//------------------------------// // Chapter Eleven // Story: Familiar Faces // by GlitchyProductions //------------------------------// Chapter Eleven: Life Leech. "You're so cute Scootaloo." Dinky wrapped her arms around the orange mare and began to hug her, tightening her grip on her and keeping her in place. The orange filly dug her head into Dinky's chest and nuzzled her with the tip of her nose, enjoying the attention and love from the child. Fluttershy and Luna both looked at each other and saw the child and Scootaloo play together, it was an interesting sight and Luna rested her head back down onto the pile of hay she was lying on. Fluttershy walked away from both Scootaloo and Dinky and she let them play their own games, waiting for Ditzy to return with the supplies. She walked over to a small pile of hay and she lowered herself, rested her belly on the hay, and started to get comfortable. "Scootaloo, can I ask you a question?" Dinky lowered her head and whispered into the filly’s ear, Scootaloo lifted up her head and stared at the child. "Why do you have wings?" Dinky placed her hand on the filly’s side and poked the orange filly’s left wing, the wing quickly flinched and out moved out of her back for a moment and then receded back into her. "Can you fly?" Dinky secretly whispered to Scootaloo, she did not want Fluttershy and Luna to hear what she was saying to her friend. Scootaloo stared back at Dinky and did not reply; she did not nod nor give a sign that she possibly could. Dinky quickly tilted her eyes up to Luna and Fluttershy and both of them were looking at her, looking like they knew what Dinky just said. Scootaloo jumped down from Dinky's lap and landed on the hay that Dinky was sitting on; she stood in front of Dinky and looked up. Scootaloo used all the strength in her hind legs and stood up on her back legs like an actual human, leaving her forelegs to dangle in front of her belly. The orange filly stretched out her tiny wings as far as her muscles would let her, Dinky's mouth dropped at the sight of the filly stretching her wings out for the first time. "That... is... awesome..." Dinky gasped, she put her hand over her mouth trying to contain the excitement that lied deep within her. Dinky leaned forward and pointed at the wings, she lightly poked the filly’s wings trying to feel the soft short feathers. Scootaloo did not react very well to Dinky's poking and she fell down onto her rump, causing her wings to shrivel back into her sides. "Imagine if you could fly... that'd be so cool, you could go to the sea side whenever you want! Or... go to space and land on the moon..." Dinky spewed out some ideas for the little filly to try, she did not understand that the filly was not able to fly. Dinky picked up Scootaloo by the belly again and placed the filly on her lap and began to pet her, Scootaloo soon settled down and rested herself on Dinky's lap. "C'mon Carrot Top! We need to find Dinky, please don't slow down!" Derpy grabbed Carrot Top by the arm and pulled her up the path, constantly speeding her up the park path and reminding her of the problem at hand. Carrot Top was angry, not to mention sick of Lyra and Bon-Bon being in charge during this whole entire situation. She could not wait to get home and forget all of her troubles whilst sleeping in bed. "If this is the last place we are going to look in, then where would be the best place to find Dinky?" Carrot Top asked Bon-Bon after getting out of Derpy's grip and walking over to her, trying her best to keep her distance from Lyra. "The park is small, I suggest we all stay together for this one and explore the whole area." Bon-Bon said; keeping Lyra under her arm as her partner was starting to get tired from all of the walking. Bon-Bon kept herself awake and kept on turning her head every few seconds to keep an eye out for Dinky. "Why can't we split up again? I felt moderately better when I was alone looking for Dinky." Carrot Top tried to push on the idea of another split-up, Bon-Bon turned her head around to Carrot Top looking a little displeased at what Carrot Top was trying to suggest. "If you want to split up, that's fine. But me, Lyra and Derpy are staying together to find Dinky." Bon-Bon calmly said to Carrot Top. "Have you ever considered taking Lyra home yet?" Carrot Top strangely changed the subject of the conversation; Bon-Bon was a little confused at what she was trying to do yet. "Lyra is a strong woman; I'm sure after a little kick start from me will tempt her to stay awake for much longer." Bon-Bon giggled, seductively looking at Lyra. "That sounds disgusting, how could you even kiss another woman like that?" Carrot Top leaned back, slightly disgusted at what Bon-Bon was trying to imply. "No, I meant talking to her." Bon-Bon frowned. "We don't kiss in public." She added. "But you did it outside the park." Carrot Top said. "It's night time, no one can see us." Bon-Bon said back. "Yes, and I'm sure no one can see Lyra's revealing dress. After all, she is a perfectly normal woman