Dinky was the same age as her sister, a fact that constantly eluded others. Technically, she was two months younger, but the way she was spoken to versus how her sister was addressed far eclipsed that age gap. In simplistic terms, they treated her like a baby.
Her mother never treated her this way, nor did Twilight Sparkle; her mother was her mother, and Twilight Sparkle recognized a fellow superior mind. It had been she who had explained to Dinky why her growth patterns left something to be desired.
She had once been jealous of her sister’s height, but the jealousy had faded away when she realized her own strengths. She had her cutie mark, representing her love for technology. Her sister was a blank flank. She could analyze a technical manual; her sister had asked if such manuals were written in a different language. In fact, it seemed that she was superior in most ways to her sister.
Still, she had to have somebody to count as a companion, and since for some reason the other simpletons in her grade level thought her to be arrogant (it was difficult not to be when you were so intelligent) that left her sister.
While Dinky frequently wished for a playmate who possessed common sense, her sister did provide welcome distractions, and that was the reason that Dinky was waking her up at this very moment; she had spent the last few months stealing scraps from the rubbish pile- there was so much need for materials and so little manufacturing being done that scraps and genuine trash were kept separately- and at last, the toy she’d created for their birthday was finished.
It was primarily designed for Amethyst, with few buttons and no instruction manual, simple enough to operate that her sister could figure it out on her own. Though technically they were two months apart, they celebrated their birthday on the same day, approximately two months before Heartswarming Day. Dinky had been cloned from a machine two months after her sister, so they had decided to put their birthday two months before an important holiday. Why her mother had wanted another baby when she already possessed a newborn filly and had no partner to help her was beyond Dinky, but she certainly wasn’t complaining. She was small, Twilight had explained, due to the fact that she had been injected with serums as per instructions in order to keep her from aging quickly, as clones tend to do. Unfortunately, it made her rather unimposing by physical standards.
Dinky’s workroom had once been her father’s workroom, and Dinky had gradually taken it over, putting her father’s old projects on the back shelves. She had never met her father, who had left before either she or her sister had been born, but apparently she inherited his penchant for gadgets. She went back and forth as to the veracity of her father’s origins; as far as she was concerned, unless he somehow showed up to fight the Daleks, she would regard her mother’s tales of her father as little more than fairy stories that would make parental abandonment an easier concept for Amethyst to swallow. It had been 10 years, six of them marred by the destruction and havoc of the Daleks; her father would not return. She and Amethyst attracted Daleks like magnets; that was part of the reason why they were sent to lure the Daleks away from civilians every dawn and every dusk. Heartswarming was one of the last holidays remaining, and Dinky had learned that each day was not a right, but a privilege.
She could have concealed the present with a simple invisibility spell, but she felt it would detract from Amethyst’s enjoyment. Instead, she located some brown paper (wrapping paper was notoriously expensive) and began to draw large purple circles on it with a crayon. It wasn’t the most sophisticated design, but it served its purpose.
They were currently the throes of a temporary living situation in which they were living with Princess Sparkle. Their mother had fallen ill about a year ago, and the illness, though it remained undiagnosed, was considered chronic. The most obvious symptoms were fatigue, distractibility, and a tendency to occasionally wander into different periods of time, to forget what had happened already and what was yet to happen. As long as she was given medicine regularly, she remained lucid. Dinky was confident that the situation would improve; nopony would give up on the founder of the new order.
She knew that for the sake of efficiency, she would soon have to stop traveling to her mother’s old house in order to work on her projects. Twilight had offered the basement of the library as a new place to keep her items, but for some reason Dinky found herself making excuses every time this was suggested. A project was located in a sensitive area, and moving it would be too precarious; she had lost something in the shop and had to find it.
Dare she accuse herself of being sentimental? Surely not- moving everything was a labor -intensive process, and she did not want to inconvenience the princess in any way. To have any attachment to the house would not make sense. It was a physical object, possessing no emotion and nothing of intrinsic value. Anything of personal value had already been moved to her new bedroom and the library.
