The Best Present She Could Ask For
The Best Present She Could Ask For
by theswimminbrony
A very eager Dinky Hooves sat on a worn-down sofa in the living room of her humble home, humming and bouncing up and down to a song that a pink pony had taught her the day before. Next to her rested an envelope, which was tightly sealed shut so that the card inside would not get messed up. Hastily scribbled on the front in messy mouthwriting were the words 'To Mommy.' Every few seconds or so, the young filly would take a break in her humming to peek at the staircase that led to the upstairs of her house. With each glance, she hoped to see a pony coming down the stairs; a pony that was very special to her.
Her mother.
This day, Dinky knew, was something that ponies called 'Mommy's Day.' It was a day where little fillies and colts all across Ponyville (and even Equestria!) celebrated everything their mommies did for them, like combing their manes to make them look nice and making them muffins.
When Miss Cheerilee had told Dinky about Mommy's Day, Dinky had become very excited to tell her mommy how much she loved her. She even told the class that she had the best mommy in all of Equestria, even though she was sure everypony knew that already. A few colts in the back must have agreed with her, since they smiled at her. Dinky laughed as she remembered some of the funny things they did with their eyes while they smiled.
Dinky's flashback was interrupted by the sound of hoofsteps slowly coming down the stairs, and the filly shot up in anticipation. Could it finally be her mommy, ready to receive her present?
Dinky gasped in excitement when her hopes were realized. There, trudging down the stairs, looking like she hadn't slept in a week, was the pony she had been waiting all morning long for. Her mane was messy and her eyes were a bit wonky again, but Dinky didn't care how she looked. She was her mommy, and Dinky was going to make sure that this was the best day of her life.
Dinky looked towards the envelope sitting next to her and attempted to levitate it using magic. If anything would make her mommy proud, she knew that would do it. Unfortunately, just like the hundreds of times before, the stubborn letter remained on the couch, refusing to respond to her efforts. Unfazed, the filly picked up the envelope in her mouth and hopped off of the couch.
The filly then pranced over to the path her mom appeared to be taking, and stood aside with the envelope still in her mouth, grinning widely. The elder mare, however, failed to notice her daughter and instead kept walking towards her destination, which appeared to be the porch, where the newspaper was waiting.
Dinky remained in place, patiently waiting for her mom to grab the paper like she did every morning. When the mare walked back inside, Dinky jumped right in front of her, looking at her mother with wide yellow eyes.
"Morning, muffin," the mare said groggily, walking around her daughter without acknowledging the gift she had in her mouth.
Dinky frowned slightly, disheartened that her mom hadn't noticed her present. She probably just didn't see it, she decided. Spirits still high, she followed her mom into the kitchen and waited by the table. She watched her mom as she made her morning coffee, knowing that she would see her letter this time.
Her mom was taking a bit longer than usual this morning to make her coffee. She kept shaking the machine and hitting it with her hooves until finally it made a weird noise and all the lights on it turned off.
Looking very grumpy, her mom turned around and trotted towards the table, where she had set the newspaper. Oddly, she didn't have any coffee with her this time.
Dinky heard her mom say a naughty word as she sat down at the table and opened the paper.
Ignoring what she had just heard (like a good little filly), Dinky placed the card that she had worked so hard on next to her mother and smiled widely, excited to see how much she would love the gift.
Finally noticing her daughter, her mom turned to her and spoke in the same tired voice. "You need something?" she asked.
Dinky frowned and shook her head, then pointed to the card she had placed on the table.
"We can play later, muffin," her mom said. "Mommy needs to read the paper now."
"But mom, I-"
"No buts, muffin. Mommy's very tired and she needs to read the paper."
Dinky nervously bit her lip before speaking again. She didn't want to upset her mom, but she really wanted her to read the card that seemed invisible to her.
"But-"
"NO BUTS!" her mom snapped, pointing a hoof in Dinky's face. Dinky noticed that her mom's eyes had gone all wonky again, and were moving around whenever she blinked.
Dinky froze in fear, hardly able to recognize the accusing mare that sat before her. Then Dinky felt something in her own eyes. A single tear leaked onto her face and streamed down her cheek, matting her fur along the way. This tear was followed by several others, each one hitting the floor quietly.
Her mom didn't notice, as she was absorbed in her newspaper.
Refusing to cry in front of her mom on her special day, Dinky ran off to her room upstairs, slammed the door, and let the wave of sadness overtake her as she buried her face in her pillow.
And then she started bawling.
-- -- --
Derpy Hooves was frustrated, to say the least. First was yesterday at the post office, then the coffee machine broke, and now her own daughter had to go and make her upset. To be fair, she shouldn't have snapped at her like that, but she couldn't help it. She was so tired from hardly getting any sleep last night.
