Zatanna Zatara knew of many things at her young age of six. She knew not to talk to strangers, look both ways before crossing the street and to not accidentally put flower in her daddy's coffee when she wants to put sugar in it. She also knew her daddy, Giovanni Zatara, is a superhero! He is both a brave and true hero.
She wanted to be like him. She was already training in magic, which made them both happy, but she wanted to do more. Like learn how to take care of her daddy if he got really sick or to help him when he went out to go fight bad guys instead of staying at home with a babysitter when she knew a lot of magic.
But, one night, she got her chance to help her father when he needed comfort, to act like a big girl. It all started after her daddy came home early from patrol that night, seeing as how he left earlier than usual, and went to bed after thanking the babysitter and putting Zatanna to bed.
It was a Friday night, her father always made sure to come home early on Friday nights. After putting Zatanna to bed, he went to his own. All was quiet in the Zatara house. Zatanna was dreaming of helping her father arrest the bad men. That's when she woke up to someone, she realized it was her father, crying.
She knew her daddy cried, so she tiptoed into her father's room. She like it in here. All of the books in the room belonged to long ago members of the family, which made her feel safe. She used a simple little spell
"thgil reappa."
And a little light appeared. She saw her father on his bed, crying as he was sleep talking
"No. Stop. Leave them alone! No!"
Zatanna was climbing onto her father's bed and when she got onto the bed, she sat on her knees next to him.
"Daddy." Zatanna whispered, no luck "Daddy!"
He just kept moving around in his sleep, asking whatever nightmare that was around him to leave him, Zatanna, and Sindella, Zatanna's mother, alone.
So, he's dreaming about the three of us, about me, him, and mommy. Zatanna's face became sad until she realized something /If nightmares are bad dreams, then isn't their opposite a day-stallion?/ Her father had read her stories about day-stallions fighting nightmares for centuries.
"Daystallions only come to those who truly need them, Zatanna." He once told her.
Zatanna knew she could get hurt by doing this, but she wanted her daddy to stop crying.
"Yadnoillats, esahc ym s'yddad eramthgin yawa!" She whispered.
Then, suddenly, a large, white, nearly see-through stallion with a gold mane and purple eyes. It walked over to the bed, not making any noise, until it let out a whinny. A dark purple mare with a black mane and silver eyes floated out of Zatara's head and became chased away by the nightmare.
"Thank you."
Zatanna whispered as the stallion chased the mare out of the window and still persued it.
"Zatanna?" She heard her father whisper, he sounded tired an a little scared. "What are you looking at?"
"Nothing daddy." Zatanna said, deciding not to tell him about something he clearly wouldn't remember
"Did I wake you?" He asked
Zatanna nodded, but when she saw her father's hurt expression because of what he did, she said "Can I sleep with you incase you have another nightmare?"
To Zatara it sounded like an odd request, but he still accepted. "Sure."
And so, after that night, Zatanna had made it her mission to make sure that her father was always visited by a day-stallion every night. And that made her happy to see her daddy happy.