A split second passed, before the Chelsea manager spoke.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"You've got to help me," Dinky replied, "I want to live with my mommy and they won't let me and they took my name away and-"
"Whoa, whoa," Spencer said, holding up his hand, "You'd better tell me in my office."
"OK, I think I've got the gist of it," Spencer said about 15 minutes later, "You were taken from your mother who was arbitrarily declared unfit with no explanation as to why, your name was changed without your permission, and the mare who took you away keeps visiting."
"And she's really nasty even though she pretends to be nice," Dinky said, "She bangs on about how much better Firmino is than Abraham and then revelled in Abraham breaking his leg, knowing he's my favourite player, and always goes on about how Liverpool only need to break down the wall and victory is assured."
"Wait, what?"
Dinky repeated what she'd just said. Spencer's face darkened.
"Breaking the wall down is a reference to the Heysel Stadium Disaster," he explained, "In which 39 Juventus fans were killed when Liverpool fans charged at a wall and knocked it down."
Dinky paled.
"But enough of that," Spencer said, "There's no chance of them grabbing you today if you're at the match. Let's get you along to the ticket office."
Dinky followed Spencer out of his office and towards the ticket office. Along the way, Dinky remembered something.
"How long until Tammy returns?" she asked.
"Too difficult to say," Spencer replied, "You can't rush a player back from that sort of injury. He'll have to resume training first, then build up fitness in the reserves. Ah! Here we are."
They had reached a set of windows behind the Shed End. A sign read that tickets for the day's match against Fulham were "SOLD OUT - Collection only", whilst a man in his mid-50s was unlocking the door.
"Morning, Scott," Spencer said.
"Morning, boss," the man replied, "What can I do for you?"
"I need a hospitality ticket for today's match," Spencer said.
"No problem," Scott said, "Just let me unlock the office and start the system up, and we'll be good to go."
Shortly afterwards, the three of them were in the office, with Scott at a computer while Spencer and Dinky watched him fill out the ticket.
"That's pretty much it," he said about three minutes later, "I just need your name."
"Dinky," Dinky replied, "Dinky Hooves."
"That's sorted then," Scott replied as the ticket emerged from the printer. "You're in the Harris Suite."
"Right, there's plenty of time before kick off," Spencer said, "How about I give you a tour?"
The tour started out at the club museum, which showcased the history of the club from its founding in 1905 through the glamour days of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the resurgence in the late 1990s, and its continuing success under the ownership of Roman Abramovich. There was a display of all the trophies the club had won; Six League titles, eight FA Cups, six League Cups, Two UEFA Cup-Winners' Cups, Two Europa Leagues and two UEFA Super Cups. Pride of place went to the UEFA Champions League trophy, with a special exhibit dedicated to the night Chelsea had won it on penalties against Bayern Munich. They then entered the dressing room, where Dinky was awestruck by the sheer size of it; in addition to the main dressing room, there were rooms dedicated to physiotherapy and tactics.
"I can't show you the away dressing room," Spencer said, as Dinky sat where Tammy Abraham normally did, "but normally it's got the shirts of famous players who've played here. And I played against a few of them."
Spencer's mobile rang and he picked up.
"Hello," he said, "What, already? No, I suppose, it is five to eleven, after all. Thanks, I'll see to it."
"Looks like it's action stations," Spencer said, as he put his phone away. "The players have started arriving, I'll show you to the suite."
"It's Derby weekend here in London," Kick Off said, "And after last night's thriller at The Emirates, we bring you live coverage of the lunchtime game between Chelsea and Fulham here at Stamford Bridge. The fixture list couldn't have been unkinder to Fulham, with their first two away games being against Arsenal and Chelsea…"
"...make no mistake, they're going to be up for this," Spencer told his players in the dressing room, "But if we play like we did against Southampton and take our chances, we should do enough. We need to stretch their defence, and pull their players out of position. They'll have learned from their defeat at Arsenal."
"So this is how Chelsea line up," Kick Off said,
GK 1 Kepa Arrizabalaga
RB 24 Reece James
CB 29 Fikayo Tomori
CB 4 Andreas Christensen
LB 28 César Azpilicueta (c)
CM 7 N'Golo Kanté
CM 17 Mateo Kovacic
RW 20 Callum Hudson-Odoi
AM 14 Kai Havertz
LW 21 Jadon Sancho
ST 11 Timo Werner
Substitutes:
13 Willy Caballero (GK)
2 Antonio Rüdiger
16 Marco Kana
19 Mason Mount
22 Christian Pulisic
23 Michy Batshuayi
33 Emerson Palmieri
Manager: George Spencer
"There's one change from the side which beat Southampton, and it's in defence where Fikayo Tomori comes in for Antonio Rüdiger. It's an attacking formation, and conversely, this is how Fulham line up…"
GK 12 Marek Rodak
CB 4 William Troost-Ekong
CB 5 Alfie Mawson
CB 13 Tim Ream
RWB 42 Cody Drameh
DM 17 Andre-Frederick Zambo Anguissa
LWB 23 Joe Bryan
CM 18 Jean Michaël Séri
CM 7 Christhian Paredes
ST 14 Bobby Decordova-Reid
ST 45 Aleksandar Mitrovic (c)
Substitutes:
41 Luca Ashby-Hammond (GK)
6 Anthony Knockeart
10 Tom Cairney
19 Ivan Cavaleiro
22 Cyrus Christie
33 Matt O'Riley
54 Luca Murphy
Manager: Scott Parker
"Scott Parker sets his team out to park the bus and crowd Chelsea out of the area, with the 7-0 mauling at Arsenal fresh in the memory."
