Part One, Chapter Four: Introductions out of the way
I had faced down entire griffon battalions less intimidating than the small unicorn filly glaring at me from across the dining room table. It was a withering stare that cut into the very fibre of my being.
"So you must be Dinky. Your mother told me all about you on the way over," I ventured, struggling to keep my composure. It was hard enough to appear regal and aloof with my head stooped low to avoid bumping the ceiling of the humble dwelling. A punishing silence followed, broken only by the clinking of crockery as Ditzy prepared lunch for us in the other room.
"Did she?" came the scathing and rhetorical reply. I flinched visibly as the filly finally spoke.
"Uh... yes... she... she said you were a wonderful young filly who... who tried very hard at... at school," I stammered, sending a desperate and hopeful glance at the kitchen door.
Please come back, Ditzy.
"Do you know how many days a week my mom gets to take off?" asked Dinky, her gaze unfaltering.
"No?" I squeaked. Come on! She's just a foal! You need to get a grip!
"Just one. Just one day a week to spend with me. Do you know which day of the week she gets to take off?" the filly narrowed her eyes, leaning forward on the table. She should get a cutie mark in interrogating criminals. This was gruelling.
"Today?" I quaked internally.
"That's right!" the filly banged her hoof on the table to punctuate her point, "But instead of spending time with me, what's my mom doing right now?"
"Making lunch for me," I bit my lip.
"Making lunch for you. You! Princess of all Equestria. Who has a whole bunch of ponies that make lunch for her every day. Who could eat lunch absolutely anywhere she wanted with anypony she wanted. But choose to eat lunch here. In my house," I couldn't make eye contact with her. Was this what my subjects felt in my presence, perhaps? This shame.
What a golden opportunity. Certainly this was awkward and embarrassing. But what was it I wanted from my subjects? What was it this filly wants from me? To debase myself and make tearful apologies? Certainly not.
I cleared my throat, "Tell me, Dinky. If you were in my place and it was you who was ruler of Equestria, able to eat lunch wherever you wanted with whoever you wanted, where would you eat lunch?"
"Here with my mom!" Dinky did not hesitate for so much as a second.
"May I hazard a guess as to why?" Dinky nodded, "I believe that your mom is a very, very special pony. A pony who always makes time for the ponies she cares about. A pony who would never let you down. A pony who loves you very much."
The filly's gaze finally softened and I was able to rebuild some semblance of my usual royal facade.
"Is it truly surprising to you that I would want to have lunch here? Given that this is the location you would choose if you were in my place," I wish I was able to properly straighten my head but I wouldn't want to puncture the ceiling with my horn, "I think your mother is a very special pony too. And I hope that you'll be generous enough to share her with me... just this once."
Dinky pondered this for a minute. Weighing my words. Finally, she stood up and trotted over to me. She wriggled in between the table and myself, settling herself between my forelegs and leaning back against my chest.
"Yeah, I guess you're alright. Don't be such a phoney and I'll be your friend," I peered down at the small filly now seated beneath me. Her anger seemed to have rapidly subsided.
"Phoney?"
"That fake-talk thing you did when you came in here: "Ooh, what a lovely home you have", "My, what a delightful daughter", "I can't thank you enough"... you know. That phoney-speak. Don't do any of that and you and I will get along fine, 'kay?" the young filly had done an excellent job at mimicking my practiced and deliberately formal way of speaking. I had always thought of it as 'Princess-Speak' but I suppose 'Phoney-Speak' would be just as adequate.
"Very well... I mean... okay. I will... I'll try," I caught myself putting on a fake smile and wiped it off my face. No façades.
I felt a real smile form as Ditzy danced into the room, balancing a tray of sandwiches on her head.
"Mom? Careful now. Just take it slowly. Nice and slow," I felt Dinky tense up.
"I got this!" Ditzy tripped over... nothing... apparently... just as she spoke the words. She stumbled violently to the left and then lurched back to the right, her wings flapping frantically.
