Chapter Eight
You Know I Will
“Yes, I am.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes. I am.”
“No. You’re really not.”
Ditzy took a menacing step forward. “Daring, you need to listen to me. I studied that room and I know exactly what ponies we should be looking for.”
“So do I, genius. I was right there when you said it.” Daring sneered triumphantly. “Two Haissanic ponies, one with a dark blue tail and one with a brown one.”
“I know a lot more than that,” Ditzy assured her.
“Then tell me.” Daring’s eyebrows twitched.
Ditzy took a deep, calming breath. “One of them—whichever one has a blue coat—is missing a leg. He uses one of his wings in its place.”
“One of his wings?” Daring frowned and looked back at her own left wing, stretching it down as far as she could. Sure enough, it touched the ground. She could even lean on it without much pain. “Huh. Never heard of that before.”
“Neither have I. He should be easy to spot.”
Daring tucked her wing back at her side and smiled at Ditzy. “Thanks, Sis. That’ll be a big help for me and the Rainbow kid. We’ll catch those nappers at the coast and bring back the baby foals safe and sound, without your help.”
“What will you do with the foalnappers once you’ve found them?”
Daring’s pupils shrunk as Ditzy sat on her haunches, crossing her forelegs expectantly.
“Uh… turn ‘em in to the Manehattan Police Department,” she said with a shrug. “Who cares? As long as I get those foals back.”
“Did you ever think to wonder why they took the foals, Daring? Do you think they just wanted some new playmates?”
Daring scoffed. “No!”
“Who are they working for?”
“Alula, duh! We already talked about this!”
“So what happens when his servants don’t come back when they’re supposed to?”
Daring slouched a little. “Uh…”
“He’ll send more,” Ditzy answered for her. “Daring, it’s not enough to get the foals back. We need to go to Haissan and find out what Alula wants with the Cakes’ twins.”
“I thought you said you already know what he wants,” Daring chided.
A chill ran down Ditzy’s spine. “I might… but I hope I’m wrong.”
“So, what, are Rainbow Slash and I just supposed to follow the guards into his palace and politely ask for the twins back?”
“Rainbow Dash. And no. We need to find the Sultan, discover his motives, appease them, and retrieve the foals.”
“You’re not coming with us, and that’s a stupid plan!” Daring argued. “Who cares if he sends more servants? We’ll just set up an alarm system and lock them up, too! Raincloud and I—”
“Rainbow Dash.”
“—are gonna do this my way.” She moved closer to Ditzy so that their noses were only a few inches apart. “And when we waltz back into Ponyville with the foals giggling on our backs, you’ll see that I don’t need you or your stupid plans. I’m a mare of action! I get things done!”
“You get things hurt,” Ditzy corrected her. “You break things, Daring. You break promises. You break families. You break ancient Hayan calendars.”
“That was an accident!”
“You break skulls.”
“That was also an accident…”
“And worst of all? You break hearts.” Her eyes began to well with tears as she slowly shook her head. “I will not stand back and watch you break Rainbow Dash’s heart like you broke mine.”
Stunned into unusual silence, Daring chewed on her tongue and stared into Ditzy’s eyes for as long as she could. Casting her gaze toward the train tracks, Daring found her voice.
“You keep asking me to leave, don’t you?” she said in a cold, hard voice. “Well I’m leaving. You’re not coming. And I’m taking Raindrops with me.”
“It’s Rainbow Dash!” Ditzy howled, stomping her front hooves against the wooden planks. “How can you keep forgetting that name? For Celestia’s sake, it’s the coolest name I’ve ever heard!”
Daring raised an eyebrow. “Wait a minute… do you have a thing for this mare?”
Ditzy facehoofed. “I do not have a thing for Rainbow Dash.” She pointed a hoof toward the sky where Rainbow’s trail was fading. “But I admire her. Everypony in this town admires her. She’s a skilled weathermare, a loyal friend, and a terrific athlete. She also happens to think the world of you—or at least, the pony she thinks is you—and I can’t bear to watch her expectations crumble. I will not let you corrupt her.”
“Corrupt her? What am I now, the Devil?”
“Please, Daring. Tell her to go home. Let’s just you and I go to Haissan—”
“Absolutely not,” Daring said, pressing a hoof against her sister’s mouth to silence her, “and I don’t wanna hear another word. I’m doing this, and you can’t stop me.”
Ditzy smacked her hoof away. “Why? So you can write another one of your stupid books?”
“That’s part of it,” Daring confessed, ignoring the insult. “But it’s also to prove to you that I don’t need your help.”
“Oh, is that right?”
“Yeah! Believe it or not, I’m better off without you, Ditzy!” She forced herself to smile around the biting words. “Leaving home to become a writer wasn’t a mistake. It was the first decision I ever made for myself, and it was the best choice of my life!”
