I feel my muzzle twitch some in my sleep. I ignore it as I try and rest my mind so that I may fall back into a nice and deep sleep. Yet no matter how hard I try, I still feel my nose twitch at something. I raise my muzzle into the air as I draw in a deep breath. I smell something. My eyes slowly open as I look at my nightstand. Sitting beside me is a tray. I don’t remember putting that there yesterday.
I slowly sit up with my eyes never moving from the tray. I not only find myself surprised, but also confused. This tray has breakfast on it. A small glass of orange juice, a stack of pancakes and even a generous helping of syrup on top. As I swivel my ear towards my door, I can hear the sounds of a conversation happening. A few giggles as well.
I can only assume that Anon is making breakfast. I feel my cheeks redden some at the thought of Anon bringing this tray into my room. Him looking over my sleeping body as he thoughtfully left me something for when I woke up. I could feel a school filly like giggle wanting to escape from deep inside of me. I need to calm down, he made this breakfast, but Dinky is mostly likely the one who brought it in.
That makes sense. Anon wouldn’t want to intrude and make things awkward. Still, it’s rather nice to have breakfast in bed. I sit up properly and carefully pick up the tray and set it onto my lap. It’s been so long since I’ve been treated like this. The only memory of eating breakfast in bed was when I was sick as a filly and my dad had to take care of me.
I feel a small smile on my lips at those memories. I eat my food and enjoy everything about this. Even as I eat I can hear the giggling of my daughter and the masculine chuckle of Anon. I can also feel that pain in my heart. The worries I have and maybe even the small hopes I wish for. I need to focus, I don’t want to ruin this moment with thoughts like that.
I finish my meal rather quickly, as I want to start the day by seeing my daughter. I set the tray on my nightstand and carefully climb out of bed. I look over at the mirror and take in my messy appearance. Well, maybe a quick grooming wouldn’t hurt? After a few more minutes, I’ve gotten myself in proper order. I walk out of my room, down the stairs and into the kitchen.
I see both Anon and Dinky sitting at the table as they eat their meals. The two of them in a deep conversation.
“So I looked at Spike and said. “You gonna eat that?”.”
Dinky starts giggling again.
“W-What did Rarity say?” She asks.
“She was too shocked to even answer!”
They two of them start laughing again. My smile grows as my heart starts to burn as well.
“What’s so funny?” I ask.
Anon and Dinky both look over at me.
“Hey, Mom!” Dinky shouts. “Anon was telling me stories about some of the funny things Spike and him got into.”
“Is that so?” I raise an eyebrow as I look at Anon.
He nods. “Age appropriate, I can assure you.”
“That’s good to hear.” I walk into the kitchen and take a seat next to my daughter. “How’s your morning been?”
“Great! Anon helped me practice making pancakes.” She says with utter glee.
I look over at Anon as he nods at me.
“Yeah, she’s a fast learner. She’s the one that made your breakfast today.”
Really? I think back on how well made the pancakes where. Did she really learn how to make them that fast? I look at Dinky with a good amount of pride.
“That’s great!” I cheer. “I have to say that I enjoyed my meal, Muffin.”
Dinky is blushing now as she tries to hide behind her hooves.
“Anon helped a lot too.” Dinky says. “He mixed everything and did the pouring.”
“Don’t sell yourself too short.” Anon comes in as he looks at Derpy. “She didn’t even use her magic. I have to say that I’m impressed. Most unicorns rely on their magic too much.”
I nod at that. “I want my daughter to be well rounded in what she knows.”
Anon chuckles. “I understand that.” He looks at Dinky. “Never hurts to learn.”
Dinky still has a large blush on her face as she peeks past her hooves towards Anon.
“Anon still helped as well.” She repeats.
I look over at Anon. “Thank you,” I then look over at my daughter. “both of you.”
Anon stretches in place a bit. A few cracks and pops echoing in the kitchen. It’s not the first time I’ve seen him do this, but it does still make me cringe a little on the inside.
“It was nothing. I do have to admit that I’m happy it’s the weekend.” He says with a large smile.
