Dinky is trying to corral the last of Fluttershy's chickens. Despite its reluctance to cooperate, she manages to lure it into the coop with some chicken feed. Shen then feeds the rest of the chickens and returns to Fluttershy's house, where the pegasus pays her three bits for her services. She has been paying Dinky to help her look after her animals, with this week being the fiftieth since Dinky began to help her.
Dinky is pleased to get the money, and asks Fluttershy where she gets her income from. Fluttershy explains that her parents are rich and she lives off of the interest of a bank account they set up for her. She asks why Dinky wants to know, but Dinky won't tell her, because that would require revealing her secret of what she plans to do with the money Fluttershy has been paying her.
Ditzy arrives and takes Dinky home. Dinky reflects on how great her mother is, and how she's still a little scared of Corona. Ditzy offers to let Dinky ride her back; while Dinky is reluctant to further tax her tired mother, Ditzy prevails on her to accept. Ditzy also mentions that her birthday is in a week.
The two return to their small apartment above the post office. Dinner is bigger than usual, since Ditzy received reward money for helping defeat Corona. Dinky enjoys most of it (except for the zucchini), then lets her mother tuck her into bed. Once Ditzy leaves, though, Dinky pries up a floorboard in her closet and adds two bits to the trove already contained there. She now has one hundred bits, having saved two of her weekly three every week since Fluttershy began to employ her. She plans to use the money to buy jewelry for her mother at a new store opening up the next day. Content that her plans are on track, Dinky goes back to bed.
The next day, Dinky is distracted in school. Cheerilee chastises Scootaloo for not paying attention, then calls on Dinky, who accidentally blurts out that she has a hundred bits in her bag. This surprises the other foals. Lunch break begins, and Dinky is quickly swarmed by her classmates. Cheerilee chases them off (except for Scootaloo), then tells both Dinky and Scootaloo that they have an extra two page essay as their punishment for misbehaving. Cheerilee overrides Scootaloo's objections and sends her off, then asks Dinky what's going on. Dinky says that she wants to buy her mother a great birthday present, and she's been saving up all year for it. Cheerilee is touched, and offers to secure Dinky's bag until after school so it doesn't distract her. Dinky gratefully accepts and leaves. When she goes outside, though, she is once again stopped by the other foals, who even follow her back inside when she declares she's eating lunch indoors.
Meanwhile, Ditzy leaves Fluttershy's house on her rounds. She reflects on how the Ponyville postal routes are badly laid out, being inefficient and nonsensical. They also don't account for the problem that Fluttershy will only accept mail from Ditzy. Ditzy runs into a panicking Trixie, who is running towards Fluttershy's. She won't tell Ditzy what's going on, and only asks if Fluttershy has chickens. When Ditzy confirms this, Trixie turns invisible and continues on her way. Ditzy decides not to worry Fluttershy about this, and goes to her next stop clear across town, Sweet Apple Acres.
After school, Dinky heads towards the new jewelry store, Amethyst Star's Fine Jewelers, trailed by all her classmates and Cheerilee. They finally make it, and Dinky sees that there's a 25% off sale, which Cheerilee tells her will let her buy something that normally sells for about 130 bits. Cheerilee sends the foals away and then leaves herself, and Dinky enters the store. She immediately sees what she wants: a necklace with a silver chain that holds a pendant, which itself contains an eight-sided gem that matches Ditzy's eyes.
The proprietor, Amethyst Star, sees Dinky and looks furious for a moment. She quickly apologizes, though. She asks why Dinky is there, and Dinky says she wants to buy something. Diamond Tiara, who entered the store earlier with her father, snorts and says that she doesn't believe this. Dinky gets mad at her and dumps her bookbag, including the bits, out on the floor. She quickly realizes that she's made a mess, but Amethyst Star uses her telekinesis to repack Dinky's bookbag, then says she'll help Dinky as soon as she's done with Filthy Rich.
