The Daughter Doo: Honorary Cutie Mark Crusader

by Ponky

9 - It Was an Aqua-Duck

Chapter Nine
It Was an Aqua-Duck

If Apple Bloom was the most angered by Zoccolo’s chase through the streets of Maredrid, Dinky Doo was the most frightened. She threw glance after terrified glance behind them, watching the three charging bulls gain ground. Soon enough they had climbed the paved hill and vaulted the barrier into wilderness, following the Cutie Mark Crusaders into the sparse treeline of a rocky hilltop.

“They’re gonna catch us!” Dinky shouted, throwing her wide eyes forward. “Wh-wh-what are we gonna do?”

Zoccolo paused at the very top of the hill and scanned the land beyond. With a victorious pose, he grinned at Dinky. “Do not-a be afraid yourself, little friend. I found our escape, if you don’t-a mind getting your-a hooves wet!”

Scootaloo, panting, tilted her head to one side. “Huh?”

“Forza, andiamo!” And Zoccolo sped away down the other side of the hill, disappearing for a moment between more densely stationed trees.

Exasperated, Apple Bloom took one look at the approaching bulls before following Zoccolo with a groan. “This better be good!”

“I don’t mind getting my hooves wet,” Sweetie Belle said as an aside, “or even muddy! Good thing Rarity’s not here or she’d be toast.”

The four fillies burst into a rocky clearing and gasped in tandem. Directly below them, built into the side of the hill was a wide, shallow trough flowing with clear water. Zoccolo was already standing in the flow; the water splashed around his hooves.

“Whoa… is this…?” Apple Bloom’s eyes dragged over the flowing water until she was staring to her right. The canal continued in a straight line well beyond the hill, held up by many tall arches to maintain its altitude, extending all the way into the city below.

“It’s the aqueduct!” said Sweetie Belle. “Whoa! Cool!”

“We’ll take it back into the heart of the city and lose these creeps! Right?” Scootaloo jumped into the ponymade stream and geared up to sprint in the direction of its flow.

“Anzi, no.” Zoccolo reached out a hoof with a grin and spun Scootaloo around by the top of her head. “We’re-a going the other way. Still need to catch-a the train, do we not?”

“Whoa…” Scootaloo tilted to look behind Zoccolo where the aqueduct stretched in the opposite direction, elevated by miles of arches upon arches in a practically straight line. It balanced, brave and alone over the countryside, barely three feet wide despite how tall it stood over the valley’s lowest points. In the distance, a great grey mountain loomed, doubtless the source of the high canal’s water.

Sweetie Belle gulped. “Ummm… I hope I don’t get it.”

“Quick, little friends!” Zoccolo said. Any panic that they’d seen in his face was gone, replaced by a foalish euphoria. “Here-a they come!”

He immediately broke into a gallop, speeding against the aqueduct’s flow and away from the heart of Maredrid. It took him less than ten steps to clear the part of the trough skimming the side of the hill. Soon there was nothing but a five foot ― ten foot ― twenty foot fall on either side of him.

The fillies gaped at his bravery/insanity. Sweetie Belle suddenly yelped, startling her friends, as something small and pumpkin-orange skittered over the ground between her legs, mounting the edge of the aqueduct and scurrying after Zoccolo at blurry speeds.

“Well, if Zuka can do it…” Scootaloo mumbled, and joined the chameleon on the perilous path behind Zoccolo’s haphazard sprint.

“Zuka’s got little sticky claws, though!” Apple Bloom called after her. “She’s safer than all of us!”

A tree exploded behind her from the butt of a furious bull. “Zoccolooo!” Cierro screamed again.

“Crabapples!” Apple Bloom squeaked as bark and sawdust scattered around her.

Sweetie Belle and Dinky screamed in tandem.

“Where he go?” Cierro bellowed down at them, eyes red and spit flying. “Where he go, little pony?” Cierro’s cloven hoof reached out to grab at Apple Bloom’s bow.

