“...You can say you're officially a magically created pony, or legally a Homunculus (which means the exact same thing, it just sounds fancier), Celestia says that's your choice. There's laws pertaining to artificial life and you're considered an Equestrian citizen with full rights because I was able to more or less prove you are genuinely alive. Apparently Celestia made the into law recently after some incident involving a mirror pool that may or may not have been simple mana clones, but she didn't want to take any risks in the future...Anyway, the point is...you also get to choose aspects of your 'back story' otherwise...who your 'family' is, if you have one...”
Daring raised an eyebrow. “Family?”
Yearling gave a sigh, looking down at the document. “Yeah...Look...it's your choice but...I realized something back in the temple...you were born from something I created. I'm your creator...Ugh! Look, I'm not good at this kind of thing...basically...for all intents and purposes...I'm your mother...”
Daring Do's eyes went wide as she processed what she was told. She couldn't question the logic of it. “...I...I guess so...”
“And...you've still got a lot to learn about the real world...you need somepony to help you fill in the pieces how I created you couldn't...I made you a good adventurer but that's only part of it. And...isn't teaching you all that what a creator...what a mother should do?”
The magic born pony stared in shock. “I...I guess that makes sense...I...I never had a mother...my memories of having mine die were...”
“...It's your choice...I...I just feel like you're my responsibility and I need to do what a good mother should. My sister's an excellent mother, so I hope I could be too...”
Daring looked thoughtfully down at her hooves. If she hadn't gotten a reality check like she did, she probably would've been insulted by the idea she needed someone to teach her anything...but the fact of the matter was...she did. Besides what made sense in her context, she was a newborn, plain and simple. And...in a way, it made perfect sense. There was no denying Yearling had been her creator...
“...I...I don't mind...”
The two didn't spontaneously hug and act like mother and daughter, both knew that'd take time...but they both did smile to one another.
“Thanks...”
“You're welcome...mom. Thanks for having me...so...what now?” Daring Do asked.
“Well...Celestia took a lot of stuff into consideration about you...including the fact you were born with an adult body and never had a chance to have a foalhood...” Yearling produced a potion that'd came with the letters. “She tested some of the fur I sent with it.”
Daring Do looked at a small area were her fur had been trimmed. “I was wondering why you insisted on that...”
“...She said due to you only being a few days old, you still have a full life force. You're basically a newborn as far as life energy is concerned...in most ponies a youth reversal spell will simply change their body, not affect age, an old pony won't gain a year to their life, and it's difficult to even get a unicorn that strong to perform the spell...but of course, she's an Alicorn...if you want. She provided me with this potion she created. It will make you a filly, about the same age as my youngest niece. About five.”
Daring Do looked at the bottle. “...I can have a foalhood?”
“You can have a...relatively normal foalhood. And while I DO adventure a lot, you can defend yourself well even if you were a filly, and my other niece loves to foalsit, so it'd work for me too. I can homeschool you, I've got degrees. You can do everything a normal filly could do, earn your Cutie Mark, play in the park, the works...or you can be an adventurer like me and help me out on my quests, which would be helpful. Only real difference is you still have all your fighting skills and proportional physical fitness level so any of my rogues gallery that tries to get to me through you is in a nasty surprise...it's entirely your choice. I won't say which I prefer. Just that both are possibilities.”
The homunculus looked at the potion intently. “...If it doesn't work out?”
“She sent an antidote in case someone mistook it for tea...don't ask.”
“...” Daring trotted over and took it. She looked to her blank flank, then back to Yearling. “...You're sure you'd be okay with this?”
“...I wouldn't have told you if I wasn't. Just know adults don't takes kids seriously.”
“Eh, my social skills aren't the best anyway.”
“And you'll need to go through puberty.”
“I don't know what that is.”
“It's...when your body starts changing. Not fun.”
“Does everypony go through it?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I want to. Even if it sucks.”
“Alright...you'll have to deal with heat sooner or later anyway...”
“What's heat?”
“...I'll tell you when we get there. But also not fun and you'd have to deal with it regardless...”
“I thought you were neutral.”
“I am, I just want to make sure you know what you're doing here...I'd be a bad mother if I didn't.”
“...You're lying.”
Yearling sighed giving a sad chuckle. “...I guess I'm not that good at hiding how I feel...I...I just feel like letting you do this...it's like I'm just writing you out of my story in another way...like us going from me hating you for existing to working like a well oiled machine might as well have never happened...that if this happens we could've just grabbed the Belt of Atlas and never had that fight with Ahuizotl...I guess I feel like it's the 'easy way out.'”
Daring looked at the potion as her mother spoke. The homunculus looked deep in thought. “...You're right...it does feel like the easy way out, huh?”
“I suppose...” Yearling replied.
“...And now you're sad again, what's the deal?”
“...It's...hard to explain...”
“I'm pretty good at following some things,” Daring replied, listening.
“...I don't think you'd understand it, I never wrote it into your stories, but...ugh...I hate how cheesy this sounds...I don't really have many opportunities to meet a stallion, nor was I really looking, and even if I did I don't have time to...well...”
Daring cocked her head. “To what?”
“...Let's just say I'd be in traction for a few months before a baby is born...I just don't have many options to HAVE a kid...so...I guess while you never had a foalhood, I might never have a chance to raise a foal...”
“Ah...so if I stay a grown up, you'll miss out on that part of being a mom?”
“Yeah, pretty much...then again I guess I don't have to worry about all the stress of being a parent. Worrying about my kid when she's sick. Having to buy food. Having to find a good doctor if she needs it. Not to mention some fans wouldn't like Daring Do becoming a single parent so there's that headache...”
“Uh...sounds like me being a kid isn't as much of an 'easy way out' is it?” the magically created pony asked. "For you OR me?"