of natural tastes that doesn't like to appear as a pleasure hungry savage." Carrot Top insulted Lyra, although she was too tired to hear the insult made by Carrot Top. "What's wrong with you? Lyra didn't have enough time to change her clothing; we instead quickly aided Derpy without thinking of ourselves." Bon-Bon tried to reason with Carrot Top, feeling incredibly hurt by such an insult. "I'm tired of both you and Lyra taking charge of the whole situation, what makes you and Lyra so important?" Carrot Top stopped in her tracks, so did Bon-Bon, albeit looking very angry at what Carrot Top had just said. "I don't understand what you are trying to say." Bon-Bon kept her cool; she did not want to shout while Derpy and Lyra are in the area. This was not the time and place to get angry with someone like Carrot Top. "You are always making the decisions and the orders for all of us; we should have gone with my idea and called the Authorities. Walking around town at night is dangerous and it is a waste of time, we should have let a professional group of trackers find her and they would deliver her to us safely." Carrot Top explained. A slight paused interrupted both Bon-Bon and Carrot Top, while Carrot Top felt sly and smug, Bon-Bon felt defenseless without Lyra to help her in this argument. "Maybe you just can't understand, as usual..." Carrot Top scoffed. "We're just helping Derpy find her missing child, please show some humanity for the sake of Dinky." Bon-Bon pleaded. "Dinky?" Derpy immediately butted in, she walked back to Bon-Bon and Carrot Top to see what they were talking about. She noticed that Bon-Bon did not look very happy and Carrot Top looked very angry. "Are you okay Bon-Bon?" Derpy walked over to Bon-Bon and put her hand on her arm, confused at why Bon-Bon looked very sad. "Yes Derpy, I'm okay. Don't worry about me; we still need to find Dinky." Bon-Bon released a small smile. "But what about Lyra? She looks really tired." Derpy pointed at Lyra and poked her on the head; Lyra did not move or react to what Derpy just did. "She'll be alright Derpy; I'll wake her up in a minute." Bon-Bon had a strife of sadness within her voice; luckily, Derpy was not able to notice the strange tone in Bon-Bon's voice. Carrot Top had crossed her arms waiting for the conversation to end so that she could talk to Bon-Bon some more about her mis-use in leadership and authority. "If you don't mind Derpy, would you please stand over there for a moment? Me and Bon-Bon were talking to each other about something very private." Carrot Top butted in on the conversation and stood in between both Derpy and Bon-Bon, cutting off their talk and causing all of the attention to focus on her. "Oh... uh... okay..." Derpy happily nodded up and down, she turned around and walked away from Carrot Top and Bon-Bon and stopped when she managed to get out hearing range for Bon-Bon and Carrot Top, using her imagination to curve her fingers and turn her eyes into a makeshift telescope to keep an eye out for her daughter. "So... as we were discussing..." Carrot Top politely began to speak to Bon-Bon, who was still upset with what she had said about her partner. Bon-Bon softly tapped Lyra on her backside, causing her to open her eyes and look around to see who or what slapped her behind. She looked up to see that Bon-Bon had been carrying her. "I don't want to talk to you anymore Carrot Top, what you have said isn't even worth listening to." Bon-Bon did not want to talk to her, she really did not want to. All she wanted to do is escape from the scene and continue her search for Dinky without any more problems, first the candy shack's destruction and now the barrage of insults from Carrot Top. "I suppose you want me to take Derpy home while both of you search for Dinky? What are you going to do after that? Kidnap her and take her for your own purposes?" Carrot Top scoffed, not being able to keep in her laughter for what she had just said. Lyra yawned, not realizing what Carrot Top had just said, but it sounded bad. Bon-Bon did not move; she kept her arm around Lyra for protection. "Woah... what are you trying to say?" Lyra yawned; she moved away from Bon-Bon and meekly stretched out her arms and began to groan in pain. Not understanding the whole conversation that Bon-Bon and Carrot Top trying to talk about, she wanted in. "I'm saying that I am taking Derpy home, this search has become pointless and I will call the authorities to send out a tracking team to find her and return her to us." Carrot Top felt as if she was on the top of everything, she thought she had them in their hands, reading for anything. It was time for her and Derpy to head back; she did not want to be around Bon-Bon and Lyra any longer. "Ginger..." "It's a better idea than just walking around the park for a few hours trying to find Dinky, when we do not even possibly have any clues to where she might be..." "Ginger..." "Derpy is a forgetful soul; she won't remember any of this after it's over. Using the police to fill out their own investigation