I feel my brow raise as I look over to the calendar. Wait, is it already the weekend? My eyes widen some as I see that Anon is correct. I guess I’ve just been too preoccupied to really notice. With Anon and all this stuff that’s been going on, I guess it makes sense that something like the date would slip my mind.
“We should do something together!” Dinky shouts.
Anon looks over at me as I look at him. He just shrugs. I look over at Dinky.
“I guess we could. What do you have in mind?” I ask.
“How about a picnic?” Anon offers.
“That sounds great!” Dinky agrees.
I nod, it’s not a bad idea. I know that Dinky loves the park and the weather looks like it’s going to be clear for the entire week.
“I guess we can do that.” I look over at the clock. “I have to head to work real quick.” I look at Anon. “Can you help get things ready? Dinky should know where everything is.”
Anon nods. “Sounds easy.” His brow raises slightly. “Why are you heading to work though?”
“I have to deliver the mail. It’s not as demanding as the mail we get on the weekdays. So I should be done by lunch.”
I can see Anon giving me a look of some kind, a mix between understanding and sadness. I guess he didn’t know that I work six days a week.
“We’ll be ready when you get back.” Anon says.
I nod as I look over at my daughter and give her a nuzzle.
“I’ll be back, Muffin.”
“See you later, Mom.” I get up from my seat, but stop when I hear my daughter speak. “Can Anon and I walk around Ponyville when we’re done packing?”
“If that’s what he wants.” I say trying not to put Anon on the spot.
He waves it off. “It’s alright. We’ll have plenty of free time before you get off work. A nice walk sounds cool.”
I give a nod at that. “I’ll be back in no time.”
The both of them give me waves as I walk towards the front door. I want to hurry up so that I can spend some time with my daughter and Anon.
I enter into the post office ready to get this work day over with. Mr.Express is loading my mailbag up as I walk behind the counter.
“How much do we have today?” I ask.
“Thankfully not much. Yesterday's shipment was the biggest load we got. This should be all the mail we have that needs to get out today.”
I feel my brow raise. “Just that bag?”
He turn around and nods. “Speedy came back late yesterday. I think you deserve some time to yourself after all you did yesterday. I know you got a daughter to think about.”
“Thank you, Mr. Express.”
He waves it off. “Think nothing of it. Now hurry and get this mail delivered and spend time with your daughter.”
I don’t hesitate as I walk over to the bag and quickly slip the loop around my neck as I let it settle onto my withers. I’m glad this isn’t going to take very long.
I have a certain skip in my step as I walk from house to house delivering the mail. My heart is soaring at how well this day is going for me. All I need to do is deliver the mail in this one bag and then I can go home and spend some much needed time with my daughter. Not only that, but we’ll also be having a picnic with Anon. I open the mailbox in front of me and place the mail inside just before I close it and move on.
The next home in front of me is Berry Punch’s. I walk up to her door and knock on it. She answers the door and slightly flinches at the rays of light that enter her home. She looks hungover.
“You seem chipper.” She says in a groggy tone.
I nod. “Today’s a good day!”
I reach into my bag and get her mail. She tiredly take it from me and places it on the stand beside her door.
“So how’s the whole Anon thing going?” She asks.
I’m hesitant to tell her anything. “Just fine. Not much has happened lately.”
She nods. “Yeah, everything’s quiet around here. You’d think something big would happen or maybe more news would get around.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Berry. I just count it as a blessing.”
She rubs her head some. “I-I’ll see you later, Derpy. I’ve got a killer headache.”
“I understand. See you later, Berry.”
She closes her door and I get back to my route. Berry’s right. Things have calmed down. Maybe things are going to get better for Anon? It’s probably nice to not have to worry about any drama. I shake those thoughts away. I need to hurry up. It shouldn’t take long to finish the rest of this bag.
A large smile is plastered onto my face as the last letter of the day goes into the mailbox! Now all I need to do is get this bag back to the office, sign out for the day and then head back home. I trot happily towards the post office. Lucky for me, I can cut through the town square and make it there in no time. As I trot along I can see all the stores that are open and even Dinky walking with Anon... Wait..
