Mothers Return

Mother returned with a few bags of food last night. Enough to make the trek there and back. Even some packs to carry it all in. Since I was the stronger and could endure more abuse I carried more. We were a good ways east of where the town was. It was a rural area. Mostly farmers and such but they were nice when we passed through after looking at my map. If I hadnt looked at my map we would've been going the wrong way entirely. Even had the villagers help us. Now we were kinda going up hill. Sun at our backs and it was kinda hot out. Cool breeze helped kinda. Mother was at my side best of what she could do for being a prissy pony who still did her own chores but was alluring enough to not ever do them. She looked to me giving a huff. "You do this too much to even be my baby girl. My little girl would be playing with her dolls, not mucking around in dirt!" She said.

I gave a snarky smile. "Well your daughters cutie mark told her what she does best and that is find her way!" I replied. "Deserts, savanna, taiga and even forests and jungles. Treked them all and even climbed mountains. I find my way while your other daughter wanders where ever she goes. Somehow still ends up finding her way but thats Ditzy for you!"

"Besides what's happening... has Ditzy been a good girl?"

"Yeah... She's been great. Started a family and everything. She did have some trouble finding someone but settled down with someone we both kinda know. Helped us for many of years even after you ran off." Of course I was talking about the doctor. For those who dont know apparently the Doctor is a strange being who can shift his form if gravely injured. Either that or just gets too old for his form. Told me he's had that a few times. Apparently he also deals with some other weird shit. More... alien than magical. Might see if he could take me on one of his adventures if he needs to get some alien artifact to save Equestria. My mother looked back to the road or rather path ahead.

"Well... who ever he is I hope he's taking good care of my baby girl..." That kinda hurt. Gave no attention to it. She glanced back at me. "Did she heal well after her accident?"

"Bedridden, busted blood vessels in the eye, her eye is forever cocked, no doctor could fix it, ours wouldnt dare try to fix it on a filly that young, and could barely walk for months. She was even subjected to verbal and physical abuse by ponies who were her friends. You should've seen her after one of the only slumber parties we've had.... Broken, written on and the tears... We threatened them with the guard to get them to leave. I had to help Ditzy clean herself up, hold her in bed and make sure those assholes werent gonna return... Gardener would've taken care of them. Scared em good with a blade. Did that with a robber who threatened to violate me. Nearly ran off without a tail. Nearly." She huffed.

"My poor girl... I hope she's been well though... I know with the circumstances its hard to picture what else she's been through." I stopped and huffed.

"What about ME?! You have two daughters! Need I remind you?!" She stopped and looked back at me. "I'm your daughter as well! I was hurt the most when you left! I nearly killed myself!"

"Oh uh... I'm... sorry Daring... I just... I guess I worry about Ditzy too much...."

"And look where that led us!" We stared each other down for a moment before I broke off and just started walking forward again. "C'mon. Lets keep moving."

She followed me begrudgingly. Only thought of Ditzy as we walked. Didnt say. Only felt she was. Earlier in life we had just been out and about a few months after Ditzy's birthday. She was still a filly at heart coloring and what not every day which I loved. Drew with her a couple times back home. But we were out spending time together. Ponyville at the time was developing into what it was today. City hall was being built up a bit. I looked to Ditzy as she was just fluttering around me as I walked. I gave a sigh enjoying the cool spring air. "Smell that air Ditz! Flowers and sweet fruits OOH I just wanna run over to Sweet Apple Acres and get a bucket of those apples!" I said. I was as happy as could be here. Not a care in the world other than the care I have for my sister.

Ditzy laughed landing right next to me. "Those apples are YUMMY!" She exclaimed. "I wants some green ones and a red one juuuust for my sissy!" She cuddled up close to me kinda hugging me with her wings. I blushed hard as some ponies looked to us.

"Alright calm down Ditzy! We can get two of em just for us... maybe if they're in good moods they can sneak us a few more!" I sighed a bit looking to the sky. Something mother did for checking the time since she didnt trust clocks if you remember. I learned how that worked early on. Find a point on the horizon. Time at the horizon was around six or seven when the sun set. Time now? Four thirty ish. Dont get me wrong I trusted clocks but I didnt have a pocket watch anywhere on me so I had to learn from The Doctor how she did it. Guess he taught it to her. I looked to her. "Maybe if we hurry we can get back before it gets dark... Just hope the Doc doesnt get mad at us like last time..."

The Doctor got mad at us because he set a curfew he never told us about one night only because it started raining that night. We had to be walked home by someone at the bakery. Think it was Mr. Carrot Cake... Either that or his fiance at the time... Ditz and I took a quick shortcut by flying to the road towards the outskirts of Ponyville. The view at the time was beautiful because it wasnt obstructed with a giant castle in the middle of town. That's where we'd push a cloud, sit down and just look out over Equestria, mostly to see Cloudsdale in the distance. If the sun was just right you'd get a good colorful shine off in the distance. Anywho we flew to that path and landed just to walk the rest of the way. When we got there we found the mother- who was married to the owner at this time- to the current owner of Sweet Apple Acres- sitting at the front gate to the orchard. The mothers name was Pear Butter. Orange mane, cream colored coat. She was expecting her next foal within a couple months so her belly was protruding out a bit. She smiled as we walked right up. "Well now... If it aint Ditzy and Darin'!" She said. "You come all the way out here to get yourselves some of the harvest today?" I smiled.

"Yes Ma'am. Four apples if you can spare em!" She laughed a bit standing up.

"Anythin' for the mares that bring a smile to my family's face anytime we se em... But I'm afraid we're just about picked clean today from our reserves. Could offer ya a pie or a half a dozen fritters but... if I remember from whatcha told me Darin' you're allergic to that sugar we use to caramelize the apples to make em."

"Ah yeah..." She hummed a bit leading us into the gate going back to her home.

"Tell ya what girls. If you go out into the orchard to the right of the house and find some apples that look good you can have em. No charge."

Ditzy laughed a bit. "Yay! Apples!" She said. "I wants a red one!" We all walked together towards the house where we saw the father playing with who the owners are now of Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack and Big MacIntosh. Nice ponies. They didnt notice us because they were so distracted that they were.

I looked to Pear Butter as we neared the side of the house. "Hows the baby coming along?" I asked.

Pear Butter looked over at me. "She's doing mighty fine here thanks for askin'. Just wish this little filly didnt make me so darn tired all the time..." She said. "Should probably have my husband help me inside... maybe get us something to drink. You girls want anything?" I looked to Ditzy as she ran off into the trees just looking for apples to pick. I just sighed and looked to the pregnant mare.

"No thanks for right now Miss Pear. If we need anything we'll come for it. You just get inside and relax!" She smiled.

"Alright. I'll tell my husband you're here and that I okayed the apple pickin. You just keep your sister's noggin safe. Dont wanna have to go home with another bump on her head!" I nodded and hurried after Ditzy leaving Pear to her rest. To this day I knew I should've alerted our Doctor to check on her condition... She sadly passed away during child birth a few months later and the father took his own life with a broken heart few months after that. But Applejack took her parents work to heart and the orchard is still alive today.

When I caught up with Ditzy she already was munching on an apple getting the juice all over her face. I had one too and we just ran around for a while playing hide and seek like the little fillies we were. Though we did lose track of time. When we realized it was nearly dark we picked our last apples and headed back to the house of the Apples. When we came from the trees we saw Pear Butter's husband outside with a lantern ready to look through the trees just hanging on a big wooden collar like he was about to pull a farm tool or a family cart. He looked to us sighing. "There ya girls are!" He said. This was Bright Mac. Yellow coat, red mane and a green apple that was cut in half just shining on his rump. "Wife told me you girls were here but never saw ya leave! We gotta get you girls home right now! Radio said there were thieves about preying on mostly fillies like yourselves." ...I realize its a bit cliche to do something like that but that's actually the way he said it if I'm remembering right.

Ditzy cuddled up to me scared. "...P-Ponies gonna take things from us?" She asked.

"Not if we stay together and get your tails back to your house. I'll even cover your flanks, just say you stayed to play with the kids."

I smiled a bit. "Thank you sir. And I know we're gonna be pressed for info after you leave on why we were this far out." I said. He smiled as we started down the road.

"Dont worry. Just stick to the story and you should be good. You came to get apples, played with the kids for a bit, lost track of time. Understand?" I nodded. "Good. Now stick close." He started jogging in front of us and we followed as close as we could without losing our apples saved for the gardener and the doctor. Apple a day keeps the doctor away? Lie. We live with one! Stupid joke...

Back to today my mother and I were going up a hill inside of a small forest. Forest here was nothing to be seen. Just trees and a slight incline. Mother was in front of me insisting she carry the idol while I carried most of the other things. If it werent for my training and high stamina I'd be stuck half way up probably on my back. She looked back at me. "We should stop up here and rest. We've been walking so far!" She said.

I huffed. "Mother you asked that ten minutes ago... AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE FOREST!" I snapped. "I just want to get as far as we can before nightfall! At the top of this hill we can rest for a little while. We arent setting up camp, we arent taking a nap we need to cover as much ground as we can!"

"Well Daring your sister is definitely priority but you dont understand that mommy needs to sit down and rest for a while and perhaps use the little fillies room!"

"Pick a bush. I wont be far!" She huffed.

"I am NOT using a bush!"

"THEN USE A FUCKING TREE. SIT ON A BRANCH AND JUST GO!" She stopped dead and I trudged past her. I managed to reach a flat area just a few minutes ahead. I set down the stuff, stretched a bit before sitting down looking at my surroundings. Trees, leaves, tracks... didnt know what but they looked too small to be anything dangerous. I went into nearby bushes just to keep an eye on our stuff while I went and watered the plants. I needed a lot of water here and my canteen was mostly hogged by my mother... if she had done this a day in her life she'd know how easy it is to ration water... Lucky this thing takes in moisture from the air- if any- and converts it into clean drinking water just in case. Deserts are a special case though and its hard to get through those with this thing. If there is any body of water nearby all I do is dunk it in and it fills with the freshest water ever. All sediment material gets filtered out. Somewhat of an alchemy bottle if you think about it. I dont really understand how it does the things it does but it works. I sat here for a while before my mother showed up with tears in her eyes. She sat down with her back towards me.

"You... You yelled at me... even when we need to save Ditzy...." She said. I huffed.

"...Mother I'm sorry but this is what I go through every day. If I dont feel safe on the ground, I sit on a branch to go. Knowing you the one who's used a toilet their whole life you dont feel comfortable going anywhere you're unfamiliar with..." I got up and slowly walked over to her only to sit at her side. "There was a time where me and Ditzy needed you the most..."

"...Y-You didnt need me... dont lie..."

"But we did mother. Someone broke in and threatened to kill us... violate your little girls..."

This was late after we got home that night we were getting Apples. Dinner was cooked by the Doctor, the gardener helped out sometimes and tonight he just provided ingredients for a fresh home made pasta sauce. Garlic and pepper tomato sauce with a hint of lemon for a little tang. Ditzy and I were both eating good portions of it. Ditzy was still on her first bowl while I was on my second. Even with an apple in my system I still felt hungry enough to eat what ever. Clear Cut turned in early after dinner since nothing else needed to be done and he didnt like down time. Felt like it would make him lazy. I guess I took a page from his book though and added it to mine. Down time I cherish but only so much before I feel lazy. Anywho I finished my second bowl of pasta as the Doctor finished wiping the mess from my sisters face. "Ditzy you silly girl! Food goes in you not on you!" He said. He always treated her like a foal the way she was but she didnt mind. As you saw she still acts like a filly even given how old she is.

I wiped my face with a napkin as Ditzy giggled. "I was savin's it!" She said. I couldnt help but laugh at her.

"Well we can save some in a bowl for you in the fridge! You dont want sauce in your mane again do we?"

"No not again!" The Doctor looked to me.

"Still hungry Miss Daring?" He asked. I picked up my glass of juice and drank a bit.

After I was done i set my glass down and looked to him. "I'd say yes but then we'd have none left for Ditzy's face!" I said laughing a bit. Ditzy whined a bit and it made me stop.

"Daring be nice!"

"Sorry Ditz..." I rubbed the back of my head smiling nervously.

Ditzy looked to me as the doctor finished cleaning her face off. "It's okay! Just jokes right?" She asked.

"Just jokes." I leaned over and gave her a hug.

The Doc gave a laugh as we hopped off our seats taking each others hooves. "Alright girls you head on up and relax now. You've had a long day and it's almost time for bed!" He said. "Bath tomorrow night though! Anymore and you're gonna stink worse than that rotten tomato in the garden!"

Ditzy and I both nodded before going upstairs now holding wings. We found out the hard way holding hooves while climbing stairs isnt the best. Someone fell down and hurt her flank. That was me surprisingly. Ditzy was fine but she was worried about me. But that's not about today. That was about a couple years earlier. As we got upstairs we both took turns in the bathroom since we always kinda shared the same bathroom... that and Ditzy always checked for spiders because I didnt wanna be doing my business and be just brought up on a mound of my own excrement if a spider came down in front of my face. If she sees one, she tells me to wait and tells the doctor to get it out. No spider this time. Though this time I didnt feel the need to use the restroom at all. Just went straight to the room. Went to bed. And dont worry. I didnt wet the bed this time. Though maybe... oh two something in the morning- when I had to rely on a little lantern to light my way to the restroom. Couldnt turn on the lights because I'd wake Ditzy. As I exited the restroom this is what would've gotten me scared shitless even though I was at this point. A stallion wearing nothing but dark clothing and a mask jumped me and wrestled with me making a whole lot of noise and even breaking a few things. We stopped when he pinned me under his heavy ass. "Well now what have we here?" He said, his voice as rough as the sands of southern Equestria. "A little filly to play with..." I gasped a bit but he covered my mouth right quick before I saw a knife floating in his glowing green magic. Unicorn. "Ah ah ah! You scream and my knife cuts a hole in that beautiful neck of yours... you might do just as well but its not the same without hearing you gag, begging for air!"

I whimpered a bit as he pushed the blade up against my neck, grinding himself on me. "...D-Dont hurt me... please..." I whispered under my breath.

"Oh now why would I do that? You have things that I need... big house all alone in this forest? Looks like you got a bunch of goodies just for me... especially the one back here..." He patted my flank a bit... made me almost sick to my stomach. "Where're the valuables kid? Tell me and I promise I wont be as rough...."

"...G-Get off me... let me grab my lantern... I'll show you...."

"And how do I know you wont run huh? Or scream for that matter...? Just tell me and-"

"NOT ON YOUR LIFE RUFFIAN!" I hear someone yell. My gaze was blinded for a moment as the lights turned on and the knife in front of me gleaned only with a few specks of what to this day I swear was blood from someone he had done in earlier. I looked back around after my vision returned and there at the top of the stairs I saw Clear Cut, my gardener standing there with a machete- which I now carry to cut through the jungles and ropes if im ever captured- in his magic. The stallion got up off me but kept me where I was. Even kept the knife where I could see it.

"Back off! Otherwise she gets it!" I could see the gardener wasnt about to step down. The other doors opened and I could see Ditzy out of the corner of my eye coming out of the room rubbing her eyes only to see us when her golden eyes shown. The other corner of my eyes with a slight turn of my head I saw the Doctor who just looked as if he were about to witness a murder of someone he cared so much about. "Back off and lose the blade! I'll do it I swear!" He pressed the blade up to my neck and holy hell I thought this was it. That this was where my life ended. One swift move and that would've been it for me. But no. The Gardener made his machete disappear and he sat where he was holding his hooves where we could see them. "Good good..." He looked to the doctor. "You! The safe! Now!" The doctor sat frozen still gawking at us.

Tears started running down my cheeks. "...D-Doc... do as he says... please!" I said. The doctor still stood still. He was frozen. I clenched my eyes shut as I felt the thieves blade push up against my neck just before I hear something metal hit a hard object making the thief scream out and drop the blade. I opened my eyes and in front of me I see my gardeners machete floating in front of my face with... blood... dripping from it and on the floor? The tip of the robbers horn on the floor. I mustered the strength to throw him off and run to the gardener just to hide behind him. I watched as the gardener held the long blade to the robbers neck. The horn jutting from his mask was orange. Blood steadily dripped from the broken tip even as he had the mask ripped off his face. Orange coat, red mane that looked messy. Was about the length of the Doctors give or take.

The gardener grinned widely walking around him. "Well now... We have two options here... Option one being you run as fast as you can and as far as you can and you keep the rest of your horn..." He said. "Option two? Keep threatening my family and the owner of this house with either violating her or violating her late parents items... Your horn, and other appendages will be gone... The easy choice is the most obvious one... Three Seconds...." Didnt even take him three seconds to make the choice of pick his stuff up and run. He just grabbed his horn in his teeth and booked it downstairs and out the front door. I ran up to Clear Cut and hugged him tight crying into his shoulder. Everyone ran up to me and checked on me, asking if I was okay... I had to climb into bed with Ditzy to get back to sleep.

That very next morning I got up from a bit of a shock to the sound of a knock at the door. "Daring? Daring are you awake in there?" I hear the Doctor ask. I looked around and Ditzy wasnt in the room. She got out of bed some time earlier and replaced herself with Mr. Bunbun. I tossed my stuffed bunny friend aside and got out of bed looking around. I felt paranoid that this was some trick, someone had gone and hurt my family, impersonated them and they were just waiting for me to be vulnerable to make their move. This wasnt the case. I opened the door and there was the Doctor standing right outside my door. I quickly latched onto him. He hugged me back. "Hey hey... it's okay bad guys LONG gone.. You're alright..."

I broke the hug and looked around. "Wh-Where's Ditz? Is she okay?" I asked.

"Yeah she's fine. She's talking with the guard downstairs and we need you too. They think they have the right guy who broke in... think he went straight to the hospital to get it attached. Can you compose yourself long enough to talk to the guard?" I nodded and followed him downstairs.

Back to today I was in tears laying in my mothers lap. She huffed. "Why did the doctor not help you when you needed it?" She asked

I sniffled letting a few sobs escape. "...He... He was scared... he doesnt fight... he's not like me..." I said. "He would've put me in more danger if he had done anything... he's... he's clumsy at times you know this! Especially under stress!"

"He is?"

"...Right... you werent there because you didnt care about us..." Mother sat me up hugging me.

"Sweetie I DO care about you and your sister...why do you think I left? I wanted to save my little girls from the same fate as their father. If I hadnt this idol would take you and your sister from me.... you were always my favorite Daring... a tough filly who almost didnt take no for an answer... Only reason your sister has fallen ill first is because I... well..." She hesitated a bit. I looked to her.

"You... what?" I asked.

"I...I was planning to visit the old homestead... see if it was salvageable or even be able to be lived in... It wasnt and I couldnt even find my favorite dress... Your fathers old clothes were there, some actually wearable but I found nothing... As I left I thought I'd go through Ponyville... So much has changed in all these years... The new Princess, her castle and even some new shops that popped up around town. But... Then I saw your sister. Flying around, looking as happy as could be, delivering packages to ponies who even got mad at her because they got the wrong package. It's not her fault she has extensive damage to her head!"

"Yeah that was YOU AND YOU SCREWED US AGAIN!" I tried pushing her away but she held me closer.

"Daring! Daring i didnt mean to! Yes this is my fault but it's not my fault that we crossed paths and I started thinking about you girls again! It's just... That moment I saw Ditzy I wanted to give her a hug when she started crying... She ran away when I wanted to... not to mention a random mare coming out of nowhere to hug some random mail mare... They'd look at me thinking I was crazy... not to mention Ditzy. She would just be scared of me... and if I had meant to get her sick... would I be here trying to help cure her? NO! So stop blaming me.... please..." I sniffled just sobbing over her shoulder not even saying anything. She just shushed me. "Daring sweetie just calm down... mommy's got you..."

"...M-Mommy... dont let your baby girl die... I... I dont wanna lose my sister..." She shushed me and kissed me on the forehead.

"Dont worry... we'll calm down and get back on this until sundown. Perhaps we should eat something now too." I nodded into my mothers shoulder.

We ate a few hooffulls of granola. Even opened up a can of creamed corn soup and drank it. It's not as good cold. But it was something in my stomach. After we ate we grabbed our things and my mother actually took half of what we had and carried it. Though in that time all I could think about was my sister. When we settled down in an open field I set up a fire and just sat there in the dark with mother sleeping nearby. The moon lit just about everything. I was looking to the sky, counting all the stars I could see. Always did that when I had something on my mind. Best thing is we were far enough away from any large cities just to see the stars shine above. As I did that magic scroll appeared and just... smacked me in the face. I quickly grabbed it and unrolled it just before the fire to see the words.

'Dear Daring Do

Ditzy is doing alright for the moment. We're doing everything we can to keep her healthy. Juice, soup and medicine. I know the medicine isnt needed but it helps to keep her awake in the day time and asleep at night. Unfortunately she's already had an accident or two in bed but we've remedied that. The Princess even came by and offered to help but I declined for her. We know what you're doing and if I recall your father was sick for a month before he passed... sorry if I had to bring up bad memories. And... that someone you ran into... is... is it your mother? If it is... I hope you arent being too harsh with her... perhaps when you're done bring her by after you're done. I'm sure Ditzy would love to see her. And dont worry I wont say anything about that... Dont even let her know I'm still around but if you did... I guess I have some explaining to do. As for now just write back on your whereabouts. And if you're safe. Write back soon.

Love The Doctor, Ditzy and Dinky Do too.'

I had to admit that was cute. Made my heart warm up but worry a bit more for my sister. I sighed and took the note into the darkness far away from mothers ears. I set the paper down and sighed. "Dear Doctor..." I started. "I'm fine but I'm scared... worried. Mother revealed some things that just scared me. I had to tell her what happened after she left us when we were younger. Told her about the robber, the nanny and... even that dark part of history I'm reminded of everytime I look into the mirror. I dont mind it though. It's probably making her regret ever leaving. To be honest I dont really know where we are but tomorrow we're gonna start heading north to see what town we are near and perhaps get some real food to eat. Granola can only take us so far and we have to stock up again... perhaps a warm meal will help. I'll hurry as fast as I can to get back to Ditzy. I'll be back as soon as possible, love you guys... Goodnight to everyone. Let everyone know I'm alright and that I'm okay. Make something up that I'm gonna be off on another adventure soon." I looked to the moon once more. "And pray to the goddess above that we get through this safely... all parties involved..."

To be continued.