A Mother's Work is Never Done
Derpy Hooves' ears folded back against her head as the creak of her house's front door erupted through them. Her wings felt like lead, hanging weakly against her sides. For the first time in ages, she actually had to climb the stairs in her house, rather than simply flying up them. Her entire body screamed for rest. It was all she could do to make it to her bedroom, where she flopped down on her bed unceremoniously, not even bothering to remove her saddle bags.
From the front of her skull, the grey mare could feel the slight tingle that signified one of her eyes was acting up. She was too tired to care. She closed her eyes, trusting that it would work itself out as she slept.
The soft ticking of her alarm clock was the only sound in the room. It's regular click beat through Derpy like a metronome, slowly calming her mind, and bringing her closer and closer to sleep—
“Mommy?”
Derpy's golden eyes shot open, only to come in contact with a smaller, matching set. “Yes, muffin?”
Dinky grinned at her mother. “Mommy!” she chirped, hopping in place. “You're home! Yay! Let's play!” She grabbed one of her mother's limp wings and pulled, causing the pegasus to wince. “C'mon! I already got the board and everything—”
“Muffin, please,” Derpy murmured, taking back her wing. “You know I love playing with you more than anything. But mommy is very, very, very tired. She needs some sleepy time. Is that alright?”
The lavender unicorn blinked, her mouth slightly ajar. “Why?”
“Well, I had a very long day.”
“Why?”
“It was very windy, and there was a dog, and it was just very difficult for me to deliver the mail today, okay?”
“Why?”
Derpy lifted herself up, groaning at the pricks of pain firing off in her back. She knew that once Dinky started asking why, there would be no end to the debate. She put on a smile as she jumped off the bed, landing right next to her daughter.
“Alright, Dinky, what do you want to play?” Derpy asked, kneeling to match her daughter's height. “Was it a board game?”
“Yesssss!” Dinky cheered. Giggling and trembling with excitement, she grabbed her mother's leg and pulled her out of the room. “Let's go, go, go!”
Derpy let the dice roll off her wing and onto the wooden coffee table. They landed noisily, clattering across the surface of the table until it landed neatly in the center of the Oligopoly board. “Two fives!” the pegasus announced as she grabbed her metal shoe. “Two-hundred bits please, Miss Banker!”
Dinky stared indignantly at her mother. Despite the fact that the filly could just barely do the most basic of mathematical equations, she always insisted on being banker, every game they played. “Are you sure?” she asked.
“Hm?”
“Are you sure you get two-hundred bits?”
“Yep! Look,” she explained, pointing at the board. Her shoe was two spaces past the starting point. “I just passed Go. That's two-hundred bits, remember?”
Dinky snorted before she began to collect the miniature paper bills from the game box.
Derpy held back a sigh. She knew exactly what was going to happen; it always did.
Pleasing a filly like Dinky was a practiced art. When she had first found out that she was pregnant, Derpy wasn’t sure that it would even work out; how could a single mother cursed with broken eyes even hope to provide a future for her child? No one was going to help her, certainly. Not after he had left. Part of her had even considered giving the filly up.
But then she had actually been born, and something happened. As Derpy had looked down at the little bundle of lavender fur in her arms, her tiny nub of a horn just barely poking out from behind a shock of straw-colored hair, something changed in the pegasus. She had brought this filly into the world! Her! After that moment, she would never even think of giving up Dinky ever again. When she heard her child laugh, saw her smile, every problem seemed to melt away. No matter how hard it got, no matter how stubborn Dinky could get, it was worth it.
Not bothering to try using her young, untrained magic, Dinky picked up the two dice, balancing them on her hooves. Her brow furrowed, she tossed them onto the table. “Come on, come on, come on...” she begged some unseen force. The dice began to slow. It looked like they were going to land on their fives, just like her mom's roll! If that happened, not only would she be in the lead, she would have even more money! Her tongue stuck out of the side of her mouth, and a small squeak escaped as well.
They both stopped on their five side. Dinky threw her hooves into the air. “I got it!”
As if the God of Board Games had set out just to spite her, both die rolled once more, just to land on their one sides.
Dinky hit her hooves on the board, sending a couple of blue plastic houses flying. “Oh, come on! That's not fair!” She grabbed the dice away from her mother, holding them close. “I wanna go again!”
“Dinky, what do we say when we get mad about games?” Derpy asked, a small smile betraying her solemn tone.
The filly took a deep breath. “It's just a game,” she droned.
The gray mare gathered the scattered houses off the floor. “That’s right! Games aren’t about winning or losing, they’re about having fun.”
Dinky crossed her forelegs and looked away. “But I’m not having fun...”
“What was that?”
“Nothing, mommy.”
