Chapter 1

The wind that brushed against Derpy face didn’t help much; she almost crashed into a pony as her mind wandered elsewhere. She shook her head, and made a mental note to keep her eyes up in order to avoid bumping into anypony else

With a sigh, Derpy landed on the front lawn of a floating manor. The manor towered above her, and anypony who passed by had to be blind to miss it. It even had its own rainbow fountain pouring out of its windows. The manor kinda reminded her of the rainbow factory. She walked to the door.

Derpy knocked twice before taking a step back. It wasn’t long till she heard movements within, followed by grunts as a crash came from inside. The door opened, and a rainbow-maned mare stood before her, gazing at her with a smile. “Hey, Derpy! What’s up?”

Derpy smiled. “Hey, Rainbow Dash. I got your mail.” she reached into her bag and pulled out a small envelope. Handing it over to the blue hoof that reached out to her, Rainbow Dash took the mail and smiled, her eyes darting back and forth.

Rainbow Dash looked at it with wide eyes. “Woah, a party in my honor!” she looked over at the mailmare and said, “This is awesome!”

Derpy swallowed the lump in her throat. She lifted her chin so her eyes could meet Dash’s rose-colored ones. “Huh? You don’t look… hurt.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Uuuh what?”

“I said, you don’t look hurt,” Derpy said. “I mean, that last battle with that monster must have taken a toll on you.”

Rainbow Dash placed her forehooves behind her back. “Well….” she stepped farther outside. “It’s cool. For somepony as awesome as I am, I’m pretty fine. In fact, I’m awesome!”

Derpy sighed, shaking shaking her head. “Oh Dash.” Always so full of yourself.

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Nah, just my life being awesome.”

“Well it looks like you’ve got some celebrity do so I’ll be out of your way.” She turned around and prepared to lance into the sky, but stopped when she heard Rainbow call her name.

“Wait!”

Turning around, she saw the cyan mare smiling sheepishly. “Do you wanna, I don’t know, hang out or something?”

Derpy bit her tongue and held tightly onto her bag. “I don’t know. I still got mail to deliver.”

Rainbow Dash threw her head back and let out a groan. “Come ooon, would it kill you just to have some fun?”

Looking behind her, she pondered the idea of coming inside Rainbow’s house. She always wanted to go inside, but she’d always miss the opportunity since Rainbow was hardly there. With her mind made up, she mustered all the courage she had and smiled. “Why not!”

Rainbow Dash smiled. “Great, let’s go!” she flew over to Derpy and grabbed her by the shoulders, lifting her from the ground, after which she brought her into her home.

While in the air, Derpy decided to stop squirming and enjoyed the ride before it stopped. Her eyes widened as she looked around the place. The he Clubdominium was even wider on the inside than the outside, and Derpy wondered if her whole family could live here by the amount of space—despite the Wonderbolt items decorating up the place.

Derpy didn’t get the chance to look at the rest of the place, for Rainbow Dash stopped and put her down. Derpy brushed her shoulder off and, when she looked up—where she was at—she gasped. The kitchen had a rainbow color scheme placed on the cabinets, clouds scattered on the clear walls. : The floor looked like the fluffy white clouds that Dash snapped on and felt so soft when her hooves landed on it and it had a shade of blue.

In front of them, a fridge stood tall. When Rainbow Dash swung it open, a bright light flashed in her eyes. “Oops, sorry.” she smiled and duck inside, looking through the food that was within. “So whatcha drink? I got hay soda and cider.”

Derpy licked her lips. “Cider!”

“Okay? Cider it is!” While Rainbow Dash looked in the fridge, Derpy turned to the wall, her eyes spotted a group of gold medals hanging. Derpy focused on them as they shined bright; her interest couldn’t leave it.

She broke out of her frustrated state as soon as Dash placed a can in her hoof. Afterwards, Rainbow took a sip of her own mug of cider. Even with Derpy’s back turned, an image of Rainbow Dash being praised by the town popped into her mind.

“So,” Rainbow Dash said, making Derpy jump in surprise. She turned to her with the mug held in her hoof. “How’s things going with Dinky?”

Derpy fiddled with the drink in her hooves. “Oh, good! I’m going to take her to Sugarcube Corner after work.”

Rainbow, tittering building up in her throat, took a sip of her drink before setting it down on the table. “That’s good.”

Derpy looked at the clock, and her eyes shot open in fear. “Oh, hay I have to go!” She almost ran out, but Rainbow stopped her flying over her and blocked the passage out of the manor.

“Come on, Derpy, you need to relax a little. You're working yourself out.”

“Rainbow, I gotta go. I would stay longer to hang, but these mails have to be delivered or else I’m fire!” Taking her bag off the table, she dashed out of the kitchen and to the front door in a flash, but she gasped as she saw Rainbow Dash had beat her to it.

“Alright how about this since I’m a cool and awesome friend. I’ll help you with the delivery.”

