A week has passed since Dinky had a sleepover with her friends. She finally got the photo of her and Rainbow Dash that Rarity promised her, Derpy has sent a letter to her father to see if he could meet her again and she is going to see Twilight tomorrow to see if she can make an arrangement to meet the Royal Family, but for now, it's just a relaxing day, just peace and quiet for here on in, there is nothing for Dinky to do and there isn't anything she really wants to do. But for the fun of it just so she doesn't get bored, she's going to read a book. She hops off her bed and check in the semi-attached drawer under her bed for a book,
"Let's see now" She spoke to herself, "What should I read? 'Daring Do and the Sapphire Stone' is a classic, but I've read it too many times"
She continued to search through the books, she found several Daring Do books and something she wasn't originally meant to have, "A Game of Ponies: Book 1 of a Song of Earth and Wind",
"Oh my, this must be Mom's book" Dinky thought to herself, "I better hoof this back to her"
Dinky picked up the book using her teeth and went and exited her room and went downstairs to give her mom her book back, she found her mom in the living room reading the newspaper,
"Hey, Mom?" Dinky asked.
"What is it, Sweetie?" Derpy replied with her right eye still locked on eye-catching headline, whilst her left was facing towards her nose.
"I found one of your books in the drawer under my bed, I was wondering if you wanted it back" Dinky explained.
Derpy faced away from the newspaper to look at the cover of "Game of Ponies", she instantly snatched it away from her,
"Sorry from snatching that from you, hon" She said, "It's just that this book isn't really suitable for you. And I'm not sure how this got her anyway"
"It's OK, Mom" Dinky replied.
"And thanks for bringing this down for me Dinky, I haven't read this book in a while" Derpy told her.
"You're welcome Mom. What's the book about anyway?" She asked.
"It's about the three pony races before we met peace on Hearth's Warming Eve, I can't let you read it because it's got a lot of bad language and extremely nasty violence" Derpy explained.
"Doesn't really sound like my kind of book anyways" Dinky smiled.
"You know what? I'll read it again after I've the paper" Derpy said.
KNOCK KNOCK.
"Someone's at the door" Dinky said.
"You should probably get that one, hon" Derpy told her, "It's probably one of your friends"
"OK, Mom" Dinky replied.
Dinky exited the living room, to the main hallway that led to the front door, Dinky trotted over to the front door and opened it, and the pony that stood in front of her wasn't one of her friends, but a much older pony she hasn't seen in a long time, levitating a briefcase with his unicorn magic,
"Hey kiddo" the tall stallion greeted.
"Dad?" Dinky replied to the pony.
"Yes, baby" he said back to her.
Greyson placed his briefcase down beside him. He crouched down to Dinky's height and opened his fronts legs expecting a hug from his daughter, she instantly leaped into him and hugged him tightly,
"I missed you, Dinky" Greyson said.
"I missed you too, Daddy" She replied as she cried into his shoulder.
Derpy then walked out the living room and saw them hugging, she was going to ask who it was, but the sight of her husband made her stop in her tracks. Greyson let go of Dinky and opened his briefcase to pull out a letter, the same letter Derpy sent him telling him about Dinky's cancer,
"I got your letter" He said to his wife.
The happiness when Derpy was speaking to Dinky instantly drained from her emotional standpoint once she caught sight of her husband, her face went from a modest smile at her daughter to an aggravated frown at Greyson,
Derpy let out a sigh, "Well, you might as well come inside" She uttered at him with gritted teeth, "You and Dinky have catching up to do"
Derpy went back into the living room to sit on the couch in annoyance at Greyson, he's trying to play it cool, and just expect Derpy to let it slide, but Derpy, who is called an "idiot" by a lot of ponies, is smart enough to know that there is going to be conflict with Greyson with him coming back after abandoning her and her daughter for two years.
Dinky and Greyson made it upstairs to her room, the two of them sat on her bed, Greyson was thinking of something to say, then he thought of a question that would probably make the most sense,
"What of kind of cancer is it?" He asked Dinky.
"It's horn cancer" Dinky replied.
"What are your chances, Kiddo?" He sadly asked.
