Blayke got as busy as he could before returning to see the only two ponies he had been friendly with yesterday, although he was still suspicious of some of Ditzy's points. After working on some music with his flute, he realized that he was taking young Dinky's potential more seriously than expected. He also hoped that she wouldn't disappoint him, which he wouldn't know how to respond to.
Fortunately, this was not the case.
No sooner had he walked through the doorway than music invaded his eardrums. It wasn't perfect of course, some improvements were still to be made, but it was definitely incredible for a filly to be able to play so well. Even when Blayke had started, he didn't have that level of precision in his notes.
Dinky was too focused on his performance to even look at the stallion who was moving a few steps forward to let Ditzy close the door behind him. He himself didn't care about freshness, but he didn't really want this talent to catch cold. Once his turn was over, she could finally see that he had come home safely.
"So, did you like it?" she asked shyly in front of the stallion's still impressive size, especially when the light above was so bright that it enveloped little Dinky in his predominant shadow.
"There are four faults left, but these are things you acquire with age and experience. Or to put it another way, it's perfect for your age." Blayke said as she walked to the filly's room, knowing the lessons would take place there.
So he didn't notice that Dinky blushed awkwardly at his compliment, which in Blayke's tone could sound like a positive threat, if there is such a thing. Ditzy gave his talented daughter a kiss and then had Blayke follow her, and she prepared a snack for them.
It was with four other Celtic melodies that the male pegasus had continued his lessons, playing each one brilliantly, with the obvious aim of wanting to hear the same thing when the filly's test came. So Dinky, with this time more listening as possible and his concentration on Blayke's movements at its peak, was able to reproduce each of the interpretations properly.
The stallion could still growl when he heard mistakes that were not to be made by the filly anymore, especially if she made a mistake on the holes to be plugged or not between each second. But for the first time in his life, he raised his voice for something other than simply dismissing the individual, he spanked him because he was witnessing his talent and did not want to waste it.
And by not wasting it, you mean "perfecting it as quickly as possible," especially since time was running out for Blayke. He didn't really think he would come back to Ponyville once the week was over, especially since the number of ponies that hated him per square mile was exponential, even for someone like Blayke who had a totally obscure enemy/friend ratio. But maybe he was going to think twice about it, now that he himself was beginning to want to teach the filly more as the minutes, the hours went by.
"Dinky, lesson's over for today, it's time to wash up, you'll go do your homework after this, okay?" Appeared in the corner of the entrance the gray mare, always having to be sure that her daughter would be in shape for tomorrow.
"WHAT?! BUT I JUST STARTED TO TEACH HER HOW TO MANAGE HER BREATH!" Blayke nodded, raising her voice loudly. "She needs to know what to do for our next lessons!".
Ditzy and Dinky found the stallion's behavior abnormal, even though they had only known him for a short time. He's not the type to ask other people for things, but rather to simply avoid them. So, when the stallion who had raised his request surrendered from what he was doing, he grimaced.
Oh God, I'm really becoming like everyone else I hate.
"Hey shit." Was the only thing he said that could be compared to an apology, even though the vocabulary he chose didn't match the mare's, which gave him a nasty look as if to warn him that he shouldn't do it again. This worked less well with a rolling eye below his pupil. "Okay, I get it, go take your bath and do your stuff, I'll see you tomorrow at this time." Blayke said seriously as he stood up.
"All right, see you tomorrow then." Dinky nodded, also coming out of her bedroom, but going in the opposite direction of the living room, towards the bathroom.
And before Blayke opened the front door, or exit door in this case, he was stopped not by physical contact, but by a simple request.
"Wait, please." Asked Ditzy, who smiled stupidly as usual. Blayke turned around to find out what she wanted. "We haven't had a chance to talk, would you mind staying a little longer to tell me more about yourself?" Tossed the pegasus up her knee-length purple skirt.
