//------------------------------// // Chapter Eight // Story: The Day My Life Continued // by Authora97 //------------------------------// It’s a known fact, in either world, that Sunday was Lilac and I’s day to be together. During the transition into Earth, Lilac would occasionally get a little culture shock. I started the tradition of Stardust Sunday (a working title) to help assimilate, and to help us stay close. Most days the two of us would watch Disney movies, ones Lilac liked or still hadn’t seen. After the Easter Sunday incident, Lilac had been hesitant to go to back church. Some idiot in her class told her that only demons could breath fire, and that Lilac was going to hell. That had been a fun day, especially when Mom and Dad got involved. Of course, at church, Dad explained everything to the congregation. I got so many ‘sorry for your loss’ texts that I nearly threw my phone at a wall. My next church visit had been met with a large crowd around me, and being singled out for prayer. For some, that sounded fun, but to an introvert with depression it was hell. Lilac wasn’t any better. The kids all kept telling her to breathe fire. It got to the point where she had to stay downstairs with me, or didn’t show at all. She liked Veggietales, at least. She would sing the songs for days after we watched one. So, that was our Sunday. Avoiding paparazzi, watching movies, and bonding. Lilac rushed into the house, throwing her sleepover gear beside the door. I was making myself a bowl of fruity oatmeal, barely paying attention to the clatter she made as she ran up to the table. It must have been a fun night, because she nearly bounced. I smiled as she dropped into a chair, instantly bringing out her new merpony coloring book. “Good morning Mom!” Lilac cheered, while coloring a merpony green. “Good morning, Lilac.” I said, taking a bite of the oatmeal. “How was the sleepover?” Lilac was ten years old now, but have only looked eight. Those Traveller genes were kicking in strong with her, and the dragon’s slow aging had to help. She rarely showed her new mental age, bouncing about like the seven year old everyone thought she was. My daughter kept coloring, not looking away from her masterpiece. It was certainly interesting, coloring a purple mane for a green merpony. “It was the best yet! We played Truth or Dare, and Apple Bloom dared Scootaloo to wear one of her bows!” I had to admit, the tomcolt Scootaloo wearing that pink bow was a funny sight. “Wow.” I snickered. “Please tell me you took pictures.” The purple dragon nodded. “That’s my girl.” I reached over, ruffling her head fin. She shook her head, putting the all back in place. I snorted at the Equestrian cartoon magic, and continued eating my food. “And Scootaloo made Apple Bloom do the bunny dance.” I winced, laughing. “With the costume?” “With the costume.” Lilac nodded, fighting a smile. “Oh.” I winced again, taking a bite of my oatmeal. “You girls are brutal when you want to be.” “Scootaloo wanted to see if those were our cutiemarks, but Sweetie Belle said we were all too nice.” Lilac explained. “And I wondered what a mean cutiemark would look like.” I nodded, wondering myself. It would probably look like Tracy’s face. We sat in a content silence for a few minutes, her coloring and me eating. The day was long, so we had plenty of time to do fun stuff. I wanted to show her the Rugrat movies, having finally found the old tapes (the cool orange ones) online. I hoped she would like them, especially the Rugrat/Thornberry crossover I bought. It was the 4-D one, complete with the smell key! We could head to the library after. Twilight and I needed to check my stats on her machine, see if they had mellowed over the week. Plus, Lilac would get to see Peewee. It was actually really funny. Lilac watched over that egg as if the fate of Equestria rested on it. I thought it was adorable (okay. It’s adorable now, back then I let her do anything as long as she stayed home) go see her make a nest for it. It was like looking at the baby photos of her when Raspberry had found her. She had taken the nest to Twilight’s library after hearing Twilight had some books on Phoenix care. She was all for taking care of him when he would hatch. Lilac and I were going over the booklet, when Spike called out to us. The Phoenix had hatched, forming attachments with Spike and Lilac. He named the Phoenix chick PeeWee, while Twilight and I stood in the back. I took pictures of the touching scene. Peewee stayed at the library from that point on, much to Lilac’s concern. That dragon mother instinct was nothing