1. The Secret
The life of a filly is essentially time spent with everypony older than you telling you to never, under any circumstance, do something; then, five minutes later, telling you – in slightly different wording – to do that very thing. It was a time, basically, of contradiction. Case in point: don’t keep secrets. But, everypony loves surprises. In order to surprise a pony, you need to keep a secret from them.
It didn’t bother Dinky Doo, exactly, but it was something she’d had an awful lot of time to think about over the past year or so, ever since she’d determined to keep a certain secret from everypony, but especially her mother, since that secret was a surprise, and that made it a good secret. Frankly, Dinky was amazed she’d been able to keep the secret/surprise for this long, but also, in a way, proud of herself.
Dinky, however, forced her mind to stop going over that particular line of thought – though as she neared her objective, she was finding it harder and harder – and instead focused on the chicken in front of her. The chicken was, in turn, focused hard on her.
Being a filly, the juxtaposition of the two did not seem strange to Dinky.
“Okay, Elizabeak,” Dinky said as she stepped closer to the chicken. The chicken took a step back. “Come here girl…come here…come here come here come here!”
Dinky had taken a few quick steps forward, trying to catch the chicken in her hooves, but the white, feathery rogue had proven to be too nimble for the filly. It scampered off, while Dinky, having expected to end up with a chicken in her hooves and instead finding a distinct lack of such, stumbled and fell into the dirt. On the other hoof, her movement had at least made Elizabeak run away from the fence’s gate and sort of in the direction of the chicken coop she had escaped from.
Optimism! Dinky’s mother said it was important to always look on the bright side of things.
“Come back here!” Dinky exclaimed, albeit quietly, as she gave chase to the renegade poultry. Optimism could only take a pony so far, after all. She needed to catch Elizabeak and get her back into the coop before Miss Fluttershy came back over, or else Miss Fluttershy might get angry and her, and then Dinky wouldn’t get her three bits. Had she not been currently chasing a fowl, Dinky might have felt bad about being more concerned about her bits than Elizabeak being back in the safety of her coop. But with her so close to her objective…
(Dinky had been happy when she had learned that word. It somehow sounded more important than ‘goal’ and was easier to say than ‘aspiration’).
The filly leaped again, but Elizabeak proved to be a nimble avian, once more avoiding Dinky’s hooves. The filly considered trying her telekinesis for a moment. Miss Trixie had given her a few pointers on how to improve it, and it had improved by leaps and bounds over the past two months since she had first met the Representative of Luna’s Night Court, but Dinky still wasn’t sure she wanted to attempt it on a living thing. She had a tendency to grip things too hard, and, well, break them. It was happening less and less these days, but still, Dinky knew enough to not seriously consider trying telekinesis on a living creature.
Unfortunately, Elizabeak was just too agile for the filly to catch, too crafty. Staring at her with those beady little chicken eyes like she was mocking Dinky for being unable to catch her. Stupid bird.
Dinky had a secret weapon, though, one she hadn’t brought out yet for fear of the potential repercussions, both to her body and her conscience. But after five minutes of trying to catch Elizabeak and put her back in her coop where she belonged, Dinky had no choice. Sighing, she turned from the hen, trotted over to the left outside wall of the chicken coop, and grabbed the receptacle for her weapon, a sturdy bowl – this she did trust her telekinesis on – then used a hoof to open a barrel and scoop out her weapon: chicken feed.
Not even the much-lauded Rainbow Dash could have moved with the speed that Elizabeak did up to Dinky at the sight and sound of the chicken feed being scooped up and readied for her. Inside the coop, the other chickens in their cages, who had heard the sound, began clucking and squawking as well. They had already been fed, but chickens were voracious little feathered monsters, always hungry for more feed. Always.
Dinky had used to like chickens. Then she’d worked with them.
Walking and using her telekinesis at the same time was hard for the filly, but she managed to accomplish it, moving the bowl of chicken feed into the coop along with her, Elizabeak following and pecking at Dinky’s hooves, trying to get her to drop the bowl of feed so the chicken could feast. Later, she would probably think that this had been excellent practice for her telekinesis. At the moment, all it made her want to do was given Elizabeak a solid buck to her beak.
