Awkward Introductions
I was going to meet my daughter.
This was never the way I thought I would meet my first kid. Sure, as a guardpony I had considered the idea that I might not be there for the birth of one of my kids. One of the risks of being in the Royal Guard was that you might go on a long deployment somewhere, either as part of some far-flung commitment, or—stars forbid—as part of a war. The worst wait I was realistically going to have to meet my new foal would be a year. That was still a dreadfully long time, but was one of the risks of the job. Six years without meeting my daughter was something else entirely.
After a journey that seemed to simultaneously take forever and no time at all, Cadey, Twily, and I found ourselves before Ditzy Doo’s house. It was a nice-looking single story home with a fenced-in lawn similar to the rest of the houses in Ponyville. The place seemed well-maintained, even if I could see some of the more recent renovations. I privately wondered if it was a bit small for a mother and two kids. That idea led to some unpleasant thoughts about Ditzy’s financial situation. Twily had said that Ditzy was doing fine, but raising two kids couldn’t be cheap. Especially when Ditzy hadn’t been established when she had Dinky. Becoming a parent was a daunting idea when you had a good job and house; Ditzy hadn’t had either of those things when she’d found out she was carrying Dinky.
Cadey placed a hoof on my shoulder, and I jerked at the sudden touch. I had stopped in front of the house gate without even thinking about it. My wife gave me an encouraging smiled. “Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be fine.”
Twily nodded. “The meeting with Ditzy went really well. No reason seeing Dinky should go any worse.”
I gulped and nodded. “I'm fine. Just nervous, is all.” It felt like I was going into battle ... or perhaps my execution. I felt silly putting my feelings into those terms, but how was I supposed to feel? I was going to meet the daughter I didn’t know I had for the first time. Nothing in my life had properly prepared me for something like this.
“I'm sure you'll be alright.” Cadey patted me on the shoulder. “And you'll have us there to help you.”
I took a deep breath to steady myself. “Right. What's the worst that could happen?”
A sudden, bright light flashed from within Ditzy’s house, followed shortly by smoke pouring out of a few of the windows.
Candace blinked and her wings flared out. “Oh no!”
She ran for the door, and I was right behind her as my Guard instincts kicked in. I reached the door first and reared up to buck the door down, but then nearly lost my balance as I felt a sudden tug on my hind legs. A quick check showed the aura of Twily’s magic around them.
“Whoa!” Twily stepped between me and the door. “Wait a second there before we destroy another door.”
“The house is on fire, Twily!” I said as I vainly tugged at her telekinetic grip. “Seconds kinda matter.”
“If I know the Doos, they probably have it handled.” Twily released me and knocked on the door. I wasn’t quite sure how to take her tranquility in the face of a house fire. She had written that Ponyville could be an odd town, but this seemed a bit much.
A few seconds later the door opened, and I had to look down to see who had opened it. In the doorway was a little filly carrying a fire extinguisher under her leg. I recognized her from a photograph I had been given. It was Dinky, my daughter.
“Hi!” Dinky smiled at us, but then tilted her head at the sight of me. “Wait, you’re not the fireponies.” She beamed when she noticed Twily. “Hi Miss Twilight! Mommy's almost got dinner ready. It’s extra fwooshy today!”
Twily smiled with obvious strain. “Another cooking accident?”
Dinky shook her head. “Nope! Everything's goin' just like it should be.”
I felt a growing sense of dread rise in me. Exactly how common were fires in this house? They made me wonder how safe it was here for my daughter and baby sister. ‘Accident prone’ was a pair of words I was starting to affiliate with Ditzy Doo. Part of me wondered how my hips had survived this mare.
Dinky next turned her wide eyes to Cadey. “Oooooh, and Princess Candy! Miss Twilight’s told me aaall about you!”
Cadey gave Dinky a smile that was tight at the edges. “Nice to meet you, Dinky. Twilight’s told me quite a bit about her student.”
Dinky gasped. “Really?! To a princess?!”
Twily chuckled. “I told her all about how proud I am of you.”
Before I could get my brain into gear, Dinky put the fire extinguisher down and then attached herself to my leg in a hug, beaming up at me with the most adorable smile I'd ever seen. “Hi there! I'm Dinky Doo, an' Miss Twilight's my teacher. I know you already know that, but Mommy says I should always introduce myself to new ponies. Who're you?”
My daughter was hugging my leg. It was actually happening—I was hugging my daughter. Well, she was doing all the hugging, but this was really good! And she was so adorable! I tried to think of how to answer her. “I-I'm, um... Hi?”
I really hate it when my brain can't do words.
Twily smiled and placed a hoof on my shoulder. “Dinky, this is my big brother Shining Armor, and he’s really been wanting to see you.”
“Oooh!” Dinky nodded, starting to cut off the circulation to my leg. “Miss Twilight’s told me lots about you! I remember you from Canterlot an' stuff, 'cause I’m pretty sure that was your wedding,” she whispered loudly to me in what I was sure was intended to be in a conspiratorial manner. “It was so, darn, cool!”
“Th-thanks.” I gulped and looked to Cadey. She was smiling down at Dinky, so that was a good sign. Probably. “Y-yes, I'm S-Shining Armor, and I'm, I'm, I'm your, um...” My throat tightened as I balked. Sun and stars, I could bark out orders in the middle of a crisis, but I couldn’t tell my daughter I was her dad?
Twily detected my hesitation and patted Dinky on the back. “Maybe we should head inside? I’m sure we’ll be more comfortable talking there. You know, in private?” Her eyes flicked out to the pony-filled street where we were starting to draw attention.
