//------------------------------//
// The Final Straw 
// Story: The Promise of a New Day 
// by moguera 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 8: The Final Straw

"So, Dawn went that far," mused Red River as he listened to Storm Front's retelling of the encounter between the colt and Scootaloo's father.
Storm Front simply nodded before taking a sip from the tankard of cider set before him.  The two of them reclined in the kitchen of the Apple Family household.  After dropping Cirrus Stratus off at the hospital, Storm Front had come directly to confer with Red River.  Granny Smith had been kind enough to supply the two of them with food and drink before ambling into the living room.
At least Cirrus's fate was little cause for concern.  For violating the restraining order, he'd spend a month in prison.  For additional charges, such as the attempted kidnapping of Scootaloo, it was highly likely that the Cirrus would be permanently banned from setting hoof in Ponyville again.
"That's a bit troubling," muttered the azure earth pony as he worked his mind for some kind of solution to the problem, "If this keeps up, he may be the one we end up protecting the townsponies from."
"Ah told that colt he was gonna snap someday."  The two stallions looked up to see that the Apple Family matriarch had returned to the kitchen.  She grinned as she tottered over to help herself to some pie.
Red River frowned as he regarded the ancient mare.  He was no idiot.  Several days of sharing the house with her had revealed a side he wasn't sure her own family knew about her.  He had heard Applejack's recounting of how Granny Smith had helped found Ponyville.  But that was an event that had occurred hundreds of years ago.  "Just who are you?"
Granny Smith turned and gave the azure stallion a knowing smile.  “Why Ah’m just little old Granny Smith, no more, no less.  Ah ain’t anythin’ special.  ‘Course, Ah’ve been Granny Smith to five generations ‘o Apples now.  A mare with mah years has a certain perspective.  Ya two young’uns best pay attention to that.”
The two stallions exchanged glances.  "So what do we do then?"
Granny Smith sighed.  "There ain't anythin' else to it.  If we leave things as they are, that colt's not gonna be able to figure things out before he does somethin' he'll really regret."  Her expression turned severe.  "No helpin' it.  He has to die."



Normally, the weekend was something fillies and colts especially enjoyed.  It was a time where they were free from school to play and relax, enjoying an entire two days of free time.  Dawn however, did not find the weekend so enjoyable.  The fact that Scootaloo's First Flight Party had taken place Friday evening only meant that he had a whole two days to mull over his mistake and his problem.  He didn't even consider stepping away from Fluttershy's house on Saturday.
Scootaloo was having similar issues.  Ironically, she found herself wishing that she could be in school right now.  At least then, she would have something to distract her from her current train of thought.  As it was, when she joined the other Crusaders for their usual weekend activities, she found herself constantly looking over her shoulder to see if Dawn tried to join them.  She honestly didn't know what she would do if he did show up.  Part of her was worried when he didn't, the other part relieved.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Rumble were quick to pick up on Dawn's absence as well as Scootaloo's odd behavior.  Unfortunately, she tended to brush aside their inquiries about what was going on.  The situation cast a shadow over their usually jovial proceedings.
Dawn remained at home with Fluttershy, barely willing to set foot outside her door if it wasn't necessary.  Fluttershy was disappointed by his behavior, but decided to allow it on the condition that he still returned to school come Monday.  Dawn looked towards Monday with growing anxiety, worried about being forced to confront Scootaloo and her newfound fear of him.



On Monday, it seemed as though the events of the previous week were beginning to replay themselves, only with the participants shuffled.  This time, it was Dawn who remained miserably silent throughout the day, barely ever responding to prompts from Cheerilee and otherwise hoping that the other students would forget his presence.  Scootaloo watched him warily from her seat and shifted position a few times, but otherwise seemed normal.  Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Rumble looked on in confusion, wondering what just had happened between the two of them.
Dawn's self-imposed isolation continued during recess, as he retreated to a separate corner of the schoolyard and read silently.  The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Rumble clustered together in their usual spot and tried to figure out what was going on.  However, Scootaloo pointedly ignored any questions directed towards her.
As it was, a certain pair of annoying fillies saw an opportunity for themselves.  Dawn had finished his lunch and was passing the time by reading a book he had borrowed from the the library when he heard approaching hoofsteps.
