It was Hearth’s Warming Eve, and Big Mac had told his family he would be spending it with Ditzy and Dinky. Apple Bloom had nearly thrown a fit, because Big Mac wouldn’t be home and she wasn’t allowed to go as well. She’d argued with him it that it was the perfect time for them to get their cutie marks in caroling.

Neither Cheerilee nor Caramel had family in town, so they’d joined them for the night too.

Big Mac looked around the small, cosy cottage with pride.  When he’d first come here, the home was run down from years of neglect by the landlord, Greedy Gus. Ditzy had said they were able to cope, but he wasn’t particularly convinced. He’d insisted on helping out around the house with the repairs.

And now he sat in the lounge, with a cider in hoof, talking with Caramel. Cheerilee and Ditzy were in the kitchen, talking over a few glasses of wine. Dinky was resting by the fire, playing with Miss Smarty Pants.

“Those roasted potatoes smell great, Ditz,” Caramel called out. “Cheerilee, you taking notes? Take a few lessons from Ditz, and you’ll have a stallion in no time!”

Ditzy laughed as Cheerilee went storming into the lounge.

“Now listen here, mister!” she scolded. “One. I can cook just fine. Two. I don’t need a stallion. Three. What’s to say my special somepony won’t cook for me?” She playfully punched him on the shoulder. “No wonder Sassaflash wanted to spend time with her family rather than you.” She poked out her tongue. “You should be taking notes from Big Mac. He did the carrots.”

“Got it,” Caramel saluted. “Avoid the carrots.”

Ditzy trotted into the room, smile on her face. “And Cheerilee did the sprouts.”

Caramel pretended to write something on a piece of paper. “Also. Avoid. Sprouts.”

He was rewarded with another swift punch in the arm.

“So,” Big Mac drawled. “Everypony ‘cept you has done something for dinner.” He turned to Cheerilee, “Why are we letting him eat again?”

Caramel stood up on his hind legs. “Mayhaps then I shall sing for my supper.”

“Nooooooooo,” a tiny voice called out from the kitchen.

Ditzy and Cheerilee giggled.

“If you really feel guilty,” Ditzy smiled, “then you can come and make the gravy while I make the yorkshires.”

“Nah,” Caramel smirked. “I don’t feel guilty. Cheerilee, did you want to get that for me then?”

Another punch in the shoulder.

“Alright, alright! I’m coming. Lead the way, Ditzy.”

Cheerilee, Ditzy and Caramel sat around the table. It was tight, the table normally only seated Ditzy and Dinky, and now, occasionally Big Mac. Dinky was seated at the small coffee table in the lounge, and Big Mac had offered to join her.

“So Sassy wants me to meet her parents, but her parents don’t want to leave Cloudsdale,” Caramel complained. “Truth be told, I think they just don’t want their daughter dating an earth pony.”

“That,” Cheerilee remarked, “or they’ve heard your singing.”

“Hey Ditz, how do your parents feel about you dating that old lug over there?” Caramel flicked his head in Big Mac’s direction.

Ditzy avoided his gaze.

“I, ummm,” she started, “haven’t seen them in a while.”

“Yeah, I guess it’d be hard getting Dinky up to see the grands without wings and all,” he smiled. “I guess if me and Sassy get hitched, we might be facing the same problem. Ooof. “ He held his sides and looked to Cheerilee. “What was that for?”

Cheerilee glowered at him.

Ditzy sat looking intently at her food. She didn’t like the topic of her parents, it was hard enough most of the time; but Hearth’s Warming Eve was always the hardest. She knew Caramel hadn’t known, else he wouldn’t have said anything.

The silence was broken by soft sobs. Ditzy turned around, looking for the source. She rushed to her daughter's side.

“S’my fault,” Dinky cried. “S’my fault they won’t talk to momma anymore.”

Ditzy wrapped her wings around her daughter. Dinky buried her face in her mothers mane.

“Shh, shh, shh,” she cooed. “It’s not your fault.”

Caramel and Cheerilee came into the living room.

“Yeah, it’s not like they can’t come and visit you here!” Caramel smiled, trying to cheer Dinky up. Cheerilee smacked a hoof to her head. He was well meaning, but by Celestia he could be dense.

Ditzy smiled wearily, and continued to hug Dinky.

“I haven’t seen my parents since before Dinky was born,” Ditzy explained. “They told me I had to make a choice.

“I chose her. They haven’t spoken to me since.” She pulled Dinky in closer. “But I don’t regret that choice. You are a very special pony, and I wouldn’t trade you for the world.”

After dinner, Big Mac rummaged around the saddlebags he’d left by the door. He pulled out a small present, wrapped in green paper with a white ribbon.

“Dinky,” he called. “Can you come here?”

Dinky moved from where she’d been sitting between her mother's legs. She eyed the present Big Mac held out with one hoof.

“For me?” she asked.

“Eeyup,” he smiled. “From me, and the whole Apple family.”

Dinky carefully unwrapped the small gift, and as she peeled the paper away, she looked. It was a very old, well worn book. Ditzy looked over her daughter's shoulder.

“Advanced Unicorn Magic,” Ditzy read from the cover. “Ooohh, you don’t have that one, do you?”

Dinky hugged the book too her chest. “Thank you, Big Mac.”

Big Mac moved forward, nudging her. “Open it to the front page.”

Dinky opened the book to the front page. There was something written in there, in very delicate script.

Dear Dinky Doo,

My good friends Applejack and Big Mac wrote to me, telling me that you were a very special young unicorn. They said you were very clever with magic, and that they wanted to get you something to help you learn.