“Oh, right!” I stepped into Ditzy’s home with Dinky still firmly attached to my leg.
“Come on in!” Ditzy called from the kitchen. “I'll be right there! I’ve nearly got everything handled in here. I just need to check on the casserole first.” The sound of clattering echoed from the kitchen, and there a fresh outpouring of smoke billowed into the room. “Um, no, no, wait, the fire-retardant foam is on fire... Twilight! Would you mind coming in here to give me a hoof?”
Twily gave me an apologetic smile and trotted to the kitchen to deal with the budding crisis.
While we waited on Twily and Ditzy, Cadey addressed Dinky. “So ... tell us about yourself, Dinky.”
“R-right!” I nodded vigorously as I started to regain my bearings. “Tell us all about you.”
“Okay! Um...” Dinky scrunched up her nose in an absolutely adorable manner as she thought. “My name's Dinky Doo, I’m six, I've got a bratty big sister named Sparkler, Mommy's name is Ditzy Doo—ooh, but her friends call her Derpy. So that means she’s got a nickname, like how I call my big sister Sparky.”
“What do you like to do for fun?” Cadey smiled warmly. “What about your friends?”
Dinky rubbed her chin. “Well, I like hangin' out with my friend Alula Kicker when she's around. She's my best friend, but she's not around as much as she used to be, 'cause her mommy died and her daddy's in Canterlot. But we still hang out because she's my best friend and we have a lot of fun. Then there’s Pipsqueak, who we also hang out with because he’s our friend too and we go to school together. Though Alula calls him dummy all the time, but I don’t know why because Pip’s pretty smart. Ooh, and we also have fun with the Cutie Mark Crusaders and they’re always getting into trouble because they’re trying to find their special talents, like that time they tried to be the Cutie Mark Crusader Monster Tamers. Scootaloo said my cutie mark should probably be an explosion, but I dunno why.”
“Sounds like you're really busy,” I said when Dinky took a moment to catch her breath. It was good to hear that Dinky was having a relatively normal childhood, even if I was increasingly worried about how safe things were for her. Though to be fair, things could get pretty crazy in my family too.
Cadey smiled approvingly. “I'm glad you have so many friends.”
“Yep! I have lots of friends.” Dinky finally released my leg from her vice-like hug and turned her adorable embrace on Cadey next. “Hi! Miss Twilight said you were the bestest foalsitter ever, and she taught me the ladybug dance that you taught her. Want me to show you?”
Cadey cleared her throat. “Maybe later. I think your mom is bringing out dinner.”
Ditzy trotted in with Twily, each of them carrying plates covered with a variety of food. They made their way to the dining table and started putting the plates on it. “Come on over! Sit down, hi, um...” She used her wing to blow back some of the smoke drifting from the kitchen. “Thanks for coming. Help yourself—I have crackers, smoked cheeses, smoked salmon, smoked almonds, smokey drinks if you want them, and rice balls ... that are smoked.”
“It sounds like you've thoroughly smoked the meal,” Twily observed with enough tactfulness to be a diplomat to a foreign nation.
Ditzy chuckled as she rubbed the back of her mane. “I decided to play to my strengths. Dinky, let go of the princess. It’s time to eat.”
“‘Kay!” Dinky let Cadey go and ran to her spot at the table.
“Thanks.” Cadey sat down at the table and cast a spell to clear out the smoke. “Your daughter is adorable, by the way.”
Ditzy made a maternal smile as she placed the last plate. “Thank you. She means the world to me.”
“I can see why.” I examined the table and suddenly it looked like a battlefield. I wanted to sit near Dinky, but because I didn’t want to be too close to Ditzy and send the wrong message to Cadey. Thankfully, Twily took one of the seats next to Ditzy while Dinky took the other flank. That let me sit next to Dinky and Cadey, with Cadey taking Twily’s other side. So far so good...
“Thank you for the meal. It looks lovely.” Cadey picked up a blackened rice ball and politely nibbled on it. Her face tightened, but she maintained her smile thanks to her years of practice smiling in any situation.
“Right, you really didn't have to go through all of this for us.” I tested some of the smoked cheese. To be fair, ‘smoked’ was probably the most apt description.
“Not at all!” Ditzy shook her head. “I had to when royalty was visiting! Besides, I needed to do something while I waited for you to show up. So I thought I might as well cook something up.”
Dinky vigorously pointed to a basket of muffins. “You should try her muffins! Especially the banana-nut ones—they're my favorite, but I think you'd like them too!”
Twily nodded emphatically. “I’d highly recommend going with the muffins,” she said with an undertone that said I would really prefer the muffins to the smoked cornucopia in front of us.
“Might as well try one.” Considering the smoke flavored cheese was a bust, I tried one of the muffins. The first bit of the banana-nut muffin confirmed that was the smart decision. “Mmm, this is really good.” It was probably one of the best muffins I’d ever had. If the meal had just been muffins I think I would have been more than happy.
Ditzy laughed as she rubbed the back of her mane. “You’re welcome. And thank you so much for coming today. All of you.”
I put on the best smile I could considering the circumstances. “I'm, um, happy to be here.” I wanted to be here, anyways. I wouldn’t describe what I was feeling as ‘happy’, I was way too nervous for that.
“Me too!” Dinky reattached herself to my leg. Twily hadn’t been kidding about her being a hugger.
Cadey cleared her throat and gave me and Ditzy a meaningful look. “So ... do you want to tell or should we?”
