Chapter 5
Derpy slowly opened the front door of their house, careful not to let her saddlebags contact the doorframe as she slipped inside. She shrugged the bags off, slowly guiding them with her hooves to the floor, where she gingerly laid them down. Carefully opening the bag on the right side, she took out the ampoules that were inside one by one and gently placed them onto the kitchen table. The contents sloshed about as she laid them down, the liquid in each rocking back and forth inside in unsynchronized unison and gradually dying down.
The pegasus stepped back and stared at the arrangement, her eyes drooping down at the corners from constant worry. She stooped and took the saddlebags in her mouth, dragging the now-empty sacks over to where her mailbag lay. A gentle clopping of heavy hooves on tile sounded from behind, setting the adult pony on edge. ‘What now?’
“Picked up more of the medicine, I see?” inquired the orange-maned mare behind, calmly walking over to the line of glass on the table. “Is this the third trip, already?”
“Fourth,” replied Derpy, “and with 2 doses a day, I have to keep going back to get more. I need to start keeping track of how much we have left before we run this low again.” She walked over to the fridge, grabbing herself a cup of cider to drink. She sat down at the table across from her room mate, who had begun to read the newspaper.
“Yup,” Carrot Top responded, too engrossed in her reading to pay attention.
Her companion didn’t notice that her thoughts were elsewhere. “It seems like we’ve been running out way too fast lately.”
“Totally.”
“It better not happen again, ‘cause Nurse Redheart’s going to be out of town starting tomorrow.”
“What better not happen again?” The mare lowered her reading material.
“The fact we’ve been running out of medicine a lot lately.” Derpy bitterly answered, glaring at the pony across the table.
“Oh, about that...” She raised her paper up again, hiding her face.
“What about it?”
“I’ve been giving Dinky two more doses while you’ve been away.”
Derpy immediately sprayed her mouthful of cider all over the table, spraying both the wooden surface and the paper between Carrot Top’s hooves. “You’ve been doing what?” she blurted out in astonishment, wiping her mouth with her free hoof.
“I know you heard me the first time,” replied the orange pony, unmoved from her previous position. Her face was still the same, unaffected by the wave of liquid that had almost drenched her. “I don’t know why you always keep asking that,” she muttered while balling up her paper shield. She put the soaking mess down on the table, leaning back in her chair afterwards and crossing her forehooves. She leaned the wooden chair back, pushing her rear legs off the table to balance delicately on two supports.
Derpy did the opposite, leaning forward in her chair and planting her hooves on the table as she stood up. Her right hoof landed squarely on the ball, squeezing out all of the cider and forming a puddle around it. “You will not poison my daughter with this medicine I don’t even want to give her, do you understand?” she forced through gritted teeth.
Carrot Top laughed loudly, letting out a long, slow sigh at the end. “If only you knew.”
Derpy’s eyes narrowed into thin slits. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“ You haven’t been here to see Dinky getting worse.” She set the chair back down. “I’m saving Dinky by giving her extra doses. She started getting better again once I increased the dosage, and she’s completely fine now.”
“Why do you even care care about how Dinky’s doing?” Derpy ignored the mare’s explanation, her thoughts clouding her ability to think. Nevertheless, her voice slipped into a hoarse whisper. “You don’t care about anypony but yourself.”
Carrot Top slammed her hoof on the table, standing up on her rear legs to emphasize her point. “Because I’m the one who made Dinky go out and hurt herself, and if she dies, it’s going to be my fault!” She stood still, staring into the eyes of her room mate. She paused a moment, realizing what she just revealed to her room mate.
Derpy stared back at Carrot Top in shock. Stumbling backwards away from the other mare, she bumped into the wall. She watched as Carrot Top galloped out the front door and into the heart of Ponyville.
The pegasus dared not move, her mouth agape as she stayed at the far wall of the dining room. She was still utterly shocked at what the Earth Pony had just said. ‘Had she meant to say that or did it slip out?’ she thought, still unmoved. ‘Was she taking care of Dinky just for this?’
Derpy walked back over to her room and layed down on the bed. She wasn’t hungry anymore, even after flying around to do the various errands she couldn’t do while she was at work. Even her longing for sleep would not be satisfied. All she wanted to do was think.
But about what?
There was nothing to think about but the conundrum she was in. Should she keep giving Dinky more than the prescribed dose, even if it might eventually poison her? If she stopped giving the medicine altogether, would Dinky die from a lack of it?
The pegasus rolled over onto her back, raising her wings to rest on the cushion without spreading them. Her eyelids tightened over already-closed eyes in thought. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she raised a hoof to her forehead and slowly smacked it lightly a few times.
