//------------------------------// // 59: A Dink to the Past // Story: Lyra's Human 2: Derpy's Human // by pjabrony //------------------------------// Derpy bounced from her left hooves to her right, even as she flapped her wings to hover. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so giddy,” said Karyn. “I might have been, but since it seems like half the time you don’t see me anyway, you can’t go by that.” “A fair point.” Derpy flew so strongly that she looped back on herself. “I think I have a right to be giddy. A whole week with my little Dinky. It’ll be just like before she went off to school!” A few other ponies hung around the train station, but most of them had left when the northbound train had departed ten minutes earlier, either by boarding the train themselves or by picking up loved ones. To Karyn’s eye, it was only the employees of the railroad and one or two who were just as eager as Derpy, and had come early. With nopony around, the station was eerily still. Karyn reflected that on Earth, even the remote stations had announcement boards calling off the next arrivals and plenty of advertising plastered everywhere. But only the sound of the wind and the fresh paint of the ticket office broke the idyll calm. “It was definitely nice of Princess Celestia to give Dinky the week off as reward for helping us out with the changeling invasion. But did she say why it took her so long?” “No,” said Derpy. “Maybe she just wanted to give us time to take care of other things, like your cell phone breaking and that whole meeting thing from last week.” Karyn was about to protest that there was no way for Celestia to have known about that, but in the first place, she wasn’t sure exactly how powerful the princess was, and in the second, Derpy had ceased to pay attention as a noise from the distance caused her to dash toward the end of the platform. “That’s the whistle! She’s here!” “Calm down, Derpy. Racing down there won’t get you to see her any sooner. For all you know, she’s at the front of the train.” Derpy pulled up and looked back. “That’s why I’m racing. If she’s at the front of the train, and if a train comes into Ponyville at thirty miles-an-hour, and if a pegasus pony is flying at eleven wingpower the other way, then it means seeing Dinky now!” Karyn laughed, but wrapped her arms around Derpy, pulled her down, and looked her in the eyes. “Just be calm. Dinky’s not going to want to see you all flustered and worn out. Once you spot her, you can run and hug her and use all your energy then.” Derpy nodded, and the train reached the platform, decelerating slowly so that, despite herself, Derpy was leaning the other way as if trying to will it to stop. At last the doors opened, and ponies filed out. Unfortunately for the girls, they were positioned between two freight cars, and the emerging ponies brought with them a slew of heavy rocks and boulders. There was no way to move either way down the platform. Karyn kept trying to excuse-me her way past the ponies, but they were so focused on unloading their rocks that they didn’t pay attention. “Um, Karyn? Come on, third dimension, remember?” Derpy pointed her hoof upwards. “Oh, right.” She hopped on Derpy’s back, and moments later was trying to spot Dinky from the air. A few other pegasi had taken to the air as well, so Derpy didn’t have all the freedom of movement she wanted, but could at least see better. “I guess they’re making a delivery from a rock farm. I hadn’t heard about any big shipments, which we usually do at the post office.” “Rock farms? I’ve always wondered—“ “Mommy!” From the far end of the platform came Dinky’s cry, and Derpy dive-bombed toward her, landing in a hug. “Ah, Dinky! Karyn’s been looking forward to seeing you so much.” “I’ve been?” said Karyn. “Yes, you have.” “I suppose it’s true.” Dinky chuckled. “Let me just grab my bags and we’ll go.” Dinky floated a valise off the train and had it trail after her. “You’re getting so much better with your magic,” said Derpy. “Thanks, Mommy.” They walked carefully past the delivery ponies with their boulders, and as they did, a gray mare stepped off the train with a clipboard in her hooves. She oversaw the lifting and carrying. Dinky pulled up short and looked at the mare, then kept walking. Derpy, always attuned to her daughter’s every movement, said, “Is something wrong?” “No…I just thought I knew that pony.” “Which pony is that?” Dinky turned around to come face to face with a pile of rocks, and tried to crane her neck around it. “The pony who was managing the moving of the rocks here.” “Do you know any rock farmers in Canterlot?” The question made Dinky lose her focus, and she faced her mother again. “You know better. I don’t think there’s a single rock farm in Canterlot. The unicorns would look down on the farmers so badly.” Karyn interjected. “I wanted to ask Derpy, but can you explain to me about rock farms?” “Well, just because they’re such an Earth