What was it that Dinky wanted, anyways? It seemed like she wanted to play or something, but she wasn't entirely sure.
She sighed. Fillies could be a handful sometimes.
Then she noticed the red envelope out of the corner of her eye.
To Mommy, it read.
Derpy slowly lowered the newspaper onto the table and picked up the envelope, staring at it intently.
No...
A look of horror made its way onto the pegasus' face as she realized what she may have done. Hurriedly, she ripped open the envelope and pulled out a single piece of paper.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she read its message.
Dear Mommy,
You are the best.
I luv you alot.
The mufins you make me
Are nevver to hot.
You come my mane nice
So that it looks pritty
And I luv all the ways
That you act real sily. <----- Does that rime?
On this Mommy's Day
I hope you have fun
Runing and playing
With me in the sun.
HAPY MOMMY'S DAY MOMMY!! I LUV YOU!
Luv,
Dinky (Your little mufin)
XOXO
...
...Oh, Celestia.
...
...It's Mother's Day.
Dear sweet Celestia...
Derpy set the poem on the table, the paper now littered with her tear drops, and rested her head in her hooves.
What had she done?
Here her daughter had selflessly written her this poem...this beautiful, perfect poem...and she had just yelled at her and shoved her aside like a nuisance. It may have had spelling mistakes, and it may have been messy, but it was the most beautiful thing Derpy had ever read in her entire life.
"M...muffin?" she said weakly. She looked around the room for some sort of sign of her daughter, but she was nowhere to be seen.
"Muffin?" she called again, beginning to panic. She frantically searched the living room and the porch for her daughter, but to no avail.
There was only one place left to check. The distraught mare rushed up the stairs and down the hallway, where she was met with a closed door. Putting her ear to the door, she could hear a faint sobbing sound coming from the other side.
"Muffin?" she called once more, knocking softly on the door. "Are you in there? It's me, mo-"
"Go away!" a muffled voice spoke, voice cracking. "Leave me alone!"
Derpy sighed. "Please, muffin? I need to talk to you."
There was a long silence.
Finally, Dinky spoke up from inside her room. "It's unlocked."
Quietly, Derpy opened the door and walked into her daughter's room, which was messy in every sense of the word. Books and pillows were strewn about everywhere, and candy wrappers littered the floor, some still containing their prizes.
The pegasus carefully stepped around the debris on the floor and made her way over to the bed, where her daughter was sitting. Dinky was rubbing her eyes, which were red from crying, and she sniffled continuously.
The gray mare plopped herself onto the bed beside her daughter and brought her into a snug embrace in an attempt to calm her down. For several minutes, both mother and daughter alike sat in silence, cherishing every second of cuddling they had.
Finally, Dinky broke the embrace and stared deep into her mother's eyes, which were unusually normal. Each eye was focused directly on her and gave off a sense of comfort and love that was unparalleled in Dinky's mind.
"I...I'm sorry, mommy," Dinky began.
Derpy's eyes widened in shock. "No. Don't ever say that," she instructed. "Don't ever say that. You're not the one that should be sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. I know how much loud noises scare you."
"They don't scare me!" the filly protested. "They just startle me, is all..."
The pegasus gave a warm smile to her daughter. "I read your poem," she said.
Dinky gasped in excitement. "Did you really?!" she squealed. "Did you like it? I tried so hard to make it as good as I could!"
Derpy laughed. Sometimes, her daughter could just be too adorable. "I loved it," she replied honestly. "It was the best poem I've ever read."
"Did that one line rhyme?" Dinky asked. "I think it did, but I wasn't sure..."
"Yes, muffin. It was perfect."
"And how was my spelling? Miss Cheerliee said it was really improving..."
"It definitely is."
There was another long silence as both ponies attempted to take in every aspect of the moment.
"Mommy?" Dinky finally asked.
"Yes, muffin?"
"Why do you call me that?"
"Call you what?"
"Muffin."
"Because I love muffins," Derpy stated. "And I love you."
There were a few seconds of silence before both ponies burst out laughing, Dinky giggling with glee and Derpy chuckling uncontrollably. When the laughter finally died down, Dinky quickly hugged her mother again before asking her next question.
"Why didn't you sleep any last night, mommy?"
Derpy smiled nervously before responding. "What do you mean, muffin? I slept plenty."
"No you didn't. I heard you get up lots of times during the night."
Derpy sighed. Dinky had called her bluff. "Mommy's just had a lot on her mind lately."
"Like what?"
"I don't think you're old enough to understand just yet."
Dinky scowled at her mother. "What are you talking about? I'm seven years old! I'm barely a filly anymore!"
