“Happy birthday, Ditzy Doo!” Everypony else exclaimed.
“Happy birthday, momma!” Dinky instead shouted, as her mother blew out the candles on her birthday cake, which had been baked in the shape of, and with frosting dolled up on it in such a way as to suggest, a blueberry muffin. There was a cheer as the candles flared and died.
Ditzy Doo was not normally one for parties, but after the shock she’d received earlier in the week, she was for once perfectly willing to just let herself go in the collective will of everypony present, each of whom seemed determined to make this her best day ever. The gathering was relatively small, at least – in addition to Dinky, there was Lyra and her marefriend BonBon; Trixie, who was doing her best to remain on the other side of the table from BonBon at all times for some reason; Carrot Top, Raindrops, and Cheerilee, who together rounded out the Elements of Harmony; and Silver Script, the post master of Ponyville. They were all gathered in the party room of Sugarcube Corner. Against all odds, Pinkie Pie, Ponyville’s Party Pony Par Excellence, was not present, Ditzy’s friends having somehow arranged things with the Cakes to have her be occupied somewhere else in Ponyville for the day. This suited Ditzy Doo fine – Pinkie’s perpetually positive attitude could become grating very quickly.
“What’d you wish for?” Silver Script asked as Trixie used her magic to grasp a knife and began cutting into the cake, though not before looking at it thoughtfully for a moment.
“What could I wish for?” Ditzy asked, a bright smile on her face as she looked around the room. “I have everything I want right here.”
“Ow, momma!” Dinky said, smiling brightly as though she had finally figured out a particularly vexing math problem. “Toothache!”
Ditzy laughed at that, even as the cake and the slices were moved aside for the moment while Trixie worked on them – still pondering the knife a bit too closely for Ditzy to be entirely comfortable with the situation, but Raindrops seemed to be keeping an eye on her – and instead everypony got their gifts ready.
“Okay, this one first,” Ditzy said, taking out a long, thin package. “From…Silver Script?” Ditzy unwrapped it with hooves and teeth, and found it to be a plain brown cardboard tube, closed at both ends. Opening one, she took out a large sheet of paper – a map of Ponyville in exacting detail, with a multitude of lines drawn across it in various colors, numbered one through thirty-three.
Raindrops, who had come up behind Ditzy Doo, looked it over. “I bet it’s what you’ve always wanted,” she observed in a dry voice.
“It is!” Ditzy exclaimed as she looked over the map, then glanced to Silver Script. “New routes? When do they start?”
“Next Monday,” Silver Script answered proudly. “You will not believe how much the Postmaster-General didn’t want the routes in Ponyville re-organized – I have no idea why, it’s not like she has to deal with them – a but I convinced her in the end. Your routes are in green.”
Ditzy looked over the map again. The new routes were, more-or-less, now all of roughly the same length, and could be split nearly evenly amongst the seven mares and stallions who delivered the mail in Ponyville. It would take a little bit to commit them all to memory, but this, at least, meant no more stupidly long trips – and the green routes even all had, as their end point, Fluttershy’s cottage.
“Thanks,” Ditzy said, rolling up the map and sliding it back into its case, then passing it over to Silver Script. “What’s next…” the package she held was small, wrapped up in bright purple, star-studded paper, and… “is…is it glowing?”
“Oh! Mine!” Trixie said, setting down the knife and coming over to the collective of ponies. “And yes, I made the paper glow. Just a little.”
Ditzy considered asking why, but then again she suspected she knew the answer – even in wrapping gifts, Trixie, without even realizing it, saw it as a competition: it was just who she was. The mare resisted shaking her head and chuckling knowingly, instead opening the present and finding herself looking at a paperback book, entitled De Ditionibus. She looked to Trixie, asking the question with her eyes.
“Of Sovereignties,” Trixie translated. “Don’t worry, it’s just the title that’s in Old Unicorn, the rest of the book is in modern Equestrian. And you probably know it better by the title The Sovereign.”