With effort, Dinky managed to perform her latest trick – holding two things aloft telekinetically at once, in this case, taking some feed from the bowl and putting it into Elizabeak’s cage. The chicken eagerly leapt in after it, and Dinky closed the cage’s door quickly, locking it securely. Elizabeak seemed not to mind as the hen pecked away at her feed, but the remaining chickens were, by now, in an uproar and probably contemplating launching a coup for the coop in order to get their beaks on feed. Sighing heavily, Dinky began using her hooves to give feed to every chicken, making sure none got left out, all the while hoping that Miss Fluttershy wouldn’t come by and see that she was feeding the chickens again, albeit significantly smaller portions than their normal meals. Once finished with her task, the filly rushed out of the chicken coop and closed the door securely.
“Take that,” Dinky proclaimed proudly, as she trotted away from the chicken coop.
---
My little pony, My little pony
Ahh ahh ahh ahhh...
My little pony
Friendship never meant that much to me
My little pony
But you're all here and now I can see
Stormy weather; Lots to share
A musical bond; With love and care
Teaching laughter; It's an easy feat,
And magic makes it all complete!
You have my little ponies
How'd I ever make so many true friends?
---
Dinky Doo wasn’t quite sure what introverted meant, but she knew that Miss Fluttershy was a shining example of introvertedness (which was probably a word), barely ever interacting with any other pony due to her being extremely, well, shy. In fact, Miss Fluttershy really only ever talked to three ponies that Dinky knew of. The first was Rainbow Dash, the town’s weather manager whom Dinky knew was Fluttershy’s oldest friend. The second was Dinky’s mother, Ditzy Doo, who delivered mail to Fluttershy and also often would run errands in town for the yellow-coated pegasus. And the third was Dinky herself. That, though, was probably only because even a pony like Fluttershy couldn’t possibly be shy around a pony she’d known since that pony was only a few days old.
Dinky smiled across the table at Miss Fluttershy even as she put the three silver bits that she’d given her into her winter cloak, telekinetically. “Thank-you!” Dinky said as she did, though despite her enthusiasm, she kept her voice down. Miss Fluttershy tended to flinch away from loud speaking voices, Dinky had learned.
“You’re welcome,” Fluttershy responded sweetly. Most of what Miss Fluttershy said came out sweetly. There wasn’t a bad bone in her body. Dinky sometimes wondered if that was maybe a problem, though. “Don’t spend it all in one place!”
Dinky was old enough to know that saying that phrase was really more of a tradition than an actual request, so she just smiled and nodded. A thought occurred to her, though, as she did, one that oddly hadn’t come to her despite helping Fluttershy out with housekeeping for about a year now. “Miss Fluttershy, can I ask a question?”
“Of course, dear.”
Dinky considered. “It’s kind of a personal question.”
For a moment, Fluttershy looked almost panicked at the thought of having to answer a personal question, but in a surprising show of resolve, the yellow pegasus steeled herself. “Well, as long as it’s not too personal…”
Dinky shook her head. “I don’t think so. I’m just wondering where you get all your bits from. I mean, I don’t think you have a job like momma or even like Miss Trixie…”
“Oh,” Fluttershy responded, looking much relieved at the nature of the question; apparently she didn’t consider it ‘too personal.’ “Um, I’m independently wealthy.”
Dinky Doo stared. She understood the individual words, but not the phrase. Fluttershy seemed to realize this after a few moments, and explained. “My family, the Poseys, are invested in the weather production for Equestria.”
“Invested?”
“Oh, sorry…” Fluttershy apologized, putting a hoof to her mouth. “Um…we own a part of the weather factory in Cloudsdale.”
“Really?” Dinky asked eagerly. Not too long ago, they had learned a little about weather production in school. “What part? The rainbow fountain? The lightning coils?”
“Oh, no,” Fluttershy explained, looking embarrassed. “Um, I don’t mean an actual part. We’re invested in it. It means that any money that the factory makes, my family gets a share of. Um, a large share. A controlling share, actually. Then we put the money we get into the bank, and it collects interest. That means that the banks give us money just for having money.”
Dinky’s jaw dropped at that concept. Suddenly a phrase she’d heard once, the rich get richer, made a lot more sense.
“Oh, but only if they think it’s a safe investment!” Fluttershy explained quickly. “We have to keep most of it in the banks, we can only spend so much each year or else we don’t earn interest anymore, and it only does that because it’s been in there for a long, long time. But, um…yeah. It’s all a bit much back in Cloudsdale, so I live in Ponyville instead and just let my parents and brother and sister handle everything.”
Dinky blinked a few times as she took this in. “Wow,” she intoned. “That’s really neat, Miss Fluttershy!”