“Oh I don’t know about that, I wouldn't wanna be--”

“Don’t worry about.” Rainbow Dash walked over and laid a foreleg over Derpy’s shoulder. “Because you and me are going to hang out before I get my reward.”

Derpy started to stutter as she looked at the ticking clock.“B-b-but--”

“I got muffins!”

Derpy bit her lip, looking from the clock then to Rainbow Dash smirking at her. She sighed and smiled at Dash. “Alright fine.”

“Alright!” Rainbow Dash shouted, doing a flip, but only for a couple's second before she landed on all fours. “You won’t regret this!”

Derpy waited for Rainbow Dash to disappear in the kitchen as her smile fell from her face. “I sure hope so.”

Derpy regretted hanging out with Rainbow. The sweat covering her from head to hoof and and the trouble catching breath was proof to that. Sure Rainbow kept her promise, she did help, but being town hero, she had got sidetracked by some of her fans.

Leaving Derpy to deliver the rest of it. Derpy looked down from above as she flew over Ponyville. The ponies looked like ants scattered all over the place. She smiled as she felt the cold touch of the wind brushing her face. Her eyes slowly began giving into the temptation of sleeping, but she shook her head to keep herself awake.

She approached the ground as she saw a small, square-shaped house alined near other houses. She landed on the sidewalk, which was only inches away from her house, and walked towards it.

As she walked, she looked around and admired the ponies walking around. There was a group of fillies playing ball in the streets, and a couple chatting away as they ate some food. Seeing all this almost distracted her from the image of Rainbow Dash’s medals but not quite.

The door swung open as Derpy stepped over the threshold and into her home. She didn’t care when she tossed the empty saddlebag on the floor as she flopped onto the couch.

“Girls, did you hear about how Rainbow Dash and Princess Twilight saved Ponyville?” Derpy’s ears perked up when she heard a familiar voice from upstairs.

“Yeah! They were so brave to head straight towards that creature!” Derpy couldn’t help but smile, hearing her daughter chatting with some of her friends, even if it was those chaos-inducing Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“Our sisters helped too, Scoots,” Apple Bloom said.

“Yeah, and Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, too!” Sweetie Belle added.

“Yeah, I know, but I think Rainbow Dash was the bravest one of them all.”

“Of course you would say that, Scootaloo, you created a fan club for her,” Dinky said, making Derpy giggle .

“Well, she was! She’s everything a mare should be— strong, brave, and awesome!”

Derpy’s ears perked up she heard a lot of movement coming from upstairs. It wasn’t long until she heard the sound of hooves running to the stairway. “Alright, see you guys later!” Dinky shouted.

The crusaders walked down the stairs, but stopped as their eyes met with Derpy. “You could have warned me that you were coming over.” They stood still for a moment, then eased their muscles as Derpy broke out in a smile. “Good to see you, girls.”

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom looked at each other as Sweetie Belle stepped up and said, “H-Hi, Miss Hooves.”

“Heading home?” They nodded. “Get home safely, alright?” Derpy said, receiving another nod from them. “Good. See you later, girls.”

They waved goodbye and closed the door behind them. Derpy heard Scootaloo talking about Rainbow Dash again, but she didn’t have a chance to get annoyed. “You’re home!” Dinky shouted, tossing herself into her mother’s hooves. Derpy smiled as she gave her a firm squeeze, then brushed a hoof through Dinky’s yellow mane and pecked her purple check. She broke the embrace and looked at her daughter when she asked, “How was work?” Derpy’s frown answered Dinky’s question. “Not great, huh?”

Derpy smiled. “Work sometimes can be tough.”

In a flash, Dinky clung onto her mother once more. “If it’s not fun, why don’t you take a break?”

Derpy stared down at the filly hugging her. “Because if I don’t, I won’t keep getting praised by my number one fan,”she said, kissing her foal on the forehead.

Dinky pushed away. “Stop, you’re giving me mom cooties!”

Derpy giggled. “What’s so bad about that?”

“Because it’s uncool!” Dinky playfully pushed Derpy, a wince was the response from the mailmare. “You okay mom? I didn’t hurt you did I?”

Derpy shook her head. “No, just a little sore from carrying that bag.”

Dinky rubbed her chin, humming as she sat in thought. Her eyes lit up as well as her spirits as an idea popped in her head.“How about I massage your shoulders to make you feel better?”

Derpy shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I really don’t… oh my,” she said, as Dinky’s hooves rubbed her sore shoulders. She walked to the couch and flopped down on the cushions. She let out a sigh as her stress began to dwindle. All her problems vanished as Dinky worked on her shoulders, eliciting a blissful moan from the mare.

“Mmmm… yes, that feels good.” Derpy’s eyelids fluttered down. “Yeah… right there.” As she let Dinky massage her, she asked, “So, how was school?”

“Same as always.”

Derpy frowned at the vague answer. “Same as always?”

“Yeah, Diamond and Silver show off what their daddies bought them and get praised because of it.” Dinky sighed, “The usual.”