“Okay.” With a satisfied smile, Derpy flipped the dice off her wing and onto the table once again. It came up as an eleven; five and six.
Before she could announce it to Dinky, the protests had already started. “No! That’s not fair!” she insisted. “You cheated!”
“Muffin, I just—”
“I-I wanna win!” Dinky said, hitting her hooves on the table. “You’re just winning ‘c-cause you’re bigger than me! It’s not fair!” With a pout on her face, she snatched the dice away from Derpy. “You don’t get to go. It’s my turn again.”
Derpy sighed. This happened nearly every time they played a game together. She prayed for the day when her daughter would finally be old enough to play without having a handicap. Even though she knew it probably wasn’t a very good idea to let Dinky just have her way, she really wasn’t in the mood to deal with a crying foal.
“Okay, you can go again.”
Dinky’s face lit up, her previous frustrations forgotten. “Yay!”
“Mommy, I’m hungry!”
“I know, Dinky, I know,” Derpy said for the third time as she stirred the alfalfa rapidly. The Doos tended to stay on a rather set schedule most nights. And, like every night, immediately after their fourth board game, Dinky would start complaining that she was hungry. She would then proceed to remind her mother of that fact every three minutes or so.
“Mommy, I’m h—”
“Dinner’s done!” Derpy announced. Carefully as not to burn herself, Derpy grabbed hold of a strainer in one wing and held it over the kitchen sink. She bit down on the handle of the cooking pot and poured its contents into the strainer. The boiling water rushed out, leaving only a clump of soft plants. Derpy allowed herself a small smile. Boiled alfalfa was one of Dinky’s favorite foods. If anything would calm her down, this was it.
Humming quietly, she gathered the plants onto Dinky’s favorite plate (it was shaped like a muffin), and made her way to the kitchen table. With a flourish, the food landed right in front of Dinky, its sweet scent drifting upwards into the foal’s nostrils. Derpy watched paitiently, waiting for Dinky to start eating.
But instead of eating, Dinky just stared at the alfalfa for a moment. Suddenly, her nose wrinkled up, and she pushed the plate away. “I don’t want this!’
Derpy’s face fell. “What? Why not, muffin?”
“I hate alfalfa!” Dinky declared, crossing her legs and pouting.
"Wha..?" Derpy's eye twitched. “But, you, I, we...” She searched for the right words to describe her confusion. Her mind raced to find an answer, but in the end, she simply resorted to covering her face with her hooves and grumbling. With bloodshot eyes, she stared at Dinky. "Fine, then. What do you want?"
Dinky smiled. "Hay fries!"
Derpy put a hoof on the plate. “Last chance. You’re sure you don’t want this?”
“No!”
“And you’re sure that you’re going to eat the hay fries if I make them for you?”
“Yep.”
Holding back a groan, Derpy grabbed the plate of alfalfa. She moved it over to the fridge; no use putting good food to waste. Next, she opened up the freezer, where a large bag of hay sat. She grabbed it out of the freezer with her mouth, ignoring the pain of the cold against her face.
“Mommy!”
Derpy nearly dropped the bag when she heard her daughter squeal. She turned. “What is it now, muffin?” she said through the plastic.
Dinky glanced at the pegasus, her golden eyes wide and innocent. “I’m hungry.”
Derpy held back a scream.
“What do I look like, an earth pony?”
“No, you look more like a mud pony to me!”
Dinky giggled at the show’s joke. Her stomach full of hay fries, the filly rested comfortably on the red couch in the living room, with her head resting on a small throw pillow. Despite the late hour, the TV blared on, filling the room with a rapidly flashing, multicolored light. A small yawn escaped the filly’s lips every few minutes. She snuggled in deeper in her pillow.
It was at that moment that Derpy, wings limp and eyes heavy, stepped into the room. “Time for bed, little muffin.”
The filly didn’t answer, instead opting to laugh at another quick joke. Her glazed-over eyes didn’t even seem to acknowledge that there was another pony in the room. At least, not until the pegasus trotted up to the TV and turned it off. “Hey!” Dinky squeaked, leaping onto all fours. “I was watching that!”
“I said it’s time for bed, Dinky,” Derpy repeated, walking up to the couch. “Little fillies need their sleep!”
Dinky sneered. “But I was watching that!”
“Yes, I know, but—”
Not waiting for an answer, Dinky hopped off the couch and scrambled to the TV. She quickly hit the power button, fell back onto her rump, and began watching again.
Derpy grit her teeth. Enough was enough. She trotted over to the TV and turned it. “Dinky, I said that it’s time for bed! Now, let’s go!”
The filly got up on her hind legs and attempted to push Derpy out of the way so she could get to the power button again. “Nooooo! Stop it! I don’t wanna go to bed! I’m not even tired!”
