//------------------------------//
// Happy Birthday Dinky Doo! 
// Story: Dinky's Birthday 
// by Talon and Thorn 
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Ditzy Doo gave a yawn and stretched as she rolled out of bed. She glanced towards the window where the sun was just starting to inch over the horizon. Given that the autumn was almost over, this was actually later than she would rise on most days. But then, this was not a normal day; this was one of the most special days of the year. Today was her daughter’s birthday!
 
Ditzy smiled to herself. It only seemed like yesterday that Dinky was a tiny thing, not much bigger than her hoof. And now she was growing so fast; she’d even gotten her cutie mark a week or so ago. In a way, she found it a little saddening that her daughter was changing so quickly. Ditzy shook herself. She shouldn’t be thinking that way. She was proud of her daughter; she was so smart and mature, and now with her mark, she was almost a young mare. Well, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration.
 
Rubbing her eyes, she tottered out of her room and towards the bathroom. On the way she stopped and listened at her daughter's door. She heard the squeak of bed springs as the filly tossed and turned. Ditzy grinned at her daughter's excitement on her special day. She better not make her wait too long. Ditzy trotted off to the bathroom, splashed some water on her face, and prepared herself as quickly as she could. She and Dinky had a long day ahead of them; in fact, a long weekend. As always, she had gotten time off from work to spend with her daughter on her birthday. First they would unwrap the filly’s presents (and it was presents this year, as her finances has been good thanks to the reward for defeating Corona and the other occasions the Crown had called on her time), then she and her daughter would cook a special birthday breakfast together and spend the rest of the morning playing with her new toys. Then there was a special birthday party planned at Sugar Cube Corner; all of Dinky’s friends would be there, as well as many of Ditzy’s own. Trixie had been persuaded to put on a show, and by persuaded she meant the show mare had begged to be allowed to. Ditzy smiled at the recollection; you’d have thought it was Trixie’s own birthday. It was a shame her parents couldn’t make it, but she and Dinky were due to catch a train to Fillydelphia tomorrow to spend a few days with them, so that was almost as good. Carrot Top was even going to be tagging along on the journey to see her own family, it was odd to think the two of them had lived in the same city for years and never met, still it was a big city.
 
Having finished washing, Ditzy trotted off into the living room to collect Dinky’s presents from their hiding place. She was sure her daughter had known exactly where they were for weeks, but she - as obedient as always - had not even peeked in on them once. Well, maybe once or twice, the filly was only equine, but not more than that. With a grin, she picked up her daughter’s presents and balanced them on her back. Last of all was a simple envelope. Ditzy stared at it for a moment and the smile dropped from her face. What was she to do with it?
 
Each year in the days leading up to her daughter’s birthday, she received a similar envelope containing a postal order for a few dozen bits - hardly a princely sum - and nothing more. No note, no mention of who it was from. At first Ditzy though it might have been sent to her in error, if it weren’t for her name on the envelope. Then, at Dinky’s second birthday, she had noticed the stamp showed the envelope was from Fillydelphia, and had begun to suspect its source. It wasn’t until she joined the post office that she managed to trace the source in more detail; a much better part of town than her parents or anypony she knew lived - almost anypony. Each year she deposited the payment into an account in her daughter’s name, meaning to tell her about it when she was older. This year was different: the sum was higher, over a hundred bits, and for the first time there was a message, ‘To Dinky, from your Father’. It wasn’t signed. She knew her suspicions were correct; the cheque was from Castor Cut. But she still didn’t know what to do about it. She knew that the circumstances leading up to Dinky’s conception weren’t entirely Castor’s fault. Ditzy herself bore equal responsibility - she had destroyed Castor’s family, after all - but that didn’t mean his abandonment hadn’t hurt. It hurt more than she normally let on. What should she do? Dinky knew of her father now, but should she tell her daughter of the gifts? What did the message in the latest mean? Did Castor want to meet his daughter? How would Dinky react when she found her mother had been keeping secrets from her? Ditzy had been struggling with the dilemma since the letter arrived, and she seemed no closer to a solution. Take the letter to her daughter or hide it?
 
