“Have fun at school, Dinky!” a voice shouted after a lavender unicorn, eager to get to school. The filly had a pair of saddlebags over her back, filled with various books and pencils.
“I will, mom! See you later!” Dinky replied as she opened the wooden gate that separated her house from the rest of Ponyville. It was a bright, warm day out, the sun just barely in the sky. There was no need for her to be going to school so early, but Dinky always enjoyed the peace and quiet in the empty schoolhouse, the only ponies in the room being herself and her teacher.
Cheerilee had never complained about her presence. In fact, she had gladly allowed Dinky to pick out a book of her choice and sit down anywhere she pleased, and that’s exactly what she did. Every day, she would greet her teacher, who would return her hello with a warm smile. She would then open the book that she had been reading, and sit down at her desk, captivated by the tale it told.
Today was no different. Dinky entered the schoolhouse, the door wide open and waiting for her to step through it. Cheerilee was at her desk, grading a writing assignment that the students had worked on the day prior. When the teacher saw the familiar filly enter the room, she put down her papers and offered her a smile.
“Good morning, Ms. Cheerilee!” Dinky said cheerfully. Even though most of her classmates would still be sound asleep in their beds, the young unicorn looked wide awake and enthusiastic.
“Good morning, Dinky,” Cheerilee greeted in response. She watched as her student scrambled over to her desk, neatly draping her bags over her chair. She then opened it with her mouth, she was too young to use magic, and pulled out a small book. It was a simple tale, one of a mother and her daughter going to the grocery store to buy food for a picnic. Seeing as she was so interested with it, Cheerilee had allowed Dinky to borrow the storybook.
“By the way, Dinky,” the magenta pony began. “You did a very good job on your essay.” The unicorn beamed, accepting the praise graciously.
“Thank you, Ms. Cheerilee! My mom helped me write it!” Dinky turned back to her book, opening it slowly. Instantly, her eyes began to fly across the pages, the young pony absorbing whatever vibrant tale the colorful book told.
“Did she now? How interesting...” Cheerilee said to herself.
“Excuse me, Ms. Cheerilee?” The teacher looked up to find Dinky staring back at her, a nonplussed look on her face.
Realizing she had spoken aloud, Cheerilee waved her hoof back and forth, as if to dispel any confusion. “Oh, it’s nothing, Dinky. I was just thinking aloud, is all.” At that moment, another student walked into the schoolhouse. Both Cheerilee and Dinky instantly recognized the white coat and cotton candy hair.
“Hi, Sweetie Belle!” Dinky called. Cheerilee smiled simply, which the young unicorn returned before joining her friend over at her desk. They began to talk avidly, the book in the filly’s hooves long forgotten. The teacher looked back at the stack of papers on her desk. At the top of the stack was a sheet titled “Reasons Why I Love My Mom”, written by none other than Dinky.
“How interesting indeed...” she said to herself.
--
Dinky was jotting down notes as fast as she could, her pencil racing across her rapidly filling paper. Cheerilee was teaching the class about cutie marks, a subject that Dinky was eager to learn all about. She hadn’t found her special talent yet, which meant that she had yet to receive a cutie mark. At first, she had been disappointed when most of her other classmates, the exception being her and three other fillies, already had theirs. However, her mom told her that not having a cutie mark is amazing, because it still gives you an opportunity to find your talent.
As she was taking down whatever her teacher said, Dinky couldn’t help but overhear a hushed conversation between two of her nearby classmates.
“Ugh, I’m so glad I have my cutie mark.” Judging from where the voice was coming from, Dinky assumed that the one who had made the statement was Diamond Tiara. And the only one she would say something like that to would be-
“I know, right? It must feel terrible to be blank flank. Like her...” The voice was a dead giveaway, Silver Spoon had just responded to her friend’s remark. Dinky could feel two sets of eyes staring at her, but did her best to ignore the sensation. Soon enough, she heard giggling from behind her. She wasn’t taking notes anymore.
