A Journey's End
Chapter Five
Two days had past since Ditzy died. The normally bright town of Ponyville was in mourning. Upon learning of the death, the whole town set about for the funeral. Everypony had put a black ribbon or banner somewhere on their property. Many had descended on the library, hoping to comfort Dinky Doo. So many had tried to comfort her, Twilight had no choice but to keep her home from school and close the library. Twilight only left to return to the apartment above the post office to move Dinky's and Ditzy's belongings to her home. In between the moving, Twilight coordinated the funeral preparations with her friends. When she wasn't available, Spike took over and reported back to her. It was set to take place the next morning. Applejack and Pinkie Pie helped the Cakes bake refreshments for the memorial after the funeral. They chose to weigh down the menu with Ditzy's favorite, muffins. Rarity and Fluttershy worked with Lily, Daisy, and Rose to arrange the flowers. And for some odd reason, Rainbow Dash had disappeared soon after she learned of Ditzy's death. Several of Princess Luna's guards had visited the library. They were taking statements from Twilight and Spike to build their case against Top Shelf.
All the while, Dinky had remained in the spare room Twilight and Spike had redecorated for her. Even with the room looking nearly identical to the room she once had, Dinky remained reclusive. She remained in her room at all times and rarely ate. After moving the last of the boxes from the apartment, Twilight went to check on Dinky. Opening the door, Twilight saw that Dinky had stayed where she was the last two days, on her bed looking at her parents' wedding photo. When Twilight walked into the room, Dinky only glanced at her before rolling over to face the opposite wall. Twilight felt for the filly, but she needed time. Rather than try and talk to Dinky, Twilight simple walked up to her and kissed her on the head and left the room.
"Is Dinky still in bed?" Spike asked taking a break from his papers.
"Yes, the poor little thing," Twilight said. "Has she eaten anything yet, Spike?" The little dragon shook his head and Twilight started to get worried. "She's barley eaten anything since she came here."
"Do you want me to bring her some breakfast?" Spike asked his friend.
"Yes, Spike," Twilight answered. The dragon walked off towards the kitchen to fetch their guest something to eat. "I hope she eats this time," Twilight said to the empty room. A sudden knock on the door broke the conversation the unicorn was having with herself. Twilight went over to the door and looked through the adjourning window. She smiled to see her friends Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Promptly, the door was opened and the two visitors were welcomed into the tree house.
"Twilight, darling," Rarity said hugging her friend.
"Hey, Twilight," Pinkie bounded over and scooped up two unicorns in a surprising hug.
"Hey…Pinkie…Pie," Twilight groaned as she was squeezed. The pink pony let her friends down and giggled as they stretched and cracked her back. "How can you be so chipper right now, Pinkie?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, simple, Twilight," Pinkie began. Rarity rolled her eyes, having already heard Pinkie's "logical" explanation three times already. The pink pony took a deep breath before letting her mouth go: "YouseeTwilight, ,sowhatcouldIdo?' , , ,shockedherself,,thatwassofunny…." Pinkie's voice was cracking as she finished. After taking a deep breath again, Pinkie's eyes spun and she fell down.
"What…Pinkie is trying to say, Twilight," Rarity began. "Is rather than let everypony dwell on her death, Pinkie is trying to remind us all how Ditzy lived. And how she always meant well by everypony." Twilight said nothing as she went over to the Pinkie, picked her up, and gave her a hug. Pinkie was an oddball, but her heart was pure gold dipped in pure sugar. "How is Dinky?" Rarity asked. Twilight shook her head, drawing a somber look from her two guests. The three watched spike bring a bowl of applesauce and milk on a tray past them. Quickly, he went upstairs to deliver the meal.
"She's been in her room for the last two days," Twilight began. Pinkie and Rarity's faces fell in sadness for the child. "Nothing we did could cheer her up, and she's barely eaten anything."
"I hate to justify not eating, but it's perfectly understandable, darling," Rarity said. "Poor little thing must be a sea of emotions. I doubt Dinky has any idea how to cope with her grief."
"I know I was a Sadie Pie for a few days after Granny Pie died," Pinkie added. "Think I should try and cheer Dinky up?" Pinkie asked pulling some balloons from no where. Rarity and Twilight looked at each other, mostly wondering where Pinkie got the balloons.
