The Strange Case of Dinky Hooves' Cutie Mark Curiosity

by Fluttercheer

Chapter 17: Sister Sorcery

Their heads hanging low, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle trudged through the streets of Ponyville. The air around them was filled with the morose atmosphere of failure and misery. What they had discovered the day before in Starlight Glimmer's village had made clear that there was nothing that could help Dinky. And even though they didn't have to endure the same fate as her, the turnout of everything laid as heavy on their minds as it laid on Dinky's.

She was their first client and already, they had failed to help a pony to its cutie mark. The fact that Dinky's cutie mark problem was one of such enormous, cosmic dimensions that no one could could blame them for being unsuccessful did not help lifting their spirits in the slightest. It was depressing and that was exactly how they felt.

Right now, they were on the way to Dinky's house. Dinky had not been at school once again today and all three of them knew what this meant.

They had caught up with Dinky at the train tracks, just at the right time for the train to arrive. Dinky had not talked with them, neither while entering the train, nor during the entirety of the trainride. The despaired unicorn filly had separated with them inside the train and retreated to a seat at the opposite end of the car, out of their sight. All four of them had expected to hear her cries until they would arrive at home in Ponyville. What actually happened, though, Dinky's real reaction, scared them much more than any crying or even furious outbursts could have managed:

The young unicorn was completely silent.

No cries sounded into their direction, no curses or swears because of the hopelessness of her situation, and she had not spoken a single word with them.

At first they thought that Dinky had fallen asleep, mentally exhausted after all she had to go through just to discover that nothing could help her, but every time one of them checked up on her, Dinky was widely awake. It was the impression her body gave to the outside, by her widely opened eyes that still seemed to stare into those endless depths only she could see. Inside of her, though, Dinky was far away; her mind separated from the reality around her, perhaps in a better one where she didn't have to suffer from this curse. That's something they could feel at each of their check-ups to see if she wouldn't do anything she would regret later. And during none of these check-ups, Dinky did notice her companions. To them, it seemed like she was looking right through their bodies.

As they finally arrived in Ponyville after Dinky had been in a state like this for hours, she slipped down from her seat and left the train without them. Yet her movements couldn't be called lively, she was still staring in the same way and moved stoically through Ponyville all up to her house and until they left her there in the caring hooves of her family after they had explained what happened. It would have been an understatement to call Dinky's condition “miserable” and all three of them were worried sick she could hurt herself or worse. And after they had failed so much with helping her, the least they could do, what they needed to do, was trying to console their client as best as they could.

Because of this, they went to Dinky's house right away after school had ended, without going home before. And now they were finally here, something that became evident to them by the house of the Hooves Family coming closer in the distance. At the door, nopony dared to knock on it, at first. Only after many exchanged glances, the trio of fillies pushed themselves to knock on the door together. Simultaneously, three hooves in different colors came down on the wood and produced a rather quiet, hesitant knock. The sound made them twitch and, before that twitch had fully stopped, the approaching hoofsteps caused another one to happen. None of them was really prepared for meeting Dinky or had thought about what to tell her. Nonetheless, the hoofsteps stopped in front of the door and it got pulled open very slowly now.

Inside the doorframe, Dinky appeared. She eyed them without saying anything, a tired, resigned expression on her face. The heavy, dark bags under her eyes indicated another sleepless night or, at least, one spent with crying many more tears. Her flank was still showing alternating cutie marks, although, the intervals between their disappearance had increased since yesterday. At an almost hypnotizingly slow speed, Dinky turned around and waved them to follow her.

Their heads still near ground level, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle crept inside. Staying behind a bit, Sweetie Belle closed the door, then she rushed after her friends.

“So, uh,” Apple Bloom finally started to talk to Dinky “how, uh, was your night?” It was a terrible question and she knew that, but they still didn't have any ideas of what to say and this was the first thing that jumped to Apple Bloom's mind. She almost cowered a little in expectation of Dinky's reaction, but surprisingly, it was a calm one.

Dinky shrugged. “Crying, barely slept, more of that dream, the usual,” she rattled off the events of last night. Her voice sounded mechanic to her three counselors.

The three of them looked at each other consternated.

“Uh, the same dream?” Apple Bloom asked another question whose answer was actually obvious.

“Yep,” it came back from Dinky, monotonously. “That creepy night mare was back again, talking nice to me, but all she really wanted was getting my cutie mark.”

