//------------------------------// // 13 - Bad Taste in Heroes // Story: The Daughter Doo: Honorary Cutie Mark Crusader // by Ponky //------------------------------// Chapter Thirteen Bad Taste in Heroes “And how, esattamente, did-a you do that?” Dinky Doo took deep breaths. Standing on the south side of the River Pon, staring down into its naturally flowing waters, she held her flute close to her chest and simply breathed. “Well, you see,” Sweetie Belle answered instead, standing between Apple Bloom and Scootaloo in a protective line between Dinky and Zoccolo, “while we were crossing the ocean, we met a―” Apple Bloom smacked a hoof over Sweetie Belle’s mouth and continued to stare at Zoccolo with a dull, expectant expression. Scootaloo stared at the ground beneath her hooves. Zoccolo rolled his eyes. “Very well. There are strange-a magics in Equestria, I suppose.” “Yeah, and also, what the heck?” Sweetie Belle said, standing on her hind legs to escape Apple Bloom’s hoof. “You’re a unicorn? Why didn’t you tell us?” Zoccolo poked the shattered stub of a horn over his eyes. “I didn’t think it-a mattered,” he mumbled. “Get outta here,” Apple Bloom said. She grabbed the Golden Horseshoe off the ground and tossed it forward so that it perfectly landed around the base of Zoccolo’s broken horn. “And take yer stupid prize ya worked so dang hard for.” Zoccolo’s eyes crossed to get a better look at the artifact. He plucked it off his head, stared at it in his own hoof, and finally closed his eyes. He tucked it into his sidebag without looking. “I… grazie, ragazze.” Dinky listened, but did not turn around, watching lines of white bubbles form around rocks in the river. “All right, then. You got watcha came for.” Apple Bloom jerked her head toward the forest and Pelola beyond. “Go on, then. Git. We’re through with you.” The muscles all around Zoccolo’s eyes tightened. “But Fiore…” “It’s Apple Bloom!” she shouted. “And I said git!” Zoccolo sighed. He pointed east along the river. “The Pon flows into Haissan. If-a you follow the river east, you will arrive at the wall that surrounds-a the grand palace.” “Yeah, yeah. You’ve said this before.” “Be very careful,” Zoccolo continued. “There is… a powerful force that will―” “We get it, Zoccolo!” Apple Bloom yelled, marching forward. “Do I have buck you in the flank myself? Get outta here! We don’t want you around no more!” Zoccolo stole a glance at Dinky, then tried to get Scootaloo’s attention. “Vesparè…” Scootaloo flinched. “That’s it, if ye’r not leavin’, we are.” Apple Bloom spun around and trudged east along the cliff-like bank of the river. “Come on, girls. Let’s go.” Scootaloo fidgeted, but soon stood up and followed Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle touched Dinky’s back, startling the littlest filly. Together, the unicorns walked side by side and took up the rear of the their trek. Dinky was the only pony to look over her shoulder, though she didn’t make eye contact with Zoccolo. Quietly, dimly, the Cutie Mark Crusaders left. Zoccolo watched them leave, frozen where he stood. His eyes darted between Dinky’s little horn and Scootaloo’s little wings. He sighed and dropped his head a bit, glancing straight up at Zuka leaning off his broken horn. “Is this how it’s supposed to go, cara Zuka?” The orange chameleon didn’t answer, watching the fillies leave with sad eyes. Zoccolo scuffed a hoof against the ground. “Non capisco. I thought… I thought it-a would be… different.” He turned around and went back into the woods, trotting sullenly back to Pelola. {-DD-} The Cutie Mark Crusaders trotted single file along the elevated edge of the River Pon. At first they heard the intermittent sounds of passing trains beyond the strip of forest to the south, but as the forest got wider and the river bent north, the train noises grew too faint. Apple Bloom was in the lead. At first she often glanced over her shoulder to check on her friends, but after an hour or so of their trek she glared straight ahead, fuming in the wake of wasted time. Scootaloo was next. Her head hung low and her eyes scanned the ground without interest. Sweetie Belle looked to be on the brink of tears, sniffling every once in a while as she dutifully marched behind her fellow founding Crusaders. Dinky Doo took up the rear. Her little hooves sometimes stumbled while she stared over the cliff-like edge of the bank at the river below. She pondered on the power of the