Rough beginnings

by Never2muchpinkie

Chapter 12: Dinky the explorer

Dinky felt strange. She had never been out all alone. She had always had her mother not far behind. She certainly felt scared not to have any adults by her side, but she was also excited enough to keep going.

It took her a few minutes of running to realize she didn’t know if she was even going in the right direction. She had just been running around aimlessly. She looked up towards the sky, turning slowly in a circle. “Aha!” she called out as she spotted what she was looking for. She had been a little off, but she was going in the general direction.

A brown stallion was walking along, watching the bustling life of Ponyville, even as early as it was. There were adults and foals, likely on the way to school. The pegasi occasionally flew overhead, preparing the days weather. All in all, it was a typical day. But then something caught his attention. A foal, looking no more than three or four, passed by him. Ordinarily that wouldn’t be anything strange, but this one seemed to be all alone. No mare or stallion was following after her. She kept looking skyward every so often as she walked, making him do the same. At the moment the sky was empty of pegasi, so he was curious about that as well.

It might be nothing, he might be overreacting, but he wanted to be sure the foal was okay. He trotted a bit to catch up to her, and said, “Hello, there!”

The foal stopped and turned to him, replying, “Hello!” She seemed to be in a good mood, a big smile splayed across her face.

“What’s your name, little lady? I’m Gold Medal.”

“I Dinky!”

“If you don’t mind me asking, where are you going?”

“I going to town hall.”

The stallion’s eyebrow went up. What business would a toddler possibly have at town hall? He supposed a family member could work there, but that didn’t change the pressing matter of if she had a guardian looking out for her.

“So where is your mommy? Are you out here all alone?”

The foal nodded. “Uh-huh. My mama sleeping.”

“I see…” His stomach clenched in worry. “And why are you going to town hall?”

“So I can go home.”

“What do you mean?”

Dinky pointed up with her hoof. “See? Up there. The big twiangle.”

Gold looked up towards where she was pointing. He did indeed see the big triangle shape of town hall in the distance. That had to be what she had been looking at when she looked upward before. “So… your house is right by town hall?”

Dinky shook her head. “No. Well, not that close. It right by Sugahcoob Cornah.”

“Sugarcube Corner is that sweet shop that looks like a gingerbread house, right?”

“Mmm-hmm!” She rubbed her tummy. “They have great ice cweam.”

“I bet.”

“Mama taught me how to get home. Town hall, Sugahcoob Cornah, home. Town hall, Sugahcoob Cornah, home.

“To get home is right by Sugahcoob Cornah, but is really small so it hard to find.”

Gold was catching on. “So you start by going to town hall because it’s really big and you can see it from most anywhere in Ponyville.”

Dinky nodded a few times.

Gold had some questions that needed answering, and he felt it best to get them directly from the mother. Town hall was quite a ways away from where they were. Where had this foal been, and had she really been allowed to just wander halfway across town, just because she could find her way home by some landmarks? He didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but he had a bad feeling about Dinky’s level of care. He sure hoped the foal wasn’t being neglected.

“I tell you what,” said Gold. “Why don’t I help you get home? I’m sure your mama doesn’t wanna see you get hurt, so if anything happens to you at least you’ll have an adult around to help you out. How does that sound?”

Dinky didn’t feel she needed any help. She had been taught well, but she also knew how sad her mother had been recently, and didn’t want to add to it. With a nod, she climbed up onto his back.

As he took off he decided to ask some questions to pass the time. “So how old are you, Dinky?”

“I two!” she said, leaning over and hugging him around the neck.

“Two, huh? You’re getting to be a big girl, huh?”

“Yeah!”

“I see you have a horn. Is your mother a unicorn too?”

“Nuh-uh. She has wings and goes WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH in da sky!”

They continued making small talk along the way. At first Dinky watched the slowly approaching triangle in the sky, but along the way she remembered all the effort her mother put in to make sure she would be okay if she got lost.

***

“Okay, Dinky!” Derpy said brightly, setting Dinky down on the grass. “Today is going to be an important day, because you’re going to learn about your address.

“What is an address? It’s where you live. It’s your house, where we eat and sleep and play.”

Dinky nodded. “Mmm-hmm!”

“Now, you’re still young, so even if I told you what our address was I don’t know that you’d remember it. However, there is another way to help you find our home. You see, Dinky, sometimes accidents happen. And if we ever get separated and you can’t find me, you need to be able to get back home.”

Dinky nodded again. “Okay, Mama!”

“Now,” she said, pointing behind her. “This big building here is town hall. It’s really tall, it’s round, it has a ramp with some stairs, plenty of windows, and that big triangle shaped cone at the top. So it really stands out. This is the building you want to start with because it’s the easiest to find. From most places in Ponyville all you need to do is look up and you’ll see it because of how big it is.”