Dinky was just about setting hoof on the stairs, as she felt playfully grabbed at her neck and pulled backwards. “How dare you to call me 'creepy', Dinks!” a voice rang into her ears, a voice that sounded similarly tired as hers, but was unmistakenly the voice of her big sister.

Turning around to remove the hoof from her neck, Dinky saw the identity of the sneaky assaulter confirmed, as she looked right into the face of Sparkler. It looked worn and heavy, dark bags were under her eyes, too.

As Sparkler had finally let her go, Dinky sighed. “Right.....” she said. “The nightmare was a little different last night, I woke up during it, for the first time ever.....” She trailed off and cast a glance aside, eyes fixated on the wall.

Sparkler continued for her. “And then you screamed like a mad filly and accused me of stealing your cutie mark and made such a fuzz in your room that I had to keep you fixate you in bed with my magic until you had calmed down.” Sparkler made her voice sound intentionally obnoxious, with the clear purpose of playfully teasing her little sister to take out the seriousness of the situation with humor. Though, what usually worked, had a different effect on her little sister this time.

Dinky did not smile or even look at Sparkler, she kept staring at the wall. Sniffing, she brushed a hoof over her nose.

Seeing this reaction, Sparkler reached out to Dinky and pulled her in for a hug. “It's fine, sis, I don't mind.”

Instinctively, Dinky put her own hooves around Sparkler for a tight grip. After all that happened, she didn't want to have a fight with her big sister.

As they had let go of each other, Sparkler ruffled through Dinky's mane. “Do you want to hang out with your friends now, sis?”

Dinky nodded. “Mhm,” she gave confirmation monotonously.

“Alright, sis, if you need me, I'm in my room!” She ruffled her mane again, then sent her off.

A short trot up the stairs later, the four fillies arrived in Dinky's bedroom. Having closed the door, they grouped themselves in a circle on the floor. More moments of silence followed, until Scootaloo finally broke it.

“So, I guess this explains your nightmares? Was it always just your big sister?”

“Yeah.....” Dinky answered. “She never told me, how I was mumbling in my sleep with opened eyes and acted the same way like last night until she had to fixate me on the bed every time I had this dream, because she didn't want to worry me. Mom didn't tell me either.” Her ears dropped. “But last night it was the first time it didn't happen during sleep-trotting, it was a panic attack while I was awake. So, Sparks had no other choice than telling me about everything. There never was a creepy night mare who wanted to steal my cutie mark.....”

“Well, guess that finally rules out Starlight Glimmer for good,” Apple Bloom commented on the reveal. “But it finally leaves us without options, too.”

At her side, Scootaloo poked her hard in the ribs, then pointed with her head at Dinky. The damage had already been done, though. Dinky did not start to cry again, but she hung her head and eyed the floor quietly.

For about ten minutes, nopony dared to speak and all of them were dwelling on their own thoughts. The mood stayed like this, until Sweetie Belle suddenly raised an eyebrow and wore a sceptical expression on her face, by a thought that had just entered her mind. She looked over at Dinky, eager to express it.

“Hey, what's with Sparkler's cutie mark?” she asked.

Dinky looked back at her, puzzled. “What about it?” In her current condition, she was not able to follow Sweetie Belle's trail of thoughts.

“Because of the curse. Since you are a descendant of Starswirl the Bearded, wouldn't that make Sparkler one, too? So, why is her cutie mark not disappearing?”

“Oh..... I-I don't know. Sparkler never had any problems with her cutie mark. She has a cutie mark since I can think and it never changed or disappeared. Only mine does, just like I still can't use my magic properly, guess it's all related.....” She sniffed.

Another lightbulb went on in Sweetie Belle's head. “And Sparkler never had problems with using magic?” she continued to probe.

Depressed, Dinky shook her head. “She excels at magic, compared to me.” Another sniff came from her before she continued. “My dad doesn't have any problems with it either, I guess the curse sometimes skips a generation or two. It's random, just like my cutie marks. Too bad I was born in the wrong generation.....” After all the surprising calm Dinky had shown until now, new tears finally entered her eyes after she mourned her fate anew.

Sweetie Belle, though, was in the exact opposite mood. By now, her mind was brightly illuminated. “Or, the curse is getting weaker across the generations!”

“What are ya goin' for, Sweetie?” Apple Bloom looked at her, cocking her head in confusion.

“Yeah, what's this about?” Scootaloo asked a similar question. “Even if it's getting weaker, how should this help Dinky now?”

Sweetie Belle ignored both of them. She jumped up in excitement. “That's it!” she shouted. “All we need to do is getting some of Sparkler's magic to you!”

