Adapting

Chapters

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five

Chapter One

The lavender figure sneaked through the solemn streets of Ponyville, her mane flapping behind her as she trotted briskly. The dawn light, barely glimmering over the horizon, lit up the branches of her destination.

The giant crystal star residing on the top of the castle reflected beams of the dawn light, making the area around the palace just a little brighter. A giant pink banner, hanging from a golden pole on the side of the castle, flapped serenely in the light breeze that propelled itself down the streets. It was the same breeze that made the trotting figure's hair dance around her head wildly.

The figure, a young teenage filly by the name of Dinky Doo, reached the golden front steps of the castle. The massive egresses would make too much noise in the waking moments of the day; the whole of Ponyville would wake and form a disgruntled mob within seconds. So she scampered to the back entrance that he had taught her. The slightest thought of him sent tingling sensations up and down her spine.

She reached the back of the giant, crystalline tree that supported the castle and spotted the keyhole, perfectly shaped for a unicorn to fit their horn inside. She shoved her horn into it eagerly, her excitement getting the better of her - and winced as it bumped painfully against the back of the indent, pressing harshly into her head. She powered up a jolt of magic, sending it into the slot. It lit up with a fiery golden light, and a door swung open a few feet to the left. Dinky quickly slunk into the doorway, sliding the hatch shut behind her.

A spiraling staircase, made entirely of pure amethyst, flourished out of the ground at her hooves. She began to gallop frantically up the stairs, her desire to see her love too much for her to bear. The steps seemed endless, and her feet slipped a little on the smooth crystal.

By the time she reached the top of the staircase she was a little less energetic than before and breathing much harder. She was a regularly active filly, but over twenty flights of stairs at top speed can drain the life out of just about anypony. She slid into the hallway, accidentally bumping into a tapestry. It began to descend to the floor - but Dinky caught it with her magic, holding it aloft for a moment to see the story woven across its surface.

It held the elements of harmony and their bearers facing a horde of sleek changelings, whose carapaces were stitched in black thread with shiny silver dots covering them.

Ah, generic Elements carpet.

She hung the piece back on the wall and continued her quest in search for him: that little dragonet that had grown up so much recently, now tall, slender (but, she remembered with a smile, still wingless).

Dinky sighed as she imagined him holding her softly, nuzzling her neck...

She almost missed his room. Luckily Spike was just leaving to find her, and they bumped nose to nose, their lips meeting.

The couple had kissed many times before: after all, they were both growing up and Dinky was almost out of school. Only one more year...

Either way it still felt as magical as their first moment.

The lavender magic protege and the purple and green messenger had their lips locked together, kissing passionately. Spike slowly pulled her into his room, where they resumed their romance on the bed.

After making out for another minute or so, their lips broke apart. They smiled at each other lovingly and Dinky curled up against Spike's warm chest. She dozed off as he played with her blonde mane, twirling it in between his claws but making sure not to tangle it severely - lest he would have a rather angry pegasus mother and unicorn filly both ferociously combing out Dinky's twisted locks...

Wait.

Pegasus mother.

Spike swore silently as he started to rouse her. She mumbled incoherently as he flattened his spikes with a few swipes of his claw. They had been cuddling for a little over an hour, and the sun had risen significantly in the sky; its beams broke through the window and shone upon the two youngsters.

Spike pecked her cheek quickly before prompting her out of bed. She moaned quietly and got to her hooves. In the corner she spotted a traveling cape she had left there from a previous visit and slung it across her back. With a kiss on his cheek in farewell she sped out of the room.

Through the window Spike caught a glimpse of a mare flying haphazardly through the air towards the crystal palace, a stormy collection of thunderclouds surrounding her head.

Dinky raced down the steps to find a place to hide.

Derpy stuck her tongue out as she tried to concentrate, flapping her wings and propelling herself in a slightly zigzagged path towards the castle. She wasn't the fastest flyer in Ponyville, it was true, but where her daughter was concerned she was willing to cross the whole of Equestria if necessary - and this particular morning Dinky was missing from her room... again.

The filly had been visiting Friendship Castle very often over the past few months. Initially, Derpy had been fairly lenient. Why shouldn't her daughter go visit her little dragon friend every now and then? Gradually, though, he had become less "little" - and after a while he transitioned beyond "friend" territory. Derpy shuddered in disapproval. Her daughter may have become a teenager, but that doesn't mean she was old enough to -

BAM. Derpy, lost in her thoughts, had obliviously flown straight into one of the upper rooms of the castle. A small chunk of crystal fell to the ground with a tinkling smash, the wooden frame of the window hung down in a splintered wreckage and a small metal flagpole on the roof was bent sideways. Derpy surveyed the damage nervously, unsure whether to leave it and awkwardly float away or admit to Twilight Sparkle that she'd caused it.

From the ground a familiar draconequus looked on with curiosity. He stroked his beard, bemused at the fact a pegasus had just flown head-on with some force into the castle of oh-so-mighty friendship. The grey pony started to fly away from the wreckage uncertainly, seemingly sneaking away from possible retribution. Well, he couldn't have that. If somepony was vandalizing the castle then it was his responsibility to find out why... and possibly join in the fun.