I shakily nodded my head. “R-right.” So here it was. The moment of truth. If I were less of a stallion I would have seriously considered bolting for the exit. Thankfully I hadn’t—I had only checked where all the nearby exits to the home were out of simple habit.
Ditzy bit her lip. “Right. Um.” Her eyes darted around like a caged animal. It wasn’t helped by how her eyes were always looking in different directions.
“Hm?” Dinky looked between the adults in the room. “What’s up?”
“Muffin.” Ditzy shifted so that she could put a supportive hoof on her back. “This stallion ... he's ... Mister Shining Armor's your daddy.”
Dinky’s eyes slowly widened as the the truth sank in, and then she drew in a deep gasp. “Oh. My. Gosh!” She turned a beaming smile at Cadey. “Are you marrying Mommy?!” She ran over to Cadey and grasped onto her leg. “I didn't know you were bicentennial too!”
Cadey blinked and sat there, stunned by Dinky’s conclusion. “I—what?”
My jaw dropped. This was not how I’d expected things to go.
Ditzy’s covered her mouth as she snorted loudly.
“Um, that’s not...” Twily raised a hoof as she prepared to go into a lecture, but then stopped herself. I could see the gears turning in her head as she lowered her hoof, her attempt to explain the truth aborted as she abandoned the rest of us to straighten everything out with Dinky.
Dinky was more than happy to fill the silence. “Well if Mister Shiney's gonna be my daddy then that means he's gonna marry Mommy, but he can't do that 'cause he's married to you, but you're a princess, so if he's gonna be my daddy then that's because he's gonna be my family too, but that can only happen if you marry Mommy, and I remember that ‘cause Sparky's bicentennial 'cause she had a coltfriend before she met her fillyfriend Star. Do I get to be a princess? Oooh, and get a tiara like Diamond Tiara? Tiara’s are pretty and it’d be. So. Cool to wear one.” Not one pause to breathe.
“Um.” I searched for the right words to explain everything to Dinky. I looked to Cadey for help, but she seemed even more shocked than I was, and Ditzy let out a laugh that sounded like a squawk as she tried to stop herself. “Um. That's, um, it's a bit more complicated than that, Dinky.”
Cadey’s wings fluttered as she visibly rallied. “Um ... there won't be any marriages.”
I grimaced as I moved in to assist Cadey. “Your mom and I aren't ... together like some mommies and daddies are.”
Ditzy sighed and nodded, having recovered from her laughing spell. “They’re correct, Muffin, we're not ... together. Either of us. It wouldn’t make sense for us to get married.”
“...Oh.” Dinky blinked owlishly as she stared up at me. “Why?”
“Your mom and I don't really love each other.” I grimaced as I said the words. It was a harsh thing to say to a kid her age. Cadey then coughed and gave me a pointed nudge, causing me to blink as I tried to figure out what she wanted me to say. “Because I love my wife, Cadance.” I wrapped a leg around her shoulders. “A lot, because we're married and I married her because I love her so very much.” There, that should shore up that front, or at least I hoped so. I barely had a clue what I was doing by this point.
“Oh.” Dinky let me go and her ears flattened to her head. “Did I do somethin' wrong? 'Cause I didn't mean to, I promise!”
“No! You didn’t do anything wrong!” I said as quickly as I could. “You're fine! It's us, Dinky, not you!”
Ditzy scooped her daughter up to hug her. “Muffin, it's nothing like that at all. You didn't do anything wrong, okay?”
“Um...” Dinky frowned as she tried to take all of this in. I didn’t blame her. This was a lot for anyone to absorb.
Cadey sighed softly. “Dinky, your mother and Shining had something very special, and you exist because of that. But ... well, you're the most important thing they had, not each other.”
Ditzy nodded to Cadey. “Exactly. We both love you very much, even if we don’t love each other. You’re the most precious thing in my life alongside your sister, and nothing is going to change that.”
Dinky tilted her head and scrunched up her nuzzle in deep thought.
I threw in my own bits into the conversation. “Like Cadey said, we both care about you, and that's what's important between us. I want to be there for you, where I can be, and I want you to be a part of my life.”
Dinky tilted her head even more and looked to her mom for help. “I'd like that too?”
“That's very generous of you.” Ditzy nodded to her—our daughter. “Don't forget to say thank you, Muffin.”
“Um ... thank you.” Dinky hugged me again, but far less earnestly than she had before. Poor kid, she was probably terribly confused by this point.
Cadey coughed again and nudged me with an elbow. “Shining would've been there for you sooner, but we just found out about you.”
“R-right!” I wrapped my legs around Dinky to pull her into a full hug. Heh, I was actually hugging my daughter for the first time. That was ... good. Yeah, it was good. “I ... I'm here now, and I love you very much.”
Ditzy nodded slowly. “He's telling the truth, Muffin. They both are.”
“I love ya too.” Dinky squirmed in my hug. “But I'm really ... I don't get it.”
I rubbed her back to try and make her more comfortable. “That's okay. It's a lot to take in all at once, so I don’t blame you if you need some time to figure it all out.”
Dinky blinked owlishly as she looked up at me. “But ... are you really my daddy?”
I nodded. “Definitely. From here on out I'm going to be your dad. It's just your mom and I aren't going to be living together. Though we'll work something out so that you can see both of us.”
Dinky’s ears flattened. “Oh.”
I grimaced at the pained expression on her face. “I'm sorry if this isn't the same as you see with a lot of mommies and daddies, but this is just going to be different. But remember we both love you, and we’ll both be there for you. That’s what’s most important.”