pony thing, and some unicorns are stuck up.” Karyn was about to protest that Dinky had answered a different question than she wanted to ask, but Dinky had gone back to staring at the pony in question, and looking like she was racking her brain. “It’s too bad there isn’t some spell to identify a pony by their face,” said Karyn. “Although, we have facial-recognition technology on Earth, and some people use it for bad things…” She trailed off as Dinky had trotted away. The other pony felt Dinky’s stare, and looked back at her. The same vague recognition was in her eyes. The two mares circled each other like prize-fighters. Karyn realized that each was trying to identify the other by her cutie mark, but in doing so, they were moving it away. Each of them slowed and bent to try to show her flank. It was the gray mare who first had the flash of recognition. “Dinky?” “Yes. I thought I knew you too, but I can’t—“ “Dinky! Dinky Hooves! I haven’t seen you in forever. You don’t remember? I’m—“ As if to save her from the embarrassment of making the mare identify herself, Dinky’s memory chose that moment to click. “Suzie!” “You do remember!” “How could I forget?” The pony called Suzie shook her head. “I would have forgiven you if you’d forgotten. How long did we spend together? A month? If that? You must have had dozens of other friends at that age that you saw more often.” “Well, the same for you. You remember my mother, Derpy?” Suzie curtsied. “Of course I do. It’s wonderful to see you again, Miss Hooves.” “Please,” said Derpy. “Nopony calls me by any fancy titles. I’m just Derpy, especially to important businessmares.” “Businessmare? You knew me when my only business was getting dirty at the playground.” The remark triggered Derpy’s memory. “Little Suzie Cutie Pie. Yes, I remember.” Dinky trotted around. “And this is my human friend, Karyn.” Suzie blinked twice. She had seen Karyn, but had been more curious about trying to remember Dinky. Now, she hesitated, but then warmly extended her hoof. “Any friend of Dinky’s is a friend of mine!” “It’s very nice to meet you. But how do you two know each other?” Dinky settled on her hooves. “When we were little fillies, we would play at the same park. But like Suzie said, it didn’t last long. Her mom was always busy, and couldn’t find time to bring her. And of course, mommy was always busy too, and sometimes she couldn’t bring me. But one time she came over and we had lots of fun. Suzie taught me how to swing on a swingset.” “I can’t believe you remember all that,” said Suzie. “Why not? You were a good friend.” “Yes, but for me, you were my only friend.” Before she could continue, one of the big stallions who had been hauling rocks approached her. “Ma’am, all the carts are loaded.” “Oh, and here we are taking up space on the platform. You can proceed to the work site. Dinky, everypony, come on, let’s go somewhere.” As they walked slowly, she continued. “After my dam wouldn’t let me see Dinky anymore, I was very sad. I had plenty of toys, and my family was there too, but still, something was missing. So, to me, Dinky became a kind of imaginary friend. I would pretend that she was still there, basing what she would say on what little I knew about her. And because Dinky was a unicorn I made up that she would become famous and attend Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.” Derpy beamed. “But she is attending the School for Gifted Unicorns!” “Maybe that only happened because Suzie pretended,” said Dinky. “She could be inadvertently determining the course of reality.” Suzie blushed. “I don’t think so, but my family…never mind. And it’s wonderful that you made the School.” “And you’re running a rock farm?” “I’m running many rock farms. My dam, whatever her faults, had a head for business. And my sire had money. Together, that’s a good combination. Then my grandsire got ill, and they retired, leaving me to take over the business.” Karyn, realizing that she had before her somepony who was important in the rock farming industry, tried again. “Miss Suzie, can you explain to me about rock farming? How you and your mother do it?” “Just Suzie is fine. And it’s really quite simple. She would run one rock farm until she saved enough on profit to put money down on the land for another. Then everything would go toward paying that mortgage until it was done, then she’d do it again. Each plot of land was about the same cost, so the cycle shortened each time. It took her many years, but then she decided to stop expanding and start enjoying life. I credit my aunties for that.” “Your aunts?” Karyn replied, then mentally kicked herself for following up on a minor point when, once again, somepony had missed the thrust of her question. “Yes. I don’t know what they said, but they had a long, private conversation with my dam one day, and after that she announced that we would be moving off the little house we had on one of the farms and into a nicer one in