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Bring A Parent Day2,297 words
Regrets Of A Time Long Since Gone1,287 words
Mysteries Solved1,124 words

Bring A Parent Day

“C’mon Mum, we’re gonna be late!” Dinky groaned impatiently, watching her mother franticly try to prepare herself.

Ditzy just laughed. “Oh Dinky, I'm sorry, just one more minute?” With a loud sigh, Dinky levitated a muffin over to her and trotted over to the couch. Ditzy tried to manage a smile as she continued to brush her mane.

I hope I look well enough for the class, I should have remembered and woke up earlier! Ditzy sighed, fixing the stubborn mane. The faint memories the night before came to mind. She remembered Dinky saying something about her having to come to school with her, but she was far too tired at the time to understand.

She looked in the mirror and groaned, surrendering to the uncooperative hair. “Okay Dinky, are you ready?”

“Sure have Mum!”

“Good girl. Let’s go!” And with that, the two ponies headed off towards the school. The town was busy with life as usual, ponies crowded the streets and only slowed the two down. Dinky looked up at her mother and frowned. Ditzy thought of how easy it would be to simply fly over the bustle of life, but remembered her wingless daughter, sending a pang throughout her heart.

“I told you we were going to be late.” Dinky sighed, letting her gaze drop to the ground. Her young mind was troubled with the worry of being late to school.

“I'm sorry Dinky, but I'm sure Cheerilee will understand.” Ditzy frowned slightly as she looked past the crowd of ponies. The schoolyard was baren, apart from the few ponies passing by. Ditzy sighed again, hoping her words to stay true, and eventually the two closed the gap to the school and entered the building.

The room was alive with idle chatting and laughter. Ditzy was thankful they didn't decide to continue on without them, and with that thought, she caught Cheerilee's eyes widen as she saw the small family.

“Oh hi you two! I’m so glad that you finally made it Derpy… Er... I mean...” Cheerilee blushed as she realised what she had just said. Ditzy smiled, not letting the word bother her in the slightest. She had grown fond of the nickname.

“It’s alright Cheerilee, honestly, words are just words, and I’ve actually grown to like that name. Derpy Hooves... It’s got a ring to it, don’t you think?” The mare grinned widely, reassuring Cheerilee.

“Of course it does dear! It’s an absolutely fabulous name!” Ditzy smiled, happy to leave the mare in high spirits, but as she turned around she glanced over an elegant white unicorn, with three elegant diamonds for a cutie mark.

“Oh, hello there Rarity! Are you here with Sweetie Belle?” Ditzy asked, looking down to see her own proud filly beaming a smile back up to her.

“Of course I am dear! Mother and Father are awfully busy this week, so I’m filling in for them. How have you been darling? It's been so long since we've had a proper chance to talk.” Rarity smiled back at the happy pony, and in fact, everypony seemed to be smiling. Nopony really had to have an excuse to be happy on such a fine day.

“It has, hasn’t it? Dinky, why don’t you run along and play with Sweetie Belle for a while?” Ditzy smiled widely at the filly, whom returned the same generous cheer.

“Alright.” Dinky casually trotted over to the three fillies, infamous for their determination for their cutie marks. Rarity and Ditzy carried on with their honest and mundane conversation until Cheerilee quieted everypony down. Cheerilee beamed her usual smile and stood behind her desk.

“Now that everypony has arrived, I see no reason to delay any further. I believe that Dinky’s mother, Ditzy will be the first parent to speak to you all.” Cheerilee anouced as she sat down in her chair.

She had forgotten that it was her turn to present first. Nervously, Ditzy approached the front of the classroom where the many curious eyes fell upon her, not easing her nervousness in any way. Ditzy hadn't even the slightest clue what she would talk about. Almost everypony in town knew who she was, and what she did.

“Hello everypony, I’m Ditzy Doo, mother of Dinky Doo, and... I’m everypony’s mail mare, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve seen me before. I honestly don't know what else to tell everypony, I'm just as normal as everypony in this room.” She smiled proudly, finding the words far easier than she had feared. Ditzy even believed that with that, she would be done, but before she could take a single step away, a familiar, and just as annoying voice filled the otherwise quiet room.

“Normal? What kind of pony considers a clumsy and useless mare like you normal? Just look at her eyes!” Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon erupted in laughter. Everypony else just glared at them intently . Everypony, except Ditzy.

“I admit, I can be clumsy at times, but I honestly try my best, flying is a bit... Harder for than most, and my eyes used to be just as normal as your own Silver Spoon. I even...” She trailed off into obscurity. Everyone had a look of surprise on their face as the words escaped her trailing thoughts.

“Whaddya mean they weren’t always like that?” Applebloom asked, announcing the question on everypony's mind.

Oh dear, I shouldn’t have said that... Ditzy looked about the room, all eyes were now locked on here if they weren't before. The attention worried her slightly. I suppose I knew the day would come...

“Hehe… Well, it’s a long story, and I’m sure we don’t have time for it, right Cheerilee?” She glanced over to Cheerilee, expecting a quick shake of her head, but was instead smiling vibrantly as her usual self.

“Oh, take all the time you need! I’d love to hear this story of yours. I think everypony would, right?” A loud shout of agreement could be heard around the room from parents and children alike.

“Well… I guess I could tell you.” Ditzy sighed, holding a smile, yet the very thought of the tale tightened her throat while the class erupted in cheers. Ditzy didn't let their odd curiosity upset her as she began to recollect the old, yet very clear memories.

