It occurred to her one fine morning; a tradition having run in her family for generations, which somehow completely slipped her mind to this day.
None of it was much of a big issue, really. More ancient than Celestia herself maybe, but feeble nonetheless. Still, it helped the foals sleep at night, bringing a feeling of warmth and protection over their small, fragile beings. She remembered it from her own childhood, recalled memories of events vivid enough, they could have happened just yesterday. She had always admired the love and tenderness given to her by two most caring parents. The night they had first hung the small, wooden ring over her bed meant a lot to her, even now.
That was how she experienced it, as did her mother before her, and her mother before that. Two parents, taking care of their foal, standing on the strong foundations of their love for each other. It really should have been the exact same task for her husband, and herself, but by now, that seemed hardly possible. Still, faced with this task alone or with someone else, she wouldn't disappoint her ancestors by failing now. And judging from her daughter's steadily increasing age, she decided it was time.
A regretful smile on her muzzle, Derpy Hooves looked up from her work, casting a glance out the window. The solar princess had already raised the sun up to its zenith, acknowledging the day having processed to the time of noon. In little more than two hours, Dinky would come home from school, the time when everything needed to be ready.
She rested her head in that position for a few more moments, several calm breaths passing through her muzzle. After another minute or so, she shifted her attention back onto her forehooves, and the halfway finished project placed next to them. It wasn't a masterpiece of artisan crafts, naturally; her eyes would only allow her so much of practical talent in this field. But her mother had always taught her well, back in the day, and if it would bring a smile on her little daughter's face, what more was there to ask for?
The gray-coated, cross-eyed mare chewed on her lower lip, her hooves grabbing two pieces of string, as they tried to connect them into another knot. She sighed. Creating this turned out a lot more complicated than expected. And made her all the more grateful for the day off she had been granted to complete it. Rainbow Dash - her superior on the weather team - had first met her request with a lot of skepticism, but after giving it some thought, agreed eventually. Derpy had told her, any day this week would be fine with her, and she didn't want to disappoint her family. In the end, Dash had decided she could handle one less flier on the team for a term that brief.
All things considered, everything had worked out unexpectedly well so far. Still, better to get back to work, before anything bad happened, as it often did. As Derpy connected the final two pieces of string, the final ingredient for her project came to mind. As tradition demanded, the entire construction needed to be rounded off by a number of feathers. Pegasus feathers. She carefully let both eyes wander to one of her wings.
Well, this is gonna hurt.
She let her hooves rest for a moment, lifting them a few inches from the table. After all, making a mess of things as usual would be the last thing she needed right now. After another while of consideration, she pulled both of them back, close to her chest. Just to make sure, of course.
Muzzle reaching over her shoulder as far as somewhat possible, Derpy stretched out her right wing. It took a few attempts, but in the end, she finally did get something caught between both jaws. That was where the painful part began.
She squeezed her eyes shut, anticipating what would come. With a swift pull, Derpy's head jolted down, plucking the feather from it's proper place.
A groan escaped her muzzle, as she instinctively let go of the harvested, gray object. It sailed to the ground, landing behind her on the wooden planks a moment later. She quickly picked it back up, placing it next to the strings and a tiny muffin she had prepared earlier.
Some might have called her insane for it, but the tiny, insignificant pastry piece instantly let her forget about the aching in her back limb. In its place, a smile immediately cam onto her face.
Extremely early on in her foalhood, muffins had been what one could probably call the first love of her life. She would often joyfully recall the first time she had ever taken a bite off one. She had moved here from Cloudsdale only recently, and had never been confronted with any aspects of earth pony culture. Only her initial visit to the town's cafe, Sugarcube Corner, eventually convinced her to finally try one of these little blueberry creations. That day, she had experienced herself a little piece of heaven, something she certainly wouldn't ever forget.
And she never did. Even though Derpy had never learned how to properly bake them herself, she had visited the cafe nearly every single day since then. The owners always approached their loyal customers with great care and ambition. And ever since their assistant Pinkie Pie had started working there, not a single day would pass, on which Derpy wouldn't be greeted with a warm and welcoming smile. Even though Pinkie kept insisting they were in fact called 'cupcakes'. She had always been a little sensitive on that subject...
When, years later, her very own and only daughter had been to the cafe for her first time, she let her try the same thing. Simply another, standard blueberry muffin, but seeing Dinky devour it with such eagerness and joy filled the pegasus mare with an inner warmth, which she hadn't felt in a long time.
Strange, though. Her father never seemed to care much for...