This was my very first copy of Advanced Unicorn Magic, I hope it helps you in your studies as much as it helped me in mine.

I hope we can meet next time I am in Ponyville, I would very much like to see what you have learned.

Yours faithfully,

“Princess… Twilight Sparkle?” Dinky looked up at Big Mac in shock.

“Eeyup.”

Dinky very carefully put the book down, then wrapped her forearms around Big Mac’s neck. Big Mac stroked her mane.

“You are a very special pony,” he told her. “I can see it. Your ma can see it. And now, even a Princess can see it.”

After Caramel and Cheerilee had left, and Dinky had spent the evening reading her new book. Dinky fell asleep on the couch reading; Ditzy wrapped her tight in her favorite blanket. She grabbed a pillow from the bed and placed it gently under Dinky’s head.

“Sleep tight, my little muffin-crumb.”

Big Mac and Ditzy laid next to each other by the fire. Ditzy leaned against Big Mac, and he rested his head over her neck.

They didn’t talk when they were alone like this. They so very rarely had alone time, so they’d just sit there enjoying each others company. There weren’t need for words, there wasn’t a need to do anything; just enjoy each others’ company.

That is why Big Mac was surprised when Ditzy broke the silence.

“I guess you’d like to know about my parents?” she’d asked, with a sigh.

“Only if you want to tell me,” he nuzzled her, breathing in the smell of her mane.

“I… I think I do,” she nodded. “I haven’t talked about it with anyone.

“I was barely a mare when I fell pregnant with Dinky. I was attending Canterlot University; my father wanted me to follow him into business. I wasn’t very good, but he’d insisted I live up to the Doo name.

“I met another student, Jet Set. He was handsome and charming. I fell for him. We dated for a while, but I never really met many of his friends. He’d insisted we keep our relationship a secret.

“When I found out I was pregnant, I told him,” she started to sniffle. “He said he would come over right after class ended.

“I waited alone in my dorm all night; he never came. When I saw him the next day, he turned his head away and walked right past me.

“When I started showing, I went home. I tried to keep it from my parents but they found out. They told me I had to give the foal up for adoption.

“They couldn’t have their daughter an unwed mother,” she spat out. “How would that look to the neighbors?

“I didn’t want to give my child up. Maybe I was young, maybe I was foalish. But I couldn’t give her up. I could feel her kicking inside me. I would sing songs to her. He may not have loved me, but I loved her, even before she was born. I refused every time my parents mentioned adoption.

“It was Hearth’s Warming Eve, when they introduced me to some ‘friends’ of theirs. They were a young pegasus couple from Las Pegasus. They’d seemed really nice, very interested in me, and my studies. I should have seen what was happening, but I loved my parents, why would I have any reason to distrust them?

“It wasn’t until later in the evening, the young mare came up to me, that I realized what they had done. She had thanked me for what I was doing for them, they’d been trying to have foals for years, but couldn’t.

“They’d tried to organize the adoption behind me back,” Ditzy snarled, startling Big Mac. He’d never seen this gentle, kind mare angry before.

“I yelled at them. I told them it wasn’t their decision to make.

“That’s when Dad gave me the ultimatum. If I wanted to keep the child, it wouldn’t be under their roof.”

Ditzy started shaking violently. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Big Mac drew her in close. He couldn’t take this pain away, but he could listen.

“So I left. I took a transport back to Canterlot. I knew where Jet Set lived. He’d ignored me before, but maybe he would help now.”

“When I got there, he looked down on me with such contempt. His fiancé was there, and he didn’t want me around. She came to the door nose in the air. He told her I was a beggar, that he was trying to explain to me they’d already given to charity.

“She looked down at me, told me I should probably go to a shelter. Then he turned his back on me again and closed the door.

“I stayed in Canterlot long enough to give birth to Dinky. We’d had to stay in a homeless shelter for a few months. I sent a letter to my parents, telling them about the birth. It came back, return to sender.

“I managed to save a bit of money, working for a donut shop as a counter hand. The owner was nice enough to let me bring Dinky in to work with me. He was the one who suggested I come to Ponyville, for a fresh start.

“So that’s it. That’s why Dinky and I are alone,” she slumped, emotionally exhausted from the story. She’d been crying as she told the story. She hated that. It was so long ago, why should she still let them hurt her?

“You’re not alone. Not anymore,” Big Mac nuzzled Ditzy’s cheek. “You have me, and Cheerilee. And even though he’s a little daft and insensitive at times, you have Caramel. You also have Rarity, and my sister.”

“I know,” she smiled weakly, rubbing her cheek on his. “It’s just hard to believe. It’s only been a few months. Before that, I didn’t have anyone. We’ve been alone for so long.”

“Well, we’re here for you now.” He laid a gentle kiss on her cheek.

Ditzy awoke sore. She was on the floor near the fire, which was barely embers now. She placed a few more pieces of wood on the fire, hoping they’d burn through the rest of the night. She nudged Big Mac awake, and herded him to the bed. She was a little nervous; they’d not spent the night together in the same bed yet. They’d not been that close yet. She’d not spent the night with anyone in a long time, other than Dinky, but that was very different.

Big Mac barely woke, he moved on auto-pilot, following her gentle prodding. He climbed into the bed, and started snoring again before Ditzy had even climbed onto her side. She covered them both with a blanket, and cuddled into his warm back. Unicorns and earth ponies always seemed warmer than Pegasi.

Ditzy felt safe. Secure. Loved.

“Luna. Celestia. Cadence. Twilight. I don’t know if any of you are listening, but… thank you.”

Ditzy smiled, and drifted into a peaceful slumber.