The solution was laid out in front of her. Weaning Dinky off of the medicine will surely kill her, there was no doubt about that. Continuing to raise the dosage will eventually poison her. The only two options were to stop raising the level at the current four doses a day, or to drop it back down to the original two.
But which to choose from? If cutting Dinky off would surely kill her, would dropping it back to two have the same result? Maybe Dinky was fine with four, although it seemed excessive. Is there enough leeway to go to five? six? seven? Or will five already be too much for her body to take?
Derpy rolled over to her stomach, flipped her pillow over to the cold side, and flopped her face straight down into the cool cushion. How does she know that the medicine can actually be lethal? Was it just a worry she had from the beginning, or was it an actual threat to be taken seriously? She would have to consult Nurse Redheart in the morning.
Or not.
She took off, sprinting out the front door and taking to the air. She quickly scanned the ground, looking for a telltale orange mane on the ground. Suddenly, she spotted it amongst the crowd near the center of town, and flew down to intercept her. She landed right in front of Carrot Top, startling the frustrated mare and almost tripping her.
“I hope you’re here to apologize,” sneered the earth pony.
“You’re not going to give Dinky any more of the medicine,” Derpy relied, completely ignoring Carrot Top’s previous remark. “She’s going back to two doses a day, and nothing more.”
“You’re going to kill your own daughter that way.”
“No! You’re going to kill Dinky if you keep giving her the amount you have been giving her!”
“If you say so.” she sighed, walking away from the pegasus in the opposite direction of where she was originally going.
Derpy looked back at her, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. She kept watching as the mare continued to walk away, not making an attempt to stop her. She eventually gave up, and flew back home.
Dinky passed through the single hallway of their home, towards the kitchen. She expected to find both her mother and Carrot Top there, but only one was to be found. The mare that was accounted for sat at the table, a cup of coffee in front of her and a large grey newspaper obscuring her view.
“Where’s mommy?” Dinky said, stumbling into the room step by step. Yawning widely, the filly rubbed her eyes with her good hoof.
“She’s at work already. Don’t you know how late it is?”
Dinky glanced out the nearest window. Light flowed in from the thin slit between the curtains, but the combined light of all the windows was enough to illuminate the entire room. The intensity was enough to light every speck of dust that flew in front of the window, making a thin glowing stripe that was suspended in the air. “Noon?”
“It’s about ten o’clock.” Carrot Top said, getting up and walking over to the coffee machine. She poured herself another cup of coffee while Dinky walked over to the nearest dining chair.
Dinky first put her front left leg up on the chair, lightly putting her cast-covered leg on next. She jumped up with her rear legs, trying to pull up with her front legs. It was no use; she was too weak to jump all the way up and didn’t have enough grip to pull herself up.
Carrot Top came to assist, first placing her cup on the table before lifting the little pony onto the chair. The filly settled herself, placing her chin down on the surface.
The earth pony sat herself down, the height advantage allowing her to do it on her own. She leaned forward, placing both forelegs on the table and caressing her cup between her hooves. “How are you feeling?”
“Sleepy.” She closed her eyes. “And dizzy. Woozy. Lightheaded.” She paused. “That’s about it.” She rested her face on the table, her cheek pressing against the wood.
Carrot Top could not help but stare at the bandages wrapped around Dinky’s horn while she was looking away. “Why don’t you get some more rest?”
“Why? I’ve already slept like, a lot.”
“You can’t ever get too much sleep, ya’ know.”
“I think I’ve already got too much.”
The mare didn’t respond to the retort, instead taking a sip from the mug in front of her. She placed the cup back down, continuing to stare at the filly in front of her. She smiled and sighed. “You know, this whole incident has really set your mother and I apart lately.”
Dinky picked her head up, looking back at the mare. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, we used to get along so well,” she responded, looking up as she recalled memories. “We’ve been together since our school days, and now all of a sudden she’s always mad at me."
“Oh.”
“Like, she’s always yelling at me now and starting arguments.” She got up, placing her empty coffee cup on the counter. “Like, she got mad at me when she found out that I’ve been giving you medicine, too.”
“I think I could use some right now,”
“Can’t give you any, your mother told me not to.”
The filly groaned, placing her head back on the table. “I’m going to be feeling sick all day, then.” She waited a bit, then continued. “Why doesn’t she want you giving me any more?”
“She thinks you’re going to get worse if you get too much of it,” the earth pony said, filling the coffee machine with more water and ground coffee. “But I told her that it’s actually helping, and she didn’t believe me. She thought that I didn’t care about you. She should know that I’ve known you since you were born.”
