Time and Masks

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

Good-byes

The school bell rang, letting out the class of Ponyville Elementary. The young students chattered excitedly as they headed for the doors, leaving to start their weekend. Two of the foals, Dinky Hooves and Ruby Pinch, moved slightly slower than usual.

"So," Ruby said slowly, "It's really happening? You're going to Canterlot?"

"Yeah," Dinky responded. It had been over a week since the offer had been made. There had been a lot of talking and consideration. Dinky had discussed it with her mother, who in turn had also talked about it with Twilight, Sparkler, and Carrot top. Ruby had asked some questions about the whole matter, seeing it meant her friend might be leaving. Sparkler had shared some of her own experience in Canterlot and at the school. After all had been said and done, it had been decided that the school would be best for the young filly.

"Miss Twilight is taking me tomorrow so I have the weekend to get to know the place."

The two continued to walk from the school, catching sight of Sparkler waiting for them.

"I'm gonna miss you," Ruby mumbled. She looked at her friend then down at the ground, paying attention to her hooves as she walked.

"I'll miss you too." A slow smile spread across the blond filly's face. "Hey, maybe you'll end up having to go too. Then we can have classes together again." The statement caused her friend to look up, smiling slightly. The pair of them reached the larger unicorn.

"You two ready to go?" Sparkler asked, getting nods from the younger pair. The three of them started walking toward Ponyville. A grin suddenly burst across Ruby's face.

"Hey, Dinky," she called out. "Race ya!" With that she started to run as fast as she could.

"HEY!" Dinky called out. "No fair!" She started running after her friend, trying to catch up and pass her. Sparkler let out a small laugh and chased after them.

The young pair ran as fast as they could, neither considering the idea of pacing themselves. Eventually the two slowed down as they started wearing themselves out. They were panting heavily as they reached their destination of Sugarcube Corner. Seeing the building, Dinky tried to get a second wind, pushing herself to try and get to the doors first.

"I WIN!" she shouted as she jumped through the doorway. The young gray unicorn then collapsed onto the floor, trying to catch her breath.

"Hooray!" a puffy mane pink earth pony shouted as she tossed confetti over the exhaust filly. "Congratulations. Aaaand welcome to your going away party!" With that Pinkie Pie picked up Dinky and took her into the room where they held most of their parties. The pair were shortly followed by a panting Ruby and a moment later by Sparkler.

The room was decorated with streamers in bright yellow and pale purple that looked almost to be grey. On the refreshments table were a bowl of punch, muffins in blueberry as well as apple cinnamon flavors, cupcakes with either yellow or lilac colored frosting, and a giant chocolate chip cookie with a Dinky drawn on it in frosting with "good bye" written above the image and "good luck" below.

"Where's everyone else?" Dinky asked, looking around. Only the four of them were in the room at the moment.

"Well you ran all the way here from school," Sparkler explained as she moved to stand beside the young unicorn. "You're going to have to give them some time to get here." She placed a hoof gently on Dinky's back. "We can go ahead and start having some fun while we wait."

Taking that as a cue, Ruby went over to the table. She grabbed one of each kind of muffin and one of the yellow cupcakes. The deep red filly gave the muffins to the other two and kept the cupcake for herself. The three of them sat as they ate, talking as they waited.

Other ponies started to show up and join them. They would come by to talk to Dinky and say their good byes. Some left immediately, some went to speak with others, and a few sat to join the group. Shortly, PInkie Pie put on music and started to lead others in playing games.

By the time Dinky's mother had shown up, the party was in full swing. The game was immediately forgotten as the guest of honor ran up to hug her mother. When it broke, the filly re-joined her friend as the mare joined her own friends who had shown up to say good bye to the young unicorn.

The party began to break up as it started to get dark. Ruby was one of the first to leave, needing to get home before it was late. Many of the younger ponies were the ones to leave first as they got tired and had to be home for bed and such. Some stayed longer, but were taken home when their parents noticed how worn out the foals were.

"We should get going," Derpy finally said. "You have a big day tomorrow and need to get up early."

"Okay," Dinky said before yawning. "Thank you for the party miss Pinkie. It was a lot of fun."

"You're welcome." Pinkie Pie smiled down at the little filly, reaching out to give her a pat on the head. "Good luck on your school. Now if you'll excuse me." Her eyes narrowed as she turned her head toward the table. "I have some cleaning up to do. Starting with the left over food." The pink pony licked her lips as she started for it.