"Aw, what's the matter?  Did the other blank flanks decide you weren't cool enough to spend time with them?"  Diamond Tiara's voice was laden with mocking condescension.  However, Dawn chose not to pay her any mind and instead chose to continue reading, although making sure to keep aware of her in case she or Silver Spoon decided to do something other than simply mock him.
"It's pretty pathetic when you think about it," continued Diamond, "It's bad enough that you're a blank flank.  But it must hurt that you're so low that even other blank flanks won't let you spend time with them."
Dawn's eye didn't even twitch at her jibes.  He continued to read silently, ignoring Diamond Tiara.  He was quite aware that she was simply fishing for some kind of reaction from him and would jump on the opportunity should he attempt to respond.
"Come on Diamond Tiara, this is lame," complained Silver Spoon, "I don't even think he can hear you.  Maybe he went deaf over the weekend.  That would certainly explain why he didn't do much during class."
Dawn noticed that, in spite of her rather cruel words, Silver Spoon's complaint seemed more of an effort to defuse the situation, while masquerading it as another taunt in order to avoid arousing any suspicion on Diamond Tiara's part that she might be sympathetic to him (if that was the case).  Had he not been holding a facade of unresponsiveness, he would have raised an eyebrow at her remark.
"Nah, he can hear us just fine," said Diamond Tiara airily, dismissing Silver Spoon's theory, "The little freak's just pretending he can't hear us."
Well, she nailed that in one, thought Dawn wryly.
Diamond Tiara continued.  "It doesn't surprise me that you aren't hanging out with the other blank flanks anymore freak.  After all, what kind of pony would want to spend time around a monster like you.  I bet they got sick of you watching them with your creepy eyes all the time."
She leaned in closer.  "Are you just trying to pretend that you're a normal pony so that everyone will forget what you really are.
"I can't believe that anypony would even try to be friends with you.  And I can't imagine what kind of pony would want to adopt something like you either.  Really, there must be something wrong with that Fluttershy if she can let you stay in her house."  The other foals were noticing Diamond Tiara's attempt to harass Dawn.  Those that had come within earshot were shifting uncomfortably at what she was suggesting; although, whether it was because they secretly agreed with her or thought she was taking things too far was up for debate.  The other Crusaders had noticed the commotion and, with the notable exception of Scootaloo, who remained where she was, they were coming to try and put a stop to it.
Diamond Tiara continued on as though she didn't notice she had drawn an audience.  "I should talk to daddy.  I bet, if I tell him, he'll just buy Fluttershy's house so you two can get thrown out of town.  You should leave before something even worse than that happens.  We don't want freaks like you in Ponyville."
Dawn finally decided he'd had enough.  He could easily handle insults and threats directed at him.  But he was not about to allow his mother to be insulted or threatened because of him.  For the first time since Diamond Tiara had started speaking, Dawn looked up from his book and regarded her with his unnerving gaze.
Diamond Tiara flinched back away from him slightly before trying to reclaim her mask of bravado.  However, the slight quaver in her voice betrayed her nervousness.  "What's the matter freak?  Are you angry?  It's not like you can do anything about it.  If you tried to hurt me, you'd just regret it."
"Why is that?" asked Dawn.
"B-because if you hurt me, then my daddy will punish you," stammered the pink filly.
"And what makes you think that he'd find you worth avenging?" asked Dawn.
Diamond Tiara's jaw dropped.  Dawn continued.  "As far as I can tell, you aren't worth anything on your own."
For a moment, Diamond Tiara's jaw worked in the eerie silence that had descended on the schoolyard.  "I...I...What?!"
"You threaten me with your father's influence.  You threaten me with your father's wealth.  But, in all honesty, what do you do for yourself?  Everything you speak of belongs to your father, while you yourself have nothing."  Dawn rose to his hooves and turned to face the arrogant filly head on.  "Is that why you try so hard to assert your dominance?  Is it because you realize that, without your father's name, without his wealth, you would have nothing?  You would be nothing."  With each question, Dawn took a step forward, which Diamond Tiara matched with a step away.  He advanced until the now thoroughly frightened filly was backed up against the wall of the schoolhouse.