“But do you care about me?” Dinky proposed, looking the pony in the eyes.
Carrot Top trotted over to the filly, engulfing her in a hug. “Of course I care about you,” she answered. Dinky returned the hug, only able to wrap her good leg around the mare. With her other leg she steadied herself upright by resting it on the older pony’s shoulder.
They stayed locked in the embrace, one true earth pony and one pseudo-earth pony together. Their clasp lasted for what seemed like ages, with a loud ding signaling the end of it. They unwound their hooves, and Carrot Top turned off the coffee machine. She refilled her cup once more, walking over to the filly with mug in hoof. “Now go, you need to get more rest.” She led Dinky to her room, and helped her into bed.
Derpy Hooves sat at the dining table, her face resting heavily on the surface. The tired mare made no effort to relieve some of the pressure on her forehead and muzzle; the full weight of her head rested precisely at two points and made her uncomfortable. Sunshine streamed in through the window slit, and blinded her through closed eyes. Derpy still had her long brown mailbag on, slung over her shoulders on either side with two straps wrapping underneath her body to stabilize it. The straps prevented the bags from hanging naturally, putting unnecessary stress on her back, but she didn’t mind. She was too tired to do anything about it, yet alone lift her face off the table. Hoofsteps rang out ahead of her, the walking mare emerging from the already-open bedroom door.
“Asleep already?” said Carrot Top. Derpy replied with a long moan. “And at this hour, you’d think someone would have the decency to sleep in their own bed.” Another moan. “But seriously, why are you doing that?”
Derpy lifted her head off the surface, just enough to speak without interference. “I took off yesterday to get more medicine, remember?” she said, “and my replacement apparently didn’t know her way around.” While she was up, she undid the lower straps of her mailbags and slid them off. “How’s Dinky doing? Is she sleeping?”
“Bad, and she’s probably asleep. She’s been sleeping all day,” the earth pony replied. “You shouldn’t have cut her off the medicine so quickly.”
“Yeah, but it’s for the best.” She rested her head down again.
“You might want to go see her.”
Derpy waved a hoof. “Can you bring her in here?”
“At this point it would be better if you went in there.”
Derpy’s ears immediately perked up. ‘Oh no,’ she thought. She slowly laid both of her front hooves on the table and lifted herself upright to a sitting position. “Is it that bad?”
Carrot Top nodded. “Haven’t seen her much today, though. Only this morning after you left. She’s probably still fine.”
Derpy paused in thought, looking around the room while she did so. “Dinky?” she called out, straining her neck to see down the hallway. She tried again. No answer.
She slid off the chair, heavily placing her hooves on the floor. She slowly walked over to her daughter’s door, gently pushing it open with a slow creak. “Dinky?” she questioned when it was halfway opened. She stopped pushing on the door, and it kept moving under its own momentum, revealing the small, unmoving filly on the bed.
Derpy started walking towards the figure, taking slow, delicate steps. She approached the bedside, lifting her hoof up to push the filly awake. “Dinky, wake up,” she said, repeatedly pressing her hoof into the filly’s side. “Wake up! I’m home!” The filly still didn’t respond.
Carrot Top walked through the door. “She’s always been tired. Maybe you should just let her be.”
Derpy persisted. “Dinky, wake up!” She began to grow desperate, shaking Dinky and speaking faster and faster. ‘Please wake up.’
Carrot Top approached the bed, alongside Derpy. She also pressed her hoof into Dinky’s back. “Dinky, it’s time to wake up now, you’ve been asleep all day.”
Derpy was not so calm. She rolled the filly over onto her back, and pressed the side of her face into Dinky’s chest. Dinky’s breathing was shallow and slow; her heartbeat irregular.
The pegasus stepped away from the young pony, robotically shuffling her hooves across the room. “Is she okay?” Carrot Top asked. No response. The earth pony inquired again, and pressed her own face against the filly when Derpy didn’t respond. She, too, immediately stepped away, this time straight back. “We— we need to get her to the hospital,” she said, her voice shaking. “Can you take her on the cart?”
“It’s gone,” Derpy said, her voice barely a hoarse whisper.
“Gone? What do you mean, gone? Where is it?”
“Somepony borrowed it, okay? I don’t have it right now!”
“How are you going to get her to the hospital?” She quickly scanned the room, taking charge of the situation. “Will she fit in your mailbag?”
“No! It’s way too small for her!” Derpy responded, snapping out of her daze. She took a few more steps away, quickly this time, and stopped. “I’ll go get the nurse. You stay here.”
