Dinky Hooves was still out like a light and the darkness was still overcoming her body. Deep in her subconscious mind, she was experiencing what she mostly feared all over again. She wanted to get away, she wanted to all go away, but nothing she did changed anything and was forced to relive her nightmare. The whole terrible experience caused her to writhe in fear and feel pain and agony; exactly what she didn’t want to feel ever again. She felt so cold, so lonely, like no one was ever going to come to her rescue. Was this truly the start of her eternal life in sadness and sorrow?
But suddenly at some point, he felt her nightmare world start to fade away and she was surrounded by nothing but total darkness. Then after that, there was a voice… a voice she knew very well.
‘Dinky… wake up, Dinky…’
It kept getting louder and louder and Dinky was wondering where it was coming from. But she felt her mind about to finally wake up as she followed the familiar sound of the calling voice.
‘Come on, Dinky, you have to be okay. Wake up… please? Dinky…’
-----
Dinky could finally feel herself waking up from her inner darkness as her eyes began to slowly open. But what was the point, she would just wake up to a world covered in darkness and there would be nothing she could do to stop it. But as her vision came to, she suddenly saw the owner of the voice that was calling her earlier.
“M-M-M-Miss… S-Stone; i-is that you?”
“Oh thank goodness, you’re awake… finally.”
Dinky was wondering to herself of what was going on, how did Emerald Stone show up so suddenly; and… why was she wearing a necklace similar to hers? But what shocked her more was that as she began to look around her, she noticed that she wasn’t in that mountain cave anymore; and not only that, she saw that the entire town was all bright and lively again, as if Gloom never casted her spell.
“W-wait a minute, what happened? Last thing I remembered was Ponyville in deep darkness… and… I failed to save it.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that you completely failed,” Emerald said with a little smile, “In fact I’d say that you succeeded very well.”
Dinky felt confused; if she failed, how could it be that she didn’t fail also? However, she didn’t have time to dwell on it as she suddenly felt someone glomp on her from behind.
“Dinky, you’re okay!”
“Pinkie Pie?”
“Give me a hug, little filly!”
What’s up with Pinkie; why was she being like this all of a sudden? These questions were pondering in Dinky’s mind while she was being hugged. Just moments before, her Element of Laughter was stolen from her and was reduced to nothing but a depressed mess.
“What’s going on, Pinkie?! Where are the others?!”
“Don’t worry about them,” Pinkie responded, “they’re all going around town and checking on everypony to see if they’re alright!”
“I don’t understand; what happened? I thought your element was taken, and you were… down in the dumps.”
“We all were, silly; but everything is back to normal now, and it’s all thanks to you!”
Now Dinky felt even more confused than she was already; she figured Pinkie was just being herself again, “But… I-I didn’t do anything! I mean I tried to do something, but… I failed! How can all of this be back to normal because of me?”
“Miss Emerald told us everything!” said Pinkie excitedly.
“Sh-she… what?”
“She told us of how even though everything seemed hopeless, you chose to go off and face Gloom yourself! You never backed down and you never gave up.”
Dinky was suddenly wondering of why and how Emerald Stone witnessed all of what happened. She thought that she was under the spell just like everypony else.
“But even though you failed to stop her, that necklace around your neck made her see some… certain parts of your life. With that and a little persuasion from Miss Emerald, Gloom finally realized her mistake and fixed everything! Isn’t that awesome; ooh I sound like Rainbow Dash.”
Dinky couldn’t believe what she just heard; all of that occurred while she was out?
“Wait… certain parts… of my life?” Dinky questioned, “Does that mean that she saw…”
Dinky knew exactly what Pinkie meant as her eyes went wide from realizing the truth.
“It was the main highlight to bring her to an understanding,” said Emerald, “and now everypony is back to normal; including your Mother.”
That was the best piece of news that Dinky thought she ever received. Thinking of how she was earlier, Dinky was thrilled to know that her mother was not deep into depression anymore.
“Wow, that’s great! I’m so happy that everything is back to normal and that Gloom had a change of heart!”
But then… the obvious thought came to her mind, “But wait a minute; where is Gloom.”
Pinkie and Emerald look at each other with slight disappointment in their eyes and then looked back at Dinky; the young filly knew something was up.
“I’m sorry, Dinky,” said Emerald sadly, “I’m afraid… she’s gone.”
“G-g-g-gone…” said Dinky hesitantly, “What do you mean by… gone?”
