Time and Masks

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

Hearth's Warming Homecoming

"Last stop, Ponyville! All passengers prepare to disembark!"

Dinky Hooves shifted in her seat excitedly at the call. She turned to look out the window, a wide grin on her face as she watched the landscape go by. She recognized the area they were now driving past, having seen it in all kinds of weather for years. It sent a small thrill to see Ponyville again.

School had been let out for Hearth's Warming. With two weeks without active classes, she had an opportunity to return to Ponyville. There were some things she had to do -- such as some practice Celestia assigned for her and talking to Zecora about Poison Joke -- but there should be plenty of time to get around to them without rush. She had written them down, just in case (Miss Twilight would probably like that).

As soon as the train came to a complete stop, Dinky hopped up and grabbed her bags. The filly waited for several of the full grown ponies to go by before stepping out into the walkway. It would have been easy for her to slip through and get out easily enough, but the baggage made the going slower. It was a relief when she finally managed to disembark from the train.

Waiting on the platform were Carrot Top and Ruby Pinch. As soon as they saw Dinky, the two approached. Carrot Top walked at a casual pace while Ruby almost ran to her friend and embraced her in a hug. Grinning, the pale lavender pony hugged back. They were shortly joined by the yellow mare, watching them with a smile of her own.

"Welcome back," Carrot Top said, "As you can see, we all missed you."

"I missed everypony too," Dinky replied, breaking the hug with her friend. "I've missed Ponyville too. Canterlot is so different. Where's Sparkler and Mom?"

"Sparkler is out getting supplies for a special order that needs to be done by Hearth's Warming," the adult mare explained, "And your mom has been working extra shifts at the post office so she can have some extra days off. Tomorrow should be her last day and then she'll be off until three days after the holiday. Are you ready to head home?" She started trotting toward the town. The two fillies quickly followed.

"We need to stop by the library first," Dinky said. "I need to drop something off for Miss Twilight first." She turned her attention Ruby. "By the way, what's it like being her student."

Ruby had written shortly before Nightmare Night that she had gotten her cutie mark. It turned out that the red filly had a talent for healing and medicine so now she had what looked like a pair of band-aids making a cross on her flank. She also got selected by Twilight Sparkle as a student.

"A lot of work," Ruby responded with a sigh. "On top of school work, I have to study and practice magic with her. She's also having me work with Fluttershy to learn about bedside manner and treating wounds, and Zecora so I can learn about herbs and plants that help with healing. I have never worked so hard on learning in my life." A smile spread across her lips. "It's awesome how much I'm learning though."

Dinky smiled back. The two fillies continued to talk to each other as they walked. They began to about their education, compare how their teachers were, and share some of what they learned. Both were so caught up in catching up, they jumped when Carrot Top cleared her throat.

The fillies had been so caught up in their conversation that neither of them had been paying attention to where they were or where they were going. The three of them were now outside the Golden Oaks Library. They had walked through half of the town without Ruby or Dinky even realizing it.

Taking the lead, the filly headed to the library. It was hours of operation, so she went ahead and opened the door.

"Be with you in a minute," a voice called out. Not long after, a small purple and green dragon came into the main room. "What can i do for you?"

"Hello Spike," Dinky said, "Is Miss Twilight in?" The filly turned her head and her horn started to glow. Using her magic, she opened one of her bags, shifting through it's contents.

"She's pretty much out for the day," Spike explained. "Anything I can help you with?"

"No, thank you." She pulled a package wrapped in plain brown paper from the bag. "I'm just here to drop of something for her. Princess Celestia asked me to for some reason." She shrugged. The filly handed the package over to the dragon.

"Okay," he said as he took it. "I'll make sure that she gets it. Oh." He turned to Ruby, "That book Twilight wanted you to study came in yesterday." Moving to the table he set it down and went to one of the shelves. Look through it a moment he pulled a book out.

"Here it is." Bringing it back, he handed it to Ruby.

"Thank you, Spike," Ruby said as she took the book. Admittedly she was not thrilled at the book. Its arrival meant she would have to start studying pretty soon. Twilight Sparkle understood the value of friends -- and making time for them -- but she was very adamant about studying and learning.

"I guess I should head home and begin to study." The red filly turned to her friend. "I'll see you tomorrow. Good-bye Spike. Good-bye Miss Carrot Top." With that she took the book she was given and headed for the door.

"We should head home as well," Carrot Top spoke up, "Your mother should be off work soon and we need to get started on supper."

"Okay," Dinky said. "Good-bye Spike. Say hello to Miss Twilight for me." With that, she and Carrot Top headed for the door and left the library. As they walked through Ponyville once more, the filly turned her attention to the adult mare.

"What about you?" Dinky asked. The question made Carrot Top slow down, looking at the little unicorn in confusion.

"What about me?"

"What have you been up to? I haven't gotten any letters from you since I left. Anything interesting going on with you?"

