//------------------------------//
// Reality is a lovely place... 
// Story: Starshine Lilies 
// by Starlight Shadow 
//------------------------------//

Ponyville was surrounded by countryside. Perfectly understandable, as it was out in the middle of nowhere. The endless fields were most often used for farming purposes, but there were a fair few that simply existed. Where wildflowers grew in every color without rhyme or reason, and where Roseluck and her daughter, May, walked during late spring nights like this one, Roseluck toting a watering can on her back. 

"Where are we going, Mom?" May asked impatiently. She was a pale yellow earth pony, like her mother, with a deep pink mane and tail. She had no cutie mark yet. "You keep saying 'somewhere special' but nowhere specific." 

Roseluck smiled. She remembered being this impatient when her mother had taken her there as a filly. "We're almost there, May. You see the flowers over there, the ones that look like they're glowing?" 

May squinted, gazing into the darkness. Indeed, a faint blue glow emanated from a patch of widely-spread flowers a couple feet in front of them. "Yeah, why?" 

"They look like they're glowing, because they are." Roseluck whispered to her daughter as they resumed walking. "They're called Starshine Lilies, and they're called that because they only glow like that on nights like these, when the stars shine on them just so." 

May was awed. Her mother had never told her about any sort of magic flower. "Are they magic?" 

"Yes, May. Very magical indeed." Roseluck's eyes twinkled with a special kind of smile. "Or at least, they seem to be. Ponies that have tasted them say they taste like moonlight and sugar. Ponies say that if you plant one in the exact middle of your garden - not a single inch off - then the other flowers will grow and bloom like never before. But do you know what else they say?" 

"What?" May asked excitedly.

"They say that after midnight on special spring nights like this one, they just disappear. Snap. Gone." Roseluck stamped her hoof lightly for emphasis. 

May looked puzzled. "But if they disappear after midnight, then how can they make flowers grow?" 

"Nopony knows, which is why they're so special. And it's why only the Blossom family knows exactly where to find them, and how to nurture them, so they don't die out. I'm going to teach you how tonight." They stopped abruptly, right before the patch of flowers. May watched in wonder as Roseluck gently lowered the watering can to the ground, then took it in her mouth, holding it before the lilies. They seemed to reach for the watering can, but maybe that was just May's imagination. 

Roseluck gently poured water over the flowers, making sure each got a hooful of drops. She walked slowly around the flowers, then through the flowers, showering water over all of them. Each step was calculated and precise, as Roseluck was careful not to step on a single one. 

Once she was finished with her task, Roseluck placed the watering can down and turned to her daughter. "Were you paying attention?" May nodded. "Good. Because it's important that some pony comes by every night, starting on the first day of May and ending on the last day of May, and waters them like I just did." 

May nodded again. She felt special, included, to be learning this stuff about super-special flowers. She knew flowers were her mother's life, and she wanted to make her mother happy. Besides, flowers made her pretty happy too. 

Roseluck took a moment to stretch before lying down, patting the space next to her. May looked somewhat bewildered. "Isn't there anything else to do for the flowers? Nurturing them and all that like you said?" 

"We do have to sit with them for a while." Roseluck explained. "To make them feel special. If a magical creature isn't believed in, then it slowly but surely fades away, until nopony even thinks about them anymore. We have to sit with them, reassure them that there are still ponies who care about them and think they're special. Now, are you sitting down or what?"

May sat down beside her mother, leaning up against her. Her mother smelled good, like rich dirt and the flowers she grew and sold, particularly roses. The night was warm, but chilly at the same time, like a blanket you haven't used for a while. It was comforting, and she could see why they wanted to keep these flowers safe. 

Roseluck smiled down at her half-asleep daughter. She remembered back to when she was about ten years old, and her mother had brought her here. She had asked nearly all the same questions, been just as impatient getting there, and generally been a mirror image of May when her time had come. She really is like me. I'll never doubt Daisy again.

May snuggled a little deeper into her mother, letting her scent and feel wrap her up. All the secrecy and magic had been exciting, and it did make her feel grown up. But now she was ten again, and tired. Very, very tired. Her last thought before falling asleep was I can't wait to teach my foals about the Starshine Lilies.

Roseluck snuggled a little deeper into her daughter, doing her best to keep little May warm. The lilies liked May, she could tell. They tended to like fillies, as they were young and curious. Believers. Older ponies had all the supernatural beliefs sucked out of them, and so the Blossom family taught their foals about the lilies at ten. May was a silly, imaginative little one. Roseluck knew she and the flowers would get along just fine.

"I don't blame you all for liking my May." Roseluck said out loud. "I love her, too."