“Okay, I think.” Dinky didn’t sound confident about that as she broke her hug with me. She turned to her mom. “Can I go draw some stuff for a bit?”
“Of course, Muffin,” Ditzy said. “Just let me know if you want to leave the house first, okay?”
“Maybe you'd like to show Shining some of your drawings?” Cadey suggested. “I’m sure he would love to see them.”
I smiled and nodded. “Yeah, definitely.” Anything that made Dinky feel better at this point was good by me. I hated hurting her like this. She didn’t deserve it.
“Ooh, yeah!” Dinky’s smile returned. “I can go get 'em for ya!” She gave my leg one final hug before zipping off.
I smiled after Dinky as she ran off, but then my ears wilted once she was gone. “I could have done that better.” Ugh, my brain had all but shut down during that conversation. Cadey had done a better job of guiding me through my talking points than I had.
Ditzy snerked weakly. “Yeah, I could have too. You shouldn't blame yourself—I really didn’t have the first clue what to say either.”
Twily nodded. “I don't think there's any perfect way to talk about this. I should know, I tried to find a book for this type of thing. All you can do is try and be honest with her and work from there.”
“I hope she'll be okay.” I rubbed my leg. “The last thing I want to do is hurt her.”
“I know.” Ditzy nibbled on a piece of her smoked cheese, but then coughed as soon as she tried it. “Sh—” She coughed again to clear her throat. It seemed her food was a bit smokey even for her high tolerance. “I think she knows you don't want that. It's just ... I've never explained the biology of things to her, much less ... you know, things like this.”
“It's a very complicated situation,” Cadey said. “Especially for somepony her age.”
I sighed, resigned to do what I had to. “This is something we're just going to have to plow ahead on. It hasn’t been too horrible at least. There’s a lot less yelling than I had been worried would happen.”
Ditzy chuckled weakly. “It doesn't have to be that bad.”
Before we could continue our adult conversation, Dinky returned. She smiled brightly as she brought some of her drawings, as well as some crayons and new paper. “I'm back!”
Cadey smiled encouragingly. “Which drawing is your favorite?”
Dinky puckered out her lips in deep concentration. “Well the last one was with Miss Cloud Kicker, 'cuz she an' Mommy were really snuggly for a while.” She held up a filly-ish crayon drawing of her family, along with a particular pegasus I had just met here in Ponyville who I wasn’t particularly happy with for kissing my sister. ‘Mommy's Friend Miss Klowd Kiker,’ was brightly colored at the top for all to see, and that raised a great many questions that I didn’t think I was going to like the answers to.
“It's kinda old, but it's about family.” Dinky flashed us a proud smile. “And that's my favorite thing.”
I put on the best smile I could. No sense making Dinky think I didn’t like her art. Especially when it was really precious. Even if I wished it didn’t include a certain pony in it. “That's... really good! Family is really important.”
“Yuh-huh, it’s the most important!” Dinky nodded enthusiastically. “I wanted to bring it out so I could use it to help me draw a new one.” Dinky sat down at the table and stuck out her tongue as she went about drawing on a fresh piece of paper.
The corner of Cadey’s mouth quirked into a grin as she looked at Ditzy. “So ... ‘snuggly’?”
Ditzy blushed and squirmed in her seat. “Cloud and I were a thing, for a little bit. It didn’t work out, but we’re still friends and she's still a really great mom to Sparkler and Dinky.”
My eye twitched. “Is this the same Cloud Kicker that Twily knows?”
Twily gave me a strained smile. “Um, yes.”
I ground my teeth together. “I see.” So Cloud had been dating my sister and the mother of my daughter. That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. At least Ditzy and Cloud weren’t seeing one another anymore, even if I was going to be asking some questions about Cloud being around Dinky. Especially considering all the rumors about Cloud. The good news was that Dinky didn’t seem to know what we were talking about, since she was concentrating on her drawing, only stopping to squint at me before returning to her work. “Sounds like you've got quite the social circle here, Twily.”
Twily chuckled as her eyes tried to find something to focus on. “You know small towns, everypony knows everypony.” A second later she added, “Not like that! Or, maybe like that, depending on what you think ‘that’ is. It's kinda like that, in the way it's not like that, if you're getting what I'm saying?”
I had a pretty good idea that I didn’t like what I was hearing. Another talk with Cadey about Twily sounded like a really good idea now.
Cadey raised an eyebrow, a slight grin on her lips. “Clearly. I'm just glad you found somepony to ... know.”
“Thanks Cadey,” Twily said. “It’s nice to try out some new things.”
“I think I'm done!” Dinky beamed at us as she presented her drawing.
“Let me have a look.” Thankful about being given something to think about that wasn’t Cloud Kicker, I took the drawing and looked it over. The fillyish crayon portrait showed me, Cadey, and Twily having a picnic with Dinky. Though while most everypony was smiling, Twily was drawn waving her legs in a panic as she levitated a notepad.
Cadey glanced over my shoulder and grinned. “Very nice, Dinky.”
Twily looked over my other shoulder and frowned. “What? What am I doing there?”
Dinky smiled innocently at her aunt and teacher. “Oh, you're takin' notes like ya always do! Like how to set up a banner for the Princess's visit and how to levitate a feather and why rice shouldn't smoke—you know, the kinda stuff you do already. And you go all ‘My noootes!’” Dinky waved her legs in an impression of Twily, and Ditzy covered her mouth as she chuckled.
Twily gave me and Cadey a strained smile. “That’s a bit of an exaggeration.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at my little sister. “It looks pretty accurate to me.”
Dinky smiled all the wider. “Do you like it?”
