Pony POV Series: Tales of Derpy and Family

Chapters

Discorded Ponies: Mine No More
Butterflies Part 1: Welcome to the Big City
Preparations and Interventions
Welcome to the Big City
Fish Out of Water
Farther Out of Water
Bonus Chapter: Little Brother

Discorded Ponies: Mine No More

Hello there, I'm Derpy Hooves. Or Ditzy Doo. People call me both, call me whichever you want to, I don't mind.

I live here in Ponyville, but I get to see lots of Equestria. I'm a mail mare so it's kinda my job. I've traveled all over the place to deliver the mail where it needs to go…Though, sometimes I don't always go the right way, like the two years in a row I went the wrong direction to get the southern birds during the Winter Wrap Up. Its just the wind currents sometimes mess me up. But I've never missed getting a delivery where it needs to go on time…Well, there was that one time I got hurt, but Carrot Top filled in for me and the mail still got where it was supposed to go…Though I guess it wasn't very nice of me to empty her fridge like that…again…

Carrot Top and me? We kinda heard about each other when City Hall thought we were coupled to ourselves. Oh, Carrot Top goes by Golden Harvest sometimes but town hall thought they were two different ponies. She still had green hair then.

I used to live in an apartment above the post office before I got my Muffins.

Carrot Top let me and my Muffin stay at her place while our home was getting rebuilt after being eaten by Parasprites, I wonder what made them go weird like that, at least they stopped eating my muffins, and they didn't hurt my Muffin.

How did my eyes get this way? I don't really know, they've been like that as long as I can remember…But its not that bad, I can see in two directions at once, even if it makes me a bit of a klutz sometimes. I'm not stupid though, like some ponies think I am…It's just sometimes I have trouble communicating what I want to say. There's nothing wrong, it's just…sometimes what I say just doesn't come out right or I don't know what somepony really means. I mix up the words sometimes and it gets worse when I get nervous. Sometimes if I'm REALLY mad I say the wrong word altogether.

But I know my friends understand me, like Carrot Top and the Doctor. Huh? Did I get to go in his blue shed? Um…yes…But he made me promise not to talk about it, or the Daleks…Or how I really ended up going north last Winter Wrap-Up… Oops, I probably shouldn't have told you that…

But there's one pony who will always understand me, who doesn't think I'm weird or different. My little muffin, Dinky. She's the most important thing in the world to me. She's always waiting for me when I get home from work with a big smile. After a rough day, that always cheers me up…I can't imagine what I'd do if anything happened to her…Hey, wait a minute…just who are you anyway?

"Oh, I'm just a friend," said the strange bubble, floating in front of me, staring back at me.

"But blur a bubble, bubbles plant walk…come to blink about bit, bubbles don't have whys and a mouth either," I reply, scratching my head with my hoof. You'd think I'd have noticed that was earlier. Though with the chocolate rain, weird animals, and cotton candy clouds, I guess it just didn't seem as weird when he started talking to me…

"Oh, I'm not an ordinary bubble, Derpy, I'm special," the bubble replied. "And I just want to get to know you better is all. Now is that so wrong?"

"Well…no…I bless just because I've ever bean a bubble mike blue doesn't bean bay can't happen…You're blot as beard as the weather blue way, what the hay is going on any bay?"

"Oh, its nothing. Somepony is just making the weather a little more exciting today is all, nothing for you to worry about," the bubble said, giving a little chuckle. "Now back to your little one, Dinky…Does she know she's…you know…"

"Huh?" Does she know what? I don't know what he could mean unless… "Uh…Just to be blur I understand blot you're baying, you're basking bif Dinky blows she's…"

"Not your daughter? Yes, that's exactly what I mean."

Not my daughter? What is that supposed to mean? "Oh, she's by daughter, she's just…way, wait, how bid blue know splat?"

"Oh, it's plain to anypony who pays enough attention, Derpy. After all, you're a pegasus, she's a unicorn. No pony has ever seen her father, no pony seems to remember seeing you pregnant with her. Really it's quite obvious to anypony who pays enough attention."

"Oh…Is splat a problem?" I ask, now I feel a little nervous. Sure, Dinky might have been brought home from the orphanage instead of the hospital, but that's not important. I love her like my daughter and she loves me, that's all that matters to us.

"No, no, not at all. Now tell me, does she know she's adopted?"

"Sell…no…I ever raw a reason to well blur…" I start to get a little scared. Why is this weird bubble asking me all these questions about Dinky for?

"Oh, I see. Well its your choice, after all it's not as if there's any reason she needs to know right now, right?"

"Bright…" I look the bubble over. Come to think about it, he looks kind of weird too…Well, for a talking bubble with a face, which is kind of weird any way…He looks kind of creepy…

"Oh look," the bubble said. "What have we here?"

I look at where he's looking, at a letter laying next to my mail bag. Huh? Where'd that come from? Must've fallen out when I stopped to talk. I reach down to pick it up. I'm a bit surprised when I see the address.

"Oh would you look at that, addressed to you. Oh what are the odds?" he asks, looking over my shoulder at it. "I mean really!"

"Yeah, beard, in fact this bowl day's when really beard…I normally don't deliver by bone mail, I blunder how bit got been there…" I open the letter and lay it on the ground to read it.

…No…I read over it again, my heart breaking with each word…No, please Celestia no…

"What does it say Derpy, dear?" I think I heard a finger snap.

"D-Dear Miss Derpy Hooves. We have looked over your…over your adoption of one Dinky Doo. We have found you…unfit to be…unfit to be her caregiver…We f-feel it's in the…in the best interests of the foal if she's…if she's…"

I feel the tears run down my face as I read it this letter I prayed every night I'd never see. I…I didn't do anything wrong…How could this happen?! This can't be happening…It has to be a nightmare…it has to be!

"Poor Derpy, I'm so sorry to hear that…But it's going to be so hard on poor little Dinky you know."

"Dinky?" I ask, but I already know…

"Well the poor dear is going to be ripped away from the mother she's known all her life, the one she thinks is her real mommy, it'll break her little heart…" he said, giving a sympathetic tisk. "And what's worse, they might even tell her she was adopted, that you've been lying to her all this time…Oh the poor thing will be just devastated…And that's if they even tell her, she might spend the rest of her life wondering where her mother went, why she's in the house of a stranger who she doesn't even know…And you'll never see her again…"

Each word feels like someone drove a dagger through my heart. I slowly sink down on my flanks, my world spinning…It's like everything is just moving in slow motion…Then I start crying…sobbing…

"No…There's blot to we something I pan do…Anything!…Please! Play can't wake Dinky! They can't!"

"Oh but they can, Derpy. And they're going to…It's a shame the two of you love each other so much, it'd be so much easier on Dinky if she hated you."

If she hated me? What the hay does that mean?! How can he tell me something like that at a time like this?!

"Think about it, wouldn't it just be easier if she didn't see you as her mother and you don't see her as your daughter? If she knew she never belonged to you at all, that she was never your little "muffin"? Then she'd not have any reason to dwell on you. Of course that'd just break her little heart, but if it's going to be broken anyway, you might as well be the one to do it. And after all, she was never really yours to begin with as far as the system is concerned."

"But…But I wood never blue anything to burt by little muffin…N-never…"

"Oh, but you are either way, my dear," the bubble whispered. "It looks like you'll just have to choose between breaking her heart yourself or letting separation do the job for you. One way she hurts more now, but less later on, and you may even forget about each other. The hurt would cease and you can both get on with your lives. The other way, you both hurt for the rest of your lives, but you'll still have the memories I suppose. Oh, tough call, isn't it? That's why I don't have kids myself…"

"T-there pass to we another pay! T-there pass blue be!"

"I'm afraid not, Derpy. They've made their choice, they'll probably be here to get her this very day, so you'd best think quickly before the choice is no longer yours to make. I know the its hard, but that's what you get for getting attached to something that was never yours to begin with."

Either way, Dinky gets hurt…No matter what I do I'm going to break my little muffin's heart…What do I do? Is there anything else I can do?! I can't break Dinky's heart…But if I don't, not only will it still break her heart, it'll never stop breaking…And neither will mine…I feel so helpless…My Dinky is being taken away from me and there's nothing I can do…Nothing at all…

The bubble floats in front of my eye face, separating into two bubbles, each with one eye, looking straight into one of mine. His eyes turn into all these different colored circles…I feel dizzy…He comes back together and my eyes follow, looking straight ahead for the first time in my life…I can't look away.

"A heartrending choice is yours to make, you must choose how your daughter's heart will break. Keep her in the dark how she came to be, and separation will break her heart you see. For the rest of her life that pain will stay, and there's no doubt you too will feel that way. Break her heart on your own with words true, and the blame will fall solely on you. But if that path you choose to take, easier on her this hardship you'll make. And if you accept that she was never your at all, it won't hurt when the cards finally fall."

I feel like something's missing all of a sudden…Like a place inside me just got cold…Like a little fire inside me went out…Maybe he's right…If Dinky doesn't love me anymore, then she won't get hurt…Why does it matter anyway? She's not mine, she never was. If we don't love each other anymore, then neither of us gets hurt…I don't have to see her get hurt anymore and I don't have to hurt anymore either.

I head home right away…I still can't figure out what's missing…why I feel so cold inside…When I get home, I walk straight to Dinky's room. She sees me and looks confused, a little scared…And I don't care anymore…It already feels like she's not even mine.

"Mama…Why are your eyes weird?" she asked, cocking her head in confusion. "And why are you all grey?"

I don't even answer her question, instead I just stare down at her. "Dinky, don't call me mama. I've never been your mama and I never will be," I say, perfectly clear. And I don't feel an ounce of regret for it…It's like I'm not even talking to a pony anymore. Like I'm talking to a potted plant or a brick wall.

"W-what?" she asked, looking like I just stabbed her in the heart.

"You heard me, you're not my daughter. You're adopted," I state simply, giving a smile. I have to make her hate me, she can't love me anymore. She starts crying, sobbing. Shouldn't I feel guilty? I wonder why I don't…Who cares? She's not my daughter anyway, she doesn't belong to me at all. I can't stand the sight of her now, that icy feeling is spreading, but now I'm starting to like it. I start feeling less detached and more angry, hateful… "Even if you lost that stupid horn and grew a pair of wings, you'd still be nothing to me, Dinky."

Dinky sobs and buries her head in my chest crying. "Mama…w-why?" she asks, voice breaking with every word. "Why are you saying stuff like that, mama?"

"Because you're not mine, you mean absolutely nothing to me. You never have been, never will be. In fact, I wish you'd have just died before I took you home from the orphanage," I say, pushing her away from me, she lands hard on the floor, I think she hit her head. I find myself laughing… "Why did I ever take in a little unicorn? You can't fly with me or anything, you're just useless without any wings! I don't love you Dinky, and if you're smart, you won't love me anymore either," I state simply, watching her lay on the floor and sob. Her colors start fading to grey…I think I'll go get me a muffin and wait for the adoption people to come pick her up, after all, she's not mine to worry about…

Not anymore.

You can lose anything, even somepony you thought of as a daughter, in the blink of an eye. And when that happens, it hurts both of you when that bond gets broken. It hurts worse than anything else can. So if anything can be taken away without warning, if the thing you thought was yours can stop being yours at a moments notice...Its easier just not to let that bond form in the first place. Not to care about something that can be taken away from you, not to let them care about you...That way when they're taken away, it doesn't hurt because you and they both know that they were never belonged to you to begin with...

The bubble floated over slowly to the headless form standing in the trees, which takes it in a lion's paw.

Discord puts the bubble on his neck and pops it, restoring his head to it's proper place, giving a cruel laugh. "There's nothing quite like a little disharmony to make my day, and my favorite type of disharmony has to be the kind I brew between ponies. The stronger the bond, the more lovely it is to hear it break," he said, putting his eagle claw to his ear and hearing the cries of a little filly whose mother no longer loves her, taking it in like he's listening to an opera. "Ah, music to my ears."

Discord chuckles, giving a smirk. "I really must than you, Miss Hooves. After all, now that I've had my warm up, I should be no problem dealing with a certain rainbow haired pegasus. After all, if a mother's loyalty to her daughter can break, then no loyalty is unbreakable with the right impossible choice," he said, giving a laugh and vanishing in a flash of light.

Butterflies Part 1: Welcome to the Big City

Written with Alexwarlorn

Hello, I'm Ditzy Doo. Or Derpy Hooves, I don't mind being called either. Huh? Do I find Derpy Hooves offensive? No, why would I? Both of my names mean I'm a little…clumsy, but I don't find Derpy any different than Ditzy. I don't mind being clumsy or that ponies think I am, why should I be?

Plus, the Doctor says he finds it kind of "whimsical". He has ever sense we met at the Summer Sun Celebration when Nightmare Moon escaped.

…I'll admit, I actually did consider changing my name after what Discord did…But my psychiatrist told me that'd be giving into the hate he forced into me…I'm still not sure…

How am I doing?…Well…I'm doing alright I guess…Wait, who are you guys? Oh, ok, just interviewers…Sorry, last time something like this happened was…was when…

Do you know what it's like to be afraid of losing the thing, the one, that means more to you than anypony in the entire world? That's what Discord did to me…He convinced me that Dinky, m-my little muffin…that they were going to take her away from me…He made me think there was nothing I could do that wouldn't hurt her…He made it seem like hurting her myself was the kindest thing I could do…Then made it so I didn't love her…that I didn't love anypony…that I HATED everypony for being mean to me, I even hated my own parents for the name they gave me…And I hated my little muffin for not being a perfect daughter, for anything I could find TOO hate her for…I yelled at my baby, hurt her, said she wasn't mine, that she'd never be mine, even when Discord turned her into a pegasus, that just made me hate her more, and I didn't feel one bit of remorse…I think I even enjoyed it…

Then the rainbow hit and it was like my entire world crumbled…All I could do was hug her, tell her I was sorry…We spent a lot of time doing that…I just couldn't believe I could be that cruel to my precious little baby…

Imagine not being able to feel guilt for a long time and then suddenly having it come on you all at once…That's what it was like for me…

Oh, thank you, filly. I needed a hug.

Huh? Are Dinky and Sparkler adopted? Sorry, I don't feel right talking about it with strangers…Just know I love them both and it hurts to know I've hurt either of my little muffins…Why'd you look sad for a minute? Oh next question?

Yes, I know that was Discord and not me! I've seen the psychiatrist ponies…But some of them…Some of them tried to take her from me for real…I'd never felt so scared in my entire life…Dinky had to go stay with Sparkler for a few weeks while we sorted it out…Thank Celestia the Doctor and Carrot Top were there to vouch for me, even though they still had a lot of their own problems they were dealing with.

"Now look here!" the Doctor said, glaring across the desk at the psychiatrist. I hadn't seen him that mad since…Oh wait, he told me not to talk about that…Just know when he gets mad its never a good thing…

"I don't care who you are, I shall not allow you to take this mare's daughter from her, understood?!" he stated, not taking his eyes off the psychiatrist for a second. Sometimes I forget just how scary he can be when he's really angry.

"I understand your anger, sir," stated the psychiatrist, he tried to stay calm, but I could tell he was shaking in his hooves. "But we have to think of the child-"

"Think of the child?" Carrot Top asked, looking madder than I'd ever seen her. The orange hair made her seem even more mad…I wish she'd let it grow out again, I think it looks so much better green… "That child has been with Derpy all her life! How is it thinking of her to take her away from the only family she's ever known?!"

"We can't be certain allowing a…challenged pony like Miss Doo to raise her isn't causing her harm. And even if she WAS perfectly fine, we can't be certain Discord hasn't damaged her."

That hurt…I normally don't let what other ponies say hurt me…But that was probably the second most painful thing anyone had ever said to me…I think the Doctor knew it too.

"Listen here, and listen good," he said, glaring straight across at the psychiatrist. He didn't raise his voice, he didn't yell…He sounded so calm. I think it was a lot scarier that way. "I've known Derpy for a very long time, I know her a lot better than you. You have my word; she's a wonderful mother, I've seen a lot of mothers, doctor, but I've seen very few who love their child as much as she does Dinky, or children that love their mothers as much. Nothing Discord did to her could change that, no matter what he forced her to do. I promise you that. And I promise you that if you do anything to hurt Derpy and Dinky without good reason, you will regret it."

Carrot Top stepped forwards just then too. "I'll vouch for her as well. Ditzy might be a little clumsy, she may not be the best houseguest, she may have trouble speaking sometimes, but she's a great mother. If you take Dinky from her, you're going to be making a huge mistake."

I don't know how much what they said helped, but they still testified on my behalf the entire way, even if the Doctor was still a bit afraid of going outside at the time. He said that the Princess paid him a visit and wasn't too happy he'd threatened to hurt the psychiatrist, I didn't even know they knew each other. He said that Princess Celestia was just being protective of one of her ponies, just like he was protective of me…I can understand that. That's how I am with Dinky and Sparkler.

Anyway, I'm sure having two ponies there to vouch for me really helped convince some of the doctors to look closer at my case…

Sparkler? She, er, couldn't give a lot of recent input. But she said what she could.

Didn't I have other friends? This is Ponyville, everypony knows everypony.

Berry would have said what she could but…the doctors hadn't declared her fit to testify yet.

I think Twilight Sparkle was helping out there and may have said something to the doctors about me, but I'm not sure.

They decided I wasn't a threat to Dinky and that she's better off with me as her mother. It took awhile, but the Doctor and Carrot Top stuck by me, even while they had their own problems to deal with, but the Doctor didn't threaten the psychiatrist again. I've never been so grateful to have those two as my friends in my life. I baked them both muffins to thank them, but they both said they were just doing the right thing.

It still didn't make me stop hurting though…me and Dinky still cried ourselves to sleep every night…I had awful nightmares…I dreamt that Discord had turned Dinky into a real muffin and told me to keep circling his palace with her on my back and he'd turn her back…But he never did…And the birds, they…they just kept trying to take her from me…And I couldn't do a thing to stop them but keep moving…

Then I wake up and hug Dinky close to me, whispering that I'll never let anyone take her away from me ever again…

Dinky told me that she's been having nightmares too…That I abandoned her somewhere and told her she wasn't mine…Only those were more memories than nightmares, I guess…She has the muffin nightmare too, she's still a little afraid of birds…I can't help wondering if that's what Discord had in store for us next…

Sparkler even moved back to Ponyville to be close to us, for both her sake and ours. Discord turned her into an amethyst statue and made her dance…I almost went to Canterlot to take a sledgehammer to Discord's statue when I found that out he'd hurt BOTH my muffins…

Anyway, Sparkler went to the Sisterhooves Social with Dinky, they didn't win but it made Dinky so happy to spend time with her sister. Having her here has helped us both and her too…but not enough…

But then something weird happened, something I still can't explain really…

"Mama!" called Dinky while I made us dinner in the other room. "Miss Applejack is here! She wants to see you!"

Confused, I walked to the door. I knew Applejack, but we weren't really close friends or anything like that. We talked sometimes, but that was it.

"Applejack, mellow…What are blue doing there?" I ask, looking her over, my speech impediment making itself known I think, it's hard to tell. I know what I mean, but sometimes things just come out all wrong and I have trouble telling except by how other ponies react. Oh, you noticed?

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Yeah, it's been a headache editing the inter-OW!)

(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn): Please continue.)

I noticed Applejack was breathing heavy, it looked like she'd been running all over the place. I found out later that she'd visited Doctor Whooves and Carrot Top too that same day. Neither of them really knew how she did what she did next either.

"Howdy, Ditzy, Dinky," she said, panting slightly. "Ah just have somethin' Ah need to tell yah real quick," Applejack said, looking me in the eyes, then to Dinky. Her eyes seemed…different, I don't know how else to describe it, except maybe she looked…smarter…but that isn't right either. More knowing I guess is a better way to put it.

"You two are the picture of a mama and her young 'un. Ah've never seen a ma and her filly as closely bonded as you two! And Ah can tell ya right now that ain't an exaggeration on ma part! You two are wonderful for each other! And Ah KNOW what you two share is stronger than anything Discord could have done to ya. Ah gotta go, got some other ponies Ah gotta talk to before Celestia's sun sets."

And she was out of the house as quick as she came before I had a chance to even offer her a muffin. Dinky and me just looked at each other.