“Don’t tell me you still think Dad was brainwashing us.”
“I never said that!” Daring snapped. “But you can’t deny that everything we ever did as foals we did for him, and that didn’t change when we took over his job.”
“Of course we were doing it for him. If you’ll remember—” She hammered the top of Daring’s helmet. “—we were trying to save his life.”
After realigning her eyes, Daring whirled around started marching off the platform. “I don’t need this…” she mumbled.
“But Dad needed you,” Ditzy spat, “and you just let him die.”
Something snapped in Daring’s resolve. She rose into the air and bared her teeth down at her sister. “This is supposed to make me let you come along?” she snarled.
“You don’t have to let me. I’m coming with you whether you like it or not.”
“Oh, no you’re not,” Daring said with a threatening smirk, “because if you do, I’ll tell everypony the truth about your daughter.”
Ditzy’s face drained. “No.”
“Yes! Haha!” Daring tried to complete of victory flip, but ended up losing her lift at the crest and tumbling to the side in midair. She managed to catch herself before she hit the ground and readjusted her hat nonchalantly.
“That… you wouldn’t…” Ditzy stuttered.
“I’ll do it, Ditz. You know I will.” She punctuated her promise with a nod and a meaningful glare. “So leave me and my new partner alone.”
She spread her wings further to fly away.
“Daring, wait!” Ditzy called out, thrusting a hoof toward her, but the yellow pegasus shot away with an adrenaline-enhanced swiftness, leaving behind a colorless streak of seven greyscale stripes.
Ditzy dropped her hoof and choked on a sob. Things were spiraling out of control. With a warped glance at the train schedule, she managed to find that the next train to the coast departed at 1:05, leaving her three hours to clear her head and come up with a plan to keep everypony out of harm’s way. With her daughter freshly on her mind, Ditzy flew as fast as she could to the post office and turned in her unfinished load.
{-DD-}
“I’m sorry,” Ditzy said to the head mailsteed, offering her half-full mailbag. “I’ve had a family emergency come up.”
“That’s all right, Ditzy,” he assured her, taking the bag in his magic. “We’ll find someone to cover your route. You of all ponies deserve a day off. You haven’t taken one since you started here!”
“Work keeps my mind off things,” she muttered, hurrying out the door before he could reply.
Upon returning to her house, the mailmare was surprised to find a familiar red wagon rigged to a tiny scooter on the front lawn. Bursting through the front door, she found Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo sitting in a circle around her daughter holding her flute to her lips.
All four pairs of young, round eyes locked in on Ditzy as she panted in the doorway.
“Dinky, what is this?” she asked.
“Hi, Mommy!” Dinky greeted, waving a short foreleg. “The girls came over to ask me some questions, but I told them I had to finish practicing first for the show this afternoon.”
Ditzy winced at herself for forgetting about the performance.
“Shouldn’t you all be at school?” she questioned, sounding exasperated.
Dinky raised an eyebrow. “It’s Saturday, Mom. There’s no school on Saturday.”
“Right, right.” Ditzy nodded, shuffling anxiously from hoof to hoof. “What, uh… what questions did you have, girls?”
The Crusaders exchanged nervous glances.
“Uh… nothing,” Sweetie Belle answered with her biggest smile.
“Definitely not anything about you and your sister,” Scootaloo added.
“Or why you two hate each other so much,” Apple Bloom finished.
Dinky’s other eyebrow lifted to meet its companion. “Sister?” she asked.
“Yeah, you know,” Scootaloo said, turning to the periwinkle unicorn. “Daring Do.”
Ditzy bit her tongue and closed her eyes as Dinky’s pair started to sparkle.
“Mom?” she began with a delighted smile. “Daring Do is your sister?”
“You didn’t know?” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom asked together.
Scootaloo snorted. “Big help she would have been.”
“That’s so cool, Mom!” Dinky continued, setting her flute on the ground. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I’m ashamed of her!” Ditzy screamed, frightening all four fillies. Instantly regretting her outburst, Ditzy dropped onto her belly and groaned into her forelegs.
All were still and quiet for several stretched-out seconds. Finally, her features alight with sweet sympathy, Dinky trotted around the Crusaders and placed a tiny hoof on her mother’s mane.
“It’s okay, Mom,” she whispered, stroking the blonde hair behind her flattened ear. “Sometimes I get angry, too. Do you wanna make muffins with me?”
Ditzy raised her head a little, meeting her daughter’s golden eyes with only one of hers. She was so small, so innocent, so sweet and so beautiful…
Unable to answer with words, Ditzy only sniffed and nodded. Sweetie Belle covered her grin with her hooves, muffling her “Awwww!” while Apple Bloom flicked a small tear from her eye.