“Nope nope nope!” Apple Bloom shouted, jumping backward into the aqueduct. “Come on, Dinky! Sweetie Belle, run!”

One of the other bulls dove forward to grab Dinky, but Sweetie yanked her out of reach and didn’t let go as they joined Apple Bloom in the canal.

“Is now a bad time to admit I’m afraid of heights?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” Apple Bloom ushered the others along. She kept her eyes trained on Scootaloo far ahead, careful not to look down as the ground sloped away. Soon enough, there was nothing beneath the aqueduct but air, and nothing behind them but screaming bulls.

“What are they saying?” Sweetie Belle asked Apple Bloom loudly.

“For the last time, Sweetie! I. Do. Not. Speak. Caballish!”

Up ahead, they heard Scootaloo’s warbling voice: “Whoooa-oa-oa!”

“You okay, Scoots?” Apple Bloom yelled.

Scootaloo suddenly stopped running, wobbling in place instead. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Dinky swiftly caught up.

“D-don’t look down,” Scootaloo stammered. Her neck was stiffly in place. “It’s too late for me, but if I have any adv-v-vice for you, it’s don’t frickin’ look down.”

“Scootaloo, you have to keep moving!” Sweetie Belle whined, splashing her hooves in the water.

“Why!?” Frozen in place, Scootaloo didn’t turn around, but the muscles in her neck twitched visibly. “Are the bulls chasing us?”

“Uhh…” Sweetie turned around. Cierro and one of his henchbulls has disappeared, while the third was taking cautious, narrow steps along the aqueduct. He hadn’t even cleared the hill yet. “Well, kinda,” Sweetie continued. “But the point is we need to keep up with Zoccolo, and you’re kinda blocking the way!”

“Just gimme a second,” Scootaloo hissed, breathing deeply. “I’m fine. I’m a pegasus, for peat’s sake. I can do this.” She shook out her wings, threw back her mane, and plowed forward, resuming her determined gallop.

“Hey, good job, Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom said, grinning. “That was real brave.”

“GO, Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle shouted in her ear from right behind her.

“Oh, right!” The little farmpony picked up the pace, making space between her and the two unicorns in the rear.

Dinky was shaking her head viciously. “I can’t. I can’t do this, Sweetie Belle. I’m so scared!” Her golden eyes met Sweetie’s concerned pair. “I-I’ll fall!”

“We’re not gonna fall, Dinky.”

“What are we doing, then? Are we just…” Dinky took a long stare at the distant mountain as its water broke around her little hooves. “Are we gonna run all the way over it? To wherever it starts?”

“Ummmm…” Sweetie Belle blinked several times. “I’m gonna say no, but more as a hope than an actual guess.” She cleared her throat. “But don’t worry, Dinky. I’ve got you. Neither of us are going to fall. Let’s catch up to Zoccolo. I bet he has a plan!”

The little filly nodded mutely and joined her honorary sister in a single-file trot along the towering aqueduct. They stayed very close together, with Sweetie Belle’s chin hovering over Dinky’s swishing tail.

Up ahead, Zoccolo finally stopped, a grey and purple dot along an enduring line of chiseled stone. Scootaloo caught up with him first, and Sweetie Belle watched nervously as she and Zoccolo leaned over the edge of the canal.

“What are they doing?” Dinky squeaked.

“Looking for something,” Sweetie answered. She glanced toward the ground, but fear brought her eyes back to Zoccolo before she could take in any details.

Apple Bloom was trotting steadily and joined Scootaloo with several splashes. “What exactly is the goal here?” she asked defiantly as she approached. “We can’t rightly go back the way we came, and that mountain’s still miles away. One of us’ll fall fer sure!”

“Now we wait, Fiore,” Zoccolo replied with a calm smile. “You are brave fillies, and our escape should-a be a simple one.”