“You sound really calm about it.”

Dinky arched an eyebrow. “Is that a bad thing?”

Derpy’s eyes widened . “No, no!” She paused as she chose her words carefully. “It’s just… don’t you feel… jealous?” Derpy asked.

“Nah.”

She pulled Dinky’s hooves away as she lifted herself from the couch to face her. “Are you sure?”

“Mom, you are seriously acting weird. Are you okay?” Dinky asked, arching an eyebrow.

Derpy waved a hoof and said, “I’m super!”

Derpy frowned as Dinky’s hooves stopped rubbing her shoulder. “Mom, you are not fine. Work’s really that stressful, huh?”

Derpy sighed. That wasn’t it.“It’s that obvious huh?”

“Why don’t you ask Rainbow Dash if she could get you a job at the weather factory?”

“No!” Realizing the change of tone, Derpy continued, “I’m happy where I am. I love delivering mails, helps to see different smiles everyday to put one on your own.”

“But—”

“Dinky, I’m fine.” Derpy managed a smile.

Dinky’s eyes lit up. “Mom, we should do something fun, something only a mom and her daughter should do. Something—”

“You’re talking about that thing I promised you, aren’t you?” Derpy asked.

“Yes, I am.”

Derpy bit her lip. “I don’t know, I’m kinda tired from work.” She gasped as Dinky pushed free of her hug and huffed at her.

“Come on, Mom, you promised me!” Dinky pouted.

“Yeah I know, but I’m not in the mood for sugary treats or Pinkie Pie scaring me half to death.”

“Pleeease!” Dinky said, cueing the puppy eyes.

Derpy sighed. “Alright, just let me sleep for a little, okay?”

Dinky’s smile returned as she let out a quick ‘Yay!’ before turning around and running up the stairs. Derpy jumped up in surprise when Dinky’s door slammed shut. She sighed and slumped further into the couch, glancing up at the cat clock; she enjoyed how the cat’s eyes would hypnotically dart back and forth as time ticked by.

However, Derpy found no enjoyment in it now as her eyes stooped lower and lower. She felt frozen in place, her mind stuck on what to do. Part of her wanted to keep her promise to Dinky while the other wanted to fall asleep.

She yawned before closing her eyes.

Derpy’s eyes shot open when the ringing of a bell echoed through the room. Lifting herself from the couch and rubbing her eyes, she glanced at the clock. Her eyes widened when she saw how much time had passed.

Derpy’s heart ached as she thought of how Dinky must have felt waiting and waiting for her to wake up, only to deny her promise. Wondering if Dinky was mad at her, she exhaled, then ran up the stairs to a pink door. Walking closer, she saw a note sticking on the door. “Go away,” she said, reading the words aloud.

She sighed and turned around to leave, but froze as her mind told her to march right through the door. However, all the muscles in her body disagreed; they refused to move despite her voice telling her that comforting her daughter was the right thing to do .

Her mind eventually won the mental battle as she turned around and walked back to the pink door. Derpy slowly reached for the door and gently knocked on it. She took a couple steps back as she heard movements within the room. The knob twitched a couple times before Dinky opened the door.

Derpy held her breath for a moment as the door opened to a distraught Dinky, her eyes red because of all the crying, and her mane a mess. “I’m so, so sorry, Dinky. I didn’t know I was that tired. I hope you’re not mad at me.”

Dinky rubbed her bloodshot eyes and sniffed. “I’m not.” Derpy put on her best smile as Dinky glared at her with an unamused look. Dinky sighed and looked up at her mother. “I’m just…” her ears flattened on her head. “…disappointed you went back on your promise…”

The mailmare frowned, her heart racing as she saw the pain in her daughter’s eyes—a pain caused by her own actions. “Dinky, I didn’t go back on my promise. We can still go.”

The little filly huffed. “They’d be closed by now.” She shot a hoof towards the window. “It’s nighttime! They won’t open until tomorrow.”

Derpy looked where Dinky pointed, the moon now visible in the dark sky amongst the stars. “Dinky—”

Dinky shot back a glare filled with tears. “Leave me alone, liar!”

She flinched as Dinky slammed the door in her face. She stared at the door for a few minutes, her hooves seeping into the rug as she remained fixed to her spot. She blinked when she heard murmuring from inside the walls. Derpy walked to the door and leaned her ear against it. Her expression hardened as she heard sniffles coming from the other side.

Derpy knocked on the door again, praying that Dinky would open it. She took one final look before she said, “Good night, Dinky,” and walked down the steps. As she reached the end of the stairway, she simply stood there, her grip growing tighter and tighter on the railing. She wanted to run back upstairs to comfort her daughter, but she couldn’t move; she did not know what to say.

Anything she said would only make things worse. Derpy sat on the couch and closed her eyes. As she lay on the couch with her head pressed against the soft fabric, she found herself nowhere near drifting off to sleep. She groaned and slipped her head to the side for a more comfortable position, but the result was the same.