Ditzy was silent for another moment. “Um…no, actually, I don’t.”
Trixie blinked several times for that. “Really? By Silver Raventongue? Never heard of it?”
“I have,” Lyra stated, casting a slight glare at Trixie.
“So have I,” Cheerilee noted, then looked to Ditzy Doo. “Trixie, why would you think that Ditzy would want a book on power-politics? Especially this one?”
Trixie whickered. “I like it. It’s my second-favorite book after Don Rocinante.”
“Explains a lot,” BonBon noted under her breath.
Trixie didn’t hear her, instead looking to Ditzy Doo. “It’s a great read, even if you’re not going into the Night Court, or any kind of politics. It’s not just one of my favorites, it’s one of Princess Luna’s, too. And look!” she used her horn to open the book to a random page. “Large print!”
Ditzy offered a slight smile. Being afflicted by strabismus as she was, reading the small text size of most books was difficult for her to do, at least for a prolonged period. The large print at least showed that Trixie’s heart was in the right place. “I’ll read it, I promise,” she said. “Thank-you…”
Ditzy’s voice trailed off when she heard the door to Sugarcube Corner open, and looked up out of curiosity – several ponies had come and gone already, of course, given that the Cakes still had a business to run, but despite being in a separate room of the bakery, from where Ditzy was sitting, she could clearly see the entrance and countertop. It was mostly just to see if it was anypony she recognized. And, as it turned out, it was.
Amethyst Star, wearing a deep blue winter cloak, stared at Ditzy Doo. Ditzy Doo stared back, her eyes coming into focus as she did.
Everypony else gathered noticed the change of atmosphere immediately, looking to the unicorn that had entered, then back to their friend. Ditzy realized that she hadn’t told anypony what had happened earlier in the week.
This was bad. This was going to be very bad. There were only a couple of things that Amethyst Star could do right now, and absolutely none of them would end well for Ditzy. Not that it was anything less than what she deserved. Ditzy braced herself for the inevitable –
“Sparkler!” Dinky exclaimed happily, bounding on over to the older unicorn. Amethyst Star’s gaze was torn away from Ditzy Doo’s at the exclamation, as she watched the filly come up to her. “What are you doing here?”
Amethyst Star did something then that Ditzy would never of, in a million years, anticipated – she smiled down at Dinky. It wasn’t much of a smile, but it was an honest one as she leaned down so that she was looking the filly in the eyes. “Are you kidding?” she asked in a soft voice. “After everything that happened? I want to see how this goes as much as you.”
Ditzy realized that she was standing, wings slightly flared, only when Amethyst Star looked back to her, gaze lingering for a moment, before she looked over everypony else as well. “Um…hi,” she said. “My name’s Amethyst Star, I just opened a jewelry shop a few blocks from here. I…I won’t be long, I’ll be out of your manes in a few minutes.”
“You’ll be out a lot sooner than that,” Raindrops said, taking a few steps forward, muscles tense as she looked between Amethyst Star and Ditzy Doo. “I don’t think Ditzy wants you here.”
Amethyst Star’s eye twitched slightly at that, and she opened her mouth to say something – probably something pejorative – but then a filly who’s sense of self-preservation was apparently on the ebb positioned herself between her and Raindrops.
“Just a few minutes, Miss Raindrops?” Dinky asked, as she closed her eyes and her horn glowed. From the collection of presents waiting for Ditzy, a small, rectangular one came out, decked in floral-pattern wrapping. With effort – she was doing this from a further distance than she was used to – she levitated the gift over to her mother. “Sparkler helped me with momma’s present.”
“She what?” Ditzy asked, eyes wide in shock and confusion. “But…I…what?”
Amethyst Star just waited, as did Dinky. At length, Ditzy took the present in her hooves – eliciting a slight sigh of relief from Dinky as she released the present from her grip – and slowly opened it, cautiously, like there was a ticking time bomb inside. Instead, all she saw was a black case, though emblazoned with a silver, stylized A.S. Jewelers on it. Opening the case, Ditzy found herself staring at a yellow gemstone, the color of which matched her eyes, set into a light silver pendant, with a matching thin chain. She took it out delicately with one hoof, blinking and still confused.
