Dinky Hooves awoke from unconsciousness, a rhythmic, high pitched beeping rousing the little filly. The incessant noise pounded its way into her ears, almost forcing her to cover them with her hooves. Her entire body was aching, the constant soreness keeping her body still. Short spasms of pain erupted every time she tried to move. Even if her body wasn’t aching, she was too tired to move at all. ‘Okay,’ she slowly thought, ‘where am I?’ She took in information as best as she could about her surroundings from where she lay.
‘...Okay... I’m in a bed... Beeping... Body aching... Bright Light... Beeping... Is that... a wire running across my hoof? No, wires... A lot of them... Constant beeping... What’s this weighing down my leg? What is that smell? Salty, metallic, almost like iron... What is that constant beeping?!’
Her eyelids slowly parted. The golden- brown orbs that were previously covered were now exposed to the bright white hospital light above her. Her completely dilated pupils burned as they were assaulted by the sudden glow. She snapped them shut again, but her quick glimpse told her exactly where she was. She was in Ponyville Hospital, her small room belonging to the intensive care unit.
A heavy cast covered her single broken leg, weighing it down and making a noticeable dip on the bed. There were variously colored wires strewn about, entangling her in an electric web. A single hose was inserted to each fetlock, in one a clear liquid and in the other a bright, rich red. Several of the wires ran to a machine, a thin green line forming on the screen with random spikes appearing whenever the machine beeped.
Dinky perked her ears up, both of them detecting the sounds of two mares talking off in the distance. One of them sounded familiar, although the tired filly couldn’t quite put her hoof on where it was from. The other sounded completely foreign. She changed the general direction of her ears to the voices to listen better, mentally shutting out the beeping sound.
“...condition is worse that it seems.”
“What do you mean, nurse?”
“You may want to sit down for this, Mrs. Hooves.” A short pause. “Your daughter’s horn has completely snapped off.”
“I know, she won’t be able to do magic for the rest of her life. You already told me that.”
“No, it’s more complicated than that.” Another pause.
“...What do you mean?”
A slow inhale. “It’s slowly killing her. She’s growing weaker by the minute. We didn’t think that the... injury... would take its toll at this rate, but we think it’s worse than it looked like at first. She probably won’t survive it.” A longer pause, this time longer than the previous two combined.
“Isn’t there anything you can do?” Her voice became faster and more frantic as she continued. “Can’t you like, glue it back on or something? Reattach it? Will that save her? Even if it still wouldn’t let her use magic?”
“I’m sorry, but it doesn’t work that way. Her horn is too badly damaged to attempt to try to graft it back on. Even if we could do it, we never did recover all of the pieces from the accident site.” A short pause, this time to take in a much-needed breath. “We also only specialize in physical trauma, not magical.”
Soft sobbing started sounding from the hallway, followed by the voice of its source.
“...How long does she have?” The voice was unsteady, shaking due to the massive burden placed on its shoulders.
“We can only guess, but she probably has until two days from now. She’ll be ready to leave the hospital tomorrow morning once the blood transfusion starts taking effect. It’s a bit early, but there’s a unicorn near the center of town who might be able to help you. Here’s her address.” A ruffling of papers came from the hallway.
Dinky’s ears relaxed again, pointing in their normal direction. ‘Two days...’ she thought, frightened out of her mind due to her upcoming demise. She began to fall back asleep while one last thought popped into her head. ‘Two days is all that’s left of me.’
Derpy sat next to her the single hospital bed that belonged for the time being to her daughter. She studied the features that distinguished her from other fillies, her eyes examining the tiny details with scrutiny. The pegasus noted her daughter’s beautiful pale purple coat, still ruined by the blood stains from the earlier accident. Her golden mane and tail fared a little better than the rest of her hair, although they were still tangled and knotted. Even the normally stout, rounded off horn above her forehead was now only a stub, partly hidden from view by the filly’s blood-stained mane. ‘Oh Dinky,’ the mailmare thought, ‘just what happened to you?’ She stared sadly into the little filly’s eyes and began to-
Wait, her eyes?
“Dinky! You’re awake!” Derpy excitedly yelled while engulfing her daughter in a huge hug. The weak filly could do nothing as she was almost strangled to death by the hooves of her own mother. ‘Oh thank dear Celestia you’re awake.’
“Yes,” The exhausted pony choked up, the combination of the giant embrace and her weakness disallowing her to say anything else. She barely managed to wrap her own aching hooves around the mare, returning the loving gesture the only way she was physically capable of. The heartfelt moment seemed to last forever as mother embraced daughter, finally reunited after a disaster of unimaginable proportions. They finally unwound their intertwined bodies and stared back at each other, just like the night before. The pegasus took a deep breath, knowing what exactly she needed to say.
“Dinky?”
“Hmm?” the weak pony responded.