"Well I haven't really been up to anything interesting. Most of my time is spent taking care of the farm and growing carrots. Not really anything worth writing about."

"What about you and Mister Macintosh?"

The question made Carrot Top gasp slightly, eyes going wide. Distracted, she placed one hoof wrong, causing the mare to stumble forward. Luckily she was able to catch herself before falling face first into the dirt. Managing to resume her pace, she looked away from Dinky. Carrot Top's ears pulled back and her face burned a brightly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she finally managed to blurt out. "I mean he comes by and helps out a little when things are slow at Sweet Apple Acres. And he's a great listen. Sure some times when he comes by we have some lemonade and talk... Well... I talk... But there's nothing going on between us."

With that the adult mare looked away. She tried to ignore the feeling that Dinky was staring at her. The filly had probably not meant it like that. Carrot Top continued to feel the heat in her face. Less from the question and more from her reaction. It was not a good way to respond without making a pony even more suspicious.

"...Sorry..." Dinky said softly.

"...What?" Carrot Top turned to look at the filly, confused by the statement.

"I didn't mean to make you mad, Aunt Carrot. I was just asking. I'm sorry." The filly looked down, head low as she stared at the ground. The expression made the adult mare's anger and embarrassment disappear, a hint of guilt left in ts place.

"You didn't do anything wrong. I got kind of weird." She let out a sigh. "It's just... I don't know. I know you didn't mean romantically, but that's how I took it. The problem is I'm not clear on how I feel about him, or how he feels about me. I know I should ask, but I'm kind of scared to."

Carrot Top stopped talking, trying to keep herself going into a long rambling conversation about her and Big Mac. She was nearly ready to spill everything on the matter to the little filly. Dinky for her part did not say anything. She recognized the look on the adult's face and one that meant something was being thought about, very hard. It was better not to interrupt at times like that.

The two continued to walk together until reaching the carrot farm. As soon as they arrived, Dinky headed up to her room to drop off her bags. It was a relief to see it exactly as she had left it. Granted she had only been gone for a few months, but she had still been worried about things changing while she was gone. It even still smelled the same. Setting down her bag, she hopped onto her bed and stretched out. It felt so nice and comfortable, so familiar.

"I'M HOME!" a voice called out, waking Dinky up. A grin spread across her face as she recognized it. The filly was instantly out of bed, running down the hall and nearly jumping down the stairs.

Standing at the door was the familiar gray pegasus. She had been busy taking off her winter jacket and scarf, but stopped as soon as she heard the sound of hooves thumping on the staircase. A grin of her own spread across her face as she turned to look at the impending pony. Both gold eyes focused on the approaching pony.

"Mama!" Dinky shouted, leaping at her mother.

"Muffin!" Derpy called back, holding out her hooves. As her daughter jumped into her arms, the motherly mare fell backwards, pulling the filly in close for a tight hug. The two held each other, rubbing their cheeks together as the time they spent apart faded away for the moment. After they separated the two joined Carrot Top in the kitchen for dinner.

"So," Derpy asked between bites, "How much have you learned in Canterlot?"

"A lot," Dinky replied excitedly, "It's not as fun as Miss Cheerilee's class, but I learned about history and math, and Princess Celestia is teaching me about strategy and magic. I can even show you what I was taught before I left and am supposed to practice while I'm here."

Closing her eyes, she began to concentrate. Her horn started to glow dark blue as she channeled her magic into it, which was becoming easier each time she did. Continuing to focus and concentrate, she took the power and gently coaxed it into doing what she would like.

The ticking sound grew louder as the magic built up. On an empty spot on the table, the mystical energy began to collect. It glowed and pulsed, shifting and reshaping. The magic then puffed out, leaving a book behind.

"Wow," Derpy said, looking at the book.

"You can teleport now?" Carrot Top asked, looking at it as well.

"No," Dinky said with a shake of her head. "I can do small objects that are close by, like the book from my bag upstairs. I can't use magic on anything big or heavy and it has to be ... in-an-i-mate... I think that's what Celestia said. It means nothing that is alive or able to move."

"Well it's still impressive," Derpy said.

"Yes," Carrot Top agreed, she then narrowed her eyes at Dinky and grinned. "So maybe you can teleport dessert from the kitchen for us."

Grinning, Dinky tried to do exactly that.

Comments

[kamachakta]

I am rather enjoying this, please continue.

[Luckyfanisaac]

School had been let out for for Hearth's Warming.

[Luckyfanisaac]

They began to talk about their education, compare

[Luckyfanisaac]

Taking the lead, the filly headed to the library. It was hours of operation, so she went ahead and opened the door.

Who?

[Luckyfanisaac]

"We need to stop by the library first," Dinky said. "I need to drop something off for Miss Twilight first." She turned her attention to Ruby. "By the way, what's it like being her student."

You need a new paragraph in there.
Oh wait never mind.

And he's a great listener.