Dinky looked down at her floor, "70/30"
"Hon, I'm sorry" Greyson said.
"It's OK" Dinky replied.
"No, Dinky, I'm sorry, for...for everything" Greyson told her as he placed his front hooves on his forehead, "I'm sorry for leaving you and your mom. I know things aren't going to be the way they used to, and I'm just sorry for not being there, for you and Derpy"
"Why did you leave us anyway?" Dinky asked him, though she's expecting the acting answer.
"Because I'm an idiot, I thought I could have made it as an actor, but no, I'm a failure. When I was in Manehattan, I tried auditioning and auditioning for parts, but I was never any good as an actor. And I once your mom sent me a letter that you had cancer, I came back, I had to" He began to choke up, "Because I don't want my little girl to die, so I'm going to stick with you through this, hon"
A tear came down from Dinky's eye, she choked up as well,
"But mom told me, she sent other letters for you to come back home before that. Why didn't you come before?" Dinky asked and sniffed.
"Because I was scared, sweetie. I never wanted to come home because I was scared of what the consequences would be if I did come back, and I didn't send any letters back because I...I....." He paused, "I just couldn't. And I knew the longer I left it, it would only grow worse and worse, and I don't know why I did that either. I ended up not speaking with or keeping in touch with you or your mother fro two years. I can't imagine what your mom is going to say to me after you go to bed tonight"
Dinky nudged closer to her dad, and snuggled into him, she cried really quietly, with only few sniffles, but a lot of tears. Greyson placed his arm around her and held her tightly as she snuggled into her. Dinky looked up at her dad and she asked,
"Daddy, can you promise you won't leave us again?"
Greyson looked down at his daughter, "I promise I'll never leave you"
Dinky smiled, she stopped crying, Greyson smiled back,
"I love you, Dad" Dinky said.
"I love you too, sweetie" Greyson replied.
Midnight. Dinky is now in bed. Asleep. She has ticked off "Meet Daddy" on her bucket list. Greyson had just checked on his daughter and she is out cold and now he is downstairs sitting in the kitchen while Derpy was in the living room, reading her book. Greyson was resting his face against front right hoof, desperately thinking what he is going to say to his wife, but he knows that no matter what he says, Derpy is going to do a comeback at everything he says. He makes it threw to the living room, and sees Derpy reading "Game of Ponies", he sighs quickly and takes a breath,
"Hey honey, what's that you're reading there?" He asked.
"Look at the cover, and find out for yourself" Derpy replied while still reading her book.
"So..um...have you and Dinky...uh....been getting on well?" Greyson asked awkwardly.
"If you trying to smart-talk your way into getting my affection again, try another time" Derpy told him.
Greyson sighed, "Derpy, I'm sorry"
Derpy placed her book down on the coffee table in front of her, then she looked her husband with her right eye, her other eye is pointing towards her nose,
"You're sorry?" She spoke calmly, keeping a nasty rage inside of her, "I send you an note, asking you to come home because our little girl is dying, after two years of sending notes you never replied to. And for what? So you could try and be an actor? Greyson, you had a good job, you still have a loving wife and daughter, and you gave that up" she said.
Greyson let out a huge breath of air, "I'm sorry".
"Sorry, doesn't cut it. When you left us, it hurt us, you put me and your daughter in pain. And yet I still love you, but I don't trust you anymore" Derpy told him.
"Give me a chance, Derpy" Greyson pleaded.
"If I give you a chance, will you try?" Derpy asked.
"I will" Greyson replied.
"OK, but if you fail, I don't want anything to do with you anymore" Derpy said.
"OK" Greyson spoke back.
"And until then, you're sleeping on the couch, and I'm going to bed" Derpy said as she stood up from her chair and trotted out the room and up the stairs, "Once you have my trust, you can come inside the cold side of the double bed I sleep on, and be sure to turn the lights off"
Greyson laid himself on the couch and looked at the ceiling, thinking of what the first few months of his absence from his family was like for his wife and daughter. He kept on thinking and thinking more about his family and simply just said to himself,
"I hate myself so much. I have messed-up, big time"