Derpy still found herself straining her eyes as she shut them tight. “The one time I get to sleep, I can’t.” She sighed and lifted herself from the couch as she walked to the stairs. the front door. She grabbed the knob and swung it open, the night breeze welcoming her.

Sucking in the fresh air before letting it out in one exhale, Derpy stepped outside, then looked around. Nopony seemed to be roaming around, no carriages being pulled by some stallion, no royal guards making rounds or monsters attacking the town.

Only Derpy and the chirping crickets enjoyed the night. She looked down to see the paper she forgot to pick up this morning. She picked it up and opened it to a picture of Princess Twilight and all the other elements standing alongside Mayor Mare, shaking hooves.

The headline read: Beast’s Balsamic Blaze Blundered.

Derpy’s smile fell as she saw Rainbow Dash with her usual smirk plastered on her face, and a medal hanging around her neck. Crumpling the paper into a ball, she huffed as she pulled her hoof back and threw it somewhere.

She cringed when she heard a cat meowing in the distance.

“Don’t like reading the news?” said the voice from behind her.

“Gah!” Derpy shouted as she whipped around. Her heart calmed down when she saw her next-door neighbor in a red robe, which almost covered her entire body as she stood by her own front door. She sighed in relief. “Oh it’s you.”

The mare chuckled. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

Derpy forced a smile on her face. “It’s fine.”

The mare smiled and looked at up the sky. She chuckled and looked at Derpy. “I noticed something strange.”

Derpy’s heart skipped a beat. “W-w-hat?”

“My usually cheerful neighbor is throwing out a news article about the heroes who saved this place.” She looked up and hummed before returning her attention back to Derpy, noticing her smile drop.

Derpy chuckled nervously.“It was nothing. Just practicing uh...throwing for uh...my daughter’s hoof ball game tomorrow.”

The mare crossed her forelegs and raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, whew that took a lot out of me.” Derpy forced out a yawn and stretched her hind legs before she reached to the door. “I should get some sleep. Good night, neighbor!”

“Why don’t you just tell Rainbow Dash how you feel?” the mare asked, prompting Derpy to turn and face her.

Derpy tensed up as she stared at the mare. “H-H-How did you—”

“I see how you react when ponies praise her.” The mare crossed her forelegs as she smirked. “I may be old, but I’m not an idiot—I can tell when somepony’s jealous.”

“I am not jealous,” Derpy said, lying through her smile.

“The newspaper would say differently.” The mare’s smirk vanished as she sighed. “Listen, it’s not my place to say who’s right or wrong, I’m just looking out for Dinky and you.”

“Don’t bring my daughter into this; it’s not fair to her,” Derpy said with a frown.

The mare held her hooves up in the air. “I’m just saying. Your jealousy over Rainbow—”

“I’m not jealous!” Derpy stomped her hoof on the ground.

“—isn’t just affecting you,” the mare finished. “It’s affecting her, too.” Sighing, she added, “But what do I know? I’m just your neighbor.”

Derpy looked down as the words hit her like a ton of bricks.

“Take it easy, okay? Jealousy tends to turn good mares cruel,” she said, just before she went back inside.

Derpy looked up after she heard the door closing. She stepped through her own door and closed it behind her. She groaned, then banged her head against the door. “Stupid,” she said, slamming her forehoof against the wall. She kept hitting the wall as she repeated the word. “Stupid, stupid, stupid!”

She stopped when she was out of breath. Derpy stared at the floor, trying to control her heavy breathing. She closed her eyes and sucked in all the air she could manage, then let all the anger out in one exhale as she opened her eyes again. Pushing her head away from the door, she finally headed upstairs.

Derpy walked to Dinky’s door and opened it. There she saw her filly snuggled in her sheets, snoring peacefully. She smiled and walked over to the bed, opening up the blankets. She laid down next to Dinky and rested her head on the same pillow Dinky slept on, both facing each other.

“Dinky?” She received no reply from the filly. “I know I haven’t been the best mother lately, and I want to tell you why, but…” Her ears flatten to her head. “I just don’t want you to be more disappointed in me than you already are….” She sighed and looked at Dinky, whose eyes were still closed. “I’m going to make this up to you, I promise.” She leaned over and gave her a kiss on her head. “I love you.”

Resting her head back on her daughter’s pillow, Derpy closed her eyes as she listened to Dinky’s soft breathing. “I promise, Dinky, things will get better.”

Derpy flew over Ponyville as she came back from work, her bag flailing around. She stared at the clouds ahead of her before a yawn escaped her mouth. Rubbing her eyes, she tried to force them open to keep herself from falling asleep.

The bags under eyes would tell anypony who came across her: Worrying about Dinky’s well-being kept her from enjoying rest, rest she could not have because of the guilt that burden her.

She felt like the worst mother ever. If she had more time to spend with Dinky, she could have prevented her daughter possibly hating her. Dinky could be home right now, sobbing in her pillow like before all because her mother failed to keep her promise.