"That's the truth, isn't it.  You cling so desperately to your father because you know that you have nothing of your own to threaten with.  Even that cutie mark you're so proud of...Perhaps it means nothing more than the fact you are a pretend princess, dressed up in your father's money.  In the end, the only thing you are is a doll, another way to show how rich an powerful he is.  You hardly rate as a a daughter at all."
The other foals looked on in shock at Dawn's tirade.  It seemed as though an icy wind was blowing through the yard.  Diamond Tiara quivered against the side of the schoolhouse, trying desperately to come up with some kind of rebuttal, but failing utterly.  Finally, she bolted, dashing around the corner and disappearing, possibly into the building.  For a moment, there was no motion, then Silver Spoon slowly trotted off to look for her friend, throwing a frightened glance over her shoulder at Dawn, who was struck with the strangely eerie notion that this was akin to what had happened last week.
Dawn let out a low breath and closed his eyes.  He could feel everypony's gaze upon him.  He didn't expect exultation that he had finally done what so many wanted and put Diamond Tiara "in her place."  But he was troubled to feel that the only feeling hanging in the air seemed to be fear.  He knew that everypony, even his friends, were watching him warily, wondering what he would do next.  Would he tear into one of them in such a verbally savage manner?  What if they actually got him angry enough to lash out?
And Dawn joined them in that thought.  He was getting worried.  He had done something similar to Applejack, but felt more justified given that she had been trying to actually attack him at the time.  But, even then, he hadn't been right to verbally abuse her like that.  It seemed that the newfound security of his home with Fluttershy was emboldening him to be less tolerant of abuses against him.  But Dawn was finding that his responses were...rather cruel.  Is this my true nature?
Dawn remained frozen, staring at the section of wall Diamond Tiara had been cornered against.  He couldn't bring himself to turn around and look at the other foals, sure that they would draw back from him the instant they thought he might notice them.  Dawn didn't blame them for that.  He suddenly found himself feeling very tired.



If anything, the rest of the day was even worse than before.  Now, all the Crusaders, along with Rumble, were regarding Dawn rather warily.  The other students were no better.  Diamond Tiara refused to say a single word for the entire afternoon and Silver Spoon flinched whenever Dawn's gaze brushed by her.  The atmosphere in the classroom was oppressive.  Cheerilee did her best to soldier on and keep the lessons going, but was having a hard time keeping the foals engaged.
When the bell rang, Dawn departed on his own, heading back home by hoof, rather than flying.  Nopony tried to stop him, every other foal in the class keeping their distance as he went on his way.  The colt was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he barely noticed the blue and red stallion who moved to bar his path.
"It seems that you haven't quite taken my advice to heart," said Red River as he gazed down at the colt.
Dawn took the interruption of his thoughts in stride and looked up at the stallion.  "I am trying.  But you could be right to say that I don't seem to be making much progress."
Red River slowly shook his head.  "Unfortunately, in a lot of ways, you are making too much progress.  After all, you seem to have gotten very good about experiencing anger."
A sigh escaped Dawn's lips as he looked back the way he came.  "But I don't have a handle on understanding the pain of others."
"You understand it as an abstract concept.  You can read their reaction and measure it against their normal behavior and rationalize the pain, fear and anger of others, just like a scientist linking cause and effect.  What you lack, is the capacity to truly connect with the feelings of others.  Over time, you might be able rediscover this capacity that you stifled, but I fear for the damage you might cause in the meantime."
Dawn tilted his head, not quite liking the direction this conversation was heading.
Red River sighed.  "It pains me to take such drastic action, but I am afraid that we can no longer risk allowing you to run free as you are."
"What do you mean?"
Dawn froze as Red River fixed him with a stern gaze, the full force of the stallion's will crashing down upon him.  For a moment, Dawn felt helpless, unable to move.  "We have decided that you cannot be permitted to live.
"Dawn Lightwing.  It has been decided that, in order to protect the ponies of Equestria from your impulses, which are backed by truly awe-inspiring power, that you will have to die.  Storm Front and I shall be your executioners and the date shall be six days hence.  You have that time to put your affairs in order.  We will meet at the quarry outside of town.  No one should bother us there.
"If you do not wish to die, your only choice is to leave and never show yourself in any part of Equestria ever again.  If you do, we will find you and we will end you."
