Derpy Hooves blearily opened her eyes. There was something different about this morning. She couldn’t quite place it. Maybe it was the smell of muffins, despite the fact that she hadn’t baked her breakfast batch yet. Yes, that was definitely unusual. It was also a bit odd that she was laying in a hospital bed in what appeared to be, logically enough, a hospital room, but Derpy liked to take these little things in stride.

A nurse walking by did a double take. “Ditzy?”

“Muffins?” the subject of her inquiry responded.

“Ditzy, don’t try to get up,” the nurse said. “I need to—” She galloped off, not bothering to complete her sentence.

A voice pierced the quiet of the hospital and brought a wide smile to Derpy’s face.

“Mommy?”

Dinky Doo rushed into the room and leaped onto her mother’s bed. “Mom! I’m so glad that you’re-”

“Muffin, what’s wrong?” Derpy asked, confused.

“Nothing anymore,” her daughter responded, contentedly resting her head on Derpy’s shoulder.

A long moment passed before either of them said anything. “Oh, before I forget,” Dinky said. “Miss Pie came by earlier and left this. She said she really wanted you to read it.”

Derpy turned her head to see a little notebook placed neatly on her bedstand. “Anything for a friend. But... breakfast first?”

Author's Note

Thanks to you readers for sticking around to the end. I'll be writing more eventually, so follow me if you want more.

Special thanks have to go to my prereaders and editors:

The indefatigable, invaluable mlpreader946 has been working with me since I published the first two chapters, and his alacrity and perceptiveness has helped to make this story at least 20% better.

I only managed to get Einhander on board for the last chapter, but he's been spectacularly useful in that regard. Please give that guy your views, because he's an incredibly talented writer.

Credit also goes to FaleYur and Tempered Metal for their help.