“Escape?” Apple Bloom looked over her shoulder at the distant hill where they had started. “Escape from what? The bulls? Lookee there, Zoccolo. There’s just one left, and he ain’t lookin’ so confident where I’m standin’.”

Indeed, the one bull in the distance was inching along the aqueduct, wobbling noticeably even from their distance.

“We have a train to catch-a, little friend,” Zoccolo said. “And thanks to you, the stazione centrale is-a no longer an option.”

“Yeah, way to blow our cover, Bloom,” Scootaloo said, sneering.

Apple Bloom’s jaw dropped. “Jeez, ‘scuse me fer tryin’ to be the honest pony ‘round here! I admit things didn’t go as I mighta hoped―” She glanced nervously at the edge of the aqueduct. “―but that don’t mean I done the wrong thing in exposing this criminal for what he is.” She pointing sharply at Zoccolo without breaking eye contact with Scootaloo.

Scootaloo frowned. “He’s trying to help us! What don’t you get about that?”

Apple Bloom opened her mouth to retort, but a scraping sound from far behind made her flinch. She spun around and joined Zoccolo and Scootaloo in gaping at the sight down the aqueduct, underscored by the colors of Maredrid in the distance.

“Ahhhh!” screamed Sweetie Belle. “Go, Dinky, go go go!”

“What is it?” Dinky asked shrilly. “I-I can’t run any faster, Sweetie Belle!”

“Come here, Dinky!” Apple Bloom said, holding out a hoof. The filly was ten trots off and hurried to Apple Bloom’s steady support. Only when the group was all together did Dinky dare look back, all the while terrified by the noisy grinding sound in the air.

The bulls were back, all three of them, and were straddling the fallen trunk of a tree. Using their hooves as makeshift oars, as it were, they pushed the log against the flow of the aqueduct and barreled toward the ponies. There wasn’t enough water to keep their log afloat, and its bark slid noisily over the stone of the canal. The front end of the trunk displaced enough water to send small waves splashing over the sides of the aqueduct, raining on the valley below.

“We gotchu now, Zoccolo!” Cierro shouted. “You can’t escape!”

“Run! Run!” Apple Bloom shouted, turning to Zoccolo and splashing water at him. “What’re ya waitin’ for? Go! They’re gonna ram us!”

Zoccolo bit his lip and cast his eyes over the edge once more. His face lit up and he smiled at Apple Bloom. “No need! Arriva il treno!”

Sweetie whispered in Apple Bloom’s ear, “What did he say?”

Before Apple Bloom could smack Sweetie Belle, Zoccolo wrapped a hoof around her shoulder and directed her gaze downward.

“Our train is arriving,” he said smoothly, pointing down.

Only then, forced to take in the landscape, did Apple Bloom notice train tracks running through an arch of the aqueduct. She gasped at the sight of an approaching train; its whistle was barely audible over the screeching of the bull’s accelerating log.

“Oh, look, Dinky!” Sweetie Belle smiled and pointed at the train. “Is that the train to Pelola, Mister Zoccolo?”

“It is indeed, Dolcina!” Zoccolo said with a laugh. “All aboard!”

Sweetie face twisted up. “Wait, what?”

As the train passed beneath them, Zoccolo spread his long forelegs and scooped all three fillies over the edge with him. They fell ― screaming ― for the span of an entire second before landing hard on the wide roof of a passenger car. They rolled with “oofs!” and passed beneath the shadow of the aqueduct before finding their bearings.

Zoccolo was the first to his hooves, flashing a victorious smile up at three gaping bulls in the aqueduct. “Arrivederci!” he shouted, waving one hoof above his head. From somwhere in his mane, Zuka quickly climbed to the end of his hoof and stuck her long tongue out in the bulls’ direction.

Scootaloo watched the scene transpire, then dropped onto her back and cackled at the sky. “Wow! Wow wow wow wow wow!” She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and beamed. “I wish Rainbow Dash was here to see this.”