“No, I can probably get there faster. Let me do it.” She took off galloping , not giving the pegasus time to respond.
The pegasus ran up to the door leading outside, not daring to head out of the house in the fear of deserting Dinky. “Wait!” she called out, trying to stop Carrot Top. Her efforts were fruitless; the pony was already out too far and going even farther.
The mare walked back inside, slowly closing the front door and shuffling into her daughter’s room. She trotted over to the bedside, gently laying herself down next to the bed, resting her head on its surface. “It’s going to be okay, Dinky,” she said. “We’re getting help.” And for good measure, she gently began to sing.
“You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine...”
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please don't kill her off yet. I need more story!
Carrot Top feels very two-dimensional in this chapter.
manly tears were shed in the prcoess
Buck buck buck buck...
Manly tears are being shed simply because of the song...
chzbronies.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-brony-manly-tears.jpg emotibot.net/pix/1887.jpg meh.ro/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/meh.ro1975.jpg i350.photobucket.com/albums/q405/AnonEmoose/manly_tears.jpg
I am afraid to read this, but i must
Damn you and your awesome writing. Manly tears were shed for every bucking chapter.
Please wake up..
Wake up, for GOD'S SAKE WAKE UP!!!!
I'm screaming at a story about nonexistent ponies. You're good. NOW STOP THE CLIFFHANGER NONSENSE AND WAKE UP!!!!!
Damn you, author.
Sweet an update.
MOMENTS LATER
Oh dear Luna.!!!!!!!!!
754828
Only one person other than myself knows the ending.
It gives the readers a reason to come back
I might kill her. I might not.
754884
I'm not sure what you mean by that. Do you mean that her personality changes too much?
754930
I estimate that a quarter of the comments on this fic are along those lines
754941
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nbAvcQcrl0
754955
Every chapter?
755082 755138 755249 755732
And this is why I like writing cliffhangers.
757341 And it's why proof reading for you is hard for me. Makes even me want more. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Lyra2.png
The song, it's become so sad now when I hear it... *sniff*
EDIT: I forgot to include this. DAMN YOU AND YOUR AMAZINGLY SAD CLIFFHANGERS
757341
Ahhh... screw you.
Pure. Freaking. Win.
That. Was. Awesome
Very well done. I can't wait for chapter 6!
757341
You are a cruel cruel being who is also very good a holding my attention.
757811
Yup
758043
Well, if you really pay attention to the lyrics, it actually IS a really sad song.
758610
Thanks!
764502 Yea I noticed tha lt after I commented, but now you've made it about 20% sadder. Actually, screw that reference, 200% sadder.
So I read this all the way through. I like it. Not great, but also not bad. Just a nice, solid story.
In any event, Carrot Top is a jerk. I have found no issue with Derpy's behavior throughout (save for perhaps her potentially erroneous decision regarding the medicine), yet Carrot Top has been a jerk throughout and she's supposed to be Derpy's childhood friend. What gives?
771266
The whole "Carrot Top is a jerk" thing requires a bit of explanation. I need to be slightly vague as to not reveal the original ending or the current ending.
The whole fic was supposed to end by the third chapter, and then it would be done. As I wrote chapter 2, I realized this was not going to happen. It would be too abrupt, and it would come out of nowhere. Carrot Top would be the driving force to the ending, and would be the reason why the ending was so sad.
Now that the fic is ending differently, the whole thing has no purpose, but I had to keep going with what I started. I tried to explain in the latest chapter (chapter 5) that she was never like that originally, and that the whole fic started with one small argument, and that the stress of the situation has kept her that way. I know that it's not enough, since I wrote her to actually be a jerk instead of the way I just explained. I'll need to explain it a little more in the next chapter when I start writing it tomorrow morning, since I've alluded to it already.
If I ever rewrite the whole thing, or try to get it on EqD, I'll change it. For now, I'll go with it and see if I can get it to work the way it originally was supposed to be.
Well...damm...ARGH ARGH ARGH ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! This...too...sad...must...resist...can't...FUUUUUUUU! Okay, that sensation aside, good chapter! Honestly, my real wonder now, is if Carrot Top REALLY cares of Dinky, and just because of something that could be her fault. Besides, she tried to pin the discussions ALL on Derpy, and apparently, she is too blind to see that she is a jerk in many occasions. That actually gives more interst in what she really cares about. I just hope that thsi will get me on the loop soon. For me at least, sad ending or not. Great chapter and see you on the next one!
don't let her die plz, Dinky shouldn't die