As she made her way back to the library, she allowed herself to observe the center of town; it was, of course, the exact center, but unlike most town centers, there was no activity. It was merely a large circle of unseeded soil, under which the emergency bunkers lay. The emergency bunkers were massive and stretched for miles, extending of far beyond the actual center, but it was necessary to keep that area of free of debris, as it served as the entrance. It was through the invisible elevators that lay on this circle that the bunkers could be reached, and that Dinky could prepare for the next attack, and then be released onto the surface, every dawn and every dusk. Never, not since the shields had been put in place, had it been necessary to do this more than twice a day. She was a runner, herding the Daleks back towards the Everfree Forest when the inner shield failed. Had her mother been in better health, no doubt they would have selected someone else, but surprisingly, it was relatively safe; she and her sister were both fast, and Twilight Sparkle ensured that they had quick access to back up at all times.
She made her way rather quietly into Twilight’s library. There was no sense in making noise when it was not necessary. Going up a flight of stairs, she entered the room she shared with Amethyst. Amethyst was commonly known as Sparkler, the second part of her full name, but Dinky had never cared for such nicknames.
Dinky was not one for hyperbole, but she had to admit that the two sides of their room were like two different worlds. Hers was neat; impeccably neat, as anything that might crowd its limited space was stored in her workshop. The room had a rather Spartan air about it. Bookshelves, bed, desk, her experiment logs; all were kept in order. Amethyst, however, had a drastically different living style. She had piled her portion of the room high with stuffed toys, most of them small and homemade. Her Fun Fair costume hung on the wall; in a few weeks time, she would become the Sparkling Gypsy, playing “fortune-telling” games with younger fillies. Other knick-knacks were strewn about like a Techneighcolor tornado.
Stepping carefully over various objects, she approached her sister’s bed. Everything was such an intense shade of pink that it made Dinky’s eyes water. Brushing off an excess layer of plushes, she excavated until she actually found the filly the bed was intended for.
“Sister,” she whispered, “Awaken.”
“Hnnnnn…”
“I have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise? YAY!”
Amethyst was out of bed at once, prancing circles around Dinky.
“Whatisitwhatisitwhatisitwhatisit!!!!!!!!!!!”
“Sister, your effervescent squeals are overpowering. Please desist.”
Sparkler obeyed, though she continued to quiver with anticipation.
Dinky placed the package in front of her sister, who began its squeal again but stopped midway.
“Aww! You made pretty wrapping paper even though you can’t really draw!”
Dinky blushed a bit in embarrassment. “I’m capable of drawing. What do you think my blueprints are?”
“Fancy ruler tricks.”
Dinky had no answer for that. “Open the package.”
Conditioned by her society to save everything, Amethyst was uncharacteristically careful when removing the wrapping paper.
“Ooh!” she said. “A pretty box with buttons!”
“It records moving pictures.”
“You mean like the Dalek Fighter Training Videos Mommy was in?”
“Why, yes, something akin to that.”
“Awesome! I’m making something for you too! Except, uh, it’s not done yet. You remember, my present you gave me last year was a month late? Because the right thing had to show up in the scrap pile?”
“That’s a perfectly legitimate excuse, Amethyst. You are justified in your lateness.”
“Oh, good. You think the Doctor has toys like this?”
“The Doctor is a myth. He does not exist.”
Sparkler’s happy demeanor vanished in an instant. “He does too! Mommy doesn’t lie!”
Dinky sighed, knowing better than to press the issue. “I only hope that you exercise better judgment when you become old enough to vote.”
“Gosh, you’re cranky. You okay?”
“Why do you ask?”
“You feel funny.”
“Pardon?”
Amethyst bit her lip. “Uh, just something seems off, that’s all.”
Dinky sighed. Amethyst was uncanny in one respect; discerning emotions.
“Well, if I must confess, it’s Mother. She seemed less lucid than usual today. Princess Sparkle says all will be well, and I have no reason to doubt her, but all the same, I’d like a second opinion. You cope with this type of thing remarkably well. Perhaps I could ask you a favor?”
“Of course I’ll check on Mommy!”