She flapped her wings hard, feeling the pain that built up from the pressure she put on them. She gritted her teeth as she fought the pain back; there was nothing she wanted right now then to be with her daughter; and tell her how sorry she was and how horrible of a parent she had been; and to make a real promise she could actually keep. She should have never let her jealously overlook the importance of taking care of her daughter.

The clouds in the skies became blurry as her tears came trailing down her face as she flew above the town. She wiped the tears away as she entered her neighborhood. Ponies on the ground waved at her, but received no reply from the mare as she soared to her house.

She slowed down as she approached her house and landed on the grass.

Derpy walked to the front door, after which she reached in her bag and pulled out her keys, accidentally dropping them. “Stupid keys.” She picked them up and almost placed the keys inside the lock until she noticed the door was halfway open. “What the…?”

She turned around as she heard a door closing. A brown mare walked outside, saddlebags placed upon her back. She turned around and smiled as she spotted Derpy. “Heya, neighbor!”

Derpy stopped and turned to the mare as she waved to the mare. “Hiya, neighbor.”

“You talked to my mom yesterday?” The mare smirked. “She said you had thrown a newspaper, but wouldn’t tell me why. You pissed off or something?” Noticing the saddlebags on Derpy, the mare looked up with an arched eyebrow. “Just coming from work?”

Derpy cringed.“I don’t wanna talk about it. Just… just tell your mother I’ll make it up to her soon.”

The mare saluted Derpy. “Will do.”

“Thanks,” Derpy said. She placed her hoof on the door, but froze before touching it. “Hey?”

The mare stopped walking to turn around. “What?”

“Did you see anypony strange around?”

The mare tapped her chin, but shook her head. “I don’t think so. Why?”

“The door’s open.”

The mare gasped. “Oh my gosh! Did they steal anything? Did they hurt Dinky?”

“Don’t say things like that! Dinky’s fine!” She walked in and closed the door behind her, the echo filling the place. Dropping her saddlebags as she walked further in, Derpy searched for any signs of life. “Dinky?”

She received no response. No signs of movement upstairs, no voice, nothing. Her heart pounded against her chest. She looked around and continued to shout for the filly. “Dinky!” She heard the door creak open and turned around to see Dinky walking in with Scootaloo, both wearing rainbow wigs.

“Thanks for letting me join your club, Scootaloo!” Dinky said, smiling. She noticed her mother’s presence and wiped the smile from her face. “Oh great, you’re home.”

“Dinky, mind explaining to me why you weren’t home?” Derpy asked.

“I decided to hang out with Scootaloo after school.” The smile returned as she continued. “It was really fun. She let me joined her Rainbow Dash’s fan club!”

Scootaloo nodded. “Yeah, turns out she lov-uh… I mean likes Rainbow Dash just as much as me!”

Derpy frowned. “You should have told me you were going somewhere. You left the door open, you could have been hurt!”

Dinky’s ears flatten to her head. “I’m sorry mom.”

“I’m sorry, Dinky, but I can’t allow you to get away with this. That’s why I’m grounding you for a week.”

Dinky gasped, her shock quickly turning to anger when her hoof slammed on the ground. “It’s not fair! I just wanted to have fun with my friends!”

“You could have waited until I got home. What if you were fillynapped, and I wasn’t there to save you?”

“I don’t need you to save me, mom!” Smirking, she said, “I got Rainbow Dash for it.”

Sensing the tension, Scootaloo started to back away from the two. “I think I hear my uh… scooter… crap… uh running, bye!” In a flash, she already sprinted out the door and into the streets, leaving the two alone.

Derpy turned her attention back to the filly glaring at her. “Go upstairs in your room, right now.”

Dinky huffed. “First you lie to me and now you’re grounding me for breaking one rule?” She turned away with a oopm! and stormed up the stairs, though not before Derpy flew up to her and snatched the wig off her head. “Hey, what are you—”

Derpy threw the wig on the ground. “Go to your room!”

Dinky frowned and walked away. Not before muttering, “I wish Rainbow Dash was my mom.” and closed the door. Derpy’s heart might as well had been pierced with a thousand needles at that point.

It took a couple minutes before she realized her eyes strained from staring at the door for too long. She looked down at the wig—its rainbow strands spreaded across the floor. Picking it up, Derpy walked in the bathroom and held it in her hoof.

Dinky made her strong throughout her days as a mailmare, she made it worth it to slave over for a few bits.Now that she was losing her, it scared Derpy to the point that she feared of losing her. She frowned then threw the wig into the trash can before she walked away.

Go to your room now!

I wish Rainbow Dash was my mom!

Derpy gasped and flung her head upward, panting like a thirsty dog. Looking around, she saw the the kitchen sink, telling her she had fallen asleep on the stool. She looked around, only to find that she was alone with her thoughts.

She needed a plan to make it up to Dinky. She closed her eyes and pictured a possible activity Dinky and her could do; an image of her and Dinky eating sandwiches at the panic popped up and another of them playing catch.