"Good evening, my little pony," Discord greeted as he appeared next to the grey pegasus with a flash. She jumped a little guiltily and then frowned in confusion.

"Evening?" she repeated, looking up at the sky uncertainly. Discord looked up too.

"What? Oh, my mistake. It's morning. Must tell Loony to start mixing things up a bit," he commented. Derpy looked a little confused again, but shook her head as if to clear it.

"Um, have you seen a unicorn anywhere? One who looks a bit like me?" she asked. Discord glanced Derpy up and down, from the bubble cutie mark to the eyes which pointed in different directions, and decided he most certainly hadn't seen anyone who looked like this pony.

"No," he admitted to Derpy, who looked crestfallen. "But I have seen something most interesting: a pegasus using herself as a pony battering ram to destroy the castle of friendship!" With a snap of his fingers he was sat on a huge wooden battering ram, which pulled back as if to hit the castle's walls only to turn into a cloud which Discord sat on contentedly. Derpy looked extremely guilty.

"I-I didn't m-mean to," she stammered, blushing with embarrassment. Not only had she caused so much damage to the castle through her own carelessness, but even now she couldn't help but stutter when trying to explain herself. What kind of role model was she for her daughter? She glanced at the floor, ashamed, but was surprised when she looked up to find her dragon-like companion looked nonplussed.

"It was an accident? Well, that's disappointing. Still, top points for some excellent chaos - even if it was unintentional." He snapped his fingers again and some mini Discords appeared holding up the numbers 7.5, 8.0 and 7.5. A silver medal appeared around her neck and a bouquet of roses landed in her arms. She glanced at them with a slight blush and a small smile - nopony had ever complimented her for causing damage before.

"What's your name?" she asked Discord in her slightly ditzy voice. He looked shocked.

"My name?" he repeated. "My name! I thought everypony knew my name. I am Discord! Lord of Chaos, bringer of Disharmony! Well, not so much these days, but you know what I mean." He paused, then added a little grudgingly, "What about you?"

"My name's Derpy." She beamed before remembering why she was here in the first place. "Sorry, but I need to go... I really need to find my daughter."

Discord nodded exaggeratedly solemnly and vanished with a flash. Glancing up at the bit of the castle she crashed into, Derpy was shocked to see it was already repaired and wondered whether this Discord had somehow fixed it.

She smiled a small smile and clutched her bouquet of roses. She sniffed them and then recoiled in surprise.

They smelt like blueberry muffins.

Author's Note

If you enjoyed this chapter, please favorite/like/comment because it means the world to me! :scootangel: this is a collaboration with lyra_lover777: I write the Derpy x Discord, lyra_lover777 writes the Dinky x Spike :pinkiesmile: :heart:

Chapter Two

Dinky Doo was once again running wildly down the street, skittering to a stop as a carriage whooshed by. She quickly turned down a smoky alley, the sound of impatient wing beats apparent behind her.

"Dinky!" her mother called pleadingly.

Dinky zigzagged, hoping to knock her mother off course. After a few minutes circling back and forth, her mother crashed into an alleyway wall, creating a huge crack in the bricks.

As Derpy shook her head in a daze, she tried to shout a message to her retreating daughter.

"You're still too young to date, Dinky! I don't approve!"

A light, faraway voice on the wind replied, "Well, I do!"

I'm gonna have to talk to Princess Twilight about this... the mare thought as she stalked away.

===

Dinky huffed, her anger still on high setting: bubbling up and out of her like water from a pot on the boil.

"Why does she think she has the right to control my life?" she muttered to herself, the anger simmering down.

She was still in one of the alleys and decided that she could use a bit of cuddling. Checking her saddle bags for something, she smiled when she found it. It was a small glass bottle in which Spike had corked enough fire to contact him. Dinky was in the mood for a picnic on the lake, and there was no better way to get him the message than by his fire.

Anyway, she took out a quill and a small length of parchment. Using her magic to summon ink into the quill, she quickly scribbled down that Spike should meet her in an hour at Lake Harmonious.

She uncorked the dragon fire, letting it leap onto the page. The fire, crackling, quickly consumed the yellowing note - whisking it away to wherever Spike happened to be at the moment.

Dinky smiled as she sped off to the grocer's to grab some lunch for their picnic. Oh, and a blanket and basket too - why not? Remembering her recent magic training, she shook her head and was able to summon it all in a moment's time. Maybe she could surprise the dragon by showing up a little early...

She galloped off towards Twilight Sparkle's castle, which was now a beacon of light, absorbing the daytime sunshine rapidly.

Dinky felt the urge to shorten her journey by attempting teleportation. It was a new skill she was still managing to learn, however, so she only made it a few feet before she reappeared, stumbling and almost spilling the picnic basket all over the dusty ground. Deciding it would be wisest to continue on foot, before long she burst through the golden front doors of the castle - pushing through a throng of politicians and everyday ponies coming for the Day Court.

Dinky spotted the stairwell leading up to the hallway of Spike's room. Almost nopony clambered around up there, so she could speed up the mildly slippery stairs with stupendous ease. In a matter of minutes she reached his door and rapped on it, retreating into the shadows to scare him when he exited.