After dithering for a full five minutes, swinging this way and that, Ditzy returned the letter to her hiding place. As mature as she was, Dinky was still too young to deal with this; maybe next year, or the year after. Kicking herself for her cowardice, Ditzy headed towards her daughter’s bedroom. She plastered a smile on her face and opened the door.
 
“Morning, Muffin!” she cried. “Happy Birthday!”
 
“Morning, Momma!” cried Dinky, leaping excitedly from her bed and rushing over to nuzzle her mother. As Ditzy had expected, she had obviously been lying awake for some time.
 
“It’s your special day,” she said as she hugged her daughter tightly, before carefully lowering the presents onto the ground. “Do you want to see how big you’ve gotten this year?” she asked.
 
With some effort, the foal dragged her eyes away from the pile of gifts and towards the doorway. “Yes, Momma,” she said eagerly as she scampered over and stood next to the yellowing sheet of paper attached to the wall. On the chart were marks showing Dinky’s height at each of her previous birthdays, all the way back to when she was first born.
 
“Now stand still,” instructed Ditzy as her daughter stretched to seem as tall as she could. She smiled. Dinky was always excited about this, so any effect she might have on her own height cancelled itself out. She carefully drew a line on the chart at the position of her daughter’s horn, using a marker. She measured out the difference between last year and this one; it was more than a hoof. “You’re growing up so quickly now, Muffin. At this rate you'll be taller than me in a few years.” She was glad - her daughter had previously been a little small for her age and she had been worried that the diet she could provide wasn’t enough, but it seemed like Dinky had just been a little behind the curve.
 
“Can I open my presents now, Momma?” asked Dinky excitedly, jumping up and down in place. Ditzy grinned. Her daughter might be patient for her age, but she was still a foal.
 
“Of course you can, dear. Just one at a time so we can keep track of where each of them came from and know who to thank.”
 
“Of course, Momma.” The foal bounded forwards and began to tear at the bright paper covering the largest of the boxes.
 
“That one’s from me,” said Ditzy. Her daughter lifted the lid off the box with her magic, accidentally crushing it in her excitement. Within, wrapped in paper, were four wheeled boots.
 
“Skates!” cried Dinky, trying on one of them.
 
“And a helmet and knee pads,” pointed out Ditzy. When her daughter had first mentioned she’d like skates, Ditzy had been worried that Dinky might hurt herself, but after a discussion with Heavy Roller she had managed to salve her fears.
 
“Thanks, Momma,” said Dinky hugging her mother before she turned to the next present.
 
“That’s from Miss Fluttershy,” pointed out Ditzy. She had hoped the yellow-coated pegasus would be able to make her daughter’s party, but the timid pony had locked up at the thought of being in such a crowded environment.
 
With a gasp of excitement, Dinky leapt over to the smaller box and began to carefully peel the wrapping off. “Now I don’t want you to feel disappointed if it’s not what you wanted,” warned Ditzy. Her daughter had been dropping hints all year that she wanted a puppy; she’d considered it, since she was sure Dinky would take good care of a pet, but their house was a bit small for most breeds.
 
If the small unicorn was disappointed, she hid it well as she lifted the lid to find it contained a number of plush animals - including a puppy, a chicken and a rabbit which looked like it was styled on Fluttershy’s pet Angel. “Oh, it’s so cute,” she said hugging the puppy doll while eying the chicken a little warily, “I’ll make sure to thank Miss Fluttershy next time I see her.”
 
Dinky continued through the other presents: a card from her grandparents (they would give her her actual present tomorrow), a game of Battleclouds from Silver Script, a warm winter scarf and a few books, including one from Twilight (Seventy Simple Spells for Striplings). It was a shame the unicorn couldn’t get to the party, but the library was supposed to be open and she couldn’t break her parole. Finally there was only a small box remaining.
 
“That’s another one from me,” said Ditzy. “I saw you eyeing it at the market.”
 