Dinky suppressed a sigh of relief. It would never do to show excess anxiety in front of Amethyst. Such a sensitive soul needed someone to look up to, and Dinky would fill that place.
She was okay with playing the strong one.
For Amethyst’s sake.
ooo
Sparkler was happy! She was going to see her mother, and moreover, she had a splendiferous new toy!
Dinky was the best sister in the world! The air around her felt like globs of ResponsiblilityDisciplineCourageDedication, and just to spend a little time with all that was invigorating!
The air around ponies held everything Sparkler needed to know in life. As far as she knew, she was the only pony that could get other ponies “stuff” by being near them. It could be a little too much to handle sometimes, but Rarity’s daughter Green Pearl didn’t call her “Princess Plucky” for nothing. Sparkler wondered what would be like to have wings and a horn, and also whatever earth ponies had, all at once. It seemed like a big job, being a princess.
Besides Twilight, Sparkler really really really liked Luna! Luna played with her in her dreams all the time, and helped her through her nightmares. Ponyville ponies had more nightmares than the average pony, she’d said.
She passed other ponies as she made her way to the hospital, and it was all a big mush of PatriotismMourningHopeApprehension. She knew that the hospital would give off vibes of AntisepticPainWorryPrayerSweetCelestiaDeath. She frowned; she hoped the visit would not take long.
She entered the double doors and made her way to the reception desk, where a middle- aged mare sat attentively attending to records.
“Hello, Stalwart Secretary!”
The mare looked up and smiled; she hardly ever smiled, but Sparkler could make almost anypony do so. “Hello, Sparkler.”
“How’s Mommy today?”
“Tired. She’s spent most of the day sleeping, but I’m sure she’d be glad to see you. Go right in.”
“Thank you.” Sparkler went past the desk, taking a left into a hallway of doors. The doors used to have silver numbers on them, but the metal had been scraped off during the Great Meltdown, when ponies of the town turned in all usable metals to the Defense Department. Little index cards that were now pasted on the doors instead.
Before she opened the door to room 101, if she briefly wondered where her mother would take her today, or rather, when. When the hospital ponies had been diagnosing her mother, they had wondered briefly if she had some kind of dementia, but they had ruled that out. Derpy was too young, and she talked about things so far in the past that she wouldn’t even have been born when they happened, let alone remembered them. Sparkler knew her mother had seemed different ever since her illness began; in addition to the usual LoveCompassionMercyGentlenessSelfDoubt, there was now a dash of AllThingsAllTimeAllSpace. Sparkler felt it, and it was probably what made her mother’s mind wander. Sparkler couldn’t understand why this magic- for it had to be magic-was hurting her mother. Sometimes when her mother was sleeping, Sparkler would close her eyes and allow herself to merge with it, and it never hurt. It felt warm and natural and normal. Sparkler had grown up sensing emotions and feeling things. She had learned keep her mouth shut though, because these things were hard to explain to other ponies. Only her mother really supported her, even though she didn’t quite get it. Sparkler didn’t have anyone to talk to about it anymore now that her mother was sick.
She pushed the door open, and her mother was in her bed, and despite what the secretary had said, she was awake.
“Hello, Sparkler.” Sparkler had learned to ignore the hiss of the respirator perpetually in the background during her visits. She was just glad that her mother was calling her by the right name today.
“Hi, Mommy.” She smiled. This visit was going better than the visits had for months. She concentrated for a second. The weird stuff was still there, but it had been pushed aside for the time being.
“Come here sweetie. It seems like ages since I’ve talked to you.” Derpy extended a grey hoof, beckoning her daughter towards the bed.
“Kay.” Sparkler put her head in her mother’s lap, and her mother began to stroke her hair.
“How are you feeling?” her mother’s voice was rhythmic and soothing.
“I’m glad to see you. You’ve been out of it a lot.”
Her mother frowned in regret. “I know.”
Sparkler felt like she had won the Monthly Drawing, or gotten into a really really short line during Market Day. She hadn’t had a real conversation with her mother in almost two months, so she decided to push her luck.
“Mommy?”
“Mmm?”
