Collab Cage Mini-Monthly May (B) -- Trouble in Bloom

by The Collab Cage

Lily Finds a Weed

Written by: Admiral Biscuit

Lily found the plant first. She and Daisy were exploring the edge of the Everfree, hoping to find some wildflowers to improve their stock.

It was an annual tradition for the two. Everypony knew that weird plants grew in the Everfree, although neither of the mares was stupid enough or brave enough to venture inside its borders to see for themselves. They’d heard enough stories about what those plants could do to a pony.

On the other hoof, the border of the forest was not a clear delineation, and like most growing things it tried to take whatever ground it could get. Thus, the border was often home to new and different plants. On an early spring day when business back at the flower shop was slow, Rose would mind the counter and they’d make a picnic lunch and wander along the edge of the forest. Some years they found a plant that could be bred and sold as it was; other years they found ones that could be crossbred with their flowers. Most of the time, it didn’t turn out well, but every now and then they had spectacular results.

The plant came up to her barrel, which was unusual this early in the year. Whatever it was, it grew fast. The thin serrated leaves stuck out around blossoms which reminded her of a lilac, although they were a dull reddish color.

She sniffed it carefully. It had a vaguely skunky smell, although it also had sweet undertones with a slight earthy theme.

Lilly pulled off a clump of leaves and began chewing them. They tasted odd at first, but the more she ate, the better she began to feel. She nibbled on some of the beautiful flowers, and they were heavenly. She looked back to the happy plant, and as it swayed in the gentle wind, it seemed to be waving at her, enticing her to take it back home.

She pulled a trowel off her cart and began carefully digging around the roots before finally gently pulling it free from its earthen prison. Although she could have asked Daisy to lift it into the cart for her, she sometimes took pride in her utter inability to use any magic that wasn’t inherent in earth ponies, and this was one of those times.

She filled the plant pot with dirt from the hole she’d excavated, and for good measure filled a second pot with the same soil. When they got back home, they’d study the sample to see what kind of nutrients the plant liked.

Lily smiled. Finding the new plant had cheered her up immeasurably, and as a result, the sky seemed sunnier and the grass greener. She did feel hungry, despite the sun still being fairly low in the sky. She wasn’t sure what had brought that on, but the allure of the picnic basket was irresistible. She knew that there was a bag of her favorite alfalfa crisps in there, and she really wanted some of them—all of them—right about now. She reached for the picnic basket, but got distracted when she caught sight of her hoof in the edge of her vision. She leaned forward to get a closer look. Hoof was such a strange name for it, she decided. She began to examine it closely, pondering what else it could have been called.

“I can’t believe you found a new plant and I didn’t find anything,” Daisy muttered as the two pulled the wagon back into town.

“Don’t you go taking credit for it,” Lily snapped, glaring at Daisy. “I found it, it’s mine.”

“Woah, somepony’s got a burr under her harness. Did you eat too many crisps? Does your tummy hurt?”

“I’m fine,” she muttered. “I just . . . I don’t know. I feel a little tired, I guess. Maybe a glass of chai will cheer me up.” She looked back at her new plant, cheerfully swaying back and forth in the wagon. “I can’t wait to start planting. I bet it’s going to grow really well, and if we can cross it with a flower, we might be able to diminish its smell.”

“Yeah,” Daisy replied unenthusiastically. “I don’t know about that. It might make it unmarketable, except to ponies who don’t have a sense of smell.”

“Are you calling my plant stinky?” Lily glared at her.

---

Growing Lily’s new plant had been a snap. It seemed fairly tolerant of soil, and—perhaps not unexpectedly—grew like a weed. Soon, an entire seeding greenhouse was filled with the plants, while still more grew in neat rows alongside Lily’s flowers. They seemed to provide a nice bushy contrast to the thin spires of the Callas.