Dawn's body had gone numb as his mind processed Red River's pronouncement.  He couldn't help but feel that the entire situation was ludicrous.  It had all the trappings of a bad dream.  Here he was, in a town where the population didn't immediately organize into a mob upon his appearance, living with a mare who had willingly become his mother, attending school with foals and making friends his own age for the first time in his life, and now he was faced with his impending death at the hooves of the two stallions who had been originally called into town on his behalf.
Then, Storm Front's admonishment of him came into the colt's mind.  It was followed by the frightened expression on Scootaloo's face after he had almost crippled her father.  He remembered the fear and wariness he felt from the other foals in school.  They weren't wary of something as superficial as his eyes, but because he had given them good reason to regard him with fear.  Dawn felt hollow inside, as though all the progress he had made, all the things he had gained, had been without meaning.  Perhaps Red River was right.  Perhaps he was too dangerous to be allowed to roam unchecked.  Perhaps it was for the best that his life was brought to an end before he ended up hurting an innocent pony.
Red River did not stick around for the colt's answer.  He merely left.  Dawn was so lost in thought that he barely noticed.  Upon realizing that he was alone, once again, Dawn let out another sigh.  What do I do now?



What do I do now?  Rainbow Dash let out a groan and pushed away from the desk.  Paperwork was the part she hated most about managing the weather team.  If she had just been a rank and file member, she wouldn't have to worry about forms, schedules or cloud requisitions.  All she would have to do was follow directions and put the clouds where they were supposed to go and buck them away when they weren't needed anymore.  But no; she had to take the job as manager when it opened up.  A higher position generally meant a better chance to show her skills and responsibility, which would improve her standing as a Wonderbolts candidate.
The fact that the Wonderbolts were a flight team was an important fixture.  For all that she practiced her stunts and routines, honing her flight skills and improving her physical abilities, Rainbow knew that those alone would not be enough to be considered for a position with her idols.  Being in the Wonderbolts meant sharing the sky with other ponies, namely your teammates.  By showcasing her skills as a manager, Rainbow Dash was able to demonstrate that she could be responsible, not trying to do everything herself and able to coordinate the work of her subordinates.  While it was a far cry from the close in-flight coordination practiced by the Wonderbolts themselves, it was still a step in the right direction.
That knowledge didn't make the paperwork any more bearable, especially at times like this, when the only news Rainbow was tending to receive was bad news.  The weather factory was still unable to provide the clouds the town needed and the team's meager haul of collected clouds wouldn't be enough to sustain a full rainstorm, even if they limited it to just Ponyville's farming community.  That meant that the next storm would be insufficient to fully water the crops, which would mean that another storm would have to be scheduled even sooner, giving the team even less time to gather more clouds, which meant that the following storm would have to be smaller still.  It was a vicious cycle that showed no signs of ending.
Aggravating things was the fact that Rainbow Dash's inbox was stuffed full of complaints from distressed citizens, unhappy that their flowerbeds weren't getting watered or that the parks and Whitetail Woods were wilting away in the drought.  Rainbow could explain the problem until she was blue (well...bluer than usual) in the face, but a lot of ponies wouldn't accept what she had to say.  She knew more than a few letters were accusing her of being just plain lazy, as though she was truly irresponsible and cruel enough to cause a drought just because she wanted more nap time.  If anything, her anxiety over the situation meant that Rainbow Dash was getting even less sleep than usual.  Mare Mayor had informed the sky-blue pegasus that she had even received a couple of petitions to relieve Rainbow Dash of her position.  Fortunately, the Mayor was going to do nothing of the sort.  But that didn't decrease the irritation Rainbow felt at being saddled with the blame for the crisis.  One thing she had learned about being in charge, even when it wasn't, it was still your fault.
Rainbow Dash had even briefly entertained flat out breaking the law.  However, she read an article in the latest issue of the Ponyville Post about the weather team in Long Fields, another town that got their weather from Cloudsdale, who had done just that.  Unfortunately, Cloudsdale had reacted with frightening speed and shut the team down, arresting the members and heavily fining the town itself for use of illegally created weather.  The article had Rainbow's blood boiling, but it also had the gears in her head turning.