Opening the package, Dinky found it contained a white envelope tied up with a long pink ribbon. Biting her tongue in concentration, the filly carefully used her aura to undo the bow. “It’s beautiful,” she sighed, holding the silk in front of herself and running her muzzle along it, enjoying the feel.
 
“You did say you liked it. Hold still.” Ditzy took the ribbon in her hooves and carefully tied it into her daughter’s mane. It was a bit long and the ends stretched down almost to the ground, so she tucked them in a bit to make them look tidier. “There you go.”
 
Dink excitedly scampered over to her mirror and spun around a few times to try and get a good look. “It’s wonderful! Thanks, Momma.”
 
Dinky smiled and picked up the hastily discarded envelope. “You might want to look at this as well.” She pulled several pieces of paper out of it. “Tickets to the Cloudsdale Cloudiseum.”
 
“The Cloudiseum!?” gasped Dinky.
 
“Yes, I know how disappointed you were when we found out your vouchers didn’t cover it, and Miss Twilight can cast the cloud walking spell on you so you can wander around as much as you want.” She’d had the unicorn cast it several times on other ponies first and had made sure it would last for three days at a minimum, just to make sure of her daughter’s safety.
 
“Wow!” Dinky rushed over to hug her mother again. “This is the best birthday ever!”
 
“There’ll be more presents at your party, but I hope you’re hungry, Muffin, because it’s time to make our special birthday breakfast.”
 
Yelling in excitement, and skidding to avoid crashing into the door, Dinky galloped off towards the kitchen, the ends of her new ribbon flowing behind her. Ditzy smiled at her daughter’s joy, all bad thoughts forgotten for the moment, and followed her more sedately out of the room.
 
Things didn’t get any better than this.
 





 
Looked at objectively, the Doo family’s special birthday breakfast wasn’t really all that special. Pancakes topped with ice cream; certainly more than Ditzy could afford most weeks in her tighter years, but not excessive. However, Ditzy always felt it was more special because she and her daughter worked together to make it. Even when Dinky had been too small to do much, her mother had made sure she helped mix the batter. She felt it made them taste better, even if they were a little lumpy.
 
By the time Ditzy made it into the kitchen, her daughter had pulled out the stool which allowed her to reach the table, and was waiting, one leg already on it, ready to leap into action. Ditzy grinned at her daughter’s impatience; at the rate she was growing, she wouldn’t even need the stool in a few years.
 
She collected the various ingredients for the recipe and laid them out on the table while Dinky stood watching. “Ok, Muffin, start whisking the egg and milk while I heat up the butter.”
 
Taking great care, Dinky carefully lifted the egg (provided by Fluttershy) with her aura and tapped it against the side of the jug, biting her tongue in concentration. While lighting the stove, Ditzy kept an eye on Dinky (something her condition made a little easier). Her daughter’s magic had come on in leaps and bounds over the last year, but she still had several spare eggs in place in case of accidents. After a few trial taps she broke it and poured most of the content into the jug, before adding the milk and beginning to mix them with a whisk. She was a little too enthusiastic to start off with, and some of the mixture splashed on the counter, but not much.
 
Smiling, Ditzy watched the butter melt in the pan, and started to put on her mouth guard to pick it up. “Let me, Momma!” chirped Dinky. Before Ditzy could say anything, the pan was surrounded by a pink aura and moved smoothly to the jug, pouring its golden contents in before Dinky returned to her whisking.
 
Ditzy spat out the mouth guard and looked at her daughter reproachfully. “You should have told me before you did that.”
 
Dinky stopped for a moment, looking guilty. “Sorry Moma, I forgot.”
 
“No harm done, just remember next time, dear.” Ditzy turned and began to mix the remainder of the ingredients in a bowl. When she had done her daughter added the milk / egg / butter mix and began to beat the batter. Soon it was thick and smooth.
 
Ditzy turned back to the pan and made sure it was still hot and greased. “Be very careful now and ladle in a scoop,” she instructed. Her daughter complied and the dollop of batter began to hiss as it rose in the pan. Ditzy took a spatula in her mouth and prepared to turn the pancake.
 