Fluttershy beamed. “Thank-you, Dinky Doo. But, um, why – if you don’t mind me asking, that is, I mean – why are you so interested in money all of a sudden?”
Dinky considered telling Miss Fluttershy about her secret. Secrets were hard to keep, after all, but Dinky had once heard Miss Trixie said that a secret stops being secret if more than one pony knows about it. Then again, Miss Fluttershy had been instrumental in Dinky getting to the point she was currently at. When Dinky’s mother had to work on the weekends, Miss Fluttershy foal-sat for Dinky, and Dinky would help Miss Fluttershy around her cottage with all the animals that Miss Fluttershy tended to. Miss Fluttershy had even begun paying her the three bits every week, stating that if a pony did work, she should be rewarded somehow.
A gentle knocking came from the front door to Fluttershy’s home before Dinky could blurt out everything and, by extension, possibly ruin everything. Fluttershy flinched noticeably, looking like she was about to leap for cover, but managed to not flee at Dinky Doo hopped from where she’d been sitting in front of the table and ran over to the nearest window to check outside, quickly spotting the gray-coated, yellow maned pegasus pony, still dressed in her blue mail mare’s uniform despite now being off-shift and the sun nearing the horizon to the west. “It’s momma!” the filly exclaimed happily as she rushed to the door and opened it with her hooves – there was no way she could concentrate on telekinesis right now – and quickly bursting through and nuzzling her mother, who returned the nuzzle eagerly.
Fact: Ditzy Doo was the best mother in the world. There were a lot of reasons for this, and a lot of fillies and colts claimed this about their mothers, but as far as she was concerned, her mother had actual proof, in the form of being the Element of Kindness. Not having the Element of Kindness – actually being the Element of Kindness. Ditzy Doo had tried to explain it to her daughter, and a lot of it had gone over Dinky’s head, but the unicorn filly certainly understood that this was altogether a more impressive feat than simply having the Element.
Eventually, the embrace had to end, and Ditzy Doo pulled away from Dinky and met her eyes. With her right eye, anyway, the other having drifted off, and for that matter Ditzy Doo had to turn her head a little to even get the right one to look at her daughter. Dinky’s mom had something the doctors called strabismus pretty badly, which meant that her two eyes almost never aligned properly without her mother trying really hard. But Dinky didn’t care about that. “Hi, momma!” Dinky exclaimed.
“Hi, muffin,” Dinky responded with a warm smile. “How was everything today?”
“Great! I helped Miss Fluttershy with her chickens since she had to help Mister Fox.”
“Who’s an actual fox, right?” Ditzy asked, looking past Dinky at Fluttershy, who had gotten up from the table and approached the door, considerably more at-ease now that she knew that the pony who had shown up at her door was both already known to her, and expected regardless.
“Yes,” Fluttershy confirmed. “The poor thing had broken his tail, I don’t know how he managed to do it to himself…”
“Probably trying to get at your chickens,” Ditzy theorized.
Fluttershy’s eyes widened, covering her mouth with her front hooves. “Oh, no! Mister Fox would never! He promised me ever since he came here once with a bad ear infection.”
Had anypony else said that, it might have sounded crazy, but both mother and daughter had learned long ago that Fluttershy really could talk to animals; indeed, it was her special talent, signified by her cutie mark of a trio of butterflies. Therefore, instead of seeking out the nearest doctor, Ditzy Doo just nodded. “Well,” she said, leaning down to nuzzle Dinky again, “I’d love to stay and chat, Fluttershy, but I’ve had a long day. If you don’t mind, I think I’ll just get going.”
Dinky was already getting her winter cap and cape. Pegasus ponies like her mother and Fluttershy tended to have a natural resistance to cold weather, but Dinky was a unicorn pony and wasn’t quite so lucky. Winter and snow were fun, but she was eagerly looking forward to winter wrap-up, which would be arriving in only a few short weeks, especially seeing as there had been extra snowfall and cold weather scheduled over the past few weeks since the Longest Night festival and…
…well, Dinky tried not to think about what had happened too much, but in short an evil alicorn had escaped from her thousand-year imprisonment on the sun and made it really hot, like a summer day, outside in the middle of winter, melting a lot of snow. The weather services across Equestria had to make up for that with a colder winter than had been planned for some reason that went over Dinky's head, but which Dinky accepted as "very important."
Fluttershy had nodded at Ditzy Doo’s statement. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.” she looked to Dinky. “And I’ll see you next week, Dinky Doo!”
“Next week!” Dinky promised with a smile.