Derpy frowned, her eyes wandering off towards the window once again. Hadn't she always wanted to forget about all that? She looked back onto the table, watching her unfinished work, and sighed. And for a moment, she closed her eyes, breathing slowly.
No tears. That she had promised herself long ago.
There still was work to be done. Only one out of three feathers rested on the desk...the remaining construction was far from perfect, just as well.
Silence had fallen onto the room. One she hadn't expected, which made her feel all the more uncomfortable. Then again, what did she expect? Instant cheers and squeals of delight? After all, an abstract construction like the one before them just now was far beyond the comprehension of a young filly, who had never seen anything like it.
Dinky cocked her head, eyes slightly narrowed in confusion, quietly observing the strange object resting on the table in front of her.
"So...what exactly is it for, mommy?" Aside from bewilderment, Derpy also managed to recognize some interest and enthusiasm in her daughter's expression, which was certainly a good thing.
"It's called a dreamcatcher," she stated, lifting one hoof, which she pointed at her crafts work. "See that net, there? You hang it over a filly's bed at night, and it only allows the bad dreams - the nightmares - to pass through, and pass you by. The good dreams, however..." Her gaze wandered a little lower, emphasis now resting on the feathers, attached to the wooden ring's outside with some more strings. "...the pleasant ones, which will let you sleep tight and safely get caught in the web, then slip down these feathers."
With a weak smile, she turned herself back around to Dinky. "From there, they end up..." She moved her hoof over, gently tipping it against her daughter's forehead twice, careful not to disturb her horn. "...right here."
To her misfortune, Derpy read from her daughter's face that she still hadn't fully grasped the concept behind all this. Nevertheless, Dinky returned her smile. "Thanks, mommy," she said. "You made this just for me?"
"I made this just for you," Derpy repeated in a calm, comforting tone. "Just like my mother has made one just for me, when I was your age. And just like you might make one, if you ever have any little ponies of your own, one day."
Dinky blushed, causing the pegasus mare to an internal chuckle. Suddenly though, the filly's eyes widened, as she cast another glance over to the small construction.
"Mommy...where did those feathers come from?"
Remorse in her eyes, that she was sure of, Derpy peeked towards her wing for a second. "Well, what would you think?" she asked. "Our family has done it this way for a long time, and..." Momentarily, she fell silent, her eyes falling back onto Dinky. Observing her daughter like that for just an instant, it quickly became clear to her, what she meant to say. And it immediately sent a cold shiver down her spine.
"So how will I..." Dinky shortly trailed off, one hoof resting on her horn. "...I mean, I don't have any...you know..."
For a moment, Derpy was at a loss of words. Sometimes, she just didn't think about what she was doing. And had wanted to punch herself in the face for something like that, often enough.
And really, wasn't it all so simple?
Her daughter - for some reason - had been born a unicorn. Derpy could never actually explain it to herself, and Dinky's birth wasn't among the memories she liked to recall, in the first place. Still, the two of them had quickly grown accustomed to their differences. Of course, unicorns never grow any wings, and therefore no feathers.
Now, there was a tradition she struggled to preserve on one end, and the refusal of hurting the filly she loved more than anypony else on the other. How was she to deal with that? Mother certainly hadn't told her.
With a sigh, Derpy got her voice back up. "I don't know," she said, somewhat more serious than initially intended. She looked straight into Dinky's troubled eyes, trying to convey her own honesty as much as somehow possible. "But I'm sure you will, when the time comes. Until then...don't you worry about it too much. Remember, mommy loves you for what you are, no matter what." She gave a wider, warmer smile to her daughter, before hastily turning back to the dreamcatcher, which still lay on her desk. "Let's find a good place to put it, shall we?"
A happy grin from Dinky was all she needed to reassure herself of that. A light gray aura surrounded the filly's horn, as the dreamcatcher got lifted up from the desk, and swung over to her. Soon enough, the two ponies were off towards Dinky's bedroom.
"So, for how long have our mommies done this? I mean...have they always build these?," Dinky asked her.
"Very, very long," Derpy replied. To be honest, she never really thought of it, herself. "They date back as long as...well, even to the old days of Pegasopolis, I guess."
"Mommy," Dinky began, making her eyes peaking up one more time. "Can you tell me a story about Pegasopolis tonight? I would like to hear some more about it."
"I'd love to. But I'm afraid, I don't know any...Why don't you ask your Ms. Cherilee after school, some day? Maybe she knows something about it." With a wink, Derpy added: "But I can tell you about the time I talked to one of the Wonderbolts, after she had this accident at work. I know how much you like that one."
A simple smile from Dinky was all she needed at that time.