to laugh at. It made me nervous for if Lilac’s mother ever came around. I’d probably be roasted on the spot. Anyway, Lilac eventually agreed to Peewee’s new living arrangement, but only if she could come see him whenever she wanted. Twilight and Spike readily agreed to her teens. My daughter, a firm negotiator. I was so proud. After the library, I was thinking we could go to Sugarcube Corner. Bumblebee’s party was at six, and I had mixed feelings about going. A Pinkie Party was a Pinkie Party, especially her ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ (patent pending) parties. At the same time, I knew my friends would ask about how the date went. Of course, I would tell the truth. It was amazing. Bumblebee was a pretty cool pony, once I gave him the chance. I may be stubborn, but willing to admit I was wrong about him. He was smarter than I gave him credit for, as well as resourceful. He went to my friends on dating advice, something I occasionally laugh at on TV. It was really sweet in real life, plus stalker-ish. I looked at Lilac, seeing her color in a lobster. She knew I was out last night. I didn’t tell her it was a date, not really, but do I tell her now? I cared about her opinion on the matter. She was a big person in my life, and if she ended up not liking Bumblebee then I would cancel the next date. Well, I guess that settles the issue on the party. I finished my breakfast, using magic to send it into the sink. “I have the TV set up. We’re watching Rugrats movies, that okay?” My daughter nodded. “Sounds fun! But, Mom?” “Yes?” “What exactly is a Rugrat?” “That, my dear daughter, is why we’re watching them.” “Look sharp it’s a jungle out here.” Lilac sang, sitting on my back. I bobbed my head with the song, getting into the song. “We’ve got a job to do and we’re heading up there!” I hummed the music, including the drum beats. “Oh-wee, it’s a jungle out here!” The two of us finished just as we reached the door to the library. Lilac giggled at the song, having enjoyed it the most after the movie marathon. Using my magic, I opened the door. Not long after it opened there was a loud screech. “Peewee!” Lilac cheered. She hopped off my back, dashing into the library. I snickered, hearing a comedic cartoon crash follow. In the middle of the library, Lilac was cuddling with the baby phoenix. She cooed at the small bird. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in weeks!” My smirk faltered a bit, realizing it had been weeks. Almost a month had passed since Lilac had seen her pseudo-child. Then, I was again reminded I was technically a grandmother. Oh, my life is never dull. The bird chirped, rubbing his beak on Lilac’s cheek. Twilight walked into the main room, her head tilting at the adorable scene. The two of us exchanged smiles. “Raspberry.” Twilight motioned with her head towards the lab. “Come! We need to run the check-up.” I nodded, giving my daughter a quick look. “I’ll be back in about half an hour. You and Peewee stay up here and bond.” Lilac giggled at my antics. “Got it, Mom.” She pulled a bird treat out, giving it to the bird. After smiling at cartoon magic once again at work, I went into Twilight’s lab. She had put on her new lab coat, I noticed as I sat down in the machine’s chair. Her wings looked much cleaner than last week, and she seemed more versatile. Those flying lessons from Rainbow were paying off, but Twilight was still a bit awkward with the new wings. Luckily, Equestria Girls was next Saturday. Twilight would become more used to the wings after that. At least...I think she did. She got used to her human body much quicker than her alicorn one, I wonder what’s causing the hesitance? Maybe because this new body is permanent? After finding out your new self is permanent, it takes some time for it to wrap itself around your head. I know from experience. Twilight was looking over the results from last week, probably to have them fresh in her mind or some science-y explanation. Did I just think the word science-y? Curse this small portion of the Doctor in my mind! In the Series Four finale, I ended up becoming a part of the Meta-Crisis. That means a small part of my mind went into the Doctor’s hand, as well as Donna’s mind. The reverse is true. I gained some of Donna’s sarcastic wit and big heart, and the Doctor’s ability to drive the TARDIS (however flawed) and his slight obliviousness. Basically, the three of us got our minds-melded and they didn’t exactly separate well. This went badly for Donna. She technically had two immortal beings inside her head. It went alright at first, she didn’t need to have her mind erased. Instead the portion of my mind started crushing her’s, forcing her off the TARDIS or risk certain death. The portion was similar to the ability of sensing a fixed point for Time Lords, only instead of collapsing the Time Stream it would collapse the user. Donna had to go off the TARDIS after Journey’s End because that’s the way it was written. A written fixed point, stuck in stone. Donna became Part Traveler, Part Time Lord, Part Human. Oh, I just imagined ManBearPig. This needs to stop. “Time for the examination.” Twilight said. ‘Oh, Sparkle of Twilight, what would I do without you?’ Twilight was excitedly hopping around her lab. I snickered at the look of pure joy on her face, making her almost look like a filly who just earned her cutiemark. The results from my test were held in her purple magic, somehow staying in mid air despite Twilight’s hopping. “I take it that I passed.” I joked, holding back on my laughter. It may not be that funny to you, but you weren’t the one watching a full grown mare dressed in a lab coat hop around a lab. The purple alicorn let out a loud squee. She ran up to my side, disconnecting me from the machine. “Yes! Your numbers went down twenty seven percent!” “Hmm.” I nodded, once again pretending to understand her science. “Sounds great.” “Great?! It’s better than great!” Twilight leapt at me, wrapping her hooves around my neck. I tensed at the sudden hug. “If your numbers keep on this trend, you’ll be stable in two weeks!” “Ah.” I once again humored her science. It sounded simple enough, but I knew if I asked her to clarify anything I would be stuck down here for an hour. I wanted to get to Bee’s party on time. “Send the data to Tracy. Story knows if I do it she’ll think I’m lying.” Twilight frowned. She ended the hug, looking at me with her sad purple eyes. It was a complete one eighty from her previous behavior. Not to mention creepy, seriously her eyes are inflating or something! “Raspberry, Tracy really values your opinion.” “I know, she just doesn’t acknowledge it.” I lightly shoved Twilight’s shoulder. “Can I see my results?” Twilight sighed, but gave me a reassuring smile. The paper floated over, soon being covered in my amber magic. I looked to the orange fourth line, the one that looked like a crazed heartbeat last time. It was much less crazy, more like a light jogger’s heartbeat. I could deal with that. “I’ve come up with a theory as to why your numbers lowered that quickly.” Twilight said, looking at the paper with me. I looked up at her, waiting for the answer. She was grinning...dangerously... “Your date.” “Son of a.” I groaned before I could stop myself. “Rarity?” Twilight giggled. I groaned, lowering my head. “She told me after she gave me the new lab coat.” “Please. Be gentle.” I sighed, rubbing at my forehead. “You went on a date!” Twilight cheered. “A date, with an actual colt! And your levels dropped dramatically not even a day after! How is this not good news?” Of course. Twilight was looking at the date from a scientific perspective. Thank my lucky stars I found a girl who didn’t scream at me about going on a date with a cute boy. Instead, she worried about my health. Twilight took the new results over to the old ones, putting them away in my file. “And just think about how much lower it will get after the next date!” I snorted. “Hold on, seabiscuit.” I walked to her side. “We don’t know if he’s the reason behind my drop. It could be anything, from the magic of Equestria to not eating a triple chocolate muffin this morning.” “There is also no evidence to suggest otherwise.” Twilight pointed out. “Ouch.” I said, lifting a hoof to my heart. “Using my favorite argument against me.” I faked sniffled, wiping away an imaginary tear. “I’m so proud.” Twilight rolled her eyes. Even though I was arguing against it, a part of me wanted to believe the date helped. It was slow at first, waiting for the party to get started. More ponies were coming, though some came for Sugarcube Corner and ended up staying for the party. Bumblebee hadn’t arrived yet, though knowing him he would be late. Pinkie took it all in stride, entertaining the ponies that were already here and encouraging them to stay. My eyes scanned the party, watching in case of any trouble. It was a habit gained from years working on multiple police forces. This was a landfills with pacifists (unless you stole somepony’s muffin then all bets are off) so the scan is unnecessary. My sense were peaked, hair on my neck was standing. Everything just felt off in here. My daughter and I were sitting in a booth