//------------------------------// // Guardian Angel // Story: Your Human and You: Dinky and Locke // by MadMaxtheBlack //------------------------------// “Ow…” “Ow…” “Ow…” Dinky was miserable. She was more miserable than she had ever been in her short little life. Burs and thorns covered her small frame, digging into her with every step she took. She was wet, she was cold, and she was—without a doubt—hungry. Her stomach was growling every few seconds, reminding that she had missed dinner. “Ow…” “Ow…” “Ow…” Beside her, looking just as miserable and in a similar state, Locke limped along, suffering through his own discomfort in silence as he carried the broken wagon in his arms. His wet clothing clung to his body, slowly sapping the warmth from his bones. His bare feet were covered with scratches, and he was pretty sure that a couple of thorns had worked their way between his toes. “Ow…” “Ow…” “Ow…” CRACK-CA-BOOOOOOM! High above the pair, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled as dark storm clouds raged. A deluge of water fell from the heavens, soaking the unfortunate souls below to the bone. The storm was unplanned, having rolled in shortly after the pair had extracted themselves from the massive briar patch, and at this point it was just adding insult to injury. Around them, the tree waved back and forth, the creaking of their branches sounding like laughter to the upset filly. Yes, without a doubt, Dinky was miserable... ...and that was before she found out that they were going the wrong way. ~ ~ ~ ~ > > < < ~ ~ ~ ~ The sun had long since set when the exhausted pair finally slogged their way back into town. It had taken them forever to find their way out of White Tail Woods. Due to the weather, combined with the growing darkness, the pair had gotten lost several times in the maze of trees and bushes. By the time they had finally managed to find the edge of the forest, Dinky’s hooves were killing her. Wiping her soaked mane from her face with a muddied hoof, Dinky squinted, trying to see through the curtain of rain. Despite the fact that the White Tail Woods was only a five minute walk from the outskirts of Ponyville, it had taken the pair nearly half-an-hour to find their way back through the blinding rain. After a few seconds of searching, Dinky managed to pick out the faint outline of the marketplace’s fountain in front of her. That meant that home was just a few more blocks away. Dinky couldn’t work up the will to smile. Glancing up at Locke, she motioned silently with her hoof, pointing down the road they needed to take. After a few seconds, the filly realized that Locke could barely see her, his soaked bangs hanging in front of his eyes, blocking the majority of his view. Sighing heavily, Dinky grabbed Locke’s pant leg in her mouth and began pulling him in the right direction, wincing as she got a mouthful of mud in the process. The pair continued to limp along for several more minutes before their destination materialized in front of them through the gloom. Slowly trundling along the fence line, the pair headed towards the front door of their home. A lantern hung from a hook beside the front door, the flame inside having long since been extinguished by the rain. The curtains were drawn across the windows, a slim crack of light barely visible. As Dinky pushed the front gate open, it squeaked loudly, although the noise was quickly drowned out by a crash of thunder. The gate barely finished swinging open before the front door burst open with a bang. Light immediately flooded the porch and front walkway, causing both filly and human to wince in pain at the sudden brightness. Blinking her eyes to try and clear her vision, Dinky glanced up at the now-open door. Her mother stood in the doorway, a worried look on her face. Upon seeing the mud-covered duo, her golden eyes widened and she leapt forward with a flap of her wings. Dinky barely had time to blink before her mother was upon her, sweeping her up into her hooves and nuzzling her head while whimpering, “Muffin! Where have you been?! I’ve been worried sick!” Dinky hung her head, her little ears splaying backwards. Not waiting for an answer, Ditzy placed her daughter upon her back, before gently grabbing Locke’s hand in her mouth, causing him to drop the broken wagon into the mud. Pulling the human along behind her, Ditzy quickly hurried the two into the dry house, closing the door behind them. Ignoring the mud and water that was dripping from her foal and human, Ditzy pushed Locke up the stairs, guiding him towards the bathroom. He moved along with no protest, the carpet squishing beneath his feet. Pushing the bathroom door open, Ditzy shoved the human through before following. She nudged Locke with her head, sitting him down on the edge of the tub. Once the human was situated, she placed Dinky down beside him. As the pair sat there, shivering, Ditzy rushed out of the room, only to return a few seconds later with a first-aid kit held in her mouth. She set it down on the toilet lid before turning back to the two miserable individuals. Moving to stand in front of Dinky, Ditzy got to work. She ran her good eye over her foal before slowly picking the thorns and burrs off of the young unicorn. Dinky winced as each offender was pulled from her disheveled, mud-caked