“I don’t blame her, though. You know what they say, like mother like daughter.” Dinky’s eyes widened in surprise. Diamond Tiara usually wasn’t this mean. Sure, she had made fun of her for being a ‘blank flank’, but the Cutie Mark Crusaders had stood up for her then. This was a whole new level.
“At least the blank flank has her eyes straight.” More giggling ensued. Dinky could feel hot tears welling in her eyes. She looked towards Cheerilee, desperate for someone to put a stop to the two bullies’ teasing. Her teacher, however, was unaware at the torment she was receiving, and continued on with her lesson.
“What kind of cutie mark is a bunch of bubbles, anyway?”
A loud scraping noise rang throughout the schoolhouse as Dinky abruptly stood up, her chair skidding backwards. Everypony looked up at her in surprise, even Cheerilee stopped to stare. The ensuing silence was cut short by the ringing of a bell, which signified the end of the school day. Slowly, the students began to gather their belongings and file out of the room, waving to their teacher as they exited through the door.
Dinky forcefully shoved her things into her saddlebags, before leaving. She ignored Cheerilee’s concerned look, and stepped out of the building. Her mother had been waiting for her, like she does every day.
“Dinky!” she called, waving her hoof to get the filly’s attention. Dinky made towards her, but stopped when she heard a voice call out.
“Bye, Dinky!” a taunting Diamond Tiara shouted. She said nothing more, but Dinky knew exactly what she had meant. It was a silent insult, the worst kind there is. Without responding, she walked towards her waiting mom, her tears blurring her vision.
“Aren’t you going to say bye to your friends?” Derpy asked. The unicorn furiously shook her head in response, refusing to look up at her.
“Can we just leave?”
“Uh... Of course. Let’s go.” The two left the schoolyard, beginning the journey home.
--
The sound of laughing ponies filled the air as the students enjoyed their recess. Dinky was playing freeze tag with Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle. The four fillies raced around the playground, dodging one each other’s reaching hooves. Dinky was tagged by Scootaloo, and she froze in place, waiting until one of her teammates came to rescue her. However, both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were too busy escaping from Scootaloo to come unfreeze her.
“Look, Silver Spoon,” a voice said. “Dinky’s frozen.” The unicorn shifted her eyes, not daring to move her head. A blur of pink and gray told her that her two tormentors were at it again.
“She must have forgotten how to move,” replied another voice. “I guess she is like her mom after all, too stupid to remember how to walk.” Dinky tried her best to ignore the two as they closed in on her, faces contorted in an intimidating leer.
“What’s the matter, Dinky? Cat got your tongue?” Diamond Tiara taunted in a singsong voice.
“Oh please, she wouldn’t know a cat if it did have her tongue; she’s too stupid!” Silver Spoon added, giggling in delight. Dinky could feel herself begin to cry, she did her best to hold in the tears. She was determined not to let her two bullies get what they came for.
“A blank flank, and an idiot!”
“A teacher’s pet, too!”
“Hey!” a new voice shouted. “Stop making fun of her!” Dinky’s friends came to her rescue, positioning themselves between her and her aggressors.
“Yeah, leave her alone!”
Diamond Tiara scoffed. “Are you three sticking up for her again? Typical of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.” She said the title in a mocking tone, daring the three to do something. Scootaloo was the one to take up her offer. She gave a fierce cry before tackling the pink filly, both of them falling to the floor. They rolled about the playground, their bodies flailing about as they fought.
“Are you okay, Dinky?” Sweetie Belle asked, turning to her unicorn friend. But where her classmate should have been, there was only empty space.
--
It had begun to rain, the small droplets of water falling gracefully down to Ponyville. The others would have been called inside by Cheerilee, Dinky thought. She let her tears mingle with the raindrops that slid down her cheeks. She was walking through Ponyville, long having escaped from the schoolyard.
There was nopony outside besides her. When they saw it was raining, they all had retreated to the safety of their homes, or a nearby shop. Dinky enjoyed the solitude; she wanted to be alone.
“It’s not fair,” she said to herself. She sniffled, her head downcast in sadness. She could hear a voice in the distance, but paid no attention to it. It was probably some pony calling out to one of their friends.