is a better idea than going on what Derpy thinks is a dumb childish adventure to rescue her daughter!" Ginger..." "Will you stop calling me that?" Carrot Top became angry, she shouted at Lyra for her constant use of her insulting nickname. "Look behind you..." Lyra placed her hands over her face, not ready to see what is going to happen. Carrot Top slowly turned around, holding her breath and keeping her composure intact. She looked behind her to see that Derpy was standing right behind her, Carrot Top's pride suddenly fell and so did her grin. Derpy did not look very happy, tears were falling down from her face and she began to sob aloud. Bon-Bon and Lyra looked at each other not knowing what was going to happen, but they prepared for whatever was going to happen. "Y-you th-think this is a g-game..." Derpy spoke out, her sobbing did not allow her to speak properly but her words were understandable. "No Derpy... I-" Carrot Top began to speak, but she instantly cut off by her sobbing friend. "I m-miss my b-baby... why a-are you so m-mean t-to my friends?" Derpy wiped her tears from her face using her arms, Bon-Bon and Lyra immediately rushed past Carrot Top and quickly comforted Derpy. "It's okay Derpy, we'll find Dinky. We promise nothing bad is going to happen, please calm down." Bon-Bon wrapped her arms around Derpy and hugged her, knowing what random emotional state that she can be in at anytime, this was hurting her. Bon-Bon closed her eyes and planted her fingers through Derpy's long blonde hair. Carrot Top stood there at the scene, with Bon-Bon trying to calm down Derpy from another emotional breakdown, Lyra also stood at the scene watching her partner calm down her best friend. Lyra slowly turned around and faced Carrot Top, without a second thought Lyra immediately walked up to Carrot Top not looking exactly pleased and stood right in front of her. "I think you should leave." Lyra sternly said, crossing her arms squaring up to Carrot Top. "Not without Derpy." Carrot Top replied. "No, I think Derpy and Dinky are better off without you." Lyra said. "What rights do you ha-" "Just go." Lyra calmly spoke over Carrot Top. "You're not needed here, and I don't think they ever needed you to begin with." Carrot Top opened her mouth and was about to speak, but she paused and then closed her mouth and began to turn around towards the park exit without saying a single word. Lyra watched as the ginger haired woman walked down the dirt path into the darkness, she was now unseen in the moonlight and Lyra began to turn around and walk back over to Derpy and Bon-Bon. "What happened to Carrot Top?" Bon-Bon whispered to Lyra. "I spoke my mind." Lyra quickly answered. "Fluttershy..." Dinky crawled over the piles of hay and moved closely next to Fluttershy. Dinky lowered herself and sat down next to Fluttershy with Scootaloo slowly following to see what was going on, Dinky leaned her head forward close to Fluttershy's ear and began to whisper a question. "Where is Ditzy?" Dinky curiously asked, cupping her hand and placing it next to the mare’s ear so that no one else could hear her. Fluttershy turned her head towards Dinky and did not reply, instead. She rested her head down on the hay that she was laying on and ignored Dinky. However, she did not mind, knowing Ditzy, she must have left the stables again to find more food. "Do you know where Ditzy is, Scootaloo?" Dinky leaned down and looked at Scootaloo, the little orange filly nodded her head from side to side not knowing where the gray mare was. Dinky became a little concerned about where Ditzy was hiding; in a small stable for all of the horses, there were not many places to hide. The hay was not that thick and no grown mare was not able to hide under it. "How about you Luna?" Dinky turned her head towards the blue mare, she lifted up her head from her own pile of hay and looked at the child and nodded her head from side to side. Dinky slightly sighed wondering where the gray mare was; she knew that the last time she saw her was during the time when both of them entered the park and she began to fall asleep. "I wonder where she could be." Dinky put her hand on her chin and began to ponder on all of the strange and wacky ideas of Ditzy's location. "Hey Scootaloo... do you want to play?" Dinky said to the little orange filly, Scootaloo smiled and quickly nodded up and down. The filly ran over to Dinky and began to stand in a playful pose, waiting for Dinky to move. "What should we play?" Dinky smiled. Scootaloo did not respond; she just kept on wagging her tail and smiling at Dinky. BANG! BANG! Scootaloo immediately stopped wagging her tail; her ears drooped down to the ground. Fluttershy and Luna quickly raised their heads from the ground and got up from their own piles of hay and quickly walked over to Dinky, the child watched what the mares were going to do and Luna placed her mouth onto Dinky's t-shirt. Pulling her over to the corner of the room in the stables, Dinky did not argue with what was going on, but she was