"How about one last ride?" Derpy asked as they left the bakery behind them. With a squeal of excitement, Dinky hopped onto her mother's back and held on tight. The gray pegasus grinned as she felt her daughter take a hold. A few quick flaps of her wing and they were off the ground. With her daughter on her back, Derpy began to fly. She climbed as quickly and carefully as she could, getting above the buildings to make sure she did not accidentally bump into any of them. The pegasus may not have been the best flyer, but she always made extra certain to keep her daughter safe when they flew together.

From her position, the small filly looked around excitedly as she held on. She watched as the building shrank down with their rise and seemed to move past below them so quickly. It was always so exciting to her when she got to fly with her mom. Sometimes it made her wish that she had been born as a pegasus like her mother instead of a unicorn. A part of her wished that right now since it would mean not having to go to Canterlot to learn how to control her magic (magic she had done her best to not use since the incident at Sugarcube Corner when she seemed to stop time).

The pair soon reached their destination, flying over the carrot farm. Derpy tilted her body, allowing them to fly a slow loop around the building, letting the momentum fade as they came down for a landing. The pegasus came to a stop before dropping onto the path and walking to the front home. Dinky hopped off, following her mother as they entered the house.

"Welcome back," a voice called out, "how was the party?"

"It was fine, Aunt Carrot Top," Dinky replied as she walked toward the voice. She stopped at the doorway between the living room and kitchen, looking a moment. There stood a yellow pony with orange mane by the table where food and wrapped packages were set.

"Someone had to make a proper good bye dinner so you don't get sick from the party," Carrot Top explained, "and to wrap your going away presents."

At first the filly was going to say that she was not that hungry, but the smell of the food made her think otherwise. After all, she had only eaten one muffin -- maybe two -- at the party. The three of them sat down together to eat and talk. It was mostly the two adults that did the talking, but the filly did her best to keep up with the conversation. By the time everypony was done eating, she was ready for bed.

"Muffin," Derpy called out, "don't you want to open your gifts first?"

"Oh yeah." The filly had forgotten about them for a moment. Climbing back into her seat, she sat back down and waited for the first one. When she opened it, she found that it was a photo album. Each page had a picture of her friends and family. Some had been taken with her and some without.

"So you never forget any of us," Carrot Top said with a smile.

"I never could. Not in a thousand thousand thousand years." The filly went to the next one. Inside was a stuffed dog that was white with black spots. Some one had told her about dalmatians when she had gone as a firefighter for Nightmare Night. Giving it a hug she felt how soft and squishy it was. Trying to be creative, she decided to name it "Bubbles."

The largest one was last, and also the heaviest. It took Dinky a while to unwrap it and find out what it was. Getting the paper off, she found a set of brand new saddle bags. They were a familiar dark blue color, with an hourglass shaped clasp. The weight for it came from the fact that it had already been packed with paper, pencils, and quills for school.

"Thank you," Dinky said, yawning again. "It's all very nice. I'm going to get some sleep now." Taking a hold of Bubbles, she headed up to her room. As soon as she was under the blankets, the filly was out cold. She did not even stir when her mother came in to tuck her in and give her a kiss on the cheek.

She did get awaken in the middle of the night. Dinky jumped up as she heard the familiar vworp-vworp-vworp noise. Jumping out of bed,she looked out the window. The excitement suddenly switched to confusion as she realized it was not the sound of arriving, but of departure. She saw the outline of the box as the color faded before disappearing completely. The filly also saw her mother, now standing outside alone. As Derpy turned to walk back inside -- head hanging low -- Dinky turned and went to the stairs.

"Mama?" she called out, "What happened? Is something wrong?"

"Go back to bed Dinky," her mother said. "It's late and you have a big day tomorrow. Go back to bed." The grey pegasus did not look at her daughter, her head hanging low. Dinky could hear the sadness in her mother's voice though. The filly stayed where she was for a moment, watching as Derpy went by and headed down the hall. To the young unicorn's surprise, her mother went into Carrot Top's room instead of her own.

Dinky stared at the door as it shut, staying where she was for a minute. Finally she turned and went back to bed. The filly slipped back under her blankets and grabbed her stuffed toy. Pulling it closed to her, she buried her face against the soft plush body, letting bubbles absorb the tears. It took nearly an hour before she cried herself to sleep.

Comments

[kyubbiman]

This story is off to a good start. I look forward to more; keep up the good work