Chapter 8
Firefly slept peacefully in her bed as the sun’s rays crept into her bedroom. As the light hit her eyes she gave a small yawn and slowly opened her violet eyes, to be met by the smiling faces of her two children.
“Surprise!” they shouted with glee. “Happy Mother’s Day!” Firefly was slightly startled by their volume, but she soon smiled as Star levitated a tray with her favorite breakfast onto the bed.
“Wow kids, thank you! This looks delicious!” Firefly said happily as the aroma filled her nostrils.
“We even got you a card!” Star replied as Bolt pulled an envelope from his wing and handed it to his mother.
Firefly ripped it open, pulled out the card and began reading. In the card was written:
May this Mother’s Day be the best of many more to come!
We appreciate everything you do for us,
Love Firebolt and Evening Star.
Firefly smiled as she finished reading, her heart filling with joy as she looked to her two teenagers.
“Do you like it?” Bolt asked anxiously.
“I absolutely love it!” Firefly said happily as she gave her two kids a tight hug and kissed the top of their heads. When she let go she looked around, realizing something was off. “Where is your father?”
“He had to go to go to work this morning,” Star answered as her mother started eating her breakfast.
“Oh well…” Firefly sighed as she took a bite of her pancakes.
“Dad said that we had to make you happy today. So is there anything you want to do?” Bolt asked.
Firefly thought for a moment, but nothing came to mind. Then she looked to a nearby mirror and was startled by her appearance. Her mane was messy and disheveled, her eyes had dark circles under them, and her pink fur was matted.
“I think I should freshen up first before I think about going anywhere,” Firefly replied as she tried to fix her mane a little.
“Oh, I know! We can go to the spa!” Star suggested, with enthusiasm.
“I think that sounds perfect. And it has been a while since I pampered myself,” Firefly agreed.
“But I don’t want to do that girly stuff!” Bolt whined.
“Oh come on, Bolt! This is Mom’s special day, and Dad said that we had to make Mom happy!” Star retorted as her brother groaned.
“It’s okay Bolt, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” Bolt thought for a moment and then sighed.
“No… I’ll go, Mom. Star’s right – this is your day, and if you want to go to the spa then I’ll go too.”
“Well give me a moment so I can at least look decent.” Finished with her breakfast, Firefly removed the tray, got out of bed and sat down in front of her vanity mirror. She started to reach for the hair brush, but it was abruptly engulfed in a red aura and floated off the table.
“Let me, Mom!” Star said as she brought the brush to her mother’s mane and started brushing it.
“Thank you, sweetie.” Firefly began to relax as the comb ran through her hair, making her feel better with each stroke. When her mane was finished Star moved to her tail and resumed brushing. Within minutes Star had finished that too, and allowed her mother to stand up.
“How is that, Mom?”
Firefly inspected her reflection. “Just perfect, you did a wonderful job. Maybe you can be a spa pony?”
Star frowned slightly. “No thanks, Mom. I prefer to get the hooficure, not do one.”
~~~~~
Feeling presentable, Firefly left the house with her two children, and made their way to the spa. Before long they had reached the small building, and were greeted by scented candles and soaps as they entered the front door. Firefly approached the receptionist, who gave her the options for her spa treatment.
“Welcome to the Aloe and Lotus Spa,” the receptionist greeted them. “Today, we have a special Mother’s Day offer - thirty percent off for mares with their children. For treatments we have a special wing massage for pegasus ponies, horn filing for unicorns, and mane and tail braiding for the earth ponies. All complete with a hooficure for all hooves!” she said cheerfully.
“It all sounds wonderful. How much is it?” Star asked.
“100 bits for today, miss,” the receptionist replied.
“Oh my… that is expensive,” Firefly murmured.
“Yes… but well worth the price, madame.”
“I don’t know… I don’t want to spend too much money,” Firefly said as she thought about her options.
“Come on, live a little Mom! You deserve it!” Star encouraged.