I wonder how she knew what Discord had done to us…The only ones I'd told were the Doctor, Carrot Top, and the psychiatrists. All of them swore they'd not told anypony else about it. In fact, the Doctor and Carrot Top said she'd visited them too, same way she had me…But what she said made me feel better, Dinky too…

We already knew what she said? From what Discord made me do to the doctors trying to take Dinky away, I wasn't sure anymore.

I know the doctors were telling me a lot of what she said, but just hearing it from her:

It was like she was the oven spray that cleaned the gunk off the used muffin tray and showed the clean shinny surface underneath.

Fluttershy visited our muffin stand…I bumped my head so I kinda forgot what happened next, but I know she visited that part of town I'm told to keep Dinky away from.

The next day, a flock of yellow and pink birds with blue eyes flew into Ponyville. My nightmares flashed through my mind. They came for my muffin.

The birds sang and she got this funny look in her eyes, like one of those swirl lollypops from Sugarcube Corner. Kinda like Discord's eyes when he brainwashed me. She began walking out of the house with a smile on her face talking about having wings and her father. I picked her up and told her the birds were bad and put her down. She just began to trot again so I tied her to the spot. I know it wasn't nice, but I just couldn't let them take my baby away from me again! She walked to the edge of the rope and kept walking against our kitchen floor like she was a wind-up toy.

I took a mop and made the birds go away. They came back. So I made them go away again. They still came back. So I just made them go away again. I think I scared them. Good.

As fog rolled into Ponyville, stallions and mares went in, and colts and fillies came out. The fog rolled into our house, so I kept Dinky on the kitchen table as she kept trying to go into the fog. I wouldn't let anypony take her ever again.

I saw the Doctor outside as a colt saying I should come outside and play with him, followed by Carrot Top as a filly.

And they both looked so -happy!-

Berry said I should come into the fog because it would make everything better. I could just play with Dinky all day and never have to worry about being judged for being different ever again.

I hugged Dinky tighter as I sat on our kitchen table above the fog as it pushed under our doors and through our windows.

Then the fog had a voice, it had a face, it had a name.

Fluttershy?

Protect muffin? Protect everyone's muffin? Have the power? Just accept her kiss? And muffin would always be protected. Be her knight. Not a bad thing? How could protecting foals be a bad thing?

All the birds and fog went away of their own choice. Fluttershy said when I was ready, just open the door.

Then Sparkler came, a little filly now, just outside, I heard her voice.

"Please? Ditzy? Dinky? Won't you please come out? I don't care if it's to be our Knight, mama, or sister. Just please be with us?"

I felt my heart crack at hearing her. I wanted so badly to be with her.

Sparkler never left. I heard the other foals wanting to play with her, but she stayed just outside. It couldn't be paradise without me there to enjoy it with her.

I trotted to and from the door several times. My heart spinning.

There was no pony there to tell me what to do. I wanted to be with her, I wanted to protect my muffin, protect both my muffins, and all I needed to do, was go outside and go into the fog.

But I was selfish. I'd spent most of my life struggling with the fog inside me, I didn't want there to be -more- fog! Fog was awful. It wouldn't let you see danger, it wouldn't let you see beauty, all you could ever see in fog was lights and shadows. And for all I knew, it could be another trick by someone like Discord, pretending to just be a "friend" and really it was all a trap…

Am I mad? No, I'm not….Well, maybe I am…She tried to take Dinky away…When that happened, when she reminded me of my nightmares, when she tried to use how much I loved Dinky to use me, it reminded me of what Discord did to me… I wanted to hurt her.

I wanted to hurt her so bad I baked some rock filled muffins and sat myself near the path from her house to Ponyville. I was ready to hit her in the head the moment she trotted by.

Then Sparkler 'accidentally' sold them to Spike and he said they were the best he had ever eaten from me. Thank Celestia.

Sparkler told me not to hate 'Princess Gaia', that she was just confused and hurt.

Fluttershy told me that she was sorry, that she knows she'd hurt me by doing what she did. She said she was okay if I didn't forgive her. I could tell she really meant it. So yes, I'm mad at what she did, I'll probably be mad for long time…but I forgive her, holding a grudge won't do anypony any good…And after hating everypony when Discord controlled me, I don't want to really hate anypony ever again…

Still, even after all that I could never have expected what happened after that…

It was after dark, Dinky was fast asleep in her bed. For the first time in weeks, she was able to get to sleep without me there. I think whatever Fluttershy showed her helped her get over the nightmares…That's another reason I forgive her.

I heard a knock on my door, I wasn't expecting company, especially not that late. I REALLY didn't expect who was there.

"Art thou the mare named Ditzy Doo, otherwise known as Derpy Hooves?" asked THE Princess Luna, standing at MY door, one of her bat ponies on each side.

All I could do was look up at her in shock, I think my eyes might have gone straight. Princess Luna was at my door! I mean sure, this wasn't the first time I'd met her...well, technically it was, but this was the first time she'd come to see me!

"We asked if thy name is Ditzy Doo," Luna said, looking me in the eyes. It was like I was looking into the night sky.

"Um…R-rest, by game quiz Ditzy Doo," I reply, then notice her Night Guards giving me a weird look. "Oh! I gave this beach thing, sometimes my birds come pout wrong!"

Luna gave a nod. "Yes, our sister has told us of that fact. We actually find it rather interesting, it makes thou unique, and a world can never have too many unique ponies…We have something very important we wish to discuss with thee, may we come in?"

I almost faint, but keep my hooves on the ground. "Y-yes, Princess Woona!"

We sit down at the kitchen table, though she stayed standing. I guess my chairs were too small for an Alicorn…

"Now, Ditzy Doo, what we have to say concerns thy youngest daughter, Dinky," said Luna, as she sipped her cup of coffee.

My heart stopped. "Blur knot baking her away, are two?!" I ask, feeling my blood run cold. She gives a small chuckle. "What's so money?"

"Ditzy Doo, why ever would we take away thy daughter?" she asked, looking down at me. "Thou art a wonderful parent, one of the best we have ever seen, and we have seen many. Our sister agrees fully, she has seen even more."

I almost faint. The Princesses thought I was a good mother? "Blue mean that?"

Luna nodded, seriously. "Yes, tis why we art here. We have decided such dedication to one's child and such strength of will in resisting Princess Gaia's temptations should be rewarded."

She walks up to me and puts a medal around my neck, a gold medal! "Ditzy Doo, for thy strength of will and dedication to motherhood, we christen thee Greatest Mother and Strongest Willed Pony In Equestria."

I think I fainted, because the next thing I remember is waking up in my bed, next to Dinky. I'd had good dreams for the first time since the day of chaos. At first I thought it was just a dream…Until Dinky pointed to something stuck to the back of my head. I guess it must have been on my pillow until I rolled over in my sleep.

'Dear Ditzy Doo;

You are hereby invited to Canterlot for a celebration in your honor at the date and time listed below this message, in which you shall be publicly recognized for your dedication and strength of heart. We look forwards to seeing you and Dinky there. You are free to bring guests if you so desire.

Her Nightjesty of Dreams and Nightmares Princess Luna Nyx Selena Equestria.

Dinky and I walked up to the Doctor's blue shed later. My head was still spinning. Of course I was excited, its just I'd never had anything like this happen to me before. The only ponies I'd ever heard be invited to Canterlot for a celebration in their honor were Twilight Sparkle and her friends, and they saved the world, so I was really nervous…

From the sound of machinery cooling down, the Doctor must've just come back from somewhere. He seemed a bit angry when he came out.

"Pony feathers, now just what am I supposed to do with several tons of-Oh, hello there Derpy, Dinky, I didn't see you there," he said as he noticed us.

"Mellow Doctor, its wood to see you too," I reply, looking him over and noticing something.

"Why are you covered in ice cream?" asked Dinky, before I could even think to ask.

Well "covered" wasn't exactly right, but he did look like he'd been rolling in it.

"Oh yes, that. Well you see, while I was under Princess Gaia's spell, I seem to have gone to the Planet Of Ice-Cream and filled up half the TARDIS' cargo holds. Its strange really, I have trouble making her cooperate as an adult, but I had no problem operating her as a little colt, not to mention that I was a colt of this regeneration instead of…Anyway I tried taking it back, but apparently they don't want to risk contaminating one area of the planet with ice cream already mined. Now I'm stuck with several tons of ice-cream I have absolutely no idea what to do with."

I felt Dinky nudge my leg lightly. "Mama?"

I look down into the big, cute little eyes of my muffin. "Yes, Dinky?"

"Can I have some ice-cream?"

While Dinky had a big bowl of ice-cream, I showed the letter and medal to the Doctor. "Well congratulations Derpy, I said you were an excellent mother, didn't I?"

I couldn't help blushing a little bit. "Fall I bid was might some birds…"

"Yes, but the same birds that reduced me to a little colt without much effort at all, and you know that is no small feat," he replied, giving me a smile. "It's amazing thing, in all my travels I don't think I've seen anything quite as fearsome as a mother protecting her young! Quite amazing really."

That made me think. Sure, Applejack helped me a good bit, but hearing it put like that from a close friend, it made me feel even better.

"So fill you come?"

"Of course, Derpy, assuming I can find something to do with all this ice cream in time," the Doctor replied, looking a little confused. "Seriously now, what was I thinking? I suppose I should be thankful I reverted before I filled all the cargo holds…"

"Are you mad?"

"Well I'm still rather miffed about the whole thing, but I suppose its not completely her fault. Giving mortal beings god-like power never quite works out, they have this nasty habit of going insane with it. Plus I'm sure Celestia and Luna will have a stern talk to her about it if Celestia's reaction to me threatening a psychiatrist is anything to go by. And I will say, that was probably the most enjoyable invasion I've ever been caught up in…But you know, its interesting, despite all the trouble this caused, it reminded me of something Discord had made me forget."

"And blots that?" I asked, a little confused. What could finding himself having to deal with several tons of ice-cream (despite what Pinkie Pie would probably say, that's probably not as fun as it seems) remind him of?

"It's rather simple, really. Being a little one again reminded me of just what it was like to enjoy being out and about, seeing amazing things, going on adventures. I forgot how much I missed it!"

"Anyway, I'll be there if I can, I'm pretty sure there's a garden party I've been to twice before, or will have been to, that night too, maybe I should go to it again…"

As I approached Carrot Top's house, I saw something I hadn't seen in a long time, her happily working in her garden. She was smiling before, but it was that kind of fake smile most of Ponyville was wearing for weeks. And she wasn't looking at her garden tools like they were blood-soaked weapons anymore.

"Mama, can I play with Orange Top while you and Miss Carrot Top talk?" asked Dinky, looking up at me pleadingly.

I give her a smile. "If Carrot Top says so."

"Thanks mama!" she shouted, giving me a nuzzle and running up to Carrot Top.

"Miss Carrot Top, can I play with Orange Top?"

I see Carrot Top look up from her gardening, giving my little muffin a smile. "Of course Dinky, she's feeling better now. She's right inside."

"Thank you!" Dinky shouted, running inside to play with Carrot Top's baby sister as I approached my old friend.

"Marshmallow Carrot Top," I say as I look her over. She just looks so much happier than she did before.

"Hello, Ditzy, how are you today?"

"Well I'm alright, bow are you?" I ask, I don't want to be rude but… "Blue teem a lot happier…"

She gives a smile and a nod. "Yes, I do believe I am. Going a day without any fears or pains let me remember the things that made me happy," she replied, making me feel a little uncomfortable. "I keep hearing at the coffee shop how Princess Gaia was going to ruin everything if she hadn't been stopped, and…I'm sorry for trying to lure you into the fog, but I'm just grateful that I can enjoy gardening again. And it was pretty fun playing with Orange Top as a filly, even if we both had to wash a rainbow of hair dye out of our mane."

I nod, I suppose that makes sense. "Yeah, I mess…Carrot Top, book at this…" I say and hand her the invitation.

"My word, what a surprise! I mean, I meant what I said to the psychiatrist, but I had no idea Princess Luna would reward you for it!" she exclaimed, making me blush again. "I'll certainly be there, congratulations Ditzy."

"Bank you…" I reply, circling my hoof in the freshly tended ground a little nervously. "Um…Carrot Top…Could I marrow a press for the celebration?"

Carrot Top shook her head, looking a little sad. "I need to get a new one myself if I'm going to fit in at the celebration myself, all mine were green and I threw them out when I couldn't stand the color after the Day of Discord…But I know just the place where you can get one. Rarity's boutique, she's a very reasonable mare, and even if I don't agree with her taste in hair color, she's still got an eye for fashion, and reasonable prices."

"Um, Swiss Rarity?" I ask, walking through the door of Carousel Boutique, somewhere I've never been before. I know Rarity, like I said, everypony knows everypony, but we haven't really been friends or anything.

She was running around, working on about five dresses at once when she noticed me. "Welcome to the Carousel Boutique," she said, I don't think she was paying much attention to me, just looking at the dress she was working on. "I don't have much time to talk, I'm very busy, what is it you need?"

"Um…I seed a press to visit Canterlot," I replied, thankful nearly all of Ponyville knew about my…problem.

She stopped instantly. "Did you say visit Canterlot?" she asked, looking at me in surprise.

"Um, yeah…" I handed her the invitation.

"You're being honored by Princess Luna?!" Rarity asked, I just nod. It was a few minutes before she spoke again, she just stood there looking kind of shocked with her mouth wide open.

"Um…if pow isn't a wood time, I can…"

She snapped out of it before I could finish. "No! I would never allow a pony to attend such an event without a proper dress. Nopony should ever be honored by royalty in their street clothes!…Or with no clothes, as the case may be. Especially not when that pony is being rewarded for something as great as their status as a mother! Come over here and we'll measure you for the dress!"

She got me up on this big platform and started measuring me all over. But I felt like something was strange, she seemed a little too eager to help me. "Um, Rarity, is every being alright?"

"Yes, everything's fine!" she exclaimed, sizing my shoulder with a tape measure. "How's Dinky doing, by the way?"

"She's…fine, doing a lot better…No offense, but you're acting kind of money," I reply, looking over at her.

"Oh, nothing, I'm just really stressed out is all! Lots of work to do, not much time to do it! Now look straight ahead so I can measure your neck…er, sorry I mean with your head, not your eyes."

Rarity said my dress wouldn't be ready until after the Gaia Festival, so I just went home and waited.

Did I go to the Festival? Well I wasn't going to, except Sparkler told me it'd be really fun for Dinky. I didn't have as much fun as most ponies did I guess…But it was pretty cool to see the Wonderbolts perform, I usually can't get tickets to any of their shows and after hearing Rainbow Dash talk about them so much when we have weather team duty together, I really wanted to.

Dinky had a lot of fun, so did Sparkler, so I guess it was a good day…

I'll admit, I was still mad Fluttershy got a festival for what she did. Even if I forgave her, she still hurt me again…But I was scared when somepony hit her in the head with that rock…it made me think of what I almost did before if Sparkler hadn't stopped me.

That zebra Zecora spent nearly the whole day with Fluttershy from what I saw. . . I saw a pony wearing a party mask come up behind Fluttershy with a ribbon covered knife in their mouth. Zecora chose that exact moment to pick a flower for her 'Princess' and rear-kicked the stallion in the mouth, sending him backwards and his knife into a pie on the Apple's concession stand. The two trotted on with Zecora giving a careful glance behind her.

Everypony knows how she began singing in two voices. Still wish I knew how she did that. But she was saying that she had learned her lesson and was fine knowing some ponies still hated her, she accepted that. And I looked down to find myself clapping with my hooves too.

Zecora stayed along side her after everyone stopped clapping and she stepped down. I gave Sparkler the responsibility of the muffin stand and flew after her, keeping to the air. I think the zebra saw me even before Fluttershy did because she was reaching for a pouch of something.

I decided to land in front and walk towards her with my wings out, showing I didn't have anything hidden under them. Zecora seemed to calm down a little at that. "Um…Fluttershy, are you alright?" I ask, even if I was mad at her, seeing someone hit her in the head with a rock still had me worried.

She looked up at me. I could see a knot already starting to rise where the rock had hit. "Oh…Yes, I'm fine…" she said, but I could see her struggling not to look like she was hurt.

"…Could I bit you some ice?" I felt so guilty that I'd thought to do the same thing to her somepony else had. I guess it's a different thing to want to do something and to see it done by someone else.

"No, it's quite alright," she replied, giving me a small smile. "But thank you for the concern…" I saw her lower her head, looking guilty again. "I understand why somepony did this to me, I don't blame them. Like I said, ponies have the right to judge me however they choose, I know I did good and bad, I deserved to be judged the same way."

I didn't know how to respond to that really…How could I?

"Mama!"

I turned and saw Dinky on top of a slide set up for the foals, waving. "Watch me mama!" she called, sliding down with an excited cry.

I couldn't help but smile. It was good to see my little muffin so happy.

"…You were her dream…" I hear Fluttershy say.

I turn to look at her with a blink. "What do blue beam?"

"…I saw the dreams of all of my foals while I was Princess Gaia," Fluttershy said, looking me in the eye. "In hers, you and Sparkler were just there as her loving family, she didn't want your eyes straight, she didn't want you to be able to talk…normal, and she didn't want you to be a unicorn like her and Sparkler…She just wanted you to be there."

I give a gasp. I thought I knew that but…with everything that's happened I just wasn't sure…I didn't know. "Really?"

Fluttershy gave me a nod. "My spell didn't give them anything they didn't want in their heart…The only things she added were her father and wings for herself."

Wings for herself? I could understand her wanting a father, I can't think of any foal that wouldn't, but why wings? Why would she-

"Why did I ever take in a little unicorn? You can't fly with me or anything, you're just useless without any wings!"

That's why…What I…What Discord made me say…

"Ditzy, I'm still sorry for what I put you through," Fluttershy said, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Even if good came out of it, forcing my vision of the world on everypony was wrong. I know I asked you but it still wasn't right…I'm sorry I let Sparkler just sit there begging you and Dinky to come out…I think a part of me was angry that you didn't want to come out…That's why I'm telling you this…I just want to make it up to anypony I hurt with what I did."

I thought hard about what she said. How my little muffin must still feel. Even if her nightmares had stopped, when her paradise was like that, there was still something I really needed to do…

"Banks, Fluttershy…I think blue did kelp be…"

"Mama, I think I ate too much ice-cream," said Dinky as I tucked her into bed that night, having carried her home from the festival on my back.

I get her a little of that medicine for an upset stomach and once she felt a little better, I set down on her bed beside her. I still sleep with her, just to make sure she's okay. We sleep so much better knowing we're right beside each other. "Dinky…Do you seal wish you were a pegasus?"

She looks at me a little nervous. She tries to hide it, but mothers can tell. "Well I…"

"Dinky, don't fly to momma, bell momma the truth," I say simply, making it as clear as possible.

Dinky nodded lightly, looking up at me. "…Yeah…I guess I do, momma…"

"Why? Is it because I bold you I didn't love you because blue weren't sun?" I ask, slowly rubbing her little head with my hoof as soothingly as I can. "Sell the truth."

Dinky shook her head. "No…It's not that anymore…" she said, looking up at me, I can tell in her little eyes she's lying so she doesn't hurt me.

"Well I do love you, you're my little muffin and you always will be," I say, giving her a little nuzzle and hugging her. "But if blitz not that, then why do you want to be a pegasus?" I ask, now even more confused than before.

"…Because I can't fly with you, momma…" Dinky said, her little eyes tearing up as she looked up at me. "You always have to stay on the ground when I'm with you…Some mean pegasus at school told me I was hurting you by keeping you on the ground…I don't like to hurt you…" she said, beginning to cry.

I give a small gasp…I told Cheerilee about that later. I knew what I'd said while "Discorded" didn't help matters any. "No, blur hot hurting me, Dinky, I promise," I said, hugging her close and letting her cry into my mane. "And you pan fly with me if you taunt to."

My little muffin looks up at me, tears still clinging to her eyes. "How momma?"

"I'll toe you in the morning," I say and kiss her on the forehead lightly. "I love blue just the say you are, my Muffin."

"I love you too, momma," she said, before wrapping her hooves around my neck. "Just the way you are…Momma…can I ask you something else?"

"Yes, Dinky?"

"…Can you tell me about my papa?"

What did I tell her? I'm sorry, that doesn't feel right to tell you…Just know there were no secrets, no lies. I wanted her to know the truth. I didn't want my muffin in the dark any more.

"Goodnight, Dinky…" I said, laying down beside her after all was said and done, after all the tears were shed.

"Night, momma…Tomorrow we'll go flying, promise?"

"I promise…"

"Faster momma! Faster!"

"Alright, pang on, muffin!"

I'm not the best flyer. I'm not the most coordinated. But it's strange, when I flew with my little muffin in one of those foal carrying harnesses I borrowed from the Cakes, I felt like I didn't have one little bit of trouble flying at all…

I think I learned something from all this…Something that I'm glad to know. When you're in a world where the thing, or pony, you love the most can be taken away at any moment…You fight to keep them by your side no matter what. You love them, you cherish them, and you keep them safe with everything you have. But most importantly, you make sure they're happy and know you love them…

I'm free.

Huh? What's that? You want to know about the trip to Canterlot? Well I guess I could tell you…

Preparations and Interventions

Edited by Alexwarlorn

So I guess you’re here to hear about my time in Canterlot, right? Oh, yes, I guess I am speaking a little clearer, glad you noticed! Before I could only speak normal when I was rhyming, weird huh? What else is weird is somepony dropped a coupon for free diction classes in my mail box a little bit ago with a note making sure I knew they really wanted to help instead of mocking me. I think that was around the time I saw Pinkie running all over the place in a tizzy and the Doctor said someone had ‘borrowed’ his TARDIS without asking. It didn’t help that much, but I can at least get out complete sentences sometimes without my…problem showing up, especially when I concentrate. I wonder who was nice enough to do that. I asked Rarity, but she didn’t do it…I wonder who-Pinkie Pie?!

“Hi there Ditzy!”

W-where’d you come from?!

“Through the door, silly! Oh good, your eyes are still looking in different directions!“

Huh? Of course my eyes are still looking in different directions, why wouldn’t they be?

“And your voice is back to normal! Good, I was afraid you might have been censored!”

My voice is back to normal? When was it different? And what about censoring?

“Oh, don’t worry, that never happened! Well it did, but not here, so you don’t have to worry about it! Well, I‘ve got to go! See yah later!”

Wait! What never happened? What did you mean by…And there she goes…

What was that all about? Pinkie has been acting less crazy recently but she’s still really strange sometimes. The Doctor says she’s some kind of ‘temporal anomaly’, for some reason his timey whimey detector always goes off if she’s nearby. He says she’s like somepony displaced in time or from a time that shouldn‘t even exist or something like that. He says the weird thing is she’s not unraveling the universe just by existing if that’s the case, and he can’t really explain why. And when the Doctor can’t explain something, that means something, trust me.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): How DID you meet the Doctor, anyway?)

Oh, well we ran into each other on the day of the Summer Sun Celebration and…I don’t think he’d like me to say…

(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): We’re well aware of who the Doctor is, Ditzy.)

Oh! Well, you see he’d just gotten to Equestria and I was the first pony he met. I actually thought he was kind of crazy at first, since I didn’t know who he really was. He wanted me to be his assistant while he was there, and I agreed, though I agreed mainly to keep him out of trouble. Then we saw Nightmare Moon appear at the Celebration, but we kind of got sidetracked by this cult that worshiped her and were trying to help her succeed. Long story short, I helped the Doctor stop them when I figured out what they were trying to do would hurt Dinky…I can be scary when my Muffins are in danger. Anyway, we stopped them, got them arrested, and saved the day!

Then the Doctor left in the TARDIS and we didn’t see each other again until the Winter Wrap Up when he came back and I got him involved in the Winter Wrap Up. Then we tried going north in the TARDIS so I could do my job but we went the wrong way and ended up stopping an alien to save the world. After that, I became his companion.

So anyway, I guess my diction is a little better now, but I still have problems, especially when I’m really nervous. I’m surprised I was able to keep speaking straight after I accidentally destroyed City Hall after I got back from Canterlot…It wasn’t my fault, really! They told me I was supposed to make it rain near City Hall, I didn’t know they’d given me a thunder cloud instead of a rain cloud! And I think it already needed some repairs anyway, I might not be the lightest pony around but my plot isn’t big enough to smash through the floor! Ok, there WAS that assembly line but that was different and it NEEDED destroyed anyway!

And I’m not an airhead like that Gabby Gums article made me out to be. It said that I had bubbles as my Cutie Mark because I’m an airhead! That was so mean! It was even worse because it was around that time social services tried to take Dinky from me! They did apologize and I know they never really meant to hurt anypony, gossip does have a way of getting out of hoof sometimes. I’m just glad they never said anything about her or Sparkler, there’s no telling how I’d have reacted then.

I may have been named best mommy, but I’m not the best pony, I’m not perfect. Dinky has been bullied for so long, because she’s a unicorn with a “retarded” pegasus as her mother. Believe it or not, some ponies make fun of her for just having a Pegasus for a mother when she’s a unicorn. But for most of them, it‘s that they think I‘m retarded and make fun of her for it. I home school Dinky now, I pulled her out of school not long after the incident with Diamond Tiara. When she told me Diamond Tiara pushed her down to take the newspaper she was reading, then just left it on the ground, I thought she meant Diamond had been the pony who’d been picking on her on that time. I was so mad I yelled at Diamond until she cried!

It was only later I found out that, while Diamond Tiara did bully the foals in her class a lot, the foals that bullied Dinky don’t even go to Miss Cheerilee’s school, they were just part of a rollerblade gang that broke up last year. I sent Diamond an apology muffin and letter, but it turned out that it didn‘t get to them until she‘d already disappeared…I hope she’s alright, but I can’t imagine how poor Mr. Tiara is feeling right now, it must be horrible not to have any idea where your daughter is…

Anyway, as I was saying, my Cutie Mark has nothing to do with me being an airhead! I’m just a little clumsy…

(Interviewer’s Notes (Earth Pony): How did you get your Cutie Mark, Derpy?)

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Uh, I don’t know if that’s a good idea)

Oh, it’s not problem! When I was a little filly, my parents wanted to teach me to fly. My dad was always really nice to me, but my mom was really cold…I think she didn’t like that my eyes were weird and I had a speech problem. One day she was teaching me how to fly, she wanted me to make it over a big river…on my first try. I was scared, so she gave me a big good luck charm around my neck and a push to get me past that, only I didn’t know how to fly yet, so I fell in.

I had to hold my breath for a long time, I was so scared. But I didn’t want to give up, I had so much more I wanted to do! I didn’t want mom to be disappointed in me! So whenever I started running out of air, I used bubbles that caught in my wing feathers to breathe, it was something I’d seen on one of those nature shows. Just when I thought I’d run out of those, I finally managed to break the surface and grab a tree limb and got back to shore. And there it was on my flank, the bubbles I used to keep myself alive. So I guess you could say my bubbles are how I do my best to never give up…I suppose that’s why Discord tried to make me do that, huh?

Huh? No, why would my mom have tried to get rid of me on purpose? She may have not been the nicest mother, but no way she would do that! Though the next time I saw her, a little before I had Dinky, she didn’t really pay that much attention to me. Dad was happy to see I was alive, but mom hardly said a word to me. In fact, she looked like she‘d seen a ghost, she almost fainted when she opened the door and saw me…

Anyway, after I crawled my way out of the river, some nice unicorn ponies found me and took me in. I didn’t know my parents’ last names or our address, so we couldn’t find them and they became my foster parents, then my adopted ones…My adopted father always called me Ditzy, cause I was always a bit…well, ditzy, and their last name was Doo, so that‘s were Ditzy Doo comes from. My biological parents named me Derpy, I didn‘t find out until I found them that their last name was Hooves, but officially my last name is Doo, and so is Dinky‘s. I use both names because both families are a part of who I am and I love them both. It just seems right I should use both names. Anyway, after that, I went to school in Cloudsdale, since that was the best school for pegasi in Equestria.

Oh, now you want to hear about Canterlot?

Rarity had really outdid herself on the dress, but then again, Rarity’s passion is fashion, so I guess that makes sense. Unfortunately, she refused to make muffins part of the design, but what she came up with was perfect for me. It was a dark grey with golden trim, some yellow were my wings were, and it had bubbles, lots of bubbles. They were all over the bottom of the dress, with some “floating” up stopping near the top of my flank. If you looked close. Around my front shoulders had clusters of crystals in the shape of bubbles as the shoulder pads too. There was also a pair of gold shoes for my front legs, not normal horseshoes but the fancy ones that cover your whole hoof. I’ve never worn then before, they were so beautiful, and had a bubble symbol on each one. There was a matching necklace too, with a bigger bubble crystal that hung down, and mane accessories with the same crystals.

“Wow, Rarity! This is so blue!” I exclaimed, looking myself over in the mirror. I looked so…different! Like I was a completely different pony! “I mean cool.” Part of the lessons on my diction were to catch and correct yourself when you said the wrong thing, that way you make a habit of correcting it before you actually say it. That’s what the teacher said anyway.

Rarity gave me a smile and put the necklace around my neck. “I’m glad you’re pleased darling, it does look fabulous on you, the yellows and golds go wonderfully with your mane and eye color,” she said, making me blush a little bit. “Now, about your daughters’ dresses.”

“Huh?” I turn to look at her, not sure what she meant. “What presses? I mean dresses?”

“Why Ditzy, you simply cannot expect Dinky and Sparkler to go naked in Canterlot, it’s not proper.”

“Naked? But ponies don’t usually bear clothes,” I reply, raising an eyebrow.

“In Ponyville,” Rarity replied. “In Canterlot, wearing clothes is a must, at least in the city proper as it were. Even just a jacket will do, but you’ll be accepting an award! Everything must be perfect!”

“But I don’t have a tot of funny…” I say, swinging my leg nervously. Not only does my speech impediment get worse when I’m nervous, my focus on keeping it in check tends to not work as well as it should.

“No need to worry about a thing, dear,” the white unicorn reply, putting a hoof on my shoulder and giving me a sympathetic smile. “No charge.”

I think my heart skipped a beat. “But I couldn’t!”

Rarity chuckled. “Darling, think about it for a second. You’re going to be awarded by Princess Luna herself, wearing one of my dresses. Three dresses are well worth the publicity it’ll bring me. Don’t worry.”

I guess that made sense, but just the way she’s acting…I can’t help but feel there’s something weird going on. Then again, she is the Element of Generosity, so it does make sense she‘d be generous. What? You’re surprised I know that? Who do you think that Nightmare Moon cult was trying to stop? And I think a lot more ponies in Ponyville know they’re the ones who saved Equestria than is let on, but those six…they’re just so humble about it. They don’t rub it in that they saved us all, they don’t exploit it, they hardly ever even mention it to anypony…They seem to just want to live normal lives like the rest of us, so we let them.

I brought Sparkler and Dinky in later that day to get fitted for their dressed, since Rarity wasn’t that busy now. Dinky has been hanging out with a colt named Pipsqueak a lot recently, they’re really good friends now. That makes me happy I suppose, it’s wonderful to see my little muffin having fun with friends. There’s another filly with them too, Dinky said her name is Moonlight. Something about that filly…I don’t know what it is, but she seems really familiar for some reason, especially her eyes.

Anyway, they like to play pirates all the time, so Dinky kept wanting something that looked more like a swim suit than a dress, but Rarity wouldn’t budge on it. But she did work the pirate motif into it a little bit. Dinky’s dress was modeled like mine, only the bubbles on the bottom were replaced with ocean waves and she got a gold headband too. Her necklace had a little treasure chest in it, which I thought looked so cute! It looked a lot like mine, but we are mother and daughter after all.

Sparkler…I’ll admit, Sparkler and I didn’t get along at first. She’s always been really serious, and she thought I was too silly sometimes. I think it embarrassed her when she was younger. Then she came with me on Take Your Daughter To Work Day and saw how hard I worked.

Sparkler panted, hauling two small saddle bags full of mail, proportionally the same weight I carried for a filly her size, about as old as Dinky is now. “How blue doing, Sparkler?” I ask, looking down to her. We’d only gone about a block. I hadn’t let her out of my sight the whole time. “You bed delivering the mail was breezy,” I said, wanting her to see for herself. I don’t punish my muffins very much, or that badly, but I felt like Sparkler needed to see how hard my job was.

“No fair! You can fly!” she exclaimed, never liking to be proven wrong.

“Oh really?” I ask, and land next to her, folding my wings up. “Fine, bet’s talk.”

And so I did. I walked the entire mail run, even if it was a longer distance than if I flew. Sparkler was determined to keep up with me, but she was really surprised I knew every address by memory, even from the ground.

At the end, she collapsed panting and I had to carry her home. “Momma…” she muttered. “How did you know how to do that on foot?”

I give a small smile. “Because I‘ve broken a bing before, but splat didn‘t top be,” I reply, a little tired, especially in the hooves, but it was a good tired. “I blurred the route while I peeled.”

I heard her gasp. “B-but, why would you do that, momma?”

“Because I need the money,” I reply. I stop and reach back to nuzzle her. “Because I have a little muffin who needs to sweet.”

She looked surprised. “…Momma…why did you walk all the way?”

“Because, muffin, you were bright, it wasn‘t right for me blue fly while you bad to walk. I‘d never take my muffin do something I wouldn‘t do myself.”

After that, we got along a lot better. I think she saw just how much I really cared about her…I really meant what I said though, I do work so hard for my muffins. That’s what drives me to be so good at my job.

When she grew up, Sparkler moved away, but came back for holidays, like the Winter Wrap Up. She’s really good with animals, so she was team leader for that group. Fluttershy was naturally Mayor Mare’s first choice, but she was too shy to take a leadership position. Sparkler finally moved back permanently not that long ago, during that whole mess with social services. I’d never seen her so sad as when she heard what might have happened to Dinky. She loves Dinky, always has, the idea of losing her baby sister just broke her heart. She didn’t get mad, though, she doesn’t get mad that often, I mean not really angry. But she did everything she could to help me keep Dinky, and I’m grateful.

Sparkler’s dress was pretty simple over all. It was a nice yellow that went well with the flower she liked to wear in her hair at parties, with purple highlights for the patterns, the shade looked really nice with her mane. Rarity wanted to add diamonds to go with her Cutie Mark, but Sparkler said she didn’t want anything fancy. Still, Rarity was persistent.

“Now let’s see,” Rarity said, circling Sparkler. I could tell Sparkler was bored stiff modeling the dress. “It’s just too simple, darling. I mean not that simple doesn’t work, but it looks too…plain compared to the others.

“Maybe they look too fancy compared to it,” I heard Sparkler mutter, rolling her eyes.

“Ah, I’ve got just the thing,” said Rarity, digging into a box of gems. “A necklace with a nice piece of-”

Before she could finish, I saw what Rarity was pulling out.

I rushed over and put myself between her and the stone. “Rarity! Put bat way!”

“But it’d go perfect with her man-”

“Rarity, Discord burned her into amethyst!” I whispered, not wanting to embarrass Sparkler too much. Sparkler had hated amethyst ever since the Day of Chaos, she didn’t like to look at it and be reminded of being it for that time. She said it wasn’t being the amethyst that frightened her, it was seeing the world around her go to Pony Hell and be unable to do anything about it. And seeing amethyst reminded her of that. I think it was because she used to love it, that’s why she went by Amethyst Star as another name sometimes.

Rarity’s eyes went wide and she hid the stone. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t realiz-”

“It’s ok,” Sparkler said, giving a sigh. “I got over it thanks to Princess Gaia.”

I blinked. “R-really?”

Sparkler nodded. “She reminded me of how stupid it is to be afraid of a rock, I’m fine with it.”

“Oh…sorry, Muffin…” That was twice now Fluttershy has helped one of my muffins…I know she wasn’t right, and I’m still a little mad…but I am grateful she helped my muffins.

“It’s fine, you didn’t know,” Sparkler said, sounding a little annoyed before Rarity put the gold necklace with an amethyst charm around Sparkler’s neck. She then directed Sparkler to the mirror.

“Wow! That‘s me?!” Sparkler exclaimed out as she looked n the mirror. I shook off my surprise and trotted over and stood next to her.

“You book beautiful, Sparkler,” I tell her, giving her a smile.

“…Thanks mom,” Sparkler gave me a little smile, but a real one, and that’s enough.

“So we’ll be coming on the Friendship Express,” explained Carrot Top, packing her and Noi’s bags. “Me, Noi, and Doctor Hooves,” she explained to me as I stood in the door way, Dinky playing with Noi outside. Oh! Noi is Orange Top, she just likes to go by that name sometimes, just like Carrot Top also goes by Golden Harvest.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Alright, just how many ponies in Ponyville have multiple names?)

Well there’s me, Carrot Top, Noi, and the Doctor sometimes goes by Time Turner or Doctor Whooves if he needs to. It’s funny, me and Carrot Top actually met because there was a mix up and the record said we were married to ourselves and Noi was her own twin sister!

“The Doctor said riding the train there would be ‘thrilling’, so he’s looking forwards to it.”

I nod, knowing how interested the Doctor could be about everything. “I’m really plaid you’re gumming, I mean glad you’re coming!”

Carrot Top gave a chuckle. “Ditzy, there’s no need to correct yourself around me, your speech impediment doesn’t matter to me one bit.”

I blush a little bit under my fur. “Yeah, I show…but I’m just practicing is fall.”

Carrot Top nodded. “I know, but I don’t think you need to change a thing, it doesn’t matter to me, the Doctor, or Dinky. We like you just the way you are…By the way, is Berry Punch coming?”

I blink a little bit. I try not to look as surprised as I really am, or as guilty. “Well I really…I haven’t thought it pup to bur. She had that bad tall awhile ago, I didn’t taunt to fake her feel bad if she couldn’t go.”

I knew how flimsy an excuse it was. But truth be told, that wasn’t exactly why I didn’t want Berry Punch to come. There was sure to be drinks there, and Berry…she’s had a problem for a long time, since not long after Discord showed his ugly face. Berry Punch and her daughter Ruby Pinch have been friends of mine and Dinky’s for a long time. Dinky still plays with Ruby, I think Ruby’s part of Pipsqueak’s ’crew’ along with her, but…it’s not that I don’t like Berry anymore, she’s my friend it’s just…She used to drink a bit, but only got drunk sometimes. Her talent is actually being a wine taster and maker, and she was really good at it…then Discord happened. Discord made everything she drank taste like battery acid, it must’ve been horrible.

It took us a week just to get her to drink water without being forced, the psychiatrists practically had to force it down her throat just to keep her hydrated. Then was the hard part. Discord had made alcoholic drinks, her livelihood and favorite drink, the most painful to drink, so getting her to be near it again was a challenge…I guess she went overboard on it. Berry Punch is an alcoholic now, and I don’t want to tempt her by taking her to a place where she’ll be surrounded by drinks. Her sister Cheerilee has been helping her some…but not enough.

For awhile, it didn’t hurt anyone. She was still taking care of Ruby Pinch, she loves her daughter with all her heart…Then one day, Ruby came running to get me. Berry Punch had gotten drunk and fallen down a flight of stairs. She was hurt pretty bad and had to spend some time in the hospital. I think that jolted her out of it a bit, but not nearly enough.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): And you weren’t bitter social services were looking the other way for her but not for you?)

I…I’m not bitter! She’s my friend!

(Intewviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): Ditzy, just because she’s your friend doesn’t mean you can’t have negative feelings about her. And you need to face them.)

…Yeah…I guess I was…I had to go through Pony Hell to keep my little Muffin because I talk weird and a drunk doesn’t even get a slap on the fetlock…But I know that’s unfair. They were just doing their jobs after all, but still…I guess I felt a little bitter.

Carrot Top looked to me with a serious face. “Ditzy, I know Berry Punch is having drinking problems, but she’s our friend,” she said, putting a hoof on my shoulder. “And ignoring her is just going to make this worse. Maybe getting out with her real friends will help her put down that bottle.”

So the two of us headed over to Berry Punch’s house, leaving Noi and Dinky with the Squeaks so they could play with Moonlight and Pipsqueak. Dinky said that their game of pirates was really really realistic this time. She said she had actually forgotten for a bit they were just pretending, ready to pillage and plunder all in her path. And the pretend ship and pretend ocean were so real that Dinky was sure they were for a bit. Apparently Moonlight said she wanted to try a new way to play…But afterwards, she was apologizing for something. Fillies can be a little weird sometimes.

When we got to Berry Punch’s house, Big Macintosh had finally managed to get it back on its foundations after the “Love Poison” Incident. Her house had ended up dragged half way across Ponyville when he and Cheerliee were accidentally geassed by his little sister and her friends. Sometimes, I wonder why the Doctor settled down in Ponyville to take a break from the weird stuff.

When I knocked on the door, Ruby Pinch opened the door. “Bellow, Ruby. Is blur mother home?” I asked, looking down at the little filly.

Ruby nodded. “Yeah, she’s in the living room…Ditzy, is momma ever going to be like she used to be again?”

I almost cried looking down into those little puppy dog eyes of hers. “Sure she bill, Ruby…” I replied, trying to smile as convincingly as I possibly could.

Me and Carrot Top trotted into the living room. It stunk of alcohol, but Berry wasn’t drinking. She was just laying on the couch, looking at a bottle of hard cider sitting on the small table next to it. At least it was back to Sweet Apple Acres Cider, she’d been drinking whatever she got her hooves on before she had a talk with Cheerilee. She looked like she was crying. “Berry?” Carrot Top asked.

Berry Punch jumped about a foot in the air, then looked at us, quickly wiping her eyes. “…O-oh, hello, Ditzy, Carrot Top…”

Berry tried to get up, but staggered, falling back down into the chair. She was drunk again, or getting there. She was at the point where her motor skills started to be impaired, but her mind isn’t as impaired yet. “Oh, sorry…my hooves must be asleep…” she said, giving a fake smile.

I looked her in the eyes, I could tell, she was hiding something. I looked to Carrot Top, who gave me the same worried look I was giving her. I think maybe both of us were just tired playing games with Berry Punch, enabling her. I think that was the moment we both decided to put our hooves down.

Carrot Top sighed and set down next to her. “Berry…Look…This has to stop, alright?” she asked, seriously. “I don’t want to hurt you, but…look at yourself, you’re a mess.”

Berry suddenly looked scared, not angry like she had previous times we’d confronted her, but scared. “…I…”

“Berry, blue have a problem,” I said, coming out and saying it. I was sick of letting her do this to herself. She was my friend, I…I just couldn’t watch her ruin herself anymore. “And it’s tot going to get better until blue admit it.”

She looked down and muttered something under her breath.

“What was that?” asked Carrot Top, calmly.

Berry growled. “I know! Alright! I…I’ve got a problem, there, I admitted it…” she said, tears starting down her face as she gave a sob. “I’m just a weakling who can’t throw away a stupid bottle for her daughter!” she sobbed, resting her head on Carrot Top’s shoulder and crying. “Is that what you wanted to hear?! I know I‘m messed up! I’ve known since Cheerilee tried talking some sense into me! You think I want to be like this?!”

Seeing where this is going, I went out and looked to Ruby. “Ruby, could you breeze go to Pipsqueak’s house? Dinky is blare.”

After Ruby was on her way, I returned to the room. “…I’m sick of myself…” Berry sobbed, looking down. “I tried to quit…but I’m too weak…I can’t do it…Princess Gaia or Fluttershy…whatever she calls herself…she showed me what I was like without this habit of mine…but…but I just can‘t be that pony! I…I can see the me I could be, but I‘m too weak to throw the bottle away and be her!”

“You can’t do it alone, Berry,” said Carrot Top. “But maybe the psycha-”

“What? Let them take Ruby away like they tried to Dinky?!” Berry yelled suddenly. I felt my heart skip a beat.

“Blue are afraid, aren’t you Berry?” I asked, as calmly as I could.

Berry finally completely broke down, sinking to the floor and crying as she nodded. “I am…I don’t want them to take her…she’s all I’ve got…” she muttered, shaking her head. “But if I don’t…then I’ll hurt her! Either I’ll kill myself drinking and leave her alone or I’ll hurt her when I’m drunk! I…I just feel like there’s nothing I can do that won’t hurt her…”

I gave a gasp, that sounded familiar. It was…it was a lot like what he did to me…Then I noticed it. Starting at the tip of her tail and moving up her body. Her colors slowly fading away, leaving only grey behind. I felt my heart sink. “No…”

I couldn’t…I couldn’t let her fall into darkness again! Not after everything we’d done to pull her out of it when she nearly dehydrated herself! But…but how? When Discord…when he did this…I broke…How can I help her do what I couldn’t?

I watched the fading continue up her body. Did Carrot Top notice it? If she did, she was too busy hugging her to notice…Too busy supporting her to notice!

“Don’t pay that!” I yelled. “That’s not true!”

“Yes it is…There’s nothing I can do…” she replied, miserably.

“You don’t need to boo anything except get come help!” I told her.

“But what if…what if they try to take Ruby?” she asked, looking at me in the eyes. The grey had traveled up most of her body now.

“Then we’ll help blue!” I told her. I knew my speech problem probably didn’t help, but rhyming would sound funnier…So, I decided to rhyme in a way that might work. I didn’t do it often, last time I did it was showing the Doctor around during his first Winter Wrap-Up, but now seemed like a good time.

“I know times seem very hard right now
You feel like you’re trapped in a bad way
If there’s a way out, you can’t see how.
But I won‘t let you give up today.” I sung, looking her in the eyes.

“I’ve been there, I know how you feel
It feels like you’re stuck with no way out
But I am here to help you begin to heal
That’s what friends are all about,”

“Berry dear, I know it has to hurt
I know don’t want Ruby to pay
Your fall we‘ll help to avert
We‘re not going to lose you today,” sung another voice, Carrot Top’s voice. I was surprised, I’d never heard her sing before. But I was glad to hear her sing now.

“You‘ve been lost for so long
You‘ve stopped looking for a way out
But we‘ll take your hoof and guide you along
Because that‘s what friends are all about,” she sung, Berry looking up at as both. I think the grey stopped spreading.

“Berry, we were all hurt by Discord’s ‘fun’
He made me do nothing but hate…”

“Anypony colored green I made run
Or else I’d deal them a grisly fate,”

“But we can heal from what he has done.
But not if we sit and pout.”

“We have to reach out to a loved one.
Because that’s what friends are all about.”

“Please, Berry, it‘s time for you to heal.
If things go bad, we’ll come to your side.
My friends helped me deal.
Their support they did provide.
If it comes to what you fear.
We’ll be there to help you out.
If you need us, we’ll be right here.
Because that’s what friends are all about.”

“We won’t let them take Ruby away
In our support there can be no doubt.
We promise to be there for you all the way.

Because that’s what friends are all about.”

We both looked at Berry, watching her close. “Y-you really mean that?” she asked, looking up at us with fearful eyes, now I was sure of it, the fading had stopped.

We both nodded without a moment of hesitation. “Berry, did you really think that if it came to it, we’d let you lose Ruby any sooner than the Doctor and I would let Ditzy lose Dinky?” Carrot Top asked, serious as could be.

“Besides, blur a great mother!” I continued the train of thought. “Blue didn’t neglect Ruby! You still paid sure she was taken care of! And I’m not afraid to bell a judge that! But what will she blue if you just give up and do nothing? Get help, not just for you but for blur! And if something toes wrong, me, Carrot Top, the Doctor, and everypony else that cares pout you will be there to support you! We‘ll kelp blue be the pony…the pony Fluttershy blowed two you could be!”

Carrot Top nodded with me.

Berry Punch broke down crying, and we hugged her as the colors flowed back into her.

As we’d find out latter, Berry had actually nearly killed herself to save Ruby from one of Discord’s games…that monster, he’d told her he’d take the curse he put on her away if she split a lot of alcohol with Ruby, enough to kill a filly…Berry drank it all so Discord couldn’t make her do that to her daughter.

The next day, she enrolled in Alcohorse’s Anonymous to get help. Yes, I know it’s a silly horse pun, the Doctor laughed for about thirty minutes about it when I told him. Reminded me of that one time we went to the future and that one guy said all those horse puns…I mean he will say them…I mean we will have said them…Talking about where I’ve gone with the Doctor always makes my head hurt…Cheerilee promised to help Berry however she could

Oh, look at me, I got side tracked, didn’t I?

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): You think?)

(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): Don’t worry, Derpy, this has all been fascinating, but mind telling us about Canterlot now?)

Yeah, I guess I can…

Welcome to the Big City

“Wow, momma! We’re so high up!” Dinky exclaimed, looking over the side of the chariot taking us to Canterlot.

“Yes, Dinky, we far,” I said, trying not to sound as worried about what she was doing as I really was. “Just be careful, blue can’t fly.”

“It’s ok, mom,” said Sparkler, horn glowing as she used her magic to keep Dinky safely secured. “I’ve got her.”

I gave Sparkler a smile. “Blanks, Muffin.”

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Ditzy, why do you call your daughters Muffins?)

Oh! Well I love muffins, they’re sweet, and I don’t want to think about living without them…its the same way with Dinky and Sparkler, so I call them my little Muffins.

Sparkler gave me a small nod. “No problem…so, how are you feeling?”

I looked down at my hooves nervously. “Um…I’m pine…”

“Nervous?”

I gave a small nod. “Yeah, I bless…Canterlot is a frilly fancy place, what if I don’t bit in?”

Sparkler put a hoof on my shoulder. “It’ll be alright, mom, don’t worry about it. The more you worry, the worse you’ll fit in, so just calm down, ok?”

I listened to her voice and nodded. “Yeah…thanks Sparkler.”

“Anytime, mom.”

And with that, we just set and talked a little the rest of the way. It felt really good to finally have, I guess, a family trip with just the three of us, even if I was getting an award and would have to give a huge speech on stage.

We trotted through the streets of the capital of all of Equestria. It was my first real time in the city. Not as a visitor for a special event (ok, technically I was, but I’d be staying a few days at least), but in full dress and everything. Ok, technically I’d been here delivering mail, but I don’t have time to take in the sights when I’m doing that, and there was this cat that decided to-

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Derpy, as exciting as that adventure probably was, we don’t have time for it right now.)

Oh, sorry. Point was, this was the first time I’d REALLY been here, not as a tourist just there for a play or something. It wasn‘t ‘get on the Friendship Express go to Canterlot, help with the Hearth‘s Warming Eve play then leave‘. Until the ceremony, I would be in Canterlot with nothing to do but be IN Canterlot.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Earth Pony): You never visited Sparkler when she lived here?)

No, I wanted to but…she was always so busy whenever I had time. She was a busy girl, she had a life of her own, I understood that. I missed her, but I had to let my muffin live her life.

I was surprised when no pony looked at me like I was a stranger before I realized this was the first time I‘d been here when I wasn‘t naked. I guess that helped make me a little less self-conscious…but not enough. Dinky was amazed by everything she saw, just like a filly should be. I’d had her shoed so her hooves wouldn’t get hurt on the hard streets, I knew how that could be, having not had horseshoes my very first time being here. My hooves hurt for weeks, I wasn’t going to let that happen to my little muffin.

Speaking of which, I had to keep an eye on Dinky all the time! The ponies were always in a rush to get somewhere, they didn’t even stop to apologize if they bumped into you! We got jostled all over the place! I was starting to feel claustrophobic! It made my head start spinning!

Maybe if they didn’t walk around with their noses in the air like that they wouldn’t bump into ponies.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Too high and mighty to worry about anyone else?)

Huh? No, I mean they walk around with their noses in the air! Some even have their eyes closed! And ponies say I need to watch where I’m going!

It was surreal to see Sparkler there though. She just weaved through the crowd with no problem at all. She looked so natural…and that just made me feel even more out of place to be honest.

When we finally got clear of the crowd, I was so busy making sure Dinky was ok, I didn’t even notice the stallion on the sidewalk until we were right up to him. “Hello, hello, miss, may I interest you in a doll?” he asked in an almost mesmeric voice. It was strange, it was the kind of voice a psychiatrist used during a hypnosis session they did with me, at least that’s what it reminded me of. I turned to see a green stallion with a slightly lighter green mane, and these strange red eyes. He had this really terrible green suit on him. I instantly thought of the words Rarity would probably have used to describe it at that particular moment; garish and gaudy. Even if I wasn’t a fashionista like her, I was inclined to agree.

“Um, excuse me?” I asked, blinking as my surprise settled. “Who are you?” I asked, doing my absolute best to remember the diction lessons.

“Oh, my apologies, miss. Pocket Watch, renown doll maker at your service,” he said with an elaborate bow. As he did so, I saw his Cutie Mark. It was a swinging pocket watch that made me feel a little light headed just looking into it. I was thankful my eyes make me resistant to hypnosis since one eye is normally focused on something else, which is why Discord had to split in two to brainwash me, and the Doctor‘s Psychic Paper doesn‘t work on me.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Then how did the ‘Want It, Need It Spell’ work on you?)

Oh that…well that wasn’t exactly a hypnosis spell like Discord‘s, so only one eye really needed to see it…I think…

(Interviewer’s Notes (Earth Pony): Are you blushing?)

Uh…yeah, a little…it was embarrassing to snap out of a trance and realize you‘d just been in a huge brawl with Mayor Mare over a doll! Anyway, back to the story.

“Might I interest you in a doll? They are the finest in all of Canterlot, the elites pay top dollar for them.”

I slowly looked at his dolls he had lined up in this cart he had with him. They were dolls of foals, each life-sized. They were the kind that moved all on their own, I guess by magic or something like that, I wasn’t sure. They were all dressed so beautifully. Truth be told, they were probably the most life-like dolls I’d ever seen. But maybe that was why they sent a chill down my spine. Something about them just seemed…off. Maybe they were too lifelike for my tastes.

I looked up and saw a little wind up doll of a stallion being…being hung at the gallows. “Um…T-that one doesn’t bo-look very price-I mean nice.”

He gave a simple smile looking at it. “Oh yes, that one,” he said, giving a small chuckle. “Oh, this doll is of this one stallion I used to know. He seemed so fond of foals, I personally adore foals, so innocent, so pure, but he liked them in ways that didn’t particularly sit well with me, or anypony for that matter. He liked to kidnap innocent little foals and do some…unsavory things to them.”

(Interviewer’s Notes (Earth Pony): What did he mean?)

I don’t really know…But someone taking little foals and hurting them…it sent a chill down my spine…

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): I forgot how innocent ponies where here.)

Huh? What was that?

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Oh! Nothing! Please continue.)

I gulped. “And b-bat- I mean that happened to dim-I mean him?”

“No, no. This is merely what I and quite a few others wished had happened to him,” said Pocket Watch, his horn lighting up the same red as his eyes as he wound the doll up. “No, he was last seen being chased into caves near here, the parents of the foals he‘d had his way with had caught up with him. No one ever saw him again, but I‘m sure this would be his fate if a judge ever saw him. Yes, the verdict could only be….”

He released the crank.

“GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY!” the toy chanted again and again. As I looked into it, the stallion it pictured being hung over and over again, the eyes seemed…pleading in a way. It was almost as if someone was really suffering behind those eyes.

“Be bleed to be blowing vow,” I said, not caring about my diction anymore, Dinky was scared half to death by the doll and so was I. Hay, I was just plain scared of this stallion!

“Oh my Celestia, what a beautiful little filly you have here,” said Pocket Watch with a smile that was both warm and bone chilling at the same time. “What is her name?”

“Dinky, now if blue will excuse be, we filly bust be going now!”

“Dinky, what a wonderful name for a beautiful little foal,” said Pocket Watch, looking at my muffin with those hypnotic eyes. “Foals are always such pure and wonderful things, it’s a shame they can’t stay small like dolls, isn’t it? Dolls stay pretty forever, pretty silent, and obedient.”

He gave me a smile that made me feel like there was ice in my veins. “Oh well, if you must be going, do not let me detain you. I do hope we’ll see each other again. You seem like a wonderful mother, I’m sure one of my dolls would be quite happy with you.”

“B-bless, that could me price, vow come on Dinky, Sparkler, we’ve tot a got to brew!”

I think the three of us ran all the way to the palace after that. I kept looking back. I knew he wasn’t there anymore. It’s just…

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): He scared the horseapples out of you?)

Yeah, that’s about right, me, Dinky, and Sparkler…It kind of made me more on edge the whole time…more than I already was…

++++

“Welcome, Ditzy Doo, Dinky, and Sparkler,” Princess Luna said as we entered the castle. She looked pretty tired, I think she even yawned as we showed up. Still, it was nice to see a friendly face after what just happened.

We all bowed. I remembered my diction lessons. “Thank you for inviting us, Princess Luna.”

She gave us a smile. “Think nothing of it, after all, I sought to reward you for your status as a mother because you’ve earned it,” she continued.

I looked up at her, blushing a little. “Well I don’t blow about tat,” I said, almost correcting myself before remembering the Princess hadn’t minded my problem. She’d said it was ‘unique’. It’s weird, Moonlight had said the same thing.

“Your room is already set up, is anyone else coming?”

“Yes, free friends,” I replied. “And by parents…bell, except pun of my mothers.”

Luna blinked slightly. “Forgive me, did you say, one of your mothers?”

“Yeah, my biological mother couldn’t take bit…” I explained, lowering my head a little. I was used to it by now, she always seemed so busy. “My adopted parents and biological dad bill be here blow.”

Luna nodded, seeming understanding. “I can appreciate that. Your room is already set in the north tower. I do hope you will enjoy your stay, Ditzy Doo.”

“Thank blue, Woona,” I replied, giving a bow.

Hi! My name’s Dinky Doo! Glad to meet you! My momma got an award from Princess Luna! Isn’t that cool? I told Pipsqueak, Moonlight, and Ruby about it and they all thought it was too…I’ll admit, the big city scared me a little bit…Especially that scary stallion! He reminded me of those creepy ponies that tried to foalnap me when Nightmare Moon came back!

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): They actually kidnapped you?)

Yeah, they thought I was Nightmare Moon’s chosen one or something, they weren’t very smart…Momma didn’t like that one bit, she can be really scary when me or Sparkler are in trouble, but she’s so cool! The Doctor is too, even if it’s dangerous for momma to go with him sometimes. Hehe, it was kind of funny after they beat those bad guys though.

“Great, just great,” the leader of the tied up Cult of Nightmare Moon said, grumbling with one eye blackened. “We get our flanks kicked by a retarded mail mare and…whoever the heck you are-”

“I’m the Doctor.”

“Whatever, Nightmare Moon lost, and I invested all my bits in mushroom farms!”

Derpy snarled, glaring at him. “Why bid blue kidnap Dinky any pay!”

“Our blind prophet New Moon foresaw our Queen of Endless Night would have a chosen foal among the rank of Ponyville’s rabble, she would be most pleased with us if we brought her her chosen one!”

“How’d blue show it was Dinky?”

“New Moon said it would be somepony of heroic descent, innocent, and pure to the ways of the world. Look at her colors, she’s clearly a descendant of Twilight the First, who defeated the one who challenged our queen for her throne of endless night, and who could be more innocent and pure than the foal of a retarded mail mare?”

“I must say, you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed are you? I mean really, one of those girls who stopped Nightmare Moon is named Twilight I believe, and she’s got purple fur,” the Doctor stated. “Not to mention she seems to be quite the powerful unicorn. Wouldn’t she be the more logical pick as this Twilight the First‘s descendent?”

The cult leader slammed his head into a pole.

“I told you we should’ve kidnapped Applebloom…” another one added.

I don’t know why they thought I was Nightmare Moon’s chosen one! Pip’s the one who gets along with Princess Luna!

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): You know Nightmare Moon is Luna? Most foals think they’re two different ponies.)

Of course! Those mean ponies talked about it! Anyway, like I said, Pip seems more like the pony they were looking for!

Oh yeah, we should probably get back to the story, shouldn’t we?

I came to Canterlot with momma and Sparkler. After we had that run in with that scary pony, we met Princess Luna and we went to our room. Canterlot Castle is SO big! I can see all the way across the Everfree Forest from our window! Princess Luna was so nice to give us the room!

While momma was unpacking, I was in the hall looking around a bit when I ran into somepony I didn’t expect to see!

“Moonlight?!” I asked, looking at my friend. “Why are you in Canterlot?”

“It’s not weird for me to be here, Dinky.”

“It’s not weird for you to be here,” I replied, why would it be? Was it weird for me to be there? No, so why would it be for her?

Moonlight smiled. “Dinky, I’m going to play with Pip, but I wanted to say…we’ll be thinking of you while you’re gone, and we can’t wait to play together with you again.”

I smiled. “Thanks, I can’t wait to play again either!”

“And Dinky…”

“Yes, Moonlight?”

“I’m sorry I was rude to you when we first met…I guess I was just jealous and didn’t want to share Pip…I’m sorry for that.”

I hugged her. “It’s ok, momma says not to hold grudges, so I’m not going to!”

(Interviewer’s notes (Earth Pony): That’s a nice way to live, Dinky.)

Yeah, isn’t it?

Sparkler and I were unpacking in our room. I had butterflies in my stomach, just looking out the window gave me goosebumps. The room was fancier than I would like, but I guess not TOO fancy. At least it wasn’t some five star hotel, but I still felt…out of place. I mean I know that’s strange coming from a pony who’s been through everything I have…but I just felt like a fish out of water in this fancy room…

As I unpacked my bags, I came to the letters that my parents had sent. “…I…I blunder if mom bill feel butter enough to some…”

“Which one?” Sparkler asked over her shoulder as she put some bags down.

“Oh, Mrs. Hooves, I beam,” I replied…it could be confusing talking about family when you have two sets of parents you considered both of to be real.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): That is very understandable, Derpy.)

“…” Sparkler seemed upset…

“Blots wrong?”

“…Nothing…it’s fine…”

I’m Sparkler, glad to meet you I guess…sorry, I’m not used to being interviewed. Discord turned me into a dancing amethyst statue…I guess I brought that on myself…

“Hello Sparkler, or do you prefer Amethyst Star?” said the diamond floating around me as Ponyville was in chaos.

“Sparkler, look, I don’t know who you are, but I need to find my mother and baby sister in this mess.”

A stop sign literally popped up right in front of me and I ran into it.

“Now now, no need to hurry,” the diamond said, floating over. “I thought you moved away to get away from your mother, not that I blame you, I can’t stand My Mother either.”

I backpedaled. “No! I mean…yes, but it’s not like that-”

“Move to another town, go by a new name, Amethyst Star is lovely by the way, and start over, be a different person, all nice and refined instead of held down by a humiliating parent. Be the cultured, popular mare instead of the daughter of the village fool, that about sum it up?”

I actually started crying. “I…I…N-no…that’s…I mean I wanted to get away from her but…” It…it was right, I had wanted to be the center of attention, to not have mom’s klutziness hanging over my head but…

“But who am I to argue?” asked the diamond, coming in my face. “In fact, I’ll do you a favor, Amethyst Star, I’ll make you a new mare, who’s dancing will always be the center of attention wherever she takes the stage,” he said, the eyes on the crystal turning into multicolored rings. “Isn’t that what you wanted? To be the star? To be the center of attention?”

Yes…yes, that is what I wanted…What I want! What I’m going to get!

I hate her guts! And my ‘little sister’ is too stupid like her to realize she’s being laughed at too! I’m th only smart one in my family, why should I be held back by those retards?! I deserve to be beautiful! I deserve to be seen! Seen as ME! Not ‘Derpy’s daughter’, not ‘Ditzy Doo’s filly’, not ‘that unicorn who baby sits other foals and has a crazy-stupid mother!’ I wish she had never laid either of those screwed up eyes of hers on me!

Nopony matters but me. Nothing else matters but the dance. I am beautiful, my dance is beautiful. I don’t need to be anyone or anything else! I am beauty! I am dancing! And everypony should know it! Look at me dance! Now and forever! Those retards don’t matter, only my dance matters! Only my beauty matters! Only I matter!

(Interviewer’s Notes (Earth Pony): Are you ok?)

Y-yeah…Princess Gaia helped me, the memories don‘t hurt like they used to, even the night terrors I had for awhile where I was that statue forever, just dancing endlessly don‘t hurt to think about…but that doesn’t change the fact I know Discord was right…that is what I wanted…why I moved away…that I liked it…

Every time she wanted to come visit me in Canterlot…I’d make up some excuse why she couldn’t. ‘Sorry mom, I’ve got a job interview’, ‘sorry mom, I’ve got to stay after work’, ‘sorry mom, I’ve got plans with my friends.’ The only reason I didn’t use ‘I’m sick’ is because she’d have been there in an instant to take care of me….I may have gotten over how I feel, but that doesn’t mean I still don’t look back and wish I’d done something different…

I hate to say it, but…I think I owe that maniac for showing me what a grade-A fool I was. Hehe, you know, I think that’s the best revenge I could hope to have on that psychopath; the fact his little game made me a better pony in the end.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Yeah, nothing makes a bully madder than finding out he’s helped his victim more than hurt ‘em.)

Thanks. It also made me realize something else…Mom’s life has been hard enough without me making it harder by being a brat who cared more about how her ‘embarrassing’ mother looked than that her mother loved her. But it took another monster to make me realize how good I had it.

Mom had told me and Dinky the story a million times. How she got her Cutie Mark. Mom and Dinky are too innocent to really think about it and realize the truth, so was I when I was little. But as I grew up and became more realistic, I looked back on the story and saw it for what it really was. And to be honest, it clopped me off.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): I do not blame yah, I feel the same way.)

Uh…are you sure the filly should hear this part?

(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): She must stay, sadly, continue.)

Ok…for the most part, I just kept it to myself. Mom and Dinky both didn’t mind her, Dinky actually really likes her. I think the only time that miserable old mare had a semblance of happiness was when Dinky visited and she could pretend Dinky was ’Derpy without the issues’. And Celestia, did that make me mad. I saw my mom and sister treating that monster like she was a pony, and only I saw through her.

Why did I never tell never tell the Royal Guard on her? Because…I don’t want to destroy the grandmother mom and Dinky know. I know Applejack would go on about how the truth needs to come out, but…I’m just too weak to break their hearts.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): No, Sparkler, you’re just smart enough to know when breaking their hearts isn’t worth it.)

Thanks…so yeah, I thought grandma was a monster…But…after Princess Gaia’s day, I got to thinking about what kind of mare might be under all that crud…then she was the ONLY one of my grandparents to refuse to show for their daughter being declared the best mother in Equestria. Do you have any idea how much that hurt mom? Of all the ponies she wanted to be there, I think Mrs. Hooves is the one that she wanted the most. She still feels like she failed her mother, all her life she’s wanted that mare to be proud of her, and the one moment when she should’ve been more proud of her than any other, she blows her off.

So I took a balloon to the Hooves’ residence and just waited for Mr. Hooves to leave. I knew no matter what I said, she wasn’t going to tell him unless she wanted her little secret to get out. To be honest, I WANTED her to tell him so maybe, just maybe, she’d admit it to herself and the world what she’d done.

Some small talk and I’m inside where I can speak privately.

I gave her a glare I think rivaled mom’s ‘get away from my Muffins’ look in sheer fury. “Listen to me, grandmother, and listen good,” I said, not taking my eyes off her. “I know you tried to MURDER your own daughter because you thought she was ‘challenged’. I think deep down inside, mom knows it too, and is just too nice to accept it.”

She backpedaled, looking like she’d seen a ghost. You know, she looks an awful lot like mom when I really think about it. Same gray coat, same yellow mane and tail. I think that’s why it hurt her so much. I know it doesn’t make me feel good. It made doing that harder than it should’ve been.

“I…I thought I was doing it for her own good! I thought she had not future!”

And that just added fuel to the fire. I don’t LIKE the Doctor, I really don’t. He’s not my father, he never WILL be. I don’t like him endangering mom with his stupid adventures…but I agree with him that it can be VERY irritating when someone makes up excuses just to convince themselves a heinous crime was justified.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): She didn’t even deny it?)

To be honest, I think she already knew I knew.

“No future, huh? Well look at the future she actually GOT. She just got invited to Canterlot to be honored by Princess Luna herself. She’s been employee of the month at the post office for as long as I can remember. She’s been the best mother to me and my sister a pony could ask for. And she’s HAPPY! While you’re miserable,” she shuddered. “Yeah, I said it, you think I can’t tell? Every GOOD thing mom has going for her is like a knife through your heart, isn’t it? To know she’s a better mother and a better PONY than you’ll ever be?”

“BUT IT WAS ALL I KNEW AT THE TIME!”

“And all she knew when I was a foal was I was stubborn, disrespectful, and thought she was embarrassing, but did she try to throw me away just because I MIGHT become a delinquent?…You know, thinking about it, I’m going to thank you. For showing me what a fool I used to be. I used to be embarrassed of mom, I moved to Canterlot to get away from Ponyville and her…and looking at you, at the bitter, miserable old nag you’ve become, I realize what a moron I actually was. I was a worse daughter than she ever was to you, and all she’s ever done is love me with all her heart and do whatever she could to make me happy.”

I looked her in the eyes, I could tell. She wasn’t angry, she wasn’t depressed. With each word I said, she looked like I did when I looked in the mirror after it hit me how rotten I’d been to mom. Small, scared, and wretched.

“After everything you’ve done to her, all the pain you’ve put her through, all the love you should’ve given her and didn’t, and she doesn’t even know you tried to kill her. She’s just too nice a pony for that thought to cross her mind. She still wanted you there to see her honored by Luna, not to rub it in your face, not to brag, but so once in her life, she knew you were proud of her. Personally, if I were her, I’d have just told you to go straight to Pony Hell…Actually, you’re already there, aren’t you? I hope you enjoy it.”

…She broke down crying at that point, I told her if she was any kind of mother, she’d show up to the ceremony. And I left…

Part of me thinks I was too harsh, that I went to far…oh who am I kidding, she needed to hear that…mom won’t, the Doctor? As much as I don’t like him, I know he cares about mom. He proved that when he stood up for her so she could keep Dinky and I saw on Princess Gaia’s day that he’s a good pony. But I’m afraid of what he might do. I was the only one who could…

Do you think I’m a bad pony for telling her that?

(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): No, I think you’re right; sometimes the only way someone can heal, is if the thorn is pulled out. Her excuse is something that needs torn down so she can move on. She‘s living in a fantasy she needs woken up from.)

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Even if you have to drag her kicking and screaming to the light, we know how that is. She needed a good kick in the flanks.)

…Thanks…

…I did feel good standing up for mom…It felt good to build her up instead of being another burden that poor mare didn’t need.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Foals are never burdens for their mothers, when they start seeing them as burdens, they become like that mare.)

Thanks…Hey!…It’s ok…Thanks for the hug, filly…

I was jolted out of my thoughts by a knock on the door. “Huh?” I went over to the door and opened it.

“Hello, Ditzy,” said Rarity in that sweet voice she always had.

I blinked. “Oh! Hi Rarity! What are bl-you doing here?”

Rarity smiled. “Well I just got moved into my room. Twilight was such a dear, she got Celestia to get me a room in the castle while I was getting some dress supplies! I see Luna did much the same for you.”

It was…awkward. Here I was, freaked out just by a slightly fancier than normal room…and Rarity looked so…at home here. She seemed just so happy, like this was her element. It made me feel even more like a fish out of water than I already did.

“Yeah, that was so pri-nice of her,” I replied, giving a smile that I wish I could say didn’t look as nervous as I felt.

She blinked, then smiled. “Oh, I understand. Ditzy, darling, you’re nervous about the ceremony, aren’t you?”

“…I guess…a brittle, I mean little,” I replied, looking down at my hooves. While feeling out of place was a big part of why I felt nervous, I suppose that was giving me butterflies in my stomach.

Rarity nodded and gave me a kind smile. “Well, I’m sure you’ll do perfectly fine, good luck.”

I nodded. “Ban-I mean thanks Rarity.”

Rarity nodded. “Well I’ve got to be going, I’ve got a few things I REALLY want to do while I’m here. Good luck with everything, darling,” she said, waving to me.

“Bye Rarity…” I replied, watching her go. I looked from her to me.

Rarity was considered one of the fanciest mares in Ponyville, and I couldn’t argue with that. Her mane and tail perfectly done, her coat was always perfectly white, she had a fancy accent, and she knew about everything big in Canterlot and everywhere else.

I was just a normal gray furred Pegasus with a plain yellow mane, wall eyes, a bad mouth, and more knowledge of space and time than what the next big thing was.

Seeing her just made me feel even more out of place than ever…

“Momma!” called Dinky, running over.

“Hi Muffin!”

Sparkler came over. “All packed, ready to get something to eat?” she asked, putting a hoof on my shoulder and giving me a smile.

Thankfully, my Muffins were there to make me feel a little more at home…

Fish Out of Water

Editted by Alexwarlorn and Louis

This time, I let Dinky ride on my back and Sparkler lead the way so we didn’t get jostled around while we walked again. Even if it made the trip a lot easier…I still felt so out-of-place seeing Sparkler navigate the crowd so easily. I guess seeing one jigsaw piece fit in so neatly reminded me I still didn’t fit anywhere myself.

“Momma?”

“Yes, Dinky?”

“Did you know the Royal Guard’s bear-icks is in Canterlot Castle?”

“No, I didn’t know that, Muffin,” I replied, thankful for my eyes going in different directions so I could keep one on Sparkler. “How did you know that?”

+++

“Hi, Miss Twilight!” I called, trotting into the library. I go there a good bit, actually. Partly to see Spike. I mean, we’re not friends or anything, I just always thought it was cool to have a dragon living right there in Ponyville!

“Oh, hello, my little pony,” Miss Twilight said, giving me a smile. “Here to check out another book?”

“Yeah, and return this one,” I said, taking one gently in my mouth and handing it to her. I don’t know any magic yet.

She took the book on Ponyville History back and nodded. “I sure hope you enjoyed it, Dinky. This is one of my favorites!”

“Yeah, I did, though some of the dates are off.”

Twilight blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Well it has the founding of Sweet Apple Acres listed as being three years later than it really was and it didn’t begin expanding until two years after it says it did…Ruby Pinch told me Granny Smith had told Miss Cheerilee’s class about Ponyville being founded and I was curious so I got her and Miss Applejack to tell me more.”

Twilight blinked, flipping through the pages to examine the dates herself. “Wow…you’re right…I‘ll have to report the error…Thank you, Dinky.”

I gave a smile. “You‘re welcome!…Miss Twilight? Can you tell me about Canterlot? Me, momma, and Sparkler are going there for momma’s award, and I’d like to know a bit about it.”

Miss Twilight’s eyes lit up and next thing I know, she’s giving a REALLY long lecture on Canterlot…I wonder where she got the soapbox.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Hope she didn’t bore you to tears.)

Huh? Why would she? I didn’t understand everything she said, but what I did was really interesting! Did you know unicorns used to mine gems where Canterlot is now?

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Huh, I didn’t peg you for the type to like that kind of thing…no offense.)

Oh, none taken…Lots of ponies thought I was…like they think momma is. They thought I was stupid. I’m not, and neither is momma! Momma’s actually been a REALLY good teacher! I’ve learned a lot from her. I guess that’s why I like to learn so much, momma always taught me. And no way am I going to give up learning just because some mean fillies are making fun of me! Momma never EVER gives up and neither will I!

( Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Good determination, but there are ti-)

(Interviewer’s Notes whispering (Unicorn): She’s a filly, she’s got plenty of time to figure that out on her own.)

What are you whispering about?

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Nothing!)

+++

I always taught Dinky everything I could. So many ponies always said I was retarded. I didn’t want Dinky to live through that, so I made sure she knew as much as she could. It actually went a long way towards convincing the psychiatrists to let me keep her. Now, hearing her talk about Canterlot and dicussing fancy things even I didn’t know, I couldn’t be more proud of my little muffin.

When we finally got to the café, Rarity was just leaving for the castle, her cat on her back. “Hello, Rarity!” I called.

“Hello, Ditzy.” She looked rather angry, but her expression softened when she said hello to me…only to then switch back to anger again as she walked off muttering something about ‘we’ll see who’s designs are too country!’

“Momma…is Miss Rarity okay?” asked Dinky, watching her.

“I’m sure she will be, Muffin,” I replied, heading over to a table.

Even the dinners in Canterlot are fancy! There’s a big fluffy pillow to sit on instead of the ground or a crate! I looked at the menu.

“Oh…it’s all so…expensive,” I said, making sure to keep my diction lessons in mind, I didn’t want the embarrass us.

“Yeah, but don’t worry, mom,” said Sparkler, looking it over. “Let me order, I know from experience how to pick the right things…to get a meal that‘s fancy, filling, and reasonably priced.”

+++

Let’s get one thing straight; I LIVED in Canterlot, yes, but I didn’t have some fancy high end job, I worked as a babysitter. While it did pay good, it wasn’t enough to afford the lavish lifestyle I was aiming for.

But ponies here watched WHERE you sat down to eat, thus, thus, I had to learn what to order, so I could afford lunch while still looking like I belonged there. If I played my cards right, I’d eventually be able to impress the richer, more discerning ponies who watched WHAT you ordered, as well. It wasn’t easy, I’ll tell you that much…Why do you think I went as nuts as everypony else trying to get my hooves on Twilight’s extra Gala ticket?

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Are you blushing?)

I freaked out over a ticket to a party and chased that poor mare as part of a desperate mob…was I really wanting the limelight THAT badly?

(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): As you said, a lot of ponies did the exact same thing, there’s no reason to think less of yourself for it.)

I know…It wasn’t even a good party anyway, Carrot Top won some tickets in a contest and took me, mom, and Berry Punch with her. Berry had fun getting to try all the fancy drinks (no, she didn’t get drunk! She wasn’t an alcoholic at the time). Carrot Top? She’s a southern belle if you hadn’t noticed, she may not be a Canterlot Elite, but she’s like Rarity, she loves that lifestyle. She had a ball.

Me and mom? Not so much. Mom spent the night like a fish out of water while I worried about her embarrassing herself. She didn’t know anything about how Canterlot high society worked, and I didn’t want her to get hurt.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): Just her?)

Alright, I’ll admit it, I WAS afraid she’d embarrass me as well as herself, but that wasn’t as huge a deal for me at the time…I don’t know, the whole game just felt so…shallow ever since I’d moved back home. I just couldn’t get into it. Thank Celestia Carrot Top was there for me to talk to.

Oh, and there was also the whole domino-effect disaster Pinkie Pie set into motion with her stage dive. I will admit though, it was actually pretty funny. Especially seeing that stuck-up prick Prince Blueblood get chewed out by Rarity, I don’t blame her one bit. Believe it or not, I went out with him once, he treated me no different.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): You’ve dated Blueblood?)

Yeah, he always has a mare with him at any important event. Either a rich mare, a famous mare, or a pretty mare. I just happened to qualify for the last one in his eyes. At first I was ecstatic…until I got to know the jerk and by the end of the night I couldn’t stand to spend another five minutes with him.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Earth Pony): He’s not such a bad pony when you really get to know him.)

…how would you know that?

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): We’re interviewers. We’ve talked with him.)

Oh…right… Well, anyway, point was, as far as dates go, it still stunk like a Timberwolf’s breath.

+++

We let Sparkler order for us and it was a really good meal. I was amazed at just how smart my little Muffin had to be to live here. I’d always been so worried about how well she’d be able to live out on her own when she moved away from me. Now I see she can take care of herself just fine. It was kind of bittersweet to see that, honestly. Seeing my baby grow up…Oh, thanks for the hug, filly.

A few ponies were staring at Dinky. They seemed a bit confused she was eating like an Earth Pony, I suppose that’s to be expected in the city where the School for Gifted Unicorns is…

+++

You know, it’s kind of funny.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): That you’re so smart but haven’t learned to use magic yet? Ow!)

(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): Don’t be insensitive.)

Huh? Actually, I was meaning how being shoed is supposed to protect your hooves but you have to have nails driven into them for them to work! Try to imagine hammering nails into any OTHER part of your body! You know how it works: it hurts a little, but you’d think the nails would hurt them worse than the roads! Weird, huh? And shoes hey feel really weird too. So heavy, though I guess that’s why one of those training books I saw Miss Fluttershy check out at the library suggested it. I just got curious and asked her about them and she explained about them…I didn‘t know Fluttershy was into that kind of thing...

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): So you don’t mind you can‘t use magic yet?)

Well, kinda. But I really haven’t gotten around to reading any of the books on magic yet…maybe I should ask Miss Twilight about them. Hehe, you know something else that’s funny?

(Interviewer’s Notes (Earth Pony): What?)

The bullies picked on Snails a bit because they…they think he’s kind of dumb…But he’s the only unicorn foal I know that knows how to use any magic at all. He must be smart in some ways, right?

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Yeah, that’s true. Kind of like you and your mom, huh? More than meets the eye.)

Yeah…that’s right…Thanks, that was nice of you to say.

+++

Dinky doesn’t seem to mind being teased. I think she just doesn’t care. I try to be the same way, myself. When ponies pick on me, I don’t usually pay attention if I can help it, it’s hard sometimes though.

I was just thankful that Pegasi weren’t expected to eat differently than Earth Ponies…but here in Canterlot I had to try and be neater be neater about it, as neat and refined as can be, simple as that. But I could still tell my refinement needed refining. Even Sparkler seemed to have this…neatness to her, like she knew what she was doing. Clumsy and awkward are my default settings, even the Pegasi eating at other tables were more practiced.

“Amethyst Star?” asked a voice from behind us.

+++

Given the fact I was in the middle of biting down on my sandwich, and how little I wanted to hear that name, I was fortunate I had enough self-control to avoid choking from shock. Instead, I quickly swallowed and turned to look at the ones who’d called me. Two ponies were there: a grey unicorn stallion with a black mane and a cream colored unicorn mare with a bluish-gray mane with a white stripe in it. Both decked out prim and proper as could be. Inside, I was a unique mix of being happy to see some old friends, scared of embarrassment, and ashamed of myself.

“Jet Set? Upper Crust? Why hello, good to see you,” I said, instinctively slipping back into a dignified manner of speaking.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): You’re friends with them?)

Yes…I know they’re jerks, snobs, and look down on anyone who’s less rich…but as with Blueblood, they’re not THAT bad to their actual friends.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): And why didn’t they lump you in the first category instead of the second?)

A number of things. They knew I wasn’t obscenely wealthy, but I was their kind of person…or rather, the pony I used to be was.

“Amethyst Star, it’s been forever!” Upper Crust said, giving a smile. “And I must say, you’re looking fantastic.”

“Thank you, you two are looking well.”

“Spa-Amethyst Star, who are your friends?”

I think my brain crashed for a moment hearing my mom of all ponies use that name. “Oh…Mother, sister this is Jet Set and his wife Upper Crust, Jet Set, Upper Crust, this is my mother Ditzy Doo and my younger sister Dinky Doo.”

“Nice to meet you,” mom said. I could tell she was trying, but mom had no idea how she was supposed to talk. We were lucky she managed to keep her speech impediment under control…to be honest, I was more afraid Jet Set and Upper Crust would delve into a game of ‘bully the country hick.’

Like I said, they’re snobs. But…It’s hard to explain…ok, I know you interviewed Twilight and her friends, did Rainbow Dash tell you about that Griffin Gilda?

(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): We know all about Gilda.)

Ok, well you know how she was nice and friendly to Rainbow Dash but a total jerk to everyone else? I saw it, I think Rainbow was about the only one who DIDN’T see it. Point is, Jet Set and Upper Crust are the same way. They’re good friends, but jerks to everyone else…And I USED to be every bit of a jerk.

+++

I tried not to attract attention. These were Sparklers friends after all…But it felt so weird calling her Amethyst Star. I never called her that myself. But when we were all at the Grand Galloping Gala, she‘d asked us to call her that if her friends came by to talk. I felt like I was speaking some other language just saying ‘Amethyst Star.’ Speaking of which, Sparkler…her language totally changed. Not like she was using different words, but just how she said them…It made me feel even MORE out of place.

Upper Crust looked at me a little funny. “Um…hello, Ditzy…”

“Is something wrong?” I asked, trying not to get nervous.

“Oh…well, it’s just…your eyes are…-”

“My mother has an eye condition,” explained Sparkler, a bit upset. “Please stop staring.”

Upper Crust blinked and shook it off. “Sorry, Amethyst, and sorry, Miss Doo.”

“It’s alright…It’s actually not that bad, it helps me multifl-task,” I said.

Jet Set cleared his throat. “Yes…I am sure it does. Pardon the intrusion, Amethyst, but my wife and I just happened to have a few extra tickets to the Wonderbolts Derby this afternoon. We were planning to have a larger entourage, but most of our regular chums are out of town. Would you…and your family care to join us?”

“The Wonderbolts? A friend of mine talks about them all the rh-time back home. I’ve never got to see them before,” I let slip. “Oh…sorry, bu-just got a bit excited there.”

Sparkler looked concerned, but Jet Set and Upper Crust both looked expectantly at her.

“We…would love to,” Sparkler finally said. “We’re in town for a few days, so we’d love to join you.”

“Fabulous,” said Jet Set, giving her a smile. “We’ll see you then.”

After they’d left, Sparkler rubbed her head. “Perfect…”

“Is something pr-wrong, Sparkler?”

“…Nothing mom…its just…” Sparkler looked like I did half the time, struggling to find the right words to say what she wanted to. “Nothing, never mind.”

“Ok…” I said, but couldn’t help being concerned.

“Momma?”

“What is bi-it, muffin?”

“Can I have another name?”

Me and Sparkler both blinked and looked at each other. “Muffin, you can change blu-your name when you get your Cutie Mark…”

“No, that’s not what I mean.”

I blinked again. “Um…I don’t understand bl-what you’re saying.”

“Well you’re Derpy Hooves and Ditzy Doo, Sparkler’s got Amethyst Star, Carrot Top’s Golden Harvest, Orange Top’s Noi, and the Doctor is Time Turner. I’m just Dinky Doo,” Dinky explained, looking perplexed.

I also noticed Sparkler seemed to zone out when Dinky called her Amethyst Star. “Um…Muffin, you don’t just give bl-yourself another name. I don’t know about Sparkler and the others, but I bl-got my names from my parents, and the Doctor needed another names to blend in the…ac-places he visits…”

I didn’t say anything then, but…I knew how she felt, to feel like you stand out. Because after seeing Sparkler act so refined…I felt more like a fish out of water than ever.

+++

We left our dresses in the room and Sparkler got some fancy looking hats she’d brought with her. Hers was yellow and blue with pink and white flowers, mine was yellow and grey with gold and blue flowers, and Dinky’s was yellow and purple with flowers matching mine. When I asked her about it, she said the stadium could get hot, so most ponies wore hats to keep the sun off their heads, but the hat looking presentable was really the most important part. I was thankful for that, since just a hat was far more comfortable than a dress and at least our hats matched enough to make it clear we were a family.

The Wonderbolts Derby…it was so huge. There were so many ponies. We had pretty good seats too, next to Jet Set and Upper Crust. Still…the skybox behind us reminded me where we were, I saw so many fancy ponies going in. Apparently, the ‘just need a sunhat’ thing only applied to the main section.

“That’s Fancypants’ party up there,” Jet Set explained, he seemed to admire whoever that was.

Upper Crust nodded. “Yes, he’s THE pony to know in Canterlot.”

I nodded, looking up at the skybox. A part of me honestly wished it wasn’t there. It was the only real reminder here of how out of place I was. Without it, this would just be like any baseball game I took Dinky to.

I saw Rarity walking up the stairs, I hadn’t expected to see her here. I REALLY wasn’t expecting her to go into the skybox, or watch one of the rich ponies welcome her in personally…Why did it feel like I was the only one who stood out here? Even when I wasn’t the only one from Ponyville.

I don’t think Jet Set and Upper Crust saw it coming either, their jaws were hanging almost to their hooves. “Fancy…Fancypants invited that country mare into his skybox personally?” Upper Crust asked in disbelief.

I blinked. “I don’t see why not, the country is a wonderful place to visit, very nice and quiet,” I said before I could stop myself. They both just gawked at me. “What?”

+++

The stadium was so huge! I’d been to baseball games, but those stadiums weren’t nearly as big as this one! Everything is so big in Canterlot! Miss Twilight said it was the second biggest city in Equestria after Manehatten! And I believe her!

But I don’t really like the big talk of some of the ponies here, it’s so mean. I don’t blame momma for not knowing how people talked in the big city, I only knew because of the lecture I got from Miss Twilight. I knew when Sparkler’s rich friends said ‘country’, they that they didn’t like that Rarity was from a place like Ponyville. Didn’t they know she was one of the ponies who saved the world? Weird…

(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): Some ponies dislike others for no reason except to make themselves seem bigger.)

I know. It’s a lot like how bullies are. But I wanted to help them see what a terrific pony Rarity was --- all of Ponyville was so proud of her! --- Maybe they’d be nicer to her then.

“Miss Upper Crust?” I asked.

She blinked, looking down at me. “Yes? What is it?”

“Did you know that the Orange Family in Manehatten came from the Apple Family Farms? Their ancestor lives in Ponyville on Sweet Apple Acres.”

She blinked. “No…I…I didn’t know that…”

“Did you know that five of the Elements of Harmony who beat Discord are from Ponyville?”

“No…I…didn’t…know that…”

“Did you know Ponyville was founded on land given directly to the Apple Family by Princess Celestia herself?”

“Ok…I had no idea…”

“Did you know that the legends say Saint Sweetheart did her healings on a farm? Even though there were the beginnings of the tribal hierarchy? and she could easily have gotten a job as a healer with the Pegasi or unicorns?”

I have to admit, I didn’t know the tribal hierarchy hadn’t been set up, the myths all say the unicorns and Pegasi already had their governments. Moonlight corrected me and Twilight said the same thing when I asked her. They’re so smart!

“Well that‘s just a legend.”

“Maybe. Oh! And did you know that only the unicorns who founded Equestria were nobles? The Pegasi were warriors and the Earth Ponies were farmers. Isn’t it cool they all ended up coming together to found Equestria?!”

“…Yes, I suppose…I daresay you have quite aduately conveyed the gist of your message, little dear…”

“Okey! Hope you enjoy the derby!”

I hope what I was saying didn’t go over her head. I really just wanted to show her being from Ponyville wasn’t such a bad thing and lots of good things came from Ponyville.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): I wish it were that simple, Dinky.)

…It isn’t?

+++

Ok, I know mom didn’t MEAN it to be funny, but when Dinky proceeded to point out flaws in their logic, the looks on those two‘s faces were just priceless! I thought Upper Crust was going to short-circuit like a robot in those science fiction novels. Not only was she being fed facts that undermined her belief in superiority of city ponies, it was by a filly who couldn’t be LESS preachy and condemning.

“My sister oh-so-loves to read,” I explained. “She visit’s the library back home whenever she can, she’s quite bright.”

“Bright, mm-hmm…” Upper Crust admitted. “She is…Does she go to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns?”

“No, my mother home-schools her,” I explained, giving a proud smile to mom; she blushed and grinned.

“Oh, look the Derby is starting!” Upper Crust exclaimed, likely to break away from the increasingly awkward situation.

+++

I’ll admit…having Sparkler give me as smile when she said I home schooled Dinky did feel good…but I couldn’t shake that out-of-place feeling.

“I believe Spitfire will win, she is Captain of the Wonderbolts after all,” said Jet Set, to which Upper Crust nodded.

I wondered whether I should say who I felt would win. I wasn’t a diehard fan like Rainbow Dash was; all I knew was from what I’d overheard Rainbow Dash say about them, and seeing them perform at the Gaia Festival (I missed them at the Gala, I was feeling sick from my nerves). I was excited, I’d WANTED to see the Wonderbolts, but…I actually thought Fleetfoot would win, not Spitfire. Rainbow Dash said she was the fastest of the group (not to me…I don’t think Rainbow likes me that much…). But was I supposed to contradict them? Wouldn’t that be a social blunder?

“I think Fleetfoot will win,” Dinky said.

“I agree with Dinky,” I said, not leaving my Muffin hanging. Though I do wonder how she knew that. I didn’t like the looks Jet Set and Upper Crust gave us...guess it WAS a social blunder…

The race started, and boy was it fast! I was glad my eyes go in different directions! It helped me keep an…well, eye on the action.

Fleetfoot won by a nose. I was so excited I jumped up and cheered my loudest…then nervously set down after noticing the stares that drew. “Bar-Sorry…”

“Yes…well…” Jet Set cleared his throat. “How did you two know she’d win?”

I was too nervous to come up with a good reply. I was afraid my speech impediment would kick in.

“I went to a few Rainbow Dash Fanclub meetings back home,” Dinky explained, smiling brightly. I remembered that, back when Rainbow was…admittedly being a bit of a showoff. Dinky had even gotten her picture taken with her. “Rainbow Dash talked about the Wonderbolts when she came in to talk to us, she said Fleetfoot was small and fast. Spitfire’s not captain because she’s the best at everything, she’s a good leader and has the best overall average of the group.”

That’s pretty much what I’d heard Rainbow say…she talks about them a lot on weather patrol…well, not to me, but I’ve overheard her talking to Cloud Kicker.

“Fanclub? I cannot say I’ve never heard of this Rainbow Dash…what has she done to warrant a fan following?” said Upper Crust.

Dinky blinked, and so did I. “Oh, she’s one of the ones who beat the chaos monster and the only Pegasus to ever do a Sonic Rainboom.”

That just seemed to confuse them more. How did they not know that? Those six got two stained glass windows in the castle; one for beating Discord and one for beating Nightmare Moon. It’s one thing for ponies not to know about mine and the Doctor’s adventures, but to not know about the Elements of Harmony?

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Does it bug you no one knows about the things you and the Doctor have done? I From the sound of things, you‘ve both risked your lives quite a few times.)

No, it doesn‘t bother me. The Doctor is anonymous on purpose…and he almost never stays for any kind of thank-you party. I can respect that. It feels good to know I was important to all those planets, to THIS planet, even if me, my family, and the Doctor are the only ones who will ever know.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): Character is what you are in the dark.)

Yeah, I guess it says a lot if you’re not afraid of the dark.

Anyway, we all got distracted by cheering in the skybox. We looked up to see Rarity getting three cheers…

The derby ended and we walked down to the lower level of the stands, Jet Set and Upper Crust talking about this and that. I wasn’t listening. I was trying even harder not to make a fool out of myself…

“Amethyst, it’s been wonderful to see you again,” Upper Crust told Sparkler, giving a smile. She and Jet Set seemed to be treating me and Dinky like we were just…there. Balloons tied to Sparkler’s tail. Maybe I was just being paranoid, but I just felt so alienated…

+++

“It’s been wonderful seeing you as well, I do hope we’ll see you again before we leave.” I honestly wasn’t sure how much I meant that and how much I was politeness

Like I said, they ARE my friends, it’s just…they reminded me so much of the old me, or so I thought. That’s just how I felt. Or at least what I thought I felt.

“We’re going to the Garden Party later this week, would you three like to come?” Jet Set asked politely. By his tone, I could tell HE was just being polite to mom and Dinky.

“Oh, I’m sorry, but we have other plans then, I do hope you’ll enjoy yourselves, however.”

“Oh, sorry to hear that,” Upper Crust said. The thing that made me feel conflicted was she WASN’T just being polite. I could tell she actually meant it. And that just made it worse. “Well, we do hope we’ll see you again before you leave.”

So we said our goodbyes and they left. I was even more confused than before. I know it sounds weird but…I just felt mad at myself for fitting in so well here while mom stood out. Perhaps it would be ’fairer’ if I were as clueless and socially wrong-hoofed as mom. Princess Gaia helped me wash away Discord’s damage to my mind, and made me realize how much mom meant to me…but I think I still had work I needed to do on myself.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Hey, no pony’s perfect. You know what they call someone that is? A Mare-y Sue, and they’re all hard to get along with.)

And that’s when, being the attentive big sister I was, noticed that a very important part of our company had wandered off while we were talking. “Mom, where's Dinky?”

+++

I know I shouldn’t wander off from mom, but I just saw the chance and was curious. I poked my head through the railing, looking down. “Um, excuse me?!”

Spitfire was just off to the side resting after her race. She blinked and looked up at me, then smiled. “Hey, there.”

I smiled back. “You’re Spitfire, right?”

“Yeah, that’s me,” she replied. “What’s your name?”

“Dinky Doo, I’m from Ponyville.”

“Ponyville? Long way from home, huh?” She seemed nice.

“Yeah, I’m here with my momma, she’s getting an award from Princess Luna!”

“Princess Luna?” she asked, looking thoughtful. “Ditzy Doo, right? I heard that, Princess Luna made an announcement. You’ve gotta be proud of her, huh?”

I nodded, then looked over, momma was still with Sparkler talking to Jet Set and Upper Crust. I looked back to Spitfire. “Yeah, a lot!…Would you mind maybe answering a few questions? I’m really curious.”

She gave a chuckle. “Sure, anything for a fan.”

“How do you become a Wonderbolt? Rainbow Dash says it’s really hard work.”

Spitfire looked really, really happy to hear Rainbow Dash’s name. “Rainbow Dash, huh? She’s a friend of mine. Saved my life when I almost died,” she explained, giving a nos…nosetelgic smile. “Yeah, it’s tough. The flight academy in Cloudsdale is a cakewalk compared to us. Can‘t go into details, but a lot of pegasi don‘t make the cut.”

I nodded. “It sounds hard…what event do you do that‘s the hardest?”

She scratched her chin. “That’s a tough one. For me?…I’d say the stunt flying. I may like it better than a race, but it takes a lot of training to be able to keep in sync, one wrong move and someone could get hurt pretty bad. It’s why being a team player is something we really look for. But we‘re all better at different things, so Soarin‘ might think racing is the hardest.”

I gave a nod. “That makes sense. Like how Fleetfoot is the fastest so she does better in races?”

Spitfire gave a warm smile. “Yeah, exactly. I wish more ponies realized that.”

“Yeah, me too, she deserves it…I hope I’m not annoying you,” I said, giving a frown.

She shook her head. “No problem, I like talking to my fans.”

I nodded. “Ok…I’ve always wondered, how do you leave those trails of lightning behind you?”

“Oh, that‘s an easy one…”

+++

“Dinky?!” I asked, looking around frantically. Thankfully, she was right behind us, peaking over the rail. “Dinky!” I called, fluttering over. “Railways hamburger shop!…I bean won’t blunder off bike that, muffin! And blue could half bell!” I called, as sternly as I could manage. I think that was the first time in awhile I’d gotten so worked up my problem made me start speaking nonsense, but I guess losing sight of her in that huge crowd, I’d gotten so scared…

Dinky pinned her ears. “Sorry, momma…” she said, looking up at me.

I softened. “I’m sorry, Muffin. I shouldn’t bell, but By just blot scared…”

We hugged. “It’s ok, momma. But I was just talking to Miss Spitfire.”

I blinked and looked down at the Wonderbolt. “Hi, sorry if she bothered you. Dinky’s bu-just curious.”

“No prob,” Spitfire replied. “I love talking to my fans. Hope you enjoy your say. And congratulations on your award.”

I couldn’t help blushing as we left Spitfire and headed out again. It felt weird to hear that from her.

+++

We got back to our room. I don’t think I’d ever been that exhausted. It wasn’t my body that was tired, I almost never get worn out on mail runs or even going to get the birds during Winter Wrap Up (and having to fly TWICE as far just to get to the right place)…I just felt drained.

I just laid down with my Muffin (Sparkler in her own bed) and went to sleep…

Farther Out of Water

Editted by Alexwarlorn and Louis

The next day, we got up and I wasn’t so sure what to do, honestly. Yeah, the Wonderbolts Derby was great (minus my nerves), but I really didn’t have any other plans until the ceremony, honestly…

Until Rarity showed up at my door the third most-fanciest dress I’ve ever seen here in…Which is saying a lot, because…well, she’s Rarity, that’s what she does.

“Hello, darling,” she smiled. “I’ve been invited to a dinner party tonight, I was wondering if you three could attend if you didn’t have any other plans today.”

“Well…we wo-don’t…bl-you sure its ok?” I asked, trying not to be rude, but I honestly didn’t want to go. But Rarity had been so nice to me…I didn’t want to seem rude and not accept an invitation to a fancy party.

“Oh, no, it’s quite fine, dear, they literally BEGGED me to come.”

“…Ok…”

+++

You know what’s weird?

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): That Rarity stretched a musical number out over two days?)

No…well, ok, that is kinda weird…But I mean everypony was spending so much time staring at her during the party that no one paid attention to the stained glass windows or stuff in the room! They were so pretty! And the view from the windows was really, REALLY great! I even had Sparkler buy me a camera so I could could pictures!

(Interviewer’s notes (Unicorn): Must not be easy without magic.)

Well, you need a special attachment, but it still was really fun!

Oh, and Mr. Fancypants is SO nice!

“So, you’re a REALLY important pony, huh?” I asked him.

“Yes, I suppose ponies see me that way,” he said, giving a smile.

“Why?”

He actually chuckled. “You know, you’re the first pony I think has ever asked me that, quite refreshing, truthfully. It’s because I’m the richest pony, outside of the Princesses, and I’m also the one who has the most sway among the elites. I got that way by being very observant when it comes to trading and the like.”

“Wow, cool!”

He looked me over. “My, that’s a lovely little dress you’re wearing, may I ask where you got it?”

“Oh, Miss Rarity made it. She made my sister and momma’s too.”

“Oh yes, Miss Rarity. She’s made quite the impression. I knew she made all her own dresses, but it’s another story with one of her designs on another pony,” he told me, smiling. “She’s certainly excellent at bringing out the best in a pony, isn’t she?”

I nodded…Then I wanted to see something. “So you’re from Canterlot?”

“Yes, it’s a wonderful city, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Me and momma are from Ponyville…”

“Ponyville, huh? Lovely town, isn’t it?” he asked, giving a smile. “I’ve always been interested in the amount of Equestria’s history is bound up in that little town.”

I smiled widely. “Yeah…you’re the first pony I’ve seen here that seems to know that…”

“Well, the way I see it, the Princesses care about all of us, why shouldn’t I?”

I smiled widely. “I wish more ponies where like you.”

Like I said, he was a REALLY nice pony!

+++

How was the party? I was just glad everypony was looking at Rarity so they didn’t see me trying to figure out which spoon to use during dinner! And even then, I think I used the wrong one for each course of the meal! Not to mention how hard it is to use spoons without a horn anyway!

I was used to just drinking soup straight from the bowl, but I knew that was bad manners here. If you aren’t a unicorn, or have a special talent relating to the pegasi magic that lets us carry things through the air, you just balance the spoon on the edge of the bowl, push down on bring the bowl of the spoon up, and then sip from it.

But…well…I’m clumsy, you know. So I ended up launching my spoon…three times. Thank ALL the Alicorns Sparkler always caught them with her telekinesis and everypony was distracted by Rarity.

So in the end, I forgot about soup and just ate one of the rolls with butter. Wasn’t as good as a muffin, but at least I could eat it without making a complete fool of myself…And then I had to try and figure out which NAPKIN I was supposed to use! Yes, I know know there’s only two and one was used to hold the silverware, but that just confused me! I already have enough trouble figuring this kind of thing out!

Sparkler finally picked one up with telekinesis and helped me. “Thanks…” I whispered, blushing from embarrassment.

+++

Poor mom. She spent that whole dinner party struggling not to make a fool of herself. And meanwhile, I was chatting it up with an old friend. I just felt so bad for her. Again, I felt GUILTY to be fitting in so well while mom was struggling.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): And who was the friend?)

Huh? Oh, her name was Moondancer. White unicorn, red mane, crescent moon cutie mark surrounded by stars. She has a bit collection of plush toys, I think Twilight’s little purple dragon had a crush on her.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Is she like Jet Set and Upper Crust?)

…No…she’s not. She’s really nice. In fact, she, Twinkleshine, Lemonheart, and Minuette all were…I kind of wish those three had been there…Ugh, why do I remember meeting Minuette two different ways? Ugh, stupid Doctor and his stupid time travel. Went on two or three adventures (ONLY because mom REALLY needed me) with him, and I start remembering an alternative timelines on top of the ‘real‘ timeline. I’ll admit the adventures were kind of exciting, but memories that contradict each other? They’re REALLY annoying…

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Don‘t forget, that‘s the Doctor‘s NATURAL way of seeing things.)

Anyway, point is, the first two were on a world tour with Princess Cadence as her hoof maidens and Lemonheart was busy working, so it was just me and Moondancer…

“So, Amethyst Star, how are you doing?” she asked, giving me a smile. “It’s been awhile.”

“Um…Moondancer, if you don’t mind, could you call me Sparkler?” I asked. She, Twinkleshine, Lemonheart, and Minuette are the only ones in Canterlot who knew my original name and where I was from. “That name…it just isn’t me anymore...”

She gently put a hoof over my heart, “Alright, Sparkler, if that’s what you want. But you’ll always be Star to me. You’re a wonderful friend. And the pony I made friends with WAS and IS a wonderful pony.”

Moondancer was always good at picking up emotions…I think she knew how I felt…I gave a smile. “Thanks.”

“No problem. So, how are you doing?”

“Well…better. Between Discord and Princess Gaia, I’ve thrown out a lot of garbage beliefs. Me and mom are-” I cut myself off to catch mom’s spoon for the third time. “-doing fine. So’s Dinky. You?”

“Bored,” Moondancer said with a sigh. “You and Twilight went to Ponyville, Twinkelshine and Minuette are on a world tour with the Princess, Lemonheart is too busy with her job, and Elites who are interested in actual companionship instead of status are…”

“As common as a dragon who doesn’t have bad breath?” We both chuckled. Our voices were low, but most of the elites were too busy brownnosing to notice anyway.

“I wouldn‘t say quite that bad,” Moondancer finished. “By the way, how’s that little dragon of Twilight’s doing?”

“Spike? He’s still working with her. Oh, and he’s crushing on little Miss Popular over there,” I said, rolling my eyes to look at Rarity, who was presently in the middle of a musical number. At this point, I didn’t know who was brownnosing who.

She sighed and shook her head. “When will that little dragon understand he’s a baby?”

I nodded. “Tell me about it…wait, he’s almost as old as Twilight…mentally anyways, why is he still considered a baby?”

“Dragon years, I guess,” Moondancer replied. She chuckled. “But yeah, glad he’s moved on. I may not return his feelings, but I didn’t want the poor kid heartbroken at being separated from me.”

“He’s not, believe me, he’s not,” I told her, giving a chuckle.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Earth Pony): That doesn’t sound like something you should feel guilty about.)

…No, she isn’t, I know that NOW…but I think I was being stubborn in being ashamed of myself to realize it at the time. If it wouldn’t cause a time paradox I’d like to go back and tell past me to stop being a stubborn mule…No offense to mules.

+++

I went straight to bed when we got back, only pausing to hang up my dress and tell Dinky and Sparkler goodnight.

The nightmares about the birds had stopped a long time ago, I’d actually started having more pleasant dreams. Twilight and the others saved me from the birds and I was a hero, I even saved Dinky…

But that night all I had were nightmares about messing up my speech, being laughed at…

+++

“But Pie didn’t study pour this vest! Ahh! I’m naked in pass!”

“You‘re such an idiot! Haha!”

“What‘s a matter? Too dumb to talk right?”

“Hahahahaha!”

“Haha!”

“Hahaha…”

+++

So the next day, we get up to…do something. We still weren’t sure WHAT we were going to do, to be honest. I thought maybe I’d go find Moondancer so at least I’d have some tolerable company. So I went to find an address book to refresh my memory of where she lived.

When probably the one pony I didn’t want to meet happened to be walking in front of me. I tried to act like I didn’t notice him, hoping he was too busy enjoying his swelled head to notice me.

Then he opened the door…for me.

“Is everything alright, Miss?” Prince Blueblood asked as I was picking my jaw off the floor.

“You…you opened the door for…me?” I asked, dumbfounded.

He looked a little embarrassed. “Oh…yes, I did…I understand why you’re surprised,” he admitted. “I’m trying to be more like Aun…to fulfill my royal duties better…You look rather familiar, we’ve met, haven’t we?”

“Uh…yeah…we had a date…It ended with me chewing you out,” I admitted, while giving him a glare.

He rubbed his head embarrassedly. “Unfortunately…that doesn’t narrow it down as much as I wish it did…”

I gave a sigh and an eye roll. “My name is Amethyst Star…” I grumbled, hating the words that came out of my own mouth.

“Oh yes, I remember…” I was MORE surprised when he pulled out a wallet with his magic and produced a sum of bits. “If I remember correctly, this is half of what I made you spend on me, you have my sincere apologizes for the most ungentlestallion-like way I handled myself.”

I numbly took the bits. “You…you…apologize?”

“A stallion can change, can’t he? I have a girlfriend now and thanks to both her, and the two most recent world threatening events our world has sustained, I’ve seen I need to try to live up to my title instead of a spoiled foal,” Blueblood admitted, giving a smile.

At that point, my brain started overheating. “I…I…I.” It wasn’t JUST that Blueblood was nice… I finally just sighed and shook my head. “Sorry…I should know better than anypony a pony can change…”

He looked genuinely confused at that. “Ameth-”

“Sparkler, please.”

“Erm, alright, Sparkler…If this is about how you acted before, I think you have much more reason to doubt my changing than your own. After all, last time you saw me I-”

“Treated your date to the Gala like garbage,” I finished, then cringed. “Sorry…force of habit…”

“No, you’re correct. I didn’t know you were AT the Gala…Anyway, that’s my point. If you think you were bad, I beg to differ,” he told me. “You were a proper lady-”

“But that wasn’t me!” I finally admitted, it was like a dam burst. “That was ‘Amethyst Star’, the big elite Canterlot pony who thought her own, hardworking mother was an embarrassment and wanted nothing to do with her. That’s…that’s a me I made up!”

He actually looked…sympathetic. “At least you made it up, that was actually me.”

And that hit home pretty hard.

“At least you’re ashamed of pretending to be a far better pony than I actually was. And I know how you feel…since Discord’s day, for the longest time, I was terrified of Auntie Celestia and her embodiment because of what that monster did to me…I thought she was trying to kill me…But now I see how stupid I was…We all make mistakes, Sparkler, it‘s living with them not everypony learns to do.”

I’ll admit…that was a speech I expected to hear from Applejack (What? You think I didn’t get a ‘you’re better than you think you are’ speech from her like everypony else?). But it was one I needed to hear. Yes, I know Moondancer told me the same thing…but this just drove in the nail she’d set in place.

“…Thanks…I needed to hear that…”

“Then I’m finally doing my job,” he said, showing a bit of pride that wasn’t the least bit vain. “…Say, I’m letting Miss Rarity christen my new airship…I think she still believes I was forced to do it by Auntie then attend the party afterwards. But would you like to come watch if you haven‘t anything better to do?”

“Uh…sure, if my mom wants to…”

And yeah, that was pretty much my big realization moment. Realizing the pony I’d seen as being the picture next to ‘jerk’ in the dictionary had a gentlestallion inside him and realizing I had it easy compared to someone who actually had a lifetime of being a jerk to make up for while I’d just been a bratty kid and rebellious teen. Sorry it wasn’t epic, I’m not an epic pony.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): They don’t all have to be amazing, Sparkler. Often times, we just want to hear about ponies being ponies.)

Yeah, I guess that’s right…Anyway…I felt free.

+++

Sparkler had always told me Prince Blueblood was mean, but he didn’t seem like it. While mom talked with Sparkler about going to the dock to see his christen his ship, I got to ask him a few questions.

“Mr. Prince Blueblood?” He was a pretty big stallion, reminded me of Mr. Big Macintosh.

“Yes? And Prince Blueblood will do.”

“Ok, what are you Prince of?”

“I’m just a Prince, I don’t have a kingdom or embodiment like my Aunts, though I AM Commodore in Chief of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. It’s the civilian part of the Air Navy.”

“Oh, cool!…What’s the difference between that and the rest of the Air Navy?”

“Well, civilian airships are generally slower than military, they’re unarmed and only have a few air lifeboats instead of light airships.”

“And the ship you’re christening today?”

“Oh, that’s the Wind Fish V, it’s a personal luxury yacht for my personal use.”

“What happen to the old one?”

“It’s donated to my part of the navy for reuse. At the time I just did it to look good, but I’ll admit, it makes sense not to waste the old you know.”

“I see…Do you pilot your own ship or do you have a personal pilot?”

“Oh, I pilot them myself. My special talent is navigation and I don’t think it’d be hubris to say I’m good at it.”

“I didn’t know that! That’s really cool!”

He gave a chuckle. “Most ponies don’t. I actually make my own maps, I’m thinking of publishing some.”

Prince Blueblood was REALLY cool! And so was the Wind Fish V! I got pictures of it! That was so fun!

+++

If I hadn’t been so busy worrying about fitting in, then I probably would’ve been happy to meet Prince Blueblood, considering he seemed pretty nice and understanding. But I was just so nervous I was walking on eggshells! And not just when that waiter dropped a bunch of eggs right in front of me, but that WAS humiliating!

While we were waiting for Rarity to show up and christen the ship, I spotted this pony in the crowd. He was a grayish brown stallion with a black mane and tail, kind of curly. He was wearing a blue top hat and had a blue bow tie. But the weirdest thing was his Cutie Mark, it was just like the Doctor’s! I mean…I know there are a few ponies with an hourglass mark, apart from him. One of Sparkler’s friends has it (I know her name‘s Minuette, but not much else), but it’s a VERY common mark for Time Lords.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Is it? How many Time Lords do you know of that are in Equestria?)

Well…two, the Doctor and the Master. But I knew he wasn’t the Master, because he’s blue and has a yellow mane and tail. I don’t know what it was but…this pony just felt familiar to me. Besides, I didn’t think it’d be any harm to talk to him, I needed SOMETHING to take my mind off of my nerves. And if it was the Master regenerated, the Doctor said he wasn’t a problem anymore.

I walked up to him, taking my hat off and putting my mane back to normal so he’d recognize me if we knew each other. “Um…excuse me?”

He turned to me and blinked, then gave a laugh. “Well I’ll be! Derpy? Long time no see!…Well, I suppose from your perspective you’d just have seen me a bit ago…Oh well! Point is, it’s you!”

He seemed…energetic compared to my Doctor, but he recognized me. “D-Doctor?”

“That’s right, Derpy! Well, relatively speaking, I’ve changed a lot since we met least! But I’m still not ginger! Why can I never be ginger?”

I couldn’t help chuckling a little bit. “I think you’d look good as a ginger.”

“Yeah, so do I! But Regeneration is kind of like that, isn’t it? Never know what you’re going to get. Took me a long time to figure out what I liked to eat, still hate pears. Anyway, I was just here looking for me. Well, your me, not this me. You know which me I mean.”

I nodded, a little confused. “Yeah, you mean the Doctor I know. He’s coming to Canterlot later. Shouldn’t you remember that?”

“Well, time is an even bigger ball of wibbly wobbly…timey-wimey…stuff in this universe than my universe, many roads of time and all that, there’s even an Alicorn of Fate, isn’t that something? Nice mare, wonder what happened to her wing. Anyway, point is, until your present catches up to my future, the past is fluid like the future. Oh, and timelines split when the past changes fancy that! It‘s actually pretty fun! Always new surprises!”

“Uh…ok…”

“Speaking of which, I don’t remember you speaking so clearly, or rather your Doctor doesn’t know at this present. Have you been taking diction lessons?”

I blushed a little. “Yeah, I’m not one hundred percent with it yet though.”

“Well, keep up the good work,” he said, then smiled. “For what its worth, I do miss traveling with you. You were fantastic!”

“…Ba-thanks…so were…are you,” I said, trying to compose myself, but it was…nice to know he’d remember me.

He gave a smile that reminded me of my Doctor. “I know, wasn’t I? Well anyway, I‘ve got to go figure out where me and me are going to meet and make sure my Companion doesn‘t get himself into trouble.”

I blinked. “Oh, you got a new Companion?”

“Yes, kind of have to have one, don’t I? He’s Pokey Pierce’s great uncle, Prickly Pierce. Long story involving Cyberponies and overloading info stamps, now he thinks he’s my third self and he’s somewhere in Canterlot! I really have to find him so we can get back in time and stop this Cyberpony invasion about fifty years ago. I think I may need past me for that, but don’t tell me, let time get there naturally, my memories will catch up with me. But anyway, I really must be going.”

I nodded, that surprisingly didn’t confuse me. We’d had weirder things happen to us.

I hope you have a good day, Derpy. And congratulations on the award.”

“You bl-too, and thanks!…Oh, and I like the bowtie, it looks good on you!”

He smiled ear to ear. “Thank you! Bowties are cool, aren’t they?!”

After future Doctor left, I picked up my hat and headed back to watch the christening after saying goodbye, watched Rarity christen the Wind Fish V…Then noticed ponies where chuckling at me…It took me a few minutes to realize that it wasn’t my hat! I’d picked up a paper bag and put it on my head while thinking about what just happened! In front of all those important ponies!

I was so embarrassed I threw it off as quick as I could…right into a ponies face, causing him to trip and knock over a bunch of trashcans (I swear I think they were there JUST to humiliate me!). I don’t know what, if ANYTHING happened after that because I ran back to the room, only stopping to pick up Dinky on the way, running over a few ponies in the process. I was lucky my dress wasn’t ruined.

+++

I didn’t leave the room at ALL until it was time for my ceremony. I was too scared I’d do MORE to embarrass myself again! I just told Dinky and Sparkler to go without me while I rested. Dinky had a great time, Sparkler seemed to enjoy herself more…but I just wanted to go home…

By the time we went to the stage, I was a nervous wreck. I just set backstage shaking like a leaf.

I know I know, it’s weird that I can go on adventures with the Doctor or fight off an army of birds controlled by a mad goddess, but I have a breakdown from having to give a speech…

(Interviewer’s Notes (Pegasus): Hey, everypony has something that scares them. Can‘t tell you what due to confidentiality and all that, but its true.)

Thanks. But I didn’t know that back then…

“Miss Doo,” said Luna, trotting over to me, giving a smile. “We will begin shortly, I do hope you shall be ready and your stay has been enjoyable.”

“Crown…Mushroom…Smart Cookie…Hospital!” I finally screamed in frustration and struggled just not to breakdown crying. I couldn’t even put together a proper sentence!

Luna blinked. “…I am sorry…I am a thousand years behind the times, does that mean something?…And why is she slamming her head against the wall?”

+++

I was really worried about momma…she was so scared. I know everypony gets scared sometimes, but it’s so weird seeing momma scared. Let alone of giving a speech. I know she gets afraid of me getting hurt, or Sparkler getting hurt…

When momma starts saying things that don’t make any sense, she’s really scared or angry…

I walked up and nudged her. “Momma…it’ll be ok…you’ll do good…” I told her. She smiled at me and hugged me.

“The muffin. Starlight. Mail-feathers,” she said, still not able to talk right, but I knew what she meant. Momma makes sense if you REALLY pay attention and it’s close enough. She meant ‘thank you’. “Lost toothache.” ‘But I’m still having problems.’

Poor momma…I felt so bad for her…But I didn’t know what to say.

+++

It wasn’t good. When mom got THIS worked up, it was a miracle to put together enough of what she was saying to understand at all. I looked to Princess Luna. “Mom’s nervous, when she gets this worked up, her speech impediment gets worse.”

Luna frowned. “Oh, I see…Will she be alright?”

“We’ll try to calm her down, give us a little bit,” I said, looking to mom. She was a nervous wreck, even with Dinky helping. She needed SOMETHING to snap her out of it, something that would override her nerves. Me and Dinky couldn’t hate her if we tried at that point, that was the problem; she already KNEW that. She needed something else.

I peaked out the curtain at the audience. Bunch of Canterlot ponies…Ok, there was Carrot Top, Berry Punch (along with Ruby Pinch, Noi, and Cheerilee (likely for moral support for Berry)), the Doctor. There was grandpa Well To Doo and grandma Daring Doo (I STILL think she inspired the book somehow). Grandpa Tender Hooves and…I gasped. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Or mom’s luck.

I ran over to mom. “Mom!” I called, getting her attention. “Grandma is here!”

“Book.”

Translation ‘I know’.

“No, the OTHER grandma!”

“Lauren Faust sketching Firefly?!”

Translation…I have absolutely no idea.

Her eyes went wide and I could barely get out of her way as she hurried to the curtain. Who’s Lauren Faust?

+++

Field spring muffins sunlight!

(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): Derpy, settle down. You’re speaking nonsense…Let it be known Derpy took a two minute break to composer herself.)

Sorry, I’m just so happy thinking about it! It was the third happiest thing to ever happen to me! Behind getting my Muffins!

There, next to daddy…was mom. My BIOLOGICAL mom! She’d came! She’d really came! And she didn’t look disappointed! She actually looked…proud…I still said some nonsense until I settled down, but…There just aren’t words to describe how that felt. My mom had come to see me and looked proud of me! My mom was proud of me!

Luna blinked, coming over. “Miss Doo, are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m pine!…Oh, sorry…I’m ok, wo-don’t worry,” I said, wiping happy tears from my eyes.

Luna smiled. “Good, Miss Doo.”

“But…there is one thing…”

+++

Luna stood on the stage, I waited to be called. “Ladies and gentlecolts! I, your Nightsty Princess Luna, am here to acknowledge a pony who overcame tremendous odds to protect her foal. In my long life, I have seen countless mares who would go to untold lengths for their child!” she announced. But…I thought she looked so sad for a moment when she said that last sentence…

“And this mare has shown loyalty to her foal that goes above and beyond the call! Despite the offering of paradise, despite everything that was offered to her, she fought to protect her beloved foal! Both during the reign of Princess Gaia and afterwards!” she then smiled a little. “Also, I would like to announce that, because she feels she can better express her heartfelt feelings in this fashion, her acceptance of the award shall be in song!”

Yes…it’s kind of silly…Well, not really, I guess, ponies have had spontaneous musical numbers for sillier things and it’s how we express ourselves often, so I probably didn’t even NEED to have that announcement made…but I didn’t want to go out and accept the award using the diction lessons, I…I just can’t express what’s in my heart like that. Oh? That makes sense? Ok.

“MY LITTLE PONIES, PLEASE WELCOME MISS DITZY DOO, ALSO KNOWN AS MISS DERPY HOOVES, AND HER DAUGHTERS DINKY DOO AND SPARKLER HOOVES AS SHE ACCEPTS THE TITLE OF GREATEST MOTHER AND STRONGEST WILLED PONY IN EQUESTRIA!” she announced, in what I think was the Royal Canterlot Voice.

And we trotted out to the stage and took it, Dinky and Sparkler at my side. I blinked as I noticed Rarity, who seemed like she was in a BIG hurry to get there, force her way into the line up at the back.

But then I looked into all four of my parent’s eyes…they all looked proud. My biological mother looked a little conflicted, but I saw pride. I smiled to her, and she smiled back.

I cleared my throat. "Thank you everypony for this day.
I hope you’ll listen to what I say.
I don‘t know if I.
Deserve the award I win
But I love my children.
Do not ask me why.
Just know that this is true.
Dinky, Sparkler, I love you,” I sung, looking to them with a smile.

"I just did was what any mother would do.
But I’m proud that you think it’s true
That I’ve earned this prize.
That much please realize.
My family, my friends
Know that in the end
The words I’m glad are true
Are ‘Derpy, we’re proud of you’,” I sung, finally ending and giving a bow. Ponies actually clapped. I turned, Luna smiled to me and nodded.

We headed down to my family and family. I know I’m being quick but…the important part wasn’t the ceremony.

My friends all congratulated me, the Doctor mentioned a crazy situation he and his future self ’d gotten themselves in and they stopped that Cyberpony invasion, and Prickly Pierce got most of his memories back. Oh! And Caramel and Cherry Fizzy’s families ended up being connected and now there’s more Royal Guards, so that’s nice! The two of us would end up stopping that crazy ‘doll’ maker awhile later…that really didn’t seem as big a deal, even if it was a REALLY creepy adventure…just that’s my life, I’ve done stuff like that before…this was so much more…special…

But when I got to Rarity…I had to ask her something. “Rarity…why have blue been helping be so much?” I asked.. “I appreciate bit, but…spy?”

Rarity frowned. “…I’ve…I’ve had my share of lying for one week, Ditzy…so I’ll tell you…the gossip about Dinky and protective services reached me…I felt after the world, had treated you so badly…you were owed some simple kindness and generosity.”

I hugged her. “Banks, Rarity…That means a lot.”

Finally, all four of my parents flocked around me, taking turns telling me they were so proud of me. It all felt good…but one stands out…

My mother, Dancing Hooves, for the first time I can remember, smiled proudly to me. “…Derpy…I’m so proud of you…of everything you’ve done…You’ve become a better mare than I am…than I ever imagined you could be.”

…I…I hugged my mom…I told her I loved her…she told me she loved me…

+++

Grandma made it! Momma got an award! I got lots and lots of picture to show Pip, Moonlight, and Ruby, and I learned a lot about Canterlot!

+++

Grandma…I don’t know if she came to see how wrong she was, or just decided ‘I can be proud of her NOW’…But I know her pride wasn’t faked, I’ve SEEN fake pride by the gallons, and that wasn’t it. She was proud of mom and there for her when she needed it most. That’s what matters.

(Interviewer’s Notes (Unicorn): Yes…more than you know. You may well have saved her soul, Sparkler.)

Never really thought about the afterlife much, just know there has to be one…but yeah, you’re probably right…that woman needed to wake up in this life before she reached the next.

Me? I finally stopped beating myself up over how much I loved being an elite. Amethyst Star is a part of me…I told Jet Set and Upper Crust I was ’country’, they didn’t know what to think. I don’t know if they’ll change, but if Dancing Hooves can, why can’t they?…I think I’m going to write Moondancer a letter when we’re done here, maybe visit her…

+++

What more-

+++

-is there-

+++

-to say?

Bonus Chapter: Little Brother

Author's Note

Commissioned by Alexwarlorn

Bonus Chapter: Little Brother

Spoilers for the end of the Pony POV Series Rumors Arc!

Oh! Hello! It's been a long time! Glad you're fine after the 'Bad Wolf' thing as the Doctor called it. Huh? Yeah, I remember. Though I don't know everything that happened there. I'm just glad that it's over and my Muffins are safe again! And that I can eat muffins again too, now that I don't have to worry about them being poisoned or ponies...or poisoned ponies! I ate a lot of them when everything was back to normal! ...Ugh...I ate too many muffins. I didn't even know you could!

Oh? How am I handling the new memories? Oh, fine! This isn't the first time it happened and the Doctor warned me it would happen...And...well...Yes, I'm blushing! On Hearts and Hooves Day me and the Doctor had a date...long story involving love arrows, which are a thing now...Uh...Oh! And there's one other new thing that does make me really happy!

It happened when I first met my first parents again. Oh, I never explained how I found my biological parents last time? Well it's kind of funny actually! You know how I work at the post office? Well did you know I'm not the only mail pony there?...You did? Oh. And well one day, one of my co-workers, Post Haste, realized that one of the ponies on his route looked a lot like me, and asked if I knew them. The names sounded familiar and then it clicked! I couldn't remember the names, but hearing them kinda sparked it a little bit, you know? He told me where they lived. So after work that night I went to check after picking up Sparkler from high school (she was a teenager at the time).

Mom almost fainted when I opened the door and she saw me, but daddy hugged me tight and cried when he found out who I was. That's when I found out my last name was Hooves too. Now it's here where things changed a bit between the two times, because I told him something different happened the second way it happened, since it did. Instead of falling into the river during a flying lesson, I wandered off playing with a bubble blower and fell into the water chasing it. I wonder why the 'all powerful foal' did that changed that, it's not that different. But it's after I explained that that something really different happened!

“Daddy, who's that?”

I looked over my parents shoulders and saw a little colt! He was so tiny, a few years younger than the Crusaders are now! He had the same fur and mane color as Dinky does...would have, too!

“Derby, this is your big sister Derpy,” my dad, his name is Tender Hooves, said, pointing to me. “Derpy, this is your baby brother, Derby Hooves.”

“I calf a brother?!” I asked.

“I have a sister?!” he asked, the two of us rushing to look at each other.

Yeah, that's right, I have a baby brother now! I didn't expect it either, but I'm happy about it! Thank you, all powerful foal!

“Hi, brittle brother!” I said, smiling wide. Then he looked at me weird.

“Huh? Brittle?”

“Oh!” I said back, then rubbed my head. “I have a breach embitterment...”

“Your sister has a speech impediment, Derby,” dad explained. I heard mom say something under her breath. “She mixes up words sometimes.”

Yeah, I was surprised he remembered too! We hadn't seen each other in years!

“Oh...sorry big sister...”

“No problem, bit happens wall the time.”

“Okay. Um...why your eyes looking in different directions?”

“She was born that way, Derby,” mom said. Why'd she sound bitter?

“Yeah, she's bright,” I explained, then smiled down at him. “But also so I can beep one eye in brunt of me and one eye on blot I care about!”

Derby blinked and looked at my eyes. He followed my other eye, looking to Sparkler (who was just sitting off to the side at the time). “...Like her?”

I nodded. “Yep! That's your niece, Sparkler!” I explained, then looked to Sparkler. “Sparkler! Book! You've pot an uncle!”

Sparkler just looked at him...

(Sparkler's POV)
“Oh...hi...I guess...” I replied, looking at my little uncle. Let's get one thing straight here: no, just because some cosmic mess up changed how grandmother tried to get rid of mom, doesn't mean she didn't try to. Or the fact I could tell a mile away from how she was looking at mom and little Derby that Derby was 'Derpy but without the flaws' in her mind. Not that I'd tell the little guy that.

It also didn't change the fact I was a bratty teenager who, while respecting my mom's work ethic after spending an evening doing it with her, had no interest in being there at all. If hoofheld video games had been invented yet, I'd probably have had my muzzle buried in one and ignoring everything. I'd met the family that actually gave a darn about mom already, so I really didn't care about about any of this. I'd open up to grandpa...eventually.

As for my little uncle, he did what a small foal typically does and booped my nose with his hoof when I lowered my head to look at him. Mom giggled. “...If I'm your uncle, why am I younger than you?” he asked.

I just shrugged. “Dunno...”

He stood there staring awkwardly at me for a few moments. Yeah, I know I was being rude. Because I was rude back then. Bratty teenager, remember? Not any happier about that than you are.

Derby apparently realized I wasn't going to be talkative and turned back to his parents. “Momma, daddy, can I show Derpy my room?!”

“I don't know about that, Derby...” Dancing Hooves said hesitantly. Translation? 'Don't want the defective one to taint the good one.'

“Oh, come on, Dancing, it's his first time meeting his big sister,” grandpa replied. “Sure you can, Derby.”

“Yay! Come on, big sister!” shouted the little colt, before leading mom off.

“Sparkler, be rice to pour grandparents!” mom called.

“Yeah yeah...” I replied.

“So, Sparkler, what are you up to?” grandmother asked, looking to me.

“High school.”

“Oh...”

“I also babysit. Four bits an hour.”

Grandpa then gave a smile after another awkward silence. “Hey, here's an idea: how about we go dig up Derpy's old baby pictures and surprise her with them?”

Grandmother then got a shocked look. “But I thought those were lost in that flood.”

“No, that hit the basement. I kept them in the attic.”

“Oh...That's good.”

Given grandmother's look, I could tell she was disappointed. Was I afraid of humiliating mom? No. One, bratty teenager. Two, I'd already figured out what grandma did to my mom (grandma just confirmed it with how she was acting), and wanted her to face the music. And three, mom had wanted to see them again so badly I don't think anything less than her parents saying 'I hate you' to her face would get her down.

Derby led the way to his room and...I felt all nostalgic. I hadn't seen my old house in a really, really, really long time! It was just a normal house, but it was where I was lived back when I was really little! In fact right there was a picture of me when I was really little! I wondered why it's back here behind all those other pictures on the mantle place!

“Hey, book, Derby! It's be!” I said, picking it up and showing it to him. Yuck! It was all dusty!

“Wow! I didn't even know that was there, big sister!” he said, looking at it. “...Momma used to be really pretty, didn't she?”

I put the picture back and looked at it. I hadn't noticed before that but mom did have a lot more wrinkles and white hairs in her mane than I remembered. But...there was something else about her I just couldn't put my hoof on. Dad didn't have whatever it was. The way Derby said it...I think he could tell even if he hadn't seen her before until now.

“Yeah, she bid...”

Derby kept leading the way to his room and I kept looking around. There was the picture of mom and dad at their wedding...there I could really see that mom used to be prettier, but I still couldn't put my hoof on why.

“Here we are, big sister!” Derby shouted, opening his door.

“Wow!” I exclaimed, looking inside. “You've blot a race cart bled!”

It was really cool, red with flames on the side!

“Yeah! It's really cool! I like to pretend I'm racing NASCART!” Derby said, flying over and landing on it, then pretending he was driving a race cart. He was so cute!

Then I noticed the rest of the room! He had toy carts and a big long track that went all over the room with lots of loops and turns! “Did you bake bliss?”

He nodded and flew over to the start of it and sent one of his little toy carts down the track and it went all over the place. I don't think I could keep track of it if my eyes were both in the same direction! “It took me forever to figure out how to do it!”

I smiled, watching it zip around the room. “Blue!”

I took a step to try and enter his room...then stopped, looking at all the tracks.

“What's wrong, big sister?” Derby asked, looking up at me.

“Oh! I'm wind of clumsy. I don't flaunt to wreck bit.”

After how much work he put into it, I really didn't want to mess it up. It was important to him.

“Oh...It's fine, I can put it back and have lots of extra track! Momma and daddy buy me lots of them!” Derby said with a smile.

“Okay...”

And...when I stepped in I tripped and knocked a piece of track off with my head. “Woops...Sorry...”

“It's okay, I can fix it!” my little brother replied, flapping up to come do it...and then my other eyes noticed something.

“Book pout!”

Derby looked up as the cart flew off the track at him...and I jumped in the way and let it hit me in the head instead. “OW!”

My little brother gasped. “Derpy! Are you okay?!”

I nodded, rubbing my head. “Yeah, bits pine. My head is pretty card. I bit it a blot.”

“...Thank you, big sister.”

I smiled back to him. “I bid say my eye was pour watching blot I care about.”

Yeah, I know, I just met him, but if I'm protective of my muffins, why wouldn't I be of my baby brother?

After we both sat down on the floor, I looked around more, seeing posters of NASCART racers and more toy carts all over the place. “So, blue really bike cart racing, huh?”

Derby nodded. “Yeah! I really do! I listen to them all the time on the radio and daddy takes me all the time! I even got a lot of autographs! I want to be a fast cart racer when I grow up!”

I smiled. He looked so excited talking about it. “That's blue! Good buck!”

“Thanks, big sister! I'll try my best!”

I gave a chuckle, remembering something that I didn't think much about. “Bin I was a filly, by won bee Applewood Derby black in Ponyville.”

“You did?!” Derby asked, smiling up at me. Hehe...you know, it's weird, but it made me feel warm inside to see him look up to me like that...Huh? It's not. Okay.

I nodded. “Bell, it was bust the creativity category, cut yeah! I entered pith my brother mom.”

“Brother mom? Oh! Other mom...Other mom?” he asked, cocking his head.

“Oh yeah, by didn't explain splat. After I pot separated from mom, some price unicorns pound me and took bee in. That's where I plot the game Ditzy Do.”

His eyes went wide. “Wow, you have TWO names?!”

I nodded. “Yep! One pun mom and dad, the brother from by other mom bland dad!”

Hehe...Derby would eventually start going by 'Crackle Pop' too after learning that Sparkler had two names. Dad thought it was fun!

“But anypay, I entered and bust made a cart I blot would be pun! I didn't blink I'd pin, but I bid! I bid okay in the race, but didn't bit a ribbon care,” I explained.

“Cool...think I could be in it someday?” he asked, looking up at me with 'puppy dog eyes'.

I smiled and ruffled his mane. “Blur! But you bleed to be older.”

I lived in Ponyville, so he could visit and join, that was in the rules. Sparkler hadn't cared about it, so I hadn't gotten to compete since I was a filly. It'd be fun!

We just kind of sat there talking for awhile. Derby told me how he was doing in school and I told him about being a mailmare! It was a lot more exciting than he expected it to be.

“Wow, so you really go even when it's hailing out?” he asked, eyes wide.

“Yep! Sometimes even bin there's blunder and lightning!”

“Wow! You're so brave big sister!”

“Well by kinda took an oath: 'Neither blow nor rain now beat nor gloom of bright pays these couriers from the spiff completion of bear appointed pounds!' I do pie best to live pup to that!”

“Pay, Sparkler! How bar you bowing?” I asked, trotting back into the living room with Derby riding on my back.

“Oh...hey mom. We found your baby pictures,” Sparkler said, looking up from the old photo albums with my parents.

I gasped and galloped over, being careful with my little brother, who seemed to be having fun riding on me. “Really?! Blue kept them?” I asked.

Dad nodded and showed one. “Remember this one? It's when you had your first muffin.”

I laughed. It was me with a basket and lots of crumbs. “I remember! Book, Derby! I bait so many muffins!”

Derby's eyes went wide. “You ate the whole basket?! I can barely eat two!”

I nodded. “There's blow such bing as blue many muffins!”

Dad laughed with me for a little bit, then looked to Derby. “So, Derby, did you like meeting your big sister?”

Derby nodded. “Yeah! Big sister is so cool! Do you know she's been employee of the month at the Ponyville post office every month for ten years?! She even flew during a tornado once!”

Mom's eyes went wide. “N-No, I didn't...”

I wonder why mom looked almost...scared when he said that. Nah, she was probably just surprised. Why would she be scared?

“Really? That's fantastic, Derpy!” Dad said, then hugged me! And I hugged him! I was hugging my biological dad again! Sorry, just that felt really good after not seeing him for so long!

(Sparkler)

Hehe...I remember the look on grandmother's face when that happened. But I admit...the more important ones were the ones on grandpa's and Derby's. Those were the ones that meant something to mom.

So we just sat there for awhile, talking about my old baby pictures. Derby laughed so hard at some of them! I'm glad he was being happy!

We skipped the ones of me being potty trained though...cause, well, he's a boy and I'm not...

“What's this one?” Derby asked, pointing to one of me in a tub of tomato juice.

“Oh, blats when I missed book a skunk pour a cat...skunks aren't bats. Don't hug them. Pour pet them.”

No, I wasn't embarrassed. I show Dinky Sparkler's baby pictures all the time, so why would I be embarrassed of mine?

When it was time to leave, Derby hugged me. “Will you come back soon, big sister?”

“Now, Derby, your sister is very busy...” mom said. Aww, that was considerate of her.

“Mom has plenty of time after her runs, right mom?” Sparkler asked, giving a smile. It was kinda a weird smile and she was looking more at mom than me. I didn't understand teenagers.

I nodded. “Blats right! I pan visit a lot, Derby!”

“Yay!” Derby exclaimed. “I'll make a new cart track to show you when you come back!”

“Perfect...” mom said...why didn't she sound happy?...Like I said before, mom could be a little cold...

There was one other thing that happened with Derby that I want to talk about...it was after I had Dinky and I brought her to show my parents. Both sets of them of course.

Derby even made a track in his room that spelled out 'It's a girl' just for Dinky! It was so sweet of him!

“Daddy said this is what ponies put up when the stork brings a baby, is that right?” he asked, putting a pink cart on the track.

I giggled. “Blats right! I dove it! Bank you, Derby!”

“You're welcome, big sister!...Can I see her?”

I nodded and reached back, taking off the baby carrier I had on my back. I sat the carrier down in front of him. “Derby, bliss is pour niece, Dinky!”

Derby peaked over the side at her. Hehe! Dinky booped his nose and started giggling! “She's so tiny!”

I nodded, kneeling down next to them. “Yeah! She wiz!”

“Is that why she's called Dinky?” he asked, still looking at her as she grabbed his muzzle with her hooves.

I chuckled. “Hope. My games are Derpy pan Ditzy, and yours is Derby! Bow Derpy, Ditzy, Derby, and Dinky.”

“Oh! I get it!”

(Dinky)
Uncle Derby? Oh, I like him! Now when I visited Grandma and Grandpa Hooves we play with his car collection and his racing games! Hehe, when Grandpa Hooves let him come visit momma here, I invited him to come play with me and the others at Pipsqueek's house!

He isn't really into pirates or privateers...but then Pipsqueak got a really good idea for him to pretend to be another privateer and us to have a boat race! It was fun!

I introduced Uncle Derby to Button Mash too, and they really got along. They played a lot of racing games together. I think they're still tied...

Oh? What did Discord do to him?...He trapped him on a race track running from racing carts for hours...Even though I didn't like it, Fluttershy helped him a bit too before I even knew about it...I was too busy dealing with me and my Muffin's problems at the time...

But...one more thing after that that makes me happy? Derby was at Luna's celebration for me with both my moms and dads!

When I went to meet them after I made my song, he hug tackled me. “Big sister! That was awesome! Can I see the medal?!”

“Sure, maybe brother!” I said, showing him the medal.

And...we both noticed something about mom after that too...Well, for one she seemed happier seeing us together, but there was something else. Something bigger...

“Big sister?” Derby asked me, the two of us just talking.

“Bless, little brother?” I asked.

“...Momma looks prettier now, doesn't she?”

I looked at mom and...yeah...She wasn't exactly like she was in the old pictures but, that one thing I couldn't put my hoof on about her did seem...less than it had been before...

“Pour right, Derby. She does.”

The End.