Mustangia with other ponies. I was still young, and that was my first chance to make more friends, so I put imaginary Dinky away. I really love Aunt Blinky and Aunt Pinkie for that. “And then a year or two later, I found myself running all the rock farms.” Derpy took a moment to connect the names that Suzie had dropped to the surname she knew. “Wait,” she said. “You’re Pinkie Pie’s niece? I know her!” “I think everypony knows her.” “Are you planning to see her while you’re in town?” Suzie sighed. “It’s supposed to be just a business trip, but if she finds out I’m here…” “Then she’ll throw a party,” said Karyn, Dinky, and Derpy all in chorus. “Right. Not that I don’t like Aunt Pinkie’s parties, but what I had wanted to do was just to get in, get out, and get back to the farm. Of course, I didn’t expect to meet an old friend.” Dinky said, “Why don’t we accompany you on your delivery? Then we could go to a café or something and catch up on old times more?” “I’d love to have you along on the delivery, but if we go to a café, Aunt Pinkie’s sure to find out.” Everyone was silent for a few moments, then Derpy said, “I think we have to face that we’re not getting out of it. Besides, you should see your relatives when you come to town. So why don’t I go and find her? Maybe I can convince her to keep the party down to a minimum.” Suzie assumed her proper manner once more. “Oh, Miss Derpy, I couldn’t ask that.” “You don’t have to ask. I’ll do it anyway!” She flew off toward Ponyville. Dinky waved her hoof until Derpy was out of sight, which took longer than it should have, since she turned around to wave back several times. Suzie laughed. “All these years and you’re still that close to your mother.” “Well, I haven’t seen her for a while,” said Dinky. “Now that I’m off at school, it’s not the same as it was.” Another train was pulling in, so Karyn said, “Come on, let’s go before more ponies need the platform.” They trotted off. If the burly stallions strapped to the rock carts found anything unusual in their boss walking with a unicorn and a human, they didn’t say anything. The job site was close, and soon the stallions were passing the rocks on to others who proceeded to quarry and cut them. “So do you have to do a lot of these trips?” asked Dinky. “More than I like,” said Suzie as she took pen in mouth and signed the receipt. “When I was young, rock farming was all about the hard labor. Now I have ponies to do that for me. But at least I could always look forward to more rocks and different rocks. I remember when my dam first told me we were adding shale to the granite we were used to. It was a whole new world for me! Not that anypony else would care, but I did. Still, once I took over, it’s been nothing but the same customers wanting the same rocks.” One of the stallions, that Karyn took to be a kind of foreman—or forepony—approached Suzie. “Ma’am, if you and your friends would like to go, we’ll handle the rest.” “Thank you, Sedimentary. Dinky, Karyn?” They headed into town, Suzie keeping her eyes open for her aunt. She insisted on ducking into the first bistro they could find that had a darkened, private area. “This place looks expensive,” said Dinky. “Don’t worry. Everything’s on me. Rock farming pays well at my level. But tell me about your schooling. What’s Princess Celestia like?” “Just the way you’d imagine her. Wise, caring, somehow manages to get ten ponies’ work done each day, including personal attention to all her students.” A waiter brought coffee for all of them, and Dinky magically stirred hers, brooding. “Sometimes I wish she weren’t so attentive. Karyn will tell you, but I’m really just trying to get through the schooling and find some place where I can settle down. Maybe in a job, or find a nice stallion and get married.” Now it was Suzie who brooded. “Dinky, I’m saying this as your friend. Don’t waste your chance. I’d give every rock and boulder on my farms if there was a school for earth ponies and I got in. Especially if I got instruction from the Princess.” “It sounds good, but I’m just so anxious, not knowing what my future’s going to be. If I had a thriving business where all I had to do was run the same orders to the same customers, I’d be the happiest unicorn out there.” “Nuh-uh. You just try it, and see how fast you get bored.” “I will not!” Karyn broke out in laughter. Dinky and Suzie had been moving closer to each other, but now turned their heads. “What’s so funny?” asked Dinky. “You two. Your little back-and-forth. It’s a good thing I’m here. Now, Dinky, you shouldn’t scoff at Suzie for trying to give you a little motivation. She’s only trying to help. And Suzie, I don’t know you too well, so I hope you won’t think me presumptuous if I say that, while Dinky may get bored in a simple life like the one you have, you can’t just tell her that. You have to let her get there and find it herself. It’s like an old saying we have on Earth. The grass is always—“ Suzie