“Yeah! Really big!” She clapped her hooves together.

“Okay, then. Come with me, Dinky.”

***

“Dinky?” came the stallion’s voice, pulling her from her memories.

“Yeah?”

“We’re here.”

“Oh!” Dinky looked it up and down. Lots of windows, the big triangle top, the ramped stairs. It was all exactly as she was told. This was the place.

“You said that next we had to go to Sugarcube Corner, right?”

Dinky nodded. “Yeah.”

So off they went towards their next destination.

***

“Come with me, Dinky,” said Derpy, walking up the stairs.

Dinky followed right behind her.

“Now turn around.” When she did Derpy asked, “Do you see anything special?”

Dinky saw a few houses, but that was about it. “No, Mama.” She shook her head.

“Okay. Keep walking.” They went halfway around the circle and stopped. “Okay. Look out there again. Now do you see anything special?”

Dinky looked again. There were more houses, but off in the distance she could see something that got her attention and made her mouth water instantly. It was a house that looked to be mostly made of sweets. There was a cupcake sign hanging up. Not only that, but the top looked like a giant cupcake with candles on top. The whole roof looked like chocolate frosted with vanilla icing. On one side of the roof was a pony outline holding a candy cane. The two poles right next to the front door looked like candy canes as well.

“Yummy!” Dinky said with a giggle. “I wanna house made of candy too!”

Derpy giggled. “Sorry, Muffin. I hate to disappoint you but that house isn’t made of candy. It just looks like it is.”

“Awwww!” she replied, disappointed.

“Well, that is Sugarcube Corner, and even though the house isn’t made of sweets, it’s what they sell, like cakes and cookies and ice cream. Would you like some of that?”

Dinky nodded vigorously. “Yeah, yeah, yeah!”

They both walked to Sugarcube Corner. Dinky was about to head in when Derpy stopped her. “Hold on, Muffin. You’ll get all the sweets you want, but only after you show you’ve been paying attention.”

“What you mean?”

“Well, first we have to finish making it home. If you look over there-” she pointed her hoof to the left “-you’ll see our house. Do you recognize which one it is?”

“Ummm…” At the moment Dinky really didn’t care where their house was or what it looked like. She wanted ice cream! But she knew she had to try or she wasn’t going to get any. She looked at the eight or so houses along the ground. They all looked pretty similar to her. Her mother had always taken her home when they went out, so she never really paid attention to the outside of the house.

She shook her head. “No, Mama.” Her face drooped. “We still get ice cweam?”

Derpy hugged her daughter. “Don’t get upset, Dinky. This is exactly the reason why I’m doing this. I need you to know what our house looks like.

“Okay! Follow me!”

They walked along, passing six houses, before stopping in front of one. “This is our house, Dinky.”

Dinky looked up and down the house, really taking it in for the first time. She then looked left, and looked right, and her head tilted in confusion. There were some differences between them, sure, but she didn’t think she would really remember which house was specifically hers if she went to look for it.

Derpy saw Dinky look up at her wordlessly, and Dinky didn’t even have to speak. She knew what Dinky was asking. “I understand, Muffin. There are several houses that look a bit like ours. We like to put plants outside our window, or hang curtains, or have shutters. So I think this calls for a little creativity. We need to do something to make our house stand out just like Sugarcube Corner.”

“How we do that?” asked Dinky, intrigued.

“A little bit of paint should do the job. There’s still some left over from when I painted the cabinets.”

The two of them went inside. Derpy went to the basement, coming up with a tub of paint and a brush. “Here we go. Come on, Dinky!”

“Comin’!” she said with a giggle as they went back outside, closing the front door behind them.

Derpy popped the top of the paint can off, dipping the brush into the brown paint. She moved the brush around as Dinky watched. After a few minutes she pulled back. “There we go. How’s that?”

Dinky pointed at it, saying, “Muffin! Like me! ‘cept you don’t eat Dinky.”

Derpy laughed. “No, I certainly would never eat you. Not my favorite muffin.”

Dinky put her hoof out. “Me do? Me do too?”

“Sure, Dinky.” Derpy gave her the paintbrush.

Dinky clapped her hooves together. She loved painting. She hummed to herself as she put brush to door and began to work, knowing exactly what she wanted to make.

Derpy held back, watching Dinky paint. She didn’t even bother to offer any hints. She wanted their door to stick out as much as possible and she knew if Dinky helped out it would strengthen her memory of it.

“I done!” Dinky said triumphantly.

Derpy studied the painting. She was getting better at deciphering Dinky’s speech and drawings, and what she saw looked vaguely pony-shaped. Or at least animal shaped. It had four legs and a tail. She was a little lost at the face. It looked gigantic.

“What is it, Muffin?”

Dinky looked at her curiously. “You no know? That YOU!”

“Me?”