“Well… that wing massage does sound good,” Firefly admitted.
“And would the young unicorn like a horn filing?” the receptionist asked.
“Um… no thanks, just a hooficure and mud bath; I don’t like ponies touching my horn.”
Satisfied, Firefly paid the receptionist, and the three ponies were brought into a large room filled with massage tables and mud baths. Bolt was taken to the side where there were a row of chairs, all lined with mares reading while they waited their turn. Firefly and Star were placed onto one of the massage chairs; two mares who Firefly recognized as Lotus and Aloe approached them and began rubbing their backs.
“Ah! Ooooohhhhh….” Firefly moaned as she felt the spa pony’s hooves rub into her back, reliving some of her tension and aches.
“This… feels… sooooo good!” Star moaned as she too felt her muscles relax.
“Oooohhhh, I agree….” Firefly murmured as she shut her eyes.
Bolt sighed in frustration. He hated this spa stuff; he would rather be out with his friends than be stuck with the scented candles and mud baths and mineral baths. As he sank into his chair with a groan he heard a filly’s voice. “Bolt?”
He looked up to see a light green pegasus filly with blue eyes and a dark green mane and tail, looking at him with slight surprise.
“Summer Wind! Uh… hi.” Bolt sat up with a jolt.
“Hi. I didn’t expect to see you here. I thought you didn’t like spa stuff.” She smiled as she sat next to Bolt.
“Oh… yeah I uh… came here with my mom and sister for Mother’s Day.”
“Aww, that’s nice of you. I actually came here with my mom for Mother’s Day too.”
“Oh, uh… that’s…. cool.”
“Yeah… cool.” They both fidgeted slightly.
“Well uh… I better go see if my mom and sister are finished yet. It was nice talking with you.” Bolt gave her a slight smile.
“Yeah… nice talking with you too…” She smiled back as Bolt trotted into the other room.
As he entered, Bolt saw that his mother and sister were nowhere to be found on the massage tables. He looked around and soon spotted them neck-deep in the mud baths, with green masks placed on their faces. As he approached Firefly opened her eyes.
“Bolt! Don’t tell me you want to join now too?” Star chuckled at her mother’s comment.
“No… Mom… I know that this is for you and Mother’s Day but… can we please go? I hate this.”
“I know, sweetie. But this is just so relaxing. And I did pay for the top package. We can’t just leave!”
“Mom, please… I just want to go before…”
“Firefly? Is that you?” They looked to see a pegasus mare with Summer Wind standing next to her.
“Oh! Hello Sunshine! Nice to see you again,” Firefly replied.
“Same to you as well. You wouldn’t be here because of the Mother’s Day special, would you?”
“I am, actually - my kids wanted to treat me to something special. I assume that’s why you’re here?”
“Yes. Summer Wind and I were just about to head for the mineral baths. I hope we see you and Star there so we can talk.” She turned to regard Bolt. “A pleasure to see you again, Bolt,” she said, smiling warmly.
“Thank you… Mrs. Sunshine.”
Sunshine and Summer Wind left for the mineral baths. As they exited, Firefly couldn’t help but notice that Summer was glancing back at Bolt, and he her.
“Always nice to meet a familiar face,” Firefly sighed as she leaned back into the mud.
“Especially if you have a crush on them,” Star snickered.
“Shut up!” Bolt snapped, his face becoming redder.
“A crush…. You mean…” Firefly looked at Bolt and saw the embarrassment on his face. “I didn’t know you had a crush on Summer.”
“I didn’t want you to know…” He looked like he was about to die of embarrassment. Firefly thought for a moment and then smiled.
“Bolt, you can leave. I think you’ve suffered long enough.” Bolt wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “It’s OK… go ahead.” Bolt nodded slightly and then left. Firefly and Star continued enjoying their treatment for the next thirty minutes - they even had their manes styled to be shiny and lush. After they finished, they left the spa feeling fresh and rejuvenated.
