The Day My Life Ended

by Authora97

Chapter Thirty-Three (Revised)

Darcy raised the whistle. She blew. The Mane 6 flopped to the ground. Spike passed out long ago. Lilac was doing some stretches nearby. She paused at the whistle sound.

Darcy hadn’t been any kinder to the others when they finished up their lap around the neighborhood. She continued making them do stretches, exercises, and without a real break. Lilac was given simple stretches. Lilac only had a human body for one day. She needed to learn about using it before doing these exercises. The ponies were already here for five days.

They should all be grateful it’s being done under a winter sun, and not during a Southern summer sky. Darcy was convinced Rarity would’ve died if that were the case. Then Rainbow Dash never would finish those laps. Maybe Darcy should reconsider that whole ‘grateful’ thing.

Darcy lowered the whistle. “Time to learn about-” She paused. She looked off in the distance. Her face was vacant from the earlier glee. Now she’s just confused. A confused Darcy (or confused Morgan) never meant good things.

Rainbow Dash gulped. She leaned to Applejack. “Not that I’m complaining about a good workout, but, uh, are we done?”

Applejack shrugged. “Not sure. Twilight?”

Twilight stepped closer. “Darcy? Is everything alright-?”

Darcy gasped. Not in surprise, or fear, this was a gasp like she’d run out of air. She swayed on the spot before falling to the cold grass. She choked again, grabbing her chest.

“AUNTIE!” Lilac screamed. She ran first. The others followed after a beat. Rainbow Dash got to her first. “AUNTIE!?”

Darcy’s eyes staring unfocused up at the sky.

Rainbow Dash held her head. “What do I do if they stop breathing?!” She asked the others.

Nopony had a good answer for her.

Darcy croaked. Lilac grabbed her arm, shaking it. Darcy made the croaking sound again.

“What is she saying?” Dash asked.

Fluttershy came up. She tilted her head down. “B- Buh- Bah-” She leaned back, turning to Dash. “Bag?”

Not that it mattered, Darcy shot upright to her feet. A familiar bag appeared on her side.

Lilac looked up at her first. She gasped, falling back. Darcy’s eyes faded between two different colors. Her usual purple, and the usual amber. “M-Mom?!”

“Morgan?!” Twilight yelled.

Morgan fell to her knees. She opened her bag, reaching inside.

“Morgan, Morgan wait!” Fluttershy held her shoulder. “You need to breathe!”

“NO TIME!” Morgan pulled out a big blue glass jar, then went back in the bag. “Lilac go get a draw-” She gasped again. Her eyes rolled back in her head. Her hand flopped out of the bag, falling back into Fluttershy and Rainbow’s arms. The item in her hand slipped to the ground

They screamed.

Lilac jumped on her. The body coughed, shooting upright.

“Author- fuck- kid!” Darcy grabbed Lilac’s shoulder. “Get off me!”

Lilac started to cry again. “But- but- But MOM!”

“What?” Darcy turned to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. “Hey, let go of me!”

Rainbow Dash did immediately.

Fluttershy joined Lilac in the hug. “It was so scary! We thought you’d been hurt!”

“I said let GO!” Darcy growled.

Fluttershy squeaked. She obeyed, pulling herself back. Darcy stood to her feet.

“Darcy, we did see Morgan!” Twilight said. “She was back!”

Darcy stood up. “Yeah, and I’m the Queen of- whoa!” When standing, her foot went down on something. She slipped on it. It sent her sprawling down on the grass. “Ow! What was that?”

Applejack picked it up. “Looks like a spice. Never seen it before.” She smelled it. “Smells good, though.”

“She had this too.” Rainbow Dash pointed at the big blue jar.

Darcy knelt down, lifting the lid. “What the hell?”

Pinkie popped up behind her. Darcy cursed again, falling back. “COOKIES!” Pinkie grabbed a cookie, stuffing it into her face. “And they’re SO GOOD!” Pinkie chomped on another handful. “Your sister is good at getting snacks.”

Darcy creased her eyebrows. “Did she say anything?”

Twilight nodded. “She was telling Lilac to get something.”

Darcy turned to her niece. “What?”

Lilac shrugged. “I don’t know. It- I think she was asking me to draw?”

“Draw?” Darcy asked. She looked at Applejack. “What’s the spice?”

“Ah don’t know.” Applejack replied.

Darcy held out her hand.

“Do you know it?” Applejack asked.

Darcy held the jar. She looked inside, seeing the spice there. “Don’t think it matters. PINKIE! Stop eating cookies!”

Pinkie slumped. She put the jar down. “But they were YUMMY!”

“I don’t know!” Darcy snapped. “Just- just stop eating them.” She snatched the jar away. Pinkie pouted. “Okay. Okay. Umm. Let’s- fuck.” Darcy closed her eyes, putting her hand over her face.

Pinkie took the cookie jar again.

Darcy reached out to grab it. Her eyes flashed yellow. “Pinkie. No.”

Pinkie gasped, then smiled. “Morgan’s back!” She hugged Darcy. “Again!”

“Oh dear. I don’t wish to burst any bubbles, but what happened to Darcy?” Rarity asked. “Is she coming back?”

Morgan twisted in the hug. Pinkie held her tight. “Still-” Her eyes flashed wildly between the two colors. Yellow, purple, yellow, purple. Back and forth like stage lights. She shut her eyes. “-here. Just- just- the body can’t decide which- mmmm out of context! Hmm.” She grit her teeth, wheezing.

Twilight turned to Applejack. “Applejack, get her some water. Rainbow Dash, get a towel. Fluttershy, Rarity! Pillows. I’ll get Pinkie Pie up.”

“Got it!” The five rushed away. Spike and Lilac stayed with Twilight.

Twilight grabbed Pinkie by the arm. Morgan/Darcy tried to push the pink human off her. Pinkie went with it.

She tilted her head to Twilight. Even with her eyes closed, she knew exactly where Twilight stood.

“Lilac?” Twilight tried. “Hold her hand.”

Morgan shook her head.

“Morgan-”

“No. No, she needs to draw. She needs- We need-” she wheezed again. Her body seized, arching up on the grass. The southern chill suddenly made the grass sharp on her back.

“It’s alright.” Twilight assured her. “Lilac is alright. Everyone is okay.”

The eyes stayed shut. Her jaw relaxed. The wheezing turned into a shuddering breath.

“Lilac, hold your mom’s hand.” Twilight repeated.

Lilac did. She locked her fingers with her mom’s. She laid down next to her mom on that cold sharp grass.

“Kid?” She croaked. She coughed. “Princess?”

Lilac sniffled. She hugged the teen on the grass. The teen hugged her back. The teen brushed on her blue hair, holding the strands to her nose.

The family is not reunited, not exactly. The teen’s eyes constantly switched between the two colors, never settling on any one shade. Her limbs kept twitching. Her daughter kept flinching at fingers on her back and scalp. Both girls were crying- not from joy. No, these tears came from fear and grief.

That being said. There was still joy. When their limbs were still, Morgan and Darcy kept holding Lilac. Every shaky breath made them hold tighter. Morgan pressed kisses to Lilac’s forehead. Darcy held her forehead against Lilac’s. Lilac held her tight, squeezing to leave bruises but not scratches.

The ponies trickled back. None of them broke the family hug. They watched the reunion, and couldn’t help their tears.

Things are still rough. A lot of things were still up in the air. But here, in this moment, the Stardust family was at peace.