, more from fuming curiosity than anything. Trotto Verde pulled open the door. A rush of air tossed all their manes as the warmth of the hall and the wet, frigid air of the basement tried to balance. “Inside, quickly,” Trotto said, waving the ponies onward. “There are precious commodities down there that need-a the cold air.” As Zoccolo passed, he paused indignantly to stare Trotto in the eyes. “What commodity is more-a precious than-a the life of a child?” he asked in a breathy tone, continuing to milk his accent for all it was worth. Trotto squeaked as Zoccolo continued, descending a dark staircase into the world below. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes and followed behind him, Sweetie Belle, and a convincingly floppy Dinky. Trotto took up the rear, shutting the cellar door tight behind them, and plunging the cellar into near total darkness. “Yeesh… creepy down here,” said Apple Bloom’s voice. Her hooves reached the bottom of the staircase and she stepped onto a brick floor smoothed by a fine layer of moisture. “Hnnghh…” Sweetie Belle willed her horn into use, shining a pale green glow over the party. “Voila! Or, sorry… that’s Chevallian.” “Grazie, little unicorn,” said Trotto Verde, using the magical light to find a lever on the wall. “This-a should help as well.” He pulled the lever, and with a whir of hidden gears, several slots opened up along the tops of the surrounding walls, revealing little cubbies in which enchanted candles burned. “Whoa!” Sweetie Belle said, extinguishing her horn in the presence of brighter light. “That was cool! I wish Scootaloo was here.” “Yeah, gee,” said Apple Bloom, throwing an accusatory glance at Zoccolo. “I wonder where on Equus she could be.” Zoccolo’s eyes were sparkling in the elevated candlelight. He turned in slow circles, eyeing every corner of the cellar’s chilly foyer. “Oh,” he said airily, as if in a daze, “believe me: she is right where she ought-a to be.” {-DD-} “Whoa…” Scootaloo smirked. “Hello there, blue alicorn friend.” The statue was beautifully crafted from dark blue stone, and polished to shine like the sky during an eclipse. It was bigger than Scootaloo had expected, about as tall as her foreleg, and stood in the halls on a white, chalky pedestal so that she had to stand on her hind legs to reach it. “A dude alicorn, huh?” Scootaloo said to herself, studying the chiseled muzzle and spiraling horn of the statue. “Heh. Weird.” Its wings were open, but tilted toward the ground so that they almost touched the top of the pedestal where its regal hooves were fastened. “Hmm…” Scootaloo rubbed her chin. “So all I gotta do is… this?” Balancing on her back legs, Scootaloo tucked her hooves under each of the wings and carefully lifted upward. Stubborn as the stone it was, the statue didn’t react. “Ugh… fine.” Scootaloo cracked her neck and prepared to lift harder. “Hope this doesn’t break. Looks freakin’ expensive.” She grit her teeth, grunted twice, and strained to lift the statue’s wings. Finally, with a dual snap, the wings rotated at the little alicorn’s joints and pointed upward, poised for flight. Scootaloo chuckled to herself. “Rad.” She looked over her shoulder. “So… where’s that secret entrance Zoccolo’s supposed to come through?” {-DD-} In the cellar, there was suddenly a loud clunk and a hiss. Every open eye swiveled to a square in the wall that was slowly falling open, like a larger and more guarded version of the candle nooks overhead. Trotto’s right eye twitched as his pupils shrank to pinpricks. “Dea carissima...” With a maniacal grin, Zoccolo reared onto his hind legs, connected his forehooves over his head, and brought them down hard on the back of Trotto’s skull. The vested pony didn’t make a noise as he crumpled unconscious to the ground. “Aaaaah!” Sweetie Belle screamed, but dove forward, catching Dinky’s limp body as she tumbled off Zoccolo’s back. The tiny unicorn’s eyes finally opened as she gasped in Sweetie Belle’s grasp. “What happened?” “What the hay was that for?” Apple Bloom shouted at Zoccolo. “All part of the plan,” Zoccolo said. His smile never left his face as he approached the exposed vault grinding to a halt. Inside the wall were a number of small and clearly valuable objects, but one of them stood out from the rest, hanging on an embroidered plaque on the very back of the safe. “Is that… a horseshoe?” Apple Bloom asked. “L’oro mitico di cavallo,” Zoccolo said between unsteady breaths. “The Golden Horseshoe. Finalmente.” “That’s what all this is about?” Apple Bloom asked. “All the lies, the perpetrations, the runnin’ and the distractin’ and the… the… alternative philanthropy!?” She seethed where she stood, several yards behind Zoccolo. “A lousy horseshoe?” Zoccolo reached reverently into the safe and plucked the golden horseshoe from its plaque. With a prolonged sigh of relief, he brought the prize to his chest and nuzzled it like a foal. Eventually he turned around and gave Apple Bloom a knowing smile. “I am-a delighted by your low opinion. It simply means the Golden Horseshoe is all mine.” Apple Bloom stomped her hoof so hard that the moisture on the ground splashed in a wide circle. “What about the foals, huh!? The kidnapped foals in Haissan!? Remember?” “What about Nipota?” asked Sweetie Belle, trembling. “Raaaugh!” Apple Bloom’s throat tore from her scream. “There is no Nipota, Sweetie Belle! There never was!” She pointed a shaking hoof at Zoccolo. “This was his plan all along! He infiltrated this place years ago and just needed to find somepony stupid enough to help him break into the basement!” Zoccolo raised his brow with an amused smile. “Bravissima, Fiore. I must-a say, your intelligence continues to astound me.” “Clearly I ain’t very intelligent,” Apple Bloom said, gesturing to the golden horsehoe in his grasp. “But I know the gull durn truth when it’s stinkin’ right under my snout.” “No… Nipota…?” Sweetie Belle whimpered, staring at a blank spot on the ground beyond Dinky’s head. Dinky climbed out of Sweetie’s grip and looked up at Zoccolo, gaping. “You mean she’s right? This was your plan all along? For us to help you break in and… steal a horseshoe?” Zoccolo’s smile softened and he gently patted Dinky’s yellow mane. “The less you know the better, little friend. For now, this is-a where we part.” He slid the horseshoe into his sidebag and galloped back to the basement stairs. The fillies all stood in place, too shocked to chase him. Still, Zoccolo paused halfway up the staircase and turned back to the fillies. With a smirk and a salute, he said, “Grazie mille, little friends. I couldn’t have-a done it without you.” With a wink, he escaped. “Arrivederci!” Apple Bloom blinked at the open vault. Both of her eyes were twitching now. Sweetie Belle’s lower lip quivered as she struggled to hold in tears. Dinky dropped onto her little haunches. Dinky stared at the flickering ceiling. Dinky’s brow pressed into her eyes from above. Dinky took a deep breath that made her teeth tingle. And Dinky Doo screamed. “RrrrraaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”