“You. Monster!” Apple Bloom shrieked, throwing herself at Zoccolo in an attempt to knock him off the train.

“Whoa, hey!” Scootaloo snapped to attention, moving to restrain her friend. “What are you trying to do, kill him?”

“He just nearly killed us!” Apple Bloom shouted over the whipping winds of the moving train. “There was a very good chance of one or all of us dyin’ right there, Scootaloo! Ain’t that enough for you to hate this creep?”

“We’re all fine!” Scootaloo argued, gesturing first to herself and then to Sweetie Belle and Dinky, holding each other close a few feet away. “It was an awesome plan that totally worked! We’re on the train now ― for free, at that ― and we’re headed straight for Haissan!” She glanced up at Zoccolo. “Err… right?”

Zoccolo pointed to the Sun, sliding down to the western horizon, and then rotated like a weathervane with his hoof held straight out. “East,” he finally said when he aligned with the train’s momentum. “East to Itaily, east to Nipota, and east to the orphan foals.”

“They ain’t orphans,” Apple Bloom grumbled. “They’re the local bakers’.”

“Right.” Zoccolo cleared his throat and set his hoof beneath him. “Less-a dramatic, but still true. We are on our way to Pelola, little friends. We are safe.”

“That was… so… scary…” Dinky whimpered in Sweetie Belle’s embrace.

Instantly, a look of supreme sympathy washed over Zoccolo’s face. He took swift steps forward and knelt in front of the shivering duo. “Oh, piccolina... come, let’s-a get inside.”

He touched Dinky’s shoulder; she flinched.

Zoccolo sighed slowly. “I am-a sorry for not warn you, piccolina. I knew none of you would-a jump with me, but it was-a the only way.” He stroked the back of her mane. “I promise, no more surprises like-a that. I don’t want to scare you. I am on-a your side.”

Sweetie Belle’s eyes narrowed for a moment, but she helped Dinky to her hooves. “Thanks, Mister Zoccolo,” Sweetie Belle said. “I think we should get inside now, if we can. Right, Dinky?”

Dinky sniffed once and nodded. “Yeah. Okay.” She looked up into Zoccolo’s clear, peach colored eyes. “Thank you.”

Apple Bloom dropped to her haunches. “Are you… what the… but I…” She shook her head vigorously. “Why’re y’all thankin’ him? He just pushed us off a bridge!”

“Uhh, it was an aqua-duck, Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes. “Weren’t you paying attention?”

“I saved us from a very bad-a bull,” Zoccolo said quietly as they approached a corner of the train where a ladder curved down along the side of the car. “I understand your-a feelings, Fiore. You have-a no reason to trust me. But know that falling onto a train was-a better than falling into their hooves.” He gave Apple Bloom a long, steady glance, then hopped over the edge of the train car and scaled down its ladder.

Apple Bloom watched incredulously as Sweetie Belle helped Dinky follow Zoccolo’s lead.

“Seriously, Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said as she trotted toward the ladder. “You need to chill out. Zoccolo’s not a new member of the team. He’s just helping us get to point B.” She smirked. “The sooner you figure that out, the sooner you’ll appreciate how awesome he is and maybe even have a little fun.”

Scootaloo followed Sweetie Belle down the ladder, and Apple Bloom was left alone on top of the train. Her bow slapped against her mane in the wind and she looked ahead, gaping, at the empty countryside to come.

“But… this ain’t supposed to be fun,” she said under her breath. With heavy hooves and a scrunched up brow, she made her way to the ladder as well.

{-DD-}

The interior of the Stirropean train was remarkably different than Ponyville’s. Instead of decorative walls or well spaced, plush benches, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were greeted with dirty blues and even dirtier greys. Long light bulbs on the ceiling flickered uselessly, while ponies from all walks of life chattered too loudly or brooded too quietly in nearly every available seat.