Emerald explained everything to her, “Well you see… that giant dark orb that she created by transforming Pinkie’s laughter essence into dark energy, it was made up by Gloom’s own physical essence; it was technically a part of her. So… when she figured out to how to destroy it to return what she took, it was like she was attacking her own life energy. She knew it was a huge risk, but she decided to do it anyway; she… sacrificed herself to make everypony happy again… to make you happy again.”
Dinky may have not known Gloom her whole life thus far, but she knew her enough to have a good enough understanding towards her pain. But now she was never going to see her again.
“You mean… I didn’t even get to say…good bye?” Dinky said sadly.
As she hung her head down in sadness, she suddenly felt a faint touch of a hoof on her shoulder… and she heard a familiar voice. “I believe you still can.”
Dinky quickly perked up and turned around behind her only to see the face of the one who sacrificed her life; although her body was glowing white light and she didn’t appeared to look dark and evil anymore.
“Gl… Gloom… is that you?”
The mare looked down on her with a peaceful smile seeing that she was alright. Dinky however was filled with joy as she turned to Pinkie.
“Pinkie, look who it is?! Do you see her; do you see her?!”
Pinkie looked at Dinky feeling confused as she tilted her head and asked, “Um… who am I supposedly seeing exactly?”
“You mean… you don’t see Gloom standing right here?”
“What?!”
Suddenly, Dinky noticed her necklace showing off a faint glow from its center, and then immediately she knew what was going on.
“My necklace,” she thought to herself, “it’s allowing me to see her one more time?”
“What’s going on, Dinky?!” shouted Pinkie, “Who are you talking to; and did you just say… Gloom?!”
“Calm down, Pinkie,” said Emerald as she held Pinkie back, “why don’t we let Dinky have this moment; it’s obvious that her necklace is granting her wish and is allowing her to see Gloom again.”
“Wow… I didn’t see that coming.”
“Are you really not evil anymore, Gloom?” Dinky asked her.
“Please, call me by my original name,” said the mare with a smirk, “Amity.”
“Amity? Wow, that’s your real name; I really like that a lot.”
“So do I.”
Dinky went up to Amity and gave her a hug around her fore leg as she looked up at her feeling overjoyed, “I’m so glad that you brought everything back to the way they were; it was truly a nightmare.”
“Well I think that was the whole point,” said Amity chuckling a bit, “but it was all thanks to you, Dinky, that I was able to change. Because of that necklace of yours, I realized that you were right all along; the fact that everypony goes through pure tragic times, and none pf them are any less important than the other, no matter how big or small. I only wish that I realized that sooner.”
“Its okay, Miss Gl… um, Amity;” said Dinky, “Don’t blame yourself over it. You were surrounded by ponies who hated you or didn’t love you appropriately; I don’t blame you one bit. If I were an earth pony like you and I had a dark, dormant power lying inside me like you, experiencing the stressful days like you had, I probably would’ve done the same thing. If I can’t have happiness, then no one shall; see, I totally get you.”
Amity still couldn’t get this little unicorn filly. Even after everything she put her through, she was still be nice to her; she was her friend.
“You really are the most unusual filly I’ve ever met; and your mother,” she said thinking about what she saw in Dinky’s memories, “… you’re very lucky to have her.”
“Well of course!” Dinky said proudly, “She’s the best mother ever! If it weren’t for her and… what she did, I-I-I don’t even want to know what could’ve happened to me!”
Pinkie and Emerald were just sitting together watching Dinky having a conversation with Amity; and even though they couldn’t’ see nor hear her, they could tell that by the expression on Dinky’s face, everything was okay.
“Hey, I still wanna know all about what happened to you in the past; I’m very curious!”
But suddenly, the light around Amity was suddenly giving off a light glow, and her body started to slowly fade away.
“Huh,” said Dinky feeling worried, “what’s happening?”
“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid that I must be going; my spirit can’t last too much longer in the material world."
Dinky began to tear up a bit again as she suddenly grabbed on tightly to Amity, “No, I don’t want you to go; there was a whole lot of things I wanted to ask about you!”
Amity bent down and patted Dinky on the head feeling at ease, “Unfortunately, that’s not possible; it’s just the way it has to be. Besides, I think you know quite enough about me, and… I’m very glad that I could make a friend… like you.”
“Will I… e-ever s-see you again?” Dinky pleaded while still crying.