Spike's head peeked out of the room. When his survey of the area around him revealed nothing other than an old potted plant drooping in the corner, he began to retreat back into his lair.

In a flash of purple Dinky jumped out, wrestling him to the the floor. He yelped in fright as she embraced him, snuggling up against his slim form.

Spike, still recovering from the shock, quickly realized it was Dinky. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in for a delicate kiss.

"Somepony's early," he muttered in between kisses.

"Mmm hmmm."

The couple soon realized that they were still in the open. They quickly broke apart, Spike reluctantly tearing his lips away from hers.

"We better get going then, huh?"

Spike nodded.

As the couple set off, meager conversation formed which soon turned from friendly compliments to deeper questions. The two being very bright, it was inevitable their discussion would gravitate towards more philosophical topics.

The couple had long ago reached Lake Harmonious, and were now propped up against an oak on the lake's banks.

"So, if you could do one thing in the world, what would it be?" Dinky asked Spike.

"To love you forever. But I don't think I need magic to do that," Spike murmured into Dinky's ear before nibbling it softly.

"Spike!" Dinky giggled. She playfully batted her eyelashes as she pushed him off of her.

Spike pouted momentarily, but settled on having her sit in his lap as they continued to talk.

"What would you do if you could do anything?" Spike asked his love.

This was a bit of a sore subject for Dinky. In her heart she knew the answer, but she dared not to speak it: it was too selfish when there were so many other problems in the world that needed attention.

"And no wishes for world peace!" Spike added, as if he knew what she was thinking.

Dinky smiled, and went with the next best thing.

"To help my mother."

The two fell quiet as they pondered the words that had just been spoken.

"Selfless, just how I like em!" Spike exclaimed after a minute of contemplation, breaking the silence.

Dinky laughed and shook her head, snuggling up against Spike once more.

"We need nicknames for each other," Spike said out of the blue. They had gotten up from their tangled embrace and begun to eat lunch, the picnic basket waiting for them to dip their hooves and claws into.

"Spikey Wikey," Dinky joked. Spike glared at her, earning a laugh from the unicorn.

"I was thinking along the lines of Totally Buff and Super Hot Dragon Knight!" Spike proclaimed.

"Sure, Spike," she said, punching him softly in the stomach.

"Feelin' my abs, huh? Rock hard baby, rock hard."

"More cushy."

"Oh, shush you."

The two began to eat their lunch as more nicknames began to form in their minds. The sun shone high in the sky.

Derpy sat staring at the cracked brick wall, tears welling in both of her eyes. I'm a terrible mother, she thought gloomily. How can I look after my daughter when I can't even look after myself? A voice behind her interrupted her sad musings and made her jump.

"Causing damage to Ponyville property again? It almost leads one to believe the vandalism is deliberate..."

"D-Disco? What are you doing here?" asked Derpy in confusion. Discord stared back at her in disbelief, then smiled mischievously.

"Disco? I prefer classical, myself, but whatever you prefer." He snapped his fingers and a huge glittering disco ball hung down from a streetlamp and cheesy music began to play. Derpy wasn't sure where the music was coming from - or why. Discord noticed her confusion and shouted over the noise, "My name's Discord." Derpy blushed in embarrassment.

"Sorry," she told him. "I'm not very good at remembering things." The music and lights stopped, and Discord shrugged. He was now sat on a throne made of ice.

"That's cool," he replied, then grinned. Derpy stared at him uncertainly. He pointed at his elaborate icy chair.

"Oh come on! It's comedy gold. Why do I bother?" Discord complained. With a sigh and a snap of the fingers the throne vanished. After a few seconds a look of understanding dawned on Derpy's face and she let out a small, somewhat adorkable laugh. Discord's scowl softened a little.

"You're not the sharpest pencil in the stationery set, are you?" he observed. Derpy nodded, her shame returning.

"I sometimes deliver the post to the wrong ponies," she admitted. "And I'm supposed to be finding my daughter at the moment but I've already lost her twice." Discord stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"Who's your daughter again?" he asked, pulling a pencil from behind his ear and preparing to scribble notes on a small notepad. He was now wearing a large trench coat and a matching hat: stereotypical journalistic getup.

"How did you-?" Derpy interrupted, gazing at his new clothes.

"I told you, I'm Lord of Chaos. You were describing your daughter?" he prompted. Derpy shook her head and tried to focus.

"Her name is Dinky. She's a teenage unicorn, blonde with a lavender coat and golden eyes. Looks a bit like me!" she added proudly. Discord paused for a second and then a light bulb appeared over his head with a slight ding!

"Ah! The one who has, ah, befriended a certain purple dragon at Friendship Castle, by any chance?" Derpy's mouth fell open in surprise.

"Y-you know?" she gasped. Discord rolled his eyes.

"I think just about everypony knows," he told the dumbstruck pegasus. "She visits Friendship Castle nearly every day, after all. Why?" he added, noticing her crestfallen expression. "Don't you approve of ol' Spikey Wikey?" He turned into a small stuffed toy purple dragon in front of her, though it didn't make her smile like most of his other antics.

"I don't think she's old enough to have a coltfriend yet," Derpy confessed.

"Dragonfriend," Discord corrected.

