For the past hour, Dinky had been trying to distract her frantic and wandering mind with some cheap paperback book. It had proved very unsuccessful, for at every sound, her ears perked up and she pressed her ear to the crack between the door and the ground to catch whatever was going on. This sporadic cycle of calm, alertness, then calm again was finally broken by the distant sound of a shower turning on in her mother's room. Dinky crept out of her room and tiptoed up the the door of her mother's room.
"Spying?" The Doctor's voice rang out behind her. Dinky turned around with her tail between her legs like a cowed dog and her ears perked. Her posture suggested remorse, but an angry fire burned in her eyes.
The Doctor smiled and stepped back. "Don't worry, I was a bit of a snoop as a child too. Back in Gallifrey-,"
"Gallop-who?" Asked Dinky. I swear, if he's from Caneighdia...
"Oh, um, nothing!" The Doctor's blue eyes darted nervously before settling on a point just behind Dinky.
Dinky eyed him suspiciously. She took a step forward and narrowed her eyes. "You're not from Caneighdia, are you?"
The Doctor looked puzzled and then his face cleared. "Um, no, as far as I know. Well, my great-aunt's-fourth-cousin's-sister's-ex-husband's-brother is, but-,"
Dinky didn't listen to his feeble, rambling attempt at conversation, muttering, "Good. Those Caneighdians pump out another crazy every day."
She then walked away, not turning around to see the mystified look on her father's face.
Dinky walked all through her familiar house and kept walking, even out the door. She had a place to go and a person to see.
**{O}**
DING DING The doorbell rang at a nice, small, buttercup yellow house with a steeped roof and purple shingles. Large, pale pink hydrangeas drooping with blooms lined the brick path leading towards the white front door. After 30 seconds or so, the door opened to reveal a pale turquoise unicorn filly with a striped light and dark lavender mane. The filly, Tootsie Flute, grinned happily as she saw that it was her best friend Dinky who had rang the doorbell.
"Hey! Come in!" Tootsie said. Her grin faded slightly when she saw Dinky's unhappy and troubled expression. Dinky followed Tootsie into the house that had become so familiar to her, after being friends with Tootsie for so long.
The two fillies trotted into Tootsie's disorderly room and sat on her bed.
"So....." Even though she and Tootsie were the best of friends, Dinky knew that if she didn't start the conversation with her quiet friend, there would be no conversation at all.
"I have news?" Dinky cringed. She had managed to find the biggest way she could have understated the dramatic occurrences of the day.
"Do tell." Though Tootsie Flute didn't speak much, she was eloquent and witty.
"So, um, you know how my dad, is, like, not around?" Dinky inwardly cursed herself. Dear Celestia, Dinky, at least try not to understate things!
Tootsie nodded without speaking. She often thought about her friend's childhood with pity, but she could never express this, for Dinky was too proud.
"Well.." He's come back and everything is ruined and my mother is a weeping mess and Sparkler hates me more than ever and he's so weird but I can tell he is my father and it scares me! "He's come back?"
Tootsie's magenta eyes widened. She looked down at her hooves, unsure of what to say.
"Is he nice?"
Dinky smiled inwardly. Her friend always had a way of finding the small, minute details of a broad topic.
"Um... Yeah, I guess so. I don't know him all that well yet. He has an annoying habit of sneaking up on people, though."
"Stranger danger." Joked Tootsie. Dinky smiled weakly.
"He also rambles on and on and on."
Tootsie hesitated before speaking, not sure if she should tread over a tender topic such as this. "Reminds me a bit of someone I know."
"Who?" Asked Dinky, oblivious to the fact that Tootsie was pointing out yet another similarity between her and her father.
Tootsie sighed and blew some of her lilac hair out of her face. "You, obviously!"
Dinky blushed. She rubbed her hooves together uncertainly. She never was good at saying her emotions aloud. She preferred to write them down, or to keep them inside her and mull them over for a while, so she could solve problems on her own.
"Well," Started Tootsie, a wry smile spreading across her face. "As you know, my mathematical mind likes to make lists when it's confused. So let's make a list of possible courses of action to take."
Dinky grinned. It was a small smile, but an honest one. Tootsie's aquamarine colored magic picked up a pen and well-used pad of paper from the messy desk across the room. The two fillies then bent their heads together and started on their list.
After a long hour of list-making and sparse conversation, the fillies sat up. Their T-chart masterpiece was finally finished. On the right side of the paper, a column with the heading "Feelings" was completed, and on the left side, a column with the cramped heading "Actions Based on Feelings" was all completed except for one box...the box corresponding to the feeling "Scared".
"So." Stated Tootsie simply. "We have solutions for all your mixed up feelings except for 'Scared'. Do you know why that is?"
Sometimes, Tootsie's teaching attitude bothered Dinky, but at other times, such as this, it comforted her and helped her think clearly.
"Maybe because I don't know how to face my fear?"
Tootsie nodded, all business. "Good. And what fear is that exactly?"
Dinky hesitated. Again, her tendency to lock away her emotions was crippling her. "Fear of...of...change? Like that my whole life I've been without a father, and now he's showed up, and I'm not sure how to handle it?"
Tootsie smiled encouragingly. She really should become a teacher, Thought Dinky.
"Yes! And how do animals in nature deal with change?" Asked Tootsie.
"They change with it," Said Dinky slowly. Realization was dawning slowly in her mind.
"In order to survive," Tootsie was sounding as if she was quoting out of a science textbook. "They adapt to the change. That's what you need to do. Adapt to having a father."
Dinky smiled slowly, savoring the feeling of realization and sudden understanding. She jumped off the bed, suddenly animated.
"I've got to get back," She apologized to Tootsie. "Thanks for all your help."
Tootsie blushed shyly. "Don't mention it."
"No, really," Dinky said firmly, making meaningful eye contact. "I don't know what I would do without you." Dinky smiled while strong emotion pooled deeply in her eyes. She had finally gotten over her crutch of locking things away. For now, at least.
so precious
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Pwease?