All of the images Derpy found only displeased her, since Dinky wouldn’t say yes to any of them. She, leaned her head on her hoof, opened her eyes and sighed. “I wished I kept my promise to her.” She looked over to the clock and watched it tick.

And tick.

Until a ringing sound erupted in her head. “The promise!” She gasped and lifted herself from the stool. “I can take her up the promise I made and that will make her happy with me again!” She giggled to herself and bounced around. “Oooh, I hope it works!” She wiped the smile off her face walked out the kitchen.

Her heart pounded against her chest with each step she took upstairs.

What was she going to say? ‘Sorry I got a little mad you disobeyed me for a stupid Rainbow Dash’s club. It has nothing to do with that she has a perfect life and I have a hum drum life. Thanks for understanding!’ With a sigh and new look of determination, she continued upstairs.

“Dinky?” She knocked on the door a couple times and stood there. “Dinky, honey can we talk?” She pressed her ear against the door and listened.

“I’m coming in, don’t throw nothing at me.” She waited and received no response. She pushed the door opened and walked inside, finding the bed empty, no filly sobbing into the pillow or waiting patiently. “Dinky, mommy’s sorry for how she treated you earlier.” She spotted something sticking out from under the bed and smirked. “Well I guess she’s not here, better go get ice cream myself!”

She turned around and took one step towards the door. “Uh oh! Looks like I’m starting to leave!” She grabbed the doorknob and twitched it, hoping the clicking sound would draw Dinky out from under the bed. “Bye bye!” She swung the door opened and turned towards the bed.

No filly dashed towards her.

She closed the door with a groan and walked towards the bed. “Okay, Dinky, stop playing around.” She crouched down and lifted the blankets as she looked under the bed, but found only a few toys. “Dinky?” Derpy pushed herself upright and searched every corner of the room once more. “Dinky, stop hiding! Your mother wants to speak with you!”

Her breathing quickened as she looked around the room, throwing toys aside. “Dinky, come out this instant!” Derpy paused; she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Attached to a picture frame resting on a small desk was a yellow note. She walked over to the frame and ripped the note from the photo as she read it. “Mom, I get it now. I get what you’ve been telling me. I’m sorry for adding to the problem. I ran far away so please don’t come looking for me. I’m sorry and I’ll miss you, mom.”

The note dropped to the floor as Derpy ran down the stairs. She swung the the door open as she sprinted out the door and took flight. Derpy looked down from above as she flew over Ponyville. Her eyes searched for Dinky, but all she saw was ponies. She passed some pegasus who remembered her and greeted her with a hello, but got nothing from the mare as she zoomed forward. They looked at her as if she was just being herself, but she was being a mother. She ignored the insults thrown at her as she bumped into a another pegasus or two, but she didn’t care.

She bumped headfirst into a blue blur and found herself spiraling of control. She controlled her wings and managed to hover in the air. She looked up to see Rainbow Dash, rubbing her forehead. “Rainbow…?”

Rainbow Dash smiled. “Oh hey, Derpy!”

Derpy sighed in relief. “Oh thank Celestia, please help me, Dinky’s missing!”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened the words hit her. “She’s gone! What do you mean she’s gone? Where she go?”

“I… I don’t know!” Derpy shouted. “I’m looking for her now!”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened. “Why didn’t you just say that! Let’s go!” In the blink of an eye, she disappeared in a rainbow trail. Derpy followed the trail.

Derpy looked up as she saw Rainbow’s trail fading away as she headed north. She turned both ways as flew across a two street. She slowed down as she look towards the left, seeing the dirt leading all the way towards the forest. Derpy bit her lip as she feared Dinky might have ran into the forest.

She prayed to Celestia that Dinky made the right turn in the direction of train station. “Please be there.” She flapped her wings as hard as she could, speeding s the train station. She spotted a couple of ponies near the train tracks and hovered down into she landed on the platform.

Derpy walked up the steps and dove into the crowd of ponies. She groaned when a pony bumped against her while she walked through. Looking around, she saw fillies standing next to their parents.

Derpy’s face bumped against another pony, making her step a back. She rubbed her head and was about to yell at the pony for bumping until she saw it was Rainbow Dash. “You found her yet?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “No. Oh Celestia, what if she caught a train to who knows where! Or she got lost in the Everfree and attacked by the creatures. Or—”

“Derpy!” Rainbow Dash shouted, shutting the rambling mare. “Think for a minute, Derpy.” Rainbow Dash removed her hoof from Derpy’s foreleg and sighed. “She could be anywhere. Anywhere, I think we should alert the guard, they’ll have a better chance at finding her.” Derpy kept looking back and forth until Rainbow’s hooves clutching her cheeks stopped her. She looked at the mare with a frown. “Okay?”

“No, she has to be here!” Derpy stood on the tip of her hooves as she looked over the mare and searched for Dinky. Where is she? Her head swished back and forth as she looked from both sides.

