“Thank you for coming Derpy.” said Cheerilee as Derpy carefully took a seat across the desk from the teacher.
“Why did you need to see me?” Derpy glanced at her daughter, who was reading quietly in the corner of the schoolhouse. “Dinky hasn’t caused any trouble has she?”
“Oh no, no…” Cheerilee sighed, “Dinky is an excellent student. I just wanted to speak to you about some…issues…that came up at school today.” She looked almost sadly at Dinky before continuing, “You see…today we were doing family trees in class.”
Derpy groaned and slumped in her chair. “Were those nasty fillies teasing her about her father again?”
Cheerilee shook her head. “After that incident I moved her far away from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. No, you see…” She drew out a piece of paper from the drawer in her desk and placed it in front of Derpy. It was a traditional basic family tree for fillies, with a slot to fill out their names, and two slots above those for the parent’s names, with two slots above each parent for the grandparents.
“Each child was given one of these trees to complete. I told Dinky not to worry about the father’s side…since you’ve discussed that with me before. However…” she shifted the piece of paper to reveal Dinky’s family tree.
Derpy’s heart sank as she stared at it. Dinky had written in her name, Derpy’s name above hers, and even drawn in a line for her sister Sparkler, but in the spots for Derpy’s parents she had merely drawn two large question marks.
“I’m afraid to say that after seeing all her friends family trees, she had some questions.” Cheerilee looked at the mailpony, “Derpy, does Dinky not even know her grandparent’s names?”
Derpy felt like crying. After all these years, her luck had finally run out. “No…I mean, well, you know I haven’t spoken to my parents in a long time, not since…Dinky. I guess it just never seemed like a big deal to me. After all…my parents have never expressed an interest in meeting her.”
Cheerilee sighed, “Well it seems to be a big deal for Dinky.” She carefully took Derpy’s hoof and looked her in the eye. “Derpy, this is more than a meeting between a teacher and a student’s parent, this is a meeting between friends. So, as your friend, I beg you to talk to Dinky about her grandparents. This is a different situation from her father, and if she wants to know more about them, then she has a right to.”
Derpy sighed and nodded. “Thanks Cheerilee.”
******
Derpy peered around the door to Dinky’s room, where she was sitting on her bed with a book. Slowly, Derpy walked into the room and sat down on the end of the bed.
“Hey Muffin…” she whispered quietly.
Dinky looked up from her book, “Hi Mom.”
“So…You had some questions about your…your grandparents?” Derpy winced slightly at the word.
Dinky looked down, “Well…kinda. I mean, today was just kind of the first day I realized I’m the only filly in my class who doesn’t know anything about their grandparents. Even Applebloom knows her grandfather’s name, and he died before she was born.”
She looked back up at her mother, “They’re not dead, are they?”
Derpy sighed, it was an easy way out, but Dinky deserved the truth. “No Muffin, they’re not dead.”
“Then why haven’t I met them? Do they not like me?” Dinky was crying now, big round tears of pain and sadness.
“Oh sweetie…no,” Derpy reached forward and wrapped her daughter in a hug. “It’s just that Mommy had a bad fight with them before you were born.” They lay there in silence for a minute as Derpy allowed her mind to wander to the last time she had spoken to her parents.
Derpy stood outside the entrance of her parent’s house, her home. She had more than once in the 21 years of her life had to tell her parents when she had done something that would make them mad…but never anything quite like this.
She took a deep breath and brought a hoof to the door, emitting three sharp knocks. The door swung open to reveal her mother, a frown on her face.
“Derpy! Where have you-“
“I’m pregnant.” whispered Derpy, cutting off her mother.
“What??” Her father had joined her mother at the door.
“You heard me, I’m pregnant. I took a test yesterday and went to see my doctor this morning, he confirmed it, I’m pregnant.”
Her mother stared at her, horror and anger etched on her face. “Who is the father? WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?!”
Derpy glared at her mother, “I don’t know.”
“Well then, you’ll simply have to get an abortion, and we’ll never speak of this again.” Her mother spoke with a tone of finality.
Derpy grit her teeth, “No.”