Dinky and Ditzy turned and left Fluttershy’s cottage at that, walking down from the small hill it was perched on, Dinky sticking close to her mother, something that even the little filly had realized she’d been doing more ever since the Longest Night festival. Dinky had heard some terms like traumatic experience (Dinky understood that to mean ‘something very scary that still scares you even after it’s over’) tossed around in reference to the other thing that the evil alicorn, Corona, had done: kidnapped Dinky and about fifty other foals, holding them hostage in order to make Ponyville do what she said. That had been scary, but at the end of it her mother had saved her and everypony else, and become the Element of Kindness as well. If Corona showed up again, Dinky was certain that her mother would just get Miss Trixie, Miss Carrot Top, and all the other Elements of Harmony, and make Corona go away just like they had last time.
…still, no reason not to stick close to her mother, just in case.
A chill wind chose that moment to sweep across the fields that lay between Ponyville proper and the Everfree Forest, which Fluttershy’s cottage sat near the edge of. Dinky shivered a little at it, and her mother noticed. “Want a ride?” Ditzy asked, kneeling a little so that Ditzy could get on her back, where it was warm and her mother could use her wings to keep cold winds from Dinky’s face.
Dinky paused, however. Her mother had just had a long shift at the post office, and Dinky knew that this was following a long shift yesterday, as well. Her hooves and shoulders and dock would be sore, and she was already more trudging than trotting. Basically, Ditzy Doo looked tired, and Dinky didn’t want to add to that. “I’m okay,” she said, which wasn’t quite a lie, as while she was a little cold, she was hardly freezing. “It’s just a little cold. I don’t want to be a bother.”
Ditzy Doo blinked a few times at that. “Dinky, you’re never a bother,” she said.
“But you had a long workday and – ”
Her mother cut her off with a smile, and leaned forward, nuzzling her. “Dinky Doo, one day not too long from now you’re probably going to be too big for me to carry, and not want me to carry you anyway. I’d like to get in as much as possible while I can.” She smiled at Dinky. “It’s my birthday in a week, you could call it an early birthday gift.”
Dinky waited only a moment more before smiling and nodding, climbing onto her mother’s back and nuzzling her neck and mane. “Happy birthday,” she wished.
Ditzy Doo stood easily and trotted with a notable spring to her step, looking over her shoulder and smiling at Dinky Doo as her wings raised to keep her daughter safe from any stray winter breezes that might come along. “Best gift ever,” she informed her filly.
---
Dinky Doo’s home was an apartment over the post office. It was small, consisting of only a kitchenette, a room which did double duty as both living room and dining room, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. It was, however, fairly modern, with gas lights and gas heating. The latter was somewhat unreliable, though, so occasionally on very cold nights the living/dining room pulled extra duty as Ditzy and Dinky’s bedroom, since it also had a more traditional wood fireplace. Tonight, though, the heat seemed to be behaving itself.
On coming home, Ditzy Doo had immediately begun preparing dinner, with Dinky helping out as much as possible. Sometimes Ditzy and Dinky had to make do to fairly small meals – Dinky understood that being a mail mare didn’t pay nearly as well as Dinky thought it should have, given that Ditzy Doo helped keep Ponyville in contact with the rest of Equestria – but saving the whole world from Corona had prompted Princess Luna to grant each of the Elements of Harmony a sizeable reward. Dinky didn’t know how much, exactly, but her mother had been rendered speechless at first when Miss Trixie had come by to explain it all, and had spent most of the next few days walking on starlight. Tonight, dinner consisted of a big loaf of bread, almost the size of Dinky’s head, and a larger assortment of vegetables than Dinky had ever seen in one place. Carrots, celery, zucchini, broccoli, tomato (which was a vegetable in Dinky’s eyes no matter what Miss Cheerilee told her), two kinds of lettuce, along with shredded parmesan cheese and croutons, all arranged into a massive salad for the two to split.
(Dinky was less than happy about the zucchini, but being a foal, she had learned numerous techniques to avoid eating it – mostly).
After dinner, Dinky had to go to bed almost immediately, as she had school in the morning. Her mother tucked her in to her bed, and sang a lullaby for her. Dinky pretended to fall asleep, though only slowly so that her mother wouldn’t suspect a thing. Once Ditzy Doo had left her bedroom, however, Dinky quietly climbed out of bed, retrieving two of the three silver bits from her winter cloak, and making her way over to her bedroom’s closet. Inside of her closet was a box, filled with various odds and ends that had caught her eyes as she’d grown up, but more importantly the box covered a loose floorboard. Pulling up the floorboard revealed – thanks to Dinky’s softly-glowing horn – a mass of silver and a piece of paper. Specifically, ninety-eight silver bits, a number that grew by two as Dinky put her newly earned bits into the pile.