Before any of her friends or Dinky could comment on this idea, though, the first comment came from another, unexpected direction, precisely, it came right from the door.

“That's not it.”

They all turned around to the door, seeing Sparkler, who stood there, hovering a tray in her magic. She carefully hovered it down on the floor between them, which revealed its contents to them; a plate full of muffins and four cups of steaming cocoa.

“Huh, why?” Sweetie Belle asked confused. “Do you think it won't work?”

Casually, Sparkler shrugged. She sat down on the floor at Dinky's side, pulling her close.

“I don't know if it can stop the curse. But there's a problem with your idea.”

“A problem? What problem?” The answer had piqued Sweetie Belle's curiosity.

“It's possible for a unicorn to transfer magic to another,” Sparkler began to explain. “The two unicorns need to hold their horns together, right at the tip, then the unicorn who wants to transfer magic has to imagine in its head how the magic helps the recipient. It's something that only works if a unicorn loves the unicorn it wants to transfer magic to.”

Instead of helping, this answer confused Sweetie Belle more. “I understand, but, what's the problem then?”

“The problem is”, Sparkler looked at her sternly “that I won't do it.”

The answer finally caused a reaction in Dinky, who had only stared at Sparkler until now, having felt a new hope that she didn't want to allow rising in her chest.

The young unicorn freed herself of her big sister's embrace. “Sparks, please! It's the only thing that might help me..... This is probably my last chance, please, you need to do this!”

Sparkler looked at her little sister with a sad expression, shaking her head slowly.

“You won't, but why?” Scootaloo asked upset. “Does this mean you don't love Dinky?!”

The older unicorn shot an angry glare into Scootaloo's direction. “I love my sister more than anything else!” she shouted. “But that's exactly why I can't do this,” she added as she had calmed down.

Now all three Crusaders were at a complete loss and so was Dinky.

“Why, Sparks?” she asked, her eyes watery now.

Sweetie Belle picked up for her. “If you really love her, what's so hard? Why do you not help her?”

“It's dangerous,” Sparkler answered taut, before collecting her thoughts for a moment. “I was a student at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and one of the most important lessons we had there was about being careful when transferring magic to another unicorn. Princess Celestia herself told us that it's something we should only do in an emergency. She taught us that magic gets more powerful the stronger our emotions are. If a unicorn isn't able to regulate the amount of emotions that it feels during the transfer process enough, then it could end with the death of the other unicorn.”

She pulled Dinky back into the embrace, which was now tighter than before.

“My little sister is young, her mind can't hold much magic yet. If I transfer even just one drop of magic too much.....” Sparkler stopped, unable to finish the sentence.

The temperature in Dinky's room seemed to have decreased significantly, as a cold shiver went through everypony. Resignated, Dinky dropped her ears, as Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle did as well.

“We can try it once Dinks is older,” Sparkler said as she noticed the resignation and disappointment that spread out in the room. “But not today, I won't risk the life of my little sister.”

At her side, Dinky freed herself of the embrace again and turned around. She eyed her flank, watching how a new cutie mark appeared just to get replaced by another one after a few seconds. The thought she could die because of her eagerness to stop the curse and finally be able to get a real cutie mark filled her with dread. But so did the imagination of having to wait years until she had become adult to find out if Sweetie Belle's idea would work. And the latter kind of dread happened to feel much worse to her.

“Maybe just a little,” she uttered, still eyeing her flank. “Just a small drop, Sparks. Maybe it doesn't need much.” She looked up, directly into the eyes of her sister. Her expression was begging.

But Sparkler shot her request down. “No chance, sis,” she said, sternly. “The stakes of trying this out as long as you are a filly are too high.”

The answer caused a lump to form in Dinky's throat and she sobbed, lakes of new tears forming in her eyes.

“Why?” she sniffed. “Why, Sparks? I can't wait years, only to find out that it doesn't work..... Why do you not care about me?” Desperation began to form in her heart.

The answer felt like a pierce through Sparkler's heart, never had her little sister accused her of not caring about her.

“Knock this thought out!” she responded, a little anger in her voice. “You know that I care about you, Dinks, but this is–”

“Shut up!” Dinky interrupted her. She felt hot inside, suddenly. Then, from one moment to another, the burning feeling in her turned into cold hatred, as the imagination of her sister letting her stay in this condition for years kicked in even more.

Forcefully, Dinky jumped on Sparkler's back. The impact she made was so strong, that it pushed her sister to the floor. For the first time ever in her life, Dinky felt nothing but hatred for her big sister. It was a feeling that was completely alien to her and if her desperation wouldn't be so big, it would scare the young filly, but right now, she just let it happen.

“Dinks, what are you doing?” Sparkler asked her little sister, more surprised than scared about this sudden, rash action.

“SHUT UP!” Dinky responded, now screaming. In all her desperation over the situation and after all she had to go through in the last two weeks, the refusal of her big sister to do the one, last thing that could help her had turned the mind of the filly upside down.
Dinky grabbed her sister's head, one hoof at each side, and slowly lowered her own head.

Terror appeared in Sparkler's eyes as she realized what Dinky wanted to do. She tried to rear up, but somehow, Dinky managed it in her fury to keep her down.

There was one other thing about the transfer of magic that Princess Celestia had taught them, that Sparkler remembered. Not only could a unicorn give magic if love was involved, but a unicorn could also steal magic if it felt great hatred. It was how Tirek must have done it, draining ponies of their magic with the help of the hatred he felt for his brother because he had betrayed him, less than half a year ago. It was something both Dinky and Sparkler had to experience firsthoof. Sparkler still shuddered when she thought on the moment it happened.

“If you don't want to help me, Sparkler, I will take your magic and help myself!” Dinky announced, her voice shivering, as she brought her horn close to her sister's.

Having seen that Sparkler couldn't shake Dinky off, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle now rushed over and grabbed Dinky, pulling at her body. The anger and hatred had given the little unicorn enormous strength, though. Without effort, she shook their hooves off and lunged at them in quick succession, making them tumble backwards and hitting the wall and furniture in the room.

Now undisturbed, Dinky brought the last inches behind her and, finally, touched the horn of her big sister. Sparkler continued to struggle, but still couldn't throw Dinky off. As the tips of their horns touched, everything happened fast suddenly.

Dinky concentrated and imagined how Sparkler's magic would help her, the selfish act that was needed to steal a unicorn's magic as her sister had explained her after Tirek was defeated, and both of their horns started to glow. Purple magic trickled out of Sparkler's horn and got absorbed by Dinky's now blue-glowing horn.

After only three seconds of draining her big sister's magic, the combined magic of the two unicorns caused a small explosion right where their horns touched. The resulting shock wave threw Dinky off of her sister's back and down onto the floor immediately. After producing a loud thud, Dinky's body lay there motionless.

Feeling dizzy, but not as much affected as Dinky had been, Sparkler shook her head. As the room had stopped circling around her, she rushed at her little sister's side. Simultaneously, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle did the same. As they had reached her, all three Crusaders held a hoof at their mouths in shock.

Dinky was lying on her right side, the flank on her left side still showing alternating cutie marks but, after a last flash of about a dozen cutie marks appearing on her flank almost simultaneously, they vanished altogether and left a completely blank flank behind. What shocked them, alongside Sparkler, so much, though, was that Dinky's eyes stood widely open, the fear she felt as the sudden explosion happened still visible in them.

Shoving the three other fillies out of the way, Sparkler rushed up to her little sister. With tears in her eyes she lifted her up and tried to shake her awake, fearing the worst. As Dinky didn't react, she placed her on the floor again and rested her head on her chest. Tears of relief streamed down her cheeks as she finally heard a faint, but noticeable heartbeat.

Quickly, she held her slightly scorched horn at Dinky's chest and concentrated. A purple bubble formed on her horn, then left it and entered Dinky's body. Immediately as the spell took effect on her heart, Dinky blinked and sat up in a flash. Heavy coughs left her mouth, so loud that they probably sounded through the whole house. Tears in the corners of her eyes, her body got shaken by the coughs until her big sister pulled her close and wrapped her into an embrace so tight, that it almost stopped Dinky's coughing by choking her.

After all that had happened over the course of the last few minutes, Sparkler was supposed to be angry at Dinky, but the emotion she felt was of a whole different kind.

“You're a stupid idiot, sis,” she muttered with a sob, barely loud enough to be audible over Dinky's continued coughs.

Author's Note:

I feel that Sparkler's characterization is a bit off here..... Then again, a lot of things in this fic are a bit off, so, why not have a last hooray on that?

Comments

[Bronycommander]

I agree, great work! That was a close call Dinky, please don't do that never again. But I'm here for me if you need comfort.

[redmar]

dinky took a great risk since her method is even more dangerous than what was suggested.