Blame

   “...so then I came home.  That’s what happened.”

   Sparkler stared at Dinky in shock as she finished her recounting.  She wasn’t quite sure how to react to this.  The news that Mom was in the hospital wasn’t completely surprising, considering how many accidents she had on a regular basis, but this...

   Dinky sniffled, pulling her towel closer, and continued on.  “I... I don’t know what to do, Sparky.  I just feel like I’m going to explode and...” she trailed off, unsure of what to say.

   Sparkler pulled her closer into a hug.  Dinky whimpered and buried her face into pink fur, while her sister stroked her hair gently.  “Shh... it’s okay, Dinky.  Try to calm down a bit.  Don’t worry too much, everything will be okay.”

   “Will... will Mommy be okay too?”

   The older sister forced a smile when her sibling looked up hopefully.  “Of course she will, Dinks.  Mom can handle anything.  Okay?”

   Dinky smiled and relaxed her muscles, settling back down.  “Yeah.  Mommy is the toughest pony in all of Equestria.”

   Now Sparkler smiled a real smile.  “You bet.  She can handle anything!  And you were pretty tough, yourself.”

   “Really?  I was?”

   “Totally.  I don’t think any of your classmates could have handled what you went through.”

   “Even the Cutie Mark Crusaders?”

   “Well... they’re an exception.  Though I’m pretty sure those fillies are a bit crazy, with the antics they pull.”

   “Nah,” Dinky yawned, laying her head against Sparkler’s side.  “They’re pretty cool.”

   “You’ll have to tell me more about them sometime, then.”

   “Yeah... I guess I will.”

   The filly yawned again, longer this time, and her sister chuckled.  “Sleepy, huh?  You wanna go to bed?”

   “Well... could we stay here for a little bit?  Please?”

   “Of course, Dinky.  No problem.”

   Dinky curled up into her sister’s side, and mumbled.  “Awesome.”

   They stayed like that for a time, relaxing.  Sparkler ran what Dinky told her through her mind again.  It sounded bad, and she was actually really worried.  Not that she would let her sister know that.

   A soft snore pulled her from her thoughts.  Dinky had fallen fast asleep.  She looked adorable, smiling and resting peacefully.  Just like fillies her age should.

   The pink mare gently enveloped her little sister in a soft purple glow and lifted her up.  Slowly, she got up from the couch and stretched her legs, before softly depositing the sleeping filly onto her back.  She then slowly walked over to the stairs, and made sure not to disturb Dinky as she climbed them.  In the hallway, she opened the door to her sister’s room and stepped over to the little bed.

   Sparkler once again lifted the filly from her back and placed her onto the mattress, where she turned on her side and tucked in her legs.  Grinning, her sister gently removed her towel and pulled the covers to her neck.  Leaning down, she planted a little kiss on the side of her head, and whispered, “Sleep well, little sis.  I love you.”

   She pulled away, and looked over the slumbering unicorn.  She really did look a lot like Mom, even the eyes.  A little angel, a little muffin.  Just like Mom said.

   Walking out, she pushed the door closed behind her, and it clicked quietly.  Her expression fell into a frown as she looked at the wet towel.  Going back down the stairs, she tossed it into the laundry room and walked over to the door.  She needed to see this for herself.

________________________________________________________________________

   Luckily, the rain had stopped, and Sparkler made it to the hospital without incident.  Walking through the lobby, she glanced at the sun behind her.  It was probably going to be the end of visiting hours soon.  She had to make this quick.

   At the counter, she noticed a small crack on the countertop.  Deciding it would be best to ignore it, she addressed the nurse behind the desk.  “Hello, I would like to see a patient.  Her name is Ditzy Doo.  I believe she checked in earlier today.”

   The nurse looked down at something out of sight, and stared at it for a second before looking up and responding.  “Room 643, down the hall and to the left.  Second to last door on the left side.”

   “Thanks,” Sparkler said, before turning and walking down the hallway.  She wasn’t quite sure what she expected to see, but she knew it probably wouldn’t be good.

   Left turn.