Never one for sentimentality, Scootaloo blurted, “And will you please tell us what’s going on while you’re at it?”
Stepping back onto her hooves, Ditzy laughed at the little pony’s brashness. She really was a little Rainbow Dash.
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to get some of this off my chest,” she agreed, and the five of them moved toward the kitchen.
{-DD-}
Twilight Sparkle pushed the door of the library open with her snout. The stress of the morning’s revelations had given her a headache, and her mind was too absorbed in thought to concentrate on magic.
“Ditzy Doo and Daring Do,” she mumbled under her breath. “Why didn’t I see it before? Their inverted colors… their homophonic surnames…”
She sighed and dropped her saddlebags in the middle of the floor. The resounding thump brought Spike out from the kitchen.
“There you are, Twilight!” he said. “Where were you last night?”
Twilight grimaced. “Sorry, Spike. I stayed the night at Pinkie’s. I should have let you know.”
“Ah, it’s all right,” Spike assured, waving a claw dismissively. “I guess you know about the Cake twins then?”
“Is that already going around?” she asked, biting open the flap of her saddlebag.
“Oh, yeah. I heard a few ponies talking about it just outside the library. That’s so scary! What are we going to do?”
“I don’t think we’ll have to do anything,” Twilight droned, rummaging through her bag, “because Daring Do is on the case.”
Spike didn’t know whether to be more surprised at the news itself or the dismal tone with which Twilight presented it.
“Daring Do?” he asked skeptically.
“Mmm-hmm,” Twilight confirmed around a heavy tome lifted in her jaws. She dropped it onto the center table. “Turns out she’s a real pony, and she’s come to Ponyville to visit her sister.”
“Her sister?” Spike repeated, bouncing back in surprise. “Who’s that?”
“You’ll never guess: Ditzy Doo, the mailmare.”
Spike looked to the ceiling and rubbed his chin in thought for a moment. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”
Twilight’s ears perked up. “It does? How?”
Spike shrugged. “I dunno. She always seemed like she had some big secret. I always thought there was more to her than meets the eye.”
Twilight frowned. “Yes, well, it certainly seems that way now. They don’t get along very well. She and Daring fought like cats over who was going to look for the foals. And Daring doesn’t seem anything like the level-headed explorer in the books.” She sighed and flipped her saddlebag closed with a hoof, sliding it under the table with her tail. “Anyway, she won the shouting contest, and now she’s off to save the foals with Rainbow Dash as her new partner.”
“Whoa, wait, what?” the dragon bumbled, wobbling in place. “I’m not sure I’m following you.”
Twilight chuckled. “You and me both, Spike. Ditzy won’t tell me anything, but from what I’ve gathered, I think she and Daring used to go on adventures together. Maybe the stories in the books really happened, but with two mares finding the treasure. Something terrible must have happened—I’m thinking it has to do with Ditzy’s eye problem—and now they can’t stand to be in the same room as the other.”
“Whoa. That’s wild.”
“Ditzy really didn’t want to talk about it. She told me to read Daring’s latest book, and that she’d try to explain everything when she came back.”
“Came back from where?”
“Oh, right. She doesn’t seem to trust Daring and said she has to follow them because somepony could get hurt.”
“Oh, gosh,” Spike complained, pressing his hands against the sides of his head. “It feels like my brain just turned into mush and my eyeballs are trying to eat it.”
Twilight laughed. “Talk about eye candy!” she said, and Spike joined in on her laughter.
“I hope everything works out,” she continued, running a hoof along the spine of the huge book she had set on the table.
“Is that the new Daring Do book?” Spike gawked.
Twilight laughed. “No, silly. This one’s recommended reading from Pinkie Pie.” She tilted it enough for Spike to see the cover.
“The Complete Works of Bluish Carol,” he read aloud, stifling a laugh. “Twilight, Bluish Carol is a nonsense poet.”
“I know!” she agreed, rolling her eyes. “But I promised Pinkie I’d give it a try. Might as well get it over with so I can focus on Ditzy’s dilemma.”
She flipped to the first page and started reading. Spike’s stomach grumbled and he sheepishly spoke up.
“Uh, Twilight? Do you mind if I go out for some hay fries this morning? We don’t have anything good in the kitchen.”
“Sure, Spike,” she allowed. The dragon beamed and hurried for the front door. Somepony opened it from the other side just before he reached it. He politely waited for the green unicorn to enter before he made his way out.
“Hey, Spike,” she said as he passed her.
He gave the stranger an odd glance before shrugging it off. Who didn’t know the name of Ponyville’s resident dragon?
“Hey yourself. Dig the swell hoodie!”
{-DD-}
“So she made millions off a character half-based on you and never gave you a single bit?” Scootaloo clarified, taking another bite of her muffin.