near the back. Lilac was perfectly fine, coloring in her book. She didn’t notice anything wrong. She hadn’t been in my line of work, and I pray to the Story that she never would. So what was wrong in this place? What made my trained senses pick up danger? Was it just that nothing had happened since the incident in my backyard? I mean, not even I can have that much good in a two week span. Something was bound to go wrong for me. Or maybe it was the Feud. I had actually made some progress with it. The Plan wasn’t complete yet, but it was gonna be fireworks. Most of it was just a rough draft. I had to stop thinking like a ten year old victim and think like a two hundred year old princess. That was what would make it perfect. My sense peaked. Something was wrong in Sugarcube Corner. Where was this hidden danger? My eyes caught a pony in another booth. He was a dark brown earth pony, like dark chocolate. His black mane was in a buzz cut, like he had just left his shift at the Royal guard. His eyes were the same black, which I had never seen on a pony before. I had seen him before, he looked too familiar for it not to be. ‘I thought you learned everything.’ ‘Well, I just learned to ask the right questions.’ ‘Oh. I love ponies with trump cards. What do you have on the Queen of the Bad Actors?’ ‘More than you.’ ‘You got better at insults since our first date.’ ‘I haven’t met you before tonight.’ ‘Who are you?’ ‘You’ve known me all your life.’ ‘You can’t be like me.’ ‘Why not? What do you really know about your own kind?’ ‘My name is Garfield Logan. You ruined my life.’ The stallion smirked, as if he knew I was remembering. I could have sworn his black eyes started to glow. It was him. That son of a bitch started all of this. He and that bug exposed me. My friends and family found out in some of the worst ways possible. My daughter had a gun to her fucking head. It was because of him my sister was dead! “Mom?” I looked at the little purple dragon, suddenly hit by a dizzy spell. What had I just been thinking about? It was important, scary. My feud. That was it. How had I gotten so out of focus? “Yeah Lilac?” I said, blinking extra hard to shake off the weird feeling in my head. “Why are we here?” Lilac asked. Purely in childlike innocence. Here it was. The thing I had been avoiding. Tell her about Bee, or hide it until it explodes in my face. “What do you mean?” I asked, sitting up in my seat. “It’s a Pinkie party. We gotta go to those. They’re the best.” Lilac paused in her coloring, looking at me in confusion. “But you don’t like Welcome to Ponyville parties. You only go to one when it’s on.” She looked around, leaning closer. “When it’s on the show.” My daughter was a lot smarter than people gave her credit for. It made me so proud to see her use that Stardust brain of her’s. It was probably the only good thing I gave her. But, then came the bigger problem. Do I tell her? How do you tell your daughter that her mother is dating? I’ve never really shown any interest in saying before, usually only having time for Lilac and work. Plus, this was our day. Stardust Sunday. What was I thinking, bringing in an almost stranger to our Sunday? Killjoy would’ve made me told her. Embarrass me into telling the truth, never been able to keep a real secret from her. She would find out about Bumblebee, then make me tell her everything that happened on the date so that she could make jokes about it. Oh, and the sex jokes. Dear Story I would be unprepared for the sex jokes. I can already hear her asking me if he was hung like a horse Okay. I have to tell Lilac. She’s family, she needs to know. “Actually, I’m here to-” “Raspberry!” Holding back a facehoof, I turned to the yellow pegasus approaching our table. “Hey Bumblebee.” He smiled, seemingly overjoyed to see me at his party. When had he showed up? Pinkie usually cheered loudly, getting everypony else involved. How had I missed that? Was I that zoned out earlier? He turned Lilac, keeping up that smile. “And this must be the famous Lilac.” My daughter giggled. “I’m not famous.” “Your mom talked about you enough.” Bumblebee said. I glared, praying for would keep his big muzzle shut. He was gonna talk. He was going to tell her before I had a chance. “On our date last night.” I admitted, taking the shot. My daughter gaped at me, blue eyes wide. “What?” “I went on a date last night with Bumblebee.” I explained, feeling anxious at the explanation. “That’s why we’re at his party.” Lilac blinked, turning to the pegasus. “A date?” The Pegasus leaned down to me. “I walked in on something didn’t I?” I