Alicorns and the origins of Calupan. How had he heard her song? Could he control all the water in the world? After at least an hour of trotting east, Dinky cleared her throat. It felt dry and sore; her cheeks burned slightly as she remembered how much she had screamed at Zoccolo’s betrayal. Her mother had always protected her from conniving ponies and all sorts of heartbreak, which only made Zoccolo’s actions all the more painful. Dinky shuddered, remembering the way he smiled at her, and how strangely familiar he had always seemed… “Ugh, fine! If nopony’s gotta voice ‘round here, I guess I’ll just break the silence!” She huffed and tossed her mane back. Her big pink bow was coming loose. “We’re gonna be fine, y’hear? That no good stallion set us back a bit, sure, but we’re on the right track now. We’ll get to Haissan, find the foals, and get home ‘fore anypony worries about us too much.” Sweetie Belle choked on her breath. “Are you kidding me, Apple Bloom? Our families must be freaking out right now! We’ve been gone for days. I bet Rarity and Applejack are bawling their eyes out!” “Applejack doesn’t cry,” mumbled Apple Bloom. “Besides,” Sweetie continued, kicking at the ground, “I bet Rainbow Dash and Dinky’s mom have already helped Daring Do find the foals by now. We might as well just turn around and go home.” “I think ye’r fergettin’ that we traveled back in time and got an Alicorn to carry us across the ocean in one night,” Apple Bloom retorted, shouting without glancing behind her. “We’re still way ahead of ‘em. Just think o’ how proud Rainbow Dash’ll be, Scootaloo!” Scootaloo whimpered. “Whatever. Obviously I have bad taste in heroes.” “Ugh!” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes at the grand Itailian sky. “Zoccolo wasn’t yer hero, Scootaloo. He was nothin’ but a crafty actor with no moral compass.” She shook her head and kept marching ahead. “Honestly, you’ll get over him. Just focus on helpin’ Rainbow Dash.” Scootaloo sighed, but otherwise did not respond, staring at the earthy ground. Sweetie Belle hummed pathetically. “Poor Rarity… I’m so sorry. What were we thinking?” “Don’tchu start that now!” Apple Bloom snapped. “We’re gonna find those foals and get home lickety split! You’ll see!” She tripped and stumbled, but got herself and kept trudging east. “Just gotta get up this river, is all.” Dinky glanced down at the water. “Think it’d be easier with a boat?” she asked quietly, so that only Sweetie heard. “HEY!” Sweetie Belle yelled to the others ahead. “Do ya think this would be easier if we had a boat!?” “My hooves hurt,” Scootaloo grumbled. “Y’all are a bunch o’ sissies!” Apple Bloom said. “We’ll be fine! Just keep trottin’!” “The river’s flowing east,” Sweetie said, giving the water below a good look. “It’d be pretty easy if we just had, like… a little raft or…” “And-a what about a canoe, little friends?” Zoccolo’s voice came from the treeline to their right, and all four fillies yelped and froze where they were. As the tall, grey stallion emerged with a bright smile, Apple Bloom kicked up a clump of dirt. “Oh, come on!” she yelled. “Didn’t we tell you to get outta here, like, an hour ago!?” “Yeah!” Even Sweetie Belle’s face was turning pink with anger. “You’re not welcome here! Go away!” Scootaloo didn’t look up. Zoccolo cleared his throat and waved a dismissive hoof. “Don’t-a worry, I will not-a stay for long. It is simply that I remembered something!” He stepped aside and gestured into the forest, where a long, wooden canoe complete with several oars laid in wait. “Eccola! A canoe just for you!” Apple Bloom squinted hard. “Didju just steal that from Pelola?” “You’re-a very welcome,” Zoccolo said, grabbing the lip of the canoe and dragging it closer to the fillies. “With this, it should take no more than two days to reach-a the palace.” “Two days?” Sweetie Belle shouted. “Are you kidding me? We’re never gonna get home!” “Perhaps, with the, ehhh… help of a certain-a flute,” Zoccolo said, grinning, “you could-a make the trip faster.” Dinky gently touched the instrument behind her ear. “I’m… um… n-not sure it works like that.” Sweetie shrugged. “But maybe, yeah.” “Stop talkin’ to him!” Apple Bloom hissed. “Scootaloo’s got the only good sense among us. Let’s just keep goin’, girls. He’ll leave us alone eventually.” “Wait, Fiore!” Zoccolo winced and quickly corrected himself. “Apple Bloom. There is-a something else.” From his sidebag, Zoccolo produced the glimmering Golden Horseshoe. He tossed it so that it landed with a thud in front of sullen Scootaloo. “I want-a you to have this.” The fillies all stared at the object. Apple Bloom finally spoke. “Uhh… you want us to just take the thing you’ve been tryin’ to steal for Celestia knows how long?” Zoccolo swallowed hard. “It is-a true, Apple Bloom. I am a thief; not for necessity, but-a for fun. It took-a me many years to find a way into that-a basement and open the Signore’s safe…” He smirked. “And though you do not approve, I am-a very proud of my work!” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes again. Zoccolo’s smile drifted away on a sigh. “And-a yet, it is not-a the horseshoe itself that I want. So take it. It is-a yours now.” He shrugged. “Chi lo sa? Who knows-a? Perhaps it will be of-a use to you in your avventura.” “What, y’mean, like,” Apple Bloom asked, “we could use it to… barter for the foals?” Zoccolo’s shrug doubled. “Something like-a that.” Frowning, Apple Bloom nevertheless trotted to Scootaloo’s side and swiped up the Golden Horseshoe. “Fine. We’ll take it. If only to make things even.” She sneered. “You ruined what we were tryin’ to do by takin’ all our time. It’s only fair we take somethin’ you were after, too.” Zoccolo nodded. “Esatto.” Apple Bloom balanced the horseshoe around her tail and faced east. “Come on, girls. We still got a ways to go.” “I wanna take the canoe,” Scootaloo blurted. “Huh?” Apple Bloom turned around, one eyebrow raised. Scootaloo pointed at the wooden thing. “I wanna take the canoe. My hooves freakin’ hurt. I’m used to using a vehicle.” “I second that!” Sweetie Belle chirped, raising her hoof. “I miss the wagon.” Dinky just nodded. Apple Bloom huffed. Eyes half closed, she turned to Zoccolo. “We’ll take the dang canoe, too.” Zoccolo leaned forward with an expectant smile. Apple Bloom only glared harder. “I ain’t sayin’ thank you! Ya varmint!” Chuckling slightly, Zoccolo took a step back. “Capito, little friend. Well then.” He patted the top of his own head. “Zuka and I will take our-a leave. Buon viaggio, in bocca al lupo!” “Crepi,” said Dinky. Her eyes grew wide as all faces turned to look at her. Zoccolo, most of all, was beaming. “How did-a you know the response to in bocca al lupo, Graziosa?” Dinky shuddered. “I-I-I don’t know!” she bumbled. “It just came to me!” “Oh my gosh, Dinky…” Sweetie Belle whispered, eyes huge and glistening. “Do you speak Itailian?” “All right, that’s it!” Apple Bloom rushed forward, grabbed the end of the canoe, and heaved with all her earth pony might. The boat slid over the dirt and plunged over the edge of the river’s cliff-like bank. “Last pony in’s a rotten apple!” The canoe splashed perfectly into the River Pon. Its swift waters began to pull the canoe away. Apple Bloom boldly leapt off the high ground, landing with an “Oof!” in the canoe far below. The other Cutie Mark Crusaders shot each other nervous looks, then immediately followed her lead. Scootaloo jumped second; her landing rocked the canoe. “Whooaoa!” Sweetie Belle grabbed Dinky, took a galloping start, and leapt off the edge. Dinky took a final glance at Zoccolo over her shoulder before the two unicorn fillies fell. Sweetie briefly screamed and used a pulse of her green magic to assure that Dinky landed in the canoe. Sweetie herself, however, splashed into the water nearby. “Gah! It’s cold!” Sweetie gargled. Scootaloo snatched up an oar and used it to slow down the boat while Apple Bloom reached over the edge, pulling Sweetie Belle into the little vessel. It comfortably fit the four of them, but with no extra room to speak of. As Apple Bloom helped Sweetie settle and Scootaloo guided the craft eastward, Dinky looked up the tall walls of the riverbank in search of Zoccolo… but the stallion was nowhere to be seen. Dinky gulped. “Crepi,” she said again under her breath as the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ new canoe flowed on. {-DD-} Silence reigned as the boat moved east. “That was a pretty stupid thing you did back there, Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo grumbled after what felt like hours. Apple Bloom choked. “Excuuuse me? Stupider than stealin’ some poor pony’s scooter and drivin’ it straight at yer friends?” “That worked out, didn’t it?” Scootaloo growled. “So did this!” Apple Bloom said, pointing down at the canoe with both hooves. “Stop fighting!” Sweetie yelled. “Shut up!