Watching Moonshade freak out begins to make me feel nervous as Sunset goes off to make a call. “Who do you think it is that has you so worked up, Moon?” As I help get her down off of the couch, there is something I never seen before in her gaze: absolute terror. Who can scare her that badly?
For the next thirty minutes Sunset and I huddle next to Moon, trying to calm her down without saying a thing, though our looks of concern speak volumes. Finally, the door opens in a hurry, with both Celestia and Chrysalis bursting through. “What happened, Sunset?”
As the red and blonde haired teen gets up Chrysalis takes her place, whispering as she holds the two of us tight. However, I pay more attention to what Sunset is saying. “Well, she asked who lived a few houses down and as I was describing him, she just….. freaked out. I guess she thought it was some guy named Dark Hearts at first.”
“I don’t really know them either to be honest. Chrys can-----”
“You don’t even have to ask Tia. Once I get back to the office, I’ll do some digging. I can stay here with them until you get off work,” Chrysalis offers as she gets up and helps get Moon back up into the couch. “But first I’d like to get what information I can from you, Moonshade. You don’t have to tell me now, just take your time and make sure you’re ready to talk about it ok.”
Celestia stays for another five minutes just to make sure everything is okay before heading back to the school. Chrysalis sits on the large couch by Moon’s head while Sunset and I settle back in front of the t.v. with controllers in hand. Before we can get to far into the game we’re playing, Moonshade lets out a sigh and begins, clearly depressed. “He….. he sounds like my uncle, Fire Dancer. He took me in shortly after my parents…..”
Wow, she must be really shaken up to talk about something like this to strangers. Even though I already knew a lot about her past, this is something I have never heard before. Don’t tell me he hurt her as well. Looking at both Sunset and Chrysalis, I can tell they are having similar thoughts.
“Anyway….. for the first few years he was really good, treating me like a princess. He….. he never abused me and he never did anything….. inappropriate with me or his own daughter. I don’t know what happened but he….. changed. He….. it seemed like he got angrier easier and started….. hitting his wife, Blossom Jet, then his daughter and eventually me. It lasted for two months before Blossom divorced him and he lost custody of me and my cousin.”
The unmistakable sounds of sniffling and choked back sobs fill the room as she pauses, letting Sunset and I look up at the older woman who just sits there and holds Moon while stroking her head. What did he do to her? Sunset is just speechless as she sits there.
“I just….. even now, I can’t believe that he would change that quickly without reason. But what is even worse….. his last words to me when I saw him for the last time. He….. he threatened to kill me if he ever saw me again.” Unable to hold back anymore, she breaks down and buries her head into Chrysalis’ stomach.
“Did you know about this?” Sunset whispers as she leans closer to me, her expression full of concern while glancing at Moon.
“No, she….. she rarely talked about her past. Even less about her family.”
Suddenly the doorbell goes off, making Moon jump while Sunset and I look at it in concern. Chrysalis gets up carefully to answer. “Relax girls, it’s just the food you must have ordered. I take ordering Chinese was your idea, Lily.” While she sounds more amused than anything, I can’t help but feel a bit embarrassed. “You better be careful, or you’ll turn into an addict. If that were to happen than we’d have to schedule an intervention, send you away to an addiction facility and whatever else would be needed.”
“Well if it does come down to that, I can blame you, since you introduced me to Chinese.” At least her joke lightened my mood along with Sunset’s. I think Moonshade is asleep, though.
Setting aside the containers with Moonshade’s food, Sunset and I dig in while Chrysalis gets herself something from the fridge. “Lily, I’d rather get the information from her, but I have a feeling that this was a one time thing. Do you know anything about her time with other foster families?”
“Not much, she hated talking about them. From what she did say, she had only one other foster family before coming to mine, though she did open up about what they did to her once my parents started doing it as well. She never mentioned anything about her uncle, and only once has she talked to me about her family.” Once I stop talking, a heavy silence fills the room as we eat. Sunset just looks sad as she eats little of her food and Chrysalis looks like she’s barely containing her anger.
The rest of the three hours are spent with the three of us playing Monopoly while Moon remains passed out on the couch. As the door opens, Celestia and Luna hurry inside, surprisingly followed by Posey and they beeline straight for the far room down the hall. “Chrysalis we need to talk to you, now. It’s about the mess you handed us,” Posey says without stopping.
Sunset just looks at me in confusion as the adults leave us alone. Thankfully, her phone goes off after a few minutes and she heads to the backyard.
“..... is going on with the investigation?” Celestia’s voice drifts from the door as I sneak as close after waiting a few minutes.
“Well, from what I have noticed, not much. They are doing a lot to sweep it under the rug. What has been the news with Lily's parents?” A sigh follows Posey’s response.
“They opted to take the hard way. I had all their accounts frozen and the company they work for is also having some….. issues as well. I’m also working on uncovering their online trail and chatter. However, they seem to have a friend in the police department.” Chrysalis’ voice sounds….. surprisingly happy as she speaks.
“Sister, I was approached two days ago by someone looking for both Lily and Moonshade. It is only time until they come looking here.” Luna on the other hand sounds cautious.
“So how are we going to proceed in dealing with this possible threat and with this new issue brought on by Moonshade?” Celestia asks calmly.
“I can take a look into the past events on what happened to Moonshade’s uncle. I’m starting to think that he was set up for some reason,” Chrysalis offers.
“Alright, until we get a better handle on things, I’m thinking it might be best to move them to a safer location. Your second house would be perfect for it, Chrys. It’s got a great view of not just the road but also the driveway, plus the security fence and gate.” Once Celestia gets them to agree, I duck into the bathroom in an attempt to avoid suspicion that I was eavesdropping.
As I step out of the bathroom, a hand on my shoulder stops me and I turn to come face to face with Chrysalis. “You heard most of it, didn’t you?”
“Yes I did. Are you….. are you angry?”
“No, I am however relieved. I like you, kiddo, and keeping secrets from you is….. hard. You have every right to know some of this, at least what is going on with your parents.” Chrysalis turns, and with her arm around my shoulder, we head into the living room.
“Hey, sorry about freaking you guys out earlier.”
“Welcome back to the land of the living Moon, did you enjoy your nap?” Carefully, I wrap my arms around her neck.
“Yeah, and….. to be truthful, in more ways than one. Maybe….. maybe you were right. Anyway, what is going on?”