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Mean Fillies 656 words
A Day with Derpy965 words

A Day with Derpy

"Rise and Shine, my little Muffin!" I wake with a start. Did I really sleep all afternoon and all night?

"G'morning, Mama," I say groggily. "Wha' time's it?"

"Breakfast time, silly!" Mama kisses my sleep-tangled mane, and I rub my horn, trying to remember the day before. Oh, yes. I fled school in embarrassment, probably creating even more reason to tease me today, and spent the afternoon worrying if Mama loved me or not.

I slide out of bed, put my books in my saddlebag, and go out to the kitchen. Mama is standing with her back to me, cooking something, and, judging from the smoke, it isn't muffins.

"M-mama?" I ask hesitantly. "The other kids at school were teasing me yesterday. Th-they said you didn't love me."

For a second, both of Mama's eyes focus on me. Then the left one slips away, staring off into the distance. She flutters over to me and wraps her hooves and her wings around me, enveloping me in a double hug.

"And... you believed them?" Tears glisten in her eyes. I look down, suddenly ashamed, and stare at my hooves.

I-I'm sorry, Mama. It's just... Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon said that all you care about is muffins. They said you were crazy and couldn't do your job and..." I trail off, tears running down my cheeks.

"Those silly little fillies," Mama mutters angrily. "I'll have to tell Miss Cheerilee about this."

"No!" I say frantically. "If they think I ran crying to you, Mama, they'll just tease me more!"

"Alright," she says doubtfully. "But you're staying home today. Cheerilee says you went home with a fever yesterday."

I smile inwardly at that. Twist kept her promise. "OK, Mama. But what about you? don't you have mail to deliver?"

"Nope. Today's my day off, remember? I'm going to show you that there is more to life than mean fillies who make you feel bad."

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"I want to show you one of my favourite places as a filly. We have to fly to get there, so I'll have to carry you.OK?" Mama already knows I don't mind. I love to fly, even if it's only possible when Mama carries me. I used to want wings when I grew up, but now I know that's impossible. I'll just have to enjoy views from the sky from either high mountains, or hot air balloons.

We go outside and Mama picks me up and flaps her wing as hard as she can. She makes me use the walking-on-clouds spell Twilight taught me, just in case, but I know she'll never drop me.

We fly high over Cloudsdale, and Celestia's sun warms my skin as we pass high over any clouds that might block its light. Mama flies on and on, until I can't even see the Pegasus town as more than a speck in the distance. Finally she skids to a halt on a puff of cloud, overlooking a beautiful canyon full of rainbows.

"This is where they get the stuff in the Rainbow Room back at they weather factory," she says matter-of-factly. "Rainbow Dash showed it to me when we were fillies. She may be the coolest, toughest flyer in Cloudsdale and on the way to becoming a Wonderbolt, but that pegasus has a heart of gold. She was always standing up for fillies like Fluttershy and me in flight school. We got teased a lot, but when Rainbow seemed to like us, the others followed suit and decided we weren't so bad." Mama picks me up again, and we fly down into the canyon. The air shimmers with color, and rainbow pools shine in iridescent splendour. "Rainbow Dash and I used to come here and swim whenever either of us had a hard day." She walks over to a steamy, green-blue-purple pond and dips in a hoof. "This one is the nicest for swimming. It's the perfect temperature."

I follow her and dip my own hoof into the shallows. The liquid color has a creamy, smooth texture and, true to Mama's word, it is a soothing, not-quite-hot temperature. We wade in, and I notice that it smells like wildflowers.

We spend what feels like hours in that pool, talking, laughing, or just relaxing, enjoying the peace and quiet of it all. But eventually, Mama says it's time to go, we have to get something to eat.

Mama flies us back to Ponyville, and for the first time all day, I realize how hungry I am. The sun is just beginning to set, and the sky is soft pink with orange clouds, and just a hint of purple night creeping out around the edges. It's as beautiful as the Rainbow Canyon, maybe more so, because it's home. Mama and I walk the rest of the way home in silence. We have a quiet dinner at home, and afterwards I tiptoe up to my room, where I find my favourite book and bring it back downstairs with me, like I did when I was little.

"Daring Do? you haven't read those since you were just a little filly." Mama smiles gently. "Shall we read it together?"

I nod and open the book to my favourite chapter. We take turns reading until it gets too dark to see the writing.

Mama looks at the always-wrong clock and says, smiling, "2 o'clock? It's time little fillies your age got to bed. Especially ones who have to go to school in the morning."

Mama follows me upstairs and tucks me into bed. She kisses my cheek and says, "Goodnight Dinky. I love you more than all the muffins in the world. Always remember that."

I snarl myself into my favourite sleeping position and close my eyes.

"I know, Mama. I love you, too."

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