Part 3 Finale
Still depressed, and stuck with a million thoughts running through her head, Ditzy absentmindedly wandered through the hospital. She didn't want to go home, she couldn't go home and face her, but she couldnt just roam around town this early. Looking over at the clock she noticed that it was only 7:30am. When had she arrived.....she couldnt remember, not that it mattered.
Eventually she found herself in front of 'Dinky's' room, slowly dragging her hooves, she wandered inside to see the filly still sleeping blissfully, perhaps for the first time in years.
Regret.....disappointment......pity......shame, these were all the feelings that washed over her as she looked over the various scars and injuries that littered this poor fillies body. Ditzy hoped more than anything that they wouldn't leave any lasting marks. She already felt terrible but she would hate herself more if she ended up like herself...... deformed and made fun of.
Ditzy chuckled bitterly. Her mother...that's what she was now, she was this poor filly's real mother.
"What does that make her then?" Ditzy mumbled to herself referring to the no named filly in her house right now. "I guess i'm still her mother as well but......." Ditzy couldn't finish that thought as she tossed her head down and muttered 'I'm sorry' over and over. If one loked closely, one could see her coat darken ever so slightly.
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"Where's mommy?" Dinky asked hopping around her 'Auntie' Lyra in a circle. Waking up fairly recently she quickly noted that there were no breakfast muffins on the table, then realized that there was a mint unicorn sitting at that same table. Being the morning filly that she was she was already energetic enough to bounce up and hug Lyra before releasing her and bouncing around asking questions, like one does when their curious about something.
"Did you two have a sleepover? Was there a pillow fight? What does bang mean, mommy and Mr. Doctor Turner wouldn't answer they just did this spitting thing, heheee their faces looked weird. Are you ok?"
Lyra meanwhile didn't notice Dinky enter the kitchen and had been taken by surprise by the innocent filly's hug of cute death. She was currently nursing her recent internal explosion that resulted from the hug and the bouncing. Eventually she calmed down and began to answer her questions.
"Yes and it was awesome, no there was not, go ask Cheerilee, *bursts out laughing* and your moms out right now doing Derpy stuff, so i'm here to watch you. Got all that Dinks?"
Dinky nodded fiercely "I got it!"
Speaking of Cheerilee, was there something that Derpy wanted me to do?.........nahh Lyra thought briefly before brushing it off. "So you wanna play a game?"
Dinky tensed up and her eyes grew to take up the majority of her face as they began to shine and sparkle. Playing at home, instead of going to school. Twas a dream come true in the mind of the little filly. Dinky nodded her head rapidly until she became dizzy, and fell on her side.
Lyra chuckled and giggled at the overexcited filly. "Looks like we've already began" she said with a competitive glint in her eyes. "I'm not going to lose!" she declared before she stood tall and began to run around in a tight circle. "How long can you do this and not get dizzy" her voice rang out from the circle.
Dinky quickly caught on as she also jumped up and began to run around as she chased her tail, not willing to lose to her aunt. Eventually both ponies fell to the ground in a dizzy heap, laughing all the while. Looking over at her aunt she giggled childishly "you eyes look just like mommy's!' she managed to get out between giggles.
Lyra looked back toward Dinky and copied her action, "You could talk, so do you!" she responded though her own laughter. The laughs continued between them in a until they heard the door open and close and a voice ring out from the doorway.
"Lyra, you still here" the voice called. Something in her mind alerted the mint mare to something that was off just now but before she could analyze it she had noticed Dinky shoot to her hooves and bolt out the door.
"Mommy!!" Dinky yelled as she jumped up and wrapped her forlegs around her mothers neck in adorable hug attempt, expecting to get the same warm embrace that she became so used to.........but it never came.
She felt cold for some reason, looking up, she noticed that her mother wasnt smiling like normal, in fact, her eyes wasent even looking at her, either of them. There was no love or warmth in her eyes, following them she found that her mom had never taken her eyes off Lyra who had just entered the room.
"Lyra.....why isn't she in school right now? she asked in an icy tone that made everypony in the room flinch.