interrupted. “—tastier on the other side. Yes, we have that saying here too. Oh, Dinky, I’m sorry.” “Me too,” said Dinky. “It’s our first time seeing each other; we shouldn’t fight.” They both stood up and walked around the table for a hug, then sat back down. “Thank you, Miss Karyn,” said Suzie. “It’s good to know that Dinky’s been in good hooves. It’s a favor I can’t repay.” Karyn saw her opportunity. “Maybe you can do something. I’ve been trying to understand something, but everypony keeps misinterpreting my questions. It’s about rock farms. I don’t get it. Why do you have to farm rocks? I understand quarrying them or mining them, but rocks don’t grow. You can’t plant them and expect them to get bigger like plants. Or rotating rocks to another field. Why? They don’t get any better there. What’s the deal?” Now it was Suzie’s turn to laugh. “Oh, Karyn. Obviously they don’t grow, but in order to get the valuable rocks out of the ground, you have to put pressure on the land to force them upwards. Otherwise we’d have to dig like diamond dogs. And you rotate rocks to a new field to get them out of the way so more rocks can come up.” “What do you mean, pressure on the land?” “It’s something Earth ponies do. I’m not sure I can explain it, any more than Dinky could explain how she does her magic to me, or Derpy could tell me how to fly.” Karyn thought about that. The idea that the ponies could have abilities that she could never understand disquieted her. “Well, at least I understand a little now. Thank you.” “No problem.” They sat and drank more coffee for a while, until Dinky raised her ears and looked around. “Do you guys hear something? It sounds like a big to-do outside.” “I don’t hear anything,” said Karyn. “My ears are bigger. Let’s check it out.” They got up and poked their heads out of the café. A hundred ponies were dancing and cavorting. Closest to the café door were Derpy and Pinkie Pie. “I tried to explain,” said Derpy. “But when she heard that you were in town—“ Pinkie Pie interrupted. “I thought of what a wonderful occasion this would be for a party, but then Derpy said that it was a business trip and that in any case the pony you really wanted to see was Dinky and then I thought that I’d never done a party where the guests of honor didn’t even know there was a party, and how that would be, like, twice as surprising as a surprise party, so I did my best to make a party all around you guys that wouldn’t disturb you in the least.” Suzie shook her head. “Thanks, Aunt Pinkie. I figured that you wouldn’t know enough to not throw a party, and I was right, but it still worked out.” Derpy nervously shifted from looking at Pinkie to the other girls. “Is it OK for me to go back in with them? Or does that count as a disturbance?” “I think that’s for us to decide, and I definitely want you back.” They returned to their table and pulled up a fourth chair for Derpy. Suzie ordered another round of drinks. “So Dinky, now that we’ve found each other again after all these years, we have to stay in touch. Give me your address so I can send you letters.” “That won’t be necessary!” said Derpy. “I’m the mailmare around here. If you just put her name on the letter, I’ll know where to give it to.” Dinky shook her head. “But Mommy, I’ll be in Canterlot, and Suzie will be in Mustangia. It won’t go through the Ponyville post office.” “Oh, that’s right.” Suzie poked Karyn with her hoof. “Do you mind if we switched seats? I want to sit next to Dinky so I can wax nostalgic about our old times.” Karyn agreed, and they rearranged. Soon, Dinky and Suzie were caught up in “Remember when your mom chewed you out for getting sand in your mane?” and “Remember when your mommy let me have a chocolate muffin?” while Karyn and Derpy just sat and watched. “Sorry your week with Dinky had to get cut short,” said Karyn. “She’ll probably want to hang out with Suzie until she has to go.” “I don’t mind. After all those years, to find a friend like that just on the train platform, it’s kind of a miracle.” “Maybe the real miracle is how they could have become friends the way they did. Just walking up to each other and asking to be friends.” “Foals can always do that. Maybe that’s why you and I were able to become friends so quickly. We’re both foals at heart…why are you looking at me that way?” Derpy backed off from Karyn. “Because I’m going to hug you.” She suited the deed to the word, and embraced Derpy. “What was that for?” “Just something I figured out. If two fillies can meet, have a few play-dates, lose touch, find each other decades later, and pick up right where they left off, then that means that friendship is stronger than anything out there. And if we have that kind of friendship, it means that it’s never going away. That’s real comforting.” “Oh, Karyn. I knew that all along. But if you just learned it, that means that I think you need another hug.” Across the table, Dinky and Suzie laughed under their breath.