It had been hard, so very hard, saving up all this money, rather than spending it on candy and toys like Miss Fluttershy expected her to do. And she did, admittedly, keep one of the three bits she earned for herself every week, which she would spend on whatever she liked.
But this was Dinky’s secret/surprise, or at least it was the secret that was going to help her get the surprise. Dinky had the best mother in the world, and the best mother in the world deserved the best birthday gift in the world. Last year, all Dinky Doo had been able to get for her mother was a hoof-made card. Ditzy Doo had loved it, and Dinky knew that her mother had loved it, but it just didn’t seem like enough. Unfortunately, any real gift required money, which was in an even shorter supply for Dinky than it was for Ditzy Doo, given that she was just a foal who hadn't even earned her cutie mark yet.
Then Miss Fluttershy had started paying her for helping her at the cottage each week when she looked after her, and Dinky had formed a Plan: save the money. Most of it, anyway. But she had to save it secretly, lest her mother realize what she was up to and ruin the surprise. Of course, even Dinky hadn’t known quite what to get her mother, but a few weeks ago, that had changed when Diamond Tiara, from school, had mentioned off-hand to her friend Silver Spoon – and Dinky Doo had overheard – that a brand-new jewelry store would be opening up in Ponyville soon, and that her daddy was going to get her anything she wanted from it as soon as it opened.
Dinky didn’t like Diamond Tiara much, but right then and there she considered the earth pony filly her best friend. Dinky’s mother didn’t have any jewelry, though not by choice; she simply couldn’t afford it. Jewelry was expensive, but surely with a hundred silver bits, Dinky could go into the jewelry store, find something, and then give her mother the birthday gift she deserved.
The unicorn filly picked up the piece of paper in her hooves, torn from a newspaper, and looked it over, double-checking the date of the store’s opening once again. Nothing had changed: the store would be opening its doors for the first time, at 9 AM, tomorrow.
Dinky covered her secret stash once more, and climbed back into bed, thinking thoughts that were nearly as sweet as her mother’s lullaby. Tomorrow, she would walk into Amethyst Star’s Fine Jewelers, buy something – a necklace, or earrings, or bangles, or something – and all her hard work would finally pay off.
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And so the first wholly original story of the Lunaverse begins (finally)! That is to say, the first one not based off of a Friendship is Magic episode.
Amethyst Star, for those of you who don't know who I'm referring to. AKA, "Sparkler." Certain parts of this story are going to be hard to write, and now that we all know who Amethyst Star is, I think we all can probably guess why. I promise it will be worth it, though.
On a considerably lighter note, while writing the opening stinger, the bit prior to the main theme, this song came on my playlist. Listening to "Europa" whilst imagining Dinky Doo trying to catch a chicken can only enhance your reading experience.
Fluttershy being independently wealthy is basically something that my friends and I came up with to explain the fact that Fluttershy doesn't seem to have an actual job, but nevertheless doesn't seem strapped for cash. I mean, she's not a vet, as animals seem to come to her of their own volition rather than owners showing up. I thought that maybe she raised chickens for their eggs, but we've never seen her trying to sell any, and she doesn't have nearly enough chickens regardless. She might make a living off of selling pets, but I something doesn't mesh up quite right with that, either.
A common fan theory is that she writes dirty novels.
This is silly and I do like it for the less serious stories, but for this I wanted something more, well, likely. So: independent wealth from her family controlling most weather production in Equestria via having a controlling interest in the weather factory in Cloudsdale.
Oh, and Angel Bunny is still around, I just couldn't find a way to work him into the current chapter. Maybe he's hibernating since it's still winter, or something.
The diabeetus, I has it.
Again, Love Love Love the setting.
Though I have to wonder if Cadance is butterflied to "just" a unicorn or pegasus, if she exists at all in Lunaverse?
605783
I've decided she still exists, and is still an alicorn. We'll get to her eventually.
Well, I always assumed that Fluttershy was on the city (or county?) payroll, much like the weather ponies. Apparently animals have to be looked after -- by ponies -- in FiM world, just as the weather has to be managed, so I figured the government would foot the bill.