“I can’t promise anything… but, do know that I will still be with you…” Amity then pointed her hoof too Dinky’s chest area, “in here.”
Dinky smiled a bit and wiped away her tears while sporting a soft giggle, “M-my Mom always says that cheezy line to me at times… and sometimes it actually works.”
Amity looked over at Pinkie and could feel the power of her Element flowing through her once again; she was quite glad to see her back to normal as well.
“Hey, Dinky,” she said, “do me a favor, will you?”
“S-s-sure,” Dinky responded, “anything!”
“Make sure to give my condolences to your pink friend over there, as well as the rest of her Element wielding friends. And as for your Mother…” she suddenly teared a bit remembering what she went through with her parents, “well, you two keep on loving each other and live a wonderful life; for me.”
Dinky smiled and nodded while raising her hoof in response, “You have my word.”
Right at the last minute before before Amity went away, Dinky decided to give her one last laugh, “Hey, Amity… can I tell you a joke?”
“Um… sure,” Amity responded curiously.
Pinkie and Emerald noticed what she was about to and were wondering what was going on about that.
“Why can’t a dragon get a dry throat?”
“I’m not quite sure,” said Amity after thinking for a few seconds, “why?”
“Because if it did, it would be a little… hoarse!”
Pinkie smiled and was jumping up and down while looking at Emerald, “Ooh ooh, I told her that joke; I told her that joke!”
Amity was pondering on the joke trying to get the pun, but then she suddenly got and began to lightly chuckle while showing a bright smile.
“Wow, that’s actually kinda funny.”
“Thanks, Miss Pinkie told me that one!”
“I’m sure she has you keep working on that, okay?”
Amity’s body was almost faded out of existence; but right before then, she gave Dinky a hug from herself and felt a slight tear run down her cheek as Dinky hugged back.
“Bye, Amity.”
Amity smiled and waved her hoof at Dinky, and then… her spirit vanished.
As Dinky just stood there still looking in the same direction, she heard Pinkie ask, “Is she gone?”
“Yeah… she is,” she responded as she turned around and wipped away a tear from her eye.
She suddenly looked down and held up her necklace staring at it with astonishment, “This necklace is amazing; I had no idea that is was capable of so much.” She then gave Emerald Stone a little sly look, “But… I’m sure that you did, right?”
“Well, I knew of its possible capabilities, but trust me, I’m just as surprised as you are.”
“And again, what’s with the second necklace?” Dinky asked pointing to the similar accessory around Emerald’s neck, “You didn’t tell me that there was two of them.”
“I know,” said Emerald with a smile, “but maybe I’ll you more about that another time.”
Pinkie came up to Dinky feeling very curious and asked, “So, did Glo… I mean Amity say anything about me?”
“She did; she said she thanks you and the others for trying so hard to help her, and… she apologizes for everything she did.”
“You’re welcome, Amity;” Pinkie yelled out up to the sky, “and apology accepted!”
“It is sad that she sacrificed her spirit at the last minute to save us from her darkness,” said Dinky as she held a smile on her face, “but… I’m glad that I got to help her change her life and made her my friend; and at least now her spirit can rest in peace. She was just an earth pony and 200 years old after all.”
“I still don’t understand that,” said Pinkie feeling confused.
Suddenly, Dinky heard another voice calling out her name; and this voice she was no stranger to.
“Dinky!”
She turned around and a wonderful sight coming towards her from the sky. “Mom.”
Derpy was in such a rush to get to her that she almost stumbled and crashed, but she was able to catch herself as she landed beside her daughter, “There you are, Dinky, I was looking all over you and couldn’t find you anywhere! I very worried about you!”
Without a single word, Dinky ran up to her Mother and began to hug her very tightly and she wasn’t letting go. Derpy knew that her daughter was glad to see her, but she was feeling a bit pressure from the hug and was beginning to worry a bit.
“Are you okay; did something happen? ‘Gasp’ Did I do something wrong?!”
“N-no, Mom,” said dinky as she suddenly let and wiped away more tears from her eyes, “I… I’m just happy to see you… just the way you are supposed to be.”
Dinky gave her another hug, but not as tight this time. Derpy looked at her and was feeling a bit confused about what she meant by that, “Um… thank you; and I’m happy to see you too.”
As her daughter continued to hug her, Derpy looked up at Pinkie and asked, “Did I miss something?”