“Look, Dinky,” Derpy began, frowning. “I’ve done what you wanted to do all night. Now, it’s time for bed.” She grabbed Dinky’s hoof. “And besides: I can tell that you’re absolutely exhausted.”
Dinky tried to pull away. “Stoooop! You’re hurting meeeeee!” she blubbered, flailing wildly. “I don’t wanna go! You can’t make me!” Seeing that she was losing the battle, Dinky began to wail loudly, tears streaming down her face.
Derpy winced at the foal’s screaming. She had really been hoping that it wouldn’t have to come down to her crying, but if that was what it was going to take, then so be it. When she winced, her grip loosened just the slightest bit, leaving ample opportunity for Dinky to escape. The foal now rolled around on the floor, sobbing her eyes out. Her tiny hooves beat the hardwood floor relentlessly, as if its pain could somehow help her.
“Dinky, please!” Derpy pleaded, her tone growing more and more desperate the louder her child became. No matter what she said, Dinky just wouldn’t stop. After a moment, she gave up on words, and simply picked the flailing foal up and began to drag her to her bedroom. She had a hard time avoiding the kicks and swings, and a few still managed to make contact, but most missed her. Her thoughts raced, but one stood above all else: ‘Make it stop!’
By the time they actually got into the bedroom, Dinky’s face had gone almost pure red and her fur was matted with tears. Not caring for finesse, Derpy hoisted her daughter into bed and put her under the blanket. Immediately, Dinky attempted to escape, pushing her covers away and scrambling to the bed’s edge.
That was it. She had had enough. “Dinky!” Derpy screamed, freezing the filly in place. “That is enough!” Her eyes were on fire as she grabbed Dinky and crammed her under the blanket, not even hesitating as the filly squeaked out in pain.
By now, Dinky was shaking. She stared up at her mother, who was glaring at her like never before. “M-Mommy...?” she asked hesitantly as tears filled her eyes.
It was all Derpy could do not to simply smack her daughter across the face. “You are going to bed right now, and that is final!” Derpy cantered over to the door, her hooves stamping with every step. She shot her daughter one more threatening glance before switching off the light, stepping out, and slamming the door.
She stood staring at the door for a few seconds. Her mind swam with frenzied emotions. She could only imagine how crazy her eyes must have been. Slowly but steadily, she walked to her own bedroom, where she closed the door behind her and simply slid to the floor.
“Oh, Celestia, what did I just do?”
She trembled as the first waves of shock, sadness and desperation washed over her, replacing any anger she had left. She had never yelled at Dinky like that. Sure, she would scold her every once-in-a-while, but not like that. The thoughts she had while she was yelling made her cringe just remembering them. She had wanted to hit Dinky. What kind of mother was she?
She choked out a small sob. "Things were so much easier when Dusty was around..."
Suddenly, a small knock came from the door, causing Derpy to jump. The pegasus wiped her eyes before opening up.
Sitting solemnly in front of the door was Dinky. Her face was streaked with tears, and her normally brushed hair was messy and wild. “M-Mommy?” she murmured, shaking. There was a deep silence, only broken by a filly’s deep breathing. “I’m sorry. I know why you’re mad. I-I was being mean to you all night. I...I didn’t want to be b-be mean...”
Derpy held back tears of her own. “Oh, muffin...”
Dinky leaped forward, grabbing her mother in a tight hug. She was now crying openly. But these weren’t the indignant tears from before, that had gotten Derpy so frustrated. These were real tears of sadness and regret. The kind of tears that only a guilty filly can make.
“M-Mommy?” Dinky asked, her face buried in Derpy’s fur.
“Yes?”
“D-Do you still love me?”
Derpy gasped before kneeling down and looking her daughter in the eye. “Of course I do! Dinky, you’re my littlest muffin! You’re the greatest thing to ever happen to me! I love more than you can ever imagine, and I always will, no matter what.” She pulled Dinky close. “But I’m the one who should be saying sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you and scare you like that, Dinky. I’m sorry.”
Dinky looked up and smiled. “It’s okay.”
The two shared a warm hug, which lasted for well over a minute. Once they were done, Derpy grinned and said, “Come on. Would you like me to read you a bedtime story?”
“Yes!” Dinky chirped, hopping in place. “Let’s go!” Smiling, the two walked slowly out of the room, pressed up against one another, sharing each other’s warmth. “Mommy?”
“Yes, muffin?”
“You’re the best mommy ever.”
Derpy’s eyes twinkled. “I do my best.”
Author's Note
"...And here, I wish to say to her now,
is a smaller gift—not the worn truth
that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-tone lanyard from my hand,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless, worthless thing I wove
out of boredom would be enough to make us even."
