The Muffin House Rules

by Brolkier

Act 2 - Derpy doesn't need surgery!

Act 2 – Derpy doesn’t need surgery!

The Hooves family all sat around the dinner table, as they ate their meal for the night. The Doctor had actually managed to make something edible in the TARDIS for once, much to the relief of Derpy and Sparkler, who had been in charge of the meals thus far. An odd combination to say the least, consisting of; celery sticks, bananas, biscuits and jam, some type of pudding, and what the Doctor called “Jell-O” for dessert.

Derpy turned to her youngest daughter Dinky, and asked her about her day.

“So how was your day at school Dinky?”

Dinky took another quick bite of her celery stick, before answering her mother.

“It was fun mommy! Miss Cheerilee taught us how to count higher numbers today! I think I can count all the way to a gazillion now!”

“Dinky, there’s no such thing as a gazillion.” Sparkler told her sister, not trying to ruin her spirits.

Dinky’s expression got a little down. “I know.” Then her expression went right back to her happy demeanor. “But, Apple Bloom and her friends were talking about a whole bunch of things that they were going to try to do to get their cutie marks, and Scootaloo said that if those didn’t work, then they could try a gazillion more things.”

Derpy gave a little giggle at Dinky’s story.

“He he. Oh, those little fillies are always trying so hard to get their cutie marks.”

“Yeah.” Dinky replied to her mother. “I don’t know if I could count all of the things that they’ve tried yet, but I still like counting to the number four! It’s my favorite number!”

“Would you like a Jelly Baby?” The Doctor said aloud, causing his family to stare at him confused. The Doctor realized that he had somehow caused a scene. “Oh, uh, sorry. Some sort of reaction I guess. So, umm, why is four your favorite number Dinky?”

“Because there’s four of us daddy! You, mommy, Sparkler, and me! The four of us are the best family ever.” Dinky replied back, gleefully. “And I never want anything to ever change!” She finished with a big smile, and a little squee.

The four of them all joined in a nice laugh. As they all calmed down, Derpy looked into her glass that she was now holding on the table. She could see her reflection in the glass, and thanks to the liquid inside, her eyes looked even wonkier than they normally are. As her family continued to eat, Derpy couldn’t help but think back to what Doctor Stable had told her earlier that day, and what it could mean for her. She seemed lost in thought, her face now looking a little sad.

The Doctor glanced over at his wife, now looking a little depressed.

“Are you alright Derpy?”

Derpy snapped out of her deep thinking, and looked around the table at her family.

“Everything alright mom?” Sparkler said to her mother, sounding concerned.

Dinky spoke next.

“What’s wrong mommy?”

Derpy put on a nervous, but happily reassuring face, as she answered Dinky.

“Oh, it’s nothing sweetie. Mommy was just thinking about something.”

“You’re thinking about going through with it, aren’t you?” The Doctor spoke in a serious, but concerned tone.

Derpy turned to The Doctor, trying to answer him, but found it hard to look straight at him and talk at the same time. Instead, she sort of looked down, like she was talking at the table, while one of her eyes looked up at The Doctor.

“Well, I’m not sure yet, but I have been giving it some thought.”

Sparkler slammed her hooves on the table, giving it a good shake, while standing up in the process.

“You can’t be serious mom!? There’s no reason for you to go through with it, you’re fine just the way you are!”

Now both scared and confused, Dinky looked up at her mother, little tears starting to form in her eyes.

“What’s going on mommy? What’s wrong?”

Derpy leapt out of her chair to hold Dinky in her hooves. She made shushing sounds, as she brushed her daughter’s mane with her hoof, trying to make her feel alright.

“It’s okay sweetie, nothing’s wrong. Everything’s going to be alright.” She gave a quick look to The Doctor, who seeming to understand, got up, and walked out of the room with Sparkler. She then looked back down at Dinky, who was sniffling up the tears that she almost cried. “Mommy’s just been doing a little thinking about something.”

“About what mommy?” Dinky replied.

Derpy started to look away, but focused back at her daughter, as she told her about what had happened earlier, before she picked her up from school.

/)(\ /)(\ /)(\ /)(\ /)(\

“And that’s it sweetie. I’m still not sure how I really feel about it, but, I get the feeling that I should give it a try.”

Dinky looked up at her mother, her eyes no longer filled with little tears.

“But I like your eyes just the way they are mommy. They’re what make you special.”

Derpy gave a little giggle at her little filly’s response, making her feel better.

“I know Dinky, and I’m so happy that you’re always loving and caring for me, and every other pony, no matter who they are.”

This brought a big smile to Dinky’s face.

“Well, no matter what, I’ll always love you mommy!” She then gave her mother a big hug, trying to wrap her little hooves around her.

Derpy then wrapped her own hooves back around her daughter, as she nuzzled her head. Her eyes closed, with a warm motherly smile on her face.

“I think I’ve made my decision.” She said quietly to herself.

The Doctor and Sparkler looked on from around the corner of the doorway to the other room. They looked at each other, and then back at Derpy and Dinky.

/)(\ /)(\ /)(\ /)(\ /)(\

The next day,

The Doctor and Sparkler had been waiting out in the hallway, for what felt like hours. Sparkler sat in her chair, much like her friend Lyra occasionally did, with her plot on the chair, and her hind legs dangling off the edge. She still had her forelegs crossed across her chest, with a slight annoyed look still on her face.

The Doctor, on the other hoof, had been pacing back and forth in the hallway for so long, that dark hoof marks had started to make lines on the floor. Nurse Redheart walked by from an adjacent hallway, and told him to please take a seat, as he was starting to scuff the floor. The Doctor took a seat, waiting until the nurse left, and was out of earshot, before getting up, and pacing again.

Eventually, the lighted sign above the door to the Operating room turned off, and Doctor Stable emerged from the doors, pulling down his face mask. The Doctor and Sparkler rushed over to him, each asking their own questions.

“How is she doctor!? Is she okay!? Did everything go alright!? I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to her!?”

“Is my mother alright!?”

Doctor Stable raised both his hooves at the two of them, trying to calm them down.

“Please, calm yourselves. Everything’s fine. The surgery was a complete success!”

Both of the ponies’ faces lit up with relief/excitement, as they dashed passed Doctor Stable, and into the Operating room.

Doctor Stable walked back into the room, to find The Doctor and Sparkler standing next to Derpy’s bed, staring at her. Derpy’s head was still completely covered in bandages all the way around, leaving her nose and mouth exposed, so she could breathe and talk.

Derpy told the two of them to calm down, and reassured them that she was fine, but that she wanted to see what she now looked like.

Doctor Stable walked up to her side, before speaking to the three of them.

“Well now, without further ado, your eyes should have been given enough time to readjust, so I’ll go ahead and remove the bandages.” Using his magic, he gripped the end of the bandages, and slowly began to unwind them.

After almost a full minute of unwrapping, all of the bandages were finally removed from Derpy’s face, her eyes still closed. She slowly began to open her eyes, adjusting to the light in the room, until she managed to open up her eyes all the way. The Doctor and Sparkler both let out a surprised gasp, as Derpy desperately tried asking for a mirror.

“Quick, please, a mirror!”

Doctor Stable levitated a mirror off the wall, to in front of Derpy’s face.

Derpy let out a gasp of her own, as she tried to find the words to express what she could feel/see.

“My eyes! They’re…they’re. The same!”

Comments

[lethem010]

I really like this story, keep up the good work