“Come on, little friends,” Zoccolo said once all five of them were standing safely in the narrow central aisle. “Follow me, we find-a seats somewhere else.”

He trotted briskly down the length of the aisle, but each Crusader had a hard time following him. Safe at last, their youthful adrenaline was wearing off, and into its place flooded exhaustion, jitters, and the pulse of aching hooves.

“Unnnghh…” Scootaloo moaned, for even she found herself wobbling. “I don’t feel so good, Zoccolo.”

The stallion turned around with surprised eyes. “Cavoli! Are-a you not fine?”

“I feel dizzy,” Scootaloo said. “Aaaand I think I might have broken something in my hoof.” She lifted her right forehoof gingerly.

“I’m tired, Mister Zoccolo,” Sweetie Belle said, her head teetering left and right. “Is there anywhere on this train to sleep?”

“Hey!” a deep voice said in a quick breath from farther down the aisle.

Zoccolo spun around with wide eyes, but relaxed as soon as he saw the source of the voice: a zebra stallion, one of two seated together near the far end of the passenger car.

“Hey, come hea! Come hea!” The zebra waved them closer.

Zoccolo beamed, winked at the fillies, and approached the zebra confidently. “Heeey! How far, my-a brother?” he asked.

A gleam shone in both striped stallions’ eyes at once. “Ohhh! You speak pidgin?”

“Only a little bit,” Zoccolo admitted with a tilted grin. “Are-a you fine-a gentlecolts from Braynin City, by chance?”

The zebras gaped at him. “Waaa!” one of them exclaimed with dark green eyes the size of saucers. “Ah you from Neighgeria?”

Zoccolo glanced down at himself and stifled a laugh. “Uhhh… no. I’m-a from Icodalia. I’m-a headed home with my nieces right-a now.” He gestured to the unsteady fillies behind him.

“Whea you come from?” the zebra with green eyes ask. He pointed to the roof. “I hear a big boom, then you come in from the side. You come from roof?” He jabbed his hoof several times overhead, incredulous.

Zoccolo grinned. “We climbed onto the roof from a different-a car. We don’t-a have the tickets, you see.” He opened his sidebag and pretended to fish around in it for a moment, then shrugged. In a low voice, he added, “Don’t-a tell anypony.”

The zebras laughed low together. “It’s okay, it’s okay.” He cast his green eyes down the aisle before whispering, “We don’t have ticket eitha!”

Zoccolo joined in their laughter, and then gestured to the empty seats nearer the window. “May we sit-a with you today, friends?”

Both zebras nodded and voiced their approval, standing up to allow Zoccolo and the fillies to enter the pair of dark blue benches facing each other. It was a tight fit, but with Zoccolo and Scootaloo on one side while Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Dinky took the other, the zebras sat back down with nothing but friendly smiles.

“My name is-a Zoccolo,” said the grey stallion with a deep nod. “And who are-a you?”

The zebra with dark green eyes pointed to himself. “I am Agility,” he said, putting emphasis on every syllable.

The other stallion, much stockier than Agility, lifted his chin at the group. “I am Egbobo.”

“Egbobo?” Scootaloo repeated with a snort. “That’s awesome!”

A small, restricted smile grew on Egbobo’s face. “Thank you,” he said quickly.

Zoccolo began asking the zebras more questions while Sweetie and Apple Bloom whispered to each other under the radar.

“Why ain’t they rhymin’?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I think that might be a racist question,” Sweetie whispered back.

“Zecora’s the only zebra I ever met,” Apple Bloom said with a grimace. “She’s all I know. I don’t wanna offend these guys.”

“They seem really easy going,” Sweetie Belle said, “but that’s not what I wanted to whisper about.” Staring sternly into her eyes, Sweetie continued, “Apple Bloom, you were right.”

“Huh?”