“Well, in her defense, I never asked for a share,” Ditzy expounded. “Those books are nothing to me but broken promises, and no matter how tight money might get for me, I don’t want anything to do with them.”
“What promises?” Sweetie Belle implored, chewing on the edges of her hooves.
“There’s lots of competition in treasure hunting,” Ditzy said, “and not everypony is in it for the thrill of discovery like my father was. Some ponies will do anything to get their hooves on an artifact, even if it means hurting other explorers.”
The fillies gasped in horror. Ditzy briefly wondered how they would have reacted if she had said “killing” instead.
“To keep yourself safe,” she continued, “you have to keep your identity on the down low. Daring and I promised that we would never tell anypony about our adventures. And she clearly didn’t keep that one.”
Sweetie gasped. “Does that mean… you’re in danger now?”
Ditzy smiled at her empathy. “Thankfully not. Daring published the books as anonymous fiction for a reason. She made a fortune without putting herself in the spotlight.”
“I got a question,” Apple Bloom piped up.
“All right,” Ditzy encouraged.
“How’dja learn to make such amazin’ muffins?”
Her closest friends announced their agreement and approval. Dinky’s smile, plastered to her face since the start of her mother’s story, broadened even further. “I told you that you’d love them!”
Ditzy blushed. “My mother was a pastry chef in Las Pegasus. She made the best muffins in town, and I just copy her recipe.”
“So you got adventurism from your dad and muffinsim from your mom?” Scootaloo asked incredulously. “You had the best parents ever!”
The mailmare let loose a full, rich laugh. “Yes, I did! I really did!” She sighed at the happy memories. “I loved them to the Moon and back. Still do.”
They were quiet for a while, finishing their crumbly treats and letting the story sink in. Dinky, by far, was the most excited by her mother’s secret history.
“You’re amazing, Mommy!” she suddenly yelled, throwing her arms around Ditzy’s neck.
The mare was surprised. “You… you’re not mad at me?”
“Why would I be mad at you? You’re the most amazing mommy ever!”
“But…” Tears welled up in Ditzy’s eyes. “I kept it from you, from everypony, for all these years. I didn’t tell you who I really was or what I had done.”
“You told me now!” Dinky said with unhindered adoration. “My mommy’s a secret action hero! How could I be mad at that?”
As touched as she was by her daughter’s forgiveness, Ditzy used the moment to bring up a crucial point. “Secret action hero is right. I need all four of you to promise me you won’t tell anypony, not until I’m ready to tell everyone the truth.”
“Let’s Pinkie Promise!” Sweetie Belle suggested, and the other fillies joined her in the most binding of chants:
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”
Ditzy nodded approvingly. “Thank you, girls. That means a lot to me. It was good to finally tell the truth.”
“I hope you find a way to teach Daring her lesson,” Scootaloo confessed.
“Yeah! She sounds like a meanie,” Sweetie Belle harrumphed.
Ditzy giggled. “Well, I might have been a little harsh with my descriptions, but I’m glad you’re all on my side.”
She bent down to her daughter’s level and put a hoof under her chin. “Now, Dinky, I have to go across the ocean with Daring and Rainbow Dash to make sure they get the twins back. I’m going to leave you with Twilight Sparkle for a while. Go to the library straight after your concert today. She’ll take good care of you, and I’ll be back as soon as I can, all right?”
Dinky nodded. A perfect understanding shone behind her golden eyes.
“That’s my little muffin,” Ditzy cooed, stroking her daughter’s mane. She pulled her into a quick, tight hug, and then addressed the Crusaders.
“Will you three make sure she gets to the concert on time this afternoon?” she asked.
“You can count on us, Ditzy Doo!” Scootaloo assured her, saluting sharply with her right hoof. The other two nodded in unison.
“Thank you.” She glanced at the clock. “I’ll go talk to Twilight and then be on my way.” She swallowed once and kissed Dinky on the top of her head. “I’m sorry for missing the concert.”
“That’s okay. You need to help the Cakes!”
How she had raised such a thoughtful child, Ditzy would never know.
“Be safe, Muffin,” Ditzy whispered. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Mommy.”
Blinking away unwanted tears, Ditzy snatched a book from the kitchen counter, barreled out of her house, and sped toward the Ponyville library.
{-DD-}
He had bought a large map representing the sea,
Without the least vestige of land:
And the crew were much pleased when they found it to be
A map they could all understand.
“What’s the good of Marecator’s North Poles and Equators,
Tropics, Zones, and Meridian Lines?”
So the Bellsteed would cry: and the crew would reply
“They are merely conventional signs!
“Other maps are such shapes, with their islands and capes!
But we’ve got our brave Captain to thank:”
(So the crew would protest) “that he’s bought us the best –
A perfect and absolute blank!”