“I’d say that you missed a whole bunch of somethings!”
Derpy suddenly noticed that Emerald was nearby and greeted her as well, “Oh, hey there, Miss Emerald; how are you doing?”
“I’m doing quite well,” Emerald responded with a light chuckle, “but your daughter… she has a lot on her mind right now.”
“Really?”
“Boy do I;” said Dinky vibrating with excitement, “Can I share ‘em with you, Mom?!”
Derpy was always up for a good story whether she was telling it or someone else; so she smiled and nodded, “Okay, sounds exciting to hear.”
Dinky began to walk off beside her Mother all set to tell her tale; but then she turned back shouted, “Oh… bye Miss Emerald; bye, Pinkie!”
Both Pinkie and Emerald waved good bye to Dinky for now, and they both watched as Dinky walked of happily and talking with Derpy.
“So what’s on your mind?” Derpy asked.
“Remember that pony I told you about earlier, Gloom; well its Amity now. Anyway, she’s real… was real.”
Derpy was shocked, “No way!”
“Yeah, but if you think that’s shocking, just wait till I tell you what happened with me when I met her!”
“Oh…”said Derpy feeling concerned. Judging by her daughter’s face, she knew that she was in for a huge story, “I’m gonna need a lot of muffins for this, aren't I?”
“Well I don’t know about you,” said Pinkie looking at Emerald, “but I think I had enough excitement for one day.”
“Hey, you two,” said a voice to Pinkie and Emerald.
They both looked behind them and saw Twilight and the others approaching with pleasant expressions on their faces.
“You’re back!” Pinkie with glee, “Is everypony okay?”
“Everything is back to normal,” said Twilight, “and so is everypony. So how’s Dinky?”
They all looked around and didn’t see the young filly that they last saw out cold; they were becoming a bit worried.
“Um… where is Dinky?” questioned Applejack.
Pinkie suddenly turned their attention up ahead to where Dinky was just taking off in the air riding on her Mother. Both of them being happy without a care in the world.
“How sweet,” said Fluttershy, “she’s back and spending time with her mother.”
“Heh; Derpy maybe a dope a lot of times,” said Rainbow Dash with a smirk, “but I’ll give her one thing… she’s an excellent mother where it counts; Dinky is lucky to have her, and I kinda hate it that we doubted her back then.”
“So what whatever happened to that Gloom character?” questioned Twilight.
Pinkie turned her head around to wipe a little tear away, then turned back around with a good ol’ smile and said, “Don’t worry, we won’t have to worry about her ever again; she’s finally at peace. Oh, and by the way, her real name is Amity!”
“Amity?” all her friends questioned.
“It’s a long story.”
“Well… we’re all just glad that you’re your happy and cheerful self again,” said Rarity, “We were beginning to miss that… from what I can remember.”
“But you know,” said Pinkie as something crossed her mind, “the strange thing is that Dinky hasn’t even realized the bandage that Amity wrapped around the huge wound on her forehead… and neither has her Mother apparently.”
They all looked up and saw it faintly, but the bandage was still on there; but Dinky and her Mother was having too much fun to even notice. Twilight smiled not worrying at all, but just glad to see the two united again.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure one of them will notice it sooner or later.”
-----
That was the story of how one little filly helped change the heart of one who never experienced happiness in their life. Dinky Hooves’ memories proved to the dark mare, Gloom, now known as Amity that not everypony’s life is perfect, and that everypony goes through tough, and tragic times at some point in their life. And because of that, she finally saw the light and felt happiness for the first time when sacrificed herself to make everything right again.
Her spirit disappeared, but it has been said that she now wanders all over Equestria witnessing all of the happiness and friendship it had to offer, and she could now cherish it forever. As for Canterlot, Celestia was eventually aware of what happened to the mare that she once sealed inside a mountain and dedicated her devotion to Amity and wished that she would live forever in peace. Plus, Amity’s bird friend was always seen soaring across the skies by many watchful eyes; but they noticed that it never stops at a permanent location. With its friend’s spirit now wandering all over Equestria, the skies was now its home.
As for Dinky and her Mother, they just continued on with their life together; and lived to their fullest as Dinky promised Amity. Dinky never knew of what was going to happen in her future; but after everything she experienced recently, she felt like she was ready for anything to come her way. And she always holds onto her necklace to remind herself of the joys of laughter and happiness… and to always look toward the light.