“What do you mean no?” yelled her father.
“I mean I’m not getting an abortion. If having this filly is what fate has picked for me, so be it. Every child deserves a chance.”
“You will not have that filly, or…or…”
“Or what?” challenged Derpy.
“Or your no longer welcome in our home!”
“Fine.” She turned and left.
Two weeks later she moved into the little house in Ponyville, she hadn’t spoken to her parents since.
Dinky’s voice drew Derpy from her memories. “What are their names?”
“Well…” Derpy pictured her parents’ faces, “My mother’s name is Dainty Hooves, and my father’s name is Dusty Hooves.”
Dinky giggled. “I…I wish I knew what they look like…”
Derpy grinned at her daughter, “Well, I do have photos, silly.” Dinky let out a cheer and clapped her hooves as Derpy whizzed into her room, and grabbed the old photo album off her shelf.
Derpy sat down next to her daughter again, and Dinky snuggled up close. Carefully, the little filly opened the worn cover to a photo of a young Derpy and her parents.
Dinky pointed to her grandmother. “She looks a lot like Sparkler!” Sure enough, Dainty Hooves had a similar purple mane, with more of a curl, and her coat was a light purple (though more of a color like Dinky’s).
Derpy smiled fondly, “Yes…that’s actually what gave me the idea to adopt her. A couple months after you were born, I saw the add in the paper for a nine year old filly who needed a home. She looked similar to my mother, and it reminded me of something I once said to her.”
“What was that?”
“That every child deserves a chance.”
Dinky leaned her head against her mother’s shoulder and let out a sigh. “Mom, what did you and them fight about?”
“Well muffin…ummm…You know how I’ve never been sure who your father is?” Dinky nodded, it had been a fact her mother had always been honest about.
“My parents…weren’t happy with what had happened. Some things were said, and we all agreed we’d rather not see one another again.”
“So it is my fault they don’t like you anymore.” A single tear traced down Dinky’s cheek.
“NO!” Derpy grabbed her daughter by the shoulders and looked her dead in the eye. “Dinky it is anything but your fault. If it’s anypony’s fault, it’s mine!”
Suddenly, Dinky pushed her mother off with a grin. “I know! I’ll meet them and show them I’m a nice filly! I can even show them my photo album with all the photos of me and Sparkler!”
“I’m not sure if that’s a smart idea…” whispered Derpy.
“Please????”
Derpy hesitated, remembering Cheerilee’s words. “Well muffin, If it’s what you want…I’ll take you to meet your grandparents.”
Dinky cheered and tackled her mother with a thank-you hug.
******
Derpy hesitantly stood in front of the door to the home she had dared not come near for nine years. She glanced back at the filly hiding shyly behind her. Sighing, she reached up and rang the bell.
Dainty Hooves opened the door. The last nine years had stolen most of the purple from her mane, but aside from that she was still the same mother Derpy remembered.
“Derpy?” she whispered.
Derpy looked down, trying not to cry. “Hi Mom.”
Dainty stared at her daughter. “What…What are you doing here?”
Derpy stepped aside wordlessly to reveal the small unicorn filly standing behind her. Dinky hesitantly took a step forward, a large photo album balanced on her back.
“Grandma Hooves? I’m..I’m Dinky…” She glanced at her mother. “I know you and mom had a fight about me a long time ago, but I brought my photo album, so I could maybe show you I’m not a bad pony…”
To Derpy’s surprise, Dainty Hooves smiled warmly, if a bit sadly at Dinky. “I’m sure your anything but a bad pony Dinky, but I would love to see your photo album. I’m sure I’ve missed a lot in the last few years.”
Dinky grinned and trotted inside. A slightly calmer Derpy started to follow her, but she was cut off by her mother throwing her forelegs around her in a tight hug.
“She’s more beautiful then I ever could have imagined.” she whispered. Gently, she leaned out to face her daughter. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For finding the courage to forgive me, and to come home.” With that, Dainty turned and walked inside.
Derpy curved slightly to look out at the beautiful sky. Smiling slightly, she went inside to be with her family