confused at the strange banging sound. Fluttershy picked up a large amount of hay in her mouth and quickly placed it on top of Dinky, the child did not move the hay out of the way and she watched as Luna picked up an even larger amount of hay and placed it on top of Dinky. Completely covering her up from sight, so that no one could see her. "Wh-what's going on...?” Dinky mumbled; feeling scared of what the mares were doing. Fluttershy walked over to Dinky and sat in front of her, covering her up some more so that no one else could see her. "Ah' told ya'll t'stay quiet!" A familiar voice shouted out, Dinky froze in position and lowered herself further downwards so that the ranch owner was not able to see her properly. The man walked out of the shadows, still wearing his leather cow skin jacket and his large brown Stetson hat. This conveniently covered his face casting a large shadow so that no one could see his identity. He scanned the whole stable and saw that all the horses were bundles together in one part of the stable; he walked over to the gate and leaned on it looking at his prized possessions. Taking a small look at Luna, he saw that she was resting her head on the large pile of hay and she tilted her head so that she looked up at the ceiling. Fluttershy sat down right in front of a large pile of hay and licked her own hooves in an attempt to cleanse her. Scootaloo sat next to Fluttershy with her head rested on the hay and her eyes were closed pretending to sleep. "Hrmm..." The man groaned, rubbing his face with his hand pondering at the sight of the horses in front of him. "Luna." The man whispered. The blue mare looked up at the man leaning against the gate; she blinked twice and wondered what he was going to do. "Yer' next. Ah'm gonna send Derpy back in an' then ah'm gonna test th' fancy head band on ya'." He grinned; Luna frowned. Dinky listened in on the scene as it developed between the ranch owner and Luna; she was scared of what the man was going to say next. She did not understand by what she meant when he said "Headbands" and even saying her mother’s name. The man slyly chuckled and walked out of the stable for a moment, walking back in holding a leash in his hands. Dinky could not see what he was holding with the leash and it was starting to get very awkward. The man used his spare hand and unlocked the gate; the gate had a small lock that was closed by a small handle. The man pulled it up and the gate slowly opened, he tugged on the leash twice gesturing the creature to make a move on and get inside the stables. Ditzy walked through the gate, but something was wrong. Ditzy did not look very happy, she was not smiling and tears were running down her face. The mare sniffled and craned her head down to the ground trying not to look at the others, Dinky noted that the gray mares fur coat and mane was now a different color. Her entire body except for her eyes had been turned to a tint of gray, sucking out some of the color from her whole body. "Git' in there." The man mumbled he lifted up his foot and placed it on Ditzy's flank; she was then immediately pushed into the stable. Her weak legs were not able to support the rest of her body weight and she immediately tripped over her own legs and landed face-first into the piles of hay with her tail and flank sticking up in the air. "Ah'll get the big leash for ya' Luna, an' then we'll start testin' it's gonna be pretty chaotic when we test it on ya'." The man chuckled; he put emphasis on the word "Chaotic", causing the rest of the horses to shudder a little. As if his words actually meant something to the horses and they were supposed to react to it. Dinky could see that Fluttershy looked a little worried when the man said that word, it sounded like a bad word and Dinky held her breath, feeling like something was going to happen. The man walked out of the room to obtain the leash ready for Luna, Dinky did not move a single muscle, she instead looked as Luna did not move herself, she just waited for the man to return and wrap the leash around her neck, but that was one thing that she did not understand. "Luna..." Dinky whispered. Luna turned her head towards the child and saw that she was still lying in the pile of hay that Fluttershy and Scootaloo hid her from the ranch owner. "Don't go... please don't go..." Dinky quietly begged the blue mare. Luna turned her head, ignoring the child. She looked at Ditzy who was in an absolute state; some of her colors were strangely sucked out of her. Letting her tears just drip down her face with her flank still high up in the air. Luna rose up from the hay that she was lying on and slowly trotted over to Ditzy; Luna craned her head down to the gray mare and grabbed her by the neck using her teeth. Strangely enough, Luna used her strength to pick up Ditzy just like a newborn foal, and dragged her across the stable, and put her next to Fluttershy. The yellow mare cowered as Luna trotted up with Ditzy in her mouth, to them it was scary. To Dinky, it was weird. To be continued...