She noticed a solemn tree standing in the distance, and made towards it, seeking shelter from the rain. The voice became steadily louder as Dinky moved closer to the tree, but she still chose to ignore it.
Having reached the tall pine, she allowed herself to fall to the grass. She closed her eyes, wanting nothing more to just fade into the scenery. Maybe then, she wouldn’t be bullied.
“Dinky!” Her head shot up, seeking whoever called her name. In the distance, she could see a pegasus flying towards her, a mailbag at her side.
“Dinky!” her mother repeated as she landed in front of her. “What are you doing out of school? More importantly, what are you doing in this rain?” Dinky didn’t respond. She chose to keep her eyes pointed downwards.
“Come on, let’s get you out of the rain.” Draping her wing over her daughter, Derpy began to walk towards her house, her daughter following silently by her side.
--
“Now Dinky, this is the first time you’ve left school before it was over. What’s wrong?” She frowned when her daughter didn’t say anything. A gentle breeze blew in through the open window, adding to the suddenly awkward tension that hung in the air between the two.
“Come on, Dinky. Just tell me what the problem is, and I’ll help you the best I can.” She remained silent at first, choosing to study the floor in front of her rather than looking at her mother.
“You.”
“What?”
“I said,” the filly repeated, her voice rising. “that my problem is you! Why can’t I just have a normal mom like all the other ponies? Why did I have to be the only pony stuck with a weird mom like you!”
“Dinky...” Derpy began.
“No! I hate you! Just leave me alone!” Dinky screamed. She leapt off of the couch that she had been sitting on and ran to her room, slamming the door behind her.
--
Derpy smiled as she saw her daughter exit the schoolhouse, her friends galloping around her excitedly. She smiled even wider when she saw why Dinky’s friends were so happy.
“I can’t believe you got your cutie mark!” Applebloom congratulated.
“We all knew that you would get a cutie mark in writing!” Sweetie Belle added, her enthusiasm causing her voice to crack slightly.
Scootaloo nodded. “I guess you’ll have to help us get ours now!” The four fillies chattered loudly, discussing what they would do now that the Cutie Mark Crusaders had a member who reached the group’s goal.
“Hi girls!” Derpy called, waving her hoof. Four heads swiveled in her direction. “Hi, Ms. Derpy!” She offered them a smile, before turning to Dinky. “Congratulations! We’ll have to celebrate... Maybe we’ll stop by Sugarcube Corner on the way home...”
“Actually, I kinda planned on going there with my friends,” Dinky interrupted. “I’ll be home before night.”
“Oh, okay... Just don’t stay out too late, okay?” Derpy watched as the filly ran off with her friends. This was the first time they wouldn’t be walking home together.
--
“Are you sure you’ll be okay? Do you want me to come with you to the train station?” Derpy asked nervously.
“It’s alright, mom,” Dinky replied, rolling her eyes. “I’m not a little filly anymore, I can take care of myself.” She threw her saddlebags over her back, ignoring her mother’s attempts to help her.
“If that’s what you want... It’s just that I won’t be seeing you for a while, now that you’re going to boarding school.”
“I did promise to write every week, didn’t I?”
“Yes, I suppose it won’t be too bad,” Derpy smiled halfheartedly at the unicorn in front of her; they were almost the same height now. “Well, off you go then. Have fun at school!” Her daughter left without another word, closing the door behind her. Derpy sighed wearily, knowing full well that she wouldn’t be receiving any letters.
--
“I’m so proud of you!” Derpy told her daughter, who had just concluded the graduation ceremony with her speech. “Where would you like to go for dinner? Choose anyplace you’d like, I don’t mind. After all, you only graduate once!”
“Actually mom, can we just go home? I-I’m kind of tired.” Dinky answered. She glanced past her mother, where two other ponies were standing, speaking with their parents.
“Oh, uh... Sure!” The two began to trot away from the mass of students and parents, making their way home. As they passed, the two fillies Dinky had looked towards turned.