Even though they were being impossibly sluggish to respond to the crisis, the authorities and Cloudsdale were still lightning fast when it came to responding towards anypony who broke the rules.  It was almost as though they wanted to drag out the drought as much as possible.  It was like the ponies who ran the Weather Factory were trying to strangle the farming communities of the Cloudsdale Distribution Zone.  The rumors Rainbow was already hearing from Cloudsdale itself were unsettling.  But this new development only made her suspicions and fears more concrete.  If that was the case, Rainbow Dash was afraid of what she would have to do next.  I'll have to go to Cloudsdale and deal with the problem directly.



Dawn soared gracefully over the roofs of Ponyville, watching laconically as the inhabitants went about their afternoon business.  He knew that he had at least two hours before he needed to return home (lest Fluttershy get worried).  Initially, he had planned on going back directly after school.  But Red River's chilling pronouncement had put an end to that plan of action, if only because Dawn no longer felt like going back currently.
He was torn over what to do.  Part of him wanted to simply run, to disappear once again into the depths of the Everfree, where things were, if not safer, much simpler.  There would be no more worrying about interacting with other ponies, no more worrying about his stunted and uneven emotional development, no worrying about other ponies trying to kill him for reasons superficial or not.
But leaving meant leaving Fluttershy.  It meant leaving Rainbow Dash.  It meant leaving Scootaloo and the other Crusaders, for all that Dawn was aware that he probably wasn't quite as welcome among their number as he was before.  For the first time, Dawn felt as though he truly had a home.  And he didn't want to leave that behind.
That meant, however, that come the deadline, he would have to face Red River and Storm Front, who had promised to carry out his execution.  Dawn had no desire to allow that to happen.  But in his very first encounter with the stallions, Dawn had sensed that their skills and experience surpassed his own.  The Gale King was powerful, but it was far from absolute.  As martial artists, Red River and Storm Front stood on a plane above him.  Even if he fought to the fullest of his ability, Dawn was fairly certain that the only outcome that awaited him was death.
The only other option available to him was to simply sit and allow for the final blow to fall.  And given the way things had been going recently, the ebony colt was beginning to find that choice less and less distressing.  They're right after all.  I've already been proven to be unstable and unreliable.  It might be safest that I be put down before I hurt Fluttershy, Scootaloo or some other innocent.  His thoughts on this matter had been disturbingly dark as of late.
Dawn's train of thought was interrupted by the sight of a familiar-looking gray pegasus, who was hovering over the train station, waving at him cheerfully.  Ditzy Doo was apparently going on her rounds.  Dawn knew that she flew to deliver the mail in the morning and then to deliver heavier packages in the afternoon.  She was one of the most dedicated employees of the local post office and had a reputation as a hard worker, in spite of the difficulties and occasional minor disaster caused by her condition.  She flew the majority of the local routes in town while other ponies took care of the long-distance deliveries (due to her sense of direction being one of the things currently affected by her disability).
In spite of himself, Dawn felt a small smile on his face as he gave the mare a half-hearted wave in return.  It was difficult to remain down in the face of Ditzy's constantly upbeat personality.  He watched as Ditzy descended to the station bellow to pick up a parcel that had been brought in by the train.  Naturally, shipping by train was a bit less expensive than shipping by pegasus when it came to long distances.
As she took to the air again, Ditzy began to head off in the direction of wherever the package's intended recipient was, only to catch her wing on the weathervane on the station's roof.  Knocked off balance, Ditzy let out a startled cry as she deviated off course.  Before she could regain control, she ended up ramming into a flagpole, which stunned her enough to knock the poor mare out of the sky.
Dawn's reaction was almost instantaneous.  Using his wings and hooves, the colt accelerated, seeming to vanish from his original position only to materialize directly beneath the plummeting Ditzy.  Spinning about, Dawn whirled his wing in a circle, catching Ditzy in an ascending air current that slowed her descent and killed her momentum.  The gray mare's wings caught the sudden updraft and allowed her to descend slowly back to the ground.  Fortunately, she had the forethought and dedication to continue maintaining her grip on the package until she landed.
Looking around, Ditzy let out a relieved sigh and sank to her belly, letting out a dejected moan.  Looking around, Dawn saw that there were several other ponies in the vicinity, many of whom wore expressions of anger and disgust.  A couple of mares were hiding giggles.  A few simply looked weary, having seen this situation play out several times in the past.  Many were surprised to see Dawn appear seemingly out of nowhere to catch Ditzy.