Lyra stood in complete shock at this scene before her. Derpy Hooves....Ditzy Doo, this mare had been known to be many things: Clumsy, clueless, accident prone, and of course, a little derpy, but one thing that nopony could argue was that she was the best mother in the Equestria. To see her not hug her child was nothing short of a sin. She never passed up the chance to hug her foal. Something was extremely wrong here. Working quickly she grabbed Dinky, who stood draped around her mothers neck.
"Dinky it's time for school, here.." she said as she used her magic to reach into the kitchen, grab some food from the fridge, stuff it into a bag to give to Dinky while pushing her towards the door. "Have a good day!"
"Aww really.......well now I Get to go see my friends" All traces of disappointment gone the filly brightened up almost instantly before running off down the road to school.
Lyra watched her go with a small smile That filly never got upset for too long does she? she thought as she promptly shut the door and turned to face the gray mare behind her. Looking closely she noticed that Derpy's eyes, while still misaligned, weren't as bright or golden as they used to be, they looked.......dull. Taking another look she realized that her friends coat had become even more gray, almost monotone. Lyra briefly flashed back to a crazy time when 6 mares were running around in a similar fashion, but that isn't relevant right now.
"Ok what's up, you didnt hug Dinky....you don't just ignore a Dinky hug, especially you! Her mother!" Lyra said pointing an accusing hoof.
"Thanks for watching her for me"
A stray thought suddenly popped into Lyra's head, a part of her thought it might be nothing but considering the situation, it might be worth checking out.
"Watching who?"
Derpy noticably flinched and broke eye contact. "You know......"
"Humor me...."
She began to visually shake "No"
Lyra took a step forward. "Why not"
Derpy gave no response as she continued to shift both her eyes to avoid meeting her gaze.
Lyra began to grow concerned her glare dropped into one of concern. Galloping the last few feet she reached up and grabbed her head with her fore hooves and forced Derpy to meet her gaze. "Derpy.......why won't you say Dinky's name....why won't you hug her................What happened at the hospital?" she said softly. "Whatever it was, you can tell me."
Derpy gazed into her friends eyes, those eyes the same shade as her own. Realizing that she couldn't hide the truth anymore than Stable could from her, she relented. "Because........that's not her name anymore any she's not my real daughter.....she never was.
Lyra dropped down on four legs and recoiled in horror "Oh geez, is she a changling!!?? Has she been using her adorableness to suck the love out of the town!" Lyra waved her hooves around frantically.
Derpy shook her head "No it's not that....but it might as well be....everything I knew was a lie." She began to recount most of what Dr. Stable told her, mainly about the mix up, amnesia, and loss of identity. Eventually she finished and awaited her reaction.
"......ok so?"
This visually stunned the gray mare as she at least expected some anger, pity, even disappointment......not apathy. "What do you mean 'so'! I pretty much abandoned my foal for a unicorn that wasn't even mine to begin with, and because of that she lived her life in fear and abuse." she nearly shouted.
Lyra replied in a calm manner normally unlike her, but if shes going to play role reversal and be mad, then she would play along and be the calm one. "No! You didnt abandon her, it's not your fault, its the staff at the hospital's fault. Don't blame yourself for everything that filly went through and don't treat Dinky any less because you feel that you need to make it up to the other one." Lyra stepped over and started harshly poking her in the chest with her hoof. "You raised her, you brought her up to be who she is now. So she is and will always be your daughter no matter who she is now.
Silence reigned for a time before both mares heard a soft sound.......almost life sniffing. Both mares turned toward the door to see two fillies standing in the now open door.......
........and one was crying.
"I......I" one of them choked out between sobs before galloping off down the road. Lyra quickly looked back to see if Derpy would give chase, but all she saw was her weakly reaching out a hoof and not moving otherwise. Realizing that she wasn't going to move any further anytime soon, Lyra decided to give chase instead.
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The week of surprises for Lyra Hearstrings continued unimpaired, in fact it began to hit her rapidly. In the span of an hour she managed to witness multiple things that have never happened before.