As for Cadence... I don't even accept her as an alicorn in canon, so obviously I don't want her to be one here either.
605808
...that make sense but isn't as fun as imagining Fluttershy stating "I'm independently wealthy."
Also I want this to be the case so that she can own the beach house for the Inevitable Beach Episode (which isn't really inevitable, but come on! I want sea ponies).
This is just, just, wow!
Dinky is the most adorable thing ever, what more, reading the narrative as presented from her perspective is almost like reading my own thought processes transcribed. The subject matter is different, but it's chock full of the same kind of long winded intertwining tangents that define what’s running through my own head at most any given moment. I also love the recurring motif that is focused on the meaning of words, new ones she learned, those she only thinks might be real, and words she’s heard others use but only has a vague contextual grasp of.
Keep up the good work and this may top Boast Busted as my favorite.
601613
Fluttershy as independently wealthy, I can go with that. Not the presumption I usually work under, as I generally assume she is employed by the city to tend and manage the local wild life, making her something of the really world equivalent to a park ranger or game warden. Still, it’s a fair bit more plausible than the secret porn novelist approach, no matter how amusing an idea that makes.
Anyway, so Sparkler or rather Amethyst Star. I'll admit I missed that until it was pointed out, as I was probably focused too much on all the adorably intellectual filly cuteness. It would seem rather obvious now where this story is ultimately heading, though how it will go about getting there should still be an interesting treat.
605916
SPOILER: The story will end with Sparkler teleporting away rather than actually facing her problems. I have a pattern going, damnit, I must stick to it!
605938
Her 'problem', in this case, is an intractably-stuck jar of peanut butter, of course.
605938
Good point, though technically speaking just because something is heading in a particular direction doesn't necessarily mean that will end up being where it ends up when all is said and done
Uh... wait, what just happened?
601613
I'm assuming that the dirty novels are just a hobby here, then, and not an income source.
605836 I want sea ponies, too!
Okay, Ditzy may be best mommy, but Dinky is also best daughter. You wrote her very well, too. So hugable...
Okay. I'm guessing that Amethyst Star's role in all of this will to try to screw up the bond Ditzy and Dinky have because of a need to be a dutiful sister to Unnamed Jerkwad Dad. It's sort of too bad that Trixie can't use her influence to do something about him. I'd love the next headline of the Foal Free Press to read 'Deadbeat Dad Beat Dead."
I can already feel my blood sugar rising....
Nice start, very cute.
"Deadbeat Dad Beat Dead"
Ooh, sibling arrivalries. This looks promising!
I also expect that this is going to be where Raindrops punches Trixie in the face for acting like an idiot......
606558
It was in Boast Busted.
Raindrops takes her job seriously. Both weatherwork and Trixie punching. Keep your eyes out for Trixiepuncher Raindrops in the next Blind Bags wave!
On a more adorable note, Dinky. Daawww.
I told a friend yesterday, MLP:FiM has both the worst and the best fanbase. This falls under the latter.
I do however wonder how old people think she actually is. She's seen reading a newspaper in "Ponyville Confidential", and she's almost always depicted by fans as being clever, insightful and rational. And she's the same size as the CMC. (Admittedly due to the production team using a standard model.) On the other hoof, Derpy constantly cuddles and mothers her (and in many cases walks her to and from school) while the CMC is allowed to run roughshod across Ponyville without supervision, doing crazy things like ziplining or diving or digging pit traps. On the third hoof, Derpy might just be an unusually overaffectionate mother, while the CMC's parental figure go from too busy to neglectful to disturbingly absent. On the fourth... I don't know. I may be overanalysing.
Looking forward to how this will turn out, particularily in regards to Sparkler's role. Also, hoping to see Trixie again. She could be a lot of fun as a non-central character this turn.
There really needs to be a Dinky icon here. She is just the cutest, best little girl ever!! Ooooh she wants to buy something nice for her momma with the money she earned herself?
So precious! And precocious!
Actually, since you mentioned the events of Coronoa's return I am a bit interested in knowing what happened to the original Mane Six (sans Twilight who never came to Ponyville) and how the foals of Ponyville are acting in the aftermath or how they're different in the Lunaverse.
This is probably the best alternate universe MLP fic I've ever read. You mix it up and of course give emphasis and depth to different characters but you don't really change them so much that we can't recognize the ponies we hold dear, regardless of whether they're undeveloped background characters like Raindrops or Lyra or more prominent ones like Cheerilee, Trixie or Fluttershy.