Blayke could refuse, but he had almost no reason to do so. His apartment was not far away and walking at night did not bother him at all, he got along well with Dinky, which meant that even when he yelled, the filly laughed more than any other reaction. And finally, regarding the filly's mother, Blayke was not too interested in her, except for her muffins and the fact that she was taking care of a talented filly who is not a biological daughter with a little job and probably mental problems.
A totally original case, all that Mahenattan's dashing ponies refused to accept, preferring to mix their own genes rather than give this kind of case a chance. A mare who must not have had any gifts from life itself.
"I see, but then you'll tell me about yourself." Finally asked Blayke, not believing himself what he'd just accepted.
Without even confirming the stallion's request, the stallion randomly moved a chair and sit down on it, in front of the dining table where he had just had dinner. He was sitting where Ditzy normally sit, which caused his brain to malfunction for a few seconds, wondering if she should ask him to change or not. Eventually she saw Blayke's look, still impatient and crooked, as if he was forced to stay here. She decided to sit down quickly on the first chair that came along before listening to him as the sound of the water running in the bath stopped, Dinky being able to manage on his own.
Ditzy was already starting to get nervous from the silence that now prevailed as Blayke continued to look at her without trying to speak. She eventually reacted by biting her upper lip, making her look stunned and surprisingly cute.
"I guess I have to start at the beginning." Blayke asked as she looked more closely at the room, not dwelling on the mare's expressive face. "So, I've lived in Mahenattan all my life, my parents were such shit with me, worrying more about their stuff in the gutter. When they ran out of money, the idea of throwing me out to cut down on their expenses seemed to be the best solution. But I found out in time and ran away myself when I was 15. I managed on my own from then on, I had no friends, no allies, only enemies here and there. Until I was approached by a certain Pegasus a year ago, that day he offered me a blow that I could not refuse. I ended up shooting the movie "Survival Games" with him, it's the box that everyone knows and since then I have enough money to live without asking anyone for an account. I needed some rest and that's why I came to Ponyville. Any questions?" He explained without much argumentation and no desire to say more. He ended up staring at the mare to whom he was telling all this to see his reaction.
And his pinch of lips was gone, replaced by a mouth wide open in shock, one eye crossing Blayke's and the other staring at the white ceiling. Ditzy wasn't a very smart pony, but she understood that there were several areas of shadows that needed to be cleared up before she could give her opinion on the stallion's atrocious situation so far.
And in this case, we had to start at the beginning.
"I have several questions. First of all, when you say your parents were naughty, it's like..."
"It's like they would hit me if I mentioned the basement of our house. It's forbidden to talk about it or think about it, let alone enter it. The same if I fought against another pony who had looked for me at school or in the street, punished there, and wounded at home." He clarified as a terrible normality, which frightened the mare. How parents could hit their child so easily, it was simply total nonsense for the caring and cuddly mother to her daughter at heart.
Well, at least he was going to school, Ditzy thought, looking for a positive point in this chaotic beginning of life.
"And so, they wanted to throw you out afterwards?" she asked timidly, hoping not to bring up too many bad memories.
"Either that, or sell me to someone, I don't remember the details. I left never wanting to see them again, or I would crush their heads with my hands." Threw the stallion, staring at the cupboard in front of him, pretending to remember their faces.
Damn, I shouldn't have, now i want to break someone or something.
"If it hurts you, we can stop. You don't have to remember any of this." Suggested the gray pegasus after another few seconds of intense silence.
Blayke looked at it, judging that it wasn't a bad idea. Well, she still had her head on her shoulders, he thought.
But beyond the speaker's analytical capacity, Blayke felt a strange feeling as he told her this. He felt that she wanted what was best for him, not to push him and to do as he intended. Perhaps it was her maternal instincts coming through, or simply the fact that she was a mare who cared for everyone. Blayke felt surprisingly comfortable telling all this for the first time.