"Are you alright?" asked Dawn, extending a hoof and gently propping Ditzy up.
Ditzy groaned.  "I just don't know what went wrong."
Ignoring the tittering coming from their impromptu audience at Ditzy's remark, Dawn thought the matter over.  "It seems a fairly simple issue to me."
"Huh?"  Ditzy focused her eyes on the colt...or at least, she tried to.  As she moved one eye over focus, the other wandered off on a separate track, only for the first to drift off when she tried to correct the second's deviation.  As a result, her eyes seemed to be in constant motion, wandering in different directions.  Dawn certainly didn't envy  the headache the condition must have given her on multiple occasions.
"You misjudged your distance from the roof, while your eyes probably missed the weathervane.  When you clipped the weathervane, the resulting disorientation caused your eyes to shift again, creating a blind spot where the flagpole was.  You didn't even know it was there until you rammed into it."  Silence descended as Ditzy listened to Dawn's explanation.  She found it completely on the mark.  Some of the ponies who had been listening in actually seemed to be pondering what Dawn had said.
Dawn could understand Ditzy's plight quite well.  It was bad enough that she could almost never get her eyes' fields of view to overlap well enough to provide her with the stereoscopic vision necessary to maintain proper depth perception.  The fact that both eyes seemed to wander on their own tracks whenever she tried to get one or the other under control meant that Ditzy's field of vision was constantly shifting and changing, creating blind spots in one area and then another, only to shift further as her eyes continued to spin out of her control.  If a blind spot was a known quantity, it could be compensated for.  However, because hers were always changing, Ditzy never knew for sure where her blind spots would be and couldn't compensate for them.  It was a no-win situation for her.  Dawn thought he would almost prefer to be blind, rather than have Ditzy's affliction.
Thinking it over, Dawn wondered if there was a way to help Ditzy overcome her problem.  She had probably gone to doctors before in order try and correct the problem.  Dawn couldn't fix her eyes.  But...maybe...I can teach her how to make do without them.
With a sigh, Ditzy picked the package back up and spread her wings.  "I need to get this delivered," she said slowly before lifting into the air.  To her surprise, Dawn joined her.
"Do you have some free time after this?" he asked, "There's something I would like to try.  It may be of help to you."
Ditzy gave him an uncertain nod.  This was her last delivery of the day.  She hoped Dawn wouldn't mind Dinky coming along, since Ditzy was loathe to leave her at home longer than she had to.
Dawn found himself smiling a little as he accompanied Ditzy on the last leg of her current deliveries.



Scootaloo didn't feel much like crusading lately.  Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Rumble all sought to find some way to cheer her up, but seeing Dawn's fierce and surprisingly cruel put-down of Diamond Tiara had stolen a great deal of their enthusiasm as well.  And it seemed that all the tree sap in the world couldn't make the situation any better.
Ultimately, the orange filly decided that she just needed some time to herself.  After using her wings to shoot up into the air, Scootaloo tried flying again, just as she had done when she had been watching Dawn and Rumble race.  She found it was much easier to maintain her position in the air, although the finer points of maneuvering were still a little much for her at this stage.  Scootaloo found herself wobbling and making ungainly turns to try and correct her course.
Unfortunately, flying through Ponyville's airspace, particularly when Scootaloo was only beginning to understand the process, was almost as bad as when she tore through the town streets on her scooter.  Although the sky wasn't crowded with pegasi, there were enough going about their business to take exception to the unskilled filly as she tried her hardest to weave through them.  All told, Scootaloo was quite lucky she managed to get through a portion of the sky without incident.
As she flew, she turned her eyes and suddenly noticed the presence of Dawn.  The weeks of practice Scootaloo had put into developing her basic skills caused her to immediately flare her wings up to bring herself into a hovering position to avoid hitting anything due to her distraction.  Looking over, the filly saw Dawn flying alongside Ditzy of all ponies as he apparently accompanied her on her delivery rounds.
Part of Scootaloo wanted to duck and hide when she saw the colt.  However, she could see that Dawn hadn't yet noticed her, or at least wasn't showing it if he did.  She wondered what he was up to.  Part of her just wanted to turn around and escape before Dawn noticed her.  But the other part was curious over what Dawn was doing with Ditzy.  Her curiosity won out and Scootaloo carefully turned around to follow Dawn and Ditzy.