“I can do that, Momma,” exclaimed Dinky.
 
“I don’t know, Muffin. The pan is very hot, I don’t want you to burn yourself.” She was always nervous about Dinky using the stove; it wasn’t the newest of models and she was scared enough of using it herself sometimes, given her poor depth perception, let alone risking her daughter.
 
“Don’t worry,” said Dinky, her horn glowing as she backed away from the stove. “I can do it from back here.”
 
“Alright then, but still be careful,” said Ditzy, putting down the spatula. To her surprise, rather than her daughter’s aura surrounding the implement, it instead covered the half-cooked pancake and flipped it over.
 
“There, Momma, all done safely.” Ditzy gave her daughter a pat on the head, although within her something felt a little off.
 
“Ok, that’s the first one, how many do you think you’ll want?” she asked.
 





 
The rest of the cooking went smoothly as Ditzy and her daughter sat down to eat a tall pile of pancakes lying between them. “Now, I’ve got ice cream to go with them,” explained Ditzy. “Or I’ve got an extra special treat for your special day.”
 
“Ooh! What is it?” asked Dinky her eyes wide.
 
With a smile Ditzy brought out her greatest treasure, a full jar of Zap apple jam. The magical condiment was normally well out of her price range, but a few weeks ago she had bumped into Big Macintosh Apple at the market, and he had revealed that one of the jars in the latest batch had gotten damaged and was thus unsellable. It only looked like a few chips to Ditzy, but what did she know? The red stallion had kindly offered to give her the jam for free, but she had insisted that she pay for it, and they had haggled for a few minutes until reaching a mutually agreeable, and still hugely discounted, price. As she’d left to continue her shopping, she’d noticed Mac pass the coins to Applebloom who vanished and returned a little later with ice-creams for not only herself, but Dinky and several of their friends as well. Come to think about it, she’d seen the handsome stallion around town more often since he’d rescued Dinky from those gangsters; he was often hanging around the post office or the school. She guessed he was making sure nothing happened to Dinky or his sister. She certainly felt safer when the muscular stallion was around.
 
“Wow, Momma,” cried Dinky, pulling Ditzy from her thoughts. “I’ve never tried it before, but Applebloom says Zap Apple jam is the best thing ever.”
 
“Then I guess we should try some and find out, shouldn’t we?” said Ditzy, spreading the jam over several of their pancakes. She’d never actually tried any herself either, but she had been told it was an experience. “There you go,” she said, passing the plate over to her daughter, who nibbled at the side of a pancake with a little trepidation.
 
“It makes my ‘ongue tingle,” announced Dinky. “It’s magic! It tastes like strawberries.” She took a second larger bite. “Oooh! Now it tastes like mint!”
 
Ditzy tried a mouthful and found that the magical jam changed flavour as she chewed; first like orange, then vanilla, then apple.
 
“Can I have another?” asked Dinky, looking up from her empty plate.
 
“Of course,” said Ditzy, pushing over another treat.
 





 
They finished their food quickly, and Ditzy put the dirty dishes in the sink. Normally she’d clean them straight away, but today she didn’t want to waste any time she could be spending with her daughter.
 
“So what now, Muffin?” asked Ditzy. Maybe they could try out the new Battleclouds game together, or start to read one of Dinky’s new books?
 
“Can I go and play with my new skates?” asked Dinky, already strapping on her helmet.
 
“Of course we can...” began Ditzy. It would be nice to spend some time with her daughter outside. Maybe they could go to the park.
 
“Great! I really want to show Scootaloo how fast I can go, and Applebloom will want to see my ribbon, and Alula will want to hear that I’m going to the Cloudiseum,” continued the pale-violet unicorn.
 
“You... you want to play with your friends? Now?” asked Ditzy, swallowing hard.
 
“Yes, I want to tell them all about the cool stuff I have. Can I, please? I’ll be back in time for the party.”
 
