Derpy had left her house, but it was not hard to figure out where she had gone. She always went to the same place when she was sad or in trouble, and Dinky knew exactly where to go. Crossing the town, though, was almost even more difficult than resisting the urge to read the book. The sun was mostly behind the clouds, but even the glow of the overcast sky was blinding to Dinky. In addition, she found that she was unusually weak for some reason. Even walking at a slow speed was draining, and a distance of less than a mile suddenly seemed almost insurmountable.
Eventually, though, Dinky did manage to reach her goal. Just when she thought that what little was left of her energy had been expended, she found herself standing in front of what could really only be described as a shed. A small, blue shed.
Dinky approached and tapped on the door weakly. At first, there was no response, and Dinky knocked again, this time harder. When there was no response, she put her hoof against the blue paint of the door and began to drag it downward repeatedly, slowly peeling a small line of paint off the surface.
“Stop that!” said a voice from inside. “I’m coming, I’m coming!”
There was a brief moment before the door opened. A brown earth-pony with pale blue eyes stuck his head through. When he saw Dinky, he frowned. “Oh. It’s you.”
“Time Turner,” said Dinky, returning his frown.
“What do you want?”
“I want to see my mother.”
“And what makes you think that she’s here?”
“Oh please. The whole town knows how much you enjoy comforting her.”
“I would hardly say I enjoy it. I hate seeing her like this.” He stared at Dinky for a moment. “You made her cry, Dinky. I hope you feel ashamed of yourself. And she doesn’t want to see you.”
“Well too bad. Because it’s not your choice.”
“Yes, it is. This is my TA- -”
“And she’s my mother. What, are you going to leave me out here? You’re going to prevent a little filly from seeing her mother?” Dinky turned to give Time Turner a profile view of herself, and saw the expression of concern on his face grow. “Look. I’m not in good condition. I haven’t eaten in a few weeks, and I’m pretty sure I’m dehydrated. I need to see her. Now.”
Time Turner grumbled, and after a moment of pause threw open the door. “Playing the little filly card,” he muttered. “It’s just not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair, Time Turner,” said Dinky, stepping into his house, or rather the workshop where he lived. “And aren’t you Shriners supposed to like kids?”
“Just because I sometimes wear a fez does not mean I’m a Shriner. I wear it because fezzes are cool.”
“About as cool as bowties, I’m sure. Or scarves that drag on the floor when you walk.”
“Those are perfectly legitimate fashion choices!”
Dinky mostly ignored him and made his way into his house. It was comparatively messy and was filled with a surprising amount of science-type junk. Strangely, though, from the several times that Dinky had been in Time Turner’s house, she had always found that it seemed substantially larger on the inside than the outside. She had, of course, never mentioned that; it was apparent that he was itching for her to point it out, and she did not want to give him the satisfaction. She did not like him much.
It took longer to find Derpy. Eventually, though, Dinky saw her, nestled in the seat of pony-sized and partially constructed rocket ship that was suspended from the ceiling. Dinky had not initially seen her because she was high off the ground, and had only become aware of her presence by the sniffling sound. Time Turner had been telling the truth: as much as it pained Dinky to admit, she had indeed made her mother cry.
“Mom?” said Dinky. There was no response. Dinky sighed. “I’m going to bring you down from there. Is that okay?”
There was still no response, and Dinky took that as a “yes”. With her magic, she activated the controls that lowered the rocket. It descended slowly until it sat a few inches off the ground. Derpy was curled into it, and with a pang of regret Dinky saw that Time Turner had already bandaged Derpy’s injured wing.
Derpy looked up. Her face was puffy and her eyes red from crying. She did not say anything, though. She clearly did not know what to say. Dinky did not either- -but she knew what to do.
Dinky held out the book in her magic, offering it to her mother. “Here,” she said.
Derpy looked at the book, more surprised than confused.
“Take it.”
“But…but I can’t read it,” said Derpy, shaking her head. “My dyslexia…”
“I know,” said Dinky. “But just because you can’t read it now doesn’t mean you’ll never be able to.” She sighed. “Just take it. I want you to have it. And…I’ll do my best to try to teach you how to read. So that someday you can know what I saw, and you can read it too.”
“But nopony’s ever been able to teach me to read. It’s not possible. I’m too stupid.”
“The only stupid one here is me,” said Dinky. “And I still think I’m smart enough to teach you to read. It will just take a while.”
“A while?”
“Yeah. And I think I’ve still got a lot of time left in Ponyville. Hopefully.”
Derpy’s expression lit up, and she finally did take the book. Dinky had a sudden urge to tear it away from her, but instead, she let it go. There was no longer any point in keeping it.
“Even though I’m a terrible mother?” said Derpy.
“Yeah. You may be a terrible mother, but you’re my terrible mother. Besides, compared to Spoiled Rich? I think you’re doing pretty well.”
Derpy smiled, and Dinky felt a little better.
“I’m sorry I said all those things. I didn’t mean any- -”
Dinky was interrupted as her mother hugged her. It lasted for several seconds, and Dinky suddenly became aware of how long it had been since she had allowed herself time to be hugged. She had not even realized how much she had missed it.
When Derpy was finished, Dinky stepped back. Time Turner was entering the room with obligatory tea.
“Hey, Time Turner,” she said. “You’re a doctor, right?”
“It depends on your definition of ‘doctor’,” he said.
“Well I hope that definition means ‘medical doctor’. Because I think I need to go to a hospital.”
Dinky then promptly fainted from a combination of starvation, prolonged dehydration, and severe sleep deprivation.