She nodded. “Uh-huh. You have weally, weally big mouf, so you can eat the whole muffin in one bite.”

Derpy looked at the painting again. Now she could kinda see it. She looked back down at Dinky. “Okay, Dinky. Now comes the test. While the paint dries let’s see if you remember what to do.”

She picked Dinky up, unfurling her wings and taking to the air. She flew in circles for a bit, then headed off in a random direction and landed.

“Whoa!” Dinky said, her head going in small circles. “I dizzy.”

When Dinky settled down Derpy set Dinky on her back. “Okay, Muffin. Where do we go first in order to get home?”

Dinky thought for a bit. “Um… uh… tow… town… hall?”

“That’s right. And how do we get to town hall?”

“We fly! And then we get ice cweam!”

Derpy snickered, shaking her head. “No way, Muffin. We’re staying on the ground.”

Dinky looked around. She didn’t see it anywhere. “It not here. We lost!”

“We’re not lost, Dinky. What was important about town hall?”

“Uh… it has stairs?”

“Yes. And?”

“It… it… uh… it round.”

“Mmm-hmmm.”

“And… it really big.”

“That’s right. It’s really big. That’s why I’m telling you to look for that first instead of Sugarcube Corner. It’s easier to find.”

Dinky didn’t feel sure. She looked around again more towards the sky. “Oh!” she said, her eyes lighting up. She pointed left with her hoof. “Twiangle! Twiangle!”

“You spotted the top?”

“Yeah, yeah! Ice cweam!”

Derpy let out a good-natured sigh. She was going to have to get her some, or Dinky would never let her hear the end of it.

She followed Dinky’s directions until they had reached town hall. “Great job, Dinky! You found it all by yourself.”

Dinky giggled, blushing a little at the praise. “Me did it! Hooray!”

“So now where to next?”

Dinky threw both legs in the air. “Sugahcooooooob Cornaaaaaah! Ice cweam, ice cweam, ice cweam!”

“And where is it?”

Dinky looked rapidly around, not seeing it down the blocks in her vision. “Not heah! Keep walking around.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She walked until Dinky said, “Stop!”

“There, there!” Dinky said, pointing several times with her hoof. “I see it!”

The two of them went towards Sugarcube Corner, Dinky rushing her to go faster.

When they arrived they went inside. Dinky rushed toward the counter. Several ponies were sitting down enjoying a snack, but none were at the register.

“Hello!” Dinky cried out as she levitated herself up to the counter, greeting a blue-coated pony.

“Hello there, little one!” came the jovial voice. “What can I get you?”

“Ice cweam!”

“What flavor, sweetheart?”

“Chocwate!”

“Sounds delicious!”

“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm!” Dinky nodded hard in agreement.

“Would you like some sprinkles too?”

Dinky nodded, her cheeks flushed with excitement.

Cup Cake returned with a bowl and a spoon. “Here you go, sweetheart.”

“Tank you!”

“You’re welcome.”

Derpy took Dinky to a table, getting a high chair for her to sit in, before going back to order something for herself.

She smiled when she saw Dinky happily chowing down. “Is it good, Muffin?”

Dinky nodded. “Yummy!” She dipped her spoon in, then held it out to her mother. “Try some!”

Derpy bent over, slurping up the spoonful. “That is good.” She dipped a spoon into her own strawberry bowl and offered it to Dinky, who ate it up.

“Mmm. Is good, but I like chocwate bettah.”

“That’s fine. More for me, then!” She dipped her spoon back in, taking a big mouthful. “Mmm!”

“Mmmmmmm!” Dinky agreed.

Once they finished their treats the pair left. “One last thing left, Dinky. We went to town hall, and then we went to Sugarcube Corner. Now where do we go?”

“Home!” Dinky said.

“Right. And where is it?”

Dinky looked around, left and right, until she spotted the painting. “There! There!” She took off running.

“Very good, Dinky,” she said, hugging her daughter when they arrived at their front door.

“So remember: town hall, Sugarcube Corner, home. Town hall, Sugarcube Corner, then home. Town hall, Sugarcube Corner, then home.”

Derpy practiced this routine with Dinky once a week to ensure it stayed stuck in her head. And with Dinky getting ice cream for her efforts she made every effort to remember.

***

As they arrived at Sugarcube Corner Dinky’s stomach tingled. She wished they could stop in for ice cream, just like before. But she was on a mission, for something far more important than even ice cream. They all had bad days, her mom included, but she couldn’t forget how full of life her mother used to be.

Whenever they played together her mom always had the biggest smiles on her face, always laughing and willing to spend time with her. But now things were different. Her mother still smiled, but it didn’t feel real. Her face always looked sad. At first Dinky didn’t know why that was, but now she knew. And now that she knew she was determined to do something about it.

She looked left, searching for the painting the two of them had drawn. She spotted it almost instantly. She hopped off the stallion’s back, going running. Gold medal followed behind her.