“That was so much fun, Mom!” Star squeaked happily.
“That it was. Now let’s go home and…” She stopped in midsentence when she saw Dinky trot up to them, a basket levitated with her magic. “Dinky!”
“Oh. Hi Firefly! Hi Star!” Dinky smiled brightly.
“Hi Aunt Dinky! What brings you here?” Star chirped, a big grin on her face.
“I was on my way to meet my mother. She looks forward to this every year!”
“Why is that?” Star asked.
“Because it’s the one day of the year that I make her my famous Mother’s Day muffins!” She levitated the basket to Firefly and Star to show that it was filled with warm, freshly-baked muffins.
“Mmmm. Those look good!” Firefly said, licking her lips.
“Here, have a few!” She levitated three muffins and passed them to Star and Firefly, continuing, “The third one is for Bolt if he wants it.” She looked around. “Where are the boys, anyway?”
“Bolt went home since he wasn’t interested in the spa, and Clay is off spending time with Rainbow.” Now it was Firefly’s turn to look around. “Where is Sky? On another patrol?”
“Nope. Believe it or not, he actually went to visit his own mother,” Dinky replied.
“Oh. It’s good that they are still talking.” Firefly smiled.
“He dreads it every year… but he still finds the courage to meet her,” Dinky said.
“Why is Uncle Sky afraid of his mother?” Star asked.
“It’s… complicated, sweetheart,” Dinky answered as she tried to find the right words.
“I wish he was here. He’s the best uncle ever!”
Dinky smiled at the comment. “Thank you, sweetie. I’ll be sure to tell him that when he gets back. Anyway, you two enjoy those muffins. I’m sure my mother will!”
“Thank you Dinky, and tell Ditzy that I said hi!” Dinky nodded and continued on her way.
~~~~~
Star and Firefly continued their journey home; the day was still young, but there wasn’t much else to do in town. However, during the whole walk Star was rather quiet, despite the fact that she looked like she had something on her mind. Finally Firefly decided to ask. “Something bothering you, Star?”
“Well… kinda,” Star admitted.
“You can tell me anything, sweetie.” Firefly gave her daughter a kind smile.
“Well… every year everypony celebrates Mother’s Day with their mother. But… you don’t.”
Firefly’s face fell slightly. “You know that my mother is… no longer with us,” Firefly replied somewhat sadly.
“But… you never talk about her. No pictures, no stories, no memories… it’s almost like she doesn’t exist. Even Dad doesn’t know anything about her other than she was a Wonderbolt.” Star looked to her mother with concern. “Why won’t you talk about her, Mom? Did you… hate her?”
“No… no I didn’t hate my mother at all. Both your grandfather and I loved her very much. It’s just… the memory is too much…” Firefly swallowed as she felt a lump form in her throat.
“I’m sorry, Mom. It’s just… I wish I’d known her…” Star murmured.
“I wish you did too… she… she would have loved both you and Bolt to death. And I know that she would have loved to have met your father as well.” She lowered her head slightly as something dark invaded her mind.
Worried that she was close to bringing her mother to depression, Star decided to stop prying for now. The two mares made their way to their home; except for Bolt, the house was empty when they arrived.
“Thanks for everything, Mom… it was fun,” Star said with a smile.
“You’re welcome Star! I had fun too.” She gave her daughter a hug and then let her be on her way.
Firefly started to head for the living room when suddenly she stopped. Something was compelling her to head upstairs; she couldn’t quite explain what prompted her to make her way up the stairs and down the hall to her bedroom. She stopped at the bed and sat down on the mattress. What Star had said before about withholding the details about her mother was eating away at her. She knew that keeping her emotions bottled up wasn’t going to help, but she didn’t want to burden Clay, or Rainbow, or anypony else close to her. She had to face it on her own.
“Honey…?” a voice called suddenly.
Firefly yelped in surprise as she realized that her husband was standing in the doorway, watching her as she stared off into space. She had no idea how long she had been sitting there, and it made her uneasy.