I look over and feel my heart swell as I see the two of them walking around. I can see that they’re talking about something, but they’re too far away for me to hear, mostly due to all the chatter from the other ponies around me. I can see both of them laughing as they walk along. As I continue to watch them, I take notice of a group of mares that makes my feathers ruffle a bit.
I see the elements of harmony, minus Twilight, walking towards Anon. I can already feel my body moving forwards as I try and close the gap between me and my daughter. As I keep an eye on them with every step I make, I start to feel my nerves settle down. The looks they’re giving each other doesn’t really say that they’re angry, in fact, they all look sad.
My steps slow down more as I move into earshot of the elements and Anon. I can see that Anon has already caught sight of the mares, but he keeps on a fake smile for Dinky’s sake. They won’t even know I’m here. I just want to make sure that everything stays calm and civil. I can tell that the mares are fully intending to talk to Anon and he has the same look on his face as well.
He stops where he stands and crouches down to face my daughter.
“Dinky, stay behind me.” He tells her with a smile.
Dinky nods, looking unsure why Anon told her that. Anon stands back up and waits for the mares to approach. Soon the elements are standing before Anon. I can see them cast a glance towards Dinky and then back towards Anon. At the very least, I can tell that they’ll behave themselves around my daughter.
“Ladies.” Anon greets them.
“A-Anon.” Applejack speaks out.
No pony says anything as they have a standoff of sorts. Anon just stands there waiting, while the elements look at each other unsure. I can see as they elbow Rainbow Dash. For some reason or another, she doesn’t look as cocky and bold as she usually does. She takes a few steps towards Anon, while this action makes me nervous, I can tell from her stance that she isn’t going to be trouble.
She looks up at Anon. A bit of gloss in her eyes, something no pony has seen from her before.
“Anon.” She looks from him, to Dinky, then back to him. “We... Um.. We talk to Twilight.”
Anon’s face falls back to his emotionless mask.
“That’s nice. What did she say?” He asks.
The next few seconds take me by surprise. I see Rainbow Dash clench her eye shut and in a fraction of a second she flew up towards Anon and wrapped her hooves around him. A thin trail of tears running down her face.
“I’m so sorry, Big guy.” She tells him.
That’s all it took, the other girls joined in as well. I can tell that Dinky doesn’t know what’s going on, but she hugs Anon from behind as well. Maybe I should intervene some? I walk my way over to them as they continue to hug Anon.
“Um, I hope I’m not interrupting something.” I call out.
Dinky is the first to break away as she face me.
“Mom!”
Soon the other mares take notice as they let go of Anon and take a few steps away from him. I look up to see Anon is biting the inside of his cheek. A sign that he’s trying to suppress an emotion of some kind. Dinky comes running up to me and I gladly take her into an embrace with my wings.
“How are you, Muffin?”
“Fine. Anon and I were just walking around.”
I nod as I look up at the other mares. They’ve collected themselves and are now looking rather normal than compared to a few minutes ago. Rarity clears her throat some to catch everyone’s attention.
“Terribly rude of us to interupt your day, Anon. We hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive us.”
Anon nods. “Yeah, no problem.”
Applejack looks about unsure. “Yeah, we better head off. Things to do and what not.”
The others agree as they look at Anon once more, a flash of pain crossing their faces, just before they turn in the opposite direction and walk away. I look up at Anon and notice that his eyes are closed as he rubs his temples.
“Are you alright?” I ask.
“Yeah, just a sudden headache.” He opens his eyes and looks down at me. “How’s work going?”
I smile at that as I turn to the side to show him my bag.
“All done! I was just heading to the office to drop off my bag.”
I can see a look of relief cross his face. I guess he’s happy to have the topic changed.
“That’s good to hear. Do you mind if we join you on the walk back?”
I nod. “Sure, it shouldn’t take too long. Then we can get ready for the picnic.”
Dinky jumps for joy. “I can’t wait!”
Both Anon and I chuckle at that. I feel my heart start to warm as I turn and walk towards the office.
“Come along, let’s not put this off for longer than needed!”
The three of us make our way to the post office. That swell in my heart remains. Today is still a good day.