“Wait,” Carrot Top objected, looking over the necklace. “That’s from Dinky?”
“How?” Silver Script asked, looking to the foal.
Dinky smiled brightly. “I saved up all year!” she explained. “I help out Miss Fluttershy every weekend, and she gives me three bits, and so I spend one and saved two, and so then I had – ”
“Wait,” Ditzy interrupted. “Wait, wait, wait. The bits you were saving up? Under the floorboard?”
Dinky stared at her mother in shock. “You knew?” she demanded.
“I clean your room, Dinky, of course I knew. I didn’t know what you were saving up, for, though. Not…not for me, I didn’t think you were…” Ditzy hung the necklace on one of her wing’s feathers as she came up to her daughter, drawing the unicorn filly into a deep, tight hug. “That’s…that’s so…Dinky, why would you go through all that effort for me?”
Dinky pulled away from her mother, looking her in the eyes. “Because I love you, momma,” she said, as though she were stating a basic fact of existence, like water being wet. “I didn’t know what I was gonna get you at first, but then I heard that Sparkler’s jewelry store was opening and I know you didn’t have any jewelry so I thought I’d get you something from there, and – oh!” she exclaimed, putting her front hooves to her mouth. “Momma, I’m sorry for lying about why I was in Sparkler’s, but it was supposed to be a surprise so I couldn’t tell you and I’ve lied to you all year about what I was spending my money on, too, and I’m sorry, and then I lied about going to Scootaloo’s ‘cause I needed to talk to Sparkler and I’m sorry – ”
“It’s okay, it’s alright,” Ditzy assured her daughter, drawing her into another hug. “I just…” she looked to Amethyst Star, still utterly confused.
The pink unicorn was watching, again with a slight smile on her face. “Okay, then,” she said. “I…I guess I better go. Leave you to your party. I guess…happy birthday?”
After pausing for a moment more – as if unsure as to whether or not leaving things on that note was enough – the unicorn turned around, heading for the door of Surgarcube Corner. She was half way out before Ditzy Doo managed to speak. “Wait!” she exclaimed. Amethyst Star paused, looking back over her shoulder at Ditzy. The pegasus’ mouth opened and closed a few times before she was able to say something intelligent. “Can…can I talk to you? For a few moments? Outside?” Amethyst Star nodded, stepping outside but leaving the door open as Ditzy stood up, looking back to her friends. “Just – just wait here, I won’t be long.”
“Wait!” Dinky exclaimed, before her mother could go outside. Ditzy did so, and Dinky again closed her eyes, concentrating hard as she took her mother’s necklace from where she had it suspended on a wing, undid the delicate clasp at the back, and strung it around Ditzy Doo’s neck, before at last closing it again. Upon doing so, the filly let out a long breath, wobbling back and forth slightly at having performed such fine manipulation with her nascent telekinesis. She nevertheless offered a bright grin as she looked up to her mother. “Happy birthday, momma!”
Ditzy forced a smile – the intent was genuine enough, but somehow she just couldn’t summon up the emotion for a real smile right now, not with Amethyst Star sitting just outside. Dinky didn’t seem to notice, however. “I’ll be right back, muffin,” she promised, heading outside.
---
The silence that stretched between Ditzy Doo and Amethyst Star was palpable enough to of been cut by a knife, and not even a particularly sharp one at that. Ditzy had, between where she’d been standing and the door, come up with a million ways to begin the conversation, but all of them fled her mind the moment she stepped outside and set her eyes on Amethyst Star. The unicorn was, for her part, looking at everything other than Ditzy Doo, right front hoof scuffing the dirt and lingering snow beneath her as the awkward moment stretched and stretched.