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo yelled together. They kept finding things to yell and argue about for the better part of the afternoon. Dinky just stared over the edge of the canoe, watching the water ripple and flow in a million places at once. She sighed several times, but it was such a quiet thing that the Crusaders didn’t notice. At some point, the fighting stopped, and the quiet came back like a weight over their party. The Sun sank behind them at the same pace as their spirits. When night finally fell, they were miles and miles away from Pelola, and the gorge-like walls of the River had shrunken down to even shore on both sides. Scootaloo guided the canoe to the southern, sandy shore where their boat came to a steady stop. Apple Bloom wordlessly hopped out of the canoe and pulled it farther from the water. By the light of the rising Moon, the fillies found plenty of driftwood in the sand and, between Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, they started a little fire to sleep around that night. “Wow,” Dinky breathed when the first flames came to life. “Where did you learn to do that?” “Where’d you learn to speak Itailian?” Scootaloo mumbled in response. Dinky’s face scrunched. “I… I don’t speak Itailian. I’ve j-just heard that phrase before.” “Where?” Sweetie Belle asked in a much kinder tone. “Ummm…” Dinky hung her head. “I can’t remember.” “Figures,” said Scootaloo. Apple Bloom sighed. “We’ve gone campin’ as a group a couple o’ times,” Apple Bloom explained. “Applejack taught me to make a fire long ago.” Dinky nodded. “Maybe my mommy taught me that phrase. In bocca al lupo.” “What does it mean?” Sweetie Belle asked. “In the mouth of the wolf,” Dinky answered. The fillies all stared at her. “And, uh…” Apple Bloom sniffed. “What does the second part mean? The bit you said in response.” “Crepi,” Dinky answered. The reflection of the fire danced in her eyes. “It means ‘kill it’.” The fillies were silent for a long time. Scootaloo cleared her throat. “Cooooool,” she finally said in an airy, awkward tone. “Ugh. Let’s just get some sleep,” Apple Bloom said, flopping onto her belly in the sand near the fire. “Quit pickin’ on Dinky, Scootaloo.” “Quit picking on me,” Scootaloo said back, lying down and closing her eyes on the opposite side of the camp. Sweetie Belle offered Dinky a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry,” she said. “This is all… pretty crazy.” Dinky nodded. “I know.” She offered a weak smile. “Good night, Sweetie Belle.” Sweetie lowered herself into the sand with a sigh. “Good night…” She closed her big green eyes with a frown, but after mere seconds her face relaxed and her breaths became slow and regular. Dinky giggled to herself. She’d never met a pony who fell asleep as fast as Sweetie Belle. Dinky laid on her back and stared at the sky. The Moon seemed to be speeding away from the horizon, and the stars sparkled high, high above. She didn’t recognize any of the constellations. Amazed, she tried to imagine just how far away from home she really was, tracing an imaginary map among the stars. This went on for longer than she realized, and suddenly she was struck with a wave of chills. Sitting up on her haunches, Dinky realized that the fire had died out; the other Cutie Mark Crusaders were sleeping soundly, and the bubbling sounds of the River Pon hummed peacefully down the bank. Shivering slightly, Dinky quietly got to her hooves and trotted along the narrow shore in search of more dry driftwood. She saw what looked like a small piece in the distance and waddled across the sand toward it. As she approached, however, the driftwood shifted. Dinky froze, and for just a moment she spotted a pair of bright green eyes. “Zuka?” she asked under her breath. The chameleon, still many feet ahead of Dinky, abandoned its camouflage for its natural orange color and scurried over the sand, spraying little waves of granules in all directions. Dinky watched Zuka head up the shore, away from the water, and climb a grassy hill not far from where the sand blended with earth. Dinky took a quick glance over her shoulder at the sleeping Crusaders. Bathed in pale Moonlight, Dinky followed the chameleon, bounding off the shore and up the grassy hill as quickly as her tiny legs could carry her. At the top of the hill, Dinky gasped at the beautiful landscape laid out before her. Long grass covered a veritable ocean of tiny rolling hills that stretched as