"Dragonfriend," Derpy echoed miserably. "Is it suitable for a young teenage girl to be romantically involved with a dragon?"

"Well, he's only a teenager too," Discord pointed out. "Then again, what do I know? I'm just an old-fashioned, out of touch draconequus." With an imperceptible click of the fingers he became much older-looking, with wrinkles and extra long facial hair reminiscent of Starswirl the Bearded. A brief flash and he appeared next to Derpy, back to his normal appearance.

"And what would I know about inter-species romance?" he murmured into Derpy's ear. Her heart skittered a little and he teleported in front of her, staring into her eyes expectantly. Derpy continued to stare back, then blinked in confusion.

"What were we talking about?" she asked, her mind scattered. Discord smiled in amusement.

"You were about to find your daughter. I'll leave you to it." With that, he was gone. Derpy, after standing in bemusement for a few seconds, was about to fly away - but her eyes were drawn to a small gift wrapped up on the floor. She pulled the ribbon off the box and opened it to find a freshly baked blueberry muffin, along with a note:

Good luck with your search! From your ol' pal, Dissy

Smiling and gratefully gobbling up the muffin, Derpy began to fly away. A few minutes later a question popped up in her mind.

How does he know I like muffins?

Author's Note

Hope everypony's enjoying the story :pinkiehappy: I'll be posting the next chapter around the same time tomorrow :scootangel: it'll involve eating peppers and writing letters :derpytongue2: as always, comment and let me know what you think!

Chapter Three

Spike sighed as he bit into the sandwich, the spicy peppers making his tongue burn painfully.

"What is that?" Spike howled as he held the slobbery red slice of vegetable in front of her eyes, swinging it around and causing the saliva to fling in several directions.

"Settle down, Slobber Boy. I just thought you might like somethin' hot," Dinky said. She paused for a second then added mischievously, "Just like me." She grinned before taking another nibble of her cucumber sandwich.

"What kind is it, anyway?" Spike asked grumpily.

"Llama Pepper."

"What? So this burning piece of coal is named after a Llama?" he asked incredulously.

"Nah, llama is the Spanish word for flames, silly," Dinky explained.

"Really?"

"Hay! We just rhymed!"

"You're kidding, right? Silly and really?"

Dinky just kept munching on a bite of her sandwich, and Spike groaned.

"Hopeless."

"Oh, so now I'm hopeless?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Says the little unicorn who probably couldn't even stomach a bite of a Llama Pepper," Spike said with a grin.

"Oh, you setting up a challenge?"

"Maybe."

Dinky then demanded a slice of the pepper. Spike eagerly swiped a piece off of his bread and slapped it onto Dinky's outstretched hoof.

Unluckily for Dinky, he slapped a little too hard and all the juices inside the pepper sprayed all over her. She winced as a tiny drop reached her eye.

The filly began to wail as she clutched at her burning left eye. Spike scuttled to her side, stifling giggles as he tried to calm her.

Finally, after a minute or two longer of yelping, the lavender filly had calmed. She now held a wet hoof up to her slightly charred feeling iris while Spike hugged her, the smile he wore the best he could muster besides laughing out loud.

The couple were interrupted by the sounds of hoof clops squishing through mud piled up on the river bank, becoming more and more apparent. Both ponies swiveled towards it uncertainly, their eyes darting around (or, in Dinky's case, just the one).

Silver Spoon, the notorious teen diva, was laughing at a joke her coltfriend had made. The boy in question - the once weak, now burly Pipsqueak - was smiling down at her and gave her a light peck on the cheek as they continued to trek through the slightly cushy banks of Lake Harmonious.

But when they looked up and saw the dragon and the unicorn, their arms wrapped around each other, Pipsqueak stayed indifferent while Silver Spoon's eyebrows became knotted together.

"Hello Dinky. And Spike," Silver said sweetly, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Pipsqueak waved awkwardly while the couple smiled kindly and returned the slate-colored filly's greetings.

Silver clambered up to where the two sat, making them recoil slightly. Pipsqueak stood stoically at the base of the hill, his eyes almost seeming glazed over.

"So, how's your wonderful relationship going?" Silver asked, almost wearing a grimace of sorts.

Spike saw where this was heading, and quickly retorted: "Very well, thank you."

"Oh, is that true? How are the difficulties working out?" she sneered.

"What difficulties?" Dinky asked innocently.

"You know, the ones pertaining to cross species relationships. And mati-"

"We better be going," Spike huffed, pushing Silver out of the way as he grabbed the picnic basket, blushing profusely.

Dinky, now seeing the true intent of the conversation, quickly loped after her dragonfriend, glancing back at the malevolent diva with wary eyes.

Dinky hadn't realized she had stopped walking. Spike tugged her the rest of the way back to her cottage, where he gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Everything's fine between us, right?" Dinky questioned.

Spike tried to speak his answer as quickly as his lips could move.

"Everything will always be alright."

They kissed again and went their separate ways, the feeling of their lips on each others lingering.