coat, small whimpers escaping her lips . Giving her daughter an apologetic look, Ditzy pulled another thorn from her daughter’s coat and spat it into a small trash can she had placed beside the tub. As the pegasus worked on her daughter, Locke sat still, looking just as miserable as his miniature partner in crime. Pulling his soaking sweater off of him, he dropped it into the tub before crossing his arms and shivering. His teeth chattered together noisily. Ditzy paused in caring for her foal long enough to get the cold human a dry towel, wrapping it around his shoulders before returning her attention to Dinky, who, out of the two of them, looked the worse for wear. Grabbing a particularly large burr on Dinky’s ear gingerly in her teeth, she gave it a quick pull and yanked it off. Dinky flinched, her now-free ear flopping against her head. “...owww,” she whimpered, rubbing the ear with a hoof. “Sorry, muffin,” her mother cooed, wincing in sympathy at the young filly’s pain. “Just hold still. I’m almost done.” Dinky grumbled to herself, only to yelp loudly as her mother pulled a particularly large thorn out of her flank. Blood began to flow from the wound, but Ditzy was there with a towel to dab it up. “Maybe now you’ll learn to not go into the woods without an adult, hmmm?” she asked as she tossed the thorn into the trash. “...but you go into the woods all the time by yourself,” Dinky grumbled under her breath. Ditzy’s ears flicked, and she frowned at her foal. “What was that?” she asked as she checked Dinky’s mane for any hidden intruders. “But you go into the woods all the time by yourself,” Dinky said louder, not looking up. “You even found Locke in the woods!” Ditzy paused, staring down at Dinky for a few seconds before sighing. “Yes, muffin, that’s true, but that’s because mommy is an adult,” she said softly. Having had removed most of the debris from Dinky, she began to gently wipe the filly’s coat with another towel. As she worked, she continued in the same, soft tone. “I’m old enough to take care of myself if something happens. You’re too young to be on your own outside of town.” “But Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo do it all the time,” Dinky whined, crossing her forelegs. “That may be,” Ditzy said, “but they aren’t my foals. You’re my little filly, which means I’m responsible for you. As long as you live in my home, you need to follow my rules. At least until you’re old enough to look after yourself.” “That’s not fair,” Dinky pouted. “I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.” Her ears pressed against the back of her head, and she glared at the floor in front of her. “I wish I was older,” she muttered under her breath. At those words, Ditzy paused, looking down at her daughter with a blank expression on her face. Slowly, the corners of her mouth began to perk up, and she gave the young unicorn a sad smile. “Don’t be so quick to grow up, muffin,” she said softly, leaning forward to nuzzle the top of Dinky’s head. “You still have many years ahead of you to play with friends and have fun. Foalhood is short, maturity lasts a lifetime, but friends… they last for an eternity.” Dinky’s ear flicked in response, but she continued to grumble quietly under her breath. Shaking her head, Ditzy laughed quietly to herself as she draped the towel around Dinky, tucking the fluffy cloth snuggly around the filly. With that, she turned her attention to Locke, who had been sitting there patiently, staring off into the distance. Starting with his head, she began to pick the thorns and brambles from his hair and beard. Locke sat motionless, only moving to wince whenever a particularly tangled burr was removed. He didn’t even fuss when she accidently nicked his cheek with a thorn. Making a mental note to get him a treat later for his good behavior, Ditzy pulled back the towel from around Locke, only to drop it in shock a moment later. The side of the towel that had been pressed up against Locke’s arm was stained, the blue material now a deep crimson. Eyes widening in alarm, Ditzy quickly looked for the source of the bleeding. Locke’s right hand and lower arm were covered in dozens of nicks and cuts. Countless thorns were stuck in the flesh as well, giving the limb a porcupine-like appearance. As Ditzy watched, a drop of blood slid down one of his fingers and dripped to the floor, where a small pool of blood was slowly forming on the bathroom tile. Swallowing thickly, Ditzy stared at the injured hand in horrified fascination, transfixed by the sight. How she had missed the severity of the injury when she first wrapped the towel around Locke was beyond her. If I had realized his arm was in this state sooner, I would have started with it first, she thought to herself. Honestly, she was surprised that Locke wasn’t growling in pain right now. He was definitely getting triple the treats after this, that was for sure. However, that being said, she still couldn’t understand what had happened for Locke’s arm to be in a worse than the rest of him, or Dinky for that matter. Pulling her eyes from the dripping wounds, she glanced over at Dinky, who was still wrapped within her towel. The filly was thankfully oblivious to the state of her friend’s arm, her gaze locked on the floor a few feet in front of her. Ditzy hoped that she