"Yes, I know," Derpy replied, trying to calm down Dinky. "But this is grown-up stuff. You wouldn't-" She stopped talking when she saw the look on her daughter's face. It was a look of hope, a look that screamed 'please' a thousand times over.
She sighed once more. "Alright, muffin, I suppose you're old enough. A couple of ponies from the post office got mad at mommy yesterday because she lost a very important letter."
"So?" Dinky interrupted. "It's just a letter. You can always write it again."
Derpy laughed. "You're right, muffin. But not everypony is as nice as you are. You see, the ponies that got mad at mommy yelled at her a lot and-" she stopped, noticing how sad Dinky looked. She couldn't bear to tell her the whole truth, she just couldn't...
"Then what happened, mommy?" Dinky questioned.
"Well, muffin...the ponies at the post office think that it might be best if mommy took a little break from delivering letters for a while and did some other things instead."
"Well, that isn't so bad! Now we'll get to spend all day together!" Dinky rejoiced. "Right?"
Derpy smiled at Dinky's naivety. "Well, you still have school, muffin...but yes, we'll get to spend a lot of time together."
"Hooray!" Dinky squealed. "It's gonna be so much fun, mommy!" She awaited a reply, but Derpy was too busy staring off into space. "Mommy?"
Derpy snapped back to reality. "Oh. Sorry, muffin," she apologized. "I was just thinking again, is all."
Dinky had a worried look on her face again. "Your eyes are all silly again, mommy."
"Are they?" the pegasus asked. "I hadn't noticed." What she did notice, however, was that Dinky was staring deep into her eyes like the curious foal she was.
"Mommy?" she asked again, hypnotized by her mother's bright yellow eyes.
"Yes, muffin?" She knew what was coming this time.
"Why do your eyes get all silly like that, anyway?"
Derpy smiled. She had spent years preparing a response to this particular question so she would know exactly what to say when the time came.
"Well, you see, muffin, this eye-" she pointed to her left eye. "-is for me to watch the world and everything going on around me."
Dinky cocked her head. "Then what's the other one for?"
"This one-" she pointed to her right eye this time. "-is for me to watch you wherever you go."
Dinky's eyes widened. "Wherever I go?"
"Wherever you go," Derpy repeated.
Dinky rubbed her chin with her hoof, pondering the idea. Then, she gasped as if she had stumbled upon buried treasure. "Do you have superpowers, mommy?"
This response caught Derpy off guard, and she found herself laughing once more.
"No, mommy doesn't have superpowers," she responded, trying to hold in her elation.
"Aw, shucks," Dinky responded, kicking at the air. "I was hopin' that if you did, then maybe I'd get them, too."
Then the floodgates broke open and Derpy's laughter filled the air. It wasn't long before Dinky joined in, unable to control her joy any longer.
"You're silly, mommy!" Dinky managed to say between laughs.
"I know I *hic*"
Both ponies stopped laughing.
*hic*
"Mommy's got the hiccups!" Dinky exclaimed, then proceeded to return to rolling on the bed in laughter again.
"Oh, think it's *hic* funny, do *hic* you?" Derpy said, closing in on her daughter.
"I think it's hilarious!" Dinky replied.
"Well, you know what's *hic* funnier?"
"What?"
"A *hic* visit from the TICKLE MONSTER!" Derpy shouted. She then proceeded to poke her daughter all over her body, causing her to go into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.
"Mommy, stop! My sides hurt!" Dinky said. Derpy was barely able to understand what her daughter had said between all the laughing and hiccuping, but she ceased the barrage of playful jabs nevertheless.
Exhausted, both mother and daughter alike lay on the bed, breathing heavily, reveling in the delightful turn the day had taken for the both of them. Derpy could care less what the ponies at the post office had to say. This was her real job.
When both ponies finally had enough energy to move, Dinky immediately hugged her mother as tight as she could and closed her eyes.
"Happy Mommy's Day, mommy. I love you."
"I love you too, muffin."
Derpy returned the embrace as a lone tear rolled down her cheek. Whether it was from laughing or from happiness, she didn't know. And she didn't care either. She had the only thing that mattered to her in the whole world right here. Dinky didn't know it, but she gave her the best Mother's Day present she could have asked for seven years ago when she came into this world.
Derpy smiled as she noticed Dinky had fallen asleep, her angelic face stuck in a smile.
Derpy closed her eyes as one of the best moments of her life came to a close, knowing there would be many more like this in the years to follow.
She could get used to this, she decided. Completely blissful for the first time in a long time, the long awaited feeling of sleep took over the mare as she joined her daughter in the land of dreams.
The End