So well done!! Can't wait to see what happens with Amethyst Star and Dinky!!
Nice to see a return to the slice of life category. Adventure is fun and all, but it's peeking into these ponies lives that really connects us with them.
Very cute, very heartwarming! I do believe this needs to go on my favorites right...about...now!
Dinky had used to like chickens. Then she’d worked with them.
You think you have it bad, Dinky, you should see what us humans have to live through.
608454
there's something missing on that list
i swear to all the powers that be, no farm truly profits. ever.
at the end of the day, everything in your coffers goes into maintenance or your equipment falls apart. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/eenope.png
anything that's left goes to trying to survive 'til harvest season
and a single bad harvest can send you spiraling to endless debt leading to eventual bankruptcy. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Applejack.png
So Lunaverse-Jerk!Applejack has a point... she's just not realizing she's part of an Industrial Agribusiness instead of a Family Farm.
608806
exactly
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I'm not going to bother trying to guess at age equivalencies between ponies and humans. Dinky is in the same class as Applebloom and the gang, which is being broadly defined as "some time in elementary school." I do imagine Ditzy, though, as a somewhat clingy mom. She's entitled, though.
The CMCs are probably given a lot of leeway in the show for two reasons. In-universe, Ponyville is a pretty safe town from the looks of things. Out-of-universe, it'd be difficult to show them getting into all manner of crazy adventures if the writers had to always shoehorn in an adult chaperone.
So Fluttershy's loaded
.....I can go with that. It certainly beats "writes romance/erotic novels" and "modeling residuals" for a living.
Plus your open to plenty of spit-take/reaction jokes.
Don't think I've seen many Ditzy/Dinky/Sparkler stories or at least ones not involving Dr. Whooves. This should be fun.
So does the Lunaverse follow standard Rpg currency exchange rates or is there a more specific one in mind?
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if memory serves, that was the plan, but it got scrapped due to currency in the Mane Land not making much sense in the first place
so i think it's still up for debate dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/shrug_Derpy_Hooves.png
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For now, I actually *am* gong by the standard D&D assumption that 1 silver is the most basic form of currency and is basically the game's equivalent of $1. I'm just not going by standard D&D prices, which assume that most people survive on 1 sp a day; instead I'm imagining that 1 silver bit really is equivalent to $1, albeit more like a dollar in 1950 than a dollar today (that is, able to get you more).
Given that I'm going for a somewhat more antiquated feel to Luna's Equestria (what with gas lighting, etc), though, I'm seriously tempted to come up with an unnecessarily complicated monetary system like the Victorian Britian's currency:
1 pound (also shown as £1 or 1l.) was 20 shillings.
1 shilling (1s.), was 12 pence. Also often known as a 'bob', as in "I paid six bob for this",
Thus there were 240 pence ("pence" being the British plural for "penny") (20 x 12) to every pound.
Other Victorian words to do with currency:
1 guinea was £1 1s. (or 21 shillings) - ie. a pound with an additional shilling.
1 crown was five shillings. (and half-crown two and a half shillings, of course)
A half-sovereign ten shillings.
1 farthing was a ¼ penny.
If I did that, though, I'd have to go back and retcon some prices I've mentioned. £1 was a lot of money in Victorian Britain, with relatively high-middle class Britons only making about £30-£70 a year. Shillings, crowns, pence, and half-sovereigns were spent much more commonly. If I did do this, then the bit would probably be rendered equivalent to the shilling.
If it's one thing I like about your stories it's that I usually leave them learning something I never knew be for. Be it monarchy rank or Victorian era currency.
Simple works, I really can't remember a game or book that didn't stray from the basic Copper > Silver > Gold model. Honestly the only time I've seen anything higher was in the rule book.
Also can't wait for the inevitable Beach/Sea ponie episode.
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I was wondering about that - you mentioned "silver bits" in a way that implies there are other kinds of bits. Interestingly, the bits we see on the show are yellow. I read an essay a while back which suggested that these are probably brass, rather than gold. Then again, we don't know how abundant gold is. There's a lot of gold in Canterlot, but we don't see it anywhere else, while gems are pretty abundant. On that note, though, gold is usually associated with the sun, and silver with the moon, so maybe silver is more highly prized in the Lunaverse.
The thing with the D&D economy (other than not making sense in a lot of ways) is that it's usually based on an old feudal economy, where the disparity between the working class and the middle class (let alone the upper class) was pretty huge. Peasants made a silver piece a day, but middle-class professionals (good artisans, scribes and so forth) made a gold piece a day. It may be worth examining just how poor the working class is in the Lunaverse, because they don't seem all that badly off in canon.