Derpy once again wrapped her front legs around her daughter, a little more gently this time. She leaned in close to the filly, brushing her face up against Dinky as she placed her mouth next to her ear.
“Everything will be okay,” she whispered. Her eyes began to water, the tightly retained torrent of tears starting to get loose as she continued. “I promise. Tomorrow you’re going to be feeling better, and I’ll take you somewhere to help you heal,” she said, not wanting to let Dinky know exactly why they were leaving the hospital early. ‘Please don’t die before then,’ her mind added, causing even more tears to well up in her eyes. For a long time they sat still, their bodies still embracing one another. Derpy’s body warmed Dinky’s, the little filly’s body cold from blood loss.
“Mommy?”
“Yes?” she asked, happy to be so close to her only sunshine.
“I can’t breathe.”
Derpy quickly stood back off, just now realizing how much weight she had been putting on the tiny unicorn. Dinky weakly smiled back at her mother, glad to finally regain her ability to respire. She still loved, and always will love her mother, despite the fact that she had nearly suffocated twice already thanks to her. She took in a slow, unsteady breath, preparing to speak.
“Can you sing me the song?”
‘The song,’ Derpy thought, secretly surprised at the filly’s choice of words. It had always been a song to the mother. Derpy could have chosen any song she wanted over the years, but she had chosen the same one just to stay consistent. To Derpy it was always just a plain lullaby, to Dinky, it was never just a song. It had always been special, a song through which the inseparable pair shared a special connection.
Derpy cleared her throat before singing, as always. This time she did not ask her daughter to clarify exactly which song to sing, breaking tradition. Dinky’s choice of words had already broken the unspoken ritual, and as such Derpy didn’t have to continue following it.
“You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine...”
Derpy Hooves flapped her wings effortlessly as she pulled a magical flying chariot over ponyville, a sleeping young filly in tow. The child slept soundly, somehow staying secured in the soaring cart as it floated parallel to the ground. The pegasus and cargo headed towards the center of town, where a certain unicorn librarian lived in a tree.
The pair of ponies hit the ground with a crash, Derpy’s lack of depth perception causing her to misjudge the distance until touchdown. The sudden jolt awoke the snoring pony, her surprise evident in her bugged- out eyes.
“Oops! My bad!” said the pegasus, a sorry look on her face as she looked behind her to look at the passenger.
“Where are we?” asked the filly slowly, sleepily rubbing her eyes to get the crust off.
“We’re at the ponyville library,” responded Derpy quietly, concerned about Dinky’s worsening condition. “We’re here to make you better.” ‘Hopefully.’
The unicorn shot her mother a confused look as she attempted to climb out of the cart, failing due to her current height and strength. She hung over the edge of the basket, swinging her forelegs to signal that she needed help. Her mother quickly rushed over to assist, setting the exhausted pony down on the dirt before heading for the door. The filly stumbled after the pegasus, barely able to walk.
Derpy knocked on the door. ‘Please, please dear Celestia help us,’ she thought. ‘I don’t know what we’ll do if Twilight can’t help us.’ She waited a couple of moments, but no response came. She tried again, this time with no more luck than the last. It was on the third attempt that she finally noticed a sign on the door that read ‘Welcome to Ponyville library! Always open during business hours!’ and listed the operating times of the establishment. She turned the doorknob, and to her amazement the door swung open. “I knew that!” she said to Dinky, embarrassed at her recent mistake. She walked into the library, with Dinky close behind.
“Why doesn’t anypony just read the sign?” mumbled Spike from the top of a ladder. “I was just about to come down and do it myself.” He turned towards the new guests standing in the entrance to the usually unfrequented building. “Welcome to Ponyville Library! How may I help you today?”
“Hello! We’re looking for a pony named Twilight Sparkle. Is she here?” asked Derpy Hooves.
“Sure! She’s just out on the balcony reading. Let me go get her,” replied the reptile, never noticing the filly standing behind the pony he was talking to. He jumped down from the top of the ladder and hit the ground with a thud, skipping the rungs on the ladder to fetch his companion. He calmly strutted up a set of stairs at the back of the room, presumably leading to the outside balcony.
“Why do we need Twilight?” asked a very weak Dinky from behind her mother, starting to sit on the floor to conserve what was left of her energy.
“You’ll see,” replied the pegasus, trying to be confident that the unicorn would solve all their problems.
A very embarrassed Twilight Sparkle galloped as fast as she can towards the potential patrons. “Sorry! I’m so sorry to keep you waiting! I was just reading and I never heard the door open to meet you guys and-” Her sentence was cut short as soon as she took one look at Dinky.
“We need your help,” Derpy said with a concerned tone in her voice.
