Gen 3 Ch 9: Parenting

As much as Clover and Darwin had wanted to believe it, a simple change of scenery did nothing to improve their daughter's attitude. First, she redecorated her room. With a spray can.

Then, she made the rounds to introduce herself to their new neighbors. With several cartons of rotten eggs.

Like so many other teenage girls, she took up art as a hobby.

Frequent visits to the library were also on her list of preferred activities.

Needless to say, her varied extracurricular activities soon attracted notice.

Darwin was at the end of his wits. Clover was far too sweet to even utter a stern word to Dolores. Darwin contemplated punishments he knew other parents used - maybe grounding her - but one pleading look from his daughter's eyes and he was putty in her hands. He couldn't bear the thought of trying to impose on another Sim's freedom in any way.

He was up late one night, watching Fishing Fracas on TV, when a flashing light through the window made him hurry outside.

He couldn't believe his eyes. There it was - the unicorn he had been trying to find for so long, grazing peacefully.

When it noticed Darwin, it seemed to immediately recognize him, gently nuzzling his hands and face. The sun was starting to come up and Darwin worried that the unicorn might disappear again, but nothing happened. Could it be? Had this noble creature felt his plight? Had it decided to stay?

The next morning, full of excitement, Darwin woke Clover up early to show her. She hadn't quite believed him about the unicorn previously, but now that she saw it, she seemed to think exactly the same as him.

"This... this is it. This is what Dolores needs. Oh Darwin! This is wonderful!" She hugged him tightly, with tears of joy in her eyes.

Dolores woke up groggy, squinting at the rays of sunlight penetrating the heavy curtains she had put up in her room. She had been up late last night, coming home way past Hidden Springs' dumb curfew imposed on all teens, and she did not appreciate being blinded AT ALL. But it was not the sunlight that had woken her. There were voices coming from outside. Boy, was she going to give them a piece of her mind!

All the way down the stairs and out the back door she let her rage build up, ready to unleash it on whoever had dared to wake her this early. But when she saw what the commotion was about, she stopped in her tracks.
Silvery hair glinted in the morning sun like dewdrops. Approaching carefully, mesmerized, she barely perceived her father's voice, as if through a thick layer of cotton.
"Dolores, this is for you. A late birthday gift. I hope you will take good care of it... maybe learn some responsibility and..."
But she did not need to hear his explanation. She knew it was hers. She knew it was meant to be.



"I'll call him Spike.", she announced, to no one in particular.
You will do no such thing. My name is Dancer, and I am a she, I will have you know. 
"Huh?", Dolores stepped back, frowning. Had the unicorn just talked?

 But no, that couldn't be. No one else seemed to have heard it either.

She was distracted by her train of thought when the unicorn turned to face her and opened its mouth wide, baring a set of sharp fangs. Awesome. Dolores was so going to skip school today.

As she fed the unicorn a carrot that someone - probably her father, but who cared anyway? - had pressed into her hand, she heard the melodic voice again.
Come on girl, get on my back.
And so she did.

The unicorn was fast! Dolores had never ridden a horse, so she felt a little unsteady, but that was forgotten as she sped past the honking school bus.
"Not today," she thought.

After pausing briefly, to make sure the bus driver could get a good look at her, she sped off again. Well, Dolores couldn't honestly say that she was the one in control, but the steed seemed to know exactly what she wanted. The wind blew through her hair and she saw the blur of houses whizzing by, when suddenly, there was a bright light. So bright, it engulfed everything around her.

And suddenly, she appeared right in front of the school.

"Hey, let's go! Why aren't you moving? I ignored the school bus for a reason, you know."
Young ones need to learn. Go. I will be back for you.

For some reason, Dolores knew that it was best to do as the unicorn asked. She couldn't tell why. But as soon as she had solid ground under her feet, she did feel pretty foolish for following this glorified mule's commands so willingly.

"That darn goodie-two-shoes unicorn... Gah, what else did I expect from a bloody 'My Sparkly Pony'?", Dolores grumbled, as she dragged herself to what was going to be the longest school day ever.

But, as promised, when Dolores walked out of the school after her last class was over, the unicorn appeared in a blinding flash of light.

"Someone likes being the center of attention."
Look who's talking. Now get on my back, brat.

I will show you what a goodie-two-shoes 'My Sparkly Pony' is capable of.

"What are you gonna do? Fart a rainbow?"
The horned mare nickered.

Then, slowly, Dancer's eyes and horn began to glow yellow.

And through some unknown force, the spot her horn had been facing burst into flames. Sims came running out of the building, screaming and panicking.

"I think we're going to have a lot of fun together."

Gen 3 Ch 8: Moving On

Almost every night Darwin went to seek out the herd of wild horses, hoping to find the unicorn again.

He was so frustrated and tired from another almost sleepless night.

Clover knew that something was up, and Darwin had no intention to keep secrets from her. Still, it was difficult to tell his wife about the encounter with the unicorn without sounding like a lunatic. Clover was kind, of course, but he could tell that she couldn't quite believe his story. And why would she? Darwin barely believed it himself.

"It's alright, Darwin, love. Try and relax. You know we have a big day planned today. And maybe this will make things better, don't you think?"
"Maybe..."

And indeed, big changes were happening that day. Darwin had made so much money with his collecting that they had been able to afford a larger house.

So they packed up their most treasured belongings and left the lakeside house.

Their new home was a mansion with a large garden, surrounded by nature.

The dogs quickly took a liking to it.

It was very spacious and sported a view of the lake and the surrounding mountains.

For now, there were barely any furnishings besides the essentials, but Clover had taken it upon herself to put up some seasonal decorations. Summer had come.

"This is your bedroom, Dolores," Darwin explained, somewhat nervous. "We picked out a bed we thought you'd like, but you can redecorate any way you want."

They had even put up Dolores' favorite old toys and for once, there was no snide comment.
"Thanks, I guess. But I'm so getting rid of that flowery rug."

Clover and Darwin's room had plenty of large windows that showed a breathtaking view of the lake.

Bloom and Matilda's bedroom was spacious, with plenty of space to display photos and paintings of their family.

They spent their days painting happily side by side.

And their nights playing video games.

Darwin's collecting had really been more than lucrative - they even bought a place for Bloom to start the museum he had been talking about. Finally he had a place to stash all those extra family photos and paintings that he couldn't fit in at home.

For some reason, Dolores let herself be persuaded to join her parents in one of their many outdoors adventures - perhaps it was because they had been so thoughtful about the decorations in her new room. Maybe she really was going to start quieting down!

Darwin's new obsession was bringing the large vegetable garden back to life.

It really was a wonderful new home for everyone.