"Don't worry, having someone else hear it... it feels good, as strange as it sounds." He said it in a loud tone, but Ditzy could detect some softness in it.
Then he continued without delay.
"So after that I was out on the street, alone, and with the little I had taken, I wouldn't have lasted a week. So I thought of a way to make money quickly, and luckily there's no shortage of that in the shitty alleyways of this city." He said, and then stopped, as if to wait for the logical question Ditzy would think of. She swallowed before speaking.
"And so, what was that way?" She said backwards, thinking about it, maybe she shouldn't have known, unless he had found an honest job in a small store, or a restaurant, or a muffin store?
"It was a dishonest way." Began his reply, as if to answer the mare's thoughts, had he guessed them? "But I'm not ready to say it!" He ended by gnashing his teeth at this alternative.
The tension in the room grew as fast as imaginable, Ditzy really fearing his answer. If even Blayke thought so badly about what he had done, anyone in Ponyville would fall unconscious knowing how horrible it must have been.
Ditzy wanted to get through the good times of his life before imagining the possible answers.
"I don't want to know what you did and I don't care. You said something about a pegasus that got you out of there afterwards, didn't you?" She asked, still swallowing her saliva, hoping that the bad times had passed.
"About a year ago yes, that pony was called Light. He offered me of all the ponies a casting to play in a movie. I told him I didn't want to play a part, and that I would stay Blayke even with a script to follow. He said "good answer" and after that, I never lived on the street or in a messy abandoned apartment again. That day he saved me." Ends up confessing the stallion by looking at nothing in particular.
Ditzy took back his surprised look, his lips against each other, not knowing what to say. Blayke saw this face and frowned again with his blackened eyebrows.
"Stop making that face in front of me, it's annoying!" he ordered.
And cute, but he would take it to his grave.
"Uh, sorry." Apologized the mare as she continued. "It's just... you've had a hard life, much harder than anyone I know here in Ponyville. Except maybe Thunderlane." Ditzy said, touching her pensive chin, comparing the two pasts.
Blayke didn't think that any other pony living here would have experienced similar hardships to his, but he didn't care. He'd sent the whole town packing after all, and he's not the kind of guy to apologize for being sincere with himself. But when he wanted to ask the mare to start his life story, she unwittingly cut him off, a question now burning her lips.
"You, you've been in a movie?"
When she asked it, Blayke didn't know what answer to give her, for as much as he didn't like being accosted for this reason, it was clear to him, EVERYONE had seen it before. The media is always harping on it, all the ponies they see remind him of it with the same shitty smile, this film is a resounding success. So even in this small town, the idea that a pony hadn't seen the famous movie and even more not being aware of the stallion's popularity appealed to him.
"You're the first person I've met who hasn't seen this movie, you didn't even know who I was until you invited me to your house?" The stallion continued, questioning Ditzy directly. It's true that he didn't see the strange feeling through his pupils of all the ponies, the one that alerted him that someone wanted to get close to Blayke for his personal interest or to try to get him into bed. Dinky also seemed to have that same look, nice because that's what they are and for no other reason.
"Uh, no, but I think it's very impressive, can we watch it?" She asked right afterwards, her voice starting to leave in a loud excitement. Her eyes were even shining, Blayke not knowing how it was possible.
"Uh, I have a copy so I could pass it to you when I come back tomorrow... wait, did you say we?" Stood the stallion up on that detail.
"Well, yes!" She replied hastily, then realized her euphoria. She laughed in embarrassment before explaining. "Uh, I mean, I don't understand everything and the details escape me pretty quickly, I was hoping you could explain to me, how you're in it." She clarified.
The invitation seemed less strange and more understandable, but Blayke noted in his mind to answer seriously to the question "did he want to see that fucking movie again with the only mare he tolerates here?".
"I'll think about it. Well, now it's your turn to tell me your life story." He changed the subject quickly, crossing his muscular arms and resting his back more comfortably against the padded wooden chair.