Their afternoon passed by calmly, without any further interruptions of their routine. Dinky still had some homework from school to finish up on, and - of course - wanted to share the day's events with her mother. Before it was time for bed, Derpy would allow her to play outside with her friends a few more hours.
Eventually though, Celestia's sun started to climb down from it's azure throne, as it disappeared in the far west. As larger and smaller stars lit up all over the firmament, the moon first ascended from the east. One by one, everypony would settle in their homes, wrap up the day, getting themselves to some rest. By the time the pale, white sphere cast its weak light on Ponyville, the entire town lay peacefully quiet.
And like everyone else, Derpy enjoyed the silence. She had first brought her daughter to bed, then went over to her own bedroom to call it a day. And even though today hadn't held as much work for her, like some others did, she had gotten herself comfortable comparably quickly. Not before long, both eyes closed, as her mind started drifting off into the realm of dreams.
That peace didn't come to stay however. She couldn't tell the exact amount of time that had passed, but the moon was still up, when something forced her back awake.
There was something suspicious about all that. A rumbling noise had come from somewhere around the house, alarming her. She hastily jumped up, and sailed over to the door. Opening it only an inch, she cast a quick glance out into the hallway. Nopony was to be seen, mounting her suspicions even further.
A low shriek, followed by some mumbling came from Dinky's room. Derpy's eyes widened in shock as she jumped over to her daughter's door, tearing it open. Her eyes then fell onto a rather abnormal sight.
Whatever she had expected, this was far from it.
Dinky had the bed's sheets drawn up to her neck, only two forehoofs resting on top of it. Her eyes were turned upwards in a mixture of fear and curiosity, as she examined the pony above herself.
Meanwhile, Princess Luna - the Princess Luna - obviously found herself in a most unfortunate position. Her presence at this time alone made Derpy's jaw drop.
The queen of the night stared blankly at her, while hanging above the filly's bed, seemingly unable to move. Her rear end - elegantly outlined by the image of a glowing crescent in front of a black backdrop - had somehow gotten itself stuck inside the circular, wooden construction, placed there by Derpy herself, earlier.
"Well...that's new," Luna bitterly uttered, as her eyes shifted back and forth between the two ponies staring at her in disbelief. Dinky let out a giggle.
"Now that my mommy's here, I guess the awkwardness has been doubled," the filly squeaked. As Luna cast an angry glare at her, Dinky immediately fell quiet, again. "Sorry," she winced.
"You should get yourself away from down there, my little pony," the dark-blue alicorn added in a surprisingly neutral tone. Momentarily, her eyes wandered upward, a wary expression filling them. "I can't predict how much longer this string will hold thy princess's weight."
Derpy quickly nodded at her daughter, who threw a questioning look at her. And evenly quickly, the filly jumped out of bed, thus joining her mother at the room's entrance.
Almost simultaneously, the string holding her majesty tore apart. Luna came sailing downward instantly, and - with a clearly audible crash - landed on the small bed. It quickly collapsed under the impact, leaving the night's princess spread out inside a pile of rubble.
"Oh...oh my," she stuttered in sheer embarrassment. "You have my deepest apologies, Derpy Hooves. I shall see to it that this damage is undone as quickly as possible..." She trailed off, noticing Derpy still having the same, bewildered look on her face.
"Where am I going to sleep now, mommy?" a light, tired voice asked from beside her. For the first time since entering the room, Derpy spun her head around, looking into Dinky's confused face.
Not entirely sure about the situation herself, Derpy decided to calm the filly with a generous smile. "Don't worry. You can sleep in mommy's bed tonight. I'll take care of our visitor, meanwhile."
Dinky happily returned her smile, and with a short cheer, burst out of the room. Derpy's eyes quickly returned to the princess in front of her. Naturally, she had no idea about how one would usually react to a princess of Equestria randomly showing up in their kid's bedroom. But being the welcoming mare she was, Derpy decided to try her best at it.
"Can I get you something?" she asked, nervously. "...a cup of tea, maybe?"
Luna's eyes widened in surprise. "What? Oh, no, no, thank you," she replied with a giggle. "I must be off, taking care of my night. Besides, I don't actually enjoy tea the way I used to...I grew tired of it, you might say."
Derpy narrowed her eyes, and slightly cocked her head. "Grow tired of tea? I didn't know that was possible."
"Well..." Luna's gaze slightly wandered off, as she massaged her flank with a hoof. "I don't suppose you have any siblings?"
"No, never did," Derpy told her. "Why would you ask, though?"
A smirk crept across Luna's muzzle, as she turned back to the room's window, seemingly preparing herself to dive back out into the night sky's vast nirvana.
"Oh well, whatever, never mind."