"Derpy not hugging Dinky, mismatched children, horrible unicorn parents, and now Dinky crying? What the hells up with the world today." Lyra quietly muttered to herself as she continued to bolt after the sobbing filly. She thought back to when Dinky was a baby, to all the times when Dinky would even look like she might cry and Derpy would leap into action and do something funny or stupid to get her foal laughing. She once confessed to never wanting to see her daughter cry.
Well so much for that wish. Lyra mentally scoffed.
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Ditzy Doo stood face to face with her actual daughter, but instead of a tearful reunion, only tension hugged the air. Neither knew how to begin but Ditzy as the adult took it upon herself to start. "Dinky-"
"NO!"
Ditzy took a step back from the sudden yell from the filly in front of her. Said filly took a small breath before she continued in a more normal voice.
"That's not my name....it's hers, it always has and it always will."
Ditzy flinched again and decided to take another route. "H....how did you get her i thought you were in the hospital."
"I snuck out again.....I remembered last night and nothing else..........and I wanted to see you again. Dinky found me while I wandered around." The filly answered, beginning her flashback.
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"Mommy!! Mommyyyyyy" a small filly called out as she wandered down the road, clearly lost.
Geez this is hopeless, i barely remember what she looks like let alone where her house was. I know she lives around here, so wonder if anypony could help me. Looking up and around she saw a bright young unicorn filly trotting happily down a the pathway some distance away.
"Hey!!" she called out grabbing the attention of the filly in question, causing her to dash over an run around her curiously. What's she doing? She wondered briefly before the filly stopped and broke into a wide smile. Somehow this caused her to smile as well.
"You look just like my mommy!" the bright filly exclaimed in joy. "Hi i'm Dinky Doo." This in turn filled her with hope that she might be of some help.
"Really? I'm looking for my mom, could you get your mom to help me find my mom."
"Ok my mom's an awesome mailmare so she knows everypony in town! We can find her, it'll be just like hide and go muffin!" Dinky exclaimed, literally hopping in place with excitement.
This only brought confusion to the other filly. "Hide........and go muffin?"
Dinky stopped hopping momentarily, but never lost her smile. "Oh well sometimes, me and mommy play hide and seek but we always end up eating the muffins that we made before finding the other one. So now instead of one of us hiding, one of us hides the muffins for the other to find It's really fun!"
"It does sound really fun"
"What kinds of things do you do with your mommy?"
This sudden question brought a frown to the filly's now downcast face. "I....I don't remember...I can't remember anything, not my name, not my mommy, not-"
Before she could finish her lament she found herself wrapped in the embrace of the unicorn in front of her. Slightly stunned the filly took a second before hesitantly returning the gesture.
"Hugs drive the sad away, that's what my mommy told me. She's a great hugger and I wan't to be just like her when I grow up." Dinky said softly and she tightened her hold ever so slightly.
Her words seem to hold some truth to them as the filly did in fact feel the sadness leave her body, replaced with an odd feeling that she swore that hadn't felt before. She couldn't quite place her hoof on it, but it felt.....nice.
The two fillies sat there for a time, one comforting the other before finally separating, both feeling renewed. "Common, lets go get my mommy, she's the best, so she'll definitely help you find your mommy!" She said as she immediatly ran off down the path with the other filly in toll.
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".......when we got here we heard you talking, Dinky thought that you were making plans for her birthday or something fun so we listened in. I kinda wish we hadn't now. I watched it happen, I saw her face break into something that had no right being there." She looked back up at the visually stunned and teary eyed gray mare.
"I don't remember anything from before a few days ago, so I don't remember anything that those other unicorns did. But if it did happen and I have to live with you two now.....I don't want you to treat Dinky any differently." The unnamed filly took a few steps forward. "She's not a stranger, she's still your daughter and now she's my sister. Please don't make her sad..."
This seemed to break down the wall of regret that Ditzy had began to build around her heart. She broke down crying tears anew as she realized that she had just done something that she had sworn never to do, make her daughter cry.
Ditzy felt a pair of small hooves warp around her low hanging neck, she opened her eyes to see that she was being hugged by the one lecturing her.
"Hugs drive the sad away.......a friend of mine told me that. She said that her mother taught it to her." She said, giving her the strongest embrace that she could.