Twilight rushed down the stairs even faster than she would have if she hadn’t seen the filly, instinctively rushing to help. The little filly looked terrible, most of the hair on her body still blood-stained and knotted. The intelligent unicorn connected the rumors she had heard last night of the accident to the sight in front of her, already forming a mental list as to what needed to be done.
“Spike! Grab that table! Mrs... Hooves is it?”
“Miss Hooves.”
“...Right! Put your daughter on the table, please!”
The dragon and the pegasus swiftly did as instructed. The weak filly was gently placed on her side by her mother. Her exhaustion was evident as she was not able to roll onto her stomach by her own strength. Her mother assisted her, using her muzzle to gently roll the filly over.
Twilight settled herself down off to the side of Dinky, sitting down once she found a comfortable angle to work her magic. She closed her eyes and tilted her head forward, concentrating with all her might to summon the rarely- used spell she was about to perform. Slowly, her horn started to glow faintly. She concentrated even herder, and the dim glimmer became larger as it transformed into a full- on magical aura surrounding both the horn and the filly. Derpy stared on in admiration, mesmerized by the pure magical ability of the pony in front of her. ‘Oooo...’ her mind cooed, every single thought previously occupying it dissolving away. The sparkling purple haze drew her into itself, almost breaking Twilight’s concentration. After about an eternity and a day, the unicorn stopped, the aura surrounding the filly fading quickly as she stepped away.
Once Twilight stopped walking backwards, she took a deep breath to regain her lack of oxygen. She shook her head, her eyes still closed from the previous feat she had just performed. “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do,” the exhausted pony said.
Derpy hooves took a single stepped back, shocked by Twilight’s inability to help them. “Wha-? No, no! You have to! Please! Please!” she begged, laying on the floor before the unicorn out of desperation. Her eyes started to water, the floodgates to her tears about to fully open. ‘Please be able to help,’ the thought, not being able to say it without bursting out crying.
The older unicorn sighed, the dejected look on her face telling the pegasus more than words can muster. “No– no, I just can’t. Sorry.” She shook her head again, looking down to avoid the mother’s eyes. Suddenly, a thought popped into her hear. “Maybe Princess Celestia can help,” she said, perking her head and ears back up.
“Pr- Princess Celestia?” asked Derpy, surprised by the thought of meeting the all- powerful princess pony in person. “Wou– Would she even help me?” ‘Why me?’
“She would if I sent her a personal request,” said the unicorn smugly. “And besides, she’s the pony with the most magical power I know. She’ll be glad to save this little filly!”
“...Okay, if you really think so,” slowly responded Derpy, her confidence regained with the new opportunity to save Dinky.
“That’s settled then! Spike! Take a letter!”
“I dunno, Twi’. She doesn’t look like she’s going to make it that far,” said the dragon. He stood on his toes, trying to look at the limp pony on the night table.
“Nonsense! She’s fine, right?” she asked, looking at Derpy for support.
“I hope so,” the concerned mother responded. ‘Let’s hope she makes it.’
“Now then, are you ready, Spike” asked Twilight, looking at her faithful helper. Spike nodded, holding up a quill and piece of parchment. The unicorn cleared her throat before continuing. “Dear princess Celestia...”
The pony dictated her letter to Spike, who carefully wrote the note down. He stopped as he normally did, asking for spelling on long words or for alternate words to use. After it was all said and done, the Dragon rolled up the scroll and burned it with his breath, the letter quickly engulfed by the green flames. The ashes flew out and open window and up into the air, rolling up into a ball of fire and magic.
“Should I come with you to Canterlot?” asked Twilight, jumping on the opportunity to go back to her home town.
“Sure,” said the slightly nervous pegasus. “I’m not quite sure how to act around the princess, so having you there might make it easier for me.”
Twilight instantly lit up, her sadness from the sight in front of her offset by the fact that she was going to see the princess again. “Come on!” she called to Spike, already heading out the door. “We need to get the balloon filled up!”
Derpy walked up to the table that Dinky was resting on. Dinky was almost too tired to pick her head up as her mother spoke to her.
“How are you doing?”
“Not too good,” faintly replied the frail filly. “I feel like I’m about to throw up.”
Derpy helped her daughter down from the table, making sure she was completely on her hooves before setting her full weight down. The filly wavered a bit before standing straight, albeit a bit wobbly. The pony pair slowly walked towards the door of the library, Derpy in front and her daughter following close behind. Suddenly, Dinky stumbled over to her right, falling over to the floor. The pegasus stopped and turned around, walking over to the filly to offer help.
Derpy nudged her daughter with her muzzle, trying to get the filly to cooperate. No response came from the pony on the ground. “Come on, Dinky,” she said. “We need to go.” She tried again, a little harder this time. “Come on. Twilight’s going to be waiting on us.” Still no response came. “Dinky?” She shook the filly with her hoof, trying to get a reaction.
‘Oh dear Celestia, no.’