Where am I?
Looking around, Dinky found herself in what looked to be a park of some sort. Everything seemed rather peaceful; ducks were lying about in the lake, birds chirping in the tree, and there were fillies playing in the grass nearby. Glancing around for any signs of her mother or any other adult, Dinky discovered that the three of them were all alone. With no other choice, she decided to approach the two of them; maybe they would know where this place was?
“E-excuse me but…” Dinky said, trying to get the attention of one of them.
The nearest to her was a small, white-coated unicorn filly with a long, luxurious pink-mane. It reminded Dinky a lot of that one mare in Ponyville who took care of all the animals. Fluttershy or something. Unfortunately, Dinky’s attempt to get her attention was for naught. The filly was busy playing with another, slightly smaller unicorn filly. She was dark-colored; not quite black but not what Dinky would consider blue. A kind of purple maybe? Whatever color, her mane was a lighter blue colored, but unlike the other filly hers was short and curly. From the way the two of them played, it was obvious the two of them were sisters.
While Dinky thought it would be rude to interrupt them, she really wanted to know where she was. As she got closer to the two of them, who were now resting and lying on the ground, she reached out to tap the white-coated one. Before she could, however, a group of other foals arrived.
“Hey Sunny, want to play hide and go seek?” said one of the larger colts.
The white-coated filly, who Dinky figured must be Sunny, stood up. This finally gave Dinky a chance to take a look at her cutie mark, which looked like the suns she’d draw in art class at school. Dinky was puzzled, however, by how nervous Sunny looked, her head turned to the side as she answered them. Even more puzzling was the look of annoyance on her sister.
“Well, I was supposed to be playing with my sister…”
“Oh please, you know you want to play with them. Just go ahead and have fun,” the younger one said, giving a slight pout as she turned away. Sunny looked between her and the foals.
“Are you sure Starry?”
Starry? But isn’t that…
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Just go,” Starry said, though as Sunny turned her Dinky heard Starry mumble, “Just go like you always do.”
With some hesitancy Sunny walked over to the other foals, who then ran off to their game of hide and seek. This left Dinky all alone with Starry. She had to wonder though, was this the same Starry she met at the castle? The shooting star cutie mark on her flank wasn’t much considering Dinky didn’t even know Starry’s. Well, there was only one way to find out. Walking just a bit closer, Dinky was about to reach out to Starry when she heard the voice again.
Yes Dinky, that’s me with my sister.
.
The field, the foals, everything but her and the foal started to fade away into an empty blackness. As it did so, Dinky watched the foal begin to shake and shiver before flopping onto the ground. Her forelegs were crossed across head, and a moment later Dinky could hear the sound of sobbing coming from her.
“What’s going on Starry?”
I wanted to show you what my life has been like. That’s what friends do right? They share secrets, tell each other about their lives. I’ve gotten to see your life; your loving mother, her friends that are almost like aunts and uncles to you. So I figured I should open up to you a bit.
That seemed to make sense to Dinky, but that still didn’t really answer her question.
“Okay, but, where are we then?”
Why, your dreams of course. It’s sort of my special talent, being able to see into ponies dreams. I hope you don’t mind me messing with yours to show you this.
Dinky shook her head. “No, it’s fine.”
Oh thank goodness. I didn’t want to upset my new friend but, well, I really wanted to show you this.
“Why?”
Because, we’re so very similar Dinky.
Off in the distance the sight of Sunny playing with the rest of the foals appeared. She looked rather happy and carefree, a rather stark contrast with the sad and depressed state of Starry.
I know all about the troubles you have been having with the foals at school. They make fun of you, they run off and play while leaving you behind. They see you as an outcast.
“I-it’s not like that,” Dinky replied, trying to ignore her own tears forming.
Now Dinky, there’s no need to lie to your friend now is there?
The scenes of Starry and Sunny soon began to shift. Starry was gone, and Dinky found herself sitting alone in a sandbox. Sunny and the rest of the foals became the foals from her class. They were running around with all their friends; going up and down on the teeter-totter, swinging on the swings, the Cutie Mark Crusaders apparently trying to glide off the roof while Cheerilee yelled at them. And while prior to this the only noise had been the sounds of Starry talking and foals playing, Dinky could hear the beginnings of a chorus saying something. She couldn’t make it out at first, but it soon started to get louder and louder until it consumed everything.
“Blank flank.”
“Blank Flank.”
“Blank Flank.”
“S-stop it!” Dinky yelled out into the darkness, only to be met with the faces of the two foals she feared the most.
“Oh, I’m sorry, are we upsetting you Rinky Dinky?” said the pink-coated face of Diamond Tiara, who began to giggle a little as her silver-coated companion Silver Spoon decided to take up the task of taunting.
“Maybe you should go get your mommy. I bet she’s probably stuck in the mailbox again,” she said, joining in with Diamond Tiara’s giggling.
“Don’t make fun of my mom. Just d-don’t,” Dinky replied, her voice squeaking as she did her best to hold back her sobs.
Just as she was about to break down, however, Starry began to speak again.
See, there’s no need to hide it Dinky. You and I are just alike, and I want to help. You see…
The chorus of “Blank Flank” began to fade, eventually leaving nothing but silence. A gust of wind began to blew, and it with the faces of Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara began to blow away like dusts. Soon everything was gone, leaving nothing behind but Dinky and the darkness.
I can make it all go away. Just tell me when, and I can give you that power. Just a simple…
“Dinky,” a voice said, breaking through the darkness.
“M-mommy?” Dinky said, her frown turning into a slight smile the comforting sound of her mother’s voice.
------
“Dinky, wake up. Wake up Dinky, it’s time for school.” Derpy said as she lightly shook her little filly’s body.
As Dinky began to groggily move around, Derpy began to frown. There was a slight staining on the pillow near her head, and as Dinky began to open her eyes Derpy could see that they were red and puffy.
“Morning mommy.” Dinky mumbled out before letting out a yawn.
Derpy instantly hid her look of worry with a smile, patting her filly on the head as she started to pull the covers back.
“Good morning honey. Did you sleep well?” she asked, hoping to get some kind of an answer.
“Y-yeah, I slept fine mommy. Are there any muffins left?” Dinky replied, hopping out of bed and lazily walking towards the door.
“Just baked a fresh new batch this morning dear. Are you sure everything was fine? I thought I heard you sobbing earlier and…”
“I said I slept fine mom,” Dinky said with a huff before disappearing from sight.
“O-okay then...” Derpy replied.
Her stomach was now feeling like it was invaded by the entirety of Fluttershy’s butterflies from the worry. Never before had Dinky ever lied to her like that, or kept anything bottled up. They had always talked about whenever Dinky had problems, whether at school or she had a nightmare. Hopefully everything was alright, but just in case she would try and arrange a meeting with Miss Cheerilee to talk about it. For now, however, all she could do was prepare those muffins for her daughter and send her off to school.