“Clay… I didn’t hear you come in.” Firefly tried to regain her composure, but wasn’t terribly successful.
“I can see that.” Clay trotted up to her and sat down next to her. “You look great, Firefly,” he said as he kissed her on the cheek.
“Thank you… I kinda dipped into the funds though, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You deserve it, and it is Mother’s Day after all.” He noticed her saddened expression, but didn’t pry. He knew that this was a hard day for her to get through without feeling some remembrance of her mother.
“How was your time with Rainbow?”
“Oh, it was fun. We talked, raced, and she got her present. I let her know that she means a lot to me and we said goodbye… not much really. How was your day?”
“Star and I went to the spa. It was so relaxing and… apparently Bolt has a crush on a pegasus filly.” She giggled.
“Runs in the family, I guess,” Clay joked.
“Then we ran into Dinky and had some of her wonderful muffins… and then…” She stopped suddenly.
“Yes?”
“Then Star asked… why I don’t talk about my mother.” Her face fell.
“Oh… well… she was only curious.”
“I know. I’m not mad, it’s just… she’s right. I don’t talk about my mother at all. In fact I… I never told you what happened… did I?”
“That was your business… I was willing to wait until you were ready… if ever.”
“Thank you Clay, but… I don’t think I can keep it a secret any longer…” She took a few breaths, as if the thought of even talking about her mother was unpleasant. For all Clay knew, it was. Finally Firefly was mentally prepared and began recalling the events.
“It happened when I was six. Mom… Mom had been asked to help perform a special maneuver for the coming airshow.” Firefly took a deep breath. Obviously just thinking about what had happened was a big strain on her. “Mom was really excited and happy to do it… Dad and I encouraged her. She spent the next month practicing every chance she got. I… remember watching her perform up in the clouds when I was little; I was so jealous of the fact that she made it look so easy.” She chuckled at the memory, but her joy didn’t last very long. “Finally the big day had arrived; we were certain Mom could do it in her sleep. Dad and I went to the VIP section so we could get a better view. It started off well enough… everything was going fine and Mom looked dazzling… then…” Firefly’s breathing became slightly erratic as the memories came flooding back. Her body started to tremble, but Clay placed a hoof on her back in an attempt to calm her down. She looked at him appreciatively and continued, her voice shaking slightly as she spoke. “Then… something must have been off. She started swerving and jerking when she tried to pull up from a dive… she was dropping so fast… I remember thinking that Mom was just showing off. Then when I saw Dad… I knew… She just kept dropping no matter how hard she tried… then she just…” Firefly went silent, her eyes brimming with tears.
“I still remember the sound when she hit the ground. It was… horrible.” She sniffled slightly but kept going as Clay looked at her silently. “The paramedics showed up soon after… they wouldn’t let Dad or I see her. I kept asking Dad if she was OK… He never answered. He just kept trying to get to her through the crowd. They took her to the hospital before we could get to her… we waited for hours after that… just… waiting. And then… they told us… she was gone…” The tears were flowing freely now as Firefly looked at the floor; her tears pattered softly onto it as she sobbed, “I… I didn’t even… get to say goodbye…” She lowered her head and let out heartbroken sobs, while Clay pulled her into a comforting hug. “After that, Dad just… he wasn’t the same pony anymore. He would just sit in his office all the time, hardly paying any attention to me. When I became old enough to fly he started keeping me locked up, only letting me out for school and social gatherings when he knew he could keep an eye on me. He knew I wanted to be a Wonderbolt like Mom, and he was afraid that the same thing would happen to me!” She grew quiet again as Clay stroked her side.
“I’m sorry honey… I… I can’t imagine what that must have been like.” Firefly buried her face in his shoulder as he continued, “But you’re not living with him anymore. You’re your own mare, with two beautiful kids, a large family…” He lifted her head to look into her tear-stained eyes, “… and a husband that loves you very much.” He gently kissed her forehead. Firefly smiled slightly as she looked at the earth pony in front of her.