Derpy paced back and forth in her home, trying to decide the best way to breach the subject of... what was the word Discord had used? Dragonfriends with Dinky. On the one hand, she was a teenager now. She probably wouldn't react well to being scolded or patronized and she was arguably old enough to have a special somepony - er, special somedragon. On the other hand, it was Dinky! Her little daughter, her special little unicorn, her baby. It just didn't seem right for her to be seeing someone romantically, let alone a dragon.

Derpy sighed and sat on her rump. There was no way she'd be able to breach the subject to Dinky without offending her. It would inevitably result in an argument, and Derpy hated arguments...

Aha! The perfect idea struck her: she would write a letter to Dinky explaining how she felt. That way, she could read through it and make sure it sounded ok before letting her know. After all, she was a mailpony. How had she not thought of this before?

Picking up a pen in her mouth, Derpy tried hard to concentrate and began to write on a piece of neatly decorated paper taken from her favorite stationery set.

Dear Dinky, she began. She paused, thinking hard.

I know how much you like Spike & I can see how close the 2 of you have been getting. You're growing up now. I know your not my little baby Dinky any more. Derpy's eyes teared up a little but she remained focused: with a swift cross, she corrected "your" to "you're" before continuing.

But even so you are still very young, and I don't think you're at an age yet where you can be involved in a relationship - espeshily - Derpy crossed out the word "espeshily", replaced it with "espeshaly", then "espeshilly", then "particularry" - a relationship with a dragon. Dragons can be very dangerous Dinky and you know how I worry about things.

Please don't be upset because you know I only want what's best for you. I love you!

Love
Derpy

Derpy smiled proudly at her letter and drew a quick scribbly picture at the bottom of the page of herself with her daughter. Placing the letter clumsily in a plain white envelope, she hid it in her mailbag for safekeeping to give to Dinky when she arrived home.

Derpy heard a knocking and rushed to the door, hoping Dinky was home already - however, when she opened it she was surprised to see a familiar draconequus stood before her, looking rather bored.

"Hello... er... Discord!" Derpy cried excitedly, pleased that she'd remembered his name correctly. His expression softened a little but he yawned loudly.

"Hello, my dear. I have to say, Ponyville is so tedious when no-one's flying around damaging the infrastructure of local buildings." Derpy looked confused. "I mean you, by the way," he added for clarification.

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Got any chaotic plans for the afternoon? Any havoc to wreak that I can help you with - I mean, dissuade you from?" he asked eagerly. Derpy smiled but shook her head.

"I won't be causing any trouble," she told him confidently. He sighed.

"I thought you might say that... Oh well. A draconequus can dream. What are you doing then?" Discord sounded decidedly less interested than he had before.

"I'm waiting for my daughter to come home so I can deliver her a letter," she explained. Discord rolled his eyes.

"Not this again. Oh and I get that you're the mailpony and all, but communicating by snail mail with ponies in the same room is a little excessive." At some point during his last sentence a small snail appeared on the floor with a tiny envelope strapped to its back. Derpy stared at it blankly.

"I don't usually use letters. Just today." Discord tapped his foot on the floor in boredom and after a few seconds his antler twisted around and started pointing towards the door with a beeping noise.

"My Dinky sense! When my antler twizzles it means somepony's daughter is about to arrive home. I'll leave you to it." With a small flash Discord disappeared, and sure enough after a moment's silence Derpy heard the sound of the front door opening quietly.

"Dinky?" Derpy called. She heard a small oath and Dinky began running up the stairs to her room.

"Wait! Dinky!" Derpy grabbed the letter from the top of the mailbag as quickly as she could and tried to fly up the stairs, but ended up repeatedly bumping into the wall and the bannister. By the time she reached Dinky's room the door was already shut and locked. Derpy sighed.

"I have a letter for you," she told Dinky - speaking loudly to make sure she'd be heard from within the room. Lowering her head to the floor, she slid the envelope underneath the door-frame. "Please read it for me."

There was silence in response. Derpy could only hope her daughter would read it.

Trotting slowly back down the stairs, Derpy felt heavy-hearted - but at the same time, she was relieved to finally get it off her chest. At least now, it was all in the open and Dinky knew how she felt.

She was unaware that she'd actually just delivered a letter announcing the grand opening of Ponyville Pizza Palace by mistake. Dinky glanced at it with confusion then shrugged. Whatever - maybe she'd give the place a visit.

The real letter remained unopened and buried deep in Derpy's mailbag.

Author's Note

Oh Derpy! :facehoof: Hope you enjoyed that chapter :pinkiehappy: hoping to get the next one done fairly soon, might a take day or two though :pinkiesmile: as always, keep commenting! :yay: :heart:

Chapter Four

Spike sighed, groaning as he stretched his lanky arms. His claws curled around the edge of the bed as he flung himself off of it, staggering forward for a moment before regaining his balance. He looked over at his alarm clock and realized it was beeping like crazy, almost shaking itself off the nightstand.

The blaring red print read "12:00."

Spike swore under his breath as he hurried to get ready. He flattened his spikes and raced into the bathroom to scrub his fangs. He had promised to meet Dinky at Sugarcube Corner at 12:15 for a lunch date, and he was on a straight path towards being horrendously late.

After spitting the aftermath of the brushing session out into the sink, Spike made a move towards the shower - stopping for a second to sniff his armpit. Reeling at the smell, he hurriedly applied a quick spray of deodorant under each arm before speeding out into the hall, his tail crashing into a painted vase sitting on an ornate table near the exit.

