The rain pounded against the rooftops, and Dinky Hooves pressed a hoof against the window, staring into the stormy skies, looking for any sign of her mother. She wasn’t too worried. Most pegasus ponies were built to tolerate storms that even earth ponies couldn’t face. But then again, her mother wasn’t most pegasus ponies. Her mother was the type to get hurt walking from the bathroom to the bedroom. Dinky couldn’t help but worry.

She breathed a sigh of relief as a soaked grey pegasus tumbled into the cottage, shaking water out of her mane like a dog.

“You’re home!” Dinky beamed, rushing to hug her mother, not caring that her own pelt was being soaked as well.

“I got a little lost,” her mother admitted, a small frown on her face.

“That doesn’t matter, you found your way back home,” Dinky beamed, nuzzling her mother’s neck. “Are you hungry?”

“Very,” Ditzy nodded, looking towards the kitchen. “I’ll make us some hayfries, how’s that sound?”

“We had hayfries last night. I made us a salad, with daisies and a hint of mint.” Dinky smiled as she levitated the bowls of salad she had prepared onto the table. “See? I even put in some carrots, since they’re your favourite.”

“You didn’t have to do all that. I’m supposed to take care of you, not the other way around...”

“I don’t mind. I like cooking. Maybe that’s what I’ll get my cutie mark in,” Dinky looked at her bare flank and shrugged. “Who knows?”

“Your dad always said he knew,” Ditzy sighed. “Before he left, when you were just a foal, he would talk about it for ages, how you were going to be so excited about your cutie mark. He never told me what it was though, so that I’d never tell you. He wanted you to find it yourself.”

“That’s probably for the best,” Dinky replied, levitating a mouthful of salad into the air and taking it carefully into her mouth. She regretted adding the mint, but the daisies and carrots were overpowering, covering the odd taste of the mint leaves.

“This is really good!” Ditzy smiled, spraying bits of half-chewed leaf everywhere. She started rushing to clean up, but Dinky levitated a rag over from the counter and wiped up the mess.

“I’m glad you like it,” the filly smiled, depositing the rag in a laundry bin they kept in the corner, beside the fridge. “Don’t worry about dishes, tonight. You should go clean up, the mud is starting to cake to your hooves,” Dinky indicated a trail of muddy hoofprints that stopped by her mother’s chair, and Ditzy looked down apologetically.

“I’ll clean that up,”

“I’ll take care of it, no problem. You need to clean up and get ready for tomorrow. You have to talk to my school about being a mail-pony, remember?” Dinky set to work clearing the bowls off the table and scrubbing them with soapy water from the sink. Ditzy nodded slowly, recognition lighting up her eyes.

“That’s right! To tell them why I love my job!”

“That’s right,” Dinky smiled, drying the bowls and placing them on the top shelf, beside their two remaining plates. The filly reminded herself to pick up more plates and bowls on her way home from school the next time her mother worked late. “Go clean up and get to bed, okay? I’ll be in to wake you up before we have to leave,”

“Alright, Dinky. Don’t forget to come say goodnight,”

“I won’t.” Dinky smiled. She waited to start on the floors until she heard the shower water running. The mud came off the floors easily, but Dinky still sighed when she was finished. Most foals were asleep by now, but she had to clean things up for the next day. She knew her mother would take care of it, but Dinky had learned long ago that her mom just couldn’t handle the same tasks as other ponies.

It wasn’t like her mom didn’t try. She just couldn’t function the same way. All the other ponies Ditzy’s age knew that it wasn’t the pegasus’s fault. Ditzy had been just like everypony else, back when she was a foal. It was no secret that Dinky’s grandfather had hurt Ditzy as she grew up. One too many blows to the head really rattled a pony’s brain. Ponyville made a lot of exceptions for Ditzy, even if they had stuck her with her terrible nickname.

Dinky didn’t have it so easy. It was hard enough being a blank-flank, but it was even harder being the blank-flank daughter of a young mother that was most commonly known as ‘Derpy Hooves’. Her mother didn’t have to take the taunts and teases. Nopony in Ponyville would ever insult Ditzy to her face. Dinky, however, was fair game.

“How’s your mommy, Dinky? Fly into any storm clouds lately?” or, “With a mom like yours, it’s no wonder you don’t have a cutie mark yet. You’re probably defective or something, having that for a mother.” plagued her daily. But Dinky didn’t mind. She knew her mother. She knew what her mother was like. Sure, she dropped a few things, and broke a few things, and got lost every now and again, but Ditzy was a pony just like everypony else in Ponyville.

The water shut off and Dinky heard her mother’s wings shaking off excess droplets of water before she heard the towel rack rattle against the bathroom’s tile surface.

“Oops!” Ditzy called as the towel rack rattled some more before silencing. Dinky tossed the rag she’d used to clean the muddy floors into the laundry bin and left the kitchen to meet her mom in their shared bedroom. Dinky had her own room, but when her father had left, Ditzy had been left alone, so Dinky had started sharing the room with her mother, to keep her company.

Ditzy was rolled up in her blanket when Dinky arrived to get into bed. She cuddled up beside her mother, facing her and extinguishing the light with her magic.

“What did I ever do to get so lucky?” Ditzy asked, stroking her daughter’s mane in the dark. “Most mothers complain about how rude their foals are, and I have the best little filly in all of Equestria, taking care of me when I should be taking care of her.”

Dinky kissed her mother’s nose and smiled. “You take care of me too. I just help you out. Now we gotta get some sleep. We’ve got an important day tomorrow, remember?”

“That’s right,” Ditzy smiled. “Goodnight, Dinky-Doo. I love you,”

“I love you too, Mom,” Dinky smiled, nuzzling into her mother’s chest. “I love you too.”

Author's Notes:

Story 2/31 (hopefully). This one is more of a family-centered one, and it isn't sad, surprisingly, coming from me.