My magic enveloped her, gently lifting the pegasus and placing her next to us and the sandwiches carefully on the table before us.
"Heck yeah! Go Princess!" Dinky nudged me in the chest affectionately.
You are more than welcome, my little pony. Said the phoney voice in my head. Instead I laughed haughtily and said, "And now that I've used my magic to save our lunch I will use it to hog it and eat more than everypony else as well," I telekinetically swiped a sandwich and stuffed it into my mouth in a manner most unbefitting of a Princess.
"Hay! I got magic too you know!" Dinky concentrated hard and one of the sandwiches lifted and trembled its way through the air to her mouth.
"No fair!" Ditzy scrambled onto the table and chased after the floating sandwiches.
There were no words to describe how much I enjoyed that lunch. I have eaten lunch with famous comedians and not laughed so hard. I have eaten lunch made by world famous chefs that did not taste as good. I have eaten on the brink of active volcanoes and not felt such warmth. I spent far longer than I intended too. Ultimately, Dinky had to damn near shove me out the door when my stalling tactics ran out. It was already evening by the time I finally set out to leave.
"I hope we can see each other a bit more," grinned Ditzy as I stepped out into the dusk.
"I'm certain that we will," I'll make sure of that.
"Are you going back to the castle?"
"Hmmm... not just yet. There's something I need to do first."
______________________________________________________
"Well, that took longer than expected," Spike dumped his backpack onto the library floor and then immediately picked it up again after Twilight shot a meaningful glance his way.
"At least the bridge is safe for use now. Take the books upstairs. You know where the Equestrian Architecture and Structural Engineering sections are, right?" smiled Twilight as I stepped out from my hiding place and crept up behind her.
"Hello Twilight! I thought I'd pop by and see you!"
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
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I love popping up out of nowhere and scaring people, I've been likened to a ghost because of this.
3774554
They call you a ghost? They call me a ninja. I don't try to sneak up on them, i'm just there.
Great chapter so far and such fast updates!
Best of luck, stay healthy, and update soon.
-Sky66
3774588
I just sort of drift up to people, and they don't realize I'm there until i grab them by the shoulder and scream in their ear.
Ha! Tia just got told off by a foal! And now she's trolling Twilight! YAY
I'm liking the story, nice to see Celestia loosening up.
3774588
I'm the same with the accidental ninja skills. When I was ~6 my mom almost called the cops to report me missing before my brother pointed out that I had been sleeping on the couch for the whole half-hour she had been looking for me.
I can sneak up on people...even though they see me. One second, i'm in front of them..The next, i'm behind them. They say i can teleport.
3774613
(chuckling) That was a funny story. Here's one of mine:
A group of friends and I went to a convention. For more than half the time they couldn't find me even though I was within 10 feet from them. They started to call me a ninja. We stopped at a McDonalds and I was the last to reconvene at the car. The car was at the edge of the parking lot with barely any cars between the restaurant and the vehicle. My friends booed me and said I wasn't being sneaky enough (since they saw me from over 20 yards away). Then our driver walks up right next to me and asks my buddies in the car where I was. Totally invisible.
3774648
Want to join me in my pickpocketing career?
I approve this ship.
3774659
Sorry I cannot. I truly can't be a spy on purpose. Whenever I eavesdrop on someone, I have to face them and look at the people conversing. I suspect I would have to do the same when pickpocketing. When I focus too much I get tunnel vision. It's why I don't do well when it comes to driving a(n actual) car or RTS games (even though I still love / play them).
No, I've read it all already! More please! I'll give you muffins!
Bow before Dinky, bane of Princesses.
I like this version of Celestia than the one in the show. Popping up nonchalantly while greeting someone into shock really livens up my day.
3774597 ahh so your less of a ghost and more of a banchee
This is such an adorable story. I luv it.
MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I................. Have never thought of this ship, but now I have. And...................... I LIKE IT!!!!!
Crazy Twilight Sparkle in 3....2.....1.
This Dinky is the most precious thing ever. All of Ditzy's ability to see through situations to what others overlook, but without the ditziness or clumsiness. She's going to go far.
Shouldn't that be "Hay yeah!"?
What ponies are saying about this fic:
Sea Swirl:
fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/332/2/2/_macro__sea_swirl_approves_of_this_ship_by_tritebristle-d5mfm4t.png
Wreck-it-Ralph:
media.tumblr.com/tumblr_md2vbjvgiQ1qfk1jq.jpg
(More to come later because I have to leave for church.)
Scaring people is fun
Just a heads up, in the short description you called Derpy a "malemare".
3775392
How does that keep happening
People probably thought it was some kind of r63 fic.
Sup....I'm celestia.....I'll just pop up and say hello! xD
3775319 Gasp! Language! She's just a filly!
3775794
Hence the minced oath...
always a good read thanks
Great
Love this Dinky. I want to see more of her! Her and Celestia's dynamic is hilarious. I like that you're taking the romance slow and not immediately rushing into infatuation.
This is awesome!
Loving this.
So much. 
Very cute so far. Favorited and Upvoted!
Honestly surprised I like it as much as I have so far.
What I love so far: your treatment of Ditzy Doo. She is by far one of my favorite ponies, so I am very critical when it comes to her treatment in a story. Your depiction is great, she is unique, and a little quirky, clumsy… but still intelligent.
And Celestia's inner turmoil is great! You've got a great balance between the loneliness and the frustration.
The only thing I have to say that was personally a minor nitpick for me was Dinky: she seemed a little 'older' to me than just a foal. Though I could be wrong, I assume this is pre-alicornification, therefore Dinky would still be young (~6-10yo).
Writing young characters can be difficult at times, I will admit. Even with Dinky, who is supposedly a child prodigy. The indignation that Dinky feels towards Celestia is believable, but her reasoning and the way she articulates her issues seems very adult. If she were aged ~14-16yo (human equiv) then it would (to me) fit, but even a child prodigy still sounds like a child (I usually go by them being maybe two or three years advanced in speech and social skills).
Best way I have found, if you think a child is being too adult, find a brother/sister/niece/nephew/
stolen child off the streetto run the dialog past. If they look at you with a bit of a blank stare, then you need to dumb it down a bit for it to be believable child dialog.And damn it, that minor nitpick has taken up most of this post, and I really can't stress enough it is a minor nitpick, it is just something I see often on fics, so I am kind of opinionated about it
I hope this doesn't discourage you, as I am talking about a very small portion of your story so far (what, less than 5%?), and even with the nitpick, it is still very enjoyable (there is a reason I have faved and upvoted!)
Looking forward to see what you do with this story.
- Anon
3777886
The only kids I spend time with are the ones I teach Judo to twice a week. And the day their sensei asks them what they think of his my little pony fanfiction is the day their sensei literally bursts into flame from shear embarrassment.
I've never written Dinky before... or any foal characters really, and I guess I overshot it a bit. Maybe I can improve it next time around.
3779692
Hah! Yeah, that could be a little embarrassing, that is true.
Well, regardless of if you tweak your foal writing, it's a great story regardless!
I love that ending.
3783977
I lol'd
-Lightning
Cute, and unbelievably uplifting. Have a thumb up a fave and a thank you.
These were all introductory?
Ah well, I really like this. Dinky was hilarious. To think, she scared celestia more than a hord of griffons
Celestia: I'm Princess Celestia.
Dinky: Oh really? Then I guess I should give a buck. Hold on, let me look in my invisible bag of bucks, I might still have one left.
Celestia: Um...
Dinky: Nope, I was wrong! I'm aaaaall out of bucks to give!
Hahhaha! This was fantastic!
4984006
[erfection