Dinky watched from the hospitality area; in a seat that was much more comfortable than the plastic ones in the main stadium, as Chelsea began the first half with their usual swagger and the style which Football Daily had dubbed "Tiki-Attaka". Adam Rodák in the Fulham goal, however, proved up for the challenge, saving from both Werner and Havertz in the opening ten minutes. Jadon Sancho was the next to have a try, putting the ball the wrong side of the post from Tomori's long ball. As the clock passed the 25-minute mark, N'Golo Kanté was denied by the leg of Rodak as Fulham held firm against wave after wave of Chelsea attacks.
Ten minutes before half time, just after Hudson-Odoi had seen a shot blocked by Bryan, the tannoy crackled into life.
"If there is anypony from Ponyville in the crowd, please make yourself known to a steward at half time. Anypony from Ponyville, please make yourself known to a steward at half time."
Half time arrived with the game still goalless, and in the Matthew Harding Lower, a cyan pegasus with a rainbow-coloured mane got up from her seat and made her way to the nearest steward.
"Dinky?"
"Rainbow Dash? Is that really you?"
"In the flesh. Where have you been this past year, and how did you become a hospitality ticket holder here?"
"It's a long story," Dinky sighed, "I'll tell you after the match, the second half's about to start."
"So, no changes to either team," Kick Off said as the teams emerged from the changing rooms, "Scott Parker will definitely be the happier of the two managers, but it will be for nothing if his side can't hold out for the next 45 minutes, and there are goals in this Chelsea team."
Sure enough, the second half started as the first had ended, with Chelsea looking to breach the Fulham defence. Werner headed over while Hudson-Odoi sent a volley off-target. But then, just before the hour mark, Havertz got wide before being brought down by Zambo Anguissa. Reece James floated the free kick to the back post, where Havertz rose highest to head the ball into the net.
Despite falling behind, Fulham continued to park the bus, with Tomori heading over from a free kick. Deep into stoppage time, Batshuayi was denied by a fingertip save by Rodák as Chelsea remained on maximum points with Arsenal.
After the teams had left the field, Dinky told Rainbow Dash everything that had happened to her. Rainbow Dash's face darkened.
"If she ever dares show her face in Ponyville again, I'll buck her so hard she won't need a train back to Canterlot," she said, just as Spencer walked in after giving his post-match team talk.
"You'll take her back to her mother, won't you?" He asked. Rainbow Dash nodded.
"Excellent," he said, "There'll be tickets to all our home games in the Champions League in it for you; as well as the final, should we make it that far."
He gave a piece of paper to Dinky.
"My mobile number," he said, "That pony who took you away tries anything, let me know and I'll do what I can."
Twilight Sparkle had, by and large, expected a quiet Saturday. Grab a book, make a cup of tea, collapse into one of the armchairs in the Golden Oaks library, switch on the radio, and spend the afternoon reading while listening out for updates from Oxford United's match away to Burton Albion. Therefore, she was surprised when, at ten past three, she heard a knock on the door. She opened it and gasped as she was greeted by the sight of a filly who hadn't been seen in Ponyville for over a year, and whose disappearance had been the subject of much gossip in the Traveller's Rest pub.
"You should have come straight to me the moment you got that letter," Twilight said after Derpy had finished telling her what had happened, "I'd have been able to prevent all of this from happening."
"Are you still able to?" Dinky asked.
"Of course," Twilight replied, "I am, after all, part of the Canterlot nobility and therefore have connections. I would take this to Princess Celestia, but she's on a state visit to Canada. Instead, I will write to the attorney general to obtain a cease and desist order against the Foal Protection Agency. There's certainly more than enough to get your removal overturned."
The rest of the weekend passed in a blur for Dinky. The joyous reunion with her mother and the other foals in Ponyville had been marked off by a massive party that Pinkie Pie had managed to pull seemingly out of nowhere. Meanwhile, in London, George Spencer turned his focus to the week ahead, where the group stages of the Champions League would be drawn, before a trip to Old Trafford on Friday night. However, neither of them could have anticipated what was about to happen the following week.
A/N: Before anyone points out how the Chelsea manager should have alerted the authorities, the story wouldn't work otherwise.
The away dressing room at Stamford Bridge, during stadium tours, is adorned with replica shirts of famous players who've played against Chelsea. Ronaldo and Messi feature, as do Beckham, Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry and even Johan Cruyff.
Fulham's style of play is effectively a "low block", designed to frustrate the opposing side and snatch a draw.
I've always wondered why Derpy didn't get help from Twilight as I'm certain she'd have managed to pull enough strings to get the case struck down and the head of the Foal Protection Agency a new job holding a golf sale sign - or at the very least get it bogged down until Dinky was an adult.