Twilight Sparkle laughed out loud, tossing her head back for the umpteenth time. After Spike had left for breakfast, she suddenly found herself distracted from Carol’s works, thinking about the Lunar Civil War and parasprites, for whatever reason. Brushing the random thoughts aside, she had started The Hunting of the Snark per Pinkie’s suggestion, expecting an unbearable mess of poor poetry.
The “Agony”, as it was subtitled, was divided into eight “Fits”. To her surprise, Twilight found herself rather enjoying the first Fit, giggling here and there at clever wordplay and exceptional meter. Carol’s rhymes, too, were impressively intricate; some verses rhymed up to six times inside themselves.
By the time the second Fit began, Twilight was gulping down the stanzas with a broad smile, chortling often at Carol’s delightful wit. Her burst of laughter at the blank map joke was met by a startling interjection.
“Enjoying your read?” Ditzy Doo’s voice asked from the doorway.
Twilight jumped and slammed the tome shut, looking innocently toward the ceiling. “What? Oh, no, I just remembered a… a funny joke that Pinkie told, that’s all.” She smiled nervously.
“There’s no shame in enjoying something outside your demographic, Twilight,” Ditzy assured her, stepping into the library and closing the door behind her. “I hope you don’t mind me dropping in like this.”
“I’m a bit surprised,” Twilight admitted, taming her blush. “I thought you’d be halfway to Manehattan by now.”
“The train leaves in an hour,” Ditzy explained. “I came by to ask a favor of you.”
“Oh?”
They walked nearer to each other, meeting halfway.
Ditzy winced hopefully. “Would you be able to watch Dinky for me while I’m away with Daring? I know you’re a busy mare, but I can’t think of anyone I’d rather trust with my daughter.”
Twilight was struck speechless for a couple of seconds. “You’d like me to foalsit for you?”
“Would you? I’m sure it’s a lot to ask…”
“Oh, no, that’s fine!” Twilight assured her, summoning a schedule from her distant saddlebag. “It just so happens that I have plenty of open spots this week to keep her in my watch. I’d be happy to foalsit for you, Ditzy.”
The pegasus breathed a long sigh of relief. “Oh, thank Celestia. This means a lot to me, Twilight. I really appreciate it.”
Twilight lifted an eyebrow. “No problem, Ditzy. Is there anything special I need to do for her while you’re gone?”
“Just make sure she gets to school on time,” she answered, “and that she practices her flute for at least half an hour every day. You probably won’t have to remind her about that, though. She loves to play. If it ever gets annoying, don’t hesitate to ask her to take a break.”
Twilight laughed. “I doubt it will annoy me. Spike used to play the piano all the time when we lived in Canterlot. I miss having music in the house.”
Ditzy unfolded one of her wings and revealed a small novel.
“I brought you my copy of Poison Whispered Kiss so you don’t have to borrow Rainbow’s,” she said, offering the book to Twilight. “I hope you read it while I’m gone.”
A pinkish aura enveloped the novel and it rose to join the floating schedule next to Twilight’s horn. “I’ll read it. I promise. You’ve given me a lot to be curious about.”
“Sorry,” Ditzy said with a short laugh through her nose. “I hope it all makes sense soon.”
“So do I.”
Ditzy nodded and walked backward toward the exit.
“I told Dinky to come here after her concert this afternoon. Will you be home?”
Twilight glanced at the clock on the wall and bit her lip. “Actually, Pinkie’s throwing a party in half an hour. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure Cheerilee sends her to Sugarcube Corner instead.”
“That’s fine. Thank you, Twilight.”
They smiled at each other, both faces blending worry and hope for the future.
“Good luck, Ditzy. Please find the twins.”
Ditzy jaw clenched and she gave one solemn nod. With that, she opened the library door and flew off to the depot.
Twilight closed the door with her magic and carried her schedule and the new book to the central table. She set both of them down on top of Carol’s massive book, ready to write Dinky into her open time slots.
The rhythm of Carol’s entertaining words began to drum in Twilight’s head. Guiltily, she swept the scroll and Daring’s book aside, throwing his collection open to the middle. She had intended to find her place in The Hunting of the Snark, but several familiar words in the much shorter poem printed on that page caught her eye.
As her brow began to crease, she read the verses quickly.
Jabberwocky
‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe.
All mimsy were the borogoves
And the mome raths outgrabe.
“Beware the jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch;
Beware the jubjub bird and shun
The frumious bandersnatch!”
He took his vorpal sword in hoof.
Long time the manxome foe he sought
So rested he by the tumtum tree
And stood a while in thought.
And as in uffish thought he stood
The jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack.
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
“And hast thou slain the jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
Oh, frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.
‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe.
All mimsy were the borogoves
And the mome raths outgrabe.
In between the made-up words, Twilight’s widening eyes recognized several unnerving names.
“Slithy Toves? Mome Raths? Bandersnatch? Jabberwock?” she read aloud. Her heart rate increased with her volume. “Oh my gosh… those are some of the ancient evil creatures imprisoned in Tartarus!”
“Uh, Twilight?” Spike asked from behind her. She jumped for the second time, whirling around at her assistant.
“Spike! When did you get home?”
He titled his head. “Uh, forever ago. I just brought you those records from the Midnight District like you asked.”
“Huh?”
Spike shook his head. “Never mind. Are you okay? Why are you shouting about Tartarus?”
“Spike, look at this!” she said, floating the tome in his direction. “You see this poem, Jabberwocky? I thought Bluish Carol was just a nonsense writer, but all the creatures it mentions are real. I haven’t seen them documented anywhere but the Princess’s personal library. All specific records of the monsters were destroyed or confiscated more than a thousand years ago to keep from spreading fear. I didn’t think anyone even knew about them anymore!”
The dragon quirked his brow. “So?”
“So maybe there’s more to Carol’s writings than I thought!” Twilight exclaimed, slamming the book back onto the table and flipping through its pages. “Maybe Pinkie was right: maybe I can learn something from this book. Bluish Carol lived only about a hundred years ago. How did he know about jabberwocks? What does this poem really mean?”
As Spike surveyed the thirsty look in Twilight’s skimming eyes, he groaned. “Does this mean we’re not going to Pinkie’s party?”
“You can go, Spike,” she permitted. “I’m going to research this for a while.” Her head popped up from the book. “Oh! And Dinky Doo is going to be staying with us during her mother’s rescue mission.”
“Sounds good,” Spike grumbled, waddling to the door. “I think I’ll go to Sugarcube Corner early before you rope me into your ridiculous research.”
Twilight didn’t hear him. She was rereading the Snark with new eyes.
Jumpin' the gun, as usual. I like getting these out to you guys as soon as I can.
For those of you who are uncultured, "Bluish Carol" is the pony version of "Lewis Carroll" (a.k.a. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), my favorite author ever. He wrote "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-glass", along with a bunch of incredible poems. The Hunting of the Snark and Jabberwocky are both real poems that he wrote. I ponified them a little bit in this chapter, but all credit goes to him.
Obviously I have a tendency to obsess over authors I like (*coughSS&Ecough*). Sorry if that annoys anypony.
ooohhh~ please continue
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Great, now I am confused as to whether or not the Carol thing is part of the story line or just a shout out to a great author. Oh well, I enjoyed the references as I too am a fan of his works, particularly jabberwocky.
Brilliant chapter, love the dynamic between Ditzy and Daring. Kinda want to see Daring get into some trouble and learn a lesson but at the same time I don't want Rainbow to join her in said trouble. I'm so conflicted right now. Can't wait for the next chapter.
Great chapter, once again! One thing though: fifth last paragraph, it should probably be, "more to Carol's writing."
Interesting chapter. So Bluish Carol knows about things that the only references of exist in the Princess' personal library? Very interesting. I'm interested to see just why the Sultan wants the foals... Perhaps he thinks they might be his? Or maybe he needs heirs? Bah, enough of my rambling. Oh, and I'd bed money that Luna has a hand in Bluish Carol.
Hmmm....if things proceed the way I think they will, Daring and RD will get themselves into an amazingly stupid and avoidable mess only to be rescued by Ditzy. I also assume that Rainbow Crash won't understand what happened at any point in the proceedings. Given her need to not think, she'll assume that Derpy somehow messed things up for her again and no amount of explanations from anypony with a brain in her head will penetrate her thick skull.
1029842
Couldn't be Luna; she was stuck on the moon back then.
Very fun chapter. I am wondering why Twilight and Pinkie aren't volunteering to go rescue the foals too since that would seem in character for both of them...but then this wouldn't be the story it is going to be but still a reason would be good. Overall though this was a great chapter and I'm really enjoying the characters you're giving to Daring and Ditzy. Nice work overall! Look forward to reading more.
1029851 Eh, just throwing out wild theories. Maybe they were found and published while she was on the moon? Or maybe Celestia commissioned them to be written as warnings for various things, like if creatures for Tartarus ever got out? Again, crazy theories.
Haha!! Was that a "Friendship is Witchcraft" reference?!?!
Why is it such a terrifying concept that the Jabberwock exists in Equestria?
I grew up reading Lewis Carol, and to me, the Jabberwock was the absolute definition of pure evil, right alongside Sephiroth.