“I know… and I’m very grateful for that each and every day.” She kissed him back. “I know that it was a long time ago. And I’m not living the same life anymore… but the memory is always so fresh… and so is the pain.” Clay gave her a sympathetic smile.
“I know how you feel. It’s been years since I found that flight spell, but I can still remember the wind on my face, flying through the sky… it feels like it just happened yesterday.” Firefly sighed slightly as she dried her eyes.
“You know, sometimes I wonder if it was my fault Mom died.” Clay raised an eyebrow.
“Your fault?” She nodded.
“Dad and I kept encouraging her to master that maneuver… to be the best she could be. She would often come home tired and exhausted… but she still talked with me or played with me despite that. I keep thinking that maybe she couldn’t recover because we made her too tired or maybe I distracted her or…” Her heart began to race as she thought of the possibilities.
“Honey, honey listen to me…” He made her face him again and held her forelegs, “It wasn’t your fault… it wasn’t anyone’s fault… you have to stop thinking like that.” She lowered her gaze.
“Then why do I feel so guilty?”
“Because you’re looking for someone to blame for what happened; but I promise you, it wasn’t anypony’s fault… it was just an accident.” He pulled her into a tight hug, and she returned the gesture.
“I know… I’m sorry for burdening you with my problem…”
“It’s no burden… we’re husband and wife. We share each other’s joys and sorrows.” He looked down at her with a smile. “I love you… and I’ll always be there for you.” He brushed a lock of her mane from her eyes.
“And I love you… so much…” Firefly whispered with a sad smile.
“I know. There has never been a doubt in my mind.” He kissed her softly. “Are you going to be OK? The kids still want to spend Mother’s Day with you.”
“Yeah… I’ll be fine. Telling someone about that was long overdue.” She got off the bed. “What do you guys have planned?”
“Nothing too fancy, just a picnic for the four of us.” Firefly smiled widely.
“It sounds perfect, Clay. Um… why don’t you go meet the kids and get ready…? I’ll be down in a minute.”
“Sure. Take all the time you need.” Clay left the room, leaving Firefly alone.
After a few seconds she reached under the bed to pull out a small box. It was sky blue with yellow trimming, the traditional colors of the Wonderbolts. The box itself looked worn from years of use, but it was still in good condition. She set it on the bed and opened it slowly, as if she expected a trap to be sprung. When the lid was fully open she reached inside and pulled out a single picture ; it was slightly worn around the edges but in otherwise pristine. The picture contained three ponies: an earth pony stallion with grey fur and slicked-black hair; a pegasus mare with a light yellow colored coat, a light blue mane and tail with a white streak running through both, and deep blue eyes; finally, in the middle of those two ponies was a small pink filly with a blue mane and tail. The adults both smiled at Firefly as she looked at them silently. She flipped the picture over to see words written on the back that read: ‘You are my greatest Mother’s Day gift ever. Love, Mommy.’ The words echoed inside her as she read them over and over again. Finally she gave the photo a sad smile. “Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.” She then gave it a tight hug as if she were trying to press her love into the photo.
When she felt like she had spent enough time with it, she placed the photo back in the box and pulled out a rolled piece of paper. She unrolled it on the bed and inspected the parchment. It was a slightly wrinkled poster of a pegasus mare; the same one from the photo, only this time garbed in a Wonderbolt jumpsuit and goggles. Underneath her was the name ‘Misty Fly’.
“I think it’s time your grandkids learn about who you are, Mom.” She rolled up the poster, tucked it under her right wing, and placed the box back under the bed.
Firefly left the room, her mood vastly improved by getting her dark secret off her chest. She trotted down the stairs and exited the house, to be greeted by her two kids and her husband.
“There you are!” Bolt exclaimed happily. “We were starting to think you’d never come back down.”