   But then, what kind of daughter would she be if she didn’t?  Not a good one, that was for sure.  Besides, she was just as worried as Dinky.

   639, 641... Room 643.  There.

   Sparkler softly turned the handle and opened the door, and was met with a curious sight.

   An unfamiliar mare sat to the side of the bed, leaning over it.  A long pink mane flowed down her back, its wavy pattern mirrored by her tail.  Her coat was a canary yellow, and her flanks were adorned with trios of pink and blue butterflies.  When the door opened, her ears had pricked up and she’d turned around.  Her eyes were a soft blue, misty and scared.

   A brief moment of awkward silence passed, before the mare quickly stood and walked to the door.  She passed Sparker, mumbling out a series of indistinct words that sounded like apologies.  After she exited, the remaining visitor shut the door after being rid of her confusion.  It took only a few strides to reach the side of the bed.

   Dinky was right.  From the parts of her not covered in bandages, Mom was clearly injured.  To what extent, Sparkler didn’t know, but they couldn’t have been good.  She wasn’t sure what scared her more: what she could see, or what she couldn’t.

   The upper half of her mother’s head was wrapped with gauze, leaving her face exposed.  It was mostly undamaged, aside from some cuts here and there.  She looked peaceful, somehow, despite everything.  Her gown and the covers concealed the rest of her body below the neck.

   Even if she didn’t look bad, she still probably had severe injuries out of sight.  Dinky had said something about her wing, so one was probably broken or sprained.  Sparkler, of course, didn’t know all the details, and that made her uneasy.  She really hoped it wasn’t as bad as it seemed.

   She didn’t know how long she’d sat there in silence, when it was broken by a click.  The door opened a second later, and a more familiar mare stepped in.  Her coat was a shade of blue that matched the sky, and her unruly mane was a prism, seven colors striping along its length.  One of her fuschia eyes were swollen shut.  Upon seeing Sparkler, she paused in the doorway, before nervously stepping in and closing the door with a hind leg.  Walking over to the other side of the bed, she sat down and looked everywhere but the other mare and the bed.

   “Um... hi there.”  The greeting was awkward and distracted.  It was obvious that she didn’t want to be here.  “Er... what’s your name?”

   Sparkler sighed and looked back down at her mother.  “I’m Sparkler.  If you wanna get technical, the name’s Amethyst Star.  Everypony calls me Sparkler.”  Glancing up at the new arrival, she added, “And you’re Rainbow Dash, the weather manager and self-proclaimed fastest flier in Equestria.”

   “Oh... yeah, I guess I am.  Nice to meet you, Amethyst.”

   The purple mare froze, before looking back up with a dangerous glint in her eyes.  “Everypony calls me Sparkler.  You included.”

   “Oh.”  The pegasus rubbed the back of her head awkwardly.  “If you say so, Sparkler.”

   Sparkler grunted in agreement.  Dash found the ceiling tiles to be an interesting point of study.  “So... if you don’t mind me asking, how are you and Ditzy-”

   “Adoption.”

   Now the tiles seemed even more interesting.  “...oh.”

   Another ten or so seconds passed, before she spoke again.  “How is she doing?”

   “She’s right there, no need to ask me,” the younger mare replied, gesturing to the bed.

   Dash shook her head and rubbed her temples.  “Alright, so how is Dinky doing?”

   Sparkler turned away.  “She’s... getting along okay.  I can’t quite figure out how she feels about this, and it bothers me.”

   Dash started to speak, but the other mare picked up again.  “She’s angry at you, ya know.”

   Groaning, the pegasus muttered, “Yeah, I know, I know.  She made that pretty clear,” she pointed to her black eye.

   Tensing her jaw, Sparkler replied, “So, why?”

   The question caught Dash off guard.  “Why?  Why what?”

   “You know what.”

   “What?” she muttered, before it registered.  “Oh, why.”

   “Yeah, why.  Why?”

   “Well... I don’t know why, okay?”

   “That doesn’t tell me anything.  Besides, you sound like you do know why.  So, why?”

   “Urgh... look, I would tell you why if I knew, but-”

   “But you do know why.  So, why-”

   “Because I couldn’t!”