Yearling gave a small chuckle. “...I guess not...forgot how hard being a parent can be...but like I said, it's your choice...do what YOU want, not what I want. Neither way is a perfect answer...and I guess neither is the easy answer either...”
"Yeah, kinda guessed that from how conflicted you are over it..." Daring looked at the potion closely, thoughtfully. “...Well...on one hoof, it might be cheating a little bit...oh who am I kidding! I want to have a whole life, not just an adult one!”
“Are you sure?”
“I don't have any memories of a foalhood period...I know it might not seem one hundred percent logical but...I feel like if I'm going to be truly alive I need to do have one...Plus, Daring Do from the book would never want to be a little filly! Too 'cutesy wootsy,' so I'm still being myself, right?”
“Alright...then I support you. Plus I wouldn't do it either, so you know it didn't come from me...go for it.”
The mare drank the potion. “...Wow...tastes like cake...I think...”
She blinked, shrinking down quickly, ending up in a shirt far too large for herself.
Yearling looked down, finding a little head poking out of clothing several times too big for her. It was somewhat surreal looking at a miniature version of herself. “How do you feel?”
Daring looked herself over and chuckled. “Tiny!” she joked, flying up and landing on her desk, though cringed a little. “Ugh...turning into a kid didn't heal me completely...guess that'd be cheating..."
Both chuckled a little bit at the little voice. Yearling hadn't heard it since she was a foal.
"Do you think your niece would want to play with me once I'm healed all the way?”
“...Yeah, I think she would, just be gentle, okay?”
Daring rubbed her head sheepishly at that thought. “...Maybe I need some lessons first...mom...”
Yearling gave a small smile. “...And I'll be glad to give them, I was a big sister myself once...Oh! One more thing...” Yearling took another of the papers. “...If you want...you can pick a new name. Your choice.”
Daring do looked down at the paper in front of her now tiny hooves, thinking about it. “...“Yeah, might be a good idea, since I'm starting from scratch...I need to think about this...should it be something like other ponies have? Or different? AK Yearling doesn't sound much like a pony name...no offense.”
“Actually...it's short for...Awkward Kindness Yearling.”
Daring couldn't help but chuckle. “Awkward Kindness? No wonder you go by Daring Do.”
“Actually they're both my names...family tradition. My sister and her eldest daughter are the same way...”
“Do I need two names?”
“Pick one for now, get another when you earn your real Cutie Mark. That's how I did it.”
Daring nodded. “Okay...Ugh...This is harder than I thought...I can't just be Daring Do II can I?”
“Well you can, but technically it'd be Baby Daring Do. Griffins use Jr. but ponies use Baby. Tradition started in the First Age or something.”
“No thanks!”
“Well you ARE a foal,” Yearling teased a little bit.
“Ugh...Let's see...What's your sister's name?... Names?”
“Ditzy Do is her birth name, her youngest daughter's name is Dinky Do.”
Daring Do looked thoughtful. After all, this was important. She couldn't just rush into it without thinking. “...Hmm...How does Daydream Yearling sound?”
Yearling raised an eyebrow. “Daydream?”
“Well I am something imaginary that came to life, and Daring Do, Ditzy Do, Dinky Do? All initials DD,” the tiny homunculus replied, giving a cocky smirk. “And is it really any cheesier than Awkward Kindness? DD Yearling doesn't sound too bad either.”
“Haha...Still, Daydream has a nice ring to it...”
The newly christened Daydream Yearling wrote down her name. “There we go. Got a name of my own...feels nice...like I'm me.”
Yearling chuckled, looking at the small foal on her desk. Even she had to admit having a small foal looking genuinely happy in front of her was adorable. Adventurer or not, she was still a pony.
Daring then blinked. “...So...what now?”
The author chuckled. “That's the beauty of it...you're a foal, you don't NEED to worry about what you're going to do, because you've got a long time to figure it out.”
Daydream looked back at her Cutie Mark. Or lack of one. Still blank brown fur. “...Can I still try to find out my Cutie Mark?”
“That's also part of being a foal...in fact I think my sister mentioned some foals in Ponyville who have some sort of club for finding theirs...”
“Maybe I'll talk with them about that when I visit my...aunt?” Daring asked.
“I don't see why not,” Yearling replied, then for some reason having a feeling she should be more worried about that than she was.
“Cool!...What else do kids do?”
“Well...I have a radio, maybe we can listen to some serials? I always liked Bit Tracy.”
“That sounds good...ugh...but no Con Mane, I hate that guy.”
“Hehe...Funny story about that...”
Yearling took out some books, deciding to multitask a bit while they listened. She still had a job. That would be something she needed to get used to, balancing things between being a parent and saving the world.
As they trotted towards her living room, Yearling thought about where this would go. Daydream was a child in body, and in mind when it came to everything that was not 'pre-programmed', but she had experiences and talents of somepony far older. In fact she had some skills Yearling had been jealous of due to how she's been born. She was for all intents and purposes a prodigy. By the time she was fully grown, Yearling had little doubt Daydream would exceed her.
The author chuckled to herself. Wasn't wanting your daughter to exceed you what any parent dreamed of? She admitted there was an irony in that.
“So, do I still get to help kick flank?” Daydream asked.
“...Well, you're still good at fighting and can fend for yourself...And if nothing else, you can help me research.”
The foal gave an exaggerated look of disgust. “No thanks!”
“Hehe...you're going to milk being a kid for all it's worth, aren't you?”
“Oh and like you aren't going to love being a mom as much as you can?”
Both gave a small chuckle. “...Yeah...I think I will...this is going to work out just fine...”
“Same here...mom.”
Yearling chuckled. “...I'm looking forward to it...”
The End.