"About eleven years ago, I called Canterlot home. I was the mail mare there as well, so I my duty was to drop off letters, postcards, you name it, to everypony in the city. I was even blessed with a few rare occasions where I delivered mail to Princess Celestia herself!" Ditzy's smile brightened, if that was even possible, when she saw the eyes light up across the room.

"I met every famous pony across Equestria, but there was one pony who stood out. A Pegasus named Soarin. You may know him now from the Wonderbolts."

Ditzy couldn't help but notice as Rainbow Dash's eyes grew wide in a twist of excitement and disbelief.

"Soarin was just a young colt at the time, trying his very best to impress the best of the best. The day I gave that letter to him... The day his eyes lit up so brightly that it almost made me cry..."

"Wooooooow!" The symphony filled the room.

"Yes, with his initiation into the Wonderbolts I became good friends with Spitfire, Cloud Chaser, Misty, and every other member, but I didn't feel that same connection with any other pony as I did with Soarin. Soarin held a special place in my heart, even if I didn't know it at the time." Ditzy paused, looking down at the floor, trying to form the words. "I still love him to this day."

Cheerilee could swear that she saw a tear roll under Ditzy’s eye. The mare could see the pain in her words that were expertly disguised behind her cheerful smile. As curious as she was, she held her tongue, and let Ditzy continue uninterrupted.

"I... I don't remember when we officially became a pair, but I do know that we shared a bond so blatantly obvious, we didn't even need to remind ourselves that we loved each other." Ditzy's eyes lowered yet again. The memories were climbing to a point that she didn't want to remember, but it was something she had lived with for the longest time. What harm could come from sharing her story?

"Soarin and I," Ditzy continued, "We never left each other's side when we were together, but when we were separated because of work it always felt like another eternity we had to endure to be together again. We spent every moment of our free time together, and even to the point..." She stopped, fighting her tightening throat as it gripped her voice by each passing second.

"Well, there was a challenge, an odd one but it was out of the spirit of fun. I wanted to challenge the great Wonderbolt himself, and, had I known I'd regret that decision for the rest of my life, I never would have tried.

"It was a sunny afternoon, a peaceful, average day, and I remember looking into Soarin's eyes one last time before he said the words."

Ready, set... GO! Soarin's words echoed into her mind as she recalled the day. She blinked back tears and continued on.

"We launched ourselves into the clouds, testing the very threshold of our limits, and although I had spent the majority of my life in the air, I never truly had to race mail to anyone, this race was my very first test of speed, and one I did not want to give up easily. I wanted Soarin to see my determination and appreciation for his work, even... Even if it killed me..." Ditzy paused a final time before piecing the last bits of her story together. Her gaze had settled onto the floor, she hadn't the courage to lift it since her throat had tried to stop her from finishing the story.

"I couldn't keep up. I tried and tried, but Soarin was just too much for me to keep a pace with, and before I had known what I had gotten myself into, my wings failed. They fell limp and with the horrible realization that I would plumet that far from the sky, I didn't expect to live.

"I was so scared I think I passed out right there, otherwise the shock from the fall simply left me unconscious, because the next thing I could remember was the beeping of respirators and heart monitors. There were plenty of voices, but they filled my head all too quickly and all at once, but one voice stood out, and never left me.

"That is, until the time became too much to bear, and the voices stopped all together. I honestly thought it was the end, but with the grace of a miracle, I was given an option. Normal medication couldn't fix me and I was running out of time. The injuries were far too serious to repair on its own, so they resorted to a series of magical treatments. While the voice's sounded happy, and proud of my success, I could hear the worry in their work, and I soon found out why.

"The healing worked almost... too effectively, and the fractured bone structure in my wings joined at incorrect places, making them what they are today... They also said, the fall left me with a... permanent... concussion. Something they just didn't know how to mend." Ditzy couldn't ignore the dripping tears at this point, they covered her face and she tried desperately to hold back her sobs as she finished her heart wrenching story.

"I found that after they released me, I was kept in the hospital of this very town and with my injuries, I wouldn't be able to fly the same way again, and that meant I would never be able to find that colt who disappeared from my life after the accident..."

She didn't bother proving her ailments as she had a hard enough time speaking at the point, she simply couldn't press on and resorted to standing silently before the class they could only soak in her painful words.

"So, that's why I'm an awful flyer, and my eyes aren't quite normal. I apologize for any of the trouble it may have caused you, but I honestly can't do anything about it..."

Ditzy lifted her gaze, which was somewhat cleared of the troublesome tears, only to find every other pony's set of eyes welled up with, or already strained with tears.

"What... What happened to Soarin?" Sweetie Belle asked behind a throat clenched just as Ditzy's had been.

Ditzy flinched, not expecting the words, and she could only answer the honest question with an honest answer.

"I don't know..." The truth burned her throat, and only caused more tears to stray down her already tear soaked face.

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Soarin looked towards knock on his door. His brow raised curiously, he certainly wasn't expecting anyone, especially at this time of the day.

"Coming!" He called out, scrambling to push open the door. "Yes?" He asked before noticing who it even was, and found himself staring face to face with a furious rainbow-maned Pegasus.

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Authors Note: Well, I'm happy about the reception that this has, even when it was a one-shot. Now, I've turned this into a multi-chapter story now, so this chapter you are now reading i the edited version. It's much better, and I have my editor Charcoal Sketch to thank for it. Charcoal, you are the best bro!

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