"So what are we doing here?" asked Ditzy as Dinky slid off her back.  She and Dawn had stopped to pick Dinky up before the colt led them out to the edge of the Whitetail Woods.
"I was thinking I could help you work around the problem with your eyes," explained Dawn.
"Really?" asked Ditzy, unable to keep the excitement from her voice.  She had gone to see numerous specialists in an attempt to correct her vision problem.  But the results had always been the same.  There was nothing to be done.
Dawn nodded.  "The key would be to reduce your dependency on your eyes so that you can navigate without them."
"Fly without my eyes?  Is that possible?"
In response to Ditzy's question, Dawn closed his eyes and took to the air.  He sped straight towards the first few trees.  Ditzy and her daughter watched in horror, expecting the colt to slam headfirst into a trunk.  However, Dawn banked and easily circled around the first one he encountered.  He quickly wove his way through several more trees and even rose up and looped around some smaller branches before turning about and returning.  After settling on the ground, he opened his eyes and looked up at Ditzy.
"How did you do that?" she asked in stunned awe.
"It's an easy skill to learn, but difficult to master," explained Dawn, "Pegasus wings are extremely sensitive to the flow of air.  You can learn to read that flow to predict the presence of obstacles in order to avoid them."
"How?"
Dawn gave her an encouraging smile.  "It's simple to start.  First I need you to close your eyes..."



Scootaloo watched from her hiding place up in one of the trees as Dawn walked Ditzy through the same exercise he had originally started her on.  She was surprised to see the ebony colt teaching Ditzy.  Scootaloo had originally assumed that Ditzy was simply clumsy.  It was what almost everypony in Ponyville thought.  She knew that the gray mare was friendly and kind.  After all, she had let Scootaloo and Melon Cream stay in her home until they had found a new house.  Melon and Ditzy were old friends, apparently since before Scootaloo had even been born.  Even though she knew better than to believe the worst rumors that flew about the bubbly gray mare, Scootaloo couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated by her tendency to crash so easily.
To her surprise, as Scootaloo listened, she heard Dawn's instruction take an unusual turn...



"You feel air around you quite keenly now, don't you," remarked Dawn as Ditzy stood with her wings unfolded.
Ditzy nodded her assent.  "Good," said Dawn, "I want you to focus on that feeling for now.  Block out your thoughts about everything else.  Simply pay attention to the feeling of the air flowing over your wings.  What can you tell me?"
"Hmm," Ditzy mused, "There's a light breeze blowing from the west.  The sky is really clear and the air is really dry."
"All accurate," complimented Dawn, "Now, I want you to walk forward...slowly.  Pay attention to how the air shifts around you as you move through it.  Follow the sound of my voice."
Ditzy did as she was bid, taking careful steps in Dawn's direction.  The colt fell back slowly, calling out instructions to keep Ditzy on course.  As she did, she felt a strange eddy pulling at the air currents on her left side.  "Muffin, do you mind standing back a bit?"
"Okay momma," said Dinky, falling back slightly.
On the other hoof, Dawn's mouth spread into a smirk.  "Miss Doo, could you tell me how you knew your daughter was next to you?"
Ditzy ground to a halt.  Her eyes shot back open as the realization came to her.  She hadn't seen Dinky, of course, her eyes had been closed after all.  Now that she thought about it, she had missed the other cues well.  The only thing that stood out was the change in the air currents caused by her daughter's approach.
"That's right," said Dawn, drawing on the lecture his Master had given him when he'd learned this skill, "Air is a fluid substance, always in motion and always flowing.  Solid bodies displace the air around them.  Even stationary objects create some form of interference that can be sensed through your wings.  A moving object creates a greater disturbance still.  You sensed the peculiar change in the air caused by your daughter's presence.  Already you were able to identify qualities about it unique to her."
"Amazing!" exclaimed Ditzy in wonder, "It's sort of like learning how to see without my eyes."