Anyway, actual review! Dinky is exceptionally cute. The insights into her thought processes are really well written, and capture her as a child much better than most writers do, including myself when I'm writing the Crusaders. I tend to assume that Fluttershy is paid to look after animals by the Mayor, but she's so cutely embarrassed about being gentry that I wholeheartedly approve. I don't think Ditzy is being especially overprotective here. After all, she's letting Dinky go out and have a part-time job, which is a pretty big step in the real world. I don't think Ditzy needs to walk Dinky home after work, she just really wants to.
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I'd like to read that essay, if you can dig it up. Anyway, I'd assumed that Mane Equestria still uses gold for its currency more out of a sense of tradition than because gold is in any way actually valuable in Equestria - sort of like how we still associate purple with royalty even though the reasons for doing so (purple cloth dye was ludicrously expensive, such that only royalty could generally afford it) are long gone. Ditto Lunaverse and silver, though there is also the sun bad/moon good motiff to consider. Anyway, silver bits are probably either backed by some metal that is considered precious, maybe platinum or something, or else it might be a true fiat currency, like our dollars or pounds or euros or whatever.
I'll probably go the simple breakdown for silver bits, if for no other reason than the sake of my head. In that case, 1 silver bit = 100 copper bits - basically pennies.
Excellent story; I think you capture Dinky's voice very well. Looking forward to more!
On one hand, I found a minor spelling error:
"as Dinky though it should"
On the other hand, I just got a cavity.
What is it with Dinky that makes people break out the double extra-big heapings of adorable when they write her?
I noticed one typo: “Want a ride?” Ditzy asked, kneeling a little so that Ditzy could get on her back, where it was warm and her mother could use her wings to keep cold wings from Dinky’s face. - I assume you meant "cold winds" there.
On the subject of coinage, I've seen someone use "jangles" for copper or silver coins worth less than a bit.
walking on starlight
♪♫ And don't it feel good! ♪♫
Great first chapter. Made me wanna do this...
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Going to read the next chapters soon.
the lunaverse? im assuming its a universe where luna rules and celestia got locked away in the sun?
but managed to not flee at Dinky Doo hopped
1. As.
The dawwww and hnngggggs were had with Dinky and the chicken.
I've fav'd this eons ago but never got around to reading it. Now I have. So I will.
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Last I checked, there already is.
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Basically, yes. Check out the group, or better yet read "Longest Night, Longest Day".
Oh no, this is going to break my heart, isn't it? I just know Dinky's not going to be able to afford anything from the shop. :(
601613 I tend to assume that caring for the animals in the area is her job (somepony has to do it, so if she's not getting paid for it she should see about changing that) and she's paid by the town government for it.
>modern
>gas lights and gas heating
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Luna-verse Chrysalis is going to be interesting...
she is not gonna be able toa fford anything is she?....god this alrey made me sad.
And that definition of trauma just made me go Daaaaaawwwww
Strabismus? I would have thought it would be exotropia since she isn't cross-eyed so much as wall-eyed. Doesn't matter, she is indeed the world's best mommy either way.
3274957 Both Exotropia and Esotropia are just different forms of Strabismus.
A whole fic where I have to do my Dinky voice. The majority of the fic is Dinky...My voice box is currently considering a rebellion. Anyway, onto the chapter
This begins a common trend that I have done whenever I do Trixie, may it be in jokes with my brother, or story ideas, this is where it starts. Sweetie Belle is Twilights student, and Dinky is Trixie's. One of these days, I need to write a story for that. (I have plans). And I kind of like that, we saw evidence of Trixie's liking of the little foal in ep 1, and here it is slowly built on some more. I don't know if Dinky ever becomes offically Trixie's student (we're only on ep 2 after all) but I hope it will be soon.
I also like the difference in writing style here. While ep 1 was closer to the show, this felt more kiddy. Like this was a storybook with cute drawings or something you would find in a school library. And that is ok, Dinky is only 8 at this time, it is meant to feel like this.
Starting here, I am beginning to believe that our Dinky is a lot like the mane Spike. The extra who'll get focus eps but is not as important to the plot as the L 6. The difference is...I look foward to Dinky's eps! Also,this...
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Is just Unfair!
D'aww. Dinky is best daughter. Then again, what else would you expect from somepony raised by the Element of Kindness.