Sweetie jerked her head across the way at Zoccolo. “You were right. This guy’s nuts, and if he’s willing to shove us off an aqueduct onto a train without warning ― especially our poor little Dinky!” She glanced around Apple Bloom for just a moment where Dinky was staring out the window, shivering. “I was wrong. I don’t want him anywhere near Dinky. We gotta get out of here.”

Apple Bloom visibly melted. “Gah, I’m sooo glad you said that, Sweetie Belle.” She smiled. “I was beginning to think y’all had lost yer minds.”

“You are-a headed to Icodalia, then?” Zoccolo asked in a particularly loud tone.

“By the grace of goddess,” Agility said, nodding. “We hear it is very beautiful.”

“More-a beautiful than you can imagine!” Zoccolo affirmed, patting Agility’s striped shoulder. “Bravi, you are-a making a good decision. Icodalia will be lucky to have you.”

“Thank you, thank you,” Agility said with a big smile. “Very kind.”

“So where are you guys from, exactly?” Scootaloo blurted.

“Neighgeria,” said Agility. “It is very south from here.”

Scootaloo blinked once. She cleared her throat. “Why aren’t you guys rhyming?”

“Scootaloo!” snapped Sweetie Belle.

But Agility only smiled wider. “Rhyme we can with eager ease, if this the little ponies please.”

“Whoa!” Apple Bloom reeled. “What the heck?”

“Do not be surprised,” Egbobo said with a furrowed brow. “There ah many languages in Neighgeria. Many many!” He crossed his forelegs.

“What my brother means to say is that we speak in many ways,” Agility continued. “Verse-speak is the tongue of learned, who have in them a spiral burned.”

“Hey, no more,” Egbobo grunted, turning away. “You ah not a priest.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes sparkled, but she said nothing.

Agility shrugged. “It is true. I did not follow the path of priest to its end.”

“What-a did you follow, then?”

Agility looked at the ground between them and shook his head slightly. “I do not know. Not yet.”

Scootaloo chuckled. “Join the club,” she said. “We’re called the Cutie Mark Crusaders. We’re on a quest to find out who we are.”

Egbobo glanced at Zoccolo’s crescent Moon-shaped Mark, then swept his eyes over the blank flanks of the fillies. “Ponies ah strange,” he muttered. “Very strange.”

Agility opened his mouth to say something, but Egbobo suddenly gasped and stared down the train car’s long aisle. Agility twisted where he sat, sharing Egbobo’s panic as a fat stallion in a uniform vest and cap strolled from bench to bench. “Biglietti,” he said to everypony he passed, holding out a hoof expectantly. “Biglietti. Boletos. Tickets, please.”

“Ah, he’s Itailian,” Zoccolo whispered to Scootaloo at his side. “This will be easy.”

Scootaloo raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “What will be easy?”

After a wink, Zoccolo put on a panicked face and turned to the zebras. “Time to go, don’t-a you think?”

They zebras both nodded and jumped off their benches, opening a nearby door to pass from one passenger car to the next.

“Hey!” said the vested stallion, waddling heavily down the aisle in a vain attempt to stop them. “Stop-a!”

Within seconds, the zebras were gone from sight. The fat stallion stopped at the door and frowned through the windows into the next car. Even then, he saw no sign of stripes.

“Merda...” he swore under his breath.

“Stai attento, signore,” Zoccolo said suavely. The stallion jumped and looked down at him. “Ci sono dei bambini.”

The stallion winced apologetically. “Mi scusi, signore. Dove andate oggi?”

“Pelola,” Zoccolo answered. “Visitiamo mia nipote. Queste sono le sue amiche equestriane.”

“What are they saying?” Sweetie Belle asked Apple Bloom while the adults blathered on.

Though she sighed heavily through her nose, Apple Bloom actually answered. “I think Zoccolo’s tellin’ him where we’re off to.”

“That’s a bad idea, isn’t it?” Sweetie Belle wrung her forehooves together. “We don’t have tickets!”