He yelped, some fragments of the pottery piece still embedded in his tail as he sprinted down the stairs and out the door.

A shard of glossy, hardened clay was still sticking from Spike's rudder when he skidded into Sugarcube Corner a few minutes later. He glanced up at the clock to see the minute hand clink onto the three mark. He breathed a sigh of relief as he made his way over to a high top table where Dinky sat, smiling adorkably.

Spike lept into the waiting chair across from Dinky's. He saw that his fillyfriend had picked up a creamsicle shake while she had been waiting for him.

"Sorry for my lack of punctuality," he muttered to her as he planted a quick peck on her cheek.

"Oh, why so formal? And why don't I get more?" Dinky asked, her bottom lip out as she fake pouted.

"Sorry, Dink-a-Rink."

"What?!"

"I guess that one doesn't work."

Dinky giggled while Spike jogged up to the counter. Halfway there, however, she called him back.

"I already got a straw for you!" she pointed out with amusement.

Spike blushed mildly as he waved to Mr Cake, who was manning the register. He then walked awkwardly back to his seat and took the straw from Dinky with a sheepish grin.

Using his dragon claws he tore open the wrapping, hesitantly sticking the straw into the shake.

Dinky smiled flirtatiously, batting her eyelashes, as she sipped the drink. Spike gave a faint grin in return. The couple each drank about half of the drink before taking a short break.

"How about Spi?" Dinky asked out of the blue.

"Nah. Maybe it should be something that doesn't have to do with our names, something about us."

Dinky nodded pensively as she returned to the drink, Spike following suit.

After a few more minutes the couple sucked up the last drops and carried the empty chalice over to the counter to be cleaned. Returning to their table, each was intent on discovering a nickname for the other.

"How about-" Dinky began, but then paused, her mind blank of ideas.

"I guess we'll just have to wait for a light-bulb moment," Spike admitted.

"But I know one thing I don't have to wait for," Dinky murmured seductively.

She pressed her lips against his, kissing him tenderly for several seconds before they broke apart. The couple smiled at each other lovingly before making their way out of the door.

How could Dinky do this to me? Derpy thought sadly, watching her daughter leave Sugarcube corner from behind a newspaper. The whole scene had been observed by the concerned pegasus mother - much to her anguish. Throwing the papers down and her head in her hands, she sighed, considering what her next move was to be.

She'd been reasonable. She'd tried to discuss the situation, written a letter explaining it, given it time to sink in - what more could she do? She really didn't want to resort to grounding or lecturing or any other typical parental punishments - nopony could deny that Derpy was an unconventional mother who preferred to sort it all out with muffins - but Dinky had left her with little choice.

"Mr Cake always gives me dirty looks," a voice murmured in Derpy's ear. "Just because I bring my own chocolate milk..."

"Discord!" Derpy cried with a jump, and then a blush. "You shouldn't sneak up on somepony like that." A halo appeared over his head.

"Who? Me? Why, I didn't mean to sneak up on you. I walked through the door and sat down like anypony else would. Should I have done it more like this?" Discord snapped his fingers and became a one-man marching band, creating a symbol crash with every step he took. Everypony in Sugarcube Corner turned to look at them but Discord, being Discord, took no notice.

"No, no! The first one was definitely better," Derpy added hurriedly. Discord sighed.

"If you say so..." The musical instruments vanished and he appeared opposite her at the table. Placing an elbow and leaning across with an intense stare that made Derpy feel even more dizzy than usual, he produced a glass of blue milkshake and pushed it towards her.

"Have a drink and tell me: what's bothering my favorite pony?" he asked. Derpy smiled distractedly.

"Your... favorite pony?" she repeated, feeling a weird sense of pride.

"I mean you," he clarified, doubting her understanding.

"I didn't know I was your favorite pony," she told him, beaming. Discord tried to remain aloof but couldn't help smiling in response. Why did he have that weird fuzzy, jittery kind of feeling? Maybe Derpy's, ah, derpiness was rubbing off on him.

"Well I don't go shouting it from the rooftops, do I? Wouldn't want everypony getting jealous," he whispered. Derpy laughed her silly laugh in response, and Discord felt that strange, bubbly-kind-of-chaos feeling again.

After a few seconds, however, she remembered the scene she'd just witnessed and her smile was replaced by a wobbly look of despair.

"I saw my daughter and Spike together just now," she admitted upon Discord's look of confusion.

"Ah. This again." He let out a long sigh and drank from his chocolate milk through a silly straw with a loud, irritating slurp noise. All the while Derpy remained silent, staring into space with a sad expression. "Why not just live and let live? Those two are happy... in their own cheesy, boring way," he added with an eye roll.

"I just - I just can't," Derpy stuttered. "She's my daughter. And - and he's a dragon!" she added, as if this point was somehow important. Discord looked distinctly unimpressed.

"And a relationship can only work out if both of those concerned are of the same species?" he asked, a hint of sarcasm seeping into his tone. Derpy looked confused, both by the question and by Discord's sudden change of mood.

"...maybe? I don't know," she admitted. Discord nodded.