Ditzy fought to try and stop the disappointment showing on her face. Of course her daughter wanted to play with her friends rather than her mother. What foal wouldn’t? But she’d have all afternoon to do that at her party; now was supposed to be their time just for the two of them. But looking down at her daughter’s smiling face, she couldn’t say no; it was her birthday, after all. “Of course you can, dear,” replied Ditzy, trying to fit a smile to her face. “Just make sure you’re back in time to get ready for your party.”
 
“Thanks Momma,” cried Dinky as she rushed towards the door, the box of skates on her back.
 
“Just remember your scarf. It’s cold out.” She cried, causing her daughter to pause and grab the knitted garment in her mouth before she went careening down the stairs.
 
Ditzy stood still for a moment, looking around her suddenly quiet house and at the pile of dishes in the sink. She guessed she should make a start on them, then. She sighed. It was only to be expected that Dinky would like to spend time with her friends, now that she was growing up; her special talent was making friends, after all. At least they had gotten to make breakfast together... only they hadn’t, had they? Dinky had done almost all of the work; it was only her paranoia about the stove which had stopped her daughter doing everything. Given another year, would she have any need for her mother’s help in cooking at all?
 
Soon she wouldn’t need her mother for anything...
 





 
Ditzy looked around her small house. Everything was perfectly spotless and in place; not a speck of dust to be seen, perfect. She sighed. No need to clean, then. Normally that would eat up an hour or so, maybe a little longer; she had a touch of arthritis in her wings nowadays which made reaching the higher shelves a bit of a challenge. She looked around for something to do. Maybe she could make some tea? No she’d drunk all she reasonably could today. She glanced out the window; the sun was still low in the sky, and almost the whole long, empty, lonely day stretched out in front of her. She shook herself. No, not lonely, not today, today was a special day, Dinky was visiting today, they could go for a walk, talk, like they used to. She glanced up at the clock, its pendulum splitting infinity into smaller and smaller chunks. Her daughter was a bit late, but she would never leave her old mother hanging... would she?
 
There was a knock at the door and Ditzy almost jumped, a grin spread across her lined face. She was just being silly, this must be Dinky now. She trotted over to the door and swung it open to reveal her daughter. No longer was Dinky the little ball of purple fur she’d been in her youth; now a beautiful, strong mare in her prime, a wife, a mother, an important diplomat, thought Ditzy with pride.
 
“Hi, Mum,” said Dinky nervously, rubbing a hoof on the back of her head.
 
“Good to see you, dear,” cried Ditzy with barely concealed joy. She leant forwards and gave her daughter a nuzzle; the younger mare felt a little stiff to the touch. “Let me get my shawl and we can go for a walk. How are the twins? It’s been ages since I last saw them, how are they doing at school?”
 
“Er, they graduated last year, Mum. Silver’s joined his father's company and Hawk works up at Golden Harvest. Look, I’m sorry, but there’s been a bit of a mix up.”
 
The blood ran cold in Ditzy’s veins. This was a special day. Please, let nothing be wrong. “Mix up?”
 
“Something’s come up at work. I’m sorry I... I can’t stay. The princess needs me back. Maybe we can reschedule for next month? Or the month after? Maybe Hearth’s Warming?”
 
“Oh,” mumbled Ditzy, her head drooping. “I understand, you’re a busy mare. I’m.. I’m sure we can do this some when else. I’ll find something to do.” She glanced around the house. Spotless.
 





 
Ditzy shook herself. She was just being silly. Her daughter wouldn’t abandon her. She still needed her.
 
But less than she used to, whispered a dark part of her.
 
She was proud that her daughter was so independent and strong, she replied, but maybe she did miss it a little where her daughter needed her to chase away the monsters under her bed or to sing her to sleep.
 
Maybe she should see this as a good thing? She’d have more time to herself. Maybe she could take up a hobby? Bowling, athletics, she’d made the relay team at school. She might even have time to start dating again; certain recent events had shown her how her life could be with a stallion in it. She should look on the positive side of her daughter’s independence.
 
But it didn’t seem that bright.