“Allora, posso vedere i vostri biglietti?” asked the fat stallion.

“Bill yeti!” Sweetie Belle squeaked. “I think that means tickets!”

Zoccolo nodded jovially. “Ma certo! Aspetta un attimo...” He reached into his sidebag, and for every second his hoof swished around the expression on his face fell into something terrified. “Dea del Sole! Me li hanno rubato!”

The fat stallion’s jaw dropped. “Chi t’hanno rubato?”

“Quei zebri.” Zoccolo scowled. “I zebri hanno preso i nostri biglietti!”

“He sounds mad,” Sweetie Belle whimpered. “Why’s he mad?”

The vested stallion clenched his teeth and spun to face the door. “Ladri sporchissimi!” he shouted, charging out of the car and into the next as the train rattled on.

Zoccolo’s face calmed and he sat back, smirking. “How do you say?” he asked. “Nailed it?”

Scootaloo was on the edge of her seat. “What did you just do?” she asked.

“I nailed it,” he repeated, chuckling. “We’re safe now. They won’t-a find the zebras and they won’t-a need our tickets.” He tucked his hooves behind his head. “Enjoy the ride, little friends. Pelola is yet-a far away.”

“Didju just…” Apple Bloom’s eyes twitched. “Did you just tell him those zebras stole our tickets?”

“What?” Sweetie Belle gasped. “Apple Bloom, you said you didn’t speak Itailian!”

With great effort, Apple Bloom ignored her, training her angry eyes on Zoccolo. “They were a couple o’ stand up stallions! And you go’n throw ‘em under the train like they’re nothin’ but tools to yer thievin’?”

“I assure you, our new friends will be perfectly safe-a,” Zoccolo said, unflinching. “Cavoli, one of them was named Agility! Ha! They’ll make it wherever they need-a to go.”

“That’s the last straw,” Apple Bloom grunted. She dropped out of her seat and stormed down the aisle, away from her friends.

“Fiore!” Zoccolo called out. “Wait, Fiore, don’t go alone!” When Apple Bloom didn’t turn around, Zoccolo hummed low in his throat. “Where does it-a come from?” he asked Scootaloo while sliding into Egbobo’s old spot.

Scootaloo hadn’t taken her shining eyes off him. “Where does what come from?” she asked breathily.

He pointed down the aisle. “Her attitude. This… unshakable morality.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s-a not helpful.”

“You’re telling me!” Scootaloo chirped. “Say, how’d you learn so many languages?”

“Travel, Vesparé,” he said. “Much, much travel.”

Sweetie Belle gulped, standing up on the bench and turning to watch Apple Bloom storm away. “I feel like…” She turned to Dinky. “Should we go talk to her?”

But Dinky’s head was pressed against the glass between herself and the Caballish valleys beyond. Her tiny mouth hung open, and her shivers had ceased in her sleep.

Sweetie let out a short “D’awww!” before stealing another glance at Apple Bloom. The yellow filly opened a sliding door on the far end of the train and trotted into a different passenger car altogether. Sweetie Bit her lip but, with a lasting groan, finally dropped off the bench to follow her at a bouncing gallop.

“And there goes Dolcina Campanella,” Zoccolo said, scratching behind his own ear. “You ought-a to follow them, Vesparé. I think they will-a need you soon.”

Scootaloo sighed. “I don’t get it. I mean, I know they’re scared: we’re far from home, traveling with a stranger, running from rampaging bulls and leaping onto the tops of trains… but it’s not like we’ve never done anything like it.” She shook her head. “We’ve befriended tons of weird ponies and done lots of stupid stuff together. What’s different this time?”

“Magari I’m the weirdest of all?” Zoccolo guessed.

“Huh? Oh, no, I didn’t mean―” Scootaloo winced. “Sorry. You’re by far the coolest pony we’ve met on our adventures, if you ask me.”