"I thought as much." With a click of his fingers, he vanished in a flash. Derpy jumped up in surprise, knocking over the milkshake she never got the chance to drink.

"Discord?" she called out hesitantly. A few other ponies turned to look at her and she blushed in embarrassment. With a sigh she flew slowly towards the door, pausing only to glance back guiltily at the spilt milk.

"Dinky? Dinky! Come here now!" Derpy cried the moment she entered her home. Dinky hesitated, but walked downstairs towards her mother. There was no point putting this off.

"What is it?" she asked warily, expecting the answer. However, she was unprepared for the anger with which her usually-calm parent responded.

"I can't believe you'd ignore my wishes like this, Dinky! Especially after I tried to be reasonable... I saw you with Spike this morning at Sugarcube corner. Did you think I wouldn't find out?" Her eyes became teary like they always did when she was angry. Dinky was shocked - and offended.

"What do you - were you following me?" she yelled, infuriated. She took her mom's silence as assent. "What the hay happened to privacy?"

"What happened to honesty?" Derpy responded. "You've been seeing Spike behind my back for weeks! I thought you'd taken what I said seriously when you were so polite this morning..." A small tear, unnoticed by Dinky, slipped down Derpy's cheek. She quickly wiped it away.

"Taken what seriously? What are you talking about?" Dinky cried exasperatedly. "I'm polite every morning! Besides, you've never mentioned that you have a problem with me and Spike. Not once. How was I supposed to know you disapproved?"

"Stop lying!" Derpy shouted in despair, unable to control herself or think straight. "Why - why can't you just stop lying?" Dinky shook her head in disgust.

"You're unbelievable," she told her mother. "This is why I never told you about Spike in the first place. I knew you'd overreact. But at least I thought you'd have the decency to discuss it with me properly, rather than shouting at me like a kid who misbehaved."

"That's what I wanted too," Derpy pointed out, feeling slightly confused.

"Well you went about it the wrong way then, didn't you!" Dinky cried angrily. She ran towards the door and slammed it behind her, leaving a rather puzzled and distressed Derpy stood alone in the hallway. A mixture of dread and realization seeped in as a terrible thought occurred, and she hurried towards her mailbag.

Rooting through desperately, she hesitated as she found a familiar-looking envelope. Tearing it open, her heart sank.

There was the letter, undelivered and unread.

Dinky had never seen it after all.

Author's Note

Aw, I hate writing arguments! :fluttershyouch: Oh Derpy. :fluttercry: The next chapter will be more cheerful everypony, Pinkie Promise! :pinkiehappy: Ooh and if you haven't already, I'd really appreciate if you could hit the like button :scootangel:

(on a totally unrelated note, I'm so excited for Christmas! Maybe I should write a Derpcord Christmas one-shot) :rainbowlaugh:

Chapter Five

It was a long distance from Dinky's house to the castle, and there were a lot of steps leading to Spike's room, but Dinky made the whole journey in one breathless run. Propelled by anger, and then by pain, she stopped outside his door and for a moment simply stood in silence, her mom's words echoing around her brain.

What happened to honesty? You've been seeing Spike behind my back for weeks! Tears welled in her eyes and for the first time she felt a twinge of guilt: maybe she should've mentioned something to Derpy... After all, even if she disapproved, she deserved to know. But then she remembered the rest of the conversation. Stop lying! Derpy had shouted. That was crossing the line. She'd bent the truth a little, maybe, but never lied. A confused mix of emotions continued to swirl around her head until she wished she could just make it all stop.

"Argh! You've got to stop sneaking up on me like this, Dinks!" Spike yelled, interrupting her thoughts as he opened the door to his room and jumped at the sight of her stood there. After his initial outburst he noticed her tearful expression.

"What's wrong?" he asked with concern, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. She smiled appreciatively, though her eyes still looked glassy.

"Just Derpy," she told him. "We had a huge argument."

"About me?" he guessed, cringing a little.

"Maybe," she admitted with a slightly sheepish grin. "She accused me of being a liar, admitted following me, told me to break up with you... the usual."

"Wow. That bad?"

"Pretty much." Dinky sighed and tried not to think about it, but the tears spilled over and slid down her cheeks.

"Hey, it'll be ok," Spike told her soothingly. "She'll come around."

"Will she?" Dinky cried. "Because right now it feels like she'll never forgive me. I don't see what could possibly happen that would make her understand how I feel."

"We'll get through it," Spike promised. "We always do."

Dinky sniffed and wiped her eyes, nodding in agreement. Feeling a little better, she pulled Spike's lips to hers and kissed him desperately. They remained locked together for a long moment that seemed to last forever, his physical closeness comforting her after the long day she'd been through. When they pulled apart she giggled a little, feeling better.

"You're a terrible kisser, you know that?" she teased, nudging him playfully.

"Who, me? I don't think so! I'm the best kisser in Ponyville, for sure. Hell, I'm probably the best kisser in Canterlot!" To demonstrate, he leaned in again and tried to press his lips to hers. She pushed him away with a grin, shaking her head and laughing at his mock disappointment.

"You wish," she told him, sticking her tongue out. He wrapped his arms around her in a playful hug and she couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks Spike," Dinky told him.

