Today was not your typical day in Ponyville. It was much, much happier, at least to Derpy Hooves. Her daughter, Dinky, was turning thirteen! The cross-eyed mare smiled as she thought of all the years she had watched her little muffin grow. She followed behind the purple unicorn as she spoke her first words, took her first step, levitated her first toy, had her first dance. Derpy frowned, Dinky may have had fun when she attended the Ponyville Schoolhouse's Spring Fling, but Derpy felt a bit upset that the filly's date cast her aside, not that Dinky minded any.
"I just don't know what went wrong." Derpy muttered to herself as she stirred some muffin batter in a large bowl. "Dinky's a nice filly, why wouldn't anypony dance with her?"
The gray mare shook her head, her sunny yellow mane bouncing around as she trotted around her cluttered kitchen, gathering supplies. What appeared to be a muffin pan, but it had a huge mold in the center and three little ones on each side, and a muffin-shaped timer. She poured the batter carefully into the mold, tossing it into the oven before setting the timer. The pegasus collapsed on a brown, comfy couch. She stared at a clock, which read 4:15 am.
"Dinky should be home soon." Derpy smiled to herself. The clock had been broken for longer than anypony could remember, but the two ponies whom it belonged two refused to change it, as if that would change the world's time. Knowing the Hooves' household, that wasn't too far off.
Derpy fluttered her wings, waiting for her daughter to walk in the door. She closed her gold eyes for barely a moment when
SLAM!
The gray pegasus looked up and saw a crying filly running down the hall. Derpy waited a couple minutes before trotting towards Dinky's bedroom door, which had been slammed shortly after the unicorn had taken refuge in it.
"Dinky? Are you okay?" Her caring mother asked.
"N-no and why would y-you care?" Dinky answered between sobs. This concerned Derpy greatly. Dinky was rarely upset.
"Dinky, open the door."
"No,"
"Dinky, open it now." The elder's voice was stern. The door was slowly opened by a shimmering, light purple aura. Derpy walked into a neat, orderly room. The floor had a soft, plush, butter-colored carpet, which went nicely with the gentle purple walls. There was a white desk and book shelf, which housed many toys and papers. A small pile of books was on the floor by the head of a simple brown bunkbed, giving the room just that perfect touch.
Dinky was curled on the top bunk of her bed, snuggling a pink plush pony to her chest, tears streaming down her face.
"Mommy?" She croaked, nuzzling her toy.
"Yes, my little muffin?" Derpy answered, fluttering up beside her daughter.
"Do you... do you hate me?" She buried her face into the soft fur on her pony.
"Dinky Hooves, wherever would you get an idea like that?!"
"The... the ponies at school... they said that once I'm thirteen, I'd do things and you'd hate me."
Derpy held Dinky's head in her hoof tenderly. "Dinky, I will never hate you."
"Even if I-"
"Never."
"You mean if I-"
"No, Dinky. Never."
"Then why did they say that, mommy?"
"Because, Dinky, there are good ponies and mean ponies in the world." Derpy said, stroking her filly's pale gold mane. "The ponies who told you that were mean. They think it's funny to see others upset."
"Why, though?"
"Because they wish they had the type of love that you have, and are jealous, so they think if you don't have love, they can't be jealous anymore."
"Why are they jealous? Don't their mommies love them?"
"Sometimes their mommies and daddies are too busy to show them they love them, even though they really do."
"Oh," Dinky said. "When I'm a mommy, I'll show my little foal I love them more than anything else."
Derpy's cheeks tinged at the thought of grandchildren. "I hope that's not for a while."
"No, mommy, right now I have you." The unicorn said, curling under her mother's wing.
"I love you, Dinky." Derpy whispered in her daughter's ear.
"I love you, too, mommy."
***
Dinky was galloping all throughout Ponyville, handing out invitations to her birthday party. Pinkie was, naturally, throwing the party, but agreed to have Derpy bake the cake, much to someponies' dismay. Dinky had two invitations left, and she wanted to give them to two very special ponies.
"Where would they be? Where would they be?" She asked herself as her hooves pounded the ground. She skidded to a stop. "The Ponyville Schoolhouse!"
She turned tail and galloped towards the school, her two targets in mind. When she reached the playground by the school, she saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon gossiping to each other by the slide. When they looked up and noticed her, they sniggered.
"Hey look, it's Dummy Hooves's filly, Stinky!" Diamond Tiara taunted. "Still no cutie mark, Stinky?"
Dinky kept her cool as the two bullies laughed at her. "I came to give you invitations to my birthday party."
"And why would we come?" Silver Spoon asked.
"Shut up, Silver Spoon... why would we come?" Diamond snapped rudely.
"Because my mommy DOES love me, and even of you don't think so, your's does, too."
Diamond blushed in rage. "How DARE you suggest my mom doesn't love me?"
"Mommy told me that sometimes ponies will be mean because they don't feel loved, and don't think other's should, either." Dinky explained. "I just want you to know, I forgive you, and I hope we can be friends."
With that, Dinky gave the two fillies an invitation each and trotted away.
"Wow, what a dummy." Silver laughed. "To think we could be friends with Stinky Hooves!"
"Shut up, Silver Spoon!" Diamond hissed after a moment. "I'm going to go pick her up a present. Now you can stay or go."
Silver seemed dumbstruck. "Um, sure, I'll go!"
***
Dinky was sitting at the head of a large table, blushing as all her friends sang her the Happy Birthday song.
Pinkie and Derpy placed a large, muffin-shaped cake in front of her.
"Maaake a wish!" They both cried out. Dinky took a deep breath, filling her lungs to the max, then letting it all loose, blowing out the candles.
"What'd you wish for?" Scootaloo asked, looking excitedly at Dinky.
"You dummy, it won't come true if she tells you!" Sweetie Belle said, pushing Scootaloo back in her seat.
Everypony turned their heads at a small voice that came from the door.
"Am I late?" Diamond Tiara asked, carrying a beautifully wrapped gift on her back. Silver Spoon, who was standing beside her, wearing saddle bags, waved sheepishly.
Dinky grinned and galloped up to them, pulling them in a hug. "I knew you'd come!"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders stared, their mouths ajar.
"I felt really bad, so... here." Diamond Tiara said as she handed Dinky the package.
"So did I." Silver Spoon said, pulling a small box out of her saddle bags. Dinky looked at them.
"Want to sit down and have cake?" She offered. The two "bullies" looked at each other.
"Yes!" They said simultaneously, before the three fillies took their seats. Pinkie was crying happily as Derpy tried to stop the waterfall of tears from drenching the fillies and cake.
"It's j-just so sw-sweet!" Pinkie cried, and blew her nose.
Derpy cleared her throat. "Why don't we have cake?"
The Element of Laughter stopped her tears of delight and smiled. "Oh, I almost forgot!"
The "cake" was really a giant blueberry muffin, which everypony enjoyed, Dinky especially. When the time came to open presents, Dinky was pleasantly surprised.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders had made her a cape which matched their's, with the exception of bubbles around the edge.
"Thank you! It reminds me of mommy." She smiled, hugging her friends.
The rest were normal presents not worth mentioning, books and toys and the like.
But Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's...
Diamond Tiara had given Dinky a beautiful purple-gray dress with rhinestones which glittered in the light. Dinky nearly crushed Diamond in a hug, while Pinkie tried keeping Derpy from crying with joy.
"Oh, Diamond, it's beautiful!" Dinky cried, tears swelling in her eyes.
"Mine isn't as spectacular, but I hope you like it." Silver Spoon said. "Close your eyes."
Dinky closed them, and when she opened them, Silver Spoon had put a little silver chain around Dinky's neck with a muffin charm on the end. Tears spilled out of the birthday unicorn's eyes as she hugged all of her friends.
"This... is the... best. Birthday. Ever!"
***
Dinky was passed out on the bottom bunk of her bed. Her dress was draped over a chair, her necklace still on her throat. Derpy snuck in and laid a blanket on the tired unicorn as she gently snored.
"Sweet dreams, my little muffin. Mommy loves you." She whispered, kissing her daughter's forehead. "You mean so much to me."
Meanwhile, in Diamond Tiara's room...
Diamond Tiara was snuggled in a lavish bed, tucked in tight by a nanny. Her heart yearned for something, something she must have.
"Nanny Gentle Heart, can you please ask mother if she can come here?"
The nanny shook her head. "Your mother is busy."
"Please, nanny Gentle Heart? Pleeaassee?"
"I'll see what I can do." Gentle Heart said, trotting away. Diamond Tiara laid her head on her perfectly fluffed pillow, thinking about what Dinky had said. Diamond Tiara had to wonder, did her mother really love her? A soft hoof on her shoulder caused her turn turn around. A gentle smile from a beautiful mare looked down on her.
"Mother!" Diamond cried, hugging the mare.
"Little Diamond," The mare said, hugging back.
"Mother, I love you so much!"
"I love you, too."
Dinky Hooves awoke with a start. She could have sworn she heard something. She listened ever so carefully. There was a low growling followed by snarling. The nightmare monsters were somewhere in the house!
Dinky listened harder, quietly gasping when she realized.
"They're in mommy's room!" She leaped off her bed, quickly galloping around the corner to her mom's bedroom. What she saw what most adults had forgotten to see, but her foal eyes knew just what they were. In the shadows were the nightmare monsters. Dinky grit her teeth, jumping over the nightmare monsters, using her body as a shield between them and her mother.
"Stay..." Her horn lit up with a yellow glow.
"Away..." She levitated several toys to her side.
"From..." Suddenly, her aura surrounded the toys, turning them into full grown stallions dressed in Royal Guard uniform.
"MOMMY!" She yelled at them as the room was lit up with the protective magic of the small filly. The stallions' manes and hooves blazed with fire as they stomped on the nightmare monsters, destroying them for good.
Dinky collapsed, exhausted and sweating, the magic sapping her of all her power. Derpy immediately snapped awake. She looked around frantically, and when her eyes locked on Dinky, she instantly sped over and scooped up her baby.
"Oh, Dinky, are you okay?!" Derpy asked, snuggling and looking over her daughter. Dinky may have been thirteen, but she was small for her age, and Derpy was strong anyways.
"Mommy, the nightmare monsters came to get you... but I scared them away..." She whispered hoarsely. Derpy flew into the kitchen, got Dinky a glass of water, then made hot chocolate to calm her down.
"I wonder why nightmare monsters would come here..." Derpy shook her head, putting extra marshmallows in Dinky's cup.
"Mommy, can you see the nightmare monsters? Miss Cheerilee can't, and neither can Miss Applejack or Miss Rainbow Dash. But Miss Pinkie Pie can, and you're kinda like Miss Pinkie, only more mom-ish." Dinky said, dead serious.
Derpy looked in her cup, which she barely touched, whereas Dinky's was almost gone.
"I can see the nightmare monsters, sweetie." Derpy said, pouring Dinky another cup. "Not many adults can, though. Miss Pinkie and I are one of the few exceptions."
"Why are you, mommy?"
"I guess," Derpy thought long and hard. "I guess it's because when we're foals, we can imagine so many things, and bring them to life just like a full-grown unicorn can. But most of the time we forget how to do that, so we can't see the nightmare monsters or anything anymore. But because Miss Pinkie and I still act kinda like foals, we remember how to see."
"That's why sometimes we're treated funny, because we see what they forgot to." Derpy continued, "But Dinky, don't ever lose it. Don't stop seeing nightmare monsters or fairies or imaginary friends, because they're real, you just need to know how to see them."
Dinky nodded.
"I won't forget mommy. I promise." She said, her head held high.
"That's my girl." Derpy hugged her daughter. "Now go back to bed."
"B-but what if the nightmare monsters come back?" She asked worridly.
"They won't, I'll make sure." The pegasus winked, causing Dinky to giggle.
"Okay, mommy." She said, giving her a kiss on the cheek and skipping down the hall to her room.
Derpy smiled and started to clean up the kitchen. When she was done, she heard a hooting, and saw an owl on the table, a letter tied to it's leg.
"Oh, hello there, little owl. How'd you get inside?" Derpy asked, untying the letter. The owl merely flew away. Derpy looked at the address on the envelope.
Dinky Debora Hooves
12345 Muffin street, Ponyville
The first bedroom on the right.
"Well, that's funny." Derpy said, "They even got where her bedroom is..."
Then she saw the stamp.
"Celestia's School for Gifted Uni- DINKY!!"
