Gentle Red

by Collins4112

Truth

This will be a chapter with what I think is a sad story in it. But I'm ever so happy about all the support this story is getting. My thanks goes out to my reviewers and faithful readers and of course my amazing beta reader, BlackRoseRaven.
We rejoin our two lovebirds a few months later. Ditzy and Big Macintosh have been dating for a while and they often visit each other during the day.

Ditzy turned on the oven light and checked on the muffins. She shut off the oven light and went back to her to neatening her house. The house wasn't messy but it could use a cleaning. It didn't take her long to dust and reaching the high places were no problem due to her wings. She whistled a happy tune.

Her life had been good since she started to date Big Macintosh, but feeling so good also made her worry, strangely enough. She was worried that he would lose interest in her and break her fragile heart, but nothing so far gave her any indication that he was losing interest.

Ditzy opened the drapes, letting the late afternoon sun break into the room. It was warm with late summer's heat. Ditzy took in the view through the window; the other ponies had begun to come back from work. She saw Carrot Top in the distance, coming towards Ditzy’s house at a slow trot. Ditzy waved at her friend, but she was too far away to see the wave.

Ditzy prepared herself for the endless questions about Macintosh and her latest date. Carrot Top had made it a habit to come over to Ditzy's and talk about what happened. It was usually good for some embarrassment. Ditzy loved Carrot Top, but Carrot Top's questions could be awkward.

The door swung wide open as Carrot Top pranced into the room. "Good afternoon Ditzy."

"Hello Carrot Top. What brings you here?" Ditzy asked even though she knew the answer.

"Oh you know, check on my very best friend, make sure she's okay, and," Carrot Top took in a deep breath. Ditzy could tell she was about to ask one of her favorite questions. "Did you do the horizontal dance?"

Ditzy felt her cheeks get hot. She responded, "No. Come on, Carrot Top; he hasn't even told me he loves me. He's too much of a gentlecolt to want to do that before he tells me that he loves me. I doubt he has even thought about doing that."

"Ditzy, you don't know much about stallions, do you?" Carrot Top laughed. Ditzy hid her concern from her friend. He hadn't told her he loved her and it made her worry. True, she hadn't told him that she loved him because she was worried he'd break her heart.

"Well... I....um.... guess not?" Ditzy said questioningly, not knowing what her friend was getting at.

"Well, it's not important. What is important is: did you enjoy yourself?" Carrot Top asked a question that had a very easy answer for Ditzy.

"Yes I did. We had a very nice dinner, he's quite the cook you know, and then we just walked and talked." Ditzy sighed, recalling the events it was nice.

"That's nice. You've been seeing each other for a little while, so… have you told Dinky?" Carrot top asked. This was a new question. She thought about it, but she never actually told her daughter why Big Macintosh came over so much.

"Actually, no." Ditzy said rather surprised that she hadn't told her own daughter that she was seeing Big Macintosh.

"You think it's about time?" Carrot Top suggested. Carrot Top put on a face of genuine concern.

"Yeah, maybe, I don't know." Ditzy murmured to herself more than Carrot Top.

"It would be respectful to him." Carrot Top reasoned. Carrot Top made a good point in Ditzy's mind.

"True. Alright I'll tell her." Ditzy said with confidence. The oven buzzer went off and Ditzy fluttered over to the oven. She tested the muffins and pulled them out when she was confident that they were done.

"Smells good. What are ya making there?" Carrot Top asked, quickly eyeing the fresh muffins that were sitting on some cooling racks on the counter.

"Butterscotch banana muffins." Ditzy said proudly. Sometimes she wondered why she didn't have a muffin cutie mark.

"They smell great." Carrot Top drooled over the muffins. The two mares each took a muffin and ate.
_____
Ditzy waited outside of the elementary school for Dinky. The day was sunny but with a wind that rustled the trees. That reminded her that the pegasus ponies would be bringing in a storm later. She made a mental note of that.

As she waited a familiar shadow overcame her. She smiled as she felt the familiar large head nuzzle her neck. "Hey Mac."

"Howdy sugar cube." Big Macintosh said in his usual soft spoken way. He had taken to calling her sugar cube; it was a term he usually reserved for his family. She nuzzled him back for a moment.