Factor doesn't have to pay much, especially if she's often wrong about the mailboxes.
Ditzy instantly picked up her frozen face and glued it up to her lips, not expecting this change. She was thinking about what steps in her life would be important, even though she was mostly afraid of being ridiculous in front of Blayke.
Stop being cute, you're supposed to be a damn mare, not a shy filly when she unpacked her fucking presentation, thought the black-coated Pegasus furtively, but no blush would be visible on her tense head.
"All right, but it's nothing as tragic as you, so don't be disappointed." Warns Ditzy before taking a deep breath, managing to look at him with both eyes at the same time.
You're just a clumsy small-town postman, don't worry that I don't expect anything special from your story, thought the stallion, but decided to keep it to himself as she began.
"I was born in Cloudstale like many Pegasus, my parents were and still are nice to me, helping me when I ask them. I'm not very good with my hands or even my head..."
A distressing euphemism, Blayke thought, letting it continue.
"...so I often needed help for almost everyone. It bothered me not being able to do something on my own like other foals my age. That and my eye defect meant I didn't have any friends." She said before stopping to take a painful breath, the memories probably still touching her as she stared at the dark wood of the table.
Blayke was challenged by the naming of flaws in Ditzy's eye. For him it was more of a special characteristic, something that made you a little different from others. And the difference in this world was the great proof of strength of mind for him.
But that didn't seem to be the case for the mare.
"So I stayed away, my school years were done alone, with my parents to keep me going in spite of everything. They made fun of me, but I tried not to pay attention to it, that was the advice they gave me."
"Well, it's the best advice you can get. You don't give a shit about anybody else, in your mind, you're the only one that matters." The stallion reacts without changing his expression. He managed to make the mare raise her head again, and the mare smiled back with a faint smile in response.
"I did what I could, until my parents found a solution. I had to quit school and come live here in Ponyville." She replied, repeating her story. "They explained that it would only cause me more stress and problems to continue, and that learning was no more useful than that either. So I quickly learned how to manage on my own with my mom and my dad got me a job as a bill collector here. The ponies here were nice to me despite my handicap, and few made fun of me." Ditzy said, thinking of a specific rainbow mare.
Her parents more or less said she was dumb, but other than that they would have things to teach mine, Blayke thought again, but not taking it away from Ditzy's words.
"And then, two years ago, I adopted Dinky." She said with a huge smile as she walked through that part of her life. "It was the best decision I ever made, that day I became the mother of a lovely filly."
Blayke was happy for the end of the story, noting that the mare was blushing as she looked back on it all. It did him good to tell someone, but one last question was long in the stallion's mind. He hadn't heard the sound of the shower lately, so he didn't especially want to take too long.
"I have one last question to ask you before I leave. Were you at the welcome-home party for me and Light?" Asked the stallion to finish. He had been wondering since she had invited him to her home if the mare knew about this event.
"Uh, ah I remember, I had to decline Pinkie Pie's offer because I had to stay home because of a doctor's order. Poor thing almost couldn't hold back her tears when I told her." Announced the light gray Pegasus feeling guilty about the condition of the joyful mare under all circumstances.
This crazy mare cries for nothing, from what I hear. Strangely enough, it doesn't take away my guilt, Blayke thought, remembering how loudly she spoke in front of him the day she arrived. He had yelled at everyone in that damn town except Ditzy, the only one who didn't see him cursing the rest of the ponies. It sounded particularly good in his head.
"I understand better, so I'm going, go take care of Dinky. I'll be back tomorrow afternoon for the movie, she's too young to see it." Said the stallion, pointing to the filly.
"Oh, that's too bad, I thought we'd see it together." Ditzy replied with a sad, drooping look.
"When she's older you can show her if you want to, that's not my problem. See you tomorrow." Answered the stallion without paying more attention to her than necessary.
Oh, but I know why that doesn't take away my guilt, I don't have any guilt, he thought without resentment.