Porridge Dinky, I hope she can survive Twilight's constant ramblings and theories
Also its nice how you tie in Bluish Carol. At first I thought it was just to fill in the empty space. I feel this will come up later on.
Love the integration with the Background Pony universe!
Awesome Chapter, man!
You win a free pinkie pie
HAH! I love that poem - it's one of the few things from Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass that I remember perfectly.
But you're really making me want to rip Daring's wings off and beat her to death with them. As if her being an egomaniac to rival the Dishonest and Powerless Trixie wasn't bad enough, now she's trying to blackmail Ditzy with her own freaking child. There is no reason or excuse for sinking that low. Period. She needs to get her flanks thoroughly kicked, and not just physically.
Ahem...speaking of Ditzy, however...well, I don't think any words can do the sweetness of her bond with Dinky justice, and I think the Cutie Mark Crusaders - except maybe silly, sentiment-disliking Scoots - would agree. It was actually quite considerate of her to explain the mess with Daring, albeit in PG-rated terms, to them - it's a welcome change from the various scenarios of adults thinking children don't need to know the truth. And it looks like we got a bit of a surprise - rather than accompany Ditzy on her rescue mission, Twilight will be looking after Dinky while delving into her own research. Not a bad surprise, mind you.
Oh, and lest I forget, I saw what you did with the Mare-Do-Well remarks a couple of chapters back. Nice. Is it wrong of me to suspect that you're hinting at a shared universe for certain stories?
NOTE: Not to be rude, but you repeated "They don't get along very well." up there. Might want to fix that.
Twilight laughed. “Talk about eye candy!”
That's pretty funny. :D
“Hey yourself. Dig the swell hoodie!”
*Applauds*
Uh so that means Dinky is going to be at Sugarcube Corner without Twilight? I sense bad things about to happen
Bluish Carol? Would that happen to be a parody of Lewis Carroll, by any chance? That is one amazing author.
EDIT: Oh, I didn't see the comment.
1029719
I'm a huge Disney fan, so when I read the bit about Jabberwocky, I figured it out. You might want to have Twilight reading aone of his lesser known works, if you're going for subtlety. Which, judging from that comment, you're not, but, the more you know.
So far Daring doesn't really have any real positive qualities. Is she going to stay this way for the rest of the story?
POETRY IS BEST TREE!
Man, Daring is a lying blackmailing piece of shit.
And RD will probably side with her over Ditzy. A stranger over someone she knows for a long time... The Element of Loyalty everypony!
Daring is an idiot, she probably will take the credit of the discovery to impress Dash and feed her ego. Using her niece as blackmail... if something horrible happens to her during the adventure I don't think I will feel sympathy. Being happy that the babies got kidnapped so she can write her stupid book. She sucks as an author.
*sigh* now to wait till wedensday if I remember correctly. Why must you torture me so? I love the story (I'm sure it's shocking I mean my other comments must make you think I hate it) and can not wait for more. I need to go find some lewis carroll books now I haven't read any of his stuff since 6th grade maybe with an older eye I'll appreciate him for more then a few chuckles.
Tiz obvious, the sultan needs the foals for his fiendish summoning ritual. Whereby the will be transformed into instruments of pure adorable so he can control the savage beasts of Tartarus. It makes so much sense, and the sisters Doo are going to be the sacrifices in order for the ritual to be complete. BRILLIANT!!!
Whoa. Dude. Bravo. Bravo. BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO!
I haven't even read your fic yet, yet I'm literally clapping in between the sentences I'm typing down! Your premise is that ingenious! That interesting! That odd! That unique! That promising! That unusual! That fool/foal proof! Why, if the premise is any indication, this is the kind of Pony fic I believe all of the crap needs to be more like!
*Squees like Fluttershy after being turned into an Ent*
*Calms down and clears throat*
Now, I just need to see if the execution can follow through and utilize the hay out of such a brilliant premise...
1029874
Consider that the series of MLP prior to FiM actually had dark gods and demons, devil lords and races bent on conquest and destruction. Jabberwocky fits in in Equestria... or Tartarus/Hell, rather, where presumably Celestia sealed all the demonic influences.
Right to the top of the WANT UPDATE SOONER list
THIS
IS
SO
DEPLOY MOUSTACHE OF APPROVAL!
Poor Raincloud, she'll never be one of us.
1030146
You might want to read that again.
1030321
Damn! Ponky, their into your plan!
"There’s no shame in enjoying something outside your demographic, Twilight,” Ditzy assured her.
I see what you did there.
1029842 The sultan wants foals so he can make rainbows.
And the plot thickens. I'm gonna be really dissappointed if nothing monstruous and horrible comes out of Twilight's discovery. Also, you'd think the Sultan would want Dinky more than the baby cakes... there's definitely something strange in there.
