The Day My Life Ended (Editing)

Chapter Thirty-Five (Revised)

Lila Chamberlin continued to look at me. My body was the same broken and beaten from two days ago. At best my injuries had better bandages now. Maybe this convinces her, maybe it doesn't. Either way I think teleporting in from a giant portal gets me some credibility. This time I didn't even fuck up the bandages.

It's not fair. I know it's not fair. As her mother, it's my responsibility to take care of her. I have to teach her about life.

Life isn't fair.

People aren't going to care. America isn't like Equestria. Equestria has ponies and creatures full of friendship and love. There are dragons that can learn to love. Ponies can see you crying. Their response is to give you their hoof of shoulder. One pony in particular throws you a party. Resolving problems by offering friendship is their go-to method these days. They care. They want you okay and they want peace.

People? People as a whole rarely care so much. People do not want peace, they want quiet. They want you quiet. Because if you are screaming and crying it disturbs them. People do not want to be disturbed- or reminded of things that can disturb them. It doesn't matter what happened to you. Even if you were dying, even if you woke up screaming because you were dying in another, your mother is supposed to make you quiet. They teach you to be quiet. As you scream and cry, jerking around looking for inter dimensional wounds, your mother tells you 'be quiet'. You listen, you obey, you are silent.

You don't make a fuss. You don't ruin her reputation. You stop behaving poorly. You wake up in pain, but you swallow the pain away. No scream passes your mouth. No tears drip down your face. You are quiet, and your mother made you so. The people finally have their peace, and you never scream out your pain again.

It's not fair. Life was never meant to be, especially not to my family. Now it's my job as a mom to do it, and I don't know how. How am I supposed to do that to Lilac? How can I make her quiet when the best sound in the world is her laugh?

'Then don't do it.'

My fingers tightened.

Lila swallowed. "D-dad- dad said you were-"

"Dead? Rumors are crazy in small towns." I replied.

'Really. Don't. Just don't tell her to stop. Let her be herself. My mom tried stopping me, and look where that got her. Can you really do better against a dragon?'

"But he did try his hardest." I grinned so very wide. It's almost a disarming smile. The smile didn't fit the situation I was in. This smile belonged to someone meeting over coffee. It's possible this smile will help Lila calm down so I can be reassuring to her. "So you see why I need some help?"

Lila gawked, swallowed, then continued to gawk. This is only completely fair. I have no rush. My daughter is waiting, but I need to teach her about disappointment anyway.

'No. No way. You aren't allowed to hurt the kid. Not like that, not like us. We AGREED!'

I grit my teeth. The smile became fixed. Ignoring my sister is my seventh favorite pastime. "Anything you're willing to give."

Lila shook her head. "No."

"No?" My eyebrow arched.

"No. No- you'll just kill my dad." Lila continued shaking her head. "Or someone else. I- I can't- I can't help you if you'll just kill people."

Reactions. Reactions are chemical, neurological, physical, instinctive. Most of mine were trained out of me centuries ago. Yet at those words, something inside cracks again.

I see my daughter's teary face, my hands covered in dark red blood. In my imagination, the smile only grows wider.

Pain. Pain. Pain. My head- a familiar stabbing pain. My sister is screaming.