far as her eyes could see in the darkness. She caught an orange glimpse of reptile scuttling away, luring her deeper into the hillscapes. Without a second thought, Dinky put on a brave smirk and sprinted in the same direction. The sloping motion of the land and the cool grass brushing her legs and ribcage were exhilarating. In an instant, her childlike energy returned, and she felt as though she could gallop forever. The Moon balanced in the sky directly over Dinky’s head. Zuka’s orange blur curved left and right around hills, and Dinky followed with boundless enthusiasm, her teeth gleaming in the night’s soft glow. Her tired mind darted through a series of memories: she was flying kites with her mother in the park, then she was rushing through the Sisterhooves Social obstacle course with her babysitter, then she was in the Outbuck playing tag with her uncle― Dinky opened her eyes with a gasp. She slammed her forehooves down and came to a grinding stop on a grassy hill. She looked up, but the Moon was nowhere to be seen. After a quick glance at her faded shadow, she spun around. There hung the glorious Moon, dropping toward the western horizon, toward Pelola, toward Caballos, toward Manehattan, toward Ponyville… “How long have I been…?” Dinky spun in slow circles, seeing nothing but green, rolling hills in every direction. She gulped. “Uh oh.” Dinky bounded down one hill, only to clamber up another. “Zuka?” she called out. Down and up, she may as well have been standing still for how much her surroundings changed. “Zoccolo?” Dinky broke into a full gallop, panting as her ears searched for the sound of a rushing river. “Sweetie Belle? Where are you!?” At the crest of the next hill, Dinky Doo came to a stop. A few slopes ahead of her, like a silhouette against the green, Zoccolo sat on his haunches with his forelegs outstretched. Dinky approached him on quick hoofsteps. By the time she reached the base of the hill where he sat, the entire face of world began to change around them. Dinky watched ― again ― as Zoccolo waved the hooves at the end of his extended legs. He gradually lifted them above his peaceful head in perfect time with the great, glowing orb that revealed itself in the east, splashing an infinite swath of golden light over the undulating fields. As Zoccolo raised the Sun, Dinky cantered up his hill, coming to a stop right behind him. She plopped onto her hindquarters and gazed upon the Sunrise with a concerned and thoroughly melancholy expression. When the morning was certain and the whole Sun kissed the sky, Zoccolo breathed out and brought his hooves ― pointed straight above his head ― gently to the ground. His peach eyes opened calmly and he turned to look at Dinky. His smile was serene. “Buongiorno,” he said. Dinky’s brow scrunched up. “I know you’re not raising the Sun,” she said. Zoccolo winked. “So do I,” he whispered. He twisted his back until it popped, then stood up and faced the little filly, blocking her eyes from the searing light with his own shadow. “Your friends will be worried about you.” “Did you follow us?” Dinky asked. Zoccolo tilted his head left and right. “Not-a really,” he said. “We happen to be headed in the same-a direction.” A light gust of wind blew between them, pushing down the long blades of emerald grass in a fluid wave. “We don’t like you, Zoccolo,” Dinky said. She tried to keep her voice steady. “You really hurt our feelings.” “Then why did you come find me?” the stallion asked. His voice was steady. Dinky’s blinks were rapid. “I know you,” she blurted. She leaned forward slightly as she said it. “I know you already.” Zoccolo’s lower eyelids tensed, but he did not stop smiling. “In a way,” he said softly. “How?” Dinky rapped on her own skull with a hoof. “I can’t remember. How do I know you?” “You don’t, child,” Zoccolo said, shaking his head. “We have never truly met.” “You’re him, aren’t you?” Dinky was shouting now. Her voice died among the hills. Zoccolo barely tilted his head. “Who?” “You’re my dad!” Zoccolo’s smile dropped and he took a step back. Dinky was crying now, shaking. “You’re my dad! You… you left us!” She dropped onto her little knees. “You left my mommy and… a-and me, and… and…” She wailed. She threw her head back and sobbed, then collapsed completely like a dead bird in the open field. Zoccolo rushed in and scooped little Dinky Doo into his long forelegs. Zuka skittered over Zoccolo’s body and onto Dinky’s, cuddling