A stallion wearing a blue uniform and a cap walked up to them. “I can help you ladies?”

“Do you know where, Dinky is?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking around as well. “She’s a unicorn with a purple coat and yellow… ish mane?”

Derpy looked at Rainbow with an arched eyebrow. “How do you know what Dinky looks like?”

“Wow, it was almost like we were friends!” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

“Hmm, let me see.” He turned away from them and looked around.

As he did that, Derpy turned back to Rainbow Dash who was looking around as she hovered in the air. “Do you see her yet?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “There’s gotta be like a ton of ponies around here!”

Derpy bit her hoof and looked around for her. Rainbow Dash was right, the place was filled with family actively as they waited patiently for the train. For all she knew, Dinky could be anywhere, next to a stranger, or hiding inside a suitcase, or something.

She didn’t know. If only she didn’t let her jealousy blinded her from what mattered to her the most. She backed away from Rainbow and covered her face as she sobbed into her hooves. Her cries were muffled, but somehow through the chatter from the ponies, Dash had heard it.

“Hey, hey we’ll find her okay?” Rainbow Dash said, rubbing Derpy’s back. “It’s going to be okay.”

Derpy looked up at Rainbow. The sight of the tears running down her face and the sobs that Derpy couldn’t contain truly brought pain in Dash’s heart. With a word or heating, Rainbow Dash hugged the mailare and nuzzled her face.

Derpy didn’t hesitate to return the embrace. “I’m so sorry.”

Rainbow Dash chuckled a bit. “For what?”

“This is all my fault. I lost her because of my stupidity!”

Rainbow Dash pulled away and frowned. “No, you’ve lost her because Dinky ran away. Every foal does that, don’t beat yourself over it. I’m sure she’ll come back.”

Derpy sighed and nodded. “Okay.” She heard somepony trotting behind her and turned around to see the stallion before, but this time he wasn’t alone. Her heart skipped beat when Dinky was holding onto his foreleg as he guided her through the crowd.

As the stallion in the uniform gotten closer with Dinky along side him, Derpy couldn’t contain her emotions any longer.“Dinky!” Derpy flapped her wings and swooped in for a hug. She squeezed the filly tight, ignoring the whimpering from the filly. Oh, how she missed holding her daughter in her forelegs again.

Never will she let go.

“Oh thank Celestia, I found you!” Derpy said, swinging the filly around as she hugged her. “I thought you were taken from me. I was so scared!”

“Yeah, okay, Mom, but you’re crushing me!” Dinky pushed her mother’s off. “Leave me alone!”

“Dinky, I’m sorry.”

“That’s what you always say. I don’t believe you anymore!” Dinky huffed and turned away.

Derpy’s ears flatten to her head and her head lowered. Watching the two fight brought a frown upon Rainbow Dash’s face. She walked up to the filly and whipped her around with a hoof. “Kid, listen. Whatever you’re going through your mom gotta end. You scared her half death looking for you.”

“But Rainbow Dash, she’s always lying to me and treating me like a kid!” Dinky shouted, pouting.

Rainbow Dash rubbed her neck.“Yeah that’s because she cares about you and I’m sure she has a pretty good reason for lying to you.”

“What? How she’s jealous over you made her all mean towards me!”

Rainbow Dash frowned and turned to the mailmare. “What is she talking about?”

“I….I…” tears build up in the mare’s eyes, her lips quivered when she spoke. “I’m sorry.”

“Derpy, what’s going on?”

“I feel like such a jerk.” Derpy said tears trailing from her eyes. “I’m jealous of you because you get some much praise and even my child start to look up to you more than me.” She rubbed her foreleg and looked down. “I’m so sorry, Rainbow Dash.”

“Listen, all because I kick flank and get medals doesn’t mean--well it does!” Rainbow Dash sighed. “What I’m saying is, there’s a hero in all of us. How you reacted to finding out Dinky went missing and how you ran outside, not caring about what ponies think of you, is a true hero.”

Derpy frowned. “You didn’t quote that from a Daring Doo book?”

Rainbow Dash eyes darted back and forth as Derpy glared at her. “No.” She smiled. “You’re a hero, Derpy Hooves. Whether you like it or not."

“Thanks.” Derpy fiddled with her hooves. “So you’re not mad at me?”

“No, I’m actually feeling great now that you boosted my ego more. Ouch!” Rainbow Dash rubbed her sore foreleg from Derpy punching it. “Just joking jeez!”

Derpy turned around when she heard giggling behind her. Dinky noticed her mistake and turned away with a ompf! Sighing, she lowered to the filly’s level and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Listen, Dinky I know you’re mad at me and you have every right to be. I… I wasn’t in my right mind,” she said, giggling nervously.

Her giggles faded as she continued. “But since you ran away, it scared me half to death. I’ve never been so scared in my life until I lost you and that’s when I realized you were the pony I needed most in my life. I woke up. I forgotten how important you are to me because I was jealous of Rainbow Dash.”