Dinky stopped in front of the door, putting her hoof on the painting of her mother. “No worry, Mama. I gonna help you smile!”

“So this is it, then?” Gold Medal asked. “This is your house?”

“Yep!” Dinky replied.

“You’re sure of that?”

“Uh-huh. See?” She pointed to the door. “Me and Mama painted the front door. Here is Mama about to eat a giant muffin!”

Gold laughed. “I see. I guess it’s hard to forget your house with that on your front door.” He knocked on the door several times.

Dinky focused her desire, and with a glow from her horn the door opened.

Gold looked at the toddler with shock. “Handy,” he said to himself.

Dinky went inside, humming to herself.

Gold entered the house too. Dinky was home now, but he wouldn’t feel right about leaving until he had seen her mother and made sure she knew her child had been out alone. “Hello!” he called out. “Anybody home?”

He got no response. The house felt deserted. He would have to search for her himself.

Dinky paid him no mind as he began to look around the house. He checked the ground floor, the basement, the second floor, calling out all the while. Every room was empty.

When he returned to the living room he saw that Dinky was now wearing a saddlebag. “Hey there, Dinky. I looked all around and I didn’t see any sign of your mother.” He waited for her expression to sour and was ready to provide comforting, but Dinky was unfazed.

“I know Mama not here. She at Annie Bonnie and Annie Lyly’s house.”

Now he was even more confused. “Wait. Didn’t you tell me she was sleeping?”

“Yeah, but not here.”

He had to guess that their house was where she initially started from, which explained why she was so far from home when he saw her. “So you knew your mother was sleeping at your aunt’s house?”

“Yes. Now I gotta go back.”

Eyeing the saddle bag he asked, “What was so important that you had to come all the way out here for it? I know your mom was sleeping, and maybe you didn’t want to wake her up, but couldn’t you have asked one of your aunt’s for help?”

Dinky shook her head. “No. They no understand. I tell them what I want, and they think I asking for a dwink.”

Gold shook his head. “Maybe they didn’t understand what you were asking for, but you still shouldn’t have come out here all alone.”

“I no alone. You came with me.”

Gold sucked on his cheek, momentarily stymied. She wasn’t exactly wrong. “That’s true, Dinky, but if I hadn’t noticed you then you would have been all alone. And you don’t even know me. Bad things can happen to children who go places with strangers. I’m a nice stallion, so I would never hurt you, but other ponies might not be so kind.”

Dinky just stared at him blankly, clearly not understanding. He guessed he shouldn’t be surprised. She was still a baby. The concept of a bad pony probably was beyond her mental capabilities. He decided to try another route.

“This is your house, right? What would have happened if you were all alone, and you fell down the stairs? Or you got a drink and you choked? There would be no one here that could have taken you to the doctor. If someone didn’t hear you then you could have gotten seriously hurt. You love your mother a lot, I bet. Do you really want to make her sad?”

That got through to her. Dinky pictured her mother’s crying face. She certainly did not want to cause her mother any more pain. That was why she was on this trip in the first place. “Noooo,” she said quietly. “B-but I HAD to come here.”

“I understand that. You wanted something here, but you still should have made sure that you brought someone with you who could look after you. You only have me because I offered. And since a responsible family wouldn’t have let you just wander around by yourself than I’m guessing none of them know you went out.”

Dinky shook her head. “Nooo.” She rubbed a hoof along the ground, looking guilty.

“How do you think they’re going to feel when they go to look for you and they can’t find you?”

Dinky was reminded of how scared she had been when she woke up and her mother was nowhere to be found. She found out a little later her mother had been with Doctor Hooves, but she had been angry and upset when she didn’t know.

“I sorry!”

“Don’t apologize to me. I’m not your mother or your aunts. Did you get what you came here for?” Dinky nodded. “Then we should go now.”

Dinky nodded again. “Okay.” She ran towards the door, now eager to get back.

Gold followed her out, closing the front door behind him. “Okay, kid. How do we get to your aunt’s house?”

Dinky opened her mouth, lifting her hoof as she went into her memory. Her face furrowed in confusion as her hoof lowered. Her mother had taught her over and over how to get to her house, but they didn’t go to Lyra’s and Bon Bon’s house that often, and she had never been taught how to get there.

“I… I no know!” Her face screwed up in fear as her eyes filled with tears. She had no idea how to get back. She might never see her mother again. “Mamaaaa!” Dinky fell to the ground and began to bawl her eyes out.

Gold let out a heavy breath. Now what should he do?

Author's Note:

Chapter title is just for fun. I came up with it because of 3 places format Derpy used to teach Dinky how to get home.

Also, I didn't originally intend for the flashback to go on so long, so this chapter ran much longer than I expected. So there's one more chapter and the epilogue still.