Your story keeps getting better, and now I'm starting to hate Celestia a little bit too, "destroying books because they include something that might be upsetting, (aka. dangerous to the state).
I truly hope that Twilight dosn't mention this "nonsense" ponies work to Celestia or she may just decide to have another book burning.
Oh and we must also be very careful about who to trust, "SESP" could be wathing? What is sesp you may ask? Well that is simple, its the Secret Equstrian State Police.
1029719
But BP!Lyra is so sad! dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Lyra_cry.png
must. have. more ADVENTURE. DERPYYY!!! ... um, I mean, ADVENTURE DITZYYY!!!! though in my opinion ditzy is more insulting because it means stupid, or ignorant, while derpy just means clumsy. I guess it's a sore subject because of her eyes though
Daring is a jerk. She managed to reach a new low this chapter, and I wasn't sure if that was possible. Ditzy, on the other hoof, reached new heights with that awesome relationship with Dinky (and the CMC, to a much smaller extent). That scene was great.
BRILLIANT!
you sir author are amazing. I love the story for the story itself but I can't help but feel a more gratifying experience as I read through and suddenly I will recognize a line or two as referencing something else in the great world of literature.
Twilight is going to regret not reading the book sooner. I hope Daring get's whats coming to her.
1029836
Note, please refer to the idea of the gun of Anton Checkov.
Will we ever see references to her in this story? These stories are pretty connected, how far will it go? This story inspired me to read a certain OTHER story and for that I must thank you.
Aside from that this story is awesome in its own right, bravo good sir!
1029719 I'm kinda annoyed that you keep referring to him as a 'nonsense poet.'
Although further reading indicates that that's a technical term, and one which carries the connotation of meaning too much rather than nothing.
1029851 Incredibly powerful corrupt goddess is trapped, so she can't directly act. But indirectly? There's a reason madness is also known as lunacy.
At any rate, given that Carroll's writing is known for having many different layers of meaning, I'd suggest that the influence is likely something closer to the unsung since she apparently exists in this 'verse. Well, 'verse-adjacent, really, but that's what you have to deal with when talking about that sort of being.
1029999 Sentiment disliking Scoots? Nah. Just because being all touchy-feely, emotion wise, isn't part of her self-image doesn't mean she doesn't feel that way. She just doesn't wallow in it the way so many other characters on the show do, IMO.
1030321 I love this plan! It makes slightly less sense that what I'd come up with, but with that much more awesome it can't possibly fail!
1030883 I got the impression that it was less 'dangerous to the state' than it was 'dangerous to the folks who might read it and those around them.' Anypony who leaves copies of the Necronomicon in the public library has no room to complain when the Byakhee and Shuggoth start a war in the city's business district. (Yeesh. And makes seaponies a great deal more sinister, too. Ia! Ia! Xubedu fhtagn!)
1030927
Ditzy Doo was the name given to her by Faust. It is therefore the proper name by which she shall be known.
So it is written, so shall it be!
fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/210/1/6/lauren_faust_the_empress_2_0_by_europamaxima-d5929m0.jpg
source
The plot thickens......
So Ditzy's anger towards her sister stems from several failed commitments, while Daring's come from being the loser of a love triangle and I'm guessing being stuck in her sister's shadow and having to prove she's more than just dumb muscle.
More secrets and lies are coming to light and I'm betting it all has something to do with their last big adventure together. But like any good mystery every new detail just opens up more questions. Whatever happened must of been big if Daring(who adored her father) wasn't willing to complete something he tasked them with finishing.
Liking the cameo/shout out to the Background Pony and Carol's works having hidden meanings make sense ever since I found out "The Hunting of the Snark" can be read like a murder mystery.
Bravo!
Carol sorta seems like one big non sequiter at this point, but final judgement is always reserved for the end.
Okay...... dig the swell hoodie? Swell HOODIE!
Is that Lyra?! Oh God, Background Ponies LYRA!
I... I.... *Does a Rarity Faint*
1030728 You sir... Read too many horror fics. *shudders*
1031400 I must agree. Don't let the Necronomicon fall into the wrong hooves at all costs. Equestria doesn't need that happening when they've already got Spirits of Chaos, Changelings, Hydras, Dragons, Manticores, Windigos, Timber Wolves, and Celestia knows what else.
"Yes, my little ponies, ignore the Necronomicon. Here, take this book instead, it'll be a much more interesting read." (Celestia gives a unicorn a copy of the Nymphology: The Book of Blue Magic)
May the Grace of the Valar Protect You
Shire Folk
Interesting. All of a sudden, it seems like there are two stories going on. There's Daring and Ditzy's adventure to save the Cake twins. Then there's this development with Twilight. I find myself wondering how they'll tie together.
Lovin' the story so far, keep it up!
Lovin' the story so far, keep it up!