Unfortunately, cross-pollination had turned out to be an utter failure. Brush in teeth, they had tried to cross it with every flower they had, although none had produced any obvious results. It was too early to be sure, of course—the blooms might be something special—but samples of the leaves of the new plants tasted the same as normal.

At first, Rose and Daisy had been unwilling to eat the new plant, but as they got more accustomed to the pungent odor emanating from the seeding greenhouse, it bothered them less and less. Within the course of a year, the mysterious weed had become a favorite snack of the three, and they had even discovered that it could be baked into treats or infused into tea. Like most of their plants, it could be dried and kept nearly indefinitely.

Rose, being the most outgoing of the trio, had taken some to a private gig in Canterlot. The day after she passed out the free samples, she found herself deluged with orders, and the upper-class ponies seemed desperate to pay whatever it took to get some more of her special tea.

As soon as she got back to Ponyville, she reorganized their operation. Flowers were fine for Ponyville, but their new weed was immensely profitable. They couldn’t risk it getting into the wrong hooves and cutting into their margins. After selling the first crop, she spent all the money on a unicorn-designed grow-room, with an attached drying chamber, all neatly hidden at the back of their shop.

One Year Later

Daisy shook her head. “No, Lyra, these are all the flowers we have for sale. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. There are no others. There is not a secret depository of plants out back, and if there was, you still couldn’t see it.”

“Yeah,” Lily chimed in. “There isn’t a special room full of special plants. Not at all.”

One of the display shelves swung open. Daisy and Lily looked at it awkwardly, although its significance didn’t seem to register on Lyra’s face. Roseluck came through, holding a small bag of shredded green leaves. She spotted Lyra and casually, if slightly hastily, stuffed it into her mane and slammed the display shelf shut so quickly that all the glassware on it rattled. “Oh, hi Lyra, I didn’t know you were here.” She glared at Lily and Daisy. “Nopony said you were here.”

“Yougottahelpme,” Lyra said, kneeling in front of the mare. “Those two say you haven’t got any other flowers or anything, and I need to find the perfect flower, and you just haven’t got it.”

Rose stuck her nose up in the air. “We have the finest flowers in all of Ponyville,” she said. “Each one of them carefully raised from bulb or bud or whatever, using the most accomplished Earth Pony magic.” She looked down at Lyra. “If we don’t got it, nopony’s got it.”

“You could always try the Everfree Forest. Flowers grow there all on their own. Ooooh.” Lily waved her hooves around to illustrate her point.

“Yeah, and maybe you could see if Zecora has a ‘special’ flower for you.” Daisy mimicked Lily’s hoof-waving, and then the two burst into giggles.

“Girls, really.” Rose gave them a stern look, the looked back down at Lyra. “I must agree with them, to a point. Perhaps a wildflower is more what you are seeking, rather than a cultivated flower. There’s a certain hardiness that wildflowers often have that cultivars lack. A kind of feral ruggedness.” She licked her lips. “But do be careful if you go into the Everfree. Don’t go in too far. Know your way out. There really are monsters in there; it isn’t an old mare’s tale.”

“Okthanksseeyoubye.” Lyra trotted out the door. Rose looked over at the other two mares, who were still giggling.

“Lyra’s got a special somepony,” Daisy said quietly.

“Ooh, I bet it’s Carmel,” Lily suggested.

“Oh please, I bet she’s got her eyes on Big McIntosh.” Daisy hugged herself. “Oh, I’d love to run my tongue across—“

“GIRLS!” Rose gave them a death stare. “Let’s be mature. Our customer’s private business is her own.” She pulled the small bag out of her mane. “Anyway, there’s no way she’d go for an earth pony. Bet it’s Thunderlane. Now,” she set the bag down on the table, “time to test another batch. Do we want to make tea, or brownies?”

Comments

[DATA_EXPUNGED]

. . .

/headdesk

[tsaukpaetra]

Huh, this story totally skipped our notice. Oh well, found out now!

[Ariel Schnee]

Hahahahahahaha!^_^