Dinky tells Filthy Rich how she got her money, impressing the elder pony with her work ethic. Meanwhile, Amethyst Star shows a necklace to Diamond Tiara; it's a set of blue sapphires in a silver frame and plated with gold. Filthy Rich is worried about the gold, which tends to remind others of Corona, but Amethyst Star clarifies that it's whitened gold. The necklace costs seven hundred seventy bits, but Diamond Tiara convinces her dad to buy it for her anyway. He goes to haggle with Amethyst Star while Diamond Tiara compliments Dinky on how nice she's being for her mother. Dinky is surprised that Diamond Tiara is nice, and doubly so when she mentions Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara blushes and rants about how lame the pegasus is. Filthy Rich buys the necklace, as well as something else for his wife, and the two leave.
Ditzy is leaving Sweet Apple Acres when she sees Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom accidentally says that Dinky is going to Amethyst Star's. Ditzy tries to remember where she's heard the name before. Eventually she does, having a flashback to when she went home one night with a stallion named Castor Cut. Cut told her about his wife May Ball and daughter Amethyst Star, or 'Sparkler,' as she prefers. Ditzy blew this off, and the two went into Cut's bedroom.
In the present, Ditzy panics and takes off as quickly as she can for the store
.Back in the store, Sparkler tells Dinky that she reminded her (Sparkler) of some pony she used to know, which is why she looked angry at first. She admits that she doesn't like the pony she thought of, but says that Dinky is the exact opposite of her. Sparkler takes the necklace to the cash register.
Ditzy continues to charge through Ponyville. She guesses that Sparkler will recognize Dinky, since Dinky looks like Ditzy and Ditzy is publicly known to live in Ponyville.
In the store, Sparkler wraps the necklace as Dinky pays her. Dinky has her sign the card 'Dinky Doo.' Sparkler recognizes the name and freezes up. A crying Ditzy bursts into the store, upsetting Dinky since this might ruin the surprise. Sparkler screams at Ditzy, but Ditzy just begs her not to bring up the past in front of Dinky. She refers to Sparkler by her nickname, prompting a sharp rebuke. Sparkler throws the bag of D Inky's money onto the ground in front of Ditzy and orders them both out of her store. Dinky has no idea what happened, but Ditzy just tells her that they're going home.
An hour after they return to their apartment, Ditzy asks why Dinky was at Sparkler's. Dinky lies that she just wanted to check it out. Ditzy doesn't directly respond, and says that they should have a fun day together the next day. She offers to take Dinky to Cloudsdale, even offering to take Dinky out of school for the day. Dinky just wants to know why Sparkler hates Ditzy. Ditzy doesn't want to tell her and just wants to have fun the next day, but Dinky says that they won't be able to have fun at all unless Ditzy explains what's going on. Ditzy finally reveals her secret — she had an affair with Castor Cut, Sparkler's father. Ditzy became pregnant with Dinky from the affair. Ditzy tells Dinky that she was just selfish, and that she didn't care at the time that this might hurt Cut or his family. Once she became pregnant, Cut had to choose between her and May Bell, and he chose his family. When Ditzy's parents found out, they revealed the affair. Ditzy fled before her parents could sue Cut, but she expects that Cut and Bell divorced.
Dinky asks if she's a mistake, but Ditzy corrects her and says that she was a surprise. She says that Dinky is more than she deserves, and Dinky can't seem to reassure her. The foal resolves to prove to her mother that she's a good pony by buying her the necklace, and since Sparkler won't sell to her anymore, she resolves to ask Trixie for help. She lies to her mother that she needs to go to Scootaloo's house to work on their punishment essay. Ditzy accepts this, and Dinky leaves.
Dinky approaches Trixie's house, only to see Trixie burst out of it and slam the door in a pursuer's face. Lyra, apparently invisible, asks if the pursuer, Bonbon, is okay, but Trixie says that she will be. The two then say hello to Dinky.Trixie won't explain to Dinky what is going on, but Lyra yells at Trixie that nothing Trixie has tried has worked, they have no more time to try new spells, and her body has been transformed into something that can't handle the cold well. Bonbon bursts through Trixie's window, at which point Trixie immediately turns invisible. Bonbon asks Dinky where Trixie went, offering her free candy for a month if she tells her, but Dinky is worried that the furious Bonbon will hurt Trixie and sends her in the wrong direction. Trixie and Lyra leave for the train station, with Trixie apologizing and saying she can't help Dinky.
Sparkler remembers when Ditzy's parents showed up and demanded that Castor Cut take responsibility for getting Ditzy pregnant. May Bell says they're lying, but the situation quickly devolves into Cut, Bell, Ditzy, and her parents all screaming at each other. Sparkler can only watch as her family falls apart, with Bell saying that she's taking Sparkler and leaving.