"Indeed," agreed Dawn, "Unfortunately, there is only so much I can teach you.  It's virtually impossible to explain how different sensations translate into different things.  You may even feel things differently from the way I do.  Rather, what you must do now is start learning from experience how to interpret the flow of air over your wings.
"The most basic application of this technique is identifying obstacles.  Once you gain a decent understanding, I think you'll find that you'll be able to react to obstacles even better than a pony with perfectly functioning eyes.  The air is all around us.  Once you learn to read it, you will have no blind spots to worry about.  As you continue to practice, you'll even be able to extend your range further and sense things that are farther away.  This is simply advancing the application of your magic."
"How far could I see?" asked Ditzy.
Dawn shrugged.  "It's difficult to say.  On my best days, I can maintain a clear picture of everything within a twenty-meter radius of myself.  I'm working on expanding it farther, but that's the best I can do for now.  And I've been honing this skill for several years now."
"Hmm," Ditzy tapped her chin in thought, "It'll be nice just to be able to fly like a normal pegasus without running into stuff."
"Keep in mind that your skill is still at a basic level," said Dawn, "You're only beginning to understand it.  Even if you can sense obstacles, it will take time before you'll be able to identify them and react to them, at least until you have more experience.  Furthermore, you'll need to expand your range if you want to be able to sense obstacles with enough time to avoid them."
"Okay," said Ditzy, her mood falling slightly.
"But we can start working on that now," said Dawn.  He lifted a hoof and pointed towards the forest.  "Start walking that way.  The moment you feel some unusual sensation in the air, stop.  Try to identify what you were about to walk into and then try to navigate around it.  Remember, go slowly."
Ditzy nodded and closed her eyes again.  Recalling Dawn's original instructions for the exercise, she once again spread her wings...



Scootaloo's fascination now eclipsed her fear of Dawn.  She found herself listening carefully to his lecture, something she rarely did.  She noted the instructions Dawn gave as he walked Ditzy through the exercise and started envisioning trying them on her own.  Quivering with excitement, Scootaloo quietly watched for the rest of the afternoon as Dawn put Ditzy through her paces.
Ditzy showed herself to be a surprisingly apt student.  From the very beginning, she was quick to identify the presence of trees, rocks and other obstacles.  Only once or twice did she bump into a wide trunk before she could realize it was there.  Fortunately, the very slow and deliberate pace Dawn made her move at spared the mare from any injury.  Little Dinky though, had grown tired of watching such slow and sedate activities and settled in for a nap.
After three hours of practice, a very tired Ditzy finally scooped her daughter up onto her back and set off into a trot towards home.  Dawn politely accompanied the mother and daughter.  Scootaloo briefly pondered following them, but decided to go her own way.  Remembering Dawn's statement about his own capabilities suddenly made her very nervous.  What if he knew she had been watching the entire time?  Worse still, what if he got angry over it?  The orange filly could scarcely begin to imagine what might happen should Dawn get angry with her.
Scootaloo decided she had seen enough for the day.  Vowing that she would try Dawn's exercise later, she took to the air, her motions getting smoother and cleaner every time she lifted off the ground, and set off on her flight towards home.



Dawn had indeed noticed Scootaloo's presence after she had started following them.  He chose to act as though he hadn't noticed.  He wasn't prepared for any kind of confrontation.  Worse, he could still tell that Scootaloo was afraid of him.  He still couldn't perceive her emotion in anything other than the abstract sense, but the colt still chafed at the distance that had seemingly opened up between them.  At the very least though, I can still do this much, he thought, knowing that Scootaloo had been watching and listening as he instructed Ditzy.  He knew that she would soon try it on her own, and suspected that she would even execute it with as much care as he had made Ditzy use.  He could only hope that would be the case.  After all, Dawn doubted that Scootaloo would stick around long enough to hear a lecture from him.
Having left Ditzy and her daughter at the front entrance to their home, Dawn took to the skies to fly back to his own home.  The distraction afforded by Ditzy's lesson fell away from his mind and he was once again confronted by the stark reality of his situation.  In six days, he would die.  He didn't hold any illusions that he would somehow be able to seize victory from his more skilled and more experienced opponents.  In a sense, Dawn felt as though he had already accepted his death.  So he decided to use his remaining time to do what he could for somepony who had a better chance than him.  If nothing else, I can leave behind something other than misery for a few ponies.