"Mommy...." a small voice squeaked out.
Ditzy's head snapped up like a whiplash toward the voice. Her eyes took in the vision of a small sobbing filly standing next to a larger panting mint unicorn.
Quickly the filly bolted into the arms of her mother, the other filly barely getting out of the way in time to not become a pony sandwich.
Bawling her eyes out, Dinky cried into her sobbing mothers chest. "Say it's a fib please!! Say that your still my mommy, ill be good I promise!"
Likewise Ditzy cried back "Of course you're still my daughter, i'm so sorry I made you cry I love you so much!"
This went on for a while as Lyra and the unnamed filly stood back and watched with smiles on their faces, Lyra noted that her friends coat had considerable brightened from before. Lyra turned and noticed the look on the filly next to her, she looked slightly dejected.
"Don't be jealous, that'll be you in a second." Lyra said, nudging the filly's side with a elbow, only to get a confused look that lasted all of two seconds before she had also gotten snatched into a hug by Ditzy.
"I'm sorry that I haven't been a good mother to you, i'm sorry that you had to go through all of that-
"Don't worry about it. It doesent matter now." she interrupted.
Ditzys hug suddenly gained weight as every other pony in the room joined in, making a giant group hug that squished the foal in the middle. Although she never felt so squeezed, she felt more safe than she ever had.
They all stayed this way until Ditzy let go first. Being the hug expert she knew when it was time, and everypony followed her lead, becuase she knew that if a hug lasted too long, it would lose its effectiveness.
Now only one question remained.......
"So we know that your going to take her in, can't stop you there. But, what do we name her it's legally Dinky Doo........so what do we call Dinky now." Lyra began.
They all sat together and thought fiercely, Lyra looked up and noted that all three of the ponies in front of her had the same scrunched up thinking face.
Wow....they really are all related. She thought as she held back a chuckle.
"OOOOOOO" Dinky gasped as she raised her hoof into the air. "I know she can be Dinki! With an I instead of a Y.
Ditzy seemed to think on this for a second before shaking her head. "I don't think that'll work, we can't change her name until she's 16." she said dejectedly.
"Ohhhhhhh, well she can have my name then" Dinky said without hesitation, shocking everypony present.
"No I won't take your name, it's yours!" The no name filly protested.
"Dinky bopped her in the shout gently, her own smile dropping a bit. "No, your Dinky it's yours, i'm just a nopo-
She couldn't finish as she found herself swept up into another hug. "Don't say it! You're you! No matter what your name is. The filly cried out.
Ditzy watched this scene for a few second before looking back up and trotting towards the door, her eyes showing a steeled resolve. "Lyra watch the foals."
"Where are you going this time.
Ditzy Doo gave no response beside a glowing smile aimed at the 3 ponies behind her, before trotting out the door.
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"So" a brown maned stallion began. "This was a nice surprise, I had just got the nerve to ask you out.....and you come and blurt it out first." He said chuckling slightly at the curious chain of events.
The gray mare that sat across the table visually blushed in response. "I know, you don't have to remind me." she whispered.
hiding her face behind a menu.
"I know, i'm just having a wonderful time here...........are you having fun?" He asked nervously.
The shy mare peaked her face out from behind the menu. "Of corse Doctor, i'm having a great time with you."
"Oh thank Celestia, I was worried that I was boring you Ditzy. Please though, call me Turner, or Timey like you used too, I didn't become a doctor just to be called one." he huffed in mock indignation.
"Oh sorry, but please call me Derpy then. Please. Anypony can call me that it's ok now."
"Oh really? Alrighty then." Turner said as he gave a smile that almost sent her wings flaring out. Derpy proceeded to thank Celestia that she remembered to tie them down for this date, didnt want to have an accident.
"So I heard that you adopted a young filly a while ago. True?"
"Well.....in a way yea....do you wanna see a picture of her."
"I would love too. I heard she looks just like you."
Quickly reaching into her purse, Derpy pulled out a small, recently taken picture of herself and two fillies, a unicorn and a pegasus. "Turner, I would like you to (re) meet my two daughters. Dinky and Ditzy Doo."