//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: Bubbles: Derpy's Return 
// by RoxyMoronNERDy 
//------------------------------//


Epilogue


I climbed up the ladder to my old home, and helped Valiant up with me. I giggled as he stumbled, his blackish-bluish mane falling in front of his golden-colored face. His eyes looked up at me with embarrassment and playfulness, and I watched him climb up to catch up with me, his horn poking my back-leg slightly.
"How about you climb ALL THE WAY up and THEN help me?" He asked, annoyed but still smiling playfully,
"You're just sore 'cause you never had a cool house like me!" I retorted, helping him all the way up and standing on the wooden-planked porch that surrounded the two-story tree-house.
"Come on, you know I'm afraid of heights!" He pleaded, inching away from the edge. I rolled my eyes and knocked on the door, which I hadn't seen since I'd moved out. After a few seconds, the door opened to reveal a dark-grey-coated mare with a yellow mane and golden crossed eyes. I smiled and hugged her as a greeting.
"Hi mom!" I said, my voice muffled into her shoulder. She laughed her goofy-sounding laugh that I always loved as she puled away from me to nod to Valiant Literature.
"Hi, Dinky! Oh, and you've brought a friend?" She said, motioning toward Lit. Lit and I looked at each other knowingly and i smiled back at my mother.
"Yep!" I replied, giggling. "I figured that you'd want to meet him, so i brought him with me for Hearth Warming's Eve!" Mom moved aside and opened the door wider, allowing us inside and out of the cold, windy, snowy world and into a toasty home with a burning fireplace, where I saw my mom's old doll, Miss Sweety and my old doll, Miss Derpy. I smiled inside my head as I led Lit over to the sofa, where we sat together, hooves touching slightly. I could hardly wait to tell Mom.

Mom slowly closed the door and walked over, her old, tired body walking to the reclining chair that sat next to the two-seat sofa. I saw Lit looking around, and I realized the last time he'd been to my old house was when we were only fillies. I used my horn to levitate my Miss Derpy doll over, and looked at the old, tattered doll with a grey body and yellow mane and tail made out of yarn. I stroked the mane and smiled, remembering all those nights away from home in Twilight's tree-house that I'd spent, crying myself to sleep, yet clutching the doll, knowing that someday I'd see Mommy again. I sighed and levitated it back on the mantle of the fireplace, turning to Mom, who was now settling in the chair. She had aged well, considering how she took extra physical and mental therapy classes to help her regain herself and keep herself able to do other things that she hadn't been able to do before. Her body wasn't as wrinkly and tired as Granny Smith's, however you could tell she was elderly.

"So..." I sighed, as I unwrapped my scarf with my hooves and levitated it onto the coat-rack by the door.
"So," Lit echoed. "You're Dinky's mother?" Lit said, as if they had never met. My mother's mind was never really one to remember things, considering the mental disability she had. But now that she was getting older, and her physical and mental capabilities were starting to wear off, I noticed that she started to forget things. Not important things, like dates and family, but people whom she hadn't seen in a while, and the last time she'd met Lit was back when we got married, whihc was maybe two or three years ago. 

"Yes, and you're her husband." Mom laughed. I blinked, confused. "You think I'd forget that?"
"Wait, you didn't forget the wedding?" I asked, leaning forward in my seat. She laughed her goofy laugh, and I sat back, realizing what a foolish thing to think.
"Dinky Doo Hooves, how could I forget my only daughter's wedding?" She asked, sounding a little hurt. I suddenly felt a bit guilty.
"It's just that, you never really talked about him..." I trailed off, and decided to just drop it. "Never mind..." My mother laughed, which meant she forgave me. I turned away from my mother and toward the Hearth Warming's Tree that sat off in the corner of the room. I saw the tree skirt underneath it was covered with lots of presents wrapped in pretty paper and topped with pretty bows. There were presents of all shapes of sizes, and I could see a present from at least everypony I knew; Twilight, Spike, Lyra, Bon Bon, Octavia... I even saw two presents from the Princess Sisters! One was wraped in a magic wrapping paper that showed a dark, dark blue background and it twinkled slowly with little white stars, that replicated the night sky perfectly. The other was wrapped in a blue paper that showed the sun, and it was magic as well, showing the sun glow. I watched the magic wrapping paper in awe, wondering if Twilight Sparkle could replicate a spell like that.

Later, when we drank tea,-after talking and catching up on what had been happening in our lives, which seemed so distant now-a-days- Lit and I looked at each other knowingly, and nodded, agreeing that this was the perfect time.
"So, Mom," I started, setting my tea cup on the side table that sat beside the sofa. "I wanted to share something with you. It was actually the whole reason I brought Lit with me." I started, feeling the Hearth's Warming magic kicking in. My mother looked at me, letting a little "hm?" escaped her lips as she took another sip of her tea, holding it in her hooves.
"What's that?" She asked. Lit and I smiled at each other, and suddenly I just could wait any longer.  
"I'm pregnant!" I burst out, beaming. Mom's eyes started tearing up, and she gasped, bringing her hooves to her mouth. 
"No! You're kidding!" She laughed, smiling happily. I giggled and she lept out of her chair and hugged me, weeping into my shoulder. "Oh that's wonderful! I'm so happy for you!" She laughed. Lit and I held our hooves together and smiled at each other after my mother and I pulled away. 
The rest of the day, we all spent hours feeling my middle and discussing plans for the future. Talking about how far I was in, (I was four months in, at the time) and discussed names. Lit and I talked about how we had considered a home birth, but decided that wasn't for us. We talked about names we had chosen, and even talked about naming it after my mother. I rubbed my middle, feeling the warm, magic feeling that lit up my world with happiness as I thought forward, envisioning the moment I would get to hold my little filly or colt for the first time. I turned back to my mother and Lit, and thought back to when I was a little filly, and I thought I'd be stuck with Twilight for the rest of my pony life. 

I looked around the room, seeing how I was right back where I started; living happily with my Mommy, and now I had a loving husband by my side and another little one about to be added to the picture. I smiled and blinked back tears of joy. I then knew right there that no matter what happened ahead of time from now, no matter how bad things may seem...
I knew they would always turn out alright.

Fin