   Sparkler flinched a bit from the sudden outburst, but was otherwise unaffected.  Dash herself shrank back, clamping her hooves over her mouth.  That had come out louder than she’d wanted it to.  Resuming a normal speaking voice, she continued.  “Because I couldn’t do it myself.”

   “Why is that?”

   Dash stood up and walked over to the window.  The blinds were closed, and weak light filtered in through the gaps.  “I was being intulsive, or whatever Twilight calls it.  If it wasn’t for my stupid decision, this probably wouldn’t have happened.”

__________________________________________________________________________

“Hey, Rainbow Dash!”

Looking down, Dash saw a purple unicorn standing and waving at her.  The mare had a vest on that displayed her role as an organizer.  She flew down to eye level.  “Yeah, Twilight?”

Looking at a clipboard, Twilight said something science-y that Dash barely understood.  “According to my calculations, the building’s structural integrity has been weakened to the point that no further interior demolition is required.  If everypony is out of the house, we can begin external demolition, which should-”

“Oh, wait a second!” the pegasus blurted out, interrupting her friend.  I think that Derpy is still in there!  I assigned her to the middle.”

Twilight’s brow furrowed.  “The center of the house?  Well, somepony needs to go and retrieve her before we start tearing everything down.  The supporting strength of the foundation in the middle has probably been significantly reduced by now.”

Dash heard only the part about retrieval, and was musing over who to send when a  squeaky voice piped up from behind her.  “Hey Miss Twilight!  Can I go get Mommy?”

A little filly had walked up and listened to their conversation and was now shivering with anticipation.  The librarian frowned.  “Sorry, Dinky, but this is a grown-up job.  I’m afraid that-”

“You can totally go!”

Both of them turned towards Dash at the same time, Dinky in excitement, and Twilight in shock.  The former spoke first.  “Really, Miss Dash?  You mean it?”

“Of course, kid!” exclaimed the pegasus.

Dinky cheered and walked over to a group of lanterns.  Twilight turned to her friend with a stern expression.  “Dash, you cannot be serious.  She’s just a filly!  What if she gets hurt?”

“Oh, stop worrying so much, Twilight.”  Rainbow Dash flew in lazy circles around the mare.  “It’ll be fine!  Just in, and out.  Nopony’s gonna get hurt, trust me.”

The unicorn pursed her lips, but sighed a second later.  “If you insist, Dash.”

“And I do!”  She chuckled to herself.  “I mean, what could possibly go wrong?”

__________________________________________________________________________

   Sparkler sat in silence, before she spoke up once again.  “Well, yes, I agree that it could have been a more well thought-out decision.”

   The pegasus groaned.  “Yeah, I know.  I don’t know what I was thinking.”

   The other mare stood up and walked a bit closer.  “So, why couldn’t you?”

   “Because... I was scared, okay?  I don’t like those small spaces, and the cramped and stifled feeling.  I didn’t even do anything besides supervise.”

   “Then why didn’t you just send another pegasus in?”

   “Because Dinky was the most convenient pony at the time.  Like I said, I don’t know what I was thinking.”

   Sparkler put her hoof on the mare’s shoulder.  “Look, Dash, Dinky will forgive you.  She’s just frustrated, and afraid.  I think we all are right now.  By the time this is all over, I’m sure you two will have made up.”

   “Yeah... maybe.”

   “Excuse me,” a third voice spoke up.  The pair turned to see a nurse standing in the doorframe.  “Visiting hours are over, I’m going to have to ask you both to leave.”

   Sparkler nodded to the pegasus, before walking over to the bed and giving her mother a short nuzzle.  She headed for the door, before turning around and addressing her new acquaintance once more.  “Remember what I said, Dash.  Everything will work out.”  With that, she walked past the nurse and out of sight.

   The nurse nodded to Dash, who slowly walked out of the room as well, but not before shooting one last glance at the still figure on the mattress.  Then the nurse shut the door, which gave a quiet click before the room descended into silence again.

   And in her mind, Ditzy danced a quiet dance.