“Well, I’m here now,” she chuckled.
“What’s that, Mom?” Star asked, noticing the poster tucked under her wing.
“You wanted to know about your grandmother… so I decided to show you.”
“Wow… really?” Bolt asked excitedly.
Firefly nodded and pulled out the poster to unroll it. When she was finished Star, Bolt, and Clay looked at it curiously. Then their eyes went wide.
“Grandma was… Misty Fly?” Star asked, hardly believing it.
“She sure was,” Firefly replied, smiling at her daughter’s amazement.
“I knew that your mother was a Wonderbolt… but Misty Fly? She was the one who devised the Thunder Clap! One of the trickiest maneuvers known to ponykind!” He looked at Firefly with some embarrassment. “I can’t believe I never saw the resemblance.”
“Now we have to get you better presents for next Mother’s Day, Mom,” Star chuckled.
“Let me tell you something kids.” She lowered herself slightly to meet their eyes squarely. “The presents and spa treatments are nice, but I already have two great gifts… you two.” She pulled them into a tight hug. “You two make me so proud to call myself a mother. And I love you both so much… don’t ever forget that. Especially you, Star.” She kissed the tops of their heads.
“I won’t Mom… I promise,” Star murmured as they hugged her back.
“Now. How about we start that picnic?” Firefly asked.
“Yeah! I’m starving!” Bolt exclaimed.
Clay, Bolt, and Star took the picnic supplies while Firefly picked up her poster. As they walked, Firefly answered the multitude of questions her children had about her mother. Some were hard to answer due to her pain, but she did her best. And despite how sad she was from remembering her mother, it still brought her peace all the same. They spent the rest of the day sitting on a hilltop eating food, telling stories, and remembering previous Mother’s Day misadventures until the sun began to set and it was time to head back. Firefly trotted behind Clay and the kids the whole way back, allowing her to think on the events that had transpired that day. Between the laughter, the food, the good memories of her mother, and being surrounded by ponies who loved her… it had been a wonderful Mother’s Day; and even though this would fade into history with all the other days, she wouldn't trade the memories for anything in the world.
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Fuck yea update
*pats chest* Yep, my feels are smashed. You've still got it.
That was an emotional roller coaster for me.
...
And I loved every second of it.
I am so happy about this update! I love the character building, this was such a touching chapter.
Thank you and hope you get the next one out quick.
2723323 Glad you liked it. I'm sorry the updates are taking so long, but Starfall can only do so much. But hopefully the next one will be up sooner.
*sniff* man, the feels.
*sob*"give me a moment"
"pansies, the both of you"
Oh come here you.
"don't you even...gah" *hugs* "I hate you so much"
So Misty Fly blacked out? or did one of her wings just give it out on her? Then again at the speed she was going a simple breeze could screw up her flight pattern.
Too many feels in this chapter.
2794484 It is my greatest weapon!
umm just to make it not confusing why don't you get the chapters from the first one and put on this one?
2809961 I was hoping to get my old profile back and then move these chapters to the old one. But since that is seeming less and less likely, I guess I really should.
What happened to your old profile
2885652 couldn't log back in. And couldnt reset the password.
I may have a suggestion you could talk to an admin about it tell them you cant get into your account tell them the email account attached to the profile and ask them to reset the pasword and send you an email with the new one then you can go back in and fix the password and update the story aswell
2886632 The admins rarely talk with me. But I might try soon. I just want to focus on the stories for now.
Hate to be brash about this but that is kinda their job admins exist to ensure the smooth and continued operation of any website or web game they have codes or access rights to both help the public and inforce the rules.now since this is a free site they aren't obligated to help but that is what their here for to ban trouble makers and help the many grateful patrons of fimfic
2956605 Took me all night but I did it.
I crying too death right now so sad i need a hug
fryfly i feel your pain on the same day 
any ways great chapter keep up the great work 
I must be going soft....the feels are too much.
3044186
Fryfly?