“Grazie.” Zoccolo leaned down to her and pointed across the benches. “And if-a you ask me, what’s different this time is quite obvious.” He smiled. “She is precious. Something to save, not something to find.” He patted the top of Scootaloo’s head. “Go help-a your friends. I will watch over the principessa.”

Scootaloo’s thoughts were too muffled for her to question that. “Yeah. Okay.” She hopped down from the bench and, brow scrunched in thought, made her way along the aisle to find her angry friends.

{-DD-}

The Sun set, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders did not return. The trans-Stirropean train chugged on, and the Moon cast few shadows in the valley streaking by.

When Dinky woke, before she opened her eyes, she heard the rattle of the train… and nothing else. No voices, no arguing, no laughter. A ray of light painted red the insides of her eyelids, and she sat up slowly, blinking blurriness away.

The train was angled toward the south so that the eastern light shone directly into the train. The first rays of the Sun had spilled over the horizon; she had slept through the entire night. Dinky looked away from the searing brightness, and her eyes fell directly on Zoccolo.

He was turned in his bench to face the horizon, though his eyes were serenely closed. His head was slightly bowed, and he held his forelegs straight out from his body. As Dinky watched, his hooves began to tremble, and he lifted them higher along with his muzzle.

The Sun broke over the horizon and bathed the valley in golden light. Dinky gasped.

Zoccolo opened one eye. Without lowering his hooves, he smiled at her, then closed the eye again. With a deep breath, he wiggled his hooves and lifted his straight forelegs even closer to the ceiling.

The Sun continued its first steps into the lengths of the sky.

Another slow breath, and Zoccolo lowered his hooves. He opened his eyes to Dinky staring at his forehead in awe.

Zoccolo glanced up. On the top of his head, in front of his ears, sat Zuka in her truest, orange form. She reached down with two small claws and parted his wavy bangs like a purple waterfall. There, high above his eyes, was the short, jagged remnant of a unicorn horn.

Dinky’s eyes swelled even more.

He cleared his throat, then reached up and gently swatted Zuka away. The chameleon vanished between his ears while Zoccolo fixed his bangs to cover the stub.

“You’re a…” Dinky stammered, glancing to the east.

Zoccolo raised a hoof to his own lips. “Shhh! Can it stay our-a secret?” he asked softly.

Dinky swallowed, but ultimately nodded her head. “Where… where are my friends?” she asked timidly.

Zoccolo pointed down the aisle. “They chased Apple Bloom down the train last-a night. Perhaps you and Zuka should go looking-a for them now.” He gestured to many limp heads in the passenger car. “While many are sleeping.”

Zuka responded immediately, scurrying down Zoccolo’s body, across the ground between them, and leaping onto the bench next to Dinky.

“Eep!” Dinky flinched, but smoothed down her own blonde mane and nodded. “Okay. Let’s go, Zuka.”

The chameleon waited to hop on Dinky’s back until she had climbed down from the blue bench. Bleary-eyed, the tiny pony yawned and began her search while Zoccolo watched on with a curious smile.

Comments

[Bronycommander]

That was actually a good idea from him, that way the foals don't need to worry about their tickets after boarding. You're really have a talent for making Dinky looking cute and adorable, you know that?

[DreadedCandiru2]

Oh, goody. Another unicorn with a broken horn. At least this one isn't into world domination.

[punzil504]

“Go help-a your friends. I will watch over the principessa .”

He knows who Dinky really is... something none of the CMC or even Dinky herself knows yet.

[FanOfMostEverything]

That log canoe is just... What? I can't tell if it's too absurd or just absurd enough.

I have no sympathy for Apple Bloom right now. He wouldn't have needed to jump off the aqueduct if you had just kept your big mouth shut, young lady.

Hmm. There's a story there at the end. We may even hear it. For now, I just hope Dinky can track down the Crusaders.

[EchoWing]

...well things just got a tiny bit more interesting.