“Did you make the Doctor up?”
Derpy stopped stroking her daughter’s hair. “Oh sweetheart, of course not! Why would I make up something like that? Where did you get that idea?”
Sparkler’s felt herself tearing up. She hadn’t wanted to make her mother unhappy. “Dinky said…”
“Sparkler, do you know what a skeptic is?”
Sparkler inhaled wetly, shaking her head.
“A skeptic is somepony who only believes in things that they’ve seen or things that have been proven. Dinky’s a skeptic. You need to remember that just because she thinks something isn’t real doesn’t mean that you have to think that way too. You’re very special. Dinky’s special too, but you need to learn how to be special in a Sparkler way.”
“ I don’t want to fight Daleks anymore…”
“I know. I know Sparkler, and if there was anything I could do to make things easier, I would. But I can’t.” Derpy’s voice trembled. “There’s so much you still don’t know. I could tell you stories for hours and not be finished telling you all the stuff that you need to learn. I wish your Daddy was here, I really do. You were born to do great stuff. You’re going to be big and important, like he was-is. He’s a part of you, and you can’t ignore that part of yourself anymore. I have a feeling that you’re going to have to use it very soon. Things can’t go on like this much longer.”
“What do you mean mommy?”
Derpy seemed to ignore the question. “What day is it? Have I missed your birthday?”
“Nope! It’s today.”
“Open the drawer next to my bed.”
Sparkler obeyed. Inside the drawer were two square boxes, about the size and shape of a square slice of cheese and a few centimeters deep.
“The one on the left is for your sister. Actually, it really doesn’t matter much. Just make sure she gets one. These were given to me by a friend in Canterlot. He’s a Dalek fighter too, but Celestia hired him herself, and she didn’t put him in our force. I told him all about how you were growing up without a daddy and he thought that these might help. I think you’re old enough to have them now. ”
“What are they?”
“Open one.”
Sparkler pried the cardboard lid off of one of the boxes. What came out looked like one of Dinky’s inventions, only better made. It was a big clunky wristwatch-something with a blank face.
“What kind of doohickey is that?” Sparkler whispered, awestruck.
“That’s for you and your sister to figure out. Now listen to me muffin, this isn’t a toy. Sometimes dangerous things can happen when you use it. Only use it when you really need it, you hear me?”
“How will I know when to use it? What if I use it wrong?”
“You’ll know.”
Sparkler was silent for a moment. “Mommy?”
“Yes, muffin?”
“Do you know why you might be sick?”
Derpy opened her mouth to answer, but at that moment, Sparkler’s luck ran out. Sparkler felt the Time Stuff flare back up, and her mother’s eyes-both of them- shifted slightly to the left, then back to her.
“Ah, Motherly Maid. Just the mare I wanted to see. Tell me, do you have Princess Celestia’s scones ready? Ever since the banishment of her sister last month, she’s been in the most frightful temper.”
“Uh, the cook said they’d be ready in about two minutes,” said Sparkler, who was used to taking these kinds of things in stride.
“Excellent. Be a dear and go fetch Bustling Butler, would you? There’s still so much more to do for the dinner between Celestia and the gryphon ambassador.”
Sparkler left, as she thought that a maid would probablygo right away. Outside of the hospital, Dinky was waiting for her.
“Well?” she asked, ears pricked forward expectantly, her tone rather businesslike.
Sparkler thought about what she should say. She felt Dinky’s fatigue waft over her and decided that the presents could wait. She felt angry and confused, but she knew that she had to be happy. Dinky wasn’t very good reading faces, so she didn’t pick up on the fact that her sister was hiding something as Sparkler smiled and said, “She seemed better than usual today.”
As Dinky sighed in relief, Sparkler realized that this was her job. She wasn’t as smart as Dinky or as important as her mother, but she knew how to make people happy. It wasn’t easy. Dinky was unhappy most of the time, so Sparkler wasn’t allowed to be sad. Sometimes she wanted nothing other than a good long cry. She hadn’t been able to cry, really cry, in a long time. But she was okay with playing the happy one.
For Dinky’s sake.