“Hello, Ms. Derpy!” the two greeted in unison. The pegasus smiled in response.
“Hey there, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon! I didn’t know you attended the same college as Dinky!” The two nodded vigorously.
“Oh, of course we do! Dinky’s such a role model, we just had to follow in her footsteps!” Diamond Tiara replied. “Well, we need to go to a party soon, so bye!” They smirked knowingly at the two as they walked away.
“How nice of them to say that to you, Dinky!” Derpy said. “...Dinky?” The unicorn was well ahead of her, trotting on angrily. Giving her daughter a worried look, Derpy hurried in pursuit.
--
“Well, I suppose this is goodbye, isn’t it?” Derpy commented. Dinky didn’t reply at first, choosing instead to float a few more boxes towards the door with her magic.
“Yeah, I guess so,” she said simply.
“Hey, Dinky,” the mare began, trying her best to ignore the awkwardness between the two. “I want you to have this.” She gave her daughter an envelope. “It isn’t much, but it’ll help a little with the bills.”
The unicorn stared at the money for a moment, before slowly placing it at her mother’s hooves. “I don’t need it.”
“Dinky, please...”
“No, mom!” Dinky shouted. “I don’t need your help, and I don’t need you!” She stormed out of the house angrily, leaving a shocked Derpy standing there, speechless. Slowly, she looked down towards the envelope in front of her.
“Hello?” The pegasus looked up. Dinky hadn’t closed the door when she had left, and Cheerilee was standing there, a concerned look on her face. “What’s the matter, Derpy?”
--
Dinky sighed, worn out from the labor from cleaning since sunrise. There were a lot of unnecessary things that needed to be thrown away, and the unicorn was determined to do it all today. She was in the attic of her two-story home, checking the various boxes for anything that was worth saving.
“No... no... no...” she said as she tossed miscellaneous items over her shoulder. She was just about to give up on the box itself when she came upon a familiar book. Instantly, memories of her days in Cheerilee’s schoolhouse flooded back towards her. She never had finished this book, and she couldn’t remember why.
She opened the cover for old time’s sake, and a slip of paper fell out, spiraling slowly to the floor. Dinky picked up the sheet, and instantly recognized the handwriting as her mother’s. She wanted to crumple it up and throw it away right then and there, but something kept her from doing so. Reluctantly, she began to read the elegant, curvy words.
To my daughter,
I apologize for being different. I had predicted that you would be teased because of my eyes when I had the surgery, and I guess I was right. Oh, I suppose I’ve never told you about how I became like this. I didn’t intend for you to find out this way, but I don’t think you would listen if I told you in person.
When you were born, there was a complication; one of your eyes didn’t work properly. It wasn’t a fatal disability, but I wished nothing more than for my child to be normal and happy. I decided the day we found out to offer one of my own eyes to replace yours.
Our eyes our unique, yours and mine. Two sets in a million, actually. That’s why your’s couldn’t be replaced by anypony’s but mine. They tried to find another for me after the surgery, but they couldn’t. They tried replacing it with a normal eye, but it didn’t turn out the way they had planned. I could still see out of both eyes, but I didn’t have much control over the new one.
Hopefully, you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me, whenever you read this. You can’t begin to imagine how heartbroken I was when I found out that you were being bullied because of me. It wasn’t even me who had figured it out in the long run. After you galloped out of the house that one day, Cheerilee paid a visit. She told me all about how Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had tormented you because of me. I wouldn’t put it against you if you hated me, but just know that I love you, regardless of what you think.
Love,
Mom.
Dinky looked up from the note, tears forming in her eyes. “How could I have been so stupid?” she whispered to herself. She let the note fall to the floor, and for a long time, she simply stood there in silence. Suddenly, she turned in place and exited her attic, going to her room. She pulled out a quill and some parchment with a flick of her horn, having long since discovered her talent in unicorn magic. Will she be able to do this? After all these years, would a mother be able to forgive her daughter? She furiously began to write, wiping the unshed tears from her eyes.
Dear Mom...