Sparkler returns her focus to the present, noting that she made her sales target for the day and can start to close up. Before she finishes, though, someone knocks, and when she opens the door she sees that it's Dinky. Dinky wants to buy the necklace, but Sparkler just says that Dinky has no idea what really happened, that Ditzy probably told her a bunch of lies, and that she just wants Ditzy to burn up in the sun. Dinky demands to buy the necklace, but Sparkler refuses. Dinky threatens to get proxies, but Sparkler says she just won't sell that necklace to anyone. Sparkler uses telekinesis to pick up Dinky and says that they're going to the town hall so that someone can deal with Dinky, but Dinky cries out that Sparkler is hurting her. Sparkler loosens her grip, and Dinky runs into the store.
Dinky evades Sparkler, using the dexterity and agility she picked up in chasing Fluttershy's chickens. She gets boxed in, however, and Sparkler says that she's going to haul Dinky to the town hall and have someone get Ditzy to take Dinky away. Dinky says then Ditzy will know about the secret, and bursts into tears at the thought that her big surprise would be ruined. She says that she just wants her mom to be happy, because she works hard and is kind even though others tease her about her eyes. She says that Sparkler ruined everything, to which Sparkler objects. Dinky says that Sparkler won't forgive Ditzy, which is wrong, and that Ditzy won't be happy anymore now that she's seen Sparkler again. Sparkler, fed up with Dinky's bawling, gets the necklace and takes Dinky's money, but Dinky won't leave. Sparkler demands to know what else she wants, saying that she and Dinky are both the victims of their parents. She yells that Castor Cut cheated on her mother even though it might cost him her marriage, As she yells, she begins to cry, and eventually sobs that it's not fair that her family was destroyed even though she (Sparkler) did nothing wrong. Dinky goes to comfort Sparkler as she sobs.
Sparkler eventually says that she wants her family to be able to be in the same room without yelling at each other or being in court. Dinky tells her that it might happen, but Sparkler doubts this. She does realize, though, that Dinky is her half-sister and is a sort of connection with her family. She finally gets up and says that she'll go wrap the necklace.
The next week, Ditzy has her birthday party. The other Elements, Dinky, Bonbon, and Silver Script (the postmaster) are all there. Silver Script gives her a present; the postal routes have been redesigned so that they're all about even, and Ditzy's end at Fluttershy's house. Trixie gives Ditzy the equivalent of Machievelli's 'The Prince', in large print so Ditzy can read it with her strabismus. Sparkler then shows up, causing Ditzy to start to panic, but Dinky bounces over to her and happily asks her what she's doing there. Sparkler smiles at Dinky and says she wants to see Ditzy get Dinky's present. Raindrops says she'll throw Sparkler out, since Ditzy clearly doesn't want her there, but Dinky intervenes and asks for a few minutes. She adds that Sparkler helped her with the present, and floats the box over to Ditzy. Ditzy is shocked by the expensive gift, though she does reveal that she knew about Dinky's hidden bit cache (just not what Dinky was going to use them for). She asks why Dinky would go to that much trouble, but Dinky just says that she did it because she loves Ditzy. Sparkler says she'll leave, but Ditzy asks to talk to her outside. Dinky puts the necklace around Ditzy's neck, and Ditzy leaves with Sparkler.
Outside, Ditzy apologizes to Sparkler. Sparkler says she can't forgive Ditzy, but maybe that will change in time. She adds that she wants to get to know the Doos better. Ditzy is stunned, but agrees. Dinky bursts out, saying that Trixie wants to put on another magic show and wants Dinky to be her assistance. She begs Ditzy to let her do it. Sparkler groans at the mention of Trixie, causing Dinky to complain that she might need to make things better between Sparkler and Ditzy too. The two adults laugh, causing Dinky to smile. Dinky then says that they have to get back inside, because Raindrops threatened to eat all the cake if they don't. The two mares follow Dinky inside, Sparkler asking Ditzy to call her by her nickname, then beginning to tell her about the 'ice palace' incident as they walk.
Tropes
- Continuity Nod: a few more references are made to the 'ice palace incident' mentioned in the previous episode.