I wrapped a leg around my daughter to give her a hug. “It’s perfect, Dinky.”
I returned to the Doo residence the next day. Things had gone pretty well last time, all things considered, and it felt like we were past the hard part. I had come up with plenty of ways it could have gone worse, for certain. But now I had met my daughter and her mom, and we were on the road to making everything right. Not that it was going to be easy. I couldn’t exactly move to Ponyville because of my work in the Guard, or at least once I was given a new post, so that meant there were going to be plenty of train rides in the future for us to see each other. But all things considered, I could work with that. The most important thing was that Dinky was happy and got what she needed. We’d figure out the details like when I would get to see Dinky over time. Ditzy seemed more than happy to work with me and Cadey over that, and Cadey seemed to be getting along with Dinky. Even if I could feel the underlying strain between Cadey and Ditzy now and again, that was nothing time couldn’t take care of. One step at a time.
For instance, I had a big one today. After meeting briefly with Ditzy and Dinky (thankfully without being interrupted by a kitchen fire this time), I was directed to the backyard. Like the house itself, it was rather nice, with a clean white-painted fence, and a garden with ripening fruits and vegetables lined one of the back edges with a swing set and a flower garden across the way from it. But it wasn’t all of that that drew my attention.
My sister was standing over a book that absorbed her attention. Not noticing me, Sparkler levitated a dozen tennis balls and cast a spell over them. She then tossed them as hard as she could and they went soaring through the air. But instead of continuing on their normal trajectory, they suddenly turned and darted for her. Sparkler was ready for them, for as soon as they turned she started firing bursts of light at them. The first bolt hit a ball and it exploded, and it was quickly followed by three more as she hit them. My baby sister missed the next shot, but hit two more. But by then the tennis balls had closed in on her, Sparkler was in the process of firing another bolt of light when a ball struck her in the face. She yelped in pain, and two more balls hit her. She tried to fire another shot, but another ball hit against the side of her head and she lost her concentration on the spell.
I’d seen enough. My big brother instincts kicked in, and I cast a shield dome over Sparkler. The balls collided with the shield, but none of them broke through. Sparkler yelped in surprise at the sudden appearance of my shield, and she flinched back, only for her rear to hit the shield. The magic in the tennis balls then ran out, and they fell harmlessly to the ground.
I grimaced. “Sorry, didn't mean to scare you.” I dropped the shield. Hopefully I hadn’t just stepped in it again. That would just be my luck with how my life’s been for the last few weeks.
“S'okay.” Sparkler brushed herself off, and then tilted her head to one side as she looked me over. “Shining Armor, right?”
I nodded, my heart thumped in my chest as I got to meet her for the first time. “That's right, and you're... Sparkler? Sparkler Doo?”
“That's me, yeah.” She stepped closer to me to get a better look. “But sometimes my sister calls me Brat-Master.”
I chuckled. It wasn’t hard to imagine Dinky saying something like that. “I hope that isn't a bad sign.”
Sparkler grinned. “I like to think of it that I've got a sharp wit.” Her grin fell away as she stepped a bit closer to me, but short of my reach.
“So, um.” I swallowed, my throat suddenly tightening. “It's nice to meet you, finally.”
“Yeah, you too.” Sparkler rubbed her leg. “I've heard a lot about you. Um. Especially recently.”
“Good things, I hope.”
“Nothing but good,” Sparkler confirmed. “It sounds like I'm getting a helluva pony in my life.”
I nodded. “Twilight's said good things about you too. It's good to see you, really.” I shuffled in place. “Even if this is pretty awkward.”
“Hey, it could be a lot more awkward.” Sparkler closed the remaining distance between us to give me a hug. “S'just nice to meet you, really.”
I hugged her back. Something I hadn’t thought I would ever get to do after so many years. “So why's my little sister getting pelted by tennis balls?”
She broke the hug and smirked. “Would you believe it's an ancient and obscure ritual passed down in Clan Doo from generation to generation?”
“What's the ritual?” I asked. “Not getting hit by the balls?”
Sparkler’s smirk widened. “Phrasing, bro. Phrasing.”
I blinked. “That wasn’t even close to what I meant!”
Sparkler snerked and covered her mouth. Celestia help me, my little sister had a dirty mind. There might be something to Dinky calling her the Brat-Master. “Star taught me a few tricks about countermagic, and I wanted to practice them in between college application stuff.”
I decided to concentrate on the subject of defensive magic. That was a much safer topic for me, even if this was about Sparkler’s ... fillyfriend. “You might want to rethink how you’re doing things. You’re pretty good with those light bolts, but that’s best for trying to take down a single target. Not several targets moving at you at once—you'll never cast fast enough to stop that many individual targets.”
Sparkler tilted her head. “Huh. That makes sense.” She looked away from me and scraped a hoof along the ground. “You can probably figure out I'm just getting started on all this magic stuff. I got a late start, and Twilight's ... I mean, she's good at what she does, but she can't always be here. Can I bum a lesson or two from you sometime?”
“Sure. Anytime I'm around, or when you visit Canterlot. Heck, how about I give you a lesson right now?” I smiled. “Half of magic is knowing what spells to cast and when. For instance, when dealing with several incoming attacks...” I created another shield dome over the swingset and then threw the remaining tennis balls at it. They bounced off harmlessly. “A shield is often your best basic defense. And on the attack, something like an explosive fireball can hit a lot of enemies at once. Though I'm not casting the fireball here, I think your house sees enough fires as is.”