The school bell rang and loads of excited colts and fillies ran out of the school. Ditzy took a quick step back from Big Macintosh which caused him to shoot her a questioning look. She gave a sheepish smile.

"Hey Macintosh." Apple Bloom said, trotting up in front of her big brother. She gave a slight nod to Ditzy; they weren’t exactly on speaking terms but Apple Bloom wasn't one to hold much of a grudge and neither was Ditzy.

"Howdy Apple Bloom, ready to head home?" Big Macintosh asked.
"Eeyup." She stole his line.

"I'll see y'all later Ditzy." Big Macintosh said lazily as he walked away with Apple Bloom.

Ditzy waited around for Dinky. It didn't take long before the gray unicorn filly approached. "Hi mommy."

"Hello Muffin, how was your day?" Ditzy said. She decided that the best time to tell her daughter would be on the walk home.

"Well, I found out I'm good at math." Dinky said. Ditzy gave a surprised look. Not because she thought her daughter was terrible at math it was, but because she was terrible at math.

"That's great sweetie." Ditzy put on a cheerful face. Okay might as well get it over with. "No doubt you've noticed Big Macintosh coming around a lot lately, and I just want you to know we're dating."

Ditzy waited for a shocked response about how Dinky would have never known: "Well, duh mom."

Ditzy laughed; she had been so worried that Dinky would overreact, she forgotten that Dinky could make observations on her own. "Well, my observant pony, I have some muffins at home."

"Yay!"
________

"Okay Muffin, you have fun!" Ditzy called to her daughter, who was going to go off and play at Twist's house.

"I will mommy." Dinky said, and excitedly ran off to join her friend, who was waiting at the door. They quickly disappeared, but Ditzy could still hear their happy laughter on the breeze. The day was quickly giving in to night so Dinky would be staying at her friend's house, which was fine with Ditzy.

Ditzy laid down on the couch she had in the living room and quickly dozed off: half dreaming.

She was awoken by a loud knock on the door. Only one pony knocks that hard. Ditzy quickly shook the sleepiness from her eyes. She rolled off the couch and headed over to the door. She opened it to see the stallion she'd been expecting.

"How’re y'all doing this, fine evening sugar cube?" Big Macintosh smiled. She motioned for him to come inside.

"Well it won't be so nice soon… a storm is scheduled to come through here tonight." Ditzy said with a bounce in her words. Macintosh took a quick look out the window and up at the sky.

"Eeyup." He said signature line. It was a simple answer and Ditzy could appreciate that. They took a seat in the living room and talked about how the fillies were doing; the farm, the mail, and then it reached the subject of Dinky as Ditzy mentioned: "I told Dinky we're dating today."

Big Macintosh raised an eyebrow. "Y'all just told her?"

"Yeah." Ditzy murmured, not wanting to explain any further.

"Any reason why?" Big Macintosh had a slightly hurt look on his face. He was trying to hide it, but Ditzy could tell it was there.

Ditzy took a deep breath. "Well, I know this is getting ahead of myself, but I was worried that if she found out that she had the prospect of having a dad… "Ditzy blushed. “Then she would get too excited about it."

Macintosh thought this over a moment. "Ah see. Wait, has she never met her dad?"

Ditzy's pupils narrowed in terror just for a moment, but long enough for Big Macintosh to see. He looked at her with a gentle face and concern in his eyes.

Ditzy sighed. "I don't even know who her dad is."

The statement confused Big Macintosh, but he knew that it was bad so he nuzzled her to comfort her. Then a flash of an idea appeared on his face, "Is she adopted?"

Ditzy shook her head. "No. She is mine but..."

Big Macintosh took his yolk off in preparation of a long conversation, "Ditzy y'all don't have to tell me. If it hurts ya too bad…"

"I'll tell you, but I haven’t shared this story with anyone but Carrot Top. I haven’t even told Dinky, I’ve always avoided the subject." Ditzy took a long calming breath, "It happened on a visit to Manehattan...

______
Ditzy looked up at the tall skyscrapers of the big city. Some of them reached as high as the clouds. The sun was beating down on the paved streets and it was starting to warm up the spaces between the buildings.

Ditzy made her way through the crowd. There were a lot of ponies in the growing metropolis of Manehattan. It was so different where she came from: Ponyville. No pony was greeting any pony else. It was rather depressing, but Ditzy came to visit the city to see what it offered.