"For what?" he asked in confusion.

"For cheering me up," she answered, smiling.

Derpy was sat in a small clearing in the outskirts of Ponyville, her head in her hooves. She didn't know where Dinky was or even if Dinky would ever forgive her after their argument. The thought of the undelivered letter haunted her, along with the possibilities had it not been confused with another. Birds flew past, singing cheerfully, and Derpy followed them with one of her eyes.

After a few more minutes Derpy stood up with a sigh: she couldn't stay there wallowing in pity forever. She was going to have to face Dinky eventually, and there was no point putting it off. However, just as she was about to head back to the town a familiar flash lit up the area. Her head swiveling around, she spotted a familiar figure.

"Discord," Derpy cried, her eyes tearing up again. Before he could react the grey pegasus had wrapped her soft arms around him in a desperate embrace.

"Er- hello," he commented with bemusement. "I'm... guessing things didn't go well with Dinky." Unsure of how to react, he reached his mismatched arms out slowly and wrapped them around Derpy. For some reason he felt the strange jittery feeling again that her proximity often elicited. He had to blink a few times to regain his focus on the issue at hand.

"She'll never forgive me," Dinky whispered miserably.

Hesitating, Discord reached out and stroked her mane with his lion's paw in what he hoped would be a soothing movement.

"She's your daughter, you silly pegasus, of course she'll forgive you. Don't you know anything about friendship? All you have to do is apologize," he told her with a smile.

"But... it's not that simple," Derpy commented gloomily.

Discord sighed and lightly pulled her back so that she could look him in the eye. His heart faltered a little as she tried to look at him, each iris pointing in a different direction. Why was that so distracting?

"You're right, it's not quite that simple," he admitted. "But if you accept their relationship I'm sure it'll all be fine. Which is what I've been trying to say all along." He rolled his eyes.

"I can't do it," she cried, tears spilling over and running down her face. "I just can't!"

"So you can't accept inter-species relationships? Even when they're both good people who love each other?" Discord asked, feeling a weird mixture of exasperation and... disappointment.

"I... I don't know," Derpy confessed, her confusion and pain evident in her voice.

"Put it this way," Discord began. "Imagine you're in love." A shower of pink, heart-shaped bubbles appeared in the air around her head and Derpy watched them with a hint of a smile. "The pony you're in love with is the most eligible bachelor in town for sure: he's good-looking, cheeky, but kind at heart and very much in love with you. Only he's not a pony at all..." Discord didn't intend for the hearts to float towards his head and pop at the end of the sentence, but they did - and Derpy was left staring at him with an expression he couldn't read. There was an awkward silence.

"But none of that is true, so you probably can't empathize," Discord babbled, wondering why he felt so nervous. His own words echoed through his head as he thought of the pony stood in front of him. It was just a hypothetical situation... he thought. Right?

Derpy took a step closer and Discord flinched a little.

"I feel even more confused now," she admitted.

"And why is that?" Discord asked, trying to sound casual.

"I..." Derpy blushed. Discord leaned in eagerly to hear what she had to say.

Derpy hesitated for a second, then leaned in too and placed a shy kiss on Discord's stunned face.

For a moment there was silence as the cogs whirred in Discord's mind. For a few seconds he could not comprehend what had just happened - but gradually an unfamiliar warmth spread through his body as realization hit him.

Somepony had just kissed him. Somepony had feelings for him. That somepony was Derpy.

"I'm sorry," Derpy mumbled, misinterpreting his silence. She looked away uncomfortably, but after a few seconds glanced back, unable to help herself, and saw Discord's face lit up with the biggest smile she'd ever seen.

"Sorry?" he cried, lifting her in the air and pulling her towards him in a huge hug. "Nothing has ever been so undeserving of an apology!"

Rose petals were falling from the sky around them, and Derpy smiled uncertainly.

"So... you don't mind?" she asked, glancing up at him.

"Don't mind? Derpy, my dear, nopony has ever had romantic feelings for me. I never even bothered to hope that anypony ever would. To find that you do..." He paused for a second, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "Nope, there aren't really words to describe it. Chaos usually can, though."

On cue, the ground turned to strawberry jelly and the clouds turned to marshmallow fluff. Something soft but slightly heavy landed on Derpy's head and as she glanced up she realized muffins of every flavor were falling from the sky as rain. She giggled uncontrollably and the sound made Discord's heart sing. Literally.

Derpy gently leaned in and kissed Discord again, this time more slowly. His heart felt like the jelly under his feet. After reluctantly breaking off the kiss, Derpy shut her eyes and sank against his chest.

"Maybe I was too harsh on Dinky," she admitted. "Inter-species relationships... I guess they aren't so bad after all."

Discord laughed and caught something from the sky. Passing it to Derpy, it was a chocolate and blueberry muffin.

Author's Note

A chocolate and blueberry muffin? :derpyderp2: Could work :rainbowlaugh: sorry this chapter took so long, haven't been able to talk to lyra_lover777 so had to write it all myself. Hope it sounded ok! :fluttershyouch: comment and tell me what you think :pinkiehappy: :heart: next chapter's the last one :derpytongue2: