Inseparable

by Tima Scribbles

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Tragedy, Dinky Hooves, Derpy Hooves
Length: 6102

Dinky Hooves finds herself alone on the one day that you need family the most.

Hearth's Warming is a day for family and happiness. Dinky and Derpy treasure this day and their time with each other. However, one Hearth's Warming Eve, a storm changes all that and Dinky realizes how lonely her life is without her mother. The two loved each other more than anything in the world; Dinky has no intention of losing that bond.

Published 2013-02-15 09:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-02-15 09:00:02 UTC

Warmth

Inseparable

By Tima Scribbles

A circle of fog appeared on the window pane as Dinky Hooves sat, diligently observing the winter wonderland that Ponyville had become. The muffled sound of laughter reached her ears – the other young fillies on her street were enjoying the snow. Dinky had plunked herself down near the fireplace to keep warm; shifting herself about, she found a warmer spot and laid her head on the window sill. She crinkled her nose as she felt the cold from the glass – this made her giggle. A smile slowly inched its way across her face.

Using her hoof, she began to draw something in the frost on the window. Slowly and surely an image began to take form on the glass – a perfect likeness of her mother. Dinky giggled more as she drew her mother's eyes. Her mother wasn't perfect, and neither were her eyes, but Dinky loved her all the more for it. Content with the drawing, she lowered her hoof to the sill and looked up at it. Warmth spread through her body of a kind that no fire could ever provide. Derpy Hooves – her mother. The word “Mommy” drifted through her head and her eyelids became heavy. Imagining her mother's embrace, Dinky's body felt lighter and lighter, and she thought less and less. It was the kind of sleep one could only have on a winter's day near a warm hearth. Indeed, it had almost claimed her, but something grabbed her attention. Her mind caught on something and she returned to reality.

Suddenly, her ears perked up, and a few sparks flew from her horn at her realization.

“Mommy will be home soon,” she rejoiced!

Sleep and fatigue forgotten, Dinky hopped to her hooves and ran to the kitchen. A tablecloth, plates, and utensils appeared on the table with speed that could only be attained through careful practice. Dinky nosed around the cupboard until she found a small parcel wrapped in cloth that she had hidden away. Bringing the small package to the counter, Dinky stopped for a moment to find a stool. She handled the package with care; its contents were precious indeed. Finally, she was ready to open it. Carefully, she tugged at the knot and opened the cloth, revealing a large helping of daisies. Dinky beamed at the treasure before her; daisies were hard to come by in the winter and had taken a good deal of saving to purchase. This had not fazed her, however, for tonight was Hearth's Warming Eve – a night when everypony spoiled themselves and had the best meal of the year! She poked at the small flowers to make sure they were still fresh. Satisfied, she brought out a loaf of bread. Her mouth began to water at the prospect of daisy sandwiches and a daisy salad, a meal that the Hooves' could only afford once every year.

I must be careful, she thought to herself as she began to prepare the meal. Derpy was working late, as she did every Hearth's Warming. Dinky had prepared the special dinner every year since she was able. She worked with great concentration, the meal was a great point of pride for her, but, above all, she wanted Derpy to be proud.

I want Mommy to be happy, she thought. Dinky stopped her work for a moment and thought about her mother. Most ponies seemed to get happier at this time of year but she noticed her mother always became more sullen than usual. Derpy would try to hide it and put a brave face on, but Dinky could always see through it. She had known her too long. Derpy often cried at night when she thought Dinky was in bed, she always seemed so tired and sad after work. This made Dinky sad, too. She wrestled with the urge to cry for a moment, but she caught herself and focused back on her work.

If I work hard and get this perfect then Mommy won’t have a reason to cry, she told herself. Pushing the thoughts from her mind she resumed her preparations.

Once the food was ready, Dinky carefully brought it to the table. She checked once more the positions of the plates and cutlery. It was perfect except for one thing. The candles! Concentrating, Dinky used her magic to levitate two candles to the centre of the table. Sparks flew from her horn and she gasped from exertion once the job was done. She wiped the sweat from her brow and looked at the candles. They could only be lit by Derpy, that was her job. Dinky chuckled again at memories of Hearth's Warmings past, where Derpy had knocked the candles over trying to light them. In the end, the two had always laughed because they were together. A wide smile slid across Dinky's face at the thought of spending the night with her mother.

On that thought, Dinky catapulted herself out of the kitchen and into the living room. She paced about with her eyes on the clock for a time until she resumed her place at the window. The other fillies had gone inside as the sun had since gone down. An empty street greeted her through the glass. Since Dinner was prepared, Dinky relaxed and closed her eyes. But her mind remained busy. She thought of many things: their lack of a Hearth's Warming tree, the fact that theirs was the only unlit house on the street. But, most of all, she thought of her mother. That same feeling of warmth she had felt earlier washed over her. Butterflies filled her stomach.

“Will Mommy be happy with the dinner I made?” she wondered aloud. But soon, this anxiety gave way to drowsiness and Dinky drifted off to sleep.

***

Dinky suddenly found herself awake and alert. Her hooves had become very cold from lying against the glass and she held them close to warm them. Shivering, she wondered what had woken her. Her ears pricked up, though, as she heard the tell-tale creaking of the front door. She squealed with delight and darted to the entrance of the house. Hardly able to sit still, Dinky hovered before the front door, rocking back and forth in anticipation.

Bitingly cold air struck Dinky as the door opened, and she recoiled for a moment, but only a moment. There, at the entrance, stood Derpy Hooves, her mother. The mare stepped in, eager to escape the cold. She shivered and sighed, weariness plastered across her face, but not for long. Dinky propelled herself at her mother and hugged her tightly. The mare stopped and stood still for a time. Then, beaming with true happiness, she embraced Dinky and the two held each other, not caring about the cold or the open door.

Eventually they stepped in and Derpy closed the door. Once they were in the living room, she shrugged off her saddlebags and looked seriously at Dinky.

“Dinky, I ha- have something to tell you,” said Derpy. She then paused as if deep in thought. Dinky looked puzzled and sat down to listen. Derpy seemed to age years in the following seconds. With a look of guilt on her face, she continued.

“Santa Hooves... wo- won't be coming this year.” She winced and looked at Dinky apprehensively, unsure as to how she would take it.

“He never comes anyway,” replied Dinky, matter-of-factly. “Why would this year be any different, who needs him?” Dinky thrust her nose in the air and peeked at her mother from the corner of her eye, hoping this had reassured her.

Derpy sighed. She knew it wasn't supposed to be this way. She had hoped to be able to give her daughter so much more in life. Weariness flashed across her face again. She walked to Dinky and brought her close, nuzzling her.

“You're so... good. D- Do you know that, Dinky?” said Derpy. A couple lonely tears dripped from her eyes. Dinky noticed and held her mother tight.

“Please don't cry, Mommy,” pleaded Dinky. “We're together and that's enough. Being with you tonight is the best gift a filly could have! Just please don't cry, please don't cry.” She repeated this over and over. “I just want you to be happy.” Derpy kissed her daughter on the head.

“I... am happy, now that I am home.” Derpy smiled and wiped her tears away with her hoof. After a moment's silence, Dinky began to push her mother toward the kitchen.

“Look at what I made, Mommy!” said Dinky. Derpy gasped at the bounty before her. Her reaction was the same every year: speechless, awe struck. These were true feelings, too. Each and every Hearth's Warming she could not help but be amazed by her daughter's talent. Derpy sauntered over to the table being extra careful not to knock anything over.

“This looks... de- delicious!” she said. She hovered over the food, unsure whether to touch and spoil the perfection before her. Dinky ran off to the cupboard, leaving her mother alone to contemplate the meal to come. She returned with a match to light the candles. Derpy carefully took it and scrunched her eyes and face up in concentration. With movements calculated as carefully as she could manage, she struck the match. It sputtered for a moment then burst into flame. The two stared at the small flame and eventually Dinky had to nudge her mother to light the candles before it burnt out. Derpy did so and the beautiful light filled the kitchen from wall to wall. Sitting across from each other, the two locked eyes and smiled. The glow from the candles lit up their faces as they began to eat.

Between mouthfuls of sandwich and salad, Derpy recounted her day's work. Dinky soaked up her mother's stories like a sponge. She sat, wide eyed, imagining herself soaring through the sky with her mother, delivering Ponyville's mail. Time passed quickly as the two sat like this, one dramatically using her hooves to show how she had flown through the sky, the other so riveted that she had yet to try her food. Derpy raised one hoof high in the air and dove toward the table, giggling all the while.

“And then Mommy swooped down!” Derpy made a great whooshing sound with her mouth, so great that it blew out the candles. Dinky erupted in laughter and hopped from her seat to fetch a new match. Derpy, in the darkness, blushed and grinned a little.

Stumbling about on her way to the cupboard, Dinky stopped and noticed something in the living room. She emerged from the darkness of the kitchen and waited patiently for her eyes to adjust to the light. There on the carpet lay a brown, paper package, near her mother's saddlebag. “Could it be for me?” she thought. Cautiously, she walked over and prodded the brown box. She turned it over and read the label:

Master F. Rich

Ponyville, EQ

The words “Express Delivery” were stamped on the box in great big, red letters. Dinky's heart sank, she knew what this meant. Sad, frustrated and frantic, all at the same time, she tried quickly to find a place to hide it.

“Is everything alright?” asked Derpy from within the kitchen.

“It's fine, it's fine!” replied Dinky. Mommy forgot to deliver this one, she thought. If she finds out... But Dinky could not complete the thought.

“Wh- What are you up to?” asked Derpy, playfully, as she stepped into the living room. Not knowing what to do, Dinky through herself on the package, hoping to conceal it.

“Nothing, please go back to the kitchen!” she shouted, close to tears. She knew it was useless. Derpy could sense something was wrong and peered over Dinky at what she was hiding. When she saw what it was, her mouth fell open with shock.

“Oh no,” whispered Derpy.

“It's okay! You don't need to go! It can wait!” shouted Dinky, throwing her hooves around her mother. “Just please stay, please, please stay.” But Derpy already had her eyes on the window. She bit her lip, a defeated look on her face.

“I ha- have to deliver it. It could be so- somepony's present for Hearth's Warming.” The injustice of this struck Dinky like a ton of bricks. She followed her mother's gaze to the window and cried out. A snow storm had started and the walls of the house groaned from the harsh wind outside.

“You can't go out in that!” yelled Dinky. “You could get hurt!” Closing her eyes, Derpy mumbled:

“I have to. If I don't... the po- postmaster will be angry with me.”

Dinky scrunched up her face in anger and looked up, defiantly, at her mother.

“Why do we always have to worry about everyone else? Can't we forget about them for one day?”

Derpy screwed her eyes closed and tried to think. She sometimes had trouble understanding this herself and didn't know how to explain it. All she knew was that if she didn't work... if she got fired... then she and Dinky couldn't live together anymore. This terrified her more than anything in the world. With that thought, she opened her eyes and cupped Dinky's head in her hooves. Looking eye to eye, she spoke very clearly.

“I have to work... or we can't be together.” Releasing her daughter, she slowly made her way to the mailbag on the floor. Dinky wrapped herself around one of her mother's hooves and screamed:

“Please don't go!” She continued in this way and Derpy stood still, doing her best to endure it. She winced, but did not look down at her daughter – the sight of her would have broken her heart. Finally, when she could take it no further, she slowly turned to her daughter and shouted:

“STOP!”

Dinky stopped instantly and both looked shocked, each surprised at what had just taken place. Tears trickled down Derpy's face. She had never raised her voice to Dinky before. The silence in the room was palpable and the two simply stood, staring at each other. Dinky's grip loosened and Derpy stepped away from her. Then, in one sweeping motion, she snatched Dinky from the ground and hugged her tight. The two held each other and Dinky whispered, one final time:

“Please stay, Mommy.” Derpy sighed and kissed her daughter's head. She then trudged to the door and, giving one look back to Dinky, she stepped out and disappeared into the snow. The bang of the door closing punctuated what had become one of the worst nights in Dinky's memory.

She ran to the window and, pressing her face to the glass, was just in time to see her mother take off into the sky. Crestfallen, she walked to the fireplace and curled up to keep warm. The house seemed smaller, as if the walls were closing in. It felt empty... the warmth she had known earlier in the day seemed entirely absent. She grabbed a pillow and held it close. Slowly, she began to sob into it.

“Please let her get back home safe. Please.” She continued to repeat this until she fell asleep.

***

Dinky awoke to find the fire burnt out and the house incredibly cold. Chilled, she rubbed her hooves together to warm them up. With some effort, she rose to fetch some logs to restart the fire. As she walked, her breath made tiny clouds in the air.

“How long have I been asleep?” she asked herself, groggily. With the strike of a new match, she lit another fire and basked for a moment in its heat. She grabbed the fire poker and prodded the fire until it became large enough to heat the home. This gave her a few moments to think. As she gazed into the flames that licked at the log in the fireplace, a thought burst into her head.

“Mommy!” She had scarcely framed the thought in her mind when she took off to her mother's room. Galloping down the hall with happiness in her eyes, she reached her mother's room and shouted:

“Happy Hearth's Warm-” but her mother was not there. Confused, she checked the other rooms but still could find no trace of her. Panic and fear welled up inside her and she ran back to the living room. Her mother's saddlebags were not in their normal place and she couldn't see any sign that she had returned that night. In the kitchen, the daisy sandwiches and salad lay sadly where they were left the night before. The whole house took on a grey hue, as if suddenly enveloped in shadow. Moans of sadness and worry echoed in the house. Dinky lay down before the newly made fire and wept.

Where could she be? Why didn't she come home? Is she hurt?? Please Celestia, let her be okay, she pleaded. Her mind buzzed frantically from one worst case scenario to another. In her mind, her mother died a hundred times in a hundred different ways before she could get a hold of herself and stop thinking. She rose and trudged to the doorway and opened the door to reveal a mound of snow. The storm had been a heavy one. Not thinking, and unsure what to do, she launched herself at the pile of snow and, with great exertion, made her way over it. She took a few steps and sunk to her chin instantly.

A fire burned in her heart and she kept herself moving, one hoof before the next. Eventually she had made it to the end of the walkway but the fire in her had been all but extinguished by the cold. Reluctantly she returned home and pushed the door shut behind her. Resuming her place by the fire, she warmed her near-frozen hooves and wondered what she would do. The house now seemed empty and dark. She wrapped a blanket around herself. The flames lapped at the wood and flickered before her eyes. Slowly she put her head down and tried to fall asleep again. Dinky and Derpy had always been together. Even when Derpy went to work, Dinky knew she would come home at night. She had never experienced this uncertainty before, this void and the unknown… it made her afraid.

***

Twilight was in the middle of re-shelving books – the snow had trapped her in the library with little else to do. This didn’t bother her and she hummed to herself as she worked. Her concentration was interrupted by a tapping noise; one so faint she had almost missed it. It had come from the door.

“Who would be knocking today?” she asked herself. The snow had locked up all of Ponyville and nopony should have been out. A few books hovered around Twilight, ready to be shelved, as she made her way to the entrance. Her attention had been divided between the books and the noise, until she opened the door. An avalanche of snow flooded into the library, depositing on the floor a small filly. The books fell to the ground as Twilight hurriedly pulled the filly indoors and shut the door. She stood shocked at the sight before her. The filly had snow caked to her body and her eyes looked sunken.

“Sp- Spike!” Twilight sputtered. Spike appeared, half-asleep, a few seconds later.

“What’s so important you had to wake me u-” but Spike couldn’t finish his sentence. The fatigued look on his face gave way to shock and worry. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure. Get a blanket,” ordered Twilight. She frantically brushed the snow from the filly and turned her over to get a better look at her. “Dinky!” she exclaimed. “What could have happened to her? Why was she out in this weather?” she thought.

Spike returned with a blanket and threw it over Dinky. The two rushed her in front of the fireplace to warm her shivering body.

“Spike, you watch her. I need to consult my first-aid books.” Twilight hurried to the bookshelves and multiple volumes could be seen spinning in the air as she looked for the information she needed. Spike could not take his eyes from the small filly before him. “What could have happened?” he wondered. As he thought this, he noticed Dinky’s eyes open a little.

“Twilight, I think she’s awake!” he shouted. Twilight rocketed into the room and the two stared worriedly at Dinky as she regained consciousness.

“Spike, quick, get her something warm to drink,” commanded Twilight. The young dragon disappeared into the kitchen. “Dinky, can you hear me?” The young filly looked slowly toward Twilight and, after a moment’s pause, nodded. Twilight exhaled in relief.

“What were you doing out there? You could have frozen!” she shouted. Dinky screwed her eyes shut and whispered one word:

“Mommy.”

“Your mother? Where is she, anyway? How could she have let you go out like this?” Twilight asked, exasperated. The young filly began to weep convulsively and Twilight knew something was wrong. Spike returned with a mug of hot chocolate and set it on the ground near Dinky. The two continued to care for her in this way until she fell asleep. Content that Dinky had recovered enough that her life was no longer in danger, Twilight sent Owlowiscious to fetch Rainbow Dash. “Dash spends a good amount of time with Derpy, she may know what’s going on,” she thought.

Rainbow Dash careened through the upstairs window of the library and called out:

“What’s going on, Twilight? Owlowiscious made it look like it was an emergency!” The owl flew through the window a few moments later and landed on his perch. Twilight rushed forward, motioning for Rainbow Dash to be quiet.

“What’s all the fuss about?” asked the Pegasus. Then she saw Dinky Hooves lying before the fireplace, in a restless sleep. “Oh,” she said, quietly.

“We’re not sure what happened. We found her at the doorstep; it looked like she had walked here from her house. She was almost frozen.”

Rainbow Dash shot a glance to the window and remembered how much snow had fallen the previous night.

“You mean she walked through that?” she asked in disbelief.

“That’s what it looks like,” answered Twilight. “We bundled her up and she mentioned her mother, then she fell asleep. We think something may have happened to Derpy.” Rainbow Dash nodded. The storm had been especially powerful. If the mail-pony had been caught in it… Even Dash would not have wanted to be out flying the previous night. The two ponies turned their heads, however, at a sound coming from the other room. Dinky, upon hearing her mother’s name had been roused from her sleep. Spike was trying to get her to lie down when Rainbow Dash flew over top and landed beside the two.

“Do you know what happened to Derpy? Your Mommy?” asked Dash in the gentlest voice she could muster. The filly frowned and, with much effort, managed to retell the previous night’s story.

“So she went out in that storm to deliver a package?” exclaimed Twilight. Rainbow Dash simply shook her head solemnly. Every Pegasus had been grounded that night, and for good reason. Dash broke her composure and allowed a shiver to run through her body. The thought of Derpy flying in that storm’s wind… she didn’t want to think about it.

“I’ll do some sweeps over Ponyvile. Maybe she was forced down by the wind and got lost.” Dinky nodded as Dash said this but Twilight shot her a questioning look. The Pegasus looked back sadly then took off; neither held much hope.

Suddenly, Dinky grabbed Twilight’s hoof with an intensity that instantly demanded the mare’s attention. She looked down and saw a look of urgency on Dinky’s face.

“Twilight, I need you to give me wings!”

Twilight stood, wide eyed, shocked at the request that had come, seemingly, out of the blue.

“Why do you want wings, Dinky?” she asked with a touch of concern in her tone.

“I need them so I can find Mommy. If she’s lost then I can find her!” she shouted, desperately. Dinky felt emptiness inside. Not knowing where her mother was or when she would return had plunged her into turmoil. She hated the feeling more than anything in the world; all she wanted was to be reunited with her.

She’s not thinking clearly, observed Twilight. Pausing for a moment, she spoke her next words slowly and carefully.

“Dinky, I can’t give you wings. Even older ponies sometimes can’t handle them. Remember what happened to Rarity? You’re too young, and I don’t want you out with the weather the way it is.” Dinky pushed Twilight’s calculated rationale aside and screamed:

“I need to find her! She’s out there alone, like me. I have to help her!” Dinky’s horn showered sparks on the floor as she tried to use her magic to lift herself off the ground. Twilight gawked as the young filly rose several feet in the air but, after a moment, she plummeted back to the ground. Twilight rushed to her to see if she was alright. The filly was fine physically but her failure had caused her pain of a different sort.

“You see, you’re magic isn’t developed enough. It’s dangerous to try to fly like that.”

“You don’t understand!” retorted the filly. Unsure of what to say, Twilight let the silence take hold and the two sat, looking at one another. Dinky’s sobbing filled the room and Spike peaked out from behind a stack of books to see what was wrong. Dinky wiped her eyes and looked at her elder, fury in her expression. The filly took a deep breath and Twilight braced herself for the outburst to come.

“If you won’t help me then I’ll do it on my own!” roared the filly. With that, she leaped to the door and, after a moment’s struggle, forced it open. By the time Twilight realized what was happening it was too late. She ran to the door but the filly had set out into the snow. Ripping winds drove Twilight back into the library; the storm had started up again. A feeling of sickness welled up in her and she collapsed. Spike ran to her side to help.

“I don’t know what to do! The storm’s started again, it’s not safe to go out in that weather!” cried Twilight, burying her face in her hooves. At that moment, Rainbow Dash crashed through the upstairs window with greater force than the last time. She half-walked half-fell down the stairs and collapsed in the foyer. Looking up she noticed Twilight sulking. She also saw that Dinky was missing. Seeing that the door was open, Dash rapidly put the pieces together and made ready to launch herself out for another flight.

“NO!” screamed Twilight. The Pegasus hesitated. “It’s too dangerous to go out, especially for a flyer!”

“But Dinky’s out there! We can’t abandon her!” The Pegasus again flexed her wings and tensed her hind legs. This time she was tackled to the ground with such force that she cried out in shock.

“You’ll be killed!” cried Twilight. Dash tried to shake the unicorn off her.

“And what about Dinky??” roared the Pegasus. Twilight threw her hooves around her.

“There’s nothing we can do,” she said. The window was smashed shut by the wind, as if to prove her point.

***

Dinky plodded through the snow in a frenzy. Her tears froze to her face from the bitter cold; her anger and desperation were the only things that drove her forward. She had to find her mother. To do so she had to put one hoof in front of the other. She had to keep moving. This was how she thought as she made her way through the nightmarish storm. She snatched glances of her surroundings whenever the burning wind granted her a moment’s reprieve.

She was going to a hill on the outskirts of Ponyville. There was a tree there and it had been a place of comfort for her and her mother. On the few occasions that Derpy had days off, the two used to go to the hill and sit in the shade of the tree that grew at its top. There, they watched the sunset and were thankful to be with each other. Dinky smiled briefly at the thought of this memory but her smile was swept away by the chill of the wind. She needed to get to that hill. She needed her mother’s warmth. The thought of hugging her almost made Dinky collapse. She could almost see, before her, Derpy with her hooves outstretched, waiting to embrace her.

“I need to see her. I need to see her again!” repeated Dinky. The magic from her horn lit only the space directly before her and, with great effort, she struggled against the storm, unsure that she was even going in the right direction. The minutes seemed to roll into hours as Dinky made her way forward. Forward. That was the only thought in her mind now. Forward. All her problems would be solved; she needed only to continue forward. She was a slave to the word. Suddenly, a voice spoke out in her head. Was it a voice? Or a whisper lost in the wind? She could no longer tell. Something beckoned her to break her concentration and look up.

Before her, the earth rose and atop the mountain of snow stood a tall tree smothered in snow. If Dinky had possessed the strength she would have cried out in triumph. The very sight of the hill’s steepness, however, left her out of breath. Her strength was almost gone as she began the ascent. What would have normally taken a few minutes, now dragged on into eternity. She felt as if she were climbing a mountain. Dinky gritted her teeth and willed her body up the snow covered hill, hoping that the tree would provide some shelter from the terrible wind. Why was she here again? She tried to remember. She wracked her brain and remembered with a jolt that it was her mother. She grabbed hold of the memory and clung to it; it was her sole anchor in the world. She could no longer feel her hooves or much of anything else on her body. But, she desperately kept her mother foremost in her mind. That was all that was important.

She continued forward and did not realize she had reached the tree until she walked into it. A little dazed, she grasped its trunk and rested for a moment. A warmth she had not felt before made itself known to her. It caressed her and appealed to her to give in. To give in to what, she wasn’t entirely sure. Peace, perhaps? The warmth seeped through her, but something was not right. There was something sinister about it. Her eyes closed and she plunged deeper into rest. Deeper and deeper she fell, as if being wrapped in blanket after blanket.

NO! The thought shot in her mind. NO! She snapped her eyes open. The warmth receded, like a predator retreating just out of reach. She was truly afraid now. Clawing at the tree, she began to climb. With the aid of her magic, she made it to the first branch. Her fear, her love of her mother, these are what kept her going as her natural strength had long since expired. She could not afford to rest for every time she did, that same sickly warmth ate away at her. She climbed until she no longer knew why she was climbing. She could not remember how she had got to this place. But she continued, driven by a passion and love that could not have been equaled by any pony in Equestria. After what seemed like hours, though it could have been minutes, her sense of time had vanished, Dinky reached the summit of the tree.

The wind buffeted her about and it rose to a level of noise that deafened her. She gazed around, encapsulated in a cocoon of white noise, the wind stinging her face. A portrait of barrenness and perfect violence met her eyes. The elements, corrupted as they were by the storm, had transformed the landscape into a waking nightmare. Closing her eyes, she tried to remember something, anything. She asked herself again why she was there. Manic, from both fear and cold, she searched her mind for some memory, a shred of warmth in the frozen hell that her world had become. Warmth. The word produced a feeling deep inside her. She remembered a warm embrace, one that was innocent and loving. She remembered a grey coat and a yellow mane, eyes that made her giggle. She remembered Derpy. Her mother.

She opened her eyes and there she was, hovering before her, just barely out of reach. The sound of the wind faded and the snow stopped pelting her as she gazed into her mother’s eyes. Perfect silence. Peace. Warmth.

Dinky screwed up her face and, with every last ounce of energy, shot herself forward. Her horn sputtered and then exploded in a shower of light as she was propelled from the tree. She smiled for the first time in what seemed like ages. She was here. She had made it. Soon she would feel Derpy’s tight embrace.

***

Something whispered in Dinky’s ear and she woke with a start. She took in her surroundings with complete clarity. She was startled by the silence, the perfect stillness of the world around her. Looking up, she cried out in surprise.

Derpy gazed down brightly at her child and held her head in her hooves. Tears dribbled down both their faces and the two wrapped each other in a tight embrace. There was no need for words. All the fear, anxiety, frustration, and hurt melted away as they held each other. This is perfect, Dinky thought to herself. Burying her face in her mother’s coat, she felt as if she could stay this way forever.

“I’m so sorry I left you,” said Derpy.

“It’s okay. It’s okay,” repeated Dinky. Everything was okay now.

Derpy cupped herself around her child and the two lay in that embrace for what would have felt like an eternity, had they cared about time. Both were at perfect peace with the world. But, eventually they detected a new presence. They looked up and were almost blinded by the most magnificent light imaginable. Warmth filled their bodies to their very core. Everything seemed peaceful and beautiful.

From the light emerged a white alicorn, Princess Celestia. Dinky and Derpy instinctively bowed. But, something made them feel that this was not necessary. They raised their heads and saw the princess. She was smiling. With her hooves she beckoned the two to stand. She was silent but her expression filled the two with even more love. They stood beside Celestia and she nodded toward the sky. A great sun blazed and filled their world with light and hope. It was truly the most beautiful and magnificent thing they had ever seen. Tears fell from their cheeks, so overtaken were they by the majesty of the day. Celestia wiped away their tears and then took off into the air. Hovering, she motioned for them to follow.

Dinky hopped onto Derpy’s back and the two parted with the ground and flew upward into the sky. Dinky gripped her mother tightly and smiled. Derpy looked back at her daughter and the two stared into each other’s eyes. Derpy smiled brighter than Dinky had ever seen before and she squeezed her mother a little tighter. She didn’t know where they were going. But she was not fearful. They were together, inseparable, and that was all that mattered.

The End

Author's Note

A good deal of the inspiration for this story came from "Late Nights at the Hooves Household" by obabscribbler. It really struck a chord with me and reminded me of some similar situations from my own life. The story can be found here:
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/79219/late-nights-at-the-hooves-household

A lot of the feelings Dinky feels in this story are feelings I knew in my past. In that sense, "Inseparable" is somewhat personal.

Hopefully you enjoyed this and if you did then please let me know! If you didn't, still let me know! Tell me what you liked and didn't like so I can improve.

Cheers, and thanks for reading!