She thought about flying through the air, but she wasn't the best of fliers and she was afraid she'd hit some pony else, so she just kept with the crowd. It was getting very hot, but Ditzy didn’t have enough bits to buy the overpriced water vendors were selling from their street stands.

Ditzy kept walking and sweating, not seeing anything of interest. Ponies everywhere and there seemed to be no end to the massive city. She decided that she would definitely not like to live here. Too loud and crowded, and no pony seemed to care about any other pony.

Once Ditzy realized she didn't belong in the city, she turned around and started to head to the train station. It was getting late, and Ditzy hoped that the last train had not left, but as she arrived at the train station the pony working at the ticket booth closed the grate over the both and put up a sign that read "closed."

"Miss?" Said a stallion that had been standing close by. Ditzy turned to face the stallion, he was a tall (but not as tall as Big Macintosh) unicorn stallion with a grey coat, just like hers, and a yellowish mane. "I couldn’t help but notice, that you missed that last train, and you look pretty hungry."

"I guess I am." Ditzy said sadly, her eye's slipping to wall-eyed.

"Oh my, you have the prettiest eyes. I couldn't let a pretty mare like yourself go hungry. Come on, I'll buy you some dinner." The nice stallion said. Ditzy nodded eagerly and followed the pony along the road to a corner diner. It was an aging place but the food was warm and tasty.

The stallion graciously paid for the meal and Ditzy happily ate the warm food, letting all her worries go. She felt safe with the strange pony even though she didn't know his name.

After the meal the gray unicorn said, "I doubt you have anywhere to stay, you can stay with me tonight."

He gave her a strange look, like he was eyeing her Ditzy replied, "Thank you."

He led her the short way to his apartment building. His apartment was nice and cozy but very non-descript. Ditzy realized she had no idea where she was but she didn't let it bother her, she was safe, wasn't she?

"I don't know how I can thank you enough for how kind you are, mister." Ditzy said gratefully.
He almost growled, "Oh I can think of something."

He put a hoof on her flank which caused her to blush, but not in a good way. "Thank you but no, I'd rather not...."

He shook his head. He tackled her, overpowering her by a large margin and then... Then....

________
Ditzy was crying by this point. She leaned into Big Macintosh, who held her close. He had a tear forming in his eye as well, "Ah'm very sorry Ditzy. Ah would never do something so horrendous to y'all. If Ah ever saw the pony ever he wouldn't be walking ever again."

Ditzy didn't respond; she could only keep of crying with heavy sobs. Tears ran in streams down her face. She couldn't see anything though the stinging salty tears. Big Macintosh hugged her close.

"Sugar cube, I have something to tell y'all." Big Macintosh had a tear running down his face, "Ah love you. Ah’ll always take care of you and dinky too. Ah’ll never let anything happen to y’all if it’s the last thing Ah do. Ah’m not good at words, but Ah want y’all to know you’re the… Ah confound my lack of words. All Ah can say is Ah love you."

Ditzy kept on sobbing even as she looked at him and gave a minute smile. "I love you too."

Big Macintosh held her tight and let her sob into him. She held on to him and felt true comfort in his presence.

Well that was

Comments

[Diabolic Gnome]

Feels man Feels

[Aluminaughty]

Daannnng! That was well done.

[MC BR0N3]

First I =>
Then I =>

[Slaughterstone]

When a pony is crying, someone need be dying.

[Collins4112]

545419 thank you for the revisa and sorry if i offened with the Y'all

[Green_Hooves]

545516 Its really no big problem considering that they normally talk like that in the show, I really like the story so far and hope that you continue working on it.

Keep writing.

[Fattymagee1]

Very well done, another very enjoyable chapter, that was a very plausible and believable explanation of where dinky came from, which fit perfectly with the story. Please update soon!

[mageli7]

I will hunt down that pony in Manehattan!

[Zany Brony]

well some gray stallion in Manehatton is gonna lose a few things
LIKE HIS LIFE!

P.S. I really enjoy this story so far and will continue reading it till the end it's fabulous

[Grace]

Pony in manehatton
My fists are named Dr.Suess and Mother Goose know why cause they put you to sleep.

[SpikE-dog]

That's a touching chapter. I've read many depictions of how dinky came to be and I think this is one of the best.