could get Locke’s arm patched up before Dinky noticed. She didn’t want her filly seeing something like this. Taking a deep breath, Ditzy lifted her wing to block Dinky’s view and returned her attention to Locke’s arm, only to do a double take and glance back at Dinky. Through the gap in the towels, she had a clear view of the filly’s chest and neck. She hadn’t realized it before, but upon giving it a second glance, Ditzy noticed something odd. Unlike the rest of her body, which was covered in scrapes and scratches, the area around Dinky’s chest were relatively untouched. This unsullied patch of fur extended around to her right side, almost as if something had wrapped around her, protecting her from the thorn bushes. Slowly, Ditzy’s eyes drifted over to Locke’s arm, and they widened as she put two and two together. Reaching down with trembling hooves, she gingerly took a hold of Locke’s arm and began to carefully—tenderly—remove the thorns from the limb. Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes as she continued to pull thorn after thorn out of the human’s arm, each one feeling like a dagger to her heart. As each thorn feel into the wastebin, she winced at the soft ‘tink’, the same phrase repeating in her head. tink That could have been Dinky. tink That could have been Dinky. tink That could have been Dinky. By the time she was pulling the last of the thorns out, the fur beneath her eyes were soaked with tears. Dropping the last thorn into the trash, Ditzy reached for the roll of bandages only to fumble them because her hooves were shaking too badly. She swallowed thickly, trying to calm herself. She started to bandaged Locke’s arm, but her hooves were still trembling so bad that she had to pause and collect herself. Closing her eyes, she took several deep breaths, only to squeak in alarm as a pair of arms wrapped around her and pulled her into a hug. She blinked and glanced up at Locke, who just tightened the hug—ignoring his still injured hand—and proceeded to nuzzle the top of her head. Ditzy proceeded to break down and cry. ~ ~ ~ ~ > > < < ~ ~ ~ ~ Tiptoeing through the darkened house, Ditzy made her way silently down the hallway towards Dinky’s room. It had been several hours since she had put her foal to bed, and she was headed to bed herself. There was one last thing she had to do first before that. Gently pushing the door open, she poked her head inside and listen. Upon hearing the sound of Dinky’s gentle breathing, she opened the door a little further and slipped inside. The gentle moonlight shining through the window provided enough light for Ditzy to see by, and she picked her way carefully through the sea of toys that covered the floor of the room. Reaching the bed, she carefully pulled back the sheets, only to blink in surprise upon seeing only the bandaged form of Dinky lying there. She had a homemade human doll clutched to her chest, and a content smile on her face. The sight caused Ditzy’s heart to swell, and smile of her own worked it’s way across her muzzle, only to be replaced with a look of confusion. Where’s Locke? Glancing around the room, her frown grew when she didn’t see the human anywhere. Is he somewhere downstairs and I just missed him? Ditzy lowered the blanket back over Dinky and had just turned to leave when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Glancing down, she blinked as she watched the dust ruffle flutter slightly. “What the…?” she breathed before bending down and pulling the dust ruffle back. She stared blankly beneath the bed for a few seconds before a bemused look crossed her face. “What are you doing under the bed?” she asked the sleeping form of Locke. The human was curled up on his stomach beneath the bed, a pillow under his head and left arm. A blanket was scrunched up behind him, pressed against the wall. His right arm, completely covered in bandages, was out stretched, as if he didn’t want to sleep on it. That was most likely the case, seeing how sore it probably was. Staring at the sleeping human, Ditzy made a mental note to remember to talk to Dinky about this sleeping arrangement in the morning. For now, there was something she needed to do. Lying down on her stomach, Ditzy crawled under the bed, being mindful to not wake Dinky up in the process. She wiggled back and forth until she was nose to nose with the sleeping form of Locke. A sad smile spread across her face as she watched him sleep, his breathing steady. Slowly, Ditzy leaned forward and gently nuzzle Locke’s face with the tip of her muzzle. “Thank you for looking after my muffin,” she breathed. Locke stirred slightly in his sleep. His brow furrowed, and his left hand clenched into a fist before relaxing again. Gently kissing Locke’s forehead, Ditzy gave him one last nuzzle before pulling herself out from under the bed. She kissed Dinky as well, making sure to tuck the blankets in around the foal, before silently making her way out of the room. As the door to the bedroom closed, Dinky shifted slightly in her sleep. She unconsciously hugged the human doll tighter to her chest, humming happily as she continued to dream. Beneath the bed, Locke snuggled deeper into his pillow. The pair continued to sleep, each one waiting for the dawn of the new day, when they would be able to resume their adventures together.