"Uh, I think this is a situation where time will heal the wounds, Pinkie," Twilight said. "If we push to hard, we may do more harm than good." The sound of claws on wood caused the three to turn to the stairs. Spike was descending them with a full tray.
"She won't eat, Twi," Spike said. A purple aura surrounded the tray and Twilight marched up the stairs. Spike went down to join Pinkie and Rarity. Normally, he'd be head over heels to see his beloved Rarity. But recent events had made his heart less jubilant.
"Where'd Twilight go, Spike?" Pinkie asked.
"Uh, Dinky said she wasn't hungry," Spike said. "So Twilight is going to try and get her to eat." He knew the two ponies were worried about Dinky. But he didn't want Rarity or Pinkie Pie worrying more. "So what brings you two here?"
"We just wanted to tell Twilight that preparations for the funeral are finished," Rarity said.
"Yea, everything is ready," Pinkie agreed.
"Fluttershy and I have completed decorating town hall," Rarity began. "Daisy, Rose, and Lily were most helpful with the floral arrangements. And everything is prepared for Ditzy's final rest."
"Great," Spike said. "What about the food, Pinkie?"
"Applejack and I finished all the treats," she began. "And Big Macintosh will be meeting the train tomorrow morning to pick up Ditzy's casket. He'll have it at town hall for before noon." The pink pony was taking this planning as serious as she could, but it was still a funeral. A little squeal coming from upstairs, followed by some small coughs.
"I'm sorry, but you needed to eat something, Dinky," the three heard Twilight say upstairs. Soon, Pinkie, Rarity, and Spike saw Twilight descend the stairs with an empty bowl on the tray. "Rarity, Pinkie," she began. "Is everything ready for tomorrow?"
"We were just going over that, Twilight," Spike said. "Everything is ready." Twilight nodded, happy that everything was finally ready. Spike took the tray back into the kitchen, leaving the three ponies with one mystery left.
"Has anypony seen Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked.
"Uh, uh," Pinkie answered.
"Nopony has seen her since she found out Ditzy was killed," the fashionista said. "We've looked everywhere for her." Twilight raised a hoof to her chin, trying to figure out where the speed demon was. "Twilight, dear," Rarity began. "What was that coughing for?" Twilight looked at the floor, a little upset at what she had done.
"Dinky, hasn't eaten much for two days," she began. "I had no choice but to force feed her." Rarity covered her mouth with her hoof in shock. Pinkie sat down and looked as if she was going to cry. "At least she has something in her stomach now." Twilight said trying to comfort her friends.
The three shared some final pleasantries with her friends. Rarity and Pinkie said their goodbyes and left to double check on the final touches. Spike and Twilight returned to their daily chores and studies, trying to remain busy. All the while, the sun was making its daily trip in the sky. Dinner time rolled around and again Dinky refused to come out of her room. Twilight magically carried another tray with some warm soup up to the room. The purple unicorn shuddered at the thought, but was prepared to force feed the little one again. She stopped at the door to the little room she and Spike had converted. Twilight opened the door and was surprised to see that Dinky still had not touched the majority of the boxes Twilight had brought over. The only box opened was labeled photos. On her bed was Dinky, surrounded by the pictures from her home. The wedding photo, however, was still clutched in her hooves. As Twilight approached the bed, Dinky looked up with bloodshot, golden eyes. However, for the first time in two days, Dinky wasn't crying.
"Hey, I brought you some soup," Twilight said gently. To her surprise, Dinky used her magic and levitated the soup over to her little mouth and gulped it down. Once finished, the spell was lifted and the bowl fell to the bed. Dinky then laid her head back down, facing away from Twilight. "I'm guessing you are still upset with me for force feeding you the applesauce?" Dinky just let out a heavy sigh and didn't answer her care giver. Twilight walked around the bed to look Dinky in the face. The little filly had her eyes closed. Twilight didn't know if she was trying to sleep or was ignoring her. The purple unicorn sat down and lowered her head onto the bed. "Dinky…" Twilight said softly. The little one opened an eye slowly and looked at the older unicorn. "I'm sorry I had to force you to eat." Dinky raised her head and looked at Twilight with an expression of half angry and half hurt.
"Mommy never did that to me!" she said looking Twilight dead in the eye.
"You weren't eating, Sweetie," Twilight answered.