“Oh, you have no idea.” Sparkler grinned. “Mom's house is a disaster shelter in all but name at this point.” That was another confirmation of that fact, since Twily had told me pretty much the same thing when I had expressed my concerns about how accident-prone Ditzy seemed to be. “Though I wouldn't mind a few pointers down the line, if you ... you know, can spare the time.”
I puffed out my chest and smiled. “I’d love to help you. You mentioned you were thinking about going to college? Thinking to go into something involving spellcraft?”
Sparkler nodded. “Yeah, my dream college is currently a toss-up between Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and West Hoof. Assuming I get a 'yes' on either of them, much less both, but ... you know. They're my favorite options.”
“They're both really good schools,” I said. “Naturally I'm a bit biased for West Hoof.”
“Naturally.” My long-lost sister grinned and nudged me. “I'm sure your Sergeant-Instructor would thank you for any sales pitch you could offer. “ She spoke with an exaggeratedly official voice. “Come to West Hoof Academy, where what doesn't kill you prepares you for what does!”
I chuckled. West Hoof hadn’t exactly been a fun time. I had some great memories, but it’s a long way from going to a luxury resort on vacation. “Something like that. Even if I'm a bit worried about my ... baby sister joining the Guard.”
Sparkler grimaced and gave me another hug. “To be honest, I'm really not interested in it. Ninety percent of why I wanna go is Star. I think I like Celestia's School better.”
“There's plenty of good jobs you can get by going to Celestia's School,” I said as I held her. “You can do just about anything going there, where you can only really go into the Guard going to West Hoof. So you better be pretty sure you want to join the Guard if you’re going to do that.” I scowled. “I don't think you should be picking your career just because of who your fillyfriend is.”
Sparkler sighed and nodded. “I love her to bits, but enough to go Guard? I ... I dunno. And you’re not saying anything I haven’t heard from Mom, Grandma, Grampa ... um, a bit of our mom, too.” She squirmed when she mentioned Mom.
I grimaced. “How are you and she doing?” Twily was a bit light on the notes when she talked about all of that family drama, and I didn’t want to press her too hard when she seemed pretty uncomfortable about it. Ugh, I hated how much of this had gotten dumped on her. It really wasn’t fair.
Sparkler took a deep breath. “We're .... talking. It took a bit of doing and a few hugs from Dinky, but ... we're talking.”
“That's good.” I sighed and ran a hoof through my mane. “I'm still kinda mad at her, honestly.”
Sparkler bit her lip. “I can't really blame you for that. Twilight filled me in and ... damn.”
I groaned and nodded. “I'm so sorry that happened to you. Especially why it happened. If I had known I would have done something.” To think, everything I, Sparkler, and Twily had gone through had all been for a lie. That was ... terrible. I still didn’t know how to contextualize it all. It was all so surreal.
“Hey, hey.” She wrapped a leg around my shoulders and nuzzled me. “I know, all right? I'm not blaming you for any of that, okay? Feathers, you were barely Dinky's age n'you had to deal with family dying.” She shook her head. “I won't say I get it, 'cause I don't, but I'm not blaming you.”
My ears wilted. I still felt guilty for everything, even if I knew none of it was my fault, but I still hated the idea when I couldn’t protect those that I cared about. “I'm here now. That's something, at least. We'll figure this out, one way or another.”
Sparkler leaned against me. “Thanks. Really, thanks. I think I could get used to having a big brother. You're really cool.”
I smiled and nuzzled her. “Good to hear somepony thinks so.”
Sparkler grinned and poked me. “Also, you gotta introduce me to the Missus. If she's gonna be my sister, I wanna meet her properly.”
“Sure! I want you to meet Cadey.” I broke the hug so that I could face her. “I just wanted to get to know you by myself for a little bit.”
She nodded. “I guess I can't blame you for that. Maybe ... I dunno. Maybe I should take a year off to get to know you better?”
I shook my head. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m all for getting in some sibling bonding time, but I don't want to mess up your future. School's still really important during this stage of your life, and that needs to be a high priority for you.”
Sparkler sighed and shrugged. “Okay, point. Maybe summers? I do plan on having a summer break between semesters, and I can't think of a better way to spend them than with my brother.”
I smiled. “That sounds like a great idea to me. I can’t guarantee I won’t be busy with Guard stuff during the summer, but we should at least get to see each other.”
“Mhm.” Sparkler leaned against me again. “Our family is so ... hay, I don't even know.”
“Crazy?”
She nodded. “That's as good a word for it as any.”
I rubbed the side of my temple. “It describes my life perfectly at the moment. After my wedding, finding out about you and Dinky, and that’s just getting to the stuff that stands out right now...”
Sparkler snorted. “If it's any consolation, none of us are any less confused.”
It seemed that being a Sparkle came with a curse to live an interesting life. “So, want to go out and get ice cream with Cadey?” I asked. “If your mom is okay with it, that is. But I know Cadey wanted to get to spend some time with you while we’re in town, and I’d like for you to get to know her.”
“Psh, hay yeah.” Sparkler stretched herself out. “I'd like to meet my sister-in-law and spend an afternoon or four with her and my brother.”
“We do have a lot of catching up to do.” I led the way back to the house so that we could talk with Ditzy about getting some ice cream.
Sparkler followed alongside me. “Yeah, but we've got a lot of time to catch up.”
I smiled, happy to have my baby sister back. “So let's get started.”