up under her tear-speckled chin. Zoccolo held her close to his chest and rocked the little filly as she cried, staining the dark fuzz of his chest with shiny splotches from her eyes. “Shhhh, piccolina,” Zoccolo said. The bass of his voice rumbled in his chest, sending vibrations through Dinky’s gasping frame. “I am-a not your father.” “You are!” Dinky sobbed. “Y-you’re a unicorn! And your mane is purple like m-m-me!” Her voice cracked and faded away to the sound of more harsh cries. Zoccolo was quiet for a long time, holding Dinky close. When the tiny unicorn’s breaths finally evened out, interrupted now and then by an errant hiccup, he finally spoke toward her folded ears. “I am-a not your father, Dinky Doo,” Zoccolo said tenderly, “and I am so, so sorry that I led you to believe it. That was-a never my intention.” He stroked her soft, blonde mane. “I am a messenger, principessa. A humble stallion chosen by powers he does-a not understand. I know who you are, Dinky Doo. And so, I believe, it has sense that you know me as well, though we have never met before.” He tucked a hoof behind her neck and pulled her into the nape of his own to calm her lasting shivers. “I wish I had-a more answers, my sweet little friend. All I know is that-a you must go to Haissan. You have to meet the Sultan.” “The S-Sultan?” Dinky stammered, wiping under her eyes with the back of a hoof. “Wh-why?” Zoccolo took a deep breath. “You are… a powerful unicorn, Dinky.” As he consoled her, his eyes were locked on three enormous cyclones ripping up grass amidst the hills in the distance. They grew weaker and weaker as Dinky calmed down. “Very powerful,” he continued. “You have many mysteries left to uncover of-a your family. I understand your pain. I do.” He lifted her slightly and looked into her vulnerable eyes. “But listen to me, Dinky Doo. As strong as you are, there are forces even greater than you can imagine watching over you. The very gods and goddesses of this world know your name, and want for you the best.” He smiled. “I do not-a know why they do it how they do it, but you are meant to find-a your family, and I am nothing but another step to help-a you get there.” Dinky sniffed. Her eyes traced the curve of his smile, and she found one of her own. “Bellissima,” Zoccolo said, stroking the filly’s cheek. “I believe… this is-a the last time you will see me, Dinky Doo.” Dinky wilted in his embrace. “R-really?” “Davvero,” Zoccolo said, nodding. “But-a now you have everything you need.” He set her down and faced east with her. Bending low, he pointed as though she could see something beyond the rolling hills. “There is a great magic protecting the palace,” Zoccolo said. “The Wailing Gate.” Zoccolo looked at her with surprise. “You know of it?” “Kind of.” Dinky rubbed her eyes again. “A, um… a seapony told me about it.” Zoccolo glanced at the flute behind her ear and smiled. “Ah. Ma certo.” Refocusing on the Sunrise, Zoccolo continued. “The winds of the Wailing Gate are fierce. Fiercer even than-a your friend, Apple Bloom.” Dinky giggled. “You can open the gate, principessa,” Zoccolo said. “You have everything you need. The Wailing Gate is a frightening place, but you do not-a need to be scared.” He put a foreleg around her and hugged her from the side. “This is happening as it was meant-a to happen.” Dinky gulped and nodded. “Okay.” “Good-a response!” Zoccolo laughed. “I know it is much, and very confusing. I wish I could tell-a you more.” “No, it’s… it’s okay.” Dinky smiled. “I’m sorry for… thinking you were my dad.” Zoccolo ran a hoof between her ears. “You do not-a need to be. You will-a find your family, Dinky Doo. This is a long time coming.” He looked up at the sky. “They all must-a find each other. They have to be reminded of-a the harmony they brought to this world.” “Or it will never end,” Dinky said under her breath. Zoccolo looked down at her with a question in his eyes, but in the end he simply clenched his jaw and nodded. “Yes. O non finisca mai.” “I know this.” Dinky touched her own chest. “I just… I already know this.” “Good.” Zoccolo smiled. “Then she has-a talked to you, too.” Dinky looked up. “Who has? The little pegasus?” She sniffed. “The p-pegasus that looks like me?” Zoccolo shook his head. “No. To me, she looks an angel.” He held out a hoof, and Dinky gasped as Zuka leapt off her periwinkle body and sat upright on its edge, gazing at her intently. “An angel with-a bright green eyes.”