shrugged, wincing. “Ya kinda did, yeah.” I looked at my daughter. “But, give me five. Go enjoy the party before Pinkie drags you back in.” Bumblebee nodded, understanding the awkward situation. “Those cupcakes do look really good.” The stallion trotted off. I felt a little bad about that. He had at least tried to be a nice stallion at meeting my daughter. I’ve seen better introductions. “If it helps.” I began. “I was just about to tell you when he walked up.” Lilac was still shocked. “You didn’t tell me.” “It was supposed to be a one time thing, then I would never see him again. However, the date went better than I thought.” I explained. “It was last night.” Lilac blinked. “But...why not tell me? What if he hurt you, Mom? I wouldn’t have even known.” So that’s what this was about. Lilac had been wounded in both the physical and mental way back in January. Dominic had kidnapped my daughter, used her as bait to trap and murder me in front of her. She was then told she had a big family, one that welcomed her with open arms. Then, she was locked in a cell and used for her connection with me. It made complete sense that she would feel guilty about that. She wasn’t, not even close, that all went to Dominic. Lilac had trusted him, as I did, and it cost us both. I had been betrayed before, never by my own kind. It hurt, for a long time, masked only by losing Darcy. Lilac had loss that week too, losing some of her much appreciated innocence. I’ve spent her entire childhood protecting Lilac from my life. Dominic had dragged her in kicking and screaming. She was trying to protect me. She thought it was a part of this family, to watch out for each other. “Then I would’ve beat him so hard into the dirt that he’d be tasting it for the rest of his life.” I assured, reaching over to hold her claw. Lilac’s eyes were starting to water. “It’s alright. If he tried anything, he will learn the one truth of the Stardust clan.” Lilac tried to blink away tears. Her blue head fins fell over one side of her face. “What’s the one truth?” I leaned in, smirking. “Never mess with one, unless you wanna get burned.” Lilac snorted, slumping back in booth chair. She shook her head, moving the scales out of her face. “Burned. Cause I’m a dragon. Funny Mom, real funny.” I laughed, sitting back in my own seat. “Biscuits. I didn’t see that.” Lilac laughed. “Sure mom. Sure.” “As sugar!” I laughed. Bumblebee and by the table. “And there’s laughter!” He clapped his hooves on the table, holding one out to Lilac. “Hey. We met earlier, and I messed it. The name’s Bumblebee.” The purple dragonette turned to me. I nodded, assuring her it was okay. She took his hoof with her claw. She grinned, revealing her shiny white dragon teeth. “I’m Lilac. Nice to meet you, Mr. Bumblebee.” The hairs on my neck stood. *flash* The three of us flinched back. Pinkie appeared in the booth next to our’s holding a Polaroid camera. “Yes!” The party pony cheered. She held out a photo, shaking it to help it be exposed. She showed it to us, and it was actually a pretty good photo of Lilac, Bumblebee and I. “Aw! You three look so adorable together!” I started blushing. The hairs on my neck hadn’t gone down, but I was smiling like my birthday had come early. Logan walked out of the bakery, silently stewing. That party had done little help his mood. His new prisoner was supposed to be easy. She cried at first, begging Logan to let him go. He had read her emotions, as all changelings do. She had seen he had little inside. Vengeance. Hate. Anger. And a sick twisted sense of love. It was all he felt now. That anger was stewing deep inside of him. Bumblebee had come to them on Stardust Sunday. That was Logan’s best day to watch them, make sure Raspberry wasn’t getting to close. Logan loved Stardust Sunday more than any other day in existence. Logan had been waiting for this every since he began. He waited for Raspberry’s 200th birthday, caused that was the day he could come out to her. He could stop using his memory spell on her, the one that always worked on her. He wrote it especially for her. She might hear whispers about him, that was fine. She hadn't way of figuring out who he was, of how close to her he was. Raspberry Stardust and Garfield Logan. The battle that never ended, yet also never started. Logan looked back into the bakery through a window. Raspberry was holding some cupcakes in her magic, giving them to Bumblebee and Lilac. The three were smiling, laughing. Raspberry looked down at a Polaroid photo, smiling in ways Logan had only dream of. His present for her was ready. All he had to do was wrap it.