"Yes I was," Dinky responded sharply.
"But not enough," the purple unicorn quipped. Twilight looked at the photo of Ditzy and Sweet Treat and Dinky's eyes followed. "Would Mommy and Daddy have liked seeing you barely eating?" Dinky's brows arched up and she shook her head. "No, they wouldn't. I know you are having trouble making sense of all these emotions, but starving yourself is not the answer."
"But Miss Twilight," Dinky began. "I don't know what to do, I'm so confused. And I miss Mommy." Dinky's eyes began to gloss over, prepared to let more tears flow. Twilight jumped up on the bed and cuddled up to her ward. Gently, she caressed the filly's mane with her hoof.
"I know it hurts, Dinky," she began. "But it'll stop hurting with time. And tomorrow is the first step in closure."
"What is closure?" Dinky asked wiping her tear away.
"Well," Twilight began. "Closure is when you come to terms with what happens."
"Will it make the hurting stop?" the filly asked.
"It will help, but time will be your best medicine," Twilight finished.
"I DON'T WANT TO WAIT!" Dinky shouted. "I WANT TO FEEL BETTER, I WANT MOMMY BACK!" A golden aura surrounded Twilight and the unicorn felt herself being pushed off the bed. Twilight gasped in surprise as she left the bed and fell to the floor. Though she was stunned for moment, Twilight got back to her hooves in a Manehattan Minute. When her eyes met Dinky's form, Twilight say the little filly was wrapped up in her blanket in bed. Twilight felt a twinge of anger, but quickly let it go.
"Let it go, Twilight," she said to herself. "She is merely acting out on her grief." Rather than confront Dinky, Twilight looked around for something she could use and spotted a box marked "TOYS." Using her magic, Twilight opened the box and looked through it for an item Dinky had told her about. Twilight smiled when she found it. Twilight magiced the toy out of the box and levitated it in front of the tucked in filly.
Dinky felt something land on the bed and she opened her eyes to tell whoever it was to go away. To Dinky's surprise, she found her Luna doll staring at her. Twilight had used her magic and was animating it. The plushie was standing on the bed, staring at its owner.
"Luna?" Dinky whispered as she looked at the doll. The plushie raised her hoof and waved at the child. Dinky raised her's and returned the wave. The doll walked up to the little unicorn and got right in her face. "Luna" lowered her face to Dinky's and nuzzled her nose on Dinky's. Twilight swore she heard a little giggle from Dinky. Twilight watched as the young filly raised her hooves and embrace the doll. The purple unicorn cut her magic and the doll went back to normal. Satisfied, Twilight retrieved the tray and empty bowl and walked to the door. "Mommy got this doll for me," Dinky suddenly said. Twilight stopped in her tracks and turned to the bed. "Right after Nightmare Night when Princess Luna visited. I asked if Princess Luna had a doll, and Mommy asked Miss Rarity to make it. I hugged Mommy for hours after she gave it to me." Watching Dinky embrace her Luna doll, Twilight knew she saw a smile creep onto Dinky's face.
"You see, Dinky," Twilight began. The child raised her head to look at the purple unicorn. "Sadness doesn't last forever." Dinky nodded and laid her head back onto the pillow. "Get some sleep, Sweetie. Tomorrow is going to be a tough day. But you, and everypony, will get to say 'goodbye' to Mommy."
"Is that part of closure?" Dinky asked with her head still on the pillow.
"Yes," Twilight said. Dinky didn't respond, she only closed her eyes. Twilight took the hint and left the room. Once downstairs, she gave the tray to Spike and he scuttled off to the kitchen. Twilight took this moment to tidy up the work she had been doing earlier. Once done, she went back upstairs to check on Dinky. Peeping through the door, she saw her asleep.
"She sleeping?" Spike asked. Twilight nodded and closed the door. The pair made their way to the bedroom they shared. Twilight got into her bed and got comfortable while Spike settled into his basket. The two laid in silence for a few minutes. "Tomorrow is going to be tough, isn't it?" Spike asked breaking the silence.
"Yeah," Twilight said staring at her ceiling.
"You have any idea how we are going to handle it?" Spike asked covering himself with his blanket. "I mean, Dinky might just loose it." Twilight paused as she went through every logical thought she had.
"I don't know, Spike," she answered. "I just don't know."
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