“Which is totally understable!” Rainbow called out from the background, earning a groan from the mailmare.

“You are the greatest pony to ever come into my life. You’ve made every day worth waking up to.”

Dinky turned around and looked to see her smiling even though tears stained her face. Her face became shaky as she tried to hold back the sob, but failed as she flung herself into her mother’s forelegs and sobbed into her coat.

With a hoof, Derpy brushed her daughter's mane while she used the other to hold her close. Even when the train came whistling into the air, neither of the Hooves broke the warm embrace, being swallowed into the crowd of ponies entering the train.

They broke the embrace and looked at Rainbow Dash who smiled warmly at the two. Derpy turned to Dinky and nudged her on the foreleg. “Tomorrow, how about we get some pancakes.”

“Why not today!” Dinky shouted. She saw Derpy pointed up and looked at the sky to see the sun setting above the hill. “Oh.”

“So are we cool?” Rainbow Dash asked, rubbing her neck and looking away.

“I should be asking you that.” Derpy said. “I’m the one who almost broke our friendship over jealously.” Her ears drooped down. “I don’t understand why you wanna be friends with a pony like me.” She waited for an response, hopefully one where Rainbow forgiven her, but all her ears heard was from the crowd.

She looked up in confusion and saw Rainbow Dash hold her hoof out. “Come on, don’t leave me hanging!”

Derpy looked at Dash’s hoof then back at her. “Does this mean….”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Come on, hoof bump me like friends are supposed to do.”

Derpy looked at Dinky who smiled and nodded at her to go on. She turned back to Rainbow and reached her hoof back then bumped it with Rainbow’s. Derpy waved her hoof around as Dash’s hoof felt hard like a rock.

Rainbow Dash and Dinky laughed while Derpy jumped around, flailing her hoof in the air like a monkey.

“Haycakes!” Mrs. Cake announced as she brought over two plates, making Derpy turn her eyes away from Dinky. Mrs. Cake placed the dishes in front of the two, along with a bottle of syrup and a pack of napkins. She looked up and uttered a “thank you” before Mrs. Cake walked over to the next customer in another booth. The place was filled with family happiness as the tables were filled with different types of families.

None of that mattered though, because Derpy was here with her daughter, talking and laughing, having a good time like a daughter and mom should. On a perfect day too as the sun shined bright outside with a cool breeze that could bring relaxation.

Even though her past actions haunted her at least she had time to make up for it. Dinky deserved better than what Derpy had given her. Derpy felt something tapping on her shoulder and turned around to see Dinky with a wide grin on her face.

“Hey, mom were you listening?”

Derpy sighed with a smile. “Sorry, I got distracted there. What were you talking about?”

“I’m leaving the Rainbow Dash club.” Dinky said before her mouth was stuffed with pancakes.

The folk dropped from Derpy’s hoof as the words struck her ears. “What!”

Dinky shrugged and smiled at her mother. “As much as cool Rainbow Dash is. She isn’t cooler than my mom.”

“Dinky, I hope you're not quitting because of my actions.” Her ears drooped down. “I wouldn’t feel right about that.” Dinky’s giggling surprised Derpy, prompting her to look up from the table.

“Mom, stop doubting yourself and learn to take a compliment?” Dinky asked with a grin.

“Awww, come here!” she leaned over and swooped Dinky into a hug.

“Ugh, why!” Dinky whimpered.

They laughed and enjoyed the fresh hay cakes. She smiled when Dinky’s eyes connected with her rose ones. For the time being, it felt like it was just the two of them alone in the shop. And that was the greatest feeling in the world.

They enjoyed the idle chat with each other it came to an end when ponies broke out in a cheer as they watched from out the window. Raising an eyebrow, Derpy and Dinky walked to the window and joined in watching from the window. The ponies broke out in a fit of cheer when they saw the six mares walking down the street, a gold medal dangling around their necks.

They watched them walk by the shop and even gotten a wave from them. Derpy saw Rainbow Dash walking beside Twilight Sparkle, ponies broke out in a fit of cheers as they smiled and waved to the public. In their eyes, they saw an unstoppable and fearless mare, a mare who was brave enough to fight an freak of nature. In Derpy’s, she saw a friend who wanted to protect her town.

As the ponies cheered them on, Derpy turned around as she saw Dinky standing amongst the ponies near the window. This time, Derpy did not care. She wrapped her foreleg around the filly and brought her in close before turning her eyes back to the outside.

Rainbow Dash paused in her glory to share a look with Derpy. Time seemed to slow down as they smiled at each other. When she blinked her eyes, Rainbow was gone, gone to receive another praise from Mayor Mare.

Derpy smiled and held up a toss for Rainbow Dash. Even though she had the mail bag sitting beside her and the mail cap on her head, she was a hero to the pony that mattered most to her.

Her number one fan, Dinky Hooves.

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed this tale. I had my doubts about it, but with the help of a few friends, I finished it. Any comments, positive or negative is welcome!

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