“I’m sorry,” Ditzy finally blurted. Amethyst Star jumped slightly at the sudden break to their silence, and finally looked directly at Ditzy Doo. Like most ponies, she saw the pegasus’ strabismus, tried to look at Ditzy like a normal pony, and failed by overcompensating, staring intently at just one eye. Ditzy didn’t let that bother her, though, as she pressed on. “I’m sorry for what I did, Amethyst Star. I…I was young, and I was stupid, but that doesn’t excuse anything. It’s my fault, and I’m sorry.”
Amethyst Star’s face remained neutral for several moments, before looking away. “I…” she began, then closed her eyes. “I talked to Dinky. We’ve actually talked a lot over the past week…she told me you're sorry. Told me I should forgive you. But I can’t. I just can’t.”
Ditzy nodded. “I don’t blame you. What I did to you and your mother can’t ever be forgiven – ”
“I didn’t say that,” Amethyst Star interrupted. Ditzy started at that, blinking several times, as the unicorn looked back to her. “I can’t right now. But maybe one day.” She glanced at Sugarcube Corner, into through its window, where she could see Dinky Doo. “I haven’t talked to my dad in years…and I’m not too big a fan of my mom, either. She wasn’t exactly blameless in driving my dad away. It’d be nice to have some kind of family in Ponyville…even if it was a just a half-sister. If that’s alright,” she added quickly, looking back to Ditzy Doo. “I mean…I’d like to get to know her better. And…and you, I guess. She loves you more than anything, so you’d kind of have to be part of the equation.”
Ditzy Doo’s mouth was hanging open slightly. After a moment, she shook her head, grasping that she had actually heard everything Amethyst Star had just said, that it hadn’t been a hallucination. “Of…of course,” she said. “Of course. Dinky seems to like you…that’s enough for me.”
Amethyst Star nodded. “Okay,” she said. “Okay. Let’s just leave it at that, then – ”
“Momma!” Dinky Doo exclaimed. The two older mares nearly jumped out of their coats at the sound, as they both turned and saw Dinky standing at the door to Sugarcube Corner, eyes wide. “Momma! Miss Trixie was telling Miss Carrot Top that for the Eventime she wanted to put on a magic show like she did for the Longest Night, only this time without Corona interrupting, and she was thinking of doing something really cool and complicated and she says she’d need an assistant and then I reminded her that she owes me a favor and now she wants me to be her assistant! Can I, momma? Please? Please?”
Amethyst Star couldn’t stop herself from letting out a long groan. “Trixie…” she moaned. “Stars, I really picked this town well, didn’t I?”
Dinky’s look of jubilation turned to one of concern and exasperation. “Do I have to try and make things better between you and Miss Trixie too?” she asked.
Amethyst Star and Ditzy Doo both burst out laughing at that, as well as the look on Dinky’s face. The filly smiled brightly at the sight. “It’s a…well, not a long story,” Amethyst Star said. “But…well, I guess in hindsight, it’s kind of funny, actually. Trixie probably wouldn’t think so, though.”
“Can I hear?” Dinky asked. “You could come in and tell me. We have cake in here! Well, Miss Raindrops was saying that she might eat it all if we wait too much longer.” Dinky’s eyes widened. “You two have to come inside quick before she does! It’s your birthday cake, momma!”
Ditzy laughed again at that, trotting into Sugarcube Corner and nuzzling her daughter as she did. “I’ll stop her. And I’ll make sure she saves a piece for everypony.” She paused a moment, looking to the older unicorn. “And…if you wanted, Amethyst Star, you could come in. I’m kind of curious about that Trixie story myself.”
Amethyst Star was still a moment, considering Ditzy, and Dinky. “Cake,” Dinky intoned in a serious voice, as though that was the only convincing that the older unicorn needed. At length, she smiled. “Call me Sparkler,” she said, as she trotted into Sugarcube, closing the door behind her. “And as for what happened with Trixie, well, it was about a month before the Longest Night, at an ice palace…”