Time flew before it was time for us to return to Canterlot. It’s strange how a week can sound like a long time, but then feel like no time at all. I had spent the week getting to know Dinky and Sparkler, as well as visit Twily for the first time in what felt like forever. Between family meals, teaching Dinky and Sparkler some magic, and being shown around town, time had flown by. Now the week was over and Cadey and I were waiting at the train station along with Twily, Dinky, Sparkler, Spike, and Ditzy.
“Do ya have to go?” Dinky begged as she looked up at me with big, sad eyes. Ack, that look made me feel guilty.
“I’m afraid so, Dinky.” I picked her up and gave her a big hug. “I’m sorry, but Cadey and I have a big meeting to go to tomorrow.” With any luck, the meeting with the Royal Sisters should get me back on track to doing something productive in the Guard. Though it made me feel terrible about leaving Dinky. Part of me wanted to just quit the Guard and concentrate on family. Lots of former captains of the Royal Guard had retired after they stepped down as Captain of the Guard, though most of them were old enough to retire anyways, or were at least at the point in their lives where they wanted a change in career. I ... wasn’t at that point in my life. I loved the Guard, and I wanted to protect ponies, especially my family. The situation made me start to empathize with my parents and all the times they had to balance between work and their family. After talking it over with Cadey, she agreed I shouldn’t do anything rash and resign my commission in the Guard—not without being absolutely sure that’s what I wanted to do.
Stupid adult responsibilities.
“Aww!” Dinky’s lip quivered as she redoubled her efforts to look as sad as possible.
Ditzy rubbed our daughter’s back. “Daddy’s a very busy pony, Muffin. He’s working really hard to protect ponies.”
I gave my daughter a nuzzle. “And we’re going to get to see each other next month during the holiday weekend. You’re looking forward to that, right?”
Dinky sighed. “I guess.”
“And your mommy and I are talking about you getting to visit for the summer once you’re out of school,” I said. “You like that idea? You’ll get to see me, Cadey, your grandparents, and we’ll take you all over Canterlot to have fun.”
A smile creeped its way to Dinky’s lips. “Mhm, I’d like that.”
I would have liked nothing better than to take Dinky home with me, but after sitting down and talking everything over with Ditzy we agreed now wasn’t the time for that. We didn’t have a bed or a room for Dinky in Canterlot, for one thing, and we didn’t want to upset everything in Dinky’s life, especially so soon after she’d learned about me and her extended family. Taking her from the town she had known her entire life, where her family, friends, and school were would have been a major disruption. No, we needed time for things to settle back down, let Dinky get used to the idea that her dad was going to be a part of her life now, and work out lots of important details before we could consider having her move in with me and Cadey. Even a situation where Dinky would bounce back between my and Ditzy’s home would take a lot of work to make happen, especially when Dinky and her wellbeing came first.
I kissed Dinky on the cheek. “We’ll make this work. And your Aunt Twilight is working on a communication mirror, so once that’s done we’ll get to talk every day.”
Dinky’s face brightened with a true smile. “Yeah! Then I can tell ya all about how school went.”
“Yep, and in the meantime...” I tickled her belly, and she squealed in laughter. “You promise to write to me every week? Because I’m going to be writing to you every week, and it’ll make me sad if I don’t hear back from you and hear all about how your week went.”
Dinky nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah-huh! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”
I chuckled at what I had been told was the Pinkie Promise.
Cadey smiled as she watched us. “That’s good, because I’m going to be reading your letters too, and I don’t want your daddy to be sad either.”
“Okay, Princess Candy, I double Pinkie Promise to write every week!” Dinky’s eyes widened and she gasped. “Can I write you too?! That be so cool!”
“I don’t see why not.” Cadey grinned Twily’s way. “I wouldn’t mind hearing about how your magic lessons with your aunt are going.”
Twily blushed. “She’s a good student, and we’re making a lot of progress.”
“So I’ve seen.” I looked to Sparkler, who had been patiently standing back, and I waved her over. “Come here, I want to give you a hug too before the train arrives.”
Sparkler smiled. “You won’t get an argument from me.” She stepped in and gave me a hug that I returned. “M’gonna miss you.”
“Me too.” I gave her a squeeze. “Make sure to write me too?”
“Gods yes.” She nuzzled me and gave me a wry smile. “I’ll make sure to tell you all about how good my dates with Star are going.”
My eye twitched. “That’s ... good.” It made me feel a little better that Star Kicker was a guardpony. Even if I worried about how much older she was than Sparkler. And what was it with Kickers and my sisters? That was something I was both dreadfully curious about, and yet was something I didn’t want to know. With all the Kickers involved in my life as of late, it made me wonder if the Kickers really were out to get me. Still, I would feel better when I got to know Star. After I had a private chat with her about what was and wasn’t appropriate to do with my baby sister.
“Be nice, Sparkler,” Ditzy chided.
Sparkler rolled her eyes. “Yes, Mom.”
The train whistle blared as the train to Canterlot slowly rolled into the station. I sighed and squeezed my daughter. Goodbyes to family never got easier, even with practice. “Looks like that’s our train.”
Dinky puckered her lips out in a pout. “I’ll miss you, Daddy.”
“Me too, Dinky.” I gave her one final nuzzle and set her down. “Be good for your mom and Aunt Twily, okay?”
She nodded solemnly. “I will.”
“Hey, what about me?” Sparkler teased. “Aren’t you going to tell her to be good for me too?”
I grinned back at her. “Act like a proper big sister instead of being a big brat and maybe you’ll earn some respect.” It hadn’t taken me long to find out my baby sister had a brat streak a mile wide. Not that I would change a thing about her.
Sparkler made an exaggerated gasp and placed her hooves over her heart. “You wound me. Right to the heart. Aren't I your perfect baby sister?”
“Oh, I think you’re perfect, but I know that I’m biased.” I grinned at Dinky. “But general consensus says you’re a brat. Isn’t that right, Dinky?”
Dinky nodded her head repeatedly. “Yep! I even wrote a song about it! Wanna hear it?”
Sparkler sighed and shook her head. “Not the Brat Song again.”
I checked to see how long it was before we were going to need to board the train. “You know what, sure.”
I laughed as Dinky sang her little song. Things were going to be rough for a while, but it seemed that everything was going to be alright. At least I had my daughter and baby sister. I could work with that.
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Dinky is such a precious little cinnamon bun.
"He hadn’t been a husband for very long, but upon marriage men get a whole lot of extra senses bolted into their brain, and one is there to tell a man that he’s suddenly neck deep in real trouble. "
Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky
More I say, more! All the Dinky-dorableness! Mwahahaha!
It's sweet how they've all been able to come together as a family. Looking forward to more.
Personally I wanted to see Sparklers reaction to when Shining Armor tells her about her OTHER half sister Vinyl Scratch. Cause that's a thing she should know.
This was a GREAT chapter and it was awesome to see Dinky's Weaponized Cuteness again <3
8732838
Isn't Vinyl famous in this timeline? I suspect she might be a bit too over joyed.
Well, that certainly could've gone a lot worse... though the Crystal Empire looms large over these arrangements. If they think the Dinky logistics are tricky when Shining and Cadence are living in Canterlot, just wait until they move to the northern frontier. Sure, there'll be a rail line, but it's still one heck of a schlep.
"West Hoof"
"Good time"
Those two concepts should never be used in the same sentence. Just last week, we had a general giving a motivational speech casually state that some of us would never have any friends that we didn't meet at the Academy. If there is one thing for which West Hoof is not designed, it's showing Cadets a good time.
Hmm, wonder what will happen when Dinky meets her great-aunts? Maybe they will crown her as the Princess of Hugs?
The family has finally been reunited! I was laughing so hard on how Shining first met his long lost daughter, the fact Dinky was holding a fire extinguisher like nothing happened was hilarious!
Shiny needs a boundaries discussion, I think.
8732838
Technically they aren't sisters, but since they are both Sparkles, I don't think it'd matter much. Remember, Vinyl is Night and Quill's daughter and Sparkler is Velvet and Magetrix's daughter.
I do have the sneaking suspicion that she does have another half-sister, but that's a pretty wide mental gap to bridge right now.
Okay normally (because I am a miserable old toe-rag who has been around far too many younger siblings, cousins, nephews, nieces and parent's-friends and/or child-minded babies) I am immune to Dinky's effects, but I have to tip my helmet to:
as being truly hilarious as the first place Dinky's mind went to.
Dinky meets Shining while she's carrying a fire extinguisher, that really says everything.
Dinky's cuteness solves everything.
Magic lessons by Shining, great bonding idea.
Very true.
Aw...Shining means so well and he is SUCH a twit.
Yeah... and how old is Sparkler? In her teens?
That would make Shining Armor pretty damn young to have held a rank equivalent to that of a General.
Also, Dinky was conceived at a party Shiny went to as a cadet?
Things aint adding up well. I'm thinking a real Winningverse timeline needs to be done up
8734826
That's partly why Cloud's dad had such a hate-on for him in the original Cloud fic: SA was young to get the position, his dad was the Archmagus and Twilight Celestia's student. He was also dating Cadance, Celestia's niece. If it smells like nepotism to a skeptical mind it wouldn't be hard to see why.
The party they did the deed at was a senior graduation thing right after finals, so he would have definitely been of age, at least.
8735009
I thought Cloud's dad himself was pretty professional about it. It was the rest of the Kicker Clan that had all the disdain for Shining.
8735068
Yeah, he was professional about it, and the family expressed all the outward disdain, but if I remember that scene where they're all discussing the changeling body correctly there was no love lost between them either.
Yes, Shining, the Kickers are out to get you. Be prepared to cast shields all the time, everywhere, because they can be in every nook and cranny.
Still, it seems that everything went better than expected, and that last scene was so heartwarming that I can't even.
And then Shining helped troll Sparkler to submission
I have a feeling that a prank war had started.
8735075
Ironically, from what I remember wasn't he the one who wanted to fortify Equestria's borders, while Shining Armor was the one who wanted to focus their defenses on Canterlot?
8737549
Yep. So it was even worse when exactly what Tornado said would happen did basically. They trapped the majority of the Guard in Canterlot because Shining said for them to stay there. Then he was reassigned.
To be fair to him, though, he didn't have our foreknowledge of the changeling invasion and it's always easy to know the right call when you know what's gonna happen.
Good lord I forgot how cute this kid is. A nice little story here. Nice work!
8735009
Actually Shinings mom was an Archmagus, his father was Grand Vizier. Your point still stands, of course.
8772282
Haha, oops. Thanks for the correction.
8732972
Working out family visits when the various branches of the family are living halfway across the continent from each other is definitely going to be tricky, to say the least -- but on the other hand, I imagine that having the Crystal Empire waiting at the end of the northward slog will probably do a lot to make the ordeal seem more bearable.
8772338
No problem, it can be hard to keep track of all the characters in the Winningverse, and what they do. :)
does dinky being Shinings Daughter also make Cadance her Step mom, even if she (Dinky) is living with